001Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Board of Education meeting. We were in an executive session for matters of personnel and negotiations. And I just want to note it's nice to see everyone's face after two years during masking time. So welcome everyone. At this time we will do the Pledge of Allegiance. It's a video from Mrs. Goldstein's first grade class at Jericho Elementary. Please stand. Hi, I'm Mrs. Baldwin, principal of Jericho Elementary School, and I'm here with Mrs. Goldstein's fantastic first grade class. And they are going to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. At this time we have the Jericho PTA president, Ms. Megan Bydgan. We just want to go over a couple things that we handled last month in February and some upcoming events that we have with Jericho. Last month we did candy
002grams. We successfully had a great turnout with that. There are some students in the school that did not receive them. The PTA then. We put in the candy grams for all the students that did not have them. So everybody in the school received a candy gram. We also supplied holiday crafts for the students last month. They got picture frames as well as necklaces that they could make. Upcoming we do have our park week starting in two weeks, which is a western theme. We are going to supply the school with, everybody have cowboy hats for one of their spirit days so that everybody is equal with that. They're also getting name badges so that they can look like sheriffs. As well as we have... That's my space, sorry. The St. Patrick's Day crafts that we'll be
003supplying with the whole school again this year. So everything is going well with Jericho and we're great. The kids are doing happy and they're happy without their masks. So thank you again for having me tonight. Thank you. We'll move on to students of the month. Mr. Bell from Centereach High School. Good evening. It's with great pride that I present Alex Blau as the student of the month from Centereach High School. In preparing to write this speech about Alex, two distinct themes resonated so clearly. First, the concept that attitude is a choice. This has been a theme in our school for some time. No one exemplifies this model more than Alex. He amazes staff and peers with his positive attitude and his approach to school, life, and the challenges that lie ahead. Second, is our district's
004mission statement. In which it states, our goal is to empower and inspire all students. Well, sometimes the inspiration works the other way. So many of our staff... When they found out that Alex was our student of the month, reached out to me with input. Students and adults in the building feel inspired by Alex. His dedication to school, his understanding and compassion for others, and his drive to succeed serve as an inspiration to us all. Here are some of the comments I received from teachers. Mr. Nardi noted that at the start of the pandemic, he was home teaching Alex and was unsure how they would continue. He states that Alex set up his own Zoom meeting with Mr. Nardi. And they continued on. Without missing a beat. Both Mr. Steigle and Ms. Bradley had the opportunity
005to teach Alex remotely last year. Ms. Bradley states, Alex always participated in class. He was a real asset and showed others the impact they could have while learning virtually. Mr. Steigle noted that Alex was, quote, a pleasure to teach. Whatever college and career he chooses, that institution and occupation will have struck gold. Ms. June, who only taught Alex for a semester for health, said simply, I truly love Alex for his kind soul. If everyone treated each other as Alex treats everyone, the world would be a better place. And Ms. Brockman noted that she had the privilege of teaching Alex for the past three years. I quote her when I say, Alex is always mindful of his academic responsibilities and approaches all of his work with enthusiasm and creativity. He's an excellent writer and analytical thinker.
006He's mature beyond his years and has a level of empathy I have rarely seen in others. She went on to state, Alex deserves the honor of being a student of the month for his perseverance in his academics while also maintaining his sense of humor, personability, empathy, and kindness. It was obvious to all that Alex sees challenges as opportunities. Outside of school, Alex truly enjoys serving his community. He started at a very young age. He's accumulated hundreds of hours of community service. I quote Alex himself when he says, community service has always been important to me. I always want to help and give back to the people around me. Even when I was younger, I never turned down an opportunity to try to help and make a difference. I find that the little things in life
007count the most. I've always strived to make people smile every day. Seeing people smile warms my heart. He's most proud of his work with the Lake Grove Beautification and Historical Society, Mission Weekend at the Assumption Church, and the Jewelry-a-Thon that he created three years ago, benefiting the angels of Long Island. Alex has orchestrated. He's organized a task force to make nearly 400 pieces of jewelry to donate to this organization. The concept is that less fortunate children can take a piece or two of jewelry home to give to a loved one as a holiday present. The co-founder of Long Island Angels spoke to the importance of this work by stating that it has brought dignity to the less fortunate by letting them give a one-of-a-kind gift to their loved ones. What could be better? Ms. Arizmendi,
008who's with us tonight, is Alex's guidance counselor. She's always worked very closely with Alex throughout his high school years. She spoke passionately about Alex, stating, Alex has such a rich and unique character. He is strong and an extremely mature individual. He has tremendous depth, sense of purpose and drive, and is broad-minded. He's excelled here at Center Reach even under unforeseen circumstances. He's never let his obstacles get in the way of his success and growth, and for that I could not be prouder. Alex is a role model for others. He's the spirit of his community. He's the spirit of his community. He's the spirit of his own. It's an honor to have had the opportunity to work with Alex over the past few years. I personally would like to say that I found Alex, and I'm
009the first to recognize him and his many accomplishments. However, in reviewing some of the accolades that he's already received, it seems Mr. Gutman honored him many times at Eugene Hour. Ms. Leonard presented him in middle school as student of the month. And even President Obama recognized Alex's achievements in fifth grade. So I guess I can take solace in being in good company. Perhaps Alex said it best when reflecting on his days in high school. He stated, I am living an authentic, productive life. I don't let my disabilities get in my way or control me. I take deep breaths and face my challenges ahead, head on, with a sense of humor. I always have a plan B. I try to complete tasks to the best of my ability. That is all you can ask of anyone.
010After all, the only thing constant in life is change. No one's perfect, but I'm perfectly satisfied with who I am. And I can't wait for the challenges and tasks of college. Well, Alex is still in the process of choosing a school to pursue his career in marketing. He has plenty of schools interested in him. He's already been accepted to Hofstra, LIU, Seton Hall, St. John's, New Paltz, Stony Brook, and Adelphi. Some schools would be very pleased when Alex chooses them. Alex, thank you for being you. You've touched so many lives at Centering Heights High School and in our community. We all look forward to what you will accomplish next. Next up, we have Mr. Graviano from Newfield. Good evening, everyone. It is with pleasure that I introduce to you the student of the month for
011March at Newfield High School, Mr. Ryan Bycheck. With every month that comes along, we send an email to the faculty asking for nominations for student of the month. We often get a wide range of nominations that force us to sit down, compare candidates, and review the information we receive about each before making a decision. Every once in a while, we get a lot of questions. We'll get an overwhelming response for one student in particular. This time around, that one student was Ryan. Not only is he an outstanding student academically with a 96-weighted GPA, but he's an all-around awesome person. He's exactly what our Newfield community needs living in times like these. Someone with a heart filled with kindness who brings joy to everyone who is lucky enough to know him. His teachers have described him
012best, so it makes the most sense to share their words. From me, Ryan. From Mr. Bellin, Ryan's Italian teacher, Ryan is the most dedicated, fastidious, and conscientious student that I have ever had. He is always over-prepared and at the same time very easy going. He's friendly and engaging in the classroom. He is competent and confident in all that he does. Mr. Renard, Ryan's economics teacher, stated, Ryan is well deserving of this honor. Having him last year as a fully virtual student, he was always present in our Google Meets and one of the few students that didn't have to be asked, but was always present in our Google Meets and one of the few students that didn't have to be asked, but was always present in our Google Meets and one of the few students that
013didn't have to be asked, but was always present in our Google Meets and one of the few students that didn't have to be asked, to turn their cameras on, because his was always on. This year, having him in person has been a great pleasure as well. He is very focused on the task at hand and is very respectful to his fellow classmates and to me. I can always count on him to get his work done and he is very polite. Ryan is one of those students who is always a pleasure to be around. He brings a smile to my face every day and let's face it, over the last two and a half years, that is something that is sorely needed. Ms. Burton, Ryan's living environment teacher, said, Ms. Burton, Ryan's living environment teacher, said,
014The first moment that I met Ryan, he greeted me with a smile and a respectful, Hello, how are you? It was such a genuine face that he had on with that greeting that I instantly smiled back. This is just an example of the positivity and kindness that Ryan exudes. He is not only a model student, he is an amazing young man. Ryan cares about his education, his family, his friends, and his community. There are very few people who can be thoughtful, reflective, and selfless all the time. Ryan is that one in a million. He is the person you see coming at you in the hallway and a smile instantly forms on your face. In speaking to Ryan myself and getting to know him a little bit more, it has become clear that he is the
015type of human being we need more of in this world. His genuine kindness is contagious and his diligence is motivating. He brightens the room that he is in and makes others feel incredibly comfortable. His plans post-graduation are to be a little bit more personal. He has the motivation to attend Suffolk Community College with a major in liberal arts. Inspired by Mr. Barrera, one of Ryan's former math teachers, he will look to continue his studies in working towards becoming a math teacher. Ryan, public service in the form of a teacher is the perfect plan for you. I have no doubt that the classroom environment you will create someday will inspire students to work as diligently as you do and to be as kind to others as you are. Thank you for being such an exceptional human
016being, and congratulations on being Newfield High School's Student of the Month for March. Congratulations. Next we have Mr. Kachidis from Dawnwood Middle School. Good evening. It is with great pleasure that I introduce seventh grade student Madeline Butler as Dawnwood Middle School's March Student of the Month. Ms. Tynambor said, Madeline is a wonderful student and fantastic bass player in the seventh grade orchestra. She is one of the leaders of her section, and shows great enthusiasm in class. Madeline is very kind, respectful, and always gives 100% effort in playing. Madeline's social studies teacher, Ms. Gray said, Where do I begin? I absolutely love her. She is very smart, outgoing, and just refreshing to be around. She always does amazing work in class, and she is just an amazing spirit. Ms. Drain and Ms. Giacobbe said, Madeline was
017one of our full virtual students last year, and a very successful one at that. Despite the challenges of being at home full time with three other siblings, one being her twin, Madeline accepted the challenge. She is always one of the first ones to enter the Google Classroom, and never without a smile. Even her cats were present during our Google Meets many times. Madeline always put forth her best effort, participated consistently, and was extremely motivated. She was always helpful to students in breakout rooms, you know, that's the thing they do in the Google Meets, and she motivated peers to do well. It was a pleasure to have her in our virtual classrooms. Lastly, Madeline's pre-algebra teacher, Mr. Scully said, Maddie has been nothing short of a model student this year. She is an excellent problem solver,
018and can explain her thinking clearly. She always comes to class with a positive attitude, and is always on task. She has a great sense of humor, and has been an absolute pleasure to have in class. Madeline's overall average for her sixth grade virtual year was a 98.2, and her average this year, 98.8. Now that Madeline's back in school, she clearly enjoys her time at Dawnwood. She's participated in many of her after school clubs. She's been a member of our, Tech Club, Plant Club, Facts Club, Art Club, Science Club, and the newest club, the American Sign Language Club. When I met with Madeline, she told me that she really admires her mother. Madeline said, she really likes everything her mother does, because her mother's always calm and collective. Madeline also told me that she really has
019a great appreciation for all of her friends, because they're all really supportive of each other. Madeline, it is an honor and a pleasure to have you as a member of the Dawnwood student body. Thank you and congratulations. Congratulations, Madeline. Finally, we have Mr. Bennett from Selden Middle School. Good evening. The Selden Middle School Student of the Month for March is eighth grader Ashley Raynoa. It is quite by chance, but also quite fitting, that our district's Character Education Word of the Month for March is perseverance. Besides being described by her teachers as kind, caring, hardworking, and outstanding, perseverance was a recurring theme for her. As I spoke to Ashley's teachers, both past and present, Mrs. McCauley, Ashley's French teacher, said of her, she always comes to French class well prepared and consistently shows dedication, curiosity, and
020perseverance in her pursuit of learning French. She added that Ashley displays a level of maturity beyond her years. Ms. Kohler, her band teacher, also spoke of perseverance when she shared, Ashley is an amazing student. She was a virtual student last year, and worked very hard. This year, she continues to do exceptional work, and always has a positive attitude, no matter how difficult the challenge. Finally, Ms. Malone, Ashley's family and consumer science teacher, stated, Ashley is a sweet and self-motivated student who truly takes pride and responsibility for her own learning. The words of Ashley's teachers ring true, and they can be seen in her academic performance. In her sixth grade year, Ashley improved each question, and finished the year with an average of 96.6. Her seventh grade year continued that trajectory, and it was filled with
021high marks, culminating in a yearly average of 96.9. The path toward improvement continues for Ashley this year, even with the addition of two regents-level classes. Her second-quarter average was 97. Ashley spoke to me about her experiences at Selden Middle School, and recalls them with fondness. She enjoys learning French, and is proud to be a student of the University of Michigan. She enjoys social studies most of all, because she finds learning about the past and how it relates to the present and future interesting. Ashley is a member of our drama club, the National Junior Honor Society, and the Selden Middle School kick line. She has done some gardening and groundskeeping as community service at Stagecoach Elementary School, and she enjoys singing, dancing, and playing her flute. Ashley is joined tonight by her mother and father, and
022her brother Caleb, who is a third grader at Stagecoach. Ashley, when we spoke, I asked you to think about your legacy when you leave us for future endeavors, and you said you wanted people to know that if they put in hard work, they will be rewarded for their efforts. Your perseverance and hard work is already paying dividends for you, and I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish relying on those very strong traits. Congratulations. Next up, we have a special appreciation. I'm not sure if Dora John is here. She's here. Yep. Ms. Chirac will present you with a speech. Ms. Chirac will present you with a certificate of appreciation. Good evening. On behalf of the Board of Education, our legislative committee, and along with the Middle Country Central School District, I would like to
023thank and acknowledge Dora John with a certificate of appreciation for her advocacy. I first met Dora two years ago when she came to our legislative committee meeting. She was one of the students who accompanied the legislative committee to the Suffolk County Legislature. It was there that Dora lent her voice in support of the swing arm camera legislation, and her impactful statement that day was instrumental in getting that legislation passed. More recently, Dora asked a question of our elected officials at the Longwood Breakfast to advocate for polling sites to be relocated from our elementary schools for safety and security reasons. Dora received positive responses from some of our elected officials, and we will continue those efforts throughout our committee. We are thankful for Dora's civic-mindedness and all that those efforts have brought to our district and
024our community. Thank you again for representing the Middle Country Central School District and showing just how amazing our students truly are. We wish you continued success. Thank you. Steph, do you want? Yep. If the students and their parents, as well as the principals, go outside for some photos, Ms. Pabon will take pictures. Thank you. Dora, please join them as well. We'll move on to a few presentations. First up, we have a budget presentation and a pupil personnel services combined. Dr. Harrison, Director of Pupil Personnel Services, will be presenting. Good evening, everybody. My name is Jennifer Harrison. I am the Director of Pupil Personnel Services for the Middle Country Central School District. Tonight, I will be providing you with an overview of the department as well as some PPS budget information. The PPS department takes pride
025in the programs that have been created and the collaboration and communication that has been established with families and staff who work with our special needs population. The following are some of our guiding principles. The first is to provide the students with the best possible education and the best possible education that they can get from the PPS program. The second is to provide the students with the best possible education and the best possible education that they can get from the PPS program. The third is to provide the students with the best possible education and the best possible education that they can get from the PPS program. The fourth is to provide a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment for all of our students, including preschool students as well as school-age students. To support
026the district's programs, design, and criteria for our special education programs and services. To maintain the quality of our special education programs and to provide a continuum of services in grades K through 12. And of course, to foster our students as independent learners to ensure a smoother transition to postsecondary education. Here's a list of the programs that we have provided for our special needs population. The first is to provide the students with the best possible education and the best possible education that they can get from the PPS program. The second is to provide the students with the best possible education and the best possible education that they can get from the PPS program. Here's a little bit about our middle country students. These are our students that fall under different classifications. There are 13 different classifications
027in New York State. We have this year, 21, 22 school year, we have a total of 1,834 students. And that does not include our preschoolers with a disability and or our 504 students. Currently, we have approximately 270 preschoolers and we have approximately 416 students in the middle country. There are also some of the most marginalized students that have a 504 plan. Our student classification, our students classified within the district make up approximately 16.8 of the middle country population. The state average from 2021 from the New York State Report Card was 18% and our Suffolk County numbers from 2021 were 16%. So we fall somewhere in between. We have seen some increase in classifications within the following disabilities and also some increase in classifications students with autism, students with speech or language impairment, and other health
028impairment over the last three years. Some of our students could qualify for more than one category. For example, students who have a diagnosis of autism could also fall under the other health impairment classification. Some students that classify under multiple disabilities also could fall under another classification. This represents our school-age students in out-of-district programs, and this slide focuses on our BOCES programs. There are a total of 97 students that attend our BOCES program within the Eastern Suffolk BOCES region. Students that attend a BOCES program require more academic and social-emotional support than in-district programs can provide. These programs run from kindergarten all the way through age 21 for both the generally and alternately assessed students. Students that attend an out-of-district program, such as BOCES, are still considered middle country students and are eligible to participate in district
029programs, sports, extracurricular activities. Our graduating students are eligible to participate in both Center Reach and Newfield graduation ceremonies, as well as the ceremonies that those programs offer on-site. This year, we have six graduating and or aging out students in BOCES in June of 2021. In June 2022 is the first step that students who have passed quando they have brought their documents to the Board ofSHARES Christian College of theahr por leads. These other nine graduating and aging out students, such as Flex andolesomehood, are also eligible to participate in district programs such as glittering out events, sports, and sports. Here is a slide that represents the students who are idealized for residential programs and the necessary facilities around that project. require 24-hour care and monitoring due to their academic, social, emotional, behavior management, or medical needs. Currently,
030these 10 students are placed in and outside of New York State, and we have three students that will be aging out of this program based on their age. The next part is a little bit about pupil personnel services. Pupil personnel services really does encompass more than just special education. So this is the continuum of special education services by New York State. This represents the programs and services that are available from the least restrictive to the most restrictive setting. So if you see on top, related services is the least restrictive, and referring to related services could be speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, hearing services, vision services, etc. Going down, we have resource room program that is a pull-out model with a special education program. So this is a pull-out model with a special education program. This
031is our pupil personnel services staff. This represents the PPS staff that make up the PPS staff. This is our pupil personnel services staff. This represents the PPS staff that make up the department. As noted on this slide, some of these positions are partially funded through our IDEA 611 and or 619 grant. This grant supports approximately $1.5 million worth of salaries for the staff, which does not include benefits. And we take a look at the staffing on a yearly basis based on the needs of the student, and we monitor the needs, the additional needs of the student, and we monitor the needs of the student, and we monitor the needs of the student, and we monitor the needs of the student, and we monitor the needs of the student, and we monitor the needs or less
032needs every school year. Even though many of these positions are partially grant funded, the grant does not cover the entire cost, including benefits, and the remainder funds are paid through the district budget. This is our pupil personnel services contracted staff. What we mean by contracted staff is that we work with agencies or providers outside of the district. They are not middle country employees. These positions are contracted out through a variety of vendors, some including Metro Therapy, Family of Kids, Out East Therapy, Blue Sea, I can go on and on and on. Approximately $300,000 are paid through our grants for some of these related services such as OT and PT. In addition, we provide another $200,000 from the grant that are allocated for behavior and autism consultant services. Another $30,000 are applied for evaluations such as
033an OT evaluation, a physical therapy evaluation, speech evaluations. And another approximately $80,000 are provided to support the vision and the hearing services. Within the district, depending on the program, we have additional student support, whether it's a teacher aide or a teaching assistant that work in the classroom. Sometimes they work one to one with students, and sometimes they work in small groups, whether it's three to one or five to one, to help them with their education. And we also help support the needs of individual students. Teaching assistants as well as teacher aides are approved through the IEP, NDOR 504. Currently, this year, we have approximately 175 teacher aides in elementary and secondary. And approximately 64 teaching assistants, combined in the elementary and the secondary. I'm going to talk a little bit more about the Pupil Personnel
034Services programs, and this just gives you an idea of what service and or program is offered at every level of the school. Thank you. Thank you. level elementary, middle school, and high school. So our 504 plans is a general education support. It is offered at every level, and that also goes through our office. Some of the 504 plans, students with 504 plans may have following medical diagnosis such as ADHD, autism, epilepsy, mental health diagnoses, vision and hearing impairments. Similar to an IEP as far as accommodation, supplementary aids and services and supports, but it is still considered a general education support plan. Similar also, we have a meeting, we have an annual review, we meet, medical documentation is provided to the committee to review and make recommendations. And there is a finalized document, again, similar to
035an IEP. It is called a 504 plan. Our related services are also offered in every building and every level. Again, some of them are speech, OT, PT, counseling. Those are some of the ones that are just more used than others. We have resource room, which is offered again at every level and building and is implemented per the CSE and is conducted in a small group setting, up to five students in a group. Our ICT is our two teacher model, one special education teacher, one general education teacher. At the elementary level, our ICT programs are not in the CSE. They are not in every building, depending on the age level. So for example, we may have an ICT first grade at New Lane, but the ICT second grade may be at Stagecoach. We do attempt every
036year to have that ICT class follow in that same building. So if we start ICT in a first grade at New Lane, we do make sure, every effort to make sure that they stay in New Lane until fifth grade so these students aren't bouncing around from building to building. And that is the same with our special class. Our special class is the most restrictive program that is offered in the school district. There are additional TAs and AIDs built into these programs and assigned to these students to make sure they are as independent and successful as possible. We have our 12-1-1, which is at BPS and Unity, and that is our kindergarten centers. Our next special class is our 15-1-1. That is 15 students. One special education teacher, one TA. And currently those are at Hawkins,
037Stage, Holbrook, Jericho, New Lane, North Coleman, and Oxhead. We have a specialized program called our SELF program, which really supports our students that have extreme management needs, and that currently is at Hawkins. Our PRAISE program for our students with autism this year is at our Hawkins and Stage, and we did expand this year at Eugene Hour with a kindergarten class. Our PRAISE transition class is at 10-1-2, which is at Stagecoach. We have a 10-1-2 that is based on the needs of the students that are coming to us. We also have a PRAISE transition class, which is something we put in a few years ago that we felt that there had to... There should be a need... There was a need to support some of our students that had a little bit more language than our
038students in our PRAISE class, and a little bit more social intent. So we call that our PRAISE transition class, and it's a 10-1-2. That is also at Stagecoach. And then we have our life skills program. That focuses on basic skills at Stagecoach. And it's 10-1-2, that is also at Stagecoach. the students level at Eugene hour and we have two classes there this year a K through two and a three through five so moving on to the middle school again we have the 15-1 it changes a little bit more independence for this student and that is at both Donwood and Selden our praise program is at Donwood and our life skills program is at Selden moving on to the high school we again the 15-1 is in both Newfield and center each our praise transition class
039we have at center each as well as the life skills program that is also at center each and that life skills program at center each really does encompass the pre vocational and the work-study skills and the community outings we do also have support services at ALC we use the consultant teacher model in direct and direct so that students at ALC that are still working for it and they're still working for it and they're still working for it and they're still working for that diploma can get additional support if needed some of our PPS programs and initiatives there are many ongoing initiatives in the PPS department that not all districts have I'm going to highlight a few of them our RBT training which is our registered behavior technician training our aides and our TAS are trained
040in behavior and how to support the needs of some of our students that struggle with management we also have CPI training in the district that focuses on the proactive strategies before staff needs to physically intervene to make sure that our students are safe and our state staff is safe at all times we have a pays lab at Eugene our and center each high school they are both pre vocational labs and they work on what we call soft skills or pre vocational skills for our students to make sure that when they're of that age and ready to go out into the community and start working on those skills that they have some of those basic skills unified basketball program is at the high school we started that a few years ago our best buddies program again
041at the secondary level I highlighted before our self classes and our praise classes and those classes have been created over the years to provide the services within the district instead of sending our students out to a BOCES program and or for example a DDI or an AHRC I truly believe that if we can support a student within the district that they can be a part of the district in their community that is the best place for our students and we try to make every effort to make that happen once in a while it doesn't work but we really do make that effort besides special education department the PPS office also oversees DASA which is also known as the Dignity Act homeschooling home teaching and students that qualify for services under the McKinney-Vento Act we currently
042have 191 homeschooled students in the district that are receiving their education from their families and we have approximately 77 students who qualify for services under the McKinney-Vento Act our PPS budget so this is our PPS budget for this current school year currently we're approximately 51.8 million dollars and that budget is made up a variety of things salaries and benefits take up the majority of the budget some of the equipment is adaptive equipment special chairs wheelchairs special desks anything you can think of that the students need based on their disability our contractual budget line is for related services computer software our attorney fees and just miscellaneous fees tuition is paid for from some of the previous slides that I showed are our AHRC our residential programs anything outside that BOCES line textbooks are just your typical
043materials that teachers and students need um the BOCES line is for our students that are in full day BOCES program half day bonuses programs as well as our Ac ed program so that would be if a student attends New field or center Treach and they go for culinary in the afternoon or computers that that tuition would be in that BOCES line as well and then supplies or just our that our teachers, our special education teachers, and our related service providers just need, and that comes up to approximately $51.8 million for this school year. The proposed 22-23 budget is consistent with this budget, based on the current needs of the student. The only thing I will say is that sometimes we get students unexpectedly. Mid-year, end of year, for example, two weeks ago, we received two
044transfer students, one who, a blind student, and then the other one who is totally deaf. So those would be considered some high-cost students. One, we were able to make work within the district to support their needs, and one, the other student will attend a out-of-district placement. So those are just things that we can't anticipate, and we just make the best when those students come to us. We have to make sure that we provide them with the services that they need. A little bit about Medicaid. So Medicaid falls under the school supportive health services program, and the preschool supportive health service program, and it applies to our three to four-year-old population, as well as our five through 20-year-old population. This program was created to assist school districts in obtaining Medicaid reimbursement for certain diagnostic and health
045support services provided to students with disabilities. These programs allow school districts to access Medicaid funding for services that are provided during the school day, and if a child still needs services outside of the school day, the provider and or family can still bill for that service. There was a significant increase from the 2017-2018 to the 2018-2019. There was an increase in Medicaid based on the district being diligent with working with our outside providers, such as BOCES, DDI, to help us be reimbursed for that. There was a lot of paperwork that goes into the Medicaid reimbursement, so we worked hard with the other out-of-district placements for the Medicaid process. In 2019, 2020, obviously, the pandemic shut us down. Therefore, we didn't have as much as Medicaid reimbursement because services, were not always happening consistently. And for
046this year, we are at approximately $173,000, and we do anticipate the total number being a little lower based on the Medicaid reimbursement rates have been lowered by Medicaid. This is our grant that I spoke about earlier. So our 619 grant is our preschool grant. Our 611 grant is our school-age grant. Over the last three years, we have been awarded almost $7.8 million to use toward services to support the needs of our students. It's been pretty consistent throughout the last three years, and some of that money is used for salaries, purchase services, supplies and materials, some travel expenses, some of our BOCES costs as well. And our transportation costs. So transportation, when it comes to PPS, really encompasses a lot of different things. For example, if we have a student that attends homeschool is New Lane
047and they're placed in a program at our, across the district, we transport that student. So there is a cost to that. We also transport our students that attend our BOCES programs, our private schools, our residential programs. We do transport our students back and forth to the residential programs. We also transport our students to our school and to our school programs, according to the parents' requests. Some of our special transportation services that a student may be eligible for is curb-to-curb, small bus, our air-conditioned vehicles, driver attendants, whether it's a group or an individual attendant, some nursing services. We have harnesses, safety vests, lap belts, car seats, booster seats for our little ones, some window coverings for students that have some, medical diagnosis aids, and some other services. Wheelchair buses and et cetera. Some of the programs
048that transportation department helps support is our best buddy program, after school, our after school praise program, and our unified basketball program. And then the other part of transportation that falls is our McKinney-Vento students that qualify for transportation. We also do work with the county on some of those services. And that is my presentation. Does anybody have any questions? Great. Thank you for the presentation. Any board members have questions? Mrs. Bracey. I just wanted to say thank you. It was a very understanding and clear layout. It's like really very good. I enjoyed it. And it was really, it hits the points and understandable. Thank you. Thank you. Any others? Thank you, Dr. Harrison. Thank you. We'll move next to the technology around the district update. This will be presented by Dr. Vekove, Director of Technology, Business
049and Information Systems. Good evening, everyone. I'm coming before you tonight. I apologize. My voice got a little scratchy today with the weather. And I'm sitting up and it's about 25 degrees hotter up there than it is down here. So it's a little strange tonight. But I'm coming before you tonight with a little bit different presentation than I normally do for you. Because I usually come before you and talk about things that we're going to be doing. And how we're going to be spending money. So I'm going to come to you tonight and show you some stuff that we've actually gotten accomplished. And things that are just about to be fully completed. That list, as you see before you, is we're going to go over four minutes. We're going to go over four items tonight. One
050of them is called Passage Point. Another is called Scholarship, BERT. And then we're going to talk about the solar carports to end up. So Passage Point is our visitor management system for the district. It's been rolled out for about the last two months now across all the buildings, including district office. And what that does is it allows us to control entry into the buildings. So we actually can stop people, particularly in the schools. We have two sets of doors. So they'll be buzzed into the first door. And then they'll be able to actually put their ID through and we can actually run some checks on them. Gave you an example set up here of what Dawnwood looks like. It's one of the nicer looking set ups. And you can see the set up on the
051right hand side, the computer with the different software. You'll notice actually a couple different systems on there. On the right hand monitor you're seeing some of the security system because the greeter stations usually responsible for monitoring the outer entrances of the building, you know, in addition to the security guards. And then the left hand monitor, they're running the software that's going to check their systems out. The little picture on the left there is a little pass through on the man traps where they can pass their ID and identification. So you probably have seen this in other schools or our schools. Cool part about this is the system itself is actually connected to the internet also. So the system, when you scan a license or we scan a passport or we scan an ID, it actually
052goes out and it checks the sex offender registries for 50 states. It also checks against our power school for any kind of custodial issues with parents. So that way an alert pops up immediately as soon as that parent scans into the building. And those are accomplished with, those are the two main pieces right there of the system. The Gemalto scanner on the left, we can just feed a license in there. We can feed a pass through. We can put a passport in there. And it runs the entire history for the parent right there. And we can get them into the building quickly with the sticker. These will be used more coming up because we haven't really been using them with COVID and trying to keep people out of the schools. We haven't been using them
053so much. So we'll start getting these into play more. The second piece I'm going to run into now is scholarship. And scholarship is one we've been talking about for a long time. Trying to get ID cards for our secondary students, at least initially. So we can, one, ID the students as they come into the building. We can make sure that they're, you know, if we need to ID a kid, as they're coming down the hall, they'll have their ID on them. And two is to make sure they are who they are. So we're going to be implementing scholarship. We actually had one training today. And then the final training is this Friday. And hopefully by next week we're going to start production of the cards in the buildings and getting those into the hands of
054students in the next couple of weeks. So what those are going to do for us is not only give us that identification piece, but we're actually also going to be able to run attendance at the main entrances of the buildings every day. So now when the kids come in, they're actually going to tap in on a screen. And it's going to tap in if they're green. And if there's a problem, it'll flash red. And then an attendant will be able to come over and work with that. But that's going to take and free up more time during first period classes or second period classes where they normally take attendance and it eats into the schedule a little bit more. Because they're doing both daily attendance and period attendance. So that machine you see up on
055the right-hand side right there is actually the station that kind of sits in the main offices. So if we have new students come in and they need to have a photograph taken, because we don't have their student photo. Or we can do that. So we can do that. So we can do that. We just need to produce new cards. That's the printer on the right-hand side. So that's the station that goes in the main offices. Here's an example of what the ID cards are going to look like for the students at the secondary level. And what you see on the right-hand side is the kiosk where the students will actually walk in with their IDs and tap in as they come in. Another great feature of these kiosks, you notice they're on wheels. So we're
056going to be able to use them for other events. So some of the buildings I mentioned may be using them for attendance in the cafeterias. We can do them for in the auditorium if we have events. We can use them in the gymnasium. So they can be rolled around and used for many different things. Next we're going to talk quickly about BERT. If Steph holds it up for a second, that's an actual BERT. They're passing it around just so you can see it. We had about two weeks ago about over 500 of these installed throughout the district. And what the BERTs are is they're really a plug, a smart plug let's call them. We can actually address them over the Wi-Fi and we can control whatever's plugged into that BERT to either turn it on
057or turn it off. So as part of the energy performance contract, they recognize that we have to be able to do that. So we had a lot of devices that sit in, we're going to call it low power mode overnight. Even though a device is in low power mode, it's still pulling electricity. It's still using power. And I, you know, I was a skeptic at first too, just thinking about the numbers. But I sat with Mr. Katuna who does our networking in the district. We ran some numbers. It adds up pretty quickly. It really does. So we're testing right now 550 of the devices. I actually was in contact with them today because we've been in a baseline mode right now where we're kind of recording the information that all the devices are doing, how
058much power they have. How much power they're using throughout the day. And they're going to be implementing a schedule, I think, tonight. So tomorrow might be a nightmare for me. I'm hoping not. Knock on wood. Where those devices are going to turn off overnight and then turn back on again in the morning. So these are the different types of devices that they identified. They identified all different types of things. Primarily, we're seeing a lot of them on printers. Sometimes you'll drive by the schools and it drives, it irks me too, but you'll see smart boards on. You'll see projectors on that don't get turned off. Some EC units. I think we may have had a water dispenser or two. And then some of the lower voltage printers and copiers. So the cool, another great part
059about this is that we get all different types of reports. So this is a little bit of a look at the BERT console. And you can see how they've broken us down by all the different buildings. They've broken us down by devices. And once we go into, once we get out of baseline mode, you'll see right now you're seeing pretty consistent use of power right there overnight. We're going to start seeing the usage go down. Which will be a little bit more complicated. But this will be excellent. Because that's another savings. And that's more money for the children. And then finally, solar carports. Another energy saving piece. Another piece of the energy performance contract. Which I listed out a couple of things. You guys are well aware of different things that have been done on
060this. I think this is probably the most visible you'll see. Especially if you've driven by the front of Center Reach recently. Or if you've driven in the back of Newfield. You'll see those carports back there. Amazing stat right out of the gate. And I was shocked when I saw this. Mr. Kidd got me information from updated news. Information on them. That once they complete our installs at Center Reach and Newfield, we're going to become the largest solar generator of any school district on Long Island. With four megawatts of power. To use and to sell back to the system. So you may have seen these. These are the front of Center Reach. This is the student lot in front of Dawnwood. You have the other carports right in front of Center Reach. You have the carports
061behind Newfield. And then the geeky part of me was taking closer pictures up there just to see what's going on. Because I'm like, I don't know if you can see the little thing. I'll get to use the laser pointer. You can see the wires hanging down there. So that means that the solar cells are coming soon. So I was excited to see that. And then of course the nerdy part of me, you know, sees where everything's tied together in there. In the main box there. So they're moving right along. They're a couple weeks ahead at Newfield in front of Center Reach. But the plan right now is to have everything installed by June 30th. And then it takes a little bit of time at that point for us to connect into the system to be
062able to distribute energy back to PSENG. Just like with the BERTs, there's consoles and there's cool numbers and graphs and everything we can dig into. You'll see a little bit of that. And then we'll be able to get back to PSENG. So you'll see just a quick sample here. Right now actually before we even bring Center Reach and Newfield online, we already have Jericho, New Lane, and Donwood online. So you're seeing some real stuff just from the other day. We can see, you know, the last couple days. We can drill into specific days. We can see what kind of, what day it was. I think in the last one it actually shows you the weather too. And I think as you actually drill into these, it'll show you the specific days and tell you, you
063know, was it a sunny day, cloudy day, those kind of things. Also part of this data is when the installation is complete, the contractor will be able to see what the contractor Johnson controls is going to give us an estimation of, you know, from what they see, kind of like the baseline again, of what they see in terms of what kind of power it's producing. And they'll be able to give us a forecast for what the year, over the year. And then they'll come back and do that yearly afterwards to give us an idea. And then this is the really cool stat of this, which I was amazed by these numbers. In front of you, you see the Center Reach. That's the daily amount of money on average that we spend to power Center Reach
064High School, $844. And Newfield comes in at $617. And then once these cells are up, we're going to be producing $355 worth of power. So that's going to come off our bill right there. And for Newfield, it's going to come down $129 a day, which is amazing to see. It really is. So that's all I got for you. A lot of positive stuff. A lot of stuff getting completed that we've talked about coming for the longest time. So any questions, comments? This is Breezy. I just want to say thank you. It seems like we've been waiting for this forever. I agree wholeheartedly. The plan was like how many millions of years ago? Oh my God. The smart square. I didn't even mention the smart schools paid for the two, for the visitor management and the
065student ID cards. It's nice to see it finally coming. We did that six, seven years ago, I think the first presentation. So yeah, absolutely. I agree. Thank you. So happy to see it done. Yes, thank you. Are these student schedules embedded in the scholarship ID? Are the student schedules embedded? I'm going to have to find out that answer for you. Because I don't know that we have the cards that store them. But the readers will be able to query the student management system. And I know that the scholarship software has, has their schedules fed to it. So if it's not embedded, it can be read and then, and then queried right away from the student management database. Thank you. You're welcome. Hi. Just a quick comment. Sure. So I was just, I think that all
066the initiatives are awesome and I'm really excited about all of them. But do you have any concerns about cyber security? Oh, we have lots of, lots of concerns. So how do you, how do you anticipate, I'm sure. Yeah. How do you anticipate, I guess, mitigating through all of that? Well, that's completely off topic from this. But I'll, I'll definitely, definitely give you a quick little answer. We spend a lot of time with this. We work with BOCES. We work with other partner districts. BOCES provides a lot of guidance, a lot of, a lot of talks from the FBI, the Suffolk County Crime Units, things like that. That keeps us aware of, and I can tell you I probably get about two dozen emails a day from Darlene Roces at BOCES. And they're all on different
067security hacks, what to look out for, things like that. So that's, that's just one piece of it. On top of that, we have a very dedicated staff that keeps all of our technology equipment as up to date as possible. Starting first and foremost with the firewall for the school district. You probably don't remember, but I think we replaced it. I want to say it was when we came back last year. So it may have been last fall with the latest version that was able to support all of the additional devices that we added. Because keep in mind now, we now have, you know, nine, almost 10,000 students, Chromebooks on there. We have almost 800 teachers on there. We have, you know, a lot of, you know, 200 and change TAs on there now. There's a
068lot of devices. When I first started doing this presentation in front of you guys, I think we had 3,000 devices on the network. And now that number is 17, 18,000 in total across the district. So it really is important that we keep on top of patching and updating. So like I said, the firewall is that way. We keep the switches up to date. We keep the endpoints up to date, which is, you know, we don't have very many of them anymore, but all of our staff computers on the desks. The computer labs. The Chromebooks are a great device because they update themselves. I know they're frustrating for teachers and for students because Google decides it's time to update, it's time to update. Which is a good thing because it forces it. And then there's training.
069Training of staff. And we do a lot of that. Some of that is mandated by the state as part of Ed Law 2D. But we were doing it, I'm happy to say we were doing it probably three or four years beforehand. We were using a product called Know Before. And we did what they call campaigns throughout the year where it can be a number of different things. One of them is it's a straightforward, instructional email where they'll watch a quick 10 minute video, maybe answer a couple questions, and they get credit for having done it. Two, the very sneaky ones where we're trying to trick them. And then I get statistics on, all right, who received the email, who clicked on the email, who opened the email, who clicked through on the email, and the
070worst one is who put their credentials into a website. So we are pretty thorough with going over those and running them. A lot of the time staff doesn't know. I know my poor secretary, Dawn, will say, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. He doesn't tell me anymore because I have a big mouth. So, Dawn, I'm sorry if you're listening. Dr. Rucobi, talk about how our data are protected. How we are protected from ransomware. Yeah, we have a couple of different things to do with that. I don't want to get into too much detail, but let's just say we do very thorough backups, particularly with our
071financial management system. Not only are we backing it up nightly, which is what normal people would do, it would be one times a day. We back it up hourly as a full backup, and we actually back it up transactionally, so that if we have to go back to a specific time, we can ratchet it back to there. And those are stored in different ways. We store a lot of stuff local, because most of our data center is at Dawnwood, and we have backup storage at Newfield here. So we have a split campus that way, so we can kind of keep a gap and a space between those. We also backup data offsite to BOCES, the important stuff that we need. Most of the time. And we also mainly envision our financial software. So that's probably,
072were you thinking something in particular, Dr. Gerald? Did I hit it? No, I said I couldn't. That's the important part, because school districts have been attacked, and their systems have shut down. Yeah. So communication is shut down. Yep. The ability to pay bills to payroll. Yep. Security systems are impacted. So all this is a way that we very, we cautiously manage. So I thank you, because you triggered another memory of mine, too, of what we're doing. We're actually starting to look at stuff in the cloud. It has been cost prohibitive for school districts in the past to get involved with it, and it's something we've been looking at for the last ten years. But just recently, Microsoft, you may have seen the word Azure out there, A-Z-U-R-E. They allow us, if we do get into
073a situation like that, because we have backups in so many different places, if we were, you know, God forbid, I don't see wood for me to knock on, were to happen, we have ways of spinning up our servers in the cloud and being accessible from anywhere. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. building in those kind of safeguards too. Because obviously it's one thing to prepare, but you can never really prepare for every situation that comes up. So we're doing different things like that. So did I do okay? Because I didn't prepare for that one. You're very welcome. Just one quick question. With regards to the car parts, knowing that my own daughter, who's an inexperienced driver, who maintains the car parts? That's a good question. Did you know, Dr. Rola?
074I imagine that the electronics and that piece of it is gonna be probably Sunrise, I'd imagine. They're the ones doing the install right now. I don't know in terms of, you mean if somebody maybe happens to crash into carport? Crashes into it, something, you know, siphon a break, something happens. I don't know that we've had that conversation yet. I imagine, yeah, absolutely true. Yeah, definitely that. We can definitely find out and see where that breakdown is. I'm pretty sure though it's Sunrise because they've been doing it for the other school districts. They're doing the maintenance as well after the install? Yeah. There isn't very much maintenance with solar. There is very little maintenance. Other than maybe a squirrel eating the wire. I was curious when he mentioned his daughter driving through the parking lot. That's
075where I figured he was going. Yeah, just working with teenagers for many years. Things happen and that's all. I'm gonna be positive, just gonna be positive about things happening. Mine took out the corner of my house in the garage, so. And because this is a part of our budget presentation, Dr. Rola, could you just do a quick overview on the value of an energy performance project and what this actually, how it saves us money and the cost to the district? Sure. One of the benefits of doing an energy performance contract is all of the projects that you select for an energy performance contract, they have to produce savings. They come with a cost, but they also come with a savings. If you add all of the savings generated from all of the projects that you
076do and combine it with the, I think, the cost of the project, then you have to produce savings. And that's what we're trying to do. And that's what we're trying to do. So the state gives you the aid that you get because the state gives you aid on these projects as well. When you combine them, they have to more than offset the investment. So it has to be a net positive for the district. So not only do you get improvements, better efficiencies, lower costs at the end of it, it has to also produce a profit. And the ESCO who was chosen to do this will provide us with, they will make sure that there is a savings. So what we agreed upon will then be monitored after the project is complete to ensure that we
077are in fact receiving those savings. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you, Dr. Rakovi. Thanks, guys. Next up we have an update to our reopening plan. Dr. Gerald. And this is going to be a really quick update. The first slide will show the number of cases that we have identified. We have identified within our schools since February 10th. And look at how small those two columns are. Think back to January 3rd. That was that Monday, I think. We had 380 cases in one day. And now we're seeing three, four, five cases. And we're very careful to continue contact tracing, even though masks are now off, because we believe that the families of our students and the families of our staff and our staff, need to be aware of the exposures in their classrooms or exposures
078that are close to them so they can make determinations regarding their own health. So we will continue to contact trace. But we're not finding that there's a great need to contact trace at the moment. And then if we continue to go all the way, all the way, all the way down to the very last slide, that's the big change that we saw on March 2nd. On March 2nd, we were told that masks may be optional in our schools, in our school buildings. In our workplace buildings. We were told that families ought to be kept informed of any exposures. So that's the contact tracing that we're continuing. We are continuing to recommend tests to stay. We have tests in our schools. Any staff member, any student, any family member who feels symptomatic can request a test
079and we will give it to them. Any exposed individual can go home with the test so they can test to make sure that they themselves are not positive. And it's a way to ensure that we pay attention to our own health. The testing, we have many testing kits. So I don't know if you all recall, when we first got our test and we did the distributions outside in the cold, we had to be really careful that we managed the tests that we have. We now have many tests. So we are offering tests to our libraries. We will be offering, we offered them to our firehouses. We will be offering them to our local churches. We are offering them to schools within our boundaries so that we help to make sure our community as a whole
080maintains its own safety, its own health. And you're going to see a little later, I think it's under superintendent's report, a resolution that would allow us to update our reentry plan whenever guidance is updated by DOH so that we don't have to continually come back and say, we're adding this, we're adding that, but that the updated guidance does become our reentry plan. Thank you. Moving on to board commentary. I'll start on this side. Mr. DiBenedetto. Yeah, I just wanted to recognize that we had a very successful winter sports season. So we had the boys, we had the boys and girls fencing team were Suffolk County champions. We had the girls, Center Ridge High School basketball team made the playoffs. The Newfield boys basketball team made the playoffs. We had a young man, Jameson Chey, in
081the Center Reach of 172, was a, took fourth in the counties. Our track team placed third in the state qualifier. Our middle country gymnastics team is recognized as All-American. We had Hannah Hughes, Madison Rodriguez, Abigail Waters, and Brian Brand, All-Americans were in a very successful sports season. I want to congratulate our teams and recognize our coaches for all the hard work and dedication that goes forth in coaching. So I just want to thank you all and let's look forward to springtime. Thanks. Ms. Maynard Rodriguez. Quickly. It's just nice to see everybody's faces. That's all. Mrs. Haggerty. Just again, thank you to the principals for their outstanding presentation of the students of the month. I know I'm new to this, but it really is kind of a highlight of my night to hear all the good
082things about the young people coming through our schools and all they have to contribute. So thank you. Mr. Feeney, Mrs. Feldman, Mrs. Bracey, Mrs. Schrock. Yes. We have minutes of our past three meetings, February 7th, 9th, and March 2nd. If anyone has any corrections. If not, we will just accept the minutes. Move on to consent agenda. I need a motion to approve the consent agenda. We'll go through no action items on instruction. Any questions on pupil personnel? Any questions or comments on personnel? Finance? All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Superintendent report. We have item 22-03-SR-4, legal notice and dates of annual school district election and budget vote. Questions or comments? All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. 22-03-SR-5, amendment to district reopening plan, and that's the amendment that I just spoke to you about.
083Questions or comments? All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Move on to policy. This is going to be the first reading of district policies, 1160 school district report card, and 1230 public participation at board meetings. Questions or comments? All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. We'll move on to correspondence. Any questions for correspondence? Unfinished business? New business? Committee reports? Mrs. Schrock. We had our, is this on? Okay. We had our legislative committee meeting last Monday, I believe that was. It was very well attended. We had several elected officials and or their aides in attendance as well. We did speak of the legislative breakfast, where Dora was acknowledged here this evening. She asked the question of our elected officials, if they would be in support of having polling sites relocated from our elementary schools. She did get
084some really good response from some of the elected officials that day. That were in attendance of the legislative breakfast. We did have that on the top of our agenda in our meeting as well, and they were very receptive to it. There are several bills that are currently out that are in support of relocating the polling sites from schools, or to just have no polling sites in any of the schools. We're asking for our elementary schools to start. We are, we do have several bills that we did hand out that day in the meeting. We do ask that you can go to both the state and the assembly websites. And you can put those bills in the polling sites. And you can either hit yay or nay in support or not in support of it. And
085then you can also click on those bills and you will get any updates because bills move through processes in committees and whatnot. So you can follow the progress of that. We also talked about increasing funding. We do know that Senator Matera's office was very receptive in helping a transportation aid for us. That would be very helpful for our district. It seems to be an issue that is across this state or the island. So there is some movement and being that the state is flush with money, this is a good time for this for us. So we are advocating for that as well. We're hopeful if it is not in the budget, Senator Matera said he'd be willing to pass legislation or present legislation for that. So we would be advocating for that. Maybe have some
086sort of online petition or a letter writing campaign that we would be asking for help with that. We're hoping to have our next legislative committee meeting in April of some time. A date hasn't been set but we will know better than what the budget is and what items are in that budget and what items we need to keep our advocacy up for that maybe might not have been in that. So it was a very productive meeting, very well attended. Like I said, if anybody is ever interested in attending that meeting, you can reach out to Ms. Larkin and she will put you on the email list and you will be sent the dates that we're having that and or the minutes of the previous meetings when we do let you know when the other meetings
087are. So I think that's the goal of the upcoming meeting is. So I thank everyone who's involved in that. We've been very successful and it is a very well attended, hardworking group of people and I thank everyone who is a part of it. Thank you. Mr. Feeney. Yes, the Educational Advancement Committee met today and the committee welcomed Board Trustee Denise Haggerty as our newest member of our committee. Math Coordinator Ryan Milano presented a detailed overview of the math program in the district as he had done at our last board meeting. Pupil Personnel Services Director Jennifer Harrison gave a comprehensive and thorough review of the special education program in the district as we've heard tonight. And Deputy Superintendent McMahon then updated the committee on the number of special needs students and 9th and 10th grade general
088education students enrolled in capstone ready courses. Director of Curriculum Jonathan Singer then gave an update on the work of the Digital Resources Review Committee which consists of teachers and administrators who are examining our instructional videos for their curriculum alignment and grade level appropriateness. And our next meeting was set for April 13th. Mrs. Bernice. Yes. I just want to comment on the legislative meeting. It was very well attended and very productive. Also, the SPARC meeting, the SPARC committee met and we picked out our recipients and they've been notified and we're going to use the same program as we did to honor them as we did last year. So I'm very pleased that it's going to be moving along in that direction. Any other reports? Any liaison reports? Follow-up or discussion? I just have a liaison. Sorry.
089Sure. So I just wanted to report out on the diversity equity and inclusion committee. We met on February 7th and we discussed a world map classroom activities that we've been working on. Also the Faces of Middle Country project which celebrates uniqueness of our community members. Also the DIE newsletter. I believe it comes out every two months or so. And it features equity driven initiatives within our community and acknowledges various groups and provides other DIE resources. The next meeting is on April 13th. The next meeting is April 7th. And I just wanted to talk about the SEPTA meeting that I attended on I think it was last Monday, 3-2. The Partners for Transition. It's an organization that provides guidance for vocational success after high school. They gave a really good presentation and it was entitled Agency
090101. And it was just an overview of state and local agencies that can assist students and their families with the support that they need. The next meeting is 4-6-22. And there is a Popcorn and PJ's event at Dornwood Middle School. And that's on April Fool's. But it's a real event. And it's at 7 p.m. Thank you. Move on to public input. There was one public input from last month that needed a response. It was about a photo of staff without masks within a school building. But that has been already addressed by the principal. And I don't think we'll have that issue going forward because we don't have masks. Public input. Mrs. Larkin. Thank you, Mr. Oliva. Before I call up the speakers, I just want to remind everybody that you have three minutes to speak.
091I will be timing with my phone. Once the time is up, I will let you know that your time is up. Please be reminded that comments about individual students or employees are not appropriate and cannot be raised in public session. Such matters should be presented to the Office of the Superintendent. For appropriate consideration. And this is a public hearing, not a meeting for the public. So, therefore, please be respectful. And the first speaker this evening is Robert Halleck. Good evening. Thank you guys for your time. I'm going to start by I guess you guys had amended board policy 1230 regarding the masks at the board meeting. I guess that was one of the things that was in the board meeting. I guess that was one of the things that you guys had changed. About an
092hour before the meeting, I saw that we're supposed to be wearing masks in here because that's the board's policy. And I'm going to guess that that's what transpired. And one of those fast things. I wish we could get a copy of this. But, you know, transparency issues. All right. So the masks were off in the school. I'd first like to thank Massapequa, not our governor, because Massapequa sued the governor and they won that case. And then at the last minute the governor had dropped the mandate to save face. So applause to Massapequa School District for stepping up. I'd also like to applaud this board for reaching out to the state in an attempt to remove the masks. Oh, wait. That didn't happen. We had nine months of un-televised board meetings. So I'm going to assume
093that this board meeting is being televised. There's no signs posted. So I don't know. I saw that the February 9th one was televised. But likewise, there was still no postings, which there are supposed to be, that it is being televised. So just to fill anyone in who's listening, the last nine months we've had countless parents coming up here trying to get parental choice for the masks. This board has really done nothing, unfortunately. But I guess we're past that. So moving forward, I'd like to see this board take the next step. Our teachers do a wonderful job in this school district. Our parents would love to be able to come in and see them doing that. Maybe we can open up the schools for the parents a little bit, have a special parent-teacher conference night instead
094of something that was done virtually early around the year. Maybe we do one for the spring, you know, Father-daughter dances, something, so that we can get parents involved and get to see the school. I'd like to know when all the committee meetings are. I'd love to see that on our website. I know you guys keep going and saying, you know, what transpired with the last meetings. When the new ones are supposed to be. It would be nice if everything was comprehensive on the website so that you guys could actually see what there is, which committees there are, and when they are so that more people can attend them. It would be more transparent. I'd like to question what happened with the masks on March 2nd. There was lists going around of who had masks on
095and who didn't. I got a phone call from the district stating that my kids didn't have to wear a mask. And now there's no masks. I'm just asking, why is my kid being put on a list that they don't have a mask? Some kids are in a mask. Did that come from the DOH? What happened with that? There's an overwhelming curtain of secrecy, as some people have said, and a lack of transparency on this board. We just hope that maybe you guys could be a little more forthcoming with some information and let us know what's going on. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Second speaker is Jeff Keats. Thank you. Jeff Keats. Jeff Keats. Yeah, hello. Good evening. So to follow board policy, I won't reference any specific individuals, but a little
096bit about my personal story. I'm the father of a child in Newfield, and they are recovering from addiction, specifically to THC and marijuana. At one point they were hospitalized. And then later we had to put them into a residential treatment for eight months. They were in this rehab, and then they recently returned to this school. And everybody's been very supportive about making that transition happen as smoothly as possible. But there are lots of triggers at school, and unfortunately there's lots of drugs at school. So I know I'm not the only. We're not the only family that's facing this as an issue. Some people might think that weed is no big deal, but it is an addictive substance. And like any other, a user will go to any means necessary to get at it. That would
097be lying, stealing, or even providing sexual favors. So some people can say no, and some people have a hard time saying no. And for those people who can't, they need a substance-free environment. And I think the school campus should be a substance-free environment. I think we say that, but in reality it's not there. We can't let drugs run rampant on campus, so what can we do? I know, so like you should know that the vapes that the kids have access to now, they're very potent, and they can be odorless, and they can just carry them small, you know, in their pockets or in bags. They can share it in the bathrooms or even in classes like gym class. And, you know, I know that marijuana is legal in some situations, but definitely not when we're
098on a school campus or we're talking about a minor or we're in a vehicle. So, you know, I'm asking, what can we do? What are we doing? Whatever we're doing. I don't think we're doing enough. I know that they're still happening. There's still a problem. We do have an SRO on campus. I think that's probably a good idea. I don't know if we could use more police presence. I think there's probably more police availability, but I'm not sure that's the best solution, but it might help deter the problem. I know prevention has what I would say is two arms to it. One is preventing by helping people not want the thing, but they also have to keep the thing away. So it's the two parts. And I know it's hard. There's things we can't do.
099We can't have monitors in bathrooms. We can't have cameras in bathrooms. We can't let dogs sniff the kids. But we got to do better. And maybe we can have sensors. Maybe we can do something at the vestibule. I just think we need to step it up. I think we really should have a zero tolerance on campuses. And I will keep pushing on this issue. Until I see some progress. Thanks for your time. Thank you. Is that it? I need a motion to adjourn. All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Have a great night.