001So, in the midst of our second week back here at school, the student body is easing into the year and getting back into the groove. In my opinion, the academic year is beginning extremely smoothly and efficiently. On the first day of school, we had our unique opening day, so following our shortened periods, the student body attended various academic workshops. We met with our guidance counselors to go over valuable information for college applications, and also Mr. John Paul Gonzalez came back and he shared another motivational story of his. So that was a great way to get back into the school year. And as you all might know, tomorrow is 9-11 and C for example, 9-11 Memorial. So, this is an extremely precious and honorable night for all the C for community. So, all of us students
002are extremely grateful for the sacrifice of all the lives lost, and we're excited to carry on such a beautiful tradition here. And switching gears a bit in regards to the new cell phone policy, I believe that the transition among students has been very smooth, honestly. I think it was evident for there to be some opposition to this new law, but overall there has been very backlash and mostly... Some students, from what I've heard, in hallways and out of classrooms, some students have been vocalizing their frustrations with it, but it's important to add that the teachers and administrators that are being open-minded to student concerns and they're being very supportive throughout this whole process. And it's only been a week and a half at school so far, so everyone is still in that new transitional phase.
003So, I'm highly confident everyone will continue to make adjustments and to continue exemplifying these secret scholarly characteristics. So, that's everything for the student report, and I hope everyone has a great year ahead. Thank you. Great job, Matt. Couldn't have said it better myself. So, a couple of things. I do want to, before we get started with some of the other items, just to update the Board of Education, I would like to do a very special recognition. So, Carmen Ouellet, who has been our district clerk for 27-plus years, 28. Well, I'm looking at...you started in March, so I'm 27-plus, right? No. So, I just want to speak for a moment from the perspective of not only Carmen started as the district clerk for seven years at school all these years, she's seen more assistant superintendents than
004probably she wants to admit to. But with every approach, Carmen has the institutional knowledge that is just unmatched throughout the district. And besides for that, she is an incredibly loyal and incredibly hardworking individual. I'm taking all my words, but go on. Go ahead. So, we're losing her in part because in addition to being district clerk, she is also the administrative assistant for the assistant superintendent for business and operations. So, she's handled those two roles for quite a long time. And as she's retiring through both of those roles, I'm really excited that she's only partially leaving us because she's coming back as our district clerk. And I can speak for myself in that I'm so greatly relieved that you will still be a part of our team. And I'm sure Ms. Herbert will have words to
005say that echo the devotion that we have to you and for your support and loyalty to the school district for all these years. So, we do have a little gift for you. So, Lisa, one more shoe bar. Go over there and we'll give it to Ms. Hinchel. She really does have immense institutional knowledge of this place. She knows the good, the bad, she knows where the body's buried. She knows it all. And having somebody like that accessible to the board, where by the very nature of the board of education, these seats tend to rotate over short periods of time. And you need a steady, you need a constant, you need a true north. And that has always been you. And so, thank you for all that you do. And we're glad that we are going
006to retain a portion of you in this capacity. So, thanks for everything. I'm going to just stick with congratulating people that are leaving and staying with us. And then welcoming some new Vikings. So, Danielle or Bethy, it will be joining our team. She's on the board agenda. She's going to be our new special education teacher over at the harbor. She comes to us as a seasoned administrator. She's currently working in the New York City school system with 13 years experience there. And then she had a prior three years experience in the UPK pre-K world. She has her master's of science in child study from St. Joseph's College in Brooklyn. She has her master's of science in early childhood special education from Queens College. And we're really excited to welcome Danielle to the team. It definitely
007came across throughout the interview process for warm kindness and care for children. And I know that Ms. Bacelker is equally excited to welcome Danielle. So, congratulations. And then Dr. Jacob wanted to do a few introductions as well to our newest Vikings, or repurposed Vikings. Good evening. So, we'd like to introduce Mallory Rush. She'll be joining our senior high school account clerk position. Mallory's coming from Mecklen High School as a part-time clerk typist at the attendance office. And she has experience as a teacher assistant in the guidance department at Hicksville High School. And we welcome you. She was the successful candidate throughout the hiring process. And she's been working with our high school team for the transition. So, welcome Mallory. Okay, so I do want to take a couple of minutes to talk about Superintendent Conference
008Day. It was a very, very robust program this year. I do want to thank Dr. Jacob because she was the grand master of ceremonies for that day, for the two days. And one of the focal points of the work that we were doing this year, or the work that we continue to do this year, is focusing on mental health, well-being, general happiness across the board for our students, for our faculty, for our staff. It doesn't seem like this would be tied together, but it really is. Because when you take a look at safety and security, you have to take a look at the social-emotional learning program, which you also have to do in a worst-case scenario, things that could happen. So, it's a day where we can get all faculty and staff together, and we
009tackled a very, very tough subject of threat assessment training, which in the worst-case scenario, where there's a threat inside our school, how do we respond? And Dr. Costas Kostavakis came. He is actually leading or building our own threat assessment team. He's our consultant, our administrative team, we threw training last year, as did the members of our newly established threat assessment team. He mentioned that within Nassau County, we're one of 13 school districts that are doing this, and he was very, very proactive in making sure that he constantly reinforced what a wonderful thing it is. It's a very, very tough topic. It's somewhat of a dark topic to start the school year, but I think he pulled off a really nice job. He did a really nice job of making it not so corroding and to
010emphasize the importance of making sure that we're prepared for anything here in Seattle. Anything here in Siegfried, and most importantly, making sure that everybody's protected and stays safe. So I do want to say that we did welcome back all of our new Vikings with flair, as we always do, and that was really a huge piece of the work that Dr. Jacobs did that day, as well as coordinating the entire two days that was packed with professional development for our faculty and staff. And I do want to give a shout out to so many of the building administrators in the audience today. Thank you for your work on that. And then all of the curriculum leaders with Dr. Offerman-Solentano. It was really a tremendous effort by all parties to make sure that this was successful. And
011of course, it wouldn't have been successful without the eager and wonderfully devoted faculty and staff that we have. So overall, I thought it was a wonderful day, two days of learning, and I think everybody was really excited to be back. It was a really positive environment that we walked into. There was happiness in the air, which is fabulous. Similarly, the opening of schools went, I think, swimmily well. You walk into the schools, you're happy to be there, both adults and children. When I visited the buildings, there was just a very powerful feeling of just positivity in the air. And that being said, I echo what Matt Kind was saying with regards to the implementation of the required cell phone policies. And it seems to be going very nicely. It is an adjustment, but I think
012that overall the parents and the community has supported this initiative. And collectively, I think that we're working towards something that's healthier for children and it makes us compliant with what the regulation is as well. And then last but not least, as we're speaking about social-emotional learning, I just want to give a shout out to Mayor Catherine Colella's son, who sent out the school climate survey to all of our parents. I urge all parents to fill out that survey, because it does give us information about how students feel, their sense of belonging, some of the concerns that students may or may not have. And I think it's really important for every voice to be heard. So that survey was sent out, you can check, I believe it was sent out on August 27th. The return date
013is going to be September 19th. And there's still time. And I'm sure Ms. Colella's son will be sending out a reminder by answer, so you can also look for that. Any questions from business? Item 7A, 1 through 11. Discussion? Item 7B, 1 through 5 hour 2, fiscal year with a renewed sense of joy and energy. And we of course welcome our new spiking team. I'd like to remind people again about 11th ceremony. It is really an amazing night that's put on by the 9-11 committee. If anyone at home has not attended this in the past, it's beautifully moving, painfully moving actually. And it's something that really can't be described. You just have to come and experience it yourself. It is a greatly attended event even all these years later. And we really do it right
014here in Siegfried remembering those that were lost on that day. So I recommend and encourage you all to attend. I think that's it? Okay. And with that I need a motion to adjourn the meeting and return to open session. Did I do that right? I never do this right. Return to executive session, thank you. Any discussion? For the purpose of discussing collective bargaining agreements. Exciting topic. I need a second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Thank you everybody.