MCS Board of Education Meeting - March 20th, 2025.

001Okay, we can call the meeting to order. I think we're all here. Um, we can stand for the pledge, please. Okay, we have the public forum for the budget 2526 presentation. Yeah. Oh yeah. I apologize the date on this one is incorrect, but I think the the next slide will be correct. So, Chris, we can go ahead to that one. Okay. State aid analysis. We've uh been going through the uh the governor's proposed budget and we did find an error and I think I mentioned this perhaps at the last meeting. We saw that there was a negative on our building aid and we've confirmed with uh fiscal adviserss that that was an error. Um and again those are those are things that get corrected throughout the course of the year. So instead of losing approximately

002$1.2 million, we'll actually be seeing building aid next year of $1.5 million as an increase. So that's a shift of 2.7. Um when we look at year-over-year, we are looking at next year totality um all revenue from the state based on the governor's executive budget of about a $4.2 million increase. Um so we are looking at uh a fairly healthy number that's coming out of the executive budget. We just saw the uh assembly and the state senate last week released their one house budgets and one of them I believe the assembly was somewhere a little bit north of requesting an extra $600 million over what the executive budget proposed and the state senate I believe was approximately $1 billion more than what the state budget um was proposed by the governor. So once the uh

003proverbial three people in a room get together to hash out the budget, we again would anticipate that the governor's budget is going to be the floor and that if the Senate and the Assembly have say in this um which it looks like they'll have considerable say, we should see some more increase too, especially foundation aid and some other aspects um that go along with the budget. So again, approximately a $4.2 million increase overall. If we go to our next slide. Oh, sorry, Chris. Talking about the expense side of the house, if we were to take everything that we do um from this year and just move it forward, things that we know we need to continue and move those things forward, we're looking at a $1.6 million increase, which is 2.2% budget increase each year.

004We also go to our administrative team and we determine are there items that we could desperately use or that would make our educational system better. Um we have narrowed that down. Um this will change a little bit. Again, keep in mind this is only preliminary. Um we're looking at somewhere in the 670 $690,000 range. Um and again this is a draft. We still have some more work to do. So we're looking at approximately 2.2 2 million $2.3 million total draft um or draft expense increase. And on our next slide, in the first one where I talked about revenue, I'm showing $4.2 million. It's really when we take out that building aid and we look at everything else that's expenses. Our true actual increase next year is 2.7 million. Um again, based on the governor's numbers

005only. Um, and that's without the building aid. Our additional expenses are approximately 2.2 million, 2.3 million. And again, that number is fluid. So, we're looking healthy. We we're not looking at having to um to make any cuts to make any adjustments yet. Um, but again, keep in mind this budget's very fluid. Uh, the governors should have a we hope to have a budget sometime in early April. the uh local assembly and senators, they all believe that it's not going to be an on-time budget. Um so hopefully sometime by midappril we'll have our real numbers from the state. Any questions so far? Okay, the last one. Um there's one township in our school district that like those of us that live in the town of Potam um are seeing a major riaval and one of the

006things I wanted to do is to address just some of the ideas that happen when we start talking about what a person what a family what a homeowner or a landowner actually pays after a reassessment. And some of this is pretty nebulous because we don't have all the data yet. Um, we don't know, for example, what the full property value is of all properties that reside within our within our district boundaries. Um, one thing I think we're pretty confident on is what our tax levy will be next year. We are still on target for a 0% increase, which is that 14,831,697 tax levy. What I've done here is I've done a three-year comparison of what the tax rates have been and again I I chose just the town of Lewisville because again one or two

007townships in our county that have gone through a full riaval and certainly creating a lot of consternation. Um the two major things that are determining what that actual final tax rate per thousand dollars will be are number one what is that township's actual percentage of the overall property value of the entire district. So if you look at the second column where it says full value of the town, town of Lewisville was approximately 212 almost $213 million total value in the year 2223. That increased to 232,000 in 2324 and then 255,000 in the year or 250 sorry 255 million thank you in the final year 24-25. The next column shows the overall value of all properties within our school district. And you can see the growth from 880 million to just over 1 billion. Skipping the

008next one, which is our tax levy, which is remained unchanged. How does that compare to the levy of the town? So again, this is for the town of Lewisville only. Because of their value, they actually owned 24.2% of the value. So they were responsible for 24.2% of that million which is 3,582,452. That year the equalization rate was 71% giving us a $23.72% or $23.72 per,000 rate. The following year was kind of an anomaly. the their percentage of the overall land value decreased by 7%. When that happens, you would think that the tax rate would go down and it did. But then the equalization rate also decreased by 6 percentage points. Typically, when the equalization rate decreases, your tax per thousand should go up. It didn't. It still stayed down. And again, it was really because

009of that value of the taxable land within the town of Lewisville. This current school year, 2425, the town of Lewisville took kind of a double hit. Number one, they went their property value actually increased as an overall percentage. It went up 1.2% to 24.7% of the taxable responsibility belonging to the town of Lewisville based on their overall value. And at the same time, they also had an equalization rate that dropped down to 60%. Those two forces coming together raised their taxes per thousand to $23.91. So again, those are the two big forces that are going there. And that certainly does not help to ease any of the concerns um that the town of Lewisville residents are facing. Um, as I share that being a town of Pod Stam resident myself with a 240% increase on

010my assessment. Um, so I I get where the town of Lewisville folks are coming from, but I at least wanted to try to show where the actual bill comes from. How does that get determined? Um, the equalization rate, just so everybody knows, that is not something that the district um formulates. That is a number that's given to us from the state of New York. They take a look at what they think the township's overall value should be what the overall value is according to the town's assessor and that's where they come up with the equalization rate. So that is completely outside of our control. Um the only thing that we as a district have control of is what our overall tax levy will be. And again, I'm more than confident that we will be at

011uh the same rate that we are now. Um again, going out with a 0% increase. Um the other part too is, you know, we we hear a lot about school budgets and how do you come up with it? Is it just simply a rollover from last year? And while there's certainly an element of truth to that, it does not mean that we don't as at least at the administrative table take a look at what is it that we are doing. Do we have the proper staffing? Um, and let let's be honest, we are an industry that's driven all of our cost really. More than 70% of our cost is driven by personnel. So, if we're going to have meaningful talk about the budget, we have to talk personnel. And again, we don't go right to

012a zero base. Um, certainly not every year, but we do take a look at, for example, we'll look at across the district in our three schools at the elementary level, how many kiddos are in a first grade section. And when you start talking they all have 19 or 20 or 21, there's no place really there to cut. Okay? So, you know, we're not going to cut till we get to 28 and 29 kids. That's not sound education. Um, and those that would not be a recommendation that would come from my administrative team or myself. Um, so again, we do take a look at that. We take a look even at the courses at the high school or at the junior high. How full are they? And there are sometimes, you know, again, full disclosure, there

013are sometimes where you could reduce a staff member by 0.2 and bring a staff member to 80%. But the way that our economy is today in terms of human resources, we we're not getting teachers to apply. So to suddenly say we're going to go out and hire an 80% teacher, it's just simply not feasible. So, you either go with a zero or you go with a full-time person. Um, and and really that is those are the things that we look at. Um, you know, when we began our strategic budget, we were well north of $1.5 million in terms of things that boy, this would be nice. And then what we as a team do is we say, okay, we have nice and we have necessary. And then we have things that boy, this would really

014make a difference in the lives of our students. And those are the things that make the final cut. Um, so I again I want to be careful that people don't think we're just constantly moving money over um or expenses over because that's not exactly the way it happens, questions. Um, just a couple other things really quick from we and maybe Trish. Actually, I'll leave it for Trish. You're going to talk about the lobby day. Okay. Yep. Okay. Good. Okay. So, um, Ron and I, uh, attended the lobby day where, uh, 18, our 18 component school districts were allowed to speak with representatives who, um, volunteered to come up and speak with us about what our concerns were. So, the legislators that were present was um Representative Assemblyman 117th Ken Blankenbush, Assemblyman 116th Scott Gray, and

015our state senator 49th district um Mark Walzik. Um Dan Sack tried to come in via Zoom, but it was unsuccessful. So, I'm going to count him as absent. So the topics that we covered were zero mission bus transition, personal devices in schools, workforce shortages, increase aid ratio for Bosey's CTE and staff, and foundation aid. uh items that we discussed concerning the buses. There were concerns about the thickness of cement pads in the bus garages because these are significantly more heavy buses and that uh if there wasn't sufficient cement pad, they would crack and we would need to address that. Uh another item was distance to travel. in our part of New York State, weather is a big factor. Um, and making sure that students are warm enough and able to um travel out and back,

016which also led to the number of bus runs. Um, some superintendents who did have electric buses were finding that uh these buses were unable to do multiple runs. So that would influence the fleet size. Also there's the cost. They're almost three times as more expensive than the traditional diesel. Um also the state may not have enough funds to um reimburse districts. Uh the life of the buses may fall short. Typically, we tend to um trade in our buses and get certain amount of money back, which helps to offset the costs. Um but if we bond for seven years, some are afraid that these won't last that long. Um the typical theoretical distance is 1% of charge per mile, but that's only in the best of conditions. Um, and then, uh, Mr. Blankenbush brought up on

017YouTube that there were, um, videos of electrical fires on buses and the danger to students that could happen. So, um, that was around the zero mission buses. Uh the next was personal devices in schools and it was the consensus of the superintendent that the governor not mandate this that it should be left to the locals. Um if it is mandated we are afraid that it will be an unfunded mandate. So, uh, we will be required to buy some sort of device pouch, which right now they're very expensive, and we might not be able to, um, absorb that cost. Uh the superintendent would like to have local control um as far as making the um blanket statement of having it be um a law that they cannot have them out. That that was not a good

018idea. Um also they want to have student engagement. You know, we have an exeicio. The state is talking about making that something that all school boards should have. There should be some sort of um input from the students as well. As far as workforce shortage, the topic came up um about shifting the reimbursement with staffing shortages. The CTE reimbursement is a cap at $30,000 and most everybody agreed that that is not enough that we are in a shortage and we need to at least double that. Some felt like even that wouldn't be enough. Um there was a brief discussion about regionalization. Uh there was some discussion about utilizing local colleges and having um professors there possibly teach uh specialty courses such as physics, which the smaller school districts, the superintendent were of the mind that

019they just cannot find people who are certified to do these specialized um math and science courses. Um, tier six amendment was also brought up. Um, changes from the five-year FAS in tier six back to three-year FAS. Um, as well as age. Uh, the Sunni system recruitment of educators is down significantly. Discussion of waiverss and alternative pathways was also discussed. Retirement income cap also discussed. um no cap on retirees income to retain and also recruit retirees. There was some discussion about how that would be a savings increased aid ratio for Bosey's career technical education and related staff. Pretty much the consensus was that the 30,000 cap would not work. we cannot find people who are certified and and willing to take that kind of a pay. Um foundation aid some of the smaller districts will not

020be able to operate in the near future um if the aid formula is not totally revamped. Uh one assemblyman admitted that even he cannot figure out how to budget with this type of formulation. Um, the superintendent also asked that there not be any more state holidays added to the calendar as it is difficult enough right now to achieve the 180 days. Um, the superintendent need capital project reimbursement revamp. Um there was talk about the 4% cap is completely unrealistic and that um moving even to a 10% cap would be a huge help um because we can't project what's going to be coming uh that far ahead. There was um also note that private business usually keeps a reserve of 24 to 25%. Um, family mobility was also a an issue. If a family with many

021special ed students or or students who need special services moves into your district during the school year, the money doesn't move with them. So, the district has to absorb those kinds of costs, which is very um well, it's impossible to to predict. Um there was a brief discussion on farm-to-table and that there are certain restrictions that the state has that um is not friendly to the farm-to-table model and that um many districts would like to move in this direction but in some cases it's not feasible. Uh there was also a brief discussion about economics in the districts. There was also a brief discussion about the Hall Act and the corrections officers and the Wildcat strike and how that was affecting certain students and also staff and faculty who were impacted by that. Um it was

022an excellent meeting. There were uh probably about half of the component 18 districts were represented by um some leadership either superintendents or board of education. Um the unfortunate part is that um there were only Republicans present and as you know the state is mostly controlled by Democratic parties. So we would like to invite and encourage more of our representatives no matter what side of the aisle they come from to come and meet with us. Um but unfortunately that wasn't possible. Are there any questions? I don't know how this is, but the cell phone is um the new magazine that we just got mentioned that the governor was allocating 13.5 million for couches or whatever for storage. Do we think that's not going to be enough or it's not? It's probably not going to happen. A

023little of both is is basically the consensus that was coming. You know, if it's not mandated, it can be a proposal and then, you know, is that really going to solve the problem? You know, who who is who is going to do this? How much time is that going to take at the beginning of the school day to make sure that everybody has their cell phones in their pouches? And what do you do with students if they don't conform? You know, uh it the consensus was to leave it at the local level so that your students can be engaged, your faculty, your staff can be engaged, your administration can be engaged and still you might come up with something that works for your district that might not be a mandate for all districts. What would

024work with us would not work in Long Island. Exactly. You mentioned something about wildcap at the end. Yeah. So that was the corrections officers that were striking that the union hadn't authorized them to strike. That's called a wildcat strike. So there was um talk about how that was affecting students whose par a parent was part of that and and yeah what do you mean Republican? Where you met? You met with representative of the schools. Yes. It was at the Boseis Center in Canton. Why do you say there's Republican? You mean from the state only Republicans? The Yeah. The representatives that came from the state, Blankenbush, Walszik, all of them are all Republicans. Our area is represented by Republicans right now. That's who's been voted into office and they're in the minority in Albany. That's the

025point, right? The point is they're going to carry our message back to Albany, but if they're a minority voting block, unless they can get people to come across the aisle and vote with them, um, you know, that's how things might go. The with the cell phones, real quick, I just want to say I did some quick math. So, in a quick Google search, it says that those pouches cost about $30 per student. Multiply that times 2500 students at 62,500 and cell phone pouches for our school district and divide that by 13.5 million. 216 schools. Just want I just wanted to kind of set the more than 700 schools in New York State. We won't have any control of any of this. Okay. Communications and any communications public and press. Thank you, Trish. Mhm. Anybody after

026any communications or public comment? Good. Okay. No board correspondents that I'm aware of. Okay. Information and reports. Reports from board members. Isabelle. Um just some updates on what's happening in the school. Spring sports. Uh the season has just started and currently the musical Legally Blonde is next weekend. So there's a big foot big push to complete that show and Mr. Lincoln has been great in helping us. And that is all I have for today. Okay. Thank you. Uh Mr. Tusa, facilities, uh the facilities committee met on February 24th. Uh Ben Meslona met with us to review financials uh in planning for the next capital project. Um he offered to be assistance uh in drafting any resolutions we'll need. Um uh it's my understanding, the committee's understanding that uh the RFP is ready and uh we

027could be approving a construction manager, conducting interviews and approving a construction manager as early as mid to late April, it looks like. And we're going to have a presentation from King and King. Yes, they are here. It's a few minutes. Y any questions for facilities? Policy committee. I'm sure it was. Okay. Um, want me to hit it? Yeah, if you can figure it out. Okay. So, the policies that we looked at first, uh, policy 1210. So, this is regarding updates as a student exeicio is now the law of the land. Um, so that's an update there. Uh, 3311, it is now also a law. So, um, that's one that we'll need to be adopting. Policy 5681 is about emergency drills and that is also um new language that's adhering to law from state ed which

028requires us to when we do our drills they have to be trauma informed. So for example most folks should have gotten a parent square message yesterday that complies with that law saying we had a drill today expect the active shooter. Um it's not anything other than that. Um, again, we had to include that trauma-informed language on policy 5683. Um policy 5840. We had a couple of options that were provided to us from Erie and we are recommending um that you can see um in your actual policy that uh we'd remove or that we'd go with option number one. Policy 6550 is for lactation breaks to ensure that we again are complying with New York State law um for that paid leave time to to provide for that opportunity for nursing mothers. Um policy 7720. Oh,

029sorry. I'm which one? 72. Yes, I'm sorry. No, it's 7720. It is. Okay. So, it may be Okay, we might just have a typo. Um, we took out the advanced credit and we placed it in policy 7224. So, I think Mr. Leblanc, you're right. It should be 7220. Um, again, that's a typo. So, 7223 policy. Um, we're including, it's talking about advanced type programming. We're going to be including the IB program policies 7224 7470 are new policies that need to be adopted per Erie 1 policy. We did talk about policy 7131. Policy 7131 refers to tuitioning of students which earlier this year we had eliminated the idea of tuitioning students. However, we've put a proposal on or I've asked the policy committee to consider a proposal where we would allow students for UPK um and

030we've talked a little bit about it at this level that we have pretty much a quota that we have to meet in terms of number of students that are in our UPK program otherwise we lose state funding. Our expenses remain the same but if we go from 16 students or I'm sorry 18 students which is the the max and that's what we get funded for. if we drop down to even 16 students in the classroom, we lose that per student ratio of that funding. Um so to have whether it be employees or other individuals um that could come to our UPK program to fill up those spots, it's a financial gain for the district. Um and then the other group, so we're looking at four employees. The other group would be for our Native American

031students. under our um contract with New York State for education of indigenous students, we can only accept K through 12. We've had UPK students request from the St. Regis Mohawk tribe and we've had to deny them in the past knowing full well that they're going to come to us in kindergarten. So again, it's a benefit. Um it's a mutual benefit. We have those students and we get to work with them right from the earliest age all the way through. So, but I have some more information that the policy committee needs to look at um before we make it a recommendation. And then policy 3421. Um this is in regards to DEI. We had some rather urgent information based on some executive orders from Washington that we should probably resend the most recent um policy 3421

032which was just adopted last year based on the Biden administration's Title 9 rulings. We have sent that back to our attorney for um basically review to give us better advice as to which policy is truly the law of the land today. So we're waiting on that. Can we consider naming this thing, not using those words, keeping keeping the good renaming it like we shouldn't be using those words. So policy 3421 is really title 9 and again because title 9 rules have changed under the uh the Trump administration and there's some consequences that could go with that eventually. Um we really have not received guidance from the state yet on this one as to do we need to but one has advised us. So again we're I we threw it back to the attorney to give

033us their advice. But in terms of name changes, actually if I could pontificate for 30 seconds. Okay. When we talk about DEI in our school setting, we're talking about including and respecting every single student that crosses our door. That's it. It's not about politics. And so if we drop DEI in the nomenclature, so be it. But there's not a single individual I think that's on the faculty, the staff, even this board that's not committed to every kid regardless of what they present. So, um, I just want to publicly say as the leader of this district, the political nonsense isn't going to cross in. We're going to continue to do everything we can to make sure that every one of our 2500 students is welcome. Um, and there's certainly always opportunity for us to get better

034at that. But that's our commitment to our kids. We should have nothing less. Soap box over. I'm good. Okay. We've already gotten the legislative update from Trish. Uh reports from M administration, Mr. Burke. Okay. So, it's my pleasure tonight uh to introduce our architectural um team representatives. Megan Vanderbrook who's our really boots on the ground and also from King and King um Phil Squadrio and Phil I can never remember your exact title but uh partner partner thank you so they're going to talk to us tonight about the capital project good evening everyone um thank you for uh having us tonight we're going to walk through the capital presentation um we've been working with the facilities committee for the last 10 months months or so um on this and there's been a lot of work in

035identifying scope and what the project is going to be. Um I know there's a few of you that are on the board that are on that committee. So you can attest to the conversations on every single item that was identified to potentially be part of the scope. Can I just stop you for a second? Uh Chris, we're having a step a little bit. Yeah, you need to get to the mic. There we go. Sorry, I didn't want to stand in front of you. No, we'll switch slaps. All right. Is this better? Yes. There you go. Thank you. All right. Um, so anyways, I was saying that we have been working with the facilities committee for almost a year now on identifying what the project would be. Um, and if you could switch to the next

036slide. Um, a little bit hard to see up there, but the we landed at a $79.8 million project. And in that project um 92.5% of the funding would come from the state which is 73.8 million. The other portion of the project um 7.5% would come from the district's capital reserve that has been set about aside for capital projects. So with those dollar values, this project is anticipated to be tax neutral or no new taxes or increase to the district um on the project. The project scope is at all seven of the district buildings including the high school, the middle school, Jefferson, Madison, Nightingale elementaryaries, the cab building, and the transportation center. Um, and now Megan's going to go through each of the building and each of the buildings and some of the scope at those.

037Uh, as Phil said, we've been meeting with the facilities committee for quite some time and in that process, uh, we've developed a very extensive list of items that need to be addressed at every building in your district. um from your previous BCS um from your staff um and things they've seen whether it be infrastructure or program needs and wants. We compile them all into a list and then the committee prioritizes them and we kind of see how the uh needs of the district shakes out and again it's the needs at districts are different at every different district. So we come in being completely just to guide the district and what best suits them. So that's how we came to the scope for this capital project and it was identified that the highest need right now

038in your district is at the high school building and the highest need of this building is mechanical upgrades. Um but first let's start with the site improvements at the high school. So your turf carpet is getting to its end of its use useful life. So, that will be replaced in this project just to keep it um fresh and safe for all your students and staff along with track resurfacing and stadium light and speaker replacement and scoreboard replacement. So, there's kind of a a freshening of your athletic complex at the high school. The building upgrades include wrestling room and auxiliary gym renovations, and those kind of go coincide with the women's locker room and pool renovations. um because we'll need we're we're looking to get improve your access to your pool right now. You kind of

039cross your auxiliary gyms. We just want to get a more direct access for that as well as get you better access from your women's locker room to the rest of your athletic facilities in that area. So, it's kind of tweaking your auxiliary gym and wrestling room with all those renovations. Uh more secure entrance at your main entrance. Right now, um, there's no visibility for your office when you come into the vestibule. So, putting a window in there so we you can see who's coming into your building before they actually get fully into the building. Improvements to your athletic entrance. There's um your uh vestibule doors and uh storefront is kind of corroded along with the concrete there. So just replacing that and constructing a canopy there to keep the elements off of that. Um and

040again it's just good to have a canopy at your entrances to kind of keep uh the the elements off of people entering your building. Uh exterior access toilet rooms. Uh so doesn't like to aid out buildings um unfortunately. So, we to capitalize on your building aid, we're going to carve out space uh in an interior location of your building to get you um toilet rooms that can be accessed from the exterior closer to some of your other athletic fields and roof replacement. Um we're we're budgeting for about half of the building in this project. Um and we're going to be strategic about those. Obviously, the areas that are in the highest need right now, um target those first. U mechanical, electrical, and plumbing upgrades. Um updating LED lighting throughout. Um that'll also coincide with ceiling

041replacement. Uh boiler conversion. That's going to be the big ticket item uh in this project. Converting your steam to hot water along with some air handling unit replacement and adding air conditioning to your media center. Any questions on that scope? I know there's kind of a lot. Megan could ju just so because the public will watch this. Um I think if we look just at the turf replacement sometimes people will say that's a nicity. Is it are we replacing it because it's getting faded which it is but it's more than that. The turf has a life expectancy that turf field in particular one of the first generation for public schools had a life expectancy of really 10 to 12 years. We're already there and by the time that this project is actually underway, we put

042shovels to the ground. We'll be about three years beyond that life expectancy. We have to do every year what's called a compression test to make sure that that's field is still safe for use by our student athletes. We continue to pass that, but at some point we will fail and we will not be able to utilize that field any longer. Um, so again, this is not a luxury if we're to maintain an artificial turf field. It is one of the things we have to do. Similarly with the track resurfacing, I know public voters sometimes get anxious about all the money we spend on athletics. But again, if we're going to have a track, it has to be safe. It has to be it has to have the proper material and the proper depth of that

043material. So again, those are necessities. Um, and as for the boiler conversion, we can hopefully remove uh with that, we'll be able to take the uh the that beautiful pipeline that's running along the ground level. And because we'll be converting to uh from steam to water, we'll be able to raise that up to the same elevation. You'll still see it, but it'll be running across the parking lot uh basically at the height of the um the roof lines. So, we'll be able to have that access again. So, um, again, I want people to understand that when we talk about this high school work, which is approaching almost $40 million in totality, that these are not luxuries. These are things that that we know we have to do. Um, the roof replacement, again, we're only going

044to be able to replace half because of what our maximum cost allowance is. And I think even that, the roof replacement, we're estimating about 5 to 7 million somewhere in that area, maybe even upwards. Yes. Yes. So, um, these are the things and I think it's just important to to kind of go back through so the public that's watching this and when I go out for my public presentations and we'll be having five I think of those um here in the near future um throughout the community we'll be talking about why these are necessary that this is not just to make us look nice um that there's really a reason for all of it. Sorry, Megan. No, you're 100% right Mr. work and you guys are doing the right thing of getting these items in

045line before you reach, you know, critical failure, for lack of a better word. You, you know, your roofs are intact right now, but the farther you let them go, you could start to have some severe leaks along with your turf, again, you're passing your GMAX test right now, but it's getting closer and closer. So, you're doing the right thing by putting these replacements in place. Quick question. What's the blue up there at the top of uh air conditioning for the media center? That's where it sits. The roofs. Okay. For the roofs replacement at the high school, what at what point in the warranty are we currently? I believe if not past your 20-year warranty, very close. Yeah. Okay. Any other questions for the high school scope? All right. Moving on to the junior high. The

046site improvements at the junior high are parking area and drainage reconstruction. Uh some sidewalk improvements. Uh building upgrades are gym floor refinishing, roof replacement. We're going to target the entire building at the junior high. Uh some exterior door replacement. And it's kind of hard to see on the smaller plan, but there's some magenta around the building. I think it's about 10 exterior doors uh that just have uh exceeded their useful life and require some replacements. Uh guidance and main office suite renovations. And that is also to get a more secure entrance and get the right staff near the front of the building. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing upgrades again with the LED lighting upgrades in the yellow along with ceiling replacement and adding air conditioning to your um main assembly areas, the media center, gym, and

047cafeteria. Again, the high school had has the biggest scope of the building. So, these these other buildings are are going to be kind of quick, but any any questions on the junior high. Is that roof in the same position? Yes, absolutely. Yep. They're both at the end of their warranties. Did you provide any specifics for where it's at in the warranty? Is it 19 years of the 20 or is it I don't have that specifics but I know I'm sorry to poke at you facilities committee. Yeah, we can certainly get that information to you. Absolutely. I didn't know if there's a way to work with the whatever whether it's Carlile or Firestone to do remedial work to the roofs instead of a complete replacement to cut some of the cost. Uh, one thing we are

048planning on doing is also getting a survey of your roofs to u get a more in-depth uh look at the condition of them. So that's certainly a possibility. Okay. Thanks. Absolutely. So this really is the plan for the worst. So when we talk about this, we're talking about the worst case scenario is that we'd have to replace that entire roof at JW. Um once that survey is done, again, we asked the voters to go out for 79.8 million. It's up to 79.8 million. We can't expend more than that. We can certainly expend less than that. Um I think Kevin, the answer on the roof question, my understanding is by the time we are shovel ready in um two full years out, that roof will have um got out of its warranty. But my only practical

049concern with that is are we having so many leaks that there's no way we can do warranty work, a warranty extension through the manufacturer's warranty to buy us time instead of complete replacement. That's all I'm trying to generate a discussion. No, no, it's a very valid question and it's definitely something we can look into further. Absolutely. Anything else for the junior high? Okay. Next up, I think I can't remember which elementary it is. I want to say Madison. Oh, Jefferson. Okay. So, the three elementary schools are pretty similar. Uh Jefferson, we're doing some sidewalk reconstruction, some interior finish upgrades in the corridors just to be a little bit sturdier, uh easier for your maintenance staff to maintain. Uh some bott bottle filler station installation and adding air conditioning to again your main assembly spaces of

050the media summer media center, gym, and cafeteria. has both we say because good on that one. Okay, next one. Next up is Madison. Uh no site improvements at this location. Again, interior finish upgrades with bottle filler station installation and air conditioning to the media center, gym, and cafeteria. And then last, elementary, Nightingale. Some fencing construction along your walking trail, sidewalk reconstruction, interior finish upgrades, bottle filler station installation, and air conditioning to your media center, gym, and cafeteria. All right, next up is the cab building. uh roof replacement here as well out of warranty and storage upgrades. Districts I feel like every district I've ever worked with could always use more storage. Um and heating and ventilation upgrades and fire alarm upgrades. Just time for some some infrastructure upgrades here. And last but not least, the

051transportation center, roof replacement, heating and ventilation, electrical infrastructure, and fire alarm upgrades. Yes. Is it half the building or half of it? Yes. Yes. That's the half that this is the whole building. Yes. Sorry. But we we'll just be focusing on your half of the building. Thanks. And and on this one when we talk about the the electrical upgrades, we are talking about um preparing the bus garage for the EV mandate. And if I'm not mistaken, if my memory serves me correct because I go to bed thinking about this almost every night. It's about $2.4 million is what we're talking about or the electrical upgrades just for the electric buses. Um now again, my hope is that we see something happen out of Albany that says we don't need to do that. And again, if

052that's the case, we won't need to spend spend that 2.4 mil. Um, does M does MEED have the capacity currently there or do we have to foot the bill for MED to get the juice there or is this something they have to do for us or we look at the alternatives? I I I'm I'm going to hold off on answering that, Kevin. I'll try to get an answer for you for the next meeting. Um, Mr. Mr. McMahon and I've had informal conversations and I I'm not sure if he was just trying to uh get a reaction out of me or not with his answer. Um because he certainly got one. Um so I'm going to I'm going to reserve. So the 2.4 doesn't include the infrastructure to actually up the voltage. It's from it's just

053within the building. Correct. The transformers into the building. So, one of the things that I'd like to ask is that how would the increased potential capacity affect the power that MEED receives from NIPA and what would it do to every rateayer in Msina Electric? So, I did ask that question and I'll get I'll get real firm numbers for you or firm firmer answers because that's been my concern with Msina Electric getting the certain allocation of hydro or lowcost electricity. Once you get past that, you buy into the incremental power supply. Um, and what I what Mr. McMahon has indicated is that these buses would be on the uh the chargers ideally. He'd like us to put them on the chargers on a timer sometime after 8, possibly 10 p.m., which from 1000 p.m. to 6:00

054a.m. Exactly. We'd be utilizing at the low usage times, which he feels, and again, I I don't understand quite that amount. I mean, I having been with Rouse's Point electric a number of years ago, I understand the incremental. What I don't understand is how if you use the the juice on the off hours, how that can help. Um but he felt that it at least would not necessarily hurt. Okay. Thanks. All right. And then our last slide focuses on the timeline of the project as a whole. So right now we are in the dark green section. We've made it through the light green uh part of the preref and that's all of your the committee's efforts up until this point and right now we're in March. So the seeker and project resolution have been prepared

055by the legals uh or the district's legal and bond council and they should be adopted I believe tonight if not uh very soon uh for the project to be voted in May and if and when the budget and project uh pass then it begins the design phase phase we have allotted 11 months of design for the sedd submission and six months for that SEDD review. Um, I'm sure you're all aware SED can be kind of volatile. So, we're kind of planning for hopefully worst case with six months. They have brought back third party review that has made the queue um go down, which is always the intent. So, that's a good sign. Um, and putting this out to bid in November, December of 26. Now, with this being quite a large referendum of 79.8 eight.

056Um there is a potential of breaking this into phases once a construction manager um is on board. We'll certainly have those discussions and update you as we get further along with that. Um right now we're allotting three years for construction just based on the dollar amount of that. It's um it's a little difficult to get contractors to take on that amount um in in one phase or even two summers. So right now we're allowing three years. So with project close out at the end of 2029. I'm sorry I missed the last meeting so I I have stupid questions but on the green section that you showed there it says that you already interviewed the CM. You didn't interview the CM. You didn't select it. Did you send it in? Oh no we don't. That's we're

057we are more than happy to assist you. That's just in part of that area. Yes. I'm sorry. I should have updated that and put it in the dark green section. So we didn't do it. No you have not done that. I believe the walkthrough was yesterday for Yeah. And we had nobody. Um Okay. So, uh So, what was the date you were anticipating going? I heard Did I hear April of this year for the Yes. So, hopefully we'll get the RFPs back here the next week or two. Actually, I think next week is the deadline. I'm losing track of my date. So, I think it's next week. Yeah. 28th. Then the uh facilities committee will conduct interviews of the CMS that have put in and we'd like to be able to ideally um have the

058board approve a CM at the April 29th meeting. The rationale being that that's in anticipation that the voters approve the project so that as soon as that happens, we can get the CM, the architects, the owners all together and really begin that design phase um and have the construction manager on the ground right from the get-go. and hopefully avoid um that proverbial fingerpointing that tends to happen all too quickly and easily. Okay, I'm good. Thanks. And in fact, in fact, when I spoke with our school construction attorney, um he was very pleased that uh we were taking this avenue this time around to have a construction manager on from the very get-go as opposed to waiting until um the design phase was pretty well complete. So, and I think we may have made that mistake

059once before, Megan, or we we're a little bit delayed at my last project. Um, we we see it kind of happen fluidly at all different districts. Some have them on board even during preref, some during design. I I personally think you guys are hitting it perfectly. It's good to have them on board right at the get-go. And like you said, then we can just hit the ground running and there's no kind of playing catchup. But with that, we are happy to assist with the interviews or we can be outside of it completely. It's completely your choice. Any questions on the timeline or or any of the scope that we've discussed? All right. Thanks, Megan. And thank you very much for having us. Thank you. The next is I'm going to ask Mrs. Chapman to present

060on the Raider Academy, please. Good evening everyone. Thank you for allowing us time to update you on our Raider Academy programs. Um, as many know, we have two programs. One is summer raider academy which is all three of our elementaryaries come to one of our ele elementary buildings in the summer in July. And then we have raider academy which is an afterchool program which take takes place at all three elementaryaries and the junior high and it's on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 2 hours after school. So back in 2021, um we started these programs and we wanted to create it coming from out of COVID making sure that we created um time and space for students to get acclimated to come back into school um improve their academics and their sense of belonging. So in 2021,

061I had um sent out a survey to all staff um parents and students and just asking them about uh what they would like to see to happen during afterchool programming. Um and we developed the mission statement um through that survey and that is to provide a safe place that supports and challenges students to achieve academically experience enriching activities and acquire the skills they need to recognize and manage their emotions, feel and show empathy to others, establish positive relationships and make responsible dis decisions. So currently um this past summer we had 241 students enrolled in our summer raider academy and currently right now in our raider academy our afterchool program we have 206 students. Um, of those students, um, 66% of our summer Raider Academy students, um, needed transportation that was provided to them and currently

06257% of our afterchool Raider Academy students utilize our busing. So again, like I said, our summer raider academy, um, that is the month of July. We are um in school from Monday to Thursday 8 to 12 every day. Um every day they have a breakfast and a lunch that is provided to them. Our summer goals are to um build student belong belonging and mastery of the priority content. So we want to make sure that the students have what they need when they're going up to the next grade level. Our instructional focus is always reading, writing, math, and STEM. So on the next slide, you'll see that in grades K through two, our summer structure is that we have hands-on activities to reinforce those skills needed for the next school year. So, one of the criteria

063that I asked the teachers to do is to make it look different than it looked all year to try to give them, you know, what they need in the month of July to either maintain their skills or enrich them in grades K through two. We also um have them explore STEM activities and that is through Clarkson um University. They come and do lessons Monday through Thursdays also. Um, and also the teachers create amazing STEM lessons. In grades 3 through six, we do project-based learning. Um, I know in past years you've heard about some of those um projects. This past summer in grade three, they um in grades three, five, and six, their theme was all about creating and running a business. So in grade three it was um creating and running a lemonade stand. Grade

064five was um food truck and grade six was an amusement park. In grade four there were two different projects. One was traveling across the country and community service. So that was our about our summer raider academy and then our afterchool raider academy. Um the structure is like I said on Tuesdays and Thursdays it's a two-hour period. The first hour is focused on academic support and the second hour is on student engagement and all to improve certainly student achievement. So for the first hour um the main focus is to make sure that the students are prepared for the next day um so doing their homework. And then the second criteria that I ask the teachers to do is to create hands-on activities so that the students can practice those skills but in a hands-on way. So

065sometimes games or realworld applications. Our second hour is our enrichment hour where many different things take place. Whether that is I have outside agencies coming in such as Cornell Cooperative Extension. Um I have written the Alcoa and Arconic grants for Clarkson mentors to come in um for STEM projects. Horizons come in very often in the spring nature center. They come to each of the elementaryaries to do different programming. And then I have Kristen Kellogg and Paige are set here and they're going to talk to you um briefly about a project that they're doing currently with NIPA. Hi. Uh I'm Paet. I'm sixth grade at Jefferson. Um thank you for the opportunity for us to share what we've been doing with our fifth and sixth grade Raider Academy students. Uh we're happy to share that we're

066in our third year with the enrichment program for the empowered uh schools program at NIPA and we've been using a project-based learning method of teaching and learning to engage our students with an authentic learning opportunity and experience in the science field. First, um I'm going to share a brief description of the empowered schools initiative and how that supports our students. The program and curriculum begins with training teachers prior to the start of the school year and as well as continued virtual support throughout the year. This is something that we have done on our own time um as we participate in becoming better educators and stewards of energy efficiency. Further, the empowered school program focuses on integrating steam which is science, technology, uh engineering, arts, um English language arts and math. Um, we integrate the lessons

067each month into our Raider Academy enrichment time. Throughout the program, the students become ambassadors for energy conservation in their schools, homes, and communities. The program also provides hands-on activities, lessons, and promotes a fostering environment for stewardship, authentic learning, and community engagement. Um, last year our students participated in the empowered schools first annual virtual summit and they presented their capstone project that was focusing on raising awareness of energy efficiency and ways in which students could take action to help reduce energy costs at school and home. The students were engaged in learning how to do energy audits at our school. They analyzed the school's energy costs by looking at reports provided. They created posters to hang around the school to raise awareness and share ideas. And they also presented all of their learning at the virtual summit

068as we guided them through the process. The New York Power Authority managers from the environmental department that we work with provided the teachers and the students with ongoing support. everything from technology um monthly meetings with us on our own time and engagement with local NIPA employee staff and volunteers. Um and they provide everyone with amazing lunchons that was involved. They uh have catered Italian affair and the kids love it and we all love it. They also planned a very fun and engaging fishing clinic uh with the New York Power Authority and the Department of Environmental Conservation employees and volunteers that was held at Hawkins Point last June. and moving forward to what we're doing this year. Um the students and us are we're very excited to continue this authentic learning experience and we are um

069immersed currently in another capstone project and the students chose the topic of the emerald ashbor and the environmental and cultural impact that this invasive species has on our local environment as well as our local indigenous culture. We have invited guest speakers. It's not my area of expertise. So, we're all learning. So, we have invited guest speakers to come and speak to us and our students um that are very knowledgeable and working with that topic and they have supported us and our students in the learning that they have been involved in. We also have recruited some high school students with uh referred from their science teachers. So this collaboration will be showcased again at this year's empowered schools second annual virtual summit on May 28th and an on-site location this year will be at the Nicandry

070Nature Center. Um we extend an invitation to all of you as an audience to come and support and celebrate our students learning as they share their capstone project. The whole experience engages them in this very amazing learning process from start to finish and um very important lifelong skills that they obtain from it. We are very proud of the learning experience and these enrichment opportunities. The community partnership is continuing to grow and offers continued support for the program. The Raider Academy model has allowed us to maintain this positive learning experience and um project-based learning and enrichment activities has been the um most important aspect of this uh Raider Academy. So, thank you both. Thank you both so much. And as you see, you know, there's great opportunities and that's just one showcase of that. Um, we

071also have lists and pictures of so many activities that the students are partaking in such as arts and crafts, um, thematic activities, STEM projects, the kids are cooking, um, and sports definitely. So through this I certainly keep evaluating um Raider Academy and one of the ways is I take a look at those students who are in um Raider Academy right now. So I took a look at how have they been doing and I Ready. Um so in reading from the fall to the winter of this year 76% of our students increased their I Ready score by 10%. And in math, 83% of our students have increased their score. Um, in the summertime, all students um receive progress reports. And for our um project-based learning, they all have a rubric that is shared and created um

072before the project begins so that they can certainly self-reflect and assess themselves. Um, I also send out parent surveys to see how they're feeling about the project and that it happens in January and in May. Um, just to give you and I can share all of this with you also the whole survey and the results but 90% of the parents or guardians are pleased with Raider Academy, 93% 94% are pleased with the academic activities. uh 81% uh feel that their child's academic performance has improved since joining Raider Academy. 94% um are pleased with the enrichment activities and 90% would recommend the Raider Academy to other families. So, as far as um funding, last year Raider Academy did go through the strategic budget. Um, we do hire 24 staff members for Raider Academy, um, with stipens

073of 89,880 and supplies of $10,000. And for summer Raider Academy, we have uh 19 teachers and one specialed teacher and four assistants and one nurse. And that is um stipens of $62,960 and supplies of 9,000. Any questions? You had 241 students last summer. Do you have do you know how many you're going to get this year? Do you anticipate an increase or um every year we've increased um from I know Raider Academy when I was looking at it we had 94 students when we started and we're at 206 now um summer Raider Academy I just was looking at Raider I didn't look but I know we've increased over the years um and we have 241 that are enrolled but we have this great thing called PAL in summer wreck that certainly take our students when

074there's great things going on. Also, um so kids come and go, but we've always averaged 200 students a day um of Summer Raider Academy. And that's, you know, a great thing that students are given that those opportunities in the summer. Um, I do, you know, once it's approved, I would certainly be reaching out to, um, you know, get the staffing and then reaching out to parents. Usually, I do that late April and May to see, um, have them start signing up for Summer Raider Academy. Well, I know I should know this because it's right across the street from my house, but how many days is the summer? Summer's four days a week, and we Yep. And we go um usually it's the second week of July to the last week. So it's like 16 days

075I think we do. Yes. How many hours are that again? 8 to 12. Anybody else? I just uh thank you for coming and presenting on this. Um and you you presented some uh data on academic achievement. Um, I I've been able to witness uh some of the academic achievement in a different form. Uh, it it's pretty impressive to watch students, you know, if I I would go in to pick my daughter up and I'd be standing in the entryway an hour, hour and a half, almost two hours after the school day finished. Students are leaving with smiles on their faces. uh the minute they meet their parent, they're talking about what they had worked on. I've had informal conversations with parents and uh more than more than a few have mentioned uh how happy they

076are that their student is getting extra assistance with the homework, especially math. Mhm. Um, and I I the kids are engaged and I I think the program is really building their confidence and that is such a great thing and it's so valuable once their confidence uh and their engagement increases everything else comes along with it. So, so thank you for all the work you all put into it. Uh I think it's a great program. Thank you so much for recognizing that. We certainly do have a great team and thank you for all of your support. Also, Danielle, yes, I I just have a couple of questions. One is you gave some statistics and if you could um add those to the slideshow, that would be very helpful because I was trying to write as quickly

077as I could, but I for the survey, you would like to see the survey. So, uh, first you talked about the younger students with I Ready growth and you had some statistical information on that. Yes, I'd like to see that. Y um the project based learning, I understand that that's more of a survey kind of thing and and I would like to see the parents survey how how they feel, etc. Um, and then you gave some uh monetary figures and I just have a couple of questions for that. Yes. So, um, you were saying that the summer program was around 62 uh,000 plus a $9,000 budget. Um, where does that money come from? It always went came from ARP, but now I have it in the strategic budget because it would come from general fund.

078Right. Yes. So, this was coming from an outside source in its inception, which would have been right after COVID 2021. And so, now we've cycled through all of that. And now, in order to keep it, it's coming out of Msina Central budget taxpayer money. Yes. Okay. And then the other one that you were talking about was during the school year and you said that was approximately $89,000 plus a $10,000 budget. And where does that money come from? So not this year, but the prior years it did come from ARP funding. So COVID funding. Last year I put it in the strategic budget and it was approved. So it's coming out of Msina Central School District. So this the 2425 school year was the first year that that money has come out of Msina Central budget.

079That is correct. Excuse me. And then the summer of 2025 will be the first year, excuse me, that it's coming out of uh Msina Central. Correct. Okay. Sorry. Um, I was confused about uh junior high school. Yes. Is is junior high school also having Raider Academy? They do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Okay. But I saw that there was something in there about a 3 to five program. 3 to five program. Yep. Um it said uh there were people who are recommended for um employment on our um personnel actions that we're going to be voting on and and it said 3 to five the high school. Is that your program? No, that's a different program. Okay. All right. Just wanted to make sure that the two things were separate. Yes. about how many students do you

080have? You didn't mention um on the 78 and do we also have Raider Academy on the 912? No, we do not on 912. So the 78 Raider Academy, what are what are our numbers looking like from there? For seven and 8, they fluctuate because every morning of Raider Academy, a um Google form goes out to their email and they sign up. Um, so it fluctuates between 10 in each grade level, so 20 altogether. Okay. To we've had like 35 before. Um, so yeah, it fluctuates. Okay. So, what days is it offered at junior high school? Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's also Tuesday, Thursday. Okay. Okay. Thank Speaking of days, so the elementary is also Tuesday, Thursday. That is correct. Is there anything that would prevent you other than the money sorry from doing it um Wednesday

081also another day? I mean it sound it seems to be such a well spoken about program and well I mean when we considered it it was due to funding that we had the two days. Okay. So it could possibly be if the funds were found Yes. busing could align and busing and that's right yes that's where we have some difficulty um our numbers go down significantly when we do not have the busing of course yes okay have something to consider we would love that yes so you mentioned some private corporation grants and some funding that I'm familiar with just wondering have you been able to to find success in working in some indirect costs and personal fell into any of those those grants to help. I haven't so far um with Aronic and because of

082the different things that you have to follow um I haven't yet. If you know of any we can work together to do that because I I have no problem with writing grants. So I I just want to say real quick, I oftenve I've been asked a number of times, you know, um informally, you know, is it a duplicative services offered in this community? And my response is always always no. It's a it's an addition, right? So the PAL program, you know, the one thing that lacks is the afterprogram transportation. And you know, the PAL program also sometimes shares a lot of the students uh within the programs and it's a lot of positive feedback uh that we also receive. So, just kind of in another wearing another hat at the moment. Um, I can say

083that it's it's it's all an asset to our community and it's that investment, you know, it's one thing that we talk about and so, you know, there's a lot of partnerships that happen to make this successful, tying the kids back to our community. So, definitely. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Joyce, you you mentioned a third day. Um, and since I've got two teachers here that are part of that program, um, my only concern with adding a third day is without talking to our staff, making sure that they would be on board so that we I have to be very protective of them that a third day, I certainly don't want to promote burnout for them. Um, but again, we'd want to talk to them as well and get their feedback uh to make sure that

084we be able to maintain that the great teachers that we currently have there. Um and uh and and uh Trish, you asked about the three to five tutors that you see later on in the in the personnel agenda. So we've been operating a 3 to five program for 9 through 12 for a number of years. And through some of the meetings I've had to have with children, their families, and the staff. There have been a few from the junior high that have been recommended for a 3 to five program um due to various issues. And that's what that's for is to bring those students over. they'd be working under the toutelage or under the direction of uh Mr. Chartrand, but they would be assigned to the 3 to five program um from the junior high.

085So, is is it legal for them to not come to school during the regular school day for this age that we're talking about, junior high school, and then to only come from 3 to 5? We're still meeting the the um regulatory hours. Yes. Okay. Y h how are they getting I I'm just curious how are they getting PE, art, music, and their electives? They they simply need the number of hours in terms of the core curriculum. So they may not they're not getting the PE, they're not necessarily getting the art. Um but for various reasons, these students are not being successful during the course of the day typically because of um well frankly behaviors. And uh so we bring them in three to five where they do gain those those successes. Sometimes they're receiving outside

086services which are geared towards helping them be more successful when they do return. Um that's the ultimate goal is to get them to return to the normal school day so that they can be successful and um and the other students can also be successful. So sure, but it somehow you're meeting those requirements because they're graduation requirements. if they if they don't fulfill those requirements, I don't see how they can graduate. We've we've not had an issue with that for the three to five program for the high school. And uh again, with with junior high, there's not those are not courses per graduation. So, um we're we're we're hopeful that it's going to be successful and helping these kids. Um it's a very limited number um turn things around so that they will be successful. And

087right now the last one I spoke with uh the child's been attending every day which was without issue which has been uh it's it's a it's a turnaround. Is there room for outside organizations to support that three to five program in terms of um helping with the core curriculum personnel um space? That would be a question I'd want to turn over to Mr. Chartrand. He's he has a very welloiled machine um and and it's also a very tight time frame to get a lot of work done. So I'd want to ask him that. I would not want to speak for him on that one. It's uh the three to five program. It's it's not necessarily just uh students with potential discipline issues though, right? At at at times there are students with medical issues that

088preclude them from being successful during the regular school day, maybe even for a short amount of time, and it it provides a a space for them to learn and be more successful. Am I correct? And you are. And and in fact, sometimes we're, you know, as we do some of these meetings with the families and and staff, surprisingly, I'm actually getting more and more families requesting, do you think the 3 to five program might help? And you know, so families are realizing that this might be the thing to turn their child around and to help them be more successful. And again, you are correct. It can be medical as well. I guess in some ways I I look at it as it's kind of that last ditch option because to not do that the the

089the it's not a crack that these kids fall through it's a chasm. And so this is really that last ditch effort that Msina Central can do. And uh again I I' I've sung Mr. Chartran's praises for many years since I was at Boseis. We shared kids. Um somehow he works magic and these kiddos get through and uh know that they end up many of them are successful. Now we're hoping to replicate that with again just a limited number of junior high students. Um, we're going to skip over local task force update. We'll do that at the next meeting. I do have two bus utilization requests. One from PAL for a trip to the Msina Arena. Another one from PAL for a trip in April to Lucky Strikes Bowling Alley. We have donations uh from BJ's

090Wholesale Club. They donated a few ca quite a few cases of bananas that um were shipped inadvertently and they needed to uh find a home. $500 from Northern Credit Union for the wishes for teachers giveaway that's going to Night andale. $500 from Msina Savings and Loans also to Nightingale for the musical and $300 from Mr. Ngoyan to the Jefferson Student Council. And that concludes my report unless there are questions. Okay, that brings us up to recommended actions. We have the consent agenda. Everyone's okay with what's in the consent agenda. Do we have a motion? So moved. Okay, we have a first and a second vote. All in favor? Motion carries? Um, okay. We have a resolution for capital reserve fund equipment. So move. Second. All in favor? Carries. Approval of empower for improvement contract for

0912025 2026. So move. Second. All in favor carries. Approval of MOA with St. Lawrence County Board of Elections. So move. All in [Music] favor? Carries. Approval of bus utili utilization request from PAL for the Msina Arena. So move second. All in favor? Any against? Any abstension? Motion carries. Approval of bus utilization request from PAL Lucky Strikes Bowling Alley. I'll move. Second. All in favor? Any abstensions? Yes. And yes, you skipped the uh negative. Motion carries. Approval of homeschool student special services request. Sure. So when when a child who is being homeschooled has um an IEP and they have special needs, so special services, could be speech, could be OT, PT, um they can petition for the board to um make that happen. And that's what this is in this case. What is the cost of

092that? is um if they're not coming to our school, just be curious. So, typically and and I would have to go back on this individual's IEP to see, but it's I believe it's a half hour. So, you take the you know, you take the provider's rate, hourly rate, which is probably going to be somewhere in the 50 or $60 range. So, probably about $45 a session, um would be a ballpark figure. I don't know if I want to go too much beyond that um without really looking into exactly how much. Um do we have to do that legally? Oh, I wish Mrs. Castell was here to answer that question. Mr. Charleston, do you know the answer on that one? I would think if we have to do this legally, it wouldn't have to be a

093motion on the It does have to be a motion. Um well, I should say if we can vote it down. If we can't vote it down, then it doesn't need to be here. Yeah. Sorry. Can we push it next month? My recom I I will make a recommendation on this one. This is a family that I do believe will be back in our door um back in our buildings most likely next year. Um one child is, one child is not. I believe they will be back. So not providing that service is delaying that need and again we're we're going to be dealing with that uh that need's not going to go away. Um so knowing knowing the family situation in this case um I'm I'm fully confident that that child is going to be in

094building next year not providing these uh remedial services will just compound the issue. Is this after hours? Yes. So, is there a chance we could add the What? What did you say you thought the total cost would be? I mean, just ballpark 100 bucks or Yeah, it would not I don't believe it'd be more than $100 per session. And again, depending on what the IP says, it could be twice a week, could be three times a week. I don't believe this one's an everyday. Um I feel like I've read policy on it, but I can't I can't cite it. Policy 8470. We don't have a choice. So it's yeah it's required vote pardon why do we vote that was my question I don't it's a requirement of law I believe even to put it on

095yes because a child is not necessarily enrolled in the district but yet there's a requirement to educate them when it comes to the special services because they live within our district yes and we are responsible for that IEP they live in our Yeah oh yes they they this family lives within our district there's absolutely no doubt about that um and again I'm Okay. Confident they'll be back next year. Oh, where were we? Do we have a first and a second? No. Can we have a motion? So move. All in favor? Thank you. Is that that everybody? Yeah. Okay. Approval of the state environmental quality review a stand top of my head button seeker request resolution. So moved. Did we talk about that? No. And this so we hadn't talked about this. This is a formality

096so we can move the project forward. And basically this is a is it class two or title two? I think it's class two action. So basically that we don't have to do any further environmental quality review for this project. So it's not involving wetlands. It's not going to impact any ducks. Yeah. Okay. Um where we first second vote. We just need to vote. All in favor? Motion carries. This approval of the capital project resolution. I need a first and a second before I go. Roll call. Correct. So move. Okay. Trusty Leblanc. It's roll call vote. So you have to vote out in the open about the capital project for the budget. The capital project capital project resolution. So I have to go individually. Your vote sir for the capital budget that we're going to present

097to the voters. Yes. Mr. Tusa. Hi. Yay. Mrs. Murphy. Hi. Drew. Zack. Hi. Kevin. Yes. Approval of election personnel resolution. Can I ask for a motion? So move. Second. First and a second. Again, this is a roll call vote. Mr. Leblanc, this Why is it is it new that we're doing roll calls? We used to vote. It's mandated for these for various reasons. These two motions be because we have a bond resol a capital project bond resolution out there. Our construction attorney has advised that our personnel for this year's vote be done by roll call vote. Okay. Yeah. Yay for me. Mr. Tusa. Hi. Murphy. Drew. Zack. Yes. Kevin. Yes. Um approval of paid administrative leave resolution. So moved. Second. All in favor? Motion carries. Mr. Burke, I recommend that the board approve personnel items

098listed as numbers 1 through 60. So move. Second. All in favor. Motion carries. Any new business? I just wanted to ask where we were with the um lifetrack survey. So I I I believe that right now um I think he's left. So I believe right now we're waiting for um approval to send out or to somehow get that board communication to them. And once we have that I know Mr. actually Mr. Oliver was asking where we are with that. So he's chomping at the bit to get into the senior classes to get that done. Um so if you're okay um because I know we talked there were a couple of ideas of how to get that there. I think Mr. Oliver's preference is because it's multiple classrooms. It would take multiple days to have one

099person go, but to have that message canned ready to go either through um a written communication that he can share with those home room teachers or that we could even do through video, but uh we'd like to get that going as soon as possible. Um we're we could do it as I I don't know if we could do it as soon as next week. I don't know if he has a little bit of time, but uh the sooner I get the approval from the committee and I think Mr. Murphy, you you got the language well honed if if you're okay with it. We'll Well, do you I guess I would ask this. So, we had had discussion about doing in person and I think what you're saying is that that's kind of impractical because of

100how it would have to be rolled out. So, we had gone back and forth with verbiage. Do you want me to share what we've agreed on as a committee with the full board to find out if they are in agreement since this is something and you know we just did that policy since the it has to be consensus of the board that that's what we are going to go with. Um and also I wanted to ask about if the um senior class advisor would be available to be in the classrooms so that when it's rolled out if there are questions that she would act as a representative for the board to answer questions for us. Yeah, we can certainly ask that. We can also certainly ask for anyone that was on that comm on the

101life on the uh this committee that met. Um, and I also don't mind going and you know, we can we can spread the wealth, frankly, um, to get to get folks into those rooms. Um, as it relates, I think that I mean, I guess it's really up to the board whether you want the whole board to have because it is a message that's really just we're just really trying to explain why we are doing the lifetrack and it's and as you know, Isabelle and I spoke of it's um, you know, it's nice to get the information this year. What I'm really looking forward to is five years from now because that's really when you start doing that retrospective. Okay, and I'm looking at my life right now. I am where I am. Am I happy

102of that about that? And is it because of my high school career and was I given what I needed to do? Um, and I think if we can explain that especially to the students, you know, that's why we also want your demographics. We want we want your personal email. We're not going to sell it to Amazon or to anybody else. Um, we're really just looking for that so we can get back in contact with you. Um, and also that your class officers can get back in contact with you for the 10th year reunion and the 20th reunion. Um, which trying to do that with my own class of 88, it's getting increasingly difficult. Um, so again, we'd have that database to at least uh build upon. So if if we wait for board consensus, we're

103waiting until April 29th. Okay. I think is I think we could I I don't know in could we agree here? I mean or could it be via email the this is a board um initiative the goal and I I think the timeline timeline is quite important and we've had a committee of the board. But I know we haven't brought the whole thing back, but our purpose is to connect with the students and let them know that we care what their thoughts are from several different perspectives. Right now, 18 months later, is it five years later? Five years. Yeah. I mean, we want you to report back on how did we do or what could we do better. I don't know how else to get it out there. We want to know and it's not a

104catch 22 for our staff. We're not trying to figure out, okay, which teacher did you like, which one? We don't that that's not here or there. We're really just trying to do is the overall program. Did our educ How did our education we provided and what you took of it serve you? Mrs. Murphy, my computer just died. Um, battery is gone. Do you have that verbiage? I actually do have it. Do you want me to read it? Do you want me to leave it over here? Let's do it as a we add to a resolution or we and add a resolution to accept it and move it forward. Right now, we're here. That'd be helpful. Very good. Proceed. Got it, Trish? Yep. Okay. This is what the message would be to the seniors. Some of

105you may be thinking, why are these school board members here asking us to do a survey a few years ago? Our board got interested in how we could get more feedback from our students about their Msina Central School experience, specifically how it prepared them for life after graduation. We get some information from test scores and graduation rates, but that's only a numerical meas measure. We're also interested in your thoughts regarding how well we prepared you for life beyond school. We're sure you're thinking about that now, too. Life for you will be changing very soon. The board, we wanted to know more about how your future self would feel about your MCS experience. To do that, we found a company called Lifetrack that specializes in many types of school surveys, including graduation and follow-up surveys in

106the future. We thought this might be a great way to get more information to help us better serve future graduating classes. We are asking you to take this survey and provide a long-term email, something that you check at least occasionally because everyone who works here wants to know how you feel. we are doing preparing you for life after high school and because we all want the best for you. This is really important information because if we can get everyone's input, we may be able to make changes that will impact our school's future and you can have a say in making that change happen. The board of education also wants to show its pride in you and gratitude to you for your efforts here at Msina Central by hosting an informal social gathering with snacks and

107refreshments at a date to be determined closer to the end of school. Essentially, we just want to celebrate with you, congratulate you, chat with you about your future plans, and wish you well on your journey wherever that may take you. Any questions? Do we get a motion in a second? Moved. Second. All in favor? Motion carries even from afar. Okay. Thank you. Good for you. Thank you. Um any any uh any other items or new business? I just had a quick question. The annual budget newsletter we send out, uh, is there going to be capital project information in that budget newsletter this year? Yeah, in fact. Um, so so a couple things with the capital project. Number one, there will be information, um, in that there will be actually a capital project component. They're working

108on that now. Um, they're also working on giving me the getting the PR materials. So, we have um scheduled right now and and hopefully Ashley you can correct me if I'm wrong. There will be a capital project presentation here in the high school auditorium I believe um at the Lewisville Town Hall. Sorry, Lewisville Fire Department. Thank you. Nor Fire Station number two or three, whichever's on 420. I'm sorry, three. Okay. Don't tell my Northfor firefighter friends I didn't know. Um the library see public library one. Thank you. It's a junior high. Um and I'll I'll also be presenting um to the Rotary sometime midappril and to Monday lunchon club at a date to be determined. Okay. Are we able to highlight and bolden the uh the tax taxpayer liability on the project? Yes. Okay. Yeah,

109that that that's certainly something I'm going to be talking about extensively. Thanks. Why do we go to Nor? Uh it's within our district. It's out on 420. Um that's still within our district and it's just a gathering spot out there for the folks that live Actually, it's near near 420. Okay. I thought it was 56. Oh, sorry. Another item. Last summer, we had a meeting to explore the possibility to expose our student to second language or any opportunities to bring them expose them as a younger age. I couldn't make that meeting. I would like to know where it's at. At at the time it says no, we can't do nothing. Can we get a status on it? So, to be quite honest, that's pretty much where we've left at at least in terms of the

110elementary kiddos. um where we are in terms of another language at junior high and I'm going to point actually okay I got Mrs. Chapman's okay to say it. Grade seven, grade again hoping to to increase the offerings especially with Mohawk. um is there a possibility to or opportunities or any ways we can explore exposing our student at a younger age? So I think we had the meeting Mrs. Charleston with staff members including members from um the high school. I think what we kept hearing and I and I please again correct me if I'm wrong my memory and I don't have notes in front of me. um there seems to be a a larger concern about um foreign language at seventh grade, you know, getting that started there. So that we have a a stronger sequence

111getting into the high school. Um I think the concern that we heard from elementary folks is when do we build that into our day? And again, I I'm seeing the nod from Mrs. Charleston. I'm getting that right. What about a Raider Academy? Raider Academy. Could they offer it? That was something that I was I was going to mention and I backed off about Raider Academy. What about delving into some of the the people who are there, the teachers, their talents, their skills, kind of like the enrichment clubs that we had at Trinity. Um maybe if somebody were proficient in French or Spanish because at I was at that meeting that we had about the languages and yes, the elementary felt that they're just there just literally wasn't time that they were taking away five minutes

112here from recess and five minutes from specials. they were just simply out of time. But the um language uh the head of the department, the gentleman Joe something really felt that it would be um it it would really strengthen his program if we could start languages in seventh grade and I think he was of course thinking more than just not just Mohawk more than Mohawk but you know he'd say Spanish so that it would go seventh eighth and then through I mean it's wonderful to have Mohawk any language of course um But if we could do something in Raider, make it very in informal like that. I think we could. That would be wonderful. That's a good way to introduce it to the lower grades. If we could bring it to younger kindergarten, it even

113better because when you start to be a teenager, you're afraid to stop talk a different language. There just wasn't time. They and I I believed them when I was at the meeting. There there just wasn't time for it. There's so many academic demands now. Sounds like maybe where we need to put our eggs is into investigating how to expand the programming into seventh grade. Yes, that's a good point. It sounds to me that's like that's what came out of that meeting. So that's probably where we need to veer for now. And actually u Robert Rober we they spoke about if we could get to seventh grade perhaps we could start to do 15 minutes here and there in sixth grade and work from the top down instead of working from the bottom up which was

114that was our idea. Will you explore it for the radar economy to see if you have any maybe you have teachers that speak Spanish or native I could offer my I taught chess before. I don't know if the kids would be interested in learning the skills. It's something good. I could do that for French. Forgot about that. Me too. I could do that. I did ask a young mom when we were discussing all of this, what would she prefer that her daughter learn, French or Spanish? Because I'm all about the French as well. And she without hesitation, Spanish. I mean, I guess it I mean, we think French because we're up here, but we think in the larger picture, Spanish is probably a better offer. Yeah. If you gather a group that's interested in speaking

115French, I'll go to teach them. Can I Am I I'm on the board. As long as you're not paid. I can resign. Any other new business? Getting late. Uh any communications from the public or press? We do not have a need for an anticipated executive session. Can I get a motion for adjournment? All in favor? Very good. Thank you.