001Good evening and welcome to the public hearing before the business meeting of June 26, 2025. Um, I'm going to open up the public hearing portion of our meeting for the review of the district code of conduct and the districtwide safety plan for any community comments. There's no community here. Dr. Luff said he did not get any uh questions that need to be an needed to be answered. So, I did get feedback from one community member who had reviewed the plan and had shared some questions. None of the question questions are um relevant to the specific plan. Although he did give me some items to follow up on regarding sort of general safety mostly as it well entirely as it relates to uh the installation of the solar farm next door and potential safety hazards associated
002with that uh but nothing that would directly go. But does that affect our doesn't affect our safety plan? No, I mean the questions he had asked we already have protocols for like emergency evacuation routes and stuff like that. There's other things that we need to follow up on. Okay. Um but nothing that would be nothing that would directly influence our plan. Okay. And the code of conduct, how does that get distributed to Well, that's in the code of conduct. We're doing them both now. I opened them both for public comment. Um, so the code of conduct is in the uh student rights uh their uh handbook they sign every year student and parent sign. Yep. And that's done through a Google form for is it all of the schools Dr. Loft? I know. Okay. So
003parents are made aware of the code of conduct via email and parents have to sign off that they have received it. And students at the high school also or the middle school also I don't think they do it. Middle school students have to sign off on it. Middle school high school. Yeah. Yeah. Middle school. High school that I know there's things there for staff too. Does staff have to sign off? Staff when they're hired sign off on that. Okay. How do you make it available if there are changes for the staff to know that there are changes? It's always available online and if there's any substantial changes, we would just make them reertify it. Mhm. So, we could check with our attorneys whether they need to reertify it this time around. So, the one that
004we're going to approve will be the one that the parents and the students will see in September. Okay. Good. Good. Great. That's the reason why the resolution is waving the second reading. Yes. So it gives us an opportunity to get that distributed and we're going to check to see if staff need to reertify based on the changes. Yes. Okay. I think it's great um I'm part of the middle school steering committee and I think it's great that the middle at the middle middle school steering committee um we went over the code of conduct um to see if there were any suggestions that we had. I thought it was really I'm sure they do it at all the steering meetings. Yeah. building steering had that opportunity. Essentially, everyone had their own document. They made their own
005comments and then I uh co-ediated all of those comments into a single document. Then we resolved those comments with help of the policy board and that that completed document is what uh is now before the board. I think it's great that you got input from each school and parents, community members, teachers, staff. Good. And did they get it at the high school building steering also? Uh I believe it was a part of the process. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to uh attend those meetings, but um I believe Dr. L said all three steering committees, all three buildings were able to do that. Great. Well, recess and come back. Since there is nobody here to make comments, we are going to recess um and come back to the business meeting at 7 o'clock. Thank you for being
006friendly. Good evening. I'm reconvening the business meeting of June 26, 2025. We took a brief um we opened it up at 6:45 to talk about the district's code of conduct and the district-wide safety plan. There were no comments from the audience. Um, so now we are reconvening our meeting. We're going to stand for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I'll first open it up for public comment on agenda items. Okay. The treasur's report for April 2025 is available in the business office. So the first thing we're going to do is the consent agenda. Uh Sam. Okay. resolved upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools to approve agenda items
0072 through 10 as contained on the consent agenda for this meeting. Second questions or comments. The consent agenda includes approval of the previous meeting minutes cseps placements approval for additional unpaid hours for various staff members and the postseason stipens for the spring coaches. approving several contracts and agreements. One with Chubs uh Chub Insurance Company, one with the construction trade services which is a renewal of the bid companies called SRT Construction. A bid renewal for boilers and related equipment which is first heating solutions and the water system operator renewal of that bid which is Lumar Plumbing. Approving a leave of absence for a teacher in a specific tenure area. Approving the 2025 ESY program staffing. approving additional summer workers to work in the technology and in the um facilities department, amending the time for the reorganizational
008meeting for the board of education for next Tuesday, July 1st to 8:00 a.m. and we're approving budget transfers over $25,000 for the period May 21st through June 24th, 2025. Any other comments? Just just a quick comment. Uh two things, Dr. L. If you could please explain what an ESY is for the public and also the leave of absence that is not a true absence. Can you explain that please also for the public? Sure. So ESY is the extended year program. That's a program that some students have on their IEPs. It's indivi individualized education plan. So it's um students where the we believe that there would be too much regression over the summer if we didn't continue to provide instructional services. So those students receive those services from our own staff and clinicians over the summer
009for the extended school year program and oh the leave of absence. So in order for a student to students in order for an employee to acrue seniority in any certification or tenure area, they must be at least must represent at least 40% of their case load. So we've had several teachers over the past few years that were split with 60% in one tenure area, 40% in another. U if scheduling doesn't allow that to happen and they drop below that 40%, uh we asked them to simply take a leave for that tenure area. So while Mr. England is still a full-time teacher in our middle school. He's um not doing 40% of his work in the tenure of social studies and therefore is just taking a leave from acrewing additional seniority there. So there's still here
010100% of his day. So he's probably in his case he's also a special education teacher. So his course load next year is probably 80% special education 20% social studies. That's not enough to acrew seniority. So therefore, uh, he will acrew a seniority in special education, not social studies. But if the following year he were to return to 40% of his case load being social studies, he would pick back up where he left off. Okay. It's a pause from pausing it because it doesn't represent 40% of his of his work. Right. Thank you. Um, my only other comment is Mrs. Bolino, you don't have to do this again. I don't. Thank you for all the times you've read them. Very well. Thank you. We appreciate it. We're gonna start this already. We have days left. Days.
011We had a We had a moment the other day. Two days. How many hands? Two. Two. Two days. But that's plural. I got still got an S. I got out of my mouth the other day. I'm like, do you know there don't even say it. Don't say it. Just Just go in your office. All right. Uh, all in favor? I oppose. Abstensions. the resolutions pass. Okay. Our presentations tonight are on the code of conduct and the district safety plan. So, prior to us convening the business meeting, we held a public hearing for both the district safety plan and our code of conduct. Um there was no additional comments for either. Um both have been vetted through the appropriate um safety committee as well as the policy committee and uh all the building steering committees for
012the code of conduct and will appear before the board for resolution later this evening. Okay. Um our students are not here this evening but um I can't believe they didn't come back. I know. Um, I I have to say Aiden Cassidy, um, Haley Kron, and Melissa, Marissa, Marissa Caruro. Um I you I wrote each of them um a note and and just said like how really important it is for us to hear their input, their ideas, their suggestions, their comments, their reflections on how a student feels about many of the things that we do. um those reflections and those sharings do guide our work and help us to focus on what we need to focus on which is student achievement. Um so I really appreciate their work this year for them coming to meetings. I
013know how difficult it is. The girls were both really involved in the play and other things. Um, but whenever they were here, they added so much to our meeting and I'm just I'm really grateful. We have some great people for next year and I think, you know, I'm so pleased that Putnham Valley started this before again before it was a state mandate. We thought it was important. So, um, does anybody have any other comments about this? Great. Especially Aiden, he he persevered right through the year. He was great. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the service. Thank you for the service. Y none of them I think this year were uh IB students so they didn't do like cast presentations because we g last year we gave students a hard time about not using this
014to show service to their community. And I hope that the three of them at least used it for college applications or whatever they needed to fill out. But, you know, it it means a lot to give back to your community in in whatever ways you can. So, we do appreciate their um support. Um all right, Dr. Luff, since nothing's been happening at school over the last two weeks, what do you have to report? We're finally catching our breath. Um so, I want to talk a little bit about earlier this week. Obviously the district and well the region experienced the heat wave and while Putnham Valley made a decision that was very different than many of our neighbors and I wanted to talk a little bit about why that decision was made and the thought that
015went into it. So uh over the weekend I was in communication with superintendents from across the region. I knew many of them plan to shift to half days. Um, and I never really entertained the thought because one, I'm well aware of the fact that Putin Valley is unique in many ways. Uh, one way in particular is having central educ central air conditioning throughout all three of our buildings. And while other districts said they had air conditioning, I'm not sure they have it in the same capacity in which we do. In fact, some of those who tried to stay open uh with their existing air conditioning found out that it was unable to maintain uh the level of comfort that we were here. So, um it's something that we we brag about, we tout, we receive
016rewards based upon our our installation of geothermal wells and our ability to heat and cool our building without any fossil fuels. Uh so it's it felt very counterintuitive for me to say um even though we have central air conditioning, I'm going to send hundreds of kids home uh to houses that do not have air conditioning. Uh and I'm going to ask hundreds of parents to now take off of work so they can care for their children that were forcing out of otherwise air conditioned buildings. So it didn't really make um a whole lot of sense to me. it. Uh there was obviously concerns about transportation. We discussed those concerns as well. Our large buses do not have air conditioning and um but again that was in conversations I had with transportation. I was on a
017bus parked at the elementary school waiting for students on Monday when it was 96° outside. Talking to the drivers, we we came to the realization that if we had dismissed at 12:00 rather than 3:00, it may have been 2 or 3° cooler on that bus, but it was not going to be anything substantially different. We did change how we do drop off and arrival, we minimize the amount of time that students were on stopped school buses. So our entire morning procedure where we park the buses in their spots and we dismiss the students at the same time in the elementary school or where we hold buses outside of the middle school until arrival time. That was entirely changed for those days. The students as soon as buses arrived students were able to disembark and enter
018the building. And I thank all of those support staff, administrators and teachers that helped facilitate that. Uh as well as um dismissal. We expedited the dismissal process to ensure that buses the students were not sitting on stop school buses uh for a long period of time. I'm happy to report each day we transported well over a thousand students to and from school on school buses and had zero health issues associated with that. We also transported students to Danbury and Pikipsy for school trips on Wednesday. On Tuesday, we had students at the town park in the morning. I was there with them. Again, we took all the precautions and steps necessary, but we weren't forced to alter what our educational instructional plans were for those days. So, I just wanted to let everyone know that it
019wasn't it wasn't a surprise to us. It wasn't like we were unaware it was going to be 100° on Tuesday. Um, but we did have these conversations and we made a decision that we thought was in the best interest of our students, the best interest of our families, and the best interest of our staff. So, uh, those that was the thinking or the rationale that went into the decision. I did receive one single email. um from a parent who was upset that we did not dismiss early. I I can promise you if I had announced an early dismissal, I would have received probably a hundred times that. Yes. Um number one email. So, um I'm glad everything worked out. Uh but I did want to get it out there in the public that it wasn't
020uh a decision that we made on a whim or something that we didn't consider or caught by surprise. It was something that we thought out, planned, uh made changes, and executed. Uh, regarding the nothing's been happening in our schools comment. So, at the high school, we had our Hall of Fame and uh, Hall of Fame and Student Athletic Awards induction. I want to thank Rob Webb and his staff for putting that together, all of our coaches and students. We inducted four new members to the Hall of Fame. I know the evening went on a little longer than anticipated. Uh, but I know that changes are already in the works for upcoming years. And we had uh, an amazing high school graduation out here on the baseball field. It'll probably be one of the five best
021weather days of the entire year. Um, so you can imagine the comments I would have received if we were in the pack. I was glad that it was able to work out and uh the setup was amazing. The the weather was amazing. The students looked great and I thought the ceremony went uh fantastic and quick. So, congratulations to all the students in the class of 2025. Congratulations to their parents, families, friends, and everyone else. Um, for anyone who really love the setup on the baseball field that's still going back to the turf next year. Sorry. Uh, at our elementary school, we had our flag day celebration. Uh, all the students stand around the circle with a flag pole in the middle and sing patriotic songs and take pictures. It was, uh, Ben Derland was out
022there with his guitar leading the way. And it's always a fantastic event, uh, for our students. Our senior walk was held at the high school. I made mention of it during my fourth grade moving up speech that those fourth graders were eight short years away from wearing the cap and gown to return to Pun Valley Elementary School to walk the hallways and thank their teachers. We did extend it a few years back to also include the middle school. So those seniors also walk through the middle school for their capping gown celebration. Nice. Kindergarten show is probably um the favorite activity of the entire year. There's nothing better than five and six year olds standing in the front u of the stage singing to their families. Um there's always discipline issues uh resulting from family behavior
023because they everyone wants to stand up and wave getting in other families waves and forcing their poor children to wave back when they're supposed to be singing. So we try to give a stern talking to all the family members before the students arrive. But that's always the challenge is to get the parents to stop waving to the kids and standing up so they can We are the worst listeners. Speaking from experience actually. Uh elementary school also held an end of the year uh we at the elementary school we held our end of the year family picnic. So I know that was open to everyone and well attended. I want to thank our community leaison for putting that together. And our elementary school had their field day. Again it was beautiful weather that day. Students bouncing
024around between activities. We locked out and had it planned on the Friday. I know other districts had to change their date. Uh we got lucky from our initial date and it was fantastic weather for that event. And then our elementary school held their moving up ceremony yesterday. All the days start blending together. Mhm. Uh so the air conditioning held strong and even though there was a 5minute lapse which I got nervous about but it held strong. Uh again very well attended and a great event for everyone. middle school, we got invited to New Horizons had their summer party. So, our New Horizons class invited family, friends, and faculty in and we got to see their the students received awards and um uh were able to spend some quality time with family and uh faculty member.
025I actually our elementary school did as well. Um Gina's class came and did a performance for their families in the auditorium and again end of year activities for that class sort of their own separate show and also handed out awards to those students. Middle school had their end of year trips. Um eighth grade went to Lake Compounds on Monday. Uh which grade? Sixth grade went to the town park on Tuesday and fifth and seventh grade uh went to bounce and indoor activity places on Wednesday. And our eighth grade moving up ceremony was last night. So all the eighth graders moved up last night in the pack. Um again very well attended. I want to commend the two students uh Liam and Trevor who spoke on behalf of the class as the class co-presidents and um
026congratulate them as they make their transition to the high school. Uh for anyone who has tried to walk on our track or play in our turf, they don't exist right now. So uh I wanted to give a quick update. that we have uh finished. Obviously, all the turf has been removed. The milling machine has come in and milled up all of the black top, the track, the fencing, all of that stuff is gone. So, we remain on schedule. They're now working on sort of the more nuanced stuff, adding drainage, um, preparing that Dzone on the far end of the field for turf, adding drainage there, and really getting ready to start the rather than the destruction phase, we're getting ready to start the construction phase. So, I know in a couple weeks we expect the
027turf to arrive. uh they hope to start doing all of the paving and we remain on time to have that project complete by the fall weather cooperating hopefully. Uh same with capital project we've started our capital project work. So again our hope is to start some of that project for the summer of 26. We're meeting with the architects. actually the architects and our school nurses had a meeting the other day to talk about some of the um some of the plans for that nurse's office at the elementary school and uh Dave and myself had meetings set up um with appropriate staff members and engineers for the HVAC system for the parking lot uh engineering piece uh playground and others. So that work while not real exciting, it's lots of uh drawings, technical drawings and conversations
028and plans is the the first step in getting to uh the fun stuff which is the actual construction phase. Just a quick reminder, I think there's a few families that still need to register for universal prek. Vast majority have already completed so but the window for that registration closes on Monday. any students who have not completed the registration uh will be replaced with students on the wait list. So, if you're out there and still have not completed registration, please do so. I want to thank those who did. It's been a pretty seamless process. I know Danielle and Michael and our office have facilitated that registration and they've been pleased with people's uh preparedness when they show up to complete that registration. A reminder, obviously today and tomorrow are half days at the elementary school and
029the middle school. And I would be remiss not to mention the fact that this is in fact Moren and Natalie's last board meeting. So I know we've had opportunity to celebrate them both, but I did want to at least acknowledge it. And while I will be lost and potentially fired soon after Moren leaves. Um, and Natalie has been my right-hand uh person for many years, I will miss you both and thank you for your many years of service to our school district. Thank you. [Applause] So, you going to do anything fun? No. Anything fun. Okay. Um, next on the agenda is a board discussion about the volunteer firefighter and ambulance workers tax exemption. So, I guess I'll segue you guys in and then you can talk. So, this is something that we've discussed in public
030before. We know we had the volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers come to a a meeting and make the request. This is something that the district has offered for a long period of time but to a lesser level. We um the law has changed that sort of has been updated and what my recommendation is is that we follow that update to allow up to a 10% tax exemption for active duty volunteer firefighters and ambulance core members. There's really two pieces of the law in which need to be decided on by the board tonight and these are sort of the last two things we need to decide regarding um this exemption before it appears as a resolution before the board. We did do analysis as requested by the board. Um we were given rosters for active duty
031firefighters and rosters for active duty ambulance corps members. We went with the assumption that everyone on there qualifies. Um, that will not be the case. You have to be a homeowner. You have to have so many years of active service in order to qualify. Um, that's information I don't have, nor should I. Um, but we based it on assuming everyone on that list does qualify. What would that cost the other taxpayers? So, I believe the number for the firefighters was about $10 a year. So that would cost other taxpayers $10 more a year if every firefighter um qualified for that exemption. When we added the ambulance coron, it went from $10 to $14 a year. So 14 in total. 14 in total, assuming every person on that roster qualifies every year. Um that would be
032the maximum tax impact on other taxpayers in our community if everybody qualified. $14 here. So, the two items that we need to discuss this evening or the board needs to discuss this evening are the first is what's the minimum eligibility period? So, how many years of active service do you need before you qualify? The law allows us to decide between two and 5 years of active service in order to initially qualify. That's the first piece. The second piece is the a law allows for you to essentially be grandfathered in after fulfilling 20 years of service. So if you've completed 20 years of active service and retire from the fire department or ambulance corps, that exemption will continue on your behalf. So then the question is um we can have it just continue until that individual
033um is no longer with us and then it would go away. We can have it continue um for that individual and their spouse as long as they remain unmarried uh for as long as either of them shall live. Or there's the third option is if the individual has 5 years of service and um is unfortunately killed in the line of service in the line of duty that that would automatically sort of grandfather their spouse in for the duration of um their life. So those are sort of the three options for the those individuals that are grandfathered in with having 20 years of service whether it it ends with the individual whether it passes on to their unmarried spouse or god forbid they were to pass away in the line of duty if we allow it
034to continue for the um spouse in that case. I can share the town does not currently have this in place. to know they're working on it. So, we can't compare ourselves to the town's exemption, but we did look up what Putham County offers. Putham County's exemption is 2 years of service. Was it two or five? Did I get that wrong? I think it was five. Was it five? I'll look it up again. While you guys discuss it, I'll look it up. Uh I do know that they went with the line of duty clause uh for 20 years of service. Yeah. Yeah. Was what that option they picked for that? Did they pick any of the other options? You know, they picked the one just that one. So, you automatically get it for the individual. It's
035just whether or not it passes on to the spouse. They had it. It only passes on to the spouse if that individual were to die in the line of duty. I'll look up the number of years right now. So, what are you thinking? Well, for me, I I would say the five years because my feeling is um we need these volunteers to stick with the program and get their experience and their wisdom. Two years, you know, doesn't compare to five, but it's only two years to qualify and I'm saying remain active. I know I understand that but I I still would like the five years to keep them within the the core whether it's uh the you know the fire department or the ambulance they they would have to be there a minimum of five
036years to begin that benefit and for me that's that's very important uh to have them there and and you know two years well I the only reason I I might think differently is like even your first year there's so much training and so much time you need to spend in order to be active even in one year you know your first two years there's a there's a tremendous amount of work and learning that goes into that time too so I'm you know but that's just so I yeah I misspoke earlier that Putham County is at least five years of service they did do five yeah I feel we should be consistent with the county and the down. We should not go different than those two. Yeah, I agree. I think we should be consistent with
037years with the options as well as is it up to 10% or is it 10%. Do we know? It's up to 10%. Okay. And with whatever they I think we should be consistent with county and the town. I agree. I agree, Janette. Absolutely. I agree. And I I think the two or fiveyear conversation or anything in between um is exactly what you said, Barbara. They could potentially get their training and then be on their way, right? Um and then they would, you know, they they're taking that time that was put into them, that was poured into them, and serving somewhere else. I would like them to see them be here for 5 years, show some some loyalty, some commitment into the program. Um, and I I do agree that we should be consistent with what
038else is happening around us for sure. Now, the county, correct me if I'm wrong, Janette, because I know you're very much up on this, uh, they decided that the individual, god forbid, passes, then it moves on to the spouse. That's that's what they select and and I I feel very comfortable with that. Do they give the option for the 20 years? Yeah. Yeah, that's part of the long. Okay. That is part I was going to say we definitely if they're in it for 20 years I think they get to keep it for sure. For sure. So for the individual it's so we accept one two whether or not it passes on to the spouse is up. So they did they choose that it's passes on to the spouse they did. Okay. I even if they
039don't pass in the line of duty after only line of duty. But what if they've been what about the 20 years? What if they've been a member for 20 years? 20 years. All of those are 20 years for for the member for the but for the spouse is only within the line of duty. I believe that that I thought is what the county adopted. Yes. I will say that I don't agree with that. I think that if an individual has given 20 years of service, that individual and their spouse are one. And being the wife of a first responder, I 100% make the sacrifice that my husband makes every single day. So I think that that should be something to consider, but again I don't think that we should be out of line with what
040others are doing. So I've said my piece about that. I would agree with that as well. So what so I that means you are in favor of I would be in favor of extending it to the spouse in in within in the line of duty with the spouse after 20 years. Correct. Unre. All right. So let me let me qualify. I think that we should give them all of it. I think we're blurring these lines. So technically we could pick two of these three. Obviously the volunteer 20 years of service the exemption follows them for as long as they stay in their primary residence. We're all we're all okay with that. So that's fine. So then the next conversation is if they predesce their spouse who remains unmarried and stays in that primary residence, will
041they qualify assuming that that volunteer had 20 years of service? So I'm hearing what did the county do for that? Yes, that's that's all right. So, we're all a yes to number two. So, number three is a little bit different because number three is the line in duty piece. So, in order to qu for the spouse to qualify in the case of a line of duty death, that volunteer needs to have at least 5 years of active service, which sounds like that may be our minimum anyway. Mhm. And then they so if they have in year six something were to happen that spouse would receive that exemption for the duration of their they remain unmarried and living in that primary residence. So I guess that's the third question. We could pick two and three and
042Putnham County did that as well. Yes. Yeah. I think Putnham just picked three but uh I I would go with two also. that's looking I would vote for all three like yes to all of it. Um especially the line of duty. I mean if there exemption is also available to the unmarried spouse of an enrolled member receiving the exemption if he or she was killed in the line of duty. In addition, the local option, the exemption may be continued or reinstated for the unmarried spouse of an enrolled member acrew 20 years of active service and receiving exemption prior to his step. So they approve two. Yeah. Okay. The county has two M3 approvals. Two and three. That Yeah, that's what I support, right? Okay. Yeah, that works. Okay. Yeah. So, it sounds like the board's
043in agreement for all three. And do we have a consensus on the number of years? Uh, sorry. Go ahead. Five. I agree with five. Five. consistent to be consistent. Um I do have a question regarding the tax exemption piece up to the 10%. Um I'm I'm not sure if the county provides 10% and I just want to make clarify what that is. Um, I'm looking at exemption equals 10% of the assessed value of the property to a maximum of $3,000 multiplied by the latest state equalized rate for assessing the unit for which the property was located. Okay. And for the So, it's not 10% of the tax, it's 10% on the value of the house. Right. Right. Yes. Okay. and shall not exceed the 3,000. So as I just want to be consistent with whatever
044the county has that we have the same. I agree. Our calculation was 10% of their assessed value, right, of their home is what equates to that $14 a year, right? Yeah. We didn't we didn't cap that with anything. So if that num if that calculation were to be different for any reason we would need to know that cost value before making a decision right but it's the only difference would be less than that. Yeah. Okay. So if it's less than that that's fine but if it for any reason were to be but if they counted everybody that's on the list now Mhm. you know, then some of those people have not been there five years and would not qualify or not homeowners or they're renters and we did it based on 10%. So either way
045it would be less. So that's and it has to be active so they have to make whatever percentage of I do have a question about the years of service. Is there anything in there about them being consecutive years? Good question. I didn't I don't think I've ever I think it would be I I I I can't imagine it would make sense for it to be but if it's not I mean I I don't know really like what if somebody goes away to school and then comes back like what if you know a teenager becomes a volunteer firefighter 17 18 that's happened they've gone to college that counts towards their five years no cuz they're not the primary they wouldn't be active while they were away they were not active number so they have to qualify
046for all five years and be the primary and be the primimerim primary home, right? We've had college students return, you know, uh, be part of the fire department while in high school, then leave, come back and resume, but that doesn't count towards their 5 years. So, putting my lawyer hat, not while they're away. No, for putting my lawyer hat on, I'm going to say the law reads, this is directly from the law, service for a period of 5 years. Doesn't say consecutive. Doesn't say consecutive. It does not say cons. So they can go and come back. So I would say if they did 3 years, left, came back, bought a house, was the primary owner of that house, did two more years. Right. That's what I've said. Okay. Yeah. They would resume, you know, they
047go away and then come back and they resume the countdown. It doesn't have to be consecutive. I don't see anything the word consecutive in here. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Sounds good. It sounds good to me. So, just for the public, um, so what we'll do is now that we have those answers, we had this discussion in public, we'll have our attorneys prepare a resolution. I know the deadline for this is December, but I would like to get it done our next meeting in August. So, uh, now that we have the answers and we have at least, um, general consensus, we'll put that together and bring it forward as a resolution at our next meeting. Thank you. And I'd like to in our in the efforts to communicate clearly with the town, I'd like
048them to know what we decided. So if they want to be the same as, you know, I mean, just just so that they're aware of what we decided, I'd like them, you know, send it to them, you know, to to Jackie or Okay. When I went to the board meeting last week and in the public comment, I did mention we were discussing this. So good. Thank you. Okay. Is there any need for communication uh or special communication of this decision to the community and what does that look like? There's how many so that we're you know the the correct narrative is yeah presented there will be I'm sorry there has to be a public hearing notice which is just the newspaper I figured a public hearing with this. Yeah. Okay. Do we feel that that
049is sufficient notification? Well, we would post it right on on our site that there is a public hearing like we did with the code of conduct and the others and um Okay. Dr. Luff, would you communicate the the board's um you know, you know, decision? Well, it's not a decision, but our agreement tonight to the fire department and the ambulance court. Yeah. No, I certainly have contact people at the fire department and the ambulance court. That's not the issue. I think what Crystal's asking about is notifying the general community. I don't want $14 to become $14 million. I know. I know. I know. Yeah, you're right. You're right. That number doesn't sit well with us. Yeah. Just proactive rather than reactive. Correct. Yeah. Uh and I think any any change, whether it's 1 cent or
050$14 million, should be uh very well communicated with our particular community. Maybe you can go out in the newsletter, but that won't be when's our next newsletter. I mean, there's one coming out. Agree that whenever like this week, can go out on the district social media. It can go out in an interview on the public. What you know, it stinks that we don't have a, you know, a town newspaper or like Yeah, I know. a radio station. Well, we get the public notice. I don't know that we can get it in a newsletter, but if we get the public notice when we have that together, we'll we'll find other ways to get that public notice out. Well, the PCNR you you would use that to advertise. The paper is the easy part, but I'm saying
051we'll find other ways to get that same public notice out. Okay. More good other than just the the printed in the paper. Whether we do another newsletter, which would go to the same group of people anyway, 200 subscribers that Yeah, I know. Most of them pick it up at town hall. So we we we will figure out how else to get that information out anyway we can to the Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Okay. So now we're going to move on to new business. resolved on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools to appoint Jacqueline Lavine to the as the assistant superintendent of curriculum instruction and human resources to serve a three-year probationary appointment in a 10-year area of assistant superintendent of curriculum instruction and human resources effective July 6, 2025 through July 5th, 2028
052and authoriz the superintendent of schools to enter into a salary letter of agreement with Ms. Lavine. Miss Lavine holds the following professional certifications. School district leader, early childhood 8 through 12, and oh uh I'm sorry, B through 12. That doesn't mean born through 12 from birth. I'm sorry. And childhood ed one through six. Second. Questions or comments? Rest assured, this is the same Jackie Lavine we currently employ. We did not fire her and hire someone else by the name of Jacqueline Lavine to do a different job. Uh but Jackie will be taking on additional responsibilities with the retirement of Natalie. Uh and with those additional responsibilities, we'll be changing her title. Thank you. I I think that she will have the longest title on a car. Like it won't fit on a business card. It's
053like, do you want to give her another job? Should we give her another job? Make it a little bit longer. Anyway, um we are grateful that she's moving up into this position. So, all in favor? Opposed? Absention. [Applause] We even put on our official. Congratulations. Well deserved. The other one's going to hug you. Jeremy, nice to meet you. Looking forward to working with you. Outstanding, Jackie. Welcome to the family. I say Jackie has big shoes to fill, but one of Natalie's shoes are in a boot, so that's true. All right. I told her she needs to wear sneakers. Yeah. Okay. Number two, please. resolved on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools to change the appointment of Connor Past in the civil service competitive class title of computer support assistant to a 1.0 FTE effective
054July 1st, 2025 at the middle school on step two of the CSEA salary schedule. Mr. Pouse is currently serving his 52-E probationary period from November 13, 2024 through November 12th, 2025. Second questions or comments? All in favor? I I opposed abstensions. The resolution passes. He also is going to have big shoes to fill. Um but I was glad to hear that Laura is going to um come back to help out, too. So, okay. Number three, please. resolved on the recommendation of the superintendent of schools to appoint Alyssa Arnette to a one-year leave replacement position as a general education teacher at the elementary school effective September 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2026 or sooner at the discretion of the board of education on step one BA of the PVFT salary schedule. Miss Arnett holds childhood ed
0551-6 and students with disabilities 1-6 initial certifications. Second. Questions or comments? All in favor? I opposed abstensions. The resolution passes. Number four, please. Resolved upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools to retire policy 53000 and approve the first reading and wave a second reading of revised and amended policy 53000 as per document number 214-25 attached to the agenda and official minutes of this meeting. Second. Questions or comments? All in favor? Opposed? Abstensions? Resolution passes. Number five, please. Resolved upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools to adopt the 202526 district-wide safety plan as per document 217/25 attached to the agenda and official minutes of this meeting as well as adopting the building level safety plans for the elementary, middle, and high schools. Second. Questions or comments? I do have a question. Were parents involved in
056the process of building the safety plan? We have parents that sit on the district safety committee. So, yes. Okay. As well as our consultants. Very good. Thank you. But if you're looking on the for the district-wide safety plan, you will not see building level plans because they are confidential. Right. Right. Correct. Right. That's correct. Good point. All in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. The resolution passes. I'd like to now open it up to the public to speak on any topic. You think there's more? Joe brought us dinner. What? I guess it's thought it was leftover ice cream from the field. Bring beer into the building. I hope it's chip witches. Hello, my name is Joe Ferraro and after many many subcommittee meetings about ice pops or ice cream or bubbles. All right, we decided to go
057with bubbles cuz I know how much Sam loves the bubbles. I love that. There's a lot to celebrate. I want I want, you know, I worked dozens of years with Natalie and with Moren and with the promotion of Jackie. There's a lot to celebrate and I wanted to take this time that is so to thank Natalie for all the work that she has done. I also, you know, I want to, you know, Papalino, you're a very lucky man. You should thank your lucky stars. You got Moren Bolino. I'm going to miss her a lot. and Jackie, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do for the district. So, I just wanted to say it's a good time to celebrate with the end of the year. We're about to hit the 4th of July. Enjoy. And
058Putnham Valley is thriving in many, many ways. And I'm very happy to be part of uh any of this experience. So, that's all I have to say. And enjoy. standing. That's a first go. Janet's talking, but it is not. Did you trick us with the bubbles? You thought we thought it was ice pops. We That is so cool. At every last We got bubbles for there are Look at this. Oh, wow. Three meetings ago. Oh, I knew it from Lucy. It is sort of like they're all over. It's kind of like a Willy Wonk retirement. Oh, look at this. Well, oh, now that is cool. Nobody can beat that. Anybody else? You should have brought that to the chor light things up a little bit. Approaching balloon. Wow. Okay. Thank you, Joe. upcoming meetings. It's
059hard to transition first. The mobiles are distracting. Dr. So, our next meeting is scheduled for July 1st at 8:00 a.m. It's our the board reorg and business meeting. Um, so how we start the year and um and the following meeting is not until August. You'll miss us. I'll miss you. I'm watching Sam grabbles and trying hard concentrate. Um board member discussions of any topic. Yeah. Just a couple of things. I I want to thank the PTA for all the terrific activities they planned for our u our school children, especially the elementary. They go above and beyond. Uh just outstanding. and uh our district owes a lot to those volunteers at every turn. Thank you, PTA. Also, Natalie and Moren, you both are going to be sorely missed. And Moren, as I said months ago, um
060you were a big support when I first started here and uh you at the high school and I'll never forget that. And uh you've been a good friend through all these years. You will be missed. And you too, Natalie. Uh we used to really have fun in those admin meetings, didn't we? And uh finally, I want to thank the parents who constantly show up for their children. The large majority of them are able to do that for graduations or activities or events. We have a great community here and I'm moved every time I attend one of the events and see the parents there in awe of their children. That's it. So, that's a good one. Actually, I think I left it off my list because it happened today, but the middle school through the PTA
061had their minute to win it field day event today. And I know Irene was running around um like a lunatic trying to coordinate that across four different locations indoors. Um I know we hoped for 25 volunteers. I think she ended up at 11. So, it was um very chaotic for those 11 parents who volunteered to uh come in and help make that happen. But without those volunteers, it wouldn't have happened. So, I do want to again thank the PTA uh Irene and those other members uh that took the time to come in and make that happen today. Yes, I agree. [Applause] I just want to second some of the things that Sam said. Um the graduations in every school were absolutely beautiful. We were blessed with the most tremendous high school graduation I think I
062have ever been a part of and I have sat through quite a few of them. Um and it was really just very special. I will say that I I would even venture to say that this graduation was probably the best that has ever been because it was so intimate. Um and it was so great to see families in the stands. It was packed. It was just wonderful. People coming sitting on the hill just to be a part of it. It was just great. Um there is a lot of work that goes into all of these end of year events whether it's field day whether it's moving up ceremonies uh and the level of excellence to which we do these things is just so incredible and I want to thank everyone that took part in it.
063It's not easy. It's hectic. It's exhausting. The heat makes it that much more exhausting. Um, but everyone did a really beautiful job representing who we are as a district and I thought it was a fantastic way to just end and close out this school year. Um, I would just ask uh and and Dr. left and I spoke about this uh that if we do venture into another heat wave uh that we just kindly uh remind parents that we do not have air conditioning on our buses so that parents have enough time to make an informed decision about whether or not they want to drive and pick up their children from school. Um it was really hot this week. Yes, it was. And uh if you've ever sat on a cheese bus, as we call them,
064uh in the middle of 105°ree weather, it is not pleasant. Uh I know that some some families were uh not completely content with the condition in which their children arrived to their houses. Uh but uh I think if if we know ahead of time, if we can uh just remind parents, that would be fantastic so that they can make an informed decision. Um, and I would just also ask if possible if school trips could maybe be a little bit earlier in June as opposed to the very end of June. I know why it's done. Trust me, I get it. Um, but it it causes a little bit of stress when there's a heat wave on the last week of school and we're we're really not wanting to take that trip away from children. Uh, I
065myself as a parent found myself trying to figure out the balance between telling my child he couldn't go for his own safety and trying to figure out how to keep him safe to let him go. And so, um, it was a little bit of a a challenge for some parents to have to be in that situation. So, maybe we can just do them a little bit earlier in June. Just a thought. Good idea. Thank you. Well, if you could predict the weather in New York, you could make a lot of money. That's your job. I'll leave that to you. Because we've had hot weeks early in June. We've had them in April in May and we've had storms, you know. I mean, it is really hard to predict. It's hard. Yes, I agree. Um, one
066thing that I would like to add about that, um, I know that I had communicated directly with Crystal the night before. Um, the the our sons were going to bounce and um, you know, she asked me if I was sending him. I was all for it. Um, I'm really I'm happy that the kids were in school. You know, I totally agree with Dr. L um, and that the kids are coming to a safe air conditioned space. We have no idea what is going on in these children's homes. Um I for one lost power on one of the days, one of the gazillion degree days. Um so I'm happy that the kids were in school and safe. Absolutely. However, um I did find out that one of the school nurses might may not have been going.
067Um, and I think that if we have the ability, especially during those really hot days, if the kids are going on those really hot buses, it would be really great if we were able to allow the nurses, a nurse, not all of them, but a nurse to go um just in case there was something that's a good success. So, the issue, we do have one floating nurse and that one floating nurse was on a trip, just not the bounce trip. They were on the other trip because there was a student who has a medical deed, right? a student who has a monitor that needs to have um access to a nurse to monitor it. So, uh we unfortunately don't have two floating nurses, otherwise we could have sent one with each. But now we're talking
068about pulling nurses out of schools where there's students who could also who also have medical issues who need that level of supervision to send them on a bus uh without any students who have diagnosed medical issues. So, it's just a matter of where you should where we put those people wherever they Yeah. Wherever they makes the most sense. Yeah. I would also suggest if possible, it's not always possible and the real estate on the calendar in June is very challenging, but uh if we could spread out the field trips so that there are not multiple field trips happening on a given day. I think that was one of the challenges was that the fifth and the seventh grade were going somewhere. the seventh grade had a student that required a nurse. So therefore, the fifth
069grade wasn't necessarily able to have a nurse. Another just question that I have is uh you know, it's a really great thing to do elementary and middle school field trips when regents are happening at the high school because there's fewer students in the building to have to be monitored. So the high school nurse might be uh able to be dispensed to a different location to support students. So just ideas throwing it out there. this June with this last week of weather was extremely challenging for all schools in the area. So, I 100% get it and I thank the district for remaining true to children, putting children first and making sure that they were in school these past 2 weeks. Um, like Dr. Love said, there were many districts that closed uh or that closed early.
070Uh, and we did not have to do that, inconveniencing parents at the last minute to find child care. Um, so thank you to all of our staff who made it happen and uh for the administration for making that decision. Agreed. I have one more comment about um just about inconveniencing working parents. I would suggest for next year that if we are going to make half days that we make the choice for the half days, the meeting after spring break. Um, I think it is really hard and one of the things that I ran on actually last year and I forgot about um because in the middle school there's so many less half days than the elementary school has is that I think we need to look at the amount of half days and I think
071we need to really evaluate whether or not if we had enough days um in school you know we have to do 180 I believe um if we had that amount I think we had 182 that perhaps instead of doing two half days we do one full day of school and then um just thoughts and then not so that the teachers get a whole full day to move their classrooms and etc. Um just something so that working parents don't have to take off two half days. It's very difficult to take off two half days. Um or communicating it earlier so that children's center is an option because it wasn't communicated early enough. Children's center wasn't able to pick it up today. Right. Okay. Okay. I just want to say to Natalie and to Meen, um, congratulations
072on your retirement and wishing you both the very best. You will be missed. Absolutely. And, uh, Jackie, congratulations on your new role. Happy to see you. I want to thank Natalie and Jackie and Grace for and Jeremy, of course, for attending all of the moving up ceremonies and all of the activities in the school. I know that you know the different hours it's hard but you guys were there and um that was appreciated by everyone. Um along with that um the gradu high school all of the graduations were great. Um I especially one thing I always love about the high school is seeing the teachers that attend on their own free will. Um I just love to see that participation and how much the kids enjoy that also. So, I want to thank shout out
073to those teachers and staff members. Love that baseball field. I really did. Dr. Keep planting that seed. It's got competitive. It's competitive now. Have to think about the money. Come on. I I would be remiss if I didn't say that the way that Putinham Valley and this is a testament to you and and to Jackie and of course to Dr. left. The way that we wrap around our students who are um differently aabled is just so beautiful. Yeah. Yes. And to see students this year graduate and achieve things that at maybe some point they weren't sure they would was absolutely beautiful. And then to see and I still get chills when I think about it. The students support those students the way that they did it. The community that we have is just so beautiful.
074and that is that tone is set by the administration. So, thank you so much for loving all of our children, for searching high and low for their CPSC services, for doing all the things that need to be done so that every child feels loved, loved and welcomed and that they have access to the very best resources and education possible and and a big part of that is also supporting their families. So, thank you for doing all of that. It was just truly beautiful to see that happen this year. fun. Well, we kind of take it for granted because it's just normal for us. But my niece was up um she was a teacher in Florida for 26 years. She's now teaching law at a college um University of West Florida or something. I don't know.
075Anyway, um but she said she was like so impressed um with the fact that at you know that that student what they talked about they did talk about the students being smart and doing well in their classes and all that kind of stuff, but they talked a lot about empathy and kindness. And you could see it in in the in the kids who were helping other kids if they needed help or nudging them across, you know, like stand up, sit down, you know, whatever they needed. um just in general she felt that and that's from the outside she's like I just like I'm just so amazed and impressed. So it's like that's really cool. So I was really glad to see that because and sometimes we do take it for granted because it's what we
076expect um and not everybody does. So, um, anything else? I also I told Grace that I was It was It's nice to see everybody in our administration who's making decisions for children involved in watching children move from one place to another because that also doesn't happen in a lot of districts. So, you know, I think we're really blessed. We are Okay. Uh we are going to move to an executive session um for one um personnel matter. So move um second. Okay. Thanks. So um we are convening an anticipated executive session. There will be no um work done after that. Um good night and have a safe summer. Thank you. I I All in favor? I Oh, all in favor. Sorry.