BCSD meet the candidates night

001not a pet or a patty recording in progress foreign we'll start in just a minute in order to allow others to filter in but I'd like to introduce myself I am Patricia Sevilla I am a board member of the legal Women Voters of Albany County and we are in all volunteer organization we are basically a non-partisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and we work to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influence public policy through education and advocacy we frequently hold candidate forums we believe it's best for voters to be educated before casting their votes give it a minute more and then I'm also not a resident of the school district so I have no stake in the outcome we have our timer tonight that is going to show

002basically the warnings that will be given they'll be given a one minute warning a 30 second warning and then a stop as people as the candidates answer their questions so we will have them on screen all the time we have two minutes for opening statements two minutes for answering of questions by each candidate and then we will have two minutes closing statements it's being this is being live streamed and will be available on the Bethlehem School website afterwards for viewing by anyone who missed tonight's session um and I want to thank all the candidates for participating we did draw um actually Lots I'll call it to see the order in which the candidates will speak it turns out that they are in alphabetical order and that will rotate as we go from question to question

003so with that I want to make sure um you understand what the school board is about we they are the board is made up of seven members all our volunteer and they serve three-year terms the terms are staggered so all the board members are never open at the same time tonight we have four candidates buying for three open seats we received roughly 60 questions from the public and we had our volunteers go through combine like items to save time reword them if any you know if anything was needed that's that's minimal at best and what we're going to do is that based on the amount of time we have tonight and the fact that the league has a website called vote411.org that allows all voters to go put in their address and basically see how

004the candidates in their own words have answered our questions so I want to try to stay away from the topics that were addressed by the candidates in vote 411 and would recommend that the voters go and give that a view I'll let you know what the questions are in advance so you know we ought we ask them what do you have to offer your community as a school board member we also asked when confronting challenging budgets ahead where would you target reductions in spending also asked how do you think the school board should handle the expressed concerns of a parent or a Community member about a Class A School library book or a curriculum we ask what should schools do to support the social emotional and learning needs of all students and how could the

005district and measure the impact of Education in the areas of character or diversity equity and inclusion so it's not that we won't touch on those but I will save a lot of questions that came in towards the end if we can if we can touch on them but I'll start with basically um I'll start basically on other topics so that you get a range of views from your um your candidates so as I said we'll have a two-minute opening um then two minutes per question and then we'll do a two-minute closing and random order was chosen so tonight kicking us off um will be Miss Beck followed by Miss dellenbao Dr McNay and then Ms Moriarty so with that I asked to make sure that the candidates go on mute when they're not speaking I

006will prompt them in between and let's watch for our um our timer showing the times and I will turn it over to Ms Beck thank you um good evening first I want to thank the League of Women Voters for moderating this event that's appreciated uh thank you to my fellow candidates Holly Meredith and Ewan for coming out and supporting this event um thanking my community members teachers administrators we'll also support this event we do appreciate all that you've done for our community and do as Miss Sevilla said my name is Christine Beck my family and I have been District residents for the last 22 years my three children Kyle Delaney and Aiden are all proud graduates of BC they went their career through Bethlehem I've been a member of the board of education for the

007last nine years and am currently the vice president of the Board of Education I've served as committee chair for both the audit and facility committee and still do it this time I've previously held the position of board president and I've been volunteering in our district for the last 22 years in a variety of roles PTA Treasurer room parent fundraising chair parent producer of Shakespeare in the high school musicals Lab School parent leader I coached USTA tennis for seven years and have been involved in the bridge to college Mentor program for first-time college students um my friends and family asked me recently of like why do I want to run for a fourth term because they all think I'm relatively crazy for doing it so I took some time to reflect on the question and I

008just came back to the same same answer as um I was raised by a single dad and two really selfless grandparents my dad was a journalist who wrote for our local newspaper The Gazette and my grandmother who at the age of 13 was forced to quit her education and work in the carpet Mills in Amsterdam and my grandfather who was a middle school English teacher who really taught me what empathy and compassion looks like of course it came from a teacher but they instilled in me the importance of public education my grandmother wasn't able to finish school for socioeconomic reasons and to support family and my grandfather on the other hand dedicated his whole life to education thank you your time is up thank you but need to stop you thank you thank you I'll

009start by also thanking the league for organizing the event my name is Holly dellenbaugh and I'm running for re-election to the school board I represented our community on the board for the past six years and I would be honored to continue doing so for another term I'm a writer and editor and an attorney with nearly two decades of experience in both the private and public sector in commercial litigation mediation and emergency preparedness but most importantly I would say I'm a parent I have three children a seventh grader at the middle school a 10th grader at the high school and a bchs graduate with the class of 22. as a result I have a vested interest in making sure that our schools are the best that they can be for all of our students and at

010the same time I also have experience navigating the full K through 12 continuum for the past six years I've been actively engaged on the board I served as the board's vice president for one year and I have served as board president for the past four years I've also served on the board's policy committee for all six years the strategic planning committee and the district's covid response team the last three years have been challenging ones as we've tackled the hurdles caused by covid in its aftermath I'm running again because I don't feel like my work on the board is done we depend on our schools not just for learning but for community and I want to be a true part of maintaining our District's high level of Excellence while we deal with any challenges that arise

011in the next few years I want to continue to use my leadership advocacy and communication skills on behalf of our district and I truly believe that my experience on and off the board will be an asset to our community thank you thank you next we will hear from Dr McNay thanks very much I'd like other thanks and for organizing this I want to thank also you know Holly Christine motive for your service on the board you know the schools are excellent I know it's why many of us moved here and I really want to thank you for the time you put in I also want to thank all folks in the public who submitted questions for this you know we have 60 Questions submitted I really appreciate the time to get involved and make that

012effort one of the things I'd really like to achieve on the board is to get more communication between you know the school district residents and the board itself I think it's a great start with that level of Engagement so I've been an educator for you know more than 20 years now right now I'm a social professor of neuroscience at the University of Albany while I've been there I've been fortunate to work with some some great students I've had more than 30 awards for excellence in teaching in student mentoring and for student research Excellence so that's a university State national couple of international Awards um my scientific expertise is in brain and mental health so another focus of mine that I'd like to bring to the board is better focus on making sure we are proactive

013about looking at student mental health um the pandemic obviously had a lot of students hard we really need to make sure we're taking care of our kids so and then one non-incumbent what I'd like to bring is a teachers and Educators perspective a level of scientific expertise in really relevant areas right I work on the Neuroscience of learning for instance and a data-driven approach so I'd really like to see a little more thought about what the metrics are for policy decisions both going into and then post decision did it work how do we measure what whether it worked what are our metrics here and then communication as I said I'd like to see more involvement with the students a lot of the high school students have said they don't feel they're getting the representation they'd

014like I'd really like it to be that the board is a place where you can get information easily it's very responsive and so you know those are some of the things I'd like to see improved I think the board's been doing a pretty good job in many ways I think the schools have been delightful our two sons have had a great time in Bethlehem thanks again for listening to me and to all of us this evening thank you and we'll hear from our last candidate Ms Moriarty thank you Patricia and the League of Women Voters for arranging this event hello my name is Meredith Moriarty and I would be honored to have your vote to sit on the board of education at Bethlehem Central School District I grew up in Bethlehem I attended hemogram Elementary

015and I graduated from Brooklyn Central High School now my three children attend here on next year I'll have kids in the high school middle school and at Ellesmere I've been serving this community by sitting on the board since 2017. I'm running for a seat on the school board because I care about our school district I want to ensure that it's a safe and supportive environment that provides a true education for our students and encourages Innovative teaching provides our community with the value that comes along with having a top-notch school I am an attorney I have experience in negotiation between parties with opposing news finding solutions to complex problems and engaging in the critical analysis of complicated contracts and documents and advocating for my position these are all skills that I've utilized in my tenure on

016the school board um I previously also worked as an attorney for the child um in custody dispense um that experience taught me that when adults make decisions that directly affect children that the voices of those children should be heard and respected um and I would like to bring that Viewpoint to the school board for the last six years I've done my best to listen to community feedback and respect those whose experiences are different than my own um tonight I'm asking for your vote so I can continue serving the community thank you thank you candidates for those opening remarks I failed to mention to you previously but wanted you to know you do not need to use the full two minutes in answering questions it's up to you to decide you can certainly pass at any

017point if you don't want to use the full two minutes that's not a problem so I just want to make sure that was clear okay we're going to start our questions now and with the rotation of order Ms dellenbaugh would go first and the question we have and I will repeat the question if you guys want in between just ask me to but the first question is given the increase in threats and shootings occurring at elementary schools across the county of the country what are your thoughts on getting a full time school resource officer permanently assigned to Bethlehem schools so we have two sros in the district they're stationed at the high school and the middle school during the day during the days that schools are in session but they do serve all of the

018buildings in the district um we have a good working relationship with the town and with the sros and our buildings um and we are fortunate um to be in that position you know some um as as you ask um about sros in every Elementary School building it's important to remember that sros are Town employees and full-time police officers outside of the school year so it would be challenging for the town to support the addition of five more full-time police officers our current sros do work with our elementary schools and they collaborate with the staff and the safety teams in all of our buildings um and you know there are in addition to SRO presence there are a lot of other school safety measures that the district has put into place for example the Raptor screening

019process for visitors where visitors access the access bill buildings from one lock point of entry and we have security cameras in all of our school buildings and we've implemented a one-button dialing of 9-1-1 from all classroom phones and as part of this um the budget for next year we're looking to install an invigilon door monitoring system which would send a notification when doors to the outside are left open whether intentionally or unintentionally um and uh so I think you know the school safety um uh discussion involves more than just sros and I think there needs to be an awareness of the roles that sros play um in the schools and how they tie in with uh the other pieces thank you thank you Dr McKnight you're up next thanks as Holly mentioned this is you

020know a question that in fact goes beyond just the board you know those sros aren't all employees they're not School District employees those are police officers and so the town needs to be involved in that conversation um I think it's definitely something that should be a topic of continuous conversation between the school district and the town I know I originally spoke with you know David Van Louvin who's the town supervisor one of the things they're really interested in doing is having you know all the sros wear cameras and get a better record of their activity I think there's a really strong interest from the town in doing whatever they can to help support student safety I was going to refer to the door alert system that Holly brought up I think having a system that

021is proactive about making sure the buildings are secure is a really good step I think having those alerts that say Hey Somebody went to tennis practice and now the back door of this building is open particularly during the school day you know when you don't want to have unregulated access outside the school day students are coming and going for a variety of reasons anything that gives you more information more data on that has to be really good I think it's worth noting and how he touched on this also student safety isn't just about guns you know one of the things that all the students are facing right now particularly in the middle and high schools but throughout the district there are risks from for instance vaping you know other drug potential use this should be

022a integrated student safety policy and it doesn't stop there you know it goes to brain health it goes to mental health but building the community I think is a really important part of this so involving the community in the discussion what does the community think would be the best most effective measures it's very likely we have you know members of the community that have expertise in safety I know we certainly have police officers those should be brought into this conversation as well but the short answer is we don't necessarily need more sros right now that isn't just a board decision but I think some of the measures that are being taken particularly The increased building security increased alerts for student visitors and adult visitors there's both excellent first steps thank you Moriarty your New York

023I think um you know school safety is obviously at the top of everyone's mind um daily um and so those concerns are on the top of the board's mind as well um our two School uh resource officers as Holly stated are um currently stationed at the high school and the middle school but they do also work with all of our elementary schools I do not think at this point it'd be it is necessary or useful to have those um sros established at each of the elementary schools full-time um they do a lot of work with our elementary schools have very tight relationships with the elementary schools and I'm confident that they can deal with issues as they arise in the elementary schools our bond project does have a lot of school safety um actors in

024it including that um the door system that was discussed by them pardoned all the um buildings including the elementary school so that it is impossible to enter the front door without being buzzed through the front office first um also you know school safety does not just have to do with you know guns or or anything like that but also we have addressed school safety and reproductive mental health we're dealing with for um mental health issues our students also our counseling departments have presented more programs on healthy relationships and sexual and misconduct prevention um thank you thank you very much Ms Beck sorry you're on mute let's reset you think you sorry about that I think it comes down to do we have a good safety plan in place and that's one thing Bethlehem really does

025well they do a lot of the drills that are required mandated above and beyond to make sure we have adequate plans in place and the goals of the sros right now are in place with the Bethlehem police department to meet those objectives and by adding additional sros it's not going to add more value or I think for some it might give a false sense of security but again there's the one button dialing we have the Vigilant door monitoring system going into place we also as part of the bond upgraded some of the security systems and as of right now there doesn't seem to be an additional need but I understand the perspective and the concern because there's so much awareness around school safety gun shootings every other day on on the news and it's scary

026very so I get that from a parent perspective and I was just down in DC visiting my son and there was a shooting there and it it doesn't go away just because they're not in school it's everywhere but adding an additional SRO I don't think is going to address that situation should it occur but having a good response plan when which is what the district does thank you on to question number two this one will start with Dr McNay what is your position on the use of e-learning tools such as I ready which is noted as used for exercise not as a diagnostic tool as well as flocabulary Ed puzzle and BrainPOP in the elementary and middle school do you think the Reliance on apps as teaching tools is too much too little or just

027right please speak to the ratio of time for Teacher class interaction and direct instruction versus time spent that screens with e-learning apps thanks I think one of the assumptions maybe in the question might be a little off because I think that all the teachers if you ask them would say we'd love to spend as much one-on-one time with all of our students so one of the things that some of these e-learning tools do allow is to have many of the students focus on one task and then free up in many ways that one-on-one time so the teacher can actually use them well to increase the amount of individual attention students get uh I liked the comment in the question about using these as tools rather than as necessarily measures or metrics I think performance on

028some of the tasks is definitely a useful Baseline so The Irate is for instance you take these multiple times and because the test is effectively reproducible and it's been validated to give a constant difficulty of test you can assess student progress and I think that assessment part is really really important so in terms of value added I think some of those e-tools are really good in giving us more data making sure students are all being brought along one of the things that's really important is making sure that all students are being brought along so you don't just pay attention necessarily to those who are loudest or those who are doing best or even sometimes those that are really cutting up and causing trouble you need to make sure that all the students are given the

029Excellence they need so that said do we want our students spending even more time they already are on their phones on a screen no we don't right so you want to minimize this and make it part of an integrated plan the teachers are great at this honestly the pedagogy can take advantage of the wide variety of electronic resources available it's something I do in my own classroom you can assign readings you can assign interactive projects and students can work on those and in some ways you can almost flip the classroom you can build on that expertise and that knowledge they've gained and then go deeper in the one-on-one personal time so I think the real question is you know left to the teachers I think they would do excellent job of planning those teaching plans

030and curricula I don't think there is too heavy a resource I think it takes appropriate advantage of the wide variety of information tools available um not something that concerns me I think it's being well done in the district right now thank you okay Ms Moriarty your answer on the question thank you um first in terms of our youngest Learners I come from a place where I absolutely would want to minimize screens for our youngest Learners our kindergartner first graders I think it's very important that they have as many learning through interactive play and learning through um physical manipulation Etc um I do recommend that there certainly is a time and place for a lot of these educational apps um but I think the question always comes back to what value does it bring is it

031um being used um so could it be done in the same way without the screen in the same way without the screen then it should be done without the screen however there are certainly some some um apps and uh Educational Tools on screens that do bring a whole new way to look at something and if that's the case um should definitely see the value in that um one thing I think was really interesting in one of our recent board meetings um there was a group of elementary school students who talked about they had written in their persuasive writing um they had written about the value of early ready and whether or not they enjoyed it or didn't enjoy it what they wanted to change from it and I think we really should listen to those

032student voices they're the ones who are doing it certainly some aspects of already children uh heard a lot of feedback that children do not enjoy and it it takes away from so much of them but also some of these ad puzzles um do bring a lot of fun to the classroom and teachers should be able to bring that fun and excitement in as well certainly I think the ratio of those um fun and exciting Ed puzzles where you know maybe you build a robot if you answer enough questions right um it should be minimized to the point where they are seen as a fun treat um but certainly they have a role in the classroom and exciting children thank you thank you very much and now we'll move to Miss Ms Beck on this topic

033hi I think there's a time and a place for the e-learning it definitely has its benefits and especially with the generations that are coming through the district online is is a lot of the way of the world now and they are going to need those skills and tools and learning e-learning happens in the workplace it offers convenience and flexibility can in some instances give more options however you know there there's a downside to it you know kids already feel isolated um so do we want to promote that even more there's technical issues uh that can occur with like submitting things through e-learning apps more screen time where you know our focus is on on reducing screen time so it has to be a good balance and a good mix of both I think at the

034end of the day though when you're talking about iready I think teacher assessments are still the most valuable too school being able to observe a student in a classroom is going to be on my high on my list over I ready any day and and I agree that students definitely need to be involved in some of the decisions um involving their academic careers thank you Ms dylanball you know I would agree with Meredith that particularly for our K to Learners I am strongly in favor of minimizing screen time and in our in our older classes I think it's about finding a balance students should not be being taught by videos um that that a video cannot replace the relationship between the in-person relationship between a student and their teacher and apps and computers are not

035replacements for teachers student interaction with teachers is key um and I think there are a lot of great learning tools particularly coming out of covid you know there was um a lot more you know Reliance on using apps using Electronics things that were necessary at that time but at this point I think we need to step back and make sure that the e-learning tools that we're using that we're using them for a good reason um that you know it's not just a crutch that it's something that is supporting um the learning that is taking place in the classroom with assessment tools like iready I think one of the things that's important is to for the district to continually evaluate how we're using it and the data that we are getting from the tool because if

036the data starts to become um insufficient or it's not helping us evaluate where the kids in our classes are then maybe we need to look at a different solution but at the end of the day I mean it really it's about finding a balance and one of the things that I think is key as a board member is to support professional development for our teachers on effective use of technology in the classroom so that's being used in the right way thank you very much okay we're on to question number three and this one will begin with Ms Moriarty starting so the question is what will you do to prioritize the coursework and skills development that prepare students for the future thank you um I think this is a really good question because we have to

037ask ourselves what is the purpose of Education why are we going through this process what do we want our children who come out of our schools to be able to do um certainly we have um a wonderful little CTE program where we have classes in which children can take um classes in um everything from auto mechanics to hairdressing to culinary to a wide variety of courses and I think those are all um really wonderful programs that need to be valued and we really need to um encourage more students to take part in those CTE programs because a lot of children really would benefit from working in their with their hands working in other capacities um so I think we need to do a little better job of advertising that program and answering parents questions answering

038students questions as they're getting ready to choose whether or not they want to move towards those programs in terms of other coursework we have a tremendous amount of um forces in computers and other technology courses that our students have been really enthusiastic about taking um to the point where oftentimes they just can't get in as many passes as they want to get in in those um particular courses so I think that it would be very helpful if we could um use our counseling programs our guidance counselors to help guide students in order to take the correct um we have of coursework in order to get to the point where they want to get to to make sure that they can't get in all the courses that they want to take thank you thank you very

039much same question for Ms Beck sure I I think Bethlehem they're doing that the district is gearing students to have the right skills and coursework to enter College the workforce we have tons of programming and curriculum options for students whether um you know it's art or music but we are doing other things to gear students to be prepared with the appropriate skills such as our social emotional learning that's being done in the elementary levels now we have care teams that help students we have a social worker guidance counselor psychologists care teams in the middle school that address students individual needs and I think we're doing all the right things we're teaching them how to be good citizens how to be engaged um and providing those those classes that will allow them to be be in

040the careers that they want to go into or to prepare themselves for college um I I think that's one of the things we do we're great at we're really great at offerings and our students definitely benefit from them foreign Bell I think the answer to this question in part might depend on what you think the future looks like um and I think uh different people are going to have different answers to that um myself I think that some of the skills that we've been teaching all along in our in our courses like you know Reading Writing um our math skills those are always going to be important um but you know I do recognize I think um there are areas that uh with respect to sort of the uh with the future um and being

041sort of career ready that uh that we can continue to advance for our students for our older students I think we can um you know as Meredith mentioned uh continuing to support some of the uh the CTE programs um through BOCES and encouraging more collaboration with our business Community um such as mentorships and internships um that would promote knowledge in those areas and to um just to grow that relationship at the same time at the elementary level some of the things that we're already doing such as providing enrichment opportunities with the use of robotics kits that allow for some exposure to problem solving and critical thinking or at the middle school continuing to support programming enrichment programming like Odyssey of the Mind where kids are getting again the problem solving and critical thinking those are

042skills that will be valuable no matter where life takes our students thank you very much we're on to our next question um excuse me oh nope I am sorry you are correct Dr McNay your chance to answer this question thanks appreciate it um and I really like this question it's something I actually address in you know reasonable length some people would say too much length on my website if you go to unmcnay.com there's a bunch of discussion and thoughts about how we should improve the district and what the options are I'd encourage the other candidates to create websites also I think that's a really useful tool for communicating thoughts and opinions um this is an area where I think there's definitely a need for improvement so something I bring to the board is you know

043I have a bunch of expertise more than 20 years now working with really high achieving undergraduate and graduate students so I work in college admissions I've got the expertise on how you create and Foster that level of Excellence that many of our students are seeking to achieve it shouldn't just be college right so that's where a lot of my focus has been but I think one thing I've heard from parents a lot as I've been discussing in preparation for this run the students who want to hand more Hands-On learning style maybe aren't getting that level of support So Bethlehem has been really good at supporting High academic achievement and there's a wide variety of classes there's a couple other people mentioned in CTE we have a great Capital District BOCES but it's not always the

044best supported by you know the school district maybe it's certainly not the easiest to take advantage of my own eldest son took a BOCES class in theater art Tech and music we had to arrange for Ubers in many cases because there was no transport available there were there were several obstacles in the way of his being able to do that and you know many students just wouldn't have that option so we need to make those classes not only available in theory but available in practice there's a lot of emphasis that could be going on to validate all of those alternative career tracks right so not just the academics the College Bound but also the Hands-On we can also get more science research so I get a lot of students and as do my colleagues at

045your Albany from other high schools looking to do research mentorships that hasn't been the case from Bethlehem the opportunity is there it's not being taken advantage of yet so I don't think we're doing everything great right now I think there are definitely some ways here that we can support Excellence for all the students um I Echo some of the comments that we can get maybe accelerated classes even at the elementary level in some of the basic skills reading math and so on communication is key thanks thank you very much and sorry about not keeping you return appropriately no worries we're on to question a question and this one will begin with Ms Beck last year Bethlehem Central School District hired Leticia J Ellis Williams as the first diversity equity and inclusion officer please share your

046thoughts on the role of this position and introducing Dei as a part of the culture and curriculum in our schools well I think hiring Dr Ellis Williams was a good decision for the district I think it's important that we as a district are teaching for diversity inclusion and equity uh making sure that we understand the difference differences with individuals and celebrate them in the classroom understanding what it means to be inclusive making students feel like they belong and that there's a community and that can look differently to everybody and teaching for equity and making sure we have appropriate um I'm going to use this as an example grading practices so they aren't disadvantaged to any one uh group of students I think she's done a tremendous job with uh creating a baseline talking to key

047stakeholders getting information from different administrators from teachers observing our school culture and climate because we definitely need to get better and she's uncovering those things that you just don't know until till you know them and once you know them you need to get better and and this is an area that Bethlehem definitely needs to get better and she's creating measurements to both qualitative and quantitative so we can assess how we're doing it it's a evolving area but we are taking those steps in the right direction and we're going to make sure that we're funding Dei activities appropriately that we're providing appropriate collections to represent our student body and I think it was a good investment from the district and I look forward to seeing to what we do with it next um I'll start by

048saying that you know we do need to have culturally responsive education um I feel strongly that we need education that's grounded in a view of learning where diversity is recognized and regarded as an asset for teaching and learning and we need to create a welcoming and inclusive environment and curriculum and promote opportunities that will help all of our students thrive and we need to elevate historically marginalized voices when we can I supported hiring our district director of Dei because I support the district's work to improve the equity and cultural proficiency and responsiveness in the district 7 schools um you know it is important though to note that no one person in a district owns diversity equity and inclusion um and it is something that everybody is responsible for you know we do need to identify

049imbalances so that we can um continue to move forward maybe looking at languages language and lessons and classroom discussions you know sometimes changes that seem small um and actions that seem small can be important such as you know updating our policies or our code of conduct with gender neutral language or addressing gender equity in our address code or promoting the use of restorative justice sometimes it's supporting an audit of our libraries to make sure that they have a balanced and diverse collection of material um and working on reviewing our curriculum and also developing Equitable hiring and promotion practices but I think the most important thing that that we can do is to create an environment where feedback is well practiced and perceived as positive and not as a negative thank you so much Dr McNay

050your turn on this question thanks I think a couple of the points have been touched on are really good ones um in particular Holly's point right Dei is not the responsibility of one officer Di has to be something that's kept in mind all the time and honestly in contrast to Christine I think this is actually an area of strength right now for bcsd I've been hugely impressed with the student body um the level of acceptance just inspires me a lot of the time right I see students really just genuinely not caring whether their friends are black or white male or female transist just doesn't doesn't appear to be an issue in the same way it has been for many previous generations and that really gives me a lot of Hope um how can we improve

051that how can we build on it so the first thing you do is listen to the students right the association for school curriculum development they Define equity as simply meeting young people where they are as they are and I think this is really important you've got to listen to the students and one of the things not to feed the gong too much I'd really like the school board to get more student input ideally if we can create an official student rep to the board that'd be really great this kind of thing would be the area where they could play A Part so the whole school district has to be willing to be uncomfortable if necessary right this comes back to the previous question in some ways you create Equity by making sure that you have

052Excellence available for all students um and then from the top down you've got to be proactive in assuring students that the school is a place of support whatever their needs are mental health physical health career skills right that example has to come from the top down every day I've been especially impressed with my time in the middle school for instance I think Mike Klugman has a character development program that is just outstanding and I've really enjoyed watching the students respond to that and Elevate themselves and then build that peer education so I think there's a whole lot of good going on here I think if we have an officer who can help support put in place metrics right gather more data on where there might be a need for further Improvement that can only help

053we've got to provide the resources for proactive counseling and peer support we've got to treat the students with respect and listen to them on this issue we know an awful lot there are a lot of data about how students learn best across a wide spectrum of learning needs and how you know prior history can be used to build excellence in learning for all those students we should do that thank you very much Miss Moriarty you're a mute sorry about that um I was a member of the um interview uh committee when we were hiring uh candidates for this position and in that role we had a lot of discussions about what we really wanted to see this role um as and as Holly mentioned I think the most important aspect of it is that um

054Dr Ellis Williams is not the only person dealing with Dei issues and the entire um di program should not be put on her shoulders I think her role is to help educate and support all of us within the school district in um dealing with Dei issues since Dr Ellis Williams started we as a board asked her to examine a tremendous amount of uh School data so that we can have an accurate accounting on where we are and also the metrics so that we can measure our progress and she has presented that data to the board um the data includes things like graduation rates for different subgroups discipline rates um and the amount of special education that that students are getting I'm looking at those subgroups within our population determine um whether or not there are

055Trends and the impact of any new initiatives going on in the future I think you know her um ability to not only deal with the data but also to deal with the people um has been tremendous in our in our school district and um I'm really excited to see where where the role goes in coming years thank you very much we're on question number five and this one will start with Miss Dillon Bell um the question is the school board passed what was noted in the questions received as a controversial plan to not allow cell phones in the high school implementing Yonder where cell phone is locked in a pouch during the day what is your position on limiting cell phone use in the high school and your thoughts on supporting students who may have

056a need to have contact with family when they have immediate mental health needs foreign so I do support the administration's recommendation to implement the Yonder patch pouches at the high school um you know we have tried uh using sleeves in the classroom we have tried um asking students to keep their phones in their backpacks and it's been unsuccessful um and it seems as if it's placed a heavy burden on our classroom teachers um with reports of impact on instruction phones are causing disciplinary issues at the high school and there's also you know the mental health aspect of being constantly attached to a cell phone in the district climate survey we've seen increased reports of students feeling lonely which aligns with our Nationwide reports of mental health issues among teenagers um and you know we really

057we want our students to be engaged throughout the day not just during class but also when they see each other in the hall and um and during lunch um you know I did have questions myself about this but I researched reports about The implementation of Yonder in other school districts and those schools have seen um a decrease in disciplinary referrals for Defiance for disrespect and they've seen most importantly an increase in students interacting with each other and an increase in student engagement and reports from students at those schools have been have been very positive we do need to make sure that the district is being responsive to parent concerns and communicating Solutions such as with respect to students that might need to reach a parent or somebody else during the day and they at the

058high school there is the ability for students to go to the counseling office to go to the main office if needed students at the high school are able to email their parents or Guardians outside of school unlike at the elementary and middle school that's available to our high school students um and you know we need to check this stop you I apologize but time is up okay Dr McNay I think we were all expecting this question um I spoke about this actually at a recent school board um I pointed out that you know the recommendation from for instance the American Psychological Association is not to use the lock pouches that there are other mechanisms um both psychological and physical so simply a pouch that doesn't lock a velcro pouch where it's really obvious if you're

059rigging it open it's very loud but it doesn't put that phone completely out of reach for the students was found to have much less negative impact on the student's mental health so these under pouches are actually associated in some cases with an increase in stress in many students cases a loss of support system right if your support system during the day is to text a buddy across the school as you're walking between classes now you can't do that so several parents at the same board meeting brought up similar concerns I think part of the issue here and a big part is the lack of data lack of metrics So I listened to the presentation from our assistant superintendent there was Zero data presented on whether these pouches have been useful in other schools there are

060a couple of anecdotes there are no good peer-reviewed studies the only one that I found in my review of literature doesn't support Yonder pouches so I'd really like to see a better plan databased for why this particular measure I'd like to see a better plan for Gathering data on their effectiveness okay if these are introduced in the fall semester how do we know whether they work what are our metrics going to be how are we going to define success and as far as I can tell none of that's in place right now um so you don't want to take away a support system that many students are using particularly post pandemic without being really certain that you know are we going to be causing more harm than good is this going to be effective why

061isn't the current sleep system being enforced or sufficient again no data yet so when we have a plan that's not necessarily in line with expert recommendations and it doesn't appear to have the necessary data then we shouldn't be implementing at least yet maybe it'll turn out to be the right thing we don't know and we should know lastly there's a problematic Association Yonder in particular so that you know the association with Dave Chappelle the comedian who wants not to be recorded saying hateful and intolerant things if you talk to the students they are literally in tears about this they feel very ignored and very oppressed in some cases at having that Association imposed on them from above so not yet certainly and maybe not at all thank you okay we're on to Ms Moriarty your

062thoughts on the matter thanks um the CDC recently released a study that showed alarmingly High rates of anxiety depression and Suicidal Thoughts especially among girls in lgbtq youth that one of the best ways to combat these destructive feelings is through a feeling of connectedness and community now the cell phone used in class is um the cell phone used between classes and at lunchtime is a bar to more in-person interaction which is where we get the communication the community and the connectedness but the current system of some forms we used within each classroom it puts the burden of policing the devices on the teacher every single class um every single every single day um I believe that the functions are the best way to remove the distractions from the academic and social life without for burdening

063teachers um this will be a tough adjustment for some and there's going to be some students who try to get around it um I have arrests in meetings the district to ensure that there are more supports in place during this transition including more drop-in time with counselors for those who are going to feel anxious without their small phones um informing students and families about the different ways to communicate during the day including email providing more activities during free periods to help students learn how to reconnect with each other um Mr domel talked about one of the schools that he um went to go visit that put in either an air hockey table or foosball table um to bring in some more activities kids are excited about to you know get people back into uh learning

064how to interact with one another um I think the district has done its due diligence it's gone to see these systems in practice it's taken students to see the systems in practice um we've talked to administrations that have gone through this transition thank you thank you so much okay and finally Ms Beck on this topic sure I mean there's there's no question that both adults and students are struggling with the addiction of cell phone and the effects that it's having on academic learning and focus in the classroom I'll be the first one to admit uh when the cell phone policy came out for middle schoolers I wasn't sure the success of it because I did think anxiety was going to play in because they didn't have access to their cell phones and um but but

065I was wrong I was absolutely wrong it was successful at the middle school and the district did its due diligence we got students involved they went to a couple of schools they observed other students using the pouches they got the pros and cons I believe the Senate was involved in the discussions so we had communication effective communication with our students um and it's not all about data observing uh the use of them and talking and discussing with peers is uh just as uh good of a measurement if anything in the beginning anyway and they did show that they had a decrease in mental health referrals um some studies are showing increased participation in co-curriculars making sure that we measure it though it is important but it's not all quantitative it can be qualitative measurements and

066there's also a factor that we aren't recognizing is how this is playing portraying into the business World some of the the students who go into the workforce after they graduate they don't know cell phone etiquette keep your phones in your pocket when you're in a business meeting communication is lacking it's very evident that there's a significant impact on our students coming out of high school and going into college but on on a from a different perspective I also have two kids um one that would have needed a phone for anxiety and one who's a diabetic and as long as there's a plan in place not to you know Point them out or identify them I think that's important and also teaching students structure and guidance and self-regulation if we don't have that then yes Hot

067Topic definitely Hot Topic okay we're on to the next question and Dr McNay will start on this one so the district suspended the use of the RTI math enrichment and accelerated math programs in the elementary schools during the pandemic and it has not yet been restored both parents and as well as teachers have voiced concerns about this give your thoughts on this including restoring this during school hours as opposed to after school and weekends so the short answer this is yeah we certainly should if we can and I think we can right this is about offering the widest range of opportunities it's something that was very much appreciated welcomed and had benefits for the students that were enrolled in it previously so in terms of the questions we've had this evening this is actually an

068easier one for me to answer um I'm gonna borrow for a few seconds then one thing that Christine mentioned on the previous question I think self-responsibility for students is actually really important and putting a locked device you shall not use this teaches exactly the wrong lesson you want students to learn to be self-regulating in their cell phone use sorry back to this question I think that the accelerated options for basic skills like math and reading definitely should be taking advantage of wherever they can and I think that's true not just in the current you know accelerated math double accelerated math but if we have the student demand and the demographics we should be trying to implement that wherever possible so to meet as many students as we can at the level that best meets their

069needs that isn't always you know in practical sense it's possible you can't always have an infinite number of classes in every topic you know for all the student groups but yeah definitely across the you know elementary schools we should be trying to implement something that takes advantage of those who show a particular aptitude in given subjects as early as possible and build on that because that's how you get them to the point where they're excelling in Middle School excelling in high school and you're keeping them engaged otherwise you run the risk of losing those students and actually having them you know not get the greatest benefit out of the great school system here because you lose them early on and perhaps they don't feel challenged so do I think this was a great program absolutely

070do do I think we can um attempt to restore it wherever possible I do I think there's time for that within the school day there's going to need to be some interesting conversations about how we gather those students together across the different elementary schools but I'm sure we can address that with you know more communication with the community and with the students thank you very much it's Moriarty give me dude sorry um I understand these concerns I also uh was concerned when I heard that math enrichment was not being um put back into place after covid but I have listened to the administration's um explanation of why they made those um decisions and I do support that uh essentially when uh we've had to move the classrooms around because of covid restrictions we we found

071that we needed much smaller classrooms therefore we had to move some of those teachers into bathrooms so that we could um have a much smaller size classroom those teachers reported that they could um deal with much more differentiation in their uh teaching of math because there's their classrooms were much much smaller um and rather than pulling children out once a week to give them a challenge those teachers are able to different differentiate within the classroom this benefits all the smaller size of the classroom benefits all students within the classroom and all subjects not just math and allows them to differentiate um to help those children who are struggling as well um as far as a kind of a related topic was the question of whether or not um fifth grade math students should be accelerated

072in math previous to covid we had fifth grade fifth graders um accelerating now we are accelerating in sixth grade um I do think um once again I was questioning that but I listened to the administration's um discussion of it and I support that because when the acceleration move is moved in fifth grade one of the criteria should be accelerated had to do with class size you know how many kids can we fit into a classroom um when now it's possible actually to accelerate more uh students now that we're making that choice in the sixth grade thank you very much um Ms Beck district has um the duty to to ensure that students who are excelled are challenged they're engaged they're enriched they're empowered to excel at whatever level they're at and I know there has

073been some changes to the MTS s program we put a lot of resources into the reading due to the pandemic and getting students up up to speed with that so I I do think at some point we need to to reassess um the math component of the mtss for both a extra help perspective and from a enriched perspective but I think the teachers right now any student that wants to be challenged are providing those opportunities to do so in the classroom and working with them individually you know it's difficult we are a public school district trying to meet the needs of all students and we've gone through some very difficult times and I think the most important thing that we need to do is just make sure those opportunities to be engaged and challenged are

074existing and from what I understand um they are if they're not challenging to the where they need to be then that's a discussion between either the mass supervisor or the teacher directly to say hey this isn't enough for my child and also sometimes we just need to be cognizant of change and that we're going to get there and there are ways to do that and we're working on them every day thank you very much Miss stellenbaugh I I think we need to we definitely need to make sure that we are providing meaningful and rigorous learning experiences for all of our elementary school students um and that we are helping those students that need some extra help um the smaller class sizes that we've we've had which are an average I think of about 18 students

075have allowed for more individualization in class whether that's on the enrichment side or on the side of remedial instruction one of the things I think it's important for the board to do is to continue to get provide the district with resources so that it can give teachers the resources they need if they so that they can do that differentiation and individualized instruction um you know perhaps that means some professional development for the teachers so that they can have tools at their disposal to be able to effectuate that in their classroom um you know one of the things that um that I think is important to remember is that you know even though you know a name may have changed for a program components of the program can still exist um so for example um the

076old ChalleNGe Program I used to include some um exposure to you know uh digital um issues or and computer science and now because our new standards include digital fluency and computer science all students are having a chance to be exposed to those areas which in many ways is a more Equitable situation in the same way that giving more students a chance to accelerate math in Middle School not being limited by capacity at the fifth grade level I think is a is a good solution um and you know little changes like the you know the current math program that incorporates um some of the the Tang method allows for some enrichment in the math curriculum in the classroom thank you thank you very much okay we're on to our seventh question and this one will begin

077with Miss Ms Moriarty okay the district has not implemented later start times for the high school due to Transportation challenges however research supports that later start times because of significant because there are significant health benefits for high schoolers do you support later support do you can support later start times blah blah blah blah let me start this whole question again guys I'm not doing it very well I want to start from the beginning the district has not implemented later start times for the high school due to Transportation challenges however research supports the latest start times because of the significant health benefits for high schoolers do you support later start times and if so do you have a proposal for how to make this happen and again we start with Ms Moriarty I fully support the

078recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics about Shifting the the start time at high school to a later start time the science is clear as children grow into adolescence there's these sleep cycles do change um as a board we did empower the transportation department to change the entire way that it transported students um in order to allow the high school to start later um it did work and we did see the benefits students saw the benefits teachers saw the benefits families sought benefits um unfortunately with the bus driver shortage we can no longer sustain that two-tiered model for transporting students as a board extensively reviewed every possible option before getting the high school students there at a later time trying a three-tier system unfortunately none of the options were viable they involved you know the

079prospects of kindergarteners meeting at bus stops so early that it was still dark out or in middle school I'm not getting out until four o'clock or having no way to transport students who needed to stay after school for activities or extra help um so I would support the original plan of a tutored system um being Implement as soon as we have enough drivers um in terms of a plan for um making that happen um the board has encouraged the growth and retention of the transportation department by increasing driver pay we've offered more incentives including um day training uh We've allocated more resources into um we're going to be having a new diplomatic Specialists and now we've added resources for new technology that make routing bus routing more efficient so that fewer drivers are needed um

080hopefully as these changes um bus drivers and we kind of reduce that need for routing that would enable us to start school later thank you um I believe the next one up on this is Ms Beck we spent um a lot a lot of time in energy and efforts we had a lot of stakeholders involved in determining if start school later was a viable option um I think we spent the better part of two years and it finally got adopted and again we were able to provide a three-tiered bus system that would allow the high schoolers to arrive at 8 A.M good feedback from the students regarding that they felt like it was making a difference covet happened we had a serious bus driver shortage we had never been able to get back up to

081those levels and we don't see it anytime soon there's no argument about the science I'm certainly not going to argue that and what I believe we have looked at a variety of options but when the committee was originally formed you know they they found a solution with the three-tiered bus system but since that's no longer an option I think if we really are seriously going to consider it and be committed to it then we're going to have to reconvene with the stakeholders again to look at the other issues that are impacting our inability to do that which is after school um help the times sport time start times Child Care needs contractual issues there are a variety of obstacles and roadblocks affecting start school later without the ability to have a three-tiered bus system and

082we have to determine do those uh do the disadvantages of starting school later outweigh the benefit and I don't think those conversations have really been had in a way that the original committee did and we would need to examine it closer if we are as committed as we once were thank you very much and with that I think we're up to Ms dellenbell I have a teenager in my house so I certainly see firsthand every school day the impact of having an early start time I was absolutely thrilled when we were able to move the start time at the high school even just to 8 A.M during the 2020-2021 school year and I was disappointed when we had to revert to an earlier start time because I do think even that half an hour makes

083a big difference um and I fully recognize that a later start time better aligns with research about the need for sleep for teenagers however at the same time I am fully aware of all the Practical issues of why we had to revert to the earlier start time many of which Meredith and Christine have already discussed I mean the the bus driver shortage it's not just in Bethlehem it's Nationwide there are just Nationwide there's a dearth of people who are getting the right CDL license and then on top of that have the qualifications to drive a bus um so we have I think the last time I checked about 20 fewer bus drivers um then we had when we implemented this plan um which makes a two-tiered busing system impossible um last year we you know

084had a lot of conversations about moving the start times of the different building levels around which I know in addition to impacting our students and families it also impacts our teachers um and all those different constituencies had thoughts and opinions about the impact of making those changes we also looked at walking distances whether if we increased some walking distances at um for different building levels we could um shrink some of the the bus routes or consolidate them and that also had challenges thank you very much Dr McNair thanks I was actually you know I it was a battle that was won and I think we all agree that it was a fight worth having you know the data are really clear so I was part of the start school later campaign um I was actually

085one of the two Expo speakers so Mitch Earlywine Dr Mitch early one and I gave science presentations to the community and to the teachers on the data regarding latest Art School times particularly for teenagers and as you've heard of it the data are really clear right it's actually a biological change that happens in the teenage adolescent brain circadian rhythms do shift and so this plays into the whole you know across the day scheduling one of the problems we touched on briefly with phones was that the biggest danger actually is late at night so reducing phone use during the day is one thing but the most important time if you look at the recommendations from the American Psychological Association American Pediatric Association is he one of those use late at night that's the critical part and

086that plays into getting enough sleep with a later Hearts High School time so we all agree on the objective honestly I appreciate the district's effort on this I think it's been a lot of good work put in by all you married with Christine the rest of the board on trying to find ways to accommodate that practically the shortage of bus drivers is a real thing um if you've looked at the attempts to hire more bus drivers there have been significant increases in wages offered there's been a lot of flexibility the district hasn't been able to recruit enough but I don't genuinely can add some for lack of trying I think there's been a lot of hard work put into this the start school later campaign nationally does have some alternative thoughts that may be worth

087considering so you can do some work integrating with perhaps the city bus system a lot of places have managed to get high school students to take some buses from the city when possible which reduces the load on school buses themselves you can integrate across districts perhaps but while the answer to the question is yes we should definitely start high school later I totally appreciate the pragmatic difficulties of being faced by the district and actually putting that iron into play and I think it's a place where we're all on the same page we all like to have high school start later it's really important for the kids we have to find a way to get it done a little more flexibility considering options might be worthwhile but I think there's been some really good work behind

088this thank you very much okay we're on to the next question on this one and the question is and this is combining questions received what can you offer as a board member to Foster better communication collaboration and cooperation between the parents of special needs students and the school administration and is there any way the district can provide Equitable learning opportunities for neurodiverse students that's a great question I think as a board member the one of the things that I do very well is I'm available to our community members at any given time to address their concerns um I listen and I speak up if there's a concern that somebody doesn't feel that they could bring to the administration's attention on their own it's hard you know I've had kids with anxiety and different educational needs

089and so I understand the perspective they're coming from and the need to be inclusive to make sure that we have opportunities available and I think the Dei coordinator program and is going to really help Champion that from multiple stakeholders whether it's teachers administrators staff members just having that be at the Forefront of thoughts regarding um special ed programming we had discussion about the summer program and we were able to Champion it back to four hours this coming summer so we do hear what they say and I think that having myself personally having institutional knowledge spanning 22 years in the district I understand where we've been where we we come from where we sh you know where we're going and I think it's good and I think communication is in in an integral part of being

090a board member but anybody that knows me knows that I'm not afraid to speak up or Advocate on their behalf and if there should be change there should be and from my intro that was one of the things that I didn't get to is you know my dad taught me if you see something speak up and that's the only way change is going to happen and making sure that we have critical thought but I've always been a proponent of our special ed programs we have um Sports programs now dedicated where they're integrated with students within the program and I continue to up yep I'm gonna have the gun for it thank you okay Miss dellenbaugh um just to you know Echo something that Christine said you know I think it's important to remember that Dei

091uh work also includes making sure that we are meeting the needs of our neuro neurodiverse students um with respect to Communications um with this issue and any issue the Board needs to make sure it has an open dialogue with parents and community members so that concerns can be heard and addressed promptly I think it's really important that the community knows who is the right person to direct a question to because sometimes the board is actually not the best person to answer a question many times it's a teacher or it's the principal or a supervisor or administrator and sometimes I think that peace can get lost um and I also I would encourage the community to attend and listen to school board meetings particularly when these issues are discussed because there is a lot of information

092that is conveyed and sometimes I think that gets lost I think you know I'm excited about the new rollout of our our structure with our our student Support Services because I'm hopeful that it will better align our you know assess and mtss and counseling under one umbrella so that we are connecting the different programs so that we don't have gaps um I think that um as a board it's important to continue to provide the resources and support for things like the extended school year summer programs and the CTE programs at BOCES as well as some of the Innovative programs that we have that develop skills at the high school like the BC barkery um or supporting the college transition program at St Rose for our older students so there are ways and I think the

093the most important thing is that when there is a problem um that people know that they can speak up and address the board thank you very much Dr McNay thanks I think a couple of excellent points have been made there right this definitely plays in equity you know I gave the definition of equity as meeting students where they are and that's especially important here we actually know quite a lot about the Neuroscience sorry my expertise of how neurodiverse students learn and the various strategies we can approach use to meet all those students in the different ways they will need to make sure they're getting the support and education to the fullest extent the district can offer that doesn't always happen in the classroom you know the support dogs of high school that's a great small

094intervention that can have huge benefits in helping students be more able to access and express their needs well-rounded programs are really important here so things like music and art and Sport those are all often especially important for neurodiverse students for students with special learning needs in helping them to both find a place where they can Excel and contribute and be part of a team but also maybe have particular interests and aptitudes that might not always be expressed in the classroom so communication part of this yeah honestly I think that's a key part of my platform when I put it up on the website you know we want more proactive communication we want the board to be using and soliciting a lot of the expertise that exists in the community and I think while anyone can

095always come to a board meeting and they're obviously open to all there's perhaps a little more active proactive communication and searching for that input it will be welcome that comes back to mental health as well one of the key roles the board can provide is to give the resources for more proactive mental health interventions so we can have more behavioral assessment that's a key tool it's really useful in working out what students need and how best to support them we can make sure that there's time and attention given to checking in with all students not just those with special learning needs but all of our teenagers as to whether they're doing well whether they need a little extra support how we can best put in place programs that will allow them to succeed but that's

096especially true with those with special learning needs or who are somewhat neurodiverse so yeah more proactive intervention more proactive communication and take advantage of what we know about the science of learning across the Spectrum thank you Ms Moriarty a lot of our families have had wonderful experiences in our special education department but there are also a lot of families who haven't felt like their child is getting everything that they need from our district one example um is that during covid our summer program for kids in special education department had to cut its hours from five hours a day to three hours a day um it was understandable at that time because we didn't initially even think that we would be open it you know as we rush to be able to open it we were

097thrilled that we could get those three hours a day um the next year however we saw the same truncated day um and while there were Staffing challenges that was really not acceptable to the families whose children would have benefited from that extra enrichment and then came to being from a board meeting and I learned so much board meeting um and I learned a lot also about the importance of public comment because I would not have heard um or learned so much about it if if there was not that robust public comment there um so I along with the other members of the board pushed back expressed our frustration on those cuts and as a result the Intensive skills program was expanded on my hour for 2023 um and if we are able to fully staff

098the program this year I would really push for it to be expanded to the full-time hour day um because our families told us how much those extra hours meant to their children um additionally we have a committee for our specialized families I would love to see a board member come to some of those meetings so we could um this year directly from our families in a more intimate um environment um also I am also very excited about the restructuring of the special ed Department the hiring of a new director of student Support Services who's going to provide the coordination between special education and counseling social work and instructional support thank you okay that ends our question period and we are running a little bit late and that's because the number of questions and we still

099didn't touch on some topics that I still have left on the page so I apologize that we are um in that situation and we didn't get to cover everything thank you to all who submitted their questions they were very um good questions I want before we um begin our closing section I want to make sure people remember check vote11.org you can actually um the candidates can make updates still so if you give it a day or two to let all the candidates enter their stuff that would be helpful remember to vote on May 16th not just for picking three of the candidates here but also on the proposed budget and for the bus proposition and please check the school district website for more information on those I do want to let you know the league

100is an all-volunteer organization we could use your support to provide things like this to the community so you can check us out on lwv albany.org and consider that so we're going to go right into closing statements it is two per two minutes per person we'll be going slightly over and we will Begin Again with Miss Beck Miss Beck I didn't realize I was closing too okay great thank you thank you for moderating as well I appreciate it um back in 2020 I said the same thing and I'll say it again it's been a privilege and honor to serve on the board of education for the last nine years um I've been fortunate enough to work with a group of seven people overseeing decisions that have impacted um our children and I continue and have the

101desire to be a part of our board again for the next three I feel that I've represented our community well I'm an Engaged member I listen I speak up in the last nine years I've been a part of this board that has approved lots of initiatives one-to-one computers programs geared to address Rising mental health and social emotional programs uh dedicated resources for early intervention um helped on several Capital bonds promoted several Capital Bond projects one including the new auditorium at the high school and student to be Middle School approved the Dei officer and the list goes on I bring a unique skill set to this board as an internal auditor I I can identify and map out processes and determine if we have any gaps and I ask the hard questions and I have a

102financial background that gives me in-depth knowledge to ask um appropriate questions during the budget process um I'm curious I ask a lot of questions and as a parent I've been in the district for 22 years and I have a strong understanding of our curriculum co-curriculars sports program and I made the choice in 2001 to be an involved parent and even after they're gone I'm still an involved parent in our community and I hope to continue to make a difference and it would be an honor to serve again and I look forward to continued support to re-elect Beck on Tuesday May 16th thanks thank you so much on to Ms dellenbaugh thank you um you know in conclusion tonight I just want everyone to know that I care deeply about our school district I have always

103given my position on the board 110 percent I believe strongly in giving back to our community and over the years our schools have been the place where I've given the most of my time whether as president of the hammer Grail PTA or volunteering for middle school and high school theater Productions serving on the lab school board of examiners or participating in the bridge to college mentoring program continuing my service on the board to me is just a natural extension of the duty that I feel to volunteer to improve our schools as a board member I have tried to get experience with all facets of Education in our schools I've spent time in classrooms at all of our different building levels having a chance to watch our teachers at work I've taken advantage of opportunities to

104attend conferences and trainings for school board members to stay abreast of new issues in education such as changes in federal and state law that impact our policies and read books and articles and listened to podcasts talk to experts to stay on top of new research such as developments in the science of reading and I've also gained knowledge about the other critical functions in our district our transportation staff our food service team and our operations and maintenance teams that keep everything running and in my experience the key is having the capacity to learn when faced with a new topic and a new issue I want our schools to be able to give every student the chance to reach their fullest potential and I want to give our teachers and students and staff the support that they

105need not just to succeed but also to excel I would be honored to continue to represent you um and I would ask for your vote on May 16th thank you very much Dr mcnick thanks folks and thanks again to the League of Women Voters and to all the folks are sending questions I think it's been a great evening a lot of people have asked you know so why are you doing this and the two two answers to that the first one of which is it's the first time I can you know I became an American two months ago I think it's kind of cool the first time I get to cast a vote I get to vote for myself but in all seriousness pragmatically it's the first time I can serve on the school board

106you know my kids have been through the school district here for 15 years now I can give back so I should right obviously I'm the non-one incumbent so why would you vote for me rather than any of my colleagues and I'm not running against any of them I look forward to serving with whoever gets elected there are a couple of answers for that first I definitely bring a unique and a really relevant and needed skill set to the board right I've been an educator for 20 odd years there are no other Educators currently on the board I've been a scientist for 30 years I'm really used to working on data sets and metrics and so on but in particular my expertise is in brain health and mental health and the Neuroscience of learning so those

107are all areas where I think I really have as it turns out some really specific and relevant skills that will really enhance the ability of the board to meet the needs of all our students priorities I've mentioned a couple of times I think proactive mental health check-ins are really important and we can do a fair amount of better support the needs of our students in this area I think Excellence for all in particular making sure that the Hands-On classes and skills are not neglected in any way we have a range of programs that are available let's make sure we take advantage of those and similarly let's make sure we take advantage of things like the regeneron science fair just down the road we aren't putting enough of our high school students into those High achieving

108research positions and we can I have a strong record of placing every single undergrad in my lab into the graduate school or the med school of their choice 100 so I have a strong track record in achieving excellence and mentoring excellence and doing that not just in Bethlehem but also through the 518 elevated program with low opportunity students in Albany and Troy so I've been trying to give back to my students not just in this District but across the Capital District and I think I have a lot of skills to offer that are unique I look forward to your vote thanks thank you Miss Moriarty thank you to the League of Women Voters for producing this program and thank you to my fellow candidates for uh engaging in such a respectful exchange of ideas I

109did really want to quickly want to address one topic that was not addressed in any of the questions but I know is important to a lot of families with young children is the is the issue of um if any bids bids preschool funding that we've received from the New York State um I believe it's because the mount Pro people was too low for any of the local providers to think that was valuable um if that is the case first I think we should be advocating to increase funds for people through this program but also I'd ask our Administration to really um put forth on a genuine effort to present to the board what it would take for our school to put on our own preschool program because it is so important to our families in

110our community um I was elected in 2017 um since then I've learned so much about our schools our Santa committees attendant trainings attendant conferences it took me a long time to learn about the processes and procedures that are required in to deal with the school district this size required dealing with public employees and student disciplinary matters um getting to know members of our Administration getting to know what all the acronyms mean uh getting to know what student um educational applies in New York state um it takes a long time to gain this institutional knowledge and I want to continue on my tenure on the board so that I can use that landlords to better serve the districts um I'm asking for your vote because as much as privacy from BC and my children have received

111from BC I feel that I have a lot to give in return I I still especially to concerns from the community and do my best to address those concerns on the board I'm also going to keep Financial restraint at the Forefront of decision making over the next three years both because once you know Financial climate but also because we'll be losing um a source of Revenue over the next year in the form of a major pilot thank you um I apologize that we ran a bit over I want to remind everyone to check vote411.org as well as to tell your neighbors about this and so that they can they can go out and vote as well May 16th um for not just these three of these candidates but also the proposed budget and the bus

112proposition um and I thank all the candidates for their time and their respect for each other as well as everyone who submitted questions and all of our off-screen as well as on-screen volunteers that made this happen with the League of Women Voters of Albany County thank you very much I hope everyone has a very pleasant evening thank you thanks all of you thank you