001All right. Good evening, East Hampton BOE. Happy April. We're uh streaming to YouTube. The phone lines are open and we are being recorded. You may begin your meeting. Thank you. Can I have a motion to open? Make a motion. Second. All in favor? I please rise for the pledge of alsisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much for presentation. I'm sorry. Sarah Smith. Good evening everybody. Um I have the honor of presenting our val and before I get to their uh individual wrap sheets uh with students the caliber of Ava and Abe you know going through all of their accomplishments. Uh it was it's important to take time uh to pause and reflect on all that they have accomplished and to look at that from a couple different perspectives. from my perspective
002as the principal, from a perspective of a parent and just a perspective of a human and a person. And looking at it uh from my lens as the principal, looking at these two, you know, in if future students accomplish half as much as Abe and Ava have and contribute to our school the way they have, our school will continue to be the special place that it is. If I look at their accomplishments as a parent and looking at my own child, if she accomplishes a quarter of what Abe and Ava had, I will be stunned and I will be proud beyond measure, which I know both the Stillman's and the Tintils certainly are. Um and looking at it as a person uh just uh from a human lens, these two looking at it from that
003perspective, sending them out into the world, knowing what they are capable of and how they have contributed to our school, it just gives me hope. Um so I'm very very proud um to invite Eva up uh to talk about all she has accomplished. over this way. Okay, so uh Ava is our class of saludiatoran. She has a weighted GPA of 106.3. Uh she has taken 12 AP courses earning all fours and fives on the exams. She is in advanced research and has done so for three years and thankfully she put her topic in layman's terms for me today which is essentially uh looking at brain activity resulting from different types of language figurative language metaphor as a former English teacher that is near and dear to my heart. Um her academic achievements and awards include
004earning high honor role every quarter. Uh she earned the women in STEM award from RIT this year. She is an AP scholar with distinction. She earned the AP capstone diploma. She is the president of science national honors society in national honors society and in world language national honor society. And here she has earned 18 gold and silver awards and that is including Hal, AP Lit and PE which I think speaks to how well grounded uh Ava certainly is. Um she has done an internship at LTV where she interviewed uh Suffach County Legislature Sarah Anker and one cannot talk about Ava without talking about her commitment to athletics. Uh in talk she is a member of the uh Long Island Top Gun Travel Lacrosse Club and she goes twice a week to where is it? West
005Babylon. West Babylon, which is how far away? Like two hours. Two hours twice a week on week nights, school nights if you will, uh to play in a elite travel team. And I just think that's important to note because uh folks up the island don't understand how hard it is to be an elite athlete and live in East Hampton uh and go two hours, you know, during the week to be competitive. So, and to do all of that, keep up and maintain your spot as the saludiatoran is just incredible. Um, and in talking to coach Schuster uh about Ava and the player that she is, she kept mentioning her work ethic and how Ava is as an athlete extremely dedicated, always developing herself to be a better version of who she is. She is never
006satisfied with her own performance. And even when practice is over, Ava will then go for a run or then go play wall ball. She's never done. And even though she said Ava is incredibly humble, she also said, "You are the most competitive athlete she has ever encountered. That she is a monster on the field." So, so be warned, right? Future. Uh and uh even coach Vierro said when she gets on that field, she wants to win. So uh that drive has certainly served you well and will continue to do so. Uh here at on our team, she is the captain of varsity lacrosse. She earned Suffach County Girls Lacrosse Coach Association All County, which was a huge accomplishment this year. She was the captain of our varsity field hockey. And let's see, uh, outside of
007athletics, your community service. You are, uh, work with the East End Lacrosse Club. She's a member of the East Hampton, uh, Library Teen Advisory Board, the president and founder of French Club. She's in the Justice League, and the list goes on and on. And Ava will be attending Washington and Lee in the fall, where she will be competitive playing lacrosse. And her major is undecided. Wow. So yeah, thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you parents for driving two hours each way. Yes. I'm glad you had time to be here tonight. And she would say I forgot to mention she would say she would do her homework some nights when she got home. So, uh, it's it's truly incredible. Uh, speaking of incredible, Abe. So, a little bird told me that Abraham wrote his college essay
008about growing into the name a named like Abraham. So, uh, while he certainly has over our four years here, uh, I still am going to call you name. So Abe is the class of 2025 valictorian. His weighted GPA is 106.7. He has over 820 community service hours. We will say more about that in a bit. Uh he has taken 16 AP courses with us again earning all fours and fives. His academic awards include, but are not limited to, the Lions Club student of the month for September, advanced placement scholar with distinction, advanced placement capstone diploma. He earned the Rotary International Youth Leadership Award. He has earned a high honor role every quarter. He is a member of the World Language Honors Society. And according to Mr. Hammer. He was instrumental in getting AP Latin to
009run. You remember that as well? Uh he is a member of our science national honors society and the treasurer. He is a member of the triam music national honor society and national honor society. He has earned many gold and silver awards here with us including those for some of our toughest courses like chem and algebra 2. So, nothing to scoff at. Um, Abee's science research has really taken off this year to new levels beyond what Bonic Science has seen. So, and feel free to jump in if I butcher this. uh Abee's science research started with Alpha Gale and has uh progressed over this year to looking at the social vulnerability as a risk factor for stroke victims. Did I get it? Okay. And this year he presented his research in Canada and won third place
010in the poster presentations and then a first for any of our research students ever. Was the author in a peer-reviewed journal in the international journal of stroke. So, a first and huge accomplishment for Abe um which was just tremendous. And his extracurriculars include the academic team where he's the president, century club where he's the vice president, mock trial where he was a member since their pilot year which I remember. Um and one cannot talk about Abe without talking about his dedication and love of music. He absolutely loves to play and it has been a huge part of his experience here where he has played the baritone. He also is a member of the Sag Harbor community band where he got uh a lot of those community service hours and he is the first chair at
011the baritone for the Sag Harbor community band which is a coveted spot. Um, he is a member of our high school jazz band. And I have to say I owe uh you a huge debt because Abe saved my career my first year when I walked into scholarship night and there were no lights on and uh it was dark and I said, "Who does the lights around here?" And I think I called the Stillman's in a complete panic and they said, "Go help out that lunatic principal. he has been helping me ever since. So, um, also a source of community service hours if I'm correct. U, but no, Abe has been, uh, at every award ceremony, every scholarship night. Um, and just a joy. Um, he is a member of our varsity track and field team
012and, uh, our school record holder for the pole vault. Um, his leadership roles include the LTV community internship project where he interviewed Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney on the Equal Rights Amendment. He is a member of the East Hampton Town Tick Advisory Committee, formerly known as the TIC Task Force, which we know why they changed their name. That's a mouthful. Uh he is a member of the East Hampton Youth Task Force Committee and a committed member of Rew Wild Long Island to fight hunger and climate change. He will be attending Columbia University in the fall where a will major in biology. That's awesome. Congratulations. Never forget the parents either. Thank you very much. I'll be here all night. Oh yeah, if you guys want to go, it's more than celebrate. You have to drive a few hours
013to go to a game or something. Congratulations to both of you. Well deserved. You got this great. If it's easier, go ahead. Great work. Congratulations. I mean, it really is. Oh, yeah. It's they're unbelievable. So, um, uh, speaking of unbelievable, we have another stellar student with us tonight, uh, Charlie Stern, who is in 11th grade and has been working on his silverware proposal, uh, to replace plastic silverware with metal silverware in our cafeteria since he was in ninth grade. So, we are so happy um, that Charlie is here to present uh, his project. Great. Yeah. Hello. As this said, I've been working on this project since I was a freshman, uh, now a junior, and I'm glad you are all here to hear me speak tonight, and I hope you share the same enthusiasm I
014have for this project. Uh, there we go. Okay. So, why I originally started working on this project? Uh, I've always been concerned about the environment. I've always cared about our environment. You know, living in a beach community, seeing trash on the beaches, it made me upset. And when I first came to the high school as a freshman and I was eating in the cafeteria, it was honestly a little concerning seeing how much plastic waste was being thrown out, how much uh how much waste we our cafeteria was creating. And I wanted to create a solution to that. So I first met with Miss Smith to propose this idea freshman year. I was a little nervous when I first went into her room. uh but it turns out she had extreme support for this uh idea
015which only pushed me to pursue this further. So this year there we are. Uh this year uh we did a trial run. This was our second trial one. We did one last year and from the pitfalls of that I was able to create a more effective trial one that uh we learned from our mistakes last year to and this year's trial was uh we had experienced less loss than the year before and more student adaptation. So, beginning on January 13th this year for 20 school days ending February 14th, uh silverware was available in our cafeteria during fourth period lunch only. And during this time, students were only able to use silverware. They weren't able to use plastic. And this was to test students behavioral adaptation to uh to seeing a sustainable change in the cafeteria,
016how they would adapt to that and to see if this is feasible in a long-term format. So student volunteers were used to come after school every day to wash the silverware. They were awarded community service time for their efforts as you can see in these pictures. Uh however this will not be feasible going forward as uh student volunteers have a little more variability and the silverware will be need to be washed by uh the cafeteria staff rather than students and this is a little data from my uh trial this year. So forks were the number one used utensil. Uh which is why I included this graph specifically about the forks. Uh on day one there was 12 forks that were lost. And this was expected. Uh we expected that there were was going to be
017more loss during the first week versus the last week. And compared to day 20, the final day of the trial, we had only lost one/4 that day. So what this really shows us was that students were quick to adapt, quick to learn, and that sustainable practices can be institutionalized very quickly. Just a quick question. Do you think it was they lost so many that first day just because they were used to throwing them out? I think so. And it was mostly that, but there were a couple other factors as well. Okay. And last year's trial as well there during the first week much more silverware was lost. However, during this trial, we uh included collection bins on each table which students were able to put their silverware in, and that decreased the total loss. However,
018the practice of singleuse items was still very apparent during the first day and the first week, which is why we had so much more right lost on the first day. So during this period, uh total of 700 utensils were used and estimating this out over the school year. This is about 25,000 utensils over each lunch period throughout the year. Uh the total number is likely a little higher because fourth period lunch is the smallest lunch period of the four. Um and to give a little perspective, that's three miles of utensils. So over four years uh we will save over a 100,000 utensils from being thrown out and decreasing our waste. Uh so a little quick math that's about from here to Montalk worth of silverware that is not being going going into our oceans into
019our landfills that we as a school are preventing from being thrown out. Uh part of my trial this year was to do a preliminary survey for students. Uh one of the questions was do you believe switching to reusable metal utensils would improve the school's sustainability? And as you can see there's overwhelming support to make this switch from our student body. And I think just from the student body having that support will really push this program forward and ensure that we will have success in the long term. Now these are some steps needed for our September start. And since I've made this presentation, I've spoken with Mr. Fine and Mr. Santi and Miss Smith and we've worked out the issue of the dishwasher. Our dishwasher, we were a little concerned whether it would be effective in
020washing the silverware. However, we have since learned that it is totally up to code with the department of health and it will be it will get hot enough to wash the silverware effectively and it has the capacity to wash it for all four periods. The silverware itself uh Mr. Fine has told me that ordering it should not be an issue. So, that is not an issue. Uh, this year I ordered it from Amazon, uh, which was far less expensive than the quote we got from our current cafeteria supplier, Samuel. Uh, it's amazing. Some other supplies we will need uh which I'm going to talk about in the next two slides are uh collection bins like soap to wash but I think that the soap aspect is worked into the cafeteria budget already. Um and then
021there will need to be collaboration with the cafeteria staff as this is now a permanent change. The cafeteria staff will need to be the ones who do the washing of the silverware. Um, so currently in the cafeteria, uh, janitors and custodians come around to each table to collect trash at the end of each lunch period. Uh, and this is super effective in keeping our cafeteria clean, which is great because no one wants a dirty cafeteria. Uh however, I did notice during this trial that there was that that collection period was a source of loss as students who had had yogurt or had put butter on a bagel had just thrown out their container with the fork still in it or with the spoon still in it without even realizing it. And that is not the
022fault of the students, but rather just not being attentive. Uh my solution to that is to have uh custodians come around with a cart on wheels similar to our trash can on wheels with a collection bin. This will make it easy for students to put their silverware and it will increase our return and minimize our loss. So this year we had those bins that were on the table. Those are the exact bins that we had on each lunch table. However, going forward, these will not be feasible as well. Uh because they got dirty and like no one wants cream cheese filled in their bins and dirty food. So, uh and the needed to be washed daily, which I don't think is within the capacity of the cafeteria staff. Um so that is why we needed
023to do the janitorial collection bin as well as we need to establish a permanent station to return silver. Uh people who eat on the patio once it gets warmer or people who eat in a different classroom who get their lunch from cafeteria and uh don't have a lunch and may eat in their science class. They need a place to return their silverware. So, a permanent station will need to be established that will consist of a table and a couple collection bins. Uh, and this will ensure students will always have a place to return their silverware to minimize our loss even further. The other aspect of this that is I think honestly more important is the education campaign. Uh, if we are to start next September, students will need to know that this is going to
024happen beginning now. uh once it goes into effect, students should not feel shocked by this. I think they should know that this was going to happen. Uh freshman orientation is a great place for freshmen to learn uh about this but for those who are not going uh the morning announcements, posters, emails, uh the Bron Bonnet broadcasting system uh BBS these all these combined will create awareness which will uh make student involvement higher which will get people excited about this hopefully and I think once we gather the student body around this, it'll really make our school look great to other schools, to the press, uh to whoever's looking on. And our next steps, uh, and comments if you have any, uh, we need to order supplies and begin working on the education campaign. So, thank you.
025Thank you. I think Charlie's covered all the bases of presentation. I mean, he's done exactly what I would ask any student to do. Ran a pilot, ran it by the building administration, ran it right up the tree, found out the, you know, used data. So, we talked if you I don't see any reason why we shouldn't do this. Obviously, we'll take care of the leg work dealing with Witson's, our food provider, um, Mr. Schneider and myself. So, uh, you'll handle the other stuff. The other thing that I talked to Charlie about was signage. I said he's responsible for it. We'll order it. He's got to put it up. Um and you know, we'll take care of that. I think that's a big piece of it. But he's got all the bases covered. I mean, I'd
026hire him if he was a little Yeah, great idea. Great discuss with the staff with the cafeteria st. Oh, so that was another thing I was going to mention, but I forgot. Uh during the trial, I spoke with uh Miss Karan, who's the head of Witson's, and some other uh cafeteria staff who run the register, and they were everyone who was involved was super friendly. They were willing to help. Uh there were no issues whatsoever. Also, with the janitorial staff, they were also super willing to help. They asked me questions about what I'm doing and they seemed excited about a potential beneficial environmental change. Amazing. Terrific. Thank you for having us. Of course. Thank you. People say you do not have to stay. Yeah. No, exactly. We're just gonna let you go. Yes. Um, it's
027hard to believe the third marking period closes this Friday and we were obviously with balance out tonight. We're on our way marching toward the end of the year. Our uh New York State testing program begins next week. Uh, two days of ELA testing and then the following month we have two days of math testing. And that scaled back to two days, which is great. It for us, it'll be about although the test is untimed. It is about three periods long, maybe a little bit more for most of the building, but they have the opportunity to work as long as they'd like to their heart's content. I think I missed that. Is it all grades or All grades? Yes, all grades and all computer-based, which is really good for them because that's what they'll be experiencing.
028That's the world that they'll inherit. Um, and then finally, uh, put on your sneakers because in seven weeks, it's hard to believe, Mrs. Tracy is coming back tomorrow to the middle school to meet with, uh, Jacqueline Bates Duno and Lee Bryant and myself just to make sure we've covered everything. She has a lot of institutional knowledge from the 5K. So, uh, as I said, seven weeks, it's the 21st. Okay. Yeah. The 21st of May. That's a Wednesday, right? I think that's the date. Yeah, that's Thank you. Hi. Good evening everyone. Um, tomorrow at John Marshall, which we have done for the past couple of years, we are going to highlight Autism Awareness Day and we light it up blue for Autism Awareness. So, all of our staff um will be wearing blue in honor of
029um who's creating that awareness uh this Thursday evening. Tomorrow's actually our daytime performance. This Thursday evening is our performance of Willy Wonka. Um come out and see it. Uh special special big thanks to uh Danielle Castradi, the director, Mike, assistant director, uh Kevin Quinn, who's been an assistant uh director as well, and Mr. Steven Spielberg. Um you can feel the excitement in the building. The students are so excited um and um we just you know can't wait to see all their hard work um up on the stage. Next week we are also administering the ELA exam on the 9th and the 10th. Um 3rd through fifth grade and 3rd through 5th are all computer-based as well. Um and then two weeks later the math. Um and also on the 9th at 6 p.m. we have
030our prek dual language parent night. So that's an evening for families coming into kindergarten. If they're interested in learning about the dual language program, we encourage them to come out on that evening. Stephanie and I will present. Our second grade dual language classrooms are uh have put together a very special additional presentation um that we will show that evening. So if you do know anyone who's interested in learning more about the dual language program, especially incoming kindergarten families, please encourage them to attend. Thank you. I always get a chance every week at Twitter. U I also want to reiterate what Karen said. You know, this tomorrow is World Autism Awareness Day. Uh we really want to celebrate our kids. And if you're ever around in the morning, I have to say the best bagels, the
031best I'm a hot chocolate girl. I'm not a coffee person. Tea and coffee for the best price. guarantee in East Hampton, you should come on down. They do an amazing amazing job. But, uh, spring sports in full swing. I can't believe how much it, you know, I I base my years on thirds. We're in the final third and that's just crazy to me. Uh, we're already in full swing. Had a great win yesterday in baseball against a Final Four team of hot last year. We beat them four to one. Uh, also a really hard for back and forth game against Kings Park flag football yesterday. Ended up losing by six, but it was it was a great, you know, it's great to be out on the fields again with them. Uh, last week we started
032our modified sports program and there the first meet will be this Friday. Our middle school team will be here um at home for their first meet. So we are in full spring mode. Anything? Okay. Thank you. Yes. Uh just last thing, uh we were just informed uh I think I let the board know uh uh that Sam Schneider, our assistant superintendent for business, uh was just named the New York State Business Official of the Year by New York State ASBO, which is the association. And then they will revoke that if we have a budget issue. Yeah, but I was told was that because pandas the dad. So, I also have a little announcement here that we're uh pleased to inform you that Adam Fine has been nominated for the 2025 uh NYSCOSS Excellence in Leadership
033Award. Congratulations to Adam for the nomination. nominate each other. When you when you think about that, I've been here, we've been some of us been here a long time. We don't get to give this honor all that often and it says a lot about all of you and and you know, Adam and Sam and Carrie and there's a lot of people that put the pieces together and you know, sometimes you don't see it, but it's it's nice to be recognized for it. And congratulations to both. Yeah. Congratulations. Congratulations. because I know Adam wasn't going to tell you. So, you know, we had to we had to do it. Are we good with news and schools? We done? All right. So, public comment. Anybody here have a public comment anywhere? LTV, we have no callers on
034the line. Excellent. Uh consent agenda. I have a motion to accept the consent agenda. I'll make a motion. Second. Uh all in favor? I. Any opposed? onto the superintendent report recommendations. So item number one, I recommend that the board approve the amended non-instructional appointment of Inus Chummy for the professional leave replacement for the 202425 school year. I have a motion. Second. Second. Amen. Uh all in favor? I any opposed? Number two, uh recommend that the board, uh grant Alexandra McMahon tenure for the tenure area of elementary education effective April 26th, 2025. Can I have a motion? Second. Uh congratulations. All in favor? Any oppose? Good. Terrific. Congrat. And you can go too. That's the best part. But congratulations. Thank you very much. Take care. Uh, next item. Recommend the board approve the one-year extension of
035the probationary period for teacher Michael Galleta uh through August 31st, 2026. Can I have a motion? Second. Second. All in favor? Any opposed? Uh, next is recommend that the board approve the one-year extension the probationary period of teach at Jessica Lounge uh through August 30th, 2026. I have a motion. I'll make a motion. Second. Second. All in favor? I oppose. Let's see. Recommend the board approve the amended tenure extension for Stephanie Twigley, music teacher, for the 202425 school year. A motion. I make a motion. Second. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Recommended the board approve the amended tenure extension for Jennifer uh is it on Easter? Um uh teaching assistant for the 20242 school year. Morin motion. Second. Second. All in favor? I. I recommend the board approve the amended tenure extension for Abigail
036DS teaching assistant for the 202425 school year. Have a motion. I'll make a motion. Second. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Recommend the board approve the memorandum of agreement between the East Community School District and the School Related Professionals Association known as SRPA regarding the amended amendment to the SRPA contract pertaining to section 1.05. 05 C and D. I have a motion. I'll make a motion. Second. Second. Any discussion? Yeah, just uh we're trying to get our uh non-instructional back earlier. So, it was a compromise between the union and ourselves and uh obviously we're we're very pleased with differentiate the union. Great. All in favor? I opposed. recommended the board approve the contract uh for receipt of federal part B flow through allocations between the Eastampton Union Free School District and the Suffach County Department
037of Health the 2024 2425 school year. Can I have a motion? Make a motion. Second. Second. Any discussion? What is the flow through? Um the federal government and we have to turn part it over to some of our special education partners in terms of the grant. Okay. All in favor? I. Any oppose? Recommend the board accept with gratitude donations for the 2012425 school year. Uh, can I have a motion? I'll make a motion. Second. Second. And one is from one of it's nice. One's from Bates Electric and um a couple other the uh Mario scholarship across. Yep. Very nice. Just wanted to highlight those things for it's it's there for everybody to read, but it's just nice to highlight those folks and thank you. Uh, did I get I got a motion? You just have
038to wrap it up. All in favor? Thank you. Okay, remember you lose train of thought real quick. Recommended the board approve the first and final amendment uh reading of the amended policy absentee ballots. Policy number 1640. Can I have a motion? I'll make a motion. Second. Second. Any discussion from our attorney? Yeah, it's just bringing it's just bringing the policy up to date to include early mail and military ballot procedure. All in favor? I any opposed? Uh recommend the board approve the budget transfers for the 20242 school year. I have a motion. Make a motion. Second. Discussion. Anything you want to add to that? Special ed, right? specialized costs that were going to be uh bing with boses instead of other public schools. Right. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Recommend the board approve the
039property tax exemption for volunteer ocean rescue and auxiliary squad members as per the amended terms and conditions of the New York State Real property tax law section 466N. I have a motion. I'll make a motion. Second. They changed the number so we have to amend it. tax where in the tax law we were told we have to it went from like I thought we did this already but so now we have to change but I have been assured by the assessor's office that they won't change it again not changing second time that anyone who had applied for it and still apply tax year I think she said to me there were only seven residents of district Okay, great. All in favor? Any opposed? Uh, let's see. Public comment. No. No. One more. Oh, yeah. I
040have the one. Yes. Yep. Uh, okay. Recommended that the board hereby appoint Arthur Regal Esquire as hearing officer with respect to a disciplinary charges brought against an the employee name and a confidential attached A pursuant to civil service law section 75. I have a motion. Second. All in favor? I just one, right? Sorry about that. Um tonight. Yeah, old business there. Hang on one second. Anyway, old business. You have anything on old business? Okay. New business. All right. Public comment. Anybody have a public comment? LPV, we have no callers on the line. Thank you very much. Uh, can I have a motion to adjurnn? I move be moved. Second. All we have a second. Second. Okay. All in favor? I. Sniping.