At a glance
The Hudson City School District Board of Education opened its new school year by swearing in board members, nominating Mark DePace as president and Matt Mackerer as vice president, and working through the long list of annual appointments a district makes every July: committee seats, compliance coordinators, law firms, auditors, insurance carriers, and bank accounts. DePace told the room he knows the community is looking for more transparency and engagement, and committed to working with the rest of the board to make meetings more open, inclusive, and productive. The board also opened a 30-day public comment period on the 2025-26 district safety plan, recognized two retiring employees, and readopted its annual policies, including the existing code of conduct while a revised version is still being written. Nobody had signed up for the first public forum. The board held two executive sessions and ended the night in the second one.
Roll Call and the Oath of Office
The meeting opened with the pledge of allegiance and a roll call, then board members raised their right hands and recited the oath of office together.
Key points
- Seven board members answered the roll call: Mark DePace, Amanda Grubler, Kjirsten Gustavson, Diana Howard, Calvin Lewis, Matthew Mackerer, and Maureen Sheridan
- Board members recited the oath to support the United States and New York State constitutions and to faithfully discharge the duties of the office of board member
- Members were asked to sign the oath and add their address, and a pen was passed down the table
- The recording picks up at 3:38, already at the call to order
This page is written from YouTube auto-captions, which carry no speaker labels and garble names. Attributions are omitted unless a name was clearly spoken. The recording also begins at 3:38, so anything said before that is not in the record.
Electing a President and Vice President
The board nominated Mark DePace for president and Matt Mackerer for vice president, then administered the oath of office for both roles. DePace opened his remarks with a commitment to more open meetings.
Key points
- A member nominated Mark DePace for board president; the nomination was seconded and put to a voice vote
- A member nominated Matt Mackerer for board vice president; that nomination was also seconded and put to a voice vote
- The oath of office for board president was then recited aloud
- The president said he was honored to be elected, congratulated Matt, and welcomed Maureen Sheridan and Diana Howard
- He said he knows the community is looking for more transparency and more engagement from the board, and committed to working with the other members to find new ways to bring the school community together and make meetings more open, inclusive, and productive
- A motion to accept the agenda as presented was seconded and put to a voice vote
After each motion the captions record the president asking "All in favor?" and then a silent gap. No responses were captured, so this page says a motion was put to a voice vote rather than that it passed. The president's own remark that he was honored to be elected, and the oath of office that followed, are the record's evidence that the officer elections carried.
District Officers and the Board Clerk
The board moved to appoint school district officers for the year, then administered the loyalty oath to the district clerk and an oath to a clerk pro tem.
Key points
- A motion to appoint the school district officers for the 2025-26 school year as presented was seconded and put to a voice vote
- Leslie Coons was named as district clerk and clerk of the board, and the loyalty oath for that office was recited
- Dr. Pennyman was identified as clerk pro tem and recited the oath for that office
- There were no oath cards left for the clerk pro tem, so the oath was recited without one
- A board docs technical issue briefly held up the proceedings
Who Sits on Policy, Facilities, and Audit
Board members volunteered for the three standing committees, each of which can seat up to three members. The president said a finance committee is under discussion but needs a charter from policy first.
Key points
- Policy committee: Amanda Grubler, Diana Howard, and Mark DePace
- Facilities committee: Kjirsten Gustavson, Calvin Lewis, and Maureen Sheridan
- Audit committee: Mark DePace, Matthew Mackerer, and Diana Howard, with the board president required to be one of the three
- Each committee can have up to three board members
- The board has discussed adding a finance committee, but the president said a charter needs to come from the policy committee first
- A member said the policy committee got the ball rolling on a new charter with increased community members, and suggested one of the newer members join for a fresh perspective
- The president said input on policy will go through every board member, not just those on the committee, and that the mechanism for community members to express interest will be discussed at the next policy meeting. The board also put the draft 2025-26 policy committee meeting schedule to a voice vote, and audit committee members recited a separate oath for that office
Compliance Coordinators and State-Required Designations
The board moved through the annual appointments of dignity act coordinators, Title IX personnel, and a long list of designations New York State requires districts to fill each year.
Key points
- Dr. Tia Pressie was named district-level dignity act coordinator for 2025-26, with building-level dignity coordinators appointed as listed
- Title IX compliance coordinators, investigators, and decision makers were appointed as listed
- Dr. Tia Pressie was also designated section 504 compliance officer, Medicaid compliance officer, liaison for the education of homeless children and youth, opioid program director, director of school health services, and HIPAA compliance officer
- Dr. Juliet Pennyman was named chief emergency officer for the year
- Tyler Kitzman was designated program administrator for the bloodborne pathogens exposure control plan, health and safety designate, asbestos designate, public access defibrillation coordinator, EPA lead-based renovation repair and painting program coordinator, integrated pest management coordinator, and Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator
- Each appointment was moved, seconded, and put to a voice vote
The captions render this administrator's surname two different ways, as "Pressie" and "Pressy." Both parts of the name were spoken, but the spelling here may not be exact.
Lawyers, Auditors, Consultants, and the District's Banks
The board reappointed its attorneys, auditors, evaluators, and insurance and architecture consultants, then designated the banks the district is authorized to use. The president noted for viewers that none of the law firms changed.
Key points
- Separate motions covered school district attorneys, a bond attorney, and general legal counsel for the 2025-26 school year
- The president told people watching that there have been no changes to the district's attorneys, and that these are all the same attorneys as last year, with the same true of the auditors
- The board reappointed an independent external auditor to audit the 2024-25 school year finances, and an internal auditor for 2025-26
- District-level independent evaluators were appointed as listed, described as approved partners who perform evaluations for parents who choose them
- The board also reappointed a district insurance broker and carrier, a student accident insurance carrier, a district architect, and a financial consulting firm
- Bank of Greene County, TD Bank, and New York Class were designated official depositories for school funds, with TD Bank holding the extra classroom activity funds for Hudson High School and Hudson Junior High School
- A further list of banks was designated for investing purposes, to be used from time to time depending on rates
The auto-captions mangle the names of the law firms, auditors, and consultants past the point where they can be reported reliably, so this page describes the categories rather than naming the firms. The full list is on the meeting's agenda.
Annual Policy Readoptions and the Code of Conduct
The board readopted the policies it is required to adopt every year. The president said there were no material changes, and that the code of conduct is being readopted as-is while a revised version is written.
Key points
- The president said these are all policies the board is required to adopt annually and that there have been no material changes to any of them
- A revised version of policy 5300, the code of conduct, is being worked on but was not ready, so the board readopted the existing code and will adopt the revision at a later date
- Policies acted on included 115 and 115R on student bullying prevention and intervention, 1900 on parent engagement, 5100, 5300 and 5300.26 on the athletic code of conduct, 6240 and 6240R on investments, and 6700 and 6700R
- No questions were raised when the president asked
- Later in the meeting the board took up policy 3230, the organizational chart, with no comments or questions before the motion to adopt it
Executive Session and the Personnel Agenda
The board went into a closed session to discuss the employment history of a particular person or persons, came back about eleven minutes later, and accepted the personnel agenda.
Key points
- A motion to enter executive session at 6:20 p.m. for the purposes of discussing the employment history of a particular person or persons was seconded and put to a voice vote
- The president told the room the board would be back as soon as possible and thanked people for their patience
- A motion to exit executive session at 6:31 p.m. was seconded and put to a voice vote
- The board then moved to accept personnel agenda items A 1 through 8 and B 1 through 11, after a correction from an initial B 1 through 9
- Nothing said inside the closed session is on the recording, and no decision from it was announced
The captions jump from 24:37 to 34:36 with nothing in between. That gap is the executive session, which is closed to the public, so the record is not missing anything that was said in open session.
Two Retirements Recognized
The board recognized two retiring district employees, and the first public forum of the night drew no speakers.
Key points
- The board recognized Darlene Clark for 18 plus years of service
- The board recognized Diana Olmstead for 33 plus years of service
- The board thanked them for their time in the district and wished them health and happiness in retirement, followed by a round of applause
- When the president turned to the public forum and checked with the clerk, nobody had signed up to speak
Safety Plan Comment Period Opens, and Questions About the Safety Team
The board moved to open a 30-day public comment period on the 2025-26 district safety plan. A member asked where the document came from and who serves on the district-wide safety team, and did not get a full roster.
Key points
- The motion opens the 30-day comment period on the 2025-26 district safety plan beginning July 3 through August 25, with a public hearing scheduled for August 5, 2025
- A member noted the hearing date is the same date as the special meeting
- A member asked where the document came from and who is on the district-wide safety team, saying the plan refers to a team but does not show names
- A staff member said that Mr. Kitzman and they lead the team, that it meets and keeps minutes held in his office, and that it is made up of teachers, administrators, and a couple of parents
- The member said some names on the chart on page nine appeared crossed out, and could not open the document because their computer was disabled
- The president said the advice from Questar was to remove member names and list their positions instead, so that an administrator change does not require readopting the whole safety plan
- The president and a staff member both confirmed the vote was only to open the 30-day comment period, not to approve the document, and the president said he hopes to have an update on the actual team members for the next board meeting
Public comment runs July 3 through August 25, with a hearing listed for August 5. The board was told it would get an update on who sits on the district-wide safety team at the next board meeting.
Consensus Agenda, Board Conference, and Second Public Forum
The board accepted its consensus agenda, heard about a state school boards convention as an information item, and adopted the organizational chart policy.
Key points
- A motion to accept consensus agenda items A through Y was seconded and put to a voice vote
- Under new business, the president described a state school boards association convention in New York City in October, plus a conference in August, listed as an information item
- He said most board members undergo professional development through the year, that he has been to two conventions, and that sessions cover everything from contracts to scheduling to transportation to budgeting
- No one had questions about the conference
- The president asked Nikki whether she wanted to sign up for the second public forum, saying he wanted to be fair to everybody and have everyone follow the same protocol
- Under old business the board adopted policy 3230, the organizational chart, with no comments or questions
Meeting Dates and a Second Closed Session
The president read out the summer meeting schedule, then the board moved into a second executive session and ended the night there.
Key points
- July 15, 2025, policy committee meeting, high school library, 5:00 p.m.
- July 22, 2025, regular Board of Education meeting, high school auditorium, 6 p.m.
- August 5, 2025, special Board of Education meeting, high school auditorium, 6 p.m.
- August 12, 2025, policy committee meeting, high school library, 5:00 p.m.
- August 19, 2025, regular Board of Education meeting, high school auditorium, 6 p.m.
- A motion to enter executive session at 6:39 p.m. to discuss real estate transactions and the employment history of a particular person or persons was seconded and put to a voice vote
- The president said there would be no further business after this executive session and thanked everyone for being there
The captions stop as the board enters the second executive session. That session was closed, and the president said no further business would follow it, so nothing in open session appears to be missing from the end of the recording.
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.