001Okay, at this time we're going to reconvene our monthly scheduled business meeting. Thank you all for coming. We have a great turnout tonight. Appreciate it. At this time, can I have Chief Dr. Jennings >> [laughter] >> start the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you, Chief. Recognitions. >> Recognitions? >> All right, time for me to slide over. >> Didn't announce it. >> Right there. Okay, at this time we'll recognize staff and students for their exemplary accomplishments. First with social social worker Georgia has been recognized by the multi-systemic therapy MST whatever it takes program for her outstanding service to children in
002need of intensive home-based intervention. The recognition celebrates Miss Yaffa's dedication and continuous efforts to go above and beyond to serve students. This is her 18th year in the district and we are grateful for her commitment. Congratulations to our senior crew rowing athletes. WE RECENTLY HAD ONE boat finish with a silver medal and one boat finish with a bronze medal in the New York State crew championships. The first varsity eight boat qualified to compete at the national level this spring. We're proud of this hard-working group of students, coach Ashley Goodman and assistant coach Faith Ebers. Give me one moment I'll be reading through their names. First varsity eight second place finish, coxswain Katie Miller, eight seat Madeline Houtsberry, seven seat Nyla Hardy, six seat Nyla Fromm Pam, fifth seat Matilda Kearney, fourth seat Nora Bayer, third
003seat Evelyn Glenn, second seat Holly Donnelly Heg and first seed Adelaide McClurg. Second varsity eight finished in third place. Paxson Pillana Estenzo, AC Emily Stratino, seven seed Haley Schultz, six seed Kamila Carson, fifth seed Naomi Marquez, fourth seed Obame Olider, third seed Riley Hospodor, second seed Jocelyn Pena, and first seed Elizabeth Bloomer. Quaker students recently launched the first edition of claws, an online creative magazine for Quaker students by Quaker students. Led by staff editor Keith Levine and student editor Isabella Johnson. We look forward to supporting these students continuing creative endeavors. Cole Soy, Eden Price, Sophia Connelly, Harmony Corris, Nathan King Jr., Naveah Slaughter, Zaniah Jordan, Braylon Cross, Rafael Victor Cerritos, Jan Felice Negron Cruz, Patricia Gay, Mariah Bunch, Gabrielle Patron, and Nathan Kelly. It's about what >> Yeah. The question. Yeah. One, two, and three.
004>> I guess >> Can we have a revolution? >> I'll mute next time. >> Whereas the superintendent of schools and the members of the Syracuse City School District Board of Education would like to pay tribute to those students who through their natural talents and never-ending commitment to academic excellence have distinguished themselves in the classroom and whereas through diligent study, steady composure during examinations, and steadfast commitment of time and talent, these students achieved outstanding academic success and joined the ranks of the best and brightest students in the city of Syracuse. And Elif Coskun has been named valedictorian of the 2026 graduating class at Institute of Technology at Central High School. Elif earned an exemplary grade point average of 102.2 while participating in Science Olympiad Club, Math Club, Volleyball, National Honor Society, Student Government Vice President junior
005year. She will attend the University of Rochester to study biochemistry. >> Oh. >> Okay. >> Mia Hayden has been named salutatorian of the 2026 graduating class at Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central High School. She earned an exemplary grade point average of 101.76 while participating in Pride Club, softball, theater as executive student director, math club, student government secretary junior year, National Honor Society. She will attend Niagara University to pursue a BFA in musical theater and either major or minor in psychology. Naje Atiba has been named valedictorian of the 2026 graduating class at Corcoran High School. >> Allow when they say valedictorian. >> Valedictorian, right. >> Corcoran High School, let's >> Pump it up and give them You got that? >> Zenaiah Jordan has been named salutatorian of the 2026 graduating class at Corcoran High School.
006Zenaiah earned an exemplary grade point average of 101.36 while participating in Seeds of Peace and the Women's Diversity Network program as a set designer for the theater program, as student council vice president, and as Syracuse Youth Advisory Council. She received the Director's Award in the Teenage Art Exhibit and the first honorary mention from New York State Art Month. She served as an online tutor while working part-time. She will attend Emory University to study political science and then it attends law school. He will then attend law school to become an immigration attorney. Junisa Owusu has been named valedictorian of the 2026 graduating class at PSLA at Aula High School. Nia Dowdell has been named salutatorian of the 2026 graduating class. Nia earned an exemplary grade point average of 99.27 while participating in volleyball and working part-time.
007She will attend the University of Buffalo to study pharmaceutical science. Wonderful. Yeah. Nina Alsaffar has been named valedictorian of the 2026 graduating class at Nottingham High School. Nina earned an exemplary grade point average of 103.34 while participating and creating short films on humanitarian crisis in Sudan and Palestine, which have been shown at film festivals in New York City and internationally in the New York Civil Liberty Union's Teen Activist Program, as a class rep at LaGuardia College's Upward Bound Program, in National Honor Society, and in Inspiring Girls Expeditions Girls on Rock Program, and completing biophysics research at Syracuse University, serving as a National Common App Advisory Council member, and serving as a science and math tutor. And there's more. >> [laughter] >> Mina will attend Princeton University to study molecular biology. She will be studying molecular
008biology with a minor in global health and health policy on a pre-med track. Let's Naya Tibbetts has been named salutatorian of the 2026 graduating class at Martin Van Buren High School. And now the valedictorian of the 2026 graduating class of Canarsie High School. Nyla Frimpong has been named salutatorian. >> Nyla earned an exemplary grade point average of 99.28 while participating in student council as secretary, as a Syracuse City School District student board member, and community-wide dialogue Becca, superintendent student cabinet, and principal student advisory council, varsity girls tennis as captain, varsity rowing, varsity cheerleading, junior volunteer crop hospital while working part-time. Nyla will attend Syracuse University to study communication science and disorders to become a speech language pathologist while participating in the Renee Crown Honors program. Whereas their noteworthy achievement is a tremendous source of pride
009for their families, schools, and community, and whereas their dedication to excellence is clearly deserving of the respect, admiration, and commendation of the superintendent and Board of Education, now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, hereby commends and honors the valedictorians and salutatorians on their impressive academic And that concludes our recognitions. >> Wonderful. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> Okay. >> [laughter] >> And I second the right one. Ready? Ask for a motion to approve minutes as submitted. >> The move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Ask for a motion to accept the monthly financial report as submitted. >> The move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Roll call vote. >> President Barnett? >> Yes. >> President Rutherford? >> Yes. >>
010Commissioner Habib? >> Yes. >> Commissioner Doggett-Jimerson? >> Yes. >> Commissioner Rayford? >> Yes. >> Commissioner Root? >> Yes. >> Motion passed. Okay. >> [clears throat] >> We will now hear from those visitors who desire to address the board and who filled out the appropriate card available near the entrance door to the board room. Speakers are asked to limit their comments to no more than 3 minutes. Board policy 1510 does not permit in public session discussing and involving discussion involving individual district personnel or students. Persons wishing to discuss matters involving individual district personnel or students should present their comments and or concerns to the superintendent during regular business hours. All speakers are asked to conduct themselves in a civil manner. Obscene language, threats of violence, statements advocating racial, religious, or other forms of prejudice will not
011be tolerated. If you wish to speak and have not already submitted your blue card, please do so now as additional cards will not have been accepted once the first speaker has concluded. The board is here to listen to all comments. However, we will not engage in dialogue with speakers during this meeting. Our first speaker, last name Muhammad. Uh First name starts with a A. Can't really see the handwriting. >> Hello. >> Good evening. How are you doing? >> Good evening. Um I'm going to say ask for our holiday of Eid off in the Syracuse City School Districts cuz we believe that we should have it off as it is our right as an American to freely practice our religion. So, we think that we should have it off so we can celebrate our religion and
012feel welcomed in the city school district and feel equals to everyone else. Um Reason we say this is because like a lot for one of the main reasons is that a lot of people when they have to miss for their religious duties, they miss a lot of stuff at school like academically and activity-wise and it's quite frankly unfair for them that they have to miss it uh just to celebrate their religion and then have to be on back work or miss fun activities. So, um that is why uh I believe that we should have uh Eid al-Adha off uh in the city school districts. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker, um last name also Muhammad, first name begins with a M. >> Good day. Um building up on what he said, Um, this
013one day may seem not as valuable to others, but to us is greatly valuable for religious and also uh cultural reasons. It's day of celebration for us and we do believe that together um, it helps like bring bring the community community together. And overall helps um, benefit the community as well as uh our personal beliefs. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker last name Shifa? >> Uh, thank you very much. Uh, my name is Abdul Aziz Shifa. I am uh a parent in the district. I'm also a board member of the Islamic Society of Central New York. Uh, we have a very good working uh relationship our community with the district. Uh, we had you know, uh just recently Superintendent O'Donnell uh to our uh our event speaking to the community. Uh, I have
014three uh children in the district. We uh moved to the district probably about 3 years ago. And we have had a wonderful experience. We really love uh uh the school. The our children love it. Uh, and very very grateful for all the hard work that everybody puts in. Uh, one thing that the district stands out really does uh an excellent job is in in creating an environment that's really coming to all students. And then that's uh really what makes it difficult for us to comprehend the issue of Eid al-Adha. Why this is not on the school calendar. Let me share this you know, from the perspective of myself and my children as a family. So, we celebrated Eid al-Adha 2 weeks ago. And the you know, we start as family in the morning uh preparing
015for the holiday. And the message I got one of the message I got was from my kindergarten teacher about all the nice activities that the kids do in school. And of course, my daughter is not going to be there. And it's just as if it not it's not happening. There's nothing that's going on. Her absence was nothing. We went there, celebrated our gathering with you know, thousands of people. And on our way back, we drove by to come see Elementary School. That's a school in the Jamesville school district. And in my children used to go there. And that parking lot normally is packed full. They know that. It's also next to our house. So, but but on that day it was empty. No cars on the parking lot at all. And my children would ask
016me you know, why are no cars here? Why is the school so empty? And I told them that JD closes for Eid al-Adha. And they came up with a follow-up question. Why is the city not closing? They know that there are more Muslim students in the city school than JD. And I did not have any answer. It was a Wednesday. So, I came here on that day because there was a board meeting. But, you know, that was not the day when you can speak the public can speak. So, so I went back. I gave up the the celebration, the family time to share my concern with you. So, I you know, I really appreciate all the stuff you do. It's a really wonderful effort. But, our children should not be asking this question again. Many
017school districts are recognizing Eid as an official holiday. The JD school district is recognizing Eid as as an official holiday. The city school has much more Muslim students than many other school districts. So, I hope this would be in the calendar next year and then I will urge you to to to do so. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Uh Next speaker, last name Brighton. Or Parks and Brighton. >> This is April Parks and >> April Parks and Brighton students. >> Okay. Is it okay if I use this table? >> Sure. Some people won't be able to see, but you guys >> Good evening, board members. I hope we don't have 3 minutes cuz there's four of us, which would be 12. Um but we're going to get it done in about eight. Uh
018we are a group of students and a teacher from Brighton Academy in the Syracuse City School District. Um we are social studies students and we're coming to you tonight to share with you a project um that we did at Brighton Academy this year. We are an expeditionary learning school, which means that students must engaged in a project that they lead, that they lead the research, and that they come up with a topic that's of interest to them. We combined our focus this year with the capstone project that was launched by our social studies um our social studies program, and this was led under uh Generation Citizen. And Generation Citizen really wanted us to choose a topic that we could really not just show kids what being um not not just to have them understand what
019being a good citizen is, but to actually be able to make an impact as a citizen. So, many of our other classrooms in the building focused on issues like redlining, food deserts, and many more topics. Our students actually identified an age in which they thought students could feel that they were already not being included or that they didn't have access to something. And so, unfortunately, we have two students that are not here with us tonight, and I'm going to do my best to cover their parts of the presentation, and then Diego is going to pick up where I leave off. Our students started by identifying what our district does really well. And they said that our district does a lot of things well. They think that our district gets to know their students, connects with
020families and communities, meets diverse learning needs, supports professional development for their teachers, and they hire diverse teams. There are two areas that they feel that we could definitely make improvement. One is willing to address inequalities when they're noticed, and two would be reevaluating some teaching materials, in particular at pre-K and kindergarten level. We looked at as a group a working definition of what access is. And if you have to have if you have to ask to have something, you don't have access to it. So, if I have to ask for uh a doll that looks like me, or I have to ask for a crayon that looks like me to color, I don't have access to what I might possibly need to be successful in my education. And so, my students are going to now
021share with you the process that we went through um to come up with a kit that they're proposing for the district to adopt, and they have a budget that they've created, and they're going to kind of take over the presentation from here. Yeah. >> Hello. >> Hi. >> Hello. >> My name is Diego Forlane. I go to Braden Academy. And Oh. Our solution Our Our solution provides every pre-K K class classroom in the district with materials, supplies, and toys that will promote inclusion, belonging, and diversity. Cultural and racial representation. Play act as a reflection of real a reality and a lack of diverse inclusion inclusive toys that accurately reflect different backgrounds back backgrounds and realities can be detrimental. Research indicates that when children play with dolls or figure figures that resemble their own race, ethnicity,
022or physical ability, they are more likely to identify with them, which improves confidence and self-esteem. When children of color When When children of color are only provided with toys that lack diversity such as single standard or beauty or appearance, they can internalize negative feelings about their own worth or heritage. Conversely, exposure to diverse diverse dolls and figures help shadow these limiting narratives for for all children. >> It's a picture of him doing research. You can go ahead and start to talk about that. >> This is me doing research about This is me doing research about the toys that we ordered for our kids. We considered diversity prices, and me and my fellow student me and my fellow classmates, we came up we came up with some names to name to name the kid like like
023I belong like diversity or inclusion, but I thought of a better idea. I thought we should name him we should name them I belong because we all belong in the same community. >> Uh the one in white, my name is Muhammad. So, what I come up with was well, this is an ordinary crayon box, but inside the crayon box is the color that's supposed to match our complexion. As a young black male, this doesn't really go with my skin tone, so I can't really relate to it. So, me and my peers have come up with different varieties of crayons like this that can really that really match our skin tone and really help us identify as young black males and any other kind of race. And as a Muslim as a young Muslim male, going
024to school and not finding dolls that that look like me that I can play with, it's like I didn't know how to feel, but but we found something that could really represent them. I'm assuming. I got it right. Zion, if you would like to add on to that, it would be really good. >> Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Zion DePaula. Um To add on to what they were saying, these are some of the things that we can put in our kindergarten classes or our pre-K classes to help students feel more more make them feel like they belong in their classrooms. So, so here we have I don't know if you want to pass these out Diego. This is For an example, we have dolls with hijabs. We have African-American We have dolls that represent
025African-American African-American people with different type of hair textures and just makes people feel like they they are they belong in their community. This and this is also something that This is This represents like an Asian culture and this chopsticks all that. And in our community some people that are Asian feel like they don't belong because they don't have this they don't eat the same lunches as us and they don't do the same thing as us or the same culture. And our friend Diego would like to add on to that about this. >> Me and my classmates watched a TV show about Me and my classmates watched a TV show. The The name of the TV show was Fresh Off the Boat and it was about Asian kid that didn't like his home school lunch. So
026when he got to school he threw he threw away and the next day he asked his mom to buy him an American lunch like vegetables like vegetables. I don't know what I'm rambling on. >> So right here on this board Um each kid each one of these kids that have all these dolls, the markers and every the crayons and everything it costs um $185 and um we called the district to see and in our district there are 30 pre-K classes minus three year olds and um there is 53 class kindergarten classes. So if we were to put one of these kits in every in every kindergarten class in our district it'll be a total of $5,550. And if you were to do this in every kindergarten class it'll be $9,805. And if you were to
027do it to kindergarten and pre-K combine it'll be $15,300. And um another reason and and this is I I feel like this is really important to make people feel like they belong more in our community. And most important thing is the cost of inclusion is priceless. >> Just to wrap this up, these students worked really hard. They did all of the research. They identified the deficit. Um, they looked really, um, in great detail to find items that were affordable, to find items that were diverse. I do want to say there's micro problems and there's macro problems. It was a really difficult time for us to find diverse items and toys, and that's a larger scale. But what we can control is making sure that kids have access to these things in classrooms. Um, these students
028will be performing, uh, excuse me, they will be demonstrating this at our show up day at Brighton uh, next week. And we do want to donate the kit to you guys so that you can look at the hard work that they did and consider it for the future for budget. So, they're definitely going to follow up with the board to see if you guys are considering um, what they do view as a a problem. We do know that some of these things do exist, but they're not like, you know, widespread enough for us to actually have access to them, which is kind of the concern. For instance, just the crayons, right? Simple crayons is something that could change someone's uh, educational uh, career and and feeling of acceptance. So, we want to say thank you
029very much and um, please do follow up with these young students. >> Keep me outside. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> We're brave. >> It's worth the fight. >> Our next speaker, last name Dexter. >> [clears throat] >> Don't forget your books. >> Thank you. >> I thought they deserve another hand. Briefly, um that was an awesome presentation. I I think not just Muslim children, but Christian children, all children, red, white, black, green, orange, or purple ought to feel included when they walk through any school and not excluded. Generally, I'm saying to this board that governs this particular superintendent, when children have issues, let's have a superintendent that has staff that addresses the issue, whether or not they care for the parent or not. Just as we listened to everybody today, we should
030listen to every parent, whether you like them or not. We should not have people on staff hijacking IEPs and stopping IEPs from happening. We should not have classroom work not being graded and is overlooked and we run to the end of the school year and say, "Well, it's a new school year. We don't have to deal with that." We should not be dealing with parents that are single parents, uh male factors, and having uh folk utilizing areas of uh misandry towards uh certain people because they don't like them. Right now, plain right now on social media you can hear certain individuals sitting at this table having conversations with other people from political settings as well as their co-workers. You don't know who's related to who. Ancestry.com has made that proven. Just because you're white doesn't
031mean that you got 100% European in you. Can I say it that way? I said it. Just because you're a person that pigmentation is dark, doesn't mean that you're 100% the whole continent of Africa. Even though you're labeled that way. You have to be careful what you say and who you're saying around because it could be a relative. So, right now you have someone saying derogatory things uh about me and some of the folk. And it's not nice. My child counts just as well as the young man in the back. He should not be ostracized because you hate Dr. Dexter. Should not. The little boy in the back came by and he said, "Hey, how you doing?" He didn't care who I was. He just saw a person he wanted to say hello to. The
032young lady sitting next to me on the back, she's holding her baby. He waved. He's not a baby, but he's a toddler. You waved back. But we as adults when we get positions we don't speak to people because we heard this or we heard that. Or we disconnect calls or we speak to people in ill-mannered way. Take inventory of your new superintendent because I plan on doing it. I had turned the eye on Monday, but when I heard this information, it sickened my stomach and my son is very much upset. Children are committing suicide. And some of this is happening through the schools and it's not just in their homes. You have a wonderful night. >> Thank you. >> Our next speakers, I believe you guys wanted to come up together. Laurie Holsberry, Madeline Holsberry,
033Katie Miller, and Andrew McLair. >> Hello. My name's Laurie Holsberry and I am the mother of Madeline. Um, and I'm just going to give you a little background and then the girls will want to say something. We're here. Um, I'm a business official actually in other districts, so I know sometimes you don't see the the benefits of the investments that you make. So, I just want to give you a little background and then the girls will speak. So, 5 years ago when Madeline when I went to Saratoga, I quickly realized that um the Syracuse City School District that had crew a crew team was um looked like the underdogs. We didn't have the equipment. We had a boat from 1998 and 2003, so they were 25 and 20 years old. We had a really rickety
034tent. We didn't have a trailer. Liverpool had to bring our our trailer our boats to the competition cuz we didn't have a trailer. Um, the boat was so heavy because it was wood and it was 25 years old that the other teams had help us take the boat off of the trailer. Um, all of the uh gyms have been renovated, but there were no ergs, which are rowing machines. So, the girls didn't have anything to practice off of the water, so we would borrow ergs from uh Chargers and the coach Coach Goodman, she got them at garage sales, so she was bringing them in. Um, and so I approached the dis I approached Susanna at the time was the business official, and um she was like, "We got to I go, can we buy an
035you something?" And so, she said, "Nope, we're going to make this right." So, she put it in the budget. And so, the superintendent and with the support and of the board, they purchased equipment. So, they purchased an eight boat, they purchased a four boat, they purchased a trailer, they purchased eight ergs, new uniforms, and a beautiful tent. I actually have a flyer while the girls are talking and I'll let you see some pictures. And um because of that, you saw tonight um it's changed their life. We've went we've gone from a smaller uh barely made a team to over 30 girls, right? Over 30 girls from all of the high schools. It's impacted so many girls. As a matter of fact, as little brag, when I'm watching them, um we have FMBville and Liverpool also
036have teams, and um they thought for sure they were going to beat Sarah crew. And the when they're when their jaws dropped, I had a proud moment when we passed them on the water. So, I just want to say, Yeah. How about that? Um and I'll let them elaborate a little bit more on that, but I I just want to thank you for the investment you made. It was a significant investment. And one more thing, I did hear um Bville and Liverpool are now spending more money on their crew because of the money that you are spending. I think they got new uniforms. They got new oars, too. So, and the guy that was um what did he say? He said, "Look at Look at Sarah crew's swag." Is that what they said? Yeah, the
037announcer at Saratoga told the whole thing was like, "Look at Sarah crew in their new swag." Cuz they had a whole new branding and imaging because of the investment that you made. So, I'm going to let the girls talk now and I will pass these around. Thanks. >> uh and a coxswain for one of the varsity eight boats and varsity four boat. And I just wanted to say like reiterate what she said. Thank you so much for you guys funding and support. With your funding and support we're able to qualify for nationals for the first time since 2003. It's really amazing. Um yeah. I just want to say thank you and even though we weren't able to go and participate in nationals in the long run, I still want to say thank you. >> All
038right. >> Hi, I'm Nyla. Um I'm in the first varsity eight boat. And I also just want to say thank you. Um I do club which is made up of like all the other teams. So like Beeville, Liverpool, FM. All the schools like that. And when me and Maddie first started doing club, nobody like took us seriously and they always would be like, "Oh, Sara crew is the team to beat." Like at races they'd like look at us and be like, "Okay, well at least we got them." Um so it's been pretty rewarding like being on the same club team and people taking us seriously. And like now when we race them, they are scared and you know that we'll beat them. Um and then yeah, so to qualify for nationals this year, we beat
039all the boats in a boat house. And all the other boats in the state. Hi, I'm Madeline. Um I also just wanted to say thank you guys so much. I've been rowing for 5 years now. And ever since the new boats and new equipment that we've gotten, I've truly seen such a difference in our team. Not only just like our performance, but also like our team environment. It's such a like amazing amazing place to be. Um and also uh I just wanted to say I'm so excited to see in the future how Sara crew will evolve. It seems like every year we get better and better. And I think coming like as the more and the more like investments that are made into Sierra Crew, I think the more the better we are and the
040better our team environment is. And now me and Nyla are rowing Division 1 in college. So thank you so much for that. So thank you so much. >> Hi, my name is Emmeline and I also just wanted to say thank you because as you know, we made it to Nationals this year, but we could not compete. So I just wanted to say thank you for advocating for us to be able to go to Nationals and I hope that paves the way for our younger generations to be able to go in the next years. >> Hello, I'm Nyla. I just wanted to thank >> Hi you. >> the board for >> [laughter] >> Hi Nyla. >> um for all that you guys have done for us um throughout our years of Sierra Crew from like the
041new boats to new ergs to oars. All your support just means so much to our team in general and unfortunately we weren't able to go to Nationals this year because SRAA doesn't recognize us as a scholastic team because we're all made up of different schools. So they don't recognize us as like one team. So their solution to that was to make us go race at Club Nationals, but that would actually be more difficult. And I feel like we should be able to be able to go to Nationals because we deserved it. We beat all the other teams in the state. >> Um our 1V8 placed second and our 2V8 placed third and just not being able to go and seeing basically all of our hard hard work go to waste was very detrimental to all
042of us. And thank you to the board for all your support, writing emails, having calls with SRAA and I hope that that lays the foundation for the next teams of Sierra Crew to come and hopefully they'll be able to attend Nationals. Thank you. >> I just add I wanted to give a shout out to Coach Goodman. She has really been an advocate for this team, and so we really couldn't have done it without her, as well as to these awesome parents. They have really stepped up, and it has been a change from the time that we have been there involved to now. The parents have just stepped up and gotten involved and plugged in, and we've seen a huge difference. And just seeing these parents come in and even the other teams be like, "Oh
043my gosh, like you're you all have like exploded." It's so amazing to see the environment and the kids feel supported. And when you have students feeling supported, the dynamics of the team just changes. And so I really want to shout out to Goodman and to Coach Ibis, as well as the parents. And so we are losing many of them, and so it is kind of very bitter sweet, but thank you for that. >> Um I just want to advocate for Sarasota Crew. Um I'm a past rower in college. Um that was 30 years ago. And for these young athletes to be able to take part in this uh this sport in high school is huge. That That experience that I had rowing has stuck with me for 30 years. It's truly a unique sport. It's
044much different than any other sport um that you've ever participated in. Um if to know rowing is to love it, and also to hate it. It's a very difficult sport um to be in a boat and connected to eight other rowers and this coxswain. If anything's off, somebody's having a bad day, the boat doesn't go anywhere. Doesn't go any place quickly, at least. Um and it's a truly unique experience. Um and any resources that you can give to this crew were really you know at the start of being a hotbed of a rowing community down on the lake. Um You know how many of us have been on the the lake on a in a boat? You know they have that opportunity every every spring to do that. Um And I would advocate for you
045guys to come down to the boat house. Jump in a boat. We'll put you on an erg, you get the motion down. It's a great team bonding experience. Seriously, I'm speak I'm I'm putting words in Coach Goodman's mouth, but come down to the boat house. We'll get you in there. We'll get you out on the water. You'll get on Dog Lake and you'll see how challenging it is and for it to have young students like this to take that on it is it is a big deal and will stick with them into their college years, into their entire lives and change the directions of those lives in a positive way. Right. >> Right. So we're going to go forward with the the president's report. So the president's report this year is a very or this
046meeting is a very special one as it is our student commissioner Nyla's last board meeting. So without anything you've already seen her up here several times. We know exactly who she is. I don't know if you need Chief Wright Williams to read her bio again, but she's making a lot of good things happen. This is her last board meeting, but I believe that she is going to be our first student commissioner graduate. And with that comes swag. So if Nyla and the rest of my commissioners would join me up front so we could present you with your official graduation cord to wear. graduating student government Yeah. Super talented girl. >> Sure. >> And she goes to kindergarten. >> [laughter] >> So sweet. >> [clears throat] >> Here's your ticket to the show. >> And perfect.
047Okay, right here. 2 3 1 more. Congratulations. >> They should be proud. >> It's a long way. >> Oh, she was picked the long way. >> Good evening, everyone. Um, I just wanted to say thank you so much to the Board of Education for this amazing opportunity. I never would have thought I would be able to do anything like this. And just being on the board and be being able to represent the SCSD to make a positive impact with all of our students was just something that was so encouraging to me. This was definitely one of the most educational experiences I've ever experienced and I will miss it so, so much and thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Hey, keep in mind I'm going to be using President Barnett's time for [laughter] >>
048I'm I'm giving her the rest of my time. for my presentation. >> Well, we want to start out congratulations to VP Relleford. Congratulations to Vice President Relleford on earning a level two Board of Excellence Award through the Nisba Board Excellence Recognition program. It recognizes school board members who are committed to expanding their knowledge and skills as educational leaders. Congratulations. Yesterday I had an opportunity to be with Director Long and Athletic Director Jennings, Sanasia Byrd from Parks, and we got to have a ribbon cutting for the Clary Middle School turf field. It is We share that field with the Valley organization and they came out as well and the field is beautiful and just think our kids and the Val- the Valley Stallions >> Yeah, you got it right. >> All right, are going to have
049that new field to play on and it's gorgeous. I wanted to just share with you that we had community discussions. We had three discussions. We had two discussions online for staff to give us end of the year feedback and we had our first session um for our community. Just an end of the year session trying to wrap up and get some feedback on how the year went. The sessions are we are going to continue to put them online. We had a few people attend. We had it at the Southwest Community Center, which is not called that anymore. It's Syracuse Connections. Did you know that? >> Mhm. >> Oh, okay. I just found that out yesterday, but um we're going to continue to ask for feedback and have these sessions cuz we want to hear from
050the community and we want to hear from our staff on ways we can improve the district and we know we can't do it alone, and we need everyone. Kudos to the following athletes. I'd like to wish good luck to our track athletes from Corcoran, Henninger, Nottingham, and PSLA who are competing in the state championships this weekend at Webster Schroeder High School near Rochester. Here are our qualifiers. From Corcoran, don't get mad at me. I'm going to do my best. Uh Genai Burger from Henninger, Al- Alex Acevedo from Nottingham, we'll have Delilah Pandory Hall, Renee Amazedo, Violin Collier, Libby Dawson, and Karaya Williams. Finally, from PSLA at Fowler, we have Amani Gary and Damarion Gary competing. They are siblings. Congratulations to our athletes for making it to the state championships. Let's give them a round of
051applause. We had our last superintendent student cabinet, and yes, Ilo was there. We had uh at Arrowhead Lodge last week, the kids had an opportunity to give us some feedback, which we are going to take. It was a nice time. The seniors got their cord for being on the student cabinet. This student cabinet has been phenomenal. They have given us many ideas on ways we can improve the education of our students here in the Syracuse City School District, and we're going to continue to do that. P-TECH signing day ceremony happened last Thursday. 174 of our students participated in our P-TECH signing ceremony at Onondaga C. Through P-TECH, our students will have the opportunity to earn both their high school diploma and an associate degree while preparing for some great careers. I am super proud of
052our P-Tech students. Uh Roberts, let's give Roberts a shout-out. Our last meeting of the full of the year took place at Roberts. Kudos to the 6th through 8th graders who performed New Girl on June 3rd. Their teacher, Mr. Goodness, says the evening show for the community was well-attended and a really great show. I had an opportunity to go to Seymour today to see their multicultural festival. It was absolutely amazing. I was mad because I had to leave and I didn't get any of that good food that they had in the back, but the kids were dancing, they were sharing poems, they were uh displaying their artwork. It was a really great time at Seymour today. I would also like to give a shout-out for Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority. On Saturday, I had the opportunity to
053join the celebration and they honored every They gave awards to every to two students in every middle school, and they got gift cards, and they honored a wonderful student from Nottingham and a wonderful student from ITC, and they're giving huge amounts for scholarships for our kids cuz they deserve it. So, it was a very nice event. And we had our Everybody Counts event on May 30th, so kudos to the Office of Family Engagement and the Math Department. They It was a beautiful event at the Everson Museum, and again, I am going to keep getting the good news out. I know I'm taking a little long, but we are going to keep putting out the positive stories about our kids cuz they deserve it. Yes, they do. And don't forget our graduations are coming up. So,
054our graduations are coming up. They will be held at SRC Arena, Porter and graduates on Thursday, June 25th at 6:00 p.m. Henegar on Friday, uh June Sorry, June 25th at 6:00 p.m. for Porter and Henegar. June 26th at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday uh Saturday, June 27th, it's Nottoway at 9:30, ITC at 1:00 p.m., and PSLA at 4:00 p.m. I am so excited to watch our students walk the stage, and I hope you will attend as well. >> Yes. >> And I myself have to say, Nyla, you are amazing. You have been This has been our first year that we've had student board members, and you have come right on and given us so much good advice. You are going to do big things, and we all wish you well. >> Yes. >> And that's all
055I have. >> That's sure. Might be enough. >> Well, [laughter] that's all I have. >> Make sure Make sure you got it all out. Are there any commissioners that wish to bring up anything for discussion at this time? Any words of encouragement for Nyla? >> Um yes. So, >> said that. >> So, I wanted to say um thank you, Nyla, for being just who you are and what you have brought to the board. Thank you for being a example of how um student civic activity, uh youthfulness, athleticism, all of that rolled into one while still maintaining a great grade point average works. We talk about all the time the need to be a student first, and you have exemplified that while still being committed to our community, committed to the board, and continuing to be
056a good friend to your teammates. Um so, we we really appreciate seeing that and these are the type of things that again we want to continue to be showing throughout our district to continue to show what happens in our district. So, we just thank you for being you. Thank you for just being who you are. And you have big shoes to fill as we move forward. The other comment I would like to make is I appreciate the students and the district as it relates to prom season. Prom season was very interesting this year on a whole lot of levels. I was appreciative to see that students and parents and administration and things of that nature were taking matters into their own hands and developing better plans for our students to be successful at the prom
057prom enjoying themselves and also being civically minded as it relates to that. So, thank you for utilizing our city parks as alternative ways to make it a great time because at the end of the day our students um that are attending those activities are there to have a good time and to enjoy themselves. And other factors sometimes could get in the way, but we want to make sure that our students know that we see you. We understand that other factors kind of dim light that we don't you know, we get credit we get some news about things that we don't want to get news about, but just know we see you. You all looked gorgeous, handsome. The parents um were understanding of making alternative plans as we move forward and I just hope that as
058a district we take this year as a learning experience and plan next year's prom season to be bigger and better than it was this year with alternative places to showcase our fashion um, and our school spirit. Thank you. You know. >> [laughter] >> She forgot to add, "Thank you for being a Black Knight." >> LET'S GO, RENEGADES. >> I THINK WE'RE ALL EXCITED TO SEE THE GREAT things that we're going to do. And thank you for giving us the honor of serving on the board this year. Thank you. >> Anything else? Anything, guys? Desire, nothing? >> Yeah. We wish success and bright future ahead. >> Thank you. All right. Consent agenda? >> President Barr Dack, commissioners, I'd like to recommend approval of the resolutions in items 9.1 through 9. 24 as a consent agenda. >>
059Motion to approve the consent agenda items. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Action items. 10.1, I would like to introduce and recommend the resolution titled submission of grant proposals. >> It's for a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> I would like to introduce and recommend the resolution titled appeal of discipline imposed on student. >> It's for a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any abstain? >> I would like to introduce and recommend the resolution titled contracts and consultancies for approval. >> It's for a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> I. >> HR 11.1, I would
060like to introduce and recommend the resolution titled settlement agreement. >> It's for a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> 11.2, I would like to introduce and recommend the resolution titled settlement agreement. >> It's for a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> I would like to introduce and recommend the resolution titled 2025 through 2029 unit two starting salaries. >> It's for a motion. >> Motion moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> I would like to introduce and recommend the resolution titled unit 11 contract ratification. >> It's for a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any
061opposed? >> I would like to introduce and recommend the resolution titled administrative appointments. >> It's for a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Yes, boss. >> Congratulations. >> All right. >> Okay. >> All right. We are pleased to announce the following superintendent appointments. Karen Dotson to chief family and community engagement officer. >> [laughter] >> Andrew Kramer director of technology to senior director of technology. >> Congratulations. >> Very happy for you, Sarah. >> better to take it over here. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Sorry. >> [laughter] >> No, that's okay. >> Jamaica She's a bad >> Caitlin McDonald, assistant director of staff relations to executive director of staff relations. Dr. Reba Hodge, director of diversity, equity, and belonging to executive director of diversity, equity, and
062belonging. Janelle Melana, director of student support services intervention to executive director of integrated student support services. >> [laughter] >> Amanda Malanowski, director of media to executive director of media and communications. >> [laughter] [laughter] >> Oh my God. >> Eric Vogelstein, director of science to director of technology. Now for our administrative promotions, we have Dr. Dana Corcoran from director of science and technology to supervising director of science and >> Remember me. >> [laughter] >> Nicholas Damelacados from director of social studies to supervising director of social studies. January Kelly from supervising director of CTE to supervising director of mathematics. Jonathan Howell from principal of Montessori at LeMoyne to supervising director of English language arts. >> [laughter] [laughter] >> I know you're going to encourage me. I'm going to be okay. >> Dr. Harry Valentine from principal of
063Syracuse STEM at Blodgett to director of professional development. >> Danielle Guffey from vice principal of Seymour Dual Language Academy to principal Salem Hyde Elementary. >> And finally, Jasmine Price of diversity, equity, and belonging to principal at Syracuse STEM at Nottingham. >> [laughter] [laughter] >> Get her a step stool. >> [clears throat] >> Congrats. Congrats. Congrat- Congratulations again to everyone, and that concludes all of our appointments and promotions for this evening. >> Okay. I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. >> So moved. >> [laughter] >> Second. >> Any discussion? I just wanted to sit. No. Um all in favor? >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Meeting is adjourned.