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Emerson Borough School District board meeting, Aug 24, 2026

31 min

AI in schools ▶ 0:36Reading and test scores ▶ 5:47

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 31 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Emerson school board hears AI toolkit presentation and summer facilities updates 0:36

  • The Emerson Borough board heard a presentation on an AI toolkit that a team of teachers built with money from a state grant called the Empowering Educators Grant. 0:36
  • Board members and staff gave reports on summer facilities projects, a $25,000 PTA donation for new curtains at Villano School and rising state health benefit premiums. 4:11
  • The board took a roll call vote on the consent agenda and a separate roll call vote on item number 55, but no result was announced for either vote. 10:15
  • At public comment, a speaker asked about a reduction in second grade teachers, and a district staff member said the change was tied to kindergarten enrollment. 26:46

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (13)
  1. Opening and roll call 0:00
    • The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance, and Behrooz Pasdar called the meeting to order at 6:31 PM. 0:00
    • Behrooz Pasdar said the board would hear 2 presentations, starting with one on an AI toolkit. 0:36
  2. AI toolkit presentation 0:36
    • A presenter said the district received a state grant called the Empowering Educators Grant and used it for teacher stipends, professional development and AI platforms, with a team of 6 teachers, 2 from each building. 1:09
    • The presenter said the team created an AI toolkit spreadsheet, organized by task with sample prompts teachers had tried, that would go out to teachers and probably be posted on the district website. 1:09
    • Behrooz Pasdar thanked the team for the work and for splitting the grant money among stipends, platforms and professional development. 4:11
  3. Board president report 4:11
    • Behrooz Pasdar thanked the PTA for donating $25,000 for new curtains at Villano School and said the district would contribute a smaller amount. 4:57
  4. Superintendent report 4:11
    • The superintendent said specific spring 2026 ACCESS and DLM results could not be publicly reported because 10 or fewer students participated, but said both assessments indicated meaningful progress. 4:11
    • The superintendent said a proposed new drop-off procedure on Chestnut Ave had been discussed with the mayor, the chief of police and town council and was not finalized. 4:11
    • The superintendent said the plan requires two town council meetings for ordinances and is pending review by the municipality's architect. 8:14
  5. Public comment on agenda items 8:58
    • Amy Mara moved to open the meeting to public comment on agenda items only, and Amanda Riccardi later moved to close it. 9:21
  6. Consent agenda 10:02
    • Will Graulich moved to adopt all items on the consent agenda except item number 55, which was set aside for separate consideration. 10:15
  7. Item separated from consent agenda 10:46
    • Amy Mara moved to adopt item number 55, and the board took a roll call vote. 10:46
    • One board member later said they abstained on item 55 because it involved their employer. 17:13
  8. Facilities committee report 11:08
    • Shannon Lucas said the high school tennis court project was projected to be ready for the home opener next week and was completed with no cost to the district. 11:37
    • Shannon Lucas said renovations at Milano to 2 classrooms, the child study team office and a 2nd floor faculty bathroom were completed. 11:52
  9. Curriculum committee report 12:17
    • Will Graulich said the committee met on August 19th and that draft curriculum documents for a new video game design course and an Algebra 2 CP honors course were available on the district website for public review. 12:34
    • Will Graulich said the committee also reviewed the district professional development plan, the teacher mentoring program and preparations for a state monitoring review. 12:34
    • Will Graulich said courses in development for future board consideration included Spanish 7 and 8, Spanish 1, 2 and 3, K-12 ESL and life skills. 13:41
  10. Board member reports 15:48
    • Shannon Lucas said the Portrait of a Graduate event held the previous Wednesday drew a large turnout of different stakeholders. 15:54
    • Will Graulich said more Portrait of a Graduate sessions would be held in the future. 17:13
    • Amy Mara said the board would next meet on September 14th. 19:34
  11. Business administrator report 23:28
    • The business administrator said the state health benefit plan's rate setting committee had a deadlocked vote on premiums, pushing the decision to August 31st. 23:28
    • The business administrator said the increase was still expected to be large and would affect budget development for the '27-'28 school year. 23:37
  12. Public comment 25:54
    • A speaker at public comment asked about a reduction in second grade teachers from 4 to 3 and whether the change would carry through later grades. 26:46
    • A district staff member said there were 95 kindergarten students with 2 more on the docket, about 25 more than the current second grade, and that the district could consider adding paraprofessionals to second grade if needed. 27:11
    • A speaker at public comment asked how safe passage routes for paid busing were set, and a staff member offered to discuss it after the meeting. 28:58
  13. Adjournment 30:27
    • Will Graulich moved to adjourn at 7:02 PM and said the next board meeting was scheduled for September 14th, 2026 at 7:30 in the high school media center. 30:36

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “Emerson Public Schools BOE Meeting Livestream 8.24.2026”