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Shenendehowa Central School District board meeting, Sep 8, 2026

1 h 10 min · 0 public speakers

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 10 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Shenendehowa board approves Mustangs mascot name and $6.6 million interfund transfer 54:09

  • A district staff member presented the 2025⁠-⁠26 year-end financial report and proposed using about $6.6 million as an interfund transfer to the capital fund to reduce future borrowing. 23:45
  • The board later approved the reserve allocations and the $6.6 million interfund transfer. 53:26
  • The board voted 6 in favor of a resolution changing the name of the district mascot to Mustangs after a staff member said the name was the strong favorite in a vote of staff and students. 56:30
Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and agenda 6:19
    • Naomi Hoffman said the meeting was a business meeting and that the board's vice president could not attend. 6:47
    • Naomi Hoffman announced the motion to adopt the agenda was unanimous. 7:05
  2. Student and board member comments 7:18
    • A student representative reported that student senate committee meetings had started and that a homecoming theme had been chosen. 7:51
    • Sarah Schanz said the school tours showed extra spaces that elementary schools planned to use for meetings, games and learning. 10:15
    • Naomi Hoffman said transportation is always a challenge in the first days of school and said the opening of Atria created extra space in other buildings. 11:57
  3. First public comment period 14:00
    • Naomi Hoffman said no one came forward and closed the first public comment period. 14:38
  4. Superintendent's report 14:48
    • A staff member delivering the superintendent's report said transportation presented challenges in the first days of school and that adjustments would be tried and refined through the week. 14:50
    • The staff member said some tax bills were sent with the wrong return envelopes and asked residents to check where they return payments. 18:45
    • Another staff member said return envelopes from the City School District of Albany and Gloversville School District had been seen, and that the district's PO box changed this year. 21:47
  5. Year-end financial report 23:38
    • The staff member said health insurance savings of $2.2 million were mostly the result of drug rebates. 24:54
    • A district staff member reported the district spent about 95.65% of its budget, resulting in about $9.8 million in savings, and that revenues exceeded the budget by $3.4 million. 28:58
    • The staff member proposed using about $6.6 million as an interfund transfer to the capital fund to reduce future borrowing as debt service rises. 29:32
  6. Resolutions overview and fire inspections 34:16
    • A staff member said the district did not propose new NISPPAC resolutions this year and that a board member would serve as the delegate. 34:16
    • A staff member reported a 62% reduction since 2025 in fire inspection citations across district buildings, including a 77% reduction in storage clearance citations. 36:11
    • The staff member said state law does not allow the district to conduct its own fire inspections. 38:46
  7. Treasurer's report and minutes 38:58
    • The board considered the treasurer's report for the period ending July 31st, 2026, and the minutes of August 4th, 2026 and August 18th, 2026. 38:58
    • Both motions passed with 6 in favor. 38:58
  8. Superintendent annual authorization amount 39:51
    • The item recommended increasing the amount the superintendent can execute from $5,000 to $10,000. 39:51
    • A staff member said the last reference found for the current amount was from 2007. 40:51
    • The motion passed with 6 in favor. 41:21
  9. Organization chart and revised tax warrant 41:24
    • The board considered the 2026⁠-⁠2027 organization chart. 41:26
    • The tax warrant was revised because the county updated the STAR amount for the Town of Malta, and a staff member said tax bills there were accurate. 42:04
    • The organization chart and the revised tax warrant were each approved with 6 in favor. 42:03
  10. Contracts, bids and renewals 43:10
    • The board took up charter bus service bids, three capital project change orders for Atria and a Captain Community Health Services agreement. 43:28
    • On the new FSA flex administrator, P&A Administrative Services, Inc., a staff member said the two finalists were within 5 cents of one another. 45:47
    • The board also took up contracts for related services for students, a renewal for security awareness training and a renewal of the adoption agreement for the district's 403 plan. 48:01
    • The charter bus bid, change orders and FSA administrator were each approved with 6 in favor. 44:06
  11. Universal pre-K contract and donations 50:06
    • A staff member said the district would raise its per pupil allocation for community-based pre-K providers from $540 a month to $720 a month. 50:19
    • The board considered a $1,200 donation to Freedom High School and a donated trailer valued at $2,500. 51:17
    • The pre-K contract passed with 6 in favor, and the donations were accepted 6 in favor, 0 opposed. 51:17
  12. Reserve allocations and interfund transfer 53:26
    • The interfund transfer of $6.6 million was described as defraying the $85.5 million capital project. 54:09
    • The reserve allocations and the interfund transfers were each approved with 6 in favor. 53:56
  13. Mascot name resolution 54:09
    • The staff member said designing the mascot image would be another phase, with a possible reveal around homecoming. 55:12
    • A staff member said Mustangs received 57.3% and Sentinels about 30% in a vote that went to staff and students at the end of the spring. 56:30
    • The resolution to change the mascot name to Mustangs received 6 votes in favor. 57:33
  14. Special education placements and staffing 1:00:25
    • A staff member said the staffing agenda included 8 certified staff, including 2 administrators, along with support staff and transportation route changes required by the collective bargaining agreement. 1:01:20
    • The placement recommendations and the staffing recommendations were each approved with 6 in favor. 1:01:05
  15. Second public comment and closing comments 1:04:19
    • No one came forward during the second public comment period. 1:04:32
    • A speaker at public comment said the Senate wanted the board to consider that changing the mascot to a different design or suit would be expensive. 1:05:06
    • Andrea Gallo thanked teachers, staff and bus drivers for helping students. 1:05:55
    • The motion to adjourn passed with 6 in favor. 1:09:39

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 “Shenendehowa Board of Education Meeting | September 8, 2026”