001and I would hit this white curtain somewhere around the Brewerton Bridge. And uh I did that for drive for about eight years, several mild winters, but I gotta tell you uh Valentine's Day this year that did it for me. So I was trying to make it to Lafayette and almost spent the day on the Brewerton Bridge. And it was at that point when I called up uh some contacts in the area, I said, "Hey, I heard that Mr. Todd at city Boseies is retiring. Uh what can you tell me about uh the district superintendent work?" In addition to uh operating the local Boseies and serving our nine component districts, uh I also serve as your local representative for the New York State Education Department. So I serve all 17,000 students in Asiggo County. And I
002work for the commissioner. So a portion of my salary, about 20% of my salary actually comes directly from Albany. And I spend about two days a month on average in Albany working with the commissioner and the team from the state education department. So, I'm happy to be a representative and a messenger for what's happening in Albany, but also happy to bring back any messages that you'd like me to share with the New York State Education Department as well. >> One of Be careful. >> One of the great things coming out of the New York State Education Department right now is what I passed out to the board with the portrait of a graduate. So this is probably the most transformational change in education in the in the past 20 plus years and decades, right? So
003this is an opportunity for us as stakeholders, as we county residents, uh as uh Red Hawks here in Central Square to really talk about what we want for kids for the future in terms of graduation outcomes and educational opportunities in our school, in our Boseies, and in our region. So, if you take a look, uh, that giant poster that I've shared with you, uh, has six domains, uh, around the outside at the center, you'll notice the culturally responsive and sustaining education. And that that tree with all those handprints really wants to make sure that all students in New York have the opportunity to take advantage of what we have to offer in our schools, that no one's left behind, that each and every child in each and every school uh, has the chance to be
004successful with what we have to offer. Uh we also want to make sure that we're supporting creative innovators with our students. Uh really focusing on creativity, developing critical thinking skills, developing effective communication skills. So it's no longer about what's just on a regent exam or a pencil and paper test, but can they get up in front of a group and audience and present? Can they go and talk to business partners and talk about the skills that they've learned inside of their classrooms or at our Boseies and talk about what sort of uh things they want to do with their futures and what assets they bring to the table. We also want to think about global citizens uh our students making sure that they're thinking not just about themselves and their local community but about the
005greater community as a whole. And then we also want to make sure that we have reflective and future focused students and that students are academically prepared, that they have those basic literacy, communication skills, basic math skills, and all the skills that they need to be successful in their future careers. Around the outside, you can see that a New York State graduate will be ready to learn, grow, create, work, and contribute. So, no longer is it our our teachers standing up in front of the class having kids fill out scaffolded notes. It's about what can kids do with the content, with the skills that are being taught. As board members, you can see this helpful handout that uh came out of state ed this month. Uh thinking about your role with the roll out of the
006portrait of a graduate. Uh if you're looking at uh local goals, which uh I really appreciated again your letter uh Mr. patch in terms of some of your uh areas of focus and you'll you'll find that there's definitely local relevance related to uh the New York State portrait of a graduate and making sure that our students are supported with those career focused opportunities and c and college focused opportunities. You can see that we have the culturally culturally responsive and sustaining education framework at the core. Making sure that we're recognizing students diverse identities, languages, and experiences as strengths and attributes that help add to the diversity of our learning communities and that there's authentic application opportunities that kids have the chance to work in the real world. And I think that that's the core of what
007your letter got to is making sure that kids have connections to their future careers and to college. Also a focus on student performance making sure that we have uh classroom measurements, formative measures, interim measures and summitive strategies that include things like performance tasks, learning portfolios, projects and presentations of learning. So rather than just that end of unit test and exam that we have a chance for kids to really show what they know and what they can do. shared values, making sure that we have uh our students ready to learn, grow, create, work, and contribute. And that we have strategic alignment, making sure that educational policies that are passed by the central square board, by the city Bosey's board, and our other component districts align with uh the issues and reflect student interests and foster student
008strong partnerships with our community as well. So, I'm really excited about this work. So, that is the good stuff coming out of the state ed department. Certainly there's lots of other uh you know business and regulations and policies. I'm always happy to be a resource for that. But I'm really excited about the work that's ahead. Really excited about the letter that you shared with me. Uh what I did do is just put put together a brief uh response to some of the ideas that just in my first two months two and a half months of work at the Boseies that I can see where city is already trying to lead the way with asiggo county districts in terms of how we're making sure that we have goals that are aligning towards kids futures. and I
009really appreciated uh your emphasis on that. So, one of the things that we want to look at is making sure that uh we're tracking student participation rates and our career and technical education programs, new vision programs, other city Bosey's programs, and that we we're making sure that kids are attaining those industry recognized credentials and certifications. We also want to make sure that there's successful articulation agreements with post-secary and career uh schools as well. and making sure that uh we are taking advantage of that dual enrollment coser to make sure that Bosey's aid is driven back to our component districts so that way you can continue to preserve and consider offering more uh college credit opportunities here at uh at Paul Vmore. Uh also we want to make sure that every student in our county has
010access uh especially our students with special needs. Uh one of my uh previous administrative roles was uh the committee on special education chair for Mexico Central Schools. So special education, exceptional education is really at the core and heart of what I believe in and making sure that we support all kids and making sure that they can reach their full potential. So we want to make sure that our IEP goals are aligned, our programs have the right supports in place, and that we're making sure that we're creating uh the necessary pathways to make sure that all kids are successful. Transportation is probably our biggest hurdle, right? I see rusty bus 414 pulling into the Bose Circle circle. Not throwing any digs, but kudos to you, Moren, and your transportation department and making sure you're squeezing every
011mile out of those diesels because you're going to need them. Um, and it's great to see two plus busful loads of kids coming off to make sure that they're uh getting to their programs, but transportation is tricky. Uh I picked up a Boseies run as a superintendent. So uh it's not uncommon to to hear that you have central office staff, we had maintenance workers in Lafayette that uh were driving kids to programs. So you know it certainly is all hands on deck to make sure that we're getting kids where they need to be for their programs. And certainly as we start talking about things like job shadowing and internships, uh those challenges will be uh ever growing. So, it's going to take all of us pulling all of our resources together to talk about how
012do we get kids to where they need to learn. Uh, also looking at uh financial barriers. One of the great things about Boseies, they taught me uh I I spent uh twothirds of my administrative coursework in school business and school finance. Uh I did not finish because the Bellfield twins were born about twothirds of the way through the program. Uh so I have enough to be dangerous. I'm not as good as Moren. But I know that there's two areas that they always told me to try to avoid cutting if possible and that's Boseies and transportation because we drive aid for the services that we provide. One of the cool things is is that the state really sees the value in sharing resources and regionalizing some of the efforts that we have for expensive programs like
013CTE. They've actually raised the the cap on Bosey's Adidable salaries from 30,000 to 40,000 in the coming year, from 40 to 50 the year after, and from 50 to 60. So when you look at your Bosey's aid exclusion report over the coming years, you're going to see less exclusions and more aid flowing back to districts. So using Boseies to help provide services to kids will really help uh preserve opportunities and will also help to expand opportunities for what we want to do for kids in their future. Uh for program support, we want to make sure that we're taking advantage of all the opportunities coming to Central New York in advanced manufacturing and the semiconductor industry. Certainly, we're very excited about uh what Micron has to offer and with Central Square right on the doorstep of
014uh of the the Micron business community. We're certainly happy to support those opportunities. My daughter is a junior at the Asiggo County PEK operated by City Boseies. She's chose uh electrical engineering as her focus for her associates degree because she's excited about this stuff too. So, uh that's currently one pathway adv available to kids, but that's a limited pathway, right? PEX very competitive, tough to get into and not available to all kids. So, what we want to do is try to encourage more opportunities, put our heads together. Do we want to think about a CTE program and semiconducting uh and and continue to offer more skilled trades because it's not just that we want our kids to work in those clean rooms. Not every kid wants to put on a bunny suit and hop around
015inside of that clean room all day. Uh but maybe they want to help build Micron, which is going to be a 20-year adventure. We're going to need more welders. We're going to need more HVAC technicians. So, you know, certainly looking at opportunities to build out in CTE programs and the skilled trades and construction as well. We also want to think about renewable energy and some of the opportunities that are coming uh to Central New York. Hopefully, you know, certainly we love to glow in the dark in Central New York with the three nuclear plants and maybe they'll someday there'll be a fourth. Who knows? So, you know, certainly we have kids that have come out of our programs uh that work at those plants and we want to make sure that we're continuing uh to
016support the three plants in existence and cross our fingers for more opportunities down the road. And all these folks are going to need to go to the doctor, the dentist, uh the emergency room. We're going to need health care professionals. We're going to need folks working in those industries to to help us out. And those industries are in trouble, right? Probably our worst advertisement for working in healthcare was what happened in 2020 with the pandemic, right? No one wants to go to the dentist because that was high risk and uh you know, everybody hated the dentist. My brother-in-law is my dentist, so I can say that lovingly. Um but we also want to think about how do we help curb uh some of the stigma that was developed around health care. We see how exhausted
017our health care professionals are and we see that we need more workers to fill those vacant spots that are coming in the future. Uh and then also along the lines of regional collaboration, just really looking at ways that we can form direct partnerships with industries like Micron. Uh so recently we sent a team to Boise, Idaho, the Micron research and development uh site and and uh they brought back all sorts of great curricular resources from Boise State that we're looking forward to share with our uh districts. We're also in the midst of trying to plan some opportunities for teachers to go out and explore uh other industries and share some of those opportunities with their students as well. So, we worked on some of that today. In fact, was most of the day for me
018working with that Boise team. And then other things that we want to do is strengthen articulation agreements with higher ed partners to make sure that we're taking full advantage of those dual enrollment courses to help defay the cost of college for our students who are in high school today. you know, when you graduate, my goal for our two student board members is they have a load of college credits. They walk in as college sophomores or college juniors, so that way they can save money because I know that many of you are still probably paying for your college education as most Americans are. And we want to help to lower that cost for kids. And also around collaboration and government uh governance, I really want to make sure that um I'm accessible to you. Top right
019hand corner of this uh memo has my cell phone that's available to you. It's with me pretty much 24/7. If you can't get a hold of me, Mr. Kalabou always knows how to find me. Um, and uh, I would say email me, but I'm not a big fan of email. So, text messages, phone calls. I'm a little old school in that regard. Email. Sometimes I get a little bogged down when I get stuck in Albany for a couple of days. Um, and then certainly uh, we meet monthly with uh, the superintendent. um trying to make sure that we can find ways to make sure that we're using those as collaborative sessions to talk about program development, budget priorities and strategic initiatives. And then along the lines of budget, making sure that we're operating the Boseies
020in an efficient and an effective manner, right? Making sure that uh we're maximizing those aid opportunities for you as a district, for your kids, and that we're not uh we're not an added bur burden, but a value ad in terms of the aid that flows back to Central Square. Um, I certainly would welcome the the chance and opportunity for any questions and uh would welcome the chance to come back and if you want to ever do a workshop on any of these topics or a more in-depth presentation, I'm always happy to do so. >> Just to put some dollar signs to what he said regarding city Bose's created that um coser for the dual college credit. We submitted $600,000. We're getting back 76% aid. That's our aid. So we get back 456,000. So when we
021had a district as we did that failed, our original budget had failed. We need to be able to make sure that we're still providing the best opportunities. We like you said, the majority of our students go to college as sophomores, basically literally as sophomores. That's about a $50,000 in some cases or 30 depending on where the kids go. So that's huge that there are some teachers that just do the college courses that we able to put their entire salaries in there. Be able to get back 456,000 makes moren very happy to be able to drive that aid. First aid comes through in February. So >> I know Moren can't wait. So >> go ahead. >> You can start. >> Um All right. I I will start. First I want to thank you for being here.
022Um I think that um this district and the pathways like I said in the letter is is key and your partnership and working with the district I think going forward is going to be is going to be critical really in in how we sit down with the students and determine um you know the pathways for me this upcoming year is going to be is going to be key right how are we talking with students what's their future going to look like and then how are we going to get them to success right and we can you know we can integrate to the to to the new way of education and and that's fine but at the end of the day it's you know talking with them individually and have an understanding of where where they
023want to be and and how they want to be successful. Um second is is that I had a meeting for two hours with uh my Micron insider um about 10 days ago and we talked about you know setting up curriculum and Micron and you know for the future and he said it is it is workforce construction trades trades trades 4,000 they're anticipating 4,000 people for four years working to build this thing and they need people that understand trades. That's really that's that's kind of their key. So I think that really you know in the in the short term you know how how is Boseis in Central Square and the other component districts going to push that forward. I know um you know Ryan with you know had all the uh union reps this summer at
024the hub you know it and I think you know the collaboration and of of having the unions in trades and what what they're trying to get accomplished goes to a point that is Dave made is that we don't really want to duplicate service in the in a tight budget environment. So, if there's a way that we can use an apprenticeship program that that is currently within our local union hall and and and you know, just use that as a multiplying factor as far as how we're going to get to the endgame and how we're going to get to success and and I know it can be complicated and it and it can be challenging, but I think with, you know, with with the census score district, the admin that's sitting over there, it they're really
025really smart people and we you know, hopefully can get this all figured out. And I I look forward to the, you know, with working with you. Congratulations on your job >> and you're already behind. So, it's just >> felt that the second I walked in, treadmill was running, just jump on and go as fast as you can. Right. So a really cool program that came back to city Boseis uh two years ago was uh you know we have we've had construction technology for uh a number of years where basically kids get exposure to a number of the trades and then after they graduate they would pick their specialty. So what we're trying to do is bring back more of the specialties right because the more exposure that we can have in high school the more
026we can develop those relationships with those union halls so that way they walk out of our door into those apprenticeships. So, uh, electrical came back two years ago. That program is booming. And I know Tom was a big push behind getting that program back. >> Awesome. >> Yeah. They had Chris Todd come in because we were told we couldn't have any juniors. We only had 11 spots. So, they were like, "Well, we need Chris here." and then two days later he was able to get the CCC the entire so that's what this board is very happy to hear that you're proactively recognizing the need that's out there but then looking at how do we have to make the changes for space at Boseis to be able to meet that need >> so another program coming
027back uh you know once a renovation happens at north 510 so as you come up to city Bosey's campus on one side of the road you have our transportation and receiving facility and north 510 is right next to it back in the day it used to be where the the heavy equipment program was that building's going undergoing a renovation this summer uh and our HVAC program which is coming back. So the other big thing if you know any HVAC perspective instructors we've had a tough time recruiting for that. We were trying to get it off the ground for this fall but uh we had an instructor that kind of slipped through our fingers. So uh if you know of any instructors have any of those relationships with uh you know potential HVAC program instructors that's
028the next one that we're looking at. uh you know, one of the big ones that has a lot of student interest and and definitely will be a huge part of the uh buildout of Micron and likely the supply chain industries that will accompany that would be welding, right? So, we're going to need 4,900 pipe fitters in central New York to build all those complicated HVAC systems, uh you know, put up the structural steel for Micron and other uh uh uh supply industries. So, you know, we have a waiting list a mile long because, you know, we can only accommodate 120 welders. So, we're putting our heads together looking at a Twilight uh program for welding. You know, Mexico's right down the road. Donna Runners expressed interest in that. We're doing some research around that. Uh
029certainly, we would open it up to other districts as well. I think Asiggo City was interested. So kids that maybe aren't going out for sports or clubs or coming back here, would they want to come to Boseies on that 2:00 bus and continue uh you know their their programming at Boseies in the welding program. Uh the reality is is you know we have waiting lists for everything uh and we're out of space. Um so don't be surprised if I come back to you in in a year or two and say, "Hey, we're going to need to build some more welding stations. we're going to need to to build out at main campus or go looking for space like the electrical program that's now housed at CCC. Sometimes those opportunities uh those doors open at the
030right time. We're we're certainly open to that, but we need to make sure that it's uh it's suited for student occupancy that it meets all of the uh state requirements uh to put students in those in those buildings as well. >> I'll just put it out there again because I've been here 11 years. We have CSI that we've been using as swing space which has saved the district millions of dollars. And we do know with Micron coming a lot of people are going to be coming. It can go up 3,000. It's it's it's a waiting game, right? Because like that would be ideal, but that would require a large scale capital project to retrofit it to be able to bring in all the electric. So, I would say let's do that. But now it's almost
031like we're going to probably need that building 100%. I I I would love to partner with you, but I also don't want to get kicked out five years from now and go looking uh for other locations. So, um you know, I think uh we're we're poised for growth. You know, they anticipate uh a need for 25 additional 2500 additional homes a year for the next 10 years in Asiggo County. That's 25,000 additional homes. I think a lot of it's going to happen in the southern portion of Asiggo County uh and migrate up 81 uh the 81 corridor. So, you know, I think there's going to be a need for additional space for your programs and obviously for city programs if we already have a wait list uh for the number of residents that we currently
032serve. >> Um, I guess I'll I'll jump in. Uh, thank you so much for coming here and I can I I'm sure speak for everyone that we're very excited to see you and, you know, to encourage you on this this journey and the beginning of it. Um, as Tom alluded to, we were somewhat disappointed with the way that things have gone to this point in terms of preparing for Micron, preparing our students, being proactive. So, it's it's exciting to hear that, you know, you're thinking ahead and you're you're already, you know, lining up those ducks to make sure that our students have opportunities. Um, when you were talking about the portrait of the graduate and how that's great that Alby's putting that out, I couldn't help but sit here and think, well, we were we
033were here five years ago. I mean, this is almost the exact copy of what we did in terms of the attributes of a central square learner five years ago. And so we kind of have a collective feeling of work the services being offered whether it be Boseies or the state you know education department is always kind of behind the ballgo county being one of the ma major factors of that even during COVID we were always behind the ball on Adaga county we were we were kind of uniquely positioned for that because one of our schools was in onaga county and we had different rules for that because asiggo county hadn't adopted them and things. So, it's exciting to have someone new in the position of leadership um with respect to the Boseis program. But, um
034I think Steve and I were talking about this the pathways uh the pathways with respect to you know the confidence and trust in you know uh that we have in terms of Boseies and and the the future of the students kind of needs that pathway needs to be repaved. Um it's unfortunate for you, but it kind of got washed out in the last the confidence in it kind of got washed out a little bit. Um we still want all of those opportunities for our students and we want to encourage the students to go, but that electrical programming kind of that experience really kind of set us I I think it left a little bit of a a bruise on our heart, so to speak. Um because it seemed like we were kind of just being
035left behind. as much as we wanted to advance, as much as we were trying to stay ahead of the game, we were kind of being left behind. Not us, but ESGO County as a whole, but obviously our primary focus is Central Square. Um, and so I guess the one thing that I I'm sure you're aware of, but you're like like Steve said, you're already behind, and we don't mean that as anything against you. Um, but you kind of stepped into a position with um, you know, some deficits that already existed. And so our primary concern is how are you going to make up for that lost time that you'd had nothing to do with and it was not your responsibility. But you know we're we're trying to catch up and then get ahead of where
036everybody else is. And I guess you know seeing what your plans to do how to accomplish that is is really important especially to me with respect to those programs. So I get that there's weight lists and I get that there's struggles with space but you know we that's it's not an option right? it has to be fixed. It's not well we'll fix it when we can. Like we need we need to make sure that those pathways are there. >> So in terms of just addressing space needs, you know, we we've kicked off an initial conversation with our architect to look at our current the current status of our facility needs. We're also in some conversations with uh an outside consulting firm uh to to take a look at what sort of uh interests exist currently,
037what sort of needs should we be thinking about for the future uh and trying to fold that together in terms of a of a comprehensive facilities plan. Um and then also not just at looking at what we can build because that's oftentimes the most expensive option but sometimes the only option. Uh what spaces could we lease? Uh so that conversation kicked off last week with our architects. We're hoping to have uh kind of an initial sketch and plan and then look at the financial implications as well because we want to make sure that it's something that's affordable, doable, um and uh making sure that we're maximizing building aid for uh any space that we lease or build. So those conversations are already underway. Uh you know, because you're you have experience with capital projects, we're
038probably two years out from a vote. we're probably four years out from a build, right? Or from a lease. Uh lease sometimes can happen much more quickly uh in terms of what we can capture depending on what space is available. But one of the things you're going to find uh now that Micron's starting to break ground and and they're kicking off building is uh you're going to find a lot of those spaces for rent, spaces for lease uh are probably going to be tough to come by as well. So, uh, we we are behind the eightball. Uh, you know, and, uh, it certainly is not a comfortable position to be in. You know, coming from a district in Anadaga County, and I was there at OC when President Biden flew in and made the the
039big announcement, the second that they said this is really happening, I felt uh, exactly the same way that all of you are feeling, that we've got to play catch-up. So, I I think you're not alone. Uh but I think that your vision uh what you've articulated in terms of what you want for students is the direction that we are going and that we will continue to forge together. Uh and this work won't be easy. It's going to be challenging but it's what's necessary for our kids. >> I think a huge thing advantage we have is you're coming from Anadaga County because your DS did a wonderful job. Matt Cook did a wonderful job because even um at the time he left but the person that was like the educational person for Micron there uh he
040went to >> Dr. >> Robert Simmons. >> Yes. He would say that a big part of the success was the relationship that Matt Cook forged with him. They would talk four or five times a week. So the good news is is you've already seen the recipe for success and building those relationships and that you work you still work closely with Matt Cook. So, I I'm confident that we'll be able to close that gap. >> Even though Robert's no longer with Micron, uh, you know, uh, he's still accessible to us. He's with the National Grid Foundation. You're going to find a lot of what he's doing with National Grid Foundation is very similar to what he was doing with the Micron Foundation. Uh, and then I forg, you know, some initial conversations with Kim Bernett. Uh,
041we're meeting, uh, mid-occtober to talk about chip camp rollouts for kids, uh, in Asiggo County for this coming summer. Uh and then we're also starting to talk about how do we get some of our staff to like the R&D site in Boise. Uh you know, we're hopeful to to get a a trip planned for from some more as we go county educators to Boise as well. So, you know, certainly a lot of that is uh thanks to the wonderful generosity of the Micron Foundation and other donors. So, uh you know, certainly I'm no uh stranger to begging. So, I will certainly go out there and advocate to make sure that uh our educators and our kids get as much of that slice of the pie as we can get. So, >> we know that you
042need to get to Phoenix. >> Yes, you can blame Mr. Burn. No, I'm just kidding. Don't blame Mr. Burn for it, but uh you know, I do appreciate your time. always happy to come back and continue the conversation uh either at a regular board meeting workshop u and again my email cell phone is accessible to you and uh you've got a great superintendent and a great advocate for your kids here in central square Mr. Calabouo and his team so thank you for having me I appreciate >> you thank you so much Jeremy [Applause] and the good thing is our board Perfect. >> Yep. Absolutely. Okay, Mr. Wils. >> Can you guys hear me clearly? God, I hate the way that my voice sounds when it's coming through this. Um, first thing, um, I wanted to
043thank Moren. Um, I called her last Friday in the morning and it said, "I want to understand a bit more about the way that the education system here gets funded." Um, 45 minutes later, I had several powerpoints and like a 2% understanding of how it all works. Um, but it's worth saying that I called up and said, "I would like more information." And 5 minutes later, we're sitting at her office and she is downloading as much of that information as she possibly could to me and providing me resources so I can go off and I could do some more research on our own. Um, the reason that we're doing that is I think you remember last year I came up and I spoke in front of you folks. And you guys got the attention of
044a large group of us over at Millard Hawk. We were shocked when the budget didn't pass. I think a lot of us kind of anticipated like, hey, this just sort of works, doesn't it? Like the school district that you don't really need to get involved like the processes. Nope. Apparently not. So, there's a group of us. This is uh one of the individuals from the PTO. Um we're all working together now like we're trying to workshop ideas, you know, amongst ourselves for things that we can do to assist the district. um we're communicating, you know, somebody might have a little shred of information we're passing along to one another, but in general, you guys have gotten our attention that like this is a contact sport. If you want the district to do well, then you
045need to be here. Um we were talking about Oswiggo County a little bit, which awesome that like we could zoom out and like we are impacted by what occurs in Asiggo County. I want to step back a little bit further and I'm going to apologize. We're going to delve into politics a little bit, but the world we live in now, education is a political issue, no matter how much we don't really want it to be. Right? So, in New York State, about 35% of all of our tax revenue goes to Medicaid. We've got about 25 to 30% goes to education. Another like 5% or so uh goes to social services. Well, I don't know if anybody's been paying attention to the news lately, um, and keeping up, but there was the one big beautiful bill,
046which is just the worst thing to call that, um, recently passed. So, I did some digging on what the impacts could be over the years to this district. So, first thing, we have SNAP's going to be impacted. Um, in Oswiggo County, about 15% of the folks here use SNAP. about 14 to 22% of those recipients are set to lose um some of that funding and they're going to lo or others are simply going to lose those benefits altogether. Medicaid uh we ship about $25.6 million to Albany, but the ask for the county is anticipated to go up about another $5.5 million or or we're going to have to decide to just uh lose those benefits. The reason I bring that up is because where is the money going to come from? New York State does
047a great job advocating for uh the least among us, for the most vulnerable among us. We're going to end up um having to make up for those losses in healthc care funding that are coming in one way or another. And if the next biggest piece of that pie is education funding, it's going to be awfully difficult to come off of um the hold harmless level to get it to something that's actually acceptable instead of like the mere pittance that we're given back. So, I'm curious and I don't know if I can ask questions and whatnot if any of this has been discussed amongst the board inside of executive sessions. This is something that we're aware of. Have we have we begun talking about that? Because amongst us over at Millard Hawk where we have young
048kids where we've got, you know, I what do I have 13 years left where I'm going to be a parent in this district and over that 13 years funding is going to be a real big problem for us. So, um, last year the levy was 6.8, I think, coming out of the gate. And, you know, I I asked what do we think that number is going to be? And this is very early on in the game. So, you know, none of this is like set in stone at this point, but it looks like we may be coming out at that value again. So instead of us waiting until we get to that point where we're talking about it and we're putting that number out there and lose that conversation online with individuals who haven't taken
049the time to come out here and learn how that money is allocated, how much of it isn't something that can be altered. the things that are on the peripheral where Marines over there working magic trying to find, you know, dollars for us. The views that are out there are kind of ridiculous. So, we're not letting that happen. We're already out there and we're talking to our folks to say, "Look, if we're coming out, it's going to be 7%. You need to vote for it. You need to find other parents. You need to talk to them and you need to vote for it." At this point, all of those things that I was talking about at the beginning about the lack of funding is going to, you know, impact Oswiggo County a little more disproportionately than
050others because we're one of the poorer counties in New York State. Um, roughly 20% of our folks are on Medicaid. When that money comes down, it's going to be even harder to make that justification to them to say, "Hey, we need funding for the children here. We need to keep those programs. We need to maintain it." So, we're talking about Micron coming in. Well, I'm a big fan. Like I think that, you know, Micron coming in is going to be big for the county. We're saying we're probably going to have a lot of those folks moving into the southern tier of Oswiggo County. That's great. What are we doing until then? So, for us, we're out there and we're paying attention. We're trying to figure out what we can do. I'd like to if I
051can get some of your time at some point in you know the next couple of days and you can like maybe talk to me let me know the things that we can start doing as parents to prepare for like that donnut hole that we're going to have to account for between today and there I mean gentleman was just up here talking about all the programs we want to do and that's awesome like that's awesome all of those things if I were a student they certainly sound like things that I'd want to be in but it's all going to cost money and New York State is going to have to shoulder a much larger load than it did before I see you're moving your microphone over. I didn't know if >> No, no. Normally we go
052two minutes. I I everything No, no, no. Everything that you're saying we're I would love to be able to sit down with you cuz I would just want to kind of paraphrase and just kind of give you like something to take away from. >> Yeah. >> So, the hardest thing and you're dead on with your assessment in New York State. So, a while ago they they've said suicide is number one in Asiggo County in the state. uh depression, anxiety among adolescence and children is number one in this county ac across the whole state. So the big initiative was to make sure that there's counselors at the elementary. We didn't have any prior to the pandemic. That was a huge ask because a salary and benefits $100,000, right? So that was four more at the elementaryaries.
053We didn't have social workers to deal with a lot of the family. They're they're they're packed full, right? you were here when we presented uh like Joel Moscow who's 25 years and other great social workers. They do amazing work. But again, the state can say this is an initiative, but they're not giving us any any money on that, right? So, um, also they said school safety. Well, before I came here, there were no schools uh special patrol officers, right, that are armed that god forbid that worst day came that they have to put down that threat. We didn't have that. So, when we originally went out and it got voted down, we went out at the tax levy. But something that I'm so happy, I mean, it gives me chills because we need that growing
054movement to happen because at the end of the day, there will always be the number of people out there that say, "Well, I'm on a fixed income. I my kids aren't in the district anymore. It was great when they were and people paid for that who didn't have kids in, but now it's fixed income. I don't I don't want to I don't want my taxes to go up." We also have a growing number of people that just do have kids in school that want all those things that we talked about. The counselor, the special patrol officer school site, the college courses where they can save $50,000, but they don't want to pay for it. So, I'm so glad to hear this kind of grassroots effort that you're starting. Um, I I'm so excited about it
055because we can say stuff, but innately it when it comes from the parents themselves and they're pushing this to say, "Hey, let's look at what just happened. We voted down the 6.86, so the district had to cut 1.2 million. So now there's no late bus at 5:30, right now. You got to drive those kids or they can't participate. There's no summer banned in sports programs." And we paid for that. No other district does that. When we This is the last year we're paying for elementary supplies. That's about $50 per kid. Some parents have four. When you just parents when you just add that up, you just doubled what would have been, you know, like if the if the budget had passed. >> And so we spent a lot of time saying, "What can we do
056for the public?" But yet, >> besides our administrators, there's only two of you that are here. So any effort, any assistance that you need from me, I'm happy to go wherever to speak to PTO meetings, any a parent asked me, would I come to Pop Warner? Yeah, I'll come in. So, I'm super excited that you're doing this and we really appreciate it. >> Yeah. Well, it's just it's not just me. Deandra, hey, my wife just joined PGO as well. You know, she realized, okay, like if you're out there and you're speaking on behalf, I'm going to get involved as well. Like, >> again, it's not just me. There's a whole group of us. I just happen to be the one that is talking right now. >> That's awesome. >> Um, so I wanted to say
057like I've So, you're saying like it's not coming down from the state. I hear that. So, I've been to the county legislature. I'm I've tried to track down Senator Ryan. Um Will Bark Barkley. Nothing. Like, so it it is crickets. It is impossible to find these people. Every time you call, it's like, "Oh, you know, I'll make sure I tell the senator." Or, "Oh, our position is we're going to sit back and we're going to get more information." And so it doesn't seem like we're going to get very far. And Hokll right now is distracted with, you know, she's running and whatnot. It doesn't seem like her focus is here. I mean, she had time to stop down at Syracuse and give them tens of millions of dollars to arm the police some more. You
058know, the Oswiggo County legislature just voted to pay the sheriffs more even though the we have less people in the county than we did. They're spending more money. So, there's money to be had. So, here's the ask. And like I guess I'm talking to the camera a little bit here. So, if you're a parent in this district, it's kind of time to get involved. Like this this is it. Like there's no more time to sit on the sideline. If you want the district to do well, it's time to get involved. There are two of us that don't have to be here right now and that's it. It's not just about coming up here and talking in front of you. It's not just about sitting and listening to you. It's about networking between us and talking.
059If you have a problem, come and talk. Come. If you don't want to talk here, talk to us out there. We'll we want to solve these problems. Everyone in this room wants 45 minutes you sat with me. You want to solve these problems. So, enough. Like, if you're a if you're a parent, get involved. Volunteer for PTO. Show up to these meetings. Reach out to your principal. How can you get involved? It's time. It's not we're not gonna make it until Micron if we don't start acting like a district that wants to survive. >> And what I'll say in an end note I agree is that we've done our end of the bargain. That table over there in this board has shown a drastic increase in our 3 through8 testing. We're in the 90s now
060percent graduation rate. We're sending more kids to college, but we're also we have more special ed population doing exceedingly well on regent exam graduation requirements. who we are. So there's nothing that we're not producing. >> Oh yeah. And you're doing more with less, too. >> I I I we we love the fact that you're standing up, but also the people behind the scenes with you. Thank you. >> Sorry to take up more time. >> No, no, no, no. I could talk forever. >> Talk to pro. Come on in. We'll have conversation. I'll have coffee. >> Thank you. >> And if and if we had that kind of participation from all the PTO's, >> you know that we Tom, you talked to it. you speak to it before the votes every year. Your hands are a
061little bit tied as to what you can say to the general public with respect to the budget votes and things like that, but your hands aren't tied, you know, and so and then all of us before the vote, we can send 40 text messages to all our closest friends, but that's nine. Imagine if 81 were sending 40 text. >> There was a time that the PTO's main focus was spirit wear. right now. I think they're starting to realize that the PTO have a voice. Yeah. >> To say what what do we want to accomplish for our kids so when they graduate they're career ready. They're ready for anything. >> Yeah. >> So, thank you both of you. Thank you. >> I'll catch up with you at some point. >> I'll make my calendar free. >>
062Awesome. >> And now Moren Le >> and now Moren. And I can just I can just say for there are two people in the audience that uh are now looking to get interested in this is that before this meeting I signed uh bonding for about $22 million and our bond rating is so important and it is really tied to a lot of what we're going to be talking about. So it's all >> connected. It's all connected >> and bond rate our bond rating was good. We got excellent rates on we um we bonded for our buses and we renewed the bond anticip anticipation note for the project. >> Yep. And it you know it was competitive and we got the best deal possible and >> it it saved money >> and Moren Pat yourself on
063the back for that too. You know we recognize all the effort you put into getting us there. >> I told her she can't retire. I only have one year left. We'll see how it goes. H >> fully charged. >> Yeah, it's fully charged. I just turned it on, too. It's thinking about it, maybe. And that's the end of the presentation. >> Okay, Pearl. >> Yep. Just click it once. Yep. So, fund balance, that's one of the major items that impacts our credit ratings, um, all of our debt and that type of thing. Fund balance for people that don't aren't familiar with accounting terms is basically the difference between your assets and your liabilities. So in the real world fund balance is basically your net profit or your retained earnings. But in this governmental world fund
064accounting it includes these various items. Fund balance is made up of restricted or reserved funds non-spendable funds, committed funds, assigned funds, and unassigned funds. It's not going to go. Go ahead, pro. Um, we use it for a lot of reasons. It definitely provides a cushion for anything unforeseen that happens with regards to expenditures, over expenditures or revenues that don't come in as planned. It helps with adequ adequate cash flow. People don't understand, I mean, this is a hund00 million business. I need 20 million. I need 10 million every two weeks to make payroll. So, we need to have cash on hand. Um, it assists with computing our district's levy. It actually helps with borrowing and interest costs. The um it improves our credit ratings which in in turn we get better bids. We get better
065um interest costs. Um the funds are unbudgeted are contingent and if there's any state aid shortfalls fund balance helps us there. So, I'd like to put up another move forward, Pearly. So, I like to put this up here because one of the big ticks that we get every year with our auditors, every time the controller c comes in, districts are supposed to have unassigned fund balance to limited at 4%. For us, we had a this year we had a $97.8 million budget. You divide that by 12, that's $8 million a month and 4% of our budget is what? 3 million. Not even close. And the government finance officers association recommends to other governments but not school districts that they should have no less than two months of operating expenditures which for us would be basically
06616.3 million. We're allowed 4.1 million. So we are we intentionally go over I thank the board very much that we stay over those limits. And I know you've asked me to try to maintain that and I have for one more year. And I want to remind everybody that New York State school boards, NISCUS, ASBO, all of our associations at the state level continually advocate for that fund balance restriction to be increased someday. I think we'll have to see that happen because cash flow is almost impossible if you're not in that ballpark. >> And coupled with all the unfunded mandates. >> Exactly. Go ahead, Pearl. So, as I said, um it helps maximize the use of surplus funds over the long term and it preserves our programming and it helps our short-term goals with um fund
067balance. The unassigned fund balance, the piece that I was just talk talking about, is basically the operating capital. It's our day-to-day lives. The committed or the appropriated fund balance is what we're using towards the next year and potentially the year after that's budget. The restricted funds are what we're using for our long range planning. So, I actually should point this part to you, Ryan, because you just took the courses and they told you that you should be um having a plan for your um your reserves and your district um the reserves and what's in them and what you're authorized and what do you have. So, I put this in here so that everybody sees it every year. Go ahead, Pearl. There are two types of reserves that are allowed by law. They're either authorized under
068school district education law or they can be authorized under the general and municipal laws. So, this set of reserves that are available to us are authorized under the education law. And out of this set, we do has have a tax certiary reserve. It has $88,162 give or take. We have people that um protest their assessments and we go in and out of owing people money or you know we win and we don't have to take money back. But we have a small balance in there basically because the bulk of our assessed value is on residential property. So it never hits us that hard. The one that I fight every three or four years because it happens every three or four years is Walmart. WA Walmart is our $10 million assessed value. So that one hurts
069if somebody were to find against us and the county and the um the village and for Walmart. But so far we've always been able to keep that one assessed where it is. Go ahead, Pearl. The next set of reserve funds are authorized under the general municipal laws and these are where we have the bulk of our money reserved. The um it's called elar, employee benefit acrewed liability reserve. We have $3.8 million in there that essentially can be used for all of the monies that we app that we pay out at time of retirement. We have a lot of um long-term possible um monies to be spent. If a lot of people retire in a given year, there could be a good chunk of money there that had to be spent. And if we don't have
070enough room in our operating budget, we could take money out of this reserve. And the same with retirement reserves. We have money for TRS and ERS. every every employee in the district is either certified and they are in the TRS system or they are civil servants and they're in the ERS system. So those bills potentially when they when those estimates come out every year with the percentage of what the district's going to put into our um retirement systems um these reserves can be used against that that big bill not against like what people put against have to pay out but against what the district has to pay out for the systems. And then the same with the workers comp reserve fund. This one can be used against um increases in our workers comp expense that
071we were not anticipating. Go ahead, pro. So, I'm bringing this up now because essentially the year end is done. So, I'm showing you the June of 25 close and showing you that our restricted funds remained intact. Those are the top five numbers all the way over to the right. Our encumbrances are basically the same and those are basically um purchases that have been ordered but weren't received at the end of the year. We've appropriated 3.967 towards next year which is essentially the same 3 million that we normally appropriate and the non-spendable because that non-spendable if you remember I said we were going to put it towards the revenues. It was one of our oneshots for this year's budget. So, it's getting moved up into appropriated and that leaves us in an unassigned 4.9 million. Go
072ahead, Pearl. So, 4.9 million, if you look across where we've been for the last 5 years, is pretty much in range with what we've been doing all along. Our fund balance is still at 18.7 million. Unassigned, just under 5 million. Next year's budget is 102 million. So, our 4% limit, we're at like 4.79. So, we're about 79 over the limit. It's not huge, but it's there. And we will get an audit tick on it. >> But according to the um the government finance recommendation, we're very very very below what we should be. Yes. >> Okay. >> Well, and the one slide that you always put up that compares us to the rest of the county, >> we're lower than >> Right. And I think that's huge for people to see. So when it gets a
073tick against us and everyone in the community has to see, I think by now they should hopefully know why we're doing what we're doing. >> I would hope so. Go ahead, Pearl. >> And and I've always said to the auditor when I've gotten the phone call, thank you and I'll take it under advisement. >> Yep. >> And we're moving on. So >> and that's I mean every year when they come in, I'm like, yes, yes, I know. Thank you. You know, >> it it's shocking, too. I know that that's their job and they and we're above the 4% so they have to note it. But as accountants and auditors and a familiarity with the the other principle that that suggests 15%, you know, the the fact that they're not surprised by the >> they all
074say it's I can't say this out loud, but it's best practice, >> right? Exactly. >> You can't do it. >> So if you look online, I mean, you can see you can look at the state's fund balances. Um the majority of districts are over the 4%. Yep. They just are. This is our fund balance by the year just in a bar graph form. And the the different colors represent the different um restricted, committed, reserved. And this next graph is us against the other districts. Oh, Pearly, you got to move forward. Thank you. Um us against the other districts. And it's a it's a little tough to read. It's four years. APW is the first one and we're the second one. So it is the expenditures P and and the orange line is the reserves. So
075as you can see our reserves are well down under our expenditures. Some of the people have reserves way above the expenditures and um a couple of them are out of control. But I will say in their defense um it's the nuke plants. They have a special reserve for that nuke plant because when those power plants are no longer that's almost wipes out 80% of their assessed value. So that reserve I I don't blame them. So go ahead Pearl. What have we used our fund balance on over the years? Actually, we did a zero tax levy increase in 2122 and 2223 and then we did not go to the tax levy in the last three years and we provided the unaded portion on the 25 million capital project three years ago. So we have been using
076our reserves and we are slowly going to see that in our balance in our f in our numbers and especially over the last two years because I've put those oneshots in there. So I just want to make sure everybody understands that we're kind of just right now hanging there. I don't really have a lot of extra in the expense numbers or in the revenue numbers. And that's where that makes me really nervous because they always say rule of thumb, you should have 4% in your workings. 2% on the expenditure side, 2% on the revenue side. >> Well, and Moren, what's important too about that, especially for the audience and for the parents that are listening, is all that money that we leave on the table every year to try to appease and accommodate, you know,
077the concerns about I don't want my taxes to go up and things like that. Mhm. >> We we don't get we don't get the increases in the future years off of that money that's left on the table. We obviously don't have that money that's left on the table. And so it's this problem that's in perpetuity, right? I mean, every time we don't go to the tax cap, we're just hurting ourselves. Not just that year, but every year down the road. >> Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. That's like when I go to my conferences, that's the number one rule that we learn. Like you never never ever don't go to the tax cap. It's like, oh, like sorry, but that happens. I mean, like that if your community doesn't have an appetite for it, you really have no
078choice. You have to go under the allotted, especially when it's so hard to explain. The tax cap is not 2%. >> That that is just a misnomer that's out there that people can't quite ever get past. But I think the state has made it perfectly clear with their philosophy that they don't care what the appetite is. Hence the electric bus mandate. >> Right. So >> every mandate. >> Yep. And I did want to say we are working on the board had asked about um all the extra activities that are beyond our classrooms. Um the cost of them. We are working with um music. I know you had the athletics. Um we're working with the music because Mark is new and the clubs and then we'll have >> right and we're working we've got most of
079the clubs too what we they're new starting up um as far as getting going and we don't have a membership number yet because some of them have just met for the first time this month so it'll be another month or so but we've got most of it going. Is there any questions on anything? >> Thank you as always Moren. Thank you. Okay. On can I get a motion for item E in its entirety? >> A motion. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? Okay. Thank you for that. Could I get item F, consent agenda? Motion for that in its entirety. >> Motion. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? on item G, student board member report. Well, first, uh, we'd like to discuss just some of the stuff that's gone on in the past week.
080Uh, we had a great semi formal on Friday the 19th for all the students. Uh, we had a great group of students helping set up and clean up everything. It went really smoothly. And uh we actually just heard today that we had over 400 students show and it was one of the highest attendance we've had in a while. And uh today actually after school we were discussing some things that we could work on for next year and also some things that went really good. Uh so that was a great thing to start off the year with. Um another thing phone ban. Uh it's been going pretty good. A lot of students are settling in. They're uh there's still some adjustments to be made but a lot of people are getting used to it and the
081routine of it. uh varsity football had their first home game on Saturday and we had a lot of students turn out really uh where the go go go for the theme that was for that day. So that was really great and we're excited to see how homecoming is going to go this week on Friday. So that's really exciting for the students. And uh this week coming up is going to be very busy. There's a lot going on. Uh Friday we actually have a college fair for first and second block for students which is going to be great because a lot of students I think are kind of confused in that department. I really don't think that they have a lot of information. So I think this is going to be really good especially for seniors.
082I think a lot of people in our grade don't really know that much about college and I know there's going to be a lot of admissions officers. So just having that opportunity to talk to them is going to be great for all of the students. Uh, so I think a lot of teachers are letting all the students go down, which is really great because I think a lot of students are scared to talk to those admissions counselors. So I think having all their friends doing it and just having a whole day for it is going to be great. So we're really excited for that. >> Um, I would say that okay. Um, so what we have coming up is we have homecoming. So, we already have a lot of our students coming and um supporting
083it and helping out. Um we are really trying to get ahead of how we're going to do our pep rally. Um I know there has been some confusions last year and some mix up and seating was an issue. So, we're trying to get ahead of a lot of those big issues um that we had faced. Um, I think for our, um, games, um, I think they're going to be really interactive with the students and a lot of the freshman's will definitely like them, especially like Per Teacher in the Face and, um, you know, tugofwar is always a classic, you know, it gets our school really going and >> Yeah. Yep. >> Um, I think that it's really good and beneficial for our school to um, get together to do that. Um we have um our
084Red Hawk rally. Um we have a lot of uh different um businesses um food businesses coming. So that's really nice that we can get some local businesses to come and support our Red Hawk Rally. We have our clubs um and we have our band and color guard doing a show. So, I think that's going to be really interactive, especially with our community to, you know, bring people in and, you know, really see the school and, um, all the things that we do. Um, and then we got the big homecoming game, which I think will bring in a lot a lot of students. Um, I think an issue that I would like to talk about is maybe having someone direct traffic because that at the end of the game, you know, everybody's, you know, trying to
085get out of there. And I think it is a safety concern that we should definitely look into. Um whether that's getting a police officer or, you know, just one of our own police officers just to direct traffic a little better would be really nice. And, um, maybe someone watching the bathrooms. And we our student section, you know, as much as we would love it to be the best, we do have some of those students who do wander off and do bad things to our bathrooms. And I know that has been an issue for the past couple of years. >> That's good feedback because we do pay supervisors, but we also hire three actual police officers from the village to be there. >> But that's good feedback and we'll share that with them tomorrow morning. Thank
086you. >> Okay. Um, board members report. Anybody have anything like to talk about? >> Had a great open house. That was great. Really good turnout. Ton of people there. Um, a lot of clubs that you guys were there, I think, too. Sarah was anyways, but people >> Yeah. Awesome interview. I saw you guys on television. So, >> sorry. Yeah. Sorry. just trying to keep the meeting moving along. But it it was um >> I should go first. >> It's it's a uh no the uh >> it's u it's a great representation. It is a big deal. >> Cell phone policy within a school to get that amount of people on board following rules is a is a big deal and I >> it's a big change. >> It is you know fundamentally for society. So
087thank you for all your efforts on it. you know, every time I'm asked to go, you Tom asked me, you want to get interview? No. So, kudos to you guys. So, thank you so much. >> I just want to say Tom, I want to thank you for coming up to the hub this summer. Um, it was our the best the kids said by far best career expert. So, for the summer. So, they really loved it, really enjoyed your interaction with them and seeing that you care about the community and you care about the kids. It just it means a lot to them and thank you for doing that for us and for >> Thank you for for you and your wife to put that on. It was a great They asked great questions from how
088do I make snow day calls straight up to budget funding and uh all the other things we had going on. They asked great questions. You that's a huge service for our community. I'm glad we're able to bust kids there after school every day. just really fortunate this fall with the way the weather's been getting out for all the sporting events, going over to open house, seeing the families come out. Um I just wanted to uh make sure that some of the newer families the um um this weekend's events. It's great to get the kids out and supporting the football team and the rally. Uh it starts at that age. That's when my kids started coming over to school more often and you know now you can't get them away from there. Where else do you
089want your kids than >> around this community? So encourage everybody to come out and enjoy it. It looks like the weather's going to be good. >> Check out the uh chain uh crew. Uh the chain gang. Check out their shirts they're wearing. You're going to love them. >> Full uniform down there. >> This guy's one of them. >> Okay, Tom. >> All right, we are well into the fall season and our teams and athletes are competing in their chosen sport. Um I I got to go to the over at ESM had their cross country meet and it was great to see all of our all of our students of all different ages. Saw a bunch of board members there as well. That was great. Uh Jasmine's uh Scoville, a freshman at Paul Vmore High School,
090was recognized for a simple act of sportsmanship and kindness when she sought out a struggling modified runner from another team. Man, it took me out. and ran with that student at the ESM cross country meet. We had several spectators and school personnel contact us to say how proud they were um of what Jasmine did. And so you all have a picture. You got to see our athlete. She didn't have to do that. And so, uh I was there and and they were like, "Wow, you want to talk about that?" Those are things you don't see on state assessments, right? But the fact that this girl did that is just not only a testament to her family, but to all the teachers and administrators that had the opportunity to, you know, to be around her. Did
091you >> just correct me if I'm wrong, but she did that outside of when she competed. >> Correct. >> She did it for a younger student at a different school. That's already know she does it every race. Yeah, >> like she doesn't she stays on and stays and super, you know, not supervises, but watches and encourages and she'll go to a part of the course that no one else wants to go to. She's not with all the parents. She'll find some place and she'll be cheering on those younger teammates and it just makes them it's heartwarming. I I was I was at that very race and I heard the same comments. Tom was there. >> Um but it's not just that race. That's what it's whether it's just a meet here at Central Square, she's
092constantly cheering on the younger kids and they just adore her for it. So, she was recognized as the player of the week. Jim got a t-shirt and jersey mic sub. So, that was really cool. The athletic department took the time to do that and then called her parents, which they were in tears. So, that was awesome. Um, Ellie Pay, uh, who is a Central Square swimmer that trains and competes in Mexico, is currently one of the top swimmers in section 3 in her events. We are in the process of working with former coach Kevin Brazelle, lifelong uh girls basketball coach here before he retired to set up this year's coaches verse cancer fundraiser. Uh we will be hosting the girls side of the Swiggo County showcase here over winter break and it's always a that's
093just such a a valuable cause and it's great to see the kids give back. Uh Central Square will be hosting the 2026 track sectionals in May. They love our stadium. Again, uh we take a lot of pride in that. Um, excellent job to Evangelene and Emma. Again, as Steve said, uh, there I had so many people contact me, uh, including my wife, letting me know that it was great seeing somebody else on the news than me. Listen, I'm all about letting that table over there take as many interviews as they want or any board member. But, uh, you guys did an amazing job. They couldn't believe that you are actual students. And I said, "No, they weren't ringing. They weren't they weren't like 21 Jump Street. I'm probably showing my age here." Yeah. Yeah. They
094are actually students, but you guys did an amazing job. Um, the middle school traffic pattern. I regularly go down there with Paul Brazette, um, Aaron, Kristen. We go down there and just watch. So, a couple things I'm excited about. I'm excited that people are actually slowing down, right? And unfortunately, it took a a horrific tragedy to get all those things that, you know, we've asked for in this district past 25 years. Again, I don't want to be that guy that goes backwards. It's unfortunate, but all those things are there now. The beacon lights, the crosswalk. I've watched it in action. I parked across the street and people are adhering to that. people are also um not all bogged down in that bus line and they're able to get out and and get going. That is
095huge. And I want to give Paul Buret a huge shout out for that. Facilities, he has played a key role. It's hard enough to be a a facilities manager, but to be a facilities manager that has been in a capital project district-wide for the past eight years consecutively on him and Moren. So, most business managers, their lives are pretty easy. uh when there isn't a capital project. We've been in a capital project trying to catch up for 13 years of not having a cap capital project which is no fault to any of the board members here. It's a different time and none of the staff over there. So we're trying to make up chip away at the $123 million on the five years. Every five years we have to do a building condition survey. And
096as Moren and I were just talking last week, it's almost getting to that point where right now we need to do another building condition survey. And again, we've done a great job in this district because we had CSI. We've been able to use it as swing space. We've saved millions of dollars and how that gets put out to bid because we're not trying to rent a school like ESM had to rent a school off Chittango off Mike Eevee and pay an exorbitant amount of money and bust all those kids out there. The Cole people are super happy to be back at Cole. I I get it if they missed the bus before that was a hike to get them here. Everything is rolling very well right now. Um including the cell phone, everything that has
097been happening. Knock on wood, I'm so glad I didn't have to deal with the 88 degree heat rule that started in September one that you can't be in a classroom 88 or or higher. So, fortunately, the weather has been helping us out there. Um, we did order a bunch of air conditioning units. Um, so we are prepared for the spring. Now, not every room because that would be we figured it out. It was almost a hund00 million capital project to retrofit all of our elementary buildings for air conditioning. middle school and high school are air conditioned, but to be able to have the rooms, we're able to not have to cancel school and be able to put kids in different rooms and combine to be able to meet that unfunded mandate. So, with that being
098said, that wraps up my superintendent report. >> Okay. Thanks, Tom. Um, can I get a motion for item I adjourn? >> Motion second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor? Thank you so much. >> Thank you parents for coming out so much. >> Thank you administrators. >> Thank you.