001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> We could reconvene our meeting to open session. The board has been in executive session since 6:00 to discuss three personnel matters I the superintendent's evaluation. If we could 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. Uh introductions. Good evening, John McPhillips. Dave Hurst. Lauren Groff. Euan MacRae. Meredith DeLandy. Colleen Alumbaugh. Jody Monroe. John Watson. Bob Teigen. Rose Post Office. Uh and Katherine Nado will be joining us momentarily. Um do we have any PEG or super students? Welcome. You guys are squeezing it in. You [laughter] all got in under the wire. Um thanks for being here. You guys need to stay until
002the meeting is over or 9:00, whichever one comes first. Um don't leave without signing out on one of these nifty sign-out sheets. Otherwise, you won't get credit for being here, and then you will be sad. Um first step is our approval of minutes. Um first, it is recommended by the superintendent that the Board of Education approve the minutes from the May 6th, 2026 regular board meeting. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That carries. And then second, it is recommended by the board that the Board of Education approve the minutes from the May 19th, 2026 annual budget vote and Board of Education election. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That carries. Uh next are meeting reports, and first is our superintendent's report.
003Sure. Um I have a couple of quick announcements uh that I wanted to uh do, and then we have a uh a recognition uh for the board. I'd like to thank the community for the overwhelming support of the budget uh yesterday. Uh their continued investment in our schools reflects a strong commitment to our students, staff, and the future. Um congratulations as well to our Board of Education members, Holly and Mary, and Sarah. Uh we uh appreciate their um willingness to continue to serve. Uh they were elected to 3-year terms, and I appreciate the board's continued support of our schools. I one uh student recognition. I'd like to recognize Kieran McNay, who's been named a 2026 National Merit Scholar, an honor awarded to only 2,500 students nationwide. Uh he's also just one of three students in
004the Capital Region who received this prestigious recognition. Um as part of that award, Kieran will receive $2,500 um from the National Merit Scholarship to help support his college education, and this fall he's attending the University of Chicago, where he plans to double major um at this time in molecular engineering economics, um while also considering perhaps pre-law. Uh congratulations to Kieran on this outstanding achievement and for representing Bethlehem Central so well in the Capital Region. Um and finally, we do have a veterans diploma ceremony uh this evening for Daniel Ethan Van Hosen. Um Daniel attended Bethlehem Central High School through 11th grade, and based on our records, uh he would have graduated with the class of 1960. According to his family, during his time at Bethlehem Central, Daniel was a gymnast, a member of the wrestling
005team, and had a strong passion for art. Daniel left school to pursue employment and was later drafted into the United States Army in 1967. He proudly served his country from 1967 to '69 and was honorably discharged. Daniel passed away in July of 2025 at the age of 83. Uh his family shared that one of his lifelong regrets was that he did not receive his high school diploma. And so in recognition of his service and perseverance, his family contacted us to pursue this honor through Operation Recognition. And before we present the diploma, I would like to invite his daughter Vicki to come up to the podium as well as any other family or friends who would like to share a few words about him with the group and then we'll award the diploma. So Vicki, you
006want to come on up? And if you could use the mic because there is an audience, so they want to hear everything you have to say. I'm very shy. >> [laughter] >> So um tonight's actually the first time I've been back to one of these meetings since participation in government. >> [laughter] >> So see, once in a while you might actually show up in another meeting. May just take a while. Um I do remember my dad talking about what school was like when he was when he was younger and he grew up in a one one-room schoolhouse and he used to tell us about how when his parents were they were trying to centralize the school district and if you can believe it, they actually told people that it would actually cost them less money
007than the one-room schoolhouse if they just centralized. So that just goes to show you that not all adults that vote were really good at like mathematics and accounting. >> [laughter] >> As you can see in the budget, but you guys got it approved. So there are a lot of benefits that my dad got from going to Bethlehem like such as you mentioned, they he was called um Wolverine when he was in wrestling, which I thought was cool. One of his classmates told me, my dad told me none of this. So, some of that sometimes it's kind of cool to go even to your parents reunions, class reunions, cuz they'll actually tell you some stuff that you didn't know. Because sometimes your parents don't want to tell you what they were like when they were a
008student, but their parents will be glad to share with you all that stuff. So, I think and he did tell me he took every single art class that Bethlehem actually offered. So, he was really avid avid and as an art student, too. So, um yeah, so I thought overall he did have a good experience at here even though he struggled with a few things. And I hope that all of you were able to help the students and in their upcoming challenges ahead. Thanks. Thank you. >> [applause] >> I am Danny's youngest daughter, Vicki. I wanted to thank a few people for making this event possible. First, I'd like to thank my cousin Sherry for forwarding me Tom Mullen's contact information from the VA for lost awards and medals. If it were not for her, none
009of us would be honoring my dad here today. I would also like to thank Tom Mullen's for asking me the question, "Did your dad ever graduate high school?" which started the ball rolling on my dad receiving his high school diploma, which will be backdated to the year he would have graduated in June of 1960. Tom's actions also led to the Altamont Enterprise writing an article about my dad in their paper last December. I also wanted to thank the school board, the superintendent, the principal, and the district clerk for not only accepting my dad's application, but for approving it so graciously with no hesitation. I also want to thank my dad's family and friends that have gathered here today to bestow this recognition upon him. I wish my dad were here to celebrate this moment with
010all of us, but in some small way, I think he already is. Tom asked me last November, "If you could picture your dad sitting right there beside you when you receive his diploma, what would you say to him?" This is how I replied. Dad, I I know you used to have nightmares because you didn't graduate high school. You thought you weren't smart enough or less than others because of that. I want you to know your gifts of playing the guitar, singing, art, and carpentry skills surpasses most everyone I know. The little poems you wrote have more heart and emotion in them than any poet I have ever read. And your kindness and willingness to help others was present no matter what. That is the true measure of a smart and good man, and those things
011can't be taught in a classroom. I cannot take your cancer away, but somehow and in some way I was able to get you your diploma, a real diploma and not an honorary one. The VA helped you to get that because they also recognized your sacrifice or honorable service as being equivalent to a high school education. I don't think this will rewrite history so much as make history right. Your legacy will now include being a high school graduate as well as your other talents and gifts, so you never have to doubt your worth again. I hope you are as proud of yourself as we are and have always been of you. Thank you again for this honor and for taking the time to make my dad's dream of getting his high school diploma COME TRUE. >>
012[applause] >> THIS IS MY MOM. I WOULD JUST WANT TO SHARE A few things which everybody already knows a little bit more than I'm going to be saying today. Um I've known Dan since he was 31 years old after he got out of the Vietnam War. And he did tell me about his education and us the three of us have graduated. Uh Chris and Vic graduated here and I went to Greenville and graduated. Um Dan actually, even though he was only on a third grade reading level, he I signed I talked to somebody with a literacy volunteer and I could not go go with this. Dan had to speak personally to them. So, he signed up and Anne Cook was his teacher for 4 years. She said, "Dan, even though you can't read it or
013spell it, write down your thoughts." And he did. And she typed it up and did the spell check for him. He has a book notebook with all of his poems in it. He did have a an awards one night and he was too embarrassed to have us go there to support him. One thing you don't know, the middle school has an eagle sign. It was a school-wide contest and the girl that won um chose that one and Dan designed that for them and they kept it up with the lacquers and finished it and stuff like that. Uh Dan can sing and he can um is very good artist. A lot of the things that Dan does, he would write draw pictures and then design it. He did a 60-ft dinosaur out of sand when I
014was having a garage sale. I'm like, "Can he help me?" But this thing >> [laughter] >> is a sand sculpture of a dinosaur. And then he has he would um volunteer some of his artwork like at the Clarksville Community Church. It's a big um wooden sculpture of Jesus on the back wall when you come out of the sanctuary and that is nice. A lot of the things that I you probably don't know his mom would always write down dates, who was there, time. Dan does the same thing to get in sync with his schedule, where his doctors are and then who's coming and so that helped him a lot with his memory. But we are all born with talents and gifts. That was two of the gifts and talents Dan has. I want to tell
015you, he can remember. He can remember more than me. I said, "How do you know that?" "Well, don't you?" I said, "No, I can't remember all that." But, um, if you want to know more about Dan or his family, his here is brother and his sister-in-law and niece and my neighbor, um, ask them because they know him more than I do. Um, but I am, um, Sandy Van Husen. THANK YOU. >> [applause] [laughter] >> YES. >> [laughter] >> THANK YOU. >> [applause] [clears throat] >> AND ATTENTION EVERYBODY, THIS IS THE literacy volunteer teacher, ANNE COLE. >> [applause] [snorts] >> SO ANYWAY, THAT'S OUR VETERANS ceremony for today and that's my superintendent's report. Uh any questions for Jody? Uh next up is the board report um and I want to echo Jody's thanks to the community
016for supporting our budget, our schools, um and the library as well as personally for supporting the board members. Um I wanted to flag for everybody that uh the unified basketball team is competing at the Jody, correct me if I get any of this wrong, at the MVP Arena tomorrow at 1:00. >> 1:00. Um so, if anybody happens to be free and wants to see a unified basketball game, um feel free to head on over to MVP Arena. Um and I also wanted to uh let everybody know that uh VJ Cat is doing their um production of Midsummer Night's Dream next weekend on Friday and Saturday. Um I think here in B122. So, if anyone uh feels like some Shakespeare, I recommend coming out. Anybody have something Anything else they want to share? I think Jody
017stole mine, but Sorry. >> [laughter] >> I think I should get on the record. We're pretty proud of Kieran actually. It was a great accomplishment. Catherine. Um it's been middle school uh music performance season and I had a chance to attend a couple of those and as always, absolutely fantastic. Hats off to the students and the teachers who have been working so hard all year. Um it is just truly amazing to see, you know, I've seen several of these at this point and it never it never ceases to amaze the difference between uh the first performances in the fall and where we wind up in May. So, thank you and congratulations to everybody who was working so hard this year. And also, I would I would say the difference between sixth grade and then eighth
018grade. Yes, it is. Tremendous. Amazing. Yeah. Um next are our student reports. Rose. Um I would like to commend the high school and the district for the efforts made in this year's wellness week, which has been going on since Monday and will continue through Friday. Um this year it's included presentations from the Kaplans, uh from Mission for Marcus, who advocate against addiction uh to help people with addiction. A presentation from Stephen Hill and Joseph Caleb Joseph who both have shared their experiences with addiction and anxiety and mental health disorders. And also an awareness fair in gym A which happened today. which again detailed being resources to help against help with addiction. Additionally, congratulations to Leona S from Glenmont who won the kids vote seal. And the middle school is doing a wellness day I believe
019tomorrow. Okay. Yeah, I saw an email for that. Do you know what the is it a theme or >> They have a lot of different activities that are happening. Tomorrow's Thursday, right? Thursday. Yeah, the kids can choose to go to but I saw a list of probably 25 different activities. So Any questions for Rose? And I don't think we have anybody here from the middle school. So we will move on to the next item on our agenda which is our presentation this evening and we're having a presentation on seal seals of by literacy and civic readiness. from uh Jim Smith? I'm correct possibly. So if you guys want to come on up. Or one at a time. >> [laughter] >> Can everybody hear me okay? Sure. Perfect. Good evening everybody. Thank you for having me
020here. I'm excited to talk to you about this. So I'm going to start off by talking about the seal of by literacy. So the seal of by literacy is a special recognition that students in New York State can achieve and really the whole purpose of it is to recognize the value of being bilingual or multilingual in today's society. Um so, as we are preparing the data for the application for Seal of Biliteracy with New York State, um there are what are called candidate archetypes. Basically, New York State wants to track long-term outcomes for all students, but in particular, um students with uh various configurations of home language experiences. So, those would be our current ELLs, uh that's English language learners. Ever ELLs, so ever ELLs are students who, at one point in time in their
021academic career, uh received English as a new language services, but no longer receive English as a new language services. Um never ELLs are students who were never uh English language learners and did have a home language other than English. So, uh that's kind of an interesting cohort of kiddos. And then never ELLs with English as their home language. This is our largest uh quadrant of students. Um so, to achieve the Seal of Biliteracy, the baseline is that students need to um be achieving a New York State Regents diploma, and they have to get three points uh of English criteria and three points of world lang- world language criteria. So, we'll talk a little bit about what that looks like. Um so, there's a lot of variations on the criteria. The most typical pathway that our
022students utilize is the English Regents pathway um plus a presentation in ELA. And so, what the presentation consists of, basically, students need to speak for about 7 minutes um on a topic of their choosing. Um they're allowed to use a presentation they've done at any point in their 9 through 12 academic career, and I sort of talk them through the process of of brushing it up a little bit. And then they have also have to answer answer some interpersonal questions. So, it really focuses on the presentational skill set and the interpersonal skill set. Um you can see there are multiple ways to achieve the points. Ultimately, students, um because they only need three points here, even though they can achieve like most of our students are hitting pretty much all of this criteria, but they
023only need three points. So, they'll just submit whatever work through our Google Classroom that will get them there. Um as far as the world language side of things, similarly most of our students are using the Checkpoint C world language course. So, a Checkpoint C level course would be our intermediate French and Spanish, advanced Spanish, and our AP French and Spanish courses. Those are all Checkpoint C level classes. And then they have to do a culminating project, which is presented to a panel of either two Spanish teachers, two French teachers. We also do have students who achieve the seal through languages that we do not offer in the district. And that's a little bit different process. And so, we've had a number of those students and I would say a a growing number of those students.
024So, their process typically looks something more like they sit for an exam developed by an outside vendor, typically the AAPPL. Um and then they'll also do a culminating project. And for that culminating project, we'll bring in either a couple interpreters or if they know folks in the community who speak the home language and are sort of qualified to evaluate their ability to form to perform in the home language, they'll evaluate that using a rubric produced by New York State. Um so, again the three key areas that are being looked at in this process for the culminating project, it's the interpretive piece, the interpersonal piece, and the presentational piece with regard to the four modalities, reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Um so, as you can see this year we have our highest ever number of students
025going for the Seal of Biliteracy. We have 68 who are and that's pending right now, but I actually I think 64 out of the 68 have already achieved at this point. And so, we just have a few students still working through the process. We really try to work around AP exams because students have a lot on their plate. You can only get this as a senior and so we try to work with our schedules and so some students waiting wanted to wait until after AP exams to sit for additional exams. I think the four students still going through it are all doing languages outside of what we offer in the district. Um and so just for a sense of the scope of languages that our students are doing this year, we have Spanish, French, German,
026Chinese, Telugu, Russian, Italian, Serbian, and Japanese all being pursued for seals this year. So. And that's all I have. Uh does anybody have any questions about the Seal of Biliteracy? >> wondering with respect to Spanish and French, the ones that we offer here, are there is it an equivalent number of students from each or are there significantly more on one side? >> So that's a great question. Uh we have I wouldn't say significantly more but there's typically more Spanish just because we offer more sections of Spanish and so we we tend to have more students who take Spanish as a language. Do you have any questions? Yeah, I was wondering if you could shine a little bit more light on the culminating project especially in the world language side of things. Are these projects that
027students were have already done and then they are submitting the the slide with your with your diagram um was helpful and it and it and it kind of lent to it sounds like it's it's even more than that. So I'm wondering if you could just kind of walk us through how those go. Yeah, absolutely. So those projects are developed in partnership with our world language department who I have to say is top notch and our numbers would not look as good as they do without them. So I really want to give them special recognition. Our Spanish and French teachers are truly phenomenal 6 through 12. So those projects are handled in the throughout sort of the the curriculum of the course. The the teachers embed them into the curriculum. So are they developed for the
028Seal of Biliteracy? Yes, but they're also developed as as a grade in the course and so it's part of an ongoing component of the curriculum. So the key with those is making sure that you're hitting all four of those modalities reading, writing, speaking, listening in those areas that we identified. So the interpretive piece, the interpersonal piece and the presentational piece. So the presentational piece is So the interpretive I'll back up. The interpretive is utilized in the process of developing the project. The presentational is the actual presentation in front of the panel. The interpersonal is handled via a Q&A session after the presentation. What we also do with our students just to help add a little accountability in case we ever got audited by state ed, we do record all of the presentations that our students
029do and then they get submitted to our Google classrooms so we have a log of everything students have done. That's cool. What kinds of project or what are what are they presenting about? >> So they get a lot of latitude with these. Typically they'll sort of choose kind of a passion area within either francophone country or a Spanish speaking country. So it might be an aspect of culture or food or students take them in a lot of different directions. Famous authors from that particular area. I think students have done author studies in the past. So yeah. I was going to say I think I'm familiar with two examples. One was a presentation on cultural heritage sites in Spain. So whole presentation on that and then another presentation on politics in Mexico. That's amazing. So am
030I understanding correctly that they're they're doing these big projects and then there's also pieces of this that are worked throughout the curriculum? Is that what I was hearing? >> So so these big projects typically are embedded into the curriculum of our AP Spanish and AP French courses because those are typically viewed as our capstone courses. But um, technically intermediate French, intermediate Spanish, and advanced Spanish are all um, they're all considered checkpoint C level classes. Great. And I'm assuming checkpoint C is some sort of state designation? Yes. So, check the the checkpoint system is sort of um, world languages no longer utilize Regents exams. And so, the checkpoint checkpoint A is handled at the end of eighth grade typically. Checkpoint B is handled after Spanish or French 3. And checkpoint C would be students going on
031to advanced classes. But, it's sort of Regents equivalent. Got it. So, they're tests and they're They're They used to be tests. Now, we we have locally developed tests or consortium developed tests. So, we use the NYCAL, um, which is um, we have a regional consortium. Actually, I'm I'm going to be one of the directors over there next year. So. Congrats. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. Any other questions? I just a quick question. Um, sorry. [laughter] That's okay. When do you start talking to our students about this? At what grade level? Do they usually get the information from their world language teacher? That's a great question. Uh, so, uh, I started last year and we've been doing some work to revamp the process. Um, so, this year for the first time
032ever, we did a Seal of Biliteracy kickoff event in the fall. And any student 9 through 12 who was eventually interested in pursuing the seal was invited to attend. And so, we even had freshmen there. Um, but really we just want to start getting the word out and getting the word out early. I definitely would attribute um, our increase in the number of students who went to it just to just getting the word out earlier. In particular, um, we caught more students this year who are no longer taking a world language, but maybe had a family heritage language, um, such as Serbian or Italian or Japanese or Telugu or whatever the case may be. And so, wanted to pursue the seal for their heritage language. Yeah. One. It In terms of our curriculum, as Holly
033mentioned a few minutes ago, uh, Bethlehem offers French and Spanish courses. Is there an ongoing process to evaluate student interest in possibly adding additional languages to the curriculum? Long-term we would love to. The The tricky thing as you know with scheduling is making sure that you have enough students to fill classes and to to make sure that you know we can keep our teachers employed full-time with full classes. And so certainly if we have enough student interest where we can project long-term, you know, it's it's always something >> [cough] >> that we're looking at. We're also can always look into opportunities for students who want to take other languages in other avenues. We may have to do that. So an example of that this year, we had a student who studied in Germany for 2
034years and so had two credits of German but she really needed a third credit of German in order to fill fulfill her advanced regions diploma sequence. And so we were able to secure a course for her through the Goethe Institute to get that third credit in German and that she's going to sit for the Apple exam in German. And if she passes that, she will get her um checkpoint B level sequence in in German. That's great. Yeah. So got to be creative with it sometimes. >> job you. Any other questions? I think Rose has a question. Yeah. Can you talk about the process of applying for the seal if you're not applying for Spanish or French? Yes. So we First and foremost, getting the word out has been really important as I mentioned. So what
035I try to do for any students who I do utilize our world language team pretty heavily in getting the word out about this. But for those students who are not currently enrolled in a language class and are doing languages other than French and Spanish that we offer in the district, what I try to do is connect one-on-one with those students. And so I scheduled several meetings. Students come up into my office up above the library and we sit down and I discuss the whole process with them. First and foremost I get them signed up for our Google Classroom which we've put a lot of work into organizing and make sure all the key information is on there. It's very clear where to turn in various things so students you know, we try to put some
036responsibility on the students where could I could I go into Aspen and pull a transcript for every student? Sure. But we try to make sure that they have some responsibility in the process and so they pull their own transcripts and upload them to the Google Classroom and and just kind of convey that responsibility. So to answer your question, the main piece has been really that individual outreach with students and making sure that they feel they have a partner in the process. Now we're good. All right. Thanks so much everybody. Thank you. Hi everybody. I'm Jim Smith, social studies supervisor. I have no special guest tonight so I promise that we'll keep it under the time limit as opposed to the last time I was here. Which was entertaining. So my job tonight is to talk
037about the Seal of Civic Readiness and I think I originally was by myself on the agenda but then I you know, got Kurt to do it with me. So I said let's do it do two at once. So the Seal of Civic Readiness is fairly new to New York State. I think it's in its fourth year. Fourth year now and it's going through some growing pains similar to the Seal of Biliteracy. However, the goal is to recognize students who demonstrate civic knowledge, engagement and leadership. And it does align directly with our engagement of community members core value of of our pillars. So what we hope to do is have students have authentic civic experiences and get students beyond the theory and into some sort of civic practice engagement in the school or the community. So
038on this uh talks about four four key areas. Uh I'm not going to go into each one, you know, in depth to uh individually, but basically, every student in the district um is eligible for this in the high school starting in ninth grade. And it recognizes or looks at what they do holistically, not just individual courses. Uh there's many pathways to this. Pretty much every student who goes through our 9 through 12 Regents level uh diploma work will most likely earn the seal through their courses and through the through the curricula that they are taught. Um and then of course, you know, students that go above and beyond, um there's um you know, they can obviously earn more points uh towards uh towards a seal um quicker um if that makes sense in a moment.
039Second. Um so, there we go. >> [clears throat] >> So, in order to earn the Seal of Civic Readiness, it's very similar to the Seal of Biliteracy. Uh you have to earn six points. Two of them have to come from a civic knowledge portion and two from a civic participation portion. Uh and the other two points that you may earn uh can come from uh either side of the of the columns, if you will, uh to make up the other six. That's where we have a lot of flexibility. Um so, if you look at the civic knowledge portion, uh you earn a point and a half if you earn a mastery level on a social studies exam, right now Global 10 and the uh US History Regents in in grade 11. Um those earn you
040point and a half. Many of our students are at that mastery level, which we're very proud of. Uh we're one of the top scores uh in the state uh on both of those exams. So, walking into senior year, most of our students already have three points uh towards that towards that civic knowledge. Um and students who pass the exam uh still earn one point. So, any student that passes one and/or both exams can earn two points right away just by uh passing the Global uh 10 and the U shat test. Um and then on the point where it says a civic knowledge research project through our pig and super classes, we do a lot of embedded embedded projects that students can earn these points for where they research a you know, issue in the community
041that they want to delve into and they present to their classes about that issue and come up with maybe a resolution or an idea. Um so this is similar to what you talked about the seal by literacy. It's a lot of it's embedded into into the curriculum already. Uh on the other side of the of the scale, if you will, is a civic participation. Um this is where we have a little bit more flexibility with uh how the students can earn points. Um so you can get if a capstone project is a fairly intensive um project and undertaking similar to if you're familiar with the Eagle Scout projects, uh very similar to that um where it takes, you know, some planning, some connection with some local government, fill a need, and then actually see the
042project to um to conclusion. Um I'll pick on Rose. This would be a capstone project to be in the, you know, the student representative of the Board of Education. You were hitting all of the marks uh for that. Um so you probably didn't know it, but yes, you earned it just by basically being here. So congratulations. Um so uh you earn um you know, uh half a credit or half a point for each social studies elective and some classes outside of the social studies and business that will qualify. Um and you can earn additional points if they're advanced or uh at a at an honors level. Um there is also um courses outside like I said, outside of social studies that will um count towards this as well. Uh civil engineering course uh counts towards
043this because obviously there's a lot of connection uh between um between you know, finding a a community need and how to actually go about fulfilling that community need. Uh public speaking on the English uh department, uh professional communication in the English department, um and there's a couple other uh courses that are not just, you know, uh central to social studies. Um in the next word here. Our numbers are um varying. We had 124 uh year uh 2 years ago. We had 84 students last year. Uh this year the number is actually about 104 right now. I had a couple of students uh submit their application late. Um and I know your next question's going to be, "Well, how do we get the numbers to increase?" Um well, I just found out from uh Rose actually
044a few minutes ago that, you know, some of the students still had a misconception that you actually had to be in a certain course to apply for the Civic Readiness. So, that's on me. Um you know, we pushed it out to everyone we could. However, we'll have to do some more some more work next year uh to make sure that every student knows that they can um that they can apply for this. And one of our biggest hiccups with semester courses is that um seniors will stop their government class sometimes in January, and then we start this process in January, and some of them are already thinking about after January. Uh so, we have to do a better job of connecting with those students from the first semester, um which my numbers from first semester
045this year were better than the numbers from first semester last year, which is which is good. Um so, if there are any students who are paying attention tonight and you still want to apply for the seal and you haven't, please do so. Um and that is about it. Um I know you're going to ask a question about what sorts of projects. Yep, okay. Uh so, the types of projects that uh students have done uh early in the year we had a voter registration uh drive that was completely student-led, uh where uh a couple of students came to me and said, "We'd like to register students to vote." So, I connected them with the League of Women Voters who helped them get all of the materials they needed, and they the voting uh uh registration ballot
046box they created themselves in the in the shop down the down the hall and it's in my office and they registered I believe I got the number back from the League of Women Voters. It was close to 100 students who registered to vote or pre-registered to vote which was really cool. They took that on which was which was pretty exciting because they actually saw that all the way to the end. We had students who sometimes they talk about the parking lot in the front building. I don't know if you know about that at all. It can be a little dicey in the morning and sometimes people like to speed down Delaware Ave. They actually conducted a traffic study out front and we're working on some ways to you know make it a safe a safer
047area for our students to drive and to walk. Um And so students that are interested in this they have to proactively Yeah, so in all of in all the social studies courses I send out a presentation that the social studies teachers of seniors will present to their classes and in that they push out the link to the application. And the application similar to what Kurt does with the seal of biliteracy is they have to upload their grades, their transcript and then I cross check it in the background and you know what they have you know and the projects they have done. And some students some students don't know that they've actually earned it. They're like oh I did this project does it count? I'm like yes that counts. That is a that is a civic
048engagement project. They're like oh that was easy. I'm like yeah it's you know you're already doing like half the work so just come over and you know apply for the seal. But they go through the social studies courses to do so and you know it's you know trying to get more kids to do it. We can easily have over 200 students earn the seal readiness because our social studies department does a phenomenal job preparing them not only for the regions but for all the engagement pieces that go along with our pagan super and upper classes. Do you send out any information to parents? Um of this So so that cuz I'm just I'm just envisioning, you know, you might have some students in a social studies class that might be listening very closely to what
049you're saying and then not apply, but maybe if their parent knew that it was it existed, they might encourage them. Yeah, yes and no. And that's part of their responsibility too is you know, if you're going to be civically engaged, you should take some >> [laughter] >> take some steps especially as a senior who's off going to you know, better better things next year. Um however, um it's it's it's on the teacher school classrooms uh which parents have access to. It's you know, it's emailed out to them often uh through that. But yeah, easily, you know, putting a parent square message out to students through reminders cuz sometimes they forget. Uh you know, >> Sometimes uh but yeah, that's something we can do for next year as well. The parent the open house in the
050fall just Right. Right. And then we did mention it um uh we did mention it in the fall to one parent group. I forget I forget which one I was speaking with, but we said, "Oh, this is coming up and we have, you know, these opportunities." But yeah, the more communication about it the better. And again, such a young program uh only 4 years old, um you know, it's still kind of gaining traction. Uh I think, you know, this time next year the numbers will be much different. Yeah, I mean a couple things. Uh one of the one of the ways that I found out more about the SEALs and civic readiness um and the SEALs in general, I I participated in a continuing Sorry, I'm going to I'm going to model this. Um what's
051the equivalent of con- continuing legal education or continuing Is it continuing ed? It's just continuing ed. Excuse me, sorry, for teachers. Um all all about the SEALs and it was incredibly exciting. The different projects that students were taking on specifically for civic readiness. Um great presentations about the the the projects themselves and Girl Scout Gold Awards all qualified for for the capstone projects because these are these are Gold Awards are are projects that Scouts undertake that address root causes of an issue and our projects to help manage for it and address some of those root causes on anything that they take on similar in part to the Eagle Eagle Award and you know so students were were able to kind of take all the good work that they were doing already and and leverage it
052to for this recognition as well. There were several seals that are are beyond these two that I know are are offered at different school districts and I think as I understand it the goal of the seals is to allow students to differentiate what they really leaned into during their educational pathway in in school. I guess one of the things kind of jumping on to what Holly said I would love for notices to go out to parents. I think if people don't have a sense that this is a possibility that there's no way the numbers go up right and your point about students have to take the initiative 100% and it can be you know it can be in concert with somebody who can help them take accountability for that. The other thing is it would
053be great we have a fantastic art display up right now. I love this time of year. I love it every time we get to see the student art in the hallways. It'd be really cool to do displays about the projects that students are submitting and earning for their capstone projects for both civic readiness and for the bilingual seal as well. Again just to add visibility these these these take a lot of work and it would be great to applaud and highlight that. >> I I agree with you 100%. One of our one of the I'll say I'll say problem but it's not a it's a good problem. The students who are engaging in some of the capstone projects they are outside of the school so we might not know about it until like today when
054I'm reviewing the uh reviewing their capstones. We had one student who looked at women's health care in urban areas and looked at how it was basically underutilized or not available [laughter] and created some programs to help, you know, help reach women in impoverished areas to help access health care. It's like wow, it's it's phenomenal, very powerful. And similarly student did food deserts food desert a study of where to you know what in the in our own area where grocery stores are limited for for people and you know had a huge project and we didn't and we didn't know about it until after already got all the information. So Would that be really cool to display in the fall for students coming in to see Yeah, here's an example of a phenomenal capstone. Yeah. Exactly cuz
055I know I know that in working with Scouts a lot of times that first hurdle is being able to see yourself in the work and being able to have a sense of like what is it that that I can do at this level? Um and that's that type of thing can be really meaningful. I love that we're doing this. Thank you so Yes, and it's been our department has you know bought into it fully and um some folks from other districts who've come started seeing in Bethlehem they've incorporated the capstone into some of their coursework. So we're trying to again slow slow and steady but trying to find ways to incorporate those projects more directly and some schools I'm going to now I'm going to start a project for myself. Some schools actually have a
056seal government class and is focused on getting the seal. So if that's the direction we end up going it's going to take some time and some and some work but you know those are sorts of things we're trying to incorporate and how do we get our students more engaged? No, I love it. Thank you so much like really thank you for the presentation and for doing this because you know, when we hear from students about wanting that experiential learning and families like both of these seals demonstrate that students are doing that work and and earning that. So, it's uh it's just a tremendous opportunity and I'm so grateful that that you all are taking this on. So, thank you. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I have a quick question. I think his comments probably answered
057this, but who who approves the capstone projects? Is is that you? So, it comes to me and the the manual is the apex. So, when it comes to me, it's we have a lot of latitude with how it um applies to to the language. So, it comes to me and I I read it and I'll go through and most of the students have done a presentation on it to someone else like a scouting group or or some of our teachers here. Hey, how was so-and-so's projects? You know, check up on it and they're like, "Oh, it was phenomenal." You know, did they did you know it was a capstone project? No, I didn't know that. So, they got to have to make sure the students are aware they're actually doing the capstone project, but most
058of the most of the approval comes through me and the students have to put their own um own grades, projects. You know, I ask them 15 questions on the questionnaire that they can fill out. And you can tell pretty quick which one's an authentic project and which one's uh not. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. Yeah. Any other questions? The information just on the SEALs, it is in the curriculum handbook, but it's in with the graduation requirements and the handbook is a lot of information, but it is it is included in there. So, yeah. Mr. Tichenor, you can definitely go through it, but her and I could >> [laughter] >> I wouldn't qualify. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. >> Uh next on the agenda [clears throat] is our recognition of public comment on an agenda
059item. If we have any visitors who would like to address the board on an agenda item, now would be the time to come to the microphone. Next, item six, action items. Uh first is our resolution to certify the 2026-27 school district budget vote results. If I could have a motion to certif- certify the following resolution. Whereas, the Board of Education has examined and calculated such statements and determined the number of votes cast for the 2026-27 school district budget, it is hereby declared that the 2026-2027 school district budget passed with 77.84% of voter approval with 1,988 votes in favor and 566 votes against. So moved. Second. Uh, any discussion? Briefly, just you know, thanks to John and Brittany and Aaron for hanging out and doing the work to get the vote done. So, thanks, guys. And
060I'll just add to that, thanks to all the other volunteers there. I was there last night. The, you know, it was a little bit warm in the gym and I know folks had a, you know, we have volunteers do this and it's an important thing and so so to all the volunteers, thank you for your efforts. Uh, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That carries. Uh, B, finance action items. It is recommended by the superintendent that the Board of Education approve the following finance action items, one through four. So moved. Any discussion? All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstentions? That carries. Uh, C, professional personnel action items. It is recommended by the superintendent [clears throat] that the Board of Education approve the following professional personnel action items, one through 25. So moved. Second.
061Any discussion? It's probably worth noting that includes our new high school principal. Yes, I'm going to get to that. He's here. >> [laughter] >> Uh, all in favor? Any opposed? Any abstentions? That carries. Um, and yes, we have with us this evening both Matt Urban, who is our new high school principal, and Kyle Roberts, who is our new K-12 PE health supervisor. Do you guys want to come down and officially introduce yourselves and say hello? Good morning. First sir. Hey, good evening. Um I'll I'll try to keep it brief. This is my second board meeting in 2 days. Um so it's been exciting. I'm super excited to join all of you. Um I'll I'll keep it brief in my background, but I've I've worked in the actual shoes of all the people that I'll be,
062you know, working alongside and supporting. Um I've taught PE. I've taught health. I've worked at um collegiate level health. I've attended, even while in my principalship, um numerous health conventions, assemblies, um legislative measures. Um so it's been it's been on my mind and it's, you know, the one time I can say I'm coming back to a position that I've been waiting um to open up and and kind of put my expertise into. Um I'm excited to join Bethlehem in specific. Um I've heard immense great things. I've already received some outreach from some of your faculty, some of your faculty and staff I've worked alongside already um in different capacities, whether that be at those state or national level conventions, um curriculum writing, some of the standard refinements. Um so I'm truly I feel blessed I
063guess would be the word that I I use um when describing it to people and um fortunate and I'm excited to to be here tonight. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Hi everybody. Good evening. Um I will also keep my comments brief in the interest of time. I would simply like to say that I am absolutely thrilled to be back in Bethlehem. I've been away for a few years and it it feels a lot like coming home in many ways. I am very excited to reconnect with former students former colleagues, faculty, staff families um there truly is a wonderful sense of community here in Bethlehem and I want to acknowledge that. And I would also like to say thank you very much for the opportunity. I am very excited to get to work. Thank you.
064Thank you and welcome. Welcome back. D, support personnel action items. It is recommended by the superintendent that the Board of Education approve the following support staff action items 1 through 7. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That carries. E, other action items. It is recommended by the superintendent that the Board of Education approve the following action items 1 and 2. So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That carries. Item 7, recognition of public comment on a non-agenda item. If we have any visitors who would like to address the board on a non-agenda item, now would be the time to come up to the microphone. I thought I would get dressed up for this, but I just found out about
065it today and I'm coming from a softball game. My name is Amelia Barbadoro and you may have seen I CC'd you guys on an email today to the Department of Transportation. I am a resident of Glenmont. I live on Miggy Drive, which is right next to, forgive me, I'm going to try not to get upset. Um, my husband was driving the SUV that collided with the motorcycle that resulted in a fatal accident. And I'm making it my mission. He was stopped there in the middle turn lane. And I don't know how I mean you guys are Board of Education, you guys have driven this street. But it is incredibly dangerous for the residents of McGee Drive. We come out if you come out from Walmart, we [clears throat] are trying to make a left-hand turn
066into our street and cars are constantly speeding down the middle lane. And we are beeping every day, had a almost a head-on collision every single day. So this was not an if, this was a when because it is just incredibly incredibly dangerous. So, I'm trying to take sadness and anger and frustration and make a difference. And one of my goals is to make that a school zone. It is 40 miles an hour in front of Glenmont Elementary. Kids cannot walk, so for the kids on McGee you're not even supposed to walk home because it's not a school zone when you can just go on a sidewalk and come to our street. Um, and you get cars that are just speeding down that middle lane to cut into Walmart. So, what I'm trying to do is
067get the speed limit reduced in front of Glenmont Elementary. I'd like to have it labeled a school zone and I'm looking to get the streets repainted because the middle turn lane has these arrows going all the way down it saying you can make a left, you can make a right, but there's nowhere to make a left. It makes no sense. The streets were not like that originally when Walmart was put in. They were repaved at one point and they were repainted. And so, what I'm coming to you for at kind of the last minute was I wanted to put a face to a name because I just copied you and I was told that if we want to change the it's to a school zone and reduce the speed limit then it would be helpful
068to have the board support that. So, this is my kind of last minute. I did not really prepare but I said let me let me come and and say my piece. I don't know really where we go from here but I just wanted to let you know that this is me. I'm going to be making some noise and I feel very strongly that these three changes be made. It's not fair to the residents and the children on Mickey Drive and if you've ever tried to make a left there, you will see. I mean buses come down, trucks come down and it's incredibly incredibly dangerous. So, I guess I'm just looking for your support. I don't think anything happens at these, you know, meetings but you will have my, you know, me copying you and being
069annoying on some emails and I don't know how you can provide that support, what kind of format it comes in but if it's something that could be put on the agenda, something that could be considered by the board, I would really appreciate it. The residents of Mickey Drive would really appreciate it and anyone who could potentially be involved in one of these road vehicle accidents would appreciate it. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming. Yeah. Item eight, future meetings and events. Our next regularly scheduled board meeting is on Wednesday, June 3rd, anticipating executive session at 6:00 and then at 6:30 we have our tenured teacher reception and then reconvening to open session at 7:00. On Monday, June 8th at 5:00 we have our audit committee meeting
070and then at 6:00 we have our policy committee meeting here at the high school. So, make sure you have those on your calendars. People have been advised to Um and then on Wednesday, June 17th, we have our um board meeting after that. Um again, anticipating executive session at 6:00 and reconvening to open session at 7:00. Um and then finally, on Saturday, June 27th at 10:00 a.m. at the MVP Arena, we have the class of 2026 graduation. Um we do need to um go back into executive session to continue discussing the superintendent evaluation. Can I get a motion to do so? So moved. Second. All in favor? I. I. Any opposed? Perfect. So, we will do that. Um but otherwise, everyone else is good. And then Oh, yes. You guys are done. Come sign out.