Board of Education Meeting February 3 @ Trinity Elementary

001here. >> Miss Lewis, Miss Ross, Miss Clayton Fernandez, Miss Jacob, Miss Klein, >> here. >> Mr. Single >> here, >> Mr. Vega, >> Miss Williams, >> present. >> A quorum is present. >> Colleagues, can I get a motion and second to go immediately into executive session to meet with district council and discuss the employment history of particular persons which may lead to the appointment of a particular person? >> So moved, Williams. >> All in favor? I any opposed? Motion carries. We we will be back around 7:00 to open the public session of the Okay. testing, testing. Good. Families, can you hear me? As the families, can you hear me? Okay, perfect. Are we good, Travis? Okay, great. Good evening everyone. My name is William Auzi. I'm president of the board of education and we are

002about to restart the public session of the meeting. Colleagues, can I get a motion and second to reconvene the public session of the meeting? >> Second, Ross. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Can we all please stand for the pledge of allegiance? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag 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. Okay. So, our first item of the agenda is accepting minutes of a previous board meeting. So, colleagues, can I get a motion and second to accept minutes of the board of education regular meeting held on January 8th, 2026 and accept minutes of the board of education committee of the whole session held on January 22nd, 2026 as submitted

003by the clerk and secretary to the board of education. >> So move, Jacob. Second, Ross. >> All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next up is our announcements by our board of education members. Do any of my colleagues have any announcements they would like to make? Miss Williams? >> Yes. Hello, Nurell. I would like to wish everybody a happy um Black History Month. It's a time where we learn about the history of African-Americans in the United States and worldwide. is always great to learn about our histories and the histories of our friends and our families and people that we don't know. It brings us closer together as a community. And also I would like to wish our friends who celebrate a happy Lunar New Year which will begin on February the 17th. >> Thank

004you, Miss Williams. Any other Yep. Oh, our student board member. Um, I just wanted to mention that I had the pleasure of speaking with Miss Quinn's third grade class um, on January 23rd. Um, she's actually a teacher here. She's sitting right over there. Um, they invited me to be a guest speaker and I read them a book about Ann Lowe, who was recognized as the first African-American fashion designer because I'm interested in going into fashion in college. Um, and she was known for creating gowns for John F. Kennedy's wedding. Um, and it was just a great experience and I was able to give them a little insight into the high school life and learning about different styles of art. So, it was a pleasure. >> Thank you, >> uh, Miss Williams. >> And I have

005one more thing that I would like to mention. Tomorrow is a great day worldwide. It is World Read Aloud Day. It's a day day when we read aloud and we learn about different cultures and we embrace each other. So, it's a lot of fun. Please read to somebody or listen to somebody read tomorrow on World Readaloud Day, which is the first Wednesday of February. So, tomorrow is the day, World Readaloud Day. >> Thank you, Miss Williams. Um, and I just want to um wish good luck to our Nurisha High School cheerleading teams. They are off to Florida this week to compete in the national championships. And our very own clerk, uh, Miss Bonia, had the chance to go to Nisha High School this weekend. Uh, she went to their going away practice. So, Miss Bonia,

006thank you for representing the board there. And seeing no more announcements from our board, I will throw uh it over to Superintendent Reynolds for his update. >> Thank you very much, President William, President Ayanuzi. Um, thank you to the board members uh for uh their opportunity to speak to the community this evening to to the community. I say hello. I welcome you. I welcome you to the month of February. Um, please know that February is Black History Month. Uh, American historian, author, journalist, and founder of the Association for the Study of African-American Life in History, Carter G. Woodson was a scholar who dedicated who uh whose dedication to celebrating the historic contributions of black people led to the establishment of Black History Month. The 2026 Black History Month theme, a century of Black History commemorations,

007focuses on honoring the 100th anniversary of the celebration initiated by Dr. Dr. Woodson in 1926. This milestone theme examines the impact of marking black history, culture, and life, and the status of black people today. Happy Black History Month for our community. I'd just like to remind you that all district offices, schools, and buildings will be closed on Monday, February 16th, 2026 in honor of President's Day. All schools are closed on Tuesday, February 17th through Friday, February 20th, 2026 for mid-inter recess. And all schools will reopen on Monday, February 25th. So, I hope you have a happy February and we'll see you a little bit later in the month. And with that, I yield my time, Mr. President. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Reynolds. So, we're moving into the discussion items of the agenda, and

008we have three presentations. So, colleagues, why don't we grab our microphones, grab your presentations, we'll go up front, and we will start with the Trinity presentation. And as the board uh is transitioning to the seats that are supposed to be reserved for them, uh I will begin the introduction of our presentation here. So every time that we come to a school uh usually we do recognize the school its inhabitants and all of the learning that take place here. Yeah. For those of you at home you won't get it. So Trinity Elementary School. Firstly I want to congratulate our facilities department. all of the individuals who work in this building and in the facilities department who have renewed this space. If you could see it at home, um I think you would be as amazed as

009we are here. So, ladies and gentlemen, let's give a round of applause to all of the members who participating who participated in rehabilitating this place. Now, tonight I I um I debated earlier today as I was getting dressed whether I was going to wear some fantastic socks. I know that Mr. Hildebrand is well prepared. Um so, we are going to be led in this path of discovery of what takes place in terms of learning here at Trinity Elementary School, this beautiful building and and its beautiful inhabitants. And we're going to be led down that path of discovery by our building principal, Mr. Michael Hildebrand. >> You're good. Okay. Wonderful. Well, good evening everyone. Okay, we need we need a little more Trinity energy than that. Good evening, Trinity community. Good evening and good evening to

010Dr. Reynolds, board president, Mr. Ianuzi, our board members, our parents, our teachers, our students, and our guests. My name is Michael Hilderbrand, and it is truly my honor to welcome you to Trinity Elementary School this evening in our brand new, beautiful, and welldeserved for our glorious scholars auditorium. Can we hear another ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL AUDITORIUM? It truly is beautiful, and it's exactly what our students deserve. But I will start this evening by introducing members of our leadership team, our assistant principal, Bridget Muri, our math coach, Miss Joanna Vasquez, our literacy coach, Miss and Miss and our literacy coach, Miss Anor Zalinski. Unfortunately, Miss Meruri is not feeling well tonight, but we know that she's watching from home. Travis, where's the camera? Is that the camera? Okay, so we know Miss Murray is

011watching from home and it's important to note that the presentation this evening is truly Miss Mur's heart work and I'm hopeful that we make her proud tonight as we fill in for her. So this evening, we're excited to share a brief presentation that highlights some of the important work that's going on here at Trinity. We'll begin with a performance by Trinity's marching band and we'll take a few moments to recognize our educators who are receiving tenure this evening. Then we will spend some time sharing some of the ways that we're supporting the whole child here at Trinity Elementary School. And we'll end with a look ahead to the work that's planned for next steps to grow these initiatives and beyond. And as you know, our work begins with our mission and our vision along with

012our equity vision. And while our district's vision and mission are focused on providing a highquality education for our students, our equity vision directs our attention to the importance of considering the uniqueness of each learner and how we must strive to embrace each students differences as strengths to empower all students to become engaged, informed, and empathetic citizens. Now, our Trinity School community is a diverse group of learners as evidenced by these numbers. This information helps us to make informed decisions when selecting curricular resources, designing instruction, and creating programs to facilitate homeschool communication, connection, and support. But of course, our students are so much more than just a number. So, I say, let's kick it off Trinity style. And please join me in welcoming Trinity Elementary School's marching Now, you have to understand, Trinity community, the rough

013weather forecast this past Thanksgiving prevented these artists from performing. perming in the Nurell Thanksgiving parade. So, tonight is extra special for us. Can we hear ANOTHER ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THESE PERFORMERS? Stop talking about your champions. No. But now, scholars, it's time to also celebrate our educators. So, I'd like to call up Skyler and Hayden to assist me in celebrating our tenure recipients. sit right up there. Wonderful. Okay, so tenure recipients, are you ready? Do you think they're ready? Okay, at this time it's my pleasure to welcome up all of our tenure recipients to join me to my left. So, all of our tenure recipients can please join me right up here to my left. Now yes these educators these educators and their beautiful families but scholars now excuse me educators you have worked tirelessly

014for this moment so soak it all in take this moment let's HEAR ANOTHER ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THESE educators and as I call your name I ask that you come to the right and receive your certificate from our scholars to my right now. Scholars, are we ready? Okay. Oh, no. No, no. Scholars, are we ready? Okay. So, first up for tenure this evening, school psychologist, Britney Anderson. Yes. And Miss Anderson, please remain standing right up here for the photo op. Miss Mafy, I know you're out there somewhere. Next up for tenure this evening, third grade teacher. >> And next up for tenure this evening, AIS teacher Jennifer. And next up for tenure this evening, special education teacher Shenade. Next up for tenure this evening, first grade teacher Maria. And it was Miss Ruiz's birthday yesterday

015and we all sang to her happy birthday. Yes, we did. Yes, we did. We won't embarrass her again, but it was her birthday yesterday. Now, next up for tenure this evening, teaching assistant not least up for tenure this evening physical education teacher Mr. Now, these seven educators are a powerful representation of our superb staff, and we are so fortunate to have them as members of the Trinity team. And here at Trinity, we often say everything you do matters. Well, I want to thank each and every one of the seven of you for doing this hard work and doing the work that matters. Can we hear another ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THESE EDUCATORS? HEY, MR. M, are you ready for the photo? Oh, wonderful. I have to tell. Is everyone ready? >> Yes. >> Wonderful. Congratulations

016to all of our Trinity educators. Now, Trinity community, can we hear another round of applause for the Trinity marching Can you come in? Aren't they wonderful? I mean, so incredible. So truly incredible. So incredible. And they deserve this beautiful space because they've worked so hard to be the successful scholars that they are. Now, as we know, in addition to our vision and our mission, our district's strategic roadmap is our guide for decision-making here at Trinity. We address every one of these elements to ensure that we're providing a highquality educational experience for all of our students. Beginning last year, we anticipated a reduction in resources. With that in mind, we set out to empower our faculty and staff with these two professional learning goals. Building our staff's understanding of the why behind student behavior and implementing

017brainbased actionable strategies to help teachers make connections with our students. These goals were identified to strengthen our learning environment for all students. Now, it's a priority for us here at Trinity to support the whole child academically and social emotionally. And we recognize that students may be presenting with more needs, but we have to keep in mind that there's no such thing as a bad kid. I know this as an educator, but I also know this as a dad. No student wants to upset their parents or ever make their teacher mad. And we realized that student behavior can enhance or get in the way of learning. We decided to focus on how we can better support the social emotion development of our students. But we have to understand the science behind the behaviors to give us

018a different perspective and understand behavior as communication, not defiance. We've spent several years developing our curriculum to support positive student behaviors in our classrooms. Our social emotional learning includes the rethink curriculum resources as well as our PBIS matrix. These include morning announcements, daily classroom meetings, and weekly restorative circles. This year, we've also added a focus to developing our staff's understanding of student behavior through a professional development related to neuroscience and actionable strategies. Reframing behavior is is a professional development program that was developed by the crisis prevention institute. These are neuroscience-based strategies using brain science to explain the reasons why we are seeing behaviors that we're seeing. We're using a schoolwide approach to ensure that teachers learn how to identify the cause of a behavior and apply a reframe perspective to respond rather than react. The

019key idea of this program is the word reframe. Reframe means to respond, reflect, and engage in something in a different way. Reframing behavior is divided into four elements, but this year we focus on just one of those elements. How stress and trauma affect learning and behavior. Now, this program has helped us to unpack three key misconceptions of the of of behavior. The first misconception is that behavior is simply a response to an action or the surrounding environment. The research has shown us that behavior is so much more complex than that. The second misconception is that behavior is intentional. We know that this is simply not true. The neuroscience data has proven that many behaviors are an activation of the body's stress response system. And the third and we believe the most common misconception about student

020behavior is that consequences and rewards are the best or only way to manage behavior. What we've learned is that understanding why a student is behaving a certain way and responding appropriately is the best way to support behavior. Now this image best summarizes how we re we have reframed our perspective about student behavior. If we understand that behavior is the result of stress rather than assuming that it that it is intentional then our response to student behavior will more likely lead to positive and productive outcomes. As I mentioned earlier, this has been the heart work of our assistant principal Bridget Meruri and recently tenure teacher Jennifer Betts. Bridget and Jen have co-f facilitated this professional development and I'd like to invite Jen up to share more insights from this training. Let's hear another round of applause.

021And let's raise 10 yard. >> Thank you. Um, one key part of this training is developing an understanding of how the brain functions, which can help us when responding to student behavior. So, to help us understand how the brain works, we could actually use our hand to visualize it. So, if you placed your thumb in the middle of your palm like this and you fold your fingers over the top, this can be a representation of the brain. The upstairs brain is where our fingers are. That's the cerebral cortex and the prefrontal cortex. I know that's their fancy words, but really it's easy because what they're responsible for is decision-m, self-awareness, empathy, and morality. And then down here is the downstairs brain. That's where the amydala is, the hippocampus, and the brain stem. Those are really

022responsible for basic life supports like breathing and our heartbeat, um impulses and emotions. And it's important to know this because this helps us to visualize what happens during a stress response. So when we experience stress, our brains become disregulated. And in these moments, our amygdala, which is like our thumb, um is triggered, which causes your upstairs brain to go offline. That means that the part of your brain that's responsible for decision-m, problem solving, and empathy are no longer accessible and instead the downstairs brain is in control. So it causes those instinctive unintentional responses where we might do things we don't really mean later. That's really called flipping your lid. That's where that saying comes from. So those moments when we flip our lids might be due to having heightened levels of stress which impacts behavior

023causing stress responses that can be classified into three types. A fight response, a flight response and a freeze response. These responses can be observed in ourselves and our students. Considering these stress responses through the lens of fight, flight or freeze, it manifests differently in adults. When adult feels stress, one way they might respond is by the fight response. That would be a power struggle, inflexibility, using sarcasm. I'm sure we've done that sometimes. Flight responses um might see be seen as procrastination or avoiding tasks. And a freeze response, it might be when we're experiencing stress, we check out. We might have extreme fatigue or we might feel distracted or just not respond. Now, in our students, these responses can look a little different. um considering that through the lens of a fight, flight, or freeze response,

024it manifests in a little bit of a different way. A fight response could be kind of like a tantrum or um inflexibility or anger. A flight response can be demonstrated when a student might rush through a task to complete it as soon as possible. It could be procrastination or it could be elopment. And a freeze response is a response that might cause a student to be distracted by other things. They might shut down or refuse to do their work or just cause extreme fatigue. A number of things can cause these stress responses, including simply a change in routine or just an inability of doing what's being asked. So ultimately, a stress response happens when we feel a threat. And this impacts our sense of safety. Brains can't learn if they don't feel safe. So when

025teachers consider how they can classify behaviors into the fight, flight, or freeze stress responses, they can best support students by instilling a sense of calm and safety. This chart illustrates some ways that adults can respond to a disregulated student with a reframe perspective. So instead of assuming that a behavior is intentional, we could try classifying their behavior as a stress response. Instead of saying stop it when a moment in a moment of disregulation, it'd be better to ask what's going on. or instead of thinking forward consequences first, we think regulation first and we provide a a calm presence and use relaxed body language to provide time to express feelings. So using a refrain perspective empowers teachers to create safe and supportive learning environment for all students. Now when we initially started this training, we wanted

026to have a way to measure its effectiveness. Surveys were given to teachers at the start of the training and again in the middle which is where we are now. In the fall, teachers were asked if they agreed with this statement. Most student behavior is a form of communication and 81% of our staff agreed with this statement from the start. After we went through about three sessions of our training, we saw a significant shift in our staff's response to this statement, resulting in a 16% of staff recognizing the behavior is not often intentional. And we hope that this shift in perspective will yield improved responses to student behavior. Another shift in how teachers respond to student behavior was noted on a teacher report that a kindergarten teacher shared with us. She explained that when she started

027to list her students behaviors, as you could see here, she realized that these behaviors may be the result of lagging skills and were not intentional. So she added yet on the end of each statement which reflects a change in perspective that demonstrates a belief in growth, skill building and potential. Teachers shared how this professional development program has impacted them on a recent survey. The responses were overwhelmingly positive and we highlighted some feedback here. One teacher shared that this training has helped me better understand that many behaviors are stress related rather than intentional. And another teacher said, "During stress, students ability to make uh decisions can be offline. I now slow down, adjust expectations in the moment, and focus on helping students return to a regulated state first." And finally, we liked this one, too. This

028training reinforced the importance of staying calm and responding in ways that support emotional regulation rather than reacting to the behavior itself. So, this has been quite the journey and there's still a lot of work ahead. I'm going to ask Mr. Hill de Brand to share next steps. >> Yes, thank you, Jen, so much. And it really has been tremendous work, tremendous work, but there's really so much more still yet to be done. So although we've really have learned a lot so far this year, our next steps include providing continuous support to our teachers and our parents, including a parent workshop with our PTA meeting in March. Um along with additional grade level meetings, department sessions, and faculty meetings. And I get to double dip in this because as a dad of four, I'm using this

029information to help me with my own kids. And I'll never forget when my when my sweet boy said to me fairly recently, I don't like when everyone's mad at me. It really upsets him terribly when people get mad at him. He doesn't want for people to be frustrated with him. And it's my job as his dad and it's my job as an educator here to support kids in navigating this so that they could be successful even when times are difficult. So with that, we're going to be supporting our parents as well as our faculty and staff. But we'd like to summarize how we've worked to reframe our perspective starting with this image right here. And we showed this image at our first faculty meeting this year. We showed our we showed our staff and we

030asked them what they see. So just a show of hands in the audience right now. How many here right now raise your hand see a rabbit when you look at that picture? Okay. And now, how many people right now see a duck? Okay. And it's the same picture, but two very different perspectives. This reminds us that when we reframe our perspective or how we see behavior, we can see behavior differently and we can see a different child. we can be sure that we respond to children appropriately and focused on a positive outlook to create a truly supportive place where all students can succeed. So once again, it is my honor to congratulate our tenure recipients this evening that are doing this beautiful work every single day. Let's hear another round of applause for our tenure

031recipients because this is what they and all of their colleagues are doing every day. It is also my privilege to thank our marching band and they're still back there right now for their beautiful performance this evening. And a thank you to Dr. Reynolds, the cabinet, the board of education. A special thank you to Miss Berturi, Miss Betts, and all of our teachers, our teaching assistants, our social workers, our psychologists, our school counselors, our speech pathologists, our special educators, our nurses, our security guards, our monitors, our clerical staff, our custodial staff, because none of this would be possible without all of you. Faculty and staff, thank you for your hard work, even when the work is so very hard. and thank you for reminding us that everything you do matters. Let's hear another round of applause.

032So, President Ayanuzi, board members, if I may, I would like to formally thank Mr. Hildebrand and his team for this presentation this evening. Some people may be wondering, well, why would we focus on this type of a presentation as it relates to what's happening in the learning environment? Well, before I even get started, I thought it was so funny that the conversation veered far left in the audience once we were discussing duck versus rabbit. I think it's funny, but that is how our children also respond, right? So, let's use that as a classroom moment. The teacher has something profound to say and one item takes a class a little bit left. Does the teacher react or does the teacher respond? Do you capitalize on that? That is what this training that we are receiving, this

033learning that we're receiving together as a staff is all about. How do we reframe our thinking? most of the time is it thinking of the adult that we're refraraming, right? Is it a personal attack against us or my authority or is this an opportunity to discover well what are some what is some conversation that we can have about the learning and what did this just spark so keep in mind that I've always impressed upon the community that education is a profession of connection we are always trying to connect our students to the learning and in order to do that we have to be able to connect with our students, how they come to us each day in the moment where they are, and that is what we're focusing on. And I want to commend Trinity

034School for that. And with that, I turn it over to our board president. >> Thank you very much. Uh, do any of my colleagues have any comments or questions? Miss Klein. >> Okay. I can't match your energy. That's incredible. Um, I just this was fantastic and I think it's absolutely incredible that you're working on reframing and it's so current and cutting edge theory happening in education and it's really exciting that it's happening here in New Roelle. Um, shifting mindsets is needed in every workspace in every organization and it starts right here. So fantastic. Thank you so much. >> Hi. Um, first I want to congratulate all the um, educators that received tenure. Um, I would also just like to mention that I was a student here. I graduated in 2019 and I just >> Let's

035hear from Trinity Gr. >> And I just want to say how impressed I am. Um, ever since graduating here seven years ago, which feels like such a long time, I know. Um, I feel that it has been a very large part of my growing up, being able to go to this elementary school and see how much it's changed me as a person and just being able to see that that um, message that you guys are trying to send is only accelerated since I've graduated. So, I just want to congratulate you guys and let you know that you're doing amazing work. Thank you. >> Thank you. And um thank you um Mr. Hildebrand and to all the tenure recipients and to the children and the parents. This is a wonderful experience. And actually I graduated from

036Trinity in the 1970s. and it was a wonderful Thank you for holding up the mantle. Yeah, this is like one of my um best experiences in Nurell. And um thank you, thank you, thank for all that you did every and can you give us some more information how we came to using reframing behavior. >> So I'll I'll start by saying so first of all thank you Miss Williams and we hope we did you proud did the auditorium look like this when you graduate when you were here? >> No >> it did not. Okay I was just checking just checking. Um, so I'll start with CPI is is a a program. It's a platform that we use districtwide to support um deescalating students. Um, the focus really is verbal deescalation, but also ensuring using appropriate strategies

037that students remain safe and staff remain safe. So, that's a district-wide program. we decided to go a little bit deeper to help our entire staff really look at that behavior, not just to deescalate it, but to look at that behavior in a different way. So, it's an enhanced portion of CPI, which we've been using as a district for years. Jen, did you want to speak a little bit more about that? Okay, I did it. And as then, Dr. Roberts is watching the clock. So, perfect. Thank you, Miss Bets. >> Um, I have three questions, but I'll make it quick. Um, how are you is is this being leveraged at other schools? Are you guys like piloting it or how are you sharing your results with other principles to see if this is the right fit?

038>> So, we're we're piloting it, but we're sharing it with other schools through our principles meetings with Dr. Roberts and Dr. KCKO um to share out and also share our data because we have a tremendous amount of academic data but we also have behavioral data um and we want to make sure that it's not a secret here at Trinity but it's I if if we are getting the results that we seek to get that others have access to it as well. >> Perfect. And then I I this year you're focusing on reframing your perspective. Is that a multi-year focus or next year do you focus on another one of the elements? Next year our plan is to focus on the next element because it really it is a lot. I mean and again I'm trying

039to watch the clock Dr. Roberts. I apologize but I will say there there is the the work goes very deep and so we don't want to just do it as a gloss over pretty powerpoint because it's really powerful meaningful work. You know, we just today specifically there were challenging moments. Students struggle, people struggle. We're living in a harsh world and we are so privileged, all of us, to be the educators that are be there to be at the intersection when things are difficult to support a positive outcome. Um, so we don't want just a pretty PowerPoint. We want the actual strategies, the actual techniques to be able to support students in succeeding. And and my next question is more globally, but um we're in 2026, so this incoming kindergarten class was the born during COVID.

040And I want just in your insights and about what challenges we're seeing with this incoming class, what might be lagging from the effects of CO. >> Well, it's so interesting you say that because many of these performers that were here right now, these are our our cohort A and cohort B babies. So they started kindergarten first fully remote and then they went cohort A and cohort B and there are some M I see you moms right there. I see you right there when I would call up on a Sunday night. I'm like oh Miss TBR are you kidding me? We had it's a cohort A day or a cohort B day and now we have to stay home. So we we are c we have been seeing these challenges certainly since then and our current

041kindergarten class many of those babies cuz we have students that started at four years old they were born during CO as well. Um, and so we're certainly seeing a a different iteration of kindergarten challenges that we didn't see precoid. Again, such the need for this because our job is to respond to that appropriately. No four-year-old or 5-year-old wants their kindergarten teacher, Miss Leak or Miss Sanchez or Miss Rickio, angry at them. I promise you they don't. I promise you they don't. But it's up to us to make sure that we're viewing what that challenge is and supporting it so that that child gains the skills that they need to be successful. >> Well, thank you. Any other my colleagues? Any questions? >> Well, thank you. I read this over the weekend and I said this

042has Miss Mtori's hands all over it. >> Yes, I know. And Miss Mur, wherever you are, we hope we did you proud and we hope you feel better and you get well soon. >> Perfect. Well, thank you guys so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So, this is not an uh invitation to leave, but I know many of our educators may want to transition as we get ready for work tomorrow. Some of our family members are here. Um, so why don't we take this time to transition now? Um, and we thank you very much for being here and then we're going to introduce the next uh presentation this evening. Trinity, great job. Thank you. So, as we make this transition to our board and to those of our community members who are with us,

043we're going to invite to the podium Dr. Olivine Roberts and our director for performing and visual arts education K12, Mr. Matthew Lucero. >> Good afternoon. Hi, how are you? Have a good one. >> Thank you. >> I know you did the best. Thank you. Good night. Take care. >> We just remind our community members that we are transitioning to another presentation. Uh so we ask if you could um help us with that transition. Dr. Roberts. >> Thank you. Good evening. >> Good evening. Board President Ayuzi, board members, Superintendent Reynolds, and the community. Joining me tonight is Matthew Loero. He's the director of our prek12 PAVE. PAVE is performing and visual arts education. So, it's not just the specialized program at the high school that we're talking about tonight, but we're talking about what you saw

044on stage a few minutes ago across all 10 schools in our district. And so Matthew and I, we are very pleased and honored to showcase the breadth of opportunities available to our students at every grade level, elementary, middle, and high, including the specialized PAVE program at the high school. And before I dive in, I just want to just pause and again acknowledge Trinity for the awesome work that they are doing, not just with our scholars, but all because I believe when we pour into our teachers, there's a direct correlation between what our teachers learn, when they learn, and what our students receive. So, thank you, Mr. the Hilderbrand for your continued leadership of really making capacity building a focus because it helps to transform teaching and learning. So, thank you. So, tonight's presentation, this is

045our road map. We'll begin by setting the context. We will then provide an overview of our preK12 PAVE performing and visual arts education programming. We will share key highlights and recognitions. We will then showcase the partnerships and community engagement. And lastly, we will con conclude with our path forward and our next steps. As it is our custom, it is important that we frame our context by starting with our why, which is our steadfast commitment to providing comprehensive academic programming for our students in service to realizing our vision, our mission, and ensuring that every student receives a fair and equitable education in alignment with our vision, mission, and equity vision. This slide illustrates what that looks like in practice through our whole child approach. We know students success is not only about academics, but it also

046depends on students cognitive growth, social emotional development, mental health as well as physical well-being. At the core of this work are three key conditions. celebrating identity, cultivating a sense of belonging, and empowering student agency, which you saw tonight with the whole oop, sorry, with the whole child approach. This is a true reflection of what you will see throughout tonight's presentation addressing our prek12 PAVE programming, which goes beyond enrichment. It is a researchbased driver of student development and success. The evidence, the researchbased evidence reinforces that arts education supports the whole child in three key ways. First, supports students social emotional development by strengthening self-expression, confidence, empathy, a sense of belonging. Building on that, when students feel connected, supported, engaged, they're more prepared to succeed academically. And the research shows that arts education is linked to stronger

047academic outcomes such as higher GPA, graduation rates, and college attendance. And finally, beyond academic success, arts education helps students develop future ready skills that they need to thrive, including creativity, critical thinking, reflection, problem solving, and preparing them for college, career, and just civic life. So in short, our prek12 pave, we keep emphasizing that because we want the community to understand that the work that we're doing in this district is bigger than the program that is at the high school. So our prek12 performing and physical excuse me performing and visual arts education is a powerful example of whole child commitment in action supporting students well-being engagement achievement and readiness for life beyond school. So this work is grounded just like Mr. Hilderbrand spoke about the work here at Trinity. This work too is grounded in our

048strategic roadmap. While all four connections directions are directly interconnected and are essential to the work that we're doing in our preK12 programming, this tonight's presentation will emphasize student learning as it reflects the commitment to ensuring that every student has access to robust, comprehensive preK12 academic programming, including learning experiences such as perform performing and visual arts education which strengthens again student engagement, deepens learning and supports students overall success. So at this time it gives me great honor to bring Ma Matthew Lucero to the podium for him to just present to you what this looks like in our district across all three grade levels. Matthew Thank you so much Dr. Roberts and good evening everyone members of the uh board of education I am delighted to be here and was so proud to see the work of

049Mr. Stewart with our students this uh this evening showcasing and starting our program along with even the artwork we have displayed around the stage just a testament to how much the arts are involved in our community. I will begin by sharing an overview of our preK12 PAVE programming and how our arts programs are intentionally designed, aligned, and experienced by students across grade levels and highlighting how students access the arts early and how opportunities expand as they grow and how we both support both exploration and advanced pathways throughout their educational journey. Our continuum of programming is aligned with the New York State Education Department arts learning standards which which encompasses dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts, ensuring coherence and rigor across our prek12 programming. These standards guide our curriculum, instruction, and assessment and support

050the intentional progression of students skills over time. As a result, across all disciplines, instruction is designed around the core artistic processes of creating, performing, presenting, and producing, and responding, and connecting. This slide illustrates what our pre-K12 arts programming looks like across grade levels and more importantly how these standards align experiences are intentionally sequenced to build upon one another as students grow translating into clear pathways expanded opportunities and multiple points of access for all students. At the elementary level, students are provided multiple entry points into both the visual and performing arts. All students participate in visual arts and general music classes. Beginning in grade four, students have the opportunity to enroll in instrumental music, which serves as an early entry point into our band and orchestra pathways. Students also engage in dance and acting, supported by

051both district staff and arts and education artists and residents, expanding access and strengthening student engagement. As students transition into middle school, many of the same offerings continue, but with intentional expansion, increased rigor, and deeper specialization. All students have access to visual art and vocal music. Students further develop performance skills through band and strings, building directly on the instrumental foundation established in elementary school. to strengthen the pathway into high school and specifically support entry into the specialized PAVE program. A dance program was added at IE. Students also participate in acting and co-curricular performance opportunities including musicals and performances supported through arts and education residencies culminating in winter and spring showcases uh and concerts. Together, these offerings are intentionally positioned to prepare students for success as they transition to high school artistically, academically, and socially, emotionally. At

052the high school level, this continuum expands even further, offering students a wide range of performing and visual arts opportunities. Students have access to an extensive selection of visual arts electives, including studio art, photography, ceramics, sculpture, graphics, and drawing and painting. In addition, students may participate in vocal and instrumental music, dance, acting, and media arts, also supported in collaboration with arts and education residencies. In addition to regions level coursework, Newell High School also offers advanced placement visual arts courses through the College Board, including AP 2D art and design, AP 3D art and design, and AP drawing, providing students with college level rigor and opportunities for advanced study. A unique feature at the high school level is our specialized PAVE program, an auditionsbased pathway that students may apply to beginning in the eighth grade and entering in

053nth grade. I will share more and more about that specialized PAVE pathway shortly. across the three levels. These programs offer these program offerings represent a coherent prek12 continuum that builds access early, expands opportunity over time, and intentionally prepares students for advanced study, artistic excellence, and future success. Now, we'll take a deeper look at the specialized paved program at Newell High School and how it functions as a pathway within our broader prek12 arts continuum. As previously mentioned, this is an auditionbased pathway for students who demonstrate strong interest, commitment, and potential in the arts. It is designed to offer students a high quality structured sequence of arts learning experiences that deepens both artistic skill development, social emotional competencies, and academic readiness. Through advanced coursework and sustained participation, students build artistic proficiency while also developing discipline, collaboration, and

054leadership skills, often taking on meaningful roles within ensembles, productions, and the broader school arts community. A defining feature of the specialized PAVE program is that the courses are scheduled during the AM period from 7:22 a.m. to 8:10 prior to the start of the regular school day. This structure allows students to fully participate in the pathway while remaining enrolled in their arts core courses, formerly referred to as their companion course, during the standard academic day. This ensures alignment with graduation requirements and minimizes scheduling conflicts. Importantly, the specialized PAVE program is not supplanting core arts instruction. It is supplementing and extending it. Lastly, students who complete five credits in this specialized PAVE program earn the distinction of receiving a diploma seal, recognizing the rigor, commitment, and achievement required to successfully complete the pathway. With that foundation in

055mind, the next key element is the audition process, which ensures that students are appropriately placed and prepared for this specialized pave pathway. One of the most significant changes has been where and when the auditions take place. In recent years, we've shifted to hosting auditions during the school day at both middle schools. This shift from afterchool auditions at the high school has removed transportation and scheduling barriers, making the audition process more accessible for students. Another key change is providing students the opportunity to audition for multiple PAVE programs, allowing them to demonstrate strengths across disciplines and pursue pathways that best match their interests and talents. Importantly, our performing ensembles are designed to ensure access and equity and do not have enrollment limits. So, students who want to participate in performing arts opportunities are able to do so.

056And for students who are not accepted into the specialized PAVE program on their first attempt, they have multiple opportunities to request a reawition, reinforcing that this is a pathway designed to support student growth and development over time. As a result, we've expanded eligibility beyond 9th grade and overall the process reflects our district's commitment to ensuring that PAVE opportunities are accessible, inclusive, and aligned with our whole child approach while maintaining the integrity of this specialized program. This side, this slide shows the acceptance rate comparison for the Nurishell High School specialized PAVE program over the last four years and helps illustrate the impact of our audition process. As you can see, acceptance rates have remained consistently strong, reflecting both student interest and our commitment to maintaining a process that is accessible, equitable, and supportive. It's important to

057note that the number of students auditioning each year has remained relatively consistent, even though that consistently consistency is not visually represented on this graph. In 2021 through 22, the acceptance rate was 62%. In 2022 to 23, it increased to 67.61%. In 2023 to 24, it rose further to 76.54%. And in 2024 to 25, it remained high at 74.30%. Overall, acceptance rates have increased by more than 10 percentage points over the last four years. And while there is a slight dip of less than 3% from the last year, the broader trend remains clear and positive. This reflects our continued efforts to strengthen the pathway by expanding access and outreach at the middle school level, providing multiple opportunities for students to audition and re audition, and ensuring students are supported and prepared to meet program expectations. Taken

058together, these data reinforce that the PAVE audition process is not only designed to be is not designed to be exclusionary, but rather to ensure appropriate placement, maintain program quality, and expand opportunities for students who are ready and interested in advanced arts study. While we encouraged by this progress, we must also acknowledge that a gap remains. Students at IEY continue to audition at slightly lower rate than their peers at ALMS, which in turn impacts the acceptance outcomes. We will share the steps we're taking to address this later in the presentation. We'll now showcase some key highlights of our preK12 PAVE programming. Reflected on this slide is a snapshot of the impact and reach of our pre-K12 performing and visual arts education program, including key accomplishments, expanded opportunities, and student recognitions across the district. Across all three

059grade levels, uh we are building a program that provides students with multiple points of access, meaningful enrichment, and pathways that grow in depth and rigor over time. The first column focuses on strengthening pathways and granting access at the elementary level. Grades four five students instrumental program continues to serve as an important pipeline into our secondary band and orchestra programs, ensuring students build foundational skills early. As previously mentioned, we provide multiple PAVE audition opportunities, giving students more than one entry point into the specialized high school pathway. At Neureshell High School, we have expanded student options through additional electives such as the guitar workshop and music technology course, increasing relevance and engagement for a broader range of learners. Students across the pre-K12 grade band benefit from multiple arts and residency experiences across music, visual arts, dance, and

060theater, enhancing instruction and bringing professional artists into our schools. The next column highlights our expanded learning opportunities which include our summer music academy serving rising fourth through sixth grade students and is free to families contingent upon funding. It provides another on-ramp for students who may have missed that initial fourth grade instrumental entry point. In addition, students participate in co-curricular visual and performing arts clubs at both middle and high school levels, strengthening engagement, belonging, and student voice. Our high school students have the opportunity to participate in immersive experiences such as the annual plane air and Iraq Japanese ceramic firing which expose them to specialized techniques and professional level artistic practices. Our third column showcases student work and community engagement. Throughout the years, students participate in major performances and showcase opportunities, including the district-wide winter and spring

061concerts and performances. Student work is also elevated through community-f facing events such as artsfest, the annual our children are artists gallery exhibit at the newell public library and the city hall art exhibit and annual district holiday card contest. These opportunities reflect strong community partnerships and ensure student work is visible, celebrate and valued beyond the classroom. And lastly, the fourth column recognizes highlights of recognition of student, excuse me, highlights recognition and student achievement. Our students continue to earn recognition through events such as the Lions Peace poster contest with multiple student winners. Students also benefit from annual scholarship lessons through the New Shell Fund for Educational Excellence, expanding access to enrichment and private instruction opportunities. At the secondary level, we continue to host our annual district music festivals. We also have strong participation in the New York

062State School Music Association or NISMA events with multiple students selected for participation in all county area all state and all state festivals. In addition, many of our middle and high school student ensembles also participate in NISTMA majors adjudication festivals with several earning gold ratings. Collectively, these highlights demonstrate that our prek12 pay programming is not only comprehensive, but also thriving, student centered, and reflective of our district-wide commitment to excellence, opportunity, and engagement in the arts. As we share the scope and structure of our pre-K12 PAVE programming, it is equally important to lift the voices of our students who experience it every day. While data, program design, and recognitions matter, one of the most powerful measures of impact is what our students say the arts mean to them and how these experiences shape their identity, belonging, and

063confidence. This slide and and the next intentionally portray student voice because the arts are not only about performance and products, but they are also about growth, connection, and meaning students build through participation. At this time, we would like to share a brief video excerpt from our recent secondary strings and band festival, which happened last week, highlighting student testimonials about their experience. Additionally, the following student quotes offer a powerful glimpse into how the arts shape identity, expression, and belonging across our schools. I think art is important for students because people need to express their creativity. And that's a quote from an elementary student. Our next from a middle school student is one way art has helped me is by giving me a way to express emotions that are hard to put into words. Whether through painting,

064music, or writing, it creates a space where I can explore my thoughts and feelings freely. It also has been a source of my comfort during difficult times, offering beauty, meaning, and a sense of connection when I've needed it most. And from a high school student, providing arts programs in schools is extremely important as they allow students to illustrate their thoughts freely and without judgment. The options for creative expression are unlimited and help to foster a welcoming and engaging environment between the students, peers, and educators. Together, the video, these student quotes, and the many student testimonies collected across three grade levels, not shared this evening in respect of your time, remind us that the arts are not simply a program offering. They are an experience that shapes student development, strengthens school culture, and supports the whole

065child. A critical strength of our prek12 PAVE programming is that it's not limited to just the classroom. It is strengthened through intentional partnerships and community engagement that expand access deep deepen student learning and elevate student work. As such, we do not do this work alone. The strength of our programming is made possible through the collaborative efforts of our partners across the community. These partnerships allow us to provide students with authentic arts experiences, exposure to professional artists and institutions, enrichment opportunities beyond the school day, and meaningful platforms to showcase their talents in the broader community. We are grateful for the partnerships that support student learning and opportunity, including the new shell fund for educational excellence, which helps expand access through scholarships and enrichment. organizations such as the Largemont Music Academy and the Music Conservatory of Westchester,

066which supports student musicianship and arts development, the Newell Council on the Arts, and the Newell Public Library, which provide platforms for student exhibitions and student community-based showcases. Our artist and res residency programs, which as previously mentioned, bring visiting artists into our schools to enhance instruction across disciplines. partnerships with art galleries such as the Marin Artist Guild, the Katona Museum of Art, and Garner Arts Center, the Greater Westchester Youth Orchestra Association, which provided elementary students with live guest performances, offering early exposure to orchestral music, and helping spark interest in instrumental study. Our college partnerships including institutions such as the Savannah College of Art and Design, Maryland Institute College of Art, Ringling College of Art and Design, the School of Visual Arts, Sunni Purchase, the University of Hartford, Cooper Union, and Parsons, which all come together annually

067through our portfolio review day at Nurisha High School, providing students with direct feedback from higher education professionals and reflecting the high level of postsecary preparation in our arts programs. The Westchester County Arts Leadership Association allows us to host the annual professional development day for visual arts educators across Westchester County, supporting collaboration and professional growth that directly strengthens teaching and learning in our classrooms. In collaboration, these partnerships help ensure that our arts programming remains relevant, connected, and future focused while reinforcing student identity, belonging, and agency through authentic engagement with the arts community. Knowing that excellence has no ceiling, we recognize that our work is not done. As such, we will continue to strengthen and enhance our programming. So in moving forward, our work will focus on these four key areas of expanding, building, assessing, and increasing.

068First, we will expand the vertical alignment of our performing arts programs across grade prek 5, grades 6 through 8, and grades 9 through 12. We will do this through the development of our preK12 arts curriculum maps, ensuring greater coherence, consistency, and a clear progression of skills over time. Second, we will build early awareness of the new shell high school's specialized PAVE program. This includes strengthening communication with students and families in our elementary grades so students and families can understand the opportunities available and prepare intentionally for the pathway. Third, we will assess eighth grade students interest in auditioning for the specialized PAVE program. This will help us better understand demand, improve and prioritize targeted outreach and preparation, and ensure that access to the program is equitable and responsive to student interest. And finally, we will increase

069districtwide partnerships to further expand student opportunities. This includes continuing to strengthen collaborations and community arts organizations, visiting artists, and regional and higher education partners to enhance both instruction and student experiences collectively. These next steps reflect our commitment to continuous improvement and to ensuring that PAVE remains a strong, coherent, and equitable program that supports students across the full prek12 continuum. So that concludes our presentation and so we thank you all for your attention and at this time we welcome any comments and questions. I'd like to thank Dr. Roberts and Mr. Lero for this fantastic presentation. Um I would also like to go on record to state that uh this presentation was already scheduled to take place and it is not um in response to our last presentation and some questions that were brought up but we

070thank you in advance for those questions which helped to uh develop some of the information we provided. Um it is important to understand that often times instruction alone is not enough to bring students to school and what it is that students value and you know we we often focus on the STEM um but we also have to include that A in STEM to make it steam right and I'll even say there's a a silent A as well. So STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math. Um, is what we teach on a daily basis, what we instruct our students in. But what students enjoy more is the instruction they receive in the arts and in athletics. So those are the two A's that I often try to add to STEM to exemplify exactly what it is that

071takes place in the school setting, but more importantly, what often brings students to school. So tonight's conversation um is about the program prek12. Again reminding our families at home, reminding individuals that PAVE does not only exist in New Rishel High School. The PAVE program at New Rishel High School is as the high school is um the the culminating portion of the opportunity to express individuality, express learning, express the mastery of particular artistic endeavors as it um as it has been developed throughout uh their teaching and learning in our elementary schools and our middle schools. So with that, I turn it over to President Ayuzi. Thank you very much. Do any of my colleagues have any comments or questions? Miss Ross. >> Um, so thank you uh very much for this presentation. Pave is uh near

072and dear to my heart just because of the the arts. But um and I appreciate that you did answer a lot of the questions that we had asked from from the couple weeks ago presentation. Uh, one question that I have just as a followup is that when I think about things like music or uh, dance that even some of those uh, could require learning how to read music and additional instruction that if you kind of want to get to a certain level in high school that requires uh, investment, right? And so how do we ensure that uh our students who may not necessarily have access uh to those things outside of school, how do we uh provide that in the schools, but then also uh allow them to have perhaps those supplemental opportunities as well

073as a school district. Do we have those things available to our uh students and families? >> So that thank you for that question. We did note in the presentation in one of our middle schools at Isaac, we did add a specialized dance uh individual dance program for that school to help us a pave pathway. We also had that other entry point for the summer music academy for students who missed out on grades four through six for instrumental music. But I I will tell you this that whenever we have a student who's interested in joining one of our programs, we really make sure to communicate with that family, connect with them uh connect them to the teacher to see if there are ways to help make that uh to onboard them onto the program. And we

074have had multiple successes with this with students meeting with the teachers to help catch them up and make sure that they're able to be successful within it. Just like our pave audition process, the goal isn't to be exclusionary, but really to set up students for that success in the program. And we really want to make sure that we are doing exactly that and we'll continue to grow that into the future. >> Any other comments? Questions? Uh I just have two quick questions and one comment. Um, this one's a weird question, but is there any workforce development component in some of our PAVE programs at the high school in the sense of a student may want to become a composer and learning the background and and how to become that or um technicians in some of

075the different um musics that we have. >> I'm glad you asked that because there are so many opportunities for that. And we've mentioned repeatedly through the presentation, we have a lot of arts and residency partnerships with folks that we're able to bring in, which is actually so helpful because they're the ones who also help network the students with other folks to help give provide training to uh show different ways in which to whether it's using things in our tech booths and the theaters or even we we recently had in the past years a composer come to work with the students and they're learning how to create their own music and even without those residencies embedded within the instruction of our classrooms are those experiences to give students the chance to explore that and also work

076within our schools whether they're the students running the tech within our shows or even composing music that they do in fact perform in our school districts. So we we're able to do it in-house and also expanding our network beyond through those residency programs. >> That's awesome. At my job, we have this program, this digital print program. And it's really cool because they're learning like Photoshop to create magazine ads. And part of the program, um, we go to this place called Kanuka Manulta. It's one of the largest printers in the East Coast. And they learn the tech side of it. And coming out of high school, you can get a six-f figureure job with no college diploma. And like that's part of the program. So, I thought it was really interesting learning the different um potential

077workforce development pathways with these programs. Um, are there any new PAVE offerings that our students are craving for? >> I'm sure our student rep might have some ideas, but in terms of craving for there's always the opportunity. We'd always have loved to open the opportunities to build more on this, but it's always a challenge based on u making sure we have supportive funding and such to make these programs happen. Uh I have to say I'm extremely proud of what we're able to offer in that uh in our department currently because it's it's a mass of programs but with the with staff making so much happen within their classes and often like coseating a class or making something really just an an experience beyond even what their regular curriculum has to give those opportunities to our

078students. But we'd always love to expand if we can. And just the last comment I had was um about a community partner if we're not partnering with someone like Songcatchers. It's amazing organization near Relle that offers lowcost um uh instruction for our for students in in elementary and middle school. So just throwing that out there if we're not already partner with them. But um thank you guys very much. Any other comments or questions? >> Yeah, >> thank you very much. Um, I have a question and I also just don't know the the numbers from last year, but I don't know if your department overall experienced any um, cuts in staffing and like how did you adapt to that if that did happen? We did we did experience a reduction and it was a it is

079still a challenge in our district but we're doing our best to elevate what we have within our department uh and moves if it required any changes in staffing that was done with on consideration of the entire department because a change at one building has a domino effect within the rest which we've all experienced and understand. So we yes we did but we are still pushing forward to make sure we can deliver the instruction that we featured here in tonight's presentation. >> One more follow on um and thank you know to the extent if we can onboard more staff in the future just overall I'm just curious what the pipeline is for educators in the arts and how you tap into that. Well, it's uh it's it is a challenge not just in the arts, I'd

080say just overall we're constantly trying to recruit in all departments, but because of our partnerships with a lot of uh colleges and universities, even during we have openings within the department, we've been able to reach out and recruit folks who are coming right out of uh right out of college to be able to join our team, which has been amazing. So, as long as we maintain those partnerships both through just the ones we've had over time and even a lot of our new staff members have that network, that's the way we've been able to make sure we can recruit when we can. >> And if I may, this presentation tonight was a collaborative effort and I would just like to take the liberty of shouting out two individuals, um, Travis and Christian. We gave them

081the video from the festival in a day and said we need to have this clip and within 10 15 minutes Travis returned with the video. So Travis thank you so much and Christian for your collaboration. Thank you also very much. That concludes our presentation. >> Thank you again Dr. Roberts and Mr. Lero and to the technical team that offered assistance. Nice shout out. Um we are getting ready to transition to our final presentation for the evening. So I'm going to invite our assistant superintendent for business and operation business and administration Mr. Carlos Leal along with our business administrator, Miss Joy Mike up to the podium. I am so grateful for the questions that um were asked um by the board members as it relates to staffing and it relates to as as it relates to

082uh budget and financial implications to our programming. Tonight we are about to um participate in budget work session number three. uh keeping in mind that we have been um introduced to the governor's budget and I have to publicly state um a great appreciation to governor Hokll for um maintaining safe harmless for all school districts in in New York State and in particular um also increasing uh safe harmless across the state by one by one No, what's the number by one? Not 1% but increasing it. >> Yes, >> thank you. By 1%. I have so many numbers in my head right now. Please forgive me. Um, with that being said, while while safe harmless has in um was uh preserved and the 1% increase across the state uh was um provided, please know that that looks

083very different in each district. So, some districts may have gotten a little bit more, some districts a little bit less, some districts flat, and some districts may have seen a bit of a reduction. Tonight, we're going to start the uh continue the conversation as relates to where we are in this moment in time based on our budget allocations that were adopted in the 25 24 school year for the 2526 school year. This starts our reflection on our story about what happened last year and it prepares us for a conversation of what uh we are currently with what we're currently going to be faced. Please keep in mind I did inform the public repeatedly that the the budget situation that we were in last year I predicted was going to last for multiple years. My prediction

084was also stated to be at least as many years as we did not go maximum allowable in the past that was four years. So I am repeating that information because as you will see very shortly we are close to if not in the same position financially based on this budget as we were last year. So with that I'll turn it over to Carlos and to Joy. >> Thank you Dr. Reynolds. Um, as Dr. Reynolds indicated, we're starting the conversation more formally this evening. Um, the last two presentations. We are we're still waiting for variables to come in to begin to start putting numbers to the page. And so, tonight will be the first night that the community will begin to see um those numbers. That being said, um I will just repeat um a few

085of the things that have been driving the conversations and the work. The first being that this entire budget process is guided with some principles that I will repeat this evening. Again, everything aligned to our strategic roadmap um and keeping in mind the areas of focus for us as a district, the budget variables and then a continuous invitation to all stakeholders to provide input um and then a reminder of when the budget vote itself will take place. So our guiding principles of course are our vision, mission, equity statement and our commitment to the whole child and the strategic road map itself aligned to student learning, superb staff, safe, supportive, connected schools and resource management. In terms of our areas of focus in all conversations, it is about student outcomes, evidence-based and data supported decision making, leveraging

086attrition and retirements where possible, decreasing external contracts and trying to keep everything inhouse and staying within the state mandated tax cap. As for budget variables, we brought these forward um a few times, but there are some internal considerations that we have to think about. Uh the first few um are we are currently about to begin collective bargaining with both Fuse and ANS and so the outcome of those um are still pending um as well as our non-represented employee agreement and our management and confidential agreements. Then for staffing practices again we control that but um the variables internally are how do we manage support work with our current process for sixth period assignments our building substitute model cast uh case loads or class size guidelines which are on the right hand side. These are the class

087size guidelines that we shared with the community last year and we'll continue to use um into this cycle of our budget process and then the best practice for operational ratios across the system and then if necessary some staffing realignment in terms of external factors and contractual obligations. Other things we need to take into account and these were the variables we were really waiting for are the the uh our our our cost associated with teacher retirement or the TRS. Um and this one was a a blessing. We were excited to see a negative number here. Um it's actually decreased uh negative 1.35%. Um, our local retirement system or ERS, which is our non-pedagical staff, that's an increase of 1.1%. Health insurance premium rates have gone up 11%. Medicare reimbursement and retirey benefits, staff retirements, uh, consumer

088price index, uh, projected range is around 2.8 to 3.5%. I and I for the last three years I keep talking about the price of eggs but just in general right everything goes up in price and so operationally things go up um transportation rates contracts Boseie services um anticipated impact of two charter schools we currently have one that was approved um did not open last year but they are discussing opening again this school year um and then there's a second charter school that is in the application process. Um, so we might have to contend with two charter schools in our city limits, state and federal aid revenue, which Joy will speak to a little bit more since the focus of tonight's really going to be on the revenue so that we all understand where we are.

089And then the projected reduction of federal formula grants. Um, I think some people are following this, but title one, title two, title three, and title four currently are projected to be decreased by 27%. Which means we will be receiving less grant dollars in those categories. IDA section 11619, which supports special ed students, is uh we're anticipating a decrease of negative 15%. So again, less money from those grants. um into our pots and then the Westchester County sales tax. Well, we all know that that continues to increase. Um and then the appropriated fund balance, which again Joy will, um speak to just a bit. Um, and at the end of our process last year, uh, we wanted to bring this slide back up because when we started the conversation around staffing, the position, um, if you

090can, it's kind of far away. I apologize but um the category under the position category for building instructional staff that included teachers, teacher assistants, counselors and clinicians in 2425 there were 1,168 positions and initially um we had spoken about a revised reduction of 109 teachers and so it was ended up being a 9.3% uh reduction. In the next category, building administrators, principles, assistant principles, house principles, deans, and department chairs. Uh we had 39 positions, a reduction of two, which was 5.1%. Uh reduction building operations and support. Clerical support custodians, food service, staff, lunch monitors, registered nurses, teachers, aids, and security, 491 positions, uh with a revised reduction of 48. And so it was 9.8% reduction. district administrators, assistant superintendents, executive directors, directors, assistant director, supervisors, coordinators, um, and consultants. That was 42 positions and that

091was revised and that was a reduction of 9 or 21.4%. And then district operational, um, operations and support that includes clerical support, finance and HR support, laborers, technology support, and trade workers. that was 152 positions with a revised reduction of 25 um positions which was a percent reduction of 16.4%. So in total we started withund uh 10800 1,892 positions uh with a reduction of 193 positions. Again, if you recall last year's conversations, it's kind of difficult because we always assume that there's an individual behind every single position, but some of these were vacancies and so we're talking about positions, not necessarily individuals, but nonetheless, we understand that it has an impact and a ripple. Um, so in total, it was a reduction of workforce of 10.2%. And so we wanted to bring that back just

092so that we all have context in terms of the variables that we have to consider. internal, external, and then where we kind of landed at the end of our cycle last year. That being said, I'll pass it over to um Joy, who will begin to give a little bit more um input in or information regarding our current budget snapshot. >> Thank you. Good evening, everyone. So going to jump right into the current year adopted budget. This is the the current fiscal year that we are in the moment. Uh the budget on both the revenue and expense side is 359 million. Thank you. $468,597. That was the adopted budget for uh this fiscal year. Um what that related to in terms of our tax levy history, uh Dr. Reynolds uh spoke briefly about um our maximum

093allowable tax levy and this is a picture of that from the year 2020 uh through this fiscal year 2025 2026. So in those years um starting with the first year 38% I'm going to try this anyone can see that it is small but hopefully you have a print out from the back um 38% um in 2020 where the actual uh tax levy was 0% so there was no increase in that first year 2.73% was the maximum in 21-22 and the rate adopted was 2.29% 29%. I can't really see that. Um, so under the maximum allowable tax levy, uh, per the formula, which I'll go over in a moment, uh, 2223 2.55%, um, we levied 0.98% in that fiscal year. Then 2324, it was 2 I don't know if anyone can see that, 2.19% and again,

094we kept the levy the same. My apologies. We kept the levy the same at 0.98% increase. This is not working. Um, and then for 2425, our maximum allowable was 3.95% and that was the first year in several that the district adopted the maximum allowable tax levy. And then this past school year, our maximum level maximum allowable tax levy was.33%. and um the board adopted and voters approved a 3.95% tax rate increase for this fiscal year. The next slide is our state aid summary. On the far left side, you will see um different categories of state aid. Beginning with our foundation aid, that's typically the aid that gets the most attention. It is a measurement of enrollment statewide um different growth measurements and um demographics of students that go into this formula. Um then you have

095several expense-based aid beginning with building aid, transportation aid, Bosey's aid, public access cost, and private access costs related to uh students that have additional services. And the cost of those services, there's a portion of aid that's attributed to th to that. So beginning with building aid and ending with private excess cost aid, that is what we refer to as expense-based aid because your revenue is based on expense. And then we have software aid, hardware aid, textbook aid, and uh library materials aid that are referred to as instructional materials aids. And then uh charter school transitional aid, which we do not receive. high tax aid um which is a measurement of um regional taxes I would say. Um so those are the different categories that you will see in the governor's proposal that was released I

096I believe last week. So in terms of um this green column in the middle, those are the numbers um that came into this year's budget. um just over $97 million of aid based on foundation aid or formula aids as well as expensebased aids. Um the proposal that was released last week is the governor's proposal. There are several hearings that will happen. There will be a legislator's proposal. It's a bit of a process, but that is the proposal that we start with when we do budget development. So, um, in terms of the governor's proposal, um, we did slightly better than hold harmless of 1%. We got an increase of 1.57% of foundation aid, um, which is just over a million dollars. Um, you will see a decrease in some of our expense-based aids. Again, there's a

097formula behind that, but it's also based on what you are spending. And so, um, those aids go down based on our expenses also going down overall. $25.5 million of expense-based aid in the governor's proposal onto instructional materials aid towards the bottom. Uh, forgive me, this pointer is not doing much for us tonight. Um, so those aids are going up um about 1.66% or $17,000. Um, high tax aid is there's no change. So from the current year state aid picture that we are in for 2526 and the proposal that was released um within the governor's budget as it stands today at $95.7 million in overall state aid. We are looking at a decrease an overall decrease. You see there are some increases within it but an overall decrease of 2.14% or 2,91,15 per the current proposal.

098Okay, we're going to talk about the tax cap. Um on the right is a picture from the controllers's office that um gives us our guidance on how to make this calculation work. Um so on the left hand side you see different portions of the um calculation from current year tax levy, prior year tax levy, our pilots which are payments and lua taxes which is another revenue stream for the district and the um city as well. Um we have the years 2025 2026 and the proposed 2627. um without going through every single number because it will take us a long time. Um we start with the prior year tax levy of just over $240 million. We um factor in the taxbased growth factor that is um provided to us by um the office of real property.

099uh we add in our current year pilots uh and then we um look at our exclusions which is a measure of um debt service related to capital projects and capital expenditures. Um the allowable levy growth factor the only thing that you will ever see that is 2% is that one number. Um and um even if CPI is well over 3% it the allowable levy growth factor can never be more than 2%. That's the pretty much only part of the 2% tax cap that exists. Um the budget year pilots are the pilots that we are anticipating to receive from the city of New Shell for the 2627 school year um at $6.6 million. It's just over 10% increase per the schedule. Um we also have uh a number that we get to before exclusions which is

100just over $234 million. Then we start to calculate our exclusions toward our basically any um litigation that may be over a certain percentage that we do not have as a factor. We look at our capital tax levy again related to capital expenditures and debt service as approved by the voters. Um so that number is 10.8 uh million. And then we look at pension contributions. If um Mr. Leel spoke about our contribution for retirement system. TRS for our instructional staff, ERS for our uh in non-instructional staff. If either of those systems goes up more than 2%, we can add that as an exclusion. That is not the case for this year. So, you won't see any numbers listed there. I I'm sorry, uh listed there. And then um so our total exclusion of 10.8 8 million

101gives us a maximum allowable tax levy per the calculation on the right of um $245,187,342 which is a 1.85% maximum allowable tax levy which is just over $4.4 million. Keep going. Okay. Um this next slide is our general fund revenues because once we um have our state aid figures and we calculate our tax cap, we have a really good idea of what revenue we can expect to receive. So the revenue items listed on the left include our real property taxes, our pilot revenue payment in lie of taxes, our non-propy tax items, um and charge for services like tuitions, health services, um miscellaneous revenue, state aid, other state aid, um federal aid, inter fund transfers from reserves, interf fund from the library, and appropriated fund balance, which is um basically the district's application of our savings

102to minimize the impact to taxpayers. So beginning on the uh light green column you have for this school year overall the increase um in this middle column I don't know why I'm trying to use this is 11.9 million in revenue um which is a percent change of 3.45%. So when we were um presenting this budget, the 2526 budget, it was a 3.45% budgetto budget increase um for the draft budget on the revenue side only because the expenditure side is still um in progress. We have the real property taxes um of the tax cap or the maximum allowable of 1.85%. Which is uh just over $4.4 million. We have the pilots per schedule provided to us by the city of New Rashelle. We have nonpropy tax items. We have charge for services. Um so overall you

103will see uh an increase to the tax levy, an increase to our pilots, an increase to charge for services, um an increase of overall state aid, um but a decrease in other state aid um categories. And then uh the interfund transfers um from reserves again to help mitigate the impact to taxpayers is staying flat. The inter fund from library is really just um library debt service that gets paid directly to them. And we are uh planning to continue to apply the same amount of district savings to minimize the impact to taxpayers of 1.75%. current revenue picture um of $9.6 million increase on the far right two columns or a 2.69% overall increase in revenue. So our grant funds we u presented this a couple of times um in previous presentations but we just brought it

104back. Um, this conversation was really about um what we anticipate to receive the reductions in the formula based aids uh I'm sorry formula based um grants for title 1 2 3 and four and then also a decrease in our idea section 611 and 619. We are anticipating a point uh 27% decrease in the title funds and a 0.15% decrease in the idea funds. Um based on the governor's proposal that includes UPK in addition to state aid, we do anticipate additional uh funds per pupil for UPK. So you'll see a shift there. Um I I won't go through each number, but you have a picture of the 2324 budget, the 2425, our current year budget, and what we're projecting for for next year. So in this year, our budget is $8.4 million overall for these grant

105categories. And for 2627, we are projecting $8.1 million. So it's just under or just over a $300,000 decrease. Right? Did I get that right? I do. >> Okay. Uh this is a picture of our reserve funds. Um so these are um regulated by the state and how the funds can be utilized. So um listed here we have the capital fund that was fully expended and then the capital fund that the voters approved in May of 2024 that has not yet been funded. Uh we have a workers compensation reserve fund, an unemployment reserve fund, debt service that is used to pay for capital debt. Um also to minimize the impact to the taxpayers. Uh we use have the insurance reserve fund, property loss and liability reserve funds, the tax certiary reserve fund that is used primarily

106to pay for um challenges to assessments that have been approved both by the court and also by the board of education. We have a retirement contribution reserve fund for our ERS and TRS employees um that we do utilize if and when the uh rate goes above 2%. That's that's a time that we will engage that reserve. We have the employee benefit acred liability reserve that is used primarily for our employees when they retire to pay out unused sick and vacation time per contract. And then we have a future appropriations reserve that was sunset at the end of last fiscal year per auditor recommendation and reallocated into other reserves. And then we have a reserve for incumbrances that you will primarily see at the close of a fiscal year when we have open POS that need

107to continue to be paid out um that sort of get put into a reserve for that purpose. And so you'll see the balances from 22 23 beginning at 52.2 2 million 232 24 50.9 million 2425 35.3 million but you will note the use of our capital reserve per voter um approval and then 2526 um the current year that we are in projected at 31.5 that will adjust we do have expenses out of those reserves u when we have board approval to do so okay and so this summary missing the far right column. So I'm going to go back to slide I'm sorry I don't know the general fund revenue slide you said 19. Yes. So overall we are looking at a 2.69% increase in revenue going into next year assuming um that we uh levy

108the maximum allowable within the law. um which gives us $9.6 million increase from this year into next year. So that is the summary just back and I am going to turn this back over to Mr. Le. Thank you Joy. That was a lot of information all at one time. And so this is usually the part where people begin to send those questions in um the email that we've sent out to folks. And so we encourage you for clarity to please ask the questions to fully understand um what was presented. Um we shared with administrators earlier today um our scenario um as well as that there'll be different community conversations because the governor will say all districts receive more money because the foundation uh because uh let me go back the foundation aid line. She kind

109of speaks to just the foundation aid and so that particular line item did go up, but overall our revenue is not increasing. What she'll be telling the community is yes, it did. Well, that's one piece of the pie and I think it's important to clarify that for everyone because we'll be hearing conflicting things. Um, so please ask the questions for clarity. Again, thank you to Joy for uh sharing all that information. Uh we will continue our conversations. We have uh our fourth uh conversation on February 26 followed by a work session on March 12th, March 26. The um adopted budget has to take place on the 26th of March by law. Uh the budget hearing would be May 5th and then again the vote for uh the budget itself would be on May 19th. This

110is the uh the development calendar. So there's a lot of work to be done um both internally and because you'll in it's indicated here when we're meeting with our school principles um and our directors. We again it's a a call for feedback questions and we ask our stakeholders to please engage with us um via this meeting. we can watch this meeting after the fact um come to the budget hearing, review our presentations and of course please ask those questions. The the um the way in which you can engage of course is to email the board at the BOENR.org. We also uh set up an email address budget questions at nredlearn.org And then again, as I indicated, um the archives online um as well as um coming to these board meetings themselves. That being said, we

111are open for questions and discussion. Um and Dr. Reynolds, I'll pass it to you. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Leal, Miss Mike. Um so this evening, we heard a lot of hills and valleys, right? We heard increases, decreases, and we may not have a clear picture of what that actually u means for this district financially. So here's what we know in the moment. We do know that our maximum allowable tax levy that we can ask of the public, the new Michelle public is 1.85%. So that number is set in stone. We also know that um while we are seeing an increase to our overall state funding, we are actually seeing a decrease in the number in the money that we can utilize from the state for our general fund purposes. So a part of

112that increase is in the allocation for UPK. UPK was a pretty significant increase. We do not have the staff or the space to increase UPK at the rate at which we've gotten an increase. So, while that is represented in the governor's proposed budget, it's unusable money. What we have also discovered is that grant funding is decreasing by 15% for special education, 27% for other uses for our students with challenges. So, our grant funding is going down and those are federal grants, by the way, not state grants. Federal grants, remember, federal grants get provided to the state, the state allocates it to each of the school districts. So we're looking at an overall decrease in the monies that are coming in for everyday usage. So that's what we know now. We don't know what that delta

113is because we are still waiting for certain variables. Please keep in mind that I shared last year that with the foundation aid, the governor had the opportunity to revamp foundation aid fully so that school districts would be fully funded. What the governor um chose to do was to change two variables. One related to um the property wealth index and to the income wealth index. As a result of those two variables being changed, New Relle looks wealthier at a faster rate than the rest of the state. Because of that, when you think about the practicality of budgeting, if the taxpayer looks wealthier according to the state, then the state does not have to give as much money to support the budget. That is the basic tenant to how funding uh funding sources for school public school

114districts are offered. It either comes from the taxpayer or it comes from the state. and one is inverse to the other. So with that, that is where we currently stand. I would like to thank my colleagues for uh this expression of information as we have it in time. These conversations will continue. Um we are requesting the addition of of more meetings so that we can have more in-depth um conversations as the information is presented. So, please um be prepared for that should that be announced by the district. And with that, I turn it over to President Aendoi. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Reynolds, Mr. Leo, Miss Mike. Do any of my colleagues have any comments or questions? Miss Ross. >> Um I Well, well, thanks. Thank you again for um pulling these numbers together

115and giving us uh such visibility early in the budgeting process and even starting it sort of in in 2025. Can't believe we're already in 2026. Um I do have a few questions and um one you mentioned if we just go to I think it's slide 12 state aid summary and building aid and transportation aid that do those went down. Can you remind me why is that that that went down? I think this is from Yeah. Uh is that 17? No. Slide 17. Yes. Are you 17? >> Yes, that one. Uh, and say building aid and transportation aid, those both went down by over a million and a half. >> Yes. Those are all based on expenses. So, the the the variable here is that for the governor's proposal and even for the legislator's proposal, it's

116based on a snapshot of a period of time. So projections are made. Um in this case we have a state report the ST3 that gets filed. Um so based on those expenses that get filed and our aid ratio. Our aid ratio is informed by our foundation aid percentage if that makes any sense. Um, we have an aid ratio that's applied to expenses, allowable expenses, and then you get state aid based on what you spend of those allowable expenses. So, in the governor's proposal, based on the what we have filed are actual expenses, um, those expense-based aids have decreased based on our expenses. But >> why why would they decrease? >> Because our expenses decrease. So we we tier transportation. >> Oh, so because we made budget uh we made improvements in our budget, we now

117get reduced aid because of that. >> If you spend less, you will receive less of expense-based aids. >> So if you do have a budget that you are trying to be fiscally responsible in and you present that and enact that and you spend less, then you're entitled to less money the next year. >> Oh, good. Okay. which is also equivalent to not going the full tax levy in that year. Remember I said that money compounds. Well, it also compounds in the opposite. I I also just want to say that every year your aid ratios change. They go up and down. So even if your expenses are exactly the same, you may not receive the same expense-based aid. It's all based on your aid ratio for that category. Okay. And then uh if we move to

118slide 20. >> 20. >> So yeah, that's it. Um and I think I ask this question every year and I always try to think about are there any other sources of revenue for us to consider? And I know we always say, well, grant funds aren't uh they're not guaranteed year-over-year. However, they still can help sort of fill the gap until hopefully, you know, our federal government, whomever changes um over time. Is are there and I know that a lot of the private uh uh sources have also lost funding as well. So, that's also reduced our ability to go out and get any additional grant funding. But are are there any other places for us to look and consider? >> So these are entitlement grants by definition. This is what the federal government has earmarked for

119public education and that is what we're entitled to. Those are the only grants um that we're really addressing here. It's not like us applying for a grant and getting it. >> Right. And I guess that's what I'm asking is is I'm confusing two things, but looking at this and that that's gone down is are there any other private grants, any other places that we can go to to look for additional funding. >> So anytime there is a grant, we do have a a grant um uh uh repository. Um we are always scanning and and scouring for grants. We do apply. We do have some grants um that are in the approval process now, but again those grant those grants can only be utilized for what it's specified for. Remember when it comes to instruction, those

120types of grants can only supplement. They cannot supplant. this is what we must utilize in order to provide those services or it must come from your general um funding in order for us to utilize it towards instruction. >> Can you say that again? It can't uh >> it can only supplement which means in addition to it can't supplant it can't take the place of >> of any addition. Right. Okay. Um and then uh looking at I think it's paige I'm sorry I'm getting blind. the one that says summary. I think it's a couple of slides after each one is um so there it roughly looks like just based on all of the estimates you've done for revenue looking at our uh proposed kind of if if we did the the tax increase at the 1.85

12185 uh that we'd have roughly an in I'm sorry no I'm missing this is expenditures I'm I'm actually a little confused on that it it says total expenditures or is this meant to be revenue on this on this slide >> that should be revenue that's why I went back to uh >> it should be revenue >> okay so then that's roughly about 9 and a half million sort of uh between last year and this year in terms of overall revenue increase. >> Yes. >> But then we also have a ton of other increases on the expenses side which I guess will be uh shown in a in a next presentation >> in the next few. Yes. >> Okay. Um >> again as the information is released to us. >> Got it. And then I guess

122one other question and this was in the prior slide on reserve funds is the tax certries. Uh and just looking at our overall kind of reserve funds is I thought we did a better job last year of of putting monies back into the reserve and I see that it came down between 2025 and now 2026. Uh so we we did if you keep in mind last year is when we closed the 2425 fiscal year that's when the funds go into the reserve and then we begin a new year right so if you look at 2425 specifically in the unemployment in the property loss in the liability uh reserves you will see um those changes and in the employee benefit acrewed liability you will see those changes. >> Okay. But I guess these taxories like is

123there a reason why those have gone down year over year? >> Every time the board approves a um settlement we pay for that settlement out of the reserve. >> Okay. I I understand that. But why does that impact the tax certatory line specifically? because that money is only utilized to pay for anybody who challenges their tax. Explaining that correctly assessment >> that is that is correct. Well, it's it's for settlements, not just um small SCAR um assessments. It's it's really for those larger settlements that will be paid out of the reserve. But there have been planned use of reserves again which will minimize the impact to the taxpayers. And so I would bring your attention to the debt service reserve going down. That was to bring reserves into the 2526 budget to minimize impact to

124taxpayers. Um so so that's part of the regular plan as well. We also use the employee benefit acrewed liability reserve to pay for contractual expenses for employees when they um retired. >> Okay. All right. Thanks. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Sure. Any other comments, questions? >> Just building off the question um that Trusty Ross had on page 17 and I understand the principle that you explained. Um but is there any like I I know that the numbers come out and um sorry it's slide 17 but page nine. And so it's a state aid summary >> where we're talking about basically because we we're more fiscally responsible we get less which is an unfortunate principle that I understand plays across the board. But because of that is there any sort of common sense advocacy that

125comes from the state in the end where our legislators look at it and say no because new role took a common sense approach to act fiscally responsible we should put more money back into it. Does that get to happen at all? >> Yes. Thank you very much for that softball pitch. Um I will always state and I stated uh in our last budget cycle, I am indebted to our locally elected um legislators who advocate fiercely on behalf of the city school district of Dural. So that conversation is still happening. That's where the legislators get to push back against the governor's proposed budget. In addition, when in the unique instance where the the legislators recognize that not enough may have been done um depending on our situation as they did last year, they sometimes give a

126gift. And I'm going to say there's no other way to express what bullet aid is. It's really a gift. It's reallocation of extra funds that um the legislators have in their control and they did return to the school district $1 million last year so that we can utilize that to bring individuals back who were excessed. So there are occasions I don't want anyone to think that you know we can live in the reality of being guaranteed that from year to year but there are occasions when legislators are able to take an additional step. And but I just want to point out too though, we have to vote by March 26. The state budget is not due to April 1st and sometimes it's late. So sometimes it doesn't even matter at the time. We still have

127to adopt the budget potentially without any additional aid. >> Yeah. >> Um I also just have one more question because Dr. Reynolds, you mentioned that point about the UPK funding and um of course it's always our desire to build more, but it takes time. Are there I know that as a city we partner with private institutions. If private institutions step up for next year, are they still able to get into the program to utilize that aid? >> Yes. >> Are you looking for partners? >> Absolutely. And uh please know though, here's where again this um gift that was um given to the state in terms of increased UPK also becomes problematic. We do have quite a number of community-based organizations, CBOS's, where we offer um UPK to to our families. Um by allocating to school

128districts additional UPK funding, there is now um an increased um exercise in stealing CBOS from other school districts by offering more incentive to those CBOS. So it has created a little bit of um discord. Um but yes, we we are in a good position with the amount of CBOS's that we have. But again, I would like to see more um UPK seats in house in New Relle in the city school district of Newell. Number one, I would love to see full day prek in house in the school district of New Relle. Any other comments or questions? U my only question uh really quick is the 1.85% maximum allowable. Is there any variables that will change that? Is that set in stone for the rest of the budget season? >> The maximum allowable tax levy is

129pretty much set once that um very long calculation is done. Um that is uh the number that we can uh put forth for the voters to approve with a simple majority vote. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Thank you guys very much. We appreciate it. >> Thank you very much. We'll be before you at our next meeting again. So at this time I'm going to ask our board members to retransition back to FedEas. >> You know what Let me try to Just to finish off our discussion items, there are three policies up for a second reading that we will be adopting in our agenda tonight. We did the first reading at our last meeting. Um, policy 011, title 9 and sex discrimination, policy 1500, public use of school facilities, and policy 9550 expression of breast milk

130in the workplace. Colleagues, there any last minute questions or comments about those three policies? Seeing none, we'll move on to our public comment period. Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to convene into the public comment period of the meeting. The board of education adopted policy 12:30 in April 2022 to ensure all members of the public had the opportunity to speak at both of our board meetings each month. We believe it's crucial for us to hear from our community members about their concerns and issues. Having said that, please note that the board is here to listen. The public comment period is not designed to be a discussion. Accordingly, we understand the board will not respond to your concerns and questions tonight. We take your concerns and questions seriously and want to have sufficient time to process

131and research issues if need be. We will, however, respond to your questions and comments at a future meeting or have the proper staff and bring it back to you at the appropriate time. I also want to point out that under state and federal privacy laws, we are unable to enter any comments or questions about school personnel and students. Please know however that we take personnel concerns very seriously. On these matters, we would ask you to go through the appropriate administrative channels. Finally, we recognize that right now our nation and our community are polarized on a number of issues. That said, we want our schoolboard meetings to serve as an example to our students that members of our school board and members of our community can deal with controversial issues in a civil manner and demonstrate

132mutual respect for one another. In that spirit, we will insist that all speakers and members of the audience maintain civility and respect for any divergent views that others possess. We ask that speakers please address their comments to the board directly rather than the audience. In the unlikely event the meeting becomes unruly, the board will recess the meeting and return once order has been restored. Finally, I want to remind everyone that you may submit written comments to the board in le of speaking during the public comment period if you so choose. Tonight, we've set aside 45 minutes for public comment where each speaker who has signed up before 3:30 has three minutes to speak. If a person requests to speak after 3:30, speakers may sign up in person at the meeting with the clerk and will

133also be afforded the opportunity to speak. Our first speaker of the night is Mr. Billy Coleman. >> Good evening. My name is Billy Coleman, Fuse Executive Vice President and co-chair of the district-wide health and safety committee. I am here to express my concerns regarding the water main break on January 29th that impacted the safety of Davis Elementary School. As a member of the health and safety committee, our primary responsibility is to ensure a healthy and safe environment for our students and our staff during their school day in compliance with the New York State Ed Department facilities planning part 155 regulations. That was not the case at Davis School on January 29th. As I got wind of an issue, I immediately responded to Davis. I arrived at approximately 12:45 p.m. to find that water shut water

134was shut off, kitchen and restroom sinks not working, and toilets with urine and feces in them. In addition to the serious issues that day, I am extremely disturbed by Dr. Reynolds and Mr. Rockin's response in my email the following day. Their response stated that up until 10:43 a.m., there was ample water in the building. and went so far as to to dismissively describe that as a temporary incident. The water was shut off from approximately 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. That is 4 hours of a 7-hour school day that running water was unavailable to our students and staff. I did not consider that a temporary incident. Finally, after speaking with my co-chair on the health and safety committee, Paul Vodaka, who is also the commissioner of buildings for the city of Nurishelle, and was on the

135email chain, Paul responded that it is not acceptable to have approximately 700 people in a building where sanitary facilities have been compromised. As Paul noted, he understood, as I do, the logistics nightmare of an early dismissal, but also reinforced that it was not okay for people of any age to occupy a public building without water service. The city school district needs to do better on this. Thank you. Next up, we have Liliana Psychopus. >> Good evening, Liliana Psychopatis, Fuse Building Rep and Fuse Grievance Chair. There seems to be some confusion as to what transpired at Davis School on Thursday, January 29th. As a teacher on site, I want to share the details of that day. At 7:15 a.m., staff was notified that there was a water main break near Davis, close enough to impact the

136water pressure, but everything was functioning as normal. At 9:45, building reps were notified that toilets were not flushing and there was no running water to wash hands. Another rep and I checked every bathroom and confirmed this. At 10:10, the building reps and I informed administration of the situation. The building was no longer operational. We had no water supply or working toilets. The health and safety of 700 people was now compromised. At 11 a.m., staff were told that they could leave the building and use bathrooms at other facilities. While appreciated, it was more concerning that our students did not have that opportunity. They had to continue using the unsanitary bathrooms. Our Davis staff, the heroes that we are, consoled our students who repeatedly complained about the conditions of the bathrooms. At 11:15, the building reps and

137I met with building admin and custodians to discuss what we at Davis could do while we waited for an update from district leadership. At 11:40, an email was sent to Davis community. However, it failed to include the dangerously unsanitary conditions of the building. At 12:15, I saw and spoke to the assistant director facilities about the serious conditions at Davis, sharing with him that staff were forced to leave the building to use restrooms elsewhere. Lunch was being served without handwashing, bathroom smelled vile, and students had no choice but to refrain from using a toilet or use it on top of others. At 12:40, custodians began using the bucket method to flush down the waste. Was this the district's leadership solution? Why was the assistant director facilities the only district administrator to visit Davis during the situation?

138And why wasn't Davis community's health, safety, and dignity a priority? Finally, at 1:30 p.m., 4 hours later, the water pressure was slowly restored and toilets began working. The Davis community deserves answers. Thank you. Next up, Miss Eileen Duncan. Good evening, members of the board of education. My name is Eileen Duncan and I'm a fifth grade teacher at Davis Elementary. I am speaking tonight because what occurred during the recent water main break was not simply an inconvenience or a minor facilities issue. It was a health and safety issue. I want to clarify respectfully but clearly that what was communated to families did not match the reality inside the building. The water to the building was shut off as of 9:30 a.m., not later in the morning, as reported via email to families at 11:40, and it

139lasted until staff were notified by email at 1:49 p.m. Health professionals and cafeteria staff did not have the appropriate clean water all day to utilize to ensure student health safety in fulfilling their job responsibilities. More than 700 people were expected to remain in a school building where they did not have access to working restroom facilities for several hours which was illegal. Students had no choice but to use restrooms containing unflushed waste. Unfortunately, some students soiled themselves. Teachers had to leave the building at lunch break in order to use the restroom. Students didn't have that option. As educators, we train to prioritize student well-being above all else. We should never be placed in a position where we must choose between protecting children's health and dignity or continuing the school day. We teach children about hygiene, washing

140hands, preventing germs, and staying healthy. Yet, we were placed in a situation where the most basic sanitary conditions were not provided to any student or staff member for over 4 hours. In times of needs, leaders should be present to ensure the health and safety of people. The superintendent or facilities manager did not bear witness to the unsanitary conditions of the building firsthand. Families trust the drift district to protect and provide safe learning environments for all children to learn. Last Thursday, the district let families, students, and staff down by their inaction. As I have worked in the district for over 25 years, the district always had a plan for emergency dismissal in place for this exact situation. It was not acceptable for the school day to continue as business as usual when the health, safety, and

141dignity of your people were compromised. Thank you for your day, and we deserve safe, sanitary schools each and every day without exception. Next up is Mayor Miss Dja Ferraro. Good evening. My name is Dearra Ferrara. I am a fuse building rep at Davis School. I have lived in Nurish Shell my entire life and my children went through these schools. I would like to share what transpired that day at Davis Elementary School. Never, ladies and gentlemen, in my entire professional life have I and my colleagues and the children that we service had been subject to what went on that day. As my colleagues have already stated, and I'm here to put it on the record, we did not have running water, working sinks, or usable toilets for more than 4 and a half hours. Although it

142was reported prior to school starting that there was a hope that the water would be restored within 2 to three hours, this did not happen. Children and adults, as you've heard before, were put in harm's way. It was unsanitary and downright filthy. We have staff that are required to change diapers on a regular basis. They could not wash their hands or properly clean those students afterwards. We have nurses that were unable to properly clean, sanitize, or disinfect cuts and wounds because of no clean running water. We had children, as you heard before, that had accidents because they refused to use the dirty toilets. And understandably so. New York state law says that if a school loses water service, it must provide adequate, free, and safe drinking water to occupants. A water cooler was provided, but

143not until hours later. We have emergency procedures for a reason. We practice them every year. Why were they not put in place that day, even if it meant a difficult early dismissal? We ask parents to complete emergency cards with contacts in case of an emergency. Ladies and gentlemen, this in fact was an emergency. As professionals, we did what we were told to do by our administrators. However, it was unacceptable and against the law. A better practice should be in place, and I'm here to share our story so it doesn't ever happen again in this district. Next up is Miss uh Jill Cole Walker. >> Good evening. I'm Jill Cole Walker and I've been an educator here in the city district of Nurell for over three decades and I'm speaking tonight to address the debacle that

144happened at Davis Elementary School. Clearly, you have heard this continuously this evening. I've worked here for a long time and this was not my first experience with a water mane break, but the way it was handled was very different. Many years ago, we had a water main break, but parents were contacted immediately and an emergency contact protocol was put into place. And believe it or not, safety and health were first. Parents and or someone came and took care of the children so they would be safe. Second incident, we lucked out because it was close to the end of the day. No protocol was needed, but there was still something in place set up. This brings us to this state, the most recent water flow issue. Stark contrast to the preceding protocols. Unfortunately, last week, the

145health, safety, and dignity of our students was compromised. So, did you all know that there are 55 toilets and urinals at Davis School with over 700 people, students and staff? Just imagine with me for a moment that over the course of several hours, no fresh water, 55 filthy filled toilets and urinals, children entering smelly germfilled restrooms breathing that air. Many young people refrained from using the bathrooms all day and there were many accidents. These are young people. Ladies during their menstrual cycle, children requiring diaper changing and their caregivers not having clean water. That's a mess. Food saver staff. Now, the good thing is that the food is not prepared at Davis. However, you have people who could not wash their hands serving this food to the children. By the way, our fa our staff did

146a fantastic job trying to help keep calm and peace. We used our seal strategies, but the problem was not solved. Now, there were some band-aids securing water from the furnace to flush the toilets. Not all toilets, only the main bathrooms. Sanitizing stations that weren't set up until close to noon time, hours after. teachers, as you heard, you can go somewhere else, drive off to go to the bathroom if you're uncomfortable. But what about the kids? And now I have to tell you, I'm in full support of enabling children to develop resilience, but multiple exposures to human waste should not have been the lesson for the day. So my question, we can't control all the circumstances. Life happens, but what emergency protocols will you all put into place so that no one in Nurell, whether it's

147Davis or anywhere, has to be exposed to such circumstances. Thank you. Next up is uh Mr. Vinnie Caparaso. Good evening, Board of Education President, Mr. Ironi, Vice Presidents, Miss Ross, Mrs. Lewis, board members, Mrs. Williams, Miss Carolyn, uh, Clayton Fernandez, Miss Mrs. Klene, Mrs. Jacobs, Mr. Vega, Mr. Singal, Superintendent Reynolds, uh, Dr. Roberts, parents and community members, fellow union union members, and the students that left earlier. I'd like to congratulate the teachers that received tenure tonight. Like to thank Mr. Hillenbrand for hosting us at your beautiful school and of course that wonderful Trinity marching band. I love hearing all this great stuff about Norshell and all of our accomplishments out as a district that we encounter every single day on a daily basis. Like the CPI program that Mr. Hillbrand is implementing at Trinity. Unfortunately,

148last Thursday at Davis, this was not the case. Yesterday at our staff meeting, I asked, "What can we do differently the next time a situation like this happens?" This past Thursday at Davis, we had no water. Can we have a committee that has a voice to make this decision? Because this is our school, too. Every day, we work with, care for, and love our students at Davis. Let me take you back to Thursday. As a senior staff member and a leader in the building, I asked my administrator, "Who can I call? Who can I convin how can I convince them that this decision to keep these kids in school is the wrong decision?" I learned that the central administration was notified of the situation and our union leaders were also involved in providing information. As

149I was moving throughout the building, helping out, moving hand sanitizers by bathrooms, checking bathrooms to see which stalls needed to be flushed with a bucket of water with more urgency so the kids can use the bathroom. I couldn't help to think to myself, what can I do? What can Vinnie Kaparaso do and make this wrong incident right? Should I call the board of health, public safety? Do I call channel 12 news? What can I do to get these kids and our staff out of this bad situation? I'm also thinking about keeping my job and supporting my family. So, those weren't the best ideas, I didn't think. What would I want done for my four girls if they were in this school? Do I call the parents of my students who I formed a great sacred

150parent teacher student relationship with? No. I just kept checking the bathroom stalls and asking kids if they were okay, but basically I did nothing and that bothered me. So in closing, I implore that one thing I know that I failed my students at Davis School that day. That is why I spoke up at my SPA staff meeting yesterday and this is why I'm speaking here to you tonight. I hope that we can reflect on and learn from this past experience to ensure a better outcome. I would love to be part of that solution. Thank you very much for your time and attention. >> Would anyone else like to sign up for public comment tonight? Yep. Just bring it to the podium. Just just say your name before you start. >> Brooke Mueller, 21 Emerson Avenue.

151Good evening, Dr. Reynolds, members of the board of ed, administrators, teachers, and community members. Tonight, we're gathered for a lot of important business, but I'd like to take a few minutes to recognize someone who reminds us why showing up, speaking up, and not giving up really matters. out of breath. This evening, Mr. Hilderbrand, Miss Mtori, and the Trinity PTA are proud to recognize Lorraine Carl with a plaque that has been placed on one of the new auditorium chairs in her office. Now, if you've ever attended a board meeting or really any community meeting over the years, there's been a good chance you already know Lorraine. And if you don't know, well, you definitely know of her because Lorraine has never been shy about voicing her opinion. Some might say persistent, some might say determined, some

152might say a little bit of a pest. But the truth But the truth is, every school needs Lorraine. Years ago, when Trinity's auditorium was in rough shape, Lorraine made it her mission to make sure no one forgot about it. She was consistently asking Mr. Hildebrand when Trinity might finally get a new auditorium. So much so that when the auditorium was finished and Mr. Hildebrand first showed it to me, his very first question was, "Do you think Lorine will be happy?" And anytime Lorine had the opportunity to speak with Keith Watkins, she somehow always managed to bring the conversation back to the auditorium. She believed very strongly that Trinity deserved better. And she didn't stop. She didn't get tired. She didn't take the hint. And she definitely didn't go quietly. She kept showing up because she

153believed our students deserved a space that was safe, welcoming, and worthy of their performances, assemblies, and celebrations. And here we are, a brand new auditorium, new chairs, a space our students are proud of. I do want to take a moment to thank the district, the board of ed, and especially Keith Watkins and the facilities team for making this project a reality. Advocacy matters, but so does having people who listen, plan, and follow through. and we're grateful for the partnership that brought this vision to life. Lorraine's children went through the district years ago, but her commitment to the community never left. Even now, she continues to give her time every single week to Trinity volunteering on Mondays. Oh my god. My god. >> With our afterchool program and on Wednesdays with our art teacher, she shows

154up not because she has to, but because she loves this school and this community. So tonight, this plaque isn't just about a chair. It's about what happens when someone refuses to let an issue be forgotten. It's about recognizing the volunteers who quietly and sometimes not so quietly make lasting change. On behalf of Mr. Hilderbrand, Miss Vtori, the Trinity PTA, our entire school community, thank you, Larry. Oh, >> thank you >> for your dedication, your persistence, and your unwavering love for Trinity. >> Thank you. >> Did you see your plaque? >> Plaque on the mark. It's right here. >> It says Lorine Paul. Thanks for your time, heart, and service to our school community. You will always have a comfortable seat at church. I'm going to tell my husband to put my ashes there when I

155die. Okay, Brook. Mr. Holy Red, thank you. Congratulations, Miss Carl. Would anyone else like to sign up for public comment tonight? Oh, yep. Mr. Seam, come on up. Wow, that just changed the whole complexion of the meeting. Um, that was so sweet to honor uh Miss Lorraine. She all the time is talking about the kids. And then it's it's amazing because you did a whole presentation about, you know, understanding communication and she does all of that naturally all the time. She tells me about, you know, how she's helping the conversations that she has with the kids and and when you look at all of these things, you guys, you can use her as like a coach cuz she she does all that naturally. So, thank you for honoring her like that. That was so deserving.

156All right. So, when I listened to the um budget presentation, I had a couple of things that stood out to me. Of course, the UK that that message that we're going to get money for UK, but we don't have space, we don't have uh staff. I'm hoping cuz it sounds like if we don't use it, then we lose it and we get less money, right? So, I'm hoping that's not the case. I'm hoping maybe we can ask, hey, can we use this money elsewhere since we don't have the space? But even better than that is, you know, we lost our Nurell day nursery that had given us um universal prek and just um a lot of of um preschool activity for the longest time. So that building is sitting there empty. And since we don't

157have space, why not use that space so that we could do universal prek? Just a thought. I would love to bring that back to our parents um or partner with someone to do that cuz we're missing it. Um so that's that's one. These numbers of course sound a little frightening, but when I you know I was hoping that we could relate. Maybe you don't have everything and that's why you didn't do it, but it would help. Like for example, you talked about we got rid of the 193 people that that was very at the beginning and you said that, but we really didn't get rid of that. We got rid of 55 people. So I I wasn't sure why we went back to the 193 when really what we ended up laying off was 55.

158Um so that wasn't clear as to how we were presenting it that way. Uh the tax levy is 185. That's good. Well, not really, but it's it's not asking us to give 3.95%, but last year it was.33% and you asked for 3.95%. And I know you don't have all the numbers, but what does that mean? Are you going to maybe do 2.69% like an estimate? I would think that would help to kind of bring this together. The other thing was it talked about that we had two million less. So, we were $22 million in deficit. Does that mean we're going to be $24 million in deficit? That those things weren't clear. I was hoping we can make that clearer. Thank you, Mr. Seam. Uh, anybody else like to sign up for public comment? Okay, seeing

159none, we're going to move into our new business consent agenda, personnel resolutions. Colleagues, can I get a motion in the second to approve consent agenda for personal resolutions number 26-263 1-23, number 26-264 1-1, number 26-265 1-11, number 26-266 1-13, number 26-267 1-17, and number 26-268 1-1 according to the recommended action for each item. >> So move, Jacob. Second, Ross. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Uh, next up is consent agenda for general resolutions. Colleagues, can I get a motion in the second to approve consent agenda for general resolutions number 26-269 through number 26-290 accorded to the recommended action for each item. >> So moved. Ross. >> Second, Klein. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Our next meeting will be Thursday, February 26th at Columbus Elementary

160School, but we might have a special meeting in between there. We will let you guys know for the budget. Uh colleagues, can I get a motion and a second to adjurnn the meeting? >> So moved. Ross, >> second, Williams. >> All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Good night everyone.