001you're live okay great all right uh welcome back everyone to the regular meeting of the suffren Central School District Board of Education for Tuesday March 18th 2025 uh May the record reflect that all board members are present and uh we will now rise for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to for it stands one nation God indivisible liy and justice for all okay that was excellent I think some people here have had a lot of practice okay uh 1.07 is student report hi [Music] toah sorry um hi there's a lot of people here again it's okay um so uh well just an update from last time we saw the girls basketball team did lose in the semi-finals but still very proud We went um 16 and six
002the whole season but yeah really great accomplishment yeah thanks uh speaking of sports uh boys ice ice hockey team just won the state champ championship for the the second year in a row and the third time in the past four years which is really exciting too and also with sports uh spring Sports have started they just started yesterday which includes bo boys and girls track boys and girls lacrosse golf a whole bunch of other sports yeah boys golf Boys Tennis yeah there's a whole bunch of sports going on uh softball baseball all those things uh yeah I'm doing track this year again so it's really fun a lot of new faces a lot of a lot freshman uh participation this year for track which is really exciting um so a couple things going on at
003the high school uh the musical the speaking of musicals uh the High School Musical of Hello Dolly is this weekend both Thursday Friday and Saturday um and yeah the M the people participating in the musical are really excited both the pit and the people in the musical so that should be exciting I'm going Friday I'm really excited and tickets are available by online as well on the suff high school website um yesterday the students musical went to the middle schools and Upper Elementary to give them a preview of what is happening in the musical as well which was super exciting and fun for them they got great reviews uh the Saturday is the SAT makeup exam at the high school also Monday the 24th there's a fast for filing night and so people can come
004and get support in father fasta with the help of a lot of experts in it um Juniors and seniors have a traffic safety presentation which will be taking place next either Wednesday or Thursday uh it's there going to be an assembly in the auditorium where um the rampa police will will be talking to us about the safety of driving and things to be aware of um there's also a general safety presentation for the underclassman as well just about safety in general not just about driving but you know the I think uh officer Lynch uh directs that and for the underclassman uh also Thursday March 27th there's a p leadership Workshop um where we'll be talking about friendship and what's the importance of good friends um also World Language Honor Society induction is in the auditorium
005which will be curing next week as well and then next week Friday is Junior Prom which a lot of juniors are very excited about there's about 250 kids going this year which is a lot of a lot of kids so it should be very fun and also the uh Heroes and Cool Kids just had their last meeting today it was my last last meeting since I'm a senior so it's kind of sad but yeah uh yeah we talked about um the importance of uh um substance abuse and um how it goes on in the community and how to you know diverge from it and it was really fun and I'm in my kids and I didn't expect there would be a lot of people today so I was going to announce just like to the
006board but a lot of College college stuff is going on for everybody but I'm committed to college now so that's really fun yeah yeah um I'm going to R University to play basketball so yeah yeah thank you uh yeah and that's all I have for today and um I'm really excited yeah Rowan univ I'm really excited to see you guys perform uh thank you guys [Applause] thank you so much Elijah always happy to hear about great things happening at the high school and also for you personally congratulations um okay and now we're going to move on to 1.08 which is the minutes of the regular meeting of March 4th 2025 has everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes good do I have a motion to approve the minutes Mr Shapiro second Mr Frasier all
007in favor signify by saying I I anyone opposed any extensions okay extensions from Mr hjge and uh Mrs hjge and Mr Cur and now superintendent's comments thank you very much everyone uh great to see such a big crowd here this evening so we're going to do some logistical things first uh in just a few moments I'm going to welcome up all of those who are or almost all of those who are in orang in shirts um the smaller version of individuals with the orange shirts to come on up and perform we're super excited to hear your voices this evening I'll get to you in one moment when you're finished feel free we'll take about a one or two minute break so that you can go ahead and and go uh with your parents if you
008want to go back home and not stay through the whole meeting and then after that we'll have our youth art month um uh presentation as well and then I'll conclude my comments as we move towards the regular meeting uh a lot of great things going on in the district as tah uh shared first of all TOA congratulations uh great news for you um there's so much going on in our district right now and I feel like as we accelerate towards the month of June there's more and more and more and right now this is the month of Art and musicals and so um we're super excited this evening where we're going to take you back under the sea for a musical preview but this time from our upcoming production of Finding Nemo Jr at Cherry
009Lane Elementary School finding Nemo Jr is the story of a timid clownfish Marlon who goes in search of his son Nemo along the way he encounters a vibrant cast of characters who teach us about courage friendship and the importance of trusting others under the direction of Dr Andrea baroo and with the support of the PTA principal agila and principal benady uh and the Cherry Lane staff this production will be held at Cherry Lane on April 4th and 5th and tickets and more information are available on the Cherry Lane website here tonight is a select group of students from the cast we can only imagine how big the cast is because I know this is just a small portion of the students let's hear it for our fining meet Nemo junior students come on up here
010and perform board members if we can go around [Music] turn worries [Music] worries take right [Music] just below the Coral Sea parents dream of who their kids will be love and joy are all they in the Big Blue World all that [Music] open theop isin that's world oh yeah fish can bre out here you know this is actually Nemo's first day of school dad on my first day of school I saw a c cucumber it was awesome I wonder what we see today what if oh wow wouldn't it be cool if we may met a shark at school no or I hear they have wi can you believe there are so many things in the be Blue World explore in the Big Blue World we've never seen so many creatures around the sea in the
011[Music] world Professor let's name [Music] good morning explorers we've got a new student hi there one thing before you begin don't we'll take long dad I think it's time for you to go in the [Music] don't know what if something should happen to you no need to worry I'll be okay I'm SC up as aish do you want me to come with you Dad I'll be all right climb explores Hold On Tight are you ready yes I'm ready really ready I don't think I'm in the Big Blue worldes to see in the Big Blue this is the place for me what's waiting out there we can [Music] never [Music] in [Music] world ready the big blue ready we're ready to so ready to go as everybody can hopefully see on the big screen three big
012performances right we look forward to seeing you on stage thank you very much everybody [Applause] thank e e thday what a great performance for those of you that are standing in the back there are plenty of seats up front now if you'd like to take a seat and then we will transition over to youth art month thank you very much everyone what a what a beautiful performance I'm going to have that song in my head all night long this uh is a wonderful example of um the partnership between the ptas in the elementary schools uh and the school district and the board of education has been so supportive you just caught a little glimpse of the theatrical production from Cherry Lane that's going to be taking place uh Montell Elementary School is also having a
013musical opportunity for their students um they have a stage left uh the children's theater who's going to be working with their students for a prolonged period of time which actually just started I think last week uh March 10th and is going to be moving on uh to a final production that they're going to have in the middle of May so we look forward to seeing what Montello is doing as well and again I can't thank the ptas enough for their partnership and really seeing some of the benefits of our elementary school restructuring um being uh you know that we're witness to some of those benefits right there um the next portion of superintendent's comments uh focuses on youth art month and for those of you that had an opportunity to go to the art show
014at the high school last week uh and over the weekend just an incredible display of student artwork that was mindblowing not only was the art beautiful but all the smiling faces of the students showing off their artwork to their parents seeing their neighbors seeing their teachers board members myself putting a face of a student to the artwork that they were demonstrating it was absolutely beautiful and then also there were plenty of uh art activities for the youngsters too which was really a nice thing to see so just a great night but tonight we also celebrate youth art month a yearly celebration of Art in the schools and teacher Danielle Ross and our national art Society student executive board are here to share with you how suffering Central has been honoring youth art month thank you
015so much for being here if it hasn't been pushed already if you can just push the silver button and the red light should come on perfect thank you very much did it all right good evening and thank you for celebrating youth art month with us once again to lead our presentation members of the National Art Honor Society student executive board are here to share with you how suben Central has been honoring youth art month I would like to introduce Kennedy Leone who is the chapter's youth art month [Applause] chair hello as um Miss Ross said my name is Kennedy oh my name is Kennedy and I'm the youth art month uh chair for our art Honor Society chapter at suffron high school um youth art month is an annual celebration of the importance of art
016education in schools schools all around New York State and across the country are celebrating by making art sharing art and connecting with their communities this is this year's youth art month theme is healing through color art allows students to express feelings to tell stories and to tap into their creative abilities using the right side of their brains art class is often a safe space where students feel they can be themselves and explore personal interests art class Fosters critical thinking and creative problem solving where students learn that there can be multiple solutions to a problem art is inclusive of culture and can en lighten our students about how people Express themselves around the world and in their own communities through stuff in central our art teachers and students have been celebrating through a variety of activities
017firstly the art Honor Society hosted our annual creative event with the French Honor Society where we made art based on a French artist while eating french French foods and meeting new people we have also been hosting weekly art activities in the main hallway of the high school to engage all sear high school students in art making high school student Alexandra LA corp's new logo design that states suffer mounties Unleash Your creativity was unveiled this month as a result of a design challenge for our art Honor Society members at the middle school M laao students have been creating a youth art month Bull and board expressing why they feel art making is important in schools and at Solberg Elementary Miss inber celebrated all of the students who submitted youth art month flag designs by presenting them
018with participation certificates I would like to introduce aelia Reen who is our Gallery director to tell you about our recent artf [Applause] hello everyone um thank you Kennedy um my name is aelia and I'm the gallery director for our national art owner Society on March 13th we held our districtwide art show at suff high school which also included two extended viewing days on Friday and Saturday and on display were over 450 works of art from our kindergarteners through our seniors as well our national art Honor Society members engage visitors in art activities taking pictures with our cul for photo booths as well as eating food and drinks the food and drinks for the reception were sponsored by all of the district's ptas and we are very grateful for their generosity the evening was a wonderful
019Gathering of the community where students shared their artwork with pride and then stage gr art and enjoy the refreshments the art show is an important event as it provides a snapshot of what our students can achieve as they grow from Age 5 to age 18 we hope that the art inspires our youngest students to want to continue to take art classes throughout their time in suffron central good evening I'm Melissa inher the art teacher at sburg elementary school it's such a pleasure to have everyone here tonight thank you KY and reia tonight we would like to recognize seven students who received awards from the New York State art teachers youth art month committee this year the committee received 2,440 design submissions for the New York State youth art month flag design contest many of which
020came from suffron Central the students needed to express not only the theme healing through color but also make the flag representative of New York State this contest is held yearly and the winning designs will be showcased at the National Art Educators association's convention later this month we also ask we'll ask each student to come up when you do hear your name you can come up to the podium and when your name is called by your art teacher you can come up to receive your certificate the students winning designs will also be shown on the screen so as they come up to to receive their certificate you can view their work behind thank you hi I'm Nicole McKenzie art teacher at Cherry Lane lla asked ads can you come up here lla Adams was the overall
021winner for the elementary level for her design titled healing through color lla won a large Prize Package from NADA that included art supplies from Blick a weom tablet and gift certificates congratulations to lla [Music] aelia reason Aurelia was awarded an honorable mention in the high school category for her design titled healing the broken Aurelia received a gift package from nisada congratulations you these are both yours let take a picture good evening I'm Miss Donna lap petito and thank you for the opportunity to share the joy and work of my student Miss cheni Yen cheni was awarded an honorable mention in the Middle School category for her design titled simmering moments cheni also received a gift package from NADA and congratulations to cheni [Music] our next student is a student of teacher Miss Jessica Martinez who
022unfortunately couldn't be here tonight but Alexandra P panakova who also unfortunately cannot be here tonight she was awarded a special recognition certificate from n for her beautiful colorful design uh congratulations to [Music] [Applause] Alexandra have to lower that again um hi my name is Mrs Wix um I also teach at the high school and I don't know where my part Tre is but that's right my student ma Maya Ferrer made this beautiful um painting here Maya could not be here tonight also because she has play practice so sorry Maya but I will give her her certificate tomorrow all right and from Miss Tracy Burgess uh we have oliv Olivia marani Olivia was also awarded a special recognition award sorry here it is I got it thank you um yes special recognition award and unfortunately yes
023Olivia could also not be here tonight but she will receive her certificate tomorrow in class [Applause] okay Hayden poppy come on up [Music] Hayden hi congratulations okay there's a lot of kids not here so I'm getting to haen one second last one yes so Hayden um is a second grader from salsburg elementary an incredible Rising artist and she was awarded special recognition certificate from nisada for her colorful design that states art heals the world and we couldn't agree more congratulations Hayden [Music] could we quickly grab all the students for one quick group shot with their certificates in front yes and we also wanted to thank all of the winners and their families for joining us this evening we appreciate the support of the district and we appreciate everyone celebrating youth art month with us [Music]
024yeah let's nice work congrulations do you want [Music] me to all the parents and students congratulations just incredible artwork um I love the the vibrant colors just absolutely beautiful thank you not only for being here this evening to uh to share your accomplishment with us but also to share your artwork with us really each and every piece of art there was really um healing um and and just so incredibly impressive and to all the teachers thank you for all that you do for being here this evening and for inspiring our young budding artists thank you and job well done thank you thank you a couple of last thoughts uh from me and then I'll conclude my superintendent comments um just want to announce that um in in Partnership and in great thanks to the Village
025of suffron Village of suffron and volunteers from the village of suffron are going to be uh holding a parade on Friday afternoon around 4:30ish to celebrate our state hockey I'm sorry our High School state champions um the hockey team as well as Luke leall who won another state championship as well so those are Luke as well as the hockey team are our repeat state champions just incredible work uh they are also Al uh at the recognition ceremony right afterwards and board members are welcome to be there as part of the recognition ceremony they're going to be honoring all of our student winter athletes who have medled or placed in a state competition um sure you know luk leali and the hockey team our state champions just an absolutely incredible accomplishment and in addition to that
026we have so many other athletes that are placing at State competitions truly a testament to our athletic department our coaches our fette teachers and our community who supports not only the Arts but also Athletics in our community just amazing and then speaking of the Arts um The Little Mermaid at the middle school this past weekend was an absolutely incredible performance the talent the the actors the the stage crew the musicians I've said this before the fact that we have um student musicians in the pit along with a couple of teachers is something you do not find in many middle schools uh just it just as a testament to the talent and the hard work that our students put in to help support the actors on stage just all around just a great performance and I
027want to congratulate all our thespians at the middle school thus concludes my superintendent report all right thank you very much thank you to all of our art students and our singers who were here tonight um as I've said before we have to do uh often a lot of very serious work here on on the board and having students come is the highlight of our evening so if you're here to sing if you're here to show your artwork if you're just here to have your paper signed for government class it's all good welcome we're happy to have you um and uh also love seeing everyone's colorful shirts tonight healing through color indeed I feel better already yeah okay uh we're going to move on now to public participation this is on um action items only action
028items are on our agenda tonight um 2.01 through 2.13 is there anyone who is here to speak on an action item okay seeing as there are none we will close that portion of the meeting and move on to our action items before I ask for a consent agenda is there any item that any board member would like to pull no just want to take this moment before we get to the action items just to recognize uh that on our agenda this evening is the uh appointment of our new assistant superintendent for instruction like to introduce if you can give a little wave Dr Kevin mccahill most of you know Dr mccahill he is uh he's currently our assistant principal at suffer middle school but has uh an incredible background of experience not only at the
029elementary grade levels secondary grade levels he been a director of curriculum previously a superintendent uh he's opened up special programs in other districts in Rockland County truly an Innovative passionate educator who many of us in suffron central have known for quite some time and really feel fortunate that he's going to be joining the Suffin Central School District in this capacity as our assistant superintendent for instruction beginning July 1 so we welcome you all right thank you for being with us tonight and congratulations okay um is there any other item that anybody would like to talk about okay all right uh uh then I would ask for a motion for a consent agenda on action items 2.01 through 2.13 is there a motion Mrs hodj second second Mr karna all in favor signify by saying I
030I anyone opposed any extensions okay very good then we're going to move on to board member comment 6.01 uh are there any board members with any comments tonight Mr [Music] Shapiro I may be colorblind which I am but I really appreciate art and music um in fact there's a beautiful song it's called I dream in color I don't I'm a black and white dreamer I guess but there is a beautiful song I dream in color and if you want to look it up it is not a new song it's probably a lot older than a lot of people in here but anyway it's a wonderful song and if you listen listen to it it's just great um but I'm not here to talk about that I'm here to talk about something that's only nine weeks
031away raise your hand if you know what it is no it's not my birthday it's my birthday was last month but anyhow um it's the budget vote and it's the board member election vote and if we don't start talking about it now all of a sudden it's going to be here and it'll be too late to start banging the drum and getting people out to vote so um let's start thinking about voting let's get everyone out there to vote it's May 20th the polls open at 6 they close at 9 please make sure that if you know about it make sure that your neighbors know about it once they know about it and any friends or family members within the voting district please make sure that everyone comes out to vote that's it it thank
032you any other board members with comments tonight yes Mrs hod I might have missed it but I know um the students were wonderful the musical performers and the artists but the teachers and the music teachers really those kids aren't going to do any of what they do without them so I just wanted to make sure that we acknowledge the teachers that were so involved in the accomplishments okay any other board members with comments tonight no okay um well yes I agree with you Mrs hod you this is where you really see the foundation for these wonderful performances that you see in middle school and then uh even more amazing performances once they get to high school and the skill and and the quality of those performances is just off the charts great um speaking of
033which we seem to be in the eye of the tornado now in musical season uh between uh Little Mermaid over the last weekend um Finding Nemo tonight and I'm looking forward to swimming to the surface to see Hello Dolly on the weekend um and thank you so much uh for everyone for being here uh Mrs benady Mrs agular um all of our students um our art teachers our parent volunteers and parents who have been driving and U making sure their kids are at rehearsal when they're supposed to be and eating dinner whenever they get a chance chance um and making sure they've got what they need um every night um it's a big investment but it really does pay off so beautifully in these performances and I was also at youth art art month it's
034impossible to say that um and the and the art opening and it was one thing I really noticed is that if you didn't look at the certificates you wouldn't even always be able to tell what what level the artists were because they were all so good that um it's just everything they come up with um on their art teacher prompts is just amazing so thank you everyone for their commitment to the Arts programs it's so important um and that concludes uh my comments and we're going to move on to our regular public participation section if there's anyone here to speak on any District related business um please approach the podium please keep your remarks to three minutes and please do not mention any staff or student member by name is there anyone who is here
035to speak from the public on any District related business no okay then we're going to close that portion of the meeting and go to superintendent's closing comments not finished yet we're gonna uh tee up a quick video here because um Hello Dolly as you just mentioned a few minutes ago is coming up this Thursday Friday and Saturday that's the High School Musical performance really it's going to be an incredible show show um the cast crew um the musicians our teachers um the directors do a wonderful job really looking forward to seeing I'm going to see it Thursday um but if you can get out any of those three days to take a a peek at this production you will not be disappointed we're going to play are you ready to go ahead and play the
036the preview it's about a minute and a half they're in the middle of last minute rehearsals putting on the finishing touches so they put together a quick video compilation with some photos and also a brief uh performance for all of us to hear so get your tickets there's a QR code at the end and maybe even the beginning if you want to scan in to get your [Music] tickets and here ATA and our shows are Thursday at 7M Friday at 7.m Saturday and Saturday at 7 p.m. come see your show [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right so if you can all make your way to the high school this weekend catch a little glimpse of Hello Dolly we're looking forward to it and then last um and perhaps not the most exciting aspect of e e
037for