001Good evening and welcome to the November 19th board of education meeting for the Chester Union Free School District. Mrs. Ayanuzi, can you please take role? >> Yes, please respond with present when I call your name. Mrs. Dersio, >> present. >> Mrs. Neggermith, >> present. >> Mrs. Arnett, >> present. >> Mrs. Hines Johnson, >> present. >> Mrs. Pena, >> present. >> A quorum is present. We can now proceed with the meeting. Thank you. 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 please have a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? >> I'll make that motion. >> I'll second. All in favor? >> I.
002>> Motion pass. >> Can I please have a motion to approve the board meeting minutes of November 5th, 2025? >> I'll make that motion. >> I'll second it. >> All in favor? I. >> Motion pass. That brings us to tonight's presentation. Mrs. Garcia. Good evening everyone. I have a couple of updates for you. Uh first I will begin with goal numbers one and three. On October 30th we had our family instructional academy the tricks and treats of using tech tools. We had approximately 15 families who came in to obtain synergy support uh and training on parent teacher conferences. Um I want to thank uh Mr. Schwarskar for the collaboration and for Miss Maria Harzme who supported me in with the Spanish translations. So we were able to help parents navigate the app, download things. So
003it was uh very productive. Um, our school district is continuing ongoing communication and tech support for families. Uh, we have had several families call in for additional support with Synergy and navigating the tools. Uh, Mr. Shoreskov has been assisting families over the phone and meeting with them. I was able to schedule uh, support for Spanish-sp speakaking families. So, they've been coming in, been helping them navigate uh the Synergy platform and parent square access. So, we thank the families out there for their patience as we navigate a new uh student information system, but we're uh working on the kinks. Uh goal number two, I'm going to give you an update on the professional development sessions that we had on October 31st. We had our half day. We provided uh safety presentations. Um and we'd like to
004thank the teacher leaders for facilitating synergy workshops through our inservice academy at Chester Academy. Uh the teachers worked collaboratively with uh Mr. Shorskarf and they he trained them on specific uh tools that they felt comfortable in and they did breakout sessions. So Mr. Mororrow conducted available reports. He facilitated that with uh Mr. Schwarskarf on the different reports that the teachers can generate and um a Google sync workshop was conducted by Mr. DeLo, Mr. Olive and Miss Styler. Then on November 4th, we had our superintendent conference day. We focused on three major uh initiatives. The CES uh element the chess elementary school teachers had their amplify science uh pilot training for the first time. Uh then all both schools received uh synergy training and support uh and that was offered based on a needs assessment survey.
005the teachers were uh given the opportunity to give us feedback on what areas they needed additional support and then uh through PLC breakout teams uh they had grade level uh teams or content area teams uh Mr. The Schwarskov met with the teachers individually to provide them with support. Then they had professional learning community teams u met to discuss best practices. They met in grade level teams and in content areas and professional time was provided for uh faculty to apply new learning in both schools. Off-site professional development opportunities were offered. So uh the entire physical education department uh attended um the casclls uh uh training that they had at mining and they actually budget for that every year. So we started that last year and they found it to be very valuable because it was specific
006to their content area and they had like over nine different sessions that they were able to attend based on health or even there were things for the dance teacher. So it was uh specialized for everyone in the physical education department and at the music uh department. They had two options and as a team they all decided to attend the they had the wrote it down here. They were given two options to attend uh sorry for a second I misplaced my paper. Um they were able to either select the U Bose's uh music educators conference which was located in Malboro and then the other one was the Orange County uh music educators association uh conference in Monroe Woodbury. So, uh, they were looking at the different offerings and one had a longer PD day. So, they
007all decided to attend that one. After the professional development sessions, uh, the cool thing this year, we had the instructional aids and the monitors were able to receive professional learning opportunities as well. uh Dorene Batist, she facilitated a collaborative and interactive workshop on inclusivity. And then after that session um I was able to provide uh all of the new aids and the monitors uh access for two years to the self-paced course under liquidity which uh provides them with nine different modules of the course called maximizing student uh achievement. So it has classroom management uh um ideas uh different um uh they had uh roles for executive functioning and ESL uh ESL support facilitating learning um from assessment to achievement. So they were able to decide which module uh they wanted to do first and then
008they have it expires after two years. So they have this year and next year uh to continue learning and it gets activated. The two-year starts from the first day you log into the platform. So that's uh was pretty informative. Then uh we conducted a conference day reflection survey which was anonymous and uh teachers felt comfortable writing their names and giving us feedback on what they felt was the most meaningful uh part of the professional development and they gave us ideas on what areas that we needed to improve for next uh professional development. Then we shared it with the admin team and then we'll share it with the professional learning commi committee and that's all I have. Are there any questions? >> Thank you so much. Um I did want to ask because I know with
009all these great changes that we've had over the course of the year, I think it's great that we're checking in at the end of the professional development and the conferences to implement the surveys. And I was just wondering um you know what are we finding that the staff have felt u has been really helpful and what are they looking for in terms of like future PD or needed support. >> So the based on the summary of the results they appreciated having the professional time and the flexibility uh given for them to use the time to implement new learning. That was like the best from everyone loved that the most. they uh loved teacher-led uh sessions were appreciated. So through the inservice academy that seemed to be the most uh feedback that we got learning from
010one another. So they wanted more opportunities to learn from their colleagues on best practices. Um they found uh the training that was led by Matt and uh other the law enforcement team on safety on the new protocols. they found it to be beneficial and they just requested additional time to learn synergy which is a massive undertaking. So I think if we focus on that every uh time we get to give them time to learn something new with synergy because obviously it's a lot it offers a lot of different uh reports and is more um extensive than school tools. Uh but it's going to take them time to actually get acclimated to the system. Thank you so much. >> You're welcome. >> I think I said this before. Um the the fact that the staff feels
011comfortable enough to lead a workshop for their colleagues that just shows the collaborative, right? Um so kudos to to all staff members um that are they're willing to just, you know, put themselves out there. It's not easy. It really is not. Especially to share in front of your colleagues for some reason. It could be very um overwhelming and and stressful. So, it's just kudos. The PD was very busy. I I was reading I was like, "Okay, this it's but it's good. It's good learning." And then glad that everyone got something for what they're working on like their title or their position, right? It's not just that one generic where the teachers like, "Why do I need this? This is not I don't teach this, I'm learning this." So I think that's also very strategic and
012very well planned um to make sure including the aids and and other support persons because sometimes we forget to support them as well in their roles and and knowing that they have to also be supported so they can grow in the in the position and in their roles in the school. So kudos to you guys and the team. >> It's a collaborative effort. So I mean we meet with the building leaders and we get feedback from the teacher and then we sit as an admit team to go over and it gets changed often but the final product is good. So uh it's worth uh the the process is worth it. >> Thank you so much. >> Mr. Getting everyone. Uh I was going to one thing I did want to mention is I personally went
013to the fizzed and health conference in Min and it was you I find it every year that they they change the format every year the topics and ends up being I find one of the best professional development workshops that we go to. Um it's nice for the phys teachers to kind of have that specific focus when they have to go to something like that. So it's sending them off campus like that and what I've noticed in the last few years everybody sends their fizz and health teachers there. So it ends up being a really great day of collaboration for all the fizzed teachers and relatively you know close proximity because a lot of these conferences you have to go to Albany or you know Saratoga whatever. It's nice to have something right in our back
014door and uh the the Catskill region does a very good job with that. So that was you know definitely something we want to continue doing. for athletics. Uh we had our coaches meeting uh with uh we actually had it with chaperrons. So we had our meet the meet the coaches night which is something that we had talked about with our uh parent advisory panel which I'll get to a little bit later. Uh but we decided to do something a little bit different this time because we had tried it for several years. We used to do the the the general meet the coaches night and it just our our attendance started to get low and we had some issues with it. we switched to individual meetings which I've spoken to with the board before individual coaching
015meetings with their parents and the problem was they were getting a little disjointed right they were going to we're having these meetings after practice before practice and it just some of the parents couldn't get there the communication wasn't great so we decided to go back to a meet the parents night and I decided to format it like openhouse and it worked really well and one of the problems I have with our coaches too is trying to get everybody in the same room to meet with coaches to meet with chaperones So we decided to do it all in one night. We started with a coaches meeting at 5:00 where we brought the chaperons in as well so that the chaperones and the coaches all have a clear picture of what each one's responsibilities are and you
016know how they can team up if there's and there a lot of good suggestions came out from the coaches to the chaperons and vice versa and how we can make some of our event events run a little bit smoother. So that was a added bonus because I had planned on going over some rules and expectations but there ended up being a lot of collaboration which was great. Now having everybody there worked out great because the chaperons got to go home. Then our coaches stuck around for meet the parents night and we again we did it like open house. We had a general session at the beginning. We went over communication, academic eligibility. Uh and a big one was modified versus varsity versus uh JV playing expectations. What are the expectations when you are on that
017team? As you rise through those levels, how does it change? So we're able to have a good conversation about that. We talked about booster clubs and various other topics. And then we did breakout sessions and we had each team assigned a classroom. Parents got to meet with their coaches and go over their expectations that were above and beyond what we normally go over as a general athletic department. It was an overall successful night. We had a lot of positive feedback. There were no questions at the end which was great. And I had asked a couple people, you know, why aren't we, you know, how no questions? They said, "Well, everything was answered because we got to meet the general, you know, general athletics, but we also got to go and talk to our individual coaches
018and hit them with our specific questions." So, it worked out very well. I anticipate attendance will increase as word gets out, uh, we did advertise it several times before this meeting, turnout was okay. Uh, but I expect that as more and more parents get used to this and we get it more on our social media, on the website, on parent square, which we did do, uh, I expect that the the crowd will get a little bit bigger. Couple other things for you. Maple Avenue like to thank uh Matt D. Rosa and uh Brett. They we had talked about this last year. So we we put that brand new scoreboard system in the gym and one of the scoreboards was was starting to break down which is why we needed to replace the whole system. They
019were as old as the building was. One of the scoreboards still worked really well and we had talked about trying to repurpose this. It has officially been repurposed. It was hung in the Maple Avenue gym last week. Uh we're just in contact with Dacttronics trying to figure out the proper cable that we're going to need to run the scoreboard to run the controller and we are back to having a fully functional LED scoreboard down at Maple Avenue. The last scoreboard we had down there was an old light bulb screw in Pepsi Dowser scoreboard that was sitting on the wall that had been there since I have no idea how long it has been there, but uh that's long since gone. And this is a nice update to that Maple Avenue gym. sports media. I hope
020you noticed we started adding our results. It was uh there's only been a few games since we started going to that phase two of adding the results, but so far it's been great. We added the section 9 championship results today. Uh the class has been diligently working on that. It's a little bit of a there's a little bit of a lead time now though because they have to create the post with the first page is going to be the you know the schedule for that day. The second page is going to be the results from the previous day. So we can't always post it that very you know that next day it's going to be later in the day. have to collect all that information and put it in, but we're still trying to get
021that out as quickly as possible. All right, now the exciting stuff. We have some state championship updates. CL Johnson won the 100 fly at the uh section 9 meet. She is uh she's our section champion. So, I was there uh for the second straight year and for the second straight year, I'd have to say it is one of the most intense championship experiences I have ever been a part of. It's just wild. so many people crammed in such a small space and everybody's just happy. I mean, we were high-fiving after she won and it was it was a it was a good time. Um, so she'll be competing Friday. Uh, the doors open at 9:00 up at the Webster Aquatic Center and she will swim. The meet starts at 10:00, so somewhere in that area
022she'll swim. That's the prelims. If she uh advances out of the prelims, then on Saturday she'll swim for the state title. Zoe Arnette finished 43rd at the state uh cross country championships. She finished 43rd, but the more impressive number there is she finished and this is only in her class, she finished ahead of 72 other runners up at that meet. And uh considering again that we don't we don't have track, we don't have adequate running facilities and something that we've been addressing the last few months hopefully here uh that is an impressive feat for one of our athletes to do that. Which brings me to winter sports. We actually have quite an impressive turnout so far. I can't give data yet because we still have the modified sports are still registering up until Monday and
023that's when their triyouts start. So once that happens, I'll be able my next board presentation to give you data on how we compared this winter to last winter, which I usually do every year for you. Uh but if you walked in the gym today, you would have seen full girls basketball teams at both levels. Same with the boys. The track uh program is full, boys and girls, and the wrestling girls and boys also both full. Uh we have quite a few athletes coming out. Uh specifically boys basketball. If you had walked in the gym, there was almost 50 uh players just for JV who've already seen the gym trying to try out. I said this last month and I'll say it again. Something that's changing here with the culture is that the students are not
024afraid to try things. And that's something that was always in the past, ah do I really want to go out? Kids are going out and they're not afraid. and they understand that they might get cut or that the rosters are limited, but it's not stopping them from going out anymore and they're accepting constructive criticism, being able to coach these students. It's starting to change lately and I and I credit that to a lot of what our coaches try and do. Uh I credit also to the communication in the offseason with Google Classroom and things like that, making the offseason workouts more accessible to everyone. Our coaches are welcoming. They teach in the offseason and they have high expectations during the season and it creates a high standard that these students want to be a part
025of which is why we are consistently winning on many many of our teams. So the kids are excited about it and they want to be a part of it. So that's like kudos to our coaches. So the JV varsity triyouts are underway. Modified starts Monday. The schedule has been sent home for everyone. I'm going to resend it again for modified. It's been sent out three or four times already. It's on the Chester website. It's also on our social media platforms. Opening night, believe it or not, is right around the corner. December 1st, which is only a few weeks away, we have opening night for our home games. It'll be a JV and varsity girls basketball contest versus Chapel Field. JV at 5:30, varsity at 6:30, and it will stream live on Huddle, so you can
026watch from home as well. Speaking of streaming and schedules, again, I want to I'm going to mention this a few more times because it still hasn't still hasn't resonated complete with the community and I'm working with Boseies because they're doing their PR campaign on this. Arbiter, which we used in the fall, is trans is now our school again, which is what we used last year. So, for anybody that didn't hear this last month, they're going back to the old system and that is going to be the system for the rest of the year. The website has already been changed, the Chester UF50 website. it'll have the uh the new link on it. So, you you have to click the link. If you go to that page, there's a calendar icon. One of the things that
027was talked about at our meeting was having a bigger icon. So, you can see that it was an actual calendar. Click on that. It brings you directly to the Chester website, which is live. So, all of our scheduling is there. We continue to send out our practice schedule every day. And then also, we have added to the website all the assistant coaches now that we have um board approved paid assistant coaches this year. They are also now part of the contact information on the website and there is a new tab on the website for booster club information. So that brings me to athletics parent advisory panel. Much of what you have heard tonight is a direct reflection of the suggestions that came out of that meeting at multiple meetings actually. Uh we had some synergy
028improvements about uh we changed our registration from general sport registration to individual teams. We added an AP option which is the athletic placement process that New York State requires for a seventh or eighth grader to test up to the high school level. That's now an option for seventh and eighth graders so they actually see it on Synergy. So that's an option and it flags it for us and then we can go and call the parent and walk them through the process. Uh they also suggested some website improvements which was the assistant coach and the booster clubs. And then the communication, we added a one-page flyer that was shared at a meeting and I'm going to share also for the community once we get um once we make cuts because that's when Huddle becomes our our
029team communication app. It's a one-page app that shows everybody when we use certain communications. Offseason is Google Classroom, in season is Huddle. There was some confusion as to what we use when because some things we want to give to the whole school and other things we want to be just for the team. So this is a way to differentiate that. So that flyer will go out. The uh the advisory panel really liked that flyer and uh they felt it was helpful. All of that came from that advisory panel which a lot of other schools don't do and we did and we did it. We listened. We make the improvements and I got to be honest, it's made things a lot smoother this winter so far. So I'm excited to keep working with them. Uh we
030do have a couple things I just uh before I get to the football game, there's one thing I do want to mention that uh for the spring we do have we talked about lacrosse. We talked about this previously. I just wanted to bring this up because it's something we sent a survey out trying to get interest for girls varsity lacrosse in the spring. The reason why I'm going to mention it again was we only had two people show up to our uh two people complete the survey. We had a lot of seniors graduate last year. So all of our teams for the most part are projected to be full with the exception of that team. That's the only one that I'm worried about. So what I'm trying to do is get the word out that
031we had I think it was 12 or 13 senior. That's why we're losing so many because we can't even fill of current a roster with the underassman that were there. So I'm going to send the survey out again and I'm also going to post some things online and then I'm going to have an interest meeting during lunch periods. So, I'm going to go sit in the cafeteria, fifth, sixth, seventh period, and meet with everybody and see if we can at least get some people who are interested to at least explore the idea of playing lacrosse before we start. You we have other options out there, emerges and things like that, which we've already been in discussions with other school districts, but ideally, we want to keep them in house if we can. So, that's something
032that we're working on, but I wanted to announce that publicly so people know it's coming. And then lastly, the varsity football team will be playing in the in the New York State Regional semi-finals this Saturday at Arlington High School. It's at 12:00. I bring this up because you must purchase your tickets on Goof Fan. Uh this they actually will have cash sales at the door here, but they highly recommend that you buy your tickets ahead of time. It's also a little cheaper to buy it ahead of time. It's $930, I believe it is, somewhere around there. It's $10 at the door. Um, also you're going to stand online at the door. So, get your tickets ahead of time. Uh, if you go there, it's $10. Seniors over 62 is $5 and children under five are
033free. And that'll be for Saturday. If they win that game, then they'll move on to Middletown, the state semis, and then the Carrier Dome after that if they go to the the title game. Okay, that is my report. Thank you. And do you have any questions? >> No questions, just a comment. Um, it's really nice to see the increased interest in sports across the board, which definitely has attributed to welcoming coaches. Also, the way the school rallies around our champions that are going off to states. Um, but I also think that it's about the students themselves, student athletes with an emphasis on student first, right? Because they show up as leaders in all different ways. They're getting good grades, and that's really something to aspire to. I I look down here at you. um people
034want to be a part of that. So, I just wanted to to note that >> the I'll be curious next month, too, because we'll be able to report next month on our the new academic eligibility policy. Uh it we don't have the raw data yet because we've only had one cycle through the progress reports and it it's not super accurate because we really need marking period grades. So, we just received the fail list yesterday. So, we have that we can look at it, drive some data. But I know personally because I'm running the lunch study sessions during the day, the kids are showing up and not just athletes, non-athletes are as well. So having that morning, midday, and after school option, it spreads it out a little bit more too. So it's not 40 kids
035in a classroom. But to be honest, at the progress report, the list wasn't that big. So first glance, the first quarter list, it looks good. So I I'm optimistic it's going to be good report, but I'm going to go through it, come through it, and compare the numbers. And then for my December report, we'll have some more raw data to actually give out. >> Kind of um segueing um in another role um beamed with Chester Pride. I was at the Polar Punch for Special Olympics and I turn around and there is about 12 to 15 of our wrestlers. Um and then actually Chester was recognized as the cool school because they raised the most money for um on behalf of the Hudson Valley Special Olympics. So again, that whole scholar athlete, it's more than just
036here, you know, what are we doing um for our community. Um >> and anybody that would go into the res on a day on November on both our our girls wrestling and our boys wrestling were there and um represented Chester very proudly. >> Jimmy Jimmy Ellers has that, you know, you know, he's championed that for years now and it it was good to see us back there again this year. Um and Qualin was there, you know, encouraged girls team to go. was remember last year we started our Chester game changers our community service group and I haven't had to do a thing this year because they got so into it last year that the teams are all doing this stuff on their own now I don't I thought I'd have to lead this for two
037or three years I haven't had to they take it on their own and each team is trying to do some type of community service our goal is to have every team do it we should be of service to our community and I'm probably one of the most things I'm most proud of is the fact that they're out asking question, wanting to do this, ask what can we do, how can we what other events can we go to and it's they want to put their jersey on and go out there and and and help everybody and let them know that the district is there to support them. >> It was um it was interesting. I actually um my track coach from high school did not know was extremely big in the Rocklin part of Special Olympics
038and um we saw each other and she's like, "Oh, are those your kids?" And I said, "Well, by extension, yes, there are kids." And again, um, someone who's been involved in the Special Olympics for, um, she's told me since 1984, she was like, you know, it was just just really giving us kudos to have not only, you know, one or two kids, but a whole group of of kids. So, >> I, you know, yeah, those kids >> kudos to our athletics. >> They're awesome. They've come a long way with this. So, I am very proud of that. >> Thank you. >> I just wanted to say congratulations to all of our athletes. there was just so much to be proud of um this whole year so far, but especially in this past week, especially as
039we're building momentum towards this project and just to see how many community members also came out to that sectional game on Saturday was absolutely wonderful. Um and I wanted to thank the parents who are volunteering for the advisory panel because it sounds like it really is making a big difference. So, thank you for the time that you're putting into that and for the time that the parents are investing. It >> was a lot different than last year. uh last year was we were trying to find our path and this year it's become much more conversational rather than you know fielding complaints or it's now it's how do we problem solve is it's been a drastic change it >> it makes it fun it really does >> the only other question that I had because you
040know the amount of work that's going into pulling in for all the different um programs is evident u but for the lacrosse in particular I was wondering Have we thought about also doing drop in clinics to see if students who maybe haven't even tried that sport before might want to come in on an evening just to pick it up and see if it's something that they might be interested in. >> I'm in conversations with our varsity coach uh Rob Alonzo to try and set some things up. We've also uh the fizzad department has a bunch of new lacrosse equipment. Okay. >> To for their fizz classes. So if you walk in the back closet, there's a giant bin of just all multiolor lacrosse sticks [snorts] and things like that. So we're trying to throw it
041into the fizz class. Um, and yes, we're going to try and do something between the lunch periods and after school and some a night clinic, something. Uh, Coach Alonzo is very into it and he's he's dedicated coach to the district and he wants to see this program thrive. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you so much, >> Mr. Schwarz. >> Good evening. Um, I'm going to start off with just some synergy updates. We uh had three trainings this month. We had October 31st, November 5th, and then we had a I had just a one-on-one drop in day on the following week just for anyone as report cards the day before report cards were due just to make sure everyone was good. Uh, we had about three three teachers show up. Report cards went very
042smooth as far as from what I could tell. Um the just a reminder to parents, report cards are digital this year. They are on the parent view app through Synergy. The minute you log in, if it's your first time in, you're going to be met with a screen that says, "Please download the report card. You download it. You say you got it." That's uh goes into our system that you received that report card and saw it. Um, so we're now through our first progress report, our first report card, first quarter. Um, so we had kind of a month of winding down, tying up loose ends on a couple things and we're and we are um gearing up for some new projects. So we, as Mike mentioned, um, sports registration, we made a lot of changes
043with the sports registration this um, season. We have the changes that we want to make now for the spring. So, we're going to start implementing that soon. Um, the next big step for Synergy is kind of where Synergy shines, which is uh the analytics dashboards for us. So, we finally have got the base of it pretty well set. Um, now there's about 15 different dashboards that we're going to be building uh for the district that will give us data on attendance, on previous test scores, on I Ready scores throughout the years, on a particular child, on a class, on a section of kids. Um, so as those are built, then we can pull out particular reports and actually give them to teachers. So day one they can see here's my class, here's their I Ready
044scores for the last five years. Um here's where their reading level is. Here's where their phmic awareness is. Um whether they've increased or decreased over over the last year. So that again it's going to take about the next eight months to start to build those 15 dashboards out. But by start of next year, um we'll start seeing the dashboards mid December this year. the first at as we get them built, we're going to be putting them out. Um, and then we'll should finish sometime around July. Um, we also have a couple of just projects around the building that we're looking to do. We finally got our -ate um back. So, all of our Wi-Fi upgrades got approved. They are ordered. uh they're not in on premise yet, but they will once they get on premise
045on prem, we'll start replacing all the access points as planned. We are looking to do a little bit of a different setup with the board of ed. Um we're going to mount these cameras, put a screen up there so when you guys are turning around for presentations, you don't have to. We'll have a screen right there so you guys can see those as well. It'll also help when we have presenters in, they can see what's up behind them. Um, we're also trying to create kind of a community learning space in the cafeteria as well. So, we're looking to put either a screen or a projector up there with sound systems so that we can do smaller. Um, a lot of the times when we do trainings with teachers, we're in that maker space and up
046to 15 they're at tables and they're good, but the minute we go over 15, we kind of go up those stairs and now all of a sudden I asked them to bring a laptop and they're trying to type while they're like this. So, um, this will give us a space where people can sit, have a table in front of them, work. It'll also give the sports a spot where they can watch um film as well at night. Um so those are the kind of two projects. I don't want to step on Matt's toes, but we also have been working with him on the signs and some cameras coming in to the properties as well. We finally, again, don't want to step on his toes, so I won't mention the doors, but we do have uh
047[laughter] the door access control is all set up. I spent the last month making over 180 badges to um for the elementary school for teachers who didn't have them for substitutes for everyone. Uh we spent a day two days last week uh testing the badges during a lockdown procedure to make sure that those all work um as intended. We are currently purchasing a new program uh for called Informiccast that will help us with text messaging emails um during a lockdown. So we can create a list of people who should get a text or an email during a lockdown, during fire drill, etc. And we also, this program will allow us to take over the desktops in the classrooms and actually flash those things up on the boards while those kids are learning. Um, but we
048can take over those boards, put whatever message we need up on that board as well. Um, so we've got a couple big projects coming up. We're winding down a couple of pretty major projects as well. Synergy is ongoing, but I think we're kind of through the really big hits at this point hopefully. So, you got any questions? I don't have a question. I just wanted to comment. I wanted to thank you and Mrs. Garcia for your collaboration for the family instructional night. I think it's so important all of the things that you're doing inhouse where you're meeting with the teachers, making sure everything's running smoothly, all of that. But that community outreach piece is huge. It helps to make it not just in our building that is everything's going smoothly. It helps for it to
049kind of flow everywhere. So, I really appreciate it because it gives the community, the parents, the students the knowledge on um how to navigate what we're doing and the a little bit more of even the wise of what we're doing. So, I really appreciate that from both of you because I think that sometimes is the impact of that is is huge. >> Honestly, I I'll thank you as well publicly. Um, I've gotten so bogged down in the weeds with some of the problems and fixing things recently that that is not the first thing on my mind. And it's the first thing on DA's mind all the time. Um, is really just getting people to feel comfortable in this building, getting people to feel comfortable in the school with the programs that we um, we give
050you guys. and Dia has been great to just remind me to be like, hey, it working is great. People need to understand it and people need to be trained as well. Um, so I really appreciate her for just pushing that all the time and just a constant reminder of why we're doing all of this as well. >> So, thank you both. I was wondering since this is the first year that the report cards have gone digital, are we able to check to see that all of them have been opened or to follow up with families who may not have been able to access it for any reason? >> Yes and no. Um there's not a singular report that actually that actually prints that out. I'm working on trying to get one. Um, we can go
051in if we're if we want to check on an individual child, we can go into their documents folder and we can see that someone opened this file on this particular day, but there's not a report to say these children didn't yet. Um, so that is something we are aware of. We're working on it. Um, one thing one thing that's great about this company is when we bring those concerns up, they get it for us. Um it's not just that we don't do that. It's if it's a if it's a report especially that we need they might take a little bit of time sometimes but they do get it for us. So um not yet my answer. >> Thank you for your past work and your ongoing Mr. D. Rosa. Hi guys. Again, thank you for
052the opportunity for allowing me uh the forum to update you on buildings and grounds. Um I feel like I should comment on how delightful the temperature is in here before we start. [laughter] >> It's lovely. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um so on 10:31 we had uh some safety training. It was a very long day of uh training staff uh and faculty and staff. Um we had a lot of new safety protocols and devices that were installed and we spent the day talking teachers through what they're going to see uh as we do lockdowns. Um specifically at the elementary school where the new doors were installed, right? some of their emergency response protocols have changed. Um so we'll be testing that um procedure very shortly. So we'll be conducting some some lockdown drills, implementing all
053of the safety upgrades that we've done over the past uh few months. So regarding the safety training, I wanted to thank the town of Chester police, right? our SRO's Jeff Duca D Christinado um and our U Boseies health and safety consultants Dwayne Lopez and uh Tony Weed. They're instrumental and we we always defer to them on any safety upgrades or procedure changes um and they were part of that training as well uh to answer any questions. So overall I think it went went very well. Um, as stated before, the elementary school doors are now complete. This is, you know, somewhat decades in the making, I guess. Um, these doors have compartmentalized, as we've talked about prior, the importance of compartmentalizing spaces. Uh, they allow for smaller, more secure areas in the event of an emergency.
054Um, these the doors that we installed were outfitted with door holds, which have become part of the morning process. So, what we learned pretty quickly is arrivals in the morning at the elementary school are a little bit different. They're chaotic sometimes and not everybody tends to show up at the same time. There could be a few minutes in between arrivals. So, the door holds uh serve as an opportunity to keep the doors open, but in the event that there was an emergency, they automatically release and the doors lock. So um maintaining our security protocols um tremendous amount of work from our IT department regarding uh the doors and the badge readers which are again fully operational. Um Dan uh John S. John Sazinski uh Qualin and um Nick sorry Nick Patel uh I'm gonna hear
055about that tomorrow. um [laughter] were absolutely instrumental. The amount of work that they put in um helping us map these doors, issue badges was a tremendous feat. They're pretty much dedicated to this effort for a couple weeks. Um and it and it went off pretty smoothly. Um so so happy to to report on that. Um the attack resistant film, which is part of our safety project, it's a a layer of our safety protocol. um designed to slow down any potential bad guys. Um has been fully installed on uh all of our entryways. Um this film is designed to prevent forced entry into our buildings through doors and windows. Um and that was completed this week. Uh some minor cocking is still required, but uh for the most part that's been installed and ready to go.
056It's a big big undertaking. um uh entrance signage. So, if you drove by during the day, you may even have noticed at night there are no longer any entrance signs. We've demoed them. Uh so, yesterday, as part of the new install of our digital signage, we demoed the existing previously existing signs. Um and we anticipate the install starting Monday. So, our new signs are fabricated and ready to go. They're sitting with the installer. Um we expect it to be a couple days. My hope is they will be installed prior to the Thanksgiving break on Thursday. Um obviously weather dependent, some variables involved, but certainly by the end of of the month they'll be they'll be complete. Um, again, thank you to uh Dan and Nick uh for their help in the infrastructure and training on
057how to use these digital signs has started uh yesterday and will continue through next week, training our uh office staff and anybody who will be working on the signs. Um again, lockdown drills are coming quickly. Um wanted to talk a little bit about how we do our lockdown drills. Um we this is one of the things we had talked about with the faculty and staff and I thought it was important to kind of share with the board and and the public. Um so at Chester we we've incorporated two different emergency protocols into one. Obviously the lockdown procedure um and also incident command. So, incident command um and really I should be calling it unified command, right? Is um a process by which during an emergency a command center is set up and decision makers from
058different authorities sit in that room and make decisions. We've been a part of scenarios where um there's a problem that we're trying to solve, right? It's a tense situation. There's a lot of people running around. It typically happens in the middle of a lobby or a hallway and it's very difficult to maintain um decision- making responsibilities uh organization. So, incident command is a very organized way where the decision makers sit in a room with access to all of our cameras, all of our building plans, all of our emergency plans um and and coordinate the response that way. um in that room in the event of an emergency would be uh obviously members from the school district, uh local police departments, uh ambulance, fire departments, uh any local entities, could be utility company depending on the
059type of situation. Um and we practice during our lockdown drills. So during a lockdown drill we will our administrative staff will meet in that room and then we conduct a lockdown drill using a scribe somebody who's you know taking notes on everything that happens the time it happens and it was a way for us to kind of get in the mindset of activating a unified command center. Um it's a little bit different I think we we are kind of selling ubosis on the idea because they started talking about it with other districts. So, um I it's a good opportunity for us to to really refine our our skills in that that respect. Um our secure entryways, as we've talked about, the biggest part of the safety capital project, uh will start to take place in
060the next three weeks. So, you'll notice some construction happening in the academy and the elementary school. Um, we're going to block off work areas, right, with floor to ceiling barriers. Work will not take place during school hours. Um, but you may notice when you show up to school that there's some construction barriers and signage. Um, this allows us the opportunity to get some of the long lead items completed prior to uh our our holiday break. We fully anticipate this these security entryways to be completed and operational by the time we return on January 2nd when we return from the holiday break. Um and then lastly wanted to talk about um some some of the ways in which we do maintenance because it it seems um it seems inefficient when you don't understand kind of what
061it is we're doing. So, in in particular, we had a a flashing light outside in the parking lot, right? And I've heard from people, right, the lights flashing and it hasn't been replaced. I I had a lift scheduled for that project in tandem with our sign replacement project. And the purpose of that is we don't have we don't own the equipment to reach those lights. So I if we rented a piece of equipment or if we hired a contractor to come in, you're talking thousands of dollars for a light bulb. So the contractor was on site for the signs. It took a little bit longer than we normally would have liked. Typically when lights go out, they just go out. They don't flash. But it was a a financial decision and it's what we do
062a lot, right? So we will piggyback jobs and pair jobs together. um sometimes seeming like it takes a little bit longer but in the effort of saving um some money. So that was the kind of behind thecloak look at the strobe light in the parking lot. Um and hopefully it it sh it sheds a little bit of light into you know how we do the things we do. Um so with that I will turn it over to you guys for any questions. I just appreciate the thoughtfulness and balancing operational needs with operational efficiencies. And clearly, I know if it's something that was a safety concern, then you'd move in a different direction. But having to balance that is no easy feat. So, I just appreciate the thought that goes into all of these things all
063the time. >> Yeah. And it is a kind of a risk calculation, right? So, in that instance, the light was flashing. It's not ideal. Um, but it wasn't dangerous, per se. So, um, I felt it was a opportunity to pair it with this job and, um, it's since been replaced. >> I just kind of like what I said before, I I appreciate that you're explaining the wise behind things because I think it's so important again that the community understands the wise, right? Even when it's something as simple as a light flickering, you know, why is it not being fixed? Well, because we're trying to do things the most efficiently efficient way that we can. So, I really appreciate that because I think that helps the community and everybody in and out of the building to
064really understand that everybody here is taking a lot into consideration and um really trying to make the best decisions for the school district even when it looks different. Yeah, we this happens a lot and I spend a lot of my time throughout my career explaining why some things take longer than others and how we try to pair jobs together for efficiencies. Um, but you kind of lose that when it when you're you're public facing. Um, sometimes you forget, right, that taxpayers own the the the school district and uh and it's our responsibility to make sure they understand why. So, thank you. You >> Thank you. You're >> welcome. That brings us to our first public comment on agenda items. Okay, moving next to round table discussion. Start at this side of the table. I know
065Miss O'Hara has something to share. >> I do. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh just wanted to give a brief update on the capitol project, the intercolastic athletics facility. Today's presentation at the Chester Senior Center marked our ninth engagement opportunity with our parents and community since October 27th. And we were extremely grateful for the opportunity to share a shortened version of the presentation. And given the full room at the senior center today, we completely understand and respect the need uh for this particular meeting to prioritize our senior residents as we switched gears. And I wanted to extend appreciation to director of facilities Matt Rosa and our director of technology and data management Dan Schwarzoff who arrived several hours early as well as visited the site the day prior just to ensure that everything was in
066place for our meeting. um also that you know we could complete our presentation to to allow the senior center to proceed with their meeting that they had scheduled. And talking about our students and and being proud of their uh action with the community, I want to thank uh the students that attended this meeting, Lauren Higgins, Khloe Brown, Zoe Arnett, and Lauren Deviko. And it was great uh while again a shortened presentation and not an opportunity to speak but just to be there present uh showcased um the important part of this project and and the why of the project. Um so I mentioned that was our ninth. To date our sessions have included our engagement sessions uh again began October 27th with the Chester Academy parent athletics advisory panel. October 28th CFSD parent advisory panel. November
067November uh 5th was the formal presentation to the board of education with land associates in the LA group. November 6th was our first CUFSD community advisory panel including representatives from the town village alumni and quantis. November 12th was our first public community forum at Chester Academy. November 13th a presentation to the CES PTA. November 18th participation in the PTSA meeting to answer questions and continue discussion. today uh began with a presentation to the Chester Elementary School faculty just making clear that this project serves both schools, Chester Elementary School and Chester Academy. And I again want to thank Matt D. Rosa, Nicole Dusa, and members of the board of education for attending multiple community meetings and providing ongoing support and representation throughout this process. And certainly Lindseay Inuzi who uh does everything behind the scenes on
068the daily. Um and many of our team uh Mrs. Loftess, Mrs. Garcia, um our athletic director, Mike Ducet, attended the meeting today and were extremely helpful in supporting any follow-up questions that took place after the meeting. So, uh much appreciated as we also appreciate all the students, including Brooke, uh who is in the student video and all of our coaches and staff and teachers that were able to speak to what the project means to them. And that video was recently shared on social media for all our families and also available in Spanish. So over the past several weeks, I would say we've truly come together in a shared effort to learn, reflect, and collaborate around what this project means for our students, our families, and the future of Chester. And on behalf of the board
069of education, we want to express publicly our sincere appreciation of everyone who has attended a forum, asked a question, shared feedback, or participated in any of the many discussions across our district. It makes a huge difference. So, we get the uh we speak and then oftentimes our parents that are participating in our meetings are also getting the messaging out as well and we truly appreciate that. I will repeat the importance that all presentations, materials, and updated FAQs are available on our district website for anyone whose questions have not yet been addressed or if there's interest in an additional community forum uh additional meeting, personal meeting on site, uh you are more than welcome. So please reach out to that dedicated email address on our web page so that uh your interest in a additional meeting
070whether uh just for yourself a small group um is accommodated and truly together this has been a communitywide effort to shape the future of our Chester schools and the Chester community which is really exciting. Uh, as always, the board of education and our team, and it is truly a team effort, are committed to transparency, thoughtful planning, and open communication. We will continue to share updates and ensure every resident has access to clear and detailed information as we move forward towards the December 16th vote. I do want to also just make [clears throat] note that all Chester District residents will receive a capital project mailer which is scheduled to be sent the first week in December. So, thank you uh everyone truly for your engagement and partnership in this effort. Just a few reminders. Tomorrow, Thursday,
071November 20th, is a half day for students for the scheduled afternoon and evening parent teacher conferences. If family need if families need any assistance, we encourage them to contact Chester Elementary School or Chester Academy main office. Looking ahead to next week, school will be in session on Monday, November 24th. Tuesday, November 25th is a half day again for uh parent teacher conferences and schools will be closed from Wednesday, November 26th through Friday, November 28th for Thanksgiving break. So, as we move forward to the December 16th referendum, we are especially grateful for the way our students, teachers, staff, and community continue to come together in support of our schools. Your involvement reflects the strength of Chester and what makes this community so special. Wishing everyone uh safe because it's right around the corner. Uh I have
072not even shopped yet, so there's that. But a safe, restful, and uh happy Thanksgiving next week. Thank you. Do you any anyone have anything for round paper? >> I did have a quick Orange County School Board update. I just wanted to share that the next meeting will be hosted on December 2nd and will be offered virtually. The link has already been sent out. Um Orange County School Board will be hosting a legislative forum with various guests including Senator James Scoopes as they plan for the New York State budget negotiations. So they did ask that if any board members have questions that we do try to send them in advance so they can make sure to collaborate them together in advance of that meeting. >> Thank you. Do you have anything to share with us this
073evening? >> Yes. So the class of 2026 shirt design has been completed. So that's what we'll go on our senior sweatshirts and stuff. And this design there was a few that were submitted. So it'll be voted on likely next week. And then we're starting deck the halls. So each high school picks a holiday theme and they get a section of the school and they decorate it and whoever wins earns like a prize for the class. Zia and I attended the town Kuanas meeting last week to discuss our experiences at the Hobie leadership seminar that we attended in 10th grade. And they're the ones that fund for us to go because it's like a few hundred dollars. So they appreciated the feedback. And we also are partnering for the food drive that Key Club is doing.
074And we're doing that with the town Kuanas. met today to begin getting boxes for the food drive and all the collected goods will go to the Chester food pantry to assist families after the SNAP food service was shut down. The high school band will be attending Glenn Arden to play holiday music to the senior residents there on December 18th. The drama club had a very successful turnout and an amazing show held last Friday and Saturday on Mata Jr. Youth and government will attend a conference this Friday at Newberg High School and they will be presenting their bill on minimal wage loss in New York State. The multicultural club is planning to do a bur basket fundraiser where they make winter themed gift baskets and have a raffle. And that is all I have for today.
075Thank you for listening. >> Thank you so much. Anything else for round people? >> Okay, that moves us to consent agenda. I would like to make a motion to adopt a consent agenda items 5.1 through 5.12. >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Consent agenda items pass. That brings us to our second public comment. Okay. Can I have a motion to adjurnn? I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? I. Okay. To all those who have tuned in tonight, on behalf of the board of education, we wish you a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving and tune in to our next meeting, which is December 3rd. Thank you so much and have a good night.