At a glance
The ex officio student representative opened the meeting by telling the board the high school's Writing Center has been cut, that this will be the first senior class in 13 years without it, and that the programs which help students reach beyond Hudson are the ones being underfunded. The superintendent said an extended school day grant might fund something like it, though only after school hours. The board also filled the seat Maureen Sheridan left in July, electing former board member Kirsten Gustafson from three candidates, and heard that the Smart Schools project now costs $1,870,096 against $1,719,004 approved by the state. Two residents spoke, one on how restorative practices are actually working in the buildings and one on free county mental health clinicians the district has not taken up. The board went into executive session twice on employment history.
"Restore the Writing Center"
The ex officio student representative used her report to tell the board that the high school's Writing Center has been cut, and to argue that the cut fits a pattern.
Key points
- She said this will be the first senior class in 13 years without the Writing Center, which she described as the main college resource the high school offered seniors, covering the personal statement, the Common App, financial aid and scholarships.
- She said a private college admissions counselor costs from $1,000 to $50,000 and a private essay review service from $400 to $5,000, and that the Writing Center provided this at no cost so that finances were not a barrier, particularly for low income and first generation students.
- She said she understood the budget cuts were made in good conscience, but that the programs which prepare students for college and let them aim beyond Hudson are disproportionately underfunded, and that students who are already excelling get little support.
- "The programs, institutions, and initiatives that we choose to fund reflect our priorities and our values as a school district," she said, and asked the board to restore the Writing Center.
- The superintendent said the extended school day grant the district received over the summer may offer a route. Work to plan the use of those funds was starting this week, focused first on the junior senior high. He noted the grant can only pay for activity outside the normal school day, so any replacement would have a different structure.
The transcript renders the student representative's first name as Liba. The agenda published for this meeting lists the ex officio student representative as Laiba Liton. She is referred to here by role.
Board Reports: Roofing, Boilers, and a Policy Manual of 275
Committee reports covered the capital work, the policy manual, the first finance committee meeting of the year and an August board retreat.
Key points
- Capital project roofing is 95 percent complete. The two storage buildings are removed, excavation and footings follow, and salt building excavation was to begin around the 17th.
- Work in the auditorium may start next week with a trench demo and removal of the existing seating. New seating, carpeting and strip lighting are scheduled for October 13.
- The last pieces of the high school boiler upgrades arrived, a portable boiler is on site to bring the pool up to temperature, lighting is complete in both buildings, and steam traps are complete at MC Smith. The rooftop unit is on site for installation on Columbus Day.
- The greenhouse is expected to ship on September 23. On the outdoor classroom, a member said the application from Assemblywoman Barrett's office had been returned; the superintendent corrected that it has not been, and that the architect and construction manager were asked to work up a budget within the $1.6 million designated, to be submitted within two weeks.
- The policy committee set goals for the year: take on a few high impact student facing policies and cut the manual down from roughly 275 policies. Up to three community members may join, with submissions due October 5 and a decision at the October 13 meeting.
- The finance committee met for the first time, reviewing unaudited prior year financials, process improvements in the district office and the budget development calendar.
- The board held a retreat on August 26 on communication norms, superintendent goals, board goals and the calendars. The president welcomed Melanie Lesher to the table.
Smart Schools: the Bill Came in $92,000 Over
The final piece of the district's Smart Schools investment came to the board, costing more than the state approved because a year and a half passed between application and pricing.
Key points
- The state approved $1,719,004. The current quoted total is $1,870,096, about $92,000 more than was applied for.
- The gap is covered by roughly $52,000 already held plus $40,000 in technology money the district set aside anticipating price increases.
- The work: cabling and wiring at the junior senior high and, more extensively, at the elementary school where the cabling is older; district wide PA systems and clocks; wireless upgrades, with the current wireless 12 years old and carrying computerized testing; and security cameras in places that do not have them.
- Next the district applies to the state, which staff expect to take weeks rather than the year and a half the original approval took. Work would be done after school, with a goal of finishing by the end of the school year.
Opening of School, by the Numbers
The superintendent reported on the first week, with enrollment, meal counts and the transportation changes.
Key points
- Elementary enrollment is 631. The junior senior high is 830, made up of 345 in grades 6 to 8 and 485 in grades 9 to 12. Forty six students new to the district registered over the summer.
- Food service is averaging about 250 breakfasts and roughly 800 lunches a day, over a thousand meals daily.
- The district maintains approximately 380,000 square feet of buildings and more than 70 acres of fields.
- On opening day the district brought back service recognition, honoring nine staff at 10 years, five at 20 and one at 30.
- After feedback about congestion and crowded buses, transportation added a run that day to pull students off several other buses.
- The junior senior high is operating as a single 6 to 12 campus this year, with one main office and changes to entry, parking and lunch schedules, and is reintroducing PBIS at the junior high.
Public Forum: Restorative Practice, and a Free Clinician Nobody Took
Two residents spoke, one about how a discipline decision was handled on the second day of school, one about a county program the district is not using.
Key points
- Claire Cousin, who identified herself as a Fifth Ward councilperson, a parent and director of Youth Power at Kite's Nest, said her son, a fifth grader in a specially classified classroom with a behavioral plan and an IEP, ran out of his classroom on the second day of school, and that the school was in the process of assigning roughly a week of lunch detention.
- She said she was told that giving him access to his counselor after the punishment had been decided was the restorative practice. After her conversation with the counselor the outcome changed to a restorative process with his teacher and no detentions.
- She asked the board to take up district policy on restorative practices, how they are implemented and how they are evaluated, particularly for students in specially classified settings, and asked what happens to the child whose parent is not there to make that call. The board president said policy and practice is one of the year's focuses.
- Dawn Beaumont, an alumna and a Department of Social Services employee of about 32 years, said the Columbia County Mental Health Clinic offers every district in the county a clinician at no charge, and that New Lebanon is the only district that has taken it up. She offered contact information and asked the district to explore it.
Policy: One First Read, One Abolished
Two policy items, both framed as a first step in cutting the manual down.
Key points
- First read of an updated workplace violence prevention policy. The substantive change names the executive director of business and finance as the person reports go to, part of moving policies from names to current titles.
- The board voted to abolish policy 2450, policy dissemination, as redundant with an existing policy.
- The chair said the point of removing policies is not a smaller number but being able to focus on the ones that actually drive the district, such as the code of conduct.
The Board Fills Maureen Sheridan's Seat
Three residents submitted letters of interest for the seat vacated in July, and the board elected one of them by open nomination and a show of hands.
Key points
- Letters of interest came from Alejandro Vincenti Jr., Rip Knobland and Kirsten Gustafson, due September 11. Knobland sent his regrets for the evening.
- Gustafson was nominated as a former board member whose institutional knowledge would help the board through the policy work and its support of a new superintendent. Knobland was nominated on the grounds that he had run for the seat, been through the candidate questioning and the election, and has family ties across the district.
- Gustafson received four votes and was appointed for a term from September 15, 2026 through June 30, 2027, and was sworn in at the table.
- The president noted that three seats are up at the May election and that whoever finishes third serves the one year remaining on Sheridan's term, and pointed those who were not appointed toward open seats on the policy and facilities committees.
Board Goals and a Budget Calendar That Starts in October
Three items came back from the retreat for discussion, to be approved in October.
Key points
- The board goals as presented cover committee work driving student focused decisions, fiscal oversight and budget development, and support and accountability for the new superintendent.
- On fiscal oversight, the stated aim is that significant budget decisions and potential reductions are discussed early enough to allow consideration of their educational and community impact.
- A member asked that the activity calendar include a review of voting and election procedures in February or March, which the community had raised.
- The budget development calendar runs: October, defining the process with administrators; November, feedback from teacher leaders and department chairs; December, an overview presentation with a budgeting handbook; January, the rollover budget; February, the program component; March, capital and administrative components plus projected revenues; April, board adoption; May 18, the vote.
"I've Never Had a Beginning of the Year Like This"
At the second public forum a staff member disputed the administration's account of the opening of school.
Key points
- The speaker said she has been in the district 26 years and has never had a beginning of the year like this one, and that it is not good.
- She urged the board to send an anonymous survey to staff so members could get a full picture, and to stop by the buildings and see the halls.
- A board member agreed on the survey and suggested extending it to parents and community members, with space for written suggestions rather than checkboxes, to get feedback on the reconfiguration and the buses.
Two Executive Sessions
The board entered executive session twice, both on employment history.
Key points
- An early session was entered at 6:29 p.m. for the purposes of discussing the employment history of a particular person or persons.
- A second session was entered at 7:33 p.m. on the same grounds, after which the president said any further business would follow.
No YouTube captions were produced for this meeting, so the transcript was made from the audio with OpenAI Whisper. Whisper filled three stretches of silence with repeated filler: roughly the first nine minutes before the meeting was audible, the first executive session, and part of the roll call votes. Those stretches carry no speech, and nothing in this summary is drawn from them.
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