001So, in the secret school district, the instructional materials that are selected with state mandated curriculum. So earlier in September, when this video was shown in our middle school, it was on the topic of gender and that's not one of the state mandated required topics. So therefore, since it's not required by New York State, it's not in our curriculum that we take. approved so the district's administration will be conducting a comprehensive crosswalk and review of the district's health curriculum to ensure that all mandated topics are covered and are scoped and sequenced. the last several weeks. We had wonderful back to school nights in all of our buildings, in our two elementary, middle, and high. In addition to that, last week I thought we had a really fantastic ribbon cutting ceremony for the multi-purpose field. It was
002a real feel good celebration. Obviously our students were there, our student athletes were there, the pep band was there, Land Tech was there, Knights of Columbus, Kiwanis. I'm trying to think. I think almost everybody was there from the community. Lions Club members were there. And when you take a look at the number of teachers and coaches and you just looked out into the crowd, it really was an incredible celebration of the work that we've been able to accomplish here and the wonderful facilities that we'll have for the children. I just want to remind everybody there are two things that still have to be added to the field. We're still receiving the bleachers and then also the dugouts. And then hopefully within the next month or two, we'll be able to start to break ground on
003the comfort station that's going to house the outdoor bathrooms and the snack shack for the booster pump. I do want to say, I really want to thank Rich Cunningham for the work that he's done in the district over the last several months. Although he's not going to be serving that much longer as our interim superintendent for business operations, his vast knowledge and real financial acuity has really been an asset to the district. We look forward to continuing to work with him. So he's going to stay on, as you'll see, in the things that are the contracts that are going to be approved tonight. as a consultant for us so we can continue to work on some of our major financial projects with us. So thank you, Rich, and we really do appreciate all the work
004that you've done. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks to the opportunity to serve, Steve. Thank you very much. So with that, on the board agenda tonight, as you know in exec session, you conducted interviews for the assistant superintendent position for business and operations. I'm really pleased to announce that our new assistant superintendent for business and operations will be Andrew Casale. So Andrew, if you can kind of just stand up and wave to everybody. So as is customary, first of all, Andrew's here with his wife, Maria, who's not Luke. So they're here too. So Andrew was in his third year as a business official at Mineola. He's had his entire administrative career at Mineola. He was an assistant principal, a principal, and then was tapped to be the assistant superintendent for business and operations. He
005has his BA in math from St. Joseph's, MA from Stony Brook, and he has gotten some of his coursework for his SDVL from Hofstra and his SDL from... the College of St. Rose. So we're really excited about your joining our team. So congratulations, welcome, and you'll be wearing a lot of green. I can't talk about it. Maria combined a lot of green. Okay, and you know, one of the other things that... We do that's that's super special is we recognize tenure very publicly before meeting so tonight on for tenure So I just wanted to read a couple of things from her tenure report and then I'm going to ask for the building administration to come up with an even nicer things than probably what I'm going to read. So, you know, I did want to
006say one of the things that was striking to me that Ms. Basilco, who in her first year as principal there, had made such really... observing comments about Samantha. So she said, Ms. Mahan is an amazing addition to the Seaford Harbor family. She's a consummate professional and leads with heart. She's often observed in positive interactions with students and speaks to them with kindness and respect. In my short time here at the Harbor, I've had the pleasure to visit her classroom many times and her lessons are creative and engaging. So, Ms. Stringer, who has been there longer, had written that Ms. Mahan's work ethic is outstanding. Ms. Mahan takes on each day with a smile on her face and compassion in her heart. The students in Ms. Mahan's class are always a priority and her number one
007concern. Ms. Mahan can be seen playing outside during recess with the students, eating with the students, and reading to them in the courtyard. Ms. Mahan's knowledge of curriculum is exemplary. Ms. Mahan creates a classroom that is warm and welcoming. Students are challenged on a daily basis and expected to be their best selves in her class. And then our Dr. Jacob over here wrote Ms. Mahan delivers high quality instruction. Her lessons are engaging and her teaching methods lead to positive student outcomes. I had the good fortune of observing Samantha as well. What I found is that she's a very effective general education elementary teacher who displays strong classroom management skills and elicits sophisticated student dialogue in her classroom. Her learning environment is warm and welcoming. Students are very comfortable contributing to class discussions and it's without
008reservation that I recommend her for tenure. So now I would like the building administrators to come on up to the podium. Good evening everyone. Oh that feels very loud. So Ms. Van Hand, so thank you for sharing those words Dr. Bavora and they're all very true but something that really stands out about Samantha is you'd be hard-pressed to find her without a smile on her face if you all turn right now. Literally all day smiling. It doesn't matter what it is if there's something going on or there's stress that happens she's smiling and so that's something that always stands out but There is a small story I'd like to share from this year. So one of the greatest joys in the building is that we get to be in so many classrooms throughout the day.
009And one day I walked in and Ms. Mahan was doing a lesson on personal narrative, which was sharing an anecdote with the students. And typically when I walk in the room or Ms. Stringer walks in the room, the kids all turn their back and they want to wave. one face turned towards the door. They were riveted to the screen and she was sharing a story from her childhood. And the conversation that they were having and the way that she was storytelling to the class really just captured that moment. And they were hooked in, but they were hooked into who she was as a child, who she is as a person. And it was just a really beautiful moment of sharing that happened in that room. And I'm excited to see what they wrote, being inspired
010by what you wrote. And we are so happy that you are a permanent... at the harbor and that smile every day just lights up the room and I know he's shy but Mr. Burke is here to support her as well and has only shared very nice things. So Ms. Stringer if you will. So Samantha. So some of you might not know this but Samantha in sixth grade was exemplary student. She was kind, she was honest. Mrs. Michike, you can't cry at this. She was one of the most caring kids that I have ever met. You know sometimes in life you say You know that kid's going somewhere. That was Samantha in sixth grade. She was going somewhere and she wound up here at the harbor. It is just a joy and I had the pleasure
011of knowing Samantha since she was in sixth grade because I was her assistant principal. And Samantha had a wonderful reputation carried on throughout the community, knew her and her family. She instilled values into other students that were just unbelievable. And I have to say, Samantha, we are so glad that you are here at the Harbor. But something that you said the other day to me on back to school night, you said, Carolyn. I finally found my home and that is so true and we are so proud to have you at the Harvard home. Congratulations. Okay, so we're just going to ask you to stay up here because you know our new tradition is when you get tenure you get your green crystal apple. So we're going to ask Mr. Burke to come up and he
012can present her with her green crystal apple. If you want you can take a picture with your students. We'll take a picture over here, okay? We had a trip scheduled to the 9-11 Museum over at the high school and we were looking at the bus company that was going to be transporting them and it happened to be the bus company that was used by Farmingdale last week. So we decided to make a change and we decided that the students would be going by a public transportation, a one-on-one railroad as opposed to by a charter bus. And we took a look at our procedures and The ratings that are available with regards to when we transport our students by private companies So again, mr. Cunningham did a really nice job putting together some summative information about
013this It's beginning of some next steps that we're going to be taking with regards to when we do contract with bus companies how we direct our Administrators and our advisors and so forth as to the vendors that we would like to choose So I'm going to turn it over to mr. Cunningham This information to the board. I didn't realize. All part of what we're looking at in terms of tools that are available to us. Utilize every means possible to ensure that we. So the Department of Transportation does have something called a bus net system. What you're hearing about when you're reading articles in the news about the Farmingdale issue in New York State, whether it's a school bus or a coach bus, is inspected by the Department of Transportation every six months. so twice a
014year. In addition to actually investigating or inspecting the vehicle, it's similar to an inspection that you'd have on your own car. It's a bit more in-depth. It's done by a team of mechanics. The team also reviews required maintenance records, looks at preventative maintenance program of the company. and actually looks to see if they're following the preventative maintenance program and also looks at the driver inspection reports. So the drivers are required to do a walkabout of the bus before it leaves the yard or the location it arrives at before it begins its return trip and they're supposed to keep inspection reports on that. The information from each inspection is entered into the Department of Transportation Bus and Safety Information Network or the BusNet computer system. And we have access to that information. The BusNet system will
015record the number of inspections. So, for example, if a bus company has 12 buses, you would expect to see that the company underwent 24 inspections for that year since there are two for each vehicle a year. The number of inspections passed, the number of inspections that resulted out of service. And that can happen for two reasons. One, the vehicle fails the inspection or the the vendor actually has the bus out of service at the scheduled time of the inspection. Perhaps there is something that came up in a trip the day before where they wouldn't put it on the road for whatever reason. So whether the bus failed the inspection or was pulled out of service by the vendor, it's reported as out of service. It records the average defects per inspection, etc. So we can
016look online to find out what those ratings are for each vendor. And we've implemented a guideline that guides the district to contract with vendors with bus step scores that are at least a 90. That number isn't arbitrary. It is aligned with the New York State Department of Transportation designation of preferred operators with an out-of-service rate of less than 10%. And on the slide you can see the vendors that we currently contract with. Our yellow school buses, our educational bus, first student, Nassau Boces and Leigh Transport. And coach buses are Hampton Jitney and you would see the company as Coachman if you saw a bus on the road, but the actual company name is called Bus Around Town. And you can see their bus net score all above 90 and the number of vehicles that they
017have employed in their service. So with that, are there any questions from the board? No, thank you very much. It's such an important thing that now we know a lot more about. So that concludes the administrative report. So Ms. Herbert, you'll be presenting the Board of Education goals now, right? Yes, but before we do that, I realized that while I said we were going to stand for a moment of silence, we neglected to do so. So if you wouldn't mind, please join me in a moment of silence for the tragedy in Calcutta. So every year, the Board of Ed reviews and revises our Board of Education goals for the new school year. These Board of Education goals inform the superintendent's goals and they set our policies for the school year and the vision that we
018have for the district. So Board of Education goal number one is teaching and learning. Provide an innovative learning environment that promotes and supports the academic growth of students so that they may reach their full potential while becoming positive contributors to society. Goal number two. Create a safe, secure, and nurturing environment that supports the physical, social, and emotional needs of our students. Goal number three. is financial. Create a fiscally responsible and operationally efficient budget that maintains and enhances the integrity of all programs. Goal number four is regarding communication. Maintain and enhance communication systems that ensure the open flow and accessibility of information with all stakeholders. And goal number five is operations and facilities. Create a modern and competitive campus to enhance opportunities and growth for all Seaford students. And it's fitting that we did these goals
019today because... As Dr. Kapoor said, we had the ribbon cutting at the multipurpose field at the end of last week. If you haven't seen that field, I encourage you to go look at it. It really is beautiful and it was such a labor of love and hard work by so many different people involved. And we are always mindful of ways in which we can improve our campus. And so I want to thank everybody for the hard work in that endeavor. Something new on our campuses as well, some people have noticed that we have the huddle cameras on our school field. And so now our athletes are able to watch their reels, prepare their reels for colleges. It pulls up their stats and their scores and even provides a way for grandparents who are far away
020to watch their grandkids play sports. So it's a great thing and I'm glad we're able to. move the needle for the district in that way. Okay, so we're going to move on to some business items. I need a motion for agenda item five, one, and two. Move it. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. And I need a motion for... Agenda item 5-3, which is the Instructional Personnel Action Report number 2. Move it. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. I need a motion for agenda item 6-1. Move it. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Okay, and now this is our Residents' Comments section. Any residents who would like to come to the mic and speak? In keeping with its philosophy of open communication and informed decision making, the Board of Education welcomes input
021from the community. However, it is important to note that while the BOE meets in public, it is not a meeting of the public. Respectful input and behavior by each member of the community is appropriate and expected at all times and should observe the following rules at BOE meetings. The BOE will listen to comments and input from the public. Debate between members of the audience and or board members is inappropriate and will not be permitted. The board is not permitted to address personnel or individual student matters in public. No person shall present orally or discuss at any BOE meeting charges or complaints against individual employees directly or indirectly. The speaker shall identify themselves and confirm their residency as Seaford within the Seaford School District. The normal time limit allotted for individual speakers shall be three minutes.
022The BOE may, in its discretion, decrease or increase the time allotted for individual speakers to allow for public participation, a period not to exceed. 30 minutes shall be set aside as a specific agenda item during each regular and special BOE meeting. The period may be extended by a majority vote of the Board of Education. And with that mouthful, please state your name and confirm your identity. I'm Paul. I'm a Seaford resident. I have a question. The first thing you mentioned, you mentioned the gender thing. And you mentioned something about state mandates. I have no idea what the story is. Could you elaborate on that? Sure, in one of our classes at the middle school, a teacher had shown a video that focused on gender and gender identity. That is a topic in our health programs.
023We try to stick to what our state-mandated curriculum is. It's not a topic that is covered in our state-mandated curriculum. So it's something that we wouldn't be doing going forward. And in reviewing the materials, we just thought that it wasn't age-appropriate for the kids. So you said it wasn't state mandated? It was not state mandated. So how did it wind up being taught? Because it was in an elective class but we tried to, with some of our elective programs, we tried to stay true to what the intent is behind state mandated curriculum. So it was at the middle school we have courses called exploratories. So it was in one of those exploratory classes. So for stuff like that does the teacher that's teaching it do they present a lesson plan or their curriculum to the
024school? They do. They write a proposal for what the course content is going to be and then typically the principal and the assistant principal would review the lesson plans. So would it be safe to say in that instance it was approved and then I guess maybe some parents had problems with it and then it became not approved? It's safe to say that the general topics of health were approved, but not that specificity with regards to what that video was specifically targeting. So nobody knew that was going to be taught prior? The administration was not aware that that particular video was going to be used. Is that something that would be presented to the parents ahead of time to avoid issues after the fact that it's taught? I mean that's a very general statement. So what
025I will say is depending upon what the course is and depending on what the content is, let's pick something completely different. If you're teaching the Holocaust and somebody wants to show Schindler's List, which is an R-rated film, typically we'll get parental permission for the students. And this way you know whether there are some sensitivities and why students may not want to view that particular. I guess to narrow it down, I would say for more... Things that we see in the news that are more controversial issues at the time that we know may become an issue for a good portion of parents. Is that something that maybe is smarter to run by the parents ahead of time just to avoid those issues? Well, I can't. something that's controversial. I mean there are controversial things that are
026covered in a mandated curriculum. However, this particular topic could be deemed controversial and it was not required and we really tried to stick to subjects within the realm of health that are required. So now I have children that are not in the middle school. When they get to middle school, those elective things, we have a choice? You have a choice. Okay. Okay, this particular course was chosen by students and students if they feel that this is an inappropriate course for them they can also talk to their guidance counselors. There are a lot of very, very different electives. And what was the exact course? What was the name of it? It was called Contemporary Issues in Health. Or Current Issues in Health. Okay, and who was the teacher? I'd rather not reveal exactly who the teacher
027was. I think it's relevant because as a parent, if I know a teacher that I disagree with the content being portrayed to my child, maybe I could try to steer my child away from that particular teacher and maybe go a different way to avoid issues. It's not the teacher. It's the course and the content, and the content has to be approved by the district. That's really what the protocol is. It has nothing to do with the teacher. It has everything to do with the content. So the content was approved prior to that? The content is now in a position where it has to be approved prior, yes. So that was not the case before? In this particular situation, it was not the case. Okay, thank you. Hi everyone. Thank you for allowing me to come
028up here and speak to you. My name is Dina Morazzo. I'm a Seaford resident. My daughter is in the eighth grade in the middle school. Unfortunately, she was one of the students that did watch the video. Understanding gender, identity, biology, and expression. This is, this is, we are building the plane while we are flying it. Gender is factual. You are either a boy or a girl. It is imaginary to see yourself as anything other is what I teach my daughter as a Catholic. That's our Catholic faith. Moving forward, and I just want to say thank you again for listening to me. Moving forward, I just would like to know my concerns on how the Seaford is handling the New York State Ed number nine guidelines. The ability to change genders and clothes in school and
029pronouns without a parent consent or a notification at the least. This, I do feel, divides our children from the ones who love and protect them. The gender neutral bathrooms. Who is monitoring them so that my daughter is safe and feels comfortable? Is there boys entering the bathroom? Why can't they use bathrooms during class or even in between? These girls have to take care of their monthly visitor and I have never heard of a teacher say no to go to the bathroom. In my eyes, this is child abuse and it's happening in every classroom. Furthermore, I would like to know how come they're not having a chance to change into shorts and sweat in gym class anymore. What happened to the lockers in the locker rooms? They have to play gym in their school clothes, sweat,
030and head back to class. I understand that there's a vaping issue going on in here, so that to me should be more important to be discussed in my daughter's health class that she did not choose to pick. She was put in it by the district. I would also like to know what rights do I have as to what is being taught in class on age-appropriate content. This video was a college-level video, and it was shown to as young as 10-year-olds. The video stated that boys and girls know that they are transgender as early as 1 years old. To me, that is bizarre. I see this as grooming, and I can't seem to grasp the fact that it was even discussed, especially since we have a huge bullying and vape issue in the school. Those types
031of lessons, as you are aware of, is what these Seifert children truly need. I am concerned that I wasn't able to see the full video, and only a trailer was provided. This type of controversial... This type of controversial topic should give the parents the option to opt out of the lesson moving forward. A teacher should never teach how to think of these issues rather than what to think. This wasn't the case here. I am all for debates. I'm a teacher myself for many, many years. So I would like to also know if this is also being discussed on the other side. I wonder when are we going to bring back common sense into our schools. The girls don't agree that a male swimmer was able to take a medal away from a young woman. Her
032dreams were ripped away. These girls might not play sports in your school district. So a debate or a discussion in class would have been more educational to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions. You should refer a transgender male as a she because that's what they want to be referred to as, is what was said in class to the children. How do you feel about referring them as a she may have been a better choice of words. Agreed? I hope you understand my feelings as I was driving to my daughter's religious services as we spent eight years dedicating our life to Jesus. The Catholic faith teaches us that God created man and woman, boy and girl. This is what our beliefs are. This is what I teach my children. I hope you understand my feelings and I
033just would like to know moving forward what rights do I have as a parent to know that my daughter is in school and not surrounded or being groomed or being brainwashed, looking at flags next to history in her history class or just feeling uncomfortable with the discussions or being told what to say. So that's what I would like to know. Also moving forward, the videos that are shown, I find it extremely disturbing that the principal had no idea of the video. The teacher was obviously... defending it and nobody in the district knew anything about it until it was presented to these children. The children did ask to go to the bathroom or asked to turn the video off and they were told that they needed to sit there and watch this. So what rights does
034my daughter have that if she doesn't want to watch something it makes her feel uncomfortable? She was raised very, very well. Mr. Burke, you know me very well. I am one of those mama bears. And again, I'm not up here to attack you. Actually, I have many, many years of working with children. I'm the owner of Long Island Voyagers Day Camp for 25 years. servicing seaford want to america belmore everywhere um so i i do understand uh what's important and what children do need to go to school and learn and to me this is not appropriate i'm heartbroken that i'm standing up here in front of the seaford school district because i was always the one to say not my school thank you to both of the residents for speaking i know it's not easy
035and not something that you wish to be doing tonight, but we do always appreciate parents when they come and they air their concerns and they speak to us. We're all parents of children in the district. Every board member here has a child in the school district. And we know that it's, 2023 is not an easy time to raise kids. It's difficult, it's hard. There's a lot of information, flow of information for good or for bad that you know, ends up right before our kids' eyes and we have very little control over it. But what I will tell you is that, I think you heard Dr. Pekora say, that in the health classes we're following the mandated curriculum. The mandated curriculum does not cover the topics of your concern. In addition, you mentioned the guidance, the
036New York State guidance documents that I know was released a couple of months ago. That is just as what it says. That is guidance. It is not a mandate. There's nothing in there that is required of any school district. I can't say what the future holds, but at this point, those are not mandates. And we, of course, appreciate your comments, and we always take them into consideration. Additionally, and this is something that we do teach in all of our schools and we always drive home, is that we want all of our students, all of our students to have a place of belonging, to feel safe and loved in school, to know that this is a place where they can call home at all times for all children of all age levels in every building. Bullying
037is an issue across the country for sure and with social media it's only gotten worse. And so, you know, we want all of our students and our parents to know that we take that very seriously. If your child has ever been a victim of bullying, we encourage you to reach out to the board and to administration because it is something that will be handled. Correct, we do not have any tolerance for that. And so I hope some of this has helped allay a little bit of your concern. having an eighth grader so his orientation feels like it was yesterday and um what they had said was it actually provides more time in pe class that the changing took a lot of time a lot of the kids were wearing shorts and t-shirts to school didn't
038want to change sometimes often ruckus and issues in the locker room that was full over into gym class disciplinary issues um silliness problems even things getting broken you know things like that happening When I went back to school recently, they actually addressed it again and said that the no changing has worked out extremely well. The kids love that they have more time in gym. They get started right away. They're always welcome to bring deodorant. They have tables outside that are monitored by cameras. If the children did want to leave a deodorant, leave any water, if they felt they needed to change a shirt, they're always welcome to go to the bathroom. changing provides like a good 15 minutes extra gym class by the time it's everyone to come out and then go back and change
039for class so that was that was what they had told me and and i get it at that age who wants to be changing i mean i know i did it but i'm not concerned about hygiene i mean my fifth grader is already you know experiencing that and i just I know in fifth grade they don't do that, but when you get to middle school, it's a lot different. And so are we not going to consider that maybe their hygiene is something we should be looking at? They should be for their own. As we're talking about bullying and now we're talking about spending in gym and not changing classes, is this something we can reevaluate and look at? Yes, sure. You did hear they did say that they provide time and an area for the
040children and to change if they wanted to. Yes, but I don't think students are going to say yes, I want to change. Okay, good. It's something that I can bring back to Mr. Witt, who as you know, he's the director of physical education and health and athletics. I will say sometimes students when they do have a change of clothes in their locker that's the same change of clothes that they have for a month and I don't know if that's so hygienic either. I don't disagree I'm sure that's the case. It just feels like we should be teaching I mean we just did the girls night and boys night we're teaching these things I know we can't enforce it but we I feel like it should be encouraged a little bit more. Thank you. One thing
041that just sparked concerning me is The lack of choice being given to the kids, again with the lockers, I understand maybe time, some kids might not want to change, why are they not being given the choice to change if they're uncomfortable with it? I mean, think about yourself in middle school, you're going to want to stand in a hallway and put your own or not in front of your peers. It is an issue, and with the fact of the video, why were children told that they're not allowed to leave the room and go to the restroom if they're uncomfortable? Why is autonomy being taken from children? They should be allowed to go to the bathroom and have the option to use locker rooms. In terms of disciplinary actions and ruckus in the locker room, that
042should be a case-by-case basis. I don't think it's appropriate to blanket take using a locker room with all children. It is strongly advised that you and your children remove themselves if they're uncomfortable. What's your name again? Yeah, it's Paul. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, your last name? Apparo. Apparo? Apparo, yeah. I just wanted to say, just for something going forward, you know, I guess as we go through these meetings, you know, as a public servant, if somebody has a problem, I'm mandated to provide my name, right? And as a supervisor, if someone on the street comes to me and they have a problem with one of my subordinates. I have to address that issue and if they want that person's name to address it whether it's a complaint or whatever they want to do, I have
043to do that for them. If I don't, it takes away their trust in me and the system. So when I ask for the teacher's name, it's not because I'm some lunatic psycho, it's because I'm concerned for my child. There's maybe other parents that are here or watching that may not know that their kid was taught that in class. So that might be relevant information to them. And I think just going forward when somebody has a question like that, I think it's good to be open and answer the question. Otherwise, it seems like, I get what you're doing. I know you're protecting one of your coworkers. And I do the same. But at the same time, you have to protect us and our rights and our children too. So I think that the answer, I'm not
044going to give you that, is creating distrust. at that point. If we're having a respectable conversation and nobody's out of line, I don't think it's wrong to provide a teacher's name. Your names are all here. Their names are, I think, on the doors, too. It's a valid question, especially going forward. I have three children. If one of my children has a bad experience with a teacher, I'm going to keep that in the back of my mind and when the next one comes I might request maybe my kid doesn't have that teacher because I didn't personally like that teacher. Maybe other people have a different experience. But I think to provide the name is a valid question for parents that are concerned going forward with their children's education. So I just wanted to throw that out
045there so future meetings maybe we could change that up because like I said it definitely creates a little distrust and feel like you're not really on our side when you give an answer like that. a forum to talk about any specific personnel. So that has customarily been our protocol and will continue to be a protocol. If you have some concerns about the curriculum, you are welcome to call. my office, Ms. Barney is the assistant superintendent for curriculum and assessment and you can also speak to Mr. Witt who supervises that department if it specifically has to do with the curriculum and something related to that. I will say the selection of one video does not mark who the person is and the quality of educator that the person is. We're going to move on with business.
046Can I just ask you? No, I'm sorry. We need to have order at this point. So my daughter is allowed to go to the bathroom anytime she wants to now moving forward? Is that what you're saying? Because this is very important to me as a parent that she can go to the bathroom if she has to change something that's very important. I would just encourage, I can't speak to the protocols of the middle school, but I think, is your daughter in? I'm sorry, your daughter's in the middle school, right? I would say that you should probably contact Mr. Smith and see if you can get some clarity there or raise your concerns there. I did. I did. I don't know the bathroom protocol in the middle school. They're not allowed to go to the bathroom
047all day. Okay. Every teacher says no. I would suggest that you have another conversation with Mr. Smith. I spoke to Mr. Smith. It is not a protocol to refuse children the right to go to the bathroom. That does not take place in the middle school. Thank you. Okay, we are going to now move on. Correspondence. All received correspondence has been responded to by the Board of Education or by administration. However, I will note that we have had some issues with our general Board of Education email. So if any members of the public have sent an email to the board that has not been responded to, I would ask that you send another email to our individual email addresses which can be found on the website while we work on correcting our group email address. And
048now I need a motion for agenda item 9 a 1 through 8 Any discussion? All in favor? Aye I need a motion to approve the contract for assistant superintendent of business and Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Announce official. Congratulations. I need a motion for agenda item 9B through... C2. Move it. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. And I need a motion for Agenda Item 9D1, which is to vote for Margaret Marchand as the Area 11 MISPA Director. Move it. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Okay, miscellaneous discussion items. I wanted to just make a note that Jimmy Shway has graciously offered to attend the NSBA convention in Buffalo on behalf of the board, which is the end of October. So thank you for doing that on our behalf, Jimmy. Any other discussion
049items? And I just, before we move on to the next. piece of business which is just closing comments. I wanted to give a special thank you to Mrs. Stringer for her donation of a stationary bike to be used at the high school for training. That was great. Thank you so much. It's a great donation. And Ms. Salinas' discussion items. I'm gonna go first this time. So oftentimes at the end of these meetings, we often thank and acknowledge administrators and teachers for their hard work and for the new and exciting things they bring to the district and rightfully so. But as we get underway into the new school year, I just want to take a moment and acknowledge the parents of this district. We know that the often empty seats, although not tonight, at these meetings
050are in no way reflective of the legions of parents in this community who deeply care about our schools and the educational experiences of their kids. Whether you're actively involved in our district through the PTA or the Booster Club. or whether you focus your time on your child's personal academic experience, we thank you for your involvement. We deeply value the partnership between parents and school, and yet we are mindful and respectful of the distinction between the two. As a board, we acknowledge the trust you place in our district, and we thank you for entrusting us with your children. I also want to note that it has been... It's so heartwarming to see our schools and communities rally in support of Farmingdale. From the students and teachers and staff yesterday who wore green and white in Dale
051of Pride, to the fundraiser sponsored by the Seaford Symphony, SEPTA, the Booster Club, PTAs, PTSA. In moments of tragedy, without fail, this community comes together and the very best of the Seaford community shines forth. And in a final note, congratulations to Samantha Mahan on your tenure. Anybody else? Whomever. Hi everybody. Well, thank you for coming out tonight. It's nice to see the season build. It doesn't take much to remind me how fortunate we are to be sitting here and talking about locker rooms and border vet goals when a few districts away in Farmingdale, they're still dealing with this tragedy. So we really are quite fortunate. You know, I'm still very much a newbie in this seat, and I am continuously reminded of the significant amount of time, energy, and caring that is poured into our
052district from all channels, including the parents. I had some similar sentiments tonight. It really is incredible to be a part of this, so I'm grateful for that. And I hope everyone gets a chance to check out our new athletic fields that were unveiled last week, if you haven't already. I know it's something I'm very excited about, and it really feels like a sense of pride amongst the students to have this now available to them. I'm looking forward to the welcome back picnic at the Manor at the end of this week, and hopefully catching a game on those fields. coming weeks. I send my gratitude to Rich Cunningham and thank you for all the work that you've done. It's been my pleasure to work with you even though it's been a very short period of time.
053Andrew, welcome. You're joining Seaford at a very exciting time and I look forward to the budget season with you. I don't know many people who look forward to budget, so I will be your ally. And I'll end with a very special congratulations to Mrs. Mahan, May or what, I'm not sure, on her tenure. Teachers like that that make Seaford the district it is, where students are empowered and comfortable and developing a lasting love of learning. So, thank you. parents that came out here to talk. It's nice to see people come out here and voice how they feel and I think it's important to get that voice out. There's no reason to sit at home and be upset and just come out here and talk. We're here to listen. We're always going to try to do
054the right thing and it's always for the best interest of the kids. That's our main goal here. It's always been our goal. I want to congratulate everyone for that ribbon cutting ceremony. That field was amazing. The work that went into making that happen was, I mean, it sounded like a lot. I mean, I wasn't part of the approval process and making everything work, but I'm here to, you know, I'm here to enjoy that and watch my kid enjoy that for years to come. So I'm excited about that. Rich, we have not really had too much time together. Again, I'm also new here. But thank you for everything you've done. It's been amazing just in that short period of time. You've really done a lot, and it's been a pleasure. Welcome to Andrew. Congratulations. You have
055some pretty big shoes to fill, but it seems like you're going to fit in here really well. Congratulations to Ms. Mahan for her tenure. I'm glad she found her home here at CityFord. I think that's an amazing thing to hear. When we picked here to live here, it was one of those places where we were like, we'd like to find out on here. And I think that that's what this does, this community does. Seeing how we all got together for Farmingdale and seeing the support. everyone going green and really just showing our support for their families, the district. I mean, it's just unfortunate, but we're learning from that. We can see from Rich's presentation about buses and things like that. I mean, those are the things that happen. Just because something bad happens doesn't mean
056we can't learn from it. And I think that that's important. And that's what we're going to do. I mean, circumstances happen. You know, we may not all agree, but I think that if we listen and, you know, we may not get it right the first time, but if we try to get it right the next time, that's a lesson well learned. All right. So thank you. I'll be fast. The ribbon cutting was amazing. The fields are just absolutely beautiful and such a difference from when I was a kid here. So it's just beautiful to see the transformation and really building on making the campus accessible to all of the kids. Thank you to Rich. You're such a hard worker and you've brought so much to the table and really enlightened, I think, all of us.
057So I appreciate that. Welcome and congratulations to Andrew Casale. Am I saying it correctly? Okay, good. And congratulations to Ms. Mahan on your tenure. Thank you. Everyone said a mouthful. I would just like to again, Rich, so dynamic in a short time. We will miss you. Glad you're staying on for a little bit, and we're looking so forward to working with you. I'm an educator myself, ever-changing world, profession. Yes, so many of the things that were mentioned here tonight are so very important. Harassing, bullying, acceptance, social media, raising a young girl today's day and age, raising a young man, feeling accepted. It's definitely things that personally strike a chord with me as well, things that I think we all need to focus on a little bit more. and sometimes these other things get in the
058way. So I appreciate you bringing those things to the table. And that's it. Thank you so much. When we're talking about the support that this district provides both internally and externally, of course it's heart-wrenching when you learn about an accident that struck the Farmingdale neighboring community. But I do want to point out, I had texted the superintendent and said if you need some additional PPS workers, psychologists, social workers, we're here for you. Just let us know. At the exact same moment, Ms. Collado-Sun texted her counterpoint part over at Farmingdale about us assisting with resources. And we're hopeful that they will take us up on that offer. I think they will. And it's nice that we rally around each other. And with that, I think it's very symbolic that everybody came together. world booster clubs both
059for music and for athletics in addition to our SEPTA PTSAs and PTAs in this fundraising effort. So if anybody wants it, it's available on Instagram, beautiful shirts, really nice bracelets with a musical note on it. It's a G-class, very, very nice. So if anybody wants to contribute, please seek out that ad or you can just email me and I'll forward it to you. It opens up for the first time. And Rich is not getting off the hook that easily. He's going to keep working with us every month. So I just wanted to say congratulations to Samantha. I'm not sure if she's still here, but I had the opportunity to visit her classroom, and the love and engagement that she provides our children is amazing. She actually made math really fun. We learned about exponents that
060day. So she's worked hard, and I just... These have been great nights to recognize our teachers, especially hitting that milestone of receiving tenor. It's a big thing. So congratulations. Andrew, congratulations. Excited to work with you. Welcome to Seifert. and rich. I had a great opportunity to get to know you and work with you the last several months and we have a great working relationship and I really have to say that you taught me a lot in the world of the business and operations and I'm looking forward to continuing to work with you as we journey on this school year. And as always, our hearts and thoughts and prayers are with Farmedale. And, you know, it's always nice to see our community come together and support one another. And we're all affected and impacted. Farmedale is
061just our neighbor. And either we have colleagues or family or friends or kids playing on the same team, it's really important, especially this week and the coming weeks for them, that we continue to show support to our Farmedale neighbors. how amazing the ribbon cutting ceremony was too. I echo those sentiments and thank the team that planned such a wonderful afternoon. It was right before it started raining for about five days straight and the weather was just beautiful. And I'm grateful to serve in this community that's committed to providing the best cutting edge facilities. And along that line, I want to thank the board for their ambitious and attainable goals and I look forward to... continuing to work toward them in all of all of all the endeavors that we have as a team um congratulations
062to miss mahan i got to see her just today about a field trip and the compassion care and joy that she shows her students outside of the classroom when we're out and about in the community was evident everything that dr pakora and miss basilica and mr nr said was clear Rich, I'm so grateful to have learned from you every day that we get to work together. I'm grateful I'm going to continue to get to learn from you. And welcome, Andrew. We're so excited to have you on our team. Seaford is lucky to have you, and I think it's clear tonight that you've landed in a place that cares deeply about our community, our schools, belonging, kindness, and most of all, kids. Welcome. So for those people who don't know me, they're like, why is this
063guy leaving? I'm supposed to be retired. So thank you very much for allowing me to spend a portion of my life here in Seaford. Mr. Casale, congratulations. You're coming in at a real exciting time. This community is invested in schools. This community is always willing to get involved with schools and what's going on, whether it's the issues that were discussed today or their vision for the future. So congratulations to Linda, ended up in a great place. And thank you very much. I need a motion to adjourn the meeting. Please move it. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Thank you everyone for coming.