At a glance
Two graduating My Brother's Keeper fellows, Jared and Anthony, stood at the podium and told the Hudson City School District Board of Education why they think learning how to dress matters. Before them, a district administrator walked through the first year of the Cartwheel telehealth partnership, which logged 293 counseling sessions during the school year, and through the first data from the new regulation stations now open in every school. The Hudson Teachers Association asked why the number of board meetings on next year's schedule dropped to 15 from 23, and the board later pulled that schedule off the consensus agenda and tabled it, saying it wants fewer business meetings and longer policy committee meetings. Two Mill Street neighbors asked the board to uphold a 1983 recreational clause on the Charles Williams Ballfield and said legal action would follow if the development proceeds. Motions on the consensus agenda and four policy items were put to voice votes, and the board closed the public part of the night by moving into executive session.
Roll Call, Agenda, and a First Committee Report
The recording picks up with the call to order already underway, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, a roll call, and a motion to accept the agenda as presented.
Key points
- The transcript starts mid sentence, with everyone being asked to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance
- Seven people answered here during the roll call
- Amanda Grubler, Kjirsten Gustavson and Matthew Mackerer are the roll call names the captions carried clearly; the rest were garbled
- A member moved to accept the agenda as presented, another seconded, and the motion was put to a voice vote
- The audit committee reported that it had no report at this time
Only three of the seven roll call names came through the auto captions clearly enough to spell with confidence, so this page does not list attendance or say who holds which seat. A line just after the agenda vote mentions a student representative, but the captions preserve only the fragment, so what was said about it is not recoverable.
Facilities and Policy Committee Reports
The facilities committee ran through building work across the campuses, the energy performance audit, and the capital project. The policy committee said it is back at work on the code of conduct.
Key points
- The committee is waiting on approval to repost a temporary position for July 1, and the maintenance crew will hold an all day annual training on August 28
- At JLE, crews are moving files to the high school copy room and digitizing them while contractors and surveyors work on 3D scans
- At MC Smith, the concession stand on the field was renovated with new toilets, sinks and signage, ready for field day on the track on the 16th; a fence went up around the garden courtyard for the chickens, and a magnolia tree donated by the mayor's office is to be planted
- Eight roof leaks, most recently in the section installed in 2016, are being addressed while the district works out the warranties; crews are also working with National Grid to replace pole number 10 in the parking lot, and the water meter is scheduled for replacement on the 28th of this month
- At the junior senior high, four turf field repairs were completed and the field was vacuumed, brushed, magnet swept and topped up with infill; a greenhouse of roughly 14 by 24 is being planned with a grant
- The energy performance audit is 30% complete, with the next update due at 60%, and the flex tech application along with the Johnson Controls and architect contracts went to Dr. Pennyman to file
- The capital project team measured both campuses, is checking spot elevations on the tennis courts for pitch, boundaries and drainage, and has picked high school classrooms for refinished carpets and wall partitions; auditorium chair samples are under review and no purchases have been made
- On policy, the committee is back into the code of conduct with changes made from staff feedback and hopes to finalize it soon
Cartwheel Telehealth, One Year In
An administrator presented on the grant funded partnership with Cartwheel telehealth, which offers counseling after school and on Saturdays, and said it adds to rather than replaces the district's own mental health team.
Key points
- The presenter described Cartwheel as a wraparound service picking up after school and on Saturdays, with hours shown as 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., staffed by certified and many bilingual counselors
- As of that day 59 students had been referred, against 50 in the contract, and 43 were being seen; the district is charged only for students a therapist actually sees
- The top referral reasons were family issues, academics and school stress, anxiety and depression, with October, November and March the peak months
- 293 sessions had been logged so far in the school year, and there are no wait lists
- 95% of surveyed families said they would recommend the service to a friend, and 90% of students preferred telehealth or had no preference about in person care
- 37% of students receiving counseling, 22 of the 43 being served, have IEPs or 504 plans, and two students have finished counseling because they no longer need it
- Every referral goes to the presenting administrator to approve, hold or deny, and some sessions were approved at no cost for families without insurance
A board member asked how 22 students squared with the 43 being served. The presenter answered that 14 students have two services and eight have one, and the rest of that arithmetic is hard to follow in the captions. A separate line about the share of staff making referrals reads 60 65%, too damaged to report as a figure.
Regulation Stations in Every School
The same presenter walked through the grant that paid for regulation stations in all three buildings and the first data on who uses them, when, and what happens afterward.
Key points
- The rooms are called regulation stations rather than sensory rooms because any student can become disregulated, not only students with an IEP
- A teacher fills out a referral form, the administrator approves it, and a staff member takes the student in for about 15 minutes, with a data form completed for every visit
- At MC Smith the most common observed behaviors were loud vocalizations, humming, and fidgeting with desk and clothes at 71.4%, and the common triggers were running out of time on an assignment, an unplanned change, and increased workload
- The junior high only started using its station in May, where the behaviors skew to being out of seat, rocking and fidgeting, with work demands and classroom noise the triggers; the high school has used it for only a couple of students
- Districtwide, 22 students, or 88%, were seeking movement and three were seeking calming or alerting, with visits clustering around 8:30 and 11:00
- Teachers reported back that 17 students were calm when they returned to class, six were more focused, one stayed regulated longer through the day, and one was confused and still getting oriented to the room
- 88.9% of students went to a station once in a day and 11.1% went twice
- The presenter read a statement from the occupational therapy team, which helped design the spaces, drafted the referral process and daily data sheets, and trains the staff who bring students in, and thanked Caitlyn, Claire and Sarah
The total number of students who have used the stations was spoken as 29 26 29 and cannot be reported. The percentages above come from slides the captions describe only in part.
My Brother's Keeper Fellows Present Dress to Impress
The district's two graduating My Brother's Keeper fellows presented to the board on why they think learning to dress well matters, after a rundown of their year in the program.
Key points
- The fellows, Jared and Anthony, told the board where they are headed: Jared to Columbia-Greene for business and Anthony to Hudson Valley Community College for electrical engineering
- Over the year they read four books, joined a mastermind book series with over 90 My Brother's Keeper fellows statewide, toured Albany and met with a financial aid office, and attended the statewide symposium, which the presenter said drew over 1,000 attendees
- Their presentation argued that dressing well boosts confidence, creates positive first impressions, and supports self respect, personal responsibility and creativity
- Anthony said his family is from Guyana and that Caribbean families teach children early both how to dress and why it matters
- They told the board it is not only about suits and ties, that not everyone can afford designer labels, and that presenting yourself well is what counts
- Two new fellows for next year were introduced during the slides
- The presenting administrator announced a financial literacy workshop on the 24th from 1:30 to 3:00, open to graduates, their families, board members and the community, covering budgeting, credit cards and managing money at college
Students who spoke or were named in the slides are identified here by first name only.
Public Comment: Digital AP Exams and Fewer Board Meetings
The board opened its public forum with a reminder that it is there to listen, cannot take comment on school personnel under state and federal privacy law, and gives each speaker three minutes.
Key points
- A staff member speaking as the district's AP coordinator reported the first year of digital AP exams
- Three classes culminate in an exam, but staff proctored eight, because students self studied or challenged exams, including one who challenged AP comparative politics
- He thanked colleagues who set up and staffed the testing, said there were no issues, and said digital is the way to go
- Shannon Sullivan, second vice president of the Hudson Teachers Association, said the union noticed that afternoon that the number of board meetings on next year's schedule had dropped to 15 from 23
- She said the union is very interested in why, and asked that an answer come back to the union
- The board replied that it would address the schedule when it reached the consensus agenda
Later in the meeting the board pulled the 2025-26 meeting schedule from the consensus agenda, discussed the reasons for fewer business meetings, and tabled it until the next board meeting.
Personnel Agenda
The board took up the personnel agenda without a separate session, and the item numbers in the motion are garbled in the captions.
Key points
- After a brief exchange, members agreed no separate session was needed and moved straight to the personnel agenda
- A member moved to set the personnel agenda items by number and corrected the range out loud mid motion to run through 14
- The captions record no second and no vote on this motion
- No names or details of personnel actions were read aloud in the part of the meeting the captions capture
The captions render the motion as items 8 1 through 13 be 1 through 4 before a correction to 1 through 14. Which items were set is not recoverable from the transcript.
Superintendent's Update: Attendance, Awards and Spotlights
The superintendent used the update to name good news across the district, from a countywide award for one class to a drop in chronic absenteeism that drew national press attention.
Key points
- Students in Miss Smith's class earned an annual award from CO-ARC, described as the Columbia chapter of the Arc New York, which the superintendent said has existed since 1965 as an advocate for people with intellectual and developmental differences
- The district joined the first national cohort on student attendance through the League of Innovative Schools; the staff member who led the work presented there, and he and the superintendent gave an interview to Education Week that ran June 4, with another publication also calling
- Chronic absenteeism fell across all three buildings by at least 12%, according to the data the superintendent credited to that staff member
- The district's attendance work runs through building teams and a districtwide committee that the superintendent said includes community members, Promise Neighborhood, the mayor and the district attorney
- Hudson won the highest award in the 2025 school communication awards for its newsletter, in conjunction with BOCES, which employs the district's communications specialist
- The spotlight on excellence went to the building leadership team for the chronic absenteeism work, with members named and a photo taken with the board, and to a junior high social studies teacher who was not there, praised for hands on lessons using cereal boxes and t-shirts
- Two students head to the state track and field championships this weekend in Middletown, and the high school team placed second at the Envirothon on May 29
Most of the staff names in this section come through the captions garbled and appear on no district list this archive can check, so they are described by role instead. The exchange over which two students are going to states is confused in the captions, with three first names offered, so no names are given here.
Next Year's Meeting Schedule Pulled and Tabled
The board pulled the 2025-26 meeting schedule from the consensus agenda, explained why it wants fewer business meetings and longer policy sessions, and tabled it over a tax warrant deadline.
Key points
- A member moved to table consensus item E, the 2025-26 board of education meeting schedule, until the next board meeting; the motion was seconded and put to a voice vote
- Members said the goal is to cut the number of business meetings and increase the number and length of policy committee meetings, noting policies still on the books from 2007
- A policy adopted at this meeting changes the structure of policy committee meetings to make them more inclusive, and members said those meetings stay open to the public with more community members, teachers and leaders invited
- One member said the change is not about spending less time on board business, and may end up being more time, but about working actively rather than sitting passively, picturing a multi hour policy session every other week opposite board meetings
- The second reason for tabling: the board had moved to hold the organizational meeting July 15, but that is also the deadline for putting tax bills in the mail, so it is looking at the date or at other ways to approve the tax warrant
- Members said they are committed to calling emergency meetings as needed so late hires and other personnel items do not wait
The schedule returns to the board at its next meeting, listed that night as June 25 at 6:00 p.m. in the high school library.
This is the discussion the board promised in public comment, after the Hudson Teachers Association asked why next year's meeting count had dropped to 15 from 23.
Consensus Agenda and Four Policy Items
With the meeting schedule set aside, the board moved the rest of the consensus agenda and took up four policy items.
Key points
- A member moved to approve consensus agenda items A through D and F through T; the motion was seconded and put to a voice vote
- The board moved to adopt policy 4750, promotion and retention
- The board moved to retire policy 4750R, the Hudson Junior High School grade promotion policy credit record, as no longer needed
- On third reading, the board moved to adopt policy 2410, policy development, adoption, implementation and review
- The board moved to adopt policy 2410e, the policy charter referred to in the meeting schedule discussion
The captions carry each motion and the call for all in favor, but not the responses. This page therefore says the motions were put to a voice vote rather than that they passed.
Neighbors Ask the Board to Protect the Charles Williams Ballfield
Two Mill Street neighbors used a second round of public comment to ask the board to uphold a 1983 recreational clause on the Charles Williams Ballfield and to think again about selling it for development.
Key points
- Josh Kip, who lives on Mill Street across from the ballfield, called the city planning board's decision the week before on the ballfield development disappointing and said the neighbors are united
- He showed a photo he said proves the ballfield works as a natural catch basin protecting nearby homes, and said claims by the city and the developers that homes will be unaffected lack proof
- He said the district sold the land in 1983 with a forever recreational clause, said reports show Mayor Kamal Johnson pressured the board to remove that reverter for an insignificant amount of money, and warned that violating the deed could expose the district to liability
- He said the planning board decision ignored environmental concerns, that neighbors are preparing an Article 78 challenge, and asked the board to uphold the 1983 agreement
- A second speaker, Jack, who also lives on Mill Street and is new to Hudson, said concerns raised to the planning board have gone unheard and unaddressed, and said the district has an important role in releasing the reverter clause in the 1983 deed, which has committed the property to public recreation for the intervening 40 years
- He asked the board to consider whether selling the property for a development of that scale is in the best interest of Hudson and of the district
- He also told the board he attended the common council informal meeting the night before, where the JLE developer presented, and said a separate parcel below JLE sits at the same floodable level as the overflow of Underhill Pond with no road access, urging the board to set a policy for surplus properties before it gets pressured
Both speakers tied their comments to decisions outside the district: the city planning board's vote the week before on the Charles Williams Ballfield development, and the common council informal meeting the night before, where the JLE developer presented. The board took no action on either at this meeting.
Board Notes, Upcoming Dates, and Executive Session
Members closed with shout outs to recent school events, read the calendar for the coming weeks, and moved into executive session.
Key points
- Members praised the heroes breakfast and a karaoke night run by the elementary school PTO the previous Friday, which they hoped raised a good sum for the school
- One member praised the high school band and choir concert that week and the range of music options for students, saying it is thrilling to watch underclassmen rise alongside the seniors
- Another member said the prom went well despite the rain, with a nice turnout, no incidents that anyone knew of, and good food
- Upcoming dates read into the record: a policy committee meeting Wednesday, June 25 at 5:00 p.m. and a regular board of education meeting the same evening at 6:00 p.m., both in the high school library, and the annual organizational meeting July 15 at 6:00 p.m. in the high school auditorium
- A member added an audit committee meeting one week from that night at 9:00 a.m. in the district conference room
- The board then moved to enter executive session, with the member making the motion starting to say adjourn at 7:15 before correcting to executive session
The captions end as the board goes into executive session, so nothing discussed there, and no adjournment, is in the record. The organizational meeting date of July 15 was itself under review earlier in the meeting.
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.