001We're going to start with the pledge. Please all stand [Music] alice for all. [Music] So, as I said, this is our annual reorganization meeting. At this point, I get to hand off the reigns to the district clerk. We will now proceed with item one on the agenda of the newly reelected board member and com. Do you swear that you'll support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the board of education according to the best of your ability? I do. Thank you very much. [Applause] Nominations and election for the office of board president. I will now entertain nominations for the office of president of the board of education. I'd like to nominate Alexis Pace.
002I'd like to second. Any discussion? Hearing no other nominations, I will declare the nominations closed. All those in favor of Alexis case for president, please raise your hand. Dr. Ryan Sanzo, I just like to take a moment. Miss Miss Miss Pace sense her regrets. She has a family obligation. She really, really, really wanted to be here and she appreciates um the nomination and the election. And I would also just like to take a moment to thank Mr. Pinel for his year as president. Thank you for all your hard work and for helping our school district. Okay. Nominations and election for the office of vice president. I nominate Yan Belie. I'll second. Are there any other nominations for the office of vice president of the board of education? discussions. Hearing no other nominations, I will declare
003the nominations for vice president closed. All those in favor of Nora Belly for vice president, please raise your right hand. power. Do you swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of vice president of the board of education according to the best of your ability? Congratulations. [Applause] I believe the board changes their seating arrangement at this point. And at this point, I'd like to recommend the approval of the appointment of Susan Mleti as district clerk for the 2526 school year. We have a second. Second. All in favor. I congratulations. Okay. Can I call Mrs. Camilleti to come forward and the president can administer the oath? Well, I'll do that. Do you swear
004that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of deputy deputy district clerk of the board of education according to the best of your ability? [Music] I'd like to recommend the appointment of Michelle Matali, assistant clerk for OTM for the 2526 school year. No vote is necessary on this. I'd also Oh, I can I have a motion? Motion. Second. Second. All in favor? I I I'd like to recommend the appointment of Joe Ramirez as treasurer for the 2526 school year. Motion. Second. All in favor? I as well. And yes. Okay. Um if we could have Miss Ramirez, treasurer to come forward and Miss Favali administer the oath. Do you swear that you will support
005the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of treasurer according to the best of your ability. I'd like to ask uh would you recommend the appointment of Michael Dvito as deputy treasurer for the 2526 school year? Motion made second. All in favor? I and I vote yes as well. Okay. Um if Mr. Devito could please come forward and Mrs. Filei will administer the oath. Do you swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York and that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of deputy treasurer according to the best of your ability? Thank you. And I'd ask the board to consider items um 3
006through I'm sorry 13 through 43 as a consent agenda. Uh removing item 17 I don't have eight. I'd like to recommend Chen Ora for Thank you. Superintendent says that he is records management officer. Motion. All in favor? I I'd like to recommend the appointment of Dan Orop as superintendent's design as chief information officer. Motion made. Second. All in favor? I. And I vote. Yes. I'd like to recommend this appointment of Susanna Femi as records access officer for the 2526 school year. Motion second. All in favor? I. Yes. Yes. Yes. And I vote yes. I'd like to recommend the designation of the superintendent school of schools as the payroll certifying officer and the assistant superintendent for finance and operations as an alternate officer in her absence for the 2526 school year. I get a motion. Second.
007All in favor? I I do. Yes. And I vote yes. I'd recommend the appointment of the assistant superintendent for finance operations and operations as the deputy purchasing agent for the 2526 school year. I have a motion. Motion. Second. All in favor? I. And I vote yes. And now I'd like to recommend items 13 through 43 as a consent agenda excluding item 17. Motion second. Any discussion? Yeah. I just I just wanted to ask in terms of the code of conduct in terms of where it would fall, is this under 43 in terms of all other plans and policies that have been adopted in prior years? It actually does fall under that. Now we move into the regular board meeting. We're going to vote I vote yes as a I vote yes on that amendment on
008that resolution of that proposal as amended. Yes. I vote yes. I vote yes as amended. I vote yes as amended and I vote yes as amended. Now we will get to the agenda for the right hand board meeting. So tonight we have a celebration tonight. Sorry you had to sit through some business but it's good civics education. Um this year for the first time and thanks to Dr. Oroth and Judge Tobin for kind of spearheading this and having the idea for this. We had a special mock trial program in fifth grade and we had great attorneys from our own community volunteer to give their time to help prepare our students. They got to go to the county courthouse. They received summones in the mail. They really had a wonderful experience of what it's like to
009participate in a trial as an attorney. So, we'd like to celebrate them tonight and to thank the attorneys who gave up their time for this wonderful program in our district. So, Dr. Row, do you want to take it over? Um, sure. I want to start by um thanking the adviserss that stepped up to lead these groups together. So, two of them couldn't be here tonight. So, um, Dana Monty as well as Caroline Espanette, but we are lucky enough to have two of our adviserss here on this beautiful July night. Um, so it's Dr. Justin Solski and Michael Beth Cascus. Please come up and and receive these honorary certificates. So, thank you for your outstanding [Applause] Before we start announcing our students, I also want to have all of our volunteers up here. So there was
010a convergence of a wonderful opportunity to have so many billable hours in a room and it came from us seeking out from our community different people that would volunteer for different career advisory boards. And when we asked Long Beach families to volunteer and come and be a part of our community, they always answer. So we had a ton of people answer this survey. And in addition, I received this email from Judge Tobin and Joshua Brookstein. So, I have to recognize that Joshua Brooks team makes this possible throughout Nassau County for all of our teams. So, we had four teams represented and I think it was the largest group to represent in the county. So, I want to give us all a big round of applause. [Applause] And it would not have been possible without all
011of the lawyers that stepped up to the plate. and they didn't just come, they brought their hearts with them and they spent hours and hours with our children um throughout the past few weeks, throughout the year. And so hopefully you heard lots of stories and they have a lot of aspiring politicians and lawyers in our midst and hopefully this is a great place, right? And as Dr. Gallagher said, you may be up here serving your community on the board of education one day and local politics is where it happens. So I'm glad you're here and I'm glad you got to witness this local politics happening specifically tonight. So, um I'm going to ask that the lawyers come up and then we'll have all the students come up and take a picture up here um on
012the stage and then we will all kind of return to our seats and play the video. That sound good? Sounds good. All right. Excellent. All right. So, and I have gifts for you, too. So, I'm gonna have my advisor help. Before you say the names, um I just got a message from Judge Coin. She sends her regrets. Uh she got pulled into work and she's doing real poor right now. So she sends her regrets and the following message she goes, "Please thank everyone for inviting and including her as part of the program. The students that they were fantastic and they did an excellent excellent job and she loved having them in her courtroom." So that's from Judge Kogan and thank you for the time. Thank you so much. So we're going to start with Justin
013Brookstein. I'm sorry. That's the [Applause] um Thomas Havlac. [Applause] Hillary Matthew can be here I believe. Um but she sent her her address and was really appreciative to work with all of you. Scott Nigro. [Music] [Applause] And from city hall, we got Joseph Lup. [Applause] Gabriel MTO Kelly [Applause] and Phil Rudo and Phil Rudo Jr. [Applause] All right. And our red team ready to come up. Jasmina, Thomas, Tag, Patrick, Rosie, Peter, Lily, Isabella, Christina, Robert, Truman, Dylan, Paul, Nathan, and Zoe. [Applause] and our green team. Jacob, Aiden, Na, Samantha, [Music] Alani, Vento, Teddy, Princ, and Olivia. [Applause] The blue team, we have Tiana, Grayson, Ryan, Franklin, and Sienna, Luca, Nala, Ireland, and Summer. and Har and our yellow team we have [Applause] Kayyn Nicholas, [Applause] [Music] Hannah, and Scarlet. [Applause] So, we're going to have
014a picture and those of you who we didn't get a chance to get these certificates, I'm going to have you sit over here, watch the video, and then we'll go into the other room and we'll give you out all your certificates. Okay, let's have one big round of applause for our first group of college and these wonder Thank you. [Music] Now, just as they get down, I want to um give a big thank you to Dr. Ora. This program is really her baby. She made it happen. made it happen at the middle school so all of our elementaryaries could participate and I really think this is evidence of the success of the program today. So thank you Dr. O. [Applause] Now my friends you are welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting but
015I have a feeling you probably haven't had dinner yet and maybe even a little Marll is warranted for your successful completion of mock trial. So maybe Dr. Ora can meet you at the back and she'll give you your certificates and your parents can take you out to do something really fun. If you want to stay, you're welcome. But if you want to go celebrate further, you're welcome to do that. We'll just take a five minute break. May I just say before everybody leaves, I just wanted to thank the attorneys for coming tonight on a July evening on a very steamy evening. you guys to come for you to participate in this just truly shows your dedication to the kids in Long Beach and to your profession. So on behalf of the board, we're very very
016grateful that you made the effort not only to work with them during the course of the year, but also to come tonight because it's a special night for them and I suspect for you as well. So thank you very very much for coming and congratulations to all the students. Thank you. And again, we'll take the break after the movie. I don't think [Music] Thank you all so much. And Dr. Ora will meet you in the back with your certificate if you didn't get it. and have a great celebration and a great night. We'll reconvene the rest of the meeting in about three minutes. Oh yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we'll reconvene board of education comments. I just want to take a minute to um thank Mr. Pinto for his service as president. Uh demands
017a lot of footwork and a lot of extra time and uh sort of did it in a graceful manner. So I thank you for that. I also congratulate Mrs. Conway on a re-election for three more years in the board. You've made great effort to to serve the community and to serve the schools and to get around. So we certainly thank you for that. and look forward to your continued service. And finally, I'd like just to congratulate Mrs. Pace and Mrs. Belie for stepping up this offices for the next year. And we wish you every success and we know that you will be successful in your new roles as president and vice president of the board of education. Thank you. Thank you. Questions and comments from the public. items on today's agenda only. Um, treasurer's report
018for May 2025. No action is necessary. Do we have anybody here from the student organization? I believe we'll have a new student representative in September. And I'm going to turn it over to the superintendent. Thank you. I'd ask the board to consider item one, certificated personnel. Can I get a motion? Motion. Second. Favor. Any discussion? I'd just like to take a moment to um recognize two appointments special because they're former students who have come back. First, I'd like to congratulate uh Mrs. Boy on your appointment and your return home. We look forward to every success for you in your new position and we have every confidence that you will be successful. And also to Miss Cavin, is she here? Um, another former student who's coming back to her position at West School. We welcome you
019back as well coming home and uh we wish you every success in your new position at West and we know that you will be under very good guidance at West and uh we look forward to seeing you bloom and blossom as a teacher making West shine even more than it does. So congratulations to those two individuals and best wishes to them. And I'd also just like to introduce um Jean McKinnon who's also not an alum of the school but she is being appointed tonight. So Jean if you can wave there we go. Thank you. I I just would like to thank um Dr. Natali and everybody who does the hiring for our school district. Dr. Natalyia, I know that you spent countless hours going over and ensuring that we have the best people possible to
020take care of our students in our school. So, on behalf of the board, I'd like to send you my heartfelt thanks and please send my thanks to all of those people who work with you on this huge endeavor. It's really Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] It is a group effort with all of the principles and other administrators on the hiring and um the committees for the administrators. We have all units recogniz uh represented including PTA. So Amy, thank you for always getting those parents on the committee and it definitely is a team team effort back in my office. So I will be sure to pass that along. Thank you. And I just want to add also welcome and congratulations to our new hires and welcome back to those of you who are coming back to
021Long Beach and we wish you all the best. Okay, can I get a vote, please? Mr. PTO, I vote yes. Congratulations, Miss Conway. Yes. And congratulations, Brian. I vote yes. And I vote yes. Ask [Applause] the board to consider two non-certificated personnel. Motion made second. Mr. Pinto, any discussion. Mr. Pinto, yes. Miss Conway, yes. Dr. Brian, I vote yes. And I vote yes. And I asked the board to um consider items three through 35 with the consent agenda. And please note the list of the items is actually incorrect. There are 35 items. It's correct in the agenda but not in the list. Any discussion? Motion made. Second. Any discussion? Mr. Pinto. Yes. Miss Conway? Yes. Dr. Ryan? I vote yes. And I vote yes. New and old is it Betty? Doc Brian. I just wanted
022to take a moment to thank all the schools for the respective moving up ceremonies from the graduation at the high school to the elementary moving up. They were all held without event. The kids were terrific. The events ran smoothly and uh we're very very grateful for the success of the school year and for the respective success of the students in each of the buildings. So, thank you to all those who made those ceremonies very very special to the students involved. Thank you. Questions and comments from the public and you need to have filled out a card. If you haven't done so, please do so. Walsh from the district clerk will give you a card to fill out. Um, I wanted to come here and um, talk about Rachel Ray not being rehired. So, I don't
023know if everyone's familiar with that whole situation, but who doesn't know me? My name is Georgia Walsh. I came here today because I'm appalled by the way Rachel Ready has been treated. I do not have a girl who plays lacrosse for her. I know her on a personal level. I watched her baby prior and then baby this year so she could dedicate her time to being a devoted teacher on the crossroad. The only side I've had ever seen of Rachel is a devoted, loving, caring mother, wife, teacher, and coach. I know many in this community who adore her. I'm sure there are some who don't like her and a coaching method. I for one get it. It's tough coaching and I am in favor. what you learn in sports and on the field you take
024into adulthood and like and learn how to even that playing the field which is far harder and a lot of times more unfair than lacrosse fields. I know the endless effort she put into coaching the lacrosse team for 16 years. She certainly wasn't doing it to get rich. what was what she was doing was sacrificing her own time and then time away from her babies in more recent years to quote instill hard work ethic in these girls. I for one didn't mind because I have her babies which are delicious. So that's I find it utterly hard to believe that this is not a personal vendetta against her. In 16 years of coaching and teaching, she's never been written up spoken to receive a yellow or red card in the game. Now, out of the blue,
025she's not rehired and showed little to zero appreciation or respect for all her hard work. She's a tough coach, no doubt about that. That's how she was coached and she was taught. If there was a problem, why not address her and give her a chance to respond to a complaint or tell her a different coaching method that the district would prefer? That wasn't an option because this decision was made secretly and secretly behind closed doors. I think the district has made a huge mistake. To have someone like Rachel who's dedicated 16 years to Long Beach Girls Lacrosse and discard her as if she's meant nothing is wrong on many levels. It's doing a disservice to the girls. Yes, she's tough because she loves her game and she loves teaching. People like Rachel's special and that
026far they have armed few. In my opinion and that of many, this was done extremely classless manner. What's this teaching the girls? If things don't work out, we're gonna get the coach fired. How will they know how to handle life and what it throws at you? If this is even the reason for her not being hurt because nobody really knows what happened because nothing's been said. I think Long Beach should have and could have done better. Many families are affected by this branch decision. And I we many people feel this is a major loss for the community. And I just needed to say that because my heart hurts out, you know, like and the girls. That's all I need to say. So, is there going to be something said about this? Will this be addressed?
027We cannot comment on personnel that is legally. Okay. So, the whole community, no one's going to know anything. It's just going to be that's it. Are you accepting other people to just be a card? Okay. Am I able to do that? Yeah. Thank you. Where do I do that? Okay. Just want to remind people that we have a three minute limit. Next is Edward Verona. Hello, my name is Edward Vernon. Um, would like to ask the school board, the school board may be aware the new administration of, you know, the White House has put forward a variety of executive orders that have uh impacted public school districts that receive federal funding. This includes um a variety of of executive boards in all different topics. Everything from uh uh transgender individuals in sports programs uh DEI
028classrooms as well as uh um uh combating anti-semitism as well as disciplinary policies. So, um I would like to ask how the uh district plans to implement these executive orders primarily as the um administration has said that administration said they will uh federal funding would like to address that. So, as I think you're aware, most of our federal funding is a pass through through New York State. So, we're actually governed by state rules right now, and the state will determine the state will be the one that has to come into alignment with some of the executive orders. So, for now, there's really nothing that would affect us directly, but I also believe that um for the most part, we comply with the directives that were put forth in the in the um federal executive orders.
029Um so, I don't believe that we would have any difficulty aligning ourselves with that um if if that were to come to it. But for now, all of that goes to the state. So, we don't have to concern ourselves with that. Yeah. Well, our title one money comes from the state. Oh, does our special education funding come from the states? No. Or Okay. So, the if if it's not implemented properly, if the executive orders are not implemented properly, we risk especially losing the uh dis individuals with disability in education. Yeah, I don't believe that any of our special ed policies are in violation of any federal u thank you Miller. [Music] Okay. Um actually not here to talk about special ed about that. Um I'm going to speak as the director of beach girls. I've
030worked end about coach. I've worked endlessly with coach for the last 12 years when I took over. We are integrated in a lot of ways from fundraisers to camps to clinic to beach the cross purchasing shirts for the varsity girls each season for a special event or playoffs. She chooses to include the little girls in pregame cheers and the national anthem. She encourages us as much as we both camp. The little girls obviously love this part of the program. It bonds a community of female lacrosse players together and the young girls look up to quote and honestly this benefits everyone involved. She cares about the girls in many ways and most don't even know how much she does because she does it without talking about it. When certain things happen in school, she's often called
031by a teacher or a teen and will explain something that may may need explaining. She does hold the girls accountable in many ways, and that's a good thing. As a parent, she always has their best interest at heart during the phone calls or the interactions. I've seen her with the players. As a parent and as a director, she holds the team accountable when it's necessary. And in this day and age, it's rare, but it's something I appreciate and am about from a coaching point of view. As a parent of a former player from outside looking in, I think she prepared my daughter for the tough expectations that come from playing lacrosse in college at the D1 level. It's a shame this happens. When parents are given so much power, I worry about all the other
032coach coaches in our district. Who would ever want to take a coaching job here knowing parents have a say in who can be rehired? The the crossroad is small and this has been said numerous times to me over the last few few weeks. I would hope numerous steps have occurred before this decision has been made. Thank you. [Applause] Sarah Resnik. Good evening members of the board, faculty, and community. My name is Sarah Resnik and I'm here tonight not just as a former Long Beach lacrosse player, but as someone whose life was deeply shaped by Coach Ray. Coach Ray took a chance on me when I was only 12 years old, still in middle school, bringing me up to varsity in the seventh grade. It wasn't a popular move at the time. She got criticism for
033it, but she believed in me and that belief laid the foundation for everything that followed. Because of her confidence in me, I grew into an all-count player by eighth grade, a captain as a sophomore, an two-time all-American in high school, and a later two-time all-American at the University of Florida. The path started with one coach seeing something in me before most others did. The coach didn't just build athletes. She built a program, a culture, and a legacy. She created a standard where hard work, not reputation, earned you a place on the field. It didn't matter if you were the top D1 recruit or someone who just worked their tail off. If you showed up and gave everything, coach Ray saw you. And that's the environment she created. One where every girl had a chance to
034grow. One of my o most unforgettable memories was beating Manhasset my junior year. My family and Coach Ray had what we called a bucket list, a goal to beat every top program in Nassau County. And with her leadership, we crossed off every name. Want tall, Cold Spring Harbor, Siosket, Masipiqua, Farmingdale, and finally Manhassid. Those wins weren't just about lacrosse though. They were about belief, preparation, and grit. And none of it would have happened without Coach Ray. And here's the truth. Before Coach Ray, no one really knew Palm Beach lacrosse. We were known more for surfing, lifeguards, and going to the beach than being a competitive lacrosse program. When I joined my club team, my nickname was LB because I was the only kid from Long Beach playing at that level. People used to laugh about
035Long Beach lacrosse and that changed because of Coach Ray. She gave this town something to be proud of and she gave us a name and she put us on the map. And it wasn't just about the girls who had dreams of playing in college. Some of the most impactful players on our team never intended to play beyond high school. But Coach Wright believed in them, too. Because of her, they felt valued. They found joy in the sport and they said how much they had fun being part of this team. And that's the kind of culture she built where one where every girl mattered. And her impact didn't end with varsity players. Coach Ray has invested heavily in growing the game from the youth level up. Every year she runs Bulldogs camp that younger girls in
036town look forward to. It's her more It's more than just a camp. It's an invitation into a family. She brings her varsity players to help run it, giving the younger girls role models to look up to and creating a real sense of belonging. Sorry. Um, she's not just coaching a team, she's building a future. Now, kids are proud to wear their Long Beach lacrosse gear. They are proud to represent this town on club teams. And that's because of Coach Ray's influence, because of what she's built here from the ground up. Coach Ray is not just a coach. She's a teacher in this district. She's a mother of two beautiful children. She has poured her heart and soul into this town, this program, and these kids. And she deserves to be treated with that same heart
037and respect in return. I'm asking the board to re-evaluate this decision and if nothing else, give her the respectful sendoff she has earned. not for accolades or attention, but because it's the right thing to do and for a woman who has done right for this community for years. Thank you, James Mclofflin. Um, I could come up here and speak very highly of coach Ray, but everybody else is going to do that. Um, one of my biggest concerns is this is woman that gave 15 years of her life like Savage said, dove into the community at a young level and gave everything for a program and then she was dismissed. And quite frankly, as a member of the community, we have no idea why because of a couple of parents complaints. Anybody that's ever coached has
038always had complaints about you're not going to make everybody happy. And one of the things I've heard, which I hope to get find out tonight, is somebody told me that the reason why she was let go was because it's more about feelings and it's not about wins and losses. And now as a parent whose children have come through the program, I'll be a grandparent whose children will come through the program. And I was a former coach here. I sit here and say, is Long Beach athletics no more about wins and losses and winning? It's about feelings and participation. And if that's the truth, is that going to the wrestling team? Is that going to the football team? Is that the men's lacrosse program and the swim team? Is that what this board feels about athletics
039that we are a participation sport now at the varsity level? And if that is the truth, I think you should express to the community and the residents and the constituents you represent and let them know that you no longer feel that our Boston sports and this counts about wins and losses about making people feel good and just having the show went up. Can anybody answer me on that question? Is it about feelings? Is it about wins and losses? Yeah, I I can I mean, I'll speak for the board, but I think our philosophy of athletics has always been to balance winning. We certainly love winning here. We want to keep winning, but also supporting children in their growth. Now beyond that I, as I said before, I can't really discuss any individual personnel decisions, but
040our philosophy of our athletic program in Long Beach has not changed. It hasn't changed. No, it hasn't. So, is it 8020? Is it 90? Is it 100% 50/50? What is that balance these days? I I couldn't tell you. I'm certainly not an athlete, but it hasn't changed. It hasn't changed. But yet we let go of the best lacrosse coach we've ever had for the girls program. We dismissed her. Why? I think it's wrong. I think you should reconsider. And I also heard that there were personal reasons from the board that leaked in that had complaints and then they let their personal feelings come to take away from a coach that's done a tremendous job throughout this community. So you should all look at yourselves and discuss it amongst yourselves because it's a it's a big
041uh atrocious injustice that happened to her. [Applause] Good evening, Dr. Gallagher and the members of the board. Um, I'm not going to be asking any questions. I am just here to support someone that I've known for 25 years. Uh, my name is Vanessa Windsor. I'm the director of Lax on Long Island and Lax and Elite Lacrosse Club, a nationally ranked girls lacrosse program here on Long Island. I spent over two decades in the sport as a player, a national champion champion, an NCAA coach for eight years, and now as a director working to empower young female athletes across our region. But tonight, I'm not just as speaking here as a coach. I'm speaking as someone who's known Rachel Ray for over 25 years. Rachel and I were in both high school and college together. She
042was a year older than me. We won a national championship together in 2009. She was our captain, our leader, and a a rock solid team. I watched firsthand how her work ethic, composure, and ability to connect with others elevated everyone around her, including myself. And that still hasn't changed. I had the honor of witnessing something truly special just six months after winning a national championship with her. She became our assistant coach. When you play with people and then become their coach at Adelfi, it's a very special thing. that transition is not easy for somebody. Rachel was able to do it flawlessly. This is something that I really respect about her, not only with her peers, but in any program that she is a part of. It excels. And it excels because she earns the respect
043of the people that she is coaching, the families that she is connecting with. She's built for this. Five years ago, I had the privilege of watching her get inducted into the Adelfi University Hall of Fame. That night, I didn't just see a teammate honored. I saw a woman celebrated for the legacy she built, for the impact she's made, and for the respect that she commands in the lacrosse world. Rachel is a highly regarded across the sport, not just for her playing days, but for the person and leader she's always been behind the scenes. Rachel is someone who is highly respected throughout the entire lacrosse community, not because she demands recognition, but because she shows up consistently for the people that she serves. She brought that same excellence and integrity to Long Beach, where she's coached
044for 16 years. She started at just 21 years old, the same year that she was my assistant coach at Adelfi when we won a national championship in 2010. And she's never stopped giving back. And here's what you need to know about Rachel Ray. She does win a lot on the field, but that has never been the reason why she's coached or given back to this sport. It has always been about the impact that she makes towards others. The growth, the life lessons, the kind of mentorship that just changes kids beyond the field. These kids that she has coached are going to top universities in the country, gaining an academic future because of the tool that she used in lacrosse, because of her leadership and the legacy that she put in and put forth. Hours and
045hours of video and spending time with her kids and giving her all to this program. The respect that she's built over the years reflects directly in what she's given. She's given 16 years of her professional life to Long Beach Lacrosse. She started very young. I coached many of her players at a national level in recruitment showcases training to name a few. Delaney Shernoff, Nassau Training, Grace McGrevy, Club Lacrosse, Delaney Raiden, Under Arour All-American. These girls have always expressed how much they admire Rachel. They carry her lessons with them and that's a legacy. Time is up. If you could please wrap it up. Absolutely. I'll wrap it up right now. I urge this board to reflect on what it truly matters to value someone's contributions and to ask what message is being sent when someone like
046Rachel isn't asked to return or at the very least give her the reasons why. Rachel deserves better. Your athletes deserve better and this community deserves leaders like her. Thank you for your time. [Applause] Hi everybody. 55 Grand Boulevard. Um, so can you hear me back there? Um, okay. So I just got this from my daughter. Um, so my daughter graduated 2019. um when she was a lacrosse player, she got pulled up and I think seventh or eighth grade, I think eighth grade. Um whenever my daughter had a hard time, and by the way, coaches that are good, demand a lot. And when she had a hard time, which was sometimes when coach really said, you know, well, Hannah, um, you could do better, she'd come home and complain. And we would say, a very common
047quote with people from yesterday, suck it up, buttercup, go talk to your coach. That is a dying philosophy. There were coaches. And I pulled a bunch of data, but I brought I put on my glasses and I just left six hours of traffic to get here to talk on this subject. So, forgive me for not being prepared. New Jersey is trying to change legislation because board members have been dead. Quote, that's a quote in an article. Because kids that don't get accolades that they want, the parents complain. Because kids that don't do well on the team but love to be on the team and the kids are happy on the team, parents are upset because they want them to maybe play attack, they can play defense. Um, so they complain. The climate has changed. New
048Jerseyy's having such a hard time getting coaches. two top coaches just just quit and they're trying to change legislation to make it a mandate threeyear contract because as parents become not lawn not lawn mower parents helicopter parents it's new breed now I love everybody on this team and I love the kids and I hope everybody goes to Duke and all the other places and has a great time I can have a respect have a respectful disagreement with people and still you don't get along, great. But when you have this lack of like, you know, go talk to coach and I I have no idea of of some of the what what happened behind the scenes. I do know that I was down in Florida with a bunch of I mean, when I say top coaches,
049I mean the top coaches in the country. I just left the top coach in the nation weekend hanging out together. They have opinions on parents these days and what you just did and I so it's the board. It's not the parents, not the kids. Some kids are happy, some kids they're not. What you do when you make a decision, you now have some pipelines. You know what kids go here. There's a call that's made. She got my daughter to sit with Stanford after sitting with USC. She only really went to UCLA for academics. Good luck finding another coach who makes one phone call and gets that done. What did happen though, Mrs. G, Dr. Gallagher, you should definitely know this. What has happened now is that pipeline of even if you don't want her, she's
050very coachable, she's a good kid, take her. Um, that's gone. And you know how I know that time's up and I know it. So, I really think that you guys should think beyond the moment. And when you talked about I'm going to say this to you directly. When you talked about what we care about for an athlete, you remember what you said to me. You tried to get my gay wrestler to not wrestle anymore cuz kids would call him names. You said that directly to me. Tried to hide my kid. What was my quote to you? He's been hiding his whole life. He's not hiding anymore. That's Dr. Gallagher that said that. Dr. Ryan, think about that. You hurt my son more than anybody else. [Applause] Danielle Ferraro. I'm going to switch it up a
051little bit. Um I I just wanted to speak to the uh discussion about the reassignment of nurse Heather from e school. Um, from my understanding, it is not wanted on her behalf, on any of the administration at E school's behalf, at any of the parents. Um, I I you know, I I understand that several people have written emails. I wrote an email when there was a discussion about the closure at East about how impactful that would be uh in in regards to um the nurse and and how you know taking on more but how important it is um that uh how important she is uh to our community at the school. Um and so I'm just I I my understanding is that she's being reassigned to Toledo because they need a nurse. So I I
052don't understand why now eh school needs a new nurse. Why not just hire for for Leo? I sent a message that I asked to post to the school parents group that explained that every year our supervisors in different departments make decisions about where to deploy staff. Very very common to shift staff from one school to another. The focus is always on what's best for the district as a whole. And that's true here as well. Beyond that, I really h how does what's good for the district as a whole get determined? There are many different factors including where people are the best fit, where there are the most students, where the most students with needs, what the nursing structure looks like, what any department structure looks like. Well, they look at the whole department and say,
053where do people belong that will best utilize their talents? That's [Music] it. Long Beach Blaster Teachers Association. Just want to congratulate everybody who's here tonight that got hired. Welcome and welcome back to some of you. Uh we're looking forward to lots of years working and thank you to the board for everything with the budget this year and specifically our new mindfulness we are very excited about. Thank you for that and everyone have a great summer. Thank you. Administrative, Supervisory and DPS Group, LBSA, Group C Employees Association, DTA. All right. Is it dying out of work on my last meeting? All right. Um, this is the last meeting for Juliana as president. So, we just want to thank everyone. We want to congratulate you and and to thank you and for taking on their new roles
054and we definitely only personally would like to welcome the new as we're excited to welcome you to. Thank you everyone and have a great summer. Thank you everyone. Motion to adjourn. Motion. Second. All in favor? Thank you everyone. Thank you everyone. Good night.