001Okay. Perfect. Once again. Good evening. Members of the board. Guests, staff. Colleagues, welcome to the board meeting. Um, the reason why I'm here is to present the, uh, the updated, uh, district wide safety plan obligation from New York State. So apparently, on July of this year, New York state decided that they want to add cardiac. It's called doctor's Law and is, uh, basically a cardiac cardiac emergency response plan. So that has now been put into place. Uh, so anytime there's changes to the plan, we have to put it up for today. Uh, third public comment, which is what we did. All right. So in this plan. Okay, what what needs to also happen is that staff have to be trained on the proper cardiac emergency response protocols. We also have to make sure that, uh,
002a these, uh, are clearly identified and that our staff are also trained at, uh, protocols. So with that, um, if you have any questions regarding the dispatch safety plan or the cardiac arrest plan, please let me know and I'll answer any questions you may have. Mr. Santiago, just want to, um, commend you and our, um, district emergency team, uh, for all the work on this. Very important. I do also want to commend the governor and the state legislator for bringing this forward. And, um, equally important, uh, want to, um, uh, commend the family who brought this forward, uh, to, in particular, who brought this forward to, uh, make this law because this is very important for our children to make sure we have the readiness, the tools and the expertise and the knowledge and skilled
003and, uh, individuals at the ready when something happens, seconds, matter of minutes matter. And, uh, um, so we are very excited to bring this forward and make it part of our, uh, district, um, uh, safety plan. And so thank you for shepherding this through. And, uh, we already began, uh, shared with the public. And, uh, boy, you may recall, uh, we held CPR, AED and, uh, choking hazard training with all of our administrators. So we have, you know, uh, 30 plus individuals who are trained at the ready. We also have, obviously, our nurses in each and every one of our schools, athletic director, uh, coaches who are also trained, um, uh, on this, uh, very important matter as well. And so we have a cadre of individuals that we have already begun that work. Uh,
004but we'll continue to do, um, more in this area as well. And so I appreciate all the effort from the legislative body. Thank you for that. And again, I don't know if I just mentioned is that that training has to be done yearly. Now, similar to the emergency response and mental preparedness training. Now this is one of the um, trainings that we have to do yearly by September 15th. So. Of course. Thank you everybody. Have a great evening and thank you. Um, I want to commend you as well, just because this is the type of knowledge we hope to never have to use, but it's great to implement the right way. So, um, I want to thank everyone for putting it forward and for doing the training. And anybody who gets trained beyond who is
005necessary, I'm thankful for that as well. Um, if there's no further comment, we're going to conclude the public hearing for the 2015, 2016 amended district wide safety plan. And I want to welcome everybody to the regular Board of Education meeting. And I'm going to turn our meeting back over to Doctor Mauricio for our superintendent's report. Thank you again, Mr. Santiago. Thank you. Trustees and board president Milan, uh, also want to remind everyone at the end, we have our student, uh, Trustee Talia. Let's give her another round of applause and happy to have her. And she's going to experience our board meetings and find her voice and that of, uh, the student population is so important to have you here. And we are thankful that, uh, you continue to come and, uh, we know that this
006will be a learning experience for you, but also more importantly, for us. And so we look forward to your voice at the board table as well. Uh, with that, uh, we're going to start off with Peekskill Pride. And then I have a short presentation, uh, from regionalization, uh, which I'd be happy to answer any questions as well. Uh, first thing, I want to thank all of our schools and our families who came, uh, and were part of, uh, bring your child to school day events at each and every one of our schools. Uh, we thank the community members you see on the top left there. And, uh, also in the, uh, other pictures as well. You see the fire, uh, EMS, uh, individuals who came out, uh, police were there. We had, uh, elected officials.
007We had, uh, boy trustees, uh, big thumbs up from, uh, Mr. Robinson there on the top right. Uh, Mrs. Wilson in the center. Uh, there were her family as well. And, uh, I also want to thank Darryl Francis, who coordinated, uh, bringing men of influence to our Bring Your Child to School, uh, day event and to all of our principals and staff who set up picture stations and welcome areas as well, uh, treat bags at Uriah Hill. And again, very special people, uh, welcoming their children as they start their day. Um, many of our children, uh, wondered what was going on with all the adults in the front, but when they saw the smiling faces and the high fives, it just was a wonderful way to continue to bring families and children to school in
008a very different way. Um, and we're always happy to be part of this effort each and every year as well. So thank you. Let's give our team a big round of applause and say thank you. So I would love for you to take a, um, stroll down memory lane. And I want you to remember your elementary school, your middle school, your high school, and remember the cafeteria in which you ate. And, uh, I remember doing so with great, um, um, happiness and, uh, friendships that that were established there and working with the staff as well. Um, as a, as a youngster and as a teacher as well. Um, but I don't remember it looking like this. And so I am so happy and excited about the work investment. Uh, Andrew Weissman, our director of food
009services, is top notch. Uh, he is an amazing individual. Uh, there on the bottom left. Uh, you see the handmade pizzas on the bottom? You see the choice opportunities that our students have for healthy eating. Uh, fruits and vegetables. Um, and different varieties as well as students get older. Uh, they are they are, um, working with the students palates. As they get older, they having much more choice. They're building their own sandwiches. They have, uh, choices and different pizzas on Fridays at the high school. They're trying, uh, different foods from different cultural backgrounds. And so, um, this is a wonderful testament to you, the board, who have supported this work. Our food service, uh, department, Cynthia Hawthorne, uh, Carmine Christie and their team. And all of this happened over the summer, uh, with a very
010short window to make it happen while summer school was happening as well, and we were about two weeks delayed. I think we predicted that. And we were, um, but it was well worth the wait. And our kids get to see this at each and every one of our schools. Um, and we're going to continue this effort at Uriah Hill. Um, down the road. But our schools, this is how our students eat. And, uh, this is the opportunities of healthy eating that they have. So let's give our Mr. Weisman, Cynthia Hawthorne, followed by Chrissy. And I'd be remiss if I did not thank our food service staff who come in and work and make meals. And this is not, you know, bought. And then we just unwrap it and give it to kids. This is food
011that is cooked. Uh, and we have a chef, uh, that brings, uh, this a great food to, uh, our team and to our children. So let's give our food service staff a big round of applause and say thank you as well. Uh, what a weekend we had for homecoming. Uh, what a wonderful way for our students, uh, to show their pride. Our coaches, the families, came out packed houses at our athletic events. And, uh, this is a first, uh, that that I recall this happening. Uh, but girls soccer, boys soccer, girls swim, volleyball and football all won this weekend at their homecoming events. Every single team had a winning, uh, successful event. And that is just wonderful. Uh, and a great opportunity to see, uh, uh, Allen Jenkins and Frank and others, uh, who were
012there branding, uh, was there as well. And just great to see everyone at our homecoming event. The families came out, and it's not always about and it's really not about winning. It's about development and character. Um, but boy, does it feel good when it when it happens. And they were they were fair contests. And, uh, the football game that we saw was a so both sides who were there should be proud of how they played. And uh, all the, the spectators had a wonderful game to watch. And so we're really excited about that. So thank you. Another big round of applause for our coaches and our athletes. Uh, also had the opportunity to attend, uh, with uh, uh, Doctor Bedi and other staff members as well, who went to the uh, City Hall Hispanic Heritage
013Month, uh, celebration where they honored, uh, Maria Olivet Flores, uh, was honored our SRO, uh, Mr. Melendez, and our very own trustee, Amy Valley, uh, where, um, honored for Hispanic Heritage Month and by the mayor and the council and the city manager, you see pictured there. And so we're very proud as a community that we get to celebrate the diversity and the, uh, wonderful aspects of our community that make up the mosaic of our community. So wonderful and so big. Round of applause for the honorees. We thank you all. And we thank the city for doing that as well. Uh, on on your behalf as a board of education, uh, administrative team, uh, teachers and staff, uh, I humbly accepted an award, a community engagement award alongside of, uh, Tuesday, Paige McDonald and, uh, also
014Reverend Colter, uh, from a local church here in the community, well-established, uh, long standing church in our community as well, and the three of us. But really, all of us were recognized for all of our efforts, uh, by, uh, the wonderful Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, incorporated. This was their inaugural gala. They're five months old as a chapter. And, uh, 1920 is when the sorority was established out west, and they wanted to bring to Peekskill, uh, this, uh, spirit of, of community service. And so, uh, they want to, uh, begin a, um, swim program, which is, uh, to help our students and our kids learn how to swim so that we avoid one of the top, uh, ways that, unfortunately, children lose their lives, which is drowning. And so they want to bring a swim program,
015uh, as a courtesy to our community. They want to bring a women's empowerment, uh, program, family engagement. And so we are excited to have yet another partner be part of our effort. And so let's give Sigma Gamma Rho sorority a big round of applause and say thank you. Today. I had the great pleasure. Um. I give the schools about three weeks to get everything up and running and learn, uh, about their children and make relationships and with families and children as well. And then I started my school support visits this week. Uh, today I had the opportunity to be with Mrs. Woodley and her team, uh, and visit some of our classrooms. And here you see some of the classrooms pictured. We had a great, uh, conversation about how the school year started and where
016we are headed. Uh, she is very excited, as principal to continue the great work that she's been doing, leading the helm with Cynthia Welker as her assistant principal and her wonderful team. So let's give the Woodside team a big round of applause and looking forward to seeing more from them. Speaking of partnerships, sun River health, um, this is part of our employee wellness. Uh, I certainly will be taking part of this as well. They are offering a free flu vaccine clinic here at our school district for our, uh, staff members. It's again open to all of our staff. They can attend any, uh, location. There's a registration, um, QR code there on the right. Um, and the places and locations and times of where they will come and provide these vaccines for our, um, staff
017are free of charge as well, and part of the insurance. And so we're very excited to continue to partner with Sam River. We know many of our staff members took part in this last year and will continue to do so. Thank you to Austin Goldberg, uh, for making this happen. Also want to share that sun River. Uh, if any families are experiencing, uh, the legal requirement where their children are excluded from schools for not having the proper vaccinations. Uh, Sunriver has offered to provide, uh, free car service to their other facilities as well, to make sure they get the vaccinations to get back in school. And we thank all of our families for staying on top of that and helping comply with the law. And equally important, keeping our children, staff and everyone safe. And
018so. Big round of applause for Sam River health. Another wonderful partner we have is our PTO, our parent teacher organization, of which all parents are part of. Uh, they will have their first, uh, general meeting and that will take place on Monday, October 6th, uh, from 7 to 8 p.m. and, uh, look forward to being there as well. It is my birthday, but I'm going to make an appearance and, uh, meet over all of our families and the executive, uh, members of the, uh, PTO. We're so happy of all the support that they provide. And we'll continue to provide moving forward. So, please, parents, come on out. Uh, learn more about the PTO. You are a member of it. Learn who your offices are and what they are bringing, uh, forward. And then also give
019your input as they are always seeking input to be better as a PTO. And their kickoff event will be at our Saturday Academy at the end of the month, which is the trunk or treat. Uh, we'll be doing it indoors, um, uh, for a variety of reasons, but we will, uh, have the trunk or treat indoors in a gymnasium and are looking forward to partnering with our PTO as well. Let's give them a big round of applause. Jen Carbo, thank you for all that you do. And to your team. Paramount, another great partner of our school district, uh, this past week, uh uh uh, Hillcrest Elementary School went to see tango, um, during the day. And they had offered free tickets, and we brought our children there. So excited about that opportunity. Uh, the Paramount
020is also offering free tickets to Strange Company and Evening of Radio plays with full cast and live sound effects. You may recall before Netflix and TVs and DVRs and all of that, all of the entertainment came through, uh, the, um, the, uh, radio in your living room and you, you you huddle around it and you hear the stories, and they had all these different sound effects. And so they're going to recreate that nostalgia at the Paramount. Uh, um, that is 8 p.m. performance on October 3rd. If you're interested, please contact Doctor Daniels at the high school. They are providing free tickets for our family, staff and, uh, to everyone here, so please take advantage of that. Let's give the Paramount Hudson Valley Theater a big round of applause and say thank you. Thank you, Laura,
021for putting together our Hispanic heritage flier. Um. We're going to ask the community. Come join us next Tuesday. The board meeting will be at the middle school. Uh, not here at the administration building. And the reason for that is we are going to open our, uh, Latino history gallery led by, uh, Doctor Daniels and her team. And so we're excited about, uh, culminating Hispanic Heritage Month with this important celebration and learning about the culture, history and the rich, um, aspects of the Latino community and which is alive and well here in Peekskill as well. And we do this for, uh, various, uh, different ethnicities. And it's all part of celebrating, uh, that the, um, who we are as a community and what we each bring to the table. So thank you. Looking forward to having
022everyone at on October 7th. That's next Tuesday, 7 p.m. at the middle school and will begin right at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. And then we will make our way to the gallery, uh, and take a recess from the board meeting. So looking forward to that. Let's give Doctor Daniels a big round of applause. And then we'll have another ribbon cutting. And that will be Tuesday, October 21st at 7 p.m. That will be the night of our board meeting as well. That will take place at the high school. And we're going to bring the rotary back. We're going to have our, uh, we did a soft launch this summer, but we're going to do a full, um, ribbon cutting of the music studio, uh, that they have funded. It is up and it is ready.
023We're going to have a live recording. Thank you, Doctor Bedi. And to our, uh, music staff at the high school. And you'll get to witness a live recording in our very new, uh, brand new space, which is our music studio. Looking forward to our students making wonderful music and, uh, being able to record it in a professional way as well. Let's give the rotary and the PAF a big round of applause and say thank you. And lastly, I would like to say that, um, tomorrow begins October, but it also begins the, um, principal appreciation month, and, uh, they deserve an entire month because all the work and energy that they put in. And so from Uriah Hill all the way to the high school, our team is just phenomenal. Uh, high school. Uh, I'm sorry,
024our principals, uh, give all of themselves are at all these events and providing leadership at our schools and work with our staff, parents and students. And I just want to say on behalf of the board and our administrative team, a very special thank you. Let's give our principals a big round of applause and say thank you for all that you do. So that concludes our Peekskill Pride. Uh, pride. And I just have a few slides that I'd like to share with you. Uh, this was, uh, originally shared, um, uh, with the board. Uh, we had a board meeting with, uh, with many board members, uh, led by, uh, uh, Putnam, northern Westchester Boces team. Uh, Mr. Boyle, who was the superintendent there and his team and just want to talk about this, uh, requirements called
025regional planning. Um, and want to share with you some of the ideas that I would propose to our board that we move forward with. Um, and again, regional planning is about how do you work together to, uh, synergistically support each other at school districts? It is not about consolidation. Um, so it won't be very clear that this does not mean that Peekskill will no longer exist and will be merged with another school district. This is about, uh, looking at what we can do together as school districts to have greater efficiencies, uh, greater economy, um, as well, and really supporting all of the children in our community. Uh, by working together. And so some of the areas. Uh, first, let me just share these are the school districts that are going to participate, um, in this
026very important effort. Um, and so you see these districts from, uh, Westchester and, uh, Putnam County as well, and some of the areas that we will be working, uh, proposing to work together is social emotional learning. We have already moved forward on this, uh, very important aspect with mental health, which I'll share in a, uh, short moment. Uh, pre-K advocacy and programs, we see the power of Uriah Hill in our pre-K program. We see the data move from September to June with our students getting them kindergarten ready and, uh, making sure that pre-K remains a high priority at the federal government, state government, government. And certainly, I know our board is in great support of, uh, pre-K programs as well. Uh, transportation support. Uh, you certainly have heard about the, uh, legal requirements to make
027sure that our busses are, uh, electric and, uh, making sure that we're all in compliance with that, but also in relation to the vision and getting support to make sure that we have the infrastructure, uh, to make that happen as well. Workforce development, making sure our high school students have opportunities, uh, to, um, uh, engage in internship and work related opportunities. And so I'll speak a little bit about that as well, supporting our English as new language learners. Uh, programing for students who are 18 to 21 years old. Uh, with career opportunities, job opportunities as well. Regional grant writing, making sure that we work together, uh, to, uh, secure grants, uh, to help supplement the wonderful programs we already offer, regionalized business office functions. And making sure, again, we create those efficiencies, uh, in our
028school districts. And, uh, the first one I'll talk about is an area that we have already begun. I want to thank Ellen Grace, and that is we now have immediate access to psychiatric support. We have immediate access, uh, for students who are in a, uh, crisis and need to go, um, to a space where it's not a large hospital, but go to a clinic and have immediate access to the kind of care that they need at that moment. And so that is 24 over seven, um, crisis services available to every child in the school, city, school district. And, uh, we are one of the districts that, uh, joined up in this effort as part of our regional supports. And it's already been in place and we have already used it, um, for our families, and
029they've been very appreciative of that. And so we'll continue to create those contractual opportunities for our students. Uh, making sure that we're supporting counseling and, uh, preventative, um, uh, behavioral supports. Uh, at the moment in which families need it. Again looking at making sure that we have support for pre-K, but also looking at our students before they're in pre-K and our students with special needs. Uh, as part of the CPS, which is, uh, for students who are not kindergarten age and making sure we're working with the county to, uh, bring the kind of resources that our students need so they enter pre-K and kindergarten ready to learn and emotionally, uh, ready to learn as well. Another area we have Uriah Hill. We do have a couple classrooms available. So if another school district wanted to
030have pre-K, uh, they could bring their classes to our Uriah Hill. Rent the space from us and, uh, bring their staff, or we would provide staff and then build them back. And so some schools struggle having pre-K because they don't have the space in their current elementary schools. So we can provide that opportunity. And that's a way that we can work together as a region. Transportation, as I mentioned, uh, making sure that we're supporting, uh, the efforts, uh, for going green and having, uh, electrified busses, uh, but also supporting our students with special needs who are in and out of district placements. And how do we work together if we're sending two students to an out of district school and our neighboring school district is sending to rather than each of us send us a
031bus with two students, we can collaborate and work the times out so that the bus is now filled and more, uh, economically supporting, uh, the, the community, uh, but also providing that opportunity for our students as well. So I mentioned workforce development and internships are a very important aspect. Um, I had the privilege of having an internship in Manhattan when I grew up, and it is one of the things that really set me on path for the life that I have today. And I want to thank the New York City school District for that. Uh, we also want to have those opportunities, which we currently have, but we want to continue to expand those opportunities here in Peekskill and beyond, um, as well. And one of those aspects is having a joint support with other
032districts where we have a coach. It's one thing to put a, a, uh, young adult into a internship, but they need the support, um, to make sure that they're successful in that space. And so having, uh, uh, what they call work base coaches to be part of this, um, and we work together to provide and bring on that coach as, uh, collective districts would be very helpful for us as we move forward. As I mentioned, uh, English as a new language programing, night school options, uh, with career and technical education. GED while they're learning English, uh, but also working on their academics as well. Very important need for us as a region and making sure we're supporting those students who are 18 to 21 years old who may not want to, um, continue on in
033a high school setting. Um, but they would rather be in a setting that's more appropriate for their age and supporting the needs that they have. And so as a, uh, district, what I would propose to the board is that we support the social, emotional learning and mental health, supports pre-K advocacy and programs, transportation, workforce development, you know, programing, regional grant writing and regionalized business office functions as well. And so with that, I will turn it back over to our, uh, board president and, uh, happy to answer any questions that you might have. I think the only question I had was with some of our the vaccine clinic is just for staff, not just for our families. Right. That is correct. Uh, the vaccination that will take place in our three schools, uh, or the administration
034in two schools or for staff. However, Sunriver does have vaccines available, uh, for flu shots and others. Uh, at their center as well. Um. That's great. So thank you. Um, now we'll move on to the hearing of the citizens. Uh, Board of education desires input from the community. Is there any community member who would like to be heard? No. Anyone wants to come out. We're more than happy to have you. Um. Old business. Is there any old business? New business? Any new business? Policy readings? There aren't any policy readings. This meeting. Uh, accepting of minutes. Any questions or comments? Can I please have a motion to accept the minutes for the amended reorganization? Business meeting July 7th, 2025, the business meeting for August 26th and, uh, business meeting work session from September 9th. So moved
035by Branwen. Second. Second by Allen. All in favor? Aye. Any. Nay. Any abstentions? Can I please have a motion to include Melissa makin law as the interim Director of Instruction to the personnel agenda. So moved. Moved by Allen. Second by Amy. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstentions. Consent agenda. Any questions, comments or thoughts? No. Can I please have a motion to approve a consent agenda? Items 11 A through 14 A. Moved by Brown, one second by Amy. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstentions. Any committee reports or comments. I just want to thank, um, Doctor Daniels and the Paramount. My family and I got to take advantage of those tickets in Novo Tango, and it was a lot of fun. So maybe we'll check out the, um, radio event on Friday, too.
036But it was really nice cultural event. Very, uh, good music and some history. It's great. That's great. It's really amazing that partnership that we've had. So if you have the opportunity to pick up tickets, please do. Um, if there are no further actions, can I please have a motion to adjourn the meeting in memory of Robert Strang? Moved by Brown. One second. Second by Frank. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstentions? Perfect. Mr. Robert A Strang. Whereas Mr. Robert is trying to serve the Peekskill City School District for 30 years. With great devotion until his retirement in 1990. And Mr. Strong's career highlighted impactful service to the district. And Whereas Mr. Strang was a respected member of the Peekskill City School District, whose service preserve, uh, preserved our students and continued safety and social
037emotional growth each day. And whereas Mr. Strang was a strong advocate who fought for the equity of all students, and Whereas Mr. Strang brought a natural sense of optimism, insight and inspiration to all that he did, earning deep respect and admiration from his supervisors and peers alike. And Whereas Mr. Strang served the Peekskill City School District staff, students and families with distinction. And therefore, be it resolved, therefore, that the Board of Education notes with sorrow the passing of Mr. Strang, and be it further resolved, that the Board of Education, on behalf of the entire Peekskill City School District, express his condolences to the family and deems that the resolution be noted in the minutes and a copy thereof. Be forward to the bereaved family. Good evening. Peekskill.