001can I have a motion to resume public session littlewood miss kais 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 Republic for which it stands one nation under God invisible Liberty justice for all thank you everyone for being here tonight we love when we have our schools visit us and bring their children and all their families we are going to start tonight with our GC Pride Awards it is my honor yes uh it's my honor to uh be here to recognize some very important people that are connected to Florence brass Elementary we've we've had a student council in our building for many years two years ago our student council took the
002step forward to say Mr Young we want change M young we want playground we want swings working with Dr ball they got swings last year our student council wanted goal Nets on goals they got goal Nets on goals so I'm excited to now introduce you to the four new officers of our student council and I just don't know what to expect what they're looking for but we'd like to proudly recognize our exceptional Elementary student council officers for their outstanding leadership and commitment to our school Community these remarkable students exemplify the spart way through their unwavering respect responsibility hardwork and compassion inspiring their peers to follow in their footsteps they were chosen by their peers and they were voted by their peers their dedication to making our school a better place truly embodies the spirit of
003teamwork and a positive change and we couldn't be proud of their achievements so this time could I ask Cara hesford to come forward please Cara hesford [Applause] conrat Jason gutzmer [Applause] samay [Applause] Mara and lastly Amelia [Applause] Bliss thank you so much we do have a gift for you too and also we would like to take that picture after we announce our other GC Pride winners okay thank you you can go have a [Applause] seat this next person we want to recognize goes above and beyond to support her students she's always ready to jump in as a valued team member to tackle challenges and enhance our educational environment her gentle and kind approach combined with her perseverance and commitment to continuous Improvement ensures that every student receives the best possible learning experience we are truly
004grateful for her unwavering passion and inspiring example we'd like to call up Lee her [Applause] camp this next teacher um we would like to recognize for her her unwavy positivity and exceptional leadership within our school her warm smile and supportive presence create a welcoming atmosphere for both students and staff and as a dedicated team player she consistently collaborates to enhance our educational programs is the co-founder of the brasser express student run postal program which you'll hear a little bit more about later she has empowered students to take initiative and engage meaningfully in our school Community we would like to recognize Katie [Applause] lurin it is with great pleasure that we recognize Vera Morley for her outstanding contributions to our school Community as a flexible team player she consistently adapts to meet the diverse needs of
005our students bringing her extensive knowledge and Behavior Support to create a positive learning environment Miss ver Vera [Applause] moley and lastly we are thrilled to recognize Miss art who exemplifies what it means to be a great collaborator and a genuine support of our students with her sense of humor and positive attitude she Fosters a wonderful rapport with every student making learning enjoyable and engaging Lauren [Applause] yart thank you everyone good evening superintendent daily president coffee vice president Richards and the Board of Education thank you for having me tonight um this evening it is my great honor come on up here it is my great honor to present this GC Pride award to an outstanding individual who has exemplified professionalism respect innovation dedication and excellence in her service to the district officer Erica despard for the
006past two years officer despard has been an integral part of our district serving as our school resource officer and leaving an indelible mark on our school Community her steady presence in our buildings has not only ensured a sense of security for our students staff and families but has also reinforce the importance of safety in our daily lives she has been a constant reminder of what it means to to care for and protect our schools director and safety and director of Safety and Security s Bell who could not be with us tonight shared that in his few short months here in Gage cha he has routinely observed officer despard go above and beyond in her role as an SRO she has made it a priority to develop relationships with her students and staff alike and is
007always willing to go an extra mile she has a passion for school safety and was a driving force in formalizing building level threat assessment teams for the district as an integral member of our Safety and Security Task Force officer dbar brought her expertise to the table helping to make our processes more efficient and effective her ability to connect with resources Trends and even training through the FBI has been invaluable extending the impact of her work far beyond our district while her recent promotion to investigator with the gates Police Department means she will no longer serve as our SRO we know her past contributions will have a lasting impact she has been an exemplary liaison and partner and we are profoundly grateful for her commitment to our District's safety and well-being officer despard on behalf of
008the entire Gates chai Central School District thank you for your dedication to our schools your partnership and the countless ways you've gone above and beyond to serve congratulations on this well-deserved honor and best of luck in this exciting new chapter in your career thank you thank you those of you have a GC Pride award if you could go over here by Miss Peto she's going to take your picture congratulations to all of our GC Pride winners tonight thank you for all of your hard work all right do we have any agenda changes sir we have additions to personnel and a report on the track and field trip thank you that moves us forward to board president's comments again I want to welcome everybody who's here thank you for taking this time out of your evening
009especially knowing that last week of school before break is a little bit busy for most of us few things going on but we have so many wonderful things going on throughout our district uh that involve all of our staff and family and students I want to recognize that there's a swimming Invitational going on concerts for band and Chorus at all different ages both now and after break we have events such as Deca and the high school head competitions today and all of these pieces are going to make our community the place we want to be and where we want our kids to be so thank you again as we under this time of two weeks where we're not in our normal routine knowing that that can be stressful it can be exciting hoping that everybody's
010able to find a little bit of warmth a little a little bit of rest and reentering during that time and recognizing that what each and every family celebrates or thinks about or focuses on in this time is different so those of you that celebrate Christmas or Quanza or Hanukkah if there's something that your family does to take a break and refresh together wishing you all the best during this time do we have any points of interest oh hi hi who guys last week I attended the high school um band concert holiday Winter band concert um outstanding job as usual it was just nice to see a lot of again lot of families present for the concert wonderful thank you any additional points of interest uh Mr Bowski and then Dr Richards um last week I
011attended the Walt Disney uh Winter concert and the Middle School winter concert and the kids did a great job it was um just a really nice both nights were really nice so thank you good evening everyone um last Sunday or this past Sunday I attended the fourth grade basketball uh game where the Spartans won both games by an astronomical amount of points so we won't even embarrass the other teams and say by how much but it was great to see um the youngsters on the field on the on the field or on the court plane thank you any other points of interest okay thank you very much for sharing those do we have any visitor comments no okay that moves us on to reports and we're starting with the Florence brasser Elementary update good evening
012board president superintendent and members of the Board of Education my name is Tim young I'm a proud principal of Florence brasser and I'm excited to share updates from our school building over the past few months we've seen a significant transition with over 80 years of collective experience moving on in retirement or advancing into a new position from some key roles in the main office this change has brought together a new Dynamic team and I would love to introduce to you this team our new assistant principal Miss Kylie Smith our new building secretary Vanessa melli and our new attendance clerk Kate camerona we're excited for this new change and what this brings to brasser this year has been presented a share of hard work and challenges as many of as you know we've in introduced a
013new English language arts resource cka and implemented a Fresh Approach to literacy instruction through letters training additionally we continue to support our behaviors and our social emotional needs for all of our students amid these challenges and new adventures the Florence Brer team remains committed to our building goal learn lead and Achieve together by creating a responsive community of support for students staff and families this goal has been with us and is a guiding force for us over the summer our leadership advisor team comprising a dedicated group of teachers began laying the groundwork to align our practices with this Vision their focus was on three priorities students staff and families with additional support from our building leadership team Kristen gford Katie Lin Kristen Bish and Tara Roberts we worked to refine our Focus even further by
014early September our entire staff came together to finalize our goal for this school year tonight we're excited to share a few snapshots of how we are addressing these priorities at Florence brass Elementary while this year has brought some great new opportunities it also has underscored the strength of our community together we will continue to learn lead and Achieve we want start off by highlighting some great things that our staff are doing in our building to achieve our goals the first is really putting a strong priority on social emotional learning we have um implemented Community Circle books each grade level has an assigned book for every month that follows our seal curriculum past themes have included relationship building empathy in the zones of Regulation this month our classes are coming together to read about and discuss
015Community Support we continue to promote and a proactive and restorative approach to building a school community of respect responsibility hard work and compassion through schoolwide Community circles restorative responses to conflicts and re-entry meetings that welcome back a student after a suspension we encourage the embodiment of the brasser way through recognizing classes for showing the Spartan Way awarding Red tickets for positive traits and celebrating two best buses every month we work towards a collective goal of reaching a specific ticket number as a school but classes also receive monthly certificates so they can set goals for themselves as a class community over the last three years Florence braster staff has successfully implemented a comprehensive Equity plan utilizing the New York State crsc framework this plan was created by our staff for our staff and reflected our shared
016commitment to equity growth and continuous Improvement as we approached the end of this plan we set out to renew and broaden our new focus and that's what brings us to our new three-year Equity plan which extends Beyond just the staff but intentionally includes building leaders our students and our families as active participants through the dedicated work of our 20 plus member Equity team and our school Improvement team composed of staff and families we are proud to present our new Equity plan guiding us through the year 2028 the foundation of this plan is rooted in the New York State CRC framework while incorporating valuable input from stakeholders we surveyed former students that walked the halls of brasser we surveyed teacher leaders and we reached out to our families this collaborative approach ensures our plan is relevant
017inclusive and impactful as we gathered feedback families expressed their appreciation in hopes for our continued focus on Equity one parents said Thank you for taking feedback on this important topic we are a diverse community and our kids shall grow up and learning growing and sharing that another parent said this is wonderful representation Equity diversity and inclusion are extremely important to our family our child's first year has been wonderful and we anticipate more amazing years for him our school Improvement team is prepared for an official roll out for parents and families in January of 2025 this will include parent forums to engage and for families QR codes to for easy access for additional resources and informational Flyers to share key highlights and goals as we say goodbye to 2020 4 we are excited to introduce this
018new Equity renewed plan and to work together as a community to promote representation inclusion and growth for all this is the part I'm most excited about highlighting our students um we wanted to share with you this evening this really awesome project that our kindergarteners participated in recently with Mrs canana and our El teacher Miss Benedict students were asked to decorate and fill boxes with items from their culture and way of life they shared and explained their boxes to their classmates and then students had time to make connections so what you see over here there's a sampling of the cultural boxes and then this is a trifold that the class created together with commonalities between their cultures um the class spent time talking about what is similar and different about their col cultures and discover that
019they have the shared values of family holiday celebrations and hobbies we are incredibly proud of a staff that celebrates student diversity and of our students for sharing a glimpse of their culture with their classmates now I would like to bring up two of our teachers Miss Larin and Miss art and they're going to share a little bit about our brasser Express so once again I'm Lauren yart I'm Katie Larin and uh we we founded the brasser express last year with partial funding from a grant awarded by the Gage charite Education Foundation and we started it with the goal of promoting an authentic love for reading and writing for all of our students um and as fifth grade teachers we often see students avoiding wri writing assignments and wanting to help change the way we wanted
020to help change the way students viewed the task and students are able to write notes to their friends and teachers without worrying about receiving any corrections but all the letters are checked to make sure that they follow the brasser way guidelines and students never have to worry about having a teacher kind of tell them to fix their spelling or anything like that now however we've noticed students begin to appreciate the skill of correct grammar spelling and neat handwriting because it helps convey their messages clearly since the grand opening we've transitioned and now the post office is entirely run by students they do all of the training they do all of the work and honestly it's become pretty hands-off for the teachers so that's been nice we partnered with the fbfa for families to send postcards
021at school events um build relationships within our schools and we have plans to provide volunteer hours for high school students with a brass or bear letter program with support from our colleagues and we hope you enjoy this short video that our students help make to show you more about the brast or Express have to cck St members and students I for for you like letterers why thank you Miss art Miss Larin for the brainchild of such a great activity um the students really enjoy it I love when they said that they take ownership now and uh taking ownership at this this time we do have some ma mail carriers so if you could stand up and if you could board members we have given you a letter from a student they will be delivering it
022and then you have a blank copy if you do choose you can write a response and we will make sure that student receives that response so would you like to deliver a mail please yes all right go ahead deliver mail this happens twice a week at brasser it was funny uh tonight the fourth graders came looking for me and they said Mr Young where's the where's the bags I'm like I'm taking them to the board they no we need a fil for tomorrow morning they're ready to work so everybody got a letter all right nice job everyone those are second graders that concludes our brasser report thank you if you have any questions we'd be more than welcome to answer them but once again thank you for giving us the opportunity to share what is
023happening at Florence Brer thank you guys for being here in thank you for all of our families and staff for being here does anybody have any questions have a great night you guys you are of course welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting if you'd enjoy but you are also welcome to leave thank you guys so much we really appreciate you have a good night job everybody all right next we have our student ex oficio update good evening I'm going to start off with the middle school because I observed a student council meeting in November and the student council presented us with their new project called gratitude cards gratitude cards allow students and teachers to wrate cards with a treat attached for those who they're grateful for and I'll the middle school is
024starting its annual jar Wars competition where all classes get a jar to collect money but jars jar Wars Works differently than any other traditional fundraiser because any silvered coin will actually decrease the value of the class's earnings and I noticed that students are actually highly motivated to bring in pennies and dollar bills like I've never seen students so motivated for a fundraiser than there love it and the class with the most earnings will receive a donut party or a movie or a movie day and for the high school before Thanksgiving break students wrote cards for the staff they are grateful for and specifically those in junior achiever achievement economics we focused on writing cards for those who are not really mentioned a lot like maintenance staff and as we approach winter break both students and
025staff are celebrating with a winter Spirit Week today was a white out day for students and I have to say more students are participating than I've ever seen before I go in the lunchroom everybody's wearing white and teachers also had the opportunity to do it underground spirit week but I have to say I don't see many teachers participating and this week seniors have the opportunity to make holiday cards for veterans and those in hospice during their lunch in in addition I would like to thank everyone involved in addressing the heating issues in the high school the newly installed heaters in the back of the high school are an amazing addition and are highly appreciated by both students and staff thank you thank you I appreciate that you had the middle school and high school too
026that was wonderful and thanks for the help of the heating issues uh moving us forward to Capital project update totally planned it guys so Sor for issues I think that's Zan yes uh good evening everyone we're here for another Capital project update it's been about six weeks since our last update and there's been a lot that's happened so we'll dive right into it uh with this presentation so as always starting off with our general contractor the district office casework was installed uh early in December and as of today the district office staff has started the move into the new space so that also included the general contractor removing the temporary conditions you may have noticed on your Drive-In there's no longer a fence there uh outside the parking lot uh that has been cleaned up
027uh the temporary walls removed uh bathrooms everything like that removed and the facts once they completed the uh casew work in the district office moved over to the fa space to start installing the kitchen islands as well as all the wall and cabinets and Tall wardrobes and then as well the fax sewing room was finished last month High School technology the CMU walls so both interior and the what is currently exterior of the building have been uh installed Middle School the wall framing there is ongoing as well as uh starting to board and finish drywall Plumbing wise uh the sprinkler tieing is complete in the district office that is now a functional space the sinks have been installed in the district office casework and then the high school and middle school are continued underground work
028for new drains sinks and the like uh mechanical work we Balan the uh mechanical system systems in the district office for the movein the punch list uh mechanical and electrical are nearing completion of their punch list of the district office space so that are items that uh SEI the engineering team or campus have identified that still need to be completed uh following the uh substantial completion of the space the High School Technology duct work is still being roughed in uh so they're starting to install within the walls that are being put up in the space in the concrete block and then Middle School Technology they're continuing to run duct work lines there electrical wire wise uh the skylights were installed in the district office and then so the down lights were installed there as well
029as the hallway lighting the fax lighting devices in those two rooms are starting to be installed and then the fax teaching stations so the connections to where the teachers will take their desk to the smartboards have been installed and then middle school high school they're continuing to run conduit and start to pull wire in those spaces looking ahead into the new year uh the district office the one piece that remains uncompleted is the hallway carpet there were some delays with that as now we're expecting that to be complete by January and then as of this morning the blinds are complete in the district office those were installed last night uh fax we're going to finish installing the casework in that space uh install the dorm doors on the frames that are in the space and
030then final paint and just like in the district office remove the temporary conditions final clean and start the movein process for those teachers technology wise um we're going to pour the concrete floor slab and then start uh the structural steel for that space and building the roof and then continue contined mechanical electrical and plumbing installations Middle School Technology continuing to finish and install a drywall walls uh same thing with the mechanical electrical and plumbing continue it's going to be a theme moving forward with all the spaces and then uh the large Skylight in that space to let in light into some of the Interior rooms was installed last month as well they're going to finish that and then start laying out the flooring some good news we bid and award the phase two of this
031project which Kurt and I have been talking about for a year now um that was bid one week ago which will'll discuss the financials of that in a few seconds but in January 25 we plan on starting the Florence brasser work which is the new main office and then some offices in the back of the building so in January the contractors will be preparing the staging area for that space and starting the demolition of the two classrooms for the main office as well as a batement scheduled for February uh budget overview we're still at the same phase one contract values 20, 52900 and as of right now that is % build by contractors so they're 50% done phase two contracts this is no longer a budget value uh we have a recommendation to you the
032board tonight for 14,860 177,000 for the phase 2 public contracts that is slightly under where we are budgeting so that money has moved to the contingency dollars which has stayed around 2.3 for the past 12 months and is now showing $3 million as well as we carried allowances in phase two which we're showing between the two phases $500,000 in allowances for contractors some photos so this is uh the business area in the district office for where a printer is an office in the district office the one of the they the smaller of the two large conference rooms in the district office space a temporary work space workpace station in the district office this is the fax hardwood floor that I was talking about uh the slightly lighter section had to be removed and this is
033brand new hardwood floor in the sewing room or what will be the sewing room tiling in the hallway of the fa space so from goes to one kitchen or one uh teaching kitchen space to the other uh that wall is fully tiled this is a photo of inside the space there as you can see there is a lot of cabinets it's wall toall and then on the left hand side of the teaching Islands so where all the the teachers will show and demonstrate and then the students will work in that space so they'll have appliances ovens uh microwaves power like and then High School Technology so this is inside the uh one of the old classrooms uh on the right hand side will be the new hallway that exits the building and then this is
034a shot outside of the new classrooms taking shape uh with the concrete block another shot of that so the door frames as they're building them are being installed same with uh window window and openings this is the sky the very large Skylight in the you're welcome uh middle school so a photo of the back of some drywall in the middle school as well questions or comments I'm just a thumb up guy today I have one comment but it's not about the project did you guys plan the match today ay uh that's not what he was wearing this afternoon so I I had no idea that was a mistake went home to take care of the dogs and change clothes and totally forgot but CT was baby we thought we did actually we're close what your
035socks what kind of socks you have I think we have really insightful feedback tonight guys all right any other questions or comments thank you guys so much thank you thank you that moves us on to our track and field nope I lied project update go ahead bch really y it's part of this oh also part of this is the project update with Dr ball hello again thank you all right so just a couple of quick updates on the Future Ready project um as you know there's a proposition on the agenda for approval by the board tonight so wanted to give a final update before um that um motion and also before um we get ready to put this proposition out to the public so um again introductions um SE design campus construction you just heard
036from them um BPD U Municipal Finance could not be here tonight but um Chris Dar Carlo sens his regards um so when thinking about a capital project we have the planning phase the design phase and the build phase um we're currently um in the design or sorry the planning phase for a potential um project um where design would start next year um happening right now um as you heard we have the 2022 Capital project phases one and two um in terms of our priorities for this project a reminder that um one of our main drivers for the project was the building condition surveys as you know that's something that we have to do every five years where we look at all of our facilities top to bottom and Say and What are the things that
037need to be addressed in the near future um and then also prudent in um sound financial planning um we've done a really good job of saving up funds um to offset local shares and ensure that um we don't have an impact on our TCH Levy uh planning process we've had our meetings um I went over this um planning process a few months ago now um we've toured all of our buildings we've addressed um or we've talked about unaddressed items um as part of the um current and ongoing project we've met with building leadership um we've looked at all the mechanical needs um we've generated a scope list and then we began evaluating Financial impacts um more recently we've um engaged um community members um in terms of community forums we've met with um family associations
038um to share different information about the upcoming proposition um so final scope proposal um again these are our four main categories the failing infrastructure needs and Renovations and Replacements those are our three main categories and then a small amount of new work that's been identified through the process um at the high school um majority of the work is in failing infrastructure and Replacements um we know that there's a whole lot of work that needs to be done with that building at the Middle School uh Ren Ovations um failing infrastructure again um huge portions of the project um I know that we've shared details um on what that work would look like but again feel free um to ask any questions as you may have them um Florence brasser majority of the work on res Renovations
039um some new work in terms of the digital message sign and the kitchen expansion and we do know that the Florence brasser kitchen is the smallest Kitchen in the district and has been an item on um that's been identified as an area that needs to be addressed for the last three projects um so hoping that we're able to do that as part of um this proposal um Armstrong failing infrastructure uh Renovations and Replacements again major considerations um similarly at Paul Road a minute to look at that uh Walt Disney um the same uh the only new work being the digital message sign and then all of our other buildings again majority is in renovations and infrastructure considerations that are identified through the building condition survey so our Aid ratio is currently set at around 81%
040that can change slightly um but generally speaking it stays pretty consistent over time U maximum cost allowance how much work we can do in a building based on when we last did um work this resets every five years um looking at our existing Debt Service um our principal and interest payments on our the work that we've done in the past essentially our mortgage payments on our facilities um when those drop off um we certainly look at that and part of how we're able to fund this project without having a tax impact is that we're acknowledging some debt drop off and we would fill it with the work that we know needs to be done um our credit rating and then obviously that last piece of ensuring that we try as best we can um and
041certainly would be the case with this project when we look at Future Capital planning to um not have a tax impact to be prudent with um local resources overall project breakdown um the majority of it is in those three categories um we do know that we have a lot of infrastructure that if we don't address it um we will start to see things fail in the next five to 10 years and so um need to address those things now knowing that the process for a capital project is long um and as you can see in the the chart up above we would be looking to do work all the way through um 2030 which is obviously um five years from now so this process is long and we want to make sure to start to
042address things before we start to have serious or or considerable issues uh estimated referendum $88 million um no tax impact these are the two propositions um that we're hoping that the board will approve so that um we could put these out to the public um for their vote uh the $88 million um Capital project and then using $4 million in capital reserve funds for security infrastructure upgrades we created that reserve a few years ago um again through public referendum acknowledging that we do have a number of security things that need to be addressed um specifically some of the things that we would look to address with those $4 million includes the upgrading of um CL blocks and PA systems at the middle school and high school um they would also be um they would also
043be um able to um inform when there's a lockdown there's a system in there called informacast it would allow us to tie into our um our tap app um our notification system um and it would allow us to tie into our lockdown buttons and our system for lockdown um and then also to continue with the project um surrounding um putting electronic door locks on all classroom doors um and so this would be a continuation of those of that work um and it's needed work in the district to ensure that we maintain the highest level of Safety and Security for our students and staff uh we would look to put out a proposition on Wednesday February 5th on the vote being from 6:30 to 8:30 in line with our normal um vote schedule um at Spartan
044Fieldhouse at the GC um high school at once Spartan way any questions Mr long just a quick question it says not to exceed 88 million what happens if it comes to a point where you have to order something and it goes above we're unable to do that you cannot exceed um the publicly approved referendum amount soens like if you're in the middle of construction and you know how things go and you need a new steel beam or something it has to go over you have to go back to a referendum to purchase something there's options one of them being yes we would have to go to a referendum one is um two is I already said one um two is that maybe we don't um do that work um we pivot and do something else
045um you know C is we do another Capital project referendum and do an additional put it roll it into the next project there's a lot of different options and and levers that we have in order to address um situations like that budgets um especially when you're looking at Capital work they include contingency monies and those monies are set aside in case things do come up um ideally we hope to avoid those types of things if at all possible um the next logical question is what happens if we don't spend all the money that money goes into something called a Debt Service fund and we have to use that to offset future principal and interest payments on the on the project that was publicly approved thank you for that question any other questions I really appreciate
046the the visual breakdown with the charts too I think it helped me really put into perspective how much of it is like infrastructure repair that we need to be able to maintain our schools going so that helped kind of put it into context yeah and kudos to our our team our architext construction manager and also our director of communications for helping us work through the visuals on different things anything else thank you thank you now we have the track and field team trip to New York City January 10th through 12th 2025 sorry um but yes this trip and and I apologize for the for the sort of you know abruptness of this whole uh you know um night but for us to to plan some of these trips it does require us to let kids
047compete and participate find out what level they're at and then we can take some of those more Elite kids um and bring them to areas and create opportunities to allow them to compete at those high levels it's great for exposure it's great for college exposure it's state and National um you know just competition levels uh and we have kids that are there I mean these kids are really uh putting in the effort uh we want to give them and again create opportunities that may go far beyond uh Gates Chilai uh and again these are these are the kind of trips that that do come up so um we te we tried last year using Amtrak as a viable uh Transportation um you know source and it and it worked excellent it was great um it's
048a cheap much cheaper um you know uh Source than renting a bus or trying to come up with those large amounts of money uh a bus to get down there and back for a weekend right now is it's between like four and $5,000 I mean it's it's really it makes the trip undoable quite honestly but by using the Amtrak the kids can do work they have access to their their phones and computers so that they can do some things along the way um they can stretch out and relax uh and it just it's a it's just kind of a neat experience for everyone uh but as you can see we're talking about heading down uh leaving early on January 10th uh getting down there doing a little bit of work that day they would compete
049that Saturday the 11th and then we would travel home on Sunday the 12th uh and get back here I believe the the train I think it was on there I think it's like a 10:40 train uh and we'd get back here you know 7 8 o'clock um so it' be a long weekend but again it would be an opportunity for approximately 18 to 20 kids and again I put two of the coaches are listed on there there might be another coach uh that we'll be heading down with them but again I'm just looking for your uh support and blessing so that we can uh you know move on and make some hardcore um set our reservations and and make sure our deposits are in on time any questions I have a question yes um thank
050you Mr hammer what's the competition it's I think it's on the the sheet and I apologize I'm speaking on behalf of Mr Tindale sheet oh um you is it at the Armory it's at the Armory yep it's at the Armory it's one of the big events in the winter at the Armory um there are several divisions there's youth middle school high school and then open so our kids will see some some of the younger kids that are probably hitting some of the numbers they're hitting you know at the national level and then they'll also um get to see a little bit of the uh open competition too which is pretty incredible it's you know could be future Olympians and things like that so really cool cool experience you know I'm always a component for the
051track team India did well and got her yep her her full ride on the track team so anything that promotes getting our kids out there and seeing what's going on around them is always great absolutely any other questions thank you so much for sharing with us all right thank you very much for the opportunity that moves us on to the consens consensus agenda can I have a motion to approve the consensus agenda Dr Richards Miss Davis any discussion all in favor the vote is unanimous can I have a motion to approve consensus items C through G can I have a motion Miss Ka Mr along any discussion all in favor the vote is unanimous is it time it's time all right um we would like to formally welcome Kesha Carter uh who was just approved
052on the consent agenda she will be our new director of diversity equity and inclusion um starting January 13th Kesha's here thank you Kesha we're very excited to have you [Applause] congratulations we're excited to have you join us thank you that moves us on now to action items can I have a motion to approve the final Seeker resolution for $88 million project adopting a negative declaration as listed below I don't uh have a motion K Davis Nicole littlewood any discussion all in favor the vote is unanimous can I have a motion to approve the type two Seeker resolution for four million for the4 million dollar project as listed below can I have a motion this Ka Mr long any discussion all in favor vote is unanimous all right can I have a motion to approve the
053following resolution regarding the February 5th 2025 Capital project vote uh Miss kais miss littlewood any discussion all in favor Frank are you voting okay just making sure uh the vote is unanimous okay I have a motion to approve the capital Improvement project Phase 2 bids have a motion Miss kais Mr rowski any discussion all in favor the vote is unanimous can I have a motion to approve the appointment of Jessica Lon as District Deputy claims auditor for the 2024 2025 school year have a motion Miss Jennings Dr Richards any discussion all in favor the vote is unanimous be it resolve that the board approves the following 10year appointment at the December 17th 2024 meeting as recommended by the superintendent schools Shaina renell Shaina renell in the tenure area of literacy can I have a motion
054to approve the tenure appointment Miss Jennings Miss Davis any discussion all in favor the vote is unanimous can I have a motion to approve the track and field team trip to New York City January 10th through 12th 2025 can I have a motion Dr Richards Miss Jennings any discussion all in favor the vote is unanimous that moves us on to superintending comments as as discussed earlier by some of our board members uh our students and staff have been performing in concerts throughout the month of December uh the talent on display has been outstanding there's one more concert before break Wednesday night at the GC pack at 700 p.m being put on by the middle school band and jazz bands on Thursday December 19th there's also an opportunity at 7 p.m. to come hear over 80
055musicians made up of alumni current and former staff students and community members performing some spectacular songs of the season along with other exciting concert Selections in our beautiful Performing Art Center for our community band uh we learned this afternoon that we had seven teams and 82 students from the the fall recognized by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association for being scholar athletes this this demonstrates our commitment to helping our Spartans strive to achieve in all areas of their development and a reminder to our community that district office is closed due to us moving over to the high school this week uh there may be a delay in responding to email communication but we will get back to you and again we are thrilled tonight to add Mrs Carter to our Dynamic leadership
056team uh she will help make us better and we're excited to have her start on January 13th and she's a district resident and parent ready to come in and help us continue to get better and for those of you interested in budgeting because it's just fun a reminder that we're seeking budget ambassadors if you are a citizen that lives in Gates CH boundaries are 18 or older and want to learn more about our District's 2526 budget development please apply to be a budget Ambassador bless you at gates.com or/ budget Ambassador a reminder that our holiday recess this year begins next week there will be no school for students in 10-month staff beginning Monday December 23rd through January 3rd 2025 a reminder that the district is closed for all staff on Christmas Day and New Year's
057Day then we're back on Tuesday January 6th I'm sorry Monday January 6th uh choose to be patient and kind as we close out our final board meeting of the year please remember that although December is a time of celebrations it's also a time of stress for many of us please choose to be kind when interacting with our school staff whether it's our main office our attendance clerks receptionists assistant principls principls teachers bus drivers custodial staff please remember they work hard on behalf of your students every day please treat them the way that you want to be treated with kindness patience and respect and last but not least I heard great news just prior to our board meeting want to congratulate Lucas on being accepted to his top college Choice the University of Rochester where he's
058going to become a doctor so congratulations luas that is my report ma'am thank you sir can I have a motion now to adjourn the meeting ja Richards Miss Jennings any discussion all in favor no Mr long you want okay the vote is unanimous the meeting is now adjourned thank you