001To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all the roll. [Applause] Thenfield here. Robert Zachary here. Proctor here. Jacqueline Robinson is absent this evening. Herwood is absent this evening. Germaine El Smith is absent this evening. And Ruth B. White here. Does the clerk have any additions or deletions to the agenda? Yes. Personnel item 13.01A 01A has been added to the agenda. Thank you. The board of education will hold a work session budget review session 2 meeting on Tuesday, March 25th at 6:30 p.m. in the intermediate school library nominating petitions to elect two members of the board of education for four-year terms commencing on July 1st, 2025 and expiring on June 30th of 2029 to succeed Cara Companfield
002and Jacqueline Robinson whose terms expire on June 30th, 2025 are now available by contacting the district clerk. Completed petitions must be returned by 5:00 p. p.m. on Monday, April 21st. JV and varsity spring sports begin on Monday, March 17th, and junior high spring sports begin on Monday, March 24th. The high school PTO will meet on Tuesday, March 18th at 6 p.m. Our 11th graders will take the SAT during the school day. On Wednesday, March 19th, Southampton High School will host a night of music moments on Thursday, March 20th at 5:00 PM. And Southampton Elementary School will hold a literacy night on Thursday, March 20th at 6 p.m. All right. So, I guess we'll move right into our program presentation. That's budget review session one by Jean E. Mingo, our assistant superintendent for business. Good evening.
003It's okay. Good evening. Thank you. Um, so we are going to have Mr. and go uh wrap up our budget budget uh presentation for this evening. Um there has been uh quite a bit of extensive work with our um staff um and making sure that we can balance the budget. Um I would like to present some high leverage um um high lever engagement activities for our district that are representative in this budget. So um first I would just like to reiterate what's on presentation right now. This is our f first work session. Um and then our next one will be on March 25th. The budget adoption by the board will take place on April 1st. There will be a budget hearing on May 6th and then the budget vote and board of education election will
004occur on May 20th and then if a revote is necessary um we will do that on June 17th. And so the high leverage budgetary items for 2526 which are um encapsulated in this here uh this budget is uh is is as a result of a lot of planning with our parents and community members um and teachers around and administrators and students around the district strategic plan. So you will see um some items that are coming even though the plan isn't complete yet. There are some items that are coming directly from that as we prioritize uh what we will be working on for the next year and as we prioritize through our work with our uh stakeholder team at our shared decision- making meetings and so forth. Um those items for 2526. So uh there will
005be quite a few literacy initiatives I will highlight professional development aligned to school improvement. Um SEAL um social emotional learning um aspects will be here including sensory classrooms. Um the implementation of the proposed state cell phone ban. We know that's not in place as of yet but we have heard the governor loud and clearly. So we want to make sure we're ready for that. um and any costs associated with that. Um we do know that there may be costs coming from the state also extra uh additional funds in relation to that but we want to make sure it's highlighted and also um the huge work around the Shinnak curriculum um those resources and supports in terms of the literacy initiatives for next year. We uh will be looking at updates to classroom libraries in all
006classrooms at prek through grade six. Um while we do have um some very nice literary resources at this time um some of those resources are outdated and um need to be updated to um reflect the students we are teaching at this time. also English language learner literacy intervention supports as well as this year uh 2526 pilots piloting uh our core reading program based upon the science of reading. Um that is now a state mandate that all core literacy programs and all New York State schools are based upon the science of reading. And so um we want a whole literacy program that has that ingrained and um and right now we we don't so we want to we have aspects um of it but we don't have a core reading program that is based upon the
007science of reading. So while this year we'll be piloting um the next year we'll be looking for in 26 27 we will be looking for adoption and also intervention resources for afterchool and extended learning opportunities to support our students who are in need of intervention and are struggling um as we are now a target uh district in need of improvement and the SIS school will uh definitely need those resources. our professional development. Um, this year we'll be implementing the summer 2025 professional development institute which will focus in on literacy development, supporting multilingual learners, data driven and standards aligned instruction and again the science of reading. So this uh uh summer um we have already enrolled approximately 47 to 50 teachers that will be coming in for a week of training um this summer. And while
008we are hopeful that um some of this can be funded from title one, we don't want to put our eggs in that basket as we understand the current the current climate of federal dollars at this time. Um again um social emotional learning and restorative justice supports will be a part of continuing this has been ongoing um under Dr. Botcher for uh a year or so um and now we want to make sure that we continue that and hone in on that. And then coming from our district strategic plan is integrating STEM in effective use of artificial intelligence. Those are one of the cornerstones of the district strategic plan. So, we want to make sure that we uh definitely start to train teachers on what that looks like and how to best implement that and and
009administrators and then other supports aligned to the strategic plan um as it is finalized um prior to July 1 for implementation. And so, um also within this budget um a focus in on social emotional learning supports. And one of the things that we are looking at as a district and the principles and guidance counselors and social workers and school psychologists are all looking at um how to best pro to provide um high leverage uh teaching and learning opportunities for our students. As we know there are still a lot of challenges uh with uh mental health uh supports. Our students themselves will tell you we need mental health supports. And so we are looking at the castle framework um and providing teaching resources and workbooks and tools that we can use at the classroom level um
010on a daily basis. And again, we're thinking of sensory classrooms at the intermediate as well as the high school. The elementary school already has a sensory classroom. There may be some small updates to that, but it's it's really beautiful already. But the um SIS and SHS um they don't have that particular support and this is a researchbased best practice and support. So when you have inschool suspension, you have to an inschool suspension room, which we do have, you have to have the flip side of that, which is an interdependent room, uh social emotional wellness room where students can go and be calmed and be um nurtured and to be re-engaged so that they can recharge so they can go back into the community. But it will be a safe space that we are hoping to
011um staff with our um mental health support personnel. And again, um, just as part of a social emotional learning, um, support mechanism, we're looking at the cell phone band as a support because we know and we have done research as a district community since I first came in that the um, there's enough research out there that indicates that the cell phones and their constant use uh, are interfering with the um, social emotional learning and wellness and self-confidence of our young people. And so we want to um include that as a social emotional wellness. And then um finally a big ticket item um that is encapsulated in this uh proposed budget are our SH is the Shinnak curriculum um launching for 2526 and that includes literary resources and again and looking at the classroom libraries that
012we're already doing but we want to ensure that there are uh appropriate literacy resources to to um um to use within implementation of the curriculum. And so um in the Shinoka curriculum and we will have that presentation forthcoming soon. You will see that um every lesson and pacing is literacy based and that's how we get our kids engaged in literacy at every angle at every turn. Um and so we want to make sure that we're doing that especially in a newly implemented uh curric curriculum curriculum boxes. These are artifacts that would include things such as um wound belts or um other kinds of artifacts related um to the shin um community and they're they're uh curriculum writers with us and so they they are are helping with that but we would need to ensure those
013are also part of the resources. Filtrates. There are many historic sites that I'm finding and that the teachers who are writing the curriculum also are bringing to the table that there may be opportunities for field trips connected to the Shinoka curriculum. And then we have because the resources that we find are not just readily available, we have to create um resources ourselves. And so I know we have a connection with Boseis to get a lot of things bound and printed, but we just want to make sure that we have an eye on that within the budget just in case uh uh we don't have enough or it runs out. So those are some big ticket high leverage items that I have um that we as a district community working along with um our shared decision
014makers and our parents and community um as we look at the district strategic plan. So those are some items but at this time I would like to now turn it over to u Mr. Mingo who has done a yman's job and getting this here budget to phase one of where it is. It's not finalized and it's not balanced, but it will be and he's going to now talk about about that. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Welcome. Um, dear board of trustee, you'll notice that I came in and um, you know, I care about your social emotional well-being. So, I want to make sure that you get a good night's sleep. So if you ever have any problem sleeping light reading um so yes the budget is still a work in progress um you know I
015would say we are about 75 to 85% there hopefully by the second work session I'll be closer to the final product but definitely by the time I submit it to the board for adoption of course we will have a final product. Um, so I wanted to start by giving you a snapshot of the U enrollment over the past six years. Um, and as this is no surprise to anybody that the district is on a downward trend um, and it seems like it's going to be continuing. So we have to keep that in mind as we build the budget. um whenever there is an opportunity for instance if there are retirements we have to consider whether or not that position is necessarily needs to be replaced um again even with Native American uh student population that's
016also a downward downward trend um as well as Taho so to go back to the beginning Um the tax cap was established for school districts several years ago. I believe it was back in 2014 by then Governor Cuomo. Um and the current governor is continuing that practice with the tax cap which usually falls between 1 and 2% depending on the rate of inflation. And as everybody know we all live on Long Island. We know for the past seven years that inflation has been pretty high. So for the past three or four years, we've been able to uh go to the maximum tax cap of 2%. Um also what allows us to grow the budget is what they call the allowable growth factor for the local district. So basically um it's a look at all the
017uh properties the assessed properties in the district and what changes that there's been new construction renovation reassessment. So that allows you to grow the budget as well. So for this year it's uh 08.2%. Um and the other factor that allows us to grow the budget are the exclusions. Um there are many things that can be excluded in the calculation of the tax cap. One of them is your capital expenditures for the year which is the only one that we are actually taking advantage of this year because the other ones don't apply for this. So the initial property um the initial tax levy is being set at the maximum for next year at 64,839 6620. So that's the uh maximum allowable limit uh for the district. If we were to go over that amount, we would
018need a super majority vote of 60%. uh and we don't want to tax that. So, um since I've been here, we've never had to request for a super majority growth. We always remain under the tax cap. Um as I previously mentioned, the uh local tax growth is 08.2 two um which is basically the change in new construction um new taxable status of existing properties and improvements to taxable properties within the boundaries of the district. Uh as I previously mentioned the uh allowable growth for throughout New York State is the 2% which is the maximum for this upcoming year. The next um slide is a graph of uh or a chart of the uh different components of the budget. Of course, the largest component of the budget is the tax levy at 64,8396, which is that
019bottom number highlighted in gray. Then uh going from the top you have the New York state aid uh which is minimal for a district like Southampton. We don't get a whole lot of um support from the state in the form of state aid. There are some districts who get a significant portion of the 60 70%. Uh but that's a reflection of the tax base of the district. So the Southampton NDI after New York State is considered a western district. for we get minimal um state aid because there's a strong tax base in the district. The other component is the taco tuition which is again is a projection based on this year's figure and prior year figures and what I estimate to be the number will be attending next year. Um then you have the Native
020American tuition. Again, just to clarify for those who are not familiar, um the state paid tuition for the Native American students uh from the Senotes Reservation who attend the South School District. Uh basically, we have a five-year contract with the state uh which give us the ability to build um for those students. Um the other comp um component of the budget of 2.5 million is various categories. Uh some of it is interest that we earn with our deposits. Some of it is um could be a number of things student fees. Um it's a variety of different funding sources. This year we're not appropriating any fund balance in the budget but again um this is the first version so it may change by the time I do the second presentation. Um the other items I have
021is the number of reserves. Um some of you will remember that um we had a recent audit by the U state controllers's office and one of the things that we got cited on was the fact that we had very healthy reserves and they're pushing us to start using some of those reserves. We do use the reserves every year. You'll have um in the May vote you'll see several um propositions with the capital improvements for the district. You'll see uh propositions for technology reserve. You'll see proposition to use some of the um capital reserve to purchase new um buses. So, we do make use of some of these reserves, but they're pushing us to use more of them. So, um I'm using some funds from the compensating absences reserve. That reserve in particular is basically a
022summation of all the uh acred time that all the employees have. we have to set aside money. I don't ask me why, but ultimately what the state is saying, if all your employees were to resign at the same time, you would have to be able to compensate them and we have to have that. It makes no sense, but obviously the state recommends it. Um, we're going to be using some money from the retirement reserve, ERS, which is the employee retirement reserve, and TRS, which is the teachers retirement reserve. the unemployment reserve, the self insurance and the workers comp reserve. Um all these um different reserves will be um supporting next year's budget. So again, as we continue to build the the budget, we have to take certain things into consideration. So, as I previously mentioned,
023we have to look at retiring staff and determine whether or not uh they have to be replaced. As I mentioned, the the um enrollment is under decline. So, these are conversations that I have with Dr. Morel, with Dr. Voter, and as the educators, they tell me whether or not position has to be replaced, and we'll take it from there. Um I present the information to them. we have conversations and then decisions are made it's reflected in the budget. Um but the consideration I have to look at the rates for TRS and ERS because those rates change every year. Um you know so if the rate goes up I have to adjust the budget accordingly and I have to consider what capital projects in conversation uh with Mr. the silver uh what capital projects we're going
024to undertake for next year and most of those you'll see again in the propositions in May and I'll also have those um I I'll also have these propositions for you at the next presentation so you'll know exactly what capital improvements you're looking to other items to consider are um we have a couple of units that are currently negotiating with the district. So I have to determine whether or not I have to set aside some funds in anticipation of um you know settling those those contracts. Uh we also have to make consideration for the insurance medical insurance um increases. Um this year, fortunately, we only have one insurance carrier because um the STA, the teachers union, actually recently switched through night shift as of January 1st, 2025. So uh hopefully we'll realize some savings by the
025uh TRS and ERS rates. Um right now the projected rates uh for 2025 2026 is anywhere for TRS anywhere between 9 and a half to 10%. Um down from last year um at 10.11%. ERS currently is 15.2% 2% for the current 2425 school year is estimated or projected at 16 a.5% for 2526. Um as we look at the uh propositions or the projects for next year uh I wanted to give you uh an idea of what the reserve balances are. Um the capital reserve of 2017 2027 currently have a balance of 10 million294,920. Um the capital reserve for the district office have a balance of 821,870. Uh I've been in conversation with Mr. Silva. We still have some outstanding work with the district office. So, we'll be coming to you with a proposition to use
026the balance of those funds or coming to the voters, excuse me, for um their um approval to use the balance of the uh the reserve for the district purchasing of the district and the renovation. Um the capital reserve for the bus replacement is at 1.5 million. Um, based on my conversation with Miss Sor, we are looking to purchase, I believe, three buses next year, replacement buses. Um, the capital for technology equipment, I haven't received the proposition from Miss Mrs. PCE, but I'm pretty sure by next. And the repair reserves uh is over just over $2 million. And um I believe um Amy, correct me if I'm wrong, there is a ad in the paper because Milda will be coming to the it's hasn't yet f Okay. So pretty soon we're going to have a hearing
027to use some of the funds from the repair for some work that and some equipment that we have to do. Uh next steps in the budget process is to continue to refine the projections for on both on the expense and the revenue side. Um continue to have meetings with the directors and principles to finalize their budgets if necessary. uh meet with the audit and finance committee to get further um input and review the proposed changes and continue the discussion to see if there are any opportunities to um save before the final budget is thank you for your um attention and I'll take any questions from Thank you and Dr. Morel for the introduction. Do any um board members have questions? Yeah, I just I have a few comments questions. I I just want to say
028thank you for all this. You're doing a great job. Um um the buses. I know right now within the state there's what is the what is the area to start purchasing electric buses? Push that back. I'm glad you asked. Um um actually this week I was on a webinar with a company that's going to come and as a consultant to help us prepare the application to the state. As a matter of fact, I'm working with them right now on a date possibly uh April 1st to come and present to you on that topic. We did a presentation a couple of years ago with another company into the board then uh but we decided not to pursue that but this time I think we also posted the deadline and um based on the u presentation that
029they did and I think that company will be very helpful. Okay. Because I I was on the it's like 2029, right? And then by 2035 by 2035 every bus has to be electric. It could change. Yeah. Which is unrealistensive. Yes. It's unrealistic based on the existing technology based on the existing infrastructure. Um but the governor is pushing for at least by 2027 for districts to start the transition. Uh that same company is already working with East Hampton and several other districts under East End. So they have a track record under East and my impression is that the electric bus is like quite a bit more expensive than regular bus. Extremely more expensive. On the last presentation we had, they were quoting the buses at around $450,000. That was two years ago with inflation, I would
030say 500 600,000. But the promise was the state was going to have subsidized subsidize it to a point where the cost would become equivalent to what you pay for the gas bus. Okay, that was my question was and then I just wanted to applaud you here because I kind of looked through the numbers and you know again back to what our tax rates are here compared to other districts and you know with the proposal of a tax rate of you know 2.16 you know again that's 2,160 on every million of your assessed value um which again compared to neighboring districts is about three times lower than those districts. So, you know, we do a great job here with the budget and the management of money. Um, we have plenty. We actually take in outstate tuition
031and um we take in the tuition from TCO. We take the tuition in from the NA. So, our state aid that we really take is very minimal. Um, I know a lot of districts on New York have been hit hard too because they got a lot of extra COVID money. Yeah. In the last few years and that money has dried up and they thought it would last forever and now they're scrambling. Um, luckily we're not in a position like that. So I just want to thank you guys for the the foresight and seeing that and keeping a strong budget. So I applaud you. Yes. Well, it it's having minimal state aid is both a blessing and a curse. Uh it's a blessing because when the state decide to make cuts, we don't have to worry
032about much. But uh in terms of looking at other districts, we get you know 60 70%. Yeah. there especially we don't know what's happening with the you know federal and all the budgets and the money and stuff. So it's you know a lot of questions in the air that we don't have to worry about as a district here because of our strong um tax rate and our strong tax base. Um the problem I have is property insurance for here because I know last year it went up because um New York State had removed the statute of limitation on outstanding claims. So then a lot of districts in New York got hit with old uh claims and things on their insurance and stuff from 30, 40, 50 years ago and um they had to pay out.
033So the insurance company that we used went from an A rating to a B minus, right? Um which then because of all these outstanding claims and this removal of statute of limitation, um insurance rates went up. Do we looking at that? Are we putting more in for that? What do you what do you think is going to happen in the next year with our insurance, our workers comp, our liability, our property insurance and stuff? And well, the basic assumption of budgeting is that everything will go up year after year after year. Um, in particular, health insurance usually, it's not uncommon for health insurance to go up double digits. Yeah. Um the property liability insurance usually go up in the range of 3 to 6%. So I haven't had any conversation with uh insurers but I
034anticipate that there will be an increase next year and that's usually I have to build that into [Music] Hello everybody. Hello. Um I just want to say thank you Jean. Uh this is a lot of work. I sit in the comm finance committee meetings with you and this is a lot. So again thank you. Um my question is um I know Mr. Dilva came and he presented um the possible uh um projects that we are going to work on. And is he going to present like a priorities list? Are we going to have another meeting to go over that prior to the next? Yes. U my intention was to invite him. As a matter of fact, I already invited him to the to our next um audit and finance committee meeting so that he can
035talk about the upcoming projects for the summer and beyond. Yes. And we also will have to have a conversation probably starting next year about the two expiring bonds. Uh we have one of our bonds is expiring in June of 2028 and the second one will be expiring about in June of 2029. So some of the bigger projects that we have um that we want to undertake, we may have to start having those conversations to determine if we want to go out for another bond because what happened is once the bond expires um right now in the budget, we we budget about $3.2 million towards the payment of those bonds. So once you pay off the bonds, those that $3 million will go off the budget. So you have to make a decision whether or not
036if you have any big projects that you want to bundle together to determine how much if you want to go out for another. So that that conversation should start early next year. Early next year. Yes sir. Okay. Thank you. But Mr. Dilda already have an idea. He he has a list that he's been keeping that project that could be. Thank you. Actually, I wanted to ask Dr. Morel, you mentioned prioritizing core reading programs for the science of reading and piloting the new program next year. Yes. Can you tell us a little bit about that reading program? I'm just curious what the name of it is and what I'll let jump in but I'll start with we have not um selected the actual core program that we are going to choose we have to uh have
037a look see first but we're looking at benchmark um we're also looking at American Leading Company um we're also looking there's a there's a third um Dr. about it. Did you want you to remember? No, we have a couple of meetings set up with um I already magnetic reading their core program and the other two that Dr. And so we will look at those those three and maybe grab one more and um then pilot you know go through and pilot one of one of them see how teachers take to it how teachers like it how the students respond and and look at their data and then we can make a decision about if that will be uh something we want to do um to scout in 2016 and we've been piloting I ready already right
038this year we um piloted last year just the diagnostic assessment and we're using the diagnostic assessment to okay how is that like yeah we have a bunch of training and it's going to use a lot of data any other questions thank you again Dr. Morel and Mr. and go. So, we've um we're now at the first uh public comments period and uh public comments will be heard on agenda items only. At 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 first identify a single spokesperson. The presentation should be as brief as possible and speakers will be permitted to speak for up to three minutes. The board will not allow public discussions involving individual district personnel or students. All
039speakers are to conduct themselves civily. Obscene language, lialist statements, threats of violence, and 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 vice president. They may direct questions or comments to to board members or other district officials upon approval of the vice president. Do we have any public comments at this time? Um, I just wanted to bring to the board microphones on. You just have to test the power button. Thank you. Okay. Um, I just wanted to bring to the board's attention. Um, you may want to take a look at West Hampton's budget. last year. Their budget is lower than ours with a higher population and I would consider West Hampton to be a similar school district to ours.
040So, I would I would take a look at their budget and see what they're doing. And um on top of that, they actually have a full-fledged football team, which is a very expensive um program to run as most of you know. Um, so take a look at that. And the other thing is buses. Um, I haven't seen a full bus of students in a Southampton school district bus like ever. In the last 15 years, I haven't seen any full buses. And about 10 years ago, I asked the board, please give me the numbers for a medium-sized bus. I never got that. So, why don't we take a look at the price differences between the large buses and the small and the mediumsiz buses and see if you guys can cut down a little bit on
041that. Um, so that's those two things. Um, as far as the merger, I don't options going on. I'm not sure why it's even on the plate. Um, when Scott Fina was here 10 years ago, he promised the public, the people, that we weren't bringing this up to a vote again 10 years ago after the second time it was voted down. So, I'm not sure why it's back even in discussion at all. Now, um, you guys, if you want to do something, you have to actually cite a problem if you want to do a merger or any other big proposition. And the only thing I keep hearing is lower enrollment. And I'm not sure how that is actually a problem. You need to define why this is a problem and how it's even affecting anything. Uh
042last time around we heard all the hoopla about decreasing AP classes. That was like a big deal. And then we were getting threats from Tahoe that they were going to flee over to West Hampton and we called their bluff on that. That never happened. So, you have to take into consideration like what's the difference to anybody that's in the district paying taxes? Why would we care if the school enrollment is 100 kids or 2,000 kids? It makes no difference to us at all. So, I would start thinking about that. And also, I really would hate to see the school district go back on their word on promising the public that we weren't bringing this back to a a vote again. We've already been we've already been told it wasn't going to happen. And if you're
043going to be doing a a merger study, I'd like to know who's going to be doing the merger study. Is it going to be the SCS study team again? And um the board should also talk to either Amy or Jean and find out how much money we've actually paid into this already. We've already paid for a merger study. We've already paid for two special elections. So find out what those numbers are. And every time it's brought up, please reiterate to the public how much money we spent over and over and over again so everybody knows and to be fair and upfront to everybody. That's all. Thanks. Are there any other public comments? Um, I want to be let you know that I am very thankful that you are in the district office. Now I have
044a few questions but I can ask those later once you get a little more settled in the district office. Okay. About the space. Okay. But okay. So I want to um I want to encourage the superintendent to really look at the schedules of the schools because I uh last year I asked Dr. dino who makes the final uh decision on the schedules and he said the superintendent does and so um I am a little upset with the schedules. Uh I I I the kids to me my children our children are not getting enough time for lunch or recess and I would like to see a change in that because if you want them to if we're doing social emotional learning then we need to be make sure they're healthy and well we got healthy health
045and wellness but we don't we want to practice ractice it. We want to show them that it's important for them to be healthy in order to learn. We can put all these programs in place and it won't work if they're not making sure they're healthy. So, please, that's my point. Really look at the schedule and see if what's necessary and what's not. I would like to see more instruction time and less like uh take the intermediate school for instance. Um I would like to see because kids have come to me and said as soon as I just got this and now I have to go to this is the way I see it. I'm going this is the way I explain to kids. You have nine bosses a day. Nobody in this world has nine
046bosses a day for 40 minutes a day. You got nine bosses and soon as you finish with one boss and get ready to do their work, you have to go to another boss. So you miss it. That's how kids have complained to me explained to me uh that they have just gotten what the teacher was understanding. They just understood what the teacher was teaching and they wanted to practice it, but they didn't have time to practice it because they had to go to another class. And then the teacher that they and then when they had the homework to do, they forgot all that they knew, they learned because they went from one person to another. I think that we should really look at the schedule and help the kids to be healthy mentally, emotionally, physically,
047spiritually as well. Okay? A whole person. We need to look at the whole child and and I believe that some of these things that we're doing, the reading will get better, the math, the science, everything will get better because we are concerned about the whole child, not just academics. Okay. And if you should uh want to do a math problem, just remember that there's only 1440 minutes in a 24-hour day. Some of these kids get on the bus at 6:00 in the morning and they stay for the after school, which is until 4:00. So that means they're in the school area. They're doing school stuff for 12 hours a day. That's 720 minutes out of those 144. So where's the sleep? Where's the eating? Where is the mental health? Okay, that's just one example. Please
048take that in consideration when you look at the schedule. Okay, thank you. You have any other public comments at this time? All right, then we'll move on to the superintendent report. Dr. Morel, did you have anything there to add? Yes, madam vice president, acting president. Um the enrollment report. Um, so in looking at entering and exiting students for this month, we we're down one student. Um, and our account is 1282 and those students of course are some of them are going um out of the country. So we had seven students leave and we had six students come in. So interestingly enough, we have students leaving but we have students coming as well. um but for a net loss of one student and um two of them are in public schools in the state, two out
049of the country and three are others. So out of district placements um and coming to us instate public school or two out of the country one returning from home school too and um a student with interrupted or no prior uh education will be one. So, we're holding steady at this 1280ish number and um we're looking um positively at our prek enrollment and I'll have an update on that next month, but right now it looks decent. So, we'll talk to you next month when I get my numbers. Thank you. Thank you. Um, and also I just want to say um, a big shout out to our boys basketball team. It was a great run. Um, they were amazing. Um, they are amazing and so we're just extremely proud of them. Um, and uh, you know, it's
050it's it's not about always about winning, it's how you play the game. and they have such great character. Want to uh just recognize um Han Lamson and the other coaches that uh are there, Mr. Franklin and the others. And then lastly, this is March Madness in the high school. And so, uh, there's a big night, uh, related to this March Madness is things are going on every day, but then there's a big night, um, Thursday night, and I've had a class send me a shirt, so I have to represent that class and I'll I'll be there, whoever sent it first. Whoever sent it first, it's a competition. So, I'll be there Thursday night, 5:30 to 8 at the high school. That's it for me. Thank you, Dr. Morel. And I probably should have noted at
051the beginning of the meeting that our principles were excused tonight to go to support the basketball team. I know we had a lot of community members go and um in addition to congratulating that team for a great season and many of the players for the um individual accolades they received and also milestones for uh coach Lamison. Um, I think we should congratulate all our winter athletes who um because even if you don't have a winning season, ideally you have a growing season and I think they all did. Um, so Mr. Vinko, do you have anything to add for the um for your report? Thank you, Madam Vice President. Uh the audit and finance committee met on um past Wednesday the 5th um to review all the financial items that you see on the agenda tonight.
052Um one of the items I spoke about at the last meeting was the uh new resolution to create a new um reserve fund to uh put the funds that we collected from the sale of the property matri. Um, you'll also see several transfers and all the financial reports that submit for the board to approve. So, if you have any questions and are we decreasing the tax liability for our community with that funding? Yes. So, that funding can be applied to reduce the tax levy. Uh, we can apply it this year or could apply it in future years. It's $1.1 million. I just wanted to uh give the board a quick update. Last time we were together, um Dr. Morurell and I expressed um that the intermediate school was flagged as a school in need of
053improvement. Um we have been working since then, just to give the board an update. One thing that has to be done is a grant application has to be submitted to the state education department. That grant is going to be finalized tomorrow by Dr. Morell when she reviews it in the morning and um we should be on our way. In addition to that, we have already we're not waiting for the grant to move forward in our plans. We have met already with each grade level at the intermediate school just to um discuss some reflections from our student performance in addition to recommendations for this upcoming testing season. So um as you know the state education department is mandating computer-based testing which is unfortunate um because we did see a difference in studying the third and fourth
054grade data versus the fifth or eighth grade data and we know that they took it on paper last year uh the elementary school. So now this year everybody is moving into computer-based testing. Um so that is something we really need to take into consideration and some of the recommendations have already been adjusted. So we did move back our testing dates. We were going to start testing right away at the intermediate school. We're moving back those dates so we can be a little bit more prepared. There is a fiveweek window in which we can assess students. Um but of course spring falls in the middle of all that and we have multiple tests and multiple dates to give. So, um, next steps are, uh, informing the parents of the dates, the new dates, in addition to
055sending out a survey to all parents, students, and teachers, uh, and staff to make sure that we get an accurate representation or a good representation of people taking the survey. That is a requirement that the state um, asks us to do when we submit the grant. So, that will be underway in just a few weeks. Um, so we're excited to get those results. Once we have those results, our committees will start convening, looking at results, and developing a plan. That plan is due to the state education department by August 31st. So, we'll have all that wrapped up and ready to go hopefully by the end of the school year, honestly, because that's when we have people here. Um, but whatever we need to do, we'll continue doing. Um, just wanted to give two quick shoutouts.
056First, we have another shared decision-making team meeting coming up in this room on March 19th that we'd love to have as much representation as we can. and we have our last book study. Uh we've been doing a book study um and we had a large turnout of people. The weather's getting nice, but I just wanted to shout it out that April 3rd is our very last book study and we're looking forward to it. So if anybody's available to come, we'd love to have you. Thank you. What were the opt out numbers like last year and what do you expect this year? Well, that's a great question. So, we're we're we're going to be rebranding some of the things that we send out. Those were some of the recommendations also is maybe diagrams, YouTube videos so
057we could reach more audiences. Um, not just sending it through parents square. I know electronic is the way of the world, but also we need to send home physical copies of letters. So, we'll be doing that as much as we can. Um, I do hold a parent meeting every year that's on Zoom that parents can come to get information. Um, our optout numbers varied by grade, but they were anywhere between 43 and 59% opt out. So, every grade was a little bit different. Um, so it'll be interesting to see what happens this year. We're really hoping, uh, some of the things that we discussed was incentivizing being part of the population that does take the state assessments. Um, you know, they don't have we can't really incentivize, but we can um support students in different
058ways. And I think that we really need to start taking a look at celebrating students, not just incentiv not incentivizing, but celebrating these students for um actually participating. Um and parents, you know, I know it's difficult. I have young children also that I struggled with this for a long time. Um it is a difficult decision to make, but it does prepare students for regent exams. And we have many students in this building that are just a few years away from 8th grade, they're taking regent exams. and if they haven't sat for a state test or participated in a state test, they don't know what that actually feels like. Um, we do again big concerns about the computer-based testing, that's not going to go away and I'm hoping that the state when they do ask us
059for feedback at the end of the year, we're able to provide them feedback that will make a difference. Um, I know it's much less expensive for them and I know that's a big thing. Um, but it really is it can be harmful, especially in light of the governor saying we're not allowing cell phones and screen time is best. We would like to give all the students an assessment on a computer. Right. I think something else. Thank you, Dr. Oops. Sorry. And I think something else that came out of the meeting um at least one of those meetings was how do we um we know that our parents have their rights uh in terms of allowing their children to take the test, but how can we um you know rebrand um to get more students to
060take it? How do we show parents how it how it hurts us? Because when many of those kids don't take it, it actually creates a gap in and who's taking who's not. And then we get these citations from the state like being a target district in need of improvement when I'm of the firm belief that if we had more students taking the test that we wouldn't have these designations. is it's it's just you know it's common sense and I just think that we have to kind of work a little bit more with our parents and having conversations a little bit more to say we really really hope you can have your child take the test because it really it hurts us and I just wanted to say that that's something we're we were in conversation
061with this week uh about how we're going to um do that without being too pushy with parents about what their rights are. And so maybe appeal to their hearts to say we don't need these designations and we think we have a plan with kids who take the test that will bring our scores up to a level of what our true the true capabilities of our students represent. And so that's what we're working on as well. I also I also think the initial concerns about state testing as they related to APR are done. And I don't I don't think that that's necessarily vanished in the minds of a lot of parents. But when you're looking at 30 40 50% opting out, that's not a true picture of what our students are capable of. So, um I'm
062just piggybacking off of what Dr. Moro was talking about because that was my question. Um what are we doing to incentivize or get the parents to be more engaged and say yes, my kid should take the test? And I do have such a large percentage that didn't take the test. There was like this movement at one period that it was it was like a movement and and it was really uh you know a rights thing like what my rights are uh this is high state it does nothing for my child uh kind of movement why should I make my put my kid under this much stress uh for your numbers right for your but what's what's happening is it's killing um at this time. And so I think if we can do a rebranding of
063what these tests currently mean for our district with our parents, having more conversations. Dr. Foster already has, you know, a meeting. Maybe we we're sending out another communication as a reminder or reminding parents that um that the test doesn't it doesn't hurt like academically. It doesn't hurt your child in any kind of way, but it does hurt when we don't have their numbers in there. Actually, the whole story isn't being told about the Southampton district without that big large numbers, almost 60% of kids uh not taking the test, right? And I think also expressing the importance of readiness for when they're taking regions in the high school like you said. So, it is very important. I think that's really a good selling point. Yeah. I think there's a couple of things also that that this
064these uh state tests used to be tied to teacher performance. So there was a time where depending on how your students did, you were rated as a teacher. That has since gone away. That's why there was a huge movement that started because parents were saying I don't want teachers rated and many parents are teachers saying I don't want to be rated by my students performance. Um so that has now gone away. So the whole um idea of that needs to be communicated better and and as um Miss White Dunn was sharing like that's that's something that needs to be communicated better. In addition, you know, diagrams, I think diagrams are helpful. One teacher came up with that idea. Um there's a multicultural night here coming up. There's a literacy night at the elementary school. I
065will be there with the table. That was a suggestion made to me on what are your questions about state testing and getting information out. So whatever I have to do to um you know kind of just talk to parents about it. We can't force them as Dr. Mel was saying we can't you know mandate it but we can try and encourage them to do it. We can't give incentives but we can celebrate. So there are ways to go about it that I think we can you know increase the level of student the amount of students taking the test. And in addition I just want to add one more thing like it's not just about the number of kids that we get taking the test. It's also that test gives us great data. It informs our
066teaching for next year. It helps us identify the standards, the gaps in standards. It helps us see our students as learners, what kinds of learners they are. And I think it's really important um that you know the community understands that too. It's not just a oneanddone type of thing. It really does help. Thank you. Just want to say thank you for all that because you know I have a fourth bear this year and we've had those discussions over whether you take the test or not and my wife was always leaning oh you don't take any of the tests. So I think all this education stuff is very important to get out there to the parents and stuff because you know they all they're all talking you know when you get to those ages and stuff.
067So we've had those discussions in our house. Um so I think this is important stuff too. Thank you. Any other um questions for our administrators? All right. So we're going to move on to the board of education committee reports. The audits audit and finance committee met on March 5th. Is there any additional report from that committee? Okay. The personnel committee met on um March 4th and um I understand all their recommendations are in the agenda. Is there anything else? I just want to point out one of the things is Amy Davis putting her retirement. Um she's been at the high school forever. Um she I I say she runs the high school. You know, she knows everything that's going on there. She's amazing. She's been there since I was in school. So she's going to
068be missed in the school district. And you know, Ray has an Amy Davis story. I got to tell one. Um so when I was in college, I typed with a theater ball, typed a 20page paper, and I accidentally froze my computer and deleted it. So I was freaking out because it was due in about an hour. So I didn't know what to do. So my my brother is our IT guy who's in high school. So I called the high school, got Amy Davis on the phone and she went and got Chris out of class and Chris came down to the office and walked me through. I was able to get the paper back. So I also want to thank Amy Davis for saving me on that and agreeing to go get my brother out of
069class. Um that was big. Um but she's wonderful and we're going to miss her here. Yes. and the merger committee meeting met on March the 6th. share. Yeah, we we um we really had just one point on the agenda which is that um in addition to uh resolving to um do a merger feasibility study with Tahoe, we also wanted to get information to the community for the community uh to model the district if Tahoe were to create their own high school and um have the um the Shinikok nation in that in that endeavor. So that um is we essentially directed the administration to look for a vendor to study this um so that we could understand what the um what the revenue impact is and how we'd have to model um district a much smaller
070district in order to not go to the taxpayers for any additional revenue. Um, so the policy committee met on February 13th and March 5th and we Okay. Is there anyone here that on the 13th? Well, you'll see that we have um policy 10.02 go to um the co-curricular uh activities for sports that we've been talking about for about three months now. Um I believe it's up for adoption tonight. And then the policy committee also met again on March 6 where we discussed our personnel um recruiting and hiring um policies. So, as um Mrs. Proctor mentioned, we have a policy um for final reading and adoption. So, may I have a motion to review policy 5204R eligibility for co-curricular and extracurricular activities regulation for a third reading and adoption as presented? Thank you. Second, please. Um,
071is there any discussion? As Mrs. Proctor mentioned we did discuss this at several meetings and the committee's been the policy committee's been working on it. All right. All in favor? I I Any opposed? So carried. So policies for a second reading we have none. Uh policies for first reading we have none. And policies that are currently under committee review include policy 9240, recruiting and hiring and the associated regulation policy 4531 field trips and excursions and its its regulation and these related exhibits policy 4531E.1 which is the field trip approval form. form 4531E.2, which is the parent approval form, and 4531E.3, which is the checklist and response form. And policies that are slated for committee review include policy 2245 exeicio student member of the board policy 5300 code of conduct policy 5420 student health services and
072its associated regulation policy 6700 which is purchasing and the associated regulation policy 8414.6 Six, the idling prohibition for buses and other school vehicles. Okay, so now we're moving on to the consent agenda items. Are there any consent agenda items 11.01 through 11.40 that any member wishes to discuss or has questions about? I will hold out consent agenda items 11.01 and 11.02 for separate action via a roll call vote. Are there any other consent agenda items from 11? Okay. Yeah. 11.03 through 11.40 4 Z that any member wishes to hold out for separate action. So this one is okay. So that um first agenda item. May I have a motion to adopt a resolution regarding a UPSu grievance dated December 12th, 2022 as presented? Motion. Second. Will the clerk call the role for vote, please? Karenfield,
073yes. Robert Zachary, yes. Monique, yes. And Ruth B. White, yes. So, the motion is carried. May I have a motion to approve a personnel action resolution relating to education law section 913 examination as presented? Motion. Second. Will the clerk please call the role for book a vote? Cara, yes. Robert Zachary, yes. Tony Proctor. Yes. And Ruthie White. The motion is carried. May I have a motion to approve consent agenda items 11.03 through 11.40 as presented in the agenda? All in favor? I. Any opposed? So carry. All right. So we're up to the financial items. Are there any financial aid items from 12.01 through 12.14 that any member wishes to discuss or has questions about? I will hold out financial item 12.01 01 for a separate action via a a roll call vote. Are any other
074financial items from 12.02 through 12.14 that any member wishes to hold out for separate action? May I have a motion to approve financial item 12.01 to adopt a resolution to create a tax reduction reserve fund as presented? Motion. Second. Will the clerk please call the role for the vote? Carlinfield. Yes. Robert Zachary, yes. Proctor, yes. And Ricky White, yes. The motion is carried. May I have a motion to approve financial aid items 12.02 through 12.14 as presented in the agenda? Motion second. Second. All in favor? I. Any post? So carried. All right, we are up to the personnel items. Are there any personnel items from 13.01 01 1-6 or A that any member wishes to discuss or has questions about. I will hold out personnel items 13011 and 14 for separate action. Are there any
075other personnel items from 13012 through 13 1516 or A that any member wishes to hold out for separate action? Okay. May I have a motion to approve personnel item 13011, the retirement of Amy E. Davis with regret and gratitude for her 28 years of service to the district as presented in the agenda? Make a motion. All in favor? I I. Any opposed? Motion is carried. May I have a motion to approve of personnel item 13014, the retirement of Vera A. Trick with regret and gratitude for her nine years of service to the district as presented in the agenda. Second. All in favor? I. I. Any opposed? The motion is carried. May I have a motion to approve personnel items 1301 2-13 1516 and A as presented in the agenda? All in favor? I. Any opposed?
076Motion is carried. Okay, thank you. This is the Okay, the whole page. Okay. Are there any personnel items from 13.02 17 through 40 that any member wishes to discuss or has questions about? Are there any personnel items 13.02 17- 40 that any member wishes to pull out for separate action? May I have a motion to approve personnel items 130217 through 40 as presented in the agenda? Motion. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion is carried. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the February 4th, 2025 regular meeting and the March 7th special meeting as presented? Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? The motion is carried. All right. So, we're up to unfinished business. And um we have a petition from the um Southampton Art Center and um we also have legal
077guidance on this petition. Has everyone been able to review that? And are there any questions? Yeah. Do you want to just explain the legal guidance on this? So Sure. I just want I just want people to know, you know, Right. Yeah. We can explain the guidance so we people understand why what what happened and what's here for this. So the petition is from the Southampton Art Center. It's um to be placed on the ballot for the taxpayers to consider the sum of $150,000. and the um education law that permits this board to place um items on the ballot for the voters's consideration provides that to um those that hold an educational charter as either a library or a museum. And in this case, when our attorneys reviewed this petition and the accompanying charter, we found
078that it was an educational charter, but not one for a library or museum. So, the um the education uh the legal guidance is not to that we don't actually have the um capacity to accept this petition under New York State education law. or that it doesn't really it's not up to our discretion. It doesn't need the legal definition to be placed there. So, um I have a motion to read related to the petition for us to consider. Whereas the board of education received a petition seeking to have a proposition included on the ballot at the May 20th, 2025 annual meeting, which would serve to authorize the district to quote contract with the Southampton Arts Center in the amount of $150,000 for the 2025 2026 school year of the school district and the necessary tax be
079levied therefore. End quote. And whereas district policy number 1050 provides that the board of education shall not be required to place any proposition on the ballot ballot which is within the exclusive province of the board forbidden by law or for propositions containing less than a minimum of 40 signatures of qualified voters of the district or 5% of the eligible voters who voted in the previous annual election of the members of the board of education. ation, whichever is greater. And whereas the board of education has reviewed the proposition and determined that the proposed proposition to the to contract with the Southampton Arts Center is forbidden by law. And whereas the board of education has determined that since the Southampton Arts Center does not qualify as a chartered museum or a chartered library, it is not entitled
080to either contract with the district andor compel compel the district to submit a voter proposition through the district concerning the levying of taxes under either education law section 256 or Education Law Section 259. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education of the Southampton Union feed school district hereby rejects the proposed proposition to authorize the district to contract with the Southampton Art Center and directs the district clerk to notify the proposer of the board's decision. I have a motion to accept motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? The motion is carried. All right. We have another petition to the board of education. Um the petition to the board of the education is that the following proposition be included on the ballot. resolved that the board of education be authorized to contract with
081the Southampton Youth Association in the amount of $460,000 for the 2025 2026 school year. May I have a motion to accept a petition to the board of education so that the following proposition will be included on the 2025 ballot? resolved that the board of education be authorized to contract with the Southampton Youth Association in the amount of $460,000 for the 2025 2026 school year for the youth of the school district and the necessary tax be levied therefore. Can I have a motion? Motion. All in favor? I I Any opposed? All right, that motion is carried. So, we have really we um reached the second public comments period. 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
082spokesperson. The presentation should be as brief as possible. Speakers will be permitted to speak up to three minutes. The board will not allow public session dis discussions involving individual district personnel or students. All speakers are to conduct themselves civily. Obscene language, lielist statements, threats of violence, and 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. They may direct questions or comments to the board members or other district officials only upon approval of the acting president vice president. Are there any public comments? Good evening. My name is Christina Stra. I'm the executive director of the Southampton Art Center. Um I must admit that I'm blindsided by this. Um, we've been working on this for a year and a half
083with the New York State Board of Regents and um, there was never a question there saying that it had to be to be m listed as a museum or a library in that sense. Um, and I know that the the second item that you just said was not a museum or library and they are accepted into this. So, I'm not quite sure um, how that all plays out just to be honest with you. the um so our the educational law that does have um say the Southampton Historical Museum and the Parish Art Museum and the um Southampton African-American Museum that specific New York State law that um allows those organizations to be on the ballot is reserved for libraries and museums u collecting museums. It's the same law that um authorizes the library vote each
084year even though they have a separate vote. So, um I'd suggest you go back for to your legal guidance because we have clear legal guidance about this. And then as far as the Southampton um Youth Association, yes, they are not a library or museum, but they are coming under a different law because of the type of service they offer. And that has been challenged and we had a um a uh commissioner of education ruling on them that that was is valid. So, we're able to move forward with confidence on that because it was uh contested in the past. Any other questions or additions? Is it something like our legal to talk to their legal about why? When I asked the legal your legal team to give me guidance, I was not I was told to
085deal directly with the New York City regions which we direct our lawyers dealt with the New York City regions. So again, it was not clarified um at um unfortunately we're in the situation right now um where we're clearly hoping to be on the ballot now this year. That was a year and a half of working on it and uh I would have appreciated at least a little bit of guidance on it. Thank you. Are there any other public comments? Is there any um any other business? Yeah, I got a few things here. Why not? Um yeah, I just want to say um the PTO at the elementary school is holding I think a book fair. Was it next week again? Um they're doing one in the spring which they've never done before but they've had
086so much success with it. So um that's something great that they're doing. Um I'd also like to thank um the head of guidance um for adding an additional SAT. As you know, the varsity baseball team is going away next week um for spring training and some of the kids are going to miss SAT and she was very proactive about it and was able to get a date for them on that Tuesday. So much appreciated by everybody and that was that was great. So, um oh um and Jean, this is for you. Um my preker when I was leaving the door told me that he wants a playground in his classroom. He's five. Um he asked me where I was going. at a school board meeting stopped and said, "I want a playground in my classroom."
087So I said, "I'll make it happen." So Jean, a playground in the classroom. But thank you guys. [Music] I just want to thank the Southampton High School PTO. We went to their fundraiser Friday night at Union Burger and they just did so much work and raised a lot of money. that all fund their programs and scholarships for our seniors and I know it's a lot of work that they do for us and it was a really nice night. So, thank you PTO. Um I just want to say that um I'm part of the book study and I'm not going to be able to be at the last meeting regrettably. Um the book study has been amazing facilitated by Dr. Dr. Martinez, Dr. Botcher, and it literally has um brought us all together. We became kind
088of like a little family and it helped not only us, but when we help ourselves, we are able to better help our students and the environment that we're in. So, thank you for that. That's been amazing. And I just have one other question. Um, I do know we do have a new, um, director of special education. Um, we used to have a special education committee. We don't have it anymore. Um, I I haven't heard anything um, regarding the overall, you know, health of the special education committee. So, I just would like um maybe we could have like a a briefing. Yeah. Maybe we can bring her up to give provide updates um for it for the board. We can do that. That would be great. Okay. Yeah. Any kind of like high level thing. Yeah.
089The committee used to exist to consider some of the when there were financial implications to um contracts and services um often. And um but it would be nice to have a presentation from Dr. I will um make it happen. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So there's nothing is there anything nothing further. So may I have a motion to move into executive session at the 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 8:33 8:30 p.m. to discuss the employment history of particular motion. All in favor? I any opposed? Motion carried.