001I'm here tomorrow. Thank you. First will be the disclaimer, will be meeting this disclosure Board of Education last time at the conclusion of his regular meetings with comments from residents and attendance. Please note that any further permission to speak during this time shall be provide provision your policy 30 minutes to allow for comments. The board president has discretion to adjust the total. We going you to keep your comments in three minutes and to conduct yourself in this matter. Please Address school matters only addressing topics related to personal matters or individual Students. Such concerns should be discussed by, with the superintendent or administrator at appropriate time. The board is here to listen and cannot provide immediate feedback or engaged open dialogue. Any necessary follow up will be noted and provided at a later date. Thank You.
002As you all are probably aware, assume you are aware that we have five board members. Board is not here. Vanessa Dominic, before she had a personal matter that she has address tonight outta town. So that's why before proceed. Uh, my first comment is we have four Lisa students, uh, Luke Bills Berg, Daniel Alco, Jake Santos, and Angela Rosa will have won awards for academic performances. So congratulations to them. Alright. Tuesday was teacher appreciation day, or as I found out today, it might also be teacher appreciation weekly. So we'll say teacher appreciation days last week. Our teachers here at Clark Place do a great job with, with the children that we have. Very appreciative that probably are there teachers here and teachers, administrators here. I probably hired all of them. I know I hired you Mr.
003That was a great hire. Thank you very much. So I had, uh, I had written a letter to the call place teachers, which I'll read on behalf of the board. I thank you all for that. You do to help educate, mentor, and guide our students. I truly value your work during teacher appreciation. And always for over 25 years, I've had the privilege of a front row seat to witness what place teachers can do. I have seen it as a parent, a community member, and as president of the Board of Education. I'm continually amazed by your intellect, creativity, and work ethic. You pour yourselves into your own learning and growth so that our students can become smarter, stronger, and more confident with each passing year. I genuinely respect the way that bla teachers grow and evolve
004to meet the evermore stringent demands of preparing our children for the future. You always keep pace for the times and are often out in front of what it takes to educate, to meet educational leaders. The board and I are happy to collaborate with you as partners in helping Coplay students reach their potential and become the best possible versions of themselves. I salute you in that work and I'm grateful that you chosen schools as a professional partner. I was also, I'll make a a a note that, uh, I was interviewed by, uh, the, the board of the call place Teachers Association for about an hour. We're in 15 minutes and I wasn't sure what that was gonna be like, but I, I actually enjoyed it. I actually enjoyed listening to their questions, responding to their questions,
005and, um, they decided to endorse me as, as the trustee that I wanted the open position. So, thank you very much, trustee. Good Evening and thank you everyone for coming. Uh, congratulate. Congratulations for life. Those class. An amazing day. At the first ever weekly games, our students teamed up with Peers Weekly, Jericho, and Rosalyn for a ful day of relays, obstacle courses, bowling, and more so proud of their spirit. Teamwork ships speaker, they built. Thank you to everyone who helped. I also wanna say congratulations to Larry for who he was honored and received an award from the Nas Ation Foundation for his dedication for 25 years as a board of, um, member Evening everyone. Uh, I'd like to begin by also recognizing, uh, teachers, our teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. Really an every week. It's
006both an educator and a board member. Unfortunate to see every day, uh, the impact our teachers have, not just academically, but through the relationships they build and the care they show. Uh, whether it's during, on the field, in the classrooms, or even behind the scenes. Our teachers show up, make this community stronger. This year, two of our own children, my own children participated in SMA again, and I know so many other families across our district did as well. It was a joy to be there at West Hempstead High School to watch our music teachers in action, encouraging, supporting, celebrating, tuning instruments, uh, every like I do everywhere. It's just, it is an amazing, amazing thing that, that they do. All of our teachers, um, you know, for their evaluations events, uh, like this, remind us
007that the arts are alive and well in Carl Police and that our staff go above and beyond to create meaningful opportunities for our kids. Uh, shout out to everyone who helped make last weekend softball alumni game. Uh, such a meaningful experience, wonderful event. Finally, uh, may is a mental health awareness month. Among other things, uh, I can't help but note how well our school color is green and white. Reflect our values as the color for mental health awareness, uh, and reflect our values. Let's keep working. Sure. Every student feels seen, supported, connected. Thank you. Uh, hello everybody. Excuse my voice. I lost it and it's turning slowly. Thank you so much for being here tonight. I wanted to take a moment to talk about just how special ed teachers are here in our place School
008district. When I was a student in Car Place, I was lucky to have some of the best teachers. I don't remember every lesson or topic we covered, but I do remember how they made me feel. And being able to support it. Encourage and inspire. That's what great teachers do. They don't just teach facts. They make it believe in themselves. They create classrooms where students feel safe, respected, and motivated to learn. The emotional connection between a teacher and student matters so much. The truth is, the social emotional aspect of a classroom often outweighs the academics. A child is far more likely to engage with a lesson to push themselves or to dream bigger. When the lesson comes from a teacher, they like trust and respect. Our teachers here in Car Place do just that. They build
009relationships, they see potential and they make a difference. So for all the teachers in Car, in the Car Place, school District, thank you, thank you for your late nights, your early mornings, your creativity, your patience, and your heart. Thank you for showing up every day ready to make a difference. You are not the only teachers are you are not. Sorry. You're not only teaching our children, you are inspiring the next generation. I was so inspired by the middle school production of The Wizard of Oz. Segue to that, um, this weekend the show was amazing with great drops, costumes and performances from the actors. I was really proud of all the students and the faculty involved. I brought a group of kids along with that along that they, I loved every minute of it. If you
010can captivate a group of five, eight year olds, especially my son, you know, it's a special performance. It was, uh, as we left, I heard many of the young students saying that they can't wait to be part of the middle school place today. So thank you to everybody that, um, put effort into it. 'cause I know it's not just, uh, the students, but also the parents and the faculty. And happy teacher Appreciation Week. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, I will of course also say Happy teacher appreciation. It's students are our most important people in the district. We can't do anything for those students without the folks who are in the classroom teaching and cognitive mentor. Um, I have a lot, lot of appreciation, tremend, matter of perspective for be able to work with
011you. So thank you for that. Sincerely, seriously. Um, then a two other things. As Victoria said, risen of Oz. I didn't get to actually go to the performance because I quite sick. However, I was at rehearsals with them several days last week. What a hardworking, super smart, super motivating group of kids. Um, Rushmore fourth graders added a lot of fun and a lot of spice to it. And, and it was humbling to see how hard they were and how incredibly on point they were with their cues and their lines and just their like love of theater and their excitement for its really, really privileged to be there. Um, I want to also let everybody know that in our last four meeting publicized thought exchange, the tool that we're using to gather information about Portrait of
012a graduate, over 500 people and counting have responded to the flood exchange so far and have made literally thousands and thousands of comments on the process. So if you have responded to the flood exchange, thank you so much for that. It's gonna be open until 10 o'clock tomorrow night. Um, it really is helpful to get that feedback and that data from the community. You may know that Governor Hoel has engineered that we are going to next year, starting in September, have a cell phone banned schools from the start of the school day until the end of the school day. This is a thing that you're going to comply with. It's gonna be a state rule. In doing that. We are going to send, um, survey out to the community 'cause we want to get some
013feedback and some thoughts from the community on it. And we are going to ask for anybody who'd like to be part of a working group to help shape the way we respond to that, to let us know if you'd like to work with us on that. We've got some really good mileage out of parent folks groups this year and I think that we have folks here in the community who would like to be part of that. We'd love to have you. We're at whatever age group your, your children have to be in from Cherry Lane all the way up to high school. So look for that to come out early next week. Um, we're coming into the home stretch of the school year. We are doing a ton of extra help and regents reduce very
014targeted work. We need our parents to make sure that kids come and participate, right? You have, you have my children. Sometimes they're a little reluctant to, you know, come back to school or to get up and go. Please, please push them. We are here, we are really pitching to work with them. We need your help together through, I got a free email this week from a parent, so for child front end center every single time. And it's just so wonderful to hear that from somebody because we know how committed they are. It's a great thing. Um, one last milestone or like a year milestone. Believe it or not, we are coming to the end of our first year of UPK and um, we had a really nice Mother's Day event in UPK for our children
015today. It was great thing to see really good feedback on it. At the end of June, we are going to be having a moving up ceremony for the UPK students. They'll eat it with their families. They'll be splendid in UPK caps and gowns. So they'll look very sharp and very nice. Thank you for that. It should be a lot of fun if you happen to have in case. And you'll see their photos on the website when that happens. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Uh, to move along. Are there any, uh, comments or questions on agenda items only? On agenda items only. There being no questions or comments. Uh, at this time I think we'll Go, We'll go to Ms de Martinez's presentation once again on the budget. Everybody should have it memorized by
016now. Okay. Um, tonight's presentation really quick. We're just required to have a budget hearing. We've had several meetings, uh, discussing all the aspects of this budget so far. So this is just a recap of what's on ballot. Um, Tuesday, May 20th. We're almost there as a reminder. We have a vision. We're trying to get somewhere. I think between the work of our committees and certainly through the budget survey. We're starting to see that we do have a lot of common ground and hopefully that will help us reach our goals. The budget that you're gonna be voting on on the 20th is $58,689,234 is a 2.63% increase from the 24 2 5 budget. More importantly, the tax levy to support that budget proposal is $47,782,758, which is a 1.99% increase from 24 25. So again, that's
017less than our allowable levy cap. Uh, our allowable cap this year was 2.39%. We are only letting 1.99%. This is what's on the ballot. The first proposition is the budget and the portion, uh, of tax to cover that budget. We have a capital reserve proposition for, um, Casey, uh, Rushmore abatement and reconstruction of the auditorium. Phase two fire alarm upgrades at the middle school high school, um, mason repair, the middle school, high school and district wide security updates, and a partial roofing replacement at the high school. Uh, all of these projects are funded from our capital reserves, estimated total of, uh, three $3,738,700. This is money that's already in our reserves. It is no additional tax implication on that proposition. And lastly, we have, uh, the election of one board member, uh, president Z term
018is up on June 30th and you'll be asked to vote for one member of the board for a three year term starting on July 1st. And if you miss anything or you still wanna read about the budget, everything's on our website. You can now also drop by any district filled in library or the Westbury Public Library if you wish to review paper copies of all budget documents. Um, and if you have questions, you can still email us at our budget email address. So please come out and vote. Um, it really helps. It makes a difference either way you vote. Um, May 20th, 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM here at the high school in. Thanks. Thank you. Okay, we'll continue with the agenda. May I have a motion to approve the minutes of the 23 2025
019motion? I second. All in favor? A aye. Five. May I have a, uh, motion to approve the consent agenda please? Motion second. All in favor? A aye. Okay. Are there any, uh, any other questions or concerns that anyone would like to bring up? Not about the agenda. About anything. Anything. I'm ready. Okay. Can I stand here? Just gimme one minute. I just hired, uh, well in a way, hired her. Andre Barrett, personnel clerk. Where are you? I wish Jen Suman. You'll be great. And Julie Santoro. From what I understand, Julie moved from general Ed, led the challenge. So thank you very much. Alright, pickle. That's all you want. Vanessa, please come up to the podium. Vanessa. Hi Vanessa will pickle. So as educators and people education and everything we do, we do a great deal
020of consideration. And so back on the ton tape. When we pulled numbers to the kids, I'm sorry, rack. The did ask, are we just pulling these and just putting em the class just as a number pulled? My answer is yes. Didn't typically done well then. And now that I'm doing placement meetings of my own and it's hours, hours, we all know as educators that this takes hours. It's not a simple pull out of the hat from a classroom and I just am asking for some kind of consideration. I'm not asking burden sir. I'm just asking that some consideration is made as to do these, our earliest learners at Carl Place, do they have familiar base there? Are we splitting services? Is there maybe a see it? Are there more women one see it that, you
021know, maybe we should split it evenly. I just wish there'd be some consideration to the program. I don't want this to be a check in a box and just say UPK. We did it. Like we want this on fidelity. So I just asked for some consideration. Thank You. Thank you. Um, I'm Berg 26th Street. Can you please use the microphone? Okay. So during the time that the bond was presented for months, you guys spend, um, you know, funding the community about the importance of UK and now it feel this to bond failed and discussion was over. Um, member of the community offered to help the board develop and to make sure pre-K was successful in our district using the existing resources gap. Since the panel is not organized, we are assuming this itself internally, we,
022when should we expect to be the positives and the negatives of the first year's program? Talent is strengthening the foundations of positives and correct negatives. What other improvements, additions and additions will be used in the programs here? One three pre to a close and there have been no further focus for discussions. Just one. There has been no 12th of how we, we will establish prepay in elementary school settings where it belongs with access to local bathroom, saints, elementary school programs and appropriate outdoor life. I'm very, very happy for the Rushmore students. They were granted their extra section and that's the way it should be. Small and sizes. However, I find it very ironic as when the bond was presented we were told there was no pressure elementary schools. So I'm here to ask, what is
023the future of the previous program? What reflections have been made with year one and what improvements are being made for the next common? We we are, we are discussing what to do with what pre-K, whether we go for another bond, uh, what type of bond, how many classrooms. So we'll be discussing it, uh, over summer in June, June and July. We don't want, we don't want to just put something up to have it voted upon. If I put something up again, I'd like to have it pass. Don't put you on it building. I'll, Well, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna lie to the against think that's what It's, no, I don't think that's was a lane. It was a Jerry Lane extension on its own. I can't hear you. I'm sorry. I think 'cause last
024year whole proposition at it was linked to, sorry, not supposed to be speaking. I mean, strictly speaking, msla we're, we're supposed to do them one at a time and, and I I wanted to, wanted to respond on on one other item. Um, it has to do with classroom space. The additional section is going to, I think if I'm correct, Ms. Ti going to cost us some space that we're going to have to move people from one place to another and reconfigure things like that. Just, I wanna make sure folks know there was no empty space that was unused. Right. We're gonna displace some things in favor of other things. Just be clear on that. You said thank you. Yes. Um, Kim stop to one 30. Magnolia Street. I feel like I current p there, so
025I wanna just give some of the positive things that have come. Um, I paid for four kids to go to pre-K before this. So this program is great. I think scope has been great through this whole thing. The teacher has been, um, she loves the kids. Kids walk in, she hugs them, they're learning, they're thriving. They wanna go to school every day. Um, I personally love that in high school I, that mom went that. Um, I think the high school setting is so good for the kids. The high school kids gets go into the classroom, they get to interact with the kids I think in Cherry Lane that there's not much a major difference there. So they're learning things on the high school kids, um, that are beneficial them. They love seeing the high school
026kids coming, whether it's reading or whatever. They do have to walk a little far to the bathroom. Um, but I think they got that after like the first day. Some of the negative things that I think that we, you know, we've discussed in the past. Is it scope or is it far place? I think that we have, when we put in requests, when we put in for some things like outdoor equipment or bubbles or chalk, some of the answers are scope. You have to refer to scope. And then on some instances, well's not a park place. So, you know, like put the cap and downs and stuff like that. So I think that we have to draw a line in the sand that it is hosted just house here and we are not going by
027park place stuff. There has to be an answer of it's either scope or it's park place. Um, so I personally love the UPK. I really appreciate both. I appreciate her teacher, um, the aide. I think they're great. So, you know, that's just my opinion as to be PK parent. I mean, there's some of us sitting here now and I, I don't know, do you have anything? No, I agree. It's been great so far. Yeah, so that's, so thank you. But it, it's, I like it. I'm the supporter. Good question now. Yeah. Thank you Mr. And thank you for the council. Yes. Anything else? Hi. Um, I, uh, missed the previous meeting 'cause the date was switched. Uh, I, uh, reviewed the literacy committee's, uh, presentation. I am, uh, curious to know as to when this
028curriculum committee presentation will be given, um, that, uh, committee had met. But I was looking for additional follow up, um, with regarding, you know, being teacher appreciation week. Um, I did see in the several, some of the agendas and minutes that, um, Rushmore is going to be looking for a little bit of a reorganization change with regarding teachers with the re one resignation, the two retirees, one teacher move, one teacher being moved to central office for a different position. General ed teacher moving to special ed with the addition of the instructional coach. Um, how these new positions that will be filled, hoping that they are spread out amongst old grades, not, oh, this teacher retired from fifth grade, so we're putting all the, you know, the, the same, the new personnel in a new grade
029in the same grade. So I think that that needs to be just thought about how new personnel once they're hired, where they are placed, um, you know, their expertise and their licensing areas. What kind of support is going to be given to all of these teachers in addition to the New York state requirement of mentor hours, um, you know, movement between grades and of that nature. And, um, PZA? No, my question to you is, um, I, I understand that you are running opposed and you have, it has been acknowledged that you've been on the board for 25 years. What is it that you hope to bring or achieve in the next three years once you are, um, you know, given the opportunity, is there anything that he would, like, is there anything as a board
030or anything, any new initiatives that he would like to bring? So thank you for your time. So unfortunately, as one of the rules, not really candidates who are incumbent should not really be campaigning, uh, as part of the board meeting itself. So, um, I would advise Mr. Zino if he wants to answer that answer. So would there be an opportunity for question and answer at meet the candidate? Is this, is this the be candidate night? If You want, if you wanna speak with you, we can talk after the board. Oh, I wasn't aware that it was a one-on-one question and answer. I thought it was, you know, a presentation that you were presenting yourself as the candidate for board of elect board president. So, okay. Thank you for that clarification. So if I, if I
031may, yes, two other things. Um, Dr. Omar, Ms. Fredericks will be doing our curriculum committee presentation. I believe that's on May 20th. So we will have presentation before we go to the multipurpose room for the vote count. Okay. And I don't want to speak for Ms. Sole, but I'm sure that the distribution of I work, I work very long and hard to make sure that the balance in all grades, Like, uh, Dean Absolutely. Yes. And, and the necessary support in having would say, if you have any specific questions, Ms, that's great place. But the balance and the support and the distribution being taken care of. Meticulous. Hi, uh, I just had a quick question. Um, I've been hearing from community members that things are changing in the middle school for as far as science regions
032is concerned. They've been taking it in eighth grade and I'm not quite sure who I should be really reaching out to get the accurate information or if somebody could share some of it here. But as a community member, I don't have any younger kids in the middle school. I'm concerned for our school district that for years we focused on enriching our kids and making them, allowing them the ability to achieve at the higher levels and taking those AP courses by, from what I'm hearing, which again, somebody can correct, if I'm mistaken, not all students are going to be allowed to take the eighth grade science Regents exam anymore, which is now putting, pushing them back. And I just need to know why this is occurring and why has everything changed over to, we're not looking
033to get those higher courses taken out now. We're just gonna bring everybody down and not allow 'em those opportunities unless they're classified in seventh grade as honors, which I don't agree with personally. And I'm a little concerned that a lot of community members do not know what's going on as I am not a hundred percent. And I was hoping somebody could clarify some of that for me. So I would say that that's a question to have with the middle school, high school administration first. So nobody here can answer that. It's a conversation to be had with middle school, high school administration first. And furthermore, I would say is a mistaken characteristic to say that we are somehow trying to hold students back. So nobody in this room can answer the question of what I just
034asked. Yes. The conversation to have middle school, high school administration. What about everybody sitting here should hear about it. Continue to go around and around on that and we ask the people, please come to the podium when they speak. Thank you. I guess I'll call You A quick point on 1 1, 1 question ago, I thought that this was to meet the candidates meeting to some extent in the past when there were multiple candidates running for the board, there was a meeting in the auditorium wherein we asked questions of the candidates and the, the voters got to ask questions of the different candidates, their views on various subjects that was not considered campaigning. And um, so my question is, have you once again changed the format for the process of having budget meetings that Mr.
035Zeno is not going to be able to present any, any views on the future of his position? That's one question. The second one is answer your first question. Yeah, just, just in, in the event that we had an incident with the water district here. And is there a way for right in balance that could undermine this process? You can answer both questions. Yes, there is, there may only be one seat and one candidate for that seat. But anyone could write in or run a write in campaign and whoever has the most votes, including a write in candidate can prevail in the election. In terms of your first question with regard to Meet Canada, saying Meet Canada saying is not posted by the school district. It's what? It's not posted by the school district. It may
036occurs here, it occurs during the course of a board meeting, but during the meeting Canada portion, it's not as part of the board meeting, it's just next to it. 'cause we're all here. Who wants Women voters labor? Women voters. So I can't speak to why or why not there's meeting Canada site. But I explained to you that sort of process as to it doesn't occur at the actual board, public board meeting it, the meeting pauses for the meeting had portion of board occurs at the end of the meeting. So does that mean that Mr. Zaino is being denied an opportunity to make any kind of public statement in front of voters in the school district where he to wish to do so? We, you know what Eloise? Yeah, It's all right. I just wanted to
037make sure you had ample opportunity for, for whatever is necessary here. No Motion to vote to public session. I make a motion. All in favor? Aye. I didn't plan on on making any type of speech tonight. Tonight, okay. Mm-hmm. Because I was running out post. What I plan to do next year with, with this board is to, um, everybody mention UBK. What are we gonna do with that? Are we going to set up another bond? So we've gotta continue putting it in places that we can find room. Uh, I think the, uh, for myself, I I, I'd like to have a, a building where all the kids, you know, we have five classrooms or six classrooms can all be together rather than separated through around the buildings. Uh, curriculum instruction. We hired Ted two years
038ago because of his expertise in instruction and along, along with Mrs. Fredericks. I think we're making headway on that. He's brought a lack, a lack to our place and another forward to continuing that. Uh, in the following year, also about the board that I'm on, all my board members, we, we get along, we have differing opinions, but we all work together. And that's not only at exec session or public session, but we also talk during the course of the day. And it's, uh, it's actually a, a pleasant experience. Um, as far as facilities go. I look forward to the work that Mr. Raia is going to do this, this summer, uh, Mr. SOI school. So maybe we can finish that up. Uh, are we gonna begin finish this summer? We have one more, one more
039summer. So we're working on it this summer. And then one more summer. Um, what else? I was looking at the, uh, cafeteria over the last few years have been losing money. Cafeterias shouldn't lose money. They should be break even or a little bit of a profit. What else? We have a new athletic director who is doing a great job. You, you've taken, uh, taken this job and made it something that, that really served. So thank you very much. Uh, I think our special education department is excellent. I don't hear, I don't hear any complaints about it. I think drm, Moler and the staff do a very good job. And I want, I want to continue with that. You know, basically I, I would, I'm running again because I, I like the business of education and
040it is a business. The revenue is the property taxes. The expenses are the cost of the personnel and the product that goes out the door, walks across the desk when we hand them their diplomas. So to me it, I look at it as, as a, as a business because I've been in corporations my entire life. Uh, also I think I could add value to this board since I have two board members who are in the second year and another two who are the first year and the superintendent was in his second year. So I have a lot of experience that I can talk to them about, uh, so that maybe we don't make the same mistakes once. So that's about it.