001that the board return to public session. Miss Littlewood, Mr. Bowski. All in favor? The vote is unanimous. We're now back in public session. Please stand for the pledge. We have our GC Pride Awards. Now, good evening, President Coffee and the Board of Education. Thank you for having me here to present a GC Pride Award. Tonight we are proud to recognize a partner whose impact on our district has been seen and felt in spaces across Gates Chryine from the district's performing arts center to main street at the middle school uh from the secure main entries to classrooms mental health suites and more. This individual's helped design environments where our students learn, create and thrive. I've known this individual for over 15 years uh in my prior employment in another district as well as here. Um he
002has been uh both a critical partner and a good friend. So um Kurt, could you come up here please and accept? I'm not done with my comments though. Um so many of you know Kurt has been a partner of ours for many years. His work as an architect with SEI design group has spanned multiple capital projects here in Gates Shilai, including the 2017 project um that brought us the performing arts center in Spartan Stadium to the building brighter futures project that is just wrapping up with several spaces earning architectural recognition along the way. Even as we look ahead to our future ready work, his influence continues to shape what's to come. We recently learned that Kate Kurt will be moving on from SEI sadly and as a result from Gates Shili. We will certainly miss
003his partnership. We are incredibly grateful for all he has given to our district and wish him nothing but the best in this next chapter. Through his professionalism, respect for our community, innovative design, and unwavering dedication to excellence, Kurt has left a lasting mark on Gates Chilai. So, it is my honor to present the GC Pride Award to Kurt Vader of SEI Design Group. Thank you for the legacy you leave behind engaged Shilai. Thank you, Kurt. Thank you. Do we have any agenda changes? >> Yes, President Coffee. We have changes to personnel reports and action items. >> Thank you. Just take a moment for board president's comments to welcome everybody here. I know we have some things on the agenda that have taken a lot of collaboration and teamwork. So, I'm excited to have those as
004part of our meeting here tonight. Um, I'm just I don't know about you guys, but so happy to see sunshine when I pulled in and just seeing our kids and adults outside, wishing I were outside, but happy that they're outside and utilizing all of the the different things we have developed here um with the work of some of our partners as well. Um, just seeing our athletes, our teachers, our windows down a little bit even though it's still cold. Um, but just taking in the amount of sunshine that that really for me at least makes a difference in my mood sometimes, especially the week before break when things get very busy and stressful. See a couple heads nodding. You guys know what I'm talking about. Yeah. Um, and just recognizing again all the work that
005goes into getting us to break, getting us after break, and all the work that goes on during break. So, I just really appreciate everybody, staff, students, and families, because it's it's that time of year where we're getting tired, but we see all the good and exciting things that are happening. We're rounding out music in our schools month with so many different activities, seeing kids and adults all in our sports, studying for tests, everybody's favorite part. Um, but just knowing that it comes from a lot of work on everybody's end, and we see it and appreciate it. Um, had the opportunity to go to county this past weekend for the first time. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Um there are so many people there which is amazing and exciting. Um when
006you know where you're going. Um but just getting to see our kids from not only our school but work with other schools. That was a really cool collaboration to see. Um, and just take a moment also to recognize the work that's gone on as we're approaching uh, again some of our other pieces of tonight where we're looking at the leadership of our district and taking our role as a of school board, a board of education really seriously and making sure that we're looking through pieces and parts and processes because one of the biggest parts of our job, one of our roles and responsibility is really working through that superintendency piece for our district and supporting our kids and our staff. Um, so just again recognizing all the collaboration that's gone into these past few months.
007Do we have any points of interest to share? Mr. Reinhardt and then Miss Mella, >> I had the pleasure of attending the musical this week and I just want to um give a shout out to all the students and the staff who are part of it. The hard work and dedication is great. I know right now there's the middle school art exhibition. Again, all the students and staff who worked hard to create art and have it on display. I'm just so proud of the entire arts program we have here in the district. It's so robust with music in our school month and everything that's going on. I just wanted to acknowledge all the hard work and dedication of the staff and students that make that happen. Um, last week I attended the Walt Disney's family
008literacy night and it was a great combination of bringing their one school, one book um, kind of to life with bunch of uh, nature elements and it was a lot of fun for the kids. Um, a lot of the families showed up there. There were some animal ambassadors as well as some nature items and um, there was an Amir who read stories so that was really cool. Then on Saturday, I went to imagination day at our UPK partner at Imagination Childcare Academy and their UPK teachers transformed the building into the streets of Washington DC and had all sorts of different museums highlighted throughout the school and it was just awesome. It was super packed. A lot of kids there really interacting with all sorts of different items that were created by not only the students
009but also some of the staff and that was great. and then um took my family to see the musical and my kids were very proud that I um knew Keandre and they were very excited to see him singing. So, it was a great performance. >> Thank you so much. Any other points that gave us? >> Yep. On Friday afternoon, I was able to take some time off of my day job and volunteer for the wellness fair that the district put on for all staff. And just want to give a shout out to everybody that was involved in pulling that off. It was a great event. um hope that all staff had a little bit of time to care for themselves and and be well. So, thank you. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Anything else? As you
010guys can see, which I'm sure you already know because you're here every day, it's been really busy lately, so we really appreciate having the opportunity to share with that as well. Um do we have any reports of meetings? Okay, any visitor comments? That moves us on to our report section of the evening. We're going to start with Transportation Department update is on. Yep. Sorry. Uh good evening, U President Copy, members of board, and Dr. Ball. Thank you for letting me present tonight the uh yearly transportation report. Uh I want to start out with just a little bit about our team and give you an update on our staff. myself obviously the director, Melissa is our assistant director. We have Jen and Stephanie as head drivers and Denise is our transportation assistant. Uh Stephanie and Denise
011are new to us this year in our office. Uh we have 80 driver positions. Uh unfortunately 10 current openings. We're really working hard at that. We have one in the process that's starting on April 6 that we're excited about. And out of our 25 attendant positions, we do have one that's filling to be full. The good news is we'll be full. Six of them are looking to be drivers. So, we'll be in a great spot in the next few months if they all get their license and they're all on their journey on their own way. And then we'll just have to refill our attendance. But that's a lot of nice potential coming up that people have come on that want to be drivers and then our mechanic staff is fully staffed. We have 355 daily
012route or daily trips uh with 62 daily routes. That's all our routes. We do everything in house. I definitely like that we don't contract out anything. We do everything in house. We take care of every student that lives engaged child from McKenna Vento private parfield charter schools and our in district. Uh it works out great for when we have to get the resources we need to help out our drivers, staff and students. This is the picture from before. That is every building that we don't go to every day right now, but it in the last year or so that's where we've gone. U we average probably about 85 to 90 buildings a day. Um so we we go to more than just our in district schools. Uh and that is why you'll you'll see why
013our buses are on the road all over the the county. Our fleet uh currently we have 86 buses. We have 474 passengers. We have 5366 passengers. That includes diesel and electric. And we have 2935 passengers all diesel. On the right side is what we're looking purchase for this year. And that'll be eight new 66 passenger buses, 474s, 135, and 135 with a lift. Those will all be diesels this year. Uh being a leader in the electric school bus world, uh we have had our ups and downs that we'll go over, but the nice thing is we have 17% of our 86 buses are electric. We have 15 electric buses. And out of those 62 runs, we have no spares on the road. We have everyone running every day. Uh we've got them out there. They're
014running. If you're ever asked, are the buses on the road? They are. Just like our diesels. Um unless there's maintenance that we have to work on, but it's a really proud that they're out there every day. Our infrastructure, we have two systems backed by our old pole barn. We have four individual. Those are on a 208 voltage. Uh then we have our high voltage 480 volt ones up by the main gate when you come in. So, there's six total 60KW chargers. They can do two buses each. You'll see the one little grade out bus. We technically could get one more bus in there if we had to, but we have 15 buses. The nice thing is we rotate when we have to to get the full 60KW uh for more of a faster charge. Each
015bus splits that when they do both buses on the charger. It works for our district, but it's just nice to have that flexibility. Uh Being the leader comes with some challenges. So, I just want to go over our timeline, our journey. We started way back in 22. Uh we had the buses hit the on the ground. We had two buses out there on the road and then in spring of 23 RG that's when the tariffs first started and we were advocating with NER and RG to figure out a new structure for charging. The winter of 23 into 24 we had our new chargers with our new upgrades put in. Uh that is where if you saw me on the news and I mentioned we had that infrastructure for help helping us out. Um that is
016what I was talking about right after then is when we've had a lot of capability of charging which has helped us. Uh spring of 24 uh they determined we're on a new rate there and that's when we talked about advocating again to get more incentives back and our bill lowered. Uh in the fall of 24 is the first time we started seeing actual charges. Uh spring of 25 we had the remaining of our chargers installed and buses on the road. The fall of 25 that is when they finally worked we were working with them for over a year now and they created a new phase in rate for the state. Uh and that is where they were eliminating the tariff base and creating a phase in rate depending on how much power each district used
017to the chargers. and they would then determine what your rate would be. Uh they had some rollout issues. Did not affect us. We got credits and rebates and Sally and I were working very hard with all them. So it didn't affect us, but it was just hard to determine costs with getting this much and getting a rebate. Uh spring of 26 was our first statement. Uh that's where we've been able to get actual numbers now that I'll be able to show you in the next couple slides. So what it means is RG is still making manual adjustments monthto month. So after they did the new phase in rate, their computers haven't caught up. So if you ever see a bill, there's still a credit, but that's not a a rebate or anything. That's what the
018structure should be. It's just they have to manually adjust it right now. So we were able to get some actual numbers. Now the uh diesels uh we compared 12 diesels and 12 electric school buses. Uh you'll see the diesels uh how many miles they went. The current uh cost per gallon right now is 398. Uh we're at 62 cents per mile. The electric is on the right and that was off our new statement that we're actually able to get numbers on. That's our KW uh charge, how much energy we dispensed out of all our chargers. The miles that those buses went uh came up with 58 cents per mile. Now, those obviously do fluctuate monthto month, but those that was based off of the statement time and that we worked on our maintenance cost. We've
019had them on the road longer. So, this is a full year. Uh we were able to compare seven diesels and five ESPs in similar age for a whole year from March to March. And you can see you're about 28 cents per mile for maintenance and about 31 cents per mile for the electric. They're very close. Um they they still take the same amount of maintenance. the floor up and that's why they're pretty comparable. So in the future uh the summer of 2027 that's when you need to have a an um waiver to buy diesels which were set up very well for that with the buses that we've already have on our fleet. So we'll be applying for that waiver to purchase diesel buses for the 27 28 28 29 year and then in 2035 as
020of right now that is still the the goal of the state to have all buses on the road be electric. So, some of our key takeaways, uh the EVs are very similar to diesels right now. Uh having ESPs is still beneficial for many reasons for us. We were able to secure the grant fundings to bring the bus cost down when we bought them. Uh we have uh we have ours on the road right now at 17% of our fleet. A lot of districts are struggling right now with trying to get an electric bus because now everyone's trying to go get one or two or three and they're taking much longer now to get. So, we were able to be an early adopter of that which has helped us out. Um that was the early adoption
021and then the EV technologies they they are improving from when in 22 in the very beginning the chargers and everything we were looking to get was like this big massive huge unit and now we can get a charger and that's only over a few years time. So each year the charger costs have come down and I've seen a lot of technology changes on the chargers. We just have to see the buses start doing that. And we've learned a lot through advocating and we'll continue to advocate for gates to keep our prices where they need to be for the costs. Questions? >> I have a question. I just raised my hand. I realized that. >> Yeah. Is there any proposed limitation on the number of buses that districts are able to use the diesel waiver for
022like as that comes through? Does that make sense? >> Oh, can we buy 20 30? Yeah. No, that's >> we have the ability if we need a certain amount to use the waiver for that certain amount. >> I'm under I don't believe there's a limitation on that. It's just the it's the aid on purchasing. It's actually the aid. So, we're able to apply for our aid on those years with the waiver. >> Okay. Thank you. Do you guys have any other questions? Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> All right. We mentioned an agenda change earlier. We are adding in now our student exeicio update. You're upandre. >> Hi. Um I just wanted to talk about how we were wrapping up music in our school's month. So, this has been a really big month
023for music. We had our districtwide band concert and then we had a um musical for the school and now we have tomorrow we have a chorus concert for the district and then we have another high school concert. So, a bunch of music events this month. We also have a bunch of trips that have happened within like the past this week, next week or the week previous. So last week we had our HB.CU trip where there was a bunch of juniors and sophomores who were able to go see H.B.CU in um Washington DC and Maryland. And then we also had a step trip to New York City where they were also be a able to see colleges. And then we have our baseball trip where they're going to be able to compete in Florida this weekend.
024And we have spring break of course next week. Um after spring break we have our gala tickets that are going to be on sale that week. And also that same week, we're opening Spartan Park. So, that's going to be a fun event for the whole school with like pep rallies, just a bunch of fun events for the school district. Thank you. It's a busy time for you guys. All right. Next, we have our capital project update. Well, good evening, Gage Sky Child Board of Education. I'm Zach Mooney with campus construction. Um, we are excited to share the update for the future ready capital project. Um this is the only uh presentation we have today as we are wrapping up the building brighter futures project um now that all the spaces are occupied. So we will
025just be going down to the one presentation from now. So this month we saw a ton of progress in the operations center renovations with wall framing and drywall installations throughout as well as new duct work, piping, plumbing, and electrical installations. Um on top of that, the site work contractor mobilized for the high school site work fencing and completed their stakeout for utilities in the area. Next month, the operations center drywall, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work will continue. And as the spring begins and hopefully the weather starts to get a little warmer around here, the exterior site work and fencing outside will also begin. Uh at this time, we are about 2% build by contractors for phase one. Um the phase two, three, and four budgets have been set at 23.2 million, uh $18.7 million and
02618.3 million. And we currently have two around $2.3 million in contingency dollars. And at this time, we have not spent any money in contractor allowances. Uh all photos for this month are at the operation center. So here's some uh wall framing at the new shop area. Uh electrical boxes and conduit installed in the walls. And then this one is uh new plumbing for new fixtures in the new ADA bathrooms that will serve the stadium. Yep. Um, in this photo is new uh drywall and duct work in the ceiling. And then here, drywall finishing and new piping being ran in the ceiling as well. Uh timeline coming up for phase two. We plan to bid and award the project uh late summer, early fall of 2026 and planning to start construction end of the 2026 year
027and then uh anticipating close out in the winter of 2028. uh for future phases as well. Uh phase three uh the design started back in December of this year or of last year and will be submitted to the state at the end of this year 2026. And then for phase 4 design will start in April of 2028 and be submitted to the state in April 2029. Do we have any questions? Right. Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> All right. That moves us on now to our budget update. Good evening again. with me is Sally Sanford, director of finance. So, we'll start. And so, just one thing to point out before um we get started is that um typically um we're at a place now where we've honed in the budget um in great detail
028and we've done a number of presentations to the board over the last few months um kind of articulating what those steps have been and what the pro uh what the process has um kind of uncovered. And with that, um, tonight is the night when we have a final budget number, um, that we plan to put forth to the board in April, um, for adoption, um, so that we can prepare it to go out to the public in May. Um, just sharing that, um, we'll talk a little bit about what our budgetary levers are if state aid doesn't come in as we anticipate. Um, we'll we'll be prepared to discuss that as well. So um the first thing that we're going to do is talk about budget ambassadors. Budget ambassadors um we had two evenings that
029is now um complete. Um we'll talk about the expenditure budget and some estimates of expenditures. Um we'll talk about the revenue plan um propositions and board election summary and next steps. And I'm pretty sure I just stole Sally's slide. I'm sorry Sally. Did I steal your slide? >> It's okay. >> All right. Let it slide this one. >> Okay, she's letting that slide. Um so, um next steps um next slide serve as an update. Um on budget ambassadors again, we had two nights. Um it was May 9th and May 16th. Uh we had great participation u in the past. I think last year, did I say May? I meant March. Sorry, my apologies. March 9th and March 16th. I got the numbers right. I got the month wrong. Um we had um a significant amount
030of participation in the past. Um we had um we've had up to I don't know eight or nine total. Um and last year there was only a handful of people. Uh this year we had two people signed up. We sent out an extension of the deadline and we ended up having over 21 people um interested in attending. We only allow up to 15. Um so we had to turn a few down and ask them to kindly reapply for next year. Um but with that um ended up having 13 people attend on the first night and 12 on the second. Um and generally speaking um that process is there to allow people to learn about the budget and transparently share um details so then they can come back to the board and offer potential recommendations um
031for adjustments if needed. Um, so we had productive conversations. Um, Andrea Mchello was in the room. Thank you for joining, Andrea. Uh, and those conversations um were robust. Um, we had a lot more questions than we normally get based on the size of the group, but again, they were good um communications and and good conversations and good exchanges. Um, we talked about federal funding concerns and what happens if federal funding goes away. Um we talked a little bit about our investment planning, how we have the highest um investment score in the nation. Um we have a perfect hund um c what's called the cash fest score um under Sally's leadership in terms of how we invest our strategic liquidity. Um we talked about bus purchases. I know that that some of that was shared at
032the last board meeting and tonight. Um, we talked about the legislative processes and how those work and um, how we do some advocacy even down in Albany with some of our um, legislators. Um, we talked about um, how the cost of transporting students impacts the budget. Uh we discussed a potential solar um project um that if the governor approves a portion of um the budgetary package uh I should say the legislature and the governor approve a portion of um the the um what's out there is that um we may um be installing solar in the district to help offset over our million and a half dollars in energy costs. Um, we talked about the federal free meals program and how that comes into play. And then we talked a little bit about um, supplies and
033materials and how we're continually trying to find ways um, to help families pay for supplies and materials because we know in a community that is 53% economically disadvantaged. That that places a burden on our families. And from an equity perspective, we want to continue to find um, opportunities to help where we can. So with that, just making sure it's still me that's supposed to be talking. Um survey um was put out to the people who participated. Overall experience 4.43. Um and then pres presenters knowledge and ability um 4.71. Um there was some feedback that we got which was good feedback. It was um some of it was uh kind of more preunctery things like and you'll see that in a moment um not seeing um some detail on the slides and wish it was a
034little you know bigger so that things could be seen. Um one thing we will share is that these are also um available digitally. So there is an option to zoom on zoom zoom in on things but it is difficult um to get all the information on one screen when we're trying to tell a story about how for instance we compare um in terms of our expenses to other um districts in the region and then um statewide. But it is something that we'll reflect on and think a little bit about. Um and then it, you know, obviously a positive um comment was that um we're progressive um and you know, we we keep up with changing trends. So we're constantly looking for ways um to be innovative within our budget as well and to ensure that
035not only are we um spending money from a fiduciary perspective in a way um that um respects our community's capacity, right? But we're also making sure that for every potential um pathway that we have in terms of revenue collection that we're um going deep um down those those pathways to ensure that we're getting every dollar we can from um the state or or other opportunities. Okay. Still me. All right. So what do we get from this budget in terms of expenditures? Um we get continued mental health and behavioral support as as you know um that has continued to be something that we focused on specifically coming out of the COVID years. Um and we're spending a lot of time and energy in terms of our multi-tered systems of support to ensure that we're wrapping our
036students um in as much um support as we can. Um academic intervention services and literacy and math. We're continuing to fund those to a a very good level. Um and and we feel that we're doing a really good job not only servicing um students who were required to service under u mandates but also um looking to service students who um maybe aren't um meeting um certain academic standards. um advanced placement courses and dual enrollment courses when students come back as the board knows um to meet with the board. Um one of the things that they regularly highlight graduate students who have graduated is that um those types of courses are things that they greatly appreciate through the programming that we offer because obviously they can get college credit. Um their cost is less when they
037go to um college and um they shorten their time that they have to spend in those settings. um accelerated classes at the middle school which is something that we continue to investigate and explore post-secary opportunities as well as college awareness um career and technical education programs um we not only do a lot here in district but we also send students to woko at Boseis um continued use of our onetoone devices um which obviously is a a minimum standard at this point in in education because so much of the work that students do are on digital devices ES maintenance and upkeep of our state-of-the-art facilities um especially um in terms of community use. We know that that is something that our community values and then re uh robust professional learning um for all of our staff
038is something that we've continued to focus on over the last few years and hope to continue going into next year. >> Thank you Dr. B. Here's Chilai. The budget is built on a needssonly basis. Also referred to as a zerobased modified budget. That means each year at every budget cycle. Every expense must be justified. Staff and administration across all buildings and departments do an incredible job in this area. A big thank you to everyone involved. Skyrocketing costs are allowing the district to go out at a reasonable 4.8 increase in this proposal. Think about recent energy and fuel costs being experienced personally. More on that in the upcoming slides. Some highlighted increases. This slide shows main cost drivers in this budget cycle. Teaching and retirement costs are based on increased personnel costs as well as educational
039expenses. Increasing costs for privately placed students are being absorbed by the district. Athletics reflects the smallest increase primarily driven by the replacement of aging and worn equipment. Bosey's costs are increasing. However, the district is reimbursed on the revenue side through state aid in the subsequent fiscal year at approximately 70 70%. New York State requires public school districts in New York to break out the budget into three components: administrative, program, and capital. Beginning with an administrative highlighted administrative costs include the reclassification of central services to align with both billing codes. You will see a related significant decrease under the program component. The decrease in increase in finance to staff reflects the budget code changes due to the district reorganization at the start of the school year. instructional, administrative, and staff development increase reflects summer curriculum work
040that was funded by title grants in prior years. As Dr. Ball described earlier, this funding has been cut significantly, moving the expense back to the general fund. The program component reflects some of the highlighted increases discussed in the previous slides. Large increases are part of instructional salaries and students with disabilities. Employee benefits is experienced decreased due to carefully negotiated employment contracts. Under the capital component, the operation of plant increase reflects rising energy costs. Debt principal and interest interest payments are increasing for capital project financing. Similar to both expenses, revenue on these payments are reflected in future years building aid. This chart shows that even amid rising costs, the district has protected instructional programming as a top priority with more than 70% of budget expenditures devoted to instructional programming. Personnel costs make up the largest portion
041of the budget. These expenses are carefully managed and contractually driven. Responsible planning around negotiated agreements and long-term staffing needs help the district attract and retain qualified educators and staff who create strong programs and services. >> Thank you, Mrs. Sanford. Uh so now we're going to talk a little bit about revenue. So when you think about a budget, there's two sides um to a budget in education. And this applies to all school districts over 650 across the state. There's the expenditure side and the revenue side. And those two things have to match. So when we put out a budget to the public, those two things have to match. So when thinking about that, um, one thing to share is that um, we have some expiring um, pilots in terms of our tax calculation and I know
042that we shared that at the last meeting. It's already been submitted to the state at 4.8%. I'm just saying that typically um or some years we're able to do get an estimate of what the tax rate will look like. At this point in time, we're unable to do that because of some of those changes um that are still being um explored. And so just wanted to share that as we get to um communicating more broadly um through for instance um the budget hearing hopefully by the budget hearing we'll have some information or by the um the newsletter um we'll be able to have some facts and figures around that but we're just not quite um prepared for that. Um and then in terms of the rest of the revenue. So again these two things balance.
043If you remember back to um earlier in the expenditure portion of the presentation um we had um an estimated budget up on the screen. The revenue side would balance when thinking about our revenue levers. We've already discussed at a previous board meeting um potential state aid is that um that's our real big mechanism. We've already determined that the um taxation I'm looking at a 4.8% 8% increase acknowledging that over half of it is not going to hit um you know people's household um taxation those are for new taxes for new properties um half of that taxation so about 2 um 37 of it is applied directly to um new properties. So when you think about when you hear 4.8 the increase for um you know homeowners is not 4.8% 8% it's closer to 2.43% on
044average whereas um new properties would pick up the other 2.37%. So just saying that we know what that is. We know what the estimated revenue is for um taxation. The other big lever that we have in terms of um revenue is state aid and you saw that in the last presentation as well that we have the governor's proposal and now they're going to be negotiating a a package in terms of state aid to schools is that if that number goes up or down from the 1.42% is that number right 1.42% 42% increase in foundation aid. Um if that number goes up or down then um we would make some adjustments to fund balance and reserve use because we do have a certain amount of fund balance and reserve use in this proposal. Um we would
045look to take that up or down. Right now I I believe it's around two and a half% of fund balance and reserves of budget. Um we would go either a little higher or a little lower depending on what state a is. And that's kind of our balancing mechanism that we would use. Does that make sense? Okay. Um so now moving on to board uh propositions and board election. Uh the um the budget vote is Tuesday, May 19th for all districts in New York State. It's the third Tuesday in May. Um the propositions on the ballot would include the budget approval, a reminder that a budget is a plan, right? So we're planning for things that happen a year and a half after the budget's approved is that it's a plan. It's not a guarantee to
046spend money on anything. It's a plan that we have that we're transparently um sharing with our community. And we do hope that we can stick to that plan. But as you know, things happen over the summer. Students come in um to the district and enroll. Um all kinds of different things can happen that can require us to adjust what's in the budget. In addition to that, it's not approving taxation. It's approving a max amount of expenditures. That's what the actual proposition is for. Um we do communicate to our community what we intend to tax in September, but it's not um a promise of that. And frankly um in my time in education, which this is my 17th um budget, I have never been in a situation where we don't put out what we say we're
047going to put out, and that's clearly not something that we would ever look to do. But again, it's just a reminder that that's what that actual proposition is is it's a max amount of expenditures that we can spend. Um the bus purchase proposition is on there as well. Reminder, we have a six-year bus replacement plan. Um that's fiscally responsible. And then a capital reserve for bus purchases. Um one of the things that we're doing in this budget that's different than prior budgets is we're trying to reduce our reliance on debt service, which is um essentially we borrow money to pay for our buses right now. So, we pay principal and interest every year for buses for five years. Um, one thing that we would look to do is undo that. And in in an effort
048or a way to undo that is to use some reserves. And the community approved this last May, the approved the creation of a reserve is that we put money into that reserve to help offset the cost of those buses, which in turn will allow us to save nearly $200,000 a year in principle. um sorry in interest costs and issuance costs related to the bond attorney u Moody's reratings which cost about $20,000 and some other ancillary fees. So it's about $200,000 a year that we're going to save um by weaning our reliance off of borrowing money for borrowing money for buses. Oh shoot, that's right up there, isn't it? Okay, I did got ahead of myself. Uh that just articulates some of what I just shared. Oh, and so yep, thank you for uh Maya 26
049looking at a proposition for $2.35 million using that using those funds to pay for buses directly versus bonding the buses, which will would add on about another $200,000 to that cost. In terms of the board election, there's four seats available. Um the details are up there. Um we have four um expiring seats. Um Katherryn Coffee, Katie Davis, Michelle Jennings, and Adam Reinhardt. Um petitions are now available. In summary, um our intention is to enhance our current programming and staffing and to continue to support current goals and continue to provide multiple opportunities for student achievement and engagement. um especially in terms of that engagement piece, finding ways to continue to um keep kids um tied into our programming, whether it's athletics or extracurriculars, um to find ways to continue to engage them in in as many
050ways as we can so that um they're able to achieve at a high level. Next steps, um you can see up there, we had the financing audit committee where we talked about some of this stuff yesterday. Um we had this uh presentation on April 21st hoping that we'll have a budget for the board to adopt. We do have some legal requirements and that's about as late as we can go um in terms of having the board adopt a budget in order to um do all the things that we need to do after that um adoption. We have a a budget hearing on the 5th. Uh point of information is May 6th is the meet the candidates night as well um which is the next evening. And then on May 19th, the annual um budget vote
051and board election from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the fieldhouse. Okay, any questions or thoughts? >> You guys have any questions? >> No, I just wanted to thank you guys uh for the ongoing communication and pieces of updates and opportunities for questions throughout several months because for me, not being my realm of expertise outside of working together with you guys, it would be so much to process and understand all the pieces and nuances in one big presentation. So, I really do appreciate the thoughtful work that we do together throughout the year to understand it. So, thank you guys for that. >> Anything else you guys? Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, that moves us forward now to consensus items. Can I have a motion to approve the consensus agenda? Miss Littlewood, Mr. Bowski.
052Any discussion? All in favor? The vote is unanimous. Can I have a motion to approve consensus items C through G? Mr. Mr. Reinhardt, Miss Manella. Any discussion? All in favor? The vote is unanimous. That moves us now to our action item section. Um, let's see. Can I have a motion to approve a three-year agreement effective July 1st, 2026 through June June 30th, 2029 between the GCTA and the Gates Chilai CSD? Can I have a motion? Miss Littlewood, Miss Davis, any discussion? All in favor? The vote is unanimous. I really wanted to thank you guys for being here and just your ongoing collaboration and hard work. Um, having been part of my own teachers unit, I really I value the work and just that collaboration is huge for all of us. So, thank you guys so
053much. Can I have a motion to approve? I can never say it, so I'm just going to say the letters. It's seeker, but it doesn't look like it. All right. Seeker resolution. I really struggle with it. Thank you guys. Uh, Gage Chal CSD 2026 2027 capital outlay project. Can I have a motion? Mr. Rowski, Miss Davis, any discussion? All in favor? The vote is unanimous. Can I have a motion to approve the annual meeting and election publication dates to be published four times during the seven weeks preceding the date of the annual meeting and election? Can I have a motion? Mr. Reinhardt, Miss Mella, any discussion? All in favor? The vote is unanimous. Can I have a motion to approve the appointment of Dr. Mitchell Ball to the position of superintendent of schools. Can I
054have a motion? Miss Davis, Mr. Bowski. Any discussion? All in favor? The vote is unanimous. Congratulations, sir. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That moves us on now to our superintendent's comments. >> All right. So, thank you very much. Uh, I have five pages of notes, so prepare yourself. This morning's >> We won't always let it be that long. >> Okay, fair. Just five. Five pages. Bye. this morning, several district level leaders had the chance to be part of mock interviews for students in our high school's career and financial management classes, including many of the members of cabinet sitting at this table today. As part of the class, students are learning about landing a job. So, today we help them practice their interviewing skills. They did a great job. Yep. Last week was a busy
055week here in the district. Let's work backwards by talking first about how the GC PAC stage came alive with the high school's performance of Singing in the Rain. I had the pleasure of attending Friday night and I can tell you firsthand that our students didn't just wear the storm, they absolutely shined under the spotlight, especially Keandre, >> who had one of the main roles as Sid Phillips. Um, he did a great job. We're very proud of his performance. From the choreography to the vocals, the cast and crew made quite a splash and left the audience humming all the way home. Earlier that day, our staff came together for our spring superintendent conference day. The morning was filled with meaningful training meetings and learning opportunities, followed by our first ever Spartan Strong Wellness Fair in the
056afternoon. With more than 20 activities and offerings, there was truly something for everyone. Staff enjoyed connecting with health and wellness vendors, taking part of lawn games, kindness, rock painting, coloring, a healthy snack station, golf simulators, chair massages, and Sally Sanford uh provided Reiki. We also raffled off more than 20 prizes generously donated by our vendors. A huge thank you to our GC wellness leaders for designing such a thoughtful and engaging experience for our staff. I also want to take a moment to recognize Katie Davis and Andrea Menchella for volunteering their time throughout the afternoon. Thank you. On Friday, we also hosted 30 districts as part of the Rochester Teacher Recruitment Day. Over the course of the day, about 215 people were in attendance with our GC folks interviewing about 35 candidates. We're optimistic that we
057will hire some great hires from this crop of teachers. Thank you, HR team. On Thursday last week, Gates Chalai students were one of three districts proud to host the Rock to Change Summit on race. Hundreds of students from across the county attended this absolutely amazing event celebrating the 10th anniversary. Students led breakout centered sessions centered on the theme celebrate belong persist 10 years of rock to change. GC students will host a similar event called gates to change next month. Also last week, Paul Road Panthers spent a full day celebrating the power of play during the annual Paul Day Paul Road Day of Play. From games and creative activities to time outdoors, students had the chance to connect, move, and enjoy the day together. Moments like these highlight how play supports friendships, teamwork, and social emotional
058growth. The smiles throughout the day said it all. Thank you to our staff for planning such meaningful experiences. our volunteers and peer leaders for bringing it to life and our students for the energy and positivity that makes Paul Road so special. That same spirit of connection and collaboration carried into the evening as the board of education came together for a study session centered on team building and trust. An important investment in how we work together to best support our school community. As part of the experience, board and cabinet members participated in a scavenger hunt throughout the high school, highlighting several points of pride across the building. It was fun and it was a fun and engaging way to connect while also showcasing the great work happening in our schools. Congratulations to our top finishers, Dr.
059Kesha Carter and Tanya Serbanowski in third place, Troy Olan and Nicole Littlewood, who took second, and first place winners, Eva Petraino and Andrea Mchella. they would have it no other way. In addition to the scavenger hunt, the session included thoughtful discussion and learning focused on how we can continue to build and maintain trust as a board of education and cabinet team. The group also explored enhancements to the superintendent's annual evaluation review process, reinforcing a shared commitment to continuous improvement and strong governance. Earlier in the week, we wrapped up our sixth year of budget ambassadors. Attendees shared that shared that the experience helped them better understand our budget, ask meaningful questions, and feel like true partners in the process. We also heard some helpful suggestions. Overall, this group reaffirmed the importance of protecting student opportunities while
060remaining thoughtful and transparent in our financial decisions. Looking ahead, we're excited to celebrate the grand opening of Spartan Park on February, April 10th. Leading up to the event will build excitement with districtwide spirit day April 7th to 10, including team pride day on Tuesday, team throwback day on Wednesday, team up day on Thursday, and team GC pride day on Friday. On April 10th, we'll also bring our middle and high school students together for a joint pep rally, followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. ahead of the first pitches for baseball and softball. This new space represents a continued investment in our students and community, and we look forward to officially welcoming everyone and to enjoy it. Page four. We're also gearing up for the Gage Chilai Education Foundation's fourth annual volleyball tournament on
061Wednesday, April 22nd at 5:30 PM in the Spartan Fieldhouse. The spirited event features our staff teams competing against one another for bragging rights with Paul RH entering as the reigning champions. It's always a fun night that brings our school community together in support of a great cause and we encourage everyone to come out and cheer them on. Shifting back to today, the Gates Chilai Teachers Association voted to ratify a new contract and this evening the board of education approved that agreement. I want to thank the members of GCTA and our administrative team for their time, collaboration, and commitment throughout this process. Reaching this agreement reflects a shared focus on supporting our staff and ultimately the students we serve. Thank you very much. Also this evening, the board of education approved my appointment as superintendent. I
062am truly honored and grateful for the board's trust and confidence in me to serve in this role. Gates Chilai is a special place and it means a great deal to be part of a community that is so deeply committed to its students, staff, and families. I am proud to work alongside such dedicated educators and leaders and I do not take this responsibility lightly. I look forward to continuing our work together, building strong relationships, supporting one another, and ensuring every student has the opportunities and support they need to learn, grow, and thrive. And finally, as we head into next week, a reminder that there is no school for students and staff, too. From March 30th, that's 10 months staff, 10 month staff. From March 30th to April 2nd, I want to acknowledge that spring break can
063mean different things for different people. For some, it's a time to rest, travel, or spend time with loved ones. For others, it may simply be a change in routine. However you spend the time, I hope it brings you to what you need. Whether that's rest, connection, reflection, or simply a moment to recharge. Thank you for all that you do each day to support our students and one another. We look forward to welcoming everyone back soon. And that is my report. President Coffee, I need a drink of water. >> Thank you. You did a great job with those five pages, though. It wasn't It wasn't bad. Nice work. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. All right. Can I have a motion now to adjourn our meeting? >> Littlewood, Miss Davis, all in favor? Vote is unanimous. The
064meeting is adjourned. Thank you.