001We're live. >> All right. Very good. Good evening everyone. Uh we are recalling to order now the regular meeting of the Suffren Central School District Board of Education for Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026. Uh may the record reflect that all board members are present except for Mr. Robbie Schwarz who could be in the hallway for all I know. Um but Joy is with us tonight. And we will begin with the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay, our next item is student board member report and Joy Yin, what have you got for us? Okay, so Thursday is the academic league invitational at the Suffren High School library and
002we will be hosting several Rockland County schools. On Friday, the even in the evening cafeteria um will be the district-wide art show which will be open through Sunday and it features art from the K to2 around the district. Tuesday, March 10th, will be Asian-American night hosted by the Asian-American Cultural Club at the cafeteria from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and there will be a lot of cultural performances and also food. On Wednesday the 11th, the speech and debate club will be host hosting a competition also in the library and schools are coming from around the region. DECA is also participating in states this week from Wednesday to Friday in Rochester. Uh the spring musical is happening the week of the 16th. So Monday is the concert cast at the high school and then the regular or
003main cast will be Thursday through Saturday also at the high school. Spring sports will also start Monday the 9th. Outside of Suffron High School in Slosburg, they're hosting curriculum night on Wednesday at 6:30 and they are very excited for students and parents to visit the school and see all of the amazing learning that has been taking place. In addition, the Scholastic Book Fair is going on this week and students will visit the fair with their classes. Monttoello is launching Math March Madness where students will focus on fact fluency over the coming weeks. Students will participate in friendly grade level and class challenges designed to strengthen math fluency skills to build confidence, stamina, stamina, and excitement during math while having fun. They're also highlighting women's history month through morning announcements and creating a schoolwide hallway of
004heroes women who make a difference in our world display. RB Connor hosted their Kirkland night, a celebration of learning, exploration, and community. The evening began with a welcome and readaloud from uh the one school, one book selection, followed by families exploring hands-on stations in SEAL, math, and literacy. The night also reflected RP Connor's strong spirit of spirit service. We are grateful to families who supported the Connor Cougars care team through donations to Relay for Life. In that same spirit, community members are invited to participate in an upcoming donation on March 14th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. A donation truck will be available in the parking lot for easy drop off. All items items must be bagged and donations include clothing, shoes, accessories, and household items. Last week, Cherry Lane staff welcomed teachers and administrators
005from South Orangetown Central School District who came to observe their collaborative instruction through co-eing models, departmentalized structures, and intentional support systems designed to ensure access and rigor for all students. In Suffer Middle School, all eighth grade students will be visiting the Holocaust Museum over the next few weeks in support of their social studies curriculum. In addition, all students will participate in a assembly with Think Fast Interactive on March 17th that focuses on mental health and is presented in a game show format. Thank you. >> Yeah, thank you very much. Okay, we're going to move on to our next item, which is the minutes of the regular meeting of February 18th, 2026. Has everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes? Very good. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes? Mr. Frasier second. Uh
006Mr. Donnelly. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I I. Anyone opposed. Any abstensions? Uh abstension by Mr. Shapiro. And now superintendent's comments. >> Good evening everyone. Thanks for uh for coming this evening and for your patience. I have a big announcement starting off here. I'd like to congratulate our student board member, Joy Yin, who was selected to be the National Merit Scholarship Finalist. Being selected Yeah. Go ahead. For those of you that are not fully aware, being selected as a National Merit Scholarship finalist is an incredibly prestigious honor that represents the top 1% of US high school seniors and unlock significant financial, academic, and admissions advantages. Way to go. Fantastic. Congratulations again, Joy. That's a that's a big deal. On another note, we have a lot of budding thespians in the hallway outside
007that we're going to be welcoming in. March is a celebration of the arts across the Suffren Central School District, and our students are truly taking center stage this month. Tonight, we are so proud pleased to welcome two groups who have been working tirelessly these past few months getting ready for their stage performances. And first up, Suffren Middle School seventh and eighth graders will be showcasing a song from their upcoming performance of Annie. Annie is a family-friendly musical full of heart and charm, following the spirited off orphan as she leaves her orphanage in the 1930s in New York to search for parents who abandon her. Along the way, she outsmarts the villainous Miss Hanigan, touches the lives of billionaire Oliver Warbucks and his staff and finds a new home, family, and hope for the future. This
008production features more than 75 Suffren Middle School students in the cast, pit orchestra, backstage crew, and AV crew. Their production team includes teachers from Suffren Middle School as well as the extended Suffren Central community and we thank all of those teachers and adults who are involved in that. So, Suffren Middle School, come on in and love to hear a song. I don't want to be the mic. The sun will come out tomorrow there'll be sun. Just thinking about tomorrow. There's away the comments and the sorrow. Still there's none. When I suck in the day that's great and lonely as a single my and the sun will come out tomorrow. So you got to hang on till tomorrow. Come one day. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I love you. Tomorrow you're always a day away. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I love
009you. Tomorrow. are always a day. Oh, yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you to our suffering middle school theater students. What a wonderful production. I had a comment from a board member member who said, "We don't get to hear more, but we all know that means you go to the production." We're looking forward to the production. Next, we have students from Suffren High School to showcase Bye-Bye Birdie, which hits the stage the week of March 16th. Set in the 1950s, Bye-Bye Birdie tells the story of teen idol Conrad Birdie as the small town turned upside down when he chooses a local girl for one final farewell before leaving for the army. Filled with catchy songs and plenty of humor, it is a fun show for the entire family. With more than 130 students in this
010production, there will once again be a concert cast performance on Monday, March 16th, and the stage performances on Thursday, March 19th through Saturday, March 21st. And just like the middle school production, you can purchase tickets online on our website. So, we'll welcome in our high school thespians >> coming right in. That's fantastic. Wonderful. two of our name probably one of the only um schools probably in the country that has a concert cast. This helps trains our our underassman, gives them a great foundation for the amazing shows that we're able to put up um at with their senior years. We also have a matinea cast and understudy cast who actually performs. They're not just learning a role in case someone gets sick. They're performing that role. So this is Emma Green and Dante Batista. They are
011the matinea cast performers of Rose and Albert. You guys sing a little song called Rosie. >> I was never crazy for flowers. I confess that nothing left me colder. I would watch the daisies for hours and all I'd feel was several hours older. Lilacs or liies any bloom you please. All that they did was make me shrug or sneeze. But now I love each blossom that grows. For a lovely little rose loves me. Now my life is rosy. Since I found my rosy with a girl like Rosie, how could I be blue? Hand in hand will moy me and little Rosie. We will be so cozy by a fire built for two. Oh, I once heard a poem that goes, "A rose is a rose is a rose." Well, I don't agree. Take it from
012me. There's one rose sweeter than any that grows, and that's my roy. I'm so glad she chose me. Life is one sweet, beautiful song to me. Now my life is rosy. >> Will be happy. I know >> since I found my royer will go >> with a girl like Ros. >> How could I be blue? >> Oh, we'll have us a home out west. A nice little split level nest. And in every room in bloom. But there's one rose sweeter than all of the rest, and that's my roy. I'm so glad you chose me. Life is one sweet, beautiful song. When love is right, then what could be wrong? Life is one sweet, beautiful song to me. What do we got? >> Yes, I know everybody is busy with her rehearsal. To all the our
013performers this evening, thank you so much for coming out this evening and and sharing a little glimpse of what we can expect in both of the productions. We know they're going to be fantastic. Go break a leg. Thank you everyone. We will take a 5m minute break. All right. Thank you very much everyone. And for those of you that are keeping track, I am not done with my superintendent comments. To the residents of the Suffren Central School District, this is from our district elections clerk. This year's Suffren Central School District budget and candidate vote will take place on Tuesday, May 19th. If any resident of the school district is interested in running for a position on the board of education, petitions are now available. Petition packets may be picked up at the Suffren Central School
014District administration building at 45 Mountain A, Hillburn, New York, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 400 p.m. Monday through Friday on days when school is in session. Two seats on the board of education are up for election. Completed petitions must be received by the elections clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 20th. If more information is needed, please contact the Suffren Central School District's election clerk at 8453577783 extension 11266. This information is also available on the Suffren Central School District website. Thus concludes my superintendent report. Uh thank you. Uh I see Dr. Castelin is also listed as part of your comments tonight. >> Yes, Dr. Castellane uh his presentation I'm I'm on a roll here where I I feel like Dr. Castellain's presentation should be a whole um title un on itself
015and it shouldn't probably just be part of the superintendent's uh comments in part because I keep forgetting to announce Dr. Castellane. So Dr. Casteline, thank you very much for being here this evening for our second of several budget workshops. I'll turn it over to you. >> Uh thank you very much. I thought I was going to get out for a second time, but uh good evening uh and thank you uh everyone for uh tuning into tonight's presentation, our second budget presentation of um of this year. So, in this presentation, I'll dive a little bit deeper into some numbers and I'll talk about a proposed tax levy, um, which I did submit on March 1st because we need to submit that to the controller. But, as I mentioned in my last presentation, we do have the
016ability to adjust that as we go through the process and we fine-tune uh, our budget or as M. Maton says, we sharpen that pencil. So the state aid budget proposal. So this slide hasn't changed. I every year I do this presentation. I keep this slide up and I include it in every budget presentation because sometimes we get an update and I'm able to adjust those numbers. So I do this in order to just kind of make sure that we're always revisiting what we're being uh what this how the state is supporting us as a district. And as I showed last time, it looks like we're going to receive a little bit less aid than we did last year. So projected revenues. So this slide is probably the most powerful because this is the one that
017will drive how we create the budget, what items we end up putting into the budget, and what items we end up taking out of the budget. As you can see up there, I have um I have interest on investments on the third line. So last year, after speaking with our financial advisors and looking at our investments, we were anticipating knowing that interest rates were going to drop, we thought a conservative number of $2 million was good. At this point, we think we might be on track to actually have an extra million dollars. Um, and what I'd like to point out is the district, no matter how much revenue comes in, if we receive an additional revenue, we can never go above what the voters asked for, right? So, if we end up with an extra
018million dollars, what we do is we look to use that for our fund balance for next year. And we can only carry 4% over. But if we're able to put an extra million dollars that we did not anticipate from this year into that budget, that would significantly help us. And I added a million dollars for Bosey's aid. As I talked about last time, that Bosey's number is a little bit lower. I have been in contact with a representative at the local Boseies who's anticipating our Bosey's aid for next year to go down. So, while I do not believe our Bosey's aid will be as high as it normally would be, I do think that we could probably uh end up with an extra million dollars as we get towards the end of the year and
019we make those final purchases through Boseies. So, if that occurs, we're looking at 176,910 222. Here's our projected expenses. And as I mentioned last time, our salaries and benefits are our they're our greatest cost. We like to invest in people because they are they're the people who are with our children for the bulk of the day. They're the ones who are going to move the kids, give them what they need, and support them. So with that said, we look at that pie chart and I feel like it's a little bit easier to kind of have that visual as opposed to the typical numbers. When we look at that, we see transportation is our third largest. In any other district, this would be incredibly shocking, but we do know that it is we we do live
020in a unique area where our transportation, the size of our district, the amount of buses that we need to transport our public school and our non-public school children is is is a large investment. So we do have transportation as our third largest and then special education as our fourth which makes sense. Um as we look down those exp uh expenses that's where we would anticipate all of our expenses to go. Uh and that is by looking at all the staff that we currently have allocated. uh and any init any additional initiatives that we as the executive executive team felt the need to put in there. So if you look at that number, it's 177 million. So I know what you're thinking. This says 177 million. If you jump back, we're at 176 million. So anticipating
021this question to come up, we're looking at about $600,000 difference. Um, currently we are meeting with building level staff and we're having conversations on needs versus wants and seeing how we can trim this down a little bit more. And one of the one of the reasons why we do this is because we want to just kind of look at everything that we think would make this district even better and move us forward. And then we kind of take a step back and say, "Okay, well maybe we can move some things around to kind of make that happen." So before I get to that next slide, um I just want to show the next slide's going to show our history of what we've done and where we're going to go. So this slide shows you a
022history jumping back to 2022. And if you look all the way to the right for the first three lines, you're going to see 1.1 1.2, you're going to see very low uh tax levies. Now, if you look at the budget to budget, you can see 5% 4% 3.6%. The reason why we were able to sustain um such a low tax levy at that time was we were coming, we still had some COVID funds. New York State decided to make foundation aid whole. So, we were injected with with several millions of dollars each year in order to support those to to really help out the taxpayers and the school districts. So, we were able to sustain those lower numbers knowing that the consumer price index is increasing and everything around us is increasing. And I and
023I continue to talk about that. We know insurance goes up. We know the insurance on our houses go up. we know when we go to the store everything's a little bit more. So when we look at that I jump down and I have two different options there. Uh and and these options are really based off of the tax cap. So option one we'd be looking at a 4.05% 05%. And what that what that line has in it is it has a $700,000 transfer to capital in our operating budget. Years ago, the voters approved to create a capital fund, $10 million. However, we would have to fund that over the next 10 years. So, we decided to to put money away each year. So, one of the things that we could do looking at option two
024is we could jump down to 3.48%. Which would lower the tax levby down and you can see it's pretty much almost a dollar for dollar, right? If we remove that $700,000 out, we would be looking at an increase in our budget of 3.3%. which if you look at the top four years, that would actually next year the increase in next year's budget to budget would actually be the lowest. Um, and that would be removing that $700,000. Now, that doesn't mean that should we get to the end of the year and we have a good year with interest or we have a good year with different re revenue streams coming in uh whether they be pilots or anything uh additional that would allow us to continue to fund that capital reserve at the time, right? And
025then the other piece with the capital reserve is, you know, should we know that our bond payments are going to be falling off in the next year or so. So should those b when those bond payments fall off, should the board and the community decide to go out for a bond, that would that would make up for not uh placing money into the capital reserve. So the impact on taxpayers. So I think it's very important to be cautious when looking at this slide and I'll go through all the different variables. Uh I'm sure I'm missing some variables, but the main variables up there that impact this. So, if you were to look at a 4.05% at an assessed value of $1,000, you'd be looking at $849 versus $730 for a 3.48%. And the reason why
026I use $1,000 as the assessed value is when you go through the tax rules, and again, I'm talking about assessed values versus market values. So, perfect example, earlier today, Dr. Gunnerson and I, we picked a house out of the tax rules. We looked at a local house that was assessed at $36,000. However, the market value of that house was $600,000, right? And every house is a little bit different. So, I I just point that out because the assessed value, you need to go to your tax statement in order to know what your uh or to the county website in order to know where your house is actually assessed at as opposed to speaking to a realtor on what you can get for your house. Um so when you look at that then we have a
027couple things that come to mind. We have the first the first thing is Regeneron. So this year Regeneron has made uh two payments. Regeneron uh moved in. They signed a pilot agreement with the local municipalities. Um and this past year they decided that this was going to be their last payment and they are going to be joining the tax roles. So now the town assessor has to go out, the town assessor has to assess that property. The town assessor has to uh come up with a number and then that company will then join the taxpayers in in their in their world and they will offset it. However, also on tonight we have Manhattan Beer which is proposing for a tax pilot. So the last three years they have been on the tax roles and now
028they're going to come off the tax roles. So again, that is really a function of the assessor's office and coming up with those assessments to see where the difference is. At first glance, I I do not anticipate there will be much difference between one going on and one coming off. So I mean I think that's good across the board where it's, you know, it's pretty close. Um when we talk about exemptions uh we have just to name a few we have first responders we have veterans we have religious institutions. So, the school doesn't play a part in assessing and giving these um well, they do in giving, but assessing and al reallocating the taxes, but the school district does have the ability to vote and pass these different exemptions. And we have because we understand
029how important it is to support our first responders, our veterans, and so forth. So as different people apply for these exemptions, we still the municipalities, village, town, and school still need to collect the same amount. So a good example is if I was a first responder and I was granted exemption, my neighbor, their taxes might go up because they're supporting me in that realm. So with those exemptions coming on and those exemptions coming off, it changes the assessed value the changes the tax rates on different houses. Uh when you talk about tax uh refunds and CSS, we I want to point out that we've had 187 residential and commercial to date. Um that's just for this school year. I could tell you I just received 71 of them and they all come to the board,
030right? then they all have to be approved. But those aren't things that we control, right? The the board is simply just agreeing to make that payment that a judge has already ordered, right? So anytime someone grieavves their taxes and their taxes go down, the assessed value on the other houses in the community therefore go up because I'm sorry, the assessed values don't go up. the amount that they they need to pay the tax rate on their houses will go up again because the same amount of taxes need to be paid to the different municipalities that built their budgets. So just to give you an idea just over 645,000 have been paid this year. Now, the good news is Suffren has been very proactive prior to me even stepping into this position with making sure that
031they have um the the right amount of tax um reserve set up. I could tell you that that does not include residential taxes, right? So, the good news is the interest that we've picked up on those taxs over the last couple years when interest rates were high are definitely going to offset all those other houses that are that had those adjustments that we need to now pay out for. And then we have the rejected taxes which come from the county. And those rejected taxes, excuse me, those rejected taxes, uh, there's really no way for us to know until the county comes back and says, and there's different variables for that. Um, and usually we're just kind of told that the county is going to withhold their next payment uh when they make our um when
032when they the next payment to us. And then the last thing I want to point out is is the library taxes. So this year there is going to be another library tax uh vote and that's going to be coming up and the school district collects the money for the library because we have the ability to do that. So the town of Rampo who collects our taxes then we'll collect that and then we act as a pass through where we receive that money and then we we send it off. So not knowing what their tax rate is also going to be uh is is another variable that we we can't actually say. So when I present these numbers, I like to say if all variables today stay the same, you can look at those assessed values
033up in the upper leftand corner as those would be the adjustments to your taxes. However, because of the uh because of the area that we live in, we do see all these other variables. So, moving on to next steps. Um, so obviously we've had our first three uh we've we've checked off the box for the first three of them. We're going to have another budget workshop on April 21st. Uh, between now and then, uh, I'm going to uh I'm going to wait for direction from Dr. Gunderson and the board of education to um review this presentation, come up with any questions and provide us with the direction as far as where we would like to go uh regarding the budget, the tax levy. Once we have that, we'll begin to work and hopefully on April
03421st, hopefully on April 21st, we should be coming back with a final presentation uh where we can adopt the budget that meets the needs of all the stakeholders. Thank you very much, Dr. Castellane, uh, for that overview and for the the different scenarios that the board of education needs to consider. Um, I'm going to turn it over to, uh, the president of the board of education to see if the board members would like to ask any questions of Dr. Castelline. >> Any questions for Dr. Castelline? >> Yes, >> Mr. Shapiro. >> Yes. Um, if if you could go back to the screen before this. Okay. So, if if it were the 3.48, the assessed value, the cost of the assessed value would be $7.30 per thousand. Now, that 3.48. Now, could you go back to
035the I think the screen before this one? Yes. So, are we saying that in the 2425 year that that was also pretty much the cost that $7 and some odd cents or >> am I just trying to compare apples to bricks? >> No, no. Good question. And I and I think I know ex I think I know where you're going with this, Mr. Shapiro. Uh >> because I think you're looking at the year to year where you see the 3.6 versus the 3.3. So that's the year-to-year difference. So the tax levy, the the tax rates really based off of the one on the far right. Yes. Which would be 1.17. >> Okay. So let's take a look at then the 25 26 years. So 2.94. So we've we've gone up between the 2.94 to the
0363.4 rate. We've gone up 0.54%. Okay. So I'm So what I'm saying is if 3.4 rate is equal to $7 and whatever cents, the 2.94 could be $6 and something. Am I >> I honestly I'd have to go I >> It's not as simple when you're doing the tax calculation. Uh I I can get you if you would like specific numbers. Uh >> yeah, we we can definitely work out specific numbers. uh what what we're basing it off of is a difference from year to year. So So that's $730 that we would see here, right? That would be based off of >> So if that's for the 26 27, that would be based off of the difference from 2526 to 2627. So I I can if you wanted needed me to work out some numbers
037for different rates, we we can do that. No, just just for the 25. In other words, I want to know what I'm paying or what someone who would pay for $1,000. Um, if it was 2.94 just just to get an idea of how much money it going to increase because you said it's going to be seven I don't know if you can just go to 7:30, right? 7:30. Okay. It's way past 7:30. But anyway, um if if we could Yeah. just just to get an idea of what it's costing us now at $1,000. >> Right. So, >> according according to this year's budget. >> Yes. And and and honestly, I would rather go back and figure that out as opposed to >> Sure. >> because someone tuning in or watching this tomorrow >> might say,
038"Hey, you Dr. Castellane said it was going to be the same, but actually it's not." >> Right. >> But we didn't take all those other variables into consideration, right? So, so it's it's not as as clean as that, but I can certainly provide you with any any different scenarios that that you would like to see. >> Okay. Thanks. And I would appreciate it. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Okay. So, >> I just don't want to I I just don't want to give you wrong information. >> Okay. Well, it's okay. I give myself wrong wrong information. Um um the the tier, you know, the teachers retirement system. This was from uh on on board which I guess you get also. >> I do. >> Okay. So, the headline for the February 23rd edition said the TRS recommends
039the 26 school budgets use 8.24 pension contribution. If I remember that's lower than I think what we've had in the past. So, I'm I'm assuming that helps us. >> It does. We're contributing a little bit less >> less. Right. >> Right. But the but that's based off a salary. So So as salaries increase, >> right, of course >> if our percentage if our salary increased 3% and I'm paying two, you know, one and a half less, >> it it might end up being a break even. So it does help us because it's not as high as it would have been or what I would have anticipated in the past. So uh it definitely does help us, but with s as salaries increase. >> Sure. Okay. Um and then since you get got this also Dr.
040Cass Castelane on on page three it has this article the questions all school all boards should be asking during budget season. So, they gave seven. I'm not asking seven. Everyone relax. Um, and they're pretty good questions. At least I I think they are. And one of them is um what assumptions are driving this budget? You can get back to me on that. >> Yeah, absolutely. Um, I I I can say that as far as, you know, the budget that we created and what was really driving it, >> we we didn't really add a lot of different items into it, the the things that are really driving it are just >> increase in costs. Uh, Boseies alone is calling for four to 5% um four to 5% increase. So if you jump back here to our
041projected expenses, you know, where you're talking, you know, so so that Bosey's number of 5.3 is is our Bosey's number without transportation, without technology, without um transportation, technology, and special education. Okay. So when you look at Boseis alone, I'm looking at a number of 5.3, but really that number is is is going to be >> at least double that. You know, I'm probably going to right because there's special education alone is very significant. Our CEK students, our PEK students, so all of those other variables that go into it. So where we have Boseies those are just our general Boseies additional things our bond payments for Boseies um different items like that. So uh so when you look at that large number and that's a four to 5% increase alone uh any of our programs you
042know the software that the the children use um any of the software that that we use um our student information system right things that we can't really get away from. Uh so there there's automatically an increase on those items going up where when we look at it and that's kind of why when when I when I jump to um when I jump to this side and you see the year-to-year increases it's it's not necessarily that we are always adding things into suffering. It's our outside factors, our cost for insurance increasing by approximately 10%. Our health care increasing by 10%. Um, so, so when you look at all those factors, I'm sorry if I'm going a little too deep into it, but when you look at all those factors, that's really what's driving the budget, >>
043okay? it it's it's not there's a couple things that that we had put in here that we would like to you know improve on for our schools but but it there is a lot that are are factors outside of the district's control that >> sure >> you know unfortunately we're just kind of stuck with >> right and if we got more money from the federal government then that would >> yes >> offset a lot of this >> absolutely and that's why and that's why I go back to you know I leave those three years on there because that's when I came in and I'm like, "Hey, I'm like this is great. 1.1 1.2 this is fantastic." But I could tell you it it was it was a benefit to myself in the district where we
044just had this huge influx of of cash coming from the support of the government, the federal government, state government. And at this point, they they kind of put a hold on it. And that's where I kind of go back to, you know, this first slide, the executive state aid proposal where some school districts continue to climb getting that aid and and and we're not um right. >> So, I'm hoping that that these numbers do change. Uh if you remember last year, the state voted on the budget after we had approved our budget and they took $100,000 away. Right. >> Right. So it was so we we you know we had to pivot and you know kind of talk about hey how are we going to make that up right so I'm hoping that we don't
045see that again um but yeah that's the regional cost index which we take a back seat to because we're one of the smallest if not the smallest district in the state. Um there's a there's a big push by the Rocklin County School Board Assoc Association to speak to the legislators and to really have them and and we're trying to say, "Hey, we're the same as Westchester County, you know, but for some reason people have it in their heads, West Westchester's on the other side of the Hudson and it's like they're on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean." It's it's really silly. Um, and if we could get the regional cost in index the same as Westchester County, that would probably give us another 1%. And I don't know what it's 1% of, but I'm
046assuming it's bucks. So, >> I'll take 1% of anything, >> right? Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Castley. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions from any other board members? Miss Brian. Yes. just take >> um just piggybacking off of his assumptions question. Uh one of the bigger costs that we have is staff. Do we have payroll assumptions um that you can share in terms of headcount, open positions, what we're looking to fill that's built into that budget that we have right now? >> Sure. Yeah. Um absolutely. Do I don't know if you want to take it or we we could definitely get you that information. >> Sure. And we could tag team a little bit right now as well. Um we have been and are continuing to be involved with each of our building
047and department administrators on taking a very close look at what our staffing needs are. Uh paying particular attention to those individuals who are retiring or deciding to move onwards and seeing what staff they can be replaced with at a more efficient cost. uh and if some of those staff members need to be replaced at all. So, we are certainly not replacing all individuals and you know that can hearken back to our prior um discussions about the benefits of our elementary school restructuring, right? We're going to continue to see a little bit of that, but that's where I think Dr. Castellane alluded to those numbers not quite lining up yet. by the next meeting, those numbers should be in alignment because we will now be very specific about which individuals we're replacing. And in other areas,
048um it's not necessarily just retirements, but if there's an area where there's not a need for a staff member, we'll make those decisions as well. >> Thank you. Still on the assumptions question and how we build out the budget. Is there any transportation information you can share in terms of are we increasing number of routes, number of buses, um how is that transportation number changing? Not necessarily just giving a blanket 10% increase, but really understanding the metrics behind how that is being built out. you want to talk a little bit about um the the spring deadline for new schools that are emerging and that's really the fluctuation for us. It's not so much transportation costs for the students who attend our six um public schools. It's more the students who attend our 100 plus non-public
049schools and that number is growing. I'm sorry, hit the button. Um, so we we have been working with our community outreach members and the administrators of a lot of our larger non-public schools in hopes to get those applications in because those are those are routes that we see continually growing where we might have to add a bus here, add a bus there. So having those open lines of communication and speaking with them, uh they've really kind of done the push and we have uh and I don't have the number off the top of my head, but when I spoke with Junior last week, we had a record number coming in already where normally we're getting those applications at the end of March. So we're feeling very hopeful that he was able to add what he
050believes so far. That number again will be a little bit tighter as we get uh closer, but last year we went out for an RFP for our general transportation. And we knew that we were going to be looking at a very large increase uh somewhere in the vicinity of 17 to 20% if we were going to go year by year uh with a with our current contractor. So he put out a a request for um a request for a proposal. Uh we only received one bid for our main contract. Um that was um Chestnut Ridge and they were able to because we guaranteed a three-year contract at that time. Uh they were able to kind of lower the number. So their increase is approximately 9.9% this year. Uh all the buses are a little bit
051different. So when I say it's about an average of 9.9%. So, we looked at the routes that we had uh any of the routes that we had to um that we anticipate increasing and that's where we really were able to kind of pull those numbers for to um you know to kind to create the budget. We do know that those numbers might change. Uh unfortunately, that number might creep up even even a little bit more. Uh what is nice though is uh about two years ago, right, we're we're moving we're in our second year of um of kind of peeling off some of our transportation routes with Chestnut Ridge to some of the not larger nonpublic schools that have transportation. So we did send out uh bids and and this last uh last year we
052received quite a number of bids not only from uh from from a lot of independent contractors. So it was a it gave us the opportunity to pick uh the lowest um the lowest bid uh which was beneficial and the good news with them is uh if they don't want us to offer an RFP we have the ability to increase based upon CPI right so at the end of at the end of every RFP we either have there's a certain number of years for an extension usually it's five years so what we can either extend or we could go out for an RFP so where if we're looking if we knew that they going to be looking for more money or we thought we could get it cheaper, we could always go out every year for
053in order to kind of decrease that. But the good thing is since CPI kind of floats around that 3% mark and that CPI for transportation is given to us, unfortunately it's given to us after we develop the budget, but when we develop the budget, we base it off the 3%. Um, we're able to kind of look at those schools and and build a budget that way. because those schools are we're paying per pupil. We have those applications by April 1st. So granted, again, a student could move into the into the district and we would have to pay for them, but at least it gives us a better understanding on what that number has to look like for the upcoming year. >> Last question. Um, for the record, can you let us know when the Regeneron
054tax role date will begin for their taxes to start hitting our books? >> It'll be th this it'll be this upcoming tax. Uh, so they by March 1st, everything needed to be into the assessor's office. So, they have already um they have already said that they are going to come off the tax roles. I I don't know when um the >> I'm just trying I'm just trying to figure out if if it's part of it is hitting this fiscal year or is it officially beginning in June? >> It it'll for for for school taxes it'll the next school tax cycle it they they will be on the tax rolls. >> Okay. I'm not I'm asking for the record for a specific date. >> Okay. >> Thank you. in case there's revenue coming in that can
055help surplus before the fiscal year begins. That's really the question I'm asking. >> Thank you. Any other questions from board members for Dr. Castelin? No. All right. Thank you so much, Dr. Casteline. I appreciate that. And thank you for um offering to get uh follow-up information for the board members who request it. >> Thank you, Dr. Castelline. And thus for real concludes my superintendent report. >> Okay. Thank you very much. All right. Um, normally we would go to uh 1.1 for public participation, but uh we're going to do a little bit of housekeeping first, which I think will make more sense. Uh, and uh at this time uh the board is intending to walk on an item. Uh this would be a resolution authorizing a pilot agreement Rockland County Industrial Development Agency, Steph2 Realy LLC,
05620 Dunigan Drive, um also known as Manhattan Beer Distributors. Uh normally we don't like to walk on items uh this late, but this has to do with some deadlines that are outside our control and uh it is related to our budget computations. Um, so at this time, do I have a motion to add this item to our agenda and which will then become action item 2.08? >> Mrs. Hodgej second. >> Mr. Shapiro. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Anyone opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Very well. This item now become this resolution now becomes uh item number 2.08 08 under our action items and the related materials uh will be available on our agenda as well as in the minutes of this meeting. Okay, we're now going to move on to 1.10 which is
057public participation on action items only which are on our agenda at 2.01 through 2.08. Is there anyone here to speak on an action item tonight? Looks like not. Okay, we're going to close that portion of the meeting and move on to our action items. Prior to requesting uh consent agenda, is there any item that any board member would like to pull? No. Okay. The chair is going to pull 2.02, which is the civil service report. At this time, do I have a motion for a consent agenda to approve action items 2.01 and 2.03 through 2.08? Mrs. Hodgej. Second. Mr. Andert. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Anyone opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. Very well. Then we're going to go to 2.02, which is the civil service report. Do I have a motion? >> Miss
058Mr. Shapiro. Second. Mr. Donnelly. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Um. Anyone opposed? And I abstain. Okay, now we're going to move on to our regular public participation section. This is on any district related business. Anybody who is here to speak on any district related business, please approach the lectern. Please give us your name. Uh please give uh keep your comments to three minutes and do not mention anyone in the district, staff, student or teacher by name. Is there anyone here to speak on the public participation? No. Okay, looks like not. We're going to close that portion of the meeting and go to board member comments. Do any board members have comments. Mr. Frasier, >> just want to say uh thank you to the Suffren High School performers who performed
059tonight. Our instructors are still here and the choir director is here. Wonderful job and I'm looking forward to uh participating or attending the event. So, thank you. Not participating. No. away. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments? >> Um, just on action item 2.08 >> that was just walked on. Um, >> I'm interested to find out >> what the previous historical pilots have been for the district. Is there some sort of record that we can have um that would give more information where that is concerned? Uh well, they certainly would be um you probably search for them on board docs as they would appear in prior agendas, but if you >> Can I get a a simple table? >> I'm sure that we could get that for you. Yes, >> thank you. >> We can
060we can we can probably cut through some of the noise and get that for you, >> Mr. Shapiro. >> Turned it off. Oh, what kind of a table? What do you mean you didn't know? How long have you been sitting at this table? >> Oh, no. You don't have to apologize. Okay. So, to joy, joyful. Just great. Really great job. >> And to Suffren Middle School and to Suffren High, just I mean, great. And it's great to see that the middle school students stay to listen to the high school students. Yeah, just super. This is, you know, great great stuff. And I'm going to speak about some other great stuff. And it's 11 weeks away. Can they see me on this thing? I mean, can they anyone who's streaming, can they see that this says
061vote? Okay. And the back of it says, what does it say? Since I can't read >> support suffers, >> support suffering schools. Does it get any more direct than that? So, make sure that you're registered. Make sure that you know where your polling place is because 11 weeks from today um after the board meeting uh the board members will be staying here and waiting for the polls to close and then we'll be waiting for the results. And you're not just voting for board members, but you're also voting for the budget. And uh when someone wins the lottery and a lot of that money then goes right into the budget, uh we won't have any increases at all. Will we Dr. Castellane, someone wins the budget, we're I mean the lottery, we're we're okay. >> Okay.
062I'm not advocating for people to buy lottery tickets, but um last year 2,300 approximately 2,300 people voted. Nine years ago, we had close to 5,000 people voting. What's happened? So, think about that. 2,300 out of approximately almost 20,000 registered voters is just a little bit more. It's about 11%, maybe 11 12%. That's terrible. So, please, if you're listening, if you're viewing, if you view this later, if you view it 5 days from now, whatever, make sure that you go out and vote. Okay. Um, Wednesday, May 27th, all board members, I'm speaking to all of us here. Joy, you are included because May 27th at 6:30 at NYAK Seapport is the Rocklin County School Board Association annual dinner. Um we will be honoring the um directors of IT in each of the dis district districts and
063we'll also be honoring the student members of the boards of education throughout the county. So Joy, you will be honored that night along with Robbie. I forgot what he looks like, but I'm sure uh you know we will honor him there, too. Um and uh just if you can it would it would be great if you can all go. It's it's really a a great group of people and uh a lot of the uh any any new board members will be recognized that that night and any outgoing board members will also be recognized too. So uh that's Wednesday May 27th Nyak Seapport uh 6:30. There's a very large parking lot so it shouldn't be a problem in terms of parking. Uh those are my comments I think and thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Any
064other board member comments tonight? No. Okay. Well, I would like to thank uh Mr. Jones and Mrs. Sheer. Thank you so much for uh bringing and and hurting your middle schoolers tonight. They were fantastic. >> Uh and thank you to our high school duet as well that came to perform. Um, I would encourage everyone please to go to these performances. They're always more than the sum of their parts. And the students really do an amazing job. And thank you so much to the parents who came out on a a cold, damp night to bring your children here. Thank you for your commitment making sure that everyone gets to rehearsals when they're supposed to and uh and they're organized and ready to go. It's it's a big undertaking, but it really is just one of the
065high points of the school year. Um, our next meeting is going to be Oops, I'm not really there yet. I'm just going to announce it right now. Our next meeting will be March 24th, 2026. That was changed from March 17th, so just everyone knows. Um, and at this time, we will go to superintendent's closing comments. >> I have no further comments. >> Okay. Uh at this time we are going to do a motion to adjourn to executive session uh to complete the items that we weren't able to get to before. We're going to finish what Mrs. Hodgej announced um at the opening of this meeting. And uh we are not going to resume regular session. So uh the board will just adjourn uh completely after that. Um at this time do I have a motion
066to adjourn to executive session? >> Mrs. Hajj second. Mr. Shapiro. All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. All right. Very well. Thank you everyone for being here tonight. See you back here hopefully on March 24th.