Board of Education Meeting - March 3, 2026

001All right. Good evening. Thank you for joining us for the March 3rd board of education meeting. If you could all join me with a pledge to the flag. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> And we will start this evening with a report of the superintendent, Dr. Murray. Thank you. Good evening and welcome to the March 3rd Board of Education meeting. I hope everyone had a restful winter break and stayed safe during the recent snowstorm. I want to extend my sincere thanks to our custodial team for their outstanding work clearing our lots and sidewalks to ensure a safe and smooth return to school. As I shared my weekly community

002update, we now have utilized our three allotted snow days. However, due to the state's waiver of February 23rd, we effectively regained one uh one snow day. As a result, school will be closed on May 22nd and open on April 3rd. If we use our remaining snow day and possibly any additional days beyond that, we will shift to our remote instruction plan. Should that become necessary, we will communicate clearly and promptly with families so everyone knows exactly what to expect. We're all hopeful that spring weather is right around the corner and this won't be needed. That said, moving forward, if we exceed our scheduled snow days in future years, we will utilize our remote learning plan to ensure continuity of instruction. Tonight, we continue our presentation on the proposed budget for the 20 for the 2026

0032027 school year. This evening, we will learn about the curriculum and PPS and special education segments of the budget. On March 10th, we will learn about the technology portion of the budget, followed by athletics and facilities on March 24th. On March 24th, we will also hold the second of two open topics forums we we offer each year. We hope members of the community will join us to ask questions and provide feedback on our proposed budget thus far. Our winter athletics teams are now in postseason play and we are incredibly proud of how they are representing Rye. And wrestling, Jason Gaylord and Jack Anderson each finished 2-2 at states, demonstrating tremendous effort and determination. In hockey, the team battled hard but came up just short in overtime, falling 3-2. With section one holding that large bid

004this year, their season continues. They will travel to Rochester on Saturday to face Aquinus. Our girls basketball team was defeated by Austin in the in the sectional semi-finals, closing out an outstanding season marked by resilience and teamwork. Meanwhile, the boys basketball team defeated Suffren in the semi-finals and now advances to the section finals. They they will take they will take on Clarkstown North on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the county center. We congratulate all of our student athletes and coaches on their dedication and wish our remaining teams continued success. This weekend, the Parson Street players will bring lay miz to the stage. Performances are on Friday at 700 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m. We hope you'll join us to support our talented students and enjoy what promises to be an outstanding production.

005And that concludes my report for this evening. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh we will now move on to presentation and discussion number one and we will start with our budget presentations. Uh Dr. Murray uh the presentation this evening is on um is all of our instructional programming as it relates to the budget. Uh so this is our curriculum instruction uh including our instructional technology. We have Caitlyn Sassone here, our director of technology um to present as well and also our PPS and special education. Um and under that umbrella, we have Seth Bushing here, who's our um director of school counseling and student wellness. So, uh they are joining Dr. Reinberg and Miss Santa Barbara tonight. So, Lauren, hand it over to you. Good evening. Thank you to Dr. Murray and the board of education for

006the opportunity to present the instructional programming for programming for 2026 to 2027 school year. Together, Dr. Reedenberg, Dr. Caitlyn Cone, and Mr. Seth Bushing and I will share our key focus areas um for next year as well as the proposed budget which will support these initiatives. So when building the budget for next year, we do this with the entire um Ry commitment in mind. So usually we highlight a focus area and then we speak to that. But when we build out the budget and we look at our instructional programming and our curriculum, we really use the entire Ry commitment because that is the promise that we have to our faculty, our staff and our community. So things that we are dedicated to specifically is academic and social emotional development, an environment that is equitable and

007inclusive for our students, and that we are grateful to our families, faculty, and staff for an education of the highest of national and state standards. Here are the key areas of focus for the 2025 2026 school year. So these are the focus areas that we're currently working on and these really serve as the foundation um for the initiatives that we are building off of for next year. So these are the instructional and the instructional technology components. Later in the presentation you will hear from pupil services and they will um really define theirs as well but they are threaded together. So some that we are currently working on um to date and to really and you presentations that you've heard is the AI literacy AP capstone researchbased professional learning. Um at the curriculum council we have

008certainly spoke about the um international balora program library crosswalk um abinios and the math continuum and studio art. And we also um started the um first position of the STEM program for the elementary buildings. and we're going to talk about that a little later as we talk about building out that program. These are our key focus areas for 2026 and 2027. So, we're currently still working on the key areas from this current year and we will continue that for next year, but these are also focus areas that are going to build off of them. So, we have um the alignment to the strategic plan that Dr. Murray has presented previously. So student engagement, voice and instructional technology area focus of curriculum development, instructional programs, professional development, special education, social emotional learning and AI integration. So

009first you may notice on the left side of the slides is an alignment to the district's strategic plan. Under each component of the plan, such as empowering students, you will see the focus area that connects to that component. Specifically from this slide, the focus area is to increase student voice and decision-m. Throughout the presentation, you will see the components and the aligned focus area for each topic that we share with you this evening. So this year, the high school administration recognized several student clubs that engage in competitions throughout the region, and they want to better support our students specifically in areas of great interest. Therefore, Mr. Harrow worked with our students to create eight academic teams at Ry High School. These academic teams offer tremendous opportunities to our students on a wide variety of skills

010and challenges. The academic teams are in that chart. So we first have what we call DECA which stands for distributive education clubs of America. We then have engineering model UN speech and debate robotics rhythm on rye mathletes and science olympiad. Some of these names you may recall as student clubs. So what the budget is going to support is the transition from student clubs to student academic teams. And what that really means is the administration has predetermined competitions, travel, and supplies in order to support each one of these academic teams. So I'm going to go through what each academic team does and really what the nature of their competition is in order to offer these opportunities to our students. So that first club is DECA and students will compete in a regional competition in Rockland County

011and advance to the New York State Career Conference in Rochester. This is a academic team that aligns really nicely with um our business courses. So we see a connection from the business courses that we have which is um heavily sought after and students having this club as an attachment to that and they're going to participate in role plays and business case studies um events against students from across the state. >> Next we have model UN >> sorry. So is this a club that is currently in existence? >> Not yet. This will be brand new for the fall 26 27. >> So my apologies. So some of these are current student clubs that we are transitioning. Some of them are new for September. >> So this will be a brand new one. Yes. >> Um and

012so it's only at the high school. >> Yes. >> Okay. And it'll be something that all students have an opportunity to sign up to participate in. Is it a do you have to try out for it? It's >> No, it's open. Um it just it has a nice tie to the business courses. I think that's where we're going to have a lot of our interest from. Um but it is open to all and please feel free to ask questions throughout. Um the next one is model UN which will attend local conference at Hackley School, travel to Syracuse for a larger statewide conference and participate in at least one additional national level conference where students represent countries and debate global issues in a simulated UN committee. Our next team is robotics. Miss Santa Barbber, sorry. I

013think it it would just be helpful to just if you could indicate where it is a new club where it's an existing so like model UN is a current club current >> the only >> sorry >> the only new club was DECA >> DECA >> okay so all okay thank you yes >> uh robotics team will use funding for essential supplies and compete locally at Ry country day school with an additional regional competition at a location um that has yet to be determined as they design build and program their robot for head-to-head challenges is the next one is mathletes will participate in online team competitions requiring entry fees which we will supply while also competing in free national contests such as the purple comet math meet collaborating virtually to solve complex mathematical problems under timed

014conditions. The next team we have is the engineering team, which builds, designs, and tests launch model rockets as part of the American Rocketry Challenge, the world's largest student rocketry competition, using funds for supplies and entry fees to compete in a year-long STEM challenge. Next we have is speech and debate. Speech and debate students will compete in regional tournaments throughout the year with funding supporting team entry fees and hiring of qualified judges when hosting these competitions. Then we have Rhythm on Ry. This is a championship of high school ac capella competition series including regional travel following their recent third place finish in Troy, New York. And last we have Science Olympiad. This is um also another academic team that is um connected to science research. So that course supports the academic team. And science olympiad will

015compete in a regional tournament in the lower Hudson Valley Westchester area where students participate in hands-on lab events, engineering challenges, and academic tests across multiple STEM disciplines. Students can also enter into Regeneron Contest, which is a national competition that I'm going to speak about a little later. and the 2026 2027 proposed budget not only supports these teams but the predetermined competitions um for travel and supplies. So this is a really exciting opportunity to support our students as you can see in a wide variety of interests that also tie into their co-curriculars. Sorry. Um, so just a just to get a sense is the is the idea that the district is funding 100% of entry fees, travel, um, supplies for for all of the clubs. So what Mr. Harro did was he met with each club

016team >> and they sorry team sorry >> he met with the students and they worked on a predetermined formula. So basically each um team if they have two competitions >> okay >> we will support those um financially if the team presents further than that like so we have a set budget up into a point. >> Okay. >> And then if it's further than that um you know that's our budget for it but we would need to talk at that point. >> Okay. And then is there um and this may I'm assuming it was based on the numbers of of students who currently participate. So if those numbers grow then that would also have to be a conversation of how how we uh approach it. Yeah. So the the seven that are already established we use

017those numbers to predetermine that. Um DECA when we've talked to um it's a chapter. So when we talked to the person who helped us establish a chapter DECA tends to be a very large group. >> Okay. >> So we would have to watch the funding for that. >> Okay. And um because seven of eight of these were previously already clubs, now they're transitioning to teams. The um monies for supervision of these teams, coaching of these teams is also already in the existing budget for 2627. >> Great. >> Okay. Uh and now I would like to welcome Dr. Cone who's going to speak to our AI literacy. >> Good evening everyone. Thanks for having us. Um we are super excited to be discussing more about the AI literacy. I know we've talked about this at length

018this year, but it's so exciting to really see the progression that we've made as a district with our faculty, our staff, and now even encompassing our students when we talk about AI. um to ground the conversation a little bit. Two years ago, we just started to think about AI was this big term that was coming out and as a district, we were thinking like where does this even fit in our world? What would this look like? How do we integrate this with our faculty? And two years later, we've made such huge strides. So, it's exciting to see the work that we're starting to plan for for the 2627 school year. Um we've done a lot of work in terms of prepping our teachers um to really think thoughtfully about how this could be integrated into

019teaching and learning. Um and as Dr. Murray has worked on our strategic plan with us thinking about empowering students. The focus and the areas that we really want to continue to touch upon in the next school year is really thinking about the course integration and making sure that we are making connections to our critical thinking, the collaboration, the creative problem solving and effective communication with AI. Um, so we are always going to continue the work in terms of educating all of our faculty and staff and supporting their needs from a professional learning side which you'll hear a little bit later. Um but we are really ready to start delving into the work even deeper um in the coming school year. This year we've done a lot of work in grades um 6 through 12 at

020the elementary school really in fifth grade um and then in the high school as well. And so next year we are going to continue that partnership with our consultants with our coaches um and our building level leaders to really look at units of study and even um grow that impact even more. So, for an example, in our fifth grade, this year, we've done a lot of work around um feedback in certain units for um ELA and we've really looked at Magic School as one of our tools to enhance the work and feedback of students. And so, through a tool called Magic School in a room that our teachers have used, um they've really been able to educate and teach students how to get feedback using AI appropriately. Um and how can that support the work

021and the writing and the reading that we are doing? um we've been creating chat bots at the uh younger grades with this work and it's just great to see the progression that they've made in conversations with teachers and with students then now the thinking forward is where other um natural places does this fit in other units of study that we are doing across different content areas and so as I said continuing that partnership with our coaches and our consultants to really integrate it in the professional learning that we're doing um two years ago I would say that some of our professional learning just focused on AI because we were just learning the heart of it. And now we were able to really sit down thoughtfully to say it's not a separate conversation of AI and

022math. It's not a separate conversation between AI and literacy. It's integrated into um the whole learning for a child. And so that's been really helpful for us to delve into um at the um elementary level. In addition, we've also touched upon AI in our library media classes. So, this is a great place because all of our students take library and so fourth and fifth graders this year had an opportunity to really have conversations about digital citizenship and AI. Um, they had the ability to think about responsible use AI. So, really looking at the guidelines that we've created and made lessons that are age appropriate for fourth and fifth graders to say, what does this look like for my own learning? Um, what are the inputs and outputs of AI? how can I um explain or

023how do I think carefully about what AI is showing me and is it something that I can use um you know how do I describe it um how do I evaluate it to make sure that the information that is giving me is correct. So our library media specialists have been working really hard to start having these preliminary conversations with our students and the goal is to continue that work into um the younger grades next year adding third grade on and even going deeper into the additional lessons. So, we've done two lessons this year. Um hoping to expand into two more next year and some of the topics that we're looking at is um really about input and output for um the areas that you're going to get when using AI. So, having kids really understand

024what they put into the program, the criteria, the questioning, the things that they ask it will only be as good as the output that they get. Um so, just some areas within library that we've touched upon. We are also working um next year to plan with our high school to really look at AI literacy um hopefully in um some high school courses preferably 9th grade that will impact all students. And so next year is going to be a planning phase for us to work with the high school um Mr. Har, our English department, Miss Santa Barbara to really say what course can we really impact some of these skills into and to continue that learning and develop a course for all students. Um just because the course hasn't been developed yet does not mean we

025are not using AI across the board in a lot of content areas in classes currently. Um so you'll see in science classes Notebook LM being used heavily. You'll see teachers using Magic School, you'll see Gemini at the upper grade levels. These are all platforms that we subscribe to. Um and it's with been a lot of professional learning of the work of our coaches. Um the work that we've done at faculty meetings with teachers um to really build this apart. um our coordinators have been instrumental in this work um to plan for their department. So it's just going to be a continuation of growing the knowledge and the skill set for our students and also our faculty. Um we highlight on this on this uh software chart for you some of the tools that we currently

026have access to. Um while some are just teacherf facing like diffit um and it is a tool that we've subscribed through for a long time all of these tools because they came out so early on have now grown instrumentally right so the names may look very familiar to you but a lot of the um features that they offer have grown exponentially so we're constantly training and learning ourselves of all the new tools and to give you an example diffit is one of the tools that has been instrumental for us from a humanity standpoint um for the last 2 years um last month they just launched a huge platform for mathematics and so now it's something our math department who kind of always struggles with the use of AI um from a teacher landscape has been

027really excited to delve into to see how can this also support the work that they're doing. So again, I just preface the name sounds similar um and we haven't grown in numbers of the tools that we're using, but every tool that we do offer is constantly making improvements and enhancements. And as those develop and we look really into how they can support teaching and learning, we're deciding the age appropriateness for the students and who engages with that tool. >> Dr. Um, if I were to um I want to ask this in a way that's not leading the witness. Um, to hear your to hear your presentation or to hear you talking about kind of uh where you're going, it could lead one to feel as if AI was pretty heavily embedded in a lot of

028the instruction that is currently taking place. So could you help me better understand really from a percentagewise how much are we talking about about AI being how my kids are learning what my kids are doing what my teachers kids my my kids kids teachers are doing because for some AI is exciting and for others it is very concerning so I'd really like to try to help level set for our community kind of where we are. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a great question. I should have prefaced and I will now. So, thank you. Um, it's always done with purposeful intention, right? And so, I think that's across the board with any technology that we're using in the district. It is not all day. It's not every day. It's the right time in the right place

029um for students to be exposed to it. And there are opportunities where students can use rooms that we have set up if they want some support in it. And there's other opportunities to do it in other ways, right? So, it's not something that we are talking or drilling all day long. Um, when opportunities come up where teachers may allow it in assignments or different activities that they're engaging, we want to make sure kids are educated on how to use it thoughtfully. And so, that's why a lot of the work for teachers and professional learning has been on what does this look like and how could it be used to support instruction. Um, but I would say that it is not something that is done every day all day. Um, for example, in fifth grade, we

030just did some work on um, one of the units of study and students were using it midway to get some feedback in a room um, as teachers was they were conferencing with their students, but students could also use the AI to get some feedback. It was for one unit of study. Um, so they have several that span the entire year. Um, but it is not something that is done all day. We really make sure it fits the needs of the teacher, of the student, and it's there as a resource. um it's not replacing anything. Um it could just be there as an enhancement if need be. >> Great. So when we talk about this um AI literacy class, >> uh tell me more about that because I'm pretty sure we're not talking about like a

031robot teaching the nth grade literacy class. So what's what kind of thoughts because it's not developed. So what are you all thinking about? >> Yeah, I think it's I and jump in. Um, I think it's an opportunity to while we are teaching the responsible use and ethical use and how to use AI to our students to have an actual class that students all students can hear the same common language and get the same background is why we're thinking of like something in 9th grade where all students are getting that learning in that grade level. Um, and it won't be done in pockets, but in there it would be like some other technology in terms of what are the benefits, how could it be used, exposing them to different platforms or tools. Um, and really going

032through like the ethical and responsible use of the AI and what does that look like as an end user from a learner? Um, how could it be utilized in college? Really just giving them the foundational skills that they need um to really understand the power of the technology and what it offers. >> So, what we're looking at for next year is the planning phase for a possible course to be implemented in 2728. And I'm going to speak about this a little later in the presentation, but right now in our current schedule, there's a course that can really serve as a touchstone piece for all students because we know students are coming into the high school on various levels of knowledge of AI. So the idea is to make sure that we provide from our viewpoint

033and our philosophy a baseline for students to understand AI and the tools that are offered to them so that every student has equal opportunity to grow past that. So, we want to make sure that we are educating our own students on AI use through this course because also with that with the portrait of the graduate from New York State, we're also required to offer personal literacy standards and curriculum as well. So, we're looking to see if we can tie these two things together along with the portrait of a graduate and an assessment that I'm going to speak about a little later. So, it's really designing this course to see if it can be a touchstone piece for our freshmen. So along those same lines, um, and you you mentioned it briefly, but the AI guidelines

034that were developed last year, >> um, feels like a lot longer ago. Uh, that's a that's a very comprehensive document about the approach the district is taking with how AI um, should be used in an educational setting. And I think we that was a lot of intention was put into framing that and creating it. Um and clearly that would be a foundational piece for this ninth grade class. How are we using that in moments where we have our younger students cuz they're being introduced earlier >> and it you know and I think based on on what you had said Dr. zone for the um the amount that students are are um being exposed to AI like on a on any given school day or week or month. It's going to be with intention and and

035and for a purpose. So, it may not be a consistent across the board um activity or or part of their school day, but how are we integrating those pieces into that work for the younger students? And then potentially, do we see at some point an earlier or maybe several types of >> iterations of this foundational um kind of instruction developmentally appropriate as we're first introducing later? You know, I I I'm just sort of thinking off, you know, off my thoughts now from what you've said. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. So, at the elementary level, what we did in in library media, because that was one of our first places to say all of our students will get that baseline as uh Dr. Samber suggested um for fourth and fifth grade. And so, we really took those

036guidelines this year as a department and really honed into them and then designed a responsible use lesson for third and fourth grade that mirrored more to students and their understanding of what we wrote for the community, for adults, um and how could students digest that. So that was almost like our ry commitment if you will to say this is going to be our baseline. This is what we believe in. This is what the district is carrying out. How do we tailor that to a style of learning that will be appropriate for fourth and fifth grade? And that is where one of our third lesson is on responsible use for AI. And so it just paired it down a little bit but they have all learning activities where they have to define what is AI to

037them. Why is it is important to think carefully about the use of AI? Um how could I use it? how do I evaluate to make sure that the information and the facts that it is providing me are actually real. Um, we talk about bias and perspective with all of that. So, we really tried to take the heart of that document and pair it down at the younger grade levels. Um, and we'll continue that work even early on. Um, and that's not to say just cuz we're having conversations that the younger grades will even be on AI, right? Um, we're using it through literature, we're using it through stories, we're creating hands-on activities for the students. Um, so just cuz we're talking about it too, I I don't want it to sound like we're putting our

038youngest learners on AI. We're just starting the vocabulary and the language and the conversation with them. So by the time they get into fourth and fifth grade, it's not the first time that we heard it. >> I think that's a great distinction to make because again, so much of this is changing so quickly. Um, and I think there's, you know, the concerns that that float around out in the ether around AI aren't necessarily about the platforms that we're talking about here, but others. And so, it's being very specific, I think, about what we're actually talking about doing is going to be really helpful for the community at large to understand the approach that we're trying to take. So, I appreciate that level of distinction. We use a scope and sequence for uh digital citizenship for

039library media. That's one of our areas of focus now in library. And so all of the lessons that we've now paired K through 5 with that in the upper grades have an AI connection. Um but it's through those conversations of digital citizenship and appropriate use um and screen time and ethical use that we've now just added in the AI. Not that it's a separate lesson, but it's just integrated in what we've currently what we've been teaching. I'm sure we'd love to have an entire conversation on AI literacy, but I guess in the context of of, you know, we're here for for for budgetary reasons. I guess I I would love to know and and I always appreciate you use the word purpose and intention around you know the the the providers that we have but

040I mean as we as we look at this list now and you look at all of the providers that are out there I mean do you see more that you wish that we could be using? Do you think that we're getting everything we need from from what we currently have? >> So I think we're very intentional with all the software. We're very fortunate in the district for the amount that we have. Um, but I would say with the amount we're always looking at data usage and if it's being used with intention and purpose to make sure that we have there are so many AI tools and vendors that reach out on a daily basis. I think what we write what we have right now is a really good starting place for us. Um, I think

041I've said this before, but one of the reasons for us that Magic School is such a great choice is because it gives us the exposure of using AI, but also has the thoughtfulness of having the teacher support in the environment so that we can monitor, we can provide feedback, we can give guidance. If something is being used really well, we can showcase that with other students. If we have to have conversations about other ways we may want want to use it in the future because that wasn't the best question or that wasn't the best way to get information. um our teachers still have a full purview into the environment that they're in where other LMS um it's just the engagement between the end user and the computer and so we don't have that visibility. So

042we always say one of our coaches says it's it's bowling with bumpers and we do believe that because we're teaching right now how to use it responsibly. We're not just saying go use it. So we want to have that vis visibility into the technology tool that we're offering. Um and we've been very thoughtful with the tools that are on here. um things like Padlet we've always had access to. Um we've been working heavily with our coordinators to make our own district um instructional chat bots. And so we've primed some of these LMS to have things like the ride commitment um UDL um portrait of a graduate that's coming out. So as they're designing and creating and using it as a support and a resource, we're always keeping the things that we value the most within

043the district at the forefront. Um, so I think we're very intentional with what we've picked. There's probably more we can look at. Um, but we also don't want to overwhelm because AI is not something that is used all day every day. Again, it's around um the purposefulness of when it should be. Um, so I think what we have right now is that a great place. >> I guess asking the sort of the same question the other way. I mean, as an admin, are you able to see you sort of what our utilization is? Are all of these licenses being utilized? And if they aren't, are we able to, you know, because it it can be a daunting thing, right? I mean, to take on all these new um programs, but for teachers to, you know,

044make sure that they're using it to the fullest. >> So, a lot of the ones that we've um decided to partner with, they integrate with a lot of our bigger systems. Um so, Gemini, for example, integrates with our Google Workspace um which we're a Google district, so we can see a lot of the information on the back end. Um, I will say they are heavily utilized, but I want to be careful with that wording because I don't want it to make it sound like our teachers and students are on it every second of every day. You will see spikes um at different times from different grade levels and we know it's because different units of study are launching and they may be integrating it. Um, you'll see what it's being used in our middle school

045whether it's during a passion projects and they've just started the research or to get feedback or write research questions or have it support that work. Um, so it's not all the time, but you will see pockets and our teachers are definitely in the system and prompting and and trying it out. Um, so it's it's really exciting. Now we've moved away from nervousness to more excitement and can see the purpose of how it could support all of us. Okay. Um we're going to move on to international balora program. So continuing on the left side with that strategic plan of empowering students and the focus area of expanding instructional strategies that emphasize and grow critical thinking, creative problem solving and effective communication for all students. This is the first year we have our IB program and here

046um is a list of courses for not only this year um but a few of the courses are expected to run um next year as well. So we currently are in our year two um of writing that curriculum and that is part of the proposed budget. So that budget is supporting the writing of the curriculum for year 2 courses and then any new courses that we may offer um in the future. So in order to offer rigorous coursework that is based on student choice and enhanced critical thinking and collaboration, we're thoughtful in what we offer and when we offer the IB courses. So some IB courses may run every other year as I just shared. Um and that way it provides more options to students. So students can as you know take either um AP

047and or IB and do a mix of both or college level courses. They can also be in the diploma program. Um so when we offer courses every other year and really be thoughtful about what we're offering. We're attracting students who are interested in the humanities pathway as well as our STEM and science pathway. So making sure that we're providing course off course offerings to all students is really what our goal is. And this is also going to help us grow the IB program. So to date we have 171 students who are taking at least one IB course and for the first year that those are wonderful wonderful numbers. Looking at where our most popular courses are because we want to build on those. Um we have 86 in our IB business management course and we

048have 98 in students um 98 in our world languages. So, that's really where the majority of our students are. Um, but what's also nice is as much as we have 171 students taking at least one course, we have 230 that are fulfilling the seats. So, they're not just taking one IB course, a lot of them are taking um two or three. Okay. So, our counselors um in order to to really focus on the building because as we approach year two, our counselors are speaking with all of our underassmen about the IB program as well as our IB coordinator who has held parent meetings at night um to really gather interest and inform our community about the opportunities that IB offers um as well as our students throughout the spring in order to build next year's

049cohort. So, we're currently doing that right now. Um and regarding the proposed budget for next year, um included in this curriculum writing is two courses um for next year as well as um possibly offering additional IB courses based on student interest for the 2728 school year. >> So what's the um process going to look like for determining what um additional IB courses are students are interested in? So, we're talking to students um about what what they're interested in and really looking at um the IB diploma program because they need to have students who are interested in that diploma program need to have three HLs and three SLS. So, looking at what they really want to take and then closing the gap on the other course to make sure that they secure that diploma. So, looking

050at if they need a science um we have ESS scheduled to run for September. if they are interested in a different science based on what they've previously taken, we can put another science in for the following year to make sure that they complete those six courses. So really talking to them and seeing what fills and then seeing what they need to complete the diploma, I guess. So it's stepping outside of just those kids who have already signed up and it's thinking about talking to the freshman and the sophomores. So, what would you like to see, you know, that's not here that might be of interest or or enticing to get you to consider to join? >> And I also think it's just based on feedback of all the conversations we've had with students, with students

051who are considering the diploma program and then maybe don't go with the diploma program because they were hoping for a certain kind of course. And so, we want to make sure that we design these courses to meet to meet the needs. So, it's that feedback as well. So, so then just um so I'm make sure I'm I'm totally clear. Does that mean then in 9th and 10th grade um conversations with students and counselors and when they're looking at their uh course selections for even you know as early as 9th to 10th grade that they would start maybe get getting some sense of um understanding you know if if a student might be interested in IB and what that what they feel like you know would be what would be holding them back if they were

052concerned about >> Exactly. So, uh, for example, um, if you take a student who's very into STEM >> Mhm. >> in the sciences, and so they might want a different type of science course than what we currently have, then if we have that cohort of students and we want to make we want to um grow the program in that way, we would look to see what's an additional course we can add to attract a mix of students with different interests. >> Okay. So our next slide we have our elementary school STEM program. So the proposed budget includes three STEM teachers um one in each elementary school. Currently we have one STEM teacher who is split between all three elementary schools where we would be looking to um add two more which is budget neutral uh

053to the other two elementary schools. And this would allow for teaching inquiry based hands-on makerpace activities um which are connected to our program which is mystery science as well as New York State standards based on the schedule and when we can offer the maker space time. This would increase science instruction by 50% over a 6-day cycle. This also strengthens problem solving and critical thinking and builds foundational skills in our engineering, computer science, and design that supports success in middle school and high school pathways. Um, and then the budget is also going to support all materials for the maker spaces in all three buildings. And I would just add that that that this is budget neutral. Um, if you recall the previous presentation, we were talking about enrollment and due to enrollment at fourth grade at

054um, Milton and um, Osborne. Um, it looks like we can reduce those that um reduce those sections by one in each of those buildings. um and still and still maintain adequate class sizes as well >> in um the STEM program as it currently is designed and wondering if it'll be the same next year. Does the classroom teacher participate or is this uh seen as a uh special? >> So for next year um it is not going to be a special without the teacher. Um, we're looking to create where the classroom teacher will co-e with the STEM teacher cuz science is still being done in the classroom, right, by that teacher. But this is an opportunity um to really extend those minutes by 50% with a hands-on activity that is aligned to the um investigations that

055are in fourth, fifth, fourth, and fifth grade. >> Right? So this doesn't this isn't the replacement of in-class instruction. This is the enhancement of >> Got it. >> Sorry. Uh K to 5. >> K to 5. Any other questions about this one? Okay. All right. And this is um our slide about our curriculum development which is um completely dependent on the budget. So this is when we look at our courses for next year and if we need to add revision to a curriculum for a course or if we are creating a completely new course. Um this is where we start to build out that budget and that planning. So some of the curriculum development um that is allocated for 2627 um for the proposed budget includes college level courses which is that large um square

056on the top left. So and then as well as the academy at Ry which I'm going to speak to and our music program at the high school as well as the IB courses that I mentioned earlier. So for dual enrollment so we call this a lot of things so I'm trying to get common language around this. So we have college level courses which we can indicate on a transcript as CL. Um but we also at the high school call them dual enrollment because the dual enrollment means that the course is sufficient for a high school course and it will count towards graduation but it can also uh count towards a university and earn that student three credits or six credits if they take the full year. So you'll hear us kind of inter interchange DE

057and CL all of the time. I'm going to try to keep it consistent. So, these are courses that not only serve as high school credit, but college as well. At the completion of the course, um the students can earn between four to six credits per course, and it will appear on a separate transcript from that college or university in addition to the high school transcript that we provide here. That transcript is then included in the application process. So for a senior who's applying to a university or a college, we send them our RY transcript and then the university and college for these dual enrollments will also send their separate transcript which indicates that they have already earned that college credit. That's a little different from when we offer APs and IBS for credit because they

058get them at the end. So this way they can get them in January and it's an official transcript and they hold on to them forever. um that transcript will then be included in the process and students can also go so if that university um you know not all universities and colleges accept AP and IB credits it's the same thing with our dual enrollments or our college level courses. So, if a student is interested in taking, I would say, any of those courses and they have a list of universities that they're interested in applying to, I would really heavily recommend that they go on to those websites for those colleges beforehand. And pretty much all universities at this time have what they are willing to accept. Um, and so it's really a determination based on the

059college or university that that student is enrolling in in the fall. In addition, sometimes the courses, so if a student is an English major and they have AP credits, that university may say that if you're a major, we really want you to take our courses for the major. And they may take they still may recognize those credits and move them over to an elective for that student. So, it still completes a requirement for that student, which is a really nice opportunity because if you look at all the offerings that Rye has, a student can graduate from Rye High School with a total of up to 24 college credits. That is their first year of college completed. Um, but it's not just the full year, right? It's going to those credits can move into electives or

060minors. And what that would do is free up the opportunity for a student to double major later in their college career or to have several minors. And that really builds their resume as they go off into the world. So if we have our college credits done earlier, it provides more time in their institution later for opportunities and growth. And this is so we have a lot of these courses currently offered. Um what we did this year, the work that we um really focused on was aligning with the universities to make sure that we have those agreements and if we had courses that weren't completely aligned, we did those um contracts. So we have which will be presented to the board in the spring with the agreement of these courses. So we are welcoming Sunni English

061101 and 102. Um we have quantitative reasoning um and then which is calculus and then we have um sorry calculus is in addition to that we have two math courses that we are looking to offer for the fall. Um we currently have super forensics. Um we're welcoming science research in for uh dual credit and then um we have uh this year this fall we started with ASL year 7 in Sunni new and then for the fall we're going to be working with um Sunni WCC for year six. So our world language students can earn um up to two years worth of college credit as well. And then we also are offering uh through St. John's for French, Spanish, and Mandarin. So, these are a lot of opportunities. Um, and we're working with our counseling department

062to really message this out. So, students are sitting in the class as they are, and they can also get that those credits. >> So, the um the science research, that's the current science research that we have. And so, what is that? What is the institution that we partner with? Is that Sunni also? >> That's Syracuse. >> Syracuse for Okay. >> They're tied with super forensics. Oh. Oh, okay. So, that's all together. >> Um, it's two different courses, but it's the same >> and that's a nice course because students um can enter that course in 10th grade, but they will get college credit per year for 11th and 12th grade. And then on the transcript, um, we indicated that it's going to say Sunni, so the colleges will know that they're college level courses. Okay. Looking

063at the oops, sorry, can we go back? Thanks. Looking at the academy, um, we have redesigned the science and math interdisciplinary course that we are currently offering. We wanted to provide an additional pathway for students who are interested in exploring calculus or a different math course um, other than what we currently offer. So the new course is named physics of motion and applied mathematical analysis. And the second portion of that course is physics of energy and advanced mathematical applications. And it serves as the science course as well as a math elective for our academy students. And this allows for our students more room in their schedule in the afternoon to take their core math course. So this puts them on a different trajectory than we currently had. And for music first time we are welcoming

064music honors into Ry High School. So this is an embedded honors program. So for all of our ensembles, for 11th and 12th graders, they are able to earn honors credit in those courses for all of our ensembles. And this is a really nice opportunity because they're going to differentiate the course where they focus more on solos, which is going to put them in a nice pathway for NISMA competition. And then we have the ride commitment and the portrait of a graduate, which I'm going to speak to a little later in the next slide. Okay. So, our professional learning, so all of these courses that we have now worked on developing and writing the curriculum work. Um, we want to make sure that we are providing uh purposeful professional learning for our teachers as well as

065well as all the initiatives that we've mentioned tonight. So specifically on SEAL, which you'll hear about a little later, AI and literacy, Prometheian boards, student engagement and discussion, which is um really a focused goal for the secondary, and digital portfolios, which I'm going to talk about in a little bit. So we have specialized courses and workshop offerings um that we have scheduled throughout the year. In addition, our instructional coaches really support these initiatives um and do a phenomenal job in helping us um not only grow these initiatives, but to support our faculty and our staff in executing them in the classroom. So, we have our professional development Mondays. Um this is a nice opportunity to have like we had responsive classroom this year um during those professional development Mondays to really help support us um

066in that programming. We have curriculum Mondays as well where we have teachers who um from the ground up gave us courses this year that they're really interested in and we took that feedback and we are creating grassroots workshops for our teachers and they can opt into several workshops throughout the year by by their choice and grade level. We um have done three well we're going to have been done three parent universities. We had to reschedule uh one of them due to the snow. Um and this has been a really exciting initiative with AI. We wanted to make sure that we were supporting our parents at home with AI as well and how to really look um at providing a skill set and executive functioning support to their students using some of the platforms that we

067also have in school. And we have our professional development days for our superintendent conferences um that are also designed workshops for our teachers to support our goals um and strategic plan that Dr. Murray has has really designed uh for this year and into next year. methods of collaboration and individual growth. We have instructional modeling and coaching. We also have a new teacher academy that consists of first year teachers and secondyear teachers and they are um expected to do three years of sorry three years three cycles of coaching um and it's really of a topic of their choice and our coaches uh do a tremendous amount of supporting um all of our teachers especially our new teachers as part of the um introductory to being part of Ry School District. We have individual and small groupoup

068departmental sessions. Um we have inservice uh courses that are offered um that are fantastic. They go from anywhere for a full year or to um shorter workshops for teachers to have like certain bursts of learning that they're interested in. And then we also part of the budget um is partnering with consultants. So the work that we do with our consultants, they really give us the groundwork for the initiative and then our coaches as well as our team here really works to bringing that work alive and delivering that to our teachers through these mechanisms for professional development. >> Can I I apologize. No, can we backtrack just to the um >> curriculum development slide for one second? Sorry. Um >> that's really far it >> well it's not that far but um so with these with

069the new um or additional courses that are being offered there's are there any staffing implications that that we need to be concerned about um related to any of these? >> A lot of them are many of them are currently running. >> Okay. they needed um either the agreement or the alignment um to say, "Hey, this is a very similar course to what this college offers. The curriculum is not much different. Let's align this cuz if we have students sitting in the course anyway, they might as well get those credits as well." So, it just came down to looking at the curriculums that we have, talking to our coordinators and saying, "Hey, this actually matches over here." It's just kind of like a jigsaw puzzle that we needed to put together. Um and then with that

070came, you know, any college is like, "Oh, I also have this. Are you interested?" >> Um so that's where uh the English 101102 came in. That's really a nice course for any student who doesn't for English specifically, doesn't want to do AP or an IB, that is the other place to get um college credit for English. >> And then for the music honors, that's also it's just really an enhancement of what is already being offered. It's co-seated. So when we say it's embedded, so students who are taking, let's say, 11th grade band, um the teacher is going to say to that whole group, this is the criteria for honors, this is the criteria for band 11. If you're interested in this criteria and you want to be this student and have this focus, you're more

071than welcome to do this type of work. It's almost like a differentiation of um expectations >> within the actual >> within the same course. Got it. Um, and then there there's more of a solo expectation on those students who selfidentify that they want to say, "I'm an honors embedded student." >> Okay. >> And that's a some that's a decision someone will make prior to that next whatever the next year class is. >> Yes. That student will make it and then we have a way of identifying here are the students who are receiving honors. So that's going to go in a little differently on the GPA than a student who's not in that. >> Right. Right. We would code that. >> Okay. Thank you. Yes. Okay. Um so again looking at that focus area for instructional

072strategies, we have our authentic projects. Um our instructional coaches are K through 12. Um and they continue to work alongside our teachers from a K through2 capacity to strengthen those authentic and real world learning experiences. Um, right now we're looking at part of our work is really looking at the criteria for authentic projects and breaking the criteria down and seeing if we can take pieces of that and really implement it all across the curriculum per grade. So there's if there's a reflective piece, we're looking at that reflective piece for an assessment and seeing if we can really coach our students through reflecting on an assignment that they have already completed to see if they can go back and really troubleshoot an area that they want to improve upon. Um, and I'm going to speak to

073this a little further, but if we keep that reflection piece um, in mind, really looking at starting that at the elementary level, because as students grow, we want them to have that skill set at hand um, as they get into the secondary level as it's certainly needed. The focus is not just creating um, projects, but ensuring that it's aligned to standards, intellectually rigorous, and meaningful for our students. Uh specifically for the authentic projects, coaches are helping our teams maintain consistency in unit design criteria. So regardless of the grade level, students experience high quality and purposeful driven instruction. And this also creates a vertical alignment and shared expectations across the district. Our coaches work um very well aligned vertically so that they can see gaps in curriculum from other grades and really support our teachers um

074in closing those gaps with unit design. Um so for next year we're also looking at designing the eighth grade capstone project. Um this is really exciting. This is going to build into our ride commitment as well as well as the portrait of a graduate. The key area focus is um intentional for the design for the capstone project to integrate student skills across all disciplines. The design process emphasizes um critical thinking, research, and student voice, which really ties back to that strategic plan. And then we're ensuring that the capstone reflects on our district prior uh priorities and prepares our students for the next chapter of their life as they enter into high school. The professional learning and the Ry commitment um we would let which is also aligned to our authentic projects um is deepening the

075understanding of the Ry commitment. So a lot of our work um this year and if I could go to the next slide because it kind of ties together. Um so looking at our professional learning for next year and how our budget is supporting that we have the rye commitment on the left and portrait of a graduate um on the right. So this year we are continuing that development of the Ry commitment and it's specifically it's five components of critical thinking, effective communication, collaborate collaborators, creative problems and caring individuals right on that bottom level of students. That's our promise to them with a steering committee that we created this past winter. Um we have aligned our five components with the New York State portrait of a graduate which is on the right and they're very similar

076as we've um shared in the past meetings. Um but taking those five components and the six components from portrait of a graduate the steering committee this year has aligned that language that already lives in our curriculum mapping. So when you take if we take critical thinking that has several components within itself and anytime we create a course and we write that curriculum that piece is built into our current maps. So the steering committee did uh committee did a crosswalk between these two and not only does this align with the portrait of a graduate requirement from the state. It places us in a position for the next natural step of the Ry commitment. And as a district, we value the components of the RIY commitment which have always been um written within our maps, but within

077our K through2 continuum, we have already established projects through assessments on the and the authentic projects that fulfill the components of the commitment. So we have authentic projects that specifically look at critical thinking. Critical thinking is, as you know, one of the um focus areas for the students and the the purpose of our steering committee is to say the Ry commitment is something that is really the the foundation of our community and our school community and we're promising the world that these are our students when they're in 12th grade. They're presenting themselves as the commitment. How do we measure that? It's really hard to measure critical thinking and communication, right? They're not necessarily tangible in the sense as us as educators know things to be tangible like math and an assessment. But if we have

078these values, we want to be able to measure those values. So the steering committee when they did that crosswalk between the portrait of a graduate, we decided to um for next year professional learning is going to be around student digital portfolios. And the idea is to have our students K through 12 be able to go through our school system knowing those five components that this is really the makeup of who they are and who our expectation of them is. And what they're going to do every year, they're going to look at our current assessments that we already have that are aligned. And they get to choose through self-reflection and choice pieces that they think has made them who they are that really align to critical thinking, communication, and our five components. And as they grow,

079they can reflect back on their growth every year. So as they move to be an 11th grader and that's where the course of that touchstone piece that we were talking about financial literacy and AI there's going to be touchstones along the way where we can support them our teachers can support them and our staff to say you know in this growth of the portfolio you know to support them in terms of like reflecting on pieces that they want to pick um and really presenting as an 11th grader to a panel of community members and teachers really who they are and showing that portfolio to the panel to say I am the Ry commitment. I am an exemplar of the Ry commitment and this is who I am and really show them the portfolio and their

080pieces and they have to do a presentation and speak to their growth from when they were in second grade let's say all the way through their time that they have spent with us um as approaching seniors. >> Super cool. >> Couple of questions. >> Yes. Um, >> so you say that uh the students would be picking from assessments. >> So >> kind of Yeah. >> Go ahead. >> More like performance tasks. >> There we go. So I was going to say it's kind of like wonky, right? To go from like, well, here's my best test when I got the 100.5 because I got the extra credit versus like this was a great >> paper that I wrote that perhaps showed my synthesis of thinking. Um, okay, great. So that's exciting. Why do it in 11th

081grade? >> So 11th grade in the spring of their 11th grade year. >> There's not much going on then. It's like super easy. It's really light. I'm actually sitting in it right now and I'll just tell you it's like so peaceful. >> Calm really. >> So peaceful. It's very quiet. >> What What did they say? Oh god. What's the word? It'll come to me while you're talking. It's in. So the idea is and and right if if the planning here is thoughtful which it is and that's why the steering committee exists they should not be doing a tremendous amount of work their 11th grade year >> the touch well no for this not in general for this for this >> for the digital portfolio >> additional work yes >> correct >> right because if they're

082in second grade and their second grade teacher supports them in reflecting on how are you a good collaborator and there's a video or a piece or performance task that they pull in and they put it in their portfolio and it sits there, right? This is going to grow with them. So, by the time they're 11th graders, it really should be in there and their focus is in the spring to present themselves really to a panel of achievement and growth. So, the idea is that that next fall, right, if this isn't the spring, they are presenting themselves to a university, a college or the workforce. So to present themselves as the right commitment in the end of their 11th grade year, we are already saying you are an adult in your 12th year. You're you need

083maybe some of them need a portfolio to even send that to schools that could be helpful for them. Um and in addition the fall of 12th grade year is a little difficult as well with applications college essay. We felt that the spring and the 11th year is a little nicer and it gives them something to share with schools if they need it. >> Totally get that and I see exactly where you're going with it. I do it I just um I do reflect and wonder about the opportunity of really kind of a culmination of the end of our 12th grade year >> as an opportunity to really be kind of a summation on the way out the door for lack of a better turn of phrase it >> you guys are in charge certainly I

084I see exactly where you're going with it and that makes a lot of sense I do certainly I you know as with things just have wonderings my own wonderings about it uh as it relates to students who are new. >> Mhm. >> We have students who come in in fifth who come in in 10th some come in in 11th. >> So what happens then? >> We would work with them. um we already established that there would be um a support for students who transition in a little later to pick pieces that they're currently working on for that for those years that they are with us. Um so you know a portfolio can really be an achievement portfolio typically is three or four pieces of work right that they can present. We're looking at doing an

085achievement portfolio as well as a growth portfolio. So that would be more pieces of work for the students that are here with us um for the majority of their years. But for students who come in um midway through their secondary career, it really can be an achievement portfolio. And we would assess it based on that. Um, so I would just my my my sorry um I think I think one of the things to consider similar to the question that um Jane was asking about the timing. >> Um it may and you probably are already working this in so I'm going to say something that you're going to be like yes we've already done that. Um perhaps talking to outgoing seniors now to say and and and kind of giving them the framework of if this

086was all you were doing this a year-by-year basis and this is something that you had available to you, let what what would that um having that as an additional element of your 11th grade year? H like would I guess it's hard to know if they would feel like it's more if it's a stressor or not. But the sense I've had from my own experiences is that even something that's not meant to be additional work feels like additional work. And so I think that can just it it can create a pressure that you're not even >> meaning to create. So just stuff to keep in mind as you're developing this. I I think the the concept is fantastic. It's just how do we how do we kind of work through some of those pieces of it.

087>> Yes. Um and as you know the steering committee is um I I would say small at this point. There's about 16 people. We certainly need as we grow this concept we certainly need more stakeholders. So students and teachers um being really a a part of this and identifying you know what would be helpful where can we pull these things and really support um students doing the reflective piece. Um the idea is like one of the non-negotiables was this cannot be something that they're doing in their 11th grade year. Like this should not be a big um overhaul for them. It should not be an addition. It's something that we really a non-negotiable is that we really want it to grow with them and something that they really start to know and it becomes them.

088Um, in addition with the state mandate of the portrait of a graduate, uh, for our current fifth grade, we're they're still going we're still going to have regents, but students can choose to present their portfolio in lie of taking regent exams. So hopefully this can take something off of the table and not add something if that makes sense. So is the is the state then I'm >> sorry. Go ahead. >> That's okay. >> My question. >> Right. So we're doing this for each content area. >> No. >> So we have to have a port a a portfolio for science for math for >> No. This is nothing that's required by New York State. So I just wanted to clarify that. It's not that New York State is not saying to us you have to do

089>> No. things like if you don't want to take your science regent then you can do a portfolio a science portfolio >> is that what they're suggesting could be an option >> what the state is and the the state has not ironed this out we are ahead of the state and this is really >> yeah right and this is really the next step for the ry commitment so two things are happening but one this ry commitment is going to satisfy the portrait of a graduate so we're continuing to develop the ry commitment in the lens of creating student portfolios. Um, but what I anticipate the state doing is saying when a student enters their freshman year, they're going to choose whether they want to take the regions pathway or they continue on their portfol portfolio

090pathway and we will have that documented. So, we will know how to support each student in that path. So for the students who transfer in, they probably would be encouraged to take the region's pathway if they don't have a portfolio from another school coming in. >> Does that kind of make sense? >> Mhm. >> It it does. It does make sense. Um I don't love that though kind of as an option for kids, right? I think it's unfortunate, right? Because a kid's moving from a different school, perhaps the region isn't really their best way to showcase who they are as a learner. And unfortunately, then they're kind of in a quagmire, not of their own making by the fact of life choices of their family. And I won't love that. But that's not our problem

091to solve for tonight or for this budget. So, I'm not going to go on with that. I do have a question though, back to the portfolios. You'd mentioned achievement versus growth >> and so where where is the steering committee's thinking at this point about what they want those portfolios to really highlight >> growth. Great. >> And the reason for that is because we have five components under the ride commitment. New York State has six. Their sixth which is different from ours is reflective practitioner um which is a reflective student. So we feel that if we choose growth to be the focus that is going to suffice for that reflective piece in the portrait of a graduate. Um plus you know when we're in the business of educating our students and we start it at the

092elementary level that is a wonderful opportunity to really capture their growth as they enter into adulthood. >> Great. Thank you. Of course. So one last question. So um at given where we are with this, what are we what what will be the um specific next step for next year? Like our students starting at a like in second grade doing this next year? How are we what's where are we with that? Great question. So our steering committee has two more meetings um in the spring. We are we did the crosswalk between the two. Um, now we're breaking up into subcommittees and we're looking at one subcommittee is going to be a pilot. So, we have so much time. We have time to do a pilot before New York State gives us any further guidance, which is

093really nice. So, looking at designing that pilot for a small group of students and then using that group of students to get feedback on the portfolio to say what was really helpful, what did you need more support in? and really supporting our teachers for their professional learning next year on how to support our students in creating the portfolios. >> And is the idea that that will be across grade levels or is it going to be one centralized group in one grade level? >> So we get to design that in the spring. Um it's all an option right now. >> Okay. Okay. >> Yep. Great. >> Y and so next year and we have to build out that steering committee. for over the summer, I would like to welcome, you know, more teachers and um, you

094know, more stakeholder groups, parents to really start to help um, shape this. Yeah. >> Exciting. >> Very exciting. Okay. And this is our line by line budget um, for the instructional um, our instructional planning. Um, and if there's any questions um, about anything that I've shared this evening or specifically the budget, um, I'm happy to answer those questions. Um, and then we will transition into the second part of our presentation. I say a textbook line. We is that really um, most like our consumables in our math. What What does that reflect about? Um, yes it is. But also the individual school the individual schools also have have individual text lines textbook lines as well. So this >> that's not all of our textbook funds. >> Sounds like a pilot. >> Like if we're testing something

095out, it would live here in that year one and then it would move into the instructional budget at the grade at the appropriate grade level if it's something then we choose to expand upon. >> Great. Thank you. Okay. And now uh we will continue the presentation. Um starting with uh Dr. Reenberg and Mr. Seth Bushing. Great. Welcome everyone. I will be succinct. Um uh so uh I just want to take the opportunity uh first to just thank uh the board of education, the community, um Dr. Murray, my administrative colleagues, um but most importantly, um the two special education supervisors within the department, um Linda, uh Flanigan and Amy Osuli, who we don't always, um they aren't always here, but are doing the work behind the scenes and probably though I love both of them, most

096importantly, my s my uh senior office assistants. All the work and everything that we do would not be possible without them. So, um, every year I take the opportunity to thank them and all of their hard work publicly. As we always do, everything is aligned to the ride commitment. So, um, specifically for, um, our department, um, we really are looking at student growth, access, and equity directly aligned to the ride commitment. um we are um in a really uh make some great gains in regards to learning that is connected to social emotional wellness of our students and I think it's important to highlight that and that we really have been focusing on families um as an essential as an essential excuse me um partner in planning and decision- making with what we do for all

097of our um programs for our students. So, what I'm going to do is just give you um an overview of the areas of focus that we've been focusing on this year. And one of the things that I am most proud of in terms of the special education program and services is really the continuity of the services that we have. And so, if we look back um over several years, you'll see that a lot of what I discuss is consistent. And that is purposeful um because in order to provide highquality programs, they have to be programs that are um consistent um and go K12 for our students. And we're continuing to look uh to grow and make them the best that they can be. So, in terms of our special education program and services, this year

098we've really focused on three things. There's many things we focus on, but it's important to point out that we've really had a focus this year on our inclusive practices. Um, students with disabilities are truly active members of the classrooms and our school community and that does not happen overnight and it takes time and we continue to improve upon that. Um, we also have taken the time to really make sure that we are providing ongoing uh consistent implementation of accommodations and modifications in all of our classrooms. And with the support of the building administrators um in all of our observations and walkthroughs um we're really making sure that these are implemented and are a daily part of instruction and not just something that happens um for students when they're in a special education setting. Another area

099that we've really focused on is the various models of integrated co-eing that we use within the classroom. So um several years ago there was a lot of one teach one assist. That's one model and we really are looking at how are these students having a different experience because of our co-taught model. So what is the individualized and specialized program that's happening within the classroom? Where is the small groupoup instruction happening? whereas the special um in the specialized instruction um and doing using the various models allows this to happen within our general ed um settings and our students are able to get their program in a least restrictive environment. Again, this is um the way that we're continuing to monitor this is really to look through the use of our observations and our walkthroughs with all

100of the administrators being consistent with feedback that we're giving and really targeting and looking looking at how are we providing and improving upon these practices for our students. Additionally, to support the programs, there's a lot of professional learning that is always ongoing. So certainly we have our coaches um but in addition we do uh consult with some outside people that we bring in to support our programming. So we continue to have our partnership with the Haskins lab um for our DBI which is database individualization and that is um for our students um with special needs who have specialized reading in grades 2 through 5. They're getting progress monitored once a week. And so we're able to really see the growth that these students are making. And if we need to accommodate or make a change,

101we can do that quickly so that students can continue um on their progress and continue to succeed towards their individualized goals. In regards to our specialized reading program, we've used spire reading and we do have coaching through EPS learning that we've contracted with and that's been uh very helpful for our teachers because they come they actually see them do the lesson and can give them feedback. In terms of our integrated co-eing um we have G&R inclusive group which we've used for several years and we use them at the elementary level. Um and our instructional coaches support all of our co-eing within the district. We also are continuing our um professional learning with the support of Cognitive Behavioral Consultants of Westchester, CBC of Westchester for our uh DBT. Uh so DBT we're offering in a variety

102of different ways now within the school district. So we do offer DBT, which is school-based dialectical behavioral therapy for those students that require tier 3 supports. Um but we also are using them to implement our tier one um level curriculum within the classroom. >> Mr. Bushing will help us uh to understand the focus that we have in terms of social emotional learning. >> Good evening everybody. It's been a while. Glad to see you all. A little bit late, maybe a little earlier next time, but that's okay. We're having fun. Um so I'm going to jump in for this year area of focus in SEAL. First bullet point there is me which um I don't know if you got what you paid for but I am here uh I remain so I want to talk I'm

103going to talk about SEAL from the lens of PPS for the remainder of this but I do want to talk a little bit about my bullet point which is the other whole component of my work which is very invisible but I think uh critically important to the seal of our district and that's in bureaucracy which is our favorite part of school is bureaucracy and that's fundamentally what a school counseling department is is all the rules and all the processes and all the many complicated things that get students from point A to point B somewhere else hopefully very wonderful and engaging beyond our walls. So a large portion of my time is spent in this school year understanding and streamlining those processes so that we have two key results from that. One is due to the

104efficiency of improved processes, our school counselors have more time to directly interact with students and families. Uh school counselors in any district you go to are strapped for time, period. um they ought to be because they have a lot to do, but the more time we can provide them to work directly with students and families, the better the outcomes are for our kids. Um two is in terms of the streamlining of processes, clarification of how processes should work and aligning them to the state and to other districts in our area and then the communication of those processes to students and parents. That in itself is a great stress relief and I've seen that already this year to our students and families understanding what's to come, how to get there, and not being confused all along

105the way. There's two two ways to eliminate stress. One is to develop coping skills and which is what we're going to talk about in terms of our curriculum, but the other is to eliminate the stressor in the first place. And when the school or any issue within the school is contributing to those stressors, the goal is to remove those. So, I really am super proud of my department for the strides we've made already this year in the short time I've been here in terms of just getting down to brass tax and looking at what we can build, how we can help communicate to students and families and get them where they want to go. So, my bullet point done. Um, the next few really all link into the work of the SEAL committee, which we've

106talked a bit about. So, really central to the committee is the third bullet there, the implementation of the school climate and culture survey. That survey is our baseline in the fall for understanding where our students are at, where our faculty is at, and looking into ways that we can improve that data. Um, so that's where the second bullet collaborating with principles for posit positive climate and culture comes in. Earlier this year, we went over the results of the climate and culture survey and the results of the first meeting of the SEAL committee and the initiatives that we proposed for this year to help tackle some of those areas where we felt we could see growth. Um, jumping down to the fourth bullet point, focus on aligning the K to2 counseling curriculum. The curriculum piece again

107talk bureaucracy there's a lot of curriculum in this district within the counseling department alone and that is also shared at the middle school level with the PE health department. So just to give you a very brief overview of the different areas that we're looking and revising and aligning. We have our K to2CL curriculum. We have our 3 to 5 DBT steps E which is steps E for elementary curriculum. We then have our 68 6 to8 counseling curriculum which is what our school counselors visit classrooms and push in and teach lessons. They also pull out do lunch bunch and have work that they do with their students there. We have the 68 DBT steps a curriculum which is the steps for adolescence which has been rolled out this year which we'll talk a little bit more

108about. Then in the 9 to 10 we have the counseling curriculum where they push into classrooms and teach two lessons a year to the 9th graders and to the 10th graders respectively. We then have the 11th grade managing your future curriculum which is currently underway. The second semester of 11th grade year they have an intensive curriculum that revolves around self-discovery and the transition to college and career. Um and then of course we have the very exciting intensive and I glad to have gotten a lot of good feedback this year. Still room for growth. The 8 to2 parent evening uh curriculum which really is integral to the curriculum of the secondary level. the curriculum that we deliver to parents so that they can help guide their students through this process, understanding both the components that we're

109teaching in the classroom in terms of how we want our students to envision their future, plan for their future, and also step back and enjoy their time now. Um, and simultaneously communicating, as I was mentioning earlier, the many steps, the many things they need to know in order to thread the needle and get them to their destination. So um we are looking also enhancing parent universities communication and events. We've updated our method of providing newsletters in the elementary school. We've uh revised it as a three times a year fall winter spring seal focused uh school counseling newsletter where we're providing students with tools that they can help support their kids with at home that they're already learning in the classroom. Um and then supporting the transitions fifth to 6th, 8th to 9th, 12th to postsecary.

110So this is a huge lift. Every year already our eighth grade school counselors heavily underway working with our fifth graders getting them prepped and ready both in terms of any uh transition meetings that they're having, communicating with their principles, getting notes about how they've been doing over the past five, six years, and uh of course planning for their courses in sixth grade. our eighth and ninth. Our school counselors already pushed in this year to meet with the eighth graders uh during the school day. Um we also had our eth rising eighth grade, excuse me, rising 9th grade meeting for our current eighth grade parents. And of course, the 12th and postsecondary process is pretty much the bulk of the senior year and is an ongoing constant collaborative process. Um so that transition is something that

111our kids have been preparing for for a long time. So for next year um similar to how um Miss Barbara did hers, we have aligned that it how this aligns to the strategic plan um and what the specific focus area is. So, in regards to our special education programs and services, again, you will see that these are all programs that you've seen and heard a lot about in the past. Um, it's important to point out that special education is there to remove barriers to learning while expanding opportunities for students to engage in collaboration, complex thinking, and effective communication. And really we have all of our programs in place to meet the needs of our students within um our district or for the majority of our students within our district. Um and so really these programs

112for next year are going to continue to align with the district-wide expectations for highquality instruction. We want to use the uh with through the use of scaffolding um we can teach our students some of these higher level thinking skills so that students can engage with the complex materials that they'll face throughout their career here within the district and also make sure that we're giving our students opportunities for multiple pathways to demonstrate their learning. So some ways in which we can support empowering students um within our special education program programming would be modeling and thinkaloud strategies, guided practice, flexible grouping and multimodal instruction. And all of those things will continue to take place in the programming for next year. Additionally, as we spoke about, it's important that we also are providing high-quality professional learning for specifically

113for our um programs and to support that work that we're doing within the classroom. So, aligned to the strategic plan, elevating professional growth, engagement, and ownership. And so, providing um professional learning that's really individualized and connected to the instructional programming. So if you remember the programs that I just discussed, we will provide professional learning to continue to support ICT through the use of G&R inclusive group at the elementary level and the instructional coaches and secondary supervisor to provide that at the secondary level. We'll continue to support our specialized reading and give targeted um support to our special classes K12 uh through the collaboration with our behavior analytic consultants um that we've used in the past to continue to make sure that those curriculums are aligned um with what those students are doing. Another area within

114um for next year in terms of social emotional learning for empowering students is really about um fostering a culture of care within the school community. Um and so one of the things next year that this budget is going to allow us to do is um it's going to add an additional social worker on our staff. And so currently um we have two social workers through um ESS which is effective school solutions which we spoke about for many years now. We've had them uh since 2021 I believe. Um and we're at a place where we have uh developed the program where it is time for us now to hire our own staff rather than using the consultant model. This allows us to serve more students and provide tier 2 and tier three supports as appropriate. Um,

115and this will be at the high school that we'll be doing this. And I anticipate that we'll do this for this year and then the f for next year, sorry, 2627 and the following year, we will also look to phase out effective school solutions and hire our own staff. If you remember several years ago um one of the things that we did we used to do our related services speech um OT PT we used to have um consultants for all of all of them and we now have them as our own employees. So this is the same thing that we are ready to do this and we should be able to do this. Uh so we're going to begin that for next year. And so how many total uh social workers do we have currently

116for 2526 with ESS? >> So currently we have four within the district. >> Okay. And so we would hire three of those are ESS or all four ESS. >> So we have two uh social workers, one at the high school, one at the middle school currently that are our our employees. We have an additional um two social workers, an additional one at the high school, additional one at the middle school through um ESS. >> Okay. >> So, currently we have two of our own staff, two through ESS. Next year we will have three of our own staff, one through ESS, and then the goal being to have four RCSD social workers. >> Correct. Okay. and I'll hand it over to Mr. Bushing for the other two areas. >> Sorry, before you say so. No, that's

117okay. Dr. work. Um, for those who may not remember what the difference between the ESS staff is and the staff that we utilize or the services we utilize through the WJCS, JW WSJC, what if you could help just what is the difference there and what is the benefit to then bringing in the ESS staff on site as opposed to that staff? >> Sure. So ESS we've really we actually began utilizing them uh through COVID if you remember. So that's how we brought them in. But then what we realized is that actually supported many of our students um not all of them but many students with disabilities and providing them with the level of care that they need so that they can actually stay within district and we don't have to look for outside therapeutic programs

118for them. And so ESS provides supports that we have identified and we feel that students need to be successful here within the district. WJCS, we provide space for them to provide a counselor for us, but that is outside um counseling. That's not uh counseling that we recommend um as a school district, but we do certainly support them. Um there are students that require supports outside of the school day and that's the support that WJCS provides families which is different from ESS >> say thank you. >> Oh um so just so I'm clear on what I believe I heard you say but confirm for me. So the the the social workers are um whether they're ESS or RCSD currently it could be either um are supporting all students only students with disabilities where do you is

119it is it um segmented in any way or I just want to make sure I was clear in what I heard you say. So they do both of those service all students. Okay. ESSR students that require the students that are being seen by our ESS clinicians are requiring a higher level of support. Okay. >> Um than those that are being seen by our um employees. But what we want to do is shift this so that all of the social workers um within the district can provide supports as appropriate to the students. And so when we talk about tier 2 and tier three supports, that's determined at the building level through our MTSS process. So we identify those students. Things such as culture and climate surveys or other data that we have allows us to identify

120students that require additional supports above and beyond of that of a school counselor. Um, and we so we identify and say this is the level of support that this child needs to be successful here. Um, and that's how we determine what it is that they receive. Okay, just wanted to be clear. Thank you. >> I'm back. Okay, so committee. I've never been so excited about a committee. I actually really enjoy this one. So again, we use the culture and climate survey as the the baseline for our work right now. Just in terms of process, and this is 26 27 plan piece in process this year. Right now, we're midyear point. We were supposed to have it during what turned out to be a snow day and if anybody's around it's poundake day tomorrow. So we're

121going to be celebrating and going through the midyear data which was the focus groups. We're then going to make recommendations for the end of the year review where we'll be looking over the end of year data which will uh the survey will take place in April and at the end of the year we're going to look at what recommendations we're going to make for the 2627 school year. So these uh here listed are the current focus areas that were decided upon by the committee at the beginning of school year. Should there be any revisions to that from the committee at the end of the year, we would provide an update. Um but currently these are the focus areas that we're working on and we'll make additional recommendations to improve next year based on the data

122set we receive in April. Lastly, the curriculum. Uh just an update. This year uh all three grade levels six, seven, and eight are receiving the DBT steps A curriculum in the classroom. Uh whether it be through the health or PE teachers. The roll out plan is that for example the eighth graders right now, this is their first time in being instructed in they move up into 9th grade. There is no DBT steps curriculum in 9th. However, the sixth graders are not going to receive the same lesson next year. They're going to move up one and get a new lesson. The seventh grader is going to move up one and get a new lesson. And over the course of three years, we will have then three layers of DBT steps a lessons delivered to all students

123six, seven, and eight. So it is a roll out of the DBT curriculum and we'll be in the second year of that roll out next year. So ongoing PD and workshopping for our middle school faculty who are learning and revising that curriculum both in terms of content and its delivery in the classroom. Great. So, this slide shows us what we need to do, what we do best. Um, so in order to continue with the programs that we have, uh, this shows what our, uh, individual budget for our department looks like. Um, it does maintain all of our special education programs and services. Um it does look like there um is um there is certainly a decrease, but I just want to be able to highlight that that is because it's a what we're actually doing

124is reallocating some of these funds um to support the hiring of the um social worker as part of um our employees as part of um our staff. And then um the reductions are driven by enrollment changes and the sustainability for our in district programming model. And so because I know Jane loves a little bit of data and I wouldn't want it would be remiss if I didn't do a little bit of data. I just want to point out that it's um because of the work that we've done with our programs um and the consistency that we've had. I just wanted to highlight that back in 2023 24 school year, we had 14 out of district placements, that was 14 children that we could not program for within our district. And um next year for the

12526 27 school year, um we're only looking at eight students that we don't think we can provide programs for. So um there is a slight reduction um but that's really because of the work that we've done um with our programming um and it's twofold. It's because of our special classes that we had in the K12 continuum that we have with our special classes, our salt squat and our garnets. Um but it is really also because of the supports of the social worker and ESS um and the therapeutic support services that we can offer at the secondary level that's really attributed to that. I just got to tell you that gives me all the chills and all the feelings because I remember so clearly the conversations of parents coming and talking about um how hard it

126was and how difficult it was for them to have to put their kid on a bus every morning and to send their kid 30, 40, an hour away from here from their home and how much it meant to them. And I see uh the integration of our diverse student population of learners participating in so many activities. lay miz on Friday night. Saturday and Saturday night is a great example that the entire community will get to see and it really just speaks volumes and ties so nicely into the commitment that the district is making related to um community belonging and a sense of you know social and emotional support here in the district. And so um I couldn't be happier with that data point and that may be my most favorite data point to date. So,

127for those who like a competition, I'd like to see what else you can bring cuz that's pretty darn impressive and exciting for me. I've done a tremendous amount of talking and so I'm looking to my board to see if somebody else has something anything else to say. It's also late and I know we have to finish up. I've talked an awful lot as well, but um I do, you know, looking back at through the whole presentation um and and especially to to what Dr. Freedenberg was just being a able to point out about all of the work that's been put into our programs. Um, and that that has been an ongoing process for several years and it's wonderful to see there be that kind of shift where we're able to program for more and more

128of our students. Um and then just overall I think it's wonderful the the the ways that we are trying to um enhance and create more opportunities for our students from throughout the whole presentation is um and you know also the growth of our um social emotional learning focus um and tying those things in really creating a um you know a a a layered building on each other effect, which is what we've been, I think, working toward um for a while. So, it's wonderful to see those things starting to to come into place. Um so, thank you all for all of the the hard work and and focus and creativity that you bring to all of this. It's really it's it's wonderful. So, thank you. I think this is um probably one of my more well

129I'll say it's been my most favorite thus far type of presentation related to the budget uh and to the specific content areas because really we're taking a strategic plan something that is clearly driving the direction and then getting into some real specifics about how we are fiscally going to support those greater larger grander ideas into actual imple implemented real work and it is a mighty task to do that and it is not something that is done by one person. is very clearly done by a highly uh wellorganized, thoughtful and cohesive administrative team and it is really appreciated um from us to be able to see that and to see that work uh coming and I think it it only um makes things more exciting for things to come. And so I thank you all for

130that because this is this is just the next iteration of amazing work ahead of us. And so I'm very excited for all of this. So, thank you all very much. And with that, we will move on now to the hearing of the public. And despite a fabulous presentation, we've had no one here in the public. So, I will withhold from my commentary for the hearing of public, but I will remind you that we are always here uh typically every other Tuesday, but because of snow, we're here two Tuesdays in a row. So, please come on down. We're always here. We're happy to see you. And with that, can I please have a motion to review this evening's consent agenda? Sean Claer, seconded by Valerie Lapen. Let's take a look at this evening's consent agenda. Consent

131agenda general. Consent agenda fiscal. Miss Puio, I I um could you just remind us all please about why the single audit is on this evening's consent agenda? Thank you. Sure. Um, so you may recall that I run around like a crazy person around October to come to the board with our financial package for the prior year so that we meet the deadline of October 15th to get it up to the state and that can't happen without board approval. However, one significant element was missing this year which was the single audit. It's related to um monies that we receive um for um grants, right? Federal grants. Um any grants that we receive above and beyond $750,000 have to be um documented and um reported on separately for that purpose. um have however um this year for

132the first time in my lifetime in this role, the single audit which is um essentially a document that is then provided to us by the state via the federal government um was unavailable. So we were unable to complete our audit requirements for this past school year. Um and it was related to the fact that we were in a government shutdown at the time. Um lo and behold, here we are. It is now March. Um and those documents have caught up to themselves. So I um am presenting them to the board once again to finally complete that last component that we need to literally close the books on 2425. Yeah. So, and that is why it's showing up on the agenda in March. >> Great. Because we had already accepted with that one piece missing. Correct.

133And so, this is now just finishing that one last piece. Correct. >> Great. >> Uh consent agenda, professional appointments, consent agenda classified, and consent to do agenda pupil personnel services and special education. Okay. Seeing no questions, uh, all those in favor of approving this evening's consent agenda, that is six to nothing with one absence. And so on this evening's consent agenda, we are accepting the updated single audit of the previously accepted external audit. Uh, we are approving a gift from the Osborne PTO in the amount of $13,000 to support Mangum Sports Recess Coordinators. Love those big muscle movement activities. Always happy to see our kids outside. Uh we we are also approving a $35,000 gift from Osborne PTO to support cultural enrichment programs. So that's wonderful opportunities for our kids to be able to extend

134their learning and understanding of the concepts that they're working and learning on in class outside of the classroom walls. And we thank our uh very generous parents through the Osborne PTO for supporting our students. Also, we have accepted the retirement of Mr. Peter Veto, who is our school monitor and traffic control at Osborne School. It seems to be an Osborne kind of night. Mr. Peter Veto, longtime traffic control at Osborne School, retired as of January 31st, 2026. He began at the Rice City School District as a part-time night cleaner for Milton School from 20 2002 to 2009. In 2005, he began working at Osborne School as a traffic control where he remained through January of 2026. Osborne school principal Angela Gar Angela Garcia shared the following on Peter's impact. Peter was a true guardian of

135the Osborne curb. He took the safety of our students during arrival and dismissal with the utmost seriousness, never wavering when it came to enforcing the rules that kept our children out of harm's way. While he was a firm authority on the pavement, the staff knew him for his genuine care and his sharp sense of humor. He will be missed. Thank you, Peter, for ensuring our student safety at Osborne. And we wish you all the best in your retirement. And now we will move on to information and discussion two. Mrs. Bole, lots of policies. Yes. Uh so the policy committee met which we will see as our date has passed and when we look at committee meetings um here we have um three policies and one regulation. We'll start with academic intervention services. This was just

136a part of our regular review cycle um looking at this policy. Um and what you'll see is there's been some revisions done. Um part of our discussion when we were looking at this policy was to uh assess the level of detail that was included which actually was more appropriate to be in a regulation. We did not have a regulation that outlined the more specific uh layers of the the processes around academic intervention services. So many of the deletions that you'll see here are part of the accompanying regulation that we don't approve, but it's on here for everyone to review for information. And we kept the um the overarching important elements related to academic intervention services, the program over overview, eligibility and identification, program description, um how services are delivered, um and uh you know what

137the responsibilities and roles of the AIS teachers are along with parent and guardian communication and notification procedures. So any questions related to that? Okay. Um the next policy uh again as part of our regular review cycle was 5421 which is use of epinephrine auto injector devices. Got to go slow with that one. Um and this was just a a uh a slight update on um the process around uh um the use by non-licensed and training by non-licensed staff. Um, when it comes to auto epinephrine auto injector devices. Okay. And if there's no questions on that one, the uh last policy is one that was already in existence. Um however it's um formerly 5422 which is automated external defiills or AEDs. Uh there was a recent law that was passed called DESH's law which uh really

138expanded um the uh training and um level of access to AEDs within a school district. Um, which as part of that update, we looked at what we had for our policy and realized the it was so extended extensive, we would just replace it wholesale with what um our uh New York State School Boards Association uh recommended. So it is and they also recommended to move it from where we had it which was in the student section of our policy manual to the uh what's called uh support services but it's where a lot of our safety um documents and policies live. So that's why this looks like it's a complete cuz it is wholesale change to this policy and we are following the recommendation to move it into this 8000 series at 8121.2. too. And I

139know that we are already actually carrying out a lot of these because I've heard from my ninth grader that she's had to learn CPR in gym. So, any other comments, questions? Okay, we will move those forward for our second review at our next meeting. Okay, great. Uh, so when we look at now communications to and from the board, uh, board and district committee updates, curriculum council, Miss Cloffer, would you like to speak to that? That was the meeting held on February 11th. Yes. Um, so it feels like so long ago now, but um, and interestingly enough, Miss Santa Barbara touched on quite a bit of this in her presentation of some of the curriculum being developed um, for next year for the second year of the IB program. Um, but at the beginning of the

140curriculum council meeting, Anthony Fitbitzio and um, Dr. Bloom spoke about the program overall and some new courses that are in development for year 2. um some of the work going into the high level courses in the second year of those um and they discussed how the IB program fits into our district's values and matches our components of the Ry commitment and critical thinking, effective communicators, collaborators, global citizens, creative problem solvers, all the stuff that we've been talking about in conjunction with the um portrait of a learner by New York State. Um the main instructional outcomes of the new IB courses are um that students get to make their own decisions, direct their own education. Um the inquiry, they get to ask their own questions and make their own reflections and they're taking risk. Um some

141examples from this year were in the business management class there was um a recent parent networking event. Um in the language and literature class there are um they practice speaking and they take questions. Um and um in terms of any additional resources that are being added for the IB courses for next year um they um we're looking at adding Cognity which is an IB learning platform that will add some text materials and assignments um where the IB students can collect all the materials in one place. um for next year. And the new classes that um were being looked into there is the world language abonicio classes. Um Miss Frost spoke about those and how they're being designed for no experience um needed with the language. And by the end of the year, they would be

142looking for students to have an intermediate level of proficiency. um they'll have fundamental reading, speaking and writing skills by the end of that year. Um the program is based on mostly visual content. They're eliminating English from the learning process. They use a lot of audio and the class will actually be co-seated with year 2 and three languages. Um the expectation there is that these learners who are choosing this course and the IB program overall can adapt at a um and learn at a quicker rate and that would not be a problem for them to be co-seated with um students who are already had one level of that language. Um these are all being created in house. There's not a text for the language classes. Um and the the methodology for the IB overall is that

143IB is for all. There's more flexibility and no prerequisites. It should be available to all students. It does work within the um confines of most IEPs and five 504 plans. Although the only problem potentially there is that the IB assessment itself at the end of the course cannot be modified. But within the classroom experience and the coursework um throughout the school year, that should not be a problem. Um as long as the students can build up to being ready for the IB exams at the end of the school year. Um and I think the rest of this was really touched on a lot. So I I think that was the bulk of it. Okay, great. Thank you. Uh policy meeting, Miss Boil, anything else? Uh, no. We just were able to go through a few

144additional policies for review that didn't have any um updates. So, those those have all been marked as reviewed and put back into the cycle. >> Great. Uh, facilities committee, we just had that meeting this evening. I don't know, Miss Aerson, you want to talk talk to that? >> Yes, we just had our meeting at 5:00 this afternoon. So, this is very relevant information. Um we first of all um had a presentation from save the sound. It was anformational presentation I would say with a lot of data. Um they are um proposing or looking into the possibility of potentially removing a dam that is located um on the brook that's near the turf field. It's only the dam I think they said was like a foot and a half. Um and it doesn't seem like it

145really provides any benefit at all. So um they had a lot of data that they were presenting. They really weren't asking for anything. They're looking into potentially if this project were to go forward um doing it through grant money. So they're not asking the district for anything but permission if this does go forward to um to um to access that area basically. But there we talked about um how we would you know the community and the neighbors would like to see um some information specifically about flooding and things like that. So they were going to come back to us with more information at a later date. Um and then um Rob um Gimigliano made a presentation um about um kind of past and current and future facilities. Um and um he on his spreadsheet had

146um completed 2425. He talked about the high school media center and the pack phase 2. Um the work that is in process that is almost completed would be the Midland and Osborne additions and then future capital projects. It was just to be determined. Um we briefly talked about the building condition survey that was completed in 2025 and then um we'll talk about I think in the next presentation about the transfer to capital um projects that um will be looking to be approved and primarily that's the um middle school I mean the sorry the gym at the high school roof. So we'll hear more about that um at the next meeting. I think it's about a $700,000 transfer to capital um dollar amount. So I think that's basically was that it that we covered? We was

147a very efficient meeting. We covered a lot in our hour that we >> we did. It was great. It was very efficient and we we appreciate you attending >> on your very special evening. So thank you for thank you for being there and for being here with us. Uh are there any other communications to and from the board? Traffic safety, traffic pedestrian. I always botch their name. Nothing. We're good. Okay. Anybody else? No. Okay. So, with that, uh, we usually have so much time before we see each other again, but not this time. So, it's late now, but don't worry, we'll be back again very soon. Next week we will be back here together for additional budget presentations for facilities >> technology >> for technology >> facilities and technology >> facilities is the 24th just

148technology next >> oh just techn well how about that okay just technology then so everybody maybe it won't go so long we'll see all right so with that um let's have a motion to adjourn this evening's meeting anybody Matt Shivoff seconded by Sean Clapper all those in favor That is six to nothing with one n absence. Thank you everybody. See you next week.