July 1, 2020 Board of Education Meeting

001would for we to um they'll be viewing at Ley funeral home on Friday Janu July 3rd from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. uh and then there will be a service uh at the boys and girls club uh uh with a pastor after that um I also want to announce that we are still operating under uh B 58 of 2019 where we have suspended policies of 121 1230 2310 2320 and 2342 regarding public attendance at meetings video conferencing and public participation uh of meetings uh that have been suspended for the duration of the New York state covid-19 state of emergency and as it stands right now that executive order expired on July 3rd I'm sorry July 6th unless it's renewed um so we will make decisions in the future on the basis of that possible renewal

002or or expiration of the executive order um we have uh one resolution com coming out of executive session resolution 2020 Boe 06 be resolved in accordance with section three of the employment agreement with the assistant superintendent for secondary education that the Board of Education hereby approves a salary of $164,700 for the assistant superintendent for secondary education effective July 1st 2020 and be it further resolved in accordance with section three of the employment agreement with the assistant super super intendent for elementary education that the Board of Education hereby approves a salary of $169 998 for the assistant superintendent for elementary education effective July 1st 2020 may I have a motion to approve this resolution some move second second okay it's been moved in second and twice uh is there any discussion uh I'll move the question

003I'll go directly to the question uh all those in favor of the resolution please say I I I any oppos say nay and extensions so unanimously approved uh so the next item on the agenda agenda is approval of minutes for the junee 19th 2019 uh board meeting may have a motion to accept U those minutes second think I heard a second um any corrections or or comments all in favor please say I I I opposed May exstension okay unanimously approved um next is public comment um we have received a large number of um emails uh well first of all we have received a petition from Rise Up Kingston uh regarding uh school resource officers in our schools so I would like to ask our communications director Karen Siri uh if she would read that petition

004the cover page of that petition to the members of the kcsd school board and superintendent patalino we demand that the $369,800 cents our school district committed to spend in the 2019 2020 school year to criminalize our children should be used for counselers and education not to feed the school to prison pipeline our demands are as follows one an immediate and permanent cancellation of contracts with Kingston Police Department oluler police department and all law enforcement two a commitment to reinvest those funds into mental health and Community Resources for the children in the district three investigate all complaints of police violence and misconduct that have been reported to the school district we students parents family members teachers and community members demand our children see a brighter future one where they are supported and not criminalized time and

005time again King children in the Kingston City school district have fallen victim to racial profiling violence sexual harassment and Trauma at the hands of the police due to the lack of police accountabil no justice has been served for most of the children who have been harmed we do not understand why we have police in our schools The Narrative that police make things safer has been disproved numerous times an SRO at marjerie Stoneman Douglas has never even entered the school during the shooting police contact can also hinder children's educational performance through negative Health consequences related to stress fear trauma and anxiety the memorandum of understanding between the kcsd and the police department says quote under state law the SRO shall not serve as a school disciplinarian as an enforcer of school regulations or in place of

006school-based mental health providers and the SRO shall not use police powers to address the Traditional School discipline issues unquote despite the contract the SRO in the schools are routinely involved in disciplining the children criminalizing them at a young age the $369,800 our district committed to spend in the 1920 school year to criminalize our children should be used for counselors and education not to feed the school to prison pipeline okay thank you uh we will discuss the issue of school resource officers uh under new business uh later on in this meeting um we've also received the number of emails um I think maybe 13 or 14 um each of them is under 300 Words which roughly corresponds to our speaking limit of two minutes that we've had uh for public comment so I am going to

007ask uh Mrs Siri if she would uh read these uh emails first email is from Samantha soall good afternoon as a former KHS student class of 2008 I find it insane that you would want to get rid of the SRO my son will be joining kindergarten next year these officers are needed for the safety of our students God forbid something bad were to happen example school lockdown or someone going into the school with a weapon who would be there to protect them and you as the school board would be blamed these officers are the kindest people in our city we need them to protect our kids when we can't be be there unless you want multiple parents to sit in school with their children all day long don't get rid of these officers next is

008from Lindsay Von Miller I am so happy to hear that the school board is going to revisit the district policy of having SRO in our schools after having read the brookings.edu article does more policing make Middle School safer and the npr.org story inside the national movement to push police out of our schools it doesn't appear that the money spent on SRO is translating to either a safer School environment or to better relationships between police officers and young people of the community these are our children's lives and the time in your care shapes who they are we have failed as their caretakers if even one child has a negative or violent experience with an SRO while in our charge I would be very interested in having the school board share the reasons that led to the

009hiring of SRO with myself and the taxpayers of this community I am encouraged that you you are having this conversation and I hope that in the end you will take the proactive proactive steps of removing SRO from our schools perhaps spend the money on increasing the amount of trained social workers in the schools that can be called for the deescalation and counseling of any of our troubled youth thank you next is from Jennifer habber beesmer for those of you that don't know me my name is Jennifer hack beesmer I am a teacher at RGS and a school taxpayer as well my sons will be in fourth grade at Robert Graves and sixth grade at jwb in the fall I am also a proud graduate of the KHS class of 1993 I am writing in support

010of keeping the SRO officers My Father James P ha was the DARE officer for many years in kcsd in addition to teaching children about the negative effects of drugs and other poor choices he was such a positive role model for many students even though he retired in 1997 he is still often stopped in public by a student who had him and said what a different he made in his or her life this is the positive side of having a police officer in school they build relationships with all students they are Role Models just take a look at the SRO officer at Miller he is constantly interacting with the students in a positive way yes as a parent it also makes me S feel that my child is safe at jwb in the event that the

011SRO officer is needed in an emergency situation in fact I would love to have an SRO officer in all of our school buildings I do not support the petition to remove SRO officers and I hope you take this email into consideration thank you next is from Adam and Lauren sour Kingston City School District members as parents of two children within the Kingston City School District we are sickened to hear of a petition to remove the SRO from our community schools these officers at our schools give students parents families and the community assurance that our children are safe and protected during the day in recent years we have seen an increase in school shootings across the country countless lives have been saved by school resource officers within the schools our oldest child has been practicing school

012lockdown drill since he began attending public schools with upk while discussing these drills he has always expressed that the brave police officers were there to protect him his classmates and teachers from any type of threat they truly create a safer environment for children children and their Educators it is of utmost importance that our children build positive relationships with police officers from the elementary level that trust and bond will make a difference in the their lives as they grow older we have discussed this concern with our extended family and we stand United when we ask for these officers to remain within the schools if you do feel you must remove them from our schools we have several questions we would like addressed will teachers teaching assistants and other School Employees be be provided training on how

013to disarm someone entering a school will teachers and other staff be provided firearms training will teachers and other staff be provided a firearm will all School entrances be equipped with metal detectors will teachers and other staff become trained on how to break up a physical altercation with students and parents will teachers and other staff members be trained on how to remove aggressive parents and students from the buildings and who will be responsible to pay for these trainings and equ thank you next is from Kyle Sheffer dear board members it has come to my attention that police officers may be removed from our Kingston schools my granddaughter will start school next year and I feel it was important that you are aware that many in the community appreciate what our officers do at our schools I

014worry that removing these officers will open a door that we don't want opened School violence must be met with people who are trained officers we have armed security in many places all over our country accounting what is more important than the safety of our schools it takes one person who wants to do harm it is impossible for school staff to take on a person who is unstable and may have a weapon again I'll say it only takes one person to cause a lot of Dr Destruction we have all seen it time and time again and the only positive is that the officer who is there to protect our kids and teachers I know that the board would not want to be responsible for injury or lives loss due to this possible removal I hope the

015board considers these factors when making their decision thank you next is from Nicole Caruso I am a public school teacher in Duchess County New York and have been for the past 16 years because I live in Kingston my four children have been part of the district for 20 years the current covid policy for grading I'm sorry this one is actually about grading and not the SRO um the current Co policy for grading is against New York State schools Region's policy of Do no harm the reason for this is because of the fourth quarter many struggling students especially those affected by covid social econom socioeconomically challenged and like and the like often use the fourth quarter as a final chance to bring their grades up to passing your policy prevents this and it has affected my

016youngest son directly as he worked ever so diligently with his intention fourth for the fourth quarter as I know many students did as well I would like to attend the public session if necessary and let others know that this needs to be remedied immediately thank you next is from cat pman school psychologist at KHS dear Board of Ed I have read about the request to Mo remove SRO in my experience SRO they clarify the rights and laws around harassment orders of protection threatening searches consent assault marijuana possession or pulling the fire alarm Chris hbert has talked with students about age of consent sending nudes and online bullying these conversations begin look I don't want to see you get jammed up so the law on this is interactions like these build positive trusting relationships I consider

017our sro's valuable trustworthy advocates for student safety and wellbeing I realize that my perspective is that of a white woman whose experience with police has been positive our students of color may have witnessed or experience police in a different way perhaps they worry that the police and thus sro's are trying to get to get them and not protect them if that is the case then I can understand how SRO Presence at school could cause anxiety that is not okay everyone has the right to feel safe at school I disagree with the petitioners on what to do the removal of SRO means the school will have to call the police For assistance with an out-of control student putting the student and others at risk as they wait for officers to arrive also that responding officer may

018have no relationship with the student causing greater fear and apprehension most importantly removing the sro's only adds to the existing racial Chasm it does nothing to improve the relationship between the police and young people of color first let's find out how our students of color feel about having SRO in school then come up with a plan to address their concerns that Foster Mutual understanding and values connection rather than Divine us next is from Kenneth wood first I would like to to thank you for giving me this opportunity to offer my input regarding the recent petition to remove SRO from Kingston City Schools I would like to preface my statement with the following I have two biracial students that have been in the district their entire School career their interactions with all of the SRO have

019been nothing but positive police officers in the schools provide students with the opportunity to interact with police officers in a non-confrontational atmosphere it allows the students to see police officers as people and that they are not that they are there to Serve and Protect the police officers actually interact with the students and get to know them and the students get to know the police officers from what I have seen the presence of police officers does not criminalize the educational experience they are supportive and help the students feel safe I have only seen officers carry out their duties in a professional manner the recent Trend to demonize police would only be furthered by their removal from schools I believe that to use some of the words of the petition students parents teachers and the community support

020keeping our SRO in the schools next is from Donna schlackman I understand that police in the schools may be on the agenda tonight if so I would like to offer my limited perspective as the mother of both a white son and a brown son who went through public school just a great apart race is not the only variable that contributed to each of their experiences and interactions in school but I know my white son did not enter the school every day calm and not on high alert concerned that he would be noticed by the police officer my Browns son did not have that insurance and the distractions to his learning were real no child should have the message unsafe place when they enter a school to learn I hope that the board puts its monetary

021resources into staff that especially trained to address the psychosocial issues requiring interventions supports and strategies even if the police are sufficiently trained which they are not we should not turn our children over to the police to intervene in student behaviors in school please do not put this money into policing the schools thank you for your service to the community next is from Casey wimbish dear board members and Dr pedalino I want to thank you for Boe resolution 77 that makes a clear anti-racist statement and declares your commitment to work toward greater equity and strongly condemns the ill effect of racial racial disparity and police brutality one very concrete way to disrupt the school to prison pipeline which unjustly impacts communities of color is to cancel your contract with the KPD and other law enforcement agencies

022and remove the school resource officers from the school system reinvest that $ 369,000 368.81 we know living in a racist Society living in poverty and now living through a pandemic negatively impacts CH Children's Mental Health they need support skills for conflict resolution and anger management and a vocabulary for dealing with an unjust World SRO do not and cannot provide that they are there are professionals who can I look forward to seeing the ways that kcsd moves to create equity and racial andj racial Justice I hope that removing law enforcement from the budget and the in the school is a step in the right direction next is from James cro greetings I hope all are safe and healthy I it was brought to my attention that there is talk about removing police and security guards from

023our schools please do not let this happen the Safety and Security to our students must be our number one major concern not only the students but all the staff and all employed by kcsd as well thank you for your time and understanding on this matter and hopefully we will keep police and security guards in our schools next is from Elizabeth Elizabeth boy dear kcsd School Board I'm a Community member and parent of a rising kindergartner at George Washington Elementary School I'm writing to share my concerns about school resource officers in our schools re research has shown that having police officers in schools doesn't improve school safety worse their presence more often leads CH leads to children being referred to law enforcement fueling the school the prison pipeline that disproportionately impacts students of color especially black

024students we must do everything we can as a community and School District to stop the criminalization of young people of color we should be turning to evidence-based alternatives to SRO including restorative justice programs and Mental Health Services I urge the school board to cancel contract with law enforcement and invest those resources in mental health and Community Resources thank you for addressing this critical issue and finally from Jillian Mendelson hi Mrs Jordan I a former student of yours Jillian Mendelson I was informed that the SRO officers might lose their job working at the Kingston City School District I know as a former student at Jay Watson Valley officer Curts helped me through some hard times during my four years at jwb as a small tiny fifth grader dealing with very strong anxiety officers Curts and patella

025helped me through it they made me feel safe when the park when the Parkland school shooting occurred the officers made me feel safe and protected and if all officers leave the school district I know I won't feel as safe and won't be as protected I have witnessed the officer solve many conflicts and make the school a better and safer environment thank thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this uh thank you Mrs Siri um I think the last uh the last letter you wrote was from uh Julian Merson she's still a student I believe and uh a uh uh kindergar kindergartner student of Mrs Jordan um we will discuss uh sr's uh during our uh new business section of this meeting uh next item on the agenda is superintendence report

026turn it over to Dr patalino thank you Mr shy um so just a few things of the superintendance report tonight and know one of the things in the agenda says sum are update but I'm going to mix in some other updates um first one that I think is interesting I was informed today that the um Board of Regents will soon be announcing that New York State Department of Education will have a new commissioner um we don't know who just yet but we've been told that there is a new commissioner that will most likely start before sep on or before September 1st so we're expecting an announcement with soon who that is we also been informed that the New York education department will be putting out reopening um plans that will be approved by the board

027of regions on July 13th so we've been looking for guidance on reopening from the state education department being told is that the Regent reg me on July 13 it'll be presented to to the board regions and then shared with the school districts uh to help us get ourselves ready for reopening as you know we we've been talking a lot about reopening but it's very difficult when we don't know what the guidance is or when it's going to come we have at least a timeline uh also the health and safety portion of the of these guidelines will be coming directly out of the governor's office not from the state education department so those two things will be um together but obviously Ed will take care of the education the governor's office and I'm assuming the department

028of health will be will be outlining the health and safety portion of that plan right now our planning is going on just using basically three looking at three options and creating just kind of what I call outline without a lot of flush on them um we play three options all in allall out or a hydrid I it's not it's not a that's pretty much covers everything right so but we're slowly trying to live all free so we're we're prepared on J July 13th when the guidance comes out for us to fill in those planks and our outlines and move forward one of our one of the things we are trying to avoid is constantly changing plans so to to develop a plan now and put it out and discuss with people and then on the

02913th or 15th or 17th when it comes out from from the um education department to then go back and change it creates confusion it creates um a lot of um Havoc for us so we're happy to hear that the State education department will be putting something out and we be able to use that as we look towards reopening in September also the you remember back a few months ago we were told we would have to have an update to our our reopening plan and our continuity of learning plans to the state by the middle of July that hasn't been changed yet but I'm assuming knowing that they're going to come out with new guidance in the middle of July our guess is that that deadline will be push we still hav received a outline or

030a um or a pamplet or a template for us to put that in so I'm assuming they're going to push that down the road a little bit um still no information on budget backs I know people discussed about for a while what those roll backs would be based on the revenue that they came into New York state so we still don't have any idea what those roll roll backs would be if anything and what their impact would be on our school district revenues as soon as we hear obviously we'll be having that discussion both here in the audit and finance committee to see how that impacts our school district and our ability to continue moving forward with our programs so now a little more about summ just to give you some updates on what we're

031doing this summer our secondary summer school which will be conducted by bosis it's the virtual Summer School uh we will have 40 45 high school students attending and 71 middle school students attending um that will be held from July 6th to August 12th we have 120 students involved in our own in-house credit recovery program which includes Apex tutorials uh keyboarding Spanish reading camp for our for our L students uh as well as a regular our regular Core Curriculum offering our extended school year virtual program for uh students with disabilities we'll have 88 students participating in those and we will start that on July 6 Al also that will end on August August 14th that will be a Monday Friday program the Bose program while it's going to be virtual it's going to be a Monday

032Thursday program very similar to how we've done it when it was live how they was live and I know one of the big questions everyone's having you know what is um what's going to happen with graduation I know everyone's wondering about that um we've received some um you know another affirmation from the state education department and from the governor that they are don't seem to be loosening the restrictions of the large Gatherings uh we hope they would as we look at at July 17th right now Mr uho and are working to look at what our options could be on the 17th to make sure we have a ceremony or maybe in this case several ceremonies that are safe uh for our students and for our parents and keep us in compliance with u the with

033the regulations set forth by the state um there's been a lot of talk obviously in the Press about of graduation that happened in Westchester County where now we have about 18 positive cases that came out of it um so we don't want to be in that situation so we're looking to modify our original plans obviously and do something to the sa for all of our students but before graduation on the 17th this is a stage crossing ceremony not really a graduation our graduation rate for this year I always talk about graduation rate was a little different this year than it has been in the past but um our graduation rate is 93% we have 436 graduates from Kingston High School this year and we are um breaking down everything by subgroup and I will have

034a report out that out to the board and I'll and I'll present it fully on a thank you that concludes the super um so 93% I mean that is 10 percentage points higher than our usual 10 percentage points higher than our usual um I think one of the things that we're going to do moving forward is look at that and see what were who are those who are those 10% um looking for our subgroup to see what are the changes in those subgroups and who are those students and what were the barriers or boundaries um to their barriers more than anything to their graduating in the past um obviously the lack of EXs this year that that's one of the big things obviously so we want to take a look at that it's going to

035take a little bit of analysis but we'll we'll be able to report on that as well interesting can I make a quick comment about that Mr shauny sure um you know so I'm thrilled to hear that our graduation rate is in is um in the '90s like that I think it would be very important information for us as a school district to understand what um what that looks like in the subgroups and but I also think it's really important information for the state and for the State education department to see when we remove some of those barriers who what are those barriers and who get and who graduates and so what do those barriers really mean practically for kids um so I would like us to think about and I'm sure you are thinking about

036this um you know how we might present that information um as feedback back to the state and was kind of a little bit of a natural quasi experiment that we were able to do here and pretty interesting to give them information about what the impacts were for for kids lives and I think even looking down the road it would be interesting to see the the outcomes in postsecondary education of these students who graduated this year without the regious exams that have been seen to be so um you know important as far as you know that that gate um keeper test to get the students out of high school so they're ready for college will they really does that really make a difference I think it's interesting we talk for a long time you know whenever

037people about eliminating tests so we can't eliminate tests and then fob came and said okay eliminate the test yeah yeah so I think it's a this is going to this is an interesting group to study on many levels so we're going to do what we can there some broader um you know research that can be done to see the impact of this for sure any other U other discussion uh or questions uh you're muted Suzanne you're muted I unmuted now no you're unmuted now I just wondered um because we don't know what the roll back situation is going to be do we have like a prioritization list ready in case we do have to make Cuts Dr kolina yes I have several and if we do have to make Cuts I I would be able

038to give board several different scenarios for you to make those decisions okay thank you um and I I appreciate the the different level of planning I know people are very anxious about what's going to happen in the fall and I know that um there's just a lot of uncertainty so I appreciate that you've got these multiple tracks going that and um I guess we'll have the information out as soon as we are secure in the information that we have so in terms of regions I think it will be interesting um if we get uh some feedback from our new board member Dr Collins who is a associate professor of biology at Bard College um I don't think Bard places very much emphasis on New York State Regents exams um in extending uh acceptance to their

039students I could be wrong about that but um you're muted too M Dr yeah I would say that General doesn't Place much emphasis on standardized tests of any shape and I'm seeing that Trend across up our higher end so uh we right before this covid-19 uh we had a we had a a meeting I think it was on March 4th down at U auster bosies uh and the New York state is the Board of Regents is conducting a review of of region tests over the next 18 months I believe um so uh that's someplace that we can direct the evidence that we have from our graduation changing graduation rates uh Dr jacoba which I know that you're keen on that um and the general question Dr Pina um uh wasn't there a substantial savings to

040our budget once we pulled that out of our budget or or did we have to cover that anyway uh as far as the Region's exams is that what you're saying cost well the cost of the region exams really for us is the cost of the Region's exams you know the actual paper um so that and that's a Bose we try that through Bose and receive our Bose Aid so there there was a a cost savings I it wasn't a significant impact in the budget but was there was money saved yes just in terms of instructional time every year we have both uh we have region exams we have uh six days where student attendance is at the high school is um uh is only for students taking the regions exams actually it's 11 June it's

041a ton of missed instructional days so that's 44 days of instruction over a 4-year High School career um which is a lot um okay any other comments on the the superintendent report okay we'll move on to the reorganization resolutions the consent agenda what I have oh I'm sorry there was something I was wondering what board recognition was on the superintendence report I didn't sorry a quick recognition for um this is a recognition from Mr Jordan from The New York State School boards Association for um level three board Mastery award for attending the training I've seen that we are going virtual on will put this to good use in your name congratulations to Mrs now that so is uh uh what is Eliz going to do for their fall convention has anybody heard they did think

042that they'll cancel it an email I think last week or the week before and I can't remember exactly I'm pretty sure canc going be New York City lar Gathering there I'll find out I wonder if they're going to do anything virtually but we anyway right um are you trying to say okay I I did get a survey uh through the school district email I think it was yesterday or the day before about the nisma convention I didn't see it but I don't know it was only few questions but it's U it was about the convention okay okay so so are so that's it for the superintendent I apologize for overlooking that first item um okay the reorganization resolutions consent agenda uh I'll ask a motion well I don't think is there any resolution that a

043board member would like to remove from the consent agenda uh um I'd like to remove bo1 these are the reor you said the reor oh just reor just the reor just the reor resolution but we move them and U if there's a motion and second uh I'll ask if there's any questions uh on any of the resolutions I know there often are so can I have a motion to accept the the reor consent agenda second okay second third okay it's on the floor now um are there any questions about any of the items or any of the particulars of any of the uh resolutions for consent on the consent agenda uh these are a large number of resolutions that we have to adopt uh at the beginning of every year uh in order to uh

044carry on our policies and uh for for doing business in the coming school year no questions okay all those in favor of adopting the uh reorganization consent agenda please say I po May extensions well unanimously adopted um so now we're now we're entering the the next item is consent agenda and this is for the regular business uh of today um not the reorganization so are there any uh regular conscent of the resolutions that uh you would like to have pulled from the consent agenda I would like to call boe1 boe1 any others okay we have a resolution to adopt consent agenda L Boe 01 still moved second okay so we move and second any questions about any of the items hearing none all those in favor uh please say I I I opposed nay extensions

045okay unanimously adopted uh I'll I'll entertain a motion for b-01 move second okay um I'll turn it over I'll ask for discussion from Dr jacobowitz is this the school calendar for 2020 2021 the school calendar um I know that it's very hard to to do the calendar but there's a lot that goes into it um and a lot of considerations but I would like to see a school calendar where we don't interrupt and slap testing with the superintendent's conference day think we have a lot of elll students we're getting our population is increasing each year and I think teachers need time to be administering that test so I'm going to vote no on this just just so I could respond to that just and I understand your concern I mean the ni testing window is

046from April 19th until May 28th um and then the writing component is from May 17th to May 28th so there's a a very big window and I have a chart um that I could share with with the board that shows exactly the the number of of days and the the opportunities for administering that test um is does it the one day off in in between doesn't break up the flow very much considering the the time that we have um you know we put a lot of different supports in place there we have flexible schedules uh we bring in certified substitutes to assist the teachers with the administration during that time um so we really try hard to accommodate the enl teachers testing is completed in small groups the exception of the speeding component in K

047through2 so it's it's there's there's a very broad window um that may that that may um superintend conference day serves a large districtwide purpose around our goal setting and our district comprehensive Improvement plans and our school comprehensive Improvement plans and is that timing I think we talked a lot about our goals we' talked a lot in the past about um my goals being behind the time and we spent a lot of over the last few years to make sure that when we leave in June we kind of know what our goals are for September instead of deciding what our goals are over the summer then communicating them in September so we leave here knowing what we expect to achieve next year and that May 5th is is one of those building days where really they

048can every every member of the staff and every building can uh work together on that Improvement plan and work on their building goals so we really kind of hold that day kind of dear as well um and with with the size the window of the Nic slot there's there's a the timing we'd either be too late getting into June with that day or too early early in April in that day um I know you expressed this many times in the past after I just wonder um give you kind of our our um view on that okay I appreciate that explanation I still have concerns about it but I do understand how hard this it is to do the calendar um it's still a concern concern so but thank you for the explanation I do appreciate

049that okay any other comments on this resolution if I could just make one other com and one other comment you'll see that's different on this um this this calendar that you maybe seen once before since at least in the eight years we are going to have three superintendent conference days that September 1st second and third before Labor Day which is that's not our usual um any time but in conversations with the administration and building level Administration and the teachers um it was understood that we know that September is going to be a very different year no matter how we come back whether it's um you know full fulltime and trying to get ready for students who are coming back after being out for six months or if it's some kind of hybrid model uh we

050thought those three days of of professional development and and um preparing really it's not really going to be professional development as much ation um for school year are very important so that's it's a little different I think you probably all remember many of last time we did something like that was um when the Common Core was adopted so we can have we actually have five days I think at the beginning of the year to get get people ready for that change of curriculum so just that those three those three gold circles you see at the first week of September those are those those preparation days okay so call the question all in favor of B oe1 please say I I I oppos say nay nay okay exensions so the resolution passes 8 to one um

051okay we're going to move on to uh Jim yes we have a donation oh yes donations I'm sorry um Camille there the numbers on this don't add up I'm missing $1,400 but however um we gratefully um accept a donation from Miller Middle School um different organizations of 1200 um $12,600 the Miller music boosters 2 ,600 Miller prep there 3,600 and Miller PTO $5,000 um for the use of buying Chromebooks for that building and we have uh and and then there have two more doe2 and D or D excuse me d02 and d03 oh you know and there it is the 1400 on my next page I apologize um sorry uh Kingston High School um gratefully accepts $ 79763 from the community foundations of cutson Valley and we gratefully accept Miller Middle School um $810 from

052the Community Foundation of the Hudson Valley thank you Mr lamb so um I'd like to add a thank you to Mr lamb for reading our donations for for this past year and welcome Kathy Collins that's your new job yes I was just going to I was just going to say that we have a a a tradition on this board where the where the newest board member uh has the responsibility for um announcing the uh donations at the end of each consent agenda um so uh it sounds like uh the vice president has already made the decision uh to continue that tradition Dr Collins all right so you'll have to pay particular attention to the end of the consent agenda each meeting thank you okay Board of Education reports teaching and learning Dr jobz okay so

053this was the teaching and learning committee round two because as you remember last time we talked about the um plans the school plans and we just couldn't get to all the other stuff that we had talked about at the tnl committee so to round out that meeting we had a conversation about some of the um programs that we've had in place and kind of a status update really on what's been going on the first was about AP classes at the high school we've added um one advanced placement class to our kind of already very long list of classes that we offer it's it's a psychology it's the um AP in Psychology um and it's going to be taught by the the instructor who also does the credit recovery work so that actually helps to expand

054the access of that class to more students um we had a conversation about Flex which stands for foreign language EXP exploring something I think I forget exactly what it stands for but it's a program that we created as you'll remember um in the middle schools for fifth and sixth graders when we first moved the fifth grade into the middle school um and the program the intention of the program was really to expose students to different languages that they'd be offered at the middle level so French and um Spanish and it was we hir teachers to teach it and it was very it's a very Dynamic class um But as time has gone on and as language interests has have shifted the tnl team is now thinking about you about um transitioning away from flex and

055using that time for additional instruction in math and Ela um there's a lot that still needs to be worked out around that scheduling and and how all of that would work and what that exact period of time would look like but they are considering a move away from flx um we I had a conversation about calp which is our Kingston Advanced learning program I'm not sure exactly what that AUM stands for either um accelerated learning that's what it is so that is a program that we've had in place forever that's really been to serve students um in enrichment so we have two levels of cal um we have one level of C that's really open to all students it's and it offers an after school enrichment enrichment um it's at most of our elementary schools

056um and our middle schools so that students can get kind of another level of instruction that's very Hands-On it's after school enrichment and then we have a c Explorations per does somebody have a question no okay I'm sorry um then we have a c exploration program which is seeking to serve our top five or so percent of students um students take a standardized aptitude test it's called the coat in fourth grade and then they test into this program um it's a it's an enrichment program it's one day a month the kids get together their um transportation is provided um we had a we've we have long been having discussions about this program we have adjusted it and tweaked it um the conversation that we had at tnl was about making this student population that participates

057in this cow um representative of the of the demographics of our district and what that would look like and how we would do that so there really was an effort to make sure that students who participate in this program are reflective of the demographics that we have in our schools then we had a conversation about dual language um it's as you know we have a dual language program at our pre it's really it's very exciting um really thrilled about that we had talked about maybe expanding it to different to um our Elementary in in kind of a slow way like to kind of Peace meal introduce it to into some of our schools we thought about they talked about at the tnl team as a way to um meet our bilingual our bilingual needs um

058and that is something that is still in discussion and something that we're still talking about so that was part two of the tnl report were there any comments from anyone who was there I think you did a wonderful job of condensing it and uh recording it was it was it was a lot of work and I do want to send out a comment to all community members who watch the list Dr jakobitz as the leader of this committee did did all of her best to make sure we offer the most courses to the most students throughout the school year just an outstanding job in trying to increase inclusiveness in into all of our programs thank you thank you Mr sir thank you um okay well thank you if we there no question well so I

059I have I have a comment that I want to make just on um guess I should have made it during a consent agenda but we we adopted the um uh comprehensive School Improvement plans for Miller and JFK uh and that's what we can that's what you discussed at the last teaching and learning report that you made um I guess that was June 19th uh the new format for those plans is so excellent compared to what it was in previous years uh it's just a pleasure to read through them so I I don't know is that a state template yes but the teaching and learning uh the the principles and the uh the building teams at Miller and and JFK did an excellent job in completing those plans so a shout out to them uh the

060next uh Board of Education report is audit and finance committee Mr uh Michael Mr Michael thank you thank you Mr CH okay a finance committee uh met last Tuesday on June 233r and I have two notes from the meeting and first I would like to say that the committee he was in a preliminary discussion about the transer funds they were part of the Cass agenda in The Bu operation that you already uh voted on and also the committee accepted the treasur saying claims Auditors reports for the month of May we are our resolutions I would like to move is B3 and B3 move one to accept it by the board so move there a second okay moved in second any questions about the claims aitor report or the treasers report um okay hearing none uh

061all in favor of a accepting those reports please say i i i oppos n one more thing Mr the committee agreed that we'll be having the meeting on every Tuesday of month for the rest of the year so that's the fourth Tuesday of the month right yes sir okay uh and that's at 9:00 a.m. 9 a.m. yes hopefully next meeting will be in person no more virtual meetings I like to see our FKS you know in person it's been a while yes well that's a that's almost uh well actually that is four weeks away because the the fourth the fourth Tuesday will be the 28th of July so uh a lot happens in uh four weeks in these times yes it does um okay yeah we hope so um PA I'm sorry I is you

062pull over Mr Michael no I said that would be from me okay oh okay I'm sorry I didn't okay the policy committee uh Mrs Jordan where' she go she still here Buton she was just there uh well I we'll have I'm sorry I I think all they have is the two adoptions there was no meeting this month you guys did you get me back yeah you're back now okay we just got to the policy committee okay I I lost my um agenda and I was trying to get it and then I lost the meeting so I'm just famished okay so we are um at the second reading of animals and schools field trips and excursions and travel conference attendance and expense reimbursement policies 4850 4531 and 6830 if somebody who has the agenda in front

063of them could read the motion because I can't okay I'm G lose you again if you don't mind for the policy adoption for those Poli right it starts with a whereas does anybody have it in front of them yeah I have it from the policy committee maybe Board of Education 04 policy adoption policies 485 4531 and 6830 whereas the Kingson city school district has contracted with DBA a as consultant to the board of education for review amend and an adoption of its policy manuals and whereas a subcommittee of the board in consultation with nisba and legal council have prepared the following policies for Amendment and or adoption now therefore be it resolved the Board of Education adopt the following Amendment policies 4850 animals in schools 4531 field trips and excursions and six 683 travel conferences

064and um expenses okay would you like would you like to move that Mr lamb so move okay and a second thank you Mrs Sher uh any questions or comments on these policies I just want to thank Dr patalino and and Mr Verge especially for all their work on these policies we we talked about these probably over two months and uh they were able to synthesize all of our intentions so I really really appreciate the work thank you and I just want to thank is the the year is the year is ending now so we had our last policy meeting but I want to thank Suzanne because her attention to De to detail and policy is amazing making sure every eye is dotted and sentences period everything she did an outstanding job thank you she brings

065a passion to it as well so thank you thank you I appreciate that um we don't we don't have uh assil this committee on the uh on the agenda no we don't oh I'm sorry we have to take a vote on this uh thee Z4 well that was a comment on okay call any other comments on the policy agend policy resolution all in favor please say I I I opposed say nay extensions unanimously adopted uh is there the next meeting of the policy committee Mrs Jordan actually I'm not sure I have to check with Mrs sterna it should be um probably the first Friday in September I don't know if we're meeting over this summer so there's no there's no there's there's not going to be a meeting on July 3rd two days from now

066so I think the first Friday in uh in a would be August 7th yeah I think that's will be our meeting August 7th okay and those meetings start at 9:30 amm [Music] J will we have our assignments by then uh yes I I that was my next item here before we go on to Old business um oh well no next I wanted I wanted to ask uh Mrs Shear if she had anything that she wanted to report on in facilities committee even though it's not on the agenda well the facilities committee won't be meeting again until um July 8th they I'll be invited and we'll begin the cycle again with um setting the building inspection schedule in addition to that this is year where we have to do the building condition survey and um I

067know um the district had an RFP out for that um it hasn't been decided yet what architectural firm um will end up uh being selected um we did have a very long and robust discussion um the other day I'm I'm losing track of the days now staying at home but I think it was last Friday and so was about five hours of interviews and um we did have some things that needed clarification and hope to have recommendation for the board quite soon okay thank you how many firms did we interview three the three then had the lowest responsible bids how it VES that are PID um okay so um part of the uh beginning of new year is that we have to uh redo committee assignments um so there are four standing committees of the

068board um the uh the teaching and learning committee the AUD and finance committee uh the policy committee and facilities committee um so um I believe um if if if if you would if every board member would let me know uh their first second and third choices for committees uh and email those to me I will have those assignments uh ready for the August 5th uh board meeting um I'll I'll also be working on clearing out our annotated calendar uh and starting that up for the 2020 2021 school year um so is Mr Verge still on is still here um so one thing I would like to ask Mr Verge uh if if he would uh start working on a uh on a schedule for uh presentations by uh building principles uh for the coming school

069year sure oh you I just haven't already finished it I already did but I haven't show it to anyone yet okay perfect so she's very much she's always a few steps ahead of us um okay so so anyway let me know about the uh your your uh committee assignments and I and I can talk to Dr Collins uh about about those committees uh to help her decide where she'd like to go um and um uh also uh Mr Perna uh sent out the um the blank uh board self- evaluation form today uh and ask that you return it uh by July 17th I is that today I think so yeah yes was yeah so so return it before you come to De to cross to help with the stage Crossings uh and we will uh

070have an executive session at the end of our August 5th a second executive session at the end of our August 5th meeting uh to review um uh to review that and uh uh I'd like uh without objection I would will um invite uh Reverend chobs to participate in that executive session uh if he would like to uh so no objection I will invite him I hope he'll be able to come uh so we'll get to see him again in a school board function phone number okay I have his I have his old email I have his personal email um okay old business uh is there any old business that uh you need to bring up okay we'll move on to new business as I promised one item of new business is uh the issue of

071uh school resource officers in our middle schools and High School uh there's obviously uh passion on both sides of that issue uh in our community uh and uh we have to address it uh and uh I think that we have to uh uh we have you have copies of the the U existing intermunicipal agreements uh with that we have with the Kingston City police department and the town of aler police department um first Mr Michael yes can I make a comment first sure first IID like to say that I'm very much offended by the language and the of our community organization we are as for members the safety and the security of our students is very important we take it take it very seriously but also especially at the high school we got 4,000 student

072but also over 500 other employees between the faculty l home moniters custodian we are responsible for those people also I feel their security is important and the second thing is that the community accusing us that we criminalize our St I don't accept that we we want our students to learn but also what is possible to protect and feel that that they can go if feel comfortable war and keeping order in especially at the high school level is very important I would not accept the fact that we B def finding if I may use it word def our SRO and the SRO are high school they are not freelan as police officers they are under dire of Mr Park our resource officer director and they're not free they're not working on their own they always have

073to report to the director so I feel it's necessary to keep the sros and definitely I will not vote to defund it thank you Mr Michael any other questions any other comments um this entire discussion about sro's and as all of us have taken either precursory or a deeper dive into the SRO contracts we know this particular subject is long and deep I think at this point the best thing the school board can do is create a a calendar or a schedule for when and how we're going to discuss this issue resolve this issue which has to include uh public comments in some way even uh in some way in the future um meeting socially distanced and mask with face-to-face members of the community because the issue the issue as we've all seen from the

074emails that came through and maybe some emails we've all gotten personally is high on the community's list of concerns so I think the best we could do now is create a schedule for how we're going to discuss this and how we're going to bring in community um uh uh Community comment so that we can make the best decision but is but as far as the SRO contract that I think is a discussion we can have um a as a board and soon because as we've noticed in reading it there are certain things we'd like to eliminate or or include if if I can give one example the SRO contract definitely needs to include diversity or bias training and it doesn't it includes a lot of things but it doesn't include that suggest right if I

075jump in for a second I think Mr Spicer I agree with Mr Spicer's approach to be you know kind of systematic and organized in this approach I think the first step um two things I would like to see I um my my goal is to bring the board you know data and research those are the things those are things I think the Board needs to make you know intelligent have intelligent conversation and make Intelligent Decisions and again collecting data from our community anecdotal data is still data that needs to be collected right um but I think that's the second piece but what we have and what I can bring and also asking the board to review those contracts and look and see what are your questions what are those items that are missing um that

076I can either answer or answer and see that we get see that we get where we need to go and that that if we did decide to go forward um with with school resource officers um that would be an opportunity for me to sit down with our with our mayor with the with our um the town supervisor with please and say hold it this isn't in our contract this is what our board wants um so I think the one thing I would ask that you look over those contracts look over those job descriptions what do you see that's missing and what is what do you look at and say that so maybe I could get those answers and if you would give me um an opportunity to get that our and and I say our

077data I mean our local data so so what's happening that we're measuring with our um SRO in schools and what can I report back um and again present you with um what I hope to be the you know the latest most recent research on this topic then we to really start opening this conversation into the deep conversation that Mr Spicer mentioned so I would I would agree with that I think that we need a process for having a discussion I would say um and I of course agree with with having the data about um I think it's really important that there's some clarity I think there's a lot of confusion in our community about exactly what an SRO is what a security guard is what those roles are who those people are um so I

078think I'd also like some data about that I mean that's I think that's not hard to put together in terms of numbers but also then what our Support Services look like so how many still work do we have and where do they live and well live in our school district and um what's this ratio and all those kinds of things I think are important for this conversation and I think we should engage the community as Mr Spicer said I just really implores all to listen I think it's really important that all of that we listen that the community listens people's experience of this is different and we have to account for that and we have to believe that and so we have to take all of that into consideration that if just because it's not

079our experience doesn't mean it isn't somebody else's and we really need to consider that and um one of the letter writers I think it was Miss Coleman actually mentioned um bringing students into that conversation I think that's a good idea um so I think we should have a planned structured engagement process and decision- making process that includes data as Dr pedalino says um our owns data but then also um research that in the field there's a lot of it I can help contribute some of that um and then a process for talking with our community about what their concerns are what their needs are um and what their hopes are um and I will say that safety is always Paramount and as a parent with four kids in the schools it's very personal it's personal

080for all of us and of course we want our students and our staff to be safe I just want to add a piece on to what Robin just said I haven't been on the board long we know that but this particular issue on on the board is fear and on both sides to the issue we have people who fear leaving SRO in our schools and we have people who are desperately afraid we're going to remove SRO from our building and without as Robin and as Dr Pino said without an organized process for pulling this whole issue apart to to its core we're going to miss something I I also want to add that this seems to me to be an extension of what we have made it our one of our goals to do which

081is face disproportionality and to face the systemic racism and what we've been presented with is a crisis in the moment that has brought brought this to uh critical mass where we do have to examine it and I really appreciate the suggestions that we do this in a very um kind of intentional way but I do also uh want to Echo what Robin said we can't discount personal experiences even if they're different than our own but I think what's really interesting is that as you said there's fear on both sides but I think that shows there's a commonality that all parents want their kids to feel safe in school and so I think the goal is to look at our entire security system our entire support system and come with to Common Ground because what I'm

082not uncomfortable with is this idea that we're at odds with one another I don't think that that is going to lead to a satisfactory solution for anybody I think that everybody has to acknowledge that we all want all of our kids to feel safe and to feel like they can flourish comfortably and whatever we have to do to uh to achieve that goal is what I think we're after I I don't want people to feel that somebody's right and somebody's wrong I've heard from teachers who are very supportive of sro's but they do want their role to be better defined and to change into something that what we're looking for and I think I I um communicated to Dr patalino any officer that comes into the school they live in our house and so we

083have to be very careful that we communicate to them what we want their mission to be and I think that if the community felt that the school was insistent on making sure that the mission and the goals are good for all students I think they'll all stand behind us and with us so that's my speech for I'm sorry sorry but I do feel very passionately about it more comments and I do appreciate Robin's suggestion that we look at the whole security not just the SRO but the whole well I think that it's uh uh it's just as important for the police departments to uh uh to want to to do an accepting job or a job that is accepted as as as a security in our schools uh and it's it's certainly not in their

084interests to have a significant portion of the student body uh if there are sro's in the building uh to be afraid uh or to be traumatized by their presence uh the relationships uh that they established with students uh in the years that and now we they're they're in middle school and and uh high school for eight years now the relationships that are established between the SRO uh in their role as as as representatives of the local police departments uh and our students and as our students graduate uh they're going to be citizens out on the street and uh uh it's important that uh uh that all students feel safe and comfortable in attending school that's one that's one of our missions and beliefs that uh uh we want all students to graduate we want all

085students to uh feel that they belong in that in in their school buildings um and so I think that in terms of I think Dr patalino has uh has talked to me about uh coming back on August 5th with a report do you want to make some description about that I was I was hoping actually long before a to get the board you know a report with their data and their research as I mentioned so the board can look at that and and also get like a feedback prior to that about questions about the contracts we can I can includ that all together or can look at it we can then you know open up discussion on on on the f um and maybe you know um kind of to what Mr say well to

086put this into committee um to have that deep conversation at that level that's that's a decision of the board okay um can I can I suggest that we create an ad hoc committee to even create this schedule that we're looking for to break to break all the topics down so we can have an organized discussion and and even to let the community know because may take us some time but we are working on it like Robin uh said this is not just an issue about an SRO it's we're looking to remake our entire security system so that everybody feels safe so can I recommend we create an adop Committee just to begin to break down the topics we need to tackle to to solve this problem and also create a schedule for some kind of

087public engagement and some kind of community feedback and engagement and discussion around this whatever that for might be right yeah I think that would be the work of the ad hoc committee to actually create a a a forum for all stakeholder groups to be able to meet because I think um a meeting like as large as say the auditorium first of all we couldn't have it in this day and age um however it gets unwieldy and I think it's it's it's probably much more productive to work in smaller groups and and let everybody have a say within a smaller group and then come together afterwards yes I I agree I think there should be multiple and I think they should um um look to uh Target uh and engage different constituencies in our school district

088and I think it would be a good idea to partner with one of our community organizations to help us facilitate that type of meeting that's a good idea that's a good idea I agree perhaps we that committee can come up with some kind of a simple survey that would provide some data in addition to what we have you know in terms of just just how people feel I'd like to know how the teachers feel how the parents feel I know we have a you know we have a and we have a few letters but if we could agree on just a simple 10 question kind of thing that the community could just do is it Survey Monkey or something I do think it's important that we clarify though the different roles and positions that we

089have in this in the school district I think there's a lot of confusion about that I agree I agree yeah but I can say this too though two years ago had the same conversation and there was a a long discussion about how would we Rel language to read in the language about the contracts with the SRO with the c of kingon and the town of Aer so those contracts were redefined and explain what is the role of the SRO so somehow we make the first steps so I would like to stay you know to be on the committee I volunteer to be on the committee if we going to creay the one M well um so I think that we need to uh we need to have an ad hoc um uh School Safety Committee

090what what would what do you propose calling it uh do we want to just be I don't think we want it just to be school resource officers because school safety extends uh Beyond school resource officers we can call it the safety and school committee or something like that the problem is we're all going to want to be on it that's the problem I yeah and I think we we need to consider everything safety SRO the you know the buildings and but it's physical safety it's emotional safety it's it's all those things all of it um yeah um be good to call this you know sa and security well Mr Spicer I'm going to volunteer you you you suggest of the committee so maybe you can um take volunteers from the board I know Mr Michael

091said he would like to be part of it um I don't know how many people I think everybody so what I legally need to know from the president is I mean if we're all on the committee it's not an ad hoc committee anymore and I and personally I well it's an ad hoc committee so maybe we could so on it we'll be better for it we can't lose any voices T connections to different organizations including the teachers union and we need everybody's voice yeah so well first I'm we created that H High committee for to to review School Safety and Security can we get a oh I'm sorry I'm not the president of the board so how about we call it to Safe schools committee I think that that will U Encompass not only school

092resource officers but perceptions of uh uh of our students I think we do is I think we should do separate surveys one for parents uh and other community members one for faculty and one for students uh I think we really need to get input from students uh we've had two letters in our last two meetings uh one from a fifth grader and one who uh Miss Jordan Mrs Jordan you're uh in ninth grade she's in ninth grade so uh we get very thoughtful and uh Expressions uh and opinions from our from our students they you know they're uh they think uh and have opinions that are very valuable uh and sometimes uh more perceptive in certain ways than adult opinions so we have to make sure that we get those opinions as well um uh

093we may have to I mean everybody wants to be on the committee we may have to have special board meetings that are uh devoted to uh topics of of of safe schools uh uh worksh we used to have we used to call them board workshops but then some number of years ago uh I don't know maybe eight or nine years ago the concept of a board Workshop just disappeared and we had two business me two business meetings every month um but uh maybe we have to uh try to go back to that concept uh at least occasionally uh so maybe we yeah right right public notice AAL yeah excuse me could I suggest that the President and Vice President of the board just talk about a calendar perhaps for perhaps three Workshop board meetings on

094this and then whatever board members are available because we all have interest in it right and then you know map it out because we could talk about this forever and I think the two of you could probably at least come up with the meeting schedule okay well I think as a school Bo we should at least Begin by creating a committee you haven't created the committee yet well I mean is is that is that is that is that committee name okay safe schools committee yes yes yes okay so I think as I think as president I have the power to um uh establish a an ad hoc board committee uh which I'll do right now I'm going to put Mr Spicer in charge of it and he and I will talk about it and uh

095uh have news for you uh certainly by the next board meeting on August 5th uh and uh he if he wants to have uh uh and that's also one of the Committees of you uh I I don't think that I need to ask uh to express your interest in that committee to me because everybody want everybody on the board uh is interested in that topic uh so uh Mr Spicer and I will talk about it and U uh I'll let him I mean he has uh many years of organizational uh experience as a principal I'm sure he'll be able to organize Us in this effort uh and uh uh we'll get to work on it and we'll have uh uh we'll try to schedule some public meetings as well uh so that we get input

096from um the communities out there of the the various interest groups I would say any nine people I've ever met we're a match for this we can do this okay um so is that topic is that is that enough for that that topic of new business um another item of new business that I'd like to discuss uh with the board uh and with Dr patalino uh is that we've had uh some meetings with the education committee uh of citizens actions citizens citizen action of New York The Mid Hudson Valley Chapter uh and I think Dr patalino has had two uh Zoom conferences with them yes in the the last several weeks so I'll ask him to describe uh those for us oh okay the uh so we've had had a few meetings with CI AC

097had there actually Mr shy having to start this conversation and I was able to um meet with the education committee uh first meeting was mostly about uh you know what was going on right now what was going on before in last week um you know concerns about access to technology concerns about delivery of Education concerns about um student engagement and student contact uh so we talked a lot about issues around there and then concerns about what's going to happen next obviously every has this concern uh but more you know really looking more our students in need what's going to happen next um we talked about food distribution uh we talked we we went through a whole range of topics um we met again Monday Monday afternoon and Mr Jesy joined us um and we had

098a kind of a broad range conversation um a lot about re mostly about reopening though um they were very interested in being involved um in conversations with the board and the school district about reopening and actually they're very interested in being involved um you know just kind of being at the table conversations with us um and and kind of helping us really we're offering um support and guidance uh with with the community um and they feel that they they're out there in the community and they can help us make those contacts I really appreciate their um their their Outreach and their and their willingness to collaborate so we we've had good productive meetings um I think as we get further in the summer and closer to the beginning of the year um we'll have more

099uh I have invited them you know once we have plans for opening in September um you know once we get that around July we'll start putting together Arsenal task force and I think I I've invited them to have a seat at that table as well to help us understand what GL Community is saying out there um so we're I think it's it's the beginning of a good a good relationship that will uh serve both you know the the community and the school district to make sure that we you know I think we the the education committee from school district have you know our mission is the same so that that's a really positive thing so I stayed on the zoom meeting on Monday a little bit longer than Dr patalino uh he had something that

100he had to attend to uh and I told them uh before the end of the meeting uh that I would uh uh bring their request for a CAE and conversation uh between the school board and uh the educ Committee of citizen action uh to the board tonight uh to see if uh that's agreeable and I was thinking about it today and uh I know that we've not recently but in the past we've had U uh Community uh Gatherings uh uh sort of like coping conversation at the uh cafeteria of George Washington School U perhaps we could have have a meeting there um maybe later in July uh it gives us an opportunity for social distancing which I think that we will still uh well I know that we're still going to be needing to abide

101by those uh safety precautions um so can I have any feedback from the board on that I think if they would like to meet with us we are always eager to meet with groups that want to communicate with us so I'm in favor of that I would just would be very concerned about safety that's all if there's yeah well we could do they don't they don't have access to teams um so if we had a virtual meeting with them it would have to be with zoom I believe yeah that's what we've been using we've been using Zoom as long as someone else engages us with the invitation we can use zoom we just can't have it yeah um but I also inquired with the uh it Department today about putting zoom on the on the

102laptops that we have uh and they said we could do it I I'll check with them and uh see exactly how that's done uh and maybe we can all do that uh Dr Collin did you get a laptop from the district yet not yet I F out the am I am I muted okay um not yet I filled out the paperwork and I assume camil is going to get back to me sometime soon I okay we will have to get that done um and um oh okay well I don't know I mean if she has Ian I can have one set up but I didn't know that okay I I don't unless I need one separately for security purposes or anything I'm equipped with technology I should be fine okay that's fine then I mean

103you're you have you have the teams obviously uh and uh uh so let me get back if it's agreeable I'll I'll get back to uh C citizen citizen action uh Fone Frasier uh is a very serious uh uh I don't want to call him a young man because he's not so young but he's u a lot younger than me but I've had several interactions with him and I find that it's uh uh he's a serious man and and believes in his mission um and uh I think it can be productive uh to have a good relationship with them okay um any other new business then I have a I have a new business um which is kind of related to actually all the other the two other new businesses um at our last meeting when

104we passed our anti-racism resolution um we had talked about each of us bringing um some concrete idea or way that we could enact our commitment the commitment that we made that night um and so I've thought a lot about that and certainly the conversation that we just had about SRO and security is an important um thing that we'll that we'll need to address and that I think when we can address that well will reflect the commitment that we made in that resolution but I also um have been thinking a lot about some of the really good work that we already do in our district um around diversity and inclusion and anti-racism and I'm hoping that we can make a commitment to continue that work I think we have made that commitment but to expand that

105work so specifically we um we have the book studies at the high school I know that we have book studies in other schools we've we ourselves as board members have done our own book study um and I'm looking at those three professional development days in the beginning of the year and kind of hoping that maybe we can integrate um some kind of anti-racism training discussions conversations for all of our staff so teachers t um Everybody um so that we can really demonstrate a districtwide commitment to this I know we have some very talented people in our district who do that work um and so I think that we can kind of look inside ourselves for that but I just wanted to put that out there as a as a as a another step that we

106could take in this journey I was having a conversation with somebody about the excellent training and I can't remember his name but it begins with a p I believe Dr Pino pet Dr Peters and I I think that there's a yearning by a lot of staff that didn't get to train with him specifically but maybe just got an overview that they would love more contact with that and I was wondering if we can somehow create a video library because we're to have new people coming in and I would love to see an opportunity to keep that kind of in a you know in a vault somewhere so that every new hire can at least at their Leisure at least hear what the messages are you know just for background so that was my one specific

107that um I brought to you because you asked me too Rob but I do know that that ongoing training is so important I would hate to see it just dissipate over time when I've heard very positive things about yes no I agree and Dr Peter say I think works at the middle schools is that correct right now Dr FY is doing his work at the middle schools J you know as far as in part if you remember even from my budget presentations one of the one of the things that I highlighted in our budget presentation is that this budget continued our commitment to all of the to our all of our programs our C our C program are restor to Justice programs so you we're not it's not going to it's not sliding away if

108anything again we're continuing to increase what we do and actually we're getting um you know more last last few years adding the trauma in form to that to that hole um that's kind of under that umbrella so we're we're definitely not backing away we're moving further into this and it's really been the the conversation it's the language of of the district right now Contin to move forward and uh and we're committed again like I said I mean I always I say a lot of times people will often tell you what they're committed to by what they spend their money on and we're we're spending our money on this and we're committed to it yeah I that's I I I remember that and I I know that that's um that is important I know we're doing

109a lot of good things and and um I was very impressed with the budget that we were able to pass this year that did U maintain that commitment because that is so important um I I think a few years ago we had training for everyone was it on restorative justice or something I feel like there was some there were some common thing that we did that really made a statement about our commitment to that and I would like to see that around issues of race and racism so whether that's a a training that everybody participates in a book study that everyone participates in I'd really like us to to see I'd like to see US expand the work I think trauma is part of that for sure but it's different from being anti-racist and um

110I think that's a different conversation and and I'd like to see some training specifically some opportunities training is not a great word because you're right it doesn't apply like a oneof um some professional development discussion groups conversations about that specifically and maybe and I don't know if those three days before are totally full if there's an opportunity in there in those three days to um to introduce some of that conversation and some of that language well considering what's happened on our national front as you said last time uh Stephen the moment that we're in I almost feel that we have to provide our faculty and staff with some um some kind of community culture that we want to adopt because everybody has lived through trauma this summer you know and and throughout this epidemic but

111um if we want to highlight it then we should put something positive out there is there space for something like that Dr pedalino in those three days do you think as I just said and one of our goals through this whole thing over the last four or five years when we jumped into this is make this to make this work part of our DNA not not make this work something we do off to the side or something that we just kind of C people do a workshop or maybe a couple people redlo we want this to be in our DNA in our curriculum in our practices in our procedures in our policies um and and we've done a lot of that work with restora of Justice we've done a lot of that work with our

112work with myu with C so we've made those steps um I think that finding room in those three days is not really what it's about we can find it's really about finding room every single day all year in every classroom um we we did right we usually start off the year with some sort of large training for everyone last year we did the training and the resilience work with every every every teacher in the district um and that was that was kind of that kickoff but I mean there's definitely um an opportunity for us to do these things uh given we're able to come back in large groups you know those three days maybe I able to bring people halfway but we're not but that that that time is not a restriction as far as

113we're concerned this is work we have to do this is work we're going to find the time to do um and and we'll we're going to continue to push forward in what we've started um we're not we're not there um but we've we've moved in that direction I think further than a lot of other places we've a lot of the foundation stones in place now we need to build on them um and I'm getting calls from faculty and staff and administration on regular basis what can I do to help how can I expand this how can I help us move this forward so I feel like were're positioned to do to get this into our DNA and and I think that we will goes beyond any one professional development D thing right I just want

114I just want a common place where people can go to and and common resources for people to be able to answer those exact questions that they've asked you yeah because we're not going to see it in in you know this is hard and this is hard work and so if somebody doesn't know where to go or how to integrate it into their classroom you're not going to see it every day in their space that needs to be a conver ation that's had District wide part of our goal setting process from the board goal setting process to to your your goal setting process for me um looking at the equity in our schools I mean it's not the same but this is the same using that lens you know creating this creating these things as goals

115for us to do them that really brings um Clarity to people like this is what's important this is a goal and you've seen looking at the school Improvement plans and the district Improvement plans that all of our goals trickle down and when the makes it an important piece of what we want to do goes throughout the organization so I think that that's something for us to think about in our goal setting process for next year as well I was uh participated in a meeting of uh one of the district leadership team's subcommittee was was that on Monday I forget it was was was it this week it was maybe last Friday anyway it was uh about the uh communication uh School parent Communications and Mr Verge started off um by saying that a recent uh

116faculty survey uh the the item the thing that teachers were most concerned about was the is the social emotional Wellness uh of their students and uh that was really gratifying to me because uh my experience on the board about 10 years ago uh I worked on a districtwide committee uh about data driven instruction which at the time was like a foreign word to teachers and administrators uh what what is data driven instruction and over a period of maybe five years uh everybody got to know what data driven instruction was and then about five years ago we started talking about social emotional health social emotional uh uh Wellness of our students and now five years later that really has uh spread throughout the district and and everyone uh is enthusiastic and Embraces it and so maybe

117it's we if we go five years at a time maybe the next five years we have to concentrate on anti-racism uh to make that part of our DNA uh uh of the of our cultural DNA in the Kingston City School System Kingston City School District District uh so we can talk about that as when we talk about setting uh district and uh and board goals uh uh in the next few months uh and I guess should I um should we put it about we want to continue our our uh our book studies at the board level so we put maybe three days in the calendar for book studies uh uh Autumn winter and spring yeah I think we should do that and I would love to have um you know we had Kathy sedy and

118Amy capus and Cassandra Taylor if they'd be willing to to facilitate again I thought they were great they did a great job they did and I think we had one that we cancelled right we didn't get to right yeah everything AP yeah yeah right I do I would say I'm not we don't have to do this right now would say if we could figure out what book at least a c maybe at least the first book because many of the books that we're talking about doing a book reading or a book study um you can't get them right now so um so we know in advance we're thinking about starting you know in September maybe we start trying to get them now we'll we'll get in the in the queue and be able to have

119them for the board when we get to at least we get to September well can't we start uh with the one that we didn't do in April could yeah the end book right Chris end Chris Chris 's book yeah so we could schedule that for sometime in October perhaps sure okay okay and we just have to make sure that um we get one for Drs yes everybody else should have it already I think we have an okay um okay can we any other new business uh board member announcements just a welcome to Kathy thank you and also this meeting was more intense and longer than [Laughter] usual so comment comment that I'd like to make uh it's not it's not it's not about school really um so yesterday I listened to Dr fashi um testifying

120to Congress and uh so Mondays number of new covid-19 infections was uh 39,900 and he testified that he was really worried about that 40,000 infections that he anticipated that it could go as high as 100,000 new infections a day uh and then this morning I uh had Morning Joe on for a little bit and and yesterday's number of new cases was 48,000 and I was just Mind boggled by that so in one day there was a 20% increase from 40,000 to 48,000 uh and so how far away are we really from 100,000 um we have to work hard in ster County to keep the numbers going well yeah it's it's it's tiger masks yes um have ordered them for the school store the tiger masks not yet um so that's my that's that's my board

121member comment for the evening anyone else stay well everybody that's a good comment I that okay entertain a motion for adjournment Mo second all in favor please say I I I uh stay safe and we'll be in touch with you all soon thank you very much good night everyone good night night