South Country Central School District Board Meeting 10/08/2025 Part 2

001Okay, we're returning to the business  meeting of the board of education of   the South Country Central School  District on October 8th, 2025.   Um, we are going to now have a pledge of  allegiance and we ask to have trustee 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. Okay. Emergency evacuation  proceedings in case of an emergency and exit to the outside in an orderly and quick  manner. Um this is a smokefree and vape free   uh school district. No smoking or vaping  anywhere on district property. We're also   a bullyfree and hatefree school district. So now  we have board consent agenda item C. Thank you,   President Hayes. The administration recommends  the approval of board consent items reflected   in

002schedule C1 through C6. Is there a motion  to approve items C1 through C6? Uh motion by   trustee Feliz, second by trustee Bellisetta. Um  any questions, discussion? Seeing none, all in f approved unanimously. So now we're  down to superintendent report. A lot of technology. All right. Good evening. So, I want to welcome  everybody to tonight's board meeting. I'm going to   get right to it to the um superintendent report.  I wanted to begin by speaking a little bit about   the fact that the school district had incurred  expenses exceeding our adopted budget in the   previous school year, the 2024 25 uh school year.  and wanted to talk about what we know. First, as   we communicated with community back in September  11th, we know that the 2425 adopted school budget   of $143 million, 57,000 uh or little in excess 

003of $143,000 was exceeded and that has been incur   uh confirmed uh by our external boards. Um  second, what we know is that on September 9th,   the board took immediate action and authorizing  the use of a forensic auditor to look into the   extent of the overspend. Um and basically what the  forensic auditors are going to be doing and they   were actually approved in tonight's consent agenda  is to investigate how this may have occurred,   what categories and expenditures exceed the  original budgeted items and when and how   additional expenditures occurred. Obviously,  they're going to do a review of a district's   internal financial controls and protocols  and they're going to provide recommendations   on guidance on any necessary corrective actions  that should be put into place to prevent any such   issue from happening in the future. So, um sort of 

004immediate action and this is above and beyond our   external auditors that are still in the process  of finally finalizing our financial statements   and auditing the prior school year's um budget. We  also engaged in an immediate action plan and this   was really driven by the administrative team. So  while awaiting guidance from external and forensic   auditors, we're been implementing immediate  spending controls and additional oversight   um with support of the New York State  Education Department, um our auditors,   of course, our business officials. We're also  going to be developing longterm strategies to   strengthen fiscal responsibility and rebuild  community trust. So this is something we take,   you know, the seriousness that it merits. Um we've  already implemented some discretionary spending   controls. Um which includes some of the following  and I want to talk a little bit about some of the  

005immediate measures that we're taking. First, we  want to make sure that we're proactive in our   communication. Um so far we'll continue updating  the community, that's the board of education,   as well as myself and my administrative teams  anytime things come up. So, I know it seems   like we've been sort of moving at a slow pace,  but typically our external auditors don't finish   their work until mid to late October when it's pre  presented to our audit committee, which then is   presented publicly to the um p to the board of  education and to the public. That audit report   when it's complete will be public and will be  available for everyone to read and will also   be presented at a future board meeting. I will  also continue notifying our staff by virtue of my   Friday messages and updates any

006status updates we  have with regard to anything that may be impactful   um internally to our school district. We did uh  we're conducting a line by line budget review.   This is internally above and beyond our external  auditors above and beyond our forensics auditors   just to get a better understanding of some of  those like uh high variance codes. What we mean   by that are budget items that sort of deviated  from what we budgeted from during the school   year and trying to get a better understanding how  this may have transpired and trying to identify   systemic gaps in our forecasting or predicting uh  budgets for the future years. So that's something   that's ongoing now. We're changing the manner in  which we're going to be providing monthly status   reports to the board. Um so that we have budget  to actual

007sort of um what we sort of call budget   status reports on a monthly basis and keeping  uh tighter controls on our spending as a year   progresses by instituting sort of guard rails and  thresholds that we're going to sort of monitor   a lot closer because again we want to sort of um  prevent this from happening in any future um year.   In terms of our discre uh reduction discretionary  spending, we're looking at all non-mandated   um sort of programs. Um certainly things that  support our curriculum and looking to see where   we can sort of cut back. Um something that came up  publicly and among our staff are field trips. For   example, if you look on tonight's agenda, we're  approving field trips. We're not eliminating   field trips. We're just being a little bit more  discriminant on which field trips

008to approve   uh based upon um their connection to curriculum u  their connection to um our programs and certainly   competitions that our students participate in  whether it's music competitions, art competitions,   etc. You know, I'm a big proponent of field  trips. I think they really enhance the student   experience. But in this year, we're just going to  be a lot more mindful of what we approve and be a   little bit more discriminant in our non in our um  discretionary spending. Those are things that may   be nice but not not absolutely necessary for the  functioning of the school district. And finally,   I want to emphasize that at the current time, we  don't anticipate that any of this will have any   impact on our core programs or services provided  by the district. I wanted to emphasize that we're   still operating

009as business as usual. There a lot  of great things happening in our school district   and will continue to happen on a day-to-day basis.  U some of which I want to share at this time. So,   that concludes sort of my comments about what's  been going on. as soon as we have updates and   have more information, we'll certainly provide  it to the public and obviously to our district   staff. Um, but so moving on to some of the  things happening in the district over the   last couple weeks since our last board meeting. I  had the pleasure of attending our pep rally. Um,   it really was a fantastic display of spirit. U, I  want to commend all of our high school students.   We had over a thousand students in our gymnasium  all cheering on our uh, student athletes. Um,  

010one of the things I should have mentioned when I  was there at the pep rally was the importance that   we celebrate all of our students, artists, uh,  academics, people that trades or the military.   It's really important that we celebrate each  other, but it's really a great kickoff to our   fall sports season. It was really well attended  and really well done. So, I want to wish the   best of luck to all of our student athletes as  they progress through the four fourth season.   This was followed uh the following day by our  football breakfast which is sponsored by the   booster club and parents. Um every time I attend  the uh football breakfast, it really is remarkable   to me to show the support of community. Um almost  all of our trustees were in attendance for this   breakfast. It's

011to see how warm it is and how  disciplined our football players are. But again,   what I love most about it is the fact that it's  driven by our parents. Um they participate.   We invited our cheer um to this breakfast and it  really was a wonderful event and a great show of   community. Um I also got to attend the homecoming  parade which is a lot of fun and trusty Ross   actually participated in driving his truck. So I  want to give him a shout out and give him a shout   out for salvaging one of the floats that um may  have had a little mishap at the beginning of the   parade but we're able to rectify that. Thank you  Trusty Ross for just being there and saving the   day. And speaking about the floats, really excited  about the

012students participating in the respective   floats. Uh they have different themes. Um and  of course we brought back our homecoming dance   that evening um where we crowned our homecoming  queen and king. So I want to congratulate Braden   Sip for being uh voted as the homecoming king and  Megan Marolio for uh being voted as our homecoming   queen. It's a really great event, a great day of  uh excitement which was capped of course by our   football game. Um our homecoming game was a huge  success. We won the towing cost. I do want to give   a shout out to Senator Murray who participated  in the towing cost and gave us a proclamation   from his office to celebrating 50 years of Belport  football. Um the game itself was pretty fantastic.   Um a lot of excitement. I have a photo there

013of  our youth uh sports running onto the field and   it's great to see like the connection between  our younger students and our senior students   who are participating in varsity sports. So, it  was a great day. Uh thus far, our football team   is three and one. So, we're looking uh forward to  a successful season and I want to wish success to   all of our student athletes and all our sports.  I also want to go over some student accolades   that are above and beyond uh athletics. First  and foremost, this year or last year, we had 60   students named as AP scholars in recognition  of their except exceptional achievement on   the national advanced placement exams taken last  year. Um, it was actually 61 Billport High School   seniors. So, I apologize for that typo who have  earned the AP

014scholar awards. 36 of them were   named AP scholars. Eight earned recognition as a  AP scholar with honor and 17 earned an AP scholar   with distinction. to differentiate. Um, a scholar  is any student that scores a three or higher on   three or more AP exams. A scholar with honor,  they must earn a 3.25 on all AP exams taken. Um,   and grades of three or higher on four or more of  those exams. And for a scholar with distinction,   they must re uh receive an average score of  3.5 on all AP exams taken and grades of four or   higher and five or more of those exams. So, that  really is a pretty remarkable accomplishment. So,   I just want to give a shout out to our teachers  um who all paved the way for the student academic   success. That's

015a photo for of our 61 actually  scholars uh AP scholars and our 34 or 30 I'm   sorry, I'm going too fast. In addition to the 61  students who earned the AP scholars designation,   we had 34 students um be earn national recognition  through the college board national recognition   program. uh basically the uh the colleges used to  identify academically competitive underrepresented   students. So the students are among over 280,000  high performing students to be recognized with   the first generation recognition award award rural  and small town recognition award and for the first   time the school recognition award again. So, we  want to um congratulate all these students who   earned this distinction by maintaining a GPA of B+  or higher and for their outstanding performance on   the PSAT uh in grades 10 or 11. Uh we also had  some all

016state I should say uh musician names   for the uh 2025 all county music festival. Um,  these students include uh, Sebastian Fistino,   who's a lead trombone, Julius Sardino, drum  set, Zachary Sanju, lead trumpet. Um, they're   all going to be they're going to be performing  with the Scamia advanced instrumental jazz. Um,   and many other students that were sort of uh,  named and recognized for this distinction. And   among the six, we also had two allstate musicians  um, and that is um, Julius Redino and Zachary St.   Jude. They've been selected to perform in the All  State Festival for the 2025 New York State Music   Association Winter Conference. Uh Julius Rodino  is a percussionist and he was selected to play   jazz drum set for two vocal jazz ensemble and mal  percussion for the wind ensemble and Zachary Sanju   interpreter was

017named to the wind ensemble. So  this is a great accomplishment. So big shout out   to our music staff. Additionally, we had uh South  Country senior named as a merit artist. Bport High   School senior Alana Corniolo reverend the Long  Island Arts Alliance 2026 Scholar Artist Merit   Award in the category of visual arts. She will be  featured in the upcoming issue of News Day. So,   we want to congratulate her and congratulate all  of our fine and performing arts teachers um and   our academic teachers for paving the way for the  student success. Uh it gives me great pleasure   to report on that. I also had the good fortune of  being interviewed by students and Miss Stephanie   Fer's class. Uh it was a great interview. They  asked a lot of deep questions. I really enjoyed my   interactions with the

018students. Um this was a set  of students that um were English language learners   who recommended. So we did the whole interview  in English. Um and they're very sort of eloquent   in their questions and I really enjoyed my time  to them. Equally as fun was reading a book uh   at Kramer um in Miss Amy Vault's classroom. I read  the book in Spanish. She read the book in English.   The kids got a big kick out of it. The book was  entitled I Hate the Rain. Um, and the point of the   story was that even when it rains, you can have  some fun. So, it was great reading to the kids and   big shout outs to Miss Vulk and Miss Factor for  inviting me to their classroom so I can share in   this great experience. More than that,

019at our high  school yesterday, we had our college board testing   day. Um, this is where we provide the opportunity  for high school students to challenge the SAT and   the PSAT. In all yesterday, we had 183 seniors  complete the SAT, which is pretty fantastic. That   number has increased from the prior year. 264  sophomores and juniors completed the PSAT. So   again, this is good gives them a great opportunity  to challenge the test and get some practice. Um,   and for our freshmen who were home, we kind of  challenged them to have a Clipper Pride day at   home. And what that meant for them was um, Pride  stands for being prepared. So prepared for their   futures. We said they should suggest that they  complete their career interest inventory and   aviance. That's just a a platform we use to help 

020uh students uh plan for the future in careers and   or college. To be respectful, to go out and say  thank you to something that someone that they   care about, maybe write a letter to someone  they respect about how much they appreciate   them. To be involved, to get involved in their  community, volunteer at a community center, create   or complete a community- based project. To be  diligent, to show their hard work and dedication   toward their future goals. maybe shadow someone in  their future career field and learn what it takes   to work in that field and finally to be ethical  which to me is the most important one to volunteer   to help a person. So we're really excited u  about our college board testing day. I want   to thank our guidance department, our high school  staff, the proctor

021of the exams for the successful   administration of the college board exams. But  the academic sort of uh work doesn't stop there.   I'm really pleased to announce and invite um our  teachers and our administrators to speak about   all the uh work we're doing towards literacy.  Last year we showed um significant growth in   our literacy scores umly um three to five and  um and and in so really excited about the work   they've done in ter in terms of just looking at  our curriculum and our strategy that we use. So at   this point I want to invite uh Jackie O'Hagen to  sort of do a little bit of introduction and we're   going to get a presentation from our teachers  to talk about our approach to lyricism that thank you to the entire board of education  and our superintendent,

022Mr. Santana,   for the opportunity for this incredible team  right here to present today on our literacy   initiatives that we are so passionate about  for our South Country students and some really   exciting updates we made to the curriculum.  So, tonight really is about a celebration. Um,   so I want to introduce you to this team.  We have Kristen Fair Thompson who's here   who is our director of humanities. So we have  our literacy coordinators K through five. Kim   Goslin is here from Brook Haven Elementary School.  Carrie Pelo from Frank P. Long. Vicky Williams   from Kramer Kingdom. And Jen Hayhurst from Burn  Crests. We also have our incredible K through   five principles here with us today who've been  outstanding with this work and their leadership   and their collaboration. So we can't thank you  enough for your support of leading

023your buildings.   Miss Mandy Mazi of Vern Crex, Miss Stephinski of  Frank Long, Mr. Shan Clark of Premier Kingdom,   and Dr. Rebecca Raymond from Brook  Elementary School. Thank you so very much. Okay, so really our objectives for  this presentation today is to is a   celebration like I said before. So, in the  board meeting for the next board meeting,   I'll be sharing more specific data and how we went  up in our ELA scores in every single building in   our elementary buildings and Frank Bon. So, that  really was a collaborative effort by this entire   team here tonight and our directors, um our  chair people, our coordinators, our teachers,   everyone. It really was such a collaborative  effort. So, I'll be sharing in more detail   um at our next board meeting on our data  achievement for ELA scores three through

024five.   Um this work really is about aligning with the New  York State portrait undergraduate. What do we want   for our students? We want them to be effective  communicators. We want them to be critically   thinkers. We want them to be cit global citizens.  So all these things that we really want our south   country students to be before they graduate and  when they graduate. We really thought strategic   strategically about this literacy curriculum  and aligning it with this work. um this team   has like this urgency and this passion to really  increase literacy across K through 12. So what we   did was we formed a K through5 literacy committee  that was last year and I can't thank them enough   because they did outstanding work with literacy um  and really making sure our curriculum is aligned   with the science of

025reading and now we brought up  brought up to the secondary level. So now we have   a 7th through 12th secondary committee where it's  not only just ELA teachers, it's science teachers,   it's social studies teachers because those  assessments are so heavy in text that we want   to make sure we're collaborating across all the  content areas. That was another objective. Um,   and just really making sure that our  literacy that our students are engaged,   that they love reading, that they love writing.  And it really starts with our earliest learners. So everything we're kind of thinking about with  curriculum is really aligned to this New York   State portrait of a graduate. And if you see  this is what we want for our students at South   Country School District. Uh we are continuing the  great work about writing across content

026areas. We   have very engaging professional development in  this year that surrounds itself around that.   um continuing our work with culturally respective  responsive texts that we've done so much in our   equity committee on um and really thinking  about our students in terms of research and   inquiry and making sure they're effective. They  they have critical argument skills. They're able   to debate. So that's kind of the center of the  work that we're doing in our literacy curriculum. And next I'm going to turn it on to Kristen. Right. Again, thank you to the board of education.  Thank you to Superintendent Santana for   allowing us to present tonight. It means a lot  to me and my team. Um, so the next slide here   is going to go over the need for the change in  our literacy K through five um

027curriculum. And so um South Country's response we were we had  to have a response to the science of reading   in the New York State mandates if that opens  um our rationale was that the department of   education uh from New York State is requiring  that all school districts um must verify their   curriculum with an attestation based in science  and reading. Um so question that comes along   often is what is an attestation? Um basically  it is um education law 818 going from that it's   a mandate that on or before September of 2025  um which was a deadline that Z country did meet   um that every school district must  validate curriculum and practice in   um literacy prek through three. Um it also  must align our curriculum must also align with   science-based best practices. Um once this mandate  came

028out and the requirements were known to us   um South Country had several goals. One was to  provide professional development using resources   from New York State for best instructional  literacy practices. Um teachers collaborate um   one of our goals was to help teachers collaborate  uh to use the documents from the state to make   those shifts in. And finally to revise parts of  our current K uh K5 curriculum uh to best align   with the science of reading and the results of  the attestation audit for South Country District. Um out of this uh we would be able to  form some action steps which the district   um would be taking. Uh the first one would be to  um form a literacy committee. Mr. Hagen already   spoke about that. We had um elementary going into  year two now um and now

029year one for secondary.   um our elementary teachers on that committee and  administrators uh pre-K through 6, we met monthly   um after school beginning in the 202425 school  year. Um also we were able to review New York   State literacy briefs uh with this committee  to build a shared understanding of the New York   State K3 best practice um including uh using our  checklist of tools. These tools were provided by   the New York Education Department and they include  the K3 literacy instructional best practices guide   um and K3 literacy curriculum guide. um as well  as the New York State Literacy at astation which I   mentioned um which was the mandatory annual review  aligned with the commissioner's best practices. Um   these tools can all be accessed by the public  alike um through the New York State Department   of Education website.

030Um our third action step was  to uh have coordinators uh attend a three-day ELA   curriculum writing institute to write science or  reading based aligned curriculum in revision of   our current. Um this was led by Victor Jackarino  who we continue to work with as a district. Um   he is an expert in the fields of aligning  K12 curriculum and instruction in alignment   with the science of reading state standards and  understanding by design which was the final piece   in able uh in building this curriculum. We wanted  to make sure that we were using that framework   um which is a foundation to begin revising  literacy units align and again aligned to all   of those mandated expectations. So, out of  all the things that we've learned that were   coming from the state, we knew that there was a  need to

031make some shifts in our curriculum. Um,   and Miss Williams is going to  go over some of that with you. Oh, you're right. All right. So, hi, I'm Vicki  Williams and thank you for having us. Um, so like   Miss Fair Thompson um has mentioned is that we use  the documents from the New York State to be like,   okay, what what what do we currently have? what  does our curriculum have um and what is it missing   or what does it need more of or be more explicit  and this is what we identified when looking at the   estation or the checklist and then also looking  at some of the tools that the state provides.   So these are, you know, these are the things  that, you know, we may have had a little bit,   some of them we didn't

032really have at  all. Um, and then this, so we needed to   identify and really name the things that we needed  more work on. So once we had those developed,   then we were we thought about as a team like how  do we embed those in what we currently are doing   and how do we find ways to build them, expand  them, and be responsive and that's the work that   we were doing. So once we had them this is this  is how it started. So, you know, back last May,   you know, we named all the things, but then it was  like, okay, we know what the curriculum needs, but   how do we then put that across, you know, a unit,  a week, kindergarten, fifth grade, how does that   look in practice, and how can we give resources to 

033teachers for to uh increase student learning now? Thank you for okay so we so we needed like  a structure that was the very first thing.   So that's what all those postits were. So like  how will it look across a week? how it will look   across a unit and how do we fit it all inside?  It's the literacy block is a 40-minute block. So,   how do we put all those missing elements  in in a systematic cohesive way? So,   we recreated our literacy block. We thought about  how can we fit those components in. That was the   first step. The next step was okay, what are we  going to teach? We are really the work with Mr.   Jackarina was really about getting back to the  standards and and that's what the assessment data   was showing that our curriculum

034wasn't always  clear and explicit about the standards. So,   we had to revise our curriculum maps and really  think about what standards are we hitting that way   we have full coverage and that we're making sure  that you know we're across the board and across   the grades starting even with our kindergarteners.  So, we created a curriculum map which is linked   there. Um that it's really vertical and horizontal  alignment. Um it has like the names of the units,   what standards are being taught, when and  where. Um so then we knew what we were teaching,   you know, the bigger picture. The next step was  okay, how's that going to look day-to-day? Um,   and a lot of the work from the Bosey's training  with Mr. Jackarina was that backward by design   model. So, starting with the the goal like the 

035outcome and then a little road map on how we might   get there and then we want to be engaging for kids  and you're going to see lots of examples on how   it is in a few minutes, but how do we, you know,  how can we be authentic? How are we hitting these   standards in ways that kids, even kindergarteners  through fifth grade, want to be part of?   um and how is it also developmentally appropriate  when we're we're aligning those standards and   how do we create those opportunities and  then the next part was and this was a huge   um thing that stood out as we were going through  the addistation was the need for that academic   vocabulary and just really exposing students to  that high level high lever language that they   often see in like state testing

036um opportunities.  So, we built in into our lesson ways that students   will be exposed to that academic vocabulary  starting at an early age. That way, it is um I don't know what word I was looking for, but  anyway, that way it's embedded across the way   and that it spirals um and again, students are at  lower levels are being exposed to high vocabulary.   And then the last thing was the assessments. We  didn't want to just wait for that once a year   ELA assessments to show us how we're doing with  the standards. They're embedded inside the unit,   but again in a way that doesn't feel like we're  over testing or that's too much is authentic. And   it gives teachers a good pulse on like what's  sticking, what needs to be retaught. So all of   these things are

037embedded inside the curriculum.  You're going to see some parts of Thank you. Hello, I'm Jen Hayhurst. I'm the literacy  coordinator at Vern Critz and I'm here   tonight to share with you the research  base that informed our locally written   curriculum. This project represents the  collaboration and expertise of our teachers   and it's something that we are deeply proud  of. Um, so tonight I'll not only show you   the research behind our design but also  how it lives in your classroom every day. Okay. So our work is grounded in the research of  John Hattie. John Hattie is one of the leading   experts um and influential voices in education  today. His research helps teachers identify which   practices will have the greatest impact on student  learning. So he designed this uh barometer of   influence. And the thing that you have to

038think  about when you look at it is anything above a   0.4 effect size that's a hinge point4 equals  one year's growth in one year's time. That's   pretty good, right? Anything above that has been  proven to accelerate student learning. And these   are practices that we very intentionally  embedded within our curriculum design. All right. So I'm going to talk to you now  about um building background knowledge and   concept mapping. So, as part of our design with  the curriculum, we very intentionally wrote these   um essential questions that are written to kind  of lead children into their learning by giving   them all of the background that they need so that  everybody's got a fair shot. They're all getting   the same access to the same knowledge, right? And  we're giving them a device called a concept map.   And both of

039these practices, as you can see from  the effect size, are extremely powerful. Um,   and what they do, the concept map gives them a  vehicle for them to demonstrate their learning and   organize their thinking. So, I have a little video  for you today. This is Nolan. He is from Mrs. D.   Rose's second grade classroom. And what Nolan is  doing, he's doing something called peer tutoring,   which has an effect size of 0.54, where he is  demonstrating to his fellow students how to use   the concept map to make his comprehension  more visible. Um, so on the concept map,   you'll see the word characters, you'll see the  word feelings, you'll see the word choices,   and then underneath you see lessons learned.  All of that has been designed into their unit. because um they were um pretending that  they met

040a dragon and that they were   um guarded by pirate and they were stealing a  magic. Can you name the characters? Yeah. Um,   so there is Buzz Boy and why that and they were  feeling imaginative. How did you know? Um, because   on the first page of the book it says that they  made a book um about them being super superheroes. Could you talk more about aircraft?  And um the lessons that he learned that   um making and reading books um can be how did he move? Um because at the end of the  story they want to read it again. That's the   last thing right now. The wonderful thing  about Nolan and you know you could see him   processing the concept map, right?  All the other children in the class,   a bunch of them came up and all

041kind  of were able to follow his modeling,   right? And talk about their own books,  you know, and this is the kind of highly   structured engaging academic talk with the right  kind of tool to help them be very successful. And this is an example of knowledge  building at our four five level. So Hattie goes in great detail talking about  vocabulary instruction. He calls it programs,   but what he really means is that it's a highly  um predictable and um full coverage kind of   vocabulary learning that gives children access  to the academic language that they need to be   successful. So when we wrote our curriculum, we  modeled our routine after Isabelle Beck. She's   one of the most um reputable researchers in the  area of vocabulary. she's written into our state   standards. Um, and what it is basically is

042it's  putting a new no a new word on a known concept.   So like you wouldn't say I feel sad, right?  You would say I feel lonely because that's more   precise. And we'll kind of go into how they learn  it with these predictable routines a little later. Okay. So, um, the cornerstone of our  curriculum is academic talk. And at its heart,   it really is all about equity. Every day in  classrooms K5, children engage in structured   academic conversation where everyone has  a voice. We built in um ways to support   kids with sentence frames and visuals and  trans languaging opportunities. This way,   students who are learning English can participate  fully and confidently. Language learning happens   through conversations, not before it. Um, so you  can walk into any classroom and hear students   respectfully building on each other's idea. And 

043that really is building a culture of inclusion. And finally, um, by writing this curriculum  together, we've built something truly special,   very close to my heart. Um, we've built  collective efficacy which Haddie has found   to be the single most powerful driver of student  achievement with an effect size of 1.39. Now you   remember four one year's growth and one year's  sign, right? So everything you've seen tonight   from the knowledge building to the academic  talk was created right here by our teachers   and it's grounded in evidence-based practices  that accelerate learning. And that's something   that we can all be very proud of. Um, thank  you for allowing me to share this work with   you. Our teachers have created a curriculum that  is both researchdriven and authentically ours.   And that's what makes it powerful for students and  sustainable for our

044district. Thank you very much. That's what I was going for, guys. Well,   you did it. I'm just quickly switching out  because we had some tech issues before. All right. So, hi, I'm Carrie Pilo. And hi, I'm  Kim Goslin, literacy coordinator for CHA. And um   we would like to take a moment to celebrate  some of the highlights of this curriculum.   One of our key goals was to honor teachers  feedback by creating a curriculum that brings   everything together in one place. When teachers  open a unit, all of the materials and resources   they need are easily accessible. And this  streamlined design allows them to spend more time   doing what matters most, which is differentiating  instruction to meet the needs of the students that   are in front of them. We would like to take  you through some of the

045learning experiences   the students have been engaging in with this  unit since the beginning of this school year. Okay. So, um, one of the things we wanted to do is  ensure that all the students build really strong   research-based foundational literacy skills. Um,  so what we've adopted were, um, two programs,   both the UFly uh, foundations program for phonics  and the Hegerty phenemic awareness program,   which are two very highly effective u multi-ensory  programs that are aligned with the science of   reading. Uh these programs directly support the  New York State literacy pillars of both phmic   awareness and phonics. They provide uh explicit  systematic instruction that's both responsive and   adaptable to meet our students diverse learning  needs. So really quick I want to just show you   some of this in action. So here are some um I'm  just going to

046show you one of these videos. This   is part of the Hagerty routine and I want  to show you some adorable kindergarteners   um in Mrs. Shanley and Mrs. Hazman's class who  are working on their phenemic awareness using   Hegy. Um what I'm going to show you is the  compound word segmenting. So this is really   early stages of phmic awareness where kids  are taking a bigger bigger word and breaking   it apart into bigger parts before they get into  later on the individual phone names. Um what you   I want you to notice is that how they're using  their hand motions um the multiensory approach   and really just the repetition that aids in  the student success. So just really quickly say it separated. Good Arab cake. Pancake   cake. Good Natalie. Cross it.  Poundake. Poundake. Sign it. Now okay, that's a

047little quick example of some fun  phenemic awareness. Um and then another part   um that we've incorporated for more explicit uh  full coverage phonics instruction at the K12 K2   level is um EUI or EU foundation. So in this  program it's very explicit. Um they do things   such as visual drills which is repetition and  repeating for accuracy of individual phones it   sounds. Um they have blending drills um where it's  basically using word chains to manipulate sounds   on the phonics patterns that are being taught all  to help with orthographic mapping. So really quick   I'm going to show you this little video. This is  a second grade classroom. Mrs. Hawthorne's class   um participating in the blending  drill portion of our youfly lesson. Whack. Now I want to change  the w sound in whack to sh and they come up

048to the board. Their tiles  are there and they're manipulating. Good.   Yeah. So that really helps ch children with  not only identifying the letters and sounds   but manipulating where and what part of  the word they go to which helps support the   orthographic mapping which is a big part  of the shift in the science of reading. So another key pillar of the curriculum is  the vocabulary development. This slide shows   what students in grades K to five experience as  they move through the vocabulary routine. This   specific one is fourth grade. Uh students engage  in breaking words apart, defining them. In upper   grades, we talk about and explore morphology.  They hear examples and they repeat the word   aloud. We say, "Say it. They say it." Um they are  practicing identifying synonyms and antonyms and   then they're checking for understanding.

049So in  grades three to five, um teachers are creating   classroom resources that help students practice  and reinforce the morphological concepts that   are introduced and reviewed throughout the unit.  So you can see the um images on their walls that   kids can go to and continue to practice. Um  and so Miss Hayher spoke a little bit about   this too. Um but another really highly effective  instructional practice um that we've incorporated   and we use both through K through five is this use  of concept maps. Right? So here are some examples   that could be seen across the district currently  in our classrooms. Um, I want you to notice how   both their how they're both authentic and student  driven and very different. Right? So, right here,   this is an ENL classroom. Children were talking  about their identity. Um, so here

050they've built   themselves if um in their themselves, you could  see parts of their identity. And then the teacher   now connects that to the books they're reading  and the characters and the mirrors they see of   in themselves with their identity. Um, this is  an example of a third grade classroom who is now   branching out on this concept of relationships.  We're reading Stone Fox. We're talking about how   the word identity, culture, collaboration, and  belonging come together. And we're connecting   it to both our reading in our novel and our  own personal lives. And there's some other   examples. Our do language classrooms also with  relationships. Um here's some more examples of   just different ways teachers have embraced this  idea of concept mapping and what it looks like in   their classrooms. And so the unit was really that  we created

051for concept maps was to support these   instructional practices um and to expand them.  And so another instructional practice that goes   handinand are these grand conversations increasing  oral language. Right? So now we're connecting   our protocols of grand conversations, how kids  talk in and around books and other concepts and   um topics and connecting it to our concept map.  The concept map is that visual piece um that helps   provide these rich student-driven conversations.  Um these grand conversations become even more   powerful when paired with these concept maps  and the knowledge building. So here's an example   currently in our second grade classrooms. This is  an example from Warren. He's in Mrs. Hawthorne's   second grade classroom. Um and the children the  standard is really learning about characters   feelings and choices in lessons. Similar example  to Mrs. Hers and um how the

052children connect um   the characters to the lessons. So they're engaging  in a lot of different readalouds and this was like   a culmination of how they're thinking deeply about  how the different books and the characters they've   been learning come together about to connect the  big feelings characters could have um and how they   handle those feelings. Um, so the extension of  this was after Warren was engaged in his whole   class conversation, the student then asked to  go back and do a little written response of   something that they've learned or connected. And  here's some examples um from the class of other   student writing. So you could see how they were  proud, happy, really pointing out the different   character feelings and how they connect. And I'm  going to show you a little clip about Warren. Um,   and what he's

053doing is he's connecting two  characters. um an from the book My First Day and   Emma from the series Emma Every Day to apply his  own independent thinking about character feelings. Okay. So, tell me about how the  two characters are connected.   because Ann felt happy when he saw his friends  going to school and and with Emma. Emma stole   Candy and and she was the same as her. Oh.  So, what does that say about both of the   characters? How are they connected? because  they're both excited at the end at the end at   the end of the story. So, it's really about  taking just that idea of character feelings   and how it connects across characters and  then also then applied to oneself. So,   one instructional practice we also incorporated  was close reading. So, during close reading,   students rereading

054a short selection of text.  You could see it up there in the corner.   that strengthens their fluency. It builds their  vocabulary and it deepens their comprehension. So,   we see fourth graders in this picture. They're  engaging in a rereading to reinforce these   skills. They're jotting their observation of how  it sounds when someone reads and they're using a   fluency rubric to rate themselves and they're  applying that to what they're learning. And   the rubric is K5. Yeah. So, it's continual that  vertical alignment. And uh another part of close   reading we focus on a lot, especially in the  upper grades, is this comprehension. Um, the   questions we pose to students, as you can see up  there, mirror the format and rigor of the New York   State ELA assessment, and they're intentionally  embedded throughout the whole unit to provide   students

055with consistent exposure and practice  over the course of the year. In this video,   unfortunately, it's me, um, you will see students  talking to discuss the best answer choice. Which statement best reveals the relationship  between Rob and his mother? Remember we learned   the word reveal, right? Was to show something  that was was hidden. When they ask us a question   about revealing about two people, it's usually  about their relationship. What does that part   reveal about Rob and his mother? So, let's look  at the answers. Which statement best reveals the   relationship between Rob and his mother?  A. Rob and his mother like each other. B.   Even through dark times, Rob's mother motivated  him. C Rob's mother encouraged him to hide his   feelings just like his father. And D, Rob was  sad that his mother died. Now any answers?  

056Which answer would be the best answer? Turn  it. I want to hear the best answer because Okay. And we're going in closing, we would like  to share some teacher testimonials because we   wanted to hear the voices of the people who  are doing this in the classroom every day. Um   that reflect the significant impact that the  student has made on the K5 student learning   within South Country. I'm going to have them up  so you can see, but I did want to read one aloud. Oops. Um, the new curriculum is beneficial  in helping students build meaningful   connections with the content. It encourages  greater participation and supports deeper   engagement during class activities. A  bilingual student in my class that is   not yet able to read or write in English  or Spanish independently has demonstrated   strong engagement and understanding

057by being  able to verbally participate. This has set   my student up for success and helped him gain  tremendous confidence as a learner. So, so, um,   in conclusion, on behalf of all of the students  and staff and administrators at South Country,   we just want to thank you for your continued  support, and we hope you enjoy this celebration   of the hard work that everybody has put into  it to support our students. Thank you so much. Thank you. Um, you know, I think I even for me,  I don't really recall my reading instruction   as a child, but the ability for all of you, your  administrators and um, our teachers especially and   our students to really like break it down to all  these little individual components from phonics to   uh, the morphology of words is pretty  fantastic. And again,

058this all, you know,   lays a foundation for critical thinking because  all of our assessments across content areas   require, you know, pretty proficient literacy  skills to understand intent, theatic elements. Um,   and so and almost all of our assessments,  including science assessments, you have to sort of   um find justify your claims by citing text. So,  kids are learning as early as kindergarten how   to sort of uh embrace these skills. So, thank you  all. really excited to see uh sort of the results   that this will yield. Um moving forward,  get back to my close out my presentation. Um and so um just to go on um we do have some  community happenings happening. Uh Bport Unity Day   was rescheduled for October 13th, which is Monday.  Uh unfortunately, I think we have our noraster   coming. Sorry to ruin anybody's

059mood about the  weekend. So, we'll see if it's uh postponed yet   again, but right now it's scheduled for October  13th uh from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. And the high   school is also hosting um an commemoration of uh  breast cancer awareness month, a blood drive on   Thursday, October 16th. I really do encourage  community members to come out and participate.   There are always blood shortages uh and our local  blood centers. So, come out. That'll be held at   the high school um on Thursday, October 16th.  Again, visit our website. Um, you know, you'll   be have updates on different happenings. Um, and  of course, please follow all of our various social   media handles to keep up with all the great things  that are happening in the district. That concludes   my superintendent report. Thank you. Before you  leave, yep, Miss

060Hagen, and to your entire team,   thank you very much for reminding us that there  are lots of good things going on in South Country   in spite of everything that we're dealing  with right now. and uh job well done. Really,   really spectacular job. Uh we've been talking  about our scores for a long time now and thank   you for doing the work that you're doing to to to  put a light on the good work that you're doing and   uh just a fabulous job. Really, it's spectacular  job. Thank you so much. Thank you. I wanted to   say to the superintendent, thank you so much for  doing this um presentation tonight and bringing in   the people who are actually doing the work for the  benefit of our children. Um, it it reminds us of   our focus as a board

061which is on the students and  I was really gratified to hear not just the work   that went into it but the note that you ended on  with the teacher testimonial about the anecdotal   indication of success of what you're doing with  regard to the one student who was fully engaged.   um while working on language skills and  reading skills. So um thank you very much   for that uplifting report that was presented  tonight. I just want to um say this about I   appreciate your sentiment really the credit goes  to the teachers. Um you know I just want to give   an opportunity to our various departments to  present to the board and to the community. We   do have a lot of great things happening across  the district. So I'm hoping to engage in more   presentations. It's create just an

062awareness  of the great work that our teachers are doing,   our support staff and our So thank you all. U  reluctant to take any credit for it. And if I   could just uh just mention something to the  um board president and the superintendent,   I think a presentation like this is worthy of an  entry on the uh agenda. Uh for someone who spent   a lot of time going back looking at all of our uh  reports and viewing our past board meetings, if we   were to look for this presentation in in history,  we would not be able to find it because it's not   listed on the agenda. Could we put a subsection  under your report to say this literacy uh present   presentation was made tonight so that in history  if we were to go back to search for

063it, we could   find it. I think it was worthy of it. idea. We'll  create a PDF that we can embed. Yeah. It was   worthy of its own entry on the on the agenda. Yep.  Okay. Okay. Just a reminder that it would be in   the minutes and there could be a reference to it  and are our presentations all posted after they've   been shown? Yes. So, the minutes would link to  the presentation. It would not. I I disagree with   council who's trying to correct me. If you would  just look at the minutes, you I look at the ag   um the the minutes. You're not going to find  it embedded in the minutes as as quickly as you   would on the agenda. It was worthy of its own  entry on the agenda. And I would respectfully   request that

064it get its own uh entry on the  agenda and and reports like this, presentations   like this going forward. It's worthy of its own  agenda item. I agree. I think we could leave the   evening and I'm I'm sure there's a way through  our tech department to get it linked better so   that it can be more easily found. Absolutely.  Yes. Want to add one thing. I just want to say   job well done. Um I was really engrossed by the  presentation the whole thing. Um, I think that   curriculum can sometimes and instruction can seem  ambiguous, but to know that it's researchbased   and you showed it and you really demonstrated  that tonight is really commendable and yeah,   our our students are really lucky and  good job. So, thank you so much for that. And hats off to our principles,

065too,  who give them the support that they   need. Absolutely. Thank you  for your support as well. So, now that we've ended on a very uplifting  note, we're moving into uh trustee and advisory   committee reports. But I'm gonna start with  our exeicio student member because in the   past everything we've heard from you has been  interesting and uplifting. So we'll turn it over   to Madison Aruda. To start off homecoming this  weekend was a huge success between the parade, the   game, the dance. It was very nice to see community  and district participation all throughout.   I just want to thank my student council board, all  members for the work that we put in this week. We   were at the school till 11 o'clock on Friday  setting up the dance and everyone had a smile   on their face and thank

066you to Miss Hoffman for  all the supplies she gave us. Um, also this week   I had the opportunity to attend the welcome event  for student school board members run by Nisba.   Um key takeaways from this event was that we need  to get more diverse student voices heard. And a   way to do that is through surveys and polls.  And to piggyback off of that, um the student   council board had a full meeting last Tuesday and  we discussed um starting a student led committee   which I've talked about with Mr. Santana at the  high school which would bring issues from the high   school to me which I would give to the board. And  we got a list of students that would be involved   in it. and me and Miss Hoffman are very excited  and we're really interested to

067get this group off   the ground. Yeah, we actually scheduled our first  meeting um labeling it the super superintendent   super superintendent I said it's white  superintendent student advisory council uh we   scheduled a meeting for Thursday October I think  it's 13th is a number um so I'm meeting with about   16 students and preparing a little survey for them  but they're going to you know one of the charges I   gave both the high school and the middle school  was to give me a nice cross-section of students   so I could hear um student voices uh from across  the board so I'm excited to meet students this and   engage in some real meaningful conversations.  That's all I have today. Thank you. So, Trusty   Pelos, sure. So, I had the opportunity um to  attend the New York State School Board Association  

068um mandated training up in Albany last weekend.  I was jealous seeing Mr. Ross's picture up there   uh at the parade. I'd rather have been there,  obviously. Um, and I did talk to coach Fabian   and he did give me a rain check for hopefully a  future breakfast invite. Uh, but it was a pretty   informative meeting that I thought was um, very  helpful moving forward as well. Trusty Ross. So,   yeah, I got sucked into homecoming. Um, I don't  know if that's what I set out to do on my Friday   night, but I certainly uh got pulled in and  enjoyed it. Um but more so in sort of bringing   the teachers back into it and something that  we've all been talking about collectively as a   board which is you know what really matters and  that everything has an

069effect so that everybody   in town and the news cameras are here tonight  because of some of the financial pieces. I hope   people realize that that is such a small part and  as a little bump in the road compared to what the   teachers and what the administrators and what  you guys do. Um and I bring that back around the   homecoming because um as Superintendent Santana  pointed out, we were getting floats together.   Well, I watch kids who don't necessarily have  the opportunity for shop class the way they do   in some other districts and some other places.  And those kids wanted to learn how to use the   drill gun and how to put the float together  and the fact that they got to put it up. Um,   that was the difference. I got to watch, you know,  a

070football breakfast from where a place where   I sat as a student where I got to I financially  supported and helped put that together. I watched   other families in the community when they heard  that students and people in the district wanted   to redo homecoming. They wanted a dance that they  stepped up and they put their their voices, their   money and their effort, whatever they could give  and one being greater than the other and that they   all came together to do that. Um, so I thought  that was a really good start for old things can   be new again. So I really took that away from the  homecoming weekend. That was really like what are   we going to do? And we showed up and we're like  piecing floats together and I watched seniors I   watched sophomores hide out

071in the back courtyard.  For you guys that don't know, the back of the   high school there's a courtyard. They were hiding  because they wanted that float to be a surprise.   They didn't want anybody to be able to take it  from them. That takes a little pride as opposed to   ah let's just throw it together. So I I was I was  really optimistic from that. I was also optimistic   because there was not one event that somebody  was not talking about doing it better next year,   which I bring it back around again to the teachers  is the same thing that your curriculum is trying   to do. I can do it a little bit better. we can  get their grades a little bit better. So, I saw   a lot of things kind of come full circle. Um, and 

072despite the problems that we see, I hope there's   a lot more optimism seeing things like this,  things like homecoming, and quite frankly, stop   complaining about what's there and contribute to  the solution and not complain about the problem. Trustee Calderon. Um, sure. So, on the 27th, I  also had the pleasure of attending the homecoming   breakfast. Um, as Trusty Ross explained, it was  wonderful to be a part of that and to be a part of   um, such a proud community tradition. It was my  first time and I also realized I was lacking in   um, South Country Central swag, so I need to get  my song. Um, and everyone pointed it out. So,   we'll never make that mistake again. Um, but  really seeing how we empower and celebrate our   students uh through athletics and just being a  community

073was was inspiring. Um, I was able to   connect with many of the amazing parents who truly  put together such a great program and a great day.   Um, so a big shout out to them and and staff and  teachers and everyone who who was uh a part of   that great day. Um, I also attended yesterday,  October 7th, the first meeting of the strategic   planning advisory committee. Uh we discussed the  district's long-term goals and next steps. Um and   it really tied in nicely with the presentation we  received today. Um to hear positive updates. Um it   it was just really uplifting. Um so yeah, I look  forward to um hearing more presentations about   what's going on in the district and of course look  forward to attending more school events this week   and this fall. Thank you, Trusty Feliz.

074Thank you.  Um yes, to echo all the all the um uh compliments   of of homecoming weekend, I too participated  on the breakfast and the game and the parade   and it was a wonderful event and uh it always is  every year and wonderful to celebrate in the 50th   anniversary of the uh of Belleport football. And  uh I just learned that uh there's going to be a   mayor's cup for basketball returning this year. So  I understand that's in development. Maybe I wasn't   supposed to say that yet. No, you didn't hear  anything yet. Well, it's on its way. So, uh to be   to be determined, but uh excited about that coming  back. Um I spent the better part of the last two   weeks um pouring through my notes, pouring through  treasures reports trying to see, you know, what

075I   missed over these uh over these over this last  year with respect to the financial difficulties   that we're experiencing. Um because I just I take  my role here very seriously and I feel like if I   miss something I want to accept responsibility for  it and um in going through the in going through   the treasurer's reports and um and the t and the  times that I've met with the uh business office   and the questions that I asked did I ask the right  questions? Did I did I pursue the right questions?   um what I could have done better to not miss what  happened and what we can do better as a team. And   while I appreciate what uh Trustee Ross had to say  to focus on the solutions and not the problems,   and I and I love

076his spirit as a new member on the  board. Um, I'm going into my ninth year here and I   feel like I've done a good job so far, but I miss  something and I'm going to take responsibility   for what was missed and make sure I don't do it  again. And I can see when I go through all the   treasures reports that I scoured and how I made  some meetings with the business office and some   meetings, some treasures reports I didn't. And um  and I'm going to hold the superintendent's office   responsible for when those when those treasures  reports came late and they came that day and I   asked that those that those treasures reports  be tabled and that was the wrong thing to do.   I should have insisted that they be presented  that night because they were

077so cumbersome and   not let them wait a me another meeting or two. I  should have insisted that they be presented that   night in their entirety because they are just that  important and not just accept that when I found a   negative balance that it was just accounting  because we could have done better to pick up   what was happening at the time. um we we've could  we could have done a lot better and some of the   issues that were happening were happening at  the time that we were putting the last budget   together for 2526 and that's where a lot got  missed and I hold myself responsible for that   error and I will do a better job moving  forward and I'm committed to working with   this board to make sure we do a better job.  And some of

078the actions that we took tonight,   I'm not 100% I wasn't 100% in agreement with some  of the stipulations that were there. I voiced my   opinion and some of the some of the language  got changed and I appreciate the president for   allowing input from all the members of the board.  Nothing's going to be 100%, but we'll get there. But what my advice is to the new members on the  board, don't take no for an answer. If your gut   is telling you something's not right and you  ask for information and you don't get it,   don't take no for an answer because we can do  better. And that's my report. Thank you. Pini,   nothing for me. Trustee, nothing.  Nothing. Thank you. Okay. Um, starting with the upbeat things, I'm not going to  repeat the homecoming breakfast, the homecoming  

079game. Um, but I will let you know I did attend a  Vern Critz PTA meeting and was impressed at the   enthusiasm of all the participants. It was done  on a zoom call and I appreciate the principal's   input there. Um, but again, it was the uh the  atmosphere that was created in that meeting   spills over for the benefit of our kids. Um, and  they're all looking forward to some good things   that are going to happen. I also went in um just  for a few minutes at the tail end of the middle   school fair on Saturday and was impressed again  with the atmosphere of the kids, the parents,   the staff members and our safety officers who  were there. Um again, it was a good thing for   a good thing for kids and something that they  thoroughly were

080enjoying. Um, ditto comments   about the strategic planning meeting and also  just to say that professional development for   board members is available through the NAS um, New  York State School Board Association in particular.   Um, so building on the mandated training  that was mentioned by Trustee Visetta,   uh, Vice President Dilo and I both sat or  participated. Um, it was in a training webinar for   board officers last Friday from 8 a.m. till 12:30.  Um, so that reinforced some of the things that   we all got from our initial mandated training, but  I think it's beneficial to have it reinforced on a   regular basis um so that um we can work better  together as a board, work better together with   our superintendent, work better knowing what our  lanes are so that we stay in them and we um we do  

081things the right way. Picking up on the language  earlier about doing it better next year, doing   it better every day. And um I appreciate hear  again hearing the report from the superintendent   um and appreciate that focus on what's going on  in our schools for our kids on a daily basis.   Um so that it's not o overwhelmed by the budget  issues that have had to be dealt with. and we're   in the process of continuing to deal with it.  So, uh, thank you again for the reports. Thank   you for the feedback from the students and from  the board members. And I think that concludes our committee trustee and advisory committee  reports. And if I could use this because   you've got the big screen and I can read it. Um, okay. Um, we're in the section of our

082meeting  that's called public commentary on agenda items.   And our standard statement is individuals  wishing to address the board shall sign in   with the district clerk. During the public comment  period, the board requests each speaker to stand,   state their name and address, and proceed  with their comments. Only matters related   to items listed in the board meeting agenda  may be addressed here. For non-aggenda items,   whenever individuals or groups wish to bring a  matter to the attention of the board, they must   submit a written request to the superintendent.  The public may not discuss topics unrelated to   the district or matters unrelated to the agenda  or matters involving specific individuals. There   will be no comments related to specific students  or personnel. If anyone has comments regarding   specific students or personnel, they may either  submit a written statement for consideration

083by   the board andor the administration or they can  schedule an appointment with the superintendent to   review their concerns. All speakers are to conduct  themselves in a civil manner. Obscene language,   harassing language, defamatory statements, and  threats of violence will not be tolerated. I will   be responsible for the orderly conduct of the  meeting and will discontinue any presentation   which violates this policy. Board members will  not respond to public comments at the meeting.   The superintendent or I will respond  if appropriate in the days following   the meeting. Remarks shall be addressed to me  board president. Comment should be as brief   as possible but no longer than three minutes and  the district clerk will maintain the three minute   timer. And do we have any cards other than this  one? Okay, we have one card from Kareem Odicon. Can you hear

084me? Uh, good evening. My name is  Kareem Odicon. I'm a dad of two kids in the   district. Uh, I live in 19 Chapel in Brook in  the Amlet. Um, I'm speaking about the I what I   think is the And can my three minutes start  now? Not without the intro. Anyway, um I'm   talking about the what I think is the audit, but I  actually emailed the board asking for information   about what looks like an audit. Um a consulting  contract from an audit. Um and I didn't get any   um information. That audit, the consulting firm's  name was actually incorrect as of this morning. Uh   intensive management group. I assume that's who's  doing whatever audit the school is asking for. Um,   and I want to talk also about this, you know, this  contract in relationship to the school

085board's   uh and the superintendent's proclamations  about transparency surrounding our financial   uh stat situation in the district. Um, we've  known about the recent financial irregularities   at least for over a month um with no discussion  about the magnitude. We have um uh Trustee Feliz   here talking about things she would have, you  know, reflections, but none of this has been   shared with the public. And I just want to remind  everybody, we're a public school district. This   is a public entity. Um and uh instead, parents  are forced to do foil requests to the district.   um regarding what has prompted this uh uh the  audited financials that have prompted this   uh investigation and we've been told that they  don't exist um and that we'll get them after   the board reviews. FYI, the law says you have  to submit these financials

086to New York State   by August October 15th. Okay? So, if the public  can't know about this before August October 15th,   we will go to New York State and we'll find out.  This is not transparency. The superintendent talks   about a transparency hub online. The uh president  uh Hayes emails us talking about commitments to   transparency. Look at the last board meeting where  you discussed this contract. Um you were afraid to   even speak. You know, there was a discussion and  only one trustee out of seven even said that they   would read the um the um uh the audit um whatever  the agenda item out loud to approve $10,000 being   spent. You guys are talking about spending public  funds to deal with financial regularities in a   public school district. And only one trustee,  Trustee Feliz, even said, "Let's speak

087out loud."   And then other trustees, Mr. Ross, you're fighting  against this. And our our president is on a hot   mic to our attorney, which is not Is this weird  to anybody that we have an attorney now at our   board of education meetings saying that we need to  protect the district and it doesn't look good in   terms of quote in terms of protecting us and not  making any issues? This is not normal. This is   not transparency. Um, and I can go on and on. you  know, the board of education, uh, the trust, uh,   President Hayes wrote to us saying the district's  attorneys reached out to New York State Office   of the Controller, uh, to determine next steps.  But then when I ask and I foil who they reached   out to, there's no actual communication. Um,  this

088is not transparency. This is not okay. And   then talk about intensive management group  or whatever. This is a firm run by two DEA   agents. What's going on in our district? Uh,  this is uh, it's very upsetting and we can do   better. And the reason I care, all right, the  reason I care is because just few months ago,   this board excessed dozens of teachers and  teaching assistance. So when we look at all   the great work that our teachers are doing, there  is a human cost to our financial mismanagement   in this district. Our children suffer. Your time  is is depleted. Thank you for your comments. Um, normally we do not respond, but when  there are comments that are made that   are in inappropriate and inaccurate, there is a  there are a couple of comments I will make

089here.   Number one is the interpretation you attributed  to my consultation with council with regard to a   Robert's rule rules issue and it had to do with  following normal process within a meeting. In   normal process in a business meeting the only  resolutions that are read aloud are those that   are required by law. We do not normally read aloud  any resolutions and as you will note from tonight   there were some s significant steps taken. The  resolutions were passed. They're online in and   they'll be in the minutes um about whether normal  and you may not speak from the audience and your   time is concluded. So to have you present to the  public as if there was anything unusual here and   stop interrupting I'll have to ask you to please  re restrain yourself. So um with regard to your  

090question about the magnitude that is forthcoming  from our annual audit that is in the final stages   of being completed and we should expect to have a  number that can be reported to the public at that   point. So that concludes my response. Was there  any that the superintendent would like to make?   No, I have no comment. All right. So, we're now  going into F, item F, items for discussion. The   New York State School Board Association um  proposed bylaw amendments and resolutions for   this year. But I'm going to turn that over  to Vice President Dillo to lead that. Um,   as part of NISSBA's annual business meeting,  there are resolutions put forth to each board   um to vote on to guide NISMA's um NISBA's actions  and uh resolution, whatever. Um, what we sent out   was a listing of

091the propositions for board  members to look at. um to see if there's any   on there that uh particular particularly pertain  to our district or that you felt strongly about to   vote yes for or no for. So the tomorrow there will  be a zoom call that I will be part of to discuss   some of the resolutions in details ones that  have questions attached to them. Um the actual   voting takes place next Thursday uh beginning at  four o'clock again via Zoom with various school   uh boards having a representative on the call.  So, you're asking if any board members have uh any   questions about any of the resolutions or whether  there's any position that they think this board   should take that differs from the recommendation  from the NASA Suffet School Board Association.   Correct. For example, last year, one

092of the ones  that I think every district voted for unanimously   um was moving capital projects up along in  the state's approval process. Um, so again,   I didn't looking through the resolutions, I didn't  see anything that was as strong as that this year,   but I wanted to open it to my fellow board  members to see if perhaps they have something   that is more important to them. Did any anyone  pick up anything in particular for our newest   members? I think we can just make the observation  that in general um the recommendations by Nassau   School Board Association have dealt with issues  and maybe Trusty Pacini I guess my question did   we circulate I don't remember the the resolutions  worksheet that NASA suffocates did we circulate   that to board I thought we did I thought it was  a text

093the only reason is it the only reason   I say that is it's a little bit easier to read  than this this is a little like each page is a   resolution where it's a little bit more condensed  and compressed than that. That's why I asked,   but I I'm on the legislative committee and I I  don't recall there being any type of lightning rod   legislation that's up this year that drew sharp  um criticism or discussion. I think it was just   some wording things and they really it seemed to  be a pretty normal overnight year. Anybody else?   No question. Are you participating on that Zoom  call? I will be on the 9h hour call. Yes. Yes.   Armed with my um Dunkin Donuts coffee. Let's  keep going. May the force be with you. Well,   thank you for both bringing

094it up, explaining  it, and devoting your time tomorrow to see this   through. Thank you. All right, we now are up to uh  G. Thank you, President Hayes. The administration   recommends approval of curriculum items reflected  in schedules G1 through G5. G1 through G4. G1   through G4. Is there a motion to approve G1  through G4? Uh, Vice President Dillo, second   by Trustee Ross. Questions or discussions? Seeing  none, all in favor? It's unanimously approved. And   next H could the superintendent just say the two  items uh three and four what was approved since   there was some controversy on that some of those  may have been cancelled but they indeed are not.   Yeah. So um one of the trips that were approved  today was the um sixth grade trip to Medieval   Times. It's a grade level trip that we do

095annually  as well as the NISBA all state music festival for   uh our students to compete. Thank you. Now  and Frost Valley is on the business agenda.   That's a little different. So before we book the  trip to Frost Valley for our seventh graders,   we have to agree to a contract with the YMCA that  runs the camp. Once that contract is approved,   and then you'll see an approval for the actual,  but Frost Valley is still in the plans and so   the rumors about it being cancelled can hopefully  go away. Correct. And the reason that these field   trips are mentioned is because they're either  overnight or out of state. Correct. Because   any local field trips do not come to the board for  approval. Correct. Okay. So, glad to have clarity   on that. Item H. The administration recommends  approval

096of items H1 through H7. Is there a   motion to approve? Uh, Trustee Palisetta,  second by Trustee Calderon. Anybody have   questions? All in favor? It's unanimously  approved. And then I Yes, the administr um I think yeah okay the administration  recommends approval of business items   reflected in I1 through I7. Is there  a motion to approve I1 through I7? I1 through I7. Trustee Bellisetta first and  then the second by Trustee Ross. Questions   or discussions there? Seeing none, all in  favor of approving I1 through I7. Um it's   I think unanimously approved. Yes. Yes. Okay.  Okay. So next is the administration recommends   approval of business items reflected in I8.  Okay. Um, is there a motion to approve I8? Um, I saw trustee uh Pacini for the motion  tr and vice president dilo for the second   questions or discussions on I8

097question. Can  the superintendent explain why there was a need   for such a large transfer at the end of the year?  Sure. So, it's a multiple transfer. So basically   our financial statements for our external ears  what they do is they engage in sort of what I   call like a cleaning process. So anywhere there  are surpluses and budget lines we transfer them   to those lines that are negative. Um ultimately  in the end because there was uh the event where   our expenses exceeded our approved budget there'll  still be negative lines in our budget. But as part   of the process of ending the year's financial this  is a typical process I've done annually. Okay. So   these transfers affect last year's money. That  is correct. It is not this year's money. That is   correct. Okay. It does it does appear

098that uh we  didn't have the right amount of money listed for   certain um budgeted uh positions. All that will  be uh sort of um revealed in our audit. Okay.   So I don't want to speak in speculation. So um  and typically just to respond to the whole point   the audit is public. So typically we present our  audit in the second workshop meeting in October.   Um this year we're anticipating either doing  that or perhaps the first meeting in November   as soon as they complete the audit. Um  it will be posted um on October 15th. We   actually would submit what's called an FT3 form  which is actually the financials to the state.   different form that has different information  that will be submitted uh on a timely basis   and there are times that gets edited depending  on the feedback

099from the state. Uh but as soon   as the audit is completed uh we'll be able  to communicate some more information to our   community and staff. Um and then like I said our  external auditors will present that information   to the audit committee and consequently pres or  subsequently I'm sorry present that information   to the board and to the public. Yeah, I'll keep it  on the positive but we have a lot of work to do.   Yes. All right. So, we had the motion. It was  seconded. Questions were asked. All in favor? Um,   unanimously approved. And next is public  commentary. I previously read the statement.   All parties in the room heard it. So, I have  one card. Are there any others? Uh, Karem OCon. Uh, this comment shouldn't be a surprise to anyone  on the Kimodicon 19 chapel on

100the board. I've been   emailing maybe I emailed five times the board  and I haven't had a satisfactory response. So,   I just want to ask, you know, as a parent to  the board, you know, why do you not feel the   need to actually respond to my concern?  In April, uh towards the end of April, we   were told by superintendent Santana that no dual  language teachers would be accessed outside of the   coordinator. Uh days later, we found out that  the sixth grade dual language teacher was told   they were being accessed. Um we were told this was  due to program evaluation and not budget reasons.   Um I was then referred to a meeting uh with uh  superintendent, assistant superintendent O'Hagen   and Miss Tettoan about this. Um, and it wasn't  clear to any of the parents why the program

101was   changing. Um, we were told that our kids need more  Spanish exposure, but then they had less Spanish   exposure under this new curriculum. Um, and I, you  know, we were told that this was due to program   evaluation. And I see the kind of great program  evaluation that goes on in our district. Um, I did   a freedom of information request to the district  for any pro written program evaluation about   the sixth grade dual language program and I was  somewhat um, you know, it was a little obnoxious,   but I was just given back my emails plus another  email requesting a calendar change for the for the   course calendar. Um, you know, so then I went  to the BOE. I emailed you, President Hayes,   five times and the rest of the board. Um, and you  know, just asking

102for assistance to understand the   evaluations that led to the program cut and I was  told I should go to a future meeting in December.   I've been to the meeting in in the end of last  school year and I didn't get a satisfactory   response. I imagine that when a program is cut  there is some sort of written evaluation. Um,   and in fact that didn't happen. And so if that is  that okay to the um to the board of education? It   seems very haphazard. Um so I I'm I'm just going  to leave it there. But I'm really disappointed.   Um our these financial mismanagement that goes on  in our district has human cost to our students,   to our teachers, to our community. And I  feel like it's not being taken seriously. Consider a comment briefly. We are preparing 

103a presentation to discuss our dual language   program. Hopefully you have satisfactory answers.  Then to speak to the six sixth grade program,   basically the model that we've been using K to  5 works for elementary school models because the   kids were basically with one teacher. There's two  teachers in dual language. The model isn't really   effective in secondary schools. So what we did  was we gave those students targeted instruction in   Spanish for a full period every day. So instead  of having their ELA split into two periods,   those kids in the dual language uh program have  English instruction like typical students have,   but they also have Spanish instruction which is  taught in the same manner that English instruction   is taught because they're at a certain level. You  know, it's not a level one Spanish class. So we   felt that

104that was going to be a more effective  uh way of delivering the information. More   information is forthcoming in our presentation  in December. Is there any written evaluation of   this program? May not Okay. Out no outbursts from  the audience are tolerated meeting. So are there   any closing remarks by board members? None. Is  there a motion to adjourn the meeting? Uh, Vice   President Dillo, second by Trustee Feliz. All in  favor of adjournment. It's unanimously approved.