001Good evening. Good evening, everybody. We're going to begin the June 5th business meeting of the Wanted Board of Education. We'll begin with um a salute to the flag and a moment of silence for um Joanne Fitzpatrick, mother of Joanne Borman. 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. B4, communications to the board of education. Communications were received from Jennifer Russo. And C, superintendent report. Mr. M. Great. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Thank you for attending tonight. I'm John McNamera, superintendent of schools. We appreciate you taking some time with us. Um, always like to start off with some uh some good news. Uh, first we'll start with our school uh budget being approved. Thank
002you to the school community overwhelmingly approving our school budget. Uh, you know, over 70% approval. So, thank you. We're excited about that. I look forward to a great year for next year. Also, congratulations to Laura Ree and Jennifer Petti on their reelection. They'll be sworn in for their next term at our reorganization meeting on July 1st. Um like to do some student recognition to start. Um once again our our music program we have our our students here. Uh we had uh NISMA majors just recently and we just did outstanding. Um you know we are so uh fortunate in our district to have uh just such an outstanding music program with outstanding music educators. Uh just continually impressed uh by our music department. the work they put in uh with our students and and and what
003they are able to achieve. Um we're really excited about uh the their accomplishments in ISMA majors and we wanted to take some time to recognize uh all three performing groups tonight. Uh there's a lot of you uh but we wanted to we felt it was important such a significant accomplishment. Uh so we wanted to start uh the top of our meeting tonight with that recognition. I'm going to invite our uh director of finding performing arts and business education Kelly Jones up to the microphone. uh she's gonna introduce introduce each group. We're going to do it group by group. Uh so uh as as you come up, we have a certificate for you. We'd like to present. Uh then we're going to ask you to come right up on stage and gather for that group and
004then we'll do a a group photo for that particular ensemble. Uh and then we'll go to the next ensemble. So I'm going to turn it right over to uh to Kelly Jones and uh and and we'll do some recognition. Ah great. Thank you so much. Um, I just want to take a moment and do some recognitions and just kind of explain some um how how impressive this is. Um, I want to take a moment to recognize a group of students who have shown us what growth, dedication, and teamwork truly look like, and that's our string ensemble. And I'd like to invite Mrs. Dela Monica up this year. They achieved something remarkable at NISMA majors. And what makes this moment even more meaningful is knowing where they started. Honestly, this this level of performance wouldn't have
005been possible even just a year ago. But through hard work, resilience, and a shared commitment to getting better every day, they've grown into truly an outstanding outstanding ensemble. So I want to take a moment to recognize and congratulate our string ensemble on their outstanding performance at NISMA Majors earning a gold a silver sorry silver. Um this is no small accomplishment. Nisma Majors is one of the most rigorous and respected music evaluations and earning a silver reflects a high level of musical skill preparation and discipline. Silver is a mark of quality and it also reminds us that growth is ongoing and what is achieved is impressive and we're building toward that even more exciting days ahead. I want to thank our dedicated conductor, Mrs. Delam Monica, for believing in these students and pushing them to reach
006their potential. And I want to thank every family member who supported them along the way. So to all the students in the string ensemble, you did this. You earned this. And we are so incredibly proud of how far you've come and how bright your future is. Congratulations, string ensemble. I just want to add one more thing. Um I I don't remember the last time that the orchestra here has gone to NISMA majors. Do you remember Mrs. Jones? No, I don't. So this was the first time that I brought a group period. This is the first time the high school has had the orchestra go to Nisma Major. So this is a really big deal for us. So thank you. Uh, thank you Margaret Craig, Daniel Donahghue, Elizabeth Kchner, Colin McCann, sorry. Leila Saka, Leah Vagnon,
007Riley Wood, Adrien De Chavez, Lauren Furer, Eva Magavivero, Emma Palmisano, Alli Risert, Mia Spiteri, Avery Bogaki, Morgan Crespbow, Reese McCarthy, Paige Miller, Skyiana Rothhop, Brashad Banerjee, Evelyn Caputo, Maline Chiaetta, Isabella Cicero, Joseph Panella, Juliet Azeriti, Christopher Cagglia, Ana Dennis, and Jack Goodwin. [Applause] Thank you so much. [Applause] Okay. Uh, now I want to take a moment to share uh the incred incredible accomplishment of our middle school early bird chorus and invite Miss Cassidy up. Welcome to Miss Cassidy. So, our early bird chorus earned a rating of gold. Um, and it's a big deal. The gold rating means that they didn't just sing the notes, they brought the music to life. And they did it under pressure in front of professional adjudicators with poise and pride. And for middle school students, this is it's just incredible
008to see them go and and present themselves um in front of a professional um judges. So they they were amazing on stage. Um but what's even more meaningful is the work behind the scenes, the early mornings, early bird chorus, early mornings, the rehearsals, the focus, the teamwork, and the willingness to grow every day. I want to thank our amazing chorus director, Mrs. Cassidy, for guiding and inspiring these young musicians. And I want to thank the families who supported them behind the scenes. And to our orchestra, I mean, chorus students, we moved on. Or the chorus students, congratulations, chorus. Um, your hard work, your passion, and your united um unity truly paid off, and we're proud of you, not just for the gold, but for the heart that you put into it. Congratulations, Rber Chorus. the
009the early bird students are truly just such a joy to teach and I going into this school year wasn't anticipating on bringing any group to NISMA majors but when I saw how dedicated this group was I know they deserved the opportunity and they are just phenomenal students and performers and I love spending my mornings with them so thank you to all My early bird kids, Sebastian Alice, Oya Atel, Isabella Boydre, Ellie Boger, Marray Boger, Olivia Casio, Sophia Kahamara, Adrien Canage, Bella Clinton, Leah David, Rosalie Dela Crochet, Miranda Feder, Paul Feliz, Angelina Fris, Diana Gonzalez, Audrey Griezbeck, Victoria Goober, Charlotte Hamill, Charlie Hartman, James Hearns, Jacob Height, Haley Higgua, Lucas Aakona, Celeste Jeffs, Maline Jurgens, Maggie Kimell, Ethan Cougler, McKenzie Lane, Madison Lane, Joseph Leone, Isabelle Leaporin, Sophie Leaporin, Christopher Larl, Elsie Lee, Amanda Lovelock, Elizabeth
010Luciano, Emily Mccale, Sophia McManaman, Leah Meyers, Adriana Nordquist, Grace Pac, Giata Petrillo, Leah Petrillo, Luca Pig, Luca Pignitaro, Paige Riley, Daniel Rodriguez, Michael Rodriguez, Luke Rose, Mallerie Ryan, Emma Sherman, Reagan Shikar, Amalia Smith, Katherine Stavali, Leila Sumbraak, Lucas Tardikoff, Juel Thomas, Payton Tilliston, Caitlyn Urban, Reese Vicari, Emma Walsh, and Christopher Wedello. Thank you again. Ella, Ella tierney. Ella tierney. My sweetheart. [Applause] [Music] Wait. One more. One more. Wait. Wait. [Applause] All right. And now to recognize a truly exceptional achievement of our wind ensemble, Mr. Reveis, come on up. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. At NISMA Majors, uh, our wind ensemble earned a gold with distinction. To put this into perspective, a gold rating means excellence across the board, but with distinction is for groups who deliver an outstanding performance in all evaluated categories, which are tone, technique,
011interpretation, and musical expression. This accomplishment reflects far more than one day's performance. It's results of months of months of focused rehearsals, deep musical discipline, and a level of collaboration and commitment that highlights the ensemble's hard work and focus. To our student musicians, your dedication, your artistry, and your musicianship are absolutely remarkable. You brought professionalism, heart, and excellence to the stage, and we are so proud of you. And to our conductor, Mr. Villas, thank you for your passion, your vision, and your constant pursuit of excellence. And of course, to our families, thank you for supporting music education. It makes a lasting impact as we all know. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you [Applause] everyone. Thank you so much Mrs. Jones for the kind words. Uh thank you board of education for this recognition is very
012special to us and thank you to the upper administration for always being our supporters. We really do appreciate that. Um the running joke is that uh somewhere in in a basement in Wanau, all the students gather and they try to figure out how to stress me out until the very last minute right before we go into into the um festival and and they succeeded once again. I think I have one extra ulcer. Um but we almost didn't go especially at this level. It's a very high level and I'm so very very very proud of you. I could I could cry right now from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for a remarkable performance and thank you seniors for being such a special part of this ensemble this year. I hope you walk
013away with something special uh when you graduate. Um, thanks again Caitlyn Dylan, Rosemary Leto, Sophie Haynes, Isabella Kugal, Skyler Mandeli, Olivia Sharer, Madison Rodriguez, Edward Korea Bez, Michael Muscanra, Nathan Healey, Ricky Boyco, Shan Tanokco, Adrian de Chavez, Gabriel Avitable, James Carney, Gregory Heim, Steven Albano, Brendan O' Calahan, Nicholas Boy, Sean Wristland, Isabella Clefani, Matthew Como, David Galddez, Marmal, Leia Gos, Aditia Pastrica, Ian Fraser, Kendall Cope, Sean Reynolds, Vincent Grogan, Ryan Liebeck, Maximus Neglieri, James Ambrosio, Maline Gonzalez, Sophia Hillard, Paul McCale, Matthew Riley, Logan Shro, Ben Wick, Brady Walkan. Congratulations all. All right. Once again, congratulations to all of our students. Thank you so much for attending tonight. We really appreciate [Applause] it. See how we do this. Come bail me out because I don't know how to do it. Nope, I really messed it up.
014All right. Uh just a couple of other uh recognitions for tonight as well. Um we are um I just wanted to give a thank you. Uh last week uh we had uh students that attended the uh challenger games uh the NASA county games for the physically challenged. It's coming. Yeah, it's coming. Um and I just wanted to huge thank you to our special education department for organizing that. Our special education parents and SEPTA for all their support of the event. Uh and in particular Dr. tomorrow a chance uh who really uh takes the the lead with that uh uh that program. Uh it's our second year participating and it's just such an outstanding day. Uh and um such a such a a great community day. You know, we have parents attending, we have uh staff,
015we have uh our students that are there. And um I'd be remiss if I did not uh you take a take a moment tonight uh to to recognize uh you know what a what a what a great day it was for our students. Uh Mr. Moran, I don't know if you want to add anything about the day. Mr. Moran was was there for the day as well. I've never seen so many smiles on so many students and parent faces uh throughout the entire day. Everybody had a really great time and it was just something we uh look forward to continue doing year after year. Thank you. Right. So, just a little round of applause, please, for uh uh our special ed department staff and and Dr. Le Chance as well. Oh, boy. Now, this one
016is advancing. Okay, there we go. There we go. All right, that's the one I wanted. All right. Um we also have uh a member of our our staff uh that's retiring. Uh we we're going to be accepting uh momentarily a a resignation for the purpose of retirement uh for one of our outstanding teacher aids at at Wanton Middle School. Um we for the past 20 years have been truly fortunate and blessed to have uh Sumaka as a member of our our staff here. Uh the work she has done uh with our with our students uh in our in our special education program has just been tremendous. uh you would be hardpressed to find uh anyone uh say a negative word about about Sue McKenna. Uh she is is is certainly that kind of person. Uh
017she she just uh loves what she does and that clearly comes across every single day uh that she's here. Um uh she she informed me that she was going to have a new boss uh which I believe is that beautiful granddaughter right there. Um, so I said to her, "Look, if if it doesn't work out with a new boss, come on back." You know, uh, if she fires you for any reason. I I don't think that'll be the case, though. Um, so I wanted to take a moment just to congratulate Sue, thank her for her ongoing dedication to our students, to our staff, for everything she's given to uh to our district over the years. Uh, we've been been blessed to have you and and and just want to wish you all the best and
018and and enjoy all the time with with that brutal granddaughter. [Applause] [Music] once again. Congratulations, Soup. All right. Um, we're gonna just a couple updates for me that I'd like to share uh with the community. One is on um the topic of mascot. uh you know we um I'd like to provide just a little bit of update as as I think um most folks in the community are aware. We uh we're currently in the process of of uh of some litigation with New York State over maintaining our warrior nickname. Um and uh we had had filed an appeal, the district had filed an appeal uh of a judge's decision back uh a couple of months ago and we're kind of waiting for that to go through the process. Um while that has been going on
019uh we've also you know been aware of of uh the US Department of Education's intervention in into the situation over the past uh week or so. Uh we uh we attended uh a press conference over at Masipiqua uh with the uh secretary of the education department, Linda McMahon. Uh and they're directing New York State to uh to kind of walk back their regulation. So, we'll wait and see what the outcome of that is as well. Uh, also in the meantime, we had uh applied for an extension uh for the imple implementation of the mascot regulation. Um, as I think many folks are aware, that regulation uh goes into effect. We're we're we need to be compliant by that. Uh we're supposed to be by compliant by that uh June 30th of this year. Uh we
020applied for an extension uh and that extension was granted uh and it was a fullear extension. Uh so through June 30th of 2026 uh the New York State Education Department has granted us uh more time for implementation. So we do not have to be fully compliant until that point in time. Uh so for the for the upcoming school year for the 25 26 school year, the district will continue to use the Warrior name uh as our uh as our our mascot name for uh for this upcoming school year. uh and then just continue to see how uh all those other pieces kind of play out. Uh so that's where we we currently stand. Uh we'll continue to keep the uh the community updated. Uh the board has put together a letter uh uh that'll update
021the community uh that will go out tomorrow uh just about the extension that we received uh and and where you know we we currently are with that piece. So um anything else from the board regarding that extension or any questions for me? I would just want to say thank you for all the work that you put in and um I think that the extension really gives us a little breathing room so that we can see how this all plays out and thank you to Linda McMahon for coming to see us. We we were very grateful that Mr. Blakeman invited us and Mr. Rhodess was there as well. So um just thank you for all the work that you put in this. Great. Thank you. Any questions? Thank you. All right. Uh I also just wanted
022to provide an update for the board on the uh uh Beach Street property. Many uh folks in the community know this is the Wii Friends building. Uh that's a property that's owned by uh the district. Uh we had a lease with that uh with with We Friends uh for for many years. Uh goes back I I believe to late 70s, early 80s. Uh that lease expired last year. Uh and that building has been vacanced since September. Uh and we were really kind of spending this year considering some different options for that property. Um there's some pretty extensive uh costs that would be involved in in renovating that building. Uh it's a it's an older building uh in in need of much work. Um and at this point that in terms of uh uses for the
023district outside of leasing it to somebody else or limited for our for our own use. Um it's not large enough for UPK. It's not up to code. it's not, you know, for those types of programs outside of really office space. Uh, that's really all I I can really determine it to be used for. Um, and the investment into it is is fairly large. Uh, so at this point, I think I would recommend to the board holding a planning session to discuss those options uh related around it, including uh, you know, what it would be to renovate, potential sale of the building, all of those pieces. Um, and just wanted to get some feedback from the board if that's the direction they wanted to head. So, they'll hold a planning session in the next few weeks,
024correct? Correct. Yeah. So, we'll set a planning session for the next few weeks uh and we could go over those options uh and uh and take a look, you know, what it would mean to sell the property, what it would mean to uh repair the property, that kind of thing. Great. Thank you. Anybody else? Yes. Could you just address if we ultimately went the route of potential sale, what that process would look like in terms of uh input from the community? Yep. Y approval. Yeah, sure. So, um it it almost works in in reverse of our bid process, right? So, uh we would uh ultimately it ends in the voters approving uh a sale. So, uh we would uh we would hire a realtor to market the property. They would uh they would they would
025show the property. They would they then take bids on the property. those bids would be uh brought back to the board uh for consideration to see which they would like to if they would like to explore any of those. Uh they would they could request you know what the potential use would be uh all those types of things. We would solicit all that information. Then the board ultimately would uh decide if they would like to sell it to one of those potential buyers. Uh and uh if they did, then we would start to notice a a public vote on on that. uh and uh the community ultimately would approve uh or not approve the sale of the property to the potential buyer. U so that kind of loosely is the outline of the the process.
026Thank you. Yep. Any other questions? All right. Um we are up to cell phone bans. Uh just uh to update uh the community uh we had uh New York State education or I should uh restate that the New York State legislature took some action uh in terms of uh banning the use of cell phones in school. Uh so we're currently taking a look at that. Uh we put on uh the agenda for this evening a first read of a a potential policy around that. Uh currently K to8 uh we are compliant with the regulation and our high school team is taking a look at what that would look like at WTO high school to implement that. Um right now in our middle school students leave their phones in their lockers. Uh students uh elementary don't
027bring their school their cell phones to school or if they do they have to stay in a backpack away. Um so we would uh look to implement something uh similar at at WA High School. Um, so that they're working on a a plan for that and we have an initial read of a a potential policy uh for the board's consideration tonight. And then uh lastly for me, just an update on um school meals. Uh also part of the the budget uh that New York State adopted uh just uh last month was uh the universal free uh breakfast and lunch for students. So that's something that we'll be looking to implement for next year uh in September as well. Uh that's all students uh we have a free and reduced lunch program now that's based on
028uh income and and and other factors that we take a look at uh to verify if if student is eligible. Uh that would no longer be the case. It all students would be eligible for the uh the the free lunch and breakfast program uh across the board. So, that's a piece of the the this uh budget that was just approved by uh by New York State uh just about a month ago. And with that, I'll turn it back over to Mrs. Cassid. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry, I have the wrong glasses. We're going to continue on. D, approval of minutes. D1, approval of minutes. Is there a motion? Second. All in favor? I I E financials E1 financial reports E2 budget transfers. Is there a motion? Second. Second. All in favor? I. F personnel. F1
029approval of personnel items. Is there a motion? Second. All in favor? I. G. Contractual and other authorizations. G1. Funding of reserves 202425. G2 202526 real property tax levy. G3 special education tuition agreements. G4 health services agreement. G5 closeout of capital project and G6 inter municipal agreement. Is there a motion? Second. Second. All in favor. G7, related services agreement. G8, transportation agreements. G9, fire alarm services. G10, donations. The board of education approves a donation from New York Life Foundation of two checks totaling $56 for the Forest Lake Elementary School. These checks represent donations made by individuals who participate in matching gifts program of the New York Life Giving campaign. The board of education approves a donation from TD Bank for $1,000 for Wanto Warrior the Wanto Warrior 911 Memorial 5K run. The board of education approves
030a donation from BMW of Freeport Mini of $1,000 for the Wanour Warrior 911 Memorial 5K run. The board of education approves a donation from Pete and Angela Luig of $1,474 for the Wanto Warrior 911 Memorial 5K run. The board of education approves a donation from WSeppta of $2,000 for the Wanto Warrior 911 memorial 5K run. The board of education approves a donation from the Wanto 6 to12 Association of $7,500 for the Wanto Warrior 911 memorial 5K run. The board of education approves a donation from Northwell Health of $10,000 for the Wanto Warrior 911 memorial 5K run. The board of education approves a donation from the American Heart Association of $200 for the Wanto Middle School for Hoops for Hearts. The board of education approves a grant donation from Alliance Energy LLC of $500 for the
031W to the Wanto Middle School. The board of education also approves a donation from the Forest Lake Elementary School PTA of $3,434 for an assembly so fun game show. We would like to thank everybody for their very generous donations. G11, disposal of obsolete textbooks and books. Is there a motion? Second. Second. All in favor? I. H. Unfinished business. There is none. I new business. I1, approval of committees on special education and preschool education recommendations. I2, policy revisions. Is there a motion? Moved. A second. Second. All in favor? I J adjournment. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Madame President, I'd like to make a motion to adjurnn to executive session. Second. Second. All in favor? I. We'll move on to our organizational reports. Student government. Hello everyone. My name is Danny Donu and my name is
032Isabella Kugal and we are your student body presidents for the 2024 2025 school year. With AP exams over, students are now preparing for the region's exams and we wish them the best of luck. In regards to activities, there have been many exciting events within the school and many more to come. The senior class had their commitment day on May 30th where they wore clothing that showcased their destination in the fall. Whether that be their college, job or branch of the military. Additionally, this past Monday, they had their senior sunrise event where they went to the beach to watch the sunrise as a sort of full circle moment. We hope that they have the best time at prom, and we can't wait to see all they accomplish in the future. The Junior Awards ceremony will take
033place tomorrow, June 6, where selected juniors will be recognized for their commitment to their academics and receive awards from different institutions. In regards to the sports field, our athletes have been excelling. Yesterday, the boys lacrosse team won the Long Island Championship in a very exciting game. The boys baseball team won the county championship last week and the girls lacrosse team were county championship finalists. Next Monday, we will be holding our annual senior barbecue run by the student government. The senior class gets to enjoy one last meal in school altogether while signing each other's yearbooks and truly taking in their last moments of their high school years. Finally, with this being our last board meeting, Bella and I would like to thank the board for allowing us to speak at every meeting and give insight on
034what is happening within the student body over the course of the school year. We know how special of an opportunity this is that many other schools don't provide their students. So, thank you for including us each meeting. And with that, we hope you all have a great summer. Thank you. Thank you, Isabella and Danny. We'd like to thank you from the board. Your your monthly input has been amazing to all of us. We've truly enjoyed listening to you. Thank you so much for your service. Uh Forest Lake PTA. Hi, Chrissy Roth. Just representing Forest Lake for tonight. Um they don't have much to report. Their installation dinner is on Monday the 16th. Um they had field day today and that was a lot of fun for everyone. And the incoming fifth grade has the Kona
035truck coming after school on the 24th and they want to say thank you to everyone for a great year. Thank you. Manderlay PTA want to LPTA. Good evening. I'm Jen Schnitzer want to elementary PTA. As you know, June is here and we're finishing strong. We are looking forward to celebrating our graduating fifth graders. Uh, as a PTA, we have watched them grow and we'll be there to support them and their families as they embark on a new chapter in their lives. We wish them much success in middle school. Uh, tonight we have the W Elementary music students and family night at the Long Island Ducks game. So, I'm sure they're having a great time. It's a nice night for that. And we're excited for our field day tomorrow. It's going to be nice weather. I'm
036excited. So, I was anxiously watching the weather. Uh, Buzz the Bee will make an appearance at our entry parades for both our field day sessions. and we look forward to a great day. Uh with June comes Flag Day where we will recognize our PTA reflections participants and winners as well as the uh recipients of our WTO elementary school scholarship awards. Our PTA end of year celebration will be on June 18th where we will look forward to rounding out another great year and installing our 202526 board as well as um thanking all of our parents, the community, our teachers, our administrators, as well as um our committee chairs and volunteers for all their hard work this year. Thank you to the board for your support and we hope you enjoy the summer. Thank you. Thank you.
0376 to2 Association. Hi, I'm Mary Beth. I'm doing double duty tonight, so I'll do 612 and stop. Um 612. Um we just recently had their our installation dinner. Thank you to everyone who came. We um wanted to uh thank all our outgoing and incoming board members. Um, so congratulations to them. Um, we donated um $7,500 to the 911 fund, which you just announced, and they gave $13,000 out in senior scholarships this year. And they want to wish everyone a wonderful summer. And then for SEPTA, um, I'm going to, um, also say the, uh, the games physically for the physically challenge was such a wonderful day. Um, we were able to buy the shirts for the staff and the kids. uh SEPTA was able to purchase the shirts. So, we really were happy. Um I was
038there. It was just an amazing day. Um the kids were so happy, the buddies were happy, the staff, just everyone. It was a wonderful day. So, thank you for all your support on that. Um our fundraiser, the our annual fundraiser, the night at the races, was May 10th. That was very successful. We were able to give out uh seven wonderful scholarships to very deserving seniors. Um we had our friend of SEPTA awards last night which was a wonderful wonderful night um honoring so many wonderful um staff and and community members in in Wanau for all their wonderful things that they've done for our children. And uh we just want to thank everyone again. Um and we also donated $500. We paired with Tammy's suits a couple months ago for a spring fundraiser. And then one
039of our students in Miss Desson's class, Liam Bryce, also raised $500. So we gave thousand dollars to um NSASA, National SuffK Autism Society of America, who does a lot for a lot of wonderful things for the autism community and and families with disabilities. And I think that's it. And we also donated to the 91 we're happy to donate again to the 911 fund. Um, we want to also thank the board and thank the administration and all the building administration and teachers and staff for a wonderful year. We look forward to our collaborating next year with you all and have a great summer. Thank you. You too, PTA Council. Hello, Chrissy Roth up again and on behalf of myself and my co-president Laura Graci, we just want to thank everyone for their support for all of
040our PTAs. Um, every PTA rocked it rocked it this year and we're so proud of everyone. Um, with everyone's hard work and with our staff volleyball game, we were able to give out $8,000 to our seniors for scholarships and we're looking forward to another successful year next year. Our board is staying the same. Thank you to the board and thank you to admin for all the work that you do. Have a great summer. Thank you. You too. Sports booster club. Performing arts booster club. Good evening. I'm Nicole Felino. I'm representing Wanto Performing Arts Booster Club this evening. Um, the WPABC continues to have concessions presence at district performing arts concerts and performances. Highlights since the last meeting include the high school honors and general concert and the middle school orchestra and band concerts. Refreshments were
041supplied to marching band at the Memorial Day parade. The WPABC supported the eighth grade Broadway experience production of their original musical beyond the gates with a cast board kisses for the cast and a full lobby presence. Today, the booster club provided both achievement certificates and medals at the piano recital for students completing Mrs. Delmonaco's intro to piano course. And as the WPABC rounds out its first official full school year as an organization, we are happy to share that we will be awarding andor contributing to 20 scholarships for our seniors, which will be announced at next week's performing arts um awards event. We look forward to providing support for the remainder of the concert schedule and to band at graduation. and we have announced our 2025 2026 executive board including myself and Joanna Berlu as incoming
042co-presidents and all are looking forward to further supporting our performing arts students. Thank you to the board administration and staff for collaborating with us this year. Thank you. Thank you. The Wanto Foundation I just want to extend a huge thank you to all of our uh PTA groups. Um, you know, you just heard about all the scholarships and all the events, uh, each and every year. Just tremendous support from them. Uh, the amount of scholarships, you know, we just had the senior award night and just the amount of scholarship money that our students benefit from from all the hard work that our PTAs do is greatly appreciated. And then particularly at this time of year, uh, these folks are out every night at a different event and, uh, supporting that event in various ways. So,
043just a huge thank you to our PTAs. Yeah. [Applause] Then we'll move on to our public comment. Anybody would like to come to the microphone. Anybody has any questions, comments, good evening. Um, thank you for using let me allow this platform for me to speak. I know I've been before you uh numerous times, but I'm here once again to basically express my general deep concerns and to having this soccer club donate $600,000 for a conditional use of the high school main athletic field. Um, I have offered to fund raise without any conditions for these lights. I know uh Forest Lake is currently underway and doing quite well for their field and again I'd be more than happy to help that. Um, so I'd like to know if this is a possibility. I had mentioned it
044with uh no return on that question. I I just feel alternate this would be a great alternative um instead of the donation. I believe it would restore reow and renew the integrity of the board of education and the high school and the middle school and the rest of the community if we would be able to do it inhouse without conditional um use of our fields. It kind of feels like a bribe to me. Um, I know you guys receive many donations and it's wonderful. You know, I was on the board PTA for a while when my children were in and I know the donations you do receive, but a donation is a donation. It's not conditional. And if this club is allowed and or will be allowed to um have this these lights build, we
045have a couple of questions. [Music] Um who is going to absorb the wear and tear of the field? Is that the board of ed? Are they going to give you like a yearly stipen for anything that is damaged or broken or worn? um security. Who will be hosting that in security? Um is that their own security? Will the board of ed or the Wanto school district be responsible for any security around these? Um who will absorb any cost maintenance and the burden for any insurance liability? Do they have insurance that were to um cover anything? Do you guys have any underlying like is there a cap and will you have to have like some underwriting insurance waiver to cover any injury for the participants? Um, and if the security I forgot this one, if the
046security um is to be provided by the school, does the soccer club pay for that security? Um, and okay. Um uh a really big one to me is will there be a very comprehensive scheduled supply to the outlining community schedules of games practices um cuz basically we're kind of pregnancing is um sketchy. I have no idea when and if you know I had expressed last time where I've had people over during the summer. There's people on the bleaches, aluminum bats running up and down. It's embarrassing. So, some of those things you can't predict. I get it. But the things that you can predict and the things that you are aware of, whatever contract that you may um have with them, I would really like to be supplied with any list of the games um any
047practices and will the other clubs that currently utilize the fields, will they be bumped in any way? Will they be affected? So, now we have lacrosse clubs. We have um I know there's baseball, that's the arteria, we have football, now we're going to have a soccer club plus games for the middle school and the high school. Sounds like a lot. I'm not quite sure how that will affect everybody. Um, I know that we have spoken about this and you guys have said that you're working on it, you're planning it. I haven't heard. My question is when will we know? Um, I know it's a work in progress. And if so, how much time will we have to know before these lights were to be installed? How long does it take? Um, I know that the
048school or the district, pardon me, was awarded $600,000 in state aid. I'm sure that goes to various um programs that you have here. And hopefully about another $400,000 if this um warrior logo thing. So, that's like a million dollars. Um, is there any way any of that money could be put into installing the lights as well other than a conditional use of a donation? Because if you're doing a donation and it's conditional, that's more like a bribe or you're paying somebody to use it. Um, and with in closing, um, it had been brought to my attention that one of the board members had reached out to this club in wishing and solicited this idea for the club to make this offer. So I again third time addressing this hope that these things will be addressed
049and answered and um whatever shape or form would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Hello. I'm Moren O'Donnell. I know you all know who I am. Um Oh, sure. So, you were saying about updating every the WTO community about other things. So, when are the deaf Delane people going to be updated about this whole situation? That's one thing we keep asking. And we really don't know how we're going to find out about this. Like, is it like we were hoping we'd come here tonight and you're going to say, "Okay, it's happening." Like, I mean, we don't want it to happen, but we want to know what's happening. So, don't get why or how we get this answer. Um, that's why we're here. Um, and if it does happen, who who do
050we contact when there is a situation that arises? Because we're definitely expecting situations to arise. So, we're going to need the contact information of whoever this owner is. Um, and one of the things I wanted to know is because I actually just started following them on Instagram to see like what they're about. They travel all over the world or whatever. They travel state to state. I don't even know where they travel, but I know they travel a lot. How come they can't afford their own stadium or whatever? Why do they have to come here to this tiny little area where there's no parking? There's no outside bathrooms or anything like that that they they're going to be just basically peeing behind the bleachers by the neighbors. You know, you're not going to have the school
051open at night when they're going to be here. Um and um when is this expected to start taking place? Is it going to be next week when school's over? um July, you know, there's questions we want to know. Um and also, how long is this contract that you're going to sign for this donation going to last? Is it going to be a year? Is it going to be forever? You know, there's just it really doesn't make sense to me that we come here and ask these questions because this is affecting our lives. And it will. If these lights are going to be on and these outside organizations are coming to play games till 10 o'clock at night, my backyard is right there. All of us that are here tonight, none of us are happy about
052it. We want answers. So, everyone looks and nods, but that's it. So, we're just not sure. Mod, you know, we'll we listen and then we'll respond after the public comment period. So, tonight we respond every day. I I've never heard a response. We respond every time. We don't have the final answer. But you you're saying you don't have it, but I know you do. We don't. Okay. So, if it's supposed to start like for the summer, how do you not have an answer? You know, and really starting this summer. What's that? Why are you saying it's starting this summer? Because that's what I think is happening. because they started drilling behind our houses months ago and we knew nothing about it. What was that? Please finish with your questions. We can answer all of them
053afterwards. Okay. So anyway, yeah, when they started drilling, we're assuming that's they're getting ready to do something and that was months ago and we knew nothing about it. Nobody, you know, you're saying you want to let the community know about things, but Daffodil Lane, keep quiet because we're going to do what we want and we're not going to say a word. So anyway, this is the last meeting. So that's it. Thank you. Good evening everybody. Uh I myself am an executive board member of uh a local in local 501 17 years that we uh represent over 21,000 people. So I I I kind of know both sides of the table here. But uh the young lady at the end of the table stated what kind of wonderful sports teams we had and what the accomplishments
054were and all that was done without a light. Not one single light. Okay. And now what do you guys what do you people want to do? You just want to play your own agenda. You want to bring in your lights. The word donation in a dictionary. I'm going to read it. These are all educated, but let me just read it to you anyway. A donation is something given to charity, especially money. Also, actions given, carpets, chairs, etc. with nothing expected in return. If you have to give time to this soccer team that one of your children play for, that's a bribe. Okay? If anyone related up on this table has a child, a grandchild, a nephew, a niece and solicited that soccer team, a donation is something given with nothing expected or wanted in return.
055Giving a soccer team time is paying them off for their money to let them play on that field. So, I don't want to hear the word donation from anybody because it's not the word donation. That's number one. Number two, I hope we have a good lawyers team because if anything happens to anyone's properties, there will be lawsuits filed. It's not a threat, it's a promise. Okay? So, look at me all you want. Have your any your attitude, whatever. I'm not a nice person cuz like I said, I'm on that side of the table and I know what it's like to represent a large group of people, not a school district. I'm talking to mass transit airlines divisions. I grieve. I I I go to I do arbitrations. I have done it all for 20 years.
056This is nothing but the agenda of the eight to 10 people I see here because it was voted down previously. The town voted down to not put new air conditioning, new windows in because that you guys tried to back door in the original time on the vote. And you don't care what the town wants. You don't care what's good for the school district. You don't care what the town wants. You care about your own agenda. What you remind me of is a lower level politician that we deal with in in Washington DC. Okay. That's what I feel. You're nothing less than the lower level, and I don't mean as a low at all, but you're lower level than a senator. You're out for your own agenda, your own uh um what's it called? Uh I'm
057so fit to be tied right now. Our houses are our are the largest purchase of our lives. And now we're going to have people parking. We deal with the parking BS all all season long, both semesters. Now we're going to have to deal with it because your soccer team, your son wants to play on a soccer team that you solicited a team. This is a croc is what it is. And and maybe the rest of the town doesn't feel this way. This is Wanto High School football field. It's not Wanto Park. We have Wanto Park down below Merrick Road. That's what you're turning this into. You're turning this into a park. You're ruining people's property values. You're putting people at risk. The traffic alone down that block from our own students and parents. I hate
058to say parents that blow those stop signs constantly because they don't want to go the extra quarter mile up to Wanto Avenue and down to Beltar is a disgrace. And as you can see, I don't have a problem talking and I'm not low low toned and I and I'm not scared of anything or anybody. So, I'm telling you the way we all feel. I just kind of have the cahoots to say it and do it. Okay? Why don't one of you stay by my house or Moren's house on any given day and watch how many people blow that stop sign? We call the cops. They come by. You don't care. It's not your block. Bottom line, not one of you live on that block. Every Saturday morning, I work my ass off. Pardon my French.
059I go to work at 3:00 in the morning. I work a 15, 16 hour day like everybody else. I can't sleep on Saturdays. Duh. Whatever high school team is playing, what what rap music is playing, what this music is playing, that's my only night I can sleep. And now you're bringing soccer teams and who else there at night. This is unacceptable. It really is unacceptable. You are just out for your own agenda because this was not passed previously. And the stink that's written all over it because somebody's child is on that team is a utter disgrace. That has bribe written all over it. It it it's disgusting. That's how it is. It's disgusting. The country voted down this BS. Everyone is sick and tired of politicians worried about their own agenda. You people are aboard.
060Worry about the town. Worry about the school district and what's good for the town and the school district, not for your own agenda and whoever's kid is going to play soccer. And if that's the case, I hope the kid never gets a scholarship. Have a nice day. [Music] Hi uh Frank Msina. I also live around the corner. I'm on Rose, not Daffodil. First of all, I want to thank you for the continued uh fight for our uh our name, the Warrior name. Uh but I noticed that you didn't mention the logo. So I was just wondering what if that's also included, excuse me, in the fight. Um, congratulations to the board members who were reelected. Um, and also congratulations on a great year. Um, I do have a few questions and I apologize if I
061repeat uh some things that were said. I'm getting old and I'm forgetting everything. As you can see, usually I wing this. I'm writing stuff down now. So, and I have glasses. Uh, so in the original proposal for the lights and the upgrades, it stated that the field would be only used for Wanto teams and affiliates of Wantor. uh this soccer club um will they become a part of the want community? Um, now that they're teamed up with I think a larger organization that is worldwide, uh, will they be, uh, I guess like if you like you subcontract out, will they be using will other teams not under that original agreement be have access to the field? And what someone also said, will want to teams have priority over this soccer club? Um, again, I do
062have to agree, you know, uh, we live every day with the, you know, the traffic and the the high school kids and the teachers and the and the parents going through that stop sign. Uh, my kids when they were little were at that bus stop every day and I can't tell you how many arguments I had with people who blew the stop sign, right? And almost really almost, you know, jumping the curb at times. It's pretty dangerous. Called the cops. They say call the school. School says call the cops. So, as you can see, it's frustrating. And yes, the summer is we like it is nice and quiet over there in the summer. And we get it. You know, we live by a school. I'll never make that mistake ever again. But um there are
063positives. I love when we hear the graduation ceremony from our yard and our neighbors child um graduates and we all shoot it, blow air horns. You know, it's we're a family. that street, especially Rose Lane and Daffod Lane where a very tight-knit family. Um, again, I believe this was uh brought up, so I again apologize for repeating myself, but who did approach this? Who who approached who with the soccer club quote unquote donation? Because I won't call it a donation either. Was it the board who approached them or did they approach us? So, I just want some clarification on that. Um, also, will they have access to the school bathrooms? Will and who's responsible for that if they do? My daughter told me there is an outside bathroom that uh I'm not familiar with. So,
064but um will our security guards be there to open up the doors for them to give them access? Who will be cleaning it? Who will be paying the security guards? I'm assuming it would be overtime since it's not going to be during school hours. Um and yes, will they have access to the speaker system because that is a concern. I work weekend so I'm not affected by it, but I do have Tuesdays off and for some reason they love band practice at nine o'clock in the morning and that's my only morning to sleep. So maybe we can move band practice a little later like 10:30, 11:30. That'd be great. Um, and the other concern obviously is when there is a football game, there is a lot of overspill with parking on our streets and there's
065a lot of littering. Uh there's a lot of parking on the uh uh the crosswalk, hydrants, driveways. Um will this soccer club and their families and guests uh will they be parking on our streets? Uh we don't know who's coming into the community normally when at during school hours or non-school those three three or four streets behind the school. If you don't if you if you don't live there, we know we know which cars are not supposed to be there. So we're familiar with, oh, you know, we know whose cars are there at night. So when a car comes down the street at a weird hour, we're like, well, they're not supposed to be here because the gates closed and no one, you know, the school. So we just have some concerns. Listen, I I
066know this is going to happen whether I like it or not. There's nothing I could do about it. But it's just we we just want we have concerns. And honestly, you know, yeah, we're taxpayers and, you know, I love this community and I don't want to see it be turned into a mess. I take a lot of pride in my property. I take a lot I mean, I we all keep it clean. And again, dealing with the students who just throw their lunch garbage everywhere. I get it. They're kids. But when we have football games, like I said, and there's other towns coming here, they don't care. It's not their town. So again, you know, we just have concerns and you know, I know you're going to address them now, so I appreciate it. Thank
067you for your time. Have a great summer. Thank you. All right. This is from the town of Hemstead audience or sorry a little nervous didn't say that right. Um so basically it's [Music] um addressing the likelihood and impact as such facilities on surrounding neighborhood. It would likely include regulations regarding noise, lighting, parking, and well assuring the field doesn't negative negatively affect property values. Alter the neighborhood's essential character and well as prohibiting the use of field by non-residents. Here is some more detailed breakdown. It might limit the use of the field to residents and guests. of a multif family dwelling or specific organizations with proper permits to prevent it from becoming a public nuisance. It could prohibit the field from being visible to significant extent from adjoining residential properties or from interfering with use of enjoyment
068of those properties. Other considerations adequate parking facilities and fields property ensuring that this doesn't overwhelm surrounding streets. It could also include regulations regarding traffic flow and pedestrian safety during games and the impact on the property values and neighborhood character. The audience would likely aim to prevent the football field from negatively impacting um and to ensure the significance of the essential character such as maintaining a balance between residents and recreational use. noise and light pollution. It might regulate intensity and direction of lighting of the field to prevent glare and adjacent properties. Um it may like with excuse me likely limit noise levels from the field especially during certain hours to minimize disruption to nearby residents. It also may require adequate parking facilities on the field's property, ensuring it doesn't overwhelm and interfering with the use enjoyment
069of other properties. Other considerations um drainage, landscaping, refusal, disposal, other matters that could affect the public health, safety, and general welfare. Um I mean just reading this on how affected we already are. Um, this past Sunday, I mean, I have lists, but we'll go back to like we'll just do the last three weeks. Lacrosse, taking lacrosse work and practicing against the bleaches. Do you know what that sounds like with a continuous wap whap of a lacrosse ball against the steel structure? Never mind. It's damaging it. I can't I don't think that those that structure was built to sustain that. Um, you have people at like 5:30 in the morning out the sun getting their exercise up and down that. Okay. You have So, say you have a night game, right? There's a lot of All
070the clubs were there. They leave a lot of uh garbage. 7 o'clock in the morning. There's your staff up and down those. So, not we have it all night. It's there at 7 o'clock in the morning. And there they are up and down. yelling to each other, talking to each other. It's great to communicate, but you have to realize that there are people that are so impacted by this and our quality of life. I'm not just here cuz I have something nothing better to do but give you guys a hard time. I don't think you realize it. I have invited you all over to um please listen what it's like. Um no one's taken me off of my offer. I will continue to invite yous all over to see exactly what it's like. Um, if
071you want me to live stream it for you and you feel that's more convenient, I will do that as well. But something's got to give here. And you've got to respect your neighbors. This isn't just about the lights anymore. This is bigger, okay? And you guys have to do the right thing. and let me fund raise and keep the integrity of the board because this is no way to live during the um fall or spring when it's not nice out. They're barbecuing under the bleaches with music. Okay, so that's like reverbing right back into my house. Do I call you every time that there is an issue to make you guys understand this more? I don't want to be that person. There's certain things that you deal with. Okay. But it has gotten to the
072point where there's no there's just no care. There's just no respect. And it has to stop. I paid my taxes just as much as the rest of the town. So why do I and our our community have to absorb or the that block have to absorb for everybody else? It's not right. Also, I'd like to uh state when I moved into my home 30 years ago, I did my homework. Only three buses were allowed to go down that block. And they swore on a stack of Bible they would never go past that. Well, if anyone's want to take up Diane or my offer to come to our house in the morning or the afternoon, there's about 19 to 20 buses that go up and down that block. So, it's not like if anyone in the
073town I've heard, oh, well, you should look into where you go. We've done all that. There were little tiny wooden bleaches when we moved in, not big, hairy, crazy metal ones. So, we did our due diligence. Now, somebody who's looking to retire like myself, I'm going to have to pick and choose when I sell my house. Should I call you up and find out what the schedule is so I make sure that the people don't see that the chaos in their backyard that I got to screw them? This is not the right thing to do. It's not Wanto Park. I'm going to say it again. I'm going to be repetitive. It's Wanto High School football field. And I should also say, I mean, I I grew up and was raised I I'm I'm a Seafood
074Viking graduate. You guys were my arch enemy. I moved one mile from my childhood home. I've been here for 30 years. We all love this community. We don't love this. We do not like it at all. You know, and some of you are looking at me and I and like I said, I'm I'm a pretty I've done this for many years. Some don't want to look at us. Some are looking at me like, "Yeah, I just wish this guy would shut the hell up." Whatever it is, it is. There's a reason if you're asked to come and and look at something and nobody shows up, you know why you don't show up? Because you know what the person's saying is true. If Dian's invited you over and over and over and over again and you
075failed to come over, the reason is is because you know what she's telling you is true. Otherwise, you would come. It's pretty simple. And I'm going to go back to the fact that somebody on this board's child, nephew, cousin, whoever is on that team, it stinks. That is got such a rotten smell to it. It's it's it's it's disturbing is what it is. Also, I have fixed that fence in my backyard a thousand times. I have seven broken windows on my my Florida room. Alls I keep doing is repairing it. Alls I keep doing is throwing lacrosse balls over. All I keep doing is throwing football's over. And now we're going to have a all kinds of more sports. I just put a vinyl fence up. I just spent $2,000 because I'm sick of that
076fence that the school owns. If you guys know you, if you've seen it, I have tied that fence up a hundred times and it just keeps breaking and breaking. Now I don't care about it and I just put a vinyl fence in front of it. I mean, we love the community. We love the town. It's one of the best towns. It's one of the best school districts. do what's right for the school district and the town, not anyone's personal agenda. Have a nice evening. Thank you. We're going to close the public comment. Um, all right. See, anyone else will close the public comment period. Thank you for sharing your concerns as always. Um, I'll address the non I think there was a couple of non uh light related issues first. Uh, Mr. Msina, I think
077you were asking about the mascot. Um, as far as the the lawsuit goes, that was for the Warrior name, not for the logo. Uh, that that's what, you know, going dating back to uh 2023, that was the direction that we went in. Uh and it was an attempt to really negotiate with uh the state education department uh to acknowledge some may find the uh the logo offensive. Community felt strongly about the name. Uh so that was uh the direction that we went in. Uh so that a lot of the efforts have been put uh there including you know initially contacting the state uh to to try to negotiate that uh the lawsuit uh you know inclusive of that piece. Uh so that's uh just to make that distinction. I think you had asked about that.
078Can I just I'm sorry. Y but if it should happen that the logo is if it's if this is regulation is found if they decide that they're going to get rid of the regulation, we do not have to get rid of the logo then. Correct. Yep. So we don't give up the right if they deem that it's not correct. Um yep. Yep. All right. Uh so field lights. So, uh, the reason why there's nothing to report on field lights is because we don't, uh, we don't have, uh, have not entered into an agreement with the a soccer club. Uh, we have had discussions with the soccer club. That is all still in process. Uh, so, uh, we wanted if and when, uh, that happens, uh, we want it to be a benefit uh, to the
079school and to the community. And that's really what the process we're currently engaged with is all about. Uh so there's the reason why there's nothing to report on because nothing has been entered into. Um the uh the district uh is is talking to the soccer club about what that potentially could look like. Uh but there's some hurdles there, right? Um one is we we don't want to do anything that would impact our current uh use of the uh of the fields. Um there's no intent for any individual organization that is currently using our fields to to uh to have any loss of that time. Uh that um right now what we're talking about is time where the the fields aren't in use, right? Because there are no lights on the field. Um so that's what
080we're currently talking about to see if it makes sense. Um the I and I don't want to speak for the board, but I know at the time uh when the soccer club first approached the district about this, it was uh you know almost it would be financially irresponsible of the district not to discuss with someone that uh something like this that someone was willing to make such a sizable donation to the school district. Um and that it you we we listened. we gave you time to speak and and now I'm going to respond to that. So I'd just appreciate if you'd held your comments. Um so that was the the approach at the at the time. Um and as I've shared I know with Diane and I've shared with Mrs. O'Donnell multiple times, I I
081I would love to provide you with some of those things that you're asking for in terms of details. I just can't because there's there's there's nothing to report. there hasn't been an agreement entered into um all of the points that you're raising in terms of uh you ask questions about insurance, right? All those things. We have facilities use policies that guide that. Anybody that uses our facilities is required to have insurance that's adequate. That's something that we that would be part of any type of agreement or facilities use agreement uh that was entered into. Um you ask about bathrooms. We have exterior bathrooms on Wal High School that if that was something that we were going going to move in that direction that they would have access to. Um but typically things like PA systems
082and those that we people that use our fields do don't have access to that and I'm sure that would continue as well. Um, you had asked about um I I don't know where this uh concept is coming from and I I found it insulting this insinuation that there's a uh some kind of a bribe with a some member that's sitting here having uh someone that's connected to that club. Uh I I that's there's no truth in that and that that's uh 100% I'm sorry the you he you said the board Anybody on this board have any family member, any relative, any friend that they you know anybody, grandchild, anybody keep please do. And then many of the other issues I know that that uh were raised were the nuisance related issues that I look I
083I I completely appreciate you know I know that being a neighbor of a school of a high school a busy high school at that is not easy. Uh so there there are certainly many nuisance related issues that come along with that. uh and I the the point is not lost on me or or the board that uh when you extend the use of a field that extends the use of those nuisance related items that that that go along with that. Um and of course we would work with any organization that is using our facility to try to minimize that disruption uh as as much as as as possible. Um, so I understand the frustration in terms of what is the what does an agreement look like? What but I just am limited what I can
084say because we're we're still actively exploring and discussing those things and nothing has been determined or or finalized. Um, I know you asked the question of when is it happening and you expected something tonight apparently at at at our our June meeting for that. Um, but I just don't have anything to report to you because there's there's there's nothing done. If we got to a point where we were ready to enter into an agreement, uh, then we could report on that and what that would look like. Uh, but we're we're not at that point, uh, currently. Um, I'm just looking to see if there was any other points raised. So, question was this about parking. I think I won't speak for everybody, but one of the things that we've talked about is um that they
085can only park in the school parking lots is something that we would be looking for with them. Again, we can't say what they would agree to. That's something we are looking for and something that we've discussed. So, in terms of parking, again, we don't have an agreement. Can't say that is a definitive piece of information. Um also, someone asked about additional state aid. Yeah. So that there there was a at some point something raised in terms of state aid. Uh the largest uh driver of state aid for us is uh something called foundation aid. Uh that's how the vast majority of the the dollars that that most districts receive. Our state aid for next year is flat. Uh there there's no increase in in in that area. Um there two other areas that we uh
086we did see some increases in. Uh, one is our building aid. Uh, building aid is money that we get back uh when we do work on uh on on our facilities. We file those projects with the state education department. Uh, and then when they're completed, we file the completion reports and then there's an aid some aid that starts to come back on that. So, uh, for example, if we spent, uh, $200,000 renovating a science room as we did, uh, we then file that and then money starts to come back from those projects. So, some of the work that we've done over the past couple of years has, uh, is is starting to come back to us in that form. So, we do have some building aid uh, that's starting to uh, come back. So, that
087makes up uh, a portion of our increase for next year, as well as uh, Bosey's aid. a significant portion of our overall state aid increase uh is the result of a project that we did through Nassau Aboseis. Uh we partner with them with uh for certain projects for savings and we did a large project with them this year. Uh it was a uh PA system uh in all of our school buildings uh high school, middle school and all three elementary schools. Uh we had an antiquated system in in all five buildings. Uh we did a large $1.2 $2 million project to renovate those. That was part of the capital projects that were approved in last year's budget. Uh and we now get aid back on those projects, which is approximately about $400,000. So, those are
088the only increases, our foundation aid. Um and I believe there's a million dollar number mentioned uh that that just was inaccurate. Questions? I think could you talk just a little bit about how security works at the schools um currently because I think there's a lot of questions about security related to Yeah. Um so uh when when we have outside organizations use our facilities they police their events. Uh that's uh that's what we do. We have our regular uh security on uh and then uh they are responsible for policing their events. Part of the facilities use agreement they they sign for with us is is to to manage their events as well. I I would just add a couple things. There was a comment made about barbecues under the bleachers, which obviously would be concerning. If
089you could share any information on that after the meeting. Um I think you mentioned a town of Hemstead ordinance that you're referring to. If you want to share that, take a look at it. I'm not sure what you're referring to. Um did we have any others? I'm sorry. There was a lot, so I was trying to keep track as much as we could. Um I think one question because it's come up a few times I would address is just wear and tear on the field. Of course that would mean more wear and tear. Um Moren I think you and I spoke specifically and I told you directly of course there's more wear and tear that would be on the district. it. There's not a specific answer as to how much more wear and tear and
090when that would be, but if it would certainly mean that the life of the field is a little bit less and so it would have to be replaced sooner, but couldn't give a specific time period because that would depend on how much wear and tear. Is there anything else? Anybody has any questions? So, we have a