001Good evening and happy official summer. Uh. To everyone. Uh, hopefully everyone had a great, uh, holiday weekend and celebration of July 4th and a safe, uh, wonderful, uh, time with your families. And we are, uh, excited that we kicked off our administrator's retreat, uh, this morning with our administrative team, where we got together and began our, uh, conferencing and professional development data analysis and working together to build, uh, and get ready for the opening school year. If you can imagine, that begins, uh, officially July 1st. And so we've already started that work. And I want to thank all of our administrative team, uh, assistant superintendent, um, for their work, uh, kicking us off with our administrative retreat. And we also want to recognize, uh, Doctor Campbell Higa, who is here. He presented his data presentation
002and did, uh, as did, uh, Doctor Melanie Roman as well. And she presented her data for her p-tech and smart scholars as well. Excited to see the work that's happening under both of their leadership. And so let's give them a round of applause. We were there, and we thank them for all that they did. And with that, um, I before we get into, uh, one of our most important partners in our school district went and call them up shortly. They have a wonderful presentation, uh, of a donation to our school district. I just wanted to take one moment for families who are listening, um, to our, um, board meeting tonight. Those of you who are here, if you can spread the word as well. And we also have, um, uh, our local newspaper and want
003to thank them for being here tonight as well. And if you could get that word out. Really appreciate it. Uh, this is more, uh, from me as a, uh, superintendent, as a dad, as a community member, uh, here in Peekskill and a resident. And I just wanted to share with families. Um, many years ago, there was a change in, uh, law, and it was the the right thing to do. Um, and it was for the safety of our children, and that is that children riding a bike, uh, must wear a helmet. Uh, under the age of maybe 14 or 15. Um, however, I think anyone riding a bike should wear a helmet. Um, I've seen way too many accidents for even adults, uh, that have been, um, life changing and for families and them themselves.
004Um, and the helmet is such a protective, uh, aspect related to that. And so I wanted to share this, uh, public announcement for the health of our children, the safety of our kids. Uh, we always see signs. Um, you know, school's out, watch the road. And that's very important. Watch out for our kids. They are out there. And so that's a public reminder to watch, uh, as we are driving, uh, to make sure that we're looking out for our children. But I also want to share, um, a plea with parents as the superintendent and as a dad, um, and as a resident. And that is that, um, electric scooters. Uh, I've noticed, uh, quite a number of, of young adults and even children on electric scooters in the community. And there are two very important
005aspects related to that. Um, number one, um, kids don't know the rules of the road. And so when they don't know the rules of the road and I've seen this happen, uh, quite a number of times, not only in Peekskill but, uh, in my travels as well. Um, when they don't know the rules of the road, they don't know to stop at stop signs. They they don't understand or they know, but they keep going through, uh, red light, um, and things of that nature. Uh, these devices, um, electric scooters, um, are going upwards of 40 miles an hour in some cases. And we're putting our children on a device a scooter, electric scooter, and also electric bikes. And they're not properly wearing a helmet. Um, they're not always following the the rules of the road,
006and that's adults and students as well. And that is a safety hazard. And so I share that as a health plea for our community to be mindful of purchasing them for children anyway. And then secondly, that's a that's a parental decision. Uh, but secondly, certainly doing so in a very, uh, responsible, um, and safe approach and, uh, wanted to make sure I had that opportunity to share that publicly, uh, because it is, um, quite concerning, I would say, for myself and others who I've spoken to, and I know some of our board have also, uh, I spoken with them as well. So I share that anyone, you know, make sure that we get that, uh, information out to our children. We want them all to be safe. And, uh, with that, I would like to
007take this opportunity to talk about our amazing partnership with the Peekskill Education Foundation. And we have Mr. and Mrs. Fraga here, uh, president, um, as well. Uh, Megan Sheldon Vanguard. And they have a wonderful track presentation to share with the board and the community. And so we are going to begin with calling them up and Doctor Modica. Is also going to join us there as well, Janice Reid, and we'll go ahead and grab the check and allow them to share some information at the mic. And then afterwards we'll take a picture. But Mr. Fraga, if you can kick us off, uh, with your team and, uh, share with us the exciting news for tonight. Nope. Okay. Thank you, Doctor Mercier. So good evening. Members of the board, Doctor Marie Teal and community members. On behalf
008of the Peekskill Education Foundation, I am honored to present a donation in the amount of $23,000 in support of the class VR initiative. This contribution. This contribution reflects the generous efforts of our community, corporate sponsors and our shared commitment to advancing immersive learning experience for our students. We are excited about the potential that this technology brings to our classrooms, and we look forward to seeing this positive impact on student engagement and achievements. Thank you. Okay. And with that, we're going to have the, uh, the board members come up. Uh, also, we're going to have an oath of office very shortly, but we're going to have Mary Angel Flores, Frank Robinson, junior out two new trustees. This will be your first official picture as a board trustee with the board. And what a great way to
009start it off with a $23,000 donation from the PEF. So thank you. Yes. Let's everyone come up front. I know you. The big. Try to make sure you're not. Thank you. I'll make it up. And the plan is crazy. So this is awesome. You can see Doctor Mauricio. It's like he's. Thank you again to our Peekskill Education Foundation Board for all that you do, and to all the community partners and businesses who have made those donations and making this a reality. Doctor Mujica already has a plan to move forward with our virtual reality next, phase two. And so that will begin, uh, effective tomorrow. And we love the big check, but we really love the little check, because that one goes right to Mrs. Hawthorne and right to the bank. And so thank you again.
010Another big round of applause for our great partnership with the. All right. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Laura Belfiore. And, uh, we'll begin with our swearing in. Okay. Good evening. Uh, the next order of business this evening is to administer the oath of office to Superintendent Doctor David Mauricio. So, Doctor Mauricio, can you please come up to the podium? And you're going to raise your right hand and repeat after me. I David. Mauricio. I, David, Mauricio, do solemnly swear or affirm. Do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York, and the Constitution of the State of New York. And that I will faithfully discharge the duties, and
011that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Superintendent of Schools of the Peekskill City School District, of the office of Superintendent of Schools of the Peekskill City School District. Observe the employees Code of ethics. Observe the employees Code of Ethics, and follow its policies according to the best of my ability, and follow its policies according to the best of my ability. All right. Thank you. Thank. All right. And actually, you can stay up here, Doctor Mauricio, because now you will administer the oath of office to the newly elected board members. Oh. I'm sorry. I will administer the oath of office, didn't they? I'm new at this, I apologize. Um, so, Mary Angel Flores, if you could come up, please. How are you going to raise your right hand and repeat after me?
012I marry Angel Flores. I marry Angel Flores. Do solemnly swear or affirm. Do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States. That I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York. And that I will faithfully discharge the duties. And that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the office of member, Board of education. Board of education. Observe its code of ethics. Observe its code of ethics, and follow its policies according to the best of my ability, and follow its policies according to the best of my ability. Congratulations. You and now Mr. Frank Robinson Jr. If you could please come up to the podium. All right. You see how
013it's done? Okay. You get to raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Frank Robinson Jr. I Frank Robinson Jr. Do solemnly swear or affirm. Do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York. And that I will faithfully discharge the duties, and I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the office of member, Board of Education. Board of education. Observe its code of ethics, observe its court of ethics, and follow its policies of court, and follow its policies and follow its policies according to the best of my ability, according to the best of my abilities. Congratulations. Thank you.
014Thank you. And next is incumbent Gillian Villon. Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Gillian Valon. I, Gillian Valon, do solemnly swear or affirm. Do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York, and the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member. Board of education. Board of education. Observe its code of ethics, observe this code of ethics, and follow its policies and follow its policies according to the best of my ability, according to the best of my ability. Congratulations. Hey, wait a minute. And next, I
015believe you take over for E1, please. You want to come here every day? Yeah. Perfect. I'm just reading this line. Appointment of a third term. Okay, step up to there. Okay. Appointment of clerk. Pro term. May I please have a motion to approve the appointment of Laura Furry as clerk? Pro term for the 2025 2026 school year. Summer. So moved by Jillian. Second by Brennen. Uh, all in favor, say aye. Any nays? Any abstentions. All right. Congratulations. Now on to the nomination of board president. May I please have a motion for the nomination of board president? Uh, moved by Brandon. Second by. Uh, yeah. Who? Who's the nomination? If there's if you have to restart. Uh. Uh, well, if there's a it says if there's more than one nomination, you can each vote, uh, on
016one separately. And we just need four people to vote. So I think you would nominate, you know, you need a nomination for the president. Uh, we nominate, uh, Gillian Boland as president. So, motion by motion by me. And second, by all in favor? Uh. Any nays? Any abstentions? Okay. And then we need a nomination for a board vice president. May I please have a motion for the board vice president? Uh, yes. Uh, we move to, uh, vote for Amy Valley as vice president and motion by Alan. Me and second. So moved and and and all in favor? Uh. Any nays? Any abstentions. Congratulations. And we need to administer the oath of office to the president. So, Miss Valon, if you want to return. To. There you go. So I Gillian. Valon. Hi, Gillian. Milan. Do
017solemnly swear or affirm. Do solemnly affirm. That I will support the Constitution of the United States. That I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York. And that I will faithfully discharge the duties, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of president of the office of President. Board of education. Board of education. As observe its code of ethics, observe its code of ethics and follow its policies, and follow its policies according to the best of my ability, according to the best of my ability. All right. Thank you. Congratulations. President von. And if you could come. And raise your right hand and repeat after me. I am evil, I am evil. Do solemnly swear
018or affirm. Do solemnly swear. That I will support the Constitution of the United States. That I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York, and the Constitution of the State of New York. And that I will faithfully discharge of the duties, and that I will faithfully discharge with the duties of the office of vice President of the office of Vice President. Board of education. Board of education. Observe its code of ethics, observe as code of ethics, and follow its policies and follow its policies according to the best of my ability, according to the best of my ability. Congratulations. And I will now turn the board meeting over to the president. The reorganization consent agenda before we motion to move on to the reorganization and consent agenda.
019We need representation for the following organizations and committees. And there's the voting delegate and alternate. I'll be the delegate and I'll be the alternate. Um, and then I was the liaison and a legislated advocacy liaison. Uh. I'm pretty sure you are. Um, and then we also need representation for the New York State Caucus of Black School Board Members, Inc. Two members. And Alan May as well. Okay. And then, um, we have the, uh, list, uh, committees. Would you all like me to read them out, and then everybody say which one they'd like to be on? Or should I just go with our list and read them out to everyone who could read the list? Okay. So we've got PTO. We've got Branwen and Alan who have decided they'd like to join that committee. Common Council.
020We have Angel, Branwen and Christina for our facilities. We've got Frank and myself for audit. We have Frank and Christina for the special education reading of IEPs. It's Angel and myself to the education planning Committee. We have Christina and Amy for board policy. We have Branwen, Angel and Amy for health and wellness. We have Angel and Branwen. Uh, code of conduct. We have Alan. And for the youth bureau liaison, we have Frank and Alan. So may I please have a motion to add the representation to organizations and committees to the organizational consent agenda? So moved. Second, moved by Ames on second by Allen. All in favor? All right. By any means. Any obsession? Uh, abstentions. Any comments? Questions? Thoughts on the reorganization agenda items. No. May I please have a motion to approve the reorganization
021consent agenda items H1 through 24. So moved. Moved by Amy. Second. Second by Allen. All in favor? Uh. Any nays? Any abstentions. We have just concluded the reorganization part of the meeting. I am now going to turn the meeting over to Doctor Mauricio for the superintendent's report. We were able to accomplish that with the PEF, um, donation. And so, uh, that is our update. Uh, as the superintendent and our team. Perfect. Thank you. Now we'll move on to the hearing of the citizens. Do we have any citizens wishing to be heard? No, um, the board always encourages students who would like to be heard to come forward. And we welcome anyone at our meetings. So next time, if you have anything you'd like to bring up, please come and join us. Um, any old business?
022Any new business? Uh. Policy readings. First, we have a policy reading on door hardening and locked down for emergencies. This policy is required as part of the district wide safety plan. Um, we also have the first reading of policy number eight 113 extreme heat condition days. Education law requires districts to adopt a policy addressing student and employee health and safety on days of high heat. Uh, including specific actions. The law takes effect on nine 125. And we also have a first reading of policy 8240 parking on school property, um, with an exhibit. The language was modified to have cars moved out of the parking lot at an earlier time when snow occurs. Also, the cost of parking has increased from $27 to $35 annual annually, which includes taxes. Any questions or comments on these policies?
023May I have a motion to waive the second reading and approve the following policies Dor hardening and lockdown emergencies. Uh, extreme heat, uh condition days and parking on school property and exhibit. Some moved by Branwen. Second. Second. By Amy. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstentions? Okay. The accepting of minutes. Any comments or questions? May I please have a motion to accept the minutes for business meeting June 17th, 2025 and moved by Angel. Second. Second by Allen. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstentions? Um. Should we need another executive session tomorrow, right. Okay. Uh, may I please have a motion to include Diane supra, as an IEP mandate, 20 2425 medical support staff member, travel to the personnel agenda. So moved by Branwen. Second. Second by Allen. All in favor? Aye. Any nays?
024Any abstentions. Consent agenda. Any comments, questions or thoughts? May I please have a motion to approve consent agenda items P1 through S3. So moved by Bran. One second. Second by Christina. All in favor? Hi. Any nays? Any abstentions? Committee reports. Board reflections. Any comments? I just want to make a quick comment. Um, thank you, Doctor Mauricio, for bringing up the scooters. It's not really something that had been top of my mind, but, um, my sister was visiting from out of state, uh, over the weekend, and her community is in mourning over, uh, young teenage girl who was killed on her electric scooter, and her friend was very gravely injured. So, um, so, so sad. And we all would like to avoid that if we can. Thank you. In this, McDonald will work with the city
025to get public announcements out to our families, and will work with that parent engagement to really get the, um, information out as well. Right? Sorry for their loss. And I just want to say congratulations to, uh, Miss Fallon, uh, for your presidency and, uh, this fellow for your vice presidency and, uh, Mr. Robinson and, uh, Miss Flores for, uh, welcome to the school board. Okay. If there's no further action, may I have a motion to adjourn the meeting in memory of Mr. George Cameron. So moved. Moved by Alan. In. Hi, Frank. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstention. Mr. George Cameron, whereas Mr. George Cameron served the Peekskill City School District for ten years with great devotion until his passing on June 26th, 2025. And whereas Mr. Cameron's career highlight, it highlighted impactful service
026to the district. And Whereas Mr. Cameron was a respected member of the peaceful City School District whose service preserved our students continued safety and social emotional growth each day. And whereas Mr. Cameron was a strong advocate who fought for the equity of all students. And Whereas Mr. Cameron brought a natural sense of optimism, insight and inspiration to all he did. Irony, deep respect and admiration from his supervisors and peers alike. And Whereas Mr. Cameron served the Peekskill City School District staff, students and families with distinction. And Be ItrillionESOLVED, therefore, that the Board of Education notes with sorrow the passing of Mr. Cameron, and be it further resolved that the Board of Education, on behalf of the entire Peekskill City School District, expresses condolences to the family and deems that the resolution be noted in the
027minutes and a copy thereof be forwarded to the bereaved family. Regular Meeting, Board of Education, July 7th, 2025. Good evening.