Board of Education, Regular Meeting transcript: FUTURE HUDSON

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0:28e e e e e e e e
4:10uh pursuant to New York State open beings law 1044 uh Board of Education member wette Jones will be participating remotely um and I'd like to call this meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. and please ask everybody to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance
4:29my 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
4:43uh Tracy roll call please
4:48mark dep here Amanda grer here Kirsten Guston here Willette Jones here here Calvin Lewis Here Matthew mackerer here Leo Walker here
5:03thank you thank you um make a motion to accept the agenda as presented
5:10second all in favor
5:14uh that brings us to the student representative report
5:19uh hello guys my name is hel haani I'm the vice president of the student council and I'm just subbing in for Thomas who's in Chicago right now College touring uh okay so um uh tomorrow we have field day and this week we've been having spirit week
5:40uh yes yesterday was pajama day and today was um decad day or throwback day and then um this weekend or Friday we have a homecoming game and this weekend is the dance we're trying to prepare for that and ticket sales have been pretty good but we'd also like more participation and you know buying
6:00and then um model un is uh doing pretty good too we've had our first mini model un however many high school students participate in these clubs and um have these academic competitions with numerous other students and unfortunately a lot of these students have to rely on Club fundraising to fund for transportation
6:23so um the model un would kindly respectfully ask if the District board could help us out with that uh because just like sport events you know model holds academic competitions as well and then AP Bio had their salamander uh research the other week and Varsity Club has also been holding some fundraisers
6:45uh The Writing Center for seniors is also starting up a matter of fact today was the first day College Tuesday and uh there's also been two new clubs students against cancer and the students against destructive decisions um student tech crew is also back in session along with yearbook and there's been minimal progress so far
7:08amazing so many exciting things thank you what is students against destructive decisions
7:12um that just where Stu uh first of all the adviser of that club would be Miss Tuttle the health teacher here and the president would be Matt long uh this club just hopes uh to make students more aware of decisions such as alcohol drinking and stuff like that and matter of fact they're thinking about bringing a you know a runed car during one of the prom events or homecoming and just showing people the dec bad decision- making that alcohol lead to
7:41thank you awesome thank you very much um brings us to a presentation from Dr Elsa courti Torres executive director of teaching and learning
7:53should I take this mic with no there's one up there sorry
8:42good evening everyone so um I'm delighted to come and speak with the board this evening and with the public in regards to our department of teaching and learning initiatives um we are very busy in our department so I'm happy to share some of the highlights
9:03so the objectives for tonight is that I will be presenting to you um some of the new initiatives procedures and expectations of the Hudson City School District in my department the department of teaching and learning for this Academic School year
9:19this presentation will provide everyone with information about resources that are available um this year and for teaching and learning at overall for the 24 25 school year
9:34so one of the quotes that I um cherish and always I keep in the back of my head because it kind of reminds me of my why my why is that I want students to be successful regardless of who they are where they come from so Zetta Hammond says one of the goals of education is not simply to fill students with facts and but to help them learn how to learn
10:00and this is something that um when I was a teacher I used to do in my classroom I would help students how to figure out problems on their own how to figure out the information on their own and developed in them a love of learning and I believe that that's something that we should all strive for in our organization
10:25another quote that I really like is this one if a child can learn the way we teach maybe we should teach them the way they learn and this calls for differentiated instruction how do students learn best students learn best when they are offered with multiple ways of demonstrating their learning not necessarily the same old tricks of the old days right the paper and pencil task but they could also demonstrate learning by doing different kinds of things
10:56so this really also strikes with me because it's one of those things that I value and I also would like to see in all the classrooms that we visit in our schools
11:11so with that I'm going to remind everyone that everything that we do in this district is around or it will be aligned to the six keys for school Improvement that Dr pennyman our superintendent has highlighted for our district
11:29and one of them is strengthening the instructional core another one is improving datadriven practices promoting a positive inclusive School environment for all stakeholders strengthening instructional leadership capacity tiered approach to school support and intervention and increased monitoring and accountability
11:52so you will see that all the initiatives that we have put into our district and we have have implemented this year and have been implementing Sur it's really aligned to all these six Keys um and we want to make sure that that happens because that's what we um strive for in order to make the greatest impact and have the greatest impact
12:17this also ties to our desent our district um comprehensive and instructional plan so we need to have that alignment all the time and so we also want to tie this to the school Improvement plans that we have in our websites um for all to see and I invite you to please take a look at those documents and review them they all are aligned to these six keys
12:46so let me talk to you a little bit about the status of the Hudson City School District as I see it as an instructional lead coming in Based on data from the 2022 2023 the Hudson City School District was identified as a Target District what is that mean it means that one of our
13:10schools has been designated as a school that needs target support and Improvement that school currently is MC Smith Elementary School that is not something that I made up Dr pennyman made up the State Education Department deems that as a designation for the school based on the performance of a subgroup of students namely our Hispanic population let me emphasize that when I say Hispanic that doesn't mean our enl students only some of our students were born here speak English read and write in English but they still need help they need to have the resources available to them so let's not not assume that when we say Hispanic students we're only naming enl students that is not the case
14:08the district is mandated to have a district comprehensive Improvement plan to set goals and action plans specifically to address the academic and social emotional needs of the district and a school comprehensive educational plan the scce from Montgomery SE SE Smith Elementary School to address the performance of all students on the New York State assessments and specifically the needs of the Hispanic students as they identify gr
14:39the DP and SE are on the district's website please go there and review these documents both of these doc documents are also tied and uh like I said before aligned to the six keys for school Improvement and other sources of data um helped inform form what is in those documents such as um the data from fastbridge which is one of our common assessments we also use data such as attendance behavioral data Etc to make those decisions um to put in those documents what is relevant as part as what we're going to be striving for and how can we improve teaching and learning overall for all of our students
15:31so there are three major areas that I want to emphasize with this presentation one of them is the alignment of curricula and assessments to the Next Generation standards currently our district is operating with the Common Core learning standards those were the old standards 2017 and now we're supposed to be following and aligning our practices our assessment and our curricula to the Next Generation standards not the Common Core learning standards the students are going to be tested on the Next Generation standards so if we don't teach those standards we're we're really behind so that's something that we need to focus on
16:16as I stated in my favorite quotes differentiated instruction is a must in each and every classroom why because our students come from different backgrounds they have different lived experiences they have different languages that they speak they have different experiences with uh formal education some may have formal education in the past some may not have formal education so we need to actually know our students really well know what it is that makes them interested in learning and then how can we measure their SU success that has to be Paramount in every single classroom that has to be the goal
17:05so therefore there's going to be a lot of professional development and some of our teachers are feeling it they have come to me and said oh my God here goes another one okay but it needs to happen because we're not going to put something out there to teachers or teachers to do without support they need support and so do principles principles everyone in the building needs to have professional development so that we can have these latest um things that are happening with these programs that we're purchasing such as Eureka maap
17:39the science of reading is huge this is something that we need to know and learn about the most because if we cannot develop those reading those foundational skills with our youngest students then when they arrive at the middle school school they're not going to be able to be successful with the type of of tasks that we are test we are having them do that are aligned to the nextg standards the work is rigorous it should be we should have high expectations for our students not low expectations
18:18we should know that if we're following the new nextg standards those standards are created for a reason they are to prepare our 20 first students for 21st century skills so therefore we need to focus a lot on also mtss how do we progress monitor our students mtss stands for multi-tier systems of support so we need to figure out how to best help our students not when the assessment comes in May or in June or where wherever or the region comes but be way before that we need to figure out what types of Assessments formative assessments will help us inform our decisions as professionals and as Educators that we are so that we can better meet the needs of our students
19:13Avid the skills that are embedded in Avid are helpful for all students not just the select few so we need to figure out what can we do to make sure that all students are exposed to those skills not just a few students those those skills are like metacognitive skills how to organize your work how to take notes how to ensure that you are organizing your thought process when reading a passage close reading Etc so those are things that we need to ensure that we have professional development for our teachers and everyone on staff to meet the needs of all students and not one group of student versus another group of students
20:06so here are the new initiatives for the 2425 school year multi-tier systems of support so starting this year we received professional development starting in the summer with we partner with branching Minds which is an organization that puts out a platform for us to use that we can say okay how are we going to progress monitor our students what kinds of tests can we put what kinds of data can we obtain from that platform so that it will help us improve our teaching and our learning so that's what branching Minds does
20:50it helps us organize our work around okay what is the handbook going to say what types of interventions can we provide for students at different levels of their learning so if they're not progressing are we providing them with tier 2 interventions tier three interventions and how are we going to manage that it's going to be very difficult of course to manage a lot of students with various needs but the platform helps you and helps us understand where students are so if they take an assessment and they're deemed who have um a need to have tier three interventions the program will highlight that for for us the program will tell us these are the standards that the student needs to be able to master and the skills so those are things that we're
21:44looking into we this is the first year we hope that it's something that is successful for all teachers that it will help them better create lessons that are more targeted with more explicit construction taking place in small groups and in whole groups.
22:03so we have formed a districtwide mtss committee this committee is um comprised of teachers coaches and administration the districtwide committee received training over the summer as I stated before and now we're looking into how can the folks in that and that team turn key that information to other teachers and other people within our district.
22:30we will continue to meet monthly to assess the implementation progress and to problem solve with a successful implementation of mtss at each building each building is unique and different and each building is at a different level with the mtss implementation process therefore we need to customize our support if more people need training on the platform that will be provided if if people need more support on um what tier 2 interventions look like in a classroom that support can be provided how can that be be provided we have a lot of resources in our district.
23:13in our elementary school alone we have 10 AIS reading teachers 10 AIS reading teachers think about it with all of the resources that we have plus we have other resources within that building that would help with delivering those interventions to students as quickly as possible because the one thing we need to do is as soon as a students we see that they need a type of intervention we need to act upon it and provide them with those interventions then we will check with them periodically every 6 weeks to see how they're doing.
23:55we have also four Psy colleges at the um elementary school so being that we have these resources at the elementary school you may ask yourself then why are we in the state that we're in.
24:13we need to ask that ourselves that question and be truthful about it exposing ourselves to what the reality of things are something is not right and we need to discover what that is and then we need to move upon fixing it right we cannot expect the same results every single year by doing the same exact thing all the time we have to if we want to have different results we have to change the way we're doing things it's definition of in Insanity.
24:53so that's mtss these are the members of the District mtss committee and we're very thankful that they were a part of it because again these folks were trained on everything to do with the mtss process and now these folks can train other individuals within our organization building capacity is one of our key uh six keys for Success so building the capacity of these individuals and then having them turn P information is is a wonderful thing and we will keep doing that.
25:35here are the benchmark assessments that we're currently administering in the beginning of the year the middle of the year and the end of the year in the beginning of the year which is what the students are doing right now the high school is almost um done with their window and actually all the schools window will close 10 four for the um Elementary School and for the junior high school and then for the high school they it will close on um October 9th the middle of the year will occur in January and February and then the end of the year towards it's going to be a combination of May and June so what we try to do is build it up so that it's not it doesn't conflict with other big assessments such as regions and New York State assessments.
26:29so these are the expectations with uh regard to mtss school administrators have to coordinate mtss meeting times and select members of the team which will be comprised of a facilitator and it will be the administrator or design an associate principal for example School social workers school psychologist an AIS provider for Math and one for ELA the present teacher is the teacher bringing the concern to the table regarding a student now that should happen after all everything has been um done in on her part for example providing tier two interventions in the class room this is not a springboard for special education services I want to make that very clear and TSS is not a springboard for and for having a student be referred for special education services that should be the last resort.
27:31what we want to do is provide students with tier one a strong very strong core instruction which is tier one tier two which would be those interventions that will help the students that are research-based and will help the student by putting them in place for let's say a period of 6 weeks re-examining how the student is doing and then establishing whether the student needs more interventions intensifying the interventions so then it would become a tier three or whether the student will continue to remain on a tier two intervention to give him or her a little bit of more time.
28:13that's how that works the team also can have a support staff that has a direct link to the students so sometimes it might be someone like has um a special relationship with the child might be a part of that team because they because they could speak about the child being you know who they are on a regular basis on a on a day-to-day basis.
28:38so when will these meetings occur these meetings will occur at least once a month um invites going out to all the people that are involved in the team especially myself because I like to see how our kids are doing I want to be a part of that decision making process we're all a team we're all in this together and if I can be of any help supporting our teachers that's one way of me being in there supporting them as well um so if a meeting would were to be occurring after school obviously we have some HTA contract um things that we need to take care of such as compensation and we we know that um the meetings will be held to answer any question questions problem solve and get a sense of how things are going in each building in year one of implementation of mtss these are the district meetings that I'm talking about.
29:40when will building mtss meetings occur these meetings will occur um every building is different like I said before unique and we like that principles will provide a schedule of regularly scheduled meetings um meetings will occur at at least once on a bi-weekly basis and at these meetings um teachers will present the individual students and
30:04their needs to be discussed with an emphasis on tier two and tier three interventions using using a problem solving model teachers will student teacher uh the teacher of the that is presenting the child will receive support from the team by following a branching Minds agenda protocol which is all in the branching Minds um platform. There's also an m SS handbook which we will make available to everybody and the public as well. It will be posted on our website for everybody to see hey these this is the process that we have in place when students are not doing well.
30:44There are also building level mtss steering meetings that occur these build these meetings are more um focus on the after a fast Bridge assessment is administered. They discuss how did the school do overall so the results from those tests are discussed. If they're interventions that need to take place because a certain grade level is or a certain you know um subject area is more um problematic than another then those interventions can take place after discussing it during those Heering meetings um at the school level.
31:26What What do teachers do so teachers will have to have an understanding of the handbook and the process that it takes for students to be referred or to be um provided with tier two interventions and tier three interventions. They will also have to implement tier two interventions in their classrooms so it is no longer okay after the initial instruction that takes place the core instruction that takes place for a student to be referred to an mtss meeting because they're not performing up to the standard up to you know when that instruction takes place. It is the responsibility of the teacher again to differentiate instruction to ensure that tier two interventions are in place in the classroom where it is mainly more um meaningful for the student.
32:22The student is with his his or her peers their they're um engaging in conversation they are learning from each other the teacher can provide feedback during that time. It is not a okay the child has to go now with so and so and be out of the classroom for an extended period of time and then miss part of the core instruction that takes place. That's why it is imperative for teachers to be very um vers in tier 2 strategies and that we will help them with it's not easy.
32:55So what what happens is at a school teacher teams should get together to look up and research what kinds of strategies are out there that are research based that we can help put into place in the classroom and help support our students. There's also interventions that are suggested in the branching Minds platform so this is a good thing branching Minds offer okay if you have a student that has a hard time um with Bay a identifying the main idea of a paragraph they can go in there and there are intervention suggestions that they could also take from there and apply them into their classroom.
33:39And when there's a question of course um ask any of the administrators the coaches that we have um any members of the district y team would be able to answer those questions.
33:51This is I'm very excited about this just write decodables so these are classroom libraries from pre kindergarten to grade five that are of high interest for students so that they read a text that is at their level with illustrations that look like them that with topics that they can relate to. Teachers May introduce these books to students and in the back of the book there's a barcode that barcode helps them go straight rate to resources related to that decodable text.
34:29So if a student has an issue with identifying initial consonant sounds that barcode the teacher goes right to that barcode takes a picture of it and it will take them to a resource um page where they can pull up some of those resources to help that child. So what we're seeing is that resources should be readily available for teachers teachers don't have the time to stop and think okay what am I going to do now with this child they need to have resources at their disposal. So one of the things that D codable does is exactly that and so does branching Minds so you see a pattern here we're trying to support our teachers while at the same time provide students with what they need.
35:22So they will be equipped with a classroom Library set and also there will be multiple copies of books for the teacher to have a small group lesson with something that perhaps a group of students are struggling with. So if she pulls a group of students to the side they can have the same text everybody's reading the same text and at the same time they're targeting some of those skills that the students need help with.
35:51Teachers in grades prek to 5 will receive professional development um October 31st they are slated to have professional development which is a day that there's no school for students and the presenters will come and show them how to use the decodables and the resources that will be available to them.
36:13P PLC meetings this is also a new initiative this year at the direction of the superintendent we are having teacher collaborative team meetings meaning when we get together it's not just to discuss oh what field trip are we going to oh let's plan our October 31st Halloween party oh let's do this let's do that that is that is okay and you can have those conversations.
36:41However there should be a structured time when teachers are talking specifically about instructional strategies and how students are doing in their classrooms and then targeting that that conversation so that it is more fruitful and you can have an action plan where okay we're going to designate some people that will be in charge of this of doing this um providing a a scaffold it could be a graphic organizer or something that they come up with based on student data or based on student work products.
37:14So those collaborative conversations are happening and should start happening or if not should start happening pretty soon. They do this when they have a a day that is um a two-day PR prep so that contractually they still receive a prep for that day.
37:35Here's how we Define PLC it's not a thing like you know a period of uh of the day o we we're doing PLC now it is specifically to answer three questions four questions here actually I have what do we want students to learn, how will we know that they have learned it, what will we do if they don't learn it and what will we do if they already
38:04know it we cannot forget our our accelerated students some of our students are bored why because whatever is being taught is being taught at an average level in the classroom they will tune out some of them may become a behavioral problem because that's what they that's they don't have anything to do they go through the work really quickly and that's it or we may have students at the opposite end who are struggling so therefore we need to have those conversations during these meetings what are we going to do with our bottom third what are we going to do with our average students and our accelerated students so that all students are successful.
38:59this is actually the definition from dor to 2021 he's a guru on blcs it is an ongoing process in which Educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve professional learning communities operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning of for students is continuous job embedded learning for educators learning from each other teachers learning from each other learning from their instructional coaches and it's it's it's that's how you get the biggest bank for your bunk why because the teacher and the talent is already there the skills are already there and we just need to use them effectively.
39:52so these are um happening bi-weekly um there's a rolling agenda notes are kept and the the rationale behind the rolling agenda we just recently did a book study called datawise and in that book study it talks about what I said before about the definition of um act plcs it's an action research meaning it's cyclical in nature we identify a problem of practice it is not the student who is coming in through the doors of our buildings that's having an issue with learning what are we doing and we need to restate that what are we doing as teachers and Educators that can help students learn more effectively.
40:41so yes St um students come from different backgrounds and they have different things that are beyond our control but as soon as they cross the doors of our buildings they're ours and we need to service them and we need to figure out what can we do to have them be successful in the classroom and Beyond so um there's a facilitator for these meetings um obviously there are protocols in place such as having norms for the meetings there are roles there are pluses and Deltas like we talk about how did the meeting the last time we met how did that go what were some of the things that worked what were some of the things that didn't work and we focus on a St student centered issue meaning what is the issue that is happening that is affecting the student is it that we need to teach it in a different way what what can we do and then next steps.
41:43some of you may have heard about achieve 3,000 literacy this is happening at the junior high school and high school why because again we need to differentiate instruction specifically with Ela and social studies students are provided with a textbook let's say or an article that they have to read more times they cannot read the text why because the reading level is either too difficult or too easy do now they go through it and they're done so what a chief 3000 does is that it provides a text at the Lexile level of the student so there is a BAS line assessment that students are taking right now and that will let the teacher know Johnny is reading at a 800 eile level this is the passage same as another passage that another student may be reading at a higher Lexile level same text but the way that they wrote it is for that to meet the needs of that particular student who is an 800 Lexile level student or even below that 200 S level.
42:59they're learning vocabulary they're learning the content a cheve 3000 is about high interest topics so there may be an article about the Olympics that just happened something that has happened currently so these are done all the time there um the the platform is being updated all of the time every single day with new material new text for students to read so that they're interested in what they're reading um it it allows for digital differentiated High interest text like I said before and again to provide the teacher yet another way to differentiate instruction.
43:43so from the elementary school all the way to the high school this is the focus let's differentiate instruction let's see what we can do to help our students succeed still learning the content still holding up them up to that standard that they need to learn because that's that's something that we all are mandated to have next Generation standards are here they're not going anywhere we need to prepare our students for the 21st century and that's what this is doing.
44:15the training that is um happening on um actually it happened this past week it happened with our Junior High School and High School teachers and it was um very successful I heard great things about it and the nice thing about a chief 3000 is that it has a career component to it so for example if I want to be a biomed engineer I'll put that in the system I want to be a biomedical engineer the program will let you know this is the Lexile level that you need to have in order to be a biomedical engineer then the student can create goals and strive to get to that Lexile level.
45:03it will also give them the skills that they need if they need communication skills they need um how to relate with certain um the business sector or whatever the case may be it will allow them to have that in front of them so therefore this program is versatile they can use it wherever they can use it at home they can use it during study hall they log in they read an article they answer the questions and what it does is that after four articles are read the student is guaranteed to go up alile level.
45:42so it is a wonderful thing to have and we're really happy to have it and we are involving the Questar coaches that are coming in to provide support they're also um related to different subject areas such as such as social study science there's astronomy there there's chemistry there's all kinds of articles that students could read.
46:05so during um the day students plan lessons around Achieve 3000 because it allows them let's say for instance they want to teach something on the Constitution so they present their
46:18lesson on the Constitution then they may say Okay class I need you to read the article on the Constitution every single student will have a different text in front of them about the Constitution at their Lexile level that's the beauty of this so they're still learning about the Constitution but it'll be at their level so that they can read it and understand it and then understand the content that is being taught. That makes for a strong tier one right core instruction program so if we make that stronger our students will will succeed.
47:05Eureka MAF Square do you have probably heard about this from the elementary school year this is year one for the junior high school we thought it might be necessary to have a a cohesion right to have um coherence being that the students at the elementary school were exposed to Eureka Math this is year two for them why not carry that over to the junior high school aligned to the nextg standards it also is it involves a lot of real life problems and so it helps students with problem solving and those skills that we want them to have when they are moving beyond High School.
47:49um we are going to strengthen math instruction by using um Eureka Math square at the elementary school as I said this is year two so they will continue to create differentiated lessons continue to monitor student progress in their tier one and use the branching Minds platform to help with tier 2 interventions there will be embedded instructional coaching through the Questar coaches but also through our own instructional coaches common planning time will help teachers develop lessons and units that are are um being taught as a grade level but also the vertical alignment of what skills are needed for students when that there are prerequisite skills from one grade to the next so there's that horizontal alignment and the vertical alignment as well.
48:44oh and not to mention I didn't I forgot to mention this all curriculum must be aligned to the culturally responsive sustaining educational framework that's another mandate from the net from new the New York State Department we must um have uh lessons that are culturally relevant an environment that is affirming and where students are affirmed where the backgrounds support what it is that we're learning about and have them make those contributions in the classroom so it's more meaningful.
49:21as I stated Junior High School is this is year one um the training started in August and will continue in um throughout the year I just put here September but it will continue um obviously the administrators will monitor the implementation of it and ensure that it's implemented with Fidelity so that we have better results.
49:47as I mentioned before this is also a mandate from the New York State education department the culturally responsive sustaining educational practices so everything that we do must be aligned to it the framework is linked in your PowerPoint so you can take a look at that framework and it's also a um it's in the New York State education department website so you have access to that as well for the public so these are the four things that the framework talks about welcoming an affirming environment high expectations and rigorous instruction I cannot emphasize that enough all students having high expectations for all and rigorous instruction and that's why instruction must be aligned to the next gen standards as well having an inclusive curriculum and Assessment program in our schools and ongoing professional learning.
50:43the the um support for teachers must be there it can't be they can't be just left to do you know whatever it is that has to get done and rely only on themselves we must provide that support whether it's embedded professional learning or sending them out to a conference or bringing people into the district to support them.
51:06this is another initiative that is taking place um social emotional initiatives restored Justice and practices in our schools um we're aligning these of course with the CRS framework including ensuring that restorative justice is applied at every school and we want to um decrease the amount of referrals that we're having in our schools we must have a code of conduct and obviously that is taking place right now we are going to ensure that every student understands and every Community member parents and whoever is is in um related to the school understands what their responsibility is in following a code of conduct because it's not just for the students it's for everybody and so um that is being worked by God pressie and um that's something that we look forward to in the near future I know that she's probably going to be talking about that in her presentation.
52:04but mostly we need to um for students to feel safe welcome and affirmed and included in all that we do students need a place to share their experiences not just on Multicultural night but every single day every single day we need to have those relationships with students so that they feel comfortable in relating some of the things that are happening in their lives and how important that is and how that contributes to their learning.
52:33restorative circles this took place there was a training that took place not too long ago where um a very big group of uh I would say teachers administrators who are a part of that and it is being um implemented in Blu Hawk Academy and um one of the things behind this is that students need a place that they feel safe in expressing what's going on in their lives what's happening what's impeding their learning and that happens in a safe way with a very um with trained professionals on how to do that and how to do circles it is not counseling it is not something that you know um a psychologist would do where it's more clinical in nature it's more about sharing experiences and how we can support each other.
53:27Rubicon Atlas this has been a part of our district for a long time however it has resurfaced and there's a good reason for it if we have new curriculum we need a way to memorialize what we're doing and we need a way to put it into something into some type of um program or database where it could be looked at and adjusted as we go along so and we also need need to find the gaps what are the gaps in that in that curriculum what are some of the things that according to the New York State assessments or that formative assessments are are letting us know hey our kids need some help with or maybe there's a gray level or there's a group of students that are struggling with something a skill or a standard a
54:17particular standard then Rubicon Atlas will help you look at the curriculum and say ahuh the reason why that's happening is because we're not teaching it until June test is in May okay so it may help us also be more strategic when we write our curriculum when we put resources in place so that we are more um targeted in that matter so all schools will receive again embeded training from the Questar Rubicon Atlas coach um every school would be responsible for memorializing their units and lessons using Rubicon Atlas and for starters we just want a title of what you're doing or a unit title we want to have a standard there that is a nextg standard we would like to have essential questions we like to have the materials the resources that they're using and we would like to have how are we assessing our students for that particular unit for that particular l that's it it doesn't it doesn't need to be a book it doesn't need to be a chapter it it could be something as simple as that why because then we can see the sequence and what are we teaching and when and then we could that could be a starting point to later on elaborating more on this those units as we learn more about our students and how they learn in year one um list lessons and units that need to be um edit that's we need to do that so lessons and units that were there already that are common core no more we have to look back and see say okay this is common core we need to update this to be next gen so by the end of year one we hope to um accomplish that.
56:18does anybody have any questions
56:21I have a quick clarifying question just checking my understanding here when you talked about mtss and you talked about branching Minds um we know that teachers have a lot on their plates and juggle a lot on any given day so just checking my understanding that that that actually gives resources to make doing tier two like it gives lesson plans or it gives materials for students
56:42it does got it yes awesome yeah this is a massive amount of work thank you and thank you to everybody else who's been participating all the teachers admin counselors and psychologists um I my one question is just just on the Reading part of it does the um does the new curriculum or new resources replace CK are we still using CK
57:03that's a very good question CK the program was I believe started either three to five years ago I'm not quite sure when1 it is common core line it it's not next genine therefore we need to supplement and that's why we cannot call a book or a teacher guide the curriculum that is a resource we got to look at the blueprint the code what is it when we go to build a a a a structure the building manager comes to us and says hey what's your code what are the codes okay the building inspector the town inspector comes in I'm not going to give you that permit because this is not up to code that's what the standards are it provides the blueprint for what our students need to know and learn at each and every level so CK though it is a program that was newly started not too long ago we need to look at it again and we need to say okay is this meeting the needs of our our students and that's not a decision that is going to be made overnight what I plan I'm doing is having a literacy committee that will look at data to see what it is that we need to do either to supplement the program to leave the program as is and maybe the teachers need more professional development on how to use it I don't know that's something that comes up at A literacy committee where we'll do A needs assessment and at that point we could answer that question better
58:50okay thank you
58:54I I appreciate the quote at the top um if there's one thing I think we're doing here is trying to give our students the skills for a lifetime of learning um because I think we all know it doesn't end you know after graduation um I may show my ignorance here because uh this is not my field um but I did try to take notes as you made some points of emphasis um so AVID for example uh what how does a work I guess and you described it as a certain amount of skills or thinking and
59:25sure so Aid starts at the elementary school my understanding is that it is a class where so so some students are selected for that class or if it's a um a class that takes place in the classroom it teaches the skills that students need in order to function as you know citizens in our society so it might be um lessons on and actually there's a there's a poster right here wicker strategies that's one of the strategies that they have um it's writing inquiry collaboration organization of reading it helps them with metacognitive skills in order for us to help all of our students that should be opened up to everybody not just a select few or some students that are in AV at the elementary it's more Universal it's selective at the junior high level yes so it should be more inclusive at the junior high and high school level
1:00:34another one um oh so you know I I I'm being introduced to restorative practices on on the board essentially uh and I guess one of the goals is to be less punitive with with um interventions also yes um I actually curious because I was reading the I just signed the asp P code of conduct uh and I don't know exactly where the boundaries are with the ESP um but I'm pretty sure uh a warning is a suspension for a day for ASP um is that do we have control of that is that a district policy or anybody
1:01:08Dr would you like to so you're saying that a warning is a suspension
1:01:16uh my recollection was that a student getting a warning had to miss a day of ASP and then progressively from there now
1:01:26we will talk about that when I talk about ASP and I will go over it with everyone
1:01:31okay thank you
1:01:34any other questions thank you thank you thank you very much
1:01:52great um see yeah we have a third reading of policy 1120 R School District records regulation um and uh the change is just in number two changing record management office to um the title not uh not a specific
1:02:15person feels good to everybody uh I think we removed reference to the record ta as well so the top of the the designations it doesn't include how doesn't need the records access do under access to records number one on the second page number one second page well yes in the designation section though the previous version designated who how we would decide who that is oh and so we're not we've removed that reference I guess it does say superintendent of schools with boards approval will designate a record management officer is that your records management officer records access officer is a separate person we we've it's consistently been that in past policy and we've designated a person for records management and
1:03:11Records access in uh the reor meeting I don't know if we're eliminating the position or we're not records May requested from an inspected or copied of the Office of the records access officer so you're just saying it doesn't we're not defining who that is yes if ad it say it says Administrative Assistant to CFO I guess what line is that this it immediately follows records access officer it's a parenthetical set in commas administ administrative assistant to the chief to the Chief Financial Officer okay I guess I would expect it to be the designation of officers section at the top which is where it has always been so I'm confused yeah it's Roman numeral 3 section one is where it defines who it
1:04:41is I I guess are you confused or just asking that you replicated a well I I guess designation of officers in R number one is where I'd expect we just to designate all the officers involved okay so you're you're asking that we hold off move that up there yes cool all right so then we'll move on to um executive session uh this time we do have a need for an early executive session for the purposes of reviewing the employment history of a particular person or persons uh make a motion to enter executive session at 7:03 second all in favor all right and e [… repeated text trimmed] e e appreciate it um we are now at uh
1:50:10Personnel agenda um make a motion to accept Personnel agenda items a through W second all right questions comments um yeah so one of the um roles that is up approval tonight is the new HR position um and I just was hoping Dr fennyman you could tell us a little bit about the origins of the position um and how you think it will help the district sure this position is not a new position um and also it's absolutely vital to the district's future this is an existing position it has been vacant since 2022 and it previously was referred to as the human resources manager in addition the salary for the position is not new either it was in
1:51:062023 2024 School District's annual budget and is funded in the current 2024 2025 District budget and approved by the Board of Education and the community voters thank you Dr Penman can you speak to this position will directly support the district's teachers sure a School District Human Resources leader is crucial this person is responsible for recruiting hiring and retaining the best Educators and staff the human resources executive supports teachers through professional development opportunities handling employee relations and implementing fair and consistent policies and procedures the human resources manager also plays an important role in fostering a positive and inclusive work environment that directly impacts teachers motivating uh motivation morale and performance ultimately the human resources persons supports the
1:52:09well-being and success of an effective educational environment for teachers um and students and just to be clear this is not something that is taking away away from any other budgeted items in The District budget no this position has been vacant um since 2022 and it was budgeted and the budget was passed uh for this position great um and heard concerns about the the um central office administration becoming um topheavy or or excessive compared to the rest of the district I have not created any new positions at central office since I started the position of Dei manager was created uh by the proceeding superintendent before me um that position I have not created any new position yes this executive director of
1:53:06teaching and learning the name is new the position is not new it was formerly human resources manager so I have not I will repeat as the superintendent I have not created any new positions in the central office further questions all in favor great thank you uh brings us to welcome new staff okay so tonight I'd like to welcome Mr Edward ham and if you would please stand if you're here Mr ham is a graduate of the Hudson High School he went on to receive his bachelor's degree in political science and policy studies from Syracuse University and his Ms in adolescence education from Sunni new pults before transitioning to teaching he worked at a local nonprofit where he helped
1:54:16individuals navigate housing challenges as a HUD certified counselor and program manager a fun fact about Mr ham is that he can juggle up to five juggling balls [Applause] welcome I don't know if uh Mr Connor is here Dan Connor interim associate principal at the junior high school here oh so um so I well please stop by if you Junior High families or just I meet Mr Connor he's got a a wealth of experience I'm just going to let you know about him anyways because he had to okay I'm happy to introduce him he's been an educat for over 48 years and during that period of time he's had the pleasure to work in both rural suburban and urban schools as
1:55:13the new interim associate principal in Hudson City School District he will bring a passion and a belief that all of our students can reach their maximum potential he wants the entire staff and student body and our community to know that no one ever really cares about how much you know until they understand that you care about them he has always believed this and has found it to be extremely beneficial When developing trust and confidence throughout the school community in closing Mr Connor would like to thank the Hudson City School Board of Education and the superintendent of schools for providing him with this opportunity to serve in this very important position he looks forward to meeting and seeing all
1:56:00of you in the very near future and a fact that I found out about Mr Conor just by speaking to some of some superintendents this weekend is that he was very instrumental in N said Department of curriculum he was on that team and he leaves a long history behind him of the great job he did while
1:56:19serving under the state uh committee for curricul kment instruction so our executive director um Shante Brooks she's not here tonight but I just want to read a little bit about her so that everyone can understand uh can can know something about her. She's a dedicated educational profession professional with over 19 years of experience committed to Student Success and community service. She's a proud uh graduate of M Vernon High School with a bachelor's in in sociology criminal justice from the College of New relle and additionally she holds a master's in urban teaching and Masters in school building leadership from Mercy College as well as a district certification from Sunni platsburg.
1:57:03Her career spends in a variety of role including school crisis interventionist teaching assistant youth Residential Treatment. She has served as a special education teacher Mentor teacher CSC cheer for New York State Department of Education and held positions such as assistant director of special education assistant principal at Whopper Central School District and most recently she was a principal in Newberg uh where Miss Brooks successfully transformed the school Culture by implementing culturally relevant teaching strategies and offering comprehensive professional development to cultivate teacher leadership resulting in a reduction of disciplinary issues and increased in attends.
1:57:47Currently she works as an Adent Prof Professor Sunni nuls where she shares her expertise with Future Leaders. She her diverse experience across seven different service Industries as enriched her leadership skills and Braden her perspective on education and community service. In her personal time she um enjoyed self-care traveling spending quality moments with her two children family and her furry companion biggy. A fun fact about her she gave her sister The Ultimate Gift of a kid proven she's all about sharing whether it's vital organs or vital knowledge or vital leadership in the area of Education.
1:58:26She's um thrilled to join hson City School District as the Executive Director of Human Resources. She looks forward to attracting and retaining a highly qualified diverse staff that aligns with the district mission to embrace all students and Inspire them to achieve their personal best as blue hopia. And I also want to say that Miss Brooks is no stranger to our district. She um served as um a sub principal uh at the junior high school and um she's built relationships there with student staff and uh student staff and families.
1:59:06And I have Angela grandinetti physical education teacher Angela BR bretti sorry was born and raised in Hudson and she graduated from Hudson High School in 2015. Following high school she attended Columbia green Community College where she studied applied science. Miss grandinetti then furthered her education at Russell Sage college. She earned her degree in physical education in May of 2023. Currently she serves as a teaching assistant at kabad Crane Middle School and also holds the position of head coach for the junior varsity softball team. An interesting fact about Angela is that she comes from a large traditional Italian family and I always say it's always always great to be able to hire a Hudson Brad so welcome thank you.
2:00:12All right brings us two uh public participation at board meetings. Ladies and gentlemen we're about to convene into the public comment period of our meeting. Although state law does not require us to hold a public comment period we have chosen to do so because we believe it is crucial for us to hear from our community members about their concerns and issues. Having said that please note the board is here to listen. The public comment period is not designed to be a discussion. Accordingly please do not expect the board to respond to your concerns and questions tonight.
2:00:42This is because we take concerns and questions seriously want to have sufficient time to process and research issues if need be. We will however respond to your questions and concerns at a future meeting or have the proper staff member get back to at the appropriate time. Under state and federal privacy laws we're unable to entertain any comments or questions about school Personnel. On these matters we ask you go through the proper administrative channels uh we ask that speakers please address their comments of the board directly rather than the audience um each speaker is given uh three minutes.
2:01:14Okay we have Wayne Kenny up first pause any don't start that timer yet Martin not that I care because if I go over 3 minutes I'm going to go over three minutes.
2:01:37Oh goodness I did not expect to be here this early in the year already but here we are uh dear members of the board thank you for this opportunity to speak this evening uh I'd like to remind board that I'm here this evening as the president of the Hudson Teachers Association not as an employee of the district uh I want to address some critical concerns affecting our teachers and ultimately our student learning experiences uh I would like to start out with staff morale.
2:02:07Some of you on the board in the past have questioned District administrators about what they were doing to boost staff morals. The answer that question right now is nothing uh morale is actually at an all time low. Our opening day whether done intentionally or not uh gave a three-hour message that we are a bunch of teachers who are bad at our jobs don't understand how to teach our students because we don't understand where they come from. What a great way to start the school year.
2:02:40Um staff from other units also picked up on this as well and asked me why are we starting the Year by bashing teachers good question. Um I tried to relay this message to superintendent who had no concern about the message sent and replied that you know your teachers are only trying to cause problems. Uh I even had a new teacher come up to me at the end to give me her Union paperwork and said I'll do a little for remot cope for now but I don't know how long I'm going to stay here. Brand new teacher no teaching experience and that was the message opening day they're already ready to go. Um D I can't blame her because of the message. Um I also mean if my new boss pronounced almost every new staff member's name incorrectly that day I probably wouldn't want to stay here either how embarrassing.
2:03:34Um effective pigor starts with creating a comfortable and consistent learning environment which relies on clear routines and relationships with our students. Our teachers are dedicated to fostering that environment but the district's current approach and rolling out numerous initiatives simultaneously is making fostering that environment increasingly difficult. During the course of the first three weeks of school numerous faculty members have been pulled from either their classes their prep time or Hall Duty which was not covered by a sub uh to
2:04:10receive Rush training in New platforms including fast Bri T testing and achieve 3,000 in the new science St standards. I need to point out that when I brought that concern up um with the superintendent about a member being pulled from Hall Duty and that duties were a big sticking point in our last negotiation because it was you guys that wanted those duties in our contract and your lawyer hold it over our head and wouldn't give us a raise until we agreed, when I brought that up with the superintendent her response was PD takes priority over duties.
2:04:44don't know where the priorities are now. I'm going to finish if you don't mind.
2:04:49may I ask about how how far you are through?
2:04:53almost done okay thanks.
2:04:59um our Ela and social studies teachers were pulled from classes in prep time yesterday with only 10 minutes warning that they were even being pulled uh for training that they're inspected to put into their classrooms achieve 3,000. they're expected to do twice a month which is going to take 20 instructions a day away from us uh within the training they were told that the students wexel reading scores would not necessarily match those of fast Bridge which they're expected to do three times a year because the two programs aren't in integrated. so two initiatives to get students reading scores that we can't even use the data because they're not going we're not going to be able to compare makes absolutely no sense.
2:05:40on top of that for fastbridge math in the directions it tells teachers students cannot use a calculator at the secondary level. state allows us to teach with the calculators in math use them on math reasoners exams. so by giving a fast Bridge test that does not match what we're doing what type of data is that going to give us? not accurate data.
2:06:06uh eight new and continuing initiatives being forced upon us are costing the district money for training money for Subs which we do not have. Subs yesterday alone 15 to 20 Subs in the elementary building probably pulled and everything else because they did a full day of data training which I doesn't make sense to me because that's been done for like six years taking full days to look at data yet nothing seems to be improving down there. I don't blame the teachers for that.
2:06:37um this could all have been done either opening day or in department meetings from 2:45 to 4: or on a other superintendent conference days.
2:06:48um here's the real problem folks and I've been over this with you before. students aren't held accountable we are. we do our job yet when students fail we get the blame and the students just continue to fail forward. 39% of last year's 8th graders failed two or more courses yet they were proed promoted to n9th grade without any retention summer school or anything else. 39% failed three or more of their core courses. guess what's going to happen in ninth grade these kids have been passed on for too long.
2:07:27I grieved that policy last year and told you it needs to change. I told you social promotion needs to change but it seems to fall on De ears. we're not failing the kids the system created by board policies and the inability of Administrators to listen to the staff is what's failing this District right.
2:07:47in a recent meeting with the superintendent I tried to discuss that's a lot of the stuff she accused teachers of keeping minority students from taking AP classes. I'm going to give you a handout in a minute. over 50% of the AP classes are minority students. I do not know where she's getting her data from.
2:08:10um failed initiatives where to go with them and I'm going to tell you right now she's been threatening me every time I go in when I go into junior president I'm on the same footing with her. I'm tired for threatening with bringing state in state making us do all no no no we need to do this here because the community needs Tri want to bring state in look.
2:08:28your your time is up. if if you guys have issues.
2:08:32me out I got one more thing to say and I'm done Mark okay.
2:08:34please don't make it personal.
2:08:36that's it is personal right now because people don't attack you personally.
2:08:40you want to give us these complaints we take them we'll make.
2:08:43I would love to sit at this table and have a longer conversation and I would love to have state here because stad has no clue what the hell's going on.
2:08:50can we do you have do you have copies of your complaints?
2:08:55yes I do thank you.
2:09:05I'm tired and wise I'm tired of the teachers getting the plan.
2:09:25[Applause]
2:09:28next up Jen Daly.
2:09:29hi everyone um just going to reintroduce myself for anyone who has the per to speak the floor. I'm an educator um also I teach at the Kingston City School District. I've been a teacher there for approximately 20 years. prior to that I worked at Rockland County bosis and I taught at the Deo Foundation.
2:09:48uh when I I am absolutely shocked and appalled by what I just witnessed and it wasn't the words that Mr Kenny said but is some of the faces the people who are in front of me that were almost incredulous like I don't know what he's talking about.
2:10:06so this is where I start and I'm glad I wrote this today. a community a community consists of a group of people with the same set of morals or values. I've always prided myself on graduating from Hudson and in 1994 and even though I do not currently teach in this District I am tied to this community Through My Children.
2:10:26it saddens me that as a fellow educator when I hear the wonderful teachers that are sitting here in front of me today and tonight right and pair of professionals we can't forget the pair of professionals we couldn't do it without them in this District are not getting the support that they need. and all that's being added is more to their plate without any kind of compensation or a thank you.
2:10:56honestly teacher and Par professional fatigue is real and it occurs when Educators can no longer do their job because of stress. and this seems like a stressful School District to work in. I am thankful to be thanked every day for the job that I do. it is a job of the administrators and the people sitting in front of me on the board to make sure their teachers are able incapable of proving of providing quality of service they were trained to do.
2:11:24so a professional likes to be treated as a professional and recognize for the value they hold in a
2:11:30community that I first mentioned the problem is that all the members of the community need to Value the same ideals it is simple if you want your teachers and Pa professionals to provide quality education to all of our our students first you need to provide the same level of support to your staff that you expect them to provide to your students. I I just I see teachers and I can't imagine that they aren't doing tier two interventions just naturally in their class rooms um I I just think to myself happy teachers produce happy children because they teach a in a happy environment because they happily do so but if they are not happy because they are treated a certain way well that's a trickle down effect and I've talked about that before and it comes from the top down.
2:12:22and I look at some of the board members making faces at Mr Kenny while he's speaking like what are you talking about and almost rushing him off well do you have more to say well how much longer do you have and I know some of these people have children that go to the school district that would expect that their teachers that that that child have have the same amount of patience for their for their child in their classroom. so I think that the attitude needs to change that we need to build a community again that we all need to work together and not against each other and not make a certain group of people feel like they are not deserving of the respect um that they have earned sorry that's all I have to say thank you.
2:13:09appreciate sorry to say but I am so thankful to work for the Kingston City School District every day um Sila Graham signed up but she has left uh so we have Jill Turner next
2:13:22hey everybody I'm Jill Turner I'm a parent um and I I wasn't going to speak tonight uh I came to just I like to these Mees um but as I was listening to the presentation on curriculum I was a little I guess I'm confused uh because I one I Am A literacy at lunch Mentor uh I read at the elementary school every Tuesday with um a child and there I watch these teachers The Librarians interact with these kids they know exactly what those kids reading level is they have special books for them they really do have all those just right books so I was surprised that that was being brought up and kind of implied that they don't have that yet uh I was also I also was confused because I was also on the school Improvement committee or the I believe the school Improvement committee for the Seth plan that was referenced uh and I had the privilege of working with a group of teachers some of them are here um and listening to them talk about these students they know every single student it was it was phenomenal listening to them rattle off oh this person this kid needs this this they they just know these students so well and there was an implication at the beginning of that presentation that these these teachers don't know their students too so I'm confused about what I I don't know I just the tone of the whole presentation confused me because I feel like a lot of these things are already happening in our schools um
2:15:00and then I also would say that I know these teachers are talking to one another and seeing the way they're working together uh when you're saying that they're only getting together to talk about Halloween parties and things like that that was I I I I took offense to that because the people who care for my children and teach my children and make me love this school are the teachers and if the teachers are leaving I mean please I'm just here to say please listen to these teachers I please don't let us lose our teachers they're our greatest asset the past three years that I have come to these meetings it does sometimes feel like there is some sort of a disconnect between what they're saying and how the board and the administration is reacting or responding to those concerns. so that's why I wanted to get up here I just and to thank the teachers for what was said doesn't in my opinion reflect what's happening in those classrooms [Applause]
2:16:16so um yeah thank you everybody for your comments he's things obviously mean a lot to us um and it might not seem like it but speaking up does create change it does motivate all of us to try and work together uncover new answers and um you know we've all seen the data the data's flat over six years we need to do something all of us together to make a change the superintendent update for
2:17:23so on Mon uh touring the schools uh the board has changed to tour the schools on Monday the 16th and as you can see board members uh Mr MAA Mr dep and M wer and I we toured all three cutson City Schools um the board members were thrilled to see classes in action throughout the three schools during the tour and classroom visit students of all grade levels applied their knowledge completed group work utiliz available tools and technology and led and participated in in class discussions and much more and the district looks forward to having future tours and classroom visits uh with the Board of Education
2:18:06our strategic planning collaborative meeting was also held this past week and a strategic planning session it was recently held with um active participants from the Boe members parents and staff and the collaborative session it provided a valuable opportunity for stakeholders to come together to share their perspective and to contribute um to developing strategic plan goals and objectives and that they will guide the organization's future Direction it was an inclusive and productive Gathering and it allowed for Meaningful discussion formulation of goals and that that reflect diverse perspectives and needs of the entire community.
2:18:51and this plan will outline Hudson's strategic goals strategies initiatives and expected outcomes and based on uh consider considerable research and extensive input from various stakeholders the intention of this is for the for the document is to serve as both a guiding strategy document for the district leadership and staff as well as to clearly communicate the district's priorities to the public. some photos from our strategic planning we had the mayor there parents teachers board members
2:19:36so I wanted to read this to everyone because I this when I got this letter from Mr Brisco he shared this with me um I was I was so happy just kind of made my day so high praise for
2:19:49the blue Hawks KOB sk's head football coach sent the following email to Hudson's varsity football team dear Hudson blue Hawks I want to commend you as a team you were a pleasure to coach against and from my players perspective a pleasure to play against you are the first team from Hudson to enter a game with us that was completely prepared discipline and playing as a unit. my team teams at cobal skills have played against many Hudson teams for over 27 years and he has coached at KOB scopes for over 27 years they have been talented and a few times not so talented but the fact that they won was never really dependent upon our talent the teams that have performed well have been the ones that focused on playing as a team throughout the season but I will say that even some of them were not fun to play against because the players didn't always conduct themselves with class. you are a classy team that is going in the right direction with players that want to succeed and work together and I think that is a direct reflection of those leading you your coaches stick with the coaches they are there for the right reasons and are doing things the right way do not allow any of you to ever give up and Trust the process that your coaches are using with you. as for the coaches I would not say it if I did not believe it keep the faith and keep doing what you're doing and the Sleeping Giant in Hudson will be awoken again respectfully coach Ed h.
2:21:51so September was Harvest month and September uh as you can see our students enjoying shucking the corn eating a fresh corn so the food this month was Corn Harvest of the month provot Lo promotes locally grown and fresh food items every month. the Food Service team and some classrooms including the food and nutrition class prepared and engaged in the educational tasty and fun experience as as you can see from the photos of our students they were having a great time. fresh locally grown roasted corn on the cob from Florida New York and New York was serve districtwide on Wednesday September 18th and the corn was served in a Husk so student could get a husking experience.
2:22:47meet the teacher nights I attended me the teacher night at the elementary sorry not Elementary that was the typle at the Junior High in high school because tomorrow night's the elementary um it was an excellent opportunity for parents to meet their children's teachers learn about curriculum and ask any questions they had. it was well organized and the event that followed the event allowed for open communication between parents and teachers and provide valuable insights into the education and and support their children with support their children would receive throughout the school year. just a glance from we Junior High in high school clickers acting weird that ends my superintendent report.
2:23:48okay all right okay thank um brings us to consensus agenda um Happ to thank you for getting the revised treasur reports up there um make the motion to approve consensus agenda items a through V. all in favor.
2:24:30the public forum thank you.
2:24:40uh new business facility committee's uh report. uh good evening everyone um committee met on Tuesday September 9th uh so about two weeks ago um in attendance we had Tyler he's the head of Maintenance along with Tabitha uh Brash and Tabitha began for the business office myself and uh Matthew Leonard uh Matt uh runs Matt is the lead um with the uh swimming pool. um start of school um went well uh they did a lot of De cleaning um removed Furniture wiped down did a lot of prepping just to make sure that our kids were being welcomed to a um a clean um inviting space.
2:25:26um in regards to Staffing uh there is one person out from uh the maintenance department on FMLA um that position will be occupied uh by Roger over at uh MC Smith um uh Roger posted uh the the new role um and they're going to be processing for uh new hires as well. um uh also leading up to the start of school there were some trainings in place for all staff to complete those related to school safety uh the right to know bloodborne pathogens spill prevention asbest awareness safe lifting and ladder safety fire extinguisher training lockout tagout uh radio etiquette chical hygiene and workplace violence all relevant trainings to uh onboarding of new staff and uh current as well.
2:26:26um um in addition to that there were some uh chemical cleaning trainings uh there's a new uh window washing kit that uh the baitus crew is excited about uh that they put to good use um and of course our pool. um so some of the pool updates uh there was U uh some uh flood renovations to took place in there uh all new valves were ordered uh the pool was completely drained and um all ear all ears were scrubbed uh new lines were painted drains were retied um and the pool is uh is uh back open.
2:27:07um Matt uh has reported that they are short staffed um and so they are uh continuing their search for lifeguards in the near future um um I will be uh working collaboratively with Matt to um just see what uh lifeguards are available coming off of Oakdale Camp um a lot of those students that we hire are they may be in between work or they've gone back to school and so just kind of inquiring uh what we could do to make the the best of that to make sure that we can get our our um pool here open.
2:27:42um the boilers uh there uh we have some updates on the boilers so at the high school boil ERS were inspected and passed at MC Smith the hot water boiler was inspected and passed um steam boiler number one was inspected and passed however uh steam boiler two is inactive and Tyler is working with the new vendor to um possibly isolate uh leaks and get that ready for reinspection so that we're on par and have two functioning uh boilers. um so all boilers are on schedule to be opened and cleaned um probably closer to November with the new with the new vendor.
2:28:30uh sports updates uh so uh the turf field was inspected um a few lines were resoed uh in the high traffic um areas and groomed uh all new soccer nets were purchased the JV soccer team field was lined and and ready to go for the start of the season as well as the modified field uh receiving some uh lining for um again the start of the Season. uh volleyball practice has begun um that's underway.
2:29:02and that's taking place uh in our gym and all of the gym floors were sanded and recoded um with the as well as the high school stage um next topic is a fire inspection MC Smith uh completed waiting um is completed waiting on deficiencies um and the same applies to the Junior Senior High School uh sprinkler inspection uh at MC Smith uh that was completed uh we're waiting on the deficiencies uh from that as well as the junior high school um elevator inspection uh that was completed uh and they're working on replacing the phones uh in the um elevators um as a means of communication of course um and then uh phone upgrades uh We've uh Tyler um has continued to meet with several vendors just to vet the best software um and so that's uh that's on going he has narrowed it down to I believe uh correct me if I'm wrong tab I believe it's um are we um is down to a handful maybe two yeah there'll be more there'll be another presentation on the smart schools in um investment plan because sh Reino was very intrical in that as well but yes that's a part of that whole plan awesome all right thank you and then um so um phones will be purchased under uh the smart school um investment plan and Dr pennyman um as uh T is alluded to will update us on that project along with Cheryl and Tyler um at our next um at um at an upcoming future board and then uh more specific to policy 1500 um this applied to uh the rates that said organizations would be charged whether they are um a non for-profit or um something other than um Tyler is working uh on those changes um to share to the U along with Dr Presley to share to the uh policy committee um there was a memorandum that was put in place stating that local groups uh such as the Youth Department uh Columbia County Pop Warner Hudson Little League uh those type of organizations um will uh have their fee waved again it's a it's an effort that goes to our children and so we don't necessarily want to burden uh those organizations that are uh that are tasked with um recreational activities for our youth and uh last but not least uh capital projects uh uh Tyler will be meeting with the architect in December to talk about first steps and um at that time we also do a meet and greet um with the help of Dr Penny and that is the update for uh facilities amazing thank you please thank Tyler and his team as well um important dates the following meetings are scheduled October 8th 2024 Board of Ed meeting 6:00 p.m. in the high school library October 22nd 2024 policy committee meeting 5:00 p.m. in the high school library October 22nd 2024 Board of Ed meeting 6: PM in the high school library um this there is a need for a second executive session for the purpose of reviewing the employment history of a particular person or persons uh I make a motion to enter executive session at 8 :30 p.m. second all in favor thank you there'll be no further business after this executive session thank you all for being here

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