Huntington UFSD Board of Education Meeting 7/1/25

001Can I have a motion to open the meeting? Kelly. No. Oh man, you guys. Kelly one, Teresa two. All in favor? That's everyone. We're back in a meeting. Well, it's not my All right, we're going to go straight to the approvals. It is my recommendation from the Superintendent of Schools that the board of education approved minutes from the meeting of the Huntington Union Free School Board of Education uh dated June 2nd, 2025. Can I have a motion, please? Teresa one, Annie two. All in favor? That's everyone. We have one, two, three, four, five FYIs. Does any have anybody have any questions or comments with regards to those FYIs? If not, we'll move on to treasures report. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve minutes. No. Did you

002just get frozen? It is my recommendation from the superintendent of school that the board of education approve the May 2025 treasures report. Can I have a motion, please? Jenna one, Tom two. All in favor? That's everyone. What just happened to Okay, it is upon um we're going to the warrants now. certified 64205 and 618 2025. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approved the attached warrants which was certified for payment on June 4th, 2025 and June 18, 2025. Can I have a motion please? Teresa 1, Annie 2. All in favor? That's everyone. Now we're moving on to communications by board members. Um, I'm going to just thank uh Rochelle for a wonderful graduation. That was a seamless event. Beautiful night. It's It's always one of my favorite events.

003Um, and thank you to her, her staff, and everybody that helped along. Um, now I open it up to all board members, comments. Yeah, I would echo those sentiments. And, um, I know there's a lot, it's a heavy lift to pull that kind of a a celebration off. So just all the security and buildings and grounds I mean did an amazing job. But I also would love to point out the um the walkthroughs that the uh graduates did. We had a graduating senior this year and and this was the first year that we did um the district bust them back to their uh primary buildings where they were greeted by the kids at the primary schools and it was just so heartwarming and wonderful and sort of full circle moment. Um, so wanted to thank

004everybody involved in planning that, organizing that, and pulling that off because it was truly special. I also wanted to just share um my sentiments. You know, just like Teresa and Xavier, I wanted to thank all the district, schools, and staff for all the extra things and all the um end of the year activities that really took place to warm the hearts of everyone in the district and the families involved. It was just such a special couple of weeks towards the end of the year. And I know that all the students were so excited. Um I wanted to also congratulate the class of 2025. They are on to great things and and keep going and they'll always remember that special commencement. It was it was really special and um just an amazing feeling throughout the entire

005time. Um so I wish the class of 2025 and their families all of the best and we look forward to hearing all the wonderful things that you'll be doing in your futures. Blue Devils all the way. I also want to piggyback on a lot of these uh thoughts and sentiments with a slight little twist. Um I know how much the faculty administration um and certainly the students put into these last few weeks. Uh but one of the things uh being up on stage uh being able to hand out those diplomas u unbelievable honor having had two recent grads and seeing other uh board members here being able to give that to their children. But uh while that is super special, I think one of the most uh the overwhelming emotion that I get when I'm

006up there is the sense of community of all the people that are there of the disparit uh groups of individuals and people all coming together from within our community uh on such a special night and it's such a beautiful moment. And uh if people are ever wondering uh why you're here in Huntington, um I would suggest you direct people to the videos and uh attend situ uh attend meetings and and gettogethers like this because uh Huntington is a very unique and very special place. So I really want to thank um you know administration for putting on such a wonderful uh presentation for us to attend as well and congratulations to the class of 2025. I just wanted to uh thank specifically our primary school staff and our administrators um and the PTAs for all the

007end of the year activities that they put on for uh the primary students. Uh specifically, I was at the South Downtown uh field days, Southtown third grade moving up and I know that um my sons had a great time at Southtown Beach Day um which is an amazing event uh unique to Southtown. Um and I thank all the teachers and and Mrs. AOT for all the hard work that they put into uh those events for the students. Uh good evening members of the board and community members. Um I hope everyone is having a restful and healthy summer so far. My name is Emily Herrera Rivas and I just wanted to say I'm honored to serve as the student representative for the upcoming school year. I want to thank the board members for providing me with

008this amazing opportunity to represent the voices of our students across the district. I just wanted to give a quick recap of what was happening at Huntington High School this past year. Huntington High School has done multiple fun and engaging events that have allowed students to collaborate with each other and make our school a better place. Many students appreciated the increase in mental health awareness initiatives. This year, we introduced advisory groups throughout the school year. The advisory groups allowed students to decompress and reflect on certain issues that students face every day. During the short time in advisory groups, students were able to learn more from their peers and also get to know new teachers as well. A survey was given at the end of the year to evaluate the improvements we can make in the upcoming

009year. Equally important, we saw a great initiative in student led student community service efforts. Many clubs and honor societies gave students the opportunity to donate to the food drive all year long. The life skill students in Huntington High School assisted in supporting the blue market and boutique which provides food pantry items and clothing items all year long. These are just two examples out of the many that students have done that demonstrate the growing commitment to giving back and building stronger ties between school and local communities. I believe we should continue encouraging students contributions to our community and spotlighting more service opportunities. In addition to community service, the Huntington High School has first hel first held its first ever um culture celebration honoring the different cultures found in our building. And many of our sports teams

010had amazing seasons. Thank you again for trusting and supporting you with this role. I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds for our district in the upcoming school year. Thank you. Thank you all. Anyone else? Mic is yours, Beth. Good evening everyone. I would like to start by officially welcoming Jenna Prada, John Weston, our new trustees, and Emily Herrera Rivas as our exeicio board member. I think for everyone, this is, you know, start to something new. But for our district, this is the first time we've ever had a student on the board. So, this is truly an exciting experience for us, and we're really thrilled to have all three of you here. Um, but welcome, Emily. I know how nerve-wracking it can be to speak in front of large groups of people because we

011do it often and I know that as a high school student it's even more nerve-wracking. So, welcome and we know you're going to share great things with us this year. Uh the field days at the elementary level and for seniors were wonderful events culminating the year with fun-filled days of races, friendly competitions, treats, and eartoear smiles for all. The seniors participated in teams at their field day each with a theme and the students had a blast with additional engaging activities. It was a really great way to end the year with health and fitness fun. Um, in the area of athletics, many have asked when will we be getting lights on our turf field. They are expected to be complete by the end of July. Uh, so we do have homecoming scheduled for Saturday, September 27th.

012Um, the football game will be against Center Reach and will kick off at 1. And Mr. Hoops, who's always ready to plan another event, um has asked that we have uh a Friday night uh girls and boys soccer double header um under the lights at our new field. So, we're really excited with uh for that event as well. And we also still will have the bonfire on Thursday evening. Hopefully, we have some great weather. Um we're preparing for our first year of implementation or full year of implementation of final forms um for athletics registration. So, for incoming seventh grade parents, please establish your accounts as soon as possible. Once you're in the final form system, it is so easy to update annually as opposed to filling out multiple papers each year for your children who

013are playing sports. It really might be a little bit of a lift to get in, but once you're in, it really makes things seamless on an annual basis. Um, intramurals are in full swing. We have a girls volleyball coach that's drawn 28 participants to our intramural program. We're very excited about that. Um, and we also just wanted to note that the early morning and late afternoon weight training and conditioning intram murals are also available to all athletes, boys and girls, regardless of their sport. Um, and certainly not just the football team. Um, so those dates and times are posted on our website. Uh we would also like everyone to please uh look at the summer reading lists that are posted on our website now and encourage your children to read daily over the summer. Whether

014they're reading, you know, something fun or something from the list that we've provided or reading a book with their parent, uh the more they read, the better they will do um as they continue to learn other content areas and become more fluent um with reading. Um I'd like to congratulate all of our students on a phenomenal year in art and music. our art show, concerts, and drama productions were truly amazing. Thank you to our art and music faculty for all that you do every day to prepare our students and allow them to develop creatively. Um, that's been a a wonderful We've had so many accolades this year in so many different areas. So, I just wanted to highlight that. Um, speaking of moving ups, they were terrifically organized. Each had its unique program, but they

015were all very well attended. They were truly joyous occasions for students and families to celebrate the movement to their new buildings in September from 3rd to 4th, 6th to 7th, and 8th to 9th. And of course, our high school 164th commencement was truly a night to remember for our seniors and all in attendance. So, thank you to our staff, faculty, and administration for paying attention to detail to ensure that each event was a spectacular celebration for students and families. Um, I would like to mention the cell phone policy that is on the agenda this evening for review and approval. Please note that this is a required policy that must be adopted by August 1st, 2025 as per the governor's executive budget. It requires a bell-to bell ban on cell phones throughout the school day. So

016that is from the moment students walk in until the moment they leave school. So we will be asking parents and students for support in implementing this for the 2526 school year. We do plan on creating an FAQ document that will hopefully assist parents with questions they may have. And we will be sending out parent communication in August to help parents understand this policy and what it entails. Um, I also would like to end by thanking our amazing PTAs at each building and our PTA council and SEPTA for their leadership and service to our students throughout the school year and particularly during the month of June as they planned dances, luau, support with field days, breakfasts, and the list goes on. Um, as I mentioned at the PTI end of year event, the energy that you

017bring to our students and staff is the sunshine and roses. It's the cherry on top for all of us. So, thank you for your volunteerism as it truly makes a tremendous impact on the lives of our children, each of our buildings, and our district overall. Thank you. Thank you, Beth. At this moment, we open it up our public meeting to public commentary. Uh, public commentary is open to residents and employees of this 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. The public commentary is not

018intended to be a question and answer session with the board members or administration and speakers should not expect to engage in discussion with board members or administration. When you approach the podium, please identify your affiliation to the school district whether you're a resident or you're an employee of the district. Use the form at the podium to sign in. Please refrain from naming any students or employees of the district. Our vice president will keep track of time. Thanks. Hi, uh, Betsy Flanigan, uh, president of the teachers association. Welcome to our new members. I just wanted to make a clarifying point from the about the intermediate plan. Uh, a comment was made something to the effect of the teachers union being in support of the plan. And I just needed to clarify for my members that while

019yes, we are in support of creating equitable schools. Uh we did have a few concerns with the plan, those concerns were brought to the superintendent. Uh and I just needed my members to know that those their concerns were heard and brought forward. That's it. Thanks. All right, moving on to um if no one else moving on to the presentation which is the intermediate school planning and updates. Good evening. Um, I will be a little bit repetitive. We did have a community meeting. So I do want to just share some of what was shared um at the introduction of that um discussion that we had a few weeks ago. Um so before we begin the presentation on the proposed structural changes at the intermediate level, I do just want to take a moment to acknowledge the

020weight of the conversation, we know that any potential change to the structure of our schools can bring strong emotions and rightfully so. Um these are decisions that affect students, families, staff, and the community that we all care so deeply about. Over the past several months, we've explored multiple possibilities, each including shifts in grade configurations or school structures. These conversations actually began last year when we were informed of the requirement to offer bilingual programming in both of our intermediate schools. And that raised a broader and more important question, not just how we meet a mandate or requirement, but how we might use this moment as a springboard to reimagine what's possible for our students. We explored a range of options. A sixth grade center was discussed, a kindergarten center, several other models, but in every case,

021we found that the core challenges at the intermediate level remained unless we made programmatic changes. So, we've arrived at a plan that we believe represents the strongest path forward, not just for compliance, but a plan for opportunity, access, and academic excellence. We genuinely believe this has the potential to create one of the most innovative intermediate school experiences on Long Island. And our goal is simple. a stronger future for every student in every classroom. As part of the process, we asked for feedback through a community survey and we read every single comment. The feedback mattered and it shaped the plan that we're presenting tonight. For example, we heard that families valued the strong relationship students have built at both Jack Abrams and Woodall and asked for more time for current students or families to remain in

022their schools. We heard from the search community about preserving the program as it exists and we realized that some components of the plan such as the innovation lab and the learners who lead program weren't fully understood by all. So tonight's presentation includes much of what was shared during the June 2nd meeting of the board of education, the June 17th community meeting, but also includes new slides designed to explain our programs more clearly, correct any misconceptions, and walk through the adjustments we've made in direct response to feedback. We've also created a frequently asked questions document which will be posted on our website so that everyone has access to the same information along with the presentation tonight. Before we begin, I do want to thank everyone who took the time to share thoughts, questions, and any concerns

023over the past few weeks or months. Your voices have shaped the process and they continue to guide our work. With any restructuring, there will always be a range of reactions, some excited, some disappointed, and many still processing. and it's very natural for that to occur. What I asked and what we hope is that we continue to approach the process with mutual respect and a shared commitment to our students. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing and that's what to do what's best for our students here in Huntington. So, without further ado, I will begin um just to kind of discuss our rationale. Um, we did receive reflective feedback from our community throughout the thought exchange process this year that families indicated that they wanted similar intermediate programming and greater access

024to all the programs that we offered. And we feel that this plan ensures that all students regardless of which building they attend would have the access to the same enriching learning opportunities there. We also wanted to create a robust academic experience in both buildings. So, it eliminates any disparities between the buildings and provides everyone with the same highquality instruction and enrichment opportunities to help them as they enter Finley Middle School and beyond. It prepares students for a global future uh in a world where science and multilingual communication are both essential skills. This equips every student with both of those opportunities regardless of the school that they attend. And also fostering continuity and collaboration. Um, this will allow staff across buildings to collaborate more closely, share best practices, and provide a more consistent academic and social

025emotional experience for all students. This also allows us to balance enrollment to provide more opportunities um, distributing populations across the two buildings. We're expecting that it will allow us to have smaller class sizes in many cases and better allocate resources. It also will allow us to meet the NICED requirements while strengthening bilingual programs. Um, and this addresses the need for us to provide that in both buildings. Um, it does offer a significant savings on transportation costs which will be discussed later in the presentation. Um and also um the current system does require families to choose an interest pathway before age eight. And this would allow kids to develop opportunities in multiple areas so that they can really find out what their interests are as they approach Finley Middle School and the high school as well.

026So going just through the logistics so far, we did present at the board meeting on June 2nd. We provided the uh Google form for feedback where we did get a lot of feedback. Uh the community meeting we held was on June 17th. We got a lot of feedback there as well that we took into consideration. Tonight we're presenting to the board once again. Um the potential rollout would be with the 2627 school year. And some changes that were made in response to feedback were that we would um accommodate siblings being grandfathered in at their current intermediate building upon request for a longer period of time. Again, the enrollment was based on location and as always, special circumstances for students with um disabilities would apply based on their needs and the programs that we offer at

027the various buildings. So, the feedback that we received from the survey were from 170 community members, staff, and parents. 60% were in favor of the plan and 40% either asked for clarification or expressed a concern. Um again the feedback was that the search program should remain as is allow a longer time to grandfather students in with siblings and also wanting to learn more about learners who lead search innovation lab and math olympiads. Uh there was a concern about early morning music and what I will say about that is that that conversation really has been something that we've been internally discussing for several years because of the issues with the early morning transportation. The feedback from the community is the bus routes are very long. My child's on the bus for an, you know, way too

028long in the morning. It would really be much better during the school day. So we've been talking about that for quite some time. Um it is not contingent upon this plan. So we have removed the conversation at this point. Um that was just something we wanted the community to know that we were exploring because it's something that we've heard from the community about. Um but at this point we are tableabling that conversation and really focusing on the contents of the plan as it stands. Um there was an interest also expressed about understanding how students qualify for math olympiads in search and also how the buildings were assigned. So I will turn it over to Mr. Kuzac who's going to talk about some of the curricular initiatives. Thank you. So, um, my portion here, uh, will

029cover each of the different programs that we've talked about, uh, give a little bit of an overview and also, um, discuss how each of these is aligned to New York State standards. I will not read every word. There's a lot of content here. Um, and so that's something that people will be able to peruse, I think, at a later date, but I'll give it an overview. So the first portion um the uh the question is what is the proposed uh projectbased learning and project lead the way program for all fourth graders? Our uh projectbased learning program will incorporate uh a bit of the project lead the way that we've been using. And so um in grade four, all grade four students will receive uh those enrichment classes once a week for a 40-minute period. And

030there's a listing here of some of these activities. again some aligned with project lead the way some uh come from that uh that curricular resource. Uh there is work with the engineering design pro process. Um there are STEM challenges designing a mini food truck for instance including a menu with prices and everything that uh goes into the logistics of building uh you know that type of a business. Uh creating and presenting websites, board games, planning out road trips. um a lot of different activities that are collaborative in nature um creative and also uh aligned with um with standards that uh you know all of our kids need to uh to develop over time. The innovation lab and first Lego League uh is also going to be a part of our programs. And in the innovation

031lab, uh this is a space designed to help students explore ideas, develop creative projects, and learn through hands-on experiences. This has been something that's uh you know, a cornerstone of what we're doing. And now we'll be able to offer this uh across both buildings. So this is something uh that inspires creativity. It's realworldbased uh problem solving based and um it allows for students to explore new ideas and STEM careers while developing critical thinking skills. So the fact that kids will not have to choose to go into this program means that it will be uh that all the kids will be exposed to a lot of new ideas and um uh will develop their critical thinking skills through this process. Uh the modern tools that'll be used include robotics, coding, platforms, and other technology that will

032help uh kids to develop those skills as well. Just an example of um what fifth and sixth grade classes might uh look like in innovation lab. That may be uh twice a week for two quarters. Uh fifth grade units could include uh Lego robotics inputs and outputs computing systems, uh engineering design process challenges. Um and some examples of sixth grade units would include rocketry which is very popular. Um innovators and makers uh computer science program and also uh more engineering design process challenges. This is not a comprehensive list of course. It's just some examples and we have some visuals interspersed here just so you can kind of see what it looks like when the kids are collaborating and working on these projects. Lego League is a competition team. It engages in research and problem solving

033uh coding and engineering based uh on specific themes given each year. I think it's somewhat like what you might see um at the high school level for the the first uh robotics competition where there are themes uh and challenges put forth. Uh this will meet once a week uh in the afternoons uh through uh practices for the team and um the team would uh work on an innovation project uh where they participate in a research project to identify and solve again relevant real world problems. Some photos of our teams there. Learners who lead uh follows a specific set of protocols that um is connected to civic readiness uh and a host of other skills that kids uh will develop through this program. Uh the five-step learning process follows the protocols of investigation, preparation, action, reflection,

034and demonstration. that really runs the gamut of leadership uh in terms of helping people, animals, the environment, the community around us uh and develops our kids into true leaders as they work collaboratively to again solve real world problems. You see there's a theme here uh that what the kids are learning is really connected to to real world uh issues and and real world connections. This is a a pretty comprehensive list of uh some of the community service projects uh that would be undertaken through learners who lead. Um the kids have connected with helping hands, animal shelters, town of Huntington, um helping to beautify the the area, um working with kindergarten students, and a whole host of other uh wonderful projects and initiatives that they've been working on. And again, this is something that now we'll

035be able to offer to all kids um rather than them choosing in advance. Uh I think having that exposure to all of these different programs will ultimately provide kids with a great foundation to really uh find their passion. Again, some visuals here of the kids in action uh working on some of these projects. The search program uh based on feedback that we received will remain as it has been um as a a pretty selective process. There is uh a test that's administered to all fourth graders in the spring. Um and students in order to qualify for the program do need to score in the 90th percentile or above. Again, uh their their I Ready ELA and math scores are also taken into account. New York State test scores and teacher recommendations um and search classes

036will take place during the school day for an 80-minute block for students who qualify based on those criteria. So again, this was something that we took a look at um as part of the program and there was uh quite a bit of feedback asking for this to remain in place as it's been and that will be the the case under this plan in search uh in grades five and six. just uh you know to kind of outline the um the curriculum I guess the the units of study that the kids would be following in grade five. Uh there is uh work with genetics there is mock trial uh science of engineering and uh science and engineering of flight and um there's a contest the Toshiba explore vision contest. In grade six, uh they cover forensics,

037mythology, national disasters, and also there's a contest which is aligned to the 6 through 12 program, National History Day, which is a truly comprehensive approach to um some niche areas of of history that kids can really dive into and um explore in great depth. Math Olympiads uh is also um competitive team grades five and six and again there is a selection process through I ready math scores um for students to qualify for that program. They do need to be above grade level uh in order to participate in math olympiads. And um New York State test scores are also taken into account as part of the entrance criteria. Um, and then there's a specific entrance exam as well that's given to all fifth graders. Students need to score above a certain cut score in order to

038um demonstrate proficiency in in those two of the three categories that they need to test on. This is a club that will take place twice a month outside of the school day for students who qualify based on those criteria. As I mentioned, these programs are in fact aligned with New York State learning standards. Uh what I have here uh is again a lot of information. I won't read all of it. Um it's something that certainly um you know will take a little bit of time to to look through and digest and it is also not comprehensive. There are I think many ways where in which um these programs do align with New York State standards. But this gives a I think a pretty good overview of how well aligned these programs are with New York

039State. Uh so in grade four the um again project-based learning uh in conjunction with project lead the way grades five and six learners who lead and innovation lab are all aligned. So our um project-based learning program uh this is a an example of ways in which uh the program is aligned with New York State mathematics standards. Uh just some key highlights uh the areas that are touched upon within this program. um operations and algebraic thinking, uh number and operations and base 10, fractions, measurement and data and geometry are all areas that um are touched upon within the project-based learning. Again, there's a lot more uh alignment than is listed here, but this is again just to give a sampling of the ways in which these programs align to New York State standards. There is a

040lot of content in these programs um and it's very robust. The innovation lab um is alignment with New York State uh computer science standards uh is very clear. The uh highlights again are in the areas of computational thinking, system design and networks, impacts of computing, cyber security awareness, digital literacy and iterative design process which really runs the the beginning to end process of developing an idea, designing it, um researching it, testing it, and refining that uh that design. learners who lead um really is very well aligned with um both social studies and ELA standards um for New York State. The key highlights for social studies uh have to do with inquiry and evidence, civic participation, geographic reasoning, economic decision-m and communication and reflection. The connection to the local community, I think, is very strong with

041this program. Uh it's an awesome way for kids to learn how to lead within the community um and to do good and to do it together. As far as ELA is concerned, those standards also are very tightly woven into this program. Uh there is text analysis and um looking at point of view which is a very important part of uh both literacy and literature. There's um argument and expository writing, research skills, evidence-based thinking, speaking and listening, um also public speaking for when kids are presenting information and digital media integration as well. And that covers a lot of information in a very short period of time. So, thank you very much. Thank you. So, uh, some of the feedback we received was, um, sta, uh, community members wanted to know what the projected class size and

042the two intermediate buildings were going to be. So, this is based off of the enrollment that was completed on June 20th, 2025. Um you see up there the number of general education students in both of the buildings as well as dual language, the number of sections that would be required to run these um uh for grade 4 in the 26 27 school year and the average class size being either 22 or 23 students. So what is the data related to dual language students continuing their language through grade 12 or taking more than one language in high school? So if you look here, here's the number of DL students in the class of 2025. Um, and the number of DL students enrolled in or scheduled for world language in 12th grade. Um, there were only six

043students who remained on with the language. Um, the number of DL students negatively impacted by sixth grade DL course on their high school transcript was four students. Um, and then if you look at the class of 2026, we have 12 students uh trying to navigate that score that they received when they were in sixth grade. um and now as they enter and uh want to try and compete to get into higher level um colleges and universities. And then the number of dual language students that enrolled in two world language classes um concurrently in the high school that would be zero students for both 2025 and 2026 once they completed their language um they moved uh into a different elective. So just a little bit about the FLA FLB transcript rationale. So, New York State allows

044the World Language Graduation Requirements, Checkpoint A, to be completed in middle school, but most districts, including those offering algebra 1 and Earth Science for high school credit, wait until grade 8 to transcript these advanced courses. Once again, as I just alluded to in the past side, um we have had instances where students have received a score um and you know, they're at the tender age of 11 years old. Um they're not really thinking quite yet about how their transcript is going to impact their ability to get into a college. Um, and so this is the reason why most school districts wait until grade eight for that. Um, transcripted credit in grade six can lock in grades before students are ready, potentially impacting their high school GPA and college opportunities. And then delaying the transcripted world

045language credit to grade 8 ensures that students are developmentally prepared, aligns with state best practices, and provides equitable access for all learners. So what are the district related obligations related to CR part 154? This was a question that did come up during the parent forum. Um, so this is uh 154 uh-2.4A 4. Um, so the district's level of obligation as per uh part 154 in which we were cited, if there are 20 or more students in the same grade across the district or within a school who speak the same language, the district must offer a bilingual program. Um, of course, this is not the only reason why we are looking to infuse um, uh, change the structure of the intermediate building. However, this is one of the reasons that we were cited by New York

046State. Um, and we need to rectify that. So, our commitment to our Huntington families is that we offer dual language because it works. It's academically and culturally great for our kids. We believe every child should feel included and empowered in their education. Dual language is more than a program. It's a promise of access and opportunity for all of our students and it's also a pathway for our seal of biiteracy which is really great. Um what will our intermediate programs look like in 2026 2027 school year if this plan is approved. So grade four would be the project based learning project lead the way. It would be weekly instruction throughout the school year for each intermediate building in grade four. In grades five and six they'll have learners who leave lead and the innovation lab. There'll

047be two classes per week throughout the school year at the intermediate level, one of each. And then dual language, two sections of DL will be offered in both intermediate buildings in grade 4 starting in 2026 2027. So just some implication uh implication overviews. First Lego League, every student in sixth grade will participate in the first Lego League instruction during their innovation lab period. However, for the competitive portion, criteria will be utilized uh to identify one team of 10 sixth graders in each intermediate building to participate in the first Lego League competition which is currently taking place uh this past year. Search program. Uh the current model will continue for fifth and sixth grade students being infused during the school day. Math Olympiads. This program will be added as a club or both uh for both

048intermediate schools. The pull out during regularly scheduled math classes has been conflicting with mastery of classroom content. Therefore, we are moving it to an afterchool club. And the science, there'll be a program alignment that will take place at both intermediate schools offering the same science curriculum. As far as world languages and flex program adjustments for fifth grade, flex will not be offered in the 2025 2026 school year at Woodhole. sixth grade students. Uh, world language instruction, French, Italian, Latin, and Spanish for sixth grade students at Woodhole will be phased out after the 2526 school year and move to seventh grade. Seventh and eighth grade language pathway. Beginning in seventh grade, students will select one of the four languages, French, Italian, Latin or Spanish. They will continue studying the same languages in eighth grade and complete

049checkpoint A by passing the FLA exam at the end of 8th grade. And then successful completion of these courses will earn students one high school credit in world language and allow them to continue with checkpoint B curriculum in the high school. Dual language adjustments sixth grade all dual language in the 2026 2027 school year which is our current fifth grade students at Woodhole will only uh will take two course content classes in science and social studies being taught in Spanish. This supports the continued development of bilingualism through rigorous grade level academic content in both languages. In seventh grade, all dual language students will automatically enroll in Spanish for natives grammar 7. At the end of the year, they will take the Spanish FLA exam. Eighth grade, dual language students are placed in Spanish for natives

050grammar 1. At the end of that year, they'll take the Spanish FLB, which is the former regions. And then when students finish the exams in seventh and eighth grade, their high school transcripts will list the scores for the FLA and the LFB along with the final course grades for Spanish for NATO's grammar 7 and Spanish for Natives Grammar 1. And then here's a potential schedule of what uh the instructional minutes per day will look like. Um, in grade 4 there'll be 80 minutes of ELA, 80 minutes of math, 40 minutes of science, 40 minutes of social studies, 40 minutes per week of project-based learning, project lead the way. Traditional specials, PE three times a week, general music one time a week, art one time a week, and library one time a week. In grade five,

051we'd have 80 minutes of ELA, 80 minutes of math, 40 minutes of science, 40 minutes of social studies, 40 minutes per week of innovation lab, 40 minutes per week of learners who lead traditional specialists once again. And then grade six it would be 80 minutes of ELA, 60 minutes of math, 60 minutes of science, 40 minutes of social studies, 40 minutes per week of innovation lab, and 40 minutes of learners who lead with the traditional specials taking place again. And now up to Dr. Harris. All right. I don't know if anybody ever asks what are the budgetary considerations, but that's my favorite part. So um what budgetary considerations and curriculum alignment projects will need to be considered if this plan is approved. Uh as expressed already but I will go through this again. Um curriculum

052alignment for uh project based learning and project lead the way in grade four learners who lead for grades five and six innovation lab for grades five and six and science for grades four and five. I think the thing to note here is we are truly ensuring that all students regardless of their building benefit from engaging and rigorous academic experiences that really put them in a place to be ready for real real world as we've said multiple times uh things that are going to occur. So budget considerations um we will need to make sure that this we are providing a budget and there are materials for the uh lead program at Jack Abrams and innovation lab at Woodall. Um there will be various curriculum alignment projects that will occur. Um there as expressed I always like

053to say potential savings um in the area of transportation and efficiencies due to schooltoome proximity. Um, there will also be additional club stipens. Um, and also things to mention in regards to things that could occur is we may need to hire an additional grade 4 dual language teacher at Jack Abram STEM in the 2026 2027 school year. And in the two subsequent years to continue the program through grade six, we may need to hire one certified bilingual teacher at Wood Hall to support the expansion of dual language in the sixth grade during the 2026 2027 school year. Um, and this will replace the current world language teacher that works at Woodall. And as always, as we talk about during budget season, positions may be absorbed due to retirements. What is the potential cost savings on

054transportation in the 2028 2029 school year based on the proposed plan? You will see as of the current well not current anymore because it's now 2526 as of today. But as of last school year um there was 17 buses assigned to Jack Abrams and 19 buses that are currently assigned to Wood Hall. uh the number of buses for the 2028 2029 we are anticipating each building uh going down by three. So you will see the approximate annual savings totaling 581,360.14 and then you will also see here the potential after school buses two times a week at four buses. So $4,47756 per month. Uh things to note here is that the data is based on the 2024 2025 school year. And other things to note is uh the electric bus mandate as well as any contractual

055pieces that are forthcoming. One other thing that I did want to mention that was um brought up was in regards to the difference in the per pupil spend at Wood Hall verse Jack Abrams STEM. I think the item to note um is the per pupil spend is going to be dependent when you look at a total dollar amount based on the number of students that are in the building as well as the programs that are being provided. So any support services that are necessary um including the fact that with the dual language program there are additional expenditures that happen there um in providing textbooks and other materials. Um so that's been taken into consideration. And the other thing to note uh because I did a really deep dive in this is New York State constantly

056changes the way in which we report our financial information. If you were to go on the New York State data website, there is a significant difference between um ESSA reporting as of 2324 and ESSA reporting as of 2022. And that is just based on the way the state now requires us to put the information out there. So, um, some of it is not apples to apples, some of it's apples to oranges or apples to not fruit at all. Um, but I did do some deep deep diving into that. Now, back to Superintendent McCoy. So, the revised next steps and timeline, um, review feedback and make adjustments. That what that's what we're in the process of doing now. Uh we've moved the potential adoption of the revised plan to September 8th um after the school year

057starts. Um and then the reason why we would need to do that in September is because in order to roll something out the following year, we really need a full calendar year to do all of the work that this will take to roll out. Um so if it's after September 8th, we really wouldn't have enough time to roll it out in the 2627 school year, but we did push it back as far as we could to give a little bit more time for feedback. Um, so we would need to start in the fall to start the curriculum alignment and planning and then the potential plan implementation would be in the fall of 2026. So we really truly expect this to be a foundation for the future. Um, it really raises the bar by uniting the

058strengths of both buildings for one powerful experience where every student receives access to the highest quality dynamic instruction offered at the intermediate level. It provides innovation for every learner with regard to science, inquiry based instruction, civic readiness, crosscurricular integration and the real world relevance and forwardinking practices. Um it will help to stretch our high achieving students while also supporting those who need additional scaffolding making sure that every child thrives. Um students will engage with project-based learning and project lead the way activities with authentic learning that builds critical thinking, communication and collaboration which are the skills that employers are looking for in our students. A lot of times it's not just about the courses you take but it's really about your ability to communicate with others, work with others, and critically think and solve problems that

059now AI can't solve for our employers. Um, we believe that this will allow all of our intermediate learners to emerge as confident, capable individuals who are ready to lead in school, in their families, and across the Huntington community. And we believe this forwardinking model will allow us to build an intermediate program that other schools on Long Island and other districts on Long Island will really wish that they had in their districts. Do we have any questions from the board? Yeah. Um, okay. I've got a couple of questions and some comments. Um, and you might have covered this in the last one. So, first search, uh, Mr. Cusack. So, uh, where are you? Um, they they need to qualify in three out of four of those categories, correct? So, for example, and that's how it is

060now, right? If they don't say do well on the OSAD, but yet they have the teacher recommendations and the other scores, they're fine to get into search. One of the issues we had years ago was with some parents or some students that perhaps didn't take the nice three through eight test. We did not want to exclude them from an opportunity. So that's why there's three out of four categories. Yeah. I remember back when my kids were at that age, it was kind of fuzzy how they determined who was going to get in because I know the OLSAT was a little bit controversial. It was a different type of test. So that was always one of the ones that um parents were worried about. So, I'm glad that, you know, that's not like a beall end

061all requirement for search. Um, sorry, I'm just going through my list. Uh, Lego League. So, that how do you get into Lego League? Is that that's a um application process or you're chosen for that? There's a current criteria. It would be the same criteria that's used now um in the sixth grade here. Okay. Um, so what was the current and I believe you did say this in the last presentation. What was the current timing of the learners who lead time blocks and innovation lab? Weekly for both 40 minutes similar to what it Okay. So that's going to be the same in the new program as well. Okay. Um, for learners who lead it's weekly at at Wood Hall and for the innovation lab it's weekly as well. if it I could be off by 20

062minutes. Maybe with Innovation Lab that is possible. Um but it is a weekly experience for students. And the schedules that we put up it did say subject to change because we may adjust the timing a bit in fourth, fifth or sixth grade. Um I I had wanted to put like more of a about because sometimes it may be a 60-minute lesson, sometimes it may be a 40-minute lesson. So there may be adjustments to that. Um but it was weekly. Okay. So that that's kind of it for my questions. I just had a couple of comments. If it's okay if I just like open it up to discussion. Um so I love this plan. I'm really excited about it. I think um seeing all of the different amazing programs that are currently happening in both buildings

063to be able to say, "Well, my child will now get both of those." It's like we're taking the best of both schools and offering it to every child instead of making them choose and then be thus forth pigeon hold into a certain area that they may not necessarily be ready to make that decision that that's where they want to go into and then also miss out on those other amazing opportunities at the alternative building. So that's the primary reason why I'm thrilled with this. Um I also wanted to just talk about the grandfathering piece of it. Um, I know you mentioned at the last meeting that you were going to consider extending it. Personally speaking, and it's just my own opinion. I'm not um a big fan of the grandfathering in general. I mean, the

064way you have it now or if you have a student currently and then you you'd extend it, that's fine, but going beyond that, I don't know if I would be in full support of that. And I just feel like I had one child that went to each, one child went to Woodall, one child went to STEM, and the first child went to Woodall. had amazing relationships, amazing experience. Um, and then at STEM, we had the same just as equally amazing. The relationships with the teachers, with the staff, the principal were just as great. And now to have that bigger dugout to draw upon um different experiences, I think was really solid for us. So, I just would want to encourage people um you know not to be afraid of maybe giving their child a different

065experience than their previous child had if in fact you do have one child that's at one school and you were thinking about sending them to the same school. My other concern with that is if for example you have one child that's currently at STEM and then you're thinking of keeping them grandfathered and staying at Jack Abrams. they you're then prioritizing the relationships that you already have at your existing building over the relationships that you would have with your cohort of peers. So my concern would be you're then sending that child on a different bus to a different building with or the same building that you're comfortable with but completely new set of peers. So that would be my concern as well that if parents did choose to do that they the child might then feel

066like they're in a whole new situation. They lost all their friends that are at the previous school. So that was just one thing I just wanted to bring up um in public record. Can I just comment on that? Um I think you know the the original plan was that for the you know three years it would be that would be the time but I think we also understand and from feedback from the community. A lot of parents have made this decision for their kindergartenner already or they have an incoming kindergartenner that they've already decided, you know, if they're going into dual language or not because maybe they wanted to have the STEM experience and we understand that those decisions were made for siblings, right? So I might have a fourth grader and a pre-K or

067a fourth grader and a first grader. So we just wanted to give them some additional flexibility to make that determination on their own. We will naturally cohort the children together, but we will have a dedicated email address for parents to send their requests to that we would review and consider and discuss with them just to provide them with a level of flexibility because we do know that for some that may have, you know, two, three kids that, you know, they they maybe really did have a great establishment of a relationship with the building principal and the teachers and they're more comfortable in one place or another. And we know that this, you know, change is hard and we wanted to give some flexibility there. But I do understand exactly what you're saying. I think it's

068fantastic that you are doing that for the parents that want that. I just wanted to express my experience personally and sort of where I was my head was at with that. Um and then one my final question um the innovation lab and learners who lead does the second year build upon the curriculum from the first year for for some for innovation lab a lot of it is foundational in one year and builds upon and some of it is very new and new skills based on the grade bands of the computer science um the computer science standards for the learners who lead program it's more about self and then building and then community so it's kind of like building upon those skills that you've learned in the first year and that's still again these are things

069that we're going to look at when we revise the curriculum and do that curriculum align and so I don't want to marry into any one thing because things may be adjusted throughout but the the guideline would be that they would have those two programs weekly. Great. Okay, that's all I got. Thank you. Great questions, Kelly. Anyone else? Yeah, I had a couple of questions. Um, first up, I just want to thank you for including the uh New York State standards alignment for all the uh curriculum that's going to be infused into the classes. Um, I had a question with that regard. So, with the project based learning uh project lead the way that uh is being integrated into curriculum in grade four, what is t what is that taking the place of that exists now?

070Pushed in through science and or social studies likely. So it would depend on the content area. So usually if there's let's say there's 40 minutes per day of science, it might be one of the science periods or one of the social studies periods or it could be an RTI period. So if there are pullouts, that's also an option. So again, we're we have to be a little bit flexible with the schedule because some students have more pullouts than other students based on the services that they receive. Okay. Um, but it would not be ELA or math content. So, it's kind of enhancing the current uh social studies science curriculum that we have. Correct. Okay. And what about the uh flex at Wood Hall? I noticed that that's not going to be offered this upcoming year

071if the plan goes through 256, right? What is that would allow students the opportunity to start to explore the language that they would take in sixth grade? if the plan goes through, they wouldn't be taking the language in sixth grade. So, they wouldn't have that flex time. That's not something that starts at the beginning of September, I don't believe. So, it's not something that's why we were able to move it to September, but we couldn't move it too much further beyond that. Okay. The the So, they're not the current or the incoming fifth graders are not losing anything this school year. Well, if if this plan is approved on September 8th, they would not have that flex because that's really to prepare for the language in sixth grade, which would not happen. So, it it

072will depend upon the approval, I guess, is my question. They would be getting the innovation lab, then the learners who lead in fifth and sixth grade the following school year. Okay. Okay. And um to kind of piggyback off of Kelly's question about search, um can students qualify to enter search in sixth grade? I think that that's something that they can qualify for math Olympiads in sixth grade if they didn't enter in in fifth grade. I believe we do an additional test in the spring. Um, so I can actually speak to that because my daughter got pulled into search for ELA in like the second quarter this year in sixth grade. So, yes. Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to thank you. I know that this is a big hall, a

073big undertaking. Um, I know that a lot of thought has gone into this. I am in support of this um restructuring. I think when you look at what is being removed from each school as compared to what each student will now get um in my mind it's a very clear decision. Um I think that the uh this has been a need just from a historical perspective having two children who went through the dual language program who did not have the opportunity to have STEMlike experiences or collaborative project-based learning. Um, I can truly say that this is kind of the best of both worlds. Um, and I don't really uh really see any downsides um to this program at all. Um, I think it increases equity for all students. It really, as you said, is kind

074of putting us at the forefront of having a very dynamic, robust, uh, academic offering for all of our students. Um, so I just wanted to thank you for all the work that you've done on this and uh, we appreciate it. Um, one of the things, um, I do really appreciate is taking the time to listen to what people were saying both in their Google Google Form responses, also the meetings, uh, that we've had. And I know that not although people, we certainly, I think you made the case to really try to make everyone aware of what was going on. I understand that some people didn't, but um, I really appreciate how uh, you folks uh, took a look at some of the concerns that were being led forward. And I know in the last meeting

075people were discussing um at what caused kind of what uh John was saying before about you know what uh curriculum might or might not being uh lost. And if you take a look at I think it was slide 15 or something about these possible schedules. Um one of the concerns I had when I brought my children uh when our children went to uh STEM was the fact that uh there was a little bit of a there was a loss of time with science and math. There was a loss of time for social studies. And looking at the schedule now, what you can see is that you know maybe to some older parents including myself where curriculum was put in these silos of math, science, social studies, English that these programs that you have put forward,

076there's time allotted for uh a crossover uh and an intersection and dubtail of of this curriculum not just by chance but it's you know with intent and a lot of these um uh skill sets and a lot of the curriculum it's like a two for one deal. I mean, what you're being able to pack into this curriculum as compared to what would be in most schools normal school day is uh it's quite a bit. And I guess uh I just wanted to kind of point that out for a lot of folks who, you know, there's a lot to digest here. So, you know, I appreciate the effort that you put forward and, you know, just looking at the possible schedules you have here, you can really understand uh, you know, that no one's being shortch

077changed on this. Yeah. and not a question but a comment. I just want to speak in support of um the learners who lead program. I know it's newer and not everybody knows it very well, but my daughter and all her peers participated in it this year. They were in the sixth grade, so they were the group that got it every week throughout the school year. And every kid I know really enjoyed it. They did have wonderful hands-on experiences. And there are things that the kids did this year that I can't say for sure are a direct outgrowing of that. But I know of a group of kids that put together a bake sale where they raised a few hundred dollars that they talked about some of the things that came up in learners who lead.

078Um so there's been projects of that nature where kids I'm already seeing them take on leadership projects within the community outside of the program even because the program's given them a level of confidence. Yeah, I think Jenna part of what the learners who lead program I think does is really gives you more of a global world view, right? And that there's a community outside of your house in your school building. Um, and I love that it gives like a three-pronged approach where you can sort of choose your path of who you're going to help. Um, and really at the end of the day, it's about helping those around you, your community, your support system. So I think it's a wonderful thing. Uh becoming a global citizen now more than ever is is really important. So

079um I'm excited about it. Okay. I also wanted to echo the same sentiments of um the programs and I also want to thank the entire team for all their work and the chiseling away at this and and listening to the community and and the feedback. It's been it's been really a lot of work and I know that you've been listening to everyone um to make the best program for our students. So, thank you. I just have a couple of questions. Um the dual language high school data you indicated that number of DL students that enrolled in two world world language classes concurrently in Huntington High School is zero. Did that take into account Latin? I believe it took into account all languages. Yes. Okay. the and that came from a question that was really why

080are we moving it to a year later because the purpose is to have kids take a language for longer so we wanted to look at that data to show whatever the data showed exactly um and that was what it showed makes sense yes and then the math olympiads I see that you're offering it after school I saw some buses some after school buses is that for the math olympiads and any other after school programs which is kind of relates to something ATTH had been telling us in some of the roundts that we had is that they were asking for after school buses which I think would after school buses take on a huge life of their own. However, if we have specific programmatic buses, it's something that we may be able to include in the

081budget in the future with the savings that we would be getting from reducing six big buses to having buses for those two particular programs. It's something we would certainly explore. I cannot promise that as a definitive yes, but it's something that if we did, based on the numbers we have now, I believe it was about $4,400 a month to provide two bus uh to provide busing twice a week for those two particular programs. That would be about $45,000 per year. That's great. Um I know that no decision is to be made by us today. We obviously are in support of what is going on, but this is highly ambitious. I mean, this is incredible what you guys are doing. Uh, I know that you put a lot of time into it. I know you put

082a lot of effort into it. I know that your approach, your presentations have been transparent, um, inclusive of every idea. I applaud you for what you've done. I I want to thank you all for for the effort that you put into it. I was in in attendance at the community meeting that uh, was held a couple weeks ago, but I did get emails, texts, and conversations from those that did not get up and speak. And those were highly motivational. They were highly uh supportive. I didn't get a single text, message or conversation with a parent that was opposed to it. Um I understand that this is going to be change, right? And with any change, there might be some resistance. There might be some hiccups, but I applaud you for taking this on. It's the

083right approach. It's the right thing for our district. It's highly ambitious, and I know what you're looking to do. You're just trying to make this a great district. You're trying to make it the district that we've all as board members envisioned it would be. We want it to to be a better district. You're doing what we're asking you to do and and I applaud you for it. Um and I thank you for what you're doing and um you've got my support. I think it's creative. It's an innovative plan. It provides for many opportunities, not just for a few, but for all because that's what this is about. This is about everybody. It's about every single student in this district needs a chance. Every one of those kids is a diamond in the rough. And if

084we attach the program, we attach the teacher, the mentor to to shine these students, you'd be surprised how many diamonds we get out of out of this district. So, thank you. Thank you very much. And I'm so sorry to to step in again, but I I did want to just because I'm hearing some snickering from from the audience, I do feel the need to say that when we sit up here as a board, what we are thinking about is the entire district and what is best for the most amount of students. And I do realize that at times change can be difficult. Um I had two kids go through Woodall and they both had vastly different experiences. I think what the most important thing at the end of the day as parents that we can

085do for our children is to make them understand that change is inevitable and not all change is bad. And it is how we frame for our children our lives and our scenarios and our situations. You can make it terrible or you can make it encouraging and positive. And so I would just ask the community, I know that some people are going to see this as a challenge, but this truly is what is best for all of the students in our district. Well, thank you all for your comments. Um I really do want to first commend my cabinet um Dr. Harris, Mr. Hender, and Mr. Cuz um for putting up with me for the past year um while we started these conversations and really worked through every potential you know unintended consequence pitfall issue that would

086come up. I would like to thank our principles who have been a part of this process, our directors that have been a part of this process. We've had so many meetings about it. Some with very you know you know in a timely manner just because we wanted to get more information out um that the community asked for. And I would like to thank the community. Um I know sometimes, you know, people think, well, negative feedback is bad. Um we want to make the best decisions possible. And if all people are saying is great, great great, you know, that's not really challenging us to do every single thing we can do that will meet the needs of every decision that we make or or the best decisions for that we we could possibly make. So I

087I do thank everyone for their feedback. Um we have really tried to be as transparent as possible, get as much information, take in the feedback. Not everything was able to be changed exactly the way it was requested, but we did make some significant changes um to the plan that was presented on June 2nd. Um and we will be posting this. The reason why there is a lot of text on some of these slides is because if people aren't necessarily at a board meeting or listening to a board meeting, we wanted the content to be as accessible as possible. I know that normally you would keep slides to a minimum with the amount of verbiage on there, but we did want to provide as much as possible for those who are not able to attend. Um,

088and we also did move the vote uh back to September, which was also something that was requested by the community. So, I thank everyone. Um, and uh, and I think that's it for tonight. All right, moving on to policy 7316, use of internet enabled devices during the school day. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education adopt draft board policy 7316 use of internet enabled devices during the school day. Uh I'm going to ask that we make a motion to bypass the first read. Have a motion to bypass first read. Second by Annie. All in favor? That's everyone. And then we'll vote on the motion itself. Can I have a motion John? Second by Teresa. All in favor? That's everyone. All right. And then moving on to curriculum and

089instruction. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve CSSE CPSC submissions as delineated. Okay. I have a motion please. Jenna one Tom two. All in favor? That's everyone. It is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve the school comprehensive education plan also known as a SEP which will serve as the DIP which is the district-wide plan uh as per NICED allowances. I have a motion please first by Teresa second by Annie. All in favor? I have a a description if you want to hear. Okay. Um, so the the school comprehensive education plan uh for Finley Middle School was developed in compliance with the protocols set forth by the New York State Education Department for schools that fall within the TSI accountability designation.

090This plan will be in effect for the 2526 school year and it will also serve as the district comprehensive improvement plan. DEIP also uh allowed by NICE for the plan to to act in both regards. The plan was developed over the course of eight meetings with a team of teachers, administrators, and parents at Finley as well as through focus groups uh in discussion with students. The plan outlines an instructional and a non-instructional area of focus for the coming year. Specifically, the activities of the plan seek to enhance teacher stu uh teacherto student feedback and tracking of student progress. uh continuation and expansion of restorative practices and research and development in the area of project-based learning initiatives. That's the sum total of of the plan. Great. Questions, comments? All in favor? That's everyone. Personnel. It is

091upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve personnel items on schedules 1 3 4 5 6 8 13 15 16 17 19 and 22. Can I have a motion, please? Teresa 1, Annie 2. All in favor? All right. I have several announcements. Um, first and foremost, uh, the board has just, uh, allowed for Dr. Gretchen Rodney to serve as the director of K through 12 ELA and reading. Welcome to Huntington. You'll love it here. [Applause] Additionally, uh, we just appointed Dr. Robert Wadawa, director of fine and performing arts. We look forward to the great things you will do as well. Welcome aboard. And as of right now, this is the first time that uh on July 1, knock on wood, we have hired all of our probationary appointments. Um, so

092I'm going to go through uh some of those wonderful people. We have Marissa Amato serving as a speech. Uh, she's in the back over there. Welcome aboard. We have Ryan Castanza, who's going to be a mathematics teacher. Welcome, [Applause] Kristen Federici, who served as a DRS, who is now going to be a science teacher at Fley Middle School. Camila Philippo, who will be serving as an elementary teacher at Jefferson Primary School. Amanda Jenkins, who will be serving as an elementary teacher at Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School, Briana Kelly, who will be a science teacher at uh J. Taylor Finley Middle School. We have Sophia Little, who served in a few leave replacement capa capacities this past school year, who uh was just appointed as an elementary teacher at Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School. Kristen Maguire,

093who uh served in some leave replacement capacities as an RTI math teacher, who will now serve as an RTI math teacher uh for next school year in a probationary capacity. We have Megan Pembbrook, who will serve as a life skills teacher at South Down Primary School. Jaclyn Toman, who did a leave replacement for us this past year in English at Huntington High School, who's just appointed as an English teacher for next year. welcome. And we have Samantha Vita Guavaro, who was just appointed to work as an elementary teacher at Jefferson Primary School. We also have a few uh part-time uh hires for next school year. We have Denise Delgado, who is an actual alumni of Huntington High School, who will serve as a special education 0.4 four teacher at Huntington High School as well as

094Olivia Rouse who uh this past school year serves as a daily recurring sub who is now going to be a 0.2 art teacher at Jack Abram STEM Magnet School. [Applause] Additionally, we have some leave replacements. We have Julie Cook who will serve as a music teacher at Flower Hill in Washington. And we have Eric Coell who will serve uh who is a daily recurring sub this past school year at Finley Middle School who will now be a fullyear leave replacement at social studies teacher at Finley Middle School. So welcome aboard to everybody. [Applause] Right now we move on to business. Dr. Harris, it is upon recommendation from the superintendent of schools that the board of education approve business items I through O. Can I have a motion please? Tom one, Jenna 2. All in favor?

095That's everyone. Vice President Sullivan, we have some very generous donations. Um, first I would like to thank Miss Allison Dennis along with her family and friends. They're presenting a donation in the amount of $26,000 600 $26,690.99 to credit the Amy Leaggar uh worth memorial scholarship fund within the expendable trust account. We also have a donation from uh Miss Carol Anne Dao. Uh she's presenting $1,000 to credit the Frank Lizo Memorial Scholarship Fund. We appreciate that. Um of course, SEPTA always being generous uh supporting our uh Woodhole um students and teachers with uh four $125 Visa gift cards. Um those were in response to a grant that was applied for and these donations will be used during community based field trips um in the Huntington Commons Shopping Center. And finally, also for Woodh Hall, um the

096Suffach County Soil and Water Conservation District is presenting a donation of $1350 to Woodall. um they were selected to receive this award for their garden-based learning uh initiative at uh Woodh Hall which focuses on composting and um a composting project through the Suffach County Agriculture in the classroom. Um so thank you for your donations. At this moment we will open up public commentary uh a second time. Same rules apply. Uh you're welcome to come up to the podium. I will be the timer for public commentary. It's uh three minutes. I'll just give you a quick 30 second uh warning when you have about 30 seconds left. Good evening everybody. My name is Kim Summers. Um, I spoke at the last meeting. I am the parent of a rising third grader who's going into fourth grade

097at Jack Abrams as well as a soon-to-be sixth grader who's been at Jack Abrams as well. So here's a a couple of things is we're talking about transparency and you know having all these conversations and the reality is most of us have not been aware of this plan until the June 2nd meeting. Um so the fact that we're not really getting an opportunity to be heard, we're not getting an opportunity to have comments is very concerning. There's a lot of questions, there's a lot of concern. I mean there are some really great parts of this plan without a doubt. there are great things that need to be to be done, but you're not telling us a lot of the information. For example, there were a couple times where you've said there's more opportunities um that

098we want to make sure every student thrives from every community, access to the same enriching opportunities. Um, I believe there was a comment that it's the best of both worlds, but the reality is you're showing a schedule of a proposed schedule for the fourth grade, but you're not comparing it to what they're having now. It's that that's the lack of transparency that's a bit concerning is, you know, you talk about giving students at Woodall more opportunities and giving them STEM opportunities. That's great. They absolutely should have that and we should be in line with New York State standards. However, what's happening is that while woodall students and dual language students are getting all of these opportunities, you're taking a lot away from the students that are not in dual language. So, when you show that

099schedule, it's a little bit disingenuous to say that we're getting the same opportunities, that there's been collaboration with parents. The reality is that for Jack Abram students, they currently have math and science double periods twice a week. That is not on that proposed schedule. They are going to lose that in order to get the project-based learning. They currently have innovation lab in fourth grade. They're going to lose that. They're no longer going to have access to that. They're also going to have innovation lab in fifth grade only for two terms. Now I understand that that's twice a week for two terms but you're still removing that option from these students. You talk about you know that we want to give again every child an opportunity to thrive. There are a lot of students that are

10030 seconds left very interested in science and engineering and you're taking that opportunity to keep that child engaged because they love math and science. You're taking away math opportunities, taking away science, and you're taking away innovation lab. You're making very significant changes to schedules in a way that those children also deserve to have an engaging environment and to be provided with classes that align with what their interests are so that they stay engaged. So, I I ask you to please slow this down, talk to community members, and come up with a way that we really can have the best of both worlds. You have a framework, but it needs tweaking. Thank you. I'm going to give you just a 30 second warning when your time. Yeah, that's fine. Um, good evening. Most of you know

101who I am. My name is Anina Monty Savvada. I am a Finley parent, a STEM parent, and a Southtown parent. Um, I'm an active community member. I'm a PTA member, and I am clearly a loudmouth. Um, I am going to start off by saying that I'm actually very disappointed in the board of education tonight, not in the superintendent and her cabinet. For each of you to sit up there and to express your personal and emotional feelings in order to support a plan that isn't even fully realized is disappointing as a community member and a voter, you're not keeping your open mind open to the feedback that you might be getting from the community. Furthermore, you're automatically assuming that any person standing up here in a position of dissent is a person who is emotional or

102that is a person who is somehow trying to advocate against the community as a greater whole. And I resent that seeing as I'm up here expressing a position of dissent. I would like to thank you, Miss McCoy. You, Mr. Hender, Dr. Harris, you clearly heard what we said during our community meeting. you've incorporated some pacing and a slowdown in considering and implementing this. I appreciate that you did that and I also appreciate that you have kept your mind open to the comments and the criticisms that have come from the community. I do not know how many people are actually logged on to the YouTube channel, but I wonder if that's something that you can see. I know not everybody can be here in person. I also know that based upon 170 responses, you have made

103a conclusion that 60% of the people who have responded and therefore 60% of the community that this will affect are in favor of the proposal. But 170 people is not even half of the enrollment of the South Down Primary School, which would be impacted by this change. So I don't think that you're getting an accurate representation of how the community feels. I am not standing up here simply to criticize you. I want to be clear that I'm telling you at no point am I suggesting that you should not enhance the curriculum in both buildings. Woodhole children deserve the same education, the same enhancement and enrichment as STEM children do. This is not a question of pitting one building against the other. It's a question of what is the best way for us to enhance the

104curriculum for everybody that goes to Huntington School District. I think that the fact that we're taking away world language from the STEM building demonstrates that in order for you to be offering an enhancement in the curriculum in the wood building, what you're really doing is dismantling the STEM programming. And that's what you're seeing the objection is raised to. You're not enriching it. I'm not convinced that you are riching enriching the actual environment. I'm solutionsoriented. I'm not done. I am solutionsoriented and therefore I ask you to pace this program and roll it out in phases. This is a community respectfully ask it's you get three minutes. Okay, but I'm going to keep going. So, this is a community where there are plenty of stakeholders that want to be part of the conversation and and I know

105you don't like us right now, but time's up. Mr. Palasios, I appreciate you and I really do appreciate everything that this board of ed does, but you've spent more time interrupting me in the last minute than allowing me to make my final point. And my final point is this. This is an ambitious plan, which is what you said. In order for you to really roll it out properly, it needs to be done in phases. It cannot be done quickly. It's too ambitious. It's of a magnitude that is going to disrupt and dismantle the entire curriculum. Prove it first and then unroll it. That's what I want to say. Thank you. Hi, my name is Connor. a parent of a kindergartener in Washington primary with bachelor's in Spanish, masters in international business. I just want to

106echo the sentiment that I've heard uh from the previous two ladies about uh I don't see a lot of criteria for success. I see a lot of this is what we're going to do. It sounds good. We think it's going to work, but I don't see any benchmarks. I don't see any criteria of yes, we're going to stop halfway through and you know survey the parents, survey the students. What do they think? I don't see any plans for datadriven decisions based on the success criteria and the benchmarks that have been done before. As the the lady before said, compare and contrast what we have now versus where are we going. I don't see a great plan for that either. It's all about, well, this is what we're going to do. we think it's going to

107work, but to be frank, a lot of the results that I've seen, especially in the foreign language program, is very disappointing. And as a as a bilingual speaker myself, a native English speaker, uh I have a lot of concerns that there's not a lot of data and benchmarks being used to drive a lot of these decisions. And by the time that you go through and say, well, how did it work next year? Right, it's going to be too late. as the lady before me said with the phases. I think that's a great idea. Let's take smaller steps. Let's have more specific success criteria and then we can try to have this instrumental change which I by the way I think it is a great idea. I think you guys are on the right track. I'm

108just a little bit concerned of what are the steps along the way that we're going to measure success and how do we incorporate the feedback. Uh as as the lady previously said, we only have 170 respondents. That's not enough. We need more data, more people engaged, and you know, whatever that takes to get there, let's make that part of the plan as well. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, my name is Taja Safari and um we have a child in kindergarten, Washington going to first grade. I first want to thank you, especially Dr. Paris, you included the numbers for the budget of the buses and what it saves. Just um this is just a comment based on what is the total number, which I believe is over $12 million. Maybe there needs to be a conversation

109on how we can change how we're paying for the busing. That's a huge number of uh having that contract. And then I'm going to move on and mention that uh as the first uh person or second person mentioned uh I do not appreciate equating uh criticism uh with not caring. I'm a bilingual scientist and I did my PhD in my second language. So I understand the importance of both uh the curriculums that are being offered both the science part and both the importance of being able to speak another language. That's where a lot of my concerns are arising from and I have a very um um I would like to see data as my husband mentioned. I don't see that. I have a problem with the uh instead of offering a second language earlier based

110on what the data proves. Uh we are not we are getting rid of it moving it to kindergarten. I understand the um scoring problems. That's a different uh point than completely not offering it till middle school. That's very late. Um and I also have concern about uh how the science being offered. I'm not very clear on how we're going to do projectbased is very broad. I don't know how what's happening in the science classes. What are how are going to the labs work going forward? Are you offering any labs beside the hands-on projects? Uh, I have a I I'm glad that we are going to meet the computer science criteria. I'm a little surprised that we weren't. If that was if I misunderstood that, I'm sorry. But again, in this day, we are in 2025.

111We would like to claim our district is going to be one of the top in Long Island or Suffach County. I would just like to cautious of us of claiming that considering we have really top school district on Long Island and uh try to become one of the top ones and I second what my husband mentioned. I think I think a five-year revisit, a 10-year revisit when the students are in middle school, then you have two classes of graduating from high school is a great way of revisiting the results of these uh plans uh and showing I don't know I Dr. McCoy said not everybody takes the uh state exams last time. I understand that but what are you going to look at? What are the what how are you comparing? This is what we

112had and this is where we are now. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Megan Cuomo. I am the parent of three children in the district. Um, one is entering ninth grade. One will be entering sixth grade at STEM and the other is entering third. So, it would be her grade that would be affected um by this plan and change of curriculum and she would um be going to Woodh Hall based on where we live. I didn't plan on speaking tonight. I'm trying to compose myself um to do so. I couldn't let this moment go by without um addressing though um what has been reported here in the slideshow about math olympiads because both of my sons um were in math olympiads. Um, my oldest was also on the math counts team at

113Finley. Um, and I wanted to share with you a recent email that we got through parent square from Jessica Ravalto, the teacher of math olympiads. She wrote um to the parents of math olympiad students. Please click the following link to see our amazing endofear statistics. This was a record year for our Huntington Math Olympiads and I couldn't be more proud of each and every student. Um then when you click on the link to the statistics it states that students from both Woodh Hall Intermediate School and Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School participated in Mathlad's program this year. Students who earned awards rank among the best mathematicians in their grade level. 75 of the 80 students participating ranked um and won awards for excellence within division E grades four through six. So, I keep hearing that these

114children are struggling in their regular math class. That is not my son's either of my son's experience. And I it's hard to believe that with 75 of the 80 kids participating um winning awards for excellence within the division that they are that those same students are struggling in their regular math class so as to move this to an afterchool club that's only twice a month instead of once a week that may not be accessible for these children that they may not have transportation. Even if you provide after school buses, there may be um conflicts in other uh after school activities that will not allow these children to participate. Um this was also the first year that the sixth grade won. They came in first place at the Suffach County Math Competition. The fifth grade placed

115fifth. I spoke to Mrs. Rzvalto about adding um AMC math. She was looking into adding a new math program that would make our district even more competitive. I don't think that these decisions are making our district more competitive. I don't think these decisions are what is best for all students in our district. I've not been explained yet what the inequities between the buildings are. I don't I think that the community needs much more information. Couldn't stay away. You couldn't stay away. You glutton for punishment. Oh, that's interesting. Over here, Michelle Castera, uh, parent of two recent graduates, 2022 and 2025. And this is more anecdotal, but um, both my children went to Woodh Hall. Um, one, my child who just graduated, uh, was a kindergartener that had half day kindergarten. I certainly, as a parent

116back then, didn't like that decision. Um, they both went to Woodall. One was afforded the uh, the 2025 grad afforded the opportunity to start their language in the fifth grade wheel and chose Latin. My 2022 child took Latin as well, but had to start in the seventh grade. If you asked me what the difference was, there was no difference. Um, except that the 2025 child did end up taking AP Latin this year and I I had to drag her to the finish line. When they get to the high school, there are so many opportunities and options. Um, I don't know any Latin student this year, and I think there were five or four that took a second language. When my daughter was in fifth grade, we sat through a presentation and they said they will

117have an opportunity to take a second language. There was no opportunity to take a second language. Not because the district didn't provide it, because children are taking other opportunities, an extra science class. My daughter took computer science and a math class as a ninth grader. So I I think that the thought process on the language piece at Woodthull has been very thought out. I know as a parent a couple of years ago when I think she was in 10th grade said it's not doing at least in the peer group that I saw it's not doing what the district had intended it to do. So I applaud you for reversing that and going back. the same thing, not the same with STEM and Woodhull, but when we went to um we flipped algebra and geometry and

118then we looked at the data and now we flipped it flipped it back because we're looking at how students are are um performing and it's it's all students. I can talk about my children taking Latin. Another speaker can talk about child in math Olympiad, but that's that's in a a small cohort. We have to look at everyone. And my daughter, one of my daughters did math olympiad. When she got to Finley, I wanted her to do math counts. She loved math. She just chose not to do it. I know last year at the high school there were three students participating in math leagues. Three students. So, thank you for for looking at at that language piece. I applaud you for continuing on making those changes. I know when my children were in Woodall, there was

119a lot of conflict between parents. I think my school is better than your school and and we need to eliminate that because the community now with children getting the same experience I think we'll see um better opportunities. Thank you. Thank you. I think we hi u my name is Carrie Roscott. Hope all is well. Um, thank you everybody for all of the details tonight and giving more information. Um, I just want to reego something. I'm very invested this because I now have a fifth grader at STEM next year, a fourth grader at STEM, and a kindergartenner at Jefferson. Um, when we look to buy a home in Huntington before having children, the STEM school was actually I'm I'm in education for the last 21 years. I serve as a dean at a neighboring high school.

120Um, was all the rave. So, this building has gotten a lot of p positive publicity for years and years and years. Um, my oldest was born with a speech delay, has had surgeries, and STEM has been such a blessing for him because he has thrived with Innovation Lab in fourth grade and the math and had a wonderful teacher this year that really kind of guided him in that science path. And so I don't think it's a competition and that's really just what made me get up over what's the better school. I think one of the unique things about Huntington is the diversity and how you have two schools that really help all of your students. And if we can take the greatness of both of them and give them to everybody, let's do it. But

121I don't think it's fair to also sit up there when you're not in this position who have children that are going to be affected by it. Um this was a big decision that we let our children choose, my husband and I, when they walked in this building. We went to both schools. this is where they felt like they belonged. And on the new resoning, which really isn't a resoning, um my third will not be here unless he is grandfathered in, which I guess is also a problem for some board members. Um however, I do appreciate you, Miss McCoy, thinking of all of these things for a family. I just think that we need more data and I'm very concerned with this current fourth grade group coming in um and the data that we we're not

122seeing. What's going to happen to them? Where are these benchmarks? And it's not just this fourth grade, it's your current third grade, your current second grade, this implementation phase. What's happening to them? Are we guaranteeing smaller class sizes? Because I understand that you're showing those numbers. I will tell you, I spoke last year, about a year ago here, my children have been in class sizes of 25 kids, even ICT classes. The class sizes are huge. So what are we doing to guarantee that this little group of nuggets who started school during COVID in plastic cages are not falling further behind? And it just as an educator um also to the teachers we we hire teachers for certain buildings for certain reasons. I sit in interview committees all year long and now even for them I

123just hope everyone's realizing these teachers come in every single day to be the parents for us in the school and their schedules might get switched. There's so much craziness right now and I just think we need more guarantee benchmarks data and how we're ensuring that all of the children in Huntington grades right now really first through your fifth grade next year are going to be properly benchmarked and assessed to make sure they're not falling the cracks of this new plan. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? All right, we'll go to comments by board members. Um, I just want to say that um, we don't make up minds up here based on emotion or think that dissent is a bad thing. I'm an attorney. I I deal with descent on a daily basis. I sometimes go

124to descent sometimes before I read the opinion of a judge. I appreciate dissent. It's I'm not making a decision about anybody here. I I I thank you all for getting up here and telling us how you feel because you are invested in our district and because we do want your kids to succeed. So, we are making a decision today and we we do hear you. I want you to know that we do hear everyone here. Anyone else? If nothing else, I'd like a motion to adjurnn. Kelly, second by Jenna. All in favor? That's everyone. Thank you.