001To the flag of the United States of America, one nationice for all. It's absolutely wonderful to see so many in attendance this evening. Can I have a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? All in favor? Motion passes. Can I please have a motion to approve board meeting minutes of April 24th, 2025? I'll make the motion. Second. All in favor? I. Motion passes. That brings us to tonight's presentation. Mrs. Bosch. Good evening. Thank you for having me. Board of Ed, Superintendent O'Hara. Happy to be here tonight to present to you all. Uh I am going to try to be brief because we do have two student performances tonight. Um but I'm going to generally review some of the things uh and updates um from over the last month. Um, so first off, uh, our PBIS assembly was
002held Monday, April 28th. Um, last month I did discuss the Golden Bus Award. Um, and good news, four buses won the Golden Bus Award. It was a tie across four buses. So, bus B, bus C, bus I, and the small bus all won the Golden Bus uh, award. And um we there was a golden bus that is displayed in the display case at the elementary school now along with our other golden things like plungers and um sneakers and um other fun things like clocks and for time. So uh that is a success in rolling out a new golden award. Um as well we developed u Mrs. Baptist developed a um award to display on the golden bus that each of them earned. So in bus C, bus, bus I and the small bus, they all
003have something in display in their window saying that they earned the golden bus for good behavior, which is awesome. So we will continue with that. It definitely improved some of the things that were coming off the buses on a regular basis. So, um it's really nice data to have and to show that we are um working alongside the bus company and um the bus drivers have been awesome and we're really proud of everybody. Okay. Um the final parent advisory meeting of the year was April 10th. We discussed end of the year pro procedures at CES including what goes on in the building um making classes, what goes into ma building classes for next year and what will be happening over the summer at CES in preparation for the coming year. And some of those exciting
004things include um the CES entrance investib will be renovated to improve safety at CES. Uh and these this safety project is projected to be completed this summer. So we're really excited about that as well. uh data. We are almost to the end of our assessment season. Uh the New York uh state ELA test in uh grades 3 through 5 was administered April 29th and 30th. The 3 through 5 math test was administered last week, May 6th and 7th. The fifth grade science test will be administered tomorrow. Uh and makeup tests are being administered within the testing window until May 23rd. So far, we have all students participating already made up with their ELA and math tests. We have no outstanding tests uh right now that need to test in that window. So, as long as
005everybody shows up for science tomorrow, we will be completed with our New York State tests. That does bring us to our I Ready testing window. And that begins May 28th uh to June 13th. Um and students will be um testing within that window and we'll send home a notice to families about that. Um the DEI committee, we decided uh to postpone our um multicultural family night event. Uh it was due to be tomorrow night. Um and we do believe that uh very busy May schedules prevented us from having much of a response for the event. So um we do plan to uh figure out a better time of the year for the coming year and implement our uh multicultural family night in the coming year. maybe in the fall, maybe in the winter when it's
006less busy. Um, but we do think that busy schedules prevented that from happening this year. So, but we will reschedule. Um, fifth grade families are doing some final fundraising and they have been getting ideas for what they will include in the end of the year party. They meet again May 19th. Some students are attending those meetings which is nice. I am meeting with those students. we have decided uh certain things for the year like theme. Uh the the song that will be sung at the um assembly will also was also chosen. So I'm going to keep that under wraps though, so it's a surprise for all of our families. Um the CES broadcast team put on another awesome broadcast. The April broadcast was sent out to families April 30th via parent square along with our
007monthly updates of um what's going on in the next month. May is very very busy. So, that was a long one this past month. Uh, it was another great um broadcast and it highlighted the next big family event um which is the book themed art show that Mrs. Dick has coordinated for May 20th at the Academy Maker Space. So, make sure that families are coming out for that. We're very excited. It is a very, very cool production that will be put on here um as opposed to the elementary school this year. So, that's a really nice use of the space here at the academy. Um, the PTA and the SEPSA supported an awesome tribute to the CES teachers during teacher appreciation week last week. They coordinated a spirit week, had various food, snacks, meals, a
008hydration station uh throughout the week. Um, the next PTA event is the talent show on May 16th. Uh the PTA and the SEPSA also support field day with volunteers and the PTA also funds the assembly and the afternoon of the P of the field day. I can't believe we're talking about field day already, but we are. We are here um and all of the excitement of the end of the year. Um lastly, safety. We had a successful lockdown drill this past week and we have a couple more fire drills uh before the end of the year to wrap up all of our safety drills for the year. Um, that's it for me. Uh, I am going to present next. Um, I'm going to introduce Miss Jenna Olirri who is the division 2 uh Odyssey of
009the mind team coach. Uh, they play second at regionals and tonight they are going to be performing for you and they will be followed by the division 1 team um who was coached by Victoria Brink and Audrey Cutler and they will perform second. And those students also played second at the regionals. um but also then were invited with a wildcard spot to the states this year and they did excellent there as well. Come on up, Miss Liry. Thank you, Mrs. B. Good evening, everyone. I just wanted to thank the board of ed for inviting us here tonight. This year, I had the joy and challenge of being introduced to Odyssey of the Mind for the first time. I was able to bring OM back to the middle school for the first time in many years.
010Unbeknownst to me, this is not your average competition. These kids had to work as a team, problem solve with within parameters, think creativity creatively, and bring their imaginations to life. From writing a script, creating a full performance with sets, costumes, props, and then performing. We did cooking with books problem three this year for our problem and took second place. They had to create a show with a chef character creating a food item inspired by a chapter from the literature. They chose Willy Wonka. Please sit back and enjoy the talented Khloe Gasai Sawyer McElroy, Stella Dunn, Emily Cassetta, Michaela Kindress, and Jayen Delejon. Chester Academy, are you ready? Yes, we are ready to break you like cheese. Hello and welcome to the most important room in the entire class. This week you're on for a special
011candy your heart to start our main course. I'll be making the iconic hair toffee. Then we will get on to all recipes by yours truly. But I'm Mr. Wonga. You never finished the factory tour. Yeah. Hurry up. I didn't come here to waste my time. Oh, right. that interrupted him towards any what even is coffee of the winter. This is the perfect opportunity for you to be my first victim. Wait, what? No, I need to stop it. Imagine couldn't be me. my hair. Have you done the hat? Aren't you? Yeah. After I eat you before I cook you next, you're in my spotlight. Next up, our sugar surprise. Oh, I do enjoy sugar. Think twice. I rate you like these cook. This is my inventing room. This is my show. Whatever. Anyways, I need some
012Allpurpose flour. Two words, ma. She's grazer. I got it. Don't think you do. I said flower, not flower. Who are you? I'm the human version of your dish food. What' you say, girl? Keep getting weirder and weirder. Well, that's offensive. Well, it's not every day you see the human versions of food. That's true. Anyways, continue your cooking and you see how cool I am. Cool. Sure. Are you okay? That's what I do. Now I need to do that. More. More. Come on. What are you doing? You need more. Could you be more annoying? I think not. You're acting like a kid on Christmas morning. What's wrong with Christmas? And could you be any meaner? I am very very very nice to the people that are in you. That's extreme. No. Done with you. You're annoying.
013Go back where you came from. I can't deal with you in my kitchen. Next time I think you [Music] need now I think we need ps oranges blueberries and oranges. is the best of both worlds. Only native to Chester, New York. Only $19.99 per pound. But if you order within the nextG3 milliseconds, we'll throw in Bruce, the free Oompa Loompa. That is it. I will not be doing this anymore. I'm taking the everlasting gobstopper that someone I'm not naming names bribed me with. Unpause. What English was that? That was art and style. Obviously, you wouldn't understand. Rude. You're not going to be real. Go back to the you came from a world of Never mind all that. We're done. I think we're ready for our guest at our dinner party. Oo, this place is nice.
014You have really outdone yourself. My house is so much fancier. Like if I set this host place up, we'd have a chocolate fountain with fondue forks, ice sculptures, an entire candy shop, you name it. How rich are you? You know, we're on a budget, right? Whatever. Um, I'd like to thank you all for coming. Now, let's feast on this dectable, delicious delight. Lude, what's up? That is awesome. I don't care if it looks weird. I'm eating it. I'm so hungry. I could eat at this point. Disgusting. It tastes creative. Quite possibly the best thing I've ever tasted. Disgusting. Absolutely horrible. I've never been so horrified in my life. Now, Vuka, that's no way to speak to our host. And that's no way to speak to me, old man. Do you know who I am? Do
015you know my status? My dad can sue you just like that. Try me. You'll see. Barooa, anybody's going to be suing Wanka, it's going to be me. What did I ever do to you? You of all people want to go down that road. No, chef. So, what do y'all think of my food? Love it. Not very good. Me, my butler could do much better. That's it. I've had it with you and your attitude and you and your controlling behavior and you and your over dramatic critique of my hair and coffee that I spent hours on and you dinner guest I hate lease right now. A thank you. No, let's not chef's can you cook it episode featuring Katie Green. You had a wonderful time. Thanks for watching. Excellent job, Division 2 Odyssey of the Mind
016team. Uh, we're going to take a second to get our division three teams set all ready and them all into place. And I'm going to introduce Miss Audrey Cutler and Mrs. Victoria Brink, uh, who are the division one team coaches. Good evening, Miss O'Hara and members of the board. Thank you for having us here tonight. We're happy to share about our division 1 Odyssey of the mind team. This year's team included some newbies to Odyssey of the Mind. The members of our team are Kristoff New House Simon Ariana Perez, Asher Pilot, Parker McElroy, Ellie Zucker, and Maya Vargas. Our team began working together in the fall. Each week, we worked together to grow as a team. The members brought creativity, spontaneity, problem solving skills, humor, and dedication to the team. At the beginning of our
017season, the students had to decide between five long-term problems to create an 8-minute long skit. This year, our team chose to solve astronomical odyssey. The team created an ancient civilization that presented constellations and and stories explaining each constellation. In their performance, you will find humor, a lighting effect, and a shooting star. their creativity and artistic t talents designed the set, costumes, and candy makeup, which was used during the performances in March and April. We are so proud of them and hope you enjoy their performance. We thank you for your support in making Chester's Odyssey of the Mind program a success and we look forward to coaching in the future. Chester Elementary, are you ready? Yes, we are ready for a sugar. Team begin. Once upon a time in a land far away, [Music] do you
018remember that one time when we were daring each other to throw scour bears up in the air? Yeah, I remember that. It was so much fun, but I didn't think It was such a long time. Well, I had been thinking. I remember looking up at the sky and seeing this funny looking picture. Looked like a gummy bear mixed with Skittles and Sour Patch Kids. I remember that. Galler Bear is the guardian of our town. At first, I thought you cooper. Maybe I am kind of cooped with that. But knowing that the candy guardian protects us from all the evil conval aliens helps me sleep at night. It has a hard shell-like armor and it is chewy in the inside like your best friend. I always look up at the sky constellation and say besides the
019most beautiful thing in the sky. As the workers went back to their station, they came across a big problem. One of their machines was broken. All the workers tried hard to fix the machine. The machine exploded again. How are we ever going to fix the machine? I don't know, but we should get off to Fergy's Park to let them know there will be a delay for candy. Quick, look, he's shooting stars. Make a wish. I wish that the candy machine gets fixed so we don't have to wait for the great candy star to start reproducing candy. Well, it's a good thing that until the great candy star starts reproducing candy. I'll try to fix the machine. We got to work ahead of those machines thousands of dollars. But it's a good thing that I made.
020I like this one. It's about being sneaky and clever at the same time. Welcome to the place of your nightmares. Just kidding. Welcome to Hercules Park. Wow, you just scared the skin goes right out of me. Here you learn the mystery of how evil, also known, who still wants to use our Hershey's kiss. Well, we are here. Want to head to the candy store to grab some Heries for the family? That sounds like a great idea. Let's go. I love all the candy here at the Kway Galaxy. My favorites are the Scour Bear and Heres Kiss. I wonder who did create the Hercy's Kiss. I'm here to tell you the history of the Her Kiss. Like I said earlier, evil alien stole our idea. Evil Conval aliens. Even though it's been upside down in the
021stars, New Eclipian decided to turn it right side up. But the aliens like that idea more. How rude of that. Since your little Equipians have such a sweet tooth, you can't fight back without a trick to defend it. You decided to give in and let them steal your idea. Well, I had no idea about this story. But our candy is better anyway because it looks like the actual constellation in the sky. In fact, it is law to wear this uniform. OMG, that makes so much sense. Well, did you know about superstar? I didn't think so. No, he didn't. Thanks for the miniature. Well, it's a you're sweetly welcome. Well, it's a good thing that we would never run on a candy here because my husband back home would turn into such a sour apple. Yeah,
022it's a good thing that the candy store never sugary shimmery dust. How do you really know that? Because I've been up in space. So, I think you were just sugar coating these facts. That's nonsense, right? Well, no one knows except for me because I don't have a sweet tooth. What the candy marshmallows? First off, who are you? You don't wear the proper color. Instead, you wear that weird looking space outfit. Second, how do you not have a sweet tooth? Well, I'm a stellar astronaut. You've been to many planets, and you guys are just stuck on this one. Get it? Stuck like melted caramel. Ooh, there's my spaceship now. Why is that gummy candy when it usually comes from the candy star? I am the candy star. You've been thinking a constellation has been your candy
023maker, but in reality planets to steal your candy. What do you mean the star? It has to be. I've been a master genius making weird scour bears and taking regular Christmas kisses and turning them upside down into kisses. Do you really think the star would give you candy? Well, yeah, we did. That is what we have been taught about every year since you idolize. But in reality, it's my special magic gadgets. It's a It's actually a really shiny star. I don't believe this. Well, yeah, but why do you have to steal the candy if we have candy? Because you make the candy so slow. If I didn't steal it, your candy park wouldn't have anything. And I mean anything to sell. So why have we been thinking this tiny little star has been Arcade Maker
024when actually it has been you? Cuz I've been hiding my secret. I Why has it been a secret this entire time? Because none of you slow roasting marshmallows could get it done fast enough. Besides, what guy wants to be his arm? Even though we don't need them, it seems we should probably get back to him or the box will get mad. Good idea. All right, thanks be to our day. Hey, you can't leave yet. I'm VIP. I'm providing. What else do you want? I wish you to leave us alone. That's why I want any space to I'm glad that he's gone. Yeah, I thought he would never stop. Yeah, let's practice. Why don't we sing our national candy theme song the candy galaxy that's the way it's going to be [Applause] excellent job they do
025hand out candy They hurl sweet insults like slow roasting marshmallows and candy for you all. So uh that is it for my presentation and for the kids for tonight. Um are there any questions? Thank you, Kristoff. I'm good. I don't need any candy. No questions. Good job. No questions. Thank you. All right. Great. Thank you. They were fabulous. Yeah, they were. They're great kids. I think slow roasting. That's a new insult. I'm going to use it. I'm using it. Yeah, I'm working it in this week. I promise. That brings us to our next presentation. Once again, Mr. on again. You're following the kids. Sorry about that. Good evening everybody. Um, thank you for having me here tonight. Uh, in just a few minutes I'm going to have Mrs. Berto come up and talk about our
026workplace learning. And I know you've received my report and so I don't plan on going to into a lot of detail in my report. I'll take any questions that we have. But I I in looking around the room there there is an individual that I that I would really like to honor here tonight who uh I'm really excited about. Um and that's our saludiatoran for the class of 2025 and that's David Trin. David, you can come on up. You stand up next to me. David, I'm going to talk about you now. David, if your dad wants to film, we can let him get into position here. Get into position. Uh, you know, why don't you stand here? You you'll get probably better for camera there. Um, so David is our saludiatoran for the class of
0272025. He's going to be attending Bingmpington University, which is which is absolutely awesome. In the fall, and majoring in computer engineering, uh, David is passionate and fascinated about computers and believes in their ability to make a big impact in the world in so many ways. Um he's been an active uh member of our of our of a lot of extracurriculars including our varsity indoor and outdoor track teams. Uh he's the captain of the track team, the indoor he was captain of the track indoor track team this season. Uh and outside of sports, he's one of our attorneys for the mock trial team. The vice president of the national honor society and a member of Key Club. Um he is currently intern he's been interning this year actually with our own uh Nick Patel who's over
028here who runs the board in our tech department. Um David is ranked second in the class with a GPA of 99.87 which means he basically went all through high school didn't get anything involved which is which is awesome. Um and uh you know I had an opportunity to get to know David a little bit on the Orlando trip a little bit better and David is just such a smart guy. I mean, I hope one day maybe when I retire, he's got a job for me in my retirement. I can help help him get coffee or something like that. But, uh, David's going to do great things and we're very proud of him. So, I'd like to to give a round of applause to our saludiatoran, the class of 2025. David, thank you. And I'm going
029to have Mr. Kersio come up, the president of the board of education, present you. Thank you and David there. Well, don't run up because there's going to be snacks in a little while cookies and and all kinds of good things. Thank you, David. Oh, I um so I I'd also like to honor and and not here tonight. I'm looking around. I I unable to make it here tonight. Um our valadictorian for the class of 2025, Miss Carissa Cambria. Uh Carly will be attending the Georgia Institute of Technology this fall and and plans on majoring in biomed engineering. Uh she's always had a passion for math and science and wants to use that to make a difference in the world and improve people's lives. who's a member of the National Honors Society, Student Council, the yearbook
030club, the medical club, and has served as class president for her uh junior junior and senior years. She's an active member in her community as a Girl Scout and completed her Gold Award and volunteers every month doing uh inventory at the Chester Food Pantry. She's participated in varsity softball, soccer, basketball, track, um has a lot of obviously a lot of extracurriculars going on. And during her junior year, she was one of our representatives for the Hugh O'Brien Leadership Conference in Albany. Um she's participated in the Junior Academy of New York uh Academy of Sciences during her senior year and is ranked number one in the class with a 100.1 GPA. So congratulations to Carly Cambria. two really amazing students. And you know, I I I have to say every year I'm always impressed with our
031our validictorian. This year, David and Carly, we couldn't ask for two better individuals. We'll be very proud of them. They'll get to have a speech at graduation and I'm really looking forward to it. So, thank you. On that note, I'm going to turn on the TV here. I'd like to welcome Miss Berettto to come on up. Miss Berettto, who has had a very busy day today. Um, we just had our our uh internship Oh, thank you. I'm dropping everything. I'm sorry. just had our internship partnership breakfast this morning. Miss Berettto is our workplace learning coordinator and one of our school counselors and uh really runs such an impressive program I believe and I don't want to take steal your thunder but close to 60 internships now. So I'm going to turn it over to you
032and Miss Jim Berto. Hi, good evening. Yes, I'm not a public speaking. I do it again. So I'm um here to report a little bit about the workplace learning program for this year for school year of 2024 2025. So so far you can kind of see as of today you can well this is a little behind but we had for this school year including last summer 59 total placements that includes job shadowing and internships. We actually have a few that just started in the last week or two and we have a few that are asking for summer internships and we already have a list forming for next year. So it just keeps growing. the word spreading and it's it's been awesome. Um here you can see so we have between job shadowing and and internships.
033So with job shadowing that could be where students just go for one day kind of check out what the profession is. Um or it can be a full-on internship 5 to 10 weeks where students will go for once a week 5 to 10 weeks and actually really get their feet wet and some of them have actually participated in projects that these professionals have put them in. So it all kind of depends on the business what they can offer. Um, we also had two virtual we have one student that's going to be doing some virtual internships over the summer with NASA because she had come to me about like aerospace engineering which that was a challenge. So kind of took the virtual route and found her some things. So she's applied for those. So we're hoping
034that she can get in those for the summer. And then another student, our validictorian who took on three internships this year, by the way. um she's did a virtual internship with the I'm gonna get this wrong, but New York Academy of Sciences earlier in the fall. So, we're trying to mix it up for some of them. And then some internships are a little more difficult to get here in Orange County, but we did have a couple of kids that if I couldn't get them actual internships, they found actual online courses that they can take related to what they're looking for. So, it's a great opportunity for them to really explore different different careers. Some get in there and they're like, "Oh my gosh, I love this. I never thought I would do this." And it's
035great because then they find their path. Some are in there and they'll come back to me and they're like, "Miss Berto, there's no way. I can't believe I even considered this." Um, and that's okay, too, right? So, that's so much better. So, either way, it's good to just go in with an open mind. Um, the other part of that about this is what I'm seeing here is it helps to teach them employability skills. Some of them come in and they really don't have that communication piece, which we all kind of worry about anyway. So, they have to practice being able to communicate with these professionals because what I do is I set them up with it. We set up the first meeting and after that it's mostly on them to kind of coordinate with the
036professional themselves on when they're going to go again. Uh it kind of helps teach them. Most of them do a very good job with it. Some of them need a little more coaching, but that's part of the project. So, it's pretty good far as far as that's concerned. Um it helps professional networking. We've had students that last year and this year that are now going back and actually working at these places from the summer. Some were called back as soon as they turned 18. They're like, "Let's come back." So, some have actually gotten jobs and a lot of, you know, really good professional networking for them. So, it's pretty exciting. Um, just to kind of give an overview, you can see some of the stuff we've had from some of the places, excuse me, that
037we've had over the years that came back this year, including our Town Chester supervisor, Brandon Holddridge, Lady Lux Studio, which is it's a whole variety of things from trades to tattooing, which I know you know, Miss Pena's daughter did that one, so excited. She her heard. Yeah, she loved it. But we have so many different things from animal science to different positions in the Orange County government. Hudson Valley Imaging, which I know our own student here, Brooke, actually did a job shadowing experience with Hudson Valley Imaging. And I'm going to invite her to come up and talk about her experiences. If you want to come on up, Brooke. And Brooke also did some job shadowing with Mrs. Ryal at the elementary school. So, she dabbled in a little bit of different things when it came
038to the medical field. So, we're going to give her a chance to talk about that. Hi everyone. So throughout the school year, I had the pleasure of shadowing both Mrs. Ryell and Mrs. Okconor at the elementary school health office. I cannot thank them enough for being so generous with their time and allowing me to get firsthand experience in the world of health and patient care. In a short recap of my several shadowing trips, I have learned how to organize medical information, what signs and symptoms to look out for and how to handle them, how to perform seeing and hearing tests, and overall how to manage students mental and physical health. I was also fortunate enough to be granted a one-day shadowing opportunity with Hudson Valley Imaging this past summer. I would like to thank all
039the employees who pitched in their time and effort to make my experience truly so amazing. and I was able to witness firsthand how an MRI, CAT scan, and ultrasound functioned along with how the technicians handled patients with varying needs. I will definitely be taking both of these educational experience experiences with me into the future as I plan to pursue a career involving medicine and science. And lastly, I would just like to give a big big thank you to Miss Perto for being the reason I was lucky enough to have these opportunities. So, thank you so much. Thanks, Brooke. I also wanted to kind of show some of the newer internships that we had found or newer job shadowing experience this year. Um, you can kind of see a handful of them, but we've gotten some
040newer ones for engineering, architecture. Uh, go EMS has allowed students to come over and do some ride alongs. Children's rights society. um Goose Pond obviously innovative health sciences is right here in Sugarloaf and that's the biomedical engineering internship that Carly Cambria is a part of which was kind of neat because she's been dabbling into different sciences and she's like I'm not quite sure what kind of science yet and then once she started doing this it really helped guide her path which makes me super super excited. uh some of the newer ones. We have a student um Eric Alban who's working with the Chester Historical Society which is fairly new this year and it's really neat to see she's interested in this history and they've been wonderful with her kind of just help guiding her and
041also just she's been able to kind of dig up. She's working on a project for Chester. So once she gets all of her research in they're even showing her how to do the research, where to go. You can see they're getting right out into the field looking at artifacts and she's putting together a big project. So hopefully it'll be finished by the end of the year and we'll be able to see it on display. So it's going to be kind of cool. Um another new one that we did have, well you can see here I kind of threw that up. We had a student Shane Rivera that participated with Cornerstone Theater Arts this year and she's she does our plays here with the back, you know, backstage. So with this one, they actually allowed her
042to come in and she was a part of from the audition process to the very end and was actually a big part of their whole production. So she got to see the whole soup to nuts for how it all was produced. Another new one that I kind of wanted to put Ariana Dowy on the spot. Um, she came to me kind of unsure a little bit too, like I kind of want to see some of this stuff, this stuff, but I'm not sure. Uh, so we kind of put together something for her. So she shadowed and spent a day in the human resources department at the Orange County Government Center with the deputy commissioner of HR. So I'm gonna have Ariana talk about that for a second, please, if you don't mind. Thanks. Hello all.
043As you may know, I'm Ariana Dowy and I shouted the human resources department of the Orange County Government Center last November. Um, I was met with a professional in this field. Her name was Allison Tak and she was incredibly kind and attentive towards me. Um, and everyone else in the offices were welcoming as well. She showed me around to multiple departments. I know that I shadowed the HR department, but she talked to me about all of the departments as well as how to apply for all of them. Um, they have a specific application for each one with specific requirements that she told me about and a career in government is quite appealing to me as I don't quite know what I want to do yet. So, that was very very informative. She also invited me
044to the new recruit orientation which people who have been recently hired there go through. So, I experienced that entire presentation and they talked to me about a lot of things like, excuse me, addressing workplace scenarios and detecting workplace violence and filing good and bad faith complaints. All sorts of things that you could only learn um pretty much there. So, that was very informative and I learned a lot from this experience and I'm very grateful to her as well as Mrs. Berettto for making this possible for all of us. Thank you so much. Thanks, Ariana. And the last just to kind of wrap it up, I just wanted to brag. We had a lot of people involved here at Chester Academy within the district and Chester Elementary School that gave a lot of our students opportunities
045to shadow as well, which is wonderful because I was saying this even this morning. We have students that want to participate in some of this stuff, but they don't have transportation, maybe after school or scheduling wise, it can be pretty difficult. So, this opens up such a an opportunity for them. We have Mrs. Ryell as an example. She allowed six students this year come over and shadow her throughout the year just to kind of gain some experience within the medical field. So, it was kind of neat to see that. Oh, wait. Brooke, you did that, too, didn't you? Yes. Oh, she did that one, too. I'm sorry. That was great. Same thing with teaching. We of course we have plenty of our teachers, too. Um had students go down and shadow different grades in the
046elementary school as well. Uh here you have buildings and grounds. a student um participated in an electrical internship for most of the year and she really if as you can see from the pictures got into actually hands-on stuff so it was pretty neat to see and same thing our very own Monica Gonzalez who's here offered a school psychology internship this year so some or I should say shadowing so she was showing them some of the things that she does within school psychology for students that are interested in the psychology field and I got to be one of the people one of the pretend kids that she tested And we also had Mr. Mike Ducet also advise Morgan's message which is an internship that one of our students Paige Niles brought into the school which is
047athletes that are making mental health bringing out mental health awareness. So it was kind of neat to bring that into and wrap it up here. Same thing our very own Nick Patel offering a um internship in technology. Like I mentioned before we've had virtual internships so we're trying to expand a little bit for students that can't do anything in person. And lastly, we've had uh Dr. Evans comes in. We have these career exploration opportunities being pushed into our classrooms. Here we have it with the medical field. And we've also brought in a lot of professionals to talk with students right here in the building again for business management talking about, you know, what it's like to run a business and own a business to mental health clinicians talking about what it's like to work in
048the field. And we also had some former student a former alumni actually came in and talked about the athletic training field as well. So, it just gives students a lot of opportunities to explore. And I'm sorry, I lied. Lastly, we had some field trips also. Uh, we had a field trip to Orange County Emergency Services Center this year. So, they were able to see the 911 dispatch center, C Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center, and some other, you know, ways that they handle emergencies in Orange County, which was pretty neat. Uh, Hudson Valley Construction Career Fair is a wonderful one we do every year as well. And you can see students are getting hands-on experience in various trades. Here they were welding. you have to wear a hard hat for the whole time. You can see
049they're trying to bend pipe. Um doing some virtual things as well. This one they're laying brick. There's so many different things that they get to hands-on try to see if that's something that they're interested in. Well, so it's really a big variety. And now lastly, we also did a visit at Turo College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown. And here they were able to kind of see one what it's like to be on the college campus, but also any students interested in the medical field got to talk with students that are interested that are I'm sorry, students that are participating in the program as well. As you can see there here, they were listening to the lungs of a simulator to try and see which lung was one of someone that vapes and which one is
050a healthy lung. Uh down in the bottom, you can see a student was actually participating doing an ultrasound. So, it's kind of neat. So, they really get a lot of experience. Thank you very much for all of your support. Appreciate it. I'm done. Thank you. And I'll take any questions from the board. Working is just so impressive. Thank you. Thank you for your support. Um, and I don't know if you want me to stay up here now. Actually, the um, we're going to move before we move to public comments. If any of the students um, you're welcome to stay, of course, but if you would like to go home to do homework, um, you're welcome to It truly is one of the great pleasures that we have as board um members when the students come
051to share their talent or what they're working on. something we look forward to and enjoy. That brings us to our public comments. Um, anyone who like to share anything as it relates to the agenda items that no one has come forward. We are going to now move on to the very exciting tenure recommendations. Mr. Plan want you to get your steps. I apologize if I'm Lindsay. I don't think I have the I have the the blank one here, but am I am I going alphabetical? Perfect. Oh, thank you. All right. So, we're excited that Chester Academy has a number of candidates tonight that we're going to be asking for approval of tenure for. Um, all of these candidates, I I will say, um, the only reason that they're here tonight is because they meet the
052standard of excellence. Um, and truly have earned that right of tenure. Um, if I didn't feel that they were someone that that really earned that right of tenure, they would not be here tonight for presentation. So, I'm I'm excited that the and and there are a number of people here, but that the three people that I'll be speaking about tonight and and although there there is a fourth from Chester again, that'll cross over with Rachel. um that we'll have the opportunity to to speak to just what an incredible um contribution these individuals have made to Chester Academy. So, as I put my papers back in order, I made a guess on it and I was wrong, Lindsay. So, but now I'm correct here. Uh so, the first person I'd like to speak about tonight um
053who is up for tenure is Danielle Pelicano. Um that was perfect timing, Miss McKenzie, with that clap. Thank you. Uh so Danielle Pelicano is an excellent teacher. She is uh she has been with us now for four years. Uh but Danielle has taught for a long time. Danielle taught prior to coming to Chester Academy for many years in the arch dasis. Uh Danielle holds a a professional certification in biology grades 7 through 12. Um, she teaches our eighth grade science class and also teaches the uh eighth grade living environment at advanced class and teaches AP biology. So, she is an excellent teacher. Danielle has been very involved in Chester Academy. Um, in addition to, you know, really trying to hone the craft. Anyone that's been involved in science for the last four years as a
054teacher has realized that it's probably the most dramatic shift we we've really seen in in in next generation standards and how learning is being approached. Um, but Danielle has really tackled this flawlessly. She's put in a lot of time and a lot of effort. Um, she's often after school helping students. She also is our adviser for currently the sophomore class. She's been with them for multiple years helping them fund raise, getting them on track for their prom, for their eventual senior trip. Um, she does a great job. I mean, it's frequently Danielle will come down and we will we'll shoot, you know, the breeze about fundraisers and and other ideas and ways we can help the students. Um, and all of those great things. What I really truly and I and I've been in her
055classroom and she is highly effective, but one of the the the great things if I could speak to her is that she is so kind and and it is so nice to have somebody that is so kind in the classroom and I think students really appreciate that. I think families really appreciate that and it's something that I really appreciate and uh so I'm honored tonight to uh to recommend Danielle Pelicano for tenure. and I keep going now. Okay. And I apolog earlier and so I'm just making sure. All right. Um the second person that I that I'd like to speak to about tonight to to you about tonight is Miss Laney who's here as well. There she is. Hi Laney. Um we were so lucky uh three years ago Laney joined us from the uh
056from the Mining Valley School District where she was a she was an excellent teacher and has in turn come to Chester and become an excellent teacher here. Lany's classroom is so creative. Uh it's it's if you walk into Laney's classroom and and you sit down and you watch her teach, it's not going to be your traditional, okay, here's here's the do now and let's start the lesson and let's hit the body of the lesson and let's wrap up. Um, you know, you're going to see things like Socratic seminar, students having higher level conversations, people really challenging each other to think, um, really diving into, you know, what's happening in this particular novel and and the why of why things are happening and the why of why we're doing things. Laney really hits on on all
057of those things. Um, Laney is involved in a lot here at Chester Academy. She has taken on a lot of different roles. Um she is the adviser to our multicultural club. She is our advisor to today's students, tomorrow's teachers. Um Laney is someone that in in advising multicultural club has started kind of continued a tradition on here of having our February uh Black History Month assembly showcase which has really become an just such an important um assembly that we have every year. And we we're just always proud of the work and the creativity of our students. And and that's kind of that that showcase really can kind of summarize when you see the creativity that comes out of that showcase just who Laney is and how she sets she sets the bar high for students
058and in the classroom they they make the bar, you know, they raise the bar. And I'm really excited um that Laney has done so much to help us here at Chester Academy. And um you know in addition to attending lots of different professional development, she's always looking to learn. Uh she's always looking to you know to to you know to become uh even more well-rounded in the classroom. She interned for us in her administrative program and and was phenomenal. Um she's somebody that that a lot of times even during her internship she'd have great ideas and come up to me and be like I wasn't even thinking about that. That's great. And then she's not somebody that just has ideas but she has followed through. And I think that's really important as well. She doesn't
059just throw an idea out there. She actually brings an idea with a plan and how you can kind of finish the job. Um, so I'm truly excited to recommend Laney Vallet for tenure here at Chester Academy. [Applause] And the final candidate that I'll be speaking about tonight, I I I'm so excited and happy to to recommend for tenure is Miss Jennifer Daly, who is our health teacher and our dance instructor here at Chester Academy. Um, Jen has been with us now for four years. And when I say she is an excellent health teacher, when you go into that room, like I wouldn't go in there with a bag of chips. Like I'll be honest with you, she'd take them away from me. And that's probably a good thing. But Jen is Jen is really good
060because when you go into her classroom, they're not just learning about health. They're actually practicing. You'll go in and you know, and there'll be a realistic lesson, for example, about like, okay, if you had to make a choice and you're out on the road and there are only fast food options and here they are, you know, how do you make a good choice within those options? And that that was a a great lesson or I think about, you know, one of the times I went into her class and it was about, you know, students love to eat cereal. People love these big bowls of cereal and we actually broke down the sugar contents of the cereals and and of these four brands what you might think was healthy but which is actually the healthiest one.
061She really brings health to the forefront. She's collaborated um with our with our family and consumer science teacher in terms of healthy choices and bringing healthy options in into the school. Um she had an idea a couple of years ago which was phenomenal because she's a certified New York State dance instructor as well and in giving students another alternative to physical education started a dance program and and anyone that's been to our plays and knows or or been to our assembly showcase knows that she'll bring her students and get them involved in those extracurriculars as well that they'll choreograph, they'll work hard, they'll practice hard and dance has has really grown over the last few years and it's an option where we constantly have students talking about the next year and can I go back
062in? I want to continue with dance. Um, Miss Daly is at a lot of events. You'll see her supporting students um where she'll come to, you know, she'll come to a night where students are being celebrated, whether it's a sporting event or an extracurricular activity. She's at all of the plays. She'll she'll come and support at the Harlem Wizards games. Um, you know, she is highly effective in the classroom. And I just really enjoy the idea that she takes health so seriously because that's the person you know we always say do as I say not as I do and and you know and and you know that that that's kind of like the uh the old adage that we're trying to get away from in life. And you know she's someone that models a healthy
063lifestyle for the students and I think that having her in the program has really helped it to continue on and and to grow and so we're we're happy and excited to nominate Miss Jennifer Daly for tenure. Thank you so much for all your recommendations. Thank you, Mrs. B. Would you like to share some of your recommendations? Hi, I'm back. Um, I am here tonight to uh with great pleasure recommend Mrs. Victoria Brink for tenure as a special ed teacher at CES. Uh, Miss Brink is an asset to our school community. Um, she's gone above and beyond for the students and the families of the Chester community. As a dedicated special education teacher, Miss Brink has consistently demonstrated a commitment to student success, collaboration, and professional growth. Um, her passion for education and her ability to
064create an inclusive and engaging learning environment make her a valuable me member of the Chester Elementary School community. She works hard to ensure that the classroom environment is welcoming and that the social and emotional needs of her students are met. She shows love, care, and compassion to her students. She works beyond the classroom uh as evidence of tonight as uh an odyssey of the mind co-coach. Uh she guides students in creative problem solving and teamwork leading the division one team to the state competition for the past three consecutive years. um her ability to inspire and to challenge students to think critically and push their limits is a testament to her dedication as an educator and I think that you all saw some prime evidence of that. Um as well she has fun uh and those
065kids also um showed you how fun it is to be around Mrs. Brink um and her co- coach of course. Um beyond her individual contributions uh she is a collaborative team member. Uh the past few years she has worked in our ICT model which is our integrated co-e model. Um and that is not easy. Uh you basically are in a forced marriage and um it has worked out. They will not get divorced. They are a really excellent team and she is a part of two separate teams. Um, and over the past years that has actually changed. So, she has worked very tightly with three different teachers in a forced situation. Um, and they've done it seamlessly. And that speaks to Mrs. Brink's flexibility and to her commitment to Chester Elementary School students um, and her
066commitment to um, helping them to be successful in their education. Uh being a special ed teacher also does not come um easy. It comes with many additional responsibilities including writing IEPs, attending cse meetings and various additional training throughout each school year. And uh she's a valued participate participant in those meetings and trainings and she implements uh those strategies that she learns in her classrooms and the students benefit from that commitment um that she uh gives to the field of special education. uh she's a positive role model to the C to at CES and as a special ed teacher she is often the outlet for students who don't necessarily ac uh excel ac in academic areas um and she supports them in finding and feeling success at school and that's so important. She believes that all
067students can succeed and encourages them to all do their best. Um and with no reservations I highly recommend Mrs. Brink for tenure at Chester. Thank you. Mrs. Loft, would you like to share some of your tenure? Thank you. It is a pleasure to present two incredible visuals this uh evening for uh tenure. The first is school psychologist Rebecca Davis. [Applause] Tonight I have the pleasure of speaking in support of Miss Davis and recommending her for tenure in the area of school psychology. Over the past four years, Miss Davis has served in our district as our district school psychologist with great dedication and impact. She holds New York State certification and splits her time not only every day between the elementary and academy buildings, but also travels to out of district placements to support Chester students
068wherever they may be. Her presence is not only consistent, it is compassionate, engaged, and highly effective. Miss Davis is deeply committed to the well-being of all students. She builds strong relationships, provides ongoing counseling support, and is always available in times of crisis. She actively seeks professional growth through organizations like the New York Association of School Psychologists and the National Association of School Psychologists and has completed extensive training in areas including suicide prevention, autism, gender informed care, and support for students experiencing homelessness. Beyond her work with individual students, Miss Davis is a valuable member of several schoolwide initiatives. She is active in our DEI and SEAL committees, serves on the MTSS and BERT teams. Special ed is full of alphabet soup, sorry, and plays an essential role at our cse pro in our cse process. Additionally,
069she serves as our McKini Vento liaison advocating for our most vulnerable students. Miss Davis has also contributed to our school community in ways that go beyond her core role. Whether she's operating the basketball shot clock, advising the student council, or mentoring future professionals through internships, her commitment, expertise, and tireless support of our students and families make her an invaluable asset to the district. I am confident that she will continue to be a strong contributor to the Chester UFSD community in the years ahead. I am [Applause] [Music] recommending I am also uh re recommending tonight Mary Kate Bosch. It is my pleasure to speak on behalf of Mary Kate Bosch, elementary principal and to recommend her for tenure in the area of school administration. Over the past several years, Mrs. Bosch has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership,
070strategic vision, and an unwavering commitment to student success and community engagement. One of her most impactful accomplishments has been leading the transition from response to intervention to a multi-tered system of support or MTSS. This shift has brought a more comprehensive datadriven framework to how we address student needs, both academic and behavioral. Under her guidance, the MTSS model is helping us intervene earlier and more effectively supporting students opportunity to succeed. Mrs. Bosch also revitalized our positive behavior intervention support or PBIS program. By reestablishing PBIS, she has helped to build a more positive and inclusive school culture rooted in respect, responsibility, and consistent support for students and staff alike. She has brought a strong sense of coherence and direction to our school improvement efforts aligning key commit committees such as curriculum DEI PBIS MTSS more alphabet soup
071sorry with our district strategic goals her leadership in vetting and implementing next generation aligned curriculum in ELA phonics and math and coming soon science and social studies ensures that our instruction remains rigorous, equitable, and relevant to the standards. Beyond her administrative responsibilities, Mrs. Bosch contributes meaningfully to the school community. She plays in the school community band. She coaches Special Olympics. She oversees Odyssey of the Mind and leads bimonthly meetings with fifth grade student representatives and collaborates with their families to support the important transition to middle school. She also established the elementary parent advisory panel, giving families a meaningful voice in schoolwide topics. Her collaboration with the PTA and organizing buildingwide events has helped bring families, staff, and students together in ways that strengthen the fabric of our school. Mrs. Boch is a leader who balances
072high expectations with empathy and genuine connection. Her efforts have touched every part of our school, academics, behavior, family engagement, and community spirit. She is an asset to Chester Elementary School and to our district. It is with full confidence and great appreciation that I recommend Mary Kate Bosch for [Applause] tenure. Merry, do you have some thoughts to share on this momentous? I absolutely do. And and if I were to speak to each individual that is recommended for tenure this evening. We would be here till 1:00 in the morning. That is how significant each and every person including our current teachers in this room um in reflecting on teacher uh appreciation week. Um it it's really these individuals whether they're a teacher in the classroom or a leader in our buildings that impact positive change for our
073students. And so with that, it's truly an honor to recognize the exceptional contributions of the educators being considered for tenure this evening. It's a significant milestone. Look at all the support that you have here uh with your families and those uh colleagues as well. Uh reflects dedication, growth, a shared commitment to exemplifying what we're about here in Chester, right? to be studentdriven, future focused, student centered, future focused, and team driven. Tonight, I proudly join Mrs. Loftess in recommending Mrs. Mary K. Bosch, an exemplary leader of Chester Elementary School and a valued member also of our administrative team. Mrs. Bosch is a visionary school leader who reflects our commitment to a learning environment where all students are empowered to reach their highest potential. and I believe we saw evidence of that this evening. She excels at
074establishing a culture where teachers and staff collectively take ownership of building goals in support of district priorities. Her data-driven leadership emphasizes emphasis ba evidence-based practices using data to drive success and support continuous improvement. And Mrs. Loftess uh referenced uh the additional components. So important of a leader to be involved in the community and to support those events. Um adding Special Olympics. I will say coming in as a leader uh as we're coming out of COVID is not an easy task and there's so many aspects of Chester Elementary School she brought back to life including Odyssey of the mind PBIS and uh I also played flute but you know she out she out trumps me on uh the flute skills uh I was going to join the community band but uh I'm not ready yet not
075ready yet and uh she does a great job with that uh and it's also important to have a sense of humor so she's been in talent shows and just truly uh sometimes when you walk into the elementary school, you'll see Mrs. Bush on the floor playing with children or supporting a student in need. Um and that exemplifies that team-driven culture that Chester is all about. Um again, you know, the list goes on, but it's it's really not only honoring uh in terms of honoring this recommendation, it not only acknowledges Mrs. Bosch's contributions. It also reflects our collective commitment to maintaining high standards, strengthening our team-driven approach, and ensuring the continued success of our student, staff, and school community. So, in addition to Mrs. Bosch, we are also here to recognize our outstanding teacher candidates that
076were presented here this evening. Each of these educators exemplifies the dedication and commitment we value in our district. And it's not just about the words on a page, right? You have to have that Chester heart, which all of you have. And you have such a unique skill set. Each and every one of you, um, bring that uniqueness, that connection to students that just can't be replicated. So, uh, again, um, we proudly recognize our candidates for tenure. Victoria Brink, Chester Elementary School special education teacher. Danielle Pelicano, Chester Academy science teacher. Laney Vallette, Chester Academy English language arts teacher, Jennifer Daly, Chester Academy health teacher, Rebecca Davis, she's both Chester Elementary School and Chester Academy school psychologist. And when I say uh those titles, they are not just those teachers. they are developing and connecting with our
077students which truly beyond knowledge of a subject area and what your certification is. That's what makes the impact for our students and that's why these individuals including our CDS principal Mary Kay Bosch are considered for tenure this evening and presented excuse me for tenure this evening. So with that said um I bring it to the board of education. Without further ado, can I please have a motion to approve items number 4.1 through 4.6, the tenure recommendations before us this evening? I'll make that motion. Second. All in favor? I motion passed. [Music] Congratulations on the board of education. We are immensely proud of reaching this momentous uh point in your professional career. And with that, can I have a motion to break for a brief recess to celebrate our newly tenure teachers? Second. All in favor?
078Motion passed. Can I have a motion to return from recess? I'll make that motion. Second. All in favor? I. Motion pass. That brings us to roundt discussion. Mr. Har, do you have something to share for round table? Just a few items. Just a reminder, this Friday, May 16th, is a half day for students due to our schedule, teacher and staff professional development. Uh, as I mentioned earlier, last week we celebrated teacher appreciation week, recognizing the dedication and positive influence of our educators in empowering students to reach their highest potential. Their commitment to student growth is evident not only in the classroom, but also through the meaningful learning experiences they help bring to life. several of which were showcased this evening through our Odyssey of the Mind and workplace learning internship program presentations. So, I just
079want to again thank our Odyssey of the Mind coaches, Mrs. Olyri, Mrs. Brink, and Mrs. Cutler, and certainly Miss Berto and her team for supporting these experiences for our students. The creativity, confidence, and learning shared by our students tonight, uh, many in their own words reinforce the importance of investing in excellence in education. Next Tuesday, May 20th, our students will once again take center stage at their as their learning is celebrated during the evening hours of the budget vote through the CES book themed art show and the CUFSD steam expo. A powerful demonstration of innovation and creativity through the exceptional work of our students. So many thanks to our Steam Expo teachers for all the behindthe-scenes work uh that they've been doing to bring this event to life. This includes Chester Elementary School art teacher
080Mrs. Downic and CES steam coordinator Miss Reny. A special thank you to our Chester Academy team, art teachers Marie Kryer and Amanda Lamid along with our technology and engineering teachers Mr. Rodman and Mr. Jordan. So we really look forward to celebrating the talent and innovation of our students with the entire community. For more details, we just encourage our community members to visit our website and check out the news section for more details on the Steam Expo and the CES book themed art show. Thank you so much. Any other just one quick um thing to share? Um, our Special Olympics athletes will be competing this Saturday, May 17th, at Gan High School. The event runs from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. They'll be competing in the sports of soccer and basketball. So, if you find yourself
081with some free moments, come over to Oceanan High School to cheer them on. I don't have many updates on my end because to the council awards wonderful experience. Um the last Orange High School board meeting for this school year is going to be on June 4th at Cosmos which is also their annual meeting and budget meeting as well. Great. Thank you Ariana. Yes, if you don't mind, I'd like to present the senior. That would be wonderful. Thank you so much. All right. So, the senior trip. I was on the senior trip and I was also part of the class officers who planned the senior trip along with Carly Cambria who was mentioned earlier, our validictorian. Forgive me for figuring out the computer. Okay. So, the park itself was a very safe and supervised environment. Um,
082there were chaprons with us at most points and even if there weren't, we had everybody's numbers, so we were able to get in contact with them very easily. Um, the park was very accommodating of larger groups of which we were. Um, there were so many things to do, various food and entertainment opportunities at every point. It was so fun and that was a group picture of us. Um, and the scenery was so beautiful. We have a river and the Tower of Terror, which was very fun. Um, so many things to do there and it was very nice. Um, let's see. And the hotel itself, um, we had early access to the park. Um, because we were staying at the hotel, the hotel rooms were very spacious with many amenities. And depending on how many people
083you had in your room, um, you could have a bigger room or more beds. And it was especially accommodating because I was in a room with, um, five girls. And I mean, we know how challenging that might be, but they were very particular with it where they actually split the the restrooms. So if you needed to use one aspect of the restroom and somebody else needed to use a different one, you could do that at the same time in two separate rooms. And we have sort of we had a few beds and a pullout couch. So it was great. Everything was perfect and it was very um very accommodating for all of us. Um there were many food options within the hotel that we could access at various points. of course, not past Mr. Flanigan's
084curfew for us. Um, let's see. Busing. The Cabana Bay Hotel is very close to the parks, so it was um a very short bus ride. And the buses themselves were airond conditioned and very comfortable. Um, we still had spots left over. It's not like we were um heavily crowded or anything. There were spaces for our bags. It was honestly very, very enjoyable for us. And the staff, all of our staff members were very supportive and informative. Mr. Flanigan thankfully sent me a lot of these pictures and I find them so funny and hilarious. Um, so all of them had a great time and I'm sure any one of them would love to go again. Um, it was a truly remarkable experience for all of us. It's very very interesting. As someone who's been in Chester
085their entire life, I've been with these people for many, many years. And it's so, so interesting to speak to people that maybe I haven't been with for a long time. like maybe I haven't been in their classes even though they were in Miss Fromback's third grade class with me. So, it was just very nice to interact with all these people again that I don't talk to on a regular basis. So, thank you again for making that possible for us. Um, thank you so much and thank you for approving the next classes trip to Disney and Orlando. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming back and giving us the trip. Sweet. Mr. Patel always makes sure that we speak into the microphone. Thank you. Um, so first and foremost, I would like to congratulate all
086of the teachers um that were here tonight for being recommended for and receiving tenure. In particular, Brooke and I have both have both had Mrs. Pelicano, Mrs. Blet, and Mrs. Daly in class at one point or another, and they are all incredible at what they do. Mrs. Davis runs our student council, which Brooke and I are both a part of, and as clearly shown earlier, Mrs. Brink goes above and beyond with her occupation, and Mrs. Bosch does a fantastic job managing the elementary school and being a real part of their endeavors. Um I have been here uh for a few tenure recommendations during my time in the board and I can say that all of the teachers who have been recommended for and received it are more than deserving of that. Secondly, I would like
087to congratulate David Trin and Carly Cambria. They are both very good friends of mine and I've worked very closely with the both of them in various capacities. Carly and I are both first clarinet players in band and we've um planned the prom and the senior trip together um in our class officer positions. David has worked with me many times in key club functions, NHS endeavors, and mock trial competitions every year. They are so very deserving of these titles and I'm so grateful to have gotten to know the both of them throughout elementary and high school. Um, finally, I would also like to thank the sixth grade and elementary school students for their performance tonight. I personally, even as a senior, have acted with those sixth graders in Mean Girls and Elf Jr. this year. It
088is so amazing to see how outstanding these young people can be and their capabilities. So, who even knows how much more we can expect from them in the future if they are six years younger than me and already doing so many wonderful things. Um, so back to our regularly scheduled programming. On April 25th and 26th, we had the drama club production of Mean Girls. And I know that many of you attended. I saw you all in the audience and I was very happy about that. Um, this show was wildly successful and we made over $2.5,000 in ticket sales. Um, we recognized the eight seniors um, on Saturday night, closing night, and we had so much fun being part of it. Um, we can also see all of the photos from that night posted on the
089Chester Instagram page. So, thank you so much for um everyone's endless support with our production. Um, on April 29th, Mrs. Garcia hosted her poetry cafe, which um included poetry, a family open mic session, and a guest performer. The jazz band, who was at the school rehearsing that night for the upcoming concert, was invited to see um a performer who combines music with poetry. Uh we thought this was very interesting and we hope to see more performers like that in the future. On the same day, the Chester Commons snack shack um 4x8 mural was revealed. It was created by several seniors in the advanced art classes and it is finally on display for everyone to see. There was a book club trip on April 30th that I have mentioned before to the Barnes & Nobles in
090the Palisades Mall. Here they taught us how libraries are breaking away from the Dewey decimal system that we all learn about in middle school and classifying books by genre and then by the author's last name within those genres rather than um the number system that we are used to. This creates a more navigable and userfriendly library experience. Um especially for people who excuse me might not necessarily know what they are looking for. So everyone there is very um informative and attentive towards us and we got to buy books. So that was very fun. The band recently had their Mother's Day plant fundraiser. It offered a variety of flowers that were guaranteed to arrive before Mother's Day weekend. This is an individual fundraiser. So, all of the money that the students raise go towards their own
091um expenses of the music in the parks trip, which was approved two weeks ago. In Mrs. Dy's intro to health careers class, we have been going to the elementary school and reading books to the first grade children once a week starting on May 1st. we are fostering a bond with them and eventually we will read our own story books that we create um before we finish them for our final and it is also mental health month so the student body is wearing green every Wednesday to promote and support awareness and I will pass it over to Brooke now so I don't have too much to talk about but on April 30th we had MC teachers night to help fundra for the junior class and it was a successful night I believe we raised a few
092hundred for our class fund, but I'm not too sure on the exact amount yet. The yearbook pages have been finalized on May 8th, featuring many school events, sports teams, and spirit weeks. And a big shout out to the yearbook club for all the work they put into making it look so great. On May 5th, the middle school had their spring concert featuring the chorus and band. There are many talented young musicians within those groups, and we are very excited for them to progress and prepare for being a part of the high school music department. And then our high school concert was on May 6th where the chorus, voice ensemble, band, and jazz band performed. This concert was very special for the large senior group in the music program and went very smoothly. Thank you to
093everyone who attended. On May 9th, an admissions officer from Mount St. Mary came into Miss Rivas's class to talk to the juniors about their college and what they offer. She answered many questions and gave students valuable insight into college life. And then this Thursday is our junior prom. A lot of preparation has gone into this night. We have our king and queen nomination set, the seating charts, and the decorations. About 140 people will be attending. And our mock accident will also be on Thursday following a mandatory prom assembly to go over all the rules and regulations for the night. So, I'm very excited and I think it'll be good. That's all I have. Thank you. Many of us that brings us to our All in favor? I brings us to our second public comment. Can
094we have a motion to close the public meeting to start the legal budget? All in favor? Musa, our assistant superintendent for business. Thank you. Um, I have to say I think this is the fun stuff. Almost as fun as watching the kids, but you know, it's close second. So, watch easy business and we're the expert. Yes. So, tonight is our legal budget hearing and at our last board meeting, um, the board did adopt the budget that will be presented to voters next Tuesday, May 20th. So, this is just a recap of our privings. Um, if you want to see our more detailed presentations, you can go online under board of education and budget. So, starting with our total budget appropriations for next year, we have 38.2 million, which is a 4.71% increase from the current
095year budget. Um, looking at our tax levy to support that budget is a 2.83% increase of 21.3 million. Now, when we're looking at the costs for an average home, there's an increase of 1.92%. That is estimated. This is not an exact number because um assessed values are determined over the summer as well as equalization rates. So, this could change a little bit, but that just gives you an idea of what they're going to increase. And moving on to our expenditure budget. Um we have our three-part budget broken into the admin program and capital. And you could see program which is attributed to teaching the students takes up 78.4% of the budget as it should be. That's you know what we're all here for. So that's what we want to see. The big numbers under program.
096Um our admin is 8.1% and our capital is 13.5%. Uh looking at our revenue, our real property tax items account for 56.2% of the budget. State aid at 37.14. We have other items at 3.4% and our appropriated fund balance at 3.14%. And with that, I will hand it over to Miss O'Hara. Every single budget presentation specifically with our percentage. This budget prioritizes programs and staff trying to engage safety security. One point of note following the for tomorrow our budget newsletter the morning news will be there I do want to make mention that you will notice in the newsletter that there's a QR code so if you do not currently receive our monthly newsletter that shares highlights from the elementary school the academy and districtwide of student learning and district initiatives if you would like to
097receive that as a community member there is a for you to join so that you can have direct access to that as well. So again that goes beyond just getting the annual news highlighting all of the aspects that our budget supports but it also shares with you all of the what the budget has. So accessing presentations as Mr. Simply go on the Chester website under board of education budget information and there you will find you can see to the right on this slide an example link to all of the presentations just the slides but also the live budget live meeting. Once again, our budget vote is on May 20th. In addition to voting for Board of Education vote from 8 to 9, 8 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in our Chester Academy, excuse me, band room
098academy band room. And I do want to just again make mention stated earlier, we have our Steam expo happening that evening. So take a look at our website under news for all the details and we'll also be sharing social media regarding a narrative of not the numbers and really appreciate that. Thank you. Can I have a motion to adjourn the legal budget? All in favor sign off. Just a reminder that Tuesday is the budget vote where we vote for the budget as well as two seats on the board of education. Followed by Wednesday, we have regular board of education meeting. Thank you.