001Welcome, welcome to the June 16, 2026 regular session of the board of education. This is Thomas, vice president of the board of education. Thank you for attending in person or Zoom. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Notice that meeting has been provided to the public and each member of the board of education as required by law. Tina, will you please take me? >> Joseph Silio, president is excused this evening. Kristen Papis, vice president. >> Present. >> Liz Gaffne, trustee. Erin Dbridge, trustee. Deborah Kapani, trustee. Dr. Cassun Sinha, superintendent of schools. Dan Dicapua, assistant superintendent for business and finance, district clerk. Naen Mclaclin, assistant superintendent for
002human resources and leadership development. Dr. Alice Bowman, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Kayla Churnney, Exeicio, student member of the board of education. Christy Jacobson, district council. Garcio and Gerscio. >> May I have a motion to accept the agenda 2026 regular session as presented? All in favor? I. turn it over to Dr. SA. >> Right. There we go. Um, so tonight we want to start off by recognizing our our student athletes who participated in the challenger uh challenger games. And again, this is just such a cherished tradition in Garden City. It's been open for over 17 years. inclusive event has brought together students, staff and families. And this year we had an amazing turnout of participants including students from high school, middle school to extract and uh and locust and I would like to thank
003Miss Wendy Glo Boy and Mr. Rachel Pian who co-chared this event with a lot of support from athletic director Mr. the mayors and we really want to thank him uh thank all of them for for this wonderful event along with sector I know Miss Chapman is here somewhere she was um she really assisted with with this event as well and we're thrilled to welcome uh some of our challenger student ath student student athletes here tonight um 25 student athletes participated um this year into your field and uh we also want to recognize our our students who came and volunteered in this event and from every single building which was really really nice. So with that I want to turn it over to Mr. Ramirez. There you go. >> Evening everyone. Uh so yes uh our
004teachers work with students all year long to prepare for this event. It's a it's a great afternoon field victory games brings everyone from Nassau County Suffach County and some of our state schools to compete against each other uh learning to uh work together uh set goals and gives them a basically a goal and a date to meet those challenges and goals. So um we had 25 students who meddled in field events and relay races. Uh as I said our present teaching work all year with these students that classes to prepare them. I want to give a special thank you to Mr. Mr. Chapia here at the high school. Mrs. Log at the middle school who did a lot of coordinating um with other teachers to get students signed up there. It's a lot of work
005behind the scenes but it was a great event. Um, I would love if there are any students who competed at the victory games, if you could stand up. We want to make sure we acknowledge you for the great job that you did. >> Chris Gerald is here. Brendan Ryan is here. Jack Suckliff is here. We have they're all here as well. So, come on up. >> I should compile both high school and elementary students and we have one of the larger teams in Nassau County. So, we're very proud of that. You got two more that day. Are you getting So, while we have Brendan and Jack up here, just a couple of quick words about these two young men. Not only do they compete in the victory uh games, but they're part of our challenger
006basketball, unified basketball, extreme new men. Conor, no. Con stay up. Connor is on the team. We'll talk about Con. So, um, and I guess really what I'd like to say is is thank you guys for being model students and being an example of getting involved in school community and being part of a of a bigger family. Uh, not only do they participate, but they're the biggest supporter of other students in the building. Um, probably three of the more popular young men in the building when they walk around. Um, I want to congratulate you and thank you for everything you've done over your career here and we look for uh great stories as you go on to bigger and better We'd also like to recognize our spring student athletes. >> So, come on back up, Mr.
007I just want to say a few words. We've had, you know, every season is an incredible season and u and spring has been an amazing season. And yesterday we just had our athletic awards night. And if I could tell you the number of student athletes that were honored and recognized last night was quite quite impressive. It was a long night because we had a lot of student athletes to um to recognize. We definitely want to thank our our boosters for their support. They really uh do quite a bit to our for our athletic program. Um, with that, I'm going to turn it over. Oh, before I do that, I do want to thank all of our coaches. Our parents and students work so so hard. They work just as hard out in the field as
008they do in the classroom. So, it's quite effective. So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to um so unfortunately, not unfortunately, our girls track and boys track team had their county dinner tonight. They're being honored there, so they couldn't be here. But I do want to take a couple minutes to acknowledge um those individuals and what they accomplished this season. So, girls track had um five uh six members qualify for the New York State Championships. Uh they competed this past weekend up in Victor up in the Rochester area. Um Kira Laminas qualified in the 200 meter, 400 meter, and as a member of the 4 by 400 meter relay team. Uh along with her were Abigail Pedesco, uh Kylie Olirri, Taylor Maguire and Alli. Uh track is a very difficult like any sport
009has its challenges and its difficulties. So they they went up there this weekend. Um weather didn't, you know, weather wasn't helpful. They had several rain delays and it's very hard to warm up, start back up, warm up, start back up. So, they didn't have the performance they wanted, but extremely proud of the fact that anytime you get to go up to a state championship and represent your community, your school, and the section, not only is it an honor, but it's it's really really happy. So, for these students to to get up there and represent us, uh they were the uh biggest probably uh group of students for any school is isn't ours. So I want to make sure they get acknowledged, congratulate them on a tremendous spring season. Uh not only placing all county but
010representing us at the state tournament. So that was girls track. Our boys track being similar. They're at the dinner as well. Competed at Victor uh was actually at I want to say well I forget the name of the high school but they competed up there. So, those young men, the 4x 800 meter rele county champions 400, I'm sorry, were national runner-ups, qualified uh in the state qualifiers, went up to the state tournament, uh weren't one of the favorites up there, but had a phenomenal weekend in running and ended up placing fourth in the state overall. So, out of all the schools, not just classification, finished fourth in the race. Uh the young men that raced in that were Patrick Eaggan, Chris Burn, Brendan Wild, Charles Buen. They finished uh their sw their state qualifier time
011in 3 minutes 18 seconds, which is a phenomenal pace for any race. So we're extremely proud of those young men completing competing and earning all state honors is a rare thing and uh it's great for them, happy for them. They put in a lot of work. some of those seniors go out on a on a race note. So happy to them. Congratulations to the boys track. So the next group I want to talk about is our girls lacrosse team. And I'm going to ask uh any members of the team are here tonight uh to please come up. And I'm just going to ask a please don't judge if athletes aren't here. These young men and women sacrifice so much time preparing to state championships and county championships that uh sometimes balancing the academic piece is
012very difficult. So, a lot of them chose to stay home today and get medical tests and couldn't make it here today. But if you're here, please come up. So I get the great honor of traveling with some of these teams when they go state championships and I get to see and witness some things that average. Thank you, coach. Coach Besley, I get to say coaching is coaching New York State versus New York uh Long Island versus New York City football game practice today. Uh and uh Coach Leak had a event that she could have missed for a day. Coach, thanks for doing that. Uh so what I say is that I get the chance to to witness and observe things that some people don't. Uh the amount of time, the work ethic, uh the dedication,
013the commitment to get to the level of this team is um it's pretty phenomenal to watch and experience. Uh what I've enjoyed about this team this year is how close they were as we always say teams are close. That's not always true. There's different levels. This group right here was genuinely very close. Cheer each other on. Um the fact that you would look at the paper, staff leaders were spread across um is a credit to them that they share the ball and trust in each other. Um the downside as I say every time to this program that they set the bar so high that to themselves um I don't know if it's ever possible to meet their own expectations of what success is. But I'm going to tell you as someone standing here with seven
014years experience in athletics what you guys did and it was amazing. Um, for this group of seniors in this team here, in the last four years, they've been threetime finalists at the New York State Championship. They've won three Long Island Championships and four Nassau County Championship. That is a phenomenon. So, this weekend they went up state and we played two of the best teams in the country. Played NY and they played victim. The first game against NYAK um was What's the word? It was a battle. Yeah, battle word. Um, the heat was an issue. Uh, we were dealing with heat exhaustion. It was a long back and forth game. Uh, the game was two and a half hours, which is not typical. Um, and fell behind 5-0 to start. So, made it a little difficult
015for us. 6. Okay. 6. Um, made it a little difficult to start with, but they battled back. Never gave up. Um you can see the fighting um cheering each other on little by little more for a lot of time they leave and advance uh what some would say an upset not to us but to some might say was upset. Uh and unfortunately the next day we just didn't have our best day. Um and I do think that the fatigue and the heat uh got better on us on day two. Um but that was a excellent weekend. Uh congratulations on a phenomenal year. state runner up 2026 girls lacrosse. Very proud of that. Before I speak about this last group, I do want to thank um Coach Dreer, uh, Coach Johnson, Coach McDonald who coached the
016boys team, and on the girls side, Coach Messier, Coach Scrannic, and uh coach Marsh for their commitment and time in the track program. So the ne the duo um they could come up. It's Ben and CJ over here CJ Bravo and Shel. So I always say the hardest thing to do in Garden City is do something that's never been done before. And yet here I am again. Amazes to me that every year we figure out a way to do something that's never been done before. These two young men that stand before you were New York State doubles champions. >> First men's doubles team in history to win the state championship and that is a phenomenal accomplishment. Best part is they're ju sorry. Um so I I took some notes down. Uh co was very good.
017You know I tried to be at a lot of things. Um this conflicted with a couple other events that we had but she was very good about updating me and we went back and forth conversations. So it's one thing to win a state championship. It's another thing to dominate. So these two young men won the Nassau County Championships last year, came back this year and repeated as champions. Breathe through the competition. Breathe. They get to the state tournament and you think, "Oh, maybe they'll get, you know, a little challenge up there." Uh first round, they beat Maine Envels 660. Second round, Clarence High School, straight sets 6160. Quarterfinal shore awaiting river straight sets 6262 75 with Siosa a rematch of their county championship straight sets 6360 all right we'll get to the championship game Clark
018uh Clarktown South straight sets 6362 not dropped one set at all dominating uh we look for bigger and better things. We appreciate you guys for how you represented them. The one thing I I have seen them play is their class acts on the court and how they handle themselves as true professional give a good name to the court of tennis and how they conduct themselves and I want to thank coach for all the work with them and it's not easy to give up weekends and this goes for all our coaches uh to give up weekends and afternoons and sacrifice time with family uh and they do it because they love the sport but more important because they love the students that they work with. So I want to thank you all for that. Congratulations. Before
019I leave, I just want to thank district administration, board of education, the high school administration uh signing for all their support. uh what we do here is a lot of fun, but it makes it a lot more enjoyable when you have the support group that these students have and that I have for athletics. So, thank you. And I want to give a thank you. I I did it last night and I want to make sure everybody gave it. I want to thank our athletic trainer. He is um if you don't know Mr. Bara High School, the most phenomenal professionals I've ever worked with athletic training and the care and consideration he gives not only to the kids, but the parents um is amazing. Thank him. I wish him the best. He's getting married next week.
020So, I want to wish him a happy everyone have a good evening and >> can I just mention one quick thing? Mr. form as you're leaving. Um, you're not you're leaving, you're just sitting here in the room. But I wanted to thank you for doing an outstanding job that you do every season with our program and continually looking to make it even better for our kids and Trojan Nation is on fire all the time. So, thank you very much. >> I just want to all mountains, you know, he travel all the New York State for these and it is so so great, you know, CF and also you know big shout out to Mr. They are huge supporters of this program and you guys all you guys give them really it makes being so so
021special. So thank you go and we'll continue with the um presentation of the Nancy Marone. I'm Kirsten Co, president of Garden City SEPTA. Um, each year Garden City SPTA awards the Nancy Marxel Award to a deserving member of our district. This award was created in memory of the former head of Google personnel services, Miss Nancy Marxel, and is bestowed in her honor to an individual who goes beyond his or her job responsibility to help special education students in our district. Tonight we have the honor of honoring two exceptional individuals who are dedicated to supporting children with special needs. Mrs. Mer and Mrs. Baptical are a source of hope and strength for these young people and their families. Their commitment to our children is unwavering and drives them to go above and beyond. Every child's potential
022is recognized. Their strength and needs acknowledged and their growth is fostered with patience and understanding. Every success is built on the foundation that has been laid. Every struggle overcome, every accomplishment celebrated are stepping stones to a future not possible without this dedication. We thank you for everything. your impact is immeasurable. So with that, um I just want to add a few words myself. I was fortunate that two of my children had Mrs. Mah as their first grade teacher. And in reading these nominations that come in year after year, this is my third year on the board of SEPTA. Mrs. Mar's name is there. Um and there are so many similar stories that I hear throughout the district that she's gone to back for their children as a general education teacher. um recognizing that something's up
023and this kid needs a little extra support and she helps parents and families feel seen, gets those children the help and services that they need so that they can thrive. Um so I just needed to add that little two cents, but now I'd like to invite up a former student, um Oscar Cook to say a few words. Hi, my name is Oscar Cook and I was lucky enough to have Mrs. Mart for my teacher. My family first came here from Brooklyn in 2020. Um, Mrs. Mar made me feel welcome and happy and I have ADHD focusing which makes focusing in class hard for me and Mrs. Smart patients and special students to help me stay on track. Thank you, Mr. Sming through challenging times in the new school and new home. Should we present one
024and then do I have come up? I'm sorry that I'm disorganized. Now I invite Okay. Sure. >> Hi, my name is Jamie. My son. Um, Mrs. Bad, what a welldeserved honor. You're an amazing teacher and exceptional person. You see each child's full potential and create pathways for them to be successful. As a mother and as a teacher, I was truly in awe of how you orchestrated your class with grace and skills. Thank you for all you've done and for all that you do for our community. Now, Michael wants to share. Congratulations. You deserve this award because you are the best teacher. You made school fun and I learned so much from you. You made sure you were learning all the time. Thank you for Thank you for being a teacher. >> All right, ladies. We'd
025like to welcome you all. This is Mark and Yeah, it's not there. What? for our students and our parents. If our students want to come home, what are you guys going? There you go. You can hear We're going to go over 77,000 balances. 135. >> You know what I'll say after Kayla gives her report back. Um first of all love um as well ceremonies and also a dance party with the high school students that's going to be happening really tomorrow that all the kids are so excited about. Um and also the kindergarten and first grade students have really showcased their growth in art and writing throughout the year. Then at Stewart um we have spring concerts in the second grade also and learn about third grade offering a boy visit focus on kindness the writing
026process for the fourth grade it was field trip and random I believe we did as well such a great trip and fifth graders participating in the Vermont crowd program and they also have um the village courthouse and they also have their success program which they've been working on all year and they focus on perseverance. At Stford they have the Olympic which the winner will be announced on high day and they also had concerts and all the grades have special events. So both third grade had the heritage snack and share and the fifth grade also had the upcoming tool party at the middle school. Seventh grade science symposium where they were researching projects and scientific discoveries uh to present the families in the garden city community. There was also the national junior honor society induction recognizing
027students for academic achievement, scholarship service and leadership. We just have so many kids that are in that every year and they all incredible job. which is really amazing. And the eighth grade celebration, there are I was getting the signed in your book with that. And then to finish off at the high school, there's a lot of things to recognize the seniors, but we did the clap out. And I just want to thank Strawford and Stuart because they do such an incredible job. All the kids come into the hallways and clap with the seniors as they walk through. It was so special. And I did see about half of the kids wearing mixed room. So, great job. >> Thank you. Thank you, Kayla, for your um service as our first student member of the board. Um
028we really enjoyed um your updates, gave us a good idea of what's going on in each of our building. So, we really appreciate um we really appreciate your input and your participation. So, thank you. And then Dr. did you have something you wanted to say? >> Yes. I definitely want to say I know this is Kayla's last meeting and and you know you mentioned this was um the first year we had a student as part of you know an exopic year student member. So we really want to thank you Kayla. You have just done a tremendous job. your reports were always comprehensive about our schools, about school events, about our students, and we really highlighted that from UPK all the way to uh high school. So, we really really appreciate that. And and I just
029want to talk a little bit about Kayla and maybe just just the work that she's a natural leader and what she has contributed. So, here are some of her accomplishments. They're just a few by the way, just a few. Um she has completed our high school's most rigorous curriculum with AP courses. Served as president of class of 2026 as student council president served as co-president of peer educator. Served as president of Italian club. Served as co-president of the national latin honor society. She's attended an academic program at Oxford University and developed a broader global perspective. and she I think since she was a freshman we've been meeting at the high school Mr. worker and myself when we meet with our um student council. So that's been and we start like right away when um she
030was in ninth grade her leadership qualities um she is recognized again for strong leadership maturity time management and emotional intelligence. She serves as a role model and mentor peers and she's led school initiatives and events that strengthen the entire school community. So, thank you, Kayla, for giving your time to this important volunteer work. And we we hope that this is going to help you in the future serving in this capacity as you head off to college and uh NC State. And we do have something for you that I wanted to present to you. We have two proclamations for you. One from Assemblyman Ed's office and Senator Silhino's office. Okay? Okay. So, I'm going to read um they're both similar, but I'll read one of them. How's that what it states? It says um this is
031from the senator's office honoring uh count attorney where asked is the sense of the legislative body to recognize those individuals whose dedicated service, leadership, and commitment have strengthened our communities and serve as an inspiration to others. And whereas it is a privilege of the legislative body to honor Kayla turned an exeicio student member of the Garden City Board of Education in recognition of her dedicated service, leadership, and commitment to representing the fellow students. And whereas through her service on the board of education, Kayla Churnney provided a valuable student perspective, promoted civic engagement, and helped strengthen the connection between students and leadership. And whereas her contributions have earned the respect and admiration of board members, administrators, faculty, students, and the community at large, and have served as a positive example of student leadership and public service.
032Now therefore, be it resolved that I, this is from our state senator, Sila Leavino, do hereby commend Kayla Turing for her outstanding service to the school community and recognize her as an individual worthy of our highest respect, esteem, and appreciation. And to the further resolved that a copy of this proclamation be presented to Kayla, Churnney, the 16th day of June, 2026. And you have something very similar from assembly men's office which I won't read but it's similar. So I'd like to get this to you. So with um know with Kayla this being her last meeting we will have our new student member Claire Arms. She's here if you could stand up Claire. So she will be serving as our exeicio student board member for the 2627 school year. there is also an active in the
033student government and who's willing to share ideas and thoughts and uh we're really looking forward to having you here at the table. All right, great. >> Sure. So, Dr. S, continue with your superintendence report. >> Yes. So um this evening we had a wonderful celebration uh known as Papiva here and Miss Kapani Miss Bridge for the retiring celebration and we had 40 of our value staff members who are retiring after uh years of service and we were counting up the number of years collectively 897 years which is incredible and so many of our um our retired units have been here for decades, you know, you know, more than 30 years. And it's pretty uh it's kind of sad. I'm happy for them to sad that they're leaving. Um they have really built um who we
034are today. Their legacy will remain. So with that said, I also wanted to recognize I know I think Suzanne is here in the audience and and also Dana. I also have proclamations for them from um Ed's office and Sila Bino's office. So I think Suzanne you want to come up and I'll just read uh I'll read from Assemblyman Rob were he was he your student >> he was your student he was that's why they were >> that's a great story so I'll read from What what's it? Okay, so this states um this citation is congratulating principal Dr. Suzanne Viskovich upon the occasion of her retirement after dedicating more than 30 years to the education and well-being of Garden City students. Whereas a great a great state is only as great as those persons who give
035exemplary service to their community whether through participation in voluntary programs through unique personal achievement in their professional or other endeavors or simply through a lifetime of good citizenry. And whereas often times it is the hard work and dedication of accomplished individ individuals which ensure the combined success and achievement of particular organizations and the communities they so devotedly serve and whereas Dr. Suzanne Bisco began her career at St. An's school of garden city before joining the Garden City School District in 1994. She served in several teaching roles throughout the Garden City School District before being uh appointed in 2002 assist principal of Stratford School. In 2005, Dr. Viskovich was appointed the principal of the Homestead School where she played an instrumental role in shaping the educational experiences of generation generations of kindergarten first grade students during
036their most formative years. And whereas throughout her career, Dr. Suzanne Biscovich has remained steadfast in her commitment to academic excellence and have inspired generations of learners and has left an enduring impact on the children and families of the Garden City School District. And whereas Dr. Visco Suz Dr. Suich has selflessly devoted her time and energy to important educational and community activities, concerns and interests, thereby leaving upon them her her own indelible and lasting mark. And now therefore be it resolved that I, Edra, member of the state assembly of New York, 19th district, do hereby present this citation to Dr. um Suzanne Miskovich, principal of Homestead School. I do our board of education administration to serve the students and families of our love. Thank you. You want to share, right? So, Mr. C, this is your
037last meeting. This is your last meeting. is uh you know it's going to be hard not having you here at the table. >> It's true. >> This is your last meeting. >> No, this is um you know I do want to spend a minute talking about Capua. She has um you know has been in the district for 13 years. We did do our celebration earlier, but I do want to um really thank her for her um for her work for our school district. And you know, we're a fiscally sound district because of her. And I really mean that. I've learned so much throughout the years from you around um just how to ask the right questions and how to push the envelope on are we um using our funds responsibly in our district? And we
038do a lot with little because of what you that's the foundation you have built in the district and all the various projects. I mean this is uh I'll be ending my eighth year and and I think we've talked about this in eight years how much of uh you know the facilities we've done between especially the glass project right that we've done for libraries two innovation innovation lab the learning comments the research center the courtyards for courtyards outdoor courtyards um air conditioning we finally are fully we have air conditioning in every space. Not that it doesn't break once in a while, I have to say, but we we have done or even the primary schools that they have central air the the systems we put in and you know we say this during budget time we
039do a lot with little you know I keep going back to that compared to what other districts how much they spend and that is with careful planning and continually looking at how do we ensure that we have the best experiences for our students and creating the conditions where our students can learn and our teachers can teach and that environment is um extremely important and I and you know I didn't say this earlier but I have to say I dragged Dana into classrooms at times and it is the best because remember she's a career changer she came she was in finance came into uh you know in schools and when you take her into the classrooms boy the kind of questions she asked students do you remember at the middle school with the drawings. It's It's
040like it's the best um you know, taking her in there. But with that said, she knows what's needed. So when we budget the kind of questions she asks about the line within all of us within our with our principles here at the cabinet level, um you know, you learn with those the the meticulous attention to detail with uh that is so so important. Um, so with that, you're going to be terribly, terribly missed. I speak for my colleagues here, and I'm sure the board is probably feeling the same way because you've all worked with her for um, you know, for many years, and if you haven't, you've seen her um, here in the district. So, we also have proclamation for Mr. Capua from Assemblyman Ra's office and Senator B's office. So, I'll read one of
041them. Okay. So I'll read from the senator's office. Okay. This says, "Honoring Canada whereas it is the sense of this legislative body to recognize those individuals whose dedicated service, leadership, and commitment has strengthened our communities and enriched the lives of others. And whereas it is it is a privilege of this legislative body to honor Democracula, assistant superintendent for business and finance upon the occasion of her retirement in recognition of her years of distinguished service and unwavering commitment to the students, staff, families, and residents of the Garden City School District. And whereas her leadership and professionalism have contributed to the continued success and stability of the school community. and her service has earned the gratitude, respect and admirations of colleagues, educators, community member and community members alike. And whereas Miss Mana Dapior concludes her career the
042legacy of dedication, integrity, and public service that will continue to benefit future generations. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, State Senator Cela A, do hereby commend Dana Dicapure for her outstanding service to the community and recognize her as an individual worthy of our highest respect, esteem, and appreciation. And it be further resolved that a copy of this proclamation be presented to Dan Capula this the 16th day of June, 2026. It was really good. Thank you. Is that a second? What's Yes, we can, you know, but you know bond really just has been the opposite of And it's so We're working on the lights. So, you don't know. I have to say that. So many things. >> Yeah. But finds a way to do things that need it and that is in line with what
043we strongly believe. And it's it's actually quite funny because I just heard that it's good for kids and Dana probably because we do that and I will say it's good for kids. Why is it good for kids? But anyway, you will be um tremendously missed. >> Okay, I'll continue with my >> Okay. Um I know Kale already talked about the uh you know the senior scholarship awards and whatnot. One thing I wanted to mention is um first in map. Oh yeah, these are our scholarship with some pictures of our scholarship. It is amazing the amount of money that we get that from the students from different from our local organizations and what it's amazing. It's it's a tremendous amount that you think about. You're like, "Wow." and the um and I like the way at
044the high school it's broken up between scholarships and I organized goes very well. Oh yes. So this is what I wanted to and actually I won't say anything because this video speaks by itself as three of our ROA students who travel to Albany to represent um our district in the first math competition. This is the third year that we have this competition and believe it or not each year locus qualifies. So the first year they came in I believe it was second last year first and this year third but it is pretty significant. So when you hear this, they made a small video Miss Voda and I really want to commend Miss Voda for she comes in and get the kids come in early. They practice with her. She teaches them strategies and uh I
045I was there the day before they left for Albany. And I wish uh you could have been a fly on the wall to see these three first grade students collaborate, problem solve together. They could kill us how many adults were uh uh around them. So I do want to thank um this photo for that. So, can we get the video going, Tina? >> Welcome everyone. Today we are talking about our favorite sports. Is it basketball? Is it soccer? >> No way. It is math. >> Forget sitting alone at a desk doing bullying worksheets. We treat math like an exciting game with teamwork, practice, and learning strategies. >> Every team needs a place to practice. We use a cool online game called First and Math. >> We play it to build up our big math muscles.
046We practice fast adding and subtracting, knowing number blocks by heart, doing math in our heads without paper, finding secret patterns in numbers. Check out these math muscles. >> Our season is tough. It starts in March and goes all the way to June. In March, the whole district hops a line online. We race against the clock for exactly minutes to get our best score. In April, only the fastest players with the best scores make the elite team. No luck here. You just have to be fast and correct. Thousands of kids try out, but only 240 get to go to the Giant State Championship in Albany. >> To get ready, we practice a game called the 10 wheels over and over. You have to put down cards super fast to make groups that equal 10. like 8
047+ 9 - 7 + 0. >> Then in June, we went to Albany. >> No computer screens allowed. We stood face to face in a huge room. We worked in teams of three to be the best math players in the state. >> Our school has been doing this for three year for three years in a row now. But the best part isn't the shiny trophies. It's learning how to work together and never giving up >> because we are champions in math and champions for life. >> Thank you. >> I also wanted to thank Miss Cartella, our coordinator for math. she was quite a band with and she's the one who brought the first in math um you know this for us to participate in the competition along with Miss Tara Beanar who's our math coach
048they really work very hard and it's wonderful that each year our students qualifying they go up to the state and I the this experience our first grade students I don't think they'll ever forget so it's something that I'm really proud of and um and at this time I'd like to ask uh Dr. Bowman to give an update on um just the summer curriculum writing. I know that's on the agenda today. >> Yes, absolutely. While I will not be as precious as those three students, we have some very exciting plans for the summer um with curriculum writing. So, what you will see is that our um major dedication this summer is the new resource adoption for literacy is forthcoming. We have allotted 290 hours of curriculum writing for our K through five uh resource adoption work.
049Uh this is going to include creating teacher story boards, parent story boards and centralized literacy. our middle school um adaptation, the middle school level, our ELA curriculum is going to be changing so that there will be 60 minutes of instruction every other day and so there will be curriculum right away open ELA and in math to make those adjustments um in instruction so that the instructional block can be utilized. We have um strategic alignment with the portion of graduate and our nextgen frameworks. Um in the middle school we have negotiate through graduate aligned performance-based assessments being uh built. We have also worked in our high school to make sure that our world language department is completely aligning not the first year in a row but for our level four classes um in our modern languages
050in our level three and four in Latin to ensure that they're aligned with the ACTL which is the American council on the teaching of foreign languages proficiency standard. Um we do have a lot of data driven assessment and secondary STEM education projects that will be happening. Our high school science courses will be dedicating time to the creation of cluster style question banks so that they are aligned with the umly administered chemistry earth and space sciences physics and biology um regions exams. those exams have shifted and are in the next phases of shifting and we want to make sure that we have enough materials to have our students be prepared for those um end of year exams. We will be also at the high school level ensuring that we build the curriculum for our new courses.
051So that includes the work course which we viewing this year at the high school as well as college calculus and for our seventh grade students personal findings. Um we also are going to be looking to ensure that we are highlighting and and um focusing on inclusion and universal design. So there will be some specific curriculum modifications so that our students who are in special classes are given access to the best curriculum and the most um rigorous curriculum so that they're prepared for what the uh state has given us in terms of their learning standards as well as on our elementary level as we recognize the evolving needs of our young based learners. Um we will also be spending some time with our eighth grade studio art which will be the first time next year that
052we're um studio art in our middle school. So we are making some adaptations so that our eighth grade art curriculum is embedded in the studio art experiences that our students will be have. Um it will be a very very busy summer then and we're very excited about each of the projects that we will be um encountering over the summer. >> Thank you Dr. Bowman. I also wanted to mention um that I know our building principles will post summer learning resources and activities for students on their respective pages and they'll also include it in their letter that goes out to the community. And that's something that I know Dr. going. We worked with the coordinators and a principal to get that going. So, thank you for that. Um, and Miss McLaclin, can you just give us
053an update on hiring since we have all these retirees that we own today? Yes. Thanks, Dr. S. So, we have 25 teachers thus far. Uh, and we have four positions, four teaching positions that remain. They're all in progress. Everybody keep your fingers crossed that we don't lose our candidates to other people. Uh we have not uh posted our teacher aids yet, but we will be doing that shortly. Two teaching assistant positions are posted. A point to resource room and focus. We're always looking for sh. And in July, I'll be singing the we need bus driver song, but I'm not singing it until July 1. So I, you know, and bus attendance and bus attendance. Um so really though, we're already gonna hire 25 wonderful people. So that's great. We have a we have a little
054little more work to do, but we're in good shape. >> And I do want to thank you, Mr. Blackman, working closely with our administrators to get the hiring started early. I know we still have a few more to go, but I think we're in a good place considering the number of hirings we've had to do. And then just a couple of other items, we um I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but we do have our um the um homecoming that's in Sep September 19th. That's uh something that I don't know if I had mentioned his word or community. And then on the agenda, we have uh uh several first read uh policies and this is something that Miss Jacobson works closely with Mrs. Mclofflin to review our policies and uh they come to
055me, I review them and then the you know the department heads are the building principles. If they need to, they review them. So, they're here for the uh first read, no major changes, just updating on language um that you'll see there. And then I also wanted to and there uh in terms of the agenda, we have uh staff appointments, consultant agreements, the business office, lots of special education contracts. Um and uh uh what else? Oh, and finally, I wanted to thank our community as we close this school year. I want to express our sincere thanks to our parent organizations, PTA, SEPTA, the GC boosters, and all of the friends and groups. Um, their commitment to our students, schools, and staff. Staff really strengthen everything that we do, and their partnership is invaluable. So, we'd like
056to thank them. I also would like to thank our new uh commissioner um at the Garden City Police Department, Commissioner Neil, along with Detective Rolitis and the Garden City Police Department for their ongoing partnership and presence in our schools. They really help us keep our schools safe and central to their work. And then finally um school is closed on uh Friday in observance of Junth this Friday. June 24th, 25th and 26 will be half days for primary and elementary schools. June 25th is senior prom. Last day of school is June 26 with our high school graduation on the 27th. So, we're looking forward to a beautiful se ceremony to celebrate our class of 2026 and uh wish everyone a wonderful uh restful and safe summer. >> Thank you, Dr. Sa. And then we'll continue on
057with um any reports from members of the board of education. >> I apologize. I actually just forgot, Mr. Cal, you are for the audit committee. I wanted you to report on that. I know we talked about and I forgot to mention because we just had that meeting this week. >> Certainly. Uh so this last Wednesday we had our um spring meeting of the uh the audit committee. uh at that time we met with both the external and the internal uh the external auditor was the kickoff of the uh they actually were in that same day and or I'm sorry next week uh doing testing and and starting their their pre work um testing this committee um and they are scheduled to be back last weekend to actually So between now and July at the end
058of July they'll be doing stuff before coming in becoming district for their final uh tests and and finish that work goes on and they'll open to the state in mid October. So it takes quite a few months to put the financials together. there'll be more public. So that went well. Uh the second part of the meeting was with the internal auditor who gave their report on their review of operations and grant finance. Uh the the report very very well. We do haveision in that department. It's a big overion there and they have a lot to do with grants and finance. So we got excellent action plan and that's it very very >> okay so we'll continue with um any reports from the members of the board. Um I'll start with sharing a little bit about
059um the visit that Aaron and I um were able to do at our middle school. So we had the pleasure of visiting um the middle school and we were able to pop into some classrooms in sixth and seventh and eighth grade. Some of our observations were students involved in essay writing around a position that they were taking and teachers leading them through developing a claim and then details to support the claim. We saw students involved in a discussion around the outsiders a text that they the class had just finished reading. We saw science discussions around the circulatory system and the body and mathematicians um learning about scientific notation. So, um, we just want to thank our teachers for welcoming us into their classrooms and also a thank you to Dr. Visano and Mr. Escobar for
060taking us around the building. It's always wonderful. It's always a wonderful experience to see the work of our teachers and students in action. >> Um, to add to what Kristen said, um, thank you. Yes to the middle school for hosting us. It was exciting to get to see um our students and our teachers in action in the middle school. Um that day, uh Kristen, Dr. Sa and I were also able to stop in to cheer on our students at Victory Games. Um we happened to catch our athletes in between events, so it was kind of the perfect time to get to see everyone, see who had raced, who was about to race. Um it was our victory game athletes and as well as many parents uh and many teachers, administrators were there uh and the
061students very own cheering spots came along with them. It was wonderful to see so many members of the school community there. Um thanks to Septa and their officers um for uh and as well as I think uh Dr. Sad mentioned Mrs. Chapman uh for their work. It's a it's a and and the teachers and their work and Mr. Ramirez was there. Uh it was really a wonderful day. Um and the energy was something you could feel as you walked into the event. It was just uh I was very proud to uh in a good way. It was just a lot of participation, a lot of fans. Um, and it was wonderful to get to witness and kind of just reflect on it all for a little bit there as our students uh were preparing for
062the next round of events. So, it was a really nice tap for the day and um getting to see our students in all different aspects of what they get to do in in their school life. So, thank you. Thank you for everyone who uh make the victory game so wonderful for our students. >> And um lastly, we have mentioned this this already, but um it really was wonderful to um be here for the retiree um reception. It was just wonderful to celebrate so many of the professionals who have made Garden City their professional home. and um just noticing a common thread within all the speeches was the impact that each person has made on our children with their colleagues and just our community as a whole. So we just want to thank again um for
063the commitment and the time that all of our retirees have given to this garden city community. Kristen, can I add to that? Um, one of the other comments that I speak to Dr. And um just also to reiterate, there are nine first read policies and five second read policies on the agenda tonight that Dr. SA spoke about during her report. Does the board have any questions on the agenda? This is the time period designated for the public to address the board on action items on the agenda or topics concerning district. Questions or comments are limited to three minutes per person. A maximum of 30 minutes will be set aside for public comment. This will allow the board to the agenda which often has personnel or sensitive matters. Please come to the microphone and state your
064name and address. public comment. Okay. So, to make more efficient use of meeting time, the board of education authorizes agenda part of the meeting agenda. A consent agenda allows for one motion to multiple items that are identified as such on the agenda. The vice president of the board will ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda and will ask if board members wish to have the discussion or clarification on any specific items contained within the consent agenda. Following the discussion, the board will then vote on the consent agenda motion. In addition, a board member may request to have an item removed from the consent agenda and to vote on the motion separately. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda which includes business of the board items I1 through I12, personnel matters
065items J1 through J9, business matters business matters items K1 through K19, curriculum and instruction matter L1 and special education matters and items M1 through M5. All in favor? I >> does the administration have any new business? >> Does the board have any new business? >> So, our next um board of education meeting will take place on Wednesday, July 1st. It is our reorganizational and regular session taking place at 7:30 p.m. at the Garden City High School. May I have a motion that no further business is to come before the board that the meeting is adjourned? All in favor? All right.