Huntington UFSD Board of Education Meeting 2/9/26

001Good evening all. Welcome to the board of education regular business meeting. Today is February 9th, 2026. Can I please have a motion to open the meeting? Kelly is one, second by Teresa. All in favor? That is everyone. It is upon recommendation from 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 the open meetings law. Can I have a motion? Teresa one, John 2. All in favor? That's everyone that's here for now. We will be back around 7:30. Thank you. >> Great. Welcome back. Can I please have a motion to exit the executive session and re-enter the public meeting? Tom 1 k2. All in favor? That's everyone. Let's all please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance

002to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> In case of an emergency, please direct yourselves to the illuminated exit signs on the back and the side of the building. This is a smoke-free building. Smoking or vaping is not permitted. All right, we're going to move right into our approvals. We have the first one which is the board of education meeting minutes of January 12, 2026. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approved minutes from the meeting of the Huntington Union Free School District Board of Education dated January 12, 2026. Can I have a motion, please? John 1, Annie 2. All in favor? That's everyone. Moving on to the next one

003which is the board of education meeting minutes of January 21st 2026. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approved minutes from the meeting of the Huntington Union Free School District Board of Education dated January 21st 2026. Can I have a motion please? Jenna one ton two. All in favor? That's everyone. And now we have a few FYIs. There's going to be three, four, five, 6, 7, 8, and 9, and 10. Uh, EFY is any questions or comments about that. Um, I noticed that we have a Finley change order on number six. Um, another savings of just over $2,000. That was for a damaged flooring that was repaired. Um, I think that we also have a change order for a $20,000 credit for the Jack Abrams school. Uh, and

004then Huntington High School, we had a change order where we got a credit of $12,196 for the lights. Those lights, they just keep on giving. I love it. Love it. All right, we'll move on to the internal. Any questions or comments with regards to the FYIs. Let's keep the savings coming. Internal audit corrective action plan, CAP. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education accept the corrective action plan formulated by the district in response to the internal audit report audit completed in 2425 addressing facility usage. Can I have a motion please? Anyone Teresa 2 questions comments? Um I do notice that there was only two issues there and they seem pretty benign and they were resolved. Thank you for that. All in favor? That's everyone. Moving on to the

005treasures report of December 2025. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve the December 2025 treasures report. Can I have a motion, please? Jenna one, Kelly 2. All in favor? That's everyone. And warrants. We have warrants that were certified January 14, 2026 and January 28th, 2026. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approved the attached warrants which was certified for payment on January 14th and January 28th, 2026. Can I have a motion, please? Annie one, John 2. All in favor? That is everyone. All right. Board member communication, let me get us started. First of all, congratulations to the girls fencing team for advancing to the county tournament. Just a wonderful accomplishment. I don't think we've done that in about 25 years.

006So, congratulations. On January 26th, uh this year, our board members tooured the campuses to review current and future facility needs. Uh as part of our commitment to responsible financial planning, we continue to identify long-term improvements that will strengthen the district in the years to come. Um as you know, we haven't floated a bond in well over a decade. So great work from our team. Uh the Huntington Foundation for Excellence in Education has announced it will honor Huntington High School athletic coach and dean of students Ron Wilson and town Superintendent of Highways Andre Santino uh at the organization's annual gala set for Thursday, April 16th at the Harbor Club at Prime. It's always a great event. Get your tickets. They're online. These are two blue devils uh just great people in the community. Um and then

007finally for me, I am proud to announce that the Huntington um district has captured silver status on the AP scholar honor role. Again, great accomplishment. In 2025, 450 students participated in at least one AP course. The number of exam administered in 2025 was 1,19, which is a huge increase. Uh we're closing in on that gold status and hopefully we get there next year. I open up the mic to Emily. Good evening board and community members. A number of key events and programs took place, all of which contributed positively to student engagement, academic achievement, and college preparation. Freshman orientation was held successfully on January 27th, and this event was aimed at helping the new students feel welcomed and comfortable at the high school. This event was conducted by the high school administration and counseling office in

008collaboration with current high school students. They took the incoming students on a tour around the high school building and the students also gave the rising freshman information about the various clubs and organizations available at the high school encouraging them to get involved in our community. This event was useful for the new incoming students to start feeling excited and prepared for their high school education. Midterm finally came to an end on January 23rd, marking the high five point to the school year for students. This period was helpful because it gave students the motivation and time to prepare academically for their midterm exams. Furthermore, the midterm exams played a key role in helping the students know their strengths and weaknesses on certain topics so they know what to focus on the most in the upcoming months to

009prepare for their finals, regions, or AP exams. The English Pride Awards were given on January 29th, honoring students for their outstanding achievements in areas of writing, reading, and class participation in English related activities. This encouraged students to keep working hard in their English studies and to strive for success in their endeavors. Relating to the English department, the English honor society will be hosting its annual spelling be on February 12th. The students with keen ear with a keen ear and impeccable spelling will be able to showcase their talents on stage in the auditorium periods 7 through 9. Students can enjoy watching and supporting their peers as well. A few clubs have come forward with the idea of creating a Spanish spelling be which is something to look out for either for this year or the next.

010The addition of a Spanish spelling be will exhibit inclusion in to many students in the school and give students the opportunity to showcase their language skills. Moreover, in the in collaboration with the Suffach County District Attorney Office, the high school hosted a career fair on February 5th. The career fair gave students the opportunity to explore various career options. Many professionals from different fields came to share their knowledge about their fields, educational qualifications, and their experiences. This event assisted students make better decision about their future career aspirations. Furthermore, we we will be hosting a celebration of culture night on March 4th in the high in the Huntington High School gymnasium. It will involve students sharing traditions, food, music, and performances. The celebration of c culture event will celebrate the different cultures represented within the school community.

011Students are encouraged to sign up to participate in the special event. Thank you. >> Thank you, Emily. Any board members? >> So, I just wanted to uh comment on a couple of uh great district events that I attended uh this past month. Uh first up was the Southtown engagement night and uh PARP as well. And uh I look forward to all the engagement nights that are offered at the primary schools especially um and I encourage all families obviously to go and and support uh education and I think that the fact that the district highlights the engagement nights and offers them and promotes them. Um it's promoting our families coming to the school district and supporting their child's education and being engaged in their child's education. So um I just think that that's an amazing opportunity

012for our families. Um, I also attended the uh Jack Abrams performance of Shrek Jr. this weekend, which was incredible. And this was an amazing uh opportunity for our intermediate students to take part and be exposed in the arts. They were acting, singing. Uh, they were involved in the stage crew, lighting, and sound. Uh, and these are fourth, fifth, and sixth graders who really, I would say, wouldn't won't get that opportunity anywhere else. So, it was incredible. And kudos to the uh cast and crew of Shark Jr. Thank you. >> Thank you, John. Anyone else? Jenna? >> Yeah. Um, I also wanted to shout out the intermediate play this week. Um, it was wonderful and seeing the talented kids is so joyful. Um, but what really struck me was kind of seeing everyone who's supporting them.

013So, there were high school kids helping out at the concessions from higher up in the arts programs and really encouraging them. I know they were there at many of the rehearsals also kind of showing them what the kids can aspire to and really helping out there. Parents from STEM volunteered on the Woodh Hall nights. Parents from Woodh Hall volunteered on the STEM nights so that no parents had to miss their kids. And then obviously the Huntington staff was incredibly generous with their time and their passion. Um, so I know a lot of us were there, but I want to recognize the community that we're building together through programs like that. And that's one of my favorite things about being here. >> Great. Thank you, Teresa. >> Um, a couple things that I was able to

014attend this month. Um, and I wanted to thank the robotics team for keeping us all in the loop about what what's happening with them. And it's another opportunity for collaboration between the high school robotics team and the Finley Middle School robotics team. They held a VEX competition. They hope we hosted it. And it's it's so incredible to watch um the collaboration between the high schoolers and the middle schoolers teaching them how to code and build their robots. Um it was really fun event and I was happy to uh to get a chance to speak to all the kids. They were very excited about their competition. Um I also just wanted to talk about the intermediate openhouse because now we've done one at the primary level and um for those of you who don't know um

015it's a really great opportunity. We live daytoday with all of this information in our heads and in our inboxes. Um, but to really sit back with fresh eyes of families who may not attend our district. Um, and to hear and see the uh the aha moments that they're having um was really um very validating from my perspective to see this intermediate plan kind of starting to play out and the excitement um in the new family potential new families attending our district. So um wanted to thank um Miss uh Campbell and Miss Morrow for hosting it and doing such a wonderful job. Um many of us attended the legislative breakfast this past weekend. So I wanted to thank Eastern Suffach Boseies for hosting that. It's always an important day to uh really sit back and analyze

016some data about the trends on Long Island um in terms of funding um statistics um all of it. So, it was very informative and um I will take a lot of that information as well as things that we've discussed up to Alman this Wednesday. Um and then I just last but not least wanted to congratulate the marching band. Um they had a wonderful trip to Disney. Um and I did speak to Mr. Rudo as we were at Baggage Claim and u something that the Chaperones also echoed was our band uh was above all else the most well- behaved band at Disney. Um they really there were a few other bands. I heard a few other stories and Mr. Rudo was very proud as were the other chaperones about how our Blue Devils conducted themselves and

017um just speaking from my own daughter. She had a phenomenal time. So thank you to everyone who made that happen. >> Uh so one thing that uh we're talking about things that happened over the course of the past month. Uh I just felt this past Saturday uh really encapsulates what what happens here in Huntington. Uh there was a wrestling meet uh that uh school sponsored. We had six teams come in here. Um and we had uh a great outcome. We have 10 bo uh 10 wrestlers that are going to be going to the county championships which is great. And other people might be speaking about this as well, but um I want to do it in a broader uh context here. The booster club was there from 6:00 in the morning to 6:00 in the

018evening feeding these wrestlers. Uh, and these are people that are just, you know, on their own, uh, coming out helping. Maybe their boys are, uh, you know, wrestling or girls perhaps are not. Uh, but, uh, they're there. It's community. Uh, and then, you know, two hours later, they're going to the Shrek Junior uh, plays of which we have. They have four of them. Uh, and it's done at the high school. uh that is uh you know it was at least half to 2/3 filled of one of the biggest auditoriums on Long Island and it was unbelievable. Um you know seeing this uh I've been involved in the booster club and and sports uh my children though I've also been involved in the arts. My son played trumpet for you know till graduated. My daughter was

019head of stage crew uh and um you know this is something that and uh that we really do as a community. Well, I I couldn't believe the amount of people that were there. The production was out of this world and the way Shrek Jr. was structured. You could have what appeared to be 700 kids on stage at once. Um, with all various costumes and, uh, I'm just so excited for, you know, our renovations that are coming up this summer for for that auditorium. And, uh, and and to kind of put this all together, we're talking about engagement nights. Um, when people come to see our school in our district, I don't think they really necessarily understand uh the wonderful thing they might be getting themselves into. Uh, where the rest of the districts uh on

020Long Island, including ours, are losing students. That's just the demographics uh since, you know, the past decade or so. Um, our numbers are not only holding steady, but at times increasing in both the arts and in sports. And I think it's really indicative of who we are here as a community. uh that draws upon all the resources we have, all the all the communities that we have here. And uh we're really in some place special and I attribute that from uh Superintendent McCoy and the wonderful leadership that we've had right on down to the people who are sitting there for 12 hours feeding rustlers uh lasagna uh and chili. So uh talking about engagement nights coming on, please talk to your neighbors and folks that are, you know, part of this community. And if they're

021not engaged, there's a place for them uh here and their children for sure. So, um, yeah, there's my pump for Huntington. >> Thank you, Thomas. Anyone else? Beth, it's all yours. >> All right. So, I would like to start out this evening by thanking our buildings and grounds crew uh for all their efforts in preparing our campuses during the recent weather related events. Uh, it's not only been a tremendous amount of snow, but it has been brutally cold. The snow doesn't seem to be going away ever. This is the longest I can remember having this much snow for this long. And we're constantly well, our buildings and grounds crew and our custodial staff and and Rick Rouse, our director of facilities constantly dealing with issues that are arising from the cold, from the snow, clearing

022parking lots. So, just want to thank everyone for all their work on this. We know how how difficult it's been and we really hope that uh it melts soon. Um, over the past three weeks, I've attended several advocacy and legislative events. On January 22nd, Terresa Jenna and I attended the NISBA Niscus, I'm sorry, not Niscus, Nassau County School Superintendent and Suffach County School Superintendent Association joint conference where we had the pleasure of hearing from several superintendent within district CTE programs and it was a great way to learn more about potential CTE programs and partnerships that may be established with local businesses. Bob Veio also presented some key advocacy points which focused on the fact that a 1% increase in foundation aid is just not enough. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to present at the

02329th annual legislative breakfast where Western Suffach Bosey's component super component superintendent and local senators and assembly men and women advocated on a host of topics. I had the pleasure of advocating for universal prek funding and increasing the funding streams for all students and particularly for students with disabilities. The asks are for the amount per student to be increased which is included in the governor's budget. However, we also want to be able to utilize the total amount rather than a per seat expenditure so that we can provide optimal programs for UPK which could include special education services, OT, PT, speech, etc. Speaking of the governor, uh the budget proposal is again that there is some good news that there is a proposal to increase the funding as long as we can access those funds appropriately and

024there's more to come on that. Another note in the proposal is regarding foundation aid. The proposal includes that all districts will get a 1% increase for Huntington. The proposal will amount, if it's enacted, to $218,000, which is an increase from one budget to the next budget of just over $200,000. In a school district with a budget over $150 million, $200,000 is a drop in the bucket when we're talking about increases in all of the areas that we have with electricity, with gas, with building maintenance, with increases in benefits, all of those things that can be 10% increases. Transportation costs that can be 20% increases when we're looking at contract negotiation. So, I just want to say that we are advocating for more money coming from the governor. Um, I know that um, Miss Sullivan will

025be going up to Albany to help us with some advocacy and I will as well. I just wanted to share that with our community. Um, on another note, preK and kindergarten postcards have been mailed out. So, please register or if you know someone that has students at that age, please encourage them to register. I would like to provide an update on mock trial. Um, our team is working diligently to once again be one of the leaders in the Suffach County mock trial program. Our first match versus Stonybrook uh was on February 4th. They're working hard with many new members being led by a few returnees. They're enthusiastic and excited for the season. They meet several times a week. It's a very rigorous program. Uh we're lucky to have two legal adviserss this year. We have

026Don Savvada who's now in his third year with us and we are also blessed with a new coach, Janice Wan. So, thank you for all of your support with our mock trial program. I will also provide some athletic updates. We have completed our second turf field with bleachers on the east side of alumni field. So, the next time you drive past the high school, we now have home and visitor bleachers. Um, these bleachers were raised off the ground to improve sight lines and a handicapped ramp into the bleachers is also included. Um, they can seat 425 fans and we will likely make those the home bleachers because they're better than the other ones. If you're trying to picture where they're located, it's right beyond the softball fields fence. Uh senior Samuel Claren has qualified for

027the state swimming championships which will be held early next month in Ithaca. So congratulations. Uh today is the state qualifier at Suffach County Community College in Brentwood for boys track and field. So we expect to have some good news later tonight. Uh the girls track state qualifier is being held tonight and tomorrow also at Suffach. We have three girls with legitimate chances of reaching the state finals. So, we're very excited about these opportunities. There will also be new branding signage at the high school softball field with three vinyl panels attached to the back stop and another long one attached to the outfield fence from left to right that states Blue Devil Park. So, we're always looking at ways that we can improve our grounds. Um, the four late winter season teams at Finley are well

028underway with games already being played. We're offering two girls basketball teams along with boys volleyball and a wrestling team. And our girls fencing team, as Mr. Palasios mentioned, finished second in Suffach County after winning the co- League championship. It was our best showing in over 20 five years. Um, and it was a pleasure to really watch them at the championship. Um, they were against Ward Melville. The boys for the Ward Melville fencing were also in the championship. So, they seem to have quite a powerhouse team out there. Um, but our team just so showed so much grit and determination and it was so wonderful just watching them come together as a team. Um, hopefully next year we'll win the whole thing. Um, there are some results of the week. This weekend we had county championships

029in fencing. Um, so here are our results. Julia Goodwin, first team all county and all Long Island. Chelsea Drummings first team all county. Olivia Lee, second team all county. Dana Garcia, honorable mention, all county. And Owen Stevens, first team, all county. So, congratulations to all of our fencers. I just have a couple more. These are all good things, so we love to hear them. As we enter week four of the build season, our students in the area of robotics have successfully designed and built a fully functional intake system and a double shooter mechanism, both developed through our CAD software and brought to life from a completed robot model created by team captain Jaiprit Singh. These milestones reflect the students growing expertise in engineering, design, collaboration, and problem solving. In the area of virtual enterprise, on

030January 14th, our three Huntington firms, Clean Clip, Embrace, and Extinguish, competed in round one of the National Business Plan Competition and the New York State Regional Trade Show at Long Island University. After a month of intense preparation and feedback from various VE alumni, teachers and administrators, all three firms delivered their best presentations in as they were being looked at and getting feedback and then once they went to compete um the top 50 firms will move on to round two and all three of our firms were selected to move on. So that is just absolutely phenomenal. They went through the process of practicing in front of people in district to get some feedback that they might receive when they actually compete and now they took that feedback in and all three of them have moved on

031to the next round. So, good luck to them. Uh, and in the area of fine and performing arts, uh, we had 74 students enter our tri and art national honor societies on January 21st. They had a guest speaker, Mr. Marinstein from Nassau County, Nassau College. He did a wonderful job. I would like to again congratulate the cast and crew from the Wood Hull and STEM plays this weekend. It was truly phenomenal. Uh and I would also like to congratulate the students who participated in the Long Island String Festival in January. On January 14th and 15th, which was after our last board meeting, our grade four musicians presented their informances at Woodh Hall and STEM. It's the ch children's first time performing in their ensembles and they did a wonderful job. Both both events had packed

032houses with parents and family members who were just enjoying seeing how their skills that they've developed this year have really blossomed and are already performing. So, we're looking forward to their spring performances as well. Um, we also have some additional great news to share. Due to our outstanding art teachers, seven of our Huntington High School students were selected for the Hexures Long Island Best Young Artist Competition. There were over 400 submissions across Long Island. Only 84 were chosen for the exhibition and seven of them are ours. Uh Huntington tied for the most students selected per school district with Hicksville. We're very proud of them and the opening exhibition is on Saturday, March 28th from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. So I would like to congratulate Hazel Coransza Mononttoya, Cadence Dandereo, Bella Duke, Ana Gleski, Jay Hoff,

033Isabelle, Emma Mortonson, and Karolina Ramos Saravia. We have a couple of upcoming events in this area as well. We have our Huntington High School Midwinter concert taking place this Wednesday at 700 p.m. which will feature both the junior and senior bands. And on March 1st, Huntington High School will once again host the intergenerational pops concert which is a collaboration between the high school orchestra and the Symphonic Pops of Long Island. That will take place at 2 p.m. And another area of wonderful news, we have 38 students who have been selected to participate in Skamia. The concerts will be held in March and this is due to the again to the great programming we've offered in Huntington and the support provided by our teachers through our performing music programs as well as the hard work and

034diligence of our amazing students. I will quickly run through their names because I do want to acknowledge them. In division one, Emily Schmid, Nancy Ziegler, Megan McCarthy, Miles Wong, Willow Engel, Maline Kelly, Ryan Shanley, Jada Kavazos, Madison Rogers, Scarlett Dominguez, Lily Duke, Sophia Bole, Iona Jimenez, Quinn Burke, Daniel Gibbon, Lydia Lim. Division two, Naomi Hadler, Jade Halder, Jade Ingram, Marco Garcia, Nova Camarada, Juliet Grahalva, de la Cruz, Monica Ing, Samantha Greyber, Annabelle Donovan, Andrew Parrot, Stuart Henry, Gretchen Schmidt, and Ruby Richtor. And in division three, Katherine Duke, Jacob Boxer, Sarah Person, Pierre, Louisa Mackey, Brady Duke, Elizabetha Ara, Kaylee Camarada, Isis Jimenez, Caitlyn Welnik, Joseph Herman, and Joseph Herman. And last but not least, I will mention our science Olympiads who narrowly missed advancing to the state championships after placing 11th in a field of

03565 teams in the SUFFK tournament this past weekend in Hop Hog. The top eight teams advanced to the state level competition. Huntington won six medals in the following events. Disease detectives win Franceskovich and Luke Lomner. Electric vehicle Ja Preit Singh and Jacob Boxer. Helicopter Jait Singh and Jacob Boxer. Hovercraft also by Jaipreet Singh and Jacob Boxer. Remote sensing Singh and Andrew Ooa. Rocks and minerals sop and Elena Prior. And we'd like to congratulate adviserss Mr. Lori and Mr. Jaci who are incredibly proud of their of our team. Lastly, I would like to congratulate our validictorian, Emma Pollinsky, and Jaiped Singh. Hold on. Did I I just want to make sure I didn't mess up name there. And Jaip Singh, who is our saludiatoran um on their announcement last week. Um congratulations to both of them

036because that is no small feat and a lot of hard work and dedication went into all of the accomplishments that they've had throughout their time in Huntington High School. So, congratulations. And that wraps up my report. >> Thank you. That >> was a lot. >> That was a lot. >> All right. Now we open up our meeting for public commentary. Public commentary is open to residents and employees of the Huntington School District. 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 public 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. Public commentary is a time dedicated to sharing

037your 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 an employee of the district. uh use the form at the podium to sign in. Please refrain from naming any students or employees of the district. Public commentaries open. We will have a second com public commentary uh towards the end of the meeting. No one gets up. We'll move on then to items for discussion and action. >> All right. At this time, I would like to introduce London Martinez who is going to introduce our group from Finley tonight. Okay. >> Hello everybody. My name

038is London Martinez and I am the president of Finley Drama Club. We'd like to invite you all to attend Willy Wonka Jr. at Finley Middle School on March 6 and 7th at 700 p.m. Got it. Okay. Hey, you are just a bar chocolate superstar. chocolate treasure chest for I hope for the best positive. Think positive. What happened? I never thought that catastrophe I like happy. I felt it last month. That is never the day when I was born. Never ever dared to be a woman. That was such a wonderful preview of what we're going to see on March 6th and 7th. Thank you for coming tonight to share a brief snippet of our wonderful production that's coming in a couple of weeks. Thank you, Mrs. Greyber. Thank you to all the children. Get get home

039and get the rest of your homework done, please. And we'll see you tomorrow. Great job. Thank you so much. >> That was great. Right. >> Wait till they leave. >> Golden ticket. All right, we'll move on. >> Wait, they're all out. We're moving on to the district calendar for 2627. This my recommendation from the superintendent of schools at the board of education adopt the attached school district calendar for the 2026 2027 school year. Can I have a motion, please? John 1, Annie 2, comments, questions? >> I'll just walk through a couple of things. Um, we are going to have our students coming back for their first day of school on September 2nd and September 3rd, which is prior to Labor Day, but Labor Day is very late this year. uh we will be closed on

040the 4th. So there still will be a 4-day Labor Day weekend. Um some other items to note that we were able to include in the calendar which it's getting more and more difficult. There are seem to be many days needed and not enough days in the calendar. Um but we do have the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we also have two spring recesses. So, we have a spring recess uh from March 25th through the 29th as well as the April recess from the 19th to the 23rd. Um we have two contingency days planned for next year as we did this year. As everyone knows, we did use one of them already for this year. Um our contingency days for next year are March 29th and May 17th in that order. So, should we need to use

041those, those would be days that we're in session if we have to use a day to snow or some other uh situation. Um, so that is the calendar and um our last day for students is June 25th and we've been looking at this for quite some time collectively across the island. Um, and it is ready for adoption. >> I want to know if John looked at it >> I have a question. November 3rd, a Tuesday. Why not November two, a Monday? >> It's election. >> Ah, that's >> election day. >> Ah, of course. >> I thought it was a trick question. >> Yep. Yep. No. All right. All in favor? Uh, any other questions? All in favor? That's everyone. Thank you. Next item is a midyear review of district goals 2025 2026. Good evening. Um

042I would just like to start off by thanking my cabinet. Um Dr. Harris, Mr. Hender, and Mr. Cuz uh we could not do the work that we do without their hard work and dedication to this district. We have a phenomenal team that puts the students first. We have a pleasure to work with a phenomenal group of administrators as well and our teachers and support staff to implement the goals that are set forth by the board of education. um without this team, without these people that truly care about children and making sure every child has opportunity, has access, has challenge, and has something that's going to connect them to school. We we you know, we just have such a tremendous team, and we couldn't do this work without them. Um tonight, we are pleased to present

043a mid-year review of Huntington's strategic plan, reflecting on our district-wide goals and the progress we've made thus far during the 2526 school year. This update is intended to provide transparency, celebrate growth, and ensured continue alignment between our vision and our day-to-day work on behalf of our students. The presentation that follows highlights evidence of progress across our four areas of focus: academic excellence, the student experience, operations, and family and community engagement. You will see how this work is unfolding in our classrooms, our programs, our support systems, and our partnerships. always with access, safety, and opportunity at the center. We look forward to your continued collaboration as we move into the second half of the school year. So now I would like to introduce Mr. Cusac who will start the presentation. Good evening everybody. Thanks very much.

044Um going to be starting off with academic excellence which is the first of our goals. Uh just to kind of give a reminder of what that goal was. We will empower all students with foundational and advanced skills, confidence, and adaptability needed to thrive in the evolving demands of post-secary education and the modern workforce. So the work that we've been doing really has a lot to do with making sure that kids have the top level uh experience and also all the foundational uh pieces that they need to get there. Top of mind has been the intermediate school restructuring. There have been a lot of meetings uh in planning as you might imagine uh with the principles, directors, chairs um and uh our administrative team across the district to make sure that the two buildings Jack Abrams

045and Woodhull are in full alignment as we go forward. There's been a lot of work I don't want to read each line but uh just to kind of summarize there's been a lot of work in the area of projectbased learning and um that has to do with both the lead program and the innovation lab and a lot of other pieces as well. One of the I think we've been trying to make sure that we are in touch with the very best and brightest in every field that we're working through. And so we actually had a great opportunity through Western Suffach Boseies to work with uh a Finnish expert in project-based learning named Peter Elo. Uh he's he's a great guy, interesting, and very knowledgeable. And what we've been pleased with our teams who are working

046with him to know is that we're we're in the right space. We're we're going in the right direction. And everything that he's uh seen from our teams thus far has been very impressive. So they are meeting with him three times over the course of this year to work on uh some project based uh pieces for both buildings and um they'll culminate that with uh curriculum writing this summer that will also be reviewed by Peter and he'll give some feedback as we go into next year. We've also uh done a lot of work with our focus walk protocols. So, uh, all of our administrators across the district will do 10-minute walkthroughs, uh, throughout all the buildings throughout the course of the year, and then we summarize those results at the midyear point and at the end

047of the year to present back to the faculty. So we try to find trends um where we have areas of strength and areas where we might uh want to focus our PD efforts, our uh professional development uh in the areas of questioning, instructional clarity, student engagement and we are always going across the board to check that reading, writing, listening and speaking are top of mind when uh as we're doing these walkthroughs. We've also tried to uh work with other consultants in this area as well and our administrative team has come together to um to take a look at what we call our look fors and we've worked with uh author Dr. Ayanna Cooper to try to revamp those questions that we look for as we go uh through those walkthroughs. Thus far at the time

048of this writing there were 231 of those little data points collected and the principles are all sharing out that data with their faculties in the next uh faculty meetings. We just uh put out our um fall PD calendar to the faculty uh just I believe it was last week. There's a lot of work being done with our tech mentors in the area of AI. Uh as you might imagine, that is definitely uh an area of focus. This will be uh coming up in the fall. That will be the third round of AI um based professional development uh sessions for all of our teachers. The first uh round of sessions was really focused on getting a little bit more comfortable with AI. And the round that is happening now with all of our teachers is to

049have a little bit of time to work uh with things like Magic School, Gemini to get a little bit more comfortable in their own capacity in working with AI. And then in the fall of next year, there will be uh sessions for teachers to really dig into how to help students utilize AI in an ethical manner um and in a way that's going to help them to be even better students. So, we'll have a presentation for the board of education later this year to kind of tell a little bit more about what that looks like, but that is definitely part of our PD uh offerings. We've been uh utilizing staff surveys to get some feedback from the faculty as far as what PD they would like to see and I'm meeting with the our instructional

050coaches again this week to talk about uh that survey and we'll be sending out a second round uh for our faculty to give us some feedback. There's been uh a great deal of work uh with QTEL uh thanks to Miss Marov and uh she's been uh getting help from Miss Burner as well and we now have uh teachers who have been fully trained in QTEL practices which are really very solid instructional practices for all of our students and now we have students uh teachers who are acting as um apprentices and turnkey training to colleagues. So there's been a lot of work in the area of curriculum writing, new courses, um, professional development, all leading toward that academic excellence, uh, that we are striving for. A lot of work as I mentioned with, uh, curriculum alignment

051and project-based learning. Uh, we are also, uh, this I will just kind of read off these bullets. I don't want to miss anything, but um the curriculum writing projects that have been already approved or in process uh include project-based learning for the two intermediate buildings, personal finance uh to be infused in grades 8 and 12 uh to meet the New York State requirements that are coming up next year. There are five areas of personal finance that must be um touched upon in the grade band 5 through 8 and 9 through 12. So, we're prepared to meet those demands uh for the following year. Unified programs in fine arts, which is an awesome uh addition to to our arts program and also to our unified program, which is really, I think, um a leader in in

052our region. Half-year arts courses are being implemented for next year. Again, curriculum writing will be helping to make sure that we're ready for that. And that'll help to open students schedules at the high school in particular so that they can take uh a wide variety of courses. um engineering, graphics and technical illustration, AP col and college physics, introduction to digital journalism, uh computer science essentials 1 and two, AP and college cyber security um are all areas where we are uh building our curriculum. There will be another eight items in next uh next month's board meeting that I'll be sharing with you um for hopefully uh approval and we're really expanding our college offerings um exponentially. Uh we're currently piloting some work uh some curriculum in u science and social studies and those are also items

053that I'll be bringing before you uh before the new year uh before the end of the school year. Um so the student experience once again our goal uh for this uh goal number two we will ensure equity access and enrichment opportunities for all students through developmentally appropriate practices that meet diverse needs and growth. These slides are a little bit shorter. Um we've added uh Dr. Papandria has been uh instrumental in in uh helping us to build our evening high school program and bringing food service support and guidance support to that which is very helpful and and very um uh inviting for the kids. And I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised with the cell phone policy implementation. I was nervous. I I was that was one of those few moments where I thought, okay, I'm

054glad I'm not at the high school anymore. It's going to be tricky. Um and it seems to be going very well. I'm I'm very impressed and and kudos to Miss Brown and her team and the kids. Um it seems to be going well. So we will be having as the spring approaches uh some book talks offered for our parents uh kids and for um the faculty if they'd like to participate. We have a team of teachers and mental health uh staff who will be leading these book talks. Uh and I'll be sending out some information to parents in the coming month or so asking if they want to participate. This is through the um the uh grant funding from New York State of the Distracted Students um money that's available from from the state. Um

055and so that'll be on the book, The Anxious Generation. We've purchased the book through that grant for all of our facilitators. And then once we know who wants to participate, we'll also be able to purchase that book for everybody who who wants to um participate in the book talks. So that'll be I think a good way to really bolster the the understanding that cell phones have a time and a place and they're you know they can be a great innovation for us but uh having our schools distraction-free really has been a very uh very big enhancement. Uh PBIS is also a uh a major component of every building at this point. all of our principles and their teams have driven forward um the positive behaviors, interventions, and supports for their buildings and uh it's become

056really a part of the fabric of each building. Every building looks a little bit different, but they're uh all the same in terms of uh putting forth the expectations very clearly for kids, for for the staff, for parents. Um and it's been over the course of the last few years I think a lot of work has been done and that has been part of uh the stronger connections grant that Miss McCoy and Miss Rich uh started a number of years ago. that uh grant funding cycle is coming to a close at the end of this year and I think that money has been used to great effect um in working with Harmony and working with Ignite Ed and Megan Gruis who is a consultant that's been working with our teams uh for the last few

057years and it's been a lot of great work there and just to close out this portion we've uh also been uh positioned as leaders in the field of restorative practices uh I was grateful to be a part of a threeperson team, myself, Miss Rothell, and Miss Brown to present at Lead Li in the fall on the enduring impact of restorative restorative practices over the last 10 years. Uh we have been implementing uh restorative practices in our buildings uh over the last decade. And so people signed up to come and see what we had to say about it and there was a lot of great feedback. I'll continue that uh in the spring with the New York State Department's restorative justice leadership training series. I was asked to once again be um a guest speaker for

058that. I did that a couple years ago in Albany. This is virtual and so I've been able to tell our story to lots of other districts and uh time and time again other districts want to emulate what we've been doing over the last 10 years. So, it's very good to see that uh what we do not only resonates here and helps our kids but it can help others as well. With that, I will hand it off to Dr. Harris for operations. Thank you very much. Oh, yes. Question. >> One quick question and this might be premature. I was just curious about the um personal finance. Is that something you envision dovetailing into an already existing course or does it nice make it a requirement that has >> it's not required to be a standalone course

059and so we're looking to infuse that into facts at the middle school and economics at the high school. We also offer um career and financial management uh at financial algebra. We have courses that are really focused on that. There are five areas um that we have to infuse into the existing coursework. Um I got to get my glasses. >> Oh, you don't have to. I I just was curious. >> I can tell you real quick. I know I took a lot of time. I'm sorry. Um budgeting and money management, credit and debt management, earning income, risk management, and saving and investing. Those are the five areas that have to be infused into the current um courses that we offer, which can be very easily done. We cover a lot of this already. Uh, but there'll

060be some curriculum writing this summer to make sure that we hit every one of those points. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Thanks. Okay. >> All right. So, I will continue on with focus area number three which is operations. Uh the goal is we will enhance and ensure safety, security, quality of food services and equitable resources uh allocation across the district, fostering a supportive and well-resourced environment for all students and staff. Uh you'll see here that it says all students eat free. Um even though there is not as I go through the slides a specific area for food service, I did want to mention a couple of things that have been done there. Um the uh director for food service Lauren and Mr. Hoops have been very diligent in making sure things are highlighted through social

061media. There's always something going on regarding the offerings that are happening there, highlighting different things we're bringing in, different visitors that are coming, different cooks that are coming, as well as doing a quarterly food service. These are the things that are forthcoming to kind of entice students to even come those days. encourage parents to allow their children to uh try something new. And we did apply for C. We will be doing it again. It is a 4-year allowance, but each year when your numbers are better, you reapply and it just extends your four years. So, that will also be something that is forthcoming that we will be doing. So, uh the first area right here is in regards to our relationship with law enforcement agencies. Um, as Mr. Stein does every year, he does his

062uh safety and security presentations. Um, the relationship we have in law enforce with law enforcement is great. He continues to nurture and grow that relationship. Um, they have a presence within the buildings. There's also a presence on different committees. When asked, uh, they show up, they are attentive, they give feedback, they take feedback. So, that's been working great. Um, you also know that last month the board uh approved the updated district-wide safety plan annually. We do the building level plans. And the real big thing right now is the cardiac emergency response plan which has been updated and that information is on our website for what is allowed to be posted, where it needs to be, and the state has access to those. In regards to uh needs assessment, um we have re we have completed

063the required water sample testing across the district facilities. That was a requirement for the 2025 school year. Uh we have remediated identified areas of concern. There have been uh installation of bottle filling stations to support safe hydration and ongoing testing and uh follow-up remediation will continue. Um, that's a process. We usually test, I'd say maybe six, seven areas. Once they're ready to be tested, then you call somebody out. That is a third party. It is not the district actually doing the testing. And then they provide the results. Once they say, "You are good to go." They go back online and we update that report. So, we have been updating it and I will be reviewing it for an update probably within the next week or so. Um, we also, uh, as I'm sure Mr. Stein

064has talked about um he regularly attends regional and statewide seminars, workshops, and professional conferences that focus on uh school safety and security. Uh sharing some of the great things that we do in our district. I think he has some takeaways. I don't I don't think we do everything even though he would like us to do everything. uh he does go to those and come back with some really great uh ideas and initiatives and then we work around budgetary items to see what we can implement and when. Um in regards to developing a strategic plan uh when it comes to safety measures um we do prioritize safety. There are surveys and building assessments that happen. Um those surveys are usually sent out they're accessible on the website. They're sent out by me annually through an email

065and then that information is compiled and reviewed by different committees to see what we can implement. Uh things that we could just educate people on. We can't do everything. Sometimes these are really great ideas. You can do them at home. The state will now approve them for school districts. So just educating people on those allowances. As you are aware, there was the part one of the development of the long range financial analysis that has been completed. Um, we have begun meetings with the financial adviser to begin phase two of that. So, once I have some information to actually show and share, that will be forthcoming. And, uh, we have completed all of the budget meetings um, with administrators to identify goals and priorities for the 2627 school year. And in the coming weeks and months,

066you will be hearing all of those thoughts. And then lastly, uh as mentioned, we have attended uh Superintendent uh McCoy, myself, as well as board members have attended different legislative advocacy events. Uh I had the opportunity to go to Albany. I will speak to that a bit more when we actually get to the budget presentation. That way, I'm not repeating myself. Um but we have really set what are the needs for Huntington and now it's just time to speak those things out and we have begun that process and uh lastly here we have implemented a GPS monitoring system uh which is stopfinder which is a system for parents and students to locate their bus um and I think it's going rather well. All right. I just want to make >> Oh, of course it's technology.

067And I'm gonna turn it over to Mr. Hender. >> All right. And I have area four, which is family and community engagement. So the goal is we will actively engage and empower all families as partners in their child's educational journey, fostering meaningful involvement and inclusion from early childhood through grade 12. So one of the things is we have increased the number of offer off offerings for parents to attend workshops. So all school buildings have provided either multiple parent events and PBIS, STEM, reading and cultural celebrations. I had the privilege of attending bless you. I had the privilege of attending um three parent engagement nights um at three separate primary schools last week. Uh they were extremely well attended and all three of them were very different from each other. uh just kind of shows the

068the difference in the school buildings and the offerings and what parents and students are excited to come out for. But it's great to see um even past students who uh in South Downtown in particular, she had a wide range of fourth grade students come back and be with their younger siblings and and participate in the event which was great to see. Um and so overall we have seen such an increase in the parent attendance. We also utilize our neighborhood aids prior to the event and kudos to them. they'll contact all families, try and get them to come out um and and enjoy a night of, you know, organized um fun. Additionally, we've improved positive results on parent edition at the school climate survey. So, as you're aware, we do send out a parent climate survey.

069Um and we have seen some favorable increase in um uh some of the comments and results. Um we are planning to attend three career fairs coming up. Um it's going to be a very busy time. Um as you are aware, staffing we will review um in the second meeting in March. Um and then right after that, we will hit the ground running with any hirings that we have to make sure that we capture the very best that's out there. Um as of right now, Eastern Suffach Boseies has not announced um when their career fair is going to be, but we have attended that for the past seven years. Additionally, we're going to go to the Mid Hudson Career Fair uh that really captures all of the Sunni schools and Marrist. Um and that's a one-day

070event that we'll go to and we will try and sell Huntington and why it's so wonderful uh to work here. We do have a terrific retention rate. Um people enjoy working here. Um and I think that's because we have that family atmosphere. Bless you. Um that family atmosphere um where you know we really respect and honor and love our staff and we want to make sure that they feel supported. Um, and we make sure that we we share that with them. And then lastly, we also go to the St. Joseph's university university career fair. That's where I graduated from. So, I like to try and tell them that, you know, when I first stepped foot in Huntington, uh, I knew exactly that I was going to spend the rest of my career here, and we

071have had some favorable results in in capturing some of them. Additionally, when we do end up posting, we always post on OLAS, OLAS, which is our primary statewide platform. But additionally, we also send those out to local colleges and universities, as well as some outside organizations. So, some of those are CUTUNI Queens, Maloy, St. Joseph's, Lyola, NAACP, and erase racism. We'll send out our postings for especially some harder to fill positions um to try and capture as many candidates as we possibly can. And we recently just met with Frontline Management System. We are going to be in the process of digitizing our onboarding which will assist with our compliance. So anytime we hire somebody new um they'll get between the I9's and the contract forms and the contract but also some of the onboarding videos

072um that are required through Global Compliance Network. It'll be a nice clean way to streamline between my office and the business office on making sure that we have one area where everything is kind of stored and and uh kept. Um, additionally, we have spoke at various local colleges and universities on why Huntington is such a special place to work. I have a presentation that I go through with each of these colleges for individuals that are going to be graduating. Um, and just kind of highlighting um, why Huntington is the place where you want to be. Um it's always well attended. Um we do end up, you know, people come with their resumes, I collect them and I make sure that our building principles do a thorough job of screening them. Um so some of those

073areas are CUTUNI Queens College. I spoke to them in October. Um I have a scheduled meeting in April uh with St. Joseph's University and then Malloy College in May. And then as well the district will advertise for open positions and local community establishments and host the non-instructional career fair. We haven't done the career fair in a couple of years. We needed it at one point because we we really really really needed aids and it was a very difficult time for us to get them. Um we do find that it's great to post in some of our local supermarkets our postings as well as we do advertise on our digital board that's outside of um Huntington High School. Um so if there is a need where we need to to really capture some of our food

074service workers, our aids, our monitors, that's definitely an avenue that we will go down. And then we'll continue to encourage former HUFSD alumni to apply in return. Um, I have officially reached an age where I've hired former students of mine. Um, that is very scary that I'm that old to be able to say that. Um, especially since I was a fifth grade teacher, but we did end up hiring nine uh new either teachers or teaching assistants to serve in the capacity who are alum here. So, we always encourage any of our alum, please come back to Huntington. We would love to have you. Any questions or comments? I just want to say that I appreciate this presentation. I enjoy it. It's really I don't know. I'm a nerd. It's fun to see all the progress

075that you all are making across the areas that the community identified and to know that you have an awareness of what the next steps are. It makes me feel excited for the opportunities my kids will have and it makes me feel grateful to be here with the transparency and the commitment to process. So, thank you to all of you and everyone that supports the work you do. >> Thank you. >> All right. Great. Thank you. Excellent presentation. >> Dr. Harris, I think you're staying there. >> See you later. >> Is it budget season? >> Always. Can I get underneath my water? >> All right, on to the fun stuff. Um, tonight I am going to be presenting the tax levy limit along with the capital considerations for the 2026 2027 budget cycle. Oh, I look

076at all this and I'm like, why did I write all these words? Um, so uh so we try to assist people with understanding this as much as possible. I actually was really excited and I shared with uh Brendan and Chris before coming in that I took this entire presentation and I put it in notebook LM and it created a video and it's six minutes and it really explains the tax levy. I have to watch it to make sure I like what it's saying in the video first. But, you know, maybe in the future it's just like click the button. Uh, but until we get there, um, I want to talk about three buckets. You have the tax levy, which is the total taxpayer monies that are collected. That is um the projected spend. This does

077not include your state aid information. and it does not include the appropriated fund balance and it does not include uh other revenue. So as we go through future presentations you will see tax levy on its own and then those different buckets of funds. Um the tax levy generally covers approximately 79 to 80% of budgeted expenses. That changes district to district. um when you go to island uh school districts that are not Long Island, that number looks drastically uh different. It could be half and half. It could be less uh levied from the community and more on the state. So that is really based on the demographics and uh the need assessed by the state regarding your wealth in your area. Then we have the tax rate. So the tax levy is the number that the

078board approves at the last April meeting and then the community votes on in May. The tax rate is the individual rate per 100 of assessed value. That is the number that the board approves usually late September between late September and midocctober that number will be approved. um that takes into consideration the assessed value of the area in which you live. So those are two different pieces. Um I think it's always important to let people know that just because you decide on a percentage for a levy that does not mean that is what you're actually going to see for the tax rate itself because there are other factors that impact that. And then you have the allowable levy growth factor. Um this is where the 2% cap usually comes from. It is the lesser of 2%

079or inflation. Um the last I want to say it's the last four years uh inflation/CPI has been greater than 2%. So that number has been at 2%. Um, I actually had to pull out my dissertation because I have a chart in that dissertation that talks about the years where it was not where CPI was actually less than 2%. So, it was those lesser numbers. Uh, but I think the last year that was it either 2020 or 2021 when that happened. Any questions on these three buckets? All right. So, this is the allowable levy growth factor since inception. Last year, I said that wrong, so I just want to slow down and say it correctly. Um, you will see the CPIU growth, that's the red bar, verse the actual levy growth, which is the black bar.

080All of this information really comes from the state controller. I I go online and collect that. But what you will see for the 2026 27 year is that CPIU growth is 2.63%. The levy growth allowable per the rules per the calculation is 2%. And then we get into our favorite calculation ever that I do annually. Um so this is the actual tax cap calculation. I'm going to go to the next slide to kind of walk through what each of these areas are. The 2526 approved actual tax levy is the amount approved to be levied in the prior year's budget. So the budget year we're in right now that was the amount that the board approved and the uh community supported that is our base right now. Then you have the taxbased growth factor. This reflects

081new construction, newly taxable status of existing properties and improvements. This is also provided to us. Uh it's annually every district receives this information. Actually every district, town, all of it um online. So you will see here that it is 1.0032. That is a slight decrease from what it was last year. The next part of the formula is the 2526 pilots. um pilots are payment in lie of taxes and our prior pilots received include LII industrial partners and gateway gardens. We do not have any tort judgments uh greater than 5% so that number remains zero. Um, another area that is zero for us but is not usually zero for school districts is the capital tax levy. Um, 2526 capital tax levy uh including Bosey's capital expenses last uh Bosey's aid and the reason why you see

082that zero and then I'll talk about it again is because we don't have debt. So when the state looks at us, when you put your information in the background of the calculation, it actually zeros out because we receive state aid uh for the capital projects we're doing, but we don't have debt that it is set against. Um so you don't see that a lot, but it it's here. The next part is where the 2% actually plays in. That is the allowable levy growth factor. As explained a couple slides ago, you then have the 2627 pilots per the calculation. That number gets subtracted out. Uh that information is provided to us annually per an estimate. Uh I'm still waiting for one additional number. So that might change slightly. It will be within like a couple thousand

083dollars of a change. It's not drastic. And then another thing that we have that I don't know any other district uh that has this option is the available carryover. And because there is no building debt, there is a carryover option. It is shown in the formula, but it is the lesser of. So a lot of districts when they get to the point of filling out the calculation and it's the lesser of it zeros out uh because it is part of their exclusion piece because we don't have an exclusion up top. It is what either we left over from the prior year. So if you remember um we did not levy to the greatest amount we could levy. So it will be the lesser of what was remaining the prior year or 1.5% of the prior

084year's levy limit which is uh this year it's like 1.8 million. So because we left money on the table which was the decision that gets carried into the following school year. A lot of districts uh don't see that. They get confused by it and I'm like yeah I'm in a district where it's a little different. Um so that is there. you'll see the $527,780. And then we have current year exclusions which are all zeroed out. Um there's no tort judgment. Uh ERS and TRS did not increase greater than the 2 percentage points and as mentioned before we do not have a uh capital tax levy exclusion piece. So per the calculation uh for the 202627 school year the district can levy 123 million748,530 which is 2.75888 or 3.3 million. So knowing that information um there

085will be two options. Option one is to propose a budget with a tax levy at or below which requires a uh simple majority which is 50% plus one vote and any tax rebates uh residents would be eligible for. The other option is to propose a budget vote with the tax levy above that. So piercing the cap that requires a supermajority which is 60% and currently uh there would not be a rebate that they would be eligible for. We just mentioned that as a general piece just so people understand what the two options are as we move forward with budget development. All right. So to talk through the executive budget proposal um there was 1.6 6 billion or 4.3% increase in school aid um foundation aid changes. There was a 3% uh increase. That is not

086what every single district saw individually. Um I will have a slide that actually shows Huntington's information. I think it's a couple slides from now or the next slide. Uh which was 1%. We are now save harmless. If you remember, probably my first year, uh, we talked about the fact that we were still on the actual foundation aid formula. So that's where you saw 600,700, $800,000 of increase. But I said to you, at any point when the formula is ran, there is the possibility that we could go off formula and be save harmless. Um, I think it's important to identify that 69% of New York State school districts are safe harmless now. Uh, which is also the reason why we're having the conversations we're having because I just anticipate that number growing which lets you know

087there's issues with the formula and we spent a lot of money looking at the formula. So maybe we could uh implement some of those but you know I guess more to come on that. Um the CPI amount that is currently included in the uh foundation aid formula is about 2.8%. We are anticipating that going down to 2.6%. Universal pre kindergarten aid uh has been a hot topic since the uh executive budget came out. Um there is $561 million of an increase. So that's 52.5%. Um, as mentioned, the proposed per pupil allocation is uh to increase it from our I used our number specifically. So, the 5,400 is usually the flat. Sometimes districts get a couple dollars more. Some are just right at that number. So, ours is $5,43. Um, we would go to $10,000 per

088pupil. uh you do have districts that will possibly receive more than that dependent on their foundation aid per pupil. Um they're not tons, but there are districts. Um something to note is that the current language that was provided there mandates all districts to provide uh by 2028 29 full day UPK to any four-year-old whose parents request it which looks different than the lottery system we currently have. there are a lot of questions in regards to class sizes, infrastructure, um different services we can provide. So though I think every district we've been talking about UPK at nauseium year after year, the number is not enough. Uh this is going in the right direction, but we need the flexibility to use the funds and the flexibility uh of the aotment not to be per pupil, but to

089say here are the funds and then allow us to do what we do. Great. Right. Educate students, build programs, offer new things. Like we we got that side of things. So, uh that's the push. Um also something to note is there is no cap on the number of slots. So, as you'll see in the forthcoming slides, um I think it shows like 1.53 or $ 1.54 million uh allocated there. That is just them using an estimate for numbers. So, if we had 160 UPK kids, it would be that number times the 10,000. There's no uh cap anymore. Um the expense-based aids were mentioned to be fully funded. We argue a little bit about this uh because there's usually some language that they like to throw out to freeze them as of the December capture. Uh

090November they do a capture December they're looking at things in the background and then they also do another run in February. Sometimes they don't want to do that one uh which can harm school districts. So we continue to push to allow the multiple captures to occur. And then universal free school meals um had a $55 million increase to continue implementation of the program. Any questions on this slide? Okay. Something that again was not included um in the proposed budget was the prior year claims. Uh for new board members or ones that don't remember us talking about this, uh we have claim amounts um that are due to us. Really, what happens is the state will review documents that are submitted through that review. There are sometimes things that occur where they will say, "Oh, we

091owe you money from a prior year." And they put us on what I like to call a weight list. It's like sitting on the phone and nobody answers, but we've been on the phone for years. And um so when you owe the state money, they claw it back within that school year. When they owe us money, we have to wait for it to be included in the budget to be addressed. Uh for years, they were including about 18 or 19 million. I would say I think it's four or five years ago, they stopped doing that. Um, right now the number is about 340 million across New York State school districts and I'm going to guess that's probably missing a good 70 or 80 million from some other areas that they haven't updated uh that I

092haven't emailed to them about. So uh this is our list of what our prior year claims um would be and the years regarding them. You I do want to mention though where you see project numbers that is in regards to capital. That's why they're so large. Um that was in regards to I want to say it was Excel aid and filing of reports and then there were some allowances that were allowed in 2020 2021 that meant we could actually have those funds. Uh so we're just waiting on them. Um, in referenced in the prior presentation, I did talk about going to Albany. This was one of the discussions um that was had with every legislative representative that we met with. We met with about six or seven. Um, uh, one of our representatives, which is

093Senator Stern, took time out of his schedule. I actually got to sit down with him. Uh, we talked about this. We talked about UPK. We talked about foundation aid. Um I'm as being on the ASBO board, it's one man, one sound. So I actually got to speak to NASA uh representatives as well, just explaining the different hurdles, the different things. Um so we speak as an entity and then it's great when we have board members and our superintendent advocate for the district specifically. Any questions about the prior year adjustments? I do reference to them though. The big concern I have is each year we're not addressing it is another year it's forgot. So I just feel like it'll just fall by the wayside and it'll be something that is never funded. So up here you

094will see the 2026 27 executive budget. Um this is a comparison of 2526 to 2627. I do like to note a couple of things. as mentioned um foundation aid received 1% increase uh which I hate to say it that because 218,000 is a lot of money but with a budget our size that literally you'll be like oh TRS is going up I need 218,000 just for that uh in itself. Um so this is the only item that is guaranteed but it does change in April uh and November based on the snapshot regarding uh student enrollment data. Then you have expense-based aids. Uh these increase or decrease as the expense increases or possibly decreases the aid amount you receive uh will change. Um these are subject to change based on the ST3 when it's filed reviewed.

095Sometimes the state will have you review it and make edits to it throughout the process as well as any stack. So that is our special ed uh side of things that are filed. One thing I did do um I deep dived into this uh given a conversation that another district had and our percentage of aid so the ratio that we are getting in the area of transportation and Bosey's aid is decreasing. the state is thinking that we are wealthier on paper than what we physically are sitting here. So as those numbers increase, so as they think we're wealthier, the state sharing aid percentage decreases. So when you see something, I'll give you a simple line, transportation aid. transportation aid shows a decrease because the state thinks we're a percentage or two wealthier this year than

096we were last year. So, those are things that are being monitored in the background. Um, that is also something I will speak to my colleagues about because I had a couple colleagues that happened to last year just what the uh their initiatives and talking points were because those clearly need to be looked at as well. And then you have your uh instructional materials aid. These are expense uh based aids as well and the allocation is dependent on student enrollment. So as we see declines in student enrollment those numbers will slowly decline as well. And then at the very bottom you will see the universal pre kindergarten aid and that just expressed the same thing um I already said about you'll see the amount you see because they are just earmarking 153 slots but in the

097event that those we had more slots that number would also go up. If you do not use the slots currently the way it is written you do not get those funds. Any questions with the executive budget? Sometimes I wonder if the questions are because you guys get it so well or cuz I just write too much stuff. Now we will go into the 2026 27 capital projects. So we're going to look at projects completions and updates as of January 31st, 2026. um statuses of what's in design, what's out to bid, and then the considerations for 2627. All right. So, in the May 2022 vote, these were all the items that were incorporated. Um where you see the uh Astridge or Star, those items are in construction, which we only have one on this slide, which

098is Flower Hill. So this is the replacement of the main electrical service and switch gear. All other items on this list have been completed. May 2023 vote. Um the first one uh first little star is in construction. So that's Southtown electrical service and switch gear and Washington's electrical service and switch gear along with the rooftop solar. There's some things that are being finished up there. Um the item ready to bid out is the greenhouse. Uh that's been something that has been in the works for a while now. And then all other items have been completed. May 2024 vote. Um we have some work completed. So, the phase three of Jack Abram STEM uh roof replacement as well as the uh sorry my eyes are blurring cafeteria air conditioning has also been uh completed. We have

099a couple items that are simply just waiting the last signature from SED and that is the auditorium and upper seating and the visitor bathrooms which means that those will be bids that are forthcoming soon. They'll go before the board as they usually do and it is anticipated that that will be summer 2026 work. And then um the South Downtown and Washington uh corridor smoke doors um are already ready to bid. What'll probably happen is uh BBS will kind of put those out at the same time. That way we can have a meeting on the same date to kind of move those things along together. And then May 2025 vote. These are all the items. Um we do have items at SED for review. That is the phase four of the roof uh for STEM which

100is the last phase. Uh we have the architect submitting um some of the primary and intermediate buildings as well as a lot of the high school area items and then we are waiting the SED project manager signature on the transfer to capital area item. The thought here is if it can come back quick enough, we might be able to do the smoke separation doors combined. So, with the last slide and this slide, which may bring that number down in cost, but we're waiting to find that out. This is an update regarding the uh Dazzy projects. I feel like this slide doesn't change much because they take so long to do. But things I do want to mention, we are going to be buying very soon. Very soon um the innovation lab and maker space. This

101the needs have just changed so drastically. So that has been shared with the staff. They are picking out items. I'm thinking that order is going to go in in the next 2 to 3 months. Um, as well as Finley Middles library renovations, we did have somebody come on site, I want to say a week ago. All of the weeks kind of blur together. Um, about a week ago to look at that space. Uh, we included the librarian, the school principal, and we are looking to receive first a design and then an estimate, and that will be forthcoming as well. Um we reach out constantly in regards to uh Woodh Hall and as soon as the document is signed we will move forward but you can't do anything until that part happens. So to just provide

102some information regarding our capital reserve use and replenishment from 2011 through present. Um this is the same chart we've used in the past. Uh the thing to note is the 2425 school year has been added. So funds out was 3.6 million. Funds that we placed in is 2.5 million which then brings us to our discussion for capital. Um we are still focusing in on the 2022 23 priorities. Once these items are included, we get to X that off the list and continue forward. Uh there are some facility upgrades that are included also that you'll see. uh our building aid percentage is uh 37.2% that has changed uh over the last couple of years still not too bad but it has reduced over the last couple years so it is something that we monitor. Um you

103will see right now in the capital reserve it is 2.59 million that does not include projects that have been completed and funds that are available for replenishment. um there will be something that is put before the board separately uh for that replenishment allowance. I just want to reference that. And this is the Prop 2 that happens each year for us. This is just a quick prior year snapshot in regards to roofs, solars, boilers, security vestibules. Um there are some things in each one of these areas that are on the radar for future projects. Um just as FYI, I know there's been some discussion of have we considered other buildings for solar, what's going on with Wood Hall's roof? Uh we are talking internally regarding uh this vestibule area for STEM. So there are continuous uh

104discussions in other areas. Just to provide a couple of reminder pictures. Um, this is Jack Abrams cafeteria, the mechanical upgrades that occurred. This is the athletic field lights. I thought that was kind of cool to see down and and up. Uh, and then we have Finley science rooms that were recently uh renovated and redone. We have Flower Hill and South Dwound boilers, which I feel like I get a boiler update every other day. Uh I just want to have a week where I don't, but uh uh Mr. Rouse stays on top of those and uh communicates any things that have been issues and he has worked around the clock uh with his team to just make sure that the buildings are warm, classrooms are comfortable, complaints are addressed. And then we have Washington switch gear

105and solar. Some of that work being done and items still to continue to be done. So for the 2027 uh so the upcoming uh vote, the proposed total is a little bit over 2.1 million. This provides a breakdown. So you have the 2022 23 building condition survey priority list items and we break it by building. Selfflower Hill is the nurse's office fire rated doors and display case. Washington is the health office fire rated partitions and doors. Jack Abram STEM is the fire alarms edition which would go uh near the elevator. Finley Middle uh has a couple items. So this is fire alarm additions, non-rated interior window replacement, interior firewall, and partition crack repair. And then at the high school, we have a lot of cracks and repairs. Um, some are to important areas. So, we

106walked around uh myself, Mr. Rouse, BBS, um, Vinnie Gray as well, just looking at the different areas, seeing what actually needs to be addressed or is just, you know, surface level. Um, so we identified those. So, this also includes interior bearing wall crack repairs, um interior doors and stairs, uh braided walls and doors, a lot of fire rating partitions. Um I guess 2022 2023 really was safety and security and are these things up to code. So, it's really just getting everything to the code that is acceptable by the state. And then for facility upgrade considerations, we have the Wood Hall amphitheater. Um, it will in some ways be similar to what we have here at Jack Abrams, but it allows for an outdoor space. It would allow ADA compliance to actually reach the field area.

107So, getting us into compliance, but also um adding to that building as well. And then we have on the list Huntington High School student restroom renovations. There are two large spaces on the second floor that are currently nonfunctional. Um, if you walked around on the board tour, you saw those nonfunctional spaces. So, getting those back up and functioning. Um, there are also pieces that say per the number of students and the square footage of your building, you should have so many bathrooms accessible to them. So, this will get those uh functional and working. Um the reason part of the reason why the number is so large is because there is a structural piece that needs to be handled there. Um and that is included here. And then we have the electrical sub panels. I'm really

108bad at speaking to this part. Uh but it's making sure that we have enough electrical space to service all of the outlets that are necessary, right? And carry electricity. Okay. All right. All right. just, you know, I have him here just in case you have any additional questions in any of these areas or even if you have questions on different things you saw for capital projects or um different areas of concern that you wanted addressed. Any questions come there? >> I have a quick one. Oh, >> so, uh, you know, as a homeowner, you're looking at things that you have in your house that are going to need these improvements down the road, and you want to make sure that you can plan them out appropriately. Uh, noticed the the roofs um, and the boilers

109had all been replaced except for one roof. I suppose you were saying, would hole, correct? >> Correct. Um are there any other larger projects um that we're just I I know um we're we're planning out well could explain a little bit to us how is it that we plan for these bigger projects so that there are no surprises uh and what would be the next large outside of the wood roof that we were anticipating being a large capital cost that we need to plan for. >> That's a fun question. Um first how we plan for these is every school district is required to do a building condition survey. So the uh architect will come in they review the buildings they create a laundry list or or a wish list of items that need to be

110addressed. Um they are going to then rank those most important to hey this is a recommendation but if you don't do it it's okay. We look at that list. That's why we're working on the 2022 23 list. We look at that list. We have discussions internally. We have discussions with the construction manager and the architect and anybody in uh grounds regarding the needs. Is it possible? Is it necessary? Are there code issues? There's a lot that goes on in the background. And then once those are identified, you're also looking to see how much funds you actually have for us and our capital reserve. For other districts, it looks a bit different. And that's where you'll see we're going out for a bond that is going to be 20, 30, $40 million at a time because

111they're not doing these things annually. And it's not to say they don't want to. Um, we plan for them and then we execute that plan really great. Um, so so kudos to us for that. Um >> so yeah so it's essentially a constant uh auditing process so that we are not caught um with a surprise so to speak >> and then we read that audited report as you just called it. We read that report um identify things that we know we can do um as well as having staff internally that are able to look at items on that report and say hey you know what you don't have to go out and do that through capital. We have a plumber we have an electrician. We have a painter. We have people internally that can do

112those things. Uh so we will also have discussions. I just had a discussion two weeks ago. Hey, what's on this list that you can do? Uh and then seeing if there's funds available through maybe we didn't spend um maybe we had a good year. Can we use those funds to assist us in that way? >> Great. Thanks. Sounds reassuring. >> I have a quick question, Dr. Harris. Firstly, thank you so much for putting this together. I always really like your presentations. I like all the texts. It helps me understand a lot of this which is like a foreign language. It made me laugh though when you said um you wrote your your dissertation on CPIU or >> tax cap. Yeah. >> But um thank you for that. So what would we we would aim to

113complete those projects next summer correct? Uh 2027 assuming we got the timing and the bids. >> So um as long as let me think this through. So you have your 2025 projects that just got voted on, right? They won't be done in 26. they would be 27. So these projects would really be 28. The only way it hits in 2027 is if the review by the state is done quickly enough um or if we're able to put likemind projects. So BBS will look to see what's in the hopper now, what is on this list, maybe they can be combined timing wise, maybe it doesn't require summer, maybe it's fall, maybe it's a break. So all of those things are taken into consideration. >> Thank you. I have some questions. >> Amount is 372. Now, the

114building aid, what was it before? Was it point42 at one point? >> Yep, I have that number. Not that I knew you would ask for it. Um, it was our building aid was Yes, it would have been 40.2. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> So, >> it's dropped by a little bit over 3%. >> Is not going as far as it used to go. >> Correct. Um, all the projects that we're proposing for 2027, are those all Adidable projects? >> Yes. >> Including the amphitheater? >> Yes. What will happen in regards to the uh amphitheater piece? They will tie it into some type of work internally. Um, the work internally will probably be something general fund related uh because we did not allocate for Woodh Hall here in the capital world, but there are ways to

115receive aid for outside pieces. The manner that we pay our architect is a percentage of whatever projects are done. Uh is it the aable projects or is it the internal projects as well? >> It would be the capital project. So the projects that are done internally uh through um whether it's an outside organization or our own people is not part of the architect piece. >> So there's a savings and the architect's fee is 7%. >> Who really knows? >> Something like that. Okay. No, it's uh usually standard is anywhere between 6 or 7% uh for them and then we you have your construction manager. Um when we talk about where these numbers come from, there is escalation there. Uh inflation is also in there because the project won't be done for another 2 years. Uh

116so there's usually about a 40 to 43% uptick in cost included in these numbers which is also sometimes why we see the numbers so high here but when we actually do the project that is not where they come in at. >> Gotcha. And then the pilots I'm going to ask you a few questions about the pilots. The pilots that we got um 2025 20226 105924. Is it fair to say that if there weren't pilots there, the tax return, the tax implication would have been much more beneficial to the district? >> Um, without that there, I believe that the uh growth factor would be impacted, which would if a higher growth factor actually allows you to levy more. And the other piece is the actual assessment. Um how much is actually on the assessment role to

117spread the tax cost itself would be less. So residents would see a less tax rate. >> So um let's just extend that thought if we had massive construction let's say down New York Avenue and we had these pilots uh we would see possibly an implication on a school district without us receiving the tax benefit that that we deserved. Nothing further. >> Okay, I'm done. Well, I'm almost done. Um, so here we have uh what you will see on the upcoming ballot, there will be Proposition 1, which will be the 2627 budget. Something to note here, um, we will be approving in the coming board meetings, one of them, um, the transportation contract. Uh we are right now anticipating that that will be a multi-year contract. So it will be part of Proposition One, but there

118will be a lot of language outlining that you have to be very transparent with the community on what is being approved. Uh so you will see that start to be included in the presentations. And then right now the proposition 2 is 2 I'm going to say 2.1 million. One of the items that is being discussed right now is the uh electrical sub panels. is can it be done internally? Can we not do it internally? So I'm uh pushing uh B&G a little bit to see if there are some things that we can do in house. So if there are any changes there, it will be shown in the upcoming presentation. And then here are some upcoming dates and timelines. Uh the next thing that we will be doing internally is the March 1st tax levy

119limit calculation submission. That has to be submitted by March 1st and it is every year. Um then we will have the March 9th uh budget presentation which is more BOE central admin transportation debt service and fund transfers. Then we have the March 24th which is always a fun one. I get to co-present with uh Mr. Hender on um employee benefits, fund transfers, and instructional staff. And then the 13th um which is a little bit of a later meeting, we'll talk about revenues and uh budget overview. There will be some things that are sent out before then because you'll have to remember the budget has to be approved by that following week. So, it's a little bit of a tight timeline. It's just the way the calendar falls. And then we have the budget hearing May

12011th and the vote May 19th. And that is it. >> Questions, comments? Anyone else? >> Thank you, Dr. Harris. It's always great to see your charts and your inner workings of your brain with all of your parentheses and I really appreciated it. You know, even this being my fifth year, it it's still uh for someone who doesn't have a business degree, it is a lot easier when you really lay it out. And I think it's also great for the community to really understand um just how much goes into this process. And um thank you. One exciting piece, this entire presentation will be available in Spanish online. Not me speaking Spanish, but the slides will be in Spanish. So that is something uh that was a goal of ours to incorporate. Uh so in the next

121day or two, you will see that also on the website. >> Thank you. Gracias. All right. So now move on to school name change. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education adopt the attached resolution relating to the renaming of Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School to the Jack Abrams Intermediate School effective July 1st, 2026. Can I have a motion, please? Channel one, Tom 2, questions, comments. >> I just want to make one quick comment. Um, officially the school will be named Jack Abrams Intermediate School, but for some messaging and things that have been purchased, uh, Jack Abrams School is also fine. So, JAS, if we have it on floor mats and all over the building, JAS can stand as Jack Abrams School. So, um, we, you know, the PTA,

122we spoke about it a couple months ago. They were very concerned needing to buy all these new things to rebrand. And so that's kind of it's Jack Abrams Intermediate School or Jack Abrams School unofficially. Um but we are processing this with the state as is required and that is due on March 1st. Curious to see how long ways or Googles take to adjust. All in favor? That's everyone. All right. Curriculum and instruction. >> Good evening again. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve cseps submissions as delineated. >> Can I have a motion? Channel one, Tom two. All in favor? That's everyone. Personnel, Mr. Ender. >> It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve personnel items on schedules 3, 5, 8,

12310, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, and 22. >> Have a motion. Annie one, John two. All in favor? That's everyone. >> Just have a few announcements. The board just approved Stephanie Affronty to be the new speech therapist um districtwide. So, congratulations to to her. And I also just want to make note um although we're going to have a special ceremony for the retirees coming up um in June, uh this list does have a lot of remarkable um educators who have put forth a lot of years of of uh wonderful educational experiences. All of them are remarkably great people and I wish them nothing but the best um for the remainder of this school year and I look forward to celebrating all of them in June. >> Thank you. Business, Dr. Harris. It is upon recommendation

124from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve business items I through N. >> Have a motion. >> Kelly one, Jenna 2. All in favor? It's everyone. I think she's >> Yes, we do. >> Uh, Mr. Anthony is presenting a donation of a victory stand to the Huntington High School athletic department. The stand will be used by the athletic department during award ceremonies, tournaments, and invitational competitions and has an approximate value of $1,000. So, thank you to Mr. Renziana. Um, U. Michelle Costera, she can't stay away, is presenting a donation of a Torch uh GP15A portable PA speaker to the Huntington High School Fine and Performing Arts Department and has an approximate value of $120. So, thank you, Miss Caster. The New York State Congress of Parents and Teachers Incorporated is presenting a

125donation of $400 to Woodhull Intermediate School. This donation represents an award from the NYSPTA uh grants program to support Miss Megan P's project entitled The Wonderful World of Honeybees, a fourth grade science adventure. These funds will be used to purchase instructional materials to support this program, including compound bugeye viewers, real beeswax blocks, and honeybee books. Well, thank you to the New York State PTA and a very gracious donation um in the amount of $7,500 of gift cards uh through Stop and Shop Grant. And this will be used to uh restock the pantry at the Huntington High School uh throughout the year. So, thank you to Stop and Shop. And we open it up for our second uh public commentary. Same rules apply. Public commentary is open. Welcome to come up now. If not, uh closing

126remarks by board members. Motion to adjurnn. Agenda one, Kelly 2. All in favor? Good night, everyone. Thank you.