001To the flag of the United States America and to Republic, which stands a nation under God. The liberty and justice draw, please remain standing. Heavenly Father, we invoke th blessing on all in attendance here and on those we serve. Help us to bring Woodstock and humanity to our deliberation and nice spirit to work. You may speak. Welcome to the October 9th meeting of the Park Police Board of Education. Trustees Zino did not attend tonight's meeting due to a personal matter. We will start, we'll start with comments from the board and I'll take complete. I hope everybody is enjoying the whole weather, particularly today. We had the harvest news. We went outside early in the morning. We saw the mood so bright right, and the sun at the same time fall is here. I'd like to
002say, um, thank you to the custodians. It was, it's ated. Custodian appreciation day was October 3rd, and Fred and his team maintain our district so well. Our floor are so shiny that we could eat off of them. We also receive a lot of compliments. People have told me that we are very fortunate to have you and your team here because our district is always so clean in and out. So thank you. I'd also like to thank a few supporters who have donated some goods to our district. One is the friends of the district, pre-K bosses. They donated $1,875 with, um, with kindness of outdoor equipment and starts to used by a pre. I'd also like to thank you. I would also like to thank Mr. Joseph Priest and he is a member of our music
003department and he donated musical instruments, materials, and supplies for the middle school and high school strings, orchestra and adaptive music process. So thank you. I'd also like to congratulate Kelly who received a financial scholarship from the, I'm sorry, ASBA. And, um, we know that this is your last semester, so we wish you the best of luck. Thank you. With that being said, I'll now hand it over to vice President. Uh, good evening everybody, and thank you for coming. Um, and yes, congratulations Kelly on ms. Well deserve Recognition and we're demonstrating the highest professional and academic standards. Um, I had the pleasure of attending our middle school and varsity cheerleaders fundraiser to help support the journey to nationals. And what exciting evening it was, the energy was electric. As both our teams and the Mineo cheerleaders
004joined us, lit up the room with their incredible routines. I wish our cheerleaders the very best of luck going forward. And a huge congratulations to Madison Weedy, who was just featured in the New York Coast for her incredible journey as a three sport Marcy athlete and her verbal commitment to play lacrosse at Northwestern University, which has one of the top programs in the nation. What an amazing accomplishment. And congratulations to Madison. I will now pass it on to trustee. Good evening everyone. Hi mom. Uh, um, A shout out. Um, wanted to take a moment tonight to recognize Dr. K and the, the team, uh, his team, uh, so many members, uh, to really to thank for their leadership and, and his leadership and moving core place robotics, uh, from idea to action. Um, it's exciting
005to see this vision. We, we've been discussing it last fall. I can't believe it's been a year, uh, since, since last fall, right? Uh, now taking shape in a way. See, mom is making me nervous now. Taking shape in a way that reflects our district's commitment to innovation. Student opportunity. Um, Dr. Can only visited B Robotics competition, worked with our building leaders to identify the best approach for creating this new, uh, learning experience or renewed learning experience. Um, also want to thank, uh, dedicated teachers serving as advisors. They're phenomenal, um, like all of our teachers. Um, but shout out, uh, to our co-advisors for, um, their work and their commitment there. Uh, their enthusiasm along with our students shows how, uh, ready Court places for this next chapter. Uh, robotics sits within the broader world
006of STEM and steam, both central to career and technical education. Uh, gives students a place to apply the technical and academic skills they've been building throughout their pre-K, the 12 experience. Uh, it takes practice, it takes commitment, uh, teamwork, perseverance, creativity, and of course, uh, school pride. So, Good evening everybody. Thank you. Hopefully Mrs. Dumpy doesn't make me nervous too. It's Too late. It's too late. Sorry. So thank you all for coming, um, out tonight. Um, I wanted to give a shout out to a bunch of different organizations that are collecting and doing some fundraising for our schools and for our, um, district. So the Key Club Student Teacher Talent show slash fashion show is October 23rd. Funds will be raised for the colon di sorry, diversity syndrome. We have a student here in the
007district that we are supporting with using that money for, um, to go towards that button. So if you're available on October 23rd, please stop down. Uh, $5 minimum is, um, being asked for. We also have Hick Hicks Night, which, uh, all proceeds go to the student scholarship. Uh, and teacher grant, that's October 29th. Um, this Friday, the CarPlay High School football team is welcoming the 95 school year, uh, football team, the undefeated school year, and an undefeated football team my school year, um, and all the, uh, cheerleaders to honor their, uh, work 30 years ago. So congrats to them. I can't wait to see my classmates. Um, also, uh, big congratulations to Rob Ozzi and to Mr. Cody for being inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame. That's a big thing. Um, again, he was
008our school advisor or my great advisor. He's amazing. And then our superstar athlete, Madison lady, um, a three varsity sport athletes. Since ninth grade. She verbally committed to Northwestern for lacrosse. I'm sure she'll end up on the Hall of Fame just like her mom, um, who is also an amazing athlete. So congratulations to her and thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh, the past few weeks of Car Place have been very eventful. Homecoming week started on Monday, September 22nd with the district wide Spirit Week. Students dressed in country inspired outfits on Monday and sh outfits on Thursday the 25th. On Friday the 26th, students wore their CP gear to school and had a pep rally, both games and school spirit and preparation for the homecoming games later that night against Florence. The home pool dance took
009place on Saturday, September 27th, where high school students celebrated together in the beach decorated gym. As we progressed through October fall, rushy sports teams are recognizing the seniors during their senior games. Some of these teams are also beginning to prepare for playoffs. Additionally, numerous clubs have started to meet and discuss upcoming events, including a Halloween costume, clothing drive, run by the EAC. Thank you. We will now hear comments from Dr. Smith. Thank you Madam President. Um, as everyone has voted here on well underway here in October, things are moving right along. We have things like S Review has, college Mini Fair is happening, you know, several other events that are coming up. I will also put in there that Hicks Knight is coming up on the 29th. There's always a really big fundraiser for the
010Education Foundation. Education Foundation does a lot of great work for, um, car Place students, which is a really nice thing, A key called fashion shows. Coming up on the 23rd, we wanna recognize again the really wonderful, um, donations made by Friends of Up a really nice to get out there and see the children playing with those, those toys and developmental tools and enjoying 'em every day. It's a great thing to watch them grow and learn that way. Um, president John Monica mentioned that Trustee Zinman couldn't be here tonight. I also wanted to mention that he's part of the audit committee. The audit committee met this week and he asked me to please note that he fully reviewed the audit material that will hear about later tonight and endorses it for its accuracy and correctness, which
011is an important thing for all of us. Um, two more items. I know that lots of folks are watching from home. My office happens to overload the driveway and I see lots and lots of cars come through every day. Most people drive through in very, very good order. I notice sometimes that cars come through with kids who are in the car without their seat belts on, and I see children sort of squirming around and crawling around in their seats. Sometimes I see folks looking at their cell phones as they drive down the driveway. I have to ask people, please, please keep your children restrained and stay off the cell phones when we drive anywhere. But certainly when we're driving on school property, there are loads of students around. It's so important and I know we're
012all busy. Nothing is too important that I can't keep my children restrained or stay off my phone. Um, super important. I know it's kind of a drag to hear a lecture on that, but Safety First. And I want to also congratulate Mr. GSKi and say thank you to her for all of the things that you do without Kelly, I would be absolutely lost. You do your work at a very, very high level while also being an academic at a very high level. So much respect there. Thank you, Madam President. That concludes my report. Okay. We will now have a presentation from our external auditor. Oh, comments on the agenda, right? Oh, sorry. I thought my, okay, I'll just pause and rewind and take that back. Um, public comments on agenda items only. Does anybody have
013any questions? No. Okay. So now, okay, now we will return to the external water presentation hosted by Robert Danielle from PKF O'Connor. Okay, well good evening and thank you for having me present the audio results for the, for the fiscal year, for the June 3rd, 2025. Before I begin, I just wanted to thank the superintendent, Dr. Omi, uh, who's very involved in our planning as well as the financial results. I want to thank the entire business office led by Joan, uh, for their audit readiness, their professionalism, and really assisting us for our entire audit process. It is a lengthy process. I also wanted to thank the audit committee. Uh, we did meet with them to go over the results. Uh, they're very thorough. Um, they ask great questions and they really understand that these financial
014statements are rather complex, uh, for schools, for a school district. So again, thank you for taking the time to do that. Um, as far as the audit is concerned, this process began for us back in June. We sent a team in to do some preliminary work, looking at the district's internal controls, specifically payroll claims, cash receipts, the bidding process. We then, we then come back with a, another team, uh, four or five people towards the end of July into August to complete the audit. At that time, we're looking at a lot of numbers. We we're, we're preparing financial statements. We were all ultimately charged with rendering an opinion on the financial state. Taken as a whole. Uh, we've issued what is term an unmodified opinion. And unmodified opinion is a clean opinion. It's the highest
015level of assurance that can receive. And it basically states that the financials payments, again, present fairly the financial position of the school, again at June 30th, 2025. And in the courts with the county standards. Um, from a financial perspective, the school district is financially strong. You have revenue that exceeded budgetary estimates. Um, you also had expenditure savings, um, from all, mostly all categories from your, what we call general government support, which your administrative costs all the way down through your employee benefits. Um, this has allowed the school district to put some money in reserves while still maintaining what they call an unassigned fund balance at the maximum amount of state, which is 4% of the subsequent years adopted budget car places rate have had senior within. Uh, um, by having those reserves, the district, uh,
016has a great bond rating, double eight one bond rating. Uh, I know that the district has finished paying off its bond, but subsequent to June 30th to 2025 a have taken off some debt, um, in, in the form of a bond anticipation note. They also receive voter approval to go out to the bond market to do some capital work. Some of this capital work is gonna cost the district anywhere from 13 to $15 million. Um, they're gonna utilize some of this capital reserve and not borrow the funds. Uh, so that's a reason why some of the funds go into these types of reserves. To kind of balance that, uh, again, this was all accomplished with the budget that you, you remain within the 2% property tax cap. Uh, so you did have to exceed the
017cap. In fact, the district has never exceeded the cap since this law was enacted back in 2001. So we're going on 14 years. Um, again, while the school district is financially strong, I still heard some caution that there will be challenges in the future. You, we see that costs continue to escalate and you have to remain within the property tax gap. So it's something to, you know, you're good. Currently, you don't know what the future burns, so you have to be a little, um, take some caution I guess. Um, again, as would most school districts, your personnel costs, your teacher salary related benefits, your health insurance, all are major budgetary considerations. The school district does fund the Teacher's retirement system, the employee Retirement System. New York State invests funds in the market. So we do
018have some market risk. Your rates are determined based on that performance. So there is some risk there. Um, as I mentioned before, the education department is still reviewing its foundation a formula. So there could be cuts to your state aid. Uh, federal government has said they may freeze funds. Uh, you run certain special aid programs. Uh, in fact, some of your school lunch is funded with federal money. So if that freezes, then the general fund would have to kind of absorb those costs or you would've to cut those types of programs, which I'm sure no one wants to do. But again, in closing, um, the district does do long term planning. It has made a commitment to funding its reserves. I believe the budget is, is a conservative budget. Um, again, having those reserves has
019allowed the district to maintain the quality of education that most of the residents will expect there. And as I mentioned before, you're gonna have these challenges, but these challenges have yet to impact any types of services or drastically impact any services that Car Place has for the students here at Car Place currently. So a really good year, but again, there's always caution you, but thank you, Thank you very much for the comments. Um, our, one of our main responsibility as a board is to maintain a healthy fiscal budget. So, um, what you shared with us is what we expected and we thank Joanna and her team, Dr. Koni and also the audit committee. Uh, we have Trustees Zino, and we also have community members. John Frisco and Nancy Kingston and the board would like to
020thank you ever to thank everybody. Thank you. Thanks Very much. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the Board of Education meeting RESO 4.1. September 18th, 2025. Motion second. All in favor? Aye. A, the minutes from September 18th, 2025 are approved. May I have approval for the consent agenda? I make a motion. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All are approved for the consent agenda. Any questions or comments from the public? Not regarding the agenda. Okay, just pause one minute statement. Yes, vice president will The Board of Education has time at the conclusion of its regular meetings. For comments from residence in attendance, please note that any person wishing to speak during this time shall comply to all provisions of board policy. Although a total of 30 minutes is allowed
021for comments, the board president has discretion to adjust the total time. We remind you to keep your comments to three minutes and to conduct yourself in a respectful manner. Please address school matters only and prevent from addressing topics related to personnel matters or individual students. Such concerns should be discussed privately with the superintendent or administrator at an appropriate time. The board is here to listen and cannot provide immediate feedback or engage in open dialogue. Any necessary follow up will be noted and provided at a later date. Thank you. You come to the podium. State your name and address to the district clerk. Um, I just had a question. I know I had brought up last year about the calculators. You know, we just talked about our funding and everything hasn't affected the kids, but I
022disagree with that. Um, two years ago when I was sitting up there, I didn't agree with it then. I still don't agree with it. Students should be given calculators in their classrooms and to be able to take home, they shouldn't have to use a Chromebook. It's not ideal. Um, and I, you know, I've heard, you know, my child's fortunate that I can give him a calculator, but these calculators are a hundred to $140 and we are a district that should be supplying 'em as we always had. And I'm just hoping that's been being addressed or at least seeing if this is working for teachers or not. Because I can tell you as a teacher, The child needs to be able to take that tool home and be able to do their homework to study and
023get their assignments done. It shouldn't just be while they're in the classroom. Nor should parents have to go and buy these because who knows what's gonna happen when they go to college. It might be a different calculator or maybe they just wanna finish this year and they're done and they don't want to spend $120 on a calculator. So again, I addressed it when it was originally brought to our attention and it just, it upsets me being a core place. We're not a district that can't afford calculators for our kids and we have them and maybe we have to replenish them once in a while, which is what we do in my district. But every child should be given that tool and be able to utilize it at home. I know we have a program for
024those of you that don't know we have it on the, the Chromebooks. I don't want my child, nor do I think any other child should have to use a Chromebook to do math, paper, math homework on the, on paper. It is not ideal. And uh, obviously I'm a math teacher so I just hope it can be a discussion and we can consider going back to the way we've always done it and allow children calculators if that's what they need. And no parent, typically the parents aren't aware that maybe they have that option of going to the library and signing one out 'cause it's not promoted. So I know that, 'cause I asked about it and I said that's not how it should be done. But again, I can only advocate for my child and I'm
025sharing that because I don't know if you're aware that that's what's going on. And I think we can afford it and their education shouldn't be impacted us on us saying we can't afford calculators for them. So thank you. Are there any other questions or comments? Okay. What I'd like to do is take a moment because when we were going over the resos, um, RESO 5.4 is for Rushmore lead replacement. I wanted to introduce Michael, you can stand. Welcome and thank You. Now I'm going to close the public session. Can I have a motion to close the public session? Make a motion. I'll second. All in favor? Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you for coming.