001oh I'm sorry Mike would help and we're going to start the evening with a salute to the flag and we ask that everyone stay standing for a moment of silence for the two middle school students who were killed in the car crash last night our sympathies and support go out to everyone in the Roslyn School District I pledge allegiance to the plan 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 okay we have a lot going on in our meeting tonight but we're going to start with our agenda um item D approval of minutes item e acknowledgment and acceptance of financial reports and budget transfers is printed Communications to the board of ed Communications were received from
002Sandy pawlik Brian and Amy Smith Ashley fucorino Gene and Anthony DiBiase Rob Cheesman Riley Smith Shannon Smith Dunn Stan Feinberg tahara Anderson Lisa Shapiro Karen Thompson David Linda all back Laura Lauren and Matthew McHale Christina Ferrara muter Amy Fuchs zelch and Stephen lupolis and uh do I have a motion move second all in favor to Mr McNamara for his superintendent's report great thank you very much good evening everyone welcome thanks so much for attending tonight uh such a special night here for us for a number of different reasons um and I'm going to start uh just as we always do with with some good news and celebrations um we just had the privilege uh just a about a half hour ago to recognize our staff members that after uh four years have earned a tenure
003we had a nice reception over in our cafeteria we got to celebrate with them and their families and we wanted to take us a moment at the beginning of the meeting to recognize them on this outstanding accomplishment we pride ourselves on certainly being rigorous in terms of our hiring practices here and looking for outstanding Educators and I am just proud to say that this group is it truly meets that that criteria tonight the board is going to be recognizing these outstanding folks on this a milestone in their careers so congratulations to these Educators I'm going to read their names I just ask if they could please stand and then and then we'll recognize them Jeannie Cho Lord yeah please Laura Clark Aaron Joyce Nicole ramanula foreign furchie James ponzone Samira Cassidy Val Gompers Caitlin Wong
004Ariel Adrian carodesin Justine Hernandez and we're also recognizing three folks that received tenure earlier this year that we're celebrating tonight as well Samantha Barrett Maria malagnos and Kelsey Reger congratulations to all of you [Applause] all right um also uh interestingly enough we have three folks that are on the other end of their careers that are we will be recognizing tonight uh that are going to be leaving us at the end of this this school year so I wanted to start tonight with Don Camp Don is here with us this evening Don Works in district office he's been with us for the past five years he served as the district messenger and a bus driver here in the district I've had the pleasure of uh of working with Don each day his uh his office I
005guess I'm I'm using that term generously um is is located right across from the way from me and I just want to start by thanking Don for his uh his dedication and service to us he's a pleasure to work with each and every day just willing to do whatever needs to be done and does so easily kindly and um and and and it's just always such a pleasure uh when I think of Don I also think of him bringing in great treats to the office uh which is one thing he is known for particularly those Gourmet Donuts Dom that you bring in from uh what that Gourmet donut shop that is absolutely delicious um but Don I thank you for your your dedicated service it's been a pleasure to get to know you it's been
006a pleasure to uh to work with you and we want to wish you all the best uh in in your retirement and continued health and happiness so congratulations Don camp foreign [Applause] foreign we have two members of our our teaching staff that are retiring at the end of the year as well uh and I'd like to start with Kathy Butler Kathy where are you is she here was she not able to make it okay I'm going to say a few nice things about her um Kathy is a special educator uh here in in Wantagh high school and also a a graduate of Wantagh High School graduated in 1986 and came back to us just a couple of years later she spent the past 26 years here when I think of the word uh want to
007the words Wantagh Warrior I think of Kathy truly represents that through and through she is the type of educator that would just do anything for uh for her students and for her Student Success she is Works tirelessly at various events throughout the district you'll frequently see her supervising a sporting event or at an extracurricular event giving out covered tests with the superintendent one day after school whatever it is that needed to be done she was there doing it um she's been the Ultimate Warrior for us and I just want to congratulate her and wish her all the best in in her retirement so congratulations to Kathy Butler and then also tonight um the the man himself the legend Mr salmulay um where is Sal hiding the South where is South did he not come tonight
008either oh my gosh he was having a hard time with retirement um all right so Sal um when I when I think of Sal I don't I just don't know even where to start um there's just so many things so um Mr mulay has uh just been a a first of all um he he joined us here after student teaching a student taught here in the district and then was quickly hired to do some subbing and then a leave replacement and then um and that was in 1992 and then in 93 uh permanent position and has been here ever since um as a you know primarily here in the in the middle school as a science teacher and he's just been a fixture teaching our earth science courses he also has created just in probably
009the the most premier hydroponic lab in all of Long Island if not the state and when I when I say Mr melaye is old school I I truly mean that by uh from his whether you're talking about his flip phone yes flip phone or his dot matrix printer that he still uses uh to floppy disks I think there's still some in his classroom he is is just that but his connections with students his ability to inspire them and Inspire them to do research and Inspire them to to be lifelong Learners in science is is truly tremendous to say that he has a passion for what he does as an understatement he is frequently seen here over vacations during the summer months tending to his lab to make sure that that it is up and running
010and successful dedicated you know putting his own resources into what he does and he is going to be sorely missed and certainly will leave a lasting Legacy at Wantagh middle school so congratulations to sound you like all right uh we have a bunch of folks in red shirts here tonight and we want to talk a little bit about that um I guess about uh almost maybe a little bit over four weeks ago I got a phone call on a Thursday uh morning from Dr gazon our principal at Wantagh high school and he says I've got an idea and it's kind of crazy uh somebody called me and said we've got an opportunity to participate in this program he goes I don't know much about it yet but I think we should do it um and
011uh and and we we took a couple days to learn a little bit about it and I said it's not something we should do it's something we have to do we we haven't had an opportunity to participate in something called The Soaring Valor program and the soaring Valor program is part of the Gary Sinise foundation and Gary sinise's Foundation does amazing work to support our veterans to support our First Responders and um and as we did research we were blown away by the work that they do it is it is truly remarkable we got to learn more about it and and we had to put this program together in a very short time frame the trip was happening in just a couple of weeks so what the trip was was it was going to be
01220 of our Wantagh high school students that got to accompany uh 20 World War II veterans to New Orleans to spend three days there to travel through the World War II Museum in New Orleans with those those World War II veterans and we're thrilled tonight to have our 20 students with us and four of Our World War II veterans please give these four gentlemen a round of applause foreign [Applause] in my uh 29 years in education I have got to have lots of different experiences and travel on various trips with students I've never had one quite like the three days that I had I had the distinct pleasure of accompanying our students and our vets and it was truly a life-changing experience for me I know it was for our students I know it was
013for our staff that got to participate we [Music] we got to learn from the greatest generation and some of the most amazing men that I have ever met in my life the stories they shared the um uh the the the the way that our our students and our and and our vets engage with one another uh to learn from each other was truly tremendous and um I can't say enough and and thank the Gary Sinise Foundation enough for allowing us to participate in that amazing experience we're going to take a few minutes tonight to recognize everybody that's here we have various people we'd like to call up but we want to start with someone that we are so thankful that she reached out to us a member of our community that that is connected to
014the Gary Sinise Foundation who reached out to us to participate in this program and it's a result of that that we were able to have this experience for our kids so Mary Farrell is here tonight Mary is Wantagh resident our students attended Wantagh schools and we had the pleasure of reconnecting with her daughter who's a Wantagh grad while we were down there and I'm going to just ask Mary to come up I know Dr gazelle and invite Dr gazone as well to just thank Mary and present her with a few things so please welcome up Mary Farrell foreign I told myself I wasn't gonna tear up or cry at all tonight uh I said I did enough of that on on the trip I think we all did but I think the first round of
015applause we gave our veterans are already had a couple tears come out so I'm sure there might be a couple uh more to come uh I don't know what to say um that's unusual I get that a lot yeah but Mary is like a little angel um and and that is the truth I mean uh I got a phone call and my secretary actually I got a phone call and uh she's like this this woman called and she said something about taking kids uh scoring some vets down to New Orleans all expenses paid I was kind of walking around my secretary I was like oh I was another one of those calls and then I was like wait what and I was like sounds crazy right she's like does sound a little crazy I said
016all right let's let's bring her in I said I said let's bring her in um and uh so we set an appointment um I filled the Mr McNamara a little bit uh for Mary to come in and uh I I'm not a very trusting person uh and uh I think the foundation will tell you that I did lots of chat lots of checks and balances on this one right like what's the catch like I know you want like a deposit or something like that right and uh I had a doctor woman and Miss rossly who was just I'd say tremendous in helping me were helping us organize this trip uh join our meeting and it was uh the three of us uh Miss Farrell and some members of the organization and uh I just couldn't
017believe what I was hearing in terms of what they were willing to offer or I should be addressed on the board I'm sorry uh the uh our community and you know it was tight right and one of the first things I said to miss Farrell was this timeline is really really tight because we also have a break coming up um so it really had to all be arranged before the break and I said to her I said you know this might be tight for this year is this something that we can do next year and you know she looked at me was like I'd be honest no way like this is it like this is it this is it for New York right this is it for New York New Jersey Pennsylvania the region where
018we're going to California or Texas or something like that and right away uh Dr woman Miss rossly and I looked at each other and we said okay we got to do this uh uh my big thing was I wasn't going to be the Principal that said no to this trip and I looked at the news and I saw uh one of our surrounding districts on a flight heading to New Orleans with these Heroes um that defended our freedoms but all this is because of Mary uh for for whatever reason you decided to pick up that phone and and call us and I know you want a resident but you could have called many many other schools you decided to call us and uh you changed all their lives everyone in red who changed our lives
019forever and um they'll tell you that foreign processes and how they've shared with us that their lives have changed forever are are people in white or our chaperones you know they'll tell you uh my life has changed forever and I I very much hope so for our vets that uh uh our kids made a positive uh impression on each of you uh because yeah we owe you the best and uh Mary I just I can't thank you enough and uh so what I've we have a couple things for you just one of the things I want to give you I don't know if you had it and for the community to know uh part of um this uh trip was uh we kind of found that last second was uh they asked for or for
020like a mail call so on the plane ride home they do a mail call and all our vets get uh letters and and packages uh um just thank thank you letters and um Mary I don't know if you have a copy of this or no okay yeah I want you to have it so within I want to say like I found out on the Monday I think before we're going away on Wednesday and by the end of Tuesday we had from our school over 70 letters from from students in our in our our building uh thanking uh our veterans for for their service and for the freedoms that we enjoy today and mayor I think it's just very fitting that you get a copy of this because uh we're very thankful for uh what you
021did for our students in our community okay foreign [Applause] it's always hard following Dr gazon uh hi I'm Chris Whitman I'm the assistant principal here I was fortunate enough to have gone on this trip uh and as everybody said already it changed my life too um so much so and the staff and the students will attest to it the other day we had a faculty meeting and we showed the video which everybody's going to see and we had the students speak to our staff about it and sit down with staff members and share their experience and then I followed up at the end and like Dr gazon I swore I wasn't going to cry but the kid saw me cry the other day at a factory meeting because the emotion that I felt for what
022I heard and what I saw from everybody there was amazing so without any further Ado I'd like to um tell you who the people that went along the trip it was Mr McNamara accompanied us Dr gazon uh Miss priscoe if you could stand up please uh Miss rossly uh Miss Klein and Mr Jackson Miss Pepe was another teacher that came along with us but she could not be here tonight and now I'd like to introduce you to the amazing students who were part of this whole thing um Cara Anderson Kenneth annunziata Ryan arbite [Applause] Emily avina Sean Brown Thomas Conway foreign Corwin James Curran Stephen D'Amato Ryan Horowitz Christopher aiva Catherine Killian Angelina lamacchio Nicholas McDonald Joseph marrow Michael mitchich Lily slows Nicole tobia Laura Toscano and Christina West [Applause] and then if Christina Ryan
023Joe and Nora can stay after the thing there because I think they're gonna profiles Christina you want to go for oh Christine you want to go first uh hi um my name is Christina West uh I went on this trip recently to New Orleans and it was one of the most greatest experiences ever my veteran was Clifford during right in the front row here and he is probably the most interesting and amazing person I've ever met in my entire life he was a marine and served in the third amphibious Battalion during his battle in Okinawa in World War II during our time together he told me about a stay on the ship for four long months he described how there was no fresh food or water there was no bathing and it was the only
024source of bathing was to go in the salt water or trying to wash yourself from the fresh water coming from the faucets when they would clean dishes he also described when some did enter the salt water they would get terrible rashes on their marks and bodies causing terrible pain the depression and sickness of this ship was unimaginable he also described how when he did arrive on the island the propaganda surrounding the Americans was so immense every person that on that island believed that when the Americans arrived they would do harm to everyone Mr during watched from Terror as all these people would jump off cliffs to land on the hard rocks below just to get away from them many of the Americans gave food and water to the children as they had no sense of
025what was happening during this war during the second day in the museum Mr during described something to me that will stay with me forever he said even though they hurt everyone as much as they could I forgive them they took away my friends my relatives my freedoms but I still forgive them I have no hatred for anyone that was involved in this war it was a terrible dime but all we could do was forgive I thank Gary Sinise the foundation Mr during and all those involved for this incredible experience I can't put into words how much this trip meant to me but thank you so much thank you [Applause] my name is Ryan Horowitz and I am so honored to be here right now my veteran was Hank right there in the green and the
026gray shirt probably the most positive and amazing man I have ever met so Hank basically was a legend straight out of the womb Hank was a hank was a two pound baby and still um managed to emerge from that um he did not speak his first word until he was over three years old and fun fact that word was dog four years okay stand corrected so um Hank didn't struggle with that a little he um had difficulties in school but Hank has been so positive he never let that get to him he knew from the beginning he wanted to work with his hands and when he when the world war broke out he was eager to join he initially was in the Army Reserves but he wasn't um totally um on board with that since
027he was still just on that base so he decided to join the Navy he was on a destroyer for one year and then he transferred to an aircraft carrier for three years he um constantly saw ships fly overhead coming back from missions he was an engineer below the deck and he basically kept the ship running Hank um experienced just like any other Soldier all the ups and downs of the war he lost friends he went through terrible hurricanes as seen in the movie Kane mutiny but he also he sailed the world and he still somehow persevered and has been so incredibly positive in his life after the war he served with the Boy Scouts for 47 years he's impacted so many lives and I'm just one of those people who feel so blessed to be
028standing here with him he also loves to act and sing as you'll be hearing more of later tonight and he is so amazing I wish I could do more and put it more into words what meeting him and um having a lifelong friendship with him has meant to me but I I think I've said all I can already so please give an enormous Round of Applause for Hank okay something uh hello I'm Joseph marrow and my my veteran was Eugene zanger Eugene is 95 years old and Eugene is a beast um I learned a lot from Eugene on this trip he like the amount I've learned from him is insane uh even walking to the museum the whole day both days we walked an enormous amount and something I found funny is I was complaining
029my feet were hurting my hips were hurting and Eugene would just like run away and we we lose him every time but uh we always found them Eugene he served 1946 to 1947 in Korea and Eugene he liked talking more about Psychiatry than the war um Eugene went to school for eight years he has a PHD he still isn't fully retired at 95 years old which is an amazing lesson and Eugene thought it was just his duty to go to the war when I asked Eugene how he just like went to the war and it was no big deal for him he said it's just what they did and it was no big deal for them it's just what like we go to college they went to the Army and what he had to do
030so I think I learned a big lesson from Eugene sometimes you just got to do what you got to do and get things done and I want to thank you Eugene I learned a lot from you thank you [Applause] hi everyone my name is Nora Toscano and on the trip I had the absolute honor of being paired with Bill nasinovich she was right here in the front um Bill served in the Navy and was stationed in San Diego for a majority of his time and briefly in the Marshall Islands from 1944 to 1945. he was an engineer on the famous Higgins boats and helped to lower and raise the ramps in the back of the boats as they hit the beaches while we were in New Orleans he told me that he practiced landing on
031the beaches while in San Diego between 300 and 500 times and he had to learn how to perfectly time it so that the waves didn't sink the boats he also told me that after he learned how to do it he trained other soldiers to be Engineers on the boats and he was impacting thousands of lives even before he impacted mine after serving he got married and raised four daughters he's currently 101 years old and is still as feisty and Charming today [Applause] um being able to go on this trip with him and his daughter Susan was honestly one of the most incredible experiences I've had in my life thus far and I know that without a doubt it will be one of the most meaningful experiences I will ever live through bill is one of
032the most courageous wise funny and just overall incredible people I've ever met and certainly the best dancer I'm so unbelievably grateful for this trip and the opportunity I was given to spend time with him he changed my perspective on so many things in my life Phil I cannot possibly thank you enough for that but I'll listen to everybody [Applause] okay at this time everyone could sit we're going to play a four-minute slideshow of of the trip foreign [Music] he was a ble of company [Music] and when he plays he makes the company jump way to the bar he's a build football Company [Music] the company jumps when he plays reveley he's a boogie woogie foreign [Music] I don't know [Music] he is [Music] me no matter when will be someday I know I'll be back
033again please wait until then our dreams [Music] I know we'll keep in our hearts till then when all the world will it please [Music] so pray that our Lord is nothing but time till then let's dream of what there will be doing we'll call on each from moments of awe in front of masterpieces to cry laughing with your tour group [Music] s we are just gonna ask two more students to speak about the experience um you know the previous four students wanted to make sure they give an attribute to the vets that they're with but um I mean that's uh Noah and Angelina to come on up thank you [Applause] good evening everyone my name is Angelina lamakia and I'm a senior here at wanta high school when I first heard about this once in
034a lifetime opportunity I was driving home from Florida where I was touring colleges my mom read me the email right about when we had Georgia and the second she told me what I needed to do to be considered I began writing my statement in the backseat of the car I thought so many people would jump on this opportunity that maybe if I got my material in early enough I would have a higher chance of being selected I never thought in a million years I would be lucky enough to actually have been chosen but I'm so thankful that I was looking back on my time with my veteran Charlie Moore and the other veterans I truly think what they did was incredible I could not imagine voluntarily leaving home at the age and fighting in a
035war where my life was not guaranteed I'm so appreciative of what they have done for this country because it has allowed me to live the life I do today as I sat with my 96 year old best friend I cannot believe all the stories he was telling me Charlie was a Navy deepsea diver off the coast of Texas when he told me how he and his team had to save several burn victims from a fatal plane crash I saw his whole demeanor change witnessing him go from Cc or crazy Charlie as he calls himself to completely grief stricken was heartbreaking he told me talking about it made him relive that horrific moment all over again and how we told it made me feel like I was there as well of the stories he told me
036I will take with me forever not only did I get the opportunity to hear stories of the war first hand I was able to form a friendship I never thought I would have I hope that me and Charlie stay in touch because he truly has changed my life we do text daily and I'm really glad I got the opportunity to meet him I will never forget this experience and just want to say thank you again to Dr gazon Dr Whitman and Mr McNamara for making this a reality it is truly unbelievable that we were giving this opportunity on such short note notice talking with these true Warriors has impacted my life forever and I'm so incredibly grateful thank you [Applause] [Music] hello my name is Noah Corwin and I want to begin this by saying
037thank you to everyone who made this unique experience possible thank you to our Administration who worked hard to get us on this trip and thank you to the Gary Sinise foundation for giving us this opportunity but most importantly thank you to these amazing men and women who sacrifice everything to give us the Blessed lives we live today this experience has truly changed my life I want to give you an opportunity to learn at least a fraction of what these men have taught me these Warriors have displayed incredible acts of Valor and honor they understood sacrifice and what it means to be part of something bigger than yourself my personal Veteran's name was Earl worgan a month before his 17th birthday he signed up for the Navy he just left the date of birth section blank
038because he truly meant know what it meant to serve he was stationed on a submarine hunting ship in the Pacific where him and his comrade successfully destroyed two Japanese submarines Earl is a brave and kind soul who understood what it means to sacrifice as we walk through the museum with our veterans viewing the exhibits it brought up many emotions and memories while walking through the Operation Overlord section one veteran George Stites stopped at the Utah Beach display and he took a minute to himself finally he said this was me George made his way from the beaches of Normandy all the way to Berlin before coming home and leading a Wonderful Life the courage of this man and his fellow Warriors is what defined the greatest generation and secured the freedoms that we know also while
039on the trip retired four-star general Vince Brooks gave a speech to us and the veterans he spoke about how these men were called to action and Rose to the occasion to fight tyranny halfway across the world but he also gave words to Our Generation he told us he knew if called upon we would step up as well and this stuck with me it was a question I often asked myself can I do what these Heroes did while on this trip I asked every vet that I spoke to if they would do it again and they all responded the same way without question this made me realize that if called upon I and many of my peers would rise to the occasion we would look up and emulate the ideals those men and women who sacrificed
040everything to save our freedom our country and even the world once again thank you to all the veterans your sacrifice will never be forgotten foreign so I just want to give a couple last thank yous um just briefly on the slideshow you may have noticed like uh the warrior Warrior gear package we provided the wets uh that's sorry um we had a salute service hat with a wonton W with the American flag on it uh that was um approved by the Board of Education to to purchase and all of our veterans got a hat as well as all our our students and the chaperones uh we did purchase a couple more uh hats and we like to give them out as thank yous so uh for the Board of Education we want to thank all
041of you for your your Swift decision making and improving this trip I know that overnight trips take off the months to to approve to go through a process and you did it really overnight and without your approval we would not have been or we would not be able to participate so uh for uh appreciation uh we're gonna give each one of you a hat as well as a thank you letter packet just as you can see what our students wrote to our vets on in the mail call so thank you we would also like to thank our Central Administration for the same support again uh these things take time and you know just like that uh everyone everyone backed it Mr Jones controls the money you know backed us too uh just for the hats
042you know uh and we appreciate the hats um but uh we want to also give you guys a little token of our appreciation for your support for approving this trip so uh here's a hat for each of you foreign Club provided shirts to our vets uh they donated 20 of them uh each shirt was a a wanta uh High School shirt with an American flag on the back so we thank you and we have hats for you too so you guys Stand Up Guys they're right there right there and uh the the last group I want to thank they do a lot of great work for us in the community uh not just at the high school but district-wide are they constantly supporting our our initiatives for our teachers to do great work with our
043students uh you know once I I I spoke to miss Liz goober and um you know we got on the phone and I told her what we were doing uh she wanted to she insisted that the foundation uh have a role in um in this trip and somehow uh so what they came up with was the salute to Service uh mugs that we got you that all said Wantagh thanks you with the American flag on it so that you know that was a pretty it was like 800 so uh to get all the all those and again we that was donated by the foundation so uh Miss goober and uh so if I don't if multiple members of the board I have seven hats I know there's seven board members so uh for we we
044appreciate your your support and um so we have hats for each of you and lastly we have a performance uh that's that's gonna we're gonna close with tonight um uh would you like to come on up Hank would you like the mic you could do it without the mic I didn't think so so this is a sing-along if you know the words thanks foreign for everybody this was what like the whole trip was right I just seriously like all the emotions that we felt like we we wanted to try to bring back the trip you know and and in 20 minutes 25 minutes as best we can to let you all know how you know what we all went through and I hope we succeeded I hope you were emotional and you cried and you
045laughed and you smiled uh but just imagine two to three days of this right uh and what what are what are our kids got out of it was just just amazing so thank you this was an amazing presentation uh overwhelming um how much you guys actually got out of this this um trip and us as the board when we received our board mail the Friday I think it was March 24th um we said of course we're gonna let them go this is this is going to be an unbelievable experience but I have to be honest with you I honestly didn't think that we were going to have enough kids applying for this position to go I didn't think there was going to be enough interest and two weeks later I found out that there were
046about 50 to 70 applicants and they were needing to figure out who was going to go so I I was just filled with so much pride for our student body to want to take part in this experience and and take advantage of this opportunity it says a lot about our student body and we thank all of our veterans who are here tonight who shared their stories with our children and it's something they'll take forever with them so thank you all [Applause] all right as we close just uh once again thank you to uh Dr Azon Dr Whitman Ms rossly the high school admin team for putting this together in short notice a huge thank you to them and just uh one more message from me to our students I said this to them on the
047trip couldn't have been prouder of them uh the job they did their engagement with our with our vets they took this experience as seriously as anybody could I know they got so much out of it um every parent that's here in the room you should be extremely proud of your children and the job they did on this trip they they were unbelievable and I just want to thank them for that uh and um and once again to the greatest Generation gentlemen we appreciate that you're here tonight we appreciate your service and um and and we couldn't have been uh happier to had that experience for three days with you um there's a reason why they're the greatest Generation so thank you gentlemen [Applause] all right we're going to take a brief recess before we move
048on with our board agenda tonight we have a budget hearing that we are going to be doing this evening so we're going to take a brief brief pause allow for people that need to leave to to leave and then we'll start our meeting up again in about five minutes all right once again thank you all for attending we greatly appreciate it we're going to transition now to uh the next portion of our meeting which is our official budget hearing for the 23-24 budget so this may be one of the most difficult transitions I think I've made in my career going from our presentation we just had to the 2324 budget so um thank you once again for attending uh as part of this meeting annually uh we in our first meeting in May uh as
049we're coming up on the budget vote we hold our annual budget hearing uh we've been doing these presentations for the past several months and this will really just be a summary of those presentations all of the resources that we've been presenting around 23-24 budget are online and they're on our district website uh you know there's a link on our main page for budget so you can find all of the more detailed resources here so this will be a general overview for you of of the process and where we currently stand um one of the things that we incorporate to this process is a series of uh opportunities for Community feedback as we're building our budget uh building our budget is a process that starts in October each year and um and then as we build
050our uh different department budgets and and meet with all of our our budget uh supervisors we then you know put a final document together in January to start to discuss with the Board of Education um and then ultimately we have a series of forums you can see these are the forums that we held this year we also do a series of focus groups we had two this year um and and those are really just small group conversations that people in the community sign up for to participate in and we we hold those just to you know have those additional opportunities to engage with people about the budget and then we do a community budget survey um these are some of the goals included uh in the uh by the board that we we look to
051include in the the budget this year uh certainly maintaining all of our outstanding programs reducing Elementary class size uh we wanted to look at opportunities to expand our upk program enhance some of our new course offerings upgrade technology enhanced District facilities and expand some security initiatives across the district good news is when we surveyed a lot of these goals so we're in line with the feedback that we received from the community uh you know reducing class size expanding course offerings mental health supports district-wide security upk were all things that came up in our survey as well um this is where we ultimately landed with our 23 24 budget I'm happy to report uh below our tax cap it's a 2.57 percent increase uh and uh a 5.3 increased budget to budget that increase budget to
052budget is being offset in large part by increased state aid this year uh we're receiving as I'll touch on in a minute a sizable increase in our in our Aid part of this budget vote as well is going to be an expenditure out of our our capital reserve fund that I'll touch on in a second there are a number of capital projects that uh um that'll highlight that will look to do next year this was part of our initiative as well um with uh we you know we thank the community for their support of our bond in December two of our three Bond wow somebody was unhappy about the bond um two of our our three I apologize for that uh two of our three uh Bond uh initiatives uh were approved by the voters
053and um and that work will you'll see will start to commence over the next year and a half most of those projects are in process where we've submitted them up to the State education department for review and for approval and then we can start the process of going out to bid the larger projects will commence summer of 2024 we have some smaller projects that are that are already underway um some of the things in this upcoming budget cycle or roof Replacements I want to high school want to L uh Wantagh High School Athletic Field scoreboard exterior door Replacements as part of our security initiative some rooftop HVAC work uh in the high school gym masonry work across the district we we have something that's commencing over at Mandalay elementary school already and then some hallway
054ceiling Replacements at Wantagh Middle School this is the uh the the other item that you'll be voting on in in May in a couple weeks is the capital reserve proposition and that's the complete that work that I just highlighted this is just the legalese for the actual proposition that's on the ballot um I referenced the state aid increases state aid makes up about 25 percent of our budget and we'll total 21 21 million nine hundred thousand dollars next year uh it's about a 2.5 million dollar increase which will help offset significantly some of our really big budget drivers that are highlighted here the largest one that's impacting us uh really this year and next and last year as well had a huge impact on us is uh health insurance health insurance rates is and all
055of you know whether you work in in private or the public sector have gone up significantly and that's a 1.5 million dollar driver in our budget we also are expanding some of our special education offerings next year we are adding uh to our 6-1-1 program at Mandalay Elementary School which has been a very successful program for us that has allowed students that would have in past years gone go out of the district for for services can now stay in District so that's also a a driver in our budget as you can see here this is the health insurance that I referenced you can see the the 27.6 increase that's just over the past two years uh the average family plan uh for Empire that that most of our employees have access to is is a
056over a thirty eight thousand dollar plan a year and it's uh in just about doubled in a very short period of time um and then Staffing Staffing is the biggest portion of our budget you know Staffing and benefits that salary and benefit costs that makes up 75 percent of our our annual budget um contingency budget is always something that we want to avoid uh in in terms of having to uh go in that direction that would be about a 1.6 million dollar reduction in in a program uh if we are in that situation um good news for our budget is we're able to really achieve all those goals that I outlined we're going to be expanding our upk program to eight classes next year which is fantastic over 140 students will have access to to
057free upk we're going to be able to add some new course offerings at both wanton middle school and Wantagh High School including an expansion of our science research program and we're going to be able to reduce Elementary class size which was a goal for us ever since uh really for the past uh three years when unfortunately we had a failed first vote of our budget the all as I mentioned earlier all of these items are located on our district website and the budget vote will take place Tuesday May 16th the the hours of the budget vote are from 7 A.M to 9 00 pm and they will be at each of our three elementary schools if you have any questions about where you vote you feel free to reach out to our district clerk Elaine
058mcguigan she's happy to assist you with that and that ends my report tonight I'm going to turn it back over to Mrs Rish to continue with our meeting thank you thank you Mr McNamara back to our agenda we're at item H report of the administration I'm sorry uh no I'm right yeah animation part of the administration item H1 Personnel actions instructional staff item h1a retirements again we wish Mr mulay and Mrs Butler and Mr Camp all the best item H1B resignations C tenure recommendations again congratulations to all that received tenure this evening item h1d rescission of sixth instructional class e Amendment for extra hours F appointment of Summer personnel G requests for leave of absence and H appointment of instructional substitutes do I have a motion second second all in favor aye item H2 Personnel
059action Civil Service H2 retirement um B request for leave of absence C appointments of civil service Personnel D appointment of non-instructional substitutes do I have a motion boom second second all in favor all right item H3 contractual and other authorizations item h3a Health service agreement B driver education in car instruction program C textbook Central dwanta Seaford tracked Center courses spring program e budget increases and F extra classroom activity Charter do I have a motion second all in favor item HB h3g intergovernmental Cooperative bid agreements item H disposal of obsolete books I approval of election Personnel for the 2023 School District elections and item J destruction of ballots do I have a motion a little second second all in favor item I unfinished business there is none item J new business J1 approval of committees on
060special education and preschool special education recommendations do I have a motion second all in favor and can I have a motion to adjourn to Executive session Madam president I'd like to make a motion to adjourn to Executive session second second all in favor all right um just one other item personal item uh we accepted uh just now and and that's the resonation from Mrs Zimmer our uh principal at Forest Lake uh Mrs Zimmer is moving on and I wanted to just thank her for our service to our district uh for the past nine years served as our assistant principal over at Juanita L and for the past four years at Forest Lake we reached out to Forest Lake Community during the week to let them know we'll be starting the search process for Mrs Zimmer's
061replacement uh and that will begin quickly uh over the next couple of weeks and we'll keep the community informed as we move through that process great thank you we will now um hear from our groups so we'll start with our Student Government Sean Brown and Nyla Lester good evening everyone um thanks for waiting all this time April may have been busy months here at the high school uh firstly as everyone has seen here tonight with the honoring of our soaring Valor veterans and students this trip was truly a once in a lifetime experience and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we'll all remember it for the rest of our lives April was a national autism acceptance month and Geo or Student Government wrapped up its campaign to educate students on celebrating
062differences and fostering inclusivity within the classroom this included decorating the Showcase with informational posters an infinity sign which is the sign that represents Autism Awareness as well as making announcements every day on the loudspeaker to encourage autism acceptance the high school choral ensembles and orchestras flew out to Chicago on April 20th to perform at the world star's Heritage Festival the orchestra came in third place and also performed a joint piece with the chorus at Loyola University and a music clinic this past weekend the high school band ensembles went to Hershey Pennsylvania to compete at the Hershey Park music in the Parks Festival all three bands took first second and third place congratulations to the band course and Orchestra ensembles for these achievements for our student athletes senior Jess balconis was selected to be a newsday's
063all Long Island cheer team for 2023 and juniors Anthony and Joseph Clem were selected to be in news days all Long Island wrestling team as well our lacrosse badminton track baseball and softball teams have all been having winning seasons so we're really proud of that looking ahead into May Junior Prom will be held here in the gym on Saturday May 13th the department awards for seniors will take place on Monday May 15th and Senior Awards night will be on Tuesday May 30th lastly this week and next week students across all four grades are taking AP tests so good luck to everyone taking them that's all for tonight thank you for your time and we'll see you next month thank you how about a foundation for educational excellence good evening everybody I'm Liz Cooper on behalf
064of the Wantagh Foundation Gail and Barbara here tonight as well but I'm coming up to represent so uh first off we want to extend our thank you to the Gary kinese foundation and the Wantagh High School administration and board for coordinating an amazing experience for our students that had that had their world war they had with their World War II vets the Wantagh Foundation had was honored to be a small part of that life-changing experience that our high school students had of learning about the world war about World War II Through The Eyes of those who lived it and creating Unforgettable bonds along the way so again thank you we hope that everyone's having a great year and we have three exciting things that we want to share first summer wreck is um underway we've
065done some planning at this point we've completed our interviews for our counselors we have about over 60 people that 60 middle school and high school students that had interviewed we have close to 180 students enrolled so enrollment is is filling up pretty fast our deadline for enrollment is June 1st so more information about that can be available on our website and I know that our District's going to send a final blast out for any parents that are interested in enrolling their children another thing we want to mention is that our teacher grants that we've had the last couple years is closing out for this year this year we've issued seven grants a total 15 last two years for all the teachers in the five different schools of Wantagh a lot of these grants vary through
066areas of science inclusion programs field trips art and drama and other enrichment programs so we want to again thank our teachers for submitting some thoughtful proposals and we're just happy to be able to support such great great initiatives in the classroom finally we have some great news to share recently the foundation was awarded a 25 000 Grant through Nassau County we are thrilled about this we've been working with the district we've met with Caroland and Mr McNamara to find other ways that we can further enrich some of the great programs that um we can have for our students and you know we're very excited to be able to continue the work so again we want to thank Nassau County for this very generous Grant and for a community at home a lot of all the
067things that we can do is really um you know can be done without the support of our community and grants like this so to learn more about us please go to our website and we welcome any support that our community can provide to us because all the money that we provide goes right back to our district so thank you and we hope that everyone has a great remaining school year thank you thank you Liz and thank you to the foundation for working so hard to help our district we appreciate it uh how about PTA groups Forest Lake Katie or Laura hi good evening I'm Laura Grassi um just wanted to go over a couple of things happening at Forest Lake in the next two months we had a very successful parents Night Out in partnership
068with Mandalay last weekend tomorrow is our staff luncheon if you drive by the school tonight you'll see there's uh we put up a sign for appreciation of all the staff we are going to be sponsoring breakfast for them and then as Cinco de Mayo themed lunch for tomorrow next week on Friday May 12th is our annual plant sale May 24th in conjunction with Mandalay as well we're doing Adventure Land night so they'll close the park down and everyone can go and enjoy on June 6th is our field day June 7th is um we're attending the Ducks game where band Orchestra and chorus are going to be singing on the field with everybody so everyone's really looking forward to that we've sold about 450 tickets for that so far on June 14 18th is our installation
069dinner next Tuesday is our last PTA meeting of the regular school year and I just want to congratulate the following parents for coming in for executive board we have Lindsey Vogler Haley rohi Christine DeVito Catherine semler Emily McCann and Christine Rizzuto and our new incoming president is Diana Serena and I want to thank Katie Savage for her dedication and time to the Forest Lake PTA she is on her way out over the last two years a lot of great changes with her so thank you so much for that and that's all I have thank you thank you Laura Mandalay Suzanne or Danielle or both good evening I'm Danielle taravecchia and I'm Suzanne Dressler tonight we would like to congratulate all the wonderful Educators receiving tenure very well deserved um we wanted to go over a
070few exciting things happening at Mandalay we just had our Candyland dance we had a whole theme it was it was um a gumball machine made out of balloons we had candy necklaces we had a whole candy table for the kids cotton candy we sugared them up real good we had a DJ we had a photo booth the kids all had a great time the special person that brought them had a great time and we want to thank the SEPTA for the sensory room that they provided for our special needs students um we just had a successful parents night out as Laura just said with mulcahy's it was a lot of fun we got a lot of great feedback on it we just hosted our teacher appreciation breakfast this morning we catered it from Jones Beach
071Deli to show our teachers just how much how thankful we are for them we have our plant sale coming up next week we have our Adventureland family outing on May 24th we have the Ducks game coming up on June 9th and our fifth graders are looking forward to dessert night and all their graduation festivities we're beginning to tie up all the Loose Ends and get ready for their move to middle school and we also are in the works with Mr bursky working on field day and the PTA is going to be providing shirts for the entire School including our Pre-K class so that everybody will be included in the day and the festivities we're going to be providing the either Isis or the Kona Ice Truck and we're going to provide lunch for them as
072well and we would like to congratulate our new PTA board who was voted in last night and thank you to all our fifth grade board parents who have been on our board and dedicated their time for a very long time and I would love to thank Suzanne for the last three years dedicated all of your time to Mandalay you are unbelievable I don't know I'm going to do without you and we'll be celebrating that on June 1st at our installation dinner and can't wait thank you all foreign or Bridget SEPTA Trish Trisha or Liz or Mary Beth hi good evening um we also want to congratulate everyone who received tenure tonight and um thank you to the vets in the high school it was a great presentation we would like to also welcome our new
073newly elected board members Sophia stepanoff and myself our co-presidents Belinda Rodriguez as Treasurer Kristen Sullivan a secretary and Ways and Means Jill Jansen and Christina Ferrara we're looking forward to working closely with the one job Community our final meeting is June 14th it's our big meeting it's going to be the friends of SEPTA Awards so if anyone were taking um you could fill out the form on the Google form on our website they're due on May 19th and it's a really lovely um It's A really lovely meeting to honor those in the community that have worked with our children we'd also like to thank Mandalay um for collaborating with us on the sensory room for all the children at the the dance we really were able to we we appreciate that um and that's it
074for SEPTA so come on down what I'm dumb acceptance [Music] hi Chrissy rothapp 612 co-president shout out to Jen over there and to Mary Beth ready Welcome to the Jungle you've got kids to teach now you've got your tenure and you can finally breathe on behalf of 612 Association we would like to congratulate our newly tenured teachers and staff may you have many enjoyable years of your career ahead of you thank you for being a friend traveled down the halls and back again you teach our kids you're a pal and a confidant 612 should our appreciation for the staff at both the Wantagh middle and Monta high school today by providing a delicious staff luncheon that was sponsored by the Jones Beach Deli we are so grateful for the wonderful staff at both schools and
075hope that everyone enjoyed their lunch today why do you build me up build me a buttercup baby just to let me down oh wait I have one every rose has its thorn thank you to everyone who supported our 612 plant sale all pre-order pickups will be next Thursday May 11th at 5 PM outside the main entrance of wanta high school we will have limited veggies and potted plants for sale as well here's a little song Chrissy wrote you might want to sing it note for note don't worry don't worry be happy at the end of time we have some trouble but when you worry you make it double don't worry don't worry be happy don't worry be happy now already worried about what's for dinner next Thursday we've got you covered with our Smashburger fundraiser
076on Thursday May 11th please support 612 in Smashburger and enjoy a night with no dishes to clean I saw the sign I opened up my eyes and saw the sign all orders for our eighth grade graduation and senior graduation lawn signs have been pleased as soon as they are in information about pickup will be sent out congrats to all of our 8th graders and of course to our seniors party like a rock party like a rock star remix celebrate good times come on it's a celebration celebrate good times come on let's celebrate and have a good time our 612 Association celebrated this week with our installation dinner for our incoming 20 23-24 Executive Board thank you to those who are able to attend and thank you to all of our volunteers and supporters we would
077also we also look forward to closing out this school year by celebrating the accomplishments of our students as we provide Refreshments decorations and scholarships at our end of the year events thank you thank you thank you ladies I think I was the biggest order on your plant cell by the way um PTA Council Cindy and Kim okay okay on behalf of PTA Council this past Saturday the PTA Council hosted the Harlem Wizards at the wanta versus wanta Warrior staff we had an overwhelming turnout despite the weather outside the teachers faculty staff and administration that played were all amazing and by the end the score was tied the final shot came down to Mr McNamara who unfortunately missed however it was not my words I'm really sorry about that it was a wonderful time for everyone
078and a super fun event to host on behalf of the entire PTA Council we would like to thank all of the players volunteers Eric Hirsch who sung our national anthem the parents and students that came to cheer their favorite teachers and the entire Wantagh Community for your help and support for this event we raised enough money to give out several scholarships to our graduating seniors this year Tuesday night we had our installation dinner at the Irish poet to install our new executive board thanks to the 612 Association well you're welcome um for setting everything up lastly I want to congratulate all the teachers receiving tenure tonight and to our amazing students who are chosen to participate in the soaring Valor program [Applause] cut out okay bandwagon Brandy and drama club Kim or Susanna hi I'm
079Donna um nothing really to report the curtain has gone down all the shows are done we just finished the High School production of SpongeBob and that was a lot of fun I think of everybody was surprised how great that show was um and that's really it so we're winding down the year went fast and we just had a nice time so thank you thank you very much before we open the mic for our public comment session on behalf of the Board of Ed I'd like to read a statement regarding our mascot logo and name issue that we have before us and I hope that this might address some of the questions and concerns that our community has on Tuesday April 18 2023 the New York State Department of Education adopted a new regulation regarding the
080prohibition of the use of indigenous names mascots and logos by public schools the regulation took effect yesterday May 3rd 2023. it states that no public school in the state of New York May utilize or display an indigenous name logo or mascot other than for purposes of classroom instruction as a result of this new regulation the Wantagh school district is one of approximately 60 school districts in New York state that is impacted the current nickname for our school's Warriors and the logo includes a representation of a Native American figure the Board of Education understands the emotion and pride our community alumni and students have with respect to the warrior name and logo the warrior name is not just how we refer to our sports teams it is how generations of Wantagh students and community members have
081identified themselves it's tradition once a warrior always a warrior we hear you and share in your frustration caused by this new regulation we do understand that the current logo may be offensive to indigenous people and that a change needs to be made we do not want to offend anyone with our logo and we'll have a process in place to develop a new one that represents the pride we all have in our school district the district will be removing the indigenous logo and imagery over the next two years as required by the regulation a committee of various stakeholders including students alumni and community members will be recommending new imagery to replace that which is currently in place however we firmly believe that the district's Warrior name is not in violation of the new regulation that was
082established by the Board of Regents the warrior name does not fit into the definition in the new regulation which states indigenous name logo or mascot means a name symbol or image that depicts or refers to indigenous persons tribes Nations individuals Customs symbols or Traditions including actual or stereotypical aspects of indigenous cultures used to to represent a public school including but not limited to such School sports teams therefore the district would like to retain the nickname and effectively Rebrand it we fully understand the removal of other names that fall within the regulations definition and include actual or stereotypical aspects of indigenous cultures however Warrior does not fit into that category we continue to hear the term Vestige meaning a trace remark left by something that has vanished or no longer exists being used as a reason
083for the change from the name Warrior this however does not appear anywhere in the new regulation the regulation does not state that a name that is a Vestige or a former indigenous imagery that falls into that category must be removed as well the New York State education department has made statements that Chenango Valley School District in Binghamton would not have to change the warrior name because they use a Greek figure as their logo this further indicates to us that nysit does not believe the warrior name itself is offensive or that it refers to indigenous cultures or that it is inherently a Vestige and therefore it can be successfully rebranded in addition as we shared at our last planning session the costs the district will incur as a result of this change are substantial our current
084estimates are over six hundred thousand dollars if both the warrior name and the imagery are changed this cost is reduced significantly if the district removes the imagery only and rebrands the name as this is an unfunded change that New York State education department is placing upon only a handful of districts across the state the cost savings by maintaining the name should be taken into consideration as well again while we fully understand the need to remove the current logo the idea that the warrior name is now a Vestige and must be removed is where we believe the New York State education department interpretation of the regulation goes One Step too far if other districts can successfully use the warrior name with other non-indigenous imagery why can't the Wantagh School District the warrior name is not synonymous
085only with or indicative of the indigenous people and the Board of Ed is confident that we can effectively Rebrand it with input from our students District staff and community members to this end we have retained outside legal counsel and initiated discussions around legal options should the New York State education department take issue with the district's plan we have also reached out to other Warrior districts to learn how they may be proceeding and determine if and how we can work together as our districts look to keep our Warrior name additionally we have been in contact with the New York State education department to discuss our approach but have not yet been successful in coming to an agreement we look forward to a continued conversation with New York State education department and will continue to keep our
086community informed as we proceed thank you foreign if anyone would like to come to the mic the mic is open good evening and thank you for your time my name is Michelle barratta I unfortunately learned tonight while watching the news that the Wantagh school district is being sued by the Roosevelt School District while I know usually you cannot discuss situations such as this I was hoping you would shed some light as it is now public and newsworthy I also understand that the people on the stands involved in the allegations are not our students and parents but are a group that have been causing Havoc around Nassau County High School sporting events we are now on the hook for legal expenses for the Roosevelt district and I'm sure you will all agree there is no room
087in our budget for that thank you for your time good evening uh first of all thank you for that uh display and presentation I'm a huge World War II buff so I had no idea this was happening tonight so I'm glad I came I'm not really here to talk about the logo obviously you know where I stand my question is though there was something mentioned with the state about if the child or children walk into the school wearing the logo now my kids have these shirts with the Indian head on it indigenous people whatever we're warriors I've been in this town for almost 20 years no one's telling my son or daughter to go home I'm telling you right now I have about a list of about almost 50 people in this town who will
088willing to take legal action if that if our children are sent home so I don't know what your stance is on that but I'm actually here to talk about something else um I'm uh I have a child in Forest Lake that's graduating with stepping up and a daughter in the middle school that's stepping up so I have a very busy month uh but I'm part of Mrs Zimmer's uh Safety Committee which uh includes I believe in Nassau County uh police officer some of the staff security guards and few parents and we get together quarterly to discuss all safety issues so since being part of that team I've I've actually stepped up my own personal um education of of safety recently I had to drop something off at the middle school for my daughter and in
089that little vestibule there were about a half dozen ubereats GrubHub um packages now I I didn't think about it at first but the more I thought about it I was like this is listen I know this bigger fish to fry but in the end all fish goes bad so this is a small fish but it's something that could be rectified what if in God forbid someone is deranged or has issues or whatever and they say hey to their friend go go home get my gun or whatever or my weapon go to Chick-fil-A bring a food and send your 10 year an Uber driver and bring it in a GrubHub driver or whatever now that person goes and gets the bag and now they have a weapon in the school now I was also told by
090a few people one person telling me Oh all the bags are vetted they all opened up and they looked and I spoke to a few security guards who have become close with over the years and they tell me they never look in the bags they're not allowed to because parents have complained and parents have also complained that called the school and complained that oh my daughter's latte was cold which is beyond ridiculous so frankly and I'm sure a bunch of the high school kids are going to hate me you could tell them all come talk to me if they want I don't really care because my child safety is the most important thing to me so I think this is something and I don't know if it's any other school districts this is something that
091should end it's stupid pack your kids a lunch like we all did when I had a lunch box I probably still have it in my basement I'll gladly donate it okay it's something that should be should be really considered for the and again it's a small thing and it's an easy fix so thank you and thank you again for that night thank you foreign the little league is doing some fundraising to Turf at least one field uh on the Beat Street Fields uh and have been doing so for the past couple of weeks I'm curious to know the school board's plan for the field and what your plan is to reach out to the surrounding family homes thank you okay hi guys how you doing good evening uh Matt susco resident alumni sorry for my
092attire I didn't know we'd have this opportunity tonight but um um about the logo actually I was it was a very good speech that you had and I commend you guys for stepping up especially the board that's volunteer um just wanted to know um how are you going to keep us abreast of the progress of this um would it be something like when um Mel Turner uh the custodian was uh fired and rehired how there was a Special Assembly requested for that will there be like a regular will it be regular meetings just for the logo because I really want to know the details and I think I share this with most the community and you guys yourself uh it's so much broader when they say Banning a logo I mean well every trophy that
093has the logo on this have to be removed the fellow over there talked about the visibility of his kids shirts you know that would be a big concern too how deep is it you know so I think you guys have are doing the right thing but well how would you guys keep us abreast and if we wanted to have just meetings for this logo because it is a big broad thing that would affect the community and the pride of the kids um yeah I just want to know how that would go thanks very much anybody else nope um I have to just tell you in the beginning I was incredibly emotional it was so beautiful that to see the veterans and all the kids what a special thing and I just I'm overwhelmed by it
094and I absolutely loved every minute of it that you could have that here in this school and to have these kids have this memory and I just these veterans just impressed me and I just loved every minute of it I also would like to say thank you to Laura for um what you stated that was very thorough and we are very upset about this um I'm upset about the waste of money I think that I love the fact that you're going to go after them you have a lawyer involved I think honestly my opinion is that I feel that it should have also been done sooner there's so many things in the past that we've had to encounter with hokel that we should have I mean more of a fight like if just imagine if
095we had all of the schools come together the superintendent whatever and and we stand up to her who knows if it would work she's a tyrannical she's horrible oh I don't want to get and um I just if you guys could seriously take what we said we we may I don't know how many people are feeling the way I do you know how I feel about I come up every week month and if we could have you guys continuously Reach Out write the letters to hokel like Massapequa it would just at least be something so that's that's where I'm on that um and now I just want to get to what I wrote and I got a good chunk out of that because you spoke so I thank you for that and I would and
096I like what the guy said also about being in on the logo every step of the way I love that I also love the fact I was didn't even think about it but I had to pick up my daughter um at lunch time and I was like oh my gosh I literally I think I was in the front of the building for 15 minutes and I I started to count the Uber drivers it had to be in excess of 15. I could not believe it one after another we had to move our car up the line because they were just parked it was insane so I never thought of that that's but I did speak to my husband on that note and I was like my God this is so on there's the safety aspect
097of this so I really agree with that as well um so we know all of the schools across the county including this district is pushing woe Cardiology Dei Dei and CRT and my husband and I are opposed to this Garden truth is being taken out of everything um we actually took a tour of two different high schools in South Carolina and I I couldn't believe how much time they spent with us literally I was shocked we were in each school for an hour they literally took us to the whole school is absolutely incredible and I was pleasantly surprised that they believed parents should have more of a say in their kids lives as it should be they told us if we didn't like let's say the woke reading material it can be flagged in the
098computer system and this way my daughter doesn't have access to the woke reading material that we disapprove of and so my question is can want to implement a system like that in Vermont they are removing male and female terms from lessons on the reproductive system in their elementary schools I would like to know since the past two years has gone by has the health has the health curriculum changed and are there any plans in the future to change the health curriculum and if the health curriculum does change I would like the community to be privy of the specific changes also [Music] regarding what that first guy stated in terms of security I will never let this go but we need armed security guards so right now if you look around we're all facing the stage
099if someone were to come in here with the machine gun what will we be doing hiding under these seats and perhaps running to the nearest exit what are we going to do I know that the arms the security guards that we have are ex-police officers they all are allowed to carry outside of the district outside of school property and I believe that we should arm our security guards because they are sitting docks the same as the rest of us so that is something I will not let go lastly I would like to know when the order will be over the best guess and how long before we find out the results and I would like to leave everybody with this all throughout school and life we are told to stand up for the week be
100bold if a teacher parent administrator those serving on the board of ed legislatures coaches Etc don't start sticking up for the kids in this generation [Music] who will be to blame stand up for what is right and not what we are told to do you need to do what is hard and not what is easy thank you okay that's uh everyone then we'll close the mic on our public session I just want to address myself um two things um I believe Mr cesco asked about the um items in the school already that such as the plaques and trophies and the logos that appear on those items the name Warrior of God forbid we can't keep it um those don't have to be removed it's all the signage those types of things are what needs to
101be removed according to the state regulations so anything that's historical can stay Mr Messina correct Mr Messina as far as your children wearing or anybody's children or parents coming to a sporting event or some sort of you know event here at the school you can wear whatever you want you can come to school and they can come to school in their Warrior Garb if they still have it and want to wear it it is only school officials that are not permitted to wear it so we cannot keep anybody else from wearing whatever they want to wear to school so that should answer those two questions for you thank you great and I think the only other question regarding the mascot was just uh you know process and keeping the community informed you know we'll we
102do regular updates at these meetings and then when we get to a point Mr susco when we need to have some discussions with a committee of you know about the the change process for the imagery you know we'll have we'll we'll be getting stakeholder input we'll do survey work we're going to have a committee that we'll meet and then we'll give regular updates on the progress we'll post those updates to the website so you can view it there we'll go with updates here and then I'll generate letters that'll go out to the community as well about that progress so we'll keep you updated that that way um Mr mahalic was it yep um the one told yes we had some discussion about Montauk Little League they are interested in turfing one of the fields in
103Beach Street I believe it's field one that's the one and they're in the process of seeing if they can afford to do that project and make it as a donation to The District so we're awaiting a final word from them I'm happy to have discussion with any of the residents in that area at any time we could you know when we I guess we get a little further along to know more definitively if that project's going to happen and what it's going to look like the scope I'm happy to have a meeting and go over that we can invite Lily we can invite the company that'll be doing the work and go over that and hear any concerns you know that that you may have so please feel free to email me after the meeting
104and just with your contact info and I'm happy to reach out to you if you want to be a representative to kind of help coordinate that that would be great all right yeah um and uh Mr cesco Christina I think that oh and um Mrs DiBiase so um as far as I'll answer the easier ones first New York State Comptroller audit uh the field work is completed um best guess for a report probably late fall early winter that's you know typically like process wise it would be my guess and the audit that I I believe if the audit that you're referencing is the the Comptroller audit that's what that is um and the the curriculum Health curriculum we follow the New York State health curriculum so that all that's available online that has really uh
105Gone unchanged they haven't had any new standards there uh uh that that I'm aware of uh but uh we can I can sort of look at that further for you um and there were some other things there I don't know if I got got it all uh but uh you know if there's anything else what's that oh ubereats I'm sorry I didn't answer that um so yeah so when process is taking a look at some security initiatives Mr machine at the the high school and middle school one of the things we're moving towards is ID badges for secondary students and one of the things that came up as part of that conversation was that delivery service uh so we're going to continue to have that conversation I don't have a definitive response for you in
106terms of that ending or not but that has been part of the conversation we've been having so I'll be able to get back to you you know in the coming months about you know decisions for next year going forward okay um and then lastly um uh Mr thank you for your question about uh the the the press conference that was held today um some of the the media Outlets covered it um we were certainly uh you know we're in a difficult position in terms of being able to comment on that because it's a lawsuit um uh you know certainly caught off guard by some of the accusations that were made in there to be perfectly Frank um we were aware of some concerns but certainly some new concerns that were brought to light had never
107been brought to light in the past so we will certainly continue to look at that work with our attorneys on that but I can't really comment beyond that and I apologize I would love to uh but but I cannot yeah yeah so thank you for your concern I appreciate that thank you everyone for coming