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Saranac Lake Central School District board meeting, Sep 16, 2026

1 h 30 min · 0 public speakers

Chronic absenteeism ▶ 50:48

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 1 h 30 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Saranac Lake board approves new flexible spending administrator after prior provider stopped operating 6:10

  • The board also approved meal prices for the 2026⁠-⁠27 school year and ratified a contract with the Saranac Lake Administrator Association for 7/1/26 to 6/30/29. 4:19
  • The board approved an agreement with a new third-party administrator for employee flexible spending accounts after a district staff member said the prior provider stopped operating abruptly in August. 6:10

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Item by item (12)
  1. Opening and consent agenda 0:02
    • The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance, and the agenda was approved. 0:02
    • A resolution on meal prices was moved out of the consent agenda to be voted on under the financial report. 1:16
    • The chair announced the consent agenda resolution was approved. 3:00
  2. Financial report and meal prices 3:22
    • A district staff member said none of the budget transfers were over $10,000, with one right at $10,000 between two special education budget codes and the rest to pay for trainings. 3:23
    • One board member asked whether a transportation staff behavior training should be budgeted rather than pulled from another line each year. 5:14
    • The chair announced resolution number 021⁠-⁠2026, approving meal prices for the 26⁠-⁠27 school year, was approved. 4:35
  3. Flexible spending account administrator 6:10
    • A district staff member said the district had used Preferred Group Plan since about 2016 and that the company stopped operating abruptly in August. 6:34
    • Nancy A. Bernstein asked for a ballpark of how much money employees had in the accounts, and a speaker said the district did not yet have a total to share. 10:57
    • The staff member said the district paid $4 per participant per month before, or $8 for two accounts, while the new firm charges $4.50 per participant, and the district has about 25 participants, or about $112 a month. 11:55
    • A vote was called, and the resolution was announced as approved. 13:30
  4. Capital project updates 13:47
    • A district staff member said work on the backflow preventers remained in progress, with an update planned for the September 30th board meeting. 13:51
  5. Discussion of board goals 14:20
    • One board member suggested goals to support the new superintendent, make better use of ex officio student board members and pursue options for using the Bloomingdale School building. 15:34
    • One board member said a special education report showed the district at needs assistance for the last 3 years and asked that a goal set expectations that departments meet state regulations. 19:39
    • One board member said not reaching the highest level is different from not being in compliance, and the chair said compliance could be taken up as a separate agenda item. 31:40
  6. Second reading of policies 46:10
    • A speaker asked whether policy 4765 on virtual, blended and remote learning aligns with Portrait of a Graduate, and a district staff member said it does not fully align because that document has not been published. 47:34
    • A speaker said a resolution to adopt the policies would be placed on the next agenda. 52:40
  7. Bloomingdale building use committee 52:48
    • A committee member said the group met September 9th with the attorney to discuss leasing the building. 53:03
    • The committee member said first steps are getting a lease appraisal value of the building and doing a survey of families in the community. 53:40
  8. Proposed state association resolutions 56:08
    • Tori Thurston said there were fewer proposed resolutions than last year, by 20, and that charter schools were a major theme. 56:14
    • Tori Thurston said the next resolutions committee meeting is October 6th and asked members to email questions before the next meeting. 57:48
    • A speaker asked to vote at the next meeting after reading through the resolutions. 59:27
  9. Superintendent evaluation presentation 1:05:20
    • The chair said a Zoom session was set for 6 o'clock at the next meeting to explain the superintendent evaluation program, which also includes board self-evaluations. 1:05:20
  10. Administrators association contract 1:06:07
    • Resolution 024⁠-⁠2026 would ratify the Saranac Lake Administrator Association contract for the period of 7/1/26 to 6/30/29. 1:06:43
    • A speaker said the board had discussed the contract in executive session and the administrators group had since agreed to those terms. 1:07:22
    • The chair announced the contract was approved. 1:08:29
  11. Superintendent, staff and board reports 1:08:49
    • The superintendent said the art room was moved back to rooms 408 and 409 and the staff lounge to the old business office after feedback. 1:08:49
    • A district staff member said a health network selected the district as the 70th school to receive in-school dental cleanings for students at Petrova, and that Saturday Academy is October 24th. 1:20:20
    • Joe Henderson said the first round of curriculum sessions starts next week, and Tori Thurston said the Area 6 dinner is October 8th. 1:23:40
  12. Executive session 1:29:10
    • The chair said an executive session was needed for collective negotiations, matters involving particular persons and the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real property. 1:29:10

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 “Board of Education Meeting 9/16/2026”