001Can I have a motion to resume public session? Mr. Reinhardt, Dr. Richards. All in favor? The vote is unanimous. We're now back in public session. Please stand for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stand. All right, we are going to start off our evening with our GC Pride Awards tonight. Good evening uh board president coffee board of education and interimm superintendent Dr. Ball at Neil Armstrong. We would like to um honor a few students and a staff member with GC pride awards tonight. We are proud to recognize Mrs. Emily Christensen with a GC pride award for her incredible work as our one school one book featured author. Through her creativity, passion for storytelling, and connection to our students, Mrs. Christensen brought our school community
002together around literacy in a meaningful and joyful way. Her work sparked conversations, curiosity, and shared love of reading across Armstrong. and we're grateful for the lasting impact she continues to make. [applause] We have several students that we would also like to recognize in alphabetical order. Of course, Alice K is receiving a GC Pride Award for her outstanding contribution to Frozen Kids. Alice's enthusiasm, responsibility, and positive attitude helped create a welcoming and collaborative experience for everyone involved in the production. [applause] Next, we would like to recognize Nariah Dumbaya. We are proud to honor Nia for her role in Frozen Kids and the positive energy she brings to our school community. Niah's dedication and teamwork shine throughout the production, making a meaningful impact on both the cast and the audience. Next is Kaia Trance. All of these
003students are in fifth grade, by the way. Ka is being recognized for her leadership and positive influence through Frozen Kids. Ka showed perseverance, kindness, and a strong sense of responsibility, contributing to a successful and memorable performance. Our next student is Skyla Trann. Skyla is recognized for her positive impact on our school community through her role in Frozen Kids. She has demonstrated confidence very much so, commitment and teamwork, helping to bring the production to life while settling setting a wonderful example for her peers. [applause] And last alphabetically, but certainly not least, is Miss Phoenix Vaugh. She's receiving a GC pride award for her amazing positive im influence on our school community in Frozen Kids. Her creativity, commitment, and collaborative spirit helped make the production a true celebration of teamwork and student talent. Come on up, Phoenix.
004[applause] Thank you all for recognizing the amazing talent and positivity that we have at our school. Mr. Olan, pictures or Miss Petraino would be upset. >> Congratulations, guys. Thank you for your work. You're going to come over to the side here and they're going to take your picture. Okay. Your families are welcome to actually come closer and take your pictures if they would like. Congratulations again. Thank you for all your hard work, guys. Do we have any agenda changes this evening? >> Yes, we have changes to personnel reports and one action item. >> Thank you. That moves us on now to board president comments. And I just wanted to take a moment to welcome our Neil Armstrong family, both our staff, our kids, and their their families and their community, all being here with us
005tonight. We really appreciate when you guys are here because it it makes what what we're here and supporting and working for and fighting for every day real. So, I really appreciate you guys taking your time to be here. I'm also really excited to learn more about Frozen Kids Night. Thank you for indulging me in the conversation. It sounds amazing. So, just another shout out to all the concerts and all of the sporting events um that are going on right now. I know we've had masterminds events. There's some middle school concerts coming up. Just all of the work that goes in from our students and our families and staff outside of just the curricular parts of your day, which are huge. Um shout out for Harlem Wizards coming on Friday supported with the education foundation. So,
006hopefully we'll see some of you guys there. It's always a good time. And just to kind of realize we're already approaching the end of the next marking period, which is crazy to my brain. I don't know about you guys, but knowing again the work you guys put in and that your teachers and the adults working with you are putting in to make sure that you're learning the things that we're hope you're learning and that you're getting the support you need to be able to grow. So, thank you everybody for your time and your work. Do we have any points of interest tonight? All right. Thank you. Did we have any meetings outside of our regular board meetings to report on? Do we have any visitor comments? All right, that brings us now to the report
007section of our evening. The first report is for the 2026 HBCU trip that is proposed for March 9th through 11th, 2026. >> Good evening, interim superintendent, Dr. Ball, President Coffee, and the rest of the board. Thanks for having me here tonight for a uh HB.CU trip proposal. Uh this would be uh an opportunity for our students for the third year in a row to go on this amazing trip uh that has continued to grow over the last couple years. Uh as in the past, we're going to be visiting some of the same colleges, uh getting a lot of the same experiences that have uh really interested students in going. Um we're going to have 31, we have 31 applicants this year, uh which is more than double what we've had the last two years. The
008first year we had 12 students. Second year we had 13 students this year. We had 31 students apply and meet criteria to be able to go on this trip, which is absolutely outstanding. What we're looking to do is have uh working with other schools districts Rush Henrietta, Penfield, Weston, Koi, and East Rochester in collaboration make this all happen to meet criteria to uh cut costs on the trip. And we would look to uh have our meeting here at Gates Chile with these other school districts to help answer questions uh parents might have, guardians that might have and go over expectations while on the trip. And then also we'd be departing from Gates Chile on March 9th uh with the other school districts uh to and from uh the trip. These are a couple of the
009items that are included uh with the purchase of their u opportunity to go on this uh an opportunity to go on the National African-American Museum which is always a big hit with students. Uh it's very nice motor coaches that'll be going on. nice hotel. Uh a really great highlight from my point of view is the late night private uh security that students will have. Uh breakfast, lunch, and dinners are included. Uh Wegman's gift card, and then uh Dave and Busters is always a big hit with the students as well when they go on this. Uh I took the time before this presentation tonight to catch up with a couple seniors that went on the trip last year, uh which unfortunately led to them thinking they were being asked to go again. So I gave them
010a sense of false hope. So I apologize to them for that. Uh I won't go into other details, but some of the highlights were they got a really authentic uh feel of being at college. Some of them got motivated to want to pursue college more than ever. Uh they really enjoyed not only just the food, but there were students that had one-on-one conversations with students uh college students that gave them a different perspective of the college experience. Uh again, these were all seniors that went over uh last year and had an absolutely great time and they would have loved to go again, but we tried to offer this to uh underassman so they have some time to prepare because it is late in the decision-m process. >> Are there any questions I can answer? >>
011Are the schools that we're collaborating with the same schools that we've worked with before? Are these newer like relationships being built? Uh all of the schools are the same schools with the exception of Westeron. We reached out to uh unfortunately we had a couple schools that had to back out last minute. So Weston is a school that we partnered up with this year. >> Any other questions you guys? >> I have a comment more so than a question. I just wanted to thank you Mr. Ham because I know this has been something that we talked about as a community and just giving our students the opportunity all of our students the opportunity to visit historical black colleges universities that they may not otherwise get a chance to do. So I appreciate you continuing that effort.
012Absolutely. >> Thank you and thank you for coming and sharing with us tonight. >> Thank you for your support. >> All right. Our next report is around a varsity happy trip proposal to Glenn Falls, New York, January 30th through 31st, 2026. >> Good evening. Uh my name is Lisa Young. I'm the director of phys health and athletics here at Chilai. [clears throat] Um Dr. B and um board president and the rest of the board. Thank you for having me here tonight. Um my hockey [clears throat] coach would love would have loved to come and present but they have a game. So I'm here to talk about our hockey trip. First I want to start and apologize that this is coming in late. Um and my track um trip that we had was late. So I
013apologize for that. Um and do want to just let you know that I will make sure I'm staying on top of our trips going forward. Um, our rationale for this trip, they they did this trip last year as well. Um, it's a repeat. They are going to Albany area. Um, we are merged with Rush Henrietta, Wayne, and uh, Wheatland Shili. So, all students will be attending. Um, the rationale is to uh, it's a big team bonding activity. Um they'll be playing in two games uh back-to-back days. Um it's a good overnight experience allows them to build stronger relationships within the team um coach to player, player to coach. Um hoping to translate, you know, that sportsmanship onto the ice. Um it builds our social emotional growth encouraging um the responsibility, independence and respectful behavior um
014for all of team. Uh the coaches will be supervising all the activities and um the uh nighttime um at the hotel as well. Um [clears throat] our itinerary uh they will be at school Friday, January 30th. Um in the morning parents will take them out of school and all team all the team will be meeting at Rush Henry at a high school um and that's where the bus will meet them. Um prior to that uh our transportation will be checking the bus to make sure everything is good to go. Um they would depart Rashietta at 10:30. Uh they will have lunch on the bus. So they'll bring their lunches with them as they depart. Um, they will arrive at the hotel approximately about three o'clock. They do have team dinner. Their team dinner will be
015provided to them through their team account through fundraising. The hotel is paid for through fundraising through their account as well. Um, they do have a game that night at 5:30 that they will I'm sorry at 7 o'clock that they will participate in and then they'll be back at the hotel for um pizza with the team that was will be provided by the team. Uh, the next day they'll get up, they'll have a team breakfast. Um then they'll depart the hotel at 10:30 for their game at noon. Um and then they will be coming back. Lunch will be paid for $10 per player through um on the throughway and they are predicted to come back about 6:30 obviously with some time there uh the next day. So it's just an overnight stay. Uh some other logistics,
016there'll be 24 students, four coaches. Um again talking about on that Friday students will be attending half a day of school. Um and then parents will be taking them out of school going to rush area for the bus. The coaches will be supervising all their athletes the whole entire trip. Um there'll be two students in each hotel room and then the funding um just like I said the team account will be paying for the hotel dinners for through fundraising. Um the coach bus is would be paid for through the gauge highlight boosters and the Russian arata boosters have agreed to pay um to split that payment in half and our transportation building or our transportation will be checking the bus before they leave. Do you have any questions for me? >> Oh, I just wanted
017to thank you knowing that this is a lot to coordinate and to learn and figure out. So we really appreciate the efforts that are being taken to provide these opportunities for our students. >> Absolutely. >> Anything else you guys >> Thank you. >> All right. The moment some of us have been really excitedly waiting for we have our Neil Armstrong Elementary report. >> Hello again. We're very excited um to present everything that we've been doing at our school this year. Uh, my name is Rebecca Scott. I am principal Neil Armstrong Elementary and I want to thank you for the opportunity to share the update on on our work at Armstrong. Tonight, I'll highlight how our mission continues to come to life through our school improvement team priorities, student opportunities, and expansion of our community school
018model. At Armstrong, we're all about a theme. So, our mission is centered on ensuring that every student feels a strong sense of belonging, receives consistent highquality uh instruction, and has opportunities to discover their passions, all within a community- centered school model. Everything that you'll see tonight connects back to this commitment and to creating conditions where students feel supported, challenged, and valued. Our school improvement team has helped us stay focused on the work that matters the most. This year, our efforts has centered on culturally responsive literacy, celebrations and belonging, responsive classroom practices, and strengthening family and community engagement. These focus areas are deeply interconnected and grounded in both student needs and staff voice. In culturally responsive literacy, we launched Upsetti Yeti as our K5 one school one book selection this year. Intentionally connecting literacy instruction with
019social emotional learning and our CKLA curriculum. Our celebrations and belonging subcommittee has focused on shared experiences across bu the building through monthly celebrations, interactive bulletin boards, and coordinated morning announcements with some of our students that we have here. and all designated to strengthen relationships amongst our students and our staff. Our responsive classroom professional development continues to strengthen our tier one systems. Staff are implementing consistent community circles, thoughtful Thursdays, and align teacher language to proactively support our student behavior. We're also growing family and community engagement by increasing participation at events and building partnerships that support attendance and enrichment opportunities for our students. At this point, I'd like to delve a little bit more into our One School One book. We highlighted Mrs. Emily Christensen, our book's author, during our GC Pride Awards, and this has definitely
020been one of our our highlights. We were proud to select a text that was written by one of our own Armstrong teachers, reinforcing both literacy and community pride while intentionally building social emotional skills across different grade levels. Upsetti Yeti was written by our very own Armstrong kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Emily Christensen, and officially we launched this with a schoolwide assembly. Mrs. Christensen read the book aloud to students, creating a powerful and authentic authentic kickoff. The text supports emotional regulation, perseverance, empathy, and self-awareness. It has been integrated across classrooms through readalouds, writing activities, reflection, and strong connections to responsive classroom practices. We'd like to highlight a short video clip from the reveal assembly. Throughout the week leading up to this reveal, students had gotten some clues that were on the announcements. Um they were they were teased
021that the author was somebody close to our school community and we wanted to capture the excitement, pride and sense of shared experience across our building as students engaged with this author and the story together. Following that reveal. Mrs. Christensen read the book aloud and we had the f the pictures of the book on the display so that everybody could see it. We're now in year two of our community school model. This year has been about expanding and deepening our support for students and families. Moving from building the foundation to strengthening the outcomes through coordinated systems and staffing. This year we extended our staffing to deepen outcomes. Our community school site coordinator, Alex Scalina. She coordinates partnerships, leads family engagement efforts, and works closely to support staff attendance enrichment and basic needs. We also have a
022social learning specialist through the center for youth, Cassie Kappen. She leads our launchpad, which is an office space dedicated to helping students focus and re-engage in learning. It provides targeted SEAL instruction interventions, teaching emotional regulation and coping strategies, and supports students in returning back to the classroom quickly to be able to learn. Together, these roles strengthen alignment across tier one through tier three supports. And the moment I know that you've all been waiting for is for us to talk about our student voice and choice. It remains a priority here at Armstrong. And this year, students quite literally let it go as they embraced a brand new opportunity through expanded clubs and performing arts experiences that allow them to explore interests beyond the classroom. We have not had a theater club in many, many years. In
023fact, I'm not sure that there ever was one at Armstrong. Um, but our theater club this year um was um Mr. Box is one of our fifth grade teachers and he made a proposal to um want to do a theater club. He went out of his way. He uh reached out to Katie who is in charge of music for the district um to convince her to purchase the rights for this play. Um so he went above and beyond and and we supported him at at our building level as well. Um our winter musical was a great example of how we expanded student opportunities beyond the classroom and these experiences were made possible through collaboration among students, staff, many volunteers and our families. Students participated as actors and they also learned about tech support because many
024of them were microphoned up during the show. This built confidence, teamwork, technological literacy, and public speaking and singing skills. Community performances were held last week on January 8th and 9th, and we had a special daytime performance for our K2 student, K3 students um during the school day. We attempted to get RSVPs for this event um and ended up having about 60 more people show up than what RSVPd. So, It was a great problem to have and fortunately we had enough chairs to bring out to the floor. Um, tonight we're excited to share with you a small glimpse of that work. A few of our student actors, the the ladies who >> Oh, good. Okay. [laughter] Because you don't want me to sing. I'm I'm battling laryngitis. A few of our student actors will be joining
025um to perform a musical number from Frozen Kids. The performance highlights not only their musical and acting talents, but also confidence, perseverance, and teamwork that they've developed through theater club. We're incredibly proud of them and grateful grateful for the opportunity to showcase their hard work this evening. Do you want me to push play and then they come out? Okay. Welcome one and all to the story of Frozen. Our tale begins a long time ago >> in the kingdom of Arendelle on a beautiful summer day. >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you so much you guys. You did such a great job. That's really hard to do. So, we really really appreciate it. You guys can sit down. In closing, Armstrong continues to be a place where strong relationships, intentional instruction, and community partnerships come together to
026support every student. Thank you for your continued support as we work to ignite potential and elevate futures for all of our Armstrong stars. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you guys for all of your work, not just tonight, but throughout the whole school year. support each other and support all of our students. We are so appreciative that you guys were here tonight. We also are at the point of the meeting where if you want to go home and not sit through the boring parts, you are more than welcome to. Thank you so much for your time. Have a great night, you guys. All right, we're going to move forward to our finance facilities and audit update. It's very very stimulating after our musical performance. >> Well, this act will not be like that act, Mrs. Coffee.
027So, thank you uh President Coffee, Vice President Richards, and the board of education. Uh the finance facility audit committee met on December 15th. Um from an audit perspective, Miss Sanford um director of finance provided the committee with an update on the status of the internal audit and stated that interviews have begun and the audit process is underway. From a finance perspective, there was a budgeting update where we talked about the incredible work that the buildings and departments are doing and where they're at in the process. Shared that all of the individual onetoone meetings are uh starting in January, so they're ongoing right now. talked about the tax cap, uh, updated the committee on some specific details around the tax cap that we'll be sharing out in future board meetings. Talked about the clean energy credit,
028uh, Miss Sanford shared that um, we are receiving clean energy credits for our electric school buses, which is fantastic news. And then from a cyber security update uh just talked a little bit about uh the cyber security that we have in place and the practices and procedures that we use in terms of cyber security. We um shared updates on facilities talking about cellular connectivity reality is here in our buildings um specifically on the main campus um we have significant um issues in terms of cellular connectivity. um it's been that way for many years. And so we're looking at options to boost um cellular connectivity and hope to start um going down a path where we can do some work in our buildings to improve um connectivity especially around things like um safety and security when
029thinking about our tap app. Um so we we talked a little bit about that and how it would be both aable because we would look to run it through Boseis. We talked about the clock uh PA projects at both the middle school and high school. Uh noted that the middle school clocks were installed but not fully yet programmed and noted that the high school installation was beginning over break. So it has started um completion of both projects is anticipated to be done by the end of June. We talked about the building brighter futures project um shared updates on the fields, the middle school um work being done um progressing with no concerns. Also talked about the fact that uh we have done a lot to improve safety on this campus in terms of uh pedestrian
030walkways um specifically around our students. So um have done a lot in terms of sidewalks and signage um to help improve safety. Um we're now looking at um flashing uh push button crosswalk signs. So when students cross at those crosswalks, they can hit a button and it'll um turn the flashing lights on and create um greater safety on the on the district property. And then we talked about the future ready project um progressing as expected. Um we are looking at potentially upgrading Wi-Fi in our buildings as well as that infrastructure is starting to age. And then we adjourned at 5:22 p.m. Thank you. Any questions? >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Next, we have our student exio update. >> Okay, it's working. So, I have some updates for the month of December and like
031some things that are happening this week. Um, before break happened, we had our winter spirit week which was a great success and we had days like polar Polar Express Day, which is like a pajama day, and all different types of like Grinch versus Santa Claus Day. All types of holiday activities. The peer leaders sold chocolate, hot chocolate during lunch, and we have the jazz band perform during lunch. Um, we have a lot of concerts coming up or that happened previously. I know we have a couple this week and some next week. Also, before break, the creative design class created stuff animals for the first grade Armstrong. You guys have seen any of on our social media and Junior Achievement had their annual pizza competition which they were able to bring in. Well, I was in
032that class so we were able to bring in Mark Parina from Mark's Pizzeria and he designed pizzas for us and we had a winner and we got to try all all the different things. Um, winter sports are in full swing. Shout out to the basketball team. They're doing really good right now. And we have course selection that's happening this week and happened last week. And the end of the quarter is next Friday. So all the half year classes are wrapping up and we're getting excited for the new quarter and semester. >> Thank you so much. That's a lot going on. So we appreciate it. All right. That moves us forward to our consensus agenda. I have a motion to approve the consensus agenda. Dr. Littlewood. Any discussion? All in favor? Unanimous. And I have a
033motion to approve consensus items C through H. Motion Davis. Any discussion? All in favor? Unanimous. That moves us on to our action items. Can I have a motion to approve the 2026 HBCU trip March 11 or March 9th through 11th, 2026? Can I have a motion? Uh, Miss Mulla, Miss Sinowski, any discussion? All in favor? Vote is unanimous. Can I have a motion to approve the varsity hockey trip to Glenn's Falls, New York, January 30th through 31st, 2026? Can I have a motion? Mr. Reinhardt, Miss Mella, any discussion? All in favor? That moves us on now to superintendent comments. >> So, I'm trying to learn a little from Keandre tonight and read off of my phone. So, we'll see how this works. Um, want to start Do I need to grab the Thank you so
034much. Um, I'd like to start um tonight by taking a moment to congratulate Mr. Daly on his well-deserved retirement after more than 30 years in education. Yeah. His leadership, dedication, and commitment to students, staff, and the Gates Childai community have left a lasting impact on the district. So, congratulations to Mr. Dailyaly. Um, what a a fantastic career. As I step into this new role of interim superintendent, I am grateful to the board of education for the trust you have placed in me, and I look forward to working closely with you to ensure continuity, stability, and continued progress for our schools in the coming months. So, I know you heard a little bit about this already, but it's been a great first week here in GC 2026. We may have been um we may be short
035on snow this winter, but the Neil Armstrong Theater Club still managed to build a snowman with their performance of Frozen Kids. students let it go during a Thursday afternoon performance for our uh kindergarten through third classes followed by evening shows on Thursday and Friday for families and community members. This marked the first time in forever that Armstrong put on a musical production. Congratulation to all the stars and and thank you um to our uh principal Mrs. Scott and Mrs. Georgia. Uh to the um on to the Wizards. Um remember this Friday the Harlem Wizards are coming to town. Join us for a night of laughs and fun in the Spartan Fieldhouse for an event benefiting the Gates Chili Education Foundation. The Wizards will play against the team of allstar GC faculty, staff, and administration this
036Friday at 700 pm. You can purchase tickets ahead of time at the door. Doors open at 6. Please come and join us. It will be a great night. Then next week, the Florence Brasser Family Association and the Neil Armstrong Parent Teacher Organization are partnering to host Billy Martin's Cole Allstar Circus on Wednesday, January 21st at 6:30 p.m. in the Spartan Fieldhouse at the Gates Chili High School. This collaborative fundraising event will bring classic circus entertainment to our community. You can purchase tickets ahead of time at the door. Sorry, ahead of time or at the door. And one adult ticket includes free admission for two children 12 and under. Quick calendar reminder. As you move through the next few weeks and into February, we want to remind everyone that there will be no school for students
037and 10-month staff on Friday, February 13th, as this marks the first day of mid- winter break. This date was accidentally emitted from the printed calendar. Our apologies. As always, we encourage you to check the online calendar for the most up-to-date information on all upcoming events. gateschili.org/calendar. og/calendar. Earlier today, Governor Hokll delivered her annual state of the state address outlining priorities that will help shape the upcoming budget. Education related proposals focused on affordability and student success, including expanded access to child care and early learning, continued tuition freezes for Sunni and CUNI, and investments on evidence-based instruction, high impact tutoring, and educator preparation. She also emphasized supporting student well-being, including youth mental health and online safety, with additional details expected as the budget process moves forward in the coming weeks. Over the holiday recess, our elementary schools
038started receiving new classroom furniture, which has been a long time coming. As we shared in the winter edition of our district e newswsletter, this work is part of our long-term furniture replacement plan and was intentionally scheduled over break to minimize disruption for students and staff. You'll also see an you also saw an agend item on tonight's agenda related to the disposal of the old furniture from these spaces. Before removing furniture, the district made a good faith effort to reuse what we could by offering surplus desks and chairs at no cost to dis to neighboring school districts and organizations. Schools were invited to come view furniture and arrange their own pickup, but we didn't receive any requests, which really speaks to the condition of the furniture that had been in our classrooms for decades. Nobody wanted
039any of it. Any items that couldn't be reused were then responsibly removed as part of our installation process and per our board approved disposal processes. Overall, we've received very positive feedback from staff and this new furniture will better support teaching and learning for many years to come. We are still seeking budget ambassadors from our community for a great opportunity to dive into the district's budget and understand more about how we fund operation. will share that we originally had the the survey for budget ambassadors close out on this past Friday. We had one interested party. In the past, we've had anywhere from 8 to 15. No experience is necessary, but budget ambassadors must be residents of the district. This year's meeting dates are Monday, March 9th, Monday, March 16th, and if a third meeting is needed,
040Thursday, April 2nd. To apply to participate in this program, complete the form at gateschilai.orgbudget ambassadors by next Friday, January 23rd, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. We are very interested in having additional people sign up and can't wait for sharing more about the school budget. And finally, yesterday our district was one of hundreds of sessions featured at the future of education and technology conference. Miss Petraino and I led attendees through a presentation called From Clutter to Clarity: Designing Family First Communication, which was, of course, the story of our very successful Parent Square implementation. Showcasing this award-winning campaign and sharing the strategy behind it was certainly a proud moment for me and our district, and we hope it can help other districts around the country as well. That is it for my report, Mrs. Coffee. Thank you very
041much. >> Thank you. I'm now looking for a motion to adjourn our meeting. Mr. Reinhardt, Mr. Rowski. All in favor? The vote is unanimous. Our meeting is adjourned. Thank you.