001Good evening. Good evening. There we go. Good evening. Thank you for everyone coming tonight for Meet the Candidate. I just wanted to welcome uh Dr. Rivers and Tim Sasson. We have Suffach PTA here moderating the event this evening. All questions are being submitted beforehand and I will turn it over to SUFFK PTA. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Welcome to East Icelip's meet the candidates night. I am Wendy Natalone from Suffach Region PTA and I will be tonight's moderator and we have Chrissy Centronone who is collecting the index cards and we have Sher McKitrich who will be our timekeeper tonight. Before we begin, we will start with with the pledge of allegiance. So, please stand for the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it
002stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Before I go over the the process that will take place tonight, I would like to introduce the candidates. We have Dr. Michelle Rivers and Mr. Timothy Sasson. The following guidelines for the evening must be followed. No letters or statements by absent candidates will be read. Only the candidates present may speak. We ask the audience to hold its applause until the end in order for the moderator to ask as many questions as possible. There will be a moderator, an index card collector, and a timekeeper from Suffach Region, PTA. Each candidate will be allowed 3 minutes to make a presentation stating qualifications and reasons for running. When the 3 minutes are up, the timekeeper will ring a bell to signify that the sentence must be
003completed. All questions will be written on index cards, reviewed and selected by the moderator and by Chrissy. Questions will be asked of all candidates. Any questions addressed to only one individual or those which contain personal attacks will be discarded. The moderator will make the final decision regarding all questions. You may not necessarily hear your question in the way it was written. Each candidate is given the opportunity to answer each question in one minute. When the minute is up, the timekeeper will ring a bell indicating the candidate must finish the sentence. No rebuttals are allowed during the question and answer period. Each candidate will be allowed two minutes to make a closing statement after the last question has been a answered. At this time, candidates can make rebuttals. The length of the program will be determined
004by the moderator prior to the beginning of the evening. Based upon the fact that we only have two candidates and depending upon how many questions we get, we might be finished by 8:00. It it really depends on how many questions we receive and if they're redundant because we already have some questions that are kind of similar. So, we will make a decision when to end, but we will announce this will be the last question. So this way everybody will know that it will be the last question and then we will follow that with the closing statements. Opening presentations will be in alphabetical order and closing statements will be in reverse alphabetical order. No literature may be given out at this meeting by the candidate or by any of the candidate supporters. The moderator reserves the
005right to end the program at any time if they deem it necessary. At this time we will begin with our opening statements and we will begin with Dr. Rivers her threeminut opening statement. Thank you. Uh good evening and thank you for the opportunity to uh introduce myself. Uh I am a candidate as you all know for the East Icelope School Board because one I believe in future ready education. Uh I am running on four pillars. Students first, arts and innovation, future ready education, accessibility, and inclusion. I'm running because I believe it's important to have a voice for the voiceless where every student, regardless of background, ability, or identity, feels seen, valued, and empowered to succeed. As a mother and grandmother of a former student, I bring over 27 years of experience in public education from
006the classroom to district leadership, from the classroom to district leadership, and I'm super proud of that, including roles as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director, assistant superintendent, and a short stint as a superintendent. I currently work as assistant superintendent for human resources at eastern subject bosis where I supervise about 30 staff um in the agency and we do a phenomenal job uh serving as a lifeline of eastern suffices. I lead with a healing centered lens focusing on building strong inclusive school communities that support both students and staff. As a lifelong advocate for the arts, STEAM, students and staff well-being, I'm committed to ensuring programs like music, robotics, and visual arts receive the necessary funding that they deserve. As a board member, I will work on policies that reflect on our shared values, such as treating
007people with dignity, respect, equity, fairness. I'm not going to come into this role, if elected, knowing all the answers. I don't espouse know all the answers. I'm here to listen. I'm here to learn. I'm here to lead with open-mindedness, transparency, and integrity. together I think we can create a school system where every child thrives. Um I did mention that I'm a a creative arts therapist and so I I lead also um ensuring that the mental well-being of all children is at the forefront of decisions and that we put students first. So I appreciate everyone that came here tonight uh to meet us uh to ask us questions and I definitely appreciate the submit region PTA for giving us the opportunity to share tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cess. Sorry, I'm getting a little feedback
008here. [Music] Sorry about that. All right. I'd like to thank everyone for coming tonight and I al like to thank the SU PTA as well. Um, it's a pleasure to introduce myself to the community. Uh, for those of you that know me already, I'm running for to be reelected as a trustee for the East Ice School Board. East Icelip is a community steeped in tradition, core family values. If elected, it's my intention to accurately reflect the desires of the community and to advocate for all children regardless of their talents and abilities. As children are most valuable commodity, the school board decisions must be profoundly and broadly focused on their interests. My platform is children and absolutely nothing else. Education has and will always be a passion in my life and I will I feel a
009rigorous academic program will be beneficial to our district. I received my bachelor of science degree from Stonybrook with a double major in business and management and economics with a minor in European history. While working in the private sector, my passion for the past led to a master's degree in history and a career in education where I've been for the last years. As a as a capstone to my educational career or received a postmaster's degree in both school building and school district leadership, these experiences make me keenly aware from items ranging from budget analysis to local and state curriculum goals. A priority of mine is to work as hard as I can to give parents control of their children's education and health choices to ensure that teachers additionally have training and tools to equip students for
010their futures. It is my goal as a member of the East Board of Education for students to receive a top-notch education with a diverse set of opportunities based on desire and ability. Additionally, I would always make an important intentional effort to prevent soaring tax levy increases and protect our property values and have a chance for the future generations to remain in this community. My three children are in high school and middle school respectively. They are heavily involved in the arts. I'm also an advocate for arts as well. I have kids, two kids in chorus, one kid in honors winding ensemble. And I believe that a well-rounded education including sports, music, and education would be our desires. Um, okay. Uh, basically as a parent, as taxpayer, and educator, I would represent all stakeholders in the community
011as well. I am not here for personal political reasons at all in any way, shape, or form. I'm here to be your voice. Thank you. Thanks everyone for being here. By the way, [Applause] thank you. At this time, we will begin the question and answer uh portion of the program. Each candidate will have one minute to answer the question, and we will begin with Dr. Rivers. What outside community organizations do you belong to? All righty. Thank you for the question. Uh, so I currently am affiliated with the Huntington Arts Council. Uh, I serve on the board. I've been serving on the board there for about 3 years. I am also, um, serve on the board of the Nassau County Alliance of Black School Educators. Um, I volunteer with several organizations. uh the work program which
012supports and um a re-entry program for for uh women that are coming in from uh incarceration. Um and I think that's it in terms of organizations that I'm affiliated with. Thank you for the question. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Son. All right. I'm affiliated with um east side of league and uh east side of football. Uh but in reality everything I'm locally based, community based, community oriented. Everything I get involved in is well uh basically has dwindled down to and dulged down to this local area. Uh I'm extremely interested. Obviously I'm a school board member. I'm invested in my kids education. Um I'm a local coach, an advocate and supporter of our schools in every which way. So that's what I'm here for. Thank you. For our next question, we'll begin with Mr. Sasson. Should Eastel
013maintain or abolish its DEI policy considering its impact on the school district? Uh the DEI policy came up um a few years ago, a couple years ago. I was one of the two board members that voted against the DEI policy. Um because we already have a law that basically essentially recognizes that everyone should be treated respectfully and fairly and I felt that uh the DEI policy especially the way it was written for New York State um had tremendous political uh overtones and it was meant to uh kind of uh bifrocate communities based on power and based on perceptions of of the past. And um I essentially thought that legally everyone should come to school in a safe environment, a safe place. Um I was one that voted against it. As you can see, a lot
014of these institutions uh um like Harvard and UPEN have supported DEI in the past and these are the people that are kind of like uh even saying that allowing Holocaust deniers and stuff like that. So it depends on you people could take DEI and twist it any way they want to, but legally everyone should be entitled to uh legal equality and a safe place to learn in every which way. And I felt that the DEI would just be redundant and there's It's politically based and it was based on current political things that were going on at the time. Thank you, Dr. Rivers. Thank you for the question. Uh, no, I do not uh believe that uh DEI should be abolished as a policy. Uh policies allow uh the school district and other organizations to to
015govern. Uh it also allows uh for organizations to have things in place to ensure that people that come from different backgrounds feel seen, feel heard and affirmed. I don't see DI as a uh political uh tool. I know that it can be used as a political tool, but I do not see it as a political tool. Uh there is so much push back now in our society regarding DEI and I am for uh not censoring DEI. But I'm also for just creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong, affirmed and seen. And I that's why DI is so important. Thank you. Thank you. For our next question, we'll begin with Dr. Rivers. What do you see as the role or duty of a board of education member? Is it to be an instrument of
016change or is it to represent the people of the East Icelope community? Thank you for the question. I think it's a it's a dual answer. I just want to say uh yes and in that um I do think that uh board members should be a voice of the community. Uh but I also think that um board members have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the decisions that uh we make as a board are in the best interest of children. Could you repeat the first part of the question again? What do you see as the role or duty of a board? Uh so first and foremost supervising uh hiring and evaluating the superintendent and providing the necessary support for the superintendent to do their job uh without micromanaging. Thank you Mr. Sass. Uh I'm sorry. Grab
017this. Yes. I feel like um the three roles or a few things that a school board member should be aware of is definitely uh creating a fiscally fiscally responsible budget because uh in the end we're kind of purveyors of the taxpayer money. We should be distributing it in an effective and uh and I guess you could say responsible way also a top-notch education uh that is cutting edge and just not keep the traditions of the past as you were saying. we should move forward as far as um increasing our availability for APs and maybe even IV programs, arts, sciences, steam, all that kind of stuff. And also safety and security of students is a big issue. Safety and security of students, make sure they come to a school feeling safe and secure in every way,
018shape, uh form and providing the superintendent with the tools to do that as well as what she said not to micromanage to make the correct hiring decisions and let the administrators do the administrative goals and we can oversee that. and those three priorities fiscally responsible fiscal responsibility resource safety and creating a top-notch progressive education. Thank you. Our next question will be we will begin with Mr. Sasson. What is your opinion on the do not harm policy regarding low scores on state regions exams being excluded from a student's final grade? Uh okay, that's an interesting question. Uh I've worked many many obviously for many years in schools and I've graded regions exams and I've dealt with them. There should be a no harm policy on regent exams because um unfortunately there's a variety of differences when
019it comes down to um test taking ability and one of the things that needs to be that's interesting is that it comes down to what the state deems is what they find important that year. I've seen uh testing and reading exams be all over the gamut from easy curves to less curves. Uh, and I think that for us as a district to have a harm policy and not eliminating a score that brings our grades down and other districts doing that, having a no harm policy puts us at a disadvantage. So, I think that these community should have a no harm policy when it comes to reading exams on their overall average cuz obviously a test score is not a holistic view of what a student can or cannot do. I don't want to put our
020kids at a disadvantage from getting into colleges when other schools like Jericho and they have a no harm policy as well and all these top-notch schools have no harm policies and we have still have yet to do that. Thank you Dr. Rivers. Uh so I I agree with u Mr. Cone that I do feel that we should have a no harm policy. New York State is currently um revamping the portrait of a graduate. So by 2027, uh we anticipate that reasons exams will no longer prevent students from graduating. And so I'm hopeful for that to be in place in terms of testing and how it really translates translates into the workforce. Testing is not a good indicator of how students can succeed in the workforce. Nor is it nor is it a good indicator of
021how students need to socially be involved and be able to interact and collaborate with people that they may seem uh to be different from themselves. So I agree with the no harm and that'll be something that I would support. Thank you. For our next question, we will begin with Dr. Rivers. If you were elected to the board of education, how would you handle situations where the board of education must implement a rule or regulation from New York State that you do not personally agree with? Thank you for the question. For one, I would uh as a board member ensure that we are receiving advice from our legal counsel uh to make sure that we are making fiduciary decisions that won't impact uh the school district because if it's a decision that could lead to litigation,
022then that's going to cost the taxpayers uh dollars and research whatever the decision is so that I can make an informed decision as a board member and participate in the process of having discussions with uh with other boards. board members, you are on it with these cards. Um, and so in terms of if if I do not agree, I will do the best in reading, finding out what it means, seeing how it could potentially impact the students and the community, and if it would ultimately impact the taxpayers in any type of way. But I do think litigation will be the ultimate sacrifice we would have to make if we disagree with something that could be a mandate from New York State. And we do not want to lose funds when it comes to that. Thank
023you, Mr. Cessol. Uh, yeah, I've been in the situation a couple of times. Obviously, if you if you've been paying attention uh recently, there's have been a couple of things since co there's been state mandates, the mascot, the state mandate from the board of regents and obviously I disagree with both of those things. I felt we should be unmasked. I also felt that we should have remained keep our mascot. Um, but unfortunately, they're threating threatening funding. Um, it was our responsibility to kind of make sure we're following the rule of law. Uh but also I was instrumental in writing u writing letters to the state from a protest point of view about how I disagreed with that and most of the other board members agreed with me. I feel that if something happened that was
024egregious um and I felt I don't want to put kids at a disadvantage and strip funding from them for no reason. But I really feel the time is coming soon at some point. I'm going to have to like passively resist and not go along with the state mandate at some point if it involves our children. We're just compromising these things. This is um almost like a dictatorial stuff that's coming from New York State and I'm going have to make a stand at some point and that'll be soon as well. Thank you. For our next question, we will begin with Mr. Sasson. There appears to be a disproportionate focus on sports, particularly football in this district. How can the board member elected ensure that the district supports all kids, including those in theater, art, and music?
025Um, uh, okay. I disagree with that statement fundamentally, uh, in principle. Um, just because we have a successful football team and the community rallies around it and it is a source of pride does not mean that it's uh, I guess taking away interest or or funding at all from any other um, any other programs. I guess you could say a lot of our stuff, a lot of the stuff that comes from our program is actually donated. It's a public record. A lot of the uniforms and helmets, a lot of that's donated. We pay a coach's salary. That's about it. So, as far as saying that it's stopping sapping away money from funds like the arts is ludicrous. U I also believe that we still have a pretty robust arts program. It's pretty recognized around the
026around the county for sure and I really don't think that uh it's um sacrificing our arts program whatsoever. We are able to have an educational and sports and music program all at the same time. So thank you Dr. Rivers. Again thank you for the question. Uh so as as a board member, I think it's important for us to uh understand student agency and student voice. Uh so I would uh work with the superintendent uh to find out really what the plan is to identify whether or not this is an issue that's coming from the students. Uh because if we're about student agency and student voice, it's important for us to uh survey the students to find out if this is indeed an issue. And if it is an issue, u superintendent and their team would
027come up with a plan as to how they would address uh this issue if students are feeling this way. Uh I think that the sports are our opportunity for students to collaborate and learn from each other. But I also think art is the same uh in terms of collaborating and learning from each other and it absolutely will prepare them for the workforce but starting with student voice first. Thank you. For our next question, we will begin with Dr. Rivers. Please share your views on armed security. Okay, the mic. Uh, thank you for that question. Um, I do not believe uh in armed security. Um, I do not think that um guns have a place in schools. I think it leaves uh too much uh room for um potential accidents, potential harm uh to students. I
028think that if you are looking at the the work that we do with students, especially if you're looking at it through a restorative lens and not a punitive lens, I don't think that it's necessary to have armed people in buildings with children. Uh, guns and bullets don't have they don't have a name. So, anything could happen and I don't know that that's necessary to keep children safe. While we want children to be a safe in a safe and conducive environment, armed guards is not something that I agree with. Thank you, Mr. Cess. Hello. Yeah, this is a fundamental disagreement. I believe that security needs to be armed. It definitely confronts some of the challenges of today. We have all kinds of um systems and we have all kinds of identification and getting into the doors
029and they control the windows a lot. But of course, a predator doesn't obey any of those rules. And if a predator were the worst were to happen, of course, the only thing to be force to meet with force would be force itself. So I believe that you know I can't really point to any accident that occurred with any security guard, any armed security guard anywhere. If it happened once or twice, I would definitely rethink it. with the event that's happened almost zero times, especially in schools with armed security all over the country. Um, I I believe that it would be in the best interest of the community to have a security force that's able to protect themselves and the children instead of waiting that extra second or 20 seconds or 20 minutes for the police
030to come. And ultimately, that's the only thing that can make you uh safe at that point in time if there was something if the worst were to fall upon the community. Thank you, Dr. Rivers. I responded. Oh, I'm sorry. Um, next question. We will start with Mr. Casson. Are you a part of any district-wide committees? Yes, I'm a part of uh the um the audit committee where we go over the fiscal spending and responsibility uh of the district, especially when it comes to um our finances. Especially one of the things that I have made a priority this year was to make sure we were reinvesting our reserves to make sure we're involved in CDs and money market accounts to make a lot of credit Mr. Harrison with this. We made a good amount of money
031on investments this year. So that obviously helps the burden of the taxpayer for sure. I'm involved in excellence and learning committee um and school safety committee. Thank you Dr. Rivers. Uh good evening and thank you. Uh no, I am not currently involved in any uh committees at uh East Icel uh school district. I am getting off the sidelines and I'm excited about uh the future. Even if I am not elected as a board member, I do plan to participate in committees moving forward particularly the curriculum committee and uh the audit committee. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question we will begin with Dr. Rivers. How can our kids compete with other districts when the AP classes are being eliminated such as AP physics? I'm not I'm not familiar with whether or not AP physics is
032is being eliminated or not. So, I I really don't want to necessarily speak to that. Uh but what I what I would like to speak to is the the I would like to know what the plan is for uh third through 8th grade students uh ELA proficiency. Currently they're 39% proficient. Uh the third 38 math 43% proficiency. Uh we have we have 71% of the 4% u African-American students with a 71% graduation rate. Our students with disabilities 82% graduation rate. Uh I appreciate all the AP courses but there are you know students that are being left behind and u I would like to see what the plan is moving forward to support those students so that we can increase the graduation rates when it comes to those students. Thank you Mr. Son. Yeah I see
033this question in two parts. I definitely agree with M Dr. Rivers about making sure that everyone has the opportunity to graduate and do better. I think the three through eight numbers might be a little skewed because we have pretty high optout rate in in East Iceland which um might be one of the reasons we'll might skew the numbers a little bit. Um but when it comes down to that AP exam that AP class for example, if there was one missing this year, it's because of lack of enrollment, not for the fact that we want to cancel AP classes. It's a lack of desire for it. We have a we have probably two or three more AP classes like research and seminar that came on while that one left, but that will come that could come
034back next year. Um it's I really think that uh of course running a class with numbers that are that are less than I guess applicable like less than 10 kids for example is not very efficient. So we'll provide resources for those kids to be able to get as much help as they can to take that AP physics exam and maybe we'll come back the next year. But um definitely this seems like a a question pointed at a particular subset of kids that want something this year and sometimes classes don't run for that reason and sometimes they do. Of course, I would love to see more ABS and more arts, more everything, but unfortunately the money is an issue. [Music] Thank you. For our next question, we'll begin with Mr. Sasson. Mental health has become a
035growing concern with many students, teachers, and parents. What programs or initiatives would you, if elected, work on to help provide resources for the members of the community? Are we talking about members of the community or students? If we're talking about students in that case, obviously since co there's been a dramatic increase in mental health issues. Of course, we're all recognizing that we see it in the school. I just want to provide all the guidance counselors with the tools that they need. I think we should pop into elementary school classrooms a little bit more to make sure and we did that. We actually have guidance counselors now at the elementary level to ensure that's the case that happened under our um our leadership on the board. And we want to make it a priority to make
036sure that every kid is heard and that every kid feels safe um and is could go down to guidance whenever possible. And we should also be proactive when it comes to mental health issues instead of reactive and and be able to identify certain things within the district. And I would definitely I've been working with administrators to identify some of those things as well. And there should be a pretty robust program to continue those things. Pushing it to elementary school level is a big thing to understand that school should be a safe place where you should be able to walk into guidance. be able to walk into your administrative office and talk about any concerns with any without without fear of retribution in any shape, way or fashion. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Rivers, do you
037mind just repeating the question? I just want to make sure. Sure. Yes. Mental health has become a growing concern with many students, teachers, and parents. What programs or initiatives would you, if elected, work on to help provide resources for the members of the community? Thank you for that. Um, so as a board member, I I I don't think it's our place to to work on programs. I think it's our place to support uh the superintendent and and ask what the plan is to uh support the student mental health and well-being um by identifying like how many guidance counselors, how many social workers, how many psychologists are in buildings. I I noticed on the district website that we have an East Iceland school district community uh resources for uh families that list social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists
038in the community that has not been updated since 2019. So, ensure that those types of things are updated but again with the support of the superintendent and working with the superintendent to identify what that plan is so that we can have the necessary mental health uh plans for the students in the community. Thank you. For our next question, we will begin with Dr. Rivers. Please explain why you support or do not support this year's budget. Okay. Thank you. So, I I do support this year's budget. Um we are at 1 point 1.75. Um but did not pierce the the tax levy. So, I'm super excited about that. And in terms of the increase, there's the 2.35% increase in the budget, which is still below. Uh so that it means to me that this district is
039making fiscally sound uh decisions. Uh there are two um petitions um on this board uh vote for May 20th that speaks specifically to transportation. They're going to be reducing um the transportation which will widen the scope for more students to have transportation as well as the tri child safety zone uh report that was done by the district that'll allow um more students to be picked up by the bus and not put them in safe unsafe situations. And so I am definitely in support of the budget. Those are only about 47 $50 and50 cents of increases to the taxpayers and they're doing a really good job in terms of Thank you. Oh, should I keep going? Finish this. Okay. Um, they have they're doing a really good job of using the current funds that we have
040to upgrade different things that are happening across the district. And so, I think they're making fiscally sound decisions with the budget. Thank you, Mr. Cass. Thank you. Um, one of the things that's interesting about this budget is is 1.75. That was one of the biggest ones in in 10 years. And even with that, we're well under the cap. um the cap would have been at close to 3%. Obviously, there's a lot going on. We'd love it to be a little bit lower, but is inflation. Uh obviously, you can tell if you ever gone shopping recently that inflation is definitely an issue and that kind of trickles down to the school district as well. But even before that, we were less than uh 1% a couple of times. I think the average is less than 1%
041over 10 years. And that's incredible considering we could have went to two to three all those years. So, um considering the ability to go up as high as that much higher, we could have done that. We decided not to to decrease the burden of taxpayer uh funding. Also with the school bus um thing as well. We did there is a proposition to decrease from a mile to a half a mile which I'd be totally in support of as well cuz obviously it's 2025 and there are all kinds there are a host of new issues that parents have to deal with and having your kid walk over that bridge sometimes is the is the safest thing in the world and we are we should be providing transportation to these kids. Our taxpayers pay enough money as
042it is. Thank you. Our next question will begin with Mr. Sasson. How will you as a trustee work with fellow board members, district staff, parent, teacher, student organizations, and community organizations to promote respect, dignity, inclusion, equitable treatment, and access to programs and opportunities to all district students? Oh, it's a big question. All right. So, one of these things, one of the things that I think that I've, um, I've been good at over the years is making relationships with not only the school board members, uh, but members of the community, parents, teachers. Um, I believe that it's important as a schoolboard member to make sure that you see eye to eye on a lot of these issues, and we're on the same team. We all want the same things, and anyone who knows me personally knows
043that I will ensure that their child gets fair treatment and equitable treatment when it comes to obviously that they're entitled to those things by law. And obviously if there is ever a question or concern of a person that's able to talk and show transparency. Transparency is one of the biggest things that's imaginable. I would find it horrific to not tell the truth or to hide the truth in any shape way, shape or form. I believe that if you contact me directly, I'll I will call you. I I believe I will call you directly and instead of emailing you, I would call you personally and explain to you what is going on. And I think that everyone in the community recognizes that and they know that I'm a person if they speak to anybody else they
044can come to and speak to about those things. and plus I have kids in the district so it's I feel like I'm a strong stakeholder in the district as well. Thank you Dr. Rivers. So that was a pretty long question if you don't mind. That was a lot of Yeah. How will you as a trustee work with fellow board members, district staff, parent, teacher, student organizations, and community organizations to promote respect, dignity, inclusion, equitable treatment, and access to programs and opportunities for all district students. Okay. Thank you. U so I'm I think I'm going to start with um the the curriculum. Again, I would I would go to the superintendent as a board member and find out what the plan is. In my review of the curriculum, it it's pretty much a monolithic um curriculum.
045Uh there's not much diversity. Um there is again again little little diversity. If you look at even the the makeup of of staff across the the agency, I think it's important uh for the superintendent and his team to be more intentional when it comes to hiring. When students leave uh this district, they are going entering to a diverse workforce. And so when you see only people that uh don't reflect uh the diverse workforce that they're going into, it sets them up to not be able to interact with people that may look differently from them that may be from different cultural and racial backgrounds. And so really supporting the superintendent and asking about what is your plan to address these things that I see as gaps. Thank you. Our next question will start with Dr. Rivers.
046As a trustee, would you support greater parental involvement in discussions that could lead to changes in the curriculum? Uh yes and no. It depends on what um that looks like. So for example, I do uh believe that parents should have a voice in uh the curriculum in terms of the design of the curriculum and how that curriculum is being presented in the classroom. I think that should be left up to u the experts but ensuring that students see a reflection of themselves in the curriculum. I think parents have a voice in saying hey in your K2 our curriculum I'm only seeing one person Romer Bearden um as as a person of color in your music theory courses it is a monolithic there is there are no persons of color being discussed in the music um
047theory classes or some of the other ones. Now, I haven't done a deep dive of the curriculum, but I think there is a gap there that needs to be addressed. And I think parents should have an opportunity to voice their concerns if the curriculum is not reflecting their children that are attending Eastome schools. Thank you, Mr. Cass. Yeah, my experience with curriculum over the last 24 years teaching social studies, especially from the New York State perspective, shows an an intense uh deep dive into different races and different ethnicities from Native Americans to African-American culture. I see a lot in the social studies classroom is disseminated by the state. So, I think when the state comes does that, they do their they do a good job with that. But when it comes down to um uh
048curriculum decisions uh based on uh I guess you could say life lessons or uh anything related to political desires. I think the community should definitely have a little bit of an input. Of course, we have to be able to hear them. But this is a hard question because you have to be able to weigh that along with being an academic. We have to be critical of every single thing that comes in. We have to question everything. We have to make sure that even if the parents have a an opinion about something and they want something pushed, we have to give the counterpoint to that. We have to get every perspective at all times and question everything always. That's our job as educators and that's our job as teachers. Ultimately, I'm a teacher and at the
049very end of the day, I'm still a teacher. If I was the superintendent, I'd still be a teacher. So, we have to question almost everything and input from parents would be a definite positive for them. Thank you. Our next question, we will begin with Mr. Song. How many school board meetings have you attended this past year? Oh, that's okay. All of them with the exception with the exception of one. I'm on the deis. So, that's maybe a question that probably would be fielded for people that um that are probably trying to become schoolboard members. So, yes, I've been to all the meetings except I believe one were going on visit. Um but other than that, u I've been here for everything and all the obviously all the the pre meetings and post meetings, stuff like
050that. So yeah, that's probably I remember answering that question before I was on the board and that's for those for people running for um running for program. I am on the board itself. So I'm on the DS almost every with the exception of one time this year but almost every other time. Thank you Dr. Rivers. Uh so I have not attended any meetings in person. Uh I have watched uh schoolboard meetings uh via YouTube. Um and I'm sure this probably was a question uh for me but but just let me be unequivocally clear. Um, as a as a community member, I think caring for children does not stop at the boundaries of my household. I care for children. And so, if I care for children, then I should be able to use my voice to
051stand up for children, advocate for children, and help Ice Club school board and school community make fiscally sound decisions that put student first. And so, um, that's my answer. Thank you. Thank you. This will be our last question. Um, we kind of ran out of questions. I was using some of the questions that Suffach Region PTA has as examples. So, this will be our final question and we will start with Dr. Rivers. What can we do as a community to keep our budget in line and keep our taxes from getting out of control? So, keep the budget in line and keep the taxes from being out of control. I I I think it's important to uh look to um the experts in that area. So, we have an assistant superintendent for business that I think
052is doing a fine job. I think we have to do a better job. Um at my review of our grants, uh we have the IDA 611 grant. Um there was $270,000 that was not carried over that was carried over and unspent from 2324. So, making sure that we're spending our grant funds. That would be two teachers with salaries and benefits. Uh the title 2 uh grant, there was $52,000 unspent in that grant. Those again could be professional development opportunities for teachers um as well as administrators. And so ensuring that we're doing the best job we can, not leaving money on the table with grants and then trying to identify other competitive grants that will support what we need to do in the district outside of the general administrative fund. Thank you, Mr. Cassol. Yeah, a
053lot of that is up to this again the superintendent of business and he's doing Steve Harrison's doing a great job with that. We have to look at those things line by line and make sure that everything's done in an appropriate fiscally responsible way. Also, I think that even then us reinvesting into new CDs and money markets garnered us over a million dollars this year. So, that would be, you know, you know, maybe 10 teachers right there. So, that was something that I made sure that we did for sure. That was a big one. And of course, what you have to do is make smart decisions when it comes to um when it comes to looking at purchasing, purchasing orders, when it comes to salaries, just basically making smart decisions, not having superfluous uh people doing
054the same jobs, um and just making very careful decisions about everything that was going down. Thank you. This concludes our question and answer period of the program. We will now begin with closing statements. Each candidate will have two minutes to make a closing statement and we will begin with Mr. Cesson. All right. Thank you again for h for listening to this uh conversation. Thank you Miss Dr. Rivers for joining us. We obviously care about students care about a little bit of uh there's some different things that we believe especially maybe when it comes down to a couple things security DEI things like that. Um but of course every student needs to feel empowered and every student needs to feel uh included. Um, one of the things I take issue with a little bit during the
055presentation was that we don't have our our lack of diversity would make our kids not prepare for the world. And I understand that for sure, but if you ever speak to an ethicized kid, the last thing in the world you would see is a kid judging somebody else because of their race, their ethnicity, their gender. We really, really inclusive community. And when it comes to the just go watch the sports, that's what sports does to us. If you go watch a football team, go see for yourself. There's all kinds of different kids on that team. I mean, not as massive of a number as if you're represented as the American public as a whole, but if you were to watch that team in particular, you would see that they have a tremendous bond and race
056disappears. And it's that's the goal. That's the ultimate goal. It always has been for us not to look at those things to b to basically teach people and respect them for who they are and merits. I think everything should be obviously as mo close to as merit-based as possible. And that's the ultimate goal of the world to make everything based on your skill. And if everyone looks a certain way because of they're the best at the job, it doesn't necessarily matter. As long as they can do the job effectively, that's all I care about. Um, also, as a school board member, anyone can look at the record and see how I voted and take a look at and take a look at my interests. Anyone can take a look at the letters that I wrote
057and u supported along the way. And anybody can just reach out to any community member and ask about me in particular. If you have any questions ever, you can always just email me and I can get back to you. I can leave my cell phone number if I'm interested in talking to people from the community. I am out there. I am going to be out there for a while. I'm invested for the next three years if I were to be elected. And I will be a voice for you in every way, shape, or form. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Dr. Rivers. Uh thank you. Uh so I just want to thank the Suffk uh region PTA for organizing this event and the community for showing up tonight. you could have been anywhere else on this
058rainy night, but you chose uh to be here to listen to us tonight. Um I just want to uh respond to something that Mr. Son said, "Race never disappears, Mr. Saon. Gender never disappears." Um I'm running for the East Iceland School Board, not just because I care, uh but because I'm prepared. Not that you're not. I'm just saying I'm prepared. I overstand the role of a board member as to govern through policy, evaluate the superintendent, have conversations, not to micromanage. It means supporting the superintendent and their leadership team in their work. I have deep experience in district policy, staffing, budgeting. I ask the right questions. I make fiscally responsible decisions. I'm a former grant writer, so I understand grants, competitive grants. I also believe in expanding outreach to attract a diverse pool of educators and
059staff and supporting the curriculum. Right now, um the administrators of this district, none of them look like me. Uh this work requires courage, sacrifice, collaboration, and a clear understanding of both what is possible and what is necessary. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves to get to work. I'm ready to support this community. Uh, and I thank you all. Uh, there are people here that don't know me, but I'm thank you for giving me the opportunity to get to know me, and I appreciate and hope to get your vote. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all for attending tonight's meet the candidate night at East Icelip. I wish both candidates good luck and please remember to go out and vote. Thank you.