001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> media. >> Thank you everyone for coming tonight on behalf of the High Park PTA Council. Um, I just want to let everybody know that this forum is being recorded live and will be streamed on the High Park um, YouTube page. Our moderator tonight is Yolanda from the League of Women Voters. Uh, we have collected questions from emails and in person and they will be read in a random order. They will start with Mr. Tibbits, Ms. Fraser-Woods, Mr. Spence, and then after each question they rotate to who begins to start the questions off at the next time. If anybody in the audience has a question, just raise your hand, I can bring you a card and we can write it and bring it up to Ms. Yolanda. And again, thank you all
002for participating and helping us make our decision for the vote. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. For the benefit of the audience, um, the candidates will have 2 minutes to give opening remarks. Then we will start with the questions and they will have 1 minute to answer the question. We have time keepers here who hold things up to let them know when their time is running out. And at the very end they each will have a minute and a half to sum up their presentation. And for those of you who are going to be distracted by the fact that I have an accent, which my husband and my daughter can no longer tell. They think I sound normal, but I was born in the Netherlands and I learned English in New Zealand. So, it's a
003slight mishmash. Never quite learned to say the t-h ooches the way English people do. I will start with the opening remarks of Mr. Tibbetts. You are on. >> Thank you. Thank you all for coming. Good evening. Uh my name is Mike Tibbetts and I have been in the education field for about 34 years now. Teaching mostly at the college level, but I have taught some classes at the high school level and I've been teaching for about 20 years in Bard's uh prison initiative. So, I teach in the prisons as well. Um I joined the board in 2020 uh at the urging of a friend of mine who thought that this would be a good place for me and I have to I have to admit I went in rather naively. I mean, I knew education
004was important. I knew the value of the education, but I didn't really understand the inner workings of a school district or the or a board and it's been quite an education and it is quite frankly one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I am enormously proud of this district, of the faculty, of the staff, of everyone who keeps things running. It is just It is just a an honor and a privilege to be part of this and what I'm really proud of is the the way the this board has supported the initiatives that I think have really moved this district in in a in a great direction. We can't really take the credit for the work. That's all done at the ground level by the fabulous teaching staff and the administration. But
005what we can do is we can say, "Look, we we're cheerleaders and we support it in every way we can." And I'm And I'm enormously proud of that and and feel very privileged to to have been part of that. Thank you. >> Good evening and welcome. And I'm so happy that you all came out to hear what we have to say. I'm Cheryl Fraser-Woods and I am a active community member. I started being active in 1997 when my daughter was a kindergarten and worked as a PTA mom, a girl scout mom, cub scout mom. And one of the reasons why I decided that I would like to run It was something I always knew I was going to wanted to do. It just got pushed up a little earlier, but I had great um there
006was great leadership with Margaret Greenly, with Kevin Shin, with um Jeff Daniels. I The list goes on of really great leadership. Doug Heater. And those people made a difference in our community. Um as a active member of this community, I believe our district's ability to build a solid foundation for our students are critical. And that the foundation starts with us here in the school district. And for us to make sure that our students get what they need in order to be successful out in the real world. So, the decision to run was based on on fulfilling a civil ser- a civil a service need that I believe is all of our responsibility. It's to serve. And I believe that I have the makeup and the commitment to do such. Thank you. >> Ready? >> You
007want to? >> Thank you. Good evening. I'm Edward Spence. Uh thank you for everybody joining us tonight. This is a very good turnout here. And thank you, of course, PTSA for putting this on. I'm all about communication with parents and I think having something like this Some years we don't have it. I think it's always a great thing to do to get uh questions from the community. Who is Ed Spence? I've been on the board now three times. I'm the second most senior member on the board behind uh Mike Zagorsky. I started out with some of the board members that were mentioned before, Ella Kiether and Jeff Danielson and others and and they were real mentors to me. I related in one board meeting recently that I used to watch the Hyde Park board meetings
008uh for many years and and kind of uh pick up some ideas about the district and so forth before I even considered it. Um I ran for the board uh three terms ago because I wanted to give back to the community and um I've been an educator for 35 years. I've worked um in K-12 schools uh for 35 years and I've also taught in three different colleges in the area. I've taught every grade level between fifth grade and 12th grade, several different subject matters. Um so I wanted to give back to the community because Hyde Park is a special place. This is a great school district and I think um the ability to give back to the community is one of the highest goals in a society. With that said, my wife and I had
009adopted several special needs children and um I heard some concerns from special needs parents about some of their needs maybe not getting addressed and so forth and that was one of the main causes um that really um wanted me to uh run for the board not only to volunteer and help others but also to seek out and help those special needs parents. Thank you. >> Thank you. So the first question goes to Ms. Fraser Woods. What is your position on state and federal government mandates in schools? And how would you balance those requirements if they differ from local community values? For example, the two electric vehicle bus propositions that were voted down. >> All right. So, state state mandates, one of the things that are important in understanding regarding state mandates is what our role
010is one to make sure that there's proper funding for those state mandates. Uh so, the state can say they want to mandate this, but we need to make sure as a community that we are able to fund these mandates, and does that meet with what our needs are as as a district. Uh in regards to the bus bus electric buses um mandate. There was a number of different issues that came up with that. As a community, I think we were all on one side or the other. Do we have enough elec- um what do you call charging vehicle charging station to meet this mandate? Uh there there are just a number of different things in terms of the buses that you could go one way or the other. But in terms of state mandates in
011general, we have to unders- understand where they're coming from. So, it's up to our our governor to make sure that and state ed to make sure we're clear on why they're making those state mandates. So, um so, yes, we have to follow what they're asking, but do are they clear in what it is they want us to do, and do we understand why? >> Return. >> Thank you. Personally, I don't like the the term mandates. Um now, I started out as a social studies teacher after being an IBMer for 10 years, but I still believe in we the people, and the communities uh really should be able to decide for their own um most aspects of schooling. Now, obviously, you need mandates to make sure that there's standards in place for all children, so it's
012equitable, and all children are getting a proper education. With that said, we have to remember that we are the people, and when something doesn't seem to make sense, uh we have to listen to our local communities. You spoke about e-buses. Um any business official that I've known for 15 years when this first started out, we all knew this was a bad idea. It wasn't ready yet. I'm the biggest environmentalist in the world. Uh, if you talk to my family, I recycle like crazy. I'm all for the science. I'm all for that, but we're not there yet. And it was very clear that we weren't there yet. It was almost like when the state rolled out the common core and they didn't prepare our teachers with the proper type of resources and it was a disaster.
013So, I'm all for technology for for, um, environment and for, uh, buses, maybe hydrogen buses, but we saw this past winter, there's been buses upstate and around the northeast that have suddenly caught fire. And that has really scared parents about putting children in a bus like that. So, there's the financial aspect, there's the infrastructure that was not in place, and there is the safety aspect which parents brought up. And I think we really misread the community. Um, now, I myself personally, you know, when you go out as a board, you have an official opinion as board. I certainly did not go for the electronic buses and I made that clear on my end, but I think it's now time because the state is now, you know, kicking this mandate five years down the road, that's
014what's going through the legislator, uh, legislative, uh, body, to think about listening to the local community and having a true balance between the what the local community wants and what the state wants to hold for standards. And let's get rid of the term mandates cuz I don't like that term. >> Ready? Your turn. >> Thank you. So, I think as Mr. President was pointed out, and I think Mr. Spence as well, that mandates are there to level the playing field. And so, as long as the mandates from the state are focused in ways in which we're creating equity across districts across the state, sure. What bothers me is the unfunded mandates. So, the state says, "You must do this. You figure out how to pay for it." That's an issue for me. And there are
015times when the mandates go too far. Um the electric bus issue. Um as Mr. Spence pointed out, there are people on both sides. There are people who believe the the kinds of things that Mr. Spence pointed out, and there are people who believe the other side of things. I happen to be someone who's in favor of electric buses. Um and the community said, "No." That's why we have votes. It doesn't change my position, doesn't change what the way I'm going to behave on the board. The way I view my role on the board is I absolutely have to gather information. Part of that information comes from what do the community members say? What are their concerns? Part of that is doing due diligence and doing my research on this. And then I have to make
016the decision that makes sense to me. I have to be honest with myself and with the community. This is who I am. This is how I This is what I believe. This is how I'm going to behave. >> Okay. I'll go on to the next question first. >> Thank you. >> How important is it for district leadership I guess that's what you all going to be to have a direct personal connection to the community they serve? >> Oh, I think that's that's essential. That's the essential characteristic. Um you know, we just talked about a minute about e-buses, and I gave the statement that we kind of misread the community. Um what I do is I I you know, I'm in the community. I'm part of the Knights of Columbus. I'm part of Planet Fitness. I'm
017part of the United Way. So, I'm out there in several organizations, and you know, I'm constantly with my ears open, um listening to what I'm hearing about the school board. Now, obviously, there is um a way of addressing issues and you direct people back to the district for specific questions, but that doesn't stop anybody from listening and respecting people's views. And so, being out there in the community and listening to people, most especially the people who maybe we don't agree with, that is the most important thing because as a board member, we represent everybody, not just the people that we agree with. We represent all the taxpayers, all the teachers, all the faculty and staffs, and we need to respect all of their views. And that starts by, first of all, civil discourse, being respectful
018to everybody, and listening to all their views, and not downplaying their views, really understanding why they may think that way. So, I think it's the most essential skill. >> The the the term constituency is interesting. Um I kind of see our constituency as the students. I kind of see that that that is first and foremost whom I responsibility is to. And I have to do that within the bounds that within the financial bounds that are created by the district and the voters of the district. Absolutely, as I pointed out in the the previous statement, I have an obligation to listen to to hear the voices of the community, students and adults, but I also have a responsibility to act and vote and argue from what I think is the position was the correct position. And
019that's why we have this voting. You can look at our positions, you can look at our records, and you can decide this individual their values are consistent with me, I'm going to vote for them. I'm not someone who's going to change my vote based on some number of individuals talking to me. We disagreed. >> This phrase of words Um, direct district leadership in terms of the relationship with the community. I think our stakeholders, our community members, our neighbors are critical to the district. They are our taxpayers, they are the parents of our children, and it's important that leadership listen to what the community has to say. And one of the reasons I feel that way is that there's currently a a former superintendent in present who did just that. That person, when there was a
020group of us as parents who came to her with a concern that we had regarding our district building, she listened to us. And then she immediately got up, got in her car, and went to that building that we had the concern about, and took care of it. So, those are That's the leadership that I got used to and respected, and was and that's what I based on what should happen for parents and students in this community, that action takes place once once you voice what your concerns are, and that person investigate I leader investigate what hap- what we were asking about, and came up with a solution. >> Next question. You're going to be number one. And this one was from a member of the audience. Um I'm going to combine them. And if you
021need me to read it again, cuz it's going to be a two-part question, you can always ask me to read it again. Do you support the current administration of the school district? And if you are currently on the board, please defend your attendance record. >> Um As I said, I think previously, I'm enormously proud of the strides this district has has made. Based on all the metrics that that we see as important that we regularly look at, we are trending in the right direction. Literacy is improving, math scores are improving, attendance is up. Uh um behaviors in schools are improving. And I think that has to do with the leadership. That leadership sets a tone, sets a culture. And I think that culture that has been set by this particular administration has been one that
022has generated real movement and real enthusiasm among the people who are responsible for making those moves. So, yes, I do support this current administration. Um school administration. Um and I'm and I think I've maybe missed one board meeting in the years I've been on it. Maybe two. Um I'm I'm there virtually every time. >> Mr. Grady Woods, you can answer the first part of the question. >> Okay. In terms of current administration, when I look at the metrics as Mr. Tibbs said, I I look at where we are in the state in terms of rankings. So, there are close to 600 school districts in New York State. We are 309. And so, we fall right in the middle. There's 596 school district and we're 309. And I look at our literacy and our math. We're
02344% and 40% in those areas. So, there's room for improvement. So, when I when I look at our administration, what are their plans in terms of making those improvements? How can we change those numbers so that we're not below I 544 and percent regarding reading and 40 math or vice versa low and that's my opinion. So, when I look at the rhetoric, I see all these wonderful signs regarding core values and our vision and our mission. How do we and that's great rhetoric, but what are we doing? What's the actions that we're doing that we're able to improve these needs? >> You're okay. >> Mr. Spence. >> Excellent. Well, thank you again for the question. The first part was do you support the administration? Obviously, I support the administration. I'm a board member. I volunteer.
024I dedicated really my life here in the community to making sure that the goals of the Hyde Park School District for the students are ever growing and and and so that students can move on to their goals in life which might be college or might not. Um I think we have excellent principals. You know, Mike Ruella and Mr. Shaw and others. These are all people that I've known for years because I'm a proud parent with my wife Doreen, retired teacher. We're going to have our ninth child Violet graduate FDR this June. So, we've known all the principals and we know how excellent the administrators have been. My wife and I have adopted several special needs children. And you know, the tricky thing is when you adopt special needs children, especially from out of state, sometimes
025people didn't really understand the the the special needs to go along with them. I speak about somebody named Ava Kafka who was a principal at Violet Avenue and how she understood Violet's special needs as Violet was in, you know, a number of foster homes before she came to New York. So, it's those kind of principals who've helped out my children and my wife and I are in debt for all the things they did to get to the point where this June we'll have our ninth child, final child graduate, not final grandchild, but final child graduate. Um as far as board attendance, I think I have very good board attendance. What a lot of people might not know is um I have a couple dual roles. When you're on a board um of education, you have
026to pick one of several committees. One of the committees that I've been on for the last several years is the Dutchess County School Boards Association. And so there's been a conflict many times with the meetings. The last 2 years I've been voted the president of the Dutchess County School Boards. So I run the school board meetings for the county for the 13 districts. Those board meetings, five times this year, four times last year, were on the same day as our meetings. So if you're home and saying, "Where is Ed?" that's where Ed is. >> Thank you. >> I First person to answer, Ms. Frazier Woods. What role do you believe technology should play in classrooms and are there situations where it should be restricted? >> So So clearly technology is the way of the future.
027So and so it needs to be forefront and our and all of our school districts. Um technology does need to be limited because a student doesn't need a phone um at their fingertips during the day. Phone the Phone should be put away, locked in their lockers, or wherever they may need to store them. So with the exception of phones, they definitely need to have top-notch our district needs to have top-notch technology to assist our students in making sure they're able to do their assignments. Um so I the role of technology is critical um particularly that in world that we live in. And um as I said, yes, it does need to be limited to what they have access to. And our our technology department does an amazing job in making sure that that there are
028safeguards so that students aren't able to go on to sites that are not appropriate. >> All right, Mr. Spence. So, technology is a something I know a little bit about. Um having been an IBM-er, um I'd be remiss I I talk about the story when I was growing up. You know, I didn't really come from a wealthy family per se, my father was a food sales manager in the Bronx and he was a truck driver. He bought me a Commodore 64 computer and he said, "Learn everything you can about this and you'll always have a job." And that was great advice because I went on to get a computer programming degree, I worked at IBM, and it's always been able to to fund my career, go on for my teaching degree. So, it's been a
029great source of personal growth and um obviously uh career advancement. Uh with that said, I worked for a school district as a tech director for 14 years, Chester schools in Orange County. We were the first school district anywhere in the Hudson Valley, 2012, to send home something called a Chromebook. And we had 11 school districts come and visit us to see what a Chromebook is and so forth. And so, we were the first to do this. We We created the monster, you might say. But, myself and my principal Leslie High and my superintendent Sean Michel, we always warned, "This is something that's for college and careers. It's for high school, it's for middle school. We are not giving these devices, we're not putting them in the hands of anybody below fifth grade because it will
030damage them. It will damage them." And now everybody's talking about screen time. Okay? Eventually, we got hit by COVID and then as a tech director I was told, "If you If this kindergartner doesn't have a Chromebook tomorrow, you're holding up their education. It's gone too far. It's gone too far. We've got to reel it back in to where it's supposed to be. Career skills at the high school and middle school level most especially. Thank you. >> So, I want to I want to make a clear distinction between social media and educational technology. I'm going to talk about education technology. And a district like this is a big place from pre-K meeting through high school. There is no one-size-fits-all. I am certainly in favor of the utilization of technology, the technology that adds to the students'
031experience. There are pedagogical, educational programs that can enhance a student's learning. There absolutely is a danger of just going for the next shiny thing and just throwing it at them. What it really requires is very serious deliberation at all the different levels to make sure that the technology we're using is appropriate to the learning goals for that group and not beyond. >> This one too answer, Mr. Spence. How should board members maintain integrity and avoid conflicts of interest when interacting with district contracts contractors or service providers? >> You know, I think that's that's a very important question. It speaks not only to what you asked earlier about being out there with the community. I think it's about being authentic with people. And one of the roles I have in that over many years is somebody
032who's a data privacy person. And you know, there's everything is confidential and private in schools. So, you have to keep that the same, especially to a heightened level as a board member. So, for anybody who's running for a board, you have to understand that conversations that you have in private cannot be repeated. Obviously, not only for legal reasons, but for ethical reasons. So, you have to treat people as you want to be treated, the golden rule, but you also have to understand that everybody kind of has an angle. And you have to protect the district. You have to protect the district from any kind of sign of um indiscretion, any kind of sign that you're talking out of school. And then that's what I spoke about earlier. Listening to people is not that. Right? Sometimes
033if you Sometimes if you listen to certain people who are on the other end of uh an issue, you might be accused of that, but that's not the case at all. As long as you're listening and you're taking that feedback back to the rest of the board, I think you're going to be okay. Thank you. >> Okay, Mr. Tibbits. >> Because in the question you specifically talked about contractors, I'm going to interpret this as meaning how do we guard against conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest? I think what we have to do is be very, very careful and simply not accept anything from individuals that the district does business with. We simply have to maintain that firewall between us and organizations and people who might benefit from decisions we make. I think it's
034really important to go beyond what is legal and simply create that really strong wall and simply not accept anything. >> No gifts. >> And of any gifts >> favors. >> No gifts or favors, anything with any financial value. Right? >> Mr. Bradenwoods. >> Okay. In terms of maintaining integrity, one of the things as as a board we would be making sure that contractors know that there's a bidding process. There's a process in which if they wish to make a bid and to for our services that we will direct them to the business office assistant superintendent who will tell them what the process is. Um we are not there to make any promises and and therefore we're we would just direct them to where they need to go in terms of making offer for so there's
035you know for us to use them as a contractor. And in terms of integrity on a whole we all should know better than to make promises we can't keep because we are indeed a group working together for the benefit of the district. >> Thank you. The first person to address this question will be Mr. Tibbetts. What steps would you take to support and improve employee morale across the district? How can the Board of Education help create a positive and supportive work environment for the staff? >> So one of the things that that we've done as a Board of Education is we go to each of the schools throughout the year. We visit one have one board meeting at each of the schools. And I think that's been I think that's been an important for us
036to signal to those communities that we value value them and that they're important to us. The at those meetings the principals will get up and get up and give a an account of things that are going on at the school and they will name individuals that they are particularly proud of. Um so I think that step those kinds of steps where we show that we are listening and interested in those. We have had uh community chats uh where the whole district, anyone was was invited to come and speak to us. But, that would also would include uh members of the faculty or the staff at the school. And so, I think what we need to do, we need to continue to do is to make it clear to the people in the district that we
037will hear them, that we hear them, and that we value them through small acts like having meetings at that As a board, we can't do large things. Like, we can't invest huge amounts of money in in various things. But, we can do is we can make small steps to indicate to people that what they do is important to us and that we're enormously proud of what they do. >> This is Rachel Woods. >> Okay. >> Um in improving morale, one of the things that I think as a board that the board members have to listen to the employees and hear what it is that they're saying. It's important that we have trust and collaboration. And right now uh are is the board meeting with all, you know, with various employees or listening to what they
038have to say? I don't know. Um there's I as an I I am currently an employee of the district, and right now morale is horrible. Um people are fearful. They don't feel that they can speak and and not be um punished. So, I I think that I know my my role as a board member is to make sure will be to make sure that people are not walking on eggshells and fearful of speaking their mind about how things are being done here in the district. You shouldn't be scared to come to work and voice your opinion. >> Okay. Ready? Okay. This is Spence. Thank you. Um, you know, I kind of touched upon this a little bit earlier about agreeing with people, um, you know, people talking and listening to people who have very different
039views. And I was talking about that in the context of the community, but I'd speak to that for a moment also about faculty and staff. I've worked in many schools over 35 years, probably 10 different schools including student teaching, and you can always tell the tempo in a building and so forth. And, um, you know, I I think we do have some concerns here with our morale from what I'm hearing from, you know, in the community and so forth. And, um, I think that's something that we need to address. I think that Cheryl was right in that regard, um, and I think it starts when somebody brings up an issue, um, is the issue really discussed or does the first person walk away feeling like the whole issue has been poo-pooed and it's been explained
040that, you know, you don't know what you're talking about and, um, you know, that's not true and you shouldn't feel that way. You know, that's that's not the right type of response to give to an employee. We should have administrators who are really listening. And I think by far we have most administrators are. You know, but with that said, you know, we've had a number of administrators, for example, if you want to talk about administrators, who have left this district, assistant principals and some high-level district people recently, um, and and I hear those kind of rumors about morale, uh, talking to Cheryl's points. So, how do we fix that? Well, we have students of the month and we have, uh, various celebrations, you know, throughout the year for employees, but I think we can do
041more. Um, one of the things that I always do is I always do exit interviews. Whenever I hire somebody, I always make sure I always do an exit interview and really confidentially try to get to why they're leaving the district and what's really going on. So, you have to have those private conversations to know not just what you're told is happening, but what people are really feeling and thinking. Thank you. >> All right. Ms. Frazier Woods, you will start next question. What priorities would guide your financial decisions as a board member? What does fiscal responsibility mean to you in the context of a school district? >> Fiscal responsibility mean to me means transparency. That every that the board and the leadership are clear in terms of preparing the budget, being honest about what the layout
042is. Not waiting to after a budget is passed, then make some new hiring rules and promotions of assistant superintendent from director to assistant superintendent without ever posting the job. The transparency is critical regarding the fiscal responsibility because these are the stakeholders in this community has the right to know what how their money's are are being spent. And right now, I don't think that that is happening. Um the transparency is murky. And that needs to be addressed. So, for me as a taxpayer in this district, as a former as a parent of two alumni of this district, I want to make sure I want the board to be clear and ask the hard questions. Where where are these where are the numbers and how are we coming to these numbers? Let uh we're talking about this
043year's budget this Don't mix last year's budget with this year's budget and say that we're getting rid of uh a a cabinet position when that cabinet position was eliminated the year before. Um you know, people aren't stupid in this district. They might be fearful to speak up and say anything because of backlash, but they're not stupid. So, for me fiscal responsibility is needs to be transparent. That's work. >> Thank you. So, I wanted to agree with something that Mike said earlier. Our ultimate goal is obviously to serve the needs of our students. So, in the context of physical, um you know, appropriateness, conservativeness, whatever you want to call it, we have to use the resources in a manner that maximizes the benefits for our teachers, our faculty and staff to support and help the students
044every day. Uh you know, one of my superintendents used to say, "There's one pile of money, right? No matter how you divide it up, there's one pile of money." And so, we can spend it this way, we can spend it this way, but it's finite. We only have so much money. And even if it's money coming from the state or the federal government, the e-buses, the money was coming from the federal government, but it was still money from taxpayers. So, when you look at being fiscally conservative, what you have to look at is, um what is really needed in the district to help teachers, to support students, and what is needed by bus drivers and other staff to help parents along the way. Now, what I would say is, as I said earlier, this is
045an excellent school district, but there's a lot of concerns in New York State. We know this. People are being forced to move out of New York State for the cost of education and so forth. And again, I'll speak to, in my opinion, that's coming again from the state mandates, right? The state mandates that are being pushed down our throat, that are having people who lived in a community and paid taxes for 30 or 40 years suddenly realize, "I can't live here anymore. I've got to move to the Carolinas. I've got to move to Florida. I've got to move to Tennessee." So, we've got to do something not only to use all the resources to help the students, but we also have to understand we have taxpayers who are being crushed right now and making a
046decision whether they want to stay in Hyde Park or if they can stay in Hyde Park because of the cost. Mr. Tibbits? >> Thank you. I think our responsibility is to use the money that the taxpayers generously vote for us to have in the best, most efficient way possible. And the taxpayers ultimately get to vote on our budget. They give it up or down. And whether we've done a good job in presenting it and being transparent and letting them know what it is is going to affect whether we get that. But once once we have a budget our responsibility is to make that the highest and best use of that. And that to me comes from evidence and data. We need to know that the programs that we put in place are actually functioning properly.
047Continue to fund those that are working, discard those that don't, which is one of the reasons I've been thrilled that the district has moved into a data-driven system, collecting lots of data on the different programs, assessing which ones are doing the doing the job and which ones aren't. I think that's an important part of the board is to continue to ask does this work? Show us it works. Show us the evidence that this works. And if it doesn't let's jettison >> All right. Next question. Tell us about a time your first on when your personal opinion differed from what policy, law, or community needs required and how did you navigate that challenge? >> Sure. Well, I won't I won't beat a dead horse. I've already talked about the e-buses. That's one clear example. >> Pick
048another one. >> I'll pick another one. Uh you know, Cheryl mentioned about some of the changes that may were made after budget time. You know, I've been on the board as I said for three terms. And it seems like, you know, our administration at the top, sometimes as board members, you know, you're told we need an extra assistant superintendent. Then we need an extra deputy We need a deputy superintendent. Oh, no, we don't need a deputy superintendent. Let's go back to the model where you have the three assistant superintendents. And now it's the point where you don't need the deputy superintendent at all. So, you know, some of those employee choices and so forth, I would just say in general terms, I've spoken up about and said, "This doesn't seem to make sense." To Cheryl's
049point of, you know, why does this keep changing? Why does this keep changing about positions at such a late point? So, I think those are two good examples of things that I didn't necessarily agree with, but I think it's important for people to understand as I stated earlier. When we come out together as a board, you know, we're a team. We're representing We've already had the discussions in executive sessions. We've had disagreements, believe me. But when we come out as a formal meeting for our community representing our entire community on TV, we do it in a civil manner. But there's been many times behind the scenes where I'll speak up and say, "I don't agree with that." Number of people have posted on social media, you know, he's the guy who brings up issues the
050parents are saying. So, that's what I try to do where it's appropriate. >> Mr. Tibbits. So, I think there there have been a few occasions where where I've lost in the vote on the board. Uh the one that comes to mind at the moment uh is the Bellfield pilot. Um they asked for uh a letter from the district to give them an exception. Pilot, by the way, is payment in lieu of taxes in which corporations will give a set amount of dollars to instead of paying the taxes. The dollars are less than what they would pay, but they but they The argument is they would not We would get nothing because they wouldn't be able to go forward with it. And they were asking for a 20-year pilot And I was opposed to it. I
051thought it I thought it was a bad idea. How did I respond? I moved on. You You You can't win every vote. When you get a group of people together, there are disagreements as Mr. Spence points out. There's conflict. That's part of life. And the way you deal with that is you simply say, "Okay. We disagree this time. Next time maybe we won't." >> Mr. Azibo, >> So, in terms of having a a personal opinion that's different from my what I would would be of who would be my colleagues on the board. Long as we remain respectful and courteous to one another when having these disagree agreements in executive session, that's fine. Um, because you're not going to always agree on everything. And And again, as long as we hear each other out and that
052there's you you point out why you believe in the the decision that you are standing on and you hear what they why they believe, um, you just agree to disagree and you do move on. >> Going to be made to work tonight. Um, I'm going to skip that. Um, kind of on the same topic. Um, first person to answer is Mr. Tibbetts. There's two questions here, but they're kind of similar. The word transparency is in both of them. How would you ensure that the Board of Education complies with open meeting laws and maintains transparency with the public? And what steps would you take to improve transparency and collaboration between the Board of education and the residents. >> Well, we are subject to open meeting laws and we simply have to follow those laws and we
053do. Um, so I'm not sure how to respond to that other than there are a set of laws that we need to know, that we understand, and we need to follow those. How would I improve transparency? Um, I feel like we do a pretty good job to be perfectly honest. I know I'm supposed to defend in some way or or or cast aspersions, but we have a we have a lot of presentations from a lot of different people in the district. Basically, every every part of the district comes to the meeting at some point during the year and gives a presentation. And board very actively ask questions and probes and pushes back. To me, that's the way we maintain transparency. We bring the people who are doing the work all the way from from uh
054facilities and operations to transportation. We had one from food services recently. Um, each every one either all of the directors, all of the principals, all of the administrator all of the cabinet, they all give regular presentations. Special special ed. And our job is to come prepared, having done our homework, and to push and probe. >> My understanding of open meeting laws is that the open meeting laws is that the board are not corresponding with one another outside of a board meeting. That's my understanding of open meeting laws and I'm hoping I'm understanding that correctly. That the all the communication takes place in executive session. There's no back and forth emails outside of um board meetings. And I I believe that's what open meeting laws means to me. So, in terms of transparency on that level,
055that to me is really critical that there is no um um, collusion going on with board members um, you know, talking about things that should only be talked about during the board meetings. That there's no, you know, chit-chat emails privately about, "Oh, this is what we're going to talk about." What, you know, and so on. So, my understanding of That's my understanding of open meeting laws is that there's no excessive no extra um, emails or discussion other than what takes place during the board meeting um, in executive session or when we're in public session. So, for me, transparency I'm Transparency is critical on all as- aspects of a board of a So, that's That's That's where I stand. >> Go ahead. >> So, again, I would I would agree with uh, my colleague Mike and
056so forth. We're all trained board members. We've been trained on what open meeting law is. Um, some of the practices we have here at Hyde Park is um, our board president will share, you know, some general topics of what we might discuss in general terms in executive session. And we'll help police if the conversation might go astray in executive session. Say, "Okay, guys, come on. Let's Let's This is not part of the executive session. Um, and let's do that in the open session for the community." So, I think it's just knowing the laws like Mike says and helping police each other. You don't want to have, you know, um, uh, the board members sometimes hanging out like after a meeting I see at some other districts and kind of starting the chit-chat or let's go
057to Dunkin' Donuts because it can go down the wrong path, you know, and so forth. So, if there's going to be a discussion like that, have it in open session and so forth. And I think we're We do a pretty good job at that and so forth. Um, the second part of the question again was Let's see. There was open meeting law and there was >> How would you How would you ensure compliance? >> Yes, and transparency. >> And then how would you improve transparency? >> So, one of the things that I've done when I was on the board, I remember back to the very horrible days of COVID where we had to wear a mask and people would come to meetings and mask and we'd still have our two public sessions and people would
058be able to come up and speak in front of the mic, but sometimes it got very argumentative and people were getting their their microphones turned off. One of the things I suggested was having something called community chats and going around and just listening to people to be transparent, to hear what they're really saying, not giving any opinions, but actually listening to people. Thank you. >> Ms. Rachel Woods, you'll be the first to answer this one. Um do you want to ask a different How would you encourage parent participation in district committees and restore opportunities for families to be involved in decision-making? What steps would you take to make committee involvement accessible and appealing to families? And a question very similar, how would you ensure that parent voices are represented in district-level decision-making? >> One of
059the ways that I would encourage parent involvement is to attend the various um PTA meetings. I would also We have these um communities these once a month on Saturdays where the community is invited for a breakfast and things like that um one of the programs that we run. And to attend those and encourage encourage parents to come out to our PTA meetings, to encourage parents to come to our board meetings so that they can hear what's going on and what's what's important that they should be involved with. So, that's how I would go about uh parent involvement is reaching out to them at the PTA meetings, at the parent-teacher nights, things like that, so that they are aware that we're we're actively seeking their involvement, their participation, and that we want it. >> Yes. Thank
060you. So, again, um I've tried to highlight, you know, the importance of uh parent communications and and other comments that I've said so far and so forth. So, just to touch upon that in this context, um I think it's really important for parents to be part of committees. Um One example. One example recently. Um I was told by another board member that we used to have as part of our special ed committees, we used to have parents on special ed committee meetings. And I've asked, if you go back and play the tape on recent board meetings, I brought this up and I've asked in executive session in the meetings, why don't we have parents on these special ed meetings? Um my wife and I, we are I mentioned our adoptive, foster, special needs parents. We
061attend monthly after meetings. We hear all the feedback from parents from around the county. And believe me, not just Hyde Park, but there's concerns from these type of parents. It's a valuable resource. So, I would say that we need to have more parents on a committee like a special ed committee. Now, you know, one of my colleagues would say, "But wait a minute, you talk about legalities. You can't have parents on a committee for all those type of topics." And I understand that. So, what I said in the meeting, if you play back the tape, is you could have the first part of the meeting for the internal discussions that are, you know, legalistic and things that can't be discussed. And then the second part of the meeting, or vice versa, getting the parents in
062and really listening to them and letting them tell what's working and not what's not working. Um I think we do a great job with ParentSquare for transparency, but ParentSquare, some would say, some parents have said as it's it's set up with we pick the questions, we pick the three or four answers, and then you choose which one you like. There should be more of a place to put in your expressed thoughts and feelings and give true transparency if you're going to use a survey tool. >> Just the two of us. Committees are hard. Um when you're parenting you have young children and you're being asked to come out in the evening at, you know, dinner time or bedtime, it's very hard. And so we have an awful lot of appreciation for those parents who are
063actually willing to do that. Uh as as as as as these folks have said, PTAs is a good way to know about that. We anytime we make a major decision in the district, we have stakeholders involved and we invite community members including parents. Um we do a lot of a lot of polling uh as well. And in the parents' case, we've had the the community chats. Another way that we can get out there and try to interact with parents and I don't want to say twist their arm, but encourage them to be more involved is to go to a sort of community event. So be at the events that the district district district holds. And and just be present and be willing to hear people. And someone talks to you and has a concern, I
064say, "I got a committee for you." >> 1 2 3 >> You're going to be first. >> Am I losing track or am I still on? >> I think you're good. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. >> Um >> Very similar. This is similar to something that's already been asked. Mhm. This is slightly different. How do you ensure both students and administrators are heard in the decision-making process? So, now we're not talking about the parents. We're in-house. And I imagine students might be the hardest one in that question. >> Sure. So, I think there's things that we do here that are very good. Obviously, we have a school board member. Most districts have that by now. We were one of the early adopters, I believe, for having a student board member. Um in
065regard to student board members, a lot of times a student board member will be a very um high academic student, somebody who's very responsible and so forth. Um which is great. Terrific. God bless them. We love having them. They're terrific kids. Um my thought is, in talking to some colleagues, you know, why don't we have some different types of student board members? It's great to hear from the straight-A students. You know, I wish every single one of my kids was a straight-A student. They're not. They're pretty good. Not all straight-A students. But, why don't we hear from some of the students who are maybe not going to college, some of the students who are choosing uh the military or choosing, you know, careers or students who go to BOCES and seek them out. Um I
066think we do that through the student government and so forth with our principals, uh Mr. Well and others, and I think we do a good job. We have assemblies and we we listen to students um in that regard. But, how about student surveys? Maybe more student surveys to actually get feedback directly from students themselves. Um administrators, I kind of talked about that a little bit and what Cheryl touched upon. We've had a number of administrators leave, you know, uh the district and go on to wonderful growth and higher positions in other districts. So, I think that's something we need to look at. How do you do that? Well, you need confident leader that's leadership that's at the top that's trustable to have the right kind of conversations to say, "Look, you know, maybe they're feeling
067I don't think I'm there's an area for me to grow here." So, you need the people at the top empowered by the board to really listen to them, and everybody should have some kind of growth goal every year. I used to meet with teachers and and set their growth goal, their SLOs. Every administrator should have a growth goal also. So, they should meet with their supervisor. What do you want to work on this year? Where do you want to grow? Because if you're not growing, then, you know, you're not moving forward. Thank you. >> My turn? >> Your turn. >> Um so, students. I think it was last year the year before we shifted from the student board member simply being selected by the principal administration of the high school to a vote. So, we've
068tried to open it up in that way. And then at the most recent board meeting, uh the president and vice president after going and meeting with the candidates for being student board came with I think a terrific idea that we will likely move forward with. There were There were four, I think, young people who were interested in being on the board. Only one can. And so, the president and vice president said, "Why don't we create a committee with those other three where they're going out and taking the pulse maybe at different schools, maybe at a different positions?" So, I think there's a I think there are a number of different things that are that are going on that I think are very positive. Um in terms of administration and putting You can't force someone to
069talk to you who doesn't want to talk to you. All you can do is try to create a culture where they feel safe to talk to you. One of the things this board has done repeatedly is try to reassure administrators, uh principals that bad news will not be punished. We have to hear the bad news as well as the good news. We have said this over and over. We try to get this message out. We will continue to try to get that message out to the school administrators. We are not going to punish you if you tell us something that is needs to be worked on. We are going to try to work with you to make it better. >> Based on what? >> Okay, and to ensure that students are heard, I think working
070closely with student government, attending athletic events, homecoming events, letting them know that we are here for them and that we want to know what it is that they think that they want to improve the district and how we can help to do that. In terms of administrators, uh this it's a it's a difficult balance because if you're a tenured administrator, you can you feel comfortable speaking up and saying what your concerns are with the leader with leadership. If you're not tenured and the leadership is not someone you feel comfortable with, you're not going to speak up. And and that's just the fact. And tenure makes a difference and if you're not tenured, you just you're thinking, am I going to make it here with the current leader? So, um the leadership has to come up
071with a way to make sure that the administration, members of the administration feel comfortable speaking up and not want to think that they're going to be punished for speaking. >> Sounds like a difficult task. Next question, Mr. Tibbetts. What experience do you have working with parent, teacher, or school leadership group such as PTA, district leadership team, or building leadership team um committees? >> I've been on the district leadership team committee twice and have worked with those groups which includes lots of stakeholders, parents, but also community members who were not currently parent parents of students and and other members of the community. Um, I think it's important for me and those settings to listen more than I speak. Um, to try to hear what what the concerns are as we talked about before. As I've said
072and try to say it over again, um, my job is to hear what the what the opinions are, what people's perspectives are. And then to act on what I think is in the best interest based on that information plus other. >> My experience with PTA and district leadership is that I used to be PTA PTA president, vice president, secretary. Um, I've served on the BLT. I've served on various different committees, search committees regarding hiring new um, principals or athletic directors, whatever it may be. So, in terms of what my experience would be, I don't know what it would be as a board member because I've not been a board member yet. But in which case, I am comfortable knowing that I can relate to the PTA, that I can relate to a BLT and other
073leadership um, because I have served in those roles. >> So, the PTA as I mentioned earlier, you know, it's the heart and soul of your school district. Um, my wife has served on the PTA and so forth. I've worked with various PTAs in various districts that I've worked at in over 30 years. Um, I was a member of the district leadership uh, team the DLT and a number of other committees. I won't bore you. You can read it all on the website and so forth. But I think it's important to to be out at those meetings, to be able to listen to their feedback. What I like about the PTAs especially is um, a lot of the meeting is it's not a strict agenda format. A lot of times working in schools for 35 years,
074here's the agenda, here's the bullets, we only have so many minutes, we're going to try to hit this and get through it. And it doesn't really allow as much as it should for open-ended forum and open-ended conversations. A PTA is where you're really going to hear a PTA and a PTSA, that is, are where you're going to really hear from parents concerns. And again, sometimes, you know, that can be a little challenging because some people will go to PTA if they're school administrator or board member, and they'll say, "Oh, all I hear is complaints." And I don't see it that way. I don't see it as complaints. I've been working in schools for 35 years. When people come to me and give that feedback, and I have some of my administrative colleagues say, "You know,
075you don't have to listen to him or her all the time." I say, "No, I want to listen to her and him or her because that's the person who is telling us how this plan is really being rolled out and what's working. And if we don't listen to them, then we've got a real problem. Bingo. >> Thank you. Um If I put a card over there without reading it, it's because I think the question is similar enough that you have already addressed it. Um This one is quite different. This person, you'll be first this one. What factors should guide decisions about transitioning students out of special education? And how can the district ensure they continue to receive appropriate support during and after the transition? >> So, in guiding in including special special education students into
076the mainstream is critical to any school district because these students need to feel included and that they belong. And you when my daughter was a kindergartener in 1997, she was in an inclusion classroom and I had no idea that it was an inclusion classroom because the three teachers in it you never never separated or focused on this special needs child. They none of us knew none of us when I say parent meaning parents knew that we were in this classroom with special needs children because they were made to feel like every other child and treated wonderfully. And so for me that those factors are critical that we continue to work in that capacity to make students feel that they fit in and that we take whatever steps is necessary so that they feel that they
077are part of our community our educational community and that they are equally important as the child that's not special needs. >> The other half of the question is how can the district ensure they continue to receive appropriate support during and after the transition? >> Okay. So after the transition, it's important that that that we work closely with the parents to make sure that there are certain steps taken at home that they are doing what they need to and and that we are doing what we need to to make sure that we continue to grow them. And so we have to communicate the communication is going to be critical to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks for these students. So if there has to be a learning plan in place and we need to
078work closely as the community as the teacher as the parent to make sure that the learning plan is being followed. >> So let's see a lot there. Um >> Speaking from experience. So again, I mentioned already that my wife and I have adopted several special needs children. And and I'll relate again as I mentioned really the reason that um I ran for the board was not only watching board meetings and and and being encouraged by you know all my mentors on the board, Dan Duffy and others, but you know, my wife and I when we adopted special needs children, some of them from out of state, you know, we weren't always getting the services or it was sometimes a battle. My wife could tell you better than me going to CSE meetings. My wife and
079I have probably been more CSE meetings than than you know, a special ed teacher. And God bless our special ed teachers and our aides because they're doing the real hard work on the battlefield every single day helping the most needy children. But with that said, I ran to the from the board because my wife said you should run for the board. And I said, "Why would I run for the board? I know I want to volunteer and I want to give back but I'm I work in schools all day long." And she said, "Well, I think that if you run for the board, we're going to have a better chance for services for some of the children." And um you know, so I ran for the board and she were not. Sure enough. Um as
080soon as I became a board member, suddenly there were different services that were available for some of our children. My wife was getting immediate callbacks. There was some placements for special schools for some of our children who were fully residential down Westchester. And it shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't be that way. You shouldn't have to run for the board to advocate and get things for your kids. So what I did is I am always an advocate for special needs children to try to make sure that all parents should be able to get all those services. Last thing I know you held up the card. I'm very concerned with how many students are being um you know, declassified especially at the high school. We had a meeting about that the board you know, recently and
081I think it's excessive. We're still in a phase of emotional issues after COVID and I think there's a lot of parents that are being pressured to do this when they don't want to and I want to see that change. >> Well, I think the the question was about transitioning primarily and then >> Let me read it. What factors and stop timing him when he speaks. What factors should guide decisions about transitioning students out of special education, and how can the district ensure they continue to receive appropriate supports during and after the transition? >> I don't I don't think it's controversial to say that the ultimate goal clearly is to transition students into the regular population because they no longer need the services. The hard part is deciding whether they need the services or not. That's
082the real crucial point. And the day the the the research changes, the evidence changes all the time. So, it is our responsibility to make sure we hire professionals, people who know what they're doing, and who get continued professional development. I think we have a tremendous special education department. Uh the people who work in there are very professional, know the most recent literature. That being said, these are kids. It's very complex. It's You don't always get it right. They of course they'll be the first to admit that they don't every time get it right. They're applying some sets of standards, their their their experience, their professional development. But of course, so what it means is one needs continual monitoring during the path transition period to make sure that this is working, this is right, which they
083do. >> Thank you. Thanks thank you all three of you. Um Very very important part. Um the next two questions. First one to answer will be yourself. How can the district ensure that compensation decisions for administrators are fair, transparent, and based on clear criteria? And how would you work with employee unions to balance fair compensation with the goal of ensuring staff can earn a livable wage in a single job. >> A great question. So, I mentioned earlier how, you know, we're going through in New York State increasing cost. Obviously, with everything going on in the economy, more and more it's very difficult for our young teachers to live even in the Hyde Park community. They might have to live, you know, to the west of us in the western part of the county, to the
084eastern part of the county rather, and um commute to Hyde Park because Hyde Park has become very, very expensive. You know, things go by contracts in schools to your point. So, when you say, you know, how do we um make sure that there's an equitable um salary range and so forth. Well, that's that's discussed legally through the collective bargaining agreements. So, you know, the association will bargain with the district, and that's where those conversations takes place. And so, they should. And so, you take some demographic data, but you also take data from across the county. With that said, with that said, um I would say that you can't compare apples to oranges. So, if somebody is brand new in a position, maybe a brand new in administrative position, and you say the average salary for
085this position in the entire county is X, Y, and Z, so they should make at least that. I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that because if you have, you know, 13 districts, and most of those people have been doing the job already for 10, 15 years, and this person has just started, you know, I always believe you pay your dues. You pay your dues, and you work up in your contract, and once you get experience, eventually, if you do a good job, obviously, you know, you'll be rewarded for it. But, I think that's a problem when you try to say, you know, somebody is going from um one position to a totally different position, and then you they're getting a salary based on a county average, and most of the people that
086make up the average have been it for 10 years or more. I think that's a problem. >> Mr. Tibbitts. >> So, So, in terms of the collective bargaining, uh as Mr. Spence points out, we go through collective bargaining with lots of different units, all the different units. The board isn't directly involved in the negotiations, but the board ultimately approves what the what the levels will be or what or gives advice to the lawyer who's doing the negotiation. And so, it's really important for us, once again, to keep in mind that resources are not unlimited. Um if I could, I would pay every one of our teachers a million dollars. I think they're all worth it. We can't. We can't. So, what we have to do is the best we can within the constraints of of
087the budget and of and the finances. In terms of administration and things like that, where there's there's it's less of a collective bargaining and more of one-on-one, what we do is is actually I don't actually don't think we do take an average. I think what we do is we look at all the districts that we think are are same I'm picking nits. It's comparable to us and we see where we fit in. Are we kind of in the middle? We certainly don't want to be paying the most. We certainly don't want to be paying We want to be able to hire people who are quality people. And we have to keep in mind that we are not the only game in town. And if we want to hire and keep the first-rate people who are
088going to continue to make this district grow and improve and be a first-rate district, we have to be willing to pay a comparable salary. >> Okay. So, in terms of salary equity, uh this here is really a bone of contention um for me having been A lot of these employees here in the district are are people I've known for over 20 years because my children are alumni. And when I come came to this district and we were paying teaching assistants $19,000 a year and these are people who are carrying heavy loads and loving our children and we're paying them $19,000 a year, then our administration needs to take a step back and look at how we expect these people to live. Because they're they are doing hard important work and we're paying them $19,000 a
089year. Let's Let's When we're going to the bargaining agreement to the table to negotiate, let's let's think about what can we give these employees to boost their salary so they have a living wage. I I believe that our administrators When I say our administrators, our cabinet-level employees are are paid rather well, extremely well. And I understand that there's a superintendent shortage. However, I've been in a situation when I worked in higher education, which is what my most of my background is in HR, where there's a salary There was a salary freeze for the administrators so that we can make sure that we hired and continued to hire teachers at a rate of pay. And I have not heard any mention in the five years that I've been here as an employee about a salary freeze
090for any of our administrators in order to make sure that our bargaining agreement people are getting equitable pay. And I think that's something that needs to be addressed. These employees who work for our district give their heart and soul. There's a toileting toileting fee that we give to teaching assistants to toilet a child. And they And it's five And an extra $5 an hour. $5. And [snorts] yet you want You want this person to toilet the child and you want this person to do it lovingly and with dignity for this child. So, um we need to work on the salary equity. >> I've got three questions left. Um I'm going to do this one first. And then this one is last. The last one will lead into your closing remarks. I Um the first one
091to speak will be Mr. Tibbets. And um recently the Board of Education abruptly banned the use of communication apps that coaches use to communicate with families. How would you ensure effective communication between the district staff and families across multiple channels, especially in light of recent changes to communication tools? Are you aware of >> I'm Yeah, I'm not I'm not actually sure how to how to how to answer that. >> Um I This question came from >> Yeah, it was a parent email that question. >> I think it has something to do with the apps that the sports use to communicate with the students and the coaches can't go through the school district to do >> So the longer version of the question was like how if there's something that's how to deal with this before
092it happens. Um and that like they they were saying like there's no communication level besides the level from the district like in the parents' place. So we've they've lost that communication between parent and employee coach teacher. They only >> Is it a result of that recent policy that we just talked about? >> Yeah, yeah. So so we're going to we're going to we're I think if you look at that that that meeting where where Bobby actually got up and pointed this out, we said the policy committee which I am on is going to immediately look we're going to put that on the agenda for the next one to look at that to make sure that we that we eliminate the potential issues that were brought to our to our attention. >> Are you aware of
093this issue? >> No, I'm >> You don't have to address it if that's >> I'll just say I'm not familiar with that that that was banned. >> Fairly specific. >> Yeah, I'm aware of the issue and so forth. I I wasn't at that particular meeting. I was probably at a Dutchess County School Board's meeting. But what I'd say is this, it's very important to have control of communication between faculty and staff and students. You know, what happens is sometimes in a district, it happens in my district, you know, you won't have a personal communication app for the teacher to update the parents and the students and so some teachers or faculty will will, you know, use the free app and so forth and then there's no monitoring the situation. Unfortunately, in the world we live
094in today, I think you know where I'm going with this, the district needs to be able to provide an app that is the district app so that if the teachers want to communicate with students and parents, they can monitor what's going on when the communications are taking place at all time. That's the answer, not to just totally ban an app. >> Yeah, and I think this is specifically for coaches. >> It wasn't it wasn't >> May I? >> Yeah. >> It wasn't actually about the app. It was about a new policy that was that was uh handed down from the state. >> Uh >> The lawyers wrote it up >> Yeah. >> and it went through the policy committee and some of the wording made it such that uh people weren't allowed to actually speak
095to children about anything that didn't have to do directly with academic things. And so because that wording was so awkward, um we we decided to really take another look at that and we asked the lawyers to to come back with with better wording that doesn't forestall sort of just regular communication between people that's that's above board. It really was about protecting kids from inappropriate uh the policy was was was meant to protect children from inappropriate communications. >> Parents Did were parents given a chance to ask questions or speak about it? >> So that that was a policy that was that was brought to the policy committee. It was handed It was came down from the state and uh and and the the lawyers had put together the wording. >> Somebody was obviously >> Yes. >>
096affected. >> Yes. Yes. I I I and and I guarantee we will fix it. >> Thank you. Um Do you have family or close connections to students, teachers, or staff in the district? And how might that inform your perspective? And I know you've talked about your children. Your children have graduated. I think this is trying to elicit some of the other connections that you might have. And What was I up to? Faith >> Your Faith first. Yeah. >> Um Yes, I have There's still a number of my children's teachers who are still here, who I um who I have major respect for because they helped out they helped form the foundation of who they are today by being kind and and and gracious and loving my kids. Um my my circumstances were I can't even
097say enough about how wonderful my teachers the teachers were for my children and I feel that it was exceptional care that they got. So I do have a bond with quite a number of different teachers here in the in the district who loved my children and I respect immensely as a result of that. >> So I don't have any relatives, if that's what the question is, work for the school district. You know, I've been a lived in the Hyde Park school district for 39 years. I have many very good relationships with our faculty and staff, but nobody is a relative if that's what you were asking. >> I believe that is kind of the question. Yes. >> Can you ask the question again, Ed? Just >> Do you have family or close connections to students,
098teachers, or staff in the district? And how might that inform your perspectives? >> Surely it is I do not. The relationships I have are the ones I've developed as being a member of the board. >> Okay, this is final question and we're starting with you, right? >> Yeah. >> So, this is kind of your lead-in to your closing remarks. You have a minute and a half and you can summarize um your overall position. What skills or experiences would you bring to the board? And how would you continue building your knowledge in the role? How will you stay informed and trained on current educational issues and responsibilities? >> Thank you. So, just to clarify, we're answering the question and then doing final remarks or is the final remarks are going to be next? >> Can you
099roll them in? >> I can roll it. I can roll it. Not a problem. Not a problem. >> Because this is a good way to Yeah, give that. >> So, um you know, what I've said here tonight again is about the importance of um having a board member who not only listens, but um somebody who is willing to uh bring up issues that might not be popular. Um I mentioned earlier some of my mentors who used to be on the board and and one of them I won't say the board member's name, but I once had a discussion, you know, I'm bringing up some of these things and seems like some of my colleagues on the board they don't like it. And uh the board member looked at me and said, Ed, you're not there
100to be friends. You're there to bring up what the parents are concerned about to advocate for students. And you know, that sometimes that's tricky. You have to have a backbone. Because sometimes when you're bringing up, you know, for the little guy who doesn't feel like they have a voice, and you're kind of pressing the issue to say, "No, what are we doing for this person? What are we doing for this group that feels alienated?" You're not going to make many friends and so forth. So, what I would say to to overall to summarize in my statements is, why should you vote for me? Because I've been on the board for 3 years or three terms. I've been in the school for 35 years. I've been a parent with again, nine children who've graduated from the
101district. So, I definitely have a vested interest in that way. And I'm somebody who will listen and advocate for people. >> 90 seconds. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> A little bit more? >> Yeah, that's good. Thanks. >> Um and I'm a person who will definitely advocate for people even if the the opinion or the point of view is not very popular because I think in a democracy, being a former social studies teacher, everybody's voice should be heard. Everybody's opinion should be considered. You know, a lot of times I've worked in a lot of school districts where you have an administrative team and the most dangerous thing to have is a room full of yes people. Okay? Because then you think everything's going great. And what you want to have is you want to have people
102who disagree with you civilly, respectfully, for the good of all to bring together what's best for all. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Mr. Tibbetts, you have a minute and a half. 90 seconds. >> So, so as I said, you know, my I've spent 34 years in education, but but that actually isn't the most important thing. We don't want a board full of people who are just educators. They become single-minded. You want a diverse board with lots of different opinions. So, I think the responsibility of the board member is to do their homework. We get lots I think if you look at our agendas and you look at the individual items, there's a lot of stuff that we have to read and pour through. It is absolutely essential that we look through all of
103that, do our homework on all of those, find out what are the most recent ideas about this program versus that program. So, to me, my responsibility as a board member is first and foremost what's in the best interest of the of the students, but to be prepared, to do my homework, and that homework includes listening to community members who want us to who speak to me, doing the research on the web, reading and being present at all conversations, and participating regularly in our board retreats, where we learn about new things. >> The skill I would The skills that I will be bringing to this as a board member would be listening, to honestly have a open mind about what our stakeholders want, to be respectful, and make make it clear that I have no hidden
104agenda, that transparency is crucial, that by vetting all prospective candidates that we plan to hire, make sure that we investigate who they are and where they come from. So, those are the things that I've weighed heavily is the vetting process. Um again, being accessible and listening to the stakeholders, and ensuring that I may not be able to make a decision that they want, but I am going to listen and put their put their thoughts out there to the board members, so that we can all be on the same plane as to why these people might be feeling this way, and what can we do as a board to ensure that they are feeling heard and listened to and appreciated and valued. >> Thank you. Drive safely. >> Thank you. Thank you for all for coming
105out. We appreciate it. And don't forget