001Central School District Board of Education meeting at this time. Can I get a motion to enter public participation or sorry to enter uh get a motion to adjurnn to executive session for the purpose of discussing tenure, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or persons. So move. Second. All those in favor? I oppose. Motion carried. We're now in executive session. Excuse I'd like to return to open session. Um, and at this time, please rise for the pledge of allegiance. And I'm going to ask you to remain standing afterwards for a moment of silence for a former U employee, a bus driver, Christine Seaman, who uh recently passed away. and we want to thank you for her service to our students, families, and staff. So, I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the
002United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please, please remain standing. Thank you. Okay. I don't think we have any agenda modifications. So, can I get a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? Some move. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carried. 6.1. Upcoming events. There's a whole bunch of them. Monday, May 12th, there's the Havlin spring concert 1 at Havlin Middle School at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14th, uh Havlin Middle School spring concert number two, and that'll be at Havland at 6:30. And we also have the Hide Park Education Foundation meeting at Hide Park Elementary at 6 PM. On Monday, May 19th, the Violet AB spring concert at Violet A at 6:30 PM. Tuesday, May 20th, uh this
003is the night of our budget. Um and there will be a uh meeting following uh the budget as always. That'll be at Havlin. Polls open at 6:00 a.m. and they will close at uh 8:00 p.m. Meeting follows at approximately 900 p.m. afterwards. Wednesday, May 21st through May 7th, no school use of four giveback emergency closing days plus Monday 526 is a holiday and that's all locations. Wednesday, May 28th, the Ralph R. Smith Spring concert and that'll be at Havlin Middle School at 6:30 p.m. And then Thursday, May 29th, is FDR Award Night and that'll be at Havlin Middle School at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 2nd is the Netherwood Spring Concert, and that'll be at Netherwood at 6:30 p.m. And then Wednesday, June 4th is uh Music in the Parks at Vanderbilt Mansion and that'll be
004at 7 p.m. And then our next uh board of education meeting is on June 12th uh at district office and open session will start at 7 pm. Any other uh calendar events that's uh missed? We got them all. Okay. All right. Moving on to 7.1 Pride, please. Okay. So, I'll begin with Netherwood. At Netherwood, they did a lit literacy around the world. So about 75 students along with their families were able to attend. Uh students completed reading activities tied to science of reading. They made crafts and they also participated and um in varied learning experiences. Um principal Wilbert would like to thank the staff and families who brought food in for their culture to share with those who attended at Ralph Smith. Mr. Ding uh would like to thank Miss Katani and her Maris University
005students for organizing a kindergarten literacy field day last week. Uh students were able to work in small groups where they engaged and focused in literacy activities. The students and staff had a blast and we were so excited to continue this partnership in the future. Um the PTA organized the bike safety rodeo and they and he would like to thank the High Park Police Department for coming out to participate and support the students at Violet Avenue. Um Monday, April 28th, K through uh K through two classes at Violet Avenue visited the librarians from the Pikipsy Library. They enjoyed a picture book, interactive read out uh read read out loud, and they learned how to um use a library card. Uh they also learned about the amazing services that the library offers including free summer programs. So
006that's something that is really nice that they open up to kids. Um he they would like to thank uh Miss AA and Miss Francis for these inspirational presentations. Students in Miss Silva and Miss Ellis's second grade class wrote poems during the month of April for National Poetry Month. To celebrate each student um each student chose their favorite poem to be published in a class book of poems. Uh the fourth grade classes attended the little red schoolhouse where children got to learn about the education in the early 19s and um local history. And Miss O'Neal's fourth grade and fifth grade students uh participate practice their reading and sequencing skills. They were able to follow a recipe and hard work on fractions to make banana breads. They really enjoyed that process and I think that's a really
007fun way to include math but also make it fun and kind of bake in a sense and make food. Um, so they really enjoyed eating the banana bread. Uh, but they especially enjoyed sharing the bread with some of the staff at Havlin. Mr. Shaw would like to extend his heart um heart thanks to the incredible Havlin Middle School PTA that le um led by Katherine Rivera who is a one wonderful activities, delicious food and thoughtful recognition provided the staff throughout teacher appreciation week and the PTA's efforts really truly made the staff feel valued and celebrated. He believes they they did an amazing job. He would also like to express his deepest appreciation and gratitude to the outstanding faculty and staff um for their unwavering commitment, tireless dedication and passion for all the students um that
008they give to each and every day. Uh thank you for rising above for making our school such a special place for learning and growth. And then at FDR, the jazz cabaret was outstanding this year and featuring the jazz band, the Delanotes and the Chamber orchestra in which Mr. Mr. Osborne, Miss Martin, and Miss Rimp, and the students knocked it out of the park. Um, FDR also housed the district-wide art show this weekend. It was one of the most well attended shows um they've ever had. I myself was able to go and I also saw Miss Turner there. And uh I think it's honestly something really nice because you get to see not just like one school but all the schools combined and kind of see more of how the community is involved and how everybody
009just comes together to just enjoy that moment. So it was really really nice going to that. Also the athletic department was able to celebrate eight students this past Friday um with their signing into their respective colleges and athletic programs. Thank you. We have some additional points of pride that I want to share just amplifying what Lisbette just shared. Uh congratulations to all the students who had their artwork selected for the art show. Uh additionally, I want to uh give kudos to Melinda Deo as well as the entire uh art staff for putting this event together. Students had an opportunity for some hands-on arts and crafts and uh good time was had by all. We also want to uh recognize uh two of our uh scholar athletes. Um we have uh Julian Pritchard and Ireland uh
010Fitzgerald uh who were selected by the MIT Hudson Athletic uh League uh for their academic um prowess as well as their athletic abilities. And I got to tell you uh I had the opportunity to interact with Julian. Uh he actually um promised me a lesson to teach me um pickle ball. And so I went to the pickle ball um with my shoes and my suit long attire for that. Um but we we had an amazing time and they taught me the rules. Um so just want to give kudos to to both uh scholar athletes and I did see Elizabeth there as well. Uh don't tell anyone my performance please. Oh yes. We also want to give kudos to uh Lou Darl. Uh he is uh the recipient of our first annual High Park bus driver
011of the year award. Uh as many of you know bus drivers are the first individuals that see our students and the last individuals to see our students. They play a critical role in our uh in our uh educational ecosystem and we just want to give him tremendous kudos. He transports our students safely. Uh always looking to grow as a as an individual. Uh welcomes every student with a warm smile. Uh has connections with our families and uh just just want to give him tremendous kudos for all that he does as well as that entire department because they are on the front lines making sure our students get transported to and from school safely. So congratulations to Lou Daryl. Let's give him a round of applause. That leads us to uh life sentence. So you typically
012don't associate a life sentence with pride, right? And so just want to congratulate uh Mrs. Shim. Uh she was um assigned uh a life sentence uh not because of anything she's done wrong but many things that she has done right in our in our educational system impacting many lives serving over 20 plus years in the educational setting at FDR providing students with hands-on learning experiences. she um brought her class to a mock trial and really connecting the lessons that she's teaching in the classroom with real world life experiences. And we had Judge Mc Mccclin uh who issued her a very stiff penalty of life sentence. Uh and that life sentence is to relax, travel uh and and she was actually first assigned uh three weeks of house arrest. house arrest uh was a chance for
013her to relax, watch Netflix, uh and make sure she's tending to her garden before she starts her her retirement. So, just want to say congratulations to her. It was a really nice um article uh by Todd Ben. Uh he reached out and uh just glad that he was able to highlight uh one of many uh amazing individuals that we have in our in our system. So, uh congratulations to Mrs. Shim. I think I think she has the right to. And and at this moment, I do want to recognize um our schoolboard service awardee. Uh congratulations to our very own Margaret Katani. Uh she was recognized last last night by the Lower Hudson School Boards Association uh which recognized her efforts uh and all of her involvement in the community being a staunch advocate for community
014schools, advocating for our students, making her connections with Maris College uh and providing supports to our Saturday Academy and the various committees that she does support. Uh just want to give her a round of applause for all that she does and continues to do for our district. As we continue our points of pride, we are going to work we are going to celebrate our employees um portrait who uh exemplify the characteristics of the portrait of our employees. So this month we are celebrating a district office staff member who um I'm going to let Stephen our treasurer announce but Tuana Gil if you can come up to the podium. Stephen is going to say a few words and a certificate for you. Thank you. So, it is with great pleasure that I get to help show
015some recognition to Tuana Gil, not only for going above and beyond with her work in the business office, but for her exceptional ability to cultivate a welcoming and inclusive environment here at the district office. Tana was nominated by two of our teacher coaches who, as some of the only teachers based in this building, have particularly felt the impact of her efforts. Sana consistently goes out of her way to connect with everyone. She starts each morning by going around the building and giving everyone a warm hello. Sometimes I even get a song. Her simple act of connecting with each of us in the morning has created a noticeably more positive atmosphere. I can guarantee you that she has made every single one of us smile in my life. Sana has taken on a leadership role and
016has been driving the planning and execution of our monthly office events and celebrations and they truly are building a stronger sense of community amongst our district office team. As she would say, we're in our sweet spot era and her commitment to fostering connection and belonging is leading the charge. So, congratulations say a couple of words. So, uh, Tana, uh, is best known for hostess with the mostess. Um, and I have to say that Tana has been an amazing addition to our team. She uh, took on this challenge of us building a a more cohesive unit uh, at district office. I challenged her to think about some some spirit activities that could bring us together. She took that to a whole another level. And I have to say that when you think about um individuals who
017uh help build a culture and and positive climate, you typically hear the grumbles, the complaints, right? But it it really takes, right, individuals with strong leadership to do something about it, right? and and she has taken that to be number one a role model for everyone in this or in this in this building. Um and she's helping us to see the value of connection with each and every individual. And so I just want to say thank you for being a leader, for doing what you do, and for assisting us in becoming a better team. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we're going to recognize Lewis Darrow. Again, he was chosen um as the employee who exemplifies our characteristics of the portrait of an employee from our transportation department. And Linda is going to share some words
018about us. So, I would like just to uh first say a little something about Tana too. So, Tana It's really helped um not we talked about district office, but she really helped like like change the whole atmosphere in the business office, too. So, you can see she has some co-workers here. They're her emotional support co-workers. But everyone, we have like the best team in the business office and it all started when Toana joined us just a little over a year ago. So, thank you. Thank you, Toana. So, um, the other person that's getting the portrait recognition tonight is Lou Darrow. Unfortunately, Lou can't be here. He does have a second job and he's working tonight. Um, as Dr. Roman mentioned, Lou was nominated for uh the Duchess County School Bus driver of the year and
019the transportation department. Um, even though he unfortunately didn't get that award, they have decided that he's our school bus driver of the year. So, I do have a a little bit to say right here. I took this information from the nomination forms u for the school bus driver of the year. So uh get my glasses on or off. So so he was so Lou was recently nominated for the annual Duchess County School Bus driver of the year award and that award specifically recognizes school bus drivers who have exhibited an exemplary level of driver and passenger safety and professionalism. While Lou was not ultimately selected for the county level award, the nomination process highlighted his truly exceptional contributions, leading the district to name him Hide Parks Bus driver of the year and honor him with this
020portrait of an employee award. Lou has served this school district as a bus driver for 18 years. He's maintained an impeccable driving record and he consistently demonstrates excellence through cautious driving and is known for his safety conscious mindset. beyond his technical skills lose rapport with uh and respect with students are evident daily. He creates a welcoming atmosphere and positive student engagement. He consistently goes above and beyond his day-to-day duties. He takes pride in his role within the community and he's uh got extensive training both as a school bus driver and also uh through his role in the fire department. um he has um a safety and uh or he's taken many safety and accident prevention courses and um as I said before he's had many years as a volunteer fire uh firefighter with the Roosevelt
021Fire Department and he was at one time also their chief. Uh this experience has provided him with a strong leadership and mentorship skills that directly translate to his role as school bus driver where he readily guides and supports his colleagues. Lou is universally described as dedicated, respected, and trustworthy uh by his students, parents, colleagues, and the wider community. His unwavering commitment to service, selflessness, compassion, and genuine care for others make him an exceptional role model and deeply valued member of our transportation team and the High Park community. Unfortunately, but thank you. And so we just like to take a picture with the board emotional support staff. Yeah. We're there in spirit. We're in stand. Yeah. We're there in spirit. We're gonna stand right in front and you get to be in the front and roll.
022We stand in the back. the stepchildren of the district office. Do you want me to take it for you? I don't think we'll tell them to get back. [Music] Oh, good job, Katie. Right. She leaned in. Yeah. Right in the hole. That's it. I'm going to get you a shirt. Thank you guys. Go. I got all the way to Middletown. Thank you. Thank you. All right. I do have a bit of pride. So, we had our our cupcake challenge. Um, and I I did not win. Um, but I did find out that Dr. Roman strongly dislikes brown buttered uh cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Not going to say who made that one, but I was at his table when that was the only cupcake he did not eat like a grape. So, but it was
023fun nonetheless. I had a good time and we I I forget how much money we run $1,200 for scholarship. So, it was it was it was fun. Well, thank you, Cousin Zagorski, for baking. It's the first time we've ever had a board member bake and and so we really appreciate it. You did. It was It was fun. Yeah, I need a cupcake. No hard feeling. I got blue. But you ate the one after it. I was watching. No hard feelings. But it was it was really nice. All this money was raised for the scholarship, but it was buildings from all over the district to come together for a nice Friday. That's a that's a fun time. Yeah. Yeah. Any other uh pride? I uh Thursday was the NHS induction ceremony. Um there were a lot
024of kids inducted into NHS this year. Um it's pretty cool event. It was outside. It was it was cool. It's really windy. It was very windy. They use battery operated candles. Little candles. It was pretty cool. Thanks. Anything else? All right. Moving on to 8.1 superintendent report with Dr. Roman. Yes. I just have a a quick note uh for the for the board and the community. Um I want to thank uh Michael Davis and the tech team. Um we finished recording the last of the three-part video series for the budget. Um the first the first video was just an overview. Uh second video is how do we obtain uh our our revenue sources and then where do we invest uh the funds? And then the last one is about community engagement. How do we engage
025the community um in the budget process? And so that video should be posted, if not this afternoon, uh definitely by tomorrow. And um really excited about the work that uh we're doing as a district just to engage the community and provide as much information as possible. Um, and again, uh, could not do this without my partner in crime, uh, Linda Steinberg and all our team, um, to to be able to, um, provide the information to our community. And so, thank you, Michael, thank you, Linda, and thank you team for your help. All right. Anything else? That's all. All right. Moving on to 8.2, to our um 202526 adopted budget with Dr. Roman and Miss Steinberg. Thank you. Okay. So, uh this evening we're going to uh review our budget. This is uh the last uh
026review of the budget, adopted budget. As you know, uh we have been intentional about aligning our expenditures uh with um our revenue sources and making sure that this really supports our strategic uh blueprint. Uh in terms of the budget development process, um we're looking forward to uh May 20th. Um our goal is to get as many folks out to exercise their right to vote. So, we're really encouraging uh people to to please come out um to Havlin Middle School on May 20th from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Uh we're also going to be highlighting our our newly renovated auditorium. So, we encourage uh all of our residents to please come out and take a look. It's amazing. Um, in terms of our key decision drivers, as we've been mentioning, again, we're looking to preserve uh
027and enhance our programs and services for our students in this particular budget. We're looking to continue to be efficient and effective. uh measuring the things that we currently have in place um as we move forward. Making sure that what we put in place now is something that we can actually sustain over time. Making sure that we always keep in mind the impact on our taxpayers. And so with that uh this year uh we are going below the tax levy or excuse me the tax cap. Our tax levy is 2 uh%. Um we have um we have our total budget uh for the upcoming year. It's going to be $125,988. And uh I know you want to highlight something from this slide. Thank you. Yeah. So um in order to be below the tax cap, uh
028we adjusted the amount that we're appropriated appropriating in fund balance to next year. Um that's why we show at the top of the screen the actual uh budget amounts compared to last year in both columns. We didn't reduce our expenses like we didn't take anything out of the budget in order to reduce the tax levy by $37,000. Instead, we're appropriating fund balance that we have left over from prior years in order to have the tax levy um at 2%. This just highlights the fact that in this particular budget uh we are uh going below the tax cap. Uh this is the first time since uh 2019 uh that we're going below and um right now uh the 2% is uh the lowest in the past um three three years. And so, uh, we're confident that
029we're able to accomplish, uh, those key levers, the things that we continue to do for our students, enhance some of those programs, and so we feel very confident that we can do so with the budget that we that we have proposed and that has been adopted. Thank you. So, um, because the budget is adopted, there isn't anything, uh, new on this screen. Um in fact the uh amounts that we've been presenting for the last several board meetings even before the budget adoption have been the same. Our budget amount for 202526 is the $125.9 million which is a budgetto budget increase of 4.13% or 4.9 million. Uh listed here is all of the the broad categories for which we normally show our revenues. Of course, taxes is the largest amount and you can see there that
030there's a 2% increase for next year. Uh we do have a lot of materials a available on our website and uh we even have some items here, our budget book that has more detail of the budget. Uh one of the documents on our website is actually the line by line budget. We have uh one document for revenues and the other for expenditures. that shows every account code that the district has uh comparing next year's budget to the uh current year budget. The one for the expenditures is actually 40 pages long um because that's how many account codes we have. But anyway, on this page, I also want to point out the other revenues code. Um I had been asked why there was such a large increase in other revenues. Other revenues include items like interest
031income uh charges that we have to other school districts. Uh for example, if we have a foster student or homeless student attending our schools and they originate from another school district, we bill that other school district for tuition. Um but also included in this amount are pilot revenues which are payments in lie of taxes. Uh normally our pilots or in the past were about 55,000 $56,000 a year but new this year are the pilot uh payments that we're receiving for the Bellofield Hotel which is the hotel across from the culinary institute and also the Saki Brewery. So altogether our revenues from pilots for next year will be about $700,000. So that makes up the majority of that increase. Uh you'll notice next is the state aid number. This is all of the state aid uh
032including foundation aid and also the expense-based aid like aid that we get back for uh expenses we make for transportation for special ed for boseies. Um just today we got the new uh state aid runs the final numbers our foundation aid uh which is the amount that uh really doesn't change um based on expenses is actually $126,000 more than what we had in the budget. So, we were using the governor's proposal in our budget. Um, and the legislator the legislative uh budget came through today or the state aid runs came to us today and we're getting about $126,000 more than what we have included in the budget. So, it is u too late for the board to change the budget. So what happens with those funds is that it gets added to the surplus that
033we have during the 202526 school year and it'll be reflected in our fund balance at the end of uh next school year. So by June 2026 I do want to point out that the budget to budget uh 4.13% that's not that does not uh mean that the uh the taxes are going to be increased by 4.13%. um the tax levy will be 2%. And so I just wanted to make a a clear distinction that the the budget to budget is what was our budget last year compared to this year and that is what we need to make up. Um, again, with inflation going up in terms of percentage, with our um, expenses going up at 4%, the fact that we're able to go out with a 2% that's that's being again mindful of the impact
034on our taxpayers. And so, we're again, we're confident that we're able to do what we need to do to continue to help our students thrive and be successful. Linda, what does it mean that this is the preliminary buzz? Why does it say that? It's the budget before the the B that becomes it's it is the adopted budget now but it's uh it'll be uh Right. Right. So that red line shouldn't be there. Right. The says please this is a pre preliminary budget. Yes. I'm sorry. Yes. We'll take that off. We do post this on the website. So we'll take that as well. Okay, sorry I thought you were still on the revenue slide. So this slide is the expenditure slide. So the total dollar amount is the same as revenues because our our budget must
035uh our revenues must match our expenditures. So $125.9 million is the total budget for next year. Again, these categories are very broad. Um, we do have the line by line budget available. It's, like I said earlier, it's 40 pages. I'm not sure if a lot of people are interested in that, but I did get a question from one person about it. So, I know there's at least one one person that read through that document, but it is available for anyone that would like it. Um, the one thing I think I want to point out here is that you'll notice a decrease in the equipment and an increase in Bosey's expenditures. We are actually purchasing more of our equipment through Boseies and that helps us uh utilize uh you know it's just a better purchasing power
036because we purchase things with other schools in Duchess County and a lot of our purchases we would also receive Bosey's aid back on that in the following year. So we are moving towards buying our equipment whenever we can through Boseies and a lot of that is actually tech equipment that we moved um into the Boseies code. So, in terms of the capital outlay this year, we're looking to have a district-wide security camera uh audit and uh part of that is to make sure that we have a comprehensive audit conducted um ensure that we are looking at the cameras, the layout, um and then start to identify if there's any specific enhancements that need to be made. We'll then uh move forward with the implementation of that. Um, and then lastly, monitoring uh the the system
037uh the way it's designed to ensure that uh we're able to capture what we need to capture in terms of making sure our students and staff are safe. And so um with the capital outlay uh each year we're have we have the ability to identify projects that we need to complete in the district uh that are up to $100,000. uh part of uh the building a ratio that we receive is six approximately 66%. That means that a $100,000 project is only going to cost uh uh cost the district a net of $33,000. And so it's advantageous for us to um uh capitalize on this. Again, it's about a four-year process. First year is the uh exploration, the researching. uh the subsequent years after that is making sure the architects are involved. Um and then uh
038finally is completing the project and then once the project is completed then uh we are we have the ability to recoup those funds in one small swoop. And so um that's the reason why uh one of the reasons why we're we're proposing this uh for this upcoming year. Did I miss anything? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So this slide here shows the uh budget components. Uh New York State requires that we show the budget in these three components, program, admin, and capital. Um the program portion of the budget is really all of our instruction and transportation other than bus purchases. Um administrative costs include uh the cost for many um the administrative costs include some administrators but also things like our legal costs and our retirees health insurance and also our um our insurance and
039f uh financial advisor costs. In capital, we have our bus purchases, all of our facilities and uh operations, and also uh any debt service payments that we have are included in capital. Uh new this year, we have two propositions for buses are proposition two and proposition three. So everything we just talked about was the general fund budget, proposition one. Uh proposition two um is for the purchase of seven buses that are listed here. Uh these would be gasoline and diesel powered buses. These are buses uh these are buses that would be replaced at this uh at the bus garage. Buses that are at the end of their life. And our uh bus our head bus mechanic and our transportation supervisor have identified V7 buses that need to be uh traded in in order for us
040to have smooth operations next year. Uh the total cost for V7 buses is $975,75. We do get state aid on bus purchases of 58.4%. So after receiving state aid, uh the cost for these buses would be $45,631. Uh we do borrow for buses for five years. Traditionally, we borrowed and we would plan to do that with these uh buses, too. We also have another uh proposition, proposition three for electric powered buses. Now, we're asking the public to vote on both propositions. We're not asking the public to choose one or the other. Um if both propositions pass, we would buy all of the buses listed here. So, proposition three is for nine uh electric buses uh 66 passenger buses. they would replace uh 60 uh nine 66 passenger diesel buses. Um in order to take advantage
041of the nicer to Nisbep grants, we actually have to take uh the nine buses off the road. So the total cost gross cost for these buses with a level three charger for each bus is $4.5 million. Uh we do have NAERTA grants available to us in the amount of $2.3 million. uh that would actually come right off the invoice that we get from our bus sales company and we would have to upfront cost of the 2,219,387. We would not borrow for this like we would for other buses. We would use money we already have saved in our capital reserve. We are allowed to use our capital reserve for either capital projects or bus purchases. Uh after uh paying uh the $2.2 $2 million. We would then receive state aid on the amount of the gross
042cost of 4.5 million. So New York State pays state aid for EV buses based on the gross amount of when state grants are utilized. So we would be able to get the 58.4% on the 4.5 million. As you can see in that second to last line, the calculation is actually more than our upfront costs, but we can't get paid for receiving the buses. So we would just get a aid in the amount of what we actually expend and in the end the net cost for these nine buses would be $0. Again, we're not asking people to vote one or the other. We're asking for people to vote on both. We do want to amplify something that Linda shared. Under Proposition two, these buses are at their life expectancy. And so in order for us to
043continue to transport our students to and from school safely, we need those uh buses on our fleet. In terms of um why why are we uh you know looking at gasoline and diesel buses? That's the reason why we have to do that because it's an immediate need for next year. In terms of the electric power buses under Proposition Three, uh we we strongly feel that we have a fiduciary responsibility to to capitalize on the grants that are available to us now that may not be available to us later on. Uh we understand that we still have a New York State mandate uh July 1st, 2027. We need to start converting our fleet to uh zero uh uh emission uh busing. And so that's really important for us to do what we can to put the
044information out there and to see what we can do to to make sure that those grant funds come to our community. Um if not, there's going to be another district that's going to buy for those those um grants. And so um so those those are the reasons why we're we're uh putting forth the two propositions. How are the buses disposed of when they're taken off the road? Um the bus sales company takes them we trade them in. So they have to certify they have to certify to NAERTA that those buses are taken off the road under so even for the four 66 passenger buses is there like a trade in allowance or so sometimes we trade in buses and I don't know if that's been determined yet. Sometimes we trade in the buses and get
045a credit on the total cost. the 975 is the total amount we would pay if we had no tradein value. Uh but sometimes the head mechanic and the other mechanics will choose to keep one of the buses not to use it on the road but to use it for parts. So we do have um some buses at the bus at the bus garage that are there that we don't use at all. The mechanics take the parts out of them and after they get to a certain point then they uh they sell the rest of the bus for scrap. What I'm trying to get at is we need to replace the four. Yes. If we replace nine more, my thinking it's nine buses that are not due for replacement. So, there may be a little more
046value than the ones that are. Would we be receiving any additional monies for those buses when they come off the road? Yeah, we we will not because they they'll have no value to uh Leonard Bus can't do anything with them either. they have to come off the road. So really what we're getting is the grants for taking them off the road. I think the other thing to to that to that question that's a really good question. We we have to think about um that these nine buses um under Proposition three are probably also inching the life expectancy. And so um these buses will eventually have to come off uh the the the fleet. And then um I think the other piece that we that we want to just just you know think about is um
047in terms of I just lost my train of thought. Um oh no um it just came back to me. Um that's what happens with age. Uh so the the nine buses um in terms of uh the electric Just lost it again. Never mind. You're thinking of that cupcake. Yeah. But what what they do, they're they're, you know, from the state point of view, when they give you a grant, they want that off the road so that the next person can't file for the grant on the same bus, right? So, in the fire department, it works the same way. when they get a grant for a new vehicle, you can't sell that because they they deem that, you know, being replaced by a new thing, they give you money for it. They don't want you to
048sell it to the next department and do the same thing. So, that's why they want these off the road. And, you know, I, you know, I think they just get scrapped. I think they Wow. When my wife went to Guatemala last fall, she was riding in a school bus that was built in 1962. I think they get shipped out. They're making something up. It came. It came. You got it now. I got it. Thank Thank you for for buying me some time. No. No. So, it's Right. So, we know that with the one bus that we had, it took almost a year and a half to manufacture that bus. Right. So, these buses, if they're close inching their life expectancy, right? By the time we can manufacture these buses, those buses are close to the
049end of their life, right? And so it's going to take us at least a year and a half to get these buses, you know, in the district. So, thank you for buying me time and I promise I will eat the cupcake next time. So, uh the next two pages list um the changes, the budget additions and savings. Um overall, uh these are really the recommendations or the requests that we've received from our administrators. The first line shows the savings that we'll have from teacher retirements. We have 11 teachers retiring. Um, and we plan to replace 10 teachers. Um, because the retiring teachers make more than the new teachers do, we're realizing a savings in the budget of $530,000. Um, and every year we do show the retiring teachers because that does help us fund like
050any new requests that we have from the administrators. Uh something that we did new this year is we actually listed all of their requests on uh these pages. There are two items that were not approved that were listed on the first page. Uh two clerical positions, one at FDR and one at Havland. Uh you'll notice those amounts are under the request column but nowhere else. It's because they were not approved. Um everything that's listed here with the salaries also includes the benefits. So if it's a full-time position, that includes health insurance. Uh I always assume that someone would take the highest cost plan available to them which would be a family plan. Um and then there's also pension cost, payroll taxes and workers comp included in the overall cost. Uh this page here, the two
051amounts at the top are stipens, but at the bottom they're non- salary um items. Uh you'll notice that we have three things that we did approve, but not for next year's budget. We're actually using u money left over this year to purchase the wrestling mats for athletics, to purchase a new scoreboard for the gym at FDR, and to purchase 17 digital pianos. Also listed here is a savings from trans uh transferring our uh routing system and transportation. When we first looked at the calculations, we thought that we would have an increase in the budget, but then we realized that we had some tablets that were budgeted that are actually included in the price from the new routing software. So, we removed those from the budget. And we're also receiving uh Bose seeds aid on this
052because our current software is not purchased through Bose Seeds, but this would be. So, we're going to realize a savings for the new uh transportation routing software of 31,000. And then finally, we have the uh student supplies. Uh the student supplies for the last few years have been purchased with the fiscal stimulus funds. Uh those funds did end um on September 30th, 2024. So in order to continue with our initiative to buy the supplies for all of our students, we're adding that amount into the general fund budget for each. And here we have the three uh candidates that are up for three seats. Uh we have Katie Briber Spence and Mr. Michael Ziggorski. Um so those will appear on the ballot. And then lastly, uh this just highlights that this evening uh we're conducting our
053budget hearing. Uh and then the next date in um our calendar here, May 20th. Again, just reiterating uh May 20th from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. uh the vote school school budget vote uh and board member elections will be taking place at Havlin Middle School. And uh again, we just encourage everyone to come out and exercise their right to vote. Any questions from the board? be happy to answer. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. At this time, can I get a motion to open public participation? So moved. Second. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carried. The board reminds speakers that the public comment portion of our meeting is only one item and a lengthy agenda. The segment of p this segment of public participation will be limited to an overall time of 21 minutes.
054We ask that each speaker be concise and that remarks be limited to three minutes. We expect individuals participating in public comment to speak respectfully and courteously modeling proper civility and decorum for our students. Please provide your name and address when you reach the podium. Would anyone like to address the board? Even those that are on their phone. All right. At this time, we'll close public participation. Uh board subcommittee reports and professional development. Any board committees meet? The instructional technology committee met. Um I got the agenda and what they talked about. I wasn't able to make the meeting, but I can give a synopsis. They established a draft of an AI policy for the district and um they felt that the NISBA policy was vague. So they're going to work on the current policy for AI.
055And then also from the DT meeting, they presented the results of a survey, a staff survey on technology. And I think the BLT people wanted more specific um summary. So they're going to work on how to present the results of the survey. And there were five issues that came up. Um co-eing screens. So like when you have a co-teer, how do they share screens or have two screens? Generative AI tools and training. Then infinite CA campus improvement practices and how to get tech support and also professional development around technology. Has there been any discussion with the new camera project that we have um outside? Yeah. No, may may I don't know if it's for the tech committee or or what, but I I'm sure there's technology that will be AI assisted monitoring, right? So that
056you know we have cameras everywhere and you know if we don't have people to constantly monitor all everything that's going on and I'm pretty sure they have AI technology that will help identify things certain things that hey you know there might be a fight happening you know you know I don't know you know might cost a fortune but it might be something that the tech committee wants to get with you know whatever this capital outlay project is to look at it you know just to use techn technology to help with that. Summarize it or or like comb through all that footage. Yeah. I mean, yeah, there it's pretty with with cameras, they could do a lot of stuff and identify things that could be happening, right? So, it'd be a good thing to at least
057at least consider. It's only $100,000 that we got. So, I don't know if that'll be in there, but Yeah. But there is there's software that that's out. Okay. But I could and we did have the DT meeting that was really good. You have another committee or DT. Basically every committee uh presented at the district the evening district leadership team. And so it was a great process of the committees going around and presenting to each group. And we heard from the policy committee and the instructional technology committee. every committee and it was a great summary for the district leadership team. Okay, good. Any other uh committees? The policy committee met twice and um I don't think that there were any there's not anything major that has changed. Everything is just mostly minor changes. And you I
058I asked when we revamped the public participation wording, I asked that be tweaked a little bit. Have Have we brought that back to the table? I think in the I think in the public participation policy it says that um board members will only address agenda items only. And I I don't I I don't want that in there. So that that's supposed to be taken up and I think it takes a policy number ones we were working on. What's the number? A block. I just I'm just reading publication. I noted chang in the in the text. Um here any other committees? Um yeah, EB bus committee met. Um primary discussion was to seek other avenues to maybe counteract some of the information and misinformation that's getting out there uh of the had a couple of presentations
059but decided it was probably too late to get on that would concentrate on the the communication avenues we have at hand. Um and negotiations committee uh met. There was well negotiations committee met. I listened and it sounded productive. That's about all I can say. The code of conduct committee also met. Um and we are looking at our suspension data and we've identified two goals for next year to reduce suspensions. Um, and we're going to focus on uh insubordination and uh oh my gosh, I'm drawing a blank insubordination and uh anyway uh we have two two focuses that we're working on and identifying interventions to support that. So, um, would be misconduct. What was it? Misconduct. Is it? No, I can't remember either. Disorderly conduct. Disorderly conduct. Disord. Thank you. Um, yeah. So, those are two
060of our our biggest um areas where we see suspensions. So, we're going to work to reduce that. And I'm also very pleased to say that at this point in the year, we have had a significant reduction in suspensions from last year. So we're down over 400 suspensions from the year prior. Um so that's good. We're moving in the right direction. Good. Any other committees? All right. Moving on to 10.2, two, our board discussion, including consent agenda items. I have one item um sort of related to the cupcake topic is we got to do your uh annual pointed out that we should have probably done something by now. So, okay. So, I think the step is you put stuff out there and then we'll collectively um you know look at it and schedule the time it
061but I think we need to do that right. No, I'm just kidding. Yes. Oh, okay. Good. Um, I had a question about the meeting that we had about um, super eval because we talked about that not every single category would get responded on by the board. Y So, I feel like we should set that up before we all go in and start responding and then get too many things in there that we've worked on. Are you are you talking for the board goals or are you talking board goals? Yeah, I I still haven't had a chance to look at the video yet. Oh, right. in the next meeting we can there. Yep. So I I'll take a look at the at the video before the next meeting and discuss it and but very it sounds
062like that comment is very similar to when we do his evaluation the first time through we had this much in there and we kind of trimmed it down to more realistic wrote up that maybe trim it down first you know or at least I thought of that too. He thought to trim it down as group so that we don't filled out too much. Yeah. No, 100% agree. I think the tool provides a lot of capabilities and we can trim it to what we need it where we want to make out of it. So, okay. So, do we need to do that? So, should we all look at that and come back with ideas? I just So, I think so. I I mean, I didn't see that I didn't see it yet, but if you're if
063you think that would be good, then sure, we should we should this way when we come back, we've got something to work with. Okay. Before our next meeting. Yeah. Yeah. And make sure that we have that on the like the board discussion specifically spelled out that we can talk about that. And I assume these probably would be board goals for post reorg, right? So, you know, that's we wouldn't have there's not a big hurry to get them in place, you know, yet, right? So, but we can certainly talk about it next time. Any other discussions? Consent agenda questions. All right. Very good. Uh, moving on to 11.1. Can I get a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda? So, moved, Katie. Second. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carried. New business. Uh 12.1 policy first consideration
064of policies and code of conduct. Can I get a motion? So move. We have a second. Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carried. 12.2 capital project change order phase 2A SNL plumbing and heating corp for uh Violet A. Can I get a motion? So moved. Second marker. Any discussion? I have a question, you know, a general question about Chen. I don't know if this would be the place, but since it's change orders, just in general, um I looked through the reasons for the change order here, but do we ever look at I don't know if we can look at um you know, and I understand with every project there's going to be unexpected costs, but do we ever look at we've worked with this company for five projects and they're always coming
065out far above the original? Like do we ever look at history with it just seems like we're always adding adding costs onto projects. Well the change order and correct me if I'm wrong but the change order money is part of the budget and then there's also a contingency that we bake in as well. So that like if if like they peel back a wall when there's asbestous right then you might have to eat into that contingency. Right. No, I guess my question is we have to take the lowest bid, lowest reasonable bid, but are we, you know, after projects, are we going with the lowest bid, but it ends up being, you know, are we consistently finding that we end up paying a lot more than other bids because the low bid wasn't the low
066bid. Does that make sense? I can expect a little bit of Palumbo's process when we receive the bids. They with the like who appears originally to be the lowest responsible bidder, most responsible key um they meet with them and they go through the bid and they verify the information that they provided and they look at their source for how they're providing the bids. So that's what how they determine that. Um, I don't know if they've we could find out like if they've tracked like that a certain uh contractor has more change orders than another, you know, another one or over time. I'm not sure if that's information that they do track, but I know that they meet with the biders about the base bid and to go through and verify the information and that's how
067they decide if it's a reasonable bid, right? And that I that I did realize I just I don't know I just can't go over the amount that we approve, right? They so like no matter who it is there they're there's the limit and you know if right if the total capital Yeah. the total project. So they can't go over that. If if it does it has to I don't know what we do. They can't I don't know. Well that we had um some bids come in really high for the last project and we actually didn't finish everything at after because of it. before the two. Would you mind if I explain something that's new with the change orders? No, go ahead. So, um, we had talked about the request that you had last time, uh,
068about the, uh, contingency that's remaining and we brought that up at our meeting with Palumbo and they suggested that we use their change order log. So, it's also attached in here. Um, I would propose that going forward that we only provide the change order log from uh Palumbo, but it's one of the attachments. It's a like a multicolored there's like color coding on it. Um, they separate the uh the change order law. They have it separated by by the contractor. So, if you're looking at the ones for phase 2A, um they have u like at the top the GC is general contractor. So, that's key construction. Uh the second is our mechanical contractor SNL. And in there is where the change orders are that are um on or the change order that's on tonight's um
069agenda. But there's also something else that may you may find interesting here. Palumbo tracks every request they get for a change order. Um, and then sometimes they negotiate that costly something else. And so they reflect it here. And then the last two columns they're showing the change order, the co total or the allowance on the um, you know, the allowance that was built into the bid the base price and they indicate when that was. I am going to go back to them and ask them to change it a little bit so it's also more user friendly for the board. like maybe indicating which of these change orders are on the current agenda that we're asking the board to approve. Uh but I think this information has a a lot that the board is looking for.
070And if you look at the bottom of the the chart on one side on the lefth hand side, it shows the approved change orders to date by each type of contractor. And on the right hand side at the bottom is what's been approved so far. And and so if I'm reading this correctly, the CO total is is 199,000 and the AA total would be 88,000. That's what's left. No, that's what was actually um that's the allowance on um for the amounts that's built into the bid price and the change orders would be uh new items that came up like you had mentioned before like if we find as best as that. Oh, so the allowance was 88 but we're change order into one 199. So So we're over what we allowed. So if you look
071at the bottom, we we include like a change order amount in the allowance. So this project which is nearly completed uh there's still there's 8,891 that we haven't in the allowance overall. How does the 198 compared to the 88? What is the 198 the 198 change orders and the 88 overall is the um actual allowances. So what I would be asking for the for for the change from Palumbos for us to provide it to the board is to show that what we had budgeted for change orders too and what's remaining and oh so what's not on here is what we budgeted for change orders right I think what's on here is just what was included in the allowance for each in each bid which is an allowance is separate from a change order because the
072change order actually changes the so the allowance is different yeah the allowance is included in the bid price. Okay. Right. Okay. Yeah. It'd be nice to see the, you know, what what the overall budget was to make sure we're not, you know, to Margaret's point, going crazy over, right, what the, you know, what that amount was. And then you'll when you look at it, you'll see like we don't we don't accept every request that's made for a change order. So the column that says original cost, that's actually what the contractor is requesting we make the change for. negotiated cost is what Palumbbo um it's the number they get them to I like this chart I like this a lot and I think it we have the board approval date but I think I'm going to
073ask them to like indicate when something's on like that agenda too so we can find good no this is good thanks okay any more discussion all those in favor opposed motion carried uh capital project change order for phase 2B at Havland and Ralph R. Smith. Can I get a motion? Someone second Ken. Any discussion? I assume this is part of that overall chart. There's a second chart for the space has its own chart. Okay. And it's attached in that. Okay. All right. Good. Thanks. Uh any more discussion? All those in favor? opposed. Motion carried. 13.2. Can I get a motion to uh enter our second public participation? Move Christine. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carried. Same rules apply. Three minutes, but we're now limited to 12 minutes. Um would anyone like to
074address the board? Time's up. Bring my phone. Um, Bobby Goodman. Um, just to a question about like what you were just talking about with the change orders and stuff. When you get to the balance like we budgeted this much money for that proposition, do you decide to take money from somewhere else to finish the project or do you just stop where you are and do we ever know what we didn't get that we thought we were buying? So like if we like I know at FDR we were supposed to get lockers or something at one point but we had reached our budget so we didn't get them. So like how does that ever get discussed and brought to the board or to the public? So that's all. Thanks. Anyone else like to address the board?
075All right. At this time, we'll close public participation. Um, I think I'll let you answer that. I think I know the answer, but I'll let you answer. So, in this current budget, we don't or capital project, we don't have that issue. were actually coming in under budget. But at the science lab um HVAC project that we had the last time we didn't complete the HVAC work at um FDR um that's what is included in this this time's uh this goound for this capital project. Um when it gets to that point then our uh professionals the cap the construction manager they have to bring that to the district to prioritize it. I actually don't remember what how that process was last time, if it was brought to the board or if it was something that was
076decided at the uh capital project meetings. Yeah. Because the the budget gets approved at a dollar amount and we say we're going to do these 10 things. If if the price of something went up and we can't do it, then that dollar amount can't change. So then we have to prioritize, well, we'll skip this or skip this and then move that to the next one. So, I know we can't have a back and forth. Yeah, that that's a good point then is how do we keep track of the things that haven't been done and when they get and when they get done one of the things that we can do is just an update you know continue providing updates and right now as Linda had pointed out we are under budget so everything that's been
077outlined will get completed and if something changes from that plan then we will bring that we should we should do a better job communicating that as to like if something falls out. Sure. Then what's the plan to get that back in? Sure. Right. So, absolutely. Yeah. And from the last meeting or the last capital project, the not the HVAC at FDR was what we took out and that was included in the scope of this project and will be completed. It's the HBC work like near the the front part of the building like near the auditorium. Right. Any other matters deemed necessary by the board? Sorry, three minutes are up. Time. Um, no need for a second executive session. So, at this time, I'd like to get a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting. So moved. Second.
078All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carried. Meeting adjourned.