Board of Education Meeting 11/4/2025

001It's part of my superintendents report, uh, some of the updates from our community. And we always we begin with our Peekskill Pride. And so with that, I just want to take the opportunity to thank all of our, uh, family members, our parents guardians and our staff, our administrators, uh, who all took part in making, uh, last Friday, Halloween, a very special day for our students. We know our students are very excited about coming to school on that day, having the opportunity to wear their costumes if they if their parents, uh, choose to do so. And, uh, as a school community, even pictured on the left here, uh, we as administrative team also uh, uh, dressed up that day as well and, uh, want to make sure we're part of the festivities and making our schools

002a very fun, um, enjoyable space for our students and for our staff as well. And so thank you to our administrators, our staff and our parents for all you did to make this a fun day. Let's give them a big round of applause. And following that theme, uh, every year, the October Saturday Academy, which is our kickoff of this of the school year, is, uh, very often our most attended. Uh, uh, the second to or top of the list, uh, compared to when we give our toys during the December, uh, Saturday Academy as well. Uh, we normally get about a thousand, uh, maybe a little over that each year, and it's grown tremendously each year. This year we were close to 1500. So we had, uh, about 4 to 500 more, uh, individuals than we

003expected. Um, but it's a good problem to have. It's great to see that we have such engagement in our schools. This is all free, fun activities for our families. And again, another opportunity. And parents, uh, ask for a safe space for our students to, um, engage in trick or treating. And I want to say a very special thank you to our parent teacher organization, the PTO, uh, who put on a wonderful trunk or treat. Uh, Sandra Walton was the lead on that activity. And, uh, they had, uh, about 14, 15 tables that would have been trunks, uh, but they would tables this year. And, uh, just a wonderful opportunity to have a safe space for Halloween to happen in our school community. And our families are certainly, certainly taking part of that. So, uh, let's

004give our Saturday Academy team the PTO big round of applause and say thank you. And, uh, given the great turnout, we did run out of food, uh, about three quarters of the way through and we increased the food order. Um, and we also, uh, want to be mindful of the resources that we have. And so I'm going to ask the community, uh, and our staff, uh, the Peekskill, um, Saturday Academy is for our Peekskill families and for our Peekskill children. And so other communities, we would help replicate this in your community if you so desire to have some fun, engaging opportunity for your families. Uh, please let me know. Let your school district know, and we will certainly replicate and share all the details of how we make this happen. Uh, but we want to

005make sure that these resources go to our children and our families in our community. So thank you for your cooperation on that. And, uh, also with that, I'm really excited about the fact that we've always talked about how do we get secondary students at our Saturday Academy. It's tended to be a, um, you know, a two year old to fifth grade. And so thanks to Doctor Roman, uh, from our secondary world, she has brought the, uh, p-tech and smart scholars. These are students who are getting a free, um, uh, college degree, uh, associates degree with their high school diploma as part of a, uh, grant. We received the multi-million dollar grant we received for the high school and also a smart Scholars grant, where students can walk away with 24 college credits when they leave

006our high school and they don't pay, uh, any money to make that happen. And that's a huge benefit to our students in our high school. And Doctor Roman's done a great job that would helped write that grant. And so thank you, Doctor Bedi, Doctor Roman for leading that work. And they brought families and their scholars from the high school to Saturday Academy. And so again, uh, about 70 individuals being part of that. So let's give Doctor Roman and her team a big round of applause as well. Very important that we continually strive for unity in our schools. And so, uh, we all wore, um, sorry, we all wore, uh, orange, um, as part of Unity Days and National initiative. And then we also wore pink. And in honor of those individuals who are battling or

007have battled, uh, breast cancer. And we want to, uh, show our staff and our community that we are there to support them. And so, uh, thank you again to our social emotional learning team, making sure we keep this at the forefront. And so thank you, Ellen dress and her team and all of our staff and administrators who are part of that. So let's give them a round of applause as well. Uh, speaking of Doctor Roman, she did an excellent job. Uh, we have Doctor Ferris here. Doctor Ferris, a high school, uh, principal. Let's give her a round of applause and say thank you. This fair, uh, had approximately 70 college, uh, partners, recruiters who were here, enrollment, um, um, staff from colleges all across state and the region as well. And, uh, really excited about

008this opportunity where our students got to see all of the colleges, about 70 of them within that time frame. Uh, that would take, uh, you know, five years to be able to visit all these colleges and be able to speak to recruiters. And they got information on hand right at our high school, all established in our high school gymnasium. So thank you for your leadership, Doctor Ferris. Thank you, Doctor Roman. Another big round of applause for them and their team. Uh, speaking of of, uh, our high school, we also, uh, hosted a freshman parent night. We've been hosting, uh, senior night, junior night, sophomore night. And, uh, last week was the freshman parent night. Uh, I think it was raining sideways that day. Um, and, uh, so that was important for us to have, uh,

009students and their parents there as well. And you see our guidance, uh, counselors, school counselors, they're sharing information, very important information as they begin their career at the high school and plan for a great colleges and careers as they move forward. Um, very informational. They broke them up into small groups, both English and Spanish, so they can dedicate their time. So let's give our, uh, school counselors a big round of applause and say thank you. And that was also Doctor Roman and Doctor Ferris as well. So she tell her she did a great job in the last two weeks. Uh, she's getting a lot of, uh, kudos. Um, Peekskill High School junior parent night, uh, is tomorrow at 6:30 p.m., November 5th at the high school. And really excited to bring, um, Barnard College, as

010you know, is in New York City, connected to Columbia University. The vice president of enrollment and external affairs will be the keynote speaker. Uh, you see her name there? Uh, Jennifer Tyler. And we're really excited to host her and have our families, you know, in the high school, um, for years. The junior year is critically important for college acceptance and having this information early on, very important for our families. Very often people think the senior year is it is important, but the junior year is critically important to identify where you might be headed, where those interests might be, and what you need to do over the next two years to make sure the college of choice is the one that selects you. So thank you again to our high school team. Another round of applause.

011Doctor Ferris, did you make these slides? Because they seemed to all be about the high school doing great work. Um, what's our curriculum night on Thursday? Uh, this week. Very excited about that. That's November 7th, 6:30 p.m. at the Woodside, uh, Elementary School. And we want our families to come out. Uh, it's important, uh, curriculum night for our families to learn about the curriculum in grades K and one and learn about what you can do at home to help support your scholar to excel in school. And I want to thank, uh, Mrs. Woodley and Mrs. Walker, Doctor Vilas Rodriguez and all the teachers and staff who will be part of that. Let's give them a round of applause. Hope you can make it out to our Woodside event. Uh, Peekskill High School students took, uh,

012part, uh, this week and stand, uh, standing for Red Ribbon week. Very important national, um, recognition of, uh, making sure that our students understand the challenges, the realities, and, uh, stand up against, uh, substance abuse. And so very important that we educate our students. And this is part of a national initiative that has been around, uh, over ten years in our schools and beyond. Um, and so I'm glad that we are part of that. And so thank you again to our high school team for bringing that forward and bringing that awareness to our students as well. Uh, uh, Hillcrest Elementary School kicked off the My Brother's Keeper uh, program. Uh, really excited about this initiative that helps our young men, uh, young boys, uh, uh, grow in their in their who they are, who they

013aspire to be, helped them dream big, create storyboards about their life and where they see their lives moving forward, expand their horizons, provide mentorship opportunities using our staff in the schools. And all of this is very important and happens after school. So we're not taking away from learning, uh, but it's an after school initiative that is, uh, very important for us. We've been engaged in this work for over ten years and continuously, uh, supporting our students as we move forward. So let's give our Hillcrest, uh, My Brother's Keeper team a big round of applause and say thank you for all that you do. Last night, uh, thank you. Uh, Trustee Brown, when McDonald, who joined us on behalf of the Board of Education, representing the board, uh, you see here, this is not always the

014common scenario to have so many of our, uh, parents who apparent liaisons in our schools, part of the, uh, parent leadership team, uh, all of our principals were there. Administrators were there myself. The board and PTO executive committee talking about alignment, what we can do to improve the outcomes and opportunities for our students in each and every one of our schools. We shared ideas together. Parents talked to us. We spoke with parents, and together we, uh, plan some very important aspects as we move forward. And so thank you. Jane Carbo, president of the PTO and her executive team, for putting this on, uh, the late night. But it was a great night. And so thank you to our PTO. Thank you for doing all that you do for our families. And every member of our

015community is part of the PTO who are parents, so make sure you stay involved as well. Let's give them a round of applause. Speaking of parent engagement, uh, I took this picture, uh, where our, uh, teachers invited, uh, parents. And they do this throughout the year to come in and work with their children on an art project. In this case, it was painting pumpkins to take home. And, uh, great way to connect with our teachers, connect with other parents, uh, have our students, they they, you know, they rise up in their smiles are huge when they see their parents come in. Uh, we know that every parent, uh, can't be there due to work obligations and otherwise. Uh, but these are opportunities where we're all there as a community helping each other out. I was

016helping paint three pumpkins that day. Left with a lot of paint on my shirt. Um, but that's okay. It was all worth it. Let's give our, uh, uh, teachers a big round of applause and continue this work to bring our families in school. Uh, very excited. Uh, I think last board meeting we showcased when we at the high school, we showcased our capital projects video that's going to be coming out in our Friday letter and through social media as we make our final edits. Uh, thank you again, Doug Brown, for putting that together. Uh, here we are with our capital partners. Uh, Carmine, Chrissy, um, Cynthia Hawthorne, our assistant superintendent, and Triton, um, which is the construction firm helping us stay on track, stay focused, make sure we're saving every dollar that we need to

017in order to complete the projects as we propose them to the community. And the good news is, we are on track. We are moving forward. And, uh, we can't wait to show the the, uh, public and our families and our students all that's going to continue to happen over the next two years. So thank you, Carmine, Cynthia and our team. Big round of applause. The work is amazing as we move forward. An example of that is our entire Board of education came out to do, uh, tours of our schools to see all the capital work. They see it through PowerPoints. They see it through videos. They hear us, uh, present on the work, um, and plans, uh, but it's nothing like seeing it in person. And thank you, Board of Education, for committing that night,

018uh, last week where we got to tour all the schools where this work is happening. And right here we are in, um, the high school, um, uh, lower level, where our state of the art, high efficiency, um, boiler systems have been put in place. There are three of them in the high school, and we referenced that and saw how hot it was in the high school last night. So we were able to lower that level. Um, they are working very well and also saving us money as part of our energy performance contract where we are, uh, becoming more efficient, solar energy coming to the high school and Hillcrest and really excited about that. Work forward. Let's give our team a big round of applause. Thank you, Board of Education. To help close us out, uh,

019Saturday was an awesome night. Um, as well, here at Torpey Field, we had a 6 p.m. football game. Uh, great game by both teams. Want to give, uh, Panisse a big round of applause. They had an awesome season. Uh, in the end, uh, Peekskill Red Devils did win the game and, uh, are moving forward to the championship. This is the second time in two years that we are, uh, fighting for that, uh, golden football as part of our championship. That game will happen this Saturday. Torpey field, 6 p.m. They've had an undefeated season. Let's give our Red Devils a big round of applause and wish them the very best. One of the players did ask me that night if they could, uh, cancel school the next day for high school. Um, so I'm not able

020to do that. Uh, but if they win, we'll certainly do a parade and celebrate them at an upcoming board meeting. So looking forward to that. Best of luck. And, uh, with that, um, we have a special surprise, uh, from our, you know, we're all about our sports. We're all about our academics as well, but we are also all about the arts. And so tonight, um, just another high school play is going to be the high school play that is performed by the Peekskill High School Drama Club. And that is this November the 20th, 21st, 22nd. It is a great opportunity for us to come out and support our drama team, uh, drama club and, uh, show all of our students that we appreciate the arts. It's important. It's important to who they are. And with

021that, let's give our drama club a big round of applause. I. My company and we're going to perform a scene for you a fool. Could we see with you tonight? But we didn't fully memorize our lines. So can we cut the number? Like, maybe a half, maybe a little bit with the tiniest bit of a scene? Maybe. What if. What if, um, we demonstrate some actual theater techniques, you know, like, um. Improvization. Yes. Thank you. Carrie here will demonstrate some classic improv exercises. This is a little game called murder. Who, where and how? Tom, can you join us? Huh? Ivan. Method. Acting as a detective all week, I even solve the mystery of who's been stealing props from the green room. That was you. You were stealing. Must, uh, the mustaches, prop collection. Oh, but

022did you catch me in character? First, we'll need a volunteer from the audience. So pick me with me over here. Oh, yeah? Does anybody want to join in the little game of us? Please, please. I wish I could say my very faces. Anybody at all. I know the rules. I watch three, two crime documentaries to prepare. Fine. You can play. I mean, only if no one else wants to. I don't want to deny anyone the opportunity to experience the crap you're playing. Got it? But. First, the volunteer will cover their ears. Tom, it's important that the volunteer count here is the utmost importance that the volunteer count here, because of the volunteer can here he'd note he smelled like boiled cabbages and should be ashamed of the way he's just stopped listening. I wasn't listening,

023I was reading your lips. You can't read a comic book. How can you read my lips? All right. Sorry, I was just dropping your cheating. Come here. Sally, is this good? Can you hear me? I got him, am I shouting? All right, all right, all right. This is a game called murder. Who, where and how? I'll first start off by trying to describe the occupation to Tom. But I am not allowed to use English. I'm only allowed to use gibberish and hand gestures. You folks have a very important job. You need to let Tom know if he's getting warm or if he's getting cold. If he's getting warm, you clap your hands and go, woo woo! Come on people. If he's getting warmer, you clap your hands. Excellent. Now, if you get cold, you boo.

024Okay. I'm so glad you were so strong in that one. I have a feeling you'll be voting a lot. Now. If you guessed correctly, you clap your hands twice. Put your hands in their shoes. Jazz hands and go. Yup. You'll see. Perfect. Great. Now, once Tom guesses the occupation correctly, I'll then move on to the location. And then the murder weapon. Hopefully he gets us to help us. Now, can I get an occupation? Well, what do you say? Uh, a professional bullet tester. Great. Uh, a location for World War two. The world's longest escalator. And finally, the murder weapon. Oh, what a rubber chicken filled with glitter. Right. Okay. Got it. You can uncover your ears now. What? You can uncover your ears now. I can't hear you. I'm doing the exercise perfectly. Oh, was

025I supposed to be listening for you? I'm going to act out that occupation somehow. Confirmed. Um, audience will help you by reacting like traits are greatest traits. Oh, no no no no no. Just watch. Oh, you're a butterfly catcher, though. Uh, and, um, a window washer with a very poor technique. Oh, uh, a person you having a very aggressive fight with their coach. Well, how are you getting worse at this? I'm building character choices. Oh, you're a professional umbrella tester? Yes. Did you see my build up to that? Really took our audience on a journey. Mhm. And now the location. Easy. You're climbing up mount Everest, though. No way. You're stuck in quicksand, though. You're practicing for your ministry of silly walks. Oh, how are you getting worse at this? I'm creating subtext. The world's

026longest escalator yard scene. And that was our demonstration of improvization. Wait, I don't get to do my prepared dramatic, jazzy. So I've been practicing for a week. And this is why we don't let him play the murder victim anymore. And improv is. Thank you to our students. Looking forward to our plays. We have two plays a year at the high school. We have a play at the middle school as well. And, uh, we're looking forward to having our students and school community come out. Uh, let's give them another round of applause, and we look forward to seeing them then. And so with that, uh, we are going to have, uh, a brief update, uh, from Doctor Bedi. Uh, um, a secondary schools update, and then we are going to close it out. Um, and, uh,

027student board member is going to share, uh, her, uh, comments. Uh, Talia Martin, let's, uh, welcome back to the, uh, to the dais is our student board member. So let's give her a round of applause and we'll have you, uh, share your report in just a few moments. So as part of the superintendent's report, we're going to now have, uh, Doctor Bedi do his, uh, presentation as well. Great. Yes. Good evening. Board of education president Wilson, uh, vice president Villa and more. Trustees, community members, colleagues and our students who are here today. So just to reaffirm and and enhance and expand on what Doctor Mauricio had presented earlier. Just wanted to provide you with some highlights of our our middle school and high school. So just today I happened to be today was a beautiful

028day in our schools. Ah, we had a professional learning day for all of our staff that were engaging in learning, expanding their horizons and how to support our children in classrooms. And we were seeing the seal of uh, biliteracy students that were presenting, um, to, uh, obtained a seal of biliteracy. There was a, a young man who actually presented some profound experiences of his life. Um, and one of the things that he wrote was a letter to himself when he was in ninth grade. And now as a senior, uh, moving on to, uh, higher education, he was able to learn for himself that, um, do not spend too much time in the little moments of problems that you have in a day, because it will ruin the rest of your day and that that something

029that is profound. Because adults, sometimes we still have to learn that concept. And he is learning that in 12th grade currently. So in the seal of Biliteracy, in the last three years, we have moved from 23 students, obtained a seal of Biliteracy to the second year, uh, 30 students. And just last year we had 53 students obtained our seal of Biliteracy. And moving forward into the next year, I believe we're going to expand on that as well. Um, we also got a pool for our seal of civic readiness. We went from the first year, uh, having 33 students obtained a seal of civic readiness. And in the second year, which is just last year, 93 students obtain their seal of civic raises and applause to our social studies department, world language department. So really doing

030some work there in our middle school this year we launched, uh, advancements via Individual Determination. The acronym of Avid is a national model that we have, um, implemented in our middle school. Um, that they coined a term called wicker. Um, it is a section now, a course that is done in sixth grade and will be expanded next year into seventh and eighth grade. Wicker stands for writing, um, inquiry, collaboration, organization and reading. And this is all done within this particular section of courses so that the students can start developing some of those skills of cognitive and functional skills so they can then move into seventh grade better prepared for what is needed at the high school level as well. We're in our second year of implementing and assessment, um, this today. In fact, our teachers

031were analyzing data for the first time, uh, that they have administered a assessment to see the strength, the areas of strength that our students are bringing, areas of that we need improvement so we can start maximizing our time and instruction to getting our students better prepared for number one, the assessments that are coming up also so they can improve on their access to, uh, curriculum and instruction. Our expansion of dual enrollment courses. Thank you, Doctor Mauricio and the Board of Education for supporting, uh, us in, uh, uh, financially for our students that are, um, able to either take the dual enrollment courses for college credit. And now we have expanded that for our students. So I want to thank you for that. That started last year, um, in terms of our world language, as you

032know, thank you for supporting us with our French courses. We do have our core started in the middle school and in the high school, and we are also looking forward to those students reaching the seal of Biliteracy when they get to their senior year. In terms of accelerated courses, as you know, in eighth grade, we have expanded our algebra courses for sections for our students, which is a key indicator for success in high school and beyond. And we have expanded our academic intervention service sections for our students so that they can get, uh, all the support they need to close the opportunity gap that exists. Um, when it comes to enhancing college and career pathways, as Doctor Mauricio indicated, we have had our, um, college fair, our college fair, uh, as that one recent indicated,

03370 colleges. We had 30 new colleges this year that just came into play. Thank you to Doctor Romain, the school counseling department and the high school for really generating the momentum for all these college to be, um, very interested in our students in Peekskill. We just had a New York State Education Department visit. Um, and we were seen as a. Model uh, program for our P-tech and Smart Scholars achievement. Um, we are maintaining a 93% attendance rate in our program and an 86% academic average GPA for all of the students. And currently we have approximately 50 students. Next year, we will start having 75 students and moving on into the third year, fourth year with 100 and something students. So I'm very proud of the work that we're doing there. Um, and then just to

034acknowledge we did have Princeton come to our schools and while you have come to our schools. As Doctor Mauricio said, Barnard College has been here. That will be here in November. Today, actually November 4th, we have a special visit with HBCU. On November 15th, we'll be taking our students to see some of the university, um, HBCUs as well. Our goal is to to provide exposure to our students, make sure that they have local exposure as well as outside exposure, not just state, but also international, um, including, uh, Ivy League University as well. We want to we want our students to understand that if they, um, put their self forward, they will achieve what they desire and their dreams. Um, and as Doctor Morita said, the dream, um, is just a dream, but we have to

035put it into action in order to it to see a fulfilled. And these are some pictures just resonating. And as doctor, you had before some pictures of our students and our college experiences, they were so engaged in having conversations with the um, the representatives, Representatives seemed extremely excited. We went around asking them, um, about their return visit, and they say, we will be here next year and we will bring more universities to come and see our students. The most positive thing that I'm seeing is, um, our school counselors and that Roman now have the students themselves bringing colleges to our school districts. So when they go and visit school districts with their own parents, or they know that their siblings have, such as Barnard, all of you that remember the Estevez families. So the sister

036was the one that actually went and asked them to come to our schools to visit. And that just brings joy to us, because now it seems that it is internalized for the students, and they're seeing the positive experiences within our school. So I want to thank our students for positively bringing influence to our schools themselves, as well as our counselors. And these are some pictures of our Princeton evening with our students, as well as our NYU special visit. Um, I know that somebody in the audience was unable to be there at that day, but she was doing something very special as well. We'll hear from Daisy later. Some new planning phases that we have. As you all are aware, New York inspired portrait of a graduate is up and coming with State Education Department. We

037are in the process of, um, understanding what New York Inspire is the four key transformational shifts that exist in New York State, um, from a multiple, uh, pathway of regions diploma to a single pathway of diploma, to give more access to students to graduate and move on to college, experience and careers. Um, we are going to start having our conversation as ambassadors with parents, students, the staff and community to start developing our own portrait of a graduate. And what does it look like for when they receive their graduation and move on to secondary education? We are also, um, just apply to the individual arts assessment pathway, which we were approved by New York State Education Department, thanks to, uh, Mr. Bowen and Doctor Roman for supporting this as well, and Doctor Ferris for really, um,

038moving forward with the arts pathway. We're starting with the fine arts, but we're not ending there. We're going to get into the music as we have our music studio, um, that we just opened up as well. And then, um, next year we're looking at a Harvard student agency. This program comes from Harvard. It is designed by the students of Harvard to come and teach our students, um, in several different domains. They have pre-med, they have pre-law, they have artificial intelligence and coding. And so we're looking to have them come and support us and teach our students as well. The middle school college fair is an idea that just came up as well. Um, the ideas just keep coming and coming and we try to put them into place. Um, one of the ideas was to

039have our, our seniors and our juniors that are entering the university level to go down and do a college fair at the middle school and talk about how they were able to get into the school, why did they desire the school, and why they should also take a look at a school. So we no longer need the vendors to come, because our seniors will be doing the same work at the middle school as well. So we're looking forward to that next year. And then we are going to talk about our change makers who are here today to talk about it. But, um, an idea came and I think is a great idea, which is having our MBK, uh, changemakers team building those same experiences so that our young men can also go into the wilderness,

040experience life, and understand how they can be a team building experience there as well, and they can join that effort as well. So all these things are coming up into next year. So this is going to be the planning phase so that we can incorporate that next year. Thank you. To we cannot do this unless you have a visionary head to head. And I will say that Doctor Marissa's vision is something that resonates within all of us. And all we have to do is move ahead and do what was right for children. So I want to thank Doctor Mauricio for his visionary work and making sure that he allowed us to lead and move forward in giving our students the best we can give them. And yeah, let's give him a round of applause. So

041in this case, now we have a lining. Uh, pre-K 12 parent teacher conference is a proposal for enhanced family engagement as well. Um, this has been a conversation. We know that in the secondary level, um, sometimes it is sometimes limited in the amount of time that you have to converse with parents about their children, their academic. Needs and how great they're doing. And so, um, the idea is to expand that time with our families at the secondary level, as it is in the elementary, where they have a half day to speak with them and then they have an evening. Currently, we have only evenings for a secondary level. And so we wanted to make another suggestion to, to the board and to have. The purpose is to align parent teacher conferences across pre-K 12 for

042greater consistency and accessibility, strengthen family engagement, and ensure that families of secondary school students have equitable opportunities to connect with their teachers. Um, we understand that they do it throughout the year and throughout the day, but I think this would be another, um, organized time that they can have some better conversation as well. So this is our current format in pre-K to five. We have have day conferences and evening, we have some virtual person. Um, and there was no change there. We will continue that to the 6 to 8. We have currently evening conferences. We're going to add a half day session for conferences for our, uh, middle school. And similarly we will do the same for the high school, which will be a virtual session for them in the day. And then in the

043evening they can come in person so they can speak to their teachers, and they have multiple options of getting connected with their teachers. Thank you. To, um, our principals, who have always been at the forefront of having this opportunity for our families. So I want to thank Mr. Peters and Doctor Ferris for always, uh, moving forward, such a great experience for our families. Um, so this is the way it would look. Have day morning virtual conferences and into evening in-person conferences that will be for the December 4th and December 10th, uh, schedule. And it is a pilot, a trial. And it this is something that really generates momentum for our families. Then we will start moving into the next, uh, um, parent teacher conferences as well with that distraction free schools update. Um, this has

044been extremely transformative for us in our schools. Our our staff, uh, does not stop speaking about how this has changed their day. And, uh, obviously in students as well, they're saying yes. So it's not just the staff, but students as well has seen the difference and the impact that this has had on them, um, as students. So we went from this. To this, which are students during lunch time, during the hallways in class. They're really the momentum is changing for them. They understand now the difference. We understand that cell phones and technology is something that is critical for for the world and becoming a digital citizenship. Uh, however, we understand that there is a time for it. And in schools we have to focus on teaching and learning. Correct? With that. This is a general,

045um. Uh, graph that pretty much provides you with the total number of students in the middle school and the high school. Um, the internet enabled device, the first time occurrence that may have happened, where all the student's cell phone, in the event that they have the cell phones, um, open in access. And so only 63 middle school out of 824, which is a 7.6% of our students. I'm very proud of our students, uh, as well, because they understood the message clearly, and they also wanted this for themselves. Um, the second, uh, an internet enabled device, in other words, a student that has a second occurrence, they were only 12 students, which is 1.4% in the middle school, and there have been no students having a third occurrence, which which makes it much more meaningful because

046it says that they understand the power of the distraction that this brings to them. In the high school, out of 1138 students, 182 students, which is 16% of the students, had a first occurrence that went down to 41 students, a 3.6% of our students having a second occurrence, and then 17 students, 1.4% had a third occurrence. I will tell you that we call their parents every single time, and every single time their parents are coming to pick up their phones and they are not happy with this. So students are understanding the concept now more than ever. With that, I wanted to provide a graph. So you can see sometimes the green is is not seen enough. And in this case I will say that we are very proud of our students. If you can see

047that zero occurrence is 904 students, a very small percentage of our students, 182 out of 904 with one occurrence. 41 and see how that small little red line, the top, which is 17 occurrences only. Um, I want to give a round of applause to our students, um, for the high school, for really being adults in this case, and understanding the concept of the distraction that this brings to them. So for you. Similarly at the middle school, um, and we understood that the high school would have the more numbers, the numbers that would be higher than the middle school. Um, because they did not have the same dynamics. But in the middle school, out of 742 students, only 63 had a first occurrence, followed by 12 with two occurrences and none with zero three occurrences or

048more, which is important for them to know because they also understood the concept of the district. So I want to thank them as well. What has this done for us? It has really provided an opportunity for our students to engage in a different manner. They are, um, playing Uno cards. They are playing football outside. They are speaking to each other more often, looking at themselves in the face when they're speaking. Um, and you can see that they're playing chess. They are right. It was during the time of lunch and it's time. And we're very happy to see that. Sometimes we try to get involved in the same kinds of the playing with them as well, uh, because we miss it as well. And I will say that staff members, um, have taken the initiative to

049ensure that they are also. If I go into the building, my phone is away. I only use my phone inside the office if somebody is calling. Other than that, I was told that I have to put my phone in a yonder pouch as well, which makes sense. We have to be models for our students. So what is the impact that this has had? Has had an increase in academic focus and engagement, strengthening the building of relationships amongst not only the student to student for student to staff as well. It has really increased positive behaviors, um, improved our instructional efficiency, increased creativity, play, and it has a stronger sense of community for all of us. And now what I would like to, um, speak about is our changemakers program. Um, doctor Mauricio, approximately we're not there.

050Second year, second year. Um, we have a collaboration with, um, uh, Ossining, and now it's Ossining, Tarrytown and Peekskill, and we've had an opportunity to select four students in consecutive years where they have Change Makers program, which is building leadership in our young ladies. They, um, one of the trips is to go to Utah. And in Utah, they're in the world. They have no access to to cell phones. And their role is to really build a bond amongst the young ladies. And I can tell you that the bond is strong. Um, the day that we went to mitzvah, where our board was present, seeing our students, you can tell that our young ladies saw one of the young ladies from Tarrytown. They were rolling on the floor and, um, hugging each other because they hadn't

051seen each other for a very short period of time. But we were not that long. But you can see how much they cared for each other, how they really embraced each other. And now I can see that this is going to be impactful for them for the rest of their lives. It is a partnership that they will live with forever. And so with that, we have three of our young ladies here. And you can see the pictures here. They were presenting, um, a very powerful message to the audience, which were board members, uh, from the state of New York, which really wanted to learn more about what we're doing. And they are looking to do the same across the state as well. So I'm very proud of our partnership with the three local school districts

052and what we're doing. And if you can see here we have our students. Um, we have the please support them. And we have our board members here as well. Um, present. Um, and then two of the pictures that are there are from actual Utah trip where they were experiencing the wild. And I remember talking about the, the air that you breathe in this space and how sometimes we have to we have to really appreciate that time that on a Saturday morning. Um, we need to leave our house and breathe the air. And Peekskill is the perfect place to go down to the water and just walk and understand life is about. And they have definitely been able to do that. So I would like to bring up our young ladies we have here is Alfaro,

053Miss Rosie and Daisy who are going to provide you with, um, what this trip has done for them and what impact it has had and their lives. So with you, I present our students from the high school are changemakers. I will say that one of our students, Miss Parsa, could not make it today because she had to work. And so some of these things are very important for them to know that we acknowledge her, and we know that she has done a tremendous job in being part of this group as well, with you as a father. Good evening, everyone. I just want to say thank you for having us. Um, I mean, I could say a million things about this trip, but the one thing that, um, I think impacted me the most was that

054I was able to just recollect all my thoughts about just everything in general, and be able to see life in a little, in a different way. Like, I mean, I think I'm a very outdoorsy person, but being in Utah, it was just completely different. Like the air was different. As soon as we stepped foot there, it was just more different. And I think it made me appreciate nature more, but also it made me realize that it's okay to do things by yourself. Like I think me and my family are really united, but, um, this trip helped me learn to miss them more. Because at home. Yeah, like, I get into arguments with my siblings over silly stuff, but during that trip, I really did miss them. And I think this trip taught me to to

055just appreciate every single moment with just my family or, and everything in general. But it also taught me to like it taught me that I could relate to other like, sorry, the girls that were there just we related in almost everything. We became like sisters. So we also created a big bond that I think is really special to me from now on. Um, but yeah, overall, I just want to say that this trip really made me see things, made me see the world in a different perspective, and just to be more compassionate with people and yeah, just appreciate the little things a little bit more. Yeah. Good evening. My name is Rosina Sella and I first want to say thank all of you guys for having me here and having us here present to you

056guys about change makers and our impact because of the ship. Um, the ship has impacted me in so many different ways. First of all, um, this ship has impacted me because of all the memories I created with all the girls on the ship. Like for most of us, it was our first time ever going camping, ever going alone on a flight without our parents. For me, it was my second time ever going on an airplane, so that was really fun. Um, but this has also impacted me on opening my mind on, like, I could go further than the limits I put myself, cause before going on a trip, I was really having second thoughts of leaving my family because it would have been my first time ever going along with people like like not my

057family. Like not having my mom right next to me. But now that I went on the trip with different people, like, I know I could go like to college out of state. So that's something that really, like changed my mind and made my mind more open. Now I am applying to schools out of state, applying to schools instead, even out of the countries. If I get a full scholarship to go out of the country and study in Italy, because there's a school in Memphis that has a program that I can study abroad. So now I'm thinking of even going abroad. Um, yeah, this this program, this haymakers, everything has been very impactful for all of us girls. It's been like a connection that we will have this memory until the day we die. And it's

058something it's just very special. It's like a sisterhood with all the different girls and all the girls from the different schools. And even the people are guides where they're they also have created that connection in that moment. Very, very special. Thank you. Hi. Good evening. My name is Daisy Gansa, and change makers really did impact me in a variety of ways. Honestly, it just happened a little bit ago, but it feels like it's been, what, since yesterday. And I remember every single thing about it, and it's just made me realize many things that I should really be going outside every day. I should really be going and looking out the window. I even at the window, taking a walk for a ten minute, just really think about life and it just think about what you're

059going to do next and not stress about it. Because I'm really a stressful person and get stressed too easily. And I bet like a lot of people do too. But just breathing the air outside and realizing that you can do it, think about it. Talk to yourself. Sometimes, even though it might be weird, but talking to yourself also helps you a lot. And the bonds that I made with, um, the amazing girls that were in the trip was amazing. It was like Rosie said, it was like, if they were sisters, if you've known each other for a long time. The first day we did not talk at all. Like we didn't talk with the girls at all. The second day we were like, oh, okay, we're talking a little bit. And then the third day

060was totally different. It was like, if we've known each other since babies. And it was amazing because I got to, um, experience with other girls and like, connect with them to connect with, um, we were all nominated because we were, um, let's say outside. We were recognized by our teachers for our, um, for our called achievements in school, I guess you could say. And that's why we were one of well, I am one of the lucky girls who got picked. And I also wanted to thank all of you guys because I know it was towards you guys first and you guys approved it. But, um, it really did impact me and I hope it keeps on going on. And Mr. Root, I actually told us we get to pick the next girls. So that is

061actually, um, really thoughtful. Like actually a big achievement because we get to pick another other girls to go on this amazing trip and actually experience what changemakers is actually about. And on December 8th, right. Yeah. December 8th, we're going to be presenting our video that we made, which is shows the highlights of our trip. But yeah, it did impact me and I hope it impacts many other girls in the next few years. Thank you ladies. So I just want to say that so we have a person that is applying to NYU for nursing. Uh, captain of the soccer team actually now wants to go to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Uh, University and Marist as well. So these young ladies have aspirations already. They have made it very well known and they are determined. Uh, our homework for

062them was to recommend the new incoming, uh, young ladies that will experience this eighth time. Uh, you know, memory they will have. And then they will be able to share with them what they learned from that as well. And I'm sure that they have the same with the young ladies that were here last year as well. So thank you again. Appreciate you all for. Thank you. You, Doctor Bedi for the secondary report. Thank you, Doctor Ferris, for your leadership. And, uh, Mr. Peters as well, at the, uh, middle school and for your entire teams. And, uh, another big round of applause for our change makers. You are truly transforming your lives. And, uh, I'm going to take those three, uh, bits of advice that you shared, which are extremely important. Get outside and make sure,

063uh, that we manage our stress by using the wonderful community that we have, the waterfront, the mountains and the fresh air, and making sure that we are, um, uh, taking advantage of that each and every day. Very important. And to dream big and expand our horizons. At your age, at your level. Uh, thinking about going to Italy. Um, that is awesome. And best of luck in your aspirations as well. And so to all three of you, you inspire us as well. So thank you. Thank you, Doctor Bedi. And thank you. Uh, that concludes our report. We will have, uh, I think it might be a good time to have, uh, public comment period. And then we will have our Talia Martin, student, um, board member, uh, present her report afterwards. Okay. Then we'll move on

064to the hearing of the citizens. Uh, the Peekskill Board of Education desires and values the input from the entire school community. For those who wish to address the board, please sign in and state your name, city or town of residence for the record. And please keep your remarks to three minutes. Uh, the remarks and discussion of district personnel are prohibited. Although we do not engage in dialog, we are listening, so please leave your contact information for prompt follow up from the board president or the superintendent. Uh, if there is anyone wishing to be heard. Hi, my name is Aria John Shy. I'm an eight year Peekskill resident. Um, my son is at Oak Side. Um, I'm also on the historic board, and, uh, I'm a small business owner, architect, and professor of ethics in architecture

065at City College. Um, within my own industry architecture, we are at the forefront of understanding integration of AI into our industry. We're trying to understand the ethics of it, the legality of it, all of the implications. I'm very concerned about such new technology that is completely unregulated being utilized inside of our school system with our children, essentially as guinea pigs. Unfortunately, I feel like we know that this is a data driven, for profit technology. As I said, completely under regulated. We've had large tech industries that have developed this technology and maintain it, admit in court depositions that they're listening in and that they're recording data and this and they're profiting off of this data. I see no way we can properly understand the privacy safeguards around this technology when we integrate it into our school

066system. I would hope that we would find ways to maybe encourage less technology integration into our school system. I don't know about you all, but I feel like my kid watches more TV at school than at home sometimes. Um, I, I think that prioritizing, um, traditional modes of education and maybe just holding off a little bit until we better understand how this technology can impact our children's health, well-being, and safety. Frankly, um, given the statements made by the CEOs of the companies that develop it. Thank you all. Okay. Hello, everyone. Uh, Jen Zuki, um, I'm a preschool resident. I have one child in kindergarten. Woodside. Another who's going to be at your Eye Hill next year? We're very excited for that. Um, we've had a great experience so far. Um, so related to the AI

067policy, I do want to comment on AI learning software specifically. Um, and I understand that the district, um, is piloting an AI powered reading program called Unique Learn, um, part of which includes student reading, students reading stories, um, written by AI about the reader. If I'm understanding that correctly or some iteration of that. Um, this is troubling to me personally, because I think part of the joy of reading is discovering different people, discovering different cultures, ideas, and places, and not like centering the reader in that story. Um, but getting to unique learn. I did look on their website, um, and this program showed approximately six districts across the country that are utilizing it, um, which doesn't feel like very many. And that is troubling to me. Again, the word, the phrase guinea pig was used.

068And I kind of feel that we're a little bit of a guinea pig. I know it's a pilot program, but, um, and the reviews, the were reviews, um, from teachers and primarily they referenced that it saves that this program saves them time. Not that children are learning more or that it is teaching them more effectively. Um, there's a quote, uh, from a teacher. It covers all of my children at once. That has just saved me a ton of time. And I think it's going to save my staff a ton of time. That's one of the highlighted reviews from this company. So that's their priority is saving teachers time. Um, and that alone, I think is cause for concern because it's not prioritizing the actual education of children. I want to take a step back and

069talk about, um, AI and large language models broadly. Even the people who have built large language models do not know how they work, and they cannot explain why they need. I has pushed sexualized content to users. It is aware or minors it is encouraged. Self-harm and psychotic thinking among users dealing with mental health issues. These tools have real privacy and security concerns. They are collecting intimate information about children. Our use of AI impacts other schools. Communities near data centers, which use vast amounts of electricity and water, have had close have had to close schools for days at a time because they don't have enough water to even flush the toilets. And I was looking at the, uh, Peekskill I policy, um, which specifically says the AI may not replace human judgment for employee and contractor

070analysis and decision making. Um, so I don't think that we should be okay with software that is replacing the human judgment of teachers. And if I have enough time, I just want to step back and talk about the effects of screen time, which are so damaging to young people. It's associated with lower test scores, behavioral issues, depression, anxiety. Given the drawbacks of AI and the clear correlation between screen usage and negative outcomes, we should be working to actually decrease the amount of time that children are using screens at school, not increasing it with unproven, unethical AI software. And I think that the presentation about taking cell phones away from the school environment is indicative of that. And I will also say just ending this. My husband has been working in tech for more than ten

071years. He knows a lot about AI. He's worked in that space. Um, his reaction to the, uh, pilot program was simple just do not use this kind of software. It's very, very simple. Don't use it. There are too many risks. So, um, I only have one minute left. Oh my gosh. All right, I have one last thing to say, which is that, um, I really am so glad that you are addressing AI and that you've developed a policy around this. So thank you for doing that. Um, it is essential in this day and age. We have to the school has to have policies about AI. But what I don't think is essential is actively choosing to bring programs like unique learn and similar other kind of AI learning programs to our students. So thank you

072so much. Thank you. I'm going to keep this short. I'm pretty much parroting their saying, but, um, I have three kids. Um, I live in Peekskill. I have three kids in three different schools. I can't say enough good things about what you guys have done. Uh, outstanding. Tremendous. Um, for the last ten years, I have been an eye consultant, uh, for fortune 500 companies. I'm doing a really long time. Um, when you have policies where kids are putting phones in bags for focus because of algorithms that are built to keep people engaged. That is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these AI models. Um, they are built in, designed in a much different way. And I've been at this for a really long time. And data practices are not ethical. There is

073no regulation. And I would just I just want to give a word of caution. Um, to make sure that there's a human in the loop at every stage, because these things can go off the rails very quickly. And it's foundational. It's new. It's going to be in our lives forever. The kids need to know how to work with these tools. Um, but for instance, unique learn, uh, the CEO of the company, if you look at his resume, his all his last jobs were internships. He doesn't have any real world experience. He's never dealt with this kind of data. And this is just very sensitive. Um, I've been dealing with systems like this for high level companies. PII data is a big deal. It's even bigger deal with kids, primarily. For them. Getting bucketed or classified

074is it would be my biggest concern. And so if you're gearing your learning towards the student, these models make decisions based off what they think the user wants. And if that's guiding their learning process, it can be very dangerous. So just a word of caution. Thanks. You just shared your name for. I'm sorry, your name? My name is Ian Minard. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. Um, that was all really great feedback for us. We're going to have a conversation on our policy in a few moments, but I think we're going to swing back to hearing from our student. Good evening, everyone. Uh, I'd like to start by updating us on our student events and activities. Last week was Red Ribbon Week, and we. That was a week to raise

075awareness around substance abuse and being drug free. As Doctor Mauricio mentioned earlier, we also had our college fair, which over 70 colleges and universities were in attendance, which was an amazing experience. I was there. Both periods or two out of three actually, and I got to speak with a lot of colleges that I mean, I probably would not have the opportunity to visit, so that was amazing. Our student support programs have started out in Brant and I had school. Alton Brown runs from Monday to Friday from 3 p.m. to 430 and 11. Um, night school is a credit recovery program two nights a week for the fall semester. Our school environment, um, for school environment, two of our retired teachers on Halloween came in and worked with our science classes on an experiment. And students

076really enjoyed this hands on experience. And for Miss Ramirez's public policy class, the Peekskill Police Department came in and discussed the Central five park case, and students got to ask questions and got answers about the case. So that was pretty cool. We had our PSAT day with over 400 students sitting 10th and lower grade students, and while the PSAT was being administered, our freshman class attended a teambuilding trip in camp Mariah, which I went on, which is pretty cool. So I know they had fun. Um, for extracurriculars and athletics, our Peak school football team won their game 3631. Sorry to six, which is congratulations order for them. Our winter sports tryouts are starting. Uh, I think for most final forms. Closed November 17th. So apply if you want to be a part of winter sports.

077Our honor societies are accepting applications from now till December 16th, so I highly recommend. They're very good for community service and exposure for upcoming events are. Black Culture Club is organizing a initiative for, uh, Jamaica release donations for uh in light of Hurricane Melissa, a category five hurricane that left a lot of families homeless and in need of basic supplies. So they will be hosting donations in the school holiday basket. Thanksgiving holiday baskets for families will be created, and the senior class will be sponsoring canned food. And staff is supporting by donating Thanksgiving food items. Our Social Studies Honor Society is hosting a soccer tournament in the Peekskill High School gym on November 14th. That's our update for school. Thank you Talia. Thank you very. Come forward. Thank you. Liane, um, I want to thank

078you guys for bringing students forward, both on the board, but also bringing students to present on stage and to speak, because I know a lot of us talk a lot about wanting to do this for our students. So getting to bring student voice to us is always, um, astronomically amazing for all of us. Um, does anyone have any questions on Twitter? For all of us? No. Okay, so we'll move on to our policy reading. This is, uh, the first policy reading. So typically we'll do two policy readings in between. There's, uh, opportunity for review and it'll go back to the policy committee. So if you have questions, comments, concerns, they can be sent to the district and they will be reevaluated during the uh, policy review meeting. And then a second reading will happen before

079adoption. Um, so this is policy reading for policy 8636 artificial intelligence. So the use of AI or artificial intelligence has increased among the general public with the release of ChatGPT and other online tools that generate text, images and videos in response to user prompts. Uh, with this new development comes opportunities and challenges for school districts. This is an evolving area and one that will need to be periodically revisited. This policy is based on this buzz recommendation, which is the New York State School Board Association recommendation on how to handle in-school and at home use of generative AI and its impact on school operations. This is a new, um, policy to the district. So I'm going to open the discussion pertaining to this for anybody on the board who has any comments. Questions on. Uh, I

080would be happy to share a couple thoughts, um, regarding some of the comments that were shared today, which, um, we all appreciate you folks being here as well. Um, I think for me, as someone who I would say graduated fairly recently within the last ten, less than 15 years ago. Um, from the district. Um, I'm definitely concerned about the use of AI because for, especially for the, um, for data reasons, I think that there is some concern, like, I think we need to really look at how we how we build these contracts with these individuals that we're looking to partner with. Um, and if we have the opportunity, which it seems like we do, we have a lot of oversight on how we're working with these companies, these startups. Um, and I think for me,

081the, the data, especially because everything is being tracked, how long a child might be looking at something. I always worry about how how well kept is that information and is it being sold to other individuals, other companies outside of, um, what we might have, um, been notified, um, is happening. So for me that the data component is really important because these are children and and children are especially susceptible, um, to what they look at. Uh, the other thing that I think could be helpful would be having some sort of media literacy in our schools that allow us to also look at, for example, AI images. Can we differentiate what is real and what is not, which I think will continue to be it is already a problem. So I think I think it's something that,

082um, can help mitigate some of this concern. Um, but I think the emphasis on making sure that we're really kind of steering the conversation from our end and putting in place our wants, needs, and what we don't want to see coming from these programs is is really important. I will add that, um, I also have concerns, um, many of which our speakers spoke to, but are just in the news whenever you look. This is an untested technology is it is being forced upon us, I would say, in ways that we don't want. I don't if anyone else has experienced Microsoft slowing down because you're forced to turn off copilot every single time, um, and something that comes to mind for me in general when when things are just moving so quickly is a quote by

083Doctor Biochem Olaf, who's, uh, he's a writer, he's a humanist, he's a, um, philosopher. And a quote that he, um, heard growing up. Um, a variation of it is times are urgent. Let us slow down. So I really thank you for someone mentioned the right the tip of the iceberg. And my question always comes back to why are we looking to technology to solve our problems? Is that the right tool that we should be using? If it's a time issue or if it's a, you know, student learning issue, if it's, um, an access issue, do we always have to turn to technology and and if so, is this the technology that we need to be looking at? I also feel really strongly about the environmental impact. We live in a global society, social media, our

084smartphones, all of that has made us that. We cannot ignore what we might be doing here in Peekskill, and how that might impact kids in Louisiana or California or Mexico or wherever. Seeing a genocide live stream for the past, you know, two plus years, if nothing else, has to show us that even if we don't think what we are doing and what we are saying is, is making an impact, it is rippling out and there is an impact somewhere, whether we see it or not. So for me, for my family, for my kids and what I hope we can start to instill in, in how we approach these types of conversations in these decisions is not just what's happening today and in the moment, but what is this going to look like in five years

085and ten years, seven generations down the road? Are they going to have water? And I had this conversation with my oldest all the time because he he sees no problem in using, you know, AI programs to generate images that are very fun to look at. And I just remind him every time you do that, that is water being used that you will not be able to drink. And it's just a fact and it's not something that we can ignore. So while realizing that the technology is here, it is untested. We cannot rely on the government to move at the move at the speed of safety, because these programs are not moving at the speed of safety. I also just encourage all of us to, you know, check out other resources that are out there, particularly

086the center for Humane Technology, which is headed, um, by Tristan Harris, and how he speaks about it. He has worked in a lot of the bit with a lot of big tech companies. He, uh, I think was the focus of the movie The Social Dilemma. This is scary stuff. And there's, you know, someone else mentioned it. They don't even know how it works. These AI programs have sentience that they nobody can control. When they tell these programs, we're going to shut you down. These programs are looking into company emails and finding ways to blackmail. They are looking to hide their code in places where it can't be touched. This is scary stuff. So even something as seemingly innocuous as, you know, a learning program, I think we have to be really careful with how we're

087approaching it. So we're looking tonight at a more general policy. And then we're also talking a little bit about some of the software that's already been introduced. So first of all I'm looking at as a policy, what do we as a board want to codify, um, and think about codifying. And I don't think that we're going to be able to answer tonight. But just some of the things that are on my mind that we may want to think about is, um, you know, how are things reported back to us? And one of the questions I have, especially in younger grades, it's not even just about AI, but it's partially about AI is like what percentage of the children's time the student's time would be spent with this type of program? And I think our educators

088here are amazing. Our administrators are amazing. Um, my husband is an educator. Uh, just have so much appreciation for what my kids have gotten. And I would say now, being that they're in high school, nothing they've gotten a value has come from any of those little breeding programs. So, I mean, it's sometimes necessary as a diagnostic tool. Um, we have to think about our why. And, you know, New York State is doing this portrait of a graduate. So the idea is, what do we want to end up with? And so, you know, we want to end up with resourceful, creative, human centered, community centered, justice minded people. And so if the ends are just to to do well on a test that is also going to be graded by an AI, what are we even

089doing to ourselves? And our only value if this continues to accelerate is going to be our value in person, our character, the trust we can offer other people in the face to face we can offer other people. Um, just this week, there was a fully, um, AI generated video that got reported out on a major network that, um, was intended to divide people, uh, in this country by, um, showing snap recipients saying that, uh, they use their Snap benefits and they sold it and they made all this money on it, and they were going to get violent if they didn't get it. And it just confirmed a lot of stereotypes. It was fully generated by AI. And honestly, you wouldn't know it unless you were looking for it. So another thing I think about codifying

090for our kids, and I know we do it, but something we want to hear, reporting on how we are doing it, when we're going to be driven by data as a board, it's one of our goals is, you know, reporting back to us what does that look like? Digital citizenship and citizenship are now just the same thing really. And so how does that look? What are the requirements. What do we want to require. You know, how does it tie in with New York state standards. Like you're all wonderful at that. We have the seal of civic readiness. So some of what I'm saying may be redundant already to that. But we really need to have citizens who have some sort of inoculation against this. Um, and then, you know, another thing that I think we

091have, uh, codified here is, um, you know, trying to train our teachers, uh, to discourage students. I mean, it's already here, but to discourage them from cheating with AI. So how are we putting forth a more humanistic curriculum that is supporting that? How are we supporting our teachers in a more humanistic curriculum? And we really are between a rock and a hard place. It's not easy. We have to pass those tests. We are under threat from the state all the time. We're, you know, we serve an underserved population. And I think my kids could not have gotten a better education here. I think their friends who come from families that are often, uh, not even originally from this country, also got a fantastic education here, you know, are striving or doing great. So whatever numbers

092the state is using, if it's those tests, my kids are really smart and they didn't do great on those tests. So I don't care about those tests, but the state cares. So how do we meet our requirements? But how do we also get the end result we want? I just don't want us to let go of what we want for our kids. Okay, I want to share my opinion as like Italy. If you can lean right into that microphone. Sorry. Do you hear me now? Yes. Thank you. I want to share my opinion as somebody who's going to grow up with the future. That's going to be. I was going to be a very prominent part of that. I think that students should be exposed to AI and not like any students should be exposed

093to as a tool and not a weapon, and students should be exposed to it to learn how to identify AI and how to properly use AI and how to as a future people are going to be from broader schools. Other states are going to be exposed to AI, and you don't want students from our district going out there unprepared and how and how they're operating it. I think that's that's the big thing, right? When we first everything that we talked about was the importance of critical thinking. Right. And with AI, what it does is it eliminates that critical thinking because it spits everything out for you. Right. So it's it's the concerns that were raised were very valid because when you think about how it's regulated privacy, collecting data, all that stuff, it's, it's it's

094something that we and because it's because it's not regulated and because it's moving so fast, it I guess as a district, we have to kind of be the, the regulator of that and make sure that we don't over expose our kids to it. But also, like she said, give them the tools to be able to, um, to, to utilize it and in a good way. And maybe it is in those earlier grades, you know, giving them, you know, that that that knowledge of understanding how to, you know, navigate it. Right. Understanding that. Because when it's all said and done, everybody in the world is going to be using it. But hopefully, uh, I think that's going to happen. Sometimes we just have to we have to, uh, educate our, our, our students to, to just

095be, um, to be better at, uh, at, um, recognizing what the AI is and using it in an effective way, but still have an opportunity to be critical thinkers. Um, yeah, it's it's also one more thing, which is that, um, I wanted to mention the value of having a shared learning experience in the classroom. I think somebody brought up the individualized and, you know, diagnostically it makes sense. But, you know, everybody reading the same book and having a discussion around it is also really a big part of our education. Um, and the fact is that AI is in extractive industries, so it takes human creativity and human knowledge and then spits back out something that's not exactly that. So it has its place as a tool. But these books that it's kind of learning on

096were written by people. Just if I could just quickly just add on to that, because I do think that is an important component. Um, the piracy I mean, these AI models have just stolen content from artists. And if we think about who in our society continue to hold the line present day, not to mention historically about speaking truth to power, it's the artists. And if we devalue what they create because it's just, you know, proliferated without, uh, providing, you know, appropriate compensation, then I think that also speaks to, again, ethically, how we're using this technology. I also just want to quibble. I don't I do not believe using AI is a foregone conclusion. And I think our opportunity to slow down the process is just to ask the questions. I know that the, um, the

097founder of Unique Learn has been very open to feedback and incorporating that feedback immediately. And I think that is an opportunity where we as a district and whatever small way we can and our, our little community here can start to, um, push these companies, push these programs, push these models to just be more ethical by asking the questions. And if they do not have a satisfactory answer about what the implications are for our students, let alone, you know, kids in Louisiana that are going to be living next to a data center the size of Manhattan. It's not. It's coming. It's already happening. Like this is real. Then then I think that's then we have a responsibility to do that for for the kids. I'd just like to make just one point that if down the

098road that we are forced, um, you know, to move along with I that we, you know, put structures in place to make sure that we are have control of our students data. So no data should be stored on external servers. We need to have them stored internally on the school's systems and managed and have full control of that. That would be the only, um, additional point I'd like to make on that. In the event that we do have to move ahead with, um, you know, some sort of AI, whatever format that is. Um, the other thing is, um, we need to make sure that they are limited and targeted and what we push out to our students or what we give them, um, access to so that it's not free for all. So we shouldn't

099have full limit access. It should be limited and targeted to specific, um, you know, coursework or specific tools that we want to provide to our students. I do believe they do have. You can run your own LM in a bit. Right, which would not feed out to the internet. So. Right, right. Um, I want to make a suggestion and, and, um, thinking from, uh, more advocate standpoint and just more like community centered or oriented solution. Um, I know the city does it. Um, other places do it as well, but maybe we can think about forming some sort of community committee or something that welcomes people who have expertise in this field, because this is part of what it's going to take for us to create language is going to reflect what we want. Also. So

100I really do want to put that forward. If we can do something of that capacity. I mean, we encourage people to come every, every time we have meetings. But I think if this is something we can create a focus on because it's going to be very challenging, um, moving forward, whether we find the right solution or not, I think making sure that it's a living document and then including people's voices is, is really necessary. So just a suggestion I'd like to give. I definitely think I echo everything that the board has said for the most part. Um, I want to say that we're having two separate conversations just so that we're all on the same page. It's not only the policy, because whether we move forward and integrate AI into a level that we're comfortable

101with, uncomfortable with whatever the integration of AI is one conversation and then the policy around it is another conversation. And whether we fully integrate it, we as a district should have a policy because there will be student use. There will be I mean, I exists whether we actively engage with it or not. And I do want to thank the policy Committee for bringing forth, uh, a policy that, um, does reaffirms the need for individual personal judgment on the account of somebody who is a certified and trained teacher. Um, and that's what students are seeing, and that should be what's coming forward and that we aren't replacing that. And, um, that human and the training in which they're given. Um, so I'm really thankful for them doing that and for giving voice to the reality that

102AI is a part of our conversation and the need to protect student data, which I think is, is paramount and, and a lot of what we do. Um, so the, the policy needs to be strong and we need to agree to what the policy is. And I think we also need to agree or look at how we use AI, how we're going to use AI going forward, what AI looks like for a student who's in high school versus a student who's in first grade, and how very different those situations should be and are. Um, so I just want to make sure that we're very clear that it is two different conversations and whether we move forward, um, full steam ahead on using AI or not is not the conversation that the policy is. The policy

103needs to happen whether we move full steam ahead or not. Um, and I do think that, um, a committee of some sort and a way for parents to really be involved and, and understand how this technology integrates for their student beyond just an opt in, opt out letter would be really helpful for a lot of families. Um, because this is so new, and I could imagine that these are the conversations that people have when the internet was born, when we had search engines for the first time, when we were, um, talking about technology and what it it's going to do, the more it became accessible to people. Um, so I really want to put value to the idea of those things as well. Yes. Thank you all for your feedback. Uh, from our student, from

104board and from our parents. We appreciate, uh, all of this, uh, important dialog that we've had. I think this is one we want to take our time. We want to really figure out, um, uh, the one thing we will not, uh, take a chisel and etched in stone forever. Um, so we this is a policy we can change as needed. Uh, and I foresee that because of the, uh, the rapid evolution, we're going to have to come back to this, uh, periodically to make adjustments to catch up, um, and make, uh, safeguards for our, for our students. So thank you, uh, to our parents again for for your comments as well. Uh, miss Reed, if you can pull up, uh, the I, um, first, uh, slide there, um, while she does that, uh, which which

105I'll talk about some of the balances that we are, uh, thinking about. Uh, I'd like to share two analogies with you. Uh, the first one is that last year, um, all the dialog in every conference I went to, every webinar I went to, maybe most of the webinars, I went to, uh, all the, the emails I got asking me to join. And you did as well as a board. Families probably did as well. Uh, to join these, uh, virtual webinars were predominantly about two things cell phone, uh, use in, in high schools and middle schools. And I and, uh, the keynote speakers, the plethora of sessions that were offered were all AI driven. And the analogy that that, um, reflectively, I think about is that we were on the train platform and, and that platform,

106the train was about to leave the station, and that train was called I. And we, as advocates for our children said if other districts are moving in this direction, we too have to think about what we want for our kids, and we don't want our kids left behind. And so many school districts and boards and, uh, school board associations all focused on AI. And many of us got on the train. And because we didn't want our kids to be left behind from equity standpoint. And then what we realized is that as this train was moving, it started speeding up and it moved very fast, and it seemed like the the train track seemed to disappear. And then we found ourselves. And where I find myself, because I wanted to make sure our kids had access

107to it and spoke with our assistant superintendent, said, we got to find something that is for our kids because my colleagues in very affluent districts are already moving forward. They already have contracts. Our kids deserve that too. And finding a, uh, company that was not a large corporation that would say, sorry, I like your ideas, but the feedback's important. We'll put that in our feedback department. But we're doing what we're doing and finding a company that was saying, we want to work with you. You want the state assessment rubric. We want to use that for our kids. They were malleable. They were they were, uh, agile. And that is uncommon in a large corporation. And so where we find ourselves now and what I see the analogy is we are rushing to the head caboose

108in the operation room, opening the door, grabbing their handle and say, we need to slow this train down. Others will continue to propel and move forward at light speed. Some have not move forward. And where I see and what I hear, the dialog from the board in the community is that we need to pull back on that lever and slow this train down, and that is what the policy does. The policy guides myself as a superintendent, our staff, to say, this is what these are, the guardrails we want to set up. This is what we want, a cautionary move forward. And so some of the things I wanted to share with you is that the innovation is rapidly moving forward, and we're trying to keep up with it. And so that's why this dialog is

109so rich today. The access. And so it's important for us to also think about. And it is never lost upon me that my daughter, um, and I have, as was mentioned by you and our, uh, esteemed board members, I value the teachers, the administrators and the education she has received. It is bar none. I am so excited, as is my wife. Uh, one of the things that is not lost upon me is that Iliana gets to grow up in a home with two college educated parents. And so from an access standpoint and an equity standpoint, I have to think about there are some families that quite literally are living in a room. And I have to think about what access will they have to a library that that Iliana has, what access will they have

110to the kind of language and vocabulary and intellectual thinking? She's an only child. And so one of the things that I find with only children. Is that they often hear dialog that is adult like, in the sense of vocabulary and her thinking and how she speaks and articulate. And part of that is, is she's been blessed to be born in our home. No choice of our own. She's been blessed to be born in a home. But every home does not have that access. We have some families that the the language spoken in Spanish all day long, and the number of books in their home, despite us giving out books is very few. And the ability to have those conversations not because they're not intelligent, but because the things on their plate are focusing them on

111the work, on making sure that there's food on the table, making sure that the kids are clothed and we have to balance that equity. And so that's the challenge that I have. The other aspect that I want to share with you is the guardrails and the protections, and you've spoken about them very eloquently. And the fact of the matter is that this train is moving so far that the government regulations have not. They're nowhere near where we are. Um, um, as far as the evolution, we as a board want to slow this, uh, this train down through a policy, and we need to think about the, uh, personally identifiable information, make sure that is safeguarded. I will share with you as parents and the board that we are under the education law. Um, today. And

112we'll have, um, it's read through a presentation before we enact our policy on add law to the what is it? And, uh, what is it provide what are the safeguards? It may not be perfect. We need to talk about that. Um, because what I hear the board and and the, uh, parents sharing is that we want to make sure that our kids are safe. They are exposed to healthy dialog and making sure that the the safeguards that are in place do not expose our kids to sexual content, that do not expose our kids to self harm and do not expose our kids to ideations that we don't want them to be exposed to. And so these are the the controls that we're going to have to think about and make sure that the policy guides

113us as a district to move forward in this direction. And I think in a much slower, uh, pathway and where we land, whether it's this program or that program or no programs, let us all think about this, these fears that are intersecting in this community called Peekskill and that balance of every child having access to opportunity. One of the things that and I'll close with this, one of the things that, um, screen time is very important in our household and is very often a, a, a, uh, a bit of a conflict, making sure that where's my phone at? And I find that she has it. And so making sure that we are constantly monitoring that, uh, that screen time at home and in school. But one of the game changes that I will say the

114technology, not not I, but technology has brought is that, um, I've always been in my entire career and advocate for for libraries in the home, but I understand that some homes and some rooms and some small apartments may not have that opportunity. And if you've gone to Barnes and Noble and tried to buy books, you know that you're walking out of there with a very large bill. We have a beautiful library and, uh, access. I want to make sure that our families are going there and checking out books for free. But one of the technologies is books online, and having students be able, at the lexical level, at their reading level, have access to a plethora of books. That has been an equalizer that we see with technology, not AI, but with technology. And so

115all of these aspects we're going to have to grapple as a board and as a school community and making sure that as we think about which way to move forward, uh, let's do so in a mindful way of all of our children and all the, uh, needs that they have and our families as well. And so, um, uh, all of those aspects that you shared today and the public shared as well, very important here. I think we should take our time with this policy, helping guide us. And most importantly, what I heard tonight is create those guardrails for us so that we are moving forward in a in a manner in which we feel that our kids are safe and protected and also engaged. And so, um, thank you again for all of the dialog,

116I appreciate it. Thank you for that. If there's no further comment on the policy, I will move on to, uh, let's see the delegation resolution for the EPC financing. Are there any comments or thoughts? Can I just make a quick comment? I just want to excuse myself. I do have to, uh, participate in civic duty, so I will take a step out from the conversation. But thank you so much to everybody for their input and for allowing me to share as well. Thank you. Thank you. Amy. You happen to have anything on the delegation or something? Okay, perfect. Um, may I please have a motion to approve the delegation resolution for the EPC financing agenda item seven a. So moved by Branwen. Second. Second by Frank. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstentions. Consent

117agenda. Are there any comments, questions or thoughts? Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? Items eight a through 8EM moved by Angel. Second. Second by Branwen. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstentions? Does anyone have any comments before we end the meeting? Um, we did just attend Lisbon. Um, artificial intelligence was definitely a point of the conference. It was interesting. Last year, it was a little bit more the way you spoke about. Uh, our keynote was Sophia, who is a real life AI model. She's a robot with an eye on the inside. She's been given personhood in other places, and it was interesting to see how people interacted because, um. There was a lot of opinion that she was very sentient, and there was a lot of opinion that she wasn't

118very sentience. And everyone fell across the spectrum. So that was really, really interesting. But this year, uh, a lot of what we talked about had a lot more to do with, um, dignity and treating each other respectfully and really understanding that we're all, um, so similar no matter what, what our background is, where we're coming from, what we're doing, who we voted for, what our favorite food is, whether we like your favorite color or your, you know, anything that at the end of the day, we're all people and that we should treat each other with kindness and respect. And it really came back to that was the, uh, the point that they kept making over and over again with different presentations. And I thought that that was beautiful. And it's a message we have to

119keep bringing forward to our students. And I love seeing our kids interact every day because they really do bring it home. And I've always said, Peekskill is such a special and amazing place to grow up. And I talk a lot about difference and a lot of how when I went to college and experienced, um, some of the ways people interacted, it didn't make any sense because it isn't how we interact in Peekskill. And, um, how I had always had a very different reaction to interacting with people who were so different from myself. And I wasn't used to sitting in a room with people who were very, um, homogeneous to me. Um, so that was a really interesting take. And I really do see that with my children still. And I love that about our community.

120And I want to continue that. Um, so whenever they talk about dignity and all that, I always think about the pictures that you've sent us of students sleeping on the bus where they're all cuddled together and there's no there's no lines. There's no you don't look like me. You don't talk like me. You don't. These the world first graders on the bus. We're tired. Um, and and finding those similarities has done amazing. So I brought that home from this book, and, um, looking at the world that way and continuing to bring that forward is is essential. Especially with how divisive um, I and various, uh, into things on the internet can really be for us. So I want us to continue treating each other with dignity and kindness and respect. Um, so if there's no

121further action, uh, can I get a motion? And hopefully everyone voted to your civic duty. So, um. Good luck, everybody. It takes a lot to run for an office and be, you know, elected and to to have people talk about you and everything. It's it's it's very harmful. So I really want to congratulate everybody who has taken that chance. Um, so if there's no further action, can I get a motion to adjourn? Move by Brown. I give my Christina all the favor I any nays, any extensions? Good evening everyone.