001Welcome back to the October 14th, 2025 meeting of the Hop Union Free School District Board of Education. We're back from executive session. Uh please rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Number four on the agenda is the superintendence update. Dr. Murphy. >> Thank you, Mr. Bar. Welcome everybody. Just a couple of updates uh from the district. Uh first off, congratulations to uh two of my colleagues, Andrea Alivero, who's a counselor at the middle school, and Tracy Zamck, who's a teacher at Pines Elementary School. Uh both recognized by uh LICAB, which is an organization that is uh works on anti-bullying efforts. uh both being recognized at the
002Long Island School Hero Awards which is this Monday for their extraordinary contributions in the lives of Long Island students. There are about 30 individuals throughout the islands who are getting this recognition and two of Hop's own are part of that group. So congratulations to them. Um um next Hop High School's host hosting the WHISKA uh which stands for the Western Suffach Western Suffach Counselors Association College and Career Fair. Um this is our second year. Am I correct? Uh this is this Thursday, October 16th from 6:30 to 8:30. uh which welcomes students and families from any high school for free. We're obviously thrilled to host because it gives our own kids uh a approximate advantage to attend uh this college and career fair. There'll be over 100 representatives and we'll also feature an ask the experts
003admissions panel um at 5:30 p.m. Uh there's also a scholarship drawing for one lucky student attendee. This has been, you know, last year was the first year. Credit to uh Mr. Campanelli, Mr. White Cross for bringing this in at the high school. It was a win-win. They are uh happy that Hop is hosting again. And again, we see this as a benefit to our own kids. Um next up is of course this Saturday. I'm sure Mr. White Cross will have something to say about this, but we have our homecoming this Saturday and uh as of this afternoon when I was texting with Mr. the White Cross. Miss Ferrara, the weather reports were looking good, right, Joe? Okay, >> great. >> Um, so everything starts at 11:00 a.m. That's when we have our Hall of Fame
004induction ceremony. There's, I believe, seven or eight uh Hall of Hop Hall of Famers to be recognized that day uh in the auditorium. Um there's then a uh lunch for those honores and later on there's a VIP tent for those VIPs as well. Of course before that uh before the tent we have our parade which starts at 4:00. Do I have that right Paula? >> Yes. >> 4:00. And um this year we are uh excited to see representatives from all five buildings along with our normal um fleet of uh incredible cars that Mr. Barett and Mr. Sprito helped secure. So I think this year's parade is going to be one of the the best in some time uh seeing you know representation from around the district. And then of course we got the pregame intro,
005pregame intro and we're going to see something special this year when our uh football players run onto the field which I will keep a secret for now. Um and of course the games at 6:00. So good luck to our team, Coach Desso, the whole the whole team of of coaches, you know, go Eagles. As always, stay around for the fireworks after the game. Um and then lastly, I just on a personal note, uh I'm hoping that uh all the board members have uh full stomachs right now. We we had a meal at exec session uh which was just a uh a way for myself and for cabinet to say thank you. Um there's no speech prepared here. This is board recognition week and I just want to say from the heart that um throughout the
006year there are are different times I try to remind myself to thank this board uh again have been together as a team for so many years. Um we have new members in Brian and Cat who can't make it tonight is feeling a little under the weather. But I would say a defining attribute of this particular board is that although there's been a couple of different faces through the years, the uh the fabric of this group, um the way that you operate, your philosophical approach never changes. And I hope that uh you're modest, that you will take in my thank you on behalf of the community. Um because you don't always hear that. and uh the work that you've done is evident to I think the entire community particularly now when we you travel to campus
007and we see dirt piles and new tennis courts and you know construction workers everywhere people on top of the roofs repairing roses there's so much that's going on right now to be proud of it's almost um it's a unique moment in time I would say ribbon cutting ceremonies we have another one coming at the high school with the new financial services lab that the board will will learn about soon and be invited to. Um, but those little moments are um the moments that hopefully you can stop and exhale and uh reflect a little bit on the time and commitment. I mean, you know, some of you it's it's going on well over a decade. Um but together it's just a tremendous team and that's not always the way it is everywhere. So again on on
008behalf of the entire cabinet team Bridget over there um thank you HPA board of education for everything that you do. [Applause] And I also want to thank our two newbies, our student board members, Hannah and Alakin, who are new to the board, but already your contributions are um appreciated and you've brought an important voice to our conversations whenever we have these board meetings. So, I will now hand it over to the two of you for your uh for your statements. >> Thank you, Dr. Murphy. Um good evening everyone. Today marks day three of homecoming spirit week at the high school. We've actually noticed a huge increase in participation this October. Uh all high schoolers should be checking parents square or discussing with their adviserss to find out class colors for this Friday's pep rally which
009we're bringing back and I know that the students are very excited about that. Um in addition, signups for games for pep rally will be up tomorrow. This Saturday, like Dr. Murphy had mentioned, is homecoming. Varsity football will be playing Harbor Fields at 6 PM and we are looking forward to the community coming together and seeing the students enjoying some of the games and events that will be going on [Music] >> for the 2025 to 2026 school year. Attendance will be recorded on final forms. Any students pursuing after school activities such as sports and club should make an effort to make this transition. Additionally, math and science honor societies applications are due October 22nd and the induction ceremony will be in the auditorium November 12th at 6:30. Similarly, the National Honor Society induction ceremony will be
010November 24th. Thank you. >> Thank you both. Thank you. And I just want to echo uh Dr. Murphy's congratulations to Miss Ao and Miss Zamek on their hero awards from the uh Long Island Coalition Against Bullying. Um also uh although he's too humbled to say it there, we have a third uh member of our community that is getting an award that day and it is Dr. Murphy. [Applause] Well, um so we're very proud Uh with that we'll move on. Five on the agenda is recognition, awards, presentation and adoption of minutes. 5A recognitions and awards there are none. 5B presentations. 5B uh director's presentations. I ask Kelly Barry, our director of social studies and world languages to step up to mic. [Applause] Good evening, Mr. Barett and members of the board of education. Dr. Murphy, thank
011you for allowing us to be here this evening. In January, Smith Burkhart came to see me to see if we would be willing to meet with the Gary SME Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded to support America's veterans, first responders, and their families. The foundation serves its mission through a variety of programs, one of which provides fully funded trips and guided tours of the National September 11th Memorial and Museum in New York City. I brought the idea to Dr. McCarthy and Dr. Murphy, who as always were very supportive of pursuing this type of learning experience for our students. On Thursday, September 18th, more than 120 Hop High School seniors participated in this trip. The generous sponsorship of the Gary Tise Foundation covered all costs for transportation, admission, meals for our students. All students and chaperoons were
012also given a Gary Senise Foundation t-shirt, sweatshirt, and hat to show their appreciation for what we do in our community to support our first responders and veterans. The foundation also sent us the same for each of you, for our board members. I'm going to ask our students who have joined us to share those with you. Now, the itinerary included a guided tour of the memorial and museum as well as a panel discussion featuring retired FBI agent Pierre Krosafis and retired US Navy Petty Officer Secondass Daniel Doc Jacobs. Agent Chris returned to the site for the first time since the attacks that very day and he shared that with us. That was really powerful. Doc Jacobs was in 10th grade on September 11th, 2001. He shared with us that he watched the news stories, listen to
013the radio, and decided in that very moment he was going to enlist and defend our nation as soon as he could. A double amputee and Purple Heart recipient, Doc shared his personal story of service and resilience, and his message of hope left an indelible impression on us all. His words reminded our students that while we cannot control what happens to us, we can always control how we respond with courage, purpose, and compassion. Every student completed a written reflection following the trip and our message to them is to continue to remember, to serve, and to carry forward the message that even in the face of tragedy, the human spirit can unite, rebuild, and shine brighter than ever. Before I invite our students who are here with us to speak, I would like to extend our sincere
014appreciation to the board of education, Dr. Murphy and the entire central office team for your ongoing support of experiences like this that bring learning to life and allow our students to see themselves as something part of something larger. I would also like to thank Miss Birkhart. Your coordinate you coordinated every detail of this trip with care and professionalism ensuring that it was safe, educational, and deeply moving for us all. At this point, I would like to turn it over to our students to share their reflections on what they learned. Isabella, we'll start with you. This trip was so like educational and very moving in so many different ways. And it just, you know, living in New York for so long and being taught like years of 9/11, really going to this museum and like the
015tour and everything this foundation like provided for us really show like made us learn new things and it was just an experience that, you know, not everyone gets to have and the foundation really like covered everything which so appreciative of. Um, they showed us every part of the museum, things that we probably would have never known known if we'd gone. And the tour guide was just amazing. You know, if you just went to the museum and walked around, maybe not everyone would have grasped how like important and moving it was. So, I really appreciate the foundation for this. Thank you. [Applause] Hello, I am Nicole Florio. Um, one I want to emphasize that for this trip I decided to write my journalism article on it for my class with a partner. And I think one
016thing that I took away from, you know, writing about this experience, you know, trying to think about it more analytically, it was what kinds of different things we all took away from this trip. Because I worked with somebody on this article, I kind of wrote what I what what kind of symbolism and aspects of the trip and the museum stuck with me. I talked about, you know, commemorating the lives of the fallen through the white roses, you know, on the pools for their for the fallen's birthdays. And I talked about, you know, the glade having no names because, you know, there um are still people suffering from the after effects of 911. But my friend who I worked with, you know, talked about, you know, the survivor tree and the stairs and some of the
017stories that, you know, our guides told us like about um one of the uh office workers who always had a red bandana and, you know, went back up in the towers and, you know, brought people down another staircase and saved more lives. It was just the whole memorial experience really emphasized different points of view, different stories. And it was all so both informational, educational, but also emotional. And the whole experience, you know, learning so many new perspectives was really, you know, as an empath, you know, made me feel a lot of feelings that I could not put into words. But overall, it was an amazing experience and obviously in thanks to the board and the Gary Sme foundation. Um hello, my name is Calvin. Um and I thought the 911 trip was a transformative experience.
018Um for my group, we got a tour guide. I every group got a tour guide, but um for my group, I thought um the tour guide was very knowledgeable and insightful with um the history of 911 and the museum itself. Um they guided they guided us through like the the two buildings with um it was a it was where the building used to be and it was like a wall where um their names were engraved on it. I thought it was very cool. Um and I've never seen it myself. So um I thought that was cool. Um my group and I saw broken down trucks that was saved from 911 among many other things. Um but the most notable part of this experience um that I took away from this trip was the interview that
019was given from um the bra war veteran and the FBI agent. Um I thought their point of view um contrasted one another. Um whereas the FBI agent was um at the scene in New York City, um the soldier was somewhere else, not in the city. And I thought that was emotional in a way because whereas the Iraq uh veteran was experienced something firsthand, the FBI agent was sort of working um behind the scene. Um and I thought both of their point of view were engaging and they were a breath of fresh air amongst um all the stories that have been told. my teachers um for my whole life. Um but unlike my teachers, their experience were more firsthand as they were in New York City that day. Um and their experience were new and the
020trip taught me more about 911 even more so compared to um just going to school. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you so much. >> Yeah. So, first of all, to to the the students that spoke. >> Yeah. Outstanding. Unbelievable. When I was your age, I was an idiot. No way. And I still am, but there is no way I could get up uh, you know, in front of a microphone and speak as eloquently uh as you guys have. So, kudos to you and thank you for sharing your experience with us. Uh, Miss Barry, you said 120 uh, students. Was it offered to all students? >> It was. It was offered to all of our seniors. >> Do we know, were there any over uh, overriding reasons why we didn't have more participation? >> I'm guessing the
021time of the trip. We didn't return until about 6:30 that night. We left before 7:00 a.m. and we didn't return until 6:30 that night just because of the way the program was set up by the foundation. >> We were fortunate enough to have such a full day. >> But for and we did work with Mr. Butler over over the months of planning to try to maneuver our sports schedule as much as we could to consider the student athletes. Um, but that's my guess in terms of the biggest prohibitive factor, >> but it was offered to everyone. >> Do we know the price tag on the trip that was uh worn by the Senise Foundation? >> I don't have an exact figure. It was transportation costs, meal costs, and the guided tour museum. I would guess
022around 30,000 somewhere in that ballpark. >> So, first of all, as always, this is wonderful and a wonderful job by you. So, thank you so much. >> Yeah. And and Mrs. Bart as well. Thank you, Mr. Scredo. Uh, I'd like to propose um that this be a yearly trip. Uh, and to the extent we need to, we're going to direct you to make this a yearly trip. uh we'll find the money in our budget uh every year to do this. Uh and we ask that you do it as close as possible uh to September 11th each year and that we schedule it as early as possible so that we can make arrangements for as many children as possible uh to participate in the trip to um to do so. >> Absolutely. I have a meeting
023plans with the Gary SE Foundation coming up. One of the things that they have expressed so far is that they're trying to give this exposure and this experience to as many school districts as possible. So, they typically don't double up on a district, but we can certainly pursue that. And thank you for your support and Dr. Murphy and I will meet with them as soon as >> of course if we could get someone else to pay for it, all the better. But we want you to know that even if we're not able to, this will be a budget item. >> Understood. >> Uh going forward, and we want it every single year. Um, so thank you so much. Uh, so I'll make a motion to uh, uh, make this a yearly trip pursuant to the
024terms that I that I said earlier, Mr. Scrio set. Is there any discussion? >> Yes, Dr. Cra. U, just want to echo what you said. I think it's a great idea and just a thought maybe, you know, that we can somehow set up some fundraising for this and if we exceed the cost of the trip to donate it back to Gary Cine Foundation cuz it's it's a great foundation. >> Love it. Love it. Miss Barry, I know I know you have a lot on your plate, but we're asking you to take this on. >> Absolutely. >> Uh as well, and I'm sure you'll do uh great with it. >> Thank you. >> U you know, everyone here um lived through a 9/11. the kids that are in school now, none of them were even born
025uh when it uh when it happened. So, I think it's so so important to um have these kids engaged in uh what went on that day so that it's never forgotten. >> Agreed. And the teaching of the event has changed over the course of my career. For sure. Um, and it's it's hard for us as adults to wrap our head the magnitude of the event, even those of us that live through it directly or indirectly, and to translate it to the students. The power of the personal stories, as I think you heard, the student accounts and their reflections. Um, the firsthand accounts were were just so powerful for the adults as well. So, thank you very much for >> Absolutely. So, I'll just call the vote on that. Uh, all those in favor 6. Uh,
026I know Miss Collins would be very in favor of this, so we'll make it 70. We'll allow her vote in abstentia. I know that's not legal, but we're doing it anyway. >> Jean, if you try to stop her, you're fine. >> Thank you so much, M. >> Before you leave, uh, I just want to echo something here, Miss Barry. you continue to just lead with your heart and all of these efforts. We're talking about a couple of other ideas that I think the board is really going to like and the community. Um, and we have a a treasure in your colleague behind you who is so modest and doesn't want the spotlight. But Miss Burkhard, I know how much effort and time you put into making this happen and you don't want the spotlight, but
027you deserve it. So, thank you so much for making this happen for our kids. [Applause] Yeah. So, let's take let's take a uh 4m minute break. Uh we'll come back at exactly 8:35. Thank you. Thank you. We're back. Uh 5 B on the agenda is uh our principles. Uh Ms. Okconor. Uh we will do uh her presentation at our next meeting. Uh and we are just left with Mr. White Horse. >> All right. [Music] >> I'm a concession. [Music] Ah, yes. Well, it's very hard to follow up that presentation with Mrs. Barry and Mirkard. Um, but thank you, Mr. Bar and the board of education, even though I'm from second choice, and Dr. Murphy and our district office team for giving me the opportunity to share a brief update on how the opening of Hot
028Pog High School has gone so far. It's been a really positive and exciting start to the year with a lot of great energy in the building. We actually started back in August with our senior parking spot fundraiser which set a fun and spirited tone heading into the first week of school. And then on September 2nd, our seniors came together for senior sunrise, an event that was even featured in Newsuesday. It was a great way to kick off the year with unity and school pride. This September was packed with activity. We introduced our cell phone ban this year and I'm happy to report that students have responded incredibly well. Classrooms are more focused. The hallways are louder in a good way. And students are genuinely more social and engaged with one another. We've also opened a
029few new student spaces, including our wellness center and activity room, both designed to support student well-being and connection. In addition, giving students more choice in their physical education classes, among other things, has increased ownership and enthusiasm for their school day. Throughout the month, we held our code of conduct meetings with every grade level, hosted our 911 ceremony, which was amazing. And like we saw before, about 120 seniors went to the 911 museum field trip. We had senior night, open school night, spirit day for the class of 2026 and had their senior panoramic photo and wrapped up September with our kicks for cancer event for the 18th year. It's always a highlight that brings our school and our community together for a great cause. And I'm happy to report on behalf of Mrs. Klesa that over
030the 18 years of this event, we have surpassed the $1 million raised mark for cancer awareness and research. An amazing amazing accomplishment. As we move into October or have moved into October, we continued with our strong momentum and offered the PSAT and the SAT day on October 3rd, which included engaging nth grade workshops on topics like AI, financial literacy, and study skills. And we're looking forward and currently in as Hannah and Oalikin mentioned our currently in spirit week. Uh we have the WSCA college fair or WISA college fair coming up and our pep rally coming up this Friday. We're very excited about that the way that we're planning it this year bringing it back and some fun and excitement and of course homecoming which has been mentioned this weekend. The students and the staff are
031fully in spirit. Overall, it's been a fantastic start to the year. Our students are adjusting well. they're engaged and most importantly they're happy and that's always my ultimate goal. So thank you all again for your ongoing support of Hopuck High School. It truly makes a difference in everything we do. Thank you Joe. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. White? Joe as always. Excellent job even when you're second fiddle. Thank you guys for your support. Thank you. >> Thank you Joe. 5C on the agenda, adoption of minutes from the board of education meeting of September 16, 2025. I have a motion. Thank you, Mr. Scaro. Dr. Craft with the second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? 6. Questions, comments from the community concerning anything related to the district whatsoever. Are there any items that
032members would like to have removed from the consent agenda? With that, I'll take a motion to approve the consent agenda. I'll make a motion. Mr. Scrio seconds. Any discussion? All those in favor. 6. Number eight, policies. There are none uh today. Uh number nine, committee reports. There are none today. Discussion matters. Number 10, there are none today. New business. Do any board members uh have new business? Anyone? Mr. Screen. >> Thank you, Mr. >> You're welcome. >> I just want to thank uh Mr. Hope I'm saying that correctly. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Ferrari. Um we had a charity car show help kids with medical needs and they stepped up as well as these students. I want to thank them again. Hope I don't kill their names. Abigail Dantis, Jenna Lipsky, Ariana Rest, Samantha Douglas,
033Aisha Mantra, Kyla Conungle, and Joel Matthew, as well as the Jake Roco. And like I said, we raised just shy $2,000 in less than three hours. >> Awesome. >> Thank you. >> Awesome. Good job. [Applause] >> Any other new business from any board members? Does administration have any new business? We do not >> questions or comments from the community concerning anything related to the district whatsoever. With that, I'll take a motion for an adjournment. Our next meeting is Tuesday, November 18th, 2025. Uh there will be no executive session tonight as we concluded our business earlier this evening. Uh I'll make a motion for the adjournment. Mr. Scrio seconds. Any discussion? All those in favor? 6. We are adjourned. God bless. Pog and God bless the United States of America. Thank you. >> Good night everybody.