001Good evening, everyone. Good evening. My name is Sonia Rodrigo, and I'm the proud acting principal of Alden Terrace. I would like to welcome the Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Small, district personnel, school administrators, families, staff members, and especially our scholars. I would like to give a special recognition to the Alden Terrace school community. Thank you for joining us today. A special thank you to our custodial staff, our art teacher, Ms. Sanders, for the beautiful artwork, our amazing PTA, and our interim director of E&L, Ms. Rita Johnson, for supporting Olden Terrace every day. Please take a moment to note the exit doors in case of an emergency. To the far left, there is a door leading to the back of the building. Once outside, turning left, it will lead you to the parking lot.
002Turning right, it will lead you to the front of the building. There are also two sets of doors to my right. Exiting through those doors will lead you to the main hallway, which brings you directly to the school's front entrance. At this time, I would like to invite our student council members, President Chloe Milford. Vice President Hunter Clark and Secretary Micah Ashley who will lead us with the Pledge of Allegiance. Good evening members of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Mr. Small, District Personnel, School Administration, staff members, families and our fellow classmates. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Salute, pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. You may
003be seated. Thank you and have a good evening. Today we celebrate Black History Month as we honor the achievements, contributions, and resilience of black Americans throughout history. This year's national theme, A Century of Black History Commemorations, marks 100 years since the first Black History Week was held in 1926, when Dr. Carter G. Woodson encouraged schools to teach and celebrate the history of black Americans. His work helped ensure that the stories, voices, and accomplishments of black Americans would be learned, remembered, and shared. At Alden Terrace, we are proud to engage our scholars in meaningful activities that celebrate black history and culture through art, music, literature, and classroom discussions. Through this learning, our students are discovering the important contributions Black Americans have made to American history, while also developing an understanding of the importance of diversity, equity,
004and inclusion. Our scholars are learning not only about history, but also about the values of respect, empathy, and standing up for what is right. We are grateful for the continued support of the Board of Education, our district leaders, staff, and families as we empower our scholars to grow into thoughtful, informed, and kind citizens. To celebrate today, our grade six chorus will perform two selected songs followed by a special collaboration between our after-school dance club and step club honoring the power of having a voice and standing up for what is right. Thank you for joining us and for supporting the incredible work happening here at Alden Terra School in honor of Black History Month. Now, I would like to introduce our grade six chorus led by our esteemed music teacher, Ms. Bukowskis. Good evening. Today as
005we celebrate Black History Month, we honor the strength, voices, and dreams of the black community through music. Music has always been a powerful way to tell stories, share hope, and bring people together. Ashley Williams will begin with Lift Every Voice and Sing, a song often called the Black History Month. National Anthem. It reminds us of courage, faith, and the journey toward freedom and equality. We will then sing Rise Up, a song about standing strong, believing in yourself, and continuing to move forward even when things are difficult. Together, these songs remind us to listen, to learn, and to lift one another up. Please enjoy our performance. Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring. Ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise as the listening skies. Let it resound loud as the
006rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of our new day. As our sixth grade chorus exits out, can we please give them another big round of applause. Now please welcome our dance team led by speech teacher Miss Beichert and step team led by kindergarten teacher Miss Hubbard. As we celebrate Black History Month, we also celebrate believing in ourselves and dreaming big. Black history is full of people who had faith, worked hard, and never gave up. And today, that spirit lives on in our students. Our fourth, fifth, and sixth grade girls in the Step and Dance After School Clubs are excited to share a performance of Song, Dance, and Step
007to I Believe by Yolinda Adams. This song is all about confidence, hope, and knowing that anything is possible when you believe in yourself. Through our movement and energy, we will show the power of teamwork, self-expression, and black girl excellence. We are not just performing, we are celebrating who we are and who we are becoming. Please enjoy our performance. Can we give them a big round of applause with technical difficulties and all? They worked really hard for this performance and we weren't anticipating the microphones, but I think they nailed it. Yes, they did. Okay, at this time, our families, if you would like to pick up your children, those that participated in chorus will be in room seven. Those that were involved with the dance and step will be in room eight. And if they were
008in both, they will be in room eight, okay? Now I'd like to pass the microphone over to our Board of Education President, Tiffany Capers. Thank you. Can we wait five minutes? We'll just take a quick recess for the shuffling. Regular Board of Education meeting of February 10th, 2025. District 26. Yeah, I did say that out loud, right? Yes, okay. District Clerk, please note the record that all board members are present. May I have a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of January 13, 2026? Move. Thank you. Ms. Battles, second? Second. Thank you. Ms. Douglas? Discussion. The meeting minutes? Yes. Sure. There's certain topics that were not included. They were omitted from the meeting minutes. They were corrected. We got your email. Okay. Nobody sent it was corrected. Yep. They were corrected. Thank you, sir.
009Motion was moved by Ms. Battles, second by Ms. Douglas. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Anyone opposed? Motion carries. Do we have any correspondence? All correspondence has been given to the board for consideration. Thank you. All right. President's message. Good evening, Elmont family. I'd like to begin tonight's president message with a heartfelt thank you to our custodial staff. During the recent storm, when many of us were advised to stay home and to wait it out, they went into the storm, clearing our walkways, our parking areas, and making sure our buildings were safe. and warm for us. Their dedication and hard work in these freezing conditions, which by the way have not passed us by, we still have a few more days, did not go unnoticed and the Board of Education sincerely thanks them for their
010extraordinary efforts these past few weeks. We also extend our gratitude to our building staff and administrators for their commitment in getting to work and welcoming our students back safely. Your teamwork and dedication also make a difference in our community. So thank you all. May I have the report of the Suwanaka Central High School District? Mr. Khan. Good evening. Welcome to February and the start of Black History Month. As we move through this important month of learning, celebration, and reflection, our high schools continue to build on a strong foundation established by Elmont Union Free School District. Elmont High School scholars are making their mark across academics, the arts, and civil engagement. Congratulations to the eighth grader. The script spelling bee, by the way, I may have butchered that, so apologies. The script spelling bee champion with
011strong finishes by Nicole Ortega Canela and Phelan Franciose. Scholars showcase their talents at the district music festival and are shown on February 5th. And 10 Elmont scholars currently have art on display at the Nassau County Courthouse in honor of Black History Month. Elmont's track and field team earned county champion honors while model UN scholars returned from a successful Philadelphia competition and will next compete at the University of Chicago. Scholars are also extending learning in the community. Science features scholars are working with elementary scholars, robotics club members will participate in STEAM night, at Alden Terrace and scholars will travel to Albany on February 14th to meet with Assemblywoman Michelle Sulejas. The school will close out the month with a Black History Month talent and fashion show on February 12th and are all welcome to attend. Chewanaka
012High School scholars continue to excel academically while demonstrating strong commitment to service and leadership. The senior high school mathematics competed at the NASA Math Tournament at Hofstra, while seventh and eighth graders took on American Mathematics Competition, joining more than 300,000 scholars worldwide. Business scholars earned wise financial literacy certification, reflecting real-world mastery of personal finance. In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., studio art scholars created symbolic artwork centered on character and justice. The school also hosted the first robotic competition, raised nearly 2,000 for their pediatric cancer and cystic fibrosis through district gymnastics, and continued strong community partnership through key club service initiatives. Athletic achievements include county and conference honors in track and wrestling, with scholars advancing to state-level competition. Last but not least, Floral Park High School scholars continue to distinguish themselves in academics, arts,
013athletics, and competition. Congratulations to mock trial defense team on a decisive courtroom victory against Oceanside High School led by attorney Caitlin Tam, Christina Vargas, and Thomas Galanick, and witness Denise Pasek, Yuri Montas, and Ansel Singela. The team will return to court as a prosecution team on Monday, February the 9th at Mineola Supreme Court. And athletics, Wanta... In athletics, congratulations to senior Brendan Martin, who scored his 1,000th career point in a victory at Wanta on February 6th of 2026. Floral Park scholars also continue to excel in music, art, science, and business with strong performance at district festivals, national recognition for student publications, and ongoing participation in Science Olympiad, Mathlets, FBLA, and Model UN competitions. As we approach next week's holiday break, we encourage families to enjoy time together and take the opportunity to learn more about
014black history, America's history, and its enduring impact. Thank you all. Thank you, Mr. Khan. Are there any audience members who would like to speak on agenda items only? Okay, Mrs. Moore. Thank you, Madam President. Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. I would be remiss if I didn't start by thanking Mrs. Rodrigo and our scholars from Alden Terrace for welcoming us so heartily this evening and bringing us such good entertainment. So thank you so much for your performance tonight. Since this is the last meeting before the winter recess, I want to take this opportunity to wish our students, staff, our faculty and administrators a very restful winter recess. It is well deserved. You've worked hard. And I know that you will use this time to rest and rejuvenate to finish. the
015second half of the school year in a very strong fashion. So rest up, stay warm, enjoy yourselves, and we're looking forward to seeing you when you return after the winter recess. This past Saturday, Mrs. Capers and Mr. Ramos and I had the opportunity to attend the Saturday Enrichment Programs culmination at Clara H. Carlson School. I want to thank our teachers, our aides, all the staff members who gave up of their time on Saturdays to go and support our students and providing them with this enrichment opportunity. I want to thank Mrs. Walford and Mrs. Boyd who lent their leadership to this program to make sure that it went smoothly. I want to thank all our parents who also came out on Saturday to see the beautiful work of our students over the last four years. I
016invite you to come back on our next board meeting in March. where our leaders from the program will give an overview of the program and the wonderful work our students did over the four weeks of that program. Tonight is also a very special occasion where we continue to recognize the excellence of our students. On March, on January 24th, all six of our buildings participated in the robotics competition that was held at the Mineola High School. We are proud to report that we have two schools that we'd like to celebrate their accomplishments. And with that, I would like to introduce our Director of Curriculum and Instruction as we recognize our scholars for their outstanding performance. Good evening. So the first Lego League challenge is a global robotics competition for elementary and middle school students. In preparation
017for the competition, our Elmont teams designed and programmed Lego robots. They also participated in an innovation project where they researched and presented information on a specific topic. This year's theme was titled Unearthed, which was an archaeological-inspired challenge. Participating in the Lego League Challenge provides our fourth, fifth, and sixth grade robotics club students a valuable, real-world, problem-solving experience. It helps them develop coding and design skills while also building teamwork and presentation skills. This experience will prepare our Elmont students to participate in robotics and STEAM activities in the high school and may even inspire some of our students to pursue future careers in science, technology, and engineering. And as Mr. Small mentioned, all six schools participated this year, and this is the first time that all six of them have at the competition on Saturday, 24th. And
018we're proud to announce two buildings did receive awards. So I am very proud to call up the administrators from Dutch Broadway, Principal Cynthia Kasim. And also the administrators from Stuart Manor, Principal Robert Cavalieri and Assistant Principal Pamela Boyd. Okay, so I prepared something here because I wanted to acknowledge their hard work. So I wanted to say congratulations to our LEGO Robotics team on an outstanding season. Your dedication showed in the countless sessions you attended and the time you committed beyond the school day. Guided by our coordinators, Ms. Demurier and Mrs. Haverkopf, you challenged yourself to design, build, and code robots that reflected teamwork, creativity, and problem solving at its best. Because of your hard work and perseverance, you earned well-deserved recognition among the many talented schools. that were present that day. We're proud of your
019effort, your growth, and the way you represented our district and the Dutch Broadway School. Well done. So I'm gonna acknowledge my students here. Kenneth Bailey, Kacen Khan, Kai Douglas, Ahil Wakas, Nishani Betu, Angelina Ramos, Steven Rodriguez, Marco Ruiz, Thank you. Before we continue, there is a gray Audi blocking some cars who are trying to leave in the bus yard lot. License plate LFL7312. If you have a gray Audi in the parking lot, if you could please move it, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. All right, continuing on. My name is Bob Cavalieri. I'm the proud interim principal of the Stuart Manor School. This evening, we are incredibly proud to recognize and celebrate our Stuart Manor Stallions Lego Robotics team for their outstanding achievement at the first Lego League qualifiers held at Mineola High School
020on Saturday, January 24th. Led by Parveen Rampal and Ms. Grace Leponer, this talented team of young scholars demonstrated remarkable teamwork, perseverance, and problem-solving skills. Their hard work paid off as they earned second place for the Robot Performance Award, achieving an impressive score of 325 points during the robot competition. Give them a round of applause. That's really impressive. Because of this accomplishment, the Stuart Stallions have advanced to the next round of the competition and will proudly represent our school and our district again at Hicksville High School on Sunday, March 8th at the Long Island Championship. We could not be more proud of their dedication, their innovation, and their commitment to excellence. And at this time, I would like to recognize our amazing scholars. When you hear your name, please come forward to receive your certificate. Alexander
021Saretis. Roman Florsant, Oliver Shahali, Jacori Quiros, Drew Foley, Gavin Butel, Lydia Jens. And three of our members were unable to make it tonight, but we want to acknowledge them as well. So we want to give a big round of applause for Tristan Canedo, Caden Yee, and Olivia Estrada. Congratulations. We can't wait for March 8th. Okay. We are about to commence the budget development season. And so we have our assistant superintendent for finance and operations, Dr. Macias, who will give the board and our community an update on our reserves. Welcome and thank you for the opportunity to present tonight on the Elmont School District status of our reserves. Tonight we're guided by the principles outlined in the local government management guide for reserve funds issued by the office of the New York State comptroller who truly
022put reserves put it best saving for future projects acquisitions and other allowable purposes is an important planning consideration for local governments and school districts Reserve funds provide a mechanism for legally saving money to finance all or part of future infrastructure, equipment, and other requirements. In uncertain economic times, reserve funds can also provide officials with a welcome budgetary option that can help mitigate the need to cut services or raise taxes. And just so everyone's aware, the district financial resources can be found on the district website under finance and operations, then over to audited financial statements. statements. So tonight's presentation is about the status of our district reserves and why they matter not just from an accounting perspective But as a core part of responsible financial planning reserves are not excess funds They are intentional saving tools
023established and used in accordance with state law to protect the district and programs that we provide to students for Elmont specifically reserves are a critical component of our long-term financial strategy. They allow us to plan ahead known obligations, manage risk, and reduce reliance on borrowing for capital needs. Strong reserve levels have directly supported our favorable bond interest rates and our low fiscal stress designation. In October of 2025, Moody's Investor Services assigned the district with a AA2 rating, citing our solid financial position. And similarly, the Office of the State Comptroller has repeatedly assigned Elmont as a no-designation district for both fiscal and environmental stress. These are not abstract ratings. They translate to real savings for taxpayers and financial stability for the district. All district reserves are monitored centrally by me, the Assistant Superintendent of Finance and
024Operations, and are publicly reported in our audited financial statements, which again are available on the district website. So reserves are not static accounts, they're actively managed based on actuarial data, claims history, and projected liabilities. So now moving on to our existing reserves. This workers' compensation reserve is used to pay current and future workers' compensation claims. It's funded based on our annual loss runs, which estimate projected claim payments. And as of June 30th, 2025, The balance of approximately $1 million aligns with our known liabilities, meaning we're neither underfunded or over-reserving for our workers' comp reserve. Next is a retirement contribution reserve. This one in particular is for ERS, the Employee Retirement System. This reserve helps stabilize the district against fluctuations in employer retirement contribution rates. Auditors consider up to five years of projected costs reasonable, and
025our current balance reflects about two years of liability, providing a prudent buffer. Next is our teachers retirement reserve and this reserve is governed by strict statutory limits. The current balance of approximately 4.7 million remains within those limits and helps protect the operating budget from volatility in the teacher retirement rates. So together these reserves provide the district with financial stability by absorbing predictable yet variable costs and helping to avoid sudden budgetary disruptions. So in summary, the district reserves are established in accordance with New York State law. They support long-term financial stability and they manage risk and address our planned and contingent costs. The current summary of reserves totals approximately $9 million. So this brings us to tonight's recommendation. With the implementation of GASB 101, districts are now required to formally recognize liabilities related to accrued employee
026leave, such as unused sick, vacation, and personal time that is likely to be paid out upon separation. Establishing an employee benefit accrued liability reserve or EBLAR as it's known allows the district to plan for these known obligations rather than absorbing large one-time costs in a single budget year. This reserve can only be used for legally allowable terminal leave payments and must be established via board resolution. So why is this a smart step now? Well, creating the EBLAR aligns the district with updated accounting standards. It improves our long-term financial planning. It reduces our budget volatility. And it protects our instructional programs from unexpected cost spikes. So it is a proactive, transparent, and fiscally responsible step that strengthens the district's overall framework. So taking a look at the EBLAR, the purpose of this reserve is very specific.
027Again, it would be used to pay for accrued employee benefits that are owed to an employee when they separate from the district. This includes unused and unpaid sick leave, personal leave, holiday leave, and vacation times that employees have earned but not used. Importantly, this reserve cannot be used for items such as retirement incentives, FICA or Medicare payments, or retiree health insurance. Its use is narrowly defined by law to ensure transparency and proper control. In terms of funding, the reserve would be established using excess fund balance rather than ongoing operating dollars. And then once established, it would only be accessed when employees separate and a payout of accumulated sick leave is required. The goal is to fund this reserve at as close to 100% as possible in accordance with whatever our accrued liabilities for unused sick
028time are. Doing so would allow us to plan responsibly for obligations we already know exist rather than reacting to them as one-time expenses in future years. This reserve reflects prudent fiscal management and aligns with the best practices recommended by the Office of the State Comptroller. And a resolution to formally establish the EBLAR will be presented to the Board of Education for consideration at the upcoming March 10th meeting. So in summary, the Elmont Reserve structures reflect prudent fiscal management, compliance with state law, and thoughtful planning for both known and unknown risks. The recommendation before you continues that approach and positions the district to remain financially stable, flexible, and well-prepared for the future. I'm happy to answer any questions the Board of Education may have regarding this reserve to establish, the recommendation to establish the EBLAR. Any
029questions? So it's critical to maintain a very healthy budget and we appreciate you diving into this. So while we're keeping a focus on the budget, we're also trying to improve our district as well and we have initiated various pilot initiatives all across all the schools that you have presented in the last board meeting and thank you very much for doing that. For this specific school, Alden Terrace, can you please go in depth about the pilot initiatives that you're undertaking very soon? Sure. So for Alden Terrace, at the last Board of Education meeting, we presented on the possibility of piloting halal meals in Alden Terrace. Currently, we are able to provide halal-friendly meals. And what's involved in providing halal meals is you'd have to have a halal kitchen. And so things would need to be cooked
030separately and stored separately and so forth. And so right now, we're in the early stages of exploring what that cost looks like. school district the suwanaka central high school district does provide halal meals so we're currently working to see what type of purchasing power we could have in terms of sourcing and securing meals that are in line with the child nutrition reimbursement rates so that we can meet the needs of our community. But in terms of an immediate support, what we have done is develop a meatless and halal-friendly alternative meals for students that they're able to access at their leisure. And so we'll be giving the Board of Education an update on where we are with all of our pilot programs. before the end of the year. We're currently working, we've developed very specific and
031measurable goals for each of the pilots to make sure that we are supporting each pilot appropriately and ensuring its success. You're welcome. Any other questions? Thank you. Thank you. Madam President, I seek a motion to approve legal agenda item 4.1. May I have a motion to approve legal agenda item 4.1? Thank you, Ms. Battle, second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Ramos. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries. I seek a motion to approve personnel agenda items 5.1 through 5.2. May I have a motion to approve personnel agenda items 5.1 through 5.2? Thank you, Dr. Massey. Thank you. Ms. Douglas, all in favor? Aye. Motion carries. I seek a motion to approve curriculum agenda items 6.1 through 6.4. I have a motion to approve curriculum agenda items 6.1 through 6.4. Moved. Thank you. Mr. Khan, may I have
032a second? Thank you. Dr. Massey, all in favor? Aye. Motion carries. I seek a motion to accept. Support Services Agenda Items 7.1. I have a motion to accept Support Services Agenda Item 7.1. Thank you, Ms. Battle. Second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Kahn. All in favor? Motion carries. I seek a motion to approve Business Agenda Items 8.1 through 8.4. May I have a motion to approve business agenda items 8.1 through 8.4? Thank you, Dr. Massey. May I have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Palmer. All in favor? Discussion? Yes. Mr. Ramos, discussion. In these business items, are reimbursement checks included in it? Yes. Okay. Is there a check dated for 1-7-2026 included? There are backup pages in the back that itemize all of the checks that are included. I don't have the paper ones. We used
033to get paper backup pages. It's included in the email that's sent to you, sir. Okay. So is this in there or not? We don't know that because we don't have the digital. I don't know which one you're talking about, sir. I could get that information to you after. So regarding the section for warrants, I would table it until... We don't have a motion to table. We have a motion to approve business agenda items 8.1 through 8.4. I have moved from Dr. Massey. I have a second by Mr. Palmer. All in favor? I would move to amend it so it's done correctly. It is not incorrect. The information that you're asking for is there. It's in the backup pages. You can abstain from the vote or you can vote how you feel, but we are not
034removing the item from the agenda. Okay, I can't vote on something that's not correct. Okay, it is not correct. It is correct. It is not incorrect. Thank you for agreeing. The motion stands as to approve business agenda items 8.1 through 8.4. It was moved by Dr. Massey and it was second by Mr. Palmer. All in favor? Aye. Anyone opposed? Opposed. Got you, Mr. Ramos. Motion carries. Move on. Items 8.5 are noted for the minutes. Items 8.5, so noted for the minutes. This concludes my report, Madam President. Thank you, sir. Does anyone have any committee reports or informational items? Do we have any old business? You said any old business? Old. Old business. As it is on the agenda. One of the old businesses is for that. I'm sorry? We're at item 10.1, old business. For
035old business. Yes. Our last meeting, we did not vote on an audit on the reimbursements. So I'm putting a motion forward to move on audit reimbursements for board members and staff. We've had since the last board meeting, which was probably about 30 days and 28 days minimum to deliberate on it. Okay. As I say, last month, that is an audit committee action has to be done in the audit committee. We are not an audit committee. We are in the general meeting. So the motion cannot be made here. It can be made because this is a general meeting. It's an audit committee action to ask for an audit, sir. Do we have any new business? New business. Well, I'm still stuck on the old business. Okay. Are we setting? District Clerk, put the three minutes on
036the time. Yes, sir. So you're timing board members now? Yes. Okay. Can you reset that? I'm not ready yet. Okay. Is there any new business? No. I need her to reset that clock. No, you asked for the time. We gave it to you. This is new to me. I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting to be timed as a board member to speak on items that I've spoken on before. So this is new to me. Okay. All right. Just for the note, I got here because I advocated for this community, the parents, the staff, the children. I do a lot of things where I speak in private, but when things are not addressed, they need to be brought to the public. So I just want to let that be known. Regarding old business, I wanted to just
037recognize Alden Terrace for the Muslim Heritage Celebration. That's part of the old business. I wanted to recognize them for that. It was the first time that that occurred, and that was a great thing. something I shouldn't be timed on. I also wanted to recognize Stuart Manor for the Frozen, Stuart Manor and Colbert Avenue for the Frozen musical that occurred on the library. You brought a lot of parents out and they appreciated it. I also wanted to recognize the Founders Day by the PTA, the President Cadet, Rashida Cadet. and an inter-school council president, if you can help me out. Her name is Miss Reva Whitehead. They had a very good theme which mentioned about speaking up and speaking out. And that is it for my old business. Thank you, Mr. Ramos. Do we have any new
038business? Yes. Yes, sir. In addition to our vandalism report, which we received in our board backup, is that where we receive it? The board backup notes? If you'd like to go over the board book, I can go over that with you outside of public session. No, it's okay. It's been the same place for the past three years. Okay, so regarding new business, this is not part of any... I move for reports on accidents and injuries on school grounds. so we can have a better understanding when making policy. I was told also, and I don't know where this is at, where parents will be notified at the end of the day when an incident happens with their child or children. I don't think that, I haven't seen that in policy, but that shouldn't be. So I
039would just like to ensure that that is not the case when parents need to be notified. Okay, thank you for your information. I still have time. I'm sorry, I apologize. I thought you were done. I took your pause as completion. I apologize. Okay, thank you. So, Mr. Ramos, either myself or the district clerk will assist you in locating the items on the agenda in the backup pages. If you need that assistance, please send an email to either one of us, and we can set up some time to go through that with you. It's no need for that. I just wanted to say that. That's a report of vandalism. So in in addition to it wherever that is located It would be good if we have the other items they are listed so we can have
040an understanding of our district needs and that's a suggestion will be taken under consideration and discussed with the board as a team Yes, is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak? We have legislative items please limit your items to your limit your discussion to three minutes and please when you come to the microphone remember that yes sir you can step to that microphone please remember when you come to the microphone to speak we should not be referencing any staff by name whether it's a positive or a problem we ask that your first course of action is to contact the school administrators and then our superintendent hi how are you today yes please state your name there we go good evening Yeah, my name is Gavir Valbrun. I've been a resident here for
04121 years and on behalf of a school district resident, the Adu club, the Adu club is seeking assistance with the application for facility use in Elamot school district. Specifically, we are seeking a permit to use a school basketball court. Like this school here, we play about 10 years in this school. For 10 years we have been playing either here or Dutch Broadway Elementary School. We have been playing once a week for the past 10 years in Alden Terrace Elementary School or Dutch Broadway. We provide coverage for many activities. This year, the insurance policies... I've been requiring coverage for many activities that fall beyond the scope of our organizations. As you know, to use the facility, you need to provide insurance. So for the past 10 years, we've been submitting insurance that was accepted. But for
042the past year, there were a lot of requirements that go beyond our activities. We are requesting to be covered for carnival, for fireworks, for league. commercial vehicles. Our organization doesn't have a commercial vehicle. We don't partake in organizational league, even fireworks. We are not even able to find any single insurance company that can cover all these requirements. And the few that would cover, that would even consider covering some of them, would charge a very... exorbitant price. We hope that our permit will be restored after the insurance requirements that are irrelevant to our organization or wave. Our 10 years relationship with the district has no precedence of any world violations. We are responsible citizens and professionals who contribute to the community. I myself am an engineer, a project manager. This project for the interchange is 13
043years. I work on it for about a year before it comes to fruition. Soon it will be rebuilt. Alan is a doctor here. He works for Mercy. My brother here, he works for the bank. So we're loyal citizens and we contribute to our community. I think we deserve to be able to continue using the school facilities if they become available without having to do insurance coverage that are excessive. Thank you. Thank you sir for your question. I know that our facilities department has been in contact with you I saw the email earlier this week. We have a policy approved by this board That spells out what the requirements are when you submitted your application we consulted with our insurer and they have they have advised us that your application does not meet the requirements and
044therefore That's the reason why the application was not approved. We are adhering to the policy that the Board of Education passed regarding permits to use our facilities. Thank you. I'll have that conversation with you after. Thank you. Good evening, Ms. Beaman. I guess I do have one question that came to mind after Mr. Ramos's inquiry about the policy with reference to if something happens with our children, then we would be notified at the end of the day. That question was posed a little bit after a mentioning of accidents. So I just wanted to, obviously when you discuss this, whatever policy is being discussed, I do want to just be the first to say, as a parent, My child attends a school here in Almonte and I get very timely notifications if something happens with my
045child and I would prefer that as opposed to at the end of the day. But my main focus that I wanted to discuss was the possibility of our school district selling a property to the Empire State Development Agency. I sent an email earlier to Superintendent Smalls. We small, we didn't have an opportunity to really discuss it, but I wanted to take this moment to bring it to you in case you hadn't had a chance to speak with him about it. My understanding of the situation is that there was a location that Assemblywoman Solage toured at some point in consideration of this fact. And there was also a discussion by Dr. Card about possibly doing 135 Elmont Road as an option. I do not know if either of those two properties or if those are the
046same property are optimal options. But I do want to bring to your attention, we just had this great presentation about our reserves and about funding the ERS, which from my understanding, it is about the projection should be for five years, but we're at two. And so if we were to sell a property right now that we have in our hands and get market value, because I understand market value in Elmont is pretty high. I try to upgrade my home, and I can't afford the home that I'm in, little or less buying a bigger home in Elmont. So if that's what we have with the residential property, I can only imagine how much money we could get from Empire and have it go to our school district. not to some corporation, not to some private vendor
047here. And it can then benefit our reserves. We can fund 100%. I saw we have this goal of funding EBALR to 100%. I don't know how long that will take. I better be faster if we get millions of dollars from ESD. So, you know, just putting that out there since we're talking about budget and money. If we're sitting on a property that, you know, we can make more money from. I would love for you guys to do it so that we can have a community center that maybe we can have basketball games at and it can actually serve the community very quickly. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Beeman. Thank you, Ms. Beeman. And I'm sure you are aware that any time the board enters into a discussion possibly selling property, there would
048be a public vote for that. Yep. Hi. Hello, everyone. My name is Les N. Brown. I have two kids attending Alden Terrace Elementary. I am a member of this community and I'm also a Muslim. I'm very happy that Mr. Ramos brought up our Muslim American celebration that we had on January 30th. And I heard the updates about the halal food, but I think that with the... With the members in the community, we have so many Muslims living in this community, so many Muslim students attending the school. It is unfair that we don't have halal food options. It is not good enough to say, well, we have vegetarian options. My children should not have to eat hummus and pita for lunch when other kids are having chicken nuggets and they're having hot dog in a bun.
049I think we need a quicker decision. I think we need to get... updates in writing what the status is, when can we expect that our kids can come to school and have lunch like everyone else. Everything has to be equitable and that should be equitable as well. Thank you. I just want to add to that because and I had a conversation during that same day that you may have people that can't pack lunch to bring to school. You may have people that their food is not here. So that then becomes a hunger issue. But I can just definitely say that we are moving forward with getting the Halal program. Everything's been stepped up quicker than when we first brought it up in 2023. So it's coming. My name is Damada. I have grandchildren in the
050school district. And I am, oh my God. How many years I've been living here? Anyways, I want to bring awareness to the New York State bullying law. And I wanted to know specifically New York Education Law 16, protection of people who report harassment. New York Educational Law 801, instruction in civility, citizenship, and character education. In regards to these, I want to know what is the district doing to implement the anti-bullying policies, procedures, and guidelines prescribed by the New York State DOE? More specifically, the training of staff, students, and by whom? In addition, how is the district bringing awareness to the parents soliciting parent engagement in regards to this? How are the preventive education staff training, once again, it's being handled, and how often the laws are reviewed, updated? in terms of local policies in regards
051to this. In addition, I also wanted to know how is DASA, the Dignity for All Students Act, being implemented? What instruction, if any, in civility, citizenship, and character education has been undertaken by the district? What resources are in place to accomplish this endeavor? And lastly, how is the district collecting and reporting incidents of discrimination, harassment, bullying, including cyberbullying? This is students, adults, parents to accommodate the DASA Act. Ms. Amada, I heard you say you have grandchildren in the school. Would you mind sharing with us what building they're from? This, in regards to the community. Ma'am, I met with you earlier last week. WE HAD CONVERSATIONS. YOUR QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED. NO, THEY HAVE NOT. SO THEREFORE. SO HERE'S WHAT I'M NOT GOING TO DO WITH YOU. I'M NOT GOING TO HAVE. I'M BRINGING IT UP
052TO THE BOARD AND THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE BECAUSE, NO, I WAS NOT GIVING A SUFFICIENT EXPLANATION IN REGARDS. THANK YOU. YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR QUESTIONS WITH THE DISTRICT CLERK. I did catch a couple of them as you were reading them off, but I do know I missed some of them. So if you'd like to leave a copy of your questions with the district clerk, or if you'd like to take her email, and you can forward your questions. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Amato. Anyone else? Hi, Ms. Crick. Hi. How are you? Okay, good evening. Good evening. I'm Chica Crick. I keep hearing the theme of time, and I wanted to... I'll ask the question, but I also want to finish what I want to say so that the clock doesn't become an issue. But
053my question essentially is, how long does it take you all from the time that a policy is requested to the time that it is approved and implemented? We had someone, I'm not going to say her name because I don't know if she wants me to say it, but we know who this person is. I'm just going to call her Madam Y. and in 2023 november madam y bought the issue here about senior exemptions and from the time she brought it to this board and miss capers i think you were probably the only one here as a board member at that time it took you were here too okay so it took about a year before she got a resolution. And in the meanwhile, her taxes went up $6,000, right? She's elderly, she's fighting to come
054back and forth to four or five different meetings. I feel my experience also asking for previous policies about a year has been about the turnaround, give or take. And so I'm asking if you guys can share what your process is. Because I don't want to wait a year to get my child's results. I brought this up before about the fact that we paid for a reading program and as it stands there's resistance to sending results from independent reading assessments home. I don't want to wait until she's in fourth grade before you all make a decision on my right as a parent to know how my child was assessed. It's not for the teachers, it's for the child. Everything that we purchase or that we present to our children, testing, whatever it is, it's for the
055child. And if it's for the child, it's for the parents. So I would like you to please share your process so that we can get some feedback. I notice he also brought up old business. I don't know what you consider old business, but Ms. Capers, I can definitely say there have been multiple times that I've come and brought up issues, and you say, I'll get back to you, someone will get back to you, and we never hear anything. And that's a common theme here. So time is important. Everyone here has a trustee or some sort of administrative title. This means nothing if we're not being productive. Time is neutral. So we need to be productive and not just say things for camera, for this, for that, for reelect me, whatever it is, make it nice,
056but needs to be done in a way where we can move forward. A year is too long for turnaround. Thank you, Ms. Kirk. I had a question on the floor. The question was, can you share how long or what is your process for policy creation? That's something that's already established. That doesn't require research. And as I said, usually when you say you're going to get back to me, you never get back to me. So I'd just like to know what is involved. Your questions will be answered through emails or someone will contact you. Who's the someone? District clerk. I will call you. Okay. No, please don't call me. I would like an email. No, I don't do phone calls. Okay. Last time I had a phone call, someone lied on me. So I would like
057to know who's going to contact me. Mr. Small will contact you. By email? Do you agree to email or do we want to fight back and forth about it? We're not fighting with you. I'm not fighting with you. No one's fighting with you, Ms. Craig. You will be contacted. By? By your preferred method of communication, which you said is your email. Okay, because you say things, and then he doesn't do it. No, no, no. Excuse me? We hear you. I said she says things. She often says that you'll get back to us, or the district will get back to us, and no one does. Okay, Ms. Craig, I hear you. Okay, I'm going to take you at your word, and hopefully you can actually follow up, and we as community members can get responses instead
058of just performing for the cameras. All right. Thank you, Ms. Craig. Anyone else? Of course. Hi, Ms. Hall. I'm closing out this evening. Don't start that clock yet. Don't start it yet. I have something to say. Last year this time, all seriousness, last year this time, I was home recovering from cardiac arrest. So I am so pleased to be here this evening because God has allowed me to see another year. That deserves a clap. That deserves a praise. I was on life support for 48 hours. I'm here today. You know why? Because I love Elmont, and I love my school district. And I want to say this evening, don't start crying, I'm not supposed to use any names, don't start crying, lady in the red dress. I just would like to say to the board
059tonight, I appreciate you, and I thank you for all that you do for this community. And I'm going to leave you with this quote. Success is not just about making money. It's about making a difference. And you guys are doing that. Thank you very much. Everyone have a good night. Thank you, Ms. Hall. We surely don't make any money. So just lastly, the legislative was removed. I'm sorry about that. It's just very important. The legislative was taken off, so this is part of correspondence. I think you know that when you need to ask for the mic, you have to ask to be heard. And if you need the attorney to review with you parliamentary procedures, she can do that another time. No, that's okay. Okay. So the next regular Board of Education. Oh, someone else?
060I'm sorry. I didn't see you at the mic. I apologize. Come on up. Come on up. I apologize. Hi. Hi. Good evening. I'm a little nervous here. Sorry. My name is Monette Lefebvre. My daughter goes to school here. She's in the ABA program. First of all, I want to say I'm a proud ABA mom. Thank you to all the ABA staff that's here, all the teachers, the teachers, the psychologists, everyone, therapists, speech, OTPT, amazing, amazing. My daughter has really progressed here. She was also at Carlson and I'm thankful Miss Walfall as well. I'm also really quick thankful for the amazing PTA. I'm on this PTA and they have done, they have turned this school, it's been a great community and I'm just happy to be part of this team. I wanted to just say something
061really quick. For the ABA, last year I believe there was an event that happened at another school for the ABA families where they were presented with resources. I think it involved the library, SEPTA. and I was told about it afterwards, and I was wondering if there's something like that that's coming to this school. We do have a very large ABA, you know, students, our scholars here. I'm not sure if it's the largest compared to Carlson, but I was wondering if there's any talk to bring that to Alden and to the other schools that have the ABA programs. And also, is there anything, is there any plan to somehow, I know there's a special committee, I believe, on special education. I don't know what that entails, but I was wondering if there is something planned to
062kind of make that community more cohesive and feel inclusive. Can I say my next question? Go ahead. Also, I now put my daughter on the school bus just to come home. It's something that took me a very long time. to allow her to do. She's also nonverbal. I really do trust the bus drivers and the matrons. Last week, I witnessed a child on her bus who was having a behavioral issue at the time. It seemed, I don't know the child, I've seen him, he's the same, nope, sorry. I've seen him in the school prior years. I don't know him, but it just seemed unusual. And of course, Our children sometimes can be unpredictable and what different things that can trigger them. So I was wondering, is there a special training for the bus monitors on
063how to deal with the children on the bus? Like I said, she's an ABA child, so it's door to door. She gets dropped right in front of the house. So, you know, there were things thrown and the child was reprimanded, but the tone angered the child even more. So I was wondering, is there an initial training when you hire the bus monitors, the matrons, I'm sorry, the bus matrons, and or is there a continuous training that, you know, that goes on? Our interim director of special ed will be in touch with you tomorrow. We have a series of training that we do for our staff members, and she'll go over some of those with you. She will also go over with you the program you mentioned that took place at Carlson for the ABA program.
064I'll have her give you a call tomorrow. Leave your contact information. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Monnett. Anyone else? I did miss someone before, so I'm going to ask and wait. Would I be able to be recognized? Yes, sir. Thank you. So this was going to be in legislative, but it was off the agenda. So regarding correspondence, last month I had read some issues, or not issues, but some of the things we was pushing for our district through Congress. So we got a letter back from Congresswoman Lauren Gillum. So she acknowledged January 28, 2026. Dear Mr. Ramos, thank you for contacting my office to share your thoughts with me. I have received your message and will be in touch as soon as possible. So I'd just like to say this is a move forward for
065everybody in this district, our unions, our staff, our parents, our community, with all the other items that I had mentioned last meeting. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ramos. The next regular meeting of the Board of Education is Tuesday, March 10th at 8 p.m. at Elmont Road. May I have a motion to adjourn the public meeting and reconvene in executive session? Moved. Moved. Dr. Massey, seconded by Mr. Kahn. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries. We'll now head into executive session. 9.32.