At a glance
The president of the Hudson Teachers Association told the Board of Education that staff morale is at an all time low, an hour after the district's executive director of teaching and learning finished a long presentation on this year's new instructional initiatives. Wayne Kenny said teachers have been pulled from classes and prep periods for rushed training on new testing and reading platforms, and he pressed the board on promoting eighth graders who failed multiple courses. Two more speakers, a Hudson graduate who teaches in Kingston and a Hudson parent, told the board the presentation did not match what they see in Hudson classrooms. The board also took up a personnel agenda that included a new executive director of human resources, met four new staff members, and heard a facilities report on the pool, the boilers and fall inspections. Two executive sessions bracketed the evening, and the recording carries no audio for about 44 minutes during the first one.
Call to Order, Roll Call and the Agenda
The meeting opened at 6:02 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and a roll call taken by the board clerk. One board member took part remotely.
Key points
- The chair called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. and asked everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance
- Board of Education member Willette Jones took part remotely under the state Open Meetings Law
- A clerk the chair called Tracy took the roll, and members answered present
- A motion to accept the agenda as presented was seconded and put to a voice vote; the captions record the call for all in favor but not the responses
This page does not list attendance. Several surnames in the roll call come through the auto captions damaged, and one answer of here arrives with no name attached at all, so the record here is not good enough to say who was present.
Student Council Report and a Transportation Ask
The vice president of the student council delivered the student representative report, filling in for Thomas, who was away on college tours. The report ran through spirit week and club news and asked the board for help paying to transport students to academic competitions.
Key points
- Spirit week was under way, with pajama day the day before and a throwback day that day, field day the next day, a homecoming game Friday and the dance that weekend
- Dance ticket sales were described as pretty good, with a wish for more participation
- Model UN held its first mini Model UN, and the speaker asked whether the district could help fund transportation to academic competitions, which clubs now cover through their own fundraising
- AP Biology finished salamander research, the Varsity Club has been fundraising, and the Writing Center for seniors started up with the first College Tuesday that day
- Two new clubs have formed, Students Against Cancer and Students Against Destructive Decisions, the second advised by the health teacher, Miss Tuttle
- Students Against Destructive Decisions is considering bringing a wrecked car to a homecoming or prom event to show what drinking and driving can do
The student council vice president gave a name that the auto captions did not capture cleanly, so it is left out rather than guessed at.
Teaching and Learning: Where the District Stands
The executive director of teaching and learning opened a long presentation on this school year's instructional plan. She laid out the six keys the superintendent set for school improvement and explained the state designation the district is working under.
Key points
- Every initiative in the department is tied to six keys for school improvement set by the superintendent: strengthening the instructional core, improving data driven practices, promoting a positive and inclusive school environment, strengthening instructional leadership capacity, a tiered approach to school support and intervention, and increased monitoring and accountability
- Based on data from 2022 and 2023, the state identified Hudson as a Target District, with MC Smith Elementary School designated as needing targeted support and improvement
- The designation rests on the performance of one subgroup, the district's Hispanic students; she stressed that Hispanic does not mean only English language learners, and that students born here who read and write in English still need resources
- The district must keep a district comprehensive improvement plan and a school comprehensive educational plan for Smith, both posted on the district website
- Classrooms are still working from the Common Core learning standards while students are tested on the Next Generation standards, and she said that a district not teaching those standards is really behind
- She said differentiated instruction has to happen in every classroom, and that teachers and principals both need professional development to make that possible
This transcript is a YouTube auto caption with no speaker labels. The presenter's name is written as the captions rendered it and the spelling may be off. Other names are attributed only where the transcript clearly says them.
New This Year: Tiered Supports and Decodable Readers
The presentation turned to the year's new initiatives, starting with a multi tiered system of supports built around a platform called Branching Minds, and new classroom reading libraries for the youngest grades.
Key points
- The district partnered with Branching Minds over the summer to track how students are progressing and to suggest interventions teachers can use
- A districtwide committee of teachers, coaches and administrators trained over the summer, meets monthly, and is meant to train others; building level teams are to meet at least every other week
- Students who need more help get tier two interventions in their own classroom, reviewed after about six weeks before anything is intensified; she said this is not a springboard to special education referrals
- She pointed out that the elementary school alone has 10 AIS reading teachers and four psychologists, then asked the room why, with those resources, the district is in the state it is in
- Start of year benchmark testing is happening now, with the window closing for the high school on October 9; middle of year testing falls in January and February and end of year across May and June
- New Just Right decodable libraries for prekindergarten through grade 5 include a barcode in the back of each book that takes a teacher to matching resources, with training set for October 31
- Teacher collaborative team meetings, held every other week with a rolling agenda, are to focus on instruction and student work rather than field trips and parties
The presenter gave the closing date of the elementary and junior high testing window as 10 four, which the captions never spell out. It is read here as October 4, and a reader who needs the exact date should check with the district.
Achieve 3000, Eureka Math and Board Questions
The presentation finished with the reading and math programs rolling out at the junior high and high school, the state's culturally responsive framework, restorative practices and curriculum mapping. Board members then asked about the elementary reading program and about AVID.
Key points
- Achieve 3000 gives junior high and high school students the same article written at their own Lexile level, so a class can read about the Constitution together at different levels; a baseline assessment was under way and teachers were trained the week before
- She said the program tells students what reading level a career such as biomedical engineering calls for, and that a student is guaranteed to move up a Lexile level after reading four articles
- Eureka Math Squared is in year two at the elementary school and year one at the junior high, aligned to the Next Generation standards
- All curriculum must align to the state's culturally responsive sustaining education framework, which covers a welcoming and affirming environment, high expectations and rigorous instruction, inclusive curriculum and assessment, and ongoing professional learning
- Restorative practices training has been held and circles are being used at Blue Hawk Academy, with code of conduct work under way
- Rubicon Atlas is back in use so each school can record unit titles, standards, essential questions, materials and assessments, and find gaps in what is taught and when
- Asked whether the CK reading program is being replaced, she said it is aligned to Common Core rather than Next Generation and needs supplementing, and that a new literacy committee will run a needs assessment before anything is decided
- Asked how AVID works, she said it is universal at the elementary school but selective at the junior high, and that its study and organization skills should be open to all students rather than a select few
A board member asked whether a warning in the after school program costs a student a day of the program and whether that is district policy. The answer was that it would be covered when ASP comes up in a later presentation.
Records Policy Third Reading, Then Executive Session
The board took a third reading of its school district records regulation and asked for one change before moving on. It then went into an early executive session.
Key points
- The third reading covered policy 1120-R, the school district records regulation, with the change replacing a named person with a job title
- Members worked through the difference between the records management officer, designated by the superintendent with board approval, and the records access officer, a separate person
- The regulation names the administrative assistant to the chief financial officer in a parenthetical partway through, and a member said that designation belongs in the designation of officers section at the top
- The board agreed to hold off and move the designation up rather than adopt the text as written; the transcript records no vote on the policy
- The board then moved to enter executive session at 7:03 p.m. to review the employment history of a particular person or persons; the motion was seconded and put to a voice vote
From roughly 65:54 to 109:21 the recording carries nothing but silence markers while the board is in executive session. Anything said when the board came back into public session before 110:05 is not in this record.
Personnel Agenda and the Human Resources Job
Back in public session, the board took up personnel agenda items A through W. Most of the discussion was about a human resources position on the list and about the size of the central office.
Key points
- A member asked the superintendent to explain the origins of the human resources position on the agenda and how it would help the district
- The superintendent said the job is not new, has been vacant since 2022, was previously called human resources manager, and that its salary sat in the 2023 to 2024 budget and is funded in the current 2024 to 2025 budget approved by the board and by voters
- She described the role as recruiting, hiring and retaining staff, supporting teachers through professional development, handling employee relations and applying policies consistently
- Asked whether the job takes money from anything else in the budget, she said it does not
- Answering concerns that the central office has grown top heavy, she said she has not created any new central office positions since she started, and that the DEI manager job was created by the superintendent before her
- The motion was put to a voice vote; the captions record the call for all in favor but not the responses
In the middle of that answer the captions have the superintendent saying the executive director of teaching and learning title is new but the position is not, and was formerly human resources manager. That does not square with the rest of her answer, and the transcript is not clear enough to say what was meant.
Four New Staff Members Introduced
The superintendent welcomed new staff, reading a short biography for each. Three were in the room and one was not.
Key points
- Edward Ham is a Hudson High School graduate with a bachelor's degree in political science and policy studies from Syracuse University and a master's in adolescence education from SUNY New Paltz; before teaching he worked at a local nonprofit helping people with housing as a HUD certified counselor and program manager, and he can juggle five balls
- Dan Connor is the new interim associate principal at the junior high school and has been an educator for over 48 years in rural, suburban and urban schools
- Connor's message to the district, read aloud, was that no one cares how much you know until they understand that you care about them
- Shante Brooks, the new executive director of human resources, was not there; she has over 19 years in education, master's degrees in urban teaching and in school building leadership from Mercy College, and was most recently a principal in Newburgh
- Brooks has worked in the district before as a substitute principal at the junior high school and has built relationships with students, staff and families there
- Angela Grandinetti, a physical education teacher, was born and raised in Hudson and graduated from Hudson High School in 2015; she studied applied science at Columbia Greene Community College and earned her physical education degree at Russell Sage College in May 2023, and she coaches junior varsity softball
Public Comment: The Teachers Union on Morale and Training
The chair read the ground rules for public comment, including three minutes per speaker and no response from the board. Three people spoke, and all three were critical of how the district is treating teachers.
Key points
- Wayne Kenny spoke as president of the Hudson Teachers Association rather than as a district employee, and said morale is at an all time low and that nothing is being done about it
- He said opening day delivered a three hour message that teachers are bad at their jobs, and that a brand new teacher handed him union paperwork and said she does not know how long she will stay
- He said teachers have been pulled from classes, prep time and uncovered hall duty for rushed training on FastBridge testing, Achieve 3000 and new science standards, with ELA and social studies teachers given 10 minutes warning, and that the superintendent told him professional development takes priority over duties
- He said Achieve 3000 and FastBridge reading scores will not match because the two programs are not integrated, and that FastBridge math bars calculators at the secondary level although the state allows them in class and on state math exams
- He counted eight new and continuing initiatives, and said 15 to 20 substitutes were pulled in the elementary building in a single day for a full day of data training that he said has been happening for about six years without results
- He said 39 percent of last year's eighth graders failed two or more courses and were promoted to ninth grade with no retention or summer school, that he grieved the promotion policy last year, and that the superintendent accused teachers of keeping minority students out of AP classes when over 50 percent of AP students are minority students
- Jen Daly, a 1994 Hudson graduate who has taught in the Kingston City School District for about 20 years, said she was shocked by the expressions of people at the front of the room while Kenny spoke, and that teacher and paraprofessional fatigue is real and comes from the top down
- Jill Turner, a parent who mentors through literacy at lunch and reads with a child at the elementary school every Tuesday, said teachers and librarians already know their students' reading levels and have the right books, and asked the board to listen to teachers before the district loses them
Kenny said 39 percent of last year's eighth graders failed two or more courses, then moments later said 39 percent failed three or more core courses. The transcript carries both versions and does not resolve which he meant.
Kenny said using Achieve 3000 twice a month would take, in the captions, 20 instructions a day away from teachers. The unit is garbled, so what he claimed the cost in class time would be cannot be reported here.
Kenny ran past his three minutes, was told his time was up and was asked not to make it personal; he said it is personal and handed over copies of his complaints. After the comments, a board member said speaking up does create change and that the data has been flat over six years.
Superintendent's Update: Tours, Strategic Planning and Corn
The superintendent reported on a board tour of the schools, a strategic planning session, a letter praising the football team, and district events.
Key points
- The board's tour of the schools moved to Monday, September 16, when several board members and the superintendent visited all three Hudson City schools and watched classes in action
- A strategic planning collaborative session held the previous week brought together board members, parents and staff to shape goals for a plan meant to guide district leadership and to state the district's priorities publicly; the superintendent said the mayor took part
- She read a letter from an opposing head football coach who wrote that Hudson was the first team from Hudson to enter a game with his that was completely prepared, disciplined and playing as a unit, and told the players to stick with their coaches
- The coach wrote that he has coached at his school for over 27 years and that the sleeping giant in Hudson will be awoken again
- September was Harvest Month, and locally grown roasted corn on the cob was served districtwide on Wednesday, September 18, still in the husk so students could shuck it
- The superintendent attended Meet the Teacher nights at the junior high and high school, with the elementary school's the following night
The captions garble the names of the board members on the school tour, the opposing district and its coach, so none of them are named here.
Consensus Agenda and the Facilities Report
The board moved consensus agenda items A through V, then heard the facilities committee's report on summer work, inspections and the pool.
Key points
- A motion to approve consensus agenda items A through V was made after thanks for revised treasurer's reports, and was put to a voice vote; the captions record the call for all in favor but not the responses
- The facilities committee met September 9 with the head of maintenance, business office staff and Matthew Leonard, who leads the swimming pool operation
- Buildings got a deep clean before students returned, and staff completed trainings including school safety, bloodborne pathogens, spill prevention, asbestos awareness, safe lifting, ladder safety, fire extinguisher use, lockout tagout and workplace violence
- The pool was completely drained and scrubbed, new valves were ordered, lines were repainted and drains redone, and it is open again, but it is short staffed and the district is still looking for lifeguards
- The high school boilers passed inspection, and at MC Smith the hot water boiler and steam boiler number one passed while steam boiler number two is inactive, with a new vendor working to isolate leaks before reinspection
- The turf field was inspected and groomed, new soccer nets were bought, the junior varsity and modified fields were lined, and the gym floors and high school stage were sanded and recoated
- Fire, sprinkler and elevator inspections are done at MC Smith and the junior senior high with deficiency lists still pending, and elevator phones are being replaced
New phone system software is being narrowed down and would be bought under the Smart Schools investment plan, with a presentation on that plan promised at a future meeting. Facility use rates under policy 1500 are being rewritten for the policy committee, and a memorandum already waives fees for local youth groups including the Youth Department, Columbia County Pop Warner and Hudson Little League.
Fall Meeting Dates and a Second Executive Session
The board read its upcoming meeting schedule and then went back into executive session for the second time that night.
Key points
- A Board of Education meeting is set for October 8, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. in the high school library
- The policy committee meets October 22, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. in the high school library, followed by a Board of Education meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the same place
- The board moved to enter a second executive session at 8:30 p.m. to review the employment history of a particular person or persons; the motion was seconded and put to a voice vote
- The chair said there would be no further business after that executive session and thanked everyone for coming
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.