The board hired contractors for the first phase of the 2024 renovation project. In 2024, Rome voters approved a capital project that the district's fiscal adviser has described as about $34 million in renovations across the district. On September 21 the board awarded six contracts for its first phase. The largest went to Trane U.S. Inc., for $1,655,164 in mechanical equipment and $4,796,025 in labor, about $6.45 million combined. Day Automation/STARK Tech received about $3.25 million for equipment and technology at Stokes, Ridge Mills, Bellamy, John Joy, Gansevoort, Denti and Strough, with Strough's share alone a little over $1.1 million. Four construction contracts went to the lowest responsible bidders: Gallo Construction Corporation for general trades at $1,919,400, H.J. Brandeles Corporation for mechanical work at $322,000 and plumbing at $260,000, and Knapp Electric Inc. for electrical work at $563,450. Together the six awards come to about $12.8 million.

Most of that money did not go through local bidding, which state law allows. The four construction contracts were publicly bid, with bids opened September 1 and a recommendation from the project architect and construction manager dated September 16. The two largest awards were handled differently. The STARK Tech purchase was made through an existing New York State contract, which the resolution says exempts it from competitive bidding. The Trane purchase was made through a federal purchasing schedule, which state law permits when a board determines it will save money; the resolution states the board reached that conclusion after considering price, efficiency, maintenance and operating costs. The Trane dollar amounts were not read aloud at the meeting and appear only in an attachment to the agenda. None of the six contracts drew questions or discussion from board members before the votes.

$3 million moved into savings for capital projects. The board transferred $3 million from the general fund into its 2025 capital reserve. At the August 17 meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Business Dr. Georgia Gonzalez said this money was left over from the 2025-26 school year, that moving it would bring the reserve to about $6.3 million, and that it would go toward the roughly $8 million local share of the $31 million project planned for vote in December. She said then that the transfer would come once auditors finalized their work, likely in September or October. The annual audit is still underway, and the audit committee has not yet set a meeting date. The board also accepted the treasurer's report for May 2026.

Work on next year's budget has already started. After a spring in which voters rejected one budget and then approved a revised version, the board adopted the schedule for building the 2027-28 budget. The dates in that schedule were not read aloud and are not included in the agenda. The next finance committee meeting is October 8 at 409 Bell Road. The agenda lists 5:30 p.m., but it was announced at the meeting that the start time has moved to 4:30 p.m.

The code of conduct has to go back out for public review. Ahead of the August public hearing, the district posted last year's code of conduct instead of the updated one. Because the public gets a 30-day window to review it, the correct version will be posted again and brought to a new public hearing on October 5th at 5:15 p.m. Assistant Superintendent Jennifer DePerno said the changes are the same ones she described in August: mostly a shift toward restorative practices, plus updates to internal management processes. That hearing is the public's chance to weigh in. In August, a parent coalition told the board the code does not line up with the state's anti-harassment law, known as DASA. The same October 5 hearing will also take up the proposal to name the Stokes gymnasium for Ayla Sharmay Griffiths, the former Stokes student whose supporters petitioned the board in August.

A longtime advocate for school security thanked the board. Kathleen Murphy told the board she raised the lack of metal detectors at a board meeting in 2011, shortly after the new high school opened, and was told they set off false alarms and that staff know who comes in and out. She recalled a student being arrested with a handgun at the old RFA in 1994, when she worked there, and said she was grateful the district has never had a shooting. She called the new screening the board finally facing reality after 32 years. The board separately recognized the district's security staff, whom one member said she had seen at work from 6:30 in the morning until 7 at night, and the students who have followed the new rules.

Screening lines are moving faster, and late arrivals are a separate issue. Safety committee chair Kirstin Safin said screening times have dropped sharply. Asked whether students are making it to first period, the superintendent said screening of students who arrive on time is usually finished by 7:35, and that the students still arriving late tend to be the same ones every day, a pattern staff say existed before screening began. She said fewer students are arriving late than before, and that phones hidden in bags slow the line down most. Adult visitors are checked in separately through the district's badge system, and security stays posted at the front entrance after student screening ends.

The student board member says the changes are working. Student board member Noah, a senior, said he was late to first period once, on the day students were moved to a different wing so they would not have to wait outside in the cold, and has been in class by 7:25 every day since. He said students are more attentive without their phones and are actually talking to each other, and that the digital hall pass now lets a teacher schedule a student into another room. He reported that homecoming drew roughly 600 to 700 students with no problems, and that every student he has talked to has at least one staff member to go to on a bad day.

Recognitions, and a remembrance. The superintendent recognized seniors Noah and Brooklyn, who were selected for a Le Moyne College leadership academy that she said took only 45 students nationally. She also recognized RFA students Payton and Marley, who volunteered with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention during Suicide Prevention Awareness Month to raise awareness of the 988 crisis line and resources for students and families; Payton also organized an RFA team for the Out of the Darkness Walk in Rome. She thanked the district's athletic trainer during New York State Athletic Training Recognition Week. And she thanked the Rome community, including local churches, for coming together to honor the life of Levi, who was remembered at Friday's football game with his family on the field and tributes from students throughout the game.

Special education got a public ‘thank you.’ The superintendent closed the night by crediting the special education department, including its clerical staff, for keeping IEPs and committee meetings on schedule and for responding the same day when parents call. She said the department kept a commitment made after last year's audit to work closely with building leaders, and has written an administrative guide laying out the full range of special education services the district offers.

Other reports. The superintendent said the district serves about 5,200 students with about 1,300 employees, that attendance is in the 90s at every school, and that 444 children are now registered for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program, up from 377 at the start of the month. Board member Johnathan Roland reported from the regional school boards institute that state guidance on the new graduation framework is now in place, and that the discussion there was that Regents exams will remain but may no longer be required to pass. The varsity football team is 2-1 after a homecoming win over Carthage, the field hockey team is undefeated in league play, and RFA has a new mascot, the Black Knight.

Routine business. The board placed two employees on paid administrative leave, a CSEA/ATAMCU employee from September 3 through September 9 and a Rome Teachers Association employee effective September 12; no reasons were stated publicly. It designated Strough Assistant Principal Kristen Ball as acting principal whenever the principal is absent, with authority to suspend students, approved an amendment to the district's affiliation agreement with Binghamton University, and accepted $1,500 from the Community Foundation for the sixth grade yearbook club. It retired five outdated policies that had already been replaced by newer ones, covering the code of ethics, board minutes, board committees, board and staff communications, and admission of non-resident students. The consent agenda included the provisional appointment of a school security officer at $32.35 an hour. The workshop on the district's major accomplishments for 2025-26 was moved to October 5, and the board scheduled a meet and greet with building and district administrators for Wednesday, October 28, at RFA. The meeting ended in executive session to discuss collective negotiations and a matter covered by attorney-client privilege; the board did not return.