001Please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay, >> I need a motion for the approval of the minutes of the August 21st meeting. >> Make a motion. >> I need a second. >> A second. >> Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> Okay. I need a motion for to accept the claims, financials, and treasurers report. >> So move. >> I need a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? Y. >> Now I have audience communications for anything that's on the agenda. Please come up, state your name, where you're from. Good evening. Welcome back to school and welcome to all the new board members. Um, my name is Danielle
002Jacobs Irwin and from Matuck and I have a eighth grader and an 11th grader. I see on tonight's agenda that we are hiring a full-time guard and also a guard that's to be determined. I'm wondering if this will solve the issue of not having security at the front entrance at the high school at all times. I'm here tonight to express my concerns about security at our school and the lack of a security guard sitting at the entrance to the high school at all times. I raised this issue at the PTSA meeting last night and a few people there were already aware. However, the majority of parents had no idea all were concerned upon learning and so I bring it here to you tonight. I had I've stopped by school three times this week for various
003reasons. I had to stop by school briefly to drop something off. When I buzzed, there was no answer to let me in. I looked through the window and saw no one at the security desk. A student was coming out and so they let me in. I asked the student if there is security at the front desk. They said they didn't know. Another student was ringing the buzzer outside waiting to be let in as I was exiting. I asked that student if they knew if there's security at the desk and they also said they didn't know. Today I had to pick up my daughter during sixth at the beginning of sixth period to take her to a doctor's appointment. There was no one at the desk. I was however buzzed in by the attendance office and
004again when I dropped her off at the next period this afternoon I attended the CARES meeting. I the the exterior door was wide opened and I entered the building. The interior door was locked and another um Tanya actually, thank you Tanya, let me in. Here is the information I have gathered so far. There is no security at the front desk except in the morning until approximately 9:30 and is outside at the beginning and end of fourth and fifth periods when juniors and seniors are permitted to leave campus for lunch. After 9:30 a.m., the security personnel in the building is not staffing the main entrance, but is walking the halls or confiscating cell phones. The attendance office staff is now in the first line of defense protecting the entrance to the school. This is a huge
005responsibility that Miss Chapman and others in attendance are not qualified to take on, and I'm not sure if they are even comfortable doing so. If Miss Chapman leaves her desk, who takes her place? This is not a safe solution and is very concerning as a parent and I'm sure to staff members and students. Mr. Warmouth, the school's athletic director, was approved at the July 2nd, 2025 board of education meeting to the position of security supervisor of the district from July 1st, 2025 to December 31st, 2025. Now, in addition to his full-time responsibilities, our athletic director is also in charge of security, which previously was a full-time position vacated due to staff member Greg Spath retiring, who was a retired police officer. I appreciate all of the work Mr. Warmouth does as the director of health,
006PE, and athletics, which is a very big job on its own. I do not know what qualifications Mr. Wormouth has in terms of his new role to serve as head of security. But how could he possibly have time to ensure our building is safe, our students and staff are safe? He already has a lot of responsibilities. How are all of his job responsibilities being managed since now he's doing what was a previously two full-time jobs? Can we see a breakdown of the structure of the two job titles? Have the positions changed at all? and are some former responsibilities being delegated to other staff members in order to allow him to adequately serve in both of these very important positions. We used to see Gary Spath outside the school every morning and he was very present.
007What will what will happen after December 31st, 2025 when Mr. Warmth's term as head of security is up? Sam Strickling, former security guard 1, resigned on August 6, 2025 and no longer works for the district. He made a p personal decision to leave after not being promoted to the head of security position. Attendees at last night's PTSA meeting were very disappointed and surprised to learn all of this. Students and parents adored Sam. My kids adored Sam and were very upset when they learned this. Always greeting them with a smile. He is a valued member of member of our community. He serves on the board of education at Greenport. He is a volunteer firefighter serving as a lieutenant for Greenport Fire Department. He saved the life of an infant in distress during a snowstorm in February
008of this year. He knows how to diffuse a situation. We felt safe seeing him and knowing he would protect our children. I want the board to know what a huge loss this is for our school community. To conclude, I am deeply concerned about the safety of our children and adults in the building and do not want our school to become another tragic statistic. We as parents and teachers need some solid re reassurance that everyone is safe upon entering our school and we'd also like some clarification on what the position is for on the agenda tonight. Hopefully, it helps but this huge con I'm sorry. Hopefully this helps put this huge concern to rest. Thank you. >> Thank you, Daniel. >> Um, I'll res I'll respond to some of it. I'm not going to talk about
009a personnel matter. I mean, >> Mr. Strickland was a loss. Absolutely. He went to pursue um >> a different career path. >> Um, and and we wish him the best. Um, it was sad to see him go. He was a good security guard. Um, I'm not fully comfortable talking about the placement of our security staff publicly. It's not good practice and I think you can understand why. But this summer when we looked at our security staff and we looked at our facilities and the movement of our students and areas that we thought might be vulnerable, we decided that our personnel was much better utilized walking the grounds and walking the buildings. Um, there's 24 different entries into this building. The blue lobby is the most secure entrance in the whole district, actually. And it was
010determined that having somebody sit there all day was not a good use of our personnel. Um, and that we'd be better served if they were patrolling the grounds. We have students out at recess. We have students out at gym classes. Um, and then walking the building. Again, 26 different entrancies into this building. Um, and our kids, as great as they are, um, you know, uh, and and they they listen. We we we beat into them. Don't open the door for strangers or adults. You can't open the doors. Um, our kids are very polite and they oftent times will still do that. Um, so it is important that that we're patrolling. So, that was some of of the background behind why we don't have somebody stationed there. Um, we just began stationing somebody there when I
011became the superintendent. Um, prior to that, Mrs. Aeski was doing attendance and she did the Raptor system and had everybody come in and out. Nobody was ever assigned there full-time. Um, so that is fairly new that that that we've done that as a district. Um, you know, so we we've moved off of that and and uh for good reason and I feel confident about why we've done that. It's certainly a better use of our personnel. Um, I do invite any parent and I did I received I I knew that some folks were coming tonight. I received a bunch of emails today. Uh, did not have the ability to respond to them, but I will be responding to all of them tomorrow and inviting anybody that wants to come in and if you want more insight
012into how we utilize our security staff and why, I'd be happy to do that, but I'm not going to do that publicly. >> I understand. >> Okay. >> Um, so and I'll give you a little bit of a history lesson with the security supervisor position. Um, so for years, Mr. Wormouth was in charge of security um, as the athletic director. When I became the superintendent, we moved away from that model and I tasked Mr. Spath um, with taking on the responsibilities of doing the scheduling of the guys. That's the role of security spons uh, supervisor. You make sure everyone's certifications are up to date, that the trainings are scheduled as needed, and then he schedules the events, extracurriculars and things like that. And so his role um in the last couple years that he was
013with us was that he was a part-time security guard and then he dedicated I think like two hours of the day to administrative tasks for for scheduling and and things of that nature. Upon his retirement um you know when we looked about how you know we had to make a decision on how we were going to replace those those roles and responsibilities I decided to move them back to Mr. Warmouth. He is incredibly familiar with the ongoings and activities that happen after school, which is a major security concern. Um, and he has a lot of contact with our guards based on that. He was doing a lot of that work anyway. Um, it was fallen upon him. So, uh, that was my recommendation to the board that we task Mr. Warmouth with those responsibilities and
014on a six-month period so that we can assess, you know, how that's working for us. So that's why you see that um appointment is only a six-month appointment. >> Um and then so far I've been very happy. Uh our security coverage has been excellent. Um as far as uh to respond to you coming and there not being anybody at the door to greet you. That's a concern that I'm going to take up with Mr. Burke and he's going to take up with his staff because that's not supposed to be happening. Um instructions were very clear. There are three clerical uh folks that work in that office. And if Mrs. Chapman has to get up and off her desk for any reason, one of those other clerical folks were supposed to go sit in that desk
015so that there's somebody there to greet all of our guests coming into the building and there's not a situation where one of our students feels like they need to open the door. >> Um thank you. Um yeah, there's many places that I understand are vulnerable. There's recess, there's gym, there's the tennis courts, there's the track. But I'm one parent that's come to school three times. And I'm thinking to myself, any person who wanted to do harm could have had easy access. And it's only, you know, there's no problem until there's a problem. So, this does keep me up at night. >> But again, you know, I think I I didn't get an email directly from you. one was forwarded to me. So, I'll I'll be responding tomorrow and if you want to come in and
016talk to me, I'd be happy to do that. >> Thank you. Next. >> My name is Heidi Irwin and I am in the eighth grade. Every day I like to flip through the newspaper and I read about school shootings that happen every week. I am afraid. I do not feel safe and that is just not right. I miss seeing Sam. Sam greeted with me with a smile and made me feel safe. I was very sad to learn that he was no longer working for the school. I should be worrying about whether to use who or whom or good or well, not whether I will walk out of school that day. And that is just not right. >> Thank you, Heidi. Good job. >> Who and whom? I'm impressed. >> Um, hi, my name is Carrie
017Chidik um from Laurel. I just wanted to echo everything that Danielle just shared. We actually discussed many of the same concerns and I strongly agree that letting Sam go was an unfortunate mistake um here tonight to be another voice and face of a concerned parent. Like many others, I only learned about this change when Danielle mentioned it to me earlier this week. If more parents were aware, I have no doubt that you'd be hearing from many more of us. And I know that some of them did email you guys. As Danielle said, everyone at the PTSA meeting last night voiced their concerns after hearing this, and several parents wanted to be here tonight, but had prior commitments. What I'd like to add is this. Why wasn't the district more transparent with parents about such a
018significant change? As parents, safety is our t top priority when we send our children off to school each day. When the tragic headlines we see far too often, many families across the country are choosing to homeschool simply out of fear for their children's safety. While we love our small town community and believe it's a safe place, the reality is no school, no school is immune. That's why it's so concerning to learn that the first line of defense at our school has been removed for the majority of the day. Has this really been the case for the first 13 days of school? What if someone with harmful intentions had entered unnoticed? As Danielle said, she came here three times and she was able to get in. Somebody let her in. So, something's failing somewhere along the
019line. How quickly would it be identified and who would be in place to respond? These are not abstract questions. They are real scenarios we as parents think about when entrusting our children to your care. While I personally would support having an armed guard on campus, at the very least, we need a qualified designated security guard at the main entrance for the full school day. Anything less feels like a step backward in protecting our children and that's simply unacceptable. I also want to inquire with Sam leaving. Um, is the Kachog East entrance manned by security all day long as well. I know he worked at both schools. >> Again, I'm not going to talk about the placement of our security personnel. Yeah. >> Uh, for obvious that's why no notification went out to families. Um, but
020again, I extend that invitation to come in. You want to talk to me about Kachogi security or the security here? I'd be happy to meet. >> Thank you. I was going to open with a joke, but I shouldn't. My name is Carly Lucarelli. I'm from Matatuck. I have two kids in the district, uh, Jacob at Kutchog East and in fifth grade and Charlies Lucarelli in eighth grade. I want to start first by thanking Mrs. Brennan and Mr. Burke, um, for providing such a great um, education environment for my kids. Knock on wood, they're happy and thriving. And I feel like it starts with you guys. So, thank you. Thank you to the board. Um you guys, this I'm sure this is not easy. Um and I like I feel comfortable with um the way that
021you always put our children first and I'm very thankful and grateful for that. I'm just going to add on to what was already said from Danielle. I will not ask specific questions. Um but I was wondering what you were thinking of maybe metal detectors. Um, I know that there was two incidences this yesterday, one in Queens, one in Unionale, where thankfully they had metal detectors and a student came in with a loaded pistol. They were able to catch a student and apprehend him. Um, I am a strong believer in being proactive, not reactive. Like, should have stopped him. Should have had something in place. Can we not wait for that? I get it that people complain about taxes going up. My kids' life, their kids' lives are priceless. So, I would be more than happy.
022I will work many jobs to have security for our children. Um, I do think it's a disservice to not have someone that was at Gary's level currently in place. I love that Mr. Wmouth does have a background. I wasn't aware of that, but I think it would be really comforting to have someone with a law background that knows what to do. They've been in those situations. Like Mr. warmth, I guess you said, was certified and like you can learn a lot, but just like teaching, you can know the material, but until you're doing it, you don't know what it's like. So, I think it's really important to have someone with a law background um protecting our kids. They might think of all the things that maybe you didn't learn in a class. So, um when
023you're looking in December, I'm assuming it's December because that's what Danielle said. I hope that that's something that you guys really look into. I love that we have the uh what do they call the school officers? SRO. >> The SRO. Yeah, >> that's amazing. Um, but it's not full-time, right? To my understanding. Like, are they in each building? >> Full times, but they're spread throughout the north, the schools of the North Fork. >> Oh, the North. Okay. So, it would be great if we had um a guard again that carried. If someone, god forbid, came into the school with a gun, what are you gonna do? Who's going to stop them? I'm not promoting guns. I'm promoting safety of our children. Um, so I'm all for the thought of metal detectors. Yeah, it's not really
024our school and we're not huge as the other schools. We're not Queens. We're not Unionale, but we could be. You don't know who's going to be here. You don't And things happen in small schools. So, and this would, I think, help alleviate with the security as well, maybe at different entrances. And some people have brought up like, oh well, it's going to make school start late. No, like if you don't have a gun, you're going to be going through the doors and we're not going to have problems. So, I feel like at the very least we should consider maybe at the main entrance a metal detector at both schools and a guard that can carry that can take down a shooter that's trying to hurt our children. So, I'm all for taxes going up. I'm
025all for children living and I do know that your job is hard and I appreciate everything that you do, but think of that. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in right now and it's really terrible and I feel for them. It broke my heart to hear Heidi say that. So just protect your kids. >> Thank you. >> To again you th those are very philosophical conversations and and topics to cover metal detectors, armed guards. I will tell you that we are hiring two full-time guards tonight, which increases our security staff by a half a person as to what we were last year. One of those security guards was a New York City police officer. Um, so he does have that police background. And Mr. Wmouth has made it a point when he's hiring our
026part- timerrs, he's worked very hard. Most of the people that you'll see in and around our facilities in the evening are either off duty or retired law enforcement. Um that is something that we absolutely look for when we're hiring. So and to the SRO's um we have put an office in each one of our buildings and we've encouraged them to come in and do paperwork and to be more of a presence in our buildings. It doesn't upset us when we see a police car in front of our buildings. We know at South Hope PD they are our partners in keeping our kids safe. Um I'm very optimistic. the two new SRO have come in with tremendous energy and have really been doing a nice job and uh you know so we are trying to increase
027their presence and we've expressed that to them. You know they are armed, they are trained um and the more they're in and around our facilities the better. >> Okay. Superintendent report. >> Okay. Um, this evening we welcome senior Brooke Walling as she officially begins her role as one of the first ever Exoicio student members. This mask with the glasses is not I I don't miss this at all. This is awful. I'm going to stand and step off. Um, uh, so she is our first ever official student member of the board of education. joining her um in leadership on a rotating schedule. Our junior Laurel Richards who I just saw walk from the competition somewhere and senior Estani Gomez who's also with us this evening. Um again just not showing up when they're on the deis.
028They have a keen interest in what's going on and showing up um at our meetings. It's been excellent. Uh we very much look forward to the fresh perspective and the student voice um is going to bring a valuable new convention to the board. So, we're excited to begin that. Um, a quick rundown on superintendent conference day. Um, again, it's always awesome to all some of the administrations here planning and prepping and first we digest the year the past year and look at all that data and then we begin to prepare for the year coming and it's always great when we open up um get the staff in here for a couple days and student practices are going on. Um this year you you always feel like you're pressed for a theme and or at least
029I do uh was charting the course of changing and really looking at our changing demographics, our enrollment challenges and different ways that we're really trying to personalize instruction for each and every one of our students. um enhanced communication with all of our stakeholders and making all these changing changes while still maintaining our culture here um at Matuck Kutshaw. And we reviewed with staff um our our district goals for the year. Academic excellence, climate culture, strategic planning. These are on ongoing overarching goals, but the mechanics and specifics of those goals have changed and that was communicated to the staff. We welcome 13 new faculty and staff members and since that day we've added six more. Um so we're in pretty good shape. We're still looking for a behavioral specialist and a teaching assistant and then we'll
030be fully staffed for the year. Um we held a barbecue lunch in the high school courtyard. Uh thank you to the administrative team for getting behind the grill with me as we cook for the whole staff. Um it's it's quite the event. Smell like hamburgers and hot dogs for a couple days after that. Um, we had our kindergarten orientation where we welcomed 47 new students and families. Thanks to the PTA for assisting with that. Um, Mr. Burke held the seventh grade orientation which is always an exciting evening on that same night. And then uh, one of the most magical days is the first day is when you open up and you see the kids arrive. Um, on on the secondary level, it's it's like they never left. They come in and I'm usually outside greeting
031them and then you come inside and It's just like a welloiled machine. Five minutes in, everyone's in their first period class, the teachers are teaching, and the year begins. And that doesn't happen by accident. Um, a tremendous thanks to our guidance department, um, who really irons out that schedule uh, all summer long, making sure there's no wrinkles. Uh, the clerical staff and the building administration, all they do to prepare for a very smooth opening. And then you go to Kacho East a little later on and it's just the excitement about the arrival of the kids in the new classes and the way that the children show up a tremendous amount of excitement. Um you know so thank you to all the administrators the work they did uh ensuring a smooth start to the school year.
032They're going to tell you a little bit more about it in a minute so I won't go into the details. Um just some other points of information. This year's our wall of honor ceremony is going to be held on November 10th. Um So the deadline to submit veteran alumni staff nominations is October 1st. So please contact Mrs. Westgate High School main office um for the forms and information for that. Um a quick enrollment update uh as we've now begun the year. We have 47 kindergarteners, 63 first graders, 75 second graders, 55 third graders, 58 fourth graders, 57 fifth graders, 75 sixth graders. So there's presently 430 students in Kutch East. And at the secondary uh level, we have 87th graders, 74 eighth graders, 81 9th graders, 80 10th graders, 91 11th graders, and 106 12th
033graders. So, we presently have 519 students here in attendance at MHS and 949 districtwide. Um, I want to note that our high school guidance council, Michelle Fuse, has been selected as a Long Island school hero honore by the Long Islandation Against Bullying. So, she was nominated by some of her colleagues and we'll be receiving that honor on October 20th. We congratulate her. I invited her to come. She really doesn't want the accolades. She has children that are heavily involved in sports and activities and she said she just can't make it. But we want to congratulate her this morning. Um the uh admiral in charge of NJRTC units came to South uh to give a debrief uh to our instructors on our program. I was unable to attend this morning, but Mrs. Stabinos did attend. If
034you could just share a couple points. >> Uh yeah. Um The admiral was actually very very impressed with the way that the uh school units all meld together and work entirely as an a a a great unit. Uh impressed with the community service hours overall. We were the highest in the world if you must know 15,000 hours of community service and that is done by 250 students. Wow. Lyndon, New Jersey has cadet uh 650 cadetses and they only did 7,000. So, it's pretty impressive. And he commended all of the instructors and the faculty how they all work together to make sure it runs smoothly. And kudos to Major as well and the other NSI1 instructors. >> Thank you. >> That's all I have. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Patre. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Bez. Uh
035principal report. Who's on first? >> Are you supposed to say what's on second? >> Thank you, Mr. Petrey. Thank you the board of education for giving me this opportunity tonight to share about the opening of schools at Kachchog East. As we always start with our Tucker mission statement, I hope that through our my presentation tonight that you'll see that we have created a welcoming safe environment where diversity, interdependence, and self-discovery are valued. Um this is something that uh let's see it's a he's a current third grader when the student was in kindergarten. He had um saw in our hallways the banners that we had for new faculty and staff and he was a new student that moved to the district mid year in kindergarten and he wrote a book and asked it was an opinion
036book for kindergarten and asked if we could have banners for new students. So last year uh or right after he had done that the following year we put this into place where we have a bulletin board for all new students. So this year we're excited to welcome 19 new students to Kutog East. Um we actually got one new student today. He'll be starting on the 22nd and also our kindergarten class of 47. So all those students are displayed um here so that everyone can meet them uh through their pictures. We're also excited to welcome new faculty and staff. So, I have some pictures of all the members there. Excited to welcome our new school resource officers. Uh they've been at school this morning. Officer Finker was there and the kids when they got were getting
037out of the cars were, you know, greeting him and excited to see him there. They're getting to know them. So, that's great. And this is our staff on Superintendent Conference Day. Everyone's happy and smiling. You can see I put Christine Springer in because she's the one who takes the pictures. She's like the mom of all the photo albums that's never in the photos. So, I had to kind of take a snip of her and put her in there. Um, kindergarten orientation happened on that day as well. Um, that was a really exciting day for all of our kindergarteners and their families. Uh, students met the PTA on the playground. Uh, our PTA did a great job uh setting up the welcome event with name tags. um a little bit of meet and greet. And then
038we brought some students in from fifth and sixth grade who volunteered to come in on their summer, one of their last summer days to help tour around our um new kindergarteners. Uh we had one student dressed as our little tuck mascot. Uh students then went from the playground into their classrooms. They got to drop off their supplies, get familiar with their particular classroom, see their teacher, and then we transported everyone into the cafeteria. And in the cafeteria, the students met together and they went off to the gymnasium for play play with parachute. After the gymnasium, they visited the library, the music room, the outdoor learning space. They had a readaloud, a singalong, and then they ended with a nice bus ride. Well, the parents probably didn't have as much fun. They were with me in
039the cafeteria for an informational meeting, but the kids for sure had a good time that day. And you can see our student volunteers. They were very excited to come in and it was a great way for the uh kids to the kindergarteners to start recognizing and make connections with students in our school. On our first day of school, you can see everyone was all smiles. Um I I one of the staff in the school that day who's relatively new said, "I can't believe how happy the children are at this school." And they are. They're so happy. Everyone's full of smiles. >> Like two like hugging criers. >> Yeah. But you have to have like one or two. >> Um and then this was something that we added last year. where our student leadership built on
040the idea from that former kindergartener about welcoming new students and had said um we should have a tour for new students. They had come to my office after student leadership meeting and presented that idea. So we started that the first week of school this year with the new um students who arrived. Uh we did one group kindergarten through 2 grade and then we brought the next day third through sixth graders around who were new to the school. We had one student each day dress up as our little tuck mascot and um the students took the tour around the school and we'll continue to do that throughout the school year for any students that arrive and we're continuing focusing on our Tucker values, our core values this year as well as our let project. The let
041grow project is a project where we're trying to foster students independence. Um during this month of September our Tucker core value was trustworthy. So we're trying to like merge our Tucker core values along with the LERO project. So some of the examples that students could have could have done on their own would be maybe to make and stick to a daily schedule without reminders. Um or they could do a chore independently and with honesty. Um like taking out the trash, washing the dishes, they could help a younger sibling with a bedtime routine, feed a pet, or really any idea that they can think of something that they would do independently. And then the students fill out a um feather for Osprey and we put them up on the wall next to our mascot here. Um
042so students are getting very excited about being able to do things independently and we'll continue that throughout the school year. Outdoor fun. Um, we've been blessed with beautiful weather this September. Uh, so we've been outside. I was on the playground on this particular day when I took these photos. There's lot of caterpillars and cocoons around the school which is bringing much excitement to the kids because they have shown me all of them. Um, and talked about how important it was that they stay in the cocoon. and we talked about how the caterpillar needs to stay in that cocoon so it can come out and be a strong butterfly and be able to fly. So, they're excited about that. Um, our beautiful playground, of course. Um, they love that. And then I think they were building
043like a little ferry um thing under here for a little little area they built in there with different things. Um, so outdoor it's been great. We're thoroughly enjoying the weather and the beautiful browns. uh we have bus drills and uh this on this particular day we had our English language learners who uh were able to participate in a separate bus drill that Mr. Torres conducts in Spanish for students who speak Spanish and this came from another student idea. Um I like to kind of joke around that the kids just tell me what to do and I do it and it works really well and it has been working well. So, one thing that a student last year in sixth grade had written to me about was to have a therapy or or a a service
044dog come to the school to support students who might need that kind of support during the school day. And so, last year we were able to bring a dog in at the end of the year. And this year, we've been bringing Duke, we brought Duke in. We have scheduled Duke with third grade this year in some of our special classes. So, this was the first day that Duke visited. He is adorable. and sweet and the perfect therapy dog. So, kids are having a great time. They were reading him books this day in the library. And then we had Patriot Day. This was our first annual Patriot Day at Kutchog East. Again, our students really led the day. Each grade level um got together, collaborated, decided to make up either signs, banners, or cards for all
045of our first responders. We invited the first our community first responders to school and then different students uh participated by sharing different uh learning points about each first responder and the important work that they do. And then those students presented each first responder group with the cards that they made as well as a pin and a card as a token of appreciation. And again, our students did a fantastic job with this. You can just see on her face how excited she is to be up there. I'm reading her part. So, it was really a day that we were able to honor courage, service, and community um together. And we talked about trustworth being trustworthy as well, which is our tech core value for that month. That's it. So, thank you very much. It's been a
046great start to the school year. >> Thank you, Mr. >> I got to say, uh to both the building principles, September 11th's a tough day to cover. Um especially coming in right in the start of the school year, there's so much else going on and uh both Mr. Burke and Mrs. Bren have done a phenomenal job of effectively honoring that day and and what it stands for and then the educational component of it and and and really making it an educational experience um as well as a community event. So to the both of you, thank you very much. You really did a phenomenal job with that. Before I before I begin, um I'd like to share some very special and exciting news that I was uh in receipt of today. Uh Madison Thomas right back
047here. Uh please stand. Everyone knows you. >> This young lady had come into my office uh smiling the way she is right now and said, "Mr. Burke, I have to share some exciting news." um she received a special invitation from the UN special envoy uh where she's going to be asked to speak at the United Nations as a youth leader. Um if you don't know, there's a beautiful article as well as a news story covering uh Madison. She was u a victorious race car driver in Riverhead Raceway. And um apparently they had seen this video and saw what an amazing uh young lady she is and uh how the core values of family um and it just covered who she is. But to me when she was telling me the story, I was very proud
048of her. But she represents our mission statement so well. She represents all equalities. So um I'm grateful she's here. It's not on board minutes. I apologize. And I thank you for allowing uh me to share and recognize. So congratulations to her. I'll I'll send the video link out to to the rest of the board. It's it's impressive to see you come out of that car. It's like what? Very cool. Okay. Um back to business, reopening of the high school. Um it does start at the summertime. Uh and this I I I have named these gentlemen the pride. Uh because everything they do is with such attention to detail. I said to Mr. Kelly, um I'm just beyond impressed. Uh there's not a single thing that's not maintained or improved. Um and every one of these
049people that are up here are responsible. I kind of equate it to like your your own room or your house. You want things in order. And when you when that is done, you feel very um complete and ready to go and start the day when you make your bed. I know that's a silly little example, but you come into this building and there's just this this feeling like this everything is taken care of. So I I I think our success and our opening starts with with these gentlemen and ladies. Uh I'd like to give a special appreciation to our security team, uh Paul and Gary and Chris and John. um you know just on beat on beaten at all locations. Uh fabulous faculty um obviously a lot of curriculum work over the summer. Uh not
050an updated current photo. We had to use a a Christmas holiday photo, but uh the entire staff, our transportation, we also had bus drills. Uh Jose does a phenomenal job. All the drivers uh very personable. um you know just really interactive and uh every time I walk that and come out the drivers are out saying hello Mr. Burke. It's just a it's just a welcoming feeling. Our students are very safe. Um as Amy had said we have two new uh SRO's um replacing officer Chene and Officer Sanders um and their presence is on a daily basis from the front of the building and walking throughout the school. Um, our new staff, we have uh Savannah Springer, uh, next to me, and then Anna Hoffman, Mr. Michael Kajiano, uh, Aiden Whiteitman, and then Alex Sinclair. Um,
051we have a new staff member that's being recognized tonight as well, Miss Christina, um, uh, Zabata. Sorry about that. Um, she's not in my picture because she wasn't part of it yet, so she's new. Um, this is a success. I'm very, very happy about how this is going. The No cell um our school um really embraced I am so appreciative not only of the staff but over the summer the preparation making so sure when students got to school um they didn't have to search for their phones because they needed to know their schedules that first period teachers had actual copies of schedules um I have to say I was a bit concerned and it is a true true success We have a uh system in place that we will collect a phone if a student
052is in violation. And I would say we get maybe two phones a day, maybe one phone, sometimes three. Uh and it really it has just changed the I would say the social environment as well as the academic environment in the classes. Um so I'm very happy with this. I'm pleasantly surprised. I expressed my reservations to Mr. Pety over the summer. I was like, I don't know. He's like, you'll see. And uh he's 100% right. The students are very respectful to it. Um I'm very excited about this AP physics something new for us. Mr. Capalango uh and Mr. Albert. I think this was a very wise decision. Uh well thought out by M Finnegan who were replacing Mr. Strawn who has went to West Hampton. Uh my son actually has him as his physics teacher. Um,
053and I think the genius idea behind this is having a math teacher and a science teacher now putting their time together uh with the lab and the actual class. And I I'll tell you uh personally I've been in there a few times and had conversations and uh I have to chuckle because the conversation on how it's explained to me well this is a positive idea in science but I can take that idea that's positive going in this direction and it's really negative in math and they and I'm like wait what? But it makes sense. The students really appreciate the perspectives of science and math. So I'm very happy about this. >> How many students do we have in my class right now? >> Uh I would have to say 12. I'm not not 100%. Um,
054but they are they they are talking about doing things further uh pushing not only their curriculum but um their competition. So I'm I'm really excited about what's going to come. Um so since we have no uh cell phones, we have um entertained some ideas. Uh the courtyard to the left, we are I just actually spoke with the Brewster Club uh this evening. I had asked earlier, but they they uh We had a conversation at the soccer game. Um, we're going to get some more of those tables. There's three outside. They said we could take another one. So, we'll have this in the courtyard for the kids. Uh, ping pong table tennis in the cafeteria. The students, honestly, every time you walk by, you hear those ping pong. They're having a great time. So, we actually
055have two tables in there. Uh, we may get a possible foosball donation. And I've also in our courtyard, we may even get a cornhole. somebody uh was talking about donating that as well. So, you know, this is kind of fun. You know, this is no longer where you walk in and students are doing this or on their phone. So, uh again, a benefit of this uh bell to bell zero cell pocket talks. Another great thing that came from the tech department. Um this was something that was received on a grant. Um you and I I had it on my desk, but I apologize. I was going to bring it and show how easy and simple it's like the size of a You just push the button, you hold it down, you choose the language. There's
05668 languages to choose from. You hit English. You say your sentence. You then hit the button and whatever the language you hand it and then it speaks. You know, it's a very exceptional tool. It's good for our ENL classes. It's going to be good for the front desk. It's going to be good for a lot of us. So, we just started this. I think I don't know what the grant we got, but I think there's a how many is it? 20. So there's an opportunity for more uh next year. So I'm grateful for that. And coming actually starting an in progress uh marching band. Uh the students are very excited about it. The teachers are very excited about it. Um so just in the beginning stages uh where they're just formulating it. I think it'll
057start um second semester or >> October. Oh, sooner than I expected. Uh so marching band. So I'm showing you what's new. I mean this to me is a celebratory photo in itself. We started this program. Uh last year we had the grand opening and a beautiful celebration five to six students. Last year we're at 11 possibly 12. This is a a shared opportunity for Greenport uh South Pole and obviously Matuck students and um they're just very excited about it. They on a daily basis Mr. Turo would come to me and say we want to do this. I'm like it's not that easy. We want to build it. I'm like no we need plans. So they're trying to do all these different things, but uh they're very much uh involved in every time you turn around
058something needs to be fixed or built or pictures, you know, they they're all involved in our school. So I'm grateful for that. Uh so as Mr. Petrey had said, this was our Patriots Day. Um was a celebration that was uh bringing, you know, our fire departments, our our first responders um and um all our entire student body It was a building one event that was um very very wellreceived and and appropriately done. Um instead of the the bulbs this year uh last year this year we had students placing flags um in honor of uh the either the first responders or in memory of something. So um those flags will be coming out tomorrow. Our NGOTC will be um picking them up because um Mr. Okra came to see me and said that he needs to
059weed that. So I got to get that out. So I said, "Okay, sir." So we're going to do that tomorrow. Uh and then I'll end with this. As you know, I know uh our new So these are kind of the new things. I was student board of ed members. I know they were already recognized by Mr. Petray, but you know, very happy to have them. And we and I know Brooke is going to share out the the conference, but one of the things they already have some wonderful ideas about, you know, ways to get students involved and get their voices heard. So I won't reveal their uh ideas, but um I'm grateful that they're part of our team as well. So that's that's great. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Bur. >> And could you
060please extend our thanks from the board to all your faculty and staff? You can't open a school without the many hands and all the work that you do. So, thank you very much. Okay, guess whose turn it is? All right. Good evening everybody. >> Good evening. >> I'm going to put your pictures. There you go. There you go. >> I'm excited to share a brief report on the New York State welcome for student board members event which I attended on se September 17th yesterday via Zoom along with a Stephanie and Laurel and Mr. Burke. The event brought student board members from across the state together to connect with education leaders, learn about our roles, and explore ways to represent our peers effectively. Several speakers shared some really valuable insights. Senator Shel Shelley B. Mayor, chair
061of education, emphasize the importance of youth voice, saying democracy is not a given, but an exercise. She highlighted that being on a school board is a way to actively practice democracy, placing students at the forefront of representative democracy at the school level. Chancellor Lester W. Young Jr. pointed out that student participation is not just a policy change, but a powerful affirmation of the youth voice. He reminded us that students bring perspective adults can't replicate, making us partners in progress. Commissioner Betty Rosa stressed the importance of listening to all voices, gathering input through surveys and conversations, and ensuring representational democracy guides board's decisions. Some key takeaways for all student board members about the role and responsibilities. We are not just observers. Student board members are active participants in board discussions and decisions. Our role includes bringing
062the student perspective to the table and promoting youth voice in every discussion, helping the board understand the needs and priorities of the student body. Student board members serve as communicators, gathering input from peers through surveys, conversations, or other feedback channels. Serving on the board is a practical exercise in democracy, requiring active engagement, collaboration, and respectful ad advocacy. Leadership also means helping create solutions. Such ideas like a potential Dropbox where students can submit concerns anonymously. After the ch training, my fellow student reps and I discussed this as a potential option for collecting student feedback more effectively so we could represent all voices. Overall, the event reinforced how important it is for student representatives to actively engage, advocate for their peers, and lead through action. By promoting youth voice and fostering open communication, student board members can
063ensure that all students are heard, respected, and valued in our district decisions. Thank you. [Applause] >> Good job. Okay. Board of Ed committee reports curriculum and technology. Karen. >> Yes. So um the curriculum technology health committee met and first Miss Yurro spoke about the summer tech projects. Um we are we now have Gmail districtwide. So they completed the migration to Gmail. That is complete. The student square. This is an application that's running for students and they provide communication beneficial communication. She then talked about the core switching. This project was completed as part of the five-year plan update which are servers. Anybody who has a computer, you know, now we're looking at Windows 11. So, every classroom computer and most clerical computer hard drives were already upgraded because Windows 10 is no longer supported. They did
064a Chromebook refresh and carts were purchased for the third and fourth grades to allow for overnight charging and dependability. Starting in fifth grade, Chromebooks can go home with students for homework. And then the NI said tech plans have to be submitted by the 1 of June. Then Miss Alana Finnegan spoke about the Edu Climber which is a new data management analysis program that we have that's in progress. Work was started over the summer to start to input data and sync information from infinite infinite campus. It's currently visible to classroom teachers, departments, and department coordinators. Staff have had intro introductory training and more training will be occurring throughout the year. This platform supports our MTSS framework. Rephrases. This this was really impressive. We have a new partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program. Students will be
065growing salt grass and raising oysters. Cornell will be providing student school trips. The program offers an hands-on agriculture and habitat restoration project. And then through with the assistance of the PTA, a new family outreach is going to welcome letters, meet and greet opportunities available for new cuties families and outreach to new high school families will be brought by the student council. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay, I'm up. Negotiations and personnel. Mr. Petrrey always steals all of my information. So, um I'm just going to reiterate that we do need a behavioral consultant and one teacher assistant. And one of the things about the SRO's are they're really vested and they've created flyers for our students to see and and kind of welcomed themselves into our district. And both of them are alums. So that's always pretty
066impressive. So uh and now we have buildings and grounds with Mr. Cooper. >> Thank you, Pat. We we met and discussed several things. One of which is flood insurance. Uh we're looking at that. I don't know that we have much property that's going to flood, but still we have to be prepared and and get some prices. U nothing nothing has been decided yet. Uh we recaped the summer projects and we looked at uh some future projects. Cut west windows need replacing and the cut west air conditioning needs to be looked at. Right now there is none except maybe some window units but that's something that the rest of the school has mostly been air conditioned and that's doing well. Uh, also the gym at Kutchog East. We're going to look at air conditioning. We have
067a small greenhouse in the back that we are utilizing and there's a proposal to make it larger. A teacher who's working on that with the kids would like to see something more professional and and larger. So, I I think that's probably a good idea. Um, Greg brought to us uh the possibility of adding more tennis courts. I don't know if that's a good idea or not. I have my own personal opinions, but the committee has not had a chance to discuss that and get into the details and we need pricing and everything on that >> and and uh Greg's also going to bring forth um participation numbers and you know we may be getting smaller but the sport of tennis amongst our student body is definitely growing. >> Yes. >> And uh so having the
068additional courts would would help us. Right now we have four courts to to host a competition. You're really supposed to have seven. And so our competitions take very long as Brooke just you saw it coming in here a little bit later. And again, as the nights are getting shorter, you know, the nights are getting longer, days are getting shorter, transportation issues. Um it's it's caused some problems where the girls are playing into the dark. So that's why we're investigating again, looking at numbers, and uh more information will be forthcoming. >> Yes. Uh, also our foundation out in front of the school here wants to be we're looking at landscaping it and we're beginning getting getting some prices and drawings as to what we can do and there's expecting a donation of trees uh from a
069local nursery. And that's it, Pat. >> Okay. Thank you, Doug. >> You're welcome. >> Do we know what nursery? >> Pardon? >> Do we know what nursery? >> A local nursery. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Do you know that one? No, but I'll look it up. I'll I'll figure it out. >> It's in the poll book. >> All right. Thank you. Okay. Um I need I need a motion to accept donations. >> I make a motion. >> I need a second. >> A second. >> So the donations are um accept the following donations to support the annual junior class field trip to the 911 memorial and museum in New York City. It's $500 from the Lions Club and $500 from Southtown PBA. We're also receiving a donation to accept a donation in the amount of
070$500 from Fred's send a kid fishing corporation to support the seventh grade fishing field trip for the 25 26 school year. Um, >> so that's that's the Fred Galifaro uh fishing foundation. He was the editor uh for for ever of the Long Island fisherman and uh he passed away a couple years back and his son has created a foundation in his father's name and one of Fred's big thing was taking children fishing was a was a big push. So now they uh they sponsor schools um to take kids out on charter boats and and give them the experience that maybe they never would have to. >> That's great. >> Any discussion? >> Thank you. >> All in favor? Hi. >> Okay. Approval of resignations, terminations, leave of absence and reductions. Uh, personnel item A1. I
071need a motion. >> Yep. >> I need a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? I >> Okay, bear with me this one. So, I need a motion for the new business personnel. There's an addition on the um agenda for number 18. It's Nicholas Piro for full-time guard one. It's not on the regular agenda. We've just completed that interview. And um for the first one on the agenda, O Julio Dailyaly, it's an adaptive art. It should say 6, not.3. And I need a motion. >> Make a motion. >> I need a second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> And we'd like to welcome Christina Zapata. >> Welcome aboard. >> Okay. Resolution items A through E. I need a motion. >> Make a motion. >> I need a second. >> Second.
072>> Any discussion? >> All in favor? >> Okay. Audience and communication. Anybody who has anything to say or speak to or please give your name, where you're from? >> Hello Tanya. How are you? see our basis. Um, so I am concerned about security. Of course, that's a big thing as everybody has said. Um, but I just have a question. If we're not going to use that welcome desk because I was here in the building with Victoria before that even existed. So, was that a waste of taxpayer money if we're not going to do that and use that? Because that I mean, it's beautiful. It's a lovely setup that they have for that desk and the window and all that stuff. And I remember all the construction that went through. Um I didn't have a chance
073to like go through my notes and find the cost of that because I'm sure I could. But um I'm just wondering if that was a waste if we're not going to use that. It was a very good thing to have because I know sometimes uh items need to be exchanged and I know when it was being designed and built I remember I have my notes and you can go back and video. I said, "Why didn't we give Mrs. Chapman or Mrs. Weski at the time like a window thing that like slid like the dentist office, you know, whatever." Um, and they said, "Oh, we have this beautiful desk." And you did. It was a beautiful desk. So, I hope we can use that beautiful desk that our tax money paid for. Tennis courts. Yes. It
074would be great if we had more tennis courts during hell week before school started. My daughter's on varsity. We got here early to practice at 6:30 in the morning and there was already people on the courts that were town people who helped pay our school taxes and they were using the court so we had to t kick them off. So tennis is a very big sport out here. I know the US Open was going on so everybody was tennis tennis tennis but it would be a good thing if we had more tennis courts because the like Mr. Kretti said, "The matches go late into the night and as we get closer and closer to daylight savings, it's going to be dark and we have no lights on those." The 911 event was great. Next year,
075if you'd like to borrow the booster club coolers to have ice and water outside, please let us know. I am in charge of the snack shack again, and I'd love to see everybody help and volunteer. Maybe if you guys I know you give a lot of your time for the school board, but if you give a little bit of time for the shack, maybe other parents will find time in their heart to come because we're really having trouble and um it's a lot of fun and we have good hot dogs. So, um that's all I have to say today. So, thank you very much, Tony. Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> I'm sorry. I don't know how this works. >> Do you do you live in district? Do you live in the district? Yeah, sure.
076>> I know. Well, that's the only question I have to ask. You never know. There's nothing on TV. Oh my goodness. You >> kindergarten and yes, it's called my husband and >> Oh, kindergarten babies. >> Um, I don't know some of you, but I know a few of you. And I just >> My name is Colleen Montgomery. I >> I met you before at the library with Karen. Um I just have a concern because it's regarding residency and children in the district. >> So it has been brought to my attention that a very close friend of mine, which it does it doesn't really matter who it is, but she was asked to leave the district because even though she has a house in the district, she wasn't living there full-time. And that's fine. according to
077New York state law, I even looked it up myself, is that you have to be living in the district full-time. And if that's the law, I totally respect the law because laws are put in place for a reason, right? That usually to keep us safe and, you know, to keep everybody in check. The problem that I have is is that when speaking to my children, there are so many children that are attending the school that do not live in the district. So, how does that work? like are they able to just attend? Is it, you know, a relative or a family member? Like I'm not really sure how this is working because when I asked, you know, there were a group of kids that were over my house. It was some of my one of
078my children's friends. And they started laughing. They're like, they kicked her out of the district. The person who ran, you know, the P some of the PTA functions, the person who was CIO basketball coach of the year, but yet these other kids are allowed to stay. They're clearly not living in the district. So, that's my concern. Alls I'm asking is for parody. If you're going to kick her out of the district, then every other child that isn't currently living in the district full-time should go as well. I don't I'm not upset that she was asked to leave. All I'm saying is that the law is the law. And if you're going to follow the law, then just follow it to entirety. You know, I don't want some kids being able to go here while others
079are not because to me, this is a lawsuit waiting to happen. And that lawsuit is going to fall on the taxpayer. So that's all I'm saying. Thank you very much. Right. >> Thank you. >> We are constantly it's it's >> I'm not sure what the protocol is. >> So >> it's it's we're like in a flux. So it used to be there were very stringent things you had to provide to enroll your child in school and over the last several years um that's been eroded and pretty much we are in a position where we have to accept anybody that comes and then they have a certain amount of time to provide paperwork. a certain law according to that, right? >> Anything that I'm going to discuss is is law driven. >> Um, and so there's
080very few things they have to provide for residency. And when we suspect that something may not be matching or may not be right, we then begin an investigation process and and those are ongoing. Um, I could tell you in any given year there's four or five families that we investigate um to determine residency or not and are either asked to leave or they pay tuition um once that happens. So, it is ongoing. Um it's become a much bigger thing than it than it was in the past. Um but you know, so we either find out from staff um you know sadly a lot of times the elementary level >> case the staff does know about it. Yeah, sometimes they do and they let us know. Um, >> sometimes they don't though, >> right? Sometimes it's
081the it's the bus drivers. They're seeing kids being dropped off, you know, at a stop that's not theirs. There are different things like that or sometimes it's other residents or taxpayers that are frustrated that kids are attending >> and are not residents. >> The funny thing is I'm not upset that the kids are attending. I actually want more kids in the school district. I think it's a good thing. >> We do too. >> I'm not upset about that. what I'm I mean and even if you guys wanted to work with us as a community and say how can we bring more kids in here? Are we able to have teachers come in? And and I'm not saying this is exactly, you know, I'm not speaking on behalf of everybody. It's just an idea. What if
082we would have like maybe teachers and their kids could get tuitioned in at a lesser rate? So this way we could have more kids. I'm for that. Maybe other people are not, but I know that poor Jeff does it. So it's not that I'm against the kids. I want the kids. What I'm against is one family being treated one way and another being treated a completely different way. >> We do try to be as consistent as we can, >> you know. So that's my >> Thank you, >> Patty. I have a question before you close. >> Okay, >> Doug has a question. >> Are you ready to close? Okay, >> I'm ready to close. Um, with the with the rash of school shootings that we've heard recently, it seems to me that most of the
083situations are kids that are troubled or very troubled. Do we have a procedure in place Pat or Sean or any of you guys um to to tell to find these kids? And if we do, what can we do to help them? Um, you know, one of the things when you look at our staffing, you know, and we've been back and forth at budget time, right? We have a a healthy number of guidance counselors for the number of students we have, uh, social workers, um, students assistance counselors, school psychologists. They're all part of the team of people that, you know, we like to keep very close connections with our kids, and you need the personnel to do that. Um, each building has a child study team that meets on a regular basis. um you know, changes
084in behaviors. They're looking for all different things like that and then offering interventions, you know, where needed. Um it's a constant conversation in our district about how do we connect with each one of our kids. Um we've done surveys and things of that nature. So, I I think we really do a nice job of of trying to catch them um where we can and support them for whatever reason. It's not like we're looking for school shooters, per se. We're we're looking to support our kids um to the best of our ability. Uh yeah, >> good. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Anybody else? >> Okay, I need a motion to adjurnn. >> Need a motion. >> I need a second. >> All in favor? >> Yep. >> Good night, everybody. >> Good night. Thank you. >>
085Thank you everybody. >> Good job. How much is high