At a glance
The Hudson City School District Board of Education held off on voting for next year's budget and set a special meeting for Thursday at 5:00 p.m. to look at a revised version. The district's business official presented a draft 2025-26 budget with total revenue of $58,544,000, a 3.55% tax levy increase and no layoffs, but one board member asked the board not to approve the March budget status report until debt service and retirement entries are corrected, and another said the newest numbers arrived only a couple of hours before the meeting. In public comment, two union presidents, a teacher and a resident who said he served five years on the board pressed the board on how job cuts were communicated, on the outside audit and on health insurance costs. The board also heard a presentation on the Seal of Civic Readiness, a run through state test and benchmark data, and the first full report from the district's attendance task force. Motions on the personnel agenda, the Questar III administrative budget and four Questar III board seats were put to voice votes.
Seal of Civic Readiness at Hudson High
A school counselor and a social studies teacher presented on the Seal of Civic Readiness, a New York State designation now in its third year at Hudson High School.
Key points
- Students earn the seal by collecting at least six points, with a minimum of two from a civic knowledge side and two from a civic participation side
- The seal goes on the diploma, and it can also work as a graduation pathway, replacing one social studies Regents exam for students who need it
- 17 students earned the seal in the class of 2023 and 26 in the class of 2024, three of whom used it as a pathway to graduate
- Staff expect more students in the class of 2025, and know of five who will need it as a pathway
- A semester-long civics elective, ideally taken in ninth grade, can carry a student three of the six points and starts them on community service
- The presenters said that as far as they can tell, Hudson is the only district in Columbia County offering the seal
- Two students earned capstone points for a year and a half of work on the Unity Community Cabinet installed at the Hudson Area Library
The transcript begins at 3:33, partway through a short report by Thomas, a student, about AP exams, SATs and Regents coming up. Everything before that, including the roll call and the opening of the meeting, is not in the record this summary was written from.
YouTube auto-captions do not identify speakers by name. Names appear here only where someone said them aloud, and garbled surnames are left out.
A Draft 2025-26 Budget With No Layoffs
The superintendent and the district's business official presented a revised draft budget for 2025-26, rebuilt over the previous two weeks to avoid the layoffs shown in an earlier version.
Key points
- Total proposed revenue is $58,544,000
- The plan counts on a 3.55% tax levy increase and an increase of $150,000 in interest income
- It also uses assigned fund balance and a planned use of reserve, but the captions broke both dollar figures, so they are not reported here
- Staff said the budget maintains general fund programs, creates efficient systems of support and proposes no reduction of workforce by layoffs
- Savings come from not replacing some positions lost to retirement, from positions that were budgeted but sat vacant all year, and from scaling back underused software subscriptions
- The employee benefits line now includes state retirement, which was not in the original 2024-25 budget, so the year over year increase looks larger than the underlying change
The captions rendered the use of assigned fund balance as "2,118,72" and the planned use of reserve as "96 63,762." Both are broken, so neither number is repeated here.
Board Questions on Benefits, State Aid and the Levy
Board members pressed staff on where the instruction line came down, how many positions are going unfilled, and how solid the benefits and state aid numbers are.
Key points
- Asked for a breakdown of the decrease in instruction costs, staff said they would get it, and that a full budget book is published once the budget is approved
- Asked how many instructional positions are being reduced through retirement, staff said they could name two vacant positions off the top of their head and would bring exact numbers rather than misspeak
- A board member traced the benefits line: a $1.3 million increase at the last meeting is now a $2 million increase, with $600,000 of that the state retirement expenditure newly shown on that line
- Staff said the $15.4 million budgeted for benefits is based on current staffing levels and current estimates from the health trust
- State aid is still a projection because the state had not passed its budget; staff said the district budgets that number conservatively and expects to be due more, particularly transportation aid
- One board member said this rate of growth is not sustainable and asked for a long-term budget plan; another urged residents not to criticize the proposed levy, pointing to COVID funding that has dried up and uncertainty about federal money
State Test Scores and Benchmark Data
An administrator stepped in for a colleague who was out and walked the board through accountability status, state test results and the district's FastBridge benchmark data.
Key points
- The district is currently a target district, and MC Smith is in targeted support and improvement for its Hispanic and Latino students
- Staff said writing is the common weak spot, with students struggling on the second part of the state tests where they take information and synthesize it, and said this is not only an English language learner issue
- Only four students across grades 3, 4 and 5 opted out of state tests last year
- The first year of the new state science test produced a result the presenter called stark, which she said is not uncommon in a first year, and she predicted dramatic improvement
- On FastBridge math, second grade is predicted to finish at a median of 207 against a benchmark of 205
- Oral reading fluency benchmarks are 101 words per minute by the end of second grade and 125 in third grade, and every grade is predicted to finish above benchmark
- First grade early math moved from 24 to 48, which staff credited to the math program adopted last year, and on the social and emotional screener 74% of students are now in the normal range, with the share needing some intervention or monitoring down from 50% to 26%
Questions on Testing and the Move to Computers
Board members asked how the benchmark data lines up with state proficiency, why opt-outs have fallen away, and how prepared younger students are for computer-based tests.
Key points
- Staff said FastBridge benchmarks are national percentiles and do not map directly onto state proficiency, though a student at the 50th percentile will usually land in the 3 to 4 range on state assessments
- Asked why opt-out has faded as an issue, staff credited messaging and conversations with parents, and said students benefit from meeting a high-stakes test before the Regents, with teachers they trust
- Staff clarified that the Questar III and statewide figures shown are comparisons, not targets set for Hudson
- Results will not come back until the fall, with a three to four month delay after testing
- On computer-based testing, staff said they worry more about keyboarding in ELA than about math, where students use an equation editor daily through a classroom program
- Students have done roughly 15 to 25 lessons per grade level with the state writing rubric, which they keep in binders rather than on their desks because the rubric is complex for elementary students
Attendance Task Force Proposes New Practices
The chair of the district's attendance task force reported on the group's work and laid out proposed changes to how schools contact families about absence.
Key points
- The task force met monthly and included district administrators, a counselor from each building, the superintendent, the mayor of Hudson Kamal Johnson, a representative of Promise Neighborhood, an assistant director at the county Department of Social Services, and the Columbia County district attorney
- Under the proposal, after three consecutive days absent the homeroom or first period teacher calls the family, using a script that focuses on support rather than on why the student was out, because research says punitive calls do not work
- Family success plan meetings ask parents what they can commit to, such as an earlier bedtime, a backup ride or medical appointments outside the school day, and ask what barriers the school can remove
- Letters now go out at 5, 10 and 16 days of absence; the proposal would send them at 5 and 12 days, with a doctor's note required after 12 days at the building committee's discretion
- 12 days is about 8% of the school year, and 18 absences counts as chronically absent
- Chronic absenteeism is running about 2% better than at the same point last year, and staff said the number typically falls another 12% on average by the end of the year
- The district is setting up an attendance hotline and is looking at a district van and community agencies for families without transportation
The group meets once more, then the chair will share proposed policy language and drafts with the superintendent and the policy committee.
Thomas, a student, asked whether the Blue Hawk Academy has succeeded at its original aim of addressing chronic absenteeism. Staff said there have been successes and that more would be presented, but declined to give a percentage, and stressed that the academy is not counted separately from the high school.
Board Reports and the Personnel Agenda
The policy committee reported a batch of policies heading to the district's lawyers, the facilities and audit committees reported no meetings, and the board took up the personnel agenda.
Key points
- Several policies go to the attorneys for final review before a full board vote, including one codifying an ex officio student member of the board, which state education law now requires in policy
- Voting procedures were updated by the board clerk, Leslie, to reflect current voting systems, with the aim of adopting them before the May 20 election; a related training is set for May 12
- The policy on adopting policies is also with the attorneys, while the organizational chart and the promotion and retention policy are held for more review
- The committee drafted a charter for itself and said it wants teachers, families and other community members to join, not just sitting board members
- There were no facilities committee meetings; community meetings on the planned capital project, which goes on the ballot in May, appear in the upcoming dates
- The audit committee has not met since its last report and will target a May meeting to review the corrective action plan
- A motion to accept personnel agenda items A1 through 5 and B1 through 3 was seconded and put to a voice vote
The captions record the call for "all in favor" but not the responses, so this page says a motion was put to a voice vote rather than that it passed.
Public Forum on the Audit, Communication and Insurance
Four speakers used the public comment period, three of them on the budget and how it has been communicated to staff, and one on the district's outside audit.
Key points
- Peter Myers, who said he spent five years on the board, read from the audit report dated March 27 and pointed to a negative reconciled balance in the general fund checking account at year end, transfers not made until July, a reserve plan the district has not updated in writing, and a business office manual built around the previous staffing
- He said the law caps unassigned fund balance at 4% of the next year's budget and asked whether the district is inside it, then asked the board to order a forensic audit and hold off on significant votes until it is done
- He was stopped at three minutes and objected both to the time limit and to the statement the board reads before public comment; the president said the audit committee will build a corrective action plan
- Nikki, a union president who said she has worked for the district for 25 years, said her unit was told nothing before positions appeared on a budget slide, that the teachers union was told, and that she lost a member who left to find another job rather than wait to be fired
- Shannon Sullivan, a teacher, said seeing specific positions listed on a livestreamed slide was shocking given the board's own rule against discussing personnel in public, and that no cuts to administration have been raised, at that meeting or this one
- Wayne Kenny, a science teacher and president of the Hudson Teacher Association, asked the district to research how PILOT agreements are affecting the school budget, noting the board has no say over them
- Kenny said each district in the regional health consortium is its own entity, so high-cost prescriptions come back to Hudson rather than being spread across the consortium, and said plans are going up about 10% on average with the pharmacy plan higher
Superintendent's Report and Spotlight on Excellence
The superintendent congratulated students headed to college, described two spring break campus visits and a staff lunch put on by students, and previewed a statewide bus safety day.
Key points
- Four students were congratulated for being accepted to one or more universities
- Students in the My Brother's Keeper program and the Blue Hawk Academy proposed and served a barbecue lunch for faculty and staff on April 9
- During spring break, a district administrator took a group of students to Yale on Monday and the superintendent took more than 21 students to Harvard on Tuesday, with the district planning Ivy League visits every year
- The buses were paid for through the district's LEAPS grant collaboration rather than district funds
- Operation Safe Stop, a statewide effort joining the district, bus contractors and law enforcement to enforce the law against passing a stopped school bus, takes place Thursday the 24th
- Spotlights on excellence went to two administrators who were out sick, to the My Brother's Keeper staff, and to the Blue Hawk Academy staff
The students recognized in this report are referred to by first name only: Jake, Joan, Caitlyn and Lynn.
Questar III Votes and the Consensus Agenda
The board moved through new business, cast its votes in the regional BOCES budget and board election, and split the consensus agenda after several members pulled items.
Key points
- Policy 4750 on promotion and retention returned for a second reading but is still awaiting revisions from the district's legal team, and drew no questions
- A motion to accept the Questar III tentative administrative budget for 2025-26, roughly $7.4 million, was seconded and put to a voice vote
- Four separate motions to cast votes for candidates for the Questar III board, from districts across Rensselaer, Columbia and Greene counties, were each seconded and put to a voice vote
- A board member asked to pull consensus agenda items A, B, C and E for discussion; the remaining items were put to a voice vote after some back and forth over the lettering
- A board member said the spring break field trips appear to have been added to the agenda after it went out to the board, and asked that additions be flagged clearly in future
- On a $12,000 budget transfer, a member noted about $35,000 in transfers this year and asked that the form carry a stated purpose and a business office certification that budget is available; staff said more transfers would come once they have time to sit down together
- Items A and C, the draft board meeting minutes and the budget transfers, were put to a voice vote later in the meeting
The captions render the amount in the motion as "7,400,641,09," which is broken, so this page gives it only as roughly $7.4 million.
Budget Status Report Pulled, Special Meeting Set
A board member asked the board not to approve the March budget status report, and the board decided to hold a special meeting Thursday on the revised budget rather than vote on it that night.
Key points
- A board member, Matt, said he had asked by email for a number of items on the March budget status report to be addressed and did not want to approve it until they were
- He pointed to a $630,000 adjustment to principal and interest debt service payments that he said has no supporting documentation and that the audit identified as encumbrances not properly relieved in 2023-24
- He said the district will pay its bonds in June, which would take the unencumbered debt service balance from $5.1 million to zero, and that teachers retirement shows an uncovered balance of $1.9 million he also expects to be paid
- Those two adjustments come to $7 million against the $5.8 million currently shown as unencumbered, which he said would turn the figure negative, and he said the board cannot do its financial governance role without updated statements
- Another board member then asked whether the board was still comfortable voting on the budget that night, and said the newest numbers had arrived a couple of hours before the meeting
- The board agreed to hold a special meeting Thursday at 5:00 p.m. to review the revised budget, with the president saying one of his favorite adjectives is measure twice, cut once
- Item E, the budget status report, was pulled and not approved
The board set a special meeting for Thursday, April 24 at 5:00 p.m. to review the revised 2025-26 budget, with a board member asking to see a revised budget status report alongside it.
Upcoming Dates and Adjournment
Nobody else had signed up for the second public forum, and the board read through a long list of budget and capital project meetings before adjourning.
Key points
- Community presentations on the proposed 2025-26 budget are set for April 23 at MC Smith, May 5 at the Hudson Area Library and May 12 at the ABH Shaw firehouse, each at 5:00 p.m.
- Facilities committee community meetings on the capital project, the energy performance contract and the proposed budget are set for April 29 and May 13 at 5:00 p.m. in the high school cafeteria
- Voter registration day is Thursday, April 24 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the high school cafeteria
- The budget hearing is Tuesday, May 6 at 6:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium, following a policy committee meeting at 5:00 p.m.
- The annual budget vote and board member election is Tuesday, May 20 at 8:00 p.m. in the high school library, with a policy committee meeting moved to 7:00 p.m. that night
- A motion to adjourn at 7:52 was seconded and put to a voice vote
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.