001I know I say this. It's my time to shine. So fun. So, um, calling the meeting to order for the reorganizational meeting for, uh, the 2526 school year for of the Red Central School District. If you wouldn't mind standing and So, the first order of business on the reorg agenda is to give make a motion and a second to appoint the district clerk for the 2526 school, please. Okay. Any discussion on that motion? Okay. Uh if you're in favor, please uh raise your hand. Any opposed? Hey, that motion passes. Now, um Dr. Summers is going to give me my Okay, now we're going to move on I'm gonna give the oath of office to Kelly Belli and Patrick Boyd is an and Mr. Boyd Dr. Boyd sorry is a new board member just elected. So
002I have the here. Seven board me and the next item is going to be nominations for the board president. Nominations president of the education 526. I'd like to nominate Kelly Belli. Nominations question being heard. I would like 25 please wait favor of that. Thank you. Congratulations. Sorry. All right. Okay. The next item of this is theations for vice president. If anyone being heard open have a vote. Right. Congratulations, Vice President. Okay. So now having a president, a vice president and a seven member I my back over So, the first item of business will be um to discuss the item J uh the Duchess County School Board uh legislative committee. Sure. Anyone? So, we voted we voted on nobody. So, technically we just voted. We're not having one. Yeah. Let's read that. Okay. Wait, what are
003we doing? Okay. Oh, I Okay, you're So, I'm more than happy to But I would really love to open it up if somebody else were like excited about it. The meetings are on Thursdays um once a month. Um they start at 700 p.m. Um and they are by Zoom most of them. Um we do have a couple in-person meetings that are held at Duchess Boseies. I've had a great time doing it. I I enjoy it. I think are really great. Again, I'm happy to but I would love to No, it's the Duchess County School Board. So, there is a representative from every public school, Duchets County. Um, at times some of the superintendents do attend. We have guest speakers, we've had attorneys, had um, you know, NISBA has come and, you know, just shared whatever
004a topic may be um, that the is willing wanting to hear. Um it's I mean it's it's a really good run. I mean Kelly and I we were in communication like if I could not attend. Okay. We we don't you've don't need to oversell. We got we got a bidder. really like great topic. We could sure change her mind. All those in favor of Kate and it's so fun dinner at the end. The dinners are great. Um so the next item is K uh board of ed meetings second. And then is there any discussion on a board of education meetings? I want like to start our committee meetings a little earlier in this year. Um I think they take especially like ones the committee we continue with the same committee uh committees that we've had
005this past year. we had the engagement committee and it takes a little time for those things to kind of get momentum. Um, and I feel like kind of ran out of time at the end of the school year especially for that committee and I don't know it could I could see it being beneficial to facilities as well um and policy. Um, so I just wanted to propose that um we talk about the idea of starting those committees earlier. Um, as of right now, committees start in October. Um, so, you know, it could even be in September or it could be in August, um, after the board retreat and we've adopted our new committees and who's going to be on each committee. Um, just wanted to throw this idea out there to everyone. I think it's
006a good idea to start sooner. I mean, I I don't I mean, do I got Okay. Is that all right? I think September would work and we could and I think we could also have two committees that struct I don't think they all three necessarily have to be the same time. I mean um there may be it's pretty cut and dry. I was going to update tonight. There's not a lot of can discuss it at the retreat and then if one committee of community engagement wanted to start earlier because you have something specific that you need to discuss that you know that could happen. Okay. I mean sounds good. All right. So we can discuss it more at the retreat. So um all those in favor Okay. So the next ones um we can kind
007of combine these are items that uh are on the reorg agenda pretty much every um every year with just updated details such as expense, names, dates, something uh things like that. So um can I get a motion for items L through EB? Which one? L through what? through BB when you I'll second. All those in favor? Yeah. Discussion first. Oh, I like to jump ahead on that. Yeah, let's get it going. Yes. Is there any discussion? I just on um t rates of pay wanted to um again toss an idea out there and and feel out um the thinking behind the pay for the teacher aid um as as listed there $16 per hour and just wondering if that's that's you know there's anything more we can do there. Um, I know that's a lot
008of work and, you know, I just respect the everything that goes into those positions. Um, they're working directly with the students and I'm just wondering, um, you know, maybe there's some more information about why it's set at that. Great. I'm happy to answer that, Kitty. The little history. Is that okay? Yeah. So, we had raised it. If you remember in a board meeting last year, it was $15 an hour. Minimum wage went up to $1,550. So, we raised it for to 16, but if the board's interested in changing that, we can certainly have a discussion. Are you talking about for returning retirees, Jen, or just in general? Just in Well, I'm looking at the substitute teacher aid. And then, yeah, that's the one I was looking at specifically. These are all the These are substitute
009rates. Yeah. Um I don't know is it is it difficult to find substitute teacher aids or how at that rate? Um we have a pool of people. We're also starting to attract um retired substitute aid. So that might be something we want to consider similar to what we did for um retired substitute teachers to come in in all of our positions if retired people come back to fill in as a substitute. If we want to differentiate that pay, it's up to the board. Yeah. So, I don't know if I don't have it here, but I did share with you where we were in line with other districts in the county. Um, we were low, which is why we raised all of our rates. I think maybe January, December, January time frame. Um, but I'm happy
010to share that out. Again, it's data from last year, but I could send that to the board and decide if that's something you're interested in doing. We can always make that change at the next meeting. Jen, is your question specifically about the aid position, substitute aid position, and then offering a higher rate for retirees that come back as a substitute aid or just looking at the whole amount to increase that across the board? Which is that substitute teacher aid? Just looking at that rate. Okay. And looking to perhaps current um data on backgrounding and then bring it back to the board. Yeah, that would be a good starting place. We can look at that. I would just love to see that a little bit higher, right? To attract more people, I'm assuming is the intent.
011Um, so we could look at that. Um, is is this an increase? Is this an increase from last year? Yes. From last year. So, could we start with that and then revisit it? Yeah. Once um Erin can do some current homework on it. Thanks, Kitty. Okay. Okay. And as part of the feedback on that for the next meeting, it'd be helpful if you can not not to like review everything, but um as you get us feedback on that specific position, take into account how that position's compensation is relative to other positions because um all of our positions and all of our employees are important. And if we start to look at changing pay for one, we need to make sure that um uh what we're doing is in parody with relative positions with district and
012because we could pick any position and I think we probably say oh they should be paid more. So all of the substitute rates are on here. So, if you want to uh look at it through a lens of equity, um that might be something you want to consider. Instead of just increasing one substitute line, you may want to look at all of the substitute lines. Um we do I can tell you we do have difficulty finding substitute custodial workers. That is a challenge for us. But you can see that all the substitute rates are on there. So, you can compare them here. Sure. Look at that. Yes. I Yeah. So, what I'm hearing is that we'd like to look at what the current um rate is across different districts and then look to see where
013we sit. if we move right, we would look to or um see what type of ripple effect that could have across all our substitute personnel. Yeah. Is that Yeah, because I think it's important if we're going to look at one position, we kind of look at uh what are the other similar positions. Um yeah, I'm happy to do that. The data I have is from last year. We don't get updated data from the county until December. I have last year's that I shared with you last year, but I'm I can share it again. Sure. So we can bring that back around to the next meeting. Would we like to wait for the September September data so that we have current data? December. December. I'm sorry. I thought you said September. Okay. So we'll move forward
014on that. Thank you. Okay. We have to approve it and then we will come back and discuss it. So we have an open motion on the floor. So now all those in favor All right. So then, um, we can also, it looks like, um, go through, uh, CC through NN. Um, can I get a motion on that? Second. Is there any discussion on that? All those in favor. Can I get a motion for an adjournment? Motion. Second. Any discussion? Just kidding. All those in favor? I. Okay. And so now we will go right into our um regular board meeting. Okay. I'm just calling the meeting to order and then um we'll go right to our first presentation, the Smart Schools Bond Act. Yay. Hello. Okay. Bruce has told me I have four minutes to get
015this done. So, somebody start a timer. So, the reason I'm here in front of you today is the district is going uh wishes to proceed with spending down its remaining smart schools um monies. Um, you may recall that back in 2014, there was a statewide referendum issued by then Governor Cuomo uh to infuse billions of dollars uh into public uh school districts to satisfy uh a number of project um expenses. So, Red Hook was allotted $1.3 million. Um we have to date uh spent that money on our onetoone initiative in grades 6 through 12. Um and also on outfitting all of our instructional spaces with this in our cafeteria and in our classrooms, the flat panel TVs and Apple TVs. So that brings us to today where we have $43,700 sitting in our account. And
016we are not one to leave money on the table. So we are proposing that our third and final Smart Schools investment plan be to purchase 70 iPads with keyboard cases uh to support classroom instruction uh at Milroad Elementary School. Uh the cost for that is listed. We are leaving $157,000 on the table and I think we can be okay with that. the category of expenditure uh satisfies uh the legislation um under the classroom learning technology. So um in my presentation that was shared with the board and the screen that's available here give you a little bit of history about why iPads, how we first uh came to use iPads on a widespread uh basis in our elementary school. Um the fact that we had these devices available to us when COVID struck made it very
017easy for us to go ahead and issue devices uh to students to use at home. I hope we never are in that position again. Um but um it was their use in classroom is great. Their use if we needed to flip over to remote learning is also great. We also have built a culture around their use. uh there has been a lot of professional development uh made available to our teachers. Um so it's a device and a technology that is uh widely in use now and uh quite successfully. So um the reason why we chose to do um this iPad proposal is we've basically got students in grades 3 through 12 covered with our onetoone MacBook initiative. Um and in speaking with um Dr. Boyd, Dr. Brian Boyd, um he felt that um there is
018still a need in this building for us to build out that full complement of iPads that we had had in place. Um we've built additional tools around uh instructional technology use which again bolsters uh their actual usage ease of usage. So we brought on board a single sign on platform last year class link um and our elementary uh grade teachers and students just print off a QR code for each student's login ID. they hold the iPad camera up to that logs the student right into their um their class link uh launchpad with the collection of uh apps and tools that are available to them. And so we just continue to make it really easy uh for teachers and students to get to the tools they want to use. Um so let's see where where are
019we what number are we on? Sorry Elena, I haven't been saved. Okay, so our next step, so the smart schools um application process is very um legislated, if you will. So the first step uh is what we're doing uh right now. I am coming before you with a preliminary plan. That plan will then be posted on the district website and there will be an opportunity for written comments. Um after I come after 30 days passes, I will come back before the board. Um I will say all right, I now request your approval of our final plan. at which point the plan actually gets submitted to uh the state ed department, the smart the smart schools bond act office and uh hopefully they wing that through approval um and then we get authorization to go ahead
020and purchase these devices. So my final slide uh for timeline is I think achievable might be a little aggressive some might say um but uh what we're trying to do here is move along as quickly as is reasonable so that we can purchase these devices before any other tariffs or any other impacts come into play. Um, so I'm hoping that we get to order these devices before the end of and uh because we have a whole infrastructure and process already in place on how we deploy these devices, we'll be able to very quickly get them out in service. Are there any questions? Thank you. Um, I was just wondering, uh, and maybe you mentioned this, um, so the 70 iPads were, would they be used for three through five or are they for the for
021K through two? For the K through two. Um, and the special ed students on that side of the building. But because we're now um a one building, Milroad Elementary, if there are needs elsewhere in the building, um they certainly could be put into use over there. Right now, the 35 side of the building is pretty well covered. So, they have MacBooks and they do have a shared cart of iPads so that if a teacher wants to do a project where an iPad is a more uh useful tool, they have access to that. Do you envision a similar use in that way on the K3 on the K2 side or um I guess because I know they they have a computer lab with iPads currently. Yep. So what would the I guess what what would those
02270 iPads fulfill? What need? So, in addition to the computer lab, um we are our our goal is to have grade level sets on the K2 side, pre-K2 side, um and or classroom sets depending upon how they divvy out. Ideally, I think we want to go for those grade level carts because that way a teacher uh can bring the cart into his or her classroom and have all of the students in that classroom do that. and the teachers here have there's a long history of them sharing carts like that. Um, so does that answer your question? I have a quick question. How does this um come into play with the CBT these devices? So um we did the computer-based testing over on the 35 side using the MacBooks um that we had either so fifth
023grade we rolled out a onetoone MacBook initiative this year. So all those students had their device. Um and then we rotated uh Brian worked the schedule out such that the other grades, grades three and four, we tested, you know, two classes uh simultaneously. We grabbed the carts from the other grade level. So it it was a huge help. Um right now in terms of student testing on the prek2 side of the building, they do the NWA um map growth test and they use the iPads for that because uh the case that we purchase has an integrated keyboard and it's basically the same size as a MacBook keyboard. Anything else? Uh oh. Yeah. I assume the they have um uh pretty significant security as far as So the kids are like there's not like free browser
024access. So these devices are managed in the same way that we manage all of our uh Apple technology. We have a mobile device management system that we use and in that we get to um be very intentional about who gets to go where and use what tools. Anyone else? U I just had a couple couple more follow-up questions. Um I know that um last month we in the community engagement committee was visited by um some parents that were a part of the uh anxious generation book talk and one of the requests from them was they wanted to continue the conversation on screen usage and technology usage in schools and uh speaks one of their uh one one of the things that they wanted to talk about specifically was how it's used in Mil Road um
025because obviously there's a lot of emphasis on screen use and phone use in the secondary level but um you know screens are used in in at Mil Road um and I think some parents at least it's been expressed to me that there's some like confusion over how they're used when they're used and it's maybe not communicated um either at home or coordinated among other teachers. So, um, one thing that I think would be helpful, um, and I think a question that other parents might have is, uh, how specifically will students be using them? And I know there's, you know, there's apps up there that serve educational purposes. Um, and then maybe what what guidance teachers might be given on how they should be utilizing them in the in the in the school. Um, yeah, that's
026that's kind of where where my head's at right now. Does that make sense? Um, yes. Um, so are you asking just for further information about how the devices are currently being used and guidance? Yeah, how they're being used and any guidance or professional development that teachers might have on this. Um, another, this is kind of just a timely moment that this has come up because, um, there was a sheet that came home with my son who's in first grade, um, that had some of, uh, like access to these apps, um, like login things available, which was much appreciated because we're looking at summer as like we want to, you know, keep education rolling. Um, and so he was showing this us this one app and it had a lot of great age appropriate uh activities
027and games. But then I also noticed he gravitated towards some of the activities that I would say are very very yo low yield in terms of educational purposes something that like more mimics like Candy Crush. And so I guess I'm wondering about like the supervision or guidance that teachers might be given on rather than giving a student iPad and saying have fun with this but actually serving a specific educational purpose or part of the curricula. Okay. So can I suggest that we um we continue that conversation when either Dr. Boyd or Mrs. Strothman is available to speak to their messaging to their students. I can tell you from my perspective, um, it's I've never seen a case where where a teacher, especially in the primary grades, would hand devices to students and just say, "Have
028at it." There's a very um guided and purposeful um exercise for anytime they use an iPad. So, I would agree with Donna about that. Um the instructional intent for the use of iPads within or computers in any of our educational settings is structured and directed by teachers. But we can certainly ask Mrs. Strothman and Dr. boy to come and give us an overview of the use of computers within the p primary side of the elementary building and um and we can certainly look at the types of professional development that teachers have been given in the use of technology for that age group. Okay. Yeah, that sounds great. Can I ask a follow-up question? It's somewhat I have a connection to to what you're saying is cuz there is this um plan that it's going to
029be posted on the website. Is the plan inclusive to any of this kind of information or is the plan what we're the presentation that we're seeing now? So what will be posted on the website is a um a hybrid of this presentation and the actual smart schools investment plan that you have to fill out online. Okay. So it's not like specific to our district in our use of those iPads. It's not more information on that side of things. Not really. more schools bond information because that is I think you know a piece that would be helpful I think not just for the board to hear more about but I think for families to understand as this roll out of 70 more iPads comes our way hopefully um that we understand as a district how they're
030being used because maybe that's just information that needs to kind of be channeled towards families more what I'm hearing from that group as well the anxious generation book read which I was a part of. So, so I think that you know touching base with Dr. Boy. Exactly. And we'll get that the next one. Okay. So, now I need um a motion um to approve the smart schools investment plan as it was presented. Motion. Second. All those in favor? Oh, we did just discuss right to call me. I Okay, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, D. Thank you. Um, okay. At this time, we have the uh recognition of visitors. Uh, anyone that wishes to speak, we ask that you use uh state your name and everyone be held to three minutes. Um, we ask that
031you not uh use the name of um any children uh for safety reasons. Um, is there anyone that wishes to speak at this time? All right. All right. So, let's move on. Um, so now we have the assistant superintendent update. Thank you. So, tonight we are very pleased with the work that Dr. Rody has done with his team at the high school with a new partnership. he will do a presentation on this but it is really um hats off to his team. I know it's a lot of hard work and so he will go through the steps that he did and the benefit that'll happen for our families, our students and it's really is an outstanding accomplishment. So Dr. Rody, hello every hello everyone. Good to see everybody. Um so a year ago we were
032getting ready to implement our IB English for all program. Um, and we're really excited and this is kind of me reporting out a year after the fact to kind of give an update on everything. Um, the short and fast is it's going very well. We're very happy, but I'll get a little more granular. Um, and also have some exciting new information that I'll share towards the end of the presentation. Um, so we began this journey because we know that the world is changing and the skills that our students need is evolving with the world. You know, it's no longer about just learning content, but learning skills, critical thinking, innovative problem solving, working with others. And we really identified the international baloria as a program that really gets to the heart of all that. Um, and
033we've had the program here for over 20 years. Um, but it's only been a certain subset of our students that have really engaged on that. So, we decided after doing extensive work and studying, visiting um, other districts to move in to an IB English for all. Um, and on the next slide, we have a um, a quote that that I'm going to put up. Um, it's from an article that was in Forbes earlier this year, and I won't read the quote to feel free to look on. But basically, you know, this person that was writing for Forbes identified that the IB program really gets at, you know, all the things that we want our students to be able to do and it does it in a beautiful, masterful way to raise their global consciousness and
034work well with others. You know, the inquirybased style of instruction that's the cornerstone of IB really does a phenomenal job of helping our students be ready for, you know, everchanging tomorrow. So we began this year and all 11th grade students took IB English um in lie of Regent 11 English. Um and the teachers reported that it was just a wonderful year. Um certainly, you know, it wasn't always easy. You know, it was a shift and I'll talk more about what we're doing in the future to make it kind of an easier landing for students. Um but overall at the end of the year, we only had eight students that weren't didn't pass the class. And historically, like last year, we had five. So such a small differential of students that didn't make it through and
035even those students will be able to attend summer school and get full credit um assuming they you know participate in summer school. But outside of that, the teachers have these beautiful stories of students that maybe were kind of, you know, begrudgingly in the class and, you know, were had a lot of trepidation, but over the course of months where they got comfortable with it, they just came alive and, you know, students that maybe are on a CTE pathway were talking about poetry with their friends and the teachers came upon them. Um, so it went extremely well. Um, and we're just so proud of certainly of our teachers that did an amazing job, but the students as well who really, you know, came into their own and, you know, students that just talk how proud they
036were after doing their end of year projects for their teachers just glowing and brimming full of pride even talking to some parents and saying, you know, I was nervous about this, but my student was so proud at the end of the year. So, we're really proud and I just want to highlight the fact that, you know, Miss Povville and Miss Griffin were the teachers teaching and they're phenomenal educators. They don't give out grades as gifts. If anyone here has ever been in their classes, um certainly they they make students work. So when I say the students were successful, it's because the students worked hard and they were successful alongside fantastic teaching. Um so next year it'll be 12th grade as well because it's a two-year class. So this 11th grade cohort will move into their
037second year and our 10th graders will start their first year in 11th grade, but we're taking steps to strengthen it moving forward. So our ninth and tth grade English classes are electives right now. sports literature, literature and film. A lot of great exciting classes that allow students to have some choice but and really hopefully awaken that love of reading we want to cultivate. Those teachers are all going to IB training. A lot of them already have. So, we're going to spiral down those IB skills in a way where ninth graders and tth graders are going to be doing similar activities in an inquiry based learning style. So, they're really ready to hit the ground running in 11th grade. Um, so I just want to talk overall to the IB program. You know, I mentioned before
038historically it's been really kind of that a very small subset of students by making this change. And there's been some other structural things we've done. We had a parent night for the IB program. We had a student meeting for students interested, but we've seen our number of students that are going full IB diploma um double uh in the last year. And if you look at, you know, this current cohort that just graduated, the class of 2025, they had 23. 23 was the most that we've had since even before 2018 where you know in the you know late uh 2010s and early 2020s 15 high of 20 23 this year but this coming this current junior class that are rising seniors there's 36 of them that have opted to go full IB and 35 rising 10th
039graders have opted to go full IB and that entails a lot of work um that they're essentially volunteering for. you have to take six IB classes, perform a service project, um write an extended essay, and take an additional uh theory of knowledge class. So, we're really just seeing this kind of permeate throughout our building in a really positive way. And if you talk to a senior that's graduating that's earned this, you know, they will say it's rigorous and challenging, but they really look back on it as a formative time in their lives. So, we're very proud of this growth. Yeah. Yeah. A question on the data. Um uh you give projected for 26 and 27. Um if you look back over say the last two or three years um going into uh their junior year
040um how many students initially were planning to go full IB and how many of them completed that versus dropped? It's very rare. You know I think talking I don't have the hard data but in talking to the teachers you know maybe once a year they'll have someone that you know decides not to move forward. Um but this current junior class, we started the year with um 35 kids or 36 kids and we're ending the year with 36 kids. So they finished their full year and they're all moving on. And you know, when you look at the historic data, you know, that average number of students that maybe are your highest achievers, not all of the 36 and 35 students maybe would consider themselves those same high achievers, but all of them have been successful in
041this first year. So we're really proud of our students in that case. Good. Yeah. And then I had one other question. Uh uh you mentioned uh that eight students failed um uh versus five um you know for the prior year um as a comparison. Um did you look at grade distribution and um you know uh you know A's, B's, C's, D's and was that was there any I haven't done a hard analysis because the the end of the year just ended so I haven't been able to dig into that data. Um, you know, I I believe that some kids excelled beautifully the way, you know, they always have. Um, I think some students that might be in the middle might not have been quite as successful, but I I really view it as the experience
042that they're getting, you know, is so much more important than maybe going down two or three points. And I'm not saying that that is an overall trend, but even if it was, you know, one of the things talking to students when they're saying, you know, this this is challenging, you know, Mr. Rody. um you know and when we really have that conversation and say why is it challenging um and we say you know is it the amount of assignments or what what the level of text a lot of it came down to the time management piece that that you know I get assigned this project and it's due in a month and you know then it creeps up and and I think that skill is so important for our graduates. So you know by going
043through this and developing that skill I think it's crucial. Um, I'll be really interested and the data you're talking about I can certainly put together. I'll be really interested in this cohort their senior year after going through it once kind of being held to that level of you know work completion and all that to see you know that now they've hit their stride hopefully and see kind of where it goes from there cuz the excitement that a lot of some of these resistant students were you know showing at the end of the year that level of accomplishment I think really the sky's is going to be limits for them senior year. just add having just gone through the college process that I really consistently heard across multiple colleges at different levels that if you're pursuing
044a four-year degree, admissions officers care more about rigor of the class than the grades. So, they'd rather you take an IV English and get an 85 and take, you know, a lower and get a 99. So, I think that colleges recognize that as well. People are going down a few points. Yeah. No, I understand. And I um uh you know, one thing that you just mentioned uh which I think is very important is that for kids that are collegebound um getting the discipline now um the executive um functioning skills, planning skills, time management um is critical. Um I learned that my freshman year the hard way in college. But uh no, I think I I think that's a a very good aspect of this. So, and a lot of our students that graduate and come
045back and, you know, teachers or myself ask, "How were your classes?" Those that have gone through the IB program are like, "Oh, it was a breeze. IB was much harder than this." Um, but even to your point about, you know, those students going to college, you know, I had a student that I was talking to that wants to work in the excavating industry and they were like, "How's this going to impact things?" But at the end, talking about understanding a deadline and project management, um, so important for any field. So, I'm really proud of all our students that are in this. Just to make one other connection, bringing it back to the Raider profile, I had this conversation with Mrs. Griffin. I think what she observed a lot of too was in that class, in
046those classes, kids supporting kids in a way that they hadn't before. So maybe some of the kids who were, you know, destined for full IB were paired up with kids that maybe were struggling a little bit. And and there was so much, you know, personal development that came out beyond a grade that I think just like really affirms the raider profile. And that and that is like the soft side of this I think is really really important you know just in and above the actual grade like a lot of beautiful connections with you know maybe the kid who's always getting A's in English helping the kid that struggled you know and and pushing each other forward a lot of that. So absolutely and I think it also too I also just went through this with
047my daughter but um the relationship between the instructors, the teachers and the students. How do you approach someone? How do you talk to that person about what can I do better? Um they're always available. So I just think that was a real strength as well. The teachers are are the strength of the program. They're absolutely incredible. Yeah. Right. So want to go to the next slide. So, I am thrilled to announce, you know, historically you could go to college after taking an IB class and maybe get college credit depending on the score you got at the end of that class. Um, you know, the IB exams are on a 1 to seven scale. A lot of colleges require some a five, but a lot of six to be able to get credit, and some colleges
048don't recognize it at all. So, we're happy to announce a new partnership with Sunni Duchess. Starting this year, we are going to be able to consider all of our IB English classes dual enrollment classes. So a student that maybe isn't a great test taker will be able to go through the class and if they pass it they can earn Sunni credit for that class. Um so it's something we're thrilled with. Um if you want to go to the next slide some more information. So you know there are some nuances. So Sunni Duchess requires that to get into their first year English class their 101. A student has a 78 on the regent or a 78 in English. And a lot of our students have a 78 in 10th grade. So they're all good on that.
049Uh, but any student that might not be able not walk in with a 78, we're also going to be allowed the second semester to count. So, we can tell a student, well, you're taking the regents in January, if you get above a 78 on that, or if you work hard the first semester, get above a 78 there, they won't skip a beat and we'll be able to get that credit the second semester. Um, in their senior year, they would get the 102 credit for that class as well. You know, certainly have to pass the class, but we're very excited for this. What about the students from this year who didn't have a 78 in 10th grade? So, the students that were in this cohort that are juniors now, I'm still working through the college. I
050don't think they're going to retroactively give credit for that. Um, you know, it's something I'm advocating for, but because they have their process and they need to essentially vet our faculty and get our faculty signed off as adjunct. Yeah. So, our faculty members have to send their transcripts and their um resumeumés and go through a vetting process, which which I think is a little extreme, but you know, that's the college rules. And other colleges I've worked at in past districts have had similar um requirements. Um so, I think that, you know, my goal is to maybe advocate to see if our going to be seniors can get full credit and consider first semester senior year at 101, second semester senior year 102, which would make them whole with the same amount of credit. But I
051don't want to stand up here and guarantee the college is going to agree to that. Um it makes sense to me when I say it like that. Um because they do it in one semester at the college and for the 101 and another semester for 102. So I think intuitively, you know, I would hope they would consent to that. Um because we want to advocate as much as we can for these kids. Be interesting to see too if if the regent's grades increased at all. I don't know if there'd be any direct impact. Yeah, it's it'll be interesting. I mean, you know, because a lot of our students are going in um already having, you know, above a 78 in in 10th grade, it'll be interesting to see the students that don't, you know, kind
052of to track them and their region's performance to see um there'll be a lot of good data that'll come out of it. Um on the Sunni Duchess credit, um a lot of kids that go to Sunni Duchess, um look to transfer on and their credits transfer on. I assume that if they get credit as Sunni Duchess for the class they took here that would transfer on beyond Sunni Duchess. Yeah, it should. You know, I'm sure there's some nuance programs in the Sunni system that I, you know, I'm not aware of, but overall a Sunni credit should transfer to most Sunni schools. So, the students that are successful should hopefully be exempt from taking that first year English class in college. But it might depend on their major. There are some nuances. you know with dual
053enrollment we really you know try to maximize the opportunities for our students but you know because different schools have different accreditations and different requirements um but because it is Sunni it should be um I would like to say universal but there's always some nuances right okay so are we looking to expand this partnership I mean this is one class and it's great but are we are we looking into more so I think the answer is we always are um this past year we started we had um two new um dual enrollment classes through Sunni Duchess. So our mind body wellness PE class is dual enrollment now and so is psychology um which hadn't been in the past. So we're seeing growth. I'm hoping that by virtue of this it'll get you know that ball rolling
054more and more. Um so I I think it would be powerful and I I would like to see that. I think that covers that. Maybe next slide. Um, so again, you know, our students, they're doing the college level work. You know, that there's no chance that our IB classes are less rigorous than what they're doing in a 101 class. Um, you know, I would argue in some ways ours might be more rigorous in terms of the critical thinking. You know, not work for work, but work that makes you really think about it. Um, so we're really excited that these students who are working hard can get recognized for that. And you know, I just want to give a shout out to the team that did this, you know, Miss Griffin, Miss Decker, Miss Poval, Miss
055Lynch, and certainly our district leadership, um, and this board as well for always being supportive of the high school's initiatives. So, so, and I'd like to extend a really heartfelt thank you for Dr. Rod's leadership at the high school to continue to move our instructional program forward focused on students all students and really use utilizing the strength of his faculty to move our initiatives forward in a very future focused manner. So thank you so much for your hard work for that and extend the thank you to your team. It's a good team. Yeah. Thank you. Good job. Thank you. Okay. So, we're going to take a moment and ask Dr. Hayes to report out on facilities. Sure. So, um we started our project that was approved, our capital project was approved in October, which was
056included the um gymnasium renovations at the high school, the column work at the Lynon Avenue School and lockdown buttons. So, we began the demolition at the beginning of June. All of the old bleachers are out. Um they were able to tear down the what was remained of the old stage. They built the al cove which will hold the fifth set of bleachers which Mr. Casada would like to use for the red zone. So that is all complete. We actually were able to get all the painting done too which was great because we could bring in the machines on the old floor so we wouldn't ruin the new floor before it went in. Um right now they're scheduled to finish the abatement on July 14th. So at that time they can start the construction of the
057new floor. Um so everything should be complete except the bleachers which I had mentioned at the facilities committee the last time they have been ordered. Um they are custom to our colors. There will be some logos on the bleachers. So I don't have an estimated delivery date. There is a possibility we start school with a new gym floor but we might have to shut down the gym for a few days to install the bleachers depending on delivery time. We did start work on the front columns at Lambs that started um the beginning of this week. actually it should be done by the end of July. So as I had shared they found that there were no structural issues which was great. So we did reinforce the bottom which was rotted out with PVC um painted
058them and then we were really mindful of restoring them to their original look. Although it's not a building that's considered a historical site. It could qualify for such in the future. So we did go through those permissions to be able to restore it. And the tile um that's on that front area. some of those tiles were broken where the granite is. We're redoing that as well. If approved tonight, um there is on the consent agenda a recommendation for day automation. They are the ones that will install the lockdown buttons. If you remember, there'll be buttons in each of the three buildings in the hallway that anybody can press, similar to a fire alarm, that will put the entire building on lockdown. We were able to negotiate down the price, so we were able to add
059an extra four buttons in addition to the 10 that we had already designated. So, we should have 14 at every building, which was great. And those will be strategically located in all of the hallways, so they're accessible by students and staff alike. Um, and our EV buses are being built, the ones that were just approved for um the in the last May vote, those are being built as we speak. Welcome. Um, so our next is um the summer board of ed retreat. Can I take this? Yeah. Yes, you can. My parting act. Um, does July 31, just to kind of close the last email loop, does July 31st at say 4:30 work as a date and a start time for everybody? Do I have a motion? Does that work for everybody? Does that work? Does
060that work for because we didn't like where's my family? Yes. July. Does that work for you, Jen? In the vicinity. Start time is 4:30 somewhere in a location in the vicinity. Oh, yeah. It'll be Yeah, it'll be making sure you guys can figure out um and I think there was talk about a moderator, but you know, I'll I'll leave that to the new officers to figure out. Yeah. So, it probably be here. I think we had it in the we had it in the library last time. 35 library probably something like that. Is that work for you? That that should be fine. The time. Anyone else? Okay. So, we got a date. All right. Can we get a motion? No. All right. Well, then 31st at 4:30ish. All right. And what's that? Did great. That
061was great. Sure. We got a date. I didn't want to leave that left un unresolved. Yeah. Next um six um insurance renewal for the board. Um this is about the um existing insurance. Um there is an increase uh for the same coverage but I think groups can answer any questions on that. Right. or Sharon, I'm not sure if anyone if y'all went through that if anyone had Bruce had run this by me um and explained it to me. And I think Bruce, it might be helpful if you just gave the board like a a quick 60sec or whatever. Um uh because there were there were two options to consider there. Um so um we we have been with the New York insurance school insurance reciprocal for uh quite a bit of time. They're really are
062only two players in the state that you can consider. It's the New York school insurance reciprocal. Um and then Udica National offers a lot of school insurance. Um we have really been believers in the New York school reciprocal. Um they have been experiencing some measure of fiscal difficulty over the last uh couple of years. primarily because of the Child Victims Act. Um, but they still would appear to be the better of the two choices. We did attempt to shop. Uh, Utica National we estimated would have been about $100,000 more for similar coverage than Nicer. Um, we did attempt to shop. We probably couldn't have locked down a Udica National uh deal before July 1. And at the June 12th board meeting, we still didn't have the nicer renewal either. So, you all gave me the
063authority to re-engage the nicer uh when it came through. It did come through at a fairly substantial increase. We will be slightly above budget um but not too much above budget and we will be maintaining the coverages that we have historically had and we'll continue to watch this as as time goes by. So, with that, I would take questions. That brings us to our next um the proposed calendar uh change the graduation date from the 27th to the 20th. Fully support. Okay. Fully do we get Yeah. So let's get a motion on that first. Motion. Second. Fully support. Okay. Now fully support. Does anyone else have any concerns, comments, and okay with that? Was it Was it well received? I think so. You have to keep in mind there's military kids that leave like immediately.
064So, this just gives another week with their families. Um, kids who play sports at their colleges sometimes have to leave the same place. So, yes, people are going to college orientations that next week. So, I think it's super smart. Right. You had a great time. Had a beautiful day. Um so all those in favor I All right. And that brings us to our consent agenda. Um items 1 through 16. Um can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Um any discussion on any of those? All right. All those in favor? I um are there any opposed? I'm going to abstain just because I haven't seen any of it. So I don't want to vote on anything I haven't read. All right. All right. And now to um the personnel agenda. Um items 1 through 24. Kelly,
065there's we have to make one amendment on item 21 for the department chairs and coordinators. Oh, go ahead. Um is are we up for discussion? Okay. So, thank you Dr. Hayes. Um Yeah. Can I get a motion on um the personnel items quickly? Motion. Second. All right. Okay. We have one amendment due to a um resignation on the department chairs, coordinators, and liaison. So, it would be for the music department chairperson. Um that person has resigned from our district um at the end of this month. So, we'll repost for that position and hopefully bring someone forward to the board for August. Any anyone? All right. Uh, all those in favor? I and opposed. And then, uh, Kitty's going to make a few comments. Yay. Okay. So, I would like to take a few moments for
066some of the personnel agenda items. Um um the retirement of Diane Koik is someone that is truly valued in this district. She has 25 years of dedicated service to our district. She works with our employees and our retirees. She is such a pleasant person to work with. She supports my office as we post academic positions all the way to the hiring of new facility of new faculty members. She has outstanding work ethic. She's extremely accurate and always has a welcoming smile when you pop into her office. So, she will be truly truly missed and hard to replace. So, I'd also like to ask u Mr. Martin to speak of her service to our district. Thank you. Um, so when Dr. Summers asked me if I could speak, my first reaction was, I don't even have
067to write anything down because Diane is so awesome. I could probably talk for an hour about her. Um, so I have two challenges. First of all, not to muck it up when I don't have notes. And, uh, secondly, not to talk for an hour. But, uh, Diane has been with us for 25 years. Um her title is personnel assistant. The core of her duties is she handles employee employee benefits and that in and of itself is probably more than a full-time job. Um but because um her title is personnel assistant by the wisdom of civil service, just about anything that has anything to do with any employee or retiree ends up passing by Dian's desk. Um, so she handles all of that just so professionally and so meticulously. It's probably saved the district hundreds of
068thousands of dollars over the years by the by the detail work that she puts in. Um, but beyond that, maybe the other thing about Diane is I have frequently become privy to notes that she gets from retirees or from active employees with that she has helped either with a routine issue or maybe a far more difficult issue. And they are always glowing with praise, which makes me really happy that she is the face of the district for so many employees and so many retirees. and she just gets praise after praise after praise for how she interacts with uh with those folks on those issues. So, thank you to her and she's going to be a really hard uh person to to fill. Thank you, Mr. Burton. I would also like to spend a moment to
069talk about Matt Bunachello, who has been with our district for 11 years. He has been a teacher leader and um I have worked closely with Max the last number of years. He is an outstanding teacher but he's also leads his department um in a future focused manner. He's student leadership has been instrumental in supporting uh cont uh continuum for criculum projects for the experience that students have during their time with us through um music and the creativity of music. He will be missed. I will miss him. I will miss his humor and his optimist his optimistic attitude. Um, and I'm I'm sure the experience he has had at Red Hook will certainly support his administrative career in a very positive manner. He's been has done really a great job here at Red Hook. So, we
070thank him for his time with us and we wish him the very best of success in his next stepping stone into administrative um experience. So, that is we'll miss him. So any I don't know if anybody else um and I have one last I would like to take a moment to welcome Haley Kiggins to our elementary team. She will be teaching grade four. She stepped in mid year when we had a teacher go out and did an outstanding job and we really appreciate that she chose to stay with us apply and she was our successful candidate and we are so pleased so pleased to welcome her to our district. She will make a true impact on our students and our faculty and we're just thrilled to have her. So welcome Haley. That's great. Um, congratulations.
071Uh, so next we'll do um policy review and approval. I'm going to divide this up just a little bit. So if we can get um a motion for items 1 through five. Motion second. Uh all those in Oh, wait. Do I need to discuss? Yeah. Is there any discussion on one through five policies one through, you know, numbers one through five? I'm just going to abstain again just because I haven't read any of them. So, I don't want to. All right. So, all those in favor? I. All right. And then um we will go to item number six uh which is the second read approval um to the new policy 7316. Um can I get a motion uh for that? Motion. Second. Right. Is there any um discussion on that? Um I just wanted to
072um make a few suggestions for that policy. Um, I know this is a a new districtwide policy and with adopting this we're abolishing policy 7312 which is specific to um kindergarten through 5th or prek through 5th. Um so for that reason I just wanted to make sure that it's clear that this policy covers the whole of the district and wanted to suggest that we make um add some language into this that states that. So instead of it just saying students that it say like prek through 12th grade students or district a district-wide policy or something like that that at least designates that more clearly. Um so that was one suggestion. Um, the other thing is that in this policy as it reads right now, it only really gives a plan for what the middle school
073and the high school students will do with devices, personal devices, um, by putting them in their lockers, but it leaves out what the plan will be for prek through fifth grade students. Um, and since they don't have lockers, I think we need to kind of be specific and saying what will happen with their smartwatches or whatever they might have. Um, so I just wanted to put those two things forward to everyone. Yeah. And I just had a quick question. This is probably from Mr. Rody. I've gotten some direct feedback from students that nobody uses their lockers and it will cause people to be late. You think that's nonsense or I know a lot of kids travel right from but like there's a lot of last minute rushing to use their lockers have to use the
074microphone. I think it is accurate that the students don't use their lockers but everyone has a locker with a combination. I think that the first morning or two when the students have to, you know, kind of retrain themselves to use that combination, it'll be an adjustment, but based on the policy, they're not allowed, and this is at the state level, they can't even go in and out of their lockers and check their phone during the day. So, it's literally going to be you walk in the door, you go to their your locker, you drop it off, and then you go to class. So, I think that, you know, we release the kids in the morning at a certain time. if we see that causing a backlog of, you know, everyone at their locker at the
075same time, I'm sure we could release them an extra minute early or something. Um, but I think, you know, the way the kids walk in to just stop at a locker real quick, drop everything off. I I don't think it's going to cause an issue. Um, I would encourage students to utilize their lockers more because these poor kids have these huge backpacks. Um, time issue. They don't feel like they have enough time in between class. I don't know. Oh, I think that maybe during COVID people weren't really supposed to use their lockers because of being in proximity. So, these students lived that and just kind of never walked away from that in their minds. Um, they all have like back trouble with Yeah. No, I I understand what I understand what Kate's saying. Uh um,
076you know, my daughter said she never uses her locker because Yeah. because it's like a long walk to I think things will settle and it'll just become new. Uh but that enforcement is going to be crucial and even I have to change my practice. You know, if I'm on the far end of the building and I and I'm expecting an email, I might take out my phone in the hall and check my email. I have to lead by example. So my phone's going to be in a desk in my office. Um and certainly we would you know expect you know any adult in the building would be doing the same technical side of the house. We are doing a major shift in how we've provided wireless access to students in our so um many of
077us have cell phone plans where being in these concrete bunkers that we call school buildings you have very little service. We are going to set up our wireless access such from bellto bell there is no open network. There is no ability for students to connect personal devices to our wireless, which is not me saying they're not going to be able to still connect using their data plans, but it is going to be a big shift in practice from the waysued wireless personal wireless IDs to students allowed them to connect personal devices. Thank you. So, let's just circle back. So, um collectively as a board, do we agree to the changes um that Jennifer proposed? Um where will those or do we want to vote on this policy as it is? Have by August 1st? I
078think we need to vote on uh the policy with the changes that Jen suggested if we're all in favor of those because we because we have another board meeting before the first. So, we need to have we need to we need to approve a policy tonight. That's correct. But but so what we're asking though is where is she where are we putting these changes? And now use of internet enabled devices during this for prek through 12. Yeah, the subject could be there or in the first sentence just internet enabled device. Yeah, satisfy. What was Oh, the other one is Yeah. Where do the prek through fifth graders store their devices? Like what is going to be the plan for them so that it's not like left up to teachers to have to figure out what
079that is on a daily basis? Um and maybe that requires a little input input from Dr. Boyd or And so I did discuss this with Mrs. Strathman today. Okay. I did ask her about the level of interference cell phones have at the prek through five educational um environment and she said this past year there was one phone out that they had to deal with and in her time here this past year there was um an two incidents with a watch. So it's very very limited. But as I discussed this with her um fifth graders do have lockers that we discussed that we would um find a way to have some type of lockbox for um students. We do need to discuss this further with Dr. Boyd but the understanding was that it would be clearly
080communicated to families what the expectation was with this policy and also that there would be some system put in place. So, I think we could add to the um on-site storage of internet enabled devices including cell phones that we could say that the elementary the prek through five would uh secure cell phones in a locked device in a whether it's in the office or on site. Yeah, I can't specifically um answer. So, and then if we're going to approve the policy, um I think we need to be careful not to like have a policy that um yeah, we can't p Yeah. So I I think and and it sounds like since there's so there's so few cases maybe the language for K through five is um uh and the the K through five will um
081implement appropriate procedures to um uh secure to for for for to store for to store devices during the day something like that. Yeah. Yeah. So, so we don't we don't put into place some rigid thing that like you know Yeah. Good point. So that Yeah, I think that's Yeah. Guess then it just leaves it open to like what's appropriate and who's making that call. I think is it Dr. void that's making that ch decision every like just to make sure we're clear because it's is it the teachers that have to make that decision on the fly when these things present themselves and I don't think we should also base it on how many incidents there have been this is a policy that just needs to be in place just you know yeah since they don't
082have lockers um and I don't think we want to get lock boxes for how many classrooms throughout the building um I think that Dr. Boyd can probably develop an appropriate policy. And I think and if we can put that in as the policy now, this is it does. We can always come back and have more discussion on this. We just need to approve the policy tonight so it's in by the Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, if it turns out there's a problem in the middle school and we need to make the use lock boxes, we can, you know, that's that's for uh 6 through 12 and I think we could say for K through 12. sexual. They they do have lockers, but they're in their classrooms. Um, and they disclose. So, through 12 will use lockers.
083Students fit through 12 who have access to lockers will store them in lockers. Oh, they're just like lock. So, 6 through 12, they have lockers. And then for K through five, um, uh, the language that was mentioned earlier, and then we can touch base with the building um, administrators if there's any changes that we need to make. Anything else? All right. Do we have a motion? I mean, uh, uh, yeah. All those in favor? I I I. So that brings us to um policy um 7 through nine. Um can I get a motion? Motion second. Any discussion on those policies? Um all those in favor? Any opposed? And then um can we get a policy I mean a motion to adjourn the meeting? Second. All those in favor. Anyone opposed? No. All right. Thank you.
084Thank you, Kelly. Good job. Thank you. And Kelly, you did great. You did a really great job though the last few years. So, thank you. Oh jeez.