two one action good evening everyone I'd like to call to order the December 5th 2024 business meeting of the pro har Union School District flag the United States of America the stands Nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all born and unborn item 1.3 approval of the agenda recommended be it resolved the Board of Education hereby approves the agenda as presented so moved second a question all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries item 2.1 the president's report I want to thank everybody in advance for being here and taking time out of your busy lives to come and address your thoughts and your concerns with the Board of Education this is our last U open meeting of this 2024 year so I want to thank my fellow board members for your service on the board and all the time that you give to doing your work that we do here and outside of here and to Sarah and Neil thank you for the work that you do for the district on other boards related to our our district I want to thank the administrative team and the entire Chester Community for all that we do for our students and for being brave and thinking about the future in terms of everything that we're doing and I want to thank our community for coming out and informing our decisions and that's it that's my president report we will now move on to item 2.2 hearing at the public I'm going to read the preamble to this so we believe that the effective dialogue can occur only in an atmosphere of mutual respect therefore it is the policy of the cro and Haron Board of Education to conduct its business at meetings and in all Communications written and oral in a manner that models respect and civility we invite and expect members of the public to share this commitment with us New York state law requires that the work of school boards be conducted before the public since Schoolboard meetings are not meant to be a meeting with the public but rather a meeting held in view of the public the best way for the cment school district residents to communicate with the Boe is at our sorry I'm in contacts monthly meet the Boe Community meetings scheduled throughout the year through ask the Boe or emailing us at Boe cha.org we are also happy to meet individually with residents to discuss concerns as part of the L business meetings the cro and Harman board of education has chosen to provide an opportunity for community members to share brief comments during hearing of the public sections regarding issues affecting our schools in an effort to be efficient and productive this is there's like a t somewhere I'm sorry comments particularly okay it doesn't actually say this on the agenda but regarding the com ments particularly on agenda items are welcome if Community member wishes to address non-agenda items the opportunities listed above may be more productive individual speakers will be limited to three minutes speakers should State their name and cot and Harman School District address all comments must be addressed to board trustees comments about a specific person staff student or Coten har and District resident are prohibited all comments should be in keeping with stability policy 20 10 referenced above members of the public and attendance at the meeting are expected to remain quiet unless it is their turn to make a comment the length of each hearing of the public is generally limited to 15 minutes at the discretion of the board president since hearing of the public sessions of the comments only in most cases the board and or Administration will respond to open issues at a future date please visit the Board of Ed section on the shester website for more information good evening I'm Michelle minov at 17 blary I'd like to begin by thanking superintendent Walker tonight for speaking at AA hosted meeting earlier this week it was a long and difficult discussion that covered challenging topic revolving around anti-Semitism in our district and ended with the hope of a followup meeting there he shared work that he's been leading showing the that the administration is making efforts to demonstrate progress but we fear that the proposed work will not effectively address the issue of modern day anti-Semitism at CH since the start of this school year testive Jewish students have been sharing some of their school experiences with us that they're singled out as team problems when Jewish High holy days conflict with desired practices and they are excluded from Team celebrations which are knowingly planned for these days assignments are due on the Jewish High holy days whicher days that school is closed allowing less time to complete these for observant students pennies it or tossed Jewish students as jokes utk students are evacuated because of threats to the synagogue that houses them swastic because are scrawled in bathrooms and on water fountains students are told to wear gold stars by their classmates but again they're just kidding these but these insts like the complicated and hurtful cult T night of May 2024 Escape every interance for notification and all other school Communications to the community when reported to the administration the responses are uneven if they happen for months families who have come to be part of Passa have been sharing incidents and concerns around anti-Semitism with ch's superintendent assistant superintendent principales and teachers it's typical that the concern is met with an openness to listen but other times they off or met with no response at all sometimes past reported incidents have done missing so Trends and patterns can't be easily detected when the administration occasionally meets with community members in person it is in situations that are not kept officially on record POS sees the administration focus on listening but not taking serious action lack of transparency and tracking and sharing the incident with the community and reluctance to address the issues systemically and the averion to the outright name me of anti-Semitism had serious concerns that impact social and emotional wellbeing of all students we again you to consider detailed recommendations and deliver a plan that educates the district and put students first good evening my name is Kathy look and I live at 52 beakman Avenue I have two children in the district a daughter at the high school and a son at PBC I'm here tonight to address the girls volleyball program at the high school which is toxic and detrimental to the well-being of our student athletes as a point of reference last year two separate families complained of the emotional damage their daughters suffered as part of this program school and District administrators were contacted and after a very cursory investigation which to my knowledge was not documented or recorded the district deemed that no Personnel changes to the team were necessary and this fall season began under the same leadership in October seven varsity volleyball parents signed a letter which was sent to the athletic director the high school principal the superintendent and to you the Board of Education in this letter many of the same claims were made regarding the environment that players are subject to and we urged our new athletic director to once again investigate two families were so dist distressed that they filed dossa reports as of tonight no changes have been made to the program and we as parents are faced with the reality that this District which purports to place such high value on the social emotional needs of its students is failing to protect our volleyball athletes the mental and emotional health of our athletes has been placed secondary to preserving the status quo of what has been for many seasons a failing team the lack of action by this district has shown us that the voices and feelings of our children as well as us as parents do not matter to you we as parents UST adults in this district with the Education and Care of our children and we expect that our children will be treated with the same dignity and respect that they are expected to exhibit to their teachers coaches and fellow students furthermore it is a widely accepted Norm that adults working with children should be held to a higher standard given the power differential differential that exists the district's continued acceptance of the harms caused by its coaches leads us to conclude that there is no such higher standard in croing I ask all of you what you would do if your daughter was faced with a choice to either quit playing the sport that she loves or continue to play Under the direction of a coach that has repeatedly made her feel bullied confused and unworthy is this really what school can be I'm Jeremy Po and I'm a junior and president of my grade I'm here because I attended the pass a meeting on Monday I would just like to speak from a student's perspective that it would go a long way the board and administration would acknowledge some of the requests of the members of passive an official acknowledgement of the definition of anti-semitism would allow for a common understanding of the issue in in case staff or anyone else needs somewhere to look into I heard what was said in terms of the administration taking the stance not to publicly acknowledge the incident that occurred at cultural but I think that this could possibly be beneficial as by stating that you could take steps to ensure that something like this does not happen again in the future I feel strongly by doing something along these lines this will help members of the Jewish Community feel as though they're not being ignored I also just want to make this is unrelated but I want to make you aware as an Administration that just a couple of hours ago a group of lower classman students posted on social media petition to alter the school schedule and they said that they feel as though it does not proi academic integrity and it's already gaining traction on social media so I just think this is something that's important for you all to be aware of thank you thank you to compliment the school district especially CDT on the the ceremony they have on V Day I know that both the active duty soldiers and the veterans were there appreciated everything the school did it's headed by one particular teacher and must have very good connections at West Point because be honor guard by the commander of the hospital down the drop I had it's much appreciated I think the kids enjoyed it and certainly the veterans and active duty soldiers appreciate it so I had talk to the school district the principal and all those concerned regarding volleyball I hope remedy the situation the Vol team because C parman has been historically for decades a Powerhouse in volleyball especially girls volleyball especially having a volleyball championship volleyball through myself my family also a coach which brings up the point the state of New York was about to implement boys playing in girls sports but they stopped short Board of Ed the State Board of Education Department of Education because of an election time in the sport of volleyball came home why her should be playing girl Sports when you see the video which TR going to send you of this particular place on San Jose sck which went to the championship but because half the other teams Fork didn't want to play this m player smashing a shot into the face of a female that on volleball CER to watch that and watch her fall on the floor and go down you can understand what's happening when they put boys and girls basketball look in Massachusetts and grow up Brey lake so the state was about to do this and I know you got pushed back but you never talk about it because you go to all these State meetings and so forth thankfully that was state but I believe like the state of California the Department of Education state is just radical enough to push this St through and you're the last protection we have and children would have against this type of stupidity thank hi my name is erad I live on pen Avenue I also have my flowing here and I wanted to talk about experience my son had he's in the eth grade at PBC and we are I'm Jewish and my son is Jewish and he recently gra a book Refugee and he was asked to go into a breakout group and compare the experience of the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis with the 19 19 yeah 1930s Jewish Jewish Refugee crises where Jews were trying to escape Nazi Europe whether it be Germany or countries that have been conquered by the Nazi regime and in that fph group he experienced a lot of push back that it was no it's exactly the same Jews have the same exact experience they were just being a Civil War and he had try to explain that he actually had family members that were in concentration camps in laia that didn't that have very deep experiences it was not a civil war they were selected and they were put into camps if they were able to work they stayed alive if not they were exterminated that was a process called selection if you read eliel night you will learn about that going through selection and extermination or actually being able to continue to actually work in camps later on after the workout group my son was given a yellow star a big one and said that this will help you connect to your culture and I think he was a bit shocked like what do you mean like this is going to help me like do you want me to wear this on my arm and walk around like my my family did in in Nazi Europe what are you kidding me and so I think maybe there's just a lot of kids that just don't understand what's going on today after October 7th what's going on with the history of Judea the history of Palestine and there's just a lot of confusion want to have anything to say yeah I just would like if there could be awareness about things that could possibly be offensive thank you so much anyone else hi my name isber I live in 13 I just wanted to say that I'm here to the parents again hi Justine de 121 Avenue and I'm also here to support Passa and ask the Board of Education take up the requests that the has made I am a soulman to both my kids went through prog they're graduated they've been going for a few years I've been to lots of these meetings been on lots of different teams and groups and boards and things like that I have to say I'm so disappointed I'm so disappointed to hear the similar stories that we were dealing with years ago I don't know where the protection is for the kids it's it's the put Sports to the religion to The Bullying it's been an ongoing conversation for so long and I I'm really sad get better I live at 14 Palmer Avenue I've been involved in posa since the beginning and I'm here to support and also just think it's an incredibly important and crucial time to focus on the issues that are brought before you I thank you for taking them seriously as you would any other group that came here and and that it's it's a ever out of Crossroads and I hope that this Village continues to sort of take the time so we can we can have this important conversation and get through to the other side in a way that's supportive of all of our our groups that are feeling that they need more support and they need to be listened to and taken seriously so thank you for doing that hi I'm Leah Eis a of court and Coten I just also here to support paa and I just urge you to follow all of their recommendations because it just breaks my heart what's happening in the community thank you Jim 17 GL here to show my support Passa just something I'm really afraid of that's it's a national trend for sure that people seem to think that Jews can't be harmed in in certain ways by wrongs and I I don't get into exactly why scares the hell out of me I've heard a story from I don't know what exactly was a couple years ago a few years ago there was a some of who repoed to be an adviser for Dei program said that the the attack on the the Tree of Life were Pittsburgh or worshippers were murdered the Jewish worshippers was not a hate crime and that happened in cro it was not spoken out against from my understanding of it that's that's what I've heard I feel like there's the problem is we just need to know that things are being done that if there's a wrong that the parents of the child meets for school administrators that come to Shar understanding of what happened the administrator says this is what I will do to work with that to talk to that teacher student coach whoever to make sure they understand the wrong that they do it and then that there's followup so the parent gets some understanding that this happened that the administrator says I spoke with this person we don't need a transcript of what happened just need some some meaningful reassurance that something was done to follow up or we're just we have to assume nothing was done and I fear that a lot of times nothing has been done hi I am Vanessa sck I live at 26 fny Farm Road here in fron and I have two children in the district I have a senior and I have an eighth grader and I'm just here to support Passa and been with the group for a while and I just I hope that you all will hear the group's suggestions and follow through with with their suggestions and I'm just here to show support for the group thank you so much is there anyone else [Music] also to show my support for and to say that I hope you are listening to what they have to say and making their recommendations seriously thank you so I I want to thank you all for taking the time and coming and speaking publicly at this meeting thank you all on to thank you all moving on to item 2.3 superintendence report thank you Anna good evening everyone thank you for being here and for everyone who's watching at home as honor reference this is our last regular meeting of 2024 and so it's a pleasure to get a chance to close out you was sharing some of the things that have been happening in our school celebrating students since the last time we were together in this space with this presentation so I wanted to begin by mentioning again Isabelle and the entire cast and crew involved in High School Musical the performance was U endearing perfect energetic this it was a great great Friday night getting a chance to watch you and the team shares your talents so congratulations again to you to miss oan and Mr katsman everyone involved particularly when considering that this was a road show I to I me thank our our colleagues at Hen HUD for for hosting us while our Auditorium Renovations continue and near completion so congratulations again great also want to thank and recognize ad Christine Drago Carla and all of the winter coaches staff families and student athletes who attended meet the coach night this is something that was kind of reinvigorated as a practice last year in the district and a great way to kind of bring our student athletes and families and coaches together as each season starts and actually prior to Miss drao and the team addressing all the the families and student athletes all of our winter coaches gave up their time to be there to meet with John tesor and Leadership from the Jason K Foundation to talk about the importance of engaging with our student athletes around mental health so it really was an appropriate I think really well structured experience for our coaches and orienting us in the right way as we begin what will hopefully be a really successful winter season for our tiger student athletes so thank you to all of that also want to mention I had a chance to spend some time at PVC just before the Thanksgiving holiday and in a really had a nice and fun example of Faculty bringing students together for a a shared experience Mr signno Mr Gallagher and Miss ernow brought their classes together to do some design work around what they're calling their Thanksgiving dinner plan criteria so students in groups U look through U various grocery store flyers to design and then Implement and present their ideal Thanksgiving dinner under a certain budget and so there's a really great discussions among the students about priorities about certainly the mathematics about sale prices taxes and some really interesting discussion around Sherie boards and chicken wings and some other really good sixth grade culinary fun conversation so thank you to all of them for the chance to be present for that way some good laughs before the Thanksgiving holiday also had a chance that day along with many other members of the administrative team to visit Miss deasio Aspire class of PVC as the board M member Mr Mia was here last month as part of the work session sharing the phenomenal work that goes on so many exceptional children in that class and so we had a chance to view their performance of the great turkey mixup which was really beautifully put together and some perhaps future actors and actresses in that room that morning so thank you to miss deasio and her whole class for some some great smiles also want to mention some really good work being done at C with some Thanksgiving projects not only second grade the pascy Banis class putting together a pretty neat Thanksgiving Day Parade video also in third grade the balloons Over Broadway project I picked out a couple year that I thought were great of course dancing Snoopy always is popular and for me the French Bulldog float was the winner so thank you to Emily and Alysa and all of the teachers for bring bring to our face visited CC last week Thanksgiving Parade music also had a chance to to take part in what is a wonderful tradition among the St staff over the transportation Depot hosted by Joe bernardy and the team the administrative team along with members of the board got a chance to spend some time with that group up there as part of their annual Thanksgiving potluck that's really one of the special days on the calendar for us to get a chance to be together with them to celebrate as a family and to lose each other a wonderful Thanksgiving so thank you to Joe and all the team up at the at the transportation center for giving us that a great memory as well also had a chance with the administrative team earlier this week to do some more extensive learning walks through C and just really tremendous and inspired and engaging teaching and learning happening all over that building I couldn't be happier with what's happening at CD under car and Craig's leadership and a phenomenal faculty one really neat project I just wanted to make mention of because I think it speaks to the the student engagement was the draw your Dreamhouse project this is fourth grade so dealing with area and perimeter U and so students then of course engage in building designing measuring out their own dream houses but the really neat part was that was shared with us by The Faculty that the students were so engaged in it they didn't want to stop when the project was over they came back to the faculty and said we want to present this in a different way to we act like we're real estate agents and design presentations to help to Market our own houses that we design that again just gives that kind of fills our hearts around the level of Engagement and interest from our students and the learning that they're participating in so great job by those students of course and also by The Faculty also had a chance toh to view the new Tiger Den at c one of the things that we know has been trying to to one of the things we've been prioritizing is to design spaces that can be used not only for student learning in a collaborative way but also for adult learning as we continue to to expand the pedagogical coaching model and so Carrie and Craig and the faculty have done a really nice job in designing this new space that now will be part of faculty learning and student learning going forward in C and so I want to just make mention and thank everyone who was involved in that design including Brad Kennedy of course and the facilities team last night was the college Symposium here at the high school so thank you to Mark Maxon Kirby Mosen fall T timido Zohan adim and all everyone who was participant in that all of our College reps John and I had a chance to attend that together and both left Having learned a ton frankly about the college acceptance process the college application process really just a in some ways it's been kind of a black box in terms of how students get admitted why and why they don't and I think we all left that night not only impressed with the quality of the presentations with the engagement of our students the questions from our students and from their families so really important night for everyone who was there so thank you to everyone who put that together this morning this morning Rachel and I had a chance to attend a learning session offered by the Westchester Jewish Council along with leaders from many other school districts around the county this isn't our first time with the wjc but they always do a phenomenal job we had the chance to learn from a series of presenters including a partner at fgs Global associate Regional director of the ADL and the director of education at the Holocaust and human rights Center the focus this morning was on how to Think Through whether and how to address Global events within our local school district communities examples of bias that students will likely encounter in materials that they access on line and sharing a future offerings for learning together so I want to thank everybody at the wjc and all of our colleagues from around the county and Rachel for for being there this morning also wanted to make mention of what has been a long awaited Foundation Aid funding formula report from the Rochester Institute of government those who are following kind of the inside baseball of the the state budget know that this came out of the budget conversations from last year as a request from the governor and while the reports recommendations are just that they're recommendations they're not binding on the legislature they do provide quite a series of options in the 314 Pages for the legislature to consider obviously of primary interest to us in our district is that concept of reducing the use of safe harmless funding we're one of 337 State har safe harmless districts around the state which is essentially a statutory guarantee of level funding even when the funding formula itself calculates an amount less than that for the previous year and so obviously concern about save harmless or hold harmless has is significant for a lot of districts because it's been relied upon to provide predictability in the budget development process stability in the budget development process U and so we want to make sure certainly through advocacy locally at the state level that any change in that doesn't result in lack of predictability for us as we build our budgets or it's changing school funding from state to local taxpayer U her so we want to make sure that that's on everybody's radar I think there are some things that are broadly agreed that are interesting and important including having the state potentially fully underwrite the cost of the mandated transition to zero emission buses and creating separate Aid categories to address needs involving students with disabilities U as well as other aspects of enrollment growth and and shrinkage in in various portions of the state so keep that on your radar the politics around this will be fascinating over the next few weeks and months and I we know that Denise of course will provide us with tremendous vision and Leadership again this year in terms of the budget development process and finally just wanted to make mention of something new from a faculty professional learning perspective the board knows that one of our priorities in entering into contract negotiations with the CTA last year was to look at different ways to provide significant and meaningful professional learning for faculty in a schedule that's already jam-packed with priorities and obligations that they have so one of the things that the CTA and the district agreed on was the the concept of the formation of study groups which would be faculty facilitated professional learning opportunities with faculty spend time outside of the school day engaging in research around the specific topic it's voluntary and then with faculty completed that a Factory level there issued inservice credit u this is something we haven't seen done in a lot of other districts but we're rolling it out for the first time and I'm thrilled I think we're all thrilled by the the quality and the quantity of the ideas that have come from The Faculty including a study group on co- teing not just within the general and special education realm but within interdisciplinary course development fostering mental toughness Spanish for educators mastering data driven decisions transforming insights into action thank you for that one Rachel understanding AI K2 visioning for Effective and intentional technology integration and social and emotional learning integration at the K to2 level so U thank you to many of our faculty who are going to be involved in not only facilitating but participating as well as to our administrative team it's always great to be present for the start of something new and this is a a real moment of opportunity for us to continue to grow as a a learning institution as a faculty so that's my last report for 202 thank you all thank you so much thank you st moving on to our item 2.4 student ex officio trustee report Tak away Iselle hello everyone so we have a couple of things going on at chhs starting from an sfc standpoint we're introducing a new role it's the PTSA student leaon Ro which is an opportunity for high school students to participate in and collaborate with chhs PTSA there will be two elected chhs PTSA co-directors who are charged with helping the PTSA plan organize and facilitate events for the chj student body I believe today the committee of sfc Representatives met to choose our two Representatives so stay tuned I will let I'm really excited for this and then the school counseling department is hosting a free application day with Sunni Westchester Community College on Monday December 9th at 11:00 a.m. so students will fill out their application and submit all documentation required to complete their application and WCC will leave all application fees that day so if you're interested you can sign up on Naviance by Friday with December 6th which is tomorrow and we have the save the dates for both proms this year so Junior Prom will be held at Portland Colonial Restaurant on Friday March 28th and senior prom will be held at the Garrison on Thursday June 12th and lastly winter sports have started and on Monday our senior athletes got to take their pictures for their posters which is really exciting so I'm excited to see that thank you thank you so much Isabelle moving on to item three public hearing on the districtwide safety Emergency Management plan item 3.1 recommended AC be resolved that the Board of Education hereby opens the public hearing of a districtwide safety an emergency management plan move second on the question all in favor I opposed abstain motion carries item 3.2 public question and answer period on districtwide safety and Emergency Management plan so at this point the public is invited to approach the codium with any questions you might have regarding the districtwide safety and Emergency Management Plan before we do that I just think for the benefit of the public the benefit for those here we should just say that the board in the spring approved the district water safety emergency plan subsequent to that adoption there were certain regulations and additions that requirements that were set forth by State education department and those changes are Incorporated in the document that we are considering and holding the public hearing for today I suppose you know if there are questions certainly I think Denise and perhaps others will be able to answer those questions so this was put out to a 30day comment period with the question survey no no questions were given but this we're required to put it out to the public for a 30-day comment period And as Mr Haber said the report that came down from the state was very late so we didn't want to miss the deadline to adopt our plan so we adopted it as is and then some of the changes were significant regarding drill notifications to students staff and parents so we wanted to work through that with our building leaders which we have and this is the the final plan for questions on the part of the board item 3.3 adjourn the public hearing on the districtwide safety and Emergency Management recommended action be it resolved the Board of Education hereby adj jours the public hearing on the districtwide safety Emergency Management plan so moved second on the question all in favor I oos abstain motion carries item 3.4 adoption of the revised districtwide safety and Emergency Management plan and building level emergency response plans recommended action be it resolved after having given the public an opportunity to be heard at a public hearing the Board of Education hereby adopts the revised districtwide safety plan in building level emergency response plans and be it further resolved that the district clerk is directed to file the districtwide safety plan and building level emergency response plans with the commissioner of Education within 30 days of the adoption as well as provide a copy to appropriate local law enforcement agencies and the state police so MO second on the question all in favor I iOS abstain motion carries moving on to item four consent agenda item 4.1 recommended action be it resolved the Board of Education hereby approves all items in the in the conent agenda on the question just a second question what is the difference between a recision and a resignation we have one item here which is a recision a Personnel recision I just wondering if you could that what is the definition of is that one individual never actually reps work and so there was a there was no need to resign there was no work that was performed understood or termination there no okay thank you all in favor I SS motion carries moving into item five a closing of our meeting we now enter into our second hearing at the public anybody would like to address the board please approach the podium hi I'm Josh Dean I'm 14 Palmer Avenue I guess I'm just concerned I I watched a YouTube video of another board meeting where people were kind of thring out their hearts and expressing concern the things that were going on it's community and everyone to sat up here Stone faac without any replied so I'm wondering if there's going to getting reaction because we're sort of a bit of a community in crisis right now and it just feels very like there's no acknowledgement and I'm wondering if there's going to be any sort of response or reaction or we're just going to kind of say no Mr judment I'll I'll address you and I'm I'm doing this out of context because it has been and I've spoken at different meetings subsequent to that meeting which I was not I was not present at that meeting I was out of the country it has been and I'm I want to just offer this explanation to you it has been the practice of this board to not respond to any public comment and and I think that I think my fellow board members didn't feel comfortable deviating from that so by way of explanation it it's not it's not a it's not that we're not hearing you and it's not that we're not moved obviously and concerned but it's just been the practice of this board to not respond at public meetings to anyone so I'm sorry I'm very sorry that it was a hard meeting and that you walked away feeling that way that's certainly not I do speak for my colleagues because I know them that we all do care so that it was conveyed differently or that it was you walked that anybody walked out of the room feeling differently everyone in this room cares I can assure you of that this community cares about what's happening thank you it would just be unfortunate if if bureaucracy got in the way of moral impair agreed that that's what that's what's happened for a long time it's not had good consequences agreed and I've also spoken publicly about the challenges that that that I'm facing as board president in terms of communicating and I have been paralyzed a little bit and and addressing community members and that does fall on me so I apologize for that and and and I am working on it and we are developing and our Communications committee is meeting we we're working to get more information out to the public in terms of the limitations of what this board can do and who you should reach out to specifically within the chap School District so we're hearing you I'm hearing this criticism or note not criticism and I am I'm very sorry that anybody left the room feeling upset because there wasn't a response but it it doesn't fall on my because part of the part of it would be part part of the message that I heard was don't think you're so special that was the message that I heard the other night was don't think you're so special I'm very sorry yeah that was the message like don't you're not we can't do too much because there were other groups of people too so I think that's something that you need to keep in mind we're very vulnerable group of people so you need you need to keep that a moment it's not playing favorites it's addressing a very problematic situation that's going on right now so thank you thank you thinking rile from an appropriate point to answer the gentleman's question would be the statements at the end of these meetings when public comments addressing issues you could address that you should have addressed that by somehow during I understand the willingness not to engage in speakers as they speak things spir the control and go beyond the time limits but the interest me personally I continue to worry about your Dei policies and your Dei committee based upon the conduct of the administrations in the past several administrations especially when Dei will cover instructional diags textbook selection Library materials training and climate and culture given a prevailing culture polit political philosophy among the Bo in the community in general it's almost certain that there's certain people whose opinions will not be elevated to the level of other opinions so it's always a concern one item two you use a consent agenda and unfortunately your policy is spreading village board wants you to cons send agenda at at the very least because we don't generally see the inent General I know it's on it's on the website go see the website you should have a huge board here and you should rotate those items through so people can see what you're talking about so unless somebody memorized the consent agenda nobody would know what Mr Diamond his question was about today or where the word was you should show the consent agenda and the village board has no use going to a consent agenda they very unless they're creating housing trouble they never have anybody at their meetings and their their agendas are never more than one or two pages one page long two sides so the public should see everything you discuss or don't discuss at every level so the consent agenda you don't need all the paper you can certainly put it up there passing just a recommendation my second son spent three and a half years in Iraq when he came back the second time he brought his interpreter with him who was a Shia M this man was 20 two years old he kept my son alive and his Union alive because he translated for them and Iraq where he was his uncle had to pay for his own bullet when he got shot in the back of the head but when he wanted to go to a mosque here he went down to the corner to a doctor who's a Sunni Muslim sh and Sunni supposed to hate each other and the two of them the two of went to M together and I urge you that's the atmosphere that we all should try and create in these schools and in this community whether it be people from Northern Ireland and the Republic public or any other Zone that's the atmosphere we should create here there anyone else who wishes to address the bo thank you again to all of our speakers moving on to item 5.2 board reports we'll go in alphabetical order starting with ad thanks Anna so I will give the quick summary about our last advocacy committee meeting on November 26th and please fill in anything I might miss there were two items on our agenda that we discussed the First on regionalization and the other on the potential for a cell phone policy at the state level for folks that don't know what regionalization is there is a very helpful New York State education department segment of the website on regionalization net.gov regionalization and just for the purpose of this description I'll just quickly read a little bit of the description on the initiative from the webs site so the regionalization initiative is a collaborative Regional planning approach for local districts to communicate what they need in order to ensure Equitable educational opportunities for all students leveraging the state's existing capabilities talents and infrastructure by engaging in Regional conversations schools and districts May identify explore and choose whether to pursue a variety of possible solutions to the academic and operational challenges they face by tapping into the full span of resources that already exist in their larger so we are well one of the main topics of conversation in our advocacy committee meeting was really just trying to get a little bit more clarity on the regionalization initiative specifically a couple points one on understanding cost structures of regionalization right assuming that from the premise that sharing of resources in collaboration collaboration is could be a good thing but really trying to get some more detail as to how sharing or resources might work what are the different ideas out there and then there's a central question around whether regionalization was an actually an opt-in or opt out structure or more of a requirement for districts to engage in which which at the time of our meeting was less clear there was a lot of kind of back and forth westput misba with with sort of lack of clarity conversations about the lack of clarity on that point in particular so we discussed that and we sort of looked through materials subsequent to our meeting Betty Rosa the Commissioner of Ned actually issued a memo that clarified that well that the section talking about regionalization would actually be revised to be very clear about the voluntary nature of regionalization so you know that happened again after the the meeting but that seems to be I think that memo is helpful in providing Clarity for us all as we're thinking about regionalization and taking part and how we take part in regionalization going forward so we committed to making sure that the full board has information on regionalization so we'll be sending we'll send the the link to the website but there's other materials that n said and others have issued with regard to regionalization the description on on on on on the initiative so we'll send that out we let's see and then aside from regionalization the last piece that we talked as one of two pieces the second piece was the cell phone policy this a state level potential policy that might come from governing use of cell phones in schools we just sort of talked about the need to stay aware as the session starts about what the conversations are around cell phone policies and talked about some of the benefits to districts incl like ours in having a cell phone policy that makes sense for the local school and the school districts right given that various school districts have different needs imperatives ways to implement Etc so no kind of solidity there obviously there's no actual legislation to look at but we as an advocacy committee want to remain in the loop and understanding what is being talked about at the state level and then once we have some more concreteness weighing in as the advocacy committee to the state and then also a willingness to get input from the full board on this issue as well so that's those were the main two points Sarah you want to add anything questions yeah I do have one question or consideration which is I saw the letter from commission Mor Roa that you referenced them and the letter first off it's always been my understanding that once the regionalization discussion within your region concludes there is no mandatory obligation for any District to implement what that discussion may bring out but her November 26 which MB P the link says that the boards that that the regulations that are going to be determined in the at the December meeting the board of region will include a section that says that school boards and districts for districts of consultation with their school boards may elect not to participate in the regionalization planning process meaning we're not even going to be part of the conversation by submitting written notifications presumably to the commissioner by January 15 2025 so my feeling is that yes it be on the agend J agenda right for the next meeting we we decide with recommendation from Administration whether we should be part of that planning process regardless of the fact that implementation of any particular recommendation that comes out of that planning process is not mandatory so I just want to let you know that's what I'm hoping we will think about look at the material that you'll send us to see what it's all about and then decide if we want to be part of I will add that as a representative on the P Westchester Bose's board Bose's is kind of the coordinator of this so I know that b has the obligation to run the process with whoever wishes to participate my discussion here will basically be and only be on what is best for this District thanks CH suggestion that'll be on the agenda in January that it that's it thank you so much audit audit isn't scheduled to meet till early in Spring yeah we're actually G to meet January 23rd early spret feary 23rd do we have time for that yet 6:30 okay adding it to the calendar you should have oh you know what I do what do moving on to board development board development is scheduled or is shortly about to be scheduled to meet on next Thursday the 12th or next Mee so no reports yeah we'll have one by January can I just ask is the next meeting are you planning on having it centered around developing board goals well what it that is on our it is on our agenda to sort of discuss what our process is going to be for doing that and sort of how we want to frame it and we will bring discussion obviously it's like we're at the end of 2024 it's a little it feels like a little bit later than it should be for us to start this conversation but we still have the rest of this school year and the rest of this term until the end of June to to set some to set some formal goals and and try to work towards them so that'll be coming to the full board for discussion those aren't going to be develop Justin committees but we're going to talk a little bit about the process that it yeah thank you Communications it's going to be fairly similar yeah at the end of November kind of creed up I think on all of us so we had not we have not met since our last update that I gave on Communications but our next meeting is scheduled for December 11th at 5:30 pm so we will be continuing our discussion with then on I need the baby processes and just general Communications processes pleas to that so stay tuned to the January report policy policy has the last month we have any meeting that is in on the 17th AT3 we will be intervie expecting certain finance and business office related policies that are in ha as well as other policies that we need to take care of and we also add that the adop committee I know the agenda says atop committee on facili facility use which really that adoc committee well I would yeah I was going to address that next when I called that okay yeah fine but ad hoc the ad hoc committee to discuss the social media policy and policy 0105 is scheduled to meet on December 20th at 7:30 a.m. and how I probably never seen to to further work for and I will say 7:30 a.m. because certain of the committee members said they're available early mornings and then Administration said oh early morning means like Before Dawn well the solstice is the next day start getting longer almost the home actually Sunrise that day is 77 there it is meeting in the are you just gonna stay up all night no actually we had a meeting the night before so I'm thinking what I'm going to do is just fall asleep on the me and again that the adop committee on facilities use is in the public content listed as a committee that at our reorganization meeting we was it it for our first policy meeting we decided to fold that given two members of that previous committee are now on the actual policy qutee into the policy committee okay so that will bring us to item 5.3 polling of the board and we have anything this afternoon discussion centered on thinking about making changes in the format and or timing while back to school night at PVC to increase I guess participation and connection between staff and parents and to minimize what some have said is kind of the I'm not particularly useful Gathering of everybody in the PBC gym where people talk at them when they when the parents really want to see what their students are doing so that's something that will be addressed later on in the school year so that the change whatever that will be made to in place in September 2025 the other thing I was going to mention this briefly Sarah want to speak to as well last month and I don't remember the exact date we went to the West Chester part School Board Association Regional dinner along with the Rockland duess school boards and the speaker there was Michael reel from the committee on Financial fiscal Equity who spoke about the foundation in upcoming report because had not been issued until a couple days ago and his history because he's somebody who had been involved in school Finance school funding litigation for 30 or more years and his feeling about what this report might include he thought just be some minor tweaks and I think you will be surprised Pleasant or otherwise that it really is super Walker said a much more comprehensive discussion of school funding so and we we learned a lot from that from that exchange with with moderator and it was one of the things that I found very very helpful as we go forward I may have other things I can't fig just just a quick addition to the building planning council meeting at PVC which I think two things that one was the parent learning walks and the fact that they are still happening at PBC which is great and we talked a little bit about how best to get the word out on those learning walks because it seems and I've been to them they're very valuable to understand what what's going on at the school visiting classrooms Etc and apparently they do groups of 12 so it and there's a Google form that exists to to sign up for those walks so just wanted to get that word out there because I know that sometimes the notifications get buried we talked a little bit about how to better get the word out about about those learning walks but I thought folks would be interested in that and then apparently there's a dance happening at the end of January my daughter didn't tell me about I just add the learning walks at PBC her parents are they're talking about January one session and February one session I would guess that if there was a lot of interest there might be Administration and might be persuaded to do a so I'm gonna chime in having been a former member of pbc's building planning Council and I would have said this if I was still there part of the problem is the name what is a learning walk that doesn't sound like a thing I want to do honestly it's like it when it is is it's a tour of your kids school while class is in session and I feel like part of the disconnect is at the title learning walk doesn't necessarily make it sound like a thing that you want to go to because it's like learning and walking I don't know maybe it's just like I would like to go to a tour of my kids school during the school day I had been on a number of learning walks I think they're really fun but I think one of the thing that one of the disconnects is that name is honestly making it like a little bit hard to know what it's about so please take that back to people I I would add for those who that as it was described and as we know that when we've done learning walks as board members in VAR schools it's not just go to see classroom it's walk go through a number of classrooms Guided by administration of the school at which the parents will be asked to observe to see what to to to notice what they see in relation to our instructional objectives and then we'll be brief what did you see in the class what did you think was good what did you think was not how does this tie into what we as a district are trying to accomplish so it's not so we understand and perhaps the title is not the best maybe the description maybe in that invitation but I here would be a description of what a learning walk actually is rather than you so people know that's what you'll be doing and what what you be focusing on right I said jly I think what it is is that sometimes the lingo that we're used to using can sometimes like not make a connection to people in the community who are not used to of course the way that I present that is not always constructive but it was intended as constructive so I to think about how we're talking about things and and I think it's good idea because actually Sarah and I went on an incredible learning walk at at the high school a couple weeks ago were you gonna talk about that I was going to touch on it yes as Ana mentioned we we had an opportunity to go on a learning walk at the high school and really this was actually a little bit different than some of the ones that I've been on in the past and that we spent we went to fewer classrooms but spent more time in those classrooms really getting to observe the new introduc linary classes in action which was really exciting to see to see the way that our teachers are co- teing in these classrooms and really creating great experiences for our students and also the level of Engagement of our students in in really probing questions and and really having these great inp discussions so that was really I was exciting for me it was it left me with really like I was really happy about the way that we're moving forward with these interdisciplinary classes so that was exciting yeah I would TR in just to say the same which is we so we we what was what was particularly unique about this opportunity to go into the schools is we weren't just racing from classroom to classroom so we were really in the classroom for a good chunk of time and had an opportunity both to see sort of like active instruction and then also group work and sort of listening in sort of like a fly on the wall at students as they were interacting and working with each other they also did invite us to come and like sit down and offer our perspective on questions of bioethics which was like a really tough conversation I think to be part of it's not something I'm thinking about every day it's like and and and I think so what was really interesting was to see the interplay between sort of the science aspect the humanities aspect and that interdisciplinary course there was another interdisciplinary course that we heard about at our work session a couple of weeks ago which I think also gave us an opportunity to see that that the district is thinking about interdisciplinary classes for all students so this was a this was a course that was that had a that was like specifically I guess for our special education students and I think again for them to sort of have this the access to the same sort of course offerings that we're offering across the board was really important to see and there was there was a high level of Engagement it was a really fun class to actually participate in so I thought it was really really great to have that in-depth opportunity and I think again it's like I'm hoping that this is something that the high school will also consider is actually opening up this idea of having these daytime tours of your students experience I'm not going to call a learning lock anymore at at the high school as well so people can actually have an opportunity to come into the classroom this is something that the community I think has been asking for we have been we've been hearing from families that they'd like to know what's going on this is a great way to do it and I commend PBC for sort of taking the lead on this and making it an opportunity that's available for parents I pleas REM more of it across all our dos a couple other things for so on Monday West poot had our legislative action committee meeting so that was our final meeting to finalize Andy our legislative priorities for the 20242 school year so be on the lookout for those they will be coming out soon now initially there had been an LHC legislative panel scheduled for December 9th that due to some scheduling conflicts with many of our legislators need to be was not able to happen so instead of the having both a an LGC legislative panel and a westput legislative panel we decided that we would seed the westput panel to LHC so January 30th will be the annual legislative forum and so that will include not just puam and Westchester counties but also dutches Rockland and Orange County legislators so it is a zoom meeting and we actually do find that there's much higher level of Engagement from our legislators who are able to join that when it's when it is done on Zoom so we'll have those meetings so people will be able to ask questions hear from legislators really put forth what our thoughts and concerns are in terms of advocacy ahead of well not ahead of that the governor will have hopefully released her budget by then and so we'll be able to Advocate on behalf of districts for the upcoming budget so we expect the budget in early January and then westput will also start scheduling individual legislator U meetings with each of the districts so that will go out so that a board representative and the superintendent are able to meet with our legislators so with B renberg and with pet har so those things are all coming there's a lot going on as superintendent Walker mentioned the foundation Aid study was released there's a lot of information in those 314 Pages and again they are all recommendations so I think right now everybody is is really I'm sure Denise I'm looking at Denise new like I'm there's there's a lot to digest and and a lot to get through as to what those recommendations might mean and I think they were the foundation Rock Center Institute was clear and that they looked at each of these recommendations sort of in isolation and not what the impact would be of multiple of of these recommendations so it's hard to see what the impact would be on a district to District basis if all of them or some of them were were implemented so that I think you'll be hearing probably a lot more from LC and from ncus and from the lower Hudson Council of school superintendents on where where some of those things are what are the positive things as superintendent Walker mentioned it was great to see that they they advocated in in the in the report for the full underwriting of the transition to zero Mission buses but there were other things in in in those recommendations that were not maybe would not be as as as beneficial for our district so I think that's something for all of us to stay on top of as the budget comes out and as we hear what the government will be coming down with I will note there are a couple of upcoming if you take a look at this week's westput email that just came out earlier today the weekly chalkboard there are some interesting things so there's I know there's board officers affinity group meetings and they do have a link to and also a a podcast on the foundation Aid study that is not it's only 20 minutes long so it might be a good listen to sort of give a a good overview of what those recommendations were and that this really on that nope you went sorry was King no there is one thing West part related that I guess I forgot you forgot on November 25th of West part conducted a trun conversation oh yes on which I can talk about you go for basically was to discuss social media social media use by Boards social media relationships what people were you know what people in very from various boards saw with respect to comments in social media and how they responded to them it's the kinds of things that are I will said if shouldn't be a surprise are part of the consideration and discussion of the adop committee and crafting a social media policy and so it was very interesting and useful and it was interesting to hear different board members from different boards that had different issues and things that come up and therefore how we might yeah take what we've learned to be clear just to interrupt you more often than not it's on more often than not whenever I see anything come out about social media use it's when there's an official account on behalf of like the board or when there's an official account on behalf of like an individual trustee who is putting themselves out there it's like it's like superintendent Walker's social media super I can't think of what it is Trusty super like it's his official capacity his professional not so I'm just for clarification when we when they have these conversations it's not about personal or individual use of social media right right but but I will say part of what we discussed was what it's kind of the thing that you mentioned in responding to remember Paul what do you do when you see things that are School related that are out there by individuals and social media what you do in terms of observing them and then as a board consider how you will work that into your Communications you know whatever issues may be out there whatever you know how do you learn about per of sentiment from what might be posted by our and that was kind of part of discussion just of kind of a a round table among board members about what what's happening in their communities I believe a a Rie like a recap of it was sent out by West so you'll be able to see a recap of that's what I saw yeah that's actually although I will say the retap was more of a synopsis of what their their kind of survey showed they didn't really I don't think capture so much in that recap what the tener of the discussion was among the participants this say I read but moving on health and safety committee on 20 the 15th did a walk through of the new video contion facility that is not 100% done because there is still continu minor tweets my understanding is that it was completed over the Thanksgiving break and is fully operational as of as of this week so we are meeting again on December 16th that will be a regular meeting of the committee we're not I don't think according to BR Kenedy that we're going to be doing any ters although I'm sure we will be discussing the progress on High School auditorium and other facilities one of the things by the way that was mentioned at PBC building planning counil Michael plin talked about the things that are happening to get to completion with certain of the projects that are at PVC including the guidance suite and some other things so things are moving along and I know superintendent Walker sent out Community message a few days ago talking about them and you know what we will hope to see in the future and last but not least this on thetime I have to find the date but it is there will be a meeting of the this here it is on December 12th commissioner commissioner Betty Rosa will be coming to this part of the world he will be visiting the Northern West chest post these facilities to do a tour with Administration there and then that afternoon she'll be holding a town hall with members of administration superintendent Etc from the entire region not just not just P Westchester but Brockman Duchess Etc Southern West Chester as well and board members I'll be attending as since it part of Northern Westchester I don't know who from our district has signed up I know they said they have over 200 people already signed up to hear what say termination right believe three board members are allowed to attend we need to make a determination said it was three but we haven't got we like we were weren't we supposed to get some information about that to us right that we got the we got a a the well the sign up oh okay but we need to decide I think as a board who those three people are going to be if it be three people want decide now I I will be there anyway so but I'm there doesn't matter three others but it's just gonna be very it'll be at 3 pm on December 12th I miss this item can someone just like let me know what that who would that you because I think we were told that we were going to be getting it but I don't know if I miss it was from do other people have it let see sorry I thought I it might be that we got a response from the advocacy group I think we got that response because we had we had talked ourselves that we we would determine who who who should attend what did that no it hasn't like we haven't gotten it we just discussed an advocacy that we needed to determine who would be able to attend I don't we got an actual right I think I I believe that when when theota asked the question to Denise she could forward it on the information no actually so here for but yeah you should have that anoma on the 26 oh yeah so then okay so just to be clear you asked Steve Steve forwarded it onto the advocacy committee so the three of you had that and you're now asking of the entire board who's going to attend this right we had gotten information I think to the full board Neil had sent the information out that that this this meeting was happening and then it was more which to see would attend when did you send that email you like back in the middle of November that was before we had the invitation and I'm sorry I I think I just missed this because I think I didn't I I don't 7 no no no I know and I no I don't know if I sent the actual I he Bose it wasn't through our board okay so now we know and we need three people to go Neil is already going to be there so do we want to send two more people or one more or three people and then let Neil be there on behalf of his BR Neil is there on yeah it's onal it's really we going to be talking a big question the more the marry as long as you don't mind being in a rather a rather crowded gym because there 200 plus people there right so going forward it's like one of the things we should do is make sure thank you Sarah you just shared it out to everybody but it's like we should be sharing these things out to the full board because it's an invitation right to the full board and Steve that what maybe I missed it but it was in one of your weeklys to ask this information also I think you mentioned that it was going to mention it was coming I P just to the board members who would asking yeah right yeah I think that's why I didn't pay attention to it honestly because I thought I would see it again in the week so maybe I missed that so does anybody want to go I can't now it turns out I think we had originally talked about possibly trying to because it is like an advocacy opportunity there's some specific connection that's why we started discussing it there but it turns out I now it can't be available that date so I'm opting out 12 12 Thursday Thursday next Al they suggest get there early because you [Music] know I can do it can you can yes I can I can great thank you so somebody sent me the form got the form Sarah just sent it to us thank you Sarah no yeah sorry it's like I I will say it's like I miss things when sometimes I miss things so I'm sorry to miss that too everybody is there any else have to report do I have anything to report I'm just asking otherwise I I will go okay great great well I just wanted to I'm just going to report that on Monday Monday night I had the pleasure of attending a community meeting organized by parents against School anti anti-Semitism at which superintendent waca was also present Anna was also present and from my perspective it was a it was a it was a good opportunity to be able to hear directly from members of the community about some of the concerns that we've been hearing here at hearing of the public over the last several weeks as well as through letters and correspondence directly to the board and to the district so I I just wanted to mention that I appreciated the opportunity to to hear directly from community members be able to answer questions and engage and really focus in on some of these issues that have been coming up in our community and my hope is that this is going to continue to be a conversation ongoing and that we will be able to move the conversation forward so that all of our students do feel safe respected and able to be their true selves in our schools it's really important to all of us as a board and again I'm just grateful to the community members who invited us to participate in that conversation to allow us to be in the room and to hear from them directly on that issue so thank you thank you there anything I do not have I'm going to move on to items needed for the next Board of Education meeting the next meeting of the Board of Education will be our work session on tenure and prary review at F PM that is held at the do that is closed to the public I be bringing candy games and Neil sleepy B yes this brings us to the close of our meeting item5 adjournment recommended action off the Board of Education here the meeting so sorry question in favor Iain motion carries meeting closes at 939