0016 o' retired teacher talking about the capital. Yeah, that's fine. We've had air quality testing and had worked on this. Hopefully, it'll resolve. All right. Very good. The regular meeting of the South County Board of Education is called to order. Roll call. Thomas Blakeley here. Brian Casey here. Stephanie Kogan here. Rose Giggliello here. Jennifer Hulahan here. Michael Keane here. David Keel here. Christopher Larabe here. Robert Mik here. Please stand to pledge the flag. I pledge algiance 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. All right. Agenda item number three, approval of the minutes. This is for the regular meeting of June 10th, 2025. Does anyone have any edits or comments hearing? None. I'll take a
002motion. That is TJ. I cannot see you, so you might want to tell your name when you That's okay. And Mr. Keane. All right. On the motion made by Mr. Blakeley, seconded by Mr. Keen that the minutes of the regular meeting of June 10th, 2025 be approved. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 90. Agenda item number four. This is always some of our favorite things. Thank you everybody for for coming in here tonight. We really do appreciate it. Uh up first is the music program. Mr. Canisti, where are you? There you are. I'm going to hand it right off to you, please. Oh, and Mr. Ryan, too. Hello. Mr. Ryan, who teaches chorus here at the high school, a real veteran teacher in our district. I'm sure you all know him. Um, so excited.
003Hi, everybody. I'm Peter Kenrachi. I'm the music department chair for [Laughter] [Music] back to business, Mr. Anastasia. Yeah, we have 64 seniors from the music program graduating this year, which is a wonderful number and we're recognizing five of them tonight for exceptional achievements in music. I would like to call them forward and then perhaps I can speak about each of them individually just for a moment. So Emily Donahue, Misan Hinson Serrano, Den Lee, Olivia O'Donnell, and Sammy RH, why don't you come right up here? [Applause] exceptional achievements in music due to their hard work, diligent pra practice habits, and drive. Notice I didn't say anything about talent. And that's okay because these students, although very talented, did not get to this point in musicianship because of their talent. They got here due to the work
004that they put in and because they made excelling in music a real priority during their time as a student. I want to mention not only are they incredible musicians, but they are all scholars. They maintain very high GPA, they are also athletes, they are artists, so very well-rounded students excelling in multiple areas. So, I'm going to speak about each of them individually. And first, Emily Donahghue right here next to me, a fantastic chist. She has been a member of the Empire State Youth Orchestra. She has participated in suburban council and area all state and was seated principal cello. That's the number one cello after seating auditions. She has twice done a level six NISMA solo and received a perfect score of 100. And because of this was selected as an alternate for the Nisma Allstate
005Festival. Last year she participated in the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Vermont. Did I get that right? Good. For the past two years, she has performed in the pit orchestras for our musical theater productions, the Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins. This year for Mary Poppins, we had 15 musicians in the pit orchestra. And 14 of them, all but one, were hired professionals. And the one that was not was Emily, the only student to be in that group. And the professionals that were playing had no clue that she was a student because she performed at such a high level. She has been accepted by audition to the Crane School of Music at Ithaca College. I'm sorry, I said that wrong. To the School of Music at Ithaca College where she will be majoring in
006cello performance and political science. This is [Applause] next to her we have Misan Hinson Serrano who is a brilliant saxoponist. Misone transferred to our school as a 10th grader and at that time did not play an instrument. Mr. Hartell, our band director, took a real chance on Misan and started him on saxophones. Over the past three years, Misan literally spent every free period and every extra moment in the music office practice room. He quickly not only surpassed other students, but became a musical leader in the band program. He has been featured numerous times as a soloist in the band and jazz lab and this past spring did a standup solo of a concerto the grundman concertant with the wind ensemble accompanying him. Besides being an exemplary musician, he is incredibly kind and very giving of
007his time. He volunteers with champ and coaches basketball. Mison has been accepted by audition to the school of music at Sunnis connected. [Applause] Next to him, Yan Lee, violinist and pianist. It's so rare that we have students achieve such a high level on multiple instruments. Yen has done level six miss on both. So very high achieving. She's been a member of the Empire State Youth Orchestra, Suburban Council Area All State, and as a pianist, the music teachers and I find ourselves looking for ways to feature her. We choose music on purpose that has piano parts or piano solos that she can play. She has such a fantastic ear. She can literally play anything after hearing it once. This past February, she was chosen as the WHT classical musician of the month. She gave a beautiful
008interview about how the importance of music in her life and how music helped her find a community. She is such an eloquent speaker as you will hear tomorrow at graduation where she is one of the student speakers. Yen will be attending Lehigh University and plans to study dentistry [Applause] down at the end. Olivia O'Donnell, beautiful soprano. Do you want to speak? You want me to speak? You're doing great. Okay. Her teacher, Mr. Ryan, right here. Olivia has has been a pillar of our coral program during her years in Colony. She has performed missma solos and sung at Suburban Council this past year at area all state and um she sang at area all state this past year and from that chorus of more than 150 students from across the region. She was chosen as a
009soloist. I will always remember Olivia flying in over the stage in a bubble as Glenda the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz last year. Not only She have a beautiful voice and talent for singing, but as chamber singer's president, she's worked tirelessly to make the ensemble a welcoming and successful place. She may not know it, but her dedication, talent, and example serve as an inspiration to those around her, and she is seen as a role model by many of her peers. She will be attending Hudson Valley Community College next year with plans to study nursing. So, Olivia [Applause] And last, but certainly not least, Samuel Road, percussionist. Sammy has been a real superstar of our program. He has played drum set for literally every ensemble at the high school, even groups that he has
010not been enrolled in. He performs at such a high level and has such a natural, beautiful feel. But beyond that, we can always count on him to come in at the last minute and get the job done well. Besides drum set, he excels at Tony and Mallet. He has a strong interest in jazz music. He has performed nma solos at Suburban Council and area All State. Outside of school, he has played percussion for local theater groups as a pit musician. Sammy is also a talented singer singing with chamber singers. He has been accepted by audition to the Crane School of Music at Sunni Potam where he will major in music education with a concentration in percussion. In teaching, one of the most important characteristics is having a great personality and Sammy is the best. [Applause]
011Thank you very much, Mr. Ryan. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Congratulations. Yeah, that's right. Goodness. All right, we go right into boys outdoor track. Actually, we'll do a couple of the sports and I'm going to hand that off to Mr. Roma. Yes. Thank you. Appreciate it. Pepper is right on time. Do want to make a comment about the spring overall. It was a very exciting season. I know I saw many of you at games um this spring and it's very exciting. Lots of great accomplishments. The teams and the individuals here today were ones that competed at the state level which is outstanding once you moved on from your local sectional. Uh you moved on to the state regionals in the state championships and the individuals here were talented enough
012to go to that level. Uh we did have some other sports that weren't quite at the state level, but they did outstanding as well between league championships and going to sectional finals. Uh it was a great spring overall, and we're looking forward to more excitement this coming fall. But I would like to introduce coach Pepperon and the boys track team who won the section two outdoor track championships which completed I say the trifecta you say the three where the boys in the fall for cross country won the sectional championships. The boys in the winter won the indoor sectional uh track championships and then the spring again they completed that trifecta with the spring outdoor track section two championship. Very exciting. I know there's many boys that were on all three of those teams and they
013should be commended for that. But I do want to let coach kind of list off who her sectional champion point winners were during the course of that meet and discuss a little bit about I first call up all of our coaching staff that's here Johnson Palmer and it's his birthday today. Happy birthday [Applause] Johnson. We got a big staff. Wonderful. our athletes wouldn't be able to do what they do without this wonderful family of staff that we have here. Um, okay. So, Coach R told you we won section two championship. Ryan Busky won for us in the high jump in the 400. And when I call your name and you guys can come on up. Austin Lef Fountain won the steeple chase. Kwan Cody won the 110 hurdles. Nick Mlette won the pentathlon. Our 4x8
014of Tyler Sinkkins. Alex Renick. and team Zender finished first. Those are all of our sectional champions. In addition to that, our sectional scorers, Ryan, in addition to his first high jump of 400, finished second in a long jump and set a new school record in the process of that with a jump of 23 5 and a half. Uh Greg Watson finished second in a pal. Um this actually was a two-day event because the night of sectionals we had just power outage just on the tracks no had to be finished on Friday and he finishes second. Our 4x1 relay of Braden and Brendan Miller Ryan Busy and K1 Cody finished second. Nick Coley finished third in the sequel chase. Curtis Watson finished third in the shot. Braden Miller finished third in the 400. Dylan finished third
015in the 400 hurdles. Our 4x4 relay of Braden Brendan Owen and Kwan finished third. Owen also finished fourth in the 1600. Tyler Sinkkins finished fourth in the 800. Ian Zender finished fifth in the two mile. Ty finished sixth in the 200 finished sixth in the 110 hurdles and Derek Nash finished sixth in these are all your sectional scores. also like to acknowledge uh we have a couple individuals here, coach Frank Meyers and Coach Tom Green. Um from the Capitol Region Track and Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame. Um they are going to present awards to Brian Busky and to our boys track and field stay here coaches. Stay here. Great job, guys. [Applause] I measured this out. Okay. I I think a lot of people know that Ryan uh did a fantastic job this
016year in the high jump. Um however um you know 7 foot three ties a state record state record for a junior but he also did a almost a 24 foot long jump which is from me to Mr. Casey right there. So you get a you you do get a running start but still I mean I I I said wow and 7 foot four or three it's right there over the door frame right there. So you get your whole body over the top of that. Um, yeah, I can barely reach my arm up there. So, uh, he did a fantastic job this year and the Capitol Region Track and Field Hall of Fame committee is honored to, uh, honor him as one of our two recipients in the boys portion of the Scholastic Award winners. Okay.
017So, um, we have a banquet at the end of the year in October, right around the same time as our homecoming football game. Um, so, uh, if anyone would like to come and support Ryan on that day and the, uh, boys track, uh, program, the staff, we'd, uh, appreciate it. But congratulations, Ryan. [Applause] Not an award for being best track, although they were that. It's an award for us coaching staff now with Tom Green. Mr. Casey here can tell you we've had some great track teams in the past. We got some great coaches. There's never been a year where we had a better staff than the staff right here. We had a coach for every single position. The coaches come early, they leave late. Every single kid gets coached every single day. Okay. Um I'm
018going to introduce you all. I only have one plaque, so We had our way seven birthday. First of all, Joe Yammen, he's the high jump coach. Justin here, but he's the pull ball coach. Tom and Brianna Holla shot, putter, and discus [Applause] and Mike Palmer. They coach the spritz. They coach the relays [Applause] and he coaches the distance. The triple jump, long jump, short hurdles, long jumps, and everything else. [Applause] Coaches, can we get a picture over on this side when he a chance? Oh, you want? Yep. Let's get Oh, yeah. When you're done. Yeah. So, sectionals just in between sectionals, we had our state qualifier and that's when Ryan jumped uh 73 and that is tying day and state record like coach said, it also sets the junior class record. Um the record has
019been held since 2001 by section two alumni Dan also not involved in the academy. So, at least we're going to keep it in section two when he takes it. There we go. So, at our state championship meet, most people don't know this, but the track and field pro uh team at the state can score as a team and we actually tied for fifth um overall more than 100 schools were in there. So, that was a huge accomplishment for us. And Nick Mlette finished ninth in the pentathlon. Ryan finished fifth in long jump finished 10th in shot and 12th in discus. [Applause] Owen Conley finished eighth in the 3200. [Applause] Our 4x4 relay finished 13th. That was Owen Connley, Ryan Busky, Brendan and Braden Miller. [Applause] And then for our podium, these are our athletes that
020made it to class and federation podium. Uh Austin Leon finished third place in the steeple chase. [Applause] Austin also finished fifth in Federations. And then just this past Saturday night at about 10 p.m. he ran the 2K at nationals and set a school record in that. [Applause] The boys 4x8 team of Ian Zender, Owen Connley, Tyler Jenkins, and Shane Fountain. They finished second in class A and fourth in federations. [Applause] 7 minutes and 50 seconds in that 4x800. And then Ryan is your 2025 outdoor state and high jump federation champion. [Applause] Um Ryan then was at nationals where he finished sixth in the high jump and is an all-American. So he is a twotime state champion, two time federation champion, a national indoor champion for high and a two-time all-American. Well, three time all American
021thinking freshman year, but we'll count our outdoor summer season to five time five time to explain real quick. You guys can go ahead and sit down. class A. [Applause] Uh this year the state meeting is a little different. They break uh the schools into classes and what is feder federation. So we're a public high school and we're one of the larger ones. So we're considered class A's and then a school like um South Glenn Falls is class B and then you have a school like Greenwich which is class C and those are all public state high schools. So we compete against class A. Now then Ryan's in our 4x8. And when we say when they had a federation place, that means they went against everyone in the state regardless of whether it's a Catholic high
022school, a New York City school, or their class. So if you're third in class A and then fifth in federation, you're fifth in the state over all schools, all sizes, all backgrounds. I think that sums up all of our stuff, right? Great job. Thank you. Congratulations. [Applause] Coaches, if we can, can we gather the athletes and coaches? You want to do everyone? Yeah. Next, I'd like to call Mary Johnson. To discuss her sectional individual champion winners, then the results from the New York State outdoor track championships on the girls side as well. Our sectional champion winners in the shot was Kalia Graves and she was our only individual win. And then at the state though we went on to state qualifiers like the boys did and we had more success there. We had Mariah Dur
023who made it. I know Maria. and she moved on to the state meet for the 200 and came in second place in both the class A and the federation. So said basically she's the second fastest 200 meter runner in New York State standing right in front of you. Jeez, that a girl. Congratulations. Are any of the other girls I don't think so. Yeah. So that's all. Thank you, Mariah. Absolutely. Just to acknowledge again coaches, coach Palmer, Coach Johnson, Coach Pron, Coach Leeman, Coach Yammen, Coach Bach, Coach Urick, Coach Allesa, and Coach Johnson and Coach Mike. Coach would like to acknowledge I think as well, I mentioned that 3P with the boys, and it's the first time in the boys program history at Colony that 3P has taken place. But it did once on the girls
024side back in 198586 where the girls won cross country section championships girls indoor and then girls outdoor the same season. So it's quite the accomplishment and uh hopefully we can do it again in the near future. I'd like to call up coach Lane Woodard, Coach Johnson. We'd like to acknowledge Si Wheeler. Can we get a picture with you and Mariah? Yeah, it come up. [Applause] girls across here. We actually play in our season because there are some sections in schools that have golf in the spring. So, we always have the first week of June. Um, Sienna, this is her showing third showing states third, right? For the girls, it's our third full season of just girls golf not attached to boys program anymore. Um Sienna plays 17th out of all of a highly competitive field
025of 106 golfers at state this past two weekends ago in Rochester at Wild Country Club. Um a remarkable accomplishment that reflects her dedication, skill, and poise under pressure. In addition to her strong individual performance, uh Sienna was honored with the section two sportsmanship award for the second consecutive year, which is a testament to her character, integrity, and leadership role on and off the course. She was also a two-time this past year and last season um the section two golfer of the year for our area. Um very well respected. She's a senior, so we're losing her. She is going to continue her education and her athletic career at Bryant University of Rhode Island where she'll be part of the women's golf team. Um, we're going to miss her immensely. I know she'll come back and visit,
026but she has definitely set the tone of what it's like to be what it should be like to be a Colony Girls golfer. Um, she's been helpful to her peers, a lot of them coming in not knowing as much as her, as educated as her, and her patience and her sportsmanship and her work ethic and her being an amazing has helped grow the program. So now we have there's girls who are coming to golf because of the reputation she has set and the tone and atmosphere she's created in our team. So she'll be missed but we're really excited for her. So thank you Sach. [Applause] Thank you Sienna. Congratulations like to say I'm sorry. Can I was over here with pictures. I just want to say about Mariah. Sure. Uh there's only three people ever
027in history that have run faster than her. There's a 2394, a 2396 from Kyle Plant, one of ours. A 2412. She's a 2428 as a junior coming back next year. Yeah. Second in the state and federation. She's first team first team all-star for Milesplit. Miles Split is a hub for track and field. Uh there's New York, there's all different states, and then there's Miles Split for the country. She's first team all-star uh for the 100 and the 200. She's the fastest girl in our area in section two coming back for a 1207 in the 100 and 2428 in the two. So first team allstar coach, can we get you over here for a picture? Thank you. Lastly, I'd like to just add congratulations to all the athletes and all the coaches. Thank you to all
028the coaches. Thank you all the families. parents for the support. Thank you to the administration uh for all the support and thank you to the board of education for all the support. Without that support, we wouldn't be able to accomplish what we accomplish season to season and uh sport to sport. So, we appreciate that. Thank you very much. [Applause] All right. If if everybody's done, if that Oh, Mr. Larby, I'm sorry. Um just really quick that we have so many people in this room. That is great. I saw in my free time today, which I don't have a lot at work, but while I was scrolling through the Times Union, uh, and I love the fact that I see a lot of South County athletes over the course of the season, uh, in the Times
029Union up for weekly awards, uh, whatever, you know, sectional events. I see that, uh, let's try to get, uh, Ryan one more award. He is up for the male Times Union athlete of the year. There was like five or six kids. Um, and if you go right online in the Times Union and vote for him, let's try to win them that award. Very good. [Applause] All right. Anyone else? I'm sure I share the board's appreciation of of you students sharing your talent with your team. If you're going to graduate tomorrow, thank you for everything. We'll see you there. If you're coming back, we are here to support you any way we can. Um, this ends the regular portion. I I I would stick around because I find these meetings very exciting and entertaining. But if
030you uh aren't here, and I guess we don't have any participation in government kids tonight, huh? No, that's that's it. Um, I just want to give a quick shout out to Coach Meyers. I'm I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you, but he was he has been a great influence in all three of my children's lives. So, uh, thank you very much. Thank you all of you. Have a good evening, graduates. We'll see you tomorrow. [Applause] The girls the coach uh Lisa Pepper no the the head coach Lisa Pepper is on the boys team and then Mary Riley Johnson is she a teacher she's a teaching assistant at the high school mainly handles our internal suspension room they try to stay out of internal suspension yeah I suppose I always forget to tell them
031to disperse quietly. Well, as fast as they are, they're still getting out. I know. All right, let's continue the rest of the meeting. Agenda item number five, superintendent update. Dr. Perry, uh, I'll be as quick as our track athletes there. Uh, just wanted to make our, uh, community aware. We are offering free summer meals at S Creek Middle School as part of our uh extended uh school offering. Uh additionally, we are working to get approval for our extended school year program at Forest Park. Uh so those students will have access directly at that building. So summer meals for all students whether you attend Sand Creek or not, anywhere in the district. Uh breakfast 7:15 to 8:15 each day. Uh Monday through Thursday and lunch 10:45 to 12:15. You must eat on site, but all students
032are welcome uh to attend. No ID required. Uh just come in and and grab a meal. And it's July 7th through August 22nd. So that's a nice new addition. Uh we appreciate our food service department and staff uh putting that on for our students. So very good. Thank you. Thank you very much. Number six, agenda item number six, new business. Any members? Mr. Blakeley. Uh I just want to say congrats to our senior class of 2025. You made it. Good for you. Congratulations on being our first Wolfpack class of graduates. So excited to see you all the stage tomorrow. There's one or two. There's a couple there still. Very good. Thank you. Next, Mr. Larry. Um for those that cannot uh attend graduation one way or another, the district does a really nice job streaming
033the event from the Times Junior uh MVP arena. Um, and if they have any questions, that is right on our website, the link. Should be able to watch it right from home. Very good. Thank you. Next, I want to congratulate all our little guys did a great job and um did a phenomenal job for physics presentation. That was a great a great experience. And I don't know if anybody knows, but Melissa has It's amazing. Very nice. Thank you, Miss Hulahan. Um I just wanted to commend the districts and especially Mrs. in coordination um with um about um the coordination for the walkers. Um they were all amazing. The pictures were awesome. Um it was really um I have looked forward to for 13 years. Um, Forest Park was amazing. And then I have a really
034special shout out um from Trainer uh who retired two years ago, but she was my son's second grade teacher and she did a time capsule with them. Um, I think it's only the second time she's done that. First time she buried it and then they couldn't find it, so she didn't bury this one. Um, it was uh up in her classroom and then has been at her home for two years. And when I tell you that, you know, we got the invitation and it was going to be two hours long. I'm like, what are we going to do for two hours? She has been planning this absolutely for the past 10 years. She saved every single thing those kids did. Um, there was a full program. She had like a chart paper where all their
035heights were measured from time they were in second grade. Um, she had some special guests come and read letters that they wrote to the class back in 2025 or 2015. Um, Mr. Ryan, who was here earlier, hysterical, was like, "I know this is gonna sound weird, but there's going to be a pandemic in five years." And it just it was like I didn't know how that was going to land, but it was okay. And so, Mr. Ryan came back, Mr. Lubers was there, Nurse Rabino was there. Um, Mrs. Penn came over. Um, Mrs. Kuno was amazing. She made every single kid a bookmark with um the first book they checked out in second grade and the last book they checked out in second grade, handed them each to them. There was a letter from the
036past which was Mr. Trainer's handwritten letter to each individual student. There was a letter from the present at the time which was a parents letter to the kids and the letter for the future was the second graders writing their senior selves um this year. It was unbelievably beautifully coordinated and just the icing on an amazing 13 years of of having a child in this district. Um and so I just have to credit her. Um Miss Kuno and everybody who came. It was so beautiful. Thank you. I'm not crying. I think it's like it was and she had videos of them from when they were little. Like she interviewed them all. It was unbelievable. What what foresight. I mean that's incredible. Like a little piece of paper that one of the kids had like maybe ripped
037off a homework and said happy birthday Miss Trainer and that she had all these years that she's kept. Like I can't even It was unbelievable. That's amazing. That's amazing. Thank you very much for sharing that. and how invested they are in our kids. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Keane. Um, speaking of memories and and looking back, um, our communications team has done some tremendous work. There's a new video out um, following along the trend. It's the prekers walking in and it's the seniors walking out. And you know, I I went through my emotions last year, so I know what parents are going to, you know, be be feeling this year. Um, but I they've really embraced the, you know, some different stages and and looking back with with families. Um, one thing, you know, a
038number of us also got to um sit in for the surprise retirement party for Mrs. Sullivan. um the energy in the room th those students had so much love and um it was really great. I'm thankful to have been able to to join and and be a part of that. Very good. Thank you very much, Mr. Keel. Yes. Uh at at the end of every year, I look forward to three or four things, three of which I got to do. We already talked about the chorus the last time we met. What a wonderful performance they put on. Well, the uh concert by the orchestra was superb. U Mr. Castrachi described some of the young people there and uh it was a wonderful experience. At the end, they had all of the This is the orchestra
039now, the ninth grade orchestra, the 10-11 orchestra, and the senior orchestra all together because that was Mrs. uh Holidayiday's uh want to have them all together. And the picture of her at the end standing in the middle of them, it was uh very memorable. She was it was like all of her children standing there. So, that was great. The band concert the next night was also wonderful uh with uh so many kids involved, two different bands and the the jazz. That was wonderful. Uh the other thing I look forward to every year is the third grade performance at Shaker Road. This year the uh there were three animals. I forgot to write down the three different animals, but they were looking for a new place to live. So the kids described that the they came
040out as uh the alligators came out to talk about whether the you you uh three people looking for a home should go to the um the swamp or should another group said should you go to the ocean or should you go to the desert. So it was wonderful and and these kids all had their lines well learned. there was a chorus who sang 10 songs at least all by by uh memory. So uh it's it's a wonderful wonderful experience. I I really love that. Uh let's see. I I I I know you we talked about Mrs. Sullivan. I'll just tell you this is another aside that uh Mr. Stack, our uh assemblyman, had a town hall at the uh Shaker Sand Creek. Oh, San Creek, right? San Creek. and I attended and not that it
041was too much about education but nonetheless we were there. He did talk about education and you know he is supportive of uh what we do. He's very positive about uh public education in uh South Colony and the area and uh something else I oh mainly he was talking about other issues so it's not necessarily about uh education but the people were positive there they appreciated him. He was a very good speaker and uh I I I appreciated his efforts as well. So, thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else? No. All right. I would like to just say thank you to all the teachers and staff and everyone else who are actually retiring and their last day will be Friday. Have a good couple last days. Thank you so much for your uh support and
042for your effort you made I've said it before teachers and anybody who works in the educational field really does have an effect on the lives of of children and I think that is super. Thank you very much. Enjoy your retirement. Best wishes. Come back and substitute anytime. [Applause] All right. Agenda item number seven, communications. Do we have anything online? No. All right, we do have a request uh from Susan Campbell and she would like to read a letter on behalf of a group of Lisha retirees retire, excuse me, regarding how the current construction project at Lisha Middle School might reveal the source of ongoing air quality issues and concerns. Thank you, Miss Campbell, for coming in. This is Stephanie Copen, retired science teacher. Susan's over in the blue. Yes. Hello, Susan. Hello, Stephanie. Thank you.
043Hello. Thanks. Thanks for your patience, guys. Receiving signed by retired South County educators with over 130 years combined experience at Lill Middle School. Three of us are present today. During our ten years, we were aware of concerns regarding the poor air quality in the building and shared these concerns with multiple individuals both within and outside the district. The poor air quality has negatively impacted the health of members of the L community over the years. Many believe that the poor air quality has potentially led to health conditions rising from respiratory illnesses to fertility issues to v of cancers. Over the years, members of the Lysill community have noted water damage, standing water in classrooms, and followers. We do recognize that the district has repeatedly addressed these issues and has made multiple attempts to rectify them. Unfortunately,
044none of the attempts, including replacing ceiling tiles, installing fans in the crawl space below the building, putting vents in the exterior wall panels, and removing rodent nests and droppings has succeeded in completely eliminating the problem. It has long been suspected that the source of the problem is the panels that were installed over some of the building windows over 50 years ago. It is very likely that mold growth has occurred due to moisture buildup behind these panels. We believe that the long overdue construction project currently underway which includes removal of the existing windows and panels will confirm these suspicions for ourselves as well as for all past, present, and future members of the Leill community. We would like to know whe whether the company that is removing the materials is aware of the possibility that they
045may contain mold and or other toxins. Whether um there was evidence of mold in any of the materials that have already been removed and whether the materials were tested for the presence of mold and or other toxins and will the remaining materials that have yet to be removed be examined and And finally, how will the community be notified of any findings? We thank you for giving us the opportunity to share our concerns and for your continued attention to this matter. Sim Bush, Susan Campbell, Kim, Stephanie Cop, and thank you very much. Thank you very much for coming in. We do appreciate it. Dr. Perry. Yeah, we certainly uh the uh companies that are in charge of the construction project have done um whatever remedial uh processes and safety precautions in place. I don't believe that
046they're doing ongoing testing for the materials they're removing. They have done uh abatement and asbestous testing for the majority of the areas. Um there's no doubt that over 50 years the materials have uh disintegrated and you know that uh has led to the the need for the removal and replacement. Um I don't believe there's been any specific testing for mold or other toxins. So to answer your question, um I can get information on the testing that has been done. Um most of it has been centered around whether or not um asbestous is present. those are the areas that are most readily concerning when they're removing the the product and stuff of that. But we've done that. Um we've got uh a couple uh companies that don't not only remove the items, but also we have
047a um air quality thirdparty company that verifies that the the spaces are clean. So throughout the capital construction pro project at all the buildings, we've made sure that uh those areas have been remediated properly and removed. Um, you know, I I do think that there's uh, you know, concerns with uh, the ongoing uh, exterior wall. It's why it was part of this capital project. And with any older building, those are where air quality issues come into play to put it into one area. There's never been findings that has led to um, some of the suggestions here, but I certainly understand the concerns. I've heard them directly from from you folks over the years as well as other administrators. Um the only testing that ever had ever gone on was related to uh some findings in
048the area. They did not find uh abnormal rates of cancer or other uh illnesses in the the South County community when they did the testing. It was not done at our behest. It was something done through um Albby County uh and near state department of health. Um so we can pull that out. I don't know if that'll answer your questions, but I do think that this is uh you know, timely. It's one that um is going to make a huge improvement. If you haven't been by Liysa Hill uh recently, uh you look at the front of the building, you'll start to see the front facade that has totally been uh replaced and renovated uh properly up to today's standard. So when you look at uh the building that was built in the um late60s and
049things like that and remediated over the years with windows and stuff like that, there's definitely things that have uh created uh uh issues for us over the years and hopefully this is correcting them long term for us. Okay. Very good. Alb County, can you go back to Alb County there? There was uh how did they get the data? They do. I I can pull the report, Stephanie, and and share with you. They had asked for that. It was not anything that um that uh we had even knowledge of that they were doing. They were doing it based upon statistical um cancers in the region and looking at other regions to see if there were more cases of of cancer or other types of illnesses centered around uh the South County community. Did they ask the
050They did it off. They didn't do qualitative how do they know how did how would they know my they did it they did it off of medical documentation of of cancer cases within the community what was reported and they have that's where they pull their data from so was I didn't know that not anything that we had done we didn't know it at the time we kind of found out about it they sent us the report um but it it did not have anything that was statistically significant related to our schools but that still left open questions as you as you have here today um but I can pull that report was several years ago So I think it was uh maybe just after um 2020 and um 2021. So we can pull that. We
051did not know any there was a study done from NL Industries down in central Africa community in the west area. That was a number of years ago that may Dr. Kerry may have been tied in also with that study you're talking about. I know they did a big big health assessment in West Orin district when NL industries was just shut department of energy said everything was cleaned up. They did did a huge study with the state local and the federal government that made the newspapers quite that I remember. I don't know how far they went this way but I know big down there. Sue, I uh I'm sorry. Uh we we've got your address and things like that. Can I make sure we've got a a contact and email or something like that I can
052reach you? Would you give it to Amber before you leave? Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Agenda item number eight, board committee reports. 8A is communications. That's Mr. Keane. Does anyone have any questions, comments? Or Mr. Keane, would you like to give any highlights? I think it's pretty straightforward. We have the minutes. All right. Thank you very much. 8B policy, Mr. Larabe. Uh, yep. Does anybody have any questions on uh some of the final readings for approvals and single readings? Um, just wanted to quickly thank the district along with many other districts that battled a couple of days of uh heat um and and uh being able to uh let uh the young kiddos and stuff that uh had to leave uh had to had to still go to school um out early. That
053was a great decision along with all the other districts. Uh on on that there's no questions on behalf of policy committee upon the motion made by committee chair member Christopher Larby recommendations that the revisions made to the above stated policies be approved as presented. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 9 to zero. Agenda item number nine reports and recommendations for action. That is a Q K. With us tonight, we have our um auditor, Michael Wolf, uh they're here to talk about our risk assessment that was done throughout this spring along with our uh school business administrator, Angelique Martinez, who's our district treasurer as well. Um working collaboratively with uh Miss Mallister to keep our business office running effectively. Mr. Thank you very much. Earlier uh tonight we went over the financial risk assessment with
054the audit committee. The risk assessment is a required report that has to be done annually. It looks over all of the areas in the business office, payroll, banking, treasury. Uh also looks at your IT department, looks at treasur or transportation and uh food service and extra classroom. Uh it is a baseline audit. It's really called a risk assessment update. So since we've been your auditors for a while, we know what the baseline was and every year we kind of look what's changed. Were there different people? Are there different systems? And has the same quality of work been maintained? I'm happy to report the the risk assessment there were only minor exceptions found. Um and nothing went to the level of a significant deficiency or material weakness. Uh the areas that we did find some some
055exceptions was p primarily in the purchasing area um and or the dispersements area and that really we could trace it back to changes in some staff that were out on leave. So a lot of the controls remained in place. It's a very strong operating business office. Um it wouldn't if I was a board member it would be an area that I wouldn't be losing any sleep over. So, it's very strong and wellrun. Any questions on the risk assessment? And I think we got an A, too. Yeah, an A. Yes, we have to have that repeated for M. All right. Any other questions? Anyone? Can we just get a uh on letter E, the um public information specialist role? How does that connect to the district? That is the uh Cal region teacher center. So it's
056really flow through funds that come through the the teacher center and they employ their staff including their executive director. In this case it's their communications person. They have an independent agreement that's updated each year because uh their funding comes through grant funding. Thank you. I would just like to ask about letter uh Jay. We talked about the Mr. Wolf isn't I'm sorry. M he still uh wants to talk about so sorry. We're continuing on the A uh the in addition to the risk assessment, you have to pick a focus area every year. This year's area was the payroll calculations. Uh payroll has so many areas. We just zeroed in on the calculations which is basically to make sure that from the time the board approves a position to the time that person gets hired time
057to the time that the person's terminated all the calculations along that way match up with either your board approved collective bargaining agreements uh your board approval in the board minutes that everything in the in the computer system is accurate and that people are being paid uh in accordance with any other withholdings or other claims that they've put in with their forms. Uh we tested all those different areas and again same uh same uh results with some minor issues, minor findings and exceptions which we discussed with management. Overall it's a very strong audit. Uh one of the things that um that South Kelan does that many schools don't is you guys are leveraging um your claims auditor who looks at all the different changes that come through. A new hireer comes through. She's looking at the
058uh data entry to make sure it's correct, which is right there is one really great control to make sure all the data is correct. Uh you know, for the majority of everything we tested, we had no findings. Doesn't mean there wasn't mistakes, but it means that you have procedures in place to catch them, which is what the end result is. And again, an A grade. All right. Thank you very much. Any questions? All right. That is the end of your report. Yep, that's it. Thank you so much for coming in. Very much appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you both. You got a question, sir? Yes. I I I wanted to ask about the donations. We uh dutifully each time thank Yes. publicly the donors. Uh do they get a letter from us or do they
059they do get a letter of thanks from uh u uh Jacqueline's office typically where it comes out at that point in time. Good. Thank you. Very good. Any other questions on agenda item number nine hearing? None. I will take a motion Mr. Misik Mr. Larabe. On the motion made by Mr. Misik, second by Mr. Larabe, that the above stated reports and recommendations be approved. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 9 to zero. Agenda item number 10, personnel instructions. You'll find this on pages 15 to 23. Mr. Robalotti, what would you like to say? It's a real human resources salad this one. A lot of different things going on here. Some resignations. U some the positions that you see first are not all newly created positions or they're rollovers from here to here. Temporary spots.
060Um yeah, some unfortunately some resignations leave of absent just a lot of different business uh movements that needed to take place. Majority of this is summer school appointment. CSY summer academy takes up a large portion and some other appointments for next year. But you don't want me to go through all there's a lot of stuff there. I think we are just fine. Anybody have any questions? Hearing none. I'll take a motion. Mr. Casey, Miss Giggleello. On the motion made by Mr. KC seconded by Miss Giggley that the instruction personnel changes listed on the attached sheets dated June 24th, 2025 be approved. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 9 to0. Agenda item number 11, personnel support. You'll find these on pages 24- 28. Mr. Robotti, continuing your HR salad. Yeah. uh simil this is like
061more of a side salad, a little smaller, but there's a lot of things here, too. Steve really took it uh this opportunity to make some reappoints for next year. So, a lot of the appointments that you see on the support side are staff that are currently with us that are just being reappointed in temporary roles for next year. There may be a couple new ones sprinkled in there, but for the most part, these are current staff members coming back for the 2526 school year. Um on the tail end some more summer school appointments for support staff and some salary decisions. Again long but a lot of business taken care of in this agenda through our office. So it's important. Wonderful. Thank you very much. Any questions? Hearing none. I will take a motion. Miss Giggleello
062second. Mr. Larabe on the motion made by Miss Giggleello seconded by Mr. Larabby that the support personnel changes listed on the attached sheets of June 24th, 2025 be approved. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 9 to zero. Agenda item number 12. It is a resolution reserve transfer for the 2425 school year capital reserve fund. Dr. Perry. Yes. So, uh, each year we review, uh, monies that are available at the end of the year. Uh, during the audit and finance committee earlier today, Miss Mallister talked about the recommendation to place $750,000 into the capital reserve fund for, uh, future use for capital improvement projects. Um, this is something we'll revisit again in August as we close our books in June and see if there's additional monies. But, uh, she feels comfortable at this point in
063time making that recommendation as do I. um these monies uh would then be able to be utilized only through voter authorization in the future um for capital work. So it's a savings uh process for uh future capital improvements. Very good. Any questions? Hearing none, I'll take a motion. Mr. Mes, Mr. Blakeley on the motion made by Mr. Misik, seconded by Mr. Blakeley, that the foregoing resolution be adopted. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 9 to zero. Agenda item number 13, resolution, transfer from unassigned fund balance to support 2025 2026 budget. Dr. Perry. So each year we uh use a portion of our unassigned fund balance to balance our budget. This year we're using $3.785 million which was part of our uh uh public budgeting process uh to help balance the the overall budget. This
064gives authorization for us to use that source of funding to balance uh utilized towards the 2526 budget. Very good. Any questions? Is that a larger amount than normal? Uh it's uh pretty similar. It's actually a smaller percentage of the budget. Um, last year I think we used 3.6 million, but our budget has gone up because of the uh capital cost. So, the percentage is a little bit uh smaller though. Anything else? Hearing none, I'll take a motion. Mr. Keane, second, Mr. Casey. On the motion put forth by Mr. Keane, seconded by Mr. Casey that the foregoing resolution be adopted. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 9 to zero. Agenda item number 14. Guess what? It's another resolution transfer from workers compensation reserve to support 2025 2026 budget. So again, part of that bal balancing
065act that uh Miss Mallister uh walks us through each year, we were using $250,000 from the uh workman's comp reserve fund to help balance the the budget. Um we had put money in the the prior year to help uh stabilize that reserve fund. We feel confident utilizing these reserves. We'll still allow enough in that reserve fund to uh uh meet any workers comp claims in the future. Very good. Any questions? Hearing none, I'll take the motion. Mr. Blakeley, second. Miss Giggleello. On the motion made by Mr. Blakeley, seconded by Miss Giggleello, that the foregoing resolution be adopted. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 9 to zero. Agenda item number 15, agreement, district office administrators. This is the approval of the agreement between the South Colony Central Dis School District and the South Colony District
066Office Administrators offering the terms and conditions of employment specified per the attached agreement effective July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2028. Yes, we we talked about these terms previously. This extends their agreement by one year uh similar terms to to the prior time period. Very good. Any questions? Hearing none. I'll take a motion. Mr. Larabe. Second. Miss Giggleello. On the motion made by Mr. Larabe, seconded by Miss Gigglyello that the above stated agreement be approved. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 9 to zero. Agenda item number 16 agreement school business administrator/d district check treasurer and this is Miss Martinez is in a league of her own and this is her own contract. Any commentary on that? Correct. Uh this again was uh extending Angelique's uh term of agreement by one year. Uh she's done
067an outstanding job for us uh in collaboration with with Jacqueline. Um well worth uh the compensation that we give her. We we don't want to lose her to other districts. So, this extends her terms one additional year. Very good. Any questions? Hearing none. I'll take a motion. Mr. Keane. Second. Mr. Blakeley. On the motion made by Mr. Keane, seconded by Mr. Blakeley, that the above stated agreement be approved. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries. Nine to zero. Agenda item 17, resolution superintendent contract. That would be you, Dr. Perry. Um, again, this is uh extending my contract by one year through June 30th, 2030. Um, similar uh contract terms to what we had talked about uh previously in executive session. I believe Jacqueline was there, right? Correct. Any questions? If not, I'll take a motion.
068Mr. Casey. Miss Giggleello. On the motion made by Mr. Casey, seconded by Miss Giggleello, that the above stated agreement be approved. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries. 9 to zero. Number 18. Agenda item number 18. If somebody didn't read their agenda, they might be surprised by this. nominating Brian Casey for the distinguished school board service award. That the board of education of the South Colony Central School District hereby nominates Brian Casey of the South Colony Board of Education for the Everett R. Dyer Award for distinguished schoolboard service. Excuse me. Dr. Perry, any comment? Yes, this is the New York State School Board's highest uh award given to uh school board members. Uh it's my privilege to recommend uh and nominate uh Mr. Casey for this award. It requires uh three additional letters of recommendation
069and I know many of our board members offered to write those letters. So, thank you. Uh we do have those three letters. Uh it also requires a resol resolution by the board in order to allow that application to go forward. So, uh, if given approval this evening, we'll submit the nomination application tomorrow and, uh, keep our fingers crossed, uh, the award winner would be announced at the conference in October, um, at the New York State School Boards for which you happen to have a free pass if I remember. I remember that. I remember. I'll see you there. So, we were hoping it was a little bit of a surprise, but we have to do a resolution. So, well, that's Oh. What's going on? Nice job. Nice job. All right, any questions? Um, I I do
070want to just warn everybody, Mr. Casey, you cannot make the motion or second it, but you can vote for it. Miss Hulahan. Thank you very much. Second, Mr. Blakeley. On the motion made by Miss Hulahan, seconded by Mr. Blakeley, that the above stated resolution be approved. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Nine to zero. Great. Thank you very much. We could say eight, but did you vote for yourself? I think I think it's important to vote for yourself. Welld deserved. Well earned. Agenda item number 19. This is a resolution. Dr. Perry. Yes. This is related to ED law 2D which is the uh student privacy laws for personally identifiable identifiable uh information uh PII. And so what typically had happened in the past is individual school districts had to reach out to vendors
071for uh agreements to make sure that our student data was being protected. What the regional Boseies have done is now they've combined services. So they're going to do it on our behalf. So NER which is our northeast region has partnered with uh other area BOSEIS and RICs as they call them to create a uh risk operations center called Rick one um and they are going to do the work for us and we'll be able to piggyback off those agreements. So this is vendors such as uh Aspen or uh LinkedIn and different uh companies that we utilize with students uh to make sure that their their data is not sold or otherwise shared inappropriately. Any questions? If none, I'll take a motion. Mr. Keane, seconded by Miss Giggleello. On the motion made by Mr. Keane, seconded
072by Miss Gigglyello, that the above stated resolution be approved. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries 9 to zero. Agenda item number 20. We have the reorganizational meeting on July 1st and then another meeting July 12th, 21st or 12th and 26th, the facilities is the 21st. Please be advised during the summer our board meets at 6:00 p.m. So if we have a preceding, which I don't see we have a preceding uh committee. We do not. We do not. Never mind. All right. Nothing executive. I won't be here. You won't be here the first. All right. Thank you, Rose. Any other questions? Anybody have any items for executive session? All right. Hearing none, I will take a motion to adjourn the meeting. Miss Giggleello, seconded by Mr. Larabe. On the motion made by Miss Giggleello, seconded
073by Mr. Larabe, that the regular meeting be adjourned. Uh time 709. All in favor? Any opposed? Carried. Nine to zero.