Board of Education, Regular Meeting transcript: FUTURE HUDSON

320 of 320 lines

5:07All right. Thank you all. Hello. All right. Thank you all for being here. Uh, thank you Austin for getting our tech all sorted out. Board member Amanda Grubler is joining remotely. Um, also like to welcome Dr. Bailey and call the meeting to order at 6:03 uh p.m. Uh would everybody please stand for the pledge of
5:31allegiance
5:36to 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.
5:52Leslie, roll call, please.
5:57Here's the paper to sign up.
5:58Ah, gotcha. Yes. If anybody would like to speak uh sign up for public comment, please sign up at Leslie's desk. Mark Deace
6:24here.
6:24Amanda Grubler
6:26here.
6:28Kirstston Gustoson
6:30here.
6:31Diana Howard
6:32here.
6:33Matthew Macker
6:34here.
6:35And Moren Sheridan
6:36here.
6:37And Leona Prova
6:39here. Uh, I'd like to make a motion to accept the agenda as presented.
6:45Second.
6:46All in favor. That brings us to our student representative report.
6:58Um, so everyone's getting ready for school. Don't really have anything since school's not starting, but it's been volleyball triyouts so far and a lot of other sports triyouts.
7:09Great. Thank you very much. Uh, next up we have a presentation from Johnson Controls about our EPC project. All right, this up a little bit.
8:35Uh, good evening everyone. Uh, my name is Justin Benois. I'm the director of project delivery with Eneria. Uh, thank you for having us here tonight. I'm joined by two uh two team members from Johnson Controls as well. I'll let them introduce themselves in a moment, but we're here tonight really to give an update uh to everyone on the progress and the status of the energy performance contract opportunity that we've been working on uh both energy and Johnson Controls on behalf of the district.
9:02Um, so certainly want to say if there's any questions or anything like that, um, really the point of us being here is just for that. Um, give an update, answer any questions, and then we'll talk a little bit about next steps, um, before Johnson will get into some of the scope and financials of the project.
9:25Uh, I'll do a brief reintroduction, Energia. Uh we've certainly been working with the district for some time now uh serving as your energy consultant uh for this opportunity. You know, we were involved from the very beginning kind of uh you know, analyzing if there was an opportunity and what that opportunity might be for a self-funding energy project. Um and ultimately we've been been involved uh through many steps since then, which I'll I'll touch on in a moment. uh and will continue to be involved through the next steps as well.
9:59Um really again serving as the owner's rep um but also as the engineer of record and so we'll be responsible for the design plans and specifications and going up to the state education department for approval as well. Um we have a lot of experience in this and it's been great working with the the district and your representatives so far. So thank you for that.
10:22Um, not to go too much into detail as to as to what's on the screen here. Um, but just a little refresher for everyone, energy performance contracting, you know, the types of projects that we're we're talking about here are self-funding energy focused projects. Um, so we've went through, we've identified opportunities to make improvements to the school facilities.
10:46those upgrades, those improvements will drive energy savings and then ultimately the energy savings are then leveraged as the funding source for the upgrades themselves. Um really the key note there is that those energy savings are guaranteed to you uh contractually so that you have again the energy savings coming to fruition and the funding source to satisfy debt service payments on the overall project. So I think that kind of sums up the key key points of the slide here.
11:17Now to kind of recap uh some of the activity that we've we've taken to date. Um it was about a year ago now uh where Energia issued a request for proposals document. Um we were soliciting multiple different what's known as energy services contractors or escos uh to submit comprehensive energy performance contract proposals. As a result of that process and a thorough evaluation and interview process that took place afterwards, Johnson Controls was selected as the winner of that contest and approved to proceed with the comprehensive energy audit or the CA.
11:50Um so that was spring ultimately when that formal award that that formal authorization I I should say uh was granted. Um and since then we've been working very closely with Johnson to develop and finalize this comprehensive energy audit. Um and so ultimately again tonight we wanted to share an update with everyone on the scope and financials of the project. Again we could speak a little bit more to the timeline as well and next steps. And then ultimately at the next meeting, I believe it's the September 16th, that is the meeting where we would be seeking approval uh from the board to execute a contract with Johnson Controls, at which point we would move forward with design, financing, and then construction. Um, again, wanted to uh see if there were any questions beforehand, share the scope so you have some time to kind of digest everything before before we seek a vote at the next meeting.
12:51I think that was it for me. Um, and so I'll turn it over to John and Kieran here and they'll, like I said, walk through some more of the scope and financials. Thanks.
13:04Hi, good evening. Um, I'm John Sanborn with Johnson Controls. John Sanborn with Johnson Controls. Uh, one of the account execs on your project. And I'm joined here by my colleague Kieran Moran. Um, thanks for having us tonight and we'd like to just as Justin uh mentioned share with you some updates from the work we've been doing all summer on the comprehensive energy audit. So, I'll get right into it. Um just a reminder that along with your budget this spring in May, uh as well as the capital project that you're working on, uh the EPC, the energy performance contract, uh did receive community approval, uh for the 10% additional um state aid, building aid. Um, so the project overview, it hasn't changed much from what we presented in the spring.
14:01Um, but here tonight we have sort of the the final the finalized numbers. Uh, so the project consists of 15 energy conservation measures across uh across your buildings. Um, we're required to meet an 18-year payback per guideline. So your project falls just under that. Um over the term the project produces over $3.8 million of positive cash flow. Um it's a project cost of just under $8 million or 7.9 million. The annual savings that will be generated uh or just over $430,000 annually uh at a New York State building aid ratio of 68.5. again the um was 58.5 and then the additional 10% with the voter authorization to get you to 68.5.
14:56Uh there are rebates and incentives associated with with these types of projects. um one being the nice flex tech program that we are utilizing that helps pay for um some of the comprehensive energy audit activities that we've been doing this this summer and also on the energy efficiency side through national grid um some rebates and incentives there as well.
15:23So I mentioned um 15 energy conservation measures. They're listed here in in detail and what what building each of the the ECMS um scopes will be um installed in. I won't go through every single one, but uh again, each one of these energy conservation measures, facility improvement measures focus on energy savings. Um some with lower payback to help fund some of the more capital intensive measures.
15:53So really the the big bulk of the scope of work in this project is the boiler replacement in this building. The heating system in this building will be completely um gutted and replaced. It's currently a steam system in the boiler room uh that that that steam is converted to hot water that's circulated throughout the building. But uh that that boiler plant is I think original to the building 1969. And um it's reached its end of its useful life and there are some energy savings and operational savings to be had uh by installing a new high efficiency system.
16:33So that's really uh one of the main scope drivers of the project. Uh again there are many other ECMs. I won't go through every single one. Um certainly if you have questions uh on any one of them be happy to to go into them but that's really the the heart of the project with with um many of the other ECMs help providing the funding the energy savings to fund um fund the boiler replacement.
17:03So uh one of the ECMS that is help providing a a good basis of funding mechanism is the your existing solar PPA um asset that sits out back here. And so that asset is currently contracted under what's known as a a power purchase agreement. And so where you are in that contract is in year eight. And there's an opportunity to leverage heavily discounted out clause um and convert that system to district ownership.
17:34Um and by doing this through through the energy performance contract, you will now receive once that um buyout occurs, there will no longer be a lease payment. Currently, the district uh pays about $140,000 a year for the leasing of that system. So by doing that in the energy performance contract, uh it helps provide uh funding, additional funding to help with things like the capital intensive boiler upgrade and um in in working with Tyler through the process.
18:13We were analyzing um future maintenance type activities. And so we we did you know one of the main workh horses of that system are the inverters that convert the electricity. And so what we've done in the EPC is we've included a full inverter replacement. Um those inverters are now eight years old. And so um along with the EPC will be in full full inverter replacement. So the district will be in good shape going forward with the with the um operation of that system.
18:47I I just have one quick question if I may. What's the actual lifespan of the solar panel itself?
18:53So the panels themselves are warrantied for 25 years. They'll continue to produce after that. Uh they do degrade about 2% each year. So after 25 years, you may be getting 85% out of the system, but it's will still be producing uh producing energy.
19:162% less every year.
19:182%
19:182% less every year.
19:33So again, I mentioned the the boiler plant. So right here on the screen are pictures of the existing plant from um 1969. And so what we're proposing to do is replace that system as I mentioned um with new hot water condensing uh high efficiency condensing boilers along with uh co-generation units.
19:58The rest of the measures really um sort of low payback uh measures that are helping um with the e economics of the project. They represent a total of about $1.7 million in total cost, but produce an annual savings of over 187,000 or a 9.3year simple payback. So, I'll pass it to Kieran to talk about um some of the economics just just as an overview of of the project.
20:34Good evening. My name is Kieran Moran. Good to see everyone again. Um just wanted to walk you through the the cash flow analysis that we did and we've been working with um Bernie Dunigan, your your fiscal adviserss. Um they will help the district in the process when when funding comes around to run the RFP.
20:49So we've been having normal cadence calls with them and and regarding the bond work, but also the EPCR and the funding of this when it comes up. Um we ran uh a cash flow at 4.25% 25% interest rate which is what we're seeing today. Hopefully in the near future that rate drops a bit and that would be a benefit to the school district. So um we're hopeful that that happens.
21:12Um we also ran it with your 68.5% voter approval nice aid. So anything you do under this project 68.5% of it comes back in aid to the school. So um it's a wonderful thing and that's why lots of school districts like yourselves do these projects because they're heavily aided.
21:29Uh if we were to look at year one, which is the first column, you can see your lease payment would be $727,000 out for the repayment of the project. And that'll go for 15 years. Um you see the energy savings at 297 on&m savings, which is operational and maintenance savings.
21:50As you can imagine, with those 1969 vintage boilers, there's clearly some maintenance savings to be had. The new LED lights also produce some nice maintenance savings and operational savings as well. uh the nice aid is that is your 68.5% coming back to the school and then the guaranteed rebates of $26,000 also coming back to the school district.
22:12So when you look just in year one alone it's a positive cash flow back to the schools of 295. So um you know it is a nice cash flow right right out of the gate. When you look at it over the full term of its life of this this project uh the full 18 years that then drives back the 3.8 8 million that we talked about earlier. So, um you know, a nice positive cash flow and um yeah, and so thank you.
22:42Okay. Um and then we have the timeline here. So, um April through June, we've been working as we talked about on this comprehensive energy audit, working through all the measures with Tyler and his staff. um through the end of July this month. The uh sorry I just chirped something over here. Oh, we got an email.
23:00Um working through the contract. So the your attorney Keen and Bean has uh redlinined our contract and so that's ongoing and then so we would look once that's successfully done hopefully by the September meeting you have a clean contract to sign agreed to by by your attorneys and um and so we could execute that.
23:23We would then go from October through April obtaining SEDD permits. So, Energia would then file all of the SED paperwork up to Albany as you do with your bond projects. Same process to get permits.
23:36Once that's done, that's when you would engage um Bernie Dunigan's office. Once you have the permits in hand to help you with the funding, um they would put out a lease um an RFP for a lease purchase. You'll get banks to bid on that. Um that's when hopefully you get less than 4.25% rate from the banks. you'll then secure that um that loan and then we can start in hopefully June of 2026.
24:01So next June and we're anticipating through March of 2027. So trying to dovetail this with your bond work as well. So that's why Mr. Shy has been involved in a lot of our conversations as well as to what work we're what work excuse me we're doing and what work they're doing under the bond so that there is no overlaps but that there's also coordination between the the two projects and then looking to do training of school personnel in January of 2027 and then the final commissioning in February of 2027. Any questions?
24:45Um, so it was the previous slide, but could you explain what simple payback is?
24:52Yes. So simple payback means if you took the total costs of the project and divided it by all of the energy savings and operational savings, that then gives you a number. And that number is called the simple payback.
25:04Um the state requires it that it be under 18 years without the building aid. But when you add in the building aid um it becomes much better. Uh but the state wants to see it without any building aid. Do add the building aid. If 68% of the total project cost came off, it would be much better than 18 years. It would probably be I don't know eight year eight or nine years would be the simple payback with building aid included. But um for for their purposes they want they want to see it clean first. That makes sense.
25:35Yes. Uh I have another question. Sorry.
25:38Could you explain what energy cons conservation measures are? Like what does the acronym like stand for?
25:45Oh
25:45ECM.
25:46ECM. Yes. That's engineers like to do a lot of acronyms. So ECM energy conservation measure. So it just the boilers the replacement of the boilers. We call that the boiler ECM. the lighting replacement of the LED lights. We call that the lighting ECM. So, it's just how we how we call them.
26:06Okay. Thank you.
26:13Any other questions? No.
26:16Thank you very much.
26:18Thank you. Uh, next. He's a former teacher at the East River Central School District. He's had a lot of experience helping school districts organize a trap team. Uh behind me is John Sheldon. He is the range safety officer at the Hudson Fishing Game Club. And the club will be a partner in this uh the Hudson Fishing Game Club will be a partner in the Hudson Bluehawk uh clay target club.
26:46Um so a lot of people don't really know what a clay target club is. um let alone what trap shooting is. So I I wanted to prepare this presentation to explain what it is. This is a very new and exciting club. It's growing across our country. It's growing across New York State.
27:06Uh I believe there's about 174 high schools in New York State that have a clay target club. Um across the country, I believe there's about 50,000 high schools that have a clay target club. So, a t a clay target club, it's a league of five or more individuals that participate in a clay target shooting competition. In this exciting sport, athletes use shotguns to break ceramic discs launched by a thrower going 40 miles an hour.
27:34Um, it's a very old sport. It's been around since colonial times. Um, it's actually an Olympic sport. Uh, it's been around since the year 1900. Um in the year 2000 they created a women's league and now the um the track team the Olympic track track team is is co is co-ed.
27:57Um so trap shooting is probably the most common common uh clay target shooting sport in America. Uh the sport features one target throwing machine which is called the trap and athletes take turns shooting the targets that fly out in front of them. Uh most schools have trap shooting ranges nearby. Uh the Hudson uh Fish and Game Club is on Route 66, just a mile away from the Chrysler Jeep dealership. So, it's very close by. It's very accessible for for our students to to get there.
28:28Um and this is what a what a trap range looks like. Um so, as you see up there on the screen, that beige looking box, that's called the trap. And inside the trap is a machine that launches out the clay discs. There are five stations. Um the the goal is for each of those competitors to hit 25 out of 25 clay targets that are launched from the trap. Um there's station one, two, three, four, and five. So each um competitor has you know they they shoot five targets uh and then they rotate.
29:05Um seated on that uh chair is the range safety officer. He keeps score. He makes sure that all rules are followed. Um, safety is very very very important. Um, the USA clay target league, uh, their motto is safety, fun, and marksmanship. Um, so the the the the job of the range safety officer is to make sure everyone's safe. Everyone has to wear hearing protection. Everyone has to wear goggles, safety glasses. Um, everybody has to have their firearm pointed in a safe direction.
29:44So, in this sport, you know, they're using actual firearms, shotguns, um, single barrel, single shot shotguns that use actual shot shells, right? Um, so all athletes that join this club, they're going to require firearm safety instruction. Um, everyone would have to take the New York State um, I guess it's called the junior hunter course.
30:14The hunter safety course. Yes. John uh, usually instructs that at the club. He is willing to teach any student uh, instruct them in that. Uh, gun safety is a big part of this. Um there's athlete and coach insurance provided by the USA Clay Target League uh for all registered coaches and for all registered um athletes. Uh there there are strict policies and procedures. There's about one coach for every 10 athletes.
30:46Um the the best thing about the sport is since the year 2001, there have been zero injuries reported. We all hear about concussions in football, sprains, broken bones in football, soccer, even in baseball. Um, other sports. Uh, play target sports and in trap. There have been, uh, no reported injuries or anything.
31:09Um, safety is a major concern. I know we're using we're using real firearms and and to tell you the truth at all the clubs I've ever been to. Um the the the community the the sportsman's club the community it's a very tightknit group of people. Um safety is very important. If anyone is doing something they're not supposed to be doing members are very quick to point out, hey you can't do that. This is what you're supposed to do. Um, at John's club, he's he's in charge. So, there's rules written on the clubhouse. The students have to follow those rules.
31:49They have to recite them. He's taught trapped to students at other school districts. I believe the Konic Hills. So, he makes the students read the rules every time they enter the range. Um, so it's, you know, safety, safety, safety. That is the most important thing. Um and clay target shooting sports is um it's one of the safest sports um nationwide. Um we all know that when students are engaged in extracurricular activity makes their lives a lot better. Um students that are engaged in a sport um in clubs they tend to have better grades. Um they tend to uh do well on tests. Um, there's a lot of good that comes from this club.
32:37There is a potential for college scholarships. A lot of colleges across the country. There's at least five or six New York colleges that have a trap team, a clay target sport team, um, lettering program. Um, so it's there there's, you know, there's a lot of kids in our district. I I was a class advisor for the class of 2025. about 103 kids were in that class. Um I am willing to bet and and maybe Laura, you can correct me if I'm wrong. I'm willing to bet maybe 30 or 40% of those kids were involved in a sport or a club. Yeah.
33:12So this this is a club that could attract kids. It's another opportunity to engage kids in something outside of school, something extracurricular. uh you know joining a club, being part of a team, higher self-esteem, better grades, less likely to abuse drugs, alcohol, tobacco, more likely to be involved in their community. A lot of times kids that, you know, compete in trap, they become members of the of the of the sportsman's club. Uh sportsman's club offers a lot of amenities. There's a pond, there's fishing.
33:47It's a you know, it's out it's an outdoor activity. So the kids leave their phones behind for a little while. for a couple hours, they're outdoors, they're engaged in this great, exciting, fun sport, right? Um, so how do schools compete against each other? So the competition between schools are usually virtual. So the Hudson team would go to the Hudson Fish and Game Club and say we were competing against Hiccod or Takonic Hills or Lancenberg. Those are all schools that have a a trap team.
34:22Well, they would go to sponsoring club and then scores are recorded and uploaded to the league by the by the team staff. Um the USA clay target league uses those scores to rank athletes for competition. Um usually you at the so all the all the competitions between schools are virtual but then in June there's a statewide competition in Syracuse where all the schools students are invited to come and participate and compete.
34:55All right. So, the state tournaments, all are invited. All right. So, at the end, and just like I said, at the at the end of the spring season, every league has a state tournament in June. Um, it's an exciting in-person event. It caps off the school year in the spring season. It provides athletes the opportunity to compete in real time against other teams from across the league. Um, every athlete that participate in the spring season is invited to compete in their respective class. ifications based on season average.
35:24Um, everyone will get a chance to shoot a 100 targets. Um, and there's a chance to win awards as well. Uh, the state tournaments are very fa familyfriendly. Um, I believe in I I don't know about the 2025 tournament, but I know in the 2024 tournament, thousands of people showed up. Not just the students that were competing, but their family, their friends, classmates. A lot of people showed up. I believe close to was it maybe 10,000 about 10,000 people showed up to Syracuse for the state uh trap uh competition.
35:59So um there's a school team uh tent flags uniforms. Um people came cheered on their teams, cheered on the athletes. Um I do have a video but I guess it's not loading. I hit next. Okay. All right. And then I just hit next to play the video.
36:29Oh, nope. Sorry. Let me go back. Um, so this is a short twominut news segment about the 2024 um New York uh trap competition, statewide trap competition. So I wanted to show this to everybody here. York [Music] needs to mute.
36:59She is she is
37:03Oh, no. It's us. It's ours. Can I ask a question while he's getting the video up?
37:27Sure.
37:27Uh, what age levels are you targeting?
37:3012 and up are are allowed to participate. So, anyone the the great thing about this uh team, about this club, anyone can participate. Boys, girls, people with disabilities. Uh the league says you have to be at least 12 to to compete. Yes.
37:46And does this lead to their New York State youth hunting license? The training that you're uh putting the kids through. Would this qualify as that?
37:54What's that?
37:55You know, the youth uh training program that they have for the New York State hunting license.
38:00You you have to take that course as part of being part.
38:04So they would qualify for their New York State hunting license as youth. Perfect.
38:07Yeah.
38:08It' be an eight hour course.
38:11It's usually offered on weekends shooting contest throughout the state in Bridgeport this afternoon. The event allows students to showcase their game while also focusing on gun safety. Our strander brings us the perspective tonight. Trap shooting is gaining momentum across New York. In 2016, this tournament had 500 participants in it. Now in 2024, almost 2,000 shooters here in a league that's so focused it's about safety with a loaded weapon and having fun.
38:43This isn't your traditional school sporting event. Students and families from across New York filled the Bridgeport Rod and Gun Club for the annual high school tournament. Organizers call trap shooting a sport for everyone.
38:56It is fantastic to see all the different kids from all walks of life. Some athletes have like a broken foot or they need a stool to to lean on to shoot. Um, there are absolutely no best in in play target shooting. Two local shooters from the Blasy Central School District trap team, PaytonRandle and Cole Mcnitt are in their second year of play target shooting. They both are enjoying the process of learning to love the sport.
39:23I like how it's kind of individual. You have a team, but you don't have to rely on them to do well or do bad.
39:30You can kind of people and just things have every time you bring a target. It's just satisfying when you do it because it's hard to do it.
39:44With almost 2,000 students starting at 12 years old, there are important safety requirements and a deep respect for firearms amongst these shooters.
39:53And I think it's really important that students have the opportunity to be able to uh to learn that responsibility able to handle something that not everybody is familiar with.
40:03It feels really good because I think there's a lot of bias and opinions around guns and for people to just see that thousands of kids can come together and do good things with it.
40:14It was scary first. It's just being
40:23Well, this isn't a certified scholastic school yet. The USA is hoping they can work with New York State to make it one in the future as they say trap shooting is a sport that everyone can participate in. Reporting in Bridgeport, I'm Dale O. Shooting USA is brought to you by Bear Customs 1911.
41:03All right. So, you know, why have a high school clay target club? Um, you know, again, there's a lot of local schools that have a clay target club. Um, Icabad has one. I believe Takonic Hills has one. Um, Maple Hill, they're organizing one.
41:20Oh, Kabad is starting one. Lancingberg, they have a team, I believe, um, in Green County. Are there teams?
41:29Kusaki, Athens,
41:32yeah, Greenville.
41:33So, there's a lot of, uh, local schools, uh, you know, schools that we could compete against. Um, I think the these are some of the six important reasons why we should have a clay target club. I I think teaching kids gun safety, responsibility, um, you know, firearm maintenance, firearm safety. Um, having respect for for firearms. Um, I I think it builds character.
42:00Um, you know, a trap club, trap team. It's a team. It's team work. Everybody um cheers each other on. Everybody helps one another out. It's a very inclusive sport. So, again, anyone can join. There are no bench warmers. Nobody's sitting on a bench.
42:18Um I you know so I've seen our basketball games and there's some kids who don't get to play um for for whatever reason. But in a play target club, everyone gets a chance to go to the line and try their best and and it's a team sport. So it's all about gaining points for your team.
42:41Um it's community engagement. Um it gets the sportsman's club involved in the school. um a lifelong skill and pa and passion when you learn how to you know play trap. Um a lot of times kids learn trap shooting and there's five major clay target sports. Trap is one of them. There's ski, there's uh sporting clays and then there's five stand.
43:06Um so a lot of times kids get in a trap and then they're like well I'd like to try ski shooting. It's a little more challenging. Uh, and then they might want to try sporting plays, even more challenging, or five stand, which is those are the more challenging games.
43:22Uh, but it's a lifelong skill. You learn a lot. Um, it's like riding a bicycle. It's a skill you never forget. Um, it it it's something that a lot of people once they pick it up, they have a passion for it. Um, it stays with them for the rest of their life. You make memories.
43:36Um, it's grow it's grown in popularity across the country. Um, I think health wellness, just being outdoors and engaged in this. It's there's no running involved in a clay target sport, but you're at least outdoors. You're, you know, it's a social club and it's a lot of fun. Um,
44:01I know a lot of the kids that are on the trap teams and other schools, they they really really enjoy it. Um, this last page, if anyone wants to screenshot this, these are some resources. high school USA claytarget.com. Um the New York USA claytarget um is a source of information. There's the collegeusa claytarget uh website where you know people can get additional information about this club.
44:25Um I'd like to have permission to make use the school's name. Um, I know it might not be possible to really start this year as I I know there's the issue of a stipen for an advisor and things like that, but I would like to get word out. I'd like to get more student interest.
44:44I know that there's a few kids who would like to do this. Um, John is willing to open up the the Hudson Fishing Game Club on a Saturday morning for any student that wants to come at 10 o'clock in the morning and learn um learn trap. Um,
45:03not just the students. I I encourage your parents.
45:06Yes.
45:07We can come too.
45:08Of course you can. Of course you can, Diana.
45:11And it's it's not hard. I I teach uh youth archery and traps for July and August. And I have parents that look forward to coming more than their kids sometimes, you know, so they can they can shoot either archery or trap. And if any of the adults want to come up, Friday night is when they have open trap at six o'clock at the club. If anyone want any of the adults, anyone from the board administration, just if you want to come and see what it looks like, what the trap range looks like, meet some of the people, meet some of the members.
45:42And if you want to try it, I'd be willing to come in on a Saturday, but we don't have because usually Friday nights we get pretty crowded with people that constantly come. We're open all year long, weather permitting. So on Saturdays I can open up the club and we can get total hands on so you can see exactly what what the sport's all about.
46:05Can I ask a couple of questions?
46:07Sure.
46:08Uh so I have two. Uh one is uh how are the guns procured? Do they have to be purchased by the families and where are they stored? And then two could you elaborate a little bit on the junior hunter safety course? What's in the curriculum and what students learn? The hunter safety course would be open up to the parents also. It would have to be you get a hunter safety certificate so you can actually go out and hunt for from New York. As far as the shotguns and all that, I have them at the club kept away in a safe along with ammunition. I have basically everything that they need. And once we start, if we get the okay next year, we can apply for a grant through Columbia Green, which I've been getting, and it's up to $5,000 to purchase more equipment, and so we can pay for a lot of stuff. Hudson Fish and Game Club is willing to open up and get the ball rolling and fund some of this and pay for the initial registration fees when we do start. Then hopefully that $5,000 grant would come in and help out with the birds and the and shells.
47:25Can I touch on a couple things there?
47:26Yeah, go ahead.
47:27Just sorry. Can you step to the mic? Yep.
47:30Sure. Thanks. I'm usually pretty loud. So, the one question you had about the hunter safety, that's one part of it. Okay. The hunter safety course is very elaborate. It goes into hunting quite a bit. What we did at uh Castleton Fishing Game was any kids that wanted to take that course, we ran the course for about four and a half hours. It's supposed to be like a seven, eight hour course. The rest of the time it was out on the trap field with instruction. Okay. So, we ran through the hunter safety course real quick, got them. So, they were certified. They had to take a 50 question test. You know, they all passed.
48:07After they passed, I took them out on the firing range and literally gave him a two-hour course on safety, how to shoot, talking dominant eye, everything. Okay, there's one other way they could do it. I had two kids that said, "I will not sit through a hunter safety course. I don't want to see anything getting shot or killed." you know, so they can take an online course with USA trap, but then they have to take a 2hour course with a certified USA trap official, which I am. Okay? So, no matter what course they take, they're going to get firearm safety training.
48:50And once the kids start coming, one thing that they didn't mention, they talked about having a range officer for every 10 kids. No club when you start puts one kid out there without one adult with them that's a range officer to work with them. And usually you're standing either directly behind them or a little bit to the right, especially because the kids are going, you know, one's here, one's here. I usually stand right on the edge of them here. Okay? So, if anything was to happen, if they're going to swing a gun that way, my hands right there. Okay?
49:20There's a lot of things you do. And until you're safe with the kids and know they're proficient in what they're doing, you'll always have one adult with the child shooting. They're all student adults. You got to, you know, make sure they're doing the right thing. So, just want to let you know that's that's how far we go with the safety on this. There's, you know, we're pretty safe. That's why there's no accidents. Great. Any other questions?
49:47Joe, I was going to say, uh, a friend of mine brought me to shoot trap in Averil Park a couple years ago, and I'm a pretty natural athlete, but that was 100% my Achilles heel. I think I had a couple rounds of zero out of 25.
50:00Um, we as a district would have to check with our insurance carrier knowing that other schools, many other schools offer programs affiliated with the school. We know that that's a possibility.
50:11U, but of course, we protect the assets of the district in that. Uh were there any other additional costs? Oh, and I was also going to say I agree with you. It's a brotherhood. You know, there are people who are willing to volunteer to spread this skill to other kids, which is a beautiful thing as well. Um are there any other expenses like the cost of the shot or um while they're shooting the trap birds?
50:35I mean, there there are, you know, costs for for ammunition, but I mean, John said that there's a a grant. Um, but I'm I'm I'm sure that the club is going to have to do some fundraising as well.
50:50Okay.
50:52I said we'll we'll start the initial paying for the birds and the shells and I I got money left over from last year's grant that's going to be going towards this. And we have a youth fund that we can get money also out of our club to do this. But Like I said, we're going to have to use the school's name and promote shirts and you know, there's some cost that the school's going to have to, you know, promote like shirts and just little things. You know, we'll see how it goes.
51:30Start.
51:32I don't I I think, you know, this sport is is rather affordable considering the club has um shotguns that students can use. Um it's It's not a super expensive sport. Baseball, a baseball bat's $400 or $500. So I I mean,
51:51yeah, consider what they pay for their own kids equipment for their sports. You know, it's
51:59try to try to reason and work something out as we go along. But we also encourage that no students will bring any weapon to the school. they would have to go home from here to go get any equipment if they have their parents' shotgun or something to bring it to our club. And we emphasize that no weapons are allowed on school property. And like I said, our club has everything they need to start off. So
52:32awesome.
52:33Yeah, sounds like an amazing opportunity for our students. Thank you all for being here.
52:38Thank you.
52:39Thank you very much. Uh, next brings us to board reports. Uh, audit committee.
52:49Uh, the audit committee met on August 6th, uh, at 10 a.m. Uh, I was elected the chair of the audit committee for the year. Uh, we reviewed um, business office plans including with uh, Bose staff who are assisting. Uh and a uh status update on the 2425 audit which is in process.
53:11Great. Thank you. Uh facilities committee,
53:14we have a meeting scheduled for this Friday. Uh there's some question about uh some members being able to attend. So we may have to reschedule, but we will have a report after that.
53:25Great. Thank you. Uh policy committee.
53:27I have Amanda's uh report since she's in the box. So, as a policy uh committee, we reviewed the applicants from the community uh that would like to join the policy committee and we're going to be sharing out the final committee members soon. Uh we want to thank everybody for their applications and expressing interest in that.
53:46We also worked on update 8310, workplace violence uh policy to reflect uh the reporting process within our district and policy 1120, school district records to uh reflect the NISBA updates and the current staffing model. Uh finally, we discussed that NISBA, New York State School Boards Association can provide our policies uh this year and over the next few years. Um uh stuff that's been duplicated uh not updated for over 20 years. So, they're going to provide a service for us uh in that respect. And that's all I have for now. Thanks.
54:24Great. Thank you. uh for the board president's report. Um many of you are aware uh Calvin Lewis announced his resignation from the board. I would just like to take a moment to formally uh recognize Calvin and his service to the district. Was honored to serve alongside him.
54:38His unwavering dedication to the city of Hudson, the Hudson City School District, and most importantly our students uh is evident in everything that he does. Though he's very softspoken by nature, Calvin consistently brought thoughtful insight and care to every board discussion and decision. We wish him great success as he takes the helm of the Hudson Youth Department and look forward to continued collaboration and support of all of our young people both in and out of the classroom.
55:04Um, additionally, we'll be talking about uh filling his seat later on in this board meeting. Um, as well the board is also working on organizing a special election in regards to the sale of the John L. Edwards property. Um, so that concludes our reports.
55:22Uh, at this time we do have a need for an early executive session. So I make a motion to enter executive session at 8:53 p.m. for the purposes of discussing potential litigation and for the employment history of a particular person or persons. Uh, promise to be as quick as possible. Uh, and we're actually going to use the band room so we have less of a hike. Uh, see you all shortly.
55:50Second. Oh yeah. Second. All in favor?
55:53There you go. ceremony from the moving up ceremon.
1:17:29All right. Make a motion to exit executive session at 7:18 p.m.
1:17:34Second.
1:17:35All in favor? Thank you all for your patience. Uh brings us to personnel agenda. Make a motion to approve personnel agenda items A 1 through 7 and B 1- 4.
1:17:50Second.
1:17:51All in favor? Brings us to welcome new staff.
1:17:58That's me. So, it's my pleasure to welcome a few uh new staff members that are joining us, and I'm going to read some of their bios. Aubrey Eric, a graduate of Sunni Oniian, is 2024 uh with a bachelor's degree in early childhood and child education. She is completing her master's degree at Sunni Bingmpington, and this past school year was a substitute teacher in many different buildings, which is always a great way to learn.
1:18:29This year will be her first year as a teacher, full-time teacher. And a fun fact is that she's a huge book lover. That all makes sense.
1:18:40So, welcome.
1:18:41Welcome.
1:18:44[Applause]
1:18:46All right. Uh Thomas, you can go Thomas. All right, we're welcome Thomas as an elementary teacher in second grade. So, as a new second grade teacher at MC Smith, uh he's passionate and ed energetic educator who grew up right here in the Hudson Valley in Red Hook just down the road.
1:19:15He's a graduate of Russell Sage College Estbi School of Education where he earned a bachelor's of arts and childhood education with dual certification in literacy and special education graduating magna cumlaudy. He's the secondyear teacher with previous experience teaching fourth grade as well as serving for many years as a substitute teacher in the capitol region and as a co-teer at the local nonprofit Kites Nest. Fun fact, Thomas is also a bookworm and a huge science fiction and fantasy fan, and he's excited to join us here at Hudson City.
1:19:52Welcome. Okay, I'll do Anna next. Okay. Yeah. Uh, let's see. I apologize. Someone hiding my my script just before the meeting and it's in an email, so you got to read the whole thread to figure things out.
1:20:25All right. Ano Sumakus uh received a master's degree after working in a classroom setting as a substitute teacher and a teaching assistant in Green Chimneys and Carmel Central School District. This is where she discovered the passion for helping students teach or reach their fullest potential. Has a bachelor's degree in graphic design, an MS in students with disabilities prek12 from Long Island University.
1:20:50Fun fact, an artist and continues to do artwork as much as possible and always tries to find ways to combine creativity into her teaching and she believes that'll help benefit students and make it more enjoyable for them. So, welcome.
1:21:09[Applause]
1:21:15And last but not least, Lily Sanchez, very happy to be filling a long-term substitute position for us. Earned her master's degree in science and teaching from Sunni News this past May of 2022. uh rigorous classes uh in in formative classes in pedagogy, inclusivity, childhood development and became certified at birth to grade six shortly after receiving her masters and has an initial certification in birth to two and one through six.
1:21:45Triple threat spent the last two years working as a fifth grade teacher in Elmmyra, New York and learned and grew as a teacher while being there. learned about being more co cohesive in lesson planning and how to structure lessons so that students can understand uh what the standards and the learning outcomes are which is tricky to do. I learned how to have a more organized classroom management procedures and routines.
1:22:10I learned to differentiate based on student data and use things like manipulatives, anchor charts, and graphic organizers. And we're going to ask her to demonstrate all those tonight. Um, and um, there are some interesting facts. I'm an immigrant from France and moved to the United States and began first grade here. I'm an outdoor enthusiast. I love to swim, especially in hike mountains, and I'm working towards completing all the 33 peaks in the Cat Scales.
1:22:38All right, we're going to hold you to it.
1:22:42Not here.
1:22:44Here. Well, welcome. You're all looking at me to spot her in the audience. I don't think that's going to happen. Not right now, but
1:22:56All right. Well, welcome everybody. Thank you. Uh, next up brings us to public forum. Leslie, did anybody sign up to speak?
1:23:02Nobody signed up.
1:23:04Great. Uh, superintendence report.
1:23:07That's not it. It has been an extremely exciting seven days and I only have 14 things to talk about. Uh first I want to recognize last day of summer school at the high school was last week. First day of regent exams today and um I happen to come in the tail end of of a long summer school having been a summer school principal before.
1:23:32It is you think it's hard to get kids to come to come to school during the school year. Having them su succeed in summer school is tantamount to a miracle. So very grateful for the work of all the staff who chose to come in and work with them and ideally uh they've yielded some success and we'll see the results of that soon.
1:23:48Also amazingly last week I got to see the kindergarteners here for orientation week. I saw them on their third day and they looked like they were in college already. They were lined up and smiling and anybody who's worked with kindergarters knows that they're like crying until like December sometimes. Uh so the kids that were there I was so amazed and at the same time of course the um camp invention is going on.
1:24:14So you had the little ones and you had the big ones in the elementary at the same time and just fascinating and alive. So kudos to the people that were in partnership to to make that possible.
1:24:29And number four we have a new communications person starting on Monday. Some of you may know that we uh coordinate with Boseies and we have someone in district three days a week and uh I just spoke with uh Brian the head of communications at at Nerk or Quest R3 and uh he mentioned that this is someone who's coming in with a lot of business experience uh in PR which is sometimes very advantageous you know to adapt that to what we need here in the district and I will say unquestionably one of the initiatives for this year is to make our communications more about the people that live and work here and the students who attend.
1:25:11I mean, we've seen the website. We website looks very professional and uh when you're looking at content, you can see the difference between 30,000 ft and three feet and we definitely want to bring it to three feet. So, we'll be working toward that. And I don't want to talk about the cell phone policy, but I will.
1:25:32Uh, as you probably know, New York State made a very late game decision last year initiating a cell phone ban or I should say uh internet were ready device ban in public schools. So, every school in New York State is going through the same pain. And although the buildings did send out a communication uh late last year and really with not a lot of time to plan, the board passed its policy which they're required to do as we open school.
1:26:01Um, please know the principles will be sending a second communication to families tomorrow through parent square. And our plan is essentially elementary school students are expected to keep their phones in their teachers designed storage, students personal cubby or in a locker, students locker. The high school, the plan at this point is for students to keep them in their lockers. We understand that is not ironclad, right? We're talking about what is tandemount to an addiction and there are going to be some ripples and bumps in the road.
1:26:36But to be fair, uh the school district has a responsibility by that regulation. Phones cannot be on students persons unless there is adequate exception to that such as a health need. Um so it's not this is not a district decision. This is not something the district really wants to do. wrestling children for their phones, but it's something that we are mandated to do as all schools are in New York State.
1:27:03When we open school, um we recognize that we haven't had a lot of time to communicate this with Fidelity to families. Uh that although we will again this week, we recognize we haven't had a lot of time to share this with Fidelity with students. And that's what we're going to do when we open school. What we're not going to do is turn it into World War II.
1:27:27The most important thing is we do not want to push the responsibility onto those that are working in the classroom because they have one job to do which is to educate ed educate the children in their care. So uh the principles and I have been talking about what safeguards will we put in place to make this work until we can get to no cell phones. So, you'll see more communication around that and um ideally we'll have a successful roll into the school year. Does anybody have any questions or suggestions about that?
1:28:04No, it's the same problem at every school and it's it's it's a hard one.
1:28:10Leslie's been doing some investigation around the sale of property. Uh it's important to understand some timelines especially as the board is going to discuss what you're going to do with your vacant board seat and if it does uh end in you deciding that you want to have the public vote the same timelines apply.
1:28:26So uh what you discovered is that we must begin the process at least 45 days prior to when we intend to have the vote. One of the biggest drivers in that and and you probably know from other budget votes that you've seen, we're required to post notice of that in our public no locations, which is usually one or two local papers four times over seven weeks. So there's your 49 days, actually that magic number.
1:28:56And you have to add into that that not all publications publish every day. So you might have one that's a weekly publication. You might have to wait until their first publication to start your clock. So, at the soonest, you are talking the end of October probably if you were going to bring the public in and uh to do a vote for the um the sale of the property and for electing a board member.
1:29:22And I think that um there are some other uh logistical things involved. Um Leslie told me that we own our own voting machines, which makes things easier. All right. Okay. Sometimes it's easier. uh they need to be programmed accordingly. We need to have the right materials for that.
1:29:38So, I would say it's safe to say if if you were hoping to do this, you're really talking November, you know, to be safe, to be fair, and to meet all the deadlines that need to occur. But just so the board is aware, um if they so choose, um that's a timeline we're talking about. There any questions about that?
1:30:00Um no questions. We I will talk about it a little bit in new business, but we also have a 90-day uh clock from Calvin's resignation if we are to fill his seat by a special election. So, it's other other factor to throw in there.
1:30:15Good to know. So, we get we're have bookends. Yeah. Um, I had Mark pass something down to you which I'm not asking you to vote on, but it's a resolution for the superintendent to appoint people in between board meetings. You've uh the board has chosen to move to one board meeting a month, which can be very nice. The issue is that it does to some extent hobble the district. as if for instance, if we're in the second week of September, we're on September 13th, the day after a board meeting, and we have an unexpected resignation, one of our instructional positions, the way it is right now, that can't be filled until the board reconvenes and votes uh for someone to be uh placed in that position.
1:31:02So I wanted the board to consider perhaps at our next meeting to adopt the resolution so that we are able to and it would be really in emergency circumstances this is not to actively hire you know on an ongoing basis because really once we're out of August we should have a pretty good idea of who who's working for us but we all know that there are some unexpected things that come up um and especially in some of our still vacant positions. There are some very hard to fill positions such as Spanish and a agriculture. They're hard to fill.
1:31:37And um that is absolutely something where it's no joke. We we were talking and it it's true in all offices in all districts that a Spanish teacher walks in, they're fingerprinted and qualified and have experience. They're not leaving that office until the superintendent meets with them and we hire them. It's that rare a thing right now. Uh so being able to do this is very very important for the health of our staffing and um and being able to provide students with what they need. But we can discuss that now. We can discuss it at the next meeting which do
1:32:13it makes perfect sense to me. Uh you know the other option if there's more business is always to have a emergency board meeting which can be brief and just for purposes of a personnel agenda or consensus agenda. So, we got a few things we can consider
1:32:28and Mark has walked right into my trap. We have some people who are in the process of onboarding right now and we know that we'll be ready to offer them a job, hire them uh before September 2nd, but they're not quite there yet. You know, we we do do our due diligence, call their references, make sure they're fingerprinted, go to teach and make sure they have certifications. I wanted to ask the board's favor to do exactly what Mark has suggested that sometime next week um perhaps on Thursday we have just an agenda to appoint personnel.
1:33:10I think my question about the document you handed out it it says in the case of an emergency my question would be could we define emergency a little bit more clearly? Sure. um just so that we can can limit the the possibility of um you know overuse of the policy and we can say this is this is defined
1:33:29good idea can do
1:33:33um yeah everybody available on the 28th I may not be able to but can we get a quorum
1:33:39I think
1:33:40I won't be here but I can I can participate virtually
1:33:45Diana
1:33:46yeah definitely
1:33:47I'm okay if you wanted to do it at 5:00, too. I don't know if the if there are greater power that makes it be at 6, but
1:33:54it would just be just to do the personnel.
1:33:58Kirsten, are you available?
1:33:59I'm thinking I think I'm clear.
1:34:01Okay, Matt.
1:34:03Um, if we do choose to do it earlier, 5:15 is a little safer for me.
1:34:07Fine.
1:34:08Okay,
1:34:08that's fair. Thank you.
1:34:09Um, yeah. So, I think we'll be able to get a quorum for that. Uh, even if one or two of us need to be virtual.
1:34:15Okay. Thank you very much. Uh some or I wasn't done. That's not 14 yet. There are some orientations coming up. Um we have this Thursday at 5:30 our 9th grade orientation. And next week we have sixth grade. They're coming during the day 9 to 12 both on the 26th and 27th. And and the building principles will be sending that out through parent square so that parents are aware. And then uh kindergarten is having a welcome on the 27th at 5:30.
1:34:51I did take a look at the website and notice uh I could not find a calendar. So, we're going to fix that. Uh these dates, I mean um we know how chaotic parental life is all all day, every day, not just the summertime, but this last week leading up to school. people just want to know this, this, and this. So, we're going to work on that. Even if it's a piece of paper with a handwriting on it that's on a picture on the website. Um, we'll make sure that some things get up there so that people know what they're supposed to do. New teacher orientation is this coming Tuesday.
1:35:28We're going to have our our new teachers come in and uh they'll have an opportunity to work with their mentors. We're going to do some professional development with them. We're going to give them their Chromebooks. We're going to take their pictures. some time with their union friends and their mentors like I said. But it is always awesome to uh be able to greet people sometimes at the very beginning of their career, which tier six is going to be a very very long career,
1:35:56but it is awesome because they're energetic, excited. Sometimes it's hard to be that way when you're not in your first year.
1:36:03And um our superintendent's conference days are September 2nd and 3rd and they are all day. So students will not begin with us until the 4th. And uh we wanted to invite the board to join us if you're available on the first day, Tuesday the 2nd from about 10 to 12. What we're going to do is have a convocation where we acknowledge our new staff, where we welcome everyone back, where we acknowledge our um tenur staff, and um then we're going to have lunch. because that's what friends do. So, I'm hoping the board could join us and I'll send you a more formal invitation around that.
1:36:49So, close to the end. Oh, I drove on campus for the first time two Mondays ago and uh Lance interviewed me. I made a point of saying that I came on campus the second week of August and the facility looks amazing and we know the race between June 30th and September 2nd is ferocious. While all of us are on vacation in an island somewhere, Tyler and his crew are doing everything from floor to ceiling making sure that everything looks just so.
1:37:28Uh so I commend uh the work of that group. Um just phenomenal and and so friendly. And when I was walking down toward technology last week, uh one of his people stopped me to make sure I wasn't a criminal, which was awesome. I I think I had my badge, but I didn't have a holder for my badge. So I looked very conspicuous with my jacket on. But that's exactly what we should be doing here.
1:37:55And um lastly, this is Dr. Pressy's last meeting with us. The last day in the district will be dis two Fridays from Yeah. Yeah. So, we want to thank you. I've only had seven days to work with you, but um thank you for your contributions to Hudson City Schools and we wish you well on your next adventure in Florida,
1:38:19which is like being on an island.
1:38:20Yes. Thank you. So,
1:38:22thank you so much.
1:38:2514.
1:38:26Well, thank you. Uh he can give Tyler and uh Dr. Pressie a round of applause. [Applause]
1:38:37Uh thank you Dr. Bailey. Um that brings us to our consensus agenda. Um make a motion to accept consensus agenda items A through M. Second.
1:38:57I'm going to ask that we pull item D from consensus.
1:39:00Ah, gotcha. Okay. So, make a motion to accept consensus agenda items A through C and E through M.
1:39:10Second.
1:39:11All in favor. Uh, and then we'll make a motion to accept consensus agenda item D. And Mr. Mro, you're
1:39:23recuse myself due to a conflict of interest. All right. Uh, so I get a second.
1:39:29Second.
1:39:30All in favor?
1:39:34Great. Um, and then that brings us to old business. Uh, this is a revised district-wide safety plan um that has some more specific uh names and dates plugged into it as requested at our August 5th board meeting. Um, anybody have any questions or comments?
1:39:58Can I just make a comment around these uh these safety plans along with the building level ones are a mandate. They must be in place before September 1, but please know, not that I want this to live on forever, but know that we can make a change any time that we need to. And sometimes that is necessary because staffing changes or we recognize a weakness in something that we're doing. So this is a living document and can always come back at any time but the mandate is that we have to have something you know solidly in place by the time school comes open.
1:40:34Great. Uh okay. So I make a motion to approve uh the draft of the 2526 district-wide safety plan and authorize the final plan to be uploaded to the NYD business portal.
1:40:47Second.
1:40:47All in favor? Uh new business. Uh first up is uh first reading of policy 1120 and all of its regulations and exhibits. Um this is uh a revision to our um digital records policy. Um the original policy that we were updating uh named a uh different member of the central office as the digital records um manager and we're revising it. Uh this is revised to have Leslie um as she's been acting in that role. Um you know we take it very seriously. want uh all of our uh records requests to be met with promptly and uh hopefully make this clearer and easier to track. Any questions, comments? Okay, great.
1:41:56Um, I believe uh we can discuss it again at the September 9th policy committee and then it'll be on the agenda again on September 16th.
1:42:14Um, next up is the uh vacant board seat. Um, do we have the presentation to project? Is it one?
1:42:47Stand by. Got Austin doing laps tonight.
1:43:02Yeah, no worries. Um, so as he gets this plugged in, um, as we discussed, Calvin's, uh, seat is open. um wanted to share some information with the board and the community um so that we can make a decision that is both uh deliberate and transparent. Um so we'll get this up there, go through where things stand, uh some of the factors that we get to consider when we make our decision and hopefully um at the uh end of this have a clear path forward.
1:44:36All right, beautiful. Thank you, Austin. Um, so, uh, yes, as we discussed, there's one vacant board seat. Um there are a few different ways we can approach it, but any replacement to this seat will hold uh hold the seat until the either the May 2026 election, that's if we fill the seat by appointment, uh or June 30 June 30th, 2026 if the seat is filled by a special election. Um, whoever is appointed to or elected to this seat uh may re uh seek re-election in May 2026 uh if they are so inclined.
1:45:26Um there are a few pieces of policy and state governance that we need to take into account. Uh first being policy 2150 um which says that we have the power to fill any vacancy. um doesn't say that we must um and in the past what we've done is we've had members of the public or the community submit letters of interest and the board votes uh to appoint one of those candidates to the vacancy requires a majority of the remaining board. So four members of the board must vote in favor of that candidate.
1:46:05Um, alternately, um, there are other parts of New York state education law, um, that allow us to hold a special election within 90 days of the vacancy. Um, alternatively, they could also, uh, have the Boseis district superintendent appoint uh, if we don't meet that deadline and don't uh, fill it. Um, however, as a small city school district, um, we have that power to appoint. Um, and we can also keep it open if we want to. Um, as a small city school district, we do not need to fill the vacancy until the next election if we are so inclined.
1:46:49Um, so that sort of leaves us with uh three options sort of on the table. Um the first option is to leave the seat open and vacant until uh the election in May. Uh at which point whoever is elected will be sworn in that day and serve their subsequent three-year term starting June 30th. Uh the second option is to appoint an individual. Um that's totally up to us. We we could pick anybody that we want to and say you're filling this seat or as we've done in the past um have members of the community submit letters and pick from those who have submitted letters.
1:47:33Uh and the third option is to hold a special election, which you know in and of itself would usually be something that is uh cost prohibitive um since we do need to hold a special election uh in the fall for the public to approve the sale of John L. Edwards. It is an option that is uh open to us. Um so everybody knows that was factored into um the negotiations with Penrose the developers. something we've been planning on and accounting for.
1:48:03Um we negotiated a uh you know larger earnest payment in order to compensate us uh for holding that election off cycle because we were not ready to do it in May. Um and given the 90 days uh the election if we're using the election to fill the vacancy would need to be held by November 3rd. um which is slightly complicated by the fact that normal election day is November 4th. Um so if we want to proceed with this option, I think the best plan would be to see if we could have a special election uh the last week in October so that there's no confusion between our election and the general election uh any general elections in November. Um some people have different polling places. Um, so want to make it clear where you're going and what you're voting on.
1:49:01Um, and then just a little bit more about the um, special election. Like our normal election, interested candidates would still need to complete a nominating petition packet in order to be placed on the ballot. Um, uh, so they would have slightly less time, but I think we could still give them about a month to get their petition packet filled out to be placed on the ballot. Uh alternately you could always run as a writin.
1:49:29Um and then you know the last piece is we would just need to sort of ensure that we could meet this type of timeline. So in early September um you know notice the election and make the petition packets available for uh interested candidates. Um their petition packets are due by law 20 days before uh the date of the election. So that would make the petition packets due sometime the first week in October um first or second week and uh as I just discussed um leave us with the uh election date sometime that last week in October.
1:50:11Um so those are the options and I would like to open it up to the board uh for thoughts and questions. I can start with Meen.
1:50:23Um I'm just wondering about leaving it open as an as an option. Like what what are the benefits or what would how would that impact the board one way or the other to leaving it? Um
1:50:37I don't think I would be in favor of that. I'm guessing
1:50:40I'm not saying I'm just I'm just saying I think if if nobody's interested in that, I think we could probably just dismiss that option because I don't
1:50:47I don't think we would leave it open.
1:50:48Just take it off the table. I mean it does make it harder for us to make a quorum if there are people out.
1:50:53Okay.
1:50:53Um we have that many fewer
1:50:55chances
1:50:55that you need to Right.
1:50:56Yeah. And it also leaves us with an even number and the option of having a split vote three three to three. So
1:51:02yeah. So is there another option that you prefer?
1:51:07Well I I mean I think the most logical thing is to appoint somebody.
1:51:12Um it just makes the most sense,
1:51:15right? Diana, your thoughts from a financial standpoint and time and
1:51:21yeah, my my concern is that there's so many things going on and so many things to do that this would be another thing to do in terms of having an election.
1:51:30Uh so logically I would think that appointing somebody that's just my opinion would would be the the most logical. Yeah.
1:51:40Yeah. My concern with potentially following through with a full election is that it's a lot to ask potential candidates to pull their together all their nomination packets and everything uh within a month and that month being September when children are starting school. It's a very hectic time. I think it's also even more to ask of of our potential candidates in that case um to go through that effort for a term that will only last through June. Um, so it's a very short period of of service for a fairly significant investment of time and effort. So I would also be in favor of an appointing or of appointing a candidate.
1:52:22Um, Amanda's joining remotely. She sent a comment in in advance. Uh, her comment was, "I'm in favor of holding a special election for this board seat. I think given the transition in the superintendent position, it's important that we open this seat up so that members of the community who want to be involved in supporting this transition have the opportunity to run for the school board and have a voice at the table.
1:52:46Matt, uh yeah, I I think the the election is an interesting um situation that wouldn't be considered if there wasn't the building sale. Um I don't think we have additional costs we're incurring necessarily to to do it. Um, I'd be inclined to put it out to voters and and let people decide, but the complexity of this is also notable between gathering signatures, the dates that we have to line up, um, you know, the, uh, confusion with the other election day. There's there is some some complexity here to manage.
1:53:21Yeah, understood. Um uh yeah, I think if if we were not doing a special election regardless, it would not be a feasible option. Um in my time on the board, I've had Yeah, I've had a chance to um make uh two appointments to fill vacant seats. Um and I I think the um sort of lack of transparency around the process and how the decision was being made um is perhaps one of many many factors that has led to um the erosion of some trust uh in the board and the decisions that have been made. Um, so in that sense, I'm attracted to uh an election and making it feel like that the members of the community really do have a voice and that we're not making arbitrary or capriccious decisions based on no uh apparent criteria. So that that would be my um my thought. And then you know the other part of it just is we are talking about very tight timelines. There are some unknown factors that we still need to investigate. Um, and we will be getting a little bit more information tonight, but perhaps um, in the uh, if we're having a special election next week, we could make that final decision, a special meeting next week, um, we could gather a little bit more information and make the final decision then. U Moren,
1:54:53um, yeah, I totally agree with you, Mark, on that and I I thought the same thing. Um but in theoretically anyone who's interested from the community or public interest could send a letter of interest, right? And essentially, you know, if they have an interest in being on the board, it would just streamline it,
1:55:18right? I mean, would
1:55:20in place of an election, you can just write a letter of in, you know, intent or interest.
1:55:25Yeah. Absolutely.
1:55:26Be considered for the position. Mhm.
1:55:29I think I don't know if anyone can hear me.
1:55:31Yes, we can.
1:55:37True.
1:55:39And I think it's really important in transition.
1:55:53Okay, great. Anybody else have any other comments? But otherwise, I would suggest that we um uh get a little bit more information from both Leslie's research and uh Virginia Benedict, who we're going to meet with shortly, and then be in a place to make a final decision at our next meeting,
1:56:12which would be next week.
1:56:13Yes, exactly. Yeah, since we're planning on having a special meeting anyways.
1:56:17Okay, great. Thank you everybody for your uh thoughtful comments and consideration. Um, brings us to uh public forum again.
1:56:29Uh, we have Nikki Geneito.
1:56:31Great. Nikki, you know, everybody gets three minutes to speak. We're not allowed to um entertain any questions or comments about district personnel or students. Um, and would you mind, uh, last time people wanted to be able to hear at the microphone, so uh, asking.
1:56:52Hi everyone, I'm Nikki Chito. I just want to, um, talk about the new board seat that has to be replaced. I've talked to a lot of people in the community and I just want to tell you what I've heard. Um, we just had a vote in May and many people that I've talked to, almost all of them think that you should just put the next person who was voted, which would be Mr. Zabella, who's been here since he's been on that vote, and that is what most people in this community think you should do.
1:57:19Just wanted to share that. And also, my question still has not been answered. So, while I'm up here, I'll ask it again. Still waiting for my answer. What jobs are not going to be filled from retirees? Still put it out there.
1:57:35Yes, we understand Dr. Baileyy's been here for uh a little over a week and that's at the top of his list. We're all working diligently to uh get you your answer, Nikki.
1:57:46Um Okay, great. Thank you.
1:57:51Um okay, board discussion. Anybody else have anything else to uh add? I just wanted to mention that after the last board meeting, I uh inquired about the broken clock up there and Tyler was right on that too. And he also said that the parts are obsolete. So, I just want to point out the fact that the guys made the parts up to fix the clock as well. Thank you.
1:58:14I never noticed that.
1:58:17Uh well, great. So, uh, upcoming meeting dates, August 22nd, 2025, uh, facilities committee meeting, district conference room, 4 to 5:00 pm. Uh, August 23rd, 2025, school supply giveaway sponsored by Pioneer Charitable Foundation and Steuart Shops in the high school cafeteria, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. September 9th, 2025, policy committee meeting, high school library, 5:00 p.m.
1:58:47September 16th, 2025, facilities committee meeting, district conference room, 4 to 5:00 p.m. uh September 16th, 2025 regular board of education meeting, high school auditorium, 6 pm. And as soon as we have a date and a time for our special meeting next week, uh we will be sure that it is noticed to the public.
1:59:06Um, at this time, uh, we do have a need for a second executive session, uh, at 8:00 PM for the discussion of of real estate transactions, the employment history of a particular person or persons, and potential litigation. Uh, do I we also need to appoint me clerk prom?
1:59:30Is Dr. Bailey going to be there the whole time?
1:59:32Gotcha. Yes. Uh, and point Dr. Bailey as clerk prom. Uh, second. Anybody second?
1:59:40All in favor?
1:59:43Um there will be no further business after this executive session. We thank you all for being here and hope everybody has a great start to the school year.

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