001And I am now going to turn the meeting over to docket ratio for the superintendent's report. Good evening. Members of the board. President Avalon. Members of our staff, our colleagues from Boces will have you up in just a short moment. And very importantly, we have family, uh, and one of our amazing scholars here today as well. And so we're going to get to that at the end. Uh, but we have a great surprise for the board and for the public. And so thank you for coming out, uh, tonight. Uh, first thing I would like to share is, uh, this was a storm. Uh, this was a winter storm. Uh, didn't necessarily believe that it would have come the way it did. Um, but certainly, uh, driving around the city and seeing, uh, the amount of
002snow that that fell in, um, about a 12 hours, uh, span. Uh, just want to take the opportunity to say a very big thank you to our, uh, crew. Uh, a maintenance crew led by Carmine Crissy, all the staff, they were up early hours. They were working, uh, throughout the weekend. Uh, also yesterday and today as well. Here you see the kind of equipment that we have, uh, to remove the snow. And, uh, those front loaders were literally picking up a foot of snow, not even inches, and loading it and then removing it. And so, uh, it was a very important call to make. Um, uh, another snow day today, to give the city one more day to really clean up, uh, after driving around the entire city. Uh, I want to thank the parents
003and families for their patience. Uh, but it was very important. Um, I got kind of stuck driving down the street when another car was coming, and they were cars on both sides, 2 or 3ft of snow on both sides of them. And I had a back up. And that would be impossible for a bus, uh, school bus, uh, very large, uh, school bus as well. And so that would have created congestion and frustration and accidents. And so we chose the safe route, uh, today. So we appreciate, uh, everyone and meeting with the mayor and city manager and a police chief yesterday. It was the right call to make. And so tomorrow, school will be back in. So, Brody, you'll be back to school, uh, tomorrow. Probably the worst news you going to hear tonight, but,
004uh, uh, back to school on time tomorrow. But let's give our maintenance facility staff and big round of applause to say thank you. Including yesterday I was driving and I saw Ramon. Uh, and he said the snowblower broke because the snow was so heavy and he was hand shoveling it. And then the crew came over. And so they came as a team, as you see here, and really helped each other out. So when you see Ramone, say thank you for the backbreaking work that he did and all the team, um, and also, I want to thank the residents because a lot of the pathways, the sidewalks were clear for our children and families, but not all. And so, um, just going to go back to my days in New York City where you shoveled for
005the neighbor and you shovel for the, you know, the person who couldn't shovel, uh, and if they didn't want to shovel, you did it anyway, so that kids have a clear pathway to get to school. Very important for all of us. And, uh, thank you to everyone for all of their community support in this effort. And, uh, if you're the praying type, uh, pray that the northeast it does not come on Sunday as well. Would you say? Oh, God. Yes, yes. Uh, protect that promise. As you know, we have been in full opposition against a charter school opening up in Peekskill. Uh, we believe that, um, the unity that we have, the Peekskill promise that we have engaged with our community partners, our parents, our families, what we provide each and every day to our
006children and families continue to be progressive and supporting our children. And so more updates will come every Friday. We send it out in our Friday letter to. Thank you, Laura, for compiling all of that information and making sure that we are educating our community on the opposition and why we are opposing it, and we'll continue to do so all the way to the end. And so thank you for being informed. Thank you to our PTO and our partners, um, as well, who are part of this effort. And we'll continue to update you in the community as well. Uh, related to that, we had, uh, my administrative leadership team and I had the opportunity to meet with partners from the community and update them on, uh, position data, information and, uh, very important meeting. And they
007have pledged their support in this effort as well. And so let's thank all of our partners who were there and will continue to support us in this effort. And then there was Friday night before the snow came. We had the battle of the squads. Uh, thank you to, uh, our, uh, athletic director, Austin Goldberg. Uh, this is just above and beyond kind of work that we don't have to do, but he does because it's the right thing to do. And so we hosted, as you see here, teams from all over the region. Our team came in second place. So just because it's home turf doesn't mean we get first place. So our team won second place. And give a round of applause to all the students that came out. The families packed house at the
008high school. And thank you, Austin Goldberg, for making that happen. Also had the opportunity to visit the Salvation Army. It's, uh, kitty corner to, uh, City Hall, right on Nelson Avenue. It's a small place. If you don't look, you'll miss it. Uh, but there's a new, um, pastor leading that effort, Candice Flanders. And they do a lot of community service. They have a, um, they have a food kitchen. They have a daily meals, uh, for community residents. They have a place where you can pick up household items as well. They do, uh, toy giveaways, bike giveaways, and they do so much. And we're going to bring them now part of our Peekskill, uh, City School District family to be part of the partnership team. And we have invited them to our Saturday Academy events, which
009is free to all of our families at the middle school. And, uh, just want to say welcome to Candace Flanders, her husband as well. And even so, one of our parents who work there and, uh, was very excited to see each other. So let's give Miss Flanders and her team a big round of applause. And welcome to the community. Also want to recognize, uh, Doctor Bedi and his team. Uh, they have wrote and successfully received another $50,000 grant from the New York State Department of Justice Services. This is extending the work of, uh, My Brother's Keeper initiative, uh, helping our young men in, uh, middle school, high school, and also at Hillcrest Elementary School as well, planned for the future and have big dreams and making sure that each and every day counts towards those
010dreams as well. So let's, uh, thank Doctor Di for leading that effort in that grant application. Speaking of which, two of our MK, My Brother's Keeper students were, uh, fellows were recognized. They attended a, um, Martin Luther King legacy, uh, event, and that was led by the, uh, men of Westchester, African-American men of Westchester that occurred, uh, two weekends ago. And we want to thank our two students that were recognized, uh, uh, and for the Legacy Youth Award, that was Aaron Awuzie and, uh, Darian Smith. Let's give them a round of applause. They are high school students. Our special education Parent Teacher Organization advisory group, uh, held their uh they held many events throughout the year. And most recently they held their event, which is called Skills and Drills. And it brings, uh, children with
011different abilities. And our basketball varsity team, they bring them to the high school, and they taught them skills in basketball. And, uh, let them have a very special moment. And this is the volunteerism we want from our athletes. Yes, it's important to win and championships, but it's also important to win in humanity as well. So let's give our basketball team and the Steptoe a very big round of applause. Looking forward to the next events as well. 914. Kaz is a main partner of ours. Doctor Vilas Rodriguez, uh, and uh Doctor Holloman have established a very strong relationship with them. Uh, they are based out of Armonk. Um, and it is, uh, many individuals from Westchester, they get together. They actually now rent a large facility, uh, they provide us with diapers and they provide us
012with household items. Every single week we get deliveries for our families and, uh, their major partner and, uh, just a very excited to be part of I'm one for cares. I'm on their community board, and our students also get to go to their headquarters. And they have a wonderful reading room that overlooks beautiful rocks and a brook. And here you see our students leaving with bags of, uh, books for their home libraries and a, uh, wonderful story time as well. So let's give 914 kids a big round of applause and say thank you for being a partner. Uh multicultural club also uh, visited Broadway and uh, obviously that was before the storm came and very happy that they get the opportunity to get out of Peekskill and go to different communities. And so very excited
013that they had the opportunity to go, uh, to, uh, see the hit Hell's Kitchen. And, uh, you see it there, Alicia Keys, uh, production. Let's give our team, our staff who volunteer and our staff who are part of this a big round of applause, uh, and thank them for taking our studios to new and exciting initiatives. Cynthia, I don't know about you, but I didn't get the invite, uh, to be a chaperon on that one, but certainly would have been available. But next. Maybe next time we'll get there. Also want to say very important time of the year. pre-K and kindergarten registration is open. And so, uh, we have seats available for this year and, uh, for next year as well. Want to thank doctor Vilas Rodriguez. Uh, Melissa Russo and the team at Uriah
014Hill and also our team at Woodside Elementary School. Um, as well, for all the work they do under the leadership of Mrs. Woodley. Uh, very important that everyone gets in the application. So you reserve your seat for next year, and we still have some pre-K seats available as well this year. So anyone interested? We still got half a year to go for our kids to get into our schools as well. So thank you to our team. Uh, next thing is just a couple of, uh, reminders of things that are happening. The second annual, uh, Broadway musical revue is happening at our high school, and totally looking forward to this event. Uh, this will take place on January 29th. It is led by our Peekskill High School, uh, drama student. This is actually student led Max
015Herrera. He did it last year, and it was successful. We will do it again. Let's give Max a round of applause for leading this effort. There's a $5, uh, price at the door, but you're going to be treated to songs from Hamilton, Pippin, Oklahoma, and much more. So please make your way. Um, again this week, uh, at the high school, we will also have a fashion, uh, show as well on the next day, which is Friday. And this is also a fundraiser for the class of 2027 starts at 6 p.m., $5 at the door, which is a bargain. And so hopefully you come out and support our students Thursday and Friday as well. Let's give our students a round of applause for leading all these wonderful efforts. And want to thank our PTO. They are
016having their next PTO meeting. Uh, February 2nd. Can't believe it's going to be February already. Uh, but it is coming soon. 7 p.m. right here in this auditorium. So please come on out. Um, and enjoy, uh, the PTO meeting and really thank them under the leadership of Dan Carbo. So let's give Jen and her team a big round of applause. Lots happening in Peekskill. The robotics competition is happening the next day, which is January 31st. And that is the fun starts at 10 a.m. All all are, uh, invited to a join the event. It is free for our community. You'll see robotics teams from all over the region, and you get to see our very own Ion Devils compete. Um, and also our Mechanical Devils, which is a junior team. And they'll all be competing.
017We wish them luck. Jenise Reed, thank you for leading this effort. Let's give her a round of applause with her team as well. Uh, the showcase, the art showcase is coming soon and that is in February as well. We have an elementary and a secondary version. And so we want to thank being run uh, cafe. And also in this new new era, creative space is also going to be hosting our young artists as well. So please make your way to the elementary art show. And then we will have a high school art show as well. And that is on the 10th of February. So inviting the community all free and every year have an opportunity of buying, uh, artwork from our students and putting up in my office. And so they are already, uh, authors
018who have their displays. And so that's their work is available for purchase as well. Let's give our artists a big round of applause. And we are coming close to the end. Uh, Saturday Academy is coming up February 7th, and we're gonna invite you, Brody, to come if you'd like. It is free at the middle school. Thank you. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. free activities. We're going to have a zoo presentation. And it will also honoring Black History Month as well. And lots of things happening. Crafts, music, all free for our families. And we'll even have Brody and Alligator if you want to see an alligator. Yes. Uh, so please come on out. Uh, and that is on February 7th as well, last week to give you input on the technology survey. So families, thank you
019for inputting your information and your comments will be reading those shortly. Uh, to, uh, help advise the board as we get back to that policy conversation and practice conversation as well in our school. So we need to hear from all of our families. So please make sure you, uh, take the opportunity if you have not done so by Friday. And lastly, the moment we have all been waiting for, uh, we have a Putnam Northern Westchester Boces student of distinction, I'm not going to say his name because I'm going to allow our partners to do it. And, uh, really excited to have our superintendent of Boces, Neil Boy, with his team here as well. Let's give him a round of applause and welcome him to the podium. Just love this one. So good evening everybody. How
020can I reach up? Oh, you want to say a few words, but how about I will speak about you first and then you can say a few. Yes. All right. So, on behalf of the Boces board, I'd just like to thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight to recognize an incredible young man. Uh, an education. We often hear the phrase, it takes a village. This room exemplifies the importance of that phrase. So thank you to the board, to the peaceful administration, the Boces administration, the teaching staff, but more importantly, the family. So thank you for allowing us to be a part of Brody's journey. But, Brody, most importantly, you you're the one that makes the decisions to come to school every day and learn that. And there you go. And what we did
021learn tonight is he also speaks multiple languages and how to count in Russian. So that's important for us to know to as we go through this. Because the minute we realize we learn more from our students than they learn from us. That's when we thrive. And it's often forgot about with all the things that happen in the noise around us. But Brody, you center us, and tonight was an example of your excellence and how you make us better at what we do, buddy. What did you want to say? Hello there. I'm Brody best Soman. And I love Russian letters. And I love counting to 100 and love using my phone for 30 minutes. And I love hugging my mommy. And I love stretching out on the chair at home. Uh. All right, well, said Berger.
022But I'm going to I'd like to invite Doctor Melissa Cafaro, who's the principal of our local schools and programs, to talk about all the reasons why Brody was nominated for student distinction. I don't know if I can follow that. Thank you so much to the Peekskill board for having us tonight. This is a beautiful home. So tonight we are proud to recognize an exceptional fourth grade student, Brody Bellman, who has shown remarkable growth dedication since joining our Boces local school building programs. Brody is talented, passionate, hard working, and his progress in both academics and personal development has truly been inspiring. He approaches his learning with determination, and the effort he puts into improving his academic skills is clearly reflected in his work. Brody has a particular strength in math and numbers and consistently excels in
023this area. Even more impressive is his willingness to help others. He genuinely enjoy supporting his classmates as they work through their math problems. Yes, beyond academics, Brody stands out for his kindness and inclusivity. He is always welcoming to his peers, and he is often the first to greet everyone with a smile as they arrive at the school building. His creativity shines through his love of building and drawing, and he thrives during collaborative play with his classmates. Rose Brody's positivity Impact's impact extends through the entire school community. He participates in school wide activities, assists staff in the front office, and is always active and enthusiastic participant in art. He approaches every new challenge with a positive attitude. He gives his best effort and he's always eager to lend a helping hand to teachers and classmates alike.
024He is polite, tolerant and thoughtful, and he consistently demonstrates concern for others and brings positivity wherever he goes. His smile, perseverance, and willingness to help make him a joy to have in our school. Because of his hard work, growth, and genuine care for others. We know his successes will continue well into his future. Congratulations to this outstanding student of distinction. We are so proud of you. Yes. Come here. And I think the. And look. We're going to get a great picture with the entire Board of Education. So, Brody, you're going to stand in the center. Uh, mom and family. You can join us as well. Uh, maybe what we'll do is have the board stay where you are, and then we'll have the mom and family right in the center, and, uh, uh, staff as
025well, from both sides. Come on in. Not. You know. Well, that is how we are going to conclude our Peekskill Pride with Brody and thanking everyone. Brody is actually my neighbor, and I've known him since he was just a toddler, and it is great to see how tall he's gotten and that he loves mathematics and Russian as well. Great to see you. Big round applause from Brody, the family and our team over at Boces. Thank you everyone. Have a great night. Take care. Take care Neil. I'll turn it back over to our president. I should also mention that Brody is the first student in ten years that is not a high school student to be recognized. They're always high school students. He is the first fourth grader to be recognized, and I had nothing to
026do with it. I would find out, like everyone else and so, so excited for Brody. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much for that report. And congratulations to Brody and his family as they file out. Um, next is hearing of the citizens. I don't see anyone here, but if anyone would like to come out to a board meeting, we're always open and happy to hear questions, comments, concerns, congratulations. Anything. Otherwise, um, so I'm going to move back on to the superintendent's report and hand the meeting back over to you. Thank you, President Valon. Uh, it's always important to make sure that we have a, uh, strategy, a strategic plan, a theory of action, which for us is our Peekskill Pixel's promise to our community. And, uh, I always talk about the fuel that makes that
027happen. And the fuel that makes that happens is making sure that we have, uh, proper budget, um, budgetary foresight, uh, fiscal management, conservative, uh, fiscal planning and making sure that we have the funds necessary to support our students, including Brody and his peers and, uh, that are out of the district, those who are within the district as well, family engagement, all of which you saw tonight. And you get to see every single board meeting, all that takes effort from administrators and community partners and parents and staff. You, the board, uh, giving us that leadership vision and, and the administrative team bringing that to fruition. Uh, but it also takes an important, uh, individual to lead that effort with her team, uh, to make sure that we have the funding in place to make that happen.
028And also, uh, during times that can be fiscally difficult, uh, for our country, for our state, and also for our local community as well, and making sure that we can weather the storm and provide and continue to provide the kind of programing that we have been accustomed to through your leadership as a board and through the support of the entire Peekskill City Schools community. So with that, I'd like to turn it over to Cynthia Hawthorne, who's going to give us a very important, uh, budget workshop number two and the education plan, uh, for, uh, planning for next year as well. With that, I'll turn it over to you. Thank you, doctor Mauricio. Good evening, President Villa and Esteem board members, my fellow staff and Peekskill community. I'd like to go through very preliminary, early numbers
029of our budget, what our revenues are going to look like. And as we go through the upcoming months, we will give more updated information. So what are we going to look at today? The Peekskill promise. Every decision we make goes back to those five pillars promise in our community. Um, those five pillars we're going to look at, how are we going to balance the budget? I'm going to go through some of the numbers, but it's important to note that all the numbers are not in for the tax cap. So while I have left a placeholder in tonight's presentation, when we posted, we will give the updated. I was still waiting on a couple of numbers from our fiscal advisors. Um, we're going to look at our reserves, uh, past tax cap as well as, um,
030fund balance. And, Jim, just a little snapshot of what we're looking at for the 2627 budget. So as I mentioned, the five pillars, everything that we do, every decision we make is aligned with these five pillars of giving our students rigorous pre-K, 12, pre-K through 12, sorry, aligned and culturally responsive academics, robust literacy and Steam opportunities, the whole child commitment, um, enhanced experiences and um, family community engagement. So how we're going to look at how we sustain the promise as we build our budget. Our initiatives are sustaining this Peekskill promise, as well as academic, social, emotional support for all of our scholars, all of the enrichment opportunities that we've been bringing to our community over the last couple of years, as well as keeping our scholars safe and secure. So what are some of the
031financial constraints, as we all know, are inflation remains a little above the 2%. We have rising costs of supplies, food, transportation, our labor costs as we go through our union, um, negotiations, staff pensions, health care, social security. Those are all some of the economic factors that we look at what we are building. 2627 budget. Balance in the budget. So we look at all of the expenses that we have. Um, our staffing, our benefits, experiences for the children, opportunities, um, transportation. And we look at all of our revenues. So that would include tax cap, state aid, some of the local revenues that we receive. And our goal is to present a balanced budget by the time we get to the end of this budget season. So let's look at some of our revenues. As I mentioned
032before, I do not have all of the numbers. I wanted to just put this as a placeholder. This is last year's calculation and as we get the numbers, we will replace it in the presentation with the updated 2627 numbers. I wanted to put this here so we could look at where we've been over the years. We've always, the board has maintained, wanting to understand everything that's going on in the community. We've remained under a maximum levy and tried to stay within or under the 2% tax cap. State aid runs some of the important things to go through as we look at some of it's just right now is the governor's proposal. We will hopefully have our legislative proposal by April 1st. Some of the points to look at is the foundation aid. As you know,
033a few years back we were fully funded. So they are trying to maintain everyone with roughly about a 1% increase, all of our expense based aids. Can you hear me? Okay. Sorry. Um, all of the expense base aides remain at the current funding levels or formulary levels. The governor wants to continue and expand the pre-K. Universal pre-K. Peekskill Pride moment. We already offer pre-K to every student in, um, Peekskill that wants to be in preschool. The governor is pushing that by 20. I believe it's 2829. All districts open the preschool up to all students who are eligible, but we are already doing it. So give us a hand for that. Plug if anybody is not already enrolled in universal pre-K. We have spots available. Also, um, the governor is committed to continuing the universal free
034meals for students. So let's look at where we are coming up in the upcoming year. As I mentioned, the governor has proposed a 1% increase to our foundation aid coming in at roughly $631,000. If you go down to the pre-K, we have a very large increase. Um, one of the things that they did previously for the pre-K grant, we were about $6,500 per student. And different districts receive varying amounts. They have raised the floor to give at least $10,000 per student to all districts. That's in the proposal. When you look at skills numbers, it's roughly about 14,000. Um, Doctor Vilas Rodriguez and I are reaching out to the state to find out. Previously, we had the $6,500 from one grant and $10,000 from the other. So we're waiting for clarity to find out if it
035is 14,000 for every student, or if one will be ten and the other will be 14,000. So more information to come. Um, we also received, um, how access cost. We received about $400,000 in that aid category. That is our high costs, um, students that we may be sending out to other, um, out of district schools or within our district where their needs, um, are high cost and we get a certain percentage back from the state. Another large increase well, semi large increase is the Boces aid. So sorry I cannot see from there so much. Just flipped on my page. Overall, our increase is about $2.5 million. But I just want to note that as I stated before, about 1.1 of that is towards the universal pre-K. So when we talk about our general fund budget,
036those numbers are not included as that is in a separate special ed category. So overall, it's about a $1.4 million increase year to year. So let's look at, as we build the budget, some of the opportunities that we have where we can, um, offset the difference. As we mentioned, every budget, um, we discuss where we are in terms of our reserves. We have been very intentional to board, to establish our funds, our reserves, so that they are, um, well funded in case we have to continue or we need help in paying these certain things. So here's where we ended up at the end of June 30th, 2025. A Westchester sales tax is another source of our revenue. Um, in 2425, we received about 2.6 million. We are projecting for the 25, 26 year, a little
037bit over 2.6. Reaching upwards of 2.7. Utility taxes are another area where we receive additional funding to put towards, um, our budget, and we're going at about $1.5 million in revenue for the utilities tax. And then the interest income. So interest rates have gone down a bit. So if you look, you can see on our line that we are starting to go down a little bit, but still in a good place, projecting about $1.5 million in interest. Budget development. So preliminary. This is just your basic rollover where we look at, um, different contracts. Uh, we find out what our benefits are, what the salaries are, and these are the categories, um, by function. And it spreads over two pages. Overall, we're looking at a $3.7 million increase, which is roughly 2.83%. As we continue in
038our budget discussions, some of these numbers will change. We'll go through different things looking at programs that we have, um, retirements that we may be able to find a little bit of, um, cost savings there with the new hires and make upcoming decisions for a final budget to use sometime around April. Our next budget workshop will be February 24th. We will have operations and maintenance and technology present their budgets. March 17th. Curriculum. Instruction. Special education and I will present a revised budget B tentative Budget adoption. The next presentation April 7th. That is our final day to adopt the budget. And April 21st is the educational plan and budget workshop number five. Looking at that, I'm sorry c a typo. My apologies. It will be corrected when I add the tax cap, but that's when the
039board will vote on the administrative budget. Thank you. Peekskill. Any questions or comments? Oh, actually, I have a question. Um, in regards to the upcoming aid, um, if it gets approved, would that potentially be. I know it's a hot topic for us. Is the bussing could that potentially be used for bussing the pre-K kids or now? So if it gets approved, but it's it's a rate that they're going to give us. But it's important to note all the programs that the pre-K you saw, the presentation currently. And right now the general fund slightly has um, supported that budget as well as Doctor Vilas can tell you, every year we're counting the kids were checking just because they say that's the amount of money we're going to get. It's based on how many kids are actually
040enrolled. So it's not like we can say, yes, we're getting $2.5 million, and then we can start spending it on something like transportation or other things, because that money is not guaranteed until we have the enrollment for all of the students. Uh uh, a different question. But, um, to echo that, I feel like if we don't have all our seats filled in pre-K, some of that may be because we don't have transportation to pre-K. So it would be great someday if we can. And I know there's like, we'd have to find out legally if that would also mean we have to transfer it to other local preschools or how that would work. Um, whatever we do for our students, yeah, we would have to do. Um, yeah. So my I mean, uh, I don't know
041if it is the same law for pre-K. Um, well, pre-K is not required. Yeah. So, so, um, but my question was about the universal free lunch. Mhm. Um, I think up until this point we've been receiving federal dollars for that based on community eligibility. Is that right? Yes. Every year we receive federal and state dollars. But what the governor did, we were seven CP well, now since the governor has decided all schools, we are still technically under CP, so those dollars we were already receiving. So if the federal dollars fell off, the state would make up the difference. But for now, we have both. Is that it, guys? Yes. So the, um, uh, and want to thank the the governor for investing in pre-K and also the, um, free lunch for all children as well.
042Um, as you know, there's, uh, lunch shaming that has occurred in my lifetime and others as well. So it's important that that she has done that. And, uh, thank you to the board for being, uh, forward thinking on this decade, over a decade ago, bringing pre-K to where it is today. Um, reminder to the community, it was a half day program for some full day for others, no dual language. And thank you to the board who voted to make that move forward into Rebecca, I believe Rodriguez and her team, uh, for really bringing that forward and, and and moving that, um, that work in the very important space that we have. And then the, uh, free lunch program. So the governor is committing, uh, to supporting this effort. Um, I believe that if the federal
043dollars, uh, discontinued, I believe that she would continue to make this a reality. And I will share with you for, uh, many of my colleagues in other districts that might be more, um, uh, may not have the level of poverty that we have and maybe more affluent. They are seeing the value in this as well. Um, because in every community they are children who need this. And it really takes the stigma out of that scenario. And so I think that this is something that is here to stay, um, under the governor's leadership. And I think that she and the legislator are going to push forward to make this happen. Um, and hopefully the federal funding continues to flow into New York State as well. Yeah. And I'll just say the leadership, um, between, um, the
044administration and our, uh, providers in, in food services makes a huge difference because I've spoken with colleagues, uh, in other districts who say, oh, well, there's free lunch, but that's the basic lunch. And then students pay for extras and they pay for nicer lunches. And I was like, oh, well, we have salad bars and sushi bars and homemade pizzas, and it's all part of the free lunch. So, um, that speaks really well and really highly of everything that you all do. And we'd like to thank Andrew Wiseman for that. He is, um, very, um, intentional about making sure that our students receive not just food, but good food. Thank you. Thank you. Andrew. Yes yes, yes. Thank you. Cynthia, just a couple of quick questions. Um, two in particular. Um, on the tax levy. I
045noticed that over the years we were at 2%, which is about a half a point lower, uh, in the coming, uh, projection. That was for this year, it was, um, 1.5%. Okay. So this coming year, okay. So we will maintain that same, uh, number going forward. So every year we go through the tax cap calculation, it can fluctuate. It can be as high as 6%. It would be negative. Um, and then the board will decide based on what we need to balance our budget. How much, what percentage. Um, just for the last several years, because there's been that 2% tax cap. But I try to explain to people that our maximum allowable levy is different than a 2% tax cap. That 2% is part of the calculation in calculating our maximum allowable levy. But because
046the public hears the 2%, I know that the board has made a, you know, very conscious effort to try to stay within that 2% tax cap, right. Okay. Excellent. The other is just on interest income. How do you. We do that we use the prior years? Um, it looks I use the December number to run through the year. The only concern is that, uh, you know, given what's going to be happening with the change in the fed, um, you know, there might be some risk there. So we should, uh, possibly consider, you know, that rates will be gone, might go down. Um, so we don't want to get, um, you know, caught holding the bag there, so to say. Yeah, when we budget our interest rates, we try to use conservative conservative estimates. That's just
047a projection of where we anticipate being for the 25, 26 year. But when I look at the budget for the 2627, we will take into account, and we've been actually, um, very conservative and have been exceeding the amounts by the end of the year because my treasurer thank you, Felicia mighty, she looks at the numbers and she works with the banks, and she invests the numbers to get us, um, our interest income. So thanks again, Miss Mighty. No, that's excellent. Thank you. Okay. Do. Thank you. Have a good night, everyone. Thank you, thank you, thank you. What if I could just share? It's important to have, uh, someone. Uh, who oversees our finances and works with you as a board. Uh, with myself and the administrative team. Uh, someone who has a conservative, uh, outlook.
048Because that has led us to be in the fiscal place that we're in at this time. And but also, um, has the heart to know that we have to invest in our children, invest in our families and our staff and our teachers and in our programs, and finding that balance, which is a difficult balance, um, especially when times can get, uh, difficult, uh, financially, but making sure that we have someone that leads with both those, uh, vantage points is very important. So thank you, Cynthia, for all your leadership, your conservative ness. She has a no button. Um, uh, but she does have a yes button that she takes out as well. And, uh, it's very important to make sure that we have someone guarding that, because you can overextend yourself and then find ourselves into
049a in a very difficult financial place where we begin to cut programs. And so thank you to the boys leadership, your oversight, uh, of our, uh, finances and to individuals who lead that work in the business department. So thank you. Another round of applause. I think to that same vein, um, with the Covid funds that came in. Um, I can remember Cynthia having the conversation with us like, you can't shoot for the moon just because there's money that you didn't expect to come. You have to develop programs that can either help right now and you know, are going to end, or things that have longevity. Hiring a ton of teachers right now isn't the way to spend this money, and we have to be diligent. So that's just one example of how she's doing it.
050But it's a daily conversation about making sure that we're getting the most bang for our buck and giving back to our kids as much as humanly possible. And I'm really appreciative to have the right people in the right place to try to make sure that we're doing the best for everybody all the time. So thank you, Cynthia. Um. Moving on. Is there any old business? New business? Does anyone have any new business? Policy readings. There's no policy readings at this time. Um, accepting of the minutes. Are there any questions or comments? Can I please have a motion to accept the minutes for business meeting December 16th, 2025 and Business Meeting work session of January 13th, 2026. Move by Frank. Second by Angel. All in favor? All right. Any knees? Any abstentions? Uh, great. Consent agenda.
051Does anyone have any comments, questions or thoughts? Okay. May I please have a motion to approve consent agenda items 11 A through 14 A. Move by Amy. Second by Christina. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstentions? Uh, are there any committee reports or comments? I did want to thank everyone with the weather. Um, keeping everyone home was a big decision. I know New York City went with virtual days, and we got to keep our kids enjoying snow days, which we're really excited about. Um, we talk a lot as a board about wanting our kids to still be kids, and we understand the pressures of education. We want them to learn. We want them to enjoy. But with everything going on in the world, it's so exciting to us to give them the opportunity to
052enjoy things that we would consider positives of our childhood and giving them those experiences. So, um, I hope everybody stays warm and stays safe. And the city did a decent enough job. Snow, uh, plowing you all out. I know some people had some trouble with the plows recently, their driveways or their sidewalks, and I'm sorry that that happened for everyone. It is definitely the biggest storm we've had in a while. So, uh, it's just going to take a little bit of, of time to get everyone back in the swing of things. But we're really excited to open our doors tomorrow to see all our teachers after they got a little bit of a break and and get all the kids back into school and seeing their friends. So, um, if there's nothing else, can I
053please have a motion to adjourn? Moved by Angel. Second by Amy. All in favor? Aye. Nays. Abstentions. Good night, everyone.