At a glance
The Board of Education held its public hearing on a 2024-25 budget built around a 2 percent tax levy increase, with district staff saying no educational programs or services for students would be cut. Staff walked through what that increase would cost a homeowner, where the district's revenue comes from, and what a contingency budget would strip out if voters say no on May 21. Public comment ran long and pointed: a parent asked the board to press the state on special education, another parent criticized classroom behavior and district leadership, the teachers union president said two elementary teaching positions are being cut through attrition even though state aid came back, and five speakers defended the Hudson Children's Book Festival and said plainly that its volunteers are not paid. The board put the agenda, personnel items and a consent agenda to voice votes, went into executive session twice, and ended the public portion at 7:07.
Roll Call, the Agenda and the Student Representative's Report
The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance, a roll call the captions render unreadably, and a motion to accept the agenda. The student representative then ran through a long list of school events.
Key points
- A motion to accept the agenda as presented was made and seconded, and the chair called for all in favor; the captions do not record the responses
- The student council will host and moderate a meet the board night at Hudson High School on May 16 from 6:00 to 7:00 PM, open to community members as listeners
- The student representative said the forum is an informative session only: moderators will ask the potential board members questions, and attendees are asked to refrain from speaking during it
- Varsity Club is hosting a basketball tournament Friday and a soccer tournament May 20, and a team that won regionals goes on to states May 22 and 23
- AP exam season is underway, which the student representative said is causing a lot of stress
- The Multicultural Club festival is May 17 during 7th through 9th period, with a henna stand the representative said she would run herself
- Model UN recently traveled to Dalton, the National Honor Society induction is May 14, and the band is holding a showcase on May 21 as a fundraiser for the music department
The recording's first three and a half minutes contain no speech, and the roll call that follows is garbled past recognition, so this page does not list who answered it. A student representative answers the roll call alongside members at these meetings, which is another reason attendance is not reconstructed here. YouTube auto-captions also do not label speakers, so attributions appear only where a name was clearly spoken aloud.
Class of 2024 Presents Prom and the Senior Trip
A student presenting for the class of 2024 laid out prom plans and the senior trip. Nobody on the board had questions.
Key points
- The presenter gave her first name as Angelina and said she was representing the class of 2024
- Prom is Saturday, June 1, at a venue she called the Falls, with a masquerade theme
- The prom walk moves to the Firemen's Home at 5:00 PM this year because there are more events than usual at the waterfront; families can still go down to the waterfront for pictures
- Music will be by a DJ she named Maria, and the food is being catered by a local business
- Tickets are $25 each
- The senior trip is June 3 at Rocking Horse Ranch, which she said includes a water park, horseback riding and laser tag
The presenter's surname, the town where the prom venue sits, and the name of the caterer are all broken in the captions, so none of them appear here.
Budget Hearing: a 2 Percent Levy Increase, No Program Cuts
The chair opened the public hearing on the 2024-25 budget, and a district staff member presented it alongside the superintendent. The plan keeps all general fund educational programs and services and raises the tax levy 2 percent.
Key points
- The presenter said the budget stays aligned with the district's vision and mission and with the six keys to successful schools the superintendent laid out in a 125 day plan
- The Board of Education approved presenting a 2 percent tax levy increase to support the revenue stream, and the budget continues investment in classroom technology and instruction
- Expenses rise about 2 percent year over year, which the presenter put at about a million dollars
- Last year the district went out with a 0.71 percent expense increase and a 0 percent levy increase
- Payroll is the largest slice of the pie and runs through every category, including transportation and employee benefits; debt service covers bonds taken out for capital improvements
- This year's levy percentage is in line with 2022-23, and the presenter noted the district has never levied the entire amount the state comptroller's formula allows
- Asked whether the budget cuts staffing, staff said there are no cuts, but added that teachers who retire may not be replaced unless the numbers in the building show the position is needed
What the Increase Would Cost a Homeowner
Staff showed the tax impact of the 2 percent levy increase using two sample home values and explained how the calculation was built.
Key points
- The impact was calculated from the mill rates posted on the Columbia County website for each of the counties, multiplied against a $200,000 home value chosen as a median waypoint
- The presenter stressed the figure is a fully assessed home value set by the county assessor, not the market value a homeowner would see on a listing site or at sale
- A $300,000 home was included as well, to stay in line with what is actually happening across the district's different jurisdictions
- In both categories the annual difference is about $60 to $70, or roughly $6 a month, which the presenter compared to a $5 meal at McDonald's plus tax
- At the $300,000 range the monthly figure is larger but still within about $10
Where the Revenue Comes From, and What a Contingency Budget Would Mean
The presenter walked through the district's four revenue streams, the state aid picture, and what would happen if voters turn the budget down.
Key points
- The tax levy is about 46 percent of total revenue and state aid about 48 percent, the largest single share
- When the budget was first presented in February, the district was afraid of losing about $2.8 million the governor had targeted in a state aid category
- Foundation aid is calculated on district wealth, enrollment and 2008 census data, a formula the presenter called very complicated and said the state is re-evaluating and redistributing next year
- Total state aid is about $17 million, of which $14 million is foundation aid
- The district is applying about $1 million in assigned fund balance, money saved by not spending it this year, to reduce what taxpayers have to cover next year
- If the budget fails and the board decides against a second vote, a contingency budget would take out sports, arts, library and music, the things not contractually required for educational programming, and would hold the levy flat while forcing expense cuts
- Longer range pressures named: replenishing reserves used for retirement and workers compensation bills, contract negotiations, about $2 million a year in private out of district placements, a $4 million transportation line of which roughly 30 percent is out of district travel as far as Massachusetts, and changes in enrollment
The presenter gave the district's total expenses as a figure the captions render as '55 m622'. The full dollar amount is not readable, so this page says the budget runs about $55 million rather than repairing the number.
The Ballot, Polling Hours and the Revote Date
Staff showed the ballot, corrected one candidate's name, and gave the dates around the May 21 vote.
Key points
- One correction to the ballot: candidate Amanda Grubler no longer goes by a hyphenated name, and the hyphen will be removed before printing
- Voters will also see two write-in spots, and polling locations are the same ones used before
- Polls open at 11:00 AM on May 21 and close at 8:00 PM
- Absentee ballots are being accepted now; the presenter's stated deadline is not clear in the captions
- If the budget does not pass, June 18 would be the revote date, and the approved budget takes effect July 1
- The presenter urged people to vote either way, saying a yes is not a yes unless it is cast and a no is not a no unless it is cast
The budget presenter said polls are open May 21. Later in the meeting, when upcoming dates were read aloud, the annual budget vote and election board meeting was given as May 22 at 8:00 PM. The transcript carries both, and this page does not pick between them.
Executive Session and Personnel Motions
The chair closed the budget hearing and the board went behind closed doors on employment history, returning to take up personnel items.
Key points
- The chair closed the public budget hearing for the 2024-25 school year
- The board went into executive session for the purpose of reviewing the employment history of a particular person or persons
- A motion to leave executive session at 6:38 was made and seconded, and the chair called for all in favor
- A motion to accept personnel items A through M was made and seconded and put to the same voice vote
- The captions record no responses to either call for a vote, so this page does not say how the board voted
From roughly 22:27 to 40:49, about 18 minutes, the transcript contains no speech at all while the board was in executive session. Nothing from that stretch is in the record.
Public Comment: Special Education and Classroom Behavior
The chair read the public comment ground rules, and two parents used their three minutes to press the board on how the district serves students.
Key points
- The chair explained that state law does not require a public comment period, that the board is there to listen rather than respond, that answers come at a future meeting, that privacy law bars comments about school personnel, and that each speaker gets three minutes
- A parent asked the board to work with families to take special education policies and procedures to the state level, saying her son's needs are still not being met despite years of advocacy and every service the district and outside providers can offer
- She said the way the system is set up requires a child to keep failing upward before anything changes, and told the board she is strongly considering not sending him back to the district
- She tied her request to the budget presentation, saying out of district placement is expensive but necessary in cases like his, and that there is not enough money in the budget to hire the one to one aide that would help
- Cassandra Shores, a parent of three district students, said three years of dinner table conversation have centered on classroom behavior her children have witnessed and how it has affected their education and their peers'
- She said she gave the board an email she sent to Principal Cooper and the superintendent after an incident in a band room, along with what she called a brief and unhelpful reply, and that the harshest of more than 50 responses she got when she posted it was still that things could be worse
- She said the district has some of the lowest test scores and graduation rates, cannot keep good educators, and that she has asked the New York State Education Department for recent state reports and is prepared to contact a regional superintendent
- She quoted candidate bios back at two board members, one of them board member Graham, and said either the board rethinks the current administration or parents go back to the drawing board with them
The first speaker was called to the microphone by a name the captions break apart, and she did not introduce herself, so she is described here only as a parent. The second board member Cassandra Shores addressed by name is also garbled, as are the acronyms for the state reports she said she requested.
Were Book Festival Volunteers Paid?
A parent told the board that a claim made at a superintendent's community conversation, that teacher volunteers at the Book Festival are paid, does not hold up.
Key points
- Jill Turner said she is a parent and has been the junior high PTO president for the past year
- She said she went to a conversations with the superintendent meeting a few Tuesdays ago with a couple of other mothers to question the disclaimer surrounding the Book Festival, and that the disclaimer question was not resolved
- She said board member Graham told that meeting teacher volunteers at the festival were being paid $250, $500 and $750 to work it, and that she was shocked because she had never heard of a paid volunteer
- She said she followed up with volunteers afterward and every one of them told her no volunteer has ever been paid
- She said she wrote to everyone who attended that conversation, including the superintendent and two board members, and got no acknowledgement or response
- She objected to a further implication that teachers had not volunteered for a Saturday Academy because the festival paid better, saying teachers turn out in droves for junior high PTO events, donate their own money, bring games and food, bake, and close up the school late at night
Teachers Union: Two Elementary Positions Going Away
The president of the Hudson Teachers Association told the board that two elementary teaching positions are being cut through attrition even though state aid was restored and the levy is going up.
Key points
- The speaker, introduced as Ken, said he is a high school science teacher but was speaking as president of the Hudson Teachers Association
- He said the district presented a tentative budget at earlier meetings with no staff cuts, including replacing the positions of people retiring, even when roughly $3 million in state aid looked like it was gone
- He said his members, not the administration, told him the day before that two elementary teacher positions are being cut through attrition, and that it is a cut whether or not the people leaving are retirees
- He asked why it is happening now: the budget has not been cut, state aid is back, and the levy is up
- He said an elementary building has been targeted as a school in need of improvement, and that cutting two teachers there will raise class sizes and reduce individual instruction time
- He said the district recently hired two new clerks for human resources and is still looking for a human resources director, while 24 years ago the district had at least twice the staff and one clerk handling personnel entirely on paper
- He asked whether the district's priority is more people in the district office looking at screens or the students in the classroom
He disputed a projection a building principal gave him for class sizes if the two positions stayed. The numbers in that exchange are broken in the captions, so they are not repeated here.
Educators and Organizers Defend the Book Festival
Four more speakers, three of them district staff, told the board what the Hudson Children's Book Festival does for students and said no one working it is paid.
Key points
- Melissa Moore, a first grade teacher who went through Hudson schools herself, said she first volunteered at the festival as a senior and now uses festival books all year to teach Black history, women's history and Pride history
- She said she organizes the community room, where students connect for free with mental health services, college recruitment and the Hudson Youth Department and take home another free book
- Donna, who works in school social work in the district, said the festival is a big part of why she applied here after 25 years with another employer, and that watching the district put the event on convinced her
- She said her own child exchanged emails with author Jerry Craft for three years about graphic novels, and that the festival was pivotal in turning a reluctant reader around
- Melissa Brown, an educator of over 26 years, said study after study shows reading aloud to children is the number one indicator of school success, and called diverse literature a mirror, a window and a sliding glass door
- She said it is concerning for the district to distance itself from a well loved, popular event at a time when some states and school districts are wrongly limiting access to books and blaming diversity, equity and inclusion
- Jen Nixon, one of the festival's directors, said it has been a collaborative effort with the district since its founding in 2009, has bought hundreds of books for school libraries in every building and thousands more for classroom use over 13 years, and has hosted author visits including Jason Reynolds, Jerry Craft and Ellen Hopkins
- She said the Hudson Literacy Fund, a nonprofit not affiliated with the district, funds a book coupon for every student, and that the festival organizes transportation so every Hudson student can get there
- She said, to set the record straight, that no organizers or volunteers are compensated financially, that the notion of separating the festival from the district is concerning, and that she and her co-director are eager to meet with the superintendent and the board
Several speakers referred to a disclaimer surrounding the festival and to talk of separating it from the district. The transcript does not contain any board or administration statement explaining either, so what prompted these comments is not in this record.
Superintendent's Report and Closing Business
The superintendent reported on a state spotlight for food service, free Chromebooks going out to teachers, and a first conversation about electric buses. The board then passed through its consent agenda, read upcoming dates and went back into executive session.
Key points
- The district's food service department was featured in a New York State Education Department publication, which the superintendent passed around the board table and said is posted in the department's food and nutrition section
- It is teacher appreciation week and principals appreciation day was last week; every building received cookies and soft drinks from the central office that day
- Chromebooks the district received free through the Verizon Innovative Learning program go out to junior high and senior high teachers the next afternoon, with a rollout session at the high school
- An ice cream social paid for through a district grant is being extended across the district rather than just the two secondary buildings, and the superintendent thanked Teresa Hayes and Tracy Gaffney for putting it together
- Batting cages are up on both baseball fields, and a call for volunteers to begin reviewing the strategic plan process goes out around next week
- The superintendent attended a conversation about electric buses with other superintendents at a legislator's invitation, and said the districts are exploring ways to improve transportation costs, not committing to electric buses
- A resolution approving consent agenda items A through D was read and put to a voice vote; the captions do not record the responses
- Upcoming dates were read out: a facility committee meeting May 14 at 4:00 PM, a policy committee meeting May 22 at 7:00 PM, the annual budget vote and election board meeting, and a regular board meeting June 11 at 6:00 PM, all in the high school library
- The board ended the public meeting at 7:07 and went back into executive session on the employment history of particular persons, with the chair saying there would be no further business after it
The captions run several more minutes after the board leaves the room with no speech in them. Nothing from the second executive session is in the record, and the transcript does not show a formal adjournment.
About this page
FUTURE HUDSON is an experiment in civic engagement: every public meeting of the City of Hudson since January 2026, transcribed and made readable, so any resident can follow what the city is deciding without attending every meeting. This page covers one meeting; see the full archive.
How it was made
The meeting video was transcribed automatically; the transcript was then organized into sections and summarized. The raw transcript is above, every claim can be checked against it.
What to be skeptical of
The transcript is automated and contains speech-recognition errors; names and numbers may be wrong. This page has not been reviewed by a human. Nothing here is an official record, the school district's official minutes are authoritative.
About coverage of this body
Board of Education meetings are livestreamed by the Hudson City School District to its own YouTube channel. The school district is a separate government from the City of Hudson. If a meeting is missing from the archive, the recording was likely not posted. See the archive index for the full coverage note.