001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> All right, good evening. We'll call to order this regular meeting of the Solon City School District School Board. Um emergency exit, we have one at the rear of the room and one on each side, to the left and the right. Um Miss Anya, would you do roll call, please? >> Christine Bella Rosa. >> Here. >> Katie Emerson Hawes. >> Here. >> Michelle Bermogli. >> Here. >> Shakina Harris Zarri. >> Here. >> Carol Calder. She is Michael Meyer. >> Here. >> Jeffrey O'Brien. >> Here. >> Timothy Wells. >> Here. >> Adriana Argueta. >> Okay. All right, pledge of allegiance. >> 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. >>
002Okay. Dr. Warbeck, mission and vision statements, please. >> We provide equitable, engaging, inspiring, and holistic experiences that support success and empowerment for students, families, and the community in a diverse and changing world. Our vision statement, we are a beacon of educational excellence where every individual is inspired and able to achieve their fullest potential. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Um we have approval of a minutes of both April 14th and April 21st. If I can have a motion. >> So moved. >> By Mr. Wells, seconded by Ms. Bella Rosa. Any question on those? All those in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Public recognition. Do we have anyone in the audience who would like to ex- Well. That's okay. You got it. Trust me, I thought I did something wrong. I >> No, I I had
003I was looking at the wrong agenda item. >> Okay. Um so, public recognition. Um this first public recognition is for uh anyone who would like to address the board on things that are on the agenda. No? Okay. Moving on. Ms. Argueta, our student representative report, please. We're going to wait 1 second. Adriana, let's let's uh >> Yeah, Carol is not getting sound. I don't know if anybody else is not getting sound. >> Well, none of the mics are on. See that one just went up. >> This one's on. That one's on. >> Carol, how about now? Carol, now can you hear me? Can you hear me? >> We can hear >> Barely. >> Can you turn her up? Can you turn her up? >> All right. So, she said she can hear us. Yes, I
004can hear you. >> Okay. Okay, well, if she can hear us while they work on that, we'll let Adriana >> Yep. >> back to you. >> I'd like to thank We would like to take a moment to thank and recognize teachers. Every day, our teachers go above and beyond to support, encourage, and challenge students to do their best both inside and outside of the classroom. We are grateful for [cough and clears throat] the impact our teachers have on our school community and for the care they show students each and every day. Thank you for everything you do for students. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week. Please join us in to celebrate the creativity and dedication of Salisbury High School's junior and senior artists this year at the end of the year art show. Their work will be
005displayed at the Salisbury Public Library for months of May and June. Thank you to Ms. Jody Adams-Sel, Patricia Lane-Mullins, and Amy Hayes for presenting the work of our students and supporting them along the way. Congratulations to our students who's recently completed their presentations for the Seal of Biliteracy, Seal of Civic Readiness, and WISE. Their hard work, preparation, and commitment to demonstrating their skill their skills and knowledge were evident throughout the process. Thank you to the staff who supported and guided students along the way. Your time and dedication make these opportunities possible. Approximately 20 students proudly represented our school at the Ulster BOCES Skills Competition held April 22nd through 23rd. through 26th. Their participation reflects the dedication and excellence of our career and technical education programs. We are proud of their efforts and the way they
006represented our school. In addition, Dylan Hartrum had the opportunity to attend the first-ever Robotics World Championship taking place in Houston, Texas with BOCES last week. We are looking forward to hearing how that went. Congratulations to Emily Louisa. Emily received an All-State 100 on the NYSSMA Solo Festival in April. And congratulations to all students who participated in NYSSMA. The high school recently sent out a community letter with a planned pilot PBLA assessment dates occurring in May and June. If you are interested in seeing what a PBLA looks like in action, please let us know. We are hosting We are also hosting a parent Q&A / student showcase on May 19th from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Attention students, if you're interested in becoming the student Board of Education representative for the 2026-2027 school year, please come and
007talk to Mrs. Molina. Junior High. Junior High New York State ELA and Math testing has concluded and Science 8 testing will occur next week. Grade 7 in and 8 ELA and Social Studies and Grade 7 Science will be presenting their portfolio projects and presentations of learning on June 17th and 18th a.m. Recording. Excitement is in the air at Recording as we prepare for performances of Aladdin the musical. The musical will take place on May 15th and Saturday, May 16th. Ricardo's next PTA meeting is on Wednesday, May 13th at 6:00 p.m. in the cafeteria. The next building leadership team meeting is on Wednesday, May 20th at 3:10 p.m. in the library. Ricardo's book fair will take place on Wednesday, May 20th through Friday, May 22nd. Morse, we would like to celebrate celebrate our fifth and sixth
008grade band and chorus students for a wonderful concert and our music teachers, Mrs. McMahon and Mrs. Hanson. Our B BLT students created posters to encourage students to read more non-fiction books from our library. We are celebrating our staff this week by focusing on different love language each day to ensure everyone feels appreciated in the way that feels best for them. We are looking forward to our kindergarten play this week. Our next BLT meeting is May 27th at and our next PTA meeting is May 20th. Cahill, our first annual math game night it was well attended. Thank you to the staff that helped facilitate in a game table and to the PTA for the donation of math board games to raffle and the math goody bags that all participants received. The Cahill after school garden club
009started a beautification project in the front of the building. We sincerely appreciate Lowe's generous donation of tools and soil. Members have begun preparing the ground for planting. The Cahill PTA will be holding our our superhero family fun run this Saturday from 9:00 to 12:00. This is a free event for all. Wear your superhero costume and join us at the Division Division Street entrance. Our next PTA meeting will be Wednesday at 4:30 in the Cahill cafeteria. >> All right, thank you. All right, Dr. Roeback, superintendent's report. You absolutely can. >> Okay, thank you. Good evening. So, this week, as Adriana mentioned, we want to pause to recognize all of our teachers as it is teacher appreciation week. And one of the things I want to highlight is here in Saugerties, much like around the country, but
010especially here in Saugerties that I've witnessed, many of what our teachers do are not in their job descriptions. Um, they go above and beyond to meet students' needs. Um, some examples that they may never want you to know about, but we witness day in and day out, is there might be a snack box in a fifth-grade classroom so that no student feels stigmatized about not having a snack. Um, there may be a 12th-grade teacher who will meet with a 12th-grader who is not their student, but so that they can get on track with graduation. And at the elementary level, there might be, uh, and I'm saying might, but this is actually happening. Um, a special [cough and clears throat] education teacher meeting with a student who's struggling with reading to give them one-to-one, uh, direct
011instruction to help them with their reading, uh, and literacy skills. These are just some of the things that our teachers do day in and day out that go above and beyond. So, to all our Saugerties teaching staff, we want to say thank you, and thank you for everything that you're doing. Your work matters, and it is felt in every classroom across our district, and on behalf of our entire community, we all offer our sincere gratitude. So, thank you so much. Additionally, tonight is a very celebratory night because we are celebrating our faculty and staff who will receive tenure. And this is not simply just a milestone, but here in Saugerties, it is a distinction. They have received evaluations that are beyond proficient and it reflects a sustained commitment to our students' growth and to the
012values we hold here as a district. So, a little bit later on, we will celebrate each of you. And just as a friendly reminder in the weeks ahead, it is going to get so busy and our students are going to be sharing so much of their learning and I encourage you to be involved and to be engaged with us as a district. Uh some of our favorite things that will be happening uh and not all of them are open to parents. Some of them are just in-house [clears throat] celebrations, but I love watching our students at Morse have their success parade where they can parade around the school feeling successful about anything that they have learned. Our junior high will be sharing their portfolios of learning and presentations of learning. And as Adriana mentioned, we
013have our Seal of Civic Readiness and Seal of Biliteracy. And one of the most exciting things that happened recently is we added American Sign Language to the Seal of Biliteracy. I believe we had three students do that. It is fabulous. Um So, lots of wonderful, exciting things that we want the community to celebrate our students with. And as a more importantly and as uh on a serious note, um as you have been following our budget dialogue, um we have done so with a very clear sense of responsibility and purpose throughout this process. We have worked to present our priorities transparently, to name the challenges we face, and to make strategic investments in our students' future and we hear you. We know what's important to you as you have witnessed, um, your voice is really important
014and when it is possible, we are flexible, uh, to maintain, uh, the level of safety that you want here in Solon City and our approach has been to honor both realities to preserve and strengthen the student experience while remaining, uh, responsible and within the tax cap. And the most important thing that we are really proud of is we are maintaining all student programming so that we can provide the ultimate Sawyer experience that our students deserve. >> Okay. Stays with you. Bunch of presentations. What are you guys doing? >> [laughter] >> What's up? Do you need my mic back or you going up there? All right. Dr. Roback and Mr. Steiger. >> Okay, can you hear Oh, yes. >> Yeah, we can hear you. >> Okay, here we go. So, Mr. Steiger, this is now our
015sixth time. Okay, so tonight's going to be a pop quiz for Mr. Greco. All the principals by now you should know each slide and it will be interactive. So, tonight what's most important about tonight with the budget hearing agenda for tonight is that legally every single school district needs to present a contingency budget. We need to ensure that our taxpayers understand what happens in the event if the budget is not passed. We do not want this to happen. We are presuming it's going to pass because we are all invested into our students, but legally we need to present this to do our due diligence and responsibility. So, just a quick recap. This is our district. We have 2,463 students. We have 613 students with disabilities. Our ELLs are are at about 69. Uh and students
016who are receiving free and reduced lunch is 1,027 and we have 445 staff. As we've mentioned over and over again, when you do a school budget there are non-negotiables, such things that drive the budget. There are contract uh contractual issues, health insurance, uh our needs of our exceptional learners um and transportation. As we've discussed multiple times, there are a lot of unfunded mandates here in New York State and we need to figure out ways in which to provide education to all students, whether it's partially funded or unfunded. So, as we move through this process over and over again. Everything that we are doing we want to be aligned to the blueprint for excellence here in Saucon and just as a friendly reminder, declining enrollment, which is all across New York State, it really doesn't translate
017into proportional budget reductions because the budget is based on students needs and the contracts as I stated and also all of the non-negotiables that are given to a school district. So, as you can see here, the enrollment trends, you can see our trends are going down in terms of enrollment and on the right you can see that very often students have varying needs that a school district has to provide. So, that's why there's not always a direct correlation between enrollment and the budget. But more importantly, what we are investing in is the Saucon experience. That has been our priority and this is what we've said now our sixth time. And it's all about the students and what are the programs we are providing for them. So, the budget that we proposed to the Board of
018Education maintains all programming and we are very proud of that. It maintains all athletics, extracurricular activities, the arts, music programs, and field trips because that is part of the Saucon experience. Also, the much-needed social workers and psychologists in all buildings and transportation including late runs for our students who stay after school so that they can be involved. >> Okay, the next few slides we're going to go through are going to be a tax cap calculation and anticipated revenues. Um we've been presenting these for the past few presentations, so a lot of the information is repeated. So, I'll try to move through as quickly as possible, but if there's any questions, or if I need to slow down, feel free to let me know. First thing we're going to go through is the tax cap calculation,
019which starts with last year's um tax cap, adding in um pilot, capital levy, which are for capital projects, um what we pay on our debt service, also has an inflation factor, um which is either the lower of 2% or the inflation for the year, which is 2.63%. Since that's over 2%, the factor there is 2%. After all those calculations, it comes into a tax cap um limit of $48.8 million, which is a 3.15% increase year-over-year. Um this requires a simple majority, 50% plus one, and on the budget vote on um May 19th. Um I also want to mention while we're talking about taxes, that um assessments will be going out. Assessments don't increase the amount of taxes we can collect. Um assessments just um when the bills go out, that determines how much of that
020tax levy a taxpayer will be assigned. So again, um as assessments go out, doesn't increase the amount that the school can raise in taxes. Um it just limits it signs the amount that the tax collector will have on your town tax bill, or your school tax bill, sorry. >> [clears throat] >> Speaking about taxes, we wanted to give um a presentation of how much your taxes would go up on a house that has a full market value of $400,000. Now, we have three towns in our district. So, um the equalization rate for the town of Saugerties is 1%. That's set by the New York State. In Woodstock and Ulster, their equalization rates are lower. So, what this means is a house in the town of Woodstock that has an assessed value of 188,000, the real
021full market value is 400,000. So, we went through and we made this equal throughout our three towns to show a full market value house at 400,000. So, we took the tax rates for the 25-26 school year. We added that 3.15% increase to come up with the increase in the tax rate. And so, the estimated yearly tax increase for a homeowner with a full market value in our district would be about 155,000 per year or about $13 a month. This helps us maintain all student programs while being responsible to our taxpayers in the district as well as going to the tax limit but not exceeding. This slide here shows our projected revenues for the year, um, comparing it to what was adopted for the 25-26 school budget. Overall, revenues are up year over year almost 3%.
022Um, it's worth noting that today there still is not a state budget approved. So, that was due April 1st. As we stand here on May 5th, there is still no state budget. So, as we go through our budget process, we don't have any clear figure of what exactly state aid will be. So, this is one of the things where we look at the governor's proposal, we take the best projections we can, and until we have a budget we don't know exactly what our state aid will be. The chart here just shows how our budget our revenues are funded, most of it coming from the tax levy, state aid making up about a third of it, and the smaller pieces are interest and earnings, other revenues, and fund balance and reserves that we're using to balance
023the budget this year. Then moving into the expense side of it, this is just a overview of everything. We're going to go to more in-depth as we go through the three-part budget. Um just highlighting some things on here really quick though as we go through property insurance, um seeing a big increase in that based on um market and claim history. So, that's up 350,000, 46%. Transportation as we're seeing more student needs in transportation and routes, but it's up 13%. And interfund transfers, these are transfers that we make from our general fund budget to other programs such as the cafeteria school lunch fund or our extended school year program. Um so, that is up as well. And we'll talk about that more when we get to the three-part. Again, just showing how over 50% of our
024budget goes to instruction and transportation, a big chunk there as well as benefits. Just showing where the dollars go. In this budget, um these are proposed additions we have. Um some teachers and TAs for specialized classrooms, 0.6 um high school counselor, um additional career tech placements with Ulster BOCES, a suburban for out-of-district or McKinney-Vento transportation that we can provide in-house, and also a $100,000 capital outlay project. These are projects we do every year. Um this year we're proposing to do rooftop units in our schools to bring fresh air into the buildings that our uh maintenance staff can do ourselves. And then some of things that we're able to reduce um strategically through attrition, some retirements that we have throughout the district. We were able to um use attrition for an MTSS S teacher assistant, an
025elementary teacher, science teacher, and a reducing a business teacher to a point four FTE. These are all retirement attrition. These aren't actual cuts in positions. Um also uh ENL teacher assistant and a non-mandated UPK nurse reduction. Other things we looked at line by line, reducing materials and supplies, health insurance projections, um you taking advantage of smart schools bond act for technology purchases, and looking at overtime routes and bus driver pay opportunities. >> How many lines do we have? >> Just under 500. I think it's 462. And we went through each and every one of them, Dr. Warbeck and I did. >> Okay. So, before you start this, this is another requirement for school districts, since this is all new to me as well. What I've learned is there are certain requirements through SED that we
026have to present. So, this is another requirement through NYSED of what we have in a way in which we have to present the budget. So, the next part of it is a legal requirement for us to present the budget in a three-part fashion. >> So, Dr. Warbeck stole some of what I was going to say, but that's okay. This is of course New York State requirement. Um we're required to present this um for easy understanding. So, it breaks it the budget down into three components, administrative, program, and capital. So, the administrative component, this this is costs related to management of the school district. This is our district offices, superintendent office, auditing, legal depa- legal attorneys, um property insurance. Both these admin and capital costs, these all fall under the administrative component. The program component, the
027biggest component that we have, this these are the costs tied directly to educating the students, the teacher and instructional staff salaries, special aid and BOCES services and programs, classroom supplies, technologies, textbooks, all the sports, extracurricular activities, and transportation of students. And then the final component is the capital component, which is this is related to maintaining and operating our building buildings. So, this our maintenance staff, custodial staff, our capital outlay project, any utilities, electric, heat, water, and our debt service, which are payments on approved capital projects that we've done. Also up here, I have from the New York State Budgeting Handbook how they um their guidelines for assigning to assigning components to um expense codes. Um so, as we went through, we aligned everything exactly to how New York State presents it in their guidelines of
028the three-part budget. So, we will see as we go through tonight, there are some fluctuations um in percentage position changes because we aligned it to this guideline here, but that does not mean that those costs really changed those huge percentages that you're going to see. And I'll walk you through each and every one of them, but I want to be clear that those big changes are just because we reassign reclassified them to the expenses to match the New York State Budgeting Guidelines. And you're going to hear me say that probably 10 times tonight. Um a simple analogy I would use for that is if I went to the bookshelf behind the board here, I took a book off the top shelf, I moved it to the bottom, the top shelf now has less books, the
029bottom has more, but overall, there it's still the same amount there. So, we're just reassigning those codes to match this alignment from New York State. So, this is just an overview of the three components and how much they make up of the budget. Um the administrative component up 28.28%. We'll We'll about that more. That is driven in part by reassigning, reclassifying to match the New York State guidelines. That includes the BOCES capital expense. That includes safety and security to the admin component to match the guidelines. Um this also includes our increase in property insurance expense. Um so overall admin makes up about 11% of our budget. Program 81%. This is the main bulk of our budget. This is what we do, educating students. This is teachers, psychologists, counselors, transportation, sports, extracurricular activities, special ed, BOCES.
030These are all program. And then capital makes up about 8 and 1/2% of our budget. So for every dollar we spend, 81% of that is directly for our student instruction. As we dive into administrative component, I'm going to highlight um some of the big changes here. Um personnel, that is restoring positions in our HR department. That's what's driving that number. The records management officer office number, um that is to have a records management closer with BOCES. Um so that number looks large by percentage, but it's 2,700 is the actual increase. Um public information is up slightly. That's to help with doing an enrollment study. And then safety and security will see a big spike change to 314% increase. Again, that's because last year a portion of safety and security was split between the administrative and
031capital component. This year aligning it to the New York State education guidelines, it is all in the administrative component. Continuing on in the admin component, some other ones we have the other special items. So this includes the BOCES capital and administrative costs moved over from last year. Some of that was in capital component, all in administrative component, and again this also includes the property insurance increase in there as well. And in-service training and instruction, I know that number looks huge, but as we go to the next slide, last year it was in program, this year moved over to administrative to match the guidelines. >> So again, because those are some crazy numbers, a lot of that is putting things into the proper categories for the SED guidelines for school budgeting. >> Correct. That's following exactly
032from the guidelines we posted in that first slide from New York State's budgeting handbook. >> And while that may be a 1,000% increase, it's still only 10% of the overall budget is administrative costs. >> Yes, correct. >> I have a question. Um so, if I did the math correctly, and I should have looked at this, roughly a million dollars by my account of the million nine increase is reclassifications. So the 753 and then there's like 240 on the prior tab for the increased safety and security. >> Most of it Most of those are reclassified. A lot of it was in capital last year, this year moved back to administrative. >> Okay, so we expect that those buckets will remain the same next year, so we shouldn't see this big increase because it's just a geography
033issue. >> Consistent with the guidelines, yes. >> On the On the last item of employee benefits, is that employee benefits for all employees or just administrative employees? >> So yes, that's a good question. And so you're going to see employee benefits on each slide. So that is assigned by taking this out, the portion of their salaries, the administrative component, the portion of their salaries to the total salaries, getting that calculate that percentage and then applying that to employee benefits. So there'll be some changes in um based on how many percentage of employees that make up that budget line. Um so that's going to change how much that they're required to how much of the capital or administrative or program make up that health insurance. So you're going to see that on all three slides, employee
034insurance. >> Okay, thank you. >> Then we move into the program component and again, in-service training that we just saw on the last slide. Here, 168,000 for the current school year, nothing in the next school year. That doesn't mean we're cutting professional development, it's just in the administrative component, that is still there. It's just reclassified into the administrative component. Some other ones as we go through, um, special ed, 9 and 1/2% um, OT, student needs up there. Um, also, so some other ones we looked at, we're reclassifying account codes, attendance, regular school, Dr. Rohrback, that was one of the lines when Dr. Rohrback and I went through. Um, line by line, we're able to right-size it based on past years and projections, we're able to reduce that line from what it was in 25-26. >>
035I have a quick question. >> Yes. >> Um, on the the teaching students with disabilities, is that is there anything that's changed added to that or is that literally it's just grown that much? >> I don't know. Jean you want to add more details, but >> Because in terms of the the cost itself, I'm not I couldn't I don't know if I can speak to that because it involves their individual salaries and things like that, but yes, because we have to allow for the two additional classrooms. So with the teaching assistants and I'm assuming those salaries do feed into that. >> And it also has BOCES costs in here as well. >> Okay. And then like we discussed last meeting, we talked a bit about the BOCES students, so their tuition rates are increasing and
036then um each one that we send, so that would all add it to there. So, 10% in my opinion is actually quite low for what I would think that would be. >> Then some other ones as we go through um attrition for social worker, so we see a decrease there as we um take advantage of retirements. Um so, this so teacher retiring at a higher step and bring bringing in a social worker at a lower step offers savings to the district for a retirement, so that's what we're seeing there. Um and some other ones, transportation as we talked about earlier, increases in student needs and transportation, out-of-district transportation in the community vinto driving that up 13%. And then another big one that we talked about earlier was the transfer to other funds. So, this is
037for transfer to the the cafeteria, so we are a CEP school, so lunches are free, but that doesn't mean all of our expenses are covered. So, when we have to make the cafeteria whole, we transfer money from the general fund to the cafeteria so that they're not operating at a loss. Um this is also our extended school year or summer handicap program. Um the the state aids it at 80%, but we still are responsible for 20%, so this is um right-sizing that for the tuition and transportation for our extended school year over the summer, so that's driving that number up as well. >> Um on the transportation, is that also including the we talked about uh purchasing a Suburban, does that include that cost in there or is that just contractual cost? >> Yes, so
038that's included as well. And then we move into the final component, which is the capital component. Um some variances that we see here between the first two, operation and maintenance of plant. This has to do with some changing in staff of that department. So we had a maintenance worker that retired from me. They would be a maintenance employee and we replaced that with a head custodian position, which falls under operation of plant. Also, when we switched um from a maintenance foreman to a um director of facilities, it went from maintenance of plant to operations. So just kind of changes between account codes. It's not adding or removing any positions, just classifying how those positions are categorized up here. Moving down, we'll see safety and security. So 274,000 last year in capital, this year. Now, this
039does not mean we're cutting security. Again, this was just um re- re- reclassifying that expense all to the administrative component. So when you see these numbers up here, that doesn't mean they're going away. They're just in the administrative component. It's the same thing with the other special items. That was part of the OCS administrative and capital cost, moving that back over to the administrative component. So then we move into reserves. We've presented this a few times. I'll go through them. So our total reserves for the school district is just under $12 million. Of that, we are proposing to use $1.1 million from the employee retirement system, $2 million from the teacher retirement system, and $1.3 million from our on-site fund balance. Um we want to just we're strategically using these reserves for the reason that
040we have them for to protect our student programs without we don't want to exceed the tax cap. We want to keep all the programs. So, this is the way that we balance our budget to maintain all of our programs with using fund balance in research. >> Okay, so as we have been discussing this whole process and budget development, it's really essential that we don't stay stuck where we are, but we think about the future of our district and the future stability. So, that's why we have sought out your feedback regarding transportation. We will continue to do so. We found out that in the past we thought that we had to offer a seat for every single pupil in the district and we since have learned those regulations have been updated. So, we're still soliciting feedback.
041So, as we look towards stability, some of the things that we're going to be doing in years ahead is staying at the tax cap. It will be really critical for us as we move forward, leveraging all the retirements through attrition to manage staffing levels over time. And constantly reviewing that balance between staffing and student enrollment as things change over time. And also the ongoing review of how we might restructure elementary schools within our district and what that might look like. Continuing to maximize revenues including Medicaid and state aid opportunities and advancing capital projects to increase future state building aid. So, we've talked about this multiple times. Districts lose a lot of money when they don't submit a uh for Medicaid. Dr. Kaplan's division has done a really good job of ensuring that we're doing that.
042We also have discussed that our district has lost approximately, according to Dr. Tim, somewhere around $8 million of years where we weren't doing a capital project. So, we are very much trying to stabilize this uh budgeting process so that we can be strategic in the future. But, we are really committed to long-term financial sustainability here in Saugerties, while never losing sight of our students, which is why we're all here. So, again, we're going to continue to maximize the capital projects. So, for right now, for the $100,000 capital outlay project, we're looking to uh fix the roof top units that are on our roofs. Uh we are required, here's another requirement, uh to ensure that we have fresh air coming into our buildings. That is a regulation. So, we need to upgrade that, and it's a
043need, not a want. And then, for our next big uh capital project phase, where the vote would be in December of 2027, uh we are looking towards the Riccardi egress, to create more safe environment for our students at dismissal and entering. And we also need to upgrade everything in the school district to be ADA compliant. So, we can't do that all in one night. We're going to have to chip away at it. Um bathrooms, locker rooms also need to be updated. So, staying really on top of these capital projects is super important. Some of you went to high school here, and that was a long time of you go. Some of you went to high school here, and it wasn't so long ago, but regardless, our buildings are old, and they need continuous upgrades and
044improvements. So, we need to stay on top of that. Okay, so there are two parts of tonight that according to the regulations we have to present. The three-part budget that Mr. Steiger presented is one. The other part is so, what do we do if the budget doesn't pass? [clears throat] And that's our contingency plan. And this is a requirement. Contingency is not our goal. This is not what is going to happen. If you have any questions, please reach out to me directly or to a board trustee or to anybody on my admin team. And we want to share what is happening. And it's our fiscal responsibility to share this with you. So, why do we need it? So, as I've said, it's an SED requirement, and it's also to ensure that the taxpayers understand what
045the process is. And it's also really important that the taxpayers know before the public vote you know, this is what will happen in a what-if scenario, and so we can be transparent about the continuity of our operations and proposed budget if it is rejected. Okay. So, what happens in the event? I'll be the Debbie Downer. Option one, we revote on June 16th, and that on June 16th can be the same exact budget or it could be a slightly revised budget. Option two, we adopt a contingency budget. And with that, the 2026-27 tax levy would remain at the same level as the 2025-26 school year. The issue with this, and I started talking about this back in January in the very first superintendent remarks, so already this is already so far down to the bone in
046our budget of what we have cut in the past. If we go to a contingency, it would be truly devastating to student programming, and it would not align to our value system at all. And it would be the elimination of free public use of our buildings by the community, PTA, recreation, reduction in non-essential maintenance and upgrades. It also would reduce the capital outlay projects, we wouldn't be able to maintain our buildings. Any raises for confidential staff would not be able to happen. Non-contingent equipment, such and including technology, co-curricular clubs, athletics, field trips, the non-mandated security and the non-mandated instructional and non-land and Excuse me, and non-instructional staff. So, the best-case scenario is we don't have to do any of that. And we don't want to do any of that because that is not our value
047system. And as a community, we want to provide everything that we possibly can for our students that's fiscally responsible so that they can come back and give back to our community. And so, as a healthy reminder, the contingency is not what we are proposing. What we are proposing is a budget that preserves all of our student programs so that they can have the best school year experience and grow into their fullest potential of who they're going to become. And another key takeaway is just the healthy reminder that we are all experiencing expenditures continue to rise faster than our revenues, and much of it is driven by contractual and mandated costs. Um as Mr. Seiger said, it's May 5th. We You know, this has been a really challenging process. We're trying to present a balanced budget,
048but we don't even know our state aid yet. Um so, certainly has been an extreme learning curve for me, and the state aid growth remains limited. You know, this is a very fiscally challenging thing to do. And it does not keep pace with everything that's increasing. So, our recommendation is that we continue to stay at the tax cap, and that's absolutely critical, but staying fiscally responsible and not going over, but not going under. Because when we go under, we're doing a disservice to our students and to the entire community. Uh by using the use of the fund balance, it helps maintain their programs with immediate without immediate cuts, excuse me, while long-term solutions are developed. So, as we've discussed in the past, we know we're going to have multiple, up to 25% retirements in the
049next 3 years. We can look to really maximize attrition, help to maximize restructuring elementary buildings, and that maintains fiscal responsibility to our taxpayers. So, as a healthy reminder, we also have board elections coming up. Uh and the candidates for the Board of Education election include Mr. Timothy Wells and Mr. Jeffrey Razzi. So, tonight is our budget hearing. And I have to apologize to all of you who are getting tenure. I actually thought I'd flipped this on the agenda, so I'm so sorry. That's why I had that look on my face earlier. But it's good for you to hear this and learn about it because it's part of the bigger system of education. On May 19th is our vote and our annual trustee election right here at the junior high school. It's in one place. One
050common location. And then on the 26th, the affidavit ballots are counted and the budget results are accepted. And Rudy Encarnacion has been doing an amazing job with our new system. And we have 14 days to the budget vote. Closing thoughts, Mr. Seiger, before we open up for questions. >> Um I just want to reiterate um that we're preserving all programs for our students. Um this is a collaborative budget that we built together with all of our other administrators. Um everybody had one goal in mind. Just to repeat it again, protecting student um programs and being fiscally responsible to our taxpayers as well. >> Thank you. Are there any questions from our board trustees? >> Logistical question. I don't know this. I should. How many votes do we need to get the budget to pass? >>
051One >> More yes votes than no votes. >> One more yes. >> One over >> Yes. >> One more over yes. >> Out of of total. Yep. So, no percentage of the total available taxpayers, just one more and then >> No. No, because we are at the tax cap. >> vote, we need six votes to pass. >> are at the tax cap. >> Thank you. It's a good question. >> Get out and vote though. Get out and vote. Also, there's a giveaway tonight. We have a beautiful pamphlet of our budget. Thank you so much. >> Board member remarks, Mr. Meyer. >> I'm good. >> You good? Mr. Pellarosa. >> Um just to go over But I just uh thank I want to thank uh Mr. Tiger and Dr. Warback for the works they put in
052on the budget. I it's been a a long process and a learning curve for two people kind of new to the role. Um and I appreciate all the work that's gone in and the effort towards the you know, preserving the programming and do want to um thank them for listening to the public and and adding security back into the to our um budget needs. And uh just want to say thank you. Appreciate it. >> Mr. Rosario. >> I I um I appreciate the reiteration of the budget budget presentation tonight. Um I also wanted to offer anyone in support of the budget um uh 3 years ago I printed a bunch of uh lawn signs to vote yes on the budget and I'd really like it if uh people would take one. I have them back
053here, so or >> Another takeaway. >> So, another giveaway and once we break to go to the uh go into executive session, if you'd like to come back here and grab a sign, that would be great cuz I do not want to take them back to my garage. Thank you very much and have a good day. >> Mr. Wells. >> All right. First and foremost, Teacher Appreciation Week, thank you all very, very much for what you do. I have some family members that are teachers and I think a lot of what you guys do doesn't get acknowledged and I truly appreciate all you do for the students that are here. This is Dr. Rohrbach kind of touched on a few of those things. I'm not going to go into the stuff that she talked about,
054but I really appreciate everything you guys do. You are the heartbeat of the school. Thank you. Um Thank you, Dr. Rohrbach and Mr. Steiger. That was There was a lot and I know you guys are kind of learning, but I think you guys have uncovered a lot of stuff that maybe in previous administrations wasn't actually out there for us and it wasn't classified properly. So, for me, I don't recall seeing the one sheet there that that was the nice nice that was required. Um so, it was good to see that stuff. Um and good for the explanations and and I really appreciate I know you guys put a ton of time and energy into that. And and I think you're very thoughtful in your the way you guys wanted to to navigate through it. I
055appreciate you maintaining all the student opportunities. You know, most of these budgets that I've been through, with the exception of maybe the early ones that had COVID money, there was always a lot of cuts. That was kind of where we started. Cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts teachers, cuts TAs. It was really nice to see that we're not just saying we're putting the student first, we're showing we're putting the student first. We're making sure that the student when when they come to this school, they they're getting the best education that Saugus can possibly provide. And I think that's that's huge. I truly appreciate all you guys have done with that. Um I just want to read read reiterate a few things that were on that uh that slideshow. We are not above the tax cap.
056I think there's a misconception out there that we were. We are not above the tax cap. Uh I wanted to make sure that that was that was spoken. Um so, anybody that maybe didn't understand now understands that. Um I also wanted to to say thank you for showing some sort of future stability plan. Um because I think that's I I've asked for that in the past and I think that's I think that's a huge thing. People want to know, okay, I'm I'm voting yes to this now. Um is this going to be a recurring thing that has to do every year where I'm going to scramble and we're going to pull money from this this and this? Um so, it's nice to see that you guys are thinking five years down the road. Where are
057we going to be? Um I do have a question for you guys. Uh I I think the last meeting we discussed Medicaid and getting reimbursements. I think that the the the parents have to fill out forms. Is that accurate? And sometimes maybe we don't necessarily get those back. >> We just have We just have to get consent, a one-time consent. We keep sending it. We We can't assume that they qualify. >> Yep. >> Um and sometimes people sign it even if they don't qualify, but we just have to ask them. >> Okay. And is that Is it like Do Do you sometimes we not get any back? >> Almost Yeah, a lot of >> Most times. So, so then basically whatever reimbursement is gone, correct? >> Right. >> Okay. I just understand that. >> You
058can go back like six months and sometimes we do do that if we get it. >> Okay. Okay. That's what I thought last time and I just wanted to reaffirm that, my understanding of that. And that was when I was asking about the disability thing on that That's part of what I'm just trying to understand that more in depth because there's some some rumblings out there that that we're making money off of this and that I think that's the complete opposite of what what's actually happening. Um I think we we spend a lot of money on that and for good reasons. Um but I want to make sure that this is that people know that it's not a money-making scheme by any means. Um it's it's definitely not. It's it's It's for the best interest
059of our students, and it's stuff that we need to do. I know that we have a a high amount of of students with disabilities right now, but I also think that Dr. Rohrback has spoken on it previously that you know, I think we're doing a better job of of finding that early on, too. And I think we're even getting into like pre-K, if I'm not mistaken. So, we're hitting this at a at pre-K level before they even get into kindergarten. Um so, I think we as a district are doing a very good job in compared to other districts, and I'm not going to say which ones, but I think I think we're probably head and shoulders above a lot of them, and I appreciate all the work you guys do for that. Um and that
060that's all I got. Sorry, I tried to hammer through it. Thank you very much. Ms. Crumley. >> Um I just want I want to just reiterate the $155 for homes that are assessed at uh 400,000. That's $13 a month. Might be a little higher, might be a little bit lower for all of us, but I think that that is an exceptional outcome, um and I'm very proud of the fact that we can do everything that we're intending to do with the budget, and you know, not only not cutting significant personnel, but adding personnel, adding classrooms, that is an exceptional outcome, and uh significant kudos to the team. More importantly, to our teachers, um I know that teacher appreciation week, one of the things that has been so evident to me over the last year on
061the school board, even if you haven't been a parent in the district for you know, a decade and more, you take the time to see our children as little and even bigger human beings, and I see it every single day. The kids are not numbers to you, they're not your job. Um you are literally teaching to their hearts from your hearts and caring for them from your heart to their hearts, and this is not lip service. I see it every day. Um there's a million examples of it, and you should be very proud of that. I think that's a culture issue. And I think Saratoga should be very proud of the fact that that is the culture that I feel that has been developed here, and that I hope that we carry this forward. And
062this commitment to the students, um I think goes a long way, but it all it all sits on the the shoulders of the teachers, um and the leadership in the district. So, congratulations, and um have a very happy happy teacher appreciation week. >> All right. Is Ms. Kelder still on? >> Yes, she is. Can she hear us? >> Ms. Kelder, do you have anything? >> Yes, can you hear me okay? >> No, we can't hear you. We can hear you very faintly. >> Is there a reason why we can't hear her more than that, Dyson? Where am I hearing her from, then? >> Can you hear me? >> Yes, there you are. >> Okay. >> Go ahead, Ms. Kelder. >> All right, thank you. Um again, I just want to apologize for not being present
063at uh the meeting this evening, as I have a family member that needs my assistance here. So, um but I I really did want to be there. These meetings are very important, and I I understand that. Um as our community looks ahead to this upcoming school budget vote, it's important to remember that supporting our schools is an investment in our children and our families. Um equally important is the role that we all play beyond the budget vote. Being active in your child's school, whether you're going to events, volunteering, or simply just being engaged throughout the year, not just at budget time, but throughout the year. This all strengthens that connection um between families and teachers and and leadership and educators, um all of us. Um and it helps to build a more supportive and successful
064school environment. And that's truly important. Um with that being said, like uh Mr. Wells and and Ms. Gramaglia said, you know, this week also gives us a special opportunity to recognize the incredible dedication of our teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week. This was probably one of my favorite weeks. I have had the privilege and have witnessed firsthand how our teachers go above and beyond with our students. So, um I second what Michelle had said about, you know, our teachers teach from the heart. Um and they take care of our kids, and there's a reason why many of our teachers say, "My kids." Because they truly feel that way about their kids. So, I want to thank you for your passion, the care that you bring into your classrooms each and every day, your patience, um your
065impact goes far beyond academics, and you shape the lives of our kids in in meaningful ways. And finally, I also want to congratulate the teachers and staff members who are receiving tenure tonight. Um you know, this is a milestone, and it reflects, you know, your hard work and your commitment. Um Our students and our community are fortunate to have you. So, um let's just continue to come together and support our schools. Um stay actively involved. Um Let, you know, the trustees know let administration know you know the concerns you have and you know the support that you may need but thank you. >> Thank you Miss Kelly. Dr. Moss. >> Yeah, I work with I was a teacher myself for a long time and I it's having to step away from the classroom in my
066career to make a living to support my family has always been hard right the further away I get and then but now you know working with people to help teachers do their jobs better and people say oh it's not rocket science it's like no it's much harder than rocket science you're dealing with humans rocket science you blow it up you go home you fix the math so I just again I'm going to iterate thanks for all of the work you do and for those of you who have achieved tenure and I'm glad that it is seen as an accomplishment in this district and not just sort of holding on for the number of years in order to get it so really thank you so much and I look forward to all of your great work
067ahead the Adriana mentioned the student reps that call for people who might be interested in being student reps and I just want to encourage us to think about student reps that we have a multiple of them so they have each other to sort of talk to about the work and maybe we have some who come to policy meeting come to facilities come to audit and so I just as we're moving towards the next year which I'm already starting to think about I think it'd be great to have a few have a bunch of student reps and that is it other than get out and vote and support this budget and invest in our community if you really care about this community you'll invest in the largest employer and the place that houses the children in
068this district and is doing its best to help them grow. >> Um, I'll be I'll be brief. I have just a couple of things. Um, one, I I usually don't repeat what everybody has said, but I will echo the appreciation um, for not only our teachers, but all of our staff, our you know, teachers' assistants and things like that. Um, I I I'll echo what Miss Gramaglia said is um, having a student in the district I get to see it every day. Um, I saw it this week um, just reaction um, of making sure that you know, something was being handled correctly, there was good communication um, and and I'm and I know that happens on a on a daily basis across it. So, thank you everybody. Um, instead of waiting till the last meeting,
069I I'd like to thank Adriana um, for being our student rep. Um, you have definitely raised the bar um, of just your overall presentation and I know you work closely with Miss Molino on on what you bring, but um, I want to thank you one on your presentation, but also your attendance. Um, I'm not I'm not sure you missed any, right? You Thank you. That that's a that's a a big thing. Um, the last thing I'll mention is um, the board has been um, as with um, Dr. Rohrbach and and Mr. Steiger, we've been you know, kind of really focused on getting a budget. I as I've mentioned multiple times in the past as Miss Gramaglia has reminded me, we have three tasks. Right? Um, we have three things as a board. Um, one is
070to adopt and you know, pass policy. Um, number two is to get a budget um, approved um, and passed and number three is to you know, um, evaluate a superintendent and and in this case we need to um, hire a permanent superintendent. So, it's very rare um and now I ask that we have actually have two of our big things coinciding, right? We we have a budget to pass and we also have to look at a permanent superintendent. So, we have been focused on getting the budget um it has taken up everybody's responsibility. That doesn't mean we haven't been looking at the other aspect. Um our requirements of a superintendent of a permanent superintendent have, you know, are I think are very clear um and if they're not, you know, it's an experienced executive, right?
071Somebody who is a strong instructional leader. That's what we do. It's been you've heard it during the the budget presentation, right? Our programs, our students are number one. Um somebody who can be an effective team builder. Um and that is across the environment, right? That's not for, you know, a couple of aspects of our district, but across every um component of this district and to be able to build really good governance and teams across everything. Um and I think one of the most important things is be able to be responsive and clear um in their communication and their decision-making. To be able to take feedback from the community and from their staff um and um you know, the board and everyone else and, you know, implement that with um within their communication and their decision-making.
072So, once we have the budget through and passed, um we will act on securing, you know, um the the position of a permanent superintendent. So, I thought we haven't talked a lot about that. I thought it was important to mention that tonight, you know, as we move forward. So, okay? All right, moving on. Personnel, instructional, and non-instructional, we have items 1 through 4. Um in here we have resignations, we have a couple of leaves of absence, um appointments. And then there's going to be a sigh of relief in the audience, the appointments to tenure. We got there, folks. Thank you for your patience. Uh so can I have a motion um on items 1 through 4? >> So moved. >> By Mr. Molloy. >> Second. >> By Ms. Kelder, I heard her out there. Any
073questions on these? Yeah, I I we got it all, Ms. I I got a district clerk over here I handle there, Dr. Worobetz. Any questions? All those in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Steve, I turn it over to you for our appointments to tenure. >> Well, I second. >> All right, good evening. Now is the time for some celebration. Our tenure announcements and celebrations are recognition that we see you, we appreciate you, and we are glad that you are on our team here. And so we are going to begin >> [clears throat] >> by recognizing our teaching assistants earning tenure. It is my pleasure to recognize a meaningful milestone for a group of dedicated professionals who play an essential role in our schools. Tonight we celebrate the awarding of tenure to our teaching assistants, which
074is an achievement that reflects their consistent commitment, care, and support for our students. Teaching assistants are vital to the success of our classrooms. Through their patience, flexibility, and close work with students and staff, they help create inclusive, supportive environments where all learners thrive. Their contributions often happen behind the scenes, but their impact is felt every day. We are grateful for their dedication and proud to recognize this important accomplishment. Please join me in congratulating our teaching assistants on earning tenure. When I call your name, please come forward to accept a personalized pennant certificate to commemorate your tenure. And families who are here, families and friends, if you would like to step forward and take some pictures of the recipient with the Board of Education President, Mr. Riazi, and our interim Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Roraback. And
075so, our first teaching assistant that I would like to call up is Amy Bergeron. Amy, are you here? No. Tammy Drost. Tammy? Kimberly Kelly. MORGAN LAMBERTS. >> [applause] [laughter] [applause] >> CHRISTINE MALONEY. Is Christine here? Cleo McCarthy. >> [applause] [applause] >> ON TO OUR TEACHERS. It is my privilege to recognize a truly meaningful milestone in the careers of several outstanding educators. Tonight we celebrate the awarding of tenure, which is an honor that reflects consistent excellence, dedication to students, and a deep commitment to our school community. Tenure is not simply a marker of time served. It is a testament to the impact these teachers have had and and made in their classrooms and beyond. Through their passion, professionalism, and care, they have helped shape the experiences and futures for our students. We are proud to acknowledge
076their accomplishments and grateful for the difference they make each and every day. Please join me in congratulating this exceptional group of educators. And so, when I call your name, same thing that you saw before, please come forward to accept your personalized pen and certificate to commemorate your tenure. And we will begin with John CARLSON II. >> [applause and cheering] [applause] >> IAN COOPER. RICK DUNNING. >> [applause] [applause] >> AMY JULIAN >> [applause] >> IN SUPPORT OF FAMILY MEMBER. >> [applause] >> JAMIE HEILMAN >> [applause] [laughter] [applause] >> ALEX OZERI >> [applause] >> THANK YOU. >> AND ASHLEY WARNER. >> [applause] [applause] >> AND NOW WE ARE PROUD TO TALK about our principal receiving tenure this evening. Our principals are pivotal leaders in our district who are entrusted to lead with honor, courage, and commitment to
077the ideals of our school community. They reflect sustained excellence, strong leadership, and an unwavering commitment to our students, staff, and our broader school community. It is with great pride that we announce the tenure of our principal, CHRISTINA GIANNE GRECO. >> [applause] [applause] >> CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN TO ALL of our tenure recipients and thank you for choosing to serve here in Socrates. >> Thank you. Really. >> Okay. All right. Okay, moving on. Um Business office recommendations. We have uh the treasurer's report, revenue appropriation status report, the extra classroom statements, the internal claims audit, and do do do do do donation from the garden club and the tax refund component. So, can I have a motion for items uh I 1 through 6? By Ms. Bellarosa, seconded by Mr. Meyer. Any questions on those? No. All those in
078favor? >> I. >> Okay. All right, board actions. Um Pretty standard here. 1 through 6. Um CSE I have fours, contracts. Um Dr. Haas, anything particularly you want to say on the policy? Safe public school choice or >> It's a required policy that we didn't have in our manual and we need to have it and it is um if uh child if you have a building if you have buildings that have the same grades in the same buildings. So, this only counts for our elementary schools. If a child is a victim of a violent incident, which is not just bullying or being pushed um but uh violent criminal incident as defined by the New York State Penal Code, um that if they are the victim of that incident, they have the ability to choose to
079go to a safer school. So, they could go to a different building if that were the case. I am glad to say that that doesn't happen very often in our elementary schools, but it is a policy that we need to have on the books. So, this This first read. I encourage people to read it. If you have any feedback, we'll be looking at it at our next policy meeting, and we'll be bringing it to our June meeting for approval. >> Okay, fantastic. So, um items J1 through 6, can I have a motion? >> So moved. >> By Mr. Wells. >> Seconded by Ms. Irizarry. Any questions on those? All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Um Ms. Bellerosa, audit committee, anything? >> Nothing new to report. Facilities? >> Nothing cuz we have our meeting tomorrow,
080right? Cuz I think so, right? Okay. Policy? >> We met. We're going to meet again. Come and join us. >> Awesome. I'm ready. Who's hungry? >> [laughter] >> Um okay, our second public recognition. If anybody in the audience um on our second one, doesn't have to be on the agenda. If there's any topic that anybody wants to address. No? Okay. All right. Um Uh I propose uh we have to recess in executive session for a couple of items around the election and the budget. Um By Mr. Wells. Second. By Ms. Gromala. Any questions? All those in favor? >> Aye. Okay. And when we come out um everyone, there won't we won't be voting on anything else or um so All right. And then >> Carol, do you have the link for that? >> I don't
081know if I do or not. I will check. I'm looking now. I didn't see it before. >> Okay, we'll make sure you get one. >> Okay, thank you. >> And um just a reminder, close out May 19th. Do you know what time? >> please get everybody out to vote. And vote yes. >> Okay. >> Mhm. >> Okay, motion um uh reconvene open session. >> So moved. >> Mr. Wells, seconded by Mr. Myers. All those in favor? >> I. >> Meeting, um, motion to adjourn. >> So moved. >> By second, seconded by Mr. Wells. Any questions? >> No. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Yay! >> Good night, everybody.