001Welcome to Meet the Candidates. I am Caitlyn Castelli. I'm the district clerk here. Um we really hope that this helps you to get better acquainted with our candidates. We have two candidates um running for one open seat. The candidates will run at large. So, it means whoever wins the popular vote wins the seat. Um, following meet the candidates, but no later than 7 p.m., Mrs. Versinger, the assistant superintendent for business, will be holding a budget hearing. During this presentation, she will address any budget questions. Please be aware for your convenience, the budget information is also available on the district's website. Uh, at this time, I would like to introduce Mr. Mitch Schuman, who will be our moderator for the evening. Thank you. And thank you everyone for coming. Um so let's begin by going over
002the rules. Uh each candidate will be allowed to make a threeminut opening statement. Then I will pose questions to the candidates who will have uh three minutes to respond to each question. More about that in a minute. Finally, after the question and answer period, each candidate will have another three minutes to make their closing statement. Um, in advance of this form, some of you may know, some of you may not, a notice was sent to the community that questions uh may be submitted by any district resident to the district clerk. Unfortunately, only four questions were submitted to the clerk. And two of those four questions were specifically designated to Miss Hawkland. Um, Hawkland, did I pronounce it? Hogland. Hogland. Sorry. Close enough. um specifically designated for her uh to respond. Uh the plan is to
003start with those four community submitted questions and then I have other questions uh which I will submit to the candidates. Uh the clerk, Miss Castelli, um will signal the candidates when they have 30 seconds remaining of their allotted time and also when their time is up. In the unlikely event that a candidate should exceed their mandate mandated time limit, I will gently remind them to wrap it up. I will have to do that gently because unlike last time, they did not give me a gavl. Um, so opening statements are presented in the order that the names appear on the ballot. So, Miss Hogwin begins followed by Mr. Auri. The closing statements will be in the reverse. As to the questions, each candidate will alternate answering first. Um, hi everyone. Thank you. Thank you for being
004here and thank you to the board for what you do. Um, I come here tonight not opposing anyone, but instead to offer and contribute my strengths as an educator, my continuing efforts to be on top of what's happening in the world of education, my time to the Beayshore schools, and above all to be the best possible advocate that I can for my children and yours. I sit here excited. I'm motivated. I'm encouraged. Our schools are the backbone of our community. When schools thrive, the community thrives and has a pep in its step that brings everyone together. Educators, administration, our community, and most importantly, our children. My children are the air that I breathe. Sorry. Every day I work towards making sure they feel safe and that there is personal growth academically, emotionally, and socially while
005at school and at home. The only way this is possible is with open and consistent communication with my children and with the schools that they attend. As a parent, this is my job for my children. As a board member, this would be my job for all of our children to make sure there is open and consistent communication amongst families, our community, and our schools. Too often in education, we hear the words, "Well, that's just the way it's always been." But I believe our children deserve more than tradition. They deserve transformation. I'd like to challenge the status quo. Our students face a rapidly changing world and our schools must evolve to meet their needs. I grew up in Beayshore. I attended Beayshore schools. I went on to become an educator. I taught in Manhattan at a
006public school in East Harlem and I miss it every day. I find nothing more rewarding than impacting the lives of our youth in the most positive way possible. My children now attend Bear Public Schools. I'm a gardener manner PF on the on the gardener manner PFA and I help out at Mary G as often as I can. My goal this year has been to try and open more effective lines of communication between families and schools. Family engagement is at the forefront of my priorities. Family engagement heavily impacts all aspects of education. In my experience, I have seen the effects of both a lack of engagement and an abundance of family engagement in schools. I'm determined to work tirelessly to be the voice of all of our families and the advocate our children deserve. I do
007not want to criticize the past, but I do want to commit to a better future. I am here to challenge the status quo to reimagine what is possible in education. Thank you. So, good evening. Um, my name is Andrew Auri. I think many of you know me. I've been on the school board for 20 years now. Um, I'm a Beashore graduate, class of 77. Um, I will, uh, be celebrating my 50th graduation hopefully, uh, in the next couple of years. Um, with respect to, um, my background, I am an attorney. I have a private practice of law with my wife, Sheila, who's here with us tonight. Um, as part of my practice of law, one of the things that I do uh, as a trial lawyer is I am an advocate. And that fits hand
008in glove with what I view the uh function of a schoolboard member. I advocate and I advocate for uh portions of the community. Um you cannot always advocate for every single uh constituency at the same time, but you make decisions based upon what is in the best interest of the community. I have been an advocate for my entire life. I have carried it through. Um, one of the things that I think that I can assure you is that I will show up for your students, for your kids, and for our community. Uh, over the course of the 20 years that I've been on the school board, I've missed five schoolboard meetings, and that was um associated with primarily passing of family members. So, um, I I vow to you my continued dedication to do this.
009I have, uh, perseverance. It is something that I, uh, pride myself upon. One of the things that I'd like to share with the community that I'm very proud of is the fact that as a trial lawyer, one of the things you always have is somebody on the other side, an adversary. And when you have an adversary, um, sometimes things in a courtroom uh, go by which you're not necessarily agreeing. But one of the things that I'm very proud of is the fact that for 25 straight years now, I've been voted AV preeminent um, by Martin Del Hubble. And what that means is that I have the highest legal ability. That's fine. That's nice. And that uh in addition, I have the highest ethical standards. And that's the one I take most pride in. And I
010say that because that is voted by your colleagues, the people that I try cases against. So when I walk out of the courtroom, the co the attorney that I just had a uh battle with in the courtroom finds that I did it ethically. And I really take a lot of pride in that. I uh we have great programs in the school district. I uh I I I heard what Sarah had to say about some of the changes. Um one of the things that I will say is that we have wonderful programs already. Many of those programs are constantly being built and extended. We have family engagement nights. We have north uh part uh partnerships with Northwell. We have partnerships with Suffach Community College. Um just during the first half hour here uh before this we
011went upstairs to the anatomage tables. Um those of you who didn't get to see it, please watch it again this evening. It's amazing what we have in the school and I strive to continue to bring that to the community. Thank you. Okay. Thank you both. Um so even though the first community submitted question was specifically addressed to Miss Hogland, after her response, Mr. Cury will also have the opportunity to address the issue. Here is the um submitted question. Is it true that your family offered to be the benefactor to finance the opening of a private school right next door in West Iceland? If so, do you understand the financial and educational ramifications it would have on our district? Okay. I'm actually I'm glad this has been brought up. I'm actually quite open about it with
012uh principles at the schools that my children go to. I've been very open about my experience inside and outside of the district. I don't really understand why that would be seen as a negative as far as academics go. I've seen what else is out there and there are other things out there that I have chosen to bring back to Beayshore. I'm here now. I'm sitting here. My children are here. um did I go outside of the district to see if there was something for my child who is neurodeiverse who has needs that we learned at a very young age and as he grew up we learned even more of what he needed. Um and I made sure to see as his biggest advocate what was out there and what was offered and I did and
013like I said I came across a program that had some really great aspects to it. um it wasn't right for my children. I left. I'm here now. But like I said, I brought some really great things with me. Um as far as our involvement, um it's a nonforprofit private school. It's not a charter school. I would never be involved in anything having to do with charter schools. Um and we considered helping them grow. But the I what's important is to understand that the people who founded this school did not have any intention of trying to be in place of a public school. Really what the initial intention was was to take their curriculum to take their ideas and try to actually get superintendent on board with their programs and say can we bring that into
014public schools. So it really was the intention certainly when I was involved in it was not to replace it was more to add and enrich. Um, so you know, like I said, I stand behind all the decisions I've made for my children, for my family, and I'm sitting here now, and I'm pretty sure that's good evidence that I am supporting Beh School District. Now, Mr. Akiri, so um, one of the things that I learned when I first got on the board was that as a school board member, you don't give up your parental rights. So, I totally respect that, that your parental rights remain intact. I think um the one portion of the question that I think um perhaps bears some inquiry has to do with the idea of um for example charter schools. So
015we just just recently and when I say just recently in the last two weeks there's another going to be another attempt coming folks to establish three charter schools in the immediate immediate vicinity. uh even private schools have a financial and an educational impact upon our district and our funds and our students. And so um that that's just something that from the perspective of looking out for beayhore that um certainly with in the context of the charter school as you defined that that's something that needs to be avoided and I would expect that we may have another gathering much like we did several years back. I agree. Okay. So, let's go to the second community submitted question. And the question is written is how many schoolboard meetings have you attended in the last four years? And
016I'm going to add that since that question can be answered in about two seconds. Uh um why or why not do you think that is important? And we begin with Mr. Akiri. So, I I actually um jumped you here. Um I've missed five meetings in 20 years. Um, I pride myself on attending. I think that one of the things, one of the functions of a schoolboard member is to be an advocate and you can't be an advocate in your absence. Uh, there certainly is a learning curve. I remember when I first came on the board that um that I just attended everything that I could um uh for at least a year before I was on the school board um to become um familiar with the way that uh school board meetings run, the way
017the school district functions um the function of a school uh board. Um I thought that all those things were important. Um, from the perspective of of school board meetings, I think that it would have been important um for um for for there to have been more attendance, including tonight the Natamash table was phenomenal. I'm sorry you missed it quite candidly. Um the question was how many board meetings correct? How many board meetings have you attended in the last four years and why or why not do you think that's important? So, I've physically attended one, but I've watched many online, which I'm assuming many people do. Um, and quite frankly, I really enjoy the work sessions. Um, you learn a lot about what's going on in the schools during those sessions and I enjoy them thoroughly.
018I've watched quite a few of my children have only been in the Beore school since last year, so my personal investment obviously has been more recent. Um, but I've watched many. Um, like I said, the work sessions I thoroughly enjoy. I love seeing what's going on in the high school. Um, there's some really phenomenal things going on with the IB program I've seen and just some things that the teachers are recommending that they want to do or suggesting. Um, and I've enjoyed them watching all of them. Okay. So, the third um community submitted question um was specifically addressed to Miss Hogland. So, it's your turn to go first anyway. And the question is as written. Can you explain why you did not attend any budget sessions either before or after you announced your candidacy for
019the school board? I watched them online. Mr. Kerry. Um, so you know, and they were very I thought they were well done. Um so from the perspective of uh again being an advocate I think the way that you become an advocate is by being present. Um certainly as a schoolboard member of course I'm going to be present. uh one uh has a right of course to watch it on on on the replay or or on a stream, but I think that it's there's a certain value that is um just perhaps you miss something if you're not present. Um and and and I'm just going to put it right out there and I have no problem with you responding to it. we are allowed to uh look up registration and things of that sort with regards
020to the community and one of the things that I learned is that you haven't voted in 10 years and I think that that type of commitment the Bayore community deserves better. I'm being honest with you and I respect your opinion. Um can can I I have no problems. Sure. Okay. Um so agreed, right? I wish there I did. Um, I do have three young children. At the time, my husband did. Um, and I was home with the kids. And is that a good reason? Of course not. I know I should have voted. And I'd like to think that moving forward, again, me sitting in this seat, um, says quite a bit about my commitment moving forward. Okay. So, uh, we can now move on to the fourth community submitted question, which thankfully or not is
021less contentious. Um, and this goes to Mr. Akuri first. What are your thoughts regarding banning cell phones in the classroom? So, I I I think that actually it's a good idea, but it needs to be um have some parameters on it. One of the things that constantly happens from Albany is that Albany comes down with an edict and then they don't look at the unintended consequences of it. And so one of the things that I think is important in this particular case is that the community um and when I say the community, our administrators, our teachers, our support staff that they weigh in with regard to this. This is something that needs to be decided upon on the local level. Um so I I am in support of the ban, but I do think that
022at a local level, the implementation is important. One of the things that you've seen come out of Albany now is the idea of of perhaps putting the phones in in a pouch and things of that sort. And um we we on the school board refer to those as unfunded mandates, like do something, but we're not going to give you the money to get the pouches. So unfunded mandates are always a problem from Albany. So I'm okay. I'm fine with the the ban, but I think that it needs to be done at the local level, not just by Albany. I agree there there there should not be cell phones in schools. Um I agree with what Governor Hokll is doing. I have done a lot of research and reading myself on the effects that phones have
023on children in school and I have not seen one positive thing aside from parents feeling like they can contact their children which we've also read in the anxious generation that that is not necessary because when you are in a very when you are in an emergency situation children should not be able to use their phones. should be able to focus on what needs to be handled in that moment and what they need to do and how they need to act. So I firmly firmly agree with there being no cell phones in schools. Okay. So that was the last of the community submitted questions. So from here on in you can blame me for the rest of the questions. Um so this one uh we start with Miss Hogland. Are there one or two issues in
024particular that motivates you to serve on the board of education? And why is that issue or those issues important to you? So, as I said earlier, um for me, family engagement is is huge. And yes, I definitely agree there are plenty of things going on and be sure that include families, but to me, family engagement is just more than that. Um, I like I said, I'm on the Garner Manor PFA and um the amount of representation at those meetings is really sad um at best. And I did a presentation at one of the PFA meetings on family engagement, the benefits of it. I believe um my presentation was distributed to the families that didn't attend in school that later that week in school. Um, and I just think that what needs to be understood are
025the benefits of not just coming to a a school event, not just coming to a dance, not just contributing to fundraisers, but really communicating with who's with your children every single day, who's teaching your children, what's happening in the classroom. Um, I think understanding what the progression is of a curriculum would be really helpful in more ways than we have, at least what I've experienced. Um, a parent can say to a, "Oh, I see this is coming up in your curriculum. I happen to have a strength in this. I happen to have experience in this. Maybe I can come in and talk about it." I just think that the more communication we have, the more transparency we have as far as what's going on in the everyday would really benefit our students and there would
026be a much stronger homeschool connection. That was one. Do you want me to go on? You have time if you'd like. Um, and I think, um, like I said, I know I've spoken to a lot of families. I really did a lot of talking, a lot of listening, a lot of listening. And, um, transparency was one of the biggest things people said. What's going on? We need more information. Um, and for me, um, curriculum progression, I think, is is huge. I know that we're considering new curriculum for September. I you know that's my my personal passion uh literacy curriculum and I'd love to know so much more about it. I'm sure there's other parents who would um so that's a big a big one for me and um yeah family engagement curriculum communication and maybe
027some policy updates. Okay, Mr. Akira. Yeah, thank you. So I'll touch upon what Sarah just talked about with regard to family engagement. One of the things that we've um implemented over the last couple of years were family engagement nights and um those have grown. Now the numbers are still not where we want them to be, but they have grown. We are actually having families come into the school that in years past I've been here long enough that as I say the 20 years that you know there were families that were just not part of the uh the culture of the school. Family engagement night has actually added to that. There are so many families that are now coming to the school um that are becoming just that engaged in the school and and you're and
028and the teachers are telling us that that it's making a palpable difference. You know, it it takes a village to raise ch children and that's exactly what is happening here in Beayshore. Could it be faster? Probably could be. Um with regard to uh the the question getting back to the full extent of the question what moves me is what we always see at presentations Dr. Maloney, the the cabinet, the teachers, um the principles from the schools, they constantly are bringing presentations to us. And that is uh the thing that moves me. At the end of every presentation, you look into the eyes, whether it's whether it's our seniors or whether it's our our K to2 students, you look into their eyes and you see that glow and that's when you know that we're making a
029difference. And so that's what that's what moves me to do this. That's what makes me want to commit to another three years to do this. That that this is something that you're making a difference in people's lives. You know, we all have gifts. We all have talents. I I believe that my ability to advocate is a gift that I was given and I want to share it. I do it with no hidden agenda. I do it because I love it and because I see the palpable result. Okay. Thank you both. Um we start with Mr. Auri this time. It's been said if you want to understand someone's priorities, just look at their budget. What are your budget priorities and what is your approach to managing the school district's budget and allocating resources effectively? So, um
030so our budget um uh with respect to um how it's going to impact us going forward, one of my goals is to make sure that we continue to keep class size down. That's certainly important. And then we talk about programs and and we have programs in this school that are just unfathomable. Um again, I'm just going to go back to the uh anatomage tables that we just did. There were uh I'm going to say about seven or eight students up there and they were phenomenal. You're talking about 10th graders that are 10th and 11th graders primarily that were essentially learning premed courses and and they were controlling that table in a way that again that brings a glow to my eye, but these are students that are part of a program that that we haven't
031available. Now, I I it's probably worth pointing out to the taxpayer. We're going to be doing the budget hearing in a few minutes. Uh worth pointing out to the taxpayer, we got three anonym tables upstairs and all three of those were um were were funded by uh grants so it didn't cost the taxpayers. So that those are the types of things that we are doing to manage our budget to control our budget etc. Um we need to keep programs going. We need to keep this is this is the educational business and uh you know in a typical business out there in the world they're selling widgets or whatever here what we are doing is we are teaching children and it it is so important that that continues. We have great programs we have great curriculum
032and perhaps on top of all that we have great people who work here dedicated professionals. I can't say enough about the teachers, the administrators, the uh the paras. These these people actually care. Um I I I don't think that they're doing it for the money quite honestly. I think they're doing it because of their passion and their love for the students. You just see it all the time. Um so those presentations that we see just just make it worthwhile to say, "Yeah, we have a budget. Certainly we have to fund things, but in the final analysis, we're doing what's good for kids." And that's what guides me all the time. Miss Hogman, can you repeat the question? Certainly. Um, it's been said if you want to understand someone's priorities, just look at their budget. What
033are your budget priorities and what is your approach to managing the school district's budget and allocating resources effectively? Okay. Um, one of my biggest um, I guess a passion of mine is teacher training. I've done a lot of reading on teacher training and what's going on around the country and I really um I agree. I think I don't think teachers do it for the money. I think that we're in it um because that's where our hearts are and we just want to see um the evolution of a student grow. And I just I you know teacher training for me is is a big one is understanding um or a the educator understanding what's expected of them and how to um create a the best learning environment possible in their classrooms. Um I saw I think
034I saw in the budget there was more money allocated to teacher training which was good to see. Um and social emotional curriculum making sure that's embedded in the curriculum that you're using. um making sure that we're addressing any mental health concerns or needs of our children. Making sure that they have the ability to talk when they need to talk. Um they can feel they have a safe environment where they feel like they can talk about things. And um I know I've heard from a few parents a few concerns about that, knowing that their children have somewhere safe to go to talk about what they're feeling or what's going on um outside of the classroom. Okay, so this uh we start with you, Miss Hogland, for the next question. If you are elected, besides getting a
035seat on the board, you also get a target on your back. How would you handle being approached by an angry irate parent or teacher with complaints about a particular school issue or employee? Okay. Well, I happen to be a pretty good listener. Um, I enjoy listening and I don't really get um, too shaken up and as I've been in the classroom, I've certainly been on the other end of unhappy parents and um, colleagues and I just again just listening listening saying I hear what you're saying, acknowledging it, acknowledging that they have something to say and it means something to them and that I will do my very best to advocate and to and to do what's necessary to make sure they feel heard, seen, and understood. Mr. Cury, thank you. So, um, one of the
036things that you you quickly learn when you're on the school board is that you are one of five board members. So, you cannot make decisions on your own. You're a board and we function as a board. Um, when parents and people within the community approach me with regard to things, um, certainly if it's a personnel matter, I would have to quickly point that out to them that I can't discuss a personnel matter. Um there's always confidentiality issues involved. Uh I sort of get that as part of my legal career. Um you know keeping things in confidence and confidentiality. But kind of to get to the heart of the matter it it it's always difficult when you know someone and they come to you with a problem that they want to voice. Uh the best thing
037that I could say that a school board member could and should do is to direct them to the proper place to have their voice heard. And and that's something that I think we as schoolboard members can do that I can say you need to call uh Dr. Maloney or you need to call pupil services or whatever the case may be the district clerk whatever the case may be you need to be able to direct people um so that they can then get satisfaction out of it. It is a little bit difficult sometimes to not be able to take that next step and say this is what I want for you and your child or whatever the case may be. And you can't do that because you're a schoolboard member. You're one of five and we
038operate as a board. But I you try to certainly be uh empathetic. Uh you try to listen uh and you try to uh address it in such a way so that they can ultimately address and perhaps even solve the problem. Okay, our next question, uh, we start with you, Mr. Akuri. Um, what do you believe is the greatest challenge about schoolboard service and what particular experiences or skills have prepared you for that challenge? So, um, you know, the second part of the question has to do with my my career, right, as an advocate. I've already touched upon that, so I I I'm not going to beat a dead horse, but I just believe advocacy skills translate very well from my legal career to the school board. That's just something that comes naturally uh for me.
039I I enjoy doing it. Um, one of the things that is always um difficult with regard to um I'm going to say pitfalls that exist is that um u you have to understand that you're 105 that uh the board gets to set policy but they don't run the schools. And I think that that's something that um um I'm not saying this about you Sarah, but when you're coming on the board that you have to uh recognize and accept that and that was something that I had to quickly learn that you're not running the schools. The superintendent is along with his cabinet. Um but we're setting policy and one of the things that you try to do all the time is really again just goes back to doing what's in the best interest of kids. And
040so you set policy, you make decisions, and you address things with that in mind. Okay. Thank you. So, oh, I'm sorry, Miss Hogwin, it's your turn to answer that question. You want me to repeat it? Um, the question is, what do you believe is the greatest challenge about schoolboard service? And what particular experience or skills have prepared you for that challenge? And just let me add that um because I only have two more questions after this and it's 6:32, I'm worried that we're going to run out of questions. So feel free to beat a dead horse. Um well, I imagine as a school, as you're talking about, I imagine as a school of board member, the hard part is not being able to make decisions on you and you have to work with a team.
041I think there's probably wonderful things about that and there's probably really difficult parts about that. Um, and um, you know, I don't have that personal experience, but I think that I'm a pretty good team player and I would look forward to hearing the opinions and um, the thoughts of other people on the board. Um, as much of a challenge as it might be to have to work as a team at times and just have respect for the process. What was the second part of the question? Well, it was experiences or skills that have prepared you for that challenge. Like I I believe you have teaching experience. Yeah, my teaching experience having to work on a team um having to take the ideas like I said the ideas the thoughts of other people and having to
042incorporate into what you're doing um and um but again it's also a wonderful thing. So okay our um next question uh we start with you Miss Hogwin. Uh some people believe that public schools play a vital role in socializing children, equipping them for uh with essential social and emotional skills necessary for navigating diverse social environments and future interactions. How should the district balance academic achievement with students mental health and social emotional learning? Well, so I genuinely think that it's very difficult to approach um academics without having a good grip on the mental health, the social emotional part. How can anybody do a good job without feeling social emotionally balanced? Um so that for me is a very innovative thing that's been brought into education. Um certainly recently it's pretty it's a buzz word you know
043this social emotional and um innovative ideas in the schools of how to approach the mental health part and I think that you know there's so many there's so many pieces of literature out there to read on this there's so many things that we can bring into our schools to just open lines of communication open up the dialogue make sure the students feel comfortable talking to the educators that they're with the people that they're around make sure there's support groups in the schools make sure there's many different avenues that they have available to them. Um, different options that they have available to them in the schools and even outside of the schools. Um, but again, I do think this goes back to open dialogue. I think it goes back to making sure students feel comfortable talking
044about whatever the issues are that they're feeling or dealing with. Um, and uh, you know, that starts with again creating that kind of a culture in your school. So the education business of course starts with the idea that academic achievement is important. So I understand that. I think probably everyone in the this room gets that. But in order for the academic achievement to be at its best, you also need, you know, so socioeconomic issues to be taken into account. You need mental health to be taken into account. Things of that sort. One of the things that you've seen um if you've if you followed the budget in terms of our staffing is that we have uh grown in terms of our staffing of of guidance, social workers, health care workers, therapists, things of that sort.
045We recognize it. Um and probably if nothing else, CO brought that upon us, right? It brought it to to the forefront by which we saw that that students needed extra support. And so we've responded with regard to our staffing. Um we we we've we've seen the need, we've addressed it. Uh and we're trying to address it in such a way that we're looking out for the mental health of our students of course while at the same time trying to engender academic achievement and I think that we've made uh made great strides with regard to that. Um there was the what they called the co slide and we are so beyond that at this district. We have come out of it um because of the great programs that we have. Um but probably as much as
046anything, it's because of the great people that we have. Uh again, I'll go back to it. I will beat a dead horse for a moment. Our our our our administrators and teachers have gone above and beyond when as we got back into the inclassroom um setting um our our our our staff, our professionals recognized the importance of support for our students and it's made a difference. Okay. So, let's move on to um my last prepared question before I have to start doing audibles. Um we start with Mr. Cury. Most things worth doing in life present challenges. What do you believe is the greatest challenge about school board service? So, um I I just believe that if you're going to do it, it's you need to be allin. It's the time commitment. Um it is something
047that I've taken so seriously. Uh so for me, it's not a challenge, but I think that for the average person, again, I'm not personalizing it to you, Sarah, but for the average person, it's that time commitment. It's when the bell rings, you need to be there. And that's just something that I've been able to do. I I I'm blessed because I am self-employed. I work with my wife, so we're kind of self-employed. Um um but but I'm self-employed and so I'm able to step out of my office when I need to. And I've been doing that and and um I I really have no take no qualms about it. It is something that I enjoy doing. I think again that I can support the district. I can support the community. It's it's something that could
048be a pitfall, but for me personally, it's not. I think that is the biggest thing that people just don't realize um those who have run for the school board in the past um that they don't realize the time commitment. They see, you know, a meeting um every two weeks or so and um it lasts for, you know, in the public spectre maybe two hours. Um but there is so much more to it. the time that goes into it and um that could be a problem for many people. But as I said, I made a conscious decision to seek re-election, right? I I could have said I've had enough. It's been 20 years. I I've made a conscious decision and it's something that I feel passionate about, that I want to do, and that I commit
049to do, and I will continue to commit to do for another three years. I would have to agree. I would think that it would be time. I think time is probably um I have three little kids. Obviously, that wouldn't be incredibly easy, but again, I look at them and I just think this is for them. So, that would make it worth it for me. Um and I imagine things coming to the table that really pull on your heartstrings that you don't have complete power and control over and as you've mentioned, Mr. Cury that you really have to deal with in a diplomatic way and not necessarily be able to give the answers that you want to give or any answers quite frankly. Um I would imagine that that's that's very difficult and I personally would
050have a hard time with that because I do like solving problems for people. Um so not being able to do that I would think would be very challenging. Okay. Thank you. We now uh begin the improv portion of our program. We do a dance. So, Miss Hogland gets the uh to answer this one first. I It's 2025. What do you feel are the top needs right now for our school district? Okay. Um I think that, you know, education is just ever evolving and, you know, you got to keep up with it or you get left behind. And there's so many um innovative things happening in so many places. And to be able to bring that into our classrooms, I think would be magical. And project-based learning, making sure our kids are getting their hands dirty,
051making sure they're set up to not always succeed, but to understand how to fail, too. Um to problem solve, to work their way through things, to do to have to be using, you know, their critical thinking skills. um making sure that we're giving content and knowledge and working on making sure they walk out with the content um that is, you know, like I it just I what I've seen my children ask questions about and this is to the to the credit of the teachers that they have the the knowledge that they're coming home with and the content that they're learning and it's it's quality. it is. Um, but like I said, I think we always have to push the envelope and see what else is out there and make sure that um, we're always innovating
052in our classrooms. Sir, top needs for our school district in 2025. Sure. So, um, one of the things that I think that um, I would love to see is for children, our students, our children to take advantage of uh, the opportunities that do exist in the school. There are so many programs in this school that are available. Many many many students take full advantage of it. Um some of them three, four, five, six, seven or eight things. And that but yet we still have some students that don't partake in those opportunities. Um whether it's whether it's uh that that table has just blown me away that the the the anatomage table that we just uh explored um just phenomenal. uh the students that are there, if you see the glow in their eye, it's it's
053just they are ready for a medical career or a forensic career where whatever that's going to look like for them. Um they are ready for it now and they're in 10th grade. These things exist. Um I would like to see more students taking advantage of things like that. Uh we have um many extracurricular curricular activities whether it's sports or in the arts. again that some student that many students take full advantage of and then there are some students that seem to be left behind that aren't doing it. So I would just like to see more students taking advantage of the opportunity. I think our guidance counselors and our teachers do a great job trying to encourage students to do it. But yet there is perhaps sometimes that disconnect between uh a child's home life and
054the school setting that prevents them either for a practical reason or perhaps uh um because of a mental health reason that they're not taking advantage of things. But the programs exist, the opportunities exist in the school. Just wish more kids were taking advantage of them. languaged. Okay. And Mr. Cury, the question for you is, how do you believe a school board member can make a longlasting contribution to um a long-lasting change uh for the students benefit? So, I I think it starts with consistency. There can't be a hidden agenda. Um, you need to come come at this from the perspective and I'll do it again with the air quotes of doing what's best for kids. If you uh I I have again I I view it as a gift. I rely upon my faith. That's
055why I use that expression. It it's a gift of advocacy that I think I that I get an opportunity to share. We all get one life. This is something that I get to share. uh that is something that is that I view as important um in terms of going forward and that's just what I want to do is continue to share um my gift and encourage students to ultimately get what's good. Miss Hogwin, the uh gist of the question is how can a school board member be most effective in making long lasting substantial positive changes for students? I I think it's simple. I think that with every decision you make, as long as you're putting children first, as long as you're always considering the students, what's best for the children, what's best for the children,
056um, and merely committing to that way of thinking. Okay. So, um, I am a riskadverse person. However, we're going to give this a shot. And forgive me if this doesn't work out. Does anyone in the audience have a burning question that they would like to ask at this time? Anyone? Yes. Gentleman in the center? Yes. My kids have been out of baseore for a long time. They're actually in their 50s. Uh the question I have is why is only one position open on the board? It blows my mind. It's only one. Well, it's a I mean, I don't Who goes first? I don't care. Well, it's your turn. Do you want to answer that? One position open or one person sitting here? One position. I gather there's only one person. I I would love 10
057people to be sitting here saying why they should be on the board. I think that would be great. I think there should be. Well, I think that the gist of your question is why is there only one seat open right now rather than two or three or four seats? And I I think the answer is that it revolves, but Sure. So, I I can answer that. So, there are five board members. two are elected year one, two are elected year two, and in the third year it's only one seat. So this happens to be the one seat cycle that we're on. Um so so because there are it's an odd number. So there always would have to be that odd year. So this happens to be the one seat cycle. So we do it every
058three years so that we're not turning over the entire board on any given year. Um I I would want to if if if you don't mind expand upon the fact that you talked about the fact that your you your students your children are no longer in the in the district. And I think that this is worth mentioning and certainly I I would be happy for Sarah to comment on it. One of the things that is also important for those people in the room that don't have students in the room, excuse me, that in the schools is that strong schools make for a strong community. It makes for a strong tax base and it inflates property values. So there are a lot of good reasons to support the schools and I appreciate the fact that you're
059here, sir. So thank you, M. Hog. But by all means, please on on the fact that he's here without children. That's what we're talking whatever you want to say because I I freelanced a little there. So feel free. Um thanks for being here. Um we appreciate the support. Is there another burning issue that someone wants to ask about? Yes, ma'am. Right there. Um I'm new to, you know, being involved in boards and coming to meetings and everything, but um seems to me for such a large district to only have five board members is just makes me wonder why that is. I look at other districts and they have a larger board. Um are you open to expanding the board? Why or why not? And is that a possibility for our future in your So let
060me let me give Miss Hogland a chance to answer that first. I guess the question is should there be more members than just five on the board? Yeah, of course there's power in numbers. I believe um as I said when I started, I don't come here opposing. I come here offering what I have to give. Um I think that there are ways to increase your board members. I think that that is a board um a board initiative that you can create where you want to have board more as far as I know if you want to have more board members um I think it would be a great thing. I think there should be a parent advocate on every board, Mr. Cury. So, so it's actually set by statute. Um, all due respect, I don't
061think that it's we that get to decide that it's it's set by statute. I think, don't quote me on this because I didn't study the law on it, but I think nine is the max. I I I I think nine is the max. Um, so and of course it has to be an odd number so that you have those kind of votes. Uh Beasher has has always been a district with five. That's that that's historically the case. Um there's opportunities to not have at large elections and for designated seat elections. Again, this is the way that it's been done in Beayshore for a very long time, certainly as long as I've been on the board. But if the statute allows seven or nine, how would you feel about expanding the board? Well, I I think
062that ultimately that's I I believe it has to go for a a referendum by the uh for the community to vote upon. So, it's really not up to the board to do that. I think it's a referendum. Again, I'm not positive of that, but that that's what my understanding is of it. Um so, it would be up ultimately up to the community if the community saw that saw fit to do that. Um personally, I think a five person board functions very well. Um we have very spirited debates. Um um you don't necessarily see them here. Many times our spirited debates happen in executive session which will be continuing when we're done here um tonight after Moren does the budget. So um we don't always agree on everything. Uh but we we hear each other out
063and we respect each other's opinion. And um in the final analysis I might disagree with another board member but ultimately um you know the majority rules with regard to it. Miss Hogman, how do you feel about seven or nine? Um as I said I think I think more would be I I I think there should be a parent advocate on every board. I think there should be somebody on a board that is a voice for the parents that has young children in the schools um and that people feel comfortable approaching. Okay. So now we're up to the closing argument or summation portion of the program and um Mr. Auri, you have three minutes beginning now. So one of the things that I believe in is um showing up for your kids. Um I I'm going
064to stand by that. I've shown up. Um I think it's up to the community to draw its own conclusions with regard to um my opponent's um attendance issues. That's up to you folks to decide. But I commit to do this um for another three years and to do it in such a way that I don't expect I'll be missing even a single meeting. Perhaps one I guess statistically that would be the case um based on five and 20 years. Um so um I I fully believe um that the only way that you can be a school board member and an advocate for the community is by being active. Um I I have uh my wife and had and I have had discussions with regard to uh the fact that I was going to come back
065to the school board. Um she has fully supported me with regard to it. I feel passionate about this. I have three more years that I want to give to this community. I have um I think most of you know this. I've lived in this community my entire life. I was born and raised here. In fact, my mom graduated from this high school. So that's how long I am entrenched in this community. Um I care about the community. It is something that I am passionate about. Um I know many lawyers that that I see and talk to and they say why are you doing this? You don't get paid. You don't. And I say because I give a damn. And that's really why I'm here. I have no hidden agenda. I just care. I care about
066this community. I love this community. And I'm going to continue to do what I can for this community. I have a gift that I'd like to share. I'm going to ask for you to vote for me. Um with regard to voting, one of the things that I'll ask whether it's for me or for Sarah, please don't do um what sometimes happens where people say, "Ah, you're a shoe and I don't need to come out and vote. Please come out and vote. If you are one of those people in the past, please don't be that in the future." the election can turn simply by the fact that somebody thought that one candidate or the other was a shoe in. Please don't do that. I commit to you three more years. I all I ask in return
067is that you actually come out and vote. So, thank you all. Miss Hogwin. All right. Well, you have to start somewhere, right? So, we're starting. That's that's why I'm sitting here. Um, as a parent, educator, and member of this community, I'm deeply committed to ensuring that every child in our district is seen, heard, and supported. Our schools should be places where students feel safe, where educators feel empowered, and where families feel welcomed and understood. I bring with me not just experience, but heart. A belief that education is the most powerful investment we can make in our future. I understand the value of strong literacy instruction, effective educator training, sports programs that build confidence and character, evidence-based curriculum, clear and consistent communication between families and schools, and policy that works for everyone. I'm running for the
068board of education to be a voice for our children, a partner to our educators, and an advocate for families. I ask for your support and for your vote so that together we can build a stronger, more inclusive, and more innovative school district. I'm just getting started here in Beashore. I choose to look forward and focus on the path ahead. What I sit here tonight and ask from all of you is that you become the best possible advocate for your own children, for your grandchildren. Talk to your children's educators, talk to their providers, talk to the paraprofessionals, talk to the administration. Reject complacency. develop relationships and have open dialogue with the people that are with your children every day. Once we get involved and we all start to realize our power and exercising our voices, we
069can come together and create positive and effective momentum moving forward for our children, the heart of our community. Be proactive and bridge the gaps in communication. Continue to push for progress, push the envelope, and be heard. Complacency has no place in Beayshore schools. Innovation begins when we stop accepting good enough. Settling is not an option for our children's future. It really has been an honor to sit here with all of you tonight. Thank you for your time and I look forward to conversations with all of you. And I want to thank the candidates. I think we should all be grateful for the thoughtfulness and the civility that we witnessed tonight. And I thank you all for coming. And um that's it. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Um hearing agenda. Can I have a call to
070order? Motion. Second. All in favor? I. And we'll stand and do a pledge, please. Guy, if you would take this out 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. Okay. So, we're going to here at the budget for the upcoming year, which will be adopted, was adopted. I'm I'm just getting this now. So be adopted adopted on April 23rd, 2025. Um ground rules include that there's a question and answer period following the discussion presentation which Moren will give us and Dr. Maloney says you will make an introductory. Thank you, Mrs. Gar. And again, thank you everyone for being here this evening for our budget hearing. Um this year's budget just over $22 million um will
071continue to provide the strong foundation that our students deserve. Um, again, we're one of the few school districts that's able to offer a UPK program for almost well over 300 students. Again, which is unique to Beayshore and this program starts with that strong foundation at UPK all the way up to the high school in terms of the programs. Now, this particular budget and again, I'm going to thank Moren at the end, but again, we started this process in January. um starting looking at all the different budget codes and all of the different items that we needed to make some projections on for next year. Um this particular budget um is at the tax cap just at about 3.9. Um budget budget increase 2.4. Um so again again providing the services that we need for our
072students. um academic success, mental health success, which we heard talked about earlier during our meet the candidates night. Making sure that we have all of the programs and services in place to make sure our students are successful mentally and that they can provide um to be academically successful as well. We're also talking about with this particular budget maintaining all of our services for our special education students and our English language learners. um continuing to provide mental health and support staff at its current levels. That's our psychiatrist, social workers, and our counselors. Um this is also the we complete the phase in of our dual language program at the K2 level at Mary G. Clarkson, which is something we started several years ago. Um, in terms of some new academic courses that we're very excited for
073next year to be able to offer, um, physics electives, um, science of sports and science of sounds, which is actually two presentations we had during the budget process, which will be new for next year. A pre-calculus course, AP pre-calculus course that we're going to be offering for next year. And also, we're very excited for broadcast journalism at the middle school. that is something that we've seen evolve from the Garden of Manor um to the middle school and also into the high school. Um also just in terms of some capital improvements that we're going to be looking at for next year. Um there'll be some bathroom renovations at the high school, some classroom reconfiguration of the dean's office and again that is all part of our um plan where we're also going to be barding a
074security vestible vestibial at the high school. So it'll be a single point of uh entry at the high school. That's the reason to move our dean's office. Again, when most people are coming into the high school, um it's usually for the guidance office, the nurses office, and the dean's office. So, all three of those offices will be in one location um to make it safer for our students. And also, again, with the aging of our buildings, we also have some boiler replacements at Brook Avenue, Fifth Avenue, and South Country. And I want to thank the board for all of their support and all of the questions that they were able to uh ask over the past several months at our at our budget meetings. again want to thank cabinet and I also want to especially
075thank Moren who again has been our business official I think 25 years um again puts it all together for us to make sure that we have what um our students need and that's the one thing I would say about Beayshore where again it's unique it's this culture of opportunity for all students whether you're special ed ESL um accelerated we have something for everybody and this particular budget will ensure that that um continues in the future so with that being said I'm going to turn it over to Moren You're welcome. Should have let me go first. Um, okay. So, I just have a couple slides. I'll be really brief. Then, as Stephen said, we start the budget process in January. We have se uh six or seven budget sessions um depending on the the season and
076the timing of certain events that happen through the course of the budget season. Uh this is a summary of the main categories. There's a couple different ways to look at the budget. Uh there is a way that we have historically looked at the budget which is basically uh a summary of a line item budget line by line that is this. So some people who have been looking at these numbers for a long time this format might look familiar to them. Uh general support uh is pretty much uh district office. Instruction is anything related to teaching. Pupil transportation is exactly what it sounds like. And then undistributed expense. Uh this is something that people might not understand but it is basically employee benefits uh and debt service primarily. So our current budget we are at 97
077and a half almost 907.5 million dollars. Um, and our proposed budget is just over 202 million. Uh, that represents 4,700 $4,700,000 increase, which as Stephen already said is 2.4%. Now, those of you who haven't been looking at this year after year may be more comfortable with what we call the three component budget. So the state has asked uh that the business officials disagregate the line by line budget and put it back together a little bit differently so that the public can so that maybe it's a little bit more in intuitive and you can see how the undistributed uh expenses on the last slide get thrown into the calculation. So when we look at it's the same expenditure budget, it's the same 202 million. But when we look at it this way, categories are a little
078bit different. Uh since 77% uh of our budget is staff, right? Uh whether that's salaries or benefits because we are a labor intensive industry. Um the way that the budget is aggregated here the benefits are distributed into the different categories of staff. So general support again uh is central office staff for the most part instruction all your teachers uh your paras your support people and then capital program is your uh buildings and grounds department um money's allocated for construction as Stephen said we have a we have a transfer to capital line uh that each year supports various capital projects throughout the district. Uh if you look at the budget brochure uh that we mailed home, there's a paragraph um in that budget brochure that delineates the projects that Dr. Millenny was speaking about. Um and
079we break this down by percentage of the budget allocated to each category. And again, this is the format that the state feels is more intuitive for the taxpayer as opposed to the way it was presented initially. But I know some people have been looking at the same numbers for years and they like to see it the way that we've always done it. Uh so general support or again central office 10% of the total budget instruction teachers support staff including employee benefits 77% and capital programs which is your building buildings and grounds and uh transfer to capital and debt service 13% of the budget. Where do the budget dollars come from? We have three primary categories. Uh miscellaneous uh is things like tuition for summer school, um interest, some insurance recoveries, um taxes in lie of
080that aren't included in the levy that come to the district outside the levy. They amount to just over $3 million. very not a very significant percentage of the total budget, just 1% state aid. Um we have seen some some pretty nice increases to state aid in recent years, taking us from about 28% of the total budget all the way up to 38% of the budget. And that's a good thing. Um but it kind of also means that for many many years we were lagging far behind um based upon these state aid formulas. Uh that's 38% at over 76.5 million. And our property tax levy next year will be 122 almost and a half million dollars uh representing 61% of our total budget. And then a little stat uh so as Stephen said we are at
081the cap. Our budgetto budget increase is 2.4. Our levy increase levy to levy is 3.9. that does not necessarily translate into your tax rate increase. However, uh we are while it is our responsibility to set the levy uh we do not determine the tax rate that happens u uh through the town of Icelip the assessor's office um and the tax collector's office. There are a couple of numbers that at this point in time at this point in the process we do not yet have. They include assessments, right, which are constantly changing as properties are improved upon um and come on and off and exemptions and properties come on and off the tax roles. And then uh beayhore has like many of the town of Isel districts has opted into what's called the base proportion split
082which means that in any given year uh New York state office of real property services sends down a percentage of the total levy that will be borne by homeowners as opposed to a the rest of the levy right of the 100% that will be borne by commercial property and they make up those percentages. They don't make them up. They calculate them based upon actual sales. So they look at how houses are selling um as compared to what the asking price is. And we all know right now houses the housing market is still very strong. The same thing with commercial property. They they look at actual sales prices compared to asking prices. uh they look at volume of sales, things like that, and they determine based upon those numbers where the wealth of the community lies.
083And if they determine that the wealth of the community lies with the homeowners, they may put an extra percentage of the levy onto the the uh total portion of the levy that the homeowners bear, taking it off of commercial property. So it might be we're at around a 7030 split. Uh homeowners pay for around 70% of the levy. So in any given year it could be 71% of the levy or it could turn back the other way and go back down to 70 down to 69 and commercial property pick up the other 30 31 29% uh depending on on what the office of real property calculates that base proportion split to be. So those are two numbers that we don't have access to until sometime later in the summer right before we actually set the
084tax rate. So in September, right this now the school year has already started because our fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30th. Um but we will not actually set the tax rate until September when we have those numbers. Um Suffy County is a little bit of an anomaly. Nassau County too. Suffach County is still a little bit different in New York State and upstate New York. They would have these numbers and tax bills would go out uh over the course of the summer and you would be paying your taxes in September, October, November. Down here on Long Island, we do it a little bit differently. Uh the tax bills don't go out until later in the fall after the rates are set. um sometime in early fall and your first property tax payments
085are actually made in January at which point we are already more than six months into our school year. Uh which is one of the reasons that we need to borrow money uh every year to uh to be able to fund operations until the tax levy, which as we said is 61% of our total revenues until those tax monies start rolling in in January and then June. So, while the levy to levy, uh, as Dr. Maloney said, is at the cap at 3.9%. Uh, one of the numbers that I always think is important to look at is your average property tax rate increase because really the story is told over time. It's not in any one given school year. A dis the there's a lot of variability in the calculations for the cap. It really is
086very district by district specific and in any given year a district could come in with a negative tax cap or a tax cap considerably higher than uh where we are even this year. It really depends on what's happening with your uh your operations. A lot of it depends on your transfer to capital and your construction programs um and things like that. So ours is a little bit higher this year um than than normal. Our tax cap that is uh because we do have some debt service from the 2002 bond referendum. When I say debt service, you think mortgage, right? The mortgage on my house. That's the equivalent for us. Um and that is starting to roll off the books. Uh and as that comes off the books, that expense comes off the books, uh so
087does the state aid that we receive that's allocated to those debt service payments. Uh we have transferred a chunk of that money into our transfer to capital, our capital program. Um so the the expenditure remains excluded from the tax cap. Um, but the state aid that accompanied it is now lost until it's allocated reallocated back to us through other approved projects. So that makes this year's levy a little levy to levy increase a little bit higher, but all in all, I think it's important to point out that our five-year average property tax rate increase is 2.5%. And I say this with some pride actually because when I first started here, prior to uh New York State implementing the tax cap, uh it was always my job to go out and sell the budget every year
088and to explain to the tax payers why uh the anticipated property tax increase was what it was. And at one point I did go back and calculate and pri again prior to the tax cap being implemented by the state the 30-year average property tax rate increase was 6.0%. So since the tax cap came in the five year the fiveyear average just for the last five years I didn't go all the way back to when it came in but 2.5%. So I think that's pretty good and that's it. That's all I have. Dr. Maloney questions. Does anybody here have questions? I know we've gone over quite a bit. Okay. So at this point if there are any questions from the audience we will take those questions. Everybody jump up once. Yeah. Yeah. Many many apartments. Yeah.
089There's and more to come. You got the corner of Third Avenue that's going to happen again. You got the corner of 4th Avenue. The town already exemptions. The town has given all that stuff. The only problem going on is like Trimpion shouldn't And the problem is, you know, we get a tax break. They stay within the community and they're with us for 20 years or whatever it is. If they're with us for 20 years, they're in the they partnered with us for 20 years, not to sell it, make a profit, and then that person that gets a tax break coming in, they shouldn't get the tax break coming in. That's the stuff that I'm worried about if they sell off the land because then they still get that tax break and it comes back on
090us. You know, I understand we got to develop things and do things in in our community, but I don't believe the tax breaks should travel with if you sell your property and we get hit the hardest with the and we've been hit the hardest with all the apartments. You look around, nobody else is getting that. Yeah. Yeah. We also try to take care of our volunteer, you know, our volunteer firemen, the veterans. We we get tax breaks, too. We're looking at the stuff for our elders, seniority, you know, people who were holding the house over 50 years, 40 years, and stuff like that. We're looking into all kinds of programs. So, we're we're trying to do for enrollment growth because of our enrollment has been actually for as many apartments uh that that have opened,
091our enrollment has been very stable. Little very very very slight decline, but yeah, the pilots have increased uh in the last half dozen years from maybe 50,000 to a quarter of a million. So, very significant growth in pilots. Okay. Yeah. In the news lately. Yeah. What's true? What's not true? So, News Day actually did a really nice piece on that um that was mostly accurate. Uh the mall did grieve their taxes and they received a substantial reduction of almost 75% of their assessed value. Um that is a large part of our commercial assessments. Um but the town of Icelip is is working on a plan to phase in that reduction in assessment. Uh there are other lines on your property tax bills and things will be offset. so that commercial property in Beayshore isn't damaged
092unduly uh putting people out of business. So they're, you know, looking at it with an eye to protect uh the rest of uh the assessed commercial property in Beayshore, which is good. They're going to level out that big grievance uh reduction. Um you know, and as we continue to build, assessments climb. So hopefully all in all at the end of the day each year there will just be a much smaller reduction to assess value for commercial property and it'll be okay. They have an eye on it. It's a regional mall. It's not just a beayhore mall. It's for everybody in the town of Icelip. And so the uh this is going to be funded for the time being I think by everybody in the town of Icelip. It's not just behing it very responsibly. Good
093question. Anybody else? Okay. So, we want to thank everybody for attending and coming in today. And what we can tell you is come vote on Tuesday, May 20th from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. At 9:00 p.m., we'll close the polls. Um, we'll do the vote and anybody who wants to stick around and hear that at 9:00 at night is more than welcome. We'll be here. Thank you. Have a great night. Can I have a motion to go back into motion to go into executive? Motion. Second. All in favor? I