For WXXI news, I'm Noelle Evans filling in for Evan Dawson.

And this is connections.

Our connection this hour was made this week on May 20th, when nine new names were added to the roles of school board in our local suburban school districts.

School board is an elected office that can fly under the radar.

But in 2025 especially, it's become a flashpoint of local, regional and national politics.

School boards oversee district policies where tax money goes and all that can inform the environment in which children learn.

Now they must contend with a statewide cell phone ban, generative AI, continued teacher shortages, and federal efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Newly elected school board members are stepping into one of the most high pressure roles in local governments and facing political fights, public backlash and deeply personal debates over what kids should learn and how schools should run.

Which begs the question why would they want to run this hour?

We pull back the curtain on your local school board and learn more about the ins and outs of one of the most powerful and overlooked elected officials, elected positions in the community.

Joining me this hour is Anna Maria Falls erano and newly elected school board member in the East Central School District and recently retired coordinator of World Languages for the district.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Also with me is Amy Thomas, the executive director of Monroe County School Boards Association.

Thank you so much for having me, Noelle.

Thank you both.

I do want to start with Anna Maria as a newly elected school board member.

You have not yet been sworn in, so I'm not going to ask you to speak for the board, but the Greek Central School District is the largest suburban district in Monroe County and the 10th largest in the state.

So I want to take the opportunity to get to know one of the newest members.

starting with what inspired you to run?

Well, thank you for that question.

I'll begin by saying that my career as a teacher and as an administrator in the Central School District really led to this decision.

In addition to the fact that I'm a parent of three graduates from the Gary Central School District and also the proud grandma to a student currently in our schools.

So I have a lot of interest in how our district will continue to run in the future.

And I really believe that a high quality education is desirable and is something that we should all be aiming for, and that a strong school district is an asset to the community.

so that's what led me to this, to this time in my life to to come forth and say, yes, I think it's time for all residents to have a voice in our decision making process and that all children will have those opportunities to learn.

Can you expand a bit more on your background?

Yes.

So I began is a, high school teacher at former Cardinal Mooney High School in Greece.

And I also then went to, Greece Central as a, Spanish and Italian teacher.

And then midway through that part of my career, I was a teacher on special assignment where I was overseeing the Department of World Languages.

in that capacity and then inspired by so many strong leaders in the district, I, went to the, at leadership program at Saint John Fisher College, where I earned a degree and then became the coordinator administrator for the World Language Department in Greece Central, which included, what I like to say, English to other, which would be the programs like American Sign Language, Italian, Spanish, and also the English as a New Language program where our children from all over the globe come to our doorstep.

And, our members of our school community.

And so we we assure that our students are successful in their studies with us and graduate and go on to do some amazing things.

So it's it's quite a gratifying career.

And I, I think that this point in my life, the role of the school board member, will allow me to continue to have impact in that way.

Was there a point in your career where you started thinking about public service, or were you always thinking about education as public service?

I always, as a matter of fact, one of my main, I guess one of the main things that I always keep in mind is servant leadership.

That's how I approached my work as a teacher and then as an administrator.

I just didn't know what the term was until I studied for leadership, and that the idea of servant leadership, where you work alongside with people, it's not working over people.

It's rolling up your sleeves and getting the work done for the good of the good.

Amy, is this kind of the is this, like a typical, sort of thought process that you see from people who are looking to run for school board?

Yeah, I think I think that people who are running for the school board want to do something for their community.

And one of the most important things the community has to offer is education.

So I love hearing the response from Anna Maria.

I think that that's exactly what school board service is about.

You were a school board member before taking on this role at the Monroe County School Boards Association.

Can you talk a bit about what that was like in comparison with sort of the way things are now?

So I was, the Pittsford Board of Education for nine years.

So I served three terms.

Some of the best years of my life, honestly.

why is that?

similar to Anna Maria, although I didn't have as much, personal experience with education.

I was a teacher.

That's how I started my career.

So what are you teaching?

I was teaching kindergarten.

I was teaching third grade.

I taught sixth grade.

So I started in the city school district, and then I moved to different areas of the nation, and then moved overseas.

And I was a substitute teacher in a, my kids international school.

So, so I always had a love and passion for education.

And I think you find that similar thread with a lot of our school board members having a passion about students having a passion about education.

So that's what prompted me to become a school board member.

But board service relative to what I do now is very different.

So how so?

Because now, as executive director, what I'm doing is providing professional development training for the 175 members of my association.

So to me, that's really exciting.

I think offering education on current topics, on things that are pressing when it comes to education, that's what I find exciting in this new role.

What are some of those things?

It's it's too long.

The show is only, what, 50 minutes?

So, you know, some of the things you touched on.

So in the governor's budget, we have the bell, the Bell cell phone, just distraction free environment.

Now, our schools and some of our schools have already adopted policies around that.

But all of the schools will have to do that.

That's an issue that that was brought to the surface a while back.

So that was something that we provided as professional development training of a local school district that had implemented their policy already.

we also have a new mandate from the governor that we have student representation on boards.

So they're ex-officio school board members.

That's a new CEO.

So they don't have voting power.

Got it.

So they will have a seat at the table.

And a lot of our districts, again, do already have that.

But now it's it's formal.

It's a mandate.

So what our association is doing is we're actually offering a program this summer for the student reps to come in and learn a little bit more about what this role will entail.

So interesting.

Yeah, yeah.

For us, we're a local school board association, and we're one of the few that's offering that to our to our recent student rep, few in the state or yeah, few in the state.

Interesting.

So you had mentioned, when we had talked leading up to the school board elections that in April, pretty much yearly, you'll have a training for folks who are interested in running for school board.

You had mentioned that event did not happen this year.

It did not happen this year.

So that's that's our perspective candidate training.

That's something that we offer to any candidates that are running for election.

And the candidates, when they go to pick up their packet from the district clerk's in that packet of information, it has the date that we're offering this training.

I will say there is a fee associated with that.

So, this year we had we have a threshold of of ten people and we only had 5 or 6 sign up for the prospective candidate training.

So we did need to cancel it.

But those who had signed up, we did follow up and send them materials that we would have given them at the training.

But this is something I feel pretty strongly about that just to educate yourself.

what is board service?

What is it not?

And decide from that point forward whether or not you truly want to run of those people who who signed up?

we have nine new school board members across the county.

About how many of them do you recall having signed up?

Six.

Six?

Who have been elected?

Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

So that everybody, not every well, not everybody.

Okay.

I know Anna Maria.

I don't have those stats on me, but.

Sure.

Yeah, I did see Anna Maria signaling that you were one of those people.

Yes.

And thank you for sharing that additional information, because I was quick to to hit those links to find out what I needed to know, because what is the role of a school board member?

Again, it's very different from teacher to administrator to resident to now what is what is this role really entails.

So that was very helpful and I appreciate that.

So thank you.

What were some of the things in that informational packet, if it was a packet that stood out to you, maybe some things that might have been surprising?

I think I think the idea that a school board member really is to guide and to advise.

I think sometimes it's it's, it's not to rule with an iron fist type of idea.

And I would I appreciate most about the whole process is that I will be one of nine people on the board, and that my voice is one, and that it's my hope that we will look and grapple with some of these issues that you talked about earlier, together and come to some consensus says what's going to be best for the people of our community.

So I think all of that, that material really helped me to see the lens by which I'm going to be working as a school board member.

So thank you of any of those issues.

Do any of them stand out to you as a priority?

Maybe.

in terms of the issues we talked about, yes.

Oh my.

There's so many.

Well, as you, where do we begin?

we've already addressed the telephone issue in Greece.

we I would say the, you know, making sure that all students have the ability to learn and access to programing, I think is going to be critical.

And, the other I think that would be the main thing is making sure that we can acknowledge that our all students have the, the, the right to have access to all instruction.

If you're just tuning in, I'm Noelle Evans filling in for Evan Dawson.

This is connections.

And today we're talking about your local school board.

With me in studio is Anna Maria Serrano, a newly elected school board member in the Greece Central School District and recently retired coordinator of world languages.

And also Amy Thomas, who is the executive director of the Monroe County School Boards Association.

We're talking about some of the information leading up to running for school board.

Now that you've been elected, have you heard from any folks in the community since Tuesday?

Yes.

And as I was sharing, with Amy just prior to to show, my experience in running the campaign, it was just beyond positive, having the opportunity to meet with our residents, you know, the door knocks and just having an opportunity to share our thoughts.

Very supportive.

And since the election, I feel just so grateful for the kind words of support that I've received from the community.

it's just been so inspirational and uplifting.

It just makes me want to get right in and get started.

with the work.

Sure.

Amy, I'm curious, for you, what kind of person generally makes a school board member today?

And if that profile has changed over the years, makes a successful, successful.

Yes.

Okay.

So, so someone who does not have an agenda coming in.

And when you say agenda, what do you mean?

So if someone they're school board members that join for various reasons, they're disgruntled with something within the school district.

Okay.

So you may have somebody like that that says, I'm going to get on the board and I'm going to change this.

That doesn't happen because as Anna Maria so eloquently stated, you have a five, seven and nine person board that you're entering into and you can't have a single platform because you're there with other team members making, assessing decisions based on information that you're getting from the district and, frankly, to to get on a school board and think that you're going to have the power to change something as a single independent person, it just doesn't happen.

So entering a school board position, thinking of it as a collaborative type of service to your community, you're coming in with the right mindset.

curious to what advice you might give to some folks who I mean, they would have a full year now to, you know, start thinking about running.

what would you what advice would you give to some prospective board members about even dealing with some of the public criticism or political pressure that we've seen?

I would say speak to your current board members, understand from current board members what they're experiencing in your district.

we are resource Monroe County School Boards Association is a resource.

I welcome any opportunity to speak with someone who's interested in stepping into this role.

It's an important role.

It's something that shouldn't be taken lightly.

It requires a tremendous amount of time.

And I think that's something that we do teach in our training.

Our prospective candidate training, that this this is an enormous amount of time that you're going to dedicate to a volunteer role.

Do you have the time?

Ask yourself that first.

and then, you know, I have people who will say, but I don't have kids in the district anymore.

You still need that voice at the board table.

So it doesn't require someone that necessarily has kids in the district.

You simply have to be a resident of your community.

we're going to take a quick break.

And when we come back, we're going to continue this conversation, about your local school board coming out of the recent school board elections on Tuesday.

We'll be right back.

I'm Noelle Evans in for Evan Dawson.

Coming up in our second hour of connections, a conversation about the right to recess.

Experts and parents say it's critical to the social and emotional development of children.

But access to recess can vary by factors such as race, income, and neighborhood.

We're going to talk about why recess is important and what lawmakers, advocates, and parents are doing to make it more accessible.

That's coming up in our next hour of connections.

Support for your public radio station comes from our members and from Mary Kerry Ola Center, providing education and life skills solutions designed to empower individuals and the families of those with complex disabilities.

Mary Carrie Ola, center transforming Lives of people with disabilities.

More at Mary, Carrie, Ola, Dot org.

This is Evan Dawson with WXXI news.

Join me for a voice at the voter debate with the three candidates vying for Rochester mayor in the June Democratic primary.

Malik Evans, Mary Lucien and Shashi Sinha will debate live on Wednesday, May 28th and Qatv FM 105.9 and on Sky News Talk and the Sky news YouTube channel.

Join us Wednesday, May 28th at 8 p.m..

This is connections.

I'm Noelle Evans, filling in for Evan Dawson, and today we're talking about your local school board.

With me in studio is Anna Maria Serrano, a newly elected school board member in the Greece Central School District and a recently retired coordinator of world Languages.

And also with me is Amy Thomas, the executive director of the Monroe County School Boards Association.

We've talked a bit about some of the background of, you know, what can inspire a someone to run for school board and also some of the information that can be really valuable leading into an election and also taking on that role.

I want to pivot to focusing on some of this specific issues at hand.

for instance, student mental health, this is something that has really this comes before the, the pandemic.

This I mean, I can attest to it from my time in school.

and yet now there is, such a heightened focus on it, especially when it comes to the role of social media and technology and that, so since that is also top of mind for many families and educators.

Amy, what role do you see school boards playing in expanding mental health support in schools?

so thank you for that question, because mental health is extremely important to our local districts.

and certainly the pandemic exacerbated what was an ongoing, issue with young kids.

And certainly I think social media plays into that.

so what do we do?

We advocate.

So advocating with legislators, you have to you have to get out there in front of an issue when we're advocating as school board members.

But we need more resources.

We need we have staffing shortages.

We to find the resources necessary to support kids needs.

I reflect back on our legislative breakfast this year, where we had student voice represented at our legislative breakfast, where we had five, local students that came to our legislative breakfast and they presented on, some of our advocacy topics, one of which was mental health.

And one student's comment was, you know, it's great that we have resources in school, but these resources only show up on Thursdays.

Unfortunately I don't know that I'm going to have an issue on Thursday.

I have I might have an issue on Monday.

So you know that's something that we really push for.

We we need to have the resources and that comes down to funding.

I do want to pivot over to Anna Maria for your thoughts too.

And if you are listening and you'd like to join the conversation, you can call 844295 talk.

That's 8255.

That's toll free.

The local number is (585) 263-9994.

You can also email us at connections at six.

I talk or comment on the connections live stream on the 16 news YouTube channel.

Anna Maria, your thoughts as well when it comes to addressing student mental health here?

Yes, actually, this was something that I was, very clear about during the campaign in that, you know, we all talk about, school safety and behavior.

We, you know, it's a hot topic in many districts.

And my, my thinking is so behavior is a result of an unmet need.

And where does that need come from?

So to me, one of the top priorities I would see that I would like us to grapple with is mental health.

And, I was very clear about that, because then we get to the source of where making some resolutions around, you know, absenteeism and, you know, low performance in school and classrooms.

And then when it really is, I want to say, an imbalance, we see disruptive behaviors.

But to your point, we have to address the shortages, too.

We do need more mental health support in our schools to help our our administrators and our teachers who are working with our students.

And I do think the pandemic did exacerbate that quite a bit.

And even though I feel we're coming out of that to some degree, the mental health piece is still very big and it's probably been there all along.

Right?

It's just come to the fore now.

and so if we can get some support in terms of increased mental health in our schools, I think we'll see those gains, and allow our students to be their best selves when they're with us.

I'm curious to how to determine what's the, you know, quote, right way to address it because it is so vast.

And as you had mentioned, Amy, it's like, well if it's if the resources there on Thursday and I needed them on Tuesday, you know, what we've seen and what I would hope is pretty well understood.

for some folks is that with mental health, it ebbs and flows.

So even, separate from school but more related to housing, those can be very much intertwined in a sense.

your home life can very much affect, you know, your ability to learn and focus in school.

but there is how, like, we'll come back to school for a second, but there are, like, supportive housing where there are resources that are there if you need them.

And, when you do need them, great.

And when you don't like that, you're not it's not forced on you.

And so just thinking about that framework and then thinking about how to, you know, address student mental health in school.

that comes to mind of, you know, having somebody in the school building, it sounds like, you know, for at any point, like a, like a school nurse.

So one thing that our school districts are doing and they're doing an excellent job, is they are identifying students, having a trusted adult.

So having programs within the schools where you have some of the guidance counselors, social workers, administrators coming together to identify where are the gaps.

So figuring out and mapping out, are there students that don't feel connected.

So whether that's a survey that's sent out to, the students.

And also you have adults that are that are looking at these students every single day.

Is there a student that they feel perhaps doesn't have someone that they feel comfortable enough going to?

So the trusted adult program within our schools is designed to not target.

I don't like that word, but to to point out some kids that maybe feel isolated.

So that's that's a very promising step.

That's not the solution, but it's definitely a step in this the mental health supports that are needed.

And the trusted adult, you can't just assign someone to that role.

And there you go.

That takes developing relationships.

And it could be the bus driver.

It could be you know maintenance staff.

It could be anybody within the confines of the, the school buildings in the school grounds.

So it sounds like breaking down silos if those do exist.

Yeah.

And I agree that that is a larger, concern with mental health and that trying to involve our families in the child's education.

Greece has had a lot of success with our Community Schools initiative, hosting events throughout the year to bring families on to our campuses, get to know us, build the trust, if you will, and that, that kind of lead to that increased access to mental health, resources and students feel that they're seen in our community and our families feel seen within our schools.

We also have, social emotional learning as part of our curriculum so that students are learning to regulate themselves to when they feel like, okay, things are feeling a little imbalanced here, starting right from kindergarten and all the way up through through school.

So curricular efforts to to help us address some of those needs so that children can regulate themselves.

And another program that has been very successful for us has been our leader in Me program, where students really, again, are develop a self-awareness about how they go about the business of their school day.

And much of that transfers to their home life.

And so I think it's a learning opportunity for everyone.

The students are learning.

We're sharing this information with our parents.

So it's become a really nice cycle.

Again, in light of the fact that we don't have professionals, perhaps in every place on every day of the week, which would be an ideal.

I do think that's still something we want to look at, but in the interim, I think we've made some nice gains in that way.

you mentioned the term social emotional learning.

do you mind kind of breaking down a bit more?

if you don't mind what that looks like you had mentioned, like, it sounds like teaching students, emotional regulation, things like that for folks that aren't very aware.

Like, that's been a buzzword for a while, but do you mind just kind of breaking it down just so it could be something as simple as, you know, how do I feel today?

I'm going to put my best self forward today.

Or if I'm having a conversation with another student, and I'm not feeling good about this, acknowledging how you're feeling and then regulating yourself.

Count to five.

Breathe.

maybe some motion and movement.

Anything that helps the whole child, your whole body, to be engaged in the learning.

That's what social and emotional learning is.

It's not just what's in the printed textbook.

Right?

I think some people, depending on when you went to school, that might have been the idea.

But we really recognize that children come is their whole selves to us every day.

And and it's a during those points of the day that are those teachable moments with them so that they are able to again regulate themselves and know when things are a little bit out of balance, or to know where to go to get help if they're feeling imbalance.

And it's again, it starts with our youngest learners right up through high school.

and it sounds like to, that there's an element there, tied to technology when you talk about, you know, students feeling disconnected or feeling imbalanced, you know, I was seeing I believe it was an Associated Press article looking at a class teaching students like sleep habits.

because they were struggling, you know, they would scroll until they, you know, fall asleep and it would be two in the morning.

And then they were falling asleep in class.

And.

Yeah, that imbalance, it's it's interesting the different ways that, schools are approaching it.

We do have an email, from Jillian who says the grease board.

okay.

The grease board member, which would be you, Anna Maria, said, that your district has dealt with the cell phone issue.

Does that mean that you have a ban?

And if so, how long is that been?

And how is it going?

we'll start there.

There's another question that Jillian has to there is a policy in that's been there for like two years.

Two years.

Yes.

We've had it for two years.

And I think with any and again, not being in the school system directly because I have retired.

But I know that, you know, initially whenever you launch something new, there's going to be that period of adjustment.

But the students do understand, why we have this now.

And, you know, the teachers are also, you know, supportive of this.

So I would say it's going as well as you might expect.

and now with the fact that it's going statewide, I think there's merit to it.

I did have the opportunity to, moderate a panel discussion for the New York teachers, New York State, United Teachers, Union, with a discussion about the cell phone ban policies.

And, some folks from Greece were a part of that conversation.

and one of the things that was brought up, from somebody from the union was, you know, if students are also figuring out, for instance, how to, kind of crack the code on these, pouches that can be used to seal off, a cell phone if they're finding ways to, like, dodge the system or find a way around it that that's still a life skill.

So there's still, some merit to it, even if they're finding ways around it.

Amy, did you have any thoughts related to, what we've just talking about with that policy?

And also, Jillian's other question touches on this, which, you had mentioned there several districts that, have these policies.

and if you don't mind sharing, you know, which ones and how it's implemented.

And those results, if you know, I there are several in the state that have them.

one is Greece, and Greece was actually the school district that came to our program, our information exchange program for our membership in the fall to explain what their process was, because this was leading up to what we all imagined that the governor would, would mandate.

So it was very helpful to hear from a district what some of the issues were around it and what some of the pushback was from community members, because of course, parents want to know what's happening with their kids.

And we understand that, a couple of things that were brought to light is that in an emergency situation, you really don't want the cell phones accessible because whether they're pinging okay, or, you know, parents want to know what's happening.

So the if that is going on amidst chaos, really, everything should be under the control of of the teachers and the adults in place in a, in a situation like that.

It also, we've been told that cell towers go down in instances where you have something happening on school grounds.

If there are too many cell phones being used at the time, first response would be delayed.

that's the last thing you want to have happen if there's an emergency situation.

So, I will say, I do remember I worked at a local community college, before, stepping into my role as a reporter.

And I remember an active shooter drill, and I remember we had gone we were in the library and we moved into this, kind of like this cordoned off room.

And I remember seeing folks on their phones and, like, hearing the sound of their keyboards and feeling this heightened anxiety around that, even though it was just a drill.

So, yeah, there's a very visceral response to that too.

also curious with, you know, as we talk about the cell phone ban, how that might cause because there's that and there's also the learning digital literacy because just because you may not have your phone during class or in between classes doesn't mean that you're going to be without it after school or before school.

And so I'm wondering if some of, another aspect of looking at policy is also looking at, how to approach digital literacy at all.

Do you know where things stand there?

I mean, I don't know where they stand there.

I do know that, you know, through the pandemic, we had 1 to 1 laptops.

That was something that most districts had to move to.

So, I think that there is an education.

This is an educational moment that I think most districts will have to assess what will work for them.

But in my opinion, digital literacy is something that we are all going to have to deal with.

we have to deal with AI right now.

There are a lot of unknowns with AI that just adds to the discussion about social media and how to use phones appropriately, all of these things.

So I don't have the answer to that, unfortunately.

But, I'm sure that school districts are having that conversation.

we have a question from Katie asking what advice would you give to schools and school boards and parents who may be wary of the statewide ban, the what bill to bill, cell phone ban?

And Maria, do you want to take that one?

Well, I think I would echo what Amy said.

I think we all fear the worst case scenario and that if that were the case, that actually all of these cells going off at once actually are clogging the lines, and we would not be able to get the information out to to the people that needed to hear it in a second count.

Right.

So that people need to hear it.

I think I would assure parents that in the sense that we have, you know, telephones in our buildings, if you need to reach your child, we do have office staff and we can get messages to children.

And if a child is not feeling well that your, your you will be called and you can take your child home.

their communication is really, really strong in our buildings.

using the, you know, our typical just regular telephone lines.

If there's some need beyond that, maybe if your family has an extenuating circumstance.

You know, I can't imagine that's the mainstream.

So to this, to this, parent, I would say just trust the system that we have in place and that, God forbid, that there is an emergency.

Then we would have our our communication channels clear.

And if I could also just say that, you know, I'm a parent of four kids, too, so I know how that feels.

but rest assured that every single school district has an emergency plan in place and so although you won't have direct access to your child during a scenario that I hope never plays out in this community, but there there's a plan in place.

Every single school district has the plan.

You may not know the plan as a parent, because that's not information that you need to have, but the schools need to have it and they they do.

So yeah, if you are just tuning in I'm Noelle Evans filling in for Evan Dawson.

This is connections.

And today we're talking about your local school board and issues surrounding school districts at the moment.

and with me in studio is Anna Maria Serrano, a newly elected school board member in the Great Central School District and recently retired coordinator of world languages.

And Amy Thomas, executive director of the Monroe County School Board's association.

if you would like to join the conversation, you can call 844295 talk.

That's 8255.

Toll free.

And the local number is (585) 263-9994.

You can also email us at connections at six I dawg or comment on the connections live stream on the six Eye News YouTube channel.

Amy, something that you mentioned earlier about during the pandemic.

These one, two, one laptops, the pandemic really pushed schools, to use technology in a, you know, new way or different way.

And here we are in this different phase.

and that also includes artificial intelligence.

I'm wondering, as you mentioned, you know, there's, you know, training and programing around, some of these different, matters that come up that school boards will have to address, matters of our times.

so I'm curious, the sort of framework or how you all are thinking about how to address, you know, generative AI in schools.

So it's a discussion.

It's a topic that we are addressing.

It's again, programing that we offer.

That's, a topic that we had at one of our law conferences, actually, you know, we don't have an answer to that.

We don't we don't have an answer to that.

I don't think anyone has an answer to that nationwide.

you know, I think from a teachers lens they're trying to figure out, well, I is there are the kids using it and how do I identify if they are or, you know, okay, it's there.

It's not going away.

How do we use it effectively.

So I think those are conversations and things that you will start seeing, in schools because they're going to have to adapt to this.

It's not something they can avoid.

And this is district to district.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes.

One of the conversations been like that you've been a part of I haven't I haven't been that involved in those conversations to be honest.

what I focus on is do we need to have this as a program where we can educate board members about this topic, and administration?

Because many times our meetings also involve administrators.

So, you know, I love addressing topics like this because it's something new.

It's something that we're all going to have to deal with.

So getting in front of issues like this that we have to address and will be addressed in schools is very important, in my opinion, when it comes to creating that programing.

where do you look to for some of the resources?

So bring in.

So we have local resources.

So many of our programs are developed around people in our schools that are doing the day to day work.

so we have superintendents, we have, business officials, we have teachers, we have plenty of resources here in Monroe County that come to us.

And they present for us.

I mentioned that we have law conferences as well.

So we have a local Monroe County School attorneys group that we work very closely with.

They come and give us legal advice on, certain topics, which is very helpful to school board members.

We receive, you know, a number of, positive comments.

Every time we have a conference, we have one in the fall and one in the spring.

we've been privileged to have the general counsel for the, Commissioner of education.

And I said, come to us every fall.

that's been extremely informative to board members because it's about commissioners decisions.

So things like that.

We have resources available to us.

We we will contact people to from the outside if they are professionals that have something to offer.

That would be, well-received by the association members.

Some experts that may.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes.

Insight.

Yeah.

We're looking into right now for the fall, having someone who's an expert in safety and security.

So, you know, more to come.

They're interesting.

safety and security in terms of like, I think of like hardware of like, you know, telehealth.

So it's either school safety, securing the buildings in addition to the mental health piece of that.

Interesting.

Yeah.

in terms of, artificial intelligence and how to address it.

Do you have thoughts on that, Anna Maria going into, you know, your tenure here?

I am aware and I think that, that's something we will pretty much I expect we're going to be, looking to discuss.

I think I would have to get more information about that.

And sign up for one of these courses that you offer to be really fully, apprized of what what this entails and what this looks like in our classrooms.

And, you know, the different points of view, because I agree with you, it's there.

It's not going away.

So how do you harness that if need be?

And how do we how do we manage that?

and also it sounds like for you taking an informed approach, rather than going off of, you know, right, maybe some like, knee jerk reactions, as well.

what are some of the other programing that folks can expect?

Because I also, as I understand it, within the first year, is it of somebody newly on a school board?

There are some requirements out there.

Yes.

That they have to.

Yeah.

Tick those boxes.

Can you talk about that.

Yes.

So in New York State, it's a mandate that every new school board member take 12 hours of mandated training.

We offer board governance training.

So there's a board governance training that's six hours.

And we offer that every June.

And then in the fall, we have a fiscal oversight training.

When you say governance training, what do you mean?

So governance training is essentially speaking about what, we have a school attorney come in, speak about, the legality of board service and your responsibilities.

We have, a mini fiscal training as part of that, just to get board members acclimated to this is what you're going to see coming from your school business officials to give them a little bit of that.

And then they have the full fiscal training.

That's six hours.

That comes later after they've had a little bit of an opportunity to digest everything that's in that board packet that they get every, well, some board members have two meetings a month and some have one.

But when they get the board packet, it really has so much information, from the school business officials.

So to be able to navigate that.

So that's a piece of the board governance training, learning.

the different structures that are in place that guide the work of a board member, that's another piece of board governance training.

We have communications directors locally come in and talk about, you know, how social media influences districts and things like that.

How do you mean?

so obviously the use of social media is common within, school districts to push information out about the district.

so we have communications directors that guide us in terms of this is what you'll see on, social media sometimes, I'm sure, as board candidates.

See during their campaigning, they're contacted by people, community members, people who are interested in what's happening within the district.

So it's just good to know how does communications play into the role of a school board member?

Sure, yeah.

Oh, we have an email from Chaz, 33 year veteran teacher here.

The phones must go.

He says the majority of students can control themselves and use them appropriately.

However, we're back to our cell phones.

however, the vocal minority of students who cannot control their behavior stop the learning cold in a classroom.

I wouldn't even allow them to enter the school.

No student is a doctor who can save a life with a phone call.

The phones can wait.

Good luck to the new school board member.

That's from Chaz.

we were just talking about, some of the training for school board members.

One of the big things that you mentioned.

Financial responsibility.

when it's budget season, I used to love me.

I found a way to continue to love me.

but when it's budget season, and I'm, you know, pouring through these documents and, you know, my eyes are going cross, it just to be in a role, to be responsible for where all this money goes and not to miss anything.

it seems like a huge undertaking, especially for a district as large as Greece.

have you I mean, in terms of some of the preparation, stepping into the role that you're going into now, how much have you been considering, you know, that aspect of being a school board member?

Yes, I would, I actually truly believe that fiscal responsibility is something that we owe to our community.

and I do believe that if we, use our data, effectively, we can, and survey our families, create forums, get the right information.

We can make those fiscal decisions that, will give us the greatest impact for our for our programs.

And my role as a coordinator of language.

I did oversee budget, so I know very much how important that is to be able to do the work that needs to be done and not overstep your bounds.

and then I was also, privy to, you know, many times as the budget was being developed for the district, it's an ongoing process.

And I do believe and I will say this very proudly, because I'm a Greece resident, that I do think we have a really great, budget development process that all, stakeholders are considered all the needs of all the programs are considered, and they do their very, very best to make it as fiscally responsible as possible.

But it is an ongoing process, and all people's voices are heard when that final budget is is made.

Now remember too, we are also heavily mandated by many, many other bodies, right?

Laws and things that we have to provide.

And that gets in the mix as well.

When you think about the transportation that is that we we provide to our students, that before and after school programing, the summer programing that we offer.

It's it's quite a lot.

So from my my experience in my role, I was able to see how that plays out.

And when it's done well, you can really see some success when the students are achieving at such high levels because we made the right decisions and we put those, those resources where they needed to be.

but then on a bigger scale, I've also said many times Greece is right sized, even though we are one of the largest districts in the entire state, we, it allows us to have access to a lot of things, but we also have, I will say, a greater need.

So I think we get it done to a very high degree.

So I think that is a really critical element, as a school board member, to make sure that, that those things are in place.

speaking of budgets, we have a question from Katie asking if the school board has any sway over teacher salaries.

Well, there's a contract in place.

Right.

And most districts, the lion's share of our districts school board members are not involved in contract negotiations.

They're not directly involved in contract negotiations.

When they have come to, a conclusion, then that is brought to the board.

The board then will make a decision whether or not to accepted or rejected.

we have a question from producer Veronica Volk asking, for Amy, what does the Department of Education shutdowns mean for the Monroe County School Boards Association?

Before you answer that, we were just talking before the show that there was some news yesterday that a federal judge on Thursday blocked President Trump's executive order aimed at dismantling the education department and ordered officials to reinstate thousands of fired employees in a ruling that was at least a temporary setback for the president and his plans.

That's from the New York Times.

so to throwing it to you, Amy, you know, here we are in this in interesting times, we'll say we're in flux.

That's that's the term that we're using right now.

obviously with the announcement that the Department of Education was going to close down, you know, fear and I would say from some of our neediest children because you think about Ida, what is that?

individuals with Disabilities Act.

So, so are that right to education?

Yes.

They have a right to education and resources.

And so if you have a child with needs, then who am I going to contact?

Because prior to now, you could contact the Department of Education.

Office of Civil Rights, things like that.

We're we have concerns.

We have concerns about Medicaid cuts at the federal level that have been announced.

that support some of these programs that are vital to our students.

So, yeah, I mean, it's it's a concern.

And I would just say that we're an interesting times right now.

I think the announcement yesterday was a small win for school districts, for obvious reasons that I just mentioned.

But, you know, we'll just have to see there are number of, of, lawsuits that are facing facing education right now.

And we're hopeful that some of them will be a win.

Yeah.

And I mean, do you have any thoughts there?

in these interesting times we're in you know, this is a temporary setback for the, Trump administration.

We're not sure where things are going to go from here, but we have seen, some shakiness when it comes to what that funding stream is going to look like for school districts going forward.

Have you thought much about that?

leading up to, you know, your, your campaign?

Yes.

And I think this again, goes back to there's nine of us that will be on the board.

And if we're faced with these decisions that we'll have to make decisions that are for the good of the good.

It is my hope, though, that we will have the ability to continue to resource our programs that benefit all the folks, that all the students that Amy has mentioned, including our English language learners that are very near and dear to my heart because I have data that shows, you know, given the proper supports they're going to, they graduate from our schools and go on to do amazing things, in the professions.

So I want to be able to have that continue.

But again, that may be something we're going to face down the line.

Sure.

this is connections.

I'm going to.

Eleven's been filling in for Evan Dawson.

We've been talking about your local school board.

Thank you so much to my guests.

Anna Maria Serrano, newly elected to the school board.

And Amy Thomas, executive director of the Monroe County School Boards Association.

Thank you both so much for taking the time today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh.

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