001All right. Good evening. Thank you for joining us for the January 27th Board of Education meeting. If you could all join me with the 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. >> Okay. Hey, and we will start this evening with the report of the superintendent, Dr. Murray. Sure. Thank you. Good evening and welcome to the January 27th meeting of the board of education. I hope everyone stayed safe during the snowstorm and was able to enjoy the snow day yesterday. I want to extend a sincere sincere thank you to our director of facilities, Rob Gigleano, and the entire custodial team for their outstanding work preparing our buildings to
002reopen this morning. Moving approximately 18 inches of snow is no small task and their efforts throughout the storm ensured that our buildings, parking lots, and sidewalks were ready for students and staff today. I also want to share a brief update from Albany. Governor Hokll has released the proposed state budget for the 202627 school year. The proposal includes a minimal increase in foundation aid statewide, which is also the case for our district. Uh we look forward to discussing the impact of this and our other budget drivers at our next board of education meeting on February 10th. In addition, the governor also announced a new requirement that districts provide full day pre kindergarten to a four-year-old whose families seek a placement by the 2829th school year. These programs could be offered by school districts, Boseies, or through
003partnerships with other entities. This represents a significant mandate and we will be monitoring this closely as we await additional guidance and details from the state. Finally, I want to note that we are looking forward to our middle school and high school jazz night on February 4th. It's always a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the talent and dedication of our student musicians. And that concludes my report for this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you. So, oh, thank you so much, Dr. Murray. So, now we will move on to presentation and discussion number one, and that is Dr. Murray's entry plan. Take it away. Great. Thank you. Okay. So, um I created this entry plan shortly after my appointment. Um the entry plan is a way for me to transition into the role of superintendency and really gives
004me the opportunity to know and understand um the district and while I was not new here, it gets me to see different pieces of the district and know them in a way that where I had not previously and really understand the culture um the strengths and the areas of growth for the school community. [snorts] Um, through this plan, I've had several conversations with administrators, teachers, parents, students, um, and attended many different events. Um, and from that, I gained different insights, which I want to speak with you about tonight. Um, on where where we are, um, and where we need to be going. And I'm going to be relating those all to the, um, strategic plan that I spoke to you about a couple of months ago. because the work in our district is guided by
005the ride commitment. Um I use this as a lens for my entry plan. So uh when I was speaking with uh members of the community um it was framed around what are the ways in which we're working towards critical thinking, effective communication, creative problem solving and collaboration and how are we doing that while also focusing on the social emotional development of students. And how are we keeping our teachers current so they are at the forefront of our best educational practices and how are we engaging the community both to get their feedback but also to share the work that we're doing so they understand our larger shared purpose. So the goals of the entry plan were really to establish a smooth leadership transition as I mentioned and a big part of it also was to build
006strong trusting relationships. Um I was again fortunate that I was not new to the district while having established relationships but allowed me to kind of grow those and expand them. Um and gained an understanding of the district's culture and strengths and areas for growth. And also it helps to help to really build a foundation of collaborative decision-m and some long-term strategic planning which is a big uh grow um big goal for me this year. It helped me uh to strengthen partnerships with local organizations as well and businesses and government officials um and really establish transparent communication channels between the school and the broader community and for me to kind of serve as a link for those things. Um and then all of the initiatives align all the initiatives with the RIY commitment to really support
007the excellence in education and the student well-being at the same time. So there are many goals that this entry plan was serving um that really allow us to think forward and think about our next steps. I organized the entry plan in three different priority areas. Um the three areas were student center teaching and learning, operational and financial, sustainability and governance, community and public relations. And I would say when I looked over all of my entry plan data, there were really uh four themes that stood out overall. I would say that most people said these things. One was that uh people are our greatest strength. I heard that over and over again. Um that really in this in this school district, in this community, we have dedicated administrators, faculty, staff, and engaged students. So that was
008wonderful to hear and we're, you know, in in a very good place in that respect. Um, also another theme was that we have a deeply supportive community. Um, and the pride that people have in this community and and in Ry and in the schools um was definitely heard over and over again. Um, there's a clear momentum that we're going in the right direction. So many people said we've done great things uh over the past several years and we're moving on the right path. And then um in terms of you know what defines success for students many people said um students and parents and teachers that student success is defined by life readiness. We want the students to be able to leave here um and feel confident and prepared for what comes next. >> [clears throat]
009>> So, in terms of student centered teaching and learning, what I would kind of kind of go into the the areas for growth um part of of my reflections here. Um also keep in mind that this is an update on my entry plan. My entry plan kind of goes throughout the entire year. So, um just want to uh make sure that that that is said um because right now there are two different insights I I have around teaching and learning. One is that I I think that there's there's data I have that says that we need to raise expectations around academics and create various academic pathways for all students. Um that was also a theme um that we really want to push our our our students at all levels um and at the highest level
010as well. And I think there was a concern about that. Um and at the same time while we want to push all students and provide pathways for their interests and their passions, we also want to balance that with social emotional development and student well-being. So it's how can we do both of those those two things that are important at the same time. Um because some because what what the high expectations can also bring stress and anxiety for our students and so we want to be really mindful of that. Um but it's also why we're we're spending so much attention with with with um which you've heard about so much this year as well. Um, you'll notice that in this chart I'm connecting the insights and reflections with the connections with the strategic plan. So, you
011heard a few months ago when I was talking about the strategic plan that I address some of those things. So, those connections are around expanding courses and instructional strategies that emphas that emphasize and grow critical thinking, collaboration, creative problem solving. We want to look at where in our curriculum are are we growing those highle skills because that will push and raise academic expectations for students. We also in the strategic plan we're focused on creating physical spaces that support innovative learning. And I think that fits in because we want to make sure that not only are the um is the curriculum at a high level, but they're learning in a type of environment that supports it. um flexible learning spaces, active learning spaces where students are very engaged and able to grow their skills at a
012at a better rate. And also in the strategic plan, we talked about increasing student voice and decision making. And I think that speaks to student belonging. Um students really feeling like they're they're an important member of our school community. Um and then fostering a culture of care in the school community. We spoke about that as well. again goes back to work. Um and and I and it is strongly strongly connected to so much of the presentation that you saw on SEAL um say a month or month and a half ago. So in terms of action steps that we've already done so far to get at some of these insights that I've had, as you know, we're implementing the IB program and the implementation isn't just a one-year deal. this is a multi-year um you know
013adventure where we are bringing on course courses and filling those classes and and I think um looking at the benefit that it brings us but these are highlevel rigorous courses that I think um that there was a a desire to have as well in addition to all of our AP offerings. So um so there's that that is in place this year and will continue to be over the last couple of years and this year we're designing authentic projects. Those are um kind of project-based learning u also would be another another term to use for that but they're projects really where kids are um solving real world issues. They're presenting their solutions to an authentic audience. We I also heard a um many people speaking about you know we we excel in a lot of different
014areas and just as we excel kind of in athletics and the arts and really highlighting academic achievement. So something that I've been really been trying to do this year is highlighting our academics and and um the the projects and the work that students are doing and so um so that is is a shift um and also utilizing AI to enhance critical thinking. um AI is one of our two main focuses focus areas for this year and how to bring it into our curriculum work in terms of maybe the authentic project work, but how are kids using AI in their as a as a research tool? Um how are they using it uh as a you know as a as a a tool to tutor or or brainstorm or grow their ideas? Um, and how are
015they being really innovative to say, I did something better or my project is better because because of the use of AI, not doing the work for them, but doing it but using it to enhance their work. And what kind of tools are we we putting in kids' hands in order to do that? Um during our SEAL committee, I'm sorry, our SEAL presentation, you heard um Andrew Hara discuss the high school vision committee that he started this year. And that also speaks to this piece about creating student pathways. We're guessing that work will come out of that committee. What do we want the school to look like for all students? Um what what kind of pathways do we want to create for them? What kind of environment and culture do we want to create for them?
016As you know, we're implementing responsive classroom this year. Um, we have counselor le lessons in and K through 10 and we continue to refine and revise those. And earlier this year, we also administered our culture and climate survey which we're using to drive all of our work uh with a post survey in the after and and in the spring so we can see if there's any been any shifts there. Yeah. So, just um in thinking about I think it's kind of baked in here, but just to bring it out um a little bit more explicitly, the professional development that we do with our teachers. Yes. >> Um >> it it struck me as you were talking about in the very first bullet expanding courses and instructional strategies and >> um wanting to uh build those
017skills and looking at what we do now and where that's happening, where we're finding those. Is there I'm I'm going to say I think I know the answer, but the tieback that goes to professional development, how does that play into um kind of looking at at those areas to see are we are we um connecting enough to I know critical thinking has been a big focus, but obviously collaboration, creative that all sort of as we heard the last time we we were here um how so many of those other areas is are tied to critical thinking. >> Absolutely. >> Um so just wanted to hear a little bit more about the the >> integration of professional development that comes in with this. >> Yes. Um thank you for bringing that up. Yes. So all of
018the teaching and learning strategies that we use is they're all tied to professional learning in in some shape or form. Um the authentic projects that I spoke about all of that was was deep uh professional development that happened last year. Um, and teachers were taken through a process to design those and learned how to do that. So, they could do it, you know, by themselves. They can continue that work this year. Um, and all of our work with AI in terms of critical thinking, that is also something that we focused on during conference days. That's we have two instructional technology coaches and that's work that they've been focusing on as well. Um, so every every piece of this is tied to learning for teachers. Even the flexible learning environments and how do you and how
019do you sh how does a flexible learning environment shift your instruction is also a focus of ours as well. And we're so fortunate to have instructional coaches that we yes we h we you know depend on some consultants for some things but the that in-house coaching I think is you know highly effective. Well, it's I think it's just important to talk about that integration because >> um you know often >> when we um think about like how how are we getting to this skill building and the skill building happens not just with the the student but with also with the teacher as well. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> Y as it relates to the IB this is uh it's not even year one it's like month I don't know what are we five months
020into the school year. So, I'm asking a question that I know there is [clears throat] not um >> I'm I'm asking this question with that context in mind. And so as we look forward to the de further development of the IB program and we go back to part of the initial insights and reflections around raising expectations um and pathways, what is kind of a highlevel vision for how and where you think you you see that program developing? Yeah, I think that um I think we have to respond to student need and interest because we have flexibility in the in the types of IB courses that we want that we want to offer. Um and so it's about knowing, you know, what IB courses are kids interested in, I think will help sort of shape that
021program. Um I think we started with some that we thought would give kids a good mix. um we might have some students that want, you know, higher level science IB courses down the road. Uh could be the case. So, we just have to be in tune with what our our students, you know, want as as part of their high school academic career and then of course watch enrollment around those things [laughter] in order to sustain it. But yes, >> great. Mhm. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. >> Okay. So, next we go to operational and financial sustainability. Um, so one thing one insight and reflection that I've had is that uh we have a need to increase our level of efficiency across the system and that just looks at like our overall operation and where are
022the where are the places that we be can become more effective and more efficient between departments and and really every every area of the district. Um, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about that. Um, and and also we and the need to create a long-term facilities plan. There are a lot of facilities needs um that we had a large bond, but but there was more work identified um in that bond that was not completed. And so I think we're seeing that now. And so we have some facilities needs that we need to plan for going forward. Um we have to create a long-term financial plan um that's fiscally responsible, supports the facilities plan and also supports you know the high programmatic expectations. Um we want to be able to deliver a you know
023an outstanding um product in every way to our community and so we have to make sure that we have the financial budget to do so. Uh there are many areas of the strategic plan that align with those things. Um uh we had the we had we talked about facilities and strategic plan about how we improve and maintain those and support student learning. Um we also talked about food service in terms of their the role in the system and creating efficiencies and uh building and empowering capacity in all of our staffing not just our teachers our teacher aids our aids or nurses clerical and how how do how does all how does every um how do all the staff function together and operate efficiently? um we have to look at modernizing technology and infrastructure and support
024the needs of our educ that support the needs of our system um and and and think about how do we do that that's also in a fiscally responsible way. So uh and also ensure that members of the community and follow our safety procedures and security procedures as well. So again, how the whole the whole system is operating. Um we've done several things this year um more specifically with the operations team to really get at parts of of that strategic plan. Uh we created a budget to actual financial report for each building and department. And this was really helpful going into this budget season and looking to see um what was budgeted for, what was spent across the departments. And we use that um with the heads of those departments or buildings to build their budgets
025for this year. Um and you'll hear more about that when we do our budget presentation. Uh we identified metrics regarding staffing expenditure for future tracking. So looking at what we have paid uh for staffing previously uh and salaries and then with new hires, what is that difference and what does that do for us financially? Um and also utilizing the building condition survey uh in order to create our facilities plan is a step that we're taking right now. Uh you heard Rob Giggliano talk during the facilities presentation about the criteria he established to prioritize work. So we have that criteria that we're using um that will help us plan out for the next 5 years. Uh in addition, we created a a budget uh with infrastructure and Wi-Fi upgrades that were needed. Um we did a
026Wi-Fi survey that came back with where what kind of upgrades uh we really have to be doing in our buildings. And so we took that in consideration as well. Any questions on operations and financial sustainability? >> Order. >> No, I think a lot of this, as you've said, is going to be borne out in that presentation that's coming on February 10th. So, I look forward to seeing it's it's really great to see kind of a little bit of the sausage making or at least here, right? A little bit of that sausage making and then be able to get the actual presentation at our next meeting. So, that'll be great. >> Okay. The last priority area was around governance, community, and public relations. Um, and really this kind of this area for me comes down to
027communication. Um, I heard this as a as a theme as well. um that we need to increase communication at all levels. Um but specifically at the building and teacher level. Um I I I have data from parents that really that says that they they they want more increased communication uh from schools and teachers. Uh they want to know how their students are doing or how their children are doing. They want to know about progress. They want to know about areas of growth for their students and really have that connection and that communication ongoing with teachers. So I think that's something for us to think more about um of how we can we can do that in a way that's um effective and efficient. Um and then also there's a piece about communicating with consistent messaging
028that reflects what we value and that's at all levels and making sure that the messaging reflects the right commitment, reflects our focus areas um and and again what we what we value. Um so the strategic plan um has a piece in there that talks about improving me communication to ensure consistent messaging. There are a few things that we've done this year to get at that. Um one is I administered a communication survey to the community early this fall. Uh that gave me a lot of good insight into what parents and I had a nice response rate on that as well. Um and to what parents are hoping to see in the future. Um, we implemented a monthly principal communication across all of our five schools. Um, which I think has been helpful in keeping parents
029updated, seeing the larger picture in the buildings. Uh, we've increased our social media use, um, to highlight our district priority areas and the right commitment. We've tried to been pretty strategic about that. Um, I've attended, you know, in terms of community relations, uh, community coffees, which I hosted as part of my entry plan. Um, I think I did seven of them. uh some were had high higher turnouts than others, but it was nice for me to be able to hear from people in a different kind of setting and hear what's on their minds. Um and also I I attend regional superintendent meetings and legislative forums just so I'm kind of up to date on what's happening in the larger world in education in New York State and I can represent Rye in those arenas. >>
030So Dr. Murray related to uh so you administered a survey, you got initial feedback. How are you going to figure out >> if anything has changed, has been better, is done? What what kind of data are you going to be looking at to to measure this? >> So, I'll be putting more of a full communication plan in more towards the end of this year that we can implement for next year. And then I'd like to do another community survey to see if people feel like it has improved in the areas that they were hoping it to improve in. Just anecdotally, do do um and maybe you haven't this might not be something that that you know right now, so that's fine. Um are the principles hearing feedback on their monthly communications? >> I think that
031a little. I don't think there's a ton, you know. Um I hope that it's helping, but we'll see once I do another survey that it is. >> Right. Right. and they also could ask their own, you know, the parents in their in their building as well for feedback. Um, they could actively seek that. But, um, yeah, >> I've I've certainly enjoyed the addition of all the hyperlinks and and, uh, additions to to your weekly as as well as um, you know, each of the buildings. But I guess just randomly, are are you able to follow readership? Do are you keeping readership stats on these? Okay. >> Yes. Well, I know I know it was opened. Okay. [laughter] But with the Oh, I guess just out of curiosity because if if somebody opens a link, you
032can, you know, track how many people are reading and I guess was curious whether you know >> have any early read on engagement. Obviously, we don't have a baseline prior to now, but >> right, it's been pretty consistent since I started tracking it. Um, I use a new uh platform. I'm able to do that and it's been pretty consistent. It's a pretty good um number return I'm getting so far. So, No precipitous decline. >> No, no, no, >> not 100%. >> No. >> Okay. No. Slow and steady. >> Slow and steady. >> That it's like tortoise. That's good. >> Exactly. Exactly. >> Better be a tortoise sometimes. >> So, I I've explained what we've done for action steps this year and I just want to talk a little bit about next steps. Um the the
033next steps in the plan will be, you know, this is a plan. sort of a a work in progress and it is flexible and we have ideas for where we're going. It becomes much more detailed obviously as you get closer. Um but our next steps is that we we a goal of ours is to grow the the enrollment in IB and to think about what are the what are the courses um that's going to attract students um to implement interdisciplinary courses. We started this at the middle school a few years ago, two years ago maybe. We want to be able to grow that and look at maybe some interdisciplinary courses at the high school and design those um and then think about are there other pathways for students that we should be um think incorporating
034and again I would ask students and get some student voice on that. >> Quickly um for the interdisciplinary courses that would be at um regions level or across >> it would be like an elective. Oh. Oh. Oh. Okay. >> Where you would take two different content areas. Okay. And merge them and create an interdisiplinary elective course. >> Okay. So, not within the core. >> Yeah. No. Okay. >> Um, we need to continue our focus on I mean shifting culture takes time. Um, and I would say that the the focus that we've had on it this year is good and strong and it needs to continue. um and specifically at the middle school and high school level because we have um responsive classroom and it's and it is going well. Um the teachers really see the
035benefit of it uh without a specific program at the middle school and high school. It get just gets trickier in terms of embedding those practices and and providing the professional learning in that area. So um and working with building leaders and their teams to um keep the work going. Um we need to continue to create learning spaces that encourage innovation and collaboration. Uh at the secondary level specifically again um we've got gorgeous eyabs and um and that's wonderful and we need to look at all of our classrooms as innovative learning spaces as well and how can we kind of transform those over the next couple of years. Um and then the creating the long-term financial plan incorporates the facilities and the academic programming in there um is will be happening um and also to continue
036to improve the communications and and listen to the feedback um from the community on that. >> So that's a great list of things and what do you >> some are easier to do than others, right? Some are faster than others. for something like the, you know, the um culture, climate and culture at the middle school and high school as you said, right? That's multi-year. That's a longer um What about creating a long-term fiscal and facilities plan? That's the time sooner. [laughter] >> That's before the end of this year. We have to look five years out. Yeah. And you'll see some of that the beginnings of that when we do our budget presentation. >> Okay. And so you made note or reference that the elementary school teachers is seeing or feeling the benefits of the responsive
037classroom. And so is there some hard data that they're able to kind of point back to what are their um you know referral rates to the office or even within their own classrooms? >> Right now honestly it's just anecdotal. Okay. Um we're going to do the culture and climate survey again like I said in the spring. Um but we need to get all the other data as well and that's something that theCCL committee will be collecting. We also are running f focus groups um and the committee is they'll be analyzing that data next month. Student student focus groups. >> Okay. >> At all levels. >> Yeah. [snorts] >> And so for the IB >> Mhm. course selection has not begun yet at the high school but certainly there's so directionally there's not an anticipation of
038any new IB courses for next year >> I mean that would be the >> it looks like our IB course is double but that's only because our courses are two years >> right >> okay >> so it looks like we have more offerings than we have um but we don't it's just because that's year two of the same course >> okay >> um and and really when I say grow enrollment we've got we have great enrollment in and our IB courses. We have like over 200 kids taking an IB course, which is fantastic. It's the diploma program kids and getting that group. Um, >> you know, it's it was small this year and we just need to keep going with it. Um, >> well, it's new. >> Everything that's new is always, you know, takes
039a little while and and a little churn. I'm just thinking about um getting that feedback from students about what would be additional courses. That's not something that's going to be for the 26 27. That [clears throat] would be a 27 28. [snorts] And that makes sense. That's then two full years of realization of the actual programs. >> Okay. >> Any other questions, comments? >> All right. Well, thank you. I >> Sorry. Nope. [laughter] I was slow. Um, I I think what I really appreciate about the presentation that you've just given is that it really helps to bring some focus into what I think we've talked about for a long time as large larger bucket areas that we need to be focused on. But the I think the concept of being able to take these and
040then do some future planning from a financial um standpoint because that really is, you know, that is our challenge as a public school district >> is the >> the desire to do a lot of wonderful innovative academic and instructional and um you know [snorts] creative learning spaces and all of those things. And you still you need to do that within a finite >> yes >> um number of dollars. >> So so that's where the the the future outlook the fiscal planning over those years is going to be so crucial >> um for us to to be as um not just efficient but uh you know as focused on where we want to try to get because we realize we can't get everywhere. >> Yeah. >> All at once. So, I I really appreciate the way
041that you've um presented this because I think it helps to give a real focus on what those areas are and then we can see how can we do this in the steps that we need to. >> So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Well, I think having actual documents is also very helpful, right? And I think educators a lot of the time we get beat up for having great ideas and not a whole lot of plans. And so to have something like a strategic plan with action steps that are all really driven out of the time that you took to develop an entry plan really provides a great roadmap and an opportunity for us as a district to be able to circle back to and really use as anchors to to move the work forward.
042So it's very exciting to see the the tie back to all of these documents that you're doing and the cohesiveness of which they are all building on one another. So, it's very exciting about things to come. Thank you. And I want to thank everyone who did an entry interview with me as well. It's very important to get that data. >> I enjoyed our time together. >> I'm still doing them for anyone who wants to come on come on in. So, but thank you. Appreciate it. Great. Okay. So, we will move on to the hearing of the public on non-aggenda items. And uh because it's so cold out, I think that's why we haven't had an overwhelming uh attendance of the public. So, I will forgo the speech this evening about our opening statement, but I
043will just remind everybody we are always here and we'd love to have the public come and attend our meetings. And you are always welcome, please, to provide any feedback to us at rcsd boardschools.org. So, we will now move on to the consent agenda. Can I please have a motion to review this evening's consent agenda? Valerie Lapam, seconded by Matt Shongh. Let's take a look at tonight's consent agenda. consent agenda general. Dr. Murray, if we could just talk about the calendar one more time, please. >> Yes. [snorts] >> Second. Sorry. >> No, you take your time. >> Talk about the calendar. >> Okay. Um, so, oops. So the calendar is is bound by um by some things around New York states we have to have 180 school days. Um between September and June the ending date
044of the school year is marked by region's rating day uh which will be the 25th. Um so that's why we can't go past that day. >> So point of clarification, we can't go past that. >> Yes. >> But does that mean we can go two weeks before it? >> Nope. That marks the last day of school. >> Sorry. Thank you. >> Okay. >> Sorry. >> Um there are certain holidays, federal state holidays that we're required to, you know, observe as well. Some of those in this calendar did uh fall on a weekend. Um but as I mentioned before, what makes this calendar so tricky is how late Labor Day is. Um we are starting after Labor Day and that's also to follow the Southern Westchester Bosey's calendar because we utilize some of our students utilize
045their services for um CTE program and also for special education as well. >> And so Dr. Murray, that's that's a lot of acronyms and for those perhaps who aren't aware, what does that actually mean for the regular child or regular any any old kid in our school? What does that all that mean? So, uh, we we we access some services from our local Boseies. Um, and so some of our students, special education students, um, access services on campus there. And we also have some students who attend for the career technical and education program that they provide as well. Um, so we we try to sync our calendars uh for those students. So like if we were to start on >> August 24th, >> right, >> there potentially could be two weeks where students don't have
046the opportunity to to make themselves available for the other half of their day. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Sorry. >> Um Yep. So but because it is such a tight calendar, that December break uh is shorter than it has been in the past couple of years. Um, but it does it does we did put a half day in there on the 23rd to give a little bit of wiggle room there. Um, and there's uh three and snow emer emergency days that we always have included around the same times of the year. Those are the days in purple there and four superhence conference days. Those were shifted because we wanted to make sure that we provided consistency for students. So we actually are starting the year with three conference days. Therefore, we don't have it in
047November. Um, again, more consistency for uh students and families. And then we moved our March conference day right up to spring break. Um, again, so to provide more consistency. >> Okay, great. Any uh questions, thoughts, concerns? Okay, thank you, Dr. Murray. I appreciate that. It's always one of the more exciting things that people like to talk about. Uh Mrs. Bole, did you want to talk about the non-represented employees? >> I did. Um so we this is a policy that we uh spent the last two meetings talking about changes to. Um and if you look at it right now, there is one more change. um a a position title uh which you'll see highlighted in green um was uh added into this group of employees. We we actually um officially added this position in in December.
048So, I wanted to point that out bit. I don't think we need to go back through and do three reviews for a position title edition, but wanted to make sure everyone was aware that that um this is being added in and so we can uh uh adopt tonight with that addition if there's no questions. >> Okay, great. Okay, thank you. Uh consent agenda fiscal. Oh, sorry. Consent agenda fiscal construction and then consent agenda fiscal and consent agenda professional appointments, consent agenda, classified appointments, consent agenda, pupil personnel services and special education, and consent agenda curriculum instruction and assessment. Okay, seeing no further questions, can I have a vote for uh approval of this evening's consent agenda? All those in favor? That is 6 with one absent. So on this evening's consent agenda, sorry. Okay. On this
049evenings consent agenda, we have approval of a gift from the Ry Garnets ice hockey in the amount of $34,287.50 50 cents to support the ice rental expenses for the 2526 ice hockey season. And we are uh most appreciative of that donation because uh ice time is super expensive and so we really do appreciate the generosity of our community for being able to support our um student athletes who play ice hockey. Um, we also have on this evening's consent agenda the retirement of two of our employees. So, we are accepting the retirement of Miss Dorene Klene. [gasps] Ry Middle School speech and language therapist Dorene Klene will retire at the end of the 2526 school year after many years of dedicated service. Miss Klein will be greatly missed and we are thankful for her lasting impact
050on our students and school community. Miss Klein has been with the Ry City School District for more than 20 years. She came to Ry City School in 2002 as a part-time speech and language pathologist. By 2006, she became a full-time member of the Ry City School District team. Miss Klein worked at both Midland and Milton, spending most of her tenure at Milton before moving to Ry Middle School in 2019. Miss Klein received her bachelor of arts in speech and hearing handicapped from Sunni at Courtland and her mers of science and education from Nazareth College of Rochester. Dr. Aaron Freedenberg, assistant assistant superintendent of pupil personnel services said, "We are grateful to Miss Klein for her dedication and for all her work she has done in supporting our students." Miss Klein, we wish you all the
051very best in your retirement. We are also accepting the retirement of Mr. Dan Brown. Following many years of dedicated service, music teacher Dr. Dan Brown will retire at the conclusion of the 2526 school year. While his presence will be greatly missed, we are thankful for the lasting influences influence he has had in our students and school community. Dr. Brown has been with the Ry City School District for more than 35 years. He joined the Ry City School District in 1989 as a full-time music teacher at the secondary level. He received his bachelor of science and music education from Gettysburg College. Then received his master's of arts in music and music education, master of education in music and music education, and his doctorate of education in music and music education, all from teachers college, Columbia University.
052During his time in Ry, Dr. Bran spent 16 years as the director of the jazz band at both the high school and the middle school. He also conducted the orchestra for the high school musicals for over 10 years. Mr. Dr. Andrew Hara, Ry High School principal, said of him, "For more than three decades, Dr. Dan Brown has shaped the lives of thousands of students through his passion for music and his deep commitment to young people. Known affectionately as Doc, his influence extends far beyond performances and rehearsals. It lives on in the discipline, creativity, and love of music he instilled in generations of students. Dr. Dr. Brown's legacy in the Rice City School District is profound and his impact on our school community will be felt for many years to come. Dr. Brown, we will miss
053you and we miss we wish you all the very best in your retirement. And with that, we will now move on to presentation and discussion number two for some policy review. Mrs. Bole, thank you. Um, so this is a policy that we uh took a look at at our last meeting. It is 6110 budget planning development adoption and uh with the changes incorporated fund balance as well. Um so this is a wholesale integration of the a separate policy that talked specifically about fund balance. Um and we've incorporated into here because it made a lot of sense with the information that was already a part of this policy. And this way we can bring those together and then we're able to rescend the previous policy so we can narrow down our policies. Um so were there
054any other questions related to this change? >> No. Okay. So we will um move this forward to be adopted at our next meeting. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. >> Okay. So we will now move on to information and discussion. Uh it looks like Mrs. Bole, you're up again. more policies. Uh so as we continue to go um through our review of uh our policy manual and um taking a look at as many policies as we can to bring them up to date. These are the next uh ones that we were able to tackle in our last couple of meetings. Um the first is policy 1000 which is uh called community relations goals. Um you'll see as you look at it there are not significant changes but we felt that given the connection that we have
055related to engagement of our community in the RI commitment we wanted to reflect that in this policy as well and then we just did some um minor changes to try and consolidate some of the points that were in here questions. Okay. So that's one. Um the next is curriculum um curriculum adoption. Uh this policy again was uh um one that we were looking at to review. Um in the course of reviewing that we also noticed that there was a policy that was called um program evaluation and that was uh uh policy 0350. And as a part of reviewing this, we found that these are very similar themes. We're looking at curriculum adoption as well as evaluating current programs, which is what happens as part of our curriculum review process as well, you know, not just
056for new curriculum, but for current um uh curriculum that we already have. So, we've incorporated language. It's not a wholesale incorporation, but we brought in the themes that we felt uh were not here, but could capture what the program evaluation policy was talking to, and we incorporated those into this policy. >> Sorry, I'm going to be like super annoying. Um, so two things. Uh, is 4230 a required policy? >> No. Okay. Is the program evaluation policy a required policy? Nope. Okay. What is the dis what? So curriculum is different than programs but programs are not curriculum. You use programs within curriculum. You use programs to support your curriculum. So therefore does the title of this policy need to change in that now you are also talking about instructional programs and not just curriculum adoption and
057evaluation. I said I was going to be annoying. >> Yeah. No. So put it out front. So um in in the language we do talk about evaluation and development of instructional programs with a body. >> Correct. Which is why I'm asking about the title. >> Right. So we just we did not include that as part of the title. Um if there's concern that it does not capture it completely from a >> well that's why I asked the question about if these were required policies right because they're not required. You don't have to have it in. I think it's more for title for the administration >> if >> yeah you >> if you feel like it needs to be in the title as well >> you certain just to clarify yeah that's that would work >>
058you could you could do that you could incorporate into the title >> I don't I don't say it needs to I'm not saying it needs to I'm wondering for for the purposes of um operationalizing something >> as an administrator is it helpful to have it as a title as part of the title in the policy or are you not really thinking about or seeing them as different processes that need to be uh delineated in terms of evaluating programs andor curriculum? >> I think they are slightly different and so it might make more sense to adjust the title to to incorporate both of those things. >> Okay. Okay. >> I think it just Yeah. curriculum and uh program adoption and evaluation. Mhm. Okay. Other questions? >> Nope. No. >> Sorry. >> Oh, more. [laughter] >> Well,
059just so so the problem now, right? If that's now your title. So when you're looking at that first Nope. Second sentence in designing and evaluating curriculum >> and programs. >> Correct. Now they can go through it again. >> Yeah. You just got to kind of then >> Yep. Yep. >> pop in. >> Sure. >> I said it was going to be annoying. Sorry. Okay. That's it. >> Okay. So, we're good with the the second paragraph. >> Well, I figure you all are you all the whole thing? >> Are you going back? It's >> We'll go back. And you think we need to bring it back to policy? >> We could. No, >> I don't know if you need to bring it back to policy. If just you guys just want to double check to make
060sure that the language Yeah. >> follows that general theme. I don't think it needs a whole committee review now that we've set it out. >> Okay. I just wanted to make sure that that was >> I just didn't [laughter] think we needed to take the whole time for me to work. >> Understood. Understood. >> I've already I've already exceeded my talking time related to this issue. >> Okay. Okay. Moving on. Um so the next uh um this is is not a policy. It's a regulation. It's a curriculum adoption and evaluation regulation, which actually it should not say evaluation regulation. I think it's really just curriculum adoption regulation. Sorry. So, we'll remove that. [laughter] >> Um, this is a um actually a wholesale new regulation around our our curriculum adoption process. Um when looking at this
061along with the curriculum adoption policy um the the previous version did did didn't really reflect fully what the process is. Uh so we felt it was or the administration felt it was better to create a new version because the other was very very detailed >> um with like a calendar and and things of that nature which it just was at the time it might have been what was um what was best needed but now this is the this is the process that is being followed. So, this is really more for information for the board to see what the regulation says. We're not going to be moving this forward for adoption. Um, but it was more just as as a for your information. [snorts] Um and then our last policy is student health services. There's one
062um word change to this policy which is all the way on the last page under student return to school after illness/injury. Um this was this change was made from um requiring a uh doctor's note to requesting a doctor doctor's note so that we are in alignment with uh another policy that has the same provision um which is student attendance and um that is a required policy. So we are following the the mandated mandated language of that required policy to update it here as well. So there was no confusion around um what what was required or if we were just requesting and that's it. So it is not a requirement. Uh it it's not required to get a note. >> No, we we can request one, >> right? >> Yeah. >> And that's and that's also
063for return for for I mean this says participating in full range of school activities. So that would include sports >> and after school and this is for a certain extended if it's there out for three or more days in a 5day. >> Yes. Okay. >> But the only point of clarification that we had was I mean I guess and it is in both policies though that that um if they're out for an extended time, they haven't received a doctor's notice, they visit the nurse to get clearance. Is that correct? >> So the rest of this policy speaks to the school physician or nurse practitioner that can examine the student to say whether or not they pose a threat. It's for more communicable disease >> um concern. >> Yeah. I mean, it's more to do with,
064you know, students out for 5 days. >> They're ready to come back. They can't get the doctor's, you know, appointment. They can come back to school, but they're going to be checked by a nurse beforehand if necessary. >> They can be if they don't have the note, right? >> That's what the policy reads. Yeah. >> Is that something we do? >> They to see the school nurse. Yeah. >> Yes. [laughter] We have the policy says so. I think we have to it's about um making sure we're following all of the the practices. Yeah. Okay. I just Okay. >> This came up for us kind of operationally when we noticed a difference between the two policies which I think was causing some inconsistency in buildings versus our attendance policy and then this policy. So, we wanted
065to make sure that they were in sync. >> Yeah. I just wonder I this is news to me that if you don't provide a note that in fact the nurse practitioner or the director of health services can examine your child to determine if they're able to come back. It's kind of like I don't know I feel like you may want to people may want to know that where it's like then it's actually kind of more you may be more inclined to go ahead and get the note correct if I know that my kid's going to be pulled out of class and examined by the director of health services. >> Yes. We can send a communication about that as well. I would imagine if it's not I'm maybe making this up, but I would imagine the
066nurse may have a conversation with um >> the parents parents. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, part of this is that the attendance uh clerk notifies the school nurse when someone's been out for 3 days due to an illness. They reach out to the parents to to check in, see how they're doing, >> and that part's communicated that time. >> Yes. Okay, sounds good. Okay, [snorts] that is all of our policies for today. Lots of interaction. This was fun. [laughter] >> So, sorry. I'm really I'm just I'm on all cylinders tonight, everybody. My apologies. I do recall in the unfortunate error of CO 19 2020 >> that there were communicable disease policies and I don't recall if we actually adopted any at that time about returning to school. So it may just be an exercise that
067the policy committee may want to undertake. Just make sure that if we did adopt any at that time that if the language is actually reflective or the same or maybe >> this now encapsulates whatever that was so maybe we don't need it but maybe we didn't even do anything. But I just remember there was like a whole hub of blue at that time >> or was like we needed to policy the world cuz you know >> everybody was sick. >> Yes. >> Cuz we were but we're not. But >> yeah, we'll we'll go back and look to see >> if there was anything specific to to >> around that time that would have that would impact what this is. This has clearly been around for a long time. >> So, >> right. And that's why
068I'm saying it's just one of those ones that then could be in contradiction if it in fact exists, but it might not even exist cuz I don't I feel like I I remember it, but I don't. >> That was a long time ago. >> Yeah. >> And I had CO a couple of times in between. So, you know, messes with you. Okay, sorry. I'm done now. I promise. Moving on. Quick communications to and from the board. I would imagine, Miss Bole, that was all from the policy committee. Do you have anything else? >> Uh, the only other thing I'll add is that we did spend um time reviewing several other policies that uh did not have any changes to them. So, they were marked as reviewed and have now [clears throat] gone back into the
069queue to be reviewed again someday. Okay, great. uh wellness policy, wellness committee rather. Anyone have an update? Oh, Miss Wal. Uh we had a productive discussion with the wellness committee led by Tracy Bernett and Stacy Falconee. Um it's quite an impressive um work that they do on both ends, especially um what Stacy Falconee has been working on for the the health and wellness with food services in all three schools. Um making sure that she is providing healthy and nutritious foods for our all of our kids. um and [clears throat] not only healthy and nutritious, but the variety of foods and also trying to make things um from scratch as much as possible um to keep out, you know, artificial flavorings and dyes and um allergens, etc. Um when we were at the meeting, she just
070kind of put out a spread of just some of the examples of some of the newer items that she has on the menu. Um and it really is a nice choice for the kids. um they have a they have some really great options. Um on Tracy's end, we just talked a little bit about um the physical exercise. We reviewed the policy um which is um let me just see the policy. Sorry. 54 >> 5404 uh student wellness. We just took a look at that policy um reviewed it to see if there was anything that we wanted to update or change or modify and just a few things came up in regards to that policy. Um uh one of the attendees had mentioned that it would be helpful to have um specific ingredients listed um for
071all the foods that the cafeteria serves. Um, she mentioned that, you know, some of the foods it says on the website what they are, uh, but it doesn't actually break it down to exactly every single ingredient. And she was someone that thought that that might be important for, um, some of our families. So, we talked about um, being more specific in that sense. Um, on the wellness side, we talked a little bit about the physical exercise and making sure that we don't use that as a disciplinary measure for our children. um if they are, you know, to have a timeout or have to see the principal that it's not happening during the recess unless um the issue and the reasoning for uh the disciplinary action was because of an action at recess cuz they want
072to be able to reinforce um the behavior in the right um in the right area. Um but other than that, teachers um are very careful not to take that recess time away from children for for any reason because they understand the importance of it. Um and we just reiterated that that would be really, you know, make sure that that doesn't happen. Um trying to think everything else in the policy seemed um to align with what we're already doing, which was really great. I don't know, Trisha, if you can think of anything else. Um, >> no, I think you covered it. It was it was great to have a discussion around the policy. Um, and I think that we are um in a good place with some small tweaks in order to really ensure that we're
073adhering to it in all um levels. And I thought the students who attended the meeting had a lot of good ideas too um in terms of other other ideas they can use for fundraising instead of bake sales. >> Right. We had talked a little bit about um food and how we use food on campus um having gone away from that practice for birthday parties especially in the elementary schools and not bringing in candy for Halloween and things like that. We wanted to try and make that something um during fundraisers that we also keep that in mind like do we always have to use food and bake sales and thinking of other creative ways um to remove food from you know the celebration. Okay, great. Thank you. All right. Uh so our next meeting is on
074the 10th. So, we won't have an opportunity to hear from curriculum and policy at that meeting, but that's okay because we are going to be chock full of exciting information with Dr. Murray's first uh proposed superintendent's budget for the 2627 school year. So, that's going to be an exciting meeting. We all look forward to that. Uh are there any other questions, communications to and from the board? Okay, seeing none, then we are going to go ahead and adjourn. And I have a motion to adjourn this evening's meeting. Sean Cloffer, seconded by Matt Shiboff. All those in favor, that is six to nothing. Thank you. We will see you on February 10th.