Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Board Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves consent agenda; members press for police MOU and question WazEd STEM spending
Summary
The board approved minutes and the consent agenda and polled recusals. Members pressed for a memorandum of understanding with the Buffalo Police Department on SRO/security services and debated the district's WazEd/WISEd STEM spending and implementation; the superintendent and chief defended the program and offered follow-up.
The Buffalo Board of Education voted to approve meeting minutes from June 12, 2024, and accepted the consent agenda on July 17 after a recusal poll. During general business, board members discussed several operational items, notably a payment to the Buffalo Police Department for school security services and purchases tied to the WazEd STEM program.
A motion to excuse absent board members (Kathy Evans Brown, Jennifer Makusi and Larry Scott) was made and seconded; the board chair called for the vote and it passed. The minutes approval (mover recorded as "Mister Heard," second by "board member Shuda") and the consent-agenda vote (mover "Cindy," second "Anne") also passed with no recorded opposition.
Board members raised long-standing concerns about paying the police department for SRO services without a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) specifying roles and responsibilities. One member said the district had been paying for services "that we have no authority over" and urged the superintendent to finalize the MOU with city and police leadership to ensure clarity before future payments.
Board members also questioned the district's expenditures on the WazEd (also referenced in the meeting as Wazettes/WISEd) STEM program. Concerns included potential overlap with existing teacher-provided coursework, whether the program produces New York State credit, safety and consumables in classroom kits, and whether purchases fall within the 2024-25 board-approved budget. District leaders defended the initiative as a K—2 rollout offering robotics and cybersecurity experiences; they said philanthropic support had offset some costs and that training and kit rollouts were continuing.
Next steps: district staff were asked to provide clearer budget line reports and to follow up with principals and teachers to surface any implementation issues; the superintendent agreed to seek resolution and provide details to the board.
