001Good evening everyone and welcome to our Wednesday, January 21st Board of Education meeting. At this time, Katie will lead us in the pledge. Please rise. Thank [snorts] you so much, Mr. Mano. Any changes to our meeting agenda? >> No changes reported. >> Okay. Thank you so much. So, that then brings us to our reports and we will begin with our school news and we'll have come up first uh our youngest students. So, come on up, Arrowhead. microphone. Step right up to my >> Hello, I am Larry D Sanctus, a fourth grader in Miss Gallagher's class. Since the last board of ed education meeting, Arrowhead has celebrated holiday spirit week where we got into the holiday spirit all week long. Many of our classes has celebrations and we loved having the Ward Melville carolers walk through
002our hallways. We had a winter winter concert before the vacation. So, we were so happy to perform in front of our families. We also sang a special song to say goodbye to Miss Reen on her last day at Arrowhead. All of the students lined up in the halls to say goodbye to our principal. We gave her signs and hugs to congratulate her on her retirement. When we return from vacation, we add a new principal. We are getting to know Dr. Kirst as she comes to read to our classes. Another special event at Arrowhead was the Holly Rock assembly. All of the students came for an assembly and really enjoyed the game show where we answered trivia questions. Everyone had a wonderful time. [applause] >> Excellent job. Thank you so much. Okay. Masaki. >> Good evening.
003My name is Fiona Tahini and I'm a fifth grader at Minasaki where we all love to be Mosaki stars. I have some good news to share with you. This year, Minasaki is proud to introduce a new club, nature club. Students in grades three to in grade 3 to five engage in fun, interesting weekly lessons and explorations of nature. Students keep a nature journal for observations and wonder. Students natural curiosity is fostered and celebrated. Experiments, videos, and activities guide students to understand and appreciate more about the natural worlds all around them and their role in it. We are gearing up for our great kindness challenge next week. We will have a schoolwide assembly to learn about how we can make difference in the world. And we will all do random acts of kindness throughout the week.
004We will also have a spirit week to celebrate the power of kindness. Additionally, as students came back rested and eager after the winter break, many classes took the time to embrace the idea of celebrating the new year with reflection and focused hope for all the possibilities that lay before them. Many of our bulletin boards are adorned with our students thoughtful words. By recording our dreams and goals on paper, we set in motion the pro the process of becoming the person we most want to be. We are putting our futures in good hands, our own. Thank you. [applause] >> Beautiful job. Thank you so much. Okay, Mount, it is your turn. Step right up. Step right up there. >> Good evening. My name is Ariel Ben David and this is Natalie Boio. We are fourth grade
005students at Mount and members of the student council. We are excited to tell you about all of the fun things that happened at our school in December. We started off December with the PTA run holiday boutique. It was a great place to shop for holiday gifts. The PTA also held a winter wonderland which was an evening full of fun activities. There were games, crafts, and lots of smiling faces. The middle of the month was very special for musicians because we had our winter concert. The music was amazing and everyone worked really hard. We were also lucky to have the high school chorus visit us. They performed holiday favorites and it was so cool to hear them sing. At the end of the month, we celebrated spirit week. Each day, we wore a holiday themed outfit,
006and it was so fun to see everybody dressed up, showing school spirit. The student council was very busy, too. We hosted the candy cane sale, which helped raise money for our max community. We also held a toy drive to help raise money for General Ryan Outreach Center during the holiday season. December was full of fun, music, and giving, and school spirit. Thank you everybody who helped make it such a great month. [applause] >> Thank you. Great job. All right, NASA. Good evening. My name is Rith Vicel Raj and I'm a fifth grader at NASAG. I have some good news to share with you. December and January were very busy and exciting months at NASAG. In December, the fourth and fifth graders performed in the winter concert, and it was great to see so many students
007sharing their musical talents. Second grade also hosted their annual holidays around the world celebration where students learned about different holidays and traditions from around the globe. Families and students visited various countries countries, played games, did crafts, and ate yummy snacks, all while learning about different cultures and customs. We had several special musical visits, too. Choir students from the Ward Melville High School came to NASCA to sing carols in the halls. Ward Melville Melville wind ensemble performed a concert of holiday songs and Ward Melville students even put on a Charlie Brown Christmas performance. We loved seeing all of the high school performers. The NASA orchestra and chorus also performed holiday music in the mornings as students arrived at school which made our mornings extra fun and festive. Throughout the month, students enjoyed holiday parties, classroom celebrations,
008and shopping at the holiday boutique. Families joined us for the PTA winter family fun night, and everyone participated in our December to remember spirit week by dressing up and showing school spirit. Fifth graders had some exciting learning learning experiences such including a drone activity and a Cornell storm water assembly. PreK and kindergarten students learned about keeping their teeth healthy during a dental hygiene presentation. To help others during the winter season, student council held a warm hands, warm feet, gloves, and socks drive to collect winter clothing for those in need. Made flower arrangements to bring to a veterans home. And we are currently preparing posters for for our annual Super Bowl canned soup collection competition between the elementary schools. We're hoping to collect enough cans during the first week in February to bring the first place
009trophy back to NASCAG. Overall December and January were full of learning, music, festivities, fun and kaat nas. [applause] Fantastic. Thank you. Okay, Satake friends, we're ready for you. Good evening member. Good evening, members of the board of education, administrators, teachers, families, and guests. My name is Troy Jensenius and I am a fifth grader at Sataka Elementary School. I am excited to share some of the wonderful things that have been happening at our school over the past few months. In December, our winter concert was especially meaningful because for the first time ever, our fourth and fifth graders performed together. It was a great opportunity for students to come together, support one another, and showcase their hard work and talent. Our second graders enjoyed a fun field trip to the one room schoolhouse where they were able
010to step back in time and celebrate what the school was like long ago. In PE, students were treated to something extra special when the gym was transformed into a holiday mini golf course. All PE classes participated, making physical education both fun and festive. Our student council had a very successful pajama drive collecting over 100 pairs of pajamas that were donated to the Stony Brook Children and Pediatric Center. We were also excited to welcome the new year with the Rox Rabbit who greeted students as we entered 2026 and started the year off with a positive note. Another highlight was our positive referral celebration. students earned an impressive 75 positive referrals and celebrated with an unforgettable opportunity to silly string Miss Prada, an event we will definitely remember. We also held very several very important assemblies including
011an internet safety assembly for our fourth and fifth graders to help students stay safe and responsible online. Our fourth and fifth graders also participated in this talk at spelling be and we would like to congratulate Gwen Murphy for her outstanding achievement. Last week we celebrated the 80th day of school by wearing our finest8s apparel and listening to great sounds of the8s. It was totally rad. Looking looking ahead, we are excited for what's coming up next, including the great kindness challenge next week. Thank you for allowing me to share all the great things happening at Satocket School. [applause] >> Perfect. That was great. Thank you so much. We will shift over to our middle schools now. We'll have Jelenas come up, please. >> Oh, thank you. Okay. Good evening. My name is Olivia Sedapani. I'm a
012seventh grader at Jelenus Middle School. I would like to thank Principal Keen and the board of education for giving me the chance to share the exciting events that happened in December at Jelenus. It is an honor to speak about our amazing school. Jelina started the holiday season when the seventh grade class and I were able to see A Christmas Carol at Theater 3. It was such a great performance. If you were wondering if the novel or the play is better, I would say the play only because there was no homework. There were also many wonderful concerts that the middle school put on. Grades sixth, seventh, and eighth all helped the community to feel the holiday spirit with beautiful songs and music. To keep sharing the holiday cheer, teachers decorated their classroom doors, and our guidance
013staff raised $2,000 in gift cards to give to families in need. Also, our Red Cross club worked so hard to donate socks to the homeless shelters to keep those in need warm. We also had our winter showcase, including our talented wind ensemble, vocal Vikings, chamber orchestra, and jazz band. Some other activities that made learning fun was the sixth graders made bracelets in their world language classes. Eighth graders found a unique way of learning their vocabulary words in Spanish by running in circles. And the history club brought the Boston Tea Party to life. In the sports news, the boys basketball team continues to shine while the cheerleaders are in second place in their more recent competitions. The middle school closed out our holiday season at Jelenus with the hallways alive with music by our jazz band
014that filled the students, teachers, and staff with joy. These are just a few of the amazing things that Jelenus has been doing, and you can see why I feel so lucky to be part of such an incredible school. Thank you again, and we look forward to even better 2026. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. That was great. All right, Murphy, come on up. Good evening everyone. My name is Shane Robinson. I'm a sixth grade student at Murphy Middle School. I'm going to go over some of the events that were held in the month of January at Murphy Middle School. To start the new year, Murphy started out with the standout student breakfast. Murphy held its standout student breakfast to recognize students that were nominated by staff for demonstrating exemplary character and achievement. This breakfast is
015held each month. Next, Murphy got fifth out of 45 teams at the Science Olympiad Blue Dragon Invitational and won 12 medals. [sighs] Then then we then Murphy held their script spelling be on January 9th. The students showcased their spelling skills and academic excellence. The student government held a skate night at the rinks on Port Jefferson on January 16th where students enjoyed a skating night and a memorable evening. Also, student government is currently hosting a winter clothing drive until February 2nd. Student and staff volleyball tournament will also be held on January 30th where Murthy um will be holding a student and staff volleyball tournament for all grades. Each team will include one staff member. Also on January 30th during all lunch periods, PBIS will be having a rock paper scissors competition. These friendly this friendly competition
016is a is a fun way to build teamwork, sportsmanship, and school spirit. Thank you so much to for listening to our Murphy happenings. Have a good night. [applause] >> Thank you. That was excellent. All right. Uh Dr. Back is going to pitch in for the academy tonight. A student was not available. I did not do my homework. So, I am >> so sorry to throw you under the bus like that. Okay, we will get you information at the next meeting. I can show you. >> Oh, that'd be great. Thank you, Dr. Scandlin. >> So, the academy had before the holidays had the U Polar Express um trailer come which all the students enjoyed. And then a group of the students went to the um the Rockill centers for ice skating. So, they're now in the
017secondary system just like in midterms like everybody else. So very proud of them and doing a great job. >> Thank you so much. All right, Katie for the high school. >> Good evening everyone. Since my last report or mobile has been very busy, especially with the second quarter already coming to a close. First midterms are taking place this week. Students have been preparing diligently and extra help sessions have been available to support them in their studies. We appreciate our teachers for offering additional time and guidance to ensure student success during this busy busy academic period. In the arts warm the warm novel theater department will be presenting The Little Mermaid on February 5th, 6th, and 7th at 7:00 p.m. The cast and crew have been working extremely hard and we encourage the community to attend
018and support our performing arts program. Looking ahead on February 4th, we will be welcoming eighth grade students for their visitation field trip at W Melville. This is an exciting opportunity for incoming students to tour the school, meet staff, and learn more about what War Melville has to offer. Also, beginning this month, the scheduling process at W Melville is happening. Guidance counselors will be making presentations to all 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students. Teachers will be entering course recommendations and students will meet with individually with their guidance counselors to review recommendations and finalize course requests for the upcoming school year. On February 4th, SEPTA and our stand together buddies club will be hosting the snow the snowflake social. This event promotes inclusion and community and is something our students are looking forward to this year. Finally,
019local scholarship applications opened on January 26th and are available through the guidance Google classroom for all 12th grade students. This is a valuable opportunity for seniors as they prepare for their next steps after graduation. Thank you. And we're looking forward to starting the third quarter. [applause] Great job. Thank you, Katie, as always. And thank you to all of our students. And I know it's late, so if you guys want to scoot out and go home, you do not have to stay for the rest of the meeting. Thank you for joining us. All right, we will move on now to item 6C on our agenda and I turn it over to Dr. Scari. >> Thank you. Uh at this time, I'd like to introduce Laura Pimemental, our chief information officer and uh queen of data uh
020to come up to provide our annual uh data presentation, which we're required to do. But I assure you that uh Miss Miss Pimeintel takes great joy in um both um accumulating, disseminating and sharing the data with all of you. So thank you Miss Pimeintel for all you do. >> Thank you. I'm very excited. Hopefully all of you are too. >> Good evening board of education members of the cabinet and three village community. Each year the state produces a school report card for our district and there is a tremendous amount of data and information. So tonight we'll walk through the highlights, what's going well, what trends we're watching, and what where we're focusing our efforts without diving into every number. And don't worry, there's no test at the end. So tonight, we'll break it this into
021manageable sections. who our students are, how often they're in school, how they're performing academically, the many ways we're preparing them for college, career, and civic life, and new this year, how the cell phone policy is playing out in our secondary schools. So, let's dive in. First up, enrollment and demographic trends. This slide highlights enrollment trends over time, including the unofficial figures for the current year. As you can see, our enrollment has been declining and those changes continue to influence our staffing and our programming decisions. This next chart shows the 10-year trend of three different subgroups. The top line shows the percent of students with disabilities, which continues to remain steady. The second line shows the percent of students who are economically disadvantaged, which has climbed over the past 10 years. Um but however, now that
022we have the universal free meals for all, we might see that number start to decline, but that's likely because of how the students are identified rather than the economic need. Um and the last line shows our percent of students who are English language learners, which is continuing to grow. One of the strengths of Three Village is the diversity of the languages spoken by our students and families. This word cloud offers a visual snapshot of that diversity, showing the wide range of languages represented across our schools. And this slide highlights the countries of birth represented by students born outside of the United States, nearly 50 countries, and about 270 students. It further illustrates the diversity of experiences our students are bringing into our classrooms. So now that we've looked at who our students are, the next
023section focuses on attendance, specifically chronic absenteeism, which the state closely tracks because of its impact on learning. Chronic absenteeism is defined as absent 10% or more of the days enrolled. And the state's long-term goal is to keep this rate below 5%. Last year, the rate was 8.6 at the elementary middle school level and 10% at the secondary level. Our rates have increased at both the elementary, middle, and secondary levels, particularly when compared to the pre- pandemic rates. Uh this shows a continued need to focus on attendance support across all of our schools. To put these numbers into perspective, we can look at the average number of days absent. So for a student who's not chronically absent, they miss approximately or on average eight days. And students who are chronically absent in our district are missing
02422 days on average. That's approximately one month of school excluding weekends. So following this presentation, we'll share clear, easy to read infographics on our social media platform so that this information can reach a wider audience. The first infographic will focus on chronic absenteeism, helping families understand what it means and why it matters. Okay. Next, I'll transition into a brief overview of our cell phone policy and what we're seeing so far in our secondary schools. So last year at the secondary level, cell phone use was permitted in limited limited settings during the school day and you can see those highlighted in teal at the top. At the middle school level, this included limited cafeteria use. Uh while at the high school, students were permitted during passing time the cafeteria and study halls. So this year under
025the governor's bell-to-bell policy, the cell phone use during the day is no longer permitted and cell phones are restricted throughout the entire instructional day. This slide compares violations by school for last school year and the current school year through December. It's important to note that the current year reflects both year 1 of both the bell-to-bell the change in the bell-to-bell policy and grade reconfiguration. So at the high school enrollment increased by more than 350 students including 444 additional cell phone users uh which provides important context for the increase that we're seeing. When we break this down by grade for the school year, it helps explain the larger picture. Middle school numbers remained very low, while at the high school, we see higher numbers in the grades that had the biggest adjustment. Viewing violations by month
026shows how policy played out over time. We're seeing higher numbers early in the school year as students adjust to the new expectations. At the middle school level, administrators report that cell phones are not an issue during the school day. Current sixth and seventh graders were already used to not having cell phones in elementary school, and many sixth graders do not yet own cell phones. At the high school, violations increased as expected because students lost access they previously had during passing time, lunch, and study halls. more than half of the incidents were one-time issues uh showing that this is likely an adjustment period rather than an ongoing problem, but we will continue to monitor it. So, next we're going to transition into our elementary and middle school academic achievement, specifically looking at our students performance on
027the grade 3 through 8 ELA math and science assessments. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal government requires each uh school to assess a minimum of 95% of the students. As you can see from the numbers, we're slowly increasing that percentage over the past four years. The average percent of students who are participating in state assessments is slowly climbing. This is the trend that we want to see continue. This past spring, more students participated in the state assessment in each grade level. uh but we still fall fall short of that 95% target. You're going to notice throughout the presentation that I added a disclaimer beneath the math and science charts at the bottom of grades seven and 8. Uh since many students in grade seven or particularly eight take the regent exam in lie
028of the math seven and 8 and science assessments. The data in my presentation will combine both of those assessments. Um and that's also how the state shows the data on their website. So for context, this slide helps put our assessment participation into perspective by showing it alongside districts we regularly compare ourselves to along with county and statewide percentages. When we zoom in on the all public schools bar, we see that low participation due to optouts is not evenly distributed across the state. Um it's more concentrated on Long Island, particularly in school districts across Suffach County. So, our district continues to support state assessments because they help prepare our students for the future highstakes assessments and they provide valuable information about the effectiveness of our curriculum. We will continue communicating this important uh message to families
029through social media and through campus messenger as we get closer to the assessments. This slide shows how New York State um reports student performance on its assessments. Level three and four indicate students are meeting or exceeding grade level expectations, while one and two reflect students who may need additional support. The dark and light green at the bottom show the percent of students at the proficient and mastery levels level three and four on the English language arts assessment. Last year was the first year that all students took the assessments on the computer and the math assessment uh data and again both seven and eight show the combined performance with regent exams and our science assessment scores. Uh last year marked the second administration of the new fifth grade science assessment. Our students continue to outperform their
030peers in Suffach County on the English language arts assessment as well as the mathematics assessment and on the science assessments. So these results will also be shared with our community after the presentation. Next, we'll shift from elementary and middle school to secondary academic achievement. This gives us gives us a chance to look at the outcomes as students move closer to graduation. The next few slides look at regent exam performance over the past five years comparing our district to county level results. Because this period includes statewide exam transitions, you'll see a mix of both the prior exam and the new regent exam in the charts. The first slide shows performance on the English language arts assessment. In math, the state is phasing in the new regent exams. Algebra 1 and geometry have already begun that transition
031and this year marks the first administration of the new algebra 2. Our students will be taking that this June. Because of this transition, the chart shows the combination. The old assess or the new assessments are on the right and the old assessments are on the left. This slide shows our students performance on the four science regions. At the end of this current school year, our students will take the new earth, earth and space science exams as well as the new biology exam. And lastly, the social studies regions. The next few slides will highlight how our district performance compares to neighboring Suffach County school districts we commonly use as benchmarks. The bar for our district is highlighted in green. The first slide is the English language arts uh regent exam. Algebra 1 and geometry are based
032on the new exams currently being phased in. While algebra 2 two still reflects the prior exam with the new algebra 2 starting later this year. This slide shows science regent results during the transition from the earth science regents to the new earth and space sciences exam. Hopog was an early adopter and administered the new exam in the first year of the transition, which is why they appear separately on the right under the new exam. Uh where districts appear in both charts, we've included the number of students tested to provide context for how representative these results were. This slide reflects another science exam in transition which uh with results for both the living environment regions and the new life sciences biology exam. Next are the chemistry and physics regents results which have which have not yet
033transition to the new exams and the social studies regent results and we will also share this with our community. So next let's transition into SAT scores which are an indicator of college readiness. Our students SAT mathematics scores continue to exceed the state average in both mathematics and reading and writing. Next, we'll look at an at the opportunities in three village that help students prepare for college careers and life after uh high school. We will look at dual credit courses, seal of biiteracy and the seal of civic readiness, advanced placement courses, and CTE uh career and tech ed, all leading to graduation. Dual credit courses offered at Ward Neville give students a chance to earn college credit early and experience what college level work feels like before they graduate high school. Last year, 412 students earned
034college credit through 34 different courses offered across multiple departments. The seal of biiteracy is a highly rigorous distinction and only a small number of students earn it each year. Seven students earned the seal last year. The seal of civic readiness, on the other hand, has grown significantly as civic's learning is embedded through high school and almost half of last year's seniors earned this recognition. This slide gives a snapshot of our AP program at W Melville. Last year, 702 students participated in at least one AP course across 27 different course offerings. This slide shows how students move through our CTE pathways from initial participation to full completion. Students begin as participants, move on to concentrators as they earn additional credits, and ultimately become completers by finishing the full sequence of coursework. Uh work-based learning hours and
035the technical assessment marketing continues to show strong growth and completion. While early childhood education is a smaller but steadily expanding program. After looking at the opportunities available to students, the next slide focuses on graduation results. Our district has consistently maintained a high graduation rate between 97 and 98%. This is a testament to our commitment to student success. Please note that the graduation rate for the 2021 cohort is unofficial until next year when um they include the August graduates. These are the percentage of students in the class of 2025 who earn each diploma type last June. And as seniors get closer to graduation, our guidance counselors sit down with them to talk through what comes next. This chart reflects the plans that students share as they prepare for life after three village. So ultimately, these results
036reflect the hard work of our students, the dedication of our staff, and the support of our families, all working together to prepare students for life beyond high school. Thank you for your time tonight and for your continued support. [applause] question. >> Thank you so much. This was great. This is one of my favorite reports during the year. It's my PTA cheat sheet. I take it with me to every meeting. It's a great resource and we're really grateful for for you putting it together and us having it available. I yeah, I just want to say thank you first off for giving it to us prior to this meeting so I was able to really read it um because it's a lot of information uh and it took me a long time to comprehend what was in
037that. So it must have taken you forever to get all of that data together. So I really we really appreciate it and that's great information for all of us to use in all of our meetings going forward. So thank you very much. >> And I forgot to mention the data is public on data.nised.gov. That's the stateed website if you want all of the numbers. There's more. [laughter] >> No thanks. So Laura, thank you very much. Uh, you know, you're one of the unsung heroes around here. People don't see a lot of the work that you do that impacts all of us. Every student, every teacher, every support staff, every administrator. So you keeping track of all this data and being able to push out that information so it's usable so our teachers can use it
038in the classrooms and affect changes to the curriculum, affect changes to their learning uh styles within the classroom for the students is amazing. So we couldn't do this without you. >> Thank you. It's great. [applause] >> So, so Sue, >> yes. >> If I could just I don't have a question. Uh, thanks again for the presentation. I just wanted to comment a little bit about the the data uh especially about the the cell phone policy piece too. Right. So the um I'm encouraged by the progress this year like we saw with some of the numbers. I'm glad the middle schools are doing better. Um, when improvement though, it's it's hard to tell just looking at the the number of violations whether how well things are working, right? Because, uh, a low number can mean it's
039working, right? It can also mean it's not enforced. Um, and I also don't know, you know, what's a reasonable number for a district of our size. Is 100 a good number or a bad number? I can't can't tell by looking at it. So, uh, I was thinking, what's the most effective way I can think of to measure some the effectiveness of something like this? And so, the my suggestion, you don't have to follow it. It would be if if we do have any upcoming like staff surveys, it should be easy enough to to add a question saying, you know, is how well is the policy working? Get some some quantitative data. Uh what changes could be done to improve it if any, right? And uh there were some admin perspectives which is good but I
040also I think teachers perspectives are are important on this too because um sometimes so I I hear stories not from three village but from other districts where sometimes you know there's a rule that gets created and we charge teachers with enforcing it and then you know if a student violates the rule they get sent to the office and then for whatever reason the admin's busy maybe they don't take it seriously they just send the student back right and so this happens two three times and eventually the teacher will stop sending the the the student to the office and then from from the numbers perspective looks fine the numbers are down from even the admin's perspective the students aren't coming to the office so it may even appear like things are are working okay but but
041but of course that you know the rules not not being followed so I do think it's it's important to get teacher feedback on on things like this and so um you know in the high school obviously you know cell phone there they're a bigger fish to fry right than than cell phone violations I know it's not it's not vaping doing drugs students aren't getting in fights right but uh those more severe cases is that we have to handle that that affects a small number of students where whereas phone culture really affects every student that's that's in the school. Um it does affect education and you know in my opinion students should be focusing on learning and not thinking about uh what they just read on social media maybe between periods or you know how they're
042going to reply and even if you don't think that's true it's the state law now it's a bell tobell ban and that's reason enough to to follow it. Um, it is statewide, so, you know, we could see how other districts are doing and maybe everybody's in the same boat or there's other ideas we could we could maybe integrate, uh, and we could be even more successful. And so, uh, I didn't mean to sound pessimistic. I think we're like 80% of the way there. We're we're doing great, especially at the middle schools. I've I've only heard good things and I have seen lots of progress in the classes in the high schools, too. So, we're doing a lot of things right. Uh, but I would want us to get to either, you know, full compliance or
043as close to full compliance as as possible. Uh, in terms of restricting the the cell phones, >> Dr. In fact, you made several excellent points. We do a 360 survey, as you know, every year uh for the past four years. So, we can certainly include a question on this for the faculty um and staff to see what their perception is. As far as dealing with the violations, the administration's been very proactive with that. However, as I mentioned, when we put the policy into place, this the state has restricted our ability to suspend students for violations. So, it's a policy with no teeth. The maximum way to do discipline in a in a school is to suspend. So that we have a three tier system that the maximum is the phone's confiscated given to the parent
044and the child is given detention after school. So that's it. So we can't even do inschool suspension because that's a suspension. So state does not permit that. As far as getting the data from the other districts, the state is going to require us. Laura, remind me. I think it's September 1st or is it August 1st of this year? We have to do the report to the state on this >> report in the summer >> in the summer. So, so we have to provide so every district in the state has to provide that data to the state. So, we'll we'll have a greater picture of that. Now, doesn't mean we're going to get that information in August. We'll probably get it a few months later, but we should be able to see universally throughout the whole
045state whether or not the how effective this has been. The major issue for all of us is that for even adults, the cell phones are addictive. Even now in this room, there are people that are still looking at their cell phones and not listening to you or me having this conversation. So, you know, that that's true everywhere. You go to a restaurant, you see people on their cell phones and not even talking with one another. So, that's a greater issue to handle in of itself. And we are a school district, not a hospital or a mental health facility. So, we're going to try to leave that partially up to the experts. We do, as we heard from the wonderful presentation on the students, we are doing presentations about the dangers and risks of social media
046and things like that. The one thing that we are seeing a little bit is less bullying going on from the cell phone usage with the social media in school, but I have to say the two middle schools, the drop is significant. So, and it's nice to see kids actually talking to other one one another and going out for recess. So, applause to them. It's going to take the high school a little bit longer because those are the kids that have probably had it the the longest in their hands and as they phase out, we're probably going to see that change as it moves up to the high school. in time and everything will be in time. But the more we keep doing instruction on this, the more we try to educate not only the students
047but their parents about the issues related to this. We've had children as young as kindergarten getting cell phones for their birthdays and coming to school. We have one child that miraculously loses her cell phone every time the new iPhone comes out and tells her parents that, you know, she's lost it and then they've already bought the new phone and we found the old phone and they just said, "Well, keep it and give it to someone else." That happens a lot, too. So, it's with access to those type of things. It's a little ridiculous that that would happen. If I'll tell you, if my kid lost their phone, they'd have to wait a while until they got the new phone, >> but they're [snorts] not getting the 17. They're getting my old one probably. But, you
048know, that would be just my my take on it. So, the lot behind >> don't count. >> No, no, you know, I remember the phone being attached to the wall and it was cord. It was uh it was portable. It was as far as the cord went and that was portable. So, we don't have that anymore. So, we have, you know, no one's walking around with a a princess phone in their pocket these days. So, uh, we have a lot to do and a lot to work on, but, um, the more we can concentrate on doing this, I think the better we're going to see the results. >> No, and I don't mean to say that we're doing a bad job. I' I've I've heard the same thing. We're mostly successful on this, and I'm
049glad we're moving in this direction. So, I want to keep moving in this direction as much as we can. >> Thank you so much. Now, before we uh continue with our agenda, I would just ask that we observe a moment of silence um to honor the memory of one of our beloved teachers who just passed, Alex Haggerty. >> Thank you so much. All right, we'll turn it over to Dr. Scanland to look at the calendar. So, we're going to go from a, you know, a emotional moment to a hopefully a a a brighter moment in our our day today. Um, so if you've ever watched NASCAR, you hear the expression, gentlemen, start your engines. Well, um, this is the calendar for next year. So, in about 10 seconds after I do this presentation, the entire
050South Web West website and JetBlue website are going to crash when people hear the the the uh calendar for next year. So, one piece to start off with. So, in New York State, we still work on an old farmer's calendar. In some ways, New York State, um any school days prior to September 1st do not account are not accounted for in the um hours, the 990 hours at the secondary level and 900 hours at the elementary level for a school district. Now, there are some school districts that start before September 1st and they know that that's part of their process that they those days do not count. um for this school year coming up 26 27 Labor Day this year is late. It's September 7th. So we as a school district can start classes prior
051to Labor Day if September starts before Labor Day. So that's exactly what we're going to do for next year. So our two conference days for teachers will begin on August 31st and September 1st. The first day of school will be next year will be the Wednesday before Labor Day, September 2nd. We'll have three days of school. Uh the uh Jewish holidays for Rashashana fall on a weekend. So they are not observed during the week but Yam Kapour falls on the 21st. In October uh Columbus state uh and indigenous people's days is October 12th. November we have the professional conference day which is on election day of November 3rd. We have Diwali falls on the weekend. Um, so and this is not a state or a federal holiday, so it does not have to be observed.
052And Veterans Day is uh November 11th as always. We still have the Wednesday off before Thanksgiving. So there'll be three days off of the Thanksgiving break. Then December hits uh September uh December 4th is a uh parent teacher conferences at the elementary and a special day for the secondary. The December break, the winter one break will be actually 16 days long. It will be start on the 19th and run through January 3rd. We return in January and then in uh January 18th is Martin Luther King Day. Uh February February break is still intact. So Lunar New Year falls on a weekend um and it falls on a Saturday. So in New York State if the state holiday and Lunar New Year is a state holiday falls on a Saturday, it does not get observed on
053that Friday. If it falls on a Sunday, it gets observed on Monday. uh for federal holidays, if it falls on a Saturday, it gets observed on Friday. And if it falls on a Sunday, it gets observed on a Monday. So February break is intact. President's Day is the 15th. And that week is still off. Then for March, the March 9th is Eid alpheter. And then uh Good Friday is the 26th of March. There will be only that day off for the Easter break because Easter and Passover are split. spring break which also encompasses uh part of Passover is April 19th through the 23rd and then May we have our eat ala at on the 17th of May and then Memorial Day weekend is the 31st. In June we will be observing Junth on June 18th.
054The state is doing a a rating day for the secondary level. Uh some school districts are choosing to bring students in that day, but it is a federal holiday. And in honor of the uh the population in our district that observed this day, we are giving the day off. The last three days of the school year are half days at the elementary. Last day of school is the 25th. And I get calls every year about well can't you just end school a little earlier? No, we can't. The state sets what the last day of school will be. So June 25th is the last day of school. We cannot negotiate that with the state education department. So, if we use no snow days next year and judging by this winter right now, it's getting a little
055hairy. Um, we will have no school on fe on May 28th, which is the Friday before Memorial Day, and June 1st, which is the Tuesday after Memorial Day. If we use one snow day, there will be no school on June 1st. Any snow days used beyond two, school will be remote for uh the third days. Okay? And that's the calendar for this year. and the board will vote on that um during the um consent agenda. >> Perfect. Any questions about the calendar? >> Okay, thank you so much. That brings us now to our public comment period. Uh we see one and we would invite Ray Festa to come up to that microphone over there, please. >> How you doing? Uh my name's Ray Fesa. uh really [snorts] upset that I had to go after the
056other speakers. So, I'm definitely not going to be as good. Uh but first, I was actually hoping to come here today to congratulate the board on passing the bond and tell you guys on ways we can help you save money, right? So, a little about me. I'm a representative of District Council 9 where the painters union, painters, tapers, glazes, we're a lot more. Um, but instead what I'm going to talk about today is there's a law going around and I know that just from the conversations to a lot of board meetings I've been, you guys get a lot shoved down your throat from the state that makes your life complicated, right? And I'm here to tell you that this law doesn't make your life complicated. It actually helps and saves money, no matter what the
057misinformation you've heard is. First of all, project labor agreements, a PLA, would be mandated for construction fund projects on school projects. The reason that we're focusing this is because there's been a lot of fraud. And we're not saying that's happened in this district. And from my perspective, it hasn't, but last week, if you looked at the district attorney, they arrested a contractor, which was his fourth time, for stealing wages from workers, and he still isn't the bar. This would prevent that while saving the school district's money. Now, I'm going to say a law that complicated construction, it's a necessary law, but a complicated construction, that's the Wix law, right? Everybody, if you're if you've been involved, you understand what that is. It drives up cost. Under a project labor agreement, the Wix law is exempt.
058That will save school districts 3 to 10% automatically. Project laborants have been proved to increase competition by 14%. More competition means better prices, right? Right now, you're dealing with three to four contractors bidding. The big contractors that built these schools no longer want to bid because of the fraud in the in the area. And it's not anything that the boards have done. You take the lowest responsible bidder. But as you could see, there's no real law on what a responsible bidder is. But this saves districts money. And when this bond comes, as a I have a young daughter that's just starting her career in school. I know I look old for a little long in the tooth for a young daughter, but I have a young daughter just starting her career and I really think
059this bond is important and all these improvements are important and I'm here to support the board. And please take another look at this at this law. Don't oppose it. Work with work with us. Work with the unions. It helps you. It saves you money. Don't listen to the rhetoric. The rhetoric is from the Beacon Hill Institute which is non-per reviewed and is the only study that's never been produced. Cornell, UC Berkeley, Illinois's Labor Institute, all of them peer-reviewed disagrees and says it saves money. But the contractors are running around with that one study. And that study also says that charter schools should take over public schools. That study says they have studies that say school funds take too much of our money. And thank you very much. I have a couple seconds left. Appreciate it.
060>> Thank you. All right, we're going to move on to our items for board action 49A. We turn it over to Mr. Carlson. [clears throat] >> Uh this is a change in the voluntary uh firefighters and ambulance workers exemption. Uh it's not a uh new exemption. It changes the um uh service requirement from 5 years uh to 2 years. This was a change that was enacted uh by New York State uh fairly recently. Uh and then the option goes to all taxing authorities. Uh we discussed this with the um uh board's audit committee and then we uh also discussed it uh with the board a couple of months ago. Uh and so we bring this forward uh to you now uh to vote on this would be in effect for the 2627 school year. Uh
061exactly uh how many people uh this would uh impact, I can't really say. Um but uh right now there are 106 um uh homeowners in Three Villa School District that get the exemption currently, this exemption currently. Um my if you want to say my my uh what I think will happen is it won't have much impact because uh generally speaking most of the volunteer firefighters and uh ambulance workers start out mostly at a younger age before they're homeowners. So by the time they become home homeowners they have more than the five years anyway. Um, so to change it to two, I don't think will have much of a much of an impact. Uh, but it, by the way, it uh also only applies to volunteers, not paid. Um and they have to serve a uh
062well of course own property within uh and it's primary residence only uh in in the school district but the um uh fire district or ambulance company that they um volunteer for has to also serve at least a piece of Three Village School District in order to qualify. >> Okay. Any questions or discussions? All right. Do we see a motion to approve RP 466C? A second. Second. >> All in favor? >> Any oppose? No abstensions. Okay, that carries. Thank you so much. Uh and now we will turn it over to Miss Dano for item 9B. Uh that's a declaration certification of results from our bond vote yesterday held on January 20th. Uh bond proposition number one. The total numbers were for yes 992, for no 1379. That proposition did not pass. For bond proposition 2, the
063total numbers were for yes 828, for no, 1498. That proposition also did not pass. Thank you. Uh any questions about that? Okay. Motion to approve. >> Second. >> All in favor? And Dr. Scandan, any comment on on the bond vote? I can comment a lot about it. So, I'm going to try to keep my comments to brief. First off, it's uh it's disappointing obviously that um we did not get the support of the entire community for this despite the attempts. Uh there were a lot of false information being spurred out there. We did our best to combat that with social media and what our what we produced out there. Um the board has several options in front of it right now to consider. It could put up the entire bond vote again without changing any
064numbers, which that backfired tremendously in the past. I would not recommend that being the case. We could make adjustments to the bond, reducing some of the things on the bond and putting it back out. The timing of which can be done at uh at several different points. It could be done around the budget time u in May. It could also be held off till October. The only word of warning I would give with this is that the longer you go out, the potential rise in costs that may occur. So prices never go down. Prices go up just like taxes. Everything goes up. Nothing ever goes down. So uh with rate of inflation as being what it is uh we would see an increase. So the the amount the scope of the work that would be
065accomplished with a lower bond even with cutting the amount of things down would still even be lower than that with the increased prices. What I will make a comment on is a general comment about the voter turnout. We had roughly just over 2,300 people voting out of 37,000 registered voters. That is tremendously disappointing. And I jokingly said there are communist countries that get more people to vote than we did in this district. Um so we have to work on reaching out to a larger segment of the community. There are 4,700 nice members in the community. Those are teachers uh that either live here and work here or live in another district and work here. Um we know for a fact that several of them did not vote. Um even employees here. Uh we also know
066that um there are 4,800 parents in the community and we didn't see a large turnout from them. So we need to have tapped that base more for the future. The work in many of these areas is of concern. Um with the buildings aging, we have potential risks for if things are broken and with our low capital budget right now, we may not be able to repair them. Um or we'll have it'll be very difficult. A lot of this stuff is not covered under insurance unless it's a disaster or something that natural occurrence. So, it has to be covered within the budget which could have very large implications for the budget as we move forward. So, as we said, um it would have been cheaper if the bond passed than it would be to include this
067in the budget. The average household increase would have been $250 this bond passed for both propositions together. And the the potential is it's going to be between uh I think $275 and $400 if with putting this in the budget. It will take much longer to accomplish all the tasks. In the meantime, um this is just items for the board to consider. There's no reason for decision tonight. Your task is to certify the results of the vote and then we could have further discussions at the future meetings as we move into the budget season which is coming up right right as soon as possible. Um, we do have the application going out tomorrow at 5:00 for the closing and repurposing committee uh for one of our schools. So, we'll take applications for that and we'll try
068to get two meetings into February because we will if we are planning to do anything with this for the coming future, we need to move quickly. That's it. >> Thank you so much. Anyone else? >> I just wanted to clarify one thing about the voter turnout. Um I think right we had a little over 2,300 people. Um but that is in line with what our previous votes have been. Yes. So uh the previous budget vote was only 28 2900 people. Um and we've had previous bonds that were in January and other months that were much some were much lower, some were much higher. >> The February 4th, 2014 bond only had 1652 people vote out of 31,441 uh registered voters at that time. However, back in 20 in 2007, the January bond then had 4,632
069people vote out of 32,154 and which that one failed. Uh the October 16th one passed with 4,943 people voting out of 33,229. As I said, the voter turnouts have been low, but in line, as you said, with, you know, our voter turnout last year for the for the budget vote, uh, that's still a concern that we're not getting people to come out for the budget votes. And I, you know, this is one of the few things that people directly can vote on that impacts their taxes and and their homes. And, you know, yes, the school districts make up a large portion of the tax bill for for a lot of folks. So, it's uh it's a tough time. Yes, we realize that. Um, the district is experiencing that, too. Um but with getting 66% of
070the of these projects paid for by the state um it would be to our advantage to try to either reo this and go back out again. U again we do get that money for the capital budget within the the regular budget as well. So um I think it would be advantageous to just hear from the community. One suggestion that we uh we're thinking of is coming up with uh sending out a communication to the community and asking for feedback. That's always wrong with it's dangerous. So, um, this would not be something where, um, this is not feedback about how I dress or anything about me. It's about the bond. What about the bond didn't you like that you voted it down? Because that will help guide us as we look at redoing this for the
071coming future. And I know someone's going to say, well, it shouldn't have this or it shouldn't have that. And there's a lot of opinions that'll float out there. Um, but let's try to see what the community says. And so, we'll try to work on getting something that like that out as soon as possible. >> Thank you so much. Anyone else? Okay. So, we'll move on now to policy and turn it to Mr. Mistki. >> We have the five policies in the 55 in the 5,000 series that have been reviewed by the policy committee in consultation with legal council. They were on for first reading at a prior board meeting. They're on for second reading for adoption. Uh if the board has any questions, I'm available to answer. >> Thank you so much. Do we have
072any questions about any of those policies? Okay. Do I see a motion to approve them? So move. >> Second. >> All in favor? No opposed. No extensions. Those policies are approved. Thank you. That brings us to our consent agenda. Do I see a motion? >> Second. >> All right. We begin with Mr. Mono. >> You have the minutes from the January 7th board meeting. >> Thank you so much. And see, Dr. Scandan, >> this is the approval of the calendar. In 10 seconds, Southwest's website and blue will go down. So, here you go. Thank you, D. Mr. Carlson. Uh, >> this is an extension of our uh uh school bus contracts for next year. Uh, we can extend uh bus contracts one year at a time at the rate of uh the consumer price index
073C CPI as determined by the state comproller for the year ended as of May. So, we don't know what that CPI is until June. Uh but we did get a letter from the our bus company saying they would be uh willing to extend next year at CPI. Um so we're I was very happy to see that because I know it's coming soon. I don't know when it's coming soon where they're going to say if for no other reason than the the electric vehicle mandate. They're going to say uh we can't extend that CPI and we'd have to do a a request for proposals which will drive up the cost tremendously. So, I was happy to see them uh say they can extend next year at CPI. So, that's why we're bringing this forward tonight. >>
074Thank you. Any questions about that >> just to ensure that 2027 is all new purchases of buses in the state of New York for schools have to be electric. All fleets whether privately owned or school owned by 2035 all have to be electrified. So, that's the new that's the mandate. This has not been pulled back even in the current governor's proposal. >> Thank you. Uh and e Dr. Biscari. >> Uh yes, as per board of ed policy, uh this is our process for tech textbook adoption for uh a new class next year. We're anticipating running a section of AP human uh geography and this is the textbook that goes along with it. >> Thank you. Any questions about that? Okay. And F and G also you Dr. Biscari. >> Uh yes. F is just an
075update to the impartial hearing officers provided by New York State and G is the appointment um on committees on special education for 2526 school year. Just a revision. >> Thank you. H recommendations of the committee on special education subcommittee and 504 accommodation plan meetings as dated. And I recommendations of the committee on preschool special education meetings as dated. And beginning with Jay, Dr. Droski. >> Yes. Uh Jay is just um uh the recall of one teaching assistant. As we start as people start to move on, we're able to uh recall some of our folks. This one is for one teaching assistant. Um K personal items in instructional. Uh we have three instructional resignations. We have one instructional recision. uh three instructional leave of absence, one appointment, five instructional sub appointments, the appointments of several varsity
076and JV spring coaching assignments for the 2526 school year, as well as some annual hourly extra assignments. L personal items non-instructional. We have four non-instructional resignations uh which include two monitors, sub monitors, and a and a special education aid. Uh we have one non-instructional appointment and a change in status. We have a non-instructional stipens as well as a new non-instructional appointment and eight non-instructional substitute appointments which include uh clerical food service subs, custodial subs and sea monitor subs. >> Thank you so much. All in favor of the items in our consent agenda. All in favor of the items in the consent agenda. Any opposed? Any extensions? Thank you so much. >> That being said, do I see a motion to adjurnn? >> Second. All in favor? No opposed. No abstensions. Thank you so much. Have
077a great night.