001All right. Good evening everyone. We're going to call the meeting to order. It is 6 o'clock. Let the record show that all board members are in attendance. One virtually as you will see here. Vanna So with that, please stand and join us for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. >> Are there any changes to the agenda? >> No, there are not. Holy smoke. Finally can say it. >> I can leave now. >> She can leave now. >> All right, then. Do we have anyone who would like to motion that we approve the agenda? >> I'll move. >> Thank you. >> I'll second.
002>> Thank you. All in favor? >> I opposed. Abstained. Motion passes. We did not have community comments. We just clarified that. Well, we do have a presentation, a new counseling plan, and I'm gonna scooch myself over. >> It' be Lydia. So, you can come right on up. Just not really sure where else to take my table. >> Yeah, the remotes there. And there's a clicker there. How you doing? too. >> All right. Hi everyone. I'm Casey Steiner. I'm the director of community schools and MTSS for Marian Central School District. and I am going to share with you a little bit about our counseling um program updates and goals. So, my plan is to start with reflections from the 2425 school year. Um we set some goals and I'll update you on our progress from last
003year, talk a little bit about the process we used to kind of evaluate our program and then our goals for this school year. And just so you have as a frame of reference, um, these are the team members, the people that are a part of looking at data and carrying out these goals and kind of supporting some of the work that's being done. So last school year at the junior senior high school, we set a goal to increase our tiered fidelity inventory scores. The tiered fidelity inventory is a tool that we use to assess our implementation of our multi-tiered system of supports. So a score of about 80% or higher is considered at fidelity. And we wanted to we set a goal to have our tier one score be at fidelity and our tier 2
004score um to be kind of approaching that. Um so some things that we did we um with Mrs. Keller House's leadership. Last school year, we started some tier one lessons and she really worked hard to make sure that there was student input and voice in those lessons. So, I think that was something that was really special that she did. And we also um were down a staff member in the counseling office last year. Um we find ourselves in that situation again this year, but um we were able to leverage some partnerships with some community- based organizations to help support some of our tier 2 needs and implement some group counseling or group like skill development. So, those were some of our highlights. We exceeded our goal for tier one um with Mrs. Keller House's amazing
005leadership and earned a score of 87%. And at tier 2, we just did not see the progress that we had hoped to. I am excited to share though that we've kind of carried some of that into this school year um and are really doing well with our tier 2 work this school year with Mrs. Fitz Simons and her role and Mrs. Keller ship kinder house kind of is carrying that work forward. So this goal was partially achieved. Um at the elementary school we set a goal to improve students psychological safety by applying a tiered approach to bullying. So how we thought we would measure that is looking at discipline referrals and then some specific questions in the whole child survey about respecting and accepting each other's differences. We thought those were good indicators of um
006that psychological safety. So we fully implemented um a bullying prevention curriculum at tier one and that was delivered in special area classes. So kind of those less structured sometimes areas and parts of the day where students might be finding themsel in social conflict or where bullying could happen. Um we there was bullying prevention reteing that was assigned as disciplinary consequences when there were incidents of bullying. We offered TCI so therapeutic crisis intervention for schools training for staff and what we were what we saw is that overall discipline referrals increased. However, in the later months of the school year, March, April, and June, um there was a decrease in those referrals as well as decreases in like support calls for students. And we saw a pretty significant increase in the student question of the whole child
007survey. Um so, we're marking this one as a chief that we saw some good progress there. And I want to give lots of credit to Mrs. hair and to Mrs. Flint because um we were just talking earlier today at a tier one meeting about some of our discipline data and that trend has continued. So those decreases that we saw at the end of last school year have continued in the months of this school year and so we've seen some reductions um so far this year. Another elementary goal that we had is that we would enhance our family partnerships um providing by providing just more opportunities to connect and share their input. And we were going to use our whole child survey, some specific questions as well as the school health index um the specifically the
008family and community engagement modules for to assess that and some of the things that we did. So, our community schools coordinator and last year Mrs. Luca was in the role role of family and community engagement specialist. Um, they implemented UPK coffee chats. So, for those families that have are students in UPK that are kind of many of them are just getting to know the district, they can come in and just have kind of an informal setting once a month where they learn um about each other. They can build connections. they can also learn about the school and procedures and things like that. So, connecting with one another and just having that um opportunity to build relationships with um our community school staff as well. And we had our community schools advisory boards that we got
009going that we've really tried to leverage any family and um community input that we've gotten. And so we saw an increase in the family engagement and community involvement modules of the school health index. Um our survey question unfortunately both decreased but we did see a lower response rate so there could be some differences there. Um but we are marking this one as partially achieved. And then both buildings kind of shared a goal of emphasizing health and wellness for students by encouraging healthy habits and resulting in an increase in our school health index. Um a specific question of that um health index as well as the healthy tenant of the whole child student survey. So there was a vaping prevention parent night. Um we distributed family time kits for our elementary students and families. So over
010February break, they had some activity kits that they took home and could use to engage in like productive family time or physical activity and ultimately less screen time. Um we worked at the elementary school to get more student voice in lunch menus and then Red Ribbon Week, which is really hard to say sometimes. Um and mental wellness week activities were planned in both buildings. Um, and unfortunately there was some switches. The school health index is overseen by help me out Nikki Miller. The school health index is led by the department of health. >> They moved it. It used to be part of the center for disease control and it's now like an up child or child health something. So it's been shifted through some of the shifts with the federal government and so that it
011shifted from being a district assessment to building assessments and so we couldn't assess that specific question. Um but we did see some progress in both buildings related to um that question. So unfortunately we did see a decrease though in the healthy tenant. Um so we're seeing this is partially achieved. we did some of the right work. We just didn't see the numbers that we were hoping for. So, we're going to continue some of that. So, then shifting to thinking about like our program evaluation for this school year, we looked at all of these different data points. So, school, some of the things that you've heard me talk about already, the school health index, the tiered fidelity inventory, our whole child surveys, discipline referrals, attendance data, um our third grade reading data as a data point
012that we've looked at um each time just because it is an indicator for reading outcomes at higher grade levels. Excuse me. Um any student survey data we really try to dig into and then use the ASKA school counseling um program evaluation tool to help us as well. And so we saw some strengths and some areas for growth. Um at the junior senior high school, one of our strengths was improved attendance and reduced discipline referrals. So we actually improved attendance really encompasses two things. We saw a decrease in chronic absenteeism as well as an increase in those that were kind of like considered on track with their attendance. So like 95% attendance or above. Um and we saw reduced discipline uh referrals. We saw low levels of reported drug use. So there's a student survey that
013asked questions about risk factors and um drug use is one of those things. Um and there was zero of our students that reported other drug use, which is really encouraging for all of us. Um because I think that's something that scares us all. Um at MEES, one of the things that really stood out that was interesting is that um we looked at sense of belonging and our students with IEPs um compared to students without IEPs have a higher sense of belonging. And so I think that says a lot about our special education teachers at the elementary school and the supports that they provide in classrooms every day. Um, another real highlight is our Acadians reading composite scores were trending in the right direction. So we are seeing higher levels of students that were on track
014with their reading um as well as um fewer students that are needing that like tier two and tier three support. So really promising results there. and that overall as a district our students report that they feel that they're acknowledged when they engage in positive behavior which I think like it's important that our students feel seen and noticed when they do the right things. So they're telling us that for the most part that that happens. Um some areas where we have seen some needs for growth, we do have a high percentage of students that have multiple risk factors. Um, and those risk factors can be things in school like your attendance or grades, but it also can be things out of school like family issues and things like that. Um, so we don't get into the
015details of those, but we do have students that report having multiple risk factors. Um, we do have increased chronic absenteeism, just slightly increased at the elementary school. um and lower levels of pro-social behavior reported on the SDQ, uh the strengths and difficulties questionnaire, one of the surveys that our teachers fill out. Um and just in general, some of our cohorts seem to have higher levels of needs than others, which is typical, but it's something that, you know, is an area where we can potentially increase our supports. And overall, our students are reporting, and this is something I kind of hear from kids there's nothing to do around here. Um, and so they're saying there's a lack of pro-social opportunities in the community. So some of our goals based on that um at MEES we um
016saw a need in our data that we want to increase opportunities for families and students to engage in health and wellness activities. Um, so how we would measure that is using the family engagement component of the school health index. Um, we saw some progress with that as I mentioned and we want to kind of move it. So right now there's like the red, yellow, and green and right now we're still in the red but we're on the edge. So we want to get into that medium range but it's at least into the yellow. Um, and then increase that perception of pro-social opportunities. So, if we can help families and kids do fun and healthy things together, um like family mini camps, um and giving students more voice around what kind of mini camp topics that
017might be um gathering family voice about health and wellness in initiatives is something we also want to do. Um and gathering information. So a piece of this is also around health curriculum in the in the classroom in school and at the elementary school we don't have health classes but our teachers are providing health instruction around like healthy behaviors nutrition being physically active things like that and so we need to get a better sense of that so that we can kind of capitalize on that. So that's one of our action steps and then um developing wellness month activities with weekly topics. So kind of continuing some of the work that we did last year. Um we also have a goal of increasing pro-social behavior. Um and our measurement for this will be on the strengths and
018difficulties questionnaire. We hope to get it up to 85% on track which is a lofty goal. Um, but really our hope behind this is higher sense of belonging and higher attendance rate. We want kids to feel like they're cared about and that they care about each other in school. And so how we're doing that is this aligns very much with Mrs. Hair's um building plan around um acknowledging students. Uh so PBIS character trait lessons and celebrations. Random act of kindness week is in February and was something that Mrs. Hair brought in last school year and really to kind of like kick off some of those kindness behaviors. Um, small groupoup instruction focusing on pro-social behavior when it's needed. Um, second step, we are heading into our empathy unit right now and there's corresponding morning announcements
019that go with those. Um and then if there's necessary supports uh for classrooms based on the strengths and difficulties questionnaire, we would um implement those classroom level supports as well. At the junior senior high school, um there has been a lot of work in the last few years around identifying what puts a student at risk for dropping out. Um and so what is helpful right now is there's been a lot of work put into what those risk factors are. So now our goal is we want to reduce the number of students at risk for dropping out. Um and so there's multiple data points that we use but um how we would see ourselves being successful. We want to improve our tier 2 and tier three supports and our TFI scores would tell us that. um
020reducing disciplinary referrals, improving attendance, um and higher passing rates, which is one of Mr.'s building goals as well. Um and ultimately school completion, higher graduation rates, and reduced dropout rates. So, we um know what the indicators are that we're looking for. So, students that are passing their classes, that are here at school, are more likely to be on track for graduation. Um, so we want to pull that data and make sure that we are identifying students early when they might be at risk for dropping out and then putting interventions into place and really monitoring them and making sure that we're checking on them. One of those interventions that Mrs. Luca was trained in over the summer that she's been piloting for us is check and connect. Um, so she has several students that she checks
021in with and what she does is just talks with them weekly about their goals. Um, connects with them about any obstacles they're having and kind of goes over their data. How many days have you been at school? What are your grades like? Are you missing any assignments? Those types of things, but in a loving and supportive way. Um, so we're excited about that intervention and kind of monitoring the progress that we're seeing. We also have letters that we send to families to notify them when their child's at risk. And so we want to make some improvements to that letter to make sure that it's clear and that we're sending it out on a regular basis um and providing that communication. Um and then encouraging our students that may be at risk to engage in some
022of our boost activities. So the activities in boost are designed with um engagement in mind like if we can get them engaged in something then maybe we can pull them back into school. Um, and I mentioned early on that we missed our goal around tier two last year, but darn it, we're going to get it this time. So, that is our junior senior high school goal. And then a shared goal, we have to have one every year. Um, is um that we are going to improve attendance. So, some evidence of success obviously would be our average daily attendance rate. And so that looks at the percentage of students like out of all of them that might be able to attend in one day. Who's here? Like what's our average daily attendance? But also we have
023to monitor our chronic absenteeism rate because those two data points give us separate information. And then our sense of belonging scale is something that we have on um our college and career readiness. And I just think it provides us with such useful information that it helps us to make sure We're monitoring that and looking at it and making sure the kids feel like they belong here. Um, so Mrs. Miller was just telling us earlier that we are great at attendance. Uh, because New York State has changed the way that it's measuring our accountability for attendance. So, we're not gonna we want to we don't want to let good get in the way of great. So, we still think this is a valid goal. Um but we do need to take a look at how New
024York State is like what those accountability measures are and how we can continue to grow. Um we do have plans to do some root cause analysis. So actually talking with some of the families that have students who are chronically absent and really trying to understand the struggles that they're experiencing on a day-to-day basis of why their child may not want to come to school or why it might be difficult to get them to school. Um, and for the most part, our community schools coordinators have great relationships with those families because they're on our nights ride bus every day. Um, and so we're continuing nights ride, which looks at providing a second chance bus run for students that are um, chronically absent and we adjust that monthly based on data. Uh, we also want to increase
025student voice and leadership opportunities. We want kids to know that their voices matter and that valued and in doing so we think that would help them feel more connected to school and engage more. Um we have some students that are consistently late um and there's been a variety of different strategies tried to improve that. Um some of them have been punitive and some of them have not been. But we want to make sure that we're developing some supportive protocols. So making sure that when kids are late we're asking why and trying to be a rather than saying, you know, give lunch attention and and sending them to lunch detention or something. Um, success planning and navigation really is very similar to check and connect. So, having that caring adult and so we want to try
026and pilot that for seventh grade um, and kind of do that on a a tier one level for seventh grade. They're our smallest cohort, so it's much more doable to pilot something with 35 kids. Um, and then at the elementary school, we're going to analyze mini camp participation. Again, we think that things like mini camps and athletics and those extracurricular opportunities that we provide are ways that engage students. So, if we have students that are not participating in those things, we might want to give them a little extra outreach. Um, and then for parents, um, making sure that they understand some of the high school requirements so that you know that where you to acrew credits and that can have an impact your attendance can have an impact on that. So those are our goals.
027I don't know if there's any questions or thoughts about any of that. >> Thank you. board of education reports first. >> You're up first, Mr. Marshall. >> So, I attended the most recent for county school board association meeting that was on financial aid. I meant of the packet and send it to everyone because I think it had some very interesting information in it. Um the presentation was the numbers used in the presentation were specifically the school boards that signed up for the presentation. >> So like it actually has lines for Marian at our numbers. Um he went through not just like he went through the tax cap and showed how each individual piece is significant and how we decide to what we decide to do with that final number whether we go out for max
028or we go out for a little bit less how that impacts not just your school aid for that year. If let's say we could do a 2.0 when we actually did a 1.9 how that impacts five years down the road what your your income is in the district and that could be a very significant number. Um they went over the state aid formula. One of the numbers I found interesting was in Marian if we wanted to become not save harmless. We need 361 students >> addition. >> We have to add 361 students to our current roles in order to not be safe harmless anymore. So this isn't just a and he kind of went through this detail because it's not just a let's find a few more students get a couple more people move into
029town like for the Mary it's huge and if they do get rid of the same harmless there's really nothing we're doing overnight to change that um and how that will impact us as a district but yeah he it was a very good presentation. It was very enjoyable to go to and even though I've been doing this tax cap thing for a while, it was kind of nice. It was kind of interesting to hear worded different ways. You can understand it differently, that type of stuff. >> They report it by chance to do. >> He's the one that did the superintendent form that said he we could come here. >> Yep. >> And there's one more. He got like such a good reception, I guess, or good feedback that they're offering another one in January that's
030just for superintendents and business officials with him. So, he'll do one more like regional workshop. But yeah, the offer still stands if the board ever wanted him to come in to talk specifically about Marian and kind of financial outlook, financial planning types of things, he's very willing to do. >> I will scan that in and email it out to the board members so you have it all. It's just interesting. It's also interesting to see how we compare to all the other districts out there. We're not the only one that need 361 students. There's some that needs over 400 students to move into the district. Um, but this isn't a it's a problem with the town and not having families in the town. And there's not really it's not just a school problem. It's a It's
031New York State and the community problem as far as staffing, like getting people to move into the town. Um, we don't have a lot of We have a lot of families in town that don't have children anymore. So, until those houses become available, you don't have room for kids to move into town. So, it's just kind of an interesting overall perspective. But, it was fun. >> 361. >> Okay. We need a whole another elementary school full of kids. >> That's an interesting way to look at. >> All right. Next, we have the We have to vote on the destruction of the paper ballots. This is from the May election. I'm saying this correctly. We just need to approve it. We know they're being destroyed. Can we have a motion, please, to approve the destruction of
032the paper ballots? >> First and second right there. All in favor? >> I opposed. Abstained. Motion passes. Shred away. >> Can I add just one more thing? >> Um so the um the legislative committee is meeting on Saturday and if anybody has any comments that they would like added to the state position paper, if you just email that to me. I'll share that on Saturday. Does anyone else have anything to report? All righty. And I stayed here because we are skipping over student representative. I am not Lydia. She is playing a basketball. All right. I just have a quick update tonight. So, uh, three items. Um, I'll chat a little bit about National Honor Society injection, a Department of Justice grant, and then the annual legislative breakfast. So, our NHS induction was on November 17th.
033Um we had nine students inducted all juniors and seniors and it was just such a great ceremony. So Fra Thompson is our faculty advisor for NHS. Um, this was all as it traditionally is a student-led ceremony and I just thought it was like a great representation not only of like the recognition of and the achieve a recognition of the achievements of some of our students but also the fact um that our students could lead and facilitate that whole ceremony independently. It was just a great thing to get to be a part of and I feel like a really proud moment as a school district to recognize those students for their accomplishments. So that was a nice highlight for us in November. Also, um Mrs. Steiner and I just recently met um with a representative who's
034running a department of justice grant. So we along with other districts are a recipient of a school violence prevention uh grant. So we met with one of the program directors for that grant. This grant has two goals. Um, so the first one is that at least 80% of adults in the building are trained to collaboratively support student safety using evidence-based programs and practices by the end of this project. Uh, and then the second goal is that 100% of students experience at least one evidence-based support or intervention each school year. Sorry, my bullet got a little bit wonky there. Um, so there's some specific focus areas related to this grant. Those are PBIS, positive behavior interventions and supports, MTSS, multi-tered systems of supports. Those are two acronyms the board hears a lot because we do them
035a lot at Marian. Um, they're really, in my opinion, part of the fabric of how we do school. Um, and then two curricular areas. So the botan life skills curriculum and the second step curriculum those are um social skill development curricula that we implement in Marian uh for 25 and 26 the 2526 school year we'll get $77,000 for this grant. So our next steps are to to define the programming and supports at each grade level specifically for 712. um what we're doing in order to meet those two goals in Marian. So um that was a nice grant that will help support some of the work that we're already doing through our MTSS community schools work. Um so we'll continue to work forward in terms of being specific about what work we're doing at each grade
036level so we can hit that 100% of goal number two. Does anyone have questions on that? >> Yeah. >> Department of Justice. Then lastly, it's time for the annual legislative breakfast. I think uh it says annual, but I think this is only the second one that they've done since they reinvigorated this at Boseies. So last year, I think Michelle and I attended the legislative breakfast at Boseies. Um it's offered again it's February 9th from 8:30 to 11:30. So um they have superintendents and board members come in. They have local legislators who come and talk a little bit about um their positions, their advocacy. There's a chance for schoolboard members and superintendent to interact with legislators. Um there's a short program that always highlights some you know key I guess uh priorities within the region. Uh
037they always have try to have like a student centered piece as well. But if any board members are interested and available we have to send in an RSVP by December 30th which is coming right up with school break. So, if any board members are interested, if you let me know, um, then Mrs. Friday and I will get you registered. >> The food was amazing. The vocational program. >> Yes, they do. They are again this. >> We didn't even know what we were eating half the time. We had to keep asking people. It was the prettiest breakfast I've ever been served. And I picked from a buffet. >> Yes, this is great. So, if anyone's interested, just let us. >> All right. Go back. Don't be coughing at you. >> Okay. Up to you. Do you
038need the screen as well? >> No. >> Okay. So the first item that I have um this is an annual thing that we do every year at this time uh related to the budget. So we have our budget guidelines and principles and from year to year you know they look very similar. It just kind of follows along with our mission and vision and what our priorities are. And this is just a couple little tweaks to last year's questions. Second item I had is our corrective action plan for our external audit financial statements. Uh there was one finding and that was related to outstanding checks. Um, so we have submitted corrective action plan. They haven't submitted it yet once the board approves it. A corrective action plan that will have the treasurer review any outstanding checks
039that were over 90 days old quarterly and then address it accordingly in terms of do we need to reissue the check? Do we need to cancel the check? Whatever we need to do to rectify the outstanding checks. >> How long did we go before we checked on them? Just curious. >> Well, that's a That's a great question for the treasurer. Um, she typically is very on top of things, but I will also say that she is also very overwhelmed right now just because of their staffing issues. >> It's the business office. >> This is the central business office that posts. Yes. That we that's where we have our um accounts payable processed. We have our district treasurer there. We also have um payroll processing through there as well. Did we think it was being checked
040more than it was? Was that sort of a surprise to us? >> It was a surprise to me because only because Stacy is very good at what she does and the fact that they found that that it was I think one was over 180 days old. So, >> so yeah. So, this will just tighten that up. >> So, if there's no other questions regarding that. There is an action resolution to accept that. >> Have anyone who would like to move it? >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Thank you. All in favor? I >> opposed. Abstain. Motion passes. >> And being the first meeting of the month, we have our financial report in comparison to the last financial report from last month. the instructional cost increased slightly. That was primarily due to some special
041education um additions and then our revenue also increased and that was mainly due to sale buses. Does anyone have any questions on the financial report? If not, can we get a motion, please? Thank you. Second. >> I'll second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I opposed. >> State. >> The only other thing that I would like to add is well, actually a couple things. Um, >> it's not on the agenda. >> I was going to say, uh, you're done. >> Well, one is just an announcement. Uh, so January 20th, um, our food service director, Rich Card, will actually do a presentation to the board and allow for Q&A. The other thing that I wanted to mention is a little bit of a shout out to uh Jim and his crew. I've been observing that
042he's been very good at making sure that the sidewalks are now cleared off, all sidewalks. So, shout out for him. And then sadly, this is Naen's last meeting, so I'm certainly going to miss her, but I wish her well and the best. And of course we have Sandy who's being trained by a very good person to do that. So >> do from business and being sad about moving on to our administrators. We have a smaller group of them today. >> We do have a smaller group. The board should know tonight is our parent assembly for our presenter that came in today to talk specifically about preventing vaping and substance abuse. So tonight is the parent information session. So both Mrs. Fitz Simons and Mr. Dean are there. So you'll get an email update from the
043junior senior high. But everybody else can jump in. >> I can start. So I look back. What have I done since the last time I talked to you? Um I get one of the things that I got to do is I um represented the administrative team at the community schools um fundamentals on the road um professional development opportunity that they had in mid November. So it was two days. It was very interesting to get although I have a lot of knowledge about um community schools, it was nice to just hear it from the different speakers and the different breakout sessions that I got to go to. Then I also that same week attended um the global competency training. Um it was the second part where we had the student part the first time where we
044went and had students with us. This was specifically about using that information to help us in school improvement looking and thinking about student voice. So that was a nice day or a nice two days of um that facilitation process from world savvy did that at both seies and so we had a team a big team kind of from that junior senior high school. That was nice to be able to think about what our students said and then how we can put that into our improvement plans. Um just information for you is that at the November board of regents meeting, um there was discussion about changing the part 100 regulations for the next phase of implementing the New York State Inspires um planning specifically to add a personal finance component and a climate change component to
045part 100 REGS. So, they're slated, it's open right now for public comment. um but they're slated to vote on them in March and if it goes through the personal finance would start in grades 5 through 8 and 9 through 12 next year. So they would have to get this um some way to figure that out and where we'll add this uh content um between the grades five and eight and then sometime between 9 and 12 and then the following year they would add K4. And so personal finance is going to be about um budgeting process and money management, credit and debt management, um just income in general and what you do with your income, risk management and savings and investing tend to be the topics that they're going to cover. Um and then the climate
046education would start the following year. So that would be the 27 28 school year with those same grade bands and then the following year they do the youngest and that is on the causes, impacts and solutions around climate change will be that information. So um look to see the final vote for that um in March. However, if you would like to read more, if you go on to the board of regents web page or on the New York State page, there's a personal finance the climate page that you can read it a little bit more in detail and there's an email address if you want to provide input to the board regions. Um also most recently um we got our preliminary accountability um findings for the 2526 school year based on the 2425 data. it's
047still embargoed. Um, and I'm trying to understand all of the changes in the accountability, but for the most part, pretty much all a part we look really good for this year. It's just there's a couple places I we just need to be mindful of so that we don't backslide. So um and then the last thing I had the opportunity to attend through Boseies Boseies facilitated but it was a statewide presentation and it was specifically on science of reading for multilingual learners because the science of reading applies a little bit differently. So some things for us to be mindful of and think about and our reading teachers attended that with me. So it was nice to have them there. All right. So, one of the things that I've been reporting on is some of our students
048who are awaiting out of district placements, and we've had three of them that have been steadily waiting all year. So, one of our students started in a program two weeks ago. So, that's a positive step to be in that program all day long. Another one has a tour this week. Um, whenever an out of district program, whatever it is, they all kind of operate their tours the same way. When a tour is set up, this means that they've reviewed the application, which is all the students paperwork that comes with them and they think that they're an appropriate fit for that program based on the paperwork. Um, so they have them come in, they have them come with the family and they tour, they meet with them, they go over everything. Um, and as long as
049that goes well, then the next step is like more paperwork to sign. Um, but, uh, for the student who has a tour this week, I think we probably would see like a January start. They probably wouldn't start someone next week with the with the break coming up, but that would be great for us to have like two of our three students that have been waiting for a program to be in placement. Um, and then we still have a third student who is um looking for a program. Um, there are currently nine special ed referrals right now and this goes from UPK all the way up to high school. Um, and so whenever there's a special ed referral like officially, um, once we get a parent to that there's about 60 days to do the testing
050and then to meet on them. And so we start tomorrow with two of those students that have the meeting to say if they qualified or not. And some of those referrals are not. We're still waiting for parents to sign to say start the start the process or the evaluation. And all of those students are a mix of grade ranges. Like I said, they're also a mix of referred by the family or referred by staff. Staff thinking that's appropriate. Um but we just have all those happening right now. Um and then the other thing I would share too is that um Marian right now is using several of the clinical support services that's set up through Wayne Fingerlakes Boseies. Um and so they have some roles that we wouldn't usually ever hire full-time. Um two students
051right now have participated currently or just in the last couple of weeks with assisted technology evaluations. And so these are special ed students that need um have some like technology needs that are above and beyond what our typical special ed student needs. And so Boseies has someone who's able to do these evaluation comes out work with them takes their income from their staff and their family. And so we have two students right now who are going through that process. We use um as of last year aologist from Wayne Fingerlakes Boseies to help us with our um listening systems, our hat systems. We have um a student that is a special ed student that had some independent evaluations and this student the independent evaluations recommended some specific um hearing system. So the educational aiologist is working
052with us to explore those and then we also currently are using um a clinical psychologist that as part of the support services through Boseies too as well um both at the high school and the elementary school. So things that we don't always have um because we don't have enough need for in the building but we work through Boseies um to be able to use those resources to support our students. So actively using a number of those things currently. >> What's a head system? >> Um it's the AMFM device. It's the students listen to a microphone in their ears and the teachers have a speaker around their neck. >> My head I went to tell kids wear a hat or something. That's it for me. All right. Well, um, December at MEES is special like June
053is, so we try to get as many things packed into well, so for shorter, so three weeks as possible, so it's pretty crazy, but um, all things are great and celebratory. Um, we uh, well, today actually our sixth grade attended that anti- vaping assembly with the junior senior high school. So, they were there at the end of the day taking part in that. Um, we have standing winter concert tomorrow at the junior high school, junior senior high school at 7 p.m. Uh, for the first time, we sent our report cards home on Friday through Parent Square. And um, I haven't heard from anyone, so I'm hoping that everybody received them. I assume they did. I know that I I'm pretty confident that people would tell me if they didn't get them, but um, so that
054was nice. That's just part of trying to keep everything streamlined and in one place so that everybody knows where to go to get that information. during our parent teacher conferences which are this week. >> Yes. >> Sorry. So everything is packed in really tightly to three weeks this week on Thursday and Friday. We still have the book fair or we have the book fair running from 12 to 3 and that's open for families to come and purchase. You don't have to have a um you don't have to have a conference during that time, but it is open. It's going to be open again from 5 to 7 at night. And we're calling that the first annual mees holiday shop. So, in addition to the book fair, we're going to have some craft items available. Um,
055some of our clubs are selling them as fundraisers and some refreshments as well. We have PTO movie night is Friday at 6:30. We just finished our month of gratitude and moved into empathy. Um, and we started our penny fund. Uh, first grade like is has almost completely filled their jar up already. Um, so I think parents should check. I I'm not sure where they're getting all that money from. Um, grandma. Grandma, >> just to put it out there, it is like Anyway, um I also received a phone call um from Mr. over at Stone Hedge. He actually called me uh right around Thanksgiving and asked if our students would be interested in creating some um he said critters and people for his train. He's like a little train up in the front window and would
056like to showcase the ME student artwork. So um Mr. Uh Rush has been working to help the kids build little um clay animals and people that we're going to deliver over there so he can put them around his train set up. >> That's cute. >> He's playing trains with my dad. >> Your dad's not playing trains. >> So the holiday season continues to be quite busy for community schools. So we um distributed um I think it was 37 holiday meals um for Thanksgiving and we have the same number for Christmas. Um maybe maybe a couple of more have come in um as well as gifts. So we get a gift um donation from Twice for Cats and then have to split it all up into boxes for families and then we'll be distributing that at
057the town park this week um so that kids don't see their gifts. Um, so that's something new that we're doing this year. Um, we also, our community schools coordinator, Miss Lorenzan, works very closely with the team that put together the giving tree. Um, so our families that have an interest in that have also been referred for the giving tree that's up at the library and people can go and get a tag and um, support a family in the community. Um, so that is up and running. Uh, we pantry inspections in the midst of all of our holiday. And so, uh, but we got platinum ratings for both of our food pantries. So, that was nice. Um, a lot of what I've been doing recently is just mobilizing. Um, we've gotten a few emails that always
058get me very excited that our boost funding is finally going to be approved and released to us. Uh, but so far it's been requests for more documents and signatures. Um, We're mobilizing so that we can get that going as quickly as possible. Um, so we've been doing some interviews to staff the program. Um, some preparations for what I'm calling side quests and it's like the high school version of mini camps, which Mr. Dean, I'm not sure if he's on board with me on the name or not, but we're rolling with it. Um, and then Mrs. Luca has been working a lot on our study work program. Um, so we've kind of had an eb and flow with that. Um, so we're getting some students going with study work. Um, some of them were doing some
059bell ringing at TOPS last week, which was really cool to see, and they seem to have a lot of fun with it. Um, so we have them kind of working on a couple of different projects now, and we're hoping to slowly grow and expand until our our boost grant um takes off and then we give them more opportunities. Um, and then Miss Lorenzan is um she has a goal around community connected instruction at MEES and working with the second grade team on a field trip to TOPS. So, they have a social studies unit that is about citizenship and understanding needs and wants and things like that. So, they um are also going to be doing some bell ringing at tops to kind of give back to the community, but then they'll be doing some shopping
060and um making some donations to the food pantry as well. So, learning how some spending there, responsible spending, and also making that connection to supporting people in our town. >> Personal clients happening. >> Yeah. In second grade, >> chap. >> Um, I'm working on a couple of small grant applications and our attendance team has met a couple of times. We're going to be meeting again this week on Friday. And so, we'll just be rolling with those getting ready for the holidays and all that >> technology department. We are breaks tend to be a busy time for us. So when as we start looking forward to the Christmas break, this is a time we can kind of get some things done when there are um users in the building. So we've been kind of working on
061our plan for what that's going to look like. We're kind of nailing down. We have a couple scattered Windows 10 devices left in the district that we've tracked down to get those finished and upgraded. Um, we're also in the final stages of our our preparations for our uh copier refresh. Um, we do the copiers on a 5-year lease program. Um, and then every 5 years we we transition over and we are at the time to do that transition. We're actually able to do it a little bit early. Um, this time we're actually going to be transitioning from Xerox to Toshiba. Um, which many many districts in the area have done. Um, it really had kind of came down to some we did some comparisons and looked at support and the the overall cost of the
062district over the course of those five years and the Toshiba was just was going to be a much better um economic sense for us. It also allows us to transition into an EAC um system. So, we'll actually be able to replace the the oldfashioned fax machines in all the offices and be able to it all goes in integrated in with the the Toshiba system. So, we'll be doing uh the vendors will be in over the break. We'll be switching out each device, reconfiguring and and transitioning all everything when nobody's here in the building. So, that's going to be one of our big Christmas projects. Um from a ticket standpoint, the month of November, we closed 65 tickets. And as I was sharing with Nina when we were looking at these before I came in the
063our tickets are showing a 8minute average initial response time which means from the time somebody puts a support ticket in the average time is eight minutes before someone's actually engaged with that ticket. It's not necessarily how long it takes to close but it's that initial engagement. And for for a department of two and a half um that's that's really really impressive. That just means we're really taking care of people when they when they have needs. Um that just is really doing a great job. I can't I can't stress, you know, my my people work really really hard to make sure people have what they need. >> That's it. >> Over the breaks, do you I know we had a college student helping over the summer. >> Will he be coming back and helping? >> No,
064we haven't thought about it only because you have such a short window to get so much done. The challenge is we haven't we've never really had an intern come in during the during the the breaks because while it is a you know there's a lot that happens getting somebody in and getting them up to speed unless it's the same person that was there for the summer um would just be you know you get them in you get them you for them to learn some of the systems um when you only have you've got a week and a half is really what we're working on. So, um, for the summer it tends to work, but in the, you know, we >> you brought the same person back, but >> you just had more hands, but >>
065I don't know if that's something we ever did. >> All right. So, next up, we have policy review. We've already read these once. This is our last year second reading and approval of policies 3140, 5681. see the list. Does anyone have any questions? I'm not reading all this. All right. Thank you. Can we get a motion to approve, please? Move it. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I opposed. Absane. >> Sorry, she's on a delay and it's throwing me off. I can see her mouth before I hear her. Um, motion passes. Sorry. Next up, consent agenda items. Does anyone have any questions on any individual portion of this? Are we going to make our new district clerk run the gauntlet? Because she's stuck in here like we don't see this. >> We are. Okay.
066Can we get a motion to pass the consent agenda items, please? >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Thank you. All in favor? >> I got to that 10 opposed or abstained. Motion passes. Mrs. Freddy, come on down. We're shaking your hands. >> This is the gauntlet. make you do this so that you know what we're going to be doing next. Congratulations again. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> All right. So before we move on and go to executive session, we have a graduation. This is a certificate of appreciation for Naen Mitchell, presented by the board of education in recognition of your dedicated service as district clerk and your many years of valued commitment to the students, staff, and community of Marian Central School District. Your professionalism professionalism, I can't speak, integrity, and steadfast dedication have greatly supported
067the work of the board of education and strengthened the foundation of our district. We extend our deep appreciation and warm congratulations on your retirement along with our gratitude for the lasting impact you have made. Presented the 8th day of December, 2025. And we have one more gauntlet. The graduation gauntlet. >> Graduation gauntlet. >> I think I have to do handshakes. >> Have to do it like it's really graduation. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. Congratulations. >> Some very fashionable shoes. All right, get to what I have to recover. going. Can we get a motion to approve going into executive session for the specific purpose of of discussing potential litigation? Move it. You >> second. >> Thank you. All in favor? I >> opposed. Abstained. Motion passes. There's no students who need signatures. So, we're going to
068move into executive. Everybody who is out here, please enjoy refreshments and celebrate nine. And we'll be back out in a few minutes.