001Can I have a motion to resume public session, please? Miss Kais, Mr. Ernowski, any questions? All in favor? Thank you, Rob. The vote is unanimous. We will now stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And now we move on to GC Pride Awards. Good evening everyone. Good evening. Good evening everyone. Sorry. Where are you? Come on. Right up here Heidi. Uh I want to thank you all for giving us the time tonight uh to recognize there's going to be two students. Uh one is extremely tired and trying to catch up on his work uh from the music trip. So we give him all
002his props for being a leader in that sense. Uh with us tonight is Heidi Tran. She has been a multiple sport athlete for us uh for a number of years. Uh she is a diver in the fall. Uh a very good diver uh competing at the county level, sectional level. Uh and she is a also a very uh very good palter. So, uh, she represented Gates Chili and section five at the New York State Championships in the winter. Uh, and she's, you know, right back at it here in the in for her outdoor season. Uh, she was a member of the section 5 uh, championship team in the, uh, winter. Uh, she's a leader in, you know, throughout our community in the hallways, through the music department, through everything she does. Uh, just an exemplary
003student. Um she will be continuing pole vaultting at the University of Bingmpington next year and studying pharmarmacology. So again when we talk about Spartans when you open the dictionary this is one of the faces you'll see in there and we're very proud of her. Heidi Tran. Our other uh award winner tonight uh was going to be Noah Leatheritch. uh another three sport athlete uh uh participates in volleyball and is an allcount performer in the fall. Uh also represented us at the New York State track and field championships in the winter uh band. Uh he also went to the Nike nationals. That's a little bit above, you know, what we only go to the state level. If kids do want to participate and they qualify, they can continue to really get on that national stage and
004and he was one of them. Uh he finished fifth in the state this year uh at the national indoor uh or at the state indoor championships uh before heading to the Nike uh nationals. Again, a great leader. He's going to be heading to Robert's Wesland and also continuing to pull Vault there uh and studying computer science. So, two very worthy uh Spartans uh we can all be proud of and and certainly uh we just appreciate the opportunities that you as the board uh and the district provide to give these kids the opportunity to perform at these levels. So, thank you very much. Do you still want her yet? Still going to get your pick. Then you and I will get a picture with Noah tomorrow. Congratulations to both Heidi and Noah. Agenda changes. We have
005added uh the FFA report and changes to personnel. Thank you so much. Tonight for board vice president's comments, today was an interesting day for Rochester weather. I think for a minute I forgot we were in almost mid end of April versus being in the middle of a January storm. Um we just like to wish our fifth grade uh family fun night a huge success that's taking place right now. That's actually where President uh Coffee is with her daughter. So, we hope that they're enjoying and having a good time. And we also like to wish a successful Florence Brasser College Wear Day that is coming up this week. And we take this opportunity to wish our families a fun and safe upcoming spring break. Enjoy yourselves and continue to be safe. Any points of interest? Miss
006Kais, I put my notes here. It's gonna be a long one. I returned today from the universal trip with the Gates Chilai High School music department. Um I've always known that it was a lot of work going into the trip for both the students and the directors. There's a lot of moving pieces. There's a lot of planning. I had the opportunity to go along um years ago on a trip to Chicago. This one's a little bit different with flying and trying to coordinate 172 kids flying um 13 chaperone staff. It was just an incredible amount of work. So, um, you know, this the all the music directors were incredible. Um, our planning, organizing person, Mrs. Bala, did a fantastic job getting things, um, set up. And then we had, uh, Mrs. Braid from the high
007school and Mrs. were both there. Um, and they worked very hard. And our school nurse was on 247. She was exhausted at the end. Um, and just the dedication that they showed for being there. Um, and the learning opportunities for the students. Not only did they do the workshop that they went there for, which I know there'll probably be a presentation at some point. You'll see the final product of that, the things they got to learn from that workshop were amazing. Um, but the I didn't really realize all the life lessons the kids learn on a trip like this. Um, a lot of freshmen coming in that got to go, right? And it's um learning how to have roommates for the first time, sharing small spaces, remembering your room card, remembering your park ticket, remembering
008to keeping your phone charged, like all those responsibilities. And there were like lots of life lessons along the way there. But I can definitely see how there's a lot of growth opportunities for our students to be able to do something like that, especially for kids who have never had a chance to travel or fly. Um it was just an incredible experience. So, I really appreciate the district's support in those activities and the dedication of the staff to make it happen. Thank you. Any other points of interest, Miss Davis? Thank you. Um, this past weekend, President Coffee, Vice President Dr. Richards and I um all traveled to Atlanta for the National School Board Association uh national annual conference. Uh, great experience. Um, got to attend some different sessions. Um the path that I kind of took
009that I focused on was engaging student voice. Um and actually was coincidence um in the first session I went to about that there was a gentleman in just attending the session who was a representative of the National Student School Board Association or membership or whatever. Um and he had a group around him ask you know that was asking him questions and he was giving information to and I wanted to talk to him about how we've done this. Now, this is our second year, and he happened to sit behind me in the second session I went to the next day. And so, we got chatting about it. Um, and he was very impressed with what we've done and and how we've, you know, tweaked the role between last year and this year to kind of make
010it work for us better and excited about where we're going with it. So, I was proud to kind of talk about that and our experience there. Um, but yeah, some really great ideas. Went to a couple great keynote sessions um that I think Dr. Richards is going to talk about as well. Absolutely. Um to round off points of interest, um to follow up with um Miss Davis, we absolutely had a a great time at the National School Board Association conference. Um continuing to learn um new things and continuing to be proud of how we're doing things here at Gates Shalai. We are definitely setting the stage um and charting the path for some great work. And Dr. Dr. Goldie Muhammad was one of the sessions that we went to um for a lunchon and she's
011phenomenal just kind of giving us points and keys about curriculum and instruction and in this world that we're living in right now where we know that um diversity, equity, inclusion is is a hot topic for some, but we know that for us here at Gates is actually doing the work. So, it was phenomenal to be able to attend that conference and continue the learning. Any other points of vision? Mr. Serowski? Um, I attended the middle school art show and book fair last week and I thought the book fair was a nice addition to the annual art show. Um, we have a lot of really talented students and it was nice to see all their work on display. So, thank you. Thank you. Any other points of interest? Awesome. We'll move on to report of meetings.
012No. No report of meetings. Awesome. Any visitor comments? Nope. Thank you. So, next up we have our athletics report. Dr. Richards, Superintendent Daly, members of the board and cabinet. Uh thank you again for giving me the opportunity to uh speak a little bit tonight about the state of the athletic department and kind of some some great things that we've got going. Um if if I'm going along and you have any questions, please feel free to ask. So again, just our agenda pretty much the same format. You'll see we're down about 50 kids uh in overall athletics this year. Uh we're kind of looking into that situation and just seeing where the shortfall lies. Um you know, we've been holding pretty steady and and building since COVID. Uh but this year we just took a little
013bit of a hit and again uh we won't know what that's all about until we dig a little deeper. So that's pretty much the same. So our our scholar athlete um recognitions as of right now, these are just through the fall and winter. So, our spring is not on here. Last year, I believe I did this presentation in June and that included those numbers. So, don't look and think that we went down in these. The kids are doing great. Uh we've got a lot of teams that uh are extremely successful uh and doing a great job. And again, the role the role and the lessons here uh are to develop skills that get you in life. You're a student athlete. Uh you've got to be a student first. And we want to make sure we
014highlight that. All right, some honors. Uh, again, this is through fall and winter, so we still have a long way to go. Um, we had 52 student athletes, you know, all county recognition, uh, at the various levels. Again, that's in all of our fall and winter sports. uh our students that went to the Nike nationals. Uh we had uh Noah, as I mentioned earlier, and then we also had a uh a relay team go that actually earned all-American status. Um and that was uh four young men who did the shuttle relay, which is a little bit different looking uh than a normal relay. So, uh it's sort of a down and back type thing. Um but again uh very interesting to watch but again competing at the national level and giving these kids exposure to
015not only the level of competition but college scouts all that other all the other great things that come along with it. Uh we had a student this year was all great at Rochester. He's actually the libero of the year Luke St. uh uh St. Clair and uh he'll be back which is the best thing. He's an underassman. Uh we had a nice volleyball season and and that really topped it off for Luke. just a great young man and again he representing us in a very positive way. Uh we had four students to go to states this year. Uh and we set some some nice milestones and records along the way throughout the season. Uh and right here Heidi is holding our what is affectionately known as a block. So if you're not into athletics, you
016want blocks. Those blocks signify sectional championships. And I've got to say uh and I think I have it on another slide as well. We we came one point from a sweep. Uh, so our boys came one point short. Girls stepped up, came through with some some great performances, made it happen at Nazareth. Uh, and I want to say thank you to Chief Long. Wears a lot of hats in this community. But, uh, he was a board member, he was the police, you know, he did everything and got those firemen in there and, uh, gave these girls a nice, uh, you know, escort into town, uh, with some sirens and and very welld deserved. Uh and then we had eight seniors participate in senior all-star games in different sports uh throughout the two seasons. So our
017unified sports is continuing to grow and as this grows throughout the state uh Monroe County and section 5 are certainly supporting it. It's an unbelievable experience for everyone involved. For the people in the stands, for the kids who are partners, uh for the kids who um don't necessarily get involved in varsity sports that take advantage of this opportunity, it's incredible. It's incredible to see our kids step up and I said everyone that attends these and is a part of this learns equally. Um so again, this is something that uh we have supported. Gates has been at the forefront of this since the very beginning. We actually held the first couple youth uh activation um you know big meetings for section 5. They were held here run by our kids. So I take great pride in
018knowing that uh we're sort of part of that foundation uh that's being built around. Uh and they're actually looking to expand and possibly go into flag football which I have a feeling, you know, through conversations that that is something we hope to uh bring to you shortly and and hopefully we'll we'll get your support. So, our our sectional events, Gates Chili is the place to be, and there's no question about it. Our facilities are second to none. They're getting better by the day. The two new stadiums that are going to be here, uh, you know, on the by Buffalo Road and the Garden Factory, again, are going to be state-of-the-art, high-end, multi-use facilities. uh both baseball, softball, uh lacrosse for both boys and girls, uh soccer for boys and girls, uh fizzed stations for learning
019throughout the day, and then also um you know, just available for teams to practice on. So even baseball, you know, I'm just using as an example, when you're in there, when you're in the gym taking ground balls off a gym floor, it becomes counterproductive after a while. It's not realistic. It basically teaches you some bad habits. Now we'll have spots where kids can go out and actually work meaningful drills, get quality repetitions, uh, and really hone in on their skills. Um, which again is just a huge advantage for us. Um, you can see that we hosted a lot of events here again this year. People are calling all the time. It's it's I we actually say no more than we say yes just because our people need a break. Our yellow coats are putting in
02012-h hour days at some of these cheer events uh and some of the volleyball events. Um the only reason why we didn't have the Gary Adler kickoff tournament here this fall uh was because the way school started, it had to be on a weekday and we couldn't support it. So Fischer stepped up. They took the the boys. Uh we still had the girls. Next year with the way the schedules fall, it will fall back to um to us hosting the Gary Adler, which is basically it's the full section 5 kickoff tournament in the fall, which is uh just an awesome experience. Uh but some of the fans and crowds and and games that we had here over the winter were absolutely electric. Um, and as the as section five, we just at the last AD
021meeting, we talked about, you know, is the basketball, are they still talking about going down to the Blue Cross Arena or are they going to try to utilize, you know, a place like ours, maybe a Rush Enria more? Um, so again, the opportunity will be there for us to host, bring people into our community, let them see what we have, let them see how we run things. Uh but overall very complimentary uh for the people that attended. I know Jeff can speak on the volleyball. It's always a great uh you know great event. Um and people like I said they want to be here. It's a great place and again you guys are making that happen with your support uh and and speaking for our community and providing these kids with these kind of facilities.
022So thank you very much. Uh senior highlight again. Heidi's holding the block. That's our That's our big one now. And again, I I one point short. It's breaking my heart. Uh but the boys right now are incredibly motivated. They are ready to go. Uh we're hoping for a sweep. And I just had the end of the year, my end of the year coaches meeting with uh Coach Tindle and I said, "We are to the point now in track where it's not a it's not a goal to win the sectional title. It's it's the expectation. We have the numbers. We have the kids. We have the coaches in place. where we should be competing every single season. We take that the track and field. Um, and that's what our other programs are aspiring to get to.
023So, again, we're in a great place. Um, and again, it's because of people like Heidi, uh, that really make it happen. I put basketball summer leagues back up there because when I first arrived at Gates Chili, we had we had a strong strong girls basketball team. We had just been to the States uh, I think two years in a row. We went to States my first year. Um, and then there were some coaching changes, some other things, just a lot of things happened that, you know, we sort of lost the summer league. We lost uh sort of those feeders. Um, you know, we have our junior Spartan program that feeds in. We have, but then we really need to get our kids take them from there to the next level. We're back now to a
024full JV, varsity, and modified summer league on both the boys and girls side, which again is a great sign and a great uh indicator of of where those programs are heading. The free girls basketball camp, Coach De Moore uh wanted to be more involved and wanted to give more more young uh girls an opportunity to get exposure to the game to again be a part of our basketball community. So over February, uh he ran a a girls camp uh free to our community members and it was great. We had about 42 girls show up. Our varsity team served as coaches uh and as instructors and really made a connection with those younger girls which is again providing the the role models and leadership that uh they need. So again, that's a very very positive direction.
025Uh what do we got here? Uh we had four kids uh go to the New York State track and field championships as I said. Uh our Nike national group. Um you know Noah competed in the pole vault and then we had our um our shuttle relay and then we also I want to say thank you again uh for your approval to send our kids to the Armory in New York. We had a group go down. It just the whole experience is just great. I mean, we get on a train here, they train down, they stay together, they compete, they see kids from all over the country. Uh, it's in one of the iconic uh, you know, track venues uh, in New York State and they get to compete and they do very well. And again,
026I want to thank you. That's that's above and beyond what we offer as a athletic program. Uh, but for those kids who can go and qualify, it's something very special. And then there's been so much buzz. I can't even tell you the amount of people that are coming up and talking to me about the ground that you know that they see moved over uh where those two new stadiums are going to be. The excitement in the air, the excitement around section 5 and Monroe County. Uh it's crazy. I mean, I've got I've got adult leagues, you know, calling. I've got um Gates Little League and and our softball is really trying to uh you know, get their mitts and and get get in on it. Um and we will take care of our community. we
027will make sure that our young programs get uh what they need. Uh and again, that tax dollar will be well spent. Um and it'll certainly help uh again provide opportunities for our kids on both the boys and girls side. Heidi, do you want to say any I'm talking a lot. Let me speak a little bit about your experience. Talk about your states. Talk about your sectional championship. Brag it up. This is your This is your opportunity. Hello. Um, well, sectionals, indoor sectionals was pretty great. Um, as you know, we won champions. Um, it was actually really fun because as a team, we worked together and definitely united more recently since we've definitely um become more of a family and a team. And um even though we each still have like our individual groups like a
028pole vault or sprinting or distance groups, we definitely came together for like those big meets and definitely united to team together and support each other. Um states was a great experience as well. It's definitely um very comfortable and nice that Section 5 has supported us through that and that we get to experience that experience as a whole together with different schools and being able to see friends that I compete with on the bus and in hotel rooms. And then just being able to jump against other people definitely with like equal competitions and just having a good time seeing other coaches and definitely getting experiences about college and everything is definitely an inspiration to look forward to and help support the community about pault and track. Yeah. Any questions for while she's up there? see why
029she's a champion. Thank you. I do want to say thank you to the music department and band as well. Uh, you know, whether it's pep band at the basketball games, whether it's, you know, we tell kids to be quiet in the halls and just kind of get to your classes. Well, when they when they go to states, we line them up, we march them down the hall, the drum lines banging, you know, they're making all kinds of noise as we march them out to the bus, and it's a pretty special event. So, uh, again, I just want to make make you realize that it's really a school community, uh, event, and the more people we can get involved, the better. Just had a couple other little highlights that weren't necessarily um, I guess worthy to
030to put up here, but tomorrow, Coach Fontet uh, is taking a pretty good group of of young men to spring practice at Syracuse. So, as a Syracuse alum, he made some calls. Uh the the transportation department was able to to get us a bus. Uh so, we're taking some kids down to show them what I mean, Syracuse is high level football. It's major college football, you know, ACC. Um but these kids are going to see things. They're going to see players that they didn't even know existed. Um and then they'll get to see them on TV, which is pretty cool. But, so they'll be part of the drills. They'll be listening to the college coaches drill and instruct during that time. Uh, and then, uh, I think they're going to get some interaction with the
031players as well to ask some questions about, you know, high school to college transition, uh, recruiting process, things like that. Um, so again, I think that's just a a nice nice thing that that coach put together, uh, to provide an experience for our kids. And then I just want to remind everyone that Thursday night we have our elementary volleyball night. So, uh, the education foundation is sponsoring that once again. We're looking for a good crowd, a good time. Uh, and you know, it's up in the air this year. Uh, I think Brasser took it last year. I've been at Brasser the past couple days. They're pretty fired up right now, I got to tell you. So, if I put money down, it could be on the Bears, but uh, I think the other the other
032schools are ready to go, and it should be a very good night. All right, any questions? Yes, Miss Davis. Can I go to Syracuse tomorrow? If you want to get here, we have a spot on the bus. You're the board. You always have a spot on the bus. Thanks. Back to back to your uh elma mater. Any questions? Thank you very much. Appreciate the time. We appreciate you. Thank you. He All right. Hopefully we'll be back in June with another block. That you will. Thank you. Next up, we have finance, facilities, and audit update. Dr. Ball, uh, I do have a couple of blocks from high school, but they don't belong solely to me. They were to some of the teams. Uh, so with that, uh, good evening. I'm Mitch Baldy, assistant superintendent for business.
033Uh, good evening, Mr. Daly, Vice President Richards, the board of education. Thank for having me to share the finance facilian audit report. So the finance facility audit committee was on March 24th. Um we talked in terms of auditing, Miss Sanford shared um the update on the risk assessment audit um noting that we would have a focus area of purchasing and dispersements. Um we talked about the claims auditor noting that there's some restructuring going on in the district office and so we would need to appoint a new um claims auditor for next year. So talked a little bit about that. Um we talked about or sorry deputy claims auditor. Um in terms of finance uh we talked about um our investments and shared the fact that our district um has one of the two highest scores
034in the entire country in terms of our investment strategies and our use of um strategic liquidity. We had a perfect 100 score. We are one of only two other entities. the other one being um a library system in the Carolinas. So, we're very proud of that and the work that the team is doing. Um in terms of the budget and the um where we're at with the budget, just shared um some information on where the budget's at. Um talked a little bit about the administrative restructuring savings and um relayed some um plans for potential state aid um if it comes as anticipated. We talked a little bit about a bud bus purchase plan that's going to be tied to one of our propositions um that um will hopefully go out to the public assuming board
035the board um approves that. Um and that would allow us to save approximately $180,000 in um debt service issuance cost and um interest costs over um yeartoear over the next number of years. Um we talked a little bit about the comprehensive long range planning study and um how we're continuing to investigate various um consultants to partner with in terms of the capital projects. Um just shared status on the building brighter f project and um what's going on with those projects. um also shared some information on the future ready project and the upcoming stakeholder meetings that are currently ongoing and talked a little bit about the state approval process. Um shared an update on the potential solar project um as was shared in in the prior meeting. Um we are continuing to advocate for some legislative
036efforts specifically with Senator Cooney around um helping us get the aid that um we hope we can receive for that um potential large solar project that would offset um energy cost in the district. um talked a little bit about um some planned storage for band. Um noting that um we're looking to install a um small storage building um outside the performing gate performing arts center um for theater and music storage. Uh talked about the basement storage area, how the project has wrapped up and that we'll see fiscal savings by to bring back um documents that are stored at Iron Mountain. um we would see approximately a $30,000 a year savings by bringing those documents back in house. And then um shared some information about the operations center and the um rehabilitation of the previous administrative
037offices and how the progress is going to repurpose the use of that building. Any questions? No questions. Thank you, Dr. Paul. Thank you. Have a great evening. So that moves us on to consensus items and approval of the consensus agenda. Can I have a motion to approve the consensus agenda? Miss Littlewood, Miss Kais, any questions? All in favor? Motion is unanimous. Can I have a approval for consensus um items? Motion to approve consensus items C through I. Motion, please. Miss Jennings, Miss Davis. Any discussion? All in favor? The vote is unanimous. And that moves us [Music] to one more action items. Approval of extra classroom activity funds second quarter. Can I have a motion to approve the extra classroom activity fund second quarter? Mr. Long, Miss Jennings. Any discussion? All in favor? The vote is
038unanimous. Next, we we will action to approve the capital reserve fund. Can I have a motion to approve the resolution to establish a new 10-year capital reserve? Motion, please. Miss Littlewood. Miss L. Mr. Log. Any discussion? All in favor? Vote is unanimous. Next, approval of resolution author authorizing issuance of individual procurement cards through ASBO. Can I have a motion to approve the resolution authorizing issuance of individual procurement cards through ASBO? Motion, please. Miss Kais, Mr. uh Mr. Long. Any discussion? All in favor? vote is unanimous and that takes us to superintendent's comments. So, Gates Charlie is once again leading the charge in sustainable student transportation. As you know, the district recently began receiving our 10 additional electric school buses. Among the new arrivals is a major milestone, the first electric school bus in New York
039State equipped with a wheelchair lift. This investment reflects our continued commitment to innovation, sustainability, and equity. And as our athletic director recently shared, we're just two days away from the Gates Charlie Education Foundation's third annual Mitchball Ball Volleyball Tournament. The event, a rivalry between our four elementary schools is Thursday, April 10th at 5:30 p.m. in the Spartan Fieldhouse. Tickets are a dollar per person with a can of food to donate or $5 without. Come see our four elementary buildings compete for the Ball Bus Trophy. And this week, we're getting a bird's eyee view of some of the construction happening at our middle school. As you know, crews are working on the multiple turf fields south of the school near Buffalo Road. In addition, last week crews finished up the middle school technology, art, and health
040classrooms. We have some new photos of those spaces as well. The completion of this work clears the way for work to begin on the music classrooms at our middle school. And despite rumors, that is not a ski hill that we are developing along Buffalo Road. Also this week at the middle school, they're hosting two sessions about the grade level reconfiguration that will take taking place next school year. The in-person session was today, but families are encouraged to join the virtual session on Teams at 5:30 on Thursday, April 10th. Links can be found none other than parent square. We continue to wait for our finalized state budget so that we can finalize our district budget. We will keep you posted on the status of that if it comes anytime soon. And a reminder that at our
041last board meeting, there were some important calendar changes as relates to the last day of school for our students. The last day of school for high school students, grades 9 through 12, will be Monday, June 16th. Exams will continue through June 25th. The last day of school for middle school students or grades 6 through 8, will be Monday, June 23rd. In addition, please note that Friday, June 20th and Monday, June 23rd will both be half days for our middle school students. And the last day of school for elementary school students or grades UPK through 5 will be Tuesday, June 24th. In addition, please note that Monday, June 23rd and Tuesday, June 24th will both be half days for our elementary school students. In the event of another emergency closing, this schedule may be adjusted again,
042though we are only predicted to get an inch and a half of snow by tomorrow. And finally to wrap up tonight, I'm excited to share that the latest publication by the School Administrators Association of New York or SEIES featured two articles highlighting the incredible work happening in our district. Brick by Brick, Building a Culture of Literacy written by K- through5 literacy coach Jen Christensen, director of elementary Sarah Mousino, and director of communications Eva Petraino shares our district's journey in strengthening literacy instruction, specifically shining a light on the changes made by our teachers at the classroom level to support students varied literacy needs. Meanwhile, a CE staff writer highlighted the structural changes we supported to drive impactful literacy instruction and the article titled How K through2 administrators support change in New York State. The publication is
043linked on our district homepage. Please join me in celebrating the wonderful work our staff and the tremendous impact it's having on our families. That is my report. Madame Vice President, thank you so much. Can I have a motion to adjurnn? Miss Davis, Miss Littlewood. Any discussion? All in favor? We are adjourned.