001I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, good evening. I need a motion for the approval of the minutes. >> I need a second >> or any discussion? >> All in favor? I. >> Okay. I need a motion to accept the financial reports. >> Make a motion. >> I need a second. >> Yep. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? All right. Anybody in the audience who wants to speak on any agenda item, you may come up to the microphone, podium, wherever you want. Okay, that's a no. Okay, superintendent report. >> Okay, I wanted to uh make note that board members Karen Lutello and Lauren Aer excused this evening, as is
002our student rep, Laurel Richards. Um, each of them actually have pressing reasons this evening on why they couldn't be here. Um, some updates for the board. I had attended the Suffach County School Superintendent Association advocacy workshop at Sequoia um on Saturday, January 24th. Um, the workshop brings together school superintendents and board trustees um in a setting to discuss, plan and coordinate advocacy efforts for students and school districts um as well as navigating state level legislative process and local priorities. I found that this workshop to be very insightful and very valuable. Um it comes usually in the same season as the legislative breakfast which I know some of the board has gone um with me to that. Uh I I found this workshop to be a lot more valuable than the legislative breakfast. It's actually a
003workshop on how to better advocate for for the district. Um, so I think going forward I'm going to try to get board members to join me in going to the this uh advocacy workshop in lie of attending the legislative breakfast where um the feedback I've gotten from the board and I felt the same is that we're kind of there for window dressing um and is is not giving us as productive outcomes as we'd like for the time. So um next year that that'll be the intent to to get increased participation in that workshop. Um, last night I attended the Eastern SuffK Bosey's executive briefing. Uh, Brian Chachinki from uh the execut he's the executive director of the Association of School Business Officials of New York. Uh, he provided a presentation um and brought us up
004to date on the latest from Albany when it comes to state aid calculations. Uh, Mr. Delari is going to be sharing with the board a report on state aid foundation um and its impact on the district in the future. Uh, he'll give you some insight there. Uh the long and short of it is I really talked about the state aid calculations for this year and um most districts uh getting a slight increase. The whole harmless uh safe homeless schools getting a slight increase. Um but that increase is in uh UPK funding. Um, so for a district like us, um, it all it's going to do is increase, uh, to our provider what we pay per student and is not increased foundation aid for us to use here within the district. Um, but there'll be more
005from that uh, from Charlie. Uh, Mr. Wermouth gave me a sports update for the board. Uh, the Matic South old Greenport wrestling team um was undefeated in League 8 competition. they were league champions. Um and then the wrestling team hosted the West Doulson North Fork Invitational uh this past Saturday. Um it is a tremendous event and to the community that supports the event. Um Miss Oceleneian came by for a little bit. Um it's it's probably the biggest event that we we hold on on the school grounds. Um our wrestlers, uh Nikki Murocha was a champion in the heavyweight class. Um and he could be a favorite heading into the counties. Also placing in the tournament were Kevin Collins, Kai Bosen, Jack Buanudo, Alex Felakis, Colin Heig, and Ryder Antinucci. Um, the boys will be competing
006in the individual Suffach County Championship at Shawn Wadeen River tomorrow, and we're hoping for some state qualifiers. Uh, the boys basketball team season, last time Mr. Warmouth was here. He said it was looking a little bleak from the beginning, but the Tuckers really clawed their way through uh the season and after last Thursday night's win over Port Jefferson, they have qualified for the Class B playoffs and their first round game will be tomorrow evening um against the Babylon Panthers and that game will be in Babylon and uh they're hoping to advance where they would face Southampton at that point in time. and Ever Meer took home the gold on Saturday in the small school county championship in the high jump with an impressive 411 leap over the bar. Her next stop will be the New
007York State qualifier on Monday and Tuesday of next week at Suffach Community College and she is hoping that a qualifying jump there will get her into the New York State Championship. Um and then good luck to our high school Special Olympics Top Golf Team. They are competing today in the season's final competition. So, um hopefully they had some success there. Uh PS I love you week uh has been this week and and today uh tomorrow is PS I love you day the 13th in all buildings. Um their contest displays uh the mission is to really instill hope. >> Sorry, it's all good, Doug. um is to instill hope for those affected by mental illness, fostering a supportive environment and a community where everyone feels welcomed and loved. Um our students will be reporting out on
008that next month for each of the buildings. Um and if you were lucky enough to uh see the elementary school performance of Little Mermaid, it was sold out each uh each showing last weekend. I was lucky enough to catch it during the school day when they did the student performance. um really outstanding and we had a new crop of teachers involved in that performance and they really did an outstanding job. Um in your packet is a letter that we received from the RSVP animal welfare and rescue group. Um it was sent to us earlier this week and the communication is about the work that our students in the vocational training program have been doing at PetSmart. Um it's a very flattering letter. Um and uh again like I said it's been uh shared with you
009in your packets but it it just speaks to the work that our teachers and teacher assistants um do at PetSmart and then the work of our students and uh they're moving on. They're not going to be uh that organization is not going to be working with PetSmart. and basically the letter saying I hope that these kids find somewhere where they can get involved because they're really doing an outstanding job um in in that in that area. Uh the district is going to be offering English language classes for parents on Tuesdays. Um it's going to be February 24th, March 3rd, March 10th, March 17th, and March 24th. This is something that we've done in the past and has been uh we've had great participation. It'll be here in the library. Um child care will be available
010and uh anyone interested in participating can contact Raphael Moraurice. Um and flyers are also available here tonight. Um back on uh the day um there was an article uh News Day just did a a um a video on uh the inception of our new marching band uh that we shared with the board. It's been circulating around the the community. Um, I just wanted to take this opportunity to uh first off thank the teachers involved in the marching band >> for kind of going out of uh how we traditionally do things and and and really taking a chance playing with the 10th period concept in order to provide this opportunity for our students because there's just no room anywhere else to really do it. Um, and I want to thank the board for supporting um that
011that that program. It's taken off. They've done a spectacular job. Um, I do want to make note uh in that video there was a comment about it being the first time we've ever had a marching band. Um, and some of the feedback I've gotten is we've had a marching band before. And we laughed today, the administrative team, I'm like, "No, that's not true. We've had bands that have marched, but they were never really a marching band." um they were uh it was usually our band um was asked to can you guys put something together and go march in the Memorial Day parade or the St. Patty's Day parade and the kids would practice for a couple days and would go march and then I'd get this feedback that your marching band is awful and I'm
012like they're not a marching band. They're doing their best. But um we definitely have a product that we can be proud of now and I'm looking forward them uh to them hitting the uh the parade circuit. They've been playing at games as a pep band. It's been really a great addition. Um, kindergarten registration will be held on March 3rd and 4th at Kutog East. Um, to set up an appointment, please contact Jennision at central registration for information and to schedule an appointment. Um, always busy, our NJRTC unit competed at the Lynen Area 2 regional competition against 16 units from New York, New Jersey, PA, and Connecticut. Um, as usual, the cadets won many awards in the various events and took home the overall first place trophy. They just keep on going, those guys. Um, a
013memo has gone out uh to our staff. Um, and a letter will be going out to our school community about snow days, delays, and an updated remote instruction plan. Um, the state has kind of changed the the way they track uh time out of school for emergencies. It used to be strictly by days. Um and now they're doing it by hours and they're counting delays against those hours. So that's a fairly new thing. Um which kind of brought it up to our attention that you know we got to really look at our remote plan and and so uh we've done that. I know both buildings have scheduled faculty meetings to review the plan to make sure everyone's on board and um a letter will go out to the community. Um just letting them know right
014now we have uh enough time for a one additional snow day and a two-hour delay or potentially three two-hour delays. Um after that we would have to go to remote instruction. So we just want to give everybody a heads up um of that potential and what it would look like. And then we got notice uh last week that um we are on the AP honor roll for the first time. So the college board has named Matitech Junior Senior High School to the 2025 advanced placement program um school honor role. Uh this gold recognition points to the schools whose AP programs delivered results for students while broadening opportunities for participation. Um so this recognition is a result of increased offerings, increased student participation amongst all demographics and increased student performance at the same time. Um this
015is the first time we've ever gotten the gold award. Um, it's a big deal. I want to congratulate uh all of our students that challenged themselves by taking our AP courses. Uh, of course, our AP teachers and really all of our teachers that our students have had along their educational journey um as well as the support staff, administration, you, the board of education, parents in the community. It's really a group effort um to to kind of get that recognition. and it's not something that happens easily and takes a lot of work and dedication and commitment uh by the community to support those types of programs. And last but not least, nomination petitions for seats on the board of education are now available. The May 19th, 2026 election is for three members of the board of
016education. Two positions are for three-year terms and one position is for a partial term to fill a vacancy. The two full terms will commence on July 1st, 2026 and will expire on June 30th, 2029. And the partial term will commence on May 9th, 2026 and will spire expire on June 30th, 2027. So, please contact District Clerk Alisa Bieber if you are interested in running for the board and to obtain a petition packet. Um, and with that, I'd like to wish everyone an enjoyable mid-winter recess. Hopefully we get a continued break from the cold. And uh >> and Sean to to run for the board the requirements. >> Oh, you need to be a resident of the district. >> 18 years old. >> Yeah, we have it on our a slide at the end of tonight's
017uh present budget presentation. >> Okay. Um, going back to your the animal welfare rescue, any chance that those kids could go to some of the local vets and see if they could use the help? >> Um, knowing Carolyn will, she's going to begin to exhaust all efforts to find uh additional placements for these kids. Um, so that's actively right. We're working on that now. >> Good. >> That's it. >> Okay, that's it. Okay, we're up to department reports. Um, first the Spanish department. >> How we doing tonight? >> Hello everyone. >> Hi, Andrea. >> I'm Andrea Donald's, Spanish teacher and department coordinator. Thanks for having me here tonight to share about our department. Okay, so what's new in our department? We have a new teacher at the high school. Her name is Miss Samantha Tlesca.
018She's teaching Spanish four and five and a few Spanish 2 classes. Also, we are offering college credits in Spanish 4 and five this year, which is really exciting, which I'll I'll talk about in a minute as well. And then our um what's new in our department is in the high school, we also adopted a new textbook series this year. And this is our lovely department on the slides. Okay. So, at the high school, we offer Spanish A through Spanish 5, um, grades 7 through 12. In Spanish B and Spanish 3, we have the checkpoint exams. In Spanish 4 and five this year, what's, like I said, really exciting is that we offer uh, college credits through ACE um, program at Stony Brook University. And right now there's 14 students registered for that. So, we um
019had a curriculum. We designed a curriculum last year. We submitted it to Stony Brook for um their review. They approved it and that's the approved curriculum that we're using this year. Our textbook series that we uh adopted was is reporter. It means reporters in English. Um we piloted a few programs last year and ultimately decided we like this one the best um because it's communicative proficiency based. We all love that there's so much culture embedded in the textbook as well and um it provides us with a lot of resources such as uh videos and readings. It's also a newer textbook, so it's um up to date and there's a lot of current events from the culture of the different countries studied in that textbook. >> So this uh just some I wanted to share some
020events happening in our department this um year so far. Um, as you heard, Miss Daniel's classes did some holiday carolling in Spanish in some of the classes around the school, which was really nice. Um, I should also say that there are a couple of videos in my presentation, so some of the the music might come on. Um, we also had some classes doing country projects, some of the seventh graders, and also the ninth graders have been working on those. A couple of our classes celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month in September with um some fiestas or class activities and um we take uh took part in spirit week as well. What's coming up in March and this is a really fun event and activity we like to take part in. It's actually a national um event. It's
021called the Lora de Maro and it means uh March Madness or March craziness and it's an annual music competition for Spanish students to listen to different songs in Spanish just like the bracket system in uh college basketball. And um we subscribe to this um contest and two songs are put up against each other each day. It's about a three-week event and um we vote on we listen to the songs, we vote on the songs and then one uh moves to the next round just like in basketball. Ultimately there's a winner. Students really look forward to this every year. We've been doing it the past few years. Um it it allows them to appreciate new music, new genres of music. Um also connect to Spanish culture. Some teachers like to instead of just playing songs, put
022a lesson together on some of the artists and or even the music types like kumbia or salsa music. There's dancing involved. It's really fun and it runs we run it in March. Um and students really look forward to it. Okay. We also offer Spanish club at uh MHS and in addition to speaking Spanish, we do a lot of really fun things. We celebrate holidays, Hispanic holidays. We learn about Hispanic culture. We watch foreign language films. We cook Spanish uh Hispanic food together. We connect with Spanish speaking countries through um different types of projects or um activities. One that we're going to be working on soon is called the Pulsera project. And it's Pulsera means bracelet in span in English. And um we basically receive bracelets from this organization, the Pulsar Project that have been made
023by real people in Honduras and um Nicaragua. And we sell the bracelets in school as um and we collect money. Some of the Spanish students sell them at lunch. We go into classrooms. They they sell them to their friends. And then we send all the money back to the organization and it goes to paying um the artisans that made the bracelets. They also provide um housing uh um medic u medical care education for the artisans. There's also a great um website that comes along with um taking part in this where um they provide us with real videos of the people making the bracelets speaking in Spanish and it's great to form lessons this way. So this is a really great activity and this is going to start when we get back from the break. Um
024and we also when available we take trips to see cultural performances. We've done Latin dance show trips. We've gone to restaurants before. And then we also celebrate and organize um schoolwide events for National Foreign Language Week. And speaking of National Foreign Language Week, it's actually coming up really soon. We have a lot actually happening in March in the Spanish Department, but it's a special week celebrated to promote um the importance of foreign language education and cultural awareness. So the past few years we've been um doing a bigger celebration than we had before. We organize like a week long uh events after school, during school. Sometimes we've done like spirit week. We've done um lessons in French after school. We've done like Italian movies after school. Um we also do like scavenger hunts. Um, we designed
025like flags where our an of our ancestry. Last year we added um a poster contest which was a lot of fun. The theme of foreign language week last week was last year was um language takes you places. So we had students design posters and we had over 20 entries. We have some pictures up there and um it was really fun to see how they interpreted that. And then we had the winners receive um gift cards at the school store. This year the theme is of foreign language week is learning languages a prescription for healing misunderstandings. So we're going to definitely run the um poster contest again. So I'm excited to see how they interpret that, how students interpret that. So I'm going to switch gears to talk about Spanish at the elementary school now. So,
026we offer Spanish at the elementary school in kindergarten, first grade for 30 minutes, two times a week. And in second grade through sixth grade, we offer Spanish two times a week for 40 minutes. Um, if you go into some of these classrooms, you could see there's so much movement and music and singing and storytelling. Um, teachers utilize storytelling and reading to teach proficiency. They use comprehensible input which is speaking in Spanish but at a at a level that the students can understand. There's many simulations of like shopping in the grocery store or um shopping at uh or ordering in a restaurant. Um so they do a lot of fun things in the ele elementary school. >> This is a kindergartener sharing how we feel. >> Fantastic. Um, so we have some kindergarteners here reading and
027illustrating um their emotions in Spanish, celebrating holidays. These are students singing all while doing. >> Here we have first graders playing hot seat, a game uh where they give clues and then they have to guess the word. our heart. >> So, we have second graders practicing a Mexican dance and playing a guessing game. Here's uh kindergarteners were talking about the third graders were talking about themselves chatting and mingling. And here are some pictures of them working on a project. And it looks like there's food in the background. So they probably had to practice ordering or going shopping. And last but not least, we do offer Spanish club at Kachag East as well. And at Spanish club at Kachagist, students have a lot of fun playing games, um doing crafts, singing songs, speaking in Spanish, getting
028to know each other. Um and that's basically it. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Very informative. Does anyone on the board have any questions for you? >> We should have had it 50 years ago, Sean. >> Well, we got her here now. >> Very good. >> Spanish course would have been good then. >> No doubt. No doubt. >> Okay. High school technology and STEM. >> So, high school technology is not able to be here this evening, but we do have um STEM from Kachogist. >> Okay. stem from Kachagis. >> How we doing tonight, Emma? >> Great. >> Good. >> A little nervous, but we're good. >> Don't be nervous. >> All righty. So, my name is Emily Sconberg. I am Kajog East um elementary librarian as well as the CE teacher. Um I
029have been there for four years now. My first two years I was kindergarten special ed and then I transitioned into this role and it's been nothing but incredible and crazy at the same time. Uh I'm going to talk about some of the highlights of the program and as you can see from this picture the kids are always so excited to come. They don't always start with this expression. They start with apprehension but they always leave with this expression. Um so back to the mission statement which is in all of our curriculum and guides us. Um, we try to take every part of it and incorporate it at every level. Um, as you can see here, my first pigeon, um, I have a student who's building and getting just so excited about it. Um, as you
030can see, we use an array of technology between low tech and high-tech. Um, and we really do a ton of different lessons, which is great. Um, our goal is to really create these meaningful lessons that can translate to essential skills for the future. Um, our world is ever evolving and um, students have to leave school with things that we've never thought they had to leave. These tech skills, these personal skills, these critical thinking skills. So, Steam gives them the opportunity to have the access to it and be exposed to it. Um, when I go about creating my lessons and my curriculum, I always reference the eight practices of the science and engineering which is design defined by our next generation science standards. Um, I can't get all of these in one lesson, but I get
031a few. And just like most of our other curriculums, it snowballs. So, in kindergarten, you have an exposure to it, and by sixth grade, they can tell you the practice back to you. Um, so the biggest thing that I tell my students is um, I didn't get to choose who I work with. I just had to work with them and thankfully they're all great. Uh, so we really promote that collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. And at the end of most lessons, I don't really ask them, "Have you been successful?" I asked, "How well did you work in a group? What skills did you use to work in a group?" So that's really our basis of um what we're promoting for Katchog East. Um as you can see in the top picture, snowplow is a huge
032thing in Katchog East. Megan Tapenheart did a great job establishing that. Um so this year I had the students use a dash robot, build a plow out of Lego, and plow one street, then a multiplied to two to three. Um, they also used uh tape measure to measure the road. So, a lot of great skills in there. My second picture, I have a student using something called an Ozobot, which is a smaller robot. Uh, it has a color sensor and they were mimicking the Macy's Day Parade, so they made a balloon float. We talked about the landmarks, so applicable to real life. Uh, and then my last picture with the Olympics, it's been fantastic to translate that into steam. So, I know it's not on a hill, but they are mimicking um downhill alpine skiing
033with a robot through their gates. Um, real world connections and applications. Uh, so I always try to tie everything back to what career could this be? Uh, what life experience could this be? And where in the world would you see this? So, in my first picture with the dirt, you can't see it there, but my kindergarteners are searching for worms. And I had a compost of worms in my closet for a while. And uh the students went through and we learned all about life cycle of a worm and then we created a model of what's the best habitat. And I think the best part about that lesson is the students realize something so small can be so impactful just like them as kindergarters. Um my second picture there are first graders creating a uh ball
034run. Um I actually just did this lesson again for the Olympics to recreate a bobsled run. Um in my third picture I have second graders creating a marble run. Um, with that creation of the marbling run, we really talked about game design. We talked about, do you want to make it a beginner level, intermediate, or hard? Um, so they understood what goes into planning a game. This is nice and hands-on. It's screenless, but it can also be transferred to a screen. So, that applies to our real world. Um, in my third picture down there, uh, my third graders created, uh, paper airplanes out of a bunch of different materials. Um, we launched them outside and then we took our measuring wheel and we talked about differences between inches and centimeters. We talked about our designs,
035what worked, what didn't work. Um, so they had a lot of good skills with that. Uh, this picture down here in the middle, one of my favorite lessons is uh is paper circuits. So in fourth grade, a big part of their curriculum is circuits. Um, I found this these materials where you can take copper tape, you can take an LED and a coin battery and you can make a greeting card. So we talked about um greeting cards can have lights and sound. How do you think they have lights and sound? Then we took apart it, we looked at it, we figured it out, and then I gave them all the materials to make it themselves and design. So that was a really great lesson. And then this last picture here I have is my um
036I think they were my sixth graders. Uh they are practicing their engineering design with stability and structural integrity. So I gave them a can of soup. Of course, they all asked if they can eat it. I said no. Um and I asked them to build a tower that can hold a can of soup for a minute. And if it went longer, it was extremely successful. So, they had a great job working uh they did a great job working together and collaborating and talking about the shapes that are the strongest. Um some new things that have come into our steam lab are our Sparrow Indie cars. Our students love these. I was introduced to these um through Boseies last year. I had a representative come and she showed me how to use them. She used them
037with my students. So, a Sphero Indie car is essentially, I tell the kids, a self-driving car, very small self-driving car. It has a color sensor on the bottom. It's reading the colors and directing where it goes based on the color. Green is always go, blue is right, pink is left. Um, so I've been able to use that with my littlest learners and my biggest learners. And I'm just scaling the lessons to what's appropriate to them. So, my little learners, we're keeping it really simple. We're talking about stop lights, uh, traffic signs, why should we follow them, what happens if we don't? And then even at my sixth grade level, I'm giving them puzzles. I'm saying if you want your robot to go right, left, right, they'd have to recreate that model from my words. Um,
038the second thing that I haven't gotten into yet, but I plan to in the spring is Lego Education Science. Um, so CE has had LEGO kits before. Uh, LEGO Education just came out with this new model that is 100% aligned to the next generation standards. So, it goes one for one with it. Um, so in the Steam Lab, it's a great extension of what they're already doing in the classroom. So, for third grade, they talk about life cycles. When you come into the Steam Lab, you're building a little animal that's a life cycle. Then you can automate it. You can move it. You can almost have it move through all the parts. So, really great. Um, next year I intend to expand it to the um all the grade levels, but this year I'm going
039to start with three to five. Um, so Steam night, these are some pictures from last year. Such an incredible, incredible event. I really enjoyed having so many community members there. Um, so the community and parents have an opportunity to observe all of uh the children's science fair projects. Uh, we combine it with an art show. So all of our students art is displayed and then we also this year combined it with our recorder concert. So our third graders do a recorder concert. So um a lot of the feedback I got was that everybody liked that everything was together. It felt very cohesive. Um and it was a lot of fun. Uh I want to thank the community members. So both libraries were there. Matatuck Katogatuck >> Laurel >> New Laurel. Thank you. Uh Kachog News
040SuffK Boseies was there. Piconic Baykeepers were there. uh Long Island Gem and Mineral Society were there. Uh the PTA was there with the table. They did great. And then I had some high school volunteers which helped out immensely. And then this year, so April 22nd on Earth Day is going to be our uh Steam night again in our gym. And the last thing I want to talk about is our science fair. Um so here are some pictures of our winners and honorable mentions from 2025. Um, so we set up the science fair in a smaller room, not the gymnasium. And it proved to be a really great um, intimate scene. You see the postits on the table. I asked students to write comments, questions, anything you want about other kids science fair projects and they
041did that. So the kids who came back to see their projects, they really lit up when they saw the interaction between all of the grade levels. Um, as far as this year goes, science fair uh, judging is going to be April 16th. Um, so all projects have to be in by the 15th to give them a day. All right. And that is all I have. And thank you so much for having me. >> Thank you. >> Anybody have any questions? You can go. >> Okay. Now we're up to the superintendent's proposed budget 2026 27. Jeez. Okay, >> hit escape. All right, >> cuz I'm the only one still using PowerPoint. I have such a supportive team. Um, but no, seriously, I do have a a very supportive team. I I do want to thank uh
042the administrators, uh the the directors, the building principles, and uh most of all, Charlie Gari for every year helping put the budget together. Um, and then also the real work of executing the budget during the course of the year and um, always keeping our priorities straight, which is the mission statement, always going back to the mission statement and making sure that all the decisions we make um, support the mission of the district. So, just a quick reminder of our our calendar and how how this budget cycle goes. And like I said, when I, you know, thank them, it's ongoing all year. This is not just the budget season. It it takes place all year right now in February, March, and April, right? We're beginning our public budget meetings. Um, we adjust the budget as needed.
043So, this is not a set budget that I am presenting tonight. This is stage one, looking for feedback from the board and the community. Um, that goes through uh March and April. And in May, we will hold the budget vote um and any referendum votes that we may have. At this point in time in the process, we don't have any additional referendum votes um any capital projects, but that could change uh as we go. Um in May and June, we implement the budgets and any approved projects that we may have. Um and then we hit the summer and the admin team begins to look at programs. um we do our fiscal audits, our academic audits, and uh really make adjustments as we begin to plan for the school year. And in September and October is
044goal setting and planning. And then once we hit November and December, um we do the review of the five-year facilities plan. Um and we begin the budget process then and there at the building level and department level. um starting to build those budgets and in January and February, excuse me, um we really begin to evaluate and project what our enrollments are going to be um at both the elementary school and the high school. Um what kind of courses are we going to be able to run, what kind of programs we're going to be able to support. um we finalize our revenue projections and then present the proposed district to the budget uh the the the proposed district budget to the board of education which is what we're doing um here this evening. So that that
045is the ongoing cycle of our budget process. um things that you will find in the budget um many of which are ongoing um based on the priorities of the district. Uh but optimal class sizes at both Kutchog East and Matatek High School uh a few years ago about 5 years ago uh the board came to a consensus on what they wanted their grade level bands to be in the elementary school and we've been able to stay within those bands. Um and again it it progresses in the primary grades. The classes are desired to be much smaller with an increase um as we get up into the the upper grade levels. Um the robust AP course offerings um we have 16 or 17 depending on the given year. There's one that we run um every other
046year. Uh without going into the details, you heard in my superintendence report um we were awarded the AP honor roll uh gold distinction by college board this year and that just speaks to the success of of our AP programs and and student participation. Um we continue alignment of the K through8 ELA and math programs. And as we look at our data, we're seeing increased results across the board. Um still work to be done but uh again the the alignment is working. Um our MTSS uh multiple tiered system of supports um at Kutchog East which has been fully implemented and is constantly being tweaked as well as now implementation at the junior senior high school and again any in different areas we're seeing increased results there as well. Um this budget supports our Bosey's career and
047tech programs. We have 25 students participating in added district placements as well as our in-house carpentry program which at this point in time is self- sustaining. So I do want to thank the board of education for supporting that program. We did take a loss um in the first year uh is is as we were trying to build it up. But right now I believe we have five students um from Greenport. We have three students from South and two students from Matitech that participate in our program here. And we're looking forward to watching that program go. Um, our ELNL program continues to grow a as our demographics shift. Uh, some of the professional supports that we have, we have six ENL teachers, six dualcertified teachers. Um, we've instituted an ENL coordinator, our community leaison, and a
048bilingual clerical um to support our students. And again, the data is telling us that um we're we're seeing success, we're seeing growth in that area, but there's still a lot of work to be done. This is one of our areas of need in the district when we look at the data. Um we're looking to in this budget add a specialized ENL reading teacher that would work uh grades K through 12. And again, we'll be looking at our data and seeing where we could best utilize that position. So that would be a new position in the budget this year. Um other academic programs supports for our students. Um we are sustaining our extended learning intervention program. Um this year we are focusing on our tier 2 interventions. In the past it was our tier three interventions.
049Um and we will be servicing 88 students grades two through six. And based on the success of this program this year that'll determine how we utilize those resources next year going forward. Um our curriculum instructional development K12 is ongoing. Um we are continuing with the ELA math uh coaching position. It's really morphed into not only an ELA and math coaching position, but also an MTSS data lead position where um they're doing a lot of the data mining and then working with teachers on how to best utilize that data um to improve instruction. K6 um our science curriculum investigations has been ongoing. This year the focus was on earth science and biology. Next year it'll be on chemistry. Um again our special ed program uh considered a Cadillac version of special ed. Um we have integrated
050co-taught classes K through 12. Um academic special classes resource room life skills vocational training additional classroom supports consultants and service providers to to support those students. And again we're seeing a lot of success with with that uh student population as well. Um and then our technology infrastructure that's always ongoing. um our upgrades as part of a rotational basis um maintenance plan. Um our project this summer is the PA system. Um we've had some problems with the PA system. It's hanging on by a paper clip, I'm being told, at this point in time. Um but we will be looking to access funds from the repair reserve to get that work done this summer. And then we are also doing a Chromebook refresh for grades five and nine. Um we're trying to refresh every uh every year
051two different grade levels. Those would be the grade levels targeted this year. As far as enrichment um and other things that are helping our students meet the vision of the district, um we have the same number of clubs running in both buildings. Um those clubs may change, but those are the number of clubs budgeted for in both buildings. I know both principles are doing audits based on student participation um and and determining what clubs are staying or going. Um so so that's going to shift a little bit. Uh art, music, and theater full programs going again. Our our musicals have never been stronger. Our plays are running strong. Um uh the art presentation you received last month from uh the coordinator Dena Rose uh gave you some insight into the quality of that program. And
052again, uh, this will be the first year that we have line items for the marching band, um, as opposed to the band that used to march. Um, so, uh, again, thank you for that. Uh, Kogi Steam, you saw a presentation, uh, this evening, a wonderful program for our kids at Kyog East. Our Spanish program is ongoing and we are offering 55. Again, this number is fluid as we're scheduling our courses, but uh this present year, we ran 55 electives at the junior senior high school. Um as well as a very robust NGRTC program, um in conjunction with the other districts on the North Fork. In athletics, we offer 25 sports teams. We are offering um competitive cheer in the fall season as well next year. It's become very popular in the winter season. So, we're
053expanding that into the fall season and we will also be um combining with students from Greenport and South hold. I know I know South Hold Greenport as well. >> Yeah, I think so. >> Okay. Um to really grow that program which which is outstanding. Um we have 64 different teams uh 16 of which are combined with other districts. So, a tremendous number of offerings for our students considering our size. Um security has grown. We have five full-time guards at this point in time. Um, and we have 13 part-time guards. Uh, 12 of which are either active or retired law enforcement. Um, districtwide we have 98 different cameras. There is money in the budget for some replacement and upgrades as needed there. Um, and then social emotional supports. Um, we have a very robust guidance department
054and I am always thankful for that. We have 4.5 uh guidance counselors in the district. We have two school psychologists, two students assistance counselors, as well as a behavioral specialist. Um, and ongoing programming and curriculum uh through grades K through 12. Uh, as far as enrollments go, um, there's two tables up here. This is cut yeast. Uh, the table on the left is last year's. Uh, the table on the right is this year's. So as you look at the numbers um we are going from uh 440 students at the start of the year last year to we anticipate um anywhere from 414 to 418 students uh when we open up the doors in September and go we'll be going from 24 sections at Kogi to 22 sections. Um so there will be a reduction of
055two sections at Kutis anticipated for next year. um in kindergarten ICT um at at present we have uh two students um and so we are looking to go to a model where it' be a half-day ICT model um we are keeping the other half in the budget because we're going to watch that kindergarten number those numbers can be a little bit fluid um and then if we don't get additional um ICT students in kindergarten we may utilize that half a position in other areas for supports um there is an increase in ENL reading. Um, we're looking to uh create that position. That'll be a one uh a full-time position. And again, that was the position I was talking about uh grades K through 12. So, that will be a new position um in in the
056district. Um and these totals do not include our special class students at the secondary level. Um this this we're going from uh 526 students at the start of the school year this year uh where we're antic anticipating uh starting the year off with approximately 497 students next year. Um as you look at our sections and again this is fluid. We're still scheduling the building looking to balance classes. Um but you will see some areas where we anticipate that um we will have the same number of uh positions FTEES that's that's a full-time um employee in that position uh utilizing six classes as well uh uh that's is how we fulfill these positions when you see the 02s or point8s um but you'll see a decrease in some areas again these numbers are going to be
057fluid but we will be down some sections um across the board. Um uh the one area that we uh we have a retirement in in the business department, we do not anticipate replacing that that position and shifting some of those classes to other areas. Um and then blending one of those classes into another curriculum. Um but that's why you see some of the uh classes we anticipate being stable some of the different departments. um where others are going down. Um but we do uh anticipate a decrease of approximately 29 students going into the high school next year. So what does this all amount to? Um proper position number one, which will be our proposed annual budget. Um the proposed budget is uh 48 uh.2 2 million um which represents a 3.19% increase from last year.
058Um well this this actual year um with the proposed tax levy that's funds raised from the community um being approximately $43.3 million uh representing a 2.63% increase which is our allowable levy. So our 2% increase actually equates to 2.63. Um I'm going to ask Mr. Mr. Delari to come up and walk the board through some of those numbers. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Petrady. Also the same I'd like to echo the thanks we ha that we have board of education for allowing us to go through this process and asking us questions throughout the wet the way the um also a special thanks to the administrators the directors principles also Tom Kelly from facilities Jose Torres from transportation Lisa Beaver from the district office side and Tina Smith with the debt service and business office
059Um and also a special thanks. One of the parts whenever they were going over the way that the groups meet, um each one of these people ended up coming forward and they would meet with the group which would be Susan Steenoski who was there from our personnel department. Uh Elena Finnegan there for curriculum and personnel, Tina Smith and the business uh business office and with Sean and myself to go over the overview of this. Um, so it definitely is a process and it is something we do a zerobased ba zerobased budget balancing and that means that you have to justify every dollar that you're going to be putting in your budget. All right, the first one I figured I'd start off because I know Doug likes me to make sliding moves and all that. So
060I had the the sliding MC come down. Um, this really shows you what the budget drivers are. The largest part of any any budget is always your salaries followed by your benefits. As you could see there, those are the two largest sizes followed by your instructional and student services. Those are all the other needs that you have that support your students. Your central office number, which is that 988,000. That also includes the insurance that we pay um for all of our buildings in case we do have any issues or problems. that insurance which magically goes up a lot more than our tax levy cap is included in there. Our transportation which is a slight increase and I have to I always echo the thanks and praise to Sunrise Bus. Um if you look at other
061bus companies and what's going on throughout the county and also in Nassau County, some of them are facing increases anywhere from 7 to 35%. Yes, 35% increases in their transportation. Thankfully, we do not have that with us. Our debt service and fund transfer, just so that you know that there were two different uh areas that we had. There was a contract that ends up pay that we have to pay off by 2028-29 that actually gets paid annually. And then there was a $14.7 million bond that happened years ago that comes off in 202930. Um, and this is the amount of money that we pay each year on that. There is a slight decrease thankfully as the years go on. And then our facilities and securities is the last part there. This is another breakdown. Instead
062of going over each one of the areas, I'm just going to highlight the ones where you see a significant increase. TRS, that's the percentage that we have to pay. Uh, that's up to that's based upon what your salaries that you take in in your teacher's retirement system. and you pay a you pay a percentage to them. I'm going to go into greater detail in later presentations on these numbers. So, I'm not going to go too much, but I'll show you the percentages there. As you can see, health insurance is one of the big increases, and that's something that NICHIP has done with a significant increase this year of well over 8% on the uh family health insurance. Other benefits again salaries is going to be one of your largest parts but whenever you look at
063the amount it's a 3.45% uh which it of course it is the largest part of your budget but it's not a significant increase in comparison to the other areas and pupil personnel is another area that you see an increase but that's really that's our special education services which are significant price increases that we have. Here's the breakdown of how the revenues come. And in a neighborhood such as such as ours out here, the most the the highest area, the greatest area that it comes from is from the taxpayers in the communities that support our school district. Uh that makes up 43.2 million and that is part A. That is uh part A of the budget process and that's what we vote on each year. State aid is the 3.2 million as we said before. Sometimes
064you might see it reported as we receive 3.5 million. 300,000 of that actually 320,000 of that is in UPK. So it's creative budgeting given out by the governor and politicians which usually always happens. Uh that is not included in your K through2 program. So it's 3.2 million there. Uh we also have different areas in our reserve and fund balance that we utilize of $700,000. I believe that's our ERS. We're looking at this year workers comp and then also an amount of 250,000 from our fund balance that we we touch upon pilots that's called payment in lie of taxes. It's a consistent number that we receive based upon different agencies that go through an IDA program that they get incentives instead of paying taxes they pay pilot payments. Also, one of the biggest pilot payments going
065out there is PSEG, which also sometimes you'll see as a LIPA payment because they still take on that. That's the different amounts of money that they pay for the different polls that you have up in your neighborhood. Um, that that comes in a pilot payment. And miscellaneous are different things such as interest that we receive on monies that we have in reserve, tuitions that we receive from out of district or different things from private or different student supports that we have at private schools. and also any of the other areas or monies that we receive coming from the state that you that can come across whether it's um we have to one of the areas that we have is we have um a private school in our district boundary and we have to provide the
066various supports for certain services in that building. We end up then also receiving that money back from people that are out of district. that goes both on your revenue side and your expense side and sometime and with the out of district it is costneutral. Uh this is the area to give you an idea of where we were at. The allowable rate is in the navy blue color and the red color shows you what our tax tax levy has been over the years uh from 2.74 to 2.91 2 uh 97 and this year it is down to 2.63. 63. Uh, the next part I'm going to take you through is this very nice and easy math equation. Meredith usually helps me out with math equations when we go through there. And uh, this is the breakdown
067of what part of the tax levy cap is. You always hear from the governor. It says 2%. I'll show you on this fun slide where that comes in. So, we're going to have the numbers click in here. Uh this going into this year, the levy that was put on the residents of the towns that make up our school district was TW 42.167 million. All right, that gets multiplied by what's called a tax base growth factor. That's something given to us by the New York State Controllers's office told us that what they expect our growth to be. It could be anywhere from one to a number over that. What you then do is you add on your pilots that you receive in this fiscal year and then you subtract the calculations from the tax levy. That's
068an exclusion from the prior year to you'll see that an exclusion that doesn't make up anything which is good because that would mean that you have had significant dollar amounts in some of your areas such as your legal expenses. Then you get to the exciting part where that first number that the governor and everybody talks about the 2%. That's that one little piece there. That's what you multiply it by the 2%. After you do that, you subtract out your pilot payments. And then if there's carryover money, carryover is in two forms and they tell you to take the lower of the two. The lower always magically comes out to be zero. So that number is always going to be zero. That gives you 41.692 692 million that is what your tax levy limit is and
069then on that then you add back the exclusions the first one as I said the if you had court order judgments or that in excess of 5% of your total taxes all right I go back into retirement and that number gets significantly higher all right because that would be 5% of $42 million you would have paid out in legal fees then you add your capital tax levy Those are the different projects that I told you about and that's what the cost is this year coming up. As you can see up top, it was 1.625 down to 1.583. So that's what you're paying back on those two bonds. And then your tax levy increase if your ERS or your TRS goes up two percentage points higher. They allow you to add that difference on. And that
070did occur. I believe it was two years ago. That number whenever it does occur is around3 to $5,000. And the total that you get is that 43,275,868. So just to recap again, your budget went from 46.7 and proposing to 48.2 and again there will be adjustments throughout the course of the budget process. That's an increase of one almost 1.5 million which is a 3.9 3.19% budget-to-budget increase. The other part is your tax levy. Now this is on the A fund. What you're um voting on this is the tax levy for residents goes from 42.1 to 43.2 an increase of a little over 1.1 million and that's an estimated increase in the levy of 2.63%. voting. It's Tuesday, Super Tuesday, May 19th, and you will be able to vote over at our Matatuck Junior Se Senior
071High School gym between the hours of 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. We figured we'd also put in the nice looking Cut East down there, but please do not go there between 3:00 to 9:00 p.m. on May 19th. Go to the place up top and do not get on the tractor. Come around the side uh for the voting. The other part that we have is if you're interested in running for the school board, God bless you because these people do a thankless job and I we they are greatly appreciated. But if you do have an interest in that, you could pick up a packet from Lisa Bieber in the office and the last date to pick up a packet is April 20th. in the packet. Just note, I believe that you have to have uh at
072least 25 qualified voters of the district that you have, which is required by law in order to be put on the ballot. Anybody have any questions? >> Thank you, Charlie, for all your hard work. >> Thank you. Okay, if we have no questions, we go on to the board of ed committee reports. Doug, you're up. >> Uh, thank you, Pat. We met to discuss several items at the top of the list. Um, the wall was separating in the hallway down here. There's an outer inch, inch and a half of veneer on the wall and and that is coming loose and we'll have to work on that this this summer. Actually, the guys um looked at it the other day, Doug. They're going to start to do work on it now. They're going to try to
073pull um some of those tiles off and put plywood up and secure the wall. Um but they're going to begin to do that work now. >> Very good. >> And over the February break. Yeah. >> Uh there was a solar meeting um with Johnson Controls to discuss options for solar installations, both roof and ground mounts. There are a number of factors to consider, including the site cost, long-term impact, guidance from engineers, and legal counsel. This is something we've talked about for a number of years. There's been absolutely no decisions made as to whether we'll go this way or not. I strongly favor it, especially from what I read about the cost of electricity going up, and it's going up a a lot and quickly. mortar here from that. Uh we had a rooftop heat pump
074that failed over the band room and we now have some electric heaters in there trying to keep it warm. Uh it could be quite pricey if we have to fix replace the whole unit. John, what was it? Uh several hundred,000. >> No, no, it was it was in in the 30s, but it may potentially even be higher than that. >> Okay. Um, so that that we're going to look at whether we can fix it or have to replace it. And I think that's it. Okay. Thank you, Doug. Um, curriculum, technology, and health. I'm going to read uh Karen Letterella's report. Um, extended learning program tier 2 support for grades 2 to six is in progress. Attendance is very good with 88 students participating. The program focuses on reading, vocabulary, language, and comprehension. Tier three students
075receive support during the school day. The seal of civic readiness. New York State Education Department has approved the district's participation in the civic education initiative. The seal of civic readiness is a formal recognition that a student has attained a high level of proficiency in terms of civic knowledge, civic skills, civic mindset, and civic experiences. Students receive the seal of civic readiness, distinction on their high school transcript and diploma upon completion of the requirements. ENL parent teacher conferences. an additional conference day a year would be beneficial as well as offering telephone call conferencing. So, we're thinking about that. 26 27 UPK. A preliminary grant funding amount pending final approval has been received to support approximately 32 students attending UPK at no cost for the 2026 27 school year. Cardiac emergency response plan. The district's plan for
076handling sudden cardiac arrest incidents is in place within the district-wide safety plan. Outdoor stations are being created to house the AED devices in temperature control storage containers. Like Mr. Petrey said, we got an AP scholar no AP school honoral gold distinction. The college board has named Matitechuck Junior Senior High School to the 2025 advanced placement program school honor role. This prestigious recognition points to schools whose AP programs deliver results for students while broadening opportunities for participation. Matitech Junior Senior High School earned a gold distinction for developing a collegebound culture and one that provides opportunities for students to earn college credit and maximize college readiness. And that's the curriculum report. Now we have audit and finance. >> Patty, if I could. >> Sure. >> There's a couple of points I left out forgot. My memory is
077>> going too bad now. Getting too old, guys. Um, >> we we discussed uh the possibility of a generator here. The school is an emergency shelter, but if if the lights go out for long term, the school will need some kind of backup power. So, we also considering uh looking at some different possibilities for that. >> That was the one that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> Yes. Um, and I'll let it go with that. Thank you. >> Okay, Lorraine. >> Okay. Um, the audit and finance committee met today. We talked about the claims report which is still has zero confirming purchase orders and zero purchases that were in question. Uh there is one budget transfer that is going to cover special ed student that is for the out of district costs. Uh we
078got our fiscal stress score which is a zero for the third straight year. This is a score assigned by the New York State Controllers Office. The lower the score the better. It is based off of a 100 point scale. The key components of the calculation include the year-end fund balance, operating deficits and surpluses, cash position, the ability to cover immediate liabilities, and short-term debt. Um, and the last thing we had was the tax levy that was covered in the presentation. >> Okay. Thank you. And negotiations and personnel. We're happy to say the administrator's memorandum of agreement is on the agenda for board approval this evening. And we move on to donation. New business. I need a motion to accept a donation. >> Make a motion. >> I need a second. So I always read the
079donations. Accept a donation in the amount of $1,000 from Mr. Paul Haynes to support select chorus at music in the parks for the 202526 school year. Any other discussion? All in favor? >> Thank you. >> And thank you. >> He'll he'll get a letter on that. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Now, I need a motion for resignations, terminations, leave of absences, and reductions. >> I need a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> Yep. >> I Okay. I need um a motion for appointments, tenure, salary changes. >> So move. >> Second >> discussion. >> Okay, now I need a motion for resolution A through J. >> Okay, I need a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> Nope. Okay. Now I need a second motion to add
080a resolution. >> Make a motion. >> I need a second. >> Yes. >> Any discussion? Now I'm going to read the resolution. Be it resolved that upon reviewing the appeal of a student discipline matter, the board of education affirms the decision of the superintendent in all respects. And be it further resolved that the district clerk shall notify the parents in writing of the board's determination. I need a motion to accept that resolution. >> I need a motion. >> Second. >> I need I need a second. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor? >> Yep. >> Okay. Moving right along. My my we are up to audience communication. Anybody in the audience want to come up and say anything that isn't on the agenda? Is on the agenda? They always yell at me for how I do
081that, but I don't care. So, um, okay. If there is no further conversation, I need a motion to adjourn. I need a second. >> Second. >> Uh, and there is no need for discussion to adjourn. So, thank you. Have a good night everybody and enjoy your week off.