001Okay, good evening everyone. Would like to bring this like to bring this meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Good evening everyone. Fire exits are located at the sides of the room, the front and back. In the event of a fire, you will hear a fire alarm at that time. Please move in a common orderly fashion to the nearest exit. I'll now make a motion to open the floor for public speaking. Do I have a second? Second. Second, Miss Charles Pier. All those in favor say I. Anyone oppose? Motion carries. Speaker number one. Hello. Oh, okay. All right. Uh, good evening, East Rambo community and members of the board. My name is Francis Galisia and I'm a senior at Ramipo High
002School and I am a member of the New York Civil Liberties Union activist project. I'm here to express the importance of voting on the budget and how it can impact the building conditions in our district. There have been ongoing renovation in the nurs's office at Rambo High School and it has been almost 6 months and the renovations are still ongoing but yet they have not been completed to the extent that we've wanted it to as students and for the nurses as well because it's become an inconvenience. I know that if this budget is successfully passed then the district can use reserve money of around 5 million towards repairs. I know that it's not a lot to make a dent in the capital needs of the district, which require hundreds of millions of dollars to meet
003the state education department safety standards, but it is a step in the right direction for the next generation of East Rample students and those that follow after. And to add on to this, I would just also like to speak about the window conditions of our building as well. Not only have those windows um not upheld to standards, but especially in my science and English class, the windows are being held up by boards like a plank so that they remain closed. And I don't think that's a good condition for the windows to be in and I just hope that that is emphasized within the budget. But I am not alone in the experience I have shared here today. I know that many of my fellow students in the East Rambo community, both past and present, share
004this sentiment. I acknowledge this progress made by folks like interimm superintendent D. Carlo, while recognizing the work that still needs to be done and the part that we all play in voting tonight. This community needs to vote on the school budget, and I hope that my words reach those listening on our live stream. With one hour left until the polls close, please go out and vote. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker number two. Good evening, uh, East Rample community and members of the board. My name is Jayen Kong and I'm a senior and the validictorian of Rambo High School and a member of the CI New York Civil Liberties Union of the Teen Activist Project. I'm speaking tonight to share my experience as a student from Rampa High School and the East Rampa Central School District.
005And I highly urge the community to exercise your right to vote and to pass this budget. When I was a sophomore during one of our superintendent circle meetings with the previous superintendent, we had re raised our concerns about the quality of our education as like as courses like AP courses and dual Roman classes were being cut. We emphasized how these courses were integral to being a competitive applicant in the admissions process for college. Yet, we were always met with the wave of a hand and told, "It doesn't matter if you aren't a competitive student, you'll end up fine anyways." This one statement sums up exactly how East Rampo views his students and it's not acceptable. Just a few weeks ago, and I talked about this with Dr. Gonzalez, I found out that Ramo does not
006have enough students to run AP calculus course next year and I understand that we need enough students to run this course. However, we don't have an AP physics already, which is an integral course alongside calculus for aspiring engineers and STEM students to be able to show colleges the aspiring talent that lies within our school. So, what are exactly these current juniors who are accelerated students meant to do after their current science and math classes? Throw them back into regular courses and tell them you'll get into college anyways. This is exactly what I was told. After having gone through the process as an engineering student, I can assure you that the certain STEM programs require students to have an experience in a calculus course on their transcript to even qualify to apply. A school is meant
007to prepare you for your next steps in life, whether that be college, a trade, or going into the workforce. But our school district lacks so many integral courses that are necessary to ac our academic success. We had to seek out additional opportunities outside of normal course offerings because our school district has already made so many cuts to these important programs and initiatives. While other students searched within their schools to strengthen their passions, we had no choice to look outside resources to make sure that we had a fighting chance for our futures. But our schools had no problem claiming our successes. I'm sure many of our peers have shared similar sentiments to this idea. No matter who you are, whether an AP student or a student learning English, you deserve to feel supported by the public
008education system. This budget is so important to us as students. As this is my last year in East Rimple Central School District, I care so much about these students whose parents sacrificed everything for their child that could one day achieve their dreams. It's my hope that our community has voted in favor of the school budget. And I hope that my words reach those listening to this live stream and give you the encouragement that you need to continue fighting for students like me. Thank [Applause] you. Thank you. Speaker number three. Good evening, East Rampo community and members of the board. My name is Nika Charles and I am a 12th grader at Rampo High School and I'm also a member of the New York Civil Liberties Union's Teen Activist Project. I am speaking tonight to share
009my experiences as a student in the East Rampo Central School District and urge the community to vote on the budget. As the as a daughter of hardworking immigrant parents, I've seen firsthand the sacrifices that families like mine make in hopes of securing a better future for their children. But walking the halls of my school, I often feel like that future is being held back. There aren't enough teachers to give students the attention and support that they need. In some classrooms, students go months without consistent instruction. Extracurricular activities, things that make the school more meaningful and help us discover our passions are disappearing. Student support services like guidance, counseling, and mental health resources are stretched too thin for a district as large and diverse as ours. These are not luxuries. These are basics of a good
010education, and we deserve better. I am not alone in feeling this way. Many of my peers, past and present, share these struggles and many of the parents here feel the same way. I recognize the efforts leaders like Superintendent interim superintendent D. Carlo, but I also know we have a long way to go. Real change takes commitment here from all of us, including showing up, speaking out, and voting. And so to those listening, especially on the live stream, I hope my words inspire you to to take action. Vote for not just a budget, but for the students whose futures depend on it. Vote for equity, opportunity, and the future of East Ramo. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Speaker number four. Bu [Music] isol. Okay. Okay. Um, Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Majority programs. No, no.
011East Professor Doctor Rockland. Thank you. Speaker number [Applause] five. Good evening, East Ramapo community and members of the board. My name is Alan Cruz and I'm a senior at Ramapo High School and a member of the New York Civil Liberties Union Teen Activist Project. Today I'm speaking to share my experiences as a student in the East Ramo Central School District and urge the community to vote on this important budget. I believe that it's important for this budget to be passed to address longstanding issues in our schools. Year after year, students have advocated for improvements and resources that our school needs. But unfortunately, the budget keeps keeps getting down. Passing the budget shouldn't be seen as something radical or impossible through our eyes, but as a necessary step forward for our school district and community. Students
012here today are showing up because we deeply care about our education. Nobody cannot say that we do not care because we are here because we care and deeply value our education. We want safe buildings, updated classrooms, and access to tools that help us succeed in every way possible. The budget represents an investment in students futures and sends a message that our voices truly matter. I am not alone in these experiences. I have shared to I have shared with you today. I know that many of my fellow students in the East Rap community, both past and present, share my sentiments. I acknowledge the progress made by folks like the interim superintendent D Carlo while recognizing the work that still needs to be done and the part that we can all play in voting tonight. This community
013needs to vote on the school budget and I hope that my words and that the students here tonight and the parents reach those listening on our liveream and give you the encouragement you need to go to the polls and vote and vote for the students future and for students like me. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes public speaking. I'd like to thank all the students that came out to make their voice heard. It's important. We appreciate it. Moving on to the superintendence report. Mr. D Carlo, take it away. Thank you very much, President Ro. So to the students that are here, those of you who got up to speak and those of you who here to support, there's a couple things I just want to kind of go over with you that that are really
014important and some of the work that's being done by this board moving forward because they've listened carefully. One of the struggles we have when you talk about facilities and you talk about the windows and the like, and I've mentioned this number of times this year, we can't go out and do the bond work that we need to do a lot of these repairs, right? And you're right, in this budget, if it passes, we have about $5.2 million to do some of the work that we normally can't do. But what Mr. Stark, our assistant superintendent for business, has worked with the board and said, "As we have some of these extra monies, we want to be able to designate it to a capital reserve fund so that we can start to do the work that needs
015to be done." That's a step in the right direction because to your point, for many years, we didn't have money and quite frankly, you know, the priorities that should have been taken care of weren't. And I'm not casting any espersions on the people that were in facilities and doing things, but it really wasn't structured the way it should have been. And in a lot of cases, this board had no idea what what some of the issues are. So, you're right. We have to do a better job. We have to take some of these monies and allocate them to a capital reserve fund. Mr. Tindle, who's right over there, who's our facilities director, has worked hard with Mr. Stark and with the board to establish a fund so we can do this work. because you said
016it, it's not going to happen in a year or two. In order for us to get back to where we can borrow money, it's going to have to be a number of years, right, that we have to pass budgets because what Moody's has said is because you're not passing budgets, your rating goes down. So, to your point, in order us to get back there, it's not going to happen overnight. But we have to set those monies aside and the board of education um understands we have to put a policy together to do that. So that's important. Number two, when you talk about courses and course work, this um team, Mr. Gonzalez and his team and with the work of the state has said, you know what, you have to revamp your course catalog. It's it's
017obsolete. It's old. students should know what is available, what's not. Your parents should know what's available, what's not. Um, and so we and that's why I asked Dr. Gonzalez to come over and meet with you because a lot of this stuff happened before we got here, right? And things were cut without student voice. And your voices are important. And I will tell you, okay, we understand it's 2025. I've worked with our assistant superintendent, Mrs. Anna Rusco. We've worked and we're working currently with our teachers to say, "Guess what? We have to look at virtual options because there are availabilities that you should be able to have. Even though we may not be able to offer it, you should be entitled to it over virtual options." So, we're looking at that. So, you as seniors, I
018congratulate you because some of this stuff is not going to impact you, but you want to do what's right by your classmates coming up. This board has heard that. So when we talk about in the future and they talk about the budget and instruction, these are the options that are going to come before them. So I want to thank you with regards for talking about that. And then and last but not least in this budget and I thank you so much for getting up and telling the community as student voices the importance of this because in this budget if it passes we're going to be able to bring back programs support staff people to help K to 12. So that's the important piece. So, I want to take this time to thank you, update you
019on some of the things that are going on, and I thank you, President Rose, for allowing me to share that with the community. So, thank you very much. Just quickly tonight, as we are, um, you know, moving forward, um, you know, our summer learning programs are booked. We're excited about it. Um, we are working on the process of hiring our staff, both our teachers, our overseers of the program. We're working on getting transportation ready. Um, so we're excited about offering a full slate of programs both in the elementary school, um, and in the middle school and high school. So, um, I promised you we're going to bring it back. I know last year were issues because of, uh, the work that needed to be done, but we're back. We're operational and we are at capacity
020and we're really, really, really excited about this, not just for our programs we've had in the past, but for a new program. Um, we're having a jump start program for our kindergarteners coming into the school to get familiar with the buildings they're going to be in, getting to know the program, the buildings, and the layout. And we're excited about that this year and what we're offering. So, I want to thank the team for putting it together. I want to thank you parents for your patience. I know last year wasn't easy. We're able to do it. So, I thank you. That's it. Back over to you, President Rose. One one second sir. Mr. Stark I just I just wanted to clarify one thing that you mentioned. Um in terms of the reserve um the district already
021has a capital reserve. Um the piece that we have uh are looking at creating is called a repairs reserve. Okay. And they function a little bit differently and I just I just want to make sure that but the issue is that as we have gotten some of these extra monies we're going to be looking in the future to repurpose them to do some of the work that we normally couldn't do. All right. Thank you. I apologize for misspeaking. President Rose, back to you. Thank you very much, Mr. Carlo. Um, okay. Moving on to consent and agenda items. Uh, do I have a motion for consent and agenda items one through nine? So, I moved by Mr. Weissman. Do I have a second? Second second by Mr. Moses Cth any discussions on the matter hearing no
022further discussion all those in favor say I. I. Anyone oppose abstain. Motion carries. Before we move on to action items Mr. Federer I believe you wanted Yes. I was wondering um we spoke um last uh meeting about creating a special ed committee and nothing has been done that wasn't posted on to the agenda items. So in the form if I'm correct the board would like to set up a um special ed committee similar to what happened with the um audit committee. Correct. Is that what I'm understanding? That's what Mr. Fer said. Yes. And we can respond via email. That's fine. I mean, the board would have to choose who they'd want to be representing. So, you can, you know, make a motion just like we did with that. Get a bunch of representatives and Miss
023Maronei will chair that committee. So, we just need to know who would like to be representative from the board. Okay. So, can we Douglas, can we add it? What's What's the reason that we want to create this committee? We've been getting complaints on a daily basis of the dysfunctioning of the department. Mr. Gart, can a motion be made to set up a committee, a subcommittee by the board for special education? Sure. Okay. Um, would that be able to be done tonight though? Cuz I know some districts have new business. I know we don't have new business. So, where would we add that in since we already voted on action items? Yeah, I think procedurally you could do it now, you could do it at at new business. Um, no, no, what I'm saying is we
024don't we don't have new business on the agendas, right? But the agenda is just a guidepost. We can always add stuff to the agenda without it being on there. So, I'm not that procedurally that's not a concern. I think the the the question I think would be you know to carefully identify what the charge of the committee would be because the operational side of special education is certainly not a a board duty it's an operational duty. So we would want to just maybe you know make sure that there's a clarity with respect to what the committee the committee's charge would be being of what's happening I think that it should be a real oversight committee and get involved till the um department gets settled well okay I mean I again you know that and that's
025fine Sam we could you know that's I mean just like we have the the transportation committee we have I mean the operations and transportation committee we can't have a special ed committee no yes you know absolutely can just like the transportation committee can transport transportation committee and I've attended a few of those you know issues are raised with respect to transportation analyzed understood so board members have a better understanding of what is taking place I would not necessarily envision that the committee itself would have would take action on any particular items that but but yeah I mean that that I mean the board's job is to set policy correct and what better way to set policy than to be with the committee. Yep. And I think it's more so to um updating the committee of
026how the department is doing and also for whoever's on the committee to share concerns that they receive from parents and possibly others um within the community. But that that that beckons to something too though that I think has to be learned parallel that this district needs to set up a septo committee a a PTO made up of special education parents. So I think it's parallel. I think you can do that as a board which they have a right but I think we also need to go out just like we have PTAs in our buildings. We should have a district SEPTO meeting which to my SEPTO committee which you may know more than myself board members it might have existed at one time but that's got to be a vital component of that too because that's
027also that channel into discussions. Correct. We did have that I think um it kind of dissolved back in 2016 or 17. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you Douglas. I mean Mr. Gart sorry I'm just jud So the special ed committee would I just jotted down purpose of the committee would be to oversee oversee and monitor operations special ed department offer insight and serve as a sounding board for concerns related to special education would but so but before we go any further with that we just need to be clear that once that committee is um established there needs to be a charge meaning that the the attorney that you know works with us from a special education will kind of guide like in anything else right as to what you know what some of those parameters can
028and can't be that can or cannot be addressed I think that's I'm trying to understand how is this different than any operations and transportation or any the committee that we have because there's a lot and you know I'll speak to what I know but there are a lot of sometimes legal ramification and other things that we have ramifications at every step that we do in the district. Yeah. But can I just further explain there are things that you could hear from a from a parent that may be something that we cannot discuss within the committee guidelines. That's all I'm saying. I just want to make sure that the charge is understood so that you're not going into the establishment of a committee and thinking that what you think it can be may be something different.
029That's how about this? How about we we do a motion to ex to create start you know to set the chart like set a charter for next but at least we have resolution that we're going to open the committee and exactly how and when. That's why we have lawyers and attorneys and do it we'll do it the right way that we need to do it but we it's obvious that the board members want to have this committee. It was communicated via email multiple times over the past few weeks that they want to have this committee. Um so we would like the board members would like to have a resolution or uh uh something voted upon that we're going to create this meeting that it shouldn't be because obviously board members are feeling ignored. So let's
030you know so whoa whoa whoa whoa and nobody this this just to be very clear nobody's being ignored this is a conversation that should be had in public with the committee I mean with the entire board in regards to moving it forward. So please I'm not looking to uh you know ignore anything that's not my wish it was it was brought up and the purpose of it is as a board to have the discussion like we're having now and you're right nobody's disagreeing and and and I know even Mrs. Marone is over there shaking her head. We're fine with it. We just want to make sure that we're doing it in a manner that's reflective of how we have to do it. That's all. Thank you. That's perfectly fine. I think the big, you know,
031the concern the the major concern is un unlike a transportation issue where you're talking about a bus route time. We're dealing with individual students that is beyond the purview of the board. You cannot have student information. I don't think anybody was looking to talk about individual students but this is a general you know overall you know complaints and basically setting policies and there should be a direct channel between the committee and the chairperson um of the department. What if the motion were to establish a special education committee of the board to address issues related to special education within the purview and legal authority of the board of education? Yeah, like I said, we're trying to do everything exactly the legal way, but we should be able to vote on something that the board wants. Did
032Does that sound Does that sound okay? Can you say it one more time, please? Motion to establish a special education committee of the board to address issues related to special education services that are within the purview and legal authority of the board. So, we're not expanding any authority. We're not giving the board any additional authority, but it's rather to review oversight. we can maybe tease out the specific details of that further. But I think that's what you're we're trying to get at so that there's a better understanding of how special ed services are provided. And we may even include that Shelley just mentioned maybe even include something like to examine existing special education policies of the district. Yeah, that sounds right. Yeah. Does that agreeable, Sam? Does that sound okay? Yeah, Mr. better if the
033problems should be solved. So then it's okay. If it's not going to be solved, we'll have to revisit and decide what the policy is. So, do we want to make a motion to Mr. Feder? Would he like to make the motion? Yes. Okay. Mr. Feder moved the motion. You want to read it out loud for us, Douglas? I'm sorry. Motion to establish a special education committee of the board to address issues related to special education services within the purview and legal authority of the board of education including examination of existing board policies. Okay. Do I have a second of the motion? Motion moved by Mr. Feder. Do I have a second? Just I'm sorry. Just we can open up for discussion before the Who is the second? Mr. Weissman. We'll open it up for discussion.
034I'm sorry. Go ahead. Just a quick question. This is just a motion to um form the committee. Correct. And then we will add after would be a second another motion or is it should it be just one motion? All right. We need to choose I guess have I don't recall how we do that when when the board creates a committee. I don't know if we established members of the committee or we Kathy sometimes send something around to the rest of the board saying anybody want to be on this committee that we just established considering we also have two board members that are missing now. Yeah, maybe we do it that way. Perhaps we I mean unless maybe maybe do the motion and then um especially since we have four seats. See how I mean Yeah.
035You okay with that, Mr. F? Are you are you are you concerned you may not win? Did you vote? Yes, I did. Okay. No, just to be fair to make sure that I think that's right. There's a couple Sherry's not here. Mr. Gruber's not here. So, three missing. You know, I think maybe we leave it to the board clerk to send around a you know, see who's interested who would like to be a part of this newly formed committee. I think that's how it's been done in the past. Kathy used to ask around. Yeah, she she had a paper and she just Okay, we'll do it that way. I'll let Kathy and Karina know. You want to follow along with the other committees? I guess we can always call emergency meetings or I would say
036quarterly meetings. quarterly hand quarter hand I'm sorry I don't I can't hear I don't know how the other committees work do we have set in stone what like do we have set scheduled or schedule for he wants to know should we do we need to put in the sk do we need the schedule meeting like how often they're going to meet or I'm saying oh you mean in the motion I think that's outline I think you can establish the committee and then iron out those details afterwards Yeah, cuz I think it also has to work with the for whoever's in the committee on how I think the I don't think the transportation committee when it was formed indicated we would meet every month every two months. I think it was just after after the fact
037after the fact the need of it. Okay. So we'll establish the frequency and scope as well as the members after this. That sounds right. Okay, we have a motion in a second. All those in favor say I. I. Anyone oppose abstain? Motion carries. Moving on to action items. Do I have a motion for action items 1 through 13? I'll make the motion. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mr. Simon Cth. We'll open up for discussion. Um, can we have clarification on the credits that we're getting for ARPA? Um, 9 10 11. Yes. Uh so those were u deductions from the overall original value of the contract. When we went full gear into these um we did a variety of different ways. We went to bid for some we used competitive bidding uh and
038piggybacking on some contracts. And when we did that since we had to we had such a tight timeline to complete these three years of construction there were a lot of assumptions made that way we didn't go over budget. So this is just paperwork to catch up with how we're billing. So when we deduct this from the overall value of the contract, then all the paperwork on the back end will line up if we're ever audited. So they're not going to bill us for that. That's money left on the table. Some of that money is assumptions for asbestous abatement at each schools. Um some of those assumptions are for labor associated with some of those activities. So it's just a credit back for activities that were not performed as part of the project. just so when
039we close it all out um everything will account correctly. None of these funds were paid yet to any of these vendors. Say again. None of this was paid were paid yet for correct? This is just as we got to the final pay applications. This was credit money that we had left on the table that the board needed to be aware of any change orders the board's supposed to approve. So this would be a deduct change order. A quick question for number 13. Um, I believe this is my first time seeing us as a board um, approve a civil service holiday calendar. Yeah, good question. I don't remember that either. I don't remember seeing that either. Is this something new that has to be approved by the board? Because I know the instructional calendar is also
040on here which uh vote says amend I have a civil service calendar service calendar question is yeah mic microphone microphone thank you yes um everywhere I've been the board has always authorize the civil service um contra um holidays. Um and so that's important for folks who are 12 month employees. Um when we do the other calendar, the instructional calendar that informs the teachers, the teaching assistants, um and those who follow, you know, the 184 days a year calendar, but then we have the 12-months. So they're always asking us, is this an approved holiday? Is that an approved holiday? So, um, as we have been negotiating contracts, we've been putting the language in that says board approved civil service calendar. So, the civil service holidays. So, these these are the holidays that uh folks have been
041taking every year. No, no, that I understand like because um so you know, why didn't the board approve this last year for this year? it, you know, um I was new last year and um it just didn't notice that it had never been done here before. So, um instituting a practice that I've always done in all the other districts I've worked in and that I think is good practice moving forward every year. Now, what's the legal requirement to be a civil service holiday? I'm sorry. What's the requirement for it to be? Do we have a limit how many civil service holidays we can have or No. Um is there a limit? No. Um there isn't a limit but uh for example um we have some holidays every year that fall on a Saturday. So in
042some cases that um it is observed on a on a Friday and some cases it's not. So everybody is always unclear. So we get a lot of phone calls and a lot of emails from union reps from all the different we have 10 unions. So, this clarifies it for everyone and we can just post it uh and just keep it posted all year long and then it's clear. So, what's the difference between this and the instructional calendar? Isn't it the same? It's the same holidays and I'm sorry, July 4th. The the difference is that uh first of all, you have July 4th. Secondly, in the instructional calendar, we list recess periods. Um and then within those recess periods for 12 months, I'm I'm sorry. You said it has July 4th. Yeah. Independence Day, but that's
043for the next school year, right? So, it's for the uh the the instru um the civil service calendar is for the fiscal year, July 1st through June 30th. The instructional calendar is for September 1 through June 30th. So, besides that, what's the what what else changes? So, um or what was added or removed? So, um, within the contracts, I'll give you an example. So, within the contracts, it'll say, um, if Christmas happens to be on a Thursday, then the 12 monthers get the Friday off. Okay? If Christmas happens to be on a Tuesday, they get the Monday off. So, that wouldn't apply to the teachers who have the entire time off because it is a recess period. So people are often asking the question uh do we have that off? Do we not have it
044off? So this is to provide clarity and consistency and um it's a better way to communicate with folks, right? But if we could choose holidays, I mean it's there's missing holidays. These are the ones that we've u that they've taken every year. But um you know people were right for I'll give you an example like Passover right it's two days I don't see any of sukkot shabuis right so in their contracts in their contracts it says the first two days of passover contract and so the first two days of Passover should be in there for this coming spring it just shows April 3rd I'm sorry it just shows April 3rd because the it it's probably a Sunday and Monday. So it's the first two days. I'm sorry. Friday. It's a then it's a Friday and
045a Saturday. Saturday, right? So one of the days is on the Saturday. So when one of the days is on a Saturday, then it's only one day. See, these are the questions that we get. We have 1,700 of the all these holidays in the contract. What I'm saying is like I see a lot of non, you know, which is great. I'm happy we have off on the holiday. I think that if if we do on the you know like can we choose to add more holidays onto this list? Well um so these are the holidays that they've um always had but for which there has never been one document that we shared with everyone to make it clear. So um so to to facilitate communication and to ensure clarity um we have started to put
046in the contracts the board approved uh the yearly board approved civil service holidays. I'm think can we maybe vote on this on next meeting so we can get a clear understanding and make sure that because this is the first time like Sabrina said the first time we're seeing this and to me I'm not entirely sure why they are missing we can discuss it further and be happy to vote in under the next meeting. Mr. President I think it's um if you're talking about Passover it's April 2 and three of next year. Look I I think there's a few other dates we need to look at. I I think right now is not that I mean unless it's really time pertinent that we need to vote on this right now if there's anything I would I
047would feel more comfortable pushing it up to the next meeting. Way does affect an employee seeing you know if we can go through all the dates properly right now in the middle of the meeting affect an employee to get paid with a with a day off. No, it's really it's to provide clarity to the I understand but what is this day what is a civil service holiday? What is it that the employee paid these are paid holidays? a paid holiday even they're off even if they're not shown. Yes, they're off and it's paid holidays. So July 4th, Labor Day, there's no school today. No school. Uh but these are the 12-month employees. So um they would work even when there is school. Uh when there's no school, the 12-month employees often work anyway. So it's
048to provide clarity for them. Okay. I would like to amend my motion from items 1 through 13 to just include items 1 through 12. Mr. Weissman, do you second the amended motion? Effie. Yeah. Second by Mr. Weissman. So, we're just going to be voting now from 1 to 12. And just a quick question, why was the Didn't we vote on this instructional calendar already? [Music] So, we did vote on the instructional calendar. Uh, and this the first calendar, the last one that you voted on uh had an anomaly in it. The anomaly is that the calendar uh had 183 days for the teachers instead of 184 days. um their contract states that they're supposed to work 184 days, but we wanted to accommodate certain um observations that we had discussed in April. And so this
049would have resulted in the teachers uh working 183 days, but there was a caveat. A certain number of them would have had to come in um for a 2hour parent teacher conference day one one evening. Unfortunately, the teachers declined that um they did not want to come in for the um parent teacher conference day um that evening. That's for the elementary teachers. And so we had to revert back and um create a different calendar that had the parent teacher conference day full day and we had to give uh the kids back another day to ensure that we met the calendar requirements as per New York State regs. Therefore, the difference here is that it's 184day calendar versus 183 and that there is no parent teacher conference requirements for elementary teachers on December 3rd. Instead, they
050will have a full day of parent teacher conference day on December 3rd. And the children will all come in and the teachers will come in uh half day on November 26th, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Those are the changes. Yeah, thank you Anna. That was it. All the other holidays are intact. It's just that half day. And um just looking at it too, what's the purpose of the rapid dismissal on the 25th of November? Well, by law, we have to do a rapid dismissal and we did it this year because what happens is we don't have any extracurricular activities. So, we have to worry about kids coming back in. So, everybody goes on the bus and goes home. It's cleaner, it's neater, uh and it makes a sense to do it that way. Okay? You know,
051because we don't have any extra, we don't have sports that day. We don't have any extracurricular activities. So, it's a just a rapid dismissal. Okay? So, they go home a little bit earlier and by law, we have to do that. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. Anyone oppose stay? Motion carries. Okay. Um, moving on to information reports of from the board. First, I would I know she's not here, but I would like to wish a very happy birthday to our vice president, Chair McIll. Happy birthday, many more happy and healthy years. Any other board members, and be welcome, Sabrina? Uh, yes. Um so just a few things I wanted to highlight. Uh as we know May and June is a very busy month um with spring concerts
052and sports and sports wrapping up and um other activities going on. So, first I just wanted to say that on uh May 11th, we had a beautiful ceremony for our East Ramo Titans um where we celebrated our seniors and also in memory of uh Coach Vince and Daryl Vasquez who had passed away in the wildfire. So, uh you know, the community came out and supported. Um, so I just want to say thank you to Miss Daniels for putting that together and her team. Um, and to the students who also came out and and vended and um, supported our baseball team. [Music] Um, also I last week we had our Spring Valley had their signing day. So, we had uh at least 10 students who committed to a school where they will be continuing their um
053athletic sports um at their committed college. Uh last week, I also attended the Rocklin County meet where Tena Joseph uh she did the 200 mile 200 miles where she came in at the best time of 24.98. Um, and then for the 100 mile, she is the new county record holder with an unbelievable 11.83, being the fastest 100 mil 100m time in Rocking County history. Um, she is number four in New York State for the 100m and number 10 in the state for the 200, which is a big accomplishment. Uh, also last week, um, many of our schools celebrated Haitian flag day. I know I was at Pomona Middle School. uh where they had uh Haitian cuisine um where the students were able to enjoy. We had music. Uh we celebrated the culture which was very
054nice to see. Uh Saturday we had spring fling here at Spring Valley High School uh which was a great turnout despite the pouring rain that started in the morning. Um a lot of our families came out. There was a lot of vendors there where they were able to um get resources. So, special shout out to our family resource coordinators on that. Um, Sunday we had the Haitian Day parade. I want to give a special shout out to our East Rampa marching band who every year comes out and supports and um not only marches but you know put puts on a great performance for our community. So, special shout out to them. Our Rample High School dancers also uh performed at the at the parade which was great. I think they were the biggest highlight of
055that evening. Um a lot of our students came out. Uh they enjoyed the culture, they enjoyed the music, the food. Um you know, it's always something great for us to unite and come together as one. Um other than that, I think that's it. Uh there's a lot of spring concerts coming up. I know I attended uh Pomona's yesterday. Um Khaki last week, Rampo I believe have theirs this Wednesday at 7:00. Um and I know there's more to come. So that's it for me. Thank you very much, Sabrina. Moving on to future meeting dates. Uh just quick question. I'm seeing here. Regular meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Oh. Oh, I understand why. Wednesday, June 4th. Wednesday. June 4th. Not on a Tuesday. It's going to be in a Wednesday at 7:30 right here in the PLC room
056in the administration building, 105 South Madison Avenue, Spring Valley, New York. So, before just a a note to the board. All right. Um let's hope that the results that come in are positive and this um budget passes. If it if it doesn't, we're going to have to have a lengthy kind of discussion because there's a lot that we would have to do as some of you are familiar with um in a limited amount of time. So I I just want to make sure that everybody understands that if this budget were to go down and we have to have a discussion about the possibility of a second vote, there are timelines that have to be adhered to and there are not a lot of days to do it. So I just want to make sure that
057everybody is aware of that moving forward. Um because we're going to have to look at calendars and make some adjustments and and set some extra time aside. So I just want to put that out there. Thank you, President Rose. Um, President Rose, if we can go back to information and reports from the board uh for a minute. Sure. Um, usually we do uh update on where we are with the superintendent search. Is that something that we can talk about now since we do have a lot of time? Sure. You're free to talk about whatever you'd like. Okay. Um so as you all know we have been uh going through the s superintendent search uh process to um have a super to hopefully have a superintendent in place by July 1st. Um unfortunately uh the process
058has not been going as planned and uh with our monitors being here with us today, I would like to know what is our next step moving forward knowing that what the board has agreed on has once again been rejected by the monitors. Uh that's not appropriate to talk about in public session. That would be executive session of the board to talk about the next steps the process. Yeah. In terms of do we continue with the search? The process is up to the board, not up to the monitors. I'm sorry. The the process of the search is up to the board. It's the board's search. It's not up to the monitors. But I'm asking what is our next step? That's up for you to decide as a board. We don't the monitors don't decide the next
059steps for the board. So, how do we go on? I I would strongly suggest that that you would discuss this in executive session. Mr. Ghart, as our attorney, is this something that could be discussed in public session knowing that we're not talking about any particular individual? This is something you can absolutely talk about in public session. The process for the selection of the superintendent is not an executive session matter. The selection of the individual or possible individuals for the seat would be an executive session matter falling under the possible employment of a particular individual. The process to be followed now that to to determine who the superintendent is is not an executive session matter. Thank you. So with that being said, how do we move on with this process um moving forward knowing that at
060this point we have no support or guidance that this is up to the board. This is not this is not the monitor. The monitors don't tell you how to do your search. You you the board are responsible to do search. whatever next steps uh are up to the board. Well, the to be totally honest, you the monitors have rejected three times the board's choice. We have not rejected anyone during this process. You have to formally inform us of your candidate, which I don't think we received a a written board. The board has done that twice. You haven't submitted for this search a written document as to who your candidate is. We did that last week. You sent a written document. We sent we discussed we had a candidate that we chose and was just dropped
061out of consideration. We discussed about the full board discussed about continuing on with Mr. D. Carlo. Now I think you're going into executive session. Now I think you're going into executive session once you start naming names. Am I? There are eight different reasons a board can go into executive session. The board can also elect to not go into executive session to discuss several of those. So if you want to discuss this right here publicly, there's you can typically personnel decisions, decisions about appointing someone go to exec, but if you want to talk about it here, you can continue. I would like to ask the question differently. Um, the board had unanimous decision on someone. Was that rejected by the by the monitors? Well, the board had v email unanimous decision to continue with an individual.
062Um, individual was willing to continue after meeting with the state. the individual decided not to continue because of not receiving support from the state. The board is extremely frustrated at this process. The board followed every single directive that the state has given us and the state monitors has given us. The state instead of being a helpful hand in this process has only put up roadblocks and um obstacles in this process causing more dysfunction in this district and causing more uncertainty. We as the board are extremely frustrated in this process and we would like to have resolutions and being able to move forward in a unified unanimous way which we have been doing in the past. Um, I don't have much more to discuss about that, but that is the reality. Why? It's unfortunate and it's
063sad. And and to and and to add to that too, I mean, financially we've been spending money on a search firm. This is the second time where we're not getting the outcome that we were expecting. This is not my first search. I've done it for Boseies. I've done it for East Rampo. And I think this is the first time I've experienced a search where um you know we're able to come into agreement and for whatever reason it's it's being turned down without actual explanation on why. Um so I I think as monitors the both of you are part of the process from beginning to end and you know I see you guys here as a support and a guidance system. So, if you can't do that and and and let us know during the process
064as opposed to waiting till the end, I think that that's that's a very big issue. Let's let's Can I can I Yeah. Yeah. So, if you want to talk about it, let's talk about it. We got a search firm. You went through a search. You received two candidates. You picked one candidate that made a different decision. You still have another candidate out there. You didn't want that candidate. You went for a candidate that was not part of the process and did not take the job because the job was not that I'm sorry that's incorrect. Let me let me finish because you want to accuse monitors of stopping and hurting your district, etc., etc. The fact of the matter is you had a search firm, you had two candidates, you selected one out of everybody's control,
065did not work out. Hold on. So there's still another candidate out there. You didn't want that candidate. You wanted to choose a candidate that did not exist for you. We didn't stop him. Someone else didn't stop him. That candidate was not a candidate. And then it turned out that that candidate had other decisions to make and decided something different with or without the monitors. And that's the truth. But at the same time, and wait a minute, hold on. the person who should speak at this point to be honest because if I'm missspeaking Mr. D Carlo please tell them I'm misspeing and I'm making a mistake. No. So I I got to tell everybody this is like um really really difficult for me. This is really really difficult and this is this is part of the
066reason why um I'm moving forward because I it is it's it's really puts me in a very difficult position that I now have to respond in public to something. So um you know at the at the end of the day I I had lengthy conversations in the last couple of weeks. Yes, there was a candidate that that this that the the uh committee had brought forward. Said candidate, you know, would have been a really good choice for the district moving forward. I was really happy and excited about what that may be. Okay, it doesn't work out. So, it doesn't work out. And now the question is, well, Mr. D. Carlo, what about maybe thinking about it? And I had a conversation on both sides saying being in the middle. I had a conversation with the
067board president. I also had a conversation with um the monitors to ask me what I wanted to do or not want to do. And as I have explained this and I will reiterate it again, I have been humbled and honored to work with this board to work with the monitors and most importantly work with the community and the students and the staff. I took this position as a leave replacement for the year. I also and I will not not go into personal reasons, but there's reasons why I have made the decision to not come back. I've said it on on many occasions. You need continuity in this district. You need somebody that's going to come here and and and be here for a number of years to be able to do the work that needs
068to be done. I'm an interrum. And again, I'm not going to go into my own issues and what they are, but I can't make that commitment over time. It's not fair to me. It's not fair um to my family, and it's not fair to use a community. to stay for another year and be in the same situation is not fair all the way around. And sometimes you have to make decisions. And this has really been hard everybody on me. It has really been hard because of course of who I am. I get drawn back in all the time. And it's not easy. It hasn't been easy for me. It's probably been one of the most difficult things that I have to done because this community, this board, the students have embraced me. And if this
069was 5 years ago, it may be a different conversation. It's not. I wish I can tell you that it was different, but I can't. I have to be truthful to myself, my family, and ultimately my health. And I'm being honest, and this is very difficult to be put into a position like this. It's very difficult. I've been under a lot of stress the last couple of weeks because of this and I struggled to make a decision because I took this job wanting to make a difference. People thought I was crazy. Why would you want to come to East Rambo? What would you want to But can I finish, please? But can I finish? Can I finish? Can I finish? And I came here and I didn't even think about it because I felt and I
070said this the first time I met people back there. I used two words in Spanish. I said and I live by that this entire year. But this is very difficult, very difficult for me and to have to do what I'm doing because this is who I am. And I'm sorry I'm getting emotional, but I need everybody to understand that I want what's best for this district. That decision needs to be made and whatever that may be, that has to be a decision. But it needs to be a decision that's what's best for kids. This constant bickering back and forth is not healthy. It's not healthy. And so I answered the question. It's not been easy. It's been a struggle. And I I I just need everybody to please understand that. And I'm sorry I'm getting
071emotional. But this has been a very difficult time for me because in some ways I feel I've let you down. And I don't want it. I don't want you to think that. I don't I don't want you to think I let you down by not coming back. There's just circumstances in my life and things that I have to make those decisions on and to have to do what I just did is not easy. But that I have to be honest and tell the truth because I think everybody will better understand that. And so thank you and that's the truth. I was asked I gave it and I hope everybody can please respect that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Anthony. I just want to remind everyone that when we started the process for searching a
072new superintendent, we were told that we have to find a new superintendent because we don't know if the state will give a w a waiver um on the existing superintendent that we have to start the process. When we were deep into the process, we were told that actually when we were almost at the finish line selecting one of the uh finalists, we were told that we don't have to worry about the there were only two people in the room that knew that we don't have to worry about the waiver and that person also had to get that waiver. How come we were only told that at the end of the game? And what's the reason we were pushed to start the process when I guess somebody knew that we're going to get the waiver? That
073was what I was wondering. To follow up on your follow up on your point, Mr. K, we the only reason we started this superintendent search process is not because we did not have faith in Mr. Dala. We had utmost faith in Mr. Cara and we continue to do that's why we wanted to continue with him. The only reason is because we were told that we we can't be assured of the of the 2011 waiver and that oh you know we need to be prepared even though it seems like when we were up to hiring the candidate at that point the state monitors weren't concerned of the waiver um we were at that point um we were forced into the superintendent search firm we hired even even so we followed the process as guided by the
074state you know we interviewed Ed, we were just presented with just two candidates. Said, "These are the two candidates. We interviewed both of them. We chose one. He seemed like he would be a great candidate for the district. I'm not arguing about that. For circumstances that beyond our control, he it he removed his candidacy." Um, yeah. And again, so bringing back to the the fact that the waiverss, we received information that it was extended the waiver in the district in the budget. So we did not have any issues with waiverss. We were prepared to to continue on and that morning we had I had a discussion. we he was you know okay I I really don't feel comfortable considering going into the details but when I spoke to him there was strong willingness to continue
075on and to provide the continu the continuation and then after the meeting with the monitors suddenly everything changed so yeah and the only thing I'll add to what you said is that in the past too with this superintendent search um we we as board was always presented with more than just two candidates, at least five at the most, so we can go through that process. Not just here in East Rampa, but for Boseies, it was the same thing. We're provided more than than just two. And if we ever felt like, you know, we didn't have enough candidates to um continue the process. We would try to figure out a way to see if we would go back out and look for, you know, see if we get more um applicants in or um, you know,
076try to figure out which way to go. And I I feel like this time around we were kind of pressured into the two and not given the option to even consider or look into um any other options to where now we're left with nothing. Okay. I'd like to make a motion to enter executive session. Doug, what are we saying? What are we talking about? We need to discuss the um possible termination of a of a or hiring hiring termination discipline of a particular employee. Okay, we have a motion second by Mr. C. All those in favor say I. I. And on oppose abstain. Motion carries. We will we will come back after exec. We do anticipate a motion after exec and hopefully we'll get back once we have the results of the vote. Um, that's
077when we'll come back. Um, probably Douglas, do we remember what time usually? Just be realistic here for some of the problems. Kathy's not here, so it'll be a little slower, I'm assume. Probably not before 11, I would say, but hopefully earlier. Anyway, um, see you when we get back. Thank you. Who made the second? Mr. You made the motion to go to exec. I made the motion. Uh Simov second. Thanks. Hallelujah. something else that only Effie can have. Okay, are we ready? Oh, let me get my glasses. Another round of public speaking. Okay, we would like to bring this meeting back to order. I will now We do have the results of the budget and trustee vote. Yeah. I will now give it over to our dear vice president McIll who's going to read the
078tallies for us. Thank you. Yes. Um first I just want to thank everyone for their patience and I want to thank uh Miss Karina as well as the staff who did a fabulous job. All right. So here are the results for this evening. There were a total of 1,882 votes cast. Official results are pending canvasing of affidavit ballots and audit by the district clerk. So the unofficial results are the budget passes with 1,246 yes votes and 622 no votes. Hyram Rivera is is elected as the uh ward one trustee with 221 votes with 14 writing votes. Sabrina Charles Pierre is elected as the W 2 trustee with 248 votes to three writing votes. And Mr. Gruber is elected as the award six trustee with 30 votes to zero right in votes. And last but not
079least, Ephraim Wisemando is elected as the Ward 9 trustee with 260 votes to 31 right in votes. That concludes our budget vote for May 20th, 2025. Wow, that is great news. Thank you so much uh Vice President McIll for the great news and thank you for all the staff who's so dedicated to accounting and sound. Thank you for Mr. D. Carlo and for Mr. Stark for you know properly presenting the budget and doing the hard work and doing the proper process the right way. And we're really excited about this about being able to provide the children the services that they need all children in the district and we're very excited. So, thank you all. And I'm going to end with that. I'm going to make a motion to adjourn this meeting. I gave you a
080shout out. Happy birthday before. I don't know if you heard it, but I'm going to give it again to you. Happy birthday, Vice President. You deserve the cake. Enjoy it. Save a piece for me. But anyway, thank you all. I'll now make a motion to adjourn this meeting. Do I have a second? Second. And all those in favor say I. I. Anyone in oppos. Thank you all and have a good night and congratulations to all the trustees on their re-election. Welcome Mr. Rivera. Thank you.