001Tanner not joining it's called to um said he's could be available for executive but he is texted me and said that he's being You might stop me. Sure. I mean, just look to see what Chris is. You close? Okay, we're going to get started. You can just You can just join. Okay. All right. Thanks. He's just pulling it to the parking lot now. You want to wait for a minute or No, >> excuse me. No, it's okay. All right. Uh, welcome Mahopac community. Oh, I'm sorry. >> Are we on? >> Yeah, you're good. >> Okay, sorry. Welcome community. Sorry. Welcome community. This is the uh work session combo. It's a work session followed by our public session for August 5th um 2025. Can I get a motion to open please? >> Vice President Mafra second.
002>> Trusty Kona. All in favor. >> Please join me for the pledge. I >> think we're good to do the right over there. The >> 1776 flag. 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. At this time, I um like to make a uh motion uh for to u for Lisa Porco to be our clerk prom uh today. Resolve the Mahopac uh Central School District Board of Education appoints Lisa Porco as meeting chair prom for the August 5, 2025 work session. Uh can I get the motion please to approve? >> Vice President Trustee Travis. All in favor? Thank you very much. Okay. So, now we've got some board discussion on uh on
003the public feedback of the on code of conduct and districtwide safety plan. I will turn that over to Madam Superintendent. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Um, as you know at the reorg on July one, uh, Troy Bill did public hearings on the code of conduct and the district-wide safety plan as required by law. Um, the public hearing is open for 30 days and um, we're at the point where we did receive a few comments on the code conduct. Um, Mr. Bill did reach out to there were some people that said it was fine. Some people gave a couple of suggestions and uh Mr. Bill reached out to each of the individuals that had comments and we actually did go back and look at the section on AI usage and took the suggestion from one of
004the commenters and put it into the code of conduct. So other than that, there's nothing substantive to uh change in the code of conduct and the comments on the district-wide safety plan were all positive and supportive of the plan. So uh both of those items are on the agenda for later for the board's consideration um so that we can be in compliance with uh submitting it to SCP next time. Any questions? anything? No. Okay. U the legal RFP the next steps of who was going to >> I shared with the board several weeks ago the package and information of those that responded to the request for proposal for legal services. Um I did ask if at that time if the board had any direction on what you wanted to do to move forward with considering
005the candidates. Um basically in public session you could talk about a timeline steps. If you want to discuss the contents we would have to have that as part of executive session. >> Right. >> So however wants to move forward with that. Well, I think what we'll I think we do right now since we have um since we have council on a monthto month, I think we should uh think we should move to uh to to maybe table that until we can convene maybe next week and have a special meeting about the uh about the next steps for the uh for legal and take a look at you know how uh what we have right now and and how it weighs up towards the or how it um how it's going to for the rest of
006the year, for the rest of the school year moving forward. Um, so yeah, we can we can go through that and >> and and that matches the next item where a special meeting is needed for next week, >> right? >> To adopt the tax warrant. Um, you have any questions on that? I would turn it over to Lieutenant Murray. >> Yeah. Listen, you want to update us on the tax warrant, please? >> Sure. Um I reached out to office of real property tax services for pun county and when um I asked if it would be ready by August 5th she said it wouldn't be ready the assessible so but she needs it by August 15th it needs to be approved by the board right >> so um she just asked it 29 minutes ago I
007don't have a resolution in place but so we're going to need to get that together and then have a meeting to approve it >> yeah new special meeting next week won't put that in that's fine >> you want to select the date now so that it can be planned for >> um trusty um what's amazing how quickly things fill up. Um how's the does the 12 look okay for that's a Tuesday I can 12. Okay. 134. >> 14th. And make sure that we have the right numbers because you said ask down by 15. >> I have the numbers. Let's put the resolution together. >> As soon as possible. >> 14. Ben. 14. 14. Jennifer. 14. Lisa. >> Yeah. Chris, you're good. Okay, great. Okay. So, let's let's set that special meeting up for next week
008uh for August 14th. >> What time do you want to come back? I would propose something like 6:30 by 7. >> 6:30. 6:30. >> Yeah. >> Okay. 6:30. Okay. So, August 14th at 6:30. Uh, PD room. Okay. If that's available, that be available. Very good. Okay. Um, okay. Sorry. All right. Um, so we have district position next steps. Um, I know there want to be discussion, but I wanted to I wanted to uh push that to next week to have a discussion uh at the special meeting over that. Um, and then maybe have a uh we can convene a small committee, small search committee that might be uh involved in that. That would be nice. We haven't had a district for a month now and it's been a struggle, but we should move towards it
009faster. So, wait until next week to even discuss our next steps because we don't even have a job posting right now. >> Right. Right. Well, I want to go over the job posting and and the duties, but I'd like to do it like to do it next week. Um, listen, >> I was just going to say last time around we didn't have >> four months before we got the right person. So, you know, >> we can't find someone if we don't want >> How long? >> That was in 2017. So, >> that was a long time ago. We're talking about >> the work doesn't change. So, I'm just saying we had a situation where we wanted the right person. So, next week we have a discussion that should >> I don't I think we should
010make a decision. >> But what is the board? We want to wait till next week or what I mean. Well, we have we're going to have a special reading where we're going to >> What are we doing for this clerk? >> I have I have an outline uh for the for the clerk uh and for the duties of the clerk. I wanted to go over that and then wanted to go over the next steps of where we're going to post. >> We have to post the salary. >> Well, you have to post the salary and that's why we're going to go over next week and we'll figure out the salary is and uh and the and the duties that we can all agree to and then we're going to we're going to press forward. Um,
011okay. Uh, board committees. Um, I know Lucy and I have talked about the board committees. Once again, uh, we wanted to, uh, assign to do committee assignments next week at the, uh, at the special meeting. There are a couple of there are a couple of positions or a couple of committees that, um, that we might need or might not need. Um, so again, I wanted to be able to go through that. Um and then we'll assign each of of the uh chairs and co-chairs of those of those committees. So we can we'll do that at the special meeting. Also, uh board of education retreat letter F. I wanted to look to do something in September. Um August is just too August is just too close and too but I wanted to uh have everybody look
012at their calendars and look to do something possibly uh for a retreat in September. Um, and if everybody has their trusty September calendar uh available, um, you can you can email me back some of the dates that you might uh that you might want for that. Um, I'm looking more towards like the like maybe like the uh Wednesday the 17th. Um, it's kind of sandwiched right in the back of the month over there. I don't know if that's a that's a good date for everybody, but if somebody wanted to look at that, if you have to want to offer up another one, I'm just looking at I'm being a little bit selfish. I'm looking at my calendar and I apologize. Um, but I know the 17th for me is really good. Um, but I'm sure
013if we if there's another date, I'm sure that I would be able to maybe move a few things here in order to help uh do that because the retreat's very important. >> So, I want to make sure we I'm sorry. That's I think that I'm unavailable. So >> that's your birthday. I am sorry. >> No, that's not my birthday. 10 days later. >> Oh, okay. 10 days later. Well, then that takes the 27th out, doesn't it? Okay. >> Um All right. So, scratch Saturday the 27th. Um Okay. Does anybody want to throw Ben? You want to throw a date out? Jen got a date in September. >> I could do it literally any night except the night we have already which is September on September 9th. >> Right. So, we have the 4th and the
0149th. >> I would rather do it sooner rather than later. Well, I can't diaper. I mean, I can't do it in a I really can't do it in August, but I can do it in September, which is why I offered that up. Uh, how about the You want to do the same with you want to do like Thursday the 11th? Oh, wait a minute. I don't want to do that. >> Well, it's my birthday. That's That's a birthday. It's birthday. >> No, that's not mine. I'm I'm late. >> That's actually No, that's actually my wife's birthday. Um, Chris, what do you got the week? You want to just do the week of the eighth and we'll all get together? Because the only do the 10th maybe. That's Wednesday the 10th. >> 10th day before. >>
015Okay. So, yeah, that's fine. Okay. So, >> yeah, the fourth and the ninth. So, all right. The 10th for the board retreat. >> Did you I I mean I was okay with that. >> I'm okay with that. >> Yeah. Okay. We can do that with the same with the same over at uh overies. That's fine. You reach out for them um tomorrow and see if that's a good date for them. But we're looking at 910 for the board retreat. Okay. Okay. Um right. So, uh earlier in the month of July, we sent out the uh board of education procedures and protocols. I know we have them right over here. Um have something that you wanted to discuss or is this something with regards to the board protocols that you think might be an action action
016item for the retreat on September 10th >> the same protocols as prior correct? >> Yeah. Yes. That's exactly what there also might be um there might be opportunities to incorporate this in with the retreat on on in just any clarity. Yeah, we did that the last time. So, yeah, think that would be think that would be appropriate. That's also a nice opportunity to give Boseies a little bit little bit of time. We can advance them our board procedures protocols, have them go through and mark up how they would like to incorporate their talk into that. Thoughts on that? Send this over. One line here. The board may delegate contact district. I think that should be eliminated. >> Excuse me. >> Which one? I'm sorry. Where? So with second slide cover slide first communication one two
017three four five six board delegated trusted contact district and vice president we talk about it at the retreat but it's fine I just think that should be a good discussion >> yeah I do too that's see that's nice constru Yeah, because really it's it's really okay. Yeah. Anything else on the glance? Jen, Lisa, anything on a glance? Chris, no. All right. So, let's move on to the upcoming agenda review. Shall I walk? >> Oh, absolutely. I'm sorry. I was just going to say that now. >> All right. So, tomorrow when we go out into the auditorium at 7 pledge of allegiance again, the board will need to appoint Lisa Corpor for that meeting, comments on agenda items, my report, then you have three donations here, and then consent agenda, human resources. right now just there's
018a message that says that the human resources agenda will be added after four use it during executive session prior to the regular meeting. So um after this you can be into executive session to review the human resources agenda and then we'll get that on the public agenda. Um the district-wide safety plan adoption as we mentioned earlier, the monthly special education reports. We have two students who we sent out to heads in school district for special education needs during the 242.5 school year. Those contracts are here. Um an agreement with Catnam County. It's the annual agreement for our preschool services. Manhattanville University. This is an annual agreement um for our faculty to take courses through Manhattanville um at their cost at their expense, but they have the courses here on our property. And so that's the
019agreement to allow that to happen. um education evaluation implementation. That's an annual certification that attests that all of our APR for teacher and principal evaluations was done according to the document that's been approved by the board and state education department. So that'll authorize a signature for that and submission. Um the employee benefit acrewed liability reserve. The board did approve that at the July one meeting. Was it unless it was July one that it was on there >> or the June meeting? >> At the June meeting. Um and it was approved for up to 200,000. And when Alysa went through the numbers, it should be 275,000. You're still not doing final um allocations uh into these reserves, but this allowed it. >> This was the type of IS 275 200. So this is the allocations for
020the reserve. This is for 2425 um money that we needed that we paid out employees that we need to refund. >> Okay. >> So it's a typo on the J meeting. This is a correction for that. >> Also, sorry to interrupt. I had a budget transfer on there that I added before I went on vacation. I don't see it on there. I don't know. Maybe I could save it. It might at the end if I had it under new business. >> I don't think it needs to be because it's included in the authorization and that reorganization meeting for cleanups. >> Oh, okay. That's Thank you. >> Uh so letter J is moonlight tracking services. These are business office um services. This is for payroll data. for tracking and um letter K is for reporting data.
021CB biz valuation group is also for the business office for reporting property insurance um for the current fiscal year such an annual agreement. Tobin company up our CPA to provide claims auditing um for the 2526 school year. Omni that is an annual agreement for um our tax sheltered annuity service that if employees want to participate in that this is the agreement with them. Haramark won the bid for child nutrition for breakfast and lunch for 2526. So this uh approves that. Heartland School Solutions. We have the system in place where um parents can sign up to put money into student fund accounts. So this is the agreement to do that for 2526 school year. Letter Q, Pton County Sheriff's Office. We have an SPO currently at ESY. And so this is the agreement that they got
022over to us to pay their SPO for that service. Then letter R is our Xerox agreement and we'll do Xerox for desktop printing and S is network printing with Southern Westchester OC's a multi-year agreement. Then in executive session we'll talk about T U and V in more detail. You have side letter and two MLAs. Then letter W is the code of conduct that we've completed the public hearing. So that's ready for adoption. policy 4327, home instruction. The board had a first review of that at the July one meeting. So, it's the second review and the same thing with policy 1813 extreme heat transition phase. So, it's the second reading. And then we have the minutes that Alyssa put together from the July 1, 2025 meeting for approval. And that's the consent agenda. And then you
023have resident comment and closing. Any questions or comments? Good. All right. Very good. Thank you very much. So, that was the agenda review. Now, we'll come up to um we've got some uh we got a segment for public comment. So, we ask all speakers to adhere the policy 12:30 in the following fashion. Maintain the public decorum appropriate for a school. Address the president of the board. Obscene language. Lielist statements. Threats of violence. Statements advocating racial, religious, or other forms of prejudice will not be tolerated. Comments and questions should be made in a respectful manner. Personal attacks or criticism of any person connected with. They're not permitted. Uh Lisa, do we have we have anybody that signed up to speak? >> Christine Patina. >> Christine, are you here? >> It's here. Marie Franco. I think Marie
024said she was going to come to the board meeting and probably the public. Yeah, >> those are the only two that signed up. >> Those are the only two. Okay. I see that we have a nice group over here. Would you like to speak? Please stand up and state your name, please. >> Can I sit here? >> Yeah, sure. >> Great. Hi, my name is Darra Burke. I am a librarian here at Mayak and secondary vice president of the MTA. I also live here, raised my family here, shop here, and pay taxes here. I come before you tonight as a committed community member who deeply cares about the future of our schools and our children. I want to express my unwavering support for Superintendent Christine Thomas who has demonstrated again and again for dedication, professionalism,
025and heart. In her time with us, she has shown up not just at her desk, but in classrooms, in community spaces, at student performances, athletic contests, and academic showcases. She has made our district her home, not just on paper, but in spirit. She listens, she collaborates, and perhaps most importantly, she leads with the full weight of experience and with students at the center of every decision. Recent criticisms have questioned her transparency, particularly regarding the school budget. Let me be clear, the state budget was delayed. Every district across New York State faced uncertainty. And yet, our district met its deadlines responsibly. To suggest that this was anything less than transparent is not only unfair, it's inaccurate. I understand that emotions run high, especially when it comes to taxes, but it's dangerous when we allow misinformation, fear,
026or political agendas to overshadow the facts in the work of the professionals. We are educators. We are experts. I agree that every parent deserves a voice. However, please understand that running a school district is profoundly complex and something that Superintendent Toner does exceptionally well. Our superintendent has supported our staff, empowered our students, and made decisions based on what's best for learning. She has also had the courage to stand up for what she believes is best for our community's children, some of which is presently being challenged. The success of our schools does not come from tearing down leadership or sewing division. It comes from partnership, from listening, from learning, and from doing the work together. I urge this board and our broader community to recognize the strength we have in our current leadership. Let's build on
027that, not dismantle it. There's now talk in the community, and I hope it's just rumor that the district is considering buying out the remaining years of our superintendent's contract. If that's true, I think the community deserves answers. How can we justify paying for two contracts at once? the current superintendent and the incoming superintendent salary, especially after some members of this board ran on a platform for fiscal responsibility. Who will be leading us during this transition? Who will be advocating for students, teachers, and staff while the district is in flux? Will there be a full open search for a new superintendent, a process that itself comes with costs, or will the board appoint someone directly? Will the community and staff have a voice in this decision? These are not just logistical logistical questions. These are questions
028about vision, about leadership, about whether we are acting in the best interests of our children. Thank you for listening and I hope we can continue this conversation in a spirit of unity, transparency, and shared schools. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, thank you very much. Thank you, Daryl. Um, okay. So, what we're going to do right now is we are going to move into executive session. Um, we're going to discuss uh we've got some student matters, we've got collective bargaining, we've got discussion matters that may lead to appointment or separation from the district. And and then what we'll do is we'll close from executive and then we'll meet all over at the uh over at the auditorium right after we're done. Okay. All right. All right. So, can I get a motion to go into
029executive session and then close the meeting for >> Vice President Mafra? Second. >> Second. Trusty icon. All in favor? >> Okay. Thank you very much.