001for the pledge of 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. Yeah. Heat. Please stay standing and join me in a moment of silence as we remember one of our previous students, Simone Edward. She was a graduate of the Ramapo High School class of 2019 who passed away over the holiday in December 27th. Please join me in a moment of silence in her memory and in her honor. Thank you. Good evening everyone and happy new year to everyone. Fire exits are located in the sides of the room in the front and in back. In the event of a fire, you will hear a fire alarm at that time. Please move in a calm and
002orderly fashion to the nearest exit. Now, I'll now make a motion to open the floor for public speaking. Do I have a second? >> Second by Vice President McIll. All those in favor say I. I. Anyone oppos? Motion carries. Speaker number one. >> Where do I leave the tape to the back? >> Okay. Good evening. Um, I want to start by saying I'm appreciative that we have school bus transportation for my son, the morning and the afternoon. The morning route is very quick and efficient. However, the afternoon route is of concern. School ends at 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and my son is not dropped off until around 6:30. I understand that regulations allow for the routes to be long, but an hour or more on the bus ride every day is not reasonable. Friday
003of dismissal is 12:30 and also on Fridays, it takes an hour for him or more to get home. Some buses do not even have enough seats. Because of this, I've been picking up my son from different bus stops or at school, and many parents have done this as well. the bus drive the bus ride is simply too long and parents should not have to run around to get the children home on time or at least a reasonable time. We feel that the district can be more responsible in ensuring that the children run get home earlier and we know the district can do better because they have done better before. I've spoken with the East Ram propo transportation office several times and was told the authorization is needed to add another bus for dismissal. I was
004also told due to our location that our stop is in between two routes and there's only three routes at all for the evening bus route. So, we're in between and each one of the routes are already for an hour and there's no way for them to put us on either one. So, we would really appreciate if there's a way for us to get an additional bus to make it easier for all the children in these overlapping areas to um have transportation that arrive gets you to arrive at home. I respectfully request that you be able to facilitate to get us this extra um busing accommodations. Thank you for your time and understanding. >> Which school? >> Sorry, >> which school is it? >> Deal Hatra. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Speaker number two. >>
005Hello everyone. Happy new year. Um I would like um for for the board to please introduce our new admins and advise we are all community and I would like for the board members and new administration and all the ones that were previous to actually when they come in to greet us is a sign of mutual respect and I promise we don't bite. Also, the last when we had uh bad conditions regarding snow, I wish that day was actually remote for the safety of our kids. I chose to keep my kids home because for example, my street was horrifying. Um, no one could get out safely, so I kept them home as we navigate this uncertain times. Also, I want to remind that education remains our top priority as a community and I hope for you
006too. However, recent events have risen concerns about the well-being of our students, particularly those who belong to immigrant families. Three families recently from our district were detained when they went to their court appointment and they were all deported, leaving behind a trail of trauma and uncertainty. How we are addressing the emotions of our students is one thing at home, but how is a district helping these students at school? Sorry. How are how are you addressing the emotional distress caused by the constant fear of separation and deportation? The anxiety is very probable. For example, I've heard, "Will I see my parents again or will my family be next?" As a child of migrant fam of a migrant family, I remember the fear being being silent of the sadness of my family. The weight of our secrecy
007was crushing. Now that the recent attacks on community of color, it's clear that the issue affects not just only Hispanic families, but also black, Asian, and other marginalized groups as well. Are there resources for teachers to help them address the trauma and fear in their classrooms? How are we ensuring that students feel safe and supported every day, including our staff? We must be acknowledgable that these are not just statistics. These are our children, our students, our community. We need concrete actions. What are the protocols that are in place to protect our students and families, especially in event days? How are we providing emotional support and resources to those affected? I demand and I hope so other parents demand transparency and action from our district. Loud and proud, not silent. As we get near also to
008spring, I request for more security during practices and games. And also, we have to think ahead for graduation and moving up ceremonies. It is unfair and insane that families have to have the fear that their families will be deported if they assist to one of these events. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker number three. And we went FRC. PTAch. Director. as a personal Examinch. Dominguez. Gracias. Thank you. That concludes public speaking. just to mention about the police. You just mentioned it. I don't think anybody on the board or anybody in the administration has requested the police being here. We're always happy for the people protecting us to always check in at any point. Happy to see cops in front of my house. Um we have no control over where the police does come or doesn't come.
009Um I'm sorry that that you know we can look into um but we will discuss I guess. >> Yeah. Yeah. So um I I'd like to just respond as well. >> Definitely we're not here to we're definitely not here to make people uncomfortable. You know we want everyone to be inclusive and everyone to be comfortable to come to our meetings. And you know what's happening is we're not okay with you know this having a you know community meeting is sometimes police walk by and they come in and they stop by to you know just check in. Um but anyway um we will now move on to our superintendent report take it away. Yeah, but I I also just want to say uh folks, we did have Pycto Fararo come and uh meet with all of
010our administrators and provide an hour presentation on what ICE can do and cannot do. And uh we can follow up with a little bit more of that training. So, I want you to know that we, you know, we're working on this. They cannot just come into our schools. There's rules about that. Okay? Um we can't prevent them from doing some of the things that they are entitled to do. You have to know that. Okay. But whatever we can do, we will. And um the other thing is um yes, I'm happy to speak more about the PTA. That's been a major initiative for us this year. And um I'm happy to speak with you because I think that uh together we can probably make some changes, but I need to talk to you a little bit
011more and get a little more detail about some of the concerns you've raised and we can we can provide a little bit of a presentation next time about the supports the mental health supports that we have in our buildings for for the students. So thank you for for sharing. Uh um I do want to start my presentation with um really a celebration. I want to talk to you about a wonderful feast that we have every year for the last 14 years. Uh and I went this year for the first time and it was a fabulous event. Uh there are some folks here in the audience today that we want to recognize formally for all of their volunteerism, their contribution, their service to the community, their generosity. Um and uh so we have a couple of
012plaques that we would like to present. We're going to start with the family resource coordinators. And if all family resource coordinators as well as Jackie Yara, our homeless liaison, if you're here, will you please come to the uh podium? You'll be joined there by uh Dr. Shanahan. This this uh we're going to be presenting a a plaque. This plaque is presented to the family resource coordinators and profound appreciation for your leadership, organization, and extraordinary commitment to East Ramapo families. The 2025 holiday feast was a remarkable achievement, one that reflected months of planning, coordination, and tireless effort. This work was coordinated by Kristen Ford Stevens, the coordinator of family resources, Jackie Yara, homeless liaison, together with an exceptional family resource center team, including Julie Andis, Francis Pizarro, Peggy Saul, Hemma Cam, Camraj, Valerie Munoz, Ayelis, Rivera,
013Cesia, Roman, Carmen Hernandez, and Daisy Yisca. Yuizaka. Thank you. The work included a holiday feast wrapping party held on Friday, December 12th, 2025 at Spring Valley High School, where 133 volunteers sorted and prepared gifts and groceries for distribution. The following day, September December 13, 2025, the annual holiday feast welcomed over 3,000 attendees, supported by 76 volunteers, and hosted seven community-based organizations included MVP, Fidelis Care, Finkelstein Memorial Library, Rockland County Social Services, Health First, Affinity by Molina, and United Healthcare. Because of this team's leadership and coordination, gifts and toys were provided to all ER students that attended. Hot meals and desserts were served to every attendee. 402 grocery bags were distributed to families. The community enjoyed entertainment by our marching band. Uh and a DJ was generally sponsored by Continental Taxi. This event was made possible
014through extensive collaboration with community partners and donors including Toys for Tots, Fidelis Care, Costco, Affinity by Molina, Jiari Order of America, First uh Baptist Church, Finkelstein Memorial Library, Ramapo High School, National Honor Society, Don Bosow Preparatory School, Albertus Magnus, Hamstead Presbyterian Church, ERCSD staff members, Elorado PTA, MVP, Wegman's Health First, the Spring Valley PBA and SRO, Lakeshore Learning Materials, Continental Taxi, and many generous community members, volunteers, including the Spring Valley High School Key Club, ERCSD staff, Ramapo High School students, Spring Valley High School students, and community volunteers who gave their time, energy, and care. This effort represents what is possible when dedication, coordination, and compassion come together. Through your leadership, thousands of families were not only fed and supported, but reminded that they are valued members of our community. On behalf of the East Ramapo
015Central School District, the board of education, and the families you serve, thank you for your extraordinary work and unwavering commitment. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> In addition, we would like to honor the Islamic Center of Rockland and Culture Society of Rockland. And we invite Shahab Udin and Aif Amjad to the podium please. These plaques are presented in deep appreciation to the Islamic Center of Rockland and the Culture Society of Rockland for an extraordinary partnership that reflects the very best of generosity, service, and community leadership. For 14 years, you have partnered with the East Ramapo community to provide a holiday feast that is far more than a meal. On September December on Saturday, December 13th, your organizations once again came together to prepare and serve a
016remarkable homemade feast for our families. Soups, chicken, rice, beans, vegetables, pastas, and more offered with dignity, warmth, and care. What makes this effort truly exceptional is not only its scale, but the spirit in which it is carried out. Members of your organizations and your families worked side by side for hours. Many men in the kitchen heating and preparing food while women and children graciously served families as they arrived. Even after the meal concluded, generous leftovers were thoughtfully distributed so families could continue to benefit beyond the event itself. This year, more than 3,000 community members were welcomed, fed, and supported. This was a remarkable and deeply generous effort, one that required countless volunteer hours, careful planning, and an unwavering commitment to serving others. For 14 years, you have demonstrated what it truly means to care for
017a community, not just through words, but through sustained action. On behalf of the East Ramapo Central School District and the Board of Education and the families you have served year after year, please accept our sincere gratitude and appreciation. Thank you for your partnership, your generosity. Thank you. Can you say something? >> Can you say something? >> Yes, please. >> Thank you. >> Uh, hi everyone. Um, that's my uh first time coming here. Actually, I've been a Brockning County family residents for over 35 years. Um, um, I want to thank uh the board for presenting this generous honor. Uh, thank you, superintendent. Thank you, board. And especially the family resource center. >> Yes. For past 14 years, I've been working with these ladies. Every year >> uh from starting to the end, we start this event
018basically they start for months uh from I would say August, September, October, we start November. Every single thing whatever we serve is donated by ICR members. >> Yes. the community same way they collect toys, gifts, we collect food. >> I know you do. >> So we collect donations. So I ICR Islamic Center of Rockland members, they provide donations and we make food and we deliver and I want to thank personally to Christian and Jackie and Joanne is retired. I I mean literally I'm telling you we for for many many years >> uh we we I came here for the first time but many many years it's amazing and uh hopefully we're going to continue to serve the community and I want to thank you all from bottom of my heart. Thank you. Thank you guys.
019>> Thank you. >> By the way, I was there. I watched the kitchen. I ate the food. It was delicious. Thank you so much. And here is a picture of of the folks as I mentioned working in the kitchen and serving. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Uh moving on. I I needed to bring to the um board's attention and to the community attention some of the struggles that we are faced with um in regards to the high school schedule and the middle school schedule. This slide is in reference to the high school schedule. So, uh we're having a a major challenge. We've been having it for quite some time in which uh our students have I want to be clear about this because it's it's a little it's very important. They have a
02024 minute lunch period at the high schools. Now, here we have anywhere from 1,200 to,500 students in each of the high schools. In 24 minutes, we're expected to feed that many students in a cafeteria that is designed to serve maybe 300 students. They try to do it with kiosks um where they have two kiosks that can serve some food as well. One at the sec on the second floor, one on the first floor, but a lot of times the elevator is broken, so the second floor kiosk doesn't work. The other issue is that the lines are so long and it is so difficult for students to wait on that line with just 24 minutes. Many of them go without lunch. That is very troubling to us. We have tried very hard to uh come up
021with a revised high school schedule. We have a major uh barrier and complication and that is that the um the teachers contract uh has an instructional day for the teachers that is only 6 hours and 14 minutes long. Uh that is probably the shortest teachers instructional day in the state of New York. I would venture to say uh because of that coupled with New York State's requirement that we offer 990 hours of student learning each year um we only can can have a very short student lunch. So I want to put the community on notice and the board. We are working to uh create a revised high school schedule that it's a draft right now, but we hope to have it completed by the end of this week or early next week, which may extend
022the lunch to 32 minutes. Still insufficient, but it's the best that we could possibly do and we're not even sure that we're able to make that revision. We're working very hard and we expect to have an answer by the beginning of next week. I wanted folks to be aware of that because I'm sure you'll be hearing about it as the students begin to create their schedules for next year. Um, you know, the the the schedule has to be uh completed. Similarly, at the middle school, we have another uh problem that we found out about it last year. Uh the problem is that again, NICED requires 990 learning hours per year. Um, and last year we learned that we were not uh offering 990 hours at the middle school. Instead, we were approximately 60 hours short.
023Um, the consequence, it says the district was fined $400,000, but Eric corrected me at the beginning of this meeting. It's over $600,000. So, the district was fined over $600,000 because we uh are not providing 990 hours of of of um of instructional time. So, what did we do for this year? We um implemented a 20inut virtual instruction period at the beginning of the day. The teachers contract again um restricts their instructional day to six hours and 15 minutes. If we were to this 20 minutes is problematic for us because it's virtual instruction. In other words, the students are working on a computer program that is adaptive. If the student answers a correct question, it goes one way. If a student answers it incorrectly, it goes another. The teachers simply supervise. They do not provide instruction
024during that 20 minutes. So, it's not as effective as we would like it to be. Therefore, we are trying to look at the middle school schedule. Again, the problem is if we were to revise that schedule, it would result in they too having lunch for 32 minutes a day at the middle school, likely resulting in many of them not having enough time to eat lunch. It's a problem, and it's a problem that is not resolved just because administrators decide that we're going to change. It requires negotiations. And I wanted you to be aware of that because it's not an easy answer. Uh now I want to also uh shift and uh inform the community that there is a wonderful celebration Martin Luther King Day 16th uh annual unity celebration Ramapo High School January 19th 2026
025at 400 PM. I will be there and I actually get to say a few words of welcome. They have uh keynote speakers ready. They have folks who will be uh dancing, music will be played. Um and it's just a wonderful opportunity for the community to come together and to remember a great leader. So I hope that you can attend. It is a free event and it is in our schools. I'm going to ask uh Eric to provide a food service update. >> Thank you. Um uh for those of you that uh join us at at these meetings, you probably heard um uh some concerns and complaints about the food services in the district over the course of time. Many from uh the students and students that have come up and and had um an opportunity
026at the mic have have expressed some concerns. Um, some of these concerns uh involve the quality of the food, the quantity of the food in the meals, the variety of the menu items, um, long lines and lack of time needed to purchase and eat lunch at our high schools, not enough food prepared to offer daily choice at our high schools. um the single 24-minute lunch period that was referred to uh a few minutes ago in our high schools that is due to the 6 and 1/4 hour contractual day in the teachers contract. Um and that 24 minutes to serve 1600 students in Ramapo High School um and 1,250 students at Spring Valley High School is just an inadequate amount of time to serve that number of students. So, um, we have, uh, we are taking
027steps to address some of these things. They're not necessarily easy to to do overnight, but we did issue recently an RFP, which means which stands for request for proposal for the services of uh, food services and school nutrition consultant to help us address uh, many of these issues. um that RFP uh has responses coming back toward the end of January and we will hope to appoint a consultant at um one of our two February meetings to start that work. Some possible um solutions to some of the problems and that they're very different um is to potentially negotiate a longer workday so that our high school schedule can accommodate several full student lunch periods per day in future years. Um, a partial solution currently would be uh that possibly we could add uh refrigerated vending machines
028which offer state and federal compliant meals um which we have learned that some of our other neighboring school districts are currently doing. So um these are just some of the things that um we want you to realize that we hear the things that you're telling us. Uh we hear the things that our students are telling us. We take it very seriously and we're we're we're working to to try and make um some of those issues better as quickly as possible and others uh might be a little bit more of a long-term solution, but we're working on it. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Transportation update. >> Um transportation. Um again um we we want everybody to realize that there is a there's a newsletter. Uh we do also on uh there's a newsletter covering
029many topics. Um but there's always a transportation update in that which you can find on our website. Um and here again you have the um the phone numbers for our transportation department. We do have um bilingual assistance there to help out. In terms of our non-public schools, um the district is moving forward with an affidavit system to collect non-public transportation applications for the 2627 school year. Uh participation in the affidavit system is optional for non-public schools. The affidavit process allows each participating non-public school to apply for transportation on behalf of its parents and students. Those parents must sign an affidavit there. therefore that's the name um in order to allow the school to do it on their uh part. Non-public schools have met with um our transportation department uh several times in the last um
030few months to discuss this system and understand it. Um and we are expecting answers as to whether or not each school will be participating by the end of this week. And then we will be posting the uh participating schools on the website along with the affidavit form as well as the original um registration form which will be available for use by any of the parents and schools that are not using that system. So that's an update there. In addition, we have been working um with a uh district with with a transportation consultant um to help us uh to make the beginning of the school year for the public school transportation run uh a lot more smoothly than it did this year. We are aware that um there were a lot of problems that we um
031could have avoided with better planning. We're using um some experts to help us uh avoid some of those pitfalls that we experienced last year. Um and we're very um we're very um happy with the work that's being done and expect that um people will be much happier with the the way that the school year starts in 2627. >> Thank you, Eric. I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. Um, so thank you for the update and I I I really hope that this affidavit system is going to eliminate a lot of the paperwork clogs that we've been having until now with missing students etc. Um, my question is a little more to do with I I I've been I was under the understanding that we have an app that works and we can
032see where parents can see where their buses are. I know a lot of the that that's what I'm getting to. Um, it seems like the the tracking is completely non-operational. Um, I know that there are multiple different systems of tracking systems that people bus companies use. Um, I know there's phone systems that people can call up and just find out just like that where their bus is. So my question is why why is it so why don't we have a proper tracking system that's parents can just check the app and see where the bus is I thought this was part of the app like what I've been just the last week and a half like just brought to this to my attention by concerned parents like it's they cannot track where their buses parents have
033jobs they need to get to places um and there's absolutely they have no way of knowing when the buses the bus drivers right through the very strict to make sure that the parents are at the stops, but you know, people have busy schedules and just not knowing when the bus is going to be here and just just kind of the luck of the draw. It's concerning. So, can you give us a little what's where we at? Why don't we have tracking? What can we do to get tracking? It should work because it seems like that the the mechanism is in the app. >> Um, it just says like it's been turned off by the district. So, I'm just wondering, you know, what can be done, where we at, and etc. Thank you. So the the
034answer to your question is is that that the the that function on the app was not turned off. That function in the app was never turned on. So >> So it never worked. >> What >> did did it never work? It was never >> it's not worked in East Ramapo at at any point in time since we have gotten our new software. So the reasoning for that >> that means this year we only got the new software this year. So last year it did work. I'm not aware of that. >> I am not aware of that. I do not believe that we have ever had tracking. So we we had our old system was if you recall conversations that we've had, we missed a whole version of the transportation software in this district. So we
035had a a version that was two full versions old. And I don't believe that that was even a concept at the time that that that software was being marketed. Um in the new software it requires a specific GPS system to be used in order to speak with the system that we have gotten. Okay. When this was discussed with the vendor and with all of our when I say the vendor the the the the vendor of the transportation software. We had conversations with many of our transportation vendors and we have uh we have some differences there as well. So we have fleet vendors that run our um per route um routes. Um and then we have a lot of YPC vendors that all we don't do any routing for. They don't use our software. So, um
036we would we wouldn't be able to use um we wouldn't be able to provide any of any of the GPS for um any vendor that doesn't rely on us for the routing because they're not using our software. So, >> but we're talking about per route. Uh I'm talking about >> student bus chest transportation and they >> and just I haven't gotten there yet. So, the vendors that do the routed um portion of our of our transportation, many of them said that um we weren't giving them enough time in order to accomplish that for September 1st of this year. So, what was put in the bids that went out last year and what was put in the contracts was that they would be required to have the GPS that would work with our system for September
0371 of 2026. Right. So the the plan and expectation was always to have the app do the tracking um starting September one of the current coming year. >> Right. But what about I know there is a system that works not through an app directly through calling up and I think Justy Gruber has brought it up in the past. Um it it your number is registered with and right away as you call it up it tells you okay the bus is a few stops away. Is there a possibility of perhaps because perhaps getting a backup system or something that because you're saying that okay some of the YPC are not going to have it. The ones with the route are going to have it starting September 26th. Is there perhaps a system that can be used
038that everybody can use like a >> communicates not every system communicates district >> right >> so they're willing to integrate >> they're willing to integrate it not every GPS >> who's they who they >> the YPCs let's say the their vendor is willing integrated with the Tyler system. The downside of having a realtime um GPS system, a tracking system is that the vendors are afraid that parents will be following uh buses uh at the routes either running with their children if they're late or >> that's that's that's not a valid um argument. way the way that they have it right now is the phone system that I have right now is that it tells you where where the last stop was. So it's not a real time. >> Okay. But that's as close to real
039time as I mean >> look I think the parents have a right to track where the child is, where the bus is, um and when they bust that is going to be at the stop. And I I I don't think it's it's you know if the vendors don't this is part of the bid and this is what has to be in the contract. Um, I understand that we're in middle of the year. Hopefully by next year, as you said, by September 1st, I mean, it's fair to assume that you're saying that all the the the fleet routes are going to at least have the tracking. >> They they are all they they are all supposed to. And it was >> Can we look into a system that perhaps covers all students >> in terms of
040that? That's something that I would have to look into. I'm not I I don't want to make a promise for something that I can't that I can't, but I can certainly look into something to see if there is uh uh something else to a third party that that everybody could use, but I'm not sure of that. >> Okay. So, perhaps he'll follow up and let me know. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, I'm going to pass it on to Dr. Gonzalez who's going to discuss uh Regent Week information. >> Good evening, families. Next week, beginning on Tuesday, January 20th, the high school students in grades 10 through 12 that have already made one attempt to pass a regent and have been unsuccessful will be sitting for regent exams. The schedule posted on the
041screen indicates the start times for both of the regent exams. There are two sessions. The morning session begins at 8:00 a.m. And so, we would like for students to arrive to school. Breakfast will be available uh beginning at 7:15 a.m. So, we do ask that students arrive prior to 8 a.m. And for the afternoon exam, which begins at 12 noon, we ask that students arrive to school around 11:15. All of the appropriate uh transportation runs have already been prepared. So like years past for the January administration of the regents, there will be activity routes running throughout the district at multiple times to pick up those students that are uh to be tested. Uh breakfast will be available as will lunch throughout the entire day. We have a number of students that do need to sit
042for more than one regent exam uh on any given day. And so we will have both hot meals and cold meals available to any student that requires lunch. And for the students that are late test takers and may have two exams and are leaving the buildings pretty late. Uh what is absolutely important to note is that electronics of any kind should not be brought into school on these days. Um, we are now much more accustomed to an electronic free environment in our high school in our all of our schools, but most especially at the high school that includes smartwatches. Any Wi-Fi or internet enabled device can render the assessment invalidated by New York State Education Department. Um, so we just want to make sure that students completely leave their electronics at home for the duration
043of the week so that they can participate successfully in these regions exams. Uh Dr. Dallas, can you talk a little bit about the um activity bus schedule? Where was that? Where can the parents see it? It has to be clear for everyone. >> Yep. So, beginning this evening, uh Remind messages and Blackboard messages will be going out to families with all of the times. Schools have the activity route schedules. The one-stop shop for any information related to regent exam is your school counselor. So if students or families have any questions related to what regent exam, what days they should be there, what the schedule is, the activity routes, all of that information is being routed through your school counselors. >> And for those parents and families that have never used an activity run, it is
044different than the normal transportation runs. It is the evening routes that are generally run or the summer runs that usually uh pick the students up throughout the district and they're running throughout the entire day because we have different start times for the regent exams so they will be running throughout the entire day. >> Okay. We'll post them on the website for clarity so folks know where the stops are. >> Yep. >> Okay. And uh it's perfectly clear that in for the morning exams uh anybody who arrives at 10 o'clock or later will not be allowed in that exam. >> That's correct. >> And for the afternoon exam >> 2 p.m. >> That's it. So they come at 2:01. The state does not allow us to let them in. So that's correct. >> Okay. >> All
045right. Thank you. Now, I just want to um remind everyone about emergency school closing information. Please know that decisions are made by 5:30 uhish in the morning. Notifications will be sent out by 5:45. I know that this came up, so I'll just briefly explain how it works. Um in um when we're considering closing, the way that we do it is that the superintendent in Rockland County and the uh district superintendent for Rockland Boseies uh speak to each other via text and we compare if we're opening or closing and we're listening to our weather reports. We have people on our teams that are advising us as well. and our our last time that we did not close uh the three districts that were open that day, nobody closed and nobody had a delay. Just to just
046to let you know, give you a little bit of background information. But um in in addition, some people had asked me why we didn't post on the website that that we were open. So the uh what what the default is we will be open unless it is posted on the website that we are closed or delayed. So I if it's not posted right on that district website, we're open. Um uh in addition, please make sure that your children are prepared uh for delays and cancellations and early dismissals, which we try to avoid at all costs, but potentially could happen. I also want to make sure that you know any time that we do close it will be a remote learning day. So there will not be this year any such thing like a snow day
047and students are not expected to uh participate in academic work. They're they're supposed to u sign in and uh work remotely. The teachers will be available as well. And now we'd like to um invite our student board members to to speak Jennifer. Okay, I have something prepared. Good evening. I am here today as a representative of the student body at Spring Valley High School. Today, I want to highlight areas where us students feel as though we're falling behind our peers. First and foremost, I'd like to touch on the visual gap. When you walk into Ramapo High School, you walk in and you see student murals. You see decorated lockers. They're blue and green. However, when you walk into Spring Valley, we don't have as many murals. The walls are white and blue. The lockers are
048gray. And students have said that it feels depressing. And we went to the Christmas party at Ramapo and we all walked in and we saw the murals and it felt really interesting I'd say because their environment feels like the students are being invested in more their spirit whereas ours is much less. Our walls are plain white. And the gap isn't just visual, it's informational as well. Our seniors right now, they're feeling so much color college pressure, but they continue to navigate it without a clear map. Um, for instance, many students, including myself, only about a week ago, we found out about the CSS profile or the stars application, things that are important for college. And we didn't find out about it at school. We found out about it through confirmation emails sent by colleges that
049we already applied to. It just feels we feel neglected because in the past also we had the SATs that we had in school. Even though like regardless of your transportation situation, you got to take it in school on a day. It wasn't on a Saturday. It was in a time where we all had the time. It was free. But now we didn't even get that day this year, but they got it last year. So, it just feels at the end of the day, the school, a school is a message. It's not just four walls. Um, and the teachers and the faculty, they're trying, they're make, they're doing the best that they can with what they have, but they shouldn't have to compensate for a lack of basic necessities. Um, but we see the support that
050other schools get, especially Ramipo, we see them get support and it feels maybe through the hallways, through the way that the school looks, it feels we're a second priority sometimes as students and it makes us not so motivated to come to school, I guess. And also there's kind of a stigma around Spring Valley High School in comparison to Ramipo and it's very it's visible through the hallways and the investment in that way. So we have the spirit, we have the ambition, the teachers, they have the heart, but we just need the foundation to succeed, I think. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Uh we we're going to be uh presenting information uh regarding our long-term strategic academic and financial improvement plan. As many of of you know, uh the district uh is supported by uh state
051monitors Dr. Jallow and Mr. far who provide uh support and oversight um to us. Uh part of that is um helping us uh with what we call our long-term plan for short. And uh really that is a roadmap of um of how we as a district can focus on a number of different initiatives to uh ultimately result in improved student outcomes. So I'm going to be presenting an overview of a quarterly report that we submitted to the state. we are required to submit quarterly reports and this one was submitted in November. Uh and so we want to provide you with an overview of of that report as and we're going to give you an opportunity to actually see the actual um quarterly report as well briefly. Um so let's see could we go back to
052the um the purpose? Yeah, thank you. So, the purpose of the update, this presentation provides an overview of the district's first quarterly progress report. As I've just said, uh the report was submitted to NY State in November 2025 and represents the first formal checkpoint in a multi-year improvement effort. The intent of this update is to provide transparency to the board, establish a shared understanding of where the district is at large, and set expectations for how progress will be monitored and reported moving forward. This is a foundational report, not a final outcome report. The long-term strategic academic and fiscal plan serves as the district's comprehensive roadmap for improvement. It is intentionally structured as a multi-year plan that addresses academics, leadership, operations, culture, and finance in an integrated way. The plan includes 87 action items, each with
053assigned responsibility, timelines, and evidence requirements. Quarterly reporting allows the district and the board to track implementation over time and make adjustments as needed. The plan is organized into six domains, each representing a core element for district-wide improvement. These domains are not independent silos. Rather, they work together to strengthen the overall system. Progress in governance supports instructional improvement. Leadership systems support culture change and strong fiscal practices enable all other work. The domains provide structure and clarity to a very complex improvement effort. It is important to clarify the scope of the quarter 1 report. This report includes only those action items that were due or initiated during the first reporting period. It does not represent PRA progress on all 87 action items in the plan. Many action items are intentionally designed to span multiple quarters or the
054full school year. Therefore, action items marked as in progress reflect the design of the plan rather than delays or lack of effort. I'd like to um I'd like to just uh inform you that you have access to this plan on the uh district website as of tomorrow to this quarterly report I should say. You already have access to the plan that's already on the website and so um Mr. Gandhi is uh showing us where on the website you you go to the website you go to our district and um about East Ramapo and then on the right hand side there um you can see uh documents for the strategic plan. So tomorrow our quarterly report that was actually submitted to the state will be there for your review. And now I just want to before
055I continue with my PowerPoint I just want to show you the report and briefly uh let you see what it looks like. So uh as I mentioned there are six domains. What you're seeing here is the beginning of the first one governance. Um and I'll talk a little bit about what each of the domains means in particular. But I want you to see on the left hand side you'll see something like G1R G8R. Those are the action items associated um with the plan um and an action item that was required to be reported on for quarter 1. You'll see in the second column it says partially uh implemented. Um and then you will see perhaps um in the in the next column to the right you might see that there are links and documents associated.
056Those links and documents are evidence that we submit to the state to indicate our progress on any particular action item. And the last column is a short narrative that we might provide for um the state for that particular action item. So if we scroll down just slowly, you'll see that we're still in the governance domain. This is actually the domain that's most closely related to board action itself. These are action items that the board um itself is are supposed to participate in. Um so you see all of these rep are showing you the action items that we had to report on in quarter 1. Now we're moving to the next domain, the turnaround leadership domain. And there again, you'll see to the left an action item. It'll have letters and numbers associated with it and
057the description. You'll see that we had to indicate whether or not we have fully implemented it, not started um or partially implemented etc. We again provide evidence in the third column um and those would be via links and in the final column we provide narrative support for those links. That's the structure of our quarterly report. It is submitted um uh to uh Dr. Jallow and Mr. Farre for their review and then it is submitted to uh a team at at the state that is part of the commissioner's team. So they all review the report and provide some feedback to us. Going back to my um the PowerPoint, I'm now going to go into each domain just briefly. Um and we'll start with the governance domain. Uh so again, this is the board focused action. The
058governance domain is unique because many of the action items require direct board action or oversight. The district clerk, Kathy Keevey, plays a critical role by keeping the board informed of specific deadlines tied to um governance action items. An example of a key highlight in this domain is the addition of ongoing student performance outcomes to board meeting agendas. This represents a significant shift towards strengthening the board's role in academic oversight and aligning governance practices with student outcomes. Uh in the next domain, turnaround leadership. uh turnaround leadership. Within the turnaround leadership domain, a major accomplishment has been the development of the multilingual education manual and the pupil personnel services manual. These manuals establish clear protocols aligned with services for ELLL learners and students with disabilities. While the manuals have been developed, the most important work ahead is
059sharing them to ensure that these protocols are understood, implemented consistently, and embedded into daily practice across all schools and departments. Institutionalization of this work will be a continued focus. Our next domain is instructional transformation. The focus of this domain is to improve teaching and learning through coherent instructional systems and early academic interventions. The kindergarten jumpstart program is a key instructional initiative designed to strengthen early learning outcomes and is one example of of one of the areas that we needed to f one of the action items we needed to complete in this domain. The program focuses on building executive functioning skills for incoming kindergarten students which research shows are critical for long-term academic success. The goal is to ensure students enter kindergarten better prepared, perform more successfully throughout the year, and transition more smoothly into first
060grade. This initiative provides a proactive approach to closing gaps before they widen. So, I'm I'm reviewing each of the domains with you, and in each case, I am providing an example of one of the action items that we uh completed for that specific domain. The next domain is culture shift. The culture shift domain focus on strengthening trust, communication, and partnership with families. A major area of work has been ensuring that every school has an active parent teacher association. Schools are currently at different stages of development. Some PTAs are established but still growing while others are nearly fully uh authorized. The district has supported this work by creating PTA websites for each school and holding the first district-wide PTA meeting and increased focus and support by building level teams. The emphasis moving forward will be on
061sustainability and meaningful engagement. We heard today from one of our parents that we need to uh work more deeply with the existing PTAs and that we need to be careful about the um folks that we assign at the building level to support that. and we heard you and we will respond. The next domain is budget development. The focus of this domain is to improve fiscal oversight and operational effectiveness to better support students and schools. A significant highlight within the budget development domain is the collaboration between district leadership and Aman consulting to address longstanding challenges within the transportation department. As we heard this evening from Mr. Stark. The work is focused on making structural and systemic improvements rather than short-term fixes. The goal is to improve operational efficiency, reliability, communication, and service delivery for students and
062families. This represents a critical step towards stronger fiscal and operational management. Looking ahead, beginning uh beginning with the second quarterly report, which is due on February 1st, the district will report progress across all 87 action items in the long-term plan. This is a change from how we reported in quarter 1. As mentioned in quarter 1, we only reported those that we had to have already begun within quarter 1. There's the uh the state has requested that we change the way that we report and that moving forward throughout the year the remaining three quarterly reports includes our progress on all 87 action items. So the report will be considerably longer uh and more comprehensive. This expanded scope will allow the board to see cumulative progress across all six domains, identify trends over time, and better understand
063where additional attention or support may be needed. Overall, the quarter 1 report demonstrates that the district has appropriately focused on building systems, structures, and accountability mechanisms. These foundational elements are are essential for sustained improvement. The district is moving forward, I'm sorry, the district is moving away from reactive compliance driven practices toward a more intentional and planned approach to execution and monitoring. Future reports will increasingly reflect implementation depth and impact as this work continues. In addition to attending the goals and action items included in the governance domain, the board's role is to focus on oversight rather than day-to-day management. Quarterly reports are intended to support informed decision-making by highlighting trends, progress, and areas of risk. Continued board engagement, alignment, and support will be critical to sustaining momentum and ensuring the success of long of the long-term
064plan. I do want to take a moment to thank Dr. Jallow and Mr. Farre. They are partners with district administration. They work with us daily. They work with us very carefully, very deeply. uh they've provided outstanding leadership and guidance and we're really appreciative for everything that they've done and to help and support this district. >> Thank you, superintendent. Um okay. Um we I believe we had already this two. Okay. So we are up to consent and agenda items. Moving on to consent and agenda items 1 through eight. Do I have a motion for consent on agenda items 1 through eight? I'm sorry. Before we make the motion, is there any items that we'd like to remove and move to action items we'd like to discuss? >> Uh, yes. Number five, attachment number 13. There is
065>> Okay, how about we just move the whole item number five into action items. >> Wait, are we on a second? >> So, maybe I'm ahead of the game. We're right now we're in consent and agenda items >> then. No, I take that back. We will wait for that time. Sorry. >> No problem. Eie, you wanted to make a motion. >> All good. >> Motion. >> I'm sorry. Effie, >> you you move the motion? >> Yes. >> Her, do you want a second? >> Second the motion. Um, and no. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Anyone oppose them or abstain? Motion carries. It's been a while. Sorry, guys. Uh moving motion carries. Um moving on to action items. Action items 1 through 12. Do I have a motion for action items 1
066through 12? >> Moved by Mr. Weiss Mandle. I will second the motion. We'll open up for discussion. >> Yeah. Discussion. >> Discussion >> if you have one. >> I do on on uh award RFP number F in action item five. There's an RFP. I'm not sure if we're supposed to be seeing an award amount in there. I don't see an award amount. Is that supposed to be there? I'm just That's the question I'm asking. So, uh no, at this point you are not. So, this is uh the choosing of the company that has won uh the RFP process. Um we are appointing them um as the vendor. We are currently um I currently have provided a draft contract to um council um which is being reviewed by council. That agreement will have all of the
067information that I believe you're referring to the the fees and for the different things that are that are done through through that um service. And when um we have that for you, you would be approving the contract that will have all of that information. So it's a it's a two-step process. We we award um as we would award a bid an RFP is similar. Um and then second piece would be the contract. Sometimes we do the contract at the same meeting. In this particular instance uh we didn't get that. Um >> yeah we and the contract is fine. We've reviewed it. It's good. It's just that we reviewed it and before this too late to get it on the agenda. So we'll just get it on the next one. >> So it be on the
068next. Thank you very much. >> Can you can you explain what what this what this is for this? Financial advisor services please. >> So yes. So the financial adviser for a school district is um the company that helps the school district with financing of projects, bonds, energy performance contracts. Also works with the district to uh work through Moody's or S&P whichever the district uses to um advise on the um the ratings the bond rating for the district. >> So have we had one every year? Is this a new thing we're adding? We have had a different company in the past. That company is actually a company that was involved in a um scandal in Rochester. So, we we did uh an RFB to to find a new company. >> And this company that we're appointing
069works for school districts all over the state. They're very well regarded. They've been around for years. >> I'm sure I'm just making sure I want I want them to understand this a new position or is this a continuation of something? >> It's a continuation. And um the interviews were done by myself and our fiscal uh monitor Sean Far. >> The reason I'm asking, Eric, is because I know how good you are with finances. I want to understand why you need a financial advisor. >> Every every school every school district in the state, >> that was my point. >> Every school district in the state has a fiscal adviser. >> Got it. >> Eric, what's our rating now? >> I didn't hear the question. >> What's our rating right now? Our Moody rating. Our Moody's rating
070is uh what it was uh in in the prior year. They have not um done an annual update yet as they were waiting for our financial statement. So that uh is in the process and we will we will be um hopefully after the contract is done using the new company to consult with us to help uh potentially have that rating increased. We believe that when the rating uh for our school district was dropped that it was dropped in a uh in a fashion that >> uh was a little bit too much for um >> the actual financial condition of the district. So we'll be working that approved whether now >> that being said it's important to understand that with rating agencies >> movement down happens a lot quicker than movement back up. So we we
071have our work cut out for us. >> Got it. Thank you for that information. Okay. So we have a motion and a second and no further discussion. All those in favor say I. >> I. Anyone oppose? Abstain. Motion carries. Moving on to information and reports from the board. Sorry. >> Hold on. Hold on. >> Oh. >> Um, what about the reading of the uh Did you do the reading of the reading of the first reading? Okay. We're just doing it. Okay. >> Uh, information reports from the boards. Vice President, do you have anything for us? >> I do. Um first I would like to um commend our um remapost seniors that um committed to fulfilling their responsibility to make sure they graduate. Um this was held at the you know during the final five ceremony.
072Um, it's, you know, it's also nice to be able to support our student athletes at various games, um, such as Rambo and Spring Valley varsity and JV basketball games, seeing the cheerleaders, as well as the East Rmple girls Titans. And I am definitely looking forward to attending a Titans wrestling match, which is going to be taking place on January 15th at Clarktown South. I also wanted to mention how happy I was to see the improvements of Remipo High School's auditorium during the ribbon cutting ceremony. Our students and faculty deserve nothing um but the best. And just listening to our student who uh Jennifer, I hope that we do take the time out to visit Spring Valley Senior High School to see if we can do some uplifting in the hallways for them. And to our
073students taking the algebra regions on January 21st, please continue to study and attend review sessions after school, believe in yourself and you can do it. You all can pass this regent exam that's going to take place on the 21st. And I am going to mention I'm I'm grateful that um I know it was a question that was brought up that I brought up at the last meeting in regards to regent review at Removable High School. I want to um thank the administrator there. Um you know, Dr. Gonzalez, thank you for um us finding a teacher to do regent review for that algebra 1 test that's going to take place on the 21st. I saw that we approved everything this evening. So, I was happy to see that. I am going to say this. Um, I
074am looking forward to our Saturday Academy coming back. I did see it's at the middle level, middle school levels. I saw that on the agenda. I hope that we bring it back to the high school levels, especially for our incoming freshman. Thank you and happy new year everyone. Thank you, Vice President. Any other information? Okay, hearing none, we will now move on to future meeting dates. A regular meeting is scheduled for January 27, 2026, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Please note the different location. It's going to be in the auditorium at Chesnar Ridge Middle School, 892 Route 45, Spring Ping Valley, New York, 10977. Again, it's going to be at Chestnut Ridge Middle School. written communication. Since the last board meeting, the board received an email from Mr. Burroughs regarding ongoing assessment of district resources and
075instructional capacity. And from Pcto Far regarding chronically missing students, I will now make a motion to enter executive session. Kathy, what are we discussing? >> To discuss the possible employment discipline and or termination of particular certified or non-ertified individuals. We do not expect action following. >> Thank you. Do I have a second? >> Second by Mr. Feder. All those in favor say I. >> I don't want to pause up. Say motion carries. Thank you. Have a good night everyone. anyone oppos. Good night. Thank you.