001Call to order the regular meeting of the board of education. Today is Wednesday, August 27th, 2025. Please rise for the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, I'll start with a reading of our mission statement. We are committed to academic achievement and success for all students in a safe environment in partnership with families in our community. Our mission is to promote confidence, inspire a passion for learning, and to prepare our students to become responsible global citizens. I need an approval for the revised agenda. Is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. Motion carries. Next is the uh public comment on the districtwide school safety plan. >> None.
002No comment. Okay. Is there a motion for the approval of the districtwide school safety plan? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Motion carries. >> Uh questions or comments from interested citizens? We have none. And no followup either. >> Okay. And that will bring us to Dr. Hasser who will do a presentation on portrait of graduate. Dr. Miles is driving. >> I'm Dr. Miles. I don't see any headings. Sorry. >> Good evening everyone. Uh thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening. Tonight we're going to be providing a a quick update regarding the recently approved New York State Education Department portrait of a graduate as well as um some of the graduation measures and the New York Inspires initiative that the state has um been advertising for the last few years.
003Um for starters, we'll start with the portrait of a graduate. So the background is we've kind of divided it into three bullets on the screen. It is an intentional phased in approach from NICD and it's the planning year was during fall 24 through summer of 25. Phase 1 has an installation between fall of 25 and summer of 27. Phase 2 will be implementation in the fall of 27 to summer of 28. full implementation and scaling up will be beyond fall of 28. Um so you see there it's it's it's part of New York inspires with a plan to transform education into in New York State. The four areas that are being the four kind of steps to that transformation include adopting of the portrait of a graduate, redefining credits, suns setting assessment requirements, and moving
004to one diploma. And Dr. Hassler will go into more detail about that. And New York State has provided some descriptors of what a graduate will be upon graduation in New York State. So those descriptors are are listed for you. And really they're focusing some of the the actions that they want to see our graduates be able to do include blending academic mastery with essential life skills. [clears throat] Show a readiness to thrive in a complex and rapidly changing world. Be curious, compassionate, and capable of turning challenges into opportunities and improving engagement and motivation by making learning more relevant and interesting and having our students be able to see how different subjects relate to one another, see the bigger picture, and make connections between concepts. So, as it relates back to Mono Woodbury, um last year
005one of our district goals was to initiate the strategic planning process and committee across the school district. Um and that strategic plan committee has created a number of different task forces within the strategic plan. One of the um one of the task force is the student achievement task force. So, at the end of last year, as we were going through this process, in anticipation of the state releasing the portrait of a graduate, the student achievement task force did developed a goal for the 2526 school year to basically develop a Monroe Woodbury Central School District version of a portrait of a graduate. Um, we weren't able to do that work last year because we were awaiting the the state releasing theirs, which was approved in July. Um following that release in July, the state is going
006to be coming out with a number of guidance documents related to greater detail about the various elements that Dr. Morales spoke about. So when that document is released, the strategic the student achievement task force will be getting together and we're going to be creating in alignment with the New York State portrait of a graduate what we believe are the attributes of graduates within the Monroberry Central School District. and we anticipate publishing that at the end of the school year for the the 26 27 school year. So as Dr. Morales mentioned earlier the the New York Inspires initiative had four has four different proposed transformations. The first transformation was to release the New York State portrait of a graduate which they've done. The other three transformations are redefining credits, sunset assessment requirements, and move to one
007diploma. And I put a screenshot here taken directly from the stateed website that the frequently asked questions section because we've received a number of questions from families regarding the portrait of a graduate because they've co-mingled some of these other transformations with the release of the portrait of a graduate. And we've had to answer to parents that the release of the portrait of the graduate does not coincide with some of these other things that the state has proposed. Right now on the stated website, it says in the fine print at the bottom. Again, it's important to note that none of the proposed changes are final until they are approved by the board of regions. And this is some of the other things that have been in discussion, including the redefining of credits. Um, the state has
008talked about including a financial literacy requirement, a a career and technical education requirement, work-based learning, various other items into other requirements for students to graduate. Those requirements have not been fully approved by the board of regents yet. So, we are still awaiting that release. Right now, we are still under the old graduation requirements. Another major discussion has been the state phasing out the role of regent exams and having that be the sole requirement for students to demonstrate proficiency. They're looking at other pathways, other measures for kids to be able to um demonstrate that proficiency to graduate. However, even though they've released this timeline, the timeline has not been fully approved yet. So, I'll give you an example. Um, we've had a number of students who didn't pass regent exams who might be freshman or sophomores
009in the school district and parents have reached out saying, "My student is part of the co the cohort of 2024. It says that they are not going to need regent exams. Does my child need to retake this exam?" And my response has been yes, they need to retake that exam because at this moment in time those regulations have not been passed yet. Another transformation is the move to one diploma. The state is anticipating moving away from local regions or regions with advanced designations. Those three different diplomas and having one New York State diploma. All of the other enhancements or would be considered endorsements. the seal of civic readiness, the seal of biiteracy, the master of science, the master of mathematics, um advanced designation, honors, any of those different categories will be endorsements that will be
010on that singular diploma. But again, while these are things that have been widely publicized from the state education department, we're still awaiting their final approval by the board of regents and then we will go into our action planning to be able to prepare for those. So, we're raising awareness right now as Dr. Morales said that they're in the raising awareness phase. We're we're raising awareness around this. Um, but know that only the first transformation, the portrait of a graduate is the the item that has been approved at this point from the state education department. So, I included in there uh links directly to the state education website where this information was pulled from. So, that way people they can reference this information. I I recommend going to the frequently asked questions and you can see
011uh all of the various questions that people might have and certainly we're available to anyone that might you know have any specific questions related to their child. In terms of next steps for us um as I said the they released the portrait of the graduate in July. As soon as they release the guidance, which they anticipate coming out in the very very near future, we'll be convening that student achievement task force as part of the strategic plan and we'll be working on the Mono Woodbury portrait of a graduate. Um, and then the last piece of that is just awaiting for additional updates from the state education department about the remaining three transformations regarding the graduation measures. >> Questions? >> I have a question. >> Sure. You've said a few times that parents have started to
012reach out to you or to the school district. Do we have any plans to send information back to them? >> We do. I I actually have been in communication with the guidance department team up at the high school and the high school administration that once the school year starts, we want to make sure that we get the word out and including that message in open house as that comes in in September. So, absolutely. Yes. Providing that clarity. >> I mean, you said high school, but middle school, eighth graders, >> middle school as well, right? cuz this this goes back to the cohorts of 26 27 20 29 which is all the way down to the middle school. >> Yep. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Next is uh our superintendent of schools, Dr. Tracy Norman will
013give us district goals for 2025 2026. >> Okay. Hey, good evening everyone. So, tonight we're going to uh present round two of the draft of our goals. I have to say I'm excited about these goals pending uh your approval. So, we're going to follow the same format similar to what we did last year, which means that we'll have each cabinet member present their specific goal that falls under their department. What you'll see is that the goals are intentionally written globally, but what has changed will be the actual action steps or at least the focus area under each goal. You also note that we've added two additional goals and as we go through each of the goal that the actual cabinet member will come forward and walk you through. Next slide. So these are the first
014four goals. As I said, they are intentionally written globally and the action steps have changed. They're very similar to last year, but the action steps beneath each goal will look different as we'll we'll walk through tonight. Next slide. And these are the final four of the eight with two additional goals added. [clears throat] SL now I ask Dr. Hassler, Dr. Morales to speak to our academic goal. Thank you. So as Dr. Norman shared the the overarching goal one remains consistent with what was started last year to create conditions to increase students understanding and application of academic content now for the 2526 school year. Um also as Dr. Norman shared there are some action steps that are carrying over from the previous year and there are some new action steps that we've been added. The first
015action step is a carryover because this is truly a process that is an ongoing process for the school district which is to review and monitor student attendance and student performance and to increase student outcomes. Um that's inclusive of examining our student assessment our state assessment performance as well as our annual benchmark assessments over the course of the school year. Um we've taken our both our 3 through8 testing, our NISLAT testing, our regent exams. [clears throat] We've compiled that data. We're sharing it with the staff. That is going to be something that's happening at the onset of the school year throughout the fall. Um and again the benchmark assessments, we benchmark students at the beginning, at the middle, and at the end of the school year. The review of that data will be um ongoing with
016the staff. We also started the student attendance initiative last year. We've talked about chronic absenteeism. The state is moving to a tiered model in tracking student attendance this year. Um and as always, you know that we believe that student attendance is a critical component to students achieving well in the school district. So we continue to monitor our student attendance as well. >> So our next um action step is establishing a curriculum council. Part of that council, the purpose is to facilitate a collaborative review of our curricula, identifying any areas in need of improvement and recommending any changes to enhance student learning and academic achievement. As it's listed there, we are looking to form this committee in September and meet three times throughout the year, bringing together diverse perspectives and making informed decision decisions to ensure
017a coherent and highquality educational experience for our students through 12th grade. Um the next action step is once again a continuation from last year. Uh it's to align K12 curriculum with state and national standards. Um, this was work that was started last year. Last year, we really focused on ELA, math, science, and social studies. Um, we're now looking to expand that into other curricular areas as well with the goal of continuing to develop pacing guides so that way there's a a consistent sort of um tracking of how kids are progressing through the curriculum each year. Um, that was work that was started last year, will continue into this year. So, our next step is reviewing, revising, and finalizing our district-wide [clears throat] MTSS plan, our multi-tered system of supports. So, that process is going to
018involve examining our current practices, analyzing data, and aligning all of our tiers of support from universal instruction to our targeted interventions. Our primary goal and outcome of this revision is to improve our student outcomes, reduce behavioral issues, and make sure that we're providing more access to support for all learners. We really want to be able to walk away from this with basically [clears throat] a booklet that if you have a question about what do our services look like, what is the criteria for those services, who provides them, where are they provided, all of those answers are in one place. And that is very similar to the final action step, which is to uh review, revise, and finalize an updated special education plan for the school district. Similar to combine uh compiling a district-wide team to
019examine our MTSS program and plan for the school district, we'll be developing a K12 team that will do the same for special education. Again, with an emphasis on ensuring that all students, regardless of what their disability or their programmatic recommendations are, have equitable access to services. That our special education plan and program is compliant with federal and state regulations, and it supports the overall academic, behavioral, and social emotional needs for all of our students with disabilities. All right. Good evening. Uh, thank you for allowing me to present goal number two, which is to develop and maintain systems that focus on recruitment and retention of effective educators and support staff. The action items that go along with goal number two first would be to develop a task force that would analyze the recruitment gaps. The purpose
020would be obviously to identify if and where we are falling short in attracting candidates particularly in those hard to fill positions. This group would take a look at the data uh that is being presented such as what are the applicant trends that we have in the district, the turnover data, those turnover ratios. We would review exit interview feedback. Um you know analyzing how we can do a better job of of recruiting and also retaining our staff. Um and then of course from there we would look to develop targeted recruitment strategies that would address these identified gaps. From there, we would look to continue the partnerships with the local colleges, many that we have already established, but we want to continue to build those pipelines for both certified staff um the the teaching candidates and also
021the support staff uh and and related service providers, etc. We do have great working relationships already with many local colleges, um STAX, Mount St. Mary's onian news but we want to continue those relationships so that we can expand on our student teaching opportunities that we're providing and internships so that you know if if things are going well that would open the door for you know potential job offers and the benefit of that to the district would be that we would have a steady flow of hopefully high quality prevetted candidates that are familiar with our district culture and we're familiar with them through our partnership and relationships with the local colleges. Um, the next would be to attend a job fair. Somewhat speaks for itself, but we want to increase the district's visibility in the competitive
022markets. We want to showcase our district's strengths to candidates out there, potential candidates, show the candidates what type of professional support that we offer, the competitive pay, the positive culture for Madro Woodbury. Um and then of course to gather that contact information particularly from those hard to fill positions and sort out uh difficult positions to fill um so that we can follow up with with our recruitment strategies and campaigns. The next would be to update and implement interviewing protocols. Really what we're looking to do is just to standardize this process, make it consistent for all buildings and departments. The goal would be to update our current hiring manual with protocols that are put in place from the start of the hiring process which includes um you know posting for vacancies in the district and the
023steps that would follow uh all the way through pending board approval for for those candidates. So that would be a a very comprehensive document um with forms and practices and protocols that would be consistent removing bias um for all buildings and and departments. The next action step would be ongoing training, professional learning and development. We want to provide those continuous growth opportunities really to boost the the retention of staff. Professional learning could include and would include instructional leadership and technical training based on, you know, our staff needs, but we want to look at the providing professional learning and and opportunities of growth, not just for our teachers and certified staff, but for all support groups. Um, you know, all of the departments that that are within our district. We want to make sure that everybody
024has the opportunity to to learn and grow in in their role. We also want to take a look at in with training is to develop some ongoing training throughout the year for certain subgroups. Um we don't want to bring somebody on board, hand them a folder and then you know wish them well. We want to make sure that we're providing continuous feedback and training throughout the year. Particularly with our substitutes as we are hiring new substitutes throughout the year. Not everybody may have um you know the same training that's provided at the beginning of the school year. So, we want to make sure that we are developing something that's very tailored towards Monroe Woodbury and our practices in our district um and providing that ongoing training for um certain certain groups of uh staff throughout
025the school year, particularly looking at substitutes and teacher aids. Um we would use training again as a retention tool. We know that staff stay where they feel supported and that they're going to be able to grow. The next action step is mentoring. We want to continue to develop and enhance our administrator mentoring program. We started that last year. It was very successful. Uh administrators have already reached out asking if that is going to continue and that absolutely will continue. So, we're going to look to build on the success of last year with our administrators. Dr. Morales and I are going to uh work with the teachers union to also take a look at the teacher mentor program because we want to make sure that we're pro providing ongoing support for teachers when needed um you
026know for as long as needed. We don't want to necessarily have to cut off certain mentorship and and support. We want to make sure that we are supporting our teachers um for again as long as they need. What we don't want to happen is obviously and there's no evidence of this happening, but we don't want staff leaving the district because they're not feeling like they're being supported. So, that's going to be a huge area of focus that our our staff and our teachers that they make sure that they know that they are valued and that they're supported here in Monro Woodbury. And the last monitor salaries again just to remain competitive. Um, this is just to regularly benchmark the salaries against neighboring districts across the state averages. looking to of course attract the best possible
027candidates uh and bring them in here and then take the steps necessary to keep them here. There are no questions. >> Thank you, Mr. Burgerer. >> Thank you so much, >> Dr. Vas. Good evening board of education members. Um so we have uh technology has two goals this year. Um this is the same goal as last year. Uh building a resiliency resilient cyber security framework for a safe and secure learning environment in last about three to four years. There are enough studies that has come out. Um and we kind of knew this from a physical security perspective that when the students and staff feel secure their their learning outcome improvise. Um this also the same logic applies to cyber security as well. If you remember last year u last year was our first year uh
028we engage uh uh an internal auditor for auditing firm who has a specific expertise of reviewing the cyber security controls. What we are doing is we are for following u the the center for internet security that is an organization that has came out a de facto standards. There are 18 controls that they have put it out and these controls are followed by variety of different industries education, hospitals, financial institutions. What we are trying to do here is we are trying to look at what are the current processes and procedures we have, what are the solutions we have, what are the type of the trainings we have implemented and then having an outside expert come in and then look for the gaps and then finding the gaps before um the bad actors find it. And our
029goal always is to find the gap and how can we improvise. Last year we did so there are 18 CIS controls that are industry benchmark. We we divided that in six controls every year. So last year was our first year. We did the first six controls. This year we are going to do another six controls. So control 7 to 12. Um so this controls have 43 subcontrols and then and and it varies from the the cyber security infrastructure management email audit uh audit log variety of different uh subcontrols. So having this outside firm come and review our current processes for this specific six control and then provide us a comprehensive report um that is the goal as a part of this process. So we would like to continue conduct the comprehensive cyber security review the
030risk risk assessment for control 7 to 12. Then based on that finding um develop an implementation plan. It's only a starting point when we find something. Then we need to make sure we want to make sure that that we develop a plan of either mitigating that risk or uh avoid that risk by putting certain specific solution in process or increase the cyber insurance to to avoid that risk from a financial sector perspective. Um also allocate the variety of different resources. Finding this this this gap or finding this recommendation has a certainly implication on budget, technology, infrastructure and then also potentially could be your personnel. So once we find once we find out what are the gaps we will uh work with allocating the variety of different resources that will be in the spring 20 uh
031this school year which will coincide with our budget starting process for the following year. Uh implementing the variety of different safeguard uh that are identifying u that will be starting from next year based on the findings. Um the last three bullets are are always ongoing maintaining the current disaster recovery and incident response plans as as the AI is forming um and now we're talking about super intelligence so does the cyber world is actually maturing to use a variety of different techniques as well. We are our goal is to always look out for what are the trends happening outside. Make sure that we are prepared for any possible worst case scenario related to cyber security and it's not only if it's when and how are we mature and and be ready to come out with a
032minimum downtime to support our students and staff learning and teaching. Uh professional learning that's always an on ongoing process um allowing us to go ahead and then provide the variety of different security training. So we provide the security uh training and I'm sure as a pool member you all receive the data privacy emails. Um sometimes it can be annoying but I think it's an important part of the process. We also work with every single staff member across the districts whether um it's the student teacher substitute um uh leave placement board members or administrators or teachers. Um and it's an important part of this process to make them aware. We also follow um six times a year a fishing technique to make sure that our user behavior is not out of the line in terms of
033finding this and then working with the specific users to make them really aware. The the the proc the goal of the process is to make the user behavior being aware about what are the norms and trends outside and ultimately continuous monitoring and evation of our security measures. That is the purpose of this goal. We will continue this process um next year the same way as well. We talk a lot about the the the power of technology in the back end. Now the truly technology is important to to to put this in hands of our students and staff. Um as a part of the New York state requirements every three years we're required to develop a new comprehensive instructional technology plan. Um our goal this year to work with the our internal um internal technology committee.
034We have a really robust internal technology committee that are a variety of different stakeholders. The board members, student support, uh student uh members, uh guidance counselors, union representation, administrators, teachers, support staff, technology team members. It's a cross-section of a variety of different stakeholders. We would bring and if you remember last year, we engaged them to provide to work with uh supporting the AI guidelines and they have done a really really amazing job last year to provide the guidelines for staff and student use. This year the goal of the instructional technology committee is to to work with the assistant of both assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction um uh along the sideway and then understand and review what we have develop a shared vision of in technology integration that is aligning with the district goals along
035with the strategic plan goals. Technology is only good when it's used appropriately and it empowers our students and staff. We would we will also going to audit our existing infrastructure variet of different devices and digital resources to make sure that they're all equitable spread out across the board and then design an ongoing professional learning for education educators and support staff for that reason on effective technology integration. Um you have heard that um AI is becoming a big big industry now. We want to make sure our our support staff as well our teachers are ready with that. Last year working with with my colleagues and Dr. Norman we had started that process of of educating and providing the professional learning opportunities for our support staff and instructional staff. We will continue to do that part uh
036this year as well and ultimately um to publish the instructional technology plan. The process for this is once we finalize the PR plan working with my colleagues and Dr. Norman ultimately it will go through our local post and regional information centers once they approve it they will push it to the state and then state will approve that plan. The goal is to have our plan approved in the next summer before the beginning of the school year. >> Any questions? >> Thank you, Dr. Pest. So, I'll speak to this goal. [clears throat] Last year, we did an amazing job in terms of forming a strategic plan. So, this year is just basically a continuation of last year. Last year we had to assemble a team. We had to really just review data that that included our
037vision, mission statement, uh focus areas and now we're entering the phase where we want to have feedback from the community and we've partnered with a consultant group generation ready to allow us and help us to collect data. And as you see on the screen, we're going to use multiple forums to collect that data through surveys, small group forums, town halls, etc. Once we collect this data and we're going to take our time and make sure we reach everyone, then we have to make meaning of this data. In other words, what is the community telling us? What are our stakeholders telling us? And those stakeholders, by the way, will be uh teachers, administrators, parents, students, uh business partners. Once we make meaning of what that data is telling us, then we're going to refine our goals.
038And we're not at a point yet where where those goals will be three years or five years. Depending on what the data tells us, we'll establish timelines. But we'll pursue those goals uh the following year. But the intent, if you see the final bullet, is to pull all this information together and publish our strategic plan by spring 2026. Mr. Cah. >> Okay. Good evening everyone. Um [clears throat] so there are three goals under the domain of business management services. Uh the first goal deals with u management coordination planning of our existing multi-year capital program project. Uh so specifically the action steps involved deal with submission of compliance reporting requirements with the New York State Education Department for primarily phase one which was phase one of construction and I've mentioned this in the past. There are
039actually multiple concurrent actions occurring. So we went through phase one of the construction uh part of the project this summer. We're wrapping things up and once construction is complete as there is in the beginning there's design specifications and plans and specs that have to be developed with the engineers the architects and then submitted and reviewed to New York State Ed department at the end of the construction phase. There is also uh materials and reports that have to be submitted. The most important is likely the um final cost report which actually drives state aid and I've talked a little bit about that. So, that's one of the action steps. We want to continue uh to develop and push out our public relations campaign. I think we did a really good job uh pre-referendum, you know, in
040the public relations area. Uh and I think we really sort of need to re-energize the communication plan. So, we'd like to do that uh in the winter and spring and sort of an ongoing thing thereafter. We want to monitor and support the I say 2023 and 2025 capital program. And I say it like that because in December of 2023, that's when we had the initial proposition approval by the community and authorization and a subsequent authorization and proposition in May of 2025. So it's sort of the two pieces of our capital program. The initial piece was 98 million and the subsequent piece was 16.6 million. So we want to continue the the roll out of phase two for design and construction work. And we said all along that this is like a five-year program. And the
041program includes multiple dozens of individual projects. And those projects each have to be reviewed, approved, and submitted to the New York State Education Department. Uh finalize the capital project financing and debt issuance plan. So, we're in a good position in that we've set aside money in our capital reserve. So, we can use those savings for a lot of this initial phases of work. The the construction phase for phase one, you incur expenses associated with design work with your architects. So, what we need to do now as we roll into phase two of construction is really map out when we want to borrow. Are we going to borrow with bond anticipation notes, which is likely? Do you want to issue serial bonds like immediately? You we work with the fiscal adviser on that to make some
042decisions. How do interest rates look? That sort of thing. So we want to do that fall winter of of this year. Coordinate and execute the renovation of the education center. So we are currently have moved out of the education center. Obviously we all know that to the Herman Center and um we're doing well at the education center. We're replacing the roof, repointing the building. Uh we're going to be replacing all the windows. So we're essentially making the building uh weatherproof and and you know fixing the envelope of the building. So uh moving back, you know, we're coordinating executing that we anticipate will be winter on or about uh January 1. So that's one of our goals for this year as well. Districtwide installation of classroom uh window air conditioners. So that is something that we
043have essentially accomplished already in the the first two months of the fiscal year. We went out, we procured approximately 167 window air conditioning units. We did a bid for that. Um, we installed those units with there was electrical work that needed to be done in many of the classrooms. Um, because there were no there weren't inappropriate outlets near the window, etc. And then our buildings and grounds team had to go out and install all those air conditioning units. So, we've done that. We feel we've tested the units uh this summer on hot days. So we feel like we're in a good place to be compliant with the heat index law which is one of the drivers of that initiative and final bullet develop a final feasibility study and plan for the uh zero emission uh
044bus initiative and mandate through New York State. So uh we anticipate that is in process. We'll have that complete by the spring of 2026. And as you recall that is the law in New York State where by 2027 all new buses must be zero emission. And for all intents and purposes right now, zero emission means electric. And by 2035, the entire fleet needs to be switched over to zero emission. So it sounds straightforward, but it's actually a massive undertaking that involves utility companies, utility infrastructure, bringing the power to our bus garage. It involves a capital project reconstruction of the yard where we need chargers, we need electrical uh supply. We we um there's all kinds of things that we need frankly for for this initiative let alone buying new buses and replacing the existing buses.
045So first step is the feasibility study and uh hopefully that will provide a roadmap uh forward and and a part of that is the financing because as you probably have heard a zero mission bus is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 450,000 whereas a conventional bus is more like 150,000. So there is this huge financial burden that we're managing. You can manage that through grants and federal monies, but but again there's little uncertainty with that as well going into the future. So goal number seven, second goal for us in business management services deals with essentially the fiscal management stewardship of the district um managing resources that are consistent with board policies and guidance. And the uh the first bullet has to do with increasing the number of internal audit focus areas from what we've been
046doing which is one annually to somewhere between two to four annually. And in New York State, just to back up for a moment, school districts go through an external audit process in the summer. We're about to do that. We also go through an internal audit process, typically with a different auditor. And the internal audit process has to do with a risk assessment process where we go through and look at the internal controls and the processes of the processes of the district and then typically pick a focus area. So it's an area to look at more deeply and closely. So that's what I'm talking about when I say the annual focus areas going from one annual focus area to somewhere between two to four. So we're we're uh working with the audit committee on that. Um,
047so not only do you engage the auditor to go through the focus area, but you come up with a corrective action plan and then you actually have to implement that with new procedures or um internal controls to mitigate risk, that sort of thing. So that's a big part of the work too. Um, next bullet or action item is is essentially coming up with a fiscally responsible budget that meets the needs of students, staff, families, uh, while being respectful and cognizant of the community's needs and ability to pay. Um, you know, so that's something we try to do every year. We try to be smart about it. Uh, we try to maximize our return on investment. Um, and that's a term that is, you know, sometimes not used in education. I like to use it, but
048it really just means we want to make our expenditures and our resources maximally effective like whatever it is, whatever we do. And that's what that bullet has to do with. Uh and the final goal, goal number eight has to do with safety. It's a safety goal. So we want to institute mandates and best practices in the school the field of school safety, ensuring safety and well-being of students and staff. So this in in the global sense is sort of an ongoing thing that we do and we've done a lot of work. I would say in the last five years in this area, but specifically this year we we are going to roll out a new remote panic alarm system. And so remote by remote I mean everyone staff will be issued a card with a
049button and every time I I say to myself, I want to bring the card and I forget to bring the card so I could show everybody. But it's essentially a card that could fit in inside this. And what it what it enables folks to do is actually hit the button a certain number of times and call for help. And there's like a GPS associated with it. So an administrator uh if Dr. Hassler, for instance, you know, push the button three times needs help, I could literally see where he is and and go. Uh so that's great for staff. And then it also enables staff in a in a a true emergency, a life-threatening emergency to initiate a lockdown, schoolwide lockdown. So uh it's something we're rolling out this year. It's it's a fairly big undertaking
050because it literally involves facilities, infrastructure changes. There's there's devices which almost broadcast a signal that has to be installed around uh the district districtwide at every building and even on the site. Uh we need to do a lot of network and uh software configurations and setup. We need to test this system. We need to roll it out for the public and the staff, distribute the badges, and finally go through a training process. So, it's a pretty big undertaking. It's something we've been looking at for a couple years, but we're going to um going to roll it out. I say fall uh winter. We have our kickoff meeting uh next month. Uh continuation of the safety protocol development. So, this is something we were doing last year. We're going to continue to do that. I think
051with an emphasis this year on rolling out information to district staff and uh we want to initiate a pilot program to procure go bags. So, you've probably heard about this. Go bags are it's like a recommendation that each classroom have some supplies uh and they call it a go bag in case you need to evacuate and and leave quickly and you're going to need certain items like food or uh you know some sort of blanket or something along those lines. Um pair of scissors, there's a reason for scissors now with the yonder pouches, but we want to pilot that program in the high school uh at all the high school classrooms. So um so those are the action steps associated with goal number eight. [clears throat] >> Just a question the action step regarding the
052remote panic alarm system is that a collaboration with Dr. Viaz as well regarding the technology piece of it. >> It is. It definitely is. So it's I would I would say it's a collaboration with the technology department, the safety department and >> Well, I just mean you oversee safety and >> business management services. Yes. So, so at the kickoff meeting which we we've scheduled, Joe, Joseph Chpotto would be there. Bargov uh is there. I will be on the call. We'll have a few other folks from the business office as well as some MCC folks. So, it is it's sort of a joint, you know, crossf functional initiative. I think we like to say who owns things um which I think is really important for for teams and to be effective. I it's really going to
053be owned by the safety department of safety and security. Okay, >> any questions? >> Um, sorry. The alarm systems, are they also going to law enforcement? >> Um, not just local. >> Well, I think in the I is that the case program? >> Yes. So, so rapid it's it will connect it to what the term that industries using it rapid connection um system. So, that will be eventually connected to the law enforcement. But as Mr. Cahill mentioned, >> uh the testing is a key. This is this is something new to us. U the industry is now moving to the variables like we all have variable devices. So this is a next layer of instead of having a push button fixed on a wall where maybe the students or or or teachers might be hiding somewhere
054this variable technology allows the the immediate response um from the appropriate stakeholders. >> So it's just for staff at the moment. The the ju >> just for staff at the moment. Yeah. Any other questions? >> Has this system sorry been used in other school districts? >> Pardon. >> Has this system been used in other school districts? >> It has uh not that many districts in the area, but there are districts uh in the Georgia area, Florida that have used this. So um are there I can't recall if there's anybody >> there are there are this is one of the company has a very high success ratio of uh of recent um mass shooting um they they have looks like they have a proven solution um and talking to the couple of uh uh references that
055they gave u the the folks were very happy. Um, but anything new, it takes a time. It's a change in the shift in the culture, but it it seems like it's going to be really really good to to to go into the right step um in terms of safety and security for our students and staff. >> And our our director of safety, Joe Trapoto, uh I think he did a lot of homework on this leading up the last couple of years leading up to this. So, um he he looked into it closely and this was the best solution I think in this. the little button that's on the like it's accessible through the plastic that's usually over the ID cards. >> Yeah, I believe so. Yep. >> Yes. >> But if it wasn't, we would
056adapt. But uh we've you know we've been assured that the the system they're proposing works is used elsewhere and uh is effective. >> Yeah. >> So do you mean that different people will be responsive to different badges? Like you said that if Eric goes off for example, you would get it. So there's people set up in each location that receive that signal. >> My understanding is it it actually has to do with the the number of times you press the badge determines the kind of signal. >> So in other words, if there's some minor problem and I'm calling for an administrator to help that that's not going to obviously go to the police. Um but it has to do with the the configuration of the badge and how you use the badge and the the
057button the the button on the badge. >> It it is connect it will be connected to the geoloccation. So if the high school uh is somebody from the high school is is pressing that that will go to appropriate channel for the high school and so forth for the different buildings. So the way the technologies they will blanket the area the the schools uh and then make sure that we do the testing and they emphasize and we learned that too that testing is going to be very critical for this before we start rolling it out to the to the bigger masses. >> Yeah. But we would dictate the tree the routing tree. >> Absolutely. Yes. Yes. For sure. >> Good point. >> Yeah. We're not going to if someone in the high school needs help, it's
058not going to go to it's going to go to the high school administration, not somebody else. Okay. >> Is it um like only active during the school day or outside the school hours? >> So, so this is very preliminary. Uh but event it will be during the school day the for the safety and but again I think once we start getting the our initial call these are all the things that we have on our docket to ask and then also bring it feedback to cabinet and Dr. Norman and then the appropriate team members to make sure that we are moving in the right direction. >> Yeah. In other words, we would have the capabilities to do that similar to how our systems are now. >> So, you can customize it. Okay. Right. And on the
059back end of that, so you can see the location of every person that's wearing an ID badge. >> Not necessarily us. Um I think they have a proprietary technology to track that. I mean what may be interesting is our kickoff meeting is October 15th and perhaps as we're a little deeper into it we could even do a presentation about it how how it's work you know how it works maybe we could have somebody from the company here >> sounds like a good idea >> who would really understand and be able to address all these questions >> great >> okay any other questions >> so in closing I just would like the board you and the public to know that I emphasize that these goals are written globally intentionally. So the next step obviously would would
060be for each cabinet member to take these globally written goals and form their own goals and they would be a little bit more technical and they would add more items and those goals would be formatted and we already have a matrix that spells out who's responsible when where and why. and from the cabinet goals, our principles and directors would then write, you know, their goals. And so everything would be nested in these district goals uh to help us accomplish what we're trying to do for the following year. So pending your questions, uh that concludes our presentation. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Next is the approval of the board goals. But before we uh ask for approval, I'd like to read them a little bit and summarize. Um the Monroe Woodbury Board of Education is committed
061to advancing the district's mission by fostering strong communication and partnerships, ensuring policies remain current and aligned with best practices, and supporting effective district leadership through the superintendent evaluation process. These goals and action steps provide a framework for accountability, continuous improvement, and collaboration with all stakeholders to enhance student learning and community engagement. Our first first goal of communication, the board of education will create and sustain collaborative partnerships that foster academic excellence, expand learning opportunities for all students, and promote a positive culture in our schools and community. Our second goal is policy review. The board of education will continue our policy review to ensure alignment of district policies with practice as well as applicable state and federal laws. And our third goal is superintendent evaluation. The board of education will continue our annual superintendent evaluation process to
062promote effective leadership and accountability within the district. The board recognizes that student achievement, district progress, and community satisfaction are closely connected to the superintendent's performance and that meaningful feedback is essential to success. Any questions? Is there a motion to approve the board goals? >> Sorry, Don. We skipped 8.1, I believe. >> Approval minutes. >> Oh, okay. Is there approval of the minutes from August 20 8 August 13, 2025? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. >> And the approval of the district goals as well. Is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. Second. >> All in favor? I. Motion carries. >> And approval of the board of education goals. Is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Motion carries. >> Okay. Next for
063personnel. Mr. Burgerer. >> Good evening. Again, uh I respectfully am requesting board approval for the personnel items listed under 10.1 through 10.17. >> Any questions? >> Is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. Second. >> All in favor? >> I I motion carries. >> And next we have U Mr. Cahill for business and financial. >> Thank you. I also respectfully request approval of business and financial items 11.1 through 11.6. >> Any questions? No. >> Is there a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. I. Motion carries. Approval of recommendations of the committee on special education. >> Motion second. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. Motion carries. And reports by board and central office. Dr. Hassa. >> So, uh, congratulations to everybody who was appointed tonight. Welcome to Diane Jilly to the
064table. Good to see you. Um, just a a big shout out to the summer school team and the high school team. Uh, we had summer school graduation. It was great to congratulate our summer graduates and and, you know, wish them well in in their pursuits moving forward. It was a beautiful day. I think we're we're two for two with graduations this year, which is fantastic. Um, it's awesome. If you've driven by the campus, the main campus over the last few days, you've seen our student athletes who are out and the buildings are in full swing. So, we're slowly getting prepared for the start of the school year. The buildings look great. Thank you to buildings and grounds. Um, thanks to the middle school team. They had their sixth grade orientation and new student orientation last
065week. It was great to see all the students back. The high schools welcoming their uh new students as well as the ninth graders. I think tomorrow is is the ninth grade and new student orientation. So, we're looking forward to having everybody back next week. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend. Thanks. >> Thank you, Dr. Morales. >> It's going to be difficult sitting after Dr. Hassler because he takes most of what we were going to talk about. Um, but again, you know, thank you to Mr. Conway and his staff for the summer school graduation ceremony. Um, great to see some our students graduating. Um, thank you to our administrators and our teachers who are in and have been relentless in making sure the buildings are ready to welcome our students and have a good evening. >> Thank
066you, Mr. Seriel. >> Um, I want to, you know, by the time we're here again, school will be in full swing next week. Um, I want to thank everyone tonight for all their presentations, uh, and the goals. Um it was very well done uh concise and to the point which we love. Um I just want to say may God bless all the students coming back to school and all the students who left for college or trades. Um >> okay Dr. Santle this was my first working meeting and it was very exciting. So I look forward to working with the various committees and the work that comes with it moving forward and I look forward to a successful academic year. >> And welcome to again to the to the deis or our new district clerk. >>
067Okay, Mr. Burgerer. >> Good evening. Uh I too wanted to congratulate our summer school graduates and we wish them certainly the best in their their future and you know their their pursuits. Um I want to welcome all of our new hires. The HR office has been buzzing uh to say the least, you know, these these past few weeks and and month getting ready for the new school year. But again, I mentioned last board meeting that the the administrators and and our directors, they've done an exceptional job recommending great candidates and it's given me a lot of joy meeting with the the candidates and seeing how excited they are to start the year and how eager they are to be part of Monroe Woodbury. So, uh we're doing a fantastic job and I'm looking forward to
068the start of the school year. I too was going to mention the same thing as Dr. Dr. Hassel that it's great driving down 32 and seeing all the student athletes out there because you know that means that school is right around the corner. So, we're looking forward to welcoming back our students and staff next week for another great school year. >> Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. >> Uh, thank you for the presentation tonight. Since we mentioned electric buses, I'll keep on say electric buses. We need to have a real plan because the permit plan will not work. So, I'm look forward to seeing that report on how it plays out and they tell us that the electric companies can't support and the buses are not available to buy and all those fun things. So, I can
069never let that go. So, I apologize in advance, but have a great night and safe summer. Look forward to the first day of school. >> Dr. Vas, >> so big shout out to summer school admin team and congratulations to our summer school graduates. um and technology. Uh we're getting ready uh just a few last minute things uh that wrapping it up. We have done uh some major projects upgrading the wireless access points in our middle school and high school improvising connectivity. Um work on increasing the smart panels uh and updating them as well as rolling out the new IMAX as a part of our equipment replacement plan. So we are ready to welcome our students and staff next week. >> Thank you Mr. T. >> Thank you. So I just want to make one comment
070about the districtwide safety plan. So there was a I'd say a lastm minute change to the regulations. It was like mid August which require us to include um procedures related to AEDs in the emergency response plans which are the building plans and our district-wide plan. So although we we went through the process which is to present the district-wide plan public document, I think we did that on July 23rd and then have a 30-day comment period. We post that to the website and then you adopt. We're going to have to go through the process again because of this uh last minute regulatory change. We'll have to do that by January 1. So if in the next few months we go through this process again, that's why you're we're required to have a district-wide plan in place
071by September 1st. So we just decided to adopt what we had uh you know on or about July 23rd and you know we'll make the adjustment in the near future. So I uh I also like to thank our custodians. I echo what others have said, our custodians and buildings ground staff for the work they did over the summer. We got a lot accomplished and I think uh we're ready to go and things look good. So, um that's good news. Thank you to them. And I'd just like to generally wish our students and staff and families uh and parents, [snorts] you know, all the best in the new school year. And with that, I hope everyone has a nice evening. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thanks for having me. Um, thank you to all the presenters
072tonight and have a good afternoon. >> So, I echo all the sentiments that have been expressed already, but as we wrap up the final days of summer, I too want to take a moment to share a few updates and extend my gratitude to everyone who has been working so hard behind the scenes. And for those of you that came out tonight, thank you. On Monday, August 25th, we have the distraction-free learning virtual crusader chat where we had about 20 parents join district and building leaders for conversation about the new law. We provided an overview and responded to questions from the community. For those who couldn't attend, our website has been updated with a detailed question and answer organized by topic. Over the summer, our teams have been hard at work preparing our buildings and grounds.
073From the construction of new vest views to repaved and freshly lined parking lots, our schools are ready to receive students. Hallways shine, classrooms are refreshed, and all that's missing is the vibrant energy of our students. I'm also looking forward to our annual opening day, the one day each year when all district employees gather in one space. It's a very powerful reminder of the the passion and dedication that drives everything we do for our students. Wishing you and your families a relaxing and joyful Labor Day weekend. Take time to rest and recharge. Thank you and have a wonderful evening. >> Thank you. I just want to comment on the I think Patrick you said 176 air conditioning units were installed and that that's a lofty uh number. So thank you to our our staff that that
074did all that work. Um I am also this is a very exciting time of year that I look forward to um each summer especially the uh the heat index law that will now provide you know the the comfort for our staff and our students to to learn in a better environment and for the distraction-free learning um initiative that's law that's going to be happening soon. And I'm excited to work with um our new district clerk and our new student board representative Zoe who will be joining us next meeting. And just a quick note that you know some of our board members are unable to be here tonight due to you know some schedule conflicts but we are excited to see you again in a few weeks and uh on opening day and Tuesday. So with
075that is there a motion to adjurnn? Motion >> second. All in favor? >> Motion carries. Meeting adjourned.