001Good. Good evening everyone and welcome to the uh January 12th, 2026 board of education meeting. Happy new year. Um can I please have a motion to open the meeting? Annie and John. All in favor? Excellent. Um it is upon recommendation of 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 opening meetings law. Can I have a motion to open exec Tom? Second by Jenna. All in favor? That's everyone. We'll be back at uh 7:30. Mr. Palasios unfortunately won't be with us this evening or Miss Donovan. Well, welcome back everyone. Happy New Year. Um can I get a motion to uh exit executive session? Jenna and John. All in favor? Do I reenter public? And could I please
002have a motion to re-enter public session from Annie, a second from John? All in favor? That is a one. Let's please stand for the pledge. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Uh just a reminder in case of emergency, please take note of the um exit signs that are illuminated. We have two on the side and two in the back of the building. And as a reminder, this is a smoke-free building. No smoking or vaping is permitted. Moving on to um approvals. Um, can I please have a motion to approve the minutes for the meeting of uh, December 8th, 2025, Annie? And a second from John. All in favor? Terrific. A couple of FYIs.
003The um, budget appropriation report for general school lunch and special aid funds as of December 31st. Does anybody have any questions or comments on that? Okay. And uh we have the budget transfers and the claims audit report for November of 2025 as well as the uh revenue status report as of the end of year. Does anybody have any questions, comments, concerns? Okay, terrific. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve the November 2025 treasurer's report. Can I have a motion from Jenna? A second from Tom. All in favor? That is everyone. And moving on to our warrants. It's upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approved the attached warrants which were certified for payment on December 17th and the 30th. Can I have
004a motion, please? John. Second from Jenna. All in favor? Terrific. Moving on to board member communications. Um, I'm personally looking forward to Well, first of all, happy new year everyone. Welcome back. I'm excited. I know it's first week back of school. I know my daughter was a little weary for the road and uh looking forward to midterms this week. Um I'm personally looking forward to our sort of season of advocacy. Um our board has really um taken a stance on really trying to advocate not only for Huntington but to help advocate um for all of our districts on Long Island. So um to that end uh a few of us will be attending the legislative breakfast that is hosted by Longwood Schools on the 7th which is always very informative. Um, a few of the
005legislators do attend and we have an opportunity to share our concerns and it's really wonderful because the students get involved and ask questions. Um, and it's hard to uh it's it's hard for legislators not to respond well to them. So, it's that's always a fun thing. Um, and then February 11th, I'll be traveling up to Albany to meet with our local legislators and assemblymen in their offices um to advocate for um not only Huntington and and understanding our unique needs, but also um with the NASA Suffic School Board's um committees as well. Um does any do any I we have a new face at the table? So, this is Kylie Barge and she is our uh substitute uh student board member. So, welcome. We're so happy to have you here tonight. Would you like to
006share some news from the high school? >> Yes. Um, so, hi, I'm Kylie Varch. Um, I will be filling in for Emily, as you said, um, to share some student updates. Um, I hope everyone's feeling rested and recharged after a nice winter break filled with lots of snow. Classes are in full swing and students are working diligently in their courses as they prepare for the upcoming in-class midterms this week and the two-hour test beginning the following week. The January regions exams are also taking place next week at the high school. Extra help sessions for those exams have already started and will continue throughout the rest of the week. The HUFSC website contains all information regarding the times and dates for these exams, which will be scheduled either for the morning slot of 8:00 a.m. or
007the afternoon slot at 12:00 p.m. Your child will be able to take school run transportation to arrive promptly for those exams. Huntington is committed to making transportation accessible for all students, which is why multiple bus times are offered to accommodate scheduling differences. On the topic of community involvement, the Blue Teague and Blue Market have officially reopened with new renovations. Thanks to the help of generous donations from Huntington students and faculty, as well as several local sponsors, the Blue Market and Blue are vital resources for the school community to collect and distribute supplies such as food and clothing. by forming partnerships with sponsors including Stop and Shop, TriCa, and the Junior Welfare League. Some of my peers worked together to relocate the boutique to Cafeteria B and organize all materials into their respective areas. The Interact
008Club and the Huntington football team also contributed their time and effort, demonstrating that our clubs and teams are willing to make sacrifices for the betterment of the entire district and Huntington community. A big thank you to Missi and Miss Brown for their support and instrumental involvement in making the blue market and blueoutique improvements a reality. Uh shifting to the realm of athletics, several student athletes were selected this past month to participate in the section 11 leadership conference which aims to enhance the student athlete experience across Suffach County. Students met throughout the fall via Zoom to gain the information necessary to actively contribute to conversations surrounding fundraising, college recruitment, time management, and mental health awareness. Two students from each grade were chosen to participate and engage in discussions with other section 11 districts in order to
009help our school continue creating a safe and welcoming environment for future athletic endeavors. Lastly, I would like to highlight an upcoming college informational night for any student looking to get a head start on that admissions process. Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 13th, at 7 p.m., the district will be hosting our annual collegebound student night at Huntington High School. This event focuses on providing families with a clear view of the college admissions process through the perspective of current admissions counselor Kate Anderson, an admissions officer at Sunni Asiggo. Topics will include what colleges look for in applicants and the steps students can take to best set themselves up for success. This is a great opportunity for students and families to begin looking towards the future and make the admissions process a little less daunting. Thank you so much for
010your time. >> Thank you so much, Kylie. Appreciate you being here and I love hearing about the growth of the boutique um and the blue market. I know when it was just in its infancy with Miss talking about it and the way that the students have rallied around and really supported this endeavor is it's truly amazing. Um so thank you. Thanks for being here. Any of my other board members have any comments they'd like to share? >> Yeah. Hi. Um I just wanted to highlight one of the articles that Beth sent to us. Um, we do a lot of talking at these meetings about all of the incredible dual enrollment opportunities that our students have and I think it's easy to lose sight of the real impact that that has. Um, and so one of
011the things that we learned over the past couple weeks is that students who start college with dual enrollment credits are finishing at 14% higher rates than their counterparts. And so that's just another way to really recognize the incredible work that Huntington's doing and another reason to be excited every time we get to improve one of those new courses. I was just going to highlight uh all the amazing uh things related to the arts that have happened in our district since we last met. Um I was fortunate to attend uh the song fest at Southtown which was terrific. Uh as well as many holiday concerts and the cultural expo last week at STEM which was uh very difficult to find a parking spot here. Uh it was so well attended and there were so many amazing
012uh performances by our students. uh and were run by the staff. So, uh kudos to all the students who took part in those amazing events past month. >> Anybody else? Best. All right. So, for kindergarten registration, our letters will be going out this month requesting any families with children born on or before December 1st, 2021, that's unbelievable, eligible for kindergarten in the 2026 2027 school year that they register because packets are because packets are now available. Uh the packets should be submitted to the registration office by March 2nd, 2026. Screenings will take place at each of our primary schools on specific days during the last two weeks in March. So, please encourage anyone that you know to submit their packets as early as possible. Uh, budget meetings. Our budget meetings here begin on February 9th.
013[clears throat] Please tune in or attend our meetings to learn about the budget process as we plan for the 2627 school year. in the area of virtual enterprise. Uh on Tuesday, December 9th, Huntington's three firms, Clean Clip, Embrace, and Extinguish, attended their first in-person trade show at Oyster Bay High School, where employees [snorts] had three hours to sell their products to 17 other attending firms, as well as students and parents from the hosting school. This was the first time our students were tasked with pitching, promoting, and selling their products to people who were not in the virtual enterprise space, and was also their first attempt at selling up their trade show booths. Our [snorts] school excelled in this setting, generating a total of $378,386 in revenue for their firms. Throughout the trade show, numerous parents,
014teachers, and virtual enterprise regional employees came up to our VE adviser, Mr. Outen, to express how impressed they were with the professionalism and salesmanship of the members of all our firms. Their [snorts] next competition is on January 14th at LIU where firms will be presenting their business plans in [snorts] hopes of making it to the national level of the competition. There is also a regional trade show that day where students will compete for best booth and highest sales revenue. And just to give a quick shout out to Heffy, uh all of the company shirts that the students were wearing as they created um were created inhouse using our new Cricut and t-shirt press that we received from a Heffy grant at the end of last year. It saved them almost $700 by doing them in-house
015rather than ordering from a company as they've done in previous years. So, thank you to He for all of their continuous support. In the area of robotics, our team 516 Huntington Robotics hosted its kickoff event at the high school last weekend. During this event, students presented the newly released robotics game for the current competition season, which is now officially launched. [snorts] This kickoff serves as the starting point for the program's intensive build season, which runs from January through February. And over the six-week period, students will collaborate to design, build, and program a fully functional competitive robotic uh competitive robot. This event highlights student innovation, teamwork, and real world engineering skills while engaging the school community in STEM education. Additionally, the team has been able to participate with the STEM First Lego League teams to help
016prepare and mentor them in their upcoming comp competition season. This has been a very nice experience for our high school students, working with our elementary students, which will now expand into Woodh Hall next year. Uh Miss uh Sullivan already mentioned the advocacy events, so I won't repeat those. But we also have the January 22nd event um uh on uh that's about CTE programs across Long Island and how we can help to support and improve our programs sponsored by NISBA and the SCSSA. [snorts] Uh I was pleased to attend the science and math honor society induction ceremony which took place on January 6th. Congratulations to the 34 students who were inducted into the science national honor society and the 44 students who were inducted into the math national honor society. In the area of fine and
017performing arts, December was a wonderfully busy time uh where we hosted amazing events, concerts, primary songfest celebrations, um the holiday tour to the elementary schools. It was all such a treat for our families and for our students and staff. some upcoming events. Uh January 14th, this Wednesday, Woodh Hall has their fourth grade music informants. The 15th is Jack Abrams fourth grade music informants. The 21st, we have our Huntington High School Art and Triam Music Honor Society induction. January 24th is the LIFA Intermediate Concert. And February 6th through 8th are our uh spring musical or winter musical for Jack Abrams and Woodhull, which will take place at Huntington High School. In the area of athletics, we have Finley's winter season uh beginning on Monday, January 26th. We're offering boys volleyball, wrestling, and two girls basketball teams.
018Registration is ongoing, and our winter season continues at the high school with much success. Our indoor indoor girls track team features Norah Moscowitz, who is among the county and state leaders in the 600 and 800 meter runs. We have three girls who are among the leaders in Suffach in shotp put and the team consists of almost all underassmen which we feel sets the stage for a great deal of success in the future. The indoor boys track and field team features all state performer Teton Elise and talented junior Eric Hines who just who just ran the 600 meter run at the Northshore Invitational at the Armory and Manhattan in Manhattan. He won it. I'm sorry. He didn't just run it, he won it. There were 191 runners in the event. Our relays are showing promise and
019our throwers should be able to compete for all county and all state honors. Our wrestling [snorts] program has continued to strengthen with a long list of eight eighth, ninth, and tth graders leading the way. Of the 14 weight classes, only three are filled by a senior. We recently took third place in both the Glen Cove and Shorum Waiting River tournaments. We will be hosting the Suffach League 3 tournament on Saturday, February 27th. That's a very busy day on a good Saturday. Our boys and girls basketball teams both have winning records and both are expected to qualify for the playoffs. Congratulations to them. Our girls fencing team won its first six consecutive meets to grab first place while the boys team is striving for more consistency. Our boys swimming team won its first four meets to
020start off the season undefeated. Amazing. Our girls wrestling team has six members this year. were in a combined program with Harbor Fields, John Glenn, Northport, Walt Whitman, and Comaca Blizzard has won a pair of JV level tournaments. Seniors win Francisco, Emily Herrera, and Shannon Capelli will be honored prior to tomorrow's meet at Walt Whitman High School. Our bowling team continues to slowly become more competitive. We're playing against boys teams, but we also allow girls on our team. At some point in the future, we hope to be able to have two separate teams when we glean enough interest. The high school football program will hold its annual awards night on Thursday, January 22nd at 6 PM at the high school. And the spring season for athletes begins on Monday, March 9th and at Finley on Monday,
021March 30th. In the area of academics, I'm pleased to share that Huntington High School has been awarded civil level recognition on the College Board's AP honor role for the 2425 academic year. The AP honor role evaluates schools across three indicators. college culture, which measures the percentage of students in the graduating class who took at least one AP exam during high school. Huntington High School earned a silver designation with 50% of the graduating class taking at least one AP exam. College credit area, which reflects the percentage of students in the graduating class who earned a score of three or higher on at least one AP exam in high school. Huntington [snorts] High School earned a gold designation in that area with 44% of the class achieving this benchmark. And the last area is college optimization. This
022indicator measures the percentage of students who took five or more AP exams in high school with at least one exam taken in 9th or 10th grade. Huntington High School earned a platinum designation with 16% of the class meeting this criteria. Congratulations to our staff, our students, and to our school district for such accomplishments. The last area I'll mention is budget. Um, it's not really the way to end because it's not really on the highest note. Uh, we are a bit concerned about potential cuts to federal title funds. Uh, these funds currently support staffing in our buildings, particularly reading and math intervention specialists, professional development, and support for students learning English. We do not have definitive information yet as those decisions have not been finalized, but we are concerned about these funds being pulled from our
023current funding streams as it would impact approximately $1 million in our budget for next year and beyond. So, that's just something to take note of. And as we're going through our budget process, we are going to be cognizant of these um types of, you know, this information that we will be getting throughout the budget season. Sorry to end on that note, but uh Huntington is doing very well and it was great to share so many great highlights. >> Um we'll get some more information. The the governor has her press conference tomorrow, right? So probably get an update. Um that moves to our first public commentary of the evening. Uh public commentary is open to residents and employees of the district. Speakers are limited to three non-transferable transferable minutes per person. We allow a maximum of
02430 minutes for public commentary. U priority for the first public commentary will be given to those um that are in relation to our items for action and discussion on our agenda. Um public commentary is a time dedicated for you to share your thoughts with the board and your input is tremendously valued. It's meant for an expression rather than a dialogue. So please don't expect that. Um it will be a back and forth conversation. If you do approach the podium um please identify yourself, your affiliation with the district um and use the form at the podium to sign in. Um, and we do ask out of respect for privacy that you do not name any students or employees uh by name. Do we have anyone who'd like to participate? Okay, that brings us to our items
025for action and discussion. It's upon recommendation uh for the sup from the superintendent of schools that the board of education adopt the attached cardiac emergency response plan uh for the 2025 2026 school year. Um, can I have a motion, please, John? And a second from Annie. Mr. Hendra, do you want to >> Nope. I'm gonna do it. >> Oh, Dr. Hunter, sorry. >> It's okay. Um, so this plan is required under New York State law, uh, part of the DESHA law requires that by January 20th, a cardiac emergency response plan be adopted by all New York State school districts. Um, this plan establishes district-wide protocols for responding to cardiac emergencies, including staff training, AED placement and maintenance, emergency communication procedures, drills, and coordination with local emergency medical services. Um, and just a quick thank you
026to Mr. Stein, Mr. Hoops, Mrs. Rich, and Superintendent McCoy for uh collaborating and having such wonderful meetings with going through all the details. Um, this plan really strengthens our preparedness and reinforces our commitment to the safety of students, staff, and the school community. All in favor? That is everyone. And a lot of our our updates this uh we'll now be updating a lot of our our like our district uh wide safety plan to reflect our new um cardiac emergency response plan. So, moving on to the district-wide safety plan. We'll be updating that uh to adopt the new cardiac emergency response plan. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education readopt the attached district level safety plan for 2025 2026 as well as authorize its public posting. We had a
027motion from Annie and a second from John. All in favor? And just to express here, as she expressed, um this is just an update. Uh this was reviewed by the district-wide safety team. This is something that will be reviewed at least annually, but you will just see it being rolled into the regular district-wide uh plan adoption as well as the building plans. [clears throat] >> Excellent. Speaking of rolling over, um it is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve the submission of an undue burden independent evaluator hardship waiver application to the state education department and to authorize the superintendent of schools and the board uh president to execute such an application on the behalf of the district. Can I have a motion please? Tom second from Jenna. >> Sure.
028The indep the independent hardship waiver allows a district to request annual relief from the state requirement that at least one t teacher and principal evaluation observation be conducted by an impartial independent trained evaluator when securing such an evaluator would create an undue burden due to factors like limited resources, geography or staffing constraints. The waiver allows the district to utilize trained internal evaluators for the independent evaluator portion. This waiver is reviewed and appro approved yearly and becomes part of the district's annual professional performance review plan. >> And this is something we've been doing since like 2016, I think. So, >> all in favor? That is everyone. Um, and now, Miss McCoy, we're eager to see an update on the intermediate planning. Good evening everyone. I will just be providing a brief update on where we stand
029with our planning for our roll out for our intermediate plan changes in the 2627 school year. So as for those of you who have not attended a board meeting, all of the presentations that we've had are posted on our website for review. Uh this is just the logistical overview that beginning in the 2627 school year with our incoming grade four students, they will be attending schools based on location. Flower Hill and Washington Primary students will attend Jack Abrams. South Downtown and Jefferson students will attend Woodhull. Siblings will be grandfathered in at current intermediate buildings upon request and to the greatest extent possible. and special circumstances for students with de disabilities may apply based on students needs and programs as they do now. So we may have a program in a particular building that does not
030necessarily fall within the enrollment based on location and we will continue to make those accommodations as appropriate for each student. Some of the instructional implications this is just a quick overview. In grade four, all students in both buildings will participate in project projectbased learning or project lead the way weekly throughout the school year. In grade four, in grades five and six, they will participate in the learners who lead and innovation lab classes twice per week throughout the school year in both buildings. And we will begin offering dual language at the Jack Abrams School. Two sections will be offered in both buildings starting in grade four. Currently we have three at Woodhole. Next year we will have two and two. [snorts] The search units of study in grades five and six will continue. That takes place
031during the school day for an 80 minute uh block for students who qualify based on the existing criteria that we use. In the area of math Olympiads, we will continue to have that. However, it will be a club in grades five and six. It will take place twice a month outside of school for students who qualify based on the criteria that we've used in the past. And first Lego League, which had only been offered in grade six at Jack Abrams, will now also be offered at Woodhull for 10 sixth graders in each building. And they will be exposed to First Lego League content. I'm sorry. All students will be exposed to first Lego League content during their innovation lab period, but 10 sixth graders will be selected based on criteria that is currently used for
032that club. In the area of curriculum and instruction, uh we have been working towards the curriculum curriculum alignment for the project-based learning in grade four. That is already ongoing. It was board approved a few months ago. Same with learners who lead in grades five and six and innovation lab in grades five and six. In the area of science, we currently use two different science programs in our intermediate buildings um in grades four and five. In grade six, they do use the same program. So, Mr. Cusack has led a team of teachers and administrators in reviewing potential programs that we feel would best meet the needs of our students in both buildings and they already did the program review. They've narrowed it down and now they are piloting the programs in real time in their classrooms
033to make the most informed decision possible. In science and social studies only in grade six, we are exploring a program to utilize because we do not currently have um Spanish materials because we did not offer the dual language program in sixth grade. So that's also being explored currently. >> [snorts] >> So currently we have um identified materials to start the learners who lead program at Jack Abrams. They've been identified and budgeted. Similarly with the innovation lab expanding to Woodhull and the grade four which have been identified and budgeted for both buildings. Building signage needs have been determined for Jack Abrams as there will be an adjustment for the name. The Math Olympiads club stipens for both buildings have been budgeted and transportation for intermediate clubs are being explored from a budgetary standpoint. This is just
034a review for parents who have students in the dual language program. Our current third grade dual language students at Jefferson and Southtown will attend Woodall in the 2627 school year. Current third grade dual language students at Flower Hill in Washington will attend Jack Abrams in the 2627 school year. And the current fifth grade dual language students at Woodhole will continue the program as sixth graders at Woodh Hall. However, they will continue with science and social studies instructions taking place in Spanish. For parents, a letter will be sent out at the end of January, likely next week, requesting parents to submit their child's name if they would like their child to be considered to attend the school their sibling attended rather than the school of location based on their address. Responses will be due back from
035parents at the end of February, and we plan on having our grade four orientations at the end of August for incoming Jack Abrams and Woodull students. And that is the presentation. I told you it was rather brief. [snorts] >> Thank you for that. It's really exciting to see the plan sort of come into place now and all the hard work that you've put in um to sort of start rolling out. There's a lot of excitement building in the community about it. I know just um out in conversations in the grocery store, people are pretty excited about the different opportunities. I mean, each school having not only equitable um curriculums now, but also the project based learning and the learners who lead program. I mean, I think it'll be the most comprehensive intermediate plan on Long
036Island. So, I'm very excited about it and thank you for all your work on this. >> Thank you. I I do just want to mention there is a a team that meets with us monthly. There are a lot of people on this team. It's my assistant superintendent and Mr. Hender uh deputy superintendent as well as our intermediate principles, our curriculum chairpersons and directors. It's really a collective effort to ensure that we're not, you know, missing anything. there's no stone unturned and that we're thinking about every possible um outcome that could take place uh based on all the decisions that we're making. And everybody's been working really diligently. And it's really um it's taken up time, but there it's really well spent time and really great conversations that we're having to make sure we have the
037best programs for our kids. So, thank you. You know, just being a part of this process, you we know how thoughtful you've been about it and so thank you to everyone involved for being as thoughtful as you are. Does anybody have any questions? Great. Thank you so much. Moving on to some policies. Um it is upon uh the policy number 5681 uh school safety plans. It's upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education review and adopt draft board policy 5681 which is now we've kind kind of gone through this the last meeting. Does anybody have any questions on the policy? Can I get a motion, please? Tom and Jenna. So, this policy was res uh revised to add updates required by recent legislation that mandate a formal cardiac emergency response plan
038for sudden cardiac arrest events on school property or any school sponsored event. The revisions include the addition of a cardiac emergency procedures and building level emergency response plans beginning September 1st, 2025 and the inclusion of sudden cardiac arrest training for students and staff in the districtwide safety plan beginning January 20th, 2026. Additional language was also added permitting districtwide school safety teams to provide voluntary first aid, CPR, and AED training in accordance with public health law section 3000B requiring AEDs in schools to be clearly marked, accessible, and properly maintained. >> Anybody have any questions? All in favor? >> That is everyone. Moving on to policy number 5851. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education review and adopt draft board policy 5851 cyber security incident response. Can I have a
039motion please? Jenna and a second from John. >> So this new policy we actually implemented uh not too long ago but it was created to add requirements from a Senate bill 7672A which established new sections through uh the general municipal law. The policy adds the requirement that districts report all cyber security incidents to the Department of Homeland and Emergency Services using the state's designated reporting form and also adds the requirement to report any ransom payments connected to ransomware attacks. >> Yeah. So, it's just a difference in the way that it's reported. >> That's correct. >> Does anyone have any questions on it? >> This is our second read. So uh all in favor that is everyone moving on to policy 7251 student privacy parent access to information and administration of certain physical examinations to minors.
040Uh it is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education review and adopt draft board policy 7251 student privacy parental access uh information and administration of certain physical examination to minors. May I have a motion, please? Jenna again and a second from Annie. >> So, this new policy was created to add updated PP aligned language, including strengthened consent and opt- out procedures, expand parent access to instructional materials, and clarification that student information may not be used for marketing except for commemorative school related items. And this really just now is not aligning with federal law. So, um, are there any questions about the policy? All in favor? That is everyone. Moving on to CSSE CPSSE. Mr. Cuz >> good evening. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board
041of education approve cseps submissions as delineated. Can I get a motion, please? Jenna, and second from Tom. All in favor? Bear with me. My computer just um did something funky. So, give me one second. Got it. Okay, we're moving on to personnel. Mr. Hender, >> it is upon recommendation from the Superintendent of Schools that the board of education approve personnel items on schedules 1 13 5 8 9 11 13 16 and 22. Can I get a motion, please, John? A second from Annie. All in favor? >> All right, I have a few announcements. First and foremost, I want to congratulate and welcome Dr. Amy Cabelloo as assistant principal at Huntington High School. So, welcome and congratulations. [applause] Dr. Cabello comes from Florida where she has done a wide range of educational experiences in the administrative
042realm. We know that she comes with a wealth of experience, knowledge, um a friendly smile, um and we look forward to the wonderful things that you're going to do with uh Miss Brown and her team over at the high school. So, welcome aboard. We're happy to have you. >> Yes, welcome. >> The next uh the board just appointed a Huntington High School alum in the area of a teaching assistant at Finley Middle School, and that's John Scapatuchi. So, congratulations. And tonight the board granted uh Miss Jessica Malikica who is a reading teacher at Finley Middle School tenure. We do have a rose up here. So if you want to come on up and I'm going to read a nice little blurb about you. So Miss Malikica is a dedicated student centered educator who consistently delivers
043wellplanned engaging literacy instruction that supports vocabulary development, critical thinking and student growth. Her positive rapport with students, use of mindfulness practices, and commitment to meeting the needs of all learners create a classroom environment where students feel supported and motivated to succeed. And she extends her impact as a co-advisor for the school book club. Tonight, we proudly recognize her professionalism, compassion, and instructional excellence as we grant her tenure in the Huntington School District. So, congratulations. [applause] And that is everything. Terrific. Now that moves us on to business. Dr. Harris, it is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approves business items I through O. Can I get a motion, please? Tom. Second from John. Are there any questions about anything on the business agenda? All in favor? Excellent. Um I just
044would like to point out that um Well, did you want to talk about the voting hours at all or we can mention? Tonight we approved a resolution for the voting hours for our school budget vote uh to from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. That is an adjustment from the hours that were in the past because we noted that there were not a lot of voters coming in and we had a significant number of staff members participating in the board day. Um, and it really didn't seem to be it seemed to be a bit cost prohibitive because we were paying many staff members to attend and there were not people coming in to vote. So, we have adjusted the times from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. So, we will have that on all of the announcements
045that we make uh for our upcoming um budget and board vote. Excellent. That brings us to our second public commentary. Again, >> donations. >> Oh, donations. Yes. I'm sorry. Annie, could you read us our donations, please? Sure. Good evening, everybody. We have several donations to announce and share this evening. The first um it is Miss Nette Uler who is presenting and donating a fulllength mink coat to the Huntington High School fine and performing arts department. This donation has an approximate value of $1,000. So, we say thank you. [applause] Our second donation is from the Harbor Fields Alliance for Community Outreach. Harbor Fields Community Outreach is presenting a donation of five $100 Visa gift cards, new coats, winter accessories, and five bags of non-p perishable food items to the Huntington High School. The gift cards and
046non-p perishables will be used to restock the blue market as needed, and clothing items will be placed in the boutique for students. This donation has an approximate value of $1,300. Thank you. [applause] And our next donation is from Home Depot, presenting a donation of 189 canisters of glow-in-the-dark spray chalk and 62 kits containing multiple colors of spray chalk to Huntington High School Art Department. The donation has an approximate value of $100. Thank you so much. [applause] Our next donation is from the Huntington Athletics Community Education Fund. Uh through the New York Community Trust would like to donate $1,000 to establish the Huntington Athletics Community Education Fund Scholarship. This scholarship will provide financial support for student athletes who aspire to embark on a college education but face significant financial challenges. Thank you so much. >> [applause]
047>> And finally, our last donation is from the Suffach County Police Department, the second precinct, who will be presenting a donation of board games and puzzles to Wood Hull Intermediate School. These games will be used during indoor recess and in the library, and the donation has an approximate value of $250. Thank you so much. [applause] Thank you so much for the wonderful donations. Um, that brings us to our second public commentary. Um, again, it is open to residents and employees of the district. Okay, does not look like we have anybody that would like to uh comment. And I would like to just close by saying, Kim, I apologize. This was my first time actually running a meeting. So, I was remiss in not saying welcome um as our district clerk. We really love having [applause]
048you here. It's nice to look over and keep see Ken Zelman. She wears many hats for the district. Um, so we're super grateful to have you here in this role. Um, any other comments by board members? >> Tom, I'm going to defer to you, Tom. [laughter] >> Um, age before beauty, I guess. I know. Sorry. Um, anyway, uh, I just wanted something just struck me after we did the presentation on the intermediate plan. Uh and uh right afterwards we did all these uh different policies and the changes that were going on and uh all really important policy components that are uh from things that most people will not be seeing but are very important in staying in compliance and having the district run smoothly. Uh but the intermediate plan is certainly one that's not like
049that. It's going to be very public. Uh it's very important. Uh it addresses some longtime concerns. Uh and uh with great excitement am I looking forward to this. Um uh I don't hear it as much in the supermarkets perhaps, but I do hear it out on the fields and things of that nature. Um but uh I certainly around in the neighborhoods and um I know there's some concern uh from from a bunch of folks because it's dealing with your children on an everyday basis. Uh and um I'm I'm right there with you. I just I I just want to emphasize that how much effort and thought has been put into it by the team by the district. Uh I can't imagine that there are stone that has not been unturned and trying to think about
050all of the issues and concerns that are out there. And um every time one was overturned, it seemed as if uh another opportunity was uh a solution was presented to create more opportunity for our students. And um I suppose nothing's, you know, in a perfect world, but I think this is about as close as we're going to get in terms of us being mortals and getting these things done. And I'm uh I'm very appreciative uh for the superintendent's team that did this along with all the people concerned and curriculum. And uh I'm looking forward to it. And I'm I'm I'm quite hopeful this is going to make the district even stronger and bring us, you know, together even further and uh yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Thank you very much, Beth, and your team.
051I was just going to quickly acknowledge um something that I saw on social media and I just wanted to back that up and say that uh the storytelling that's going on on the district's social media and website is phenomenal because we're we're telling the story of the Huntington School District and there was one post in particular that stood out to me and it was the this is Huntington Post and if you haven't read it you can go back to it uh and I encourage you to do so and it's on our website too because it tells the story of how the Huntington School District was founded on February 11th, 1657. And I think it's just phenomenal that we have an exact date to look back on. Um, and I, you know, I would love to
052see us in future years celebrate that date of February 11th as a Huntington day or a Huntington School District Day. Um, because that, you know, to have a specific date that we can point to to say this is when the district was incorporated, I think is a very cool thing. And the fact that we have this story to point to um I think is something that our students can celebrate uh day in and day out. So pretty cool. >> Have you been in the Heritage Room yet? >> I have not. >> Oh my god, you're going to love the Heritage Room. That's I think that's my favorite room in the entire district. If if you haven't been in the Heritage Room, it's up at the high school and it is it's essentially a Huntington District
053Museum and it's really cool and everything from original yearbooks from back in the day to original signage of all the district schools uh that have changed names. It's it's really phenomenal. So, >> we have an amazing history and I love I love celebrating and learning about it. >> Okay, I have to add to that uh just as a uh history teacher. Uh it is a phenomenal uh primary resource for everybody within this district. If you were to go there uh you you will be amazed. Uh I guess there are certain times that are appropriate to go and not at others, but uh you know to be able to see it is is something truly special. Um it is jam-packed. It is not just a few things thrown in there of well isn't this a nice
054little token of of our history. It really does an amazing job of telling how special Huntington is. not just as a bunch of suburban sprawl, but truly how unique our district uh is, was is has always been, and I think it it it foretells exactly the type of school district that we are today. So, I agree with you, John. Nice job. Well said, Tom. It's great. Yeah. Yeah. >> I just I just want to make one more comment. Thanks for all the wonderful comments, but I did just want to acknowledge Kylie. You did a phenomenal job tonight. You stepped in and did a great report. and I'm not sure if you'll be back before the end of the year, but thank you for being here and doing such a great job. Yes. [applause] Thank you
055so much for having me. [laughter] >> If there's nothing else, I will take a motion to adjurnn, Annie, and a second from John. All in favor? Thanks for coming, everyone. Have a great night.