001How's everything? We're getting there. You guys have the fridge. Say hi. Hi, Donna. Sorry. How are you? Good evening everybody. Welcome to the April 23rd board meeting. It's going to be a little bit of a long meeting, but this is a great meeting. We have a whole bunch of students out there that'll be their honors and I'm so happy to see so many people in the audience and it makes this board really happy that we're able to get the opportunity to honor these students and we honor all our students but these students that were honoring today is is a real treat. So we're going to start off with the pledge of allegiance. We're going to make everyone stand and the national anthem is going to be sung by Talia Rosen Aia uh Juliana Yanos member
002of the Oceanside High School Symphon Symphonic uh choir, honest choir and Oceanside High School swing choir and select choir. I 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. [Music] By the dawn early [Music] light at the twilight Gleam and bright stars [Music] through gallur. [Music] Sing through the night. Please remain standing for a moment of silence. [Applause] And now like an athlete. And now it is my pleasure to turn it back over to Mrs. Pvo. I am so proud to recognize two of our hard-working and dedicated staff members for their professional accomplishments. Tom Leeman, director of physical education, health, and athletics, has been certified by the National Interscolastic Athletic Administrators Association, which involved
003coursework, a thorough evaluation of his educational background, experience, professional contributions, and a rigorous comprehensive written examination. Congratulations to Tom on undergoing this voluntary process to enhance his already stellar professionalism and strengthen our prof uh uh athletic program. If that isn't enough, Tom was also recently named citizen of the year by the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce for his dedication to serving the youth of our community. Congratulations, Mr. Leman. [Applause] Oh, okay. Our next honor honore, Samantha Kelly Chayback, coach of our outstanding varsity cheerleading team, was named Nassau County coach of the year. Under coach Chayback's leadership, the cheerleading team has thrived, is a formidable formidable contender at the county level and is routinely invited to compete at the National High School Cheerleading Competition in Orlando, Florida. Coach Chach unfortunately is unwell today and is unable to
004be here to accept this recognition. However, we do believe she's watching and we hope with your applause, we can give Coach Chebback the congratulations she deserves. [Applause] And now it is my pleasure to announce that Jillian Wall of school number two has had her artwork selected to appear in the Liberty Water Calendar. Jillian is a student of Project Extra teacher Michelle Gamash. Please come up. [Applause] You shall come up. We have had a tremendous response from our students who submitted projects to the PTA reflections competition. The following students have achieved outstanding recognition. Nassau regional finalists, school number three, choreography, Anthony Lori. School five, photography, George Topus. Film production, Maria Topus. School eight, visual arts, Finley Farrell. School 9, photography, Sebastian Velasquez and Brendan Fedor. Music competition, Zachary Weiner. Literature, Jenna Fagas and Sarah Simone. Visual
005arts, Zoe Jones, Olivia Joseph, Gabriella Rivera. And New York State finalists, School 4 film production, Marcelo Caliguri and School 5 film production, Lorenzo Caliguri. Please give them a round of applause. Stay sharp. Congratulations. [Applause] Our next presenter is Andrew Frey Gold. Good evening. I'm Andrew Fragul, director of media, fine, and performing arts. We are fortunate to have so many honores that we had to schedule our all county music students over the course of two honor ceremonies. I'm pleased to now recognize our second group of all county music performers for all county band. School 8s Austin Paddton, school 9E's Reed Shifflett, and OHS's Leo Henry and Melissa [Applause] Ko for all county chorus school twos Afi Omega and Farah Jukovski for school three Emma Kavanaaugh and Ava Lince for School four, Danielle Bernett, Jesse Ericson, and
006Mary Katherine Mastone. For school five, Emily Man Madan, Ariana Su Vizada. For school 8, Jordana Brewer, Gioa Fetti. School 9E, Natalyia Cohen, Olivia Gonzalez. And for OHS, Julieta Boschain, Kaen Brown, Ariana Shaman, James Byer, Selene Bell, Richard Calvo, Dylan Campbell, Anne Carter, Brianna Cinnamon, Victoria Quavas, Justin Demonstein, Joey Gate, Charlie Griffiths, Emma Lopez, Michaela Mohei, Colin Prengast, Katie Swansig, Alena AIA and Owen [Applause] Zerling. And for all county orchestra, school 2's Jack Jacobs, school threes Charlotte Heferman, school four's Lucas Heran, school fives Lucas Ramner, school 8 Miriam Molson, and school 9's Christopher Langanger. [Applause] Um, also would like to rec um, and I'm I'm noticing there's a name missing. Also want to recognize Roco Lagoodi. I got you. I'd also like to recognize our music teachers, Mr. Joseph Hero, Alexandrina Lyahu, Chelsea Rosenberg, Aaron Degen,
007Frank Maniscalo, Marco Campanelli, Mary Walker, Michael Veter, Nicole Hagland, Noah Glass, Patricia Hamilton, and Victoria Tropiano. [Applause] In addition to the All County Music Festival, we are extremely proud of our Long Island String Festival musicians from school 2, Jack Jacobs and Charlotte Ken. from school three, Paige Appleman and Farah Lindenbal. From school four, Lucas Haran. School five, Ana Cook and Ava Legio. From school 8, Juliet Kramer and Miriam Simolson. School 9E, Christopher Langanger and John Punzone. And from MS, Joselyn Gibson and Julia Jacobs. Their teachers are Miss Patty Hamilton, Victoria Tropiano, Frank Mascalo, Megan Zarky, and Teresa Petra Monaco. [Applause] Moving from music to fine arts, I would like to recognize the following students for receiving the art supervisors association 2025 Nassau County all uh Nassau allcount ex exhibition award from school two Emily Matthews,
008Lillian Blackford, and Marie Guin. From school three, Molly Pchinski, Cameron Kersure, and Silus English from school four, Benjamin Shapiro, Liam Howell, and Luke Ya. from school five, Christopher Flores, Isabella Nunes, Sophia Pedro, Gia Carmichael, Juliana Baglio, and Maria Tapis from school 8, Austin Padin, Emma Duca, and Molly Man from school 9E, Darcy Green, Dennis Angelites, and Saraphina Aserita from Oceanside Middle School. Kaylee Murray, Gabriella Afterbach, Angelina Salonia, Abby Dong, Michael Rakia, Salvatore Altezi, Khloe Huang, Kennedy Kyogan, Shannon Grant, Aaliyah Arshad, Briana Rakiac, and Olivia Edwards. and from OHS, Julia Plesi, Matthew Collins, Katie Tine, Jordan Wolfrath, Janelle Oralana, Rossyn Perez, Alina Luggo, Josephine Gzi, Claire Buckley, Cooper Levy, Erin Murray, Lane Rapaort, Julieta Boschain, Grayson Kulka, and Martha Brooks. Congratulations to our students and their teachers. Allison Milkins, Andrea Smith, Christina Defigereroa, Danielle Cascarelli, Francine
009Rousano, Jeannie Toy, Jennifer Bonia, Katherine Theel, Kimberly Lifenoff, Kiraberg, Kristen Dillio, Kristen Jamino, Leslie Sullivan, Maria Anna Sansel, Marao, and Nancy Nigro. [Applause] Next up, I'm excited to announce We've had two Oceanside High School students who have earned the recognition of scholar artists from the prestigious Long Island Arts Alliance. Now, keep in mind total for the entire island, there are a maximum of five students selected per category. So, this is a very selective award. I'm excited to announce Katie Swansig recognized for her accomplishments in music and Ariel Ze who was recognized for accomplishments in theater. Congratulations. Her teachers are Laura Gallo, Michelle Taplan, and Alexandrina Leaf. [Applause] Next up, I would like to congratulate R Lane Lane Rapaort for having work featured in the art guild's noir at Blancc photography jured exhibition and competition. Lane's
010teacher is Nancy Nigro and I am proud to announce that the following OS students had their work selected for the Art League of Long Island's Go Ape exhibit. Martha Brooks and Michael Savopoulos. Congratulations to the students and their teachers, Danielle Cascarelli and Nancy [Applause] Nigro. The following students work was exhibited in the Colors of Long Island student art exhibition. From school two, Tate Kate Doyle and Michael Morano. From school three, Carmine Judis and Casia Helner. from school five, Catalina Pamps, Mia Stafa Valenuela. School eight, Leonano Bonafasio and Giola Vashetti from school 9Ee, Sophia Kamacho and Dean Jones from Oceanside Middle School, Joseph Brintow and Elaniar Smoragus. And Oceanside High School, Michaela Ryan and Janelle Oralana. Their teachers are Allison Milkins, Christina D. Figureroa, Katherine Theel, Kimberly Litfenov, Kristen Dado, Maria Anna Sansel, Mara Cano, and
011Nancy [Applause] Congratulations to the following students whose work was exhibited in the fourth annual student art competition at the Antellier at Flowerfield. From Oceanside Middle School, Alexa Honier. from Oceanside High School. Sophia Arada, Mason Lynn, Valentina Brazil, Graden Butler, Nefel Capuano, Khloe Gotautle, Elizabeth Griger, Eric Jenkins, Gabriella Kogat, Leo Levy, Ethan Menuso, Emily PZ, Isabella Santiago, Kora Shenfelder, Madison Serena, Gabriella Paula Vakio, Jordan Wolfrath, Dylan Yaku, Michael Young, and Rosyn Perez, who was in this competition, awards second place for the 15 to 18year-old category. Congratulations to our students and their teacher, Miss Katherine Theel. [Applause] Our next presenter is Mr. Tom Leeman. Thank you, Andrew. And congratulations to all the honores. Uh this medal is pretty cool, so thank you for that. Also, um I'm honored to be in your presence with that. Um we
012have uh a lot to celebrate for winter um sports and uh we have a lot of all county athletes and including some all state athletes. So, if you hear your name and coaches hear your name, come on up to the stage. We'll start with basketball and Joshua Gamarra and he is coached by Ed Risner and Connor Dornney. Come on up. Next up, we have the Old County cheerleaders. We have Adriana Olleta, Ashley Kamacho, and Caitlyn Variel. Come on up to the stage. Sam Shayback is the head coach, and Satie Olsen and Kristen Bazudo. Come on up. We have an all state and all county swimmer in Ryan Baldwin. If you're here, come on up. He is coached by Jen Newsen and Bill Hammeran. We have quite the list in all county and track and field.
013We'll start it off with Alexa Kazakowski who is also the Nassau County champion in the 55 meter hurdles. If you're here, come on up. Brianna Cinnamon, Oral County. Samantha Friedman, Riley Moyan, Erin Murray, Harris Bradsky, Tristan Quas, Taro DeSantis, Brandon Fanio, Cole Winn, and Matthew Latisina, who was also the Nassau County champion in the thousand meter run and a school record holder. They're coached by Mike Howie, Connor Ganain, Mike Kelly, and Gary Murker. And last but not least in this list, we have five allcount and one all state wrestler. Um, which we sent five wrestlers to Albany for New York State, which is the most in school history. So, if you're here, come on up. Jake Straice, Chase Morris, Santino Pomisano, Jared Marine, and Jesse Bidden Bunder, who is all county and also all state,
014who finished fifth in the New York State competition. They're coached by Brian Schaefender, Andy Kuba, and Luke Brush. [Applause] Good evening. I'm Franchesca Wasserman, director of English language arts and libraries. We are so proud to announce all of our honores this evening, beginning with young authors for the English language arts category. Congratulations to our students who were named young authors in the Nassau Reading Council's 2025 competition. From Miss Evelyn Pinro's class at OS, Kelly Cohen and Julie Grant. And from Mr. Joseph Lator's class at MS, Reese Meyer. [Applause] Continuing our celebration of outstanding student achievements, we are proud to recognize the following Oceanside High School students under the guidance of their teacher, Bonnie Hennessy, who were honored by Depal Blue Book's highly competitive national writing competition of the best English and Spanish poems, stories, essays,
015and journalism from teens across the Featured artist Allison Azenido, featured writer Steven Pleser, and finalists Annabelle Connelly and James McGrath. [Applause] Okay. Next, we celebrate the creative collaboration behind one of our school's cherished publications. Congratulations to current and former OS students who worked on the literary magazine 2024 edition. Our literary magazine has once again been named a winner in both the American Scholastic Press Association's annual review of high school literary magazines and an award of excellent recipient from National Council of Teachers of English. In addition to contributing writing and art, many of our students were members of the literary magazine club and editors of the publication under the advisement of OS English teacher Bonnie Hennessy. This is a long list. Please come up when we call your name. Sarah Ali, Richard Amthor, Julian Michael Avalanita,
016Allison Azanedo, Delaney Bkari, Gabriella Balado, Christian Beer, Milo Bonia, Dylan Kamano, Cadence Carponado, Bella Cineelli, Kelly Cohen, Annabelle Connelly, Cassidy Cuchio, Tristan Quas, Erica Dav, Julia Delamorte, Amelia Dominico, Paige Donahghue, Vanessa Iker, Au Fang, Jordana Halpern, Haley Haral, Sienna Walos, Grayson Culka, Caitlyn Kupka, Kayla Lavine, Michaela Liieber, Carmen Lynn, Cassandra Lucero, Caitlyn Lucero, Bowie Maitland, Hannah Margal, Please. Luchiana Mazoko, James McGrath, Sage Morales, Avery Morgan, Reese Morris, Nate Murray, Beatatric Must Claudia O'Reilly, Sage Partardini, Sophia Patine, Steven Pleser, John Povitz, Hayden Policcastro, Micah Price, Kira Cano, Angelina Ricaton, Talia Rei, Mia Grace Rubbley, Juliana Rodriguez, Leila Rodriguez, Sophia Rodriguez, Karolina Ruskigleion, Luke Ryan, Victoria Sailor, Daniela Sanchez, Abigail Santiago, Zenia Salasi, Alina Smith, Ashley Sparasio, Marina Sozos, Amelia Waloff, Juliana Yanatos, and Dennis Yishuv and I do try. That's a very good [Applause] Philadelphia. Good
017evening. I'm proud to announce the accomplishments of our final honores of this night. The Oceanside High School Ethics Club participated in the Long Island High School Ethics Bowl at Hastra University in February and brought home the Robert Leadensson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl award. This award is given to the team that best adheres to the collaborative discussion spirit of the ethics bowl. The deep thought, insight, and understanding that students bring to the ethics bowl experience fosters ethical awareness, enhances critical thinking, promotes respectful conversation, encourages civic involvement. Involvement, and cultivates a greater appreciation for different perspectives. Our winners are Shahariah Ahmed, Julian Michael Avalanada, Gabby Badilato, Julia Herskowitz, Carter Quantero, and Dennis Yosha Vayv. Their advisor's name is Jeremy Zilbert. Is Jeremy here? [Applause] In recent months, our World Interest Club has competed in two Model
018United Nations competitions at Harvard University and at Hofra. Both times, our students brought home awards. For Harvard Model United Nations, outstanding delegate was Maxwell Greenberg, diplomatic diplomatic commenation, Luke Laapelli, and honorable mention Ryan Strowmer. [Applause] In addition, our world interest club at the Hostram Model United Nations earned best delegate Amelia Waloff. Best position paper Amelia Chu. Outstanding delegate Julia Julia Herskowitz and Aiden Okonnell. Verbal commendation Samantha Samantha Galella, Maxwell Greenberg, and Su Hannah Massud. And honorable mention, Ariana Shaman, Kayla Suarez, and Sabrina Zendaki. Their adviserss are Gavin Kalner and Karen Kasikov. They're getting there. [Applause] Thank you. And now for our model congress. The Oceanside High School Model Congress Club brought home awards from two competition in recent months at Long Beach and New Rochelle. At the Long Beach Model Congress, we were awarded best
019speaker Lucas Galves and Ryan Kh, honorable mention Talia Reedi, and commendation Elena Benedict. Let's give them a round of applause. at the new Rochelle Model Congress. Best speaker Lucas Galves, Ryan Kh, Carlos Morales, and Daniela Sanchez. Honorable mention, Lyanna Aoyo, Matthew Bibikoff, Milo Bonia, Justin Corman, Llaya Malowski, Olivia Au, and Abigail Severino. and commendations Elena Benedict, Lucas Galves, Isabella Santiago, and Payton Sakaris. Their advisor is Jason [Applause] Manning. Congratulations. Thank you. And congratulations to all. be resolved that a page the minutes of this meeting be set aside to record these accomplishments along with continued best wishes for success done at Oceanside New York this 23rd day of April 2025. At this particular time we invite all our honores and parents and grandparents if they'd like to go to the cafeteria. We have some refreshments and
020some cookies. We're going to be taking a five minute break and then we'll continue on with our business uh meeting. Thank you and congratulations everyone. I remember going this guy. I get nervous. That's my biggest fear. What's up, guys? I was like And now Thank you. It came out great. It came out. It came out nice. I don't know what you can do. Thank you so much. Yeah, right. All right, buddy. Nice smile. Thank you. Thank you so much. Oh, I see what happened. Hello. How are you? I'll hop into the next one. Of course. Thank you so much. Congratulations again. I can't do my dishwash. We're supposed to walk Can I walk? Good job. We want to do it. Thank you. Okay, we're back. According to Herb So, we're on uh four uh B,
021which is the high school student government representatives, and we're going to get to Dennis Yosha. And Dennis, this is your portion of the meeting that you could take. Please take. So, it's you. Thank you. I am pleased to introduce for the third to last time Sher Ahmad as vice president, Julian Valetta as treasur, and Dakota Calderon as secretary. Now before you all can hear me, right? Okay. Before we start, I just have to say it is tradition at this point, but I cannot be remissed if I didn't honor Mr. Calendarer for his wick students at their awards at count at Hofster and Harvard. It's just tradition at this point. Now, calendar. So, let's start off with some past events. To start off, the OS Thespians performed a wonderful show of MMA Mia music by Dakota.
022What are they? What are they? Oh, why are you asking me? How you pronounce it? Oh, he's saying this because on the announcements and last time I did not pronounce the name right. I said I spelled out ABBA. So I said abba on the announcements for the entire high school to hear and board of education now and board of education now. Hello. Um yeah Dennis yelled at me after. So exactly. So music by ABBA and they after weeks of preparation it was met with a great reception. First our thespians played their sensory performance on the 1 of April and then played for a packed crowds on both nights of April the 4th and the 5th. On April the 7th, the Slate team hosted an impactful activity day centered on the theme of belonging. The lobby
023was transformed into an interactive space for students to engage with our inter with our initiative while our dedicated students ambassadors visited the 10th grade English classes to spark conversations about inclusion and community. On the 8th, we hosted an eighth and nth grade meeting for our special education families as well. Our last mandatory prom meeting was held on on the same day. Both were incredibly informative and helped to shape both the beginning and end of the high school journey as well. Earlier on the 8th marked a proud milestone for our student athletes as we celebrate college signing day. Several seniors officially committed to continuing both their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level. Representing OS with pride and promise. College awareness night was hosted on April 9th at the high school. It was a great
024event for students to come out and ask questions about college and see what their opportunities are post high school. Before the spring break, we were happy to host the district-wide arts festival at the gym showcasing arts from all levels of the district. It was a great way to show how to support our students all around. Finally, just today, our computer science honor society hosted their second and induction ceremonies to help induct students in the spring if it wasn't possible in the fall. That is all for past. And even though there's not much time left um between now and the next board meeting, we still have a lot of events at the high school. So, tomorrow our student activities department will be hosting the annual motherdaughter dinner for our seniors and their mothers. It's a star-studded
025event and always brings the happiest of memories for our parents and students. Jazz night at OS will take place on Tuesday, April 29th, promising an eventful um night of soulful performances by our talented musicians. We hope to see you there. On the 29th, quarter tree reports cards are be getting released, marking the end of what is, in my opinion, the hardest quarter of the year. This will bring some wonderful conversations for all of our students with their parents. I'm very sure everyone's going to be very happy with that. As well, our NHS is pleased to announce their inductance ceremony on May 1st to conduct more than induct more than 100 new members. We currently have 110 members who all donate 10 hours of their time to tutoring fellow Oceanside students, plus 15 more hours of
026community service. As well, the NHS has been able to donate over $800 this past year to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Senior Commitment Day is soon to be a roaring event at the high school on May 1st. Seniors are encouraged to wear apparel representing their college or post-graduation plans to hide the school and enjoy plenty of opportunities for photos with friends, staff as we recognize that there is exciting next chapter in their lives. The SAT is back at OHS on May 3rd, just in time for juniors and all who take it to be able to ace this exam. Good luck to everyone. And finally, starting May 5th, I'm sure all students are so excited to know that it will be AP season. Such a jolly and joyous time for all. And we can totally say
027that we have already started diligently studying for these very important exams. That's all for us today. Thank you so much for having us and we are excited to see you at the next board meeting. Thank you. I could be honest. We really haven't started studying. Um, so let's now go to school four and their student representatives who are Jesse Ericson, Abby Gould, Jake Renard, and Luke Yasin. Good morning, members of the board of education, Dr. Harrington, administrator, administrators, teachers, and community members. My name is Jake Renard, and I'm honored to serve as the president of student council at school 4. On behalf of our students of student council, I want to thank you for having us here tonight and for your continued support of our school. Good evening and thank you for all being here.
028My name is Luke Yassen and I am the vice president of the school for student council. We are excited to share some of the amazing activities and events that our student council has organized this year to make a positive impact on our school and community. Good evening. My name is Jesse Ericson and I serve as the treasurer of school of the school for for student council. One of our biggest priorities is giving back to our community. During the park week, our student council members v visited younger grades to read stories and inspire a love of reading. We also created holiday cards for visiting veterans and patients at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital to spread joy during the holiday season. Hello, my name is Abby Gold and I'm the secretary of the school forest student council.
029We have worked hard to support many meaningful causes. We helped spread awareness for the OFT toy drive, collected over 200 canning goods for the Oceanside Community Service through our Super Bowl challenge and organized a preo fundraiser to raise money for our school. March's school number four has always been dedicated to Sheamus Ward, a former school for student. With the help of our art teacher, Miss Toy, the sixth grade art club and student council created and sold handmade shamrock pins, raising $1,93 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Most recently, in April, we celebrated Autism Acceptance Month by hosting a walk-athon to raise funds and awareness. In addition to our fundraising and service projects, student council is responsible for setting up and running our school store. This includes tasks like ordering new merchandise, keeping track of expenses
030and profits, and the school store helps us fund improvements for school 4, ensuring that we continue to make our school a better place for everyone. Looking forward, we are excited about our upcoming fundraisers to continue raising money for our school. We are also preparing for college and career readiness week where students will explore different career paths and learn about the opportunities that await them in the future and what they want to be when they grow up. We would like to once again express our gratitude to the board of education, Dr. Harington Harrington and the community for for your ongoing support. Your encouragement allows us to make a difference in our school and beyond. Hold on there, guys. Hold on. So, first I want to hear a little bit more about that. Uh, you guys raised
031$193 for leukemia and lymphoma. Can someone explain that a little bit? How'd you guys do it? How'd you raise that money? Come on, girl. Abby, that's why I said Abby. That's why I brought Abby back. The um kids in art, we made like shamrock pins and decorated them and the school for staff bought them and wore them. And that's how you raised $1,900. Yeah. That's unbelievable. and and Jake. So the so the sixth graders are reading stories to the younger ones, the first and second graders. And you did veterans. Yeah, we made um cards for veterans to express our love for them and support for them during Valentine's Day and during the holidays. And we read to the younger grades just to inspire them to it like to help them see the power of reading.
032So Jake, when you was in first grade, did anybody read to you or this is something that you guys started that you thought that was important? Um, I didn't get read to in first grade, but Okay. I think it is important that we teach the younger grades to grow up in our shoes. Very good. Thank you guys. Thank you so much. [Applause] Congratulations grades. [Applause] Come on, a round of applause for these kids. $1,900 for leukemia. Okay, we're up to 4D energy systems group video presentation and we're going to ask Dr. Harrington if she could start us off. Yes. Thank you, Mr. D. Ambrosio. So, if anyone has been following the work of the board, you know that a couple of years ago, um the board made an an excellent decision to engage in an
033energy performance contract. And to that end, we contracted with a company called Energy Systems Group. You are going to hear much about the improvements that have been made to our district through the energy performance contract in terms of efficiency. Um but you also are going to hear um over the next months into into next year um how much of a savings uh in utilities this decision has actually uh ultimately uh benefited us. Uh I was approached uh a number of months ago by ESG and asked would would I be willing to allow Oceanside to be part of a promotional video that they were doing and it was going to be professionally done. I said of course. Um, so they did just that and it's a very short video. Uh, but I will also tell you
034that it was premiered um in the uh in the in the winter uh to the entire state uh council of school superintendent over 700 plus superintendents and and administrators uh from across New York State. Uh and I think uh it you'll see very clearly that Oceanside uh was very very prominent uh in in this video. you will recognize a number of different things. So, it's a very brief video with something we're very proud of. Dom, we are continually looking to offer our community an amazing education, but at the same time be as fiscally sound as we can. We looked at alternative ways to be more effective was through an energy performance contract. What an energy performance contract allows a district to do is look at their energy usage and enact savings. It's a really viable
035way to make some facilities upgrades. Ultimately, it pays for itself. How could this be? This is too good to be true. I must have said that a thousand times over. But the minute we met Energy Systems Group, we knew that it was a match on so many levels. professional, experienced, very committed to student engagement at all different levels. That's priceless. You can't put a price tag on that. With over 30 years of experience transforming schools, Energy Systems Group is your local New York partner for efficient, affordable, and impactful infrastructure solutions. We are here to implement and guarantee your energy improvements, resulting in reduced consumption and modernized resiliency while ensuring the building comfort and safety of students and staff. Join us today to make a lasting impact that will inspire and educate your community. As you
036can see, Oceanside was prominent in this video. And um I I just have to go on record saying if someone could help me get rid of my Long Island accent, no matter how hard I try, I can't do it. Um but I was very honored to represent Oceanside and and the great work that we have done. Um, speaking of being incredibly proud, um, we mentioned at our last board meeting that we had just, uh, ended a visit um, from Commissioner Rosa, who is the commissioner of the state education department. She's also the president of the State University of New York. Um, she wears many, many hats, very, very prominent individual in our world. and to be uh to receive a phone call from her office directly asking could she visit Oceanside because she just knows
037that there's some amazing things going on in our district. Uh of course uh we said absolutely. There were many different areas that we could have chosen to to share with her because we're proud of so much that happens in our district from prek through grade 12. But knowing that the work at the state education department is very focused on uh the blue ribbons commission graduation measures um high portrait of a high school graduate. Uh we chose to highlight our high school and uh we brought all our team together and they just did an amazing job in we had a two-hour window um that we had to show off as much as we possibly could uh in that very short amount of time. So obviously it took an awful lot of coordination, an awful lot of
038work. Our teachers were amazing. The minute we just walked in and said, "Do you mind if the commissioner comes and visit your classroom?" They did just never hesitated. Not a bit. Um, and it really really was a wonderful experience. Included in that is we gave our video students an opportunity to film the entire event and they did just that. And the they there's well over two hours of footage. Obviously, uh we weren't going to share all of that with you, but they were able to reduce it to a a little over two minutes or less. Um and it it captures, I think, um so much of what um what was what what they what we experienced, what what they experienced. So, this is a production video done by our own students uh highlighting the visit
039from Commissioner Rosa last March. On March 7th, the district hosted Dr. Betty Rosa, New York State's education commissioner at Oceanside High School, to explore its diverse and innovative courses. She was joined by Board of Regents Chancellor Dr. Leser Young, Long Island Regent Project Tillis, and State Education Deputies. The group toured classes such as global solutionaries, AP Computer Science, and ENL Biology, engaging with students and discussing the various pathways OHS offers. The visit concluded with a Q&A session with a student panel featuring Tallet, Slate, and email ambassadors followed by interviews with Dr. Rosa and Dr. Young conducted by a student [Music] broadcaster. So we again so very very proud of that and I know that I've already received phone calls from different superintendents in various parts of the state who heard from Dr. Rosa some of
040the things we were doing and uh calls were made you know and that's the best way to to grow and to learn share best practices so um I also wanted to thank our video broadcasting students under the um direction of Miss Tracy Busk who helps us to put those kinds of videos together and it's great great experience for our students so thank you for that as we move on to number 5A and that's retiring jersey numbers Dr. Haritan. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Drosio. So, as many of you know, it is the practice of this board to provide members of the public with the opportunity to ask questions or bring matters to your attention during your meetings. While you are not obligated to add every request to your public agenda, the board does have the discretion
041to do so when appropriate. Just prior to the spring break, a community member submitted a heartfelt request that the board consider the permanent retirement of a student athletes jersey number. This request was made in response to a specific and deeply personal situation. As a board, I remind you that you are bound ethically and legally not to discuss individual students, staff members, or families in a public setting. However, you are able to engage in a general discussion about the broader practice of retiring jersey numbers. And with that in mind, I now turn the floor over to Mr. D. Ambrosio to lead that part of the conversation. Thank you, Dr. Harrington. And now I'd like to turn this topic over to my fellow board members who would like to wish to share any thoughts on this general
042practice of Jersey retirements. Do I have anyone? Mr. Blau. Thank you, Mr. Dean Rosio. um in giving some thought to to the concept of retiring jersey numbers. Of course, uh it's not something that should be looked at through the lens of any one particular individual student. We have an obligation to take a step back and look at the big picture as we represent approximately 6,000 students in the school district every year. And of course, every year people graduate. we get new students that come in and and and it's a it's it's a a rotating 6,000, some years more, some years less. But our school district over the years currently um has developed two methods in which it honors student athletes who excel in their respective sports. our our Oceanside High School student athletes can be
043honored based on their athletic merit and achievement during their high school years through our own Hall of Fame. And that's something that we've have up in our Hall of Fame area by by the uh the gymnasium. Um, and there's also uh a circle of pride in Oceanside which is separate and that recognizes students who not only have excelled academically here, I'm sorry, athletically here, but those who have also gone to achieve status in their respective sports beyond Oceanside High School. And um those two institutions that we've developed internally have really served our student athletes quite well given the 100 plus year history of the school sports that we have in Oceanside. Um, you know, going back, you you're you're really looking at tens of thousands of people that have played sports in our schools in
044our history there. And we've never been involved um in the concept of retiring a number for for a student. And that includes student athletes who we've had that have gone on to play professionally that have gone on to play professional baseball and football, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, as well as other sports out there. And I haven't heard of any reason to entertain a change in that or to to look into entertaining a new concept such as retiring a particular number in the district. And you know me personally after going through this I wouldn't be in favor of any such proposal. Thank you Mr. Bau. Anyone else? Mr. Shaw. Uh when this when this u topic was brought to my attention microphone um yeah it says it's on. I can't believe you don't hear me. You set
045microphone now. stereo. Um, when this was brought to my attention, um, I did an awful lot of soulsearching over the the holiday break and I also did, as many know that what I do. I I did a lot of research and I asked a lot of questions and I found out much of what Mr. Blau had to say is true. I mean, Oceanside uh does not have a policy or it does not have a practice is really the word uh of retiring numbers. It never had in its history and it doesn't have it right now. Um I even checked with some of my colleagues on other school boards and um they also don't have a practice and they didn't know of any school districts that that do. That's not to say there might be one
046or two that might do it for a reason, but uh the majority, the vast majority it seems, do not. I even spoke with our athletic director, Mr. Leman, and he also had the opportunity to speak to some of his colleagues and uh he didn't find anyone that has a practice at the high school level of retiring uh numbers. Now, you know, I have two sons that were athletes and came through this system and also played at some elite levels and uh I have grandchildren now that play. And the bottom line is I even managed their teams. And one thing that I found out about kids is they're very um particular about their numbers. They're very sentimental about their numbers and they're sometimes superstitious about their numbers. But it means a lot to them to be
047able to choose their numbers. And for that reason, um I'm just not comfortable with making a permanent decision. When you retire a number, it's a permanent decision. And it can have an impact on the choices of future generations of players and coaches. Um and that that bothers me. I I hate to do that. um and have a child who comes in out and wants a particular number because their uncle or their grandfather or their father or somebody wore that number. I I don't want to say no to them especially when we have such a myriad of meaningful and I say meaningful choices and ways to honor the memory of our students. Um, some of the things that we have done and we continue to do is we have dedicated seasons. We have dedicated games. We
048wear special jerseys. We've sewn patches on jerseys. We've put decals on helmets of the initials of of players that we've lost. Um, we've hosted fundraisers uh and tournaments to raise money to support uh special memorial awards and scholarships. Um, one of the most touching nights of the year for me is senior honor night. When you go in that room and you see the number of wonderful memorial awards supported by families and friends and community members in the school district uh, honoring the life of of um, former students. So, the bottom line for me um is that Oceanside High School and Oceanside School District honors and celebrates the lives of our students, not numbers, not objects, not things. And for that reason, I don't support um retiring numbers at this at this juncture. Thank you, Mr.
049Shaw. Uh Mr. Kaplan. Thank you, Mr. De Ambrosio. Thank you. You know, I've been a teacher for 30 years, and I'd like to think I can share in the joy of all the accomplishments of my students both inside and outside of the classroom. I like to think I can honor all of them, the students that I have interacted with over the years. But I know I have to be mindful that it's not always possible. I must also be mindful that honoring students in a particular way sets a precedence for future students, which again is not always possible. There are so many ways that a district can honor its students, and I'd like to think this community extends itself through the many avenues to do so. I concur with my fellow trustees that retiring athletic numbers
050at this time is not the best direction the district should take. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kaplan. Uh, Miss Lizzy, thank you. I understand the request to retire a jersey number and recognize how important it is to find a meaningful way to honor a student. Our school has not traditionally retired numbers and I believe it's important to maintain consistency in our approach. I do think, as my fellow trustees have said, that there are other ways to honor a student's memory and that we have done that and we will continue to do that and work directly with the family. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I don't have a a written, you know, statement, so I'm going to go from the heart. It's very un unusual request. I've been on the board 27 years and we've never had
051a request like this before. And it's very hard to meander your way through the feelings and and the intentions of uh why it the request was made and what the future ramifications are and why and how kids are assigned numbers. With that being said, uh numbers may appear, you know, in your life. Uh when I was a kid, and I didn't think much of it, uh I understand uh uh that Oceanside has never had uh anyone on honored by numbers, but plenty of kids have been honored in other ways. Uh I think we should stick with what we've had before. I know that on Long Island, uh I checked with a couple of friends of mine and other school districts like Sandy had done. Uh maybe the same, maybe not. Uh numbers are not something
052that come up and get retired at at the high school level. And I checked even at the college level, they don't. Uh there's many other ways to celebrate lives, to celebrate uh those that we love. uh for those reasons I don't believe we should uh engage in retiring numbers from high school sports. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Transit. Anyone else? Okay. Well, I'd like to thank my entire board and maybe have a few final thoughts. This community, including the board of education, has time and again showed extraordinary depths of compassion, generosity, and support for families in need. Whether it's through scholarships, memorial, fundraising events, or personal outreach, we've come together in powerful ways to honor and support one another during difficult times. While this permanent retirement of jersey number is not a practice we are
053prepared to adopt. This decision is not a reflection of a lack of empathy or support. On the contrary, our gold is to ensure that any recognition or remembrance is thoughtful, inclusive, and sustainable over time. We remain committed to honoring the spirit of our students and by supporting families in meaningful and last ways that reflect the values of our entire school communities. Being said, Dr. Harrington, I think we'll Any other comments? No. Okay. So, we'd like to move on to 5B, which is our 2425 school calendar. Dr. Harrington. Yeah. Just before we get to that, there will be there is public participation coming up right after this next. So anyone who wants to speak on that because it is an agenda item will have an opportunity to do that. Um so now the next discussion item
054uh says 2425 school calendar. Uh that's not a mistake um because uh we do have in our calendar a day an e really an extra day. we build the calendar with um with the likelihood that we would have one if not more than one um actual snow days and as I think all of you know um while we had somewhat of an inclement uh winter um thankfully most of those days fell on weekends. So, uh, to that end, um, the board identifies the day a a year in advance, and this year it happens to be the Thursday before the Memorial Day break because the Friday before Memorial Day break was already in in the in the calendar as a holiday. It's just the way the the calendar fell this year. So, uh, with the board's
055permission, I would like to officially announce that the Thursday before Memorial Day will be a day that schools will be closed for students and for all teachers or anyone who follows the teachers calendar. Mr. Damros, I don't know if anyone wants to comment on that. Say no. You can't say no. All in favor? Yeah, you they don't you don't need a motion. is just just watch out for the snow. Yeah, I know. I honest to God if it snows between now and then. Honest. No. And the truth is I'm just going to say it. I'm just going if we did that day would still hold. We would just be you know we would be okay being one day under. We can't give it and take it away. So it is officially it is officially a
056day that school will not be in session. Get applause for something. At this particular time, we're at 6A and that's for opportunity to comment on agenda items. Any audience member wishing to make a comment on an item that's on tonight's agenda can do so at this time. Anyone wishing to make a comment on any item not on tonight agenda will have the opportunity to do so later on in the agenda. While New York state law does not require us to hold a public comment period on agenda items, this board of education chooses to do so because we believe it's important to get input from community members on the board's agenda items. Please note that the board is here to listen. While everyone is encouraged to share their comments, please keep in mind that this is
057not designed to be a question answer session. Again, comment should be directed towards the chair of the meeting, which is me. Anyone who wishes to speak should please come up to the microphone. Clearly state your name and your child's school. At this time, would anybody like to come up to the microphone? Eugene Venezio, make sure the microphone's on, sir. Eugene Venezio, my daughter is uh 11th grade. Cameron Venezio. Um, this whole thing with the jersey retirement, I'm I'm not at all for it. Um, you guys keep talking about president. Well, how about we set the president and do the right thing. How about we change things here? I'm tired of what everybody else does. Maybe you should read up about Masipek and what they're doing with their mascot name and all that. This This is
058just ridiculous. How about it's one number out of a hundred? It's It's for the girls lacrosse. Okay. How many children passed away? were playing a sport, right? You guys keep on saying what you did, what you did. Nobody did anything as far as the numbers and everything else on the on the helmets. We did that as parents. We chipped in and I heard last week that we're you allowed us to have a scholarship. You didn't allow us to do anything. We're raising the money for this scholarship and we're taking care of it. So why you guys can't just do the right thing and say yes to one one number for a girl that passed away that meant everything to this lacrosse team. Her mother and father practically raised these children. I mean it's just it's
059a disgrace what you're doing. Disgrace. Thank you. Is anybody else like to come up and speak? Okay. Um I have a a daughter on the lacrosse team right now. She's uh on varsity at the high school. This request means a lot to a lot of people. Yes, we understand it's never been done before. Thank God. I would like to see us be a leader in this. And thank God this request doesn't come up very often. And I'm also going to explain to you the reason that it came to you was because 10,000 other steps happened before this. And I am talking about what's happening on the field right now. When the girls last year and the girls this year went to pick their number, they walk past number eight in honor of Ava. And I'm
060so sorry if I'm not supposed to say her name, but sorry. It's her name. They choose not in honor of her. They walk past her. It is an unspoken honor that they do this. It is not something that they decided on social media to do. It is something in their heart that they walk past because they could never imagine wearing that number. And I would also like to ask, have you thought about taking it out of circulation? has that discussion happen until the until the family and their youngest daughter graduates. That's four years from now because no one's going to wear the number. I'm telling you right now. I've never stood up here. I've been in the school district for a very long time. I have a freshman on JV and I have a daughter
061on varsity who's a junior and it goes all the way down to eighth grade and seventh grade. They will walk past this number. It will not be worn. So why not take it out of circulation at least until it's honorable properly? Very much appreciate your comments and your sentiment. We really really do. And I will tell you, even though this is not supposed to be a back and forth, I will tell you that that exact concept is absolutely and has been uh discussed and on the table and is going to be honored. It is going to be honored taking it out of circulation that until until the girls that you are referring to because we understand that are no longer in in the picture. And again, we're working with the family on that, Mr. Leman
062on that. That's an internal decision that we that we can make as administrators and with the with the athletic director and the teams. We So that has been decided. Yeah, it we Yes, it has. I can I can tell you that. Okay. And the last thing that I can say is I I don't understand why we wouldn't want to be the first school and I don't think we are the first school. I think East Rockaway and other school districts have also retired numbers and right they have please you you need to come. Yeah. So thanks very much. Hi, how are you? My name is Jennifer GMO. My daughter is Samantha GMO. She's captain of the lacrosse team um and was the Ava's best friend. I am appalled by the comments made here tonight. There's been
063talk about a wall of fame, a hall of fame. Ava will never have the chance to be in that hall of fame. We were trying to give her that chance. So, I would like you to reconsider your words tonight about this because it means so much to her family, to her friends, to the lacrosse team, and to the community in general. I take a deep breath. Um, talk about fundraising. The fundraising is not done here. The fundraising is done here by the parents. I will reiterate what Marcella said. We put those stickers on on the helmets. We make those dedication games. The parents does do that. The community does that. And to come back and say this to us, I will say again, is very upsetting. And I am not one to come to these
064meetings and speak up. And I've never done this before. My son has been out of the school district for two years. My daughter is graduating. I've never stepped up here once. But I heard about this and I had to save my piece. So again, I will ask you to reconsider. I appreciate it very much that you are taking the number out of circulation, but like I said, Ava will never have the chance to be in that Hall of Fame and we would like to give her that. Thank you. Hi everyone. Most of you know me. I'm Abby Blam. I have a middle schooler who also plays lacrosse who learned this love of this game from that woman's daughter and learned this love of this game from that woman's entire family. And the fact that she
065still plays this game that she was introduced to in second grade and is now still playing this game and every day they will tell you her hashtag on everything she is is play for Ava to this day. And the same as the middle school with the high school, our girls would not wear number eight either. So yes, it is appreciated that you take it out of circulation, but as an active member, and you all know I am a very active member in this community, I have to say I'm disgusted at the fact that like the other women said, Ava did not get a chance. Ava would have had a chance. But none of you guys are looking at it from the family's point of view or from her friends point of view or from the
066people that Ava has impacted. My daughter will go out and wear blue and white for you every single game for the last how many years? but she will wear orange in honor of Ava every single day. And the fact that you guys think that you're doing all this work, we as AA's army and the rest of the community are the people who've done this work. We are the ones who arranged this game. People who aren't even on the high school teams are the ones arranging this game. We helped get those jerseys. We, like they said, we did the stickers. We did the walks. We did the fundraising. They created the scholarship, not you guys. So, as much as you guys want to sit here and toot your horns of, "Oh, we're so great. This is
067what we're doing." We're the ones doing it. And we're not sitting here patting ourselves on the back saying it's us. We're saying it's us as a community. And what you're doing right now is literally a disgrace to saying that we're a community because it's saying that it's you against sorry, it's you against us. And we're we should be the ones that you're concerned about because we're the community that backs all of you, not you guys backing us. Because you guys see, look at your turnout. Who's here? Who's here that's not normally here? People who are here in support of Ava. And you should be thinking about that. That this community is coming together for her, not for a board meeting, not to hear about a budget, because you guys know I'm at every PTA meeting.
068You know, you don't get a turnout, but you do for her. So, you should take that into account that this community is here for her and not for anything else. And I really wish you should really reconsider because I have a daughter the same age as their youngest. And you know what? They will never wear that number and that number should never be worn again. You're talking a Hall of Fame. She doesn't get a chance. Marcela is right. Jen is right. You don't give her a chance. So now it's time for you guys to do right by her and honor her legacy and her memory as it should be done by allowing it. And you can't sit there and say you've done your research because go to the next town over. I went to East
069Shockway High School. There's an entire hallway of retired numbers. I went I have friends who teach in Salonica numbers retired. Every district on this island has honored someone in some way and Ava deserves that right. Thank you for your time. Good evening. My name is Steve Croer. I have uh four kids at Oceanside schools. My daughter's in the high school. Her name's Casey. I just wanted on the record, everyone that voted no, I just want to know how many lacrosse games you guys went to this year. Just for the record, I think I went to about three on the girl side and about four on the boy side. I've never seen you there. Okay. So when I've been at every single one when I go to games, I watch the baseball games and lacrosse games.
070I stand in the middle usually with athletic director and I watch both games at the same time. Sometimes it's baseball's playing softball. I stand in the middle. Okay. Okay. And I've gone to soccer games. I've gone to to uh swim m meets and a lot of my board members. Well, this wasn't supposed to be a back and forth, correct? Okay. Okay. Okay. What about everybody else? any Oh, I just want I just want you to raise your hand. Okay. So, no games. None of you guys have been to any games. Oh, no. That that's not a fair statement to make at all. And I think that have a good night. Thank goodness there's elections. All of you guys, this is the reason that I threw my hat in the ring for this school board because
071of you guys. Okay? This is the reason cuz I never thought that I would run for anything here, but this is the reason. Thank you. Um, we're going to go to 8A 7 A, I'm sorry. 7A. We're going to go for approval of minutes from the uh March 12th minutes. And I need a motion. I'll take a motion for the approval of the minutes. Move it. Motion. Second. We got Don and we got Don and we got Stu Kaplan. And still all in favor? I. All opposed and abstensions. Motion passes. We're going to go to 7B, acceptance of financial report, and that's on the treasures report. Acceptance of the treasury report. The financial report for tonight's meeting being accepted by the board of education includes our monthly treasury report of receivables and appropriations for all
072funds, the extra classroom activity fund report, budget transfer request, and our independent claims audit report. This board of education also has reviewed the district's appropriation status report and revenue status report. All of these reports are public record and are made a part of the board's agenda every month. They can be found at our public meetings as well as posted on our schools district websites. These reports reflect an up-to-date accounting of the school district's finances and expenses. The policy is welcomed and encouraged. The public is welcomed and encouraged to review them and ask questions. Once accepted by the board, the financial report documents will be filed for subject for subject to audit. I'll take now a motion to accept the financial reports to be filed for audit. Motion second. Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Blau. Any questions
073or comments? Kaplan and Blau. Any questions or comments? All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. We're going to be at 8A. acceptant uh except to approve approval to accept donations of a new fish tank. I'll take a motion. Make that motion. Sandy Shaw, I second. Laura Ley, any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? I abstain. Okay, motion passes. Take your time, Mr. Transm approval to accept donations various musical instruments. I'll take a motion. Take a motion. I'll move it. Mr. Transom and Mr. Moresca. Mr. Moresca. And any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstension? Motion passes. Approval for use of facilities the Zachary Allen Memorial Fund. I'll take a motion. Motion. Mr. Kaplan. Second. Mr. Blau. Any questions or comments? Mr. Ambrosio. Yes. Um
074they are aware that the um I know there's two schools listed, but it's school 7 was one of them and we'll probably be having the um fields redone. Yeah, they are aware of all of the work that is being done. Okay. Thank you. Um, all in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Approval of use of facilities, the Oceanside Library. I'll take a motion. I'll make that motion. Mr. Schol, I second. Miss Ley, any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. I want to know I want to know who's going to participate in the hula hoop contest. Exactly. Approve use of facilities by the Jewish war veterans. I'll take a motion. No. Hold on. I did I did that to you. Second. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
075The Hold on. We have two We have two Oceanside Library request. So, I'll take a motion on on 8E, which is um the Oceanside Library Hulu contest. That's for the summer. That's for summer movies. Move is D. I'll take a motion. I'll move it. Mr. Transom. Second. Mr. Moresca. Any questions or comments? All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Approve for the use of for for the Jewish war veterans. I'll take a motion. Motion. Second. And Seth. Any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Approval use of facilities by the Oceanside Little League of and Girl Softball. I'll take a motion. I'll make that motion. Sandy Shaw, I second. And Lauren Lesey. Any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Approval
076facilities for hard to guard. I'll take a motion. I'll move it. Mr. Tum and second and Mr. Moresca. Any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. On 9A, I'll take a motion for professional personnel recommendation. Motion. Second. Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Blau. How we doing? Good. Any questions or comments? All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Dr. Harrington, anything? No. Uh, take a motion for civil service personnel recommendation. Take a motion. I'll make a motion. So, we have Mrs. Schaw. I second. And Miss Luisi. Mrs. Mrs. Lui. Lesey. Tough night. Any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. I'll take a motion for the hourly employee recommendation. I move it. Mr. Transom, second. And Mr. Moresca. Any questions or comments? All
077in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. I'm going to take a motion for DACA employee recommendations. Motion, Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Blau. Any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. How we doing, Justin? Tell me when you're ready. 10 A recommendation of CE CPSC chair chairpersons. I'll take a motion. I'll make motion. Mrs. Schol, I second. And Laura, any questions or comments? All in favor? Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. approval to allow students to to complete the 2425 school year at school 8. I'll take a motion move. Mr. Morescum second. And Mr. Transom. Any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Approval to allow students to complete the 2425 school year at school 3, school 6 early learning center. I'll take
078a motion. Motion. Mr. Kaplan. Second. Mr. Blau. Any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Approval of the 2526 district property tax report card. I'll take a motion. I'll make a motion. Mr. Schol. I second. Mr. Lei. Any question or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Uh, I'll take a motion for a bid award locksmith services and supplies. Motion, Mr. Transom. Second. And Mr. Moresca. Any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. 2526 updated student overnight field trips. I'll take a motion. Motion. Second. Mr. Stu, Mr. Stew Kaplan, and Mr. Blau. Any questions or comments? I have a question. Yes. Um, so does this mean that um the France Spain trip is not happening? That is correct. They
079did not have the enrollment. Okay. Thank you. Any all in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Memorandum of agreement MOA between preK faculty and the Oceanside Union Free School District. I'll take a motion. We'll make a motion. Mr. Shaw, I second. M. Lei. Any question or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Approval of Nassau Bosey's proposed 2526 administrative operation budget. I'll take a motion. Move. Second. You got Mr. Moresca and you got Mr. Transom. Any questions or comments? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Election of board members to Nassau Boseis Board of Education. Uh Mrs. Schaw. Yes. The three nominees that we will be voting for are incumbent Fran Langster, incumbent Rob Robert Shonne, and newcomer Michael Jamie. And I'll take a motion right
080now for that. I made the motion. Uh Sandy made the motion. I'll second. and Laura will second it. Any questions or comments? All All in favor? I Okay, back up. We'll forward it to you. We'll give it to you. So, it's okay. So, all in favor was yes. I Okay. And any opposed? Any abstensions? Motion passes. Sorry. Let's go with the uh 12A. Uh let's get a report from the superintendent. Very very brief. Again, thank you everyone for your participation this evening. Um, one of the things we want to do is make sure that the community is apprised and uh, constantly apprised of our uh, status of our capital reserve projects. So, to that end for my report, I'm going to ask Mr. uh, Dr. Kley to make a brief um, update on where we
081are with our capital reserve projects. Sure. So, um, good news is that this past uh, April break, we've been very busy. Um, for those over at the high school, we have started the turf project, again, which encompasses a full renovation of the tennis courts, which will then segue over the summer months into a full turf um overhaul of the baseball and softball fields. Um, right now, um, the tennis courts are underway and slated to be finished around um, June or July. And as well over the summer, we will be beginning our phase 5 project, which will be adding structurally five additional instructional spaces. And over the summer, that is the biggest hurdle because we actually have to crane over cement and pour into the interior courtyard. But a lot of uh good things underway for
082Ocean Cycle. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Kley and Dr. Harrington. We're 13A board of education report. I'll ask any of my fellow board members if they like to make a report. Mr. Kaplan, on April 4th, members of the board of education along with Dr. Harrington met with New York State Senator Bo to discuss accomplishments as well as the needs of our district. We covered topics of fiscal management, student support programs, mental health and wellness, UPK, and transportation expenses. We informed the senator senator that our tax levy of 1.1% is one of the lowest on Long Island, but additional state aid could help reduce the tax burden to our community. Senator Bo was impressed by both our mental health and wellness center at the high school as well as the accomplishments of our alternative high school at
083Castleton. She expressed interest in the future visit to see our wellness center and the benefits it provides to our students. As the chair of libraries, the senator is looking to increase pre per per pupil library material aid as well as prek funding increases. We hope the senator continues to support programs to enrich the lives of our students while advocating for more state aid to lighten the tax burden on our community. Thank you. We have any other board members? Mr. Blau. Yes. Thank you. Um Dr. Arrington, I just want to acknowledge again the um presentation that you did from uh the state education commissioner's visit to the Oceanside School District. Um, interestingly enough, that's not the first time someone of that kind of magnitude came to the Oceanside schools. So, for a little bit of uh
084local historical uh anecdote, you have to go you can go back to the 1880s when an equivalent I was going to say, was I alive? an equivalent of the state education commissioner came to the local school district and this was part of a regulator going around to encourage districts to become unionf free school districts and to improve the facilities that they had and and the person actually had quite a successful run of doing this at the time and was very successful in in all the places that he had gone to. And so he came to our uh community to our school district and did the same pitch that he did. Um unfortunately he was met with quite a bit of resistance. And um at the end of the meeting the community voted and they voted
085no. They voted no for for the Union Free School District. They also voted no to build a new um school building. At the time it was just one building. It was it was essentially a one room schoolhouse around the corner from here. And they voted no and he left. he was unsuccessful with it. Um but I guess in the end he got the last laugh because within the next day or two he um officially had the building condemned and then they had to sell everything off and and it was moved and they had to they had to put a new one on anyway. So anyway, there is some history that goes along with having a person such as um the state education commissioner coming to our school district. So but again thank you for that
086that presentation. Um just also want to acknowledge it was a a great meeting tonight. It was great especially at the beginning seeing all the people here having this auditorium filled and seeing all the recognitions of the students. Um like most meetings it filters out a little bit after that. I'm sorry. The people that we had that were very interested in in in one particular topic all left after their topic ended because the real business of the school board is what happened after that as we go through and have to do the business of the school district of course and and that's what we do. That's what we always do. Uh so thank you very much. Thank you Mr. Blau. Uh any other board members? Of course, Mr. Morasa. Let's get a Did you go to
087Mama Mia and M? I like that comment. Of course you want to talk about Mammia. I knew that. I know. Well, I just have a few items I'd like to talk about. Excuse me. Four scripts. Well, I have at least a half hour. That's what I was told. First of all, DBA, not ABA. So, that's all. Excuse me. First of all, I would like to congratulate Well, I I attended the School Five musical uh production of Disney's Aladdin Junior, and it was quite a hit. And I could not get over the number of students performing on stage and students backstage. They did such a wonderful job. And of course, congratulations to the director, Joseph her, and his team. And also to the parents who helped with the show. Kudos again to the executive producer, Andrew
088Fryul, and his assistant, Jennifer and Vicki. You ready? Once again, congratulations to the most successful Oceanside Libraryies annual founders day breakfast. Congratulations to Mike Price who was honored with the Marian Sager Memorial Youth Award and to Seth Blau who was honored with the Founders Day award. Seth gave an historical presentation about Oceanside schools, the library, town organizations. It was quite informative. So, congratulations to them. The district art festival, what a huge success. The artworks from kindergarten students to high school students were on display. Congratulations to all the students whose works were were just outstanding. What creativity the art teachers did a wonderful job in setting up the students work. Both gymnasiums at the high school were filled with with admiring parents and residents. Once again, kudos to the director of art, Andrew Fryul, and his
089two assistants, Jennifer and Vicki. It was my pleasure to attend the Kanist Konets of Oceanside's 7th annual anniversary gala. Congratulations to Janine and I hope I say this correctly. Bad moment. Bad lamente. You say it better than I do. Who received the Kuanis Leadership Award and to Betsy Transom who received the Kiwanet public service award. Both were welld deserved. And again, it was my pleasure to attend the Broadway musical Mom Mia presented by our students at Oceanside High School. What an outstanding performance. What a talented group of students. The singing, the dancing, the coordination. The students who worked backstage did an outstanding job in changing scenery. Congratulations to Laura Gallow and her team on a show of shows. Kudos to the executive producer again, Andrew Foul, and his two assistants, Jennifer and Vicki. Watching this
090musical made you truly feel you're on a watching a Broadway musical. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Moresca. And I'm glad that we had AB all straightened out right there, Mr. Dennis. Okay. Any Mr. Transm, anything? No, sir. Okay. Laura, Mr. Dean Rose, we have one more thing I forgot to mention to Mr. Yoshiva. I know you mentioned at the beginning, this is your third to last. Some of us referred to that as the anti-penultimate meeting for you. that was on my script but someone forgot to mention it and I didn't want to come back on and say you know all that. Okay. Third alas Annie Penultimate. It's just difference of words. Got it. Okay. Uh we're going to move now to uh public input. Opportunity to comment on non-aggenda items. Next is public
091comment on non-aggenda items. This is the opportunity for anyone who wants to make a comment on any item that is on that is not on tonight's agenda. As I previously mentioned, state law does not require us to hold a public comment. Period. But this board of education does so because we believe it's important to provide this form to hear for our community members about concerns and issues. Having said this, please note that the board is here to listen. Comment should be directed towards the chair of the meeting, which is me. While everyone is encouraged to share their comments, please remember that this not designed to be a question answer session. Somebody has a question that can be quickly answered, we will do so. Otherwise, the appropriate personnel will follow up on it on any issue.
092Lastly, please remember that the board cannot and will not discuss personnel matters related to staff or students and public. Any party wishing to speak, please come up to the microphone, clearly state your name and your child's school. Thank you for your cooperation and participation at this time. Anybody like to come up to the microphone on non agenda items. Seeing none. Take a motion. Thank you, Mr. Transom. Motion to adjurnn. We need a second. We don't need a second. Good night. What you wanted to ask me?