At a glance
Students ran most of this Hudson City School District Board of Education meeting. Three high school clubs, Model UN, mock trial and Envirothon, came in to explain what they do, and the Model UN adviser staged a live mock committee session in the room. A student then used public comment to tell the board that scheduling conflicts are shrinking the music program and that Hudson does not offer a music theory class, which she said puts students auditioning for music schools at a disadvantage. Later, the president of Hudson Development Corporation asked why the board had not responded to a December proposal to work together on remediating a building, and a district parent delivered a long and pointed criticism of the code of conduct rewrite and of how superintendent's hearings are run for students with disabilities. The board took no substantive public votes beyond routine personnel and consensus items, and ended by moving into executive session.
Roll Call and the Student Representative's Report
After the Pledge of Allegiance, the clerk called the roll and the board approved the agenda on a voice vote. The student representative then ran through recent and upcoming activities at the high school.
Key points
- A motion to accept the agenda as presented was made, seconded and put to a voice vote; the captions record the call for "all in favor" but none of the responses
- The student representative reported a school talent show on the Friday before February break, a Class of 2027 bake sale for Valentine's Day, and a National Honor Society pretzel sale where students made the pretzels themselves
- A lunchtime pickleball tournament was underway, with two rounds already played and the finals set for the next day
- Coming up: a Varsity Club basketball tournament called "Go to the Court" on March 11, a student council dodgeball tournament on March 14, and an adult Model UN session on March 8
- Mock trial's first competition was set for March 11, and Envirothon had started work on its oral presentation
- All County band was due at Hudson the following week, with a rehearsal Wednesday and a final performance Friday
The auto-captions garble most of the surnames in the roll call, so this page does not list who was present. The board also seats a student representative, who is not a board member.
Model UN Runs a Live Session for the Board
Model UN adviser Shannon Sullivan skipped a slideshow and instead walked the board through what a first Model UN meeting looks like, chairing a short mock committee in the room. She closed by thanking the board for its financial support.
Key points
- Sullivan demonstrated a session of a UN refugee commission, taking a motion to open the speakers list and calling on a delegate representing Canada
- She emphasized that Model UN at Hudson is student run, that no research is required to walk in the door, and that she chairs only so students can participate
- Hudson competes at Horace Mann, described as the largest single day East Coast conference, and at Dalton, described as the second largest, and will travel to a conference at Bard at the end of March
- The team has hosted Model UN at Hudson for five schools, with speakers from the United Nations
- Last year the team went to Harvard and competed against 4,000 students from around the world
- Sullivan thanked the board for funding the Harvard trip and for treating mock trial, Envirothon and Model UN as academic teams, which she said gives them transportation the way athletic teams get it and frees students from fundraising
- She showed the competition's top prize, a gavel with a metal band reading "best delegate"
A stretch of the demonstration around 06:08 to 06:45 was not captured. A board member asked how many students are in Model UN, and the answer does not appear in the captions.
Mock Trial Explains Its Season and Its Record
The mock trial club president described how the competition works, how the team practices, and what students get out of it. The team is aiming to reach sectionals this year.
Key points
- Mock trial is run by the New York State Bar Association, with a county coordinator, and the cases are set in a fictional "Nirvana, New York"
- Each team fields 13 roles: six on the plaintiff or prosecution side, six on the defense, and one timekeeper, with three lawyers and three witnesses per side and each witness paired with a lawyer
- The club has 16 members this year, which the president said is more than the team has usually had
- Local competitions are scored by Bar Association attorneys; county finals and sectionals are scored by sitting judges. The county judge who served as the county finals judge for over 15 years has retired
- Three teams are competing in the county this year, giving Hudson four competitions instead of last year's three
- Hudson has had a mock trial team for over 20 years, one adviser has served 20 years, and the president said Hudson is the only team in the area that has stayed consistent while other districts have dropped theirs
- The team normally meets Mondays but has added sessions before the first competition, and its goal this year is to return to sectionals, which it last reached two years ago
The captions garble the advisers' surnames and the names of the neighboring districts, so they are left out here.
Envirothon on Competitions, Awards and a Meeting with Royalty
Envirothon president Autumn and vice president Anthony walked the board through the five subject areas the team studies and the awards Hudson has collected. A board member added a detail they had left out.
Key points
- Envirothon tests students on aquatics, forestry, soils and land use, wildlife, a current issue that changes each year, and an oral presentation
- The high school team has 17 members and meets twice a week year round, with its last competition in late May
- This year's current issue is forestry in the Adirondacks; a past oral presentation covered renewable energy
- The state competition will be at SUNY Cortland again this year, running two days: oral presentations on the first, five multiple choice tests on the second
- The presenters said Hudson teams have been regional champions twice and Columbia County champions 11 times, with eight top ten finishes at states
- They said a past Hudson team placed second at states and was the top public school in New York, and that Hudson currently holds that title; the goal this year is to win states and reach nationals
- A board member added that the Envirothon team was chosen last year, one of two schools in the Capital Region, to sit down with the king and queen of Denmark to discuss climate change
The list of state placements is damaged in the captions, which read "five top three finishes two top three finishes." Only the eight top ten finishes, the two regional titles and the 11 county titles are reported here.
Personnel Items, the Code of Conduct Rewrite and Facilities
With no need for an early executive session, the board moved personnel items and heard short committee updates. The biggest item was the ongoing rewrite of the district's code of conduct.
Key points
- A motion to accept personnel agenda items A1 through A5 was made, seconded and put to a voice vote; the captions record the call for "all in favor" but none of the responses
- The policy committee and a number of administrators are reviewing policy 5300, the code of conduct
- All faculty have been given the chance to comment on segments of the policy, which was described as lengthy, with different staff assigned different segments
- Once the feedback is compiled, a new policy will be generated later this spring, presented to the public, and put out for a 30 day public comment period
- The facilities committee meeting scheduled for earlier that day was postponed; the committee will meet the following week and report at the next board meeting
Public Comment: Music Scheduling and Sound in the Room
The board opened its first public comment period with the usual reminder that it listens rather than responds. A student made the case that scheduling is squeezing the music program, a second student backed her up, and a resident said the room is hard to hear in.
Key points
- The board read its standard notice: comment is not required by state law but is offered, the board will not respond during it, staff will follow up later, personnel questions cannot be entertained, and each speaker gets three minutes
- Kiara Rivera said Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band are substantially smaller than last year and that some students could not get into concert choir or the select choir added this year, not for lack of interest but because it did not fit their schedules
- Rivera said she has never taken a music theory class, which she said puts her and other students pursuing music at a significant disadvantage in college auditions that test aural skills, sight reading or sight singing
- She cited the NIH and other sources on music aiding cognitive development, motor dexterity, emotional regulation and stress, and read a written reflection from a peer about focus, discipline and memory
- A second student who had also gone through the audition process said one music theory class would meet the requirements of most music schools, but that the class has not drawn enough signups to run and has had scheduling conflicts of its own
- A resident said the sound system makes the meetings hard to hear, having sat in different places at every meeting and asked others who said the same, and asked that the system be improved. The board said it would try to perfect the sound
The second public speaker's name is too garbled in the captions to report, so that speaker is described here only as a resident.
Superintendent's Spotlight on Excellence and District News
The superintendent's report opened with Spotlight on Excellence awards for staff caught doing something worth spotlighting, then ran through spring sports, a talent show, a panel appointment and school activities.
Key points
- Christopher Pio was recognized for taking on payroll during a stretch when the district had no payroll clerk and making sure everyone was paid on time
- Katerina Pullin, a junior high school teacher, was recognized for what the superintendent sees happening in her classroom, including students integrating technology
- Awards also went to a special education teacher and another teacher, both absent, described as advocates who volunteer widely, including the Saturday STEM program
- April Carasca, the elementary school secretary, and Tracy Gaffney were recognized for cleaning up human resources and staff attendance records after a switch in systems
- The business office assistant was recognized for holding that office together through the transition of the business official and for work on transportation and registration; Carrie Patch will be recognized at the next meeting
- Spring sports registration is open online, sports begin March 17 and modified sports begin Monday, March 24
- The superintendent praised the Multicultural Club's talent show, reported being chosen for a panel advising the recruitment firm searching for Columbia-Greene's next president, and described elementary students building wooden toolboxes with a trades workforce coalition, a building supply company and Questar BOCES
- The junior high held assemblies for second quarter honor roll and for perfect attendance in December, and the superintendent said the junior high's attendance rate has been improving this year
Several staff names in this section are damaged in the captions and are given here only by role. Spellings of the names that are reported come from the captions and should be checked against district records.
Consensus Items and a Question from Hudson Development Corporation
The board moved its consensus items, then opened a second public comment period. The president of Hudson Development Corporation used it to ask why the district had not answered a proposal her board made in December.
Key points
- A motion to accept consensus items A through I was made, seconded and put to a voice vote; the captions record the call for "all in favor" but none of the responses
- Christine Jones identified herself as president of Hudson Development Corporation and said she had come from an HDC board meeting that day
- Jones said that on December 10, in executive session, HDC proposed that since it was not moving forward with purchasing the building, the district might collaborate with HDC to remediate it and pursue state and local grants
- She said HDC has not heard back and asked that someone get in touch with the district's thinking, acknowledging that the board does not answer questions during public comment
- The board responded "understood" and said it could get back to her
The transcript never identifies the building, and the December 10 proposal was made in executive session, so nothing more about it is in the public record here.
A Parent on the Code of Conduct and Superintendent's Hearings
Tiffany Martin Hamilton, a parent of two district students and a former board member, delivered the sharpest comment of the night. She criticized the code of conduct rewrite, the dress code, the order of superintendent's hearings for students with disabilities, and a letter sent to parents.
Key points
- Martin Hamilton said an administrator suggested last year that she sit on the code of conduct committee, that she was then excluded, and that there was no follow up after the offer
- She said the dress code under discussion seems subjective and that students should be comfortable rather than singled out and sent home unless something is truly scandalous
- On superintendent's hearings, she described the sequence for a student with an IEP or a 504: a hearing first, questioned before an outside attorney, with a determination at the end, and only then a manifestation meeting to decide whether the conduct was a manifestation of the disability
- She argued the manifestation committee should meet first, as she said it did during her time on the board, to shield the student from the trauma of sitting through the hearing
- She said the letter parents receive before a superintendent's hearing is contradictory, warning that a student found on school property will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law while also telling the parent to arrange tutoring
- She said she sat on the board for four years, that parents most affected are treated as the problem, and asked the board to let proactive parents help rewrite the letter and run it by counsel
- She continued past her three minutes; a board member noted that policy committee meetings are open to the public, and the exchange grew tense before she finished
These are one speaker's descriptions of district practice. The board does not respond during public comment, and nothing in the transcript confirms or disputes her account.
Upcoming Meetings and a Facilities Date Change
The board read out its slate of upcoming meetings, then corrected itself on the floor after remembering that the postponed facilities committee meeting had been moved up.
Key points
- Policy committee, March 11, 2025, 5:00 to 5:45 PM in the high school library
- Board of Education meeting including a budget committee workshop, March 11, 2025, 6:00 PM in the high school auditorium
- Facilities committee, March 25, 2025, 4:00 to 5:00 PM in the district conference room at the high school
- Policy committee, March 25, 2025, 5:00 to 5:45 PM in the high school library
- Board of Education meeting including a budget committee workshop, March 25, 2025, 6:00 PM in the high school auditorium
- The board then worked out on the floor that the postponed facilities committee meeting would be held the following Tuesday, March 4, at 4:00 PM in the district office conference room
The transcript does not make clear whether the March 4 meeting replaces the March 25 facilities meeting on the printed slate or is in addition to it. Both are listed here as read.
Executive Session on Real Property, Employment and a Clerk Appointment
The board closed the public portion by moving into executive session, and said no further business would follow it.
Key points
- The resolution named three purposes: the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real property, the employment history of particular persons, and the appointment of Mark DePace as clerk pro tem
- The board entered executive session at 7:00 PM
- The motion was seconded and put to a voice vote; the captions record the call for "all in favor" but none of the responses
- The presiding officer said there would be no further business after the executive session and thanked those present for coming
The captions render the clerk pro tem's surname as "Pace"; the district spells it DePace. The transcript ends here, with only silence captured after the motion, so nothing that happened in or after executive session is in this record.
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.