001[Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music]
002Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I'm [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I'm [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I'm [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Good evening. Do I have a motion to convene the July 2nd organization meeting of the Levittown Board of Education? Peggy. Peggy. Do I have a second? Phyllis. All in favor? 70. Before we take a motion to move to executive session,
003I am going to have uh Sharon Berlin, district uh council, just uh administer the oath of office to our two newly reelected board members, Christina Lang and Miss Peggy Morangi. So, Mr. Berlin, if you'd like to do that. Absolutely. You're going to need to stand anywhere you wish. Uh, yes. And you want to swear they first. Sure. If you could raise your right hand. I I state your name. Christina L. do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of office of trustee and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of trustee
004of the Levittown Union Free School District of the Levittown Union Free School District according to the best of my ability. according to the best of my ability. Thank you. Congratulations. [Music] I guess she wants us to start here. Yeah. [Music] Right in here [Music] sign here. Okay. Thank you. I will uh notoriize it when we go back in. I know. It's so boring. Summer. I hate it. [Music] But it's opened up. I need that. I can just recite it for you. Raise your right hand. I And state your name. I, Peggy Morangi. Oh, sorry. Hang on. Uh, do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New
005York and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of trustee and I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of trustee of the Levittown Union Free School District in the Levittown Union Free School District according to the best of my ability. according to the best of my ability. Congratulations. Thank you. Go ahead. Okay. May I have a motion to move into executive session for the purpose of discussing negotiations with Elsa and seek legal advice from the district's attorney? Maryanne, do I have a second? Phyllis. All in favor? 70. Thanks. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat.
006[Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat.
007Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Yeah. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat.
008Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat.
009[Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat.
010[Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I'm [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat.
011[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Good evening everybody. Uh we are going to start in just a second. Just waiting for one board member to come back. Just so everybody knows the order of events for tonight because we don't usually have recognitions on this meeting. Uh but because obviously we had some uh student athletes in playoffs, we uh want to have those recognitions tonight. In the beginning though, we do have a a brief um organizational meeting where you'll hear us adopting um a lot of uh resolutions. Those are related to appointing people for the year for different positions like asbestous management person and um data coordinators and things like that. So, just bear with us. Probably take about 15 or 20 minutes
012and then we'll be able to uh get to the uh regular meeting which is where we'll do our uh recognition. So, I appreciate your patience. Um but don't want you to think you're in the wrong place when we start saying all this other stuff. So, good. Good evening everyone. I would like to welcome you to the July 2nd organization meeting of the Levittown Board of Education. May I have a motion to reconvene the meeting? Phyllis, may I have a second? Peggy, all in favor? 70. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. May we please have a moment of silence to remember all those serving
013our country at home and overseas. Thank you. We will now move on to the public portion of our organization meeting. Our first item is 3.1 election of temporary chairperson. I nominate Phyis. I nominate Phyllis Dalton for the position of temporary chairperson. Is there a second? Jen. All in favor? Seven. Christina 70. Okay, now we turn the meeting over to the temporary chairperson, Miss Dalton. Yes. Yeah. Moving on. 3.2. We are moving on to 3.2. Appointment of district clerk. Uh, I, Maryanne, uh, move that Vanessa Espazito be appointed for the position of district clerk for the 2025 2026 school year as per the attached employment agreement and that Randy D. Ambrosio be appointed as uh, appointed to assistant district clerk. Is there a second? Mike. All in favor? 70. At this time, we're going to administer
014the oath of office to Vanessa to Mrs. Espazito. Sorry. Mhm. If you can uh raise your I think you turned it on. Yeah. If you can raise your right hand. I I state your name. Vanessa Espazito. do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of district clerk and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of district clerk of the Levittown Union for a school district according to the best of my ability. Congratulations. [Applause] Okay. Now on to 3.3. Election of president of the board of education. Uh
015I, Jennifer Msina, nominee Christina Lang for the position of president of the board of education. Okay. Is there a second? Peggy Morang. All in favor? Carried. 70. Congratulations. [Applause] That's it for me. We will now administer shortlived. You did great, Miss. We're going to administer the oath of office now to Miss Lang. Yes, we are. [Music] All right. Am I raising? If you can raise your right hand. Swear. I I state your name. Christina Lang. do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York. And that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of President of the Board of
016Education. and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of president of the board of education of the Levittown Union Free School District of the Levittown Union School of the Levittown Union Free School District according to the best of my ability. according to the best of my ability. Congratulations. Thank you. [Applause] Okay. Sergeant has Thank you. Um, the election of the first vice president of the board of education. I nominate Peggy Morang. Is there a second? Oh, sorry. That's me now. Yes, it is you. Mike. All in favor? Still me. 6. Um, okay. We'll administer the oath of office to um My name is Peggy. Mrs. Morangi. I turned the page too soon. Almost. Okay. Jimmy. Peggy. They're close. Thank you. Thank you. I state your name. I, Peggy Morangi, do solemnly swear
017do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of vice president and that I will faith faithfully discharge the duties of the office of vice president of the board of education of 11 Union Free School District of the board of education of the Levittown Freeze School District according to the best of my ability. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. Uh moving on to the election of the second vice president of the board of education. Oh, just kidding. We're signing. I'm still new. I uh Peggy Morangi nominate Jimmy Moran. Is there a second? Mike. All
018in favor? 70. Yep. Fabulous. I I and state your name. I, James Moran, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York. and the Constitution of the State of New York. and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of second vice president. And I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of second vice president of the board of education of the board of education of the Letown Union School District of the Levittown Union Free School District. According to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability. Thank you to do this one right. I don't know if I can do this. Well,
019she did that because that's last year. Okay. sign. Oh, we did that before. Okay. All right. Thank you very much and congratulations. I'm All right. And we're going to move on to 3.7. Items 3.7 to items 3.43. I James Moran make a motion to move items 3.7 to 3.43 as written. Is there a second? Maryann. All in favor? 70. Which one? I followed you. Yeah, we'll do it at the end. You told me to cross it. That was the old Okay, we're up to item 3.44, teacher center policy board leazison. Sure. Um, be it resolved that Phyllis Dalton and Michael Papis will be appointed as a uh representatives of the Levittown Board of Education to the Levittown Teacher Center Policy Board for the 2025 2026 school year. I would like to make that motion. Um,
020is there a second? James, all in favor? 70. Um, we'll move on to items 3.45 to items 3.65. Yeah. I move microphone. I move that resolutions 3.45 to 3.65 as written. Is there a second? Phyllis. All in favor? 70. What are we up to? You want me to do mine now? My oath. Should I say my I don't want to say I move to my last motion. Raise your right hand. I state your name. I, Todd Winch, do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and the Constitution of the State of New York and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office and schools and I
021will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of the superintendent of schools district of the Levittown Union Free School District according to the best of my ability. According to the best of my ability [Applause] [Music] Um, do I have a motion to adjourn to business meeting? Mike, uh, a second. James, all in favor? 70. Okay. Same thing right now. Start. Where's the screen? See after. Okay. So, welcome to the regular meeting, everybody. Do I have a motion to convene the July 2nd regular meeting of the Levittown Board of Education? Jen, do I have a second? Peggy. All in favor? 70. Turn it over to me. I'm going to turn it over to you, Mr. Winch. Thank you, Miss Lang. Um, again, congratulations to all of our uh board officers. Uh, that was phenomenal organizational meeting.
022I have to be honest with you. I mean, that was that was very very efficient. So, good work. Um, so tonight, uh, as I said before, we don't typically have, uh, recognitions at this time, but, uh, our athletes are just so amazing that, uh, they were still in playoffs when we had our last meeting. And so, we are going to recognize some of our, um, athletes in regards to spring track as well as in flag football. So I I am going to ask the board to take their places where they stand in front of the deis and I'm going to ask the principal of division high school, Mr. John Kasha, to please come on up to the front. [Music] Good. Right. Yeah. Great. Thank you. Good evening everybody. Um, since our last recognition meeting for
023spring athletics, our spring track team has went on to accomplish even greater feats. So, please uh give a round of applause to these students. Eleni Georgadoos. Eleni Georgos is all county and all state. Lyanna Dominguez, all county. Isabella Montes, all county. If you're here, come up. Yeah, if you're here, please come up. All right. And Leah Peltierre, if you're here, please come up. All county as well. They're still practicing. Yeah. Um, people who I know are here are from our flag football team who won our first ever Nassau County Championship this spring. And if you've had the delight to watch our flag football team, you could see that they are slowly and actually probably quickly becoming a fan favorite of the parents and staff of of Division Avenue High School. Um, I had the pleasure
024of uh watching coach Victoria Pishetelli who was the coach of the year for Nassau County. Please come on up, Miss Picatelli. I know I know Victoria is here. [Applause] Couple of congrats, Victoria. This is your third season, correct? This was her third season. Um, and every year it's been an absolute pleasure to watch coach Pitelli grow as a coach, grow the program, and really grow the results of our spectacular uh team at Division Avenue. So, we couldn't be prouder of coach Pishatelli. Uh, so we have a we have four all county nominations. When your name is called, please come up. Uh, Eleni Georgadoos, whose name is here two times. Abby Gregory [Applause] Ava Hunt, Ava, congratulations. And Rebecca Petrolisse, if you are here, [Applause] I would now like to call up the remainder of the
025team. When your name is called, please come up and get your uh recognition certificate for your amazing county championship season. Uh Dina Carara, Denise Moes, Casey Prada. Congratulations, Shirley Geran. Congratulations. [Applause] Abby Lon. Congratulations. Gianna Testmark. That's Abby. Madison Msina Lara Clagnes. Congratulations Maddie. Tony Bruno. Samantha Castor. Congratulations. Shannon Kirby. Congratulations, Shannon. Good job. Congratulations. Gianna Plecia, [Applause] Rita Subain, Ariela Giron. Congratulations, Rita. And last but not least, Ashley Anderson. Is Ashley here? Everybody, please come back up to do a team photo. Thought you were getting off easy. No, come up. Stand all in front of the board and then Garcia will take our photo together. Mr. Garcia, you figure out how you want us. We have the board. You want to get up. Anybody else? [Applause] Before I move on to uh my comments
026and reports, I do want to just say that uh I did have the pleasure of uh of attending several games, uh one of my favorite was the game against Beth Paige in Herex. uh honestly uh a a crushing uh crushing defeat of Beth Paige which was awesome because I happened to personally know the Beth Page superintendent. Uh so the next time I saw him, which I think was at the Valo breakfast, I did say, "Hey, good game, right?" And uh so honestly, girls, thank you. Like honestly, brought a phenomenal job. Great great season, great coaching. Um we're very happy, especially this year. Uh we did were able to start a JV team over at division. Um so we're really growing this program. We've already had initial conversations with the middle school um ads and principles
027to talk about expanding it down to the middle school level. So like Mr. Kasha said like this is very, you know, very quickly becoming um a fan favorite um really everywhere. Uh so really is wonderful that we're kind of on the cutting edge and that we're already um so far along compared to a lot of other districts. So just one more round of applause for a great job. Okay. Uh I am just going to pop around the order here under my my comments. I'm going to first uh just talk briefly about the district safety plan. Uh just as an FYI for the board and anybody in the audience listening home. Um we are this is the beginning of the first meeting of the new 2526 school year. Um and so uh the district safety plan
028is up on the website after this meeting for public comment of 30 days. Uh then it will you know any sort of modifications between now and then will be up for adoption at the August meeting. Um wisdom lane field update. I just wanted to provide anybody um who's interested with an update on our wisdom lane field progress. You can throw that picture up if you get a chance there, Mr. Titel. Um, you know, we you may remember that we um we had a meeting uh not too long ago in April where we talked about the fact that we had begun the project that the voters approved a year ago um which was the Field of Dreams project over at Wisdom which we'll put in a turf field in the back uh as well as tennis
029courts uh a track, lights, new baseball field, new softball field. Uh and the um vote is voted on that money to be used for that project. It obviously takes a very long time to get projects approved at the state level, which is why shovels in the ground did not occur until uh this past spring. Uh but then as they began to dig, you may remember that they uncovered the remains of the Wisdom Lane Annex building, which was one of the first schools ever built in Levittown when it became a community. Um and um they evidently when they had um taken down that building, they did not take it all and the foundations and everything pretty much from the floor down was still there. Uh we contracted on an emergency basis with um branch services to
030remove asbestous materials because as you probably know uh most houses and buildings built in the late 40s uh had asbestous used in a lot of the materials. While not really um a danger as it exists there um definitely you know want to remove it using all the appropriate uh methodologies. And so the board did approve an emergency resol resolution to fund that. That work goes on. Um it's a large building that was there back in the day. I think it was about 400 feet. Mr. Fabiano, is that correct? About 400 feet long. Yeah, that that's correct. Yeah. Um like a wing of a building basically like the wing of a school. So um that work continues where the that that is was directly under where the turf field would go. So they have been abating
031that project since really May. It continues. It should be done around the middle of July with the abatement project there. Um I'll talk about that in a minute. The reason I throw this photo up here is that while that project goes on and you can kind of see that beyond the tennis courts, uh work does continue in other areas of the field that don't have that problem. Uh because when you have like an outdoor abatement like that, the the the regulation is really I believe 20T 15T 25 ft 25 ft uh from the area is is all clear. So as you can see the tennis courts are almost done. Uh lighted tennis courts. Uh, so those are ready and that really just kind of gives you an idea of how wonderful that that area is
032going to look. It's really going to be a resource to the entire Levittown community, uh, not just to Wisdom Lane. Um, like I said, the abatement continues. There's a lot of material there. You know, we knew there was going to be a lot, but there's even more than we kind of anticipated. Um, and so it probably will be more than the original $3.5 million estimate. We did set aside upwards of 7 million for the project, but it's probably going to come in closer to in the fours. Um, so you know it it is how many truckloads we have to move out to Ohio? What was it again? Do you remember? Was it 100 something? It was about 150 uh truckloads of debris. Yes. Uh I will tell you that I do drive that area, that
033neighborhood once a week uh since this occurred. I actually Huh. Not in Ohio. No. No. I Yeah. Right. No. No. Where they take it, I can't be worried about. Um I'm They're doing the right thing. But my my our number one concern is making sure that the residents are not tremendously impacted whether it be from dirt, debris, or things like that. And so, um, they've done, I think, a very good job at maintaining those roads. I actually saw them washing the roads today by hand. Um, so I'm very confident that the company is doing the project uh the way it should be, which is very nice. And so, um, you know, that's pretty much my my update on it. Like I said, nothing catastrophic, just it's definitely a huge project and very good for the
034community to kind of remove debris that, you know, while wasn't it wasn't dumped there because it was the building, but that that material should be removed properly, which it is. So, any questions on the Wisdom Lane project so far? I just like to make a comment. Um, as you said, it's a valuable improvement to the school district and the community. You're gonna have a lighted track in the area at night and lighted tennis courts and they're beautiful courts and the track's going to be something that you can run on without messing up your knees when you get older. You know what I mean by that? But, uh, it's a fantastic improvement for the community and honestly, you don't have to join a club to play tennis. You got these squads right there. So, enjoy them.
035Um, okay. So, I'll continue to provide board with updates. Like I said, it was mid July they believe, right? Like once again, it just depends on if there's anything else that they find, right, Mr. F? Yeah, they're targeting July 12th. Yeah. Okay. One other thing I do want to mention, I know I sent this to the board in an email, even though it's not on this list, is just that the board approved back in May or June money to uh improve the uh facilities over at the transportation and maintenance depot. Um, and that was done because there was a lot of um the the the parking lot was flooding, the asphalt was in tremendous need of repair. Uh, the bathrooms really in those facilities were were not in good shape. Uh, they did before the
036school year ended, they did start paving by the um garages and by maintenance. And then this week, they've started to pave and actually regrade uh the entire parking lot where the buses are and where the transportation employees park. So, we did have to move all the buses out temporarily. So, those buses will be relocated for about 10 days or so while they do it. And I think I shared a photo of the um of the regrading that's going on. It's a substantial regrade because it's just it's like a little little culvert that all the water goes into where everybody parks. Um, so in the meantime, the buses are parked in areas that we felt we can keep them secure, which is some of them are here behind the gate over where GCT parks and then
037the others are by East Broadway along that road along the um along the playground area which is gated as well. Um, we sent out a message to our parents. Obviously, we can't reach everybody, but in case people are listening, we do apologize for the inconvenience of parking buses um in areas we don't typically do. it is temporary and if for some reason it will be longer than that than the 10 days then we will look for another place to uh relocate them. But our number one concern is to make sure the buses remain safe. Um because as you know it wasn't too long ago that there was the thefts of catalytic converters um and we want to obviously protect the district resources uh the best way that we can. Any questions on the transportation depot
038or other projects? No. No. Okay. Uh late buses. So, uh, you know, we have, um, a practice where when folks bring forward concerns that we, uh, then discuss them at a follow-up board meeting. So, you may remember, um, that at, um, a previous meeting, actually the last meeting, a resident came to speak about late buses for the high school. Uh, just a little bit of a backstory for the board, uh, to remember. Um, when COVID hit, all busing stopped at that time. And then when we re uh school opened up again, we did not restore late buses. Um we did then pilot a restore a restoration of late buses at the middle schools. Um and we are continuing to monitor ridership and so forth of that. Um we did not expand it further to the
039high schools. Um and uh that was partially done at the last meeting where we talked about you know where is the need for late buses and I think that the time the board uh had gotten feedback that the greatest need was at the middle school level. Um and so uh we did not restore them to the high school level. We did change our board policy about that. Um resident came and spoke and I I have a a response that was sent already but I'll read that when we get to the um prior public heard questions. Um the request was that the board reconsider uh whether or not the district can provide late buses to the high school. So uh that that meeting is now that discussion is now. So I obviously open up really I
040guess Mrs. Lang I turn it back to you uh for the board to discuss questions concerns requests. Anybody want to start? Mike, I do have a question. If you provide for one, do you have to provide for all the schools? Miss Berlin, our our council, can you share the answer to that question? Yes. Yes. You have to treat them the same. Yes. Yeah. So, if let's say for instance when we did the middle school, right? Um we have obviously our two middle schools, but then any other um private schools that our students go to, we have to provide this comparable service to them um for transportation. So um at that time what we did because the board has a policy that indicates that late buses are provided as long as weekly ridership maintains an average
041of five students or higher. And so at that time what we did was we looked at our information in our system about what middle schools um at or really it's the grade levels. It's not just middle schools themselves but grades six, seven, and eight uh had five or more students because if they had less than five then they obviously can't maintain a ridership of five. Um and then we reached out to those schools to see if there was a request for late buses. We provided them to those that did. Um and the same thing would occur with high schools. So right now, Levittown, our two high schools do not have late buses. So if the board decides to have late buses, then we would have to provide them to everybody in kind. So the two
042high schools and then wherever we have students attending uh high school and private schools that are at least five or more and then based on the policy monitor that ridership to make sure that it maintains a number of at least five per week. I mean five a day for the week. Jen, uh with that all being said, um and just following up with what Mr. Papa said if you were to offer um the late buses for the high school um and at the end of the first quarter you did a re-evaluation and you found that some of those schools did not meet the policy would you then um have to eliminate all the schools or would you just eliminate the ones that the wrership fell under the number? I mean it's it the way the
043policy is written is that it's it is by school of who doesn't meet that five. So like as an example um there are many times we're running late buses even let's say before COVID where we eliminated our own high our own our own high school late bus runs because they didn't meet that ridership and other routes continued. So yes it's it's the policy is applied equally but the effect would be different on different schools if they didn't maintain that wrership. Of course, the board, it's under the board's discretion to not enforce that. It's up to the board. You know what I'm saying? As to whether or not to enforce the the policy, but yes, it would apply individually. So, you could have no lay buses at Division and Late buses at MacArthur or you could
044have late buses at, you know, at a private school and not our schools or vice versa. Jen, did you want to ask a question? Yeah. Um, I think that lead buses for parents are a huge, I guess, convenience when you're trying to get your kid home from whatever club or or sport they want to do. I think part of that conversation has to be is it cost effective? And the best way to look at that is how many kids were using late buses prior to maybe co we could do like a five or six year look back um and see if there's a need for it and then base that need on finances because we have to look at that too. We have to see how much money we're spending to bus, even if it's
045five kids, I know that's the policy, but if it's, let's say, four and it's costing us, I have no idea because I'm not a business person, $100,000 a year, like is that really the best use of money for a school district? So, I think that would be something the board would need cons to consider in order to make, you know, an educated decision based on that. Mike, Mr. Mr. Winch, is there any way we can do uh shared services with surrounding school districts like Island Trees or East Meadow? What we could do is I could ask Miss Reeves, our train station supervisor. I thought I saw Yeah, there she is. Hi, Mrs. Reeves. Um to reach out to see what other districts provide um late buses. I do know that there are surrounding districts that
046do provide them. So we could reach out to ask them um you know like what the thing is that I don't believe that most of those districts that provide them provide it's their own transportation it's contracted right so uh they don't have their own buses so we would just have to make sure that like we could obviously look seeing like that's correct Mrs. Reeves, right? Most of the districts around us that like don't have their own bus fleet. Correct. Yeah. So, they are contracting out already. We probably would have to work with that district and the contractor to come up with an agree agreement. Can that we reverse that and do it where we have the service and we only have five kids and Island Trees has five kids and we transport for them and
047they pay us if we have the drivers. One of one of the issues is that we chose the middle schools because a we felt like they were the ones that wouldn't be able to find a way home, right? Because they can't drive or they don't it's too far away from driving age. And the feedback from even students when we asked our student liaison was that if they didn't have middle school late buses, they wouldn't have been able to participate in after school activities. Um the um you know what I mean? So you you would have to kind of like figure out like you know if we're going to offer it then to the high school level does that other district have a policy by which they have a minimum wrership number right because let you
048just as using island trees as an example if they offer late buses and they don't have a minimum and they just run the lay buses all the time but we have a minimum I think that would be complicated because then all of a sudden we're going to an agreement with a with either us or with with a contractor and then we're pulling out of it because the ridership didn't maintain the number it needed to. But yet Island Trees doesn't have that and they still have to run the route. So I don't know that that would work um unless we change that or if we could do all the routes ourselves but we don't have enough drivers to do all the routes ourselves. We would have to contract out what is it about is it about
049potentially 15 schools miss about right if every school whether our own high schools as well as with privateized schools it's it's 15 routes you would need. So we don't definitely don't have 15 available drivers. We'd have a a particular number of that and then others would have to be contracted out. Um so it's we're trying to get some numbers right now about what that what that number might look like. Phyllis and then Jimmy. Is there a way for us to canvas or put something out there to see how many drivers we can get? Cuz if we put something out there and like we get three interested people and we need 15, well, that's not going to do it, you know, cuz the best thing is for us to do it ourselves. We have the buses.
050So, is there some way to put something out there and see what kind of response we get back? It's it's it's it's less about that because like we we have um we've moved to add full-time driver positions. We have a lot of our part-time drivers who like the the real con the real conflict is with athletics, right? So, we have a lot of athletic runs that we run at that same time that we do late bus runs. And so, we I don't believe we would really have the capacity to to put it's not like putting it out that there are like we don't have a lot of drivers that just refuse. We have some that just want to do part-time just the day and they don't do the evening. I just don't think that you
051would uh you would get some. You just would never I don't think you would get 15. Is that would you agree, Mr. Reeves? Right. But also further say you have St. Anony's in Huntington and you have Shamanad and Minola when you have those late buses and their late bus pickup is 6:00 at night or their late bus is 5:30 at night. You have to consider that with utilizing letown employees because now you're taking a shift and making it an 11 or 12 hour shift in order to guarantee the transportation. And I don't there's limitations on how many hours that a driver can work on a consecutive basis. Wow. Jimmy, did you have a follow-up question or comment? I was just going to ask is there any way that I mean this is this is a
052big issue in my opinion. Is there any way that um maybe Mike and Dana can get together and put together something so for the next meeting so we can really cuz we're going to have to make a decision sooner or later. I would definitely say by that first August meeting you the board has to make a decision meaning that like we if we won't go any later than that the routes are done and we're not going to be able to do anything. Um, I guess the question would be is what information would would be helpful. I know Miss Msina mentioned about the five or six year look back and and how much it costs. I guess the question would be it would be a short presentation unless you share other information that you're looking for.
053No, I you know naturally dollar amount you know uh what potentially could cost now that you would have to provide transportation to all these schools. That would be one issue. Um, and the other issue would be like how many routes can we do in-house compared to the contractors? I know the contracted buses, they probably cost three to four times more than what we would be. Yeah. So, that's just a couple items that Okay. So, let me just I'm just going to start with this list so far. So, I got five five or six year look back on wrership. Correct. Now, I'm going to just say that like there's going to be a gap, right? Because of COVID years. So, I'm not going to consider those part of the five or six. Um, what's it cost?
054The finances, how much how much would we imagine this would cost? And then I also would imagine in regards to how much it cost is it in the budget, right? Because the policy was changed prior to the budget being developed for this year, right? So, in the budget, there was no finances put towards high school buses, lay buses. um total number of routes, right, that would be required if we did this that the maximum, right? And then um how many routes might our employees might be able to fulfill and approximately how many we would need to outsource, right? Okay. When we think last how we service is that we put it out to driver and at that time she had over 60 drivers, right? So you could fulfill we could facilitate late buses and athletics
055consecutively at the same time. And now we have 43 drivers. 43. So you're talking about, you know, a difference of over 20 drivers that used to sign up. So now if you don't attach a late bus to a route where you can guarantee the cover every day, you may run into a situation where someone would prefer to do a track me because they'll get six hours of extra time as opposed to maybe two hours of extra time. not we're not going to have the manpower in order. So that was the difference of how we used to supply it and to how we try to configure it now where we attach all of the middle school routes to a route. So you're guaranteed to have a driver every single day and there would be any question
056about it being one of the and just to comment on that before we move on when you had mentioned um and we haven't seen this issue as much now but we used to have major issues with we transport and other contracted companies where they just wouldn't show up uh during the driver shortage the the worst of the driver shortage driver still is going on but like the worst of it um was that even on the the we what about 15 routes that we outsource now internally for a regular bring in them to school. Uh there would be days where all of a sudden they would call us at six o'clock in the morning and tell you we have no driver for you today. And so you know one of the concerns would just be trying
057to do as much as we can inhouse because we can rely on our in-house folks. The contracted companies are less reliable and you know we we just are concerned a little bit about saying we're going to provide you a late bus and then all of a sudden the contractor call says we can't go today and and then we have no one to send. just a that was just a comment, but sorry. No, sorry, Peggy. Yeah, I what I would like to see added onto your list there is um I I I don't have a framework of what we're working with. For example, like we have some really large uh athletic programs like St. uh Anony's and Shamanad. If we could get a perspective of how many kids go from Levittown to each one of those
058schools and then try to get a look back from that school of last year of how many students I know this year would be a lot different but at least give us a perspective because we're saying 15 routes but if we look at St. Anony's and there's you know 25 30 kids that are going from Levittown versus like a St. Dominics that only has maybe seven or eight that might might play sports throughout the years. The numbers are like apples and oranges. So, I think that would give us a better framework of what we're really working with to be able to make a very informed decision based on um you know individual schools. Yes, we if everybody meets the criteria, that's one thing. But if we have schools that don't they do not meet the
059criteria, then that might narrow down our focus to have to supply less roots. So, so you're talking about the number of the number. So, basically the private school as well as the enrollment for this upcoming year. I can honestly say that the enrollment private and proial school has decreased dramatically since then. So, what we were doing five and six and seven years ago, the enrollment is not there anymore just in general. Well, I just want last year's enrollment. Yeah, that's all I'm looking for. Last year's enrollment. I think that will give a be a better predictor of what the future is holding and where we can go with this. Okay, Mr. Papis and then Mr. Dalton. Okay. Uh, if the average daily usage drops from the minimum necessary of five and three weeks into the
060programs, it's down to three or two. Are we still obligated to complete and provide that service for the rest of the year? I believe we do it by quarter. Is that when we're doing it? We're we're evaluating it by quarter. But is your question about if we contract out with a with a with a firm for the late bus would be we be required to continue that contract. Do you know M? No. Okay. We're not or you don't know? We're not. Okay. And um how come parochial schools don't provide transportation? I guess that's a that's a Sharon Berlin question. You're on tonight. the parochial schools are not required to provide transportation and they draw students from all over the place. So given that they're not required, I I imagine it would be incredibly expensive for
061them to do it. Question, is there a way to hire bus drivers with a night differential just for those late night runs? So like uh maybe somebody who doesn't want to work in the day and is doing it as a second job and we can pay night differential what we could call it. I don't know if there is such a thing. I know there is such a thing. I don't know in our district if there is where they can be paid a higher rate to take that 2 hours of the uh pickup as opposed because you said there was something about the six hours. people would rather that. But if we pay a night differential for it and we just hire people just for those few for that nighttime, maybe there's people who want to
062work a nighttime shift. I don't know. You you could that would have to be negotiated with CSA if you're going to all of a sudden starting changing, you know, conditions of the contract. So it's like we've done things like that where we do signing bonuses for bus drivers, things like that, pay for training. Um but that would that would take a little bit of time because we'd have to negotiate that. Marian. Yeah. Nope. Uh, Phyllis took my question, but thank you. Did you did I was thinking it. It's like osmosis, but yeah. No. Um, so that was my question, but um, I do want to say that I I think that this is a great conversation. Um, and I I think the questions are very thoughtful. Um, and you know, I I really would like
063to see us try and do whatever we can to give whatever we can, but it has to be um prudent and thoughtful um to make sure that we're doing the right thing because the last thing I would want to do is say we're going to provide something and then not be able to provide it. So yeah, I'm just going to make a a a note here on this is that um historically prior to COVID when we had late buses and you know the we the board adopted the the five person minimum, right? Which was adopted from a um as stewards of let's say like tax dollars, right? The board I think the board when they adopted it wanted to make sure that we weren't running empty lay buses, even our own, right? like and just
064as stewards of of taxpayer money to make sure that we're not wasting it. Um and that's what I assume the five came from. But um it also is very very difficult to offer a service and start the year with a service and then cancel that service at some point during the year because because the writership fell. So I'm just I'm just sharing that that's a difficult thing to do and the district has had difficulty in the past with that. So I just caution you just about that. um if the board decides on this it it cancelling I don't want people to leave the up here leave the the conversation feeling that oh well it's no you know we'll just do that and if it doesn't stay five it doesn't say five like those that have
065been on the board for a long time will remember that that is not an easy cell and and folks get very upset as I would if I was a parent and you told me I had a late bus and then all of a sudden in winter I have no late bus because the people in the fall didn't ride the bus. How's that my fault? Right. So I'm just saying that that's just keep that in mind when you you know render a decision. That has definitely been a challenge in the previous years even before the pandemic. It was a situation where we evaluated it and then we cancelled and it said no spring will get better. My kid was playing soccer. My kid is playing football, but my kid is playing soccer and I want the
066late reactivated and then we reactivated and the numbers are so overall and just just so because you know I do this is a conversation we've had many times right um in general and I I I'm not going to speak to specifics but in general wrership of late buses private and public is low like our ridership in general averages is anywhere from like three to five six seven kids on any given correct misses like I'm not making it up like we take attendance and like there's just not a lot of ridership which is why this becomes a problem so so frequently because um even with the middle school routes that we run like you know like all of a sudden like we may have a couple of different times and all of a sudden these are
067being canceled and merged because because extra extracurricular activities clubs sports they there there is so much being offered these days, which is wonderful. It's really great. They end at all different times. And you know, like it doesn't matter when we offer the late bus, it always seems to be the wrong time, right? Like whether it's remember we talked about the middle school one and I think we started it with the 4:00 and we're just like, "No, but it's just not the right time and we'll do the 4:30, remember Miss Reeves?" And you're like, "Todd, you're killing me." Like I can't just keep changing the time. Um, but like it is we can't really find the sweet spot only because they just end at all sorts of different times. And so it it plays havoc with
068getting those writership numbers. But I do agree as many of you have said that it's wonderful. It's a wonderful service to offer the community. Um it's just about that balance of of making sure it's actually being utilized. Todd, just a couple more questions. Just they're short ones. Historically, how many late buses have we had at peak and the lowest? I don't care how far you go back. Just off top of your head. I'm going to I'm going to say that if there were Do you think we were ever doing all 15 schools? Absolutely. Okay. So then what would you say? Probably about 20 to 25 late bus runs. Yeah, because we would have our own, right? So, you know, probably around that. But that's when you had 60 drive, correct? Yes. Is anything like a
069Nassau County service that we could partner with them? I guess something similar to like an Able Ride um those type buses that you can we can pay them to pick up our students. I don't know. I don't think we want to partner with Able Ride. I don't know. Not something similar because I don't think they're pretty consistent. I think that's probably a, you know, maybe somebody else. Yeah, we could look into to see if there's any any other like shared service opportunities that exist. Mhm. I just use Able for example. I'm just, you know, a pickup service. Okay. That's I think Able Ride is $4 a person. So if it's $4 a person and we're taking 10 kids, it's $40 a day. You know, I I would stick with 19A drivers. I don't think those
070You're right. And you know, want to stick with the same type of service that we provide with the testing and the vehicles and the training. Very good point. You're right. Good point. Good point. Thank you. Okay. So, we'll get this researched. I think I think I have uh more than enough information to to to get. Uh as I get it, I will share with the board as we approach that meeting. And then uh are you around on August 13th? What are you doing? Yeah. Okay. You're around on August 13th. Okay. So, uh we'll like I said, as we get information, we'll share it and then obviously that night we'll provide a presentation. We'll give it to you obviously when we give you the board materials a couple days before. Uh but then we'll have to
071put it on that night to approve or not approve. Okay. Uh just to move on to my uh responses to public be heard from last meeting. So, I'm going to read the responses. Uh as you know our process is that if um if a issue hasn't come to my desk the response comes from me if it if it has and then it comes to the board it comes from the board president. Uh so we had several speakers at the last meeting. Uh so the first uh response was to Eugene Misola. Um dear Miss Misola thank you for speaking at the June 4th board of education meeting and for sharing your thoughts regarding the current integrated code teaching structure. We appreciate your continued commitment to supporting students with disabilities and advocating for meaningful instructional practices. We
072understand the concerns raised about the half-day special education teacher model currently in place. Please know that the board of education remains committed to closely reviewing both the evolving needs of our students and the programs designed to support them. As part of this process, we'll also evaluate our professional development offerings to ensure that our teachers are equipped with the most current tools and strategies to effectively meet those needs. You asked how we will evaluate the effectiveness of our ICT program. As part of this review, we will be using a variety of measures, including student performance data, progress towards IEP goals, feedback from educators and families, and classroom observations to assess how well the model is supporting students academic and social emotional needs. We will also reach out to surrounding districts to see what best practices are
073being used throughout the area. In terms of transparency, we are fully committed to keeping the public informed throughout the process. Regular updates will be shared with the community at board of education meetings and we plan to offer opportunities for families and staff to engage in dialogue and provide input. Their perspectives are essential to shaping meaningful improvements and we will ensure that they are included in the review process. Thank you again for taking the time to share your perspective. Uh that was from the board president, Mr. Msina. Um then we had a uh resident uh Mr. Keith Oler that spoke saying, "Thank you for sharing your thoughts at the June 4th Board of Education meeting regarding the request to expand late bus service to high school students. We appreciate your interest in ensuring that students have
074access to after school programs and activities. As you may be aware, the current policy provides late bus transportation only at the middle school level. This decision was made by the board of education after reviewing ridership data from previous years. When late buses were available to high school students in the past, they rarely met the minimum wrership requirement of five students per day, making the service unsustainable. That said, we are always open to reviewing our policies and practices based on student needs and community input. Your feedback will be discussed by the board for further consideration as we continue to evaluate transportation services across the district. Mr. Mattie Buckies, then dear Mr. Buggies, thank you for taking the time to speak at the June 4th Board of Education meeting and for sharing your thoughts on several important
075special education topics, including our ICT structure. We truly appreciate your commitment to supporting students with disabilities and your interest in ensuring that all learners have access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. Your input is valuable as we continue working to strengthen our programs and services. Thank you again for your dedication to our students and for engaging in the conversation. Lastly, that's okay. Uh lastly, we had Mr. Marino, thank you for taking the time to speak during the public beheard portion of the June 4th board of education meeting. We appreciate your feedback and your commitment to our students. We are currently meeting with our food service provider, Chartwells, to review the concerns you raised regarding the lunch menu. Our goal is to ensure that the items we serve are both nutritious and clearly
076communicated to families. We are optimistic that we will be able to add menu items that may not currently appear on the published menu, helping to improve transparency and support informed choices. Additionally, we want to inform you that the sale of Trixs yogurt has been discontinued from our offerings in the cafeteria. We value your input and thank you for your continued partnership in supporting the health and well-being of our students. Those were the four um public comments during the public be heard portion. Uh that concludes that component and I believe I've responded to all follow-up board of education questions. Miss Lang, thank you. Um are there any comments and reports from the board of ed? No. I just wanted to say we had really good graduation ceremonies or sorry graduation I only went to one but
077they were beautiful. Marian, um I concur. Apparently I'm too slow getting to this mic tonight. Like the price is right. Um no I it it really I love like graduation. Um because it it's like the beginning and the end all in one time. It's it's such a a day of hope for the students that are ending their career as high school students and moving on to the next phase of their lives. Um, and they were both beautiful ceremonies. Sorry you missed the other one, but I'm pretty sure you had something big going on as well as Miss Lang. Um, and that's it. Anybody else? Mike. Thank you. I had the honor and privilege of attending uh all 10 ceremonies with Mr. Winch, Dr. Z, and Jackie Gadise. Fantastic. It's so It's beautiful to see that
078each of these ceremonies are unique in their own way. They have the school history and it's just it's not rubber stamp boom boom boom. There's so much fun going on here. The kids are having fun. The parents are so proud and so happy. And as a board member, you leave the place saying, you know, maybe maybe I did something, you know, uh because this school district is wonderful. It really is. And I thank the administrators. I thank the teachers, staff all all around. And by the way, this building's 75 years old and you can actually comb your hair. This floor is that shiny here. the people in this building do a great job too and Dana you also transporting all our students. Thank you. Just as a comment because uh the board I don't know
079if the board all knows. Yes, we can we can applaud. Good job. Um that Mr. Fabiana was not at the moving up ceremonies, not because he didn't want to go, because he was the designated security person to stay back at LMEC cuz uh we when we had a debrief with Alter, they had said the four of you really shouldn't always be out of this building because if there were a security issue at that location and we were all locked down, uh there needs to be someone who would be the incident commander. So, Mr. Fabiano uh drew that straw this year. So, don't want anybody to think Mr. Fabiano was sherking his responsibility. I thought you called him designated survivor. Yes. I publicly I thought that was a little creepy so I didn't Well, thank you
080Mr. Fabiano for that. Good. Okay, hold on. We are now up to the public beheard uh portion of the meeting. Um we will now move our public beheard period to the regular meeting. This is the opportunity for members of the community to speak. All questions are directed to the board of education president. Each speaker is limited to three minutes in total. Each speaker is expected to use the microphone and clearly state their name and address. First we have Keith I'm gonna say that wrong. Uler time. Hi Keith Uler 106 Old Oak Lane Town. I just want to say thank you. Thank you and thank you for speaking about the late bus because I'm here to speak to it again. I just want to give a little bit of input. Hopefully maybe it will help some
081decisions being made. Uh, one of the board members said that it's a convenience. In my case, it's a necessity. I'm also here speaking about on behalf of nine other families that want it and for them it's also a necessity. My daughter attends St. Anony's High School. The one bus that you do supply is through we transport. we transport is more than happy to supply a driver and a bus for those hours. Their ridership is anywhere between 18 to 22 kids per day every single day. The after school activities that are there is tremendous for St. Anony's. It's very a rigorous school for college preparatory. And that's my question would be not that I'm expecting answer right now is like how did you become how did you decide on a middle school versus high school? To
082me, a high school should supersede a middle school because colleges are looking at the students for their after school activities and so on and so forth. And then again, something that I just learned was you have athletic late buses. So, we're saying we're going to put sports ahead of education. That doesn't seem too great to me. But again, thank you for considering it and hopefully Oh, and as far as this lady, young lady here from transportation said about the hours. I also am an elected union official for TWW local 100 MTA. And as far as New York State 19A regulations and guidelines, doesn't matter how long your shift is, as long as you have 8 hours of sleep in between your shifts, you're good to go. And that also stands for 282 teamsters because I
083know that my wife runs a truck company and I also help her out with her own union issues on that. So I know that we will have the wrership. Please take into consideration and it would be great that even after the first quarter if you put it out there with a stip if you don't meet the requirements we nyx you. I understand some of the things like we transport you might have to do it for the year. Uh maybe, maybe not. Or hopefully you can conjoin them with island trees or whatnot. That would be great help because I'm putting in a lot of hours just to keep the work and it's very difficult for me to go 15 miles to pick up my daughter cuz actually right now I'm supposed to be at work and
084I changed my hours for a second time to be here just to speak to you and again thank you very much. I appreciate you. Thank you so much. Next we have Janine Peron. Janine Peron, 1259 ID Avenue, Seafford, New York, 11783. Good evening. My name is Janine Peron and this is Kimberly Coner. We both have children in special education in Levittown schools. We have concerns that the district's half-day ICT model is insufficient to meet students rights under FAPE. Our children and many others require an ICT setting based on cognitive and social needs. A mere 2 hours and 15 minutes a day of special education does not provide adequate support. This results in students struggling to keep up with their general education peers. There is a large gap in support levels between the self-contained and the
085half-day ICT. The self-contained classes are not the least restrictive environment as required by IDEA for many of the children in our district. A full-time special education teacher allows for deeper engagement with curriculum. Only a special education teacher has the qualifications and training to assess and differentiate curriculum to meet the students individual needs. Special education teachers are trained to take data and based on their firsthand data, they provide strategies, modifications, and accommodations as needed. This cannot be done when the special education teacher is not in the classroom. What additional supports are being provided to students in the absence of their special education teacher who is working on the IEP goals and monitoring the progress as required? Full day ICT allows ample time for the teachers to collaborate. The importance of collaboration was addressed in friend and
086cook's peer-reviewed study entitled co-eing guidelines for creating effective practices. A half-day ICT teacher may have limited understanding of their students academic challenges and social dynamics. The special education teacher may miss social interactions and times of disregulation that require intervention and strategies from a trained special education teacher. A general education teacher or TA is not able to provide the support as required by an IEP. Special education teachers have expertise in helping students develop self-regulation skills and promoting positive behavior in the classroom. Interventions are not being consistently applied in a half-day setting. Surrounding districts such as East Meadow, Masipua, Plane Edge, and Farmingale all have full-time integrated classrooms. Additionally, Seafford will be implementing full-time ICT this fall. In order to provide the best education to our students, we respectfully request that the district continue to re-evaluate the
087current ICT model and consider implementing full day ICT for our students. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. And next we have uh Maddie. Am I the last? Yes. All right. I was going to reserve, but whatever. Well, there you go. It worked out for you. Thank you, Madame Chair and members. Um, my name is Mattie Bucky's Highland and my address is 1297 to a place in Seafford. Well, first of all, it's disability pride month in the month of July and on the 26th we will celebrate 35 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act and in November we will celebrate 50 years of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, now known as IDA. I do agree that we need to have an ICT program because frankly it is a you know we
088have to provide what the children need and not what what's in the interest of the union. Well I do concur I think we should hire people with disabilities because I'm have my tag here for work for the buildings department for Hempstead. Um, one thing I do have in mind is we should start hiring people with disabilities and I think we should also in one case adopt we have we update we adopt a school calendar for 10 months but I think we if we adopt a 12 month calendar as well so it's people know if it's a student teacher holiday or if or or if it's a holiday for all because I know sometimes you know you know it might be a student teacher holiday all the buildings are closed except for this library building. And
089so that's one thing I and I do want to welcome the new attorney, um, Sharon Berlin. Um, you know, and thank Bob Cohen for his 15 years of service, even though you chose not to renew the contract. And we do need late buses obviously because obviously transporting children um who have handicap conditions is obviously mandatory and you know and we have the SY program coming up and I would suggest you know they would take a trip to the center or or at least partner with the center so that way children and people with disabilities could gain employment. You know as we know the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is at 85 to 90%. But I do appreciate you all supporting me throughout this mission. And as we look forward to September 2nd, I think
090we should for the 2620, we should also adopt another calendar like I mentioned um for a for 26 27 a 12-month calendar as well. So we figure if what staff have to come in or administrators have to come in and lastly um on a personal note I did watch Tony McDonald um sworn in as a board trustee and you know Tony was a great woman and I know when you were an assistant superintendent Todd you know she would be a great person and a great advocate. So with that being said everybody please have a great summer. Happy 4th of July. Have a great summer everybody and God bless you all. Thank you. Thank you, chair. Thank you to all the residents who took the time to attend our board of education meeting and share your
091thoughts during the public be heard portion. Your input is valued and plays an important role in helping us make informed decisions for our school and community. Okay, now we're up to schedules, right? Yeah. Uh, moving on to schedules. Do I have a motion to accept item 4.1 on the agenda? Phyllis, do I have a second? Mike, all in favor? 6. Okay. Do I have a motion to accept item 5.2 to 5.27 on the consent agenda? Maryanne, do I have a second? Peggy. All in favor? 6. Uh, action item 6.1 gifts to school. Um 10 wooden benches to be donated to Summit Lane for the outdoor classroom from Girl Scout Gold Award recipient Stephanie Teamer. 42 Bent Lane, Levittown, New York 11756. And a check in the amount of $52.70 to be donated to Sulk Middle
092School. Extra classroom activity fund account from Boxtops for Education 137 uh 1370 Oakland Avenue, Highland Park. Do I have a motion to accept item 6.1 gifts to school on the agenda with thanks? Phyllis, do I have a second? Maryannne, all in favor? 6. I thank you. Uh I just before we uh conclude the meeting, I just wanted to uh share two things. Uh first, at your desks, well, they're not really desks, but at your seats, uh I had left a draft policy. As you know, um, with the budget process this year at New York State, they, um, are now requiring school districts to adopt a cell phone ban, and it will be a board policy. Um, I did not bring it up at our policy committee meeting on Monday, and so I did fail in
093that. I apologize. Um, but we did not have time after an hour and a half. Um, but, uh, we are still meeting with stakeholders. We've been meeting with the PTA. We're meeting with students. Um, we have a meeting set up with teachers. Uh, so this is still being resolved, but this is kind of a a preliminary draft that we've been discussing. So, I don't we're not going to discuss it tonight because it's not on the agenda. Uh, but I do want you to have a copy of it so that you can look at it, give me your thoughts when we meet again on the 13th. Okay. The other thing I wanted to mention uh is that on the uh schedules that you adopted, uh you did approve the appointment of our new athletic director who
094is Mr. John Kasha. Uh, as you know, Mr. John Kasha has been the principal of Division Avenue High School for many years now. And, uh, as you know, we're very excited that he's going to be taking over for our longtime uh, athletic director, Mr. Keith Snder, who retired. Uh, we're very, very excited to have him in this new position. I think he's going to bring um, really kind of a new perspective on things, especially having been a high school administrator, um, which is not always the typical path. So, um, we're very excited. We have a phenomenal athletic program as you could see by the awards that Mr. Dasha gave out just because it was from division. Um and so you know theoretically at that time he was still a division principal. Um and so um
095ripping our process here. So anyway congratulations to you and your family on this exciting opportunity. Can't wait to work with you. Ready? Yep. Okay. Um the upcoming dates August 13th we have the regular meeting August 27th planning and special meeting. May I have a motion to adjourn the regular meeting? Uh Jen Msina, do I have a second? Marian, this is a lot of pressure. All in favor? 6. Meeting adjourned. Thank you. My