001good evening this is a regular scheduled board of education meeting the board of education was an executive session in accordance with open meeting law 105d discussions regarding proposed pending or current litigation direct energy use usage of facilities contract termination ck And with Tom Volz, in accordance with Open Meeting Law 105E, collective negotiations pursuant to Article 14 of the Civil Service Law, negotiations, monitors, MCTA, teaching assistance, and maintenance. And in accordance with Open Meeting Law 105F, specific personnel matters possible, Section 913s, and agenda review. I now invite Ms. Pilon, principal of North Coleman Road, to the podium and ask that to lead us in the pledge with our students. And I ask that you remain standing after the Pledge of Allegiance for a video of the Star-Spangled Banner performed by Matthew Giglio, senior, at Newfield High
002School. Joining me this evening is Janai Bostress. Unfortunately, we had three students who could not join us this evening, but I'd like to acknowledge them. Haley August, Isa Ali, and Arham Bagh. All four of these students were chosen to come up to represent North Coleman Road because of their character, their leadership in the classroom, and their ability to persevere. So I'd like to honor them as Students of the Month for North Coleman Road. While I'm up here, I'm going to just talk really briefly about our sensory hallway that we unveiled on Monday. I'm very excited to speak about it. Let's see if I do this right. There we go. This project was a year in the making with a very large group of people. There were teachers and staff members, custodial staffs, and you can
003even see buildings and grounds helping us to put it all together. Ready? Am I good? There we go. We know that learning is not just about what happens in the classroom. It's about a student's ability to focus, engage, and feel calm enough to absorb knowledge. This place is designed to be a safe, immediate tool for our students. This hallway represents a holistic approach that recognizes the deep connection between the physical, the emotional, and the academic success. With immense pride in our school community and gratitude for everyone who made this vision a reality, we are excited to have our students take a walk down Sensory Way or groove on down movement path as we call them at North Coleman Road Elementary School. Thank you. Thank you. And I will say, I'll just take a moment to
004say myself and a few other board members were there. You had so graciously invited us and it was really nice. And I know we had some. nice conversations everyone's excited and i know miss barisi has requested a bench for board members to go to for the waterfall um aspect it was very calming for a lot of us um and i know jokingly though but we did say even adults can benefit from that so thank you for everyone involved it was really it was a great thing to see a great use of space so thank you for our secondary student of the month if i could please have mr miranda to the podium good evening It's my absolute pleasure tonight to recognize our Selden Middle School December Student of the Month, Alejandro Linares-Figueroa. We are incredibly
005proud of him, not only for what he achieves, but for what he is every single day. Alejandro is someone who approaches school with an energy, kindness, and a genuine excitement for learning. He told me that he loves being in Ms. Weaver's class with Mr. Rodriguez and Ms. Hollywood. If you ask Alejandro, he'll tell you that math is his easiest subjects. He loves solving problems. Alejandro hopes to one day own his own laundromat. This isn't just a random idea. Alejandro truly loves the idea of being a small business owner. It's a passion that makes him unique and one we're excited to see him pursue. He also shared that his greatest inspiration are his parents. He said they are always there for him whenever he needs them. Outside the classroom, Alejandro is a well-rounded student. He loves
006to play Minecraft, he enjoys soccer and doing different crafts. He's a proud member of our Best Buddies Club, where bingo is one of his favorite activities. If you've ever seen him participate in phys ed, you know he absolutely shines. He enjoys fitness activities and always brings his best effort. His teachers have so many wonderful things to say about him. Mr. Harris, his PE teacher, shared, I have Alejandro, having Alejandro is such a joy in class. He leads by example and always gives his all regardless of what we are doing. I'm very happy Alejandro is getting recognized. Ms. Scott, his family and consumer science teacher, said, Alejandro is an excellent choice. He has been such a pleasure to watch grow, especially during his visits in the FACTS room while cooking and baking. Even outside the classroom,
007he's a positive influence. He always says hello with a smile and consistently is polite, kind, hardworking, and energetic. Ms. Weaver said, Alejandro is a kind, sweet, caring boy. He is a hard worker and takes on a leadership role in his class by helping out with his classmates. He enjoys school and is well-liked by his peers and teachers. He is always happy and smiling and giving 110%. He loves to do schoolwork and always finishes every assignment. even going back to making a correction when needed. He is a kind, thoughtful friend and celebrates his friends' achievements and special moments. He loves to participate in Best Buddies. He works as a server and a cashier in the Selden Sips coffee shop. Alejandro loves when he gets to present in front of his peers, to read aloud. He loves
008to participate when called upon, and he always raises his hand and is a star student. Ms. Subject stated, anyone who knows Alejandro knows that he meets every single day with a happy heart and a tremendous smile. He is the first to congratulate someone's accomplishments and offer friendship when it's needed. He works hard on every single task and shines and masters it. He embodies the heart of Selma Middle School. These words from his teachers make one thing very clear. Alejandro is not just a good student, he's a great person. He leads by example, he treats others with kindness, and shows a level of perseverance and joy that inspires everyone around him. Alejandro, we are so proud of you, and we're so proud to honor you tonight. Thank you for being a bright light in our school,
009a supportive friend, a student that always does the right things. Congratulations on being the December Student of the Month for Southern Middle School. You earned it, and we're here to celebrate you tonight. Lastly, when Alejandro and I met, he described one of his favorite things to do is go to McDonald's and get a Big Mac. So tonight, your next meal is on us. Congratulations. If I could now please have Ms. Vergasi to the podium. Good evening everyone. It is with great pride and enthusiasm that I introduce Alyssa Correa, an exceptional seventh grade student as Donwood Middle School Student of the Month. Alyssa is a shining example of what it means to be a dedicated, kind, and motivated learner and is a true pleasure to recognize her many accomplishments. Alyssa's math teacher, Ms. Samantha, describes her
010as a true standout in math class. She is hardworking, positive, and approaches every challenge with determination. She not only excels in her own problem solving, but she also supports her classmates and demonstrates consistent leadership and maturity. Her teachers speak of her kindness, focus, and strong leadership. Her band teacher, Mr. Senorelli, shared, Alyssa is a great band student. She is kind, attentive, respectful to her peers and teachers, and always an active participant in class. Her Spanish teacher, Ms. Fiano, offered a sentiment that captures Alyssa perfectly. She is mature beyond her years. That maturity is evident every day in the thoughtful way she approaches her work, her interactions with others, and the responsibilities she takes on with pride. Academically, Alyssa's achievements are remarkable. She earned an impressive quarter one GPA of 99.3, demonstrating both her intelligence and
011her unwavering commitment to excellence. Last year, she finished her sixth grade year with an outstanding overall average of 98.2, further highlighting her consistent dedication to high achievement and academic growth. She approaches her assignments with focus, curiosity, and an admirable sense of pride in her learning. Alyssa joined the middle country community in fourth grade after moving from Queens, where she attended Eugene Hour. Since then, she has truly made Donwood her home. She shared that her favorite part of being a Donwood student is getting to know her teachers and building meaningful relationships with them throughout the year. Her favorite subject is math because it comes naturally to her. And she has developed a strong interest, very interesting fact about her, in the structural design and engineering of buildings. She is genuinely intrigued by how buildings are supported,
012designed, and assembled, and she enjoys exploring the details that make each structure unique. Alyssa hopes to pursue a career in engineering one day. When asked who inspires her, Alyssa immediately mentioned her mother, whom she admires for her hard work, strength, and the love she gives to her and her siblings. Outside of school, Alyssa enjoys participating in the FACS club and spending time with her younger brothers, always striving to be a positive influence and a strong role model for them. Alyssa, thank you for your leadership, your kindness, and your unwavering dedication to being the best version of yourself. Congratulations on being Donwood Middle School Student of the Month. Congratulations. And now for our PTA PTSA report, if I could please have Ms. McCumber, PTA Council Delegate, and Ms. Lori Ann Flanagan, PTA Recording Secretary of North
013Coleman Road. Good evening, members of the Board of Education, administration, teachers, and members of our school community. Thank you for giving the North Coleman Road PTA the opportunity to share an update on the incredible start to our school year and a look at what's ahead. This year began with tremendous energy and participation. We kicked off the school year with our back to school bash on September 12th, which brought families together and set a positive tone for the months ahead. Our fall picture day ran smoothly thanks to the support of our staff and volunteers. The fall book fair was a wonderful success, giving students access to new books and supporting literacy across grade levels. Our trunk retreat event once again brought joy, creativity, and community spirit to the North Coleman Road parking lot. One of our
014biggest accomplishments this fall was our booster thon glow run which raised more than $21,000 for our school community. We are thrilled We are thrilled to share that these proceeds will be dedicated to new playground equipment field day enhancements and additional arts and education programs for all of our students We are incredibly grateful to our families staff and sponsors who made this possible for us Looking ahead, we have a full and exciting calendar of events coming up. This month, our students will have the opportunity to shop for loved ones at our holiday boutique, a favorite tradition for many. After the holidays, we will celebrate the diverse backgrounds of our families with Heritage Night, where students will share foods and traditions representing countries that hold special meaning to them. As we move into the spring, we look
015forward to some of our most beloved annual events. Our Sweetheart Dance in February, our school-wide PARP celebration, and our fourth Bingo Night fundraiser, as well as a pizza and paint night for our students. This spring also brings a very special milestone. North Coleman Road Elementary will celebrate its 60th anniversary during our annual Founders Day celebration. Students from each grade level will perform groovy routines inspired by our favorite 60s tunes, honoring six decades of tradition and community. We will close out the 2025-2026 school year with our final two book fairs, and of course, we will proudly celebrate our fifth graders with their fifth grade dance and moving up ceremony. Finally, all students will enjoy a spirited and memorable field day, a fitting end to a year filled with growth, achievement, and joy. On behalf of the
016North Coleman Road PTA, thank you for your continued partnership and support. Together, we are creating an enriching, vibrant, and memorable school experience for all of our students. Thank you, and we look forward to an outstanding remainder of our school year. Thank you and on behalf of the Board of Education we truly appreciate and thank all of our PTA volunteers and a shameless plug it is a fun night the founders night I remember the first time I went it was really cool all those skits you put on so if you can make a point to go there it is a good night so thank you and thank you for all you do thank you and now for our special presentation instructional overview for ELA if I could please have Dr. Siegel to the podium and I
017just wanna make sure this works, just testing that out. Good evening and thank you for this opportunity to share with you information regarding the ELA department and our literacy initiatives in pre-K through grade 12. Tonight, in addition to the New York State Education Department's latest literacy and graduation related updates, you will learn about our district's ELA priorities, goals, curriculum instruction, and assessments. We will also explain what support we are providing and what actions we are taking to achieve our goals. So let's begin with a quick overview of New York State Education Department's latest ELA initiatives. For years now, you have seen this timeline that captures our multi-year implementation of the New York State Next Generation ELA Standards and Assessments. This year marks the culmination of this transition with the administration of the new Next Generation
018ELA Standards-aligned Regents Exam scheduled for this June. As we expected, this new exam contains only minor revisions from the present assessment. To ensure that our students are set up for success, we have made corresponding adjustments to our district's curriculum, instruction, and internal assessments. In addition to the New York State Education Department's Next Generation ELA Standards Rollout, you might remember when we shared with you last year the New York State Education Department's Literacy Initiative that was launched to examine our state's literacy requirements. Through this initiative, New York State developed resources to ensure that teachers are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective instruction to all students. Instruction that is grounded in research, culturally responsive, and aligned with evidence-based practices recognized through the science of reading research. And most recently, you know from Dr.
019Cook and Ms. Pacifico's recent presentations, the New York State Education Department adopted its Portrait of a Graduate initiative that is designed to provide a unified vision of the essential skills and qualities New York students need to thrive in college career and in as engaged as citizens. So through this presentation, we will demonstrate how the ELA department has made its priority the incorporation of all these initiatives into our curriculum instruction, assessments, and support in order to promote our students' engagement and growth. So let's begin with a look into our elementary level ELA program. So while the New York State Education Department was busy addressing literacy instruction needs, we were also hard at work at examining our practices and making carefully researched changes. In fact, as the science of reading research was becoming more well known, we
020were already in the process of updating our curriculum instruction assessments and professional development. As a result, by the time the New York State Education Department launched its literacy initiative, we already had our Science of Reading-aligned program in place. Having said that, we are hard at work to achieve our overall goal of having all students achieve growth and grade-level literacy expectations. Specifically, we are striving for increases in our students' I-Ready proficiency and growth and increases in our students' participation and performance on the grades three through five New York State ELA assessments. We are also supporting teachers to enhance their use of these student-driven research-based instructional practices. So with our use of the HMH inter-reading modules that include structured literacy lessons, our elementary curriculum is aligned with the New York State Next Generation ELA standards, science of
021reading practices, and it provides a strong foundation for the development of our students' portrait of a graduate characteristics. Pictured here, you see the New York State Education Department's reminder that elementary curriculum should be evidence-based, culturally responsive, supportive of all learners, coupled with skills-based assessments, and teacher-friendly. We conducted a thorough review and found that our HMH literacy curriculum meets all these demands. If the image of Scarborough's reading rope at the bottom of the slide looks familiar, it's because Ms. Pacifico shared it with you a few weeks ago during her world studies presentation to illustrate the research-based components that are required for students to become skilled readers. We included this image here because our HMH curriculum intertwines all of these essential reading development strands. Also worth noting, Our shared use of the Scarborough's Reading Rope is one
022small example of how our departments are working together to build comprehensive educational experiences that are integrated, or should I say interwoven, to help strengthen our students' overall academic experience. It's been a long day. I won't tie you up with this extended lengthened metaphor. Thank you. Yeah. So. Moving on. Having a strong standards and science of reading-aligned curriculum enables us to provide effective, engaging instruction to our elementary students. When the New York State Education Department released its Pre-K through Grade 3 Literacy Instructional Best Practices Guide and asked districts to review the document to confirm if those practices were, in fact, being utilized, we conducted a close analysis and found that these best practices were fully aligned with our literacy program. To help ensure that all of our elementary teachers are aware of these best practices and
023how to incorporate them if they aren't already included in their lessons, the ELA committee created a middle country best practices guide aligning these research-based best practices with the available HMH inter-reading resources. Teachers also have various print and digital assessments through HMH into reading and through their i-Ready resource. Just like New York State demands, these assessments and related skills-based resources enable us to identify what our students need and then provide the targeted instruction necessary for each child's literacy growth. Through these resources, our teachers can easily measure the student's key literacy skills of phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, or oral language, and they can easily access the instructional resources necessary to address these students' needs. They can then use this information to set student goals and promote growth through individualized conferences or through small group instruction.
024What we're finding effective is the ongoing use of these assessments with, and this is key, our teachers' individual or small group conversations about this data with their students. To support our teachers with this work, we have three elementary ELA literacy coaches, our HMH professional developer, and our amazing ELA committee members who provide targeted ongoing guidance. Teachers also receive support through instructional AI tools available through HMH. and Gemini, which is an AI resource included in our district's Google Suite. We have also created an after-school AI collaborative group spearheaded by Ray Sabini, one of our fabulous elementary teachers. And through this group, the participating pre-K through grade 12 teachers have an opportunity to explore these available AI instructional resources and share how these tools are best utilized in their classrooms. In addition, we have created Google Classrooms
025to house helpful teacher resources and information. FOR STUDENTS WITH NEEDS THAT EXTEND BEYOND THE DIFFERENTIATION CLASSROOM TEACHERS PROVIDE, LITERACY SPECIALISTS AND THEIR TEACHING ASSISTANTS OFFER SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORT TO PROMOTE THEIR STUDENTS' LITERACY GROWTH. OUR CERTIFIED LITERACY SPECIALISTS RECEIVE INTENSE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ENJOY ACCESS TO HMH, I-READY, AND LETTERS RESOURCES SO THEY CAN EFFECTIVELY DETERMINE THEIR AIS STUDENTS' SPECIFIC READING NEEDS AND and know which research-based materials and strategies are best suited for each student. Students receiving AIS services are closely monitored to ensure that the interventions are effective in promoting their literacy growth and engagement. As we move forward with our changes in curriculum, instruction, and assessments, we are happy to see that our participation in our grades three through five New York State ELA assessments is increasing in most grade levels, as well as the percentages of
026students achieving levels three or four. However, as I said earlier, we are hard at work to achieve our overall goal of having all students achieve growth and meet grade level literacy expectations. And as part of this work, we are also focused on making learning fun and by celebrating our students' accomplishments. Which reminds me, our next Humanities Expo is going to be the evening of March 31st at Newfield High School. We hope that you'll all come to join the fun and help celebrate our young readers and writers. And now, we will see how we are aligning our middle school curriculum and instruction with the New York State standards and research-based best practices. As at the elementary level, we have already transitioned our middle school ELA curriculum instruction assessments and professional development to align with the various
027science of reading and New York State initiatives and expectations. However, we are well aware that we still have a lot of work to do and will not be satisfied until all students are achieving literacy growth and meeting grade level proficiency. Specifically, we are striving for increases in our students' iReady proficiency. and growth, our students' participation and performance on the grades six through eight New York State ELA assessments, and in classroom consistency with the use of student-driven, research-based instruction. Like at the elementary level, the middle school curriculum is strongly aligned with the next generation standards, science of reading research, and New York State portrait of a graduate goals. Our thematic and skills-based units of study are focused on promoting our students' literacy growth, engagement, and success in the future. Our access to the StudySync platform in
028particular has significantly helped us achieve the New York State curricular expectations and recommendations. Students are exposed to integrated units that include high-interest, diverse, and increasingly complex texts. Students are presented with challenging questions and prompts that promote critical thinking. Students have engaging opportunities to exercise their creativity. And the digital components help build our students' digital literacy. Our middle school ELA instruction aligns with the New York State science of reading best practices by emphasizing research-based lessons that involve the close reading of our globally minded texts, explicit vocabulary instruction, writing, and creative research projects. Additionally, the StudySync digital platform and collaborative routines, such as its peer review and StudySync videos, foster the development of critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. key attributes of the New York State portrait of a graduate. Through StudySync and iReady, students in need of
029additional support benefit from the dedicated skills-based lessons that help close gaps in foundational reading skills, vocabulary, and comprehension. Both the iReady and StudySync assessment tools provide our teachers with detailed reports of their students' progress, along with follow-up lessons and resources. As Mrs. Pacifico mentioned in her presentation a few weeks ago, we are finding that student vocabulary growth continues to be a need. So many teachers also utilize the Vocabulary.com digital resource that helps promote our students' long-term vocabulary development. To support students with additional needs, literacy specialists and teaching assistants supplement the classroom teachers' classroom interventions. the middle school teachers also receive ongoing professional development offered through study circles, department meetings, our ELA resources Google Classroom, and through our shared digital resource folders. Pictured here on the right are just some of the folders to which our
030middle school teachers have access. And as we move forward with our middle school curriculum instruction assessments and professional development efforts, we are happy to see that our grades six through eight New York State ELA assessment participation, it's increasing in most grade levels and also our percentages of students achieving levels three or four in most grade levels. However, as stated earlier and as you've seen through these previous slides, we are working hard to achieve our goal of having all students participate, demonstrate growth, and attain grade level proficiency. And last but not least, we will now discuss our high school ELA program. At the high school level, our focus is on the New York State Next Generation ELA Standards and the resources associated with the New York State's Literacy Initiative to develop our students' literacy skills and
031portrait of a graduate characteristics. Through these efforts, we are striving to achieve 100% proficiency and increases in our students' mastery levels on their high school assessments. Also, because we want to see our students challenging themselves by enrolling in their most rigorous courses, we are working to achieve increases in the number of students choosing our AP classes and succeeding on their exams. Finally, with the teachers' access to engaging research-based resources, we want to see that all high school ELA teachers are effectively utilizing these resources to engage all students and target our students' individual needs. This starts with the ELA curriculum. Like at the middle and elementary levels, our high school ELA curriculum is fully aligned with the Next Gen standards, science of reading research, and it's designed to promote our students' portrait of graduate characteristics. Shown
032here are some examples of the common lit units that are linked to various resources that promote text-based collaboration and critical thinking, are culturally responsive, and invite student creativity. Teachers also have access to various scaffolds that help them address the needs of our diverse learners. Here you see a list of our high school ELA courses. As you can see, we have revised the senior level core courses offered as options along with AP Literature and College English. These new courses are aligned with the New York State Next Generation Standards and Science of Reading Best Practices. Our ELA capstone-aligned electives are also fully aligned and provide students with the opportunity to engage in self-selected research experiences and demonstrations of their portrait of a graduate skills and knowledge. Our high school ELA instruction is also fully aligned with the
033Next Gen standards science of reading research and it's designed to promote our students' portrait of a graduate characteristics. Our high school teachers utilize the CommonLit platform that includes collaboration strategies, scaffolding and enrichment resources to support the diverse needs of our learners, as well as challenging questions and prompts that promote our students' critical thinking and writing skills. The digital components, along with our guidance regarding the effective and ethical use of AI, collectively serve to build our students' digital literacy skills. Here you see some images that reflect how our high school ELA instruction prepares students to demonstrate the portrait of a graduate characteristics. Central to our instruction are student-driven lessons and student-centered activities. Therefore, if you were to visit the high school ELA classrooms, you would likely see students collaboratively using a work of literature to create
034an innovative demonstration of their analysis. Or you might see students working as a team to conduct high stakes research based presentations. Or they might be in partnerships grappling with challenging text based questions. And here you see some of our high school ELA students applying their skills outside of their ELA classrooms for authentic audiences, like this impressive senior who uses her effective communication skills to conduct her high school's morning announcements, and these amazing middle country students who visited Albany last winter to advocate for our district and community. You might recall Ms. Pacifica mentioning this student lobbying trip in conjunction with the Social Studies Department's efforts to enhance our students' civic participation. However, because literacy is an essential component of effective advocacy, this is yet another example of how our departments work together to fully prepare and
035enrich our students. Thanks to your support, our high school teachers have access to many helpful research-based assessment resources. To ensure that our students can achieve mastery on our English regions, we use common reading assessments developed collaboratively as a department and through our Common Lit program. We administer and analyze these assessments at the beginning and then again in the middle of each year to determine our students' levels of growth. for our ap students the ap classroom continues to offer a variety of resources including practice assessments which are aligned with the corresponding ap exams to help our high school teachers with their work we provide ongoing support through professional development workshops offered during study circles and department meetings and we provide numerous resources through our high school ela resources google classroom and through our shared digital folders
036So now let's talk about our high school assessment data. On this slide, we have our performance on our administration of the English regions compared to the students' performance in Suffolk County and in New York State. And as you can see, while last year's New York State data is not yet available, we anticipate that our middle country students have again exceeded the New York State proficiency and mastery levels, just as they have again exceeded the Suffolk County levels. However, as stated earlier, we are striving to achieve 100% proficiency and increased mastery. To accomplish this, in addition to addressing the specific skills and concepts that have emerged through our data analysis as areas of need, like vocabulary and the ability to recognize and understand the writing decisions that authors make, we also found over the last two
037years an increasing number of students who experienced difficulty finishing the Regents exam within the three hours allowed. Therefore, we are incorporating more opportunities for students to complete Regents-aligned assessments in longer blocks. so they can improve their pacing skills. On this slide, we have our ELA region's results disaggregated by subgroup. As you can see, most of our subgroups outperformed their peers in the region. However, because we want to see all of our subgroups exceed the regional performance and demonstrate literacy growth, we are continuing to further enhance our effective use of data to differentiate our instruction and target our students' specific needs through individual conferences and small group skills-based instruction. We are also continuing to add culturally responsive classroom text selections to further expose our students to a diversity of topics, characters, and our authors so all
038of our students feel seen, heard, represented, and connected. When looking at our AP results from last May, you can see that the students in our three English AP courses outperformed New York State in mean score and in the percentage of students achieving a level three or above. To improve our students' performance this year, we closely analyzed the AP data to determine last year's specific performance strengths and areas in need of growth. The AP teachers then used this information to adjust their instruction accordingly. For example, in AP literature, One focus is on further honing the students' poetry analysis skills. In AP language, we are solidifying the students' ability to recognize the key components associated with an author's writing choices. And in AP seminar, we are reinforcing the students' close reading and argumentation skills. And we are
039also enhancing their readiness for their text-based research tasks by again holding our consortium with Sachem North High School students. who are an AP seminar in that school. We are also working as a department to boost the number of students taking all of our ELA AP courses by conducting informational presentations and theater classes and by explicitly encouraging students to challenge themselves. We sincerely appreciate this opportunity to share with you what the ELA department is doing to enable our graduates to begin their career or college experience with the knowledge, skills, and characteristics they need to be successful. Through our ELA department's commitment to the next generation standards, the science of reading research, and the New York State literacy and graduation initiatives, we are directly empowering and inspiring all students to become the creative problem solvers and responsible
040contributors necessary to achieve personal success in our diverse and dynamic world. Thank you, and thank you for your ongoing support. Thank you. Do any board members have any questions or comments? OK. Thank you very much, Dr. Siegel. Board commentary, Mr. Halleck, Mr. DiBenedetto, Ms. Mann-Rodriguez. So I just wanted to mention just a few of my favorite people in the room. I see Ms. Lees are back there, Ms. Morelli, Ms. Newberg, Mr. Taylor, Ms. Flanagan, Ms. McCumber, Ms. Keelan. Thank you for all that you do, and I can't wait to see the whole way tomorrow. I'm sorry I couldn't be there on Monday, but I was at work. But thank you for all that you do. Thank you for all that you do. That's all. Thank you. Ms. Haggerty? I think you forgot one person. She's
041standing behind us and clicking away at every meeting. I just wanted to acknowledge Melba tonight and the wonderful job she did raising funds for Best Buddies. Sort of the unspoken hero. Yeah, she's always in the shadows, but I think she needs to come out into the light. And again, it was a wonderful night. You worked so hard. Those baskets for all of you who were there, you know what I'm talking about, that she carefully wrapped. They were gorgeous. Can you come to my house and help me, please? I just thank you for everything you do. And again, Selden Middle School, what a beautiful building it has transformed into. So thank you to you, Mr. Miranda, to Building and Grounds, and everybody else who had a hand in really transforming that building. Thank you. Agreed. I
042think if you're in the neighborhood or find yourself in the neighborhood, drive past, not during school hours. I don't think Mr. Morenda would appreciate that. But it really does look great. So definitely check it out if you can. Thank you, Ms. Haggerty. Ms. Barisi? I, too, just want to say thank you. I had an experience Monday to go over to Selden. It is absolutely, absolutely beautiful. To take such pride for the kids and not only for the neighbors, for our neighborhood, our whole community, we should be shouting from the rooftops. And then after that, we went over to North Coleman for the sensory walk. I want to thank everybody for both things, for doing what they did. It is absolutely wonderful, and I'm looking forward to our bench. In fact, if you want to put
043some of the things in our boardroom, I'd appreciate it too. But thank you. It was really a pleasure. Like I said to the board before, too bad it wasn't announced on Channel 12 News and on Channel 2 and all over the place because the community should know the things that we do and how much we care about our kids and our community. So thank you, all of you. Thank you. Ms. Feldman? All I want to say is congratulations to all the award winners. Thank you. Mr. Peeney? We have our minutes from our regular meeting on November 12th, and we have our minutes from our special meeting for negotiations on November 19th. If there are no comments or edits, we'll accept the minutes as they are. Thank you. I need a motion to accept the consent
044agenda. Instruction, there are no items this evening. Pupil, personnel, services, questions, comments? Personnel instructional? Personnel classified? Finance? All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Superintendent report? No. Okay. So we have 25-12-25-12-SR-1, Section 11, Suffolk County Fencing Competition, waiver of fees policy 1500, use of facilities, no additional cost to the district. All those in favor? Motion carries. 25-12-2, memorandum of agreement, middle country maintenance unit. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. 25-12-SR-3, education law 913 examination. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. 25-12-SR-4, Education Law 913, Examination. All those in favor? Arlene, you in favor? Thank you. Opposed? Motion carries. 25-12-SR-5, Stipulation of Settlement and Release, Good Energy. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. There is no policy this evening. correspondence, I guess you all know what I'm going to say. Just please keep check
045your emails. RSVP if anything changes, let myself or Stephanie know and I thank you in advance for every event that you do or you are able to attend. Unfinished business. New business. Miss Parisi. I just read it on board that they were Regis is considering requiring personal finance instruction. And I know that we do something like this within our district, but if they're talking about budgeting and money management, credit and debit management, earning income, risk management, I just wanted to hand this to you, Roberta. I'm sure you saw it. Then maybe we can look at it and compare it to what we have so that we're ahead of the game when it finally becomes a mandate, which I think it's going to be, according to what I read. Committee reports? Mr. Benedito? Wow. We're going
046to work on it. Add some more vowels to that. The Middle Country Education Foundation met on November 18th, and during this committee meeting, we selected a day for a golf outing. So when you go outside and you're shivering, just think about the golf outing, which is selected for July 21st at the beautiful... My God, Willow Creek and Mount Sinai, more information to follow. We also wanted to let the staff know that there are grants available. This golfing is a fundraiser. This golf outing is a fundraiser that supports many wonderful projects throughout the district that really support education. So we encourage our teachers to go onto the website to look at the grants. Any grant that can support the educational experience of the classroom, of the students, is kind of the theme that we're looking for.
047Previously, we supported the robotics club, Lego and STEM programs, NISMA state competitions. So as long as the grant proposal is something that's going to support education, that's what we're looking forward to, Education Foundation. So please, our staff, go onto the website. We're looking to help. We want to help you enhance your classroom. So thank you. CHRISTIE WOODARD- Thank you, Mr. DiBenedetto. Anyone else for committee reports? Liaison committee reports? Follow-up board discussion? Public input? I'm going to respond from our last meeting. Thank you to the four educators who are also community residents and to the teachers and teaching assistants union president who spoke at our last meeting about the importance of respectful, genuine, and timely negotiations. We could not agree more with that message. These individuals repeated, it is what we have also been saying since
048spring of last school year. The speakers who are community residents spoke about their pride in middle country, about their support, and the support of so many of our residents for the schools and the work that is done to prepare our students, who are the heart of our district, to be successful learners. We have a great responsibility to keep programs whole for our students, to provide them with the resources they need to be successful. We also have a responsibility to our community to be mindful of economic challenges and circumstances that so many families are experiencing. Our community, as one speaker mentioned, is far from wealthy. The combined wealth ratio of our district is the eighth lowest in all of Suffolk County. More than 46% of our students qualify for governmental support. due to income levels. Their
049families are food and heat insecure. They worry about day-to-day survival. They worry about providing for their children. The majority of our families, if they do not work in the public sector, struggle to pay for health insurance and premiums will be rising. They worry about retirement. They worry about health care and retirement. It is important to be mindful and respectful of our community's ability to financially support public education. Our teachers, including the 14% or so who reside in our district, earn, on the average, $129,000 a year, not including any extra work outside of the day. The median teacher salary in our district, which means that half of our teachers earn that or more, is about $137,000, the seventh highest on Long Island. Unless teachers have declined health insurance because they are covered elsewhere, they receive an
050additional benefit. An individual health care plan is worth about $14,000, and a family plan is about worth $33,000 after their 19% contribution. If teachers declined health care this year, they received a payment of $3,500. As of now, when teachers retire when they are first eligible to do so, 100% of their health care is paid for by the district. An individual plan is approximately $17,000, and a family plan is approximately $40,000, an annual benefit. Very few districts offer that retirement benefit. The data shows that one income teacher household is financially healthier than the households of 46% of middle country students. Now, negotiations are difficult, but they need not be adversarial. In order to ensure a respectful, thoughtful process, all proposals need to be carefully researched, which takes time. We have given the union time to analyze.
051I'm sorry, analyze our proposals, which we worked on carefully. We offered them the same respectful consideration. Our calendar evidences the many hours put into the proposals, into researching the cost impact of the many proposals given to us and to the sessions. We continue to be committed to a genuine, respectful process that is respectful to our community and to our staff. Our students, who are the priority, deserve nothing less. Thank you. Public input for this evening, Ms. Larkin? There is none. Thank you. I need a motion to adjourn. All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you and good evening.