At a glance
Volunteers who run a weekend food program for Hudson families asked the Board of Education to help pay for it. Linda Fix told the board the backpack program has packed groceries every week since 2010, served 55 families from the elementary school last year, and uses no district funds; fellow volunteer Kathy Clark asked the district to include the program in next year's grant budgets. The board also heard the student representative report on a student-run mock election held on Election Day, and a school counselor make the case that Hudson students are more than their grades and scores. The superintendent said Hudson is the first district in New York to record the correct pronunciation of every student's name in grades K through 12. The board put a set of written board goals for 2024-25 to a voice vote, read out its next meeting dates, and moved into executive session at 6:23
Roll Call and the Night's Agenda
The recording picks up partway through the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the roll call and a motion to accept the agenda as presented.
Key points
- Seven names were read at the roll call: Mark, Amanda, Kjirsten, Willette Jones, Calvin Lewis, Matt and Walker
- The captions record a spoken here after every name but Calvin Lewis, whose response was not picked up
- A member moved to accept the agenda as presented, another seconded, and a call for all in favor followed, with no responses picked up by the captions
The captions begin at 00:28 with an unintelligible fragment and pick up mid-sentence during the Pledge of Allegiance at 01:26. Anything said before that, including the call to order, is not in the record this summary was written from. Several roll call surnames are garbled, so only the names the captions render in full are given here.
Student Representative Reports on a Mock Election
The board's student representative opened with the student council's mock election, held on Election Day and counted during the school day, then ran through sports, Model UN, the musical and a Veterans Day performance.
Key points
- The student council ran a mock election on Election Day and counted the ballots during the school day
- The representative said Harris won by around 40 votes, and put turnout at roughly 400 ballots, which he called a good showing
- The last boys varsity football game of the season was being played during the meeting
- Model UN attended its first conference of the school year in New York City on Sunday and it went well
- The school musical will be Annie, with auditions November 19 through 21 from 2:45 to 5:00 PM, and instructions sent through the parent portal emails
- The Hudson High Wind Ensemble played the national anthem and army songs at a Veterans Day breakfast at High and Mighty Farm, an event set up by Ms. Schmidt, who teaches life skills, and the Kindness Club
- A volleyball tournament on November 23 is a collaboration between Varsity Club and National Honor Society, with sign-ups through Miss Flint
The representative spoke in round numbers, saying around 40 votes and about 400 ballots. He also mentioned a number of ballots that were missing, but the captions garble that figure, so it is left out here.
Personnel Items and a Recusal
The board declined an early executive session and moved through the personnel agenda in two parts, separating out one item that a member stepped away from.
Key points
- A board member said there was no need for an early executive session
- A member moved to accept personnel agenda items A1 through A7 and B2 through B4, the motion was seconded, and a call for all in favor followed
- Item B1 was taken separately, with at least one member saying they would recuse themselves from it
- That motion was also seconded and put to a voice vote
The captions record the call for all in favor but not the responses, so this page does not say how either personnel motion came out. The recusal statement is garbled and may involve more than one member. The personnel items themselves were identified only by letter and number, so their content is not in the record.
Public Comment: A Weekend Food Program Since 2010
After a board member read the public comment ground rules, Linda Fix described the volunteer backpack program that sends groceries home with elementary families for the weekend.
Key points
- The board member reading the rules said state law does not require a public comment period, that the board is there to listen rather than respond that night, that privacy law bars comment on school personnel, and that each speaker has three minutes
- Fix said the backpack program has been running since 2010, with volunteers packing bags every Thursday morning at the junior high school
- Groceries come from the food bank with a delivery once a month, supplemented by community donors
- Each bag holds two breakfast items, three entrees, fruit, canned vegetables and snacks, with egg and milk cards added every other week
- Recipients are kept confidential and are identified by teachers and Jason Hanley
- The program served 55 families from the elementary school last year, and Fix said more families are depending on it
- Fix named the Elks Club, Hudson Correctional Facility and the Columbia Children's Foundation among the donors, said no district funds are used, and invited anyone to watch the volunteers work on Thursdays between 9 and 10 AM
Two of the donors Fix thanked come through the captions as unrecoverable fragments and are left out rather than guessed at. She also mentioned a separate food pantry project for high school students, run by a person the captions name only as a partial first name.
A Volunteer Asks the District for Grant Help
Kathy Clark, a backpack program volunteer and retired district employee, asked the board to fund part of the program through two federal grants the district already receives, and praised the student representative.
Key points
- Clark introduced herself as a Hudson High School graduate whose class recently held its 50th reunion, whose children graduated from the district, and whose grandchildren attend Montgomery C. Smith Elementary
- She was the after school program director for 22 years and oversaw the budgets for the 21st Century and My Brother's Keeper grants
- She said the state education department website shows the district currently receives both grants, and that in the past the state approved funds to offset backpack program costs under code 40 of the FS-10
- She asked the board to include the program in next year's FS-10 budgets for both grants to offset the program's annual cost
- She credited Linda with 14 years leading the program, saying she started it with nothing
- Clark said she watches every board meeting online and called the student representative, Thomas, the highlight of the meetings for the way he reports student needs and listens to presentations
The amount Clark asked for from each grant appears in the captions with its digits dropped, as a bare comma and three zeros. The program's annual cost is rendered as $116,000 in the same damaged sentence, so it cannot be treated as confirmed either. Neither figure is repeated anywhere else in the transcript. Check the district's own record before quoting a number.
A School Counselor on What Grades Miss
A school counselor used the three minutes to describe the relationships teachers build with students, drawing on time spent mentoring My Brother's Keeper fellows.
Key points
- The speaker gave the name Rocky, a school counselor of 16 years who wears a lot of hats
- Rocky mentored My Brother's Keeper fellows in 2018 and again last year, and said teachers and building administrators were flexible about the trainings and sessions the young men traveled to
- The last few board meetings have focused on grades and scores, Rocky said, and students are more than that
- On a recent field trip, a student who was having a hard time on a campus was helped by another student, which Rocky offered as an example of what Hudson students do
- Students Rocky wrote college recommendation letters for, ahead of a November 1 deadline, want to take on chronic absenteeism themselves
- Rocky called students the shining star of the district, and the room applauded
The speaker's last name is garbled both when he is called up and when he introduces himself, so only his first name is used here.
Recording Every Student's Name
The superintendent's update centered on a project, started in 2023, to record the correct pronunciation of every student's name, and included a short video shown to the room.
Key points
- The superintendent said the district set out in 2023 to record the names of students in grades K through 12
- The superintendent said Hudson is the very first district in New York to finish the job, and that other districts attempted it without completing it
- The stated reason: a person's name is a major part of their identity, and pronouncing it correctly creates a sense of belonging and cultural respect
- The superintendent tied the goal to promoting a positive, inclusive environment for all stakeholders, calling it the third of the six keys to school improvement
- The update thanked the district's community team, the instructional technology department, and teachers, staff and students
- The next step is to record teachers' and staff names, and the district is looking for software to do it
- A short video on why pronouncing student names matters was played for the room
The captions carry some of the video's narration and go silent for stretches of it, so the points above reflect only what was transcribed.
Around the District: Fun Night, the Blue Hawk Cafe, and a Spotlight on Excellence
The superintendent ran through a week of school and community visits and named staff members for a spotlight on excellence.
Key points
- The superintendent chaperoned the junior high school PTA's fun night
- The superintendent attended a production at Hudson Hall on Saturday night, called it the highlight of the day, and thanked the person who sent the invitation
- The superintendent stopped at Montgomery C. Smith Elementary's trunk or treat
- A Friday visit to the Blue Hawk Cafe during lunch drew the comment that the enjoyment coming from the new cafe and its food options was elating
- Senior high classroom visits included Blue Hawk Academy students and Miss Ostrander's small engines class, who were showing off model V8 engines
- A Wednesday, October 30 visit to Montgomery C. Smith Elementary brought a spotlight on excellence for eight staff members, plus praise for student and staff costumes and dynamic classrooms
- October 31 was the district's second superintendent's conference day of the 2024-25 school year, a full professional development day that included the maintenance and facilities departments
Most of the eight staff names read in the spotlight on excellence, the title of the Hudson Hall production, and the name of the person who sent the invitation are garbled in the captions. They are described rather than spelled out here.
Consent Agenda
The board took up its consent items as a single block.
Key points
- A member moved to approve consent items A through L
- The motion was seconded and a call for all in favor followed
- The captions do not record the responses, and the items were identified only by letter
The Board Writes Down Its Own Goals
Under new business, a board member introduced a set of board goals and evaluations for 2024-25, saying it was the first time such goals had been created and shared since they joined the board.
Key points
- The member said these are the first board goals created and shared since they joined the board, and that the board should hold itself accountable to them
- The goals include a recommitment to putting students first, and the member said the board loves having Thomas on the board and wants student voices heard and celebrated
- They commit the board to a number of policies, including policy 310, which requires a board self-evaluation
- They include community engagement, strengthening connections with the community and with the members of the public who keep showing up to meetings
- The member noted the board also went through a robust evaluation process, and said the staff involved are dedicated to improvement
- No questions or comments followed; a motion to accept the Board of Education goals and evaluations for the 2024-25 school year was seconded and put to a voice vote
As with the night's other motions, the captions record the call for all in favor but no responses, so this page does not state that the goals were adopted.
Upcoming Dates and an Executive Session
The board read out its next meeting dates and then resolved to enter executive session, ending the public portion of the meeting.
Key points
- November 19, 2024: policy committee meeting in the high school library at 5 PM
- November 19, 2024: Board of Education meeting in the high school auditorium at 6:00 PM
- December 10, 2024: Board of Education meeting in the high school auditorium at 6 PM
- The board resolved to enter executive session at 6:23 to review matters leading to the discipline of a particular person or persons, and a subject involving the board's role in a quasi-judicial proceeding
- The motion was seconded and a call for all in favor followed
- A board member thanked everyone for being there and said there would be no further business after the executive session
The board's next meeting is November 19 at 6:00 PM in the high school auditorium, preceded by a policy committee meeting at 5 PM in the high school library.
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.