001I'm now going to hand the meeting over to Doctor Mauricio for the superintendents report. Good evening to, uh, board trustees, President Wilson, members of our community and staff, and also, uh, some two new guests that we were going to. Introduce in just a few moments. Uh, but welcome to, uh, Board of Education meeting. And, uh, this is where I get to speak about, uh, the things that are happening in our school district, uh, and Peekskill Pride, as we entitled it. Uh, we'd like to take a moment just to speak about, um, the occurrence that happened today, which is a safety matter, which is always a priority for us. Uh, in fact, the number one priority, uh, for us. And so just wanted to update the community who are watching online and those who are here
002today. Um, there was a, uh, social media post, uh, that we came into, um, uh, into information this morning, early this morning. And, uh, there was no actual threat, uh, that was made against our district. It was essentially the handle, uh, which is the name of the account, uh, that had a, um, word in it that we felt, uh, with. I'll see you tomorrow. Uh, with something that was very, um, uh, troubling for us, or at least cautionary for us. And so we decided, uh, early in the morning to enact our lockout procedures, which means that no one comes in the building. No one goes out of the building. Class, uh, activities, gym class, art class, music class, reading, writing, mathematics all take place as normal, uh, in the school day. Um, but the students
003would not go out for recess. Uh, or for outside gym. Uh, however, we'll continue that. Uh, tomorrow they will be able to go outside. Uh, they're we're making some, uh, headway on our investigation, but, uh, we do not, uh, deem this to be a threat for our students. And again, no actual threat was made. Uh, at that time in the morning, we felt that we would be, uh, highly cautious and move into that direction. I do want to say thank you to our administrative team, uh, who, uh, banded together early in the morning at the wee hours of the morning to get ready for this. So we have some administrative team here. We have an A buds and our team, all of our administrative team, including Laura Belfiore and our assistant superintendent. So if you
004can, please stand. We have a principal, Doctor Ferris. Let's say thank you to all of you. We appreciate you all. Go ahead and, uh, stand on up. Thank you for all you did to make our day normal. Uh, as as normal as we could be. And we appreciate that. Uh, also a very special. Thank you. Not here tonight. Um, but I want to say and applause for them. And that is, uh, chief DeLuise called him, uh, early in the morning, and he had police at each one of our schools during arrival and dismissal. So let's give chief DeLuise and the police officers and Peekskill a big thank you. And we have one of our security agents here as well. And to her and her team and David Santiago were on it this morning all throughout
005the day. Thank you to our security team. We appreciate all that you do. And with that, uh, I also want to, uh, focus our energies back on our students, as we always have, as our primary focus. And we have two wonderful students. Uh, here, you see pictured, Doctor Bedi. Doctor Ferris and I, um, with our, uh, student council. These are the, uh, council members from all the grade levels who are, uh, elected leaders in this school. And they're going to be amazing, uh, leaders as they graduate, but also while they're in high school as well. And we have, uh, two of them who were elected in this meeting to be part of our student board members. Uh, you may recall that, uh, we wanted to have, uh, an a board enacted a policy to have
006ex-officio student members, which means that they actually sit at the board table. They will provide input to us. We did talk about the importance of making sure that that input is collective of our student, uh, uh, diverse body of, uh, at the high school and making sure that their voice is, uh, made known to us as a board and us as a district throughout to elected, uh, um, students. And tonight we get to, uh, swear them in as well. And so with that, um, we have, uh, Talia Martin and Ellen Morrell, who are our ex-officio, uh, board members. Let's give them a big round of applause. All right, so before we bring them up, uh, we have wonderful swag for them. And so, uh, each of our board members, now, you are part of that
007team. Uh, you have your Peekskill bag. You have a wonderful. We gave this to administrators. And this is a wonderful notebook to take all your notes. Um, as well, we have a pad folio, a pen, and some swag for you, as now you are at the board table, and we want to make sure you, uh, come in style. And so we have a bag for each of you. And at this time, we're going to call up, uh, Talia Martin, and let's have her come on up. We'll swear her in. Let's give her a round of applause. And so Talia will have you up here and, uh, you know, like when these, uh, swearing judges and senators, the family gets to come up as well. So members of the family want to come up. We can
008videotape for you of one of you want to come up and stand next to her? She will be, uh, uh, she will affirm her commitment to the Board of Education at this time. Uh, we'll give her a few moments. All right. Let's give a round of applause for her on. All right. And repeat after me. All right. Ma'am? Maybe. You can write a raise in my head. I, Talia Martin. Do you solemnly affirm. Do solemnly affirm that I am. That I will faithfully discharge the duties of the ex-officio member of the board. Observe the Peekskill School District's Code of Conduct, and follow its policies according to the best of my ability. You are officially. Thank you. I was actually right here. All right. Another round of applause for Talia. Talia. Talia. And we also have.
009And, uh, they'll introduce themselves later and say a few words about themselves so you know who they are. But we also have Ellen Morrell, who is also going to be part of our ex-officio student board member. So please come on up. Let's give her a round of applause. Oh, yes. And her family can come up as well. Former PTO president Marissa O'Leary and executive at Sunriver. And that is Mr. Morale as well. All right. All right. Raise your right hand. Sorry. I out of my mouth. I, Ellen Mauro, do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the ex-officio student member of the board. Observe the Peekskill City School District's student code of conduct and follow its policies according to the best of my ability. Thank you. Yeah. All right, another round of
010applause for Ella. And so we will have, uh, students and family can join us here. Those in the audience, uh, if you're part of the family, you want to join us, you can certainly do so in our board because they are part of our board. Now, if you can all join us in front of the dais and we're going to take a group photo, uh, this will be on video. So you have it all on video and we'll send you pictures as well to each of the families. All right, let's give Talia and Ella another big round of applause. And right after, uh, Peekskill Pride, we're going to have you, uh, read statements, uh, that you have prepared to introduce yourselves to the community. So that'll happen in just, uh, short bit. I also want
011to recognize our former trustee, Michael Simkins, who joined us as well. Thank you for coming and being here. You're always welcome. And I also, uh, to Leah, your family member is, uh, works at a nursing home where my mother is, and I get I've seen her for over a year. Do great work, uh, with with our, uh, family members and our parents. So let's give her a big round applause. Thank you. Thank you for all that you do. I know it is not easy, uh, especially with Mrs. Mauricio. So I apologize for anything, uh, that may have happened there. Uh, at this time, I would like to bring up, uh, wonderful. Um, uh, organization or company, uh, that donated $2,220 last year so that the students could go to the altar. Um, I also students
012can go to the maritime aquarium trip. And we are so excited to have Sachs and Brown LLP join us today. Uh, we have the check that, uh, they shared and we want to bring them up, applaud for them. We weren't able to do that last year, and we want to make sure that we recognize them and say thank you. So, uh, please come on up. Thank you. Going to take over. I say, I say, would you like, say some words? He said. Absolutely. So, uh, yes. We just wanted to say thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity that we were able to enjoy and be so excited about, you know, about the importance of education outside of the classroom. That was an absolute honor and privilege to be able to contribute back to the
013great school district. Thank you. Come up front and take a picture. Trustees. I should have had to stay up front, but I'm going to take one more picture and say thank you and Mrs. Budds and Doctor Vilas Rodriguez if you can join us up front as well. Um. This back to back. We. Okay, just a few more slides. But, uh, you may have noticed the name sacks, and we have a wonderful experience. Extraordinary. Uh, teacher, we actually pulled her from the classroom and, uh, elevated her and promoted her to an instructional coach position districtwide. Uh, she is an extraordinary teacher. Nora sachs, let's give her a round of applause to say thank you. And that chair confirms everything I said about you. Thank you for all you do for our kids, and we really appreciate
014you every single day. Thank you. All right. This weekend I had the great opportunity to join the Black Diamonds. Once a year they invite myself, Doctor Bedi, leaders of the community and the county to speak to the young men. It was in a weekly empowerment session on their own. These students come out on Sunday. Um, uh, middle of the day and come to the library to engage in an hour, hour and a half of conversation with, uh, leaders Martin McDonald and Mr. Styles from our district. Also, Mr. Flores is part of the board, and they come out on their own time to hear and learn about, um, how they can continue on this journey, coming from, uh, young men to men, uh, manhood. And they talk about real topics that are important to them. I
015had the opportunity, uh, sharing, uh, goal setting and, uh, creating a pathway. And I shared with them the, um, quote, uh, from Denzel Washington. And that is a dream without a plan is just a wish. And so we talked about the importance of dreaming big, but having a plan to accomplish that dream, uh, so that you, uh, very likely to have that happen. And so we talked about some of those realities as well. And then they took the opportunity to talk to me about cell phones in our schools and the new law, and had some questions for me. And so we talked about, uh, student advocacy and, and how you as, uh, uh, students in our high school have voice and collective voice and be able to make that known and where that adverse advocacy
016can happen. So they want to put it together, um, and send a letter to our governor and our elected officials as well, um, to us as a board. And so we want to hear from our students as well. Uh, what I did tell them is, uh, before you write the letter, just sit with it for a little bit, uh, maybe 30 days. 60 days. Um, and then put your thoughts together so that you experience what it is, uh, like, and then you have a more informed, uh, um, opinion about it. And so, uh, thank you, ma'am. McDonald's. Let's give our black diamonds a big round of applause and say thank you. Uh, to our families, our wonderful calendar for the whole year with all the activities, uh, which have already begun. Um, are is out.
017Uh, it's online. It'll also be arriving to each and every one of our homes. Uh, the youngest student in the family will receive it. And so if you haven't gotten it, it is on its way. And so thank you, Laura Belfiore, administrators who work all year long to make sure we separate the dates. And so we have minimal conflicts. And so this is a heavy task for us to make sure we have all those dates on the calendar for our families so that they can plan. And so let's give Laura and our team a big round of applause for putting that together. Speaking of which, thank you to the board for some input. Uh, we have it's in my last Friday letter. We'll continue to put it in my next Friday letter until the last
018day, um, has ended. And that is a, uh, one, uh, page that has all of the activities for take your child to school back to school nights, giving you the dates, uh, for each one of our schools so that it just makes it a little bit easier for families, especially those who have multiple children. Uh, so thank you, Kamari, for putting this together. Kamari, let's give her a round of applause. We appreciate you doing that. And thank you, uh, board members, uh, for sharing that as well. Uh, this weekend, if you are available, uh, there is a, um, living artist society will present one voice many, uh, many echoes. A Robinson, uh, Paul Robinson event at the Peekskill Middle School. That's this Saturday the 30th at 3 p.m. Our city singles will be part of
019this event. It's free to, uh, children 18 years of age and younger. Um, and there's also a code 25% off freedom 25. Um, so please, uh, join us if you can. This is on in my Friday letter as well to our families. There's a QR code to purchase tickets. And so thank you to this organization for bringing this very important event to our middle school as well. And, uh, the Patriot Swim team is back. Uh, and so this was, uh, based on input we received from our families, and that was to create feeder opportunities, additional swim practice, uh, beyond what we offer as a school district. Uh, they were part of pre-COVID. They were part of our middle school, uh, swimming opportunities for our families. Uh, we met with them, Austin Goldberg and I, uh,
020this summer and talked about the importance of having Peekskill families be part of the Patriots swim team. Um, and, uh, they were fully on board with that as well. And so we'll have community, local community and regional community members be part of that is a great way to learn, um, uh, to practice and get better at your skills. For those who want to be on swim teams or those who are already on swim teams. Tryouts, uh, will begin. It's for ages five through 18. And if you visit Patriots Swim team.org. Uh, you can get more information and also sign your child up as well. So thank you to our Patriots, uh, swim team for coming back to Peekskill as well. Speaking of sports. Uh, you see the logo there NBC has purchased? Um, uh, what
021was our, uh, streaming, um, program for our athletic events? We are now, uh, part of Sports Engine. And so all of this information is available on our website where you can see our games live, um, uh, that are locally streamed and live, real time. And so we're excited to bring that forward. And that is Sports Engine Inc and that is available on our website as well. We are moving into Hispanic Heritage Month uh occurs yearly, uh, September 15th through October 15th. And we're excited to, uh, engage in multiple activities in our school, uh, in our classrooms. And at this time, October 7th at 7 p.m., during our board meeting at the middle school, we're going to take a short break. And, uh, the board meeting will be at the middle school on October 7th, and
022we will go out into the, um, uh, the foyer area on the lower level, and you will be treated with a gallery we put together on celebrating the diversity of Latino culture. And we're really excited to bring that forward to our community. And so we're excited the board will see. It was excited that our parents will see it. We'll have student, um, uh, students there as well. And at that time, we are also I'm going to share it out now publicly. We're going to recognize three partners, uh, who have supported our school district, in particular our Latino community, and that is San River health. So, uh, Mr., uh, Morelle will be there as well. Let's give him a big round of applause for all that you do at sun River. We thank you. Uh, the
023Hispanic community core. So, Nora, um, uh, will be the Nora, um, will be there. Part of the Hispanic community core and Assumption Church, which are huge partners of ours and provide, uh, valuable resources to our community. Let's give all three partners a big round of applause. We will see you October 7th. And, uh, I would like to also share that Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, incorporated XII Kappa Sigma alumni chapter has their debut. They were, um, approved nationally, and they will have their community debut bridging with purpose. And that will take place, uh, Saturday. Um, uh, that will take place on uh, Saturday as well, from 1 to 4 p.m. at table nine. I'll get the actual date. Let me see if I have my glasses. Uh, that the 27th? Yes, the 27th. Uh, I'll be
024there, um, in and, uh, humbly, I'll be there on behalf of the Board of Education and our administrative team, um, excited to be part of the recognition with Tuesday McDonnell and Reverend Colter, who will be recognized at this important event. And so, um, proud to share that information. Will put them in the Friday letter as well. And so let's give, uh, this organization, this sorority and the two honorees a big round of applause and say thank you. I'm honored to be there with them. And lastly, uh, we were looking and it's middle of September is already upon us. And I can't believe how fast time has gone. Uh, but here are some wonderful pictures of our students, our, um, uh, board members, our staff, our administrators, and, uh, their families as well. And it's just
025been a great opening. Uh, despite today's event, we've had a wonderful opening of school. And I want to thank all the administrators, staff who worked diligently this, uh, this summer, uh, to make sure we had a wonderful opening for our students. And we've heard great feedback from everyone. And so with that, I will turn it back over to our president. And, uh, she will have the opportunity to let our two student, uh, ex-officio board members speak as well. Thank you for that report, David. I did want to thank, um, Mr. Sax and everybody at pronto, Sax and Brown. Everyone on the board really feels, um, passionate about trips. So we're really excited to have received, uh, um, money to send our. I think it was a third grade last year. Right. That third grade over.
026It's a maritime aquarium. Um, not an amazing trip. And we love it. Um, so thank you. And I also wanted to welcome our new board members. We value student voice on the board to, um, uh, kind of, uh, very high extent. We asked David for student input on almost everything, and we send him back to the high school or back to the middle school any time issues arise. So we asked for a student voice, and now we have students sitting at the table with us. So now it's your turn to be asked a million questions and pushed back to ask students their opinions on things. Because as members of the board, it's really the students voice, and it's really about making the education best for the students that are receiving. It is what our passion
027is. So I would love if you two would take a chance and an opportunity to introduce yourselves to not only the people on the board, but the community as a whole. Good evening, everybody. Uh, again. And Talia Martin, um, currently a senior at Peekskill High School. Firstly, I would like to thank you all the board for this lovely opportunity to voice my opinion and the Peekskill administrative staff. I am the currently the treasurer for the class of 2026. I'm a member of six honor societies and seven clubs, and now I'm here as the ex-officio officer for the school. Um. Outside of my academics. I love spending time with my family, reading and watching sports. I am honored to become a member of this board, to represent the perspective of the student body on issues and
028upcoming events, to improve the incredible legacy of our, or continue the incredible legacy of our school district. I once again thank you all for this opportunity. Thank you guys. Sorry. Technological malfunction here. I'm Ella morrell. It's nice to meet you all. I would like to thank as well the administrative board and also the administrators. Doctor Mauricio especially. Thank you guys so much for this opportunity. I'm a junior at Peekskill High School and I am the treasurer of the student council. I also I love advocacy in my community. I am a mentor for a girls empowerment group through New ERA Creative Space, and that has been such a wonderful opportunity to be engaged to my community and also have a lasting impact on the future generations. I am hoping to go to school for public policy
029and lawmaking, and I find that this will really help me in my future, build my future career. I am so honored to be part of this board because I've been in Peekskill my entire life, so it's wonderful to see how it's grown, especially under Doctor Ratio's leadership. So thank you and I truly hope to make a difference being on this board for my fellow peers. Thank you all so much. Well, thank you for sharing and we're all so excited to work with you. Um, we welcome you to the board table and we're really excited, especially for those first forays into public policy and advocacy, if that's where you want to head, getting the opportunity to do it here, really let you know whether it's what you want to pursue or not. Um, so thank you.
030Does anyone else in the board have anything they want to share? I just have a question and we don't have to answer it now or tonight. But I don't know if we talked about sort of how, uh, we will best be hearing from our student board members, like, do we want to do a regular report, um, you know, during a point in the meeting or, uh, you know, just have discussion or, you know, how we want to do it. So I just I don't know if we finalized that or talked about it. I don't think it's been finalized yet. And I also did want to bring up that we would love input from the students, and also to have this be a continual conversation, um, to make sure that this position is not beneficial just
031for the board members, but also for the student body and that they really feel heard. So if you all have opinions, if the students at the high school have opinions, um, if you have any ideas, we really do want to submit a, uh, solidify a situation in which you feel like your voice is truly heard. So if you have opinions, we would love that. We may want to make it a set agenda item. And then if you don't have anything to report but you're just here to, you know, observe, that's fine. It's no pressure that you have to have a report. Um, some of the issues that student input and voice has been so instrumental for us has been, um, when we've discussed the code of conduct, particularly the dress code. Student voice was hugely,
032um, instrumental in that. Um, when we discuss any kind of capital improvements, we always have student voice on that. Again, it's so helpful to us to know if we're going in the right direction or not. Um, the turf field was pretty much a direct outgrowth of student advocacy. So, um, yeah, things like that. It makes a huge difference. And in the past, we've gotten a report from student council once a month, and they would bring forward what was happening with this student body, which I think the board in the community really appreciated to hear from students what was happening, because it gave a real insight into the daily life of what was going on at the high school, and gave it just a breath of fresh air. As far as like it wasn't just a
033building over there, there was things happening, and it really enlightened the world as to what those were. So I think it would be great to put something on our agenda that was some sort of report input and comments on what was happening over. And I think we're all kind of curious about how the cell phone ban is going to go because that that initially, you know, we were having community discussions around it. And then, um, you know, the law just kind of solidified it and decided it. So there were a number of ways it could have gone. And, um, you know, I still think it's one of those things where, um, you know, the weight of it might go in one direction or another, like it could wind up being, like I said, like the
034smoking ban where a month out everybody's like, wow, this is actually kind of great. Or, you know, or it could be that it's one of those laws that, you know, a lot of people aren't, you know, following aren't into. So it'd just be interesting to know, like where the student body is coming in on it and how they're feeling about it because they know so many things come into play with it. And President Villa. And both of our students will join a virtual, um. Uh, training as student board, um, members next week. And then we just received today, uh, the Westchester Putnam School Board Association is hosting an in-person, um, training, uh, full day for students across the new account, two counties. And so we're going to invite them to it as well. So they'll
035be part of a collective group in the county of students. And, uh, certainly a topic of board presentations will be part of that. So we'll we'll hear some feedback from both of you on how you wish to address the board, the community, and, uh, serving as role. Can I just add one thing I definitely want to encourage you guys to to, you know, feel free to say no, we can do something better. Or maybe there's a different way to do it, because I think that's one thing that is helpful for us. You know, kind of just reiterating what everyone else said. But I think it's it's good to also mention, like, it's okay to say no or it's okay to say, you know, this would be a better option for us to do it this
036way. Um, I definitely encourage that. And I'm so looking forward to seeing what you guys will will do, um, in this coming year. And we're definitely here to support you. Absolutely. I also wanted to thank you, David, for the messages this morning and for the abundance of caution that went out with putting the schools in lockdown. I know that the threat wasn't credible as far as we're aware, and it was. It was definitely out of an abundance of caution. And I want the community to know that we're putting the safety of our students first and foremost. I think almost everybody on this board has students in the, um, in the schools and more worried about them just as much as you are. And we are definitely, um, putting their their safety and the safety of
037your children and everyone else at the forefront of our attention. I'm really thankful that you are sharing as much information as you can, as often as you can, instead of just letting things slide under the radar. So thank you again and thank you for informing the community tonight. So I will move on to the hearing of citizens. The Peekskill Board of Education desires and values input from the entire school community. So is there anyone who wishes to hear from the, uh, to speak to the board tonight? No. Okay. If there are. Michael. You're on the wrong side. If you could please state your name and address for the record. And we don't do dialog. We we will take your your comments into consideration and you will be contacted by a member of our staff. Um.
038Good evening. Um, my name is Michael Simkins. Um. Um. Uh. I was, um, just coming from my boss's meeting and the wind just constantly blowing me this way. Um, but I, um, I just want to welcome to again, welcome the student. Um. Board members. Um, to our board. Um, your voice is very important. Has always been important to the peace Gill. Um, school board. Um, it it helped us make a lot of important decisions. And, um. Um, I just want to. I'm glad to see that we have student representatives on this board now, and, um, that's playing a major role, um, in our decision making. And I'm sure you're going to represent the student body well, and their voices will definitely, um, be heard is a difference when we put out a survey. And to
039actually have a student here, um, voicing their concerns is very important. So we value it very much. And, um, I just want to say good luck to all our administrative staff and teachers and to the board this year. I'm looking forward to all the excitement that's going to happen this year. You're going to see me in the audience and, um, cheering you on and, um, just keep up the good work, guys. Um, we're there to support you guys. So thank you. If there are no further comments, may I please have a motion to include Carmine Christie's contract onto the agenda? So moved by Amy. Second. Second by Allen. All in favor? Uh. Any nays? Any abstentions? Okay. Moving on to the consent agenda. Any comments, questions or thoughts? President villain. Uh, principals had a super
040long day, and, um, may we release them to, uh, head home and, uh, get ready for tomorrow? You don't have to be released. You're free to go with. Um, may I please have a motion to approve consent agenda items A1 O6A through £0.06. Moved by Brian. Second by Amy. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstentions? If there's no further action, can I please have a motion to adjourn? So moved by Allen and seconded by Frank. All in favor? Aye. Any nays? Any abstention. Good evening. Peekskill.