001Good evening everyone. We'll call the meeting to order. Can we please rise for the pledge? I pledge aliance 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. Okay, I'll open the meeting up to public comment and just uh a quick comment. Public comment on the front end is for agenda items only. So if you have any questions regarding the agenda, please stand, state your name, and shout out your question. So we'll open it up to public comment. Okay, we'll close public comment and we'll go into our special presentations. Uh the leaders of the pack, we'll call up the elementary school first. Good evening everyone. We'd like to call up Jonathan Baron for our elementary
002school leader of the past. [Applause] Miss Eert and Miss Elliot is his classroom teachers. They said, "Jonathan possesses all the qualities of a true leader of the pack. We are so proud of Jonathan this year and all he has accomplished and overcome. He stands out for his empathetic personal personality, exempl exemplary work habits, determination and grit he shows each and every day in the classroom and around the school building. Even in the most atypical situations, we can count on Jonathan to do the right thing, set the best example, and be our role role model. His kindness, enthusiasm to learn, and ability to always want to improve is tr truly remarkable. Miss Davino says, "This award is so deserved. Jonathan is a deeply caring person. One day, he came to me and asked me to please
003check on a fellow student. He thought his classmate looked frustrated and could use some encouragement. It was such a kind and thoughtful gesture." Miss Kenosa says, "Jonathan always comes to PE ready to learn and deeply enjoys the games we play. He exemplifies good sport sportsmanship and often helps the coaches demonstrate how to play the game. He is u Miss Girtler says he's an extremely hard worker who never gives up even when the material is difficult for him. Jonathan approaches every task with determination and a positive attitude. He eagerly participates in class, asks thoughtful questions, and shows a genuine desire to improve. Jonathan's perseverance and drive are wonderful character traits that make him an excellent pick for leader of the pack. [Applause] [Music] One more. Two more. Two more. Oh, sorry. And we're going to make
004that one good because we're going to save it for when you become superintendent for real. [Applause] our middle school like to welcome Grace Lanigan, our leader of the pack middle school. [Applause] is a seventh grader and her teachers have so many nice things to say about her that my font is like teeny tiny so I can fit it all into one paper. So I'm going to start with Mrs. Near. She says that Grace demonstrates a high level of work ethic and motivation every day. She pushes through difficult tasks. Grace is a friendly student who cares for her friends. She enjoys sharing her hobbies, especially about crafting and art. Grace takes pride in being independent and has matured as a student and a learner this year. Miss Besco, your math teacher, says that Grace is dedicated
005to her schoolwork and makes sure to ask for help when she needs it. She is a caring and positive presence in class. Mr. Peterson says that Grace is a model student in the math classroom. She works hard, is a self-starter, and is not afraid to advocate for herself when she needs to, and is kind to others. She also has a great sense of humor, which I've come to appreciate this year. Keep up the great work. Miss Ivans, your health teacher, says that Grace is an incredibly hard worker and an excellent classmate. She always puts in 110% of effort into everything she does. She's helpful, kind, and overall fantastic student and person. Miss Draamo says that Grace has a smile and a positive attitude. She works hard and is up for a challenge. I enjoy having
006Grace in my class. Dr. said that Grace is kind such um such as always saying hello to others, even younger students who she knows from other activities and cleaning up even if the mess isn't hurt. She is helpful and offers to carry things, set up equipment, and holds a door for her classmates in science. Mr. Banks, your tech teacher, says that Grace Flanigan is a fantastic young lady. He's also had the privilege of being your cross country coach this year. He says that you are a very dedicated and hardworking athlete. Grace is never one to back down from a challenge when running and always gives 100%. She also brought a smile to practice and meet and she's always working with her teammates as a team player. With all these fantastic qualities, I can't wait to
007teach Grace next year as an eighth grader in tech class and to be her coach again for cross country. Mrs. Sunday says that Grace is a kind, thoughtful student with a strong work ethic in reading class. She is a great friend to her classmates and never shies away from a challenge. Keep up the great work. Mr. Rizzy, your band teacher, says that Grace is a respectful young lady who tries her best every day in seventh and eighth grade band. She has come a long way as a musician over the last few years and always maintains a positive attitude. She also goes out of her way to be helpful to me and others around her, especially when it comes to the organization of the percussion section. She's a great addition to the band and a pleasure
008to have in class. And then I had added something because Grace is a student of mine for many years. I said I've had the privilege of knowing Grace since the early days of Zoom instruction and social distancing and I've had the privilege of um watching her grow through middle school and throughout this time she's consistently exemplified all the qualities of leader of the pack. Um something that was echoed by all the teachers um who's worked with her. In addition, I want to especially highlight Grace's strong moral compass. She's always the first to stand up and speak out for others regardless of the situation. An admirable trait that reflects both courage and compassion. Congratulations, Grace. We're very proud of you. [Applause] And for the high school, we have Gunnar. Very [Applause] excited. Gunnar just stumped us
009in his geography quiz during our civic showcase, which was pretty impressive. Some of those questions were really hard, but you know, we did our best. Not sure I'm very good at geography anymore, but um so a few things about Gunnar. Uh Miss Rashino, his PE teacher said, "Gunar is a pleasure to have as an athlete and a student in physical education. He is willing to try everything and anything with a positive attitude. His effort is never anything less than 100%. He continues to be successful in class every day and may soon be named bad mitten champion for his class if he continues to excel." Mr. Early said, "Gunar is a very bright and polite young man. He is not only a great athlete and student, but he is also an amazing person. I have thoroughly
010enjoyed my time coach coaching Gunnar, and I love now seeing him in the high school. Congrats, Gunnar. You deserve this." Mr. Tatum, his English teacher. I was fortunate enough to have Gunner in class twice. He brings such a great attitude and energy to the room. Always smiling, always engaged, willing to do whatever we are doing that day. He's one of the most genuine kids I've ever taught. comfortable in his own skin, not afraid to be himself. Gunner probably doesn't think of himself as a leader in the sense of that super vocal person who's going to command attention and delegate responsibility. But in terms of leadership, as consistently being kind and thoughtful, being a good friend and being courtesy and empathetic to everyone around him, regardless of what who's watching, to me, that's leadership, and that's
011Gunnar. Miss Sailor said, "Gunar is a nononsense kind of kid. He has a keen sense of humor and of right and wrong. And he is a leader who helps keeps his kids honest. So congratulations. [Applause] Thank you. [Applause] Okay. Again, on behalf of the entire board of education, we congratulate our leaders of the pack. Job well done guys. Our second present special presentation this evening is Boy State. Our high school principal will now introduce those sure students who'll be recognized for New York State Boy State. Good evening everybody. Uh this evening we want to recognize and honor three young gentlemen. Uh this evening one of them could not attend. He is actually competing in a varsity boys baseball game currently. Um but nonetheless uh we would like to congratulate all three boys on being selected
012for Boy State. Um just a brief background on Boy State. The America American Legion Boy State is among the most respected and selective educational programs of government instruction for US high school students. A program in which students become part of the operation of local, county, and state government. At Boyise State, participants learn the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of active citizenship. The training centers on the structure of city, county, and state governments operated by students elected to various offices. Boy state activities include legislative sessions, court proceedings, law enforcement presentations, assemblies, bands, courses, and recreational programs. So, our local American Legion Post 193 annually selects students here at the high school, junior students, uh, to attend this program. So this year I have the privilege of recognizing three outstanding individuals uh who have been selected to attend
013and they are Logan Carl if we can [Applause] give Danielfield but not tonight. Congratulations to you guys on participate in Boy State. This is a remarkable achievement that reflects your outstanding leadership qualities and dedication to our school and community. Boy State provides an invaluable opportunity to engage with peers from different backgrounds, develop essential skills for leadership, and gain a deeper understanding of civic responsibility. Your selection is a testament to your character and potential to make a positive impact on our school and community beyond Highland High School. We're incredibly proud of you, as I'm sure your families are, and we look forward to seeing the contributions that you may have once you return. So, congratulations to these three [Applause] post. two more. Thank you. And then Mr. Opitz, if you could maybe tomorrow get all three
014of them together and get one with the other recipient, I think that would be that would be pretty awesome. Congratulations. [Applause] Guys, make sure you have those certificates tomorrow because he's going to retake that picture. Again, on behalf of the entire board, congratulations to those recipients of uh New York State or New York Boy State 2025 achievement. Well recognized. Congratulations, guys. Okay. Um not sure if you want to stay for our budget presentation. I'm sure today was your first day back to class, so a lot of kids got a lot of work to catch up on. So, you guys can go. Thank you for coming. Thank you. I'll see you later. Congrats. I'll see you later. I'll see you tomorrow. Congrats again, sir. Good job. [Music] front row. I usually sit in the front. I
015usually have something to lean on. How can we see your socks if you're not in the front row? I think you have competition. I think Jonathan has Oh, wow. Are they being a Golden Girls? You can't go wrong with the Golden Girls. Every single elementary student was like, "Who?" I'm like, "Trust me." Actually, some of my staff even might not know. I know. [Music] Okay, our next presentation everybody's been waiting for our 2025 2026 budget presentation. You're on Deadmond. Good evening everybody. Uh before I begin, I'd like to say thank you to the superintendent for doing the presentation last on April 8th. It was a great presentation. You did a wonderful job. And for those who were concerned, um, I resolved my ticket by making a sizable contribution to the town of Michigan. My wallet
016didn't thank you, but thank you. So, we'll begin tonight's presentation by going over what we're going to present. We're going to review the revenue budget. We'll talk about the review of the 2526 expense budget. We'll talk about the contingency budget implications. We'll discuss the New York property tax report card. We'll kind of circle around with proposition one, which is the school budget. Proposition two, the bus referendum. And finally, the bus the budget calendar, which you've seen over time. So, let's begin with the draft revenue expend revenue. We've discussed this before. Um as you can see the very first line indicates our state aid revenue of 20,646175 is based upon the governor's budget. Thailand and other school districts have not are still waiting for the legislative budget to be approved and hopefully hopefully I say that
017hopefully we will have an increase in our state aid. As you can also see on the screen we have DRS reserves that we used. Last year we had budgeted for 250 and this year we're only selecting 74,347 a decrease of 175. However, right below that is a large increase in the taxert I'm not going to try and say [Music] taxor butchers that for the tax reserve we are using $376,000 to balance the budget. Finally our tax levy was an increase of 2.63 63 which is $890,000 382 questions comments. Okay, the next one slide shows you the expenditure slide shows expenses in the format similar to what the state aid format would look like and our audit. It basically categorize them into general support, instruction, people transportation, community services, employee benefits, debt service and interferon transfers.
018Once again, we can see and we've gone through the previous presentations. We've gone through the general support. We talked about a $587,000 increase. We've got debt service, which we've discussed at $911,000. But at the bottom, the interfund transfer went down by $30,000. We believe that the food service department will be doing an excellent job next year and that the general fund will not have to make as big a large a contribution as we would expect. I'm being conservative with the 30,000 because I know we are C and I think that number will be a little bit higher, but I wanted to go conservatively with $30,000. That brings us down to our total expenditure increase of 2,936540. Question. This brings us to our balanced budget. We have 57,325285 in revenue and 57,325285 in expenditures. Question. If
019we do not pass the budget, then we have to go to what's known as a contingency budget. a contingent budget. If proposed, if the proposed budget fails on May 20th, a second budget vote can be held, which would be the third Tuesday in June, which would be the 17th of July. June. June, sorry, 17th of June. Um, if a second proposed budget fails, we must adopt a contingency budget by July 1st. Um, under the contingency budget, the tax levy cannot be increased from the prior year. This would be a reduction of the $890,000 as we talked about in the revenue from the for the proposed tax levy. This would have an impact upon the equipment that we're possibly purchasing and we'd have to find additional reductions of 737,000 to identify so that we can meet
020that reduction in the tax levy amount. There will be no essential maintenance would be allowed. So Mr. Miller would probably be yelling at me. Uh and once again, no community use of school facilities without charging a fee for the operational expenditures would be allowed. Um a contingency budget takes into consideration the minimum legal services required to a maintain educational services, b um pay for debt service and our insurance, three transportation costs, and finally operations and maintenance of building. It reduces equipment. It'll have to find savings in equipment. We'd have certain student supplies or certain supplies that would probably have to reduce. And we just want to mention that salaries that are contingent upon bargaining units wouldn't be cut, but any other salary increases that were possibly in the budget would have to be removed. And
021there there are none. So that would be your contingency budget. Um any questions or comments? So, if we do not if this community does not approve it, then we go into the contingency budget. The next item we're going to talk about very quickly is the property tax report card. Um, short and simple, this is the property tax report card is something that the state requirement is a state requirement that requires showing our reserves, our fund balance, and our appropriations. A little political back history. This was the governor's way to see how school districts, what fund balances they have, what reserves they have, and if they had to make cuts in their budget, then we kind of push it back to the school districts by saying, "Well, look, you've got enough reserves." So, this is something
022that we have to always do. Um, here on the screen, it talks about the property tax report card includes the decrease in reserves, which we talked about before, the um ERS and the taxer, and the carryover incumbrances. Now carryover incumbrances are incumbrances refers to goods or services ordered in the current school year but have not been received or paid for within the last same year. The funds allocated for those expected invoices are transferred from the current school year fiscal year to the next school year. So basically at the end of June 30th um some of the buildings have ordered supplies, ordered goods and they haven't come through yet. We haven't paid for them. They get moved over to the next year's budget. they get added to the next year's budget. And so that's what they're
023talking about. Reserve encumbrance, reserve for encumbrance. It's just moving the monies that you haven't spent in this year to the next year. Um, personally, I'm an I'm not a fan of the that because we in my previous job, uh, departments would move that money over and then think, oh, we've got a bigger budget. And then keep rolling that. So, we do get to the end of the school year, we do talk to the principles and the assistant principles and tell them, we need to make sure that everything has been received. So that way we do not have a large rollover income. Okay. And so once again the state requires that we submit the property tax report card which gives a breakdown of this. There is more detail uh showing what the property report tax card
024does. I will explain a little further. The property tax report card then goes into what we considered more detail about our reserves. As we've talked about previously the reserves we talked about the ERS reserve which goes down by $74,000. our TRS contribution. We have not touched that reserve. Of course, we're touching the tax reserve for 376,000 and all the other reserves are in place. Once again, using $450,610,000 to balance the budget. We use part of our reserves. Um, now just want to put it out there, these reserves might change based upon how we end the 2425 school year. We are aggressively looking at all the expenses. We're making sure all the bills are paid, looking where we can find some things that we didn't have to pay. You would probably have a little bit of
025fund balance. I would not speculate to say what that number is right now, but once again, as we get closer to June, we will see a better idea of what our fund balance is. Once we have that number, we will meet with the financial committee and ask them, how would we like to distribute that reserve? Would you like to put it back into the ERS? Would you like to contribute more to the capital reserve? Would you like to put some more in perhaps the TRS or the um tax surf reserve? Speaking of the tax surf reserve, we have $400,000 that's remaining balance. We do have two major cases that we have out there. Um one has been kind of resolved. I would say we've got um legal um confirmation of the dollar amount and we
026have enough to support that. It is being blended into two parts of the two years. it will happen for 2526 and then 2627. Rather than hitting the district with one large sum of money, they decided to bleed it out. That number is approximately 230,000. So 15 in one year and 115 in the second. So the second case has not been resolved yet. So we're still working on that and we still have the tax reserve available. I also left a cushion in there. Um and I hate to use the word cushion. left a little bit of reserve in there so that way if we have other cases that come up we have some type of base to support ourselves and that's how we ended up with the 400,000 questions on reserves or comments just quickly um
027by taking the 230 out of that projected 400 that's left um with the remaining amount you feel comfortable with the one case that's out there? Yes, that is a very it's a small amount, but once again, we've got enough that we put to the side for other cases and the 115 will pay out this year for 2526 and then 2627. So, it's not going to hit that reserve right away of 270,000. It will be actually bled into two components. Okay. There is a small piece that the library has to pay, but we'll build a receivable for them for that portion. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. So we get down to proposition number one for the board to approve tonight uh the budget vote for the 57 million25 school budget and we have already done the
028proposition two for the bus referendum which was the 962,497 and that brings us to our calendar. I've highlighted in yellow today's date and the due dates for what we have to do is as you can see there it says DOE meeting adopted budget and tax report card by law must not be later than April 28th. So if it's approved tonight which I hope it will be I will send the property tax tax report card to the state tomorrow morning and then we will have that certified. Um, I think at that point we have, if there are no other questions, um, we are Desmond, I have one question. Sure. Um, I know we have until the 28th to adopt the budget. What happens if, uh, the state settles on a 26 budget before then and increases
029the state aid to the district? Are we are we going to amend this prior to the vote or we'll move it forward and then after July one we do what we have to do with that additional money? I would recommend going with your budget that's currently available and then as of July 1st knowing that you've got additional revenue coming in. It will be presented when you do your financial statements showing that you had a big increase in revenue. You will not touch hopefully at that point your reserves that you put out there and they will stay whole. So rather than jogging back and forth and going to multiple meetings, which some school districts would like to do, I think that would be the most prudent thing to do. No, I just wanted to throw it
030out to the board. Couldn't those additional funds also be applied to decrease the 2.63 levy impact? No. So your tax levy is set. It's it's it's been established as that's what we calculated and we sent to the state. So that's a tax levy that we'll actually put out there. um with our tax surge um it wouldn't really decrease that and I'm not sure if you rather do that. I'd rather you put the money in your reserves, hold that in fund balance rather than uh adjusting your tax levy calculation. So, um the superintendent and I have to do the uh video shoot for the presentation. We have that almost prepared and almost done getting the garbage down. Um, in that presentation, it does talk about how much it will cost the community per 100,000 of what
031they have in terms of taxes. So, we'll give that breakdown presented in that presentation. I can probably if once the superintendent and I have reviewed it, we can probably let you give it out to you so you can have review before we do that presentation. Uh, are you honestly expecting the state to have a budget in the next few weeks? I don't think so. Right. So, doesn't seem to be any indication right now. I'm I'm prepared to motion to This is a good budget. We've done a lot of good work here. I'm going to pull it out of our consent agenda and vote on that budget because I think that's the way we should represent it to the community. So, we'll put it pull it out of our consent and vote on it as a
032uh oneline item. Thank you everybody. Any other questions for that? And again, uh, I want to thank, uh, Desmond and Superintendent and the entire administrative team for all the work they put to bring this budget forward to us. And again, like I said at the last meeting, uh, this year, we're presenting a budget with no impact on student programs. [Applause] Okay, we'll move to our consent items. Uh, EA1 to D and we're going to D3. D3. I'm going to pull for and have a separate uh resolution to vote on for the bud budget proposition. Okay. Like normal, if you have any questions, you want to pull an item out and vote on it separate. You need any clarification have any discussion, any consent item, we can do that right now. Yeah, I I do want
033to pull out one of those. It's under the probationary, the maintenance worker, too. Okay. So, you know, understanding personnel's confidential, just looking at some of the information, uh, it's a close to top step higher and I I couldn't get there on my calculator. That's all. I'm sorry. I I think myself reading into it, I believe uh we've been two years without replacing that position. Um, and I think a good, in my understanding and being on the support service, I think a good um part of the building maintenance workers nowadays in in our district are uh for the most part working on our infrastructure, our HVAC systems, uh all our mechanical systems. It's not so much of you know replacing a door hardware. the mechanical systems and I think what I read into it the background
034that this individual has I think is a will be an asset to to the district because that's a big part of what those individuals in that department work on on a sometimes a daily basis is is the mechanical infrastructure. Uh that's that's me looking at it. I I understand Mike your concern on the uh the grade and the step. Uh that might be something we go to executive session to have discussion on if you I don't think it's necessary so long as the skill set what you're saying the skill set fits in with those terms that the monitoring and maintain HVAC systems that I think the biggest part was the HVAC and we've got so much HVAC coming on board with the air conditioning that's going in. What's the hours? What's the shift hours of
035this position, Mr. Miller? 73. What is it? 73. Yeah, this individual has that skill set. I can say because I'm working with that on a daily basis and this is a this is a good Excellent. Let's just pull it out and we'll move forward. This should be just fine. You you want to pull it out? Yeah. Okay. Um, anybody else have any questions, concerns? So, under probationary for uh the building maintenance worker two, we'll pull that out and have a separate uh vote. If there's no other questions, I'll entertain a motion to accept our consent items with the exception of number four and uh pulling out of the probation area the building maintenance worker two. I have a motion. Motion by Heather, second by Tom. All those in favor? I opposed. Any abstensions? So carried.
036Uh entertain a motion uh under probationary uh to move forward the building maintenance be resolved. The board of education on the recommendation superintendent approves the following probationary appointment as presented to the board at this meeting. Nicholas Crom Crom position building maintenance worker 2 salary grade 15 step 13 60,659 prorated effective May 12th 2025 probationary period May 12th 2025 to May 12th 2026 and the purpose is to rep replace David Doyle who retired. Can I have a motion, please? Motion by Ed, second by Jen. Any further questions? All those in favor? Opposed? Any extensions? One. No. No obsession. So, it's a 61 vote. Okay. Um, under our budget proposition property tax report card for the 2025 2026 school year, be it resolved that Highland Central School District adopts the proposed 2025 2026 school budget in the
037amount of 57,357 million 325,285 to present to the voters at the annual meeting on May 20th, 2025. and approves the following proposition. Shall the board of education of the Highland Central School District be authorized to expend the budgetary purposes in the 2025 2026 school year the sum of 57,325,285 and to levy the necessary tax thereof. Be it further resolved that the Highland Central School District Board of Education approve the property tax report card and authorizes the submission of this to the state education department. Can I have a motion, please? Motion by Heather, second by Janine. Any discussion? All those in favor? I opposed. So carried. Thank you. Okay, moving on. Under curriculum and instruction, our monthly principal report, elementary school over there once in a while. Um, just uh two things that I really would
038like to I guess highlight kind of. Um, one is a driver um and I don't know how long he's been with Kathy J. Um, his name is Javvis Burke. Uh, he is every day goes above and beyond. Well, the other day I caught him in our building and I was like, why Javis, why are you here? And he was bringing happy meals to kids for doing the right thing on the bus. So, like they were doing positive stuff and he they can earn points and they can buy certain things from his thing, which he tried sneaking in and he wasn't trying to cause any publicity or anything like that. And I caught him ahead of time. So, I didn't even know he was doing this for a while. So that's how like speaks to his
039character and how such a great person. So I just wanted to highlight him just because he's goes that extra mile. Um the other thing is if I can get the pictures up. Um it's kind of more of a long long like shout out I guess would be the best way because it's been the clink fund has obviously everyone knows clink clink clink. So what we finally have done is gotten a money so we could purchase a book vending machine. So, it's not just like an elementary school, but it's all the community that and um Mr. Frier who has squirreled away money for all his time there and I actually got able to use from cans. Yes. From clank, right? So, I dipped into some of his his savings and not my savings, it's the school
040savings. Um and so we did a quick get the pictures up. So, here's our book vending machine. And then like um really and then we had and here's the other side. So, all lit up and everything. There are no books in it yet. There are no books in it yet. Um they are on their way. Uh the PTA is supplying all the book books for us and the kids get these like um golden coins that they can put in there for positive behavior and um you know some some highlighting success throughout the building. So they'll it has different grade levels for differentiz books and so on and so forth. So it's um yeah it's pretty cool. So piece of hardware. Yeah. Yeah. So who repairs that? The maintenance team. We uh certified it. We got
041a a fiveyear. We talked to Spack and Kill because they have one as well and they told us what package of uh of uh warranty to go with. So, they didn't really have many issues, but they said we did. I expect there's going to be some curious guy sticking your uh do you guys have any other questions? Right. Q&A. All right. Uh just one quick update for everybody. So uh today actually we did our at the middle school we did our nice slot testing. So Mrs. Stacy um and Miss Loenthal from the elementary school teamed up which they do every year to do um the testing for our few students. We don't have too many who need the nice slot testing which is um the state test for English language learners. So that that they
042do every year. So that is my only update to my report. Does anybody have any questions? Thank you very much. Good evening everybody. Um one brief update. Uh tomorrow we actually are partnering up with Olter County stop DWI program through the probation. Um they present a um education prevention on DWI. Um it's more fitting. You know we have prom coming up on May 2nd. you know, it's a good time of year to be proactive in that manner. They come during our lunch periods and set up a simulator and have uh volunteers from their department to talk with the kids um and share some available resources. Additionally, we are working closely with Pete Miller um um from his side of things uh through the Highland Fire Town Police Department to put on our byianual uh mock
043car crash out front. So, that'll be on May 2nd, the day of the prom. uh where we simulate a real live uh car accident scene and run through the motions of having uh local emergency responders responding and also again just in uh in prevention uh for that type of risky behavior. So any questions from anybody? Any questions? Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Uh we do have our uh directors here this evening. I don't believe we have uh athletics because I believe they have a baseball game and tech would be here. So we do have our director. So if you have any questions for them, shout them out and I'm sure they'll address it. There were good reports. Happy to hear that the outdoor facilities are being used over there. those bathrooms are running and uh
044haven't had a chance to walk over there obviously. Yeah. Over the winter, but it does look good and just good to see. Speaking of outdoor facilities, is our um learning pavilion at the elementary school uh able to accept students at this point? Have we got is that being utilized yet in now the nice weather is coming forward or you're planning on it? There's kids in it tonight. Good answer. We've been using it. All right. No more. I believe the Was it the Educational Foundation provided some furniture for that? Good. That's not here yet. Right. That still needs It's still on the the docket to be ordered. Right. All right. Anybody else have any questions for our directors? All right. Thank you guys. We'll go to our student rep. So, Before I start, another thing about
045the elementary school. Javvis is also my bus driver and he is the best. He's like the nicest guy ever. And that's not the only reward that he gives students. He has like a bucket full of like toys and stuff at the front of the bus that they can get the elementary students can get rewards for good behavior. So, um, at the elementary school, Mrs. Hopper's first grade art class had a special guest. Parent and arts teacher in the Fallsburg school district, Susan Urban, collaborated with the class to bring their husky drawings to life. They created handmade stuffed animals inspired by the drawings that they made using details from the stories that the students wrote. In the fourth and fifth grade classes, Tanya Buchanan and other IBM employees visited in honor of Engineers Week. They taught
046the students about what engineers do every day and how important they are to society. And they helped the students participate in a collaborative and interactive STEM activity. At the middle school, the science elective classes have been working on many outdoor activities. Mr. Weaver's class built a temporary bridge over the creek of the middle school. The project helped teach the students how to safely use simple tools. And Dr. Harris's class finished their maple syrup unit not too long ago. They collected and boiled tree sap to make maple syrup and even hosted the elementary school students to teach them about the process. Um, modified shorts sports are off to a great start to what will be a great season. Over 100 middle school students are participating in sports like basketball, baseball, softball, and boys and girls, lacrosse,
047and track and field. This Friday, the 25th, is another dance at the middle school. The HMS spring dance will give students the option to dance and listen to music in the cafeteria or an open gym to play games with their friends. All the dances have been fun for the students and very well attended, and this one doesn't seem like they'll be any different. At the high school on April 3rd, the high school's music department put on an amazing concert called the cabaret. It was a huge success. Students in the chorus and band programs had to audition for spots in the concert and it was organized by teachers Mrs. Matthews who teaches chorus and Mr. Shaw who teaches band along with student band student Linger Ende. A special thank you goes out to Lori in the
048food services department who made all the desserts for the event and I was told they were very good. Um, Kayla Santiago in Mrs. Sailor's citizenship and action class organized a field trip to the MET, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, open to all grade levels on March 20th. Her capstone project was focused on showcasing the importance of art and art history and education. Students were able to go into the city, explore the museum on their own, and experience life from another time through the art. The National Spanish Honor Society went on a field trip to Mountain View Mexican Restaurant on Tuesday, April 8th. They enjoyed a buffet style lunch with traditional Mexican cuisine. Mrs. Gerard, the library media specialist, and Mrs. Dacy, an English as a new language teacher, participated in a course for ENL teachers
049last year. They created a project with their middle school English language learners to translate book previews and assess what books they'd like to read in the library. They then plan a trip to the public library and help students in getting their first library cards. And this trip was so successful that they decided to do it this year at the high school as well. And instead of going to the library, they went to Barnes & Noles and Pepsi to purchase books that the students wanted to see in the library. The Highland uh the high school cheerleaders funded this field trip with $100 $500 and the English language learners and cheerleaders found a lot of books, games, and puzzles that will be used to enrich everyone's experience in the library. The ELELLL students also use the trip
050this trip as an opportunity to practice their English skills in real life scenarios. Um the senior Disney trip is happening this weekend. They're leaving on Friday and returning next Tuesday. The seniors are really excited to visit the parks including Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and the Water Park and Epcot. They'll stay at the All-Star Sports Resort and will definitely enjoy their last big field trip of their school careers. Um, and lastly, spring sports are in full swing. Flag football won their first win for the program against Mipsy in March. Track and field, lacrosse, softball, and baseball have all had strong starts to their seasons. Any question? No questions, just a comment. I did attend foreign language night and see our student rep uh an expert crepe maker is what I saw. So I want
051to thank her for her participation and I did share that with the board. So any other questions or comments? Well, if you you were making crypto so your language is French then part of our presentation next meeting in French. I could try. That would be great. Serious. Very good. Okay, we'll uh we'll move on move on to our assistant superintendent, Mr. Zimmer. Good evening everyone. Uh because of spring break, we only had three school days between our last board meeting and today. So I don't have too much to report on. Um I will reiterate for the board and for the public um some information about our UPK program. The Highland Central School District will continue its UPK program for the next school year, 2526 school year, with applications for the lottery being currently accepted. There
052are 48 spots subject to the final New York State budget. Placement is determined by the lottery, not first come, first serve. Applications for the lottery close Friday, May 2nd. The online application and FAQs are available on the district website and on the district's Facebook page. The lottery will be held in early May, and families will be notified by email whether their child was selected or placed on the wait list. Eligible children must reside in the Highland Central School District and turn four years old on or before December 1st, 2025. If anybody has any questions, please email Carly Jacobson or myself, William Zimmer, at the district office. And for your information, as of today, we have had 67 applications submitted. Any questions for Mr. Zimmer? That's the a few more than last year, right? It is
053a few more than last year. Yeah. Uh last year we had just about 58 59 applications. So a few more. Um according to my calculations, co children are right right around the age to start school. Might be a few more still. We have a week and a half with it with it open. So we'll see. Okay. Uh Dr. Boyd. Um, so we posted our director of PPS uh position. We had 21 applicants. Uh, so all the applications were first uh reviewed to make sure that uh the candidates had the qualifications that we were looking for. Uh, at the end of this week, we'll be in the first round of screening uh and then an in-person committee interview next week. Um, as we move forward the process to find uh to fulfill that position. The Olter
054County Department of Health has been looking at trying to host more events in the southern part of the county. A lot of the events all focus around the Kingston area. Um so they've been looking at trying to spread to other parts of the county. Uh so we worked with Katrina Williams and we're going to be hosting um well they're going to be hosting an event with the National Alliance on Mental Illness at the American Legion in Highland on May 5th uh from 5:30 to 7:30. Uh they're going to be looking at and teaching people about warning signs of mental health conditions, suicide, and the steps to take if you observe family members exhibiting those symptoms. Uh the event will be from 5:30 to 7:30, as I said, on May 5th, and they will be serving
055pizza as well. So, we'll be helping uh publicize the event for them. Uh and it's nice to see that they are looking at the southern part of the county to try to to spread the awareness on this and looking at um posting out those events. So, we were happy to to do that. Uh, and lastly, I know at the last meeting, you know, I thanked all the staff for their flexibility uh in getting all the meetings um scheduled and completed, but I just have to highlight 269 meetings held uh in this last uh between our board meetings. Uh so, just again a big shout out to all of our staff. Uh that takes a lot of coordination um to make those meaningful um meetings happen and to go off without a hitch. So again, big
056shout out to everybody and then a big thank you. Any questions for Dr. Boyd? Dr. Boyd, the you mentioned 21 applicants, but how many were actually were they all qualified? Uh the majority, yes. That's impressive. Okay. Anyone else? Thank you, Dr. Boy. And now our superintendent. Okay. So, following up um from our last board meeting, uh I did reach out to town supervisor Dave Plav regarding the proposed pet crematorium that's uh scheduled to possibly be near our elementary school. He confirmed to me that there have been no approvals made at this time. Additionally, Dave Barton, the director of building planning and zoning, provided some materials for us to to look at here in the district and uh he also indicated that the town is thoroughly reviewing the proposal. Um, it should be uh noted that
057the school district does not control zoning decisions in the town of Lloyd, but we are aware that there are community concerns about the proximity of this proposed location to our elementary school. And uh what I would do is I would encourage folks to attend the town of Lloyd planning board meeting this Thursday, April 24th, 700 p.m. at the town hall to share their perspectives. and um you know the the town has been very forthcoming with the information and uh they're doing their due diligence as far as I can tell. So um I wanted to just follow up on that from last meeting. What was the date of that again? This Thursday, April 24th. What information was forwarded, Joel? So there was information about the incineration materials. I forwarded it all to the board in the
058last uh Friday update. So if you take a look at it, it's uh it's all of the materials that were available I guess at the last session. So it's nothing new. Thank you. I haven't but it's particulants and I mean it's very scientific detail. Yeah. So it location and proximity to the elementary school is just to spell out again. 9W right down the the hill from I think there was a dental office or something down there. Adjacent property and it sits below the elementary school. Yes. So their their v stacks will walked up to the elementary school theoretically have the potential to they could. Yeah. So so this Thursday if anyone's interested April 24th 7 p.m. at town hall and then just to reiterate some things that I mentioned at the last meeting. Again another
059shout out to our ed educational foundation. They're doing great things for our district. They're looking to help furnish uh the pavilion at the elementary school. They did they donated money for that last year. So, that's up and and getting started. They also are fundraising for materials for our concession stand. So, thank you to them. Their annual dinner is coming up on Friday, May 9th, 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. at Indian Ridge. Again, those tickets are $65. You can call Becky Omoody if you're interested. 8452341522. And our poster is still over here. These are the three individuals who will be honored at that dinner. Uh with the return of two snow days over the break, we really got very close on the one. Uh I didn't realize that we would have snow on April, what was it?
06012th, 13th. You were probably already gone, right? Um but I guess last Saturday there was snow. I was in the south, so uh I only saw what was on the weather channel. I was quite uh you know, interested in that. But so we have uh returned two of the snow days to the calendar. We have two more to return. Assuming there are no more snow days, those will be on Friday, May 23rd and Tuesday, May 27th. Those will change if any more snow comes. Let's hope that that doesn't happen. As Desmond mentioned earlier, we'll be filming the budget video uh starting this week and running into next week with the help of Jess Murray uh from Olster Boseies. Um, I also I want to thank uh Tom Miller and Bill Zimmer for attending the Oxbow
061meeting uh Thursday before the vacation uh on April 11th. Uh that's the night that is held at the restaurant uh at Olster Boseies. Our students get to uh showcase their their talents and uh they go over the budget. So uh thank you for doing that. Um this Thursday, April 24th, it's going to be quite a busy day. I have a Mid Hudson Catskill Council of School Superintendent meeting during the day where I hope to uh speak with other superintendents about the state of our budget and whatever advocacy we can do uh as a as a four county region to encourage legislators to push that uh state budget through a little bit more quickly so that uh we know what's going on here in the district. Then Thursday evening, I'll be at Marish University at their
062teacher advisory board. Um that's a meeting that happens twice per year. So I'll be attending that. And then uh on Friday, April 25th at 1:00, we have a support services meeting and uh we'll be going over the status of where we are with all of our building project items. So, um, if you did walk in, uh, the doors today, you might have noticed there are no birds, uh, in the, uh, the vestibule or whatever canopy. Um, so that has been addressed. Let's hope the birds were a little confused this morning. I did see them out. Mr. Miller and I were out there and I'm like, they're still bringing sticks thinking they're going to build nests. They were bringing them to the top of the to the uh um to the canopy, but they weren't able
063to get into the to the underneath section. So, um they did that work over the spring break. So, looks good. And then our guys were out there today cleaning up the mess that the birds have hopefully the birds will now go away and find a home like in a tree or something. But, um that's a long time coming. No protection in a tree. You know, there's protection in the I know since I became superintendent, all I've been talking about is this canopy. I want the birds to go away from the canopy and I want the canopy laid to rest. So, that's the goal. All right. Any questions? As Joel mentioned, we have a support service meeting on Friday at 1 p.m. So, if anyone has any any concerns regarding the uh current capital project and
064and status, you know, give us some feedback and we'll make sure we bring it to the support service meeting and get some answers from our design team uh on Friday. So, if you have anything, just let me, Tom, or Ed know and we'll bring that forward at the meeting. Uh just a quick and I know there's there's talk and possibly concerns. I'm not sure if the entire public are our our school community is aware of that crematory, but um I think there's some false information going out there that's not totally accurate as far as you know the distance from the elementary school to the to the proposed site. I don't believe it's uh 100 feet or less. I think it's more than that. Um, we do have fresh air intakes. I don't think uh this
065facility will uh compromise those fresh air intakes is highly reg regulated. If you read your backup material, it's highly regulated by I believe DEC oversees that. Uh so, you know, if there's any concerns, if it does come to fruition that we can contact DEC and they'd be they'll jump on in a heartbeat because I know how DEC operates. So, uh, I don't think there should be any concerns to our school community in the elementary school, but if you want to attend, uh, Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at the town hall, uh, you're welcome to do it. I might I might be there. All right. Any other questions with the superintendent's uh, comments? Okay. U, we'll move on. Board of Education do business. We have our Boseies administrative budget vote. Be it resolved the board of
066education upon a recommendation of superintendent approved the county board of cooperative educational services administrative budget that have been presented to the board for the 2025 2026 school year in the amount of 7,283,083. Does anyone want to propose a motion? Motion by Tom, second by Mike. Any discussion? They usually come down and talk about their budget. Yes. Is this the first year that we haven't heard about an update on the uh I park 87 either. Right. So last year there was a video that they showed at the expo dinner. I don't know if that was shown this year, but I did not get a copy of that video. Yeah. I mean I you know I did take a look at the No, I didn't get a copy. They showed the video though. I did take a
067look at the admin budget. I mean, it's a very modest budget. So, I certainly support moving forward. Yeah, I'm just interested. It just seems like a decrease in information. We still have the questions out there about the I park. So, I can invite Dr. Shanker to come to a future meeting. Absolutely. I'd like to hear an idea on the park 87 project because I think they're supposed to occupy September. I don't know know if you go even further back. We had increased the budget for capital projects at the King over in Portan at Portan facility and then the I park came in on the tail end of that. So I would definitely like to hear an update from both ends. There was the capital project for Port Yuan and then they got extra money to
068do the park and then again I fully support. I think it's a wonderful program but all of these additional projects and we're not getting updates and I'd love to see what positive stuff, right? Good updates and what's going on. Yep. I believe our lease agreement with the IAR 8 I 87 project I park 87 Desmond was included in this budget goround at 63,000 whatever it was for the for the lease agreement. All right. I mean, if they're not moving forward in September and you know, why are we paying because we're supposed to be So, we tooured as superintendents a few weeks back and I've been through a capital project now, so I can see how quickly things get together. But, it's one of those moments you walk in, you're like, how is this going to
069get done? But they have they they're going to work triple shifts, I guess. Um, and they indicated that there's no concern about it getting done. That's what we were told. Uh, you know, that old saying, silence is golden. I don't think it's golden right now. I will invite him to a future meeting. Sure. I would love to hear. All right. Um, I have a motion on the floor by Tom and Mike. Um, any further discussion? All those in favor? Opposed? I carried. I was a no. You're a no. Okay. Uh, both these ballot for election. You have a ballot in front of you. Uh, we're voting on two open seats. Uh, seat one, seat two. once for new pulse. Uh we're it's a three-year term July 1, 2025 to June 30th, 2028. And that's I
070believe it's currently held by Barbara Pal. Uh she's up for reelection. Seat two is uh Round Out Valley, three-year term again, same duration. Uh I'm not sure if Lucy Vanickle is an incumbent or is she a new I don't believe she's been on there. Okay. So, you got the ballot in front of you got to vote for uh those two and then for seat three and four are both at large seats. All right. There's four candidates running for two at large seats. So, you got to vote for only two. And then we'll pass this back on to Lisa and she'll send it on to. So, actually what we're going to do is you're going to send it to me and then with the the highest number we're going to put in the resolution. Okay. And
071then you'll do the resolution. Okay. Okay. Has everyone had an opportunity to look at the bios? Does anyone need the bios? Okay. So, I'll leave out and then Heather is going to do a little tally and then at that point we can put the names in the resolution. Okay. Okay. Vote for four. Right there. Right. Only two on the bottom. [Applause] This is one of the first times that we've Is this one different? No. Oh, yeah. That one's different. It's missing the box. The box it up here. I can hand that one. Do you still need it? I don't know whose vote that was. No, I Yeah. So, this was So, yeah. Hold on. Is that yours? No, it wasn't mine, but that was But the book still before I'm sorry, Heather. I was going
072to read out the names so you didn't have to I know your pass. Well, they have to come to me. I'm sorry. Oh, okay. I thought you wanted me to tally them. Yes, I was going to read out the names to make it easier for you. Okay, now that you've got it. All right. Thanks. So, you got your Okay. Is that everybody? Okay. So, be you going to put the name in the resolution then? Alan, Willie, Bruce, Willie and David Thompson. I think according to the at large you have to get Yeah. So Willie Bruce. Yeah. There's two with the with four. Yeah. I mean we don't two is high. Yep. So it's Willie Bruce David Thompson and they're both the same amount. Yeah. Because any of those talents get added to the others and
073the one-year term goes to but the rest of the votes come from the rest of the compon. You're only voting for two overall candidates here tonight. Yeah, but that counts as one vote, not correct. Our district counts as one vote. I overestimated our importance. Okay. Uh both is ballot for election resolve. The board of education recommendation and the superintendent recommend the election of the following candidate to serve on the board of cooperative educational services. Seat one, Barbara Carroll. Seat two, Roundout Valley, Lucy Vanickle. Seat three and four at large, Willie Bruce Jr. and David Thompson. I have a motion, please. Motion by Ed. Second. Second by Mike. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Opposed carried. All right. Uh, anything under old business? Thank you. Uh, anything for the good and welfare of the district.
074I'll open the meeting up to public comment. Slow down. Now I I can just add one more thing. And just a reminder, our next board meeting will also be our community forum for the budget. It again start at 6 p.m. Um, we can move it to the cafeteria. We've done that in the past. Or we can post it here. Will our budget newsletter be out prior to that? It cannot be. It can go out the day of the forum. I checked on that today. It can be printed. It just can't be in the hands until we do the forum. I didn't know that until today. Interesting. But our budget newsletter is in the process of being completed. So, yeah, whatever it is, it actually the uh Lindsay actually asked called and asked when do we
075get it out? And then when I checked with Boseies, they said, "No, I I appreciate the announcement. We want the public to ask as many questions as possible." Absolutely. That's May 6th. May 6th. So, we'll be in the cafeteria or in the boardroom. Did you decide? Normally don't have a large showing in the past. I say we can have it here. Yeah, we haven't had any. There's no other student recognitions that evening. Not that night. And I think we get a cleaner video from in here. Sure. Understood. We can bring in 20 30 people in here. So, we should be all right. All right. And then just one quick reminder that um review um the contract extensions extensions for certain employees because we'll have an executive session at our next board meeting. We do have
076uh May 6th and that'll happen after that's fine. Yeah. All right. Will that be before or after the meeting? After the meeting. Good. Okay. Anything else for good and welfare of the district? We opened it up. Public comment. Nobody has public comment. We'll close public comment. And I need a motion for German. Motion by Jen. Second by Mike. All in favor? Opposed. So carry. Thank you everyone.