001like to call the meeting to order at 7:03. Please join me in standing and saluting the flag. Algiance 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. some >> effective September 1st, 1991, chapter 9 of the laws of 1999 911 requires that we inform persons other than students who attend meetings within a school of the proper procedures to evacuate a building in an orderly and timely manner in the event of a fire emergency. So, if you must or I should say if we must evacuate this room because of an emergency, please use the north exit doors, walk quickly to the north athlet athletic field. Okay. All right. So, we can begin with our annual district meeting
002and budget hearing. All right. So, I would like to turn it over to our superintendent, Mr. Anthony McNella. >> Thank you, President Green. Um, as President Green noted, tonight we're going to present to you uh the budget again, and it's the uh budget hearing. Um after the district presents the district budget, we'll introduce um library uh Miss Olash to present the Balden Public Library budget as well. Um so, we always like to start with what is the purpose of the budget? Um the school budget is really designed to ensure that the the b the excuse me the um the board board of education priority goals are being honored and recognized and that all programs are for students in the capital improvement to ensure the infrastructure of the district in the buildings and grounds is being
003maintained. Um it's basically the north star of a district right this is exactly what the funds are being used for. Um we have been uh fortunate to have a amazing program that's comprehensive and rigorous and rich um K12 academic programs with strong elective programs as well. Um once you get to the high school level, there's more than 30 dual enrollment courses um which are college level courses, 29 AP courses. We have partnerships with numerous colleges um with nearly 50% of our students taking a college level course. We've uh embedded different initiatives such as college civics and news literacy. Uh we've embedded financial literacy and um this year we launched a independent study of TOSSA which is basically independent uh studentpaced coursework uh that will allow them to receive a certification in an industry recognized program
004like Adobe. um excel, etc. In addition, we have um a very strong music athletic program. We have over 24 varsity sports, 14 junior varsity sports, 16 modified or middle school teams. Um a comprehensive K12 music program, which leads to numerous honors. Uh we were just recognized as a um Nassau County music uh best music community um that this was recently revealed. Um we have UVL rule program at elementary schools. We have restorative practices at the middle school and high school. And uh proud to have two wellness centers. One at the middle school for K to 8 students and one at the high school now for our high school families and students. Um and we have a strong technology um program for infrastructure as well as onetoone Chromebook initiative for students grades 3 to 12. um
005K to2 Chromebooks are in the classroom but basically onetoone uh and numerous technology applications to support learning. Today was a mock trial contest at the um courts. It was packed from what I understand. Dr. was there. Um one of the things that we like to try to do is embed what we call our school to career program. So create opportunities for students for authentic learning. Um we have our academy program at the high school. which are signature program pre-academies at our middle school um and elementary schools. We're currently building up the programs there. So this way we have a nice K12 continuum of um these school to career initiatives. Um we have several different CTE type programs um and very strong mentoring program um and what we call learning to leave. So students are able
006to leave schools to go on excursions connected to learning. So, not a traditional field trip, but they're going out to sites um such as the job sites. Uh they visit LU. They have a a White House room where they get to act out the role of the president and the cabinet. Um so, it's um a wonderful program and opportunities for our students. All these programs have led the district to receive numerous accolades. Um one of the areas that we're take great pride in is the strong graduation rate. So if you notice this chart um the past 5 years Balden has had a 98 99% graduation rate um in comparison to Nassau County which hovers around 94% in New York State that drops to about 87% 86%. Everyone should be extremely proud of this accomplishment. We
007have no gap in graduation rates between different subgroups of students. We take um a lot of active steps. Our programming is very rich. Um our guidance counselor teams are very strong and as a result the students are doing extremely well. Our family is very involved which also helps with this and the students meet those challenges. Um so uh we salute students as well based on our number of college level AP course offerings. Students take numerous number of AP exams to earn college credit and be exposed to rich challenging coursework. Um the you'll notice in this chart every year more and more AP exams are being taken. Um some students take multiple AP exams. AP exams started this week. AP exams continue to next week. Um and we're projected to have in about 1300 exams being
008taken this year. So that trend is continuing. And it's not because we have more students enrolled in high school. Actually enrollment has been kind of flat. Um it's because students are challenging themselves more and more to take more of these courses. So really kudos to our students, kudos to the high school um guidance counselors for working with students to take these classes and again families for supporting um their children in taking these rich courses. Our focus has been small class size at the Montre level and will continue to be in our budget. Our average class size is about 17 to1. Um and that's the best in Nassau County. You notice in this chart that's the first rank. Um we're noticing that our students are excelling and you know K12 we really want students to learn
009how to read. So small class sizes is supporting that grades three four five they're learning how to comprehend right reading for meaning. Um so these small class sizes help with accomplishing those goals. As I mentioned before the district received numerous accolades. Um this year we invited to join the League of in Native Schools based on our um progress in our programming. Uh we've been named US best high schools. Um we've received AP honoral um silver recognitions. Uh no place for hate. The high school has a no place for hate gold designation. Um Meadow Plaza. So several elementary schools have also received that designation. In addition to those awards, um we've also been recognized by the uh New York State School Board Association with a Champion of Change Awards. We have six total awards. Um most
010recently um our future teachers pre-academy at Balden Middle School received award that was at the last board meeting I believe again. So all our rich programming is leading to opportunities for students and leading to uh recognition for the district. We're very proud to announce within our budget we're able to add on some new programs. So this budget not only maintains all the wonderful programs that we just went over but also adds on to some of our programs. Um we are adding a science research program. This is a wonderful program that will lead students to several competitions ultimately to a regeneron contest formerly Western House and that you are probably familiar with. Um so next year will be year one and then each year here year after we'll have to add on a course because this
011is going to be a four-year sequence. We're adding a 3D design and engineering technology course that's going to be part of our steam academy. Um that's a dual enrollment partnership with Nassau Community College based on our student advisory council which David is on. Um students express interest in some more um technology based like cyber security courses, coding courses. So we're adding AP cyber security next year. That's a new AP class. We're adding AP um business principles. That's another new course from College Board focusing on financial literacy. um investigative journalism, film studies, revising some curriculum and adding T Studio 2. Um and you'll see in a moment, we're adding some middle school athletics, um expanding our school's career opportunities and um expanding some after school opportunities for elementary schools. In addition, we're very proud to say
012that there is no wait list for UPK students. We started our um registration process and lottery process in January and as a result we're able to plan a little bit better and next year there are no there is no weight list which is um something that's new for us. >> So this is um another um wonderful addition to the budget. Um we've done an analysis of participation rates and enrollment trends. So, what we've seen in the middle school is for boys basketball, girls basketball, and girls volleyball, there's been one team that's a combined seventh, eighth grade team. Um, and there have been about 60 70 students, 80 students trying out for one team that can only roster approximately 20 students. Um, so numerous students aren't able to participate. Um, so as we looked at those
013enrollment trends and the board is very supportive of this, um, we've been able to add next year in this budget a seventh grade boys team, a seventh grade girls basketball team, and a seventh grade girls volleyball team. So there'll be a seventh grade team and eighth grade team. So that gives more opportunities for students um to participate. There'll be a seventh grade team in um, all those sports, an eighth grade team in all those sports. So we're very excited about that. and not only will that provide more opportunities but also strengthen our overall athletic program um as students are able to build stronger skills. Also looking at our participation numbers, there's been an increase in participation in wrestling in um track and field the winter as well as the spring um and in cheer. So,
014um, as a result of increasing participation in these areas, we were able to add an assistant coach because it's 60 70 kids trying out for one team and being on one team. We need a second pair of hands and eyes um to assist the development of these athletes. Everything that we look at in terms of our programs and everything that we try to do is always with the lens of future readiness. Um, you've heard before and we continue to say Baldwin is future ready. We look at signals and drivers to predict what's going on in the future. So we could look not just one year ahead but three years ahead and five years ahead. Um, what we know is with emerging technology AI is that students need to be able to take content and do
015things with it. These sixs see these six C's these skills are what students need to leave high school knowing along with their foundational skills and knowledge. They need to graduate knowing how to be good collaborators, citizens. They need to be able to communicate critical thinking, creativity, and character. So, we've been mapping back our coursework and lessons all to these six C's. This is also aligned with New York State Education Department's profile of graduate that they've been announcing in their New York inspires plan. And we do know that this fosters deeper learning while preparing students for the futures uh in college or career. All right. When you look at the budget, there's always three parts. Um there's an administrative part, the capital part, and the program. Administrative is everything that drives and operates the district. It's
016not administration. Big difference. Uh so administrative, capital, and program. I just went over the program component with you, and we're going to get into the capital in a second. Um but the way you want the budget to be uh composed is threearters of the budget should be on programming, right? Because those are all opportunities for students and outcomes for students. And you'll notice our budget proposal contains 75.23% of the budget is all about programs. And that's what we just went over. Sorry, think we uh skipped something here. No. Okay. replaced >> should be good. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, um when we look at our total budget, um you'll notice that capital there's a 7.7% increase from year to year and you'll see why in a second. Uh we have a lot of capital
017improvements about to take place. Um in program overall is a 3.78% increase, but yet still 3/4 of our total budget. uh yeartoyear from 26 to 27 it's a 4.12% budget increase. That's the total increase of our budget. Um not the tax levy. That's just the increase in the budget from year to year. Uh this particular side shows the revenue and when we look at a budget the revenue has to equal the expenses. Um, so we we're still waiting for New York State to adopt their budget, but all state aid is that top line. Um, that is based on predictions that we received earlier. Um, but unfortunately at this point in time, the state is late on their budget. So, we're still waiting for the state budget. So, some of this is tentative based on that.
018Um you'll hear more from the public library about the work that's been taking place there, but the budget um for the library and their bond debt service filters through the district, but it's just a pass through and then goes back to the to the um library. Um the appropriated fund balance that you see there, that's money that we are able to use from last year to start the budget uh cycle for this year. Um payment in le of taxes is pilots. So when there's a lot of construction work taking place, often the contractors that are building the homes um apartment buildings have a um a pilot's called. So their taxes could be changed and deferred for up to 20 years. Um but that then gets redistributed among all the other taxpayers. So uh that's what
019you see there, payment of taxes. And then the property tax revenue, that's what we're going to be asking for. Um that's the levy that's 3.21%. Um that 3.21% is within the um tax cap regulations. Um and it gives us to the >> I think you meant 4.12, right? >> No, 3.12. >> 3.12 is the property tax levy. >> Okay. Yep. Thank you. >> Um with the 3.12% um we'll have a a budget expense of $180 million. um 100 1,342 and a revenue of $180 million1,342. So everything is equal to each other. But again, we are waiting for the legislative approval of the budget. Okay. So now we're going to get into the um capital side um which is very important to hear because as I noted before that was a bigger chunk of our budget.
020We've always looked at our capital with multi-year multifunded to fund our projects. Um we use different sources for that transfer of capital. Um we use grants so federal, state, local grants. Um the budget process every year we ask for money to be able to be transferred into capital reserves which is like a savings account. So we have our use of capital reserves which is very strategic. Um we have a technology reserve to be able to fund the cost of new Chromebooks. That's a savings account that's been voted on. And uh back in 2024, there was a bond that was successfully passed by the community. So, we're going to be talking a little bit more about that uh today, too. All right. So, here is the capital improvements that have been taking place. Um recently completed
021was the high school one center. Um we recently completed a district-wide fire alarm replacement. Um several roof projects were completed this summer. These are partial roofs. Brookside Plaza Steel Meadow Elementary School. So that is going to be ongoing work. These roofs are very big, so you can't do one building at one time. So we do chunks. And um Mr. And his team with the architects have a plan of what sections to replace. Um and there's been ongoing uh toilet renovations. I think so far we complete about 45 bathrooms districtwide, about the 100 or so that need to be renovated. Uh this summer we just completed bathroom renovations at Brookside Lennox the high school steel and Baldwin the middle school but there are still more bathrooms to be completed. Some projects that are starting this summer
022um lead remediation at Schubert. Uh that building there is an older building that's some lead paint has to be removed and fixed and remediated. That should be starting this summer. Uh electrical upgrades. Buildings are old. they need more power um as we increase our infrastructure, air conditioning needs, etc. So, this uh summer several buildings will get electrical upgrades. That's the middle school, Brookside, Lennox Plaza, Steel, and Meadow. So, all elementary schools. Um Plaza started their kitchen renovations hopefully be completed by the end of the summer. In addition, at a recent, um, board of education meeting, um, Lennox and Steel elementary schools was already approved for their kitchen and cafeteria additions to begin that will take place this summer. This was part of the bond work and that was um discussed and passed in 2024. That
023that's construction will begin this summer. Um, we're having the construction meetings now and we're very excited about those additions. Brookside and Meadow additions for the kitchen and cafeterias um will take place pending the budget hopefully passing in May. Uh it's wait to wait for voter authorization of a supplemental capital reserve. So what happened is when all the projects went out for bid um they came in at a higher cost because these were first predicted at a particular cost back in 2024 and we all know that there's rising costs and costs um from different reasons. Um so construction costs are actually uh higher than what we're predicted. So we need um permission to use that capital reserve which is basically a bank account to proceed with this work. >> You know is that proposition three? Does
024that entail proposition three? >> Um, that's going to be Proposition 3. Yeah. So, here's some renderings of what the new kitchen is going to look like. This is the Brookside Kitchen um edition. Again, it's an addition. So, um it's going to be the part of the building that's facing the uh high school. This is Lennox edition, just an elevation of what that would look like. This is the steel rendering. Uh you'll notice it's an addition that's currently by the playgrounds. It also has an outside learning area. That's what you see with the steps. Uh that's for outdoor uh learning. Um and we are also starting this summer, which is um approved already, bond one, which is phase one of a new addition of the high school athletic center. Um so the contracts process already started.
025Um, we're going to be begin uh construction this summer. Here are some renderings of what the um new gymnasium will look like. That's the outdoor on top left and the bottom is what the inside will look like. And this is going to be by the tennis courts. Um, and again, this is all part of that 2024 bond. Um, but we're going to begin construction this summer. So, we're very excited about that. some other ongoing capital projects that are going to be um beginning. High school roof will continue to take place. There's a new section high school roof. Middle school needs a new section um of a roof replacement over the sixth grade building. Um and there will be a new middle school chart field starting this summer. Um that was already approved. Um and we're
026in uh conversations about the planning. So that's um hopefully will be done by September, midepptember um if all goes well according to plan. This is what the uh site plan for the middle school project is. It's going to be lined for lacrosse, field hockey, soccer, um football cannot fit in that field because it's just not long enough. Um but it has all those other uh sports which is wonderful. In addition, in this budget, we're asking for um the voters to allow a transfer to capital because there's other work that has to take place. Again, you know, we have some agent facilities that need some attention. Many of these many of these um projects are part of our 5-year building plan. Um so, some of them not as pretty as what we just saw, but they're
027necessary. Um so, the middle school needs a brick repointing project. U middle school needs new gym bleachers. They're kind of unfortunately old, not working well. Um, a lot of our buildings have those old ceiling tiles, right, where we want to replace them with nice drop ceiling tiles, nice LED lighting. So, that's going to be an ongoing project through the course of the next few years. Um, steel has a very old stage curtain that needs to be replaced. Um, and then there's some um things again that are not necessarily things that you would notice, but concrete replacements, lentil repairs, some pump replacements, partial window replacements. Um, so that's all part of this budget. So, a tremendous amount of capital improvements. Uh, so we're investing in this infrastructure of the district. This is one of the propositions.
028Um, we're asking for use of the existing technology reserve. Again, this is money that's already there. It's in a savings account. We just cannot use it until the um community gives us consent to do so. So, there's no additional impact on this. But students have Chromebooks. We do have that onetoone initiative. Like many districts, we need to replace those Chromebooks. They get aged, they die. So, this allows us to replace Chromebooks for our students as well as some supplemental materials that go along with that. Um, and again, no impact on the budget. This is the next proposition. Um, this proposition is going to be able to fund those other two kitchens that we just discussed. Meadow um was one of them. Um, it's based on our multi-year planning. The money is already there. It's in
029a capital reserve. We just need the community's consent to utilize that money again. So, there is no additional impact on the tax levy. Um, we're asking for $8.3 million so we could do all of the remaining uh renovations to the kitchens for the other two elementary schools I noted before. Um, again, no impact on the tax levy. Right. Let's go back to again with this enormous budget. Everything has been equal. Our expenses and our revenue covering programs, capital improvement, the property tax cap is 3.21% for uh for Baldwin. Um and we need to go over what happens if the budget does fail. So if the budget is defeated twice, um New York State tax cap legislation states that there could be no increase. Um, so the tax level would remain at 0%. But that means
030we would have to cut about $3.8 million from this budget. That means programs that we went over would not be able to run. Those additional new teams would not be able to run. Um, we would not be able to do any of the capital work that we just discussed. And that's not by our decision. That's part of the tax cap legislation. But when you have to cut $3.8 $8 million. That also means programs have to um change and unfortunately won't be able to run which results with some other factors such as maybe teachers being excessed. So um having a um defeated budget is detrimental to a district. Here are the four propositions just to summarize them. When you look at your ballot, proposition number one is the school budget. Proposition two is going to be
031the uh Baldwin public library budget which you'll hear more about in a second. Proposition three is the use of the capital reserve. That's that 8.3 million. That's the uh reserve to help us complete all the kitchen renovations and additions for the other buildings. Again, that is no impact on the tax levy. Uh Proposition 4 is the technology reserve. that's to buy those Chromebooks um and replace and update uh Chromebooks as well as some other um critical items such as interactive boards etc. So both proposition three and four does not have an impact on the tax levy. The money has already been set aside in those reserves. Okay. In addition on the ballot you will notice that there are um some seats that are um open. Um we have two seats on the school board. Um
032one is a full term exp which will expire in June 2026. A term is three years. We have one unexpired term which will expire June 30th 20 uh 2027. Um and our two candidates that are running are President Green and Trustee Smith who are both here this evening and present and around the community. So they will be on the ballot. the library board. There's one um seat on the ballot for the library board that is a um fiveyear term. It's one full term is five years that's expiring June 30th, 2031. And there's only one candidate and that candidate is u Mr. Carl Williams on that budget. All right. Um early mail and absentee ballots are due to the district uh clerk on before May 19th before 5:00. All right. All those requests must be received
033by the district clerk again um no later than May 12th if the ballot is to be mailed by the voter on the uh day before the election up to May 18th uh by 4:30 at the district office. The budget vote is May 19th, 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. here at the um high school. It'll be in the uh gymnasium. We ask that everyone come out and vote. So, um we do a lot of presentations through different board of education meetings through PTA, civic associations, different uh groups this evening. We also mail out the budget B. The budget B uh has a summary of everything we discussed. It's also available on the uh district um website. Um, we ask that you review those documents and ask if you have any questions, you contact myself or Dr.
034Robinson, the business office. And again, May 19th, we ask that you attend the uh budget vote. All right. And ultimately, Baldwin always remains future focused um and and innovative. Um, so we ask that you come to the budget May 19th and and vote for it. All right. And uh that's it. Uh any any questions by the board? >> I have boards community. Yep. Great. >> Um so thank you for that presentation. So confirming there will be two gyms at the high school. Correct. The one that exists currently and the one that's being added. >> Okay. So at the completion of construction, >> yes, >> there will be two gyms. >> Yes. >> Right. The um the main gym, which is the gym that's there now, plus the new gym, the total length of construction will
035take about 18 months. So, we're starting in um 2026 this summer, but it's going to be about 18 months of construction before it's completed. >> The the additional gym that's being added is smaller than the existing. Will it be about the same size as the one that we currently have? >> Correct. Be about the same size as the one that we currently have um brand new, which is great. We currently have numerous conflicts, right? um with winter sports, with sports night um and unfortunately there are some teams have to come back to school 7 8 9:00 at night for use of facilities. Sometimes our high school teams need to go to the middle school to get gym some um gym space. Um so there is a definite need for the second gym. >> Okay, thank
036you. Thank you. >> Um the football field. So at the middle school, the space that's being redone is where they play, I guess, soccer, lacrosse area. Where's the football? Because you said something about the football not being a part of it. >> So the football field, the football field is where the there's the track goes around that field and the bleachers overlook that. Currently, uh football has to have a certain length. Um the field is being put on. It's adjacent to was that the west side of the middle school, Mr. Endazzo? >> West side of the middle school. That's >> I do not know. East, west, north, south, west. Give me something else. >> Closest to Balden Park's entrance. >> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. >> Um so when you come around and you're pulling into
037the loop, it's that field that's closest to the Balden Park. That's that field is not long enough >> to accommodate a football field by regulation. Um, so we are maximizing that space. So varsity field hockey could play on it, varsity soccer could play on it, uh, and varsity lacrosse. So modified as well as high school sports will all be able to play on that field. Um, with the exception of football cuz it's just not long enough. >> Okay. So football will stay where it currently is. >> Football will stay where it currently is for modified for for the middle school. Correct. >> Thank you. Uh, the other piece I may have missed it. Is there any work being done in the auditorium? So um not this summer. Okay. The auditorium work was considered part of
038phase three of the bond work. So this summer is phase one. Um then about in about two years we'll be in phase two which is work on the um 600 building which is an addition to the back of this uh 600 building. Phase three, two years after that is the CTE part of the of the um district as well as the auditorium. >> Okay. >> Right. So that's future years. It was all part of that 2024 bond. >> Okay. Thank you. And then the last question it mentioned classroom design redesigns. Yes. >> Can you speak to where these redesigns are? So, um, you know, part of our goal has always been to renovate some classrooms in, you know, pieces because can't do them all. Um, numerous classrooms across the district enormous cost. Um, the classroom
039redesigns for this summer that we have, uh, projected will be at the high school. Um, so we have a business classroom that we want to uh, renovate to replicate stock market world. uh that's where our AP business um class will be in and that's where some of our accounting classes are in. So we want to get um in that room. The vision is more collaborative spaces for students to collaborate with each other to work on those sixes um and appropriate technology to monitor stock market ticker tape etc. >> Nice. Okay. >> Um we also have some science classrooms as we start our science research program that we need to renovate to make it um suitable for science research. So, there'll be some science classrooms that going to be renovated. Um, there's one science classroom right
040now that has no water in it. So, we can't do any of the labs. So, we need to make sure that we renovate that classroom. So, there's water and the appropriate gas, etc. to make it a fully functioning science classroom. Um, so that's most of those renovations taking place here. >> Okay. >> Elementary wise is where we're going to start our ceiling tile project renovation. So, Mr. Randazzo and his team has identified by need um building. So, we have a phase in plan where we're going to begin to renovate in each elementary school the ceiling tiles because they're those old like spline tiles. >> not these. No, if you go in the corridor here of the between capture AB, you'll see them like those old ones with the little holes in them, >> you know.
041So, they need to be replaced and updated. So, elementary schools are getting upgrades. Um it's not classroom specific, but more u the hallway with lighting as well as um drop ceilings. >> Okay. Okay. And then will the cafeterias they're starting like Brooksided steel they're starting over the summer? >> Yes. All cafeterias are hoping to start this summer. Plus already started >> right. um depending upon the proposition um because proposition that we have in here for the $ 8.3 million is needed to be able to include um Meadows cafeteria as well as Brookside. Thank you. Brook's cafeteria. >> So when will that be completed if it were to start in the summer? Is the goal for it to be completed by the time school starts? That's >> No, no, that's a complete addition. It's going to
042be about 18 months for those two. >> Um it's a complete brand new structure being added on to um the building. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That's it. >> Great questions. >> I I'm sorry. I don't have any questions, but I do want to congratulate yourself as well as the business office for coming up with such a comprehensive um budget, offering all of those additional AP classes, all of those additional educational opportunities. Um everything you mentioned about bringing financing, being on Wall Street since I graduated college, I think that's amazing. And the number one thing that our students need to succeed is exposure. as long as they have exposure, they know what they can potentially major in in college. They have a better grasp on what things entail. Um,
043and it starts here at the high school. So, I absolutely commend you for putting all of that as well as the sports as well as the capital projects in the budget and having the tax levy at 3.2%. We've seen so many districts that are exceeding that tax levy um just to bring in these programs. So it is a tremendous feat for your um office to accomplish that. So congratulations. >> Thank you. And of course appreciate the board of education support and community support. So thank you. >> Yeah. I wanted to add to what Trustee Smith commented on where we see the neighboring districts um accessing staff and we have been able to um for the years that I've been on the board and I know previous years we've been able to sustain staff in our
044district. So we haven't had to um embark upon that uh I would I wouldn't say it's a journey but uh that crisis. Um the other thing is I know that we are doing the presentations uh within the schools. Um what other opportunities do we have to present to the residents without the um well the older population and also ones that don't have children in this district. Um, so coming up, um, part of our presentations, uh, the Baldwin Civic Association, uh, their next meeting, which I believe is next week. I don't have the day in front of me, May 11th, I think it is, or or give or take, uh, will be presenting, um, at that meeting. Um, as well as, um, >> Spark City. >> Start Spark Civic Association is another one that we're presenting
045at. Um, and I don't remember the date for that one, but those are all going to be within the next week or two. >> 14th. >> Yeah. One's the 11th and one's the 14th. I think >> the day. What's When's vote? May 19th. >> May 19th. Tuesday. May 19th. >> I think the sturge park is May 18th. Actually, >> May I believe it's May 12th, >> I think it's Yeah. >> May 12th. >> We're also doing the chamber. >> Chamber as well. >> Okay. >> Well, Sh Park is um Yeah. I don't Maybe it is 12 like you said. Yeah. May uh May 14th is the civic association >> um at 7:30. >> Uh Sterns Park is May 12th at 7:30. Um >> Chamber of Commerce is on the 13th. >> And Chamber of Commerce
046is on the 13th. >> Okay. >> And that's earlier in the day though, >> right? That's a lunch meeting. >> Yeah. And in addition to that, we also have the signage over by CVS. >> Uh so the marquee of course there's information up there, but um probably the Baldwin Beats next best thing to look at that's being mailed home that gets to every resident. Um and we do have some here this evening if everybody wants to take one of those home with them and that's available on site. All the presentations are on the Balden website. Um so I encourage people to look at the website. Um and then they of course contact Dr. Robinson or myself. Okay. Any other questions, comments? Tom, do you have any questions or comments? >> Where is he? >> We
047have Trustee Tom joining us from North Carolina. >> North Carolina. Um, >> thank you for the comprehensive presentation. >> I'm sorry, Tom. >> I said, um, thank you for the comprehensive presentation. >> Yes. out all of our sentiments and we're um just overjoyed that we um get to hear you present as opposed to each of us >> partaking in the presentation. But again, thank you for the presentation along with your collaboration with the the business department. We usually have, you know, Dr. Robinson assisting with you and um Miss Walsh, >> yes, >> is assisting. So, thank you. to see it. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Library. >> All right. So, now we have our library budget presentation. So, we can move over there. We can all >> I would say here cuz she's back. >> Oh,
048okay. >> I think usual. >> Oh, but the middle school we did, right? >> The library. >> Oh, >> yeah. >> I haven't been to any of those. >> Oh, because they had the board. remember. >> Yeah. >> English. >> I know. What's going on? >> Is this on? Yes. Yes, it is on. Okay. Thanks. >> Hi, I'm Elizabeth Oles and I am the director of the Baldwin Public Library. Thank you so much for being here this evening to learn a little bit more about our proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Now the library is chartered by the state education department and our boundaries are contiguous with that of the school district. However, we are our own separate entity. We have our own elected volunteer board of trustees. Our trustee who is up for
049election, Carl Williams, is here tonight. And um we also have our own separate budget which is a separate proposition on the ballot that you'll you'll see later this month. We are committed to providing the best possible services at the best value. Our services help people improve their lives and help people save money as well. And we serve everyone from babies through seniors. Okay. So here's a a bird's eyee view of the budget and probably the most important slide for people this evening. Yes, we are we will be within the tax cap. You see our total budget there, but probably more importantly the total tax levy which is what you're asked to vote on and it includes the debt service that was mentioned earlier. So with the debt service, the debt service is from the bond
050that the community voted on a couple of years ago. So now we have to pay that off over the course of 15 years. So with the debt service, the total tax levy has an increase of 2.11%. And that is within the the tax cap. And you could see from the chart that was brought up before that there was a slight decrease this this coming year in that debt service. Okay. Okay. So now I have this chart that shows how our budget is allocated, but I also brought handouts and they're out in the in the on the table in the hall actually. So put this down for a sec. So while I'm going to talk about the this as a whole, if you would like to see line by line our budget, you can do so
051by picking up a handout or looking on our website. Okay, so the total budget proposed is 6,489,946. I wanted to give you some highlights of that. First, I did mention that the debt service represents 15% of the budget, and that will change as the bond is paid off over the 15 years. We have increased our materials budget by $11,800 to continue to provide a robust mix of physical, print, and digital resources for the community. Buildings and grounds will be increased by $13,000 because we're going to need more custodial supplies for our newly renovated spaces. We also anticipate a modest increase in utilities and operating expenses will increase by $42,624. This includes programs, supplies, and most importantly equipment maintenance. That's where most of the increase is because we now have more equipment. Overall though, our numbers
052are fairly stable year-over-year. And sorry about the cough. Um, you might be wondering, well, how how does our libraryies budget compare with that of other libraries in the area? How are we doing? Well, we are about in the middle. There are 54 public libraries in Nassau County and our per capita costs rank us 29th. So as you can see our per capita cost is $133.51 and that is with the additional money from from the bond in there. So, the average household library tax in Baldwin is about $500 and it's approximately 3% of the local tax bill. Your specific amount may vary, of course, but that's that's just an average. So, our budget is fairly modest. In fact, it's it's less than other libraries that serve communities of a similar size. But as I think you'll
053see, we have a very active roster of programs and services. So we think that we're using our money very effectively and efficiently. I think that what you get back is worth way more um than than what we have to pay in taxes. Okay. Now, this next slide has a lot on it and there is also a handout in the hallway. Okay. All right. I know that this is a lot. a lot of colors, a lot of numbers. Um, I hope you can see at the top though it says 2025 versus 2024 year in review. So on the left we have the last calendar years data and then on the right we have 2024s. And what I really want you to take away from this and again you can you can go and um and get
054this out in the hall so you can peruse it a little bit more and it'll be on our website. What I really want you to take away from this is that our activity is only growing in almost every single category that you can see here. Whether it's visits to the library, the number of people attending programs, I look at the number of people who have come to have documents notorized that just exploded um the the use of the of the community room by outside groups. If you see the tremendous growth in that. So, you know, sometimes people say, "Oh, you know, who goes to the library? Do people need libraries anymore?" Well, I can easily whip this out and show them our library is very well used. Okay. I also I'm not sure how many
055people here have been to to the second floor, the renovated second floor. You have? Okay. I wanted to show people a little bit about what you're getting for your money from the bond that you voted for. So this here, this is not a rendering. This is an actual photograph. It looks so beautiful. Does I mean, okay, I'm biased, but I think it does. Right. Right. To me, that looks like beyond real. Um, so now we're working on the first floor so that the older spaces in the library can look just as great as this. And I wanted to show you a little bit about what's going on up there. So, study rooms, that might not sound that exciting, but this is probably the most exciting, most popular service that we are offering right now. And
056my assistant director, Kesha Watson Phillips, I'm sure, can attest to that. We have seven study rooms and they are used constantly. We opened the second floor at the beginning of March and since then the rooms have been used over 10,000 times and I don't I don't even have the stats for you know the beginning of May yet. So it's a a tremendous amount and if you're interested in using one of the rooms we can help you out. Our staff is happy to help you out but we also have software on the website and if you have a Baldwin Library card you can reserve time for yourself to use one of the rooms. You can only do that online if you have a Baldwin Library card. So, make sure you have one. Just a little pitch
057for that. Okay. But I mean, anyone can use a room. It's just the the online reservation service only works if you have a card. Okay. This is our second large community room. We really love this room with what I call these these spaceship lights. It's a very cool space. It splits in half. It has technology on both sides of the room. So, if we have two meetings in there, they can they can both have access to a really wonderful monitor. Um, and I wanted to make a pitch for something that I think is important that's coming up. Um, on Saturday, June 13th in this room, you can take part in an activity called TED Democracy. We're one of two public libraries in New York and one of 66 in the country that were picked to
058offer this live stream. It's a cooperation with the American Library Association and the Pew Charitable Trusts. So, you cannot buy a ticket to sit in your home and watch this live stream. you need to go to a site that's offering it. So, you can come to our beautiful new community room and hear more than 15 speakers streamed live from Philadelphia and they'll be discussing our country, uh, its past and where we're going as part of the whole America 250th celebrations. So, please do come. Okay. Next, we have our teen room. This was highly anticipated. The teens love it. They love to sit in those booths. Every time I'm up there, I see kids in those booths hanging out, enjoying themselves. Right now, we also have a very popular prom boutique. So, it, you know, prom
059is coming up. It can be really expensive. Kids have the opportunity to come and select prom wear for free from the library. They would go to the teen room to do that. We also have a huge collection of manga and graphic novels. And again, I might be biased, but it's the biggest and best collection of manga and graphic novels that I've seen around in in any of the libraries around here. And then our maker space. This was also highly anticipated. We've already had a couple of programs in here. We have a variety of different kinds of equipment and we'll we're looking into other uh pieces of equipment as well. So we have 3D printing, we have a large laminator, we have a large format printer, we have an engraver and and more. Um and we
060have staff who are trained in the use of of this equipment. uh you need to be with a staff member if you want to use the equipment in the maker space, but we do also let people have meetings if you're just having a meeting in the maker space. So, it does double duty, and that was important to us to have spaces that could be flexible. Uh and one really cool thing about this room, the the wall that has the monitor on it, that whole wall wall is a whiteboard. So, I haven't used it yet, but it's pretty cool. Okay, we know that the library is a place where you can save money. You give give us a little bit of your money and you get so much back. And these are just a few of
061the ways that we do that. You may have used our seed library. If not, I invite you to come and do that. you come and check out or really get to take packets of seeds that you can plant in your garden. We have um flowers and we have vegetables. We have a library of things. So, you know, if you need a wet dry vac, you don't have to buy one or even rent one from Home Depot. You can come and check it out from the library. If you're having a party and maybe you want one of those fancy photo backdrops, we have a whole bunch of them and you can come and check them out for your party. We have lawn games, we have a telescope, and so much more. Our streaming services, they're always
062exploding. Um, we have Overdrive, which you may know as Libby, Hoopla, and Canopy. So, if I hope that you use the services, if you haven't, take a look. If you're not sure about how to get started, a staff member can help you out. And of course, tons of programs and workshops, whether you're into crafts or exercise or, you know, a particular any kind of particular skill, um, lectures, we we've got it. We've got it all. In fact, we like to think of ourselves as being a third place. And you may have heard this concept that people have their home and then either their work or school and then people want somewhere else that they can go that isn't one of those first two places. And libraries I think serve that function for a lot of
063people. So yes, you can learn, you can connect, you can be part of the community. We have programs and meetings all day long. We have people who come to browse materials. We have people who come for something really specific, a specific book or a specific program. And we also have people who come just to hang out and to be with other people in the community. And that's fine, too. Um, in this slide, you can see on the left, one of our staff members was showing um some Girl Scouts how some of the equipment in the maker space works. And on the right, we were having a um a craft program. And we're going to have a a separate arts and crafts room on the first floor for adult arts and crafts, but we don't have
064that now because that whole side of the building is under construction. So, everything is taking place upstairs. And um a really nice bunch of people were making St. Patrick's Day wreaths in the new community room and enjoying the space. And the most important part of all of this is that it's your support that makes this possible. We couldn't do it without you, without you supporting the library. So, I want to thank you again for being here. All of this information will be on our website. If you have questions, I'm happy to answer them or if you come up with questions after, you're welcome to contact me. Thank you. >> Okay. >> I have a question if you don't mind. >> Sure. Um, I thought the presentation was very um, informative. Thank you. Some things I
065was not aware of um, being a Boowing community member for so long. Um, a question about the new space and how does the community utilize that space? So, would we go online and rent the space and is there a fee for using the the community room, let's say, or or some of the, you know, new spaces in the library? >> We don't charge for the use of our space. Um, if you have a community group, you need to be a nonprofit for not using it for a business reason. And if you wanted to do that, I I could help you get in touch with a staff member who makes all of those reservations. We have someone who who takes care of that for people. And as you can see, it it's used all the time
066by the public. Right. >> Sometimes I feel like we're an outpost of the Girl Scouts, honestly. Yeah, that that's this is very good information. Thank you. I I'm part of an organization where we did a program at the Roosevelt Public Library recently um because of the um large number of attendees that was coming to the program. >> But it's good to know that there's a big community room at at the Baldwin Library. >> Did they charge you? >> No, they didn't. >> Okay. >> They didn't. Yeah. >> They shouldn't. >> Any other questions? Yes. >> How long have you been processing passports? I didn't know you said that. >> Oh gosh. It's been a few years now. Kesha, do you remember how many years it's been? >> Four, five. >> At least five. >> Wow.
067>> I think we we started working on the program shortly before you got there with the other assistant director. So, yeah, you don't need to go to the post office in those dreary surroundings. You can come to us and have a lovely time having your passport processed. >> Yes. >> Very excited. You have a new one. >> Thank you for clarifying. >> Yeah, renewals just mail in. >> But do it online. >> Yeah. With the children though when you have to do under 16, you can do those. Okay. >> That's a big deal. >> It is a big deal. And Miss Watson Phillips can attest to that because I was traveling and um lost my passport and they were able to assist me with that and it took two weeks. >> Two weeks. The process
068seamless. Yes. >> Okay. Good to know. >> Yeah. Well, I'm glad we could help you with that. >> Yes. Yeah, definitely. a question right here. >> Yes. >> It's not a question. I just wanted to acknowledge my son who's a Bland graduate um high school graduate is studying to go to school and he always goes to the library. >> All right. >> To to utilize that space. So I think it's a wonderful addition because he used to go to court there. I'm glad that he's coming >> to our place instead. Yes. You're welcome. I worked at the library and I'm like, "Yeah, a third grader and a seventh grader." So, the third grader from the one that >> I knew my eighth grader would get a new Chromebook. that benefit in high school very soon
069all this wonderful he would benefit by third grade then back to the library >> all the wonderful things for community that was one of our number one request community that's what we wanted but we listened we gave it to them and it's never empty >> and such a proud That's good. >> Yeah, I'm benefiting from everything from the school and the library. So, what can I say? >> A perfect. >> Thank you for that. >> Yes. Thank you. Any other um questions, comments from the board? >> No. >> Okay. Thank you for that presentation. Thank you. >> How many study room? >> Okay. >> And that's they also have their own study room. So they don't have teaching room yet. There's a study room that's specifically for teach. >> Good to know. Thank you. >>
070Yes. And a lot of the med students um do study. My daughter in particular >> took advantage of those study rooms. So, it is um definitely >> Yeah. >> My daughter um who's on the varsity girls basketball team. They had to make uh posters for the seniors for senior night. And she goes, "Mom, can can the team come to our house and make the posters?" And at first, you know, I said, "Okay." and she and the tennis team came in the fall to make the posters and I have glitter all over my papers. So I said, "Okay." And then I thought about I said, "Wait a minute. Let me call the library and see if we can rent, you know, the room in in the kids area." And you guys, of course, were very accommodating.
071But, you know, just little things like that. So they spend a couple hours in the library and, you know, made posters for the seniors. It was a very nice experience. So to know they have that, you know, rooms upstairs, it's just it's it's really nice. Yeah. I'm excited. >> And no glitter on your floor. >> No glitter on my floors. Yeah. >> Perfect. >> Okay. All right. So, we are going to move along to our uh questions and comments portion. >> Kind of did it already, but the official section. >> I guess we did. Um well, we do have a comment um from Dana Sitter >> Satan. Yes. >> Satan. >> Okay. Would you like to go up? >> I guess I did. Okay. Well, I Yeah, you can come up. >> Oh, >> I
072I just wanted to acknowledge the library space because my son is utilizing it. Um, and I think it's just a great addition. So, thank you for that and and I hope to see more people come out because I'm learning a lot. Um, and this is good information to have. I remember Miss Smith from Lennox. Um, so just the work. Yes. Thank you for the work and just a great library space. That was it. Like my first meeting or second. >> Thank you for that. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Do we have any other uh questions, comments from the board? >> No. Would would you like to David? Would you like to say something? >> Okay. >> Um Oh, these are a lot today. Wow. Um I I want to uh acknowledge one thing from
073the library and also maybe provide a bit of a suggestion. I know that our students have been using the library facilities pretty well. Uh the community room about a month and a half ago, one of our seniors, Bruce Rebels, he did like a book launch event there and there were a lot of people who came out and that turned out to be really good thing. I know that there was a herald that covered it and and it turned out really well. So I was wondering here in the high school we have our facilities form and we have like a station in the main office where students can go and pick up things to like sign off and get like events and procedures done. Would it be possible to integrate like a form say we want
074to use a community room at the library or like say we want to reserve something as a study room. Can we integrate that into the high school for the students to be able to like see that as an extra space? Cuz sometimes they want to hold events for clubs or they want to do something like what Bruce did which was a book launch outside of the school off like school days. Would there be a way to like get that directly to the school and announce it to students? >> Um I guess I talked to schools about that. In order to use the community room though, you have to have an adult who signs off on that. >> Yeah. >> Study room. So you can use >> Oh, sure. >> Yeah. And that can just a
075little bit of the library website and um >> Sorry. >> And sign up for >> I don't know. I don't know if you guys have open to the library from >> I'm sure they they have Chromebooks so it's the library would not be blocked by the filter. So they could probably get on to the library and sign up. So >> thank you. Just a quick question for your community room. I know at one point the capacity was 95ish. >> It's um >> yeah upstairs we can get Okay. We can get about 200 seated. >> We can't have 200 chairs yet. We have about 100 chairs. We're working on it. >> Okay. >> Yeah. But it is big. It doesn't have a stage downstairs. >> Okay. >> Just get a lot more space. >> That's good
076to know. Okay. Okay. So, >> just one more comment. >> You you were at center. >> I was >> many years ago. You were the teacher there and principal at the Memorial >> School. So, How are you? >> Okay, you got a shout out. >> I don't know why you had to say many years ago. >> Is that the former student? >> Okay. All right. So, >> all right. At 8:10 p.m., I'd like to approve a motion to adjourn this public meeting. So, move Moved by Miss KS, seconded by Miss Dresca. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Okay, motion carries. Have a great evening and thank you for coming out.