001Good evening everybody. Please stand up for the pledge. I pray God. Board President, to advise members of the audience that they may address the board regarding agenda items after the superintendent's report. Only those members whose names and addresses are listed on the signage sheet available prior to the start of the meeting will be recognized during new business. The chairperson will limit the discussions of any item by the public to three minutes in order for the board to expeditiously conduct its business. Superintendent's report. Mr. Manzo is sick tonight. So Dr. O'Rourke will give the superintendent's report. Thank you, Mr. Roland. Good evening everyone and thank you for joining us here tonight. Tonight we have several presentations and at this time I would like to ask Mr. Bernard to come up to the front to introduce the
002chairperson. He's going to introduce some very, very talented students and staff members. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you, Dr. O'Rourke. It's my pleasure to have our members of our high school musical come to perform at the Board of Education meeting this evening. At this time I'd like to introduce the director of Anything Goes, Mrs. Bethany Affelt. Anything Goes is a good old fashioned classic American musical comedy. The music is all written by Cole Porter. It's a really great jazz, big band music, a lot of wonderful songs in the show and a really, really funny book. In fact, I do remember the last time East Isle High School did this show 21 years ago, earlier in my career, and I can still remember how hard the audience was laughing throughout the show. It is a family
003friendly show. You can bring kids. Some of the jokes might go a little over their heads, but it's still great for all ages and we're really looking forward to presenting it. Our opening night is two weeks away, exactly two weeks. So if you're interested in coming to the show, you can come to the Board of Education. We have a lot of great music. We have a lot of great music. We have a lot of great music. We have a lot of great music. We have a lot of great music. So two weeks from tonight is opening night. So Thursday, March 26th at 7pm, Friday the 27th at 7pm, and then Saturday the 28th at 2pm we offer a matinee. Tickets are only $15 if you purchase them ahead of time and you can always buy
004our tickets at EIHSBoxOffice.com or you can scan the QR code on the posters, which were designed by the student artist, James Arado. Those will be going up around town pretty soon. So please come and see us. You can scan that QR code and that will bring you directly to the ticket purchasing website. So tonight we're going to be presenting what is typically a full company number. So we're talking about 40 high school students on the stage dancing their hearts out. Tonight we have a smaller group just because of spacing and student conflicts and that sort of thing. But we're sure you're still going to enjoy it. So I'm going to call them up. Starting of course with our leading lady, senior, Carrie Ann Montu. Carrie Ann Montu. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
005Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And theイ was, is Carrie Ann Montu. It's Reno Swinney. And I'd also like to welcome Ethan Jensen . And Ethan is also one of our student choreographers this year. And he choreographed all of the top sequences you . Next up, we have three out of the four of Reno's Angels. So sophomore, Pendel Gravano. Any生 4 All of these are our featured actors here. We've got Junior, Liz Labella. And Senior, Shanna Murray. Some featured sailors here tonight because the whole show takes place on an ocean liner. So we've got sophomore,
006Nick Langbrook. And senior, Nicholas Lindstrom. And our motion would be complete without a captain, so Junior, Gavin Timmer. And then finally I'm going to call up senior, Anderson Ross. In his role as Lord Evelyn O'Ready. But he is also one of our student choreographers. And we have Anderson's techie, Junior Green to thank for splicing together the backing track you're going to hear tonight. Because every rendition of the show is different and he somehow magically spliced together little bits of all the different soundtracks to give us what we needed for tonight. So thank you for doing that for us. And I just want to say a couple of things. One of my friends actually shared this with me about a week ago. He has been here for the board event presentations for every single show that
007he's been in at the high school. So catch, if you can, freshman year, mean girls, big fish last year, and now this. So I think that's the only time a student has ever been here all four nights. But that's up to you. We hope you liked what you see tonight and we hope we see you at the show in another couple of weeks. Thank you. I'm a big hand for them. The high school, they really need your support and it's going to be a fabulous show. So thank you once again and break a leg. At this time I would like to invite Mr. Seifert to the microphone. That was very nice. Good evening everyone. International Modern Language Day is observed each year on February 21st and it celebrates the linguistic and cultural diversity around the
008world. The day was created to help preserve and honor native languages, recognizing that language carries culture, history, and identity. It also reminds us of how important language is in helping people connect and understand one another. Here in our E&L department, we have the unique opportunity to support that mission in a special way. While we honor and respect the many languages our students bring with them, we also work hard to help students discover the depth of American culture and the richness of the English language. In many ways, we act as the guides for our newcomers and as the guardians of the language as our students learn and develop. And now at this time, I would like to introduce Ms. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. L. and I would
009like to introduce Ms. Ackley. Mrs. Ackley is an expert in her field, and a truly dedicated professional within our department. She spent many years supporting students in helping them learn their new language and culture, and today she will introduce one of her students who will share a few words about her American experience. Good evening everyone, and thank you for coming out in our almost spring weather. I would like to formally introduce to everyone one of our distinguished former E&L students. Allison Dominguez Tapia. She is not only a graduate from our E&L program, but she continues to excel in her journey of success. Allison began her journey here at East Islip in 10th grade in 2023. As a trilingual student on her way to receive her seal of bi-literacy and graduating with honors, she truly encompasses
010the essence of EI pride. And without further ado, Allison would like to say a few words of encouragement of how she has learned to acculturate and become our exemplary student. I've been to a completely new environment and I know that this has transformed my perspective, teaching me the importance of diversity, resilience, and openness to change. This challenge comes from my character. I'm a very more rounded person. To help us arrive in the United States and the United States, I want to thank you. Thank you. I would like us to hear from Mrs. Baeernheimer. Mrs. Baeernheimer brings wonderful energy, technological creativity, and fresh ideas to our department. In recognition of Mother Language Day, she created a video with her students that explores the very important importance of mother language. Please join me in welcoming Mrs. Baeernheimer.
011Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to share this with you. In our school, students come together with many different languages and backgrounds. One of the most powerful things we see is how quickly they learn, even if they don't all speak the same language. The same language, we can still communicate through gestures, smiles, and gestures. We work through teamwork together and of course patience. Our students learn how to treat each other with fairness, kindness, and always respect. The video our E&L department is sharing tonight shows how these young learners build inclusive school in their community where everyone can belong. So thank you for letting us share this video with you and I hope you enjoy tonight. ...who speaks a different language. How can we apply this to someone who speaks a different language? Our
012students come from many cultures and speak many languages here at Connect One Elementary School. In our classrooms, we teach that communication is more than words. It's about connection, empathy, and respect. What you'll see is how our youngest learners already understand that kindness and understanding help us communicate across differences. ...speak the same language, we can still... ...speak the same language. ...language helps us share our stories. Different languages make our classroom beautiful and interesting. Let's hear it from some of our students. ...esco-tattle. Connections between students, teachers, and staff lift one another up, cause their respect, and create pride in the community we build together. ...together. Thank you for supporting culturally responsive learning in our school. Members of the board, thank you very much for allowing us to present tonight our activities and what we did for International
013Mother Language Day. Thank you. ...the World Language Team. It was a great video. I don't know if Mr. Harrison can beat that right now with what he has to say, but I believe Mr. Harrison has to go over the budget. I was making a thing from you. But thank you to the Board of Education, the superintendent, my colleagues, the left of me. As well as the principals, directors, and business office staff. Also, Jessica Pertico, our district treasurer, who was very instrumental in crafting the budget this year. And Miss Terry Farrow. So, this is very much a collaborative process. And I'm up here talking about it, but I wouldn't be if I didn't have the help from everyone that I just mentioned. So, without further ado, the first budget presentation for 26-27 of this year. I
014like this slide. I've used it in years past. It's a good visual that says, you know, you're going to budget your expenses, look at your revenues. But if you have a shortfall in budgeting more expenses and revenues, we have to rely on district reserves to plug the gap. So, this is a slide depicting the state aid that is currently in the governor's budget. I've highlighted a few items. If you look at the bottom line, well, the next bottom line. The newspapers would have you feel that we're having a 2.76% increase in state aid as compared to 25-26. However, that does include universal pre-K, which is not part of the general fund budget. So, when you back out the universal pre-K funding, it's actually a .84% increase that the district is seeing in support of the
015general fund budget. The foundation aid, which is the bulk of our state aid, is a .8%. So, that's a .8%. So, that's a .8%. So, it's going up by 1%, which is the minimum we received throughout the New York State schools. It's called a due minimum, and there is provision in the budget which is called hold harmless, and that states that no school district will receive less state aid in the upcoming year as compared to the current year. If that wasn't in the budget language, we'd be looking at probably a $7-8 million budget cut. So, just a word about UPK. In the governor's budget, funding per student is increasing from $5,400 per student to $10,000 per student, which is the cause of the large increase that you see of $826,000. This is based upon servicing
016179 pre-K students. By the 28-29 school year, school districts are required to provide spots for everyone who's put in for the program, which means there'll be no waiting list of students getting into the program. Next is the property tax cap calculation. This is a calculation that is worked through by all school districts, and they achieve different amounts based upon their local parameters. But it starts with the prior fiscal year tax levy, which was $77.6 million. It's important to note that that number has been adjusted to account for the two transportation, two propositions that were approved by the voters last year. That number can be increased by what's called a tax-based growth factor. This number is provided to us by New York State, and it's at 1%, which means there's no benefit in this factor for
017East Islip for the upcoming year. And this is a measure of building that's going on in the East Islip community that's not yet impacted on the tax rolls. So normally we see a bit of an increase here, but not in the upcoming year. Next is a comparison. This is a comparison of pilot payments, payment in lieu of taxes. Currently there's one property that's not on the tax rolls, and that's the Lessings property on Sunrise Highway. But they do make payments to the district that's representative of a portion of the taxes they would normally pay. That's going up for next year. And an increase in pilot payments causes a decrease in the ability to raise taxes. It's a small amount of $8,000 that is detracted from our tax levy. Next is a comparison. This is a
018comparison of the local share of capital projects. Simply stated, this is the debt service for our capital projects, less the state aid received. And when we went into this bond project several years ago, our effort was to keep this local share as flat as possible. That's evidenced by a small $61,000 decrease going into next year. The next factor that's impacting the tax levy growth factor is the inflation factor. So the inflation factor is the inflation factor. The increase in the inflation factor is 2.63%. But the way the law is written, we cannot go up any higher than 2%. So that's the amount that's increasing of $1.5 million. So when you put this all together, the year-over-year tax levy increase that requires only a simple majority is 1.86% or $1.4 million. The first draft of the
019budget is supported by the 1.86%. So this slide gives you a historical comparison of what that calculation yielded versus what the actual tax levy increase was. So for the time being, 26-27, you see it's a 1.86%. Last year, we could have taxed as high as a 2.93% levy. However, we went out with a 1.75% increase and increased that to a 2-plus proposition. So we were well below the cap at 2.34%. So that's the inflation factor. But you can see the history here that we've had a pretty good track record of never exceeding the cap and being at least at the cap or below it. So each year that you are below the cap, it creates a gap in what you were able to receive in funding versus what you actually did. So if you look
020to the 24-25 school year, $5 million was not taxed to the community. We came in at $75.8 million. So that's $75.8 million versus $77.3 million. So over time, there's a cumulative impact of doing this. So at the present time, the tax levy that's in support of the budget draft is $79,046,000. However, if we went to the cap in every given year, we could have been as high as $90.7 million. So there's an opportunity cost here in each year that continues to build, and we're never able to recoup that money. It's because the base is a drop. So we're not able to recoup that money. It's because the base is adjusted for the year to year. So for the average homeowner in East Islip with an assessed value of $40,000, the current budget anticipated to impact
021them by $149 for the 26-27 school year, which is a 1.86% increase. There are other things that happen at the town level that impact the actual tax rate to the homeowner as it's impacted by the homestead proportion versus the non-homestead proportion. And it's a factor. It's a factor. It's a factor also in the assessed values, which the district does not have any control of. So in terms of total revenue, the $79 million tax levy represents 60% of our revenue. The second from that would be the state aid at 32%, followed by the $7.3 million the district is using from reserves to fund that gap. Remember the first screen we talked about the balance? Well, right now our revenues are less than our anticipated expenses. So we're going to have to make a budget to plug
022that budget deficit. There's a $7.3 million appropriation. So at this point, I'd like to turn over the presentation to my colleagues who would like to make several highlights of the next four slides. Thank you, Mr. Harrison. We continue to expand opportunities that strengthen student learning across grade levels. Programs like our K-2 Lego Club, grades three through five math Olympiad, and our mock trial classroom experience give students hands-on opportunities to develop critical thinking, and to develop a more comprehensive learning environment. We also continue to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. At the same time, our students continue to earn recognition through advanced placement programs and national academic competitions, such as the AMC Math Competition. These experiences help challenge students and extend learning beyond the traditional classroom. We are also continuing to develop learning environments that support
023hands-on and experiential instruction. Recent examples include the outdoor learning space at East Islip High School, and the environment that supports hands-on and experiential instruction. We also have a high school and the environmental exploration pond at the middle school, which allows students to engage directly with science and interdisciplinary learning. These types of environments help bring classroom concepts to life for our students. Our students also benefit from experiences that prepare them for a global and technology-rich future. These include travel-based learning opportunities to Puerto Rico, Spain, and a World War II historical study tour in Europe, along with continued investments in instructional technology. We also have digital learning platforms and emerging topics such as AI literacy and responsible technology use. These opportunities help ensure students are prepared for the world they enter after graduation. Across the district, we
024continue to support student engagement, wellness, and community connection. Students participate in inclusive activities such as unified bowling, while partnerships like Choices and Consequences with the Southern County District Attorney's Office help reinforce responsible learning. We also support families to programs such as Parent University, which provides resources on topics like anxiety, coping skills, and student supports. Together, these initiatives help ensure our schools remain supportive, connected communities for students and families. Thank you, Mr. Zawisowicz. The last slide here, I'll talk a little bit about upgrades to facilities and security and safety. So we're continuing on our quest to make security upgrades. Including card access for interior bathrooms and IT closets, as well as interior and exterior door replacements. We're going to continue to make HVAC upgrades at several locations throughout the district, including the Timber Point Elementary School
025cafeteria, and the technology classrooms at both the high school and middle school. Additionally, we're going to be looking to purchase a portable generator that would be used throughout the district in times of electrical outages to minimize interruptions. Thank you. In addition, we're looking at the purchase of portable light towers, which we used at special events and also at the high school bus loop during times of when it's dark or earlier at the bus loop. In addition, we're looking to replace the sign currently at the Timber Point Elementary School. And there are a couple of buildings and grounds and vehicles that are also included in the budget for next year. And we're continuing our efforts to maintain and repair the asphalt and athletic surfaces. throughout the district. So on the expense side of the budget, salary
026benefits are going up 1.8% or roughly $1.7 million. As you can see, the driving factors and employee benefits, there are several things contributing to that. We have ERS pension contributions going up. We also have medical expenses going up by the tune of almost $2 million. Then we have an adjustment in the Social Security line of the budget, offset by the decrease in our TRS pension contributions for next year. So that's contributing to the $2.1 million increase in employee benefits. On the salary side of things, you can see there's a decrease in the instructional staff due to retirements. That's offset by contractually obligated increases. So overall, we have salaries going down 0.74% or roughly 4%. So that's a big increase. On our other categories, you see equipment is going down by over half a million dollars.
027And that's essentially the difference between items that were purchased in the current year versus what's being anticipated for next year. Just to give you a flavor, this year we spent over $330,000. Well, there's a $330,000 decrease in security equipment as compared to the budget. In addition, the items purchased for this year that were one time include the pit filler. LED signs, outdoor furniture, and HVAC improvements. Going into next year, we are purchasing another LED sign. We have the AC at Timber Point as well as the HVAC improvements I spoke about. So the combination is a net decrease of half a million dollars. On the transportation line, we are issuing an request for proposals for transportation going into the 26-27 school year. We are anticipating an increase in cost. And that's been built into the budget.
028Moving down to contractual, there we have several things happening. We need to purchase electric machines for the next year's budget vote, which is going to cost approximately $45,000. We're also seeing an increase in special education related services cost. And finally, due to the new teams we added on athletics, we're anticipating almost a $30,000 increase in fees. Thank you. And that's all in professional and technical service line. The next big increase that you'll notice is on BOCES line. And this is directly tied to special ed tuition for students having to attend BOCES. We're seeing a dramatic increase this year and we expect that to increase going into next year. That's responsible for the $1.3 million increase. So overall, our budget to budget increase on the bottom line is a 2.41 projected increase, or $3.1 million. In
029terms of percent of the budget, salary and benefits, as you can see, contributes to over 73% of the cost. And this shouldn't come as a surprise to people. I'm sure if you looked at other districts and this same information, it would pretty much fall in line with what you see here, as we are a people business and that's where our expenses are concentrated. And the remaining part of the budget is over 26%. Again, the changes were highlighted on the top. The changes were highlighted on the previous screen in transportation, which are slight increase from .98% to point, I'm sorry, from 4.43% to 4.56%. So that is the remaining part of the budget. We anticipate on the ballot a capital reserve proposition. Back in 2015-16, the voters established a capital reserve, which was for a term
030of 10 years. It could be funded at $2 million per year. Not to exceed $20 million. So the funding period of that reserve has expired. We're no longer able to fund. But we can continue to spend the money that's left in the reserve, which is over $5 million. And on the ballot, we'll be asking the voters to approve a $1.4 million project, that is to purchase and install generators at High School and Timber Point. These are our two technology hubs in the district. And we'd like to go ahead and do that. We'd like to assure that during times of electrical outages, we can maintain the critical systems in the district. Not only including the IT infrastructure, but also the HVAC, cafeteria refrigeration in those buildings. We are looking at a longer term plan where we
031would be doing this in our other buildings, but we first are addressing where we have the critical IT infrastructure. So based upon the first draft of the budget, our five year average tax level increase, we're going to be looking at $1.4 million. And the next five year average tax level increase is at 1.49%. You see the levy increasing to $79 million, which is a 1.86% over last year, over this year. Our budget is going to $132.4 million. And we are anticipating appropriating $7.3 million from reserves to support the budget. So here we have the calendar of events. Our next meeting is tentatively being rescheduled for the 24th of March. It was previously the 26th. But that's changing as we talk. That will be our next budget presentation. This is all culminating in the May 19th
032budget vote that will be here in this building starting at 6 a.m. through 9 p.m. on May 19th. So at this juncture, if there are any questions from the board, I'd like to try to answer them. Any questions? Thank you, Mr. Harrison. Thank you. For all the hard work you put towards this. Again, this is the first budget hearing of what? There will be three presentations. The last one culminating in the budget hearing. And I would like to thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I would tell the general public, if you want to talk about the budget, please do it before we adopt it. You had your chance today. And there will be two other chances. So great job. Thank you. Thanks for your support. Student members, report to the board. Ms. May. Yes. Good
033evening, everyone. So spring sports are beginning. And we wish all of our athletes the best of luck this season. We are also currently in the third quarter five weeks. On February 27, East Islip High School students, including myself, had the opportunity to collaborate with our peers across Long Island and discuss important topics affecting schools and communities at the regional Long Island Student Leadership Forum at St. Joseph's University. Last week, we celebrated World Language Week to highlight the many languages and cultures represented in our school community. On Friday, for Spanish Day, we had a lively flamenco performance. We also recently held our STEAM night yesterday from 6 to 8 p.m. followed by STEAM Day today. Students were able to explore science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics through engaging activities. Junior prom is approaching as well, and
034tickets will be going on sale soon. The Math Honor Society will be hosting their Pi fundraiser tomorrow. And in addition, the National Honor Society is currently holding an annual event to celebrate the success of the National Honor Society. So please join us. Thank you. The National Honor Society will be hosting the Animal Drive from March 5 through March 19, as well as the Sneaker Drive from March 12 through March 26 to support those in need. Looking ahead, the Science Honor Society will be hosting its Spring Blood Drive on March 31. And again, we invite everyone to come support the East Islip High School Musical, Anything Goes, which will be performed on March 26 and March 27 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on March 28 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thank you. That
035concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you. Public comments on agenda items only. Okay. Recommended action. Certified Personnel. Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, the Board of Education, hereby approves the resignations, terminations, leaves of absence, position abolition, employment appointments, tenure appointments, and salary changes in accordance with applicable provisions of the education law and civil service laws. Thank you. of the education law and civil service law as cited in the certified personnel attachments. Can I have a motion? Motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Dr. O'Rourke. Yes, at this time it's my pleasure to welcome Clifford Heaney. Clifford, if you could please stand. He is going to be our new business teacher at the East Islip High School beginning in mid-April. So congratulations Cliff and welcome to East Islip. Non-certified personnel, be
036it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education hereby approves the resignations, terminations, leaves of absence, position abolition, employment appointments, tenure appointments and salary changes in accordance with the applicable provisions of education law and civil service law as cited in the non-certified personnel attachments. Can I have a motion? Motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Items to be removed from the consent agenda. Any items the Board wants to remove? Nope. Okay. Consent agenda items 9.2 to 9.15. Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education hereby approves consent agenda items numbered 9.2 to 9.15 in accordance with the action presented for each item. Fair to motion? Motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. I just want to mention two things on the consent agenda.
037We have our varsity girls bowling team going up to the New York State Championships. Actually, soon. Yes, tomorrow. Tomorrow through Sunday. Wish them luck. Also, there's wrestling championships where a few of the members of the wrestling team will be going to championships in Albany also. Good luck to all those boys and girls. And let's get to appropriation changes. Be it resolved that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, the Board of Education hereby approves the attached list of appropriation changes for the 25-26 school year. Fair to motion? Motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any old business? Okay. Any public comments? No. Sorry, forget the public comments. New business. Okay. I want to bring something up. I know that you read Newsday recently, you noticed that school that notably I think was Comac Connect.
038Maybe Sayville had tax exemptions for PD officers, five department widows, up to 100%, and also widowers it looks like. And the timing was a little interesting. I know as a board we're fully behind that. Steve, maybe the timing was a little strange with this, right, when it came out? Almost like they're trying to adopt the budget, and then the state comes up with something, or the town comes up with something like this. And there's a couple of things you're going to navigate through that. I wasn't sure about that. Sure. We're talking about an exemption, as was said. This information came to us very late, middle to late February. And it requires, we're talking about assessment relief and reduction of assessed values for certain segments of the population. And in order to move forward with an
039exemption, we have to have a public hearing. There has to be passage of a board resolution. And leading up to that, there has to be enough information available that I can present to the board to estimate what the shift in taxes would be for those receiving the exemption versus those that don't receive the exemption. So there is a... So this is for surviving spouses of police officers, volunteer firefighters, volunteer ambulance workers that were killed in a line of duty. And this is a reduction. The exemption permits up to a maximum of 50% for this exemption. So those that meet that criteria would be eligible for a 50% reduction in their taxes. The board would have the discretion if they wanted to put forth a smaller amount, but that would have to be through board action.
040So to impact the taxes for any given year, the change in taxable status has to be done by March 1st. So you can see how the timing is very tight. In fact, the timing is very tight. So you can see how the timing is very tight. In fact, some of these school districts were told that they could have hearings after March 1st and have it enacted. But I've now heard that even though they took action after March 1st, it may not be applicable. So we're going to be working towards implementing something with board consideration by March of next year so that it impacts the following year, 27-28. So we'll be making every effort to get the information out there so a decision can be made. In addition to that exemption, two other exemptions were enacted.
041One regarding those veterans who have 100% service related disability. So initially, information came out to us saying that we had to enact at the local level, but subsequent to that, it was signed into law at the state level. So that exemption will also be available for those individuals for the 27-28 year. The third exemption is the exemption for the state. The third exemption is the exemption for the state. The third exemption is the exemption for the state. The third exemption is for senior citizens. And again, this would not be eligible until the 27-28 school year. Currently on the books, the district has already provided an exemption based upon income for senior citizens that make $40,000 up to $48,000 as a reduction in assessed values on a sliding scale from 50% down to 5%. This new
042exemption would address those making less than $40,000. This new exemption would address those making less than $40,000 up to $48,000 and giving them additional exemptions upwards of 65%. So all these, the two items that are within control of the district will be considered between now and March of next year. Okay. I don't want to necessarily speak to the board, but I'm sure we want to have that full 50% with us. Fire department, police officers, and that's something we're definitely interested in following through on as soon as possible. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the explanation, Mr. Harrelson. Thank you. Thank you for the explanation, Mr. Harrelson. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We're back to public comments. Anybody sneak in the past five minutes? Nope? Okay. Okay. The next Board of Education regular business meeting and
043budget presentation two will be held on Tuesday, March 24th, 2026 at 7 PM. Do I have a motion to adjourn? I'll adjourn. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.