001All in favor? Aye. Aye. All right. Can we please rise for the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good evening, everyone. Um my apologies for the uh slight delay in start. We can uh move on to board announcements. Does anyone have anything to share? Uh I just wanted to say um I did attend the um the girls basketball teams um celebration here and then at town hall and it was really cool to see and really exciting [clears throat] for the girls and the athletics for the district. That's It's fun. It was a lot of fun. Yeah, it was great. It's amazing. Um in addition, I was also able to
002stop by the second grade career fair. Um the kids uh there was a lot of great presentations there. The kids were engaged. They were having a fun time. A lot of work went into that and um it was really nice to be able to stop by and see it. Um this also happened later in March, but I was able to see the fourth grade play over at Cottage Lane. Uh the American Revolution play and they also did a great job with that. So. Thank you. If I could just add one more. I did attend the career fair as well. They did try to get me to take the dog home. I tried very hard. I just wanted to let you know that, Ms. Lundahl. I want you to know we tried very hard at home,
003but it didn't work. No second dog in our house. Sorry. Not yet. But we're still working on it. All right. Excellent. All right. We can move on to superintendent's announcements. Good evening, everyone. Thanks for all being here tonight. So, both Jaywon Chae and Miriam George couldn't be here tonight. Our student board members, they're attending to other more important things related to their own education, but they send their regards. So, we have a pretty light agenda tonight. We have Mike De Vogel here from Palumbo Group who's going to do a presentation and give us an update on our construction and summer capital work. But first, I'll share some superintendent highlights beginning with what you already heard about, the Tappan Zee High School girls basketball team parade, which was hosted last week by the Town of Orangetown
004for the girls winning Tappan Zee High School's first ever girls varsity basketball New York State Championship title. We'd like to thank our Board of Education, the Town of Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny, Allison Carden, and the Town Board, the Orangetown Highway Department, the Orangetown Police Department, Orangeburg Volunteer Fire Department, and South Orangetown Ambulance Corps, and our school community for their support and participation in this special event. The event began in front of Tappan Zee High School, as Ms. Cora Bell just said, with with heartwarming speeches from Bill Pilla, our athletic director, and Coach Riley Chevrier, who shared how proud and grateful they are of the entire team and school community. We also held a school safety drill in collaboration with Orangetown Police, South Orangetown Ambulance, and South Orangetown staff to practice several scenarios at Cottage Lane
005Elementary School. We will continue to practice these types of drills rotating across all of our schools with various scenarios. Just want to give a shout-out and a thank you to John Galeno, our director of safety, who did a phenomenal job planning and executing the drills, to Katie Gravino for representing the Board of Education, to Chief Don Butterworth, Captain Mike Shannon, Detective Pete Marr, Officer Chris Connolly, School Resource Officers Terry Drain, and Luke Graney, Chuck Murphy, our head of security, members of the district-wide safety team, and the South Orangetown Central School District staff who attended. It goes a long way to have us all working together to keep our students safe. Tomorrow morning, South Orangetown's robotics team, SOBOTS 6911, is going to be heading to Houston, to Texas, for the 2026 FIRST Robotics World Championship. SOBOTS
006team members will join more than 1,000 student teams and 50,000 attendees from around the world, and that's happening April 29th to May 2nd. This is the fifth time in 9 years that SOBOTS has advanced to the world championships. Congratulations and good luck to team 6911. As you also heard, we had our second grade career fair at William O. Schaefer. That [snorts] was their fourth annual career fair organized by second grade teacher Jacqueline Ann Law. The event featured professionals in a variety of fields, including healthcare, arts and entertainment, law enforcement, sports, animal rescue, archaeology, and athletics. During the interactive sessions, students asked questions about their jobs and why they chose to work in that field. Thank you to all the guest speakers who volunteered their time to speak with our students. On April 17th and 18th,
007we had 54 South Orangetown student musicians from Cottage Lane Elementary School and South Orangetown Middle School perform in the annual Rockland County Music Educators Association All-County Music Festival, and that took place at Suffern High School. Selections were based on students' outstanding solo audition scores from last spring's New York State NYSSMA solo evaluation festival. Congratulations to everyone who participated. Congratulations to Tappan Zee High School and Rockland BOCES Career and Technical Education Center CTEC students Avelino Acosta and Dylan O'Flynn for placing in the New York State SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Championship in Syracuse last week. Quite an achievement. Avelino and Dylan were two of 12 students to place at the competition and they joined 73 Rockland BOCES CTEC students who attended overall. SkillsUSA is a great program and we're very happy to have two of our students
008uh achieve and and be recognized. Also, in student competitions, you heard at the last board meeting that Lucas Witek and Jaywon Chae are representing us at the national competition for DECA, our business club. They have just qualified as the top 20 out of 200 teams participating in the upcoming national competition in Atlanta, Georgia. We wish them luck and look forward to hearing how it went. I have an update from SOCES PTA. Laura Schwab couldn't be here tonight. She apologized, but asked me to share the following. SOCES PTA is hosting the Cottage Lane Spring Boutique during lunch periods, and that will be May 4th through 6th. Volunteers can sign up on the Cottage Lane website. They're selling Teacher Appreciation Week, the week of May 4th, so please go to the SOCES website to donate an item
009or sign up to volunteer. The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to William O. Schaefer. That's the week of May 11th and it will be open from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on May 14th during the art show and science night. Science night will include activities as a part of the grant that we were awarded from the New York State PTA to host the STEM science festival. The next SOCES meeting will be after science night and that's at 7:00 p.m. on May 14th at William O. Schaefer. I also now I want to talk about what I discussed at our last board meeting with regard to the electric bus mandate by the New York State Education Department. So, in conjunction with many other school districts in the Lower Hudson County uh Lower Hudson Valley, we are advocating for
010a study and reevaluation of the electric bus mandate from the New York State Department of Education. Tonight, the Board of Education will pass a resolution to support the petition of the Lower Hudson Education Coalition for an inform- informational proceeding to examine electric utility readiness to support school bus fleet electrification, and this is pursuant to education law 3638. The Lower Hudson Council uh is a coalition of school districts in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York State whose member districts, South Orangetown included, collectively serve tens of thousands of students and operate hundreds of school buses across Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Orange County. So, the letter of support will also be sent to the chair of the New York State Public Service Commission, um Honorable Rory Christian, in support of the petition signed by both myself
011and our board president, Steve Finn. So, we'll be sign- uh passing that resolution tonight and along with a lot of other Lower Hudson um school districts. And lastly, I just want to talk about some upcoming Board of Education presentations. We will have the public hearing on the 2026-2020 proposed budget presentation. That will take place on Tuesday, May 12th. We will also be doing a presentation on transportation and the work the transportation subcommittee has done. That will also take place on May 12th. And then on May 19th, we will have a presentation from our students from SOMS and Tappan Zee High School on financial literacy, which will also be the night of the budget vote and board election. So, this concludes my superintendent's report. Uh I just wanted to say I did attend the All-County Music
012Festival, and it was amazing to see you know, students from uh our school and neighboring districts, how well they were able to in in less than 2 days um conquer some challenging music uh and and really come together and put together a a wonderful festival. So, I I apologize for not saying that earlier, but uh it it was something to behold and I can't wait to possibly attend next year. All right. Do we have some public comments? Okay. All right. So, we'll move on to public commentary. At this time, I'll ask Caitlyn Davis to come to the podium. I just have to read for you. >> All right. I'm sorry. Befo- It's okay. Before you read, just let me read the protocol. You can come up. >> [snorts] >> Protocol for public commentary is as
013follows. All opinions are heard, everyone should be an active listener. Each person is responsible for his or her behavior. [clears throat] Respect diverse perspectives. Be conscious of your speaking time and tone. A limit of 3 minutes is an appropriate time frame to state your issue. Speakers may not give unused time to other speakers. Issues of specific personnel, either positive or negative, cannot be discussed at board meetings. References, comments, or discussion that does or may identify a specific student or students by name or situation will not be discussed publicly due to federal law. Issues pertaining to specific students should be addressed privately with the student's teacher, principal, or school counselor in accordance with policy 1400, public concerns, before bringing the issue to the superintendent's attention. The board reserves the right to close comments on an issue
014if residents become unruly or disrespectful, or if the topic is something that the board is legally unable to discuss in public. If an unusual number of people are attending to bring forth a specific issue, the number of speakers could be limited. Depending on the number of people wishing to speak during public commentary, the board reserves the right to reduce the time limit on each speaker until everyone is heard. The sole purpose of public commentary is for the board to actively listen to the community. Meeting protocol requires that questions presented to the board during public commentary will be responded to when possible. And at the board's discretion, questions requiring investigations will be referred to the superintendent and will be responded to in a timely fashion through future board meetings, electronic mail, mail, or telephonically, provided the
015contact information is supplied on the public commentary sign-up sheet. Okay, so I have Um good evening. My Hold on. My name is Kaylin Davis and I'm here tonight because I found out that I did not win the lottery for the BOCES Career and Technical Program. And I'd like to explain to you why I deserve your time and consideration for an override. Since 7th grade, I've known something very important about myself. I'm happiest when I'm working with my hands, building things, creating things, and that's when I feel most confident. Sitting at a desk all day has never been where I shine. And I've known for a long time that college isn't the path that I see myself for. I want a career in trades and I've been working towards that for years. Back in 7th grade,
016I started my own jewelry business and made pieces and sold them through Aunt Mia's cookie shop, and that's when I first realized I could actually make things for a living. That experience pushed me to start looking at BOCES seriously. And since then, every single year, I told my guidance counselors how much I wanted to be in the BOCES program. And I didn't just talk about it, I proved it. For the past three summers, I attended the BOCES summer camp and took almost every class they offered so I could figure out what I loved most. That's where I fell in love with carpentry. I took the carpentry class as many times as I could, and every time I built multiple projects in under a week. My teachers and even the principal encouraged me to apply to
017the high school program. They told me I had a real talent and even joked about who would get to have me in their class. Because of how much I loved it, I signed up for a cabinetry here at TZ this year. I worked hard, I did well, and my teacher here also encouraged me to apply to BOCES because he saw the same thing. That this is something I'm genuinely good at. When I went to BOCES open house recently, I honestly was just excited to show my mom the campus, but the second I walked in, the guy at the check-in desk was like, "Wait, are you Kaylin Davis?" And when I said yes, he told me that Mr. T, the carpentry teacher, was really hoping I would be here and he was waiting for me. When
018I got into the shop, he came right over, so excited to meet my mom and tell her about how much potential he thought I had and how excited he was that I was genuinely interested in the program. And it's not just BOCES in general, it's carpentry specifically. Out of all trades, it's the one I feel most confident in and the most drawn to. And yes, I know most students in carpentry are boys, but I don't really mind. Most of my friends applied for cosmetology and nursing and other programs that are typically drawn to more female students. I love that I'm the only girl and I know who wanted and I know I wanted to pursue carpentry. I see that as an opportunity to stand out and make a chance to make a difference and maybe
019even inspire other girls to try something they're interested in. Even if their friends aren't. Just thinking of myself as someone who might inspire other girls in the future has given me a real sense of purpose. In conclusion, I'm standing here tonight to ask you to invest in me because I'm a strong investment. I'm not unclear about what I want to do or trying to just do BOCES because it's trendy right now. I've already done my research, put in the work to build my skills, and demonstrate my commitment. All I'm asking tonight is a chance to keep moving forward. I hope you'll see the potential in me I've shown and give me the opportunity to please participate in this program and prove to you that I'm worthy investment. >> [applause] >> Kaylin, I'll just respond. Thank
020you for coming up. It's very courageous of you to come up and share all that with us. I know it's not easy. We are very well aware of the limitations with BOCES and we're working really hard to see that we can afford that opportunity for all students, but I definitely will be in touch. We'll follow up with you and thank you so much for coming and sharing that. Thank you. Appreciate it. Can we Can I What was it that you didn't win? It's the BOCES >> [clears throat] >> Can I ask how many BOCES seats we have? So, I think Rudy, we we allocated uh for 60. 60? Yeah. Approximately 60 seats. Yeah. We we we allocated for 60 seats. It's approximately like 56. There's 56? Uh no, there's it's a combination. There's um C-Tech
021and then CSP. The CSP tuition is higher, so depending on how many students go to one program, you know, you just balance out. >> between both programs? Am I getting that right? Yeah, and about two to three go to the CSP program and then the remainder are C-Tech seats. C-Tech seats. Yes. And do we have the same Um I was just going to ask how many seats we had last year. Um so, Melissa just Melissa just told me the enrollment. I believe she just told me before this meeting was 59, the actual. For this year alone or for last year? For for this year. I asked her to share that with me so I can forward it to you. >> students this year that actually ended up attending. Mhm. And then last year, didn't we
022allocate extra funds for students to go for >> think the first year I started, um there might have been a transfer after the fact. After budget. >> We we don't know how many students that was I'll pull all the data the data for you. >> And my recollection is and Dr. Harriet could add to this, but last year we added 12 seats. That was 2 years ago. 2 years ago, which are the kids that are sitting there now. Correct? >> that comes out to 59. >> got the 59 kids. How many Well, wait. Wait. Wait, I'm sorry. Wait, so that entails about I'm sorry. About 26 returning students and then the remainder are new juniors. Openings for new juniors. Why don't we get through public commentary and if we want to discuss this more, we
023absolutely can. Just because we have more people waiting for public commentary. At this time, we ask you all to open your comments. All right. Hi. I thought that there were 68 seats this year 60 kids ended up going. That's what happened. 59, something like that. Okay. And it's completely random, like it's just 200 apply, they randomly pick 59 students, right? There's students that went their junior year, they go back into it, right? >> Yeah. And then there's the other students that start their junior year. Okay, let's All right. So, uh my name is Shauna O'Flynn. I'm actually the parent of Dylan O'Flynn who you announced about the SkillsUSA, and I have a 10th grader who is hoping to um get into the program this year. They're both getting ready for Worlds for SkillsUSA tomorrow, so
024they're packing and we got a lot of great things going on in the O'Flynn house. So, I I want to start off by saying I'm really proud of our school district. I think we have an amazing program that offers so many AP courses, engineering programs that provide college credit for students, and a wide range of athletic programs from modified through varsity, and outstanding clubs available to all students. I guess again, what I don't understand is why the number of students we are allowing into the BOCES program is decreasing when the interest is only increasing. Uh in speaking with the school, I learned that 70 applied to participate in BOCES this year, and only 30 of them were selected through that lottery. Uh 2 years ago, I also came to this board meeting to talk to
025you about this, asking for you to increase the numbers, and I've been so grateful because the last 2 years we have seen the numbers going up, but it looks like we're going back down again. And uh you know, I I just I guess I just want a better understanding of the factors contributing to this decline and how the district plans to address it moving forward. Given that 70 students expressed interest, what I understand to be one of the highest levels of interest in recent years, could you explain why the number of available spots is being reduced? And if we saw the value in increasing the numbers over the last 2 years, then why the sudden drop? Um I want to thank you again for highlighting the SkillsUSA competition last weekend and the BOCES students that
026took part um in Syracuse. Thank you for recognizing the students who placed at the state level, including my son Dylan. It's always encouraging to see these accomplishments acknowledged and acknowledged as these programs showcase the diverse strengths and talents of our students. Not every child thrives in a traditional classroom setting. They don't all strive to take part in AP or college credit classes, and opportunity opportunities like BOCES and SkillsUSA give them that success that they are striving for. Before I leave, I want to read to you an excerpt from the NYSUT website. And for those of you who don't know what NYSUT is, it stands for the New York State United Teachers Union. Today's career and technical education programs aren't just the key to gainful employment for students. They're the opportunities to spark joy and instill
027confidence through authentic skill building. In New York, high school students who take CTE courses boast a 92% graduation rate, and 98% of them go on to pursue post-secondary education. According to recent labor analysis, the current wave of baby boomers retirements is expected to spur the largest labor shortage in US history, and BOCES are the solution for training the next generation of America's workers. And yet, BOCES programs across the state are still being forced to turn students away due to lack of funding. Success looks different for every student, and every student matters. I am respectfully asking that you not reduce the Tappan Zee High School's numbers and funding. You never know how this program can affect one student's life. If anything, we should be looking to increase for every kid, so every child has an opportunity.
028Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> So, just a a quick comment. Um this year's budget process was extremely challenging, and for those of you who've been here throughout the budgeting process, you know what I'm talking about. We had a a very large budget gap to close, but I want to be clear that we did not reduce the number of seats or the budget for BOCES. We wanted to just maintain the level of funding, um and maintain the the level of seats that we had this year. So, this year we have 59 students that attended. I believe there were around 80 that expressed interest. We are at the beginning stages of this right now. We are also hopeful that we're going to see some state aid in the governor's budget when it comes out. Should
029that happen, this would be the first priority for us to see that we can add money, but we are spending, I believe, about $880,000 on CTE BOCES seats. So, it is not just a financial limitation. BOCES also has limited capacity within their programs. So, we are definitely aware of the situation as we were 2 years ago and last year, and so far last year and this year, um we were able to meet that need. So, I'm cautiously optimistic that we're going to try. There has definitely been an increase in interest. We're aware of that, and that's just the challenges that we're faced with right now. But, thanks for coming up and sharing that. We're going to do our very best. At this time, Sorry. Go ahead. >> [clears throat] >> At this time, I ask
030Marissa and Jim Napolitano to come to the podium. Surprise, surprise, it's about BOCES. >> [laughter] >> Um I just wrote a brief statement for for my daughter, Emma. My name's Jim Napolitano. My daughter, Emma, goes to the school. School hasn't always come easily to Emma, and she's um had an IEP in place since grammar school, and it's been wonderful. It really it's helped her along so so much. Um She's worked hard. She's stayed very committed, and she finally found something that truly motivates her, um pursuing a career in cosmetology. Um she went to the BOCES open house. She came home. All she's talked about is is the bo- all BOCES, BOCES, BOCES. We're like, "All right, but you understand there's, you know, there's limitations here. You may not uh may not get in." Um And
031from our standpoint, you know, see your your our son's in in college right now, and he has no idea what like he's like, "I don't know what I want to do." But, to see your daughter who's been in an IEP for so long, and and she know she's driven. That's what she wants to do. We have basically have a nail salon in in her room right now. Um so, when she found out today that she didn't she didn't make the cut or make make the lottery, you know, she's very disappointed. She's at dance. She wanted to come here, but she has a dance competition this weekend. Um So, from from our standpoint, to see an opportunity to come down to a lottery rather than like effort and commitment, and it's just it's um it's disheartening.
032Um it's a little bit of emotional for us, too, because of how much she's been through. Um So, I think we we'd like for the board to reconsider maybe opening up some more seats for for a lot of these kids that I mean, to hear her with her carpentry and stuff like that, these kids that are driven, and they know what they want at their age with a incredibly like shrinking job market basically with AI and everything like that, and they have they have all this drive to and they know what they want to do at their age. I know I didn't know what I wanted to do when I wasn't going to college, so. Um I'm just asking that you reconsider that there be more seats open and everything, and um you know, think
033about what everybody here is saying, and and, you know, take it to heart, and there are there are kids out there who want to be in We should be like we should be removing barriers for kids like this instead of creating them, so. That's all. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> [applause] >> Shane Prendergast can come to the podium. All right. >> [cough] >> Hi, my name is Shane Prendergast, and I'm in Tappan Zee High School. School is not always been easy for me. I first learned about the BOCES CTE program in eighth grade. I learned that they offer programs such as plumbing and construction, which have always interested me. I've shared this with my guidance counselor since I arrived at TZ. The staff at the high school structured my classes
034and schedule so that when the time came, I would have taken the classes necessary to graduate and be able to attend BOCES. I was blindsided this week when I found out that I wasn't given the opportunity to apply to BOCES this year because of the lottery. How does the high school tell me How does it tell me they won't give me the opportunity to follow my dream when I haven't even got to see what BOCES is about? I think this is unfair, and I'd like the policy need to change. Every kid last year was given the chance to apply. This year was taken away with without the possibility of even getting in, without thinking about how many kids this will affect. Thank you, Shane. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Cara Prendergast, please come to
035the podium. Good evening. I'm here tonight to speak on the same topic, the decision that is both educationally unsound and deeply inequitable. Using a lottery to determine which students are allowed into the BOCES career and technical educational program, this is not neutral or harmless. It replaces professional judgment, student need, and demonstrated interest with pure chance. The research is clear and consistent. These programs are not optimal add-ons. They are among the most effective pathways for some of our most delicate students. In other words, these programs are exactly what students need to be successful, especially students who do not thrive in the traditional academic setting. And yet, instead of expanding access based on student need and readiness, the district is rationing opportunity by lottery. A lottery does not measure interest. It does not measure aptitude. It does
036not consider whether students' future depends on the access of hands-on applied learning. It simply excludes students at random from one of the most evidence-based workforce-aligned educational opportunities we are. This raises serious concern, not only about educational quality, but about equity, access, and compliance, the obligate to the obligation of meeting students' individual learning needs. BOCES programs exist to prepare students for real careers, to connect multiple learning with purpose, with pathways who for students who might otherwise disengage. Even New York educators have emphasized that these programs are essential to critical student learning and critical workforce shortages. So, I ask, how can we justify denying students to access to proven life-changing programs based on chance? I urge the board to immediately review and change this practice. The selection for BOCES programs must be based on a transparent, educationally
037sound student interest, readiness, and student criteria, and not a lottery. It is a system based on we live in a system based on endless data collection. I am a teacher myself. We analyze students constantly. We disregarded all that data, put names in a hat. How is this best for our children? Our children are not numbers. Their future should not be left to chance. I need a better understanding of why these decisions were made and the policies were changed. Thank you. >> [applause] >> At this time Emery Lynch can come to the podium. Hi, I don't have a speech prepared. Um my name [clears throat] is Emery Lynch. I have three sons. Uh class of '24, class of '25, and a sophomore. Two years ago, I was these parents. My son Brian was not doing well
038in Tappan Zee High School. Michael flourished in Tappan Zee High School. He took advantage of all of the opportunities. It wasn't the way Brian was designed to learn. But Dr. Arietta may remember Brian because he spent some time in the principal's office. In 11th grade, Brian had the opportunity to go to plumbing. It is where he came to life. He came home and told me about what he did in school. Showed me pictures. Mom, look. Look what we learned how to do today. He was never excited about school like that, even when he was little. The kid who swore as soon as he could be done with school, he would be done with school is at SUNY Delhi earning A's and B's. It's because of BOCES. My son Daniel was a 10th grader. He found
039out yesterday that he was waitlisted. I'm having a hard time explaining to him why he doesn't have the same opportunity that his brother had. Full disclosure, I am an instructional support teacher at BOCES. I have worked there for over 25 years. I know what a difference BOCES makes for kids who are not your traditional students. Living it with my own son was a level I did not expect. Our students deserve the opportunity to become them their best selves. And I understand that there are budgetary constraints, but these are people. And a lot of these people are frustrated sitting in High School because it is not their best learning environment. Please don't devalue the trades, and please don't devalue our kids. Thank you. Margaret Porter, please come to the podium. Hi everyone. Good Thank you for
040giving me the chance to speak. I too do not have a prepared speech, but yet some scribbles on a piece of paper. But I think everyone before me did an amazing job, and I agree with every single one of their points. And uh appreciate all of your listening. Um and strong consideration for the different types of students that come through. Um my story is similar to many of the folks sitting over there. Um my son was extremely disappointed to find out he was waitlisted for BOCES CTEC as well. Um I have an older daughter that graduated last year from Tappan Zee. And I was in this position a couple years ago as well. Um she was waitlisted to get into CTEC. And um I advocated, we advocated, and the school was amazing enough to somehow
041make it happen. And she is not a traditional learner. She too was on an IEP, had very difficult learning uh situation in the school. And she's a kinesthetic learner. She had to use her hands, similar to the the woman over there, and what Shane talked about. Um not every kid is the same. They will sit through the class. They will they will they will listen. They will do. Um but they need to learn differently, and the applied skills are so important. So I ask you please again to I'm appealing to consider accepting some more of these kids in these programs. It's imperative, especially with the workforce the way that it's going. And he repeatedly says to me, Kevin, I can't sit behind a desk and do what you do, Mom. I'll go nuts. And I
042I I get it. I understand. Um So I'm just I'm saddened tonight, and I I do appreciate you all listening, and please consider some of these students' needs. They really The ones that applied want this. They want this. Thank you so much. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Just a final comment just and reiterate some of what I've shared. We we hear you. We support BOCES career and technical education programs and have for many years. We've grown those seats from 30 to 60. Um we're going to do everything we can to accommodate students. We do have some budgetary constraints. We are hoping that we're going to get some good news from the New York State Education Department and the governor soon. And even irrespective of that, we're still working through our process, and we're going to
043try to figure it out. So we will be in touch with each of you that spoke tonight. Wait, wait, hold on, brother. I want to ask I want to ask you a couple questions. So is it a is it a one-way street where we only have a couple a certain amount of seats, let's call it what is it, 50? Because of our budget is setting it that way, or is that what BOCES, New York State, or Rockland County has told us we only get 50 seats? Yeah, well, you So it's a little bit of both. Um so we set a number of seats, you know, based on our budget, you know, based on the per pupil you know, cost uh that BOCES sets. And then during our budget process, we set how many students within
044our budget that we could um that we can send. And then BOCES also has a certain number of seats. So our district, like other districts in this time, did a lottery. And then those students will be submitted to BOCES. And then BOCES has certain number of seats in their different programs. And then they do a lottery at the end of May. And then at the at beginning of June is they then come back to the districts, and they say "These are the students that you gave us of the 30 or 56. These are the students that have gotten a seat at BOCES." So that's why some of the parents were referencing that they were waitlisted. Um you know, because if certain students don't get in through the BOCES lottery, that could potentially open up opportunities.
045>> put more of Why wouldn't we just put all of our students into the BOCES lottery? Just BOCES doesn't want us to do it that way, essentially, because if let's say, for example, it's a it's kind of a an agreement among all the districts that we put forth the students that we are able to send. Um if we put, let's say, all 80 of the students who are interested, and at the end of the day, we can still only send 56. Now we've taken seats from other districts in June when they're notifying. If they notify us and they say "Hey, congratulations. All 80 of your students got in." And we say, "Oh, well, we're really only going to send you 56." So now the BOCES has to go in and take those 24 students out,
046then go back into then then notify other districts who may have other, you know, who who said, "Oh, by the way, we told you you didn't get this seat in plumbing, but Tappan Zee just pulled two kids from plumbing. And so now, North Rockland, you got another plumbing seat." >> So basically, if if all of our 80 of our Okay. No, I understand that, but if all So if all 80 of our students were fortunate enough to win, we'd have to write the check. If it's in our budget. Did we decrease the funding this year at all? I think our funding is a little up >> No, we upped it. We increased it. >> it? Yeah. How much is it per seat? 13,500. 13,000 for a CTEC, and CSP is a little bit higher. I
047think that's around 18. So like what Yeah, the tuition increased. So what Yeah, what I just heard is like firstly, the board will take it at least this is my opinion to direct the board would be one, we can't do the lottery thing. This is crazy. Like we need to present to BOCES people where there has to be some sort of system to I don't know, some sort of merit-based way to get the students who really want to be there in there. And the students who maybe don't as much. I think the lottery on our end is firstly unfair because they still have to go to another lottery one, right? Two, I think we should try to figure out how to like get more seats. There's clearly a growing demand. At 13,000 a seat, we
048can find we should we'll If we need to redo the budget right now, we're going to find more seats to put them into the lottery. I can't listen to that and not get those kids a chance to even get the other lottery. So when everyone wants to come back, we can increase we'll figure out how to do it in a budgetary way. Even if it's a one-time resolution for this year because I was unaware that it was like a random lottery thing. If we get it into a merit-based approach, then there's a rational explanation to people of why we're only doing the 50 seats. But right now, I can't sit here with a good conscience and say, "Well, you lost, but you're probably more ready to go to the program than the other student who
049is sort of on the fence and just just wants to see." So that's my personal position as a board member is like we have to solve this like now for these students right here. Right now. Has to solved. My understanding was that the Yeah, by Thursday. Well, we have 48 hours. I feel like we had this conversation again last year. I feel like this is like a We have. We've had this issue every year. And I [clears throat] think >> But we still have the lottery? I wasn't at that No, if we have not. This is the first year we're doing lottery. We did a lottery my last year as principal. Uh so we're going back, I guess 4 years. We did a lottery. >> know why we brought it Why did we bring it
050back? Cuz we had too so many Yeah, just at that time I think we That was the first year where we had an anomaly, you know, kind of like a a surge up. Um and so then we did a again my last year as principal. So this is my third year in this role. Um we did a lottery. Um But to I don't Miss Luciano hasn't done a lottery before. But couldn't we do something like actually very budget conscious? Where it's really a flex thing, right? So we propose the budget with 56. But couldn't we collect the names earlier? Everyone who wants a BOCES seat goes into the budget line. If we don't actually pull that down, it's actually a net positive for the district because we're ensured at least everyone gets a shot. Fine,
051if all TZ students win the lottery, great. It's our obligation to pay for them. But if they don't, because they probably all won't win the BOCES lottery, and we have no control over what BOCES does. But they're given a chance. They're at least given a chance to get it. And we're cutting them off before we cut off I just 20 out of 70 many people we cut off, you know, whatever. 30% of the students we didn't even get a chance because we set our budget at 56. That's not I can't do that. But did I hear that the possible There's a possibility that BOCES would limit the amount submitted? Right? That That BOCES would? Would limit us in any way because they only >> Yeah, BOCES only have a certain >> way? Well, if they
052only have a certain amount of seats and they have so many districts Correct. >> if we went to them and said we have 200 students that wanted to go to BOCES this year. Yeah, BOCES that does another lottery. Yeah, but will we get for their seats? Cuz let's say for example, welding. >> all the names to BOCES and then we'll do the board will do something from the reserves to cover this year and then for next year we'll do some sort of merit-based approach and you can send it to them in the morning. Like this is how fast I am with Rob. I can't listen to a student say I I personally did not know what I wanted to do. And to hear someone so dedicated and so confident of what they want to do,
053that's heartbreaking. I can't do that. I'm a mom, that would break me. We'll at least give our district students the chance because of those 70 names that are going to go there. We can't We can't fix BOCES lottery okay system, but we can fix it There's no limit to the amount of names we can send to BOCES? Not Not to my knowledge. So then why do Why do we do the lottery? May I ask that question? Because we're not going to send again we're not going to send BOCES 80 names if we're going to only pay for 50. Then we need to fix it because then we increase the money out. Yeah, but we can just do a flex thing. So this year I would propose to the board is we do something like to
054cover the if in chance there comes 62 students for us they are going to be pumped. We're going to have to find another the the way to cover the other six from our reserves. Why we have 1 year of a of a of a way to figure it out. So tomorrow send all the names to BOCES and the board will figure out by the next meeting a way to cover it in the budget. Yeah, so from a budgetary perspective we've gone through this through the whole entire budget budgetary process, budget workshops. We've had lots of discussions about this. We certainly in the past have been able to add some money to fund additional seats. Um we budgeted $880,000. If we want to look for more money, we can certainly do that. Um I don't know.
055>> Natalie, can we do that? Can we look for the funds? Well, well we'll have to go back and The funds The funds will pertain to next year's budget, right? So Um >> this year? So I'm thinking and I don't know how the board will make that decision. Do we bring a resolution and then So if it's something that the board approves that So it directs the the superintendent to put forth, let's say, 80 names. And then I don't know how that stands with BOCES right now, right? So let's say This is me trying to strategize. If you put forth 80 names then you know that it's going to go over that budget line. If during the year we we see that we can accommodate funds, we can do that or we can come back
056to the board to use fund balance. That's That's what I see. >> We need to pull more down from the reserve general reserve. Just for this year and then we can plan accordingly going forward. Right. I just don't know what that decision would look like right now or it's just a directive to put forth X amount of names, right? All right. Well, we'll go back tomorrow. We'll look at the number of kids. We'll meet with myself, Dr. Arietta, Miss Luciano, and we'll see how we can try to accommodate more kids. This is not a unique situation. >> 14 students were told no from Tappan Zee? I I Yeah, I don't want to quantify that. There were 80 80? 80 new kids. Uh So 80 10th graders or that wanted to go for the first time.
057>> just 10th graders? Right, cuz it's a 2-year program. Most BOCES programs are 2-year programs. >> So 80 kids in 10th grade or combined? I don't know I don't know Most of them are going to be 10th graders. >> Okay. Um So 80 new students. There were 26 returning students. So those 26 of are going to return. And so then that's what the the 30 is the are the new So 30 of the 80. Oh, I see. Okay. Just to be clear. Now, the other challenge that we have and and Miss Espinal reached out to BOCES recently is that when our kids go to BOCES they're either they're going for a half day, right? So they're either going for the morning program or the afternoon program. We don't find that information out until too late
058in the scheduling process to even try to figure out, okay, well, maybe we can save some money here in the high school because if 80 kids are going to be out of the high school. So that's something that we're also working on is if we know who's going and we can schedule properly we can shift some of that money to cover it. So it's just another challenge that we face when it comes to to sending kids. Well, I'm in agreement. I think send everybody's name. Let BOCES figure it out. That's fair. Well, just realize that we'll we'll have to figure out from a financial standpoint we're talking about millions of dollars. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but hold on a second. We >> [clears throat] >> I I think we could also, like Rob was saying, investigate
059some sort of system or some sort of application where those kids that are maybe just on the fence aren't taking a spot of a child that's truly passionate about being in the program. Yeah, Dr. Arietta can speak to the I would just caution process, yeah. I think no matter what your system is. I think we heard from a lot of parents here um whereas uh their child or another child was disengaged from school. I think in a merit-based application that might rule those students out. I think if you I don't I don't necessarily agree with merit-based because it's like a teacher recommendation um an essay of interest. It doesn't necessarily It doesn't have to be based on grades, but there could Yeah, I just I think just I think I think you could go to
060some type of I think you you could go to some type of application. Um I don't think that that would be um I think at the end of the day you might have another set of maybe 10 different parents that are here um because their child did not meet whatever the whatever it is. Um maybe you have a student who's chronically absent because they're so disengaged from school and this is the one thing that's going to light them up and get them to graduate high school. In a merit-based or an application-based or whatever you might want to say, that student might get eliminated. And you might have a parent here who says that this was the one thing that was going to save my child. You might have another parent who um I think all
061the other one things that we heard are are 100% true about students and heard from students who were looking forward to it from you know, when they were in eighth grade. Um I just don't know how We could certainly try. We could certainly try. Um but I just don't know how you quantify that. And I think that you'll you'll you may end up in in a similar situation. Just that because BOCES has become so dynamic and they're doing such an amazing job. Um and I think what's happening is you're getting such a wide variety of students um because of the programs that they offer. Um we could certainly try to create some type of application or some type of um process. Um but I think that's why most districts go to And again, I know
062it feels you know, it feels like you're just a number and you're you know, and the the mercy of the lottery. Um but I think that's why most districts have done it because the profile of a BOCES kid is so diverse. Um and that's a great That's the draw of BOCES. I mean, that's why That's why these parents are here. So I would just, you know, I would just Again, we could try it, but just caution that it may isn't the right word, but at least demonstrated interest. Yeah, absolutely. We I said you to do it once. If there's a couple if you actually have to like do a couple of steps to actually get on the list. Do we know how BOCES does their lot like process? Like how they pick what students they
063take in? It's a lottery. It's not like a It's not an application-based. No, the it's a yep. Yeah, they'll have every program based on size, based on safety, the different programs. >> a where you have to submit the application. And just just for awareness, the Rockland County superintendents, we talk about this with the BOCES superintendent, Dr. Arietta talks about this with the assistant superintendents, Miss Luciano talks about this with the high school principals. It's not a perfect system. We're trying everything we can to get it every kid a seat at BOCES. That's always the goal. We start the budgeting process in October. We've been talking about this Dr. Arietta and I today about it. We are absolutely committed to trying to get every kid a seat there. So, I don't want anyone to misunderstand what
064I'm saying about the challenges or misunderstand what Dr. Arietta is saying. Every district is following the same process. And just to reiterate what I heard is that just to make sure the public knows that the budget line was not decreased. It was not. Thank you. Um Yeah, we understand. Okay, I'm sorry. Well, high school. Okay. The school districts that we've spoken to, some our neighboring districts right around here, are following the same process. We've actually talked with them. I I don't want to speak for every district, but certainly uh some of the districts in Rockland >> Well, couldn't we send a like a announcement to the district tomorrow saying we know for BOCES people who may have lost the they may have lost the South Orangetown lottery for BOCES, but remain interested, let us know
065and we can throw them into the into the pool. >> Yeah, we can reach out to the parents tomorrow. >> gate. Of anyone who if they're serious about it and why are they serious? Quick response and see if we can just add the number of people we'll throw them over the fence. The probability that we're going to get all 80 people into the BOCES is zero is is approaching zero, right? So, there it will there will be probably more than we anticipate, but it it's not like we're going to get all of the 80 people because it's just not. I will just say we had this situation the past 2 years. There are children who expressed interest who drop out. So, it's possible that we would accommodate all the kids. I don't want to say
066that we won't. Um and we absolutely can go and look and see who are the kids that were told they didn't get into the lottery tomorrow and we can just reach out to those families very easily. So, we don't have to send a mass email. We will definitely do that. >> people who didn't win if they're interested. >> Yep. >> The board will figure it out. We'll figure it out. Thank you. Okay. All right, so it sounds like this conversation will be continued. Um But thank you all for coming up. It's very helpful to hear you and for you to be here. Appreciate it. Absolutely. All right, so that means you'll hear from us tomorrow. All right. A special thank you to the students that got up here and Yeah, thank you guys. All right,
067we can move on to board presentations. We have the capital project and construction update. Thank you very much. Good evening. So, it's a pleasure to come and talk about capital projects. We're at the dawn of the season. Um right now we're doing as much as we can preliminarily to uh to the season and getting things started uh for phase two, phase two A, and phase three. In addition to that, we are closing out bond phase one at these four schools. I've made these presentations several times before uh with photos of the achievements and uh where we are with the program. But we're we're just about closed out from uh phase one of the capital project and moving into phase two. Uh that's second year of phase two project brings us to the 300s wing and
068the three and the fitness center. That scope of work outline always starts with asbestos removal, uh renovation of 16 rooms in the 300 wing, new HVAC, new lighting, fitness room upgrade, backup heating replacement, new casework. >> [snorts] >> Right now our schedule we're we're in the preseason like I mentioned, the upfront documentation, schedules, temporary protection plans, working with John Carlos' team to make sure that everything is covered, that he has enough time to pack out the students, and for us to get in right away. Asbestos remediation starts right at the front of the projects and field work begins with preliminary demo right away at the close of school. And substantial completion for phase two is set for August 24th. Mike, I really like that asbestos calendar you just put up there. Take a picture, Rudy.
069>> [laughter] >> Wait wait till the end. You're going to like the end. This this slide highlights in green checks the work that's the areas that are impacted by phase two scope. As you can see, it's the 300s and the fitness room. Fitness room we're going to get a jump on this year. Give us plenty of time to get in there and get the rest of the work done by the opening of school. There's some work that we're not involved with, so we're trying to turn that over to Bill early so he can coordinate the the balance of the work. We don't see any issues there. Moving to bond phase two A is the renovation of the auditorium. Always starting with the ACM, um and we have stage renovation, electrical upgrades, uh production lighting, moving
070the sound booth, and the ADA seating, upgrading some finishes. Our schedule again, we're in the preliminary preseason of the documentation, the project schedule, establishing all the responsibilities, and again coordinating with John Carlos' team. Asbestos remediation starts June 30th, and really it's just limited to the ADA impact on the project. And uh field work begins again on the 26th as soon as school closes. The uh contractors will be moving in, moving all their materials in and tools and all their equipment. This highlights the areas that are affected. You see the auditorium, the stage, and the adjacent hallways where there's electrical work we're drawing to the uh to the site from. And phase three, start with the middle school. Again, asbestos remediation. We're renovating nine classrooms with the limited electrical upgrades, HVAC systems. Practice fields now are
071are being renovated and new walking path outside. Pretty exciting. And back at the high school, we're doing the admin suites, which will encompass again immediate asbestos remediation, HVAC, office renovation, and finish upgrades. Our schedule is similar to the others with asbestos kicking off on the 8th. Field work is ongoing, uh preliminary field work, and the actual field work begins on the 26th at the close of school, and the substantial completion for phase three is on the 25th. This is a highlight of the phase three work at SOMS. Bathroom projects, uh highlighting the uh classroom work as well. This slide highlights the practice field work. You see the uh areas uh on both sides of the school are are affected with the walking path and the new practice fields. And then moving to phase three, the
072uh admin suites. This highlights the area of work. And this slide is for Dr. Kulot. Mhm. Uh No, that's wrong. Oh, is it is it wrong? I You see how I saved myself at the very end. >> Under review. Oh, I like that. >> [laughter] >> Any any decisions we want to make tonight? No. Okay. Just for context, guys, it has to do with the summer camps. We're just bantering back and forth. We're trying to accommodate our basketball and volleyball camps, and we're going to figure it out. Yeah, at the end of the day we'll always we'll always work around the district schedule, although I'm pushing back a little bit here because we actually had a more aggressive schedule come to us from the general contractor, which it's usually me beating them beating them up
073a little bit to try to push. This time they came back to me with an idea, and uh that that's what we're looking at here. So, um the asbestos was moved up just to accommodate and buy some time in the schedule. Uh if uh That's right. That's right. In the only in the uh in the auditorium area. The rest of it is is no conflicts. So, this was just one one small issue that we'll work through. Um but it's under review next day or so, I'm sure it'll be rectified. And that's all I have. Any questions? We'll be doing walk-throughs again, right? >> Yes, absolutely. We'll do it at the beginning of the summer and then at the end. Yeah. Yep, we'll work on on scheduling that, sure. Thanks, Mike, and thanks for staying. Do
074you guys have questions at all? Good? Good. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. So Absolutely. I I won't let this year go by without seeing those schools. Absolutely. Okay. All right. I have next board discussion. Any committee reports? I just want to apologize. I'm I'm still lit have a lingering cold, but it's almost gone and due to that I think the policy committee meeting was was rescheduled. It hasn't we don't have a date. I'm I'm not sure when we're going to be able to But um So we didn't have a policy committee meeting and as soon as we do I'll I'll come back and let everyone know what gets done there. Um are there any other committee reports to share? We did the security drill and John thank you again. It was I walked away
075feeling very confident and I think it was ran very smoothly. And Um I think it was really good. I think we'll continue to do them, but I just you did great with that. So thank you. All right. Okay, if that's it for the committee reports. Excuse me. And I thank the million people for being at the safety drill. John Carlo was there. Thanks for being there. Got um I do have let's see. Oh yeah, he was the bad guy. Motion to make any revisions to the agenda. We're adding a board appointment for an electric worker election worker to the consent agenda. So I I'm going to read this. Resolution to appoint election worker for annual district meeting. Be it resolved that the Board of Education hereby appoints the following individuals to serve as an election
076inspector for the annual district meeting on Tuesday, May 19th, 2026. District 2, Tappan Zee High School. Michael Andrea. Do I have a motion? Motion. Thank you, Diana. Thank you, Katie for the second. All in favor? I. I. Okay, good. All right. Is there any discussion that anyone wants to have on the agenda before we approve it or vote on it, I should say? No? Okay. Motion to approve amended consent agenda categories 8 through 13. Motion. Thank you, Diana. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Katie. All in favor? I. I. All right. Is there any new business? Okay. I'll just say this. Um We're still trying to get a date for the reorg meeting. Um and I know Anne sent out an email and I know we have we all have our own schedules
077to try to to figure out when when we're able to make it, but it would really it's really important for us all to be there cuz obviously we're going to be choosing who will uh Correct, Diana. Um but those that will be there are going to be choosing who uh they see one they want to be president and vice president, who wants to be on committees. Um so it's very important that we get that done as soon as we can. Um And is there anything else? No? All right. So I I'd like to thank the public that came out. Um I think that was really good, really important to listen to them. And just want to thank everyone at home that's listening. So Yeah, one thing I'd like to say too is just like maybe
078a little bit out there, but this is the first time like that I've been on the this is actually maybe a personal anecdote, but I think it may be resonate with other board members, but I think maybe also resonate with the district is like this is the first time that I feel like I was able to impact students directly immediately. I wasn't handling like just adult problems which are budgets and lawsuits and all sorts of other things, but I'm really I understand maybe it feels like we're imposing more work on the administration to come up with a rubric on how to prioritize the BOCES students, but at the same time I think and I think all the board would agree with me, got to give our students at least put them in the game and
079and try to win the BOCES lottery and we'll figure out if there's any back backlash on the budget that we didn't quite account for them, we can figure that out this year. And then if we can set up that BOCES process a little bit earlier in the budget timeline, then we'll know that we have like by maybe 80 people signed up at first, then we put them through the screen, actually only 60 are truly interested, then we don't even really need a lottery, right? We'd just say here's our 60 candidates. And then I can come up with some sort of way to do it like that. Absolutely. And we agree with everything you said. It's very tricky and we've tried to navigate this every year successfully and this year was a little more challenging, but
080we'll definitely try to figure it out. Great suggestions. All right. Is everyone okay? Mike. All right, motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:49 p.m. Motion. I give it one to Diana. Who was the second? Thank you, Katie. All in favor? I. I. All right. Good night, everyone. Thanks everyone for being here.