001with the Southampton Administrators Association pursuant to article 14 of the civil service law and matters made confidential by federal and state um laws were discussed. Can we all please rise to pledge please remain for the clerk. Please call um may I have your attention for a brief announcement? Upon fire alarm activation, immediate evacuation to the closest emergency exit required. The emergency exits are located right there. Um, please exit away from the building as not to interfere with the fire department and proceed to the evacuation areas. Please follow the school officials directions once assembled outside the building. Everyone must wait until the school official gives an all favor before re-entering the building. Will the clerk please call the poll? >> Robert Zachary >> here. Pearson here. >> Proctor Dudley >> here. >> Germaine El Smith >>
002here. >> Laura White here >> here. >> And here. >> Does the clerk have any additions or deletions to the agenda? >> Uh actually we have some updated presentations for the workbased learning program. >> Okay. Um and Dr. 6.0. All right. Cool. Um so going to president comments and district announcements here. The board of education will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, November 4th at 6:30 in the intermediate school music room. The high school will host an host an ELLL parent orientation tomorrow um October 22nd at 6 PM. The intermediate school will host a multicultural night on Thursday, October 23rd at 6 PM and red ribbon week is October 27 through October 31st. Uh, the night student leadership conference will be held on Monday, October 27th from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the high
003school. The audit and finance committee will meet on Tuesday, October 28th at 3:30 p.m. in the district office. The personnel committee will meet Tuesday, October 28th at 4:30 in the district office. The district will host a parent university on Tuesday, October 28th from 6:00 to 8:00m in the SIS library to present commissioners regulations part 154-2 parents right under CR part 154 dual language and literacy. The Mariners Patriot Club will hold their annual veterans appreciation dinner at 4:30 on Wednesday, October 29th at 4:30 in the high school cafeteria. The intermediate school will host a parent coffee club on Thursday, October 30th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the SIS library. The elementary school will be will hold its Halloween parade on Friday, October 31st. The class of 2026 will be traveling to Rocking Horse Ranch in
004Highland, New York, November 2nd through 4th for their senior class trip. And there will be no student no school for students on Tuesday, November 4th for a superintendent conference day. A lot of announcements. We also have trunk or treat this weekend on Saturday at the school. And um I just want to say we had a wonderful homecoming week. Um you guys did great. High school golf awesome. You guys got tired, but uh it was good turnout from everybody, good events, and think went well. So it's great. >> Mr. President, excuse me. I think the information on the Rocking Horse branch is not happening. >> Oh, Rocking Horse is no longer >> cancelled. >> Okay. All right. >> I think they're going to >> Okay. All right. Cool. Good places. All right. So, we got some
005program presentations. Um, we got a facilities update. Dr. Marley, you want to introduce Marcus? Yeah, Marcus uh Silva um does such an amazing job with our facilities and we're sorry. Thank you. Um Mr. Dilva has done such an amazing job with our facilities. So proud of his work and we're just ready to see an update at this time. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Good evening board of education members, Dr. Morell, Mr. Domingo, Dr. Z, community members and colleagues. I'm happy to be uh be here tonight to provide a brief snapshot of the work that we've been doing in the facilities department. While I won't be able to um touch on everything, our plate is quite full. I'll highlight some of the key projects and updates from across the district. Let's rewind to May
00621st, 2025. On that date, the community voted on several propositions. One key item was the installation of air conditioning in the first four classrooms at the high school. This project once complete will mark the near completion of a district-wide AC coverage. A process we've been working on for the past five years. It would have been completed a year sooner, but COVID delayed our timeline. this this AC project along with the replacement of the current worn out softball protection netting system which protects both nearby homes and Cleveland lane uh is scheduled to be submitted to the New York State Department of Facilities Planning in early November. Submitting to the state allows us to qualify for state aid on these projects. the RTU replacement uh one, two, and three at the high school. We're targeting to install
007over the December break pending delivery from the manufacturer. RT RTU1 serves the east side of the cafeteria. RTU2 does the west side of the cafeteria and RTU3 does the handic. These units are nearly 30 years old because of our proximity to the ocean has deteriorated over the past 30 years. If there's any delay, I'll absolutely let Dr. Morel know so the board. But we're very hopeful that these show the shop dust collector. The dust collector of the high school shop classroom has been installed past its soft startup and is functioning as designed. Uh in order to fully utilize the uh this unit, the fire marshall must witness the fire suppression system in action. This that inspection is scheduled for Wednesday, November 23rd during the Thanksgiving break when students and most staff are off. The second
008floor AC project uh was installed over the summer. It lived into the start of the school year. Uh is now substantially complete. We've uh conducted the punch list and are working through a few finishing items, uh graphics for our BMS system as well as control adjustments. We've also resolved a longstanding drainage issue at the north entrance of the high school. Concrete settling over the years have led to water pooling by the doors during heavy rains. That pitch has been corrected and the drain lines have been cleared. The new video scoreboard for the high school main gym is on order. Uh we're aiming for a March delivery, but that is still candid manufactur. Um intermediate school updates. the Southampton Intermediate School. Several projects have been made strong progress. The gym floor refurbishment is complete and we're
009very uh pleased with the results. Uh we planned the budget for the high school main gym uh this coming budget season. The new wall padding in the captorum is nearly ready. Uh we're just waiting for final approval on the artwork and then we can submit the order. The sensory room is nearing completion pending delivery of the padded flooring. The elementary school kitchen and bathrooms, the proposition to renovate the Southampton elementary school kitchen uh and multi-tole student bathroom outside the cafeteria is also on track. We plan to submit that design to New York State facility planning by the end of November pending the final design and the health department code review. district office. A few key updates at the district office. RTU replacements. If you don't know what RTU is, that's rooftop unit. There's a giant
010air conditioning units on the roof. Um so the RTU replacements are currently out to bid uh with the bid opening scheduled for Friday the 24th. If lead times work in our favor, we aim to perform this work during the February break. I'll update the superintendent of course if there are any delays. Building management controls will be installed in tandem with the RTUs. The elevator overhaul is still in design likely scheduled for summer of 2026 unless we're able to accelerate. Uh the fitness center renovation, one of our in-house projects, is under construction and on track for mid December and completion. The retaining wall and drainage work around the admin building is still in design. We plan to go out to bid around the start of the new year and hope to break ground this spring. Uh
011the completed districtwide projects uh all parking lots have been repaired, seal coated, and restriped. All catch basins have been cleared of years of worth uh years worth of debris and structurally compromised ones have been repaired. All septic tanks districtwide have been pumped and treated. Just to go to a couple of photos, um you see the crane in the front bus circle at the high school lifting one of the small units to the roof. That's the unit set on the curb. That's our new dust collector. exciting. Get that going. Really looking forward to it. Uh this is the gin floor. Uh the logo came out great. The gin floor is lighter. Uh we did multiple stains on this floor. I don't know if you can see by the picture, but the key is light. The outside
012is darker. This is something that we're looking to do also at the gym floor at the uh uh the main gym at the high school. Uh this is the drainage area by the north entrance that was uh pulling water by the doors that has been corrected. Those are the three RTUs that were replacing December 1, two, and three, the East West cafeteria as well as of course and this was done under the uh repair service. Anybody have any questions? question. >> I have a question. >> Yes. >> Um, what's going on with the sensory room in the high school, right? >> Yeah. Um, I I would have to refer to I'm not sure. I think the furniture is on order for that project. There's no construction in that. It was mostly furniture that space. Uh
013it's okay if I just jump in please. Uh so it's going to be called the wellness center and right now we're working with the staff. Obviously we have some furniture in mind and we're actually going to look and kind of adjust the furniture that they're looking to um purchase. So that's the support staff that is looking at it right now. >> Well, Marcus, I want to thank you. I mean you and your staff do a wonderful job. um you gave us that tour a few weeks ago. So, it's really cool to see all the buildings and the upkeep and you know, we have an elementary school that's almost 100 years old and intermediate school that was built in the 50s and the constant up, you know, and I think when you go to our buildings
014compared to other districts, we we're very blessed for what we have and how it looks. So, thank you. You guys are doing a wonderful job and I I love the new floors and the gyms and I, you know, can't wait to see the next year what's happening. So, thank you for coming up and doing this. Thank you. >> I'd like to echo the president's words. Um, Marcus, you're just a consmate professional and these buildings look amazing and you're on track with all the work and I just, you know, I just love how all the projects come to fruition and our kids are just so so lucky to have a leader like you that leaves at the helm and give them the right, you know, the appropriate spaces and they're always clean. Everything is always well
015done. And I I tip my hat to you and of course teach you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Brown. A lot of handful a lot of thanks to my team who um are that's where the rubber meets the road and those are the guys in the trenches making it happen. I'm just uh I'm working with them and uh they're good team on my side. So, thank you all. [Applause] Little >> y at this time. Um, >> thank you, Mr. President. At this time, we have Mr. Little and Dr. Tuttle uh for the workbased uh presentation and all the um opportunities that are being offered to our students right align in alignment with the portrait of a graduate and our CTE uh initiatives with our set cell source strategic plan. So we're very proud of
016the work they do. Uh Dr. >> Okay. Yes. So we're going to um introduce uh Mr. Little who's been working um with a lot of students. You're going to hear about that. And we have Sarah Bars here. And I think Noah Pence is gonna come up and talk a little bit about what he does too. So I'll turn it over to Mr. Little and I'm just gonna jump in at the end with a last minute slide. >> Hi everybody. Thanks so much for inviting me out tonight. It's pleasure to be here. Like Dr. Tuttle was saying, we're going to talk about some workace learning tonight. This is my third year as a workbased learning coordinator and I'm happy to be in this position very quickly for the opportunity. All right. here. Let's see if I
017can read this. Our NICED registered general education work experience or GWE program allows students to earn high school elective credit for paid employment for volunteer positions with local businesses and organizations. All students qualify. You can earn credit for 150 hours or one credit for 300 hours. The program can help mainstream students substitute one regions exam for a workbased learning experience through the CADS career development and occupational studies 4 plus one option to earn either a local or region diploma. It can also help qualified students complete high school with COS credential students with diabetes. And you'll see some photos as we go along uh students on a construction career um field trip that um we went on last year. And then you see some other students at various placements uh where they either work or volunteer.
018Regent exams. Back to pre-COVID requirements. New York State no longer offers COVID error regions exam grade exemptions or special appeals to qualified students. As a result, mainstream students must pass all five brief exams. math, science, English, two social studies, uh with a grade 65 for mainstream students or 55 for qualified students with disabilities. All of our students are now held to traditional testing standards, including our students most at risk of failure. The COS 4 plus1 option and the CDOS credential is one way to offer a layer protection for our students while developing career training and support for our business community. Actually, I'm going to go back. Does everybody recognize that kid in the bottom right corner there? That was Noah last year in the garden. Employment needs of our community. Local business owners are having
019trouble keeping pace with staffing positions, especially towards the summer season. Our students play a crucial role in filling entry level and seasonal positions for local businesses. As a workbased learning coordinator, I showcase these opportunities to our students through monthly curated local job and volunteer opportunities posted in our SHS hallway and via our jobs and volunteer opportunities web page. Um, if you click that link online, you should be able to see the web page that I update every month. Usually, we go for something like 30 jobs in a 10 mile radius of South Campus. Kids can scan a QR code and then also put those jobs on a job board outside the G park. So there's always opportunities for our students to find jobs and I can help them with that. A seasonal job fair which
020you may have seen in the past. There's a picture of an upcoming slide here. Uh instruction through regular individual meetings, Noah and I regularly uh to go over the curriculum for work based learning which we do together and through site visits and advocacy on behalf of our students to local businesses. Past accomplishments. We hosted a lunchon with three local architects from AIA Donic and several SHs students interested in architectural careers. That was last year. We had the lunch for the pro series and we had various professionals come out and meet with our kids. And interestingly, that turned into an internship for one of our secretaries daughters when she graduated from college. And so now she's actually interesting. So you never know where this can. Uh we twice landed an HH60 military helicopter thanks to Sergeant
021G of the National Guard, uh the Air National Guard at Presky and the safety fair in conjunction with um the Air Guard uh to showcase military careers. Uh we hosted Andrea Anthony, owner operator of the lobster roll as a guest speaker in our culinary and baking classes and as a guest in our uh school cafeteria. She made a special menu that day. Special thanks to Martha Tutill and Ray Ingram for developing a strong relationship with Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. We've got students earn workbased learning credit through hands-on experience at Stony Brook Southampton's Parkinson Center and Southampton Village Ambulance. Uh last year we had a machete over there at the Parkinson Center and um you know she was able to transfer that into experience a year in review. We held another job fair in April 2025
022with all students grades 9 through 12 attending. We hosted approximately 70 local businesses. In the past year, we hosted two construction career job site visits with construction charitable fund. Several of our Southampton students, both day school and alternative school, have won construction charitable fund scholarships. Several past students have won up to $10,000 each, and each have become employed in their construction careers of choice. Um and we've seen some great opportunities come to our students through that. So thank you to Ed Bton and backstage um of that construction recent placements. So since I was here last year uh we have four students in workbased learning. I currently have 12 workbased learning students. Uh they're currently employed or volunteering at Southampton attorney's office. We have one young man um you can see him in the white shirt
023there. He did an internship this summer with Southampton Turkey. Uh Milk Cell Farm, Southport Passball, Hampton Coffee Company, Southampton Ocean Lifeguard Team, Southampton High School Security Team, MC Living Excavating and Drainage, Southampton High School Gardens. Again, that we know of. Um something really special and unique and interesting um is is something Sarah did this past summer. So, we have Sarah Barrows. Uh Sarah's a highly accomplished young lady. You might remember her from last year where she uh if you can see in the top right corner there, she made a um an artificial leg, an artificial limb for a uh for Trila who is a uh a pound puppy and uh she was able to gain some notoriety for that nationally. Um I think she was on Fox News and she was also on New York
024Post. From there, Sarah was able to springboard that into a national labs research facility. Um there's only a very select few students in the entire country that are able to get an internship over the summer and um so this summer Sarah Bars is one of only a few students in the nation who was selected to complete an internship at prestigious growers national lab facility working on their particle accelerator. Sarah's experience with our robotics team also gave her the applied knowledge to design a prosthetic leg which I mentioned before for local shelter dog. Sar's applied knowledge and hands-on experience will be showcased on her resume while applying to some of the most selected colleges in the country this fall. Uh so Sarah, would you like to tell us a little bit about your experience this summer
025at the >> Hi, my name is Sarah. It's such a pleasure to be here today. I love talking about the work I do. Um so just to point that Mr. What I did over the summer was I was an intern for a research program specifically for high school students for the department of energy at the Brooklyn International Laboratory Particle Accelerator which we have here on Long Island um just a little bit off the island. It was an incredibly impactful opportunity. Uh I submitted my application for many fields of science. Uh, and I got in and I worked with the mechanical engineer, chief of engineering for Brook Haven National Lab, whose name was George Mor, who's incredibly nice. He wrote me a fantastic recommendation letter. Um, and I just want to say that working with hands-on
026materials like this, working with science laboratories and professional scientists is worlds away from sitting in a science classroom and, you know, learning physics. Although as cool as that may be, uh this is a very valuable experience to add to my resume and I think many other students would say the same if they when they do hands-on work. I'm also incredibly grateful that this district has given our opportunity to have a lot of steam because I don't think I would have had the technical skills to be able to do my own research. Um in summerly we a student there can set out doing their independent research. So what I did was uh modernized and antiquated uh technology used cool down the magnets of particle accelerators to not get too technical about it. Um and I just
027want to say like there's a big range in um workbased opportunities whether it be in science or in construction and there's a lot of value and there's a longevity to each of them. Uh for the Department of Energy specifically, there's a an eight-year program all the way up to your PhD after you start the high school research program that welcomes you back each year of high school to work in different sections of the Department of Energy. Um not only at this laboratory, but in for me in Ohio as well as Berkeley, California, and many other laboratories country that also offer these programs. Uh it's very selective. I only worked with two others in my department. Um, so it was very hands-on and working with professionals. So if there's any questions, [Applause] >> any questions? >>
028So it's amazing to do that work and you know the things you've done and you know comments you guys too on all this. So that's a really cool experience. So >> yeah, of course. >> Hi Sarah. Thank you so much for presenting tonight. What year are you at the high school? >> So what are your plans for next year? Um hopefully going to a big school that has a lot of research funding. I mean that's what I love about science is to do independent research and actually do something. And I want to work in the public sector. So working for the Department of Energy was a big step for me. Once you figure that out, come back to us and let us know where you're going to be in September. Keep us updated. >> Absolutely.
029>> I just want to say um >> do you think you're going to take advantage of working at Brooken in the summers and you said you can kind of continue? >> Yes, I do plan on referring back my freshman summer of college. Congratulations. Good luck. >> I just want to say congratulations and keep up the good work. We're extremely proud of you. >> Thank you so much for your support. >> Don't run sour high. Thank you so much for coming out tonight presenting. Round of applause for all of your accomplishments. Your hard work, your time. It's all showing and it's paying off. and I see you just sore. I don't know what next you're going to invent, but my question is um the prosthetic leg that you made for the dog. Are you still in
030communication with like where the dog is? Yes. So, Tyler now lives in Hampton Bay. I've met her own. He's very nice. Um she has a very nice family now. [Music] human dogs, animals, world. I appreciate your work. >> Great. >> Thank you for having me. >> Is it okay if I jump in before? First, um I just want to say Mr. little and when I first came he sent me a very nice email and I can tell from that email the passion that he has for workbased learning and the work that he's doing. So I just want to give him a round of applause because he's definitely doing a wonderful job [Applause] and Sarah I am very very proud of you. Congratulations. [Applause] All right, next we got Noah. So for us is Noah's volunteer
031work at Southampton High School. For the past year and a half, Noah has been working on redefining Southampton High School building grounds. Noah has planted in our gardens, powerwashed our courtyards, fabricated tables and benches with Mr. Diaz for outside spaces. is now soliciting donations of time and materials from Hampton yards for new plantings around our school. So here you tell us a few words. >> Hi everybody. So my my birthday for any of you guys know I go outside and I love being outside and I just want to say you're really inspiring and it shows everybody that like There's different ways like school want to get outside really honored to be able to come to the school and like be in the same program as all the other kids and be able to show myself
032my values and you know it's just really nice. Um over the weekend I met um Kevin Charlie Grouse's dad Mr. Rouse and uh Charlie at Hampton Yards. We learned how to drive machinery and um we looked at plants for the um for the front of the school at the high school especially and hope I can work on after I graduate stuff like that. Work on reining the school grounds maybe join the board um for run for the board when I get to the 18. Um but we are um we're we're trying to implement a plan right now to improve the school grounds and um we we're we're working with Anthony Yards and a bunch of other I'm trying to get a bunch of other companies also help me like irrigation plants water by ourselves in
033the bars. Um but um yeah this um I I really like this program and it's like really saved me through my high school high school experience and u thank you Dr. I appreciate it. >> You can see some of the photos here. We've got Noah out there planting lettuce that was used in our cafeteria, you know, fantastic in what she does. And then over field trips and Noah's mom and their head of operations could offer Noah a job. And so under consideration for that we were able to secure a copy of the school survey. And so if you know the front entrance to the school of Southampton High School immediately to the left was a courtyard. So know you see the top right photo there showing them principal Robinson. Principal Robinson and Noah are showing
034the family yard where the plant might go. We had principal Robinson out there and he uh parted with Noah on one of his first days. He wanted to know everything that was going on in our school and so gave him the tour and uh you know he was seeand all the amazing work. So know it's a blessing to be able to work your hard work and keep it up. Okay. >> Thank you. So echo that that ROA is extremely hardworking, focused, conscientious, and uh really has a a great heart for helping others. And I'm just so extremely proud of you all. Thank you. >> Is it okay if I jump in? >> I just want to say Noah, you have a great vision. Like I told you before, keep it up and I'm very very
035proud of all the work that you have done and you're going to be doing it in the future as well. One last. Oh, sorry. I love your networking, how you are going to different places in this town. I love your forward thinking mindset and I love your amition for you for the board. >> What are your plans for next year? >> I have a lot of options. I just applied this summer yesterday. I know it's like a community college, nothing special, but like I did that and I'm going to try to apply to spelling Brook like a reach college and I'm just going to throw myself out there because like you know really anybody can do anything they want in this world. You have so many opportunities. So you can get support from wherever you
036want in the school system outside of school. Um, and uh I might want to like run for like town mayor like and do like certain things like this town like just just help it out or I might just want to like improve like the school system and advocate for kids like me like going through school that had a tough time like just like just a little like that uh could help. Um so I have many different options. I just don't really know which one to take and that's fine. But um I Yeah. >> All right. Partnering with local businesses, we formed many partnerships with local businesses and most recently with the Southampton Playhouse. Dr. Tunnill is in the process of creating a business advisory council to increase our business partnerships. Uh in the upcoming slide,
037you'll see more about that. Uh most recently, Southampton Playhouse uh is now a 501c charitable organization. They recently hosted our students for space week. You can see Mr. Walsh down there. Uh and some of the astronomy students attended a free screening at Deep Space in IMAX theater. You can see some of our students there with um some of the people who run the place. Eric, NYU professor and film critic. That's him down there on the left. Uh and his colleague Maria Louakos. uh she's an administrator at Lincoln Center, both also Southampton Playhouse. Uh they visited recently Mrs. Lincoln's literature and film class to talk about film industry and local opportunities with our students. They're offering jobs, they're offering internships and um they're offering Southampton Playhouse as a space for education, field trips. They're really doing
038a lot of outreach here. So, we want to have that to let them know our students. Uh the future New York State will change high school graduation requirements in the next few years. The portraiture of the graduate initiative highlights that student uh proficiency will be demonstrated in multiple ways beyond traditional self uh c excuse me seat time and exams. For example, graduation measures initiative uh describes approved work-based learning or service based learning experiences as one of the means of students uh to demonstrate readiness. And you can see slides from their official website over there. And it uh refers to workbased learning as part of the central curriculum. And then on the bottom right there, it talks about, you know, potential summer internships and avenues for kids to get out there. And then, you know, >>
039that's it. Uh Dr. Would you like to talk more about Yes. Thank you, Tom. So, as Tom mentioned, um I do have another slide, but it got a little cut off here. Sorry about that. Um, so as Tom mentioned, he has done an unbelievable job connecting the school to the businesses in our area. And I am hoping that this new business advisory council will um create more opportunities and strengthen those relationships even more and maybe widen the the network. Um, so the idea of this business advisory council, I was on um, a council like this on the North Fork, which was really, really helpful. Um, and we did a lot of programs with the local high schools. So, I'm really excited about doing this here in Southampton. And the idea of it is to get
040the business community together in the school to talk to um, to talk to us and, you know, brainstorm ideas that's going to that will help us create career education programs. Tom had this great idea last year to get the architects um you know to have lunch with our students and just talk about their career and their paths and I you know I'm hoping we can do this you know many many times and in many different fields um for students. So that's one idea but I would love to hear um ideas from our business community and what they're thinking about. So uh we want to create those um that setting where we can share those ideas and then create the programs. We also want to um connect the students with our um you know with these
041internships and connect them with our businesses so that these businesses can meet their future employees. I mean they you know they're that was the purpose of uh Mr. Bulg coming to to us with his uh construction charitable fund was to you know uh recruit the local local talent from our student base. Um and then the other big thing about um having these conversations is to ensure that our curriculum and our educational programs are meeting the needs of the local economy and really keeping uh relevant with the current and future job markets. And who better to hear that from but the local businesses and um and the challenges and the uh and the exciting things that they're working on. So I'm really excited about this. I did send out an invitation um in the over the
042last couple of days. I did not send one to all the board members, but I would love to share that with you and I uh welcome you at our first meeting on November 6th at 800 a.m. in the high school. And please share it. I'm I'm saying to everybody, please share it with any um colleagues you have or family, any businesses. Um and you know, the more the marrier and we welcome all ideas. So, thank you and thank you to Tom for this great program. Um, he's doing a great job. Thank you very much. >> Thank you guys. That was wonderful. Tom said that website you have this job. I had no clue that existed and that's pretty cool to be able to click on there and look at that stuff. So that's that's awesome.
043>> Yeah, there's no excuse that anybody in our high school could say that they can't find a job um because there are we give them a lot of >> Yeah, this is really cool. So this is great resource. >> Does anybody have any questions before we um >> I have a quick question. What if So if businesses are interested in hosting a high school intern, what's required on the business owners end? Is there >> Yeah. So, um, on the workbased learning website from NICE, there's suggested contracts on there. And so, they sign a contract. Um, I go out, the parents have to sign a contract. There's emergency contacts, things that you would expect. Um, and then essentially I have to go out and visit make sure the kids are being treated well, that they're safe,
044um, that they're adhering to labor laws and things like that. Uh, and then students meet with me weekly individually, and we go through the curriculum. uh they're assessed on knowledge and then you know we try to develop what their goals are into actual opportunities. So um there's there's a process to >> what's the time commitment that an intern would have in terms of a work workload. >> Yeah. So it really varies. You can I have some students that uh we we reached out to I said like can we do this for a quarter credit for students who want to do like you know um 75 hours and the answer was yes you can do 75 hour credit you can do 150 hours for half a credit 300 for full you can do a multi-year plan
045uh where you're doing 600 hours for two credits for example and so it really matters based that the students have to keep a bob of the hours worked and then ultimately tie that back to what they're learning in high school and how to base um and And you know we develop resumes. I have some students who are in the program that are actually developing multimedia resumes from this. Um we have students who interestingly we have two south campus students who work on a particle accelerator. One in Germany and then we have our sour here who works at Virginia National Labs. So they're showcasing that through the smoking media resume which are it has its portfolio when they're applying to some of these schools. And um so it's uh we're kind of trying new things to
046showcase the amazing opportunities our students are are taking. >> Thank you. >> No, I just wanted to thank Martha and Tom for all that you do. And Tom, I really I just since you both of you have been at the district, I've seen that department just explode with the opportunities for children and your ability to connect with the children, kind of match them up with um different opportunities by teasing out some of their interests which they may have not like expressed or may not even know. But to connect the kids and be able to take that out of them, inspire them to take initiative. I commend you. Thank you so much. >> If there's no one else, um I would just like to say um the guidance department is second to none uncle Martha and
047um lead membership. I mean it's just amazing what you're doing for students and Mr. little um you know we sat last year I I had that opportunity to go to the construction site and you gave me a real good uh understanding of like the CTE programs and things and I don't know if everyone knows just all the opportunities that are offered to our kids our our our students and you know to have our students enrolled in in partnerships over 12 different uh agencies businesses and keeping an eye on them and all that. I mean, that's Yman's job. And so, I just want to say, Mr. Little, hats off to you. Good job. Keep up the great work in this area. And we're right in alignment with portrait of a graduate. And I just love all
048of it. >> Thank you guys. Dr. Mar, you had something you want to do with a proiction? >> I do. So, thank you, Mr. President. So last week was uh board recognition week and we didn't have a board meeting on that day uh uh last week but we had we have one today. So um it's a little late but it's not forgotten. So we just want to say Oops. It's a little late but not forgotten. We just want to say thank you to our dedicated, committed Southampton board members, um, our board of education. So, we proudly honor our dedicated board of education members for their unwavering commitment to students, staff, community, the community of Southampton Junior Free School District. Your leadership, vision, and countless volunteer hours, countless volunteer hours help shape the future of our
049schools. You make critical decisions, help keep me in line, that support academic excellence, student well-being, and opportunities that empower every learner to succeed. So again, from the executive team to our board members, on behalf of all the students in our community, we say thank you. Thank you for your guidance, your partnership, and your dedication to making Southampton a place where education thrives, grows, and is primary in our lives. And I just want to give a quick just few facts because I don't think people know everything that board members do. And so I just wanted just a few uh take the privilege. So board of education members um guide their local systems. They ensure that our schools are flex flexible and responsive to the needs of the community. They are volunteers most of whom do not
050receive any compensation whatsoever for their service. And our board members do not. They are individuals with the community uh within the community that dedicate their time to improving education for the students and that is a noble um gesture uh idea um and and commitment to us. So they set the direction for the district, they provide accountability, they develop and well they implement they they ensure the budget is appropriate. They align district resources. They approve the budget and they support a healthy school district and culture in which to work and to learn and much more. I'm very proud to be a superintendent in a district where our board members are so hands-on, so committed that care and um that guide me to in this role. So, thank you so much. And we just have a little
051token of our appreciation. Thank you board members. Thank you on behalf of Dr. Happy appreciation opportunity. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> And you got me. I got a pres. Thank you so much. It's a lot. >> Thank you for all the work you guys do. Make it easy. Awesome. Um we move on to the work session topics here. Um so the first one um you guys notice we have an action item later um on here um for a TAN resolution. So I'm going to let Gan discuss kind of what we have to do here with some of the the funding that has not come from the state yet. Kim, the floor is yours. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, typically we don't usually go out for a second. Um, if you recall back
052in July, we had an approval for $18 million, um, which is usually the only t that we need. Um this year unfortunately we had a little bit of a cash flow problem that resulted because of the delay in the approval of the Native American contract. The state cannot release any of the Native American funding for the tuition uh until the contract is fully executed. As of last week, I checked with my contacts at the state. um the contract is floating around in some offices. They couldn't even tell me specifically uh timeline um as to when the contract is going to be fully executed. Um so as a result when I did an analysis of how much money we need to operate between now and let's say in early January when the tax money start flowing.
053Um I've determined that we may come short. Um often times we have some flexibility in using some of the um reserve funding. Uh we have a specific category the compensated absences that we usually use to uh fill the gap. But even with that I figured that within two or three years we might have a cash flow issue. Um therefore I found it necessary to come and request for a second tent. Um there is unfortunately things can align in the sense that we borrow at a very low rate um because this the district has a triple A rating. So we get the lowest rates the $18 million that we borrowed back in July we borrowed it at 2.74%. Uh with the our deposits with MCL class we get around 4% interest. So we do realize some
054benefits when we deposit funding especially with Japan given that we're going so low. So even if we don't use that $5 million let's say you know we get the money in three or four weeks and the tuition money arrives at the same time we can deposit that money into our account and we don't have to pay it until June. So, we'll earn enough money to cover the cost of borrowing these funds and then a little bit of um money on top of that. Um again, I just want to make sure that that everyone understand that the district have tomorrow to operate between July and when the U tax money start flowing. And um we usually make the payback in June once we have collected all the tax and um Hopefully that clarifies it by public
055in case they have any questions and if any board member have any question. >> Yeah, a question. >> Yeah, Dean, have we ever in your tenure or before done a second hand that you know? >> Well, I did uh two or three years ago. I did borrow in two versions in in two steps but that was by design because I wanted to save on the interest. Uh it wasn't because of a need. Uh initially I requested for permission to borrow let's say 16 million and I took 9 millions up front and then I went back to December and got the rest but it wasn't based on necessity. It was based on science at that time. the reserves that we would usually have uh to cover. Where are those reserves at? And how how I mean
056is there another way? Is there another way without borrowing money? >> You know, there is no other way because we have what we call restricted reserves. So all the capital reserves are restricted. we cannot touch those funds unless we go to the voters and that only happens in May. Um there are other reserves but they don't have as much money and I didn't want to risk um trying to plan on those reserves and still come up short. And again I want to emphasize it's not that the district doesn't have any money. Currently we have about $30 million in that account. It's just that we don't have flexibility with the funds that we have. >> And I just want to say thank you for coming explaining this is kind of unfortunate thing. Hopefully we'll, you know,
057we'll get that executed Native American contract back and um the tuition monies will come in. I know we were owed about $6 million from last school year still from the state. So that's kind of why we have to do this because we still have not received that money and there's a little shortfall. So, the good thing is we're going to get a good interest rate on it. We're paying a low interest rate, so it pays for itself. It's just um and we might not even have to end up touching that money if not. But this is this is good planning um going forward too because I know these things take 56 weeks to get approved. So, I'm I'm happy you guys are looking, you know, multiple payrolls down the road to make sure we're all
058stuff. So, thank you. Anybody has anything to add? No. Okay, awesome. Um, our next Well, we're going to vote on that in a little bit. Um, our next work session topic is our high school Spanish teacher update. So, um, thank you, Mr. President. um just wanted to update um the board and our community on the conversation that we were having on our Spanish teacher need at the high school. So I'll start off with a little bit of a history just to refresh everyone and tell you where um we currently are in the process. So over uh prior to the summer over the summer we were posting again for a Spanish teacher at the high school based on the need uh from last year. With that, we found that after posting several times, we were not
059able to have any individuals um supply interest for that. The the Spanish teacher position is definitely a trickier, more specialized certification uh hire. So, we knew that this was going to be a challenge for us because we did not uh really gain any applicants. We reposted the position but also expanded our um reposting to make sure it was broader to the larger tri-state area. Um we kept that posting open. We never closed it until we had a hire. So we just kept that posting live all through that time. During that time while that posting was up um really and I have to give a whole a ton of credit to Mr. Robinson who worked really hard at contacting a lot of local colleges and universities um to verify the student teacher pool because there is
060a type of certification called an internship certification that allows us to hire student teachers um as probationary teachers as long as there is agreement behind between the hiring organization and the school uh the the cooperating school. In this case, we had some potential um teachers that we were applying for that unfortunately we could not get the agreement between our school district and the cooperating universities. Uh and again, just even though that did not work out, the amount of time that that took for Mr. Robinson over weekends and evenings, I just have to commend you for working so hard to try and uh even take that approach. with that after that um that approach we also engaged our teachers to see if that we can solve this internally uh with our teaching staff where our teachers
061would maintain five teaching periods and then add an additional six period onto that to see if we can solve that internally. So we tried um looking at that internally that presented some challenges that we weren't able to navigate and and get through. Um so with that again keeping the uh positions posted we did have two applicants um finally where we did go through an application process uh with the teachers um an interview process excuse me with the two applicants and we did hire a teacher uh about two weeks ago now or a week ago now what now in turn with that hiring what we wanted to do is make sure that we were matching the skill set of our new hireer to the needs that we have. We know that some of the courses that
062we were trying to fill were mo our most rigorous Spanish courses. So what we decided to do was we restructured or rescheduled our department to make sure that our veteran teachers with the most experience with t taking on and tackling those most rigorous courses. And where we placed our new hire was in some courses that really didn't need that level of expertise yet. So in terms we did restructure that hiring of the um teaching assignments of the department. All classes I can happily say are now um covered and with certified teachers there. Um so we're very happy about that. And additionally what we did was we provided our new teacher with a mentor. Um so we're in the process of finalizing that mentor now. And then for our veteran teachers, uh it was a big
063ask for us and and going there and meeting with them really wanted to make sure that in our ask we were doing the right thing by supporting our teachers. So, we're coming, we came up with plans to provide um our teachers that we had to reschedule with some time uh for release time to work with our department uh department chairperson for curriculum writing, lesson planning and also um to have some AP training because we're asking one of our veteran teachers to take on an AP course. Uh whereas many of our teachers would go through a summer training for them. So, we're providing that along the way. So, we're very grateful. We know it's a big ask for our teachers. never fun to change a class assignment um after the school year started. But in this
064plan, we were able to maintain every single student schedule. Not one student schedule was changed. What we did change uh was we hired a new staff member and then reassigned our teachers within that department. So happy to say that um everything is scheduled again. very grateful for our teachers uh really taking on some of these new challenges and welcoming uh our new staff member. So happy to report that um this situation I believe has finally come to an end. [Applause] Good. I know this was matter. So >> thank you guys for your hard work on that. I know I know it was a lot that we're going through and a lot of parents too were wondering which one. So I'm glad it's all solved and I'm glad that none of the kids schedules were interrupted.
065So awesome. Um we will go any comments. We're all good. All right. Awesome. Um we'll go on to uh public comments this time. The board of education encourages public participation in school related matters at board meetings. Any group or organization wishing to address the board must identify a single spokesperson. The presentation should not be should be as brief as possible. No speaker will be permitted to speak for longer than three minutes. The board will not permit in public um session discussions involving individual district personnel or students. All speakers are to conduct themselves in a civil manner. Obscene language statements, threats of violence, statements advocating racial, religious, or other forms of prejudice will not be tolerated. Persons making presentations at the board meeting will address remarks to the president may direct questions or comments to board
066members or other district officials only upon approval of the president. So any public comments we get you up there? >> Probably not. >> Okay. Congratulations, Bo. I still appreciate you one more year. Thank you. Okay. And um I talked to your daughter today and she said she's going to tell you. All right. Um question. Last year I asked about the windows at the elementary school and when you planning to replace those windows in the gym area and I didn't do anything about it tonight. when uh Christ was doing his presentation, I asked about because that the the elementary school been there longer than all the other buildings and the windows have been there longer than I've been here. So, and I've been here a long time. So I was wondering when you going to do
067something about the windows at the elementary school and I noticed how beautiful making the high school gymn and the intermediate school gym but the elementary school gym was about the same and um since the elementary school questions u since the elementary school doing plays and things I'm trying to figure out why don't we have a decent stage area for the kids to be able to participate in their plays and things you know like they used to a long time ago. So I'm just giving a few more and put in your budget and stuff like that. >> Thank you. Marcus, do you want to comment on it? Uh yes, the so we did do the gym floor at the elementary school last year. >> Um as far as the place goes for the elementary school, all
068the points are pretty much done at the high school. >> Um the other thing that >> the windows, so the windows of the elementary school, believe it or not, were replaced prior to me maybe 07 was a big project >> 07. Right. So yeah, so they are double hung windows. are extremely heavy because you have to meet the 120 mph wind resistance. So, yes, you do have to replace the balancers quite often on them and they're very heavy windows, but they were done back in ' 07. But I'll definitely look into it. >> All right. Done around the same time that um the elementary school new building um the renovations happened. When those new buildings open, there were actually window projects that awesome. Thank you. I know the public comments, but can I just say
069something to Mr. Da? >> So Marcus, how long have you been with us now? Is it six years now? >> Seven years. I I was thinking with your presentation when you came like you have undertaken so many major projects in this district and you've you've orchestrated them, expedited them, executed them with minimal interruption to the students and to the staff and you always show up with the with the brightest light and energy. >> I am so grateful. >> Well, thank you so much. I appreciate it. >> Thank you for all you do. Thank you for the fun. >> Awesome. So, we're going to move on. We have a um action item here that we're going to take uh vote on. So, 901 here. May I have a motion to adopt the resolution authorizing the insurance
070of not to exceed um $5 million for a tax anticipation note in anticipation of the receipt of taxes to be leveled for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2026 as presented. >> Motion by RA second. >> Second by Chip. Um I think we already had a discussion on this. So will the clerk please call the role for a vote? Robert, >> yes. >> Rodney, >> yes. >> Proctor, >> yes. >> Smith, >> yes. >> Laura White, >> yes. White, >> yes. >> All right, cool. So, I I just thought we we have to return to executive session for like an hour. >> No, I'm sorry. >> Um, we don't have any. So, I think Mon'nique has something she wants to add. >> Yes. I just I just have one thing to say. So I was
071absent in at the last board meeting um when student board members discussed the experience at the legal woman voters um it's called school boards the training wheels of democracy and I want to thank them for their hard work their dedication and their advocacy for the district and the students that you're working under. Um, and then I also want to congratulate you on being um, acknowledged in the New York State School Board Association newsletter. You guys are This is the first January 1st was when it was installed. So, you're on the newsletter pretty pretty fast. you're setting the bar and I just want to let you know I'm proud of you. And speaking of becoming a board member, the next um League of Women's Voters um program or workshop is going to be on November 19th
072and it is called >> Huh? >> Oh, sorry. Thank you. Thank you guys. The next uh event is called running and winning where you'll be in an interactive um space with other student board members. So I'm excited for that and I will be a volunteer. >> All right. Um I saw the reminder Dr. about the survey. How many people have responded so far? >> So, as of as of yesterday, and this was prior to the students responding, but as of yesterday, we had over 200 staff and parent responses. So far, uh I do know that both the high school and the intermediate school were working on structures to provide the students um at some short home room times uh opportunities to complete the surveys as well as we really really want student voice um involved.
073So, I anticipate if I maybe look today or tomorrow, I anticipate that number will double. >> And when does it close? >> It closes this Friday. So, I did send another reminder and I'll use this opportunity to uh remind our community. Please make sure you're taking a look at parent square. On parent square, we have a very important social emotional learning um community survey that we have put out. And the results of this survey are going to be very important to us because they're going to help us frame out our social emotional programming. Um really define a solid vision and mission statement for um our SEAL goals and we want our community to be part of the process. So complete that survey before Friday. Thank you. >> Mr. President, um I can give an update
074on the search for the um firm to do the emergency. >> Oh yeah. Yeah. >> Um I was at a meeting a business official meeting on Friday uh presentation by some representative from Quar Boseies. Questar Boseis is Bose is located in the capital region. Um they work very closely with the state on designing state aid and they do a lot of professional development for people like me uh in business and operations area. So during their presentation they made reference to um two recent districts that emerged as of u July of this year and u they were the uh Rosco and Livingston Banner CSD. They reorganized as the Rockland CSB effective 71205. So immediately as they started talking about that the light bulb came on my head and said somebody must have done the study for
075him. So uh yesterday I reached out to um the presenters to get some information about who did the disability study for that nurse and they put me in touch with um someone that actually told us if we want to that he he's willing to uh speak to us about doing the the study. So, we can talk about um you know that phone call if you want me to arrange it. And um we may not even have to do an RFP uh depending on um you know if because the last RFP nobody's business. >> So if we if there's only one um company that can do it, we may not have to do. So >> yeah, it' be great. set up a call with them and we'll >> the committee and we'll um yeah we'll get
076something going and I'll touch base with I'll touch base with too there and mention that so >> okay >> awesome great work um anybody have anything else >> yeah of course >> uh I just want to remind board members that we have um on October 27th um with our student leaders, board members um will be with appointed to lead uh the superintendent's leadership cabinet um will be led by um Noah and Mattea, our student board members for a part of that session and the after uh the 11:30 session to 2 11:30 to 2:30 they will have a few activities for uh adults board members and so I know some board members did apply uh uh did reply already. I know it's during the day and not all of us can make it but I just
077want to remind board members that uh our student board members will be uh leading um leadership development uh for our uh cabinet. is about 40 students on the superintendent cabinet, but then also adult board members as well and adult administrators. Thank you. >> Awesome. Very excited about that day. >> Um, nothing else. Can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:55? Second by Germaine. Um, all in favor? All right.