Board of Education Budget Hearing & Monthly Meeting - May 11, 2026

001Good evening everyone. I don't know. Okay. Okay. Let me try it again. Good evening everyone. Welcome to our May board of education meeting. And at this point, I would like to ask everyone please stand for the pledge. I pledge allegiance 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. Thank you. Please take a seat. Okay. Okay. So as we begin our meeting uh the first item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes and that's um so 4 A and 4B can be taken together. They're the approval of minutes of the April 20 20th 2026 monthly meeting and the April 28th 2026 um special meeting. Can I have a motion please? Miss Levetine seconded by

002Mr. Ginsburg. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? Okay. And then uh so tonight we are going to present our last budget hearing. We are going to have Dr. Rufol our associate superintendent of business and who is going to present the budget hearing. Thank you. Good evening. Um tonight, um we're going to have our budget hearing. Um this follows meetings that um began back in February which followed um work in the buildings and with uh building leaders um since uh December or January to build the budget for the 2627 school year. And at that time we had a number of um budget goals and budget priorities and those included preserving all of the academic programs and services including all of our co-curricular clubs and athletics. We wanted to continue um to support

003student social and emotional well-being. We wanted to continue to improve our facilities and invest in our infrastructure and all doing it while also providing fiscal stability for our district. And I'm pleased to say that um that tonight we have achieved those goals with our 2627 budget. And we've done so in a in a in a difficult um budgetary year that's followed other difficult years with rising um health insurance costs. We have inflationary increases that we talked about for months throughout the budget and things like liability insurance due to market forces and how those have impacted um districts on Long Island and and us specifically. We also in our um budget touched upon um the bus purchase which we started um last year by purchasing three buses. This year's budget includes um three additional buses, one

004uh full-size bus and two small buses. And these will be used for home to school routes, um athletics and field trips. And it is a cost-effective um way to um to enhance our transportation services. We receive reimbursement for the state for about 42 41.5% of the cost and we estimate breaking even in um in our third year of operations. So overall the 2627 budget has a tax levy increase of 2.19%. That is below about $26,000 below the calculated tax cap of 2.2%. Our budgettobudget increase is 3.74%. And as I've um talked about over the last couple of months, cumulatively um since the inception of the tax cap, we've been under the tax cap and to the amount of about 11.2 million. We are required um to present the budget in the threepart budget format. Throughout

005the last couple of months, I've presented the individual items in their functional areas. And this is um the way we're required to present it in the administrative, capital, and program components. And the program component to our budget makes up about 77% of our budget. And that includes all of our instructional programs for students, our athletics, clubs, transportation, special education, regular education, and then capital, including our debt service and our operations and facilities represents about 13.4%. And then our central services, legal expenses, things like that make up the administrative component at 9.7% of the district's budget. So, our sources of revenue have to equal our expenditures and they do. We have um we anticipate although it's not final um the final budget has not been adopted by the state but we have um we're using the

006governor's run which shows us for 2627 um receiving about 39.4 million and that represents 12.85% of our budget. We will continue to use our restricted reserves that we've built up over the years to help um to buffer our tax levy from increased costs and inflation. We plan to use our restricted reserves, our appropriated fund balance to help support the budget. And that leaves us with our general fund tax levy of $237 million. Included in the budget is our transfer to capital and these include our smallcale projects that we tend to do that complement in some cases the larger scale projects that we're doing as part of the bond. We have district-wide classroom re renovations and then district-wide site work, paving, roofing, and masonry that we do across the district. We have staff bathroom renovations for

007ATA compliance, a high school ox gym renovation, HVA system upgrades including the fan wall at BIS and then relocation of our transportation office and our grounds crew storage and certainly well over the last several months we've been focusing on the numbers. I mean a school budget is far more than just the set of numbers on a page. It's the reflection of our priorities and our commitment to our students and some of the items that are listed there under academics. It really speaks to the success of our programs and the efforts of our students. Our budget um as you can see the first um item on that list is SIAS. It was um ranked the best school district in New York and the second in the US. And as Dr. Rogers often says, "We're not a

008a district that chases rankings, but we're always happy to take the compliment when given." The budget continues to give opportunities to students outside the traditional class uh class times with our curriculum celebrations, our technology fairs, as well as our um elementary lunch recess clubs. 31 of our AP uh 31 AP courses are offered at our um at our high school. Our DECA chapter is the largest in New York and continues to receive awards. We had 35 entrance into the Regeneron Science Talent Search with um three named scholars and these are college level research projects. So, we're so very proud that our students are able to compete at this level, so many of our students at this level and to do this work in our research labs. The budget also continues to support a strong and

009comprehensive arts program and we have allocations in our um in our budget to support highquality instruction as well as meaningful performance opportunities um for our students. And so as you can see um in the list below our continued investment has um and the success of those investments evidenced by all the notable achievements and accomplishments of our students in visual arts and music and in the performing arts. This budget also continues to support our strong um interscolastic athletics program. And as you can see from the list of accolades from the fall and the winter this year, our students continue to see uh to receive both individual and um and team honors. All of our fall and winter varsity teams earn the scholar athlete distinction. And we've also expanded our challenger and unified programs um which create

010inclusive opportunities for our students. I mean ultimately the uh school budget is about the instructional programs or the extracurricular activities that we offer our students and the support services that allow our students to grow, learn and and excel. And while we just went over the budget highlights um tonight, if you are interested in a deeper dive on the budget, you can go on the website and there's all of our budget materials and our presentations from uh throughout the budget season. You should have received in your homes the budget bulletin and the budget notice, the lefthand card will be going out to homes um tomorrow morning. So, the budget vote and election is Tuesday, May 19th. And this concludes this the presentation portion of the budget hearing. >> Okay. Thank you, Dr. Rufol. Um, do we

011have any questions for Dr. Rufol? Mr. Abramson, >> sorry, not so much for Dr. Although, thank you very much. Um, the buses, the three new buses that are in the budget. I just wanted to know we've already bought three and I see the need to buy more and not be so relying on outside um busing but do we have like a tang any tangible benefit that we can already that we are seeing from the three we have or do we have to wait for more? >> So the three that we have were ordered um once the budget passed back and they are in production. We've not yet received them. They have a very long lead time. >> Okay, Mr. Ginsper. >> Thank you, Dr. Rufo. Um, I have actually two quick questions. Uh, one's about

012the busing also. I saw that the break even was year three >> approximately. >> If the trend continues, we continue to buy more buses. Will we be able to spread the expenses out like and and actually be better than year three? Like if we have the costs over three buses, it's going to be not as much savings, but over 30 buses, you'll be able to save a lot more. Is that >> Yes, I think that that's possible. Yes, certainly. >> One other question. I saw the state aid increase around 10% from the prior year and the budget only increased by like 3% give or take. Is that because of our capital projects that we're doing and stuff like that or is there any other reason? >> Um so some of our state aid ratios did

013go up and that has um a lot to do the formulas and the way the district's relative um wealth factors work um compared to other districts and New York City is a big driver of of change in in how um how the um state aid is distributed and other districts wealth factors. So some of that some of on the on the revenue side some of the increases are due in building aid specifically are due to the additional project work that we're doing and our Bosey's aid as well went up um due to projects that we're doing because every time we do projects we try to maximize the amount of state aid that we can receive. >> Okay. Thank you Dr. Rufo. Any more questions? Okay. Uh before we go to the uh audience to the

014public portion of the budget hearing, I would like to invite uh Mrs. Harris, the president of the PTA scastic PT of councils to a report on the vote of the PTA units. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Christa Harris and I am the Scio Council of PTA's president. We have 11 units in our school district and over the last several weeks after all of the budget information sessions, each PTA unit took an instructive vote to support or not support the budget that was presented. I am pleased to inform you this evening that 10 of the 11 PTA units have voted to support the 2026 20227 budget this year. The one remaining unit did not hold its vote prior to this evening's meeting. The units that supported the proposed budget include Barry Hill, Bis, Robins

015Lane, South Grove, Wittman, AP Willlets, Harry B. Thompson, Southwoods, Sioset High School, and SEPTA. Thank you for your time this evening. >> Thank you so much and thank you for the PTA for the support and for all that you've done for our children in the district. Okay, now we're moving on to the uh audience to the public portion and u please bear with me as I read the procedures for the public wishing to address the board. The board values community input and provides opportunities to offer that input via email or in person. Persons who wish to speak during audience to the public must register online to speak in events of the meeting by 5:00 pm of the day the day of the meeting. A link to the pre-registration form will be made available on the

016homepage of the district website one week before the meeting. Persons wishing to address the board in person doing audience to the public must conform to procedures adopted by the board. Speakers remarks must conform to the following rules. One, all speakers and observers are required to conduct themselves in a respectful and civil manner in accordance with the rules set by the board. Two, speakers must address the board only, not members of the audience or the audience as a as a whole. Three, speakers must limit their comments to issue concerning school district operations, school district affairs, or board policy. Four, because of the rights protected by state and federal law, no speaker may speak about an individual student or staff member, nor will the board or administration entertain questions in public regarding collective bargaining, negotiations, personnel matters,

017student matters, or legal matters. Five, no speakers may speak about decisions involving specific personnel or specific students. If a speaker wishes to address the board concerning the specific personnel or specific students, the speaker speaker may write to the board. Six, speakers may not use epilelets, slurs, p personal abuse, loot, and obscene speech, profanity, lialist speech, threat, and fighting words or gestures. Any person who violates these rules above will immediately forfeate the balance of their time addressing the board. To be recognized to speak, person must register with their full name and address and attest that they will comply with the rules stated above. In addition, only residents of the SASIS Central School District are permitted to address the board. Each resident will have four minutes to address the board, which may be extended or reduced at

018its discretion of the chair. The board will not permit polling of the board members by speakers. After every resident wishing to speak has had an opportunity to do so, the board and or administration may respond to residents questions or comments. No residents will be permitted to address the board more than once per meeting. And no one may record another member of the public in a manner that is disrupted or confrontational. And the same rules will hold true for the second portion of the audience to the public. And so for the budget hearing portion, um the first speaker is going to be Brian Tibet. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh my name is Brian Tvet. I live in Woodbury and I'm a candidate for the South Board of Education in the election next Tuesday, May 19th.

019I have two questions about the budget which I would like the board to answer. Now, in the budget bulletin, which we all received a few days ago, it says the following. Despite inflation and rising health insurance costs, the budget remains balanced. Now, I took a look at the last auditor's report for the district, which is dated June 30th, 2025. And I appreciate that the district has made these reports easily accessible. So from the from that report, I pulled out the statement of net position for the district and it says total assets 269,77,981. Total liabilities $496,596,55,485. So when you include deferred outflows and inflows into the total, you end up with a net position of negative 240,451,510. Now when you look at the liabilities, the biggest item by far is other postemployment benefits, also known as

020OPEB. I believe this is um both in correct me if I'm wrong. I believe it's both um pension fund pensions and health benefits owed to retired employees. And now this is a contract contractual obligation. We absolutely have to pay it. And I realize pension and counting is complex. I know it is probabilistic in nature, meaning nobody knows what the exact amount is going to be. But nonetheless, this report does seem to be based on sound actuarial principles. Uh so my question for the board is how is this deficit of $240 million consistent with the budget remains balanced? So that's my first question. The second question, uh, I'm going to go back to the facility bond proposal from 2024 and looking at the voters's guide that we received on October October 1st of that year, it

021says and and the facilities bond proposal. Let me say I I realize, you know, there are two propositions. They both passed the second proposition which had the largest total with 53% of the vote. The first proposition with a little bit a bit higher margin. So, I'm not going to relitigate that, but I do want to look at the forwardlooking statements that were made in this voters's guide and compare them to present- day conditions. Um, so it says here, uh, the second in the frequently asked questions, the second proposition positions the district to accommodate future growth and gives the community the opportunity opportunity to get a head start on that process. And then it goes down and then in the next paragraph it says propos proposition two positions the district to address future needs. Um so

022it so I notice that does not say proposition 2 addresses future needs. It says it positions the district to address future needs. So I I would like to know what that means exactly. Um does it mean that we're halfway there? We're twothirds of the way there. Is that what positions means? Um so really my second question for the board is under you know I know you can't predict everything but under reasonable assumptions about the future your demographers report are we going to be financially sustainable sustainable for the next 10 years or is in other words is the the ballot proposition enough to address all our needs under reasonable assumptions or are we going to need another either another tax increase or budget cutbacks, perhaps a tax increase or pass a levy. Thank you. >> Okay,

023this this closes the U audience to the public portion for the budget hearing and Dr. Rogers would like to address some of the questions. >> Thank you for your questions. They're important. um to I'll try to unpack uh and I'll go in the order that uh you asked your questions. So there is a difference between uh the budget which is the amount of revenue that we anticipate in a year and the amount of expenditures that we have in a year and the balancing of those revenues and expenditures with a statement of net assets. So part of the reason for that is a statement of not assets includes all of the things that are assets of the district. For example, the chair I'm sitting on, the building that we're all sitting in, that is an asset

024of the district. The district also has liabilities. Some of those liabilities are short-term liabilities. Uh bills that we haven't paid yet. Uh others are long-term liabilities that might not acrew for uh any number of years. So the accounting for school um assets and liabilities separate and apart from the budget has changed quite significantly over the course of I'd say the last seven or eight years and with uh schools are governed by something called general account um gazsby um and I'm blanking on what gazsby stands for um governmental accounting standards. Thank you. And those Gazsby standards govern how we present our financial statements. So, one of the biggest changes that's come in the newer Gazsby um rules is that our financial statements now include things that aren't actually part of the school district's budget. So we

025include on our financial statements some of the assets of the state pension systems and we include on our financial statements some of the liabilities of the state pension systems even though we don't uh control the dispersements that go into those systems and we don't sit on the monies that are held by those systems. uh a lot of this evolution over the last several years I think has distorted um the uh financial statements so that they are less representative of how school districts uh actually function on a year-to-year basis. Uh but these are the standards that we abide by and uh even if they reflect things that are not necessarily assets under our control or liabilities under our control they are nevertheless reflected on our uh statements. So this is true not just for SIASET but

026for every school district uh in the state. Uh so we are all subject to the same accounting rules and we are all now showing portions of these uh pension system liabilities uh on our books. We also have uh post-employment benefits that are SCIOSEITE driven. Those are also shown uh in our uh financial statements. Those are uh things that are under our control. And one of the things that school districts on the school boards association, the superintendent association have advocated for uh repeatedly is for the state to provide school districts with the ability to do some reserving against those post-employment benefit costs so that we can do a better job of netting those things out and showing that we have uh assets in reserve that can grow and that can grow in a compounding sort of

027way so that we're able to meet those uh needs in the future. So I would separate the statement which is true that the budget is balanced because the revenues for this year and the expenses for this year are balanced from the statement of net assets which contains a lot of things that are uh important to our account for us to be in compliance with accounting standards but aren't necessarily reflective of uh the operations of the school district. I would um move to uh the facilities bond and I will say that um parsing the language of the forward uh looking guidance uh implicates some of the rules that we have if we're going to parse that language so closely. So one thing school districts cannot do is we cannot uh expend school district resources to advocate

028for or against a proposition. So a lot of the words that we uh use are carefully chosen to avoid uh the presumption that the school is advocating in favor of um approving a measure. So saying that we would um be positioned to address future needs is a statement of fact. Saying that this will address future needs would be considered a statement of assertion. So, um it might be that in the future someone would say that that statement of assertion was didn't go so far as to uh color the public's uh vote. But since somebody could say that, uh we choose to be conservative and use language that doesn't get us close to that line. And then uh lastly, not phrased necessarily as a question but asked as such um in the future using reasonable assumptions

029are we financially sustainable. So we design every year uh to be a year that is sustainable the program that our kids need the program that this community has come to expect. And uh we try to make sure that we're well reserved so that uh with the ups and downs of every given year that we have the ability to be able to weather whatever storms may come along. And we've weathered quite a few. Uh we've weathered a pandemic. We've weathered uh some uh big market downturns and we've uh you know done well when the markets have been better. One of the challenges with having reasonable assumptions uh because no one would like those reasonable assumptions more than I is that a lot of these things are outside of our control. So uh threequarters of our budget

030comes from property taxes but the tax cap comes from somewhere else. We don't get to judge uh we don't get to decide what that tax cap is. It is externally calculated and given to us. Another revenue that we have are pilots. Uh we regularly ask the county for information about what our pilots will be for the coming year. We seldom get that information in time for us to make budget decisions. So, we estimate uh this year, the state is still so late that uh as of today, we don't know how much state aid we're going to get. So, we're guessing based on what the governor recommended, but there's no obligation for the legislature to accept her recommendations. So, we're hoping that they do at least accept her recommendations or do better, but we have uh

031built the budget with about uh 12% of our budget uh as an unknown. So, that's just on the revenue side. On the expenditure side, um, a big variable cost is the cost of pensions and insurance, both health insurance and liability insurance. As Dr. Rufo mentioned, the liability insurance market has evolved significantly in the last several years, both because of environmental losses that the industry has experienced and other kinds of personnel losses that the experiences that the uh industry has experienced for the health insurance. Um, one of the challenges schools have is that uh we belong to a state health insurance program that bills us on an annual basis calendar year and yet we build our budgets on an annual basis school year. So we only know half the year's expenses uh at the beginning of

032every year when we budget we try to estimate what those will be and what we've seen is that the health insurance cost increases have been double or three times the rate of inflation. And it's again these things are hard to predict. Lastly, uh the pension costs are difficult to predict because they are so dependent on market uh forces. So a lot of the state pension funds are invested in equities. When the equities markets do well, our pension uh liability costs go down. When the equity markets go down, our pension liability costs go up. Uh obviously, we can't uh predict where equity markets will go in any given year. We all hope that they continue to go up. uh but I don't know that there's a a way to come up with a reasonable assumption about

033uh what that necessarily might be. All of which is to say that um with so much in uncertainty there's one thing that we do control and that is u the cost of labor excuse me now we know how long I can monologue our labor costs for the last uh nine years worth of contract settlements have been at uh 2% or below and so that's one thing that is within our control And uh the other thing that is within our control is making sure that we're healthy uh with our reserves. So we have made sure that we have healthy reserves in order to get through years when some of the assumptions that we have made may have been uh too short and we've needed to go into our reserves in order to make up the difference.

034Uh but overall your question is are we financially sustainable for the future and everything that we've done is to try and position ourselves so that we will be financially sustainable for the future even though that future is very uncertain. >> Okay. Thank you Dr. Rogers. And uh one of the board's goal is to uh to be uh physically responsible and I know the board has been monitoring the expenditures uh for the district. Um so I just want to uh uh thank the team. Thank you and the team for working on the uh the budget for this the next school year. So, thank you. Okay, so moving on to uh the uh the highlight of tonight and that is the introduction and recognition of tenure candidates. Okay. So, I am just going to uh read these

035names. Um you're more than to clap doing or at the end at your wish. Okay. So, uh what we have here, um Dr. Christopher Hail, Clara Kang. Okay. Giovana Aardo. Diana Apple. Okay. Danielle Beagina, Sam Samantha Bergman, Samantha Berka, Zoe Bascarino, Mora Kalahan, Mega Chakotbury, Martin Carnell, Samanda Korea, Jennifer Tequila, Amanda Deio, Tara De Bernardo, >> Allison Holahan, >> Melanie Hogwin, Tiffany Hoji, Ashley Lango, Abigail Mayor, Alisa Marin, Ryan McKen, >> Heather Miller, Linda Neglair Moren, Britney Palmarini, >> Janine Quantino, >> Angela Ryert, Nico Nicole Sapatino, Jared Saltzman, Mark Sein, Lauren Sweeney, Adam Thompson, Sophia Wilson, Moving on to the resolution 6A is the appointment to tenure. Can I have a motion please? Dr. Par seconded by Mr. Rotolo. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? Congress. It's such an exciting moment.

036So on behalf of the board, I would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the teachers receiving tenure tonight. tenure represents not only years of dedication and hard work but also the trust and confidence you have earned. We are grateful for the dedication, passion, professionalism and care you bring to our schools and children every day. I would like to take this opportunity following teachers appreciation week to thank all the teachers in the district for the extra extraordinary impact you have on our students and families. Your commitment helps make SAS such a special place to learn and grow. Thank you very much. I'm going to do a second monologue. So, um we're deep in the heart of hiring season now and uh every spring uh meet lots and lots of people who are anxious to

037get a job in Sioset, a job that you have now. And uh this is now my 12th hiring season for Sioset and I think I've learned a thing or two. Uh but I'll share with you the one thing that happens when we hire someone is they are our best guess of who might be great here. We hope everyone we hire is great here. But when we're hiring someone for the first time, we go through a rigorous process. We ask a lot of questions. is we try to make sure that we've got uh everything imaginable that we can do to make sure that we found the right person. But it's a different thing when you've been with us not for five, six interviews, but when you've been with us for five or six semesters, and now

038we've gotten a chance to really get to know you, really see the work that you do, see the impact that you have, see how you uh are in your classroom, how kids react to you. And so earning tenure here is not easy. Uh but it also signifies that now our best guess is now our confident assurance that you're somebody who belongs here. Uh of late I've been thinking a lot about family and you may have heard me say in the past I'm fond of a saying that uh friends are the family you choose for yourself and the important word in that sentence for me is choose and you are part of the Sioset family because you've been chosen to be part of this Sioset family. All of you have had the experience of sitting through

039an interview with me. I have heard u that those have been interesting experiences for you because they are atypical because I rarely ask questions about content knowledge because frankly you've met a lot of people along the way that know far more about your content than I ever will. And I rarely ask questions about pedagogy. I might ask if you're still working on yours, but again, you've already encountered people who could ask and discern far better than I whether you have pedagogical skills. What I'm looking for is whether you have the heart for this work because the work is too hard not to have the heart for it. And if you have the right heart, no matter how hard the work gets, and it will get hard sometimes, uh your heart will carry you through. So,

040we've all decided that you have the right heart for this work. and we want you to stick around for a long time. That's why we're giving you tenure. Congratulations. Okay. So, the board is going to continue uh the monthly meeting. Um if you would like to take a graceful exit, this is your perfect opportunity. Otherwise, we have facilities improvement coming up. That's great. Maybe you believe me. Okay, >> while everyone's making an exit, we are going to continue with our meeting and the next item is going to be to have Dr. Rufall to uh provide us with the treasures report and appropriation adjustments. Dr. approval. >> As shown in the treasures report, the cash on hand for the month end March was 82,373,24041. It shows that balances for all cash accounts were reconciled to the

041book balances and were collateralized in accordance with the district's banking agreements and investment policy. >> Okay. Thank you, Dr. Rufol. So 7A and 7B can be taken together. They're the approval of treasures report and appropriation adjustments. Can I have a motion, please? Miss Levitton, second by Miss Valov, are there any questions for Dr. Rufol? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? Okay, Mr. Gal, could you please give us an update on the citizens finance committee meeting? >> Of course. So, we last met on April 22nd. Uh, three items on the agenda. We first talked about uh the same energy management vendor that we interviewed the month before. So, we had a follow-up discussion regarding that vendor. We had a call uh I think it was a virtual was supposed to be a virtual call, but it

042ended up being a telephone call uh with Nlass to discuss their their product. It's a bond and ban management system product that they offer. So, we got some great information uh regarding that um you know to be discussed in the future. And we also had a budget update from Dr. Rufo. Uh and Dr. Rufo um I can tell you I know I ask you a lot of questions and spending time with you in citizens finance and up here and probably bothering you year after year with those questions. I really do appreciate everything you've done not just this year but every year. This is a really difficult time at least for as long as I've been on this school board to manage a budget with all these external factors. So I just want to say thank

043you for that since I had a chance to. >> Okay. Thank you Mr. Greco. Okay. Uh so we are going to have Dr. Rogers to provide us with his superintendent report. >> Thank you. So, um, we're going to have, um, we're going to talk about our, uh, K12 community and civic engagement. We have, uh, some teachers and some students who are going to share some thoughts with us. So, we're going a little bit out of order, uh, on what's on the agenda, but I know I want to get the kids home in time for, uh, uh, bed or studying or whatever. Um, hopefully a little vote. So, uh, with no further ado, I'll bring the team up, please. Okay, good evening everybody. Um, in keeping with our theme this evening of creating a connected community

044here with our celebration of tenure, we're really proud to present tonight about our K to2 community and civic engagement in our district. As always, our work is guided by our board of education goals. Through explicit instruction and aligned experiences, students have the opportunity to build skills that support an inclusive, engaging culture. As they progress through the years, they move from understanding themselves to taking action, contributing meaningfully to their school, local community, and beyond. What you'll see this evening is that our K to2 work is intentionally designed to advance a connected community. We do this by helping students understand who they are, their role in their relationships, and their responsibility to contribute to something larger than themselves and to take an active role in their school and in their community. Civic engagement is the outcome of

045this work as students collaborate, take initiative, and contribute. This work reflects a coherent K to2 approach ensuring that every student's experience and opportunities engage as valued member of a connected community. So our K to2 work is grounded in a clear and intentional guiding inquiry that helps students build understanding of themselves and their role in this world. We begin in the elementary schools with explicit teaching, supporting students in developing self-awareness, building relationships, and understanding how their actions impact others. As students move into middle grades, they begin to apply these skills more independently, engaging in collaborative experiences, developing empathy, and taking on more active roles within their school and community. By the time they reach high school, they're empowered to take ownership of their learning and pursue their passions, engaging in authentic, self-directed opportunities. This progression ensures

046that students move from supported understanding to independent action. In the next portion in our elementary portion of our presentation, you will see how we intentionally bring these guided inquiries to life across all seven elementary schools through instruction systems and student action. At this point, I'd like to welcome up Miss Kelly Morgan, our principal of AP Willlets, along with Willlet's special education teacher, Miss Jessica Fairbar. Good evening, Dr. Rogers, central administration and the board of education. We're very pleased to be here to give you some information about what this looks like at the elementary level. So, civic engagement in our elementary school actually begins with social emotional learning instruction. This is an essential part of helping our children and students understand themselves, relate to others, and contri contribute to a connected community. Students learn to recognize

047emotions, manage behavior, build healthy relationships, and make responsible decisions. These are all foundational skills that develop through consistent teaching and practice. A key component of our social emotional learning is metacognition, which teaches students to pause, reflect, and understand how their feelings and choices affect themselves and others. Students received direct instruction in mindfulness, emotional regulation, communication, and conflict resolution. While daily routines such as morning meetings, read alouds, and class discussions build belonging, empathy, and perspective taking together. These practices help students care for themselves, connect with others, and contribute positively to their school community, laying the foundation for lifelong skills. Over time, students move from guided practice to independently applying these strategies, reflecting before reacting, solving conflicts collaboratively, showing empathy, and making thoughtful choices through their school day. These skills support them throughout their educational journey in

048our schools with a gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student as they grow more confident and capable with their skills. The social emotional learning connections website is a district developed tool that unifies our social emotional learning and culture building work and supports our board goals. Created through a collaborative summer project, the site is grounded in the New York State social emotional learning standards and our district mission. It is organized around the five core social emotional learning competencies linking each skill to identity, community, and civic engagement, reinforcing the expectations explicitly taught in the classroom. Teachers across grades K through 5 use this website as a central planning tool for explicit instruction that teaches students what it means to be a contributing member of our community. The lessons are comprehensive, allowing teachers to plan consistent, developmentally

049aligned instruction. I am pleased to introduce Mr. Christopher Meyers, Robins Lane principal, and his staff who will share how our schools extend learning from self-understanding to community contribution. Thank you. Through explicit instruction, students are developing foundational skills that strengthen their ability to listen, collaborate, and contribute positively as members of their community. These skills extend beyond the classroom, empowering students to make meaningful contribution both inside and outside of school. Our district-wide elementary newspaper, Sciospark, along with our building level student newspapers provide a platform to showcase this learning, highlighting how students apply their skills to realworld experiences that help them shape them. Before you hear from two of our Robins Lane teachers, let's turn it over to the Daily Chirpers who are part of the Robins Lane newspaper team. Good evening, Sioset. We are reporting live from

050the Robins Lane Daily Chirp newsroom. >> We heard there was a very important school board meeting tonight. You're about to hear from two very special teachers at Robins Lane, >> Miss Corkin and Miss Sako. Tonight, they'll tell you more about the great work we've been doing at Daily Turp. You will also get a glimpse into the articles we wrote for S Park Spark, our brand new elementarywide district newspaper. >> I think it's past our bedtime, so we should really sign off. Now, presenting Miss Corkran and Miss >> Good evening and thank you for having us. My name is Jenna Corkran and this is Christina Sako. We are both fourth grade teachers at Robins Lane. We're excited to highlight some of the brand new elementary level newspapers where students and teachers have the opportunity to showcase

051their outstanding work. This year, Scioset rolled out SCIO Spark, a newly launched elementary level newsletter. Elementary students actively investigate, report on, and write about their inspiring events, achievements, and everyday moments that make our community so special. This initiative advances our goal of fostering a more connected community by encouraging student involvement, strengthening peer connections, and recognizing positive impact across the community. At Robins Lane, inspired by Scio Spark, we launched the Daily Chirp, our schoolwide newspaper. Daily Chirp provides students the opportunity to collaborate in groups to identify and report on meaningful stories within our school community. The direction of the newspaper is studentdriven, empowering students to develop and share their own voices. Students have responded enthusiastically both in reporting on and reading about the positive events taking place in the school. Daily Church provides an opportunity for

052students to learn more about their peers and their teachers. This initiative supports the board's goal of fostering a connected community by strengthening connections within and across schools. Earlier this year, Daily Chirp student reporters interviewed Joshua and Madison, twin second graders at Robins Lane and wrote an article that was featured later in Scio Spark. The little kids big difference section showcases students who have taken meaningful steps to improve their school community, demonstrating how even small actions can create a powerful impact. Through their temple, Joshua and Madison participate in service initiatives such as making sandwiches and donating them to local homeless shelters and putting together meals for family in need. Through through engagement with Scio Spark and Daily Chirp, students are developing a deeper appreciation for the importance of giving back and contributing to their community. Little

053Kids Big Difference highlights how students apply their skills and lessons that they learn in the classroom to make meaningful connections and create real world impact. Another example of our explicit teaching and action is the people in our neighborhood section. Daily Chirp worked hard to find a staff member who has an interest outside of school, illustrating how their passion shape who they are and how they connect with others. This year, Daily Chirp, with its feature also highlighted in Scio Spark, had the opportunity to showcase our very own orchestra teacher, Mrs. Fort. Mrs. Fort is part of a band called the Trade Winds along with her husband, Barry Hill's very own band teacher, Mr. Fort. Mrs. Fort's commitment to sharing music and joy across both Sioset and neighboring communities inspired students and reinforced the value of pursuing

054personal passions. Now, we'll turn it back to the students to share the impact of Scio Spark and Daily Chirp on our school community. Hi, my name is Laurel Kim and I'm reporting live from Robins Lane. We're going to check in with the Chirpers and ask them a very important question. How has Style Spark and Delhi Chirp impacted our community? Let's go. Follow me. >> I think that daily trip inside of Sparks helps people see all the good things happening in our school. It makes kids feel proud and helps our community feel more connected. >> I think it brings all of us together cuz we get to learn about other classes and schools. It makes us feel like we're all part of one big group. >> I think it helps us understand each other better because

055we hear different stories from our teachers and friends. It helps fans and families know what's happening in school so they feel more involved. When we write about helping others, it inspires more kids to do kind things. We show how students and teachers are doing amazing things and it makes other people want to help, too. It's like spreading kindness through story. >> I think it gives kids a voice. We get to share important stories and that makes us feel good. As you can see, we all love writing on and reading about all the amazing things that are happening in our community. Thanks for watching. >> I'm not sure how I got the short straw to follow them, but um here I am. Uh good evening. Um just wanted to kind of set up the next leg

056of of this presentation. um and talk a little bit about sort of what drives us and where we are now as the students would enter into their secondary phase of their education where students become more empowered. So we look at things like purpose, empathy and action and we say how is that going to how are we deepening that? So how are the students now as they develop their self-awareness and their own self per purpose they're connecting that to their own personal value? their empathy becomes deepened as their perspective taking increases and then their actions you'll see in here become more independent as they get older and older. So we'll see that on the uh slide we added just a couple of pull outs from the board goals just so we can sort of ground ourselves

057back in what's really driving our work but at the same time to keep in mind that we are still jogging alongside the port of a graduate where the work that you're seeing and hearing about tonight is really showing us the opportunities our students have that they can demonstrate their proficiency and their mastery in any and all of these attributes. So without further delay, I'm going to introduce uh principal of Harry B. Thompson Middle School, Kevin Banano, who's going to come up and continue uh talking us through and showing us this great work that's happening. So thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Steinberg. I'm pleased to share how we help build community at the middle school level and assist our students in knowing and understanding their role in the school community and in finding their own

058voice. In addition to our daily classroom work, our clubs and co-curricular activities are a powerful way to build relationships, give students real world practice and civic participation, and foster that active engagement and self-motivation we want to see in the community. This work ties into our broader goals for culture, climate, and character. We are working to cultivate compassion and kindness, inspire altruistic community efforts, and maintain learning environments that are safe and supportive for every student. Tonight we have teachers and students who will highlight a sample of this commitment in our schools. At Southwoods, the peer leaders program involves students partnering with local organizations. They are they learn about the role these organizations play in their community, mentor and inspire their peers, and take the lead on creating and running service initiatives. This great work is guided

059by a few teachers, including Tara D. Bernardo, a peer leader adviser, who you will hear from shortly. At our school, HBT, we have our Challenger basketball program and their partners, our ambassador program, student ambassadors. This is a fantastic program run by Mr. Christian Mueller, who serves both as the Challenger Sports Coast and ambassador supervisor. It's my pleasure to introduce Mr. Mueller and our students. Thank you very much, Mr. Banano. Good evening, everyone. My name is Christian Mueller and I'm a special education teacher in the RISE program at HB Thompson Middle School. The RISE program includes many of our spectacular neurodeiverse learners. I also have the honor of serving as the head coach for our sioset challenger sports teams. Challenger sports is a vital program involving over 30 schools serving as the primary league for middle

060school students with special needs across Nassau County. Thanks to the incredible support of Mr. Stuber, our athletic director, Miss Goulweight, assistant superintendent of PPS, Miss Waters, our assistant principal at HBT, and many of my dedicated coaches and staff who work with us. Sioid is able to participate in soccer, basketball, cheerleading, and track. In the last two years, our program has continued to flourish and grow both in number of participants and sporting events. I am ecstatic to report to the board that since last year, our team size has doubled and as a lifelong soccer fan, we were able to add Challenger soccer to our list. If you haven't had the opportunity to attend a Challenger event, I invite you to come see what you've been missing. There is truly no greater display in our district of

061Sioset spirit than a Challenger game at HBT. To give you a little taste of that energy, I'm going to share with you a 20 second video clip filmed by one of our students, Jacob Manuda, uh, using a chest mounted GoPro. >> Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rumble. It thank you. >> Up next, the program I would like to discuss is called the student ambassadors program. It is co-led by one of our psychologists at HBT, Jen Oor, and myself. The program is designed to foster inclusive, mutually beneficial relationships by pairing students with special needs with eighth grade peer mentors. These partnerships provide structured opportunities for students to learn from one another through shared activities, social interaction, and most important, genuine friendship. I want to emphasize that becoming an ambassador is no small feat. These

062eighth graders must first be nominated by their teachers and then successfully navigate a rigorous two-step interview process. The students who the students who ultimately join this program represent some of the most emphatic, capable, and brightest young leaders in our district. It is truly a privilege to work alongside them. To give you a better sense of the program's impact, I am honored to be joined tonight by three of our outstanding ambassadors, Brooke, Luna, and Jacob. And they've kindly offered to share their experiences with and answer a few questions for us. So, Brooke, why did you want to become a student ambassador? >> I wanted to be an ambassador because I think it's important that everyone feels like they have a friend at school. I've noticed that sometimes lunch recess can be lonely for some students, and

063I want to be someone who reaches out, includes them in games, and make sure they know they belong here. I love getting to see my friends from ambassadors around the building participating in different activities and school events. >> Thank you. Excellent. Up next, we're going to hear from Luna. Luna, what is your favorite memory from student ambassadors this year? >> My favorite memory from the ambassadors program this year was definitely Halloween. I really loved and enjoyed going trick-or-treating with my friends. This time taught me the importance of helping others and of course having fun. That's actually when the photo of us was taken. It really captures how much fun we have together. Mr. Mer always says that the ambassador's program is like a family. I love being a part of this family and it has

064become my favorite place to be at HBT. >> Thank you. And up next, we're going to hear from Jacob Manuda. Jacob was also the student who generously wore the GoPro on him and ran around on the court to get all that great footage. Uh so, Jacob, tell us why student ambassador is an important program. >> The ambassador program is very important because it makes sure no one student feels invisible. I cannot tell you how much it means to me. It's one of my favorite periods of the week. I actually met Mr. Muller last year when he coached the seventh grade soccer team. Even last year, Mr. Muller can tell you I loved stopping by his classroom to come visit my friends. My favorite time to visit is on Fridays when they're all working in the

065Rise and Shine coffee cafe. Even though Mr. Mard doesn't let me buy the coffee, I still enjoy get getting to visit and say good morning to my friends. >> Thank you to the ambassadors. Uh, thank you so much guys for your wonderful insight. Uh, you guys represent the future of our community and the world deserves people like you in it. Uh, next I have the privilege to introduce Miss Tara D. Bernardo from Southwoods Middle School. Good evening. I am Tara D. Bernardo, adviser to the Southwoods peer leaders. Our club fosters leadership and a caring school culture through service learning. By partnering with organizations like Ronald McDonald House and Corey's Promise, our students lead projects that profoundly impact individuals and the wider community. Adrienne Nalia will now share the reflections on this year's meaningful work. Hello,

066Dr. Rogers and board of education. My name is Adrien Ye. I am excited to discuss peer leaders work with Ronald McDonald House this year which provides housing for families with children dealing with sim serious illnesses at Cohen Children's Hospital. Through peer leaders, I've learned that service is about collaboratively planning school-based experiences that inspire action. Motivated by teacher stories and a representatives workshop, our club knew we just had to get involved. We planned several different events and experiences, taught our peers about the house's mission, and organized projects to engage all of the students in our school and bring us together as a community. We created activity bags and coordinated a toy drive that collected, organized, and packed over 800 toys. This June, we will assemble snack bags and laundry kits. Each club meeting, we brainstorm even

067more ways to get involved. Being a peer leader has allowed me to be inspired, share knowledge with peers, and work with others in our community to help make Ronald McDonald House a true home away from home. I have learned that leadership is defined by connection with others and supporting our community without expecting anything in return. Now handing it over to Nalia to talk about one of our other projects, Cory's promise. Good evening, Dr. Rogers and the members of the board of education. I'm Niholia Shriram and I'm very happy to share the peer leaders work with Cory's promise throughout this year. This local foundation honors Corey Fallon, a student athlete drafted to the Phillies who tragically passed away in 2022 from cancer. His wish was to help other families facing similar experiences and the foundation started

068in his honor provide scholarships to families in need. We chose to support Cory's promise after being inspired by him and his brother Mr. Connor Fallon. Mr. Mr. Fallon is a student teacher in our school that we all love. And he shared his brother's promise with our club. Our work with Cory's promise honors a local hero while supporting families battling pediatric cancer, which is a cause that has brought us together as a school. This year, our school has participated in many effective and engaging events such as Caps for Cory's Promise, a walk-athon, and volleyball and badminton tournaments, all planned by our club that have inspired many students across all grades. As a peer leader, I've coordinated guest speakers, taught sixth grade classes about Corey's Promise, and spoken to the PTSA so that I could help make

069our events a success. Representatives from Corey's Promise have visited our school and shared how effort how our efforts have impacted others in our surrounding communities. And Mr. Fallon's smiles and fist bumps at our events show us that he is proud of how we are pursuing his brother's promise. Being a peer leader has helped me discover my role in the community. It taught me that determined collaboration builds strong relationships and supports causes we are passionate about in many various ways. Thank you for giving Adrian and me this amazing opportunity. It is a privilege to support these students as they discover the true meaning of service. They aren't just donating money. They are modeling civic leadership and creating a culture of care through collaboration. You can see by the reflections on the slide how meaningful the experience

070is for each student who participates. Our club's next goal is to partner with the Sioset High School for a district-wide day of service, ensuring the spirit of active citizenship continues. Thank you. I'll now turn it over to Sioset High School assistant principal Matt Lowe to continue our K to2 service story. Thank you, Mr. D. Bernardo. As assistant principal and proud member of Sioset High School learning community, we've seen our students develop from discovering their role in a community to community building, we find our students at the high school progress to giving back and broadening our definition of what community can be. They are empowered to reach their full potential, emphasizing both individual success and contribution to the community. Through voice, choice, and agency, students navigate high school with a compass pointing towards community service and

071civic action. As a result of the work of our students have taken from passion to action, both building new bridges and expanding our understanding of community. We're proud to boast over 15 serviceoriented groups or clubs representing more than 400 students whose sole missions are to give back to a community that supported them throughout the years as well as encourage global citizenship through inclusivity and investment in our shared success. In addition, the number of graduating seniors earning the New York State Seal of Civic Readiness has grown from 15 to 45 since 2024, exemplifying a shift towards intrinsic motivation from civic knowledge and participation. And finally, our various National Honor Society members who have contributed over 10,000 hours of community service both in our school and community and beyond. Tonight, I'm honored to be joined by Sophie

072Weiss and Max Shelonberg, two students who represent countless inspirational projects, events, and movements at the high school. They'll be sharing their work, experiences, and the impact community action and services had on them and the student body at large. We also are fortunate to have Ryan Newander, high school ASL teacher and our bridge to the Milneck Manor School for the Deaf, to provide additional context. Enough from me. Let's hear from the real change makers. Please let me introduce Max Schoenberg, co-president of Breaking Borders, and Ryan Newander, rockstar ASL teacher at the high school. Thank you, Mr. Love. Good evening. My name is Max Schoberg, and I'm proud to be one of the co-presidents of Sioset High School's Breaking Borders. Breaking Borders is a club that was started in 2015 with the goal of uniting Long Island

073schools fostering civil discourse and community service. This year we were fortunate enough to connect with the Milneck Manor School for the Deaf, an experience that was both meaningful and eye opening. At this point I would like to invite Miss Newander to share a little bit about how this partnership came to be. >> Thank you Max. Good evening. I am Ryan Nwender, the American Sign Language teacher at Sioset High School. Over the last year, Sioset has been growing our partnership with Milneck Manor School for the Deaf and the Breaking Borders Club. Our ASL students played an especially important role in supporting this initiative. They assisted in facilitating communication, modeling inclusive practices, and helping to create an accessible environment for all participants. Their involvement showcased both their language proficiency and their leadership skills while demonstrating how their

074ASL education at Sioset extends far beyond the classroom and into authentic impactful experiences. In preparation for our workshops with Milneck, our ASL students took on the responsibility of teaching the members of the Breaking Borders Club introductory ASL signs and basic communication strategies. This helped prepare our hearing students to engage more comfortably and respectfully with the members of the deaf community. By leading their peers through learning this process, our ASL students became mentors and ambassadors for inclusion while helping build confidence, understanding, and stronger connections among all students involved. Now, I would like to pass it back over to Max. Before I share a little bit about what this has meant to me and my peers, I would like to present a short video clip of Dr. Porche, superintendent of Mileneck Manor, who had an opportunity to

075share what this partnership has meant for his students. >> One of the things as superintendent that I always look for is how do we provide the opportunity for our students at Milneck who are deaf and heart of hearing? How do we give them more access? not only for our school at Milneck but also within the community. One of the things that came up during conversations with Dr. Tom Rogers was establishing a partnership and we were using the program at Siosin called Breaking Borders as the concept to start this partnership. Before our first visit to Mileneck, some ASL students from SAS High School came into one of our meetings and taught us some basic sign language so we wouldn't feel completely unprepared. But even with that, many of us were still nervous about how well we

076would be able to communicate. However, once we arrived and began interacting, those concerns quickly faded as we broke through the communication barrier and realized how similar we truly are. Despite the differences in how we communicate, the Milne Neck students shared many of the same interests, personalities, and sense of humor as we do, which that made this experience even more powerful. It was especially impactful because without this club, many of us would have never thought to step outside of our comfort zones and try and connect this way. After our visit to Mileneck, the experience continued when their students came to Sioset, which made the connection even more meaningful. We organized a day of activities similar to those at our multischool conferences, but this time it was just our two schools, allowing for a more focused and

077personal experience. The entire day was centered around the idea of communication and what it truly means. Students were placed in mixed groups of both siosit and milneck to partake in various thought-provoking activities together. We also gave them a tour of our school and many of the Milne Neck students were amazed by its size compared to their own much smaller environment. This exchange was especially important because it gave both groups an opportunity to step into each other's worlds, build genuine connection, and realize how much we can learn from one another when we take the time to communicate, even in different ways. Thank you for this opportunity, and I would now like to pass it over to Sophie Weiss, who will share about our annual day of service. Thank you, Max. Good evening. I am Sophie Weiss,

078a current junior and founder of Sioset High School's annual day of service. This event aims to create opportunities for growth in community service involvement among students in the SASID Central School District while inspiring the next generation of change makers to take action in their community and providing them with the tools to do such. Since elementary school, I frequently engaged in volunteering opportunities in our community. However, after the CO 19 pandemic, I began to notice a decrease in the number of young people attending local service events. Therefore, I sought to address this issue by bringing the service activities I love so much directly to my school to share with my peers. Shortly after thinking of the idea two years ago, I brought my proposal to the student government at the high school. Here, I received support

079from both adviserss and peers. I was quickly put in contact with club adviserss to work with and ultimately partnered with the awareness club for this project. In the last three years of this event, this group of students led by adviser Miss Marcus have been instrumental in making the program a success. Volunteers from the awareness club have helped plan the event, promote it around school, and lead peers in service projects. I could not be more thankful for the support of this wonderful group. In addition to awareness club volunteers, this year we received support from community health students, demonstrating our school's strong commitment to service inside and outside the classroom. Beyond the volunteers who help run this event, whose numbers have quadrupled in the last two years, every single student at SAS High School has received access

080to community service opportunities through this project. This event runs during all lunch periods on a day in April, National Volunteer Month, giving students access to easy yet impactful service projects at flexible times. In this year alone, we donate 16 flower decorations to nursing homes, 28 cars to hospitalized kids, and 35 keychains to women shelters, as well as 68 cat toys to the town of Oyster Bay Animal Shelter. The recipients of our projects are carefully selected to promote a local impact and give back to a variety of organizations in our community. However, the impact of the day of service does not end when the final bell rings that day. It continues on through our students. SAS students are compassionate and caring, dedicated to making a difference in our community and the world at large. Following the

081event this year, we provide students with access to resources at the Long Island Volunteer Center to extend our impact and further our commitment to service. We're confident that students will take advantage of these opportunities given the results of impact data in which nearly 85% of participants report feeling closer to the community and 97% of participants reported that the event made them more likely to engage in community service in the future. Over the past three years, I've had the honor of watching this event impact the lives of hundreds of students at the high school. As part of my Girl Scout Gold Award project, I'm now working to grow this event throughout the district. We're currently partnering with clubs at the middle schools to grow the event there and look forward to bringing service opportunities to every

082SAS student in the near future. SASA is a vibrant community of talented individuals and is our responsibility to use our talents to create both a better present and future for our community. Thank you and I would like to hand it back to Mr. Steinberg. Okay, so that's going to wrap up the presentation. We appreciate um the patience. Um there was a lot of information, a lot to get through, but I think it's important um you know to to really take in the fact that our students are really developing a strong sense of humanity and in a world where we're faced with all sorts of artificial intelligence, um it's this core, this humanity is what's going to help them to thrive in those futures that we can't imagine. So we continue to do this works and

083we appreciate the time and attention to allow us to share this great work with you. So thank you at this time. If there's any questions, we'd be happy to answer them. >> Thank you so much for the entire team for the presentation and it's just very very heartwarming to see what the kids can start doing in elementary school year and throughout their middle school and high school. It's just amazing program for these students. So at this point I get I see Miss Falgo and questions. Go ahead. Um, so first I just wanted to thank you because I loved so much about all of it. It's I think teaching children to be kind and inclusive is equally as important as teaching academics and other skills. So I think it's so wonderful. Um, a lot of the

084programs in high school were volunteer for kids who are drawn to those type of activities which is wonderful. Is there any ways that we bring it into um maybe the more general population for kids who maybe aren't drawn to those kind of activities but could maybe benefit from it? >> Yes. So, um all of the clubs and activities, you heard a few of them today. There's about a hundred or so clubs and and groups throughout the high school who are doing all kinds of community service that comes into the the general sort of um you know, population of the high school. An example that comes to mind is peace, love, and pizza day. Okay? Where it's a day where the students are in the cafeteria and if they step out of their comfort zone and

085they go sit with another student, you know, who and and talk to somebody, introduce themelves to somebody, the awareness club through donations provides, you know, snacks or something as sort of like, you know, reward for participating in in something like this. So, it could be something as small as that. We've had schoolwide uh projects that have taken past uh taken part in the past um through things like our gift of life foundation or Habitat for Humanity. Um even the Ronald McDonald House um we heard about that happening in the in the middle schools. It's also something that happens at the high schools as well where they provide opportunities for all of the students to get involved in giving back somehow. Our sports teams are constantly doing outreach and doing community service. Um classes are doing

086it. So it's really happening throughout the entire system. Um and the goal is for each and every student to have that opportunity. >> Are there any more questions? Okay. Thank you again for the presentation. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh next we're going to talk about uh just a status update on where we are with a lot of the district projects as the um folks from the who made the presentation are making their graceful exit. I'll add my thanks to that of Miss Changens for the uh presentation. And I will say I'm also very proud of the efforts this community makes uh to make sure that our our students are civically engaged but also good citizens and um one it was actually one of the things that amazed me about this community when I first came

087here and got to know it well. Um that sense of community is palpable. So, uh, as the facilities team is getting organized, I just also want to, uh, share with the board, uh, about a year ago, uh, the board chose to be party to, um, a, uh, an action that was going on, uh, an approval process for an underground energy transmission line called Propel New York. Uh, the board decided to become engaged in that process. Uh, that, uh, year-long process has come to an end. It's now a public process. We're evaluating the joint proposal that was released by the applicant to the public service commission and uh we'll come to you with recommendations at some point in the future for uh whether the three concerns that the board had a year ago have been met

088by that joint proposal. Uh as you'll recall your concerns from a year ago were uh first uh the overall safety of the technology that was being proposed. Second, uh the disruption that it might have for school operations while these extensive construction operations were going on. And then lastly, whether the public would benefit in some uh tangible monetary way from these uh utility improvements that were going to take place uh within your border. So uh those remain our three criteria. We'll be evaluating the joint proposal and I'll share with you at some point in the future uh whether the joint proposal adequately uh meets those needs or not. But I did want to uh just announce that the proposal has become public and so uh the public portion of this process is now begun in earnest

089and I anticipate that it will move quickly at this point uh as the applicant uh looks to try and move the process along uh in in their interest. So uh we will stay very much on top of it. And now shifting to uh where we're at with our facilities, we're going to go through um the things we've done, the things we're about to do, and the things we've yet to do. That's basically it in a nutshell. Uh it's very hard to get uh projects off the ground quickly because there are very long approval processes uh for school construction. We don't go to local authorities like the town for a building permit. We have to go to Albany. Uh there are school districts across the state that are also uh in line uh with the folks

090in Albany. And I will say that I have noticed now I'm 35 years in this business. Um I have noticed that the state education department has been not challenging to work with but um far more detail oriented than I've ever seen them before, I think is the way to put it. And so that has um added to a lot of our timelines. Uh it's good because they're uh doing their work in the interest of safety uh and protecting public finances, but it has added some delays to the process. Uh so we're just updating the board on where we're at, the work that's going to take place this summer. Uh some of the hiccups we've encountered along the way, and our plans for how we're going to deal with those hiccups. And uh without any further

091ado, I'll turn it over to and I'm dazzled by the lights. Is that Mr. Reid? Yes. >> Yes, sir. >> Uh Mr. to read from our construction management firm uh Elite. >> Good evening, Board of Education, District Administration, also the Scioasi community. As Dr. Rogers pointed out, my name is Michael Reid. I'm the chief executive officer of Elite Construction along with my business partner, Mr. Ezie Small, and our senior project manager, Simon Wetburn. We're here to talk about the facil do a facilities update and we'll be passing that information along with conjunction with H2M to go over the design portions or where we're at with the process. We also have JC Brick who's the district environmental uh air consulting that is present to be uh part of our presentation this evening. First I'd like to

092talk about is one of the projects that we were able to complete during the 2025 school year. This is in regards to South Grove Elementary School. We were able to complete the bus loop and that helped to provide easier transportation access for the kids to be dropped off and enter school on a timely basis and that was completed last year. Next project that we want to talk about is some of the things that we were able to complete at the high school. We were able to do the testing center addition, a temporary robotics room, a TV media studio, and then we also were able to accomplish a partial roof replacement on the high school. So that was very successful in that regards. Another project we were able to complete for 2025 is for Southwoods Middle

093School. We did a partial roof replacement which is about 30,000 square feet of uh new roofing. Uh in addition, we were able to do a reconfiguration reconstruction of the existing parking lot and associated roadway out to Poland. As far as some of the projects that we currently have in progress, this is in regards to the Sioset High School, the guidance and wellness center. We're able to commence construction during the March time period. We're able to get an earlier start which allowed us to start on the abatement and demolition associated with the project. So most of those major tasks, major demolition, major abatement was accomplished. There's still a little bit of minor uh abatement that needs to be done. That'll be done during the Memorial Day weekend. uh we will have JC project being present to

094do the air monitoring so we'll be able to have that accomplished and be ready for the start of school upon completion this project as far as what we are talking about as far as the guidance and wellness that project is on schedule to be completed during the August time period. Next project is in regards to HB Thompson fields. The HB Thompson fields were able to commence construction during the March time period. Um this project consists of a reconstruction of the athletic field which includes a sixlane track uh athletic uh turf synthetic turf field scoreboard bleachers and also a filming platform that would be uh on that regards. We were able to complete the drainage systems on the north and south side of the field. We were able to strip the field down as far as

095the existing material um top soil to get to the base layer. uh we were able to accomplish one of the things that we came back is soils that we were able to do soil sampling and we'll be able to talk about that a little bit later on or Dr. Rogers you want to talk about that now the soil condition that we encounter. >> Um so I just want to uh let the board know that uh we do testing before we move the soils to see if there's anything in them. Uh we did find some impacted soils. Um our consultants from JC Broadick told us that these were consistent with uh the use of this land as farmland at some point in its past. Uh the good news is it's not hazardous to human health, but

096uh out of an abundance of caution, we're going to remove these soils. Uh there will be an additional cost associated with removing the soils. Uh but then we won't have to worry about them at any point in the future. They weren't hazardous to begin with. uh they don't continue to be hazardous, but uh we've done a lot of talking as a construction team uh trying to balance the cost of removing the soils with uh the advantage of having them uh replaced. And we think that the best recommendation at this point is to just remove them offsite. And this is uh what typically happens when school districts uh find impacted soils like these. >> Okay. Thank you. Next is in regards to some of the work we have for this summer. So this will be an

097active summer in regards to several different campuses. Um we've all the projects that we have listed above have been awarded. We have gone through bonds and insuranceances and we'll be starting our mobilization on all these projects once school lets out in June. But in that regards we've had our kickoff meeting gone through different submitts and we are ready to hit the ground running once schools let out. So with that we have for the high school the baseball and softball um turf fields that's to be completed during the October time period. all the rest of the projects that we have for the high school rear bus loop research center electrical upgrades. um the electrical upgrade projects that we have for the high school and also with HPT that will require us to do some coordination with

098the district administration PSEG because there will be a shutdown period of time which we have contingencies associated with it where we have a temporary generators that the contractor will be supplying that we will be able to keep certain things in operation while we continue on doing the work and that's part of the process. We have locker room renovations as HBT um Southwoods locker room. And then we also have some air conditioning upgrade projects that we're doing at the main gym for Southwoods uh Village Elementary School gym and AP Willlet's main gym air conditioning projects for 26 26 27. Um some of the projects that we also have awarded recently was in regards to HBT vestibule edition project and also for the gymnas high school gymnasium edition. all those projects. Right now, we've been meeting with

099the contractors and we've been doing our preliminary things in that regards as far as having our meetings and going through the submitt process. The plan is for the mobilization for both of those projects to start at the end of June and with a completion for the summer of 2027. As far as projects that we have coming up, as far as uh that have recently been awarded by the board of education for that would be implemented during the summer of 2027, we have a series of different electrical upgrade projects that will be taking place. And we can see as far as Bayis Berry Hill Elementary School, Robin Lane Elementary School, and Walt Women Elementary School. So those things that we talked about the other electrical upgrade projects for the high school and the HBT those things

100will be coordinated with the district with the district the district administration also with PSENG so there'll be minimal disruption but will require a certain level of electrical uh disruption but that's been already planned out with the district in advance with the contractors. Next, id like to bring up as far as H2M to speak about the different projects that are currently in design to be rolled out in 2027 and beyond. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. I'm Megan Bolato from H2M Architects and Engineers and as Dr. Rogers said, we're going to talk about what's to come. So just a highlight of those things would be the classroom edition at Berry Hill Village and Walt Whitman. The gym edition at Bayis, Berry Hill, Robins Lane, and Walt Whitman. The high school library edition, high school locker room

101renovations and auxiliary gym, music suite conversion, the high school pool upgrades, and bailis interior alterations. So as Dr. Rogers says, going through the state education department, they've been very detailed in their review um for building aid. So for Walt Whitman classroom edition, village classroom edition, as well as Berry Hill, we have technical review complete, but we're waiting for the permit. Because of the amount of work that we're doing at the district, they're looking at every elementary school building and looking at the amount of classrooms that we're adding. So at this point, they're um we're close to the finish line of getting those permits in order to move the project along. This does delay our original construction schedule which because of the reconfiguration of the site at Walt Whitman and at Berry Hill. Um we cannot

102build the gym edition until the classroom additions are built because that is where the portables are currently. So we need the uh classroom edition up and running prior. Um same thing with Village Classroom Edition um and Berry Hill going into Robins Lane Gym Edition. Um, we're still on schedule for this project for the gym edition at the elementary school. Um, for all of the gym additions, we're trying to add parking where we can at the buildings and bringing ADA spots to the main entrance of those new gyms. Again, providing blacktop area in the back of the buildings where possible as well for BIS gym edition. Um, adding additional parking and paving in this area. Um, taking advantage of the need to um, expand the parking lot and having the space to do so. Um with

103Bis um this is a multi-phased project. The gym needs to be built first then for the existing gym to be converted to the cafeteria for the multi-purpose room to be converted to the library and the existing library to become classrooms. So then the portables can be demoed for the high school library edition. We are on track with that and working with the team to design this building and have a meeting scheduled to review. Um, and moving forward with that for the high school locker room and auxiliary gym music suite conversion with the reconfiguration to the locker room that we're doing. We're able to provide a corridor to expand the music and the performing arts area. So providing more space for chorus, band and orchestra, providing dedicated practice rooms and providing storage for the sports need

104as well as for the music program. So this is on schedule um and moving forward in design right now. The last project I'm going to talk about is the high school pool upgrades. So, this is going to include dehumidification, ventilation, air conditioning um for this space, as well as a new filtration system for the pool, new diving board, and new um marble dusting for the pool shell. Um so, this project has been approved by SED Department of Health. So, um we're in the process of getting this ready to bid so then we can do this next summer. I don't know if you want anything to add, Dr. Rogers. I went to the wrong presentation. >> Yeah. So, um, you went through it quickly. I just want to return us, uh, to a couple of important

105points. Uh, first, uh, the classroom additions. We had hoped to get started on some of those classroom additions at Barry Hill, Whitman, uh, village. Um, and, uh, >> well, Whitman Village and Berry Hill. >> Yes, those three. Um but uh because BIS is also uh changing the portables, the state has required us to look at all of these buildings together as a single unit. So they in turn asked us to redo our enrollment projections to support the amount of classroom space that we were building. We're net just plus one classroom districtwide. Uh but the state was um asking us to justify with enrollment projections all of the classrooms that we're building. We're confident uh that we're going to be able to demonstrate the need and as uh Miss Bolato said, we have the technical approval

106on the drawings. We're just waiting to get through uh the aid approval process with the state. What that has done for our timelines is um we were thinking that we would do some of the uh site work during the summer. Obviously, it's preferable to do site work during the summer because it's dusty and noisy. uh we will and then we were uh we can do the construction work because it happens out of state really at any time and then the the pieces are trucked in and assembled on site. So that assembly can take place during the summer or during the school year. So instead of doing that assembly uh during this school year, we're thinking that that assembly will likely occur next summer. So hopefully we'll be in a position where we're close to the

107start of school uh next year. again uh if we can get the approval permits in time to be able to let the contracts and then start the work next summer. So, it has been uh a bit of a disappointment to not be able to start those projects sooner. Uh but uh we're working as fast with our stateed partners as we can. Uh one other thing I want to draw the board's attention to, um at the end of June, we're going to host a primary election in our schools. Uh we're obligated by law to do this every year. uh when we host these elections or primaries in our schools, obviously we're opening the school to the public and at large. And so we've designed these gym spaces so that they can be segregated from the building

108altogether. So that's not just during the daytime when there might be an event like an election we want to host. Uh but also at night, we don't have to uh open the entire building to the public. If there is like a community basketball group that is using the facility, uh the gyms will have a bathroom associated with them, they will have uh locks that keep uh folks from who are using the gym from being able to access the building at large and then we don't have to have supervision and security in the rest of the building uh when we're using the gym facilities for community use. So, we've tried to be really thoughtful about how we design these gyms so that they can be a benefit to the community uh without also becoming a cost

109to the school district. So, uh the sooner we can get those built, the more of an advantage they'll be for folks. And lastly, with the gym additions, uh we've spent a lot of time with our athletics department uh talking about some of the space needs that we have. So, right now we're renting uh facilities out of district uh from local uh churches, other schools and local um uh vendors who have large uh athletic facilities because we have more teams than we have space to accommodate. So, uh, in thinking about what size spaces various, uh, sports need, we've sized each of these gyms to be able to accommodate, uh, some of those various district sports like a gymnastics or like fencing. So, um that we are thinking far enough ahead that we've uh included enough flexibility

110in how we've sized and cited these uh properties that we might be able to take advantage might be able to take advantage of uh our own facilities and uh save some money on the rental costs that we've experienced in other facilities. >> Okay. Thank you so much for the uh presentation. Uh so we have an a better idea of what's coming up uh in the summer and next year. Um at this moment, do we have any questions? No. Okay. Thank you so much again for the for your uh presentation. Okay. We have no legislated items, no discussion items, and no finished business. And we are going to do our new business. 12A is the approval of staff changes. Can I have a motion, please? Uh, Miss Falco, second by Mr. Ginsburg. Are there any questions?

111All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? 12B is the approval of 2025 2026 stipens and hourly rates. Can I have a motion, please? Dr. Par, seconded by Mr. Greco. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? 12C is the appointment of director for secondary pupil personnel services. Can I have a motion, please? Um, Mr. Kinsper, second by Miss Falov. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? And I believe uh Miss Kristen Durant is in the audience. Oh, congratulations. Welcome to our family. Okay. All right. And uh 12D is the authorization for of extension of employment agreement. Can I have a motion, please? Mr. Roberto, second by Mr. Abramson. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? So, this is act this is the uh extensive employment agreement for Dr.

112Rogers. Uh after the board approves this um resolution, um he is going to take the oath um on stage. Okay. Please repeat after me. I, Thomas Rogers, do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States. >> I, Thomas Rogers, do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New York >> and the Constitution of the State of New York. >> And that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the position of superintendent of Sio Central School District. and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the position of superintendent of the Sioset Central School District >> according to the best of my ability. >> Dated May 11th, 2026. The board is proud to recognize and congratulate our superintendent on

113the extension of his contract with the SASI Central School District. Dr. Rogers, this extension refle reflects the board's strong confidence in your leadership and our shared commitment to advancing the district's goals of academic excellence, student well-being, innovation, fiscal responsibility, and meaningful community engagement. Under your leadership, SAS has continued to uphold the high standards our community values while thoughtfully preparing our students for the future. We're excited to continue building on this momentum and ensuring continued success for the entire SIASIC community. Thank you and congratulations. It has been a true honor to work here. I've grown as a professional and as a person in this role. I consider myself very fortunate to work for this board of education. Um it is not always easy to be a leader u and I find that uh our partnership is

114part of it is the reason for the success that Sioset has experienced. So uh you've always given me uh good direction and I've been very proud to work for you and very proud to work for this community and for the children of this community in particular. So, I hope to continue uh to lead well and to lead thoughtfully and I look forward to many more years here. Thank you. >> Thank you. And we look forward to that partnership. Okay. Uh 13A is the approval of the committee on special uh special uh education recommendations. Can I have a motion, please? Mr. Rotolo, second by Miss Arenson. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? 14A is the acceptance of internal audit reports and corrective action plan for school year 2025 2026. Can I have

115a motion, please? Mr. Ginsburg, second by Miss Falov. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? 14B is the authorization of service contract. Can I have a motion, please? Dr. Park, second by Mr. Ro. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? 14 C is the authorization of special education and or nursing contracts. Can I have a motion, please, Miss Falco, seconded by Miss Levitton. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? 14D is the authorization for health services. Can I have a motion, please? Mr. Roa, seconded by Dr. Park. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? 14E is the authorization to institute in institute legal actions. Can I have a motion please? Mr. Levventang, seconded by Mr. Ginsburg. Are there any questions? All in favor?

116Opposed? Any abstensions? 14F is the acceptance of donation region around science talent search 2026 school awards. Can I have a motion please? Mr. Roa, second by Mr. Greco. Are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? 14G is the disposal of broken surplus and or absolute equipment, supplies, and books. Can I have a motion, please? Mr. Ginsburg, second by Miss Falov, are there any questions? All in favor? Opposed? Any abstensions? And we're moving on to audience to the public. The same procedures that I've read previously still hold true for this portion of the audience to public. With that, we have Lesie Shalov.