001Good evening and welcome to the May 20th Board of Education meeting for the Chester Union Free School District. Mrs. Iannuzzi, can you please take roll call? >> Please respond present when I call your name. Mrs. De Prospero? >> Present. >> Mrs. Negrescu? >> Present. >> Mrs. Barnett? >> Present. >> Mrs. Iannuzzi? >> Present. >> Mrs. Kenyon? >> Present. >> The quorum is present. We may now proceed with the meeting. >> Thank you, Mrs. Iannuzzi. Can we please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Can I have a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? >> I'll make that motion. >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >>
002Aye. >> Motion passed. Can I have a motion to approve board meeting minutes of May 6th, 2026? >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Aye. >> Motion passes. That brings us to this evening's presentations. Mrs. Garcia. >> Good evening, everyone. I will begin my board report with district goal number one. I'll give you an update on the Seal of Biliteracy. Uh, we currently have 12 students who are candidates to receive and earn the Seal of Biliteracy this year. So, we have 12 seniors in total. Our targeted languages this year is English, Spanish, and Russian. So, we have a Russian uh uh candidate this year. Um we ordered stamp exams in Spanish and in Russian uh for students who need to take a world language course. So, give them the one
003point that they need. So, I'll be scheduling those exams next week uh for six of our student candidates. Uh the exam is approximately an hour in length. Um and it assesses the students' language skills in reading, listening. Uh there's a writing component and a speaking component uh where they have to um they were given scenarios and then they have to speak in their native language uh uh to like come up with solutions for different uh situations. Um this year we are sending out our survey to families in our school district to serve as panelists. So, we're currently looking for Spanish speakers or Russian uh uh speakers uh in June. Uh in terms of the Russian, we have a student whose family members with a lot of uh Russian community members, so they cannot evaluate her.
004So, uh we're looking to expand that. Um and I think uh Miss Giannakakos uh volunteered to be one of the uh panelists for Russian, so we're looking for another. Um um I want to thank uh Miss Salavanti, Miss Vandascio, Miss Petropalo, and Mr. DeLeo uh for their efforts and dedication towards the work so that students are able to earn the seal. So, the students are currently working on creating their culminating uh assignments uh projects that they will present in June. And uh goal number two, we had our superintendents half-day conference on Friday, May 15th. I provided you with the agenda link. Uh the teachers had uh teachers and staff enjoyed uh staff and teacher appreciation ice cream social. We had the ice mother and son uh provided treats and good music uh at CES and
005CA during uh the staff uh designated uh lunch time. We had a few areas of focus. We had a special education motion reading information session that was organized by Ms. Loftus for designated uh special education teachers. We had four in-service uh uh Academy workshops that were held by CES. Uh due to popular demand, we had four of the CES presenters do the sessions again to allow teachers the opportunity to sign up for uh sessions during that time. We had a synergy hall pass and safety training conducted at Chester Academy by Mr. Schwarzkopf. Then we had uh grade level PLCs in both buildings and professional time for the teachers to implement things that they need to in their own discretion. Then um we have new teacher uh continuous support. We provided um teachers uh with the
006opportunity to sign up for mentoring. We received feedback from the uh teachers of this uh year and we're trying to start the mentoring partnerships earlier than just in September. So that's one of the areas of improvement that we wanted to make for next year. Um we're also working on a future in-service Academy tenure portfolio workshop series that is currently being developed and reviewed. Um the series is called CUFSD tenure journey building reflective portfolio practice growth and impact. And we today uh uh we had our end-of-year reflection session. Uh we were having two of them. Uh today we had one for Chester Elementary School newly hired staff. Uh we provided them with the opportunities to reflect on the year. We had these little reflective games. Um it was myself, um Miss uh Bosh, and Miss O'Haver
007participated. Uh And then the next session will take place next Wednesday uh for Chester Academy teachers. And lastly, Chester Goal Three. So, we have our Family Instructional Academy. Our last workshop will take place on next Tuesday, May 26th, and we're focusing on summer reading. Uh we collaborated with the Chester Academy I said Chester Academy librarian and Chester Public Library. So, we're doing a collaboration. Um they're going to launch their summer reading program. They're going to explain to parents how to take out a library card. Uh with that, I also did a book drive, and I've been getting donations. So, during that time, we're going to do a book swap. And uh we're also incorporating We have a senior project. One of our seniors is doing like an art uh lesson during that time. So, we're
008going to try to focus it on happy ever after endings, and she's how to paint uh during uh that session, too. So, we're trying to incorporate uh the senior project in there, too. Um and that's all I have for you for today. Do you have any questions? >> No questions. I love that you're collaborating with the local library. I think that's great. Anytime you're bringing everything together, it's it just benefits everybody in the community, which is wonderful. >> Yeah, they were excited to participate, too. I think that Chester Library is not as accessible to our students cuz it's not in walking distance. So, it relies on a lot of the parents that are younger to give them a ride. So, um that was a good opportunity for them to know that there are different activities
009there as well. >> I mean, absolute kudos. 12 students, I mean, it's not like we have graduating classes of I mean, that's a healthy percentage that are eligible um and be testing for that Seal of Biliteracy. That That is just wonderful. That program is just expanding. >> It is, and we're trying to convince students we would have more of our It's like we can't force them to try that. There There's a gap year in the 11th grade and 12, so they're not taking a foreign language. The students uh lose their confidence in the language because you have to practice the language to So, we're trying to uh test the 11th graders as well. So, we have more student candidates, but the 11th graders are being tested this year, so that next year they just have
010to present their English culminating uh projects and not have to worry about the year without them. >> planning ahead. >> To be more efficient. Yeah. >> Thank you so much. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you. Mr. Doucette. >> Good evening, everyone. Uh spring sports update for you quickly. Um we have had a very successful spring so far. The track team just competed in the OCIAA championships. Um we did have quite a few athletes who have uh qualified for the section championships, which will be held May 27th at Monroe-Woodbury High School. If uh we have any student athletes uh move on past that, the state qualifier will be held on June 3rd and 4th at Cornwall and Goshen High School. So, everything's pretty local. We have a lot of really nice facilities and soon we will
011have our own. Uh so, it it's nice that we were able to do a lot of these state level events locally. So, that'll happen within the next few weeks. The softball team I wrote in my report that they were looking to qualify, they did qualify. So, they got in. So, Vanessa Marcilio, uh congratulations to her and her team. They qualified. So, uh we're waiting till Thursday night to see what their seed will be. The seeding meeting is that night. But, they um they actually have Looks like they're going to end up with about 10 wins this season, which is very good for a first-year coach. Baseball team uh also qualified. They're looking to be the number one seed. It looks like uh we'll be there. They won their 12th uh in the last 13 years
012OCIAA division title. Congratulations to the baseball team. Those brackets will also be released on Thursday night, so we'll distribute those Friday morning. The girls varsity lacrosse, the golf teams, they all had a very successful merger with uh Burke and the girls lacrosse team actually just secured their first victory uh last week cuz it was it's a it's a very young program, and they had a little bit of an upset. They went somewhere for a night game and ended up pulling an upset and won. So, congratulations to them. I'd like to thank Aaron Hasbrouck, the athletic director at Burke Catholic for uh they've been so good to us this spring and uh very welcoming and all of our athletes have felt very welcome going over there. We held our senior nights for all of our sports.
013Uh those have actually concluded. We held the last one with track last Monday. Uh we did not do senior nights for the lacrosse or golf because we didn't have any seniors on those teams. But, all of our other teams we did hold those. Um they were uh and as I mentioned last month, we started holding our senior nights after the games instead of before. And we had talked about the positive feedback we received over the winter. Same thing in the spring. Families are loving this because there's not such a rush to have to take time off work or we have parents come from the city. Everybody can get there. There's no rush. We can take our time after the game, lots of photos, and and and lots of nice moments for the kids. So, that's
014something we're going to look to continue moving forward. The Varsity Awards night, we have solidified this for June 2nd at 7:00 p.m. right here in the auditorium. We will also include our college signing ceremony, college university signing ceremony that night, which was a huge success including that as part of the Varsity Awards night last year. So, we're going to do that again. Uh we had our two students, McKenzie Motts and Anne Francisco, attend the Mid-Hudson School Study Council Student Athlete Leadership Summit, the second annual. Um they had a great time. I was with them there all day. And um just to give everybody idea of how this works, you're going to know we've talked about this in the past where we were trying to get more involved with Little League and youth soccer and and
015all and youth basketball and bringing these teams into what we're doing in the school district. And one of the things that these teams are doing is they're seeing how we conduct business at the varsity level and at the JV level. And they they they they're there for senior night, but they're also there in the stands and then they watch the game and they see what we do and they see how the coaches act and they see how the kids act. So, one of the things that's nice about this Leadership Summit, it's all about sportsmanship and how to be a captain and how to be a leader and how to do all these different things. And that trickles down from the varsity level down because we end up we use we bring juniors to this event
016because we don't want to bring seniors cuz seniors they can't train anybody. They can't you know, they're leaving us, right? Some of them have already completed their senior seasons if they're if they played football or basketball. So, by using juniors they come back next year and they use these skills that they learn at this event. And it trickles down to the to the then the juniors and the sophomores and the freshmen. And you know, when the modified teams come up and watch us, when the youth teams come up and watch us, they see what we're doing and they see how the culture is changing. And I see it even when I go I've been to some Little League games this year cuz I go every year cuz you know, it's part of the baseball program.
017I go to some of these youth events and you can see that the behavior is different. They're you know, the the barking at the umpire or the getting mad, that stuff doesn't It's not happening anymore. So, it's been a positive influence because I've noticed myself in the last year and a half yellow cards, warnings, technical fouls. We don't have much anymore. And it's a sign that, you know, I I'm really hoping that one of these years we can get the officials We used to get those uh sportsmanship awards in the officials. I think we're heading in that direction where we're going to start qualifying for these awards again. And it's been a It's real pleasure to go and watch the games and watch the student athletes handle themselves and and understand that there's also some
018gamesmanship to it. You know, you want that foul call in the fourth quarter. You know, how you act in the first quarter is going to affect what happens in the fourth quarter, but also impacts the youth that are watching the game at the same time. So, there's a lot of good positive things going on there. So, that's where we get a lot of that It comes from this leadership summit. Also, we have the OCIAA Scholar-Athlete Award. So, every year we select one female, one male every school district in OCIAA gets to bring uh one male, one female uh to our Scholar-Athlete breakfast at the Athletic Club Country Club. This year it's Brooke Badiato and James Musco, and Brooke is with us today. So, congratulations, Brooke. Um for those of you don't know, it's top 20%
019class ranking, participation at least one varsity sport. You have to be an above average varsity athlete and outstanding citizenship. So, both of those uh we just go straight down our list and uh both of those student athletes are a uh excellent representation for Chester that we will send once again this year to that that ceremony. Couple more things real quick. Academic eligibility, uh we only had four athletes that we identified. And as I mentioned in my report, it's different athletes. So, the athletes that are participating in the winter and getting flagged in the academic eligibility uh policy, they're not getting flagged again. And some And a lot of those athletes are playing multiple sports. So, they are finding their way off the list and pretty quickly. And when we run that list again, it's different
020athletes and it's usually easily correctable. We spend a couple weeks going to the study sessions and they're off the list. It's been working out very well that it's no longer a kind of a punitive policy. And the kids see they see the light at the end of the tunnel, right? They know how to get off the list, they know what they need to do and it's been working out very well. Um I look forward to gathering more data next year and seeing if that pattern continues. Couple of things that were not in my report that I just want to mention real quick. There's uh couple people asked me this question so I figured it'd be good to announce it publicly. This time of year it always happens, our thunder and lightning policy and heat index.
021Just so everybody knows what's going on here. Today's a perfect example. We had two teams on the road today that got two innings into games and had to get on the bus and turn around because there was thunder and lightning. We cannot resume a game in New York State if you hear thunder or see lightning until the 30 minutes after the last time you either hear it or see it. So, the problem is you could wait 29 minutes and then you hear thunder and that clock starts again. So, this time of year we just ask people be patient because the seeding meeting is tomorrow night. So, the softball team had to come home today and they have to go right back to O'Neill tomorrow to finish that game because it counts for their seeding. That
022happens and then the heat index, which is why if you notice our social media post yesterday, uh we had to cancel a bunch of practices games. If the real feel is above 96°, we cannot participate outside and some of the comments I get, well, why don't we use the Maple Avenue gym? The Maple Avenue gym's not air-conditioned. So, the heat index policy applies to outside and inside any inside facility, indoor facility that does not have air-condition. Which is why we moved a bunch of our practices to the Chester Academy gym cuz we have AC here and then once the heat index dropped below, we moved some practices outside around 4:30 and then we moved some of our games to 6:30 just to do that. We're lucky that we have the Rock and a few other
023facilities. Most schools had to cancel everything. We were able to just push things to later in the night. So, we're doing very well for us. But, those are New York State Education Department rules. We cannot do anything about that, and we follow those for the safety of our students. And then, believe it or not, we got to talk about fall sports real quick. So, by the end of this year, we will be sending out a letter to all the sixth graders, kind of giving them the crash course on what sports look like and what's going to happen there. I'm going to once again meet with Ms. Cuomo. We go into the sixth grade lunch. We talk to all the kids, talk to them about sports, tell them all about it, answer questions, and then we
024send that letter home to all the parents, let them know. Specifically, just the sixth grade kids right now, just to let them know what's happening cuz most of the other families already know what's going on, but they have no idea. So, we're going to give them all the information they need to register for sports. So, then we will also send a letter out to all the that are going to be the eighth through 12th graders as well about when the registration deadlines are this year. And believe it or not, we're almost there. July 17th, we're going to start registering for our fall sports. We can do it 30 days prior to the start of the season, which is August 17th. So, everybody will get that letter. And then, uh August 17th is the first day
025of JV and varsity sports, and then the first day of modified sports will be the first or second day of school, depending on what the calendar looks like. So, there is a lot of information that's going to come out in the next few weeks, and it will come out all through Parent Square, social media, and it'll be on the Chester UFSD Athletics website. That's all I have for you. >> Any questions for Mr. Gusset? As always, thank you for all of the updates, and we certainly wish all our teams that are advancing to, uh you know, through the ranks of the different games, the best of luck. >> Thank you very much. >> Mr. Schwarzkopf. >> Good afternoon. I want to start by congratulating the board, Mr. Souza, for the past budget, and thank you
026for the uh the public for passing the budget last night. Um we've had a month of again, just back-end work that I'm not going to bore you bore you guys with a ton. There's a couple of main things that we did that were kind of forward-facing. We On May 15th, we had a PD to introduce Hall Pass to the teachers. Um really just so that we can get their feedback before September when we start using it. Um they got to see the system, they got to see how it worked, they got to ask questions about how it will actually work in their classrooms, and we're taking that feedback back with us to make adjustments, to buy different technology that can help with those concerns and questions. Um not software technology, but iPads, things like that
027that can just help with that transition. Um we've finalized InformaCast, so we not only got we had our lockdown moved over to InformaCast last month. We switched over 911 as well, so now anytime a 911 call goes out, it comes from InformaCast. Um other than that, we really did a little bit couple of tweaks down at Maple on the camera system and the uh we got the doors actually hooked up and set up. And we did a pretty major overhaul on the camera system here. Software only right now. So, we took the software that we've had for forever, we renamed cameras, we made things a little bit easier for everyone, uh security, police, everyone that comes in has pre-made views that we've made for them so that we can um kind of speak the same
028language instead of before where everyone kind of had their own camera layouts. So, we again, did back-end work that not a ton of people see, but it's important for the school to run properly. We also finalize our technology plan. It is now posted for the next 5 years. It's posted to the district website. And um that's finalized. Other than that Does anyone have any questions? >> Questions? No, other than that we we know that back end work takes tremendous hours and it's not, you know, the uh bells and whistles, if you will, but we sincerely appreciate all the time. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Have a good night. >> It brings us to our first public comments. And seeing that no one has come to join us in person, we will move to round
029table. So, I'll put this side of the table. So, Heather. >> Okay. Thank you. Um on behalf of the Board of Education, publicly really um truly want to thank the Chester community for their support of the 2026-2027 budget. As we've been sharing in our presentations, this approved budget reflects the district's key priorities, um strengthening academic and extracurricular opportunities, expanding early learning, um advancing academic excellence through programs and staffing, strengthening college and career pathways partnerships and communication, and supporting ongoing investments in safety, security, and sustainability across our schools. So, we appreciate the partnership and support of our parents, family, staff, and community as we continue to invest in educational excellence and the future success of all students at Chester. Special appreciation to Assistant Superintendent for Business, Nicole De Sousa, and her team for their extensive efforts
030throughout the budget development process, working collaboratively across departments to ensure a fiscally responsible budget that supports students, staff, and the Chester community while being mindful of our taxpayers. I also want to thank Lindsay Iannuzzi for all of your effort and support on our budget newsletter behind the scenes. And additionally, congratulations to our Board of Education member Diana Arnett on her re-election to the Board of Education. And thank you, Diane, for your continued dedication and service to the Chester community. Ms. Arnett's term will run from July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2029. So, thank you and congratulations. And lastly, just a quick reminder, please note that schools will be closed Friday, May 20 Excuse me, Friday, May 22nd through Monday, May 25th in honor of Memorial Day. District offices will remain open on Friday, May 22nd.
031We wish all of our families, staff, and community members a special Memorial Day weekend as we honor and remember the service and sacrifice of those who served our country. That's all I have this evening. >> Thank you. >> And to this side. >> I do. I have uh two quick updates. First, I wanted to thank Mrs. Barreto for inviting the board to attend the partner appreciation breakfast for the work-based learning program that took place a few weeks ago. Uh it was really incredible to see how much this program um has grown over time, and wonderful to hear directly from the students uh about their experiences uh as to whether or not having that internship experience allowed them to decide to move forward with certain interests or to reflect and pivot and go in a completely
032different direction. Um so, just kudos to Ms. Barreto and the staff that have put this together. I wish there was a program like that when I was going to Chester. It was truly wonderful. Um also, I just wanted to um remind everybody that the annual meeting for Orange County School Board uh will take place on June 2nd at Christopher's Bistro uh at 6:00 p.m. The agenda will be to adopt the budget for the year, and uh they will also have a guest speaker. Um I don't know the name of the guest speaker. Oh, thank you. Karen Strohca regarding uh the anxious generation, which is a wonderful book. So, this opinion I will attend that meeting and then the other board members will divide and conquer for other student related events because it's that time of
033year where there's a lot of great things to celebrate as it's coming to an end. Thank you. Anything else before we move to our student representatives? Ms. Badiata. >> Um so, Key Club members assisted with the public book sale today in the library from 3:15 to 6:00 p.m. and I just helped bring out books and organize them. The Key Club is also assisting with the Kiwanis 5K run on this Saturday from about 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. The high school student council had an officers only meeting today. And then the high school art class went window painting on the 7th. And the Cranston art students helped paint the windows of the senior center, which they all really loved. The middle school and high school concerts were also Monday and Tuesday and they went great. And then
034the high school chorus trip to Hamilton Broadway was last Wednesday. And along with that, the boys ensemble has been approved to perform at Radio City for next year. >> Uh the public library went very well last last week. About 500 books were sold. Uh yearbook is in production and will be ready by the end of the month. Uh in the arts trip for band and digital six, they went to Dorney Park. Uh Garnet Valley Hospital's summer volunteer program is going on for the year. I have a question. Uh the freshman adventure trip is scheduled for May 12th and 13th. The Chichester Education Foundation meeting Uh the wrestling team had their parent meetings yesterday. They did very well. >> Eight. We give all the approvals. Any other questions? Before moving to consent agenda, on behalf of
035Ms. Harrison, on behalf of the Board of Education, we are extremely grateful to the public for um you know, going forward with our budget. Um, it makes all things that we do possible. It starts with that, so we are extremely grateful and um, indebted to the public. And of course, um, having the pleasure of having Ms. Ornett for the next 3 years. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> That moves us to consent agenda. >> I would like to make a motion to adopt consent agenda agenda items 5.1 through 5.9. >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion passes. >> Okay. >> That brings us to our second public comment. And seeing that no one has wandered in, can I have a motion for adjournment? >> I'll make the motion. >> I'll
036second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Please join us for our next Board of Education meeting, which is on June 10th. It will be our final Board of Education meeting for the academic school year, um, before our reorganization meeting. Goodnight.