001Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, heat. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I'm Heat.
002Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Good evening everybody. Do I have a motion to convene the May 7th regular meeting and budget hearing of the Levittown Board of Education? Jimmy, do I have a second? Maryann. All in favor zero. At the meeting tonight, um Mrs. Msina is excused. Do I have a motion to move into executive session for the purpose of discussing attorney RFPs? Marian second. Christina. Okay. We will return at 7:30. Please note that we will recite the pledge of allegiance when we return to the opening of the regular meeting. Thank you. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N.
003[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Hey,
004heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I don't know. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat.
005Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat.
006[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. N.
007[Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat up [Music] [Applause] here. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat.
008Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Good evening everyone. I would like to welcome you to the May 7th regular meeting and budget hearing of the Levittown school uh Letown Board of Education. May I have a motion to reconvene the meeting? Mike, do I have a a second? Maryannne, all in favor? 6. As stated before, Jed Msina is excused from tonight's meeting. At this time, please stand
009for the pledge of 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 May we please have a moment of silence to remember all those serving our country at home and overseas. Thank you. This week, we mourn the passing of Miss Greta Mings, a dedicated former member of our board of education who served during the 1980s and the early 1990s. Miss Mailings was instrumental in advancing our district's academic programs and remained a passionate advocate for education long after her board service. At this time, please join me in a moment of silence in memory of Miss Mailings and her lasting impact on the Levertown community. Thank you. Yeah. Please take a moment to look around the
010room and the hallway to enjoy the beautiful artwork on display. Many thanks to our students and art teachers for from Sulk Middle School for beautifying our building with their artwork. At this time, we're going to move to the auditorium. We will be return about 25 minutes to continue the rest of the meeting. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] N. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] is you. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause]
011[Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat up here. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music]
012[Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] N. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] We are back and we're going to move to the superintendent
013report. Thank you, Vice President Morangi. Uh so just uh wanted to just update folks on uh just the state budget. So the state budget was or is in the process of being finalized and adopted. One of those things that we've been getting a lot of questions about is the new self cell phone ban that uh the governor's been talking about it. The governor is talking about a bell to bell ban all but then also says that there'll be flexibility for schools. Uh so we don't really still know exactly what that means. A little more information came out today but we are awaiting guidance. Um part of it is that we need to work with the stakeholders involved, parents, um students, teachers, administrators, uh to work up a plan that that makes sense for the district.
014So uh we don't really have a lot more information on that right now, but uh obviously entertain any questions that board members may have on this topic or not. Okay. Yeah. Anybody want Christina, did you want to say something? I feel like I always want to say something lately. That's good. So the ban will it's the bell-to-bell ban, correct? That is correct. And has there been discussion preemptively with committees so far? So we don't have a committee. We've talked about it with the various uh standing committees that we have both uh the uh with uh our consultations with LUT as well as our principal meetings, our director meetings and our PTA meetings. Um, you know, one of the things that is is just of concern to us is that um I I I don't really
015love the idea of like locking away a phone in a pouch like for the whole day. The logistics behind that is not something that I'm I'm really crazy about. I do think that cell phones should not, you know, be interrupting class time and love the idea of that some teachers already do, which is, you know, like this shoe holder in the front of the room and the phones go in there during the day. Um, but like I said, we don't know because it's a little bit contradictory that it's a bell-to-bell ban, but then there's flexibility for schools because I'm not sure if you say something can't be used all day, but there's flexibility with that. That doesn't sound flexible. So, I'm confused. So, I'm just waiting on it. But, yes, we have had conversations. Um,
016I think we're we that's pretty much where we are. Jericho school district had adopted a similar uh policy earlier this year prior to this, which was pretty much similar to what we were looking to do. Uh but as of right now without further guidance it's um hard to understand that that would be okay with a bel bellband. So and is it just cell phones or is it it's like anything that's related to the internet? Right. Correct. Yeah. It's really about like accessing the internet. So like smartwatches, things like that. Um and obviously there are some um uh exemptions for students that need it for whether it's um students with disabilities that may need it on their IEP or students that need it for medical purposes. Um but uh you know the other piece that came
017out recently was that students can't be suspended for not following it which just you know once again it just makes it a little bit difficult because it's like you have to not have them use it but then you can't enforce it with at least with that um you know that that particular disciplinary measure. Um so once again it's like these little pieces come out but we still don't have anything about what the flexibility is right now. It does seem very inflexible. Thank you. So, Marian, I know I was gonna say anything, but so like the tablets or computers are okay that have internet connections. Yes, school devices are okay. Is one more thing is it can only be school related devices with this ban except for the exceptions, right? So there are some exceptions in
018regards to so like let's say for instance in some instances let's say diabetes is monitored through your cell phone uh then a student would be allowed to use it for that purpose. Um but no other than that and any other exemption like that it would be it what it sounds like is a bell to bell bam meaning it's not supposed to be used at all during the school day. Um, we'll we'll see where the flexibility is because just a lot of people have reached out to me from a variety of different groups just having concerns about how that is going to impact them. Yeah. I I just wanted to say I'm glad you brought up about the pouches because just quick little side note. I was at on Broadway the other night seeing Or in
019order for me to get in the theater, you had to give your people at the door, you shut it off, put your phone in the pouch and they locked it. And I didn't really think that would affect me. And I have to tell you quite a bit during the wonderful play I kept thinking like if I needed that phone I there was no way I could access that phone. So me an adult felt very uncomfortable um with that. So I'm glad to say hear you say that that's not something that you would support either. Um, I think for anybody that has any level of anxiety, a student, that is going to would exacerbate the level of anxiety and just cause more of trouble for the individual students. But there's other things that we could do
020other than the pouches. That's for sure. Okay. Well, there would be, God forbid there was emergency. There would be no access. You cannot open that no matter what, you know. So, okay. Next. board of education uh reports. At the next meeting, Mrs. Adrienne and myself will uh give a slight presentation on information that we gained when we went to the national convention in Atlanta. Oh, you going to do it tonight? No. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry. Go ahead, hun. So, I just wanted to um share with everyone that um East Broadway had their first mock trial. uh club and competition this year. Um and uh for those who don't know, I I work in the court. So I was able to bring one of our um one of my colleagues who is a lawyer to
021help them prep for their mock trial and they were amazing and they did an amazing job at the mock trial. Um I think their defense like won one, lost one argument. Um the the plaintiff side didn't um didn't win either one of their arguments, but they had a lot of great uh feedback and people were so amazed that they were so young and there and doing this. So I wanted to acknowledge that. But then also they came to the courthouse for a tour and the they blew me away because they were sitting there in front of judges and court reporters and other court personnel, court officers and the thoughtful questions that they asked. We we were all kind of stunned like not not that they couldn't think of these questions but just that these questions
022were so intensely inquisitive and just like spoton with what they were saying. So I just wanted to um share that with everyone because I was really highly impressed with what they accomplished. Miss Adrian. And just so that you know, uh, Miss Adrian, we did get outreach actually from a local surrounding district to ask us about our experience with mock trial at the elementary level looking to, uh, to expand it to their school. So, kudos to you. Miss Morangi. Yes. You want me to hold my comments about the conference till next? Would that be okay with you? Yeah. All right. This way, all three of us will do it at the same time. Thank you. Okay. Can I say something? Oh, yeah. Go ahead. So, real quick, the people I spoke to at inside that award
023ceremony were really ecstatic about the awards their children are winning. But so many people said how wonderful it is that this district recognizes the arts and music. And that's important because it makes a well-rounded person. And it's just how people saying how fantastic this district is. And it really is. We're not the hidden gym anymore. We're actually a a well polished gem, I think. So, keep up the good work, everybody. Thank you, Mike. Okay, next I'm going to turn the meeting over to Mr. Fabiano for a budget hearing. Thank you. I think we're going to tag team a little bit on this. Um, so I guess I'll just start this off. Um, do you have Who has the clicker? You have the clicker. I do not have clicker. Mr. Titel, do you have the clicker?
024The clicker. You know what, Mr. Titel? You stand right there and you just click. You ready? Click. It's right on the table. No, that's right. We're good. Click. Right. You said I'm I'm sabotaging. Now you've just made it longer. Ah. Uh, keep going. Next slide, Mr. Tit. Okay, good. Uh, so we've done the budget presentation a lot of times in this room. Uh, Mr. Fab and I have gone to a lot of different places to do the budget presentation. So, I'm just going to share the highlights. Um, the budget includes pretty much everything that exists right now in our current program. The only change is that kindergarten teaching assistants will go to half day. It's not a cut. They were always half day. We expanded them to full day with COVID funds. The co funds
025are done and so we go back to what we were doing. So it's not a cut. There are no cuts in this current budget. Next slide. Uh you've seen a lot of these. Miss uh Dr. Zerianis actually went over uh these enhancements um that are related to instruction. Like I said, this is all on our website in regards to past presentations. One of the biggest initiatives that we're doing this year upcoming is um artificial intelligence. All of our grade levels K to 12. Uh our teachers will be working with our students on this in a school appropriate way. Next slide. Uh Mr. Camarado who's in the audience uh as well as Mr. Lealt were here when uh the facilities presentation was done in January uh and he talked about all the renovations we're doing. As
026the board is very well aware, we have a lot of facility projects going on. Mr. Camarado, Mr. are very aware of all the facilities projects that are going on. Like Mr. Mr. Papa said, we have a phenomenal district in the arts and music. Um it is everywhere. It is in our governance team here. It is in our facilities department. Um we do work literally that no one else does. Uh and I'm very proud to be a part of it. Uh so we have a lot of different projects going on. You can go to the next slide. Um, our responsible our our responsibility to the community is to make sure that we have a transparent process that we look at every single code every single year. We ensure that we are not adding on any additional
027taxes than what we need to do. We avoid additional bonds which a lot of schools go out to pay for facilities improvements. We do not do that. When this board first saw the budget this year and saw that it could go out with an increase of 3.57, the board said no. Go back and find something that's lower. and we did and we came back with the same increase that we had last year to 2.94 and we continue to look for other ways to increase our revenue that doesn't come from our taxpayers. So, as an example, we're renting out three more classrooms over here at LMC uh to Boseies. But in order to do that, our wonderful facilities department had to move the mail room downstairs as well as a couple other rooms. But we did
028it we did it in house and and we're now making more money on it. And the goal is to always look for that. You see on the bottom there uh on the left side it just shows you our swim team. Um, we worked with East Meadow with our swim team in order to once again defay costs. We did that with the girls wrestling team this year where we had multiple other districts with our girls wrestling team. Um, if anybody out there has any questions about the budget, every single budget presentation that we've done for the last decade is on our website. So, if you are either interested or can't sleep, if you go there, I promise you fall asleep. Next slide. Mr. Fabiano. Thank you, Superintendent Winch. Um, so early on in the process, uh,
029in order for us to estimate revenues, we have to complete the, uh, New York State property tax cap formula. This is a, uh, an image of that formula. Uh, if you could move on, Derek. Um, and, um, it's called the 2% tax cap, but, the 2% just refers to the rate of inflation. Um, and while we're speaking of inflation, we see over the past uh four years, the rate of inflation uh has has uh well outpaced our ability uh to use the inflation factor, the 2% in the 2% tax cap factor. So, um without any changes to program, um it's eroding our spending power. Uh I think much of the way you feel this at home, uh when you go in and pick up a dozen eggs for $7.99, you're wondering how you make ends
030meet. uh it's not much different for uh for a school district and this is what we're um ha having to um uh really problem solve against. If you could pass that on. So here's a summary of uh the budgettobudget changes. Uh the 2.94% tax levy limit is uh tax cap compliant. So, we're under the tax cap. Uh, and it just requires a simple majority and we are in line with the um with the rest of the county uh going out at about 2.74%. Again, uh we say main budget drivers. These are three areas of the operation where costs have increased by over 30% over the past three years in uh transportation, special education, and employee healthcare benefits. Um, and again, just a reminder, uh, the budget is in, um, u just under two weeks. Uh,
031Tuesday, May 20th. The polls open at 7 and stay open till 8. Um, I did want to, uh, briefly speak about the ballot. Uh, there's a lot on the ballot this year. In addition to both the Levittown uh, school district and Levittown library budgets, we have three additional propositions. One is a capital reserve expenditure proposition. Uh this money already exists um um on the district's balance sheet. Uh but in order to spend it on qualified capital projects, the voters need to approve that expenditure. Just hold on one second, Mr. Fabiano. Everybody's interested with my graphic that's on the screen. That is not the ballot for this year. That is a ballot from from several years ago. It's just what the ballots look like. So I I we did not have we still don't have the
032actual ballot at this time. I saw Miss Espazito having a heart attack over there. This is not the ballots, but it will look like this uh with just different names and and propositions. We secretly put Mr. Papis on the ballot. Bill is too. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. Uh so in in addition to the capital reserve expenditure, u we're also proposing the sale of Seaman's neck building to Nasoboseis. Nasso Boseis has been leasing it from Levittown uh for the past several decades. Um it's we're at an inflection point. The building does need a lot of work. Um and uh it's it's time uh to sell it to Boseis who's willing to do that work and will save us um a lot of money moving forward. Uh what'll be interesting here is that you will get to vote
033on this sale twice. So the voters of the Levittown School District are authorizing the sale of the building to Nassau Boseis uh sometime in October. I believe it is that the uh Nassobosis will be scheduling a vote. This will be a countywide vote and uh the voters of Nassau County will approve the purchase of it from the Levittown School District. Assuming those two things go through, uh the transaction uh will uh be consummated. Uh one important note on that, uh the property is being subdivided. So all the fields where LSW and other community organizations use for little league and soccer uh the district is retaining that that is not part of the sale that will remain district property. Uh the third one is the establishment of a child safety zone. Uh a child safety zone
034is a uh an amendment to the transportation limitations of a school district. Uh as you all know or maybe not know uh only only the voters of the district through a proposition can amend the mileage limitations of your trans board of education transportation policy. Uh there are a couple of areas of the district that are deemed um uh uh child safety zones and uh the district has gone through the process to have that application approved by the state. Uh the good news is when we put this up, we were hopeful uh and we were optimistic that uh this would qualify and we received word this week that we actually have been approved as a child safety zone. What that means is that um any additional expenses associated with this uh which are minimal uh will
035uh be eligible for reimbursement through transportation aid. Uh finally, you have two uh uh we have both elections. Two seats open for the Levittown Board of Education uh as well as three seats for the Levittown uh library. Uh I believe that's it. Okay. I'm sorry. Uh we we need to talk about the contingency budget. So if the budget is not approved and and again it's tax cap compliance, so we just need a simple majority. But if it were not approved, the district has uh to make a decision and we have several choices. We could put the exact same budget up for a revote. We could amend that budget and put it up for a revote or we could go straight to a contingency budget. Um, under a contingency budget, uh, the tax levy can be
036no greater than the prior year's tax levy, which would mean a zero, uh, increase in the levy. Um, and so, uh, option three really isn't a viable option for us. Uh, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. The next slide uh shows a little bit more specifically if we come to it. Yeah. Not when uh I uh if if if we were required to operate under a contingency budget, meaning the budget was defeated a second time, uh a cut of $4.6 million would have to be made uh because that is the uh amount of the tax levy increase. Um so uh in a a couple areas, all non-emergency capital project work would be eliminated. All nonstructural equipment would be restricted and as required by law, we would have to charge uh
037for use of school building and fields by outside community organizations, not our own choice. Uh that that would be mandated by the state. Uh all those taken together would not uh reach 4.6 million. So it is likely additional program cuts uh would have to be made from that point. Can I just ask a quick question? I'm sorry. Um, when it says all non-emergency capital project work would be eliminated, what if you're in the middle of doing a project? Are you allowed to complete that or does it have to stop? Yes. No, absolutely. Because the funding for a project that's in progress is already in place. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Fabiano. Okay. Okay. We will now move to the public be heard sess uh section of our meeting. This is the opportunity for members of the
038community to speak. All questions are directed to the board of education president. Each speaker is limited to three minutes in total. Okay. Tonight we have one person signed up is and that is Maddie. Welcome Maddie. Thank you. Vice No, it has to be on because they have to hear you at home. Okay. Oh, okay. Can you hear me? Yes. Terrific. Thank you, Vice Chair and Superintendent. My name is Maddie Bis Highland. I'm a resident at 1297 Shaw Place in Seafford and I'm an advocate for people with developmental disabilities. First, I would like to congratulate um Peggy and Christina for their re-election unopposed and and congratulate Marie Andreski, Kirsten Carney, and Tony McDonald for their re uh for their election um for the library board and thank Susan Maher for her years of service to the
039to the board of education. Obviously though, we have graduations coming up and that's at the David S. Mack Sports and Exposition which is named after a former David Mack who is a MTA board member, a former vice chairman and a port authority commissioner under again Governor George Pataki. I had my graduation at the MAC sports and entertainment and I got to tell you it was a very great day. But you know, one thing I would suggest for MacArthur is to invite an RO to come back to read some of the names along with Sam Maroy who's the assistant. So that would be nice to have you know them read take turns with the name. Obviously this book I would like to graduate the mock trial class. I know for Phyllis's son Steve who's a law
040clerk to honorable Joe Gerardi and Marian what what law what secretary are you with? What judge? St. George Norman St. George's. Okay, perfect. Um, that's that's great. Um, so I just hope, you know, obviously the one thing I would add to the budget is to add maybe add a chief of staff to the superintendent and that's what I would add. But once again, congratulations to Peggy, um, to Christina and to Kirsten and Marie and Tony. So gang, with that everybody, please go out and vote. Make sure the budget is balanced and hopefully it it does cost a little to live here. the consumer will have to pay a little more as Neil Zuckerman would put it, but at the end of the day, it is worth it and we have to cuz twothirds of our
041budget makes up mandatory spending. So with that, ladies and gentlemen, God bless you all and thank you very much. Thank you, Vice Chair Manny, I can say you are always a breath of fresh air when we listen to you. So, thank you. We appreciate you coming to our meetings and please keep attending. Thank you. Okay, next we move to the schedules. Do I have a motion to accept 5.1 on the agenda? Jim, do I have a second? Mike, all in favor? 6. Just before before Miss Mangi mentions 5.2, just remember the the budget transfer we discussed is going to be separately voted on. So that's not the budget transfer we talked about is not on this these budget transfer. Okay. So, do I have a motion to accept item 5.2 on the agenda? Phyllis second.
042Maryanne. All in favor? 6. Okay. Next, we move to the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to accept item 6.2 to 6.13 on the consent agenda? Phyllis. Second. Christina. All in favor? 6. Okay. Do I have a motion to suspend the 24hour rule and add item 6.15? Christina, do I have a second? Maryanne, all in favor? That just that just Oh, that I don't have to take a vote. Okay, just Thank you, James. Okay. Recommended motion resolved that the Levittown Board of Education does hereby suspend the policy rule to add on agenda item 6.15, transfer for facilities and transportation lot improvements. Do I have a second? Phyllis, any discussions? No. Yeah, sure. Go ahead. Mr. Fabiana, do you want to talk a little bit about what the the uh transfer pays for in regards
043to the improvements at the that way, especially when you mention they may have questions? We did ask Miss Reeves from the transportation department to come as well as Mr. Camarada um if there's any questions the board may have about those improvements. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I'll I'll give a brief overview of what uh of what this transfer would fund and then if there are specific questions uh uh for transportation or facilities, we have uh both directors here in the audience tonight to help answer uh those questions. Uh so uh a as many of you know who have ever visited the uh uh facilities transportation complex um it it it it's in need of some uh repair. Uh there's there's a lot of asphalt work that needs to be done. there's drainage issues. Um, and we've recently
044uh had it evaluated by uh both Alterrais as well as the Nassau County Police Department who have made some recommendations to secure the perimeter through fencing uh and automated gates. Um in addition to that there are some um internal spaces where we are uh we could be um we should be in code compliance with uh specifically the department of transportation when it comes to uh our bathrooms and our showers uh at attached to the garages. So um there's some additional work that that needs to be done uh in terms of light additional lighting again a safety issue uh and all these things are being bundled up uh into one package uh one budget transfer that will enable us to do all the facets of that project as they are really interconnected. We can't do the
045paving without the drainage work um um well we can't do the drainage work without then repaving. Um, so we we bundled it all together and I want to thank uh our our entire facilities team because uh you know it we didn't we didn't give them a lot of time uh really to to get all this information together because um the transfer uh was confirmed just recently after the after the adoption of the budget. Um so uh it all makes sense. Uh it's an investment that we're making in our future in in in an operation uh that is really critical to um the you know the instructional mission of the district uh as as it really is the the transportation hub of the district. So uh I hope that's uh enough of a background. Like I
046said if we have any additional specific questions uh for either one of our directors they are here tonight to answer those questions. Yes, Jim. You're going to transfer $4 million to cover some of these projects. Is there I'm assuming that they're state aidable these projects? No. No, these are not which is one of the reasons that we're you we're doing a budget transfer in the general fund and not the capital reserve. Uh because the capital reserve which is voter approved one of the criteria for getting building aid. So rather than consume that money, uh we're doing the transfer here uh prior to it going into the capital reserve. Okay. Then I don't have a second part of my question then. Okay. All right. Do I have a motion to Mike? Could you put your mic
047on, please? Sorry, I was leaning back like the cool guy. Um, I believe that most of the a lot of the facility over there, bathrooms, I looked at them, they're they're in terrible, deplorable conditions. Um, the $4 million price tag is a lot for one budget. I like to see us prioritize what we need first and what we need second and what we need third because like I said we have the Wisdom Lane project going on which is it could exceed the uh current I will it will exceed there's no doubt about it uh the current budgeted money and these is a kind of still unstable financial times right now. I don't I just really don't want to see us be put into a a hole in the future. Um it will all get done.
048There's not one person on this board that doesn't believe that place needs rehabilitation. The grounds need rehabilitation, the buildings, everything, the lighting, security, uh, but if we can have them prioritize what do you need done this summer, what do you need next summer, and maybe break it down a couple of years just so we don't go into a chance of having to raise extra tax on another budget. Wasn't there a a a positive like I don't want to say a discount by doing it all at once? Yeah, there would there will be some economies of scale if we if we were to do the paving project uh all at once. Uh I believe um uh we we had originally broken it up into three sections uh and then we asked for a fourth quote uh
049to do all three at once and there was about a $90,000 savings on a on about a $1.9 million uh project. So the Yeah, I'm I'm talking about just the paving component. Uh so uh earlier I believe we had sent out a a course breakdown uh of the project. Um so they're really they're really uh in in order to prioritize the project uh when we look at the different components we look at paving, we look at fencing, we look at drainage. Um there would be no way to prioritize the individual components. Okay? We can't do uh we have to do everything in conjunction with each other. So the the old asphalt has to be ripped out. The the the p the new pools have to be put in for the drainage and then it has
050to be repaved. At that time in order to do the repaving the old fence has to be taken out and put back. So we can't prioritize the individual components. What we could do down the middle and do the north side one year and the south side the other year. uh but it is very difficult for us to prioritize the individual components. So um you know that would that would be one way to address it. Um you know as I stated earlier the money is available this year. Uh and if it's if we don't fund the whole project this year the balance what we don't fund would go into the capital reserve. And again that's a good thing but we're not necess we wouldn't be drawing on that capital reserve to do it the following year.
051And there's no guarantee that that money is then available at the end of next year because remember we didn't budget this in 2526. We're relying solely on uh positive variances in this year's budget in order to fund it. I can't make the assumption that that money will be available at this time next year. It might be, it might not. Going by a 10 12 year track record, it would be. The problem is what we and what we discussed is that the problem with what Mr. Fabiano mentioned before is these 30% increases in health care, in transportation, and in special education that is shrinking that surplus that we have. It has gone down quite a bit already in the last 3 years. And so like as much as there will be something because there always has
052to be something, right? Otherwise, we're all in a bad place. Um it it but we don't won't necessarily have the discretionary spending to be able to do this now. And so doing this now uh resolves this issue at transportation for the next 30 years. And so like Mr. Fabiano said, you you can't like the fences have to be removed to do the uh to remove the paving and then to install the new drainage, regrade the whole area because the the whole area has to be regraded because that's the problem. The problem is that as Mr. Moran mentioned that Chris Milano tried to fix the flooding problem in transportation by installing uh additional drainage, but it didn't work because the whole area wasn't regraded. So like that whole area has to be regraded. So it really
053it would be very difficult to divide it up into components other than to say like the bathrooms don't have like the bathrooms obviously would be separate, right? Like that doesn't have to be done as part of the larger project, but out of the project it is the paving and the drainage and the regrading that really is the most costly. And so like that really is the major issue that I would say to and we have the money now the goal would be to do the project now because remember also the longer just like the issue that we have right now with seaman's neck right is that we're we are selling the building for for two reasons one because we're never going to need it but second because it now needs a lot of work because
054we haven't been investing work into that building because it's not a building that we use and so it really has gotten to I think phrase you said it came to a point some some tipping point where it needs like 8 to10 million worth of work that we don't want to put into it because we've waited too long to do the repairs that really shouldn't be doing all along because we didn't prioritize that building. We prioritize our own buildings. And it's really the same with transportation and and facilities lot is that we don't prioritize that area because we prioritize the schools where the children are learning. But at some point we do need to do the work there that really hasn't been done. I think Mr. Mar and I were talking about over 10 years of
055work that really has needed to be done that we haven't done. And it's nobody's fault. It's just that now is the time. We We have the money to be able to do it. We have the time to be able to do it. If we don't do it now, my concern would be that I don't know that we'll be able to ever finish it. And if we just finish it now, it'll be done and we won't ever have to talk about it for another 30 years. But now saying that Can I just make a comment, Mike? And I'm just uh finishing up with what you just backing up, not backing up, piggybacking what you said. The way I look at it right now, I feel like we've been pretty um lucky for lack of better word
056uh because of the health and safety concerns that are over there with the the lighting, lack of lighting, the the flooding that goes on. I live over there. The gates that are not always closed, security re uh issue, like there's so many things I feel that we escaped over all these years that if our our businessman is saying we have the money now and it is a and the way I look at it is a health and safety issue and I think that we should um get this fixed. I agree. Be Maryanne, did you want to say something? Maryann? Yeah, I just had a a comment just kind of piggybacking off of all of that. Um, I I do think that the $4 million was a little bit of a stick sticker shock kind of
057thing. Um, however, uh, the conditions I'm looking at at it as an investment in our staff over there because I think it's really important that you want to go to work every day. Um, so I I do think that if we do have the money now, we should we should make it a better place for people to safely go to um and be proud to be there. Um, the other question is how how long are we anticipating that this job is going to take if all of it was going to be done? I'm going to I'm going to defer to facilities there. What the estimate Thank you, Phyllis. I think the sticker shock is true, but I just think that it things are rising in cost and I I know several times people, you know,
058you you you we you do like you you do you decide to do a project and then you wait a year and the price of the project goes up and I think we'll be in a worse position than we are now. So I although it is sticker shock, I agree with this a lot of money, but I think it's really necessary that we do it and especially since it's going to be done by the end of the uh summer and we're not going to talk about it for 30 years. You promised that? That was my that was my promise. I don't know I'll be here for 30 more years, but if the board would have me, I'd probably say another five. So uh during that time period, uh I would agree that we would never
059bring it up again. Okay, Christina. Jimmy will be here for another 30 years. Christina, well, I already told Peggy I wanted to speak, so I'm going to be one of those people that just echoes what you both said, and I was going to say the same thing. If we don't do it now, I feel like it's going to just be more expensive as the price of everything is increasing. We know what we have. We would have a contract. Um, sticker price shocking, all of the things. Um, but I already committed to speaking, so here I said it. Mike, I'm not saying anything about sticker shock. something needs to be done. It needs to be done. I don't agree with the logic saying that if we only spend two million this year. I'm just saying we
060broke in in two years and something came up the following year, we might not have the money to do it again to put the other 2 million in. But if we spent $4 million this year and some that same something came up the following year, where are we going to get the two or$4 million to fix the problem next year? It's going to be available to us next year, the year after. See, the money doesn't evaporate, right? Okay. So, I I see that we have a little uh difference of thoughts here. And that's fine. That's good. We want different of thoughts. So, I think at this point maybe we'll just take a vote and see how it goes and then we'll move it we'll move it that way. Okay. Did everybody have a chance? Mr.
061Superintendent told me a vote. It is a vote. We suspended the 24 suspended the 24-hour rule to have a vote. No, no, no. There's no Let him feel sorry. It's okay. Not not for this. So, we're going to do a roll call vote. Phyllis, yes. Maryanne, yes. Christina, yes. Mike, I'm going to just abstain. I'm not for against it at this point. Okay. Jimmy, yes. And Peggy, yes. So then we will move 5.14. So I have a motion to accept uh 6.15. We did that. We took a vote and we are five 01. Okay. Thank you everybody. Okay. Next action items. Gifts to schools. Do I have a motion to accept item 7.1 gifts to school? Recommend a motion resolve that the Levittown Board of Education does hereby accept with thanks the following gifts. Zuma
062rocking chairs and Zuma floor rocker chairs which provide subtle back and forth motion to encourage healthy sitting to be donated to Summit Lane school from Miss Jamie Spencer. A check in the amount of $50 to be donated to the Summit Lane school student lunch account uh from Deborah Buck. Books as listed on the attached to be donated to Division Avenue High School Library from Scholastic Bookf Fair. A check in the amount of $1,000 to be donated to the Levittown public school business office for training and lunchon for new insurance requirements donated by Nicer. A check in the amount of $250 to be donated to the Sulk Middle School school student activity fund from the VFW Auxiliary Levittown Island Trees Post 9592 3359 Old Jerusalem Road. Do I have a uh a motion? Yeah. And do
063motion Christina, do I have a second? Phyllis. All in favor? 6. Okay. Okay. We have ad hoc, Mr. Winch. Thank you, Miss Mangi. Uh, so tonight we have the next batch of our updated policies from our policy committee. This is a first read. Yes. Woohoo. Um, there's one out of order there that I'm just going to mention. The 11:21 is a new policy we'll be required to have as of July 1st which is um student liaison while we've had student liaison who are not here tonight because it is AP week um we uh do have to have a policy and so this is a first draft of a policy uh so like I said tonight is the first read of these it is we'll have a second and then the adoption I'm going to just
064mention most of the changes again are primarily either grammatical uh or things like that though I will mention that Policy number 3220, use of assistance animals, is new uh which really we is timely for us to bring on board because we will be having uh some therapy dogs in our secondary schools in the fall. Um that was part of Dr. Zerianis's presentation. Um and also in regards to um some changes with the um use of facilities 3280. So 3280 used to be two policies 3280 and 3280.1. There was duplication throughout both of them but there were differences with both of them. So the committee worked to bring the two policies together into one. Some changes were made where first of all the rates that the district charges for using facilities by outside groups is pulled
065out of the policy and will instead be determined at each reorg meeting like our other rates. This way then you know we have rates right now that say like it's $50 to use the auditorium. Like $50 is not really an appropriate fee. Um so you know that will be then done at each reorg meeting and that way we don't have to change the policy every time that we have to um want to change the rates and then secondly I know you will remember that I had shared with you about some concerns we had gotten from family members about utilization of schools by political uh parties and as conferring with uh with council with Mr. Cohen um the the law in New York state is that uh the the board of education can allow that but
066it has to be voted on by the board of education. So we put that in the policy so that we follow the correct procedures uh which will be done anytime we get a request like that. Um other than that uh Miss Adrian do you remember any other major changes? I thought like maybe the confidentiality computerized information just some cleanup in regards to like old school wording about the worldwide web and things like that. Yeah, I think that the the big one that we had a lot of discussion about was the uh facilities usage and um I'm really happy with how we were able to combine it and make sure that all of the val you know the points that needed to be in there were in there. Um I really like being on the policy
067committee. I'm just saying that what's also nice is that in many of the policies it references that regulations will be developed to carry out a policy which then we go back to our regulation manual to make sure that that's been updated and that's there. And in some instances we found that there aren't there aren't regulations about it and so like oh we should really develop a regulation. So uh it's been a great um project. It's obviously going to be probably another year before it's done. But um I do I do agree I do think it's very worthwhile. And one one thing I I would add um you may have mentioned it is that um we're not just doing this because like we're not just making a change because that's what we feel like doing. like
068we really do confer with with our um legal counsel and you know if we have questions about something we really want to make sure that we have it um a a a good policy that is solid and has legs to stand on legally um so that we don't have to keep going back to it and readress it right like and just as an example that 3110 where it talks about senior citizens it's a policy that references senior citizens and having access to different programs but it never said that they had to live in the district and so we and we actually conferred uh with Mara about like hey shouldn't this say that they have to live in the confines of the district to be able to access these benefits and she said absolutely and so
069we made that made that change. Great. Can I just ask one question on the policy committee there? Maryanne, you you made it you said that you uh you the facilities um policies. What did you see in there that that you wanted to uh I mean I really what you wanted to change? What was the big thing that like caught your eye on those? So the one of the big things that really caught our eyes was that there was 3280 and then 3280A which was almost like a duplicative policy except that there were some things that were a little bit different. So, we worked really hard to like try to combine it and make sure that all of the information um was in in one, but a lot of the wording was the same on a
070lot of the different points. Um I don't remember offhand exactly which points they were. Yeah. for instance, like in just as an example to what you're saying. So like you could see it on the red line version where like one policy had maybe six of of the items under rules and regulations and then another policy had several others such as you know advertising for the event. Um must clearly state the name of the sponsoring group. Um the request for the use of facilities must conform to all board of education policies. Lotteryies gambling was in one but not the other. And so those Right. Yeah. So like and then like even I added to it about that the superintendent of schools would be responsible for developing administrative regulations to support the invitation of this policy because
071we should have regulations that then further explain okay well how does this information get sent to the school right now we have procedures but you know there there the regulation that exists is very outdated needed to be updated because it wasn't really talking about using our online system that we have and so forth. Right. And and the other um point that uh Mr. Winch made earlier was that we took out the um cost for using the facilities just so that we as a board can agree on that in the beginning of every school year um as to what if anything we want to charge for it. So um just when you're thinking about it to vote on it just keep that in mind I guess. Thank you Marian Jen Msina and Mr. Winch for doing
072this. I did this in a different district. it as is very daunting task. So, thank you. I thought we were Well, I must have done it with people who were not fun cuz it was not fun. Peggy. Okay. Could I just I just wanted to let you know about Yes. Go ahead. in regard to the new law on the uh student leazison, the student members of the board. Uh when this was first passed and it was being discussed at at my firms, we have a um a weekly school law Zoom where everyone throughout upstate, downstate, you know, talk about uh new things in the law. And this was like I was really surprised. There was a lot of anxiety about this change. Oh, how are we going to have students do this and what kind
073of procedures and you know, can we almost like can we really trust having students sit up with us and and I said, you know, relax. Levittown has been doing this for many years. It is the process is seamless. It's really a very nice thing. the the students give her a a report at each board meeting and um it's a wonderful thing. Don't be anxious about it. You know, if you have any questions, let me know. So, I want you to know in that way at least that you were pioneers in this and and maybe some of the procedures have helped other districts. Thank you, Bob. You know, after all these years I'm on the board, I still don't really know how the liaison are chosen. I happen to know that and so uh there are
074actually each school uh has a different method and uh both methods are approved because uh the the state does list all the different options that exist for there's actually about 10 which is very interesting but um at uh at division high school the student is selected by uh like the principal's cabinet and at MacArthur it's a voted position just like um class president. Oh that's how it's been since the beginning. Thank you. I learned something. Okay. Uh, our upcoming dates, May 20th is our budget vote. Please make sure to get out and vote. And um Okay. And our meeting after that, our regular meeting will be June 4th. Do I have a motion? You're not You're making me not look good. Almost to the end. Okay, I'm going to do that over again because Mr.
075Winch made a mistake. The upcoming dates for May 20th, the budget. That's correct. This I'm getting there. I'm getting there. Do you think he's a little pushy tonight? Oh, no. Down, boy. Oh, that Oh, no. That is a special meeting. It's this one that's not special. Yes. No, the dates. The dates are right. Okay, we're going to try this one more time. May I have a motion to adjour adjourn the meet today's meeting. It's not special. Don't anybody get confused. Maryanne second by Phyllis. All in favor? 6. Jimmy raise your hand. Thank you. Okay. Meeting adjourned. Thank you everybody.