Board of Education, Regular Meeting

1. 0:06To 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. Thank you.
2. 0:29Mark the Pace here. Amanda Grubler here. Kirstston Gersonson here. Wlette Jones here. Calvin Lewis here. Matthew Marer here. Leia Walker here.
3. 0:44Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to present the agenda as presented.
4. 0:49Second. All in favor? Now we have the students the students in the report.
5. 0:58All right. Uh good evening and almost good night. Um I apologize. I don't have a list of things. I forgot to get a list from my classmates uh before the end of the day. But um recently we had our international festival um which was run by the multicultural club in the high school.
6. 1:15Um the day that uh second half the day um there were performances in the auditorium. Um the band performed, the choir performed. Um there were some dances. I know um there was a staff group or a group of staff who who uh did a performance. Um and then following that uh students had volunteered to create tables and booths um with information and food and uh activities based around uh certain countries and cultures.
7. 1:47Um and they were set up in the cafeteria. students walked around. Um, and then there were games and such uh around in the hallways and it was a great couple periods. Um, so big props to the multicultural club. They did a great job.
8. 2:03Um, aside from that, um, AP tests are also wrapping up. Um, tomorrow is the AP bio tests which I will be taking. Um, so I apologize, but I will be leaving this meeting a little early to go study. Um um we also had the National Honor Society induction.
9. 2:22Um I think that was after the last meeting. Um that went very well. Dr. Pennyman, you were there Friday. Oh, sorry. Oh, yeah. That was so not too long ago. Um that went well. Um new inductees have been inducted. Seniors uh that got a nice sendoff.
10. 2:44Um, tennis sectionals just happened yesterday. Um, uh, five tennis players went to sectionals in, uh, at Shannendoa. And though we might not have won, we had a lot of fun. Uh, yeah. And then, oh, student council's meet the board candidate night went well. Um, the public seemed to have um, responded well to that. Um, and we look forward to holding it again in future years.
11. 3:13Um and that is everything that I can think of right now. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Audit committee.
12. 3:24Uh yes, the audit committee met on May 9th. Uh we reviewed the um risk assessment from the internal auditor. We reviewed the comment letter from the external auditor. uh and the district's corrective action plans for those uh recommended for board approval and they are on the agenda this evening.
13. 3:41Uh we will be scheduling a follow-up in June. It has not been done yet, but we'll have a schedule before the next board meeting.
14. 3:55Okay, thank you. Facilities.
15. 4:00Yes. So, um some facilities updates. Uh we had two publicformational sessions. They were held April 29th and May 13th. Uh we also had the energy performance uh kickoff meeting for the comprehensive energy audit that was held on April 25th with uh Energia Johnson Controls and uh John uh John Shy who I believe is he's not he's not here tonight but he's um he's been with us uh through and through.
16. 4:34Um JCI is sending a contract to Dr. Pennyman for legal review. uh the performance um the uh performance uh or excuse me the sorry acronyms kind of got me. I wrote this one out. The power purchase agreement uh current contract is being reviewed by Energia and uh Johnson Controls. Um the bond will go out after the state ed approval uh planning for the 2526 school year.
17. 5:03Uh the lighting audit was completed um earlier this month on May 5th. The audit for the HVAC is scheduled for June 10th and June 11th. The water conservation survey is uh for scheduled for tomorrow. And follow-up meetings for all parties will be held uh later this month on May 30th.
18. 5:29the wake smart energy savings kickoff meeting that took place on May 14th um with the uh IT department as well as the plug load controllers and computer management system. Uh John Shy uh architectural firm he is uh working on a contract that will be sent to Dr. pennyman for review. Um that comes out of uh incidentals that won't impact the uh general fund boilers.
19. 5:58Uh the fire eye controllers are to be replaced for the upcoming heating season and that will uh that applies to boiler number one. Uh over at uh MC Smith, the water meter replacement will take place at the end of the school year. Uh that will require the water to be shut off. Um, and so Tyler uh and the maintenance crew, they're working with Mr. Brenamman uh to to find the best date to do that.
20. 6:23Um, new wireless uh microphones are installed in the press box uh at the turf field. That's in preparation for the upcoming uh graduation ceremonies and events.
21. 6:38Uh spring sports is winding down um and we will be hosting the Patrone Conference uh track championship that will take place tomorrow. Custodial staff meetings uh will be held for summer cleaning.
22. 6:54The end of year review for HVAC with uh train will will be completed or excuse me was completed on May 14th. And next year's uh schedules for heating and cooling that'll be um uh uploaded uh into the software. Next year's preventive maintenance contracts are being reviewed uh by Tyler for controls and mechanical and new outdoor air temp sensors are uh are uh coming in. Those have been ordered and we're waiting for those to come in. And that is the facilities committee update.
23. 7:34Thank you.
24. 7:38Um all right, we did a lot of sort of detail oriented work. We met today. um in getting some things ready looking at the attorney attorney review. Um the exeicio student member of the board has been revised based on feedback from last meeting and is ready to go today. Um some other things we made some additional tweaks to after getting additional feedback. So we'll put them on next week's next session's agenda.
25. 8:00Um the promotion and retention policy we got some feedback from staff around. So we made some changes there. Um the org chart needs transportation added to it and then we'll be ready to go. Um so those are things we took a look also at the policy development and adoption. We finalized all the attorney review and as well as the policy charter. So those will be ready to go at our next meeting as well.
26. 8:28Um and um big things kind of coming down the pipeline. and Miss Ferry is revamping some of the expense reimbursement to make sure that we are doing things the way we should be there. Um Dr. KT is looking at grading policy. Um we're continuing to look at the code of conduct work. Um and then we'll tackle a whole bunch of things that are uh annual reops in our next policy meeting as well.
27. 9:00Thank you.
28. 9:04presentation. Smart school presentation. Good evening. And I want to introduce myself for those people watching at home or maybe in the room who may not know who I am. My name is Mr. Rinowitz. I'm the instructional technology manager. I oversee the technology department and it gives me great pleasure this evening to present the smart schools investment plan.
29. 9:31I'd like to also introduce my colleague um Tyler Critzmann who's our director of facilities and he's going to be presenting with me as long as our vend as along with our vendor partners Joe Chikarelli from core BTS and um Casey Sherman from Day Automation.
30. 9:49Okay, so just to give you some background, well, first of all, everything we do is tied into the six keys for school improvement and the smart schools investment plan is tied into all these things and you'll see as we're going through it. So, first of all, we could not do any of this or could have done any of this without acknowledging the community and the staff.
31. 10:15This has been in place for a couple of years and it started with um I came in 2020 and our technology was really in rough shape but we really needed to take place take care of things like Chromebooks and devices and so forth. So we started that. We convened the technology committee. We got everyone together. We created surveys. We worked with our Boseies partners. We did assessments. Um and so everyone was involved. Everyone gave feedback.
32. 10:47And what came out of it after we took care of the Chromebooks and the servers and all of those pieces, we absolutely needed to upgrade our wireless, our security cameras, uh, and other types of equipment, which you'll see in a little while. But I just think it's important to thank everybody, the board, the superintendent, district and building administration, teachers, because again, everyone was involved in this process, but it started a few years back.
33. 11:17Okay. So, for those who may not know, and I did present in January, but it's been a few months, so I always like to level set. So, the Smart Schools Bond Act was approved by the New York State voters, not necessarily Hudson voters, by New York State voters, authorized an issuance of $2 billion of general obligation bonds to finance technology in schools. The allocation for Hudson was $1,771,000, $233.
34. 11:46Um it was again it was a collaborative assessment process and so forth. When we got to the pieces which you're going to see today, we wor with the technology committee and the smart bond committee. We had various vendors come in do presentations. We had rubrics that we compared them to and then we decided and made recommendations of who we wanted to have present our technology.
35. 12:10The focus areas of the smart bond, they give you five focus areas. What you'll see tonight is the high-tech security features and school connectivity. Those are the areas that we're presenting our smart bond on.
36. 12:25Okay, I mentioned about the working committee and so forth. Stateed requires us to have a three-year technology plan. Most of you have seen our technology plan. Believe it or not, it it ends this year and then we start a new three-year technology plan and we'll be doing it all over again, surveying the students and the staff and the families, getting information of what we'd like to see moving forward with our technology.
37. 12:51Other sources we used as part of this is some of you may recall we had an IT audit and they gave us some recommendations. So feedback from the audit, the surveys, also the digital equity surveys and the needs assessment from the IT department as well as our Boseis partners.
38. 13:08Okay. So in our plan, it's important to know these are three of our goals, right? Provide instructional technology tools to the school community, provide professional development, ensure student proficiency.
39. 13:22We have made a lot of progress in those areas and we're continue to do that. The area that we haven't made progress is what we're going to do right now, which is we have a great network, but we really need to upgrade our wireless. Joe, what how old would you say our wireless is? 10, 12 years old. Yeah. Yes. So, it's Yeah. So, it's been pretty reliable, but again, it's aging. Technology changes, you know, there's little blips.
40. 13:48So, that's one and we're going to talk about it. The security camera system. We have many security cameras, but there are places we don't have them. and Tyler will talk about that shortly. The phone system, the phone system, original 30, 40 years old or higher, you know, and then we're also going to talk about public announcements and the clocks.
41. 14:08Okay. Again, must be aligned with the district technology plan, which is it is I won't read it to you, but it's aligned with goal four. And then this and it's going to be on our website as well. This is actually the smart schools investment plan. It's a draft. Everything we're presenting about the highlights and the goals, they're in here. I'm just showing you what the plan looks like. But in my presentation and our presentation, you'll see those elements in there. But if you want to know what the Smart Cools plan is, this is it.
42. 14:47Okay. So, challenges, issues, features, and benefits. Okay. Tyler, you want to come up as well? Okay. So, I'll start with the first the wireless upgrade. So, it's connected. Remember I told you there was a focus area. So, the wireless upgrade is connected in state ed to school connectivity.
43. 15:05Challenges, as we said, it's obsolete equipment. There's coverage gaps, performance issues. Not as bad, but it's it's getting there. And if in time it will get worse. So, by upgrading our wireless, we'll have improved speeds, increased density. It's going to be a cloud-based controller and if the board has any questions either now or as we go through it, that's why we have our vendor partners here to ask answer those questions and it's going to bolster the computerized testing.
44. 15:33We just went through computerized testing. We did very well, you know, right? But, you know, again, the wireless is old, so this will help with that as well as of course impacting teaching and learning. Okay, I'll turn to Tyler.
45. 15:47Good evening. So, I'm Tyler Kman for those of you who do not know me. Uh, director of facilities. Uh, so a few of these things do fall under facilities. So, security cameras, obviously. Uh, current system, there were some blind spots. We did a big assessment. Casey was with us, uh, three or four different weeks long.
46. 16:04Um, so we found some blind spots. We found that the bandwidth was slow down, especially at the elementary school because the server was here at the high school. So, it's it's got a hard time keeping up. And then obviously the older software that we have. Um, with those things, with the assessment, we've found to add some cameras in spots that needed to be.
47. 16:25We're also with the smart schools, we're going to add a server down at the elementary, which will help with the bandwidth and, you know, keeping up with the speed down there. Then obviously the the quality of the new enhanced cameras. Uh the resolution really is is is basically the cameras that we currently have is four or five different kinds from over the years that they had and they you know put them up wherever they could when they they had time. Um and then obviously just the userfriendly software.
48. 16:54Uh the other thing that falls under facilities here is security door access. Uh currently we do have uh door access. That's our swipe badges that we use. There are only certain some doors that are monitored. That's that's our issue that we have now. Once we continue over to the new software, which is a vigilant, which is the same exact software as our camera, they align together.
49. 17:18Um, we'll be adding 43 different additional doors that will be monitored. So, if a door goes off in the middle of the night, I'll get a text message email. I I'll know right away. So, so that's a big upgrade for us.
50. 17:29Uh, phone system. are as Cheryl was saying, our phone system is original to the building. Um, it's still the old trunk lines that we have. Uh, this is um is maintained. You know, we have our our old PBXs, our old servers. This will now go over to a cloud-based system uh with core BTS, which will eliminate a lot a lot of that all that necessary things. Um and also that does not align with the infus single wire infusion which we will have with our new cameras and PA systems and everything else.
51. 18:04Um cable cabling so a lot of the cabling we have to upgrade is you know obviously that's why we have slower speeds and and coverage gaps. Uh once we we do that we'll have enhanced reliability, increased speeds and improved coverage.
52. 18:18Obviously our PA systems which also fall under facilities um if you look above you there that's original PA system speaker um you know it's 40 years old you know it probably has passed it useful life um so that that creates volume issues for us um most of you guys know who actually work in the building some speakers are louder than others you so with that with new speakers we going to put through the classroom everything will be a newer updated be a lot better coverage.
53. 18:47Um the bigger issue with the PA systems um and the clocks is the bells the bell schedules. So every year our bell schedules change whether it's by a minute or two minutes or or one hour delay or or two hour delay. Currently right now we have to call service for that. The vendor has to come in charge us prevailing wage. Uh once we convert over that software will be controlled in house will be you know big money saver for all of us.
54. 19:17And a lot of the pieces that Tyler had spoke about, that's all the high techch security features. Yep.
55. 19:24And that's a big component of the smart schools. They want to provide safety and security to schools. So that's where most of our elements are except for the wireless school. Yep. So this next slide um especially the board is familiar with this. You've seen this before. Uh this so this was phase one 2023 2024 with the funds that we had. This is where we started the conversion. Um, so we converted the software and the server over with all the cameras that we had. Uh, we had to invest some more money into the licenses. There was a bunch of cameras that didn't have licenses which was out of compliant.
56. 19:57Um, once we did that, you know, we kind of ate up the funds that we had, but we were able to create some some new um cameras here. There there's especially down to Paddock Place, you know, some outdoor cameras that had no coverage. We have coverage there now. the some more high tra traffic areas which were the cafeteria, the high school and the main hallway. Um so that was big for that. Um the the picture that you see there is really the big safety concern that I had here in the district.
57. 20:27Um the junior and senior high, we didn't we didn't lock the front doors, which was, you know, just really unheard of. Um, so once we added a camera out there, we allowed the greeters that we have in the junior and senior high to have access to that camera and you know somebody comes up to the door and rings the doorbell, they can not only see the person ahead of time and and able to unlock the door. We also added swipes there as well so it didn't create congestion with the um employees that are working.
58. 21:00Uh, okay. So phase two, this is what will be eaten up by the smart bond. Um, obviously, you know, with the assessments that we did with Casey and Day Automations and his team, there'll be 58 new cameras added. Uh, there'll be 113 that are current that will be replaced. And then obviously that new server that I was talking about down at the elementary, which will help with the bandwidth, the access uh controls, which is the door, we're going to create the we'll purchase the server, which will create everything over to that server.
59. 21:32Then there'll be licenses that we have to ingest for the 53 doors that we have on it. Uh there'll be three new access control doors which is swipes be three new doors that get swipes. And then the 43 new monitor doors will also go onto that software which will be able to give us you know the the notification email or text message if you know if a door is a jar or anything along that nature. Um, and I'll introduce Joe Cherelli to start with the next couple slides here. Right.
60. 22:08So, I guess I'm representing the cabler here. So, uh, not the Cabler. U Joeelli, Core BTS, now actually former formerly, uh, I'm sorry, I should say now officially NRI, but you've probably seen that in my letter head. We could talk about that later. Um, so yeah, so structured cabling is a big part of what the district needed to do to support the devices up there.
61. 22:28As you can see, the new Cisco IP phones, uh, the Moroi wireless access points, a teacher computer, and a PA, uh, clock speaker. So, we'll see these devices, um, in the classrooms. Um, the important part here, I think, especially was at the elementary school where we really had some lacking cable. I think we uh we're looking at just an AP in the hallway on either end perhaps and we're going to make sure we uh get the ubiquitous coverage that you know the district needs.
62. 22:55So what we really want to do that the common theme here was to make sure that wherever you went within the district you had the same experience and of course that cost money right to do that to make sure that everyone has you know the same level of technology really the smart schools is going to get us most of the way there.
63. 23:13Okay, so really the components are about 380 new uh drops, new patch panels, J hooks in the hallways, and retal raceways in the classrooms. Pretty technical cabling stuff that is probably not key to this conversation.
64. 23:25Okay, so Cisco WebEx calling, this is basically the cloud-based calling platform that Tyler mentioned. It's going to replace your old antiquated phone system. Um the nice thing that this is going to do is kind of take some costs that were unknown and make them more predictable. Um so the nice thing about the uh smart schools bond is we were able to get the cost for this system in for the next three years. So after year three we'll have some additional costs and I think those slides are coming up later. Um but again the funding and the bond was able to carry us for the next three years.
65. 23:56I won't go over each one of these, but the the new system addresses a lot of state and federal mandates for how you respond to 911 and emergency calls, uh, as well as things like business texting. So, that'll allow you, I think, to remove an existing expense. So, again, rolling some different applications into one.
66. 24:15Okay. Uh, nice uh, by the way, softphone on the bottom left, which is nice. So, some of the administrators, you'll actually be able to use your desk phone features right on your soft phone. All right, just some of the components you're going to see. You'll end up seeing some of these uh in classrooms and on your desks and conference rooms. Just some of the handsets you'll see.
67. 24:38All right, so the wireless um as Cheryl said, the wireless here, it's it's older, it's antiquated. Uh soon some of the components will start to be unsupported, if you will, meaning the manufacturer will just drop all support for things and, you know, stop making security updates, things like that. So now is certainly the time to address it. Um again with a common theme of pushing things to the cloud, your controllers that are in-house now will now move to the cloud.
68. 25:04The nice thing about that is again it's a controlled uh cost and it's not, you know, three years from now you're getting a big forklift upgrade of equipment and having to come up with a large dollar amount to get your wireless operational again. um really reduces um time to repair and also allows you to get the latest upgrades from the manufacturers immediately without having to call your vendor back in to do major upgrades.
69. 25:30So again, access point, not really anything exciting to talk about. We walk by them all the time in the hallway. It's a square white box. You'll see more of them hopefully and they'll again provide more dense coverage. So when you have many users in a room, um you won't see, you know, a decrease of speed. You won't see people dropping off. Uh you know, we're only going to see more and more things connecting wirelessly. So now again is the time to really make this a robust, uh solution.
70. 26:00And again, uh public address clock Tyler talked about this. uh you know we heard complaints walking around the district of you know either dead zones or low volume or whatever it was you know between the phone system and this system right here the clock PA these are your two main safety components in the district if these don't work these are real health and safety issues right so we have to address the clock and PA um the nice thing is we're going to tie them in so instead of a single uh clock unit you'll have a clock and PA in one unit it'll be able to provide strobe lighting in the event of an emergency it'll be able to scroll messages either silent or you know audible audible messages.
71. 26:36Um it'll all tie in with the single wire fusion software we talked about earlier. Um again the bell schedule it's going to be a nice easy system for administrators to uh to use anywhere anytime. Again right from their phones making changes if they need to. And these are just some of the components you'll see. Again this is more of a hallway unit right here. So it's like a banner. It's double-sided. This would be something you'd see in an office or a classroom.
72. 27:06And that's pretty much it. I think you want to talk about uh some of the cost.
73. 27:10Sure.
74. 27:12No, you're fine. Thank you.
75. 27:12Okay. So, the first thing for the wireless upgrade for school connectivity, this is the allocation right now for the cost of what it'll cost and the recurring cost. Again, as Joe had mentioned, it's not next year. It's actually in year three, year four, five, and six. the district would allocate $52,000 that will last for three years. We have costs now, but that's how it's priced out and we can put it in our smart bond. So, for the next three years, we have no cost, but eventually we will have a cost and that will be for three years. All right.
76. 27:47Okay. Same thing. That's okay. Uh same thing, security cameras. Um, you know, the the big hit is to obviously put all the additions in and and tie the server in at 619,000. Um, the firmware, so there's there's no cost on a regular basis. The firmware would be they recommend every 3 to five years. It's it comes out to be 25, you know, possibly $30 a camera. U, but like again, there's no cost on on a regular basis.
77. 28:17uh security door access 100,000 you see there for the uh implement of it and then no cost on on an annual basis. Our phone system um so to to get everything installed here looks like 235,000. Um there'll be 32,000 after year three which would be you know four, five, and six u for the licensing $9,000 for the maintenance. That's that's for your handsets. Um, and then $600 for a maintenance required in year four. The 9,000 out is uh year two. That goes that starts in year two.
78. 28:54Uh, that's that's the So, it's a for the warranty. Yeah. Okay. For advanced easily.
79. 29:03Yeah. Good. Um, cabling is just, you know, it's just a big hit at first once we put the cabling in. And that was a big thing when we walked around and did the assessment. You know, we wanted, like Joe said, we wanted it to be the same at the elementary school if you were in a classroom there or if you were in a classroom here at the high school.
80. 29:20We wanted, you know, those four drops to be everywhere. So, as we know, prices can change, right? So, we want to point that out, too, that once we're approved, prices could slightly change and then we would go back and look at everything and modify if we needed to. We also have eight rate monies. So the prices could go slightly high because you know between what's going on with tariffs and different things like that it's hard to say but it's something to keep in mind that the prices can slightly change. And also the models of what we spec out what we've speced out they can change as well. So that's why we put that there that they're subject to change.
81. 29:56And then in that smart school investment plan that I showed you earlier, there's a link in there that details how many wireless access points, how many routers, how many cameras. So if anyone's interested, that's all. How many phone systems, that's all in there. Good. So the PA systems and clocks u looks like 202,000 to to get it kicked off and the the recurring costs are 19,000 for the singer wire licensing that also starts year four, five, and six. Uh and then $11,000 to be in the E911 compliance. Um that also is recurs in year four timeline.
82. 30:37So Tyler, can you just um let everybody can you like tell them how expensive our current phone system is?
83. 30:48Sure. Uh I think believe we took the one slide out, right? You did. Um, it was $58,000 right now currently for our every year for our phone system that we have under carousel. And that's that's and a a lot of that and why it's so expensive is because of the servers and the PVXs and everything that continues to allow that system to run is older than I am.
84. 31:15And at the time, of course, it was state of art. But now when Tyler has to call in someone to change voicemail or things like that, there's always charge constantly charge, right? So the so the 58,000 compared to 32 and 9, you know, $41,000 was obviously a savings and these don't start until year four.
85. 31:36So just to like build off of that for a second, right, just to confirm, the 1,700,000 and change is all paid for by the bond, right? So when we're looking at these expenses, none of that comes out of our budget.
86. 31:47That's correct.
87. 31:47And then you had you had said the first time that you presented on this that this would be a net savings moving forward with these costs that do start in year four. Um and it sounds like that's still the case, but I wonder if we could like quantify that so we know what you know as we're looking at a budget that we uh cross our fingers in a little bit here. But like as we're thinking about ways to like cut costs in various places, I think it would be great to like quantify where we are able to save some money here.
88. 32:17Yep. Absolutely. We could share that with you. For sure. Yeah. And as we move forward and when we write our new technology plan, there'll be a cost. There'll be a budget in there that will say this is the replacement of the devices, the Chromebooks, whatever what it costs. This is in year one. This is in year three. So that you know the superintendent and the board have that and Chrissy have that information.
89. 32:39Good. Okay. So, a little bit about the timeline. So, um we submitted the letter to state ed saying we were interested and they provided us a project number. Then we entered the information into the portal. Right now, it's a draft. It's not submitted. Um in 30 days, we're going to post everything on the website. And in 30 days, during the 30-day time frame, people can respond to this email if they have any questions.
90. 33:07The email goes to myself, Tyler, Dr. Pennyman, and Christie, and we would address it if there's any questions they had. And then after 30 days, we would have a public hearing, and we would talk about if there were any questions or emails that came up, we'd address the plan. And then if the board chooses to do so, they we can um accept a resolution. And then if it's accepted, you know, if you vote on a resolution, then the next day I would submit it or that evening to Dr. Pennyman who then would submit it up to state ed.
91. 33:39So that's the whole process so that everyone knows that they still have discussion involvement. We can make changes because everything is a draft right now. Um and then on this slideshow this just kind of tells you all these are links. This is like the process once it goes to state ed what happens. So, if anyone's interested in that, you know, it takes it really does six months to a year. You know, we'll they'll be reviewing over the summer, maybe we'll luck out, but having done this before, they do pick, which is okay. That's their job. They do look and they'll say, "Oh, we need more information on this or we need more information on that." And that's normal. So, we're expecting it.
92. 34:24We'll get a bounce back. Dr. Pennyman and I we'll get an email. We'll go in. We'll see what we need to tweak. We'll tweak it, submit it again. So that's the whole process. And then once it is submitted and approved and state ed approves it, the district gets a letter and then we can start purchasing. We'll have to budget for that and then you get reimbursed. So that'll be could be six. Well, it won't be this budget year. It'll probably be the next, but just so that everyone has an idea of the process.
93. 34:53Okay. And then again, I know I thanked everybody, but we really are appreciative of everybody's involvement in this. It's been a while. And again, we just want to shout everybody out. And then, do you have any questions for us for the team? And thank you.
94. 35:10Yes. I just wanted to know how big the uh hallway units for the PA and uh how big they are. Yeah. How big they are. The PA system. Hang on. Is that what you mean? Well, yeah. Yeah. I was wondering like are they about the size of a laptop or a Chromebook?
95. 35:28That that works. That works. Okay. Thank you. I was wondering for like Yeah. I was wonder like visibility like how big the text is or like I'm assuming there's going to be like quite a few of them and I didn't look at the number. You said there was a a website or a page that had the numbers of units and stuff.
96. 35:41Yes. So on the district website tomorrow will post it. It's the next day. It'll be on the technology. There'll be a note that says it and he'll probably send out a link saying you could look on the website with that information. Yeah. I was just curious about the how readable the text was and if they were very typically one of each. Okay. Okay. Oh, okay. All right. Cool. Thank you.
97. 36:01Any other questions? So, is the comment period opening today or is it going to be at the next board meeting?
98. 36:09It's the comment period starts tomorrow. You know, next 30 I mean they can email us tonight. You know, the next 30 days.
99. 36:19I kind Does that answer the question? Yeah. Yep. Do you know if there's supposed to be a resolution to open it?
100. 36:25Uh not to open it, but to at the end to accept the bond.
101. 36:31Okay. But we could surely look into that if you if something has changed. Not to our knowledge, but
102. 36:40And so this would be we'd be looking at new phones and and signs in the 26 27th school year.
103. 36:45Yes. if the you know the board chooses to do so we may get awarded that but we may say we don't want to spend it till the next year but then you deal with right yeah um it's yes I just say that it's the board's decision where what they want to do
104. 37:02oh I'm also assuming there's going to be a bit of an adjustment period for staff and and people who are using this technology is there like any sort of no information but also is I mean are the companies on call like Is that like if there's problems and things like that?
105. 37:20Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Okay. There they are. It's it's built in and they it would really be like Tyler and I depending on what the technology issue was, we would try to handle it here first and if we needed to, we would reach out to the company. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions?
106. 37:39Okay. So, all this information will be on the website and anyone can respond and ask questions. And if we do find Anything else? We'll let you know. Thank you. Thank you very much.
107. 37:55There's no need for early executive session.
108. 38:00Thank you. Thank you, John.
109. 38:05So, I make a motion to present consistent items A1 through 3, B1 through 5.
110. 38:11Second. All in favor?
111. 38:14Personnel person.
112. 38:27Wait, second. Yeah. Yeah.
113. 38:30Yeah. Officially seconded.
114. 38:33All in favor?
115. 38:39old business.
116. 38:43So, I think I talked about most of the things in old business, right? Because it's just the the second read of the policies, but we made some changes to everything except for the exeicio student member um which is updated to accurately reflect the language around the student council member being who serves. So, that is um that is corrected. So that one is good to go and the other ones we should wait on.
117. 39:09So make a motion to accept uh to adopt policy 2245 exeicio student member of the board.
118. 39:17Second. All in favor?
119. 39:25Yep.
120. 39:30We're tableabling the other ones. Sorry. Okay. So, we won't we won't Okay. Okay.
121. 40:31Okay.
122. 40:50Cheryl, can you put the sheet up?
123. 40:55Sure. I can do this.
124. 41:34I have to wait on the candidates until all of them call in.
125. 41:40Okay.
126. 41:42So, we keep going and you guys can keep on the phone.
127. 41:47Well, it's up to public forum. So, that's what I was asking. Was it anyone for public forum? Oh. Um Joe, is it did you sign up for the first one?
128. 42:15I I just wanted to say um happy to meet some new people here like our superintendent especially and also some old friends meaning I go way back with the focus I haven't been here to the board meetings in quite some time on school property. But anyway, I'm glad to finally see some of the some of the faces and also there very good luck to the candidates and excuse me and I really appreciate being here tonight.
129. 43:35Thank you. The first um item up on the superintendent's report tonight is we have three board members who receive recognition, certificates of recognition from NISBA. So, I'm going to read the letters that were sent from NISBA and then as I call your name, I'd like for each board member to come up and receive your certificate.
130. 44:47First, we have Miss Lia Walker. Dear Miss Walker, I would like to congratulate you for earning level two board excellence award on the NISBA's board excellence recognition program. At this level, you qualify for recognition in our onboard news newspaper as well as a certificate of recognition. The program is designed to acknowledge school board members who strive to continually expand their governance knowledge and skills.
131. 45:21It is comprised of four achievement levels that are reached by accumulating points for participating in NISBA's trainings, workshops, and events and activities as well as for taking on board related roles such as board president and NISBA advocacy liaison. Please note the annual cutoff date for the point of accumulation is March 31st. And so if you'd like to learn more about the board recognition program, uh you can always go to the NISBA website ww.nisba.org recognition program.
132. 45:58Again, congratulations on your achievement and thank you for your service. And this letter comes from Patrick Longo who is member relations and engagement manager for NISBA. At the end, I'd like to for someone to Miss Rabiners can take a picture of all the board members. Thank you.
133. 46:24Next, we have Mr. Calvin Lewis. Dear Mr. Lewis, I would like to congratulate you for earning level one board achievement award under NISBA's board excellence recognition program. At this level, you qualify for a certificate of recognition. This program is designed to acknowledge schoolboard members who strive to continually expand their governance, knowledge, and skills.
134. 46:50It is comprised of four achievement levels that are reached by accumulating points for participating in NISBA's trainings, workshop, events, and activities as well as for taking on board related roles such as board president and NISB's advocacy liaison. So, Mr. Lewis also earned a he earned a level one board achievement award [Applause] certificates.
135. 47:26And next we have Mr. Mara. You're about to be up there. Mr. Mara, dear Mr. Mara earned a certificate. And the letter reads, "Dear Mr. Macker, I would like to congratulate you for earning a level one board achievement award on the NISSBA's board excellence recognition program. At this level, you qualify for a certificate of recognition.
136. 47:55And this program is designed to acknowledge schoolboard members who strive to continually expand their governance, knowledge, and skills. It is it is comprised of four achievement levels that are reached by accumulating points for participating in NISBA trainings, workshops, events and activities as well as for taking on board related roles such as board president and NISBA's advocacy liaison.
137. 48:22So Mr. Mara Ear also earned a level one certificate from NISBA. So congratulations. And if all three board members would just like to stand here with your certificate, then Mr. can get a picture of you with Miss um Miss Jones and Mr. President, vice president. Thank you. Yes.
138. 49:17So tonight, I'd like to acknowledge our student representative, Mr. Thomas Aansky. Um, so he was able to participate in the 30th year of the New York Wave Music Scholarship Competition. So he participated and competed against eight other high school students. And Thomas was able to earn $3,500 scholarships for his outstanding musical solo performance.
139. 49:49And this was held on May 18th at the Spencer Town Academy Arts Center. And this is the first year that a Hudson Senior High student participated in the competition. So job well done and congratulations.
140. 50:11Sorry. Sorry. If I could if I could add something real quick. I don't want to toot my own horn too bad, but um this is also No pun intended. No. Oh, actually yeah. No pun intended. But um this is also the first time a saxoponist has placed in the top three. Um there have been representatives from almost every other woodwind instrument, but this is the first time a saxoponist has made the the history. And um I'd like to thank Mr. Ule Wade. He's very kind. So thank you. Congrats.
141. 50:41So just a little bit about what's been happening around the district. So last year we earned the bike grant. So, we earned a bike grant from Writing for Focus. So, you'll be hearing a little bit more at the end of the year just how it culminated this year, but if you drive by or around the community in the mornings uh after seven, you'll see a lot of our students with Mr. A riding the bikes.
142. 51:08So, the curriculum started it's and it's only at the junior high and it started this year. So we were very fortunate to write this grant last year for right to focus and then Mr. Aut and Mr. Beer um actually leads this process. But it's really neat to see and we I can cannot just give credit to our district only Burkshshire Bank, one of our community partners went in um with us on the grant and they put all of the bikes together for us and we did um recognize them earlier this year. So it's been great for our students. They're really enjoying this.
143. 51:45Just a few reminders. Our Memorial Day is next week, but we also have our Giveback Day holiday breaks. So, there'll be no school May 22nd through May 28th. Want to continue to stress that we have slots for our prek program. We have slots open. So, please register for preK.
144. 52:05And then I want to continue to um focus on our district and building calendars. Those can be found on our district website. Lots of information. So I was as usual I'm out and about a very visible superintendent in the community and in the schools.
145. 52:22So I was able to go to Miss Hart's room last week to watch and her students write. And I tell you, it was really a remarkable experience just watching the students. They had pieces where it showed where they started out at the beginning of the year writing and how advanced they are by this time of the year. And one thing I think that's really important is Miss Hart's students are will be going over to ninth grade because these are the eighth grade students.
146. 52:56But if we could just use those pieces, transition and transfer them for ninth grade, it would be a great great baseline for the high school ELA teachers or just all teachers to see their writing from that point. And I truly enjoyed seeing the writing.
147. 53:16I read some of their writing and I was able to tell them listen later on if wherever you decide to go to community college four-year college the hooks that were in the the introductory paragraph some of them wrote about spirit the spirited animal in them and I said these are the kind of essays that if you you keep your essay and expound upon it later on it would be a great essay to submit for a college entrance. They were very very interesting. So it was great.
148. 53:47I also went to the multicultural festival and yes Dr. Courtright Torres and I were those one of the two staff members who did join in a bad bunny dance. So it was good a dance to a Latinx dance to a bad bunny song. It was really neat. So we did participate. And then um the fifth grade spring con uh concert was great at MCSEs last week that I attended.
149. 54:16And now we'll have our department updates. Um starting with um our executive director of teaching and learning, Dr. KT, followed by Miss Ferry, executive director of business and finance. Then our manager of instructional technology, Miss Rabinitz, and last but not least, human resources director, Miss Brooks.
150. 54:36Good evening, everyone. in the department of teaching and learning. We've been quite busy as you could all imagine um concluding our um computer-based testing uh New York State assessments testing and without a glitch. Thank goodness. And yes, thank you the technology department for all of the hard work and everybody working together was really a remarkable experience. Um we didn't have any glitches or anything like that. Um so it was really it really went smoothly.
151. 55:07So thank you Miss Rubenowitz for all the work that you have done with your team as well to support us in the department of teaching and learning. Um, we have also been preparing for summer school, our summer scholars program. And today we had a faculty meeting, our first faculty meeting for the summer scholars program. And um, parents should have um, received um, notices if your child was recommended for the program today. And um, we need confirmations that you're coming. So that will be really helpful for all of us to plan ahead um and also allow you know as many students as possible to participate.
152. 55:49Um we are also um training our teachers and making sure that our teachers in the program are well-versed in the um partnership that we have with the National Summer School Institute and initiative sorry and um basically they will be training our teachers on the flow of the lesson. what kinds of expectations are there for um the teacher to provide instruction during the summer time that students are here.
153. 56:21Um we are also reviewing summer curriculum writing proposals. Um several teachers have taken the opportunity to fill out proposals to begin some summer writing for the summer. So, I'll be reviewing some of those and plans are in the work um in the works for um having um more training for MTSS as we continue on this um goal of the district.
154. 56:48Uh we had um a visit from Leticia Cole yesterday and today from Branching Minds and she was able to observe an actual MTSS meeting take place at the elementary school and one that took place at the junior high school and then she provided feedback um to the leaders of the school and the members of the team. So based on her feedback and analysis, we are going to plan ahead and make sure that we implement MTSS next year with Fidelity and that you know we um continue to expand it to the high school.
155. 57:30And I think that's about it for us. Um, in the teaching and learning department, as always, we are conducting observations and post observations and making sure that all of those are taken care and get done by the end of the school year. Thank you.
156. 57:55Good evening. Um so in the business office I'm continuing with my 90day um entry plan and I'm on um my second kind of I finished my days 1 through 30 and now I'm in 30 through 60 and I've started to review our financial data and systems. Um, I've really started working on a resource allocation review and analyzing our current budget, revenue streams, expenditures, and funding sources. Reviewing um started diving into some financial policies. Presented the first one to the policy committee this evening and looking at procedures and internal controls. Um, also working on um actually completing the corrective action plans that have been prepared for our um audits.
157. 58:44In addition, working through our grants, assessing compliance with state and federal um regulations and including uh just starting to engage more with the community, attending community forums and events to better understand stakeholder concerns and priorities. Uh there were several um budget community presentations at a local library in the firehouse and I also attended the student council um meet the candidate Nate. Thank you.
158. 59:13Thank you.
159. 59:17It doesn't reach. Okay, I'm gonna come closer. I'll talk loud. All right. Thank you. Um so Mr. Lewis had mentioned um technology met with uh the performance contract staff people uh Johnson Controls and we met with them and we went over two products, the Bert Tech Guide and Wake and uh they discussed what it would mean for the district.
160. 59:40Tyler was there as well. And what the next phase is where we are now is we're going to provide them an inventory of all our equipment that we have in the district. And then they're going to do an assessment so that you have a base if you decide to move forward with where we are regarding equipment and uh using this this product. So that was very exciting.
161. 59:59The next thing is uh as you may be aware we have the student tech crew. We have students who work with us and during the school year and they get credit. Mrs. Bender is their adviser and Mr. Lynch and the IT department and in the summer uh they have the opportunity to apply for a position and then work with us full-time doing all or most of all the work that the IT department does.
162. 1:00:23A big part of their job in the summer is the Chromebooks, bringing them in, repairing them, cleaning them, labeling them, cleaning the cases, all those sorts of things. and plus anything else that we would do in the summer they would be involved in to a degree you know they wouldn't be installing because they wouldn't have passwords and so forth but we keep them very busy and we have students who have come back each year and we actually go through an interview process so it's not automatic that because you're you know part of the tech crew that you can get in and sometimes even though the students in the tech crew have had uh experience and have had their technology their Dell certification that isn't a requirement.
163. 1:01:03It's helpful if they have it, but we have hired students who don't have that, and that's okay, who aren't in the student tech group, but really have a true desire to work with us. Um, so that will be taking place, the interviews the first week of June and looking to start July 1st.
164. 1:01:17Um then the other thing the technology committee which is comprised of students and staff and board uh community members and so forth have been looking at technology policies and also looking at developing an AI plan. So that information will be coming forward to Dr. Pennyman and the policy committee to look at just some of our recommendations and if you need me I'll be at that meeting as well to speak through it.
165. 1:01:42Um, and then lastly was the SA smart schools investment plan, which, you know, I know I've thanked everybody, but it really was a collaborative effort and we really appreciate it and our fingers are crossed. Um, and you know, we'll wait to hear. And then I said that was last, but also what Dr. Courtright and my colleagues up here say, we're also finishing uh observations of teachers at the end of the year. So that's pretty exciting because we get to be into the classrooms, which we don't get to do every single day. So that's nice. So thank you. Thank you.
166. 1:02:15Good evening everyone. My name is Shante Brooks. I'm the executive director of human resources. Um the HR team attended the schoolfront forum about a week and a half ago at the capital region Boseies alongside representatives from over 25 other districts in the capital region. Um during the event we learned about upcoming changes to the software to various supports that are available. It was a valuable opportunity and learning for the entire team that I took. um that's included Miss Nolin and Miss Gaffne for collaboration, relationship building, and we engaged in a lot of conversations with the other experienced districts with the same software and meaningful insights that can help shape our goals here for the district.
167. 1:02:51So, we built a lot of relationships and we're in like a network now. So, we get to kind of speak to other districts about what's upcoming, what didn't work, what did work, and that's really going to help us and shape us here in the district.
168. 1:03:03Um, also we are also in the process of collaborating and reviewing our end of the year rollover cleanup um, assessments that was conducted in October. So, we're really reviewing and really guidelining so that we know exactly what to expect for the summer getting ready for the superintendent conference day and revamping the new year um, coming up because there's a lot of things that need to go over with the staff and faculty to make them aware to make them have allow them have access.
169. 1:03:31Um, schoolfront is something that we are really driven by. Um, if you know school's connected to recruit front, which also talks to Wincap. So, it's a lot of network things that I think it can benefit the staff and the community to have trainings and have options to be able to go in and kind of review some very important things throughout the school year.
170. 1:03:48Um, as my colleagues have said, during this time, we're tasked with many evaluations. I mean, evaluations, observations, labor relation meetings, staff meetings. Um so it's a lot of collaborating with all my colleagues as well as um the administrators in the buildings is getting into the buildings really seeing and really talking to people and having an idea about what they expect and moving forward.
171. 1:04:11Um I will say final thing is that my HR huddles are really productive. Uh people are really starting to feel comfortable enough to come in have a conversation. They don't have to make an appointment. They don't have to go through district office. They just kind of come in and pop in. nothing private is talked about there. They may have questions about enrollment, about FMLA, about anything that they really don't want to put in the email, and want to put a face to it. So, I think it's very productive and I look forward to expanding it uh next year as well. Thank you. Thank you.
172. 1:04:42[Music]
173. 1:04:45Thank you. This takes care of my superintendent report for tonight. Thank you. Thank you very much.
174. 1:04:56Make a motion to accept consistent items. Second. All in favor. No one else came up. Right.
175. 1:05:18Important dates. Policy committee day meeting June 10th, 2025. to 5:45 in the high school library. Board of Education meeting Tuesday, June 10th, 2025, 6:00 p.m. in auditori high school auditorium.
176. 1:05:37Facility committee meeting Tuesday, June 10th, 2025, 4 to 5:00 p.m. in the district conference room. Policy committee meeting Tuesday, June 24th, 2025, 5 to 5:45 in the high school library. Board of Education meeting Tuesday, June 25th, 2025 at 6 PM in the high school library. Yeah.
177. 1:06:21Okay. I make a motion to suspend the meeting at 96 second. All in favor?
178. 3:06:10I make a motion to resume the meeting at 11:06 p.m. Second. All in favor? Enthusiastic. Hold on. So, we're resuming. Yes.
179. 3:06:31Make a motion to accept board member election results as follows. Uh board member number one, Diana Dodto Howard. We have to go. Oh, okay. Never mind. Um 577 votes. Uh, board member number two, Moren Sheridan, 515 votes. Uh, board member number three, Mark Pace, 471 votes.
180. 3:07:04Second. Second. All in favor? Uh, make a motion to accept the 2025 2026 budget vote results. Uh 566 yes, 371 no. Second.
181. 3:07:24Uh all in favor. Therefore, proposition one has passed. Uh make a motion to accept bond resolution results. Uh 623 yes, 300 no. Second. All in favor.
182. 3:07:43Therefore, proposition two has passed and I make a motion to accept the results of the energy performance contract. 730 yes, 204 no. Second. All in favor. Therefore, proposition three is passed.
183. 3:08:09Uh, make a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:08 p.m. All in favor.
184. 3:08:18Thank you everybody for your patience. Thank you Leslie. We appreciate all your work. Thank you. Thanks.

Timestamps link to the corresponding moment on YouTube. Auto-transcribed, contains speech-recognition errors. Not an official record.