September 9, 2025 - Board of Education Meeting

001Joseph Sterbank: Oh, shit. Joseph Sterbank: We'll grab him. Joseph Sterbank: I have no problem being random. Joseph Sterbank: Good. Joseph Sterbank: We're ready when you guys are now. Are everyone logged in? Joseph Sterbank: Fair. Joseph Sterbank: Everyone feast in for a pledge? Joseph Sterbank: to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you. Joseph Sterbank: Okay, B1, may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the August 26, 2025 Board of Education meeting as presented? So moved. Joseph Sterbank: Spark. Joseph Sterbank: Questions, comments, concerns? Joseph Sterbank: All those in favor? Aye. Joseph Sterbank: Opposed? Joseph Sterbank: Staying? Joseph Sterbank: Motion carries, 5-0. Joseph Sterbank: May I have a recommendation? Motion to… sorry, motion to approve Kelly Horst as school bus driver, effective

0029-9-2025, as presented. So moved. Joseph Sterbank: Second. Joseph Sterbank: Questions, comments, concerns? Joseph Sterbank: All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Joseph Sterbank: Opposed? Sayed. Joseph Sterbank: Motion carries. 5-0. Joseph Sterbank: May I have a motion to approve Diane Abbott as school nurse, with an effective date to be determined? Joseph Sterbank: So moved. Joseph Sterbank: Second. Joseph Sterbank: Questions, comments, concerns? Joseph Sterbank: All those in favor? Aye. Joseph Sterbank: Opposed? Joseph Sterbank: A thing? Joseph Sterbank: Nate, did you vote? Joseph Sterbank: Yeah, okay. Motion carries. No, no, it's fine. Motion carries 6-0. Joseph Sterbank: Awesome, congratulations. Joseph Sterbank: Motion to grant Evan Masker permanent civil service status as Custodian Worker 1, effective 9-10-2025. Joseph Sterbank: So moved. Joseph Sterbank: Second. Joseph Sterbank: Questions, comments, concerns? Joseph Sterbank: All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Joseph Sterbank:

003Same. Joseph Sterbank: Motion carries. Zero. Joseph Sterbank: Sounds good. Okay. Joseph Sterbank: Okay, next time. Joseph Sterbank: Motion to grant Randy Harmona permanent civil service status as custodian to effective 10-15-2025. So moved. Joseph Sterbank: Question? Sorry, Jamie, second? Joseph Sterbank: Questions, comments, concerns? Joseph Sterbank: All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Joseph Sterbank: Same. Motion carries 6-0. Joseph Sterbank: Alright, B… Sorry, I have to scroll down. D1… Annual Audit Report. Joseph Sterbank: But… Joseph Sterbank: Good evening, folks. I, met with the audit committee, before the board meeting this evening, went over the highlights of the financial operations for the 24-35 fiscal year. Joe has ended out on the Joseph Sterbank: We're just gonna film through this pretty quick, really just high-level, facts and figures for the 2025 operations for the year. The general fund total fund

004balance, had to increase, like, just over a million dollars in 2020. Joseph Sterbank: So that's, you know, a positive, an increase in flood balance there versus a colossal horse. Joseph Sterbank: Oh. Joseph Sterbank: Look at that, you know, it was driven, there was a $380,000 surplus on the revenue side of the budget, a $2.2 million surplus on the expense side of the budget, but that was offset by the district appropriating fund balance in reserves of $1.80,000. Joseph Sterbank: Through the budget process, so that's why it was surpluses. Joseph Sterbank: appear larger than what the total increase of fund balance was. The district utilized just about $550,000 in reserve, fund for the year, and was able to refund approximately $1.1 million in the reserves. Joseph Sterbank: Largely, increasing the new capital preserve that the district voters

005approve, and liability reserve. Joseph Sterbank: Oh. Joseph Sterbank: The special aid fund, the district had about $1.2 million in, bringing to that losing expenditures, including spending down the last $257,000 stimulus funding. Joseph Sterbank: This has all been spent now, so we're anticipating funds, decreasing in activity as we get into 25, 26. Joseph Sterbank: at the Capital Projects Fund. Joseph Sterbank: District spent just under $2 million in capital improvements and investments, largely, $1.25 million was a large $15 million project that began in 2024. Spent another $500,000 on bus purchases in 2025. Joseph Sterbank: You know, for most of the capital activity. Joseph Sterbank: The next highlight here, we just talked about the statement of net position, where we combine all of those district funds into a single column. The total net position is $30 million this

006year. That includes Joseph Sterbank: the long-term assets of the district, offset by the debts that are owed on them. You know, so you have in here the investment capital assets of $27.5 million. So that position is sitting. Joseph Sterbank: The value of the capital assets that the trip has. Joseph Sterbank: Once again, there is a deficit on the restricted net position of 1.5 years, and it was a result of the post-employment benefits that the district offers to IS-based retirees. Joseph Sterbank: It's tied like that. Nothing to be too concerned about, that's pretty common in school districts. Joseph Sterbank: In New York State, and then the last… Joseph Sterbank: comment I had, you know, we also prepare a management comment letter if we identify any internal deficiencies, internal controls, systems operations, or other things like that.

007We did not identify any. Joseph Sterbank: efficiencies and internal control that we recorded in our management letter this year. So that's, obviously a very positive thing. I give kudos to your, business office staff. An effective and efficient, office. Joseph Sterbank: Over there, give us a way to speak. Joseph Sterbank: There have been procedures, policies that the district has in place. Joseph Sterbank: You know, so I thought that was a very, very brief overview of the, financial operations for the year. Joseph Sterbank: like I said, I had a little more in-depth conversation with the audit today before this meeting tonight, but do folks have any, other questions for me or anything about, Joseph Sterbank: The audit, or… I think they have a typical bed. Joseph Sterbank: Alright, well, thank you very much for your time and

008the opportunity to serve the district. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you, Mike. Safe drive home. Joseph Sterbank: Superintendent's report. Joseph Sterbank: Just for information, we do this periodically throughout the year, is, the student enrollment report is attached. Joseph Sterbank: And you can see the breakdown, Joseph Sterbank: Within that, of just where we landed with, pre-K, kindergarten through 12th grade, out-of-district placements, as well as in-district with… which includes homeschool, something as well, too. Joseph Sterbank: So, the general population right now, 745 within the district. Last year, on Beds Day, which is, the first part of October, we were 728, and this was as of Joseph Sterbank: September 5th. Joseph Sterbank: But just periodically, I'll share this with you, with what our enrollments look like, and, for staffing and going forward. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you. Yep. Joseph Sterbank: If

009you remember, we had predicted pre-K, closer to 40. Joseph Sterbank: And it's down about 10 or 11 students. I think we originally had 38. Joseph Sterbank: One of the issues that we had with Pre-K is our, before and after school program provider. Joseph Sterbank: could not staff, a pre-K room. If you remember from last year, we had several times where they were unable to staff both of the rooms. Joseph Sterbank: And the company that we used before to do the before and after school program, when we switched to the pre-K program, they were unwilling to take on an adding a pre-K classroom, so that's when we went with the Healthy Kids program and made the switch. Joseph Sterbank: And this year, they were unable to staff that room. So… and we know that that impacted

010some of the parents as well. Joseph Sterbank: Other than that, I'll let the numbers speak for themselves, unless you have any questions on that. Joseph Sterbank: The car report is attached. 244397: The moment you say things that you can never take back, and words have a lot more meaning when someone is very heated. 244397: Can't take them back. 244397: concept. Joseph Sterbank: Sure, I just… 244397: I want to get it off my chest. Joseph Sterbank: Actually, huh? 244397: a smile. Joseph Sterbank: unplugged quickly. Joseph Sterbank: You don't speak, man. Joseph Sterbank: You know what? Joseph Sterbank: Jesus took the conference call. Interest. Yeah, it says this, but… So the car report's there if you have any questions. We've been trying to send those out on every Friday to the board. Joseph Sterbank: The TA position,

011at Wheeler, we didn't have it in time for this board meeting. When we get it at the next board meeting. We have a person who's subbing in the position that'll take it on as a full-time position. Joseph Sterbank: Shane and, Joe are working on the grounds position to fill that, and Joseph Sterbank: Palin is working on, at Rockwell, is filling the, lunch position. Joseph Sterbank: with Bill the Nurse tonight, congratulations, Diana. Welcome to OCS. Joseph Sterbank: Just for information, I put on here for the ex-officio student board members, information for their welcome on September 17th, 8.15 to 945. Joseph Sterbank: Something that we confirmed today with the student board members, and also emailed the board about it, is, there'll be a training on Joseph Sterbank: the 27th, right? 27th in the morning at BOCES by

012CNY School Boards Association that we'll be going to. Joseph Sterbank: If there's any board members who want to attend with us, you're welcome to, go as well. Joseph Sterbank: So, the… any questions on the training for the board members? Joseph Sterbank: I left on the change order resolution. Joseph Sterbank: After a few series of emails and then a conversation with, Mr. Calbasa, I didn't, I left it in executive session. There was no, action for it tonight. It was just for discussion. Joseph Sterbank: But other than that, in terms of the discussion on that, in terms of the merits of the change orders, Joseph Sterbank: And the process is, you know, what we're looking at. Joseph Sterbank: Yeah, did you want to just… Joseph Sterbank: Mention, the legal aspects of why that would be… Joseph Sterbank:

013Why it's being recommended, from, the attorneys, the construction managers, is to make sure we move the process along in the project. This project hasn't been overly technical in the first phase. The next phase is going to get more technical. Joseph Sterbank: It doesn't mean that the board won't have transparency on the change orders. They'll be able to still see all of the action going forward. It would just set a limit, and most of the change order resolutions are set based upon the size of the project. Joseph Sterbank: And, so this is what I had put together, last week, leading up to our board agenda meeting, and then had planned on Joseph Sterbank: Sharing with the whole board through email, and then, you know, having a discussion tonight. Joseph Sterbank: the… There could be a, like,

014a legal reason, too, with, like, contractors, like, Joseph Sterbank: If, for some reason, if… if a project was… Delayed, or, like, we… Joseph Sterbank: Like, if… if the amount was over… Joseph Sterbank: a certain dollar amount in needed board approval, then… Joseph Sterbank: you have something to show the contractor that… That has to pause. It has to pause, it needs board approval. Yep. Joseph Sterbank: That you have legs to stand on, in a sense, for, like, a legal reason. They won't… they will have less cause for coming after us if we're delaying them getting their work done in time. Joseph Sterbank: In a timely manner. So that's one reason. And I… can I back up, Mike? So a little bit of this was we wanted more justification from the contractors and the construction managers in

015terms of how they were determining their price. Joseph Sterbank: on certain items. Dominique Jones: People are wild. Joseph Sterbank: So, Joseph Sterbank: we've been working through a process that we started, within the Phase 1 project that had already started when we started the new school year on July 1, because we had already started the project. Joseph Sterbank: And with, projects that have a more comprehensive scope than Phase 1 has. Joseph Sterbank: you know, providing that precise itemized description and those change orders will help us with that, but then expedite… because we're going to expedite ones that already happened. So one of the examples that I shared, Joseph Sterbank: that I have shared before is we have change orders that are completed right now. The work is done, because their, contractors' work except for punch lists,

016needing to be done before school started. There's still change orders rolling in. Joseph Sterbank: So that was a piece in terms of cleaning up the paperwork, and giving that, giving that resolution a look. Joseph Sterbank: To see if that makes sense, not just for this phase, but for the next phase. And as I said in my email, I can do it either way. It's just a matter of the timeliness and how we get through the next phase, which is close to 10 or 11 million out of the 15 million. And it's going to be much more complicated. Joseph Sterbank: Because we're touching both of the kitchens and the industrial arts building. Joseph Sterbank: I… I guess, I mean, that's the other thing I wanted to touch on, is we're approving change orders that the work

017has already happened. Joseph Sterbank: So it's like… In a way, there's no point of us… Joseph Sterbank: approving the change orders in a way, if… I mean, if we don't approve them, what does that mean? Meaningless if they agree on it. It's meaningless. Yeah. Well, it's actually not meaningless. Joseph Sterbank: What does it mean if we disapprove it? If you read into any construction contract. Joseph Sterbank: The contractor takes it upon themselves Joseph Sterbank: If they complete work without a signed change order. Joseph Sterbank: So, I'll just put in here that I disagree with this resolution. I told you that, Rob. Joseph Sterbank: And the problem is, the… Since I started this role in July. Joseph Sterbank: And I requested to see these change orders since they… Joseph Sterbank: Didn't seem to be really looked

018at very deeply. Joseph Sterbank: The issues aren't so much with the work that's being done. The issues are in the change orders themselves, the paperwork side of it. Joseph Sterbank: The three that I sent you this afternoon. Joseph Sterbank: 3 similar change orders by the same contractor, similar amounts of time, time and materials, and they couldn't charge the same labor rate from one to the next to the next. Joseph Sterbank: If nobody else can do the simple math. Joseph Sterbank: Before that thing gets signed, we get a problem. Joseph Sterbank: I mean, it's 10 seconds on a calculator to do that math. Joseph Sterbank: But it doesn't seem like it was done, since they've already been signed off on. Now, they're not huge dollars. Joseph Sterbank: But, when they're also charging 20 to 40%. Joseph

019Sterbank: Of each of them, for coordination of 2-4 hours worth of work. Joseph Sterbank: I have a problem with that. And I think that anybody sitting at these tables Joseph Sterbank: Should have a problem with that, if that's what you saw at your home. Joseph Sterbank: If you were having your kitchen remodeled and somebody gave you that bill, I would hope that you would complain about it. Joseph Sterbank: So, one of the things from that series of emails today, and those haven't been signed off by the district, just a clarification, I have not signed off on those. Joseph Sterbank: Those were signed off by the architect and the construction manager, and since that exchange of email, I've asked for, the prevailing rates, so the board can see what the prevailing rates are, because when we,

020when we torque back with questions of our own before you see them. Joseph Sterbank: because they don't… they don't go unanswered, and they're… they're… they don't have just unfathered access to our, tax dollars. Joseph Sterbank: We're asking questions, and there's a change order I set that I'll get to later, that I wanted an architectural stamp on, and that's going to cost more money, and I think it's worth the district's while. Joseph Sterbank: So I've asked our construction managers to provide us with a prevailing wage sheet, that they go off of, where they start with how they do their budget, and then they will be able to explain those much better than I am. That's their profession. So, typically, so the, Joseph Sterbank: there was a, I don't know, 3 or 4 that came through, like,

021a week ago. One page. Joseph Sterbank: No backup whatsoever. Joseph Sterbank: The three, from today. Joseph Sterbank: had one page of backup. It was a T&M sheet, okay, which is fine, but… Joseph Sterbank: If you're doing schoolwork in the state of New York. Joseph Sterbank: You know darn well that the backup to those things needs to include everything. Joseph Sterbank: They should have wage rate sheets already ready to go. Joseph Sterbank: They have them. I think they have them. I can look… I can look them up online if I want to. I can tell you that, you know, $104.79 an hour is not carpenter's wage. Joseph Sterbank: So… Yeah, I got a problem with it. Joseph Sterbank: And I have a problem. You shouldn't, Jason. I'm just trying to provide you with the information. I

022understand that, but I also have dinner with this question about delays. Joseph Sterbank: There's been no delays at this point. Joseph Sterbank: And for them to… for a contractor to come in and say, well, I'm charging you an extra whatever because you delayed my change order. Joseph Sterbank: They better have a really good reason, or they're not gonna win that fight. Joseph Sterbank: But I just… I don't see the need for this resolution. If things get so deep. Joseph Sterbank: That we need to do something like that, then we bring it up later on. Joseph Sterbank: But at this point, I don't see that. Joseph Sterbank: What's that? Joseph Sterbank: So I sent, I sent out another one. They had to do an access hole to the, chimneys to replace the, the liner and the

023flue. Joseph Sterbank: They had to cut a hole. It wasn't in the original design of the design. We went round and round, and I asked for them for a certification from Engineer, because they cut a 28-inch hole. Joseph Sterbank: In the bottom of the chimney, which is about 16 inches thick of concrete. Joseph Sterbank: And then we replaced it with a steel ring, and I said the district wasn't comfortable replacing that with a steel ring without an engineer's certification. If that was the case, we would just want the hole filled back in. Joseph Sterbank: So we got that, and they're working up a price. Even though that wasn't in the original design, in the scope, it was something that I felt was important for the district's protection on a Joseph Sterbank: you know, almost a

02490-year-old chimney that, is about 70 feet tall, so… Joseph Sterbank: We sent that out to the Facilities Committee today. Joseph Sterbank: And we can have… Joseph Sterbank: The construction managers here, if that's what the board desires. Joseph Sterbank: Is your concern that if we leave it to the Facilities Committee of having to review everything, that it's going to hold up the work because the Facilities Committee has to meet? Is that… am I understanding that correctly? Joseph Sterbank: It's not so much… like, the concern that I have is, they've been getting verbal go-aheads to get the project done before school started, before the board could act on the resolution. Right, right. That's my concern. Joseph Sterbank: The other thing is, too, that the Facilities Committee Joseph Sterbank: can't act on behalf of the board and make

025a decision. Right. That's why… Joseph Sterbank: committees don't have a quorum. Right. They can't vote in place of the board. Like, when we approve change orders here. Joseph Sterbank: we… we have to have four or more. Legally, we have to approve the change orders, as is, as a board with a quorum. Yes. Well, there's… there's… well, there… I mean, it's not as simple as that, as like Jason said, is because, you know, the board… the board, or we could reject it before it even gets here. Like, there's been change orders that you guys have never seen, because they haven't made it past the architect or the construction manager. Joseph Sterbank: Or, you know, one of the, Joe or Shane or I. Joseph Sterbank: So you're wanting to put a cap… a cap on so that

026you can approve smaller dollar amount change orders without the approval of Joseph Sterbank: the Facilities Committee or the board as a whole? The whole purpose of the resolution is… Joseph Sterbank: To… when it comes to the board. Joseph Sterbank: Is to notify the board of, like, a really big change order. Joseph Sterbank: that… it… it… it garners, like, our big attention. Right, right. So… for approval. Right. Joseph Sterbank: But before that. Joseph Sterbank: everything would still run through the Facilities Committee? Yes. We want it to run through the Facilities Committee in order to Joseph Sterbank: Tax and balance, it's just… right. So, are you feeling that the Facilities Committee should have… should have to look at every dollar amount? Joseph Sterbank: Yes. Okay. And I'll tell you why. The reason isn't necessarily Joseph Sterbank: to

027see every $100 that gets spent. Right. Joseph Sterbank: The reason is mostly because of… since July, and I've reviewed all of these, there's zero backup, there's zero consistency, there's nothing that shows any kind of Joseph Sterbank: You know, somebody really staying on top of it, like I said about the 3 from today. Joseph Sterbank: Those got approved by… the CM, and the architect. Joseph Sterbank: So that tells me that our CM and an architect aren't pulling out a calculator. Joseph Sterbank: to divide this by 3 hours to figure out what the hourly rate was, and see if it was right. I did those calculations before, if those were sent to you. It's a 105.72, I believe, is the specific number, and it's just… there's a rounding on a couple of them, so you might get

028a little bit of a variance. Joseph Sterbank: But they all chose not to, that is, their CDMs. Joseph Sterbank: wage rate sheet. So we are checking… I just wanted to clarify that what's coming forward that hasn't come to the board are only proposals. They've never been change order packets. So the only ones that have come to the board, I think we have had a total of, like, 7 or 8, those are the change order packets. So things are… it's… Joseph Sterbank: Can we proceed, I think is what the ask is for RCM. Joseph Sterbank: on these proposals, so there is not enough detail, we agree, and we are always on them about that, but just the one page that's coming, I understand that that isn't enough detail. I'm not disagreeing. Oh, the three that were

029today were $105.64 an hour, $105.75 an hour, and $105.82 an hour. Joseph Sterbank: You can bill for 3 cents. Joseph Sterbank: You can bill for 18 cents. You don't have to bill 00 cents. Joseph Sterbank: The wage rate is the wage rate. Joseph Sterbank: I'm pretty sure New York State would say that. I'm pretty sure every union would say that. Joseph Sterbank: So, the wage rate is the wage rate, whether it comes out to a nice, round, even number or not. Joseph Sterbank: And that's the way it should be ended. Joseph Sterbank: Mike, you just said on here that it was going to go through the Facilities Committee, then with Rob. Where does it say on this, draft here that that's what it's going to be, and it doesn't just give carte blanche to approve

030it up to $15,000? Joseph Sterbank: Good point, it doesn't say, and we should put that in there, because we don't want to change what we're doing now. Right. We want the Facilities Committee to still review things and catch these things. We want the Facilities Committee to advise. Joseph Sterbank: And to help. Joseph Sterbank: with catching these things, because we have someone here that has a lot of knowledge that can help. Yep. And we want… we want to be able to utilize that, right? Joseph Sterbank: But it doesn't make sense to bring all these change orders to the board for us to approve when they've already happened. Joseph Sterbank: And when it just doesn't make sense, and it's something that's, like, $5,000, and all this other stuff, I mean, it's the same with the banking transactions.

031When it's under $5,000, we don't see it. Joseph Sterbank: So, can we add in here where, paragraph 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, where it says, now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education hereby grants the superintendent of schools and or the business administrator the authority, upon consulting with the Facilities Committee, something like that? Joseph Sterbank: to review and approve? Is that, like, is that… is that agreeable to everyone? We can ask. I'm not an attorney. Okay. I'd like to see what the attorney says. Yeah. That makes you… I mean, I'm perfectly fine with that, and I… Joseph Sterbank: I think that's great that the Facilities Committee would be involved in helping, because we have that expertise in… Right. Joseph Sterbank: And as long as it's something that can be… that Jason in particular,

032can respond to via email quickly, and it's not something where you have to, like, set up a whole… That's all it's been from day one. We have not had one meeting to do that, really. Joseph Sterbank: Okay. And, you know, everything isn't going to be perfect, right? You know, there's going to be times where we have to let things go if things aren't exact to what we need and want, and Joseph Sterbank: And we… we might have to let something go to say, okay. Joseph Sterbank: we gotta get this done, right? We can't hold it up, but then there's other things we can push back on and say, no, this… Joseph Sterbank: We gotta have this ready. Or justification. It depends on what we're letting go, but… Right, exactly. I would like to see this

033brought back with that change if the lawyers will do it. I wasn't proposing it for today's meeting, it was just a discussion. And, you know, the piece is, it goes back to where I think we're… there's a lot of points, we're all on the same page. We want a detailed justification for each of the change orders. Joseph Sterbank: We want a comprehensive scope of work and what they're defining. It's what we've been working on this summer with, a new… Joseph Sterbank: a new architect. Joseph Sterbank: We've worked with this construction manager before. We want a transparent cost breakdown. A change order resolution is not to hide things. A change order resolution is to just keep things moving along on an expedient schedule so we can get things done on time. The financial breakdowns will come

034as they're submitted. Joseph Sterbank: To the board on change orders they approve, and they all… all the change orders also have to go to State Ed and pass their approval, too, as well. Joseph Sterbank: I think we need to reinforce with the CM Joseph Sterbank: to reinforce to the GC and all the subs, primes, whatever they are. Joseph Sterbank: About moving forward with work without a signed change order. Joseph Sterbank: They are taking their own. Joseph Sterbank: That… Joseph Sterbank: Standard procedure. I think the difference in the pa… from now and the past is you have somebody on here that does this for a living that maybe you didn't necessarily have before, so this could be a big asset for you, you know, if there's certain… I don't know anything about this stuff, but he

035does, so I would kind of look for him to… It's like Jamie's a fireman. It's a wrong example for me, but I'm not… like, yeah, maybe I would ask him first about it. Joseph Sterbank: farming, also, really. That's something you don't do. Now, the other thing, too, is, I mean, there's a set dollar amount that… Joseph Sterbank: From what we've learned is usually in there based on, like, the total overall scope of the project. Joseph Sterbank: And that's… it's really also what we feel comfortable with. Joseph Sterbank: And the main question is. Joseph Sterbank: as a board, where… what dollar amount do we, as an overall board, want to get notified of a big change order that needs the overall board approval? I've done some checking into this, and you've roughly been $10,000 to $15,000

036in other districts. Joseph Sterbank: I'm fine with it if you two, or as the Facilities Committee, are good with that order, that what you have in… Yeah, I think most of them have been under 10 right now. Right now, everything's been pretty much under, like, before. Joseph Sterbank: under 4. Yeah, the only… the only $10,000 change orders are credits, and we're getting money back, and we got 2 of those. And even those didn't have a lot of detail, which we've been working on. Joseph Sterbank: So I would think the dollar amount is okay, as long as you guys on the committee approve that it's gonna go. Joseph Sterbank: I agree. I'm fine with it. I think this is good if I could make a case for lowering it to 10 if other people felt that

037way. Joseph Sterbank: But… Joseph Sterbank: And as… and I've said in my email, I'm fine with working at it with whatever way we've done, whatever way we decide. It's just a matter of making sure we keep the process when we hit, second semester this year with Phase 2. Joseph Sterbank: that it's going to be a lot broader and in-depth scope when we start the renovations on the Industrial Arts Building. Joseph Sterbank: which will be second semester, and then the two boiler rooms at Rock… the boiler room at Rockwell, and the boiler room at Wheeler. And we're probably gonna have different contractors, too. Joseph Sterbank: Yeah, so… We're… so, in a way, we're doing our work now, we're setting up a precedence Joseph Sterbank: Of what we're gonna be doing. Joseph Sterbank: In Phase 2. Joseph

038Sterbank: That's the way I look at it. We do, we do have a facilities committee meeting tomorrow, Joseph Sterbank: to talk about, the third boiler at the Junior Senior High School, and what to do with that. The third one isn't installed yet. We're going to discuss that tomorrow night. Joseph Sterbank: With the people from Fulton Boilers and the installers. Joseph Sterbank: and make a final recommendation to the board on the direction we're going to head with that. But, you know, all… all of the… all of these pieces Joseph Sterbank: you know, I just want to reiterate, in terms of the transparency piece, this is taxpayer dollar, this is my taxpayer dollar. I want to be the most, fiscally responsible as I can, and like, you know, Jason said, he's arguing with the, Joseph Sterbank: the

039project manager about the dollar amounts. I don't know the dollar amounts. So, my question back to them is, give me a breakdown sheet of the hourly rates. Joseph Sterbank: You know, like, I see that in our architectural contract, like, if there's extra work, that's spelled out right clearly, and that's easy to find, but these other sheets, if you're not a construction manager, you don't have those right on here. Joseph Sterbank: So… Joseph Sterbank: So we've been, we've been, you know, over the summer, we've been working on making sure, and sometimes it's a back and forth, as Jason has spoken to, is a detailed justification, a comprehensive scope of work, a transparent cost breakdown, an impact on the schedule, and review and recommendations from the project manager, and then a board presentation when needed, and approval.

040Joseph Sterbank: So, it's just… Joseph Sterbank: Do you guys deal with the Director of Facilities on these things as well? Is he involved with you guys in the Facilities Committee? Shane? Yeah. Yes, he is. Okay. Shane also attends all of the, construction meetings. Joseph Sterbank: So, just as a… A wrap-up on this. Joseph Sterbank: Current labor rate for journeyman-level carpenter, Onondaga County, $31.35 an hour, $21.87 an hour in Benny's, so a total of $53.2 an hour. Joseph Sterbank: But you can see why I question that. Joseph Sterbank: Big difference. Joseph Sterbank: Yeah, double. Joseph Sterbank: And that's… that's me with a 30-second Google look. Right, well, and I'll be interested to see what the construction manager sends us, because he said he was going to send that this afternoon. That's right there. Joseph Sterbank: Right

041there. Okay. Yeah, it's on a one-liner. Joseph Sterbank: That's the… that's the breakdown of radar. Joseph Sterbank: Okay, Jason. Joseph Sterbank: I'd like to know how he gets a $52.99 wage rate. Joseph Sterbank: Bless it, we can ask them tomorrow. Because I don't know where, you know… I won't. No, I know you will, and I think too. I will, too. Joseph Sterbank: So are we good so far to… I mean, we can talk more… Joseph Sterbank: Well, facilities meets tomorrow. Yeah, and then we'll see what Rob sends to us with, edits. Yeah. Yep. Okay. Joseph Sterbank: Sounds great. Anything else? No, that's all I have, unless there's other questions from the board. Okay. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you. Oh, I did want to talk about the donation. It wasn't on my list. Mr. Prabtree's donating another

042$10,000 to the school district. We had a couple different ideas come up. Joseph Sterbank: and this one, the first idea, he liked the most, and we have plans to move the dumpster. It's next to Wheeler, across the driveway on the other side, to move that dumpster across over into the lawn on another pad. Joseph Sterbank: And then leave that pad there, and the idea was to build a gazebo on that pad where the dumpster is. Joseph Sterbank: for families and students and staff to use on sunny days or rainy days when their kids are playing out there. And Mr. Crabtree said he loved that idea for the donation of his money, so… Joseph Sterbank: The other one was also a good idea, was a, Joseph Sterbank: a book vending machine, that costs about $6,500. The

043Booster Club started, fundraising last year at Wheeler. They raised between $1,000 and $1,500. That was the other suggestion that come up. Joseph Sterbank: And, you know, always being polite to our, donors. I always give them a preference of what they prefer their money to go to, so… Joseph Sterbank: The custodial staff okay moving the dumpsters across the parking lot, because they're the ones moving the stuff over there. Yeah. Are they good with that? Joseph Sterbank: It's about 45 extra feet. Joseph Sterbank: We were looking at more for the family impact on the families than, on the custodians. Joseph Sterbank: They do have carts that they can wheel things. I'm sure someone won't be happy with it, Eric, because they'll have to, you know, push the cart a little bit farther. But, I did not consult

044them. Joseph Sterbank: Nope. Joseph Sterbank: But we thought the pad in itself was the initial discussion, is moving the dumpsters away from the playground, and then… and then the idea came up with a Zeebo and a picnic table underneath. We thought that would be available for families to enjoy almost all year round. Joseph Sterbank: How will that affect parking? Joseph Sterbank: It won't? It won't? No. No, there's no parking in that location right there now. Joseph Sterbank: But there's some design… design things that Jason and I had talked about tonight after the, audit committee meeting that he's familiar with. Joseph Sterbank: that we need to take into consideration and, look at controlling costs. One of the things that, I discussed this afternoon was with Mr. Mumford, is if the Intro to Carpentry class that our

045teacher teaches, or the BOCES Construction Trades class can actually build it and have it be more of a community project. Joseph Sterbank: Then, a project that we, farm out to a contractor. Joseph Sterbank: And having a learning experience, is really where I'm headed with it. So, but we still have to, Joseph Sterbank: any… any type of building that we put on school grounds has to pass, a state aid inspection, or state ed inspection. Even, like, the avertis Joseph Sterbank: Those are a perfect example. We can put a verdi on, but we have to have state ad approval. We have to have an architectural firm stamp it with their approval. Joseph Sterbank: You know, it drives up the cost. Joseph Sterbank: You know, it drives up the cuts, so… Joseph Sterbank: pending your questions, that's all

046you have, and what I plan on doing with the gazebo is I'm going to explore this idea more with our class here, Intro to Construction class that our ag teacher teaches. Joseph Sterbank: And then look at the BOCES option, and then, down the road, we'll come back with plans of what, you know, what would potential… what it would… what would it look like. Joseph Sterbank: You know, designs and stuff. Joseph Sterbank: Sounds good. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you. Yep, you're welcome. Joseph Sterbank: Administrative staff reports. For NICLAC, the fee for the period was 4.1336%. The district returned $32,000, $5,000 of which, it's returned back to general funds through interest. We're coming in at the end of summer, so… Joseph Sterbank: it gets tighter, obviously. So, as revenue comes in, it really helps with our interests, Joseph

047Sterbank: It's been fantastic in supporting the budget. Joseph Sterbank: We're deep into state aid forms now. That's the big ticket item for the rest of September. Now that the 24-25 audit is actually complete, we can wrap up 24-25, what we listed 25 in 25-26, and I received the first document from Questar State Aid Planning for the 26-27 budget. So that binder got created today, the first document that came in. It's never good news that way. Joseph Sterbank: ERS percentage increased another percent, just one of those. Joseph Sterbank: Every item, it always seems like a decision. Joseph Sterbank: Fiscal cliff is always pending, but, you know, we keep on pushing through, and business office has been doing a great job. Joseph Sterbank: Sounds good. Okay. Joseph Sterbank: Maintenance? Joseph Sterbank: Alright, for ground maintenance, maintenance is

048typically on work orders, as they always are. Joseph Sterbank: between, you know, school started now, you know, everything was great. They're just working on odds and ends, and PMs at the time right now. On grounds. They've also been helping out grounds. Joseph Sterbank: I would… I urge for that, you know. Joseph Sterbank: We're keeping up with everything. Other big thing we did was, we had an issue with saving life. Joseph Sterbank: It was backed our reader in there. Company warrantied that, so got that all taken care of under a great day. Joseph Sterbank: That's where we're at with that. Joseph Sterbank: Any questions? Joseph Sterbank: Transportation? Joseph Sterbank: several years for latency. So. Joseph Sterbank: Back to school, opening went very smooth. We had very few phone calls that morning. It was great, but weren't

049missing kids or missed some roads. Did not have any phone calls from charitable parents, so consider that a great opening. Times are starting to smooth out. Joseph Sterbank: A lot of students are ready to slowing down a little bit, so hopefully we're getting them all on the roots, getting the regularity in, parents can predict how we're gonna be there in the morning, we're gonna be there in the afternoons. Joseph Sterbank: Departures from Wheeler to the high school have been going very smooth. Joseph Sterbank: Just about time out of there. Rockwell's getting earlier every day. Understandable for the little things. They're brand new to all of this, so… they're learning where the bus is parked, what bus to get on. Joseph Sterbank: They have a… Great. Joseph Sterbank: that this week, the little bus that was

050ordered that we weren't anticipating until November or December at the earliest actually got delivered. So, that's in our possession, so… Joseph Sterbank: That was a beautiful thing that they added to the fleet. We were surprised to see that come in. Joseph Sterbank: We have a meeting scheduled this week, coming up with our salespeople from New York Bus to discuss buses that we're going to be looking to purchase for next year. Joseph Sterbank: Staying on our feet schedule, or, you know, the big buses than a little bus. Joseph Sterbank: We do get those quotes, we'll also be doing matching quotes for electrics, so we do need to be able to put those up also. We are going to schedule a meeting with a man by the name of Jeremy out of here, because he's very well

051versed with Joseph Sterbank: the grants that are still open, or what we can be applied for. Rob, Joe, myself, and Paul will be meeting with them. Joseph Sterbank: Make sure we're… Still applying for what we need to, still staying with compliance and those. Joseph Sterbank: The mandates are still in place, so they're still saying as of 2020… after 27, we are not able to order any more regular buses. Joseph Sterbank: Rob and I had a quick chat on this and bring it up. It might be something the board considering all our districts are contemplating, or any movement on it yet, possibly bringing in Joseph Sterbank: more buses, just so that they're in our fleet for 127, they say we can't order anymore. Joseph Sterbank: Just at that point, we can't order anymore, and the taxpayers

052are still not moving to electric. Joseph Sterbank: We're now going to be utilizing the fleet that we have, but we'll be in a spot where we can't order buses, but we still need to be running the system. Joseph Sterbank: So, that's something you folks can discuss when you have time, but it is on our radar, per se, and our thoughts, because we will be putting together a purchase. Joseph Sterbank: I'll be able to do a letter of intent this month, Joseph Sterbank: Being that school bus prices change at every court. Joseph Sterbank: September is this quarter, October starts another quarter, which normally does, and we're between 1.5% and 3%, increasing it. Joseph Sterbank: Busted. Joseph Sterbank: Last thing I have here, mobility for the company that'll be doing the stop arm cameras. All the cameras

053and software and hardware has been delivered to the bus garage. Joseph Sterbank: Still anticipating the installation start on that next week. Joseph Sterbank: sort of wrap up wherever they're at now. I have not heard on the news how that's going. A lot of districts in the area have that equipment already running. I'm surprised we haven't heard on the news. Joseph Sterbank: how many they've caught, what they've anticipated, that stuff. I'm posting on social media. Joseph Sterbank: Questions for me? Joseph Sterbank: Oop. Joseph Sterbank: What was the date in 2027? Is it just… Yeah, so they're saying after 2027, you can't order any more… school buses. I'm not sure if they have a kind of a date when they're done, January 1, but I know school districts get on their start in July 1. Joseph Sterbank:

054So we normally put our order in now, September-ish. Joseph Sterbank: for the following July orders. So buses that we order now, a letter of intent that we want to buy pending taxpayer approval, will actually be purchasing in July. Joseph Sterbank: But by getting our order in now, we'll lock in our price. Joseph Sterbank: It also gets us further ahead in delivery schedules, so we would give Joseph Sterbank: We'll start ordering January, February, it might not be difficult to follow some kind of visit a calendar. Yeah. Joseph Sterbank: Will they let you put in an order now for delivery date of future years past that? Joseph Sterbank: I don't know. Joseph Sterbank: We can ask the gray area. Well, if you had a standing PO that said, I want delivery of two of this year, two

055of this year… The voters… I will ask the question, Eric, it's a good question, because it came up at one of the, public hearings we did. Joseph Sterbank: And the idea also came up because our, constituents had heard about districts purchasing more buses than they really Joseph Sterbank: It's a lack of… it's not a good way to say it, that they actually need on the replacement schedule, but they were planning ahead Joseph Sterbank: When they don't get voter approval in 2027, that they still have buses with low miles Joseph Sterbank: keep on the fleet. And then the high miles… high mile buses, when I say that, Matt's reported several times, when we get… when we're getting rid of a bus, it's anywhere from 120,000 to 150,000 miles, and it's… Joseph Sterbank: So it's a question

056that we'll go back and ask. Joseph Sterbank: But legislation still, puts it in the hands of the taxpayers, to purchase buses, whether they're combustion or they're, Joseph Sterbank: Electric or down-the-road hydrogen. Joseph Sterbank: The backside of that is, to see how the legislation, so after 2035 we can't run. Joseph Sterbank: any of the possible buses we're buying now. So the buses that we bought in 27 Joseph Sterbank: would literally be leaving our fleet 8 years old, by 28 or 7 years old. So now they're leaving the fleet. Joseph Sterbank: $80,000, $90,000, there's still extra money years left in them, but now, with the manual, we can't use them. Joseph Sterbank: So, as fast as we get now, we're gonna go to the 10-year mark… we flag going forward. Joseph Sterbank: that mandate sticks over there.

057Now we're done with 9, 8, 7, 6. So it really becomes… Joseph Sterbank: At that point and I are spending $200,000 on a bus you drive for years. Is there a penalty for this? Joseph Sterbank: They haven't told us that yet, no. It was really blunt that after 27, you can't hurt us, after 35, you can't drive. We're all in the same boat, hoping they… Joseph Sterbank: loosen up on that, to still go down to taxpayer vote, so… And that question, and when you asked that, Eric, Mike had said about state aid. Joseph Sterbank: you know, we're between 74% and 79% state aid on the purchase and the operation of the buses. I wouldn't hold it past them. Joseph Sterbank: To say, you know, if you're purchasing buses, you're not going to get any state

058aid on it. Joseph Sterbank: But $167,000 combustion engine bus versus a $450,000 to $475,000 electric bus. I just… we just… they're just so… again, like, even from a year ago, there's still so many unanswered questions. The only thing they really have gotten accomplished since our public hearings Joseph Sterbank: is they've put a reporting dashboard that we have to report out every August on our efforts to acquire zero admission buses. Joseph Sterbank: So maybe, maybe we could ask everyone that's listening, or everyone that's here, to reach out to their… Joseph Sterbank: state lawmakers and ask them, who's going to pay for the infrastructure upgrades, who's gonna pay for the increased utility bills, who's going to pay for the quicker replacements at battery packs, who's going to pay for the mechanics to go to schools, learn how

059to work on the things? Joseph Sterbank: Well, they have no problem sticking it to us to, say, buy something, but with no backups. Oh, and don't forget the building that they all gotta go in, since batteries can't sit out in the weather. Joseph Sterbank: Permit, yeah. Joseph Sterbank: a lot of extra books. I want it to be known. I'm in no way, shape, or form in favor of this, but I'm just curious how it works with school districts that use other companies Joseph Sterbank: to do their transportation, do they have to… do those companies have to follow the regulation? Right now, all buses are in the same boat, whether it's a contractor, whether it's… Joseph Sterbank: school dose credit. Joseph Sterbank: the suppliers are in the same category, they can't sell the buses. Oh, yeah,

060gotcha. So it doesn't matter whether we're a public school district, or whether, like Skinny Allen says it contracted out for a student or students in the same building. They can't get the bus to another division. Joseph Sterbank: So, it doesn't matter… Joseph Sterbank: who utilizes them? It's the supply chain. You can't get them, and then at .35, you can't use them. Yeah. How about tour buses? Joseph Sterbank: What's that? Are they included? They're coming down the door behind it, because I know they're looking, at, like, central and south like that. They've already gotten that for gas, and… They're really pushing the school district product for the reason Mike brought up, is they control the first ring. Right. Joseph Sterbank: That's kind of what I'm getting at, is, you know, they're… Joseph Sterbank: Yeah. Picking and

061choosing based on what they think they can control. Joseph Sterbank: Maybe they just don't like the color yellow. Distributors are getting records that they need to sell certain percentages of electric vehicles to show that they're doing their due diligence. Joseph Sterbank: in this process. Joseph Sterbank: Have you heard of anybody that's actually bought, used, and enjoyed them? Joseph Sterbank: Being on your third point, Bill. Joseph Sterbank: That was there for a reason. Joseph Sterbank: Yes, enjoyed it. That was good. Yeah. Yeah. Joseph Sterbank: they kind of led the charge, picked up several hustles. I know they've been having issues, but… but it's a great place to… Joseph Sterbank: desk you try, it's going under, it's flat, etc. I was about to say, there's a lot of hills. They've had issues with them. Joseph Sterbank: What

062they suggest the distance is. Joseph Sterbank: doesn't work out, that type of terrain, might be also brought up with the temperature. Temperature swings, saps a huge amount of energy on them, so you've got to keep your batter sassy. Joseph Sterbank: background information that a lot of people ask. It has to happen, but… Joseph Sterbank: It comes out to the people of the district, but the state's still pushing the mandate, they're still pushing, and we as a district have to show that we're still moving forward, not just giving it to both children. Joseph Sterbank: And there's only so much that we can plan. Joseph Sterbank: just because there's so much unknown, I mean, there's only so much that we can plan. Joseph Sterbank: To be financially, you know, responsible enough. Joseph Sterbank: Right, but on the

063same COVID, we look forward, if we can't order a bus from 27, and we just keep utilizing the fleet we have, all of a sudden, 2035 comes, we can't use any of these. Right. Joseph Sterbank: to replace 22 buses at that point, $600,000 to $700,000. Joseph Sterbank: I wouldn't want to be good to put that number. You know? That's my point, like, right now, it's like, we just… it's too early right now to be thinking about that and planning for that. Joseph Sterbank: just because we don't know enough, we're just going to have to be talking about this, like, every month, and… And one of our due diligent pieces that Matt mentioned that I want to reiterate is, is not only the diligence that we have to do for the state. Joseph Sterbank: but also

064for the community, that if there's grant money out there, like we did last time, that we have to go after the grant money, you know, to make sure we take advantage of that, if the community changes their mind, that we're not paying full price for local tax dollars. We gotta do what we can. Joseph Sterbank: So that we have to be good stewards of, and make sure we're mindful of those grants, because the state will look at that, too, in our August reporting, is like, well, you know, based upon your financials and your district, you qualified for this, why don't you apply for it? Joseph Sterbank: So, we have to do our due diligence on that. On that note, are there grants that are specific to the infrastructure? Because I feel like that's, like, that's

065the first thing you have to do. That's, like, putting the cart before the… It won't cover it all. Joseph Sterbank: It won't cover it all, unless that changes, unless that changes. They won't cover it all. It's like a huge… that's the first. Joseph Sterbank: That… well, that's what we were thinking about, like, with all… whole facilities planned. Joseph Sterbank: And we had it built in and ready to go. Joseph Sterbank: when we We didn't know which way the community was gonna go, so we were… Joseph Sterbank: Planning for it, saying, okay, if the community votes for going for some electric bus and everything, we would start working on the infrastructure. Joseph Sterbank: And it was crystal clear the community did not want that, so we took it right out of the plan. It wasn't time

066to work on that. Joseph Sterbank: So, like I mentioned, you know, it's… we're working on the plan, but it wasn't the right time to do it, right? Is each one of the school bus charters runs between 70 and 100 yams. Joseph Sterbank: So 200 ants is a house service, so every 2 plus is a brand new house running right over there. Joseph Sterbank: You know, you wait 15 hours to find a bus crash? Yes. Joseph Sterbank: Why the hell, so… Joseph Sterbank: I take them in as a normal person, but it must have equal a house. Like, Christmas year-round. Joseph Sterbank: Light it up. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Joseph Sterbank: Student Services. Joseph Sterbank: So, this would be from with a team from Monodonga County and ACCESS. ACCESS is a community

067organization that's a main point of contact for a system of care for our youth that has social, emotional, and behavioral needs. Joseph Sterbank: Access will provide a liaison for the district, and that liaison handles the referrals made within the district, and then makes a determination to support families about which community organizations the student may qualify for and leave. Joseph Sterbank: So then the liaison communicates both with the district and the families. This was really, important to us, as we're looking to support our students who are constantly absent, and some of our students who rise to a Tier 3 level of the intervention through our MTSS plan, so that as we're aligning our support to our students and our families, we know what community organizations are available, referred to, and we have a single point of

068contact that helps to communicate back to the district teams to support our students and their families. Joseph Sterbank: So Rob and I will continue to, meet with them and to plan, so they're the umbrella company who handles things like transition services for families, mental health needs for families, supporting our students who are maybe experiencing some significant emotional and, Joseph Sterbank: attendance problems, they can support families and work directly with the families. So Rob and I will set up a meeting with Access Against State and Fire Building Principals and to be our counseling team, so that we have some very transparent communication, and then we'll add that information into our ESS plan. So, we are excited about that meeting and partnering with our community organizations to support our families. Joseph Sterbank: documents. Joseph Sterbank: We may

069continue. Rockwell. Katie shared her notes. She apologized for not being able to be here. Joseph Sterbank: Okay. Joseph Sterbank: So, the first day of school was very successful. We're so happy to have kids back in the halls. New breakfast distribution system is going smoothly and saving instructional time. The PTO meeting is in Rockville tomorrow night at 6. Joseph Sterbank: Back-to-school night and open house is September 18th, from 6 to 7. Students will practice their first morning program this Friday, and then the morning program will be open to guests on 9-19. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you. Joseph Sterbank: Really? Joseph Sterbank: Apologize for walking out late to get the slot game started out there. Third grade, well, good night went very well. All the third grade teachers attended, nurse was there, counselors were there. About half the

070students' parents showed up. Some of the feedback, that I received, students were on vacation that week, or it's a fair week, and it possibly Joseph Sterbank: having the event the week before, or the week after, possibly coinciding with, the locker night on the same campus as the high school. Some families, shared that same night with high school kid or third grade. And, I mentioned the idea of possibly getting, like, a food truck or something to just make it a nice night. Joseph Sterbank: Hopefully for the weather. But the week before may not work, obviously, with the capital projects and everything going on, so we thought about, you know, after Labor Day, starting out fresh, Joseph Sterbank: with that event. Opening week went awesome. Building grounds looked great, considering the project that was going on. So

071hats off to, maintenance and custodial staff. Joseph Sterbank: We're exploring some character development assembly ideas. That was a push this year for, for Wheeler. We started something last Friday, this month Friday, Joseph Sterbank: Sounds a little corny, but, the kids actually, I think they liked it, because they are actually asking me today if we're doing it again on Friday, so I think they'll kind of carry on. The idea behind it is get some, community members involved that morning, parents on some of the weeks, even some of our athletic teams. Joseph Sterbank: like Drama Club at the end of the day as well, come over and just kind of line up and do that. So we're exploring some things there. Running club and clubs will start next Thursday, running club specifically, then the Character Club and,

072escort Club, things like that will start rolling after that. The Blow's Big Party is scheduled for Homecoming Friday, the 19th, 2.30 to 4.30, and our curriculum night will be the 24th. Joseph Sterbank: From 6 to 7, with the photo carrier. Joseph Sterbank: And the quote machine that was mentioned, we are still going to push for that, even if that money is utilized for that. So I got a new quote today for, like, $5,600. Joseph Sterbank: $6,000. They raised $1,500 last year from their penny collection. They want to do that again, but with the thought of doing that, it's probably going to take 2 or 3 more times, so we're trying to explore some ways where we can get some funds available for that book machine. It's really an awesome thing, to promote literacy and engagement

073within the, school building. A lot of local schools have them, already, and I've gotten a lot of great feedback. Joseph Sterbank: contrary to what you said, I have seen you on fire ground, so you have fire experience. I know. Any question? I have a question. As I was walking out the doors tonight, I heard that because we're switching to a new math curriculum, there's no math for two weeks. Joseph Sterbank: And therefore, no homework for 2 weeks. I was wondering if there was any… I was wondering if there was any insight. It's being rolled out, and all the accounts are active, so I don't know where that came from, but I'll look into that tomorrow. Okay. That should be a rumor. We had some… we had some case, the week before with the, with the

074rollout, as far as the integration went with our system. Okay. But we have all of our materials. Joseph Sterbank: Right. At Wheeler. So speaking for Wheeler, we're all set, ready to go. Yeah, that was my understanding as well, so I just wanted to check out on the rollout of the program. Thank you. This one Friday, Eric, was a good thing. My kids came home and said it was nice. I think I even saw Shane's smiling face standing over there doing it, so… Shane, yeah, just stand here. Joseph Sterbank: I don't think who's this guy? Joseph Sterbank: Thank you. Great, thank you. Joseph Sterbank: So, thank you, the start of the school year went well, it's great to see the kids back in the building. Just a couple shout-outs, Carolyn Andino has been selected to the

0752025 NISMA All-State Ensemble Award. She was one of, 600 participants, that will participate in this December. There's over a thousand… a couple… a few thousand applicants, and she was one of Joseph Sterbank: So, congratulations there, Art. And she'll be participating in Rochester, Joseph Sterbank: about 2 months. Cool. And then another, shout out to Ian Powell, who applied Joseph Sterbank: for a position in the National FFA Band in July. It's a competitive process with auditions. He was selected, so he's going to go to Indianapolis and represent Hondaga at the National FFA Convention in the end of October, beginning of November. Joseph Sterbank: So, we're in the process of getting all that stuff together so that the kids can have a great experience. Congratulations to Dr. Alexander, he's a class of 1965. He's being selected, or he's

076been selected, for the Wall of Distinction. He will be on… Joseph Sterbank: enroll in a homecoming on Saturday at 12.45 for them. Joseph Sterbank: And then, I know that there were some questions and concerns about cell phones. The cell phone policy is off and running. We've had 3 incidences of students who have had cell phones in the bags that were, taken. But for all, we had an assembly first period on the first day of school. Not one single kid had their cell phone out. It was great. So they already knew the rule going in. Joseph Sterbank: They've been great in following the rule, and I will leave it up to Abby and Max to speak on how the kids are seeing it, but from an administrative point and a teacher's point, it's been fantastic. Joseph

077Sterbank: So, that is going well. There was some concerns in the community about backpacks, and the fact that I spoke on the first day of school and said that there was no backpacks. I did not say that. I just wanted to clarify, I sent out a notification today that clarified that we're in the process of looking at backpacks, which we've talked about over the summer. I am putting together the principal's cabinet, student council's meeting tomorrow. Joseph Sterbank: Once the officers are selected, that group selects the principal's cabinet, two from each grade level, and that principal's cabinet will represent the principal's cabinet, not only to discuss that, but to discuss any other issues that are going on in the high school. Joseph Sterbank: So that has been, you know, a work in progress, but students are

078still allowed to use their backpacks. I'm encouraging students to go to their lockers, utilize their lockers for storage. The main reason, obviously, we talked about how heavy the backpacks are. It'll alleviate some of that. They have lockers, the lockers are big enough to store everything. I know there's some concerns about 3 minutes of passing time. You don't have to go to your locker every single period. Joseph Sterbank: You can go back and forth and work on your schedule, depending on your student's schedule. Joseph Sterbank: Hey, Tim, can I just interject, too? Yeah, absolutely. I just, eric Nelson reached out to me this morning. Joseph Sterbank: So people know how we knew about this. There was a Facebook strand on the class of 2030, right, Eric? Eric reached out to me this morning, sent me the

079screenshots. Joseph Sterbank: Mr. Mumford and I then talked about… Joseph Sterbank: a response, because there was parent concerns on there that Mr. Mumford told the kids they couldn't carry backpacks anymore. So we, put together, along with this report that he did tonight, Mr. Mumford published out on Parent Squared, an update on the phones, the discussion on the backpacks, you know, just a nice little update. Joseph Sterbank: to dispel any rumors, and, you know, we welcome the parents to give us a call, give us an email if they have questions. You know, their kids come home, Mr. Mumford said we can't have backpacks anymore. You know, it's… they're kids. Joseph Sterbank: We understand. Absolutely. Absolutely. And then there was another concern about the lunches. Joseph Sterbank: just for clarification, last year, we went from 3 lunches

080to 2 lunches, and we did that to accommodate the win period. And last year, we had 7th and 8th graders in a lunch, and then 9 through 12th graders in a lunch. And it was just a grade disparity. We were used at middle school versus high school. This year, we went to 7, 8, 9 lunch, and then a 10, 11, 12 lunch. The numbers are relatively, the first lunch is bigger. Joseph Sterbank: And louder, because for some of the 8th graders… Joseph Sterbank: naturally louder. But there's about 180 kids in the first lunch, and about 140 kids in the second lunch. So it's kind of balanced out as well as we can. Or, in that letter I sent out, I kind of explained the process. The students with 7th, first lunch, seventh, eighth, and ninth

081graders, are to come in, they sit down, and then we call them up by table. The line Joseph Sterbank: You know, that way they're not all rushing the line. Joseph Sterbank: We've been in high school lunch, you'll see people cutting, jumping in front of people, touching, hitting each other, punching each other, you know, showing each other. So, in order to keep everything flowing, we call each, table up for lunch, and we alternate that. So, we do one side, we start on one side, and then the next day we start on the other side. I was in lunch yesterday, and, everybody was… Joseph Sterbank: or got their meals within 10 minutes, and most of them can finish their lunches within 15 minutes, and then they do have the opportunity to go outside, and I would say

08290% of the kids, participate, go outside, walk the track, run around through the wall, throw off some energy. And even in inclement weather, we do have the gym for that as well. So we're utilizing that space. There's not Joseph Sterbank: A lot of, Joseph Sterbank: There's no students… all students are getting food. All students are able to eat, there's plenty of time for them to do that. Joseph Sterbank: It is the first 5 days of school, so getting through the process, food service has to get, used to what they're doing, get back into the swing of things. You know, students have to get back into the swing of things on how to go through, and what they want, and what they want for lunch. And, you know, even the serving side, putting on sides, or

083tacos, for example, you know, that kind of slows up the line a little bit. Joseph Sterbank: next year, it'll be, or when the kitchen's done, the new kitchen will be done. There's two different action ways. That will speed up that process, but still, they're able to eat within that 30-minute time. Joseph Sterbank: So, we have no issues, with that, and everything, from my understanding, has been going. Joseph Sterbank: Any questions? Joseph Sterbank: The homecoming dance is not happening? We are not doing the homecoming dance this year. So last year, we did it on a Saturday, and Brian was gonna speak to… Okay, yeah, I wasn't sure which of you did. No, that's okay. And, the numbers last year were low, it was on a Saturday. We can't do it on a Friday with volleyball's in

084the jam. So we decided to… Joseph Sterbank: not do the homecoming dance, we're still going to do the king and queen, and they'll have, that opportunity to do that for the seniors, but we're looking at other options. One of the options was, like, a Halloween dance, and do something then, because the kids like to dress up and get candy. We're looking at different options, for that. My understanding is that it was historically a fundraiser for the senior class to host the homecoming dance, so is there going to Joseph Sterbank: whatever replacement happens, that will be a replacement fundraiser as well? Correct. Then I did talk to the senior class advisor, and she was not interested in doing that. They didn't make a lot of money last year on it. Okay. Joseph Sterbank: Okay. So, it

085was, it ended up being a supervision issue, too, and students were running all over the place. You know, you finished the football game before, the dance wasn't until 7. Yep, gotcha. Joseph Sterbank: There's… there's some… several concerns, really. Joseph Sterbank: Okay. Joseph Sterbank: Any other questions, Virginia? Joseph Sterbank: Sure, thank you. Joseph Sterbank: Very good. Joseph Sterbank: But as most of you know, varsity modified sports are in full swing. We've, we've had varsity games last week, we have more this week, obviously, and modified sports are starting this week as well, for games. So I'll run you through the schedule real quick. Girls soccer is out there right now versus the last guy. Volleyball's aligning tomorrow versus ONTAC in the gym. Joseph Sterbank: We have football and cheer traveling to Herkimer on Friday night. Joseph Sterbank:

086And we had a cross-country trip to the ESM on Saturday. Joseph Sterbank: The modified schedule, we have a football game here tomorrow against Pulaski, we have, girls soccer traveling to MPH on September 15th, and we have the cross-country modified home meet on September 23rd. Joseph Sterbank: We do still have some open coaching positions for the winter and spring sports, and those will just continue to be hosted as… as we need to fill them. Joseph Sterbank: And the last thing I have is obviously the homecoming agenda. There was a flyer sent out on social media today, as well as Parent Square, if I'm not mistaken. Joseph Sterbank: And just a quick run-through, we have the volleyball games, at 4.30 and 6 on September 19th, we have boys soccer versus modern day, the Friday at 5 p.m,

087we have girls soccer versus Sol A Friday at 7pm, and then the homecoming football game is on Saturday at 1pm. Joseph Sterbank: That is all I have, if there's any questions? Joseph Sterbank: Back to homecoming… Joseph Sterbank: I was just thinking about it today, after I saw the schedule online, and… Right. The, Joseph Sterbank: record car. I know we didn't do it last year, and Joseph Sterbank: I'm trying to remember why we don't do that anymore. A couple reasons. One, just getting the donation of the car. Of the car, yes. And two, it was one of those things where, it was, you know… Joseph Sterbank: who would make $15, $20, $25 on it. So, you know, the kids would get as many wax as they wanted. It was kind of fun to spray paint the

088car, but that was pretty much… Joseph Sterbank: Oh, it did. We did end up getting the donation when we towed the car to have it cycled. We get about $300 off of that. Okay. So, but the number one reason was the person that we used to go through is no longer donating ours. Oh, so you lost the, we lost the… Joseph Sterbank: The feeder. The free lunches. Joseph Sterbank: Okay, I… I couldn't remember. Yes. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you, Brian. Joseph Sterbank: Alright, Board of Education members, I'm gonna start down with Max. Joseph Sterbank: Do you have anything you want to bring up, talk about? Joseph Sterbank: the… New fund policy, Joseph Sterbank: It's honestly… I had a lot of concerns about it during the summer, and when I first heard about it,

089but… Joseph Sterbank: as… as of the school year is going on, and people… I mean, I think it's just becoming second nature to just, like. Joseph Sterbank: not having your phone job. Students are responding well to it. I haven't had any major concerns with any students coming up to me saying. Joseph Sterbank: Got it. Joseph Sterbank: I think students are falling in line, and they're realizing that it's really not that big of a deal to not use their phone for 8 hours. Joseph Sterbank: And they're pretty busy throughout the day to where they don't need to use their homes, and I think teachers are doing a really good job of keeping their students busy enough to where they don't need their homes. And, yeah, that's about it. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you both. Joseph Sterbank: Capital.

090Joseph Sterbank: I guess that leaves me with the backpack policy. I've gone around and I've talked to a number of students and a couple teachers, too, and asked for their thoughts and opinions. I would have to say about 99% of the student body is Joseph Sterbank: harshly against art about the potential of not having their backpacks. The majority of it has been, I just, like. Joseph Sterbank: We would like to keep them. Joseph Sterbank: So, because students do use their lockers, I think, at least once or twice a day, but it does get difficult to go in between a multiple, like, a multitude of times. I know quite a few people don't even remember their locker combinations, and it would just force them to remember another thing, which they probably should do as is, but

091Joseph Sterbank: Other than that, I think it's been pretty good. I have to second max. A lot of people have been handling the phone policy very well. Joseph Sterbank: And… I think people are definitely learning very quick, like, their expectations, and if they didn't… Joseph Sterbank: If there was any question, they learned very fast. Joseph Sterbank: Good. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you. Joseph Sterbank: Jamie. Joseph Sterbank: Nothing. Joseph Sterbank: Oop. Joseph Sterbank: My feedback that I've heard about the cell phone policy is now students are forced to take pictures during school with their Chromebooks. They're very low-quality pictures, and I was like, well, you could not take pictures. Joseph Sterbank: Like, you don't need to be taking selfies at all? Also, we didn't do that. But that was a novel idea. Disable the cameras. Joseph Sterbank:

092Yeah, I mean, I didn't have a problem. She's like, there's such bad quality. I was like, but why? Why do you need to take pictures of yourselves all the time? Like, a whole different mentality. Thank you, I'm super psyched that my kids are back to school. Everybody's thriving right now with the structure and meaning in life. We had a great summer, but it's good to be back, and thank you all for everything you did to make that happen. Joseph Sterbank: Yep, good. Joseph Sterbank: Do you guys have cameras back in your day? Cameras? No cameras, they didn't exist. Polaroids. Instant cameras and frosts. The disposable roids. You had to have somebody chiseled in the stone. Yeah. Joseph Sterbank: Thank you guys for all that you do. Joseph Sterbank: Yeah, nothing. Joseph Sterbank: Yeah, my daughter

093was, actually, my wife was telling me about, my daughter Joseph Sterbank: Needed to contact my wife about something, wasn't able to use her phone, and… Joseph Sterbank: My wife thought it was awesome that during the wind period, she, like, had her Chromebook and was able to email. Joseph Sterbank: And so, she was, like, emailing back and forth, and… It works. And we were like, yeah, that's what we had to do before we had cell phones. Joseph Sterbank: So, I think other people have been forgetting quite a bit was there's a phone in the office. Right. Exactly. We have this conversation, and if Mr. Melfi's still here, you can back me up, because it was in his class, but, a classmate of mine at the table was like. Joseph Sterbank: What if there's an emergency? How

094are we going to contact our families? Joseph Sterbank: every single classroom in this building has a phone, including the office. In the office, I also, like, I think some faculty have access to your emergency contacts. Joseph Sterbank: Yeah, all of your teachers have access to that private information if they need to make a call from the classroom. Yeah. That's what we used to do. Joseph Sterbank: Back in the day, teachers had… We went all day without talking. Right, exactly. 8x5 cards. Joseph Sterbank: Very good. Did you have anything listed here, too? Joseph Sterbank: You had your two pieces you want to talk about? Oh, yeah, I did, thank you. Yeah, so I was contacted by the president of, OCM BOCES, and they had someone who Joseph Sterbank: Was not on the, Joseph Sterbank: board there

095anymore, and they were asking me if I wanted to either be on the board, or if anyone here would like to volunteer and be on their board. So, just wanted to bring that up, and there's an opportunity there if you're interested. Joseph Sterbank: I think that's pretty much it, right? I think that's all, Jose. Thank you for the reminder. Eric, thanks. Nobody signed in? Okay. Thank you. Joseph Sterbank: Alright, consensus items, G1… Joseph Sterbank: And I have a motion to approve consensus items as presented and or amended from G2 to G3. So… Joseph Sterbank: Second. Joseph Sterbank: Any questions, comments, concerns? Yes, very sad about the retirement of Mr. Jim. Will be missed. It was a wonderful bus ride. Joseph Sterbank: All those in favor? Joseph Sterbank: Aye. Opposed? Joseph Sterbank: Same. Motion carries 6-0.

096Good to see. Joseph Sterbank: I won have a motion to approve the revision of Policy 7316, use of internet… H1. Oh, geez, thank you. Sorry. H1, budget transfer… I clicked on the wrong thing. Joseph Sterbank: Instructional salaries. Motion to approve the following budget transfer for reallocation of instructional salaries due to staffing assignments and federal grant allocations. So moved. Joseph Sterbank: Second. Joseph Sterbank: Questions, comments, concerns? Joseph Sterbank: All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Stand? Joseph Sterbank: Motion carries 6-0. Joseph Sterbank: Motion to approve change orders for the 2025-2026 capital project as presented. So moved. Joseph Sterbank: Second. Joseph Sterbank: Questions, comments, concerns? Joseph Sterbank: All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Joseph Sterbank: Abstain? Motion carries 6-0. Joseph Sterbank: Now we're on I-1. Joseph Sterbank: Motion to… Joseph Sterbank: Approve the revision of Policy 7316,

097use of internet and cellular-enabled devices during the school day as presented. Joseph Sterbank: So moved. Joseph Sterbank: Second. Questions, comments, concerns? Joseph Sterbank: All those in favor? Aye. Both? Joseph Sterbank: Motion carries. Can I make a comment, Mike? Yeah, I can… Noelle? Yeah, we just… we made these changes to the policy to just clarify, based on some parent concerns about the policy, to clarify that there wouldn't be repercussions if, a student were to use a phone to call in an emergency situation. If it was a 911 situation, they could obviously do that. And then… Joseph Sterbank: And to clarify that part of the reason we don't want students having cell phones is a safety concern that during an actual emergency, although it's helpful for students that parents feel comforted by being able to contact their

098children, it's not actually helpful during an emergency for… to have kids on their cell phones. They need to be listening to staff and emergency personnel. Joseph Sterbank: So, and the red is the only thing we changed, and that was based upon as how the policy committee should work, and how policies work is the board puts out a policy, as we did under legislation by August 1st. We got some feedback after we did the public hearing, and sent out all of our communications. Joseph Sterbank: And then we got some feedback, and that then prompted, which I felt good about the process, that prompted the policy committee to come back, make these recommendations to the board, which we talked about last week, and then brought them back this week for changes. Joseph Sterbank: So, it worked well.

099Thank you. Joseph Sterbank: And just like throughout the whole year, if there's anything that comes up, we can always revisit the policy and make additions, edits. Yep. Right? Joseph Sterbank: And I believe we went through everything, so motion carries success. Joseph Sterbank: Speaking to the board? Joseph Sterbank: Don't have excited. Okay. Joseph Sterbank: All right. Future Board of Education meetings… We have… Facilities Committee… Facilities Meeting tomorrow. Joseph Sterbank: September 15th, decide the 15th. Joseph Sterbank: They changed the time to 6.30. 10th. It's the 10th. Tomorrow's the 10th. On that 10th, right? Not the 15th at 5.30. Joseph Sterbank: That's what I had in my… it's tomorrow. It's tomorrow, 6.30. Yeah, it's at 6.30. Joseph Sterbank: We still had one scheduled for the 15th. Yeah, so we have the stadium on the 20th. Oh, is it

1005 30 tomorrow, or is it 6? 6.30 tomorrow. Joseph Sterbank: 6.30, okay. Tomorrow, tomorrow we're going to talk about the boiler issue. The 15th block-through at Boiler. Those are… those are both… Joseph Sterbank: they're both happening. 6.31 tomorrow came up around the boiler issue, and we felt like we needed to get the facilities committee together and talk about the pros and cons of the two decisions. Where's it gonna be? Meet right at the library. Library, okay. For the one tomorrow, or the 15th. Joseph Sterbank: Should we meet at Wheeler's? We can meet right at Wheeler. Yeah, let's meet at Wheeler. Then we don't have to walk over, unless you want to see the boiler rooms here, but you'll see those tomorrow. Joseph Sterbank: Well, thank you for keeping me straight. I have it in my

101calendar, so… Right by my house. The next BOE meeting is right after Homecoming, here in the cafeteria on the 23rd at 10. Joseph Sterbank: And the health, wellness, and safety meeting is the next day in the library on the 24th at 3.30. Joseph Sterbank: And then the next POE meeting is October 18th at 6pm at Rockwell. Joseph Sterbank: Just one other meeting coming up. If we discover, we can dial people's out. Joseph Sterbank: policy. Noel and Jamie are on the policy committee. Yes. We just need to coordinate tonight, and because of your schedules, it doesn't look like we're gonna get Joseph Sterbank: like the second Tuesday or third Tuesday of every month, we're gonna have to pick dates on the calendar for the policy meetings. That's okay. We'll just… We figured we'd look at the

102next 2-3 months, our schedules, and then we could schedule a couple out, and we'll advertise those as well. Sounds good. Do you plan to meet sometime in September? Joseph Sterbank: Well, do we have policies? We have policies that we need to go, yeah. I just sent it out the other day to the two of you. It was just an update, there wasn't any, Joseph Sterbank: There's the cardiac arrest piece that we have to do. Yep. They haven't had… they don't have a draft out yet. Okay. And the Health and Wellness Committee is going to talk about that on the 24th. Okay. And then that's going to go back to the committee, then we have to update our emergency plans. Okay. And then if there's any policy changes, we'll have that right around the same time.

103Joseph Sterbank: Okay, so would it be best to push out to October? I mean, we can meet over the end of September. Yeah, after. We can wait until the Health and Wellness Committee meets, and then we'll meet either the very end of September or the very beginning of October. Sounds great. Before the next quarter meet. Okay. Awesome. Joseph Sterbank: Sounds great. Joseph Sterbank: Alrighty, let's see, gotta scroll up. Joseph Sterbank: And… It just says, enter into the session. Unless you guys do. Joseph Sterbank: Oh, you don't have anything for tonight? No, not this morning. We lost it. Unless you want me to love you up. Oh, love you. We lucked out. Yeah. Very nice. Okay, no executive session. I don't think that's ever happened in my… Joseph Sterbank: 7 years on the board. So, may

104I have a motion? Making changes. Adjourn the meeting? Motion. Okay. Questions, comments, concerns? All right, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Joseph Sterbank: Thing. Motion carries 6-0. Joseph Sterbank: Okay, we gotta figure out… I'll take a picture now, this has been going. Bring your name tag. Joseph Sterbank: No, you… well, I'll get you guys at next week, Heather.