Board of Education Business Meeting - October 27 2025

001for the pledge of allegiance. So, welcome everyone. Um, Mrs. Leellet, can you please read the safety message ground rules? >> Good evening and welcome to tonight's board of education business meeting. In the event of an emergency, please exit the auditorium using the doors located at the front and rear of the auditorium. Smoking or the use of vape products are strictly prohibited on school grounds at any time. This evening's meeting includes two public public comment portions. The first is for those wishing to make comments or ask questions related to the consent agenda items or any presentations you will see tonight. The second public comment portion provides an opportunity to bring any appropriate topics to the attention of the board. All questions and comments should be addressed to the board of education president Kellyanne Jennings. >> Thank

002you. We'll be continue with the presentation reports and we'll begin with Dr. Cohen with the employees of the month. >> Thank you, Madame President, and it's my honor and privilege to recognize our employees of the month. When I call your name, please come forward. Each recipient tonight will receive a certificate and a patchog purd throw blanket. First, I'd like to recognize Denise Grio, office assistant in guidance at the high school. Come on up, Denise. and you can just wait there. Denise, you received multiple nominations for this recognition as you um consistently go above and beyond specifically as it relates to the scholarships and awards program that we have. You answer countless questions, helping our donors to navigate the process and supporting them with any needed changes. donors consistently share how much they appreciate working with

003you and in addition this year you took on the additional responsibility of handling the donor breakfast and you made that a true success. Your compassion, leadership and unwavering commitment shine through in everything that you do. We are delighted to celebrate you for your undeniable contributions. Congratulations. Thank you. Just wait there. And our next recipient is Barbara Lassen, assistant director of special education. Come on up, Barbara. Two sides. You received this nomination for truly going above and beyond to ensure one of our students did not miss out on an exciting senior moment. This was evident when you took it upon yourself for one of our graduating seniors who's out on home instruction due to a medical issue and you brought his cap and gown to his home and you photographed them for the school yearbook photo.

004This act allowed the student to appear in the yearbook alongside his classmates. We greatly appreciate your advocacy and kindness that undoubtedly will have a lasting impression on this student and his family for many years to come. In addition, we all see you out and about volunteer volunteering your time and talents, including your passion for photography at district events, including spending the entire day capturing countless memories at homecoming. We truly appreciate everything you do. Way to make a difference and congratulations. And Denise Nakarado, English teacher at the high school. Denise, this nomination is for your commitment to engage the students with social activities in response to the new distraction-free policy. You recognized the need to support students with engaging alternatives to socialize and took the initiative to collect games for student interaction. Your collected donation you

005collected donations and spent your own money purchasing games to ensure there were various options available. Your dedication and commitment illustrate your passion for student well-being. Thank you for being uh for making a true difference by creating a supportive and engaging environment for our students to thrive. For this reason, we are pleased to recognize you as employee of the month. Congratulations. So, if the three of you can come together along with the board of education and Mrs. Kennedy will take a photo. Congratulations everyone. Welld deserved. Next we're moving on to um board recognition because October is um New York State um school board's recognition. Okay. This evening, we are honored to welcome New York State Assemblyman Joseph Dphano, who proudly represents the third Assembly District, including Patrick Meford community in the New York State Assembly. As

006part of the school board recognition week, which took place October 13th through the 17th, Assemblyman Amanda Dano joins us this evening to recognize and thank the members of the Patrick Meer Board of Education. Please join me in welcoming Assemblyman Joseph Dphano. Thank you. Um, first of all, I want to say I started off my morning in the superintendent's office. I was called into the superintendent's office for a meeting this morning. So, it was a pleasure meeting with you and uh we look forward to working together on some projects that are mutually beneficial to all of us. Uh, year after year I come here the year that we that we recognize you on the month. We have some old faces, we have some new faces. Uh, but it's always a pleasure being a homegrown person that

007has grown up in this community since I was a child. I went through the system, my kids went through the system, my wife went through the system here. Um, and it's always a privilege to be here. Unfortunately, this year I missed uh the homecoming game because I was in North Carolina visiting some of my family. But uh the bottom line is I know how hard it is to do what it is that you do uh and take a lot of heat about it being a volunteer fire commissioner for the last 30 years. Uh which I am retiring this year. This is the last year I will be serving as a fire commissioner. I know what it's like to take the heat from people that don't appreciate your volunteer work. I appreciate it because I've lived

008it and I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart from the members of the Third Assembly District. I do have recognition uh certificates here from Senator Murray and Legislator Thorne as well. They send their regards and for another year well done. You always have a friend and as I always tell people when I meet with them that you have the hometown hero favorite here because I graduated here. So, I am a homegrown product and I I'm I'm glad to call you all my friends because uh it it relationships are built on friendships and uh I I consider a lot of you my friends. So, thank you so much for allowing me to say a few words and congratulations to all of you. Okay, we would also like to acknowledge New York

009State Assemblyman Jarrett Gandalfo, who unfortunately could not be with us tonight as he's under the weather. Assemblyman Gandalfo sends his sincere regrets and for not being able to attend in person, but he asks that we extend the his warm regards and appreciation to our board of education members. Next, next we are pleased to welcome Pamela Peterson, president of the Patrick Meford PTA Council. Mrs. Peterson is here this evening on behalf of the PTA Council to recognize and thank our board of education members. Please join me in welcoming Pamela Peterson. Thank you. Somebody left their jacket in the other room. Okay. Um, thank you. I guess really I just want to say on behalf of PTA Council and um the parents and teachers of the community, we want to thank you for all that you do,

010all of your hard work. Um the hours and hours of dedication and time that you take away from your family to do for others and others families and their children. So um thank you very much. Um I hope you enjoyed the little snack. Uh Mrs. Kennedy also the cookies were for Mrs. Kennedy or well it's all from all of us but um together this is you know this is part of the mission is as PTA council working together with the district and Mrs. Kennedy said hey what can I do what can I I want to I want to contribute so um that was from her as well and then um I do have a little something I do though. I do have it in the car. I apologize. Um, so that's it. I just want

011to say thank you. Thank you for everything you do and thank you for being one of the initiators on Long Island to have a student member, which is extremely important because their voice is why we're here. Okay, thank you everyone. Next, we're the board of education would like to recognize Oregon Middle School security guard Tammy Lee for acting quickly to save a student who is choking. >> I know um Mr. Lake would like to come up. Um, as I've said all the time, what's the saying? Not all heroes wear capes. And, uh, we have lots of heroes in our school district this evening. So, so, uh, when Tammy joined us just a few years ago, um, you know, day one went by, day two went by, by day three, she was part of the Oregon

012family. Um she's been such a contributor to just our daily lives, to the students lives. Um be it our challenging students, our best students, she gets to know them all. She's just an outstanding contribute contra Ed is outstanding contribution to the Oregon family. Um we love having her every day. But on this particular day, this young boy just came back. He was out of school for 10 days. Sadly, he actually lost a large chunk of his thumb in an accident at home. um was the first back to school and as he was coming out of school, he was walking side by side with his his friend. As he got outside, Tammy looks over and observes him and sees that something's just not right. And she says, "Are you okay?" And he starts to kind of

013like he universal started choking. He starts to put his hand up to his throat and could barely say anything. And she asked him, "Yo, are you okay?" And he's like kind of saying, "I'm choking." Uh with that, she immediately went to uh the Heimlick maneuver. She did the himlic on him and a very large uh piece of candy came uh flying out onto the ground right outside. She immediately brought him to the nurse and uh at the end of the day she saved his life. So she really stepped up all those years of her training in her previous job and currently um and that's just what she does. She saves lives every day, not in a physical way, but in her connection with all the students and staff at our building. So Tammy, we love

014you and thank you so much for what you do every single day at Oregon Middle School. Um I just want to say that um we're going to give in recognition and appreciation of her heroic actions and quick response from performing the Heimlick maneuver to assist a student in her in distress. So thank you. The board of education would also like to recognize South OSHA Middle School math teacher Emma Kate Bascano for acting quickly to save a student who was choking. Mr. Sherulis, I know you wanted to come up again. Um, amazing that in just one week we had two superheroes in our school district. So, it is amazing how quickly our staff responds and I can say as a parent, um, we're very fortunate to have you really looking out for our students. So, thank

015you from the bottom of our hearts. >> Good evening. So, we had a similar situation out at recess where a student had approached Miss Piscano and and did the I can't breathe uh motions and without hesitation, she jumped into action, did the Heimlick maneuver and uh out came potato chip. Wasn't a wasn't a piece of candy. Out came the potato chip. Um but truly just uh is a I mean her commitment to students well-being is just you know it's a true testament to her character and the follow through on going to the nurse and you know following up in later in the afternoon is if the student is okay it's just it speaks volumes to the type of teacher she is and the type of person she is and the type of person that we

016like to have in the building. So super proud. Um awesome job. So once again, the board would like to recognize Emma Kate Bascano in recognition and appreciation of heroic actions and quick response in performing the Heimler to assist the student in distress. Thank you once again Miss Lee and Miss Pano for your heroic actions. Um next we're going to move on to a selection of an exeficial student presentation by high school students Michael Damasi and Devani Morabita Smith. We would like to say thank you before we begin today to the board of education for allowing us to present here today and superintendent Lori Kennedy. Um we'd also like to thank Dr. R for dedicating his time and meeting with us over these um past weeks and really um representing to us of what we're capable

017of here at the high school. And we'd also like to thank Charlotte Lake um the student exeicio to the board of education for also dedicating her time and meeting with us. Um and so this is our idea of um the raider advisory council. Um so my name is Michael Damasi. I'm in 10th grade. I go to the high school. Um, I am the former president of the class of 2028. I'm a part of principal leadership council. I'm a part of many committees, clubs, and I'm very involved. Um, and I really do love being involved in our high school. >> Hello, I'm Devon Morbidito Smith. I'm in 12th grade. I am also a student leader in our school. I'm the current class treasurer of the class of 2026 and I was also former class president of

018the class of 2026. I am in two board of education committees which I am happy to be in there and I'm part of various communities and clubs in our school district. So this is our mission. So our mission is to work alongside our student exeicio board member to increase equitable student representation at every school throughout the district so all students and all schools have a voice. Our proposal what? to provide a six member student advisory council from the high school to work with the student exposition board member. Why? This expansion allows more diverse perspectives, greater student voice, as well as increased leadership opportunities. So, this is our organizational chart, which I think is really important because it highlights what we're trying to do here. So, we're going to take six students from the high school

019and we're going to assign them a school or as you could see um one member per each group of elementary schools. And each advisory member will be tasked to gather information from their designated school. Um, and it's really just to help work alongside our student exeicio and kind of give her the information about what each school is doing. The benefits of student advisory assignments is to develop a clear, consistent, and effective communication amongst all student government districtwide. >> So, our monthly responsibilities and meeting structure. So we're going to gather information from elementary schools and middle schools student leaders whether attending general organization meetings in person or virtually each month and we call this the radio ador the raider advisory council which will meet thereafter to support the student exeicio board member. So we'll try to

020meet once a month after we kind of gather this information and kind of tell Charlotte what each school is doing. We'll work alongside each other and we'll really try to develop a more clear consistent effective communication. our pilot program. For the remainder of the year, we will test expanded structures informally by assisting our current student official board member, Miss Charlotte Lake. We will use this process to refine procedures based on collective student feedback and demonstrated feasibility. We'll develop a criteria for the student advisory council. So, this is our idea of a PMSD student leadership conference that kind of goes along with this. So at the end of the year, the school year, we plan to hold a student led lead leadership conference with all general organization student leaders and their adviserss. We will review experiences,

021gather feedback, and put input and report to the high school principal. Um, I do think this part is extremely important. So at the end of the year, you know, we kind of bounce ideas off each other. We kind of really talk about what each school was doing. And I think this is important to demonstrate the leadership that we obtain here at the high school and kind of give that feedback to the elementary school and the middle schools levels. So, um, yeah. So, does anybody have any questions for us? Um, that's pretty much it. I just want to say thank you and I love it. >> Thank you. My question is how do you determine what six students you are going to choose that are going to be traveling around? Um I mean I was at

022a convention and you know we worked on this and is this all going to be studentled or is there going to be some administrator on this council with you guys that are going to have it or is it going to be just strictly studentled? So, as of right now, our plan is by December, we're going to kind of develop a criteria of how we're going to choose the other four students because obviously, you know, me and Devani will also be partaking in this. Um, and we're going to kind of come up with a criteria hopefully by December. Um, we want to start this as soon as possible though. Um, so our plan is as of right now is to ensure that we pick the correct obviously six students and including both of us. Um and

023we're just going to kind of so as we said the pilot program for this year so we kind of just want to see how this is going to work out this expanded structure and especially when we are finding those six students. So that's kind of we're going to develop that criteria over the next few weeks and um so and again to answer your other part of the question um so this yes this is going to be primarily student led um with obviously you know Dr. R can always um supervise if we need him to but really this is going to be majority studentled. Yes. First I want to say thank you for presenting this. It's always great to hear students ideas. Um so I guess well what I want to I don't know if you

024guys know this and I think it's important information to know that we're in the process of redoing how we are choosing exeicio members. So the procedure we think we're still in conversation but we are looking to maybe shift it a little bit. So we could have two exeicio members for next year or three exopicio members that are sitting on the board. So it might be worth maybe sitting down with with Charlie and you guys and maybe Mrs. Jennings. So, we're just all on the same page moving forward with this because I think it would be great if it all kind of aligns in the same direction of how we're choosing. I think the advisory board is a great idea and we've also talked about that too. If we have more exopicio members, we can split

025up the responsibilities to middle school or elementary school. So, we could do we could have the advisory board. Maybe it's expanding exeicio members and it's kind of like the same thing, but I think we're all open to the conversation to to continue to have it. But I think it's important that we stay, you know, connected and on the same page with that if you guys are all right with that. >> Yeah, I definitely understand what you're saying and we we we have been working with um Charlie um about this because, you know, it's going to really help her have that clear consistent communication and also it's, you know, primarily studentled. Obviously, Charlotte is, you know, a student, but allowing for, you know, a student to go, whether it's in person or virtually, whether it's through

026email, it does allow that consistent communication. I do think that especially expanding that position is very important as well. >> And then one more thing I just wanted to add that I know we were all talking about is or at least how I feel is it would be a great thing to for the exeicio members to have an application process so it can go out to all students. They're not just picked by teachers, by students. It's not a popularity contest. So, that's something that we're discussing like how can we get this out so every student can get the opportunity to apply for this. We haven't narrowed it down yet. We haven't made decisions, but I just wanted to throw that out there. Might be something to consider even for an advisory board. Maybe there's some

027kind of application that goes out for that too if we, you know, move forward al together with this. I'd also like to add that the position of >> and I I'd like to hear your opinion, Charlie. Um um this is uh eventually going to grow into a thing that is not just a reporting out from the school's position. It'll be a a much more actively seeking feedback from the student body. Um um and then the exeicio role would be an expanded um expanded role. So, it's not just this is what was happening in all of the schools, which is wonderful, but we can expand this role more. I think thank you for the for your work and and I I I look forward to seeing what what develops. To piggyback on what um Miss Andrade

028said, we're just very interested in having a more diverse um student voice and not having the same people. We want to make sure that we're open. We have 2400 students and we want to make sure that we're hearing from everybody and giving everybody the chance to be equally involved without being picked or chosen. >> Hi, that was a great presentation. Um, you guys did a great job. I just had a question. Um, I see here that the elementary schools, you grouped them together. Was there a reason or would you maybe consider or have you thought about having one representative for each elementary school to open it up to more students or was there a specific reason that you decided to do that? >> So, I do like your idea. I do like that. I do

029like having a member for each elementary school. But, um, we kind of thought about the idea that maybe that the elementary schools weren't meeting as much as maybe the middle schools were, maybe, you know, whatnot. So, we had thought that maybe um the idea of one single member per each group, but I do like that idea of maybe expanding that beyond just one single member. So, I understand. Yeah, >> you guys did a great job. >> Thank you. >> Go ahead, Charlie. >> Um I just want to say great job. I've been working closely with Mikey and Devani and Dr. are um these past few weeks and I think that with the raider advisory council whether it be the council itself or just the expansion of the student exeicio position like mentioned I think that

030it would be greatly beneficial for the role overall and getting those leadership opportunities and just expanding student voice um in my experience in the past few months it's been difficult to gather information from the schools and I think that's something with um dividing the responsibilities up I think that would be beneficial to everyone as a whole. So, thank you. Good job. >> Can I say one more? I just want to say one more thing and just leave food for thought. What Mrs. Smith said as far as student voice, I I think what I got, we went to quite a few um presentations on the exeicio members and how they're developing. And I think really we're looking for more so than presentations of what's going on in the buildings because that is time consuming. And not

031that we don't love to hear about all the different buildings, but we can kind of readjust what the position actually is. That's the process we're in. So for ex, you know, for example, the the cell phone band, like we're looking for on the table like for Charlie and for exeicios to have the voice and from their perspective, you know, how is that working out for them? Let's hear from you. You're in school. What does that look like? What does it look like for middle schoolers or or for elementary school? So, we're we don't want you guys running around like chickens without a head trying to, you know, gather information. We're really shifting into hearing from the students perspective of all the big issues that we're, you know, talking about at the table here. So, I

032just wanted to throw that out there that, you know, that's we don't always have to and if you feel pressure in what you're doing, you know, we can shift things a little bit and have that conversation. That's all I want to end. Thank you again. So, first I'm very proud of both of you. I know it takes a lot to stand up here and give a presentation. So, kudos to both of you. I know you worked on it with Dr. R. I think the trustees and I did attend some workshops in Albany at a school board and we got to hear from other school districts on what they were doing and it was uh really nice to see how there was a uniqueness in each district. So, I love that some of what you've shared

033with us was very similar to some um that we heard from other districts up uh maybe it was Skenctity. I think that might have been the school of one of the schools. So, I think it's a great opportunity to um use this as we go back to look at our policy and and work with Charlotte because I'm sure that's going to be helpful when we draft that policy in in getting the voice of the students. I think it I love the uh leadership conference. That's something that I've been working on and speaking with the principles now that we've had student government back in sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, and at our elementary school, having all the children maybe one day come to the high school to talk about just student government and what it

034means and and even to do service to a community will be great. So, uh, looking forward to working alongside both of you, with Charlotte, with the board in drafting a exoicio policy that really captures the voice of all of our students. So, thank you very much for this presentation. Nice job, boys. If I may, I have one more suggestion. Um, now we as a as a board meet with other school boards and uh network and get ideas from each other. It might not be a bad idea to seek out other local um student councils and student board officios what you're doing. Sorry, the brain's shutting down. Um and um and network a little bit. See what they're doing. See what works and and exchange ideas. Thank you so much for um having us again here

035today and um we really are excited to see how this does go for this year especially because this is like our pilot kind of year. We're going to see how this takes us and ex except es especially if you guys do expand that position. We're always you know open especially to your idea about putting a single person with each elementary school and really having every student's voice heard. So thank you so much. >> Thank you guys. Great presentation. >> Thank you. All right. Next up, we have distraction free school check-in update. >> All right. Uh would you like me to trustees to stand up there or stay here? >> Okay. So, Charlie and I are going to do this jointly. So, we have some slides that really speak to our teachers and also our students.

036So, I first want to thank Charlie and Yousef who met with me one day in the library and helped craft some questions for our students. So, their feedback was greatly appreciated. I uh developed the survey. I sent it back and I can always um really rely on Charlie for giving me some great feedback and she's always very diligent about corresponding with me. So, thank you Charlie for all your assistance in getting this done. So, I don't have a clicker, so I do think I need to stand up there. Sorry. >> In the booth, is there a way to get some more light at this table? >> Yeah. Can you turn our lights on so we can see our presentations? All right. So, we started by giving um our teachers a survey. We did survey all

037of our teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school. Again, I'd like to also thank uh Kevin Tulin who assisted me. We drafted some questions together and he really supported the teachers completed the survey as well. Okay, there we go. Okay, so one of the first questions we really wanted to get some feedback on from the teachers is engagement. So, did they see more engagement since the cell phone ban? Um, we you could see from the percentages the teachers felt there was a significant or a moderate increase in student engagement within the classroom. and NA means thatly it was nonapplicable to them mostly at the elementary where they're not really seeing the cell phones as much. We also asked them about paying attention. Are kids paying attention more? And once again, you would see that

038the teachers have reported a moderate and significant increase in student intention during lessons. We also asked um if we see a change in students leaving the classroom because oftent times students were asking to go to the nurse, go to the bathroom. That was typically a place that students were using their cell phones. You could see that there um most of the um teachers had said there was a minimal decrease and and really not a significant change from last year. So we are still monitoring that. we are able to get that information. So this is just a result with that first week of you know month of school some of the data that we had. The next question we asked is we wanted to know how often once we started the implementation did they have to

039address students who were not adhering to the cell phone policy. Um, we asked did you have to ask a child one or more per day, between one of five students per day, between five to 10 students per day, more than 10 students per day. So, this was really nice to see. Um, you can see within again the first month because this was up through October, very few teachers had to really prompt students who were not actively following our policy. And when we were asking them if they did ask the students to turn over their phone or put them in the yonder pouches, were they complying? Um, and you can see that the majority there was no resistance. So that's great to see that 51% there was no resistance. The the ste the students handed over

040the phone or they put them in their yonder pouches. Again, that 43% is really coming from our elementary teachers where there is is not an issue damaging um the pouches. I could say I've seen a little of this myself in the short period of time, but you can see that teachers aren't seeing the kids. We we've had some situations in the beginning where the uh little button that the students had to press was is being broken and um oftent times you know some of it is a manufacturer issue. Sometimes it is a child's issue but you can see for the most part teachers are not really reporting that they're seeing children actively trying to damage their yanda pouches. We have seen some of them being cut so the the pouches can come out the bottom.

041So um but for the most part students are very respectful of the pouch that we've given to them. Our students sharing that the cell phone ban wasn't as hard as they thought it would be. Again this is the perspective of teachers, right? So the teachers are reporting that um some students 30% of the students share that it's easier than they anticipated and we had some say that it was more difficult 8% and a lot of teachers have said the students just haven't shared that. So if they're actively speaking to the teachers they reported it. So, we also wanted to get some feedback on study hall because we knew study halls and lunch periods were probably the the two periods that students were using the the phone more frequently than during instructional time. And we really

042wanted to know how is it going in study hall? How is it going in the lunch period? These are just a few of the comments that we received from our teachers. You can see that during study hall um students were doing fine. It was great to see students doing work. Um they draw, they talk to each other. Uh many students are reading. Some of them are using their you know laptops to still maybe you know play a game or watch a district approved uh movie but they're using the district devices. So regardless um the first week some said it was difficult um but now they're doing great. So these are just some comments that some of the teachers shared with us when they were able to do a free response. When it came to lunch

043periods I have shared with our board um and I'll share with the community uh Dr. R and um some of the staff at the high school. We just recently got foosball tables and air hockeys put into our cafeterias. So, that's been a great hit. Those were donated by some of our community members. So, if any community member has another air hockey or foosball table that they're looking to get rid of, we will be gracious enough to come pick it up because the kids are loving it. We did um get some spike balls. My understanding is some of the balls are missing right now, so we have to order a few more balls. cornhole. Um we are trying to get a outdoor basketball hoop by the um the courts, the hamball courts. So we are working

044on getting that. So we are looking to also um expand some of the activities that we have. Uh Miss has been gracious in ordering Jenga kits, Uno checkers. So, we have plenty of board games in the cafeteria that the students uh can take out. And it seems that right now uh they're enjoying that. So, right now there have been no reports of any concerns within our cafeteria. We're just curious and sorry if I'm gonna cause a whole big thing, but where it says that they're having a hard time staying at their table because they get want to get up and socialize with their friends all over the cafeteria. Are they not allowed to get up from their table? >> Well, I'll let uh Charlotte speak to that. >> So, well, this year I'm currently not

045taking a lunch. I leave school early after my seventh period class, but in years previous, you were allowed to get up and socialize as long as it wasn't becoming rambunctious or an issue with anybody else. But I never found it a problem if I wanted to go and sit at another table for a minute or two. So this is I think it's more if a a large group maybe watching someone else play a card game, but um I would say I've been in the cafeteria quite a few times and I think it's actually uh lovely watching students play cards and and checkers. So >> could could it be the middle schools? Because I >> it could be the middle schools. I you know this one you again it's anonymous so you really can't see where

046it it's coming from but it could be a middle school. Can I ask Mr. Lake and put him on the spot? >> Sure. >> Are they in the middle schools? Do they stay at their tables or Mr. Mendes all the way in the back there and >> elementary do they stay at their table their assigned seats at lunch? Yeah. So, I'm going to turn it over to Charlotte. Um, I'll I'll split the slides for you. >> Okay. So, um, as Miss Andrade had said before, it's important to get that student voice out here. So, that was myself, Yousef, and Mrs. Kennedy's mission with doing the student survey. Um, as you can see, these are the responses we got from the following middle schools and the high school. All right. So, our first question was, have

047you noticed increased student engagement in your classrooms? Um, many people said that they felt that there was no difference, which um, personally I think that there may have been. I feel that I was guilty myself of going on my phone during class, checking the time, whatever. Um, and I noticed that there's nothing else to do but talk to your peers and I think that it's really affecting communication. Um, anyway, the next question that we asked was, have you noticed a change in face tof face interactions with your peers? Once again, the same thing. Um, most people have said no difference. Um, all righty. Yes, we did. We did have 20% say yes. So, >> okay. >> It's only two months in. >> All righty. Um, for our next question, we asked, do you feel the

048cell phone ban has impacted your academic performance? Um, many people have said that they have seen no change and we did have the 18% saying that they've seen a positive change and the negative change has the least amount of votes. So, that's always great. Um, and then for the next one we have, how would you describe your experience with the cell phone ban? Um, I was happy to see that a lot of people said it has had little impact on them, which I think a lot of people went in thinking it would be a difficult adjustment, but now after just dealing with it, um, and getting used to it, they have realized that it hasn't been that big of a deal. >> From a teacher perspective, I feel like my students would say they've seen

049no change because they think if they say they haven't, they're going to get them back. >> I agree. I agree. We have seen a significant difference because we did it last year and then we had to do it this year, >> but we've seen a huge change in it, but they won't admit that. >> Exactly. Um Yeah. All right. So, another question that we had asked that we felt was really important to get um feedback from was do you feel disconnected from your parents/family during the school day? Um many people had said that it is difficult to communicate with them during the day. However, we have um alternative options. If you need to phone home, you can go to the main office and make that call. Um a lot of people said that they don't

050feel disconnected, which is good because you're there to get the education and not talk to your mom and dad every two seconds. Um and then a lot of people also said that they're adjusting, which once again, it will take time and they're doing so. Um next was how has the cell phone ban impacted your lunch period? A lot of people said that it feels the same as last year, which I think is good. That connection is still there regardless, phones or not. Um, some people had said that they feel more isolated, but I feel now that with our new implementations of the games and the activities that we're doing. I think that will soon be resolved if we do a follow-up survey throughout the year. And 14% said more students are talking and socializing more

051during lunch, which is a good thing. Next is how has the cell phone ban impacted your study hall. Um majority of people said there was no change from last year which is fine. Um some it does not apply to and that there was no change to but 10% said I'm getting more work done during this year or during this time which is always beneficial because that's what a study hall is for. Um we had a free respon we actually have had two free response questions. This one was, "What recreational activities would you like to see during lunch?" Um, as you can see, board games, Uno, Jenga, cornhole, all of those things that we are currently working on and have added. on the phone. >> So that is something Bring it in. So, Charlotte didn't see

052this one. This was one that I really asked the high school deans are keeping track. This is um high school data just to give me an idea of how many uh students actually had an infraction meaning we had to take a phone away. So you can see in 9th grade we just had over 120 um infractions this year. Out of those uh 120 um almost like 110 were student pickup which means that's the first offense. So that's great. So what we're seeing is when the students are getting their phone taken away, it's not often happened a second time, right? They get to pick it up and usually we're not seeing it. So that's what really this chart shows you. Although we had some high infractions, our 10th graders had the highest. What is really nice

053to see is the third bar, which is adult pickup. It's much less, right? So parents, aunt, uncle, who was ever on that emergency contact card is not having to come to the high school and pick up. So we really wanted to share that is the end of our uh update to the community and to the board. Certainly, uh Charlie and I can look to do another one at the end of the year because one of the things we said was we'd always go back and revisit our policy. Is there anything within our policy that we have to change? we have to update. But I really want to commend all the students, all the teachers, all of our building administrators as well as our deans because for a district with 7,400 students, I think it was

054a very seamless implementation and that's as a result of everyone really um helping out with this and and that includes our parents and families. So, thank you. >> Can I ask the question? question. >> Lori, Mrs. Skinetti, sorry. Did the students get to see the teachers um answers on the survey? Like I think that would be interesting because just how the teachers answered the survey compared to the students. >> Yeah, I could certainly uh share it with our building principles. Uh I did share the results with uh Charlotte, so uh she got a copy of the survey results, but I have no problem. We can share this out. We did ask the kids to take it during social studies class. So, it might be nice to revisit that and give it to our social studies

055teachers. Maybe it's something they'd like to share in their social studies classes as well. >> Yeah. I just think it's important for them to know even though they might not feel that it's making a difference for them in their classrooms or academically that their teachers are noticing something. I think that's really important feedback for them. >> Absolutely. Are there any plans to um have a survey for parents also to see their perspective on how it's going? >> We can certainly send a parent survey. Um we can do that maybe the next round now that it's a little bit more further into the school year. So next round we can also hit a survey to our families as well. I will say that we did have an open response question to our students and I would

056say for the most part many of those responses were bring back cell phones. Bring back cell phones. So you know uh you know they did they want them back right? They're saying it it wasn't a difficult adjustment but when we asked them is there anything else you'd like to share? It was give us back our phones. So um that's still right now they want their phones back. So, all right. Thank you everyone. Thank you Charlie. >> Thank you. And then next we're going to move on to our exeicios members presentation. Miss Charlie Leak. All right. Hello again. Um, tonight I'm going to be doing a bit of a district-wide update. So, first up at Barton Elementary, their fifth graders recently took a trip down to Shorefront Park in Patchog to work with wildlife conservation group

057SeaTuk. Um there they learned about marine ecosystems and completed a biodiversity study. The students in the Barton Safety Patrol are keeping the halls safe during arrival and dismissal procedures and they are ensuring that everything is flowing smoothly throughout the day. Um Barton Elementary would also like to give a big thank you to Woodside Nursery and Garden Center for their gener generous donation to fill the empty flower bed in front of Barton's building. Over at Bay Elementary, the fifth graders were recently assigned first grade buddies to work and read with monthly. Um that really is going to help to establish that connection between the um older and younger age groups. Um the fourth grade is learning about landmarks and patchog such as Main Street and they're really using their research to create theseformational brochures about the

058town. Um once again, the fifth grade has visited the Brook Haven National Lab where they completed experiments and um participated in some of these hands-on activities to learn about the different types of light waves that there are. And lastly for Bay, they celebrated Unity Day on October 22nd. Um all the classes in the building worked together to create a banner sharing these kind messages towards one another. At Kanan Elementary, fifth graders took a trip to Finins Farm to learn about all the different animals and crops that are grown and required to sustain a farm. Students also took a trip down to Theater 3 to see James and the Giant Peach where they were allowed to meet the cast and enjoy the show. Kanan recently had a visit from the sheriff's office which they their main

059goal was to empower the students to create a culture of connection and inclusion within their school community. And lastly for Kanan, they had a firefighter class visit where the firefighter talked about fire safety and the signs of a possible fire. Over at Eagle Elementary, they were having some flag football fun. Um, teams of teachers got together and they played in the spirit of homecoming. There was team red and team black. Team red did come out on top and team black is waiting for a rematch the following year. Um, Eagle's start with hello assembly led by the Suffach County Sheriff's Office is was the purpose of it was to teach students how a simple hello can make a significant difference in one's life. um and that if they take that step to form that connection, it'll

060be beneficial to all. Um lastly for Eagle Elementary, we have the PTA book fair where students got to shop for new books and inspire their love for reading. To continue, we have Medford Elementary. Their fifth graders recently set sail from Capree and for a day on the water and they learned all about marine life and they practiced teamwork and up their skills with the fishing rods. Um they they also recently just had their back to school annual carnival where families, students and staffs and staff enjoyed games, prizes, and there was lots of school spirit to go around. Over at River Elementary, they recently had their centennial carnival celebration. There they had games, food, and activities enjoyed by the students and family. Um, all with the great work by the staff, PTA, and Patchog Library volunteers.

061The night was very successful overall. At Tmont Elementary, grade four has hosted an inschool field trip where students immerse themselves in the lives of Native Americans. Um there they explored daily life, arts, culture, and history. The fifth grade garden club students and their families participated in a fall courtyard cleanup and scarecrow building event, which you can see in the images. They look lovely, and they have not seen a crow in the courtyard since. Um and lastly, the kindergartens have the kindergarteners have been learning aboutformational text. And to support this learning, they went on a leaf a leaf hunt to explore more facts. Um, they enjoyed the fresh air and this interactive form of learning. Now, moving on to the middle schools, we have Oregon Middle School. Oregon showed lots of school spirit during the homecoming

062day parade. They stuck with our Disney theme for the year and they had a blast. They also had the Sheriff County, sorry, the Suffach County Sheriff's Office visit the health, the seventh and eighth grade health classes to discuss the importance of wellness both physically and mentally, as well as learning about the safety of social media and what to do and what not to post. At Saxton Middle School, research classes recently took a trip down to the Three Village Historical Site for the Culper Spy Ring Experience, where they got to walk a portion of the spy trail and learn to dis decode ciphers. Students in Studio Art created culture jars in preparation for Saxon's culture night on October 30th, um, where they learned to preserve heritage and explore traditions. And lastly for Saxon, the STEM classes

063went on an educational trip to the Brooklyn Bridge to learn about what it takes to construct a bridge and how engineering, physics, mathemat, and mathematics come together to design these structures. At South Ocean Middle School, they had theirformational club fair to promote student involvement and engagement. This was really important because it allowed it aimed to foster connections between the student body as well as club adviserss and promote school pride. And lastly for South Ocean, they had their general organization student body government elections with our newly implemented or re-implemented go in the middle schools as well as the fifth grade level. Um they had their elections, they gave their campaign speeches and then the student body was allowed to cast their vote. Alrighty, last but not least, we have Patrick Medford High School. Patrick Medford High

064School showed lots of school spirit at the new pep rally this year, the day before homecoming. There, the district's mascot was revealed, Buffalo. Um, and this there was lots of support shown to all the different sports teams. Homecoming was also a great success with the Raiders varsity football win and outstanding floats. The skits were very comedic and it was a day full of smiles and raider pride. And lastly, unique leadership initiatives are being fostered by the sheriff's ambassador program, another partnership with the Suffach County Sheriff's Office. There students explore law enforcement and criminal justice careers and try to plan what they're going to do in their future. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you. Sorry. Before is it possible to turn these lights off? Sorry, they're

065like what? >> I know, but Thank you. They're like >> Thank you, Charlie. Um, next we're going to move on to the annual audit report where representative from RS Abrams accounting firm will present the board meeting to review the audit firm that has made for the fiscal 2024 2025 and the final report will be sent to the state education department following the board of education meeting. >> Yeah, that's fine. >> Yeah. >> So, we'd like to welcome we'd like to welcome Ali Betaglia and Nick Hennessy from RS. They are the district's external auditor as you heard Madame President say. They review our financials each and every year. Uh they're going to uh present their report for you in a summarized format of what they shared just last week with the audit committee and then this

066is sent up to the state. We also have Mr. Philip Railing here. He's the chairman of the audit committee. I turn over to Ally. Okay, now you can hear me. Okay, good evening. So, I did meet with the audit committee to discuss in full detail the financial statements as well as the communication letters that were uh that was presented to you. Basically, I like to say there's two sets of financial statements. So, there's one that's your modified acrruel, which means it's short-term in nature. That's your operating budget. So, your general fund, what you really want to hone in on. Then we convert that to acrruel basis of accounting, which means that basically we put on all your long-term assets and long-term liabilities. Um, school districts are governed by Gazsby, which is the government accounting standards

067board, and each year they usually give out new standards that we have to implement. This year was C compensated absences Gazsby number 101. So, it actually added on another calculation to the normal way you c normally calculate it. And this is for district-wide. So it's not your operating budget. Usually budget for your any retirement payouts. This is for your long-term liability. So there was a usage piece that was added on to your calculation. Um we did discuss the fund balance and reserves. Went over that in detail. Um currently the district's at 3.91% in your unassigned fund balance and by law you're not allowed to exceed 4% of the next year's budget. So you're right there at the 3.91%. Um, we also discussed that you did uh but use your um your reserves through the budget

068process, but you also able to fund. So, we'd like to see that you're utilizing, but you're also allowed you're seeing that you're replenishing them as well. Overall, very healthy balance sheet. Um, I'm happy to report we did issue an unmodified opinion. So, in auditor's language, that is the best opinion you can have. We didn't have any issues opining on the financial statements themselves. I'm happy to report there are no material weaknesses. We did have one um recommendation to improve the district's internal controls that the district has already have their corrective action plan. So that will be implemented and I do want to thank Frank, Dorene, Nicole, the entire business office for again once another smooth audit. Um we had no issues encountered during the audit. So thank you for getting that to help us to

069complete this so that we could present tonight. So and if there's any questions from the board, I'd be happy to take them. I I was there when you presented. I was very happy with everything that I heard. Thank you very much for your report. >> Thank you. >> That's I I just wanted to say uh the audit committee, we vote to accept the financial statements and it was a unanimous decision once again to accept the external auditor's financial statements. Great job you guys on the statements that you did. Um, so I have a recommendated U motion whereas RS Abrams and Company has submitted an annual audit report for operations of the Powchuk Meford School District for the fiscal year ending in June 30th, 2025. Now therefore be resolved that a copy of the said report

070is hereby received and shall be filed with the New York State Education Department and it be further resolved that the assistant superintendent for business shall file a certified copy of this motion with the office of audit. So can I have a motion to >> motion? I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I motion carries. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you guys. >> Thank you. finance. Next, we'll move on to public comments that are only related to the reports that were given or any agenda items. Is it on? Um, I'm actually at this time right now I'm speaking as uh PTA council president. So I want to um commend, congratulate and tell Michael because Devon's not here right now. What an amazing presentation you did. Um it was it was it was phenomenal. Um

071it was definitely well thought out. Um very clearly spoken and presented. Um, and I wanted to share with with you and as well as the board that um, we have spoken through PTA council that we also would like to have more of a presence here and sharing things that the PTAs are doing and I think they kind of all connect. Um, when I spoke with Mrs. Kennedy, she was talking about how their student government now. So I see that it really is um working in unison like you know together on just different levels. Um, I think that doing a pilot program and you know just from doing this for many many many years as a as an educator and as a parent um I think that you are seeing this the correct way in that

072you're starting with simple to work and build on and growing from that and learning from that and um I think that that's phenomenal and I think that together with the schoolboard initiative and the superintendent initiative and um if you would have us um you know PTA would also like to work together with you in any capacity that you would like because I think our mission and our goals are very similar. So um so if you would like to do that Dr. R could get you my contact my information and um working together with um Mrs. Kennedy and the school board I would I would love to help. We you know PTA would love to help in any way that we can because it really is all joined together. Um, and now as uh Pam Peterson

073community member, I say the same thing. Kudos. You did a great job. >> Okay. Thank you. Right. Moving on. Can I have a motion to accept the consent agenda? >> Motion. Second. >> All in favor? >> I consent agenda passes. There are no items removed and consent agenda and no items arising at exec. So um there are some policies information for the first reading that will be circulated which is 1340 public conduct on school property 5133 student organizations 5134 school events held off campus and 5135 the governance for extracurricular classroom activity funds. Um next we move on to superintendent reports. No, no. >> All right. Good evening everyone. I first like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the uh exceptional dedication to our board of education members as well and to express my heart heartfelt

074appreciation for their tireless service to our school community. Serving on the board of education requires tremendous commitment, sacrifice, and leadership. I can attest firsthand to the unwavering dedication this board demonstrates daily to our students and staff. This was exemplified just recently when we spent two and a half days in New York City together at the school board conference. While many districts sent representatives, few matched the strong presence of our trustees. This commitment, sacrificing time with their own families to attend workshops aimed at enhancing our programs and strengthening our district speaks volumes about their dedication to educational excellence. So to each member of our board, thank you for your support of me, the entire cabinet, our entire school community. I deeply value your honesty, transparency, and the moments of laughters we share. Even in challenging times,

075we collectively demonstrate remarkable grace handling difficult situations with dignity and respect. So again, thank you to our board of education. Uh I'd like to also uh give some kudos to Mrs. Pulis and our high school interactive club for their outstanding community service working um on a cleanup in the creek behind Gateway Plaza. If you haven't received the advance yet, we are featured in that. So, we had many students volunteer to remove debris that filled a 30yard dumpster. So it is really inspiring to see our students actively engaging to give back to community through meaningful service project. So thank you Mrs. Pulis and our interactive club for your leadership and service. I'd also like to congratulate our marching band that had an exceptional performance at the News Day Marching Bad Festival this past Thursday at Mitchell

076Field. After many weeks of dedication practicing, our students and our talented band directors delivered an outstanding performance that showcased their talent. So, thank you to everyone who participated in that. We were unfortunately not able to attend that because we were in the city. Um, I also would like to spotlight some of our athletic teams who are actually um featuring in some playoff games. I know um Mrs. Peterson just shared that she came from a playoff game and our field hockey team unfortunately did um lose today in a playoff, but they had an outstanding season. So, hats off to our varsity uh field hockey team. We have our girls varsity soccer team won an exciting overtime in a shootout playoff game over Kekquat. The girls are moving on again tomorrow at 11:00 at Northport. Our boys

077varsity had a has a playoff game tomorrow also at 3:00 in Beayshore. Our boys varsity volleyball has made the playoff. The bracket hasn't been released yet, so we'll find out more information. Our cross country team was at divisionals today at Sunken Meadow and our girls varsity made the playoffs. They had a tough match against William Floyd. They did lose in four sets, but again, another amazing year for our sports teams. Thank you to all our athletes, our coaches, and for um to Mr. Krakco, who really spends countless hours at many of these events. So, I'd like to turn it over to um the cabinet to see if any of our assistant soups would like to report out on anything happening in their areas. Okay, I'll start. So, first of all, I echo the sentiment that

078uh Mrs. Kennedy just shared to the board regarding your service. I would say that it is such a pleasure to work with all of you and I know how much time and dedication you put into your work. So, thank you. it does not go unnoticed. Congratulations and uh thank you. Um the only update I have is just to let everyone know that we are currently working on filling the vacancy for our director of CTE. We have interviews scheduled this week and we hope uh to be making a recommendation by our next board meeting, our November board meeting. Thank you. >> Good evening. I want to thank you as well. um to echo those sentiments as being new to this. I appreciate your support um and guidance as I learn my way. All right, so a

079few updates. During the weeks of October 13th and 20th, the secondary teachers across various content areas received professional development on high impact instructional strategies from a consultant that we've been working with for quite a number of years, Cindy Rice. For this school year, these professional development sessions will focus on differentiation. Our staff will focus on tailoring their instruction to meet the diverse needs of our students in the classroom while still aiming for some the same core learning goals. This is achieved by modifying the content, the process, and the products based on students readiness, interests, and learning profiles. It is also about creating a flexible learning environment that supports this these varied approaches. All new teachers plus the science department will receive the full professional development that our other secondary staff has received over the last

080few years. Um our science department was receiving some other training um from an outside consultant on the new standards. So they'll be part of this uh develop professional development this year. Um and Miss Rice will be back again quite a few times uh throughout the year. Her next visit will be in uh next month. Um September 15th through October 15th, as you know, was Hispanic Heritage Month. Uh this was a time to recognize and celebrate the rich history, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. Schools across our district celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month through a variety of um processes, including conducting research, enjoying books, and creating beautiful artwork. Students explored the rich traditions and contributions of Hispanic cultures through music, dance, and storytelling. Classrooms were filled with vibrant displays showcasing influential influential Hispanic fe fig

081figures and countries. The celebrations fostered a deeper appreciation for diversity and cultural heritage throughout our school community. Some information nights for our English language learners will be coming up. We have one on uh November 6th at Eagle Elementary, November 10th at Kanan, and November 17th at Medford. All will start at 6 PM. Um the family center and uh Pat public library will be present as well. On October 15th and 22nd, Miss Emily Wernernau, uh, elementary uh, humanities director, a team of administrators, Miss Carrie Pickford, the elementary chairperson for humanities, and two consultants from SAVIS completed learning walks at Tmont, Kanan Bay, Eagle, and Medford. The learning walks showcased an understanding and imple implementation of the five-day reading routines throughout the district and that this routine is consistent across schools. Students are being exposed and grappling

082with rigorous text and language. Students are annotating and reading grade level literature across all of our grade levels. The staff will continue to work on infusing more student centered opportunities. And it was evident that these walks are being used to help craft next steps upcoming professional learning and is a snapshot of really the successes that we are seeing as a district and a community. Lastly, as of October 16th, Mr. L. Salado, our director of secondary STEM, math, and science has been serving in place of Mr. Rich Hoffman, who as you know has been is out on medical leave. Mr. Salado has made it a priority to be present and visible throughout the building so that students and staff become familiar with him. During a recent walkthrough together, it was evident that the students felt comfortable

083engaging with him and he's also being proactive in reaching out to parents to ensure continuity and support during Mr. Hoffman's absence. Thank you. Good evening uh again to the board. Congratulations. Thank you for your tireless work and all you do to advocate for the best interests of this community. Um besides the audit that you heard briefly about, uh the auditors didn't do a good job of telling you just how extensive that's a massive um undertaking each and every year. It's every bit of like almost three months of really looking at our financials and scrutinizing them. So, so to come out with a good review year after year um is really a tribute to not only our staff but certainly their efforts as well in in guiding us each and every year. Uh but I thought

084I'd give the community a quick update on our capital projects. We have our bond projects uh starting with the progress that we've been making at the high school. Last month I was telling you about the multi-purpose field and the additions in that arena uh coming along very nicely. You may have since seen that right after homecoming now the removal of the existing grandstands at Ranger Stadium are down. They're beginning now with the footings to get everything set up so that we can have the new uh grandstands erected for the spring season. So this was uh very advantageous to us and also to take advantage of this uh the weather right now. Uh we've also continued the school boards have gone up in the gymnasiums. Now they're working on the connectivity for those and the uh

085walkways are nearly complete going all the way around. We have to work on I think the stairs and then just the remaining piece of fencing and netting. Uh this evening on the consent agenda we had two awards for the next phases of our bond projects. The first is the theatrical piece which is our sound and lighting updates in our uh secondary schools. So that you may recall that was rebid after uh August because there was discrepancy with some of the confusion raised by one of the contractors bidding uh on the parameters of the bid that has now since been rebid. So now that we can commence on beginning that work. The nice thing is that is inside work. Now, we will schedule the work uh in working with the contractor in and around the various

086events that we have taking place at all of our buildings uh throughout the busy months of musicals and concerts and award presentations, etc. Uh we're going to begin that kickoff meeting now by next week. The other piece is the highly anticipated uh HVAC work, which is for our new ventilator systems. So, the schools that have now been approved in phase one is Bay uh South Ocean uh middle school and uh also Eagle. We got very favorable bid responses and we're looking to now commence that work certainly for Bay and Eagle by next summer when we will be active in the the entire buildings and all the classrooms. But the nice thing about the south ocean work, this will be the one of our first things that we do with the contractors to do that work

087over the winter because we've already got the new unit ventilators that were part of the 2018 capital project. And then lastly, we have an update on uh the Bay capital project, which is the extension. Uh unfortunately, uh during the excavation phase, we found some sus some suspicious material while digging. We immediately ceased, had testing done, found some of the items there did uh test positive for an asbestous material. According to state law, we acted accordingly, notifying the authorities, and we're now working on the abatement plan in accordance with uh the DL. This project, we've come to learn, is going to now push us back uh some time on this because of the way the abatement needs to take place. So, we are going to hold a special meeting at Bay on November 13th at 6

088PM in the gymnasium. So, we'll have the entire construction team present, environmental specialists that are consulting with us to answer and address all questions and concerns. And that's all I have this evening. Okay. Over the past month, we've been very busy in the family center and special education. Uh October is National Bullying Prevention Month and our schools have been participating in activities that promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion that was dispersed by the family center. We've celebrated Unity Day on Wednesday, October 22nd with many students and staff wearing orange to show that no child should ever experience bullying. Each building received lesson plans, videos, and classroom activities to reinforce this message. From October 23rd through the 31st, our schools are also recognizing Red Ribbon Week, the national campaign promoting drug-free lifestyles. This year's theme is life

089is a puzzle, solve it drug-free. Staffs and students are encouraged to participate through morning announcements, bulletin boards, poster contests, and even a collaborative puzzle art project this year. All designed to empower students to make healthy, informed choices. The family center continues to expand outreach and engagement opportunities for our families. We relaunched the parent workshop series with our first one on September 30th. The first workshop was titled back to school routines and attendance and this was led in both English and Spanish. Our next workshop is actually tomorrow. Don't let challenging behavior challenge you tips to help you manage. This will take place here at Saxton at 6 pm. Our session after that is anxiety and kids. what parents can do at home. This is scheduled for November 25th and with our collaboration with the Patchog Medford

090Library, we will be holding the workshop at the library and also be offering that in both English and Spanish. We've resumed our partnership with Island Harvest and the youth produce program, delivering bi-weekly to-go boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables to our local families. Our first deliveries have served dozens of families and helped promote nutrition and education among the children and families in our community. Through our ongoing partnership with the Lions Club, our vision screenings are being conducted for all UPK through fifth grade students with parental consent. Our screenings have been completed at Bay River, Medford, Barton, and Tmont with Eagle and Kan scheduled for this week. And we've seen a significant increase in participation compared to last year. You may have noticed our annual Thanksgiving food drive is underway. Each school building has a collection

091container for non-p perishable food items that will be distributed to families throughout the um Thanksgiving time. As in past years, we have already being being notified of many turkey donations from our community partners to ensure that every family has a Thanksgiving meal. Our program continues to demonstrate excellence and innovation across Long Island. On October 16th, two of our teachers, uh, Erin Rotans and Lauren Brickio, presented at Teachtown Boot Camp, which was hosted by Eastern SuffK Boseies, sharing their classroom strategies with more than 100 educators across Long Island. In addition, the vice president of curriculum development for Teachtown, Jessica Godzy, has personally visited our K through9 aged ASUS classrooms to help our staff utilize the program's assessment tools and begin a pilot program with Teachtown. This year, our ASUS classrooms will be conducting benchmarking three times

092annually along with pre and postunit assessments and monthly progress meetings for students kindergarten through 9th grade age. You may remember earlier um actually it was the end of last year, Teachtown previously featured Patchog Medford in the national spotlight video recognizing our district's leadership in special education. Over the last month, all of our special education directors have completed chapter 408 training with instructional staff, ensuring that staff are aware and complying with IEPs and 504s and the confidentiality that is associated with them. And lastly, to the board of education, thank you for your continued support and the partnership that you offer all of us in our community. >> Thank you everyone. Um, next we're going to move on to committee reports. So, buildings and operations, trust Our first meeting is October 28th at 5:00 PM in the

093district office. >> Okay, thank you. Next is finance trustee Kuban. >> Our first meeting is next Wednesday, November 5th. Our first meeting. We did not have an October meeting. >> Districtwide technology meeting. >> Uh we have not had a meeting yet. Our first meeting will be this Wednesday, October 29th, at 4:30 p.m. in South. Oh, is it Zoom? Zoom. That's why I said Zoom. >> Next up is extracurricular. Um, we had a meeting on October 8th and we reviewed um some finalizing of our mascot um which um we're going to um kind of next step. Trustee um Andrade, myself, Mr. Krakco and Mr. Brinkman will begin to serve for design for vendors for approval and come to the um committee for um what this design will um we also talked about um what are the

094guidelines for posting fundraisers and events um and then more creating of our PR presence for more extracurricular kind of in integration. So, kind of what more positive things can we see on on our Facebook that's more um positive with our students um and kind of get there's something that we can do to get more which I know we're starting to do more presence and more positivity of our um students and what their accomplishments and then we just talked about um how the pep rally and homecoming and how everyone loved the pep rally and um that the students loved it and there's some still some tweaking to do but everyone kind of felt like um a family and that maybe they'll have a winter and spring pep rally. So that's what we're talking about. >> We

095go back. >> They originally were Zoom technology, but now it is in it is in district office with a Zoom option if you can't make it. >> That was right. Um, instructional and student sports rooms, trustes, >> instructional have meeting. Our first meeting will be actually I'm looking for that right now. >> What is the date for that? >> It's coming up. November. >> Thursday, November 13th. >> 13th >> in the South Ocean conference room. >> Thank you very much. >> And then legislative and trusting in Smith. >> Um, uh, Dr. Dr. Cohen and I had a meeting with a whole lot of people on October 16th via Zoom and that's where we'll have most all of our meetings. Um um uh Dr. Cohen uh explained our uh uh we everybody introduced each other. Um

096it's a good good solid group of people. Um uh Dr. Cohen develop uh introduced our charge and what it is that we're doing. We discussed the format um of how the meetings will be happening. Huh? I was going to say what's the charge? >> The charge what we read out was charge of a school's legislative committee comprised of representatives from all stakeholders typically includes develop and proposed legislative positions to the school board. Inform and publicize approved legislative positions and proposed actions to the board and the community. Advocate to state and federal legislators for positions identified by the legislative committee and approved by the board. and coordinate advocacy efforts throughout the district. Um overall, the committee aims to ensure that the voices of all stakeholders are heard in the legislative process and that educative educational policies

097serve the best interests of students and the community. Well, um uh some of the things that we discussed um uh that we figured we would focus on were um the vaccination exemptions. Currently, um, parents seeking vaccine exemptions for their students will go to the school district. Um, we're looking for clear clearer guidelines regarding approvals or denials. Um, and that the New York State Department of Health is the one that is uh should be doing making these decisions, not individual little school districts. Um, so we're inviting um uh we had Dr. Dr. Cohen has already invited uh Assemblyman Doug Smith and Assemblyman Judge Stephano to a meeting to help address this to be determined to to be we'll follow up on that. Um uh Eastern SuffK Boseies has a community hybrid legislative committee um and we

098uh Dr. Cohen distributed the dates of those uh meetings so that other members of the committee can register, attend and report back any updates. We had a conversation about vape shops, which is huge problem. Um there are more and more and more of them up and down Route 112. Um and a lot of them around uh Medford Elementary in particular, and they're just more of them. Um so, um um vape shops are not it's it's a problem. So, Dr. Cohen advised that Mrs. Kennedy just put out a parent square message related to vaping. That's a big concern in the high school. Um um and we're going to be need to invite uh Councilman Foley, legislator Dominic Thorne, and Assemblyman Joe Stephano to a meeting to see how they can help us in limiting the new

099approvals or hoping to ensure that they're operating legally. There have been arrests at uh vape and cannabis shops up on the north end of 112. I'm hoping that that was the start and they're going to head work their way down. um uh charter schools. We had a discussion on the charter schools and how the state has been approving more charter schools um and the impact this has been having on district funding. There are currently two entities that approve charter schools. There's New York State Ed and Sunni. We're trying to advocate that there should only be one entity approving and it should be nice. New York State Ed and not Sunni because Sunni is the one that keeps approving these things. Um um um Cindy Zagel was on our meeting. um um she's one of our

100teachers and she had some very intimate information for us that charter schools are costing our district um in 2021 they cost us $98,867 and currently charter schools are costing this school district $259,000 in tuition paid by the school district to the private charter businesses. Um there was a discussion on the uh Joey updated us on the natural gas uh zero emission buses. Um we need to monitor timelines on that because so far it's impossible to meet timelines. Um uh we talked a little bit about the extreme heat legislation. It didn't impact us this year because it was a nice cold fall. We'll have to see what happens in the spring. Um cell phone restrictions. We talked about the portrait of a graduate. Dr. call and updated the committee alerting them to the future changes in

101graduation requirements and advised that this will largely be the work of the instructional committee unless there are legislative priorities that you guys want us to work on um additional funding for professional development and stuff. Um other things that we talked about were uh how to uh do internal communications between the uh the committee members. Um um there's some idea and title programming information that we're going to share out with the rest of the committee. We have a new regent. Her name is Felicia Thomas Williams. Um considering maybe inviting her to the district. And uh Dr. Cohen is going to invite uh Councilman Foley, Assemblyman Dano, Assemblyman Doug Smith, and Legislator Dominic Thornne to our next meeting which is on Thursday, November 6th. And did I miss anything? >> Thank you. Next, we're going to move

102on to board discussion updates. So, an update on the superintendent search is that the forums are almost done. The teachers and the students are left. 14 have applied and have submitted applications. 11 are still in process. the survey that went out there were 407 that were um completed in English and 30 that were done in Spanish. So we continue to um have open discussions about that. And then the next one is the NASA suffic um for that as the voting delegate. Um I just went to over two that were passed that were um very I know passionate to especially um Trusty Andrade. And the first one was the recess which was um it said that be resolved that the New York State School Board Association shall advocate for amendments to New York State Education Department

103regulations to allow a set amount of daily recess time up to 30 minutes per day to countdoor required instructional hours for elementary students. There was a lot of discussion on that and that one did pass. And then um Padum Wford did put one in that um Trusty Andrade worked very hard for and that was be resolved that the New York State School Board Association advocates for the mandatory implementation of daily recess for all students in kindergarten through fifth grade and for students in sixth grade who attend an elementary school or sanctioned within an elementary grade level in addition to schedule physical education classes. So, there was a lot of discussion about that. A lot of people didn't really know what recess was. So, I kind of had to explain what recess was. Um, especially for

104schools that are upstate even though they were doing recess, maybe they call it something different, but um that did pass. So, we were very proud of that. So, great work Jesse Andrade. It's a team effort. I just want to add too that so and this was something I did not know that recess is not mandated in New York State and actually it's not mandated in a lot of states. So, it's not a bill yet, but there is legislation in place to mandate it. So, that's why our verbiage match that very well. And I would also like to request for the legislative committee to also come on board with this and when you talk to the legislators to, you know, let them know that, you know, we're on board with this and that NISSBA passed this

105and um we'd really like to see some leverage now in the Senate and in the Assembly because that's where both these bills are actually to mandate it and to also have instruct recess count 30 minutes towards instructional time which I think will make it a lot easier for our teachers. and for administrators. >> Do you know offhand what the bill numbers are or I can look that up. >> I I have not on me but I have them. Yeah. >> This is the in the >> Yep. >> Oh, there you go. >> Thank you. And then um like um this coming week the 22nd through the 25th we did attend the NASA uh I mean not NASA the New York State schoolboard station in the city so a lot of us did a couple of

106workshops um and it was a lot of learning experience so I don't know if anybody wants to share um after and I attended with trusty Andrade and trusty Kger we did the board governance and that was very eye opening to see what how we can improve our meetings and what we can work on. We also attended like I attend the board norms and what we could do to better enhance um like our board on board and manual. Um I did the um student board member which um was really eye opening to listen to the students speak and what they do and what the process they um also did. And then I um attended one about self-regulation and it was um just talking about students that kind of need that break, not only students with IEPs

107or 504s, but even general education students and what they do like a Zen garden or sensory integration rooms or like snow rooms. And then we also attended Tim Shrivever who talked about um you know dignity index and that was very eye openening. And then they ended it with Steve Hartman um which was kindness 101 and that was really just taught us just to be everyone just be decent humans and you know just show kindness in everything you do. >> Yeah. I mean that was uh that was what I was going to touch upon too was the uh one that kind of struck me was the dignity kindness one an overall emphasis on character uh education um which was very valuable I think um you know last year we did AI which is a very relevant

108aspect but I think this um the dignity and kindness thing is something we can all uh learn from especially this day and age just uh basically is just treating each other uh the way you'd want to be treated Um, and obviously there's there's uh various dynamics that were put into that, but it was it was very well taken and I think it was very uh valuable for us to kind of see that and and remember that, you know, we do teach these uh teach our kids in our community how to treat each other and we just have to keep that in mind. I I just want to echo on that that um to beginning from the beginning there were a couple sessions in there to the end to focus on human decency and kindness was

109very empowering and it's something that we really need to get back to. Um like uh Trusty Jennings said we went to the leadership academy and then I did some sessions uh Mr. Salazar and I did a session with Commissioner Rosa that went over a lot of New York State new stuff. I did a CTE and skills gap uh session, another one on attendance and chronic absenteeism, and another eye openening one on community engagement. And they all have slide decks that we're pouring through and notes, and I just need to kind of absorb all the information and then we'll get back and discuss amongst ourselves. Um these conferences are always educative, educational and inspiring. Um I didn't do the leadership with them. I went to the preconference law conference where they talked about a lot of

110critical issues. There was uh uh and uh uh legal decisions and how they're impacting uh districts going forward. Um we talked about student we were they talked about uh student free speech. Um and um the idea individuals with disabilities in education act is 50 years old this year. Um and uh the potential implications of some uh uh recent changes in the federal government and recent Supreme Court decisions. Um I did see Dr. Diane Wyn uh who was from the New York State Department of Education who talked a lot about courageous leadership and dignity which was so many notes. Um I I went to a session on electric buses. Still a mess. Um um um and I went to one at the very at the end called the handle with care initiative which is a new

111project. Um, and it's it's sort right it's a very tiny one right now. And it's a traumainformed multi- agency approach to caring for the mental health and well-being of children who are involved in a law enforcement or medical emergency and try to uh u address potential ACES which is an adverse child event childhood event. Yeah. Um and it right now it's it's a a multi- agency between Southampton town of Southampton Nassau Suff School Boards and Hampton Bay School District. Excellent program. Um um it works with law enforcement and um the district and the school district and the town. Great program. Um that's it. Thank you. >> All right. I won't be long. I so I went to a lot of the same sessions that um my fellow trustees did and and really also what's so

112great about this on top of getting to get some personal development and leadership is that this conference is all New York State. So there's board members, board trustees from all of New York State. So from upstate, from the city. So we really on top of that get to network with our fellow trustees and just really see how things are working in their area or in their school district or how maybe they have exeicios and how they run it and all the different things. So on top of all the sessions, it's really great to get to to just network amongst other trustees and and see what's happening in New York State. That's it. can't look back. Um, and I was able to attend uh virtually, which I really appreciated. Um, it allowed me to, you know,

113take care of the things I needed at home with my my little kids, but also still, um, be able to be a part. And so, um, just to kind of echo what what everyone already said, um, I think something that stuck out to me the most was how we as adults can model for our kids that, um, being kind even when we have differences. And I just wanted to say that I think, you know, every everyone on the board, you know, it feels like we, you know, from my short time being here, it feels like we're modeling that. And I really, it was something that I I kept thinking about that, um, I appreciate that despite differences that some of us might have. Um, it feels like we're already doing a lot of those things.

114And now, how can we just make sure that, you know, we're modeling that for our kids because it's so important, especially today. Um, and then I was able to attend um, some workshops. It was a little bit different online, but with AI, uh, school nutrition, PLC's, and I even got to play Jeopardy. Um, I did not win, but I, uh, if I could figure out how to buzz in sooner, I think I would have had a chance, but it was a little hard virtually, but um, it was good. Thank you. >> Thank you everyone. Next, we're going to move on to public comment. You can go. Hi. Um, good evening. My name is Spagata Bisboss and I recently did attend Padogong Medford High School and I recently got um kicked out because of my location

115boundary and I would like to discuss if I could possibly if there is a way that I could stay. I have been attending the school year for over I think over eight years. I've been here since preK and I've been living in Patchog for almost my whole life until we found this house in Medford because it has been a struggle getting into and purchasing a new house. And it is also a struggle moving to a new school district that you know nothing about and with very much limited opportunities than Pat. And I can say that about now I am in Longwood and they don't have that many opportunities as much as Pat High School which I feel like I'm really grateful for staying in the Pat District. They have provided me with education for a

116very long time and I could never be more grateful. So I would like to thank everyone on the board, everyone just involved because it's really made a fun learning experience for me and my family as well as my brother who attended for his whole education. And right now he's in college and he was validictorian of the class of 2025. And I just feel like right now like I've been really involved. since ninth grade and I've been trying to get involved in the school and I've learned a lot. I'm fell in love with all my teachers. I fell in love with all my friends and I feel like right now like it's been really hard transitioning into a new district that you know nothing about. >> So, sorry. All right. I just wanted to end uh

117our our ma main concern here is kind of uh so we moved to this district uh me and my sister we didn't obviously know anything about like the mortgage and the boundaries and uh I mean uh you know some of my best friends who went to PAMED uh I graduated in the class of 2025 some of my best friends live 2 minutes away from us in Eagle Estates like there's you know our neighbors and so we figured you know there wouldn't be much of a problem um and then you know we kind of come to find out that there is But uh our our main concern kind of fell with the fact that uh before the school year, we we weren't really notified of uh any of of this sort of happening. It it only

118kind of happened a month into the school year where uh we were notified that we we had to leave and um I I believe there was a Wednesday of a certain week and then that same Friday we were said that we could not return to or my sister at least couldn't return to the high school. So, uh, we kind of just wanted to ask and kind of see if there was anything we could do in terms of enrollment. I know we've we've emailed, uh, you know, some people. We've been kind of read, you know, redirected to a bunch of spots and we just wanted to know if there's some sort of, uh, anything we could sort of do to get reenrolled, any sort of guidance with that. Um, I mean, my sister fell in love

119with, you know, the same teachers that I loved, the staff that I loved. Um, she she got involved immediately. uh she you know she was involved in the float, she was involved in model UN and stuff like that and then she went to Longwood and they you know they didn't let her do things like join the debate club because training had already passed. Um they didn't let her join clubs like that. She's not taking biology honors anymore. Um so it it just I just didn't want this whole transition especially kind of happening a month into the school year to affect her education down the line because obviously that's that's the most important thing. So, we just kind of wanted to come here as as sort of like a last stitch effort to, you know, have

120some sort of guidance. Any other option? Um, just kind of present our situation for the board. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We can't talk about this in public. We We hear you, but we can't answer. We can't respond. >> Okay. All right. Um well I guess >> I know that's frustrating but that's the rules that we have to abide we all have to abide by. >> Is there any sort of direction we could take this point? So, uh, I know I had the opportunity to speak with your mom and I know your mom put in an appeal to our board of education and so you will be getting a response based on the letter that your mom wrote to the board of education that will come from uh, Miss Diva. Okay. So, your family

121will be receiving that. All >> righty. Thank you so much. >> You're welcome. Thank you. Any other public comments? >> Okay, move on to board of education comments. >> Okay, I'll start. Um, I was actually going to just comment on uh the virtual conference. Um, I just wanted to, you know, thank thank the board for allowing me to to attend virtually. Um, and I just thought it was really, um, as my first time attending. Um, it was very informative. Um, I feel like I learned a lot and I feel like it was just very positive. Um, and so I really appreciate it. Thank you. >> All right. I'd like to thank our presenters today. I think they did a fantastic job. Our presenters for our uh advisory, was it the Raiders Advisory Council? I think

122you guys did a fantastic job. Uh your input is extremely valuable. You were very very well spoken. Um whatever we do in the future, you know, if it lawyers in your future, I would love to have you as my lawyer when you get older. I think you did a great job. Um your partner did a fantastic job as well. Um I think that's very important for us to hear from our students. I think our exhibition had a great job too u with Miss Kennedy talking about the cell phones. I think that information was vital and very important for us. I think it was good reflection. Uh so thank you guys and uh it's just you know I always think it's great to hear from our from our kids. Uh that's it. Thank you. >> Okay.

123>> I just want to thank you for all the acknowledgements um for the board for board appreciation. It is my pleasure and my honor to serve in this position. Um, I just want to say I'm so excited for the school year. We started on such an amazing note. Um, homecoming to see all the schools and all of the groups involved was just incredible. Uh, we're doing great things in our sports, our music, and our arts. Um, if you go up Main Street, some of our windows are still all painted by our high school students. So that was wonderful to see. Thank you to the audit committee. And then a special thank you to Charlotte, Devani, and Michael because um we always say we want to hear your voices, but student voices are the most important

124voices and it's great when you guys come out and we get to hear your perspectives on things. >> Ditto. Uh and thank you. I want to thank the people who came, Pam and uh Mr. uh uh Mr. Dphano. Um thank you for the time and and the gift and for taking the time to show up. Um thank you for your kind comments and good night. I will second or third or fourth all of that. Thank you to everyone. Thank you for coming and speaking to us. Homecoming was fantastic as usual. We even got some drummers in the front of the parade, which was so awesome. So, every year we'll expand a little bit more, get some more music going. But it was such a fun day. The kids were fantastic. And thank you everyone for

125the recognition. I too am very honored to be sitting in this seat and to serve my community. So, thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you to everyone who recognized the board. Um, it's great to serve alongside these great people and um, thank you to Charlotte, Devani, and um, Mickey. I look forward to working with you guys and really getting a good voice to really solidify the exeicio member and what we can do to get more of student voice and maybe even student presence at, you know, board meetings. Um, so just thank you to everyone and thank you to the staff for working very hard. And so, can I have a motion for the meeting to adjourn? I'll make a motion. >> Second. All in favor? >> All right. Meeting adjourned at 901. >> Good job.