001when we look at we we look inside ourselves we won't see what color you are we will we will see will you be my friend can I play with you if you if you cry I'm crying stop being adults and get back to being that child they didn't care just wanted someone to play with someone to talk to someone to that will listen to me someone that will feel what I felt or feel the way I feel just want just want to be some with someone else we're all in the same race there's only really One race and that's the human race let's not forget that let's never forget that we are all in the same race and we are all on different places and different times in our lives and as as I tell
002the children all the time you are not ever we are never ever in the same place at the same time all the time we got emotions we got feelings we got biases we got all these things going on but we're all part of the same race let's teach our children that because they're going to meet and they're going to be with kids of all and if we teach them that we're all part of the same race we don't have the problems what we what we see why we got all these people here it's all about what we've been taught now who we are so let's get right with our children and teach them the right all the same place [Applause] hello everybody uh my name is sen Bowen I'm one of the elected leaders of
003shinok Indian Nation um I got a text message from somebody that's watching this live they said that the YouTube cut up okay great um not even going to address a lot of the comments that I've heard dring Mor welcome from the shin IND Nation we're so happy to see that the elected ass of this school district have chosen you as our superintendent so thank you and for the for some of the comments that have been made I think um Kenny C said it we as a community of Southampton elected these individuals here they went through months of vetting people 18 it was it 18 uh people she made it to the the top four she went through several different groups to make it to be the person that was selected let's just give her a
004[Applause] chance the other thing that I wanted to mention uh because the number of like 80 48% of the school district is supended um one of the questions that I got to ask was uh is this meeting being recorded of translated for those Spanish-speaking families that are kind of under uh represented in this room but if they're 48% of the school district I just want to make sure that those parents and those children are able to be able to watch this at some shape or form in their native language so that that's an actual question to the board is yes or no and then I'm done okay thank you hi I'm Julian ccel director of Technology um we uh the video stream for YouTube has an option for where you can get close caption in
005Spanish and they just have to flip it when they're watching it thank [Applause] you hello good evening my name is Bianca Collins I am the co secretary for the shinik nation it's a pleasure to be with you here tonight Dr morale welcome hak thank you for being here it is a pleasure to meet you uh I also want to thank everybody that has come out tonight to participate and to listen to one another to Garner some more understanding um I'm going to be brief I really just wanted to say that um you know I'm a woman of faith and toight I'm going to go home and Pray for Peace understanding and acceptance for all of us you know have peace in our hearts to understand each other's perspectives but also to accept that it is
006time for change we need to acknowledge that and we I can see it in people's faces I know that change is difficult and it is uncomfortable but it is the time for our children to have the opportunity to acknowledge the truth about this country and I think that Dr moral will be a wonderful person to lead us in that conversation I as a tribal leader also as a tribal citizen as a woman um somebody who has grown up on the East End of Long Island I did not go to Southampton I went to Riverhead sh of blue Waves um and a very diverse school um so it was a very different experience for me but you know over the years I've had to acknowledge a lot of things myself i' had I've had to educate
007myself in ways that I was not educated in my school of the way that this world truly is about the true history of our country and I know that that's a conversation that most people don't want to have but for a lot of us especially shinok people we have these conversations every day it becomes our life we accept the responsibility of doing so and helping people understand who we are and I think that the only way this community is going to heal and become better and to truly Unite and support our children is to acknowledge that we have all been conditioned in some way systemically and that needs to change so I hope that people can be open-minded and we can have further conversations with Dr Morell and with the school board and we can
008all grow together peacefully thank [Applause] you good good evening my name is Lisa glory and I am the shinika nation chairman for the Council of [Applause] Trustees I felt that it was important for me to be here this evening um I lost my mother-in-law today I just came from her house but I felt that it was important that I be here and I welcome Dr morale our nation has been told no for hundreds of years when I ran for the Council of trustee my platform was that I was going to take care of my elders and our children and that's why I'm here tonight because I will not let our children be denied this opportunity I've heard a lot of the speakers get up here and talk about they don't want their children to learn
009racism racism begins at home it's taught at home at home I taught my children manners and to be respectful I didn't put that on put that on their Educators that begins at home and I implore this board to do what all of us in here elected you to do thank you [Applause] Natasha Jeff graduate of Southampton High School teacher parent of three children who graduated from Southampton High School I've seen a lot I've witnessed a lot I've experienced a lot but I won't take time to share what I will take a moment and address is the comments that have been made about black lives matter black lives matter is a factual statement because guess what our lives do matter and it was a movement that was bir out of the unnecessary killings of black people
010that you all watched on National Television black lives matter only offends those who believe that black lives don't matter and they're in the most important thing I have to say tonight is Dr Morel welcome welcome to a community that is in need of you not just the brown kids but all kids here can benefit from your leadership welcome to a unique place that can lead in love and has the potential to lead in hate but I do believe you are buing for the task so again I welcome [Applause] you good evening um I'm Bonnie Cannon and I am a resident here I was born and raised here in Southampton I'm also one of the past Trustees of the village of Southampton um and I'm also the executive director for the brid Hampton childcare and recreational
011center where our mission is that we are historically black Community Based institution who serve all marinized children and families and I just wanted to welcome you Dr Morel and um say that you know we're here for you um I'm here for you if you need any type of support or anything of that sort I'm so excited um that you are here and one of the things that I will say to you because I know a lot of people say to give her a chance but I'll say to you to please give us a chance because what you see and what you see here is not a good picture of what this entire community so give us a chance it's getting late as Mr no you please you can speak and then you want to give
012up the opportunity for Dr M to speak she's come to join us and it is very late and I know many people are looking forward to hearing what she has to say good evening everybody oh that's um my name is Kristen White um I am a taxpayer I am the mother of three children who I have chosen not to send to Southampton Public Schools um but I was born and raised here I have the very uncomfortable truth of being a direct descendant of the first white people who came here and really messed things up for the shin um and I'm not going to stand up here and pretend that I have not witnessed discrimination and racism against my friends and people I went to school with who are from the res or the ab or
013the hill or from McGee Street or for Lane it exists it might not exist in every single individual I am not saying that every white person who is in this room is racist I am not saying that every every single one of us in the halls of South Anan High School were saying racist things but come on guys we have to admit that we all had the same experience and and it happened and it's still happening um I just wanted to get up here and say that because I do feel I I teach my children that they can be proud of the fact that they are descendants from the white people who settled this community and gave it a name but they also have to acknowledge that that was done at the expense right of
014a nation of people who were here before us and I just think that we live in a very very interesting Community I mean my children will never be able to afford to live here after 13 Generations my husband and I are looking for property not only in New York Cate in other states because we don't want to even be in New York anymore um I do have two concerns and two things that I just wanted to ask the board and this is nothing directly against you Dr Morel I I hope that if you choose to come here after tonight and the board chooses to add you that you do have a positive experience because we are a welcoming loving Community oriented Community but you can tell that people love their kids and they just want
015the best for their kids and I think we all have to admit that there was some crazy stuff going around and I think a lot of people are just here looking for some clarification so my two questions are to the board um because Southampton is such a unique experience and I've never been on a school board I've never had to hire a teacher but I've had to hire a minister I've had to hire other other you know position people and when you're bringing somebody into the Eastern end of long Island which is like you know Planet X in comparison to the rest of the world because we live in a bubble and this is not reality um is somebody who's from the second largest city in New York the best fit for our small town
016is my first question and my second question is um because I don't know a lot about this process if you could just talk us through what happens after this um when Dr Morel is is appointed this evening um is it like a teacher position is there a 10year time period um what is that time period look like um if one party or both parties decides to part ways um we talked several times about the administrators that have left under questionable circumstances over the last 5 10 15 years and the amount of money out of our 82 million doll budget that are still paying those people off because they're no longer in our school so my concern I guess is more of a taxpayer question is um what does this look like and what happens if
017unfortunately comes the situation where we have to part with what is that going to cost me as a taxpayer thank you right now I'd like to welcome Dr I'm sorry Dr F please come up and I just want to [Applause] say I just want to just make a comment Mr mcken and I had a conversation with Dr Morel this afternoon to just let her know what had um what had been transpiring over the weekend after our appointment and to see how she wanted to um handle this evening um maybe she wanted to not come maybe she wanted to you know post whatever and uh she without hesitation said no the community is really important to me and I want to speak to them and I want to hear from me and I will try to
018answer any questions that I can um so welcome Dr Morel and please thank you Este board members for this opportunity to speak to the community thank you staff for being here thank you community for allowing me to hear your concerns um it has been an extremely interesting evening and um I want to first start off with why I'm here and then I want to address some of the falsehoods and misinformation that I think has been floating on the internet for quite some time um that really paints a very negative picture and I'll tell you now if I were you Scott and I read that I would be like oh no she's not coming here so let me so I understand where you're coming from I understand the perspective but I did hear a gentleman say
019well let's hear what she has to say and let's give her a chance because you know what like you have studied me I have studied this District since last November and I have been on the internet and I have the Southampton newspaper coming to Buffalo because I keep up too and I want to let you know right now that I am not a racial hir so let's take race of that I was hired because I had 30 years of experience in educating children I've been an elementary and a secondary school principal I've been a multilingual educator I've been a person who is a humanitarian who actually bridge and bring people together and I saw the beautiful diversity of the educational Community here in the Southampton schools I saw the promise I saw the young people
020on this on the in the news paper I saw the Innovation and I said you know what I see racial healing is also needed and I said you know I may be able to align with that district and be a bridge builder around some of the issues that are occurring Mr McKenna read you all the attributes of the position each attribute spoke to who I am as a person the monster you're reading about I don't even know who that is that is not who I am did I create an emancipation curriculum in the Buffalo Public Schools when George Floyd was killed yes I did did I say black lives matter I had to yes I did that was an 86% black and brown Community what was I supposed to do say they don't matter but
021Buffalo was in Southampton and there are different needs and self Hampton that there are in than there are in Buffalo some things are transferable but many things that you're speaking about they're just not and I understand that I definitely want to address some of the misinformation we talk about lawsuits when it was brought up to me this after noon I almost didn't even remember I'm like what are you talking about law what's going on well when I held the teacher accountable to her work and I stopped her from harming children she told me I'll bring you to your knees but she didn't she was fired and that's why that lawsuit ensued but we don't see or hear how I walk down the hall every day and hurt her hurting children all kinds of children I
022had to get rid of her we talk about another lawsuit with sexual abuse when that incident occurred and that janitor came and told me Dr Morel one of the teachers was kissing a student I grabbed that student and I said tell me baby tell me everything that's going on nothing around nothing nothing's going on on nothing please I know something it was a kiss there was something she said no her parents were called in they sat with me in my office I said I'm hearing about a kiss the parents said no uh Mr so and so is he's just friendly there's no there's nothing here 10 years later when she's eight8 uh uh uh 20 24 or 25 she's hurting and now we want the lawsuit but I saved her anyway I fired him I
023got rid of so as you read as you read between the line as you read these papers read between the lines of what else was occurring wasn't sitting around watching a pedophile attack our young people that's nonsense I would be so afraid of me if I read Chris ruel's article without context what Mr rufel did was Li list and Def and Def defamatory he Ted in excert out of a 350 page curriculum out of context that by the way a white teacher wrote The Lesson a white teacher wrote that all the less you're quoting the white supremacist and the systemic racism I got to call Brooke she's a brilliant young teacher and I respect her but I would never throw her under the bus of course I stand behind anything that I could out there
024but I'm going to protect my Fu so yes there was some things that came about that I just had to fall in the sore for however I am the superintendent if blessed tonight with this role I am the superintendent for all students all children I am here to provide equity and education for all of our students and to progress them to the next level someone said it shouldn't just be about Dei you're absolutely right with a 40% passing rate for proficiency for our students at grades 3 to 8 we definitely need to be focusing on a whole lot more than D in the sou School someone said it should about science and math and it should be about reading and art hello I happen to serve on the Blue Ribbon commission for graduation measures and
025I know that a portrait of a graduate must be one that creates children who are Civic career artistic and college ready ready for the next Workforce ready for the global economy to have the competencies that will make them competitive with any student anywhere in this world Mr uh Mr Smith for member Smith said only a few are going on to Harvard only a few are going on to Stanford and iy League schools well that is egregious because in this District I know that academic Excellence can be achieved and I know that we can be a national proof point for others to admire across this state in this nation no I was not a naturally recognized ex uh naturally recognized educator in 20 in 2003 that was just last year that was in 2023 and you
026know what if you allow me to serve you I will make this a nationally recognized district for educational Excellence as [Applause] well what interesting to me is that when we start to talk about cult responsive practice and culturally responsive curriculum we always want to think about black and brown children I am of the authority that white children need want and will accept being taught about who they are and who others are and why we all deserve to seat at the table and why we all deserve to be treated fairly and like humans and and and with not anyone serving as a superior a Superior person over another white children will tell you that if we let them if we let them they're not afraid of it but this isn't this isn't we're not going to
027have racial dialogues every single time we have conversations with Dr Morel I'm not here for that I'm here to educate all the students I am a fun person I want to have fun learning and growing and growing the district I had no idea I was going to run into this today I'm either being baptized by fire or I'm packing my bag in the morning it's one or the other but I'm glad to hear because one of the things that is critically important to me is multiple perspectives and if I'm going to believe and breathe multiple perspectives then I have to be ready to take it in when it's not going my way as well and I challenge you to do the same thing when you getting these uncomfortable spaces that we may need to go
028into when we have a community that feels totally marginalized I don't know if you all heard what I heard from the shin Nation tonight and the Latin next Community we haven't heard from them either but you we can't deny that so there must be racial healing and I'm an at that I have that that experience that expertise you can ask them in Buffalo when I first began my journey in Buffalo with creating culturally responsive practices with my 87% white teaching staff and my 8 6% africanamerican and Latino and multilingual and uh uh Community indigenous as well as Asian Community I have folded on and red faces but over time over time because we worked collaboratively we came together as a community we came together and and and and Tuck up the mantle of justice social
029justice and that's why I had a critical mass of our teachers on board with the curriculum and many other social emotional learning practices that I was implementing out of my office so I just have to say I am this I will be the Super intendent for all children and All Families how dare I I wouldn't even think about coming into a community I can read and I know the community that I'm coming in I can see the racial makeup I would not ever think about coming into a community to be divisive I want to be here I want to help I want to grow what's already excellent here cuz there's Excellence here or I would have never even thought about coming I'm I'm quite sure you know I'm comfortable in my in my current but
030I wanted a new adventure A new challenge a new understanding of what educational promise could be so when you look at those half a million tweets that ruo and the Manhattan group these disantis type people who have power of the media can retweet about one woman in one District imagine that of course it's going to be horrific of course it's going to paint a picture that I wouldn't want that person teaching my own children I wouldn't want that person in my own like over my own family in a district so I get it I do but we got to have some courageous dialogue we really do as a community there's also opportunity for professional grow some of the commentary I hear heard here the thinging I kept seeing myself they like I can be so
031purposeful here I can make a change here not make everybody be upset with me when I walk in a room and rolling their eyes and it haven't even said hi to me you don't even know me give me a chance see what [Applause] happens and you know what your kids will love me all kids love me I haven't been in a space where kids haven't loved me black white asian because I'm a good person and I care about kids and at the beginning of the day the reason why you saw those lawsuits because at the end in the beginning of the day that's who matters to me and I have had to put adults on the back burner because of kids it's our kids these are all of our children so I'm not here to
032be a divisive leader or character I'm not with I do not have a hidden agenda this excellent board took me through the most rigorous process I thought I was going to die by the third round I said I I can't they can't I can't believe this I got to go again I gotta go they vetted me they made me understand they were serious about excellence and I'm serious about excellence and I want to do great work right here but I want everybody all of our children to to feel welcomed all of our families to feel respected all of our families to feel they're important their voice matters what they think but I can't do it without you I'll tell you that right now I won't I won't I won't fight I can't I need you
033we can have conversations we can be in town hall meetings and we can we can go back and forth all day I have an open door policy you can come on in ask me questions if something's bothering you tell me what it is let's see if we can't put our heads together to get through it but I can't do it without the community I cannot lead in a community that does not want me and I hope I just hope that you understand a lot of the things that you're reading online have been taken out of context are half truths and straight out lies and when I have to walk the Emancipation curriculum walk cuz that Community they wanted that they needed that and then we had the racist attack on the black community of course
034that's what that Community wanted and I delivered some of you want to talk about the DAT in Buffalo Public Schools well I don't know if you know a lot about the big five school districts but under my leadership and above for public schools we took that graduation rate from a 50% graduation rate to a 79% graduation rate in a threee period I don't know you know what what when you have a poverty level of 80% that's called Magic that's called focus and I had a great superintendent over me who mentors me and taught me how to move the needle with our most needy children and that's what we did in Buffalo Public Schools and there are many other metrics our suspension rates went down it's not like Southampton when you're dealing with 30,000 students those
035metrics are a lot harder to move so when you're talking three 4% that's like moving 6,000 kids that's a lot of progress so I would just say give me a chance on that too some of the data here has been stagnant I heard Mr Smith I heard other board members and and I want I think I can work with you I think I can work with this community I think I can work with the teachers I think I can work with the cabinet staff I think I'm capable I feel like I'm more than qualified so I feel like I'm capable to work with you to move this District to a point where they look at us and say uh-huh they got it together around over there they not only have it together with their white
036children they have it together with their latino children they have it together with their shinik children they have it together with their Asian children all the children all of them we can be great Jackie love is so key love is key thank you thank you for bringing that to the Forefront because we forget about that a lot of times when we're working in the schools we forget Love One Another Love on one another life is too hard and Too Short how do we love each other how are we compassionate our students are in a post pandemic [Music] traumatic epic they're they're here in this epic where we can't even begin to imagine what they are experiencing after two years of isolation that's what we got to look at the trauma and I'll tell you now
037as we were all sitting here and I was hearing your truths and I was receiving your truths I said to myself the babies are watching right now and so I just hope everybody act right because the babies are watching we have to be the example and we want to change How We Do how we want to change how our kids are prepared to meet the challenges of a Democratic Society especially post pandemic we need to be careful with how we speak to one another we need to be careful with how we engage and what we say and know our facts I beg you I implore you before you come to the microphone about something with anybody in our community know the facts facts first ask that person give me a call I have an email
038I'll share it facts but I can't move without you and I'm not going to try and someone said it shouldn't be about color well I hope it isn't I hope not because I want to work with you all and if it's about color then well that just puts me right out of it doesn't it can't do that because I am a woman of color I'm an African am from the east side of Buffalo I have four children and a beautiful husband I have four grandchildren we ble the same as you um someone said slow down I like that go go slow to go fast and further take a deep take a step back take a deep breath we saw my picture go up and everyone ra my Google is just oh someone looked at your
039dissertation someone looked at your dissertation and you know what me silly oh wow all the people in sou hampon really like my [Applause] dissertation no it was at 2:00 that I got the news that uhuh we got Houston we got problems um all students all students deserve to feel special and welcome all students deserve to be engaged in the Arts and Music and science I looked at uh Southampton uh music awards uh consistently that's who I am that's me love the Arts love the music uh I saw Miss Wise in her artwork with the shut children I was amazed at that I looked I saw the drama I saw the theater I was amazed at that and then I looked at the proof point the proud The Pride points of this district and that really
040really turned me on in 1640 when Howley came here as a Puritan and we became the first New York State [Music] Colony that's to be proud of I'm proud of that just like I'm proud of the fact that we would not have survived as a colony if the shinik nation hadn't taught us how to do agriculture as well as whing and fishing and all those other things knowing the terrain unique and then the Latino Community came through from many different countries Costa Rica Cuba Mexico San Salvador and they came together under Ola Under One Roof that's something to be proud of and they're continuously servicing their community in many ways that if Ola didn't exist we could not I'm proud of that I'm proud of what um um coner the Phil philanthropist did but I'm
041even more proud of how this community black white Latino fought for the right for him to have the the statue in his uh honor that was a community building connector that all of us should be proud of Pi is compere there's so many other things the young man on the in the in the uh newspaper this is how come I know all of our children already his last name is hle I don't know if he's related to the first first Puritans here but he wrote hyy my apologies he said the one thing I'm going to miss when I graduate from the Southampton schools I am going to miss the social justice I was involved in that was amazing to me you all are doing an excellent job with students and I want to be part
042of that but if I can't have you on board with me not even giving me a chance to sit in my desk then is no sense in it if you feel that strongly I have to walk away there's no choice I need you to community with me together all of us working for who our children I need the community to put adult issues aside I think I think Miss um ma'am Miss Jackie said that put the adult issues aside for the sake of the children because some of the racial division that exists right now it doesn't start with me but it can end with me I can Bridge us I have the ability I just need for you all to give me a chance I want to thank you for this this opportunity to talk
043and I look forward to serving as your next superintendent of the Southampton schools thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you thank you Dr Morel anybody have any other questions or I have question you didn't answer you didn't answer whether you whether you um reported the sexual assault incident just because a young child says that it didn't happen is that your perview I mean I'm a mother so I want to know that my child is protected at school so you didn't answer did you report the incident of sexual assault that was reported to you okay so I did proceed with the 3028 proceeding on this teacher I reported him most certainly absolutely for child abuse in an educational setting he was reporting so I would ask that you go read a little more and I didn't even know
044the case was open because I haven't been around it well it's it's not I I I gave a deposition two years ago and and no one's called me about anything because let me tell you why I did my job I did my so go read you know what I did I removed him out of my high school and I put him because the student wouldn't her and her parents they wouldn't um tell the truth they waited 10 years later when that new law came did you report to the police absolutely absolutely but I also moved him out of the classroom immediately while we went through this whole process of 3028 and um I know you're you're a parent but you're not teachers know that language and you can't just move them out right away it
045takes a while but what I was able to do because I felt so strongly that she was lying to me because the janitor told me he saw a kiss and as it turned out there was a lot more than a kiss but I moved him out of the midst of students because I felt so strong I have great discernment ma'am I have great discernment and I didn't trust one word he said and I I I knew the student felt like she was in love I knew that and then once it was all said and done uh 10 years later when she realized he's not going to leave his wife he's not going to marry you none of this is true he just used you unfortunately baby then she wants you know then she comes with
046the lawsuit but what I had protecting me was the letters that I sent to the state asking for him to be discharged and the letters I wrote to human resources to get him out of my school so I think there's some you know you have to really dig deeper into that lawsuit because the whole story isn't being told I would never um allow some want to hurt one of our young people our children our babies our girls and and not do something and even though she was adamant I remember her words so clearly Miss Le us alone Le us alone okay she was so adamant but I did the right thing and that's why I still have a job and that's why I still have a certification [Applause] any more questions please need thank you
047thank you trust me I appreciate I am here to serve you I'm not here to divide the community not here to hurt our children I'm not here to teach children that white people are racist I don't believe that I don't don't believe that myself like that was taken that was a four page article in it was the one he took the one piece he didn't read everything else but I wasn't in a dark room with a bunch of black people writing bad lessons about white people that was a white teacher and I love her but I stood by her didn't throw her under the bus of course I'm going to go out crying but these are the misin informations in the false that get put out there especially when you're dealing in work of equity
048and that's another conversation but now I am going to be leading for Equity but I can't just be an equity leader I'm superintendent now I got to focus on your 60% not reading and writing at grade level that's that's got to be a high priority but I got to I got to listen you will receive my invite you will receive my 90day entry plan because I want to hear from you I want to hear your concerns I want to hear what you think is the best thing to do to put into a strategic plan that we all can Galvanize around and create excellence and opportunities for our children all of our children all 1363 of them all of them that's what I'm here for and I'm very passionate about that and they saw my passion
049they saw that I care they saw that I have [Music] experience and that's why I think they chose me it had nothing to do with color if that was the case I would not even accept it I'm more than my skin color and there's nothing wrong with my skin color either if you remember the end of the first interview I asked the question that Christen white just asked you which was I remember I stood right there and looked at you and said 34,300 34,300 why would you be leaving Buffalo to come to Southampton it was almost an identical question that I had asked did here I like it here is that okay I like to hear every time I come here I fall more and more in love I would down to North T and
050I can't stay out of there with the uh calamari and the uh uh uh uh Caesar salad uh I like the water I like looking at people are friendly at least that's what I see um but I think I bring big broad experience from Big District right but I can take that all of that and I can rightsize it to sampon and I really think that I can be excellent if I didn't think I could be I wouldn't do it I would not do it Buffalo is nice to me Buffalo is home I'm doing crazy nationally recognized work in Buffalo but I think that I want to be a superintendent one day and this is the day and I want to do it in a district that needs me when I saw some of the
051issues that I've been reading about I said well you know I got some a few tricks up my I can be a community healer I can be a bridge builder and then when I said the DAT I said if they got all all 98% passing a graduation rate they don't they don't need me but that's not the case I have something to put my S my teeth into I have some changes I can make because just like you all like to feel good about your work I want to feel good about my work I want to feel good look look where we were we were at only 40% now look 3 years later 75 8 % how did that happen Community galvanizing around a vision and a mission that's accurate for kids that's what it
052is and I think I can do that on a much smaller scale than I could on a larger scale but I do actually like it here and I think that's okay too I mean the housing prices are crazy now but you know I can live far further away say welcome and I hope you love us and I hope you love the traic I love you anyway right it's it's all love here because I we're all human um and and and even with everything that said tonight I was still extending ol Branch because I could hear the misunderstandings and that and that let me know too why my work is so important so I love you and I love you and I will take care of this District I don't want to fail I don't want
053you all at another board meeting with picket signs trying to run me out of here I want to work with you and I'm not going to be I'm not going to fail so this board will let me know when the gig is up and I don't plan to give them a single reason to do that over the next three years I'm sorry you have talked about your 30 career yes what are your plans for the future a long time to get any initiatives started and actually show progress if you've been in schools for 30 years how much longer will you committed Toth as long as you all have me but uh right now there's a so honestly any for any initiative to take hold and I I don't need any radical change here okay okay
054this is a good school district that has a lot of great things going on and I don't need to just come in let's change this let's change that because that's not how things get done but for any real change to occur in a school district the research shows that it's 3 to five years so you should start to see some change real change in at not just test scor attitudes philosophies uh uh uh belonging um um um but of course academics right because that's the name of the game that's the first and foremost important thing but that is a fiveyear plan so I plan to impress our board in you for three years that you'll say okay we'll keep you around Mor for a little longer but I'm here until the work gets done I'm
055not a quitter never have been and until I start to see some of the goals I'm going to work with our board our esteem board to create goals for us in the community once I hear from the community what the community wants and then I'm going to prove that those goals have been met and then they will have no problem with saying we'll keep you around for a while [Applause] hello um I'm Noah Kent um Julie nerve-wracking um thank you for letting me speak I just wanted to welcome you I've been here for like two [Laughter] hours like I said this community has been developing leaders all along and we're going to continue to do that we're gonna continue to do that thank you are there any others yes sir minutes say uh so so
056so incredible um I've been here to a long time we had a tennis match today we lost 5 for two but as I say to my children you never lose you learn and it's been an incredible situation here I'm in the third generation of children here some of you I had his children I have your children now I'm absolutely amazed and I'm so thankful that we've had this discourse tonight because the things that I've been teaching your children that you allow me to hold she's exemplified here tonight she's become a capless to change we can't be afraid of that she's been able to bring what the truth of love always minimizes hostility we had one of the most beautiful discourses tonight here that I've seen since I've ever and I was in the for 40
057years it's incredible so I'm telling you all just take a moment and not look in look at look in you all have done some beautiful work here tonight you do not have to think alike love alike you don't have to think of like to love like and someone quoted Bob Marley oh you know what Bob Marley said is when the power of love overcomes the love of power will you on peace that was the important part and Miss Christian back there m Christian white your father was a for brother because this is what he said remember Richard Wingfield from African-American community and Tish Davis from the Native American Community you would not have been able to go on that senior trip if I wasn't going to bought the system and be your roomate hallelujah thank
058you [Applause] I'm just wondering if there are any other questions all right thank you very much Dr thank you Este [Applause] MERS thank you community thank you I look forward to working with you I'm Denise Merchant Williams I am the director of education for the shenik IND Nation I'm a member of the NAACP I sit on the Southampton antias task force affirmative action committee and I am an advocate for equity in whatever room I walk into and everybody knows it who knows me I just want to thank the board because we have had some very tough board meeting where the shed conation has stood firm on the processes that you adopt and the processes and the policies that you implement to ensure equity in your procedures and implementation thereof this is the prime example of
059when you adhere to your policies with Fidelity that we are able to walk through talk through these systems sun he me I say more we have had some real hard conversations in the past but at the base of all of those conversations it has been stay true to the process and this board went above the process in ensur that all of the constituents in this District were able to voice and share their concerns way before one resume came into this District way before you went Above and Beyond in your surveys your transparency to us because I sat it most of these board meetings since we began this process you were transparent you told us what was going on I am so appreciative to see that Mr McKenna I thank you because I seen such a
060a growth in the ability to admit things and to be truthful to your process and not be fearful of saying those things and not be not be not feel less because everybody is expressing themselves the way that they feel uh about what they have experienced in this District I could tell you some stories about what I've experience in this District but every time I walk into a room everybody meets on the day that we walk in we talk about the business at hand we would not be having these conversations if all of our shinik children africanamerican children children with disabilities children from marginalized or economically disadvantaged populations were treated equitably I can only say thank you again because you gave us the opportunity the shikov nation met with David wicks for as long as he
061would stay with us and we occupied all of that time and he did stay but there were a lot of other members in the community who did not take advantage of that time we were not one of them so all the needs that we presented you guys you took that and I am so appreciative to see that today we are where we are today and so we do hear all of your concerns from the entire Community but yes indeed this board on this interview process because we have had many when we were like you didn't stick to the rubric you still get your bias your implicit bias your prejudicial your past practices but I can tell you that we kept coming back and saying we're calling you on your bias and they said I didn't
062mean that I didn't mean that this time that you I could actually say that I have seen I have witnessed and I am thankful for you to have gone through the process gone above what you were required to do as a board to ensure that the constituents and each person in here had an opportunity to meet to sit in interview before the decision was made I said that to you before I'm saying it publicly I am very grateful and thank you very much and [Applause] welcome thank you all thank you to everyone well first of all just I want to thank everybody for coming this evening for sharing your thoughts and concerns and for Dr Morell for standing in the fire and um speaking to everyone very much appreciate um I just want to ask
063the board did uh anybody want to take a moment we good sure can we call the motion wait I just wanted to say one thing because I didn't speak earlier because I wanted to give Dr morale and you know another another meeting with you and another huge you just put such an impression on me again that having five kids go through this school district I'm sad that I don't have another one not really but I'm sad I no no that's that's they know that I five is enough but um I'm certainly just like Jim said earlier as an educator as a multicultural educator that was the term back then um I you know feel that spark every time you speak and that inspiration so I think that not only will you be so good to
064all our children but you'll be good to our staff and everybody who is within the school community and the larger community and um I thank you so much [Applause] thank you Dr Morel and welcome to Southampton we love you okay we good I would like to say again that um I'm glad that Miss Merchant or Miss Williams Mrs Williams that you thought that we were very transparent and open and we did offer a lot of community uh forums for the community to come in um I still my personal self have had trouble with the process um we didn't go with you know the Norms I would have liked to have seen a different um Dynamic how we normally not normally but how we previously have interviewed people with different um constituents in the meetings um
065I thought that there were several key players in the district that were left out of conversations that I think that they should have been part of um and again this is not about our candidate I think you are wonderful it's just the process for me did not play out as other hiring committees have um and and again this is my problem that I am working through um it's not about the candidates it's about how we got there we had that beautiful community meeting back in March that everybody came to I wasn't able to be there again because I had a previous commitment that I could not change um but I think that people kind of left feeling like you didn't listen to us there was no debriefing at the end nobody got to talk about
066things and and it bothered me and I wasn't there so I didn't get to witness at firsthand um um so I just I just want everybody to to know that that I had a problem throughout you know the whole process I I just I would have liked to have a committee like we do with other um administrators that we hire where we have people from the community in asking the questions follow the rubric um you know it was a different process this time and it's different because it is for the board to make the decision of who the superintendent is and like many people have said you voted us all into these positions which means you trust us um but I I just I have to be true to myself I had issues with how
067it went along um and I just want everybody to know that so thank you I just want to just clarify one thing Miss Robinson um it was from our perspective it was really frustrating because we felt that there was a lot of Outreach and communication and and so when the tone out wasn't as we had anticipated that was frustrating but I will speak to just to the level three committee um interviews that um there was supposed to be a debriefing and at the end of the interviews I said something David Wick said something and half the room left and that was frustrating because there should have been that opportunity to have a conversation and maybe everybody was tired it was a really long day um but I just wanted to clarify that okay I just
068wanted to before we um move on I just really want to sincerely thank everyone who's been here this evening who listened who shared your thoughts with us by email we did read them all we appreciate that and I think with the leadership of Dr Morel we'll continue to find Common Ground I think we found Common Ground tonight we are here for you and your students you elected us to do this this job and that's what we're doing we're going to continue to listen to you so thank you anybody else have any okay all right we are going to go to um action 7.01 which is the appointment of the new St schs may I have a motion to approve the following resolution with a roll call vote resolve that Dr Phyllis Fatima Fatima Morel apologize
069is here with appointed as superent of schools of the South Hampton Union fu school district effec of July 8th 2024 for a term of 3 years and be it further resolved that the president of the Board of Education of Southampton Union field Union Free School District is here withth authorized to execute a contract of employment between the district and Dr phis Fatima Morel motion second please any further okay will the clerk please call a roll for vote carfield Yes Anastasia Gales absolutely yes James yes Monique yes jacine Robinson I really can't stress this enough that it is not the candidate it is the process that we went through that I didn't think was my answer is no but let me have a have a voice everybody's getting a voice so be polite right isn't that
070all what what we all want you're welcome to leave I know but I would like to yes J Smith yes okay so Carri uh 7.02 may have a motion to approve personal item 7.2 as presented to the agenda second all in favor I any opposed so car [Applause] than you for la [Music] anybody else hi [Music] John you