KCSD Board of Education Meeting 2/18/26

001It is 7:25. We have returned from executive session. [clears throat] If we could please call the role. >> Mr. Spicer >> here. >> Dr. Collins >> here. >> Miss Anderson >> here. >> Mr. Ryder >> here. >> Miss Corsones >> here. >> Mr. Lamb >> here. >> Miss Karns >> here. Dr. Bernaby >> here. >> Miss Collier >> here. >> Mr. Jack >> here. Please stand for the pledge of >> alge 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. We do have one action coming out of executive session BOE 33. Be it resolved that the board hereby authorizes the defense in the case of Fitzpatrick versus Dr. Paul J. Padalino, Commissioner of Education, Appeal number

00222661. Pursuant to the provisions of the retainer agreement between the district and district council Shaw, Harlson, May, and Lambert LLP. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor of BOE33. >> Any oppose? BOE 33 is approved. Brings us to our minutes. So until February 4th >> second, Mr. Ryder, any discussion on the minutes from February 4th? All in favor? >> Any opposed? Minutes from FE February 4th are approved. That brings us to our public comment session. We do have people signed up I assume. Yes. >> 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 it is crucial that we hear from our community about their concerns. The board is here

003to listen. Your concerns and questions may be addressed at a future meeting with 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 who will see that all trustees receive it. Each speaker will have three minutes and this public comment period will not exceed 30 minutes in total. It is important to note that state 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 rema the remainder of their time. Thank you for your adherence to the rules

004and your interest in the continuous improvement of our district. >> First up, Leah Varmasudo. >> Hi everyone. I am the parent of a third grader at George Washington Elementary. And thank you all for everything that you do to keep our children safe. I want to talk to you tonight about the walking school bus at George Washington. It was started by Kimmer Gipper, the social worker, the amazing social worker there. And every day for two years, we would walk kids down Henry Street. We would pick up anywhere from 10 to 12 kids and walk them to school. Kids who otherwise couldn't get to school. It was a beautiful thing. And we had to stop the walking school bus a few months ago because the predominantly Spanish- speaking kids who would come on the walking school bus,

005suddenly none of them were willing to come outside anymore. And it was devastating. And we stopped it. And while we were doing the walking school bus, we had so many kids, but we always needed more parents. It was just me and my husband some nights, some mornings. And I want to tell you about a school board member who always came out. He was there every day for the walking school bus. He took the bus from Port Euan every morning and walked to the walking school bus, met us along the way. He didn't have to do that, but he did. And he did so much else for our school and others. And so today, I want to really ask you all, you know, we have a board here and a president of the board who took

006an oath to protect children and instead has been covering up abuses for years. That is happening. And so, Marie Anderson, I want to ask you to return to your oath to protect children. I believe in you. I know you. >> Thank you. And thank you for all you do for our children. >> I'm not a ma'am. Thank you. I apologize. Dylan Paul. Hi there. I'm Dylan Paul. I'm the parent of a junior at Kingston High School who's having an amazing experience. So, thank you for that. Um, we are living in some pretty intense times. Um, as adults, we feel the impact of the news every day. um people being shot for protesting, people being ripped from cars, neighborhoods invaded by lawless and reckless vigilantes, the erosion of our democracy. Our children also feel this and

007see this. And it is natural and honorable for them to want to stand up for their fellow students, to speak out against injustice, to speak up for the kind of world they want to live in. I was so proud of those students who chose to walk out of school last Friday to protest ICE in our community. But they had to do so with the words of teachers and school leaders replaying in their heads. You will be punished with three days of ISS. Your discipline record will be tarnished. You will lose your leadership positions. Hearing about these threats, I felt even more proud of those who chose to go anyway, as well as angry for those who wanted to join but were literally blocked at the door. ICE is not going away. We can probably expect

008that this is just the beginning and not the end of their presence in Kingston. Like many community members, these high school students are learning how to use their voice, how to stand up for their rights, and how to be civically engaged adults. Ultimately, this is good and supporting them should be an obvious choice. Obviously, civil disobedience comes with consequences and they will learn this lesson well. But let's clarify that these students are not slackers or ptheads or students just looking for an excuse to get out of class. They are musicians. They are athletes, scientists, and writers. They are future lawyers, teachers, and politicians. They deserve to be spoken to with respect. They deserve to be recognized for their bravery, their motivation, their valid anger and frustration about the state of the world, and their motivation

009to stand up for their constitutional rights. As a school district, I believe you can do better. Rather than threaten, intimidate, and silence these students, you could invite them into a dialogue. You could work with them to come up with ways to keep them safe. You could help them understand the risks of civil disobedience while protecting them from unnecessary harm to their school records. You could help cultivate their leadership skills rather than squash them. Kingston mission Kingston's school district mission says it promotes quote learning opportunities that inspire students to reach their full potential. a culture that embraces and promotes safety, belonging, and empathy, elimination of biases and barriers, change as a means of growth, and an interest in cultivating lifelong civic responsibility and participation. I'd like to see those words put into practice. >> Kathy Cleti

010Good evening everybody. I'm Dr. Kathy Cleti and I'm here speaking tonight as both a community member and a parent. Um in his message on Thursday, February 12th, Dr. Padalino reminded families that our mission is to inspire, educate, and graduate all students and that we encourage our young people to be engaged, socially active, and civic-minded individuals. He also affirmed that safe and legal social activism is the right of all while emphasizing student safety. I really appreciate that clarity. Moments like this past Friday are where those commitments are tested and lived. Student activism has a long history in our country and across the world. Student voices have often challenged the status quo. And in most cases, time has borne out the courage of these young people. In 1969, the Supreme Court affirmed this in Tinkerver, De Moine,

011uh writing that it can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. And right here in Kingston, Kingston High School students helped to initiate what became the Wednesday Walks for Black Lives, a sustained peaceful movement that called our community into deeper reflection, participation in public life as part of public education. On Friday, I stood outside and witnessed students who chose to walk out. They were peaceful, organized, and respectful. Many were not speaking about abstract politics. They were speaking from their lived experiences and concerns for people who they loved. It took courage for them to be there. I also heard from students who remained inside. Several described feeling uncertain about what consequences they might face and unsure whether the response uh they

012would encounter aligned with our stated commitment to student voice and democratic participation. If the lesson students absorb is that using their voices carries unspoken consequences, we risk discouraging the very participation we say we want to cultivate. If we are committed to cultivating thoughtful, informed young people, then our internal practices must reflect our public commitments. Our role as adults is not only to create a safe learning environment, but to model thoughtful democratic engagement through nurturing young people's developing voices, guiding them with clarity, and strengthening trust and community rather than discouraging it through ambiguity or fear. Students are paying attention to how we, the adults, are responding in moments like this. I hope we strive to be the kind of adults who guide that courage rather than quiet it. To the students who used their voices on

013Friday, whether it was inside or outside, I see you. You demonstrated care for your community, principle of maturity and integrity and action. That is something to be proud of. >> Matthew Lundy. >> Uh good evening board. Uh for those of you who don't know, I was actually one of the uh few C or I was like one point away from being uh uh one of the student representatives. So, I think my colleagues are doing a great job, but I just wanted to speak I just wanted to speak out um and just talk about the uh protest. Uh I for one did it during my lunch break. I uh witnessed it. I saw uh you know people uh extending their first amendment rights. I saw although it is a huge liability. I understand that. Um I

014think that the punishment could have been a little bit better explained because On the one hand, uh we had the message from the superintendent which said it would be an unexcused absence. It seems a little vague to me. Uh and then you had the um you had the principal at the high school who said maximum of 3 days ISS. Uh those are two very different things. And I feel like if anything comes out of this, hopefully a little bit more organ organized in terms of uh organized protests, organized demonstrations in the district, perhaps a committee of some sort um to hopefully make this a little more organized, a little better suited for all parties involved. Um but I just wanted to thank the board for allowing all of us to speak and for you know

015uh uh one one other thing I wanted to mention uh this there was like a meeting uh that was on Friday I believe it was like a one issue thing. Uh I I think most people could infer what it was about. Um but it would have been nice to have a little bit more of an understanding of what that meeting could have been formulated on. Um, but I just wanted to thank the board once again for uh taking this issue into account hopefully and uh hopefully something good comes out of this. So, thank you all. >> AJ. Hey y'all. AJ here. I think some of you may be familiar with my face by now. Lovely to see you all. Happy Black History Month. Happy Ramadan. Happy Lunar New Year. Um all beautiful things um that

016I hope folks are finding ways to celebrate. Um I'm here um again on my very deep concerns related to immigration enforcement in our schools and students right to protest. Um, for folks who don't know, ICE was confirmed on the ground this morning. Rapid responders were out on Furnace Street, just blocks away from some of our schools at the time when many families were out with their kids or kids out on their own waiting for school buses, walking to school. This is not some imagined idea of what could be. ICE is present in our community and we expect that their presence will only grow. to expect that students who are directly impacted by immigration enforcement, by the things that the federal government are doing, to expect that they would not choose to protest, to s to

017threaten to punish them in the ways that were initially stated they would be punished is [clears throat] It is so unjust to me. We are trying to raise young people with a sense of justice, of civic engagement, of care for their community, for the people around them, for the people they love, for the students, and we are threatening three days of inschool suspension. It is my understanding also that teachers made told people that they would not be able to leave in certain areas students if they left the school. Um it is my understanding that uh some students were told that ICE might come and take them if they chose to protest. We are living in a scary and dangerous time. We are all feeling the impacts of that especially young people. and to suggest that

018they should not stand up and use their voice. And to think that they won't continue to do that in an escalated and dangerous environment is absurd. Y'all need to make some clear plans about how you're going to manage this. And you need consistency, right? From what is said at the schoolboard level to the individual teachers, it's really, really important. And it's critical that students have the right to protest even during school time. That is all that is signed up. >> Is there anyone else who would like to address the board? >> All right, that brings us to the superintendent report. >> Thank you, Mr. Anderson. First up on the superintendent report, we have our prek report and our principal, Miss Ky. Is this in the library? >> Good evening and thank you for inviting inviting

019me here tonight to share the wonderful things that we have going on at Mahar. I am deeply grateful for the support and commitment shown by Dr. Pilino, his cabinet, and the board in offering this program. This is our seventh year being open and our third year having six classrooms. We currently have 120 students enrolled. 23% of our students are emergent multilingual um language learners and 22% of our students currently receive early intervention services provided by the county and our district full-time see it and part-time speech language pathologist and looking at the data over the last seven years onethird of our students are declassified prior to entering kindergarten and less than 3% of our students are referred to the Camila Special Ed once in a elementary school with zero referrals over the past two years. Having

020a district universal prek program of this size helps ensure consistent highquality programming for onethird of the incoming kindergarten cohort. Since we have opened and along with all of our other UPK sites, we use the creative curriculum which is a playbased New York State approved curriculum that aligns with the New York State prek standards. Here's a snapshot of some of the objectives that students will master by June. There is a total of 38 objectives that are assessed that align with the curriculum and also the New York State standards. We've had several visits from the community this year. Um, the family of Woodstock hosted a community healthy schools in Carolina and we were chosen as a site to visit based on our forest program and our investment in promoting physical activity. Head Start, Kingston Land to Learn

021and the UPK teachers at George Washington have also visited to see our outdoor program. We offer and have a lot of family events at Bahara. We start with our orientation in August. In October, we have our harvest festival. In December, our gingerbread house making. In January, we have our fashion show, which is our culminating event of our clothing study. In March, we have our build with a buddy event, which is the culminating activity after our building study. In May, we have our art show. And we also invite families to spend the day in the forest with our students. And then in June, we have our graduation. And we also continue to collaborate with the community. Um we have Tracy Snder for several years coming into the school. She's the program manager at Family Woodstock. Um

022she does cooking with the students, healthy cooking and healthy gross motor activities outside. And she also has provided us with garden beds and does planting with them in the spring. Karen Pills. She does seasonal storytelling out in the forest. So she comes in the fall, winter, spring, and summer and tells stories outside. The Hudson Valley Farm Hub provides weekly produce to our families um out front during dismissal. And this is our sixth year collaborating with the neighboring tree project. Um they have established our forest education um program and has provided continuous professional development to our staff. I wanted to share the video that the Line Tree Project made last year featuring our Harris School. It really gives a close look at what they do and how it has been the foundation and reason behind the

023success of our outdoor education program. I started the Acorn Water School in 2011. According to the vision that I had of spending lots and lots of time outside the neighbor project came out of instead of asking children come here to the school. I'm going to see what it's like to go there to wherever the children are. The energy project has been amazing and inspirational and really wide which program we are today. [music] You know it's our fifth year working with them. They have just provided so much to our staff and our students and our community is you know recognizing us as this place that provides safe vegetations for kids and it's all because of the tree project. [music] Let go to the less plants grow. At the neighboring tree project, our mission is to make

024nature-based early childhood education accessible to as many children as possible. Kayla, did you hear something else? I was looking to do that, too. I've been an educator for over 35 years. This is my fifth year here at Mahar. um opened and it was a new program for the district with bilingual services and I got a phone call saying would you be interested and oh by the way we're talking about doing the nature piece and I said yes please sign me up right now I don't care that I've worked somewhere for 19 years I'm ready when we begin working with a partner of the first We get in places uh clothing. So they have arrived us with rain jackets and rain pants and rain boots and snow boots and snowsuits and mittens. And for the adults

025here as well, we do risk hazard assessments. We do site assessments. We make sure the safety is in place that you're not attentive and I started working at in corner school about four years ago. My goal as a mentor to the teachers we're working with is to help them feel safe in the forest and be confident as forest educators. >> I love neighborhood projects. It's been very helpful for myself getting comfortable with outdoor education. Coming from a school where we were limited to 30 minutes outside every single day and now being at school we're outside between 1 to two hours a day, even more. Uh, I want every teacher to to stop and think about how it would impact their students possibly being outside. >> There are so many benefits to the kids being outside.

026And a big one that I noticed is building stamina. They're using their bodies. There's a lot of gross motor movement happening. It gives them a space to actually use their bodies the way they need to be using their bodies. Or having our sits where we just come in and find that peace in the forest where we just sit down and get our bodies quiet and put our feet on the ground and we just take a minute. The experience of being in an unpredictable environment um really encourages children to work more collaboratively with each other. So they might encounter a problem and they find they can't do it on their own and so they're reaching out to their friend. Sure, I'll help you. And all of a sudden they're engaged in this wonderful collaborative work. There's

027just the problem solving, the self-confidence um that there are consequences to actions, good and bad. You can learn that in about five minutes in the board, you know, but not so much sometimes in other places. Another experience that children would have in nature is healthy risky play. So this gives a child the opportunity to encounter something that feels risky which is different than dangerous. It gives a an opportunity to take small steps towards getting to the other side. >> In the beginning of the year most students they they'll shy away from a lot of activities. they'll stay close to a teacher. Now we're halfway through the year. Those same students, they're taking a lot more risks. A lot of team building exercises are happening without even a teacher uh needing that. Once we go to

028the far enough, they learn that they can overcome obstacles. So that translates into the classroom. Whereas before, they might not want to go to the writing center because the penel come here and say, "Well, I can go on the zipline or I can climb this. I can do it without teachers to help." And I will go over and I'll see some of those students in the writing center by themselves that before they were like terrified of it. And we want teacher to be able to take care of the environment. And when we teach that on a small scale to take care of our close environment, we also teach students to say, you know what, we really need to take care of as a whole because, you know, watching video versus actually being outside is is

029such a huge difference. When the people who make that in their schools come to you and say, "Well, let's try this." Just having that mentor can come back. There is no program that being outside would not benefit. It doesn't have to be I have a beautiful six acres of forest outside my campus. It can be a public park. It can be a small patch of grass. If we kind of remove all of the excess or a lot of the things that we think we need, [music] often times the children will surprise us and and do things beyond even our imaginations. I would welcome any school that would like to reach out and and form a partnership when we come into an organization. It isn't just we're this is who we are, this is what we're

030going to bring you, but it's also like who are you? What does it look like in your classroom? You teach and we try to meet each other in the middle. It serves the children. [music] It gives children a heartbeat. It really does. It is so worth the mess. It's worth the money. It's worth the cracks and everything else. It's amazing. It's definitely definitely worth it. >> Sorry. I feel really strongly about this. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Thank you. Um, moving on. [laughter] These are some pictures of some culturally responsive practices that are ongoing here at Mahar. You can see for Dia de los Muertos u actually Tracy Snder from the family of Witto came in and had um sugar skulls out of tortillas and that's hummus and vegetables that the students prepared. You know,

031we're celebrating inventors. We're celebrating other holidays. You know, Hispanic Heritage Month, we had a parade. Um, so it's just an ongoing um, thing that we're doing here at Mahar. To continue with the outdoors, these are some examples of what the outside looks like. Um, over the past two years, we have intentionally focused on bringing our curriculum outside and embedding it throughout our day rather than treating the outdoor time as a separate part of the schedule. So whether it's journaling or storytelling, you know, using our bodies, you know, doing some math, painting, we have tea when it's cold. In the winter, there's a lot of snowball making, snowman making and sliding down the hills. And lastly, um, new this year, um, there's boxes in the hallway. They came today. We, uh, received, um, a grant with

032the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley along with some UPK funding, um, to get all of our students, well, a class set of bikes of strider bikes for students with um, conversion kits and helmets and an adult bike for the curriculum. And our goal for we'll see how it goes this year, but definitely for next year, we'll be teaching all children how to use a pedal bike. We'll start with a balance bike. So, we're very excited about that. and and also are working with George Washington PreK teachers to really help them um along with Motria and her neighboring tree project team um and helping build their outdoor education program for their students as well. And that is it. Thank you very much. First, >> um thank you. Um, I want to say thank you for

033embracing um the outdoor curriculum in whiskey play. I've spent a lot of time in Norway where that's the only thing they do for children from grade 1 through six and it's just such an incredible experience to watch them at work and they're out as you know in all four seasons and I'm so glad to see that here you've supported this, embraced it and support your staff so that we can offer that opportunity to our students. So, thank you for that. Thank you, >> Mrs. Karns. Then Dr. Collins. >> Yes, I want to echo um said about the outdoor play. My experience too is especially for those ages learners. Um it is critical and essential programming. Um for all the reasons that video really captures a beautiful message and story about that work. Um I'm curious

034how you relate that experience um that happens at school to what counts that happen at home maybe even for families that don't have a lot of outdoor space um or how you're able to suggest ideas and opportunities for continued outdoor play on weekends and evenings and what that would survey and we just surveyed our parents about you know you know the challenges you know why they're not getting outside I know it has a lot to do with access um but they also have seen a change in their children with wanting to be outside and they get used to it so they're asking for it more. So, I think having, you know, at least access to the parks and the new trails, you know, it at least gives them a place to go. Um, so they

035have definitely seen the the want to to grow. So, I think it's easier for families to get outside. >> Dr. Collins, >> thank you, Missy. I love this program. I love all the outdoor aspects. As a field biologist, I'm hoping you're building lots of budding field biologists. Um, I'm also really excited to hear that you're sharing all of this with the RGW. I think that's amazing. The more we can do this across the district, the better it is. I did have a question about the you said you there are six classes. How many are bilingual and how are those structured? >> So, we have one um dual language classroom. >> One dual language. Yes. >> And is how and how is that structured? Is it every other day? Is it >> um dual language teachers

036here? But yes, it is every other day. the one language is emphasized but they they um Miss Felbomb really does do both languages daily basis you know so you know morning meeting they're doing the words both in Spanish and in English you know the greetings so she's always deferring to her students um for the vocabulary you know so make sure they're understanding both during the lessons >> Mr. Just briefly, I love the outdoor education part and I have one complaint. Every time I try to join one of those lines when I leave this building, I get thrown up by some adult saying I'm too old. But thank you. Your staff is wonderful. The kids are having fun >> while learning. And it's it's just going to create better learners all the way through. Thank you.

037>> Thank you, Mr. slicer. >> I I want to echo what uh Mr. Lamb said and I I did draw the line, but that hill was a bit tricky. >> Yeah, especially this time of year. >> You really have to be a preschooler to make it up that hill. But spending any time any time at all at Mahar. You feel the love, safe, and encouraging environment that we foster. The children are are courageous to try new things, trust new friends, learn new learn new things in new ways because they they feel safe. They feel safe. The future of collaboration, confident exploration in science, math, and literature all start here. Very, very, you know, I'm a big fan of your work in this school. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Spencer. Any other questions or

038comments? I think I your associate from the Acorn School is behind you, I believe. >> Yeah. >> Thank you for coming and thank you for all your work. >> You have a question? >> I just have not just a question. I I think I know you're here to to present them, Mahar, but your responsibilities go far beyond that. So the launch talk, can you just really quickly talk about we don't just have the 120 students here and the 53 students over at GW. We have a significant number of CBOS and and we cover a great many four-year-olds. Can you give us a little just a little bit? >> Sure. Yes. Six other sites. Um most our daycare centers we have still one half day um at Hurley nursery program. We of Kingston Catholic and CCe.

039They have our threes and foury olds. So there's Yan Jensen, Monasury of Kasem, Little Red. Um, and yes, so we serve up as many pretty much as many four-year-olds that are in need right now. We do have several on the wait list, but most students on our wait list are currently at another program just waiting to get in a different program. So, um, they they are there. We had our state visit from the Office of Early Learning last week. She was very very impressed with all of the programs she visited, especially from her notes from last year and seeing that everyone took, you know, her recommendations very seriously. um um she said that we were one of her favorite districts to visit in the state um because she saw everything being done with such intentionality

040um that she really really thought that was wonderful. So >> I think given the new push by from from the state and you also have Governor Hokll for you know um true universal precare prek we're already there pretty much so we're way ahead and I think this country is doing a fantastic job managing all of it. So thank you. >> THANK YOU. >> [clears throat] >> STRICT UPDATES. >> YEAH, I don't we have so many committee meeting um reports tonight. I think I usually when I cover you will cover. So I I will just just hit a couple of reminders again for parents to know, you know, we we do have two snow days left. I'm encouraging people to continue to look at the snow day schedule and the give back schedule special give back

041schedule just in case you're planning something around April. If we use two more, if we use three more, we're in trouble. So, this is where we're going to start losing days. So, please take a look at that. And just reminders to board members, committee meetings coming up. Um, our teaching and learning is February 23rd right here at 9:30. Our next audit and finance will be on the 24th at 9:00 also here. And facilities is February 24th in the afternoon at 3:30. legislative action is on the 24th after the after finance. >> So the 24th is a busy day >> and when I get my report I'll talk about how my might get busier. Mr. Ryder is going to make the day busier. That's all I have. >> Okay. Any questions for the superintendent from the

042board? >> Do we have um anything that our students would like to share? >> Yes. I have some words prepared um to tell you guys. Hi everyone. I've made a lot of speeches in my life and I don't usually write them down, but I thought this would be a great opportunity to so I don't miss my words tonight. I know a topic on everyone's mind is the KHS walk out and ISIS impact. While many of you have seen student action, I'm here to tell you student perspectives and be their voice. As many of their statements are echoed in what I will be saying tonight, ICE has been seen in Kingston and all over Hudson Valley. They are intimidating community members and frightening families. Some students are too worried to go to school for fear of

043what could happen to them. Yet, fear isn't the only emotion our students in this community are feeling. People are angry. People are more upset, more than upset over the actions that are occurring, leading to the walk out you saw on Friday. Before the protest, students were informed multiple times of the repercussions that could occur, including suspension, as a walk out is considered on the same disruptive behavior level as getting into a fiscal fight with another. And yet, for many students, this did not stop them from walking out. Even more students joined after school hours. If this does not clearly demonstrate the level of importance this issue has for students, I hope my words do. Your students want change. To be clear, this is not me saying that the board has done nothing to ensure student

044safety for ICE. In fact, the opposite. Um, from school grounds to bus stops, security guards, and substitute teachers, arrangements have been made as safeguards. Steps have been taken in the right direction, and I commend the board for this. Yet, this is not the end of the matter. Across the nation, students and individual rights have been put at risk and challenge. We as a district and community need to be prepared for the worst case scenarios for the good of our students. Despite this positive progress, I would like to voice that students generally do not know what this progress is. Broad students have been made within the school if the information is not widely known for students. I could step in a classroom and ask students about how they think they are protected from ICE from the

045school or as a community member and I would get a variety of responses and none of them would encompass the whole picture. Um, this needs to change and I call for greater transparency through flyers, mandatory assemblies, speeches over the announcements, letters mailed home. Every and every avenue must be exhausted to inform students and families of these actions that have been taken and student rights. You want students to feel protected. Show them exactly how the district is working to achieve this until they know it by heart. Would these would this take time? Would assemblies take up educational time? Yes. But so did the walk out. So do students staying home in fear from ICE. The value of students knowing their rights and protections is more than worth the time spent teaching them. I beg you to

046listen to that part if nothing else. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the hard situation that the walkout put the district in. Acting in local parents, the school is responsible and liable for student safety, which made the walk out dangerous. Yet, on the other hand, I want to recognize the truth of what occurred on Friday. As a majority, the students leaving school did start to engage in an entirely peaceful protest and utilize their First Amendment rights. This wasn't kids walking out of school to skip class and hang out with their friends. This was students lining up in front of the high school in the city hall to talk about and protest what they feel is wrong and voice their opinions on an such an important matter. The school was aware of this ahead of time

047as statements were made and I am sure precautions were made even though the situation was not ideal. I understand that. But it still happened. Yeah. To avoid situations like this in the future, we need to advertise an alternative for students. Encouraging First Amendment usage after school hours at an opportunity that wouldn't endanger them. Dedicate a time and a place to protest as to not interrupt the educational process, but still facilitating students to voice their opinions on such an important matter. It is our duty to encourage and educate the next generation of voters and adults to take full advantage of their rights. We want a generation of informed citizens that know their rights and act on them and are advocates for them and themselves and their community. It is our duty to do this for the

048future of our community and the world. This is an opportunity to work with your students and grow the district's sense of safety and trust between parents, students, educators, and administrators. I beg that this is taken advantage of to the best of your abilities. Please keep my district safe and please protect the rights that we are born with. >> I thank you all for giving me this opportunity to share what I have to say. >> Thank you for sharing. >> Yes. I would like to continue on this matter and I would like to start by kind of talking about what I've seen on Facebook, what I've seen on forums that what people have claimed about this protest on February 13th, it wasn't, sorry, I'm words, but this February 13th was a protest. It wasn't an excuse

049for kids to skip school. It wasn't a reason to quotequote party. This February 13th was what? I'm so sorry. >> Take your time. >> You're doing great. >> It was a protest. >> And I'd like to kind of summarize what I had with my conversation with Mr. Mr. Mammar this or today, but my conversation with them. Sorry, I'm like I'm actually completely >> Just take your time. Thank you so much. Sorry about this. That's out of the 40 students that reported to leave the high school during the period to attend the protest. 16 that he interviewed that day, only two of those students there were actually because they wanted to skip school. So at least 14 students who attended the protest, at least out of that 16 that he interviewed that day. And I do

050want to commend the administration and their terms of having these one-on-one conversations with the students that they suspected that left school premises on this day. I want to commend the fact that these students having no idea about the school's nec necess necessity to ensure student safety the necess necessity to ensure that each student is safe and and that each student is properly tracked up. made apparent to each of these students and gave each of these students information about how to properly organize another protest that each of these students could either schedule on a weekend, schedule a week, not during school hours, but I think there still needs to be a level of communication that we need to emphasize. Going off of Sophia's plan, we need to emphasize this communication in our district. Dr. Scorpia did

051go on the PA system on Thursday, one day before the school uh protest making an announcement, but that was way too late. In order to unify students and to properly inform them about the proper procedures, we need better communication, better communication our district with our students, better communication with our administrators. And I believe that what Mr. Lamar and what the mentionator has done in terms of issuing these issuing these punishments which are just ninth period staying with um each of the miss class they had or they missed. I think that's the proper way in order to communicate with students to tell them and to warn them that this district values your safety and there's other means to protest and there's greater means to of course express your voice. Thank you. >> I also just want

052to note that this wasn't just Benny and I listening to just what we heard around the I have talked to a number of my peers and classmates across the high school about their feelings on this walk out and why they did it and their perspective on the matter and every single student echoed the exact same thing of that they don't feel that their voices are being heard and that they want them to be heard and they want to make a change for the better. They want to do it with the school. This is although it might be seen as hostile walking out of during school, this is an arm reaching out to work with us. This is an opportunity to be taken to work with students for a better future and a sacred community. This

053is honestly it might not seem like it, but it's an olive branch to a certain extent. This is like a amazing opportunity to find a way to work with students for the change that we both want. We all want a safe community, a school where people feel safe to learn and are present in school. This is that opportunity and I hope to see us take it. And that's all I have. Mr. Spicer, >> just wanted to say to Benny and Sophia, I mean, I really do believe I'm speaking for the board right now. We're just being with pride. Beaming with pride in the two of you. I uh you're exactly the reason the state wants students on school boards. You brought the passion, but in everything the two of you said, you gave concrete instructions,

054next steps, how we can make the situation better, how we can understand more, how we can improve what our students want to do to show their concerns about these issues, but also keep them well informed about how the district is keeping them safe. That was brilliant. and and just just all gratitude. What a moment. What a moment. Thank you so much. >> And Mrs. Kr, >> I I want to echo Miss Spicer's comments and also just say um we take what you say very seriously and we really honor your words and the representation you you have of your peers. and um thank you for your bravery, boldness, and confidence in your statement about what's an important priority to you. >> I don't know that you know this either, but when you speak at a board

055meeting like you did, it becomes part of the official record. Everything you say was just recorded and it becomes part of the permanent record. You could say history in in in our school board. Well done. Well done. >> That's probably made Benny nervous. [laughter] >> I apologize. >> You did great. >> We appreciate your comments and we appreciate you being part of us. >> That brings us to our consent agenda. Are there any items that trustees would like pulled from the consent agenda? >> Um, Tonight >> what is it called? >> B66. >> D B is boy 66. >> Where are you? What is >> We're on the consent agenda >> and we have one poll. B66. >> Okay. >> Any others? If we could have a motion to accept the consent agenda minus B66.

056>> So seconded. >> Any discussion? All in favor of the consent agenda. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> All right. So we go to B66. >> And the reason I pulled that is because I just want to know a little bit more about >> do we need a motion to do this? >> I'll move B66. >> Second and now discuss. >> Okay. I I just would like to know a little more about what our plans are where that is and well we don't have an executed um contract yet. So I'm going to leave that kind of open for now. But that that is the um that is giving KSQ our architects the authority to bring in their their consultant and sort of design on what will be our temporary kitchen for u the time when

057we have the kitchen in Bailey down but we probably have a a better have a much more um deeper conversation about it next next meeting when we meet when the police >> what was the space used for I mean is the equipment there >> no so but we we'll So part of the our process our our project will be to have new equipment bought for uh purchased for Bailey. So we're going to use that. We'll purchase the equipment ahead of time, use it in the temporary kitchen and then reinstall it in Bailey. >> Okay, >> Mr. R. >> It previously was a kitchen just there's just no um equipment in there right now. >> So this work authorization is for 100 a lump sum of 170,000 regardless of the hours they work on. >> Correct.

058to just design the temporary kitchen. >> That's the architectural design as per the state education department's their specs as well as to bring in the as well as to bring in their consultant, their kitchen, their food service consultant to help us design it properly. >> Okay. All right. >> Mrs. I just was curious um regarding that scope of work. Um my understanding is that use of the kitchen um includes the school to work program and how that's contemplated in the use of the space. Is that included in this? >> You're way you're way far ahead of me. Sorry answer that yet, but I will I'll get that answer. >> Thank you. >> All in favor of accepting B66. >> I Any opposed? So, B66 is approved. We do have a few donations. >> Sure. Um,

059hi everybody. The board of education of the Kingston City School District hereby accepts with grateful appreciation the following generous donations. We have to Miller Middle School from the Dorski Museum of Art at Sunni Newalts a donation of $1,584 in support of two museum visits. Cool. And to George Washington Elementary School UPK program from the community foundations of the Hudson Valley mini grant fund, which we just heard about, a check for $3,000 in support of outdoor gear. Thank you. Thank you. Our board, we have several board of education committee reports. We will begin with policy. >> Policy met on Friday the 6th at 9:30. Um things you have first reading on policy 2710 which is communication between individual board members. First reading on 2320, attendance by board members at conferences, conventions, and workshops. Policy 2410, first

060reading, policy formulation, adoption, review, and amendment. And last but not least, board or policy 2350, board employee communications. You'll notice there a lot of red line changing of language to get us up to date. These were long-term standing policies that needed to be brought into line. >> Mr. Ryder, >> I have a question on a couple. Should I just ask them all together? >> Do So on 2521, um, we're striking convention and workshop. So I'm assuming then if there is a convention or workshop like I believe actually there's a it's not a conference. So small city schools is having an event on March 10th and it's not a conference. So if it cost us money, we would not be able to attend that based on our change in this policy which strikes convention and workshops

061out and specifically now only allows us to attend conferences. >> Do you want to look at this? >> But then it does include it at the bottom about attendance but not >> anywhere. It's predefined at the top. >> Oh, at the top. You see how it's in parentheses at the top? It lists all the things that are considered conferences. >> It's like red. >> Okay. So, we're just simplifying it. We're not >> right. Okay. >> So, that was that one. Um, and then 2410, it seemed to me that we were sort of taking some of our own authority. Is this the right one? Hold on. Let me just find it. may not be. I think it was actually 2350 where it said that we could basically there would be feedback from groups is the way

062that we would draft potentially policy. So, I'm not sure which one it was, but we struck out feedback from groups and basically said from the superintendent as opposed to policies that were >> is 34 of policy 2350. Is that the section you're talking about? Just because in the policy meeting, we also sort of stumbled over that one for the same reason and realized it was just kind of a reformulating sentence. >> I I mean that was a flag but that wasn't the one. >> I do know what you're flagging if you want. It's on 2410. >> So back to 2410 it's 26. >> Okay. >> 256. >> So the board will regularly evaluate its policies and consider changes based upon and we're striking feedback from relevant groups andor individuals. And now we're only saying that

063we're going to regularly evaluate our policies cha based on changes on the law and regulations. Is there a reason why it wouldn't be andor bless you? >> So are we taking our ability to seek feedback from relevant groups? >> I don't think it was just more defining like the obligation. um most urgent to align with the changes in the law and regulations, but it doesn't it doesn't in my understanding it didn't exclude other channels. It was just that the policy itself was trying to follow the letter of law. >> Is this coming from our attorneys? >> Yes. >> Oh, yeah. >> Remind everyone I'm on policy. want the statement. [laughter] There's a statement somewhere covers it in groups and individuals >> maybe >> not changes the block feedback. said thank you. >> Okay. >> I

064mean the re way I read it [snorts] is the board will regularly evaluate its policies and consider changes based upon feedback. Not like we have to mandatorily change based on feedback. >> But if there is feedback you must consider it >> if it's there. >> Okay. If I want, I guess I'll come to policy on the next policy meeting because this is the first reading, right? >> And our next >> put your concerns in writing if you can't make the meeting, >> right? >> And that's it for policy. Our next meeting is March 2nd 4th, right? No, 6. It'll be 6. March 6 at 9:30 in this room. >> Thank you, Mr. Lamb. >> Mr. Spicer, facilities >> facilities committee met on Tuesday, February 3rd, and this is the capital project update. And my my

065my report is going to be a little lengthy on on the counter. We've had one meeting, we've had two meetings and uh and no reports. So, it's catch up night. So, capital project KSQ update phase one, they finished the touchup paint performed on Edison administration area. They secured the vestibule at Edison. Ed >> Edson, thank you. Edson and turned over uh uh they secured the vest at Edson and turned over operational. Uh the rescue windows were scheduled to be installed this past Tuesday. They're still installing window shades. Some came in in the wrong size, so they need to be reordered. Phase two kickoff meeting was held. Schedule and procurement meetings are underway. exploration of daily corridor B the south corridor to be performed uh between the 16th and 17th two days ago working on understanding

066window shade scope of phase one and phase 2 tandoor phase three the kickoff meeting was held schedule and procurement meetings are underway contractors will be reviewing chambers and George Washington uh two days ago that happened. The parking lot behind Chambers shown on the athletic master plan was shown as an alternate. The contractor awarded this work had inaccuracies in the alternate pricing. It was decided not to proceed with this work as part of the contract. The design team is working on providing revised details for a stolen parking area that can be converted into a paved parking lot in 2027. Uh this is the update on phases four and five from J from KSQ. Phase four, Graves, JFK, and Meyer. The final SED building permit forms were being executed by the school district and processed by the

067project team. The phase 4 construction document package was subsequently submitted to New York SCT for permit review. Phase five, Miller Middle School and Crosby elementary schools. Phase five programming workshops were kicked off with Andy Shever at the middle school and Kathleen Stickles at Crosby Elementary School during the morning of uh February 3rd. The project team presented the overall 2023 bond scope for each school and also listened to understand current needs and concerns shared by the principles. The project team and the stakeholders walked each other [clears throat and cough] walked each other of the two schools. The this is the districtwide facilities update from Dylan. Our custodial crews at Edson Bailey GW and Chambers are gearing up for the upcoming renovations. Exterior door number signs were delivered for Kingston High School and Mahar. The install will

068be scheduled in the upcoming weeks. No trespassing signs were installed at Chambers Crosby Miller Meyer to be installed after the snow melts. Chambers gym and cafeteria doors were ordered and expected to be delivered around uh the end of March. This will allow the rooms to be to be uh locked down. New split unit will be installed at the high school this month. Uh others to follow based on contractor performance. We have dealt with power outages at at the high school on the issue with resolve found to be found to be at fault at MDP. George Washington, Central Hudson made Central Hudson manhole. Barely ice buildup on portable building meter. And I am lost with what Dylan was trying to convey by that. If anybody can share on that middle stage, now this I do know

069about. Middle stage lighting upgrade updated quote requested from vendor. Subsequent to the meeting, the quote was received and this is an elaboration on that. It was just when we did our building walkthroughs, we saw the state of the lighting on the stage and we asked for uh the district to uh take uh direct action on that. It was discussed that the current lights were installed shortly before the auditorium renovation. The renovation may have been a factor in them burning out as well as the lighting being used for general lighting when the class is held on stage. So in addition to theatrical lighting from the vendor, the facilities department will be installing general purpose lighting on the stage for class use. Does anybody need me to explain that? Oh, good. Oh, good. Well, that I'm on

070the ground with so um and then this is a committee meeting update to the trustees trustee building inspections are mostly completed. We have the high school Mahar and George Washington left Maria and I have shared some dates to offer the trustees for these schools. We're going to float them out to the building principles first and then we'll be opening them up for trustees to sign up. The rest of the inspection data is going to be sent out to the facilities committee and the trustees hopefully by the end of this week for review and for the trustees to add any of their own observations uh to the report. Our next facilities meeting is this coming Tuesday the 24th at 3:30. And if I can make one report at every at every board meeting following a facilities

071meeting, we won't have this we won't have this lock jam. So thank you everyone for your patience. >> Thank you Mr. Cor and Mrs. Um I have a question and it piggybacks pretty much the walk through that we were doing. Will there be be an opportunity because we could see that the initial suggestion on the design for the double doors at JFK were not something that was going to be working in that building and that's my understanding it's part of phase five. So, will there be an opportunity for that redesign to take place before the phase five plans are submitted to SED? >> I'm thinking yes, but I wanted to defer to Dr. Pino. >> Well, yes. Um, I don't think the design team really is aware of the conversation. I wasn't aware of the

072conversation either until I talked to Miss Jameson about what happened there. >> The gentleman was there. >> Oh, yes. I'm I'm aware there was a gentleman there. Um I think the full design team needs to be brought brought into the loop about our concerns there and we have a couple concerns some of the other walkthrough as well some some concerns too. Now that I have them I'll I'll meet with the design team as a whole and we'll have the conversation about what >> what adjustments we can make and I'll report back. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> So I'm guessing his his uh contribution was more of an assertion. >> This is current. Thank you. Um I had two things. The first is I'm just curious about the process in terms of the decision making

073around um the Miller theater space in regards to input from faculty who regularly do use that space as a classroom and if the outcome of that decision um involved their input. We um we were sent a after our visitation, we were sent a very lengthy email from uh the head of the um drama department and and theater department at the school. Um and I can't remember her name. >> Chris Papri, >> thank you. Sent us a really lengthy email which I I believe included input from the teachers who used the space and that was that was majorly what went wrong that they were using theater lights to brighten the stage instead of regular lights and those lights burned down. >> Okay. So, you do feel like that will satisfy the the teachers request for solution

074for that space. >> Her her report was really lame on what they wanted. >> I appreciate that >> and it included a lot more than just the stage. It also included uh problems with the foot the the foot light. >> Okay. Yeah. I just want to thank her and any teachers who share that kind of intel. It's always helpful because we can't be everywhere all at once. Um my second request is would it be possible to create a list of um revenue generating spaces that are used for outside activities. Um the reason I ask is because I think investment in those spaces is really important. Um and I don't know if those are identified in one place or not and if they've been discussed in terms of future capital planning >> and I know I

075have to let Dr. Pino >> we we can get all the information of anybody who uses it. know revenue generated. Generally people who are using our space aren't re revenue generated. A few are but but very few are revenue gen but I can work with >> with >> oh very few we can we can go through and >> give you a report on that. >> Thank you. >> A lot of usage. >> Thank you Mr. Spicer. Mr. Ry, >> okay. Audit and finance met on February 3rd and February 18th, but um February 3rd, we talked about the tax collection up. We got an update. Uh they collected 92% of the taxes, which was good. Um and then we had a discussion about the senior tax exemption, and that is what also we talked about today.

076So, Seven out of the 10 municipalities that are within our district have adjusted the income limits for senior exemptions um since the state passed. Our our current system and apologize for using my phone but I can't get into my email. It's where the document is. Our current systems out at 28,000. So at 28,399 you get a 5% exemption if you're a senior. Social Security is um way above that. um it it gets down to $19,9.99 in which case you get a 50% exemption. So the business office and Miss Carbon Carbon sorry um want to like French up the name or something I don't know but uh presented something to audit and finance today which was raising which is what the county did and the city is having a hearing on in March. Um the county

077did it for the 26th fiscal year. So now the city is doing a public hearing for the 27 fiscal year. Um if we wanted to act, we could act for the 26 27 fiscal year, but we'd have to do so um prior to March 1st. So that's why I said I might make your 24th a little bit busier because we have an audit and finance committee where we've asked for more information and we might be recommending we held off on a resolution because it's really we don't have any projections right now and they said they would at least try to look and see um what they can find based on the municipalities that are doing it. But um you know typic in a typical year we range from this exemption costing us two years ago

078it cost $63,000 to the rest of the taxpayers. Uh last year it cost $590,000. But I think we all acknowledge that like 28,000 for a senior doesn't get you as far as it once did. Um, and so we probably should do something what that limit is, whether it's raising it to 50, but we have to decide before March 1st. So, I think we wanted to kind of take a temperature of where the board is for having a special meeting prior to the end of February to do this. The 24th seems like we have all these meetings converging and it's possible that we would have enough people. >> Mr. We give pilots, we don't give them, but we have to accept pilots from huge corporations. The most that this would estimate it from from our finance

079department, the most this would cost us would be double what it did, which would be under a million dollar with 18,000 parcels. to split that up over that's $55 a year for for the rest of us. Our seniors are breaking and we have to understand that a rent a typical rent if you were renting in Kingston is $30,000 a year. And we're talking about not giving a break for because it's it's $2,500 a month. I have friends who are renting it. We're talking about giving these people a ability to stay in their home. And I think I we have to eat it and we have to give the senior citizens in this community. We keep calling about affordable housing. We're taking the housing away from them. The city of Kingston is the only municipality that

080is blocking on this. And can I be honest with you? Who is hiring the most? And who is giving the most away in pilots? The city of Kingston. And if we can't do this for our senior citizens, shame on us. Shame on us. Because I know people that are being bumped up. This is the third year in a row that my city county taxes have gone up 10%. I don't get a say on that. I do get a say on the on the school budget. And I'm afraid that if we don't do something to help our seniors, we're not going to have a school budget that's going to pass. And that's my personal opinion. But I will I will vote tomorrow to give them a break because I think we owe it to the people

081in this community that have stayed in this community and love this community and love this district. >> Dr. Burn, >> um I would support the 24th. So I would be looking find out what works best and I can move things around. Um, and then I also just have a clarifying question. So, is there a reason it's a senior specific? >> Um, >> it's what we're allowed to do. So, so the state allows us to offer a senior tax exemption. So, it's it's 50 and above. Is that correct? >> Do you know the age? >> Age? >> Oh, it's income driven. terms of law, >> but I think what's the >> there's an a it's income, but there's also an age. >> There is an age. Yeah. No, I'm just curious. >> Yeah. So, it's what

082the state allows us. So, they say firefighters, they say vets, they say disabled vets, they say they say you can do this and then we vote whether we want to. >> Yeah. I would also be in favor of it. So, but I would like to get together and finish it up. >> Just a point of clarification. I just don't want people to get confused. It's not the district doesn't lose any any revenue from this. It get like it gets shifted to and the and I think the 18.5 you know um thousand >> parcels I don't think that's including our nonhomestead. >> So we also have the nonhomestead which is our businesses where the our taxes are split between homestead nonomestead. So it would be spread to that to those as well. So it's probably less

083than what >> yeah than what Mr. Well, well, I just want to clarify. I don't know that I heard the business office say it was capped at a million and the city of Kingston has different figures. So, I just want to wait until the calculations come. >> And just a point of clarification, the age specification is >> the towns are already passed. >> Seven out of the 10 towns have >> all the towns, >> seven out of the 10 municipalities. So, minus the city of Kingston, there's two that have not, I believe, two towns that that have not passed. >> Town of Kingston, maybe. I think that the idea of having a a special meeting on the 24th, this is a good one because I think without having this whole conversation here, I know that

084Miss Carbon and her team have worked on some more details since we left audit and finance and received some information from the city that I think it would be good information for the committee members to hear and then the board. >> Okay. >> Are we able to vote on that day? >> We can. >> Okay. So, would you like to talk about 4:30 on that day? Is that after facilities? >> Right after facilities. >> Okay. >> 4:30 on the 24th. >> I thought we were going to do the morning. >> What's the name of that? >> Well, I'm throwing this out first. 4:30. Who can do 4:30? >> I'm not sure. >> Well, I'll go. >> I can do any. >> We have facilities at 3:30. So, the only reason I'm throwing out 4:30 first.

085So, we have >> We are going to have the budget at 9,2. And then they're going to have by 9:00 at a time. >> We start in the afternoon. >> I can Yeah. >> Okay. And then so we need one more person. >> Okay. >> You might need two. >> You're not going to do >> I would suggest having six. >> And then that's it. I think just happened right now. Okay, great. >> It's a special meeting for >> Can I just clarify one more point? Like >> we're not losing any money, but again, we are going to be in a situation where we're asking everybody probably I I don't think we're in a situation where we're not raising taxes at all. So, we're going to be raising taxes to some level and then we're

086going to say, but and I agree with with her, Mr. Lamb, that we have offered exemptions for other things, housing, and we we also have pilots, but we're going to be off asking people in a very difficult budget year to pick up some more stuff. I'm not saying we shouldn't do it. I don't know where I stand on it yet. I would suggest having six people, not have five. Like, let's have the meeting at a date where at least six people can be there because I don't know where I'm at on it yet. Um, >> so can we look at just to throw another time out there? Sorry. Can I just have a clarifying question about what you just said and maybe it was around all the ages. So, is there both an age and

087an income threshold? >> There's 65 as the age and we're saying right now it caps at 28. The suggestion is up to 50. >> And the idea is that we will have an idea of the >> the cost to get to the rest of >> increasing it to 50 >> increasing their income to $50 because again social security pays more than 28. >> That's why it's so we do have six at 4:30. What I have is Erica, Mark, Steven, Murray, Mary, Stephanie, and Stephanie at 4:30. >> You don't know or you're a >> I do not know. I will check this for the morning because that's what we talked about. I know you guys have legislative action at 10. >> Are you both at 9:30? >> So, we have the six on the 24th. >>

088We do. I just didn't know if her wanted to be involved. >> He didn't say no. So we do have a form of six at 4:30 and then we can >> do we have do we have more at >> in the morning? That'll be >> all right. So what do we have at say 9:30? >> We're here for meeting finance and legislative action. So who can do 9:30 on the 24th? >> Are we separating out finance like audit and finance? because I I believe the 24th originally was like the first budget presentation, right? Like it's not like are we getting something on the 24th about budget because that was our regular scheduled meeting and I thought in February was like our first pass. >> We I intended to give a first pass and that meeting

089our focus shifted to this tax conversation. So I will go with I [clears throat] mean, it's our only time we're meeting in February, so I wanted to cover both. That's why I'm saying it's hard to say this is going to be done. This is going to be a finance and audit meeting that's a half hour, which most of them honestly are, but like it's going to be hard to say that that one is that. Now, we can adjourn it, have this special meeting, and go back. I'm okay with that. But >> so 9:30, >> right? I know. Do we have more people at >> 9:30? >> I believe everyone can make 9:30. >> Oh, yes. Sorry. >> Can everybody make 9:00? >> So, can we just have this presentation as a special meeting and I'll

090figure out about it in finance at another time? >> Yes. >> Okay. Do you have something that you absolutely need us to have like happen? >> No, I just wanted to ask if it would be helping information to the board that has but some of this is new to some of our board members just to help them process and prepare for nothing. So we've already been told and um tax year increased to our current limit of the $50,000 threshold is the maximum bylaw is what county has already implemented. Oh, thank you. Sorry. Now, in terms of the impact, as Mr. Ryder already spoke, last year the impact was just under $600,000. Last year there were 448 parcels in our Kingston city school district borders that qualified for this exemption maxing at 28,400. This tax year

091that we're sitting in uh the senior exemptions the people who qualified it was lowered because of the change the cola increase in social security. So this year there were 361 parcels and the impact was $484,000. So shifting it again and increasing um our maximum uh threshold for the exemption will increase that amount. Unfortunately to date we have not been able to get income information to know exactly who qualifies to make specific calculations but we've uh made some inquiries to hopefully get information to give better um impact adjustments to the rates which is what Mr. W was speaking to. So I just wanted to give that background because after you haven't heard this before. Thank you so much. >> I I think I know this but people have to apply for the exemption. >> Yes. >>

092Absolutely. >> So we have a certain amount of parcels that will qualify but if they don't apply for it. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> February 24th 9. >> Special meeting >> and then I'll reschedu an audit. take us that long. Let's just figure it out. I want to have a half of the budget. That's all I have. >> Okay. >> Oh. Uh my next meeting is well, I was going to say the 24th, but uh we know that. >> All right. That brings us to um the parliamentary procedures in the library was the um um format that uh Mr. Shaw had presented to us and we received from Mrs. Karns this afternoon some of her thoughts >> yesterday >> of yesterday. Um, >> so I think we need a motion to >> I'll move. >>

093I'll second. >> Well, wait. So, >> so what are we moving? Are we moving one or the other? >> I mean, there isn't a motion to discuss really, right? It's a move. >> We should move the first one because we have a meeting. Move. I say that. >> I will make a motion to approve the version of the parliamentary procedures that we received from Mr. Shaw. >> I'll second it. >> And now discussion. >> Um, Miss Corson. >> Well, I had questions because um I'm not sure what format what we approve should have. So, it's really I guess David um I know that u Miss Kern put together a wonderful guide for these things that I thought would be great because with just a little tweaking of the language I could inserted into the board

094handbook. Um and it really talked about the purpose of it and then the purpose for each and out the process. And this is just a shortened version. I went through the comparison so they seem like they're, you know, they're compatible. But my question is if we approve something that's written more like a guide. Are we required to follow it? Are we better off approving something like this? >> Did that make sense? >> Have you seen >> Well, my look at this, but it has writing all over it. So, I don't know. Hey, mine's >> Mr. Lamb. >> I first of all, I appreciate what you did because it it it does make it better for the handbook. However, I think for the parliamentary procedures, less is more. And I I I they're pretty straightforward. And

095then if we need to go and check something, we have that. We all have that in the handbook. But when I look at parliamentary procedures that are out there, it's it just says boom boom boom this this this this and which is what David did using educ education as the focus so that we got rid of all the other all the other extra stuff. And I I just when I when we do policy, we try to cut stuff to keep it and then they do regulation. And I I feel like what what you did is regulation only we're regulating ourselves. >> Exactly. >> All right. >> Right. >> I mean self-regulation and and I get that. But I think the pol the the parliamentary procedures that are adopted policywise should be just the procedures. >>

096Dr. Bar, >> this was reading um Miss Kern's version um was to me the first time that I actually felt like this this could be a policy that anyone who wants to know how to communicate on the board could look at. Um I was cur and I appreciated it and I was curious if you were submitting it to us as a replacement of that one. >> Yes, I I am I am um I basically I just took everything that David wrote and I just created a narrative around it so that it's more easily digestible for people that have never done this process and to make it very clear what each process definition was and also that it can be used in more than one place. I I don't I like efficiency and when it comes

097to documentation, I think having two different versions of something um is not effective. And last time we did talk about it being part of the handbook, which is why I assume we were supposed to take Mr. Shaw's um uh simplified um legally approved directives and turn it into beautiful and I would say um to that point um my work is in policy that's my job and the greatest trope of all is that you know that policies that are written um really don't matter because it's really how they're implemented and whether they're implemented. So for me having a policy that's so clear and would replace something that's abstracted in my opinion is a better way to go about developing policy and it's much more democratic and so um I really I appreciate it in both policy

098and >> Dr. Thank you very much for the work you put in this um make it easier to read. Um so I'm actually well I think um there are per multiple purposes for this kind of document as we're already discussing right and I think the most useful one is for someone who is um new to the board or looking up something quickly and I think the abstraction of a very straightforward bulleted list actually removes the ability to find information. So, I like the the handholding of this and I don't mean that in a patron any way. I mean that in a very um easy to to read way. So, I'm in favor of what we call Miss I mean it matches right. I I didn't actually go through all the entire document like Wow. [laughter]

099>> It could be a cheat sheet. There are cheat sheets for by all the time. If that serves you better, it's about being more accessible and you have to start from center. >> It's the KCSD for dummies. So, so we have a motion to approve the Mr. Shaw version. Mr. Ryder, sorry. >> So, I would make a motion to amend um this one. Yeah, >> we could do so vote against the other one and then make another motion. >> I mean, okay, there was a reason then we couldn't take it back up for like I don't want to really vote against the other one. For me personally, I'd rather amend my motion to accept the current version of the document. >> Read it and see what you're supposed to do. I think that ideoped we

100have not adopted those rules yet. >> Touche touch. >> Pretty sure I could do that. >> I'm pretty sure it >> you can amend. >> I would need a second. >> I can second it >> and then we would need discussion. >> Yeah. Any discussion on there's >> there's already a motion on the floor. >> I motion. >> He amended the motion >> and then correctly. >> I amendment. >> No, there's discussion on the amendment. >> Okay. >> I only had one thing I wanted to um on the on the SK version. Um, the only thing I wanted to do was add and I I sent this out to people under the general purpose under protect. It currently reads bullet point number two protect minority viewpoints while allowing the majority to decide. I just wanted

101to insert protect all perspectives including minority viewpoints while allowing the majority to decide. Where were you at >> the second bullet point underage >> purpose of the guide where you see the two the bullet points? >> It's right in the pre >> and just to insert after protect all perspectives including >> including minority. >> So wait then you have to >> make an amendment. >> That was my discussion. But you will have to make an amendment. >> So I'll move >> discussion. >> Any additional discussion? >> So all in favor of accepting the parliamentary procedures as amended. >> Well, thank you. >> Twice amended. Can I just I think all in favor of may I step >> this amendment. >> Yes. The final amended version. >> Wait, we have to approve that amendment, >> right?

102And then prove the thing. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> So, all in favor of the um >> additional language proposed by Mrs. Corsens. >> I >> All right. So, that change can be made. Now we need to vote on >> on the resolution or the accepting of the parliamentary procedures as amended. All in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? All right. Thank you very much for that work. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. >> I took you very seriously. >> I will send the final version out to everyone. >> Great. And updated in the handbook. >> All right, that brings us to old business. The items for old business. >> Dr. Do you want to Okay. Um, a few of us met to talk about moving some of our plans to communication and I will let

103Dr. um, give the overview if you want, but one of the items that we talked about was actually putting out a survey through thought exchange that would maybe have one or two questions, probably just one. Um, and The idea that was thrown around within the group was to list among us have a brainstorm of I don't know the top 10 items we might want to offer as possibilities that our community could check off to help us prioritize what kind of listening session or gatherings we might want to arrange for the future. So the idea is that we have a very um it's more changing the temperature of the community. It's not a quantitative um assessment in any way. It's more sending a single question out before cares. We're intending to listen more in the future

104as well. What would you like to talk about and then having a list of options with other for some um those creative folks who are going to less than 10? But that that's the idea currently on the table for the first or step forward. >> So, I don't know if you want to give more of a um background or umbrella, but then I'd like us to potentially consider brainstorming what would go into that question because Dr. sent me a version today of what that thought of change will look like. Thank you for carbon maybe I'm not sure who was leading the effort to help put together that thought template at some point and I app >> thank you >> doing it all >> the numbers add um so anyway we have a template to work

105with this sounds fairly straightforward we just need to do the work of the board to come up with the questions >> and I'll just add in that we myself and Mr. Spicer and Dr. Collins spoke on the 16th. Um unfortunately Mary Stephanie was present wasn't available but um just to say um we feel really that something simple like what's on your mind like really casual kind of conversation with regards to the districts. Um we talked about um uh thinking about doing this temperature check once a month um and a few of us having um just being responsible for those data um and making obviously that we are also using tools like text messaging and that it's multilingual. Um and again um and making sure our viable family workers have access to that question and are

106asking it um you know periodically that we might do outreach to specific communities as well to make sure that it gets into the hands of people who don't come to our schoolboard meetings and don't um always participate. We also talked about um making sure that there's an ad hoc committee produced quickly to velop norms so that as this survey goes out we we collect information about what the community wants to chat with us about we are also just crowdsourcing to some extent from our community um a set of norms um and I said I could lead on that and Dr. said that they on the survey development or the question single question development. Finally, we talked about um the past in the past the board has rotated um locations and venues and styles of conversations.

107So, for example, as we get these topics, they would sort of be matched up with of course our norms that were pre-developed and then we'd consider for example um sort of front of the room highly facilitated massive group conversation versus a smaller group. Everyone's in a circle facing each other kind of conversation um with a board topic versus a sort of mingling event where it's about relationship building and and make sure that the topic and the venue and the facilitation and the individual board members that are participating all make sense for any of those venues and unfortunately for Dr. uh you might have to be present at all of them if you know but just to say that like there are and I say that because I know you have a hugely uh free calendar

108and that you have all the time in the world. Um but I just just to say that um in order to avoid the missteps of the past where we have sometimes differential expectations between what's happening um and what the public and the community's expectations are. This way it's being like guided by the and the and the families. Um, but that we're doing our job to design it in a way that works for everyone. And so, um, this is actually a call in a way to the public to say like what are the norms we want to collectively have um, when we need so that everyone can get their needs met and everyone's voice is is respectfully heard and and activated. So anyway, I'll pass it back to you about the topics >> which really I

109just wanted to put out to the to the board in terms of brainstorming topics we might want to include on this list. So really we're trying to put ourselves in the shoes of our community members and imagine what they might be interested in hearing from or wanting to us to hear from them. You want to call people Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Ryder. >> So, my preference would be that we brainstorm next session after having heard this. Is there an urgency to get this out like so that we can think about it over the like you three have thought about this over however long it's been like this is now just being brought to us for the first time. I' I'd rather not try to like rush some brainstorming session to get the question out and

110just take like we meet again in two weeks or whatever it is. And >> I mean that seems fair to me. I I would just say that there's a little bit of an order of operations about this where we can't actually begin having sessions until we understand the the topics that um we want to pull together or want to focus on rather. Um and so every time we put it off, we put off those sessions. But it doesn't I your point is well taken. I mean I think being I don't I haven't actually thought about the laundry list myself. It was more we came up with this mechanism >> and as soon just as soon as we do that as soon as you you do that we can have flood exchange out the next day.

111I mean okay Nicole from Exchange is unbelievably available. She facilitates everything. She really makes sure things just happen and she was ready to do it this afternoon and she wanted to press the button. I'm like, "No, I want to press the button yet." >> Dr. Bur, >> um I agree with you and I'm worried about time because I really do think everything that we've been talking about tonight, public comment, etc., um includes um the need for space for us to talk with our community members, right? And so I'm just curious, are there any mechanisms um president or is it are you chairperson or president Anderson? Are there any other mechanisms for us to do brainstorming that we can provide to our small committee so that we don't have to wait till the next meeting? >>

112We'll let Mr. Liam >> All right. We're all meeting on the morning of the 24th. Could we could we bring some of those things? I mean, that's a >> hand to us >> and and well, actually have a little discussion if we're going to be here. have a little bit of discussion, do that. But I also think norms should not be an ad hoc committee. It should be a workshop with the board and anyone who wants to be there because I I think every person in this room has a valued opinion on what a and some of us have been through some of those battle scars and and my norms may not be the same as and I I just think we need to have more input on that. tonight. I think the 24th would

113be our opportunity. >> Mrs. Current's event, Dr. Bman, >> um I while that seems very practical, I think it would change the format of the schedule that morning and the right and the communication around what the meeting is about. >> Okay. So that would Okay. And also before we talked about discussing it, um I I think that it would certainly help me if you digest everything you just said, >> right? It's been a very long busy night. >> Um, digest everything you said with a with an instruction or a direction >> and then perhaps we can if we're ready to synthesize that information and share ideas, we can send them to Miss Siri to collect the list of those things. That way we can fast track the time that we allocate for that. >> Love

114it. >> Um, I'll also just say to um Herb's point, I think it's a great idea. to be a voluntary group of people, a workshop where we invite any board members who are interested in joining as well as inviting community members. What >> community members? >> Exactly. And inviting um obviously centering community members which means that those of us who are connected to community based organizations and the community and parents parents um come up and we post that they we can have an open workshop. Um again I'm willing to facilitate. I know that that's not always a preference, but I I'm happy to. And then just for us to pull together some norms. So I would include the board in that conversation, but not only the board. It would not be uh sufficient or adequate

115for it to be just the board. And then we can run those by and also just to say we will be I will be looking up like and researching norms that are used for public meetings in other places that have been co-constructed. And also would love if the district has any um guidance or norms that they use for such meetings um because we don't need to start from scratch. And so we will take all of that into account as well and potentially have some like ideas to start with and people can add to and take away from and then we can back. But I like the idea of a workshop as a whole committee and we can see if if we can get it done in the session. >> Dr. So just return to Miss

116K's point. It sounds like you asking for homework. >> Y so I think the homework before Tuesday would be to email this series with any ideas up to 10 and no more than 10 maybe from us that's probably collectively going to yield 50 different possibilities. >> I feel like there's going to be a lot of cross will >> sounds like a perfect scenario. We could do a small test run but um >> but right I think the homework is that for now why don't we just email Miss Siri and then um we'll have a list and that will help us facilitate and move forward. >> Sorry I'm I'm lost. So we are emailing you our list of norms or list of topics that you possibly >> I will send a homework. I will send a

117homework. >> Yeah. I don't even know what I'm brainstorming. >> Okay. So, imagine that we have one question that we are sending out to the community that says something to the effect of um if you could have if you could have a meeting with the school board and they by yourself or they could hear what you wanted to say, what would that topic topic >> that you want them to hear about be or what would you like them to be talking about? Like it could go both ways. What do we want to hear? What do we want? And I will send this out as a request as well to everybody. So if it's not clear to you, you can >> It's clear to me now. I just thought we were all of a sudden talking

118about >> I was with you. >> You >> I have another item. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Just um any updates on um language being posted in schools and catchy and Spanish and English regarding some of the stuff from the resolution? >> Yes. So, we're going to put temporary ones there now, but we we have more nicer ones. I mean, you know, more kind of permanent ones that are that are being made that are being made. So, we're we're on that. We are we're So, >> Miss Carbon and I are going through all we have >> hundreds of vendors. So, so we're going through all of our all of our vendors to make sure that we get the the resolution into the hands of the vendors as the resolution, you know, says. So, we're we're chipping

119away, but we're some things we'll do temporarily right now while we while we make them more permanent later. >> But next time we meet, I can probably be I'd be able to report we are >> ready to roll. >> Wonderful. >> No rolling. Not ready to roll. >> Thank you. Any other old business? >> New business, Mr. Ryder. >> Okay. Um, and there are a couple copies I think on the for audience or other members. I know that is always a concern. Um, so I would like to make a motion. Um, I need to talk about So, I move that we amend the code of conduct to add a section 13 to inappropriate and disruptive behaviors level one. Uh, section 13 would state unexcused absence due to participation of a group student organized in peaceful

120expression of first amendment rights to free speech, assembly, and to petition the government. That's that. And then in parenthesis I wrote, "It should be noted that any additional disruptive or inappropriate behaviors that occur during the exercise of first amendment rights, such as property damage or violence, will be responded to with an appropriate intervention level. >> We have a second discussion." The code of conduct is a process that is done with the community, the students, the student government, the administration, and every shareholder in this district. I will not vote to make any change on the code of conduct without having meetings. We're that's that is the most untransfer a new topic brought up tonight and having that moved on before those people are involved is appalling to me that we would why bother having all these

121groups meet about the code of conduct if we're going to make random changes without discussion. >> Mr. Ryder. >> So thanks. I I wish I could have kind of started the discussion since I moved it and had a lot to say. Um, so it is not my intention to pass this tonight, but in order for us to have a discussion and then facilitate that further group discussion, I will say that I believe that when this was put into effect, we pretty quickly changed the code of conduct. I'm not sure that all of the stakeholder groups that you mentioned were dis were brought into the discussion when we added things and took things away into I I said I'm not sure. So maybe they were but I am suggesting the same >> attendance sheets. >> What's

122that? >> I can bring you the PowerPoints the attendance sheets. >> Okay. I'm I'm happy >> probably hasn't with her right now. >> I I'm happy to hear that that that was done in that process and I'm suggesting a similar process. I think we also had a couple of student reps and some other student speakers who were calling for something similar to this and so and and we've had we had staff members and others who are asking for this type of change. So I think this is a start of a discussion. I'm happy at the end of this to to make a motion to send it somewhere else after we've had an opportunity to discuss it. >> Mrs. Jones and then Dr. Bernov. >> Um I think tonight we heard from our student reps and

123they've really requested the opportunity to create the forum so that they can be part of the conversation. So whatever we move forward with, I would like us to honor their request because I think student voice is critical in this whole discussion. So that would be my recommendation. >> Dr. Bernby. >> Um thank you. We heard from number of people tonight. Um, one of the things they're really looking for is clarity and specificity about um the exercise of free speech through protests um and the disproportionality of or the perceived disproportionality of punishment and act of civil um engagement. And so just to say that I think this is a really important first step to put a you know a a line in the sand which is that unlike if there is any discrepancy currently um based

124on paper or in perception or in the way that um administrators or teachers understand policy um there could be lots of different different discrepancies. It's a big school. It's a big district. It's there's a lot of us. Um this is the first step at beginning to say we believe in the Constitution and right to assembly assemble and protest and that it is not considered a sort of level two but it would be considered a level one and that as a board we're beginning to have that conversation based as a response not just to our community but to the oath we we um promised to the constitution. So I really appreciate this um at the very and I I'm happy for it to go to a larger group of people and have a conversation about absolutely

125including students and faculty etc. But I will say I just want to name what the thing is, which is clarity and naming free speech and protests as something that is a lower level of offense than something like um possession of unauthorized uh property, vandalism, right? I mean things that are are things that we want to discourage. Um and to say we put a line in the sand that this is not at that level and this is not necessarily something we want to wholesale or at all discourage. >> Mrs. May I ask our legal counsel in terms of policy and the way things um the way things are written in our current policy? Um my understanding was that that could not supersede any lawful behavior. Um is this limited to just the disciplinary action as defined

126or if we know that the law prohibits certain punitive disciplinary actions >> that that action could not be taken based on the law. >> Yes, please. >> However, based upon and speech also speech is disruptive of the educational process. That's an exception to free speech is most understanding on it. So while this motion may be on the floor, it really effectes that you're looking for yet other inclusive processes including students before you may get to this point. >> Mr. Swson and Dr. Collins, >> I thought I [clears throat] thought the document was insightful. I It supports the moment and and our community and our children and I I agree with with the rest of the board members that it it it surely could be the beginning of the process to toward moving it and and

127and of course our legal advice is right that the code of cond can't be changed without public comment. So it's just the beginning of the process >> and thank you for this work. Thank you. Mhm. >> I think it's important for me to point out that the code of conduct is very clear is distributed to every student and every parent is signed off on and in this and in the code of conduct that is that was put together by the then Jefferson committee there are students teachers all kinds of all kinds of different stakeholders on this and it clearly says in in two and I'm not against moving it to one I that's fine I'm just I'm just trying to give a little bit of of background information. It says right on a level two,

128it says same as level one. So there there's a menu of options for an administrator to use there, which goes all the way up to the consequences in in level one. So I think if we're I I just don't and I'm not I'm not opposed to it. I just think a lot of things are being said that aren't correct, that aren't accurate, whether on purpose or not. This it's it's here. It's in every student's handbook. It's on every It's in every office bill. It's signed off by every parent. It's there's a 30-day notice for 10 days notice for 30 30 days for a hearing when the public hearing when no one comes when we talk about this. So, I mean, everyone knows I mean, this is it's very clear. Now, if you want to for

129for purposes of of um effect say it's going all the way down to the most, you know, the most the most severe. You can do that. or why not go with one that's the least severe, you know, verbal reprimand, meeting with parent, what those things. So, we're we're I just want I mean, I'm not against changing it and we can do, but I just want to make sure we point that out that the the the kind of extremes that are being brought out are clearly listed here. clearly listed, clearly available, publicly stated with with an extensive process. Um, no one's hiding anything. No one's no one's trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes or or keep anyone doing anything with threats or something. It's here. It's right here. And this is where we put

130this stuff. There's a reason we just spent, I don't know, an hour and a half talking about policy. Well, this isn't a clearer place than policy, you know? So, I just I think it's really important to know that no one's sitting around hiding rules. They're right here. And and I kind of feel like that's the that's kind of the the the feeling I'm getting is that there's, you know, there's these secret rules somewhere. There are not. And these are approved by the board. And the administrators, you know, what their job is clearly defined in their job description and in our certification is to is to, you know, the policies of the board. So, I mean, I think that there's a lot of administrator blame going on here for doing this, that, and the other. They

131would we have the rules. Our job is to enforce the rules. If you want to change that, that's great. That's fine. But I just want to make sure everyone's clear that there's no secrets going on here with the administration. No one's no one's, you know, making up the rules. They're right here. They're very clear. >> So, Dr. Collins, then Mr. Ryder, then Dr. Bernaby. I think um so I have two points because I had one but now I'd like to also just respond a little bit to what Dr. said. I mean you're right the code of conduct is is extremely clear but with a menu of items it leaves particularly decisions up to the discretion of an administrator >> which is appropriate but can be perceived as ambiguity when you are doing something that is

132a relative will be perceived as an infraction and is a rare event and so it's specially named as these other infractions are. So I think that that having a menu like this leaves enough ambiguity that um it's hard for rumors like ISS being the the consequence to to not to be avoided. I think that that's probably how that um that was stated because it is in the code of conduct as clearly as you states. Um, I think there's room to go back to the what um, what the writers put in front of us and this idea of imagining a more explicit way of of of dealing with first amendment rights for students. Um I think the students and our committee are calling for a discussion of what that is, whether it is um leaving it

133in level two and specifying that it a restorative versus a puditive response or is the cap in that case or whether it's in we move it to level one actor consulting and um the students in the community on that because their voices are going to be incredibly vital for that move. Um, but I think that there's I would agree with what's been said with my colleagues that this is the beginning of a discussion. I mean, it's clearly that we're in a really polite time where students are just learning their civic responsibility. So, I think it's we need to figure out what the rules are so that it's clear when they're enforced, then there's no ambiguity. And if we want to change the rules, as you said, this is the moment to begin exploring that. Related

134to that, I think what we're hearing though is not something related to the consequence. I think that was a theme. I think a second thing we heard from students in our community is that maybe we need a clear process by which students know how to take the steps to participate in some sort of um civic protest. And I think that we don't have civics classes in the old ways we used to. And I don't know that for them the steps are clear um on in a short time scale like maybe with a month in advance or Maybe they would know. Talk to administration to make sure there's a student leadership group, a student group in charge to make sure that there's um arrangements for safety and resources because that is your number one priority. And

135we know that putting students out in the middle of the day or um in off school property exposes them to dangers that we're all concerned about. But I don't know that our students know the steps right now to take in order to ensure a safe way to participate in protest. So I I'm hearing both things from our students right now and from other community members. One has to do with the consequence. Um which by the other piece of this just one more thing is that is a little bit unclear is that the unexcused absence is the infraction not the consequence. And I feel like um actually a couple of us had this discussion because an in my mind an unexcused action feels like a consequence because it's accomp is accompanied by I I might not

136be able to make up the work or I miss my athletic practice or you know there's consequences to having absence but it's actually the infraction that leads to a list of consequences. And so I do think that there's some ambiguity around saying that the unexcused absence is the result of what of someone's action. So I think that there's room for us to improve our clarity um around this particular instance and I look forward to figing how to all students and >> Mr. Ryder. >> So, the reason I thought this was important was after seeing the different emails come in after Dr. Padamino, your your statement and and having people basically say thank you for you just clarifying what was said by Dr. Corka in a slightly different way, which was the maximum intervention or response

137for an unexcused absence for walking out is 3 days suspension. And then your statement said, "This is an unexcused absence." And everybody was like, "Thank you. Great. Now we know that it's an unexcused absence." Not knowing that really when you said that, you were really just reiterating what Dr. Skorcus said which was okay this is an insubordinate absence and unexcused absence. You didn't go as far to say this but that could result in 5 days detention up to 3 days in school suspension or out of school suspension. So you restated the way but people had this false sense of clarity that oh this is just an unexcused absence meaning whatever they thought that meant. And so for me, I thought I felt we needed to clarify. And honestly, as a board member, I see these

138type of this type of behavior. Not that we want to see it every day, but in the rare occasions that it happens, I see the type of behavior that occurred on Friday as more of a level one type of behavior and getting a level one type of intervention, which actually sounds like that's what's happening. The APS are having them stay night period which is detention which is a level one right but we're this that's what they are essentially doing now is giving them detention but as a board when we write policy and when we work with our community on the code of conduct understandably it's not us alone creating that we can at least send a message that from the board's perspective we believe this should be something that is intervened with a detention and

139not you know uh out of school suspension or in school suspension for 3 days. I I also want to just say like I know some people and it it's been discussed not right at this moment but that you know if somebody's missing school over and over again because we use progressive discipline my concern was okay somebody who's been out of school a lot but then decides they they shouldn't lose their right of free speech. There is something in level two that says continuing or repeating level one offenses after prior corrective measures. So I think to the extent that people are concerned that this isn't enough and that you know progressive discipline there is an opportunity to then still pull level two interventions. It would have to be rare. It have to be again continuing and

140repeated after corrective measures. Um, again, after discussion, I'm happy to move it. Maybe it's not appropriate to move it to the policy committee. I know we don't have the Jefferson committee anymore. Maybe there's a different >> It's a code of conduct committee now. >> So, I I'll likely move it to that at the end, but I'm not there yet because I want discussion. >> Dr. Bernov, >> um, I just want to be clear that I never thought that people felt there were secrets. I think people felt that there was a lack of clarity and there was explicit um discouragement by use of all the possible levels of the code of conduct, right? Different things you heard from different people. It's going to be physical suspension. It's going to be who knows and and I'll say

141this um policies are implemented with bias and it is correct. I agree with you that there is under the discretion of the in the school about how to manage young people, how to manage the building. And um if there are individuals within the school who explicitly are discouraging First Amendment responses because they don't want to deal with it, because they're scared of it, because they're stressed by it, because they don't know how to deal with it. Just the same way students may be scared of it, afraid of it, mad about it, feel like it's disruptive. Um, all of those things are okay and I still think that um it is the job um of the district to say um we can't or we can support you in this way or not when students um or

142faculty or teachers or administrators want to protest. Um these are the consequences of that protest. not to discourage you from doing it because there have to be consequences because it disrupts our system. But it's not about discouraging it. And I think what happens when there's this whole laundry list of things that can happen is like if you tell me Erica, uh, if you choose to chew gum and throw on the sidewalk, you might get a ticket for $10 or you might go to prison. I'm not going to do it. Right? And we have that in other parts of the world where we have really desperate um consequences. We have them in this country too because of bias. So I'll just say this, it's not enough that it's on paper. It has to be implemented with

143consistency. And there has to be there's like a tone thing that I heard. There's a tone thing where some people were given certain information and didn't feel discouraging. Some people were given information that felt discouraging and some people were scared. And again, I just want to say like that bias piece, that tone piece, we all encourage, we all experience it in every part of our our working and living life. And that means we can do better to support teachers, to support staff, to support kids, to support families, to um have the resources and the supports and the tools to do things not out of fear or to to avoid or do things not out of fear but rather because it is their right and they get to choose and have a real choice. So I

144that's why I'm saying if it's in the first level um or or if it's in the second level, people have a sense of what is on the table, but it also is a sense of what our values are and we need to support them once that happens. You know, whether it's that we need more community resources to be able to have protests because the school district can't manage it. So we need to have a hundred adults from the community be out there or it's something else. But I I just want to say that it's not just about what's on the paper. It's about the tone and the implementation and bias exists and we need more consistency about what messaging everybody in the building gets. >> Mrs. K. >> Um, thank you everyone. I appreciate all

145those points and I think there's there's an agenda with all of that and also one voice that I know Dr. represents. But one voice that I feel we're missing directly, which I hope can be solved by the committee, is the school level staff. >> I do think that it's essential that we respect and acknowledge the efforts and the extremely complicated and difficult task of managing a school and the safety in these times. you know, we're forgetting that that responsibility is extremely heavy right now. And I just think it's really important that we honor our school level leadership and that we invite people to follow the chain of command and to ask questions and to be curious about their child's experience to truly understand intention and collaboration because I do think there's more to the experience

146and what transpired and there always isn't a school that is multifaceted. Um, and so I I definitely see This particular topic in these times seems very appropriate for some sort of discussion amongst a code of conduct committee as long as all of those members including our incredible school level leadership are included with their voice and their experience. >> Mr. Riner. >> Thank you everybody. So I am going to make a motion that we move this to the code of conduct committee and I'm going to request in that motion that that committee convenes in the next 30 days. >> The code of conduct committee is um controlled by the high school. I I believe was the advisor. I'm sure she can do it in 30 days. Okay. >> We had a second. >> All in favor?

147>> I >> All right. >> Any opposed? >> So, this matter will go to the code of conduct committee at the high school. >> Thank you. >> Any other new business? I think I should have brought this up on the old business, but I do have business. >> Okay. >> Um, at the at [clears throat] the January 7th board meeting, the board voted for an updated version of our diversity hiring report. Uh, Dr. Pedalino, given the tightness of your schedule, would you be able to share when you think you'll have this for us? >> If the board would humor me with that, I would ask for the meeting after next. Wow. >> To have it to discuss it. >> No, I think we have >> We're chipping away at it. We've just been chipping away

148at a lot of things. >> Uh, Madam President, do we need a motion or can we just >> Well, I think we've just >> Yes. the superintendent. >> If I run into if I run into a hurdle or something, I'll communicate. >> Madam President, that was that was levity. It's just it's just too late, guys. >> I agree. [laughter] >> Any board member announcements? >> Mrs. Kern, >> just a brief one to highlight that the announcements been put out for Once Upon Mattress, the theater production at the high school, March 19th through the 22nd. Please mark your calendars. Please go. Their productions are always incredible. I encourage community members and um families and students all over the district alike to attend. >> Thank you. >> Any other announcements? That brings us to our second public

149comment. Anyone to speak to? >> And our last item, a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to >> second. All in favor? >> I