Watervliet City School District – Board of Education Meeting – June 2, 2020
Transcription of Live Broadcast

Sheri Senecal, Board President: Good evening, everyone. I want to open call the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Could we please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? Dr. Caplan, would you please do the roll call?

Dr. Lori Caplan, Superintendent: Sure will. Mrs. Senecal – Present, Mrs. Soroka – Here, Mrs. Whited – Here, Mr. Hoffman – Present, Mrs. Cavanaugh – Here. All present. And Miranda is unavailable this evening.

Sheri Senecal: Ok, thank you. Um, so with that we would ask Mrs. Boardman if we received any public comments. Okay, so no public comments. With that, we’ll ask Dr. Caplan, do you have any old business?

Dr. Caplan: No old business.

Sheri Senecal: Okay. Then with that we’ll go to the second reading of the new policy, the Privacy and Security for Student Data and Teacher and Principal Data. And is Mr. Delisle on with us? Hi, Mr. Delisle. Would you go ahead and say what you’d like to say to the public?

Tim Delisle: Sure. I’m Tim Delisle, lifelong resident here in the city. I’ve been a fireman here for about 11 years now. I’ve also own a business here for 15 years. So I’d like to join the school board and maybe bring a little, little something extra to the table and you know I think I could do a lot.

Sheri Senecal: And Mary Beth, would you like to say a few words?

Mary Beth Whited: Sure. Um, I think most of you know me. I’ve been on the school board for the past three years. Um, obviously I’m continuing on for my next term, which I believe our next term is going to be quite enlightening, given the matters today with the COVID virus and our new way of educating our students. Um, not something I ever would have expected or wanted but I’m glad that, in a way, I’m glad I did get to experience what has happened so far because we, I have to say, we really have an amazing bunch of administrator staff, everybody has done an awesome job right down to the staff, the support staff, the janitorial staff, the food service and the teachers. I can’t say enough about everyone and the administration team for handling something that was thrown on them, certainly unexpectedly. Everything seems to have…it’s been going smoothly. So what, in my opinion, I’m sure you guys feel totally different, but I’m looking forward to continuing to work with everyone and doing what’s best for the student body and our community. Thank you.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you Mary Beth. Okay, and with that, we’ll look to Keith to switch over to the budget hearing portion of this meeting.

Keith Heid: Good evening, everyone. Thank you, Mrs. Senecal. Thank you everyone for joining us tonight for the 2020-21 public budget hearing. We are now one week away from the budget vote and the Board of Education candidate election. The 2020-21 proposed budget is $28,560,000, which is a 1.3% increase over the 19-20 school year. The school tax levy is $7,239,000, which is comfortably below the statutorily calculated levy limit and would increase by 1.98% over the current year. We are currently compensating for the state aid freeze specifically in foundation aid by appropriating $250,000 in the district’s unreserved fund balance, in addition to utilizing $96,000 in reserve funds. This budget is a responsible budget which preserves all programs and staff. With the current pandemic all voting must be done by absentee ballot only. If you happened to tune into the May 19 board meeting, I mentioned that school districts are the only form of local government which require a public vote, I guess, for better or worse. So cities, counties, fire departments, water departments, etc., their budgets are adopted by their governing board, whereas ours is adopted by a public vote. Of course, if the budget fails, the board must enact a contingent or contingency budget. A contingency budget would include teacher salaries and what are known as ordinary contingent expenses, which are subject to some statutory limitations and certain portions of the budget, but what have no increase in the tax levy over the prior year. And ordinary contingent expenses are those necessary to provide the minimum emphasized minimum services legally required to operate and maintain school buildings and programs, preserve the property of the district, and ensure the health and safety of students and staff. The board would determine which appropriations in the 20-21 proposed budget would constitute those ordinary contingent expenses. On the other hand, non-contingent expenses include but are not limited to equipment, certain supplies, multi-year contracts, certain salary increases, possible reductions in transportation services, as well as prohibiting the use of district facilities by outside agencies. If we do go to a contingency budget, we would have to reduce the 20-21 proposed budget by an additional $143,000, which of course, would lead to more reductions in programs and or staff. And at this time I will be happy to take any questions that you may have.

Amanda Cavanaugh: I’ll just ask quickly, because I know I’ve been asked a few times, um when did the absentee ballots go out and when can people expect to receive them?

Keith Heid: Mrs. Cavanaugh, that’s going to be addressed very shortly in another section of the agenda. This one is strictly for the budget, in accordance with the budget hearing.

Amanda Cavanaugh: Got it. Thank you.

Keith Heid: Sure. Okay, I guess there are no questions. So thank you everybody. And please make sure to submit your absentee ballot.

Sheri Senecal: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Heid. So with that, we’ll go to board discussion. I’m going to ask for consent agenda on items 1-17. Do I have a motion?

Mary Beth Whited: I’ll make a motion.

Sheri Senecal: Okay, thank you. Mary Beth.

Heather Soroka: I’ll second. Okay, Heather.

Sheri Senecal: Anything on the motion? All in favor…and we’ll have Miss Boardman do the roll call.

Bernadette Boardman: Okay. Mrs. Senecal, Mrs. Soroka, Mrs. Whited, Mr. Hoffman, and Mrs. Cavanaugh: (All) Yes. Thank you.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you, Mrs. Boardman. Item 18 “Resolved that the board accept, with thanks, the donation of 1000 face masks and bottles of hand sanitizer from the Watervliet Police Department, as recommended by the Superintendent.” Do I have a motion?

Steve Hoffman: I’ll make a motion.

Sheri Senecal: Okay Steve.

Amanda Cavanaugh: I’ll second.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you, Amanda.

Sheri Senecal: Miss Boardman

Bernadette Boardman: Mrs. Senecal, Mrs. Soroka, Mrs. Whited, Mr. Hoffman, and Mrs. Cavanaugh: (All) Yes. Thank you.

Sheri Senecal: Certainly, thank you to the Watervliet Police Department for that donation. Item 19 “Resolved that the board thank and recognize Miss Brianna DelBene for organizing a fundraiser through Donors Choose for various books, games and puzzles to give to students and families for learning activities at home, as recommended by the Superintendent.” Can I have a motion?

Mary Beth Whited: I’ll make a motion.

Sheri Senecal: Okay Mary Beth.

Heather Soroka: I’ll second.

Sheri Senecal: Okay Heather.

Sheri Senecal: Miss Boardman

Bernadette Boardman: Mrs. Senecal, Mrs. Soroka, Mrs. Whited, Mr. Hoffman, and Mrs. Cavanaugh: (All) Yes. Thank you.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you, Miss DelBene for organizing that and I see that some of those items have been brought down to the pop up pantry. And a great addition to the other items that have been donated. Item 20 “Resolved at the board thank and recognize Miss Danielle Woodruff for volunteering to take over the garden in the back of the junior-senior high school, as recommended by the Superintendent.” Do I have a motion?

Sheri Senecal: Who wants to?

Steve Hoffman: Ladies first.
Mary Beth Whited: Thanks Steve.

Sheri Senecal: Okay, thank you and who would like to second?

Steve Hoffman: I’ll second.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you, Steve. And Miss Boardman

Bernadette Boardman: Mrs. Senecal, Mrs. Soroka, Mrs. Whited, Mr. Hoffman, and Mrs. Cavanaugh: (All) Yes. Thank you.

Sheri Senecal: And thank you for taking that on. And I know I already reached out to her and told her that if she needed any help that I’d be happy to provide any help that may be needed. I’m not necessarily have the best green thumb, but I’m happy to help with some pulling some weeds or anything like that. So with that we’ll go to the board discussion portion. First I wanted to thank Steve Hoffman for his years of service on the board and to the community and to recognize the efforts that he has put into the board and that the time that he’s dedicated to the duties and to let him know that he will be missed. We certainly appreciate having you be the sole male, I guess, Mr. Delisle will now be the sole male. So thank you very much

Steve Hoffman: Thank you very much, Sheri.

Sheri Senecal: Hope that we can celebrate soon, um, to see you in person, again, Mr. Hoffman.

Steve Hoffman: That’ll be nice.

Sheri Senecal: I also wanted to thank the mayor and national grid for the hanging of the. Congratulations, graduates banner on 19th Street. So thank you very much for that. And I know that that was something that Amanda and Meg, I’m assuming, and Mr. Stevens had something to do with coordinating with them. So thank you to all. I also wanted to congratulate the inductees of the National Honor Society and the National Junior Honor Society. I know that we were able to watch your virtual ceremonies and they were well done. So thank you very much for those…(inaudible)…I’m sorry. Both virtual ceremonies were very well received and I do appreciate everybody’s efforts. The pre-kindergarten registration has been extended to June 18 for those that did not see that I just wanted to mention that. I also wanted to thank the students, the staff, the coaches, the administrators and Dr. Caplan for all the hard work that has been put in during the pandemic. And as the school year is winding down, and we, you know, the board obviously, we wish the students who are moving up and those who will be graduating, the very best that life has to offer all of you. Also wanted to ask if the board members had any particular items that they may want to discuss at this time.

Mary Beth Whited: Sheri, I have something I’d like to say. I just wanted to talk a little bit about Miss Woodruff. Um Mayor Patricelli kind of introduced me to her. She has – you guys probably don’t know the name – but her house is directly across from the football field on the corner of Wiswall and Hillside Drive. She’s got the garden in the front of her house. She has a Facebook page, if you guys would like to follow her. I believe the name of the page is “Garden on the Hill.” What she grows in her garden, at her home, she offers out to the community, she posts when she has vegetables available. She just recently handed out a bunch. I didn’t get any but she had bunches of mint that she had. And not only did she make it available on her Facebook. page, but she also just randomly delivered to some people in the neighborhood, etc. She, with the vegetables that she grows up behind the high school, she is also making all of those available to the community. I’m not sure what she will have in her garden. I’ve driven by a few times to see if I could reach out to her, and introduce myself to her. I have through email, but I’d like to meet her in person. So if you see someone out there, you know, breaking their back and doing some work, most likely it’s Danielle. So, as soon as I can, I will stop and see her, if I can catch up to her. I just haven’t at this point. But I did want to let you guys know about her Facebook page. So if you guys want to follow her. You can see what she has to offer.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you Mary Beth. Does anyone else have anything they would like to discuss?

Amanda Cavanaugh: Um, I’m sure that there’s plenty to say I don’t want to steal any thunder from any of the administrators who have been working so hard with anything that they may want to share. I noticed that Alan was on our call tonight and I’m hoping maybe he’ll be speaking shortly. I think any meeting that I’m in, whether it’s personally or professionally in the last three days, I have not let the opportunity to go by to recognize, not only the pandemic, but the way our country is so divided at the moment. It’s heartbreaking. I’m sure we all have our own opinions and I don’t want to get into, into any of that. I just want to recognize that. Our country’s in trouble. Our students are suffering. It’s a terrible time. It’s a terrible moment and I just hope that as educators, administrators, and people that are in the lives of our students, you can take this moment to open your eyes and your hearts and realize that we need to be better and we can move forward together and I look forward to discussions with the board and with Dr. Caplan and Mr. Stevens about how we can make sure that our school is a place that sets the tone for what we will accept and not accept moving forward.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you, Amanda I would certainly agree, and I think that…I think our district kind of has been doing some of those things. So, you know, maybe, Dr. Caplan can touch on that during her time. I’m sure she already had something that she would like to say, but I know that even last summer, the students read the book, The Hate U Give, and that was something that a lot of the students enjoyed reading and they had some discussion around, and I think that it was something that really opened up some maybe some eyes. And I also know that the group that, like you said, you know, Mr. Gadsden is involved in at the school district that that’s something that, you know, the students have also found to be very helpful to see things through, maybe somebody else’s lens. So with that, did anybody else from the board have anything they wanted to discuss?

Mary Beth Whited: Sheri, the only other thing I know I when I was thinking anybody I everybody I was remiss in mentioning the specifically the bus drivers, for delivering upwards of 30,000 lunches, breakfasts and lunches, since the pandemic started not only the bus drivers, but the administrators that are riding the bus every day and running out there to drop off the food for the kids. So I just wanted to make sure that I did mention them. I did not forget you guys. And Mr. Wareing, I’m still waiting for my coffee.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you very much, that’s true. There’s been a lot of work that a lot of people have put in and we’re certainly thankful for that. And I’m sure the community recognizes how fortunate they are to have such a great school district. I’m also I guess I’ll go ahead and close, unless you had something you wanted to add, Heather, for the board. Okay, so then with that will go to new business um Dr. Caplan, would you provide that report, please?

Dr. Caplan: So for new business, um the ballots. Ballots went out today. We obviously were in a time crunch when the executive order came out to do the budget strictly by ballot, so
I believe the ballots are going out today or tomorrow, keep an eye on your mail. There is a self-addressed stamped envelope that comes back to us. So you open the outside envelope, the ballot’s in there, you make, you check yes/no, you pick the there’s two open seats for the school board. You heard the two – Mary Beth’s the incumbent and Tim Delisle is the other person. You check one, both or none, you put that back into the envelope, you have to sign the affidavit on the back of the envelope and then it gets mailed back to us – or, in the vestibule outside of the high school, there’s a lockbox in front of the camera. It will be there from 8:00 in the morning till 3:30. There’s somebody in the front window to let you in. And you put your valid in there if you don’t want, if you want to just drop it off, either way. And we will be live streaming the opening and counting of the ballots next Tuesday night, June 9. We close it – we have to receive them by 5:00, and we’ll be counting the ballots at 8:00, so everything we put everybody in the capital district, the 24 component school districts, went through BOCES because it just was such an incredible heavy, heavy lift, lift, for us to do for by ourselves. And I’m very appreciative that BOCES spearheaded this initiative, and not only get us aid back on a $20,000 ticket for this, for the ballots, but also they coordinated the whole thing. They printed them, they stuffed them, they mailed them, so they should be coming tomorrow – Thursday at the absolute very latest. And literally just fill out the ballot, put it back in the envelope, put it in the mail and get it here, or if you’re – if you think that the time is running too short – just drop it off at the high school 8:00 – 3:30. So that’s the situation with the ballot. And again, as Mr. Heid mentioned, we did not cut a single person, we did not cut a single program. We made a very responsible budget. We came in, under the tax cap, and our kids deserve to have the programs that we currently provide them with. So, you know, we feel that we worked really hard in a condensed amount of time to provide everybody with a very responsible budget. And this is the one time, I really don’t mind you all stealing my thunder. But yes, Alan is on the line, because I invited him to be here tonight. And it has been a very emotional weekend. It feels like it’s been a really long period of time, but we’ve been talking race here in the Watervliet City School District for years now. This is not new to us. We have read books. We have had professional development and so no, this is, our kids are prepared for peaceful protests. That’s what we’ve taught them we’ve listened to them. We’ve taught them to use their voices and so they’re ready for the peaceful protest. I don’t think anybody was ready for what happened this weekend with the murder of George Floyd, and I’ve been very verbal. I believe I have a platform and it is my responsibility to use it to speak up for people that might not look like me that might not have the voice that I have and I’m a privileged white person. Doesn’t mean that I can’t hurt for them. But I certainly have an obligation to the public and the children that I serve that don’t necessarily look like me to talk about what’s happened and transpired in our world. I sent a letter out to the staff and it’s posted to our website, talking about I don’t believe that the violent outbursts were coincidental with the pandemic and what’s going on in our world. I do feel strongly about people using their voices for a cause, and it doesn’t mean that I’m anti police, I’m anti violence, and it’s very emotional for me when I can’t understand something. And this is really hard for me to understand. I read about in history books, years ago, and here we are again. I’m outraged by what took place on the violence side of things. I’m equally outraged by the murder of people like George Floyd and Brianna Taylor and Amanda Aubrey and Tony McCain and Christian Cooper and those names were all in my letter. And I think it’s, it’s…I don’t think, I know, it’s our responsibility to dismantle the institutional racism that takes place, not only in education, in society and, you know, teachers are starting to admit they have blind spots. They don’t know that maybe they have a prejudice. Maybe they don’t understand. All I ask is that they have the desire to learn and to understand. So, I’m calling on everyone in the city, in the school district, and myself to lead with peace and to lead with justice and learn from what’s happening right now and to make sure that we’re not silent, because by being silent right now, that means you condone what’s going on. So with that, I’ve asked Allan to come and Allan came to us, applying for a job that he was far overqualified for and, and so when I met him in the interview for a position, but he applied for, he immediately struck me as somebody that our kids need and he has far exceeded my expectations. And if you don’t know who Allan Gadsden is then your opportunity is now, but I think the best way to find out who Allan is, is to ask any one of our students. And so with that I’m going to turn this over to Mr. Gadsden

Allan Gadsden Jr: Thank you. I’m humbled by those words. I’ll start with my heart, at at this moment, is very, very heavy. My conscious is heavy. I’m going to just say it because I just feel free enough to say it, but I can’t get the man’s face that murdered Mr. Floyd out of my head. Earlier today I had opportunity to spend some time with our seventh graders and talk to them a little bit and try to share some of my pain with them. It was hard, but I thought they made it to see that I was human as well. I think sometimes this, as adults, they don’t see us as human and this moment, I wanted…(inaudible)..earlier that moment, I wanted to share with them, how I was feeling. One thing I do want to say before I get anything more. Dr. Caplan says nice things about me, but the thing is that, from Dr. Caplan to all of the administration, when I got to the district, I was almost shocked that I was talking to a group of administrators that was embracing these conversations, it was just so easy to talk to all of them about everything that was going on. And I would say in our previous world of talking about race and diversity issues and and gender issues and all this kind of thing. This was just so easy. So I want to thank every administrator in the district for your ears, your voices. I can say it was a…it was a good conversation, but I want to put her on blast a little bit but Kelly Webster, we had a conversation about just words that we use and and words that we say, and we sat and we talked for about an hour or so, and the conversation I had with her was phenomenal. To the point where I left the building and I called my wife and I said, I just think I met the best elementary school principal in the entire capital district. And and I thought my – my son’s in junior high school now, but I thought my son had a pretty cool elementary school teacher, uh, elementary school principal – but Kelly just kind of blow them out the water. So and Michael Foust is lucky to have her to work with. But I want to say to that the district, they’ve laid a foundation that it makes it easy for me to sit and talk with kids and express myself and give them an opportunity for them to express themselves as well. I can’t say enough about Dave Wareing. When we have conversations about race issues, he’s all ears and then he’s all action. I think you meet a lot of people in the world that, you know, for me as a black man in America, I meet people that want to talk about race issues, but that’s what it is, it’s a conversation and they try to move forward without taking action. We started doing circles with students in the in the district and it turned into something so, excuse me, so special that the students were asking for us to do more, because they feel comfortable in these circles and circles work for them to just use their voice and for them to just pull back the layers and to be who they are. And I thought it was – I know it is – I know it’s something that’s going to push the district forward because the kids that are in it are not only our best kids, but they’re our older kids, they’re our seniors who are going to be graduating and they’re going to be able to come back and give to the district more because they’re the ones that laid the foundation. All I can ask is, from all of you, is moving forward, is to really just be understanding to what’s going on in the world. This is not something new for me as a black person in America. This is something that has been going on recently, and it’s been going on for decades. And it’s, I finally feel like I can talk without feeling held back anymore. I feel like I can have the uncomfortable conversations and now you’ll see where I’m coming from. The students of color can have the conversation with you now and you can see where they’re coming from. The fears are real. Young children of color don’t make this stuff up. I was thinking the other day about going to count ballots. I was looking at my calendar thinking ahead, and I realized I drive through three different police departments to get to school and I fear three different times to get to school, from Niskayuna to Colonie to Watervliet. And I don’t know if anybody else on this call thinks about that when they leave work. And these are the kind of conversations I have with children of color and they, they think about it. But then when they think about it they say to me “Yeah, when I do this, I think about that too.” So there’s a lot of me too’s going on with myself from the students. And I think that really, really helps them throughout their school day, that they have somebody that they can come and have a point person and then I feel comfortable going back to administration talking to them. So I know I have a lens. I can give you what I see through my lens, but my lenses lately been filled with tears, and I just hope that our conversations can be filled with understanding. And please know I’ll never shame you for being white. You didn’t choose that you didn’t come in your mother’s stomach and look and say that’s the better box. We are who we are. But can we just sit down and just talk and understand where we’re coming from. And I think that’s going to help the healing process. It’s going to be a long road. A long, long road. This is only the beginning. And I’ll close here. I’m not happy yet, there’s three other officers that have not been arrested or charged. I’m not happy yet because, as a black man, I’ve seen this play out before where black men – unarmed black man – gets killed and officers walk. And just like Dr. Caplan said, I’m not anti-police officer, but I’ve seen this play out way too much. And so, I hope we can again, sit down at the table one day and talk and learn from each other. And I’m more than willing to talk to you about anything, anytime. Thanks.

Dr. Caplan: So you can see why Allan is such a great addition to our staff and he serves many roles here to many people and he’s a resource to, not only the kids, the staff, the administrators, the community as well. There’s nothing we asked him to do, he won’t do and our conversation today was very difficult because I explained to the students, I get pulled over a lot because I do speed, and never once have I feared for my life. Never once have I thought “Put your hands on the dashboard.” When we read the book “The Hate U Give,” the first thing that Mr. Gadsden said to me is I have that conversation with my son, all the time that daddy gets pulled over, you put your hands on the dashboard. And I said, I’m 53 no one ever had that conversation with me. And that’s the reality of the world that Allan lives in versus the world Lori lives in. But the beauty of this is that we have those conversations and we have them with the kids, and today was… I know Miss DeNovio is going to speak more about it, so I don’t want to steal her thunder, but emotions are raw and it’s really hard not being with kids right now because I’m sure that they could use a hug from us. Thank you. Miss you guys

Allan Gadsden Jr: Thank you.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you very much, Mr. Gadsden and thank you Lori, for having Mr. Gadsden speak to all of us this evening. If there’s anything else will hear from administrators now, and they can provide us with some updates. I don’t know who wants to go first.

Kirsten DeMento: Okay, I’ll go first. First, I wanted to thank cafeteria staff and Mr. Whited for their dedication this spring and all the hard work they’ve been doing for all the breakfasts and lunches that we’ve been serving. That being said, we’re going to be moving into our summer mode. So the last day that we’re going to be using the buses to distribute, will be on Tuesday, June 16. This will be posted on the website. Starting on the 17th. We’re going to be back to our summer locations, which will be at the Elementary School, near Watervliet Housing, the Watervliet Civic Center, and Mr. Patricelli is allowing us to use the little park between the Stewart’s and Ted’s Fish Fry. So we’re going to have a new location over that… in that side of town. And the food will be distributed there again from 8:00 to 10:00 in the morning and that will, again, begin on Wednesday the 17th. Any questions about food distribution for summer?

Amanda Cavanaugh: Kirsten, are we going to get back…I know last summer we had like Stan the Veggie Man and the produce and stuff. It is that coming back?

Kirsten DeMento: That is my next thing. So glad you said something. So there was some debate about this because of financial situations with the food pantries. We are going to be the only site, they called me last week and they agreed to come back. So they are coming back. They are going to start on Wednesdays, July 1st through August 26 only at the Elementary School. That will be there only Watervliet location this summer. Because of the COVID, there’s been some changes. So people…we have to have some signs made that say “please stay in your car until your turn.” But it’ll be right out front under the tent, like we’ve had all fall and winter, and in the front of the school next to the softball field. And between 8:30 and 10:30 every Wednesday starting July 1, they’ll have to-go bags. So people will get out of their car come up to get their to-go bag and then get back in their car and they do have to wear a mask when they’re coming, or they’ll be provided with one if they don’t have one. So I was very excited for Stan the Produce Van to be coming back. Any questions about him? No. We have EPK and UPK registration is ongoing. Currently we are full for the three-year old room with a waitlist. We’re going to be letting parents know with a letter at the beginning of next week, which families got in for that one. The UPK program – we’re still looking for some applications for that one. Those are the four-year-old room. And just to make sure that we’re clear, this year we have a new provider. We’re welcoming the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Capital District. They’ll be taking over the rooms from ACAP. Our grant allows for three half-day programs and one full-day program. And the full day program goes to students with the highest needs, whether they’re ESL, have special education needs, or they are on free or reduced lunch. So that one room will be full-day but the Boys and Girls Clubs does do wraparound care for $270.00 a month. Students can stay for a full day in that program if they only get selected for the half days, that is all on the website in more detail. Any questions regarding the EPK/UPK? Lastly, I want to thank Steve Hoffman for being on the board and for coming to our monthly SAVE meetings. I wish you best of luck with all your extra free time.

Steve Hoffman: Hey, thanks, Kirsten.

Janelle Yanni: Sheri, this is Janelle. I’d like to go next, if that’s all right. Okay, um just a brief update regarding special education. It’s odd at this time/ when days seem to be going into each other, weeks seem to be going into each other, that we’re talking about summer already. We will be providing extended school year services for our self-contained in-district students via distance learning, as per the governor’s order. The dates are July 6 through August 14. As you can see by the appointments tonight, we will have four teachers providing the instruction at the following grade levels: K-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7 through 9. We will also have a social worker and speech therapist, providing remote learning during this time. And for next school year – and I think this was already discussed at our last meeting – we have created two self-contained classrooms – one at the elementary level and one at the junior high school level – which will help to support students who are dealing with social emotional struggles, which then impacts their learning. Our goal is to always keep students in the least restrictive environment in the district, and by creating these programs, it will allow us to bring a student back to the district and keep several students in our buildings, which would not have been possible without the creation of these classrooms. I, too, would like to thank Mr. Hoffman for his service on the board. It was always a pleasure working with you, Mr. Hoffman.

Steve Hoffman: Thanks, Janelle.

Janelle Yanni: And I’d also like to thank on Darryl and Mary Beth. I have to say a snuck in on teacher appreciation a couple days at the high school, and the sandwiches and salads were delicious. Thank you so much. And that’s all I have for tonight.

Ryan Groat: Mrs. Senecal, it’s Mr. Groat. I figured now might be a good time for me to jump in here. I want to beat Mrs. Webster, because I know that she’ll, she’ll get us all emotional again. I’m going to, I’m going to start off with thanking Mr. Hoffman too. The few years that I, you know, I’ve been here, this gentleman, you know, just his approach in just his appreciation for the school district and the work that we do is greatly appreciated. Not only for myself, but the entire unit. We really appreciate what you, what you bring to the table and we’re looking at really looking forward to a replacement that’s going to do the same. So, I guess retirement… have fun…enjoy yourself.

Steve Hoffman: Geez, thanks, Ryan.

Ryan Groat: You’re very welcome. We very much appreciate you. I didn’t want to jump in with Mr. Gadsden. You know I am not just the only person in the district that has been impacted by this gentleman, but from from day one, he really struck a nerve. I’d met him. I interviewed him. I ran down to the office to see Dr. Caplan and I said, I think we’ve got somebody really special and he has lived up to that and far exceeded that and you guys are all getting a just a little sneak peek of it. Um, but, you know, he keeps reminding me how lucky he is to have found us. And I am not keeping up by telling him how lucky we are by finding him. He has said from day one, that he is here to impact an entire community. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. So today, to sit in over here, Miss DeNovio and the seventh graders, while I was working with high school teachers just listening to the conversations, you know, we talked about being humbled, but very impressed. Difficult Conversations. Listening to kids tackle situations and in some things that are going on in this world that are, you know, we can’t even comprehend, as adults. But just to hear them talk about it and give them the opportunity is very impressive. So I cannot wait to continue that work that most, you know, Mr. Gadsden and of course Dr. Caplan with her lead, and Mr. Wareing jumping on board and getting our seniors involved and having a group (SMAC) involved in our district is just really, really exciting. So I just didn’t want to overshadow that with just a little sneak peek of what we’re trying to plan for graduation. I know it’s a it’s a topic in our community. It’s an understatement to say that it’s been very difficult to try to figure out what we can we can’t do. We’re trying our best to follow the governor’s executive orders and staying within the CDC regulations. But just to kind of give you an idea of what we hope to do – and I know Mr. Stevens will jump in because I know he’s got a map right behind him. But if you can kind of visualize um, sort of a procession and starting off at the elementary building and sort of staging our students, and doing this alphabetically, and having so many cars show up and arranging them so that they can be released to come up to the high school and being greeted at the high school by a whole bunch of cheering, happy, excited, very proud teachers, stopping somewhere in the vicinity of like the cafeteria coming into the old section of the building, and escorted in groups of two. Now, if you can imagine – with the definition of mass gathering, the magic number is 10 – so we have to be very careful in our planning to make sure that the number of tickets that we have for students, of course, including the graduate, also including either a videographer or photographer, and then two administrators at a time, and keeping within that 10 limit is to escort them into the cafeteria for an opportunity for a photo op. It’s called an open air photo machine. They get to choose a backdrop and it’s kind of just the staging so that once we get going, about every three minutes, they would move forward be greeted by their school counselor and then get some pictures there, and then being escorted down the steps to the gymnasium, and being welcomed by Mr. Stevens and then they would go across the gymnasium. The gymnasium would be empty, except for Dr. Caplan and I right now. The Board, we’re hoping to build a position the Board members up at the upper track so they can be present at the time. And then as we call their names and announce their recognition accolades that they’ve achieved, they would come across to the stage, cross the stage, and then have a table laid out with their diploma on it where they would be able to pick it up, and then move off to their advisors, where the advisors would remind them to turn their tassel, and then they would be exiting out the far gymnasium door down near the weight room, and back out into the parking lot. So it’s it’s it’s a loop. If you can, you know, if you can imagine that. But again, if we’re thinking about, you know, maybe three, four minutes per graduate, then they would move to the next station. Again, to use the word processional again. It keeps people in their cars, it doesn’t encourage any type of gathering outside, which of course we feel bad about because that’s what this is supposed to be. But we want to stay within those guidelines and have what we would call a safe graduation for all. We’re I think, we’re really trying to push the limits as far as we can to try and make it as traditional and to make it as normal as we’ve had in the past, but also make sure that we’re keeping everybody safe and giving them an experience that they will they will hopefully remember coming up to our school district and graduating from. So, I don’t know if there’s any questions or if there’s any other comments of any information that anybody’s felt like I’ve left out that’s important to this, please, please jump in.

David Wareing: Mrs. Senecal, Dave Wareing, Athletics. Okay to go? Just wanted to remind everybody that next week – on a lighter note – next week, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, we are having our end of the year, virtual varsity banquets. We will be sending out all the invitations here in a couple days. So hope to see everybody there. I don’t think I have to say it, but thank you, Mr. Hoffman. Absolutely loved working with you. Wish the best of luck. I’ll miss seeing you up at the school.

Steve Hoffman: Thanks, Dave.

David Wareing: Mr. Gadsden, I can’t say enough. Appreciate all of the time that we’ve spent together. I’ve said it to Mr. Gadsden and Mr. Gadsden has said it to me, that getting the kids to talk and getting the ball rolling was the easy part, keeping it rolling is all on us as adults. And anybody who wants to jump in and help and, you know, keep the lines of communication open for all of our students – the more the merrier. The better off our kids will be for it. For any of our juniors, sophomores and juniors out there, we’re starting to look for that next group that’s going to step up and lead our SMAC group. So start thinking about where you want to be next year. Thank you.

Maria DeNovio: Hi this is Maria DeNovio. I’d like to go before Kelly as well.

Sheri Senecal: Go ahead.

Maria DeNovio: So we’ve talked about the zoom that occurred with the middle school kids earlier this morning. Very, very powerful. The socials, the two social studies teachers, were the ones to initiate it. They had had the kids do some research on current events, on past events, on historical events, and they wanted to sort of culminate it with this conversation that we ended up inviting a lot of people to. I think, at one point we had 50 people in attendance. And as you probably have heard it was very raw and emotional. The kids had questions, concerns, confusions that adults, help them walk through and it was, it was very powerful to sort of see their wheels turning as they were processing the events. And to see the way that the adults were reacting to it. I think is important for their growth and for them to know that they have a safe place to ask questions. One of the boys didn’t even know that the police officer had been arrested. And he, I think he felt a little awkward that he didn’t know that. And people, you know, assured him that it’s okay to ask questions. It’s okay to not know. Um, so it was a very safe place. And of course, Mr. Gadsden did a wonderful job with the kids and came across just about as human as anybody I’ve ever met. So that was wonderful. Tag-teaming on to that, we got our gold star status for No Place for Hate for the year for the building. So I got that email last week. And that ties into all of these events that we’ve done to keep Watervliet moving forward and giving everyone a voice. Also, before this meeting. I just had my seventh parent information zoom session with the middle school. So we’ve been doing that one once a week to keep the parents involved, answer their questions, help them process the events of virtual learning, and it’s been going very well. We are going to be mailing moving-up postcards the last week of school to all of our kids, since we can’t be here to celebrate together. So we got postcards made with a special message on the back. So kids will be receiving those in the mail. And I just wanted to thank Mr. Hoffman. I don’t know you very well, but I hear you do great things. So thanks for being on the board. And I wanted to – last but not least – really give a shout out to Mr. Cap., my bus driver on the bus routes for the last 12 weeks. I now know, if you live in Watervliet, I know where you live. I know where you walk your dog. I know what restaurants you eat at, and I know who you’re related to. So I just, I really want to thank him for welcoming me onto his bus, for giving me quite the community experience and for making these last 12 weeks really very enjoyable. Thank you.

Kelly Webster: Is it my turn? I think so. Okay, I will not cry, and I will not make anyone else cry because frankly I don’t think I have any more tears left after the last few days. I am worried for my friends, I am worried for my husband who is out there who has commented that the majority of the protests have been peaceful. I am worried for my children, and not just the two that I have at home, but the 820 that I serve each and every day. But I am so grateful for this district and for you, Mr. Gadsden, for opening my eyes. I remember vividly that conversation you and I had and I promise that I will continue to have these conversations with you and to continue to promote a culture of respect within Watervliet Elementary School. And I’m so grateful for your guidance. So thank you for the kind words but I appreciate you and I’m so happy that we’ve been able to build this relationship and friendship. I am…also like Maria mentioned, happy to announce that we once again have been named a No Place for Hate school. And the goal of No Place for Hate is to offer students and teachers, administrators and family members the opportunity to work together to combat prejudice and to enhance that culture of respect that I’m talking about. This year we were gold star status, which is bestowed upon schools that have proven a record of events that promotes tolerance and acceptance and anti-bullying. We had, we held five different events this year, to be awarded that gold star status, and I hope in the future we can continue to build upon that and maintain that status. You should have received your invitation for the sixth grade moving up ceremony. It is on June 16 at 9:00 a.m. If you did not, for some reason, receive that zoom, just let me know and I’d be happy to re-send it. Students, I know they’re very anxious. I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls and emails from parents about picking up their supplies and dropping off Chromebooks and that will be out shortly as well. But we are scheduled to do that, actually, after school so that students can maintain the learning, up until the 17th. So that will be on the 18th and 19th, Thursday and Friday. And there was a schedule that, like I said, Judy will One Call Now that. And finally I just, I’d like to extend my well wishes to you, Mr. Hoffman and thank you for the time that you’ve served in this district. I have sat on several committees with you and I just would like to wish you luck in in extend my gratitude and wish you well.

Steve Hoffman: Thank you, Kelly.

Donald Stevens: (Inaudible) So I guess I’ll be Mr. Heid for a couple minutes. I’m using a Chrome…I’m using a laptop so that we can host the zoom meeting and it doesn’t have a very good microphone system, apparently. Just a couple quick things. First off, Mr. Gadsden – I just stand with you. I stand next to you. I, I appreciate you and what you stand for and and what you have brought to this district tenfold. We’ve had chats and I just appreciate everything that you do. I will tell you, today’s session and and several of the other groups that I’ve sat in have been some of the most defining moments as an educator in my entire career. So, so I appreciate that. But I just want to touch base regarding a couple quick things as we close out the school year. We know that the last day of school is the 17th. Lots of information has been shared with teachers regarding end of the year grading, so just be on the, be on the lookout parents and family members that the trimester three report card at the elementary school may look a little different, as there’s some things that might not have been covered with the school closure as we prioritized curriculum. And up here at the junior-senior high school, we have some new coding for our quarter 4 report card with “evidence of learning” and then “not yet learned.” So look for…there’s a little key there to help you guide that that report card, as well as the final course grade. Along with the entire region, we’ve instituted a “COVID pass.” So in in certain instances, students may be earning a little “p.” Again, it’s a little code with a p with an asterix where they have passed the course and that earns them their credit. But no student is failing. They are getting an incomplete and we’re giving them every opportunity that we possibly can to support them in their education and give them as much of our effort as we as we can give them to be successful. So know that with that comes some summer work and our K-12, you know, in addition to Mrs. Yanni’s extended school year, our K-12 students will have the ability to do a summer academy in the elementary school, re-teaching some of those skills from this past school year and preparing them for the next school year, again, remotely. And then for the 7-12, we have a summer school set up remotely, for them to continue getting the support they need to be successful and turn those incompletes into passing scores. I think everybody saw the map and hopefully you all saw that, as Mr. Groat was talking, I was trying to walk you through the process there my finger doesn’t really move. I can’t really show you how it goes. But you’ll figure it out someday.

Michael Foust: And just one last thing, if I could. I know, Miss Webster has Danny biting at her ankles underneath the table there, so just wanted to let everyone know that we will be doing our sixth grade sign and swag bag drop off this Thursday from 11:00 to 2:00. We have a group of volunteer educators from the elementary school that’s going to be helping us out. We’re going to be dropping off signs and little goodies we got for our moving up sixth graders on Thursday and the nice weather. So sixth graders, if you’re watching sixth grade parents be on the lookout for us between 11:00 and t2:00wo on Thursday. Thank you, Mr. Hoffman. You’re the best. Best wishes.

Steve Hoffman: Thanks, Mike.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you, Mr. Foust. Does that wrap up the administrator portion of our reporting? Dr. Caplan, did you have anything further that you’d like to add before we adjourn the meeting?

Dr. Caplan: Yes, I would like to, first of all, thank the Board for approving the addendum to my contract. I appreciate that. And I feel like a proud parent because behind closed doors with the administrative team, I would say, we’re like brothers and sisters who are very close in age at different times, especially during…well, when you’re farther apart in age, sometimes you don’t have disagreements. So, you know, I’ve always said that we can disagree behind these doors and we go out as a unified front and I, you know, this is our last meeting of the year. And it has been a year! It feels like it’s been a year in the last three months. But I am so proud of, you know, I’m busy. I’m doing 50 million different things. So I can’t always be there for them, to guide them, and they just know what they’re doing, and they’ve led like true champions, you know, be it Maria who is in her first year or Dave who’s in his 14th year, everybody knows their role and just, I mean I’m forcing them, you know, to take vacation days. They have not taken time off. They’ve not missed work. So, you know, I think it’s just underappreciated – I shouldn’t say underappreciated – under-recognized, how absolutely around the clock this has been for three straight months and, you know, although I would describe myself as prickery, at times, because it’s so stressful, I appreciate the board’s support and I appreciate the work of the administrators, the teachers, the support staff, the bus drivers the cafeteria people, maintenance, guys. I mean, nobody has pushed back. Nobody has said “no, I won’t do that,” “no, I can’t do that.” I mean, there’s, I’m, we’re holding people back who want to, you know, come in here and I think, you know, this is really difficult for everybody because we don’t have closure and the end of the year is the time that there’s celebrations and we’re congratulating children and they’re moving up and everything from this point on for the next…I swear summer has been in session, I feel like, you know, it’s the end of summer ready and I realized that hasn’t even started. So, this month for us is getting high school kids ready for testing and moving everybody up and it’s just one celebration after another. And it feels like, you know, like I’ve used the term drinking from a fire hose repeatedly because that’s exactly what it’s like every single day is something new. So I can’t say it enough, how much I appreciate the teachers and the support staff and everybody who literally on a dime stopped their classroom like time stood still started teaching remotely starting feeding children off the school bus, setting up the food pantry, you know, making sure the children have whatever they need to just feel as safe as we can possibly make them. And literally, this happened in 24 hours and now it’s become our new norm. And while that’s going on, we already have a task force setup starting to look at how do we open school, and what will it look like, and who can be here and, you know, I just learned the other day I told the administrators, we were looking at sneeze guards for desks, well you can’t have Plexiglas in schools, so there’s a material that you can have. It’s four times more expensive, while we’re under this tight budget. I mean there’s just so many things that you know we have literally 50,000 plates you know, spinning in the air right now. So I appreciate everything that everybody has done this year. And to close, you know, well, one more thing I just want to make sure that you know the children in the city, stay safe. Make good choices, there’s, you know, we don’t have our…our summer school’s remote this summer. The pool may not be open. The playgrounds may not be open and I just worry about the kids and I want them to be safe and and make good choices and I just put it out there that I hope they do the right thing. I have confidence in them, they will. Lastly, I want to thank Steve. I’ve known Steve a really long time, almost my entire 15 years here and when he ran for the board, I was ecstatic because, not that he’s easy to sway or get along with all the time, but I appreciate him being outspoken. And although you know he’s a bit old school. I can appreciate that and, you know, he became flexible over the years and always understood the underdog and I appreciate that. And I’ll miss you, Steve. I’ll miss your sense of humor and, no matter what happened, you were always supportive of not only me but the administrators, the teachers and the support staff and that trickles down to the kids. And don’t think that they don’t know and I don’t want you to underestimate the difference you made in this district. So thank you very much and you know the time is now for you to go and enjoy your family and your granddaughter and enjoy the life that you set for yourself.

Steve Hoffman: Thanks, Lori.

Dr. Caplan: That is it for me.

Sheri Senecal: Okay. Thank you, Dr. Caplan. So with that, I will ask, that we adjourn the meeting at 7:06 p.m. May have a motion?

Steve Hoffman: Should I make the motion?

Amanda Cavanaugh: Steve, you can most definitely make the last motion.

Mary Beth Whited: Absolutely.

Sheri Senecal: Who wants to second?

Amanda Cavanaugh: I’ll second.

Sheri Senecal: Okay. Thanks, Amanda. Mrs. Boardman, will you take our last roll call for the the board that includes Mr. Hoffman?

Bernadette Boardman: Sure. Mrs. Senecal, Mrs. Soroka, Mrs. Whited, Mr. Hoffman, and Mrs. Cavanaugh: (All) Yes. Thank you. And thank you, Steve. It was a pleasure working with you.

Steve Hoffman: Thank you.

Sheri Senecal: Thank you, everyone. And don’t forget to vote.

Mary Beth Whited: Good night.