001for the Canes Stood Board of Education for December 9th, 2025. Um, if you'll all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, please. >> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, before we get into the uh agenda items tonight, um I will entertain a motion to enter into a brief executive session to discuss an employee matter. Do I have a motion? >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carried. We are now in executive session. We will return briefly. We're back. Moving on to the agenda. Uh, routine matters. Excuse [clears throat] me. Resolve that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the board does hereby
002approve the following routine matters. uh November 4th, 2025 BOE minutes, treasures report for October 2025, and the CSC recommendations uh for the dates listed on the agenda. Do I have a motion? >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Opposed. Motion carried. Presentations. Building updates. Directors. Did we choose? Did we Did we deter determine an order? >> Rocket scissors. >> Uh, go first. >> Well, look at that. [laughter] >> Going second. [laughter] >> Camp out facilities director. Um, I'd like to just talk about some of the safety inspections I go through every year and what has is done for the uh to date. Um, annual inspections, a lot of them are during uh the summer or breaks or whatever just due to getting into the building and testing certain uh
003devices. um uh area, excuse me, area of refuge, backflow, backboards, bleachers, fire alarms, fire inspections, and classrooms. That's our safety officers. They come through. Um insurance company comes out and checks my boilers and other matters. um kitchen area, stage rigging, um asbestous, uh elevators, kitchen hoods, fume hoods, um all kinds of stuff that, you know, I'm doing throughout the year, you know, throughout the months, throughout the summer. It's not a dull moment. As you all saw, I rode a router out front this morning or on the way in, you know, had a clock drain. Um also, um we have a building condition survey, um that helps us with all our projects and everything that we go into. We have our annual or not our annual, but [clears throat] our 5-year uh building uh condition plan
004come 20 26. It will be this spring with King and King. And we'll walk around and we'll check out all our spaces and conditions. And that's where we get our, you know, our rooftops, our boilers, our crawl space, our infrastructure and everything. And that's how we build our other um projects throughout down the line. Um, also I'd like to just talk about some of the cleaning in our buildings. Um, Robert Street is 190,000 square ft. Um, the bus garage is 16,000 square ft. And throughout the day, we only have two day cleaners that are cleaning and maintaining these these spaces. At night, we have a head custodian and four night cleaners in those spaces. As you can see, I mean, we use this building wide open, you know, from that end to this end to
005we're all over the place. Um, also Peterbr, that's about 16,000 square ft. One day cleaner, one night cleaner. Um, Southside 27,000 ft², one day cleaner, one night cleaner. Um, I do have maintenance that we're here and two maintenance guys and we maintain all these buildings, two grounds guys with the acreage and plowing. [snorts] Um, obviously right off the bat, you can see the snow we got this year. We didn't get a chance to get two inches and try out our new driveways. We got eight inches and we were stuck, you know. I mean it was we used all our equipment and everything. Um and while we clean these spaces also I just want to bring up we have um hightouched areas and everything we really focus on this time of the year with you know
006uh cleaning drinking fountains, door handles, rails, light switches, all these especially Peterville Southside. Everyone's touching everything everywhere. They're always touching everything. Um, I work with the the nurses and you know, they kind of give me up updates of what they're seeing, what what's going on. I have equipment. It's a Clorox 360 that helps clean and that's kind of you just spray and it will clean and disinfect the area. I mean, we still physically have to touch everything and clean it, but this gives it a second defense. Um, that's pretty much uh uh the building updates that I have. Um, if anyone has any questions, >> how's the new running? >> What's that? >> How's the new piece of equipment running? >> Oh, it worked out great. I mean, without that, I mean, I think we
007would have been stuck. Uh, uh, with the trucks, we were able to push it to an area and then with that 14T push, we were just cleaning right away. I mean, everything worked out good other than the surrounding areas, you know. I mean, it was just a lot of snow, but we worked really well, you know. It was it's a great piece to our, you know, for us to drive. So, >> okay. >> Anyone else? >> Thank you, Nick. >> And Nick said he can't wait for the next capital project to start. >> Yes. Yes. >> Continuous. >> That was on the back. [laughter] And I found Cindy. [laughter] >> My pride and joy. [laughter] >> So good. So with transportation's report, um there's a lot of things that you may or may not know
008that we do I do like on a regular basis or required to do. So I wanted to go over some of the things with you. Um so one of the things that we're mandated to do yearly is an affidate of compliance and that's with DMV. Um they record, they want me to record how many miles we've gone, how many students we've traveled, we've taken and if there's been any accidents. Um, and they rate us on that. So, it goes through, I have to do it by July 1st. Um, they'll send back an approval that we've passed. Um, it's kind of a quick thing. Takes a little bit time to organize to get the data. Um, but they're really good at getting right back to you. Um, in all the years I've been here, we've passed
009with flying colors. Um, last year and the year before, we've had one accident each year. Um but those were not of our faults either. Another bus had hit us rear ended us and the other one a car hit us in the rear end. So as far as my drivers are concerned it's 100%. Okay. Um so with that we also do um there's an audit for our 19A files. 19A files and SED files are different. I have two filing cabinets that are created with all the necessary documentation that they need. So with our DMV files, that's your driver's defense driving. We have to do it behind the wheel every other year with my drivers. They have to do a written test every other year. I follow behind my drivers or I ride with them to monitor
010their turns, uh their driving experience, making sure that they're not cutting a curve. Um that's done yearly. Their medical physicals are done yearly. Um, all this stuff is scheduled. So, I'm constantly looking at what schedule we're on as far as who is up for what particular mandate um that we do. Um, then we get audited every 3 years. Uh, my last audit was 2024, so I expect in 2027 I'll be audited again. Um, 21 24 were the last two. Um, we've had zero mistakes on any of my 19A files when DMV asks for them. Um, then we have an SED. SEDD file is their PPT test, which is physical [clears throat] performance test that they're required to do every two years or if they've come back from an injury, they need to do it prior
011to them driving again. um those files is physical performance tests, their fingerprints, um their basic course. All drivers have to attend a 40-hour driver's course, a six-hour precourse prior to driving, um and then a 10-hour advance. I bus aids are no different, okay? They still are required to do the physical performance test. They're still required to do a basic aid course, which is a 10-hour course, um in order to stay certified. And these are done yearly. And um our refreshers we have twice a year that they're mandated to do. Um if for some reason anybody fails any of those criterias, then they can no longer be employed with transportation. Um my STD files have not been audited yet. I hear it's coming soon. Um there's another audit that's out. Um, Onida just got audited with
012the FMCA and that's with the drug and alcohol and portion of your CD uh, SEDS. Um, I'm waiting to hear how that happened. Um, that went on Monday. Monday was the very first time that any school district has been audited. So, the guy wasn't even sure what he was going to be doing. Um, from what I heard is how many left-hand turns, how many right-hand turns when we've trained a driver. Well, I don't sit there and say, "Okay, they've done 10 here, 10 here." I just know you have to do 60 hours of this, 40 hours of this, 30 hours of this, and we record it. Okay. Um, but I think that's going to get a little tougher as we move forward. Um, the fleet safety, um, so you're aware we went to the GPS
013with new radio systems this year for our buses. Um, they just got installed in November. Okay. They're running a little bit behind schedule. Uh, the guy came in my office today. um very interesting our conversations um because to me um when him and I first talked back in November, it was a matter of these are your new radios. We did do a demo with them and I could hear a driver out in Tully like I was standing here talking to you which we could never even get a reception out there before talking with him today. There's going to be a GPS system that's going to be phase two, which will be in January or February, which also will when I log into the system, it will tell me where my driver is with the radio,
014if it's on, if it's off. Um, it can alert me to anything that's going on. Um, if the driver is speeding, if the driver is um not doing something, you know, doing something they're not supposed to. So, that I'm very excited to hear about that coming up. [cough and clears throat] So, so far the radios have been great. Um, we also have our GPS system um with our bus routing that has gone fantastic. Um, as far as with that, the we're transporting um approximately little over 900 students right now. I believe it is. We have 560 parents that have signed up for the app. Okay. And when I say it's reduced calls, it has reduced calls immensely. But I can also guarantee you that if a driver does not have their if they're not logged
015in on their run, the calls are up. Um I had a couple what what they have to do is after [clears throat] their high school run, they have to switch over to their elementary run. It's just not automatic because they have to complete the writership. if they don't switch over to the elementary. I'm getting calls from elementary parents. Where's the bus? I can't see it on the app, you know. And so I'm back going after my drivers and say, you know, flip over, flip over. They don't realize parents watch this a lot and they love it. They really do. Um we recently with um with our routing system, we did sports trips. Um Mr. Owens was our pilot person. um I gave him access to it for his son's trips. We wanted to see how
016it goes because bus rate is not there yet in incorporating it into it. Um so we did a trial basis. Um and it worked out very well. Um, so now Maria and I have put all the information in with the rosters from Stan for all our sports trips so that any parent that wants access to know, you know, where the trip is, what school they're at because they're not at the elementary, they're at the high school or what time they're coming back here because it's a late night, right? They all have access to that now. So, that was a great feature that we piloted and uh I think it's going very well. I haven't heard anything bad on it at this point anyways. Um, so as far as that, that's along with our fleet safety
017upgrades. One other thing I want to touch on, um, not get too involved in it because we're still in the, um, beginning stages is the EV buses. Okay. [laughter] Um, back in um, a few years ago, they were stating how we got to go with electric buses. Okay. Well, 2027 will be the last year. December 31st, 2027 will be the last year I can order any gas buses. After that, they've got to be EV buses unless the law and legislation changes. Okay. By 2035, every single bus needs to be electric. Okay. Definitely a hardship, right? Because they're a lot of money. Um, we've already gone through the uh national grid. Tracy and I have been working with the implementations of the trying to get this stuff going. We have a NAERTA meeting coming up. Um,
018so we're still in the beginning stages of it, but I just wanted to bring it to you so that you're aware that this has not gone away yet and I really not seeing it. Probably going to retire before I order a >> What they've done is >> not 27. >> They push they pushed the the initial timeline back two years. >> Two years. It was >> all they pushed it back. >> Yeah. And so, you know, along with that, you know, unfortunately, you know, the infrastructure and transportation, you know, it's we're very tight over there. Very tight. you know, um to put charging stations in there for all those buses, it's it's going to be quite a workout for us. >> Mhm. >> So, you know, that's in regards to our safety and our compliance.
019Um with with our fleet maintenance, we're on a seven-year turnaround right now, which is really good. Um, and with that being said, our prices for an auction to sell our buses when after we purchase and when we sell, the ones we're getting rid of, when I first took over, they were about $2,500 we get for a bus. Right now, we're up to 17,000. Okay. So, keeping our fleet maintenance, um, the inspections, the DOS, the, you know, all the maintenance that that Boseies puts into it has been really phenomenal. Although this year seems to be a tire season because every time a bus goes in, you know, the tires are are worn. Um, so it's going to probably be a little pricey this year. Um, but again, you know, seven years, you know, and I haven't
020changed tires on it yet. So, I mean, it's probably not a bad thing when they've driven, you know, 60 70,000 miles, you know, um, with the wear and tear that they do. Um, but, you know, so with that, it'll be close with EV buses. you know, I've got 25 buses, three buses a year. It'll be close. One year we may have to do four. Um, but fully electric by 2035, unless the legislation changes. As far as our operational efficiency, we're always working on our runs, especially at the beginning of every year and throughout the year. I try to um put runs together because of a driver shortage. um we try to compromise and you know do something strategically where it would be efficient for everybody that's involved. So far, knock on wood, it has all
021worked. Um we're running pretty much on time now. We got road conditions against us. Um which they're doing very well with. Um Peter School, the Southside School is still in the afternoon. We're about 3:21, you know, which is not bad. um leaving the high school at 2:32, you know, and trying to get, you know, that first run done and getting over to the elementary. But my drivers do a great job um with that. Um the staffing and training. So, we have put out to Indeed, we've put out to Facebook, we've had some job fairs. um you know, we're not getting a lot of um feedback as far as getting potential new drivers. Um but I do appreciate the board approving our recent CDL C driver. Um there's numerous districts after talking with them that do
022utilize this feature for van and suburban drivers, which is great because it takes an IB driver that can drive a bus off of driving one student to Freeville, right? And this allows that B driver to go do a sports run or to sub in when I have a driver call in. So that was very um needed on our end. If I could get a couple more, I would love to. Um if you know anybody that you know it's not a lot of training um because they already have a license. They just got to do the CDL portion of it. Excuse me. Um so with all that, that's pretty much what I have. um other than my last parade of lights, not our last one, our most recent one. Um, [clears throat] so we did Stitch
023for those of you probably all know. Um, >> I was asked last year how many lights were on the bus and I was like, >> oh, right. So, I was thinking this year, right? We had over 14,000 lights. >> Okay. Um, and I have, you know, Harvest Sidowski, Jean and Gary Stelado, Lorie Gardner, Steve Jeff, and myself. I mean, between us, you know, we work countless hours weekends after work. Right after Thanksgiving, we were still putting the bus together. Um, and this year, they gave us a bigger [laughter] trophy. Um, and this is all the hard work of my staff. You know, it's totally funded through my people, right? Um, it's their personal money that we use. Um, and we just enjoy it. You know, we enjoy hearing the crowds in Canes Stoa, the Azoving
024Stitch, you know, um just like the uh Candyland last year. So, it it's that's what really makes it, you know, we're here for the students and I think that's what makes my job so great because I just love the involvement with it all. >> Any questions? >> You did an awesome job. you and your did an awesome job. >> Just wanted to say I saw on Facebook they were talking about someone else getting first place, which they did very well as well. Um, but I was thinking to myself when I saw it, I'm like, how did you guys not get first? They do different categories. I see that now. >> Different categories. Um, and then they they so they so like they kind of take the fire trucks >> and stuff like that and do
025their own little group. >> Then they do a judges thing. um who the judges feel are first and second, third. Um and then they do what's an overall. The overall is what you want. Um and that's what we [laughter] >> No bias there. >> Who cares about the >> um so my you know my staff is like yeah they're really happy. They haven't seen this yet because I just picked it up today. >> The weather got to me last week. Okay. >> The size of the Stanley [laughter] Cup. Yeah, I can walk around with them. >> I was hoping to bring a little one like we got last year, you know, which was nice because we hang them in the office. >> She'll hang that in the office >> and I'm like I'm going hang
026[snorts] it over my head. >> Cindy Cindy's been obsessed with this for years. So, I don't even know what would have happened if we didn't win first place. I don't know if you would have been able to deal with that. >> I was looking at the very first bus we did the other day and I think it was like a Rudolph. Okay. which was fantastic. But you know what was missing? >> Lights. >> The red lights. >> The lights. >> It wasn't really lit [laughter] up. >> And that's what makes it. >> So I send I send Sean and Tracy little pictures throughout. And I'll take a snap like of an ear or I'll take a picture of this. More [laughter] to come. More to come. >> They're always telling me you're obsessed. Yes, I
027am. >> Yeah. The updates were coming on like whatever Thanksgiving afternoon. She's sending >> videos. >> The full one will come the day of the parade. >> I'm interested to see what next year's going to look like. >> 14. >> Set the bar too high. I don't know where you go from here. >> Set it up pretty high. >> I don't know where you go from here. >> I don't more to come. Sean buses. Um [laughter] there there's two options that we have. That's all I can say. We're looking at two different >> is one of them. 67. [clears throat] [laughter] >> All set. >> Thank you. Congratulations. >> I'll take my prize. >> Handles on it. >> I know. You know how hard it is carrying this in my coffee. >> Handles on that.
028Oh my goodness. [laughter] >> Tell them. >> Cindy Tracy, I don't know. By 2035, could you check if an EB bus can sustain 14,000 likes down street? I don't know if that'll work. [laughter] >> Pass that around, please. >> But yeah, let's see how long it goes. Be the length of the parade for us. All right. My last update in October, I was here, I gave you the records of our fall teams that were up to date at that point. Um, obviously the fall season's ended, so I gave you the final records. Uh, reminder from the last one, uh, the number in parentheses next to team, that's how many athletes we have that came out for, uh, that team this year. Um, and then their record. And then a new one I added for this
029report was uh in parentheses is what their league record was. So overall record was first princes league record. [snorts] Um, you know, at the top of our list was girls girls soccer. Um, Mark, you were at the majority of those games. Um, you know, would [snorts] have, could have, should have, but we had a lot of, you know, we had a lot of injuries tough to sustain. But that's the great thing about athletics. You know, it teaches you adversity and how you going to respond. and it teaches you all these kinds of life lessons, but would have liked to seen what we could have done with a healthy team the full season. On the boys side of things, um, excuse [clears throat] me, um, boys cross country had another great year. [snorts] Uh, they did
030they did outstanding. Uh, football another would have, could have, should have, would have. A lot of people thought we were the best team in section three, even outside of section three and another life lessons. It just for some reason injuries. It wasn't wasn't our year. It wasn't our time. But a lot of lessons that go into what happened with soccer and football about preparing for a championship teams are preparing and working well. Um the winter numbers uh these numbers are minus minus uh basketball um modified boys and girls because that starts in January. So uh numbers are good this winter. I was a little worried. Um, as I had said before, last year since I've been the ad was the best fall numbers participants we've ever had um, here while I was the AD and
031our fall numbers were not nearly close to what last year's fall numbers were. However, this winter um, we're doing well. We actually have 19 more athletes this winter out um, than we did last winter. And like I said, last year combined, we had the best numbers we had. Um, one thing I we Friday night we thank you for allowing us to have a girls wrestling team all on their own. Went to their first tournament Friday. It was it was very very exciting. There was 18 teams there. It was in New York Valley and uh they did a nice job. They came in fourth out of uh 18. A lot of girls never wrested before. It was funny watching them. They're you know they were awfully nervous before 5:00 but we didn't get out of there
032till late at about 11:30. I think we finally got to leave that night. But, you know, as I said to them when I left, I go, you know, 5 hours later, some of our girls were crying. They were so nervous. They were so scared, but then they were loving it, dancing around, uh, having a good time. So, um, so it's nice to be able to roll that team out. Um, to close, I'm very happy. We really put a lot of time and effort into our student athletes and making sure that they're doing well in the classroom. of our eight varsity teams, seven of them were recognized by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association as scholar athlete team. Um, so seven out of eight made it and we are close. The one team
033that did not was only 6 away. So we almost had had every team. That's all I have. Anyone has any questions? Thank you. Thanks. Hello. Good evening. So, um, in October, I talked about how we kind of hit hit the ground running. Um, we had some new staff. Um, we had all of our up-to-date trainings, um, to bring them on as we have streamlined things over the past 18 months or so. Um, and now we are slowly as uh the the 2025 year comes to a close and 2026 starts, we are going into um kind of like our big chunk of meetings um in the next couple of months. Uh along with come January, uh the CSE chairperson and myself will both start to have projection meetings with the teachers to make sure that we're
034planning and thinking ahead for next year. um along with um you know shortages of programs and spots is a is a statewide issue. It's something that we uh discussed with our state representative at our last director's meeting. So um continuing to work with Boseies along with some neighboring districts who are larger that do have in district programs um to make sure that you know together we can we can hopefully meet the needs of all of our students. Um, and along with that, we've been working with Boseies um to with our paperwork. Um, and that's that's gone a lot better than I would have predicted. It's it was a lot and I know that they work with about nine in closer districts. So, every district wants something a little bit different. Um, our paperwork is based
035on what is um state compliance mandated. So, um, but other than that, you know, we're looking forward to, you know, continuing to move forward and work with, there's a new director in Onida, so working with, you know, our neighboring districts to see how we can help each other out. >> Any questions? >> Awesome. >> Thank you. >> Okay. I nominate you. You're all for the last person. [laughter] None of us really wanted to follow Cindy. Yeah, I talk too much. >> They can go again. >> Well, well, I I want to just kind of say a couple things about Cindy, right? If you don't mind. One, about the EV. Okay. As an owner of an electric vehicle, 100%. >> When the weather falls to below 20°, >> they're used >> the battery life, >> it
036depletes by like 50%. Something that is 100% true. Okay. And I can't imagine that that technology is going to change by the time that we get to EV buses. >> They're going to push it back more. >> If you need me to be a spokesperson to speak on behalf of that, you know, I you know, it's something I have to think about. I'm fine to get here and back, but uh but in terms of of um Cindy's drivers, you know, I've ridden on buses with the kids. The drivers are great. When I was doing my internship a couple years ago, I did one of those what drive behind >> during a snowy day and I was floored um at how well that that driver maneuvered the bus. We fishtailed in the suburban but the bus
037driver did not. So that's just really, you know, just wanted to say that we were right. >> Yeah, we were. I I think as a as a teacher, as a professional in that capacity, knowing like once we meet our permanent or professional certification, we don't really have tests. We don't have a lot of barriers that we have to continue to meet as as professional staff, but bus drivers do. And it's endless. And it it was really eyeopening for me to see how much they have to continue to do every single day or every single year to maintain their certification, maintain a job. Um, so a lot a lot of my, you know, appreciation goes out to that. Um, so, uh, first thing I'd like to do is welcome back Alan to Southside halftime. Um, the
038kids have been super excited to see her and I won't take it personally, but when they come into the office in the afternoon, they're like, uh, where's Miss Burn? Like, oh, she had to go home today, honey. You know, you're you're stuck with me for the afternoon. But, um, I've really enjoyed my time over there. It's uh and thanks to to Stan for picking up a couple of shifts for me. Um you know interesting being even a part-time principal the things that you learn every single day um [clears throat] it just blows your mind. But so I get to talk about state testing of course um we're not really in that route yet but we are ramping up to that. So just wanted to remind everybody that this year is the first year that we're
039fully computer-based. Uh we have been able to phase in that over the last couple of years. Two years ago only fifth and eighth graders took it on the computer. Last year we had everybody taking it except for third and seventh grade math um students and this year everybody um in grades three through eight for ELA math and science need to do it on the computer. So I know we're doing some things um through the instructional specialist office to kind of prepare those kids at each grade level. Um so you know we're hoping for uh definitely students to be ready and comfortable taking the test on that technology. Um some kind of back backend information is that the the platform we get to use actually opens up this Friday. So um I'll be spending Christmas break
040reviewing all the rosters and the um the testing accommodations for students. I like to personally triple check them and then I always ask the uh the special education teachers, the school psychologists, the principles to double check it too because the worst my worst nightmare is for a student that has a testing accommodation of a test being read logs in to take their test and it doesn't work, you know. So that's what this we have a simulation coming up um at the end of January, January 26 to the February 6th and that is uh really based we we run that to see that our systems are working but also to make sure that those kids have their accommodations in place so that when the day comes to actually take their test we're ready to go. Um
041in the last three years since we've been doing this it's it's run very very smoothly. Um and special thanks to tech our technology department for always getting everything ready that we need to do on that end. Um also coming up um in a little bit is January Regent Week. Just to kind of point that out to our high school [laughter] uh folks, uh January 20th through the 23rd is slated for Regent exams. Now that first day, the January 20th is when the students in 11th grade take their ELA regents, the bulk. So um it is likely it's projected and planned that the stu students in grades 9 through 12 will not be in session that day unless they take the LA regions uh or they have to make up another regents which I believe the
042biology life science and um chemistry are are scheduled for that day. Um so that next report that I give to you will be really ramped up and then probably everything that I talk about after that will be all state testing revolve around state testing. Um, small update. Um, it's actually been a busy month for homeschool. We've had six new students um, transition into homeschool, which is not a usual thing for there to be an influx of that many, but we did have three students come uh, new into the district, transfer in, and three of our students made the decision to transfer, you know, to uh, to to move to a homeschooled environment out of being enrolled here. So, that brings our total to 48 families in the district. who are homeschooling their children and 65
043[clears throat] kids that are being homeschooled. Um, just a couple other things. I don't want to speak too much about that, but Tracy and I were thankful enough to participate in a mandated Title 9 training session that we have to go through every year. So, it's the same gentleman that presented to us on opening day. So, some of you were there and experienced that. Tracy and I spent the three hours doing that. But thank you to um the snow gods. I got to do it at home um in the comfort of my home. But um every year it's it's essentially the same information. It's a requirement of me as the uh compliance officer and other you know at least one other person in the district has to be trained every year. Um and you think
044I you know it's the same stuff. Yep. I've heard it year after year. But there's always something that I take away from it. And this year I took away something stood out to me as the presenter said, you know, how do our outside organizations that come into our facilities, whether it be uh outside facilities or inside facilities, how do they know about our Title 9 policies and procedures? So, that kind of got me thinking. We'll have to follow up with that and with the policy team. Um, but that's it. That's all I was going to talk about tonight. You guys have any questions? Thanks. [laughter] >> I go put handles on. [clears throat] >> Don't drop it. Next. >> That's it, right? >> Yep. Uh, next up we have the 202425 regent report presented by
045high school principal Mr. Carter. >> All right. Thank you. Um, so I got I got us on the screen. I know it's a little bit in an awkward position, but everybody should have copies of everything I'm about to talk about in there. Um, so looking at our data review folks, always I always start with the mission statement. This is our driving force. This is our north star. This is what we center all of our efforts around. So, as you're looking at the data, um I thought it important to give you a little bit of peak into what those levels are. Um some of our newer exams are going to be one through five. Um your highest number basically are your mastery uh proficient or you know above proficient for those level fours. So just so
046that you know what you're looking at English first. So English department and you'll see I'll go through like a graph and then a breakdown for each one of these. We're in great shape in English department. We're outpacing the state. As you see in that the really nice part is you go right to the end of that graph. We are at 83% as a building. Now, [snorts] what you see in there, you have school, you have district, you have New York State. District includes out of uh out of there still are kids, but they're in a placement. So, that's why you see a little bit of a difference in that. If we're looking at the breakdown, uh we had 83 total students take it, and we're we're either exceeding or comparable in all the levels in
047English. Only test for the English department. Let's talk math. Algebra. This is where we have our best opportunity to improve. Okay, I'm a pretty positive guy. That's how I'm going to phrase that one. All right, you can see overall we're we're not we're under the New York State by 13%. Okay, so there's a lot to talk about there. Um I'm going to get in towards the end of this presentation some of the action steps that come with that, but I want you to look if you would please at level two for just a second. And I want you, if you can keep that in the back of your head. Uh we call those we like to call those some of our bubble students. Okay, kids are right on that edge who might need a little
048bit of a push. And as you could see the state being at 50 56% overall, they only had 24% bubble kids. We had 42. So there's a missed opportunity with our kids that it would be my goal to not repeat. looking at those breakdowns pretty consistent in terms of you know where we missed last year um comparatively to New York State keeping us moving algebra 2 algebra 2 numbers very good in terms of percentage we had all of the kids that we had take the algebra 2 exam proficient in the exam so again we're great in the mastery piece on that there's only one piece in particular that I have a little bit of a concern about is the number of students in there. So when you're looking at these, I'd like to see overall
049that number go up over time to build capacity, reaching more kids. Performance good exposure not where I'd like to see it. Geometry still overpacing in good shape, 68% compared to 60% proficiency at the statewide level. Our numbers are in line pretty consistently as you look at that graph all the way through. Geometry 40 students again a little low. Uh that is two sections. So it's right on the cusp of where we would look for. Um you know when I'm looking at these numbers we still and I actually wanted to double check to this year. Uh this year we put two more people in algebra 2 and we're at the exact same number in in geometry for this current year. So there's some work to do there. some recruitment, some push to get some kids that
050might not think they're good enough to get in there, but we can take them and bring them to the promised land social studies department. Okay, so global some opportunities to improve in here as well. So when we're looking at that, we're we're we're underneath uh New York State by 6%. Um we have some opportunities in here. Again, you look at those level two bubble kids. We're 5% off right there alone. Okay. What are we doing to reach those kids? What are we trying to do to get those kids through to uh to proficiency? You see our numbers given that we're only 6% overall most of our numbers with the exception when you get up towards the above level four and the level fives. That's where we start seeing the disparity between New York State. US
051history. Um, if you've ever met Katie New, you know she's maniacal about her performance and very, very, very strong. Uh, 82% compared to 75% um, in New York State, consistent numbers all the way across. She lives and breathes this stuff and put a lot of work to even improve that number going into this year with some extra tools that she has at her disposal. We had 85 total kids. As you see the distributions all all of them good straight across. Moving on to the science. A lot of good news here everybody. Um earth and space scientist earth and space scient sciences formerly known as earth science. Okay. Very good performance 92% compared to 50 56% statewide. Okay. [snorts] We have one heck of a science department right very proud of the work that we're doing
052in there. 53 students took it. Very good mastery rate comparatively to the state. Above proficiencies were good all the way across biology. Similar trends. Okay. 75% as a building, 80% as a district. Okay. 58 at the state. So we're outpacing the state by a pretty healthy margin there. 52 total students. So uh bio folks uh it's what we're shifting like uh living environment from. So if you're like you'll see I'll present living environment numbers but they're much diminished and that's a test we're moving away from chemistry solid performance as well as a building and a district. We're over 13% over the state. Um you know level three we're in good shape. I'd like to see those mastery numbers get up to the state and exceed it. Um, [snorts] but I also know that, you know,
053our department as a whole when it comes to the high school does a really good job of pushing and getting as many kids to maximize their performance. Um, similar to some of those other things that I'd mentioned, my only issue here, 27 students. Now, I will tell you it's 38 this year. Okay? So, there's some movement on these things, but I still think that there's some room there's still some areas to improve. physics top-notch as well, 100%. Um, this was actually one of the very first classrooms I got to walk into. Really, really enjoyed what I saw there. Okay, not just the teacher, but the students who were in there showing amazing stuff. Um, same theory. Um, we're enrolled 15 in our in our section this year. Um, it is only a single section though.
054So, you know, could we potentially get that number a little bit higher? Yes. Okay, last one, last but not least, living environment. As I said, this is where biology uh is [snorts] shifting, is coming from. This is the older exam. That's all also why you see only four levels there. Okay. Uh 54% is a building, 53 is a district, a little bit under what uh you know the state is, but as I said, focus is moving to biology, which we did a great job of. Okay, biology is actually generally speaking in my experience and as a former science teacher myself, biology is harder. Our breakdown, these are just the kids. Most of the time we're looking at kids who are retaking this exam or just simply retakes it trying to get through to the promised
055land. So I want to talk a little bit about some of the goals and action steps that I'd be looking for and concepts that I've been working on with my team. So, some of our building goals, not limited to these by any mean. And I know I've talked a little bit in my updates in the past, all about the environment. Being able to walk through the building and hearing and seeing an environment that's centered on student learning, calm, orderly. Okay, you're going to There it is. Here's the big one. Data analysis. A culture of data accountability. consistently asking ourselves the questions, where are kids at and what are we doing about it over and over and over again. Okay, right now um high school teachers are scheduling data meetings after the first semester where we
056I look for projections. Okay, what kids are going to what kids are going to pass, what kids are not going to pass, and what are we doing about it? And even more important, what do you need for me to get there? Okay. And last, and I bug Miss Leon quite a bit on this one, making sure we're operationally sound. Making sure that board policies are in place and executed. And if there's something that doesn't have a board policy, let's make sure we're doing it to ensure student safety and the use of district funds. So, I'm going to drill down a little bit for you guys. Oh, my transition messed up. Okay. algebra one AIS revamp remember when I talked a little bit about those bubble kids where do you reach them primarily um I am
057working we have a long-term sub is in our math department who has most of our AIS classes currently we're starting kind of a little bit of an AIS revamp integrating EXL which is a skill building platform okay that's in the entire district right now [snorts] um I mentioned the data reviews and just today I bugged Tracy about starting the work on boot camp for bubbles. So, this is something I've employed in the past when we get closer to testing time [snorts] like a 10w week once a week regimented test prep class. It's run by the teachers, okay? We work out the details. I've run it for algebra for the last two years when I wasn't here. 90% of those kids that we got in the door pass the exam. It's fullc court press. It's all
058of our It's administration identifying the kids, calling parents. Okay. Hey, if you want your kid to pass and get their get their diploma, here's one of your biggest hurdles. Okay. Global 2, the district sent our current um social studies chair and global 2 teacher to professional development this year. Um one of his focuses have been is integrating and scaffolding in region skills to all of his instruction. So, as you go, we're practicing writing. It's a very rigorous two-year exam. Okay? I've worked very closely with him and his department, making sure there's vertical alignment between the teacher global one and global two. If they're not synced, we're going to struggle. Okay. And last point, increasing those informative writing experiences for kids. They've got to write. They've got to build rigor. Okay. We've lost kids in my
059experience during regences when they give up in the middle of writing. So, you've got to continue to build those skills routinely. Questions? Went pretty quick. I got one question I was thinking. Um, the numbers for the exams are just like on the first tape. So, if the student say I'm looking at algebra three, if they were at level three, they retook it. It doesn't necessarily show that the student retook it and they got a better >> It does not. So, you know what? I I didn't include that u Mr. Cello because um the data includes all administrations from August, January, and June. >> Okay. >> So, if there's multiple takes in there, that is wrapped in the data as well. >> Had another one over here, I think. >> Um anecdotally, I mean, you kind
060of spoke to participation was low, participation was high. Um just thought it could be useful to have a column too of like enrollment versus participation maybe. >> I like it. Yeah, absolutely. >> But you already you shared for this one just in a future presentation. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Do I have any on this side? >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. slightly. Uh, okay. Moving on. Uh, old business resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. The board does hereby approve the following old business items. the revised facilities use agreement with the village of Canota and the revised district-wide safety plan to amend Joyce Tens's contract effective September 1st, 2025. Do I have a motion? >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I >> opposed.
061Motion carried. New business. Result that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the board does hereby approve the following new business items. The corrective action plan for the June 30th, 2025 extra classroom activity fund audit and the attached the attached resolution, a promotional transfer and reclassify the existing permanent title of OA1 to OA2 in accordance with civil service rules effective December 1st, 2025. Do I have a motion? >> Some moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? opposed. Motion carried. Student board member update. Mr. Dwire. >> Um, me and Tai have nothing new. We're going to plan on meeting with each other, a couple students, and also Mr. Carter after winter break to find something that we can try to get moving and put our names on before we leave. >> Okay. >> I've
062got some thoughts I'm going to give you ahead of time. >> Okay. Uh, committee reports. Uh, facilities. We are meeting th >> Thursday at 5:00. Um >> academics meeting Monday. >> Really? >> At 6:30. >> Got to read that. [laughter] >> Uh policy >> policy has not met yet. >> Uh safety >> Thursday at 8. >> Thursday. Uh finance. >> We met uh [laughter] we actually met today. Um we set forth a calendar that we'll give to everybody for um budget construction and um presentations at the next meeting. Um we are meeting January 27th I believe is the next meeting. Um, we talked a little bit about levy limits and went through some historical um, data and um, looked over some of the processes that we would be using for creating the new budget. So
063that's what I got. [snorts] Okay. Uh, board comment period. Any takers? All right. superintendent report. Sean, you have the floor. >> Um, couple of quick updates um on some of the newer initiatives in the in the district. Um, last meeting we spoke I spoke about the athletic advisory council. That was a new thing for the district. We've had two of them. Now we have our next meeting scheduled for January 12th. I'm looking at Stan to make sure I'm saying the right day, but it's January 12th. Um, it was tough to find pockets of time where there weren't a million conflicts because the people that tend to be at that meeting are people who don't have a whole lot of available time. Um, but that's been good. We're still open to um I guess feedback. We've
064actively asked for that group to give us feedback. have had some good feedback since our last meeting because with like anything that's new, you know, the idea was to bring people together and let's take the best of the ideas and have the best uh connected program, not just for kids who are physically uh in school programs, but attached to youth programs and boosters and everybody who has a stake in and wanting to have our kids have a good experience in the Canada larger community. Um, but with anything new, people have different ideas of, okay, what are we doing at at the meeting and what's going what means it's been a productive meeting. And so, I think we're really working hard to try to take some of the the uh pieces of feedback that we've received
065um and incorporate that into the meeting. So, for example, just give a a little u preview of the January meeting. For the first time, we're actually having our trainer, and Stan has more details on this, but we're having people from the newly uh initiated training service that we brought into the district starting in the fall on a limited basis and really ramping up based on the availability of the trainer as we've talked about. Um, but we're happy to have that service. Um but we're um a lot of the feedback that we've received that kids and parents are wanting more information about is how do we u how do we uh prevent injuries from happening for example um those types of topics are very interesting to a lot of people and so that's going to be
066the topic of um for example of the January 12th session we were still working on nailing down a couple the idea A was to have probably three sessions topic you know January well let's see January February March was the tenative plan where we'd have this um attached to our AAC meeting sponsored by that AAC committee but open to anybody who wants to participate. So if you're interested in that subject, that's something we want to bring the can larger caniston community um as a vis as a service. Did they get that Stan or is there anything missing in that one? So that that's been a real positive thing. Another big picture item are our is about as big as you can get our strategic plan um that we started working on last year. spent a lot
067of time uh really then going back taking the feedback that we initially received trying to put it in some uh in some logical form that would make sense to u people that work in the district, parents, community members. So, we're on the verge of uh sort of uh giving an overall preview of that. that'll that is coming at the January public session of the board meeting where we'll go over again what our overarching goals and what is our action plan and the measurements that we're using to to uh assess our progress. So, it's not going to be fancy. It's not going to be laced with a bunch of uh you know big fancy words. It's not something that we want to create that then collects dust after we've created it. So, it's going to be
068a really a document that guides our work and it's a reflection of what we think is important, what we value, um you know, how we support kids and families and staff so that we can have the best school possible. So, that is uh will be on the agenda for the January session. Uh real awesome event that we have this Friday um the 12th um for the first time ever. I've been talking about it the last couple of meetings, but it's finally going to happen this Friday. REITs across America. Um, huge national initiative been in place for, you know, quite a few years now, but the first time uh at our school, I believe the only session that's going to be happening in Madison County where we can recognize and honor our veterans. And so, it's
069going to be at the assembly [clears throat] at the high school. Um, I'm looking at Mr. Carter to make sure I'm getting the time right. 10 o'clock on Friday morning will be this the assembly for our students correct >> in staff and then there's going to be a public um um leaf I'm sorry wreath laying ceremony at Clark Park right after I believe around at about 11:00 and so we'll be again continuing to get some more information now that we're just a few days away just reminding people if they want to uh you know attend that session at Clark part. Um, but really proud that our students are really the ones who are going to be presenting this program. They've really put a lot of work in it. And so, not only are they learning,
070uh, but they're sort of leading our, I guess, efforts to recognize the contributions of veterans and in the Kanesa community. So, it should be an awesome day. Um, capital project. These didn't go out yet, so I can >> Yeah, we got >> Oh, they did. Okay. I had a bunch of them here. So, I thought maybe they didn't. Uh, Capital Project continues to move forward. I'm teasing Nick because uh he has more than uh enough work to keep him busy. Tracy does as well. A lot of people. So, we appreciate continue to appreciate people's uh patience with the inconveniences. So, for example, one of the big, I guess we'll call inconveniences was um our fall play. Um we don't have an auditorium. We have a big uh you know, sort of empty shell right now
071and it'll be nice when it's done, but we appreciate everybody's patience and uh the ability to sort of adapt on the fly. So, um but it went well. So we we had we moved we went to Wellwood Middle School in the FM district. So we had to go a little bit down the road. Um but it worked out and the kids did a great job and our our staff and advisers did a great job and they had a kids had a a great show. So uh we're making it work, continue to make it work. Uh you know with movements around the building, the what was the tunnel is the cafeteria as the high school cafeteria gets worked on. um you know, and then we haven't even got into some of the big renovations that are
072coming up starting in April and then again the summer with our gyms. So, a lot's going to happen between now and say the start of the next school year. Um but they're all good things and and again, appreciate everybody's patience with that whole process. Um, another really cool thing is, uh, I just want to highlight is for the second year, we're having a a pretty extensive alumni day event. Um, [clears throat] on Friday before the holiday break, so next Friday, it's already here, next Friday. Uh, I believe at the last I knew we're close to 30 alumni and maybe Mr. Carter has updated but around 30 I believe um alumni who are actually going to be coming in. I think we have some at the table maybe uh who are going to be a part
073of that day. It was an awesome day last year. Really want to compliment that um spirit and unity committee which is largely made up of staff members who are alumni and have put a lot of time and energy very a lot of pride I think in making that a good event. They have pride in the school. They've added some layers, I think, from what they did last year to try to build on it, make it even is, you know, an even better experience for our students. But it does, I think, have special meaning when the people who are presenting and talking were people who were in in their shoes and walked the same halls and did a lot of those things that our kids are experiencing now. So, looking forward to that. And I'll end
074with a real popular topic that everybody if anything elicits a reaction. It's you talk about snow days and I know that last week with our two snow days that that um caused a big splash. Um Cindy's not here otherwise I would I would tease Cindy a little bit because uh we just want to remind people the process we take the process obviously very seriously and there's a lot of things that go into it. Um, I think a lot of district Tuesday was the definite needed to be a snow day. Uh, last Tuesday. A lot of districts definitely regretted it that they didn't call the day. Um, Thursday was a tricky one because it was all based on projections, right? So, a lot of questions that we get from people are what are you talking about?
075There's not a flake in uh flying, you know, when you're [clears throat] calling that. That's true. So sometimes we'll look to to buy some time if we do a delay. That delay or that eventual closing was based on the projections that there were going to be near visibility near zero visibility at times potentially both in the arrival and dismissal times. That was the unusual part of it. It wasn't the amount of snow we got because we knew it wasn't going to be a huge amount. The issue was are we comfortable when the projection is this unpredictable band that was going to be some time in arrival where you drop to zero visibility. Um and so that was that that's sort of the thought process behind it. But just want to assure people want to again
076thank Cindy if she was here. We start talking usually about 4:30 in the morning. We usually compare notes of what we're hearing. The process that we use is looking at different points in the district and the right in town, the northern part of the district, the southern part of the district. Cindy's driving uh typically when we're when we're looking at what's the condition in the hills. Um what are we hearing from neighboring districts, but that's a piece of the puzzle. But ultimately, we do what we can defend and what we're comfortable with because this is our district. Neighbors are going to do what they're going to do. Yes, it's good and interesting to know and there's a lot of conversations between districts, but there's also unique factors to that process as well. So, um to
077clarify too, we have five snow days this year. We have three remaining. Last year, we only had four, so we still have three days. We also have the option of going remote. is if you recall last spring, probably around March, we started putting notifications out to families saying if we need to, we can still preserve days. Um, is it a challenge? Of course it is because it's been a few years now since we've been in CO or used remote learning ex widely or extensively. But what it does do is allow us to not have to go into April break, for example, or things like that, which caused a tremendous amount of disruption. So, um, so it comes in in waves. We had a couple last week. Um, I can assure you the interest is always
078in, you know, are we doing what we think is right to keep staff and students safe or are we taking in unnecessary risks? We understand we live in upstate New York, so you're not going to wait for a perfect day. We understand you get up and you go out the door. There's always risk in anything. But do if we get to the threshold where we say it's a risk beyond what we think is the you know an acceptable risk like when they're saying there could been zero visibility at r at that time we were not comfortable with with putting the buses on the road. So again just a little update on that process and because it is a and I was not happy looking at our our forecast uh for tomorrow. So, I'm hoping that
079um I'm hoping that we can we can uh do a regular day tomorrow. So, I will talk to Cindy at 4 4:30 and we'll see where we are. >> All right, that's what I have. Okay, thank you. >> Uh personnel recommendations. All appointments are pending clearance on fingerprinting. Resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the board is hereby approved the following personnel recommendations. Retirements and resignations. Stevie Newton's letter of resignation as a special education teacher effective at the end of the day on December 19th, 2025. Do I have a motion? >> Um, is this written as doing them all as one? >> It is which includes the subs. >> No, you should have each A. >> Yeah, individually. number one. >> It was written, I think, as one, but >> make that
080motion. >> I'll improvise. >> Uh, do I have a second? >> Second. >> All those in Are those in favor? >> Opposed? >> Motion carried. >> Sorry, I didn't get that. I was I was distracted. Who the first motion? Scott. >> Okay. Second. >> I think I did. Okay. Uh, permanent appointments result upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. The board is to hereby approve the following permanent appointments. Bonnie Dwire is a permanent food service helper at 1728 per hour, 5 hours a day effective December 10th, 2025 with a 26- week probationary period. Katymore as a per permanent teacher aid school monitor at 1775 per hour effective December 8th, 2025 with a 26 week probationary period. Do I have a motion? >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >>
081I >> opposed. Motion carried. Substitute appointments. [clears throat] Uh resolved upon the recommendation of superintendent of schools. The board is hereby approved the following p the personnel recom substitute appointments, excuse me. Uh Christina Kakamo as a non-certified substitute teacher at $120 per day effective December 10th, 2025. Eric Drake is a substitute bus driver at 2520 [snorts] per hour effective December 1st, 2025. Courtney Curliano is a non-ertified substitute teacher at $120 per day and a substitute teacher aid school monitor [clears throat] at 1695 per hour effective December 10th, 2025. Rana Alexander as a non-certified substitute teacher at $120 a day effective December 10th, 2025. Sydney Owens as a non-certified substitute teacher at $120 per day effective December 10th, 2025. Mark Mack as a non-certified substitute teacher at $120 per day effective December 10th, 2025. Daniel [clears
082throat and cough] Daniel Ruiz as a non-certified substitute teacher at $120 per day effective December 10th, 2025. Elizabeth Goff is a retired certified substitute teacher at $160 per day effective October 1st, 2025. And Abby Thompson is a non-certified substitute teacher at $120 per day effective December 10th, 2025. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I >> opposed and one abstension Karen. >> Motion carried. >> Coaching resulted upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. The board is hereby approved the following paid and unpaid 2025 2026 winter coaches as per the attachment in the agenda. Do I have a motion? Some moved. >> Second. Second. >> All those in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carried. Uh other resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the
083board does hereby approve the following items listed under other. Lisa Whitman as the math department chair effective October 1st, 2025. Ruth Bomb's request for an unpaid leave effective November 3rd, 2025. Revised co-curricular recommendation as per the attachment for Jennifer Kurak and Stacy Stagnitti. 12 12th [clears throat] grade advisor A and B to co-advisors. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carried. Uh public comment period. Nothing. Okay. Yep. stand there if you'd like or sit there as long as we can hear you. Yes. >> I just wanted to talk about I sent in a letter to Karen about the changing the policy for homeschooled students to be involved to be more involved with um the actual school district with clubs and school dances and things
084like that. I want I'm hoping to change the policy right now. >> And I did make that letter available to our policy committee chair which will >> and the policy committee is meeting I think in January in a few couple of week few weeks. >> That's why I had >> just came in last week. >> Thank you. Thank you for speaking up for your kids. >> Thank you. >> Okay, >> Mr. President, just a couple quick reminders. Um, Cindy was talking about the zero emission buses. Um, there's still waiverss out there 2030. We got to keep a client for them. Tracy and probably know about that. Just want the board to understand that. um SBI's legislative committee, RSA's legislative group, Ro. We have a meeting uh SBI January 5th with Regent Canyon. Um had a
085night of both to talk about a portrait of a graduate. The 29th of January, we have the meeting with all the legislators to talk about all our what we want to change, what we want to talk for, and we're trying to get um board members involved so they can tell their story about their schools um instead of us coming up with questions and anything else. Just so uh you're aware of those dates, the 5th of January with region manion and the 29th of January and both nights with other legislators from the uh valley region. >> Thank you, >> Doug. Did you say the January 5th one was the portrait of the graduate? >> Yes, man will be there with a portrait of a graduate. He's also going to be there to talk about what's going
086on with a region citizen. [cough] I imagine >> uh future dates, uh January 13th is our next board of education meeting. 6:30 p.m. right here. Um, and real quick, uh, tomorrow is the rescheduled high school band con band concert. So, hope to see you all there. >> December 11th is the middle school base concert [clears throat] for us. Yeah. >> And the 17th is the elementary cancer. >> People better check the uh website cuz there's a lot there's a lot of dates. snow day tomorrow. [laughter] >> I don't get I don't want Is there a snow date for the snow day for the high school? I don't >> I don't want to. [laughter] >> Uh okay. At this time, I'll entertain a motion to enter into executive session to discuss matters of employment for district
087personnel. Do I have a motion? >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> Opposed? Motion carried. We are now in executive session. Nothing to meet him.