001I know. Good evening everyone. This is an exciting evening for at le definitely our board members and I'm sure all the parents out there and all our retirees or tenure candidates and so forth. Uh it's an exciting evening for the board of education to be able to sit here tonight. Uh most of our meetings are, you know, over budget and that type of discussion, but this evening we're here to celebrate uh some great occasion, glorious occasion. So, with that being said, we'll call the meeting to order. And can we please rise for the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty, justice for all. Okay, we'll move forward with our uh tenure recommendations. We'll have a resolution
002and then we'll have uh building principles come up and introduce the tenure candidates. Be it resolved the board of education upon the recommendation of the superintendent approve the following tenure appointments as presented to the board at this meeting. Can I have a motion please? Motion by Tom. Second. second by Janine. We have um the various list of tenure candidates. I believe you all reviewed them. Uh any questions, comments? Okay, we have a motion on the floor by Tom, seconded by Janine. All those in favor? Opposed? So carried. Okay. So now we'll uh we'll recognize the tenure candidates. Uh, we're gonna actually start out with Mr. Zimmer and Mr. Boyd, Dr. Boyd is going to speak on his behalf. [Applause] Good evening everyone. Um I have the pleasure of recognizing Bill Zimmer, our um assistant superintendent
003for curriculum and instruction. Bill has been in education for 33 years, 16 as a teacher and 17 as an administrator. Um, he has helped us in three different capacities. He was our high school assistant principal, our high school principal, and lastly serving as our assistant superintendent for curriculum instruction. Um, Bill has a tendency here to get tenure and then move to another position. Uh so he did that as assistant principal, principal and now he's just moving on to we're not sure what yet uh for him. Um but what I can say is we are going to miss Bill dearly. Um he has been a great colleague, a great peer uh and a great friend for all of us and uh we can't thank him enough for all of his years of service. Good evening everyone.
004Thank you. All right, I got a bunch. So, here we go. Bobby. Bobby has been with the Highland Central School District since 2019, where she started at the high school's flex class. Over the years, she has consistently demonstrated dedication, adaptability, and a strong commitment to student success. From her early days as a substitute to her current role as a full-time teaching assistant, Bobby has made a meaningful impact through her work in special education, volunteering, coaching, and being supportive of school events. Bobby's passion, reliability, and deeprooted dedication make her truly deserving of this recognition. Congrats, [Applause] All right, next up, Kendra [Applause] Elliott. All right. Kendra has brought professionalism, dedication, and a heart to Highland Elementary since joining 2021. As a special education teacher in ICT classrooms across first, third, fifth, Kendra has consistently delivered thoughtful,
005inclusive instruction while building strong partnerships with colleagues and families. Her leadership is evident through her work piloting CKLA, contributing to the New York State Assessment Development, and serving on the PBIS Sunshine and direct committees. With a deep commitment to equity and student success, Kendra is a true asset to our school community. Oh, wait, wait. Don't go too fast. [Applause] All right, Miss Frriie. [Applause] Miss Frriie has consistently demonstrated dedication, flexibility, and compassion in every role she has held at Highland Elementary over the past four years. From supporting students across all grade levels to becoming a steady presence in both self-contained and kindergarten classrooms. Miss Richie brings calm, care, and student- centered mindset to her work. Her ability to support academic instruction, manage behaviors, and foster strong connections with students reflects her unwavering commitment. Congratulations, [Applause]
006Emma Halpern. [Applause] Emma has consistently demonstrated empathy, professionalism, and a deep commitment to student growth. Since joining Highland in 2021, from her start as a K2 self-contained teacher to her current role in a third grade ICT classroom, Emma has embraced every challenge with creativity, care, and a student- centered mindset. She is a collaborative educator, actively contributing to the PPIs and direct committees and making a meaningful impact as a coach for modified boys soccer and girls lacrosse. Emma's adaptability, integrity, and strong connection with students, families, and colleagues make her a truly deserving candidate for tenure. Congratulations, Miss Klein, come on [Applause] up. Miss Klene, she has been a dedicated presence since 2005 through various roles, volunteering, substituting, and now teach as a teaching assistant for the past four years. Cindy has worked across multiple grade levels,
007bringing an immense amount of enthusiasm and a commitment to supporting both students and staff. Her background as a certified teacher with a masters in elementary education shines through in her instructional support. Beyond her her daily responsibilities, Cindy contributes to school spirit as the Sunshine Committee chair. Congratulations, [Applause] Lindseay [Applause] Welch. Lindsay has been a dedicated and impactful speech language pathologist at Highland Elementary since two 2021. Beyond her professional duties, Lindsay has contributed meaningful meaningfully to school culture through her leadership on the direct committee, neurodeiversity initiatives, and girls on the run coach. Her commitment to continued learning paired with her warmth, professionalism, and advocacy makes her an invaluable member to our school community. Congrats, Lindsay. Daniel White. [Applause] Danielle has spent the past four years as a dedicated special education teacher in one of our 1211
008classrooms, consistently bringing patience, structure, and compassion to support students. Danielle is deeply committed to both her students and her own professional growth, having pursued extensive training in the science of reading and OG to strengthen her literacy instruction. She has contributed meaningfully to the HMH into math pilot and the direct committee. Showing her willingness to lead and collaborate, Danielle creates a calm, supportive classroom where every student feels seen and empowered, making her a valuable member of the Highland Elementary community. All right, here we go. Last one. Cassidy Wooduff. [Applause] Hey, Mom. Cassidy has been a valued part of the Highland Ele elementary community even before her official hire in 2021, demonstrating reliability, flexibility, and a deep commitment to students during her years as a substitute. As a full-time special education teacher, Cassidy has excelled in co-eing
009roles, especially in first grade, where her warmth, patience, and creativity have helped young learners thrive both academically and socially. Beyond the classroom, she contributes meaningfully to our school culture through the Sunshine Committee, Bridge Academy, and other school events like the Tall and Small Ball. Cassid's kindness, dedication, and student centered approach make her a vital and welldeserving candidate for tenure. Congratulations, [Applause] Okay, good evening. I only have one candidate and he's here. So, uh Oh, okay. Sorry. Thought I wasn't loud enough. Uh so, Mr. Shawn Donahghue. Uh Mr. Mr. Mr. Donnyu is our marvelous seventh grade ELA teacher at the middle school whose passion for teaching innovation instruction and dedication to students make him an ideal candidate for tenure with degrees in English and teaching from Sunni Potsnam and being elected by the students as most
010likely to own a dragon a pet dragon. uh which if you know Shawn makes sense uh brings brings both expertise Shawn brings both e expertise and creativity to his classroom using strategies like socratic seminars project-based learning and my personal favorite a Shark Tank style writing projects to engage students. Um he fosters a positive classroom culture builds empathy through thoughtful curriculum choices and supports student connection through founding uh such as through founding the gaming club and serving on key HMS committees including the direct committee. Mr. Stanghu's interdisiplinary projects such as Radium Girls mock trial and his joyful contributions to school spirit during our spirit fun our fun spirit days uh further u further showcase his commitment to making learning meaningful and memorable. I wholeheartedly recommend Mr. Donny Hugh for tenure and I am confident that he
011will continue to make a lasting impact on our ski school community. Congratulations, Sean. Good evening, everybody. Uh, real quick before I get into my speech about Mr. Markman, uh, this gentleman is very knowledgeable in all of our New York sports. not too sure how you're feeling about the firing of the Knicks head coach within the last half hour or so. He's not happy. Uh, so tonight I would like to introduce Mr. Peter Markman. He joined Highland High School in the fall of 2021 as a full-time school social worker and holds a New York State permanent certificate in the field. He brings a wealth of life and professional experience having served in various support roles pri prior to entering education and holds degrees from Queens College, NYU and the College of New Rashelle. Mr. Markman is
012known for his inclusive, wellplanned counseling strategies, highly effective deescalation techniques, and strong communication with students and families. He is resp respected by students, staff, and faculty for his calm, empathetic approach and is an active member of the school community. He is a team player. He's currently chess club adviser here at the high school. I strongly recommend Pete Markman for his tenure. He's a valuable and dedicated member at the high school. Congratulations, Mr. Markman. Thank you. Mr. Steker on the notion of sports, Mr. Steker could tell you about any soccer team, league stat uh throughout the world. Um so I enjoyed many moments sharing with you uh with soccer. We also played against each other in high school. A little fun fact, it is my pleasure to recommend Mr. Cody Secker for tenure here in Highland
013Central School District. For the past four years, he has been a valued member of our social social studies department, teaching a range of courses, including 10th grade social studies, AP world history, and psychology electives. Mr. Stacker holds a bachelor's degree from Sunni News and is currently pursuing a master's in history education from the American College of Education. In addition to his engaging classroom environment, he is a highly he is highly involved in the school community, coaching varsity boys soccer, organizing and helping with school field trips, and stepping up in the past as a yearbook adviser, and even supporting students with events throughout the school year with enthusiasm and humor. Mr. Stker is a dedicated, collaborative, and dependable person who I wholeheartedly recommend for stack or for tenure here at Highland Central School District. Congratulations, Mr.
014There you go. Thank you. [Applause] On behalf of the entire board of education, excuse me, on behalf of the entire board of board of education, I want to congratulate our tenure candidates. It's a huge investment on the district end of it to be able to uh grant them tenure after the four years of working within the district and I hope each and every one of them remain here in the Highland School District for the for for the rest of their career and serve our students well. So congratulations uh job well done. Thank you. Next, we want to honor our student rep, Kai Roer. Kai has been elected from her peers to serve on the board of education. It's a requirement now of New York State Education Department to have a student rep serve on the
015board of educations throughout New York State. Kai has been a wealth of information for the school board. She is our conduit from each school, each campus, each building up to the board of education once a month and she gives us great reports and kind of gives us a snapshot of what's going on in each and every one of the buildings throughout that month. So, Kai, congratulations uh being becoming a student rep. Congratulations on your future endeavors and thank you for all the input that you've given to the board of education. and it's been a tremendous asset and we've used some of your insight to kind of guide us through our decision making. So congratulations Kai [Applause] There we go. [Applause] So, now we'll bring up um the top 10 Scholastic graduating students and our high
016school principal will now introduce them. Thank you, Mr. Baron. Tonight, I'm honored to be here to announce the top 10 of the class of 2025. We all know that a great deal of hard work goes into achieving a distinction such as this. Congratulations to each of the top 10 students and their families. [Applause] I will begin with number 10 and then work our way up to the valid Victorian. Number 10 will attend Fredonia. She will major in drawing and painting with a business minor. Aaron [Applause] Smith. Number nine plans to attend Sunni Jio. He will major in pre-law. Daniel Westover. Number eight will attend Bard College. She will major in classical studies and student of student board of ed rep Kai Roer. Number seven will major in exercise science at Sacred Heart University. Caitlyn [Applause]
017Bertell number six will attend NYU. She will major in global public health. Shrea [Applause] Golcanda number five plans to attend Bingington University. He will major in math with a minor in education. Michael [Applause] Secor number four will attend Paul Smith College. He will major in fishery and wildlife science. Liam van [Applause] Vulcanberg number three plans to attend Hofster University and Zucker School of Medicine. She will major in a BS and MD program. Lena TR Our number two, our saludiatoran will attend the University of Maryland. She plans to major in aerospace engineering. Elaine [Applause] Chevy. And last but not least, our valid Victorian, the number one student of the Highland High School class of 2025 will attend Yale University to double major in physics and chemistry. Sahar Mul [Applause] This is his high school principal. parents.
018You can't come up. Are each one of the supervisors going to uh Congratulations to our top 10. Uh just listening to some of their future endeavors. It's going to be exciting and I think we're going to read and hear about these 10 top uh scholar athletes uh scholar uh graduates here in the years to come. So congratulations to our top 10. Next, we have our retirees. Um, there's a list of uh 12 retirees here. Uh there's over 290 years of service to the Highland Central School District of 12 retirees comes to an average of about 24 years, a little over 24 years to each one of of an average putting their heart and soul into the children of our community. So congratulations to all our retirees. At this time, we'll have uh their supervisors come
019up and introduce each one of their retirees. I believe um Mr. Miller, director of facilities, will come up. Dave Doyle came to the district in 2005. He was a master plumber and he joined the maintenance department at the Highland Central School District. He was a extremely valuable member of the maintenance team. Dave learned every nook and cranny in the school buildings from the atticss to the basement to the crawl spaces to everywhere he's been where no one else has been in these buildings. For anybody that's worked in the vicinity of Dave or worked with him, he had an extremely extremely rare sense of humor. Few have witnessed that humor that he had. Dave was a great guy with tons and tons of mechanical knowledge related to the school systems. Whether it's HVAC or locks or
020anything that was mechanical, he was capable of fixing, worked on, and enjoyed doing it. Dave is and will be missed as he continues with his retirement. [Applause] Kathy McCullik, director of transportation. Good evening everybody. Congratulations to our tenure staff and congratulations to all our retirees because you all deserve that. I'd like to start tonight with Mary Dooka. Mary Duca has been driving a bus for Highland since 1997, receiving accolades from her students and their parents. Mary worked her way up to becoming a 19A examiner. A combination of skills from testing drivers and working with students to receive the most honorable school bus driver of the year. Mary paints a picture of dedication. Thank you for all your hard work, your dedication to Highland Central School District Transportation Department and congratulations on your retirement. You deserve
021it. Next is our own Debbie Southworth. Debbie has been driving since 2004. Debbie's been dedicated to safety and the well-being of our students. Don't make me cry. She has excellent attendance which is a testament to her dedication to our district. Thank you, Debbie, for all your professionalism, your dedication, and being part of the Highland Central School District Transportation Department. Congratulations on your retirement. Thank you. [Applause] Mary Santini. [Applause] The letter. Mary Santini's been driving since 2014. She is dedicated to the children she serves, not only on the bus, but in the cafeteria in between her bus routes. Mary's dedication extends not only to our students but to maintaining a clean bus. She goes above and beyond. This level of care for the students and her job is truly commendable. Congratulations on your [Applause] retirement. And
022Karen Schmidt, where are you? Come on down, Karen. [Applause] Karen has worked for the district since 2004. Karen's not only a team player, but an asset to the Highland Central School District transportation department. She's dedicated to her students and would hear their concerns from their parents and their colleagues. Thank you, Karen, for your dedication and your professionalism through your career. Congratulations. We'll miss all of you. I'm so glad you showed up. Thank you everybody. [Applause] still going. But uh so I have one uh retiree tonight. She's not actually here, but uh we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Phyllis Lettery who served the district for 22 uh incredible years. Uh Phyllis was somebody who she was our guidance secretary and I know that for me personally when I came in and when I became on
023as principal she was that kind of uh guiding light for for me. Um she had a massive knowledge base. She was great with kids. Um and she was truly one of the critical members of our middle school and we we do miss her. Um luckily she was able to train her replacement which is fantastic and she still lives down the road. Um but we do miss so we can call her if we really need her. Um but um Phyllis is really going to be we do miss her already and um one of those people who's really hard to replace and you know 22 years is a testament to how fantastic she was. So thank you Phyllis for all your dedicated service. Hello. So, I have one up for retirement, Robin Link. After 25 incredible years,
024we want to thank you for being a heart of high the Highland Huskies, not just in food service, but in the many roles you've been in over the years. Oh, sorry. After 25 incredible years, we wanted to thank you for being the heart of the Highland Huskys, not just in food service, but in the many roles you've been in over the years. Your kindness, dedication, and warm meals brought comfort to generations of students and staff. Personally, you've helped me through my first years at Highland, offering support, smiles, and a sense of home. You made a difference that I'll never forget. We'll miss seeing you every day, but are so glad goodbye isn't forever. We'll be thrilled to welcome you back whenever you want to sub. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement. Lori wanted to say a few
025words. Lori just wanted to say a few words. Okay. So, ready for the tearfest here. Um, we've been friends for 41 years. So, just working together for the past seven. Um, she's my right hand. I love her dearly. I'm going to miss working with her side by side because we fight constantly, but we also goof around. Um, and we run a real tight kitchen and a real good ship. And I came prepared with a little hanky for her. Um, and I do want to just say, um, Robin came into the kitchen about three months ago and thought she'd be cute, um, with a whistle. Get to work. It's not over yet. I love you. Thank you. All right, I'm going to start by the least amount of years and then we'll work our way up.
026All right, so first off, let's get Barb Phillips up here. [Applause] All right, I want to celebrate someone truly special, Miss Barb Phillips. As she wraps up an incredible 27year career at Highland, Barb has been an amazing teaching assistant. Her work in our self-contained classrooms has been nothing short of outstanding. She has supported so many students with patience, care, and a huge heart, helping them learn, grow, feel safe every single day. But Barb's impact goes beyond the classroom. She's been a trusted teammate, a calm present presence, and a source of positivity for all of us. Whether helping a colleague, lifting someone's spirit, or simply showing up with a smile, Barb has made Highland a better place. Barb, thank you so much for your kindness, dedication, and all the lives you've touched. We're going to miss
027you and but we are also very excited for everything ahead. Wishing you joy, good health, and lots of well-earned relaxation. Also, congrats on your new full-time position, Grandma. [Applause] All right, Miss Missouri, another meeting with me. She is my building, one of my building reps, so it was for good. Tonight, we're here to honor a remarkable teaching assistant, Miss Carol Missouri, who will be concluding her remarkable 32year career with Highland. Miss Missouri has been an invaluable member of our school community, especially in her work with our second and third grade students over the past several years. Her patience, deep commitment, and caring nature has left a lasting impression on our school community and have touched the lives of countless students and colleagues. Thank you, Miss Missouri, for your dedication, compassion, and positive impact you've had
028on our students and staff. And from a personal note, it was great to have you around to help me over the years and helping me understand the dynamics of the building. Thank you. All right, Miss Victor. [Applause] All right. We are here tonight to recognize someone and honor a dedicated educator. Someone who has touched the hearts and minds of countless countless students throughout the years, including a few individuals in this room, Mr. Rizzo, Mr. Miller. throughout her 37 years. Miss Richtor has exemplified the true spirit of teaching. Her unwavering commitment to her students academic and personal growth has been nothing short of inspiring. As we bid farewell to Miss Richter, we also we must also celebrate her remarkable legacy. Highland is immensely grateful for her tireless efforts and unwavering commitment to excellence. On behalf of
029the entire school community, I want to express our deepest gratitude to Miss Richter. May your retirement be filled with joy, fulfillment with new adventures as you embark on the next chapter of your life. Thank you, Miss RTOR, for your service, dedication, and lasting impact you have made. You are you have truly made a difference in the lives of so many, and your legacy will forever be etched in the halls of Highland Elementary. [Applause] So, it's been said before Mr. Zimmer, he uh gets tenure and then he moves on to other positions. This is his last position because he's entering into retirement. Uh we wish you nothing but the best, Bill. Don't gamble too much. You didn't save enough. all these years. So, I am a little worried that uh Bill's going to be crawling back,
030scratching at the doors. Um, but we wish you nothing but the best. Uh, Bill, uh, thank you for all you've done for me and for our school district. We will truly miss you. [Applause] family. If you want to come up and take photos, you can. Thank you. Again, congratulations to all our retirees. Uh 290 years combined to serve the Highland Central. We wish you all relaxation, fun in your retirement, and good health. Congratulations. [Applause] Okay, we'll we'll adjourn our meeting for a short period of time. We'll have a brief reception so everybody can stick around. We can mingle with each other and tell stories of your 30 40 years here in the school district. So, we have uh refreshments up in the back of the building. So, hang tight for a while.