At a glance
The Hudson City School District Board of Education got its first look at a draft 2025-26 budget built on one of two choices: a 2% tax levy increase that would leave a gap of roughly $1.9 million, or the maximum allowable 3.55% increase, which the presenter said would bring in $394,161 more. Board members pressed on what draining the fund balance would do to the district and what happens if federal grant money shrinks, and they were told the answer on federal title grants may not come until late August or early September. Administrators then walked through nearly every grant the district runs and explained why the junior high school was newly designated a targeted support and improvement school, where the interim principal reported chronic absenteeism falling from 32.7% to 22.67%. The board also put seven capital project, bond and energy performance resolutions to voice votes, including one authorizing a proposition to go before voters. The captions record the motions and the call for 'all in favor' but not how anyone voted.
Roll Call, the Student Report and Committee Updates
The meeting opens mid Pledge of Allegiance in the recording, followed by roll call, a voice vote on the agenda, a report from the board's student representative, and updates from the policy and facilities committees.
Key points
- Names answering 'here' at roll call were Willette Jones, Mark DePace, Leia Walker, Calvin Lewis, Matt Mackerer and Amanda Grubler; Kjirsten Gustavson's name was called but the captions record no response
- A motion to accept the agenda as presented was seconded and put to a voice vote
- The student representative reported that the mock trial team was finishing county competitions that day, the Model UN team was headed to a conference at Bard College that Saturday, and the multicultural clubs festival was confirmed for May 16
- Varsity Club collected pet supplies for the Humane Society, Hawks Against Cancer held an awareness panel during the school day, and student council hosted an after school dodgeball tournament
- A boys tennis team is fielding a squad for the first time in several years, with its first match that Friday
- The policy committee, which meets at 5:00 PM before every board meeting, has a completed draft of the promotion and retention policy going on the next agenda, will finish the code of conduct draft after staff feedback, and is bringing forward a policy setting the central office organizational chart
- The facilities committee has been working with Tyler and the facilities crew on capital projects across all three buildings plus an energy project supported by Johnson Controls
- Public forums with visuals and layouts will be held between now and May so residents can see the plans before the vote, with dates to be announced by email
The transcript begins at 00:24 partway through the Pledge of Allegiance, so any call to order before it is not in the record. These are YouTube auto-captions with no speaker labels, so names appear here only where someone said them out loud.
The board's student representative is a student, not a board member. The captions refer to this student by one name only, which could be a first name or a surname, so no name is used on this page.
Draft 2025-26 Budget: Two Tax Levy Scenarios
The district presented a draft budget for 2025-26 with two scenarios, a 2% tax levy increase and the maximum allowable 3.55% increase, and said either way the board faces a choice between cutting positions and spending more fund balance.
Key points
- Scenario one applies a 2% tax levy increase; scenario two maximizes the levy at 3.55%
- Going to the 3.55% cap would provide the district an additional $394,161 in revenue, a figure the presenter stated twice
- Under the 2% scenario the presenter said the district would be left with a budget gap of roughly $1.9 million
- The presenter said the district has kept the tax levy at or below 2% for the past five years, and warned that not using the maximum allowable levy can reduce revenue going forward
- State aid in both scenarios rests on the governor's proposal and could change once the final state budget passes, which may not happen until after the district's budget is adopted
- The presenter said the decision comes down to cutting positions to balance the budget or using additional fund balance
- Cynthia Rome, a consultant working on the budget after the interim business official left, was introduced to take questions
Most of the dollar amounts in this presentation lost digits in the auto-captions, including the maximum allowable tax levy, the levy dollar totals under each scenario, and the projected state aid. They are not reported here. The 3.55% cap, the 2% scenario and the $394,161 figure each appear intact and more than once. The budget gap under the 2% scenario is described in general terms because the captions render it as three broken fragments.
Fund Balance, Federal Uncertainty and What Gets Cut
Board members asked how the district would choose which positions to reduce, what happens as the fund balance drains, and whether federal grant cuts should change the district's planning.
Key points
- Repurposing a position means matching a staff member's certification to where the need is, the presenter said, using the example of a physical education teacher with a science certification moving into a science position
- When positions have to be eliminated the district looks at tenure and need; spending and hiring are currently frozen except in critical areas
- Asked when the board would know which positions are affected and how student services would change, the presenter said that would come at the next presentation
- Cynthia Rome said fund balance is money set aside to offset future budgets, and once it is spent the district runs on state aid, taxes and other revenue alone, with nothing extra to pull from
- She said she had heard some federal grants would be reduced by at least 20%, that whether that comes through attrition is unknown, and that the district may not know until late August or early September, especially on title grants
- If grant-funded staff were absorbed into the general fund, she said, the district might manage for a year if it was lucky but probably not two
- She also flagged the program that provides free lunch and breakfast as partly on the chopping block
- Asked when the board would see the budget by expenditure, she said she hoped for the next week, after finishing work to get state aid flowing back to the district
Hudson Hall's Live Arts and Media Program
Two presenters from Hudson Hall described a paid workforce development program in live arts and media that ran over winter break, and floated the idea of running it inside the high school auditorium.
Key points
- Hudson Hall has run workforce development programs since 2018 and has now run the live arts and media version three times
- The most recent group had 15 students, with two more on a waiting list; participants included high school students, a recent graduate and GED students
- Five teaching artists and four guest speakers took part, including a Hudson High School graduate now running a production company in Albany, a diversity life coach who works with the NBA and NFL, and a historian and playwright
- Greg Mosley said his role is teamwork and job readiness, and that he asks three things of participants: show up on time, work hard, and listen and learn
- Over five days students learned sound, a four camera video system, and lighting, then built and ran a production themselves; past years produced a music video and a podcast, and this year a variety show
- The presenters noted the equipment they teach on is equipment the high school also owns, and said students could be working district events
- The program has been funded for three years by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, with recruiting help from Darren Collins and Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood
- A board member said it sounds like a great program and that the board would love to have it in the district in the future
The captions go quiet from about 27:35 to 28:44 while a video of program photographs was set up and played, so whatever was said during that stretch is not in the record.
Federal Title Grants, Line by Line
Dr. Elsa Courtright Torres, executive director for teaching and learning, walked the board through the district's Every Student Succeeds Act grants and what each one pays for.
Key points
- Title I is the district's largest grant, allocated by state formula using census data, poverty levels, foster care counts and temporary assistance counts for children ages 5 through 17
- This year's Title I allocation was roughly $635,000, and it supports AIS teachers, AVID coaches, summer program teachers, expanded learning time teachers, professional learning and a kindergarten summer academy
- The district's child count data puts the share of students considered low income at 20.4%, based on 2023-24 census figures
- Title II funds are distributed 20% on census population ages 5 through 17 and 80% on census poverty population, and pay part of an elementary math instructional coach's salary plus stipends for community members and for teacher professional development outside contract hours
- Title III supports multilingual learners; the district has 153 students classified as English language learners, and the grant pays for the Lexia English learning program and supplemental language materials
- Title IV covers college and career learning, accelerated learning exam fees, dual enrollment, music and art, the RULER program, and the Hudson Police Department resource officer stationed in the district
- Title V is for rural low income districts and pays for project based learning, STEM programs, Lexia and elementary enrichment, including a keynote speaker at the middle school
- The school improvement grant follows the district's designation: the elementary school is in year two as a targeted support and improvement school, and the amount will increase next year because the junior high school was newly designated
The Title I allocation is described here in round terms because the captions split it into fragments, and the prior year figure and the school improvement grant amount were too broken to report at all.
The captions drop out between about 38:26 and 40:12 while the grants presentation was being set up, and again briefly at 45:38, so the opening of the Title II section is missing.
After School, Mental Health and Special Education Grants
Dr. Pressie presented the grants under her responsibility, from the 21st Century after school program to Stronger Connections, and emphasized that grant money cannot be shifted from its approved purpose.
Key points
- The 21st Century after school grant provides $179,700 and runs at the elementary school, junior high school and high school; it pays the salary of director Joanne Ally, stipends for data manager Lindsay Ponder and others, a Writing Center stipend, a NASA design thinking challenge and enrichment trips
- The LEAPS grant, in collaboration with the Mental Health Association of Columbia Greene, was described as $1.1 million for five years, or $5.5 million, and is specific to students in kindergarten through grade 8
- LEAPS is to pay for a mental health clinic, which is waiting only on hiring a clinician, plus college tours and a counselor supporting families after school and on weekends, at no cost to the district
- The two My Brother's Keeper grants total $11,900 for the fellows program, which supports two students who do a book study and travel to Albany for a Stand and Deliver speech event and a statewide symposium, and $125,000 for the family and community engagement program, which pays coordinator and staff stipends plus part of the flying classroom that 19 participants take part in
- The Stronger Connections grant is $1.98 million over three years, about $684,000 a year, covering MTSS, the Panorama survey, PBIS, differentiated instruction training from Cornell University, PLC building teams of 15 members each, Cartwheel telehealth counseling, three sensory rooms, a restorative practices specialist, social workers and a summer institute
- IDEA Part B sections 611 and 619 total $599,990 and pay for speech, occupational and physical therapy, materials including augmentative communication devices, and services for children ages 3 to 5
- Universal prekindergarten and UPK expansion grants make full day prek free to families; eligibility requires New York residency and a child who turns four on or before December 1 of the school year
- The presenter said repeatedly that every grant has goals in an approved proposal and funds cannot be moved to another need, however real that need is
In the presentation the LEAPS grant is described as $1.1 million for five years, totaling $5.5 million. Later, answering a board member's question about LEAPS, the same presenter gave the amount as $1.98 million over three years, which is the figure given earlier for the Stronger Connections grant. Both are reported here as spoken; the transcript does not resolve which applies to LEAPS.
The universal prekindergarten allocation and the breakdown within the IDEA 611 and 619 total lost digits in the captions and are not reported here.
Records Digitization, the Verizon Program and Questions on the Formulas
Cheryl Rabinowitz described a state grant to sort and eventually digitize decades of paper student records, and a Verizon program the district values at more than $2 million. Board members then pressed administrators on how federal allocations are calculated.
Key points
- The local government records management grant covers a project coordinator, project staff, Capital Region BOCES consultants who trained them, supplies and legally required shredding of purged records; the district holds paper records dating back to the 1900s at the high school and at the John L. Edwards building
- This phase is funded by New York State and finishes June 30; the phase two application, also $75,000, is due next week and would cover digitization
- The Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program is valued at over $2 million for the district across two years and provided Chromebooks with built in cellular data in the junior high and high schools, money toward two instructional technology coaches and a computer service specialist, media equipment, conferences and coaching from Digital Promise
- Asked whether the district risks depending too much on Verizon, Rabinowitz said no, because the district has built its own technology and infrastructure to a point where it could sustain the work; a Verizon team visited classrooms the previous week and returns in the fall
- A board member noted a large gap between the 65 to 70% of students who qualify for free lunch and the roughly 20% the census counts as low income
- Administrators explained the district runs a free lunch program so all students receive free and reduced lunch, while the federal figure comes from census calculations the district does not control
- Allocations count every student living within the district, including those attending nonpublic schools, so the district does not receive the full allocation
- Asked whether demonstrating more need would bring more title money, administrators said no: the allocation is set by formula, and a board member observed that material changes to federal education funding would affect the majority of these programs
Junior High Designated a Targeted Support School
Administrators explained the state accountability designations that now cover two district buildings, and the junior high school's interim principal presented test and attendance data along with his plan.
Key points
- The district is designated a Target District, meaning at least one building is a targeted support and improvement school; the elementary school is in year two and the junior high school in year one, while the high school remains a local support and improvement school
- The junior high was designated for its Hispanic student subgroup, and is flagged as a potential targeted school for Black and African American students and for multiracial students; the district as a whole shows potential flags for those subgroups and for economically disadvantaged students
- Accountability indicators for 2023-24 were academic achievement, English language learner progress, chronic absenteeism and, for high schools, graduation rate; for 2025-26 the state will use a weighted average that adds core subject performance, attendance, student growth and, at the high school level, college, career and civic readiness
- In English language arts, seventh graders scored 30% proficient against 28% the year before, eighth graders 35% against 34%, and sixth graders 29% against 23%; in math, eighth graders scored 38% against 26%, and seventh graders scored 26%, with the prior year math comparison garbled in the captions
- In the first year of the science test, 41% of students scored proficient, which the interim principal said was 6% below the average of districts in the Questar region
- Chronic absenteeism fell from 32.7% last year to 22.67% as of the day before the meeting, which he credited to an attendance team meeting every Friday and a districtwide attendance task force
- The state looks for 95% test participation; opt outs and absences were roughly 10 students in sixth grade and about 40 per grade in seventh and eighth, and the school will now require opt out letters three days before testing
- Plans include reworking the master schedule so all staff share a common planning period, increasing AIS services, and work with Questar coaches now assessing students in the Hispanic subgroup
A board member said the state exams are not really grading the children but grading the school, and that families should not take the results too much to heart. The interim principal agreed and said the school tries to keep testing as low stress as possible while explaining why participation matters.
After this presentation the board turned to a John L. Edwards proposal on the agenda, and someone said the presenters had already left. The captions record no presentation on it.
Spotlight on Excellence and the Superintendent's Report
Four staff and community members were recognized for work with students, and the superintendent's report covered the Verizon visit, a school musical and spring enrollment steps.
Key points
- Gail Wheeler and a colleague were recognized for their work in the Writing Center, including helping students get accepted to colleges; the colleague is a Hudson graduate giving his time back to the district
- Timothy Call was recognized on behalf of the maintenance and mechanic crews for keeping the buildings spotless and responding quickly to problems in aging offices
- Joan Hunt, a community partner, was recognized after an attendance meeting surfaced a family with no way to get to school; she stepped in and the family now has a ride every day
- All recipients came forward for a photograph with the Board of Education
- A work based learning program run with the high school kitchen is giving a student experience in food service
- The Verizon Innovative Learning team visited the district the previous week, toured classrooms and worked with staff on what comes next
- The superintendent's report noted a performance of Annie on Friday night, kindergarten screening happening now, prek applications open, and a musical on March 28 at 7:00 PM
One Writing Center recipient's first name was garbled in the captions, so he is described by role rather than named. The teacher who runs the work based learning class is named two different ways in the captions and is not named here.
Athletics: Sectional Runs, Scholar Athletes and a Participation Survey
The athletic director reported on the winter season and spring rosters, and said he will survey students in grades 7 through 12 to find out what keeps them from playing.
Key points
- The boys varsity volleyball team reached the Class B sectional final and finished runner up; the boys varsity basketball team reached the Class A sectional semifinal and lost to Glens Falls, which won another state championship
- Individual honors went to a League MVP in boys basketball, a first team all star selection, a second team all star in bowling, and two second team all stars in boys volleyball; three students were selected for all star games, though the girls game was cancelled because the other side did not have enough players
- Three teams qualified as scholar athlete teams, boys volleyball, girls swimming and girls basketball, meaning the top 75% of the roster averaged 90% or higher; 23 individual students also qualified
- Spring rosters include varsity baseball, varsity boys and girls track and field, and varsity boys tennis for the first time in about five years, plus modified baseball, softball and track and field
- The district could not field varsity or junior varsity softball this spring for lack of numbers, which the athletic director said is not only a Hudson problem
- He plans a survey of students in grades 7 through 12 before or shortly after spring break, given during class time, to find out whether transportation, jobs or caring for siblings keep students out of sports
- He raised the possibility of merging in certain sports with local districts, which would add transportation costs, and asked to revisit starting an athletic hall of fame alongside parent interest in restarting the booster club
- Asked about the weight room, he said it is open some days for the football team, that reopening it more broadly comes down to budget and trained supervision, and that he and the football coach are piloting a web based workout program pending an Ed Law 2-D review
The athletic director named the individual award winners. This archive does not publish students' surnames, so the awards are listed here without names.
Public Comment: The Resource Officer's Grant and Land Behind JLE
The board president read the public comment ground rules, and two speakers raised the grant funding behind the school resource officer and an idea for the land behind John L. Edwards.
Key points
- The president explained that state law does not require a public comment period, that the board chose to hold one, that the board is there to listen rather than respond, that personnel matters cannot be discussed under privacy laws, and that each speaker gets three minutes
- A resident asked whether the Hudson police resource officer's whole salary is grant funded and what happens if the grant is lost
- Administrators said the position is grant funded now, that losing the grant would mean finding another grant or moving the cost into the general fund, and that past attempts to write a joint grant with the Hudson Police Department have not succeeded but will be tried again
- The same administrator said she believed the position pays in the mid fifties
- The resident also spoke as a board member of the Hudson Children's Book Festival, sharing a flyer and describing an authors room with 75 or more authors and illustrators, a community room with local organizations giving away free books, food trucks and free transportation with stops mapped on the festival website
- A second speaker raised the roughly 10 acres of land behind John L. Edwards, said they had spoken with the DEC that day, and proposed turning the lower lands, which are a flood plain, into wetlands, which they suggested would interest students
- A board member called it a great idea, said they had met with the city as well, and said the district would follow up
The captions render both public speakers' names as fragments, so neither is named here. The beginning of the second speaker's remarks falls into a caption gap around 132:44 and is not in the record.
Capital Project Resolutions, Board Discussion and Executive Session
The board took up seven separate resolutions tied to the capital project, a bond and an energy performance contract, plus consent items, then discussed the project before going into executive session.
Key points
- Each resolution required its own recorded vote, and each was moved, seconded and put to a voice vote: determining the proposed 2025 capital project as a Type II action under SEQRA; determining the proposed energy performance project as a Type II action; a resolution of necessity regarding school district improvements; a bond resolution dated March 25, 2025; a resolution authorizing submission of a proposition for approval of a bond resolution; a resolution approving a proposition for an energy performance contract; and a resolution authorizing an energy audit by Johnson Controls
- A motion to approve consent items A through L was also seconded and put to a voice vote
- A board member said the capital project heading to the ballot is a very small scale repair in the grand scheme of things, that the state provides a lot of funding for it, and that it is a relatively low burden on the district financially
- Another board member said the goal should be to keep identifying alternate items for the capital project so the work improves students' daily experience, crediting an earlier point from Calvin
- Board or community members who want a tour of the areas listed in the capital project were told to contact board clerk Leslie Coons, who will set it up with the facilities department
- The board read out upcoming dates, then resolved to enter executive session to discuss the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real property and the employment history of particular persons
For every motion at this meeting the captions capture the motion, the second and the call for 'all in favor' but not the members' responses. Each motion is reported here as put to a voice vote. The transcript does not show the outcome.
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.