001December 21st 2022 Board of Education meeting to order um indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay first order of business is the acceptance of the agenda I get a motion for that please auntie what was the favorite all right any opposed promotion chair second order of business is the consent agenda Zach second I was like oh spare all right any opposed motion carriage okay next sort of business is the public comment portion before we start that I got a couple of statements I'd like to make you see a lot of people here tonight that's that's great we'd love to have public come to our meetings be involved um we understand there's concerns out there we really do we're going to ask you tonight make sure you follow the guidelines I'll read them later that's
002important we're looking for respectful conversation I can assure you that board members are hearing things you're saying so you may have reached out to board members we understand that each of these board members has taken a different path here they have to go through State training to be on the board of education and we are all bound by duty to uphold the laws the state in laws and our policies and we do our best to do so there are occasions where we're unsure of what some of those laws are and so we consult the school attorney get clarification none of us are professional lawmakers sometimes people ask the Board of Education to act in an oversight role and we struggle with that because we're unsure sometimes what our boundaries are and we look to clarify
003those just like we're going to ask the people that speak tonight to adhere to a policy please understand we also have to hear to policy laws and rules and sometimes I think that uh there's a notion out there that the Board of Education wields some power that can make things change or go away immediately that's not always the case as a matter of fact everyone that I know has gone through poor training and sits on the board one of the first things they recognize is that their ability to affect immediate change is not exactly what they thought it would be when they got on the board it's it's a little different now so please understand that I also understand that there may be a petition circulating I think that's outstanding people that want to put
004their name to a concept an idea support a Cause we support that if you're looking for what the procedure for that would be any petition you want to get the Board of Education give to our clerk Ms Pollock and she will distribute that to the board so if that's something that uh you're looking for she's diverse generally during public sessions the board is not going to respond or enter into a question and answer period um most often the open public comment portion is for comments on agenda items it doesn't always go that way but that's the purpose of accession so with that let me read you some of the Official Guidelines to think about them if in fact you want to say something or let us know something that is outside of the boundaries of
005the public session there are other ways you can do that the easiest way is to email the clerk and ask her to distribute your thoughts aboard we do get those we do read them I will tell you anyone that emails uh on on a particular topic I will personally get back to you and let you know that your email has been read by each and every board member so you know it just didn't disappear in the email of this you can call board members and explain what you're happy with or what you're unhappy with oftentimes board members will more listen and respond but they they will listen to you so that's that's one of the ways you can do it so if you feel unsatisfied tonight by the limitations of the public comment portion please
006drop us that email pick up the phone call us and we'll do our very best to make sure that all of your concerns are heard with all board members so with that we have a thing we read before every one of these sessions the Board of Education encourages public participation on school related matters and board meetings the board is here to listen during this period of the meeting persons wishing to address support shall State their name and our organization so we have that for the public record we're generally limited to three minutes we do that to try to keep the meeting moving along speakers to conduct themselves in a civil manner the board cannot permit a public session discussion involving individual District Personnel or students and that includes terms of employment so please when you
007address the board do not use names of staff students Etc persons wishing to discuss matters involving District Personnel should present their comments and our concerns to the board through a written statement a reminder public session is not an interactive question action in Superior we're not going to address specific concerns during the meeting but this year we're going to be listening to concerns if you have additional uh concerns you can address those questions Mrs Fox you can call her email her Etc uh the word president has the right to discontinue any public comment which violates this policy I'm hoping that we have to go so with that would anyone like to uh speak first Mr yes sir thank you Mike that's not necessary your your accomplishments are well known qualified so I can't help I can't
008have we will stipulate your highly successful coach America or the record does that work for you well no I like to address them the way I'd like to do it but that's all right anyway good evening my name is Michael Navarra I am the uh I guess I would say I'm the former volleyball coach of the Saranac Lake School District um and I just have a brief um message to send to the board um as well as the superintendent you've all received my letter and I appreciate your time like I said last time I was in here you guys got a hard job and some decisions to make so good evening at the last meeting I addressed the Board of Education regarding a disciplinary matter since then I believe there has been additional misuse of
009power and violation of policy and procedure by the superintendent the annual evaluation process afforded to coaches was misused in what I believe to be a retaliation for speaking to the board the allegations made and a letter provided Michael we have your ladder we have all these backs this is outside the boundary we cannot talk about employment conditions in public section so then why are we all here no you cannot talk about your employment here in this session can you make normal sessions your method of contacting the Board of Education is personally individually via email public comment section is not a debate session about a school employee's record and or discipline that's not allowed so Mike just so I can clarify this you and I have spoken and I wanted to give the widest possible latitude
010in this session so I did consult our accounts and he is advising that these rules we have we should stick to them so you should know that that's where that's coming from we have your letter it's it's very detailed and it explains all the things you want to explain to us and I know this is frustrating for everybody in here I understand that I know many of you want to get up here and you want to support Mr Navarro and we're appreciative of that and like I said in my statement we have to follow the policy and rules that we're given as well and so I don't want to be sitting here all night cutting people off because that's not why you came here so your statement should be limited to um things that don't
011deal with with employment issues I'm not employed employed as our coach I'm not employed right now so I'd like to continue it's very short I you could continue but if you violate the policy you know I'm gonna have to stop you this is this is not the favorite thing that we like to do so this isn't about my deployment though that's what I'm trying to say this is about me being banned from this campus yeah that's that's still the same fact that's not an issue that's appropriate for this form so none of us are allowed to stand up and say anything related to that at all like you're not allowed to comment on employees or a police situation that's correct you wouldn't be allowed to comment on a student um you know for example you
012can make a general comment that uh you are unsatisfied with actions taken by the school district totally unsatisfied exactly that's fine I have a question that this is not a question and answer period we're not going to get into a debate I know you're frustrated I can assure you on our side where you where it might continue we'll see what we can do all right thank you I appreciate it I'm trying not to but you know listen Mike you've been respectful in any interaction we've had we've talked about that let's do our best here all right so let me know if you need to cut me off but the policy cited is being violated the public conduct of school property policy lists 15 different prohibited actions none of which were violated by the alleged incidents
013also included in the policy are the actions to enforce it the principal or designate this is not what we can do I am very sorry this is not where we can debate this issue I know you're frustrated I'm frustrated too well you get not in this form so that is not my intent yeah I have a public comment is to be able to address the city so why were we asked to be here to show our support if we're not allowed to talk about things that we think are unfair how the decision was maybe rushed how some of the facts that were presented as evidence were untrue the method for doing that equal individual board members can you give me your phone number because I'll call you up tonight that's perfect I think this whole
014situation is ridiculous which is why I did not join the school board because it's not run right well it's run according to the law I know the law you think this is my first round for the school board Mark like I'm not trying to upset I'm not but you're cycling all these kids that are here that want to help their coach was a good man who was being railroaded because someone doesn't like it can I have a suggestion I'm gonna email you my letter that's all what any any player that would like to stand up and make a statement that their time in volleyball uh was enjoyable and that they felt that they were well coached they can make statements like that is it really going to do any good I don't know yeah because
015the decision has already been made and that's not fair it's been made on things that are not true I'm not trying to stifle your ability to reach out I'm trying to share with you what we've been instructed as the appropriate manner to do that okay so you said we're allowed to mention our dissatisfaction with the board's conduct are we allowed to provide evidentiary information and supplementary information to back up our claims these decisions it's not a back and forth It's just putting it out there as far as what our opinions are it seems like that follows within the guidelines what I'll tell you is if you'd like to speak go as far as you can get if I think you're out of bounds I'll try to indicate that I am most definitely not trying to
016turn us into a you have no no voice you're exactly well exactly I have the rules I have to follow and you need to start I apologize for that it's difficult I said we're reset and do some of the things we do we recognize what you're going through many of us have already spoken to somebody we are trying to manage the situation the best we can what I will assure you of is that when you leave tonight this topic will not be closed okay I assure you that there will be discussions um are you actually researching some of the facts that are presented as evidence for him being a bad coach so I couldn't comment on at this point well because I wasn't contacted as a witness and I was at two of the incidences
017that is that nice letter and no one asked me for my so what you could do is you could give us a statement as to what you witnessed when you witnessed it and how you viewed everything that would be valuable for us to have the more people that tell us that the bigger we have a picture I I shared this with Mike and I'll share with everyone you know many of you have the information you have our admin team has the information they have okay as a board of education we don't have all that all the time we have varying pieces so the more of you that want to send that in to us that we have in document form the more documents we have to work out for isn't that on you to do
018that research and reach out to people as opposed to just making carte blanche decisions without the full picture the board of education did not make any decisions um oh you're right you were not included in the loop from one when the decision was made the Board of Education is not involved in employee relations okay is he allowed to speak on this matter as a parent to them in his experience so it's not it's not you're standing as a student a player a Community member a coach it's the topic that is is uh difficult to fit into this forum from what I understand is punishment also extends to his religion as a parent from being banned from other games so we're not going to discuss that that is not that that's not an important issue it's
019not appropriate in this form I'm trying to give you the Avenue by which you can express everything you want to say and I'm telling you I will respond to each and every one of you and verify that in fact we got it it was distributed it was red should that move the needle in any way I will reach out and let you know seems like it violates your policies because your policies say these are supposed to be addressed to the superintendent which seems like it's a complex since this Direction came from superintendent yes that's not what the policies say if I remember correctly I didn't memorize them but it said anything you knew that the topic share with us according to our policy and I think I explained to you I wanted to be sure
020on this so I reached out to our school council this is what he's telling me so that is what I'm trying to do Douglas Cara so we want the information we just can't allow it in the public comment portion because that's not the purpose of that purpose of public comment is to make comment on pending issues on the agenda oh convenient now there are times where we take other public comments but there are some parts of the school operation where we're not allowed to do it all right so when's the next meeting where we can go and how do we get this on the agenda if you don't don't silence everybody so agenda items are are gone from the superintendent's office and with the court clerk all right okay and if she if the superintendent
021if freezes that then it gets on the agenda or it doesn't agendas are done in consultation with the poor president correct uh well Mark I appreciate your feedback and again I've been warned about this from other school districts as well as employees that this is what it would turn out to be like you and I had a cup I sent you this conversations this is not a surprise to you no no it is because it is not because I sent you an email I'm not here to debate so I don't want to get if you're starting a debate with me with me I'm not here to engage in that but I will say this to keep it simple and blunt to all of you who are parents think about what it's like to be restricted
022to go watch your child play in a sport and be threatened with law enforcement to go see your child participate in a sport it's not nice you know who I am I've coached your kid coach the majority of kids who are in this room as well as your niece I want to watch my son play basketball I want to coach volleyball it's in this order my wife my child my volleyball players that's what I love the most I'll send this next statement but when we put it all together I want to be part of an agenda and I know I'm not allowed to say but when you look back at 2021 when an incident took place it looks like I exceeded expectations Mike you can't talk about that yeah well we're going to talk about
023it the newspapers are going to talk about it okay unfortunately what you guys are doing right now I respect your role but I don't respect what you're doing again I go back to freedom of speech and the First Amendment rights that I have that are being violated again in this room because public policy does not Trump law I don't disrespect anybody here it's your policies that I disrespect it's the way things went and if somebody breaks the rules no matter who they are they should be found accountable so thank you very much thank you Michael so my name is Roy White um I am the former president of the board a resident a taxpayer and most importantly a parent in this community and I had a letter written out to the board but I would
024like to or rather an address but I would like to add some comments to that in regards to the violation of a policy 12 30 public comments at board meetings first of all there's a discrepancy between your policy and what you have handed out to the public I've noticed that you've changed your green sheets that you hand to the public according to the published policy on public comment um public comments should be as brief as possible approximately three minutes I will be as brief as possible tonight and I will abide by the published policy also in there it says speakers May comment on any matter related to District business I don't know if there is a closer matter related to District business than the violation of several policies by this District's Administration including the position
025of the superintendent furthermore it says that persons the board will not permit in public session discuss discussions involving an individual District Personnel or students in individual District Personnel or students not a position and it has been held for years that the public can come and make comments on the positions that exist within our district that they pay for with their tax dollars including those people in Authority that have violated these policies And in regards to the response that the board is limited in what they can do immediately that is incorrect they are the superintendent's boss they employed the superintendent they find they hire they fire when necessary the superintendent and the board has every right to direct her actions and to advise her on matters and to hold her feet to the fire and that
026can be verified by Douglas because I learned that on the district's dime by our school attorney that we as well when I was on the board you had the right to tell Diane or excuse me to tell the superintendent what to do or to fix the situation and if she did not comply she would be insubordinate just as any of her employees would be now after stating that based on the violations of tonight let me go ahead to my pre-written statement as mentioned again in the published policy I will be as brief as possible the I have a few items that I had intended to address the board about this evening the first being about the makeup of the board and the C I resigned from more specifically policy 220 for officers where it lays
027out that the Office of the President shall be elected at the annual organization meeting in July I see that the board chose to ignore the policy and fill the office immediately as they be necessary that being said there is no one else I would have chosen to lead this board I use I only use this incident as an example isn't it funny the policies we choose not to follow when it's inconvenient doesn't serve our purpose or we are too close or emotional about a situation I won't be mentioning anyone by name and as suggested by the guidelines I repeat the statement as brief as necessary I would like to directs your attention to the student code of conduct and more precisely the following statements disciplinary action when necessary will be firm fair and consistent School
028Personnel are expected to use disciplinary actions only when necessary and to place emphasis on the student's ability to grow in self-discipline discipline will be Progressive first violation will Merit a lighter penalty words taken directly from your policy based on the clarity of the full policy I wondered how it is that two sets of students and parents involved in separate code of conduct violations can have such an extreme difference in responses you have one situation where a student posted content considering unacceptable by some which did not Target any specific individual on their own Snapchat account a very temporary form of social media after an event using after a school event using their own device and cell service paid for by their parents in contrast you have another student who screened at a fellow team member at
029a school tournament followed up by the student's parent verbally accosting including profanities such as was used in the post at that same student in front of not one but at least seven other teens and parents that were in attendance for the social media post which argue arguably should not be punishable by the social not be punishable by the schools based on a number of cases regarding the First Amendment right of students most notably by the case cited in the district's policy but we will get to that one later a first offense of the social media post the individual received multiple penalties listed in the policy the first being the fourth written notification to parent the second being the seventh suspension from athletic participation eighth suspension from social or extracurricular activities ninth suspicion suspension of other
030privileges such as not being allowed to come to practices attend games or travel with the team even though a student who was punished under the athletic code of conduct is required to and 10th in school suspension and then there was the issue of the parent of the student who was banned from all home and away games and lost their coaching privileges within seven days of voicing his disapproval of the extreme nature of the penalty in the second instance that I wanted to compare this to where a student screamed and cursed at a fellow teammate the student received the first penalty listed in the policy an oral warning foreign participating in all practices with rest and played for all games and in this in in that situation the parent who verbally accosted the students also received
031an oral warning and was able to attend all future games without restriction both situations were addressed by the athletic director and with the superintendent's involvement in the first case the superintendent felt the need to decide upon and enforce the punishment it gets even more inconsistent when you consider that the parent of the student who was yelled at in the second situation was told by the superintendent to apologize to their students for the superintendent because they could not interfere with the situation the district's policy was violated in this instance excuse me in the instance of the social media post as well as the Athletics code of conduct let me explain how extreme the punishment for the social media post is the student would have received a lesser penalty had they in celebration after their game actually
032used illegal substances at Center Courts they would have been penalized by not being able to play in 25 of the games and would be expected to show up for all practices gains and travel with the team to watch and if the student had actually used illegal drugs at Centerport and then apologized for it again according to the policy it would have been reduced to 10 of the gains in this situation 50 of the games were the punishment for this deep for the student who use social media emotion bias and embarrassment got in the way of properly handling this incident within the bounds of the policies of the district that is perfectly clear please think about what that example is teaching the students involved as well as the others interested in all that has gone on
033as a result of this Behavior in my opinion the case of the student and parents who yelled at another student was handled correctly they learned and were on their best behavior for the remainder of the season they even apologized to the student at one point you will probably only hear me say this once but the coach and the athletic director in this situation were correct foreign I would now like to discuss the school district's response to the students post on Snapchat and the similarities between it and the First Amendment case of holding a student's right to free speech when she posted a comment on Snapchat with several prophetic words about the school and their cheerleaders the Supreme Court decided that the district had violated the student's First Amendment right the positions that were held are
034and I quote while public schools have a special interest in regulating off-campus student speech the special interest offered by the school are not sufficient to overcome DL who is the cheerleader interest in free expression later circumstance circumstances that may implicate a school's regulatory interest include serious or severe bullying or harassment targeting specific individuals threats aimed at a teacher or other students the failure to follow rules regarding lessons the writing of papers none of which apply in this situation also brought up was that it allowed a school to punish a student for this type of expression would mean that the school would have the authority to regulate and punish all students for the full 24 hours of their day doing so would mean that the student could not engage in that kind of speech at all
035again as quoted the school itself has an interest in protecting a student's unpopular expression because America's public schools are the nursery of democracy in the Supreme Court judgments the schools claim to the disruption to the educational environment by this event was also dismissed as a discussion on the matter took at most five to ten minutes of an algebra class for a couple of days and that was not deemed substantial the only disruption to the educational environment in this District as a result of this incident was caused is still being caused by the administration had the event been handled properly it would not have become a topic to be talked about in between classes during lunch and on everyone else's social media posts or even at this very board meeting had the students rights been maintained
036this wouldn't even be an issue the other precedent said in case paper versus the Des Moines Independent Community School Districts stated that a student does not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolyard gate in regards to the penalties that were applied to a member of our community again a violation of a number of policies since when do we drudge up alleged past behaviors that were not deemed an issue at the time in order to punish a family in our district or a coach in our district I am very familiar with the allegation and was in attendance for a number of them this year and last the people I have talked to regarding volleyball in this community and even several of you on the board the superintendent multiple coaches um the current and previous athletic directors
037know that I do not always agree with the current um volleyball the volleyball coach's Behavior I have never been shy about my opinion on this it's not a disagreement with the skill level the knowledge or the ability to drive our young women to success all of the coaches in our district give of their time and their passion to serve our athletes it's the passion and the emotion that sneaks in at times during competitions that leads to the loud and what is perceived by some as unacceptable Behavior but honestly the passion and the sacrifice is what makes for a great coach regardless of your approval the volleyball coach of behavior was out there all the time for everyone to see the coaching style was accepted condoned and even rewarded by our district and our community year
038after year a superintendent who truly disagreed with an individual's coaching style and felt that any of their actions were reprehensible and entirely unacceptable has the obligation to do something to correct the behavior the actions of the superintendent and the school district speaks for itself by never addressing the behavior deemed unacceptable and continue to do nothing year after year the hate the behavior was accepted approved of and condoned the super intended and the administrators are acting outside of the parameters that protect our students our employees and the families in our community they are violating the very policies that they are trying to use to punish all of the students involved in the situation regarding the social media Post in the last two and a half months two separate families has have had the courage to step
039before this board and ask for help to address the unacceptable behavior of the superintendent and some of our administrators both families also have parents who were are employed by the district if they are the ones that have the courage to come forward how many other families are facing the same tactics and discrimination the policies that are in place to protect the students the employees the families in our communities and even our administrators and the superintendent have been violated and tossed aside by those who are in a position of authority empowered the board of education is ultimately responsible for creating a safe place for students all students within our district you are responsible to hold your superintendent speak to the fire and correct Behavior where and when necessary you are also responsible for directing the superintendent
040to correct the behavior of her administrators and hold them accountable when necessary lately the board has not but has simply responded to these two issues by stating that the board does not interfere with these types of incidents referring them back to the very people who are treating them unfairly please familiarize yourself with your responsibilities pertaining to the district's policies in most of the policies you will see that you are the third or fourth tier for people to approach to receive an unbiased and fair review of their situation The Next Step Above you is the commissioner of Education that is who you report to not the superintendent I believe the administration is setting a very dangerous example by engaging in this type of behavior it's catchy and your behaviors bleed into the behavior of those in
041our community imagine if a member of the community follows suit and chose to evaluate our superintendent and administrators in the same way and posted their transgressions for the past 10 years online or in an editorial to the paper are you comfortable enough with your actions to open yourself up for that type of scrutiny remember as applied in this situation as an employee of the district you should held to a higher standard and you are always representing the district even in your personal lives quoted in the Enterprise years ago and speaking about our community there is so much that is offered by so many different people we have to make sure to unite all that where has that superintendent gone the one who wanted to unite the district as that was quoted in the first week
042that this board not necessarily you but the Board of Education hired the superintendent I asked the Board of Education to address these situations and correct the actions that have been taken I plead with you to do what you have been charged to do what you have the authority to do do not further insult the families in these situations by choosing to do nothing because as I have spread expressed in my letter by doing nothing and taking no action you are accepting and condoning the behavior of the superintendent and the administration in violating these policies and acting discriminatory against our students our families our employees our coaches it would be as if you carried out the offenses yourself thank you [Applause] anyone else yeah hello my name is sway Connor I am a junior here at
043Saranac Lake High School I'm here to speak on behalf of the varsity volleyball coach he has been a coach in the school for eight years and many years before that I myself have had him in so as my sister this coach is truly a compassionate person I know from the bleachers and make it seems as if he may be harsh but he is not he truly loves his sport and his players we would do anything he would do anything to make sure that his players are okay you can't judge him based on what you see from the second the bleachers he's a wonderful intellectual person he has made the chance the Saranac Lake volleyball program whether it's making us win five championships in a row all coaches have a passion through what they coach and
044for the majority of other sports you can't follow him for questioning place in our sport of volleyball or in any other sport all coaches can vouch that they had to deal with parents parents want to see their children play but get out of hand when it comes to playing sex he handles these types of situations seriously and professionally some people might not like him but that gives you no right to comfort his compose for his passion of volleyball thank you for listening I really do hope your change your standing on prohibiting the varsity volleyball coach from coaching I'm Malia white I'm a senior at the high school um I have clarified this with my mother so I'm pretty sure I'm following all the rules um but I wanted to address the current inconsistencies with punishments
045from the administration for further review by the board correct say coach and my teammate called me and my teammates um for failings when this event was brought up to Administration virtually no punishment was given to the parent nor the student despite having previous previous instances of violations of like you know contact the actual response that my mother received from the superintendent was and I quote pleased her daughter that I apologize but that I need to give the athletic director enough rope to hang himself on the topic of the recent basketball situation I find the punishment excessive and as an athlete what they are being punished for was not explicitly stated in the code of conduct along with that I can guarantee many other people have said much worse but this one is only brought to
046attention because someone reported it there was even an event where it was body shaming and insulting our players at a JV volleyball game this was our own student and they received no punishment even though an administrator I also want to bring up an event from forest years ago where students broke into the high school and vandalized the school and the athletes did not receive any punishment I just believe that the punishment is severely excessive and does not follow the policies that we have signed and we have in place enormous protocol followed and I just think it should be further removed foreign High School since I moved here three and a half years ago volleyball has been one of the most important things in my life diversity volleyball coach has changed my life you made me
047believe that if I worked towards my dreams I can achieve them he's made me the determined hard-working and skilled player I am today if you remove him from this program you're going to hurt countless young women not only those who have had him as a coach but you're hurting young women who will never get the chance to have a coach like him playing volleyball in college is my dream this coach is one of the many people helping me helping this dream come true not letting other young women have this opportunity would be a huge mistake and I really hope that you change your mind for the good of the community thank you anyone else good evening my name is Paul Knoll um as far as I know JV coach from well JB coach from previous
048year I guess um I wanted to be here tonight as I would like to express my support for the serenade varsity volleyball coach as well as expressed my concern for the administration's actions I realize that many in this room and this community and around this country feel that too much emphasis time and money is dedicated to the athletic programs and schools that academics should be far and above any other Scholastic program I do understand that Athletics are not for everyone however I also recognize that these athletic programs provide our youth not only with an outlet for their unbridled energy but also providing them with an opportunity to learn accountability dedication teamwork time management cooperation leadership skills and to help build their self-esteem and self-worth over the last 10 years the volleyball program that has been
049built by the varsity volleyball coach has helped empower the young women of this community to compete at an elite level and to be recognized and admired in the school locally regionally and across the state for their efforts and successes and to afford them with opportunities that would be otherwise attainable for so additionally as it has provided these student athletes with the ability to step outside of Long Shadows cast by the football program and the companion boy Sports such as boys soccer basketball hockey something that they can own as young women as the parent of a student athlete in this District I've seen firsthand and have grown to appreciate diversity volleyball coach's ability to help build the character leadership and grittiness in the players that he coaches as well as my life as well as my
050daughter sometimes life-saving goal changing other times literally life saving as the JD volleyball coach I've also seen and experienced firsthand positive role model that diversity volleyball coach has been to these young women some of which do not have such role models and encouragement elsewhere in their lives it is quite disheartening to hear how the individual that I spent the last 10 years of their life selflessly dedicating their time energy and passion through this volleyball program has been unceremoniously discarded from their role in the community by two-page letter set by this Administration a two-page letter that is right with rumors hearsay half truce and slanted according to section 5300.70 the school district's policy manual quote staff members shall be subject to warning reprimand suspension or dismissal as the facts May warrant in accordance with any legal
051rights they may have the policy continues the principal or his or her designee shall be responsible for enforcing the conduct required by this code so why is it that as an edu as an institution that is supposedly dedicated to educating this community the volleyball coach was not provided with any guidance or counseling to improve as a person as a coach or as an employee why wasn't he at least given the opportunity to provide his side of the story for these alleged incidents before receiving a two-page letter why did the administration's discipline skip over the warning skip over the reprimand skip over the suspension and went right to the dismissal level why is it that the administration violates its own policies and instead of the principal or athletic director being responsible for enforcing the conduct required
052by this code came directly from the superintendent why was it that after such quote reprehensible and unacceptable unquote actions supposedly displayed at the football games the Saranac Lake football coaches and staff and the same volleyball coach volunteering on the sidelines as part of the chain gain for all home games why is it that what a football coach was asked who was yelling at them from the game in question said coach knew exactly who it was and readily admits it was not the volleyball coach policy 530 0.40 States quote discipline is most effective when it deals directly with the problem at the time and place it occurs and in a way that students view as fair and impartial further quote the principal or designee shall tell the individual that the conduct is prohibited and attempt to
053persuade the individual to stop principal or designation also warn the individual of the consequences to failing to stop these alleged incidences that were entirely unacceptable and reprehensible happened during the 2021 volleyball season and October 14 2022 and on November 4th 2022. instead of dealing with it directly at the time in a place that occurred or warned an individual to consequences why is it that the volleyball coaches now all of a sudden being punished for these alleged actions is it merely a coincidence that this dismissal letter just happened to arrive within one week of the volleyball coach challenging the administration's excessive discipline handed out to the student in an unrelated incident I thought maybe perhaps I was too new to the area moved here three and a half years ago or maybe too close to the
054situation as JV coach uh to get an unbiased Viewpoint and while I know the varsity volleyball coach can be loud and demanding and the delicacy is not necessarily his strong suit I have never seen his coach exhibit reprehensible behavior in his study in an effort to do my own research to understand understand the situation A little better I highly recommend by the way I started an online petition to determine how others in the community view the varsity volleyball coach's efforts as of 3 pm today there were over 510 signatures that have actively voiced their support for the varsity volleyball coach current students and players former students and players and perhaps most importantly parents many of whom are parents of players during the time of these alleged incidences knowing that we are not permitted to identify
055individuals during public comment I have printouts for everybody today of the petition that contains all the supporters and their comments please review it and read it if you have a moment additionally as this issue relates directly to Saranac League Athletics this morning I posted the petition to support you the app set up to communicate with all Saranac Lake athletes and parents regarding scheduling updates and support of Saranac Lake athletic programs within minutes my post was deleted by a school admin of this app as well as deleting my coaching profile from the JV volleyball team is this the type of Revenge one can expect to receive when standing up for their beliefs for asking questions and challenging the administrations when their actions don't seem to be in line with what is best for the community any
056students because they're now a Target on my back as well for being here tonight and for having this petition as was mentioned is this the type of environment that we want to display for the young students of our community that you cannot challenge authority that you cannot stand up for your beliefs many people came to me through this process are you sure you want to do this in a public forum coming to me and apologize for not being here tonight for not signing the petition because they were afraid of being targeted as well the school provides a livelihood for my daughter my family fortunately not me personally so I chose to make a decision to stand up for what is right and for what I believe in and that's why I'm here today wise man
057once said we must always take sides silence encourages the Tormentor never the tormented sometimes we must interfere when dignity is in jeopardy Eli Lysol to live in an area where qualified resources can be difficult to come by it is astounding to see such Vengeance directed at an individual that has shared his mind and soul with this community and now to prohibit him from coaching the young women in this community and ban him from watching his own child compete in the sporting events is truly reprehensible and for what for speaking up for their childhood for their child for their child and challenging the administration to be better and to do better for speaking his mind in a civilized and thoughtful manner this coach is now being driven away from doing what he loves and that's why
058we do it for the love of the game but more importantly For the Love of seeing these youngsters enhance their skills their ability and their confidence certainly isn't for the money because based on all the time that is spent for certifications summer workouts practices home games away games game planning strategy film review I think it equates to about five bucks an hour lastly as the body responsible for supporting the future of the student scholars in saranaculate I beg you to reconsider your position as it relates permitting The Season's volleyball coach to be reinstated as an active member of the student athlete community please consider what is at the state and realize that it's the young women of this community that will suffer the most please do the right thing [Applause] thank you anyone else I
059want to thank everyone that spoke today especially our students nice job I assure you that the board members have heard of you said and you're out there that uh aren't comfortable speaking public and you rely on explore some stuff and writing to me she will make sure that all board members get a copy and I will make sure that I respond normally we'd move on with regular business but with a crop this size we'll take a few seconds so those of you that don't want to sit through the rest of the meeting and can exit you also want to stay we'll just take a second to allow you to gather your device thank you [Music] yep gotta set stage foreign [Music] so you will find for your financial report that the budget status report is
060uh in the drive as usual nothing unusual happening in the last two weeks I'd ask you to please consider the budget transfer report again no transfers happen that required board approval you'll see a lot of movement for field trips we that's just a budgeting technique so that field trips actually they're paid for by the building but we actually book them under transportation so it requires of transferring of funds from one account to another cost so nothing untoward here just uh Jason we are too and as you can see we took a lot of them so I would ask you to please um consider the resolution to authorize the budget transfers so we're looking at resolution zero six one 2022 you can have a motion on that please Nancy Joe any discussion uh sorry just the
061budget why is it transfer six one two zero two very first one on the plane no discussion all those in favor okay post motion cares next resolution I asked you to consider is resolution um 62 2022 the audit is complete uh although what you will see is actually a draft it is it has been approved by Cindy so it's just waiting some finality to it and you will see this lovely colored uh sheet of paper okay Cindy if I'm fidgeting for you what's the most important thing that we discuss this evening and she suggested that we discuss the fund balance and reserves as of 6 30 22. Ford has been good about working to create some reserves for future costs and if you follow the yellow line across you'll be able to see what those
062fund balances were as of the end of the year last year so in our Capital Improvement Reserve who went around all of these if she were here she'd read them exactly 3.3 million dollars our transportation and maintenance equipment Reserve is at 1.4 million dollars repair Reserve is at 900 000 and then we moved to some smaller ones ERS TRS people are workers comp unemployment you'll see that those are some smaller amounts what's important is when you slide over to the green those are the total restricted reserves so this is money that we have set aside for specific purposes for a total of 6.1 million dollars when you see the assigned money that's what we told voters last year that we would use in order to meet this year's budget and the unassigned fund balance is
063at 4.9 million which is 14 of our total budget and that has decreased as the state of you know state has asked us to reduce that last year it was 16.19 and it's down to 14.26 part of that is because uh we're moving that money into some reserves Dan how did we go from 916 pounds like it just seems like a huge I'm sorry can you tell me where we are sorry um kind of hard to separate the two um if we're three and a half million dollars great by law I get 30 000. how did we get to three and a half million dollars and our Capital Improvement is that what 3.3 million correct half welcome went from 916. and these way over on our percentages that's I'm just wondering and I wasn't here
064for this last year um it just seems like there's over and then there's wow that's a lot older so we're working to put some money into our capital reserve in order to help us do a more um sustainable Capital project timetable but this district has done in the past is we do a capital project and then we do nothing for 15 years because we're paying off the capital project in that 15 years the boiler goes down at Bloomingdale or the roof is leaking and so we find we never actually are able to stay up with the repairs that are necessary so what we're trying to do is get into a rotation of every five years doing a smaller amount we need some cash up front on that or else it'll have a big impact on
065the taxpayers the first time they do that so we've been trying we are not we are not uh overly spending and we're trying to talk what we can away into that repair Reserve into the capital project Reserve so once this project is done and we begin the next phase we'll have some cash up front to do some things with that without affecting the tax base to be able to get on that five-year rotation that is correct your question is why did they jump on something that's required we know what the law is right right so so know how did we nobody sits at four percent and we especially should not we have some reasons for that we have um in the past during my 10 years here we had to do an over two million
066dollar abatement project we need cash for it immediately OCS just did a huge Capital Improvement we received no BOCES Aid so our bill was 2.6 million dollars cash so four percent's unrealistic you will not see many many districts sitting at four percent if they're sitting at four percent it's because they're financially constrained um not by choice and because we are a low aided School um do you need some cash on hand for these events that unfortunately seem to come pretty regularly but we are trying to be respectful of that money not leave it in an unreserved spot but actually have some purposes for that money to be to be spent and the capital reserve has to be spent within 10 years Reserve was created as does the maintenance and transfer Ence for 10 years also
067so those aren't just we can build to be millions and millions of dollars set aside there's a limit as to how much can go in there and to how long you have to actually spend those funds this is that is one of the positions that that voted on Bobby to get the state to increase that yeah um and that was that's one of the current positions I just want to make sure I just was surprised I mean well it sounds like because so this allows us to make sure that that's not happening is abruptly as it may need to should something or not is that correct and another example of how we use these funds um where we're breaking up the next part of our Capital project as you know we're doing some this year
068and we're doing some next year so what a district usually does is borrow short-term the man wants this part of the project is done they they do a large viral so we have some Capital uh reserves here so that we're actually working with our bond Council to see if we can lend ourselves the money so we don't have to pay interest on that and interests are going way up what are what our bond cost us for the first part of this project and what's going to cost when we do the second one is going to be significance about 50. so there's a band which is a short-term borrow it's about 15 000 just on the paperwork side of the van to borrow this money for a year or two so it also allows us to
069borrow from ourselves which is good for our taxpayers because it allows us to do more on the project also a big jump and I'm just wondering where you like in the 2020 to 2021 years ago quite a big jump but that was that was covid year so there were a lot of things that were not spent up here so we could put we could right the money was already collected from taxpayers and we had it and so we put it into a reserve where it will save us money in the long run right that was an unusual big deal because it was so and there's no penalties as far as the state goes uh we have to do a corrective action plan and the corrective action plan really says that we have plans to to
070continue to decrease like we did um from last year sure yeah it just yes it's just hard to separate them anymore right so when we're voting us to accept the audience yeah so before we move on to the next resolution yeah I'll make the motion resolution number one we have a second any further discussion almost Berry any opposed motion carriers and Tori you have you have a poor uh second uh person stepping in for that conversation I know Cindy would be happy to talk to you about that could be give you better answers for now so and if we go as my understanding is if we go as we are have been that's the projections in the Years forward what the that is correct come on right and last but not least on Cindy's list
071is approval of the district corrective action plan it is the action plan that was submitted last year because it's still the one and only corrective action that the auditor found which was the unbalance above the state level and so this is the same corrective plan we will use it to borrow buses great news that our buses are up by about 25 to 35 percent so we'll be using more of that to buy some buses um in order in order to get Transportation Aid on student transportation it has to be voted on by the voters so when I first got here we were actually um renting and borrowing for buses so again being able to get us in a spot where we're paying for our buses saves us the interest for a while that wasn't much
072but we're back to where those interest payments will become more significant she also addresses the six new reserves that we've put in place and our multi-year financial and capital plans sort of what we were chatting here about earlier it's not going to get a motion for zero six three twenty twenty second any discussion further discussion I was in favor aye opposed all right motion cares now we're at item six uh and after business the school lunch program so a few months ago Joe Henderson asked us to put a conversation about school lunch and payment for school and just on the board agenda we brought some information forward we did a lot of work and I got to look like I knew what I was talking about but thank you very much she did a nice
073job of that we've served just left it but it was asked to come back uh and I I bring it back tonight with no particular new information but I do bring back some conversation that we've been having at the administrative level about how we might provide some expanded eligibility based on an application process for some of our families that could certainly use the financial support and kids that could use two good meals a day so our recommendation is that it's before we're interested in looking at locally providing school lunches School breakfast for some of our families that we consider using the Alice threshold we've had that conversation about Alice family's asset limited income constrained influential employed thank you it's on a roll there today it's been a long night and uh you know so what
074we've talked about is expanding to that level it would be as our free meals you fill out a form Ruth is always knowledgeable about that so this would be our Point person so it would still be confidential you'll be able to use our point of sale systems and set them up in such a way that it would continue to be confidential um but it would be an application process same application no but we were something similar we would collect some of that same information that was that would ask families to provide proof of income for eligibility if they would show what a family or maybe have to fill out two different applications one so then they get rejected and then the other one that actually happens Ruth and I were just talking about that today
075is that she could tell us and I think she gave it to us the first time was able to tell us how many people just missed the cutoff that they did actually submit a first application so those families would not have to do a second type of application we we already can identify those families because have been the first time but didn't qualify by very little some of them but this would expanded right now when we reached out to um ask about what the Alice threshold would be the suggestion was 65 000 for a family of four it's a little higher than the Alice number but we've had two years of uh and some inflation pressures it's always a couple years behind when they set those numbers if you're interested we'll bring you a full
076proposal but I want to make sure you're interested in then we'll be back with what that would really look like and what our recommendation would be for setting some of those income guides and because it is a policy well actually a procedure that we would Implement locally we have much flexibility based on based on televocus for those so they've seen that may be money that we raise schools raise or somehow comes from the budget or something it's just not or for this year or next year we would be able to use some of our money that came through coven relief to provide some of these after that we'd have to look at whether or not this is the state people what the actual cost is we we don't we can't project that we can tell
077you how many people submitted that were close to line but we really are not able to give you any projection of what that number would look like who would actually participate there's actually some movement at the state legislature level to address this and if in that two years they made moving on that give us further Direction yeah that's one of two things can happen they can say do it we're not paying for it which they do a lot or they can say do it and we'll give you Ada yeah well it's a state level initiative right now we need both for us yeah that's one of the initiatives is February so yeah so California is kind of led the way after the pandemic when everybody school lunches were covered and everybody was like why are
078you doing messages all the time um so now I think New York is following California's lead um Massachusetts so I'm going to Albany again right and I've I've gone to a few legislations so yeah I wouldn't I wouldn't be surprised if we see State movement the issue here really is reimbursement rates from the state right so absolutely those reimbursement rates we would need some sort of localization correct yeah I would love I personally would love to treat a full proposal just to get some information we're really not able to provide that that that's the only I just want we're going to have to dive in blind oh okay because we we just don't have that information as to how many would would qualify who would actually purchase would we have that by the end of
079the year yes okay okay so yes so we could pilot something correct it wouldn't be a bad idea because we would only be one semester at most so it'd be a limited time frame and go from there we have um time energy bandwidth pursue something like this sure says Erica never says cops yeah no I mean yeah there's always time to see I mean if it's going to help and it's going to get these students meals and then yeah yeah I mean I I have causing purpose behind it but the other side well just the functionality with our nutrikids system there's a lot of data that I can get so it's not like me having to go through and look through applications I can get a lot of the data necessity so what would process
080from there I don't really need a vote I just need a consensus that the board would like us to bring back a more complete proposal and we'll bring it back and that would be broke correct I'd like to see it yeah there we go all right okay on the new business thank you second reading and possible adoption following quarterback policy um that'll be resolution zero six four twenty twenty two adapting the following policy therapy animals in our in schools okay so I'll call for uh promotion on that I'll make it a second discussion you have any questions get this pretty hard last meeting but uh if you have any other questions it makes me happy about it all right let's have a vote all those in favor all right any opposed Social Security let's go
081to Item B uh new board member discussion and possible deployment here I request we have four current uh questions four and I believe everyone's uh brought those they're all in your folder so let's let's let's make sure we review how this will operate um whoever is selected will uh serve until the election in May should they win that election they would complete the remaining one-year term correct if they did not win the person at temporarily serving whoever won in the election and had I believe the least amount of votes gets that many dirt it takes over immediately immediately correctly they don't wait for the turnover in July so understand those parameters floor is open for discussion I'd like to perform like a party I want to make any statements about that I I don't know
082what you want me um I first of all he is in he deals um I know the effect that he's had on different families and it makes no difference the economic backgrounds they come from which the more that I talk to here that is our biggest issue and he's got a lot of different talents and honestly one of the biggest things that I like is that is a blue collar guy and right now I think we need to do our best to be accessible to the district the fact of the matter is a lot of history and that is my concern um with Miss Minnie Mouse and Joe my concern was he just wants to be he doesn't want to be considered for the election so I I think we need somebody in the position
083that to be here and hopefully wants to be here well um so that's that's my concern it's always a little history year um and I think this may be kind of Joe's Mitch the last time we did this we had a lot of applications and one of the things we discussed was what would we be giving someone an unfair advantage in the upcoming election and that's why we asked Clyde to come back because he said he won't run but that was to that situation so I think what I'm trying to do is just say I think that's what Joe's trying to do as someone that was caught in that situation I can tell you that um after putting my heart and soul entering and then to find out that there were eight of us and
084that of us there were a few of us that were kind of irritated that I think that I'm just telling you this is my opinion that it was like well okay you're gonna pick me one pick and picking somebody that had already been on the board and left the board I understand Clyde is wonderful and I don't want to fight any stretch of the imagination say I've been a great board member I just feel that right now we need boots on the ground that are going to on the ground and if we can get people running Mike Martin has had his patent right he's had a significant writing campaign last year is that I'm sorry it's just that and you know that that was something that I was going to mention Ed by Mr Martin
085yes he did have a run game well you know of all the individuals that shared 11 and 10. some community yeah it does anyone else wants one I'm thrilled that we have four people willing to step up to the plate when we don't always have enough people who run on the election um and you know I appreciate Joe's offer you know that's what we did with Clyde we looked different with Clyde he was rather experienced having spent 12 years as a board member and we needed someone to come in and help get us through the budget and all that it was that it was a little different situation and it was closer to this well um so I would like to see somebody who's committed to stay and the other three did you know Express
086that so I appreciate their stepping up just like last time I don't want to play like I get to pick who's elected you know over the voters and so I'm sensitive about that so that's why I also would say Mike Martin he he put himself out there by at you know running a brand you know campuses candidacy because you did actually try you know he did he he was a little late and yet you know he didn't sign up to be on the ballot but he and we have in the past um asked people that uh um did not win the election but ran it so that's a consistent point but I but I would want to make sure that the other uh the folks who stepped up that they encouraged them to run next
087time because there's other there's there's a more there's always more uh spots open yeah I think I think that's a message worth expressing if we're even to some uh you know because one of these individuals like the last time we had a temporary position to have but then we had a we had a boat in between them and we didn't see that any interest there so I think it's important that if you're showing interest here run for it like like put yourself out there and go for it you know it's coming from a two-time loser it's easy for me you know well it's it's a consistency and presence and a sign of dedication and consistency I agree anyone else want to speak on this so what we're going to need is a nomination second in
088the boat you know I get a second mark go ahead any further discussion sure hi hi any opposed Mike if you're watching if you will get a hold of me thank you okay will somebody responders it's a good idea he might be watching so of course we should make the notification we'll follow it up so we'll call him and let him know and then he'll follow the official letter okay report time uh Diane I'd just like to thank everyone who is giving us here to the day before uh holiday break we are looking forward to it I think proudly Bruce will speak to this I don't want to steal the stuff that we've had some wonderful things happening this holiday season and the settlement that I hear over and over and over again as families
089are leaving we all feel that way although we're exhausted because we haven't done some of this for three years but it's been very nice I wish everybody employed we'll go to the admin uh let's start with Bruce um I had a very robust report prepared but because it's so lazy you know I shouldn't get down so let's say we had two great concerts um we had we're in the midst of a really awesome spirit week we had four days different days wear green for Grinch day um ugly sweater or something dressy um as long as it was festivities and Holiday okay tomorrow is a pajama day so um that's going great third grade through fifth grade went on their annual I say annual they haven't done in a while but their annual skate trip we
090usually do it at the Civic Center the Civic Center is under construction we're able to get a hold of the uh Olympic Arena and they were allowed to uh get us in there for a little bit and the Civic Center's almost done I know we're getting I know and it's looking great and we were kind of disappointed that we weren't able to do it there um but um order took care of us and got us in there and that went off about a hitch was another great day got our first day as we're late this year but we got our first day of sledding in following our snow day so that's uh that's this big thing out of Bloomingdale and um today we went down after school um Carol Schmidt organized a holiday caroling event
091for the Bloomingdale Apartments so we uh took a group of kids someone there was at least one student from each grade level K through five uh we went down and uh we did some singing I was pretty press with my own ability to Carol um and it was great my baritone with all the little kids voices it was nice nice mix and we had a great time had some people come out and they really nice way to share the holiday spirit let's hear a little bit okay [Laughter] I'm all carrolled down oh yes so also the fifth grade wanted to do something special during the holiday season so they came up with the idea of doing a food drive if this is a good one you're right I can't believe I forgot that so we
092tied it into our concert and said hey it wasn't an admission but we're we've got this food drive going on if you could when you're coming in if you don't mind bringing bring in some um canned goods so we did a little bit of public promotion with a parent squared and things like that we actually had one family that reached out to me and they said hey we've got a kind of largest Food donation do you want us to bring it to school or do you want us to just deliver it to the uh the pantry and I said well if it's largish you can bring it on I think the kids would love to see it well I got back in the day late so they responded back and they said what was a
093full truck load so we decided so they actually saved us because if they would have brought down so uh but the full truck load um donated by one family I I believe they wish to remain somewhat Anonymous so I'm not going to say their name here without their permission um but we also outside of that we've got bins and bins of stuff so they did a fantastic job this was the kid's idea yeah can we do something to say what what I I did just so you know yeah Carol contacted me about donating the food to the food pantry here and I wrote the students a letter thanking them for their thoughtfulness and their generosity I think cat I think we should too because that's they're thinking about everyone at a time when it was
094great and yeah so one thing the district's got really great kids yeah thanks for the reminder exactly yeah totally something yeah yeah try to get it moving forward our curriculum work merch is on I think we had moved past um something that's being done to teachers to something that we're doing with the teachers and honoring The Voice um along those lines our our elementary school teachers have been asking for a math person to come in for math engagement I think we found the perfect person she is actually um she has asked for their uh resources and the units that they will be in the middle of when she comes and she's going to shape all of her PD for them with real-time pieces that they can use in their classrooms with their own materials and
095their own students so I'm really excited about that and um I'm proud of our teachers for you know starting to recognize exactly what they want to see and what they want you know where they want to grow and then um you know with the help of the administration being able to provide that for that for them it's exciting thank you Bruce's boss Erica I've got a lot of boxes uh just want to mention that our holiday meal basket was a huge success thanks to so many people who pitched in especially our partner Community connections and we had 64 families pick up um not only just a holiday meal but we offered coats and some toys and bikes and people were so full of joy and thankfulness when they left with more than what they thought
096was like to come their way and I look forward to this evening every year and I have already started hoarding much to the display of others so here we are thank you Ruth I know I think we kind of had discussed that it's things are going well we've gotten our first there's been some supplemental supply chain monies that were offered through stated that I applied for and we've gotten our first part of that and there's another 47 000 coming that I applied for so we should be seeing that soon too so I can't be as discreet as Erica but why don't you share the past and the present cost of a crate of lettuce we were Diane and I were meeting today and the discussion was about a case of lettuce has gone from 43
097to 100 five dollars for a case of lettuce so I'm like really good last year oh and I guess I would also like to say for the food pantry we had our second annual cookie exchange and a bunch of Faculty brought cookies in and Erica and myself and Meg and a few other people put together a little um tins of homemade cookies for all our students who are in the pantry program so they'll get homemade cookies again this year and so that always makes me really great I try a little but that's also Fair so thank you very much okay we'll move on to uh committee liaison reports um we'll start with uh Joe so I have an update from Amy at the middle school that's actually kind of right in line with administrators um
098she said sixth seventh eighth grade uh band of course middle school has an activity code called one gut which is once again sponsoring a five-week Ski and Snowboard Club at the Titus so students who drain six and eight of that it runs from January to February students get an hour-long lesson with an instructor 's mandatory as part of this is actually um lots of fun and transportation to and from the schools provided if there are 15 poll scholarships available thank you Zach nothing sir Tori um I attended but watched the uh nisbah legislative budget preview for the upcoming um other than a little overwhelming um there was actually some good news and it looks like there's going to be more change as far as our representation than we thought um however a lot that education
099Focus Joe and I had talked about the lobby day in Albany and then due to our time constraints next meeting I promise I will fill you in on the details of the annual business meeting but today I had a great conversation with Rod Sherman who is cohort in Plattsburgh and has been there a while he spoke quite a bit at the annual business and I had reached out to him I'd reached out to a few people on how did they go about deciding how to vote on the president and the conversation started about that and we ended up on the wrong just he was really encouraging and really encouraging us to um to participate on the state level as you'll see next month online resolutions came Long Island Syracuse and uh he said he he
100said to me he goes do you guys have a very unique perspective and especially with electric buses and different things coming down he mentioned that Essex County county has Regional speaking years um and that was one thing that he felt was really um really they've gotten a lot out of it if only he said from the beginning the support for other board members that are dealing with the same stresses um but also uh you know questions how are you guys dealing with us how are you guys doing this just so that it takes you know we are kind of isolated with him and told us about the replies thank you very much auntie um I was just going to mention that the next diversity equity and inclusion committee meeting is um January 5th Thursday and
101it's because public if they want to come and we would welcome anybody um it is held at the District board and then to share that I got had the pleasure going to the Bloomingdale school concert last whatever um and it was such a standing remotely kids were great lots of pictures taken and they even had a light shows probably similar my guess but with the light show or the yeah yeah so um that was one thank you I have no report at this time so with that we are in need of an executive session I asked Junior to leave the section by which one at the medical financial credit or employment history of a particular person or program suspension dismissal or removal of a particular person or Corporation can I get a motion to go
102to Executive session please Joe Paul's bear happy holidays Merry Christmas to everyone all right