001Pledge of Allegiance followed by a moment of silence. Thank you. >> I have your attention for a brief announcement. Upon fire alarm activation, need evacuation to the closest emergency exit is required. The emergency exits are located over there. Please exit away from the building as to not interfere with fire department and proceed to the evacuation areas. Please follow the school's officials directions. Once assembled outside the building, everyone must wait for the all clear uh before re-entering the building. Will the clerk please call the >> role here? Will the clerk does the clerk have any additions or deletions to the agenda? >> Yes. Sorry. Presentation 6.04 Long Island Championship. >> All right. Awesome. Um, I have some quick announcements here before we get into the presentation. The board of education will hold a regular meeting on
002Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 at 6:30 in the SIS music room nominating petitions to elect one member to the board of education for a 4-year term commencing on July 1st, 2026 and expiring on June 30th, 2030 to secede Germaine Smith, whose term expires on June 30th, 2026, are now available by contacting the district clerk. Completed petitions must be returned by 5:00 p. On Monday, April 20th, parent university state assessment information gold night will be held tomorrow, March 25th at 6:00 p. p.m. in the intermediate school. The intermediate school will host a parent coffee club on Thursday, March 26th at 6:00 p.m. Um, the high school literacy concert will be held on Friday, March 27th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the auditorium. Um, junior high spring sports will begin on March 30th. Um, family literacy night
003will be held on Monday, March 30th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the elementary school gymnasium. The high school um Italian Wonders trip 2026 will depart on Tuesday, March 31st, and return on Thursday, April 9th. No, I heard you're going. Have fun. Um, April 2nd is the end of the third um marking quarter. The district will be closed and there will be no school for students from Friday, April 3rd. An observation for Good Friday. Spring break will be held from Monday, April 6th through Friday, April 10th. District offices will be open that week from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. each day. The wellness committee will meet on April 14th at 3 p.m. via Zoom. The audit and finance committee will meet on April 14th at 3:30 in the district office. The personnel committee will meet
004on April 14th at 4:30 in the district office. Grades five and eight will participate in New York State Science Exam on Thursday, April 16th. The facilities committee will meet on April 16th at 3:30 in the district office. The intermediate school will host a silent disco on Friday, April 17th from 6 to 8:00 p.m. And um the softball and varsity baseball teams will be doing an autism awareness game on April 16th. So please come out and support us for that, too. So um that's all we got for comments here. Brings us on to program presentations. I know um robots wants to go first. >> Absolutely. Good evening. It is my pleasure uh to introduce Dr. Mitchell um and um this amazing championship robotics team. Let's give them a round of applause. very proud of them. I
005got to see them in their practices the day before the competition and I was so pleased and enthralled by all that they were doing and I just want to say congratulations. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. We'll put this on. Um so it's not uh just me. We have amazing teachers and adviserss also working with the team. So Mr. Peko, Mr. Flug, and Mr. Ruizi. Um it is truly truly a team effort. Um to it's actually talked about we talked about it today in one of our meetings. Someone said it's a herculean effort and it truly is. Um so it definitely takes a lot of teamwork among everyone here including all the students and also the families and parents that support the program. We do have some of our family members here with us
006tonight. So I'm not going to take a lot of time. I'm going to let the kids come and talk. Um, so whoever would like to come up and talk, I know Sarah Baros, our president is here. Um, we have Madden here. We have Colin here. So, Kodiak, any kids that want to come up, Jaden, and talk about the program and what their experience was coming up. >> Thank you so much for having us here. um not only to celebrate our winnings but to also thank you guys for your support and for us to ask you for your continued support. Um this year's competition was super fun. We had a lot more um this year's competition was super fun. I want to thank all of our amazing mentors especially Mr. Flu. They dedicate a lot of
007their time after school. Um and we really couldn't do without their mentorship and guidance. Um, I'm super happy to be a senior and be mentoring a lot of our younger under other classes this year. I've grown tremendously in my technical skill, um, and my ability to teach. Uh, I'm super happy to come back next year as an alumni and continue my mentorship, um, from Columbia Engineering. Uh, so yes, thank you so much for your support. This is our cool robot. Um, we'll demonstrate it driving and doing some cool things in a little bit from our lead programmer, Jaden. Um, >> I'm the vice president of the club. I've been at it since we started three years ago. Colin, get closer to that mic. Sorry. Um, >> maybe hold. >> So, this year I decided to
008fund raise for the robotics team by going around to different uh businesses around town and hand delivering letters and uh going and getting my face in the community and uh outreaching to them. And in that way I raised 10 $15,000 for the team and UH thank you. Um, but uh it would definitely be more helpful if we got more because uh a lot of the other a lot of the other teams have a lot more funding, but uh we still did very well in the competition and I'm very thankful for that and I bet everyone here is too. Thank you. Uh we'll now have Jaden demonstrate. Uh I just want to place another emphasis on funding. It's like an incredible understatement how expensive the components of a robot are. I mean each individual corner module
009you'll see that has a wheel can cost from $500 to $1,000 alone. Um that doesn't include maintenance and upkeep. We like to expand our inventory to use other build bases to show in our robotics classes as well have you know more material to teach. So thank you and Jayen will show us the robot now. >> Right. So, for those of you who don't know this year's competition, uh, every year we have different game rules, different game components. This year, our main game piece was a yellow ball, which you can see there on in that box. Uh, it usually is uh supposed to represent a certain field in STEM. So, this year was uh regarding archaeology. Uh, so those are what that's what the game pieces are supposed to be. They're kind of supposed to be
010like rocks. Um, we're supposed to shoot them into a big middle centerpiece on the field um to score the rocks that we pick them up from the ground. We can put them from a human ether and shoot them up in the air. A lot of other teams come up with different creative designs. This is our design. Um, some of them spin on the top, some of them don't. Some of them can climb. Ours did not climb this year. It will if we go to worlds. Um, we did get a chance to do a lot of like cool new things. So, you see all the wheel modules. Those are brand new this year. Um, we have cool sensors. We have a vision light that uses AI to detect where it is on the field. Um, which
011is was a really cool experience to be programming this year. Um, totally new experience. I'm allowed. to load at least eight balls in the center to shoot. I'm a little worried it's going to go flying. out. So we have a lot of other components that are not just engineering and programming. I just want to put that out there that we have a lot of arts and business as you've heard in Colin. Um, but also a big part of it is our drive team, which is the actual people who drive the robot in the competition, who they were both on the drive team. I was not get a little too nervous, but Madden here is going to share his experience about that. >> All right. So, uh, I was the driver on the drive team. And
012so, my role in the game is to drive the robot around the field and, uh, go and pick up the balls. The operator, who is Big Anthony right here, Um he would do the controls for the operation which would intake the balls and then I would drive over and we would shoot the balls into the main centerpiece. Uh I also did defense driving which uh pretty much won us the uh competition. But uh apart from that over So this year for the competition, I was the coach. So I would go on the field alongside Colin and Anthony and I would be the person behind their back watching the field and telling them the strategy, telling them where to go, things along that nature. So last year since I was the main driver, I was able
013to take that experience and that knowledge and put it into being a coach. So I had a lot of experience and knowledge of where of how different robots play styles were of different robot strategies and one of the main duties for being coach was actually strategizing. So since we were able to see the different teams that we were with in advance, we would often I would often alongside the drive team go talk to the other coaches on the different teams and we plan out different things for the autos. So where our robot would drive during that during the teleop which is when so just quickly the auto is the period in the game where the robot has to be programmed automatically to score. Then the teley app telly operator is where the driver and the
014operator can actually score things themselves. So before the match I would often go around to the different groups that we have set up there which we call pits and I talk with the different coaches from other teams and a big part of winning the game was actually strategizing. So we see what their strengths were, what their weaknesses and we tried to fill in the best we can. A big thing that teams really liked from us this year was our defense. Because while some other teams may have had very well-defined shooters that were able to score a ton of balls, we're able to do excellent defense that would keep other teams from scoring a ton of balls. So during the playoffs, which is what happens after the qualification matches, the number one alliance composed of the
015number one and number two teams saw how exceptional our defense was. they actually picked us to be a part of their alliance and that's how we ended up winning. So while we had those two main shooters, we would be carrying the defense and funneling balls to them and combined we were able to win the alliance because no one was able to stop us from scoring and no one was able to score themselves. >> So what I want to emphasize with the coach is how important strategy is. You can't just go onto the field and do whatever. You have to know what teams you're competing against. You have to know their weaknesses. You have to know your strengths. So, a big part of the first robotics competition is thinking logically and making sure that you know
016how to communicate with your teammates and organize an effective strategy to actually win the competition. That was the main job that I did this year. I also want to mention there was another person on the drive team and there fire Kodiak. So in every competition there's so in every competition aside from the robot there's a human player that's allowed to score the game piece somehow. So this year the human player was shooting those yellow balls into a big hoop around 15 feet away. So the ball would the robot was able to feed the balls to the human player and then he would shoot it from there. So that was also a big part of the competition because it's not just the robot that's controlling everything. aspecting experience and how that stuff >> so this year
017was my first year doing robotics and at the beginning I was kind of intimidated because I didn't know what to expect but over time as competition went on it became like less to think about because you kind of fall into this rhythm and once you understand your job like it's >> I got you over here >> like thoughtless and like I feel like when I was playing as a human player like I know that it helped someone but it was really the like operator and the driver who did like most of the work and I just want to shout them out because that was Yeah, >> team work. >> One last thing that I want to emphasize is the scouting aspect of robotics. So, aides from the main drive team, the way that we have
018get a lot of information about the different teams and different teams that we're going against and that we're aligning with are by scouts. So, in the actual competition arena field, every team has their own little mini pig set up all scattered throughout the event and scouts would go up to these different uh go up to these different pits and ask questions about the robots. So, ask me about their strengths, about their weakness, and what we can help with. And through that we were able to collect a ton of information about different teams which would help us figure out who would be good allies and what helped other teams figure out we were good allies. So scouting and communication between teams is also very important aspect of robot because in order to win the competition you
019have to be in an alliance with other teams. You can't do that unless you know what the other teams are good at. Scouts are very essential to winning this as well. Uh so one more thing that I want to state is uh first robotics is a very big team thing and I feel like I know a lot of our people on the team right now are going to be leaving uh this upcoming year and I feel like we need to get more students into first robotics such as FTC and first Lego for our younger uh students and uh because I know a lot of students get filled with sports and other things at uh middle school age and once they get up to high school they don't have time to do stuff like this and
020I feel getting them to recognize it at a much younger level uh possibly would create a bigger interest in it and uh cause more people to join the team later I just wanted to conclude this little segment with thank you so much for your support. It means a lot to us. Um the continuity in robotics is something I hope to continue seeing from this district um even when I'm long not here anymore. Um so just one more time, thank you so much to our mentors. It's such an understatement how much they do. Um, their expertise in engineering is no joke. They could totally become crazy engineers if they wanted to, and I, um, I'm really thankful that they choose to do this instead. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you guys. Does anybody have
021any questions up here? I was just gonna add one quick thing too that um one of the things that First Robotics really encourages the kids to do is what they call the term gracious professionalism. And so when we're at competition and they can tell you even before we get there, I start coaching them. We all start coaching them on that term. And because the judges don't just look at the robot and the competition and all of the things that go into it, they actually look at how the kids are behaving with each other. So they very strongly encourage what's called gracious professionalism. So like other teams will support you, you support them. There isn't this like yes, it's competitive, but they call it a cooperation. So there isn't like any mean energy. It's all positive
022energy and everyone supports everyone. So I just wanted to put that out there because it's a it's something they learn early on on the team and I feel like it's something so important for them to take with them in life as they become adults. So, I just wanted to make sure I add that on. >> Are there any questions? >> So, you want more want kids involved. Um, certain kids may be intimidated by that because a certain aptitude for math or engineering. Is it something that can be coached with you guys to work all together? something that student that may not be into mathematics or engineering at this point could learn. >> Um so beyond the emphasis on obviously STEM um there's a lot of STEM involvement. So there's a lot of art there's a
023lot of business management like if you're interested in like a theorical position of any sort there's a lot of different skills and niches that are within every team especially larger teams. Um but to get to your point of coaching um for students who would be interested in doing the more technical aspects of robotics, I see a lot of bigger school districts uh focus on bringing and merging their first robotics competition teams and their FTC, which is like first um tech competitions and Lego leagues. And so the older kids become the mentors of the younger kids because they have not only the technical expertise but the specific expertise in how the game operates. Hi, just to go off that point, um, what I tell people that don't understand what First Robotics is is we run a
024small business here. We have a business department of fundraising who has to go out and talk to all the local community businesses and try and solicit some sponsorships. We have an art department. Our shirts were designed by a student. that was all done in house. And so we there's a lot of art and design. There's a lot of engineering and math. There's a lot of gamers and controllers and figuring out um one student who I'm not going to name did come up to me and Mr. and say, you know, hey, you know, I'm up there doing all this in front of a huge crowd of all of Long Island and freshman and sophomore me would have never done that. But now I'm up there and in front of all these people and I don't really
025care. I I don't even know because I'm so excited to be here and doing this and I have the support of my community. And so there's a lot of growth in a lot of different areas and a lot of different opportunities for students. So, as much as it's about the robot and the game, there's a lot of other side pieces that aren't necessarily shown as a fancy robot going on. So, want to say that >> hello. I just want to say congratulations first and foremost to all of you and all your hard work, your collaboration, the way you guys all work together. Um secondly, >> how did you do that? >> We really try and focus on small businesses. Of course, we aim to get big sponsors. You would It would blow your mind the
026kinds of crazy sponsors other teams get. Like they get sponsored from Boeing, from from Samsung. It's insane. But I can let Colin talk a little bit more about uh our small outreach that we have within the village of the community. >> So on the small outreach, it's it was mainly my parents who did it. Um my mom would write the letters and I would go out and I would hand deliver them. And so it would just be a paragraph about um what we were doing uh how they could support us and if they wanted to they could contact me or Miss Mitchell and through that uh we raised a lot but also we have people that we can go back to and ask for more donations. So we're making connections also in that regard. We
027also we get um every year every year since we started the team four years ago I always apply for a couple of grants. So the first grant that the team gets is called the Gene Hops Foundation grant. I don't know if anybody's familiar with Gene Hops um race car company and they also um build and uh produce like machine engineering shops. I'm actually currently working on a new um application grant to try to get some machines in the shop cross that we don't currently have. Um that's in the process, but on the back of the shirt, you'll see the Gene House logo. We do receive a $3,000 grant every year from them. Um the first year we um became a team, we had the rookie grant from First Robotics. It does cost $6,000 for us
028to enter the competition on a yearly basis just to step foot in the arena. And so the first year we did receive the first grant that covered that. Um the kids do the team has a very very strong chance of going to the championship at the end of April just so everybody knows we're just waiting for the final award for robotics and if that does occur Zebra Technologies does pay the entrance fee for the team as a brand as well. So like there is a lot of funding that comes to the team through some of these bigger organizations um engineering companies etc. And then the, you know, the kids work really hard on fundraising for the rest. And I do think it was actually closer to like 16,000 that he raised. >> Any other questions?
029>> Sorry. Um, so I think this is what the third machine that we've seen or the fourth year. >> Third one. Third year. Yeah. >> It looks a little bit different. Do you have to create a new machine every year or do you do you recycle parts? Because this one seems a lot zippier than the last one. >> Yeah. So, every year there's a new game concept. So, that in of itself requires us to uh invent a new game components of the robot. Um, last year we didn't have a shooting component that was like this one. So, it's a completely different robot. And in fact, first robotics discourages you to maintain large items of the robot and keep them the same. They want you to completely start fresh every year. But a lot of teams
030use basically the same swerve base, which is what you see are those of rotating wheels at the bottom of it. But aside from that, everything should change every year. >> Yeah. Can you remind us again how many teams participated in this competition? >> So at the Long Island Regional there was 49 teams, us included. Um but there's regionals all across the globe including obviously the state. Uh and many other teams go to multiple regionals. Um this to collect district points. The district point system is a little bit confusing so I won't bore you guys with that. But uh many teams go to many regionals but to do that it requires a lot more funding because as you just heard Dr. say the entrance fee is about $6,000. So, >> but there were 49 with this
031one. So, I I want to say congratulations to all the students and to Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Mitchell and Mr. Luke and like congratulations in such a short time made tremendous progress and achievement. So, >> I just want to say great job. Wonderful. And um I never got I didn't get a donation letter. So, if you want to send me a donation letter, have my email. >> Thank you. >> I just want to say I just want to thank the teachers too. Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Doug, and is it Mr. Pinko? for pain. I just want to say thank you. I I've seen you and I've seen, you know, your work and I know and of course Dr. Bitchel, but you're kind of behind the scenes. I had such a great time last year when I
032came down to Hostra and watched this and I could actually see it in action and all that you all put into it with the students to make this happen. And now you're all reaping the fruits of your hard labor with our young people. I I truly appreciate you. THANK YOU. ONE MORE ONE MORE QUESTION FROM A technical standpoint. If you're in the competition and you're how many days is the competition? >> Uh, three days. >> Three days. So, if you're in day one and you're in the competition and one of the controllers goes bad, are you out or do you have that, you know, um, >> so extra components there to to replace it on on the fly? Um, I could probably like blanket state and say that every robot at that competition had work
033done while at the competition. Uh, it's if you see in the center piece of our intake, there's a tape and foam that was not there when we went to the competition. And it's because continuous use there's about you participate about I think seven matches per competition. Um, is that right? uh which are qualifying matches before you play off and you get to the final match. So, there's a lot of matches. With that said, 2019, there's a lot of time to go back to your pit. You have until 6:30 that day to fix anything you need to fix, whether it be in the programming or mechanically. Um yeah, you can't bring two robots, but you can uh fix this one while you're there. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you so much. Thank you.
034All right, you guys. Okay. Your head. Did you get one? No, because there's not a space to >> Dr. All right. Thank you so much. And um next we have our director of guidance, Dr. Tuttle. Um that is going to be presenting on the Stony Brook Care Program. And so we'll have her get right to that now. >> Sounds good. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, um, hopefully everybody's been seeing the, uh, Parent Square monthly newsletters that I send out that are about the Stony Brook Care program. Um I did come and present about this um a few months ago, but there is I feel like uh more and more to tell about and I think there's um you know people have been saying that they haven't they don't know all about it and I
035feel like the more we keep promoting this and talking about it the more people will take advantage. Um we are thrilled uh at least in our schools to be you know part of this program. Um, Stony Brook is doing a great job. Um, so they basically rolled this out this school year. So we're one of the first districts to have signed on. Uh, we also have been working closely with them all last year. Um, Dr. Zan and I, um, and, you know, a few other people were involved in many, many conversations to help them create this. Um, the care program is an acronym for child and adolescent resource for emotional health initiatives. Um and it oh I don't know sorry I'm keeping up with this um yeah so that's the um acronym for this uh
036this program um it basically started um you know with a growing need um there's a drastic increase in demand in mental health for our youth there is an extreme shortage of providers not only um you know all over but especially on the east end it's really difficult to find providers um and then there's a rising demand from support um for school districts and increasing health care costs. Um so Stonybrook um you know touts themselves as you know having a a wealth of um knowledgeable uh you know experts in the field. Uh they have a longstanding history in our community but also you know in on Stony Brook Main campus. We have access to all kinds of professionals both locally and up at Stony Brook Maine. Um they have inpatient and outpatient services and they also
037have a New York State license for substance abuse um disorders from ages 14 um and above. So um they really have everything that we could possibly need, which has been great. Um the impact for us um and for anybody who's signed up for this program is that you get um decrease wait times and access for evaluations and follow-up care. Um they eliminate the need by providing this counseling for unnecessary hospital psychiatric emergency department visits. They reduce the stress and trauma associated with those visits. um they increase confidence of the district personnel. We've been getting professional development um for our staff. So, they've been really uh you know trying to educate all of us on um mental health and how to support our students. Um and then they improve communication and support um throughout the community
038and our schools and our families with the as I said the newsletters and and other materials. Um they also are starting this develop um this program where they can develop future workforce um through academic partnerships. We did not loop on to that yet but they want to do a grow your own program where you can get um we could take have students take classes in high school to become licensed kind of like a howis would do it but this would be strictly on mental health. So that's something for the future that we are definitely would love to explore. Um, okay. So, there were two levels of this program when you signed up. Um, and we there's level one where you got monthly professional development seminars. Um, there's uh monthly parenting workshops. There are the monthly
039um clinical case conference where if you know that we had a a difficult case with a student that we really needed expertise, we could always call them and um and talk through these you know those issues. Um so that's part of it. The eblast newsletter that we send out monthly, a monthly advisory meeting to promote collaboration and talk about um any needs we have and then um expanded you know uh internships and research opportunities. So that was level one. Level two is all of the level one services, but in addition, we've get um expedators access uh for high-risisk students. We get uh virtual and inpatient, I mean, I'm sorry, in person, same day and next day short-term crisis care for our high-risisk students. Um so, uh we get mental health evaluations and treatment and referrals
040for ongoing services. um substance abuse, substance misuse evaluations, um treatment and referral for ongoing services. So all kinds of neurosychological services, um coordination with the schools, um if a student is in um outpatient, you know, facility, they will coordinate with us for a re-entry plan and followup. So they really do it all. And um we do we were lucky enough with your support to get this level two um program and we um have had great success with this so far. Um the uh obviously this is the care initiative. This is just a a snapshot of what the March newsletter looked like, but I do send this out on parent square district-wide. So everybody in the district um from elementary through high school and anybody else who's on that chain is getting these newsletters. The newsletters
041have a wealth of information. Um and it's hard because we get so much information um that comes through parent square but I really urge you to take a look at this. Um there is uh you know in this particular newsletter there's dental advice, there's um you know nutrition um information and then they give you all obviously all the information about the upcoming summer workshop that is also very helpful. What Stony Brook is trying to do is keep a repository of all the newsletters with all this information. Some of this too does have videos attached to it and we don't have it yet, but they're going to send me a link so that I can put it on our website where people can go back and look at these newsletters. I feel like, you know, you
042may not be having this problem with your child, you know, this month, but next month we do and then you want to go back and look at that. So, that will be helpful when we get that uh link and I will be sure to send that. Um the just some of the topics for the uh parent um guardian lectures that we've had um have been about um healthy screening habits uh test anxiety celebrating cultural diversity. Uh this month it was um it's actually tomorrow night um and it's mental health and physical health and nutrition. So, um I'm sure if you tune in, you'll learn a lot about um how that is all connected. Uh and then of course in um April is going to be substance abuse. There's depression um and self harm in May
043and then in June anger in children and teens. So um these are all uh done by experts who really do have good advice for for families. Um okay. So what they've also given us this year is the professional development. In September they came out to the elementary school and they um just did an introduction to all the staff in the elementary school. And in February we had a joint um SIS intermediate school and high school faculty meeting. And the topic at that one was understanding student behavior and regulating emotions, you know, and just trying to understand why some some students are acting the way they do. And there usually is a reason behind that. And um so we had a wonderful young um psychologist who gave that presentation and I thought that that was great.
044Um and then we've had the Stony Brook Care staff um come to a lot of our SST meetings and um SSP meetings. They all have different acrements in the different schools, but they've come multiple times. They were there this morning battling that traffic to get here um for second period and they they just couldn't be more helpful. They keep asking what can we do better? We did have one snafu with a referral that um some one of the counselors had given and that problem was immediately fixed and um and that that you know the bottom line is these um they're very responsive and and want to help us as as quickly as possible on our students. So it's been great. Um okay, so additional supports available. They also did um a teddy bear clinic free
045injury prevention program um through the hospital that was uh done at the uh elementary school and that was um a lot of fun I think for the students um working with the teddy bears. Um they came to the high school recently and did a career uh I called it a career spotlight where we had uh one of the orthopedic surgeons um come in. He was running in from surgery was late and you know was talking to the students. We had about 30 or 40 students in the um high school that wanted to listen up all about um health care and and different experiences. Um we had uh two doctor a doc two doctors, a resident and a student who's in med school right now. Um who happens to be my daughter's best friend who I
046didn't know was uh connected to all the people that I'm talking to all the time. So anyway, she came in and then they um also are very willing to participate in any wellness fairs or PTA PTO events that we may have. Um they will they will absolutely set up a table and you know talk to families um about what they offer. So that's um another nice thing that they do. Um and they've actually this doctor that was here, Dr. Lynch um really wants to connect with our um school athletic department um and just talk about injury prevention um you know with Dr. Phoenix. So um that's another thing they're offering. Um okay so last but not least we're just going to talk about the referral process. So what's been happening is um we have been
047you know the the three different schools have been notified in their you know in the counseling department there through our social workers, our school counselors, our psychologists that if you have a student that is in need that goes above our you know our school day and um they need this outside research, we have a referral link that we then fill out and students are then um we we have to check with the parents first and then the students have um get a follow-up call. The parents get a follow-up call to set up a meeting. Um we sort of take that in house first because we might um you know we might want to help the help the student or or understand what's going on and and be that additional resource. So, but that's not to
048say that a family or a school employee can't couldn't also um make that referral. Okay. So, I did just give everybody a everybody here at the forest level a the flyer that Stony Brook sends that has a QR code and those QR codes do allow um referrals. there. Also, some of the uh newsletters that have been sending out also give uh you know parents and families that that capability. Um Stony Brook does encourage families I mean sometimes families want to make this you know sign themselves up or you know sign their child up without letting the school know and that's okay but in in you know nine times out of ten the the family has reached out to the school and we are a part of that process and helping and we get a lot
049of followup from Stonyie Brook um when allowed and they will give us um you know tips for school and and just to help support that child in the school setting. So, I just want to mention that um Stonybrook will see all students regardless of insurance and regardless of cost. Um they will bill uh the students insurance company. Um but if the student does not have insurance, they will absolutely be seen at no cost. So, um and if they don't have insurance, Stony Brook will also maybe help that family get insurance if that's something they want. So, I just wanted to mention that as well. Um some of the top 10 presenting problems um that they're hearing about on these referral forms uh include anxiety, depressed mood, uh attention deficit and focus problems, family disruption, angry
050outbursts, impulsive behaviors, attendance problems, peer conflict and bullying, bizarre maybe strange behavior that's, you know, different um defiance towards authority figures. So, those are kind of the the big um issues that they that they've been hearing so far. In our district, um we have uh given them approximately 30 uh referrals so far between our um high school and our intermediate school. And um I will tell you, we've been hearing nothing but good from the families that have experienced this. And um every single family um gets that phone call and that followup immediately. Um a lot of times uh they will let us know where the where this student is. Not not by name, but they'll let us know how many active cases they have, how many students are now um no longer inactive, no longer
051being seen. And that could be because the case was that they achieved uh the identifiable goals, they completed an intervention plan and you know they're ready to move on. So um or they're waiting an assessment um from Stony Brook. You know there's all kinds of reasons why they're active or inactive. But we feel really confident that they are being taken care of and that's um really really you know important. And that is basically uh Stony Brook Care in a nutshell. Um does anybody have any questions? >> Does anybody have any question? >> Uh if I could just share there's another huge bonus to this program and that is that they are bilingual that offer bilingual services. The intake personnel are bilingual. The people that evaluate the individuals are bilingual and the long-term care that's provided
052is also done bilingually. So yeah, um that is a tremendous per the other thing that is tremendous about care is that you know the the key to getting ahead with this mental health crisis is all about prevention. So the teacher trainings, the parent workshops, um they're free, they're virtual, they're offered in the evening and they teach parents about um anything from depression, anxiety, truency, substance abuse. I mean you name it, they offer it. they're offered every single month. So, thank you for posting those those monthly emails. Um, it's a tremendous resource and uh it's all about prevention. So, I'm so grateful to this district for signing on with Stony Brook. It's the biggest resource that we've ever had in terms of mental health. We went to a symposium that they had up at Stony Brook,
053Maine and it was with the seven districts that have signed on and they had us um brainstorming uh for you know other things they can help us with and uh they were just great. We we sat with you know uh experts in the field and all discussed you know what's happening in our schools and what can they do um you know to increase what they're doing and and it was really exciting. They also just showed us their Wayne Scott office which they just opened. So, um I invited our counselors and social workers to come and um it's a very small office but it was uh it was great. It was exciting to see it. So, um yeah, so we're really really happy with this. So, thank you for the voice support. >> Thank you and
054thank you. It was a wonderful program. >> I've a few so parents I encourage you to go and check these out. >> They're really good. So, it's a really good resource that we have. So, Dr. I just want to say that this school district is lucky to have you and you're one of the best resources that we have in this district. Your your passion and compassion for our students in their future and mental health and wellness is above and beyond. And thank you. >> Thank you. And and Jermaine, you get credit for this Stony Brook care program too because initially I I sent out a Northwell Health uh um you know parent square and he said, "What about Stony Brook?" So we then got connected and um and this all came to fruition. So thank
055you. Okay. I just want to say thank you so much Martha for coming and presenting and doing a way better job than I am at presenting for the wellness committee. I really appreciate this very thorough breakdown. you do a lot of work as I do sit and I watch that you plan and just the amazing work that you and the collaboration mental health is so important and I'm really grateful for our district and thank you thank you so much um this has been a really a really pleasure to work with Tony Brooken and um they've been so good so thank you >> I just want to Hey, Dr. Cuddle. Um, you you do amazing work. Um, you know your stuff and you have things in order in terms of this space in our district and
056I'm just very proud to work alongside you. Good job. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um, I I know Noah is supposed to be next. We're going to hold off because um, we have a tenure candidate and they have a restless child back there. Um, and I believe it's his birthday today, too. So, it's his second birthday. And, um, I know he doesn't want to be hanging out here, but he came to support mom. So, uh, we're we'll go to the tenure and then go to Do I come too? >> I also invited uh some of her colleagues, co-teers, friends come up and help celebrate our candidates today. >> Great. See, mama's up here. So, um, Dr. Morel, board members, I have the honor of presenting Miss Carson Scriber to you tonight for tenure.
057Uh, Carson, by all accounts, she's an amazing colleague, uh, teacher, mentor for all that are lucky enough to work alongside her each and every day. Uh, from the very beginning, Miss Scrier has had the gift of the gab, which is essential in our profession. And uh there's proof if there's a high school yearbook somewhere, she was voted most talking. So she's had that gift from the from the onset. She knew what she wanted to do. Um she used that passion for the gad to go get her undergraduate speech. Uh and her first career stop wasn't in a classroom, but it was at Mary Haven working with adults, which was rewarding work, and she loved that work. Uh but there was always something telling her that she should be in a classroom, she should come back,
058and so she did. and while she was getting her master's degree uh in childhood education and also getting a yoga instructor's license. So, another part of being a great classroom teacher is having that zen. So, Miss Scrier also has that. So, uh she did that. She has the zen, she has a yoga license. She's now uh classroom teacher certified. uh she takes a couple stops along the way and uh 2022 2023 uh we get lucky enough to land her mid year and since that time she's added some certifications to her belt uh she is currently certified in TEAL teachers of English of assess language she is student disability certified and ELA certified 7 through 12 yes that's a lot of school grant that's a lot of school I know but she did a great job
059and you should know um So obviously all those certifications it makes her invaluable in so many ways at the intermediate level. Uh most importantly it has a co-teer uh supporting classes in seventh and eighth grade. Um I could sit here and speak more about that in greater detail but I thought it better that you hear from those co- teachers themselves. So I invited them to come and say some nice words. >> Thanks Pat. I'm Alex Zibonov and I taught many of your things. Um, Carson Scrier is everything Southampton should want in a teacher. She's smart, she's passionate, she's well read, and most importantly, she's caring. Carson cares about every single one of her students and treats them with compassion, respect, and empathy. This is my 11th year in Southampton and four years ago, Carson stepped
060into my eighth grade English language arts class as my co-teer and jumped right in, ready to teach any book I suggested. And although Carson has about as many certifications as you could have as a teacher and tonight, she's being tenured in the area of special education. At heart, you're an English teacher. Carson makes anyone she's around uh strive to be and do better. She also emanates a radiance of cool. And she is as real as it gets. She makes you want to be your best version of yourself and has a credible knack for making kids want to be the best version of themselves, too. She's a person with a loving family who's here tonight, and she's incredibly proud of. You should hear how she talks about her loving husband, Kevin, and adorable son, Grant. And
061if any of you want to see pictures of Grant after this recognition, she has so many to show. All in all, Carson represents the best of Southampton teachers. I'm proud to stand here tonight to rec recognize the outstanding work she's done so far and will continue to do here at Southampton nature. Thank you, Alex. We try to get through this tough cry. I love cars. Good evening to the board of ed Southampton community. I'm Nature Rashard and I'm here to honor and celebrate this momentous occasion and milestone, the tenure of Carson, wife Scriber. Over the past four years, Carson has changed my life as an educator. She's my co-teer. She's an unwavering supporter and friend. I started in the district in 2000. I've been here for 25 years. Most of my career at Southampton High
062School teaching English 11 and AP language and composition. But four years ago, I started teaching ELA7. My career pivoted and I began teaching at Southampton Intermediate School. And although this pivot was not easy, I had no idea that the challenge and change will lead to today's celebration and the opportunity to co-e the most amazing and dedicated teacher, Carson Scriber. As a Southampton High School alumni, community member, and teacher, Carson embodies, excuse me, I um Southampton High School alumni, community member, and teacher. But looking at Carson, I realize she embodies the character that the Southampton school district and the community are proud to say. She is a mariner. She's she's from Belort, but she is a mariner and she represents Southampton pride and that's one of our teachers. Carson's passion for kids, dedication to making a
063difference, and one who fosters a positive, engaging learning environment is what makes her invaluable to this school district. Carson, from the day we started teaching together, you have changed me as an educator and better teachers can change. I am in awe at your connection with students. Your innovative way of approaching how we teach our curriculum. You're a natural. You are what every teacher should be. You are dynamic, innovative. Every day you smile. your wonderful spirit and your passion for our kids. You help me continue to drive my seal and love for teaching. Carson, thank you for being a mentor and supporting supporting both students and colleagues. You are my teaching soulmate. I cannot do what I do without you. I truly appreciate and love you. As you begin your career, remember the power that you
064have to change the lives of the young minds around you. Because I want you, excuse me, as you begin your career, remember that you have the power to change the lives of the young minds in your classroom, thus changing the world around you. In every child, remember your son Grant and the education, love, and support you would want him to be surrounded by. And do that for every kid you face. And like Malala Yusabsi said, let us remember one book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world. Carson, congratulations on your tenure tonight. And as this milestone is the beginning of a wonderful journey, the Southampton School District is blessed to have you as a treasure of a teacher like you. >> Hi, I'm Ken Cisco. I didn't know if I was
065going to make it. Pat didn't even invite me to come. I just wanted to say Yeah, that's all right. But, uh, Carson's the real deal. There's no doubt about it. She's the real deal. This is the kind of people we need in this district for the next 30 or so years. Congrats. >> Um, I just want to say thank you to everyone. Um, teaching here has been a blessing for the past four years. I don't cry. It's second birthday and I thought that was a sign. >> Well, Dr. Members of the board, um I hope you can see tonight that uh by recommending and approving the script of tenure, you're getting someone that truly embodies the marriage spirit mar uh in the classroom and outside and beyond the classroom. So uh with that being said,
066everything being said, I submit you guys. >> Thank you. With with all that, um, may I have a motion to grant tenure as a special education teacher effective 44 2026 to Carson Scriber as presented? >> Okay. Will the clerk please call the RO for >> Yes. >> Smith? >> Yes. Congratulations. >> CONGRATULATIONS. >> All right, that brings us on to to last but not least, Noah. Sorry, we had a few things going on there. So, the stage is all yours. We're excited. two things before I start my presentation. Um Dr. uh um she helped me up. She helped me the other day. Uh I was I was like panicking with my mom said my uh Mr. little an email and Mrs. little I couldn't find a place to period herself and then time was like
067right in her office and it was perfect time I ran right into her and she helped me find scholarship and start my business so thank you very much and then uh leave a few um she was my eighth grade uh she was my eighth grade English teacher were you my English teacher >> yes >> for like three two months >> so I just want to acknowledge those first and then I'm going to hand out. So, >> this is pretty similar to when I conducted a survey um on the peace car in the courtyard and more physical activity movement. Um, I did this like a year or two ago and I handed all the um, presentations out and this is what I'll be presenting tonight. Um, how many of you guys have trees in your yard?
068There we go. Okay. So, we don't have that many trees around High School and as humans we um have the choice of what our land will look like and Southampton our land is very precious and it's very valuable. So, we live we're on a massive school lot and um I feel like we could uh you know like spruce up a little bit and do a better job with like stuff. So, for the past year or two, I've been walking around the building and I've been doing uh garden maintenance around the school and I've had the support from Dr. Zan uh to be able to go out to the garden every day and work on um supplying stuff for the school cafeteria um that grows in the garden in high school. And there's also Garden Elementary
069School. Um, and I've been working very hard um trying to improve the school look. Um, this is a donation of maple trees. Um, I had the opportunity to go to Hampton Yards in October. uh late middle to late October. Um and I toured the whole entire yard with the Rouse family and they showed me all the trees and um they even had uh their designer lay out a landscape form to show me what uh Southampton school could look like. Um, so since we're improving all our outdoor spaces and everything, we talked about mental health and uh wellness and getting all our like activity in and like also being in the sun and stuff like this is all great idea to like get kids in um to to experience what what I'm trying to propose. So
070this slide shows the value of this uh of this proposal. So it's $6,975. Um, so this will be for five maple trees. So right here is the front of the high school. So there's trees existing here already and the streets exist here as well. So these are maple trees. They were like 60 70 feet tall. They actually trim them and make them smaller so there's no security issues or anything. So right here is the track. There's one, two, three, four, five trees here. And they also trees here. This will be right directly tracker. You see trees. So that's that's what I like. And what I will say that the science school has done is that they've always supported me on my mission. I've added plants to the courtyard and I've added we we did a
071pollinator garden from uh from I think it's like native pollinator garden with Dr. Keller last year and um we did amazing things and we did like it was just cool that they had my back and supporting me. So this is the perspective location for the trees. Uh the current location is right there. there is a host connection and we could probably tap in with like gator bags around the trees. I'm not I have to do more research on what these trees require and what um but they presented to me that these would be the best trees in that spot. Um so I kind of gave you the rundown of like what what I would like to do, what my vision is. Um of course this is in the snow, but I would love if I
072could be more techsavvy and have an AI filter right there to show you what it could look like. Um, but I I'm not capable of that yet. Uh, well, thank you for listening and if you guys have any questions or actually wait, there's one more thing. This was made with Dr. Robinson and um, Mr. Rouse, Mrs. Rouse, and Charlie Rouse in the front courtyard. And that's the design of the school to the right, uh, like the massive architectural plan. And that's where right now all the kids go out. Last year we had one time we had like 25 kids outside sitting there eating lunch with their friends. And this year what I'm looking to do, I just spoke to a uh a PE teacher today and he um he gave me an idea to put
073cornhole out there for from uh vice principal principal approval, administration approval and like gave me like we find funding for like or not funding but find do fundraising for like a ping pong table just to get like the kids like like look forward to something that day like oh you want to go play ping pong later? Yeah. Like that's it's an option. Um I think it would be super cool like kids look forward to going to school. Um and like just like find different things to do as uh you know sometimes change the atmosphere change atmosphere is always good. Um I think that's it >> and then if anybody has any questions I'm more answer my best. >> Thank you questions. >> Um first I want to say Noah thank you for um bringing this
074forward. It's a very thoughtful initiative and your effort behind it is greatly appreciated. But I do have a few questions kind of standard um for due diligence so that we know what we're like fully uh you know understanding of proposal. Um can you help clarify whether this is being offered as a fully donated project with no um obligations cost in the future? Um the district first question. >> All right. >> Because you mentioned two phases. >> Uh so there there are two phases down the road. Like there's another phase down the road. Maybe like I might be here next year. But uh like I would like to like thank uh trees at the courtyard as well. But for now I think they're doing a little bit. They're doing a $7,000 uh donation with I think
075a exception for like a tax write off or something. >> Okay. Um, can you walk us through how this landscape company became connected to your project when you found them? >> So, this landscape company became connected to me by um me speaking just a little like uh myself speaking this a little like every week and we found uh companies around uh like around Southampton and we went through like a bunch of bunch of different landing companies and we just started clicking on different ones and um Mr. Little and I chose Gampton Yards because we have uh the Rouse family and they own the company and we were like let's try to partner with them. So we reached out to them and they were more than happy to uh come to the school and walked walked
076the school property with me and we we engaged in like a big interaction with Mr. Robinson we Dr. problems. Then we went around the whole entire school and we and they like they like um they gave their ideas and they kind of narrowed down. So like they didn't want to do so many projects at one. They just want to do one. They want to focus on what they want. >> But that was very generous when I saw how they did phase one and two. >> Yeah. >> Um okay. So basically you Mr. little kind of looked up local um landscape companies and >> we only reached out to Yard. >> We only reach out to Yard. Yeah. >> Okay. Um and that's because they're they're a local family. >> Yeah, they are a local family.
077Yeah. >> Um do you know if we would be required to like post any signage or anything or any other commitments if they were to install signage outside >> outside like you know sometimes when Ben didn't do work or contact >> so there's no communication between that having them put signage outside or like a poster of like them doing the work so >> um and then I know you said that you need to do a little more research as far as like maintenance but um do you know like what kind of ongoing care would that these trees would require like do they need irrigation like that does affect their budget >> so I definitely think that they need irrigation the first like couple years of their growth and then as like I think from a
078standpoint like for me like landscape and stuff as they get older like five 10 years like I think they still be less just like grow into the ground just have like natural roots and you know they just when it rains they just kind of soak it in and stuff. >> They don't even just be left to grow >> I think so. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you for answering the questions and thank you again for bringing in to the table. very thoughtful. >> Thank you. Does anybody else? >> Yeah, just uh one question, Noah. Has uh has anybody reached out to Marcus Silva about uh you know the the grounds and the uh the effect it might have on his budget uh anything like that or future budgets. Uh he he'd be the guy to talk
079to. is very sharp and uh kind of runs the that kind of uh uh you know all the facilities for us here at the uh at the district. I I would definitely want you to reach out. >> So I've reached out to him for the past two years and showing him what I've been doing around the school and he's been like fully supportive of that. Like I've never seen a kid like take it upon himself like go to the board be on the board and do all this do all like put all the effort in and there's no uh I don't think there's any like interference with his budget because it's just it's just but he did talk about uh the liability of the the company maybe having the expensive plan. So like I talked
080about that as well. There's a lot of things I still put together. It's just I'm just coming here with the idea to show you guys like this is what I've gotten to like and then I all these all the questions that I that I'm uncertain with I'll be sure to ask them and then I'll put that all together and then write down write down list of everything I have to have and then come April 21st when you guys are come April 21st I come back I'll come back with all the information and I'll give give you guys formal like formal answers. Is it okay if I just jump at me? So um just just to kind of jump a little bit we did touch base with Marcus and Dr. Z discussion about you know what
081um wanted to accomplish and one of the things that in conversation uh we did advise that you know we have that that can do the work. They just originally wanted to donate the trees but when they started to look at our property they started to realize that they have to make sure to put systems in place the trees could grow and that irrigation system you know I did advis them that you know that becomes a contract but we put in that way then they decided that you know what we'll do it as a donation to the school but that's how it came about as a donation so Noah is presenting it but you know he's also seeking you know advice on how to proceed the board and the next steps as you know as he
082might do. >> I just want to take a moment then to thank the empty yard and the rounds family for such a generous donation for us to consider. >> So now I want to say I'm very proud of you and everything you've done taking the initiative and I know that you tried to go to the courtyard and and everything and I um I think this is a great project. I think it's good. I think there's some things we got to iron out here. Um, I know you talked to Marcus. I know we have a we have a facilities meeting on April 16th right before the next morning meeting with vote. So, you know, we could have Noah come to the meeting, Marcus and us, and we can sit down and just kind of hammer out
083all the the details of what's needed this project. But I think it's a great thing. I think, you know, when you're up there on the track, it's very hot. Like, nice team to sit underneath. It kind of gives you the shade to kind of hide that corner of the building as well. and you know these things will grow in great. So I think it's a it's a great mark. You're leaving on the school year. And I have to say I hope you're not back next year. We're making sure that you're in place. You're not here to finish phase two. Maybe your younger brother Kai will take it over for you and and work on that. But I um I'm very proud. This is wonderful. And um I think if we just meet on the 16th,
084we can hammer this all out before we uh vote. And again, I want to thank the Rouse family. They're they're wonderful. Charlie's on the baseball team with us. So, I was just down in Florida with him for the week. He's a very nice kid. And I actually talked to his mom today, not about this, but that's on the baseball. And um they're wonderful people and doing a lot for the community. So, I I just want to thank them for for doing this. They've been super supportive like the whole entire time that I've been working with them. They've been teaching me. He took me on he took me on his farm when he didn't have he took me on his tree farm when he didn't have to. And he's just gone out of his way and
085he's just supporting me along my journey as well. So, thank you, Steve. And I just want to say uh no I'm very proud of you for coming up here and presenting this and really I remember our conversation about this idea and walking around and looking at our field and there's a lot of initiative you have done and you know I know it's hard to come up here but I'm very proud of you and presented this and really you know taking the initiative serious very proud of you. >> I'm thoroughly enjoying your leadership and I'm extremely proud of you. This is a great project. I want to thank the Hampton Yards and the Routes family, but I also want to thank you for your innovation and thinking about this project and involving all the stakeholders that
086is bringing this together for you. Um, just extremely proud of you. Thank you, Noah. >> Thank you. And and put that meeting on your calendar at the 16th at 3:30. We'll we'll send you a reminder. So, we want you to come and we'll go facilities stuff. Okay. Awesome. I just I just want to say thank you so much again for putting together such a wellthoughtout. It's not about perfection, it's about progress. So I just want to say this is you've already been doing your work and you're now building upon it. and I'm I'm very proud and actually the last meeting you and got together and we got to have like a little briefing. So, I just thank you guys for giving me that oversight. Um, and I just want to know you're doing a lot.
087Um, is there like a club or do you have help? >> There's an environmental club but uh this is called the Noah club. So, anybody that wants to join, welcome. Uh you guys, any any students I've had I had had I've had students come up to me and say like like what's what's the whole thing that you're doing? Like I I hear a lot of people saying that you're like advocating. You're using your voice. That's like beyond one joke like no like but yeah I've done a lot of things and I feel like um if anybody was >> what I asked was I said you're doing a lot of work in the suit I don't hear who's helping you is there a group is there >> Dr. Robinson has been helping me uh Miss Mitchell
088she's always been supporting me with the garden Dr. He wrote me I love my boss say he wrote an amazing letter letter of recommendation with like the outlines of the garden and stuff like that. I've kind of just t taking this to myself and just say like I think we can do a little bit better of a job and just like kind of like improve certain things I wanted to improve and it's not from the student perspective it's just from my perspective I have a vision that like I can only see like right there and I just want >> and no don't forget this all started even back with the workbased learning um piece and that was really one of the trigger points uh for some of the work we started in peace garden. So
089it even uh ties into the vocational programming and work that Noah took uh took well advantage of. So that really served as a launching point for so much great work that you've done around us. >> And I just want to also recognize Mr. Little, our guidance counselor. You've done a wonderful job with the program and I know you work very closely with him. So I just want to make sure he gets recognized. As far as the courtyard tomorrow morning, let's talk about that and get that going for you. All right. I want to recognize Noah's parents. >> Oh my such a brilliant comment. >> So Noah mentioned before that he's leaving at the end of this year. So you know he doesn't know what happens when you said that. I I will guarantee you that
090Noah will be here checking on those trees every week, every year, probably for the rest of his life. He's here every summer like every other day because I manage the Southampton Breakers. We play in the back and he's working on the school. He's powerwashing the school. He's working on the garden. He's doing something to make this school better on his own time always. So like this isn't this is just something that he has a passion for. you care about getting paid. You just he wants the kids to be in a place that doesn't so much feel like a prison that feels like >> I want the kids to value it as much as me. Like I want them to take pride in their school as well. When they come to school, I want to be
091like, "Wow, that's my school. That's where I go." Like that's what I want them to feel like. And they feel like that, but like we can just do we can just like keep going like keep pushing like >> Thanks. ALL RIGHT, THAT BRINGS US to our work session discussion topic. So, um we have a buzz budget presentation here. So, >> thank you board chairman. I would like to um just say that it has been a truly a labor of love that um Mr. Gull has been involved in um myself working with the audit and finance committee, our district administrators um to come to this point to present to you a balanced, fair, equitable, sensible, fiscally responsible budget. Um before we get into the main budget, I would just like to um highlight some of the
092um strong pride points of our district where we want to continue working and what our budget actually affords us and allows us to do and then reaping the benefits of a a a sound budget that's well supported by our board and our community. So, our pride points are that our high school is an AP Capstone high school. As of the 2526 school year, students can earn an AP Capstone diploma which is vetted by our colleges when they are accepting students. Um, we have AP research as one of our required courses and that was added this school year. very thankful to our guidance counselors and our um um of course at that time Dr. Zan leading that work um to make our school an AP capstone but we can't get there if we don't have the
093resources to do so. We have 15 AP courses now are offered at the Southampton High School with 41% of our students in grades 10 through 12 taking at least one AP AP course. Several students also challenged independent AP exams and um we are a college board bronze enrollment design designated district and that is a college board honor that recognizes that we have um ensured a a wide array a wide array of students are enrolled in our AP courses not just a you um elite you know students but that we have opened that up to a number of students um giving us that honor role designation of bronze. We have 11 dual enrollment college courses that are offered at Southampton and um it allows our students to enter college with with credits well with um credits
094earned. It's amazing and s saving our parents uh that funding later in college when kids enter already with college credits. Eight varsity athletic sports teams were named scholar athlete teams for fall 2025. We're very proud. We're very proud of our athletics team. If you look around our district at the facilities where our kids get to play those sports, where they get to become scholar athletes, it's because of the resources that are afforded through our effective uh budgeting um that is sanctioned by our board. We have 14 community service clubs in our district um and they're offered throughout the district. We have expanded the workbased learning program. You heard Dr. Zan speak about that with uh where Noah got kind of some of his growth from the workbased learning program and those internship opportunities that are
095afforded. We have a 100% graduation rate from expanded alternative high school um uh programming. Our first year robotics team in just its third year of existence has won their first Long Island regional championship at Hofra receiving our first blue banner on just this past weekend. And we know that it is through the hard work of our students of course and our teachers and the leadership of our administration. However, the funding that we have to put forth to ensure that our students can even compete is why we have to have a balanced and sound budget. And again, since 10 2008, we have a AAA financial credit rating. So, we do know how to handle our finances. Um, additionally, our music department has won best communities for music education for nine straight years. And that's not stopping.
096This past season, our students participated in the Hampton's Music Education Association um festival as well as the Supple County Music Educators Association. And these students are vetted by uh other um leaders in the music industry and are able to receive these honors and participate in other districts um in these music programs. It's just amazing. our Long Island Stream Festival Association. We had participation there and we have participation in the New York State Administrators of Music Educa um at the New York State Council of of Administrators and of Music Education. Our students were selected to perform at our New York State Music in Our Schools month and in Albany most recently. and our music ensembles will compete um next month in the parks at Hershey music in the parks at Hershey Park and Six Flags. We
097have a 91% graduation rate from last year with over 185 graduates. That's up about 3% from 2024. That's amazing. Um a 91% grad rate. But this is our these are our dollars working for us getting the best teachers and the best resources next to our kids. We have New York State diplomas with distinction. 31% of our students receive regions with advanced designation. 54% receive regions diplomas. 10% regions with advanced designation with honors and five local diplomas. So we are meeting the mark. We are surpassing the state average on almost every metric and indicator uh that is available uh to a district to measure itself against and in many cases we have exceeded the state standards. 44% of our of the class received distinction for their GPA graduating 34 sumakumi 25 mi and 22 cool. These
098are honors and our dual language program plays out at our at uh from um from K through 12. It plays out in our high school graduations with 13 students in the class of 2025 earning their the um international Spanish academy diploma with their high school diploma. 39 students in the class of 2025 also earned the seal of biiteracy. Again, another college success indicator and another criteria or attribute that the colleges are looking for when they are accepting our students. 24 received the Spanish syllab of bi literacy, 12 received the French seal of bi literacy and three received the sign language American sign language seal. 49% our postsecary plans indicate that pretty much half of our students went to a four-year college. 27.6% are at a two-year college. 5.5% are attending technical or v postse secondary
099vocational programs. Some chose to go right into employment and there are many opportunities in Long Island here in Southampton and elsewhere. And 1.6 of our brave students enlisted in the military. And so with these here um successes, we know that we want to continue to build upon these successes. So we also have to have a sensible reasonable budget that requires us to make some um requires us to make sometimes some hard decisions, but decisions that are always in the best interest of students and families. And so to rightsize our budget to be in alignment with the enrollment that we currently have, we do have some instructional staffing reductions. The good thing about this is that through our very um robust, effective, and highly attractive retirement incentive program. we were able to have these reductions mostly
100at the attrition level rather than having to access any any teachers. So we had um our orchestra teacher retirement and so we will not replace that. our world language teacher and ENL teacher at the intermediate schools. Those retirements don't need to be replaced and world language teacher uh reduction there is a reduction in the program because the needs for that program no longer exist. Um and so I want to be clear we are absolutely making sure our students have a strong rigorous standards aligned state approved education. So although those reductions, you will see those reductions, there's not a lack for any of our students. We just can't continue to have an enrollment um uh you know, continue to staff at enrollment levels of 1600 when our enrollment level is,58 if if that makes sense. So
101we had to rightsize our enrollment. And so a smart way to do that was to not have a bunch of layoffs, but to do it through that powerful retirement plan program that 29 staff members took advantage of. Again, our instructional reductions there were there are some reductions, but at the elementary school, we're looking at a reduction in retirement of um two teaching assistance and also a reduction um and also to staff through reduction through access um to teaching assistance. So really um and that to rightsize our budget and our to match our enrollment. We're losing two teacher assistance for teacher aids. We are and have been overstaffed in this area and the budget and the enrollments no longer really um justify continuing to have this many staff with the taxpayers dollars. So we did reduce
102uh three reduction four teacher aids, two at the elementary, two at the intermediate, um one through retirement at the high school and another reduction for a total of another um reduction through access for a total of six reductions in teacher aids. Um and our non-instructional staffing with our reductions. We have a clear co reduction at the uh high school that went through retirement. The good thing with the non-instructional staffing reductions is that our powerful retirement program actually allowed that to happen naturally where we don't have to access staff or reduce any staff. And and and that's always our goal. And so the high school had the one um retirement and then the facilities reductions um we will not be replacing one ground supervisor um one custodian at the elementary school and one custodian at the
103intermediate school all gone via the retirement incentive. Additionally, at transportation, two bus drivers are leaving near retirement. And that is uh for a total of six FTEEs and non-instructional staffing um that will not be replaced to align with our the realities of our enrollment. And we did have to look at our extracurricular activities. Um we had to make some programmatic reductions to extracurricular programs. um those were ba based on district enrollment and student need and interest. And so we did realize that we were overstaffed in several district after school and extracurricular programs. And so we did make some cuts to those programs, but we salvaged the best to maintain the integrity of our district programs where our students felt they needed to be where their enrollment was and those things that align to our district
104strategic plan such as our steam, our robotics and our coding programming. And so, um, there were some some reductions there where we were overstaffed in some of the afterchool programs. We're no longer going to have, um, you know, that many staff for such a smaller number of students. And so that is again right sizing our enrollment with our budget and being fiscally responsible. Um our focus is on academic intervention and enrichment and that's literacy, numeracy and of course steam um science, technology, engineer, engineering, arts and mathematics. And so we believe, we know, we're confident that by only um having a 1% um raise on the tax levy for our community and by making these here um adjustments to our budget that we are presenting to our board and to our community a balanced budget that
105we're proud of that's going to ensure that our students are prepared for the 21st century reading and writing and um computing on grade level, scientifically sound, mathematically sound, all those things through this budget. And so now at this time, I would like to turn it over to um the genius of our assistant superintendent for business and operations who was able to put this strategic budget budget together that make sure our students have the best-in-class education. Thank you. Um and as I always thought with um this was a great collaborative effort that there wasn't my work and my work alone. Um we had a lot of meetings, a lot of back and forth, a lot of disagreement. Um because again when you're talking about reducing staff, that's never an easy conversation for anyone to have. But
106fortunately, the board allowed us to offer that incentive, which was pretty attractive to many of our staff who were close to the retirement age. And we were able to get um 29 staff members to retire through that incentive program. So that also allowed us not to have to access that many individuals. So again, this was a collaborative effort uh from anywhere from the board members in particular the audit and finance committee members who work very tightly with the executive team to come up with these ideas. Um but here we are tonight where we actually have a budget that we can present to the board for adoption and to the community in May to vote where we have a minimal tax increase but we also have a budget that support all the programs uh all the
107key programs for our students. Um as Dr. Morel presented all these great achievement by our students are supported by the resources that the community provide. I can't stress it enough that when I present this budget, I want to remind everyone that Southampton is a district that is primarily funded by the community um at 80% in terms of the tax levy, but you also have the tuition, which is in essence another form of tax levy. So you could say 92 95% of the budget is self-generated. It's not state aid, it's not grants, it's primarily the community. So each year in collaboration with district leadership, the board, we have to develop a balanced budget um for the following school year. We put that budget to the um public for a vote on the third Tuesday of May.
108This is a requirement by New York State to have a voter approved balance budget, which is unique to public schools. uh the school budget is the only government spending that the residents can impact directly by voting. All your other taxes, you don't really have a say in it. But in the school, you as a community member, you get to vote on the school budget every year. Um so in terms of at the end of the year when you know all is said and done and we all the expenses or the revenue, we have what's called a fund balance. So the district determined uh based on the uh guidance from the state how to spend that fund balance and over the years I've been here many times where I present the fund balance and I make
109recommendations on how to aortion that fund balance at the end of the year. So you have options where you can appropriate it to the revenue for next year. You can earmark it for future savings or you can put it like we've been doing in the reserves so that in the following years as I'll be presenting in the later slide of different activities different projects that you could fund with those reserves. So in terms of the budgeting the expenses must equal the revenue. So at the beginning of the year everything has to be balanced. Uh in terms of the expenses, the money that goes out, you have salaries and benefits that make up about 80% of the budget. So that's the vast majority of your spending. Then you have money that you do the curriculum and
110staff development under Dr. Z. Um you have facility amendments, um transportation, debt service, etc. On the income side, um you know, we don't get a whole lot of it, but you get uh what we call state aid or state state um state funding, which is about 4% of our budget. We have tuition. We mix up about 8 to 9% of the budget. Property taxes, as I mentioned before, about 80% of the budget. You have miscellaneous incomes from various categories and appropriated fund balance which is some of the reserve monies that you're going to see that we appropriated to the um budget. I know it's very hard for you to see this um graph but this is a breakdown of the budget or the different funding sources. So what is the board being asked to adopt?
111You you're being asked to adopt a budget a total budget of $84,536,962. And that's the breakdown. 65,48822 is the tax levy portion of it. That's what the voters will be asked to vote on bank. The rest of it is, as I stated before, is New York State aid, the tuition that we receive from Delco, the tuition for New York State for the Native American students, um, and the appropriated reserves that we are, which makes up about 3.1 million of the of the budget. Where are the funds going? Um, some of it goes to the administrative support. I can't read the exact numbers but it's broken down. Uh if you see the pie chart 80% of it is being committed to the programs which is the money that directly support the students. Some of it go
112to the capital to support make sure the lights are on and the buildings are clean uh and maintained. This is just a breakdown of the uh budget. Again, there is a portion of it um of the budget that is committed toward debt obligation about $4 million to service our two bonds. Uh and we have a couple of smaller items in terms of the debt service. So, in terms of the you as a taxpayer, how does it impact you? So again, the um school tax is the vast majority of your taxes when you get your tax bill from the town. Um this is a representation of the home values or the assessed value. So, if you start with the first number, which is $1 million, uh, in terms of the taxes that you would pay based
113on the budget that we are submitting tonight, uh, on a mill on a house assessed at a million dollars, you would be paying about $2,73 in school taxes, which is an increase from this current year of $2152. uh which repres represent a tax rate of $2.17 and some odd change 4,000. So for every $1,000 of home value, you will be paying $2.17 in taxes. Um again, your tax levy from year to year is increasing by 1%. You also uh the voters will also have to vote on several proposition and that's the reserves that I was referencing earlier. Uh we have a reserve for technology equipment. We are looking to get approval to spend $400,000 of that money uh out of a total of $500,000 and change because the money have earned interest over the year.
114uh is to buy smart panels, LCD panels for instructional spaces, workstations, servers, printers, etc., iPads, Chromebooks, um all the technology equipment that you see throughout our buildings. And these funds come from the reserve, which means that it has no impact on your taxes this year because that money came from the fund balance that I referred to earlier. We also have the reserve for uh the 10-year capital reserve uh of which we're requesting $2.7 million to have several projects. One of which is the replacement of approximately 46,000 square ft of roofing at the high school. Uh the installation of walk-in refrigerator at the elementary school and installation of 100 gallon water heater at the elementary school. So again, just as a reminder, these funds will have no impact on your tax levy. And uh I'll take
115any questions that any members of the board. Thank you. Does anybody have any questions on this? I know we >> got busy night. >> I know. >> I just I just want to thank you, Jean, and and all you've said, Dr. Morell, for your hard work on this, and we're we're looking forward to adopting this. And you know, again, I want to thank our voters and our taxpayers that allow us to do all this great stuff. And you know, we have we're very blessed that we're, you know, we have a very high tax rate rely on not much state money and our taxes are at least three times better than any of the neighboring districts with our uh with our tax rates. So, uh we're very blessed for what we have here in Southampton. So,
116thank you, Dean. And there's no further questions. We'll uh we'll move on to some action items here. >> All right. Thank you. So um so first we got public comment. You heard this sign. The board of education encourages public participation in school related matters at board meetings. Any group or organization wishing to address the board must identify a single spokesperson. The presentation should be brief as possible. No speaker will be permitted to speak for longer than three minutes. The board will not permit in public session discussions involving individual district personnel or students. All speakers are to conduct themselves in a civil manner, obscene language, le statements, threats of violence, statements advocating racial, religious, or other forms, prejudice will not be tolerated. Persons making presentations to the board meeting will address their remarks to the president
117and may direct questions or comments to the board members or other district officials only upon approval of the president. >> Public comment. No, but the podium is yours. >> Pretty loud, right? >> It turns like you're on TV. >> Yeah. >> All right. First, I want to thank everybody for everything that you've done for Noah and supporting Noah. It's been great. He's enjoying being on the board of education, especially Dr. Zan, Dr. Robinson, and Mr. Little. You guys have been amazing to him. Um, what uh Dr. Morurell presented just before about the staff production and course production was a little disturbing to me because my son came home a couple weeks ago and said, "Uh, mom, they're not offering my ASL class anymore." I'm like, "What are you talking about?" I don't know. They're just
118not offering it anymore. Well, ASL's been offered at this school for a really long time. My my son's graduating this year and he took it. So, now we have junior. Well, all right. We have juniors in that class right now in ASL 3. And what what happens to them? Sophomores. They've already put two years in and now they can't finish off the program. My son is a ninth grader, started the course this year, would like to finish it, and now what does he do? He has to figure out if he's going to take Spanish or Italian or French. And where does he go with that with his diploma? So, I'm I'm a little I'm a little upset about that. I was actually gonna send an email to my friend over here, but uh I chose
119not to until I saw this. It's uh and my son says there's about three classes each with 14 to 16 kids in that in them. I don't know. We just before we were talking about all the great things we're doing and then and then that's it's upsetting. There are a lot of great things that that are going on but I I >> Yeah. So that >> so part of it so the teacher also left this year too. So we're in the process of that and we have a plan for all those. So we we had to think it out with um with trying to find a replacement and not being able to stuff. So um Dr. Zan had a whole plan if you want to kind of touch on the sign language. Yeah, >> sure.
120So um as uh President Eley said a couple of factors um tied into this one uh even though we do have a couple of sections of ASL we have seen um a decrease in student enrollment in that program but still we were having uh we have it force and moving forward. When we had our resignation from our current teacher, we then had to make a decision on trying to find and replace the position us and and several schools out there. One, finding ASL teachers are are very very hard. What we had to do just to even um for us to complete the school year is we had to work with one of our retirees um for that. now speaking with our retirees. We also some local um people in the community that do ASL work
121um but unfortunately not properly certified. We has to come up with a transition plan for that. So very uh we absolutely were aware of the students in levels uh particularly levels two and three because uh those students would not have time to complete another um trajectory for at least three years to get to a checkpoint. So what we did for what we have for this year is Mrs. Dubin would return to us is working with all the students that are in all the classes, but particularly students that are in level of two and three are being prepared for the checkpoint B exam at at the end of this year. By sitting for the checkpoint B, that allows um any students that are acrewing time and are close to graduation to still maintain um achieve that
122advanced regions diploma. So it was a very important to us that even though we had our teacher lead, we have students that were in at least two and three to be able to sit for the checkpoint B for students that are in level one. And when we look at them particularly, they all all are ninth graders. Um at that point we do have the ability to have students um complete checkpoint one. But then it also gives um ninth graders at least three more years to complete another pathway in a different language reaching the checkpoint B um checkpoint B level and ensuring that students can then reach the advanced regions diploma. So, every student that is in the in an ASL class right now, although we may not have we will not have ASL moving forward,
123each and every student does have a pathway um that will lead them to the advanced regist so choose. But unfortunately, we do did have to make the hard decision to sunset the program um based on a number of factors um not just one. >> I appreciate that. I still think it's disappointing and especially for the ninth for the 10th and 11th graders it sounds like they have a >> an option but ninth graders I feel like it was a waste of a year for him >> and unfortunately at the start of the of of this school year we could not predict a resignation from the teacher and being in some of the positions that we were in. So that is something >> you can put put out there for the for the job to be
124filled to not >> No, we we actually even in trying to secure a teacher for the second um half the year. We did post that out. We were only able to get one um one person of interest from our outreach. Very very difficult spot. There's not a lot of ASL teachers out there. Um there are many many schools even up island or around us still trying to secure ASL teachers. Um we were very very lucky very fortunate when Miss Kuit came to us after Miss Dubin's retirement. Um it was very difficult to even secure Miss Kuit. So when she left we knew that was oh that was that was a tough tough loss for us. Um but please know that we did actually post the position and uh for the for the remainder of the
125year and still very little success. So we did post. >> Is it okay if I just jump in? I just as a former world language teacher I mean there are times that students take different world language courses which benefit. I just want to know that that year this year still was a learning year different. we still was able to learn something on the ESL class. We have a wonderful teacher, really appreciate the teacher that came to really assisted. We didn't put it out. Um, you know, there is world language we're having a hard time finding just Spanish teachers. So, imagine ASL teachers and that's uh is very hard and we didn't really get anybody to really thankfully for teacher that's there that came to finish up the year and really helping uh our current students.
126for the level ones, they still have an opportunity because there are kids that could take French three years and decide their senior year to take Spanish just to kind of, you know, take a different course. So, they there are kids that do that. So, it's not something it's very common, but it's just that we want to be able to support our students and not face any difficulties in the future that we can't sustain the program and then be upset that maybe we didn't have an ASL teacher for whatever reason or couldn't uh get an ASL teacher for the next year. So, it was definitely a tough decision even myself as a world language teacher to see that. Uh but it is very difficult in our field right now. So what does that mean going forward
127with other courses like um carpentry for example? We had that issue this year with Mr. Dennis. We had you know nobody to take over for him. Kid sat there for you know weeks without a real teacher not doing the program. Say Mr. Diaz has an issue. Are we just gonna say we're we're not going to offer carpentry anymore? And there are kids that have been taking. >> No no no no not at all. As you can see, what we had to do is um that comes down to our thinking in terms of it's really a larger east end issue in terms of of securing teachers certifications. We know that there are just geographical challenges for us that we and we're not alone on that. But it it requires even more strategic planning um more recruitment
128efforts and how we solved the uh carpentry issue that you referred to last year. You could we could have posted kept posting um time and time again, but it's our it's our direct recruitment efforts being on the phone, calling districts, calling other places, and that's how we were able to even solve our carpet issue. So it is this is a larger issue that we have been exploring and talking in terms of just recruitment efforts to the east end of Long Islands especially when it comes to um hard to find certification uh those are the ones that are really tricky uh because just the mass of teachers and volume is just not out there. So, it's going to take some real creativity from us moving forward to ensure that we can maintain our our programs, especially
129programs that are very healthy for us and um that have strong strong student interest in there. So, I just think we have to as we're seeing around us um you know, a lot of districts are coming up with creative ways to make make coming out to East more attractive for young teachers and we're going to have to continue that work. >> Yeah. I think one last thing is what did we learn from Mr. Diaz not being here for for a very long time because >> he's still out. He still takes breaks and we don't have >> we're sorry. Yeah. Yeah. No. Um yeah, thank you. It pretty much about the sign language. We're we're very lucky Miss Duben lives in this >> community and we're able to call her up to get her to finish
130the year or um we would have been in some serious issues there. So any questions? So it's tough. >> All right. Thanks. Um any other public comments? Yeah. >> I wanted to say congratulations to the robotics and all the other students that's going there. I want to say how blessed I am to see your go from the little short all the way up to seeing purpose and potential. You know, you're tapping you into what you're made to be, what you're made to do. So, that's a blessing and I'm happy glad that I'm here to see some of this going on. Um, one thing about the um, you know, the recruiting of teachers and all, do you ever go to colleges and things and expect to see any of these kids that's graduating from is interested
131in, you know, doing something to help them to become certified in all those other things that I know, you know, all around all around the United States, you know, there's a lack people doing different things, but do you ever do you ever tap into the colleges when kids are graduating or about to graduate to help the things that's very important to this community or both of our children? So, uh I was just asking because that was something that used to be having uh board members used to go and go to the colleges and everything and kids to do things and some teachers. Some people got high and some people like don't. But nevertheless, you know, giving someone another opportunity to reach their purpose, reach their potential. We have several of our teachers. We have several
132substituted teachers that have become teachers in our community. So yes, we reach out to the colleges and work with teachers on getting your certifications and things of that nature. Yeah, that's a normal course of the work that we do. >> Okay. But you just you go out of the state to >> Dr. Can I just add add to that these two because not only do we contact colleges, Jackie, but we're calling them and asking them to send us student teachers as well because that's we feel if we can get student teachers out here and uh when we do and and people see and our teachers see the great um organization that we have, people want to generally stay. So, one of the things that we've been doing for my office is also reaching out and
133organizing student teachers. And sometimes that's that's phone calls that we're making. Actually, Mr. Robinson um earlier in the year when we were going through some of teacher hires, we were going through he said he was calling schools. We were calling the schools actually asking about potential hires. So that is absolutely something that is done and and it's more it's even beyond the calls. We want their student teachers as well. >> Thank you. I mean, this is this is something we we could go around and have a summer meeting about with debating on uh east problems here and not be able to get teachers. >> Not debating. I'm just >> I'm just asking about opportunities that you're taking and you go to the job fair and all the other stuff that all as long as you're
134doing your part. >> All right. >> We're trying. That's what it's all about. We're definitely uh making outreach and I can tell you from my own experience uh you know calling number partners from different schools seeing if they have anybody in their building other administrators from other schools principles you know so there's a lot of outreach there trying to get teachers to love very successful >> I'm just asking about all the avenues that I think they can create to figure out something to it. You never know what's going to happen. >> Thank you. Um I think that brings us on to action items here. Um I'm going to run through the list. Before I do, does anybody have any questions about any of the action items that we need to answer before we go through?
135Okay. All right. So, we're going to run through this list here. Um so, first one is, um may I have a motion to adopt the following resolution? Resolve that the board of education of the Southampton Union Free School District adopts the annual budget of the school district for the fiscal year uh 2026 to 2027 in the amount of 84,536,962 as presented. Mot. Will the clerk please call the role for vote? >> Robert, >> yes. Yes. >> White. >> Yes. >> Okay. Great. Um, next one is, may I have a motion to approve the list of an election inspectors for the May 19th, 2026 annual budget vote and board of education election as present. Motion second. Good. Will the clerk please call the role for a >> vote? Yes. >> Yes. All right. Uh, next is
136may I have a motion to approve the notice of public hearing, budget vote, and election of Southampton Union Preschool District, Suffach County, New York for the 2026 budget vote and election and to direct the district clerk to submit the notice we published according to election law sign um 2004 one as presented. Second. >> Second. Will the clerk please call the role for vote? >> Yes. >> Great. Next is may I have a motion to approve a budget transfer from account A.2630-4000.00 contractually to account A 2630-5010.0000 um in the amount of 40,000 to purchase one to one devices supply chain issues as presented. >> Um will the clerk please call the role for a vote? >> Robert, >> yes. Yes. >> Yes. >> Next is may I have a motion to approve the federal single audit
137report as of June 30th, 2025 completed by Colin and Janowski. The corrective action plan for the federal single audit report as of June 30th, 2025 and the summary schedule of prior audit findings for the year ending June 30th, 2025 as presented. Got a second. Second. Will the clerk please call the role for a vote? >> Yes. >> Um, last one here. May I have a motion to award bid um SPS26- 02 02 for athletic supplies and uniforms to BSN Sports Custom Inc. Game one, Henry Shine, Joseph Ne, Lux Sporting Goods, Long Street Sporting Goods, Medco Supplies, MF Athletics, Pioneer Athletics, Blacks and Such, Red El uh School Health Corp, School Nurse Supply, School Specialty, um, Sportsman's Stand Sports Center, and Trophy Hut as presented. Will the clerk please call the role for >> vote? >>
138Yes. >> Great. And that is it. So it's no need to move to executive session. Um may I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> Yeah. Yep. Hold on. Laura's good. >> I know it's been a long night. Just I'd like to give a special congratulations to our junior class who hosted a 2-hour variety show last Thursday that celebrated the amazing talents of our students, including those with special needs from our life skills class. Special thanks to the junior class adviserss, Mr. Emma, Mr. D. Roza, and with assistance by Mr. Rapco. And a special shout out to Mrs. Se who teaches a theater class elected to the life skills class. She also supervises the drama club. Since November, these students have been prepping and rehearsing during and after school hours, and they were allowed
139to choose their own routines, which included vocal performances, poetry, standup comedy, dance routines, duets with a few teachers. There was a salsa routine among others, and a performance by an incredibly talented heavy metal band. But by far my favorite moment of the evening was when a petite girl climbed the stairs to the stage holding hands with Hannah Pack for comfort. She took the microphone in the spotlight and belted out the song Golden by K-pop Demon Hunters. Dressed in pink leggings, a purple flower dress, and sparkly shoes, she sang and danced until there was not a dry eye in the house. And a few minutes later, she bowed to a standing ovation. So, I want to give special thanks to Mr. Mr. Emma, Mr. D. Roza and Mrs. Seed for their efforts in integrating students with
140special needs into the fabric of the school, especially in theater because the stage offers a level playing field. Um, students with special needs have a right to have equal access, but it's also the right thing to do. So, again, I want to thank those uh teachers for their efforts. And one more plug for our theater department. So, come out and see this Friday's performance of Little Women. It's a concert in honor of Women's History Month and was written and directed by our senior Isabelle Fenomwork organ. It's an adaption that follows the story of a high school senior reminiscing on her childhood and the music and literature that shaped her as she gets ready to leave for college. So, come and see the March Sister story this Friday evening from 6:00 to 7:00 and support our
141students and the theater department. Thank you. >> Thank you, Laura. I I heard the show was wonderful and everything and saw a clip of Mr. Roa. Did he sing a song? >> Yes, I saw it was actually pretty good. Um, so >> yeah, received an award for our service in the board and I think a couple of other >> awesome. Thank you. Um, with all that, I'll do a motion to adjourn the meeting. questions. All right. All in favor?