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Student board representative reads land-acknowledgement draft and urges rural districts to coordinate
Summary
A student member of the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council read a draft land‑acknowledgement honoring the Oneida Nation and Haudenosaunee people and presented a capstone arguing rural districts are underfunded; the student proposed inter‑district cooperation and increased student voice. Board members thanked the student and discussed next steps for vetting and possible plaque placement.
A student board representative read a draft land‑acknowledgement and presented a civic capstone at the Hamilton Central School District Board meeting.
The student, identified in the transcript as the student board representative (speaker 8), read a draft statement that began, “We recognize that Hamilton Central School is situated on the unceded indigenous homelands of the Oneida Nation people… We pay respect to the Oneida people, past, present, and future…” The presenters said the draft would be refined by SSAC, reviewed by HCS internal groups, and then forwarded to the Oneida Nation for final approval.
Following the reading, the student outlined a two‑part capstone reflecting on board service and a policy proposal. The student criticized what they described as a disconnect between Albany and rural districts, saying rural schools are “underfunded” and citing a district impact they described as a roughly $900,000 reduction in state aid this year. The student argued that small districts can be ignored by state policy and suggested coordinated action among nearby districts — “assemble the avengers” — to lobby and present shared policy requests to state officials. The student also urged retaining student voice if districts form coalitions.
Board members asked about next steps. The presenters and the Chair said the draft acknowledgement would be word‑smithed, vetted by the district community and legal counsel, then sent to the Oneida Nation for final review; a plaque or physical marker was discussed as a future option but not decided. Administrators indicated the capstone rubric is being embedded in curriculum so future students can access the seal associated with civic‑readiness.
Quotations from the transcript include the student’s reading of the draft: “We recognize that Hamilton Central School is situated on the unceded indigenous homelands of the Oneida Nation people … We pay respect to the Oneida people, past, present, and future.” On district funding, the student said the district experienced a large reduction: "we just got $900,000 taken away from us." Board members thanked the student for the presentation and said they would pursue the vetting steps described.
Next steps: SSAC will finalize wording, the district will route the draft through internal review and legal vetting, then the draft will be forwarded to the Oneida Nation for approval; the board also discussed where and how an acknowledgement might be displayed.
