001Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the May 8th of May 11th, sorry, uh 2026 Board of Education meeting. Can I have a motion to open the meeting? From Annie and a second from John. All in favor? That's everyone. Um Mr. Palacios, Mr. Galvan, and Ms. Donovan will be joining us shortly. Um in light of our anticipated executive session, um it is recommended behind by the Superintendent of Schools that the Board of Education enter into executive session to discuss specific legal collective bargaining personnel and other matters in accordance with open meetings law. Can I have a motion to enter into executive sec? Jenna uh Jenna, second from John. All in favor? That's everyone. We'll see you at 7:30. All right, welcome back. Can I please have a motion to exit the executive session and reenter the
002public? Tom one, Jenna two. All in favor? That's everyone. Let's all please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. In case of an emergency, please direct yourselves to the illuminated exit signs in the back and in the side. Uh this is a smoke-free building. Smoking or vaping is not permitted here. All right, we're going to be going into a public hearing. Uh it is upon recommendation from the Superintendent of Schools that the Board of Education exit the public session and enter the public hearing. Can I please have a motion to uh Can I please have a motion to do that? Teresa one, John two. All in
003favor? That is everyone. We are now in public hearing. Um it is open for questions and comments while we're in public hearing. I ate a mint right before this started. I never get to go first. So, tonight we will be presenting um the budget and our public hearing. The first item you notice here is the 2026-27 school district budget notice. This will go out to every home within our community. If you have not yet received it in the mail, which I don't think you have, it should be coming this week. You will notice a couple of things that should draw your attention, which is the total budget amount for the 2026-27 school year, which is $161,013,904. In that is included a proposed tax levy of $123,748,530. And then this budget, as shown in the past
004and as will be shown tonight, really is broken into three components. You have the administrative component, the program component, and the capital component. The school district budget notice is required for every school district in New York State to send out to their community to help inform them of what is going to be on the ballot and what their budget vote supports. So, this is the administrative component. This includes expenses for office, administrative cost, legal fees, property insurance, and school board expenses. What you will see here is the prior year. Prior year actually means the current year of 2025-26. And then the current would be what we are proposing for 2026-27. So, you will see the comparison of where we were versus how much we actually need or anticipate in the upcoming school year. The next
005part is the program component, which makes up the largest part of any school district's budget. This includes teachers and supervisor and benefits, instructional costs such as supplies, equipment, and textbooks, co-curricular activities, interscholastic athletics, and transportation costs. Um this is done in a nice pie chart type of format because the numbers are so large. If I attempted to do the graphic like the other one, it would be off the page. So, it gives you a nice breakout of where those different um overall categories fall and the actual dollar amounts that are contributed in that area. And then we have the last part of the three-part budget, which is the capital component. This includes facility cost, including salaries and benefits of the custodial staff, any debt service uh including uh TANs in here as well as leasing
006costs, maintenance supplies, and equipments, and utilities. So, you will see the 25-26 and what was approved by the community, and then the current, which is 26-27, what is being proposed to be approved by the community. This gives a nice breakout of the recommended revenue. So, this makes up the entire revenue side of the budget. We have what we deem as miscellaneous revenue, and you have the different percentages around the chart, and that's the percentage of the makeup of the revenue side. And then we have what is the largest components of revenue, which are property taxes and state aid. You see that in the right uh upper area. That is a bite That is a bar chart. And you will see where we were where we this current year we are about 120 million, and we
007are proposing 123.7 million in property taxes. And then you will actually see a slight reduction in state aid, which we spoke about during the budget development process. Um that we look wealthier to the state, so the state share has actually reduced um, and we are using fund balance and reserves to help offset those reductions. This again shows the uh, 26-27 budget in comparison to 25-26. Um, it shows the other revenue, which is everything you just saw on the last slide, as well as the tax levy. Um, something to note here is the assessed valuation is kept stagnant to what it was approved for for the 25-26 school year. That number will not be adjusted until we get finalized numbers from the uh, assessor's office, in which that will be updated and then the board approves
008the actual finalized tax rate in the fall. So, none of those numbers are currently provided. Uh, so we do not make adjustments here because I don't have a magic uh, ball to know those things, but as soon as we know, we share that with the board and then the board approves for the community. So, all of the all of that brings us here. So, of the amount that we are levying, what does that actually mean to the actual community or taxpayer? What you will see here is the assessed value. That information comes directly from the uh, town of Huntington assessor's office. You also see the statement at the bottom that it that is based on the fall of 2025. And then you will see the annual estimated increase of that amount, and then you will
009see what that means on a monthly cost basis. So, you always have properties that could be below the overall assessed value and then there will be properties that are over it. So, we just kind of pick a couple to highlight here to kind of show people what the possibility of that change will be. But, as stated, this will be finalized in the fall of 2026. And then we get to the part that is in the event that the community was not in support of the budget and it was voted down and the district decide to go forward with a contingent budget, what does that actually mean? So, um the thing that you are going to want to look at is the right column that says contingency budget. Um that would mean a reduction in the
010amount of overall revenue that the district would be taking in and that proposed different under contingent budget is 3.9 million. That is a reduction of 3.9 million out of the proposed budget. >> [snorts] >> Um that would impact class sizes, staffing, transportation, non-mandated programs, athletic, fine arts, extracurricular, and many more areas. I do like to show that under contingent budget also, there are things that have to be removed automatically from the budget. That would be proposed equipment purchases, anything in the area of transfer to capital, we would be removing professional development and conferences as much as we could, contracted services, um administrative component pieces have to be reduced. Uh we would also be looking at the fees that we charge for outside facility usage um because there could not be discounts in cost. That's a
011state requirement. That's not something that the district is just choosing to do. And then we would also be looking at how we are utilizing our reserves and appropriated fund balance because clearly this would not just have a one-year impact. Uh it would have multiple years, so we would need to review that to see what was the most financially sound decision. So, there's a huge impact under going contingent. The next area is the transfer to capital. So, we have included in our budgetary appropriation $250,000. The focus for the 26-27 school year will be Finley Middle School um lighting and safety uh with some possible sound upgrades in their auditorium as well as the Flower Hill, Washington gym sound systems. And just for reference, in case you have not heard me say it before, Jefferson's is actually
012underway right now cuz it needed to be, but we would like to do the other primary buildings. And then, these are some future considerations as well as, I'm sure, a lot of other things that have been mentioned in one-off conversations uh that could occur in the future as we plan for future budgets, even though I know that sounds crazy, but I'll be talking to you in like 6 months about a new budget, so. And then, I'm going to turn it over to Superintendent McCoy. Good evening. Uh I'd like to just share a few highlights uh for the 26-27 school year that are included in our budget. Uh continuing our elementary summer school program and freshman seminar, which is open to all students uh going into ninth grade to really acclimate them to the new environment
013that they'll be experiencing next year. Uh continue replacement of Chromebooks and desktops to ensure that students and staff have the tools to teach and learn with optimal resources. The video broadcasting program, which continues to expand, uh and then apply the real-world experience from that class with our new auditorium project, as well as the expansion of computer science and cybersecurity. Uh we also have 70 interscholastic athletic teams for Finley and the high school, including unified athletic programs year-round, and we've also included unified PE and art classes starting next year. Continued participation with First Lego League, National History Day, Suffolk County Mock Trial, e-sports, drama, and musical productions in grades 4 through 12, which really are superb, top-of-the-line, and our dual language program in the six elementary schools. And we will be maintaining class sizes conducive to
014optimal learning environments with the proposed budget. We also have full service counseling center and college and career support for students, extensive support for all students as well as those with varied learning needs, including special education services, mental health services, and English language learner services. Robust CTE offer CTE offerings and participation, and 32 advanced placement courses, which is super impressive to be able to offer that many opportunities for AP courses for our students along with dual enrollment in many of them. So, just to review the capital project proposals, this will be on proposition two of the ballot and has no implications on taxpayers as we are requesting authorization to utilize funds that are already in our capital reserve for this purpose. And after careful review of the five-year capital plan and the walk through that we
015completed in both the beginning and the middle of the year, we're pleased to present all of the items on this list. I won't go through all of them. A lot of them are safety upgrades, fire-rated doors that all come back to our building condition survey. We are pleased to finally present that the building condition survey from 2022-23 will be complete if this does get approved. Fire alarm additions at Finley, um interior window replacement, exterior walls, again, crack repairs, and then we're excited to be proposing the amphitheater at Woodhull to have a similar experience for our students that they have at Jack Abrams here. That will be actually embedded in the hill, um, and it will also provide us with updated ADA compliance at that building. Um, and we are looking forward to having two large
016spaces that are currently non-functional, uh, that will be that were bathrooms that will now once again be utilized for students on the second floor at Huntington High School and also some electrical subpanel upgrades at Huntington High School. >> [snorts] >> So, the ballot proposition one for the 2026-2027 budget in the amount of $161,013,904 and the capital reserve appropriations, which is proposition two, in the amount of $2,115,154, which again will not have an impact on the tax levy or the tax rate. So, lastly, our budget vote will take place on Tuesday, May 19th, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Huntington High School gymnasium. I encourage everyone to, uh, take a look at our art show while you're up there and also our fashion show, which is at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., which is
017truly a highlight in Huntington. Thank you. And [snorts] before I leave the podium, I do want to thank Dr. Harris and her staff, as well as our administrative team. We start this process in October, it really picks up in November and December, and then January through today is just all hands on deck conversations constantly about the budget, about ensuring that we're preserving programs and providing the optimal experiences for our students, and it really does take all of the, uh, staff that we have in our administrative team in this district. So, thank you very much. Thank you for that presentation and for the care that you taken into putting together this budget. Any questions or comments? Okay, can I please have a motion to exit the public hearing and re-enter into public session? Teresa one, Annie
018two. All in favor? That's everyone. Moving on to the approvals. Board of Education minutes of April 21st, 2026. It is upon recommendation from the Superintendent of Schools that the Board of Education approve minutes from the meeting of the Huntington Union Free School Board of Education dated April 21st, 2026. Have a motion, please. Tom one, Jenna two. All in favor? That's everyone. We have 1 2 3 4 FYIs. Any questions or comments? Okay. And moving on to the Treasurer's report of March 2026. It is my recommendation from the Superintendent of Schools that the Board of Education approve the March 2026 Treasurer's report. Can I have a motion, please? John one, Annie two. All in favor? That is everyone. And warrants 754 22 2026 and 56 2026. It is upon recommendation from the Superintendent of Schools that
019the Board of Education approve the March 2026 Treasurer's report. Can I have a motion, please? Tom one, Jenna two. All in favor? That is everyone. And moving on to board member communications. Uh I know that um our superintendent just reminded us, but I'll do it again. A reminder that we have approved a change in the budget voting schedule. The budget vote and election will be held on May 19th from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the high school. Uh voting is no longer going to be open from 6:00 a.m. to uh 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Um I attended the Distinguished Seniors dinner. It was a great start to the senior celebration. Um usually a sad start because now you you know that you're going to be saying goodbye to a very talented group of
020students. Uh the hard work and dedication of the 117 seniors and their families shined as they were acknowledged in our beautifully decorated gym uh as and they celebrated some of our favorite teachers from K through 12. Madeleine Falk has been selected as the ex-officio board member for the 2026-2027 school year and Nayeli Linares will be the alternate. Nayeli was just recently accepted into the Columbia University summer program that she will be attending this coming summer. So it's great accomplishment. Just one wonderful that we're going to be having a more talented ex-officio board members and Emily we're going to miss you. Not yet, but it is a open mic to you Emily. Good evening board and community members. I hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to the end of the school year. In the
021past few weeks students have been able to participate in beneficial activities provided by the high school. A couple of weeks ago the high school hosted a medical fair where students were able to ask questions and explore different careers in the medical field. The medical fair provided students with a great chance to interact with career professionals in medicine. The careers ranged from EMT to dental hygienist to physical therapist and more. The people at the stands gave helpful advice and words of encouragement to students interested in pursuing one of the career fields. Events like these will help students gain more knowledge on what to pursue and on future opportunities. Moreover, as we approach the last few days of school, the high school has been thoughtfully celebrating the seniors as we begin to look forward to our next
022steps after graduation. On April 30th, the district congratulated seniors who demonstrated academic discipline by maintaining a 90 and above average throughout their four years of high school. Selected seniors were able to nominate and present a distinguished teacher award to their past teachers who truly made an impact in their and many students' lives. It was a wonderful evening to celebrate with peers, parents, faculty members, teachers, and board members. The next day was Decision Day celebrated on May 1st. It brought together the senior class who were ready to reveal their college choices and celebrate their achievements as they prepare for their future plans. A group picture of the seniors was also taken. The grade was filled with pride and happiness as they took part in this unifying event. I would like to take a moment to recognize
023Ms. Walsh who is the college and career counselor and her secretary Ms. Catalano for their ongoing support in guiding students through the college application process. Their assistance has been invaluable in helping students navigate what can often be a complex and stressful experience and their dedication has made a meaningful difference to myself and many students who have gone through this process. Washington Primary School's PTA sponsored two interactive astronomy assemblies in their school presented by the Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium. Kindergarten, first grade students learned about the weather. Second and third grade students learned about the moon phases and gravity. The students engaged in hands-on demonstrations. At Jefferson Primary School they conducted Star Lab for all students. Their students in UPK through grade three recently had an incredible opportunity to participate in a two-day Star Lab experience that
024brought science, storytelling, and culture to life in a truly engaging way. Before entering the Star Lab dome, students participated in classroom lessons about stars and constellations and then stepped inside the immersive dome to hear Native American stories connected to the stars in the sky. Students learned about the stories of the lizard, butterfly, dog, coyote, rabbit, and more through the voices of special guest storytellers including their school principal, security guard, neighborhood aid, and dedicated teachers who volunteered to make the experience meaningful and memorable for all. Following the StarLab experience, students participated in follow-up activities that connected their learning to the real-world Artemis 2 space exploration mission, helping students make meaningful connections between storytelling, science, and modern space discovery. They would like to give a very special thank you to Miss Stuher, Miss um Fire, Miss Russell,
025and science coordinator Miss Ragazine for planning such a creative and engaging learning experience for our students. They also extend their appreciation to Mr. Cusack for his continued support of innovative learning opportunities for our school community. They also hosted a walkathon led by the third-grade Jefferson Jaguar leadership team under the direction of Dr. Oz and Miss Stuher. Miss Stuher also raised funds for St. Hugh's Hospital on Friday, May 8th from 1:50 p.m. to 2:20 p.m. They are looking forward to field day led by their wonderful P.E. teachers, Miss Fisher and Miss Shafer, who will which will take place June 5th at 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. In Woodhull on Friday, May 8th, Woodhull sixth-grade students put their service actions plans into practice through meaningful community service projects across the town
026of Huntington. Students participated in a variety of service activities at several local organizations and community locations, including Helping Hands, Helping Hands, Sunrise Assisted Living, Tri CY, North Shore Holiday House, the Huntington Library, and the Centerport Senior Beach House. This field trip provided students with an opportunity to apply the leadership, collaboration, and surface service learning skills developed through the Learners to Lead program while making a positive impact within the community. On Friday, May 29th, Woodhull will host its annual career day welcoming professionals both from both within and beyond the Huntington community to share their careers and experiences with students throughout the day. Students were given the opportunity to select the career pathways they were most interested in exploring, helping to create a meaningful and engaging experience. More than 50 presenters will speak with students about their
027professions, passions, and educational journeys. Career Day continues to be a highly anticipated event at Woodhull, inspiring students to explore future opportunities and make real-world connections to their learning. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Fellow board members, comments? All right. Mike yours. Okay, my apologies in advance, but I have a lot to talk about tonight, so sit back and relax. Um This is a busy time of year, so we have a lot of great things to report, and then some things that are just more for your information. But, I do want to acknowledge SEPTA's annual fundraiser, which took place last Thursday, where our community helped to raise money to support our incredible students in our district. It was really a great night, a lot of fun. Um in the area of advanced placement, I'm pleased
028to report that this year we will administer a total, or we have we are administering a total of 1,132 AP exams, which is a 16% increase from last year. Additionally, we have 451 students taking those exams this year in 33 different courses. How awesome is that? Uh just so excited about the way that we're progressing in the area of AP, and we really are on the way to the goal of having every student take at least one AP exam. In the area of fine and performing arts, Band Fest was held on April 25th. We had over 200 band students in grades 4 through 12 who attended this full day of fun and learning, and kudos to our staff and students for another amazing Band Fest. String Fiesta took place this past Saturday with over 120
029students, on and that theme was sweet string theme. Sweet string things theme. All had a great time making music together and I want to thank the music department for organizing such a wonderful event. It really is a very unique event to Huntington. On April 29th, the Huntington Blue Devil Marching Band held its open house at the high school. Students in grades 7 through 12 were invited to learn about our HBDMB and begin working on music for next year's show during sectional rehearsals. While students rehearsed, parents met to learn about the Band Parents Association of Huntington and how they can become involved in this very active parent organization. We're always looking for more support there. >> [snorts] >> Great news from the art department regarding the Huntington Camera Club competition. This year there were a total
030of 545 entries from 225 students from 12 different area high schools. This year's competition featured categories including hands, school activities, different perspective, and open category. Huntington High School had an especially strong showing earning eight of the 24 total awards. That is phenomenal. So, congratulations to the individual students from Huntington, Katie Cocomon, Yulbin Perez Garcia, Sophia Vias, Steven Benitez Arevalo, Andy Dejoya, and Alexandra Bachman. Then in the area of NISM at the NISM festival, we had 253 students participate in grades 3 through through 12. All 41 of our All-State students earned gold, which is an A rating. Students who performed between levels 1 through 4, 106 of them earned an outstanding and 56 earned an excellent rating. Students who performed at level 5 or 6, which is extremely difficult for I have a child who plays
031the clarinet, I know how that sounds. 54 students earned an A. 12 of those students were from Finley and one was from Jack Abrams, which indicates the high level of our music programs. I really would just like to give a round of applause for all of those acknowledgements for all of our students. >> [applause] >> Our chamber orchestra performed at Nisma Majors and earned silver rating, which is also a wonderful accomplishment. In the area of Huntington Huntington Tony nominations, uh the Huntington Award judges watched every high school drama club production in the town over the past year, forming the basis for the nominations in each category. This year's awards recipients will be announced during a ceremony at Harborfields High School on June 8th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. It always seems to conflict with our
032board meeting. Uh maybe we should think about that in the future. Uh the nominations, uh best lead actor in a play, Michael DiVincenzo. Best lead actress in a play, Lily Wasaski. Best supporting actress in a play, Deveron Flynn. Best technical production for a play, lighting was for Lost Girl. Uh >> [snorts] >> in the musical, best supporting actor in a musical, Walter Lopez for Titanic. Best featured actor in a musical, Sergio Portillo. Best featured actress in a musical, Ella Triolo. Best costumes in a musical, we got that for the Titanic. Best technical production for a musical, was for Titanic as well. And best technical production for a musical, I'm sorry, in sound and lighting. And best stage crew. So, again, just amazing amazing nominations and we're looking forward to the results on June 8th. We
033also had the Hershey Park Music in the Parks trip a few weekends ago where our chamber orchestra placed first and was rated superior and chamber choir placed third and was rated excellent. So, congratulations again to our students and staff. Some upcoming events during the month of May, spring concert season begins this Thursday, May 14th, with our Finley 7th and 8th grade concert at the high school. Uh May 19th, which is next, I'm sorry, I think it's May 18th, which is Monday, we have the Huntington High School Film Festival at the Cinema Arts Center at 7:00 p.m. And that really is a great way for us to see the work that our kids are doing in the classroom year round, and this is their reveal of the the short films that they've created. It's a great
034event as well. And then we have our Huntington High School spring concert next Wednesday. Uh the National Junior Honor Society induction will be taking place on May 26th at Finley Middle School at 7:00 p.m. Congratulations to all of those who will be inducted. And I wanted to also share that 49 of our students have earned the New York State Seal of Biliteracy this year. This is an increase from the 26 students who earned the seal last year. I would like to commend our world language department staff, as well as director Ms. Judy Moroff, and of course our wonderful students who put in the hard work to achieve the Seal of Biliteracy. I have more. I'm sorry. Take a breath. In the area of Virtual Enterprise, I'm happy to share the sales results along with the
035student test Well, I'm not going to share the student testimonials. In total, Huntington generated $361,073.28 $28 in revenue during the trade show. This year's included eight This year's trade show included 18 states and nine countries with 600 612 firms and 2,800 students. Um so, our accolades from the event are Clean Clip Marketing Plan was top 36 in the nation. Extinguishers Marketing Plan was top 36 as well. Uh so was Embrace HR Corporate Social Responsibility Plan. And our gold sales pitch was top 10 in the nation. That was Ella Palatnik, who's the CSO from Extinguish. And silver sales pitch, top 20 in the nation, Jevon Henderson, CSO from Clean Clip. So, this is back-to-back years that we've received gold and placed in the top 10 nationally for sales pitch. Congratulations to our students who compete at
036such a high level in the Virtual Enterprise program, and to their advisors, Ms. Mr. Altsin and Ms. Biagi Quigley. In the area of athletics, the Huntington girls golf team posted a record of 9-3 in league play this spring. Sophia Vias and Claire Parks have advanced to play in the Suffolk County girls golf tournament. Congratulations. Most fall and many winter teams at the high school be holding summer intramurals. They're free sessions during which athletes can improve their skills. A list of sports and dates is being finalized and will be posted on the district website for parents to view and to sign up for. Homecoming next year will be Saturday, October 17th. The Huntington football team will play Newfield at 2:00 p.m. The athletic department is scheduling two games on Friday afternoon and Friday night on Alumni
037Field under the lights and another game on Saturday following the football game. So it'll be a really fun weekend for all. >> [snorts] >> Um and in the area of baseball, I just wanted to touch upon the fact that last year we received some feedback that it was very difficult to see from the position where the bleachers were. So this year we did add some a new set of bleachers on the third baseline, which I think have been very well received. Um and we have also received some feedback and it has been quite noticeable that our portable fence is leaving a bit to be desired. Uh so we are aware of the condition of the fence and we are looking for a new solution. So we're getting quotes on that as we speak and we're
038also looking into potential vendors that may be able to help us manicure and care for the field during the season because baseball fields and softball fields are very challenging based on the clay and the composite of the of the dirt to make sure that they're in really optimal condition. So we are looking at potentially an outside vendor that may be able to help us with that a bit. And some other updates, this is a quick one. The governor's executive budget is still extended, so we do not have an official budget as we have adopted our budget. Kind of hard to plan when you're not sure how much money you will be receiving. However, we have a very solid plan in place and we hope that maybe potentially we could get more than we are expecting,
039although that would be very wishful thinking. Uh in the area of dual language, I wanted to share uh that due to overall numbers in the dual language program and the granting of sibling requests and declining enrollment, we are planning to still add a dual language class in uh Jack Abrams Intermediate School next year in grade four. Um but we will have one at Jack Abrams and two at Woodhull for the upcoming school year. This structure will result in class sizes of approximately 24 students across the board. Uh we carefully reviewed all of the available options prior to making the decision, but from a fiscal and equity perspective, operating two sections at Jack Abrams with 12 students in a class did not seem equitable while having two sections at Woodhull with 24 students in a class.
040Uh so the teachers will continue to work collaboratively across both buildings and students from Flower Hill and Washington, as well as Southdown and Jefferson, will have the opportunity to meet new friends and build new relationships within the program. We're very much looking forward to that. Think I have two more. LIPA, something we all love to talk about, uh our electric bills. Um on April 24th, 2026, the district received a letter from the Town of Huntington Assessor's Office advising that the Long Island Power Authority, or LIPA, may prevail in a pending lawsuit with the Town of Huntington. Uh two and that would allow for um to have electricity transmission and distribution properties owned by LIPA to be removed from the Town of Huntington taxable property rolls for the 26-27 school year. According to the Town of
041Huntington's Assessor's Office, should LIPA prevail, the transmission and distribution properties would be removed from the tax rolls and LIPA would instead make payments in lieu of taxes or pilot payments, which you've seen in many budget presentations. Uh that would be in place of the taxes. The letter from the Town of Huntington Assessor's Office states the amount to be collected from the LIPA pilot payments has not been determined at this time. The town has not provided specifics on the impact of the tax burden shift at this time. So, we did receive a letter. We still have a lot of questions that we're asking the town for information about, and we will continue to communicate with the Town of Huntington to obtain this additional information on this matter and the implications of it. As soon as we
042have information that is more specific in nature, we will certainly share it with the community. >> [snorts] >> Um lastly, I know that um Mr. Palacios had mentioned our new ex officio board member uh for the 2026-2027 school year. I just wanted to mention that the process by which our juniors were able to indicate their interest began last month and concluded a week or two ago as our cabinet held interviews with the final tooth candidates. Uh we're thrilled to welcome uh our student board members beginning July 1. Madeline Falk is our new ex officio student board member. She will also be vice president of the class of 2027, and she has been since her freshman year. She's also the recording secretary for general organization. [snorts] She does this all while playing on the varsity girls
043volleyball team for the past 4 years and participates in activities like Stuff the Bus, where they collect food donations for those in need. She impressed, as did the other candidate, throughout the selection process comprised of an application, letters of recommendation, student essay indicating interest, committee interviews, peer review of candidate applications, and then final interviews with central office. So, it is a rather rigorous process because it really is such an important position, and we really value having it. And Emily, you've done a phenomenal job this year. Um we we very much look forward to Maddie Oh, I'm sorry. We definitely clap for Emily. Uh we look forward to Maddie joining us at her first meeting on July 7th, and we also have an ex officio as Mr. Palacios mentioned, whose name is Nayeli Linares, who is
044also a very involved student. She's the vice president of Mock Trial Club, treasurer of Grand Friends, and is in the Spanish Honor Society. We're very much looking forward to working with both of them throughout the school year. Uh and last but not least, I did just want to mention that our budget brochure, although it was done for quite some time, uh there was an adjustment made uh when the nominations were due uh for candidates that were running for the board, and therefore we had to delay 15 days and leave the nomination period open. Uh so we were not able to send our budget brochure to print until 15 days after we've done that in the past. So that has delayed our budget brochure for about 2 weeks. Um so it may get to mailboxes uh
045the day before the vote. It may get to mailboxes the day of the vote. It may get to mailboxes the day after the vote. Um however, we want you to know that it is available online currently. Um the moment that we were able to after May 7th at 5:00 p.m., uh it is in the notification section, so it is viewable for all. Um we did get an update today that it may come a little bit earlier, but no promises were made. Um and there was This was really something that was out of our control, but it is available online for those that would like to review it at this time. Thank you, Beth. You know, I'm listening to you tell us about the Huntingtonians and how we were nominated for the production one. I can't
046imagine what's going to happen when the auditorium's done. It's going to be pretty amazing. I think it might be cheating on our part a little bit. Um I did want to mention that uh the girls lacrosse team did beat the undefeated Ward Melville, number one in the county, today. I think the girls will probably enter the county tournament as the number one seed. They They looked phenomenal today. It was fun to watch, and I was a little bit late because of that. Um but now we move on to public commentary. Uh public commentary is open to residents and employees of the Huntington School District. Uh, speakers are limited to three non-transferable minutes per person. There will be a maximum of 30 minutes total for all comments. We will open it up again for a second
047public commentary towards the end of this meeting. Priority will be given to comments related to today's regular business meeting titled items for discussion and action. There are two items in there today. Public commentary is a time dedicated to sharing your thoughts with the board and your input is valued. It is meant for expression rather than dialogue, so please understand that direct discussions with board members or administration will not be part of public commentary. When you approach the podium, please identify your affiliation to the district whether you're a resident or you're an employee of the district. Use the form at the podium to sign in. Please refrain from naming any students or employee of the district. You have 3 minutes starting now. All right, we do have a second public commentary later on in the after-
048in the evening. If no public commentary, we'll move on to items for discussion and action. Okay, so tonight, uh, it's with great pleasure that I introduce Dr. Rob Wallowa, director of fine and performing arts K through 12, who will be presenting on the individual art assessment pathway. This is something that we've been discussing for a couple of years now and we are finally bringing it to light with a team that that Dr. Wallowa worked with this year. Um, and this will give additional opportunities to our students, which is what we're all about. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Um, very excited to share this work and I'm really delighted. So, we started in the beginning of the school year, Mr. Kusack and I sat down and said, "Let's go on this journey together." And
049I'm so blessed and and so lucky to have support from, you know, Ms. McCoy and the Board of Education to lead the departments in this work. It's it's very exciting work. So, our goal today is to kind of unpack what is the IAP, what it might look like for our students and the impact on our students and then what it might look like as we roll it out for our students here at Huntington. So, let's get started. So, first and foremost, I'd like to thank our committee because all of this great work can't just happen by one single person. The most The most important person in the room is the room and we had our art teacher at the high school, Ms. Jenna Mergott, uh orchestra director at the high school, Mr. James DeMeglio, we
050had guidance counselor, Mrs. Ruth Escobar, we had director, Dr. Ricky Papandria, and the high school principal, Ms. Rochelle Brown, to help in leading this work uh so we can have insight from all of the members of our team. And it teamwork makes the dream work, so we were all working together to make this amazing opportunity happen. So, what is the IAP? It is the individualized art assessment pathway. It is something that probably started being thought about in 2017 when the new art and music standards were redefined and then in 2020 when COVID happened, a lot of things paused. So, around 2022 when you saw the seal of biliteracy come out, the arts assessment pathway was there uh and it was piloted in several districts across the island and now it's been rolled out and now
051we're trying to forge the work forward. It's an opportunity for students to to take advantage of the 4+1 pathway where students can opt to have another path towards graduation, whether that's through um uh um replacement of their language credit, their seal of biliteracy, or the arts, you know, humanities stem. There's a whole other area that they can uh earn this pathway towards and it's a great way for students to to explore the arts holistically. Um it is also an initiative that ties directly into the portrait of graduate or the portrait of a learner. As the students are moving towards the IAP at the elementary level, we will continue to build skills for our students and what we had talked about as a committee is the work that we're doing with this project could actually forge
052the way for future work in all other areas and we were very excited about this this opportunity. Here is some basic premise importance of what it will do for students in the Huntington School District. Of course, it prepares our students for professional and educational experiences and perseverance through challenges and problem-solving. You will see that it also helps students become more self-aware and support themselves and advocate for themselves. It will enhance collaboration amongst all parties in that the the students will be communicating with their parents, with their teachers, with their guidance counselors, and their administrators what their goals and plans are and how much what's what's better than having a team working together to support students. And of course, it supports it boosts students engagement and supports equity across all areas in that we are going
053to offer this opportunity through all areas in the arts as well as all areas in the music department. Um what it might look like is we we've been working on these guidelines document. It's about a 10-page document. It outlines for the community what is the IAAP, what how do our children look to achieve that, and how might they actually move through the processes and what steps might they follow. Um it is in draft form right now. The hope is that this would land kind of on the district website, maybe on the arts depart page as well as the guidance page. Again, all in draft form, I'm not quite sure where it'll land. But it is a way for parents and children can have the opportunity to discover what this is, learn about this, and understand
054what processes they may follow. And like I said, this is what we believe to be the foundation for our future pathway work that we might be doing at the high school. What might the timeline look like? So, our hope and our goal is to begin this process 26-27. That would be our first year of pilot and it's a 3-year process. So, the students need to earn a 3-year sequence in coursework. And we've worked this year, which I'll show you in a second, the how we've aligned the courses so they make sense for students. Uh and then the following year they would be in year two where they're building their portfolios, they're building their artifacts, and they're building the coursework. Moving into year three, and we've been talking about incorporating an what's called a culminating project.
055So the students can take all the three years of work and present that as a culminating experience. And then after that in 2028-2029, we could potentially have our first graduate of an IAA piece student. Uh we've been talking about and playing with different ideas of of naming things, you know, having something like, you know, an advanced seal uh in the in ceramics at the um at the Huntington Fine Arts, you know, institute or something like that. You know, so we've been talking about really cool ways to brand this for our students. And in doing so, we've been talking about designing the different seals, the stickers that would be aligned for the students. For instance, if you are a drawing and painting student, you'd have maybe a paintbrush. Whereas if you're an orchestra student, you might
056have something that's an as a semblance of a string instrument. So a lot of cool things that we've been talking about. Um and we talked about a point system similar to what is done in in the other areas. We want to be consistent in what we do here in Huntington. Uh so we would have something where a student could earn a bronze level, a silver level, a gold level, and then a platinum level. And there's points associated with that, and they can earn the points throughout whether it's through their coursework, whether it's through club work, whether it's through um presentations and performances. Cuz our students, as you just heard Ms. McCoy outline a whole bunch of great things that our kids do in our area. Why not give them credit for some of those things?
057So what we had done is we designed this form that you see here that I created in Excel. It actually calculates the points across the four years that you could be in this program, and it and uh will guide the students to show where they fall each year and what they might need to do to move to that next level if they choose to. And as I said, we're looking to incorporate all of the things. When the state first started this, they were like, "Well, it can include everything. So we can include clubs, it can include this, it can include that. And it was like, well, if you have a dance program, you have an arts program, you have a music program, and it was like all over the map. And we were in 2022,
058we're like, how is this going to work? So, the fear was the a lot of the teachers and leaders created these pathways for kids. We want to maintain that that pathway so it scaffolds the learning. Cuz you want to a drawing and painting student to stay in drawing and painting to move to AP drawing and painting so this way it makes a clear path. And that's what this document is all about. Um this work was done last year with Mr. Kusak and Mrs. McCoy, and we kind of honed it in this year to align to this pathway mindset. Uh so, you can see we have a broadcasting pathway, we have a ceramics and sculpture pathway, so on and so forth. This way we can ensure that our students are in a in a certain area
059and stay focused on that area. So, when they have a culminating project, it's not all over the map. It's focused, it's clear, and it's to the point for our children. Similarly into music, we are working to align this particular um yeah, scope and sequence to look more like the arts. We're working on that. So, it looks a little more artistic. But again, it would be a clear pathway for the band students, for the orchestra students, and even for our music theory students. We're talking about how that might align. So, this way they can have a an experience in uh band, advanced band, and then let's say AP music theory, and then have a presentation on that because it does all tie together. Um so, the hope is to start to begin this amazing journey in
060the course of next year. And again, I want to thank you for this amazing opportunity to provide these chances for our children. And I was hoping to do this in about 10 minutes. I think I did it. So. Great presentation. Thank you. >> Questions? Comments? I was just going to say thank you, Dr. Waters. I think this is so cool. Um and you know, if you're paying attention, whether you're here in the auditorium or if you're at home watching, uh between the budget presentation and between this presentation, the writing on the wall is that we have just so many opportunities for students, and there's something for everyone built into the budget here in Huntington. And to offer something like this to our graduating seniors in a couple of years down the line, I think is
061an amazing opportunity. So, thank you. Thank you. I just want to thank you, Dr. Watters. The uh uh one of the things that I really love about these alternative pathways is where you have these students that are, you know, uh may not be excelling in all of the four traditional academic areas, and here you have uh these other opportunities for them. And uh I think Huntington, I'm I'm sure there might be one or two out there, uh but this is the first one that I've heard, you know, on the island, uh certainly one of the one of the first. And to utilize what we have here within our fine arts community, both, you know, uh the visual and the the tactile, the music. Uh what a great use of the resources that we have here,
062and just highlights again, you know, uh the eclectic nature that we have here for our schools, and um and the leadership. So, I really want to thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it was definitely a balance, because this initially was to capture the graduation rate for a lot of students. And when the state says it's local control, you know, a lot of our great programs say, "Well, we want more." So, that's why we created the point system, so our children could be recognized at that upper level, as well as increased graduation for our students that are in need. Yeah, incredibly thorough. I mean, when you're looking at this, you were saying, "Well, you said before that it's this that or the other, haphazard, you know, different art things, like very specific pathways." Um and the fact
063that we have all of these courses already in place, or, you know, vast majority of them there, uh it speaks a lot. Thanks. Yes, thank you. Okay, anyone else? Thank you. Thank I'm moving on to facilities use fee schedule. It is my recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of you're going to present first, of course. So, we'd like to welcome Dr. Harris back to the mic >> [laughter] >> to provide an update on >> the facility use fee schedule that she's really been working on with a team throughout the year and we presented some information at a prior meeting and this is the follow-up meeting for the board to consider. All right. So, um a couple of things we want to highlight is the tiers, explaining the tiers, explaining some of the
064process and then next steps. Um so, at the last board meeting I talked about there being four tiers. Tier one is the district sponsored activity, so that's really school sponsored programs, athletic teams, PTA organization, and affiliated student activities. Um there is no facility fee there. Um I say here staffing charges may apply. I will explain that as I move further along into a couple of slides. Um but really no fees. They are tier one. Tier two are Huntington community nonprofit organizations. This gives you the general base of what that entails. So, tier two is 501c3 entities with more than 65% Huntington Union Free School District resident participants. Then we have a subsection of those tiers. So, you will see tier 2A, which is community and youth partners. So, there is a direct service connection to
065district students. And tier 2B is community and youth partner summer programs, camps uh primarily, that have a multi-day daytime program utilizing our facilities. And I'll go into who falls under what in the next slide. Tier three are 501 C3 entities with less than 65% um Huntington Union Free School District resident participants, and then tier four is really commercial, for-profit, and non-resident organizations. So, just to show this again cuz I felt kind of bad leaving out this wonderful chart of information. >> [laughter] >> I didn't change anything on these slides, but um really connecting what you saw on the first slide of tier one, tier two, tier three, tier four, you will see the fee structure here. These are for meeting spaces, cafeterias, and multi-purpose rooms, gymnasiums, athletic fields, and then the stadium/turf. The next slide
066goes into the auditorium, which will not be available just this summer, just as a reminder, uh because there is auditorium work occurring, but um we are moving to a package-type structure, um and then the different uh packages are broken out here, what's included in them to help anybody from the outside just kind of see, "Hey, if I need this level of service, I know what tier I'm in, this is what I would be paying." Uh just as a reminder, these are 4-hour blocks. If you're seeing the number, you don't take that number and times it by 4, 5, 6 hours, it's a 4-hour block of time. And then to deep dive a little bit more into tier tier 2A and 2B, um some common conditions, uh these are only considered based on someone filling out
067the application. The application will be on the district website. It will be pushed out to the people who currently have used the facility within the last 2 years. We will do a mail out to them. If the board approves these rates, we would do starting that tomorrow. Um, they are all applications are subject to annual Board of Education approval, so there will be a resubmission each year. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed, um, just so you're aware. I have no problem as anybody else in the district does not have a problem assisting people with questions, but they should be submitting a complete application, so everything is able to be reviewed at one time. And uh, tier designation, if approved, is valid for 1 year only. If you recall, we just had a facility uh, usage
068and fee review and an audit. And one of the things from the auditor's standpoint was was the board approving any changes to the rates? And if they're not, they should be doing it, but it should not be a once one approval and then it's 15 years standing. It should be done annually, so that's what we would do. Tier 2A, the community and youth partners, that is a 50% reduction applied to the room {slash} space {slash} base cost. Uh, so that could be the turf field, all of those areas. Um, organizations are responsible 100% for the additional costs such as security, uh, custodial, lighting. Tier 2B is community and youth partners, the summer programs. Um, there's a little bit of different eligibility here. This is really for people who are using things for consecutive days, so
06910 or more consecutive days, um, found to be utilized standard daytime hours. Usually they're asking for multiple spaces, uh, some as many as 10, 15, um, spaces. They are serving primarily our district students. Um and this rate applies only to the extended consecutive day programming. So, we would be looking at that very closely. Um we have some of these partnerships that already exist. So, this information would be shared with them immediately because most of those summer programs start very early in the summer. Uh one item to note is in the event that a contingent budget does take place. So, if you remember, I said that in the present other presentation. Um in the event that a contingent budget does take place, all organizations, regardless of tier, will be required to pay for any facility use
070that results in additional cost. So, if somebody is working outside their normal hours, and that's overtime, weekend type items, security costs that are outside of a normal day, all of that is in accordance with New York State law. Are there any questions here? I just want to I I know I should try not to say that as much. This is very thoughtful. I know that it took a lot of time for you to get through this. I just have questions with regard to language. Uh next to tier A and tier B, it says organizations that meet board-approved criteria. The language that follows that board-approved criteria and the language that follows it, is that the criteria that you're speaking of or is there a separate criteria that you're referring to? So, what will be a part
071of, outside of the facility use fee structure, there will be an entire sheet, depending on which criteria you believe you fall under, you would complete that or the organization would complete that. There are multiple sections of information included there. So, it's a far more detailed there than it is here. I just couldn't put all of the stuff on the slide. Um but, if you have something specifically, I can try to answer that, but there it it's extensive. It's not cumbersome to complete, but it's just making sure that we have as much information as possible to share with the board on why we believe this organization fits in this area and should be considered for the board to approve at the reduced rate or set rate. And it makes sense that it's not automatic that you
072do have to reapply for it every year. Uh question regarding the uh looking at tiers 2A and 2B, um it says the 50% reduction applies to the room space as you're saying space could be fields or the or turf fields. That's 50% reduction on that was slide three the original one that you had uh created. So it's a 50% reduction on tier two. Correct. Okay, got you. So then that those numbers if they were to qualify for tier 2A would be $50 and that would be a block of it would that also be a block of two hours or four hours or so? >> It would be a block of four, but it's going to be 50%. That's why I didn't put the actual dollar amount because I'd have to recreate uh the chart. Um
073so we did 50% so I'll just use high school building meeting space is currently $60 for a block of four hours. >> Mhm. So if somebody were to qualify under tier 2A, it would be that space at a block of four hours at $30. Not per hour, $30 in total. Got you. And then the Thank you. And tier 2B, it says that the uh rate applies only to extended consecutive day programming. I know we do a lot of summer as it says here summer programs. Um is that when it says maybe I'm missing it here, but and I'm sorry if I am. Uh this rate, is that rate going back to the tier 2A rate of 50%? There is a fee structure in the application for 2B. It is Yeah. And that is a base
074rate of $100 per day. That includes classroom uh use and standard building operations including the AC so there would not be a separate AC charge. Um and then additional spaces would be 25 per space per day. And then I do give examples of what those spaces are. So auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, library, nurse's office, lounges or other non-classroom spaces. Uh I want to thank you Dr. Harris and I really appreciate you taking in all the stakeholders taking in uh their uh suggestions and comments and and holding off until this point. I appreciate that. >> Not a problem. Okay, so the next slide is the implementation timeline. Um this is put before the board tonight for consideration in the event that the board approves this, we will begin community notification tomorrow. Um they will also be notified
075through probably a little bit more discussion on tier classifications. The application will be put on the website. It will also be sent out. Um any other applicable forms would also be uploaded on the website. In the summer, there will be a policy that will be set before the board as well as regulations just really taking this information and pasting it into the policy so everything uh coincides correctly. And then July 1, we would go live with full implementation and new rates beginning. Any additional questions, comments, thoughts? I do want to thank Dr. Harris for the work on this. Uh we did get some feedback from community groups and community members after the last meeting and those uh pieces of information that we received really were taken into consideration. We've had multiple meetings since the the
076last board meeting to discuss this and ensure that we were not putting a group in a position where they would be unable to offer programs based on the change in fee structure, particularly groups that support our students. Um that that's the group that, you know, we That's why we're here is for our students. So, um we did take that feedback and we appreciate the feedback uh because sometimes people will point something out that perhaps we might have missed and we want to make sure that we're taking that into into consideration in the decisions we make. So, thank you and very nice job. >> [snorts] >> And now we can vote on it. Yes, it is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the Board of Education adopt the attached facility use fee schedule and
077tier two A and tier two B applications to be implemented beginning July 1st, 2026. Can I have a motion, please? John one, Teresa two. All in favor? That is everyone. Thank you. Personnel. I'm sorry, curriculum and instruction. Good evening. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the Board of Education approve CSE, CPSE submissions as delineated. Can I have a motion, please? Tom one, Jenna two. All in favor? That's everyone. Now, personnel. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the Board of Education approve personnel items on schedules 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, 19, and 22. Can I have a motion, please? John one, Annie two. All in favor? That's everyone. All right, I have some exciting announcements. First and foremost, the board just approved Ms. Jennifer Mercado
078to take over as Jack Abrams Intermediate School Principal beginning July 1. >> [applause] >> We know you'll do wonderful things and we're excited to get you uh started here. So, congratulations. Next up, uh we have a few probationary teacher appointments. Uh the first one is a proud Huntington alum who has done a really great job this past year of uh doing some leave replacements for us and that's Isabella Algieri serving as a elementary teacher at Woodhull Intermediate School. >> [applause] >> We have Ms. Julie Cook who stepped in this past year as a leave replacement music teacher at Flower Hill and Washington is now just been appointed as a full-time teacher. Congratulations and welcome aboard. >> [applause] >> We have another wonderful Huntington High School alum. This individual served in the capacity as a part-time
079special education teacher this past year and will be appointed full-time special education at Huntington High School and that's Denise Del Gaudio. >> [applause] >> And another Huntington High School alum, actually former student of mine in fifth grade as well, stepped in and did a wonderful job as a special education teacher at Woodhull Intermediate School and the board just approved her to serve as a special ed teacher full-time at Woodhull next year. So, congratulations. >> [applause] >> Oh, McKenzie Madison. I'm sorry. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> You knew. And that's everybody. So. Okay. Business, please. It is upon recommendation from the Superintendent of Schools that the Board of Education approves business items J through R. Have a motion, please. Um. Uh. Teresa. Teresa one, John two. All in favor. That's everyone. I did that to myself.
080I think we have some donations. We sure do. Um, we have uh Our first donation is uh the Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School PTA is uh presenting a donation of $2,495 to cover the cost of the assembly scheduled through the Western Suffolk BOCES Arts and Education programs. So, thank you to the Jack Abrams PTA. >> [applause] >> Our next donation comes from uh Mr. Colin Limbach, who is donating $10,000 to establish establish the Wilfred and Laura Limbach Scholarship. This scholarship will provide financial supports for students to achieve their dreams and make our community a better place. Thank you very much for your generous donation. >> [applause] >> Next donation is Mr. Ted Laughlin and Mr. Tim Laughlin, who are presenting a donation of $250 to credit the Donald A. Laughlin Founders Scholarship Fund within the
081expendable trust account. Thank you for your donation. The Washington Primary School PTA is presenting a donation of $2,615. This donation will be used to offset the cost of upcoming field trips. Thank you to them. And last but not least, the Woodhull uh Intermediate School PTA is presenting a donation of a 6 by 12 high traffic welcome mat with the low school logo of the Woodhull Intermediate School. This uh donation is valued at $990. Thank you so much to the Woodhull [applause] PTA. Very nice. Thank you. We open our public meeting for public commentary one more time. Same rules apply. All right. If not, then we move on to closing remarks by board members. I just wanted to remind everybody to come to K-Factor this Saturday. Um at high school, I believe it starts at 6:30
082or 7:00. 6:30. Is it 6:00? Oh, gosh. Let me check. I have it in my phone. Get there early. 6:30. I don't know, but check the website. >> [laughter] >> It's actually a a wonderful um fundraiser held by the Key Club um to um help uh offset the cost of um cancer treatments for um childhood cancer at Stony Brook University. It's run by Miss Antonino who does a wonderful job and it's a such a fun night. So, if you haven't been, I highly suggest you come. It's at 7:00 p.m. >> Yes, 7:00 p.m. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes. I just wanted to note that buried in our business approvals was a resolution for tax anticipation notes. It's kind of difficult term. Our school finance office our business office and Dr. Ruby Harris do an excellent
083job with details and with knowing all these things that many of us don't know or just learned about recently. But, I wanted to highlight that I did participate in a full day of virtual advocacy. There's a state bill that's gaining some traction and that could potentially save the district $500,000 in interest on those notes that we just approved. Um So, hopefully we'll have good news to report in a few weeks. Fingers crossed. That'd be great news. Motion to adjourn. Okay. Don't Tom what It's more I'm sorry. So, again good I didn't I didn't look. You have something else? I I was just I'm a mess today. It's all good. I wanted to quickly just talk about something that came up and kind of the piggyback off of what Jenna said. Another bill that's out there
084that has been gaining traction and we were kind of the leaders as a board back in March approving a resolution about charter schools and I unfortunately was not at that meeting even though I had spoken previously about charter schools because I was up in Albany lobbying with NYSSIT on this same topic and there is a bill currently in the legislature about charter schools that not only has NYSSIT support but NISBA which is the New York State School Boards Association they're supporting it as well. And that would basically uh that no charter schools shall receive any school district funds unless first approved to operate in the district by majority of voters in the district. And um I think that it's just something that especially, you know, our district residents should take note of um as taxpayers
085uh charter schools, once they move into a community, um there are no budget approvals. Like we just had a whole, you know, public hearing about budgets and we're going to have a budget vote in a week. Um that doesn't happen with charter school budgets. They're not approved by local voters. Uh policies are not subject to public review. School trustees for charter schools are appointed. They're not elected like our public school boards are. Yet public public dollars public tax dollars go to these charter schools. And in the last 4 years alone, 85 school districts on Long Island have lost over 539 million dollars. So, half a billion taxpayer dollars going to charter schools. So, I commend this board for our advocacy um about this issue. And I just implore anybody to uh look into this and
086uh you know, same as Jenna said, uh talk about it as it's up in Albany right now and could certainly impact our district. Anyone else? Motion to adjourn. Tom, Jenna two. All in favor? That's everyone. Have a good night.