BOE Regular Meeting/Budget Review Session II - 3/11/2026

001Pursuant to Article 14 of the Civil Service Law and the employment of a protected person we discussed. Uh will you please rise for the pledge and then stay standing for a moment of silence. Thank you. May I have your attention for a brief announcement? Upon fire alarm activation, immediate evacuation to the closest emergency exit is required. The emergency exits are located over there. Um please exit away from the building as to as not interfere with fire department and proceed to the evacuation areas. Please follow the school's direction and once assembled outside the building, everyone must wait till the school officials have given the all clear to re-enter the building. Will the clerk please call the roll? Robert Jackson is present. Here. Thomas Peterson. Here. Louis Proctor. Here. And Sunni Shiro is absent this evening. And

002Germaine Nelson. Gloria Watson. Here. And with me tonight Don is also absent this evening. And Noah Cates. Here. And then Matthias is absent this evening. Um does the clerk have any additions or deletions to the agenda? Personnel item 14.02 A has been added to the agenda. Awesome. Thank you. Um I have some brief comments here and district announcements. The Board of Education will hold a regular will hold a work session meeting on Tuesday, March 24th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. in the SIS music room. It is anticipated that the 2026-2027 annual budget will be adopted at that meeting. 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 succeed Germaine Smith whose term expires on June 30th, 2026 are

003now available by contacting the district office. Completed petitions must be returned by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August April 20th. Uh the Policy Committee will meet tomorrow, March 12th at 4:30 p.m. in the district office. The high school variety show will will be hosted in the high school auditorium tomorrow, March 12th at 5:30 p.m. And community science night will be held that evening in the high school science wing beginning at 6:00 p.m. The Code of Conduct Committee meeting will be held Wednesday, March 18th um at 5:30 p.m. in the high school library to discuss the results of the community survey and steps the district must take to revise the code of conduct policy. On March 19th, the intermediate school present a night of musical moments at 5:00 p.m. Um March 20th will be mental health awareness

004day at the high school and the intermediate school will host a panel discussing assembly, women leaders in our community. Um the Parent University state assessment information night will be held on Wednesday, March 24th at 6:00 p.m. in the intermediate school. Um I just want to take a moment and say spring sports started on Monday, so congratulations to all our athletes. And um while we lost last night, it was a disappointing to lose in the basketball game, it was um a great season by the boys and we had a great senior class. I thought they all played wonderfully this year. Have a chance or we'll keep it going next year. Um so and last Friday we had a PTO at the high school had a fundraiser and I thought that was wonderful, good turnout and I

005think the high school PTO is doing a wonderful job of getting the high school spirit and getting parents involved. So um thank you for that and that's about all. I I see we have a new Patrick Henson tonight. So That's it. Um so I think that takes us on to our program presentations. We have the MBK fellow um here, so We have Director Julie Williams. Thank you. We have um Director Julie Williams here with our New York State recognized MBK fellows, Nishawn Williams and Mario Portillo Linares. Um we're so proud of where they have uh have gone with this MBK fellows and we're just so happy under the leadership of course of um Shawn Shawn Smith, our MBK coordinator and of course our director of um multilingual education and CRE, Julie Williams. So without further

006ado, I would like for her to talk a little bit about the MBK fellows program and then she'll allow our young men to deliver their speeches. First of all, good evening everyone. Um I have to say it's an honor to stand here before you today to recognize these two exceptional young men who represented our district with pride and integrity at the My Brother's Keeper for fellows stand and deliver event in Albany. We traveled on February 11th, we came back on February 14th. We definitely got to know each other. The My Brother's Keeper fellows is a separate program where only two students are chosen in every participating school district. So here with are Nishawn and Mario. We had two very busy days participating in a college tour at the University of Albany. They got to see

007a debate presentation uh from two students on AI followed by presenters and Dr. Olsen's speech as well as some other workshop events. Then the fellows showcased their speaking skills amazingly with leadership potential at the Huxley Theater at the Cultural Education Center and at the New York Museum. I was really impressed by how tall these young men were when it came time to present their speeches. By the way, and there's 62 other school districts, senators, politicians. You can see that leadership is not something that they're growing into, they possess it already. The MBK mission is to ensure that every young man of color has the opportunity to achieve success with dignity and purpose and they sure show it. So today it is my privilege to present to you two young men who exemplify what My Brother's

008Keeper is all about. First up is Mr. Nishawn Williams. >> [applause] [laughter] >> My name is Nishawn Williams. Over the past years, I've formed a brotherhood with everybody in my group. We went on college tours together, we went on other educational trips such as we went to the museums to learn about our culture. We went to um MBK symposium upstate. That was very motivational to me and had a big impact on Um MBK is important to me because I have people I can talk to. I think the mic went off. >> [laughter] >> I'm happy to keep talking. There you go. They'll hear you on TV. But yeah, um I found people I can can talk to and connect with and my mentor who's not here Shawn Smith, he taught me a lot how to

009be a young responsible adult. And I formed many relationships with my brothers and my mentors that I work with on a regular basis and I'm grateful to be part of MBK and I just want to say thank you. >> [applause] >> Good afternoon. My name is Mario Portillo. I come from Guatemala and I'm a MBK fellow from Schenectady High School. Um I'm very proud to be part of My Brother's Keeper. For me, MBK is one of the most important activities that I'm involved in. It's not just a program, it's a brotherhood. We support each other, we motivate each other and we want to see each other succeed. The best part of MBK for me is the connection we build. We talk about our goals, your future and how we can become a better young man.

010It's helped me feel more confident and focused on what I want to achieve. Um I also like that MBK teaches us responsibility and leadership. It pushes us to be serious about our future and to make good choices. I know the lessons I learned here will hold me in college, in my career and life. Being part of MBK is really important to me because it's helping me grow into a better person every day. I am thankful for this opportunity. Thank you. >> [applause] >> WONDERFUL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. YEAH, just a great job, guys. I don't know what else I want to say. Um Mario, no baseball this year? What happened last year? It was fun last year. We went to Universal, it was great. Um but uh but great great job you guys.

011Thank you. Yeah, I I just wanted to thank first Mrs. Williams. Thank you for accompanying and bringing and leading our children to this event. You guys are amazing. Thank you for representing our district very well under the leadership of Shawn. I can see already the the radiance, the courage, the brilliance, the strength, all of those things in you, the both of you. So I'm really proud, really really proud of MBK. Thank you. If honestly it wasn't an hour, it was it was an adventure for all of us. We all got to know each other. We had a lot of laughs practicing our speeches, right? The night before, yeah. They remember. Um I have to say I'm very thankful to the mentors because they have the fellow mentors. That's Mrs. Fiorello Cavallo. Um Shawn, who is

012man who has been amazing coordinator for the MVP, really supportive. We collaborate. I can't say enough. We call each other consistently, you know, making sure that these boys get all the resources possible and are able to achieve their goals. So, I'm very proud of them, very honored to know them, and I know these boys are going places. And thank you again for all your support, Dr. Morrell as well, Dr. Zahn. Thank you. You're welcome. And I just want to say to the young men, when I first saw your video, I did cry. It was so moving and passionate what you delivered at the state level for 80 district communities that have MVP programs. All of those people and you all stood up so proudly and delivered your messages about what Southampton MVP the Shinnecock MVP

013is doing for you. So, thank you for that. >> [applause] >> One more thing. Um Mr. Shawn and Mario, I I hope that you know um what a source of pride you are for not just our district but for our community. Um what an asset it is to be an MVP school. So proud of that. I know it must have taken a lot for the two of you to get up and speak in front of all those people and to come here tonight and speak in front of us. So impressed by you by you both. And I'm just curious, do you have plans for next year? Yeah, I understand. Are you both seniors? Don't put you on the spot again, but what are your plans? All right, so next year, I'm going to be going

014to college for business. And like career-wise, I'm doing barbering right now. I would like to open up a shop in the future. So that's Uh you've been accepted to a college, is that right? >> Yes, ma'am. Which one is that? I'm going to go to this college in St. Thomas. It's called St. Thomas. It's like 2 hours away. All right. I got accepted to Stony Brook, but I wanted to like stay close, you know. Oh, wonderful. That's amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. Mario, congratulations. What college did you get Um for me, um I'm going to go to Suffolk Community College next next year. Um follow my dreams. Um That's it. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. That's a wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So, the football team, they can

015step back up in the >> [laughter] >> For for those of us don't that don't know what a symposium is or fellows, what did you get out of this fellows program? You touched on it a little bit, but what's the biggest thing that stood out to you? And Shawn, how many colleges did you get accepted to? Um I got accepted to like four. And like one thing that really like stood out to me is like it's not like every day where like you see somebody like the same color as you in a suit and like they have like the same drive as you, you know? Like they want to have a good future. So, that's something that stood out to me. And also like the adults that were there, like they really like told me

016like a lot of stuff on like our lectures and stuff. So, I think that was a good impact. Great. Thank you. >> [applause] >> What's your question? What stood out to you from the the trip, I'll say, this past spring? I don't know. Maybe the community, like uh you know, for each other. Um that is something very powerful for me, you know, I'm a Latino. Um I'm proud of all the black people for us. Um I don't know how to say it, you know, in these times. But it's I feel more confident with with that. Great. Thank you so much. All right. Okay. All right. So, move on. Thank you guys and all of you all. And so, thank you. And so now I would like to introduce my Rotary president, um Ms. Rosanne Costella,

017um to discuss our peace poles donation. Oh, and is that Maggie Glanz, one of my cabinet members? Okay. Thank you. So, thank you so much for having us and uh I just want to say that's my second uh time being president of the of the Southampton Community Rotary that in uh 2020 and 21 during COVID, uh I was awarded a Paul Harris for not missing one single meeting for the entire year. That whether we had people come in on Zoom or whether we had people in person with masks on or 6 ft away, uh we kept the we kept the club together. And we are getting stronger and stronger every day. So, right now I'm here to uh request permission uh to donate three peace poles that we have purchased for the schools, all three

018schools in the district, and um our you know, we have a peace pole in Agawam Park right now that we actually put in 2022, I believe. It's right next to our Rotary clock, which is over by in Agawam Park as well. And the reason that we want to do this is to remind people how important it is to have peace in the world. They There are eight languages on on each of the poles and the students themselves have picked the languages. And I thought that was something that really um brought them together as a community and brought them together as a team. And I know the uh Interact Club sponsors the guidance guidance counselors. Uh they're very anxious and willing and excited about having these peace poles. And um I'm hoping that we can get

019that approved. And Maggie Glanz is here. She's the president of the Open Interact Club, so that's the Interact Club, which is in the high school, and she wants to say a little something. Good evening. My name is Maggie Glanz, and I've been the president of Southampton Rotary Interact Club for the past 2 years. 10th grade, I was the vice president and later took over president when my brother graduated. Today I'm here to talk about the peace poles and what they represent to me and our club. Over the summer was the first time Ms. Crofts and I heard about the idea. We first heard about it at the meeting where I club received the Club Excellence Award for achieving many goals during the previous year. One of our biggest priorities has always been continuing to build

020up our club and strengthen the sense of community within our schools. The peace poles are a meaningful way to represent the culture of our school, school district, and help connect students throughout the building. They symbolize inclusion, kindness, and the idea that everyone in the district belongs. Once the peace poles are placed in each school, our club hopes to collaborate with the middle school and elementary school Rotary Clubs on a project. This project is for us to paint rocks and write kind messages on them and place them around the poles. This will not only make the area around the poles more colorful and more meaningful, but it will also allow students from each school to participate in something positive together. As president of Rotary Interact, my goal is that when I graduate and leave this school,

021there will be even more involvement and connection and unity throughout our entire school district. I believe projects like this help bring people together and remind us of the important importance of kindness in the community. Thank you. >> [applause] [laughter] >> SO, IN ADDITION TO US donating the uh the poles, we would also like to uh invite the community to a uh pole unveiling uh like we did uh in Agawam Park. And um and so, you know, it'll be just a a an amazing community effort. And um one other thing about the poles, um it came up in another conversation that if there were any students that had some kind of conflict going on, that a teacher could actually say, "Go out to the peace pole and figure it out." And I just thought that that

022was something that was really um something special for me to share with you that I was just a great idea. And thank you so much, Dr. Morrell, for being supportive of our Rotary. We love having you. Thank you. I love it. Yeah, of course. Hey, Maggie, great job tonight. Thank you for coming. Can you describe what the peace pole looks like? Yeah. The the peace pole is something that I would have got a picture of it perfect. It's a white >> So I guess I just want to say thank you guys for coming tonight. It is wonderful. Does anybody have any questions that you guys are looking at the peace program? I'm looking I don't have any questions. I just want to thank you both. Um for our student, I don't know your name. I

023don't know your name. Um Maggie. Maggie. Maggie, you were vice president, I was vice president my sophomore year and my brother was a senior and he was the president his junior and his senior year. And then once my brother graduated and I became a junior, I was the president last year in the school. I want to commend you for holding the board of the board. Okay. That's amazing. Thank you. Thank you. This is This is beautiful. There's a website that you're welcome to go on to. I think there was a link in the uh uh in the newsletter or something at the school. Comcast or uh or uh peacepole.com and there's over 200,000 of them throughout the world. Um for all different kinds. And you're welcome to go on there and get a great idea

024about what it looks like and how how it's really catching on. If So we have this under consent agenda items 12.22 to vote and approve on this tonight. Okay. I know Maggie is probably tired cuz she's at practice all day today and doesn't want to hang out for this. So if there was a care of that, I'd like to move that forward so we can take a vote on it now so you guys can you guys don't have to hang around for it all cuz I think it's a wonderful idea. Um So may I have a motion to approve consent agenda item 12.22 um recommendation of the board accept the donation of three peace poles from our our Rotary Club Southampton at approximate value of 300 to 350 each to be planted one each at

025the elementary school, intermediate school, and high school as presented. Motion from Laura, do I have a second? Second from Jimmy. Um All in favor? Aye. Aye. All right. So again, thank you guys for coming. We uh we'll get this thing planted and um go [clears throat] and get that back in the ground. Thank you Logan and um for bringing this to our district and I want to say thank you um um Maggie for a great presentation. You did an amazing job and um you've been leading uh the Rotary Interact for 2 years and I'm just really proud of you. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >> [applause] >> SO THAT TAKES US ON TO THE UM FIRST public comment section of the night. Um this is where uh public comments will be heard on agenda items only

026at this time. Um the Board of Education encourages public participation in school-related matters at board meetings. Any group or organization wishing to address the board must first identify a single spokesperson. The presentation should be brief as possible. Speakers will be permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes. The board will not allow public session discussions involving individual district personnel or students. All speakers are to conduct themselves civilly. Obscene language, libelous statements, threats of violence, statements advocating racial, religious, or other forms of prejudice will not be tolerated. Persons [clears throat] making presentations at the board meeting will address remarks to the president. They may direct questions or comments to the board members or other district officials upon approval of the So I think we have some great great comments at this time on Yeah, great question.

027>> [laughter] >> Yeah, that I I I just Yeah, this is the time to to talk about that. Hi, my name is Bonnie Cannon. I'm the one of the residents in Southampton Village as well as I am the executive director for the Bruce Duncan Child Care Recreational Center known as the center. And I just want to say that I'm very happy to be here tonight. Um you will be seeing myself and the other representatives at the board meeting move forward since we do interact with several of the students that come to our programs on a daily basis. And also just wanted to let you all know that for the year our theme is we have a can-do culture which is go for the community, for our staff, and for our um for our children as

028well. There there's nothing that we can't do. We have a can-do culture that's going on that we want to catch on, people to catch on in the community. And also we're the uh theme is reading and literacy and we have the reading revival. It's just not a campaign, it's a movement. You'll be hearing more about that, the reading revival, dealing with literacy, dealing with reading, getting back to reading books again. We partnered with the the Hampton Library for an event. We're looking to work with you all and with other school districts, but it's a reading revival. So join me. It's a movement. Thank you. Thank you, Bonnie. Um from public comments, we'll move on to the superintendent's report at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At this time, can I please have the enrollment report?

029Thank you, staff. And so um our enrollment at this time we've increased by two. Woohoo! Um we went from 1151 to 1153. So our um our enrollment is holding steady at 1150. Uh as you can see for the past 4 months, it's been around 1153, 1154. So we're holding steady. We did have two students exiting to uh uh exiting into in-state public schools, one out of state, and one out of the country for exiting total of four students. And then in-state entering, we had three students, two coming in state from private schools, and one from out of state for a net of six which makes us have an enrollment increase of two. So we're happy about that. Thank you. The next thing um that I would like to talk about is the um my [clears

030throat] attendance at the New York State Conference of School Superintendents um this is It was an amazing opportunity in Albany last week to present at the New York State School Superintendents Conference on culturally responsive practices. I was able to share resources with 880 participants and many were intrigued about our students' program offerings and the Shinnecock curriculum which is unique and it's a one-of-a-kind in New York State. There was a lot of interest in that. Um and um it was just a great opportunity to fellowship with other superintendents and a lot of focus was on the portrait of a portrait of a graduate and we'll be getting into more of that as the year goes on and certainly into next year. Um also I was so honored to be um part of the superintendents' think tank

031with the College Board over this past year. We had our final meeting on this past Saturday and it was an honor to join superintendent colleagues again across New York State smaller group um with the College Board uh last Saturday in New York City. I was so happy to be part of a New York State Superintendent's think tank that engaged us in thoughtful discussions focused on expanding access and opportunity for all students in advanced placement courses. I want to take thank the officials at College Board, Yonkers Superintendent Anibal Soler, and my superintendent colleagues across the state for this great thinking opportunity and learning. Here in Southampton, we have a bronze designation for AP enrollment and we are looking to improve to the gold moving forward. But bronze is nice. Um our literacy pilot at the elementary

032and intermediate school is on their way and is doing very well. I had an opportunity to observe our Magnetic Mosaico literacy program pilot in action at the elementary school today and I was totally intrigued and delighted. Teachers K-6 received their second dosage of professional development from the Magnetic trainers last week with the focus on preparing for delivery of the next unit of study. As teachers work through the kinks of delivering a new reading program, it was exciting to see consistency across the grade levels. Therefore, at each grade level, the same academic and tier two vocabulary and rigor was realized. In one room, you could walk across the hall and see that same rigor and academic vocabulary in the next room. And I think that is one of the greatest um points about this program is

033that um in a under the leadership of Ms. Denowski and Ms. McCoy, it's that you can see a consistency in program. You actually can see the literacy in action. I saw great thematic lessons across the grades. In second grade, there was a thematic unit on Yellowstone National Park. And as a culminating activity, the students created an intricate wall map of Yellowstone, labeling unique animals and points of interest using high-level academic vocabulary. The teachers were really working hard to differentiate and scaffold instruction for our special needs students and our ELLs. And it was exciting to see that expectations of the program are high, as we know our New York State standards are high. The materials were culturally inclusive as well, featuring an array of student cultures, ethnicities, and abilities. All in all, the literacy pilot is

034showing great promise for our students. Want to recap on First Light that happened on February 11th. The opening night at the SAC for our students and families was amazing. First Light is an extraordinary exhibit of 500 pieces of individual student work. If you haven't haven't seen it, it's running until May 3rd. It is extraordinary. It was a great coming together of students, staff, families, and the SAC leadership for the opening night. We showcased both our visual and performing arts. Want to thank Director Nancy Kane for all the work she did in pulling that together. The exhibit runs through May 3rd, and they have requested uh yeah, they requested that we host a board meeting there, just so you all know. I want to thank again all the teachers, students, Dr. Zahn, Christina Strassfield, and Chairwoman

035Simone Levinson for making this opportunity possible for our scholars. And last, but certainly not least, I want to give a hearty congratulations to Athletics Director Daryn Phillips on his earning of the New York State Athletic Administrators Association's Judith and Night Positive Change Award. He will be formally presented with the award at a ceremony on March 19th. The award is bestowed to one athletic director each year, just one, who has demonstrated strong leadership skills, the ability to mentor, and a passion to enhance positive change. This award is only given to one athletic person director in New York State. So, this makes This is very special for our Mr. Phillips. As a 25-year Southampton veteran educator, Mr. Phillips has earned several prestigious awards, including the Suffolk Zone Award for Director of the Year, and has been recognized

036as the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Director of the Year. And he received the Cornell Cooperative Extension for Outstanding Community Cooperative Community coop for Outstanding Community and Cooperative Community Education. Um these are for his volunteerism and participating in all these beautiful programs that bring benefit to our young people and our adults. So, I'm very proud of that, and with that, I say thank you to Daryn and thank you to the board chair. Awesome. Thank you. Okay. Um then we'll be moving on now to administrative report. So, um Assistant Superintendent for Business, you're up. As as um our Assistant Superintendent makes his way to the podium, um I just want to say once again again that I am extremely proud of the strategy and the hard work he has put

037in to bring to us um a budget that decreases the tax levy by 2% from what we paid last year. Having this budget that works for all of our students, that that creates the best possible outcomes, resources, professional development, and initiatives for moving our students to be 21st century learners that are college and career ready to face a global uh uh you know, a global economy um is is is huge. And he did this um of course as a collaborative effort with our directors and our Assistant Superintendent, uh Dr. Zahn, and myself. Um but it it takes leadership, and Gene has done that. And I'm just really proud of this budget. Thank you, Dr. Zahn. Good evening, everyone. And first, I again once again want to acknowledge um all the people who collaborated in this

038budget. Um I want to thank the the board for their support in developing the budget, the audit and finance committee who actually went into the detail in reviewing the budget, the different aspects of the budget. And I want to thank them for their feedback as we develop the budget. Once again, the budget is still a work in progress because until the board actually adopts the budget, there may be some changes. We're pretty set on there as far as the numbers, as far as the revenue, but in between, there are things that potentially could change. So, the tax compliance again once again, um every year the state set what the tax cap will be for the tax levy limit. So, it's usually between 1 and 2%, but for the past several years, because of the high

039inflation rate, it's been at 2%. Um So, it was 2% for 2025-2026, and it's again going to be at 2% for the following year. So, as far as the tax levy, the whole tax levy as I presented in the last uh budget presentation is currently set at 65,488 .02. So, it's an increase from the prior year or this current school year, uh from the amount of 64,839,626, which is an overall increase or change of 648,396 or 1% of the budget. The As Dr. Morrell alluded to, uh tax levy increase last year was almost $1.9 million or 3.02%. So, that's a significant decrease um year to year as far as the tax levy is is concerned. Uh this is uh a historical representation of the budget um over the past 5 years. Um again, we do

040our best every year to limit the year to year growth in the budget, but as I presented several times, um that's very difficult with the inflation that we have to face. We have inflation in terms of our insurance costs. We obviously have year to year raises that are as far as our negotiated contracts are concerned. And um nothing goes down. Prices always go up, especially on the East End, where there's a premium for everything. You have constructions, uh anything that you're doing in on the East End, there's a premium assigned to So, you'll see the historical growth of the budget. Again, this year, we are making a concerted effort to minimize the tax levy increase. Um it's almost at 650,000 from 1.9 million last year. So, we're going to talk a little bit about the

041tax rate. So, for I want to make a distinction between the market value and the assessed value of properties in the district. So, the market value um is potentially what you can get for a house or any property if you put it in the market. The assessed value, on the other hand, is uh an amount set by the town um so they can assess what the taxes on the property is. So, usually, the assessed value is less than the market value of the property. It could be anywhere from The market value could be anywhere from two times the assessed value to one and a half, three three 300%. Uh so, in the um tables that you'll see in the uh succeeding slides, you'll you'll see the rate in accordance to the assessed value. So, the

042projected tax impact rate for '26-'27, uh I don't know if you can read it because the those fonts are very small, but if you have a home that's assessed at $1 million, for example, the that home would have a tax uh a tax um value of 2,151 dollars and 51 cents. That's for this current year. With the new tax levy, uh that amount will go to 2,173.02, and that's a $21.52 year-over-year increase. That's a very minimal increase. So, your tax rate per thousand will be 2.17 3023. So, for every thousand dollars of assessed value, you'd be paying $2.17. And the other numbers basically is if the home value is 2.6 million, it's just a multi multiplication factor. Same thing for house value at 5 million dollars. So, once again, this is the tax rate from

043this current year as compared to the 26-27, which is a net change of of about 2 cents per thousand or 1% year over year. Uh the tax Hampton a house value that 2.6 million dollars, which is about the median price, is approximately $5,650 or net increase of $55.94. Now, this is a representation of a real tax bill from the town of Southampton. So, this is a neighboring district. I won't name the district, but it's just for as a basis for comparison. If you see the highlighted school tax on a house that is assessed at 863,000, they pay 6.661 tax rate per thousand for tax bill, I don't know if I can read this, of $5,790. And the school tax tax bill make up about 73% of the of the tax overall tax bill, which is

044$7,827. The next tax bill is actually the same assessment for a house in Southampton, the Southampton school district, where the assessed value is the same. The tax rate, on the other hand, is much lower than that other district. Our tax rate for And this is the tax rate for this current year is 21.5. The tax bill would be about $1,857 or almost 70% of the overall tax bill, which is $2,666. So, it's the same assessed value, but the tax rate is what makes up the difference in terms of the tax bill. I always want to remind everyone that, you know, the schools set the majority of your tax bill, but you have other items on your tax bill. So, when you look at what we present tonight and say, "Well, you didn't say my tax

045would be X amount of dollars." You have to look at the entire tax bill, not just the school portion of it. Uh we're going to have other items presented to the voters in May to hopefully get their vote. One of the items is the capital reserve 10-year from the 2017 10-year capital reserve. Um based on my conversation with the director of facilities, he's looking to allocate $2.7 million out of that capital reserve to towards some projects. He's looking to replace the some roofing in at the high school. He's going to look to install exterior walk-in refrigerator unit at the elementary school. We actually are rebuilding the kitchen also at the elementary school. But the capital reserve was voted on last year for that project this year. So, but we also going to be equipping them

046with new refrigerators and freezers. Um we also going to look to install a 100-gallon water heater at the elementary school. As a general reminder, any items that are being voted on as capital reserve has no impact on this year's taxes. That's money that was already spent that we had fund balance. We set that money into a capital reserve. So, that money has no direct impact on this year or next year's taxes. The other capital reserve we're going to put to the voters is a certain amount of $400,000 in their capital reserve for technology equipment. And that money will be used as we do every year to buy some smart panels, LCD panels for instructional spaces, workstation servers, printers, iPads, Chromebooks based on our one-to-one plan. This is again from the capital reserve for technology that

047was established about five years ago. So, that money will have no impact on the tax. This is just a graphical representation of the budget. Again, I can't read it, so I'm sure you can't read it either. But um this is just a breakdown of the different components of the budget. Again, this is a representation of the administrative, the capital, and the program component. So, the green portion of the pie is the vast majority of the budget. It goes towards the programs. That's everything included, you know, teachers' salaries, administrators. Most the vast majority of the salaries. The only thing that's not included is the capital portion of the budget and the administrative portion of the budget. Uh just a general reminder, we are looking to set the budget at 84,536,962. And this graph is a breakdown

048of the different revenue sources that makes up that total budget or total revenue. The vast majority of of it is from the tax levy, which is about 79% of the overall budget. Then we get the revenue from the Tuckahoe and other school tuition, the Native American tuition, state aid, other revenue sources, and appropriated fund balance. We don't have any this year. We also are making a large use of the reserves. All the reserves, the tax reduction reserve, which was the proceeds from the sale of the Majors Path property, compensated absence reserve, retirement contribution both ERS and TRS, unemployment insurance reserve, self-insurance, and the workers' compensation reserve. And again, this is just a representation basically your revenue has three quarters of the total budget. So, and this is just a representation of the different components of

049the budget. And now I'll take any questions from the board Does anybody have any questions, comments? Yeah, comments. Um Gene, great job with the with the budget. Been a pleasure going to the meetings and opening up everything. The administration has done a great job on getting us down to that 1%. Uh so, just wanted to express my gratitude. Great job. Thank you. I appreciate it. And everything is being done with the support of the board and Dr. Morales' leadership. Back here. Uh the mayor wasn't here last week, so I wanted to say to him wanted to thank you for the thank you uh for our president and Mr. Pierson for your guidance on this budget and um giving us the um the marching orders, but also the support to get it done. So, thank you.

050Thank you. Any other comments? Yeah, I Gene, I echo everybody else here that it's great job that you, Dr. Morales, Brian, the administrators did with this budget. I know there was a lot of meetings involved and a lot of different departments. Um it's very impressive, you know, where we're going out for a third of what we did we did last year. Um with some of the changes that we've done here. And I would say we we have the best taxes around, the best tax rate around. You know, neighboring districts are paying three times what we are. Certain principal might have just purchased a house that's going to be paying 12 times what we are. Um and she learned about tax bills real quick >> [laughter] >> last meeting. And it's, you know, it's a comment

051to the administrative team we have here. And And again, thank you to the voters and stuff who always have the faith in us to to do this and and go forward. And you know, if you you look around our buildings and you know, we have a very impressed staff. And buildings are in great shape. And resources here for every kid to be as successful as they can be in terms of the tools and you know, we look at the budget and the resources we have there. They're getting those tools and stuff. So, we never want to compromise any of that, which is nothing we do here. And it's wonderful to to see these numbers on paper and and see where we're at with our budget. So, I I know which I know which factor that

052was, too. He was there. You don't want to You don't want to talk about it. I'm not comparing it but but again, thank you for listening and your hard work. Thank you. And to close out my segment, you have the items that were reviewed at the audit and finance committee. Uh these items are for your approval tonight. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. So, I think we're good. And in in the next work session, we're going to vote to adopt the budget that we put together. So, thank you. So. All right. Cool. That brings us on to the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Thank you, Mr. President. Just a couple of updates. My first is that we concluded with the month of February, we [clears throat] did end the

053month with many of our Black History Month programming that went really really well. So, just wanted to highlight a couple of things that we did to celebrate the month and which culminated in these great student experiences. The first was that each each of our schools had the opportunity to be treated to an African drummer group that we worked with last year. They came in and did a fantastic job. Had many Almost all of our students, staff up and on their feet the whole time. Really great. I even saw some of our administrators might have been on stage with them at some point. So, that might have happened. There may be some pictures to prove it as well. But again, very very engaging with the kids. Um just great feedback. The other piece after that, our

054intermediate school and high school students were treated from a group called Genius Potential. Genius Potential came in and they worked with our students for student assembly programs. And what they did was they infused a lot of just engaging skits, songs, and experiences to connect with some of the topics that we speak about in terms of Black History Month and a lot of the the work that has been carried on. So, it really gave the students an opportunity to learn about some of our the people that we study, some of their messaging, and they did it in a really fun way where they were able to do that through song, through skits, and other other ways. So, I do have to say seeing the high school students in action, up on their feet the whole time,

055really engaged was was definitely really great. So, great experience for both our intermediate school and high school. And then at the elementary school, in addition to being treated to the African drummers, the school administration did a great job of putting together a school-wide Black History Month kickoff, which was definitely a lot of fun. So, kudos to Ms. Zenausky, Ms. McCoy, who really put a lot of time and effort into the programming. So, thank you very much for that. Again, our students and our staff really just There was a lot of positive feedback from the experiences. One thing that's taking place this week that was a rescheduled due to our snowstorms is that we do have cultural responsive education training taking place with our teacher leaders that is happening this Thursday where our students have had

056the opportunity to go through leadership training with the Eagle Academy Foundation. And now our teacher leaders will have that same experience. So, some of the things that our teacher leaders will be doing is they're going to be reflecting and working on how belonging cultural competence influences engagement, learning, and relationships within our schools. And with that, they'll be taking a look at the critical roles that we as the adults play in creating environments where our students feel seen, heard, and valued. So, definitely looking forward to those sessions on Thursday with our entire teacher leadership team. Moving on, also we are mid learning walks, mid-winter learning walks. Three times a year, the school administrators, the principals, and our teacher leaders all come together and we get to walk our schools, all three schools, where we take a

057look at some of our strategic goals that we laid out earlier in the year. And we look at how we're doing against that that those those goals. So, we'll walk in, look at a variety of different items, come back, and discuss it as a team. It's non-evaluatory. It's very safe. It's critical friends trying to really help with one another improve our practices. So, it's been really really good. We are in the middle of that. So, we already had our high school completed, did a great job. And we have our intermediate school coming up next. And we'll conclude with those fall learning Excuse me, spring learning walks in just a few months. Also, I want to congratulate our students and Mr. Robinson who survived his first March Madness. So, great job, Mr. Robinson. First one, big

058long-standing tradition here in Southampton. We We told Mr. Robinson, "Brace yourself for this." But the kids again did phenomenal job. So, every day we had spirited theme theme days across the district, in the school. And then at the high school, every 10th period, we had students involved in class competitions that culminated in the big Thursday night event that took place where we had tons of our students there. Really spirited, great showing their their class colors. And again, that lastly ended in a great event in our auditorium on Friday. So, Mr. Robinson, you you experienced it for the first time. Is there anything you want to add? I just want to say that was an awesome awesome March Madness. I just want to say to the 10th grade group, they invited me to participate, dance with

059them. So, there might be some videos out there of me dancing. >> [laughter] >> I had a parent on the PTO Friday said, "You know what? I saw somebody come out. I wasn't sure who it was." And I asked my my daughter and she said, "That's Mr. Robinson." >> [laughter] >> It was pretty awesome to see and participate with the kids. And thank you a lot. It was a great opportunity and I'm looking forward to next year as well. Excellent. And lastly, the last piece that we are working on with our intermediate schools, as you know, about three years ago, we were identified as a a school that is in what we call your TSI TSI standard. That means that we did fall down in some of our subgroup performance several years ago. In looking

060forward to that this year, we are in what we believe will be our last year of that plan. Because after you're identified, you have a two-year cycle to to show the New York State all the great improvements that we're making. Because of the improvements that we made last year in our exam performance, we are now we received even greater flexibility with our plan this year because of the progress that we made. So, again, working with our intermediate school leaders, our teacher leaders, administrators, we are going to be working on what we call that comprehensive educational plan for within the school. We'll submit that to New York State. We're very confident in the work that we've been doing that we will see continued growth with our student performance on the upcoming 3-8 exams. And again, I'm

061going to use this as another plug and opportunity just to really make a plea to our to our parents. Parents, we need our students, your children, to sit for those 3-8 assessments. They're very important for us because that's the way with everyone sitting and participating, we can truly evaluate our program and our instructional program and instructional materials, techniques, and everything else. So, again, we're really really confident that we will we will see continued growth and improvement in our scores. And you'll be hearing much more information coming out. And that will be culminated in our final what we believe will be our final notification letter to the community. Thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. Zaman. Um all right. Awesome. That brings us on to our Board of Education Committee here. Audit and Finance, we met

062on 2/26 and 3/05. Um Can you guys have anything you want to talk about with Audit and Finance? Uh yeah. Just we went over our usual reports. >> [clears throat] >> Um very collaborative on everyone there. Uh James, Dr. Morrell on where we can save. We had great conversations. Um again, those those meetings went very well. And then our just our regular uh uh bills and and things to talk about, which is nothing really out of the ordinary. Any other things? Yeah, I just want to add to that. I'm not going to take too long. But [clears throat] I just want to add to that, you know, it was collaborative effort and things. Really um good agreement to move this this budget forward. And it's compromising and working out. And thank you again to that.

063Rest of the board. Awesome. Thank you. Um on um personnel committee, we met on 3/3. Actually, Ruth and I were both ill and right for that committee for that day. Um, so it was it was a great meeting. Um, went well. So, yeah. All right. So, I'll give a report on that. It was it was awesome. Nothing crazy and it's kind of middle of the year. So, it's it's not many people on there. Um, the next uh, the merger met on 2/25. I was away for that. I know Chip you were at that. Uh, you know, the merger uh, committee meeting went well. We met with Tuckahoe, uh, Dr. Morell, uh, the team >> [clears throat] >> and uh, kind of talked about the direction we were heading. We did have a Zoom call with

064um, uh, I forgot her name. Dr. Morell. Uh, district superintendent and um, kind of came to an agreement. They had some some money available that uh, could be used for this. But we kind of opted uh, to continue our course. We had 6 months already in the books. And uh, we didn't think that the uh, the weight of the money would really uh, pay for anything that we haven't already kind of done. So, I think we're moving in a good direction. Tuckahoe's uh, and us talking together. I think the next meeting will kind of get into a little bit more of the uh, of the bones of it uh, once we get the consultants to kind of give us uh, an idea of what we're what we're looking at. But it was all in all

065a a good productive meeting. And my understanding was um, they're looking at like fall September to kind of start with the community stuff, right? On this with the merger. Yeah, that was the um, estimated time. Okay. Um, once we get uh, back from our consultants uh, on what that timeline might look like. But that would be the next kind of step is to get community involvement, um, questions and answers and uh, and have have you know, more discussions. Awesome. Um, is um, facilities committee. I don't think we met since the last No, so yeah, so I think we're updated at the next meeting. Um, wellness um, 2/10 was the meeting for wellness? Yes. Wellness met on 2/10. Um, we can the director of food services continued the discussion of the revamping of the cafeteria here

066at the intermediate school. As we I said before, they'll be leaving the Mariners Cafe. The students did input via surveys to um, help come up with that. And I would like to ask Dr. Anthony, who is the intermediate school second mom, to just expand a little bit on that. Yeah, um, we're so excited about the direction of our cafeteria over the last year and a half. So, um, we've been working very hard with a company called Imaginate Your Space. Um, one thing that we really appreciated was we can push in that with our principal's cabinet. Um, so what she's looking to do what um, how Imaginate Your Space designs the the mock um, renderings um, was to add more signage and add more detail to our lunch line, which I think is really important. Um,

067it hasn't been updated in a long time. Um, and also to add where if you're familiar with our cafeteria, where our dishwasher area is, to add a little market there. Um, so kids can go shopping for have snacks and drinks and have a little extra option for um, food options. So, it's very exciting. Um, and also on top of that, we've done some renovations in there. Um, I want to give a shout out to Marcus De Silva over over the February break and his team they added new pads in the cafeteria. So, if you have a chance to check that out, it looks amazing. The old pads were from probably 1980s, 1990s. So, staff's excited. Um, it looks great in there and also shout out to local artist Jason Bremba who designed this great mural

068with kindness. So, I think our cafeteria is really shaping up really nice. Um, and it's looking great and we're excited for the rendering. The kids are excited on the principal's cabinet and uh, Okay. I had a few more things to report to the wellness committee along with Um, so Darren will be inviting and this is back to the mental health aspect. Um, Darren will be inviting the district social workers to present about mental health day and their observations during mental health month, which is in May. So, that will be happening in May. And then Dr. Martha Thomhill discussed forming a committee, possibly forming a committee, which I feel like it's a great idea. That's a community wellness committee, but this is a very important um, area to discuss and we want to expand the wellness

069committee's policy. Adding in mental health content cuz right now it is basically real service content and nutrition and physical education. So, information for our partnership with Stony Brook Children's Hospital and then we paired initiative, which is a new school based mental health and overall wellness collaboration. You can find access to all of this information on Parent Square and that's for the parents as well as the email. There you can find access to mental health and behavioral assessment, short-term treatment referrals, specialized support for students with complex needs, access to system of health care experts at Stony Brook Children's Hospital. This information again can be found on Parent Square, email and GroupMe for communication at the high school level. Thank you, Ms. Anthony. Um, also next we had um, policy. I know there's it says no new

070report, but I know you guys you guys are working Okay. Yeah, I know you guys are working on a lot of policies and um, I I'm still impressed from the one I went to a few months ago with all the like going through them all and you guys are you guys are cooking in there, right? It's >> [laughter] >> Um, So, all right. So, that that brings us on. We have a we have a few policies for third reading here and these are adopted. Um, so so that's all. May I have a motion to review the following policies for third reading adoption or retirement as presented. Policy 6500 miscellaneous monies, cash receipts, petty cash and bonded employees and officers. Policy 6630 financial reports and statements. Policy 6720 bidding requirements. Policy 6720R competitive bidding procedures regulations.

071Policy 7310 educational swithtics. I need to say that word. I always struggle. Policy emergency closings. Policy 8240 traffic and parking controls. Policy 8414.6 fuel inventories inventories uh, inventory. Policy 4326-E.1A limited English proficiency instructional exhibit. Policy 50 uh, 4326-E.1B instruction para estudiantes de inglés limitado. Um, policy I'm getting better at that. Third reading, I've got it now. Um, policy 40 4326-E.2A limited English proficiency instruction exhibit policy. Policy 4326-E.2B instruction para estudiantes de inglés limitado. Um, policy 4710-R.1 Southampton High School requirements for graduation and or New York State Regents diploma. And policy 4531 field trips and excursions. So, do I have a motion to accept motion committee? Do I have a second? Second from committee. Will the clerk please call the roll for a vote? I second the vote. Yes. Rodney Robinson? >> Yes. Connie Takter? Yes.

072Jermaine O. Smith? Yes. And Laura White? >> Yes. Um, there is no policies for second reading and no policies for third reading. So, thank you guys for all your hard work on that. So, um, that brings us on to consent agenda items here. Are there any consent agenda items from 12.01 through 12.21 through um, 12 12.01 through 12.21 12.23 through 12.31. Do any member wishes to or has discussions about? Uh, discussion on 12.18 and 12.29. Okay. Great. Um, we'll start with uh, 12.18. 18. Okay, this is a trip overnight trip to the Massapequa High School. And just looking through the paperwork, if I could just get the understanding of we have seven students actually going and we have four adults going. Are those adults being Is that a chaperone situation or are they Is someone

073like the kids' family members going? Are we paying for them? And why would the adults be four to seven? Really, it seems like a lot of adults for a for a overnight trip. >> Yeah. So, we we are that there are four adults that we are planning on sending because these are four adults that work within our Chinese language course programming. So, part of it is not only for the students to go up to this high school to learn about some of the course offerings, but it's also for the teachers to go up there and learn as well and have the opportunity to meet with some of the staff. So, the intent was for the trip to be a true learning experience for both the students and the teachers. Do they take that on as

074a I know it's an overnight. We've been talking about this for a few months, but do they take that on as that's their daily wage for the day or do they get that plus? No, so they would they would have their daily wage for the day, but then they would have the chaperone stipend for staying overnight. So, it would be what they would receive cuz some of it's during work day and then if it's a Monday to Friday and then on top of that for any night that they still stay over there is a chaperone equal to that. And is there a mandate for how many kids to chaperones we have to have? >> So, typically when you look at our policies and and when you look at past practices, the the standard is usually

075a one to 10. And for that for for many of our chaperones. In this case, like I said, where you have an additional adults is because we did want adults being up there collaborating with with other adults. Part of it was a two-phase type of opportunity for us. My last question is Was there any other place to stay other than the Foxwoods Casino? I don't I know it's close, but seems a little uh larger than what I'm thinking for a school trip. I I would have to dig a little deeper in that and work with some of the the trip organizers. I I could not answer that question exactly, but I will find out. Okay. I just don't know if that's a kind of a place that What I will tell you about Foxwoods is

076Huh? Okay. Yeah. I mean, that that would be great. Still, you know, casino right below just makes me nervous. That's all. Understood. Yeah. >> Okay. You have questions about 12.29? 12.29, yes. So, I went through the paperwork on 12.29. This is a Disney trip that has been converted into a Hershey, Pennsylvania trip. But if you look at the paperwork, it's really sloppy. A lot of the paperwork still reference back to didn't drop the MacArthur going to Disney. And nothing's been changed in there. So, my my fear, right? Number one, are they Are they taking a I would assume they're taking a bus. Has that been worked out? Because on the paperwork, there really wasn't anything worked out or on the you know, the travel plan. >> Sure. Yes. I can explain. And also, you know,

077so let's just say they go on a bus, something happens. God forbid. Um that that paperwork should be straight and right ready to go. Right now, it's very Yeah. >> So, what you saw on there and point taken, what you saw is we tried to provide just what was already provided the approval from when this trip was put in a year and a half ago. So, that's what we were showing and then the I understand your point. So, in hindsight, perhaps we could have added more to that memo to talk about some of the changes. Um because what happens after that is we would go and then revise that that trip field in there. But again, this is something that was already acted upon. So, we would just wanted to show what was already approved

078in the past. But the update would be that if approved, the trip director is ready to move on a coach bus for that. So, that trip would be on a coach bus. A lot of the student funds already were in there. Um again, the the trip advisor was able to get more students to participate on the trip and still have a performance in the park. So, that's why he he made that change. And again, the transportation would move from those flights to a coach bus. Can I just add that twice as Um the teacher tried to update the form in the system, but due to something technological happened and we lost the form where you would actually go in and update it inside of our travel tracker. We could not do that. So, that caused

079a problem with how it was actually presented. So, you're right. We should have maybe perhaps added just some more language about why this is happening because we didn't have the technological you know, the you didn't have the technology broke broke was broken for them. And same as well, too. Right. So, they couldn't recapture what was already approved by the board. What we were trying to show is that you already approved this, but you couldn't get the numbers to go to Disney. Um a lot of kids couldn't go. So, but kids could go to Hershey. And so, we're just trying to show that you kind of already approved it. We just need to change the place. So. Right. Sorry about that. Yeah, the only problem I have with that is it's a kind of unapproved. You

080know, you could split hairs, really. But we should have that paperwork done over, I would think, instead of taking a the one form of the And then the you know, I'm talking about the I'm a little nervous about running into three nights 60 days out. Yeah. So, I think in this That's another good point. I mean, they knew kind of they were going at some point. I'm sure someone knew that they were switching from Disney to Hershey. They're kind of behind again. We always have these problems with these uh overnight trips, it seems like, but um so We're trying to get better. I think we'll get better as time goes Okay. Okay. I'm not sure what to get that one. Yeah, yeah. That's right. Awesome. Um Okay. So, I'm just going to hold out a

081few consented agenda items here to for separate action. So, I'm going to hold out consented agenda items 12. 23 through 12.28 for separate action. Are there any other consented agenda items from 12. 01 through 12. 21? Or 12. 12.29 through 12. 31 for any of those as well that require second action. I don't think so. Um So, can I have a motion to approve consented agenda items 12.01 through 12.21 and 12.29 12.31 as presented in the agenda. Motion made and properly seconded. Say the word. Will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary Appleby? Yes. Rodney C. Pearson? Yes. Monique Proctor? Yes. Jermaine Elsmore? Yes. And Laura Rice? Yes. Okay. And just for the record, we we approved 12.22 earlier in the night. So, we have These are some of the museums

082that go on to our ballot every year. They've all submitted the proper paperwork, so we're just going to go through each one individually here. So, may I have a motion to approve consented agenda items 12.23 to adopt the resolution of the Board of Education of the Southampton Union Free School District hereby approves the proposed proposition to authorize the district to contract with the Parrish Art Museum and directs the district to notify the proposer of the board's decision as presented in the agenda. Second from Laura. Second from Jermaine. Will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary Appleby? Yes. Rodney C. Pearson? Yes. Monique Proctor? Yes. Jermaine Elsmore? Yes. And Laura Rice? >> Yes. May I have a motion to approve consented agenda item 12.24 to adopt the resolution of the Board of

083Education of the Southampton Union Free School District hereby approves the proposed proposition to authorize the district to contract with the Southampton History Museum and directs the district clerk to notify the proposer of the board's decision as presented in the agenda. Motion. Second from Jermaine. Will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary Appleby? Yes. Rodney C. Pearson? Yes. Monique Proctor? Yes. Jermaine Elsmore? Yes. And Laura Rice? Yes. May I have a motion to approve consented agenda item 12.25 to adopt the resolution of the Board of Education of the Southampton Union Free School District hereby approves the proposed proposition to authorize the district to contract with the Southampton Arts Center and directs the district clerk to notify the proposer um of the board's decision as presented in the agenda. Motion Bora. Second Monik.

084Um will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary, please. Yes. Bonnie Michelle Wilson. Yes. Monik Proctor. Yes. Jermaine Nelson. And Laura White. Yes. Um may I have a motion to approve consent agenda item 12.26 to adopt the resolution that the Board of Education of the Southampton Union Free School District hereby approves the proposed proposition to authorize the district to contract with Southampton Youth Association and directs the district clerk to notify the proposer of the board's decision as presented in the agenda. Motion. Motion Sherb. Second Monik. Um will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary, please. Yes. Bonnie Michelle Wilson. Yes. Monik Proctor. Yes. Jermaine Nelson. Yes. And Laura White. Yes. Um may I have a motion to approve consent agenda item 12.27 to adopt the resolution that

085the Board of Education of the Southampton Union Free School District hereby approves the proposed proposition to authorize the district to contract with the Southampton African American Museum and directs the district clerk to notify the proposer of the board's decision as presented in the agenda. Motion motion Bora second Sherb Um will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary, please. Yes. Bonnie Michelle Wilson. Yes. Monik Proctor. Yes. Jermaine Nelson. Yes. And Laura White. Yes. Um this last one that has to do with um the re- repair reserve stuff. Um may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda item 12.28 to adopt the resolution that the Board of Education hereby authorizes the appropriation of the amount not to exceed 480,000 from the district's repair reserve fund for the purposes of completing the

086following repairs and replacements. Repair or replace of one boiler in the Southampton Transportation Building. Repair or replace of two furnaces in the Southampton District Office. Uh replacement of the refrigerator refrigeration unit for the walk-in box at Southampton High School. Replacement of the sound system in the main gymnasium at Southampton High School. Purchase and installation of one baseball scoreboard and one softball scoreboard for the varsity field. Replace of men of 11 standard water fountain fountains in the district wide. Repair or replacement of alarm fire alarm panels at Southampton High School, the intermediate school, and elementary school. Repair of the fuel monitoring system at Southampton Intermediate School. Improvement of the junior high school baseball/softball practice field and repair of the phone system at the district office as presented in the agenda. Monik Second. Second. Um Jermaine. Um

087will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary, please. Yes. Bonnie Michelle Wilson. Yes. Monik Proctor. Yes. Jermaine Nelson. Yes. And Laura [clears throat] White. Yes. Great. Um that brings us on to financial items. Are there any financial items from 13.01 through 13. 10 that any member wishes to discuss or has questions about? Um are there any financial items from 13.01 through 13.10 that any member wishes to hold out for separate action? Um may I have a motion to approve financial items 13.01 through 13.09 as presented in the agenda. Motion. Second. Should be actually 13.10. Uh Bora would you accept? Um that was a second. Um Jermaine. Will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary, please. Yes. Bonnie Michelle Wilson. Yes. Monik Proctor. Yes. Jermaine Nelson. Yes. And

088Laura White. Yes. Um are there any personnel uh any personnel items from 14.01 one through seven that any member wishes to discuss or has questions about? I will hold out personnel items 14.01 five for separate action. Are there any other uh personnel items 14.01 one through four, six, or seven that any member wishes to hold out for separate action? Um may I have a motion to approve personnel items 14.01 one through four, six, and seven as presented in the agenda. Motion Jermaine. Second Monik. Will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary, please. Yes. Bonnie Michelle Wilson. Yes. Monik Proctor. Yes. Jermaine Nelson. Yes. And Laura White. Yes. Um may I have a motion to approve personnel item 14.01 five for the retirement of Eva Sanchez with great gratitude for her five

089years of service to the district as presented in the agenda. Motion. Good. Second. Second. Uh Jermaine and second um will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary, please. Yes. Bonnie Michelle Wilson. Yes. Monik Proctor. Yes. Jermaine Nelson. Yes. And Laura White. Yes. Um are there any personnel items from 14.02 eight through 39 or A that any member wishes to discuss or has questions about? Uh yes, I'd like to hold out for discussion 14.02 number 11 18, 17, and 20. 11, 18, 17, and 20. Um Wait, question. >> Uh so the question is um we have on 11 and 18 we have uh MBK mentors uh two people, but it's halfway through the year, so I'm just wondering um what why they get added during the during the year instead of starting

090out They were they were replacements. Um when you look at the salary amount, it's to be prorated. Yes. Um so I think they were um that from my understanding at the they were replacing two other ones previously. Two out? Two in started. Then you had a question about 17? Uh 17 and 20 uh literacy night coordinators. Um I haven't seen that before, so I'm just wondering what those titles do or um again halfway halfway through the year or so. Yeah, I can explain it. Yeah, I know we do literacy uh uh Sure. So what we have done is within our title one grant, when we build our grant, we build in a literacy night experience and we build in the cost of the coordination of that event. So within the title one grant, we secure

091funds that doesn't come out of our our tax base and specifically allocate to coordinate the event and then we also allocate funds to purchase for the event. So in this case you have two coordinators that are putting together um these this literacy night that has many different games, experiences, um family opportunities for our for um title one funds that are designated for our at risk population. So all funds were built into the the title one grant. Is is that a Southampton the year thing or is that Yeah, typically we've had this event in the past and uh it usually is around the spring. Okay, so it's just an event that we have every year. All right. And then um to to what's it from you looking at the personnel here, um the ones in black

092are taxpayer funded and the ones in blue are taxpayer Yep. Yep. Okay. Cool. Um Uh is Is Do you want to hold out for that? It uh Yeah, that's Okay. Yeah. What's halfway Yeah, sorry. Yeah. 14.02 34. Okay, great. So I will hold out personnel item 14.02 34 for separate action. Um are there any other personnel items 14.02 eight through 39 or A that any member wishes to hold out for separate action? Um may I have a motion to approve personnel item 14.02 eight through 33, 35 through 39, and A as presented in the agenda. Motion second um will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary, please. Yes. Bonnie Michelle Wilson. Yes. Monik Proctor. Yes. Jermaine Nelson. Yes. And Laura White. Yes. Um may I have a motion to approve personnel

093item 14.02 34 as presented in the agenda. Motion. Motion Sherb. Bora second. Second. Um will the clerk please call the roll for a vote. Robert Zachary, please. Yes. Bonnie Michelle Wilson. Yes. Monik Proctor. Jermaine Nelson. Laura White. Yes. Great. Very cool. They're playing football. >> [laughter] >> I'm excited to watch it. 14 girls out. That's good. I mean I'm excited. It's new sports, so they're they're into it. Mr. President, before moving on, can I just point out that we just approved tonight a leave replacement teacher who is here with us. Mr. Jonathan Boomer is serving as a leave replacement at the high school. Sat through the meeting, so thank you so much and welcome to Southampton. So far started off on that interim appointment and has been doing a great job hitting the ground running.

094So thank you for being here tonight and welcome to Southampton. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. Really grateful for the opportunity. So, thank you. Welcome and I think one of the meetings here that is we look at this and it's just a name on the paper but it's a big big thing to get the job. So, very happy you're you're here. Sorry you had to sit through a meeting for an hour and a half and welcome to South Hampton and we're excited. So, thank you for for coming out. I just have one more thing on 1401 I want to show on the screen after nominating in his absence. I want to congratulate him and his wife Jen on the birth of a baby girl even. Congratulations. Um, so we're on to action items

095here. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the February 2nd, February 3rd, 2026 public hearing, February 3rd, 2026 regular meeting, February 12th, 2026 special meeting, >> [clears throat] >> February 26th, 2026 special meeting and March 3rd, 2026 work session as presented. Motion carried. Second by Germain. Will the clerk please call the roll? Mr. Smith. Yes. Mrs. Peterson. Yes. Mrs. Hampton. Germain Smith. Yes. And Marvin. Yes. Great. So, that brings us on to our second public comment section of the night. So, at this point public comments will be heard. Um, the Board of Education encourages public participation in school related matters at school meetings. Any group or organization wishing to address the board must first identify a single spokesperson. The presentation should be as brief as possible. Speakers will be permitted to speak

096for up to 3 minutes. The board will not allow public session discussions involving district personnel or students. All speakers are to conduct themselves civilly. Obscene language, derogatory statements, threats of violence, and statements advocating racial, religious, and other forms of prejudice will not be tolerated. Persons making presentations to the board meeting will address remarks to the president. They will direct questions or comments to board members or other district officials only upon approval of the president. So, any public comment? Jill? You're going to get dropped there one meeting, I'm telling you. All right. So, that brings us on to new business agenda items at this um this time. So, um, first of all, we usually go through. So, um Did Did we send out that letter to the board? So, so do you see attached is a

097letter that we received um at the school. So, the New York State legislation and Senate passed a um a bill recently um that um spouses of um police officers that are killed in the line of duty are available for tax relief of up to 50% on any kind of tax um bill that they get from schools, municipalities, and stuff. It's something that we would have to set a public hearing and um go forward with if we're interested. I actually think it's a a great thing for those spouses to have um this and it you know, knock on the wood, I hope we never have a spouse that is a taxpayer that has to go through that situation but I think if it is um it's a it's a great thing to have. So, I just

098wanted you guys to see the letter that we received and if you guys were okay with it or any comment that we could set a public hearing on that and and move forward with that. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. All right. So, cool. We'll set that for the next meeting and we'll follow up with that. Um, that is really all I had for me. I don't have a lot so if there's anything anyone here has any more. So, um Chip, um, do you have anything you want to Yeah, just a couple questions. Um I just want to understand was there an educational foundation put together or applied for or for the school or for anything having to do with us? Can anybody enlighten me on that? Yes. What Everything. And Yes. We did attempt to establish a

099foundation per your approval at the audit and finance meeting earlier this year. Well the approval has to come from the board. We can't approve those things at audit and finance. So, my next question would be was there any money spent on that to get it up and running? And was there a board action on it? There wasn't a board action on it as of yet. Um, but yes, funds were expended and that was also approved in audit and finance and we were just hoping that once we with your initial approval we had to stop we started the process. So, we were hoping that we'd be able to get a full board approval. Yeah, the the the board approval doesn't really come from audit and finance. There's only three of us there potentially. So, it really

100needs to be brought to the board. And I can't for the life of me I've gone through all the paperwork I cannot find the expenditure that was expended. If anybody can enlighten me on where that where I can find that. So, you're not going to see it in the expenditures because the charges went on the district's credit card. So, um it's yeah, $2,500 that were put on the district credit card with the understanding that once the funds were raised from the foundation the district would get reimbursed. That was discussed. Well, it's disappointing. Um number one, no board action to spend this money. Um it doesn't come out of audit and finance It doesn't doesn't come out of audit and finance. It has to be brought to this board and a board action to spend that

101money. Now again, what the other thing that worries me and it should worry all of us is that I can't find it. It's it's put on the credit card. What else is there? We should be able to to be transparent here. $2,500 is missing. And me as a board member trying to do what we're supposed to do which is watch the money it's a mystery. Um I'm disappointed. And I think an investigation be launched on where this money is. Where is it? Why is there no board action? Why can't I find it in any of the books? Well, I don't think it's a a mystery. Um and I planned on meeting with our board president tomorrow to discuss the issue. Um, I don't think it's a mystery. I think it was a little bit of

102a misunderstanding because when we discussed this with you in audit and finance um, I think that we perceived that as an approval to move forward. And we actually did not have that authority to do so. Um based on this kind of conversation. Um, so I think that's you know, it is problematic but we're not we're not going to move forward with establishing that at all. And so, I won't be able to discuss our our plans to move forward with that. It's one question again, please. The credit card like I don't think we put much on the credit card. Is that something that usually gets brought like I know we get a Is John just I know we usually get like expenditures and stuff and go through. Is that just like show up as a credit

103card or like Yes, there is one credit card and it's under my name. It's kept on in the um safe at the district office. So, anytime someone needs to often times people when traveling you need to charge an airline ticket or hotel if you won't be able to do it with a PO. So, that's the primary reason why we have a credit card on hand. And for Dallas who is my assistant also who is the treasurer of the district maintain a log of every charge on the credit card where the individual who put on the charge have to sign and state the reason why they're using the credit card and at some point for Dallas presented to me I had to sign off on that credit card as well. But he also receives statements, you

104know, because we have to pay it every month. It's like any other credit card. Do we know what the $2,500 charge was? Sorry, can you repeat that? Could you share with us what that charge was for? Well, we engaged with a company in Florida called Bright Ridge that assisted us in setting up the foundation and their fee for your assistance was $2,500. Jay, can you please explain why What was your understanding after that audit and finance Why Why'd you establish that foundation? What was your understanding for approval for that? Well, the foundation was established because we had the issue of fundraising and we needed to establish the foundation in order to create Once we had the foundation, we would open a bank bank account under the foundation so that we can channel channel those funds

105that were raised in support of their I think student leadership cabinet. So, after we met with the audit and finance committee, uh and we discussed the I They presented the entire process of setting up the foundation, um engaging with that company that assisted us with setting up the foundation. Um and I also presented the cost of having them assist us. Um we moved forward and charged the fee to their credit card with with the anticipation that once the funds were raised, the district would get reimbursed. So, I think the misunderstanding here that we had is that in that audit and finance committee, which you yourself the board president, Mr. Germain, was there. Um that was approved by the three of you. I think what we needed to do Well, that that was direction. There's no

106no approval there. There's no approval. You keep saying that. It's not approval. >> Okay. And Okay. Well, I remember the same meeting. We did discuss We also discussed that we already have a foundation that is here and established. Um waiting for me. I've been there and don't know why we didn't use it or why we didn't take its normal course of trying to put it on the credit card and hurry it along. I don't know. Uh again, it's There's a lot of mysteries there and I don't like to hear that money people or money's being spent without us knowing. You knew about it. Well, I I I'd like to talk to you. You knew about it. That's not I was in that meeting and it was my understanding and you did not disagree at that

107point that we're going to move forward with this because it was going to be a an avenue. You didn't No. It was going to be an avenue for us to raise money more than the $2,500 for You name it, the call washing, whatever donations from from outside entities. I remember the discussion. >> So, yeah. Unless I heard wrong, it was my understanding too. And just so you know, we have those committees in place and we have made recommendations to move forward on them without the entire board's approval. That's why we have voters established. Wrong. It's not wrong. >> You are wrong. It's not wrong. You cannot spend any money with only three people. It comes from this board as a quorum. You are totally wrong. Okay. Okay. So, you were in November? I was there.

108I know you were. >> We didn't vote. There was no vote. Discussion only. The votes come here, not there. Okay. Um we're meeting with the president tomorrow to see how we move forward to rectify this. >> And why Why are we not establishing that now? Well, the question. It's It's It's just Um I I just feel that I just feel that um I've ran into a lot of issues in terms of trying to support students and that was another avenue and it just, you know, there continues to be issues um around um you know, anything I'm trying to do that involves raising money or having opportunities for the students that they wouldn't normally have. And so, I haven't quite clearly found the right avenue for doing this work and so I wanted to just take

109a pause on it and and and, you know, um make sure that I'm doing everything the board wants me to do. And so, I I asked for a hold on on the whole thing until I can get I wanted to meet with the board president and then get some guidance and move forward. But I know that in that audit and finance committee meeting, there was there was support for it or I know that we would not have moved forward. So, can we move forward in the sense that we'll bring all the information about what that foundation is to the entire board in a public session and have an open discussion. We We can do that. >> Yeah, we can. We had the conversation. I think the cuz I got some thoughts about this we can

110think. I think one of the There's the re-re-establishing a non-profit, you have to have officers of that non-profit and they have to give their personal information and stuff. So, you know, you have to find somebody that's going to be comfortable enough to be on that and I think that has been Um so, I think that's a little hold up with with that, which which rightly so. I think, you know, at any any organization and you're going to then you know, you want to make sure, you know, and stuff. So, I um what we'll do is we'll we'll discuss this. We'll we'll bring it in and we'll we'll go over and, you know, cuz, you know, the board and um you know, I was I was at the meeting and you know, we we discussed the

111kind of exploring opportunities and, you know, I think we were all right when we're talking about stuff and looking at it and, you know, one thing that probably should have came forward was a board action to spend money to move forward. So, we talked about it exploring the opportunity and we This is is great, but then it kind of from my understanding is I I didn't Is it Is it should have We probably should have brought a board It should have been a board action come forward and stuff, which which didn't happen. Um you know, one thing we should probably look at too as a board is I I didn't realize we were having credit card expenses and stuff. So, maybe that's something that like that law that gets signed off on and goes to

112budget finance to kind of look at it stuff. Cuz I I know too is it's a it's a good safe keeping. I think if everybody follows this thing, there's been some districts lately with some of those expenses and stuff. And I think it's something that has some good oversight. And I And again, I I I trust everybody here. I think, you know, you guys bring You guys are Everybody's pretty forthcoming and I think Jean too with you oversight looking at that and signing it every month. It's not like a person, but I think some something as a a solution on some of this maybe is that that report just gets included. I I'll make sure that not only the log, but also the statements from a Perfect. Yeah, cuz the log is in there shows

113what what some of that stuff is and I completely understand having a credit card because you're doing events, you're doing things, you have to order food for the There's a lot of different things that people go on and, you know, some of our employees they're not going to lay out the money or do the same stuff just like anything and want to on it and then have to get reimbursed from the district. So, so we'll we'll go forward and look at that stuff and I think that. And then what we'll do is we'll discuss how we're going to move forward with this because we I The idea of it is good to to try to, you know, I think the idea of it is not a malicious like we're trying I think it's The point

114is to to raise money so kids can go on events and do stuff. And, you know, sometimes we're we're handicapped because we are we do deal with tax dollars and I do think if we do anything for the community, it should always be for all the kids. Should be for a grade level thing where some of these clubs and so, we need to look at at that and and how we can iron this out where everyone is comfortable and I and you know, I think part of the hangup is you You're going to have some people that are comfortable enough to be on that board and and I And there's there's a, you know, these foundations really should not be created by the school district. It There's There's hard laws on this and I I'm

115no lawyer, but we should have our lawyer. Now, we looked at this months ago when this started and it was ignored. But we should get a ruling from our lawyers on on this. You can't just It really the money really, from where I researched, we shouldn't have any money going to any to start up or pay pay back or whatever we're doing. >> And I agree with that and I think any kind of foundation like this should have should really have some of the school employees as like hey Like Like if you have a group of parents and a group of committee members that may want to take on something like this and raise stuff, that's great and we'll as a school we'll support you. The The Southampton Association or the Southampton Well, what was

116it? Ed- Educational Fund was exactly that. It was like a group of >> What it was. parents and stuff that said, "Hey, we want to do this fund. We want to raise this money." Administration got involved and then there was money there and then when things like "Hey, this club wants to do, you know, get pizza for whatever." And it they could reach out and they could do that stuff. So I I think there's a a better route. I think it's good I think it's all with good intention. We're trying to do all this stuff it's just been hang up after hang up on on things. So I I do think it's something we need to discuss and you know And I just like to reiterate that these sub boards or these sub committees have

117no uh power to vote anything in It's got to come to this board here. Board action gets done. Then we put it we put it in >> And I agree and So so generally in the past what what what what has happened in the past in the long run you have the committees you have the committees and you had a consensus in the committee and then you would reach out to other individual board members not in a meeting but just to get a feel for what they thought of it. And that has happened in the past and we've come to a consensus. Part of the issue here is lack of communication. For whatever reason we don't communicate with each other like we used to. There's a small group that communicates with each other and the

118rest do not. So there was a misunderstanding here like the president said there was nothing malicious no malicious intent in this. It was a misunderstanding. Maybe we shouldn't have gone forward with it. And >> We shouldn't have. And okay we got your point. Yeah. I just wanted to point that out. I so Well I'll be talking about monkey talk. Only question. Gene is there any uh discretionary Gene is there any discretionary spending in the district that's allowed? I discretionary We don't have like a um Slash fund? No not a slush fund. Oh okay. I I don't know. I hope not. >> [laughter] >> Well you don't have like a petty cash you don't have a limit. Like I know when you go out to bids it has to be above a certain number you have

119to get three quotes. Yeah. 5,000. Yeah three quotes or three bids. Yeah. So in this instance when you buy uniforms or pizza that you couldn't do a PO for because you needed it you know. Well >> Is there a limit to that? >> Yeah there's a threshold where you don't um Yeah there's thresholds we have the according to the policies we have different thresholds for different items. So if you're referring to food items for instance well a lot of the activities that we provide food for we created a policy at the beginning of Dr. Morell's tenure to address providing food at meetings. We also have certain grants that the cost of providing food is included in the budget of the grants. So So and I think here is the uh is um We have discussed

120it with those here. I think where the the ball was dropped on this is it was a proposal from a company to engage them right? Yeah. So that proposal probably after we discussed it should have come to the board to get signed off on to move forward with and um for whatever reason that proposal didn't make it to us and then it it got signed off on and moved forward but that that should have been the document that should have came to us under a consent agenda item. So that's what I look at because it is a agreement it is a proposal it is something that so we should look at that look at how we have to fix that and we'll we'll discuss going forward right? I'm good. I think okay yeah. Um Do

121you have anything else? That's it. All right. Um Monique do you have anything? >> [laughter] >> Well well well. Good afternoon. Yes I do have something to say. At our February 3rd board meeting during the president's comments lots of the amazing upcoming district events were proudly announced. The 90th day of school 100th day PSA love you PSA love you dance theater no Black History Nothing. There was nothing mentioned until I waited till the end of the meeting and said happy Black History Month. Okay? Again this meeting was on February 3rd the beginning of Black History Month. However again it was not mentioned until I myself and then followed with our scheduled Black History celebrations that were at the end of February. Although Dr. Zorn thank you for highlighting all of the beautiful happenings that happened

122in each of our schools. And then after I asked Dr. Morell presented and informed us of the events that would be going on. So February is the shortest month. Okay? We had a one week vacation. And I just think we need to do a little bit better because I see us highlighting every other culture. They have all been here we have all engaged in every other culture. Okay? Several And and I'm just going to say this. I'm glad that our young men of color were here tonight to present the two of them. But several of our young women in the Black Girl Magic Club founded by Natasha Jeffries and student at the time one of the best but is currently led by Natasha Jeffries. They have expressed feelings of hurt feelings of being unseen and

123honestly anger. I personally take this very seriously. My advocacy for equitable vis- visibility in this district is nothing new. Dr. Zorn remembers when my daughter not too long ago she's graduating from college this year but not too long ago again nothing was posted nothing was done at the time. The child- the young children of color they were very upset. So not not not I Dr. Zorn. >> [laughter] >> I will say the following year things were done. They started to take place. So I was very happy about that. But I just want to finish with saying representation visibility and timely Okay? Timely recognition matters. All of our students deserve to feel seen respected and valued. Equity is not symbolic. It's operational. Now on a brighter note I got the really great experience of attending our

124celebration with the drummers and our speakers and I had the best time ever. With our staff at the middle school staff and all of the children were fully engaged from start to finish and they also were absorbing the information the knowledge the culture. And prior to going to the second half because it was first the high school then it's middle school. I was there a little early. I heard from multiple professionals in the building the high school students were listening. That was the certainty that they paid the most attention to. Then I heard from parents the very same thing. So I just want to say that thank you for all that has been done but let's not forget our Black Girls and the rest of our African American people. Thank you. Did you get Black

125Girl Magic coming? Board meeting was designed or Black Girl Magic was scheduled to be here on February 24th. We had the snow storm and then the schedules Natasha's schedule could not did not allow their dancers to come and I did not want them to come alone. So they were scheduled to be here. Um And I also did hear some of this um at the school level. And I spoke with the students and we ensured that they were part of the Black History program. But we always want to make sure that we are um elevating all of our students and so um although we did not say anything anything here at the board um we most certainly ensured that we have programs in every last one of our schools. And in addition to those programs that

126were delivered on February 27th, we also implemented an African American read aloud the first week of February. So 2 days after that board meeting. It was a district-wide read aloud. We had huge door decorating contest throughout our school. I became part of the history project in one of the schools. I'm very proud of that at the elementary school. They put up educators, important educators. I'm like, "Oh boy, this is just putting me next to Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings." I said, "Oh no, I can't I can't can't stand next to her, but it was an honor to see that." And that continues to be um it's in my opinion more culturally responsive in all of our schools. Um even today in my walks through uh the um elementary school, um you can just see how hard the

127teachers work to um you know, it's not Black History Month, but kids' identity is seen, identity is valued. And you can see that through the walls, just walking the walls and the classrooms and in in the hallways. So I know we always have a lot of work to do. Um and you know, that's what we work on, but we never meant in any shape, form, or fashion to slight uh Black History Month at all. So, but thanks for bringing that to my attention. You're very much and I would just like to say it is National Women's History Month. So there's still an opportunity to have our girls come on in. And young women. Sounds like a good board presentation. Thank you. >> As long as they don't have a if nobody football on that thing,

128right? That's mostly them playing fights with Latasha. Um >> [clears throat] >> I know we got Yeah. I just wanted to add um Black Girl Magic Club is very unique. I know all the girls very well. Um This chapter is my former teacher in uh 9th and 10th grade. Um I go to her for study halls just like you know, do my work, hang out, talk to her, talk to the girls. Um so I know I know them very well. I have a relationship with them. What I like to say is I sat in the same row with Black Girl Magic Club members at the assembly. That's when I like the Shinnecock Native American drumming and the African American drumming, all that stuff. Um it doesn't It's not like resonating with me in a anyway,

129but like I can just like I can feel the beat through everything. Feel the rhythm. I can just like kind of feel connected to it somewhat. But all those girls, they advocated for themselves at the um at the uh They called They advocated at the assembly and they all wanted to dance up there. They had a dancing event for 10 minutes. Um I think before you might have got there. Um so they they all spoke up for each other and they were able to attend um go up to the stage and dance. Um they Any opportunity that they were given, they they were there. They were seen. So But I do think we need to do a better job of uh getting that club seen cuz it's a good club. Um yeah. Awesome. Thank you.

130Is it okay if I just jump in? >> Yeah, just hold on. So just um just so you know in uh Martin Luther King, I didn't meet with Black Girl Magic and uh they had great opportunity uh to speak out that day about Martin Luther King. Uh and another thing is that uh we had the opportunity for students to sing uh Lift Every Voice and Sing in the assembly as well. Uh so they did have opportunities to kind of be part of Black History Month from the beginning in January. But definitely I agree we should definitely like you know I said bring them here and I think that'll be great especially this month. Uh but they definitely had a lot of input and I had met with them a few times and which is great

131and uh Latasha does a great job with the kids and I appreciate all the hard work that um she does as well. Lorraine? Do you have anything to add? Yes. I just [clears throat] want to say that um a lot of comments were made um directly at Dr. Morell. And you know, we have executive sessions which I can't speak of. But there are some underhanded comments, personal attacks directed at Dr. Morell and those things. And if you don't need If anyone knows me, I will speak freely. Um and I think it's disgusting. And I think that some of our board members one in particular, Mr. Pearson, was put onto this board for the sole purpose of getting rid of Dr. Morell. Whether she hands out gold bars every week or spends $500 on you know,

132on whatever, but his sole purpose was here to remove her from this board and I'd be shocked if she gets an extension on her contract. I just wanted to say that publicly and out loud. Um Lorraine, got anything to add? Hi everyone. Let's get back to the community. >> Yeah, there you go. And thank you so much for coming tonight. And thank you for all of your hard work that you've done over the years. I grew up down the street from the Bridgehampton Child Care Center. And what a tremendous asset that is to the Bridgehampton community and beyond. So thank you for coming tonight. It's such an honor to be here with you. Have a great night everyone. Awesome. Now we got anything? Yeah, wait. Before I just want to say I'm just disappointed in

133in the personal attacks. I've been on this board now for almost four for four years. And no matter who he's dealt with, we were always able to have some communication through the forum. And come to a consensus on those things. And I'm just very disappointed at what's happening right now. I'm disgusted. No? Uh same here. I can speak on that as well, but I'm not going to. Uh I can only speak on one thing real quick. Uh two things. Um March Madness was filled with excitement. I've never seen kids like I have cuz they're having a great time. But like when I go to school every day I see these kids and I like I try to change their perspective on the day and school and like what's going well for them. And I try

134to be a comfort zone for them. And kind of just like come to me. I'm a very outgoing person. I try to like reach them as much as I can. Um but the the lack of um physical movement and the lack of um like exposure, like new things every day. It's the same thing every day. I would like to see our schools expand the variety of trying to do um different things. But we do a very good job at that. But I think physical movement would would increase everybody's spirit at school so much. And and it almost brings tears to me because I'm very passionate about that. And you ask any kid, I have I have 5th grade study hall, I have 5th grade um lunch. They go outside. I hear kids screaming from 50

135yards away. They're so happy. And we can add extra time and I know there's uh the middle school does add extra recess at the end of the day which is great. Um very happy about that. I'm looking for that more at the high school. They're still kids. They still should be treated um not as little kids, but like they should be treated as like okay, like we can still increase like physical activity. And we have gym every day for 40 minutes. We're lucky to get 20 minutes of playtime in. Um not playtime, yeah, physical activity movement. Um that's one thing right there. Uh I didn't really touch on it too much, but I just wanted to like briefly like go by that real quick just to like just address it. And then the other thing

136is whoever's controlling the board outside of the uh um the school is doing a great job. It's always updated. It's It's very nice. The only thing I would say is cuz I'm in the high school every day is outside like in the main lobby, there's a there's a TV up there. I think we could do like a better job like presenting like what's going on in the school and like bringing attention to the variety show like on the board. Um I know there's signs and stuff like that too, but I think we could use like the computer and technology resources a little bit better. Um so those are just two things I want to touch upon. Physical activity and the and the use of the boards um we can we can do a little better

137in high school by using the boards and taking them to the best advantage. Um yeah, so that's it. Thank you, Latasha. That's a great idea. Again, we'll get some of that stuff over here. So thank you so much for being on the board. And like I said, I'm very proud of you. You're doing great up here. And you know, I've known you ever since you were younger and coaching in the progression stuff. So uh you know, we're very happy to have you up here. You've done a great job representing. Um dear. So yeah, so there uh there's no need to go back to executive session. So with that um Yes, yes. Yes, yes. Um I get Can I have a motion to close the meeting? Motion? Uh-huh. Monique, second. Chip, all right. Thank you. Thanks.

138>> [clears throat and cough]