001Okay, good evening. Thank you for joining us for the April 21st Board of Education meeting. If you could all join me for a pledge to the flag. >> 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. Okay, we will start this evening with a report of the superintendent, Dr. Murray. >> Thank you. Good evening. I'd like to begin with a brief update on construction. I'm very pleased to share that we are in the very final stages of completion on the new wings at Osborne and Midland. Our fire inspections will take place this week and next week. And following that, we will be in communication on the exact date of when the wings will
002be open for students and staff. While this project experienced a number of delays along the way, we remained focused throughout uh on delivering a high quality result for our students and community. The spaces look incredible and we are excited to welcome students into them. In addition, our community budget talks continue this week. We will be meeting with the seniors at the Ryre Wreck tomorrow, presenting at the middle school PO meeting next Wednesday at 9:15 and at the Milton PTO meeting next Friday at 9:15 a.m. For anyone who is not able to attend one of these sessions, I encourage you to visit our website where all budget information, videos, and presentations are available. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. And so we will start with presentation and discussion number one, uh, an athletics a update. Miss
003Reed. >> Okay. Good evening. Thank you for having me. So, um, as I've been doing in the spring, this is just a little bit of an update on spring athletics and a little bit of recap as well as a focus on athletic placement process, which is something that we've been navigating and looking at over time. And so, we'll get right to it. Oops, I'm trying to hit the button. Um, as I was thinking about the presentation, and we always start with the ride commitment. One of the uh neatest things that I love about this district is the policy committee. It's kind of geeky and one of my like cheesy things, right? Um it's the first time I've seen a policy committee that actually um gathers data and information from the people that are really involved
004in the process um and gets feedback and makes change um which is something that is extremely important. And this particular presentation when we get into A um is kind of a work over time with that. And you'll see I have some reflection and recommendations since it's been approximately 5 years now um with where we go with a oops. So just some uh data. Um first of all our spring participation numbers are there. um that is the number of students that are enrolled in uh Rye High School is 864 at the current moment. It was a snapshot in time as well as uh Rye Middle School with 7th and 8th grade. Um Dr. Murray had asked a great question recently. How many of those are duplicates? um our current system doesn't feed that out, but our
005new system with final forms, which we'll be rolling out for next year, um we're able to track that, not just the duplications, but gender and and other areas. So, that's I'm looking forward to that. Uh recognition. This was for our winter teams. Just to give you a heads up, it comes out late early or late winter, early spring, if you will. All of our New York State public high school or excuse me, all of our winter teams were scholar athlete teams. We will apply for the spring with a number of teams that uh meet that criteria which again is um 75% of the roster is 90% or better. We are very fortunate that our students excel and continue to to do that. >> Do these numbers include like the club sports like like squash for
006middle school? >> No. Okay. >> Um there are only the New York State public high school sports. So challenges I I continue just to put it up there so families are aware. Right now, knock on wood, really, really hard. Um transportation this spring has been fairly uh stable and timely. The officials piece continues to be a national um issue as well as a state and local. Just today, unfortunately, our JV boys lacrosse, uh, we were supposed to have a game today and approximately 1:30, we received a call from BOC section 1 saying they had to pull our one official from JV to cover our varsity at Pelum. So, obviously varsity trumps JV. So, those officials get pulled. Um, and there's a huge effect when people make a lot of changes. So, at the section level,
007we're trying to reduce those changes. Um, that will help that office and it will help our students have more officials. So more to come on that as we progress as a section. >> M I just saw uh for another section maybe section five could be nine one of the two that had actually an advertisement calling out for officials. Is that something that section one does that the community could be made aware of? The section has an Instagram uh handle and an X feed that they traditionally um have sent out when there's updates, but if I receive them, I certainly can share them with our community because uh it's something that we definitely desperately need numbers um to be able to to fulfill. There could be a point where, you know, we have these wonderful teams
008and numbers of programs that if we can't have officials, you know, what are we doing? So, it's something that we have to keep a lot of. That's a great point. >> Is it certain sports that are like more challenged than others? >> It can be. Um, it just depends on the number of sports in the season. So, when you run up against say soccer in the fall and you have modified JV and varsity, most schools have that sport. So, if you look at almost 80 schools in our section at modified JV and varsity and teams with two teams at that, um, I would say our modified soccer teams where 50% of our games are probably staffed with officials. The other 50% are the coaches working with the kids and doing what's more of a a
009scrimmage. >> Uh classifications. I just put this up here always for um the board to look at and for the community to look at. Whoops, I went back. Um let's see if it's allowed me to do this. There should be a link. If you go on this link from New York State Public High School Athletic Association, it just breaks down from 2026 2027, our school classification numbers. So, what that means is in team sports, for example, in the fall, we're class A. And again, that's based upon our enrollment numbers and a structure per sport. This is always on the New York State Public High School website. You can see this at any time. And if you forecast our uh data and our enrollment, we will be an A for quite some time. The only sport
010we're a double A next year in is girls basketball. And we are literally on the number at the bottom level of double A. Um but moving forward for our six sport classifications will be A across the board inclusive of football, uh volleyball, um and sports like lacrosse where we're C, that's because there's only an A, B, C, and D and no double A, no AAA. So it kind of affects. But that chart is a great resource for families um when they're you know just get confused about why we are a it has nothing to do with our ability. So let's get right into the athletic placement policy. I I thought it was important that you know understanding that this is a commissioner's regulation that allows for each district to be more restrictive and the placement
011policy right now in state ed's um world is open to all seventh and eighth graders and again as I said schools can be more restrictive and many of our basic league alignment the schools that we traditionally play follow the state policy and one of the things that um the policy committee did in 2021 as we looked at what was important for Rye, which was very important in the overall picture. You know, some of these schools are wide open, but necessarily is that the right fit for us. It doesn't mean because they're open that we should be. And one of the things I can say clearly which I really felt I could get behind was the participation at JV and how important is that we're not cutting students at the JV level for middle school students
012because those students obviously are still growing and still learning. Um that is something that glaringly came out to us. So when we looked at the policy um 7th grade participation looked as follows. Varsity non-cont sports if no high school students cut. So non-con non-cont sports are more your traditionally individual sports such as swimming and tennis. Um and then all freshman JB sports if no high school students could be cut for seventh grade. 8th grade we we altered a little bit looking at um freshman and JB sports. While we don't have freshmen, we thought it was important in case it ever popped up. um if no high school sport students are cut similar to seventh but varsity with no restrictions. Looking at our data this is from the reason why it's fall 2022 is this policy
013did not change until winter of 2021. So the following fall 2022 is when this group first saw this. So you'll see sports uh listed the star or asterisk after the sport of cheerleading and swim and um dive is because it's a varsity sport only. And and that's important because when we're looking at middle school students participating with nothing to participate on. Um both those sports are no cut sports. you know, traditionally don't have large rosters, but um you can see by each category where middle school students, whether they're in eighth or seventh grade, have participated over the time from 2022 to this fall 2025. Um you'll see some sports like football, we have large participation. There would be no need uh for that to occur. and boys and girls soccer where we make cuts at
014our JV and varsity level quite frequently or placement wise um at a very high talent that it would be unnecessary. Um A is not about filling roster spots and that's something when we get into reflection I will share with my recommendation because that's never the intent. The intent is to look at the middle school um student on appropriate placement where they belong in the bigger picture. Looking into winter, um again we started 2122. Um you'll see over time some shifts in some sports. Uh sometimes that comes with coaching philosophy. It also is a great conversation that we have, the coaches and I about recommendation for these student athletes and where they belong. And again, as we get toward the end, I'll share some thoughts and reflection on that. But our numbers are pretty consistent in
015most sports overall. Looking at um traditionally like like again boys girl boys and girls ski swim and dive and cheerleading in the winter are varsity only. And lastly our spring data. >> Susan, can I sorry one quick question for the boys swim and dive? Um, were those the two were those eighth graders or seventh? >> I don't know. I I just see that that wasn't clear, but I can let you know definitely. >> Thanks. So looking at spring, you'll see the large spike with softball in spring 25 and 26 where um we have not had a modified team. And that's something that um as a board you should know that I'm continuously looking at. I've been doing some research on the backside looking at over six years of data on rosters where students have gone.
016But if you look alone in spring 2025, if you add those 8th and 7th graders up, that's 13. If you look spring 2026, and add the eighth and seventh graders up, that's 11. So those are substantial numbers to have in a GV. So that's something we need to pause, reflect, and look at our overall program to see is this the intention because the intention was not to create a JV team with middle school students if you're looking at the philosophy and if you're looking at what state is saying. So that's something that's important to look at. Um, it's a sport that we will continuously look at as well and with the help of coaches and our Ry girls softball program and different community members will continue to support this and I will share with this
017group um obviously with the board through Dr. Murray as I progress through that data. Um, you'll see some balance um in most sports some with spikes here and there. Um and again when we get to reflection um you can see that sometimes this will look different but it has to do with the success of the sport the idea of middle school sports and modified it depending on the program. So case in point, soccer is a great example. Boys and girls soccer. If you look at middle school or modified soccer right now, there are times we have two teams and there are times we have one. And you would look at our varsity and JV programs and think, "Wow, I I can't believe the youth programs that we don't have full two teams." doing the research
018and looking at those students that chose not to play and speaking to them. They chose not to play because they did not want to play middle school or modified sport because it was to them not competitive enough. Um probably it could have something to do with officials, who knows, not having them. Um but looking at more of a what would be considered more recreational style, less competitive, so they'll go elsewhere, play or play another sport and come back in 9th grade. So that's where we see this spike in 9th grade of students that will come back to play and those students that are coming up from middle school may have the risk of being cut after playing modified. So it's a little bit of a bubble effect there. But that's not just here. Um modified
019sports are a great opportunity especially for kids to try new things. But if a student um has been playing the sport for quite some time at times some children choose to do something different with their time. So if we have for example students that have played soccer outside of school they may choose to try to play volleyball when they get to middle school which is is which is a great opportunity to expand. In the spring you'll see boys and girls golf are the only varsity programs um that are individual. all of the others there is a form of JV andor modified that um follow that >> for like for baseball >> the like how big is the JV squad I mean like the numbers going >> not big right now >> okay >> not considering
020because we wouldn't be able to >> we would be bringing them up unless it was >> modified as large >> modified huge but yeah >> um that's why I was curious >> if you look at so I haven't done it with baseball yet I've done it with softball but I've tracked every kid that has left modified and where they've went, whether they've moved left rye or stayed, went to a different sport or stayed in the sport. Um, so it'll be interesting to see what what baseball goes the next few years, too. >> It's going to be bigger the next few. This the seventh grade's huge and the the ones behind are coming in really large. So eighth is actually the last smallest and then I mean, could be wrong, but I spent a lot of
021time there. So So, looking at reflection recommendations, I highlighted a few of these things. Individual sports versus team sports. Um, traditionally our individual sports. Some of our rosters like swimming and diving of our own student athletes are what what we consider, you know, average or sometimes they can be a little lower. But again, we're merged with Blimebrook and RIne. They have a few students that usually will come to fulfill our program, which is nice. It's a nice They're both very nice programs. Um whereas, you know, you have an individual sport like tennis that just keeps booming. Our numbers are very, very large for both boys and girls, which is great as a lifelong sport. We have a JV, a varsity, and a varsc. And that's been really helpful as a support. When I first started,
022we had varsity and JV, and that was it. And we've grown, so that's really been helpful. um team sports as the students get to JV and varsity it's rare I would say I wouldn't say rare but we aren't cutting as much um as most people might think but it's more about a placement of whether you're JV or varsity when you hit 9th grade um traditionally of course we'd like to keep our students 9th and 10th grade JV and 11th and 12th varsity but that's not always the case or it doesn't work out that way but overall all um our roster sizes. I encourage our coaches to keep as many kids as we can and work through a system that works best as long as um you know they're being fair and upfront communicating. So again,
023I I've wrote modified versus JV philosophy because that's something that we'll consider like do you have in programs if there are number issues, do you have a modified and a varsity or do you have a JV in varsity? What is the best for the overall program and the growth of the program? That's something we always have to consider. I mentioned just feedback, right, wrong or different. That soccer model that I shared is really unique, but you know, if you've been to a middle school modified game, it's very different than what's happening outside. And it's, you know, I'd like to think again, intercolastic athletics has a great value that's different than the outside club world, but um that's just a fact that a lot of us are dealing with. And as athletic administrators, we're continuously looking
024at with the state. How can we make modified more meaningful at times? What can we do to offer um our you know, robust programs? So again, coach recommendation happens for A and that's something that is unique and depending on the sport. So like tennis is a unique one because we don't have modified. So we rely on our modified coaches for example to share some recommendations with our high school coaches. So when this happens um our coaches for example in the fall Tony Campbell, Ingred Lop and Jerry Power will work together to um get feedback to know where that student maybe have been playing, what their involvement is. Same thing with swimming. Have they you know participated before? Have they like if they're a diver, what what's their background? And you can always do a skill
025set try out. So if we test somebody through the process and parents give permission, it does not mean that they're automatically on the team. We have um not went forward with students that went through the process and we've also sent students back so to speak to modified. When we communicate with families, it's right in the email that states that this is not an um a roster spot that this is a opportunity to try out and it's about appropriate placement. I know this spring a few of our sports students we tested tried out and we sent back to modified because it was an appropriate placement for them. So we do have that fallback so to speak and then tracking them is something obviously you saw that's something that we will continue to reflect upon. Recommendations I
026strongly will continue the coach recommendation. One thing I think I'm I I would like to communicate to the community and I will do moving forward. It's something that some of my colleagues do and that's utilizing deadlines because when you're doing this it shouldn't be leading it should be a set deadline that by this point we're looking at what students are capable or able to come up to um the high school trial process rather than it being like multiple tests like it's it'd just be helpful if it was all communicated in oneot deals. So, I'm going to look to communicate that and update what that will look like for next year. And then looking at updating the board policy for seventh graders. In my experience, um this was never an intention of ours. It might be
027an unintended consequence, so to speak. when we put seventh graders in our team sports or our um our um if you go back to the policy seventh graders can play JV right without uh as long as they're not cuts in sports and it would be my recommendation that we adjust that it was never the intention and we have a large number of seventh graders that are obviously in a situation that are playing which are they exceptional you know in this situation that's what it's supposed to be philosophically and really they're not. Some of those seventh graders in some sports will go back to next year playing modified because every year is different. You you can go back after playing a high school JV sport, let's say in seventh grade and play modified in eighth grade
028cuz every year is different. It's a year of eligibility. >> I'm not a linguist. >> Yeah. So, I'm going to leave with that. But when I hear the word exceptional, I'm seeing that person as I see that athlete, that student athlete performing and they are clearly at a level that is >> heads and shoulders above the next person, which would mean >> everybody grows, everybody changes. I've seen it happen, right? You're good one year and then somebody's a little bit better. But I and and looking at some of these numbers, it does seem to bear out that like one year there was, you know, a kid in seventh grade and then the next year there was one in eighth grade. So in some sports it seems like that's working. But the idea that we would
029have somebody who's exceptional and then goes from exceptional to beyond, you know, basic. >> Correct. >> Doesn't seem like it's really adhering to this policy. >> Correct. And it's also not adhering in the bigger picture of the intent of what the state has looked at which is not to fi fill roster spots. And while we for example softball specific because that to be transparent that's where we were looking at kids like what do we do with these kids we put them through a try out process. Um also when we say exceptional what's interesting about that word is exceptional for one program may differ from another program. when you think about that what's in front of you. But with that case in point, that is an area um not just that sport where I would recommend
030to the policy committee that we definitely um look to edit that component with seventh graders. >> The issue there specifically with softball isn't so much about filling JV. It's not leaving the girls without a home because there's no modified. Right. partly, but if you looked at the roster numbers of JV without those five seventh graders, it's primarily middle school. So, out of 15, let's say, student athletes, 11, I believe, are middle school students. That's not a JV team. So, it's never, you know, an easy thing. Of course, that's why if you look the numbers, the spike last year this year, to your point, we didn't want to leave the girls behind, but we did do a trial because there were two students that did not make it that had tested up because they had never
031I don't know if they hadn't played before, but they were not at the level of seventh graders, I should say. And that was never our intention. So it it really reflection it that's not what we're about and that's what it shouldn't be about philosophically. >> I I'm not going to let my face just speak for me. Um I do I h that concerns me. >> Um it concerns me in that part of the whole modified process. Well, in for some sports, it may not be the most competitive environment for them, but I don't believe that our modified program sole function and purpose is designed around being the most competitive. >> Correct. >> Sports, like everything in our district is about giving kids a space and a place to belong. And so I would hope that
032our coaches would be making certain that as they're making decisions about where to place student athletes that the focus is on ensuring our kids can have a sense of belonging and a sense of um a place to connect and that it may or may not lead to the most successful season for modified. >> Mhm. But it certainly is going to lead to a successful middle school experience at least for those two or three months they're on that team. >> Correct. So that is the end of my pres presentation. Um again I looking at that the policy I I would strongly recommend that we look at this. >> Any other questions? I just curious on the one is it a timing I mean because I know there's eighth grade and then there's seventh grade my understanding
033with the softball is like there were girls who were put up to JV sort of as part of I don't know if the right words but maybe the more traditional process here and then there was a sort of second wave um like is was part of the issue this year just the the timing versus maybe if it had all been looked at at the same time or something like that? >> No. um that to me could be considered a follow of the year before. So if you recall the year before we were in the same situation. So those students that um were seventh grade previously are now in eighth grade have passed the process and try out because they participated last year and without them not again not the goal but think about that without
034those eighth graders and seventh graders there would have been no JV. So somewhere along the lines there would have been no pro no level so to speak either modified or JV. So that's the discussion at the core of where do we go and in my thoughts this is going to be like a deeper discussion of where we had this is traditionally something um that happens a lot at smaller schools where they're trying to field three teams and many things and you have to forecast and look at what's the best opportunity. So, some schools have varsity and modified, some have just varsity and JV. It just depends what your goal is and where your numbers fall. Um, this year alone, I know eight schools after the season started dropped JV and approximately I cannot uh recall
035uh but it was um I believe seven that dropped modified including us eight. So this is not you know in that particular sport this it's the section as well and it's the state when uh I was at my state athletic administrators conference section 8 which is NASA during that time they dropped 15 JV teams that day when I was there. So overall the sport is unique and I hope it continues to grow but it's something that we need to keep our eye on and look what's best for our students and their experiences. to your point um there are ways you know we can hope that we have a modified JV varsc but I don't think we can look at just hope I think we have to look at numbers each grade level ry girls softball
036has those numbers Aaron Mance from Ry recreation has worked with me and shared those numbers so as we progress and start looking at not just the numbers but who those students are and what their choices are it will help us tremendously um are we seeing an increase in the number of requests for a screening from coaches because um >> coaches, families, the in the 5 years since really we've we've implemented the >> I feel like um you know there's been an increase in some sports definitely over time because I I don't have the data from when I wasn't here like to even look at when it was restrictive but where it where it fell. I would say in my experience working with the coaches, if the student athlete is not starting or coming up the
037bench or playing, then they shouldn't be considered. So, we have those discussions of like where does this child fall skill setwise. Um, obviously there's a maturity piece to it and if they don't fall within that line of we will send them back to modified. >> Well, and you're leading me to another question where we're talking about this idea of the larger rosters, right? And then so now you do have kids who are just sitting. Um and so if you're pulling kids up to create these larger rosters and now we've got kids who are sitting and not participating, >> right? >> What has been the benefit to the student athlete to the community, >> right? >> I haven't seen many larger rosters. Um, one sport particularly over time, I would say over my time here six
038years, um, I've seen at the the varsity level was boys lacrosse where we had a it seemed like larger numbers, but that was not because of middle school that was a 9 through 12 population there. Um, if you looked back at that those numbers. So, um, I can't think of besides like obviously football where we don't cut is a larger roster and middle school students aren't there. Um, but we're not bringing these kids up with the exception of, as you've noted, for softball. I don't know what the situation is for JV baseball where we're bringing these kids up and instead of having an opportunity to play on modified, they're now sitting on JB benches. >> I don't Well, I I can't speak to specifically that sport right now, but I'm saying all I'm saying for
039all of the sports utilizing the A policy. eighth graders are playing because if you look at our rosters, they're not heavy 9th and tth graders. They're about half 9th and tth graders and some of them where there's a larger number of eighth graders because there's no cuts being made. So, they're not keeping um like just case in point, they're not keeping a 10 extra kids to keep eighth graders to put it that lightly >> because we've had those conversations. >> The baseball ones are strong. the the eighth graders that went up. >> No, I'm I'm talking about all for AP as a whole process, not sports specifically. >> So, one thing to your point, I think, Jane, this is a great point because this is conversation that most people would know happens because we're looking
040at placement of of students. Um, and numbers, like what's your number? So, nowhere do I have a coach that's saying, "Well, I'm going to keep these three kids so I can keep eighth graders." That's not happening. Um, and we've had a lot of discussion in my time here about not putting juniors on JV. That's taken some shift. Um, that shouldn't happen unless you have a varsity team where there's, you know, all seniors and the next year they're gone and those juniors can play. But overall, that's been a shift, too. But um it's something that if it ever got large to that point then we would reduce and want to keep those kids down below where they are playing because if you're bringing them up they should be playing. >> They should not be sitting. That
041is that's and and that could even go even deeper like if you're bringing an underassman up to varsity cuz those discussions have happened too. >> So is the junior for JV that an official policy or that just sort of return? which is not philosophically a good thing socially to do to the child because they're playing with freshman and sophomores and eighth graders and and and >> if they're going to be on your program and you're not making cuts, they really should be on varsity, >> right? But if you did have a scenario where there was just like a ridiculously strong >> if I had um a senior let's say let's use soccer boys program where out of 23 kids 21 were seniors let's say hypothetically that would be appropriate because I'd want them to keep
042playing cuz next year they play because if you put a junior on JV on a mixed level varsity program that means that junior is not going to play their senior. They'll make the team. We definitely do not cut seniors, but that child is not going to play like what the quality is not going to be they're not going to have an enjoyable time. Put it that way. >> So, just to kind of circle back for um when you were talking about the schools that dropped JV and modified um sports, >> what so have we completely dropped softball as a modified sport at this point? And how for this year? Just for this season. This season. Okay. Any others? >> No. >> Okay. >> And is the section considering adding any more additional modified teams? So,
043you'd mentioned tennis um that we have a big, you know, a varsity >> B. They do have small numbers of modified teams, but unfortunately we right now are maxed out in our space and hardly have enough room for what we have of our numbers of JV um and varsity B and A. So with that, that's limited. We're also limited against the time, not having our own courts because obviously that's open to the community. So when we have our matches, we're timed out by darkness by the community. So if we had more space that might be something to consider, but right now a challenge. >> Just noticed from the the I guess from from last year we had uh 399 high school students participating. This year it's 467 and middle school, you know, 217 down to
044175. I guess with the is there anything that is driving that big increase in in the high school participation? No. Um because if you look at some of our rosters from last year to this year, the um they're down like they fluctuate like track sometimes we'll have huge numbers and this year we're a little bit down compared to we were last year. So I I don't remember the enrollment. I can see it in my head of um each class. So I'm sure it has also something to do with that. Um we're at 200 in some classes, I believe, and 237 in another. So I think just strictly on enrollment or potentially there's nothing been added so to speak. Um so no spikes definitely in in a particular sport. They've been consistently the same. Good question.
045Yeah. And I know for a few years back that there were frustrations in the community community related to cuts that were being made. And so there was a real intentional outreach to families about finding non-cut sports. >> Is that still something that's happening? >> Yes. Um there's a couple things that happen. Um families sometimes proactively reach out and we'll say this is my child's first opportunity. What are the sports where there's, you know, participation without cuts and we have a lot of communication surrounding that? Um, even sometimes I'll have families call specifically as we get closer to it to see where numbers are so they can put their child in the best case scenario. But I will also say last year um since it was Dr. Mary's first time as superintendent when I was going
046through cuts with her and placements. Um, one thing that I like to think our department prides itself on is finding opportunities for students that if they aren't happy, whether they're cut or maybe they're not happy with their placement, that we try to find another option. And some of those students have actually excelled in the other sport, which makes me so happy. But um what I require the coaches to do is share their rosters with me and students that um might have been placed or not made the team so that I can reach out to them and and find a home or some another opportunity maybe that they just haven't thought of. Um so definitely we try I the best in a in a an environment like sport where it can be competitive to be as
047inclusive as we can. Great. That makes me very happy. Me, too. Thank you. >> Because, as I said, sports are absolutely about winning and having a good time. And our purpose here, it's the district is about making sure our students feel connected and a sense of belonging. And sports are a vehicle to do that, >> but they should not then be cut from doing that as well. So look forward to the policy committee taking this uh conversation up and coming back to us with a recommendation about what exactly to do next. >> Just one one more question in terms of when you do have those fluctuations where I mean obviously we talked here about what happens when it dips and you sort of don't have enough for a team have to do it. What about
048the flip side, you know, for like for example, modify baseball right now, which has like so many kids in terms of >> seeing that people play like there's probably too many kids for the kids to play. >> So, what we did with modify baseball is something we've done um where we traditionally kids get up to eight games. Um, so we've added more games and created cohorts to allow some of the things we've talked about, which is increasing our numbers so students have opportunity to play. So, I'm hopeful like when we do um if we have one team or two teams of say soccer in the fall that we could do something similar. something that I know we've talked about like trying to stretch our numbers in modified sports where we've we've cut or needed to
049make adjustment. >> Great. >> Okay. So, we look forward to continuing this conversation and see where we can go. >> And I'm happy to come to the policy committee if you need me to. So, we >> I would imagine the policy committee is going to be extending you an invitation. >> We have a meeting every month. >> I know. I'd love. So, all right. So, thank you though for uh all the questions and feedback. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Okay. The hearing of the public on non-aggenda items, but there are there's nobody here from the public. So, I will just remind the public that we are always happy to have uh people come and attend and uh provide us feedback at any opportunity. So, please always feel free to reach out. With
050that, we will move on to the consent agenda. Can I please have a motion to review this evening's consent agenda? Valerie Lapam, seconded by Matt Shibonoff. Let's take a look at tonight's consent agenda. Consent agenda general. I just want to point out that um we reviewed the exeicio student member of the board last week and we're um moving that forward to be um adopted tonight so that we can get those changes in place for the next uh phase of the selection process coming up. Just wanted to point that out. >> Great. Thank you. Uh, consent agenda, fiscal, consent agenda, professional appointments, consent agenda, classified appointments, consent agenda, pupil personnel services and special education. Okay, seeing no questions, can I please have a vote to approve this evening's consent agenda? All those in favor? That is
051six to nothing with one absent. So on this evening's consent agenda, some of our highlights. We uh have approved uh the election of the trustees and the budget related to se southern Westchester Boseies. Three trustees were nominated and three ran for office. We thank our colleagues for all of the support of the work that they provide for the uh board of cooperation cooperative educational services. We also have the approval of our election inspectors, which will help to oversee our school budget and board trustee election on May 19th, which will be held from 6:00 a.m. to 900 p.m. in the middle school gym. And we also are continuing our attraction and hiring of staff for the 2627 school year. So, we look forward to seeing new staff joining us in the fall. Uh we will now
052move on to presentation and discussion two related to uh LHC which is the lower Hudson Educational Coalition Bill uh 10814. So last week we had a conversation and a discussion related to um public versus private schools in their competition uh for the state championship level. And so that was a conversation we had with Miss Doule. There is an opportunity through the Lower Hudson Educational Coalition and I mentioned this last week that a resolution has been drafted and is something that we can take under consideration as a board which would state uh very clearly just our support that schools would maintain that at the section level they would maintain the separation between public and private schools in competition for state championships only. This would not relate to a regular schedule of programming. So I wanted to
053uh raise this point to the board if this is something the board is interested in supporting that we can then bring forward to our next meeting for review and approval of a resolution. >> This is is the change to separate what's currently conjoined or >> correct. Currently, private and public schools compete for state championships. And so, this is to remove that from consideration. It's something that the superintendent's council is supportive of. It's also something that section one has um as is actually considering and debating at the time and will be making a recommendation to have happen as well. >> What's the logic of separating them? Miss Reed, do you want to kind of restate? So, the presentation was last time. So, Miss Reed, if you want to talk about what this what the uh rationale
054is and the and the necessity that people are feeling. >> So, um this goes back without going too deep um a few years back where um actually for many years we've been looking at this as a state, but um there's a state committee called school without boundaries that's looking at this specifically. And then locally is a section our executive committee which consists of superintendents, principles and athletic administrators. Um our lower Hudson um superintendent Dr. Murray is obviously a part of uh we've been working locally as as a committee to look at our own schools without boundaries so to speak our non-publiclix in section which which include Lfell KO Alberta's Magnus and Urseline. right now they're in the state playoff system and regardless of their abilities um the number of students that they they get in
055with admission with tuition are able to participate in the same championship as our students but we're we're picking from rye obviously so um obviously it's inequitable to our our our section it feels that way strongly and so to do this locally we have an opportunity to change our constitution which would then allow um these schools to still be member schools but not be able to participate in postseason which means they would not be able to go to the states. Samantha knows about this school. I'm looking at her because a soccer especially she's >> unfortunately our girls soccer team has come up against us a few times. >> So we've been working on it for a while. She knows. Um so locally that's where we're at. Um as I mentioned there's an April 24th and May
0563rd I think um schools without boundaries committee for updates. So, we're kind of parallel with the state trying to work with them, but they're taking a little bit longer. So, locally, this is what we're looking to do. Make sense? I mean, my my explanation anyways. >> Okay. I guess ju just for clarity sake though this LHC bill would have I mean that would >> that would that would lead this to to be reversed because it seemed like this is only through the section that where this decision will get made and there's a group of individuals that all this is >> we're so there there two things happening at the same time both related to the same topic so the section is hoping to perhaps move faster than the state would. But this it is not
057an LHC bill. It is an LHC resolution that has come to us that we would then pass as the Rice City School District. But the bill is from local assembly members Nateray and Matt Slater. and they have introduced and co-sponsored legislation in the form of the bill which would direct the commissioner of education to require the New York State um organization and other intercolastic athletic associations which would be section one and all of the other sections to conduct separate state championship tournaments for public and non-public schools. So the hope is that there would be enough pressure from all different constituency groups to perhaps finally get this to come to fruition >> and and the resolution just makes it a more formal statement from us as a board. >> So seeing no opposition, I'll add the
058resolution to the agenda for us to review and discuss next week or next meeting rather. Okay. Thank you. Uh so then we move on to our cell phone policy implementation update. You can you can sit here. >> Good evening everyone. >> Good evening Mr. Har. >> So I'm here to give an update on the uh cell phone policy at the high school. Uh I broke this down into three parts and I'm going to give a brief overview of the policy itself uh as it plays out in the high school. Going to talk about uh the impact it's had and then I'm going to give some statistics cuz I think it's um the stats are are interesting. And then I'm open to any questions that anyone has about the policy and how it's going in the
059high school. So um after the legislation was passed at New York state level um and the district adopted their policy uh we had to go to work over the summer to develop a policy that aligned with the district policy but was also both um effective and sustainable. Uh in my experience both as a teacher and an administrator uh at various schools cell phone policies um have varying levels of success. Um my experience had been um the more onus that you put on the teachers um the less likely it's going to be effective. And I that's absolutely not a knock on teachers. It is an exhausting job as a teacher to have to enforce a policy um and battle with students over cell phones. Um and so we met with the union over the summer and
060really tried to come up with a policy that would take the onus off of the teachers. um in part because when you have a hundred teachers trying to consistently um implement a particular policy uh and enforce a policy, you're going to have inconsistencies and when you get those holes, the policy falls apart. So, we met with the union uh met with the teachers uh and we talked about a policy that we felt would work uh and that was uh obviously the cell phones are banned from bell to bell. If a cell phone is seen at any point in the day, um during school hours, any adult who sees it, um they are to send that student with their phone to the assistant principal's office to hand it over uh where it will be confiscated. Uh
061and then we set up a ladder of consequences based on um the infraction uh and the amount of times that student had been um sent with a phone to the office. Um, so, uh, backing up a bit to start the year, the other piece of this was the expectation that we have is that all students store their phones in their lockers. So, prior to the school year, um, last year in my first year, I didn't see too many students using lockers. Uh, we assigned a locker to all 870 students at the beginning of the year with their combination. They got it in an email and from day one we had assemblies. Uh we explained the policy, we explained the expectation and students were um expected to put them put them in the locker. Uh what
062I like about the locker piece is while we know and we anticipated that all not all students and maybe many students would choose not to put in their locker and take the risk of keeping it in their book bag or maybe in a pocket, um there's no gray area, right? And so if the cell phone uh falls out of their backpack, it was supposed to be in the locker and they're going to be sent to the AP office with the phone. Um, and similarly, you know, I I used to get though I was just checking the time, you know, when it falls out. There's none of that. The expectation is that it's in the locker. Um, so as far as the latter of consequences, um, on the first infraction, a student is sent down. And
063I I should also back up, there's also we talked about the risk that a teacher tells a student to go to the um, uh, take their phone to the AP office. Um, maybe they're in the hallway, who, who knows? and there's a chance that the student chooses not to do that. So, we also made sure that the staff member always emailed administration, let us know who the student was. Um, sometimes they say, "I didn't know who the student was, but we had an interaction in the hallway at this time." And so, a few times we had to go on the cameras and see who it was if they didn't report. Um, and if they didn't report, we would find them and we'd bring them down and say, "Hey, you were supposed to bring the uh
064cell phone to the office." Um, and so they would get their consequence and and an additional consequence for not complying and bringing it in the first place. Um and so the latter consequences were the first infraction uh student hands over the phone. Um an assistant in the office, office assistant will make a call to the home, inform parent or guardian that the cell phone was confiscated. It's the first infraction. The student gets the phone back at the end of the day, but the parent, guardian, and the student are all informed that if there's a second infraction, a parent will have to come in and pick it up. And it has to be a parent or guardian. It's not going to be a sister, brother, cousin. Has to be parent or guardian. We've had a few
065of those this year. Um and um the second uh second offense, second infraction, a student uh the parent must come and pick it up. We may have a brief conversation, but we inform them them that if it does happen again, we're going to uh on a third infraction, we're going to sit down and have a meeting, student, uh parent, guardian, and administrator talk about what's going on with the cell phone. Um and then if any infractions beyond that, we usually come up with a plan on the third infraction. Sometimes this the sometimes the parents are upset enough to say that phone's not coming back to school. Sometimes they check it in uh at the beginning of the day to the to the assistant principal's office. Um but either way we come up with a plan
066there. Anything beyond that we have to start getting very individualized with the students cuz it's um clearly become uh an issue which I'll talk about a little bit later. um the impact that has had. We see uh far more socializing amongst our students without a screen in between them or without them looking down at a screen as they're um interacting with their peers. Um teachers are dealing with far fewer cell phone issues in the classroom. Um like I mentioned, the policy is pretty black and white. Um and only on a few occasions, at least on my end, have I ever gone into a classroom and seen a phone. Um very rare. Most of the time that we're confiscating tends to happen during community lunch. Um, in terms of statistics, uh, we have had 451 cell
067phone infractions, uh, this school year, which amounts to a little over three phone infractions per day. Uh, some days we have more, some days we have less. Um, we have had 298 firsttime infractions, so that makes up about 1/3 of the school. Uh, there have been 112 second time infractions. So 112 times where a parent has had to come in and pick up that cell phone. um it gets reduced to 39 times that there was a third infraction. Um and we've had nine infractions by a student after their third infraction after that parent meeting was set up uh with five students total being amongst those nine. From an enforcement perspective, um I feel pretty good. I think we've been consistent and thorough. Uh I know that any any issue anytime a faculty member, staff member
068has reported a cell phone uh you know infraction, we have always made sure to follow up on it. Uh I I I think on the teachers end they're appreciative of that. I they have not had to battle this year. We've had a few here and there, but overall I think at this point um you know the cell phone is is here. The students are aware of it. They're not necessarily happy about it. Um but um for the most part I think it's been overall um positive and and at this point enforced um consistently questions, comments so based on the experience you've had this year um and maybe this is like you'll want to look at it over a couple of years. Do is there anything that's you know um uh that you would want to
069change about what you're doing? Um you know if there's something from a trending standpoint that you think well maybe we would do it this way a little differently just from the enforcement clearly the the >> phones are banned can't be out that stuff >> sure >> is not going to change. I I think that the more that we can message expectations around it, the hardest times are I I forgot to mention that the upper classmen go off campus for lunch and during free periods and they are permitted to go to their locker, right? Retrieve their phone and uh leave the building with their phone. Uh some of the gray I'm not going to say it's gray area, but the challenges have been um they're on their way out, right? They have their phone out, you
070know, 15 ft from the door. um but they're at school and they have a phone and again if you it's it I really want it to be black and white so we've had some tough conversations. We've confiscated a few phones where they're halfway down the hallway maybe on their way out. Um so I I do think that the communication of that like we have these beginning of the year assemblies with all students um by grade level and I think just reiterating that and now they've experienced it. So I think the more that they experience that as frustrating as it is we just had one the other day and you know it's it's it's it's not fun on our end. we don't love these interactions. My worry was that it was going to cause lots of
071negative interactions with students. And I've actually found that that hasn't been the case. I think students know at this point. Um you know, even if I'm walking down the stairwell and I see one, I actually just like oh my god, like I I hate I hate that I have to do this, but they know and they just hand it over and that's the interaction. Uh there have been no there really haven't been battles because the expectations are clear. Um the locker piece I think will remain even though um you know it's it's you know I'll hear from teachers I think the student has a phone in their backpack. We're not going to go searching through book bags for phones, right? If we see the phone we're going to take it. Um but at the same
072time I think that piece with the lock the locker piece is challenging. Um but we'll I still want it to continue to be the expectation because again it removes any of that gray area. And then the other thing I remember there being concern about was that some classes um some academic classes would use uh phones for whether it be um photography or podcasting or whatever the the the assignment was. >> Yeah, there have been early on we made very few exceptions as the we really didn't want to do that early on just to get the policy going. Um about partway through the year, uh I conceded to the yearbook staff who found that, you know, they have press passes. So if they're carrying around the press pass, they can have their phone to take pictures.
073It did make things easier for for them than the yearbook editors. And we had a big meeting with like the nine editors to talk about what the expectations were. Uh I've had, I think, two other requests. Um one in an art class and one in an English class. Um I'm trying to remember what it was, but it was a particular activity that they were doing online that really there was not really another way. Um and so we have real clear expectations that that the the teacher has to send them to their lockers to get their phones and give time for them to put them back at the end of the um at the end of the class um just to make sure there's no again going out in the hallway have their phones. Um so
074we've been pretty consistent with that. But uh as the year went on, you know, we really haven't had too many of those requests. And I think most of the needs um you know, technological needs can be accomplished on their um on their devices that they bring from home. >> I know you'd mentioned, you know, just the the numbers around first time and second time offenders. I guess have you noticed any sort of trend from, you know, beginning of the year? this was a new process and we had to work through a lot of it whereas you know are are I mean are we seeing a trend in this direction or is there >> I'd like to say that it dropped it's pretty consistent and what I've kind of gathered I mean if you look at
075it it goes down right so you have a third of the school who are like my thinking and maybe some students can answer it I think students are a little bit more willing to risk it knowing that they're going to get it back at the end of the day once they've committed that first infraction it's like their first strike they're less likely that's why we it's down to 112. And once that parent has to come in and pick it up, I mean, it drops down. We've only had 39 students. Um, which is, you know, a pretty small number relatively speaking. Um, you know, and then down to the again the five students who've had infractions past the three. Um, so I I would say that we still see them consistently. We still confiscate them daily.
076Um, but I do think the students are aware of it. And I I my feel and students could answer this question. I feel like there's a little bit of like, hey, I'll I'll risk it for that first defense and then they, you know, they know they they wise up and they just make sure that it's out of sight beyond that. >> Thank you. You know, maybe Samantha, you could chime in here, too. But I mean, in between classes, are there students that are kind of just stuck in their locker checking their phones or can you use half of the >> I honestly don't think so. And I really agree with that statement. like the first time they are willing to do it and then when they realize they actually are going to get their phone
077taken they're not going to do it again cuz it's not worth it to them and like especially like seniors and juniors community lunch is a huge thing like we're just going to go off campus and go on our phones then so it's not really an issue I don't think >> well it's great to hear the the socializing piece and obviously we saw the the article you know that that there is a positive influence that is coming through with you know not having this I guess I'd love your perspective as well >> I agree I think at the beginning of the year, all of us were like upset at this. Like our senior year, we're not going to be able to go in our phones. But now looking back, I'm honestly grateful and I think other
078students are too because like in class, you don't realize how much you're like inclined to just check your phone even if you have nothing to look at. And now like that's not a choice. So you're willing to like sit and just be present. Actually realize you don't need your phone as much as you've been going on it, which is nice. >> Yeah. And I think that's exactly the most ideal thing that was supposed to come out of this what everybody thought was a very ownorous top- down very heavy-handed state requirement and regulation. And so to see that it's working as its most basic intention was is exciting. Uh three a day that's not so bad. I mean, it's not great, but I'm I would imagine you have I don't think it's the burden that it
079was hoped to be, which is amazing. >> Yeah, that was our concern is that would be taking up a lot of our administrative time, and it really has not, which is >> it takes up some time. >> I'd say on average right now, if we've had our APs have had a total of at this point a little over 40 meetings with parents. So, if you break that down over the course of a year, 20 for each AP, uh, a couple have gotten to me at this point, but, uh, you know, over the course of the year, that amounts to maybe one every couple weeks, right? Um, and then obviously not as many in the beginning. Once we've gotten up to this third infraction, they've they've increased a little bit for them. So, it's it's time,
080but I think it's worth it. And I got to give the students a lot of credit. Like, they have been extremely respectful with it. You know, in those moments, it's not a battle. um they know they don't like it, you know, but there's never been any I was worried that there was there were going to be a lot of just contentious interactions and you know that has not been the case. Um very very few probably on one hand can I count the amount of contentious interactions over a cell phone this year. >> That's great. That's really exciting and it's great to hear that you're not feeling uh the need to necessarily make sweeping changes to the policy and in the implementation of it because I think that consistency will be really helpful. certainly for the
08110th, 11th, and 12th or 9th, 10th, and 11th graders, but then also for the sixth, 7th, and eighth graders who have had that same expectation. And so >> every year, right, as they say, these things should get a little bit easier. So, it'll be interesting to see what next year's numbers look like and hopefully, you know, maybe even a few less than what you've had this time. So, we'll keep our fingers crossed and we'll look forward to hearing about it, but you know, not for a whole another year. We'll give you some time. >> Great. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Har. >> I just have one other question. I just wanted to clarify when you are saying cell phones you're also including like watches any >> yeah those are those are there
082I think that the big focus has been on cell phones we haven't seen an issue with the watches it hasn't been brought up to us by teachers um no other devices have really been brought up uh you know we we I will say I forgot to mention during community lunch you still will see students who are on their laptops either for you they're studying at lunch. Sometimes you see the, you know, this is something that we are going to discuss over the summer, but you see the the the air the AirPods um in the ears and whether that's tethered to their device or maybe some phone that's somewhere close by. You know, those are things that I think we those are the small things I think I want to address over the summer and figure
083out what's the best way to go about those. you know, you don't want to create a police state where you're going around taking AirPods everywhere. But I but I also think that, you know, we want to continue to make sure that this really is working, right? And that they're, you know, our teenagers are very crafty and can find ways around pretty much anything. So, we want to make sure that we're we're staying on top of it. >> Well, and I think it's about right figuring out what are those what is the reason behind the AirPods? What is the reason behind the laptop? is that there's a myriad of possibilities and making sure that we're being thoughtful about how those are being um policed for lack of a better term for the true purpose and point
084of the policy and the overarching regulation from the governor. So, >> as with everything, lots to discuss, lots of layers to it. So, thank you. This was great. Uh, so now we have communications to and from the board and we will go ahead and we'll start with our student report. Samantha, good evening. Students in grades 3 through 8 completed the New York State ELI assessment showing strong focus and perseverance throughout the process. Thanks to the RF, RMS, Midland, Milton, and Osborne schools for participating in the emotion into into art assembly this week exploring how emotions can be expressed through creativity. Recently, Rye High School has been successful in our spring sports. Rugby, lacrosse, tennis, track, softball, and baseball are well into their seasons, and junior prom just took place at VIP country club with a
085night full of fun. At Ry Middle School, our eighth grade students had the opportunity to hear from a Holocaust survivor, Mrs. Marian Lasen. It is a powerful and meaningful discussion that left a lasting impact. At Milton School, many students recently took the stage in Milton's Got Talent, which was the largest show to date and had a great celebration of student creativity and confidence. At Midland School, second graders performed their production of Over the Backyard Fence, a ply exploring rural, suburban, and urban communities. Additionally, first grade students led April's spirit assembly, teaching the school about the importance of respect. Midland also hosted the annual cultural fair on Friday afternoon, bringing the community together to celebrate diversity and culture. At Osborne School, students are in the final weeks of preparation for their spring concert in May. And
086there's a lot of excitement building as they get ready to perform. The student government is launching a kindness rock project. Students will be creating and placing decorative rocks under the tree outside the new wing to help spread positive messages throughout the school community. That's great. Love that. Uh, okay. Uh, curriculum council met on April 15th. Miss Claer, bless you. Would you like to share a report? >> Yeah. So, the curriculum council met this past Wednesday. Uh, there were three different presentations. The first one was on the academyy's advisory period. Um, and that was presented by Ashley Blanch, one of the academy adviserss. She explained to the group how advisory has been a component of the academy program for many many years but this year they tried to make some changes and have it be a
087more critical component of the academy program more impactful. Uh an important part of the academyy's uh advisory program is that it was rebuilt on three pillars. One is a social emotional learning component, an executive functioning component and community building. And these three things together have enhanced the program and made it a much more successful opportunity for the students and faculty involved. Each group is comprised of a mix of juniors and seniors and one faculty adviser from each of those grades. They meet three days out of an 8-day cycle. And the frequency of the small group meetings with a mix of the student grades and faculty has proven to be successful from faculty and student feedback as well. The deliverables of the advisory program are student presentations with feedback on their presentation skills and their presentation
088style, networking with professionals for projects and a symposium of action research projects at the end of the year. The second presentation was given by Sally Mitchell and Ashley Blanch and it was an introduction of the academy physics program which is a interdisciplinary program between physics and math. And in prior years this physics class was um based the math component was pre-calc which restricted access for a lot of students. So it's been redesigned for next year and it will be a combination of algebra, geometry and trigonometry and will focus on traditional physics and math problems that apply in real life. The first unit actually covers driving which obviously is impactful with this age group and will be really exciting to see how that goes. Um, another big change for the math component next year is there
089will be a piece on financial literacy which also syncs with some of the new uh New York State curriculum that may be coming and it also obviously covers all of the regent content required for physics. And then the third presentation was a newly designed advanced 3D design class that will be available next year. And Carla Richie presented this program that will be available for 10th through 12th graders with a prerequisite of either ceramics or 3D art. And they will be doing three themed projects in sculpture, ceramics, installations, and design. They'll build up to a capstone project at the year end. And there will be group reflection, peer review and feedback. And the program is mostly based on student choice and that the students drive the learning. It's a flexible curriculum and they can shift directions
090and units based on where the students want to go with it. Great. Thank you. I see we have a policy meeting tomorrow. Always exciting. Uh were there any other committees of the board that met? Any updates between and among any of us? No. Okay. Seeing nothing, then I will just remind everybody that our next board meeting will be on May 5th where we will have our budget hearing and our critical thinking expo for grades 6 through 12 and it will be Cinco de Mayo. So, I hope you'll all be excited to celebrate Cinco de Mayo here together because we'll all be here together. All right. With that, can I have a motion to adjourn this evening's board meeting? Valerie Laugham, seconded by Tom Stein. All those in favor, that is six to nothing. Thank you.
091Have a good evening.