Watervliet City School District – Board of Education Meeting – April 23, 2020
Transcription of Live Broadcast
Sheri Senecal, Board President: Hi everyone. Good evening. We’re going to go ahead and rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. We are at the start of our meeting. It’s 6:02, Bernadette. Thank you. Can we rise for the Pledge of Allegiance?
Mrs. Senecal: Dr. Caplan, would you please take the roll call?
Dr. Lori Caplan, Superintendent: Sure. Mrs. Present – Here, Mrs. Soroka – Here, Mrs. Whited – Here, Mr. Hoffman – Present, Mrs. Cavanaugh – Here, Miranda – Present. All present.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay. So this would be our public comment period. Bernadette, do we have any public comments.
Bernadette Boardman, District Clerk: We did not receive any public comments.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay, thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: So then with that we’ll go to Dr. Caplan, if you could provide us with the old business.
Dr. Lori Caplan, Superintendent: There is the old business at this time
Mrs. Senecal: Okay. So then with that, Keith I understand that you’ll be providing us with an update on the budget.
Keith Heid, Business Manager: Yes. Did you want me to do that now or at the end?
Mrs. Senecal: You can do it now.
Mr. Heid: Do it now? Okay. All right. Good evening, everyone. I’m just going to give a pretty broad overview of what we’re looking at for our budget as we are faced with a lot of uncertainty, a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of contingencies. The first thing that I was asked to do is to kind of come up with what a budget gap would look like if everything stayed the same – if we just took what we have now and rolled it over into 2021. We are looking at an estimated $2.5 million budget gap. That’s 2.5 million. The primary cost drivers for this are we have an increase of 28 students that attend charter schools – that comes out to an increase of $281,000. We have a combined 13 students who will be either privately or publicly placed. That comes out to be over $1 million in increased expenditures. We have contract transportation to provide transportation to those 13 students. Due to increased number of routes, that will be $170,000 increase. An increase in the TRS rate is $120,000. And our health insurance is increasing by 5.7%; that comes out to be $132,000. Not to mention any and all contractual increases, salary and otherwise. So now we look at the revenue side and this is where most of the uncertainties are. Dr. Caplan is on with the superintendent’s, I am on with the school business officials through BOCES. We are on three days a week and it’s every business official that’s a member of the BOCES and everyone has the same problems and the same questions. Where are we this year? Are the revenue cuts, the state aid cuts, are they going to be applicable to our 1920 state aid payments? What will they look like next year? We’ve heard anywhere from the pandemic adjustment to a overall 20% cut. What will our grants look like? Will, we be getting fully funded for our title one? Our UPK? Our EXTra grants? Will the expenditure driven formulas run as they are supposed to be? We don’t know. If we’re forced to do layoffs, what’s the maximum of increase in our unemployment? All the business officials were struggling with this. There really isn’t any guidance. State Ed is supposedly working on this to provide some guidance. And the best that we were told, this kind of budget, I’ll get into the pandemic adjustment a second, but to basically budget 50% of what that is. So you add that with our increase of expenditures. That’s what’s leading to $2.5 million budget gap. So what Governor Cuomo came out the other day, and he mentioned something about a potential 20% cut if the feds don’t come through with a care for package, the COVID IV package for state and local municipalities and local governments. If we took a 20% cut on our foundation aid alone, that would be a $2.6 million hit to our district. So if you add the $2.6 cut in the revenue to the $2.5 budget gap, you’re looking at $5.1 we would have to eliminate from our budget. If the 20% cut comes from our total state aid number, that increases to $4.2 MILLION CUT that we could be looking at. No one, again, as far as I know, as of today, no one knows exactly what that 20% was. Is it just on the first payment? Is it on the spring payment? Is it on the overall state aid? I’m not really sure. I don’t know if Dr. Caplan has any insight to that. So again, that’s up in the air and that’s why we are still waiting to come up with a budget plan. Before all this happened back in February. We were actually projecting an increase in our fund balance from $1.8 as of June 30, 2019, up to $2.2 million at the end of 2020 so again it’s, in my opinion, it’s not that we have a spending problem. Every year, we have shown that we have come in under expenditures, but every year we keep having revenue taken out from under us. And every year we do the most with the least. So again, we’re facing that situation. Our tax cap, again, we will be going out under our cap, and the amount is an increase of $141,000, a 1.9% increase over 2019 – 2020. To put that in perspective, if we decided that we want to actually pierce the cap and go out over our statutory limit, every 1% over the cap would generate $71,000. To put that in perspective, we calculate a full time teacher, with benefits, to be roughly around $75,000, give or take. So even if we went out 1% over the cap it wouldn’t even be enough to fund a full time teacher. Now the one thing that the governor has stated is he’s made a big deal of saying that he’s held the line on education funding, and that our foundation need has been flat, and, in my opinion, that’s kind of semantics. Because what he’s done is, he’s left the top number for our foundation aid exactly the same as it was in 1920. So on paper, it looks like yes, it’s frozen. However, if you look at the aid runs. There’s a $426,483 reduction called a “pandemic adjustment,” so basically it’s our foundation from last year, minus that pandemic adjustment and hopefully the feds come through and restore that $426,000. So there’s no guarantee we’re even going to be getting that much. And that’s the number I said that we budgeted 50% of that. We’re hoping to get it only 50% of that. If we get more, that’s great, but we’re conservatively putting down half of that as revenue. Now the problem with that is that next year, what happens is that you have that pandemic adjustment. But now the federal money doesn’t come in. So now you’re looking at the total hole of $426,000 with no money from the feds. And this is exactly the same thing that happened years ago, when they did the gap elimination adjustment. We were told that the state aid portion would be supplemented through federal funding. When the federal funding fell through, the state never made up the difference from what we were supposed to get in state aid and what the feds are supposed to give. So these are all the different things that we’re trying to work with. We have been told to hold the line and wait until after April 30. That is the first measurement period which the governor is able to take a look at how the economy is performing and we are bracing for even more cuts. We were advised that that would be when we would project our revenue and actually adopt the budget. So that’s, if anyone has any questions or wants me to explain a little bit more, I’d be happy to. But that’s all I have right now a very broad overview of what we’re looking at.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Mr. Heid. Well, I know the other day NYSSBA put out something on Twitter saying that maybe it might be helpful for us to maybe send some letters to our federal representatives, you know, to ask for them to take a look at education and not, you know, maybe put it forth in a new stimulus package so that we’re not left, you know, with what we currently have, which the governor has explained is less than other states have received. So I’m not sure if the board would be interested in…
Dr. Caplan: Sheri, I’m writing the letter, so I’m writing the letter and then I was going to give it to all the unions and you guys and you’d have to change the line that says, “I’m the superintendent, you’re a board member.” I’m giving it to WTA. I’m giving it to support staff and I’m giving it to the administrators. So I have a letter, and you guys are welcome to use my letter, and you just change the part that, you know, who you are. So we already, I already have a letter in the works. I was working on it today.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay. And I mean, I wonder if we it’s even something…
Dr. Caplan: Did you hear me?
Mrs. Senecal: Yeah. Thank you, Lori. I wonder if it’s also something that we should put on the website for any of our parents that maybe would be interested in also submitting a letter, you know, on behalf of their own child. That’s something I know we’ve done before, when I was on the PTA. I feel like we had to do this before, when we had a budget issue, but we were writing it to our state legislators. This obviously would be something to the Federal representatives, so perhaps if we put that out on the website, you know, parents would be inclined to send one in on their own. Okay. So with that we’ll look to Miranda to provide our Student Council report.
Miranda Luck, Student Council Representative: Well, there’s not too much to say from being home, but I do want to thank the school and everyone that’s been helping trying to provide meals for the children and their families, because on my perspective of it, I have had to go out to the bus and it’s definitely been a great help. It really has. And it’s put, I know it’s helped a lot of families around here where I live. And it’s upsetting to say that, a lot of seniors, we miss school, no matter how much we complained about it, we wish we never did. But I’m hoping that something does change soon. Even if it doesn’t, I’m still going to end up being around because I have decided that I’m going to go to RPI in the fall for architecture. And that was what I wanted to announce to you guys tonight.
Mrs. Whited: Congratulations!
Miss Luck: Thank you.
Amanda Cavanaugh: Congrats! That’s awesome, Miranda!
Mrs. Senecal: Congratulations, Miranda!
Mr. Heid: Miranda, that’s my alma mater, so you made an excellent choice.
Mrs. Soroka: Great job, Miranda.
Miss Luck: Thank you.
Mrs. Soroka: You’re welcome.
Miss Luck: We do still have the May 7 blood drive at the high school. I don’t have too much information on it, as of right now, but Coach Lane is in charge. If you have any questions, you can contact him, but it is still on for May 7.
Dr. Caplan: Miranda, just so you know, I had to take it over because we’re not going to be in the session. So I’ve asked Mr. Waring to be in charge because, although we’re going to have people coming in and giving blood, we can’t have other people, too many other people coming in other than their own workers. So, Mr. Wareing is going to have to set it up. He’s offered to take it over, and I’m not sure that we can use volunteers now. I think they have to bring their own people, but I’ll let you know.
Miss Luck: Alright. Well, thank you for letting me know, that helps.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you very much, Miranda, for being with us tonight and for providing that report. I’m sure you know the teachers miss all of you, just as much as you miss them. So thank you.
Miss Luck: You’re welcome.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay, so with that, we’ll move on to the board discussion. So I’ll ask for a consent agenda on items 1-16, 18-26, and 31. And then I’ll do a brief reading after that, as well.
Mr. Hoffman: I’ll make a motion.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay.
Mrs. Soroka: I’ll second, Heather.
Mrs. Senecal: Heather. Okay. And then, Bernadette, would you do a roll call, please?
Mrs. Boardman: Sure. Mrs. Senecal – Yes, Mrs. Soroka – Yes, Mrs. Whited – Yes, Mr. Hoffman – Yes, and Mrs. Cavanaugh – Yes. Great, thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: I just would like to take note of the items 18,19, 20, 21 and 22 of the agenda, as well as 23-24. These are folks who have received tenure this evening and not to read each one of these items out, but I do want to make sure that we mention their names so that there’s a record for those that are listening with us this evening. So, Mrs. Webster is receiving tenure this evening in the area of Administration. Congratulations. Mrs. Webster. Let’s see. Sorry, guys. I’m trying to read this from an alternate screen. Also we have Miss Stephanie Maes in the area of Special Education, K-6. Congratulations. And we have Miss Diane Jacob in the area of Childhood Education, Grades 1-6. Congratulations to her. Miss Samantha Walsh in the area of Childhood Education Grades 1-6. Congratulations to you, Miss Walsh. Miss Christina Farrugio. I’m not sure, I’m probably butchering your name. I do apologize, but congratulations.
Dr. Caplan: Farrugio.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you. In the area of Secondary English, and Miss Kelsey Logan in the area of Physical Education. Congratulations, Coach Logan. And Miss Lindsay Moore, in the area of Secondary Special Education. Congratulations to you Miss Moore. So we didn’t want to have to read each one of those items out. But I do think it’s important for us to highlight your amazing accomplishment here. With that, I’m going to read item 17 and that’s “Resolved that the Board of Education of the Watervliet City School District, upon recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, does hereby create and appoint Darrel Whited to the position of Permanent Cook Manager, a non-competitive position, effective August 23, 2005. This appointment is intended to correct and supersede the previous appointment of Mr. Whited, made on August 23, 2005.” So with that, I will ask if I can have a motion.
Amanda Cavanaugh: I’ll make a motion, It’s Amanda.
Mr. Hoffman: I’ll second it.
Mrs. Whited: I am going to recuse myself from voting.
Sheri: Thank you. Bernadette, would you do the roll call, then?
Mrs. Boardman: Sure. Mrs. Senecal – Yes, Mrs. Soroka – Yes, Mr. Hoffman – Yes, and Mrs. Cavanaugh – Yes. Okay, and Mrs. Whited is abstained.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you. Okay, Item 27 “Resolved that the board, accept, with thanks the award of $1,000, Education Assistance product voucher, from Bill and Melinda Gates, to the Watervliet City School District, to be used to purchase books, learning materials, and other essential items to keep students learning at home, as recommended by the Superintendent.” Do I have a motion?
Mrs. Whited: I’ll make a motion.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay, Mary Beth.
Steven Hoffman: I’ll second.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay Steve will second. And then, Bernadette, would you do the roll call?
Mrs. Boardman: Sure. Mrs. Senecal – Yes, Mrs. Soroka – Yes, Mrs. Whited – Yes, Mr. Hoffman – Yes, and Mrs. Cavanaugh – Yes. Thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you to the Gates Foundation. That’s wonderful. Item 28 “Resolved that the Board, accept, with thanks, the award of $500 from Stewart’s Shops Holiday Match Program, to the Watervliet City School District, to be used for outreach efforts, as recommended by the Superintendent. Do I have a motion?
Mrs. Cavanaugh: Amanda will make a motion.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Amanda.
Mrs. Whited: I’ll second.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay, Mary Beth. Mrs. Boardman, would you do the roll call then?
Mrs. Boardman: Sure. Mrs. Senecal – Yes, Mrs. Soroka – Yes, Mrs. Whited – Yes, Mr. Hoffman – Yes, and Mrs. Cavanaugh – Yes. Thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you to Stewarts for that. And we have item 29 “Resolved that the Board, accept, with thanks, the award of $750 from Stewart’s Shops Holiday Match Program, to the Watervliet City School District, to the athletic program, as recommended by the Superintendent.” Do I have a motion?
Mr. Hoffman: I’ll make a motion.
Mrs. Senecal: Steve.
Mrs. Soroka: I’ll second. Heather.
Mrs. Senecal: Heather. Thank you. And Mrs. Boardman, would you do the roll call?
Mrs. Boardman: Sure. Mrs. Senecal – Yes, Mrs. Soroka – Yes, Mrs. Whited – Yes, Mr. Hoffman – Yes, Mrs. Cavanaugh – Yes. Thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: And once again, thank you to Stewart’s for that donation. Item 30 “Resolved with the Board, accept, with thanks, the donation of $500 from Dan Woodside and CSArch, to be used to assist students with access to Wi Fi, as recommended by the Superintendent.” Do I have a motion?
Mrs. Whited: I’ll make a motion.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay, Mary Beth.
Mrs. Soroka: I’ll Second. Heather.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Heather.
Mrs. Senecal: And Mrs. Boardman, would you do the roll call?
Mrs. Boardman: Sure. Mrs. Senecal – Yes, Mrs. Soroka – Yes, Mrs. Whited – Yes, Mr. Hoffman – Yes, and Mrs. Cavanaugh – Yes. Thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: And thank you to CSArch for that generous donation as well. Okay, so just wanted to say a couple of things before we open up our board discussion. I just wanted to, you know, thank and recognize all of the staff and especially, you know, the administrators and the cafeteria workers and, you know, all of the support staff that are coming in to help, as needed to deliver the food to the children and, you know, all of the extra effort that everybody is putting in. The students must enjoy seeing some of you when you’re delivering food. I know that’s probably a highlight for some of them. And just the, you know, different things that everybody’s trying to do to make sure the students know that they are missed and that you’re there for them. It’s, it’s very nice to see. I know some of us are, you know, seeing a lot of help, as mentioned earlier, and you know some of you are aware that that Amanda and Mrs. Fronczek were able to put together a t-shirt drive that also supported our students that were in need, as well as our local businesses and that was a great effort. And then they’ve also decided to, hey let’s try it again and get some masks out to the people, now that the governor’s asked us to wear these masks out in public. And so those are also going out to people. I think Amanda can touch on it a little bit, but I think you sold 500 shirts and you sold 500 masks. So that was a great effort.
Mrs. Cavanaugh: 750 shirts.
Mrs. Senecal: Oh wow, that’s great! Well, thank you very much, because I know that that’s been something that, you know, has helped the students and, like I said, the businesses, and it also just makes the community feel like they’re helping, and that’s always a great thing to do. I also wanted to say, you know, thank you to Mayor Patricelli for, you know, putting together his team of volunteers and all of their efforts to recognize our students by giving them a balloon on their birthday, which is seems to be very well received and I know, Amanda, you also are helping the mayor with that effort. So thank you again for all of these great ideas that are coming from you and are being put together, you know, with the help of many so it’s really nice to see. And I think Dr. Caplan already went over that, but our schools will still be closed until May 15. And I also just wanted to say that, you know, I think the ideas like “Mrs. Webster’s Way” and the great, I don’t know what you call it, the montage maybe, that the WES staff put together on “Lean On Me.” I think that was great and it brought a tear to my eyes. I know it brought a tear to many people’s eyes just to watch, you know, seeing how great, you know, everybody could feel the emotion that was put into that. And I think it’s really nice that you guys are trying to come away with some creative ideas to show the students that they shouldn’t give up and that you guys are there for them. And that’s all I really had. So with that, I would open it up to the board. If you want to individually take a time, maybe I’ll just go in order and have Heather go first and see if she has anything to add.
Mrs. Soroka: I don’t think so. I think you covered it all, Sheri. Thanks.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay, thank you. And Mary Beth, do you have anything to add?
Mrs. Whited: No, I just want to reiterate the, my thanks, you guys are doing an awesome job. Miss Webster, you know, I watch you almost every day. So, good job. Everything’s been great so far. I know the kids miss you guys, so I can imagine how you guys feel.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you. And Amanda, do you have anything?
Mrs. Cavanaugh: You skipped over Steve.
Mrs. Senecal: Well, he’s last, ladies first.
Mrs. Cavanaugh: Oh, Okay. Well, usually Steve goes before me. Okay. Sorry, I am I haven’t been emotional really about anything until I think I saw everyone on the screen and realizing that we can’t all be together and, Miranda, I’m super proud of you for keeping going and I’m so excited to hear about RPI so. Sorry. 750 t-shirts. I thought maybe we’d sell 200. I can’t say enough good things about our staff. I thought about the idea of t-shirts. I paired with Meg. She’s been completely unstoppable. She, you know, if I’m not texting her, she’s texting me. Someone’s at the front door, someone’s at the elementary school. But the support from our staff has been incredible. Whether it’s t-shirts, whether it’s masks, you know, you touched a little bit on the balloon thing, Sheri, but I originally just thought we were going to do kids 12 and under and Emma Eames got ahold of me and said, you know, our middle school and our high school kids need this too. So, Don helped me with a list, Emma helped me with a list, I talked to Miss DeNovio…so many teachers have reached out to say “Don’t forget this kid,” “Can you make sure you get to this kid,” “I’m worried about this kid, can you just pop in and make sure they get a balloon?” They’ve sent donations, people have dropped off balloons and helium and it’s – anything that we’ve put out there to ask for help with, our staff have been just amazing and I can’t, whether from Lori, all the way down to everybody, it’s just been incredible. So I appreciate all that we’ve done. We did almost $14,000 for the t-shirt sales the mask sales are still going. And we’re not done. Meg has some other ideas about different things to sell to raise money to do something for our seniors, so there’s been talks about things to do with food. I was on a call this morning with Bernadette and some others in the city, about how we can help with like a food pantry or food. So we’re not done. There’s more to come and I, I just, I know we can do it because of the support that we’ve already gotten. The only other thing I just wanted to mention quickly, I posted a flyer on social media today. One thing that I learned today that I didn’t know is that the United Way has support here in Albany County and people can dial on their phone “211” and they will be brought two hot meals and a box of groceries. So if someone is hungry and doesn’t have food right now they can – that number works 24/7. So I would just encourage people to take advantage of that because we didn’t, we had no clue. And I hope, going forward, everyone throughout the city, everyone’s trying to do great things, but no one knows about the things we’re everyone individually is doing. So I’m hoping, hoping that we’ll have some more consolidated information and flyers to go out soon, but just thank you to everybody. I’m forever grateful. I’m in an okay space with my family and, you know, we’re secure. So I appreciate everybody putting in help to make sure that everyone is that way.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Amanda. And Mr. Hoffman, do you have anything to add?
Mr. Hoffman: No, I just, you know, piggyback on what Sheri and Amanda touched on, it’s been great. The community is great. I would just like to, I mean, is there anything that we have to do, as a board, or Lori, you have to do to just extend me until the next election or am I just agreeing to it or?
Dr. Caplan: We don’t have guidance yet and that’s another thing we still don’t have guidance on so NYSSBA, what we, as superintendents, are asking is that if there are board members that are up and they’re willing to run their extended for a year without having to go get signatures, blah, blah, blah. We don’t have an answer yet. We do know that you can’t go door to door getting signatures. So it’s a holding pattern.
Mr. Hoffman: And I have no…
Dr. Caplan: If you and Mary Beth are willing to, then, you know, the hope is you just continue.
Steve Hoffman: I have no problem serving until there’s a next general election. So, I didn’t know…
Dr. Caplan: I appreciate it. I don’t have any…we don’t even have a date for a budget vote yet. All we know is it can’t be before June 1. So I don’t have any guidance. Yeah.
Mr. Hoffman: It isn’t. I’m looking to jump off. I will serve until the next election.
Lori Caplan: I think that the next election is 2025. If I live that long.
Mrs. Whited: I’m actually hoping to be down south by then.
Mr. Hoffman: I’m done.
Mrs. Senecal: Well, thank you, Steve for continuing, you know, with us, and we appreciate you, you know, being willing to do that because we have, you know, really no guidance at this point. And, you know, might as well keep the band together for now and see where we go from there. With that, I guess we can close the board discussion unless there’s anything else anybody else had. So Dr. Caplan, would you provide us with any new business.
Dr. Caplan: My New Business is short and then I’ll turn it over to the administrators. I don’t want to steal their thunder, and then I’ll do my report. So a for New Business, I just want to explain that when I came here 15 years ago, tenure was kind of given. All you had to do was sign on the dotted line, teach for three years, good, bad, or indifferent and you received tenure. And that change with my predecessor, as well as myself and the other administrators. It really is earned now, so the people that we are celebrating tonight, which unfortunately it’s virtually, really earned their spot and not only do they earn it, but they’re observed by the administrators, they work, the expectation is that, you know, they come early they stay late, they’re part of a team that they’re continuously doing whatever it is, children need. So we don’t take tenure lightly and so I just really want to stress that the people that are getting tenure tonight have really earned it. And so congratulations again to Stephanie Maes, Diane Jacob, Sam Walsh, Christa Farruggio, Kelsey Logan, Lyndsay Moore, and I had to write a paragraph about Kelly, because I didn’t want to miss anything, and I could go on and on but I think people really realize, Kelly’s only been an administrator for three years and she quickly moved from assistant, principal took the helm at the elementary school as principal middle of the year unexpectedly so, and has just become a fixture, not only in the community, but in the elementary school, and it’s not an easy task, and the hardest thing she did was to go from a classroom teacher to an administrator in the same building, because those are her colleagues and now she’s their boss. And I’ve never done that. I’ve always moved on, except here, I went from principal to superintendent. But it’s a little bit different being a teacher and being in a union and then you become the boss. And she’s done it with grace and seamlessly. So I just wanted to say what a phenomenal teacher, she was a phenomenal teacher, a phenomenal leader now, that I’m a teacher phenomenal leader now. She’s far exceeded my expectations as an administrator. She’s positive, professional, kind, caring, and most of all genuine and authentic and the love that she has for her students and her staff in both buildings doesn’t go unnoticed. And it’s really an honor to work side-by-side with Kelly, so congratulations and I’m going to save the rest of my report for after the administrators, so I don’t steal their thunder. Congratulations to all the newly-tenured teachers and administrator. Okay. Sorry. That was, that was my new business for right now.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay. Thank you. We’ll come back to you then Dr. Caplan. So I’m not sure what order all of you would like to go in. Do we want to start with…Ms. DeMento has her hand up, so I guess we’ll start with her.
Ms. DeMento: Thank you. I just wanted to bring up to speed on some areas of cafeteria and UPK items tonight. First, wanted to thank Darrell Whited and all the cafeteria staff for their hard work during this unprecedented time. We could not feed the students of Watervliet breakfast and lunch without their dedication. We have the cafeterias on weekly staff rotations to keep everyone safe. I also wish to send our condolences to the families of Flo Sgambelluri …oh, I only called her Flo…sorry if I’m butchering the last name…and Donna Gillespie.
Dr. Caplan: It’s Sgambelluri
Ms. DeMento: Both passed away in March. These ladies will be missed by both the students and the staff. The cafeteria has provided breakfasts and lunches from March 17 until today and will continue to do so. This is 28 days. We’ve made a total of 8,504 meal kits. A meal kit is one breakfast and one lunch in each bag. So this is an average of 304 bags a day or 608 breakfasts and lunches each week. The last three weeks, the average was higher, and we actually did 353 lunches and breakfasts a day. We should note that we still have the two pickup locations at WES and at the Civic Center. Additionally, there’s three buses that deliver across the city from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00. Please see the district website for the bus stops and locations for additional pickups. The administrators, we thank you. You’ve done a great job riding the buses to deliver the food and other supplies to students and parents along the route, and they really appreciate it. Now on to the UPK. Thank you tonight for approving our new community-based partner, The Boys and Girls Club of the Capital District. They’re going to be taking over the UPK in our building. I’ve been working with Justin Reuter. He’s been wonderful in answering questions and I’m looking forward to our new UPK partner. The current UPK classes, if you’re wondering where they are, they’ve also been moved online. We have an online-only UPK only Facebook page to keep it just to the parents that are currently in UPK students. I post daily lessons, activities, and information for parents each morning, and the parents and teachers send in the pictures from the group on what they’ve been doing at home. This week we are hosting a virtual spirit week and many students are participating, and today they sent the photos in and today was beach day so I saw a lot of people in their beach attire. It is really great to see all the kids. Speaking of seeing the kids UPK teachers have started to make zoom family calls this week. We have been using just telephone calls, but they couldn’t – the kids couldn’t see the teachers, so we’ve moved to zoom calls. Lastly, I know a lot of people have been asking about how to register for EPK and UPK lotteries, and we’re going to have details for how to do this new process posted online by the end of next week. Thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Ms. DeMento – a lot of valuable information and it sounds really cool what the UPK is doing. And who would like to go next?
Donald Stevens, Assistant Superintendent: I’m gonna go.
Mrs. Senecal: Okay, go ahead, Don.
Mr. Stevens: Alright, so once again, I know that you recognized item number 25, some teachers for us, but I would like to also recognize them. They’re what we call some rock star teachers: Ashley Fraley, Christa Farruggio, Michelle Brown, Sam Walsh, Kristin Lofink, Jeanne Lance and Jen Hoefer. Just so, just so you all are aware they were nominated by us here at Watervliet to support the regional development of the BOCES hosted Essential Education website. I’m not sure if you’ve checked it out, but it’s essentialed.capregionboces.org. This website, along with supporting instructional guidance documents, was envisioned by all 24 component Capital Region BOCES district assistant superintendents, as well as Deputy Superintendent of Capital Region BOCES, Lauren Gimmell. It is regional support for all educators with lessons, resources and links aligned to a prioritized grade-level standard curriculum. And we just knew that we needed to support teachers, and this website was a digital tool that we could pool together some best teaching practices and approaches and then get this into our educator’s hands as quickly as possible. So thank you to them. This has been a huge undertaking and we are, we’re grateful that they were able to support not only our school district, but the entire capital district. Second item, as I’m sure that you’ve heard, New York State 3-8 assessments, the NYSESLAT, the alternative assessments, as well as the New York State Regents have been canceled. In alignment with that cancellation, the region of school districts, as well as Watervliet, have canceled all final examinations for this school year, as well as end of the year benchmarking that typically happens in our May and June time period. We’re currently exploring grading options for the fourth quarter and how we will assign final grades and course credit for the end of the school year. However, the elementary school was able to share trimester two achievement reports that went out to parents on Parent Portal. And the junior-senior high school was able to, is able to post quarter three report cards, actually tomorrow, on Friday. Quarter three is a little different. Quarter three started in January and it’s going through March 13, prior to our closure. So any work that was completed after March 13 is used to support the quarter three grades because the first two weeks that we were closed was filled with remedial,
extra work, makeup work, or review work, so that students could get a handle on this new learning environment, and we could put a plan in place of how to continue instruction. So, like I said, as the, as quarter four and final grading information becomes available, and we make decisions as a region, we’ll share that with parents and then, eventually, at the next board meeting as well. Meanwhile, all students are engaged. We have learning happening every day through technology, we have virtual classes on Google Meets or Zoom, we have Google Classroom setup, we have packets to some of the families that don’t have technology – or sometimes students work better with paper and pencil – and we’ve made deliveries and made accommodations of a variety of learning styles. Right now grading is called “Evidence of Learning” and then “Not Yet Learned.” We’re really encouraging teachers to give feedback, provide opportunities for revisions, and support struggling learners. We are accommodating for the wide range of inequities that our students are facing. We know it’s different. We know that we’re in a digital world that they’re not accustomed to, and we are adapting and supporting them the best that we can. I too, would like to congratulate all of the educators that received tenure tonight. I have long stood next to Mrs. Webster through this process and I’m encouraged that that she’s still standing next to me. Watervliet is the best place to work.
Each and every day, I am reminded of the love and support that this community has, and I’m proud, even though all of the non-tenure, the newly-tenured teachers are virtually watching, I’m proud to work with each and every one of them. And finally, I just want to acknowledge the leadership and guidance of Dr. Caplan. Many of you might not know, but I have literally been by her side since day one of disclosure. I have learned a lot in terms of dedication, transparency, honor, commitment. Believe me, we may get on each other’s nerves – usually by 9 am every single day – but I would be remiss if I did not thank her personally for everything that she is and has been doing for Watervliet.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you Don and I certainly can agree with a lot of what you’re saying. We know that Dr. Caplan was always tirelessly there, but now it seems like she’s there even more and we appreciate your leadership, Dr. Caplan, during this difficult time and always. So with that, who would like to go next? Okay, Mrs. Webster.
Kelly Webster, WES Principal: I just wanted to start by thanking the board for accepting Dr. Caplan’s recommendation of my tenure. I very much appreciate it. Dr. Caplan, you have given me so much guidance, and so much leadership and I am indebted to you, and I will continue to serve this district with all that I am, and I look forward to a bright future here. I would also want to congratulate our newly-tenured teachers, Mrs. Maes, Miss Jacobs, Mrs. Walsh, Mrs. Farruggio, Coach Logan and Miss Moore. Having been in both buildings in the district, I’ve worked a lot alongside both, or all of these educators and I am grateful for their service to our students and I wish them nothing but the best and congratulations to them. I’m not even really sure where to go with the next thank you. I am in awe of the community that we live and work in. I am so appreciative of the teachers and the staff for continuing to find engaging avenues to educate our children. I, like Mr. Stevens, wanted to give a shout-out to Mrs. Lance and Mrs. Hoefer, Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Walsh, who helped contribute to the regional site. It was a tremendous effort and I think, as a whole, everyone in the region, teachers and staff were very appreciative to you. So thank you. I am also very grateful to the administrators, especially Dr. Caplan and Mr. Stevens for their continued guidance in these unprecedented times. Every morning, too our local food service workers are under the guidance of Mrs. DeMento and Mr. Whited, and they’re making hundreds and hundreds of meals to give to Miss DeNovio and Mr. Wareing and Mr. Foust, as they hop on a bus every day alongside our amazing bus drivers, Cap, Mike and Chris, to make deliveries to our students so that it’s just one less thing that they have to worry about. It really is amazing. And I’m so appreciative to Mr. Groat and Mrs. Yanni to that show up and help pass out our Food for Fuel meals with me, and Mrs. DeMento, I mean, thank you. It takes a village, and we are here every day trying to just take something off somebody’s plate to make it a little easier because we understand that this isn’t easy. We do.
Daily our support staff – our amazing support staff – have been tremendous – everybody, teachers and TA’s and social workers and counselors are reaching out to families asking what they need, and just checking in on them. And, if they need technology we’ll give them technology. If technology isn’t working, we will find another avenue. We will do whatever we can to ensure that learning is happening and that mental health is taken care of. We are here to talk to you to be by your side. We are a phone call away and I can’t reiterate that enough. So anybody that needs anyone that’s listening, you know, we are here for you. And we are Vliet and I am just so honored to be a part of this community. I have to thank, you know, BOCES as well for everything that they’ve done to help support the teachers because it’s also made it easier for me. I have to – selfishly – I have to thank We Care Vliet because the donations that they helped raise, I see firsthand that smile that it puts on those families faces when they get that gift certificate. I hear the stories that front line like “Because of this, Mrs. Webster, I can get my child something for Easter or for her birthday.” And you know, on my way home from work every day I call my mother and father to check in on them. And I tell them, like I am so fortunate and I just, anything that I can do to pay it forward to somebody else. I’m still working and getting a paycheck every day. And if I can do anything to help pay it forward the way that We Are Vliet has been paying it forward, for me personally, I’m sorry, I mean it’s amazing and I can’t thank them enough because I see it and I’m part of it every day, what their donations and their fundraisers have done for our community. So thank you to the board for being there for us in supporting us and leading us and I just, I hope everybody’s well in safe in we’re all back together. Soon, so thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Mrs. Webster.
Ryan Groat, WJSHS Principal: That’s gonna be really tough to follow.
Mrs. Senecal: I was gonna say “Who’s gonna go next?”
Mr. Groat: I know. I don’t know whether to cry or just say thank you. But I’m gonna, I’m going to jump right in, where everybody else is kind of gone with this. This entire meeting has been about the community. So there’s a lot of thank you’s to go around. It certainly starts with the Board, the Superintendent and all of my colleagues. This is not something that we could have dealt with alone, and it’s just absolutely amazing, the people in the community that stepped up. I think everybody that I bumped into or interacted with has recognized how serious this is, and they’ve really stepped up to the plate. The things that stand out to me is just not just the initiative, but the leadership that happens at every level throughout the entire district and I can only say that those people that have been brought up and were granted tenure tonight are exactly those types of people and the type of character that we’ve been looking for and we found and I think they’ve been great additions. Each of each of the people that you mentioned for 10 year have all played a really important part in what we’ve seen over the last 40 days. So my, my, this is really about thanking everybody to allow us to be able to continue to do the work that’s really near and dear to all of us, which is educating our students. You know, at the high school, middle school level, the effort that’s going into trying to make, not only makes sense of this but provide our students with a sense of normalcy, and trying to pick up on those everyday routines that really matter. And it’s not just the instruction, but birthdays, acknowledgments. So we’re really trying to piece together and keep a schedule. We’ve rebuilt virtual schedules, recognizing birthdays, we’re moving forward with yearbooks, National Honor Society inductions, we’re planning a virtual talent show. So now that I’ve seen the awesome things out at the elementary building, there’s, there’s a lot more that’s going to take place between now and the end of this school year and I’m just excited to be a part of it. So with that, I’m just going to say thank you to all of you and I just want you to know how much we appreciate your support and times that we’re all dealing with. Thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Mr. Groat. Who would like to go next? Okay.
Janelle Yanni, Director of Special Education, Programs & Pupil Services: Did she say me?
Mrs. Senecal: Yeah, I’m sorry, I hit mute to quick. Go ahead Mrs. Yanni.
Mrs. Yanni: Ok okay. All right. Thank you Sheri. I’d like to just give you an update regarding the Special Education Department and what we’ve been doing since school closure. A lot of this is behind the scenes. Spring is the busiest time for special education, since we’re holding annual reviews and making recommendations for next school year. We’ve been holding all of our CSE meetings via Google Meets and they have been running very smoothly and if anyone knows me, I’m not a tech guru. So this has been a really learning curve for me. But I think we’re doing all right. Parents either join the meeting on their computer, or they can also phone conference in. I’ve been involved in BOCES CSE chair meetings twice a week, where they’re keeping us updated on the constant changes revolving around special education services. We are being granted a great deal of flexibility and how we are providing services, but we must meet the mandates on the IEP to the greatest extent possible. Our teachers have been very busy keeping their students engaged through virtual learning. Our related service teachers are providing their services through tele-therapy, where they use a particular platform, such as Google Meets or Zoom to work with the students. For OT and PT, where there is much more hands-on activities, they have created blogs, have popped into Google classrooms and created activities where the parents can help support their children. I’m meeting with the sped staff once a week – at least once a week – both in the elementary school and the high school and we’re all bouncing ideas off each other. One idea that’s going to be discussed at our high school meeting, which is tomorrow, and some elementary teachers are going to be joining in, is how to incorporate Google breakout sessions where the sped teachers are able to meet with their students and can provide their accommodations and modifications in a small group setting. Also we have to take into consideration, those students who are in private placements and in BOCES classrooms. We are connecting with them as well, and continuity of learning is happening there too. They’ve been reaching out and some of those parents who need support, we’re supporting them as well. They’re reaching out for Chromebooks; we’re providing them to those students who do need them. Just like everyone else has mentioned, I would like to congratulate all those teachers who have received tenure this year. It is a hard journey, especially during this time. So it really is well-deserved. Kelly, I enjoy working with you. You’re my right hand, many days, and I appreciate it. Thank you to everyone and thank you for letting me share what’s going on in special education.
Mr. Groat: I just, I just want to jump in one more minute here. Um, I understand that Mrs. DeNovio’s internet and how it’s working is in and out, so I didn’t want to step on her toes but she certainly wanted to share just how proud she is. You know, me too. She and I have been working fairly close – in separate offices – but we can certainly hear each other. Sometimes we have to close the door in between because we’re battling between zoom meetings, chat meetings, but I can’t even describe the number of meetings, both she and Miss clicker, you know, they’ve been the Batman and Robin in the other office when it comes to middle school with building schedules and pulling together team meetings. You know she’s, they’re already working on social emotional pieces of curriculum for next year, so I can’t say enough about how that team has not only taken on a challenge for this year but I think we’re all really looking at the work that we’re doing and how that can really impact how we’re going to educate kids moving forward. So to be able to hear her in the other room talking about next year and kind of how they’re going to build that curriculum is also very exciting. So she just wanted to make sure that that was shared with the board tonight.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Mr. Groat. Thank you, Miss DeNovio for your words through Mr. Groat. Would anybody else like to speak?
Mrs. Cavanaugh: Sheri, maybe you can’t…but Mr. Wareing’s been trying…
Mrs. Senecal: Oh, Thank you. I was just scooting over to the other screen to see if there was anybody else. Go ahead, Mr. Wareing.
David Wareing, WJSHS Assistant Principal/Athletic Coordinator: I just wanted to give you a quick update in the sporting world, not that there is a whole lot going on right now. Believe it or not, neither Section II or NYSPHA has committed to shutting down the spring season yet. Even though we’re out till May 15, I get the feeling that we’re going to be hearing that one early next week. I know the league presidents and the Section are meeting on Monday, virtually. So it will probably come out of that. If, in fact, we are shut down, you know, we move on to a couple other end of the year pieces that we certainly want everybody here included in. We’re setting up a virtual signing day, starting to compile our lists of athletes that are going to be heading off to college in the fall. Programming so that we can do awards for all of our senior athletes. Last thing, just to clarify on the blood drive May 7, The Red Cross did ask us, Dr. Caplan, to provide five to seven students to assist just with snacks and those types of things. So Coach Lane has already been in touch with some of those students and we will be up and running May 7th. That’s it. Thank you.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Mr. Wareing. Anybody else? Okay. Well, that’ll take care of the administrators comments, then. Dr. Caplan we’ll go back to you, to see if you’d like to provide us the rest of your report.
Dr. Caplan: Alright, Miranda, you’re back in, and congratulations on your RPI commitment – that is no small endeavor. I just want it to be on record, that we will have graduation of some sort, at some time. They will have caps, gowns, pictures, walking the stage. It may be in the fall, we don’t know, but we will definitely have graduation for the seniors. So they may get their diploma in the mail and then get handed a jacket the day of. It will be a full blown graduation and I believe we discussed some type of moving-up ceremony for six into seventh, as well. So we will be holding those two events. Details to follow. So I left the admin…that’s why I wanted the administrators to go first. I feel like they’ve been working so incredibly hard, I want them to take credit and acknowledge the people that they needed to. So my report may duplicate there’s and that’s okay because there’s not enough thank you’s to go around. I want to start with you, the Board. I’ve had phone calls, visits, emails, text messages from everybody at least once through this whole…since the beginning of the pandemic and the gestures, and the kind words and just checking in, they, it doesn’t go unnoticed and at a time like this, you know, when we are being strong for everyone else, it’s nice to hear people say “thank you,” or “how are you,” and so I appreciate the Board for doing that. I’m going to reiterate a lot of what the administrators said, but I’m going to start with Anita Murphy, who is the BOCES District Superintendent, because none of what’s going on, as far as our continuity of learning, could have happened without her. So, under her leadership, since the onset of the pandemic, she’s taken the superintendent’s, not even through the capital district, this has now gone as far as, we have superintendents on our line from Syracuse, from all over New York State just through her leadership. So, she rounded us up with, you know, I talked about regional high schools at one of our last board meetings, how it would be really nice idea to do a regional approach and here we are doing a regional approach exactly like what we talked about, although it’s not for the children yet, it is the result, but it’s not children sharing schools, but this is exactly what we were talking about. So instead of every school district coming up with instructional material, which is a huge, heavy lift, Anita has now made little pods, so everybody is with their constituents and we’re not recreating the wheel this way. She’s done this knowledge, with grace and I’ve never seen such a strong leader at such an untested time as I have with Anita. She created teams to assist us leading every aspect of public education that’s being affected by this crisis. So Mr. Heid, as he mentioned, he’s on both human resources and business officials zoom calls. Ms. DeMento takes part in the technology director calls. Mrs. Yanni’s on weekly pupil personnel calls. I’m on the daily calls with the Chief school officers and Mr. Steve Stevens is on with the assistant superintendents. All of that was orchestrated by Anita and Lauren Gimmell is, oversees the group of assistant superintendent who do the instructional piece and then I have bi-weekly, I started two meetings a week with the administrative team and then everybody reports out. Mr. Stevens reports out on instruction, I report out on I’m hearing, Mrs. Yanni…and so on. So this is how we start large and come small and everybody is on the same page, even down to, you know, grading. It’s easier if we can all do something regionally so, you know, people in another school district, don’t say, well, “Watervliet is doing it this way. Why can’t we do it too?” It just makes it easier. The resources are so rich that State Ed put them on their website. They took what all these teachers did, and administers, and put it on their website. Mr. Stevens selected our very best and brightest teachers to help create the online materials for school districts throughout New York state. And again, the rock star teachers as we all talked about for The Essential Educators were Jeanne Lance, Ashleigh Fraley, Christa Farrugio, who got tenure tonight, Michelle Brown, Samantha Walsh, tenured tonight, Kristen Lofink, Jennifer Hoefer. Their professionalism, dedication, and hard work, not only are appreciated, but it shows you how these teachers not only work for what’s in the best interest of our children, but this is for all children in New York State. I also wanted to thank Mr. Whited and all the ladies in the kitchen, who tirelessly prepare meals every single day for our neediest children, as well as extra food on Friday to give to the children to make sure they get through the weekend. Mr. Capitula, Mr. Kowaleski, Mr. Motkowitcz, they deliver these meals to families, while the administrative team rides the buses and drops the food off throughout the city. The maintenance staff have never worked harder. The building smells like bleach and sanitizer when you walk in there. The floors are clean. The walls are clean. They are working on a rotating basis as well, around the clock. They’ve cleaned, they’ve sanitize and disinfected every square inch of the buildings, while still maintaining the outside facility, mowing the lawn and those type of things. So a huge thank you to them, as well. And again, I wanted to recognize Amanda and Meg, who I keep in touch with them frequently, just…all I do the easy stuff I walk out my door I pick up the gift cards, and I take them in and then, you know, these guys divvy them up in the backpacks. Their fundraising efforts raised over $13,000 between the fundraising and the generosity of this community that, you know, some of these people are struggling and still trying to help others. The money then goes back into the…(poor connection, inaudible)… struggling families with meals. CSArch offered the $500 donation and I’m specifically giving them a shout-out because that was directly to me, it wasn’t through other grants the other people got money from, and the check has already arrived and they said, use it any way you want, and as a collective whole, we decided that food is probably what our community needs most. So they’re, what you may not know is that, Amanda and Meg, their story is going to be, although the picture is of Judy Don and I, Meg and Amanda are going to be profiled on the front page of online, On Board next month for the NYSSBA, their newspaper. So congratulations for that. And then they sold the face coverings, which also started out with five and ends up with 50 and you know before you know that will be 5,000 as well. So thank you both. It’s been just a huge honor to see this take off and, again, remember we’ve only been at this for six short weeks, although it feels like a lot. And I think the unsung hero here is Judy and before she covers up her camera, Judy is – Don’s my left and Judy’s my right – and we are together, with social distancing, every single day. We usually start out in my office on a zoom call, or just touching base. And what you may not know is that Judy’s scheduled to be in our district three days a week, because both is a shared service, so we share her. BOCES has allowed us to have Judy, five days a week and actually sometimes weekends and nights, and they’re not charging us for that, they recognize that we are in a crisis and they’ve allowed Judy to be there and she’s much more than a communications person. I mean, she’s literally been a rock. There are times I need to write letters or, you know, respond to things, and she’s always my, you know, moral compass, as well as, you know, just a sounding board and I can’t thank her enough. I speak for everyone, everyone has said it, but the teachers, the staff and administrators have worked harder than they’ve ever worked before. And if there’s anybody saying teachers are sitting home getting paid, doing nothing, there is not a person on this call or listening, or in this profession, who would say that they would not trade this, sitting home, for being back in school with our students. You know, week one, maybe it was nice to make your own schedule, we all now miss this. We chose this profession for a reason. Nobody chose this profession to sit in front of these computers and teach from far away. Everything changed on a dime and the administrative team lead the charge and getting the teachers and the support staff and the students up and running and ready to rise to the of challenge online learning. Mr. Stevens has been instrumental in leading the teachers, the administrative and support staff, through creating, logging and executing online learning, as well as establishing resources for children throughout the capital district in all of New York State. He meets virtually with teachers throughout the district as well as assistant superintendents in the capital district and beyond, led by Lauren Gimmell the deputy superintendent for BOCES. I’m grateful for the assistant superintendent. I’m grateful that we created that position this year, as Mr. Stevens has become my rock and has navigated these unchartered territories alongside of me with a comfortable six-foot barrier. We did not script this. I didn’t know he was going to say things about me and he did not know anything about him, but…it’s intense. I mean, it really is intense between Don, Judy, and I, because we’re together so long and there’s literally things…we watch the governor’s address…he’ll, you know, say something on there that changes exactly what we were doing or changes the course of action. Or I get an email. So It’s really intense to, you know, these guys can all stay home, but yet they all choose to come in, they choose to get on the bus, they choose to help deliver meals and, you know, nobody’s sitting around, I want that very clear. I know that the board understands that. Nobody – nobody none of the teachers, the teaching assistants, nobody is sitting home doing nothing. And lastly, I just want to share my moment. I told the administrators, I want to tell you guys, so, you know, I keep saying to them that it’s okay to not be okay. This is really hard and, you know, we’re all trying to be strong for our teachers, for our students, for our families, and sometimes you have to just take care of yourself. And so my moment came on Saturday. I was in the gym and nobody’s allowed on our facility, on the track or any of that because of five million reasons. And so I see somebody on the track. It’s raining. It’s eight o’clock in the morning. So I go all the way down there and the person had just taken the first lap, so I had to wait till they came all the way around the track, and I see one of our students – he’s a senior. And my face lit up, his face lit up, and at my first inclination was to want to hug the student, and I realized I can’t do that. We both kind of, you know stopped and smiled. I asked if he was okay, what does he need? I asked “Did you jump the fence?” He said, “Yes.” And I said, “Well, I’m going to go back up into the gym and I’m going to let you finish what you’re doing…and I go back up…and you know I wished him well, if you need anything, please call me and then I went back up in the gym and it oversees the track and he was kicking a soccer ball against the retaining wall by himself. In that moment, when it was raining and he was all alone, and I was looking at him through the glass, that was my moment where I literally sat down, and I broke down. And for two minutes, I thought, “I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I can do this profession anymore without contact with the kids.” And then I realized, I don’t have a choice, because I’ve been put in this position that nobody asked for, including the kids, and we have no way to get out of this, except through. And so that was my moment and then I shared that with the administrators and I said, “It’s okay to be not okay,” because I’m not okay all the time. This is hard. Everybody’s mourning something. The different…your mourning what life used to be like, we’re mourning how school used to be, we’re mourning being able to go the grocery store without a face mask on. And so I say that because I think it’s important that everybody understands it’s okay to not be okay. And so, for me, I’m grateful that I have a job that I love. I’m getting paid. I have food on my table and my family and myself are healthy. But it doesn’t mean that I can handle everything every minute of every day. And so for me to show that to the administrators, it was my way of giving them permission to not be okay for whatever it takes. So on that note, I’ll end and just let everybody know that I appreciate them and congratulations again to everybody who earned tenure this evening.
Mrs. Senecal: And thank you, Dr. Caplan, and I imagine that was very difficult to not be able to really engage with the students when you’re kind of used to that. We do appreciate everybody, like Dr. Caplan said, you know, there’s not one person on staff that we, the board don’t, you know, we understand all the things that people are doing, and the way they’re doing them and they have their own families to take care of, and they have their own children to worry about or their parents and, it’s – it’s nice to see so many people being there for everybody. And it’s, it is great to be part of this community, because we are strong and we are, we don’t give up, and I think the other thing that we do is whatever it takes, for every student every day. I mean, I feel like we could put all of those things all together and that just really sums up our school district and our community right now. So thank you to everybody, I would ask the Board for a motion to adjourn our meeting at 7:13 p.m.
Mr. Hoffman: I’ll make the motion.
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you, Steve. Do I have a second?
Mrs. Whited: I’ll second
Mrs. Senecal: Thank you Mary Beth. And Bernadette, would you take our final roll call for this evening?
Mrs. Boardman: Sure. Mrs. Senecal – Yes, Mrs. Soroka – Yes, Mrs. Whited – Yes, Mr. Hoffman – Yes, and Mrs. Cavanaugh – Yes. Thank you.
Sheri: Thank you everyone.
Mr. Hoffman: Thank you everyone.