001Okay, we ready? >> Nice. Testing. Testing. >> Good. >> You good? >> All right. Uh, welcome everybody to our, uh, August 26th board of education meeting. Uh, please join me in the pledge. Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. >> All right, I'm going to change it up a little bit. Instead of me introducing everybody, I'm going to ask everybody to kind of weigh in, introduce themselves, and and let people know what they do for the district here. Starting all the way down here. And with this table, I can't see that far. So, >> good evening everybody. I'm Scott Ashan. I'm the assistant superintendent for human resources in the district.
002>> Good evening. I'm Laura Newman, associate superintendent for business and operations. >> Dana Schultz, board trustee. >> Bill Hender, board trustee. >> Dr. Cox, superintendent of schools. Gus Huber, board president. >> Sue Hermer, board vice president. >> Russo, assistant superintendent for curriculum instruction and assessment. Harvey, attorney for the school district. So I got a loud voice, district. >> All right, so welcome everybody. Um, at this point I'm going to turn this over to Dr. Cox for the administrative report. >> Thank you, Mr. Huber. So I'm just going to go through the agenda. We have a few presenters this evening. So first up, um, we're going to have our new ex official. You don't have to go yet, Kyla. Uh, ex official student board member who will present their summer report. We will have, uh, Dr.
003Forner is going to present on our cell phone policy update. We did present this earlier in the year, but we'd love to, uh, provide a little bit of a reminder on that mandate from the governor's office before the start of school. Uh, Mrs. Newman is going to be presenting on our food service update. There's good news there for, I hate to spoil it, some free breakfast and lunch. Sorry, Mrs. Newman. Um, and then we have our board of education goals. And the way that works is I will present on the board of education goals. There will be some related actions as they relate to each individual goal. And then on the agenda tonight, the board has has the opportunity to vote on those on those items on those board of education goals and adopt them.
004So, first up, we have Kyla. So, Kyla, I'm going to grab I'm gonna give you the clicker. >> She wants to sit here. >> Okay. This is so you can click through the different slides. >> Hi everyone. I'm just going to be going over all of the summer m the summer programs that we had this summer that all the students were able to enjoy. So, one of the successful summer programs was our Cougar Athletic Camp. We had an incredible turnout with nearly 900 students participating in 24 different sports. Students had the chance to build skills, stay active, and work together in teams. The camps were made possible thanks to our amazing CHS coaching staff and our volunteer students who created such a fun and supportive environment. and all of the students both participating and volunteering
005had a great time. Our summer music camp was also very successful. There was about 65 students enrolled from incoming fourth graders to eighth graders. For beginners, the program offered small group instructional lessons helping students learn how to play their instruments. And for more experienced members, there was an exciting exploratory program and they offered ukulele, world drumming, piano, chorus, and ensemble playing. Our discovery camp welcomed incoming kindergarten to third grade students. Each week of camp had a theme. The first week was camping and campers took part in a fishing challenge, created nature photo books, and explored the Comarmac Champion trait of being reflective. They even made little paper tents with mirrors inside, encouraging them to reflect on how they grow from different experiences. Week 2's theme was scales, tails, feathers, and fur. And the students made
006suncatchers, 3D turtles, and they built animal habitats in the STEM lab. Their favorite hands-on activities were the tie-dye and stand dart. That week, students focused on the trait of being balanced, and they learned how to juggle fun learning and self-care. This summer, COMAC also held an ENL summer program. It was open to students in grades kindergarten to fifth grade, and it brought kids together from all different stages of learning English. One of the best parts was that high school students volunteered as the counselors. And this made such a big difference because the younger students had role models to look up to and some of them even share their own experience in learning a new language which inspired the younger kids and gave them confidence. All of those volunteers had a great time and it was
007their favorite part of their summer. >> Thank you, Kyla. >> So, Dr. You are up. Kyla has the clicker if you need it. >> Thanks. >> All righty. Thank you everybody. So, in July, we did provide a comprehensive um presentation on the cell phone policy. Uh as a reminder, when the governor's budget came out in May, which again, it typically comes out a little earlier, but when it came out in May, there was a cell phone law attached to that um budget. So by August 1st, the district had to adopt a policy which our board did in July. So the goal for tonight is just quickly give you an overview of what was presented in um the past month. But we'll start with a thank you. Um you know, we always firmly believe stakeholder engagement
008is the key to a lot of our success. With that said, um you know, our board of education, um its members and of course the district technology committee and its members um you know, heard from students, staff, um you know, u parents that are on the committee to hear their voice as it relates to the law as we develop this policy. So, the policy itself includes those items you see on the screen. Uh that includes definitions. So, what is an instructional day? An instructional day includes the bell-to-bell ban. Um it does include of course um a definition about where the ban um takes place and that's defined as the geographic locations or the ge geographic boundaries of the school district. So for example field trips are okay once you leave school grounds. And there are
009other definitions as well. What's an internet enabled device? A smartphone um a smartwatch uh what's a cell phone um etc. So again bellto bell just means from the start of the day to the end of the day. Um there are allowable exemptions. So, for example, if a student has a need based on a 504 or an IEP, there is an exemption. If there's a medical need, such as I need my device because it tracks blood sugar and it's uh with my diabetes, then of course that's allowable exemption, translation services, and others as outlined in the policy. The policy does also share that um students cannot be suspended uh for violating the policy. However, um they could be of course, you know, warned or if there are other parts of the code of conduct that are
010violated such as insubordination, we can of course um you know, address that as needed. There are posting, notification, and reporting elements as well as what the definition of on-site storage is. So, at our elementary levels, K through five, that is in um an area of the classroom, the classroom cubby for example. And at our secondary level, that is in the student lockers. Lastly, there is a section of the policy that talks about how parents can t contact students during the day. And of course, there's main office phones um and some other traditional phones throughout the building where students can call parents as needed. Um but com goes above and beyond. And for that, I believe Dr. Cox, you wanted to share. >> Sure. I'll just say a few things on the next slide. So, when
011it came to this um law that came down from the governor's office, you know, we spent some time trying to identify what is it exactly if these items were taken away, are there things that they were taken away that were important to either our students or our staff and we wanted to make sure that we came up with some solutions for that. Now, obviously, the most effective way to get in touch with your child is just um to call the school and we have an FAQ that is posted on our website. So, you do have the ability to call any one of those numbers, but we also wanted to find some solutions that made it a little bit easier because what we when we met with students, um, one of the things that came back
012was their ability to communicate with their parents. And so, how do we accomplish that? So, if they're not able to have their phones during the school day, how do we do that? So, what we did was we met with our building administrators and we found ways in which um, we needed to install additional phone lines. So there are there were a limited number of phone lines that students could use to call out of the building. So we met with the principles. We find found out what locations would be would be best to add additional phone lines. So we did that at the secondary. And one of the features that we've added is that in addition to that, all guardian emails listed in Infinite Campus are being whitelisted, which means that you're able like right now
013they would be blocked from an outside email emailing into the district, but the parent emails that are in Infinite Campus will be whitelisted. So the students will be you will be able to email your child. That is for grades 6 through 12. For secondary students, if there is for some reason you need to email your student because maybe they haven't cleaned out their locker with their clothes from uh from an athletic event and they've been sitting in there for a week and you want to just say, "Hey, don't forget this is the 10th time I've told you to make sure you grab your uh dirty laundry out of your locker and bring it home, you have the ability to email your child and your child has the ability uh to email you." This will be
014in place for the first day of school. Um we are going to be and we have been sending home um guidelines on in on email use in the district. So please make sure that you take a look at that. And I will also be uh sending home a reminder email because the first email that I sent um when this came up was on July 3rd. So I don't know how many read their emails on July 3rd, but there will be another reminder. And please, if you're watching, make sure you read the entire email because it talks about where this law came from. It talks about it has links for the FAQ and it has some of the solutions that we came up with because we tried to take the approach of this being a solution-based
015opportunity to enhance communication being that this came down from the governor's office and we do not have a the option um to not follow this law. So, just an update on the cell phone ban and ways in which we've enhanced communication. And next up, I'm going to pass the uh microphone over to Mrs. Newman to talk about our food services update. And then we just keep going in a circle. >> Gotta get my steps. >> Thank you, Dr. Cox. >> You're welcome. So, one of the things that wanted to talk about today, um, make sure that all parents and families are aware that in the state budget this year, um, one, breakfast and lunch will be fully funded by New York State. So, what that means for COMAC students and certainly for parents, you no
016longer have to make sure that your child has money on their account to swipe and get their uh, lunch. The board of education also felt very strongly since the state is funding a breakfast program. We have added a breakfast program to uh all of our schools. So all students will be able to in the morning get a free breakfast. Conversely, at lunchtime they'll be able to get a free uh lunch as well. If a student wants a second meal, that meal would need to be paid for. So, a child would either need to have money on their account or cash in hand. We still will accept uh checks or you can um use uh my school bucks to put money on your account. Um in addition, in the state's infinite wisdom when they said it's
017free for everyone, that is correct. It is free for everyone. However, because COMAC's free and reduced uh population was less than 25%, even though it is free for everyone, we still need parents and families to fill out the free and reduced lunch applications. Um the funding for COMAC will uh be determined by those applications for the next four years. So, you will be getting information from us more than likely on any email that we send home asking parents to please fill out the application regardless um because that will determine how we are funded. If a school had higher than 25%, they are automatically funded. Uh that is not the case for us. There are added benefits if you qualify for the free uh reduced free and reduced program. Um certainly at the secondary level, we'll
018be sending home information for that as well. Um consult with your different school buildings because depending on the age and grades of the building, it may be handled a little differently, but there'll certainly be plenty of information coming home. Uh it will be a the standard reimburseable lunch. And we have a lot of exciting things going on working with Witson's all summer. they are going to be introducing some even more exciting products uh as we go through the school year. So again, free lunch and free breakfast. So parents, you don't have to make breakfast in the morning and you don't have to make lunch and send it to school. So this is really a very positive thing and we're excited to uh start next week. >> Thank you, Mrs. Newman. >> Thank you. >> So
019next up we have our board of education goals. So before we get into the actual goals themselves, I I love to show this slide because this is our educational program continuum. These are sort of our guiding principles. This is how we this is how we produce the best students graduating from Comarmac High School. So it start if I start with the end in mind, preparing students to make the best decision for college and their career. It starts with the elementary school foundation. It builds on that through our middle school MYP program. It affords students the opportunity to be able to take enrichment classes at that level and really start to tap into their interests. Students in ninth and tth grade start to try on some pre-ol level learning and some real courses that again continue
020to connect to their interests. Grades 11th and 12th, they try on college and career level learning. There's certainly an emphasis on the college and the career level because we have students that are whether they're entrepreneurs or they're starting a career right after high school. We want to advocate for that. But we also have probably close to 96% of our students that graduate from Comarmac High School and go on to college. So we want to make sure they have that experience before they get there. Much of the feedback we've heard from students who have gone to on to college and come back to visit our alumni, they said that college didn't feel like college until sophomore year. So if we can prepare them for the rigor of college for freshman year and they can go in
021and they can manage all the all of the other things that um that go along with the college experience when they first get there. Obviously, the academics is a key component of it, but we want to make sure that they're prepared there and the and the high school does just an incredible job. Um, so when we look at this and we're talking about preparing students to make the best decision, it's preparing students for life after high school. So, when you hear things about the financial literacy lab and students are understanding now in COMAC because we made it a graduation requirement before they leave high school that they become financially fluent. That is so critically important for every student that graduates from high school. It's unfortunate that it hasn't become a requirement yet, but we've had
022a number of visits from people to hear about our financial fluency programs. We've had visits um we've done presentations across New York State, across the country. We have other uh schools. You've seen them on some of our social media that are trying to replicate what we're doing. And this is has been just incredibly popular and um and it's been building every single year. We've added electives for students to be able to take uh Bloomberg corporate concepts. Um we're going to create in year three um the opportunity for students to achieve um industry level certifications through Bloomberg that most don't actually achieve until they're in college. So to be able to give students that opportunity um and you say well you know these seem like really high level courses but when students are able to connect
023their interest to the real world when financial literacy how money works in the world when you talk to them about that in in the Bloomberg lab and they do research projects and come in and see what it looks like because they're using the same software in the Bloomberg lab as any major financial firm or or what some of the colleges are utilizing. It gives them that real life experience and they're really able to connect with it. if they can connect with it, they're going to have success with it. So, um, this is really a big part of preparing them. Whether we talk about allowing students to test drive careers before they leave school, allowing students to tap into some of their interests when they're in elementary school and give them these authentic experiences, whether it's
024in the discovery dens, which we'll talk about, whether it's at the Marian Carl farm, whether it's bringing some of the Marian Carl farm um to our schools, whether it's through raised farm beds or or green houses. These are things that students have interest. they've shared that they've had interests and so we've been able to provide those opportunities because um to make a decision at 17 18 years old that you know this is the program that I want that when I go to college and realize when you get there that you don't want to do that we'd rather those students have that experience here in com and I've said it time and time again but we are so proud and again it all revolves around this one of the things that we added this we're going
025to talk a little bit about what you see here built into this globe are is something that wasn't there a few years ago but these are the comarmac champion and learner profile traits, inquirers, principled, balanced, communicators, thinkers, knowledgeable, open-minded, caring, risktakers, reflective. We will share with you um in one of our goals this evening how we are really going to build upon the COMAC champion and some of these learner profile traits. So, when it comes to the goal development process, there are always four goals um overarching goals that we focus on. It starts with the goals and then we come up with related actions that are very specific to each and every one of these goals that we're going to work on and over the course of the year we'll be presenting how we're progressing
026towards those goals. So they're in the area of curriculum instruction and assessment, social emotional well-being, communication and community relationships and district business and operations. So this is another slide that um we have taken on the road and we share here with many of our administrators. Um, and I'm going to read the quote at the bottom. What better way for students to make meaning of their learning than to connect their interest to course work and career related fields. And this is what we try to do here at K through2. We want students to be able to make meaning of their learning. School should not be a dress rehearsal. It should not be something where they're checking boxes off for later on life. They're here for 13 years with us. And whether they're in kindergarten or they're
027a senior, they should be able to think of school and when they're in school find meaning in their learning. Schools for years have been institutionalized. the inside of schools never really look like the outside of schools. And we've been changing and transforming so many of the spaces in our schools so that what students see in the classroom or in some of these other labs that we've created, they resemble what they would see in the real world. And that's something unique to COMAC. So when it comes to the top of this triangle, we talk about relevant coursework. It talks about courses that they're able to connect with. It's not just math. It's what they're doing in math and how they can apply what they're learning to real life situations. It's creating electives like sports marketing where
028students who want to pursue possibly a career in business get a taste for that in middle school. There's electives that we're starting at the middle school called medical detectives. That sounds like a really fun course. But if students one day have an interest and they want to pursue a career in health sciences, how do we spark that interest? How do we inspire students? Or at the opposite end of that, have them realize that this is not something that they want to pursue. So we are finding ways for students to really make meaning of their learning within the schools and within the classrooms. other things that expo we expose our students K through 12 whether it's field trips at the lower level or higher level internships at our high school vocational training real life uh spaces
029which we've spoken about and again I keep I keep stressing that on-site authentic learning experience so in goal number one we're looking to enhance these are the these are the goals underneath curriculum instruction and assessment and then after this slide I'm going to share with you some of the related actions that apply to these each to each of these individual goals so when we talk about enhancing and enriching our K to2 continuum and really giving students uh that student centered real world experience. You'll hear me talk about that time and time again. That that is the vision for us here in COMAC. That is the direction we're headed in and that's why COMAC is a standalone and we've reimagined what school what education looks like and that's why we have so many visitors because they're
030really trying to replicate what we're doing. We want to foster that curiosity. Students come into a school system at in kindergarten and they learn before they get here through discovery. So, how do we keep that curiosity alive, creativity, that authentic learning experience again? And our commitment to innovative, highquality professional development. Our administrative staff have done a phenomenal job whether it's for new staff members or even staff members who have been here for a few years, making sure that we bring them up to date with whether it's the culture of our school district or the programs that we're working on, but we're able to tailor it to the needs of our teachers. So, here are some examples. We are so proud to be able to present. I mean, I should save the schools of study for
031last, but I just can't help because I gravitate towards that. The branding of it is beautiful. Um, not to mention the fact that I got a picture from uh our high school principal, Mrs. Lipen Holtz, that um not only is this on the wall in our high school, but students are actually going to get to buy swag that has their school of study on it. So, the branding, I can only imagine this is going to catch on like wildfire. So, when a student is walking around and they have a shirt that says COMAC School of Medicine, people are going to say, "What does that even mean?" and oh, you know, well, we have they're going to be building a medical facility or a medical lab or school of law. We have a courtroom, a school
032of business, we have a Bloomberg finance lab. Um, but we're taking these courses. Uh, we're taking citizen law. We're, you know, we're taking anatomy and physiology. We're taking college health professions. I mean, the the courses that we offer are directly relatable to these schools of study. Our sophomores have selected what school of study they want to enroll in when they're in uh when they're in 11th grade. And I have said this, so if you've heard me say this, I'm sorry. I'm going to say it again, but public education across the country in the United States is typically a liberal studies education. When students are signing up for courses, they're taking math, science, English, social studies, world language. They have listed those for years and years as the graduation requirements. So, when we created these schools,
033we do have a school of liberal studies because maybe there's a sophomore going into junior year that's not really sure what they want to do. So, they're going to enroll in the school of studies or maybe they're going to take a smattering of different courses. Maybe they want to take college health professions, but they also want to take cit citizen law. Maybe they want to take a business class and they also want to take a a class that might fit under, you know, health sciences, they have the ability to do that. But when we look at the numbers, this is what's staggering. So if in if in public education across the country, a liberal studies is the typical pathway. When I share with you that the liberal studies pathway is the lowest enrolled pathway that
034our sophomores chose, it says a lot about public education. It says that our students have interests. Our students want to connect their interest to careers. We have 134 unless it went up. Mrs. Lman Holtz, we have 134 students enrolled in the school of medicine. The next highest enrolled school is the school of business. So you can see that our students have interest and they want to connect them to different pathways. Okay. So, we're really excited about this this this year, and I'm sure we'll be bringing students in at some point to talk to the board and share their experiences within the different schools of study. Financial fluency. It's hard to believe that we only started this this year, but it's a three-year plan. So, this year, we're offering a very specific elective for students who
035have who really want to dive deeper into um the financial fluency and the investment side of the field. Um adding electives at the high school. Um CMS enrichment courses, like I said, sports marketing, medical detectives, things like that. um agricultural education. It's hard to imagine that we only brought Mary and Carl farm back to life within the last few years. And you can see the smile on these children's faces when they're there at the farm actually growing that cabbage that's bigger than that student themselves. um discovery dens. Discovery dens we piloted last year in one particular building and we piloted in Northridge and now um and I got to thank the board because it was just yesterday that the board spent the entire day walk going from every going into every single building and touring
036the buildings making sure they're ready for your children to come to school. Um and one of the things that we're proud of is as we entered every single primary school, every primary school now has a discovery den. So we've expanded that opportunity for them. So again, we're going to be sharing the progress as we progress towards these um related actions over the course of the year. The second goal, social emotional learning, enhancing our programs, focusing on developing students academic skills while fostering social emotional growth. We want to strengthen our approach to social emotional learning, specifically the COMAC champion framework and IB learner profile traits. So, when I talk about that, our staff have done an amazing job when we walk through the buildings this past school year, what they've done with a lot with those
03710 uh COMAC champion learner profile traits. They found ways to acknowledge students. They found ways to make that part of their daily sort of uh culture. But one of the things that I will share with the community and I share with the board that we'll be working on this year is we are going to develop specific benchmarks at every grade band K through 2, 3 through 5, 6 through 8, 9 through 12. much of it already takes place already, but we are going to put a group of uh staff together. We're going to identify exactly what we do right now in terms of how we shape our children to be COMAC champions because if they embrace those 10 learner profile traits, they are going to be successful not only within COMAC but beyond com. And
038what I mean by benchmarks is authentic experiences. The experiences that we have in our life shape who we are. So, you know, whether it's reading through literature, but taking that a step further and putting students into an experience, whether it's uh letter writing to veterans on on Valentine's Day, there's something about that. Whether we do uh you know, a clothing drive, there's something about that that shapes who you are when you when you're engaging in charitable events, it shapes who you are as a person. It builds empathy and it's really going to build on those COMAC learner profile traits. So, what we're going to do over the course of this year is we are going to identify specific COMAC um champion benchmarks that are consistent. So, if there's something going on in Northridge or Wood
039Park or Rolling Hills or Indian Hollow, we want to be able to create a common benchmark that all four of those primary schools will engage in. So, there will be authentic experience and again that commitment to high quality professional development. So, here are some of the related actions. I basically explained the uh comarmac champion and what we're going to be looking to do with creating those benchmarks. We have a strong partnership with Northwell Health. We have found that COMAC uses Northwell Health because they have partnerships with other school districts. Comarmac takes advantage and taps into Northwell Health more than more than any other district that they work with over here. When we talk about professional growth, you'll see in that bottom right corner um the learning and development academy. This is how we build our
040teachers over the course of the first couple of years. um we bring them in so they're not so it's not just you know they hit they're hitting the ground running and they haven't been trained. Um our administrative staff has put together very thorough programs working with our union to come in and talk to our our uh prospective teachers as well. It used to be mentoring used to be a one-year program and I think we've extended it out to almost four years now and teachers are asking to come back year after year and we develop specific workshops tailored to those staff as they come back. Student centered learning, wellness training, community building. One of the things that we did last year was we dove into every social emotional program that we have in our district and
041we created a comprehensive report that's um listed on our website so that parents and community members can see all of the different programs at all the different grade levels what we do here in com. The third goal, communication and community relations, open communication, collaboration, and active engagement, reviewing the district's external and internal communication, and continuing to facil facilitate board of education level committees. So, some of those outside of the box, Miss Pole and her team, I think they've won awards for how they've implemented uh parent square here in the district and just the number of users, how often it's used. that the roll out was seamless and um we're really excited to continue to see the enhancement that come from uh come through parent square district-wide committees. At the top you can see that was
042a multicultural festival. We had a number of students that showed me how to how to do origami. That's a chicken if you can't tell that. Um and when you pull it, the head goes down and the wings flap. It was it was really impressive. It was high level origami. Um scope and sequence access. This was this was something that I really wanted. um to be able to be transparent with our community. So, if you go on our website, there's not too many schools out there that have such a thorough scope and sequence. If you want to know what's being taught at any given level, we want to be transparent with our community exactly what's going on and what our curriculum is. So, that was the curriculum team. Thank you to them for putting that together
043because that was quite an undertaking. Um Deb Rocky's up here, you know, 911 ceremony that is just and and and Deb, I can't thank you enough. you put together a ceremony that is um that is something to remember forever and no pressure. Um but it's a it's such a special it's such a special event and so many of our community community members come together and we are going to look to continue to help facilitate more and more of those types of community events over the course of of the year. Uh district enhancements, I'm sure you've seen if you've been in the district for a while, our our website looks very different than it did a couple of years ago. Um that's continuous review. you know, we're never going to rest on our laurels and say
044that our our website's perfect. Um, so if there's any feedback, you know, definitely reach out to our PR team because we're always looking to enhance our website and communications. Just for me, just in general, you know, one of my goals is to be transparent with our community. If there's something going on, we don't we don't react. You know, we collect the information, but you can be assured if there's something going on in the district or outside of the district, typically you're going to hear from me at some point. We like to keep our community informed of everything that's going on. And the last goal, district business and operations recruit, select and support instructional and non and non-instructional uh staff members leadership to evaluate health and safety protocols, multi-year planning for the maintenance and improvement of
045our district facilities. We have done a tremendous amount of work. This is this is quite impressive. If you look at the top left uh part of the screen, you'll see two computers, one of our guards there on the left side, you'll see a screen. It's pretty much all green. That's part of our door jar system. We started with the high school and the middle school. And if you see all green, that's a good thing. That means every single one of our doors, exterior doors, is closed. If any exterior door is opened, it automatically turns red. And then you want to see it turn green right away. That means somebody went out the door and somebody came right, you know, and closed it behind them. If it stays red, then we have people in place to
046go check it out and find out what's going on. That is an that has been such a successful addition to our school district in terms of security. But we wanted to find ways to expand it into the elementary school. We're talking about six buildings in our district that we want to expand it to. Now, the elementary is a completely different breed than the high school. You know, typically at the high school level, adults, you know, when they go out that door, you want to see it turn red, you want to see it turn green. In the elementary level, you see a door turn red. Besides, you start to get palpitations. Was it a student? Did, you know, was it a was it a staff member? Um, we spent a lot of time thinking about what
047that model could look like. So, it looks very different. So there are doors when the students are going out for recess before you can go out that door, there is a tag that you will scan at a scanner and it will notify the guard at that station that that is an authorized exit. So if if if it's if it turns red and it wasn't scanned, then we would have somebody report immediately to find out exactly who went out that door. But if students are going out for recess and you have an aid or a teacher that scans their ID, it will let the security know that that's an authorized exit. So, it's a very different model between the elementary and and the and the secondary security enhancements. We have armed security uh this year. There's
048been a tremendous amount of training. They will be around this week to become even more familiar with the inside and outside of our buildings, identifying what their posts are. as you know when it comes to armed security and we presented this um last year and we will be presenting this also um an update on it in September but there's so only so much we can share in public so I'm I can't share like where they're going to be at every at any given time at any given time because that's not something that we want to be able to share in a in a public facing document um but excited about the enhancements we made facilities forward approach they've been so busy last year we had a number of capital projects big capital projects that you
049would have seen this year. We did a lot of behind the-scenes work uh Mr. Palipole and his team whether it's redesigning you know spaces like the discovery dens whether it's replacing boilers or hot water heaters or finishing our AC project where all large spaces are air conditioned now. Um now I walk into some of the buildings were finished last year and we finished up over the summer. But it's interesting when you walk into a gymnasium and the students have their shirts pulled over their knees and like it's freezing in here and that's a good thing. We want to hear that. So hopefully we'll have a cool September, but we have AC in all of our large spaces and many of our classrooms. And we're going to look because some of our classrooms, they might not
050have window units, but we have a plan over time to increase the number of units in those windows as time goes on. Um new teacher job fair. Um we're looking to add uh stadium lights. our our schools are are our main street and you know community events like soccer under the stars or maybe there's a handful of sporting events that we'll be able to have in the evening to bring the community together to come out and support our athletic teams. Um we're really looking forward to that addition as well. We love this. We we say above above and beyond is our baseline. We don't believe in mediocrity. So where we start is always above and beyond. And at this point, I'm going to turn it back over to the board for any questions related to
051any part of the presentation. >> Thank you, Dr. Cox. Uh, any questions for the board? I don't I don't really have a question, but um we did have the opportunity to tour all the buildings yesterday for five hours and um we would be I think remiss not to mention um how amazing the facilities team did on the work to prepare the buildings for um opening next week. If you had to go to school tomorrow, it would be ready and it was really amazing. So, thank you for that. >> Amazing. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, Dana. >> Yeah. >> Questions, comments, >> just want to uh take a moment, thank everyone. I know that uh you know, putting the goals presentation and uh coming together throughout the summer to get all of our goals
052and then to uh see them all here uh come to life is exciting. uh really enjoy the action plan and how they're going to be established and I was very pleased to see um of course the increase in focus on our elementary students and really making sure that um we are setting that strong foundation which we do so well. So thank you for that. >> Thank you Dr. Hender. >> And I just have to say Debbie the flags around the high school gorgeous. >> Thank you. It's interesting going through the schools yesterday as Miss Schultz said um not only um physically looking really superb. Um the the messaging in in some of the schools uh for the kids to create a culture of being, you know, included and and belonging and pride and it really
053is you walk through it and you feel you do feel the pride. You feel like I belong here like you're proud to be a com student. So, and I think that facilitates uh kids uh being engaged in the building. So, uh with all the other programs we have. So, uh again, thank you for everyone who's behind that, the building administrators, uh your custodial staff, etc. who make it very welcoming and and very supportive. I have one question about the food program. Um we talk about the applications, right? So, is a child not able to get the free breakfast or lunch without the application? And does that need to be submitted first or is it >> no totally unrelated? >> So two parallel things. You get your you swipe your card, you get your food, but
054you sh still should be um filling out the >> application. And then I guess at the building level since we never did breakfast, that's all uh building specific as far as the protocol and the policies and the procedures for kids coming in to get breakfast and when they're going to eat breakfast and how it's going to be delivered. That's all >> for the most part. Yes. Um, in the elementary schools, the parents can order breakfast and lunch on the FD meal planner, which is similar to last year. Um, but certainly, uh, in the beginning, we will, uh, make sure any child that, uh, did not, let's say, order, we'll make sure that they get a meal. >> Okay. Yeah, it's going to be growing pains. Okay. Uh, thank you. >> Used to be my favorite
055part of the day as a building principal. >> Said no principal ever. Uh any other questions or comments from the board? All right. Thank you guys. >> Yeah. So the just the last slide that I have up is our September board meeting which is next week. Um we will do a we will do a back to school update. We'll have some hopefully some great pictures to share with our community. Um for those who aren't able to see, you know, what what takes place on that day, we'll have some great great footage and then we're going to be providing the board with a facilities summer work update. >> And that's thank you. >> All right. Great. Um, we do not have any committee reports tonight. So, we're going to go into our first public session. And
056I'm going to ask Su Hermer to read the statement. Good evening and welcome. We're so glad you're here with us tonight. Your voice matters and we truly appreciate your involvement and interest in our schools. There are two opportunities for public comment during this meeting. The first is for comments related to items listed on tonight's agenda. The second, which takes place at the end of the meeting, is for comments on any general school district matters. If you'd like to speak on an agenda item, please take a white card. If you'd like to speak during general public participation, please take a green card. The district clerk will call speakers by number. When it's your turn, please come to the microphone, say your name, and let us know if you are a resident of the district. Each speaker
057has up to three minutes to speak, and we'll kindly notify you when your time is up. Please direct your comments to the board only. These public comment times are for listening and gathering feedback back. We won't be responding in real time, but if a question is raised that requires followup, we'll be sure to get back to you afterward. To maintain a respectful and welcoming environment, please avoid discussing individual students or making personal remarks positive or negative about specific staff members. Speakers should remain respectful and avoid being repetitive or disruptive. And lastly, we want to make sure everyone feels heard. So, we ask that comments remain respectful, focused, and not repetitive or disruptive. Thank you again for being here tonight and for your ongoing support of our students and schools. >> All right, Mrs. Burgerer. >>
058So, these are for white cards. If anyone has a white card number one, >> please state your name, young man. Uh, my name is Max. I'm a third I'm a fourth grader in Sawmill, and I'd like to know if there's any other communication source that can be used for um, younger students in K through five. Max, are you talking in regard to the cell phones? >> Yes. >> So, in the elementary school, the cell phones have to remain in the backpack in the cubby. However, that if a parent needs to get in touch with you, they can there's a number that they can call the main office. Um, they can also try and email the teacher. There's no guarantee that the teacher is going to check the email that exact minute because they could be
059in the middle of teaching a lesson. But the best way to get in touch if they want to communicate a message to you would be to call the main office. >> All right. Thank you. >> You're welcome, Max. >> White card number two. Anyone else with a white card would like to speak? >> Nope. Okay. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. Moving on with the agenda. We are going to look at donation. All right. So, a motion to accept the listed donation. We have a donation from Judy Frankle. It's a donation of photography equipment for the Com High School art department. It's valued at $1920. Any up to $3,200. So, can I get a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Okay. I need a motion to
060approve the minutes from the board of education meeting from July 10, 2025. Can I get a motion? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Motion to approve the personnel agenda. >> Motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Mr. Oan, I think there are some probationary teachers here tonight who we are bringing on board. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Huber. Tonight I have the honor and privilege of introducing our newly hired probationary teaching staff. I'm proud to announce that four of these individuals are currently teaching assistants in the district being promoted to probationary teaching positions. So when I call your name, please stand to be recognized by the community. First, physical education teacher, Mr. Shawn B. Next, special education teacher, Lauren Callie. Special education teacher Jenna
061Di Maria, [Applause] science teacher Frank Danio, special education teacher Moren Malone, and last but not least, special education teacher Brittney Treza. Congratulations and welcome to the COMAC family. >> Thank you very much. Right at this point, I need a motion to approve consent agenda items as presented or amended 2 through 26. Can I get >> motion? Second. >> Second. >> All those in favor? Hi. >> Hi. >> I need a motion to accept the board of education goals. Can I get a motion? >> Motion. >> I need a second. >> Second. >> I want to acknowledge the receipt of professional services. >> We got a vote. >> Oh, all in favor? Sorry. I >> I um I need I want to acknowledge receipt of professional services from Bon Shonik and King PLLC for the month
062ending June 30th, 2025 in the amount of 30,32388. Acknowledge receipt of committee on special education recommendations dates listed and acknowledge receipt of committee on preschool special education recommendations dates as listed. Acknowledge receipt of the CD rates report. Acknowledge receipt of the internal claims auditor's monthly update. And the board of education of the Comarmac Union Free School District shall hold its regular meeting on Thursday, September 4th, 2025 at 6 PM at Hubs Administration, Port 80 Clay Pits Road, East Northport, New York. It's anticipated that the board will make a motion for the purpose of adjourning into executive session at this time at 8:00m. The board will reconvene in public session for the purpose of holding its regular business meeting. And at this time, we are going to hold our second public participation. Okay. This here are
063remarks regarding to any other matters in the district and that would be a green card. So if anyone has a green card that would be green card number one. Okay. Green card number two. Anyone else? Okay, we're good. >> That's it. Okay. At this point, I'm going to make a motion to adjourn the meeting. Can I get a motion? >> Motion. >> Can I get a second? All those in favor? >> I I >> All right. Thank you all for coming and uh good luck with the opening day. We'll see you next week.