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. Good evening and welcome to the April 22nd board meeting. I need an approval of the minutes of the March 19th, 2025 and April 3rd, 2025 board of education meeting and budget workshop. I'll make a motion. Need a second. A second. Any discussion? All in favor? Okay. I need a motion to accept the claims, financial, and treasurers reports. Make a motion. I need a second. Yep. Any discussion? All in favor? Okay. Now, it's time for audience communication of anything that happens to be on the agenda. Tiffany, you want to talk? No, definitely not. Absolutely not. Tiffany to say No, I do not. Okay. Thank you,
002Tiff. Okay. superintendent report. Okay. Um well, spring is in the air and we're entering the uh the season where we're highlighting all spring events are beginning to start. Um in DC the three days uh prior to break uh he reported it was an excellent trip. Um they had some bumps on the road so to speak or literally on on the way home to the things that we do. And Mr. Burke, we want to thank you for what how you handled everything in that little bump in the road. So, thank you. Um, speaking of bump assessments, ELA assessments up up and running. Um, but there was some statewide issues, so we had to cut the second day short. Um, and uh, so the next week the grades 3 through8 assessments are going to happen. um including
003the rescheduled testing day uh as uh our seventh and eighth grade math assessments are taking place this week and at AP exam season and uh really the last two months will fly by once you get those AP exams and the state test was today for one of them. Yes ma'am. and how to go everything. Okay. No. Yeah. No computer issues reported. So the state got that that figured out or the vendor the state's using. And were those glitches statewide or just us? Um it was statewide depending on when you started. I think the first districts that started there were questions. I did question Boseies if there was any talk of invalidating the exam based on um our concern is that kids that were sitting for the exam and then had the test invalidated and you
004know now have to come back on another day to take the exam are they going to take it you know with the same fidelity as they would have if it was given the way it was supposed to consider that at all. Um so you know we'll look at those results and So, we'll be curious to see h how it looks when we get them back. Um, some other upcoming events, annual PTSA fashion show will take place on May 1st. Um, before we left for break, the boys varsity basketball team was recognized as the class B Suffach County Champion Legislator meeting held in Riverhead. Um and then in NJOTC, uh the Raider teams, those are our physical fitness and teamwork, uh teams, participated in the Hemstead High School's annual Army Raider Challenge. Our unit had three
005teams competing in three different divisions, and the cadets came home with 20 trophies, including in including the overall Raider Championship in the mixed team division. So, congratulations to them. Um, this was the first year that our students had an opportunity to participate in South Hold's uh, robotics team competition, something we've heard about for years. Um, so now it's uh, you have South Hold host with Greenport and Matitech students attending. So we had two students on the team, Sarah Omega and Luke Morrow. Um, and they participated in the world competition held in Houston last week. Um, so this year's uh game or competition was a water-based and the team was given paper fish to sell as fundraisers to support the trip. So in in the spirit of that they uh they raised some money to offset
006the cost. Uh this team's been practicing every day since January um and participated in several competitions this year at Hoff Albany um where their accomplishments um provided them the opportunity to participate in the world championships. So they had to qualify for the world championships. Um but congratulations to them. Thank you to South Bold for allowing our students to participate. It is a tremendous, you know, commitment to to compete at that level. Every day since January, they've been practicing. Um some updates from Kutchog East. Uh Kutchog East received a certificate of appreciation um from Governor Kathy Hulk for uh Anthony Amirad's participation in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. student art and essay exhibition. Um the suit certificate recognizes the creativity and artistic talent of the participants. So congratulations to Anthony and thank you to Mr.
007Castello for his guidance and support. The Parish Art Museum uh 2025 student exhibition um Kochist had 95 fifth and sixth grade students submit work. So again, Mr. Castello getting the students involved and uh facilitating this exhibit um and inspiring our students. So another thank you to him. Um in Skamia we had 10 students from Kochugis participate in all county in the all county festival. Um so thank you to Mr. Keen and Mr. Osman uh for their leadership and the uh the extra work that they gave these students. And then the mock trial club um with Ms. Martinson participated in a presentation of the mock trial called explosive chemistry. Um so this was in front of their families who acted as the jury. The trial was about a sixth grade student who suffered permanent damage to
008his eyes during a science experiment. So through the trial they were to determine if the school was negligent of the accident. Mr. Delari said, "No, we are not negligent." Um and then uh two weeks ago they held the steam night which was uh quite an event at Cutog East. Um they began with the third grade recorder concert led by Mr. Osman. Um the third graders really did an amazing job uh with that. That was probably the best recorder concert I've ever seen. Excellent. Yeah. Um this was followed through by a walkthrough of the art show. Um the students artwork was displayed throughout the halls and then following the art show the families were able to view science fair project and then participate in many hands-on activities provided by different community members and groups. So it
009was uh very well planned. It's if you're going to make the parents come out for one thing, let's get them out for three different events and and make it a full night. So uh that was a great night. And then our science fair winners um that will be going on to Brook Haven National Lab. There's one from each grade. So kindergarten was Josh Schultz. First grade was Yanni Martinez. Second grade was Ronan Swiss. Third grade was Sienna Rosto. Fourth grade was Kate Hunterstein. Fifth grade was Renie Piso. And sixth grade was Sienna Burgerer. So congratulations to those guys. Good stuff. And then the Tucker Values program is uh ongoing throughout the year. And uh to date there have been 150 students receiving Tucker Value awards. Um so each month was a different theme. Uh November
010was trustworthy, December was united, January was caring, February was knowledgeable, March was empowered, and for the month of April um they'll be asking the student to nominate their peers who have shown Tucker values of respect. So this these are students that are nominated by other students. So it it's a it's a great program that they run. And then Suffach Times visited our fourth grade uh classes at Kachogi to teach all about journalism. Um the fourth graders also went to MHS to learn about uh the TV studio here. So thank you Miss Pelzar and thank you to uh Suffach Times for providing our students with those experiences. All of our Kachogi provided uh participated in a bus safety workshop uh that was provided by our transportation director Mr. Jose Torres in conjunction with Mr. Surzinski from
011Sunrise Bus uh continues to be an excellent partnership with them. And then our PTA hosted a glow dance party complete with black lights. Um so everything was glowing and and the GJ as well as the uh had many fun activities and snacks. Um so thank you for our PTA for creating such a memorable night. They've been running quite a few activities this year for the students. Uh just some other quick updates. Applications for next year's UPK have been mailed to all district residents and can be downloaded from the website. Applicants must be four years old by December 1st of 2025. The deadline to apply is May 28th. And this week, uh, we'll be hosting the high school play. You can't take it with you. Uh, show times are going to be this Friday and Saturday
012at 700 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Come out and support the students. And this evening, the board will be voting on the adoption of two propositions for the budget vote. Proposition number one is the proposed budget of 46,765,442 which represents a tax levy increase of 2.97%. The second uh proposition is the establishment of a capital reserve fund of up to $10 million over the course of 10 years, a thousand of which is being transferred from the repair reserve. Um, our annual budget vote and school board election will be held on Tuesday, May 20th from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the high school gym. Um, the election is for two members of the board of education for three-year terms. Um, the following will be on this year's ballot and we thank you for your interest
013in running for the school board. So, Miss Anderson as an incumbent will be running. Um, Linda Stavinos will be running as will Lauren Aer. So, please come out and be involved in the school budget and election process. fit for me. A fit for you. I see it. You have them on clock. Okay. Um, high school leadership report. Hi guys. Brothers. Good evening. Um, my name is Colin Fitzgerald and I'm currently the senior class president. And, uh, hello everyone. My name is Trevor Fitzgerald and I'm currently the sophomore uh, class vice president. Um, we're excited to share what the student council has been involved in in the past few weeks and we'd like to thank the school board for having us here tonight. Earlier this spring, students gathered here at Matuk for the semi- formal dance.
014This year's theme was enchanted fairy tale. It was a magical evening filled with dancing, fun, and making memories. Um, we also had motivational speaker Rohan Murphy come to the school. Um, the student council with the help of the school store organized a schoolwide assembly featuring motivational speaker Rohan Murphy. On April 1st, Rohan shared his powerful story of strength, determination, and overcoming adversity. His message inspired students across grades 7 through 12. A few student council members had the opportunity to attend the youth Rotary um forgive me Rotary youth leadership awards. This year's theme was SP uh workshops. Students developed valuable skills and made lasting friendships. Um the student council elections are coming up. petitions for student counsel week of June in social studies classes. Thank you to the school administrators and the board of education for
015their support as well as everyone else who has made who has helped and aided us in making these activities. Okay, we're up to the board of education committee reports and the first one is Mr. Cooper buildings and grounds. Uh thank you working on The district's been busy doing air conditioning and lighting. We we will have all the classrooms air conditioned and lighting put in, new lighting put in and a lot of it's already finished. Um painting our guys are doing painting and half the project, half the classrooms have been painted already. problem and that with the humidity, the dampness coming up through the floor, it's sitting on concrete and absorbs moisture from the ground underneath and the boards are starting to ripple and we're going to have to look at that and see what can
016be done about it. The sanitary system at Kato East at least probably close to 30 back from 97 Yeah. when that work was originally done and we have been informed about that and we found a blueprints and that is being taken care of. Uh we're going to be putting in handrails for some of us uh as we get older we we need handrails, right Pat? And uh we will be working on that. I wouldn't I wouldn't know. Mr. Cooper pass. I'm in there with you. South old town at CO East that are looking for uh ZBA approval. Uh it's probably nothing that's going to affect us. So, it's just something to to see what it is and pay attention. uh subcustodial custodian pay. We'll be looking at we're having trouble hiring custodians substitutes adjusting the
017pay for for other subs. Irrigation work is being done. We we should have all the our fields and property irrigated coming up and again that shade trees. Uh we had a large tree taken down a year or two ago which was in getting to be in poor shape and we we wish to replace it and have some shade for the for the future there. Um and that's it. Okay. Thank you. If you're still talking to me. No, it's okay. You just owe me. That's And those trees, Mr. Cooper, are going to go around the playground area to uh eventually hopefully provide some shade for the playground. We had looked at coverings, sail coverings and so forth, but they were just the costs were way too low. Will there will there be benches around that people
018could sit once in a while? There's there's some benches around now. Yeah. With the end rails. Okay. Curriculum, technology, and health. Karen. Yes. So we did meet and steam which is very important to the board is now the scheduling and the navigating of classes has settled down at Kachog East. Classes are being held in the steam lab and steam night was really highly successful and well attended. I had to tell you it was it was one of the best so far. I've been to all of them and this one was really good. Actually the art this year was very impressive. Really beautiful. So kudos to the art department. We next discuss the black scheduling which we will investigate at our next committee meeting. We talked Mr. Petrey talked about the state assessments. Statewide technical issues
019were experienced on the second day of testing. So none of our students were able to log in and they rescheduled the will be available on the website for downloading and next year's program again will allow 33.5 students to attend at no charge to the family. Completed applications are due by the 28th of May. At this time or at the time of our meeting, kindergarten enrollment, we had 41 students enrolled and four more were in the registration process. The department coordinator presentations, we asked to have them uh again for next year's board of education meetings to put them on the schedule. And then the 911 trip, this year's trip went very well. However, to allow more time at the museum, we may look to move the trip to a time of year to better accommodate the
020sporting events. That's it. Thank you. just uh had a question on the steam. Um it's offered kindergarten through sixth grade, the steam. Yes. And how often do the students get it? So the um they usually get it like twice a month. Um K through two was originally having um some sessions in the library because library is a special for them. So the we brought some of the steam activities into the library and now they're going to the steam lab as well twice a month. And then the students get science um through with their general ed teacher. Yes. So they get Okay. Thank you. And I had a question last meeting. Um in the budget then there's a new science curriculum for K through six that we're implementing. So for K through six, K through five,
021we're going to be looking at um we have a committee this summer that will come together to look at different um curricular resources um and to determine something so that we can align because right now different grade levels have different science programs. So what we'd like to do is align it the way that we have math and literacy aligned right now. So that committee will be looking at different resources and making decisions on what would best suit all of our students and then sixth grade will be aligned with the middle school. Okay. And that will start in September or this is something to start the following year. We're hoping to start it for September. Um it'll depend on what the committee finds and their you know their process. Okay, great. Thanks. And do we still
022have the science that lab that used to be used? There is a science lab upstairs on the second floor and we do use it sometimes like we use it when they do the science investigations. Um teachers can use it but um right now I think the big thing is really making sure that we have aligned curriculum um for K through five and steam does align like they work they work together and collaborate with the grade level. So often the steam teacher will meet with the grade level teachers and try to coordinate with what they're doing in science depending on the topics in steam that they're doing. Okay. Negotiations and personnel. That's me. Uh the student school board representative uh letters of recommendations have been received from teachers on behalf of two applicants. The deadline for
023students to apply is at the end of the month. Um, and we have received three letters of intent for retirement from CSEA members for June and July 2025. And the rest um is kind of self-explanatory in the agenda. So, and Lorraine, I just wanted to mention that policy 2300 is on the agenda to be adopted with the second reading and we've decided that we're going to um table that policy right now while we're looking for clarification. Okay. Thank you. I just had a question on for the policy committee. Um just regarding the code of conduct that was implemented I think last year or it was revised over the summer um just right the code of conduct it's uh it is under it'll be revised this summer as well. Oh it wasn't revised last summer. this
024summer. I just cuz I was reading um what came to my attention. I was reading the code of conduct and just seeing the inclusion of interventions and supporting for the students um and just wanted to make sure that that was happening. Um and just regarding in the high school there's a reset room that came to my attention and just wondering how what is that reset room and how does that fit into um the code of conduct or how is it used? Well, currently the reset room is almost as if it's a minor infraction that would require like a lunch detention or um it's not for somebody that would require an out of school or an inschool opportunity. So, it's it's used as just a just as the term implies just like a moment of reflection.
025Sometimes when the students go in, it may be something they said that was inappropriate or um we will have them do like a reflection. they will maybe be a little restorative in their mindset on how they dealt with that. So it's kind of it's kind of like a balance of a there must there must be some type of consequence but there's also that repair or restorative part. So the students get sent to the reset room only through the assistant principal. Yes. It's not the teachers that are sending them. So it's not and then there's restorative or reflection. There's communication also with the parents. Absolutely. I just wondered how that fits into because I wasn't aware of this. Um I just wonder is this for 7th through 12th graders? Yes. So well so the seventh graders
026go in there with the 12th graders. Yes. But I will say it's very rarely used. When it is used it's you know there's uh there's always a staff member in there and they're sitting at appropriate desks. There's a computer in there for students to write a reflection. Um, but it's never room. That's the the the day and age of a teacher just sending a kid to in school suspension because of a behavior in a classroom is we've moved away from that recognizing that usually there's if there's a behavior in a classroom, there's typically something behind it. And so it's brought to the administrator's attention to deal with it. Um, if an administrator's able and willing to, you know, is has the time to do it, they're free to do it. and then um if not
027the student would then wait for the administrator and then that administrator would catch up with the student before they went back to that class. Would you be able to look into that just to make sure that it's that's um just because I I've it's just come to my attention that it's I don't know if that's how it's being used completely that um just making sure that that there are restorative practices involved in that and then there's and again there is an inschool suspension that we will you that we would use in lie of an out of school suspension um and then there's always special circumstances where things might be handled differently depending on those circumstanc you know what was going on. Thank you. Will the phone and smartwatch policy in be included in the code
028of conduct review or is that a separate policy? No, it would be included as part of the code of conduct. Yeah. Okay. But something that will probably be revised multiple times over the next couple years, I would imagine. All right. Did that policy come from the governor yet? down from the go because originally when it came they were talking about that but I don't we're waiting for clarification. It looks like there is going to be something uh in line with you know bellto bell students not having access to their phones. We're just not sure. We're looking for, you know, the interpretation is it bell to bell in class, which is the policy that we have now, or is it bell to bell during the school day? Um, which means that phones are not to be
029in school, right? You know, and uh so that's we'll we'll cross that bridge when we come to it and have more clarity. Okay. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay, we're up to donations. I need a motion to accept a donation and I like to read them. So, approve a donation of $1,000 from the Sacred Sacred Heart Parish to support the purchase of audiovisisual equipment at Kachug East Elementary School for the 202425 school year. I need a motion. Make a motion. Need a second. Second. Any discussion? Thank you. Thank you. All in favor? Okay. Personnel items A through N. I need a motion. Make a motion. I need a second. A second. Any discussion? I'd just like to acknowledge Michael Kajiano who's with us in the audience this evening with his mom. Um he will be appointed
030as a social studies teacher. So Michael, congratulations. Welcome. Welcome. Um, okay. I need a resol I need a motion for resolution A through T. I'll make a motion. Need a second. Second. I am removing policy 2300 for clarification like Miss Warren said. Um, any discussion? Yeah, I have a question for Charlie. Does New York State have a budget yet? [Laughter] They they have not finalized the budget yet. Okay. But we we went with what was recommended through the ASBO, the Business Official Association, and what we looked at with the foundation aid, which was a 2% increase for safe harmless schools. If they like to give us any more money, we're gladly take it, but you never know. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Um, on the resolution, I need a a motion. I just need Okay, I
031just need All in favor. Okay, let's see. Now we're up to audience communication. Anybody have anything to say or want to bring to our attention or say hello? How are you that's not on the agenda or on the agenda? Oh, so you can let mom do it. Um, I just wanted to invite everybody the athletic booster club, the shack will now be open. Uh, we have three games on Friday, so we will be here. So before the play, stop by. a hot dog, a slice of pizza, popcorn. Please come out and support us. We did the Shamrock Shuffle at Greenport Brewery on March 16th. It was a great turnout. We had 331 runners. Wow. So, that was a good turnout for a Sunday morning. Great. And Juliana came second. Congratulations. [Applause] Anybody else? Okay, then
032I need a motion to adjurnn. Make a motion. Need a second. A second. All in favor? Good night, everybody. That was easy.