001Johnson >> presuming. >> Thank you. You're going to stand for the pledge of allegiance, but please remain standing after the pledge for a moment of silence to commemorate the lives lost and forever impacted by the events of September 11th, 2001. >> 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. Thank you. Can I please have a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? >> I'll make that motion. I'll second. All in favor? I. >> Motion passes. Can I please have a motion to approve board meeting minutes of August 20th, 2025? >> Make a motion. >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Motion pass. That brings us to our presentations this evening. Mrs.
002Bosch. Good evening. Is this working? Yes. Thank you for having me, Board of Education, Superintendent O'Hara. It is great to be back um in this new school year. Um so I want to share that we did just start the school year. Uh, and as of today, uh, Chester Elementary School has 383 students enrolled in school. Um, with one potential student enrollment in kindergarten upcoming. Um, just a week ago, we had three less students than that. Um, so we have had kind of a continuous traffic into the building um, at the start of the year and having students enroll. Um our kindergarten is a little smaller than we anticipated um with projections, but um there are still some kids coming out of the woodworks and moving into Chester to enroll with us uh along with other
003grade levels. So um that number uh being a little lower than last year, uh about three years ago, I started at 384. So I think we had an increased enrollment over two years time and now we're kind of leveling back out. Um over the summer at CES construction was underway. Um the cluster enclosures are almost complete complete. We are awaiting the actual doors which should arrive and be installed in midepptember. Once that is complete, an updated safety plan will be put in place with new protocols and consideration of closure clusters um and what our new procedures for safety will be. Uh, as we got closer to opening day, we hosted a prek and kindergarten orientation on August 27th, followed by a PTA hosted ice cream social. Uh, thank you to the PTA as always. The
004ice cream social coincided with our student materials drop off and self-guided tours of the buildings for families. We also had some older students, eighth graders, uh, supporting those tours for families that did not know the building well yet. um and bringing students around to their new classroom so that we could ease some of those first day jitters of not knowing where we're going um and lighten the load of dropping off the supplies because carrying that all on day one is tough. Uh opening day, CES opening day was a success. Uh students and staff could be seen smiling and excited about the new school year. Uh, thank you to the PTA moms and all of the Chester administration for coming over to CES and helping out with student arrival on the first few days. Um, arrival
005was generally very smooth. Uh, there were a few bus issues the afternoon of the first day and some students were delayed in getting home, but everything was all worked out by day two. So, one first day um work out some of the wrinkles and by day two we were all set. Um, we had several new staff join our team this year. Uh, we've identified and hired some amazing new teachers to add to our already awesome veteran staff. The energy in the building is so positive uh from both the adults and the children. We sent out a parent square message introducing all the new teachers to the community, including a picture so everyone could get to know the new faces around the building. We will send out an introduction uh to the families of the new
006music teacher and the um expectations of when band lessons and after school band and chorus will begin. We are delayed a little bit um with a transition from one teacher moving on and one teacher moving in. Um but we will get it all coordinated and I am sure we will have amazing concerts we as we have had in the past and our music program will continue to be strong at the elementary school. uh progress towards district goals. Um some of those things were progress towards certain district goals like safety goals and things like that. Uh as well as communication and community partnerships. Um CES goals linked to district goal one. Um to start the year, Mrs. Baptiste, our culture coordinator, and myself uh join students outside at recess to implement structure and protocols that will
007support student success and safety in those areas. Um the CES PBIS program will continue this year and the kickoff assemblies will take place for preK and kindergarten. We do a smaller kickoff assembly instead of the whole school assembly. It's a little overwhelming for our newest um CES students. Uh so we do that in the maker space. That's this coming Friday. Um and it's short for short attention spans. Um but about 15 to 20 minutes max. uh where we introduce our PBIS program to them, how they can earn chips, how they can show us that they are ready, responsible, respectful, and safe at school. Um as well as our golden awards, including our bus golden award, which was introduced last year. Um the rest of the school will have their uh kickoff assembly next Friday, September
00819th. Uh we continue with choose love our seal program um will be implemented in every classroom uh at least at one time a week and typically it's Wednesdays some classes do it on a different day but most likely it's Wednesday mornings and it's part of our program uh goals linked to district goal 2 uh the MTSS committee got together this summer uh and they worked on inputting our MTSS information to support the rollout of the MTSS module in the new student information system synergy. The committee worked closely with tech director Dan Schwarzoff to input elements of our recently developed protocols into that system. I really am excited about this uh portion of our synergy program and how it's going to really enhance our MTSS program at CES which has been newly developed over the past
009few years. Um and this is just another step in the right direction for supporting all of our learners at CES. Um CES identified Amplify Science last spring for our science program to pilot this coming year. Uh we will be receiving PD uh professional development in um that pilot program in November. Um we decided not to start right at the front of the year with our synergy transition. Um and you know we are in a second year of implementing a brand new literacy program with Scholastic Literacy. uh it felt right to give everybody a chance to get acclimated and then we are going to pilot one unit. So, we're going to be totally dedicated to that one unit starting in November. Um sorry, uh Chromebook carts, brand new Chromebook carts have been installed in every classroom
010to support the Chromebook stay in school initiative that was communicated to families at the end of last year. Uh teachers are scheduling their weekly robotics lessons with Miss Randy. They are also working collaboratively on their monthly maker space use and engineering and design process and media applications. Um so we are excited to see all of those things. We've jumped right back in everybody that people are that maker space is booked. Everybody's in there already. It's really wonderful. Uh all new teachers at CES will be paired with um a veteran teacher to participate in the Chester um mentor program. So that's also nice to see. Some of those are kind of naturally already emerging. Some veteran teachers gravitating towards some of the new teachers and you know being a guide which is really nice. Uh and
011our goals linked to goal three. Um there was a welcome back letter as I mentioned including important information for families to start the school year. We utilize Parent Square for all of that communication. Uh September's important dates to remember were included in the welcome back letter. Fifth grade parents will be invited to the first fifth grade parent meeting on September 22nd. Um all the parents are invited and encouraged to come out to start the planning and fundraising for the end ofear fifth grade events at CES. And I will be sending something out to the families uh inviting them to that meeting and uh a little bit about what we do when we have those fifth grade meetings and you know what is what can be their role as a parent this year their final year
012in elementary school. Uh parent square communication will communicate um will will be included uh communication to families directly from classroom teachers this year. Um, so that's like another level of communication through the parent square platform where teachers will be sending out monthly newsletters utilizing that platform. They still may use some of the other communication like email of course, phone calls, um, dojo, um, talking points, um, but as well they will be using parent square and I think they're going to really love it and eventually transition to keeping all of their communication there because it really is a good tool for us to use. That is all I have for tonight. It's been a great start to the year. I love uh September. I love the new school year. I love fall. Uh I love sharpened
013pencils and tauntus. Um and I'm really excited to see everybody back. Everybody seems excited to get this year going and um I'm really liking what I'm seeing at CES. Uh if you have any questions for me, I'm happy to take them. >> Does anybody have any questions? No, no, >> I just wanted to thank you for your very thorough report and um I thought that the welcome letter that was sent in advance of the year was really wonderful. Even for us as board members to put a face with the name and to get to know a little bit about some of the new staff coming in was great. And I think for some of the kids moving in to actually see a photo of what some of the new staff look like was just a
014great way to reduce anxiety a little bit and just to get to know them. So I thought that was really a wonderful way to start the year. So, thank you. >> Welcome. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Flanigan. Good evening, everybody. Before each meeting, I always call Miss Bosch to just find out how much she has in that report so I can try and just try and just tread water here and keep up with her on it. Um, but I'm excited. She always does a great job. Um, we're excited to be back here at Chester Academy. It's been a great start to the year. Hopefully Brooke will attest to that during the the breaks later on and and be able to tell you a little bit about her experiences here. Welcome
015back, Brooke, as the uh now senior uh representing our students on the board of education. Um we're excited for a great year and um the start of the school year has been very smooth. You know, one of the things Miss Bosch uh you know and I have to apologize for is as she she said her buses ran a little late on day one and that's because our buses ran a little late and that was because we had a we had a fire we had a situation in town where everyone's been in the traffic. Um they were doing some work along with the cables along uh along Main Street there and that held us up a little bit. So, normally our procedure on day one is we like to get the sixth grade down and out
016about 10 minutes early, but the buses weren't able to get through that traffic and pulled up right on time. So, you could see little things can kind of set off a little trigger reaction, but I will say the sixth grade did a great job getting to the buses, getting their things. Um, the buses, you know, were able to load up. We didn't No one no one, to my knowledge, has missed the bus yet this year. And I'm usually out there each time. At least it has not been reported to me. and I have not seen anybody crying in the school. So, I'm assuming that nobody's missed the bus. So, well done for by everybody uh on a great start. Um our enrollment at Chester Academy, as you probably saw in my report, uh from the
017overall 6 through 12, is up by 22 students this year. And a lot of that is represented by we we had a very small graduating class per our, you know, our norm is usually in the high 80s to high 90s and last year was about 74. So now we're kind of leveling out to to where we are. We do see a little dip in the middle school about a loss of five students, but an increase of 27 students in the high school. So generally over time um you know kind of we we we always do see that increase in numbers when they get to the high school as people are moving into the community and and we have our partnership with Greenwood Lake and you know we usually see a little bit of a boost
018there. Um we are excited to welcome some new staff members well as well. They're doing a great job really contributing to the culture of the building, getting to know things. You know, we have a new librarian. If you walk into the library, it's a very welcoming environment. She's very friendly. She's getting to know a lot of our our uh our staff. Um new teachers in our special education department. Uh in our eighth grade team, we have a new ELA teacher who who's really excited and been doing a great job. A new middle school art teacher who's really eager and really, you know, kind of working closely with our high school art teacher, Miss Crryer. Um, we have a a a chemistry kind of a a long-term uh substitute until our our teacher officially starts in
019January. And that's Mr. Mr. Willie who's been just from what I understand and I've had a lot of great conversations, but the students really love him. Like he's been doing a great job in there. He's a retired teacher from uh from uh another school district that we were very lucky to uh to be able to find. So, um we are excited for our new staff. I do want to um be able to also speak to something people are probably very curious about in the community is how is our device electronic device enforcement going? As everybody knows the new belltobell New York statemandated electronic device uh ban was adopted during the the budget last year um from the governor's office. And I will say, and I was really kind of thinking a lot about this as
020the school year approached, thinking that this was going to be a major, you know, uh, a major test to truly enforce based on the fact that, you know, when I was thinking the hallways, the lunchroom, and so on. And I'll say our students have really risen to the occasion because I I don't see the phones if unless they're invisible or, you know, they're really good at hiding. I don't see them at all. Um we watch from the time students come in. Um we are not getting we I mean we've had several I say very compared to the number of students we have here we've had very few things confiscated. Sometimes it's a pair of earbuds. Um I think probably maybe maybe three phones in the last week that have been turned into the office. And
021um and what we do is we put them in a little phone caddy and the student gets kind of a ticket like the deli counter and then at the end of the day they come back with their ticket and they they pick up their their device. So well done by the students at Chester Academy. Um I took an I had an opportunity to meet with all the students during our grade level assemblies. I was able to take questions and trying to explain it a little bit. Surprisingly, one of the bigger concerns students had more than the phone itself was we had also implemented not bringing backpacks down to the cafeteria into the gymnasium um for a couple of reasons. One of them, everyone kind of goes right to the phone. And yes, we do not
022want to have hundreds of backpacks laying around if they have thousand dollar phones in them and everybody's losing track of that. But also from a safety perspective, you know, in terms of, you know, a a random bag can shut down an airport. You know, we want to know and and and I and I I mentioned to the students when we had an emergency situation a couple of years ago, um we had a lot of students that when we were in a hold in place and we had a lot of bags and bags around, one of the biggest concerns of law enforcement is what bag belongs to what student. So, and trying to explaining that to the students during grade level assemblies, I think helped put a little bit of the why behind that that we
023don't just want everybody taking their bags and leaving it around and then going outside and so on. We have to really be accountable for our devices and and so on. Students are really adjusting well. I know it wasn't easy for a lot of students that haven't traditionally used a locker in the past, but I always tell students sometimes when they they've come to me and they've said, "This is stressful. I'm having trouble with the locker. I'm really just getting to class on time." I'll say to them because I truly believe it. I believe you are 100% capable to getting to class on time and going to your locker. And sometimes it's about solving the problem. And if we know that we are going to be leaving PE and we have to get to art, but
024we're going to go to the we have to go to the third floor to our locker, I I'll I'll make a recommendation say maybe you don't need your bag in that next class. Maybe you can bring one item and put it in your PE locker and then transport that item to your next class. and then when you're up on the third floor, go to your locker the following period. So, there's generally a solution and it's just a different way that they've had to think in the past and they're really doing a good job kind of coming up with with ways to to fix things. I also promised them that I'd be compromising and fair about looking at things. And one of the things we noticed that we have, for example, a very crowded fifth period
025lunch per our standard. We have about 195 students in that lunch. Um, which is basically a full cafeteria, you know. um at the bell it can you know everyone's leaving at the same time. We had a student that came down to see me and expressed concern about that problem. I was very impressed with it. And so I went and I did a little research and I actually watched a student that I could really trust and believe from the back of the cafeteria go to the third floor and go to their class on the second floor after getting their their locker that we've told them they now have to put their bag away for. But they needed that bag for the next class. and he made it there in about 3 minutes and 5 seconds without
026really, you know, uh- w without wasting any time. So, in the interest of being fair, what we've done is we're now letting the lunches for um period 5, six, and seven out one minute early. So, this way it gives them that time to not only just be able to get in the door on time, but to sit down, get your things out, and so on. it doesn't disturb the rest of the classes because by the time they get up to that second floor, that first minute has passed and now they have the rest of the time to to get where they're going. So, it's worked out well. The eighth period, some people might be thinking, why not the eighth period? The sixth graders, because of the structure of their day, we do let them bring
027their bag and we safeguard it with with them when they come down to the cafeteria. Um, that's part of their routine that they've always done. So, we have a procedure in place for safeguarding and understanding whose bags are where and so on. So, um that and that's something that was was new this year. Um open house was last night. I know I saw some of you here. Um I'm always excited for open house. I I'm really appreciative to the Chester UFSD SESA uh and the Chester Academy PTSA who are both present. Um welcoming families as well, encouraging people to get involved. I think that's a big thing to get involved with either organization. Um and having they had some cool swag that they were that they have there. if anyone's looking for for gear, they're
028always two two good sources for that. Um, you know, one of the things I I encourage people to get involved. You know, I I did get around to some classrooms. I I I I'll be honest, I would love to see those classrooms even more packed on an openhouse night. Um, you know, our we're the school. We're part of your community. We want you in here. So, when we have an open house, a parent teacher conference, a play, a concert, you know, come to our come to our building, be part of the community, and and you're always welcome here. Um, we are excited to have our banding chorus that'll be helping out at the 911 ceremony tomorrow evening uh in the village of Chester down by down by the uh down by the field. Um, we
029are at at the memorial. We're excited to, you know, for our students to be a part of because it's such an important um such an important thing for our students to really understand. I I kind of was doing the math and every year I do the math in my head and I and at this point our oldest students in the building were still minus 6 when when that situation happened. Um, so to be able to truly understand the impact of 9/11 and tomorrow I've already asked our teachers be have those conversations, talk about where you were, answer questions from students that are curious about it, you know, share stories. Everyone's got a different perspective and and story and you know and you know Mrs. Daly and and I'm really impressed with this. She's doing a
030little experiment tomorrow with a lot of her seniors where they're actually going to be taking the approximately 3,000 steps around the building that they've charted out. they've planned the lesson to signify one step for every life lost. Um, and so they're paying tribute in that way tomorrow. I'm really impressed that she wants to do that and she wants to continue to plan that to be something on to do on a larger scale annually here with with larger groups. So I think that's a great idea um for Miss Daly and you know really pays a a good tribute to to those that have lost their lives. Um and then finally um I did want to say that we have you know we're not ending on the most exciting of we we we are excited that we
031are we are ending on I Ready here. Um so we we we've started our I Ready diagnostic testing. Um most of our seventh and eighth grade have completed it. Our sixth grade is is about halfway through. They break it down a little bit differently. The sixth grade utilizes two periods a day to complete the I Ready. The seventh and eighth grade utilize four different periods during the core classes. So there is breaks in between. I ready generally sometimes recommen recommends a little bit of a break to kind of rest the brain. You can pause it, go back to it a little later. So they're doing it during the core classes and it's worked out really well so far. So um but that's my report and oh and the homecoming dance is coming up. So everybody
032knows the homecoming dance it's early this year. It's coming up quick. It's September 27th. So the uh Chester the football game is at 700 p.m. Uh on the 26th uh we'll have our pep rally during the day. Um, thank you to everyone that came out to last football. It was a great turnout, great crowd. So, the, uh, homecoming game will be on the 27, the homecoming dance will be on the 27th uh, from 7 to 10 p.m. I'll take any question. Tickets will be on sale soon to come. >> I just want to thank you for listening to the students and really troubleshooting with them to solve some of the problems with the backpack. I know that was uh there were some students that had a lot of anxiety about getting to their lockers and
033getting to the cafeteria and some of the the lockers are very far from the cafeteria or the gym. So, thank you for that. And I'm curious to know uh what the faculty's feedback is >> on all of it on the locker situation as well as you know the bell-to-bell no cell phones. I think the faculty and and you know I I've talked to a lot of students about this as well are are feeling good. I don't think a lot I mean I've asked a lot of students do you really miss your cell phone and many have been like I don't even really think about it. So I think that it's just it's removed and it's just not accessible and there people are going on and and they're learning. I think the staff loves it. Um,
034I think that, you know, the the idea of having people going to the lockers and and back and forth keeps the hallways moving honestly a little bit faster when people have a goal. U when nobody was using lockers for any purpose. I think and maybe Brooke can attest this too. I think we had a very slowm moving hallway, you know, people and sometimes you have to sometimes you have to get around those people when you want to get somewhere and now we generally have a lot of people moving with purpose and it's like sometimes you just got to get out of the way because they're they got to get where they're going to go. Um, so it's been we've had positive feedback from the teachers, some stu some concerns from the students, but that's to
035be expected and we are always willing to to listen to them and hear them out. >> Yeah, it's great. Thank you. And just hearing their voices and their concerns and working through it, it's a testament to where we're at and that's great. >> Absolutely. Thank you. Um, I just want to say last night, um, even walking the building, not just necessarily the the classes that I visited on my schedule with I was trying to keep up and go up and down. So, kudos to the kids, but just seeing, um, the teachers and and their preparation, um, you can tell even just walking and seeing the other presentations, they were very motivated. They were well prepared. Um, and you can see the level engagement. And I concur with what you said. I would, you know, more
036parents should come out. It is very important. And so this is like a PSA for the families from a board member to the community that we need to support our teachers because they do spend time and and they only have eight minutes to present what they want to share that can easily take 45 minutes because they want to give us you know the rundown of what's going to happen during the year. So um kudos to the teachers to the staff everything you know everyone was very welcoming. It was nice to see, you know, previous year's teachers and the new teachers and repeated teachers having two in the same building. So, um, but definitely the preparation of the teachers, the motivation. Um, it was it was really nice. Um, that feels really good. So, kudos to
037the staff >> and you know, and I could attest this with Mrs. Arnett, you know, and probably Mrs. Durio if you were walking around. It is kind of cool from my perspective when you walk around because we are small to see the families that have had the previous teachers and those relationships that have been formed over the years and some people just walk through and it's hard to even get to your your class because you just know every you know you know all the teachers along the way and so that's always fun to see that trip down memory lane a little bit people talking and catching up. So >> thank you >> as always. Thank you. And you know, it's mindboggling to think how much we've done in preparation just to get to this point
038and it's only the first full week. Um, everyone's exhausted, but it's well-earned exhaustion in terms of everything that's been put forward. So, please thank you to your, you know, faculty and staff. >> Thank you. Thank you very much, >> Mr. Agular. Good evening everyone. Welcome back. I stand before you excited excited not only to see the kids but what we're doing and what our kids have accomplished so far. Uh briefly just to share with you in my report right off the get-go electronic devices. The report is based on uh my graph is based on only the first two days. In two days we had four instances. one cell phone and three headsets. But of the headsets, I will tell you, and it's great to hear that one of my middle school students came in and
039self-reported. Soon as I walked into the cafeteria, he saw me. He had them. Just hold them for me. I'll get at the end of the day. That really says a lot. And then another uh point in the day, uh early in the morning, uh I saw a young man with headsets. I walked right over. At first he seemed a little confused but his friend just walked up to him and said just give it to him sag you get back at the end of the day. I appreciate that. We all appreciate that. Uh so that's based on the first two days but I will tell you because again you know we have our electronic device holder in the office. I can tell you that we haven't gone past slot number two and that really says a
040lot for our kids most of all. but the support that we're getting for our faculty and staff and just everyone really adhering to the standards that we've set here. So, I'm excited as we continue to move forward. My report is based on uh of course one of our district goals and most of all that I'm proud of is the welcoming. Um, I had a great sense coming into the year after doing uh gathering the kids uh for our sixth grade orientation and new teach orientation. I sent out about 20 invites and heard back from about 10 kids throughout the summer. Lo and behold, on the day that uh we got together, all of my kids showed up. Not only did they show up, they stuck around. They didn't rush out. And that's greatly appreciated. Again,
041um our kids, our seniors of the middle school, the eighth graders went upstairs, walked around, helped out sixth graders with their combination, with their locks, helped them with the pathways, going to their classrooms, their specials, and that really touched me because it's the biggest group I've ever had. And knowing that these kids didn't have to rush out, what else do you need? And I'm I'm very thankful of that. and and that just sets the tone. Continuing with that theme of setting the tone. Uh and and again, I I'd like to thank the the my my eighth graders and also um three of my high school students who helped out with the June transfers that came in. Uh their names are listed. We took a picture. I have it posted. Uh there I'll also have a
042poster put up because again, as we mentioned last year, kids need to see what they've done. And hopefully there'll be that one other person that I want to do that too. So moving forward uh and again uh Brook Badiato I I want to thank again. Um we as you know we had our new teacher orientation and and this is one of the few years that we really had a brand a lot of new educators here in the district. I thought it'd be a great opportunity. You know I I wanted them to meet some of our kids. Well, challenge the seniors who's around. I gathered four of our uh uh scholar athletes who are also recognized by New York State. Brooke Badi, Zo Arnett, um also with Paige Niles and I forget her name, Lauren Higgins.
043They took the time out during their practices to come in, meet the new faculty, and of course, because this is how we do it every year, presented our new faculty with swag. Chester uh themed colored uh little token just hey welcome to the team and uh you know it really it really was a great site to see and again I want to thank Brooke and the girls for giving up their time especially during practices uh you know over the summer as they prepared for their season. And also just to share with you lately um just at the games alone I've seen a lot of our kids attending and it is great to see not just at the football game but if you had an opportunity the other night at the girls volleyball game football team
044was there members of the soccer team tonight we had about over 65 kids there watching the girls volleyball program and that's what builds our community and again, just need to remind them. And I sent them I sent a couple of our uh junior seniors a little thank you note that I'm proud of you that that's what we need and we need to continue to support each other throughout the year. So, uh again, a testament of the kids, coaches, coach Ducet, what um our athletic director of course of what he's done with his leadership and and all the other coaches to supporting one another because now you're starting to see everyone again supporting each other at other programs. So, uh, I look forward to the rest of the year. We have to tackle boys and girls
045soccer. We'll be there and the kids will be there again. And then lastly, uh, uh, I have to be honest with you. This, this past summer, I had I'm not going to say epiphany, but it it just it really hit me home. I had the opportunity to work with Mr. Santis as you know our registra and I was able to sit with her with new families or ELLL families new into the new into our community helping them translating and helping them register paperwork so that they could be part of the community here at Chester Academy. Since then, I've also had the opportunity to work with our ELLL team here at the academy with Miss Petrop Paulo and Miss Randacio and sitting with them and interviewing translating uh some of the important information so that we
046know that we could properly place our kids here at the academy and listening to their journeys, where they've been, and then how they ended up here at Chester, which is phenomenal because again, it's word of mouth. They looked around other school districts and again you're hearing nope, too big. Nope. Don't like it. Yeah, we like it here. So, uh, again, I I'd like to thank everyone for that opportunity, and I continue to look forward to working with the ELLL team and anyone, well, of course, anyone here at the academy and our district. Um, and that concludes uh my report. Thank you. >> Thank you. Any questions? um very impactful that you sat with the families. I think you when you you know >> every district has their resident people who translate >> but when you
047have an administrator sitting >> it sets a totally different tone that we are here for you from the top down. So we we thank you for you know >> your little expertise. >> No thank you for that opportunity. >> Thank you. Mr. O'Hara, you're up. >> Okay. >> Thank you and good evening. Um, and thank you so much to Mrs. Bosch, Mr. Flanigan, Mr. Aguilar, uh, all of our administrative team, teachers and staff, uh, board of education, and certainly our students. It's just such a, it's a proud moment. It's exciting time, September. And, um, we're only at September 10th, and there's just so much to be excited about. Um, and I've heard repeatedly how proud we are of our students and it's pretty awesome because there's been a lot of changes and they persevere through
048them as as does our staff. So this evening I am very excited to present an overview of the 2526 district goals and objectives. And I do stress overview. I did provide um highlights of the objectives for the year in the August 20th welcome back to school letter that I had shared with families. this full presentation. Um, all of the details are going to be available for your review on our district website. It will be under board of education district goals. So, here we go. I do want to start with the presentation by thanking the community for their support of this budget. And at the time we did our budget presentations last year, we talked about investing in excellence. And it's really important to note that the support of the budget results in the ability to
049offer um these objectives in support of student success. So our mission, vision, and our district goals really support and are the foundation for what we hope our Chester graduates uh will be. Right? Portrait of a Chester graduate. Um in beginning with our first goal, promote an environment that pro prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion where every individual feels safe, valued, respected, and empowered to achieve their highest potential. Empowered, Mr. Flan Flanigan just spoke to opportunities for student voice. How are we impacting change if we're not listening? And that goes also for our staff. So with that said, we have our initiatives that are and our programs that are going to continue both at the elementary school and at the academy. Uh we've talked a lot this evening about the transition um with the bell-to-bell restriction of
050personal devices and it's really great to see when you go into the cafeteria um students talking to one another and interacting. Um, we have we have such a great group of students and while some may not be talking as much in the hallway because they're, you know, looking to expedite to the next place that they need to be, um, it's just a wonderful feel, right? Um, everyone here and and truly present. Uh we will be um strengthening our network of school-based support by bringing in through our partnership with Orange County Department of Health mental health staff um to also support our students. In addition, um another thing that I wanted to share was um the objective this year to create district-wide opportunities for students. Right? We just we just talked about that. That's also um
051going to be evidenced in the student panel that will be developed um when we talk about our proposed intercolastic athletics facility and other initiatives throughout the school year. But it's so important to incorporate student voice outside of what um we're sharing as a district. What is the student perspective on this? And so we will be developing a panel on that shortly. Um, our family instructional academy is going to be one of the ways that we support our students and staff in response to the evolving needs of our diverse community. Mr. Aguilar just spoke to that. Um, we have an instructional academy coming up on the 25th specifically for our ENL families and that's led by our director of curriculum instruction and communication, Mrs. Garcia. So, we're excited for that. Uh, moving on to innovative data
052driven instruction. We just talked about uh the start of our I Ready assessments. So providing that um career connected learning experiences. This includes strengthening instructional programs using student performance data. So if the the students are being assessed, what what are we using with that? Um they're spending a great deal of time on these assessments. So it is important as I continually share that uh we're taking the time at the classroom, building and district level to look at that data and uh use those measures to drive continuous improvement whether it's through professional development um staffing instructional programs and so on. And then also um we have our transition from school tools to a new student information system that also drives improvements for student data management um reporting and uh daily operations. Uh we are going to
053uh support the continued development of the multi-tered systems of supports or MTSS. Uh Mrs. both just shared all of the work that her teachers and staff did over the summer um actually implementing um systems into the synergy platform and then also continuing our prek through 12 curriculum alignment moving from course descriptions published on our website currently uh to unit frameworks and that's going to be ongoing work. Our district is integrating technology, robotics, engineering, and AI through Magic School AI to enhance instruction, and I do mean enhance, support responsible use, and build future ready skills for our students. We're also strengthening crossbuilding collaboration with purposeful projects that promote teamwork, leadership, and a connected school community. We're going to continue to expand high school offerings at Chester Academy. And we're also transitioning this year from today's students,
054tomorrow's teachers to the Orange Olter Bosey's future teachers enrichment program. You'll be hearing more about that. And uh that decision was made to expand access to our 11th and 12th grade students who are interested in exploring careers in education. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Flanigan's advisory team of teachers and staff at Chester Academy. We will be implementing a new academic eligibility policy for all students and I do mean all. Uh with the goal of promoting individual responsibility and high expectations while providing targeted support for our students to achieve academic success. We will continue to expand opportunities for students to earn the New York State Seal of Biiteracy. Last year was the first year our students uh that graduated earned the seal of civic readiness which will continue this year uh supporting multilingual proficiency and
055active civic engagement for our students. And we will be this year throughout the year reviewing a potential block scheduling model um in consideration for the 2627 school year with a focus on improving student learning outcomes and opportunities. that is going to be an ongoing process that requires quite a bit of input and consideration uh prior to any implementation. And we're excited, as was shared this evening, to welcome new teachers and uh to our team uh following many retirements that we had last year. And we're also expanding our teacher mentorship partnerships uh and cohort-based professional learning to provide targeted support uh guide growth and align with our New York State standards as our educators progress towards achieving tenure in the district. As far as our efforts to strengthen community um collaborative communication and engagement, uh there's
056numerous opportunities for that and it is so important uh as we understand for continuous improvement at the district level as well. Uh we will be continuing for communication purposes the uh CUFSD newsletter. So that'll have a elementary component highlight as we did last year. Uh academy as well as district. We will be continuing COFSD parent advisory panel for input on key initiatives identifying opportunities for districtwide improvement as well as the family instructional academy that I recently mentioned. We will be also expanding um our website uh continuing to add information for accessibility to all families. Uh our parent square platform as Mrs. both shared uh previously is going to be expanded for teacherto parent communication and then we're going to also this is exciting probably coming uh installation is expected in mid November brand new welcome
057signs at both the elementary school and the academy so instead of the scrolling uh information sign which is not functioning right now at the academy and quite honestly it's I think it's very challenging for anyone to drive through the district you or the academy to actually read what's on the sign you'd have stop your vehicle and it would cause issues. So, um uh know that we we are aware that that it's non-functioning. All of our communication is in parent square, but these are going to be updated signs that really mimic a TV TV screen. We're going to be able to highlight sports events at the elementary school as well. So, we're pretty excited for that. So, I would look for that. Um our vendor is sharing with us that's mid mid November. We're going to
058be continuing the parent athletics panel. Uh you'll be hearing information soon on the first meetings and those will be scheduled for the end of October. The first parent advisory panel meeting um is going to be October 28th for the representatives on that group and parents will be receiving information on the athletics panel um for an opportunity to join and both panels will be um providing input um with regard to a proposed intercolastic athletics facility. So more information will follow and in addition to those engagement platforms we will be developing a community advisory panel um that is specific to the intercolastic athletics complex. So that's going to be a small group forum uh with multiple um groups throughout the community that are represented in that smaller venue. And then in addition to that, there will be
059several opportunities for community forums for discussion and input as we share information um with our families and community. We will uh continue to expand the student-driven use of passport for good. Uh which I said earlier is used to track um civic engagement, but it's also for our students to track volunteer hours and to help them actually um build a digital resume from sixth grade through graduation. Um so that they're able to capture all of their uh opportunities and things to share as they build that resume. And of course, um, we're continuing to maintain our strong partnerships and appreciate our partnerships with our PTA, PTSA, and certainly SEPTAs. Uh, in terms of proactive safety and facilities management, district goal number four, we continue to evaluate and strengthen our district safety protocols. Mrs. Bosch had mentioned some
060of that this evening, which is related to our safety capital project. There's quite a bit of construction that happened over the summer and continues into the year as does uh improved safety protocols and that's through our partnerships with Town of Chester Police Department, Village of Chester Police Department, UOSI's health and safety um and the U County Emergency Response Teams and as well as New York State. So know that uh each year we continue to improve. We'll be using utilizing our building emergency response teams, our incident command system to expand preparedness. Synergy is a component of that as well. Uh specifically the reunification aspects of the program that it offers uh student accountability and we are sharing with staff and did recently on opening day. just the slight change to shell protocols uh which has now
061moved to SH ESL with uh lock uh lockout being moved to the word secure. So continuing on, we're advancing technology safety and facility upgrades throughout the district including network camera Wi-Fi improvements. I already mentioned the new synergy system for secure data access. um always working to strengthen cyber security and ongoing in infrastructure enhancements at Chester Academy, Chester Elementary School, and throughout our district. Uh lastly, as a quick highlight, we are going to begin separating emergency systems and utilities uh with access between the gymnasium and the remainder of the Maple Avenue property, now owned by Orange County. In addition, um, again, I just want to state that we will be sharing information from the two-year feasibility study, analysis, and design work for the proposed intercolastic athletics facility to ensure a clear understanding of all considerations, opportunities
062for discussion, input, and engagement prior to a voter referendum, which brings us to where we started, effective budgetary planning and continuous improvement. The objectives that were shared this evening again as an overview and a highlight would not be possible without that community supported budget. So know that an ongoing uh goal each year is to create a fiscally responsible budget that meets district needs while considering community input, maximizing funding, evaluating programs for efficiency and communicating financial considerations, including those related to this proposed intercolastic athletics facility, which you'll hear more on that. What are the long-term cost tax implications? Uh we look at state aid and impact of property value all in support of investing in excellence for our students and for our community. And I'd like to say it Chester pride communitywide. So we look forward
063to sharing more information about that. Uh we will be expanding our shared services with neighboring districts as we do each year including Boseies um and local municipalities to reduce costs through collaboration. And we do that through athletics as well. And there's more information on each slide again um that's going to be shared with you on the website uh versus going into all the detail this evening um as we do each year effectively communicating our budget parameters uh property tax levy cap uh through parent square district website newsletter social media making sure that we're keeping our families informed that we're transparent in all of our practices and there's an opportunity for engagement throughout the process. And lastly, uh, continuing to enhance our financial accountability. Uh, it's important to state for those that, uh, perhaps hadn't heard
064earlier, um, the addition of the treasurer position in the district and that really strengthens our internal controls. Uh, supporting our assistant superintendent for business. Um, it supports p responsible budgeting, uh, reinforces transparency and compliance to maintain uh, the trust that we value in our community. And so, lastly, on behalf of the board of education, we thank you for your support of these initiatives and our commitment to continuous improvement for the 2526 school year and beyond. and we invite you to review the 2526 district goals and objectives in detail on our website under board of education district goals. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Hara, for your very thorough overview. Um, you know, on behalf of the board, we we always um value the partnership with the superintendent as well as um our community stakeholders. So,
065thank you. That brings us to our first public comments. Seeing that we don't have anyone present with us here, we'll move to roundt. I'll start at this end. Any Mr. Harry, you're up again. >> Yeah, back back to me. Uh again, just, you know, a great start to the year. So, thanks again to our students, staff, board of education, families, and communities. as we move forward into 2526 with purpose, passion, and Chester pride. We had our first home football game, as uh Mr. Fanigan mentioned, on September 5th, and I extend our appreciation to Brandon Holdridge and the town of Chester for the lighting improvements at the Chester Commons, with appreciation also to our director of facilities, Matt D. Rosa, and his team for their collaboration in making this possible. Uh the common support not only
066our student athletes in the absence of an on-site facility, but also community groups and recreational programs for families across Chester and surrounding communities. Another example of Chester pride. We are proud to announce that three members of our CUFSD team have been selected to receive the prestigious, and I do mean prestigious, Mid Hudson School Study Council's 25 uh 2025 awards for excellence. Jennifer Cuomo is a recipient for excellence in pupil personnel. Dennis Lri is a recipient for excellence in support services. and Rachel Loftess for excellence in administration. These awards will be formally presented at the recognition ceremony on October 29th honoring their outstanding contributions alongside other honor honores from across the Hudson Valley and I'll share more information um closer to that event with uh community input engagement. We are now in our fourth year of
067the CUFSD parent advisory panel. Did want to take note and appreciate that we have 15 parents returning from last year. Opening remain openings remain in several grade levels and invitations will go out later this week for new families to join. Uh our athletic director will also be sharing information as I mentioned in the presentation for our parent athletics panel and that is a form for input on improvements across our athletics program. So, I encourage our families uh to come out and uh work in collaboration to support continuous improvement in whatever whatever area that may be. And lastly, I just do I do want to reiterate as shared in the August 20th welcome back letter to families specifically referencing a link providing a preliminary preliminary overview. Uh we are taking the next step in planning for
068a proposed intercolastic athletics facility. As you can see, communication certainly is important. An advisory panel, I again want to state, will be formed with representatives from the parent advisory panel, athletics panel, nearby residents, and local community groups to ensure broad stakeholder input in a smaller setting. Community input and engagement will also be supported with open community forums that will be beginning in November, opportunities for discussion and feedback, and a dedicated website to keep families informed as new information becomes available. The facility is designed to support our district goals, creating a safe, fully accessible space for athletics, physical education, wellness, school events, and community gatherings. And I stress community. While it will certainly direct uh directly benefit our student athletes, it will also provide opportunities for all students, families in our community, reinforcing Chester pride and
069strengthening our community connection. So, I look forward to providing uh we look forward to providing more information um as as we prepare uh for community engagement. So following the process of input and engagement certainly there will be a designated date for a referendum and I I just wanted to reiterate uh tomorrow September 11th as we mentioned uh and gave a moment of silence it is a day of remembrance for our country as we honor the lives lost the courage of a first responders and the unity shown when people come together to support one another at six o'clock p.m. the Chester Kuanis Mr. Flanigan mentioned will host the 911 uh ceremony at Chester Community Park with a performance by our Chester Academy musicians and we invite all family, staff and community members to join us in
070remembrance and reflection. Thank you. >> You um before we start round table on this side, um the board of education would like to officially welcome Brook to the team to the table. um you know, we look forward to working with you and hearing um firsthand some of the the things that we need to improve on, the things that we're doing well from the student perspective. Um so, welcome. >> Does anyone have anything to share? >> I do. I have an update from Orange County School Boards. Um the first meeting of the year took place in person on Tuesday, September 2nd at U Boseies in Gan. Uh Orange County School Boards has decided to move their meetings uh this coming year to Tuesdays, the first Tuesday of the month in an effort to increase attendance uh
071given that many boards including ours tend to host their meetings on Wednesdays. Um they did release their calendar for the year which will also include a mix of in-person and virtual options again this year um for November, December, and January. The guest speaker for the first meeting was Mary Alice Kovatch who's the director of Orange County Alcohol and Drug Awareness Council. Uh their organization really has a wealth of information. They have many programs and services available that center around prevention and education not just for students but for parents, educators and PTSAs as well. So, I was able to share out some of the information uh from them directly to our PTSA president, hoping that maybe they can coordinate more programs for our students this upcoming year if there's an opportunity. Um, they also have an
072impact program, peer ambassadors, and a family navigation program that can provide services in the home for any family that might be in need. Um, and all of their services and programs are bilingual. The only other update that I have is that NISBO launched their board officers forum which is an online social networking site for school boards. Um I was able to create an account last week in order to connect our board and our district. Uh it's a great platform that provides opportunities to interact with other board members from across the state and to ask questions, share successes or challenges and to obtain updates about upcoming conferences and different events and resources from NISBA. Thank you. don't want to put you on the spot. Do you have anything to report today? >> I knew she'd come
073prepared. >> Um, so as you guys know, our homecoming is early this year. The class of 126. The senior class is planning it. It's on September 27th, and we will be selling homecoming shirts the week leading up to the dance. And then for the day of the dance, we were thinking about serving pizza and having an ice cream bar. Uh the junior and senior class are also doing the raffle fundraiser that we did last year. Again, the both classes can sell 10 tickets to get their prom to get half off or 20 to get it for free. The only difference is that this year the senior class can also sell them to go towards their senior trip. Uh varsity club had a meeting on the 4th. We have co-presidents elected and the dates for the
074spring pep rally were discussed because we haven't had one in a few years. So, we're getting on that. And a new layout for the pep rallies is also being considered to increase student engagement. A drama club is performing Matilda Jr. this year and is being run by Miss Sci. The rehearsal started at the end of summer. So, they've been going on for a few weeks and they're making a lot of progress. Uh, Key Club also had their first meeting yesterday and it's now being run by Miss Langlets. New ideas for volunteer service and ways to fund raise for the LTC conference were discussed and meeting was will be held every other Tuesday after school. Now yearbook had their first meeting. They allowed members to run for officer positions and they began brainstorming for possible yearbook
075design themes. Uh national start society started today which is being run by Miss Piggo and we discussed induction for new members and this induction will be on October 15th at 6 pm in the auditorium. And then lastly, the band will be performing at the 911 ceremony tomorrow. And they've been practicing several pieces for the event that sound really good. And they also began their elections for officers this year along with the chorus and voice ensemble. And that's all I have. Thank you. >> Well, thank you so much. We're off to a great start. Anything else? >> That moves us to consent agenda. I would like to make a motion to adopt consent agenda items 5.1 through 5.18. I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Consent agenda items pass. That brings us to our
076final public comment. See there's no one. Can I have a motion for German? >> I'll make that motion. I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you for all of you who tuned in this evening. Our next meeting will be two weeks from tonight. Thank you and have a good night.