001Board of Education on May 20th, back into public session. We finished our executive session um with no action to report. But upon conclusion of our business meeting, we will be going back into executive session, and we do not anticipate having anything to report at the conclusion of that. So, um here we are opening our business meeting. We're going to start with our pledge of allegiance, and I'll ask our student at the podium I pledge I pledge 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. All right. We have emergency locations. Please note the exits and leave in an orderly fashion as quickly as you can safely in case of an emergency. This is a smoke-free
002and vape-free school district. Smoking and vaping is not permitted in the building or anywhere on school grounds. It's also a hate-free and bully-free school district. Um we're We have our board consent agenda, but I wonder if we could vary it a little bit and make the announcement about the trustee election and welcome our trustees, our newly elected trustees who are in the audience. Do you want to go do that first, maybe? If it's okay with you, we can do that now, and then I think [clears throat] we should move the superintendent's report to the end so we can discuss what we discussed just now. And then everybody can go home and get a good night's sleep. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. We do have these other, you know, some business items that we need to
003do so that Right. As far as part of the superintendent's report, first of all, thank you very much and thank you for the kind welcome. I feel right at home. So, let's get going here. Last night we had a budget vote for those that didn't know. We had 1,105 people vote yes and we had 2,747 people vote no. I want to thank the community because that's a tremendous number, 3,900 people almost who came out and spoke. And that's what democracy is all about. Proposition two, the transportation proposition passed by vote of 2,211 to 1,529. And again, the more people that participate, the better the democracy is. Now, with that, here's some really nice news. I would ask um Indiana Augustine to please stand. And Linda Brown to please stand. Um >> [applause] >> Um Ladies,
004you may and hard, they were the other candidates. It was I think it was a It was the Reinhardt. They they did a wonderful job getting out and everybody got out and spoke to the people and when you have a robust turnout, it's usually because of the people who are running and and they know how to get people to get engaged. This is what we want. We want people engaged. We want people who listen. Um We've got you a map. We did a Google search so you can find our supermarket and a restaurant where you can go and eat. Three or four communities away so you can have some peace. We ask the public to please be respectful of our board members because yes, they they get wonderful perks with the job. They get to
005come to meetings. They get a bottle of water. They have families. They have feelings. And they have the courage to stand up and say I want to represent the community. [clears throat] But please spread the word. If they're with their significant others or with their children or grandchildren, whoever, or they're with their friends, give them a little bit of space. Okay? If you really have a question for them, you can send an email up here and we can get it to them. Or you can just respectfully say, "Do you have a minute?" And if they're busy, they'll figure out a way to get back to you. Okay? We want We want We want people to want to serve. And to all the board members, thank you. And again, it takes a tremendous amount of courage
006to stand up in front of your friends and neighbors and run the risk of not being the winner. So, the the people who did not win, um they get their personal lives back, but we thank them also. So, ladies, congratulations. Welcome to the Board of Education. THANK [clears throat] YOU FOR GOING OUT OF ORDER ON THAT. I'M pretty good at going out of order. I wanted to do that because I know they're they're here and I thought it would be a good way to introduce them. How many years have you been on the board? >> [laughter] >> Seven. How long? And smile a lot. What today is just a I don't All right. Oh, wait. Hold on. One second. One second, Anne. Ladies, you know, and look, we're going to have a chance to say
007nice things, but Sharon and Anne, you're replacing Sharon and Anne. Okay? But don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call Sharon and Anne. Because it's very important, it's like a baton. You want to pass the baton. They have tremendous insights, information, and I don't even know if you're going to agree politically, but it's so much more important to listen carefully to people you disagree with and be respectful. Cuz compromise is the only way we're coming out of here. We're not going to make everybody happy over the next several weeks. But if we make everybody equally happy, which means we make everybody equally upset, we're going to come out of this a lot faster. So, don't forget that. The people What I say over there last in the executive session >> [laughter] >> Yeah,
008I violated that. I said this in executive session. That's all, you know. We're We're marching in the in the footsteps of those who came before us. And the world is moving forward. And technology is taking us places we never thought we'd be. But we need to remember where we came from, so we keep the goodness, the the the caring, and the heart, and the and the manners. Um but the only way you learn from your mistakes is if you don't forget your mistakes. >> [clears throat] >> So, ladies, remember, when you have questions, sometimes it's good to reach out to the people that sat in the chair before you, all right? Let's go in All right. Well, then we're up to board consent agenda. Do you want to make superintendent's recommendation? Okay. Well, I I
009Listen, I'm new. All right. >> So, I I have my script. Okay. Uh the The Board of Education acknowledges receipt and review of the treasurer's or treasurer's report for March 2026. Uh No. No. No. And you need to rephrase your couple pages ahead. Couple pages ahead. Whereas on C C Yeah, I was going to say >> Can't hear? Can't hear in the back. We have none of this our microphones. Guys, you just need to speak up. They have a problem hearing in the back. I don't like you guys. Just an agenda issue. We'll be loud, I promise. Okay, yeah. All right. Resolved Board of Education of Dallas has received and review of consent agenda items C1 to C13. And that's represented by our superintendent. >> Yes. So, is there a motion to accept C1 through
010C13? Vice President DeLillo, second by Trustee Felisetta. Question. Question. Any questions? Yeah. We have um 12 sets of minutes. Many of these minutes are represented by the numerous uh special meetings that we had. Um but the minutes that are missing are back from March 11th and March 25th. Um could you explain why March 11th and March 25th minutes are not included in these sets of minutes? Our clerk has been deluged with work over the last number of weeks and she was able to get out the minutes for the special meetings because they're pretty pro forma. The others have required some attention and they'll be forthcoming at the next meeting. So, which next meeting? And I'll And I'll I'm going to why I'm concerned because we only have one more um regular meeting before [clears throat]
011I go off this board. And both of those meetings have fairly lengthy officers reports of which I gave a fairly lengthy officers reports in both of those meetings. I gave the clerk my corrections to those uh to those meeting to those minutes. And I don't want to be off the board before those minutes get approved. There's [clears throat] There's every expectation that they will be available and we've just added a meeting to our calendar. So I When I made my comment about the next meeting, I was thinking the next one that was regularly scheduled depending on what our clerk's obligations are. Yeah, I don't want to put any more pressure on the clerk. >> Yeah, well, that's where it is right now. So But you set the agenda. So when you see that minutes haven't
012been put on the agenda I would expect that it's up to the president to ask for those minutes to be put on the agenda. So we're in we're going to be in June in another week. >> me just clarify that. The Our clerk and I have been in discussion about minutes and getting them on the agenda as promptly as they can be. But given the degree of work that she has had over the last weeks. >> I also think she and her crew should be thanked for the work that they did yesterday because they did a yo person's job yesterday. It was a long day and it was the most votes they ever had to deal with yesterday and they weren't thanked yet, but I'm sure at some point tonight they would be thanked. I
013want to personally thank you for the work that your crew did. Um and this is no reflection on you or the work that you do. So Um, but I just don't think these minutes should have waited this long. >> motion. I'm I'm just stating my objection to the fact that these minutes waited this long. We have a motion to um, approve agenda items C1 through C13. It was made, seconded. All in favor? Um, it looks like 1 2 3 4 5 yeses. Is there an I'm going to abstain from approving these minutes. One abstention. Next? We have Well, before we go any further cuz you're 100% right. 26 years as an administrator what I saw last night, how that moved and worked, and knowing how much you agonized Chris, thank you very much. And on
014behalf of the community it's amazing. And We have such great election inspectors who are here. WELL, THAT'S RIGHT. >> [applause] >> LADIES AND I CAN'T APOLOGIZE CUZ that should have been part of when we do the introductions. Because our two new board members can't get elected if we don't have an election. And I'll say this again. Those of you that don't want to run for the Board of Education, why don't you, you know, you can get involved with the Board of Elections and help with because we never have enough hands, but seeing all those ballots last night and so few people I didn't think I'd get home till 7:00 this morning, and I got to watch the 11:00 news. So, thank you, thank you, and thank you, ladies, and thank everybody who's not here, please.
015All right. Going to the curriculum. Right. So, now we're at your Do you want to do more of a report now or No, I I listen. I think we have something to say at the end of the meeting and get everybody pointed. So, um then we would next go to Do any trustees have advisory committee reports? No. How about from our student? We had our talent show. Um I think it was the beginning of this month. It was such a beautiful beautiful event. Um we raised a lot of money for StuGo. So, it's good. And I'm just excited to finish up my last month in this position. And I'm excited to see what that's going to bring. Thank you. I'll just make one quick report. With the with the minutes that were were just approved,
016um and the um 12 sets of minutes that were approved, we have um an attendance issue that we have to deal with because out of the 12 that were approved, there's a member that missed six meetings um uh out of out of those meetings. And um in our in our policy that if if a member misses three consecutive meetings, we can the board can declare can declare that um that position vacant. Um many times the meetings uh the consecutive meetings that are missed are only two. And I think we need to adjust our policy that uh we have 12 12 minutes that were approved and six meetings were missed. That's 50% inside of 2 months. I think we need to adjust our policy and address absences as um 50% in 2 months is too much.
017Oh, point of order just with regard to that. As Felice is a trustee, Felice, isn't that policy with regard to regularly scheduled meetings, not special meetings, which are not planned for. With what was going on in the fiscal crisis that we were under, and you know, everybody made an attempt to get here. I mean, you know. But an attempt to get here, you're citing a policy. Isn't the policy with regard to regular meetings? The The meetings The meetings regardless of what the the the the policy says, I said I think we need to adjust that policy. And if you'll recall, the policy committee is currently going through all policies, and that can be added to the list of things that can be looked at. Thank you. I think it would benefit the community. >> um
018That's what the public comments are for. Do you have something? >> Yeah, just a positive thing. I do want to acknowledge um the varsity girls softball team, Ms. Lilly, your daughter. Um they invited the South Country Little League team. Oh, they Sorry. I wanted to acknowledge the varsity softball team. On their senior night, they invited the Little League softball team, and they got a chance to go out there and um be announced uh throughout the first pitch. Uh they followed up even with a nicer gesture to come down to the game the following day and coach the little girls uh on the field. So, on their free time, uh they came down not just one game, the second game, and now they offered to maybe even come down a third game. So, uh both coaches
019have shown up, and the seniors and a few of the other girls. So, a really really nice gesture on their part that they didn't have to do. Um the girls were super excited, the young girls. They taught them all the chants, um and they have not stopped chanting ever since. So, a really really awesome opportunity for the little kids to learn from the big kids. Uh we had pre-K kids all the way up to fifth graders. So, it was a really really nice opportunity. And thank you to your daughter, she was the honoree of the day, and it was a really a nice event. Thank you, And um enjoy those chance. Oh, yes. >> [laughter] >> Let me get this straight. The veterans are going down to see the newbies to the ones who can
020come up and kind of instilling Clipper spirit in them. Right. >> Yep. They they came down and they actually volunteered to coach. They coached out on the field with them. They came They actually come a second time We didn't even ask them and then they want to come and now they may be coming again this week. So They've been extremely helpful and really really nice. That's for sure. You know, a lot of times adults can learn from kids. Oh, exactly. >> [laughter] >> So, our next section is public commentary. Do we have cards? No cards. So our treasurer's report and um we we have been having Mr. Belmonte present the treasurer's report. So, did you want to continue doing it that way? Okay. Thank you. Oh, excuse me. We're good. Okay. Okay. So welcome everyone.
021Thank you, Chris and the board of election workers for what you have done yesterday. I know it was a really really long day and a couple times I was there I really appreciate the efforts. So, once again, thank you. Okay, we're going to start out with the treasurer's reports. I'll go through them rather quickly. I'm happy to report that everything is in order and in balance, if you will. What we are looking at on the screen is the appropriation status report, which is the budget. It gives us the actual voter approved budget and the adjusted budget and where we are to date. And if we go to the last page of this particular document I'm able to I don't advance this. You have to keep clicking. Just keep clicking. Okay. It's still in the way
022a little Oh, right there. Okay. So, if we go to the last page we'll see that the total expenditures to date as of March 31st is $101.6 million. We still have encumbered 40.1 million with unencumbered 6.883. So, one of the things that's going to happen and we'll talk about this in depth at another meeting is what's going to happen with the deficit funding and our conversation with the controller's office in having to recognize the deficit in the 25-26 school year. So, as the community and the board is aware, we did receive special act legislation to provide funding for that deficit both in the 24-25 and 25-26 school year. So, that means that we in order to be compliant with the controller's guidance to certify that deficit at the end of this 25-26 year for purposes
023of the financial statements, we will be showing that deficit and that is a requirement of the controller's office in order for them to certify. However, knowing that we do have the special act legislation, that deficit will be funded. Actually, I'm happy to report that as of this morning, we actually sold our bond anticipation notes. It was touch and go for a while because of the defeat of the budget early on in the morning. The my phone was blowing up from bond council and Unistaff in that we had a couple of buyers that had gotten wind of the the news and the the negative impact on the budget unfortunately. So a couple of buyers backed out, but needless needless to say that we participated and pursued in the market. We were able to get the bands
024sold at a very favorable interest rate. The net effective interest cost was 4.03%. And the coupon rate on that was 4 and 1/2. So we did actually better than we anticipated. We're sure that the next go around when we actually go to convert those notes to bonds in about a year. We're going to probably have a little bit of a different scenario since I'm sure that the district's credit rating may be kicked down because of the budget failure. But suffice to say that we are on our way and the deficit situation as we have indicated in prior years is fully addressed. Okay? So I thought that was important to mention. So in that as we go forward for the remaining months in the school year, we may end up seeing negatives in these reports and
025I indicated to the board previously that we should never see negatives, but in this particular purpose it's going to be necessary in order for the controller's office to certify where we need to be. We spent a lot of time with bond council, fiscal advisors, controller's office, and all the stakeholding groups to make sure that we would document the audit accordingly going forward. No, the roof is not going to leak. >> God is thanking us. >> [laughter] >> Okay, so moving on in the treasurer's reports, just quickly we have the cafeteria fund, which is the same in balance, no negatives. The federal funds, and I'm just going to breeze through those quickly. And some of the other next capital fund, capital funds we have projects going on, and again we have no negative balances. And um
026there's a lot of reports here. Apologize. Yeah, that's okay. Well, the board has in their packet we also have the the actual treasurer's report, which lists all of the district's bank accounts. And again, we're happy to report that every bank account has been reconciled. Our total cash balance is God bless you. is over $17.1 million, and uh you have all the backup material that shows that these accounts have been reconciled to the books and records. So, nothing significant to report there. We do also have the budget transfer report to the board that shows all the transfers. And again, we also have the the revenue reports that show the revenues year-to-date, month to month ending March 31st. Can we just go back to your um transfer report? Yeah. Um it's the report? Yes. With respect to
027um, maintenance and repairs, so down on page There were there were quite a number of them. On page two. Funds needed for um, maintenance and repairs, district-wide maintenance and repairs, but it doesn't say what those maintenance and repairs were. Do you do you recall what some of those repairs were? Um, I would actually have to go back into those codes to look. Okay. But the monies that were transferred from a BOCES code to other uh, maintenance and repair codes. So [snorts] what does that mean? From BOCES code? So you didn't need it in BOCES code, so you moved it into repairs. Correct. So we transferred it from other codes. What we always try to do with the budget, when we manage the budget, we always try to keep the money within the section. If it's
028buildings and grounds, we try to keep it in buildings and grounds instead of transferring out uh, across different function areas. Could you um, have that for the update to the board? All right, would you would you do that so we can just keep track of what was happening with the with repairs? Okay. All right. For the one under it as well. Okay. And then um, so then you when you referred to the um, the negatives in the salary codes, that again you referred to that before. We actually have that in another section of the of the budget tonight, too. Is that reflected in in on page three? Yes. Okay. All right. And this is a continued issue that we've been dealing with all year. >> Actually, page three, four, and five. Yep. Okay. Okay, thank
029you. Any other questions? You you told us at another meeting that the transfers that you were referring to here are from one budget code to another. It's not a transfer out of reserves. That is correct. Any transfers out of reserves, we would bring a resolution to the board. Mr. Belmonte, just going forward knowing we're tracking is it possible to provide an update to us as we start to enter that deficit as we're going to collectively where we're at? Yes. You will actually see that on the reports, but we can give you a collective reports both on the revenue and the expense side. I think most of that is going to materialize in June because that's going to be where we're going to be paying out and accruing most of our year-end expenditures as well as
030taking in our final receipts for the current school year. So, that's something So, it's plain English for as we as we look back on the board record where that deficit is rising to and what it comes as opposed to having to find it in a Where's Waldo mentality in the in the report. And and what's going to also happen is that in the financial statements that we prepare at the end of the year, the audited financial statements, the audit the financial statements is clearly going to show what the accumulated deficit is. The accumulated deficit from the previous school year as well as this school year. And once again, when the controller's office comes in to certify the district's deficit, they're going to be using our certified financial statements. They don't come in and they don't
031prepare their own financial statement. They use our auditors financial statements and they certify the number off of that report. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you. So, now that it's been presented, um the And then I'll read the resolution that the Board of Education acknowledge receipt and review of the Treasurer's report of March 26. Is there a motion? Uh Trustee Ross, seconded by Trustee Felissetta. All in favor? Uh this is unanimously approved. Open up these controls. Yes. All right. Go to the curriculum and uh administration uh upon recommendation of the administration recommends approval of curriculum items reflected in the schedule G1 through G4. Do we have a motion? Is there a motion? Okay. Is So, do we have a motion? Do we have [clears throat] a motion? Uh motion
032by Trustee Calderon, seconded by Vice President DeLillo. Question. >> I have one question. Uh um the approval of the high school trips. That's three and four. Are both of those without cost to the district? Going to look. They Madam President, you look at the first page of the >> That's what I was saying. It doesn't say It's It's It's >> nothing. >> zero cost to the district. Okay. And that actually replaces They trip, so they require our approval. >> Okay. Um so So, the reason I just wanted to clarify. And our new trustees will understand this. The reason that these trips are coming to us is because they're out of state. Anytime it's out of state or overnight, it has to come to us for approval. You should also also note that as you're asking
033about cost, that the the the trip to Hershey Park to the South Country Education Foundation is also supporting the grant or provided a grant to support the transportation. Two different issues. One, no cost. And the other issue is the fact that it's out of state, and that's why it's brought to us. So, we had the motion, we had it seconded. Mr. Police had a question. You had a question? That was my same clarification. Thank you. >> Okay. So, all in favor? Uh unanimously approved. Now, where There's none. Uh before I read this, um I just want to say before we do this that in the in we we have some tough things that are about to happen that involve people and their lives. And I just want to make sure that you know, everyone knows
034that the these things and some of the the negative things or the the sad things are because of no act of the individuals and they are um they have become collateral damage in a bigger situation. But also at the darkest of times I want to take a minute at the end to uh I'm going to ask um Jason to speak about what I think is one of the cornerstones of building to the future. That's my teaser, so stay tuned. Administration recommends approval of personnel changes reflected in schedules H1 through H9. Do we have a motion? Sir, motion trustee um vice president DeLillo seconded by Trustee Calderon. Questions and discussion. All in favor? Unanimously approved. Jason, would you be willing to speak about H4? Sure. So, [clears throat] I I would just like to take a
035moment that the South Country family is is thrilled to announce that we just appointed Dr. Anthony Aiello as our middle school principal effective July 1st, 2026. So, let's take a moment of ROUND OF APPLAUSE. >> [applause] >> DR. DR. AIELLO STARTED WITH US IN December of 2024. Um and then for the current school year 2025-2026, he was appointed as acting principal of the of the middle school. Um and I would say that leadership is hard in the best of times. And uh these as we all know have been some very challenging times, but Dr. Aiello possesses a unique blend of both positivity and a real grit and a real care for for kids and the staff that are under his charge. And I'm really excited to have him join our team. So, Dr. Aiello, congratulations.
036We welcome YOU TO THE VERY WELL SAID. I JUST WANT TO ADD ONE THING. You know, I've I've known Anthony for quite a while. It's been what, 28 hours? He's had a couple of things and he's come to me and he works very well with the team over there. They have tremendous respect. Everybody I've met, I even said to him kiddingly on that I'll find somebody that has some something negative to say about him. But, he's thoughtful, he gets the facts. He he he spells it out so I can very clearly in a in a in a cacophony of noise and craziness, "John, this is what's happening. This is what we need to do." Um but he said something I'll never forget. He goes, "You know, I like to treat students the way I want
037the way I would treat my own children or the way I'd want them treated. And he treats people as I see, you know, with great deal of respect. He's a good listener. And we hope you're here for a long time because the thing I kept hearing and kept hearing is he's he's he's helping to, you know, establish and you know, change, evolve the culture. So, congratulations, Anthony. [clears throat] I look forward to uh I look forward to monitoring your career. Thank you. Thank you. All right. The uh business side agenda items administration on the recommends approval of business items reflected in schedules I1 through I42. Is this a motion? >> There's a motion I1 through I42. Uh Trustee Filicetta seconded by Vice President Miller. Question. Any questions? I had asked the council to take a
038look at I1. Everything okay, Barbara? I've been informed by the business office that all of these appendices are retiring teachers. I have not had the opportunity to review each case individually, but I can tell you that the teachers' contract requires these agreements upon the retirement of their members. Okay. Thank you. Um I have a second question if I may. Okay. Um considering that the the budget you know, did go down yesterday and we have several consulting agreements that are on this agenda a dozen or more. Is it is it prudent for us to perhaps renegotiate these consultant agreements at this time? I don't know who I should direct that question to. I'll direct it to the superintendent and he can decide who it should go to. I think from what and and you guys stop
039me if I'm wrong. Um I think that these consultants and what we're trying to do are going to help us you know, moving forward in opening an order of business. Um Thanks, John. You bailed me out right now. Good. Yeah, these are these are contracts for special ed services. These are our special ed service providers that we have to put in place for our special ed services for the beginning of the school year. Um we already have had discussions with these particular vendors as to their rates for the current year and we have brought forward what the best possible rate would be going forward. Now, these contracts are basically on an as needed basis. So, we usually use them based on the CSC's determination of the type of special ed services that are required by
040the students. So, this is just pro forma to make sure that we have the appropriate vendors in place to provide the appropriate services. Okay. So, you're satisfied that you negotiated the best rate anyway. Yes. >> Okay. Yes. Thank you very much. Okay. So, we had the motion and it was seconded. All in favor? Unanimously approved. Public commentary again. Any cards? None? And Marilyn? I thought they were all waiting for us. Yeah. Save the best last. Um You know, again, John, thank you for that that you gave a an excellent answer to Cheryl's good question. But, what I was going to say simply was these are normal things that need we need to have in place to try to have a normal opening of school. And you know, that sounds crazy in the uncertainty, but it
041when you know, when the water gets you know, water gets rough, we have to have points and we have to have safe places and safe harbors. And you know, these are services for some of our neediest students. And um this leads us to the following. And please, please, I'm begging you, if I misspeak, be patient with me and I'll correct, but more importantly, if I misspeak, Mr. Belmonte will correct me. But here we go. People have wanted to know, what's the plan? What's the plan? What's the plan? Well, the first part of the plan was the people have spoken and we thank them and we can't thank you enough. And to uh women who were elected to the Board of Education, the people have spoken about the budget and you came here tonight, which shows
042that you're in it and you're ready to go. You're going to be you're going to help be part of the solution with the help and support of everybody at this table and that table over there. Next Tuesday, we're going to have a special Board of Education meeting. Mr. Belmonte is going to do a presentation on what ha- what a contingent budget will look like. And then, the mic will be open for people to come to the mic with questions, concerns, or positive suggestions as to what they may want to see. And after this you know, if we come to you right now and say we're going to bring you a budget without listening to the people that said the first one we don't want, we have to give you a baseline to build and we
043then we will build from there. And as I've said before the board members have an incredibly difficult job. Because they get hit all the time all over. And then they have to try to come back and talk to each other. But we're going to get a chance cuz the the the really the thing that board members do is listen. But if if one board member is listening over here and the other one's over here and one's on the soccer field, one's in the coffee shop the message gets fragmented. So you need to the the there is no um Mr. Belmonte and the team to my left has been extremely honest about where we are financially. And we are in a situation that quite frankly in 40 years of education I have not seen. And none
044of the people who I relied on before I came here for advice, counsel, um they keep saying John just look for the facts, keep finding the facts cuz we are in uncharted waters. But we're not trying to scare anybody. And I've seen uh the the presentations that have been done and the handouts there is information out there and it's still up on the website and you can read it and please we encourage you to read it. And honestly there's been so much fear and uncertainty that I think good people have read things and don't remember it. I think good people have seen things and it it the enormity of what we're looking at I think it's exciting because we're going to fix something and we're going to show the world that when you get into
045trouble this is how you fix it. You stay calm, you pull together, you don't panic. Although yes, you you do panic for a minute until you realize your feet are on the ground and you go forward. And I'm going to tell you right now there are going to be other school districts. There are other school districts where this is going to happen. And we're going to say we'll have no problem helping you get out of the hole just the way we get out of the hole. We'll share the plan that we have. So Tuesday night we'll we'll announce all of this. We'll put it out there. Take time. We want to make sure we have an an auditorium where the people who can't get there can watch from home or we want to make sure
046the sound is really good so you can hear. And this all came from your Board of Education and our team. They know sometimes and listen we're not spending a lot of money on our electronics because we we don't have a lot of money. But we're going to pick the auditorium. It's going to be Tuesday night. And if you have a question um please send it to my office to you know to you know to Sarah. If you're not going to be able to make it, send a question. Cuz we'll take all those questions and we'll try to make sure that everybody's questions are answered. And I'm sure that night Mr. Belmonte will do his presentation and people will have questions and we can have some interaction. And if we miss something we promise we'll get
047the answer and then post the answers so everybody can see it. If you notice a trend here, you notice something we want everybody to hear. And again people who have concerns or questions, I think they'll see what Mr. Belmonte has to say and he'll say oh okay, this is where we're at. This is what could happen. And then people will get up and they'll voice their opinion or what they think or what they might want. And then we can put it together. And um you know, I think what we're going to probably do is post a some sort of date that says something like if the public wants us to, we'll come back and we'll do it all again. But I will tell you this, we have to make sure that everybody's in it. We
048have to make sure that we, you know, people are pulling together. Cuz honestly, we don't want to go out again and fail. >> [snorts] >> And just please understand we're all going to have to make sacrifices. But if the if we share the the sacrifices equally and uh not equally fairly and we have a common message and we ask we have everything out on the table so we can all see it and there's nothing hidden cuz I got news for you, folks. Um I love a challenge. But if I had if I if I had not all that work hadn't been done before I got here and it's there. Go back and check the website. Go back and read it again and encourage your friends to read it again. And if your friends are upset
049and they they're mad, read it to them cuz when you're upset you can't read. So read it to them and read it to them slowly. Read it to them twice. The information's out there. We look forward to the next few weeks. We look forward to make this is going to and when this is done this this budget is going to be the first big step back towards recovery. So Tuesday night, we'll send it out ParentSquare or Facebook. We'll let everybody know. But Tuesday night is the first step. Did I miss anything? So is that okay? I think we're good. Thank you. So we have closing remarks. What's yours? Uh Unless you're married. I think you're getting tired of hearing from me. I'll make my closing remark and then I'll see if other people have and
050I and listening to what you just said, it reminded me of something I heard on NPR this afternoon and it was a discussion about getting through dark times and it focused on two aspects of what you need to get through and one is hope and the other is action. And um I started reflecting on that because sitting where we sit we've seen a lot of action. It may not be may not you know, be out there to see but we go back to September and we go back to when um the board first met and determined to bring Mr. Belmonte on to help us get through the financial crisis and we made some other decisions back in the September October time frame that have moved us forward um and there's been an incredible amount of
051action that has taken place in terms of having our business office brought up to um the standards that would be expected to have best practices in place and it's been done in connection with the New York State Controller's office, our external auditors um and also through New York State Education Department. Um and actually for me it was like culminated when I saw what um Mr. Belmonte was able to put together for our budget that took into account all the things that matter to us in South Country with regard to what we provide for our students, you know, classes, opportunity academic opportunities, the sports, the arts, the music, our drama programs. To all of that, Annie was able to weave it into taking care of that maddening deficit that arose in the 24-25 year that threw
052off last year's budgeting and had spillover effect into this year and he came up with a plan for how to deal with it. And we're starting, you know, you just announced that the bond or the um the ban in antici- the bond anticipation note was just sold today that will um that helped lay the framework so that the financial underpinnings of this district are in good shape and um I'd like to take the opportunity to thank him in particular for this because it's been a tremendous amount of work, tremendous amount of action and that feeds in to me having hope for the future and I I hope that that comes through and I I hope to see with two new people on the board a continuation of having hope for the future cuz I think
053it's there. You know, Ann, >> [clears throat] >> you get hope is hope is big and dreams, you want to have dreams, but wise person once said you can have all the dreams in the world, but if you don't get your butt out of bed and go to work and work hard, nothing's going to happen and the fact that you people are here tonight, all of you are here tonight and these guys were all here early this morning. Yeah. And thank you, John. Thank you all. One thing that I would like to if I may just say that yes, it was a very, very heavy lift, very complicated. But, um I was really humbled by the team here and how we were able to put this together. It certainly wasn't a one-man show. I may
054have been the captain of the ship, but the coordination with legal counsel, state education department, the controller's office, our legislators, the administrators here in developing the budgets and understanding the fiscal crisis. But, more importantly, helping the buildings and the administrators understand the connection and the importance of managing the budgets going forward so we can continue providing those things for our students here at South Country. So, with that, I want to also thank everyone here that was part of that process. And you know what, John, a hidden gem is I mean, can I do the cheap joke? I looked at the back of John's car and I saw two of the biggest car seats I ever saw. I go, "John, what the heck is that?" And he goes, "Jackie and Jason are our future." And Jackie
055and Jason he takes them everywhere with me. And look, curriculum and personnel don't happen if we can't pay the bills. They stay I was I'm going to make sure they stay in their lane, but never, ever, ever will be we we want everybody to be together. And you know, sometimes we sit and listen I sit and listen to the meetings and it's like going to a doctoral course on how to work the finances. And so, uh And to see the three of them, you know, you if you come in a room and watch the three of them working together, I'm not quite sure what my role is here, but I'm having a great time, so thank you very much. Okay, on that note, we're going to recess the public portion of our meeting, and we
056will go back into exact session to resume the conversation previous. And like I said previously, we'll come back and just close the meeting, but Do I need a motion to go back into exact? Do I need another motion to do it? Okay. All right, so is there a motion to go back into exact for the reasons that was stated earlier in the evening? I've got you. Rob and Rob and Chris. Okay. All in favor? All in favor? Yes. Again, let's