001I'm crashing. What is it? Yes. Second on the I would like to remind you that you're not turning in your phones off. It is >> [laughter] >> 7:16. Sorry to start on you. We The board has returned from the executive session for our to begin our public session. If we could please call the roll. Mr. Simon? Here. Here. Dr. Collins? Here. Ms. Anderson? Here. Mr. Ryder? Here. Ms. Corsones? Here. Mr. William? Here. Ms. Kern? Here. And if we could answer the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. So, we have no business coming out of executive session, but we do have business to attend to. Um first of
002all, we'd like to thank public for supporting the budget, and we have an obligation to um uh swear in new members of the board tonight based on the vacancies that existed prior to the election. Um I also would like to acknowledge that um we have a resignation um uh from Mr. Ryder. I hereby resign my seat on the board for the purposes of filling the position that is vacant. So, Mr. Geary, if you will I'll proceed. Yes. I'll proceed. Who was So, we'll go Mr. Ryder >> I think we should We Yeah, we can do Mr. Ryder. Raise your right hand. I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the state of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of
003the office of trustee of Board of Education according to the best of my ability. Mr. Ryder is filling the one-year position that will extend through June of 2027. Thank you for your service. Next, Mrs. Jordan is ready to take her seat, I believe. Welcome to the neighborhood. As the top vote getter of the primary election, Mrs. Jordan will get [clears throat] sworn in tonight to fill the appointed position for the rest of that term from tonight until June 30th of this year. So, if you raise your right hand I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the state of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office office of trustee of the Board of Education according to the
004best of my ability. Thank you, Mrs. Jordan, for returning to serve the Board of Education. And Mrs. Anderson, just for clarification for everyone, Mrs. And- Mrs. Jordan, this is Mrs. Jordan will be filling this sitting position, but then in July, July, she'll be sworn in again to fill her full 3-year term. Okay. And we I would like to acknowledge Dr. Bernabei, who was in that seat for >> [clears throat] >> most of this past year. She was definitely made some valuable contributions to the board. We thank her for her service and hope that she continues to be interested in the work that we do. Thank you, Jackie. That brings us to our student recognitions. Okay. Thank you, Katina. I'll let you take the lead. Tonight is one of the best nights of the year where
005we get to introduce our valedictorian and salutatorian for Kingston High School class of 2026. So, I will start this by introducing our salutatorian, who is Christopher Christopher Vargas-Hubner. He's a KHS class of 2026 salutatorian. He is He has a GPA of 102.2016, and yes, each one of those decimals is important. Um his course load this year includes AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP Microeconomics, AP Statistics, AP Calculus. Uh he's a member of the Science Olympia team and an PBS president. Uh I'm sorry, and PBI Athens is the president of the Computer Science Club. Chris will also be attending MIT this fall where he plans to pursue engineering. So, I'd like to introduce everyone to Chris Vargas. >> GREAT TASTE IN MUSIC, BY THE OUR valedictorian is Danica Louie. She's a member of the class of 2026
006with a GPA of 102.4198. In addition to the numerous honors and AP courses she takes, which include AP Statistics, AP Microeconomics, AP US Government, AP Physics, and AP Calculus, Danica has served as the president of KHS clubs such as Peer Tutoring, PBIS Ambassadors, and Girls Who Code. Danica is also a member of the varsity lacrosse team. She will attend the Massachusetts will also attend MIT in the fall where she plans to study biology and continue her athletic career in the women's lacrosse team. And if you both come up here and take a quick picture with the president of the board. And I must add that they are both lacrosse bacon. Congratulations to our valedictorians and salutatorian. We look look forward to hearing from you at graduation. Uh that brings us to our public comment session.
007We do have some interest. Good evening, everyone. We are about to enter the portion of the meeting where we welcome public comments. Although state law does not require that we hold a public comment period, we feel that it is crucial that we hear from our community about their concerns. The board is here to listen. Your concerns and questions may be addressed at the future meeting of the board, or you may be contacted by the appropriate staff member or administrator. If you have prepared a written statement and do not have the opportunity to present it, please leave it with the clerk of the board. She will see that all trustees receive it. Each speaker will have 3 minutes of this public comment period will not exceed 30 minutes in total. It is important to note that
008state and federal privacy laws and collective bargaining agreements prevent us from discussing certain topics in this venue, including specific employees or students and pending grievances or negotiations. Any speaker who does not adhere to these posted guidelines will forfeit the remainder of their time. Thank you for your adherence to the rules and your interest in the continuous improvement of our district. Merida Gorman. Thank you. Uh good evening, members of the board. Um can you hear me? My name is Merida Gorman, and I have two children in the district. I'm here tonight to encourage a collaborative conversation about the district's use of educational technology and how we can ensure these investments are truly serving students, teachers, and families. Over the last several years, the district has invested heavily in one-to-one devices, software platforms, digital learning tools, subscriptions,
009and data systems. At the same time, our district has now voted for a budget that reduces teaching staff, among other things. I understand these decisions are complex, and I appreciate the work involved in balancing educational priorities and budgets. However, as a parent and community member, I believe there is an opportunity for greater transparency around how educational technology is selected, funded, evaluated, and monitored. Families would benefit from a clear understanding of the following: how much the district spends on technology contracts, licenses, and renewals, how these tools are evaluated for educational effectiveness, what independent research supports their impact on student learning and well-being, and how student data and activity are tracked and shared across platforms. I think we all share the same goal, using technology thoughtfully and responsibly in ways that support learning while strengthening, not replacing,
010the human relationships at the center of education. For that reason, I respectfully ask the board to consider a transparent public review of the district's educational technology spending, contracts, effectiveness measures, and student privacy protections, with the findings made accessible to the community. I believe greater transparency would help build trust, encourage collaboration, and ensure decisions continue to best serve students and families. Thank you for your time and continued service to our schools. Rebecca Lieb went? Good evening, everybody. My name is Rebecca Lieb went, and I'm a parent to three students in the district. I'm here tonight because I'm concerned about the impact of budget cuts on students with disabilities, the rush to bring students back to in-district placement, and the lack of input from students as changes are made. I have two key requests tonight. One is
011for the board to arrange for a listening session this spring or early summer, where you would hear from students with disabilities directly, and their parents if need be. The second request is for the board to ask our special education department to report publicly at regular intervals at meetings about how we are providing more in-district support to students with disabilities. Regularly scheduled public follow-up is needed. Why is this important? We have wonderful programs, but many students with disabilities struggle to access an equal education in Kingston. The public may not know that because we don't often hear from students with disabilities. We have wonderful, caring teachers and staff, but there are policies and cultures that lead to opportunity gaps and exclusion from courses. There's a long history of parents feeling that our district's administration doesn't hear them
012and then take action. There's the perception that disability and neurodiversity are not given much consideration when district-wide policies and changes are made. Our baseline situation is one where many parents of students with disabilities don't feel heard. Now we have major changes being made that will disproportionately impact students with disabilities in our city. If this is a time when those students should have a voice. I'm suggesting our board should hear directly from students with IEPs and 504 plans. As the disability rights saying goes, nothing about us without us. There are ways to do this that protect their privacy while allowing them to give you input. They have key knowledge that you don't about their first-hand experiences in our schools. They can tell you about wonderful programs that exist that should be expanded on. And about problems
013that have prevented them from accessing core courses they needed. They are the experts in their own lives. We should hear from them at a time like this. I'm calling on you to hear from students, to hear from parents, and to help change our culture starting at the top with our board and our district administration to show that we value the input of students with disabilities. When people with disabilities thrive and participate in policy making, everyone benefits. Let's start by hearing from the students and their parents, taking them seriously, and by requesting regular public presentations about special education in Kingston. Thank you. And I have a copy of my remarks for you, and I also have a flyer from SUNY Cortland from their Autism Consultation Project, um which is free to school districts. They extended their
014deadline for the Autism Response Consultation Project. So, they can apply at Thank you. And that is all the time I have. Yes. You may. Good evening. My name is Britta Riley, and I'm a parent of two children in the district, and I'm also a member of the district leadership team. Um over the last few weeks I've heard district leaders talk about the need to reimagine education in Kingston in light of financial pressures and a changing educational environment. I'd like to encourage the district to use this moment to think carefully about what our true competencies are as a public school system. I spent over almost two decades now working in technology, in museum education, and also in the healthcare sector. I am not anti-technology. Kids absolutely need digital literacy and technological fluency for the future. But
015there is a difference between learning how to use technology and using technology to learn what are fundamentally human skills. Techno- It's pretty easy to do the former, but it's very difficult to do the latter. There's also a difference about learning how between learning how to use technology, which I've learned first hand as someone with a tech degree, that your degree becomes obsolete very quickly. Um but learning skills via technology is something that is very risky when becoming increasingly dependent on building one's educational system around them. Every new platform, assessment system, data dashboard, behavioral tracking tool, subscription curriculum, and one-to-one device creates long-term maintenance obligations, cybersecurity obligations around our children's extremely valuable data, and governance obligations, licensing costs, replacement cycles, and administrative complexity. At the same time, many of the most valuable things schools provide are
016still profoundly human: teachers, [clears throat] relationships, discussion, writing, hands-on learning, critical thinking, and community. Paper, pencils, books, conversations, and local professional expertise do not require cybersecurity infrastructure. And importantly, they do not create large stores [snorts] of highly valuable student behavioral and aptitude data that districts then have to spend increasing amounts of money protecting. As Kingston moves forward after this difficult budget season, I hope we can dis- dis- distinguish more clearly between using technology as a tool and organizing education around increasingly expensive technological systems. New York State itself is beginning to move in the direction of New York Inspires and broader conversations around competency-based and more human-centered learning that are really appropriate in an era of burgeoning AI. Us humans need to have different competencies, and they are fundamentally the ones that are more human and
017less tech-oriented. I hope this district uses this moment to not simply cut, but to thoughtfully reevaluate what kinds of investments actually strengthen our schools, our teachers, and our local community over the long term. Thank you. Anyone else that would like to I'd like to vote? I bring us to the acceptance to the um acceptance of the budget and election results. If we could have a motion for B89 Board of Education election and budget vote results. >> Seconded. Any discussion? All in favor of of accepting B89? I. I. Any opposed? I would like to recognize at least one We've already recognized Mrs. Jordan, congratulations, and Mr. Ryder. Um Mr. Detwiler, I believe, is in the audience, congratulations. And I don't know if Ms. Worthington is here or not. We'll have to wait and She will be
018our fourth member. They will be um sworn in to service at our July reorganization meeting. Thank you. Um B90 is a resolution on the replacement of additional inspectors. We can have a motion. So moved. Second. All in favor of B90? I. I. That resolution was approved. Brings us to our superintendent report. Thank you, Ms. Emerson. Um I'm going to start off the superintendent's report tonight with our report from George Washington Elementary School, and I will introduce Dr. Laura Segan. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening, Dr. Paddenalino, Board of Education, administration. I'd also like to make a welcome to my family that is here this evening, as well as my staff, my students, and my community that are here either in person, on YouTube, or in spirit because I know there's a lot of softball games
019tonight. They couldn't make it. Um I am Dr. Laura Sagen and I'm the interim principal of George Washington Elementary School. Thank you for inviting me here this evening. Please pardon my voice. I am really trying to keep it strong enough since I've been losing it for the last couple of days. As you look at the demographic data for George Washington Elementary School, we are the only elementary school that has a pre-K as well as a kindergarten first through fourth grade. We have uh a total of 320 students and that also includes our pre-K students. Um 48% of our students are Hispanic. 28% of our students are ENL students. 24% of our students are students with disability. However, we are more than just these numbers. We are George Washington Elementary School. We are kind. We are
020creative and we are dedicated to work. So, the 2025-2026 school year was our year of transition. As many of you know, we had the ending of the Montessori program. We had a change in leadership. We had the adoption of two new curriculums. We were a TSI school and we were also downgraded. Some people can say upgraded, but we are an additional school in need of targeted support, which means that we just get more resources from the state in order to try to make improvement. And probably the most exciting thing for this year is that we were able to choose a mascot for the very first time for George Washington, which we will talk more about as I get towards the end of my presentation. So, one of the biggest challenges of ending the Montessori program
021is that we became a traditional elementary school, which means that we no longer had children's home, and we had a separation of pre-K and kindergarten, and then we no longer had E1, and now we have stand-alone grade kindergarten, grade one, grade two, grade three, and grade four always stayed the same. So, structurally, that was a huge >> [clears throat] >> undertaking for the teachers, and the students, and the parents to get used to. How do we reorganize George Washington? So, that was the first big thing. I came into George Washington towards the end of October, and as Ted Lasso would say, we are a work in progress, for sure. Leaving the Montessori curriculum, we also took on CKLA, and we also took on i-Ready math, which were huge challenges for the teachers, but they embraced
022it. They asked questions. They were flexible. They allowed coaches to come into their classroom. They allowed administration to come into their classroom. They worked with each other, and we are actually seeing our students make progress with the two new curriculums. All right? And then, I'll talk more about what we were able to get from the state as a result of being a TSI, and then an ATSI school. So, looking at pre-K, one of the things which the board was able to arrange for George Washington is that the pre-K got their own playground, which is a great place for the students to be. This is one of their play spaces. So, one of the things going from the children's house to a pre-K is that we are able to work more closely with the Mahar pre-K.
023So, the teachers at George Washington monthly go over for um monthly grade level meetings with Miss Tachi. They also participate in all of the training that the Mahar staff um partake in for superintendent conference days. Uh they work with Miss Cook uh on classroom design because it was a totally different idea of pre-K from Children's House. We are also working with the neighboring tree project to create usable outdoor spaces. So, you saw our playground area, but also off of that playground area is a pretty large grassy area where the students um play for many hours um at a time. They do their counting out there. They do a lot of social emotional work out there. They love being outside. On the total opposite side of the building is our north garden and the pre-K spends
024a tremendous amount of time out there. The neighboring tree project is helping us to bring in tree stumps so that they can be jumping, they can be climbing, they can be exercising. Uh we're also going to be uh planting shrubs to give some more privacy off of Wall Street and that it also provides a barrier for the students so that they don't run out into the um street. Um and then we also received a $3,000 grant from the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley to start purchasing our outdoor outdoor wear. So, we started with uh rain jackets and uh rain boots. Um we also got gloves, we got uh mittens, we've got hats. Um so, we are starting to have the children be able to be outside even in the elements. Um and then we're
025looking forward to applying for another grant um next fall so that we can start purchasing our snow suits and our snow boots. So, we're slowly incorporating that so that the children can be outside more and more just like they are here at Mahar. And these are some pictures that you can look at of our pre-K. So right now we have the exact same curriculum as the students do at the Mahar building. They go to stations, they have bins, they have all different kinds of things that they can explore. Um the students love it uh and I know that that's a place that I need to go when I need to get away from the stress of the first and the second floor. I will go down in the basement so I can be with the
026pre-K students. So just like any other elementary school, we also had a school comprehensive education plan or the CEP plan. And in the CEP plan we had goals and key strategies that we were working on just like all of the other schools in the district did. We uh looked to strengthen our tier one math instruction. We looked to uh improve vocabulary programs, the writing process, all of which were achieved with the curriculum changes that we had made. And then also we started the foundation of our social emotional program which we hope to progress next year with the adoption of the character strong curriculum um at George Washington just like they have at George Washington. Um not George Washington at Edson and at JFK. So what is some of the support that we've gotten from the
027state in order uh to make progress and to make improvement because we are a TSI school? George Washington had opted to become part of the district systems and instructional improvement team. This is where we joined forces with um districts across the state, but our region had five other schools that we met with on a monthly basis. Right now, in fact, my third grade team, which was part of this program, is on their way to Brooklyn because tomorrow is our last session together with this DSI team. So, they're already uh getting ready to go to sleep in Brooklyn and and wake up ready to learn more about thinking classrooms and we've been doing a lot of talking about thinking classrooms. Thinking classrooms really puts focus on the process and the progress, not the product. And as
028Mr. Pettit will say, in a lot of ways, it does support Montessori and so the teachers are are naturally gravitating towards it. What are some things of a thinking classroom? Students stand at a vertical structure. They all have access to the pen. One person is doing the writing as they are learning how to collaborate and think together. Stressing it is on the thinking and again, it's on the process, not on the product. One of the things that the third grade teachers have noticed is that they are using concepts of the thinking classroom in with their CKLA and they are noticing that the students are better able to analyze documents. They're able to think critically about the stories that they're reading and their writing has actually improved. So, they they are very excited about this become
029a full part of our curriculum next year. We also received coaching from Anchor Ed. A lot of this was the coaches worked with me, but also worked with teams of teachers in order for us to make sure that we're making movement on the separate plan for this year, but then also helped us craft our separate plan for for next year as well. So, for curriculum, and I know that you've heard this before of of of six other elementary schools that went before me, um is that we embrace the CKLA and the I-Ready math curriculum this year. All of this brand new for us. All of the other schools had had either uh a year or several years and already to use this. So, the district made a commitment to George Washington teachers that they would
030help us step up our knowledge base so that we could deliver the curriculum to the um students. And I do have to say that Dr. Oliveto and her team um provided uh one-on-one training just for GW teachers at superintendent conference days. They also were making sure that the GW teachers felt um embraced, welcomed, um and heard when we had grade level meetings. And then CKLA, we had one-to-one coaching in our building uh in the month of October. Same thing happening for I-Ready math, um but we had coaching not only uh in December, but we also had follow-up in February and March as well. So, the district was very committed in making sure that George Washington was where they needed to be so that we could be performing at the same level as the other six
031elementary schools. Okay. State assessment data, I'm not going to dwell here too long. What? It's a sign. >> [laughter] >> All right. >> There we go. All right. So, here's our ELA assessment data. This is a combination of our third and fourth grade. Uh you will see that proficiency we're about 32%. So, a little less than a third of our students are proficient at the grade three and four, meaning that they're earning a level three or four. You're going to see the same thing is for math. About a third of our students, 32% uh are earning a level three or four in both grades three and four. You will see that there's a dip in fourth grade. Um we're not really sure why that had happened, but these students are now our fifth graders at
032Bailey. I-Ready data is a little bit more optimistic, I'm going to say. Um from the fall to the winter, uh fall is only excluding our kindergarten. Our kindergarten does not test in the fall, but you will see the difference between fall and winter is that there's more green and yellow, which is a great thing, and there's not as much red, which is a beautiful thing. So, we are really working to um improve our scores, our students reading and performing math at grade level or one grade level below, and I'm very optimistic what's coming in right now is even improved um for the spring um admission for the I-Ready both um the reading and the math. So, these are all good things. This is the math. You're also seeing the same thing. Definitely more green and
033more yellow than you do on red. So, our students are heading in the in the right direction. Family collaboration. We did a lot at at GW, and I probably didn't even capture it all here, but just like the all the LM elementary schools, we had our open house. We had parent conferences in October and March. One thing that we had that nobody else did is that we had donuts and dialogue with Dr. Sagan in October, uh which was well attended. Mr. Lamb was there. Um we also had trunk or treat and we had about 300 people who came onto property to trick or treat uh with our teachers and um the family members who opened up their trunks uh and to give a treat. We had our fall festival where PTO came in. Uh students
034went through several different stations. They uh tasted fall-related foods. Uh they got to do obstacle courses. Uh the upper um right hand is the students are painting pine cones. And originally we wanted to do birdseed uh but we have students who are allergic to peanut butter, so we quick made move on that. We went to paint. And then what ended up happening is that we used all the pine cones that the students had decorated and had a community tree in our lobby where they all were hung and they stayed until the end of January. And the students loved it. They would gather in the morning and point out, "I painted that one. I painted that one." And what did it mean? And all of a sudden they got very detailed with what their pine cones
035got. But it was it was a lot of fun. And it was was a great thing to bring community together. Another thing that we do that no other elementary school does is bingo night. It was started by uh one of our teachers, uh Ms. Tedco, um as an intern project that she had when she was learning how to be an administrator. It's something that we've carried through. Well over 300 people um also came to battle it out for very intense bingo games. Uh and this is something that we're hoping that uh is going to continue. Uh we had a school dance. And if you've ever been to an elementary school dance, you know there's more running and balloon popping than there is actually dancing. So I went to the PE department and I said, "Hey,
036any chance we can teach them how to dance? And they thought that was a great idea. And so all of a sudden for 2 weeks before the dance, the students were learning how to do the cha-cha slide. They were learning how to do the cupid slide. They were learning how to do the macarena. Uh kindergarteners learned how to do the chicken dance. Um and they're already coming up with more dances that they want to learn about for next year. It was a great time. Uh the students were wanting to have more and more dancing. I think the parents were surprised that their kids were so engaged and actually learning how to dance. Um we also had winter chorus concert and musical concerts in May. We are still having at the end of the month our
037Latino Festival, uh which is going to be held outside this year, which we're very excited. Uh and then we also have our family barbecue, which is going to be in June. And then of course we have all the traditional field day and moving up ceremony and all those types of things that are going to be happening um in the month of June. Okay. A big change for us is Wild Earth came to GW. They spent every Tuesday with our students um outside. These are some pictures of our fourth graders outside with Wild Earth. Um and when it was bad weather, uh they were in indoor recess as well. So, um they were very welcomed to come. Uh and at the same time Wild Earth worked with our monitors to teach them how to be outdoor
038educators because this is the most unstructured time in a elementary school student's life is when they are at recess. And if you've ever been outside at recess, you know we need to treat our monitors like outdoor educators and give them the confidence that they need to work with all of these students. Another big gem for the GW community is our community garden. We are in our third 18th year with uh Cindy Morrow, one of uh her husband used to be a teacher at GW. Uh students spend time on Friday afternoons or whenever Cindy can come to GW. They weed, they love to go outside and weed. They're planting seeds, they're tending to perennial plants. Uh you can see them here. They're moving mulch. Uh they're looking for worms, they're looking for beetles. And then the
039upper left-hand corner, uh we have um a kindergarten first grade class that grew pea plants in the classroom and then they transferred them outside. So, that was a pretty exciting um afternoon. So, social emotional learning, that was one of our goals for the SET Plan. It was all building uh grown, uh waiting for Character Strong curriculum to come our way. Um for the first time we had full week spirit weeks. And probably, for me anyways, I can't speak for everybody, but the most fun was rainbow day, where every grade level had a different color of the rainbow. So, pre-K was red, first uh kindergarten was um orange. First grade was yellow, second grade was green. Third grade was blue, and uh fourth grade was purple. And I remember that cuz that's my favorite color. All
040right. So, uh we also did Character of the Month. Um and this is kind of a a cute story. Um students will learn a different fact every day, say how to be respectful, how to be kind, how to have gratitude. Uh and in the month of March, excuse me, >> [clears throat] >> is the month of March, Uh Mhm. >> [clears throat] >> we didn't >> [cough and clears throat] >> The month of March, because we had so much testing, we didn't have a character trait. And Miss Cassidy's class was so upset that we didn't have a character trait that they called a meeting and they invited me to the meeting. And they said, "Dr. Seguin, we need a character trait. We can't go without a character trait." And I said, "Okay, what are we
041going to do?" And so they came up and decided that the character trait for the month of March was teamwork and collaboration in order to support the third and fourth grade team that was going through um the testing. So their their collaboration and their teamwork was that they were keeping the building quiet, that they were being mindful of the noise level, um and that they were cheering the third and fourth graders on for testing that week. So that was one thing that came out of that. And then our PBIS team is laying the ground for work for the character education curriculum that's coming through. Another committee that did a lot of work is going to be the building level planning team. Um and their big thing for this year was they were choosing a new
042mascot. So it started with the students um and then it was extended to families and also to faculty uh to enter in who they thought was going to be a good mascot. We had over 400 entrants of different mascots. So we had go through and get rid of the unicorn. We had to get rid of the wolf. We had to get rid of the panther there because other schools either had it or we weren't going to go with the unicorn. So um We whittled it down to about 10 uh and then it went to vote. I was trying to get people to go for the Generals, the GW, George Washington Generals. I thought that had a ring. Um, well, you know, it's not, but it had a ring. Um, it it's definitely social studies person.
043Um, the students had other ideas though. They did not like the Generals. Um, but we had a vote. Um, and it was a very exciting day when we announced to the students who our new mascot is. And this is the first time publicly that we are letting you know that our mascot is the George Washington Dragons. And one of our parents, uh, Mr. Ryan Williams, he's a parent of one of our third grade, uh, students, actually designed, um, our dragon. So, this is George the Dragon. You'll be seeing more of him once September rolls around. Um, but this is who we are. We are the George Washington Dragons. Thank you so much for allowing me to come BEFORE YOU TONIGHT. WHAT? QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FOR DR. SAGAN. We'll begin with Mrs. Kern. Well, we're going
044to make comments, so don't feel like you need to answer. I'm empathizing with your your struggles. Thank you for doing that presentation, Dr. Sagan, and your vocal challenges. Um, I'm really appreciative of the work that you've brought into this school. Your expertise, you know, rivals educators that I've seen. And I have the pleasure of working with you in different capacities. And I'm just so incredibly grateful for what you've done to enliven the community, to, um, meet them where they are, and to help inspire them for the future. Um, it's a really beautiful thing to see in this school. And it's so deserving of, um, such expertise. Um, and beauty. Um, and hot tip, George mixed with peanut butter. Ah, okay. Good idea. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I I was there for the donut
045night, and it was it was a wonderful start. I'd like to thank your family for sharing you with us, because you're retired, and this was this was a big job to take on, and you can see the difference in the students' faces. You can see I I I I think people in general are happy, and and and kids look like they're having fun. Um, I don't know how we're going to eventually do outside as much as they do here, because this has got such a beautiful However, You'd be surprised. >> We'll figure it We'll figure it We'll We'll We'll figure it out, because it's such a good program. The kids love it, and thank you for everything you've done this year for us as a district, as a community, and as for the students. Thank
046you. Mrs. Jordan. Um, I just would like to thank not only you, Dr. Sagan, but the rest of your faculty and staff, the families, the students. Because transition is so hard, but it seems as though you've really embraced it, and I really want to congratulate everybody there for taking that on, and looking towards success, and I I'm just delighted to see all the progress you've made just in this short time, and I'm sure it's going to get easier, so. Well, I I told Dr. Patalino that this is the hardest job I've ever had in my entire administrative career, but it's the one that's bringing me the most joy. I'm so glad. And I know you got SOME OF THAT. DR. COLLINS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I MOSTLY JUST WANT TO echo what my colleagues have
047said. I mean, it's such talent and warmth and brilliance. It's clear. You You walked into the school at a time um that was really challenging for students, for faculty, for families. And um as presented here and and as we are hearing, it's just It's been fairly transformative. It seems as though you're building such a strong foundation. I think that the new curriculum on top of everything was just an amazing, phenomenal phenomenon. So, that's really clear and I'm really excited to see what the dragons do next. I mean, I mean, it's frightening. So, I thank you so much for your hard work and your faculty and staff. Thank you. Thank you. Are there comments, questions? I have one question. I'm a little curious about the thinking classroom and how that um came to be or how
048you came to be part of that. So, the thinking classroom really was part of that DSI I workshop that we've been participating in all year long. So, that that was their main focus. Really what it does is it's taking the spotlight off of always looking at the students who are struggling and really focusing our work on tier one and tier two where it needs to start so that if our tier one and our tier two instruction is stronger, then the hope is is that we will have less students that are heading towards the tier three type of intervention and hopefully helping with the improvement of the writing of Bible words and special ed. It's just really putting the focus on the where it all begins is initial initial teaching in the classroom. Sounds like a
049great strategy. It's It's pretty It's pretty It's pretty exciting to watch the third grade teachers do it and the transformation I mean, at first the thought was their third graders, they could never learn how to collaborate. They can never learn how to do these things. And at first it was awkward and they don't don't like to talk and they don't like to write just like we we as adults do, but now you go in there, they know what to do. They know that they have to stand, they can't sit. They know that they have to share the pen. They know that they uh nothing is permanent and that it's it's a non-permanent structure, so it's not even a piece of paper that's on um the wall. It's a dry erase and it's we can make
050mistakes and they can actually think and they have to talk about it and they have to come up with different ways and then they get to share all that that with their um with their peers, which is really exciting. Right. And that's a strategy we're using across the district. Oh. Great. Thank you very much and thank you. >> Thank you. Not only for for um good past year at GW, but for your service to this district. Thank you. >> WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL. DR. SAGAN RETIRED, BUT I THINK SHE STARTED WORKING doing other things for us the next day. Been in many different positions for us. She's my Swiss Army knife. One day I will actually retire. Thank you, Dr. Sagan. Um just a few quick things. I don't know if I'm not we'll we'll
051move quickly through this. Uh many of you were here late last night. Um check your calen- our calendars for our senior events coming up. We have as well as our moving up ceremonies, our elementary barbecues, our field days, um and the very exciting elementary track meet, which will be June 2nd from 9:00 to 12:00 at Deets Stadium. So, all those things are posted on our website, so you can get and also I believe Ms. Siri gave you a a quick little handout on the high school events. Um I do have the date and time for the baccalaureate, Um um, date, time, and place, but I left it on my desk, so I will email that out to you and the um, and that, uh, flyer will be updated. Um, just quickly on our capital work
052that's going on. So, our phase one is still kind of continuing a little bit. We are doing evening work cuz there's some, uh, um, there's some insulation that is wet above the above the Bailey ceiling, so we've been taking that insulation the roof insulation out. They're doing that evenings. Also, phase two, um, evening work is going on both Edison and Bailey uh, and Bailey includes roughing in new ductwork, piping, and electrical items including, uh, the alarm system at Edison which is part of our our big of our building project that we wanted to get done. Uh, 2A is our our auxiliary kitchens. As you know, the kitchen will at Bailey will be out will be out of, uh, service for a while, so we have a auxiliary kitchen, so we're just waiting to hear get
053our final lease numbers together and start that work there, so we're ready to go. Uh, we ordered the equipment and we'll move that equipment in and then we'll go into the new kitchen when we're done. Uh, phase three, evening work will be on at GW and at Chambers. Uh, we did start some pretty big work at GW with the elevator shaft, uh, over spring break. The that work continues. Again, roughing in the mechanical systems, um, and the alarms at both schools. Phase four we're targeting target end of September bid date, so we've got our plans are all ready. We're just ready to get those bids on the street. Um, and KSQ is working through the constructability review to see where we are. Last thing is phase five which is pretty far out, but, uh, our
054schematic design phases and review, uh, with building principals has started. That's where we have some building principal meetings, uh, coming up next week to talk about phase five. So, we're moving along. Um, obviously we'll start kicking things in high gear in about a month when students leave, but we do have people in our buildings on that on that third shift doing doing that work getting us for the summer program project. And just remind everybody our upcoming committee meetings. We are all here at Mahar. I have audit and finance on May 26th at 9:00 a.m. Facilities is the same day, May 26th at 3:30. Our next policy meeting will be June 5th at 9:30. And the teaching and learning on June 15th will be 9:30. And that is all for today. Thank you. Any questions or
055comments for Dr. Palladino? That brings us to our student rep. I don't know if we have her. We only have one student here this evening. I would like to start by saying every time we get to the student session, my heart always beats like a ticking time bomb. But I like to continue. As a student and as a student on the school board of education, I'm always definitely going to push for more ways to make students voices heard. And so as this district is changing and as we put my peers in more in-district learning, we're not just changing their classroom. We're changing their daily routine, their environment, and we're changing what's most comfortable for them. And so what I advise for this district is to continue and ensure that these students these stable students have
056an ease of transition. That you work thoroughly um that you work hard with parents, with these students, with community members to ensure this transition is smooth. Because if it's not successful, you're not failing just the students, not just the peers, but also my friends. Thank you, Benny. As we uh close out the year, I just remember the first time Benny and I met at Kennedy uh Equity in Action. >> Equity in Action meeting. And Benny said exactly nothing. And he's come so far. He's so brilliant and so articulate. I'm so proud of you, Benny. I'm I'm so proud of you. Thank you. Such a contribution to the board. Thank you so much. I think we all agree with that. Mrs. Anderson. Mr. Land. >> What is Now, we chose the previous chose of their new
057members. When is the high school new thing on there? I have the answer to that. I would The high school has been working and doing their interview process. Um they believe that they have just finished the process and they do have two names to put forward to the board at the next meeting. That's good. One down. And we're going to We're going to keep this This process that we have here going. So, at our next meeting, you will be presented with two new students. But and our current students will remain with us until the end of this year. And then they will begin their reign in September. Yes. Looks good. Thank you for that clarification. Good question. That brings us to Board of Education um committee reports. Not a report, but I think policy has
058some policy approval for this board. Yes, we're doing a second reading and vote on policies that we did back in the beginning of April. Um first one is policy 2210, Board Organizational Meeting. So, I move that policy. Second. Any discussion on 2210? All in favor? I. Any opposed? [clears throat] 2210 is approved. The next policy is 5162, Student Dismissal Precautions. I move that policy. Any discussion on 5162? Can I just ask questions so that I remember seeing it? What's changed in this particular policy? Uh, let's see. Hang on. This is so long ago, I don't have the Um, we were updating we updated who and who was responsible um, in the building. Thanks. Giving building principal or their administrative designate. Basically, that was the main change, to make sure the students were being dismissed to
059the right and responsible guardian. Okay. All in favor of 5162? I. Any opposed? The last policy is policy number 5220, Student Sponsored um, Student Expression. We changed the word from publications since there are no publications any any more available. So, I move policy 5220. Second. Any discussion on 5220? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? 5220 is approved. And this Dr. Paladino uh reported June 5th, Friday morning at 9:30 in this room is the next policy meeting. Facilities, Mr. Spicer. And they uh I guess you can call it a pre-qualified statement. Since we moved this report, it was supposed to be done last month. Some of the things I'm reporting that will be done, already being done, or or or or or finished. Or finished, but I'm going to give the report uh anyway. So, the
060following 2023 bond phase one projects for Edson and Bailey are in progress. Uh are in progress for plans to begin soon. In Eds- in Edson, Gallo United Safety asbestos testing removal continues for the building crawl space. On March 31st, past, tightening roof inspection was done over the over the fan room, and it would be the final verification needed to locate the roof fan unit for the gym. Staff electric continues its fire alarm work. That's all Edson. Now, for Bailey, ISC United Safety ceiling removal from classrooms between entrance B and C and first and second floors continues. Cafeteria ceiling removal, but not the cafeteria corridor is underway. Tile floor in the nursery is being removed. Concrete sealant is being provided. Oh, I also forgot to say, um just these are all general. Uh board members know
061if you want all the greater details, it's all in the minutes. That Karen and Karen, did we get those out yet? Did I send those out yet? Um I don't know about the full board, but I'll make sure that everybody gets it. Okay. So, if you want all the the greater details, it's all in the minutes. This is just the general stuff. So, the top floor in the nurse's suite is being removed. Concrete sealer is being provided. Asbestos testing and removal above the projector room is underway. Ceiling for the boys' room, locker room, shower is being removed and being replaced, and replacement of wet insulation is underway. Phase two projects for Edgemont Bailey, uh balance uh the balance of the projects. Phase two of construction administration is underway. Then, shopping submittals are being reviewed and
062processed. So, that's the administration to begin the project. Phase two A project, Bailey kitchen renovation. There are a lot of questions about this. The Department of Health has signed off. We're waiting for the final SED comments and issuance of the building permit. That may have happened. Do you know, Dr. Perna? It may not have happened yet. It hasn't happened yet. Okay, so I feel better. My current forecast is still consequential. Correct. Correct. Thank you. KSQ is coordinating the early equipment needs that will be bid out as part of two A and installed temp- and installed temporarily at both these lanes. The design team has met with Joe B and is coordinating the final equipment list for review. Family kitchen bid package is to be bid out toward the end of April 2026. Uh phase three
063projects, GW regular acceptance and processing of phase three submittals are going. Demo for elevated pit installation is underway. Temporary wall installation at at the at the ground floor is underway. Family dance to continue with piping installation at Crosby. Removal of dual fuel boiler is under containment. Is that still under containment, that's still ongoing or is it complete? Still ongoing. Still ongoing, thank you. Phase four projects, Graves, JFK, and Myer elementary schools. Phase four construction documents were updated to SED on February 15. We're still awaiting technical comments from the SED. Phase five projects, that's Miller and Crosby. During the week of February 26, CSG staff visited the Crosby school to follow up on existing conditions condition documentations as well as scope verification. And on February 24, CSG staff visited Miller Middle School to follow up on
064their existing conditions documentation as well as scope verification. This is a district-wide facilities update report. Kingston High School east IT room split unit was installed. Miller stage lighting quote was received and being processed with the business office. I know there was a lot of interest from the board about the Middle States lighting quote. So, that's been received and being processed with the business office. Thank you, Ms. Carbon. Additional AEDs were delivered to the warehouse, coordinating with the safety office for locations and installations. And they said they were wrapping up winter operations. 140 tons of rock salt used on the parking lots so far this winter. Lastly, the finalized facilities committee building inspections have been compiled and forwarded on to the superintendent's office for inclusion in the 5-year district facilities report. And as Dr. Pedalineau said,
065our next meeting is uh May 26th uh Tuesday, May 26th uh at 2:30. Yes, and yes. Um I'm sorry, Ms. Prince and then Ms. Owens. I was just going to say thank you for your report. When, you know, the space is conducive to learning and the students feel that the space is being respected, that's when they feel valued. And I really appreciate all of the facilities um representatives and the workers who are running around all the time because it is a non-stop job. Um and we have to understand too that with time comes age and it is just part of the process to keep up with all of these things and there's constant shifting of prioritization. So, um those skill levels are not undervalued. They are cherished and they're very much directly seen and experienced
066by the students. So, thank you for reporting on all of the wonderful work happening. Thank you. And just to come back at the board, thank you so much for all of those visits to the schools. They had to be done as part of our five-year review. They had to be done, but our team of trustees was so enthusiastic and and very and very detailed in their questions to all of our principals and also to our architects and our construction people. So, thank you so very much. You you you made being a facilities chair a pleasure because of your detailed work and enthusiasm. Thank you so much. Mr. William. I'm assuming that our fields have held up much better this spring cuz we haven't heard Which means Which means we agree. Which means the work that
067we did in those fields was successful. So, It doesn't hurt that we have bees. So, so we so we're not pounding on the other surfaces quite as much. The actual only field concerned came in regard to the shot putting. Yeah. Right. And that's all that was it. We did a site visit on that, so we should hear more soon. Right. Thank you. Yeah. Well, thank you because that that that makes things so much more improved for some athletes in the track. Thank you, Mr. Slater. Um code of conduct committee at KHS. I don't know if any of you might want to listen to what I have. >> update now. I don't know if any of you you may be able to contribute to it. Yeah, maybe. Thought you were going to laugh. I dragged you
068back here. So, who's chairing this? Um so, just for clarification with the public, the code of conduct committee is not a board committee. Um this is a committee that lives in the high school um and is governed by uh Ms. Branford as the chair of that committee with various uh faculty members and student representatives to attend. Um so, I want to thank them so much for their service. I serve as the board liaison um and have minimal um input. My goal is to extract what I can from the conversations and priorities to bring them back to the board as they relate to um our code of conduct uh policy 5300. So, I have some highlights for you. It's been an eventful few weeks. I believe we meet almost every other week. Um and it's really
069been a pleasure to be at the high school and to um witness um the deep and thoughtful conversation going on. Um the first uh task that's that's really being done and will be the core function of this committee is comparing the board policy 5300 with the one-pager student code of conduct policy 5305. Um that's really uh um critical to represent how these two um represent each other. Um and so, that study is being done to make sure there's nothing we need to revisit um in policy committee and Mr. Bradford is going to come present directly to that committee. Um they have been in the process of rewriting the distinction between um um substance um uh related um conduct including uh distinguishing possession as level two, use as level three, and distribution as level four. Um
070so, that's been discussed in detail in terms of those different categories. Um restorative practices to respond to help students in need in relation to intervention and response um has been uh a key part of the conversation, how to carry over the restorative practices that are well documented in the board policy but not necessarily um yet in the student code of conduct. Um Uh interventions and responses being less penalty-focused, so that goes right back to that same theme of restorative practices. Um building trust and communication and being more informational in communication to ensure each student understands their needs and outcomes and how the student rights are part of the process so they can understand how to navigate and have that ownership and accountability and what that looks like in the student handbook that's really just served
071as a translation to the students. Um, it's it's a theme for it's ideal to change behaviors, not to punish. Um, and this all goes in line with what has been done. It's about tightening the language and really getting specifics in there and that is what is going to be part of the conversation. There are some contradictions in the Dewey Code of Conduct. Um, the example is on level two there's a few students in school but then there's still an OSS policy. Again, this might be a legal matter and so that's part of our discussion when it comes to it bringing it back to policy. Um, but those are things that have been cited. Um, a lot of discussion around um, OSS which means out of school suspension to translate that acronym and that is a
072big point of discussion between the committee um, and our school administration regularly about when that's applied and that's been part of um, uh, yeah, the discussion. Um, and the other thing was an idea that was posed I think it's a really good idea about putting um, some of this into infographics and making it more digestible um, for the student population. This is something we can present it in that way so that again there's more um, uh, understanding and connection with the experience of conduct and the responses to that conduct um, so that it doesn't get lost in the sauce. And I'll look forward to Ms. Bradford's wonderful presentation to guide us further that. Mr. Ryder. So, can I ask for a part out specifically? I had I had asked that some changes be referred to
073the student um kind of committee. Has that been brought up at all and um cuz I didn't hear anything about it there. Yeah, so um I do have a note for that and it is something that I put forward to the committee as something to discuss. Um there has been a need for a greater review of the entire code of conduct and the participation has not been consistent. So, they don't have a Sorry. They don't have a quorum or they don't I don't believe they operate with a Okay. There's no motion to open the meetings. There isn't a formal process for that, but I did um remind them that that's something that needed to be considered regarding specifically the the protesting piece. But, for them to be evaluating the level of responses as a way
074to then reach a fine what that looks like in practice. And then there was a longer conversation amongst the group separate kind of from the official code of conduct conversation about communication with students and there were many different opinions. Mr. Ryder. I I just asked as earlier as I can that you bring it back again cuz I think there was a sense of urgency and I think we heard from our student representatives and students who came to speak that like the punitive and I know we didn't end up probably going that that the difference in what is in the code of conduct as possible disciplinary actions for exercising your rights I I do not think is something that that makes a lot of sense. Um and so I just ask that it be taken up
075as at least discussed with students that are on this code of conduct committee. Rather than just taking a look at all policies in general that that be. So, the student is on the committee um voiced her opinion about that and felt that the actions were taken that were appropriate and communicated. Um so, that's part of the consideration is that we have different perspectives. So, the urgency isn't necessarily felt based on any one thing that happened. In other words, the overall leveling of what the interventions or responses are have to be revisited on a whole because they're wanting that to properly represent the action taken, but based on the request that was made, it does not appear or I have not heard that they feel as though an incorrect action was taken. So, if there are
076other students feeling that way, perhaps they come to the code of conduct. But I I I do not drive that meeting. I do not um contribute to the agenda. I did ask and I I believe they they felt and they can speak for themselves. I believe they felt like what was communicated and done um was what was what was what was communicated from the beginning was what was issued at the on the day of that particular protest. That's the best I can do as a liaison. Yes. Mr. Lane. As chair of policy, I would like to thank you for taking on that cuz that's a lot of work number one. And I'd like to thank you for going in and just keeping our hands out of it more or less because this is one of
077the prides of this district as far as I'm concerned was when the Jefferson {quote} unquote Jefferson committee was formed years ago, I it was just so on the edge of advancement and and and and the fact that we're still holding to that point of of hands-off and let the committee with the kid with the students is so exciting and and and thank you for taking that on and I would assume that we are going to be mostly on the phone on the phone on our meeting on the 5th. I mean I would imagine I don't know how long the dedication would be but it's probably a good Right. So cuz it it's only happened once a year so I'd I'd I'd like to keep it as open as we can so that we can hear
078from them. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Dennis. If Miss Gardner made it clear enough, these students are incredibly intelligent, have bright future ahead of them and I thank you for expressing why you said that. I mean like there's a lot of majors and students too on that board before and I'm glad that as I'm listening to your report, I'm listening to the individual voices of each committee member that I know on that board. So thank you, Miss Gardner, and I I applaud your efforts as well. Mr. Ryder. Can I just get a clarification cuz I heard you say the student like >> Yes. So there's been one since you since you've been there Yes. there's only been one student attending. >> There was one student that started and then that that individual
079um was not there and then another student was in the assistant there. What Is there a bigger makeup of students that could be attending? >> know the answer to that. Because that doesn't sound like student voice Yeah, I mean that committee years ago was largely students. It was mostly students. Um so that might be a goal to work toward. You know, I don't know Benny if you have any influence in that, too. I'll try. I'll try. Yeah. Or or just plant the seeds so that those people that follow you can realize that that is a place where they find their voice. And they can work with um the other stakeholders, too. Make change if need be. And we can talk about that the last meeting with other groups, too. Um recruits. So, that is the
080issue with that. But, also I only joined this My understanding is a pretty big transfer test. So, that was another thing is that a lot of the students are in the AP testing. So, there was a little bit of a So, I don't know prior to that if there were more students >> I guess there was a an attempt to get student organization representation. So, so a representative from honor society was invited and and student government. And if I recall, that is how they kind of um diversified that that >> are snacks, there's random things. Our school is often joining us. I mean, it's it's a great group and it's definitely worth prioritizing. That's why facilities committee is so huge. There you go. Bring the snacks, they will come. Policy usually has the snacks. I
081don't know about the snacks. Policy always has the snacks. >> [laughter] >> Thank you, Mrs. Kern. No T&L snacks. Have a good night, Ben. Thank you for Good night, Ben. Bye-bye. Legislative action, Mrs. Kerns. Do you have Uh yes, the legislative action committee met on uh May 12th. And this is our last meeting technically for this year. It's a great use of the year to say, "What can we do? What do we want to do? How should we really be moving forward? And I think as I always invite people to join me when I go to Albany uh to speak to our legislators, very few people take me up on that offer. But what we realized is particularly given the challenges we faced more recently with the financial challenges of what's coming out of Albany
082as well as a lot of the other things that are coming out of Albany. We really wanted to create an environment where we can expand our our voice and be heard with other groups. So, we talked a lot about how can we reorganize or reimagine ourselves? And I have to give credit to Ms. Fern and uh Dr. Bernadine. This is home uh for me and the ideas really came from them and I want to thank them for their time. So, we have tweaked the charter of the legislative action committee. Uh Margo is in the process of doing Margo Mayers in the process of doing a final review of that and we will have that in I'll ask her to put it in the library by the end of this week with the idea that we'll
083have the existing charter and the revised charter for you to then uh consider for our June 3rd meeting. What's the biggest change? What's the the reason for changing this from the previous That's the policy. Yeah, that was the change. Two snaps. Oh, she gets two snaps. It's also usually just the two of us. I write the charters. I write the charters and I make sure to visit so you get Yes, Dr. Bernadine was a part of the legislative action committee. Thank you. It brings to our consent agenda. Are there any items that trustees would like to have pulled from the consent agenda? Hearing none, if we could have a motion to accept the consent agenda. So moved, Danny. Any discussion? All in favor of the consent agenda? Aye. Any opposed? I'm going to abstain because
084I didn't have the information. One abstention. The consent agenda is approved. We do have a donation. I don't know whose was Sure. Oh, I'm so excited. The Board of Education of the Kingston City School District hereby accepts with grateful appreciation the following generous donations to the Kingston City School District Athletics Department from 2019 KHS alumnus and professional baseball player Fritz Ginter, the donation of a batting cage and related equipment including complete installation at Gruner Field valued at $13,160. Thank you very much. I'm sure that the players will enjoy that. The batting cage is a cage where the kids can then battle stand there so it doesn't go back towards where you're asking them to And it be used in a way that the ball doesn't hit any cars? Yes, if there's no any cars you
085can practice. Thank you. THIS IS THE CONTRIBUTING THANK YOU, MRS. JORDAN. Brings us to old business. Mr. Lamb. I'm going to bring up once again I as we're doing our calendar for next year, I would like to recommend that we we put an extra meeting day in each month. We don't have to use it. It can be a for workshop or whatever, but we can never get a date when we're all of it it it took us over 3 months to get a date that we were all available. And if we have a date on the calendar that we can use because I don't plan something that I and if I don't if we don't use it then it's a date night with my wife. All right, if you don't use it it's a date
086night with your night with your children, your spouse, with whomever, but I really would like us to put an extra day on the calendar each month so that we can we're coming up on the crunch again for doing evaluations. And and if we have a date it would just be awesome and we would go into it. I would like to move I'd like to move that we recommend that uh the board clerk add a date each month to our calendar so that we can do the business of the board when we need to do it. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Miss Young seconds that Okay. Can I ask um do you think one additional date per quarter um is it necessary to have every month? I mean, I understand the need
087to have some common time. I just think that it might be uh you know, if you look around everybody's so busy and then life happens on top of that. I just wonder if I I don't think it's a bad idea to have dates that we can kind of try to reserve. I just don't know they're necessary every month. So, I would like to propose Mr. Rider. a different kind of schedule. Yeah, I just the reason I didn't second it and for discussion is that I think it's really something for the new seated board to discuss when we actually adopt our calendar. So, I I just don't think it's appropriate to do tonight or even next month. We should be looking at this in July. But, we adopt our calendar at the organizational meeting. And Once
088our calendar is adopted Once that calendar is adopted, those are dates I keep available. I'm I'm not going to commit to other nights because every time I canceled last week, I'm supposed to be zone repping in down in Wallkill for this month. And I canceled those because we had a meeting originally scheduled for Wednesday and then we had it scheduled for Thursday and it happened on Friday. All right, so that's three days that I was supposed to be down there doing that and I had to find somebody to cover that festival for me. And and I'm I'm not going to try to do that anymore. With all respect my fellow board members, we're actually having a discussion. I know. On a motion that's that the other guy seconded. We never seconded it. So, we really
089We can discuss >> we can discuss it at the organizational meeting when we set the calendar. Okay. That would be my recommendation. Any other old business? I guess. I just would like an up- date on two things that kind of been floating around. One is where are we on our board communication? That's the first one. And I know that various members of the board were interviewed. Um what's the status of that situation? And then second, I was also it's kind of along the communication line. We had discussed at points um doing a survey about how we can identify topics and I know we had gotten fairly far along with that and then I was just curious as to where we are with those two things. So, um we were not to Mr. Lamb's point, we
090were not able to identify a date during this month of May. Our facilitator has a medical issue that she's dealing with and unable to um schedule anything. I think for June. Her recommendation was that since we have a new board that we regroup after she she I think will set up individual sessions with the with the newest board members and then we will we will actually kick off a new board retreat with our new board over the summer. That's as much as I know. Mr. I don't know if you know anything more about that. That's about what Okay. I think how about adding weight the advisory call from the Yes, we had decided two questions to ask and then we were waiting at the time the digital survey was going to be going out and
091we were waiting to figure out what we're going to get. Dates maybe your administrators but when would be a good time that we wouldn't overlap with existing surveys and then board and elections and things like that. So, I think now though maybe in the next week if you don't have other surveys going out. I'll double check with the administrative team see where we are and we it's ready. It's ready to go. We just press button. Okay. I think you are ready. Yeah, that would be a great button. Okay. And actually it might be helpful as we're doing our own board evaluation. That we have that feedback. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other old business? New business? I have one piece of new business. It actually dovetails with the legislative action in the probably reading today
092that there was there's the education bills were sent up and we did we do have preliminary runs. Um Ms. Carbon and I are kind of analyzing them. I will say at this very moment doesn't look any much better than the previous runs. We did see the 2% the 1% foundation go to 2% but we're going line by line through the through the the rest of the formulas to see where we are. And we're also trying to figure out why. Cuz not neither of us can seem to figure out why that they cuz they did change the waiting on certain students which are students that that we have significant number in this district. So we're trying to figure out why they didn't do the increase of those waiting are change our our numbers haven't didn't change
093above that that 2%. I have a theory but we're I want to prove it before I say it and we're going to again just we're going to take a look at it and again these this isn't all the way done yet. So this is kind of still evolving as far as the foundation or as far as the the runs are concerned. They'll they'll update them again between now and the time they're passing or the time they're implemented. So um that's where we are. We'll we'll bring a report back at the next meeting. Mr. Ryan. The state was mandated last week or whenever it was to put out another set of runs. Did that happen or did is that what happened today? That's what happened today. So, if I would just ask that you both go
094back and look at you had sent something last week that was a very long guidance from somebody. I I don't remember who it was, but they stated in there that it would be a week or two after the budget was passed for the runs to be updated. So, It's basically all the way through the >> that whatever you're seeing today isn't actually reflective of the the numbers that were announced >> and that's what I heard this morning as well. This was not a Focus on these ones. Yeah. Yeah, that's only the state council exclusive attendance, but yeah, so we know that you know, but we know that, but we still jump on every piece of information we can get to see if we can find and figure things out. And also the the mandate for
095the electric buses is being bumped uh a little bit. Uh the the pre-K for 4-year-olds it seems to be sticking pretty pretty much in there as the way that the governor wanted it as of right now. Um and there's a few up against the little limits. Again, there's no settlement on the tier six um improvements that they're they're working on. And I think we need to take a hard look at that as well. Tier six, while it does a lot for our young our younger teachers of bringing teachers into the um into the fold, but it also creates new expense for the district in the contributions. There's a lot of things going on. We'll be much more prepared hopefully by next week by next meeting. Mr. Jordan and then Mr. Ryder. Well, unless you're still
096talking about the budget, Mr. Ryder, keep going. Mr. Ryder first. I I said one quick thing and then a question. So, on that I think that where the negotiations were on tier six change actually just had to do with nice it and the changing of the years, not the contributions. So, that might not helpful for people like me in tier six elsewhere cuz the contributions are still high, but it doesn't supposedly what was agreed to does not change the contributions of the districts, just the years that people like they can instead of waiting to 63, they could go at 58 potentially. Um can I just ask a basic question about the budget? So, if the runs do in a couple weeks catch up and we do see a decent amount of state aid higher than
097we were expecting, we have we now have the budget numbers set for what we can spend. Would that mean that there would be just less fund balance or is there still an opportunity to go in and do any changes with positions or anything else like that? I mean, we've set the top number. So, but even if we get more state aid, that top number is still set by the voters. I think that's a discussion the board can have. I mean, I just want to just remember I want to remember that we put $12 million in reserves into the budget >> Right. to balance the budget. Um so, if we have more, we want to think about carefully what we want to do with the if additional state aid. Mr. Jordan? Well, and I'm just going
098back to some of the um concerns that were raised in public comment, and I just wondered we're at that time of the year where we're looking back, but we're also looking forward to next year. And I I was wondering if um in our presentations we could have uh presentation from our special ed group and um in light of what Benny said, you know, maybe there's room for a transition team or something like that made up of parents and students and and faculty or administration to take a look so that we do the best job that we can with that transition. And I think that um with technology always changing, it is a good idea to have a you know, presentation from our tech people as well. So, when we look at our annotated calendar, it
099might be something that we can think about working into that. And those those presentations have happened at the teaching and learning committee level. Again, that's that's Right. And larger so we can we can bump those or or tailor them in a different way to bring them to the board. Yeah, and if I can just add that it's you know, the minutes have been posted so the minutes will be reported at the next but in that administration provided data on screen time in the classroom represents and we've talked about taking collecting this data on a regular basis going forward. So I think that so we're hearing some of the difference and we're trying to think about how to monitor things over time. So but I'll be able to report on that in the minutes. Right. It's
100very expensive. Very expensive. But also this the um the children who are are working in programs or with programs that are changing, I think that that's worth having a a really prepared kind of response to cuz things will be changing. So thank you. Any other new business? This is to our second public public comment session. Is there anyone who would like to address the board? Having children myself, I know when I I'm going to say something that is going to meet with a collective eye roll. So I want to open an opportunity for us to be able to be human and to have you know, maybe not the most pleasant reaction to something that I'm going to say. And um so welcome anyone who wants to to groan after you hear the name of my
101comment. I am here to present from the GW community a Montessori proposal. After hearing tonight's presentation about George Washington, I want to ask the board to reconsider whether the district should formally evaluate a smaller, financially lean Montessori track at GW before permanently walking away from the program entirely. I'm not asking the district to restore the old structure exactly as it existed before. I'm proposing a much smaller model. Four classrooms serving approximately 100 students total. Two mixed-age children's house classrooms serving 4-year-olds and kindergarteners, and two lower elementary school classrooms serving grades 1-3. Families would walk would opt into a lottery, and students would remain in the program through fourth grade. But, I I believe the assumptions underlying the original elimination decision deserve another look under current conditions. Since that vote, we now have major district-wide staffing
102pressures. A new principal at GW capable of supporting both tracks. In fact, she was the community's choice when there was a Montessori program um at the last hiring. Growing concern about technology spending and recurring curriculum licensing costs. And a statewide shift through New York inspires toward more personalized, competency-based, student-centered education. Importantly, many of the major investments required for this smaller model have already been made. The materials already exist. There are already trained teachers in the district. And under this proposal, there would be no need for dedicated Montessori coaches or outside consulting contracts. We also believe that doing this could save the district up to $200,000. Depending upon how it it works out. But taking a look at the actual numbers and the way that classrooms are structured, we believe that there are significant savings here
103between possibly eliminating classrooms and also eliminating technology costs. I have that in my notes. I have proposals um that you all can read through for some more information. And I will also follow up I I will follow up by email as well. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to address the board? That brings us to board member announcements. Mrs. Seddon? I can't I can't incapable of doing two things at one time. I just want to piggyback something you said initially, which is I'd like to thank Dr. Barnaby for her time on the board. She actually served on one of my committees and did a wonderful job. And you know, she came in, I think, what, in August or September? So, she was only here for 8 months. And certainly, I appreciate everything
104she brought to the board and certainly to my committee. And I just wanted to piggyback what you said. Thank you. And I'd like to echo that as well. Ben Franklin said, "Everything's been said, but not everybody has said it yet. But I I did want to echo that. Uh this this presence of my neighbor, Dr. Burnett, was just just wonderful. We we shared a lot of moments during board meetings that only a neighbor you can share. Uh and um I I was proud of her service. She also served on my mic committee. Uh I'm very important member and very uh effective and involved member. And she's she's she's really going to be missed. So, I'm grateful for her service. Mrs. Jordan, I want to echo your um thanks to our community for supporting our budget,
105which was really so important this year. And I also want to thank all the people that ran for the board election because we have neighboring districts that can't even get enough people to serve. And we had more people than we actually were able to elect. And I just think it speaks so well of the community, and I appreciate it so much. Okay. I just have one reminder, and that is the our board evaluation and the superintendent's evaluation. Um all that need to be completed both need to be completed before the end of June. Mrs. Siri will be sending out the document. Um we each have to take time to do our own part. And then we will be looking to schedule a time where we can discuss it and finalize uh the board evaluation. Dr.
106Peddycord will also be working on his evaluation, but we will be evaluating him as well. So, just that is our responsibility, and we need to do it before the end of this term. Okay, we're okay. It's It's work at a busy time, but it's good work. Mr. Ryder. I make a motion to adjourn. Second. >> [laughter] >> Thank you very much. I can't leave without leaving some of the stuff that I have for you. Party favors.