001Good evening everyone. Thank you. Thank you all for joining us this evening for our board of education meeting. If we you could all join me for the 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. And we have the wonderful pleasure this evening of starting with our Rye Recognition of Excellence Awards. Dr. Murray. Good evening, members of the board of education, families, and members of the Ry community. The Ry recognition of excellence awards recognize students who have achieved great things in the arenas of academics, arts, and athletics. Tonight is my honor to recognize an achievement that will forever be part of our district's history. The Ry
002High School varsity hockey team, New York State Champions. Since 1974, generations of student athletes have built a proud tradition in Ry Hockey. This year, that tradition reached its highest point. On March 15th, the Garnets defeated Byron Hills 5-1 to capture the program's first state championship. What makes this accomplishment especially meaningful is the team's journey. After falling behind early in the title game, the Garnets responded with composure and determination, scoring five unanswered goals to secure the win. Throughout the postseason, they rose to every challenge, defeating Aquinus and Clarence before earning a measure of redemption against Byron Hills on the biggest stage. This was a true team effort with goals from Jamie Morris, Max Jadlck, Colin Nigro, Will Weinman, and Finn Draddy along with a strong performance in net from Fernando Mascara. Senior defenseman Will Weinman was
003named tournament MVP, a reflection of his leadership and impact in key moments. We also commend head coach Pete Thomas, who in his 12th season has guided this program to its first state title, a testament to his leadership, vision, and unwavering belief in his team. We also show appreciation to our assistant coaches Tom Bailey and Mark Croninburgger. The Garnets conclude the season with 19 wins, three ties, and only three losses, having won their league in two mid-season tournaments along the way. Most importantly, they have secured their place in Ry history. To our student athletes, thank you for representing Ry with pride and excellence. Your accomplishment has brought our community together, and we could not be prouder. Congratulations, And next, I would like to invite Assemblyman Steve Otis to come up and say a few words. Well,
004I am especially excited to be here because I am a hockey player and uh I am here to talk a little about your victory and to win a state championship is not just something about the present, but it is something about the past and the hockey legacy and history of this town. And probably you've heard from your coaches and from your parents and from other people in this town how long people have been playing hockey in this town. how this town has had great high school hockey teams that went far into the playoffs, almost won some championships, probably got probably should have won some championships, but for a bounce of a puck, because hockey is a game of inches. But what you've done isn't not isn't just something about the the 193 and three record,
005the big win in the final game. It is about the history in this town of people originally going and and skating on ponds and learning how to play and playing youth hockey and you played youth hockey. You went through all that. Your parents went to all those rinks all over the place in the Northeast and and odd hours and how they did it. I don't know how they don't know. But the result is that you've done something so special. And it is meaningful not just for, as I say, everybody that's here today, but for the generations of people that have played hockey in this town and have wanted hockey to be as great as it can be in this town. Um, I'm a goalender, so we always say a goalie, you're only as good as
006your last save. But for a team, you're only as good as your last game. Your last game was a state championship. Congratulations. I am thrilled to be here. I have a a proclamation uh adopted by the state assembly that you'll all be given at that tells a little of the story of Ry Hockey and your story for this season. Um what I'll say to you is continue the good work. More championships to come. Special shout out to Peter Thomas who I have the pleasure of playing men's hockey with. Um he's a great coach. He is he worries about the team. He worries about the games. He how's it going? We ask him questions. Um but he has built this program to something where it's at the level now that it deserves to be. Congratulations and
007uh keep skating ahead. Okay. And next I'd like to um welcome James Ward, our deputy mayor for the city OF RY. SO, UH, AS ATHLETES, you know, you should know who you're playing up against. And, um, my mistake tonight was realizing I'm going after Steve Otis, who's al also a hockey player. And so, my notes almost mirror his to the, uh, the tea, but, I'm going to give them where they are anyways. So, it's my profound honor to give the 25 26 Rye High School varsity team a proclamation from the city of Rye. Um, hockey means a lot to me. I'm a player. I'm a coach and I have a son who plays. So, I know it from all those vantage points and I can say a few things on the subject. Hockey for those
008inclined is more than a sport. It's a way of life. It's an investment if you think about it into a sport that really shouldn't exist at this latitude. We have virtually no frozen water outside for you to get started on and so it's all synthetic and we try to find and we drive around and we look for places these refrigerated warehouses with sheets of ice day week after week, month after month to go and play and hone our skills. Not you not only were not satisfied with that, you decided you would travel as far as you had to to find worthy opponents to make your game as good as you could. And it wasn't just you. It was your parents. They decided the best time, the best use of their weekends was to travel to
009towns they've never heard of, eat food they wish they hadn't. All for the opportunity to watch one hour of hockey in which you skated a fraction of that, only to make the drive home and ask themselves, "Where did my weekend go?" week after week after week. Similarly, your coaches decided to invest their time and energy to make you even a better uh player, spend time with you, make your shot a little bit harder, re raise your level of compete a little bit higher, um, and get you in peak shape. With all this in mind, very few hockey seasons end in anything but a loss. That's just the way it is. The puck doesn't always bounce your way, and sometimes your components, your opponent's just better than you. But on the occasion of March 15, 2026,
010the varsity hockey team for the city of Ry outsceded Byron Hills for a 5 to1 victory and became the 2026 Division 2 New York State Championship. That's something no one can ever take away from you. Congratulations and congratulations to your parents and the coaches along the way that helped you, too. Thank you very much. Okay. Um, and unfortunately, Senator Shelley Mayor was not able to be here today, but she also is giving um each player certificate as well. Um, so we'll be calling you up uh one at a time, so please come on up and get your certificates and proclamations, and then all of the board members will want to congratulate you. So, please circle all the way around the table to accept their congratulations. And if you could hang out just over there until
011all everyone's name is called, then we'll do a group photo. >> Yeah. Okay. Kai Britain. >> Connor Croy. >> Luke Davies. CONGRATULATIONS. CONGRATULATIONS, >> Connor Demer, Trevor Dolan, FINN, DR. RYAN DADDY. >> CONGRATULATIONS, >> DAVIS. GOODMAN, >> Cody Greenhaw. Mac Kelly, >> Julian Levenson, Aiden Lynch, Jack McIll, >> Will Mullen. Congratulations, >> Jamie Morris. Fernando Moscara, Max Nadlick, Will Will Nadlick, Colin Nigro >> Matt ROINGER >> Jake Souza Will Weinman, >> Baker Wells, >> we have Grace Coin, manager and El Ridley, manager. Congratulations. And one more round of applause. And we'll do a group photo. We'll do our school one first, then we'll have all the parents come up as well. See here we have two ready. All right, Karen, do you want to come up and get a photo? We good? Okay. Congratulations one
012more time. Thank you for being here with us tonight. Thank you. Oh, you special. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Congratulations. Losing six really strong sophomore class. Absolutely. Thank you. >> All right. Yeah. You should see my They love us and then they leave us. It's all right. That was very nice recognition and it's always exciting to recognize our student athletes. Uh so now we will move on to our report of the superintendent, Dr. Murray. Great. Thank you. Tonight is hopefully our budget adoption night. If the board does adopt the recommended budget this evening, it becomes the plan we will bring to our community for a vote on May 19th. Over the next month, I'll be out in the community sharing more about the budget and answering questions, joining each of our PTO and PO meetings,
013speaking with our seniors at Ryrec, and in addition to the stops I've already made at the Osborne and the community synagogue. For anyone who isn't able to attend those meetings, I encourage you to visit our website where all budget materials including videos and presentations are available and regularly updated. I also want to take a moment to recognize the RI Fund for Education. Right before spring break, they held their annual spring gala which was a tremendous success raising over $450,000 and these funds go directly back into our schools to support our students and enhance our programs. We are incredibly grateful to the RF and to our community for their continued generosity and commitment to our schools. And finally, a brief construction update. Within the next one to two weeks, we'll be completing the black top work
014at both Osborne and Midland. And this is the final step in preparing the new wings for opening. We'll be sending a formal communication to families at Midland and Osborne uh next week with a more specific timeline for completion. Thank you. That's more exciting news keeps coming. Thank you, Dr. Murray. That's great. All right. We will now go to presentation and discussion on budget adoption. Dr. Murray. Okay. So, tonight um Gabby Pritio and I will be presenting um the the proposed budget uh to the board. Uh once more um the budget process timeline uh so far just to keep everyone aware of what what's occurred up to this point. Um we presented these this proposed budget initially in February. Followed by that we had specific um presentations for specific departments. We did an instructional program presentation
015which included curriculum instruction and special education also included instructional technology. Following that we did a technology presentation and then uh at the March 24th meeting we had an athletics presentation and a facilities presentation uh so the community and the board could really get a sense of of more of the detailed um pieces of the budget. Um and then tonight uh we have our budget adoption. Uh the 2026 2027 proposed budget is tax cap compliant and it maintains all current programs and services for our students. Um and we are you we are u proud that we were able to put together a tax cap compliant a budget that does just that. And not only are we maintaining our programs and services for students, but we are really supporting them and growing them. So, we'll review a
016few of our proposed budget highlights. Um, the the first item here is an increase on an in an FTE um of a social worker. Um, and this is to add one social worker to the high school. This actually is a budget neutral um uh highlight. It um we previously had supported two social workers through an organization called ESS or Effective School Solutions. So, we're now just transitioning how that's um being uh funded. Instead of funding them through ESS, we we're going to be bringing on a social worker as our own employee. Um and that will really allow us some more flexibility in the way that we can utilize um the social worker services for our students. And so, we're really looking forward to that. Um also at the high school, we're adding eight uh academic
017teams. Um and this is to transition from seven of the teams were formerly known as clubs um which really had they had to do their own fundraising and support uh the work that they do. And these clubs did were competing you know around the region and and out further at the state level. And so um we wanted to be able to support them in the same way that we support our athletic teams. Um support them with their travel costs and their entry fees into these competitions. So, we wanted to transition seven of them to be teams and then we're bringing on a new one, an eighth one, which is DECA um which is a business-based um competition uh team for for high school students. Um the other another highlight for the budget is an addition
018of two elementary STEM teachers. This actually is budget neutral as well. um by looking very closely at our elementary enrollment we and and we were able to identify two different cohorts of students where if we reduced um one of the sections on that grade level uh it's the fourth grade at Nexter's fourth grade at Osborne and fourth grade at Milton um we are able to um have two elementary STEM teachers and and reduced by two classroom teachers so again it's a budgetneutral move um it also gives us a lot of value ad into our science program at the elementary level. Uh this year we started with one elementary STEM teacher. Um and she's just been working within three schools. So she's very busy. It's been a very successful program. And so we really feel like
019if we were to expand that, we can only grow the outcomes for our students around science. And it really supports our new science program which is mystery science we brought on two years ago. Um and this budget also includes reducing um four FTEES. Um and that really is through uh through attrition through retirements or not filling open positions. And again, we took a close look at enrollment in some areas um and course selections in some areas to make those decisions. Um and then in terms of facilities, we are going the budget includes an upgrade of Wi-Fi for the middle school and high school. um we take a very balanced approach to technology, but when we do need to use technology, we need it to be reliable. And so for our students and our staff and
020so this is the first year of a two-year plan. We'll start at the middle school and high school and we will um roll to the elementary level the following year to upgrade the Wi-Fi there. And um we also will be doing a two-year plan to um install new security cameras at the elementary level. So, first we'll do the elementary and then the following year the middle school and high school. And the reason we started at the elementary is because that's where these new wings are that we are bringing online that already have the new equipment. So, it's best if they are running off the same system. And then the final budget highlight is a new roof for our main gym um at the at the high school. Um this is this comes from our transfer
021to capital uh funds and um this will not only support our athletics programs but also our PE classes that utilize that space. So the proposed budget for 2627 is a 3.08% 08% budget-to budget increase resulting in 100 for for the proposed budget um being $116,757,01 and I'll hand it over to Gabby. >> Hi, good evening. Um just to piggyback on what Dr. Marie was talking about. Um, this is a an example of or the breakdown of where our budget expenses where we anticipate they're going to be next year. This is a very familiar slide where we um break it down into our 12 categories including salaries and benefits, general education, special education, athletics, technology, curriculum, transportation, districtwide support, which is all of the behind the curtain operational stuff, facilities, debt service, and um transfer to
022capital and our special aid fund. Um, and you can see there the total of what each category is as part of the budget as well as the dollar change from year to year comparing it to this year's budget. Um, again totaling a 116,000 uh16,7571 which is a 3.8 budget-to-budget increase. When we talk about um the funds needed to support our budget, we look at our revenues. Um predominantly coming from property taxes. Um, also other categories that we um look at to support our budget includes interest and penalties from tax collection, our county sales tax, utility tax, charges for services, um interest and earnings and miscellaneous revenue as well as state sources, which is what we look at for state aid. We show a slight increase over this year, as well as the use of fund
023balance to support this budget. also increasing slightly from the current year. What does this mean to the taxpayer? Our tax levy increase, which is a 2.96% increase, increasing our tax levy to approximately $15,34700. our estimated taxable assessment. So the overall value of properties throughout the city of Rye that contribute to the Ry City School District 134,1485. This is a number that's provided to the school district by the city assessor's office. Um and that is essentially the multiplier when we then go to create those tax bills um in anticipation of our August collection. Currently, the taxable rate for per 1,000 of assessment sits at $78,5.35. This number will continue to be updated as we get closer to that time in which we have to um anticipate or actually issue those tax bills. So, following the uh
024budget adoption this evening, um as I said in my superintendent report, I'll be doing community discussions um and Gabby will be be joining me with that and so does Lauren. Um so we can have just discussions with um you know with members of the community and answer any questions that they might have. Um on May 5th we'll have a budget hearing and then on May 19th is the budget and trustee vote. And the following um slide shows um email addresses if anyone has any budget comments or questions for us. We're happy to take those via email as well and we'll take any questions that you might have. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Um, it's been a great uh, budget presentation season, for lack of a turn of phrase. Um, I think
025it's been very um, detailed and reflective and really is a great highlight of all of the different departments working together towards the same strategic plan and mission and vision. And so, it's been really great to be able to see that. Before I open it up to the board for questions, I will turn to the uh, public. And if there is anyone here who is here to speak on the budget and would like to, you will have three minutes. Please come forward, state your name, and if you are representing an organization, uh, do that as well. Anyone from the public to turn the Yeah, you just need to Jen, if you just want to turn the lecture, turn around. Great. Thank you. >> That feels a little more appropriate. >> Great. Thank you. >> Hi guys,
026I'm Jen Kaine. I live at Fort Roger Sherman Place. Um, I'm representing the Osborne PTO, but I'm also speaking on behalf of the Midland and Milton PTO uh co-presidents. I have a fifth grade son and a third grade daughter at Osborne. And I'm currently finishing my second year as the PTO co-president of Osborne. And we are here, well, I am here. They are with me to show our support uh for the 2026 27 school budget. Uh we know that there are so many moving parts that go into this, all the estimates and considerations. And so first we just want to say thank you for your hard work in creating this budget and keeping our children and our students in mind. We stand behind this budget for many reasons. I'll highlight a few. First, we are
027grateful that it's once again tax cap compliant. Uh we are happy that next year's proposed budget does maintain all current programs and services for our students. My son is in fifth grade and has been really fortunate this year uh to be able to participate in the new STEM special. He has really loved it and has learned so much. Um Mrs. Carmen is extraordinary and uh we are so excited to see that this program will be expanded uh so more students can get more science knowledge and education. Security also is often top of mind for parents. So continuing to update and improve the security of the elementary schools by upgrading the security cameras throughout the schools is also important to us. And the new roof in the high school gym will not only benefit the high
028school students who utilize those spaces during the day, but also the community as a whole, including my kids who love to attend sporting events to cheer on their babysitters and neighbors and fellow Ry Garnets. and sometimes they even get to go out and play a little basketball during halftime. So, um we're excited for that. Uh the elementary school PTO's Midland, Milton, Osborne, we all wholeheartedly support the 2026 27 budget. Thank you so much, Dr. Murray, for all of your hard work and everything you're doing for our schools. And thank you to all of you guys, the board, for your countless hours of volunteerism and your commitment to our children and to Ry. That's it. Thanks, guys. >> Thank you, Jen. And thank you to all of you, uh, all of the elementary and middle and
029high school PO presidents. You also contribute lots of time and energy and help and support to the district and we are very grateful for your work as well. So, thank you. Uh, to my fellow board members, any comments, questions related to the 26 20 right >> 26 27 today I wrote 06, so I'm really couple years behind. questions, comments, thoughts. So, I I'll just comment that um I I after having sat through a few of these budget presentations over time, um I I thought that uh it was it was very well done how um each presentation was organized and I think it gave us a new a slightly new perspective on on how we can look at the budgeting process so that um you know we can always get more out of it um than
030than we do. And so I think it's been a wonderful uh shift to see um some some new approaches um for this year. I also really appreciate, you know, um it's it's what I think doesn't necessarily always come through when you when you go through the budget highlights is all the difficult choices you had to make before you got to what you are presenting as the final. And so, um, you know, I I I I feel like that is something that, um, is important to highlight that this wasn't just, oh, we're going to keep everything and then we'll just have these few extra things. It's it's a lot of difficult conversations and and and creative um uh problem solving to get to where we are for this budget and and in a very fiscally responsible
031way. So, you know, that's always the balance, right? because we want to give our kids everything we can, but we we are also, you know, rightfully so concerned about our taxpaying community. Um, so just a thank you to everyone um for all the hard work that that brought this budget forward and um uh you know it's I think we're we're in a really solid positive place. So thank you. >> Thank you. Um, I would just say I think one of the things that I really appreciate um that came through in all of the presentations was that um tie back to a strategic plan. >> And then when you look at what the highlights are, it is really uh a continuation of that strategic plan. And so a lot of conversations that we've had here at
032the board table that the district has that administrators have related to social and emotional learning and to make that choice to bring somebody inhouse to continue to provide that level of support but really provide an opportunity to either further strengthen and deepen that individual's ties to our community will only further help to strengthen the district's ability to really help our students with their social emotional learning. I think this is not um appreciated yet enough. And I say yet because we're really just starting to bring this out to the community, but it is the academic teams. >> It's not a lot of money. >> Yeah. >> But it is a huge message. >> It is a significant message to our students that the things that are that matter to them matter to the district. And that
033is uh really life-changing for some of these kids. Uh we just had a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our athletes, our student athletes. And these students who are going to compete in these academic teams will be able to be celebrated as well for the things that they really excel at and they really love. And so I it is a choice. It is not a fiscally uh extravagant choice. It is a choice of mattering. >> And so I really do thank you and the rest of the administrative team for making that choice on behalf of those kids and on our community because these academic teams are here now. >> It's I swear it's like my phone. You know how when you think somebody you're thinking things or you're talking about things and so things start popping up
034on your phone? I hadn't heard of Deca. I had never heard of it. I have seen so many things about DECA in the last 6 weeks. It's fascinating to me. And again, it's it's just this idea of really having your ear to the ground and understanding what the kids in the community are interested in and doing things like this are the perfect example of that. And so I I know I'm talking about the smallest part of the budget, uh, but it really does mean so so very much to the community. So, thank you so much for that. And as Jen was saying, the decisions that have to be made, uh there are in fact positions that aren't going to be filled. So while we're not having or while we don't have before the community a
0350% budget increase, we have a budget that is being increased that is not where it could have been. And it's because of making some difficult choices and making some strategic fiscal decisions to say we don't necessarily need that and we're not going to keep it just because we have it. And so it's maintaining that balance and being thoughtful that is so appreciative. Uh I'm so appreciative of and we are so grateful and lucky to have an administrative team that that values that for our community as well. Um so thank you. This has been uh I think a great first year for a budget for Dr. Marine. I look forward to many more budgets uh to come that are rooted in this strategic plan and share the mission and vision of the district because I think
036it's just uh we're like Artemis 2. We're just ready to we're ready to keep going and keep exploring and who knows where we can go from there. So I'm very excited. >> No, we all end on Artemis. Okay. I don't even plan these things guys. I know you might think I do, but they just come. All right, so we will now move on to the hearing of the public on non-aggenda items. Seeing nobody here from the public to speak on non-aggenda items, we will move on. But please, we always encourage all of our community members to please uh attend our meetings or send us emails with any of your thoughts, questions, or comments. So with that, we will move on to our consent agenda. Can I please have a motion to review this evening's consent
037agenda? Sean Cloffer, seconded by Matt Shibnoff. Let's take a look at tonight's consent agenda. Consent agenda general. Consent agenda. Fiscal. Consent agenda. Professional appointments. Consent agenda. Classified appointments. Consent agenda. Pupil personnel services and special education. and consent agenda, curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Seeing no questions, let's have a vote on this evening's consent agenda. All those who approve, that is six to nothing with one absence. So, on this evening's consent agenda, we have our resolution to adopt the superintendent's recommended budget. We hope all members of the community will come to find out about the budget and the benefits that our students and our teachers will receive from this well-designed fiscally responsible budget. May 19th is a date you will hear so many times between now and then. And as a reminder, from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00
038p.m. in the middle school gym, there will be the vote for the budget and board of education trustee election. Uh we are also approving a gift in the amount of $30,000 from the Osborne PTO to support the purchase of flexible furniture. Um we are always so appreciative of our community for continuing to help us with the RF and then through the work of the PTO's as well. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful support of community. Uh it is officially our hiring season and we are seeing the benefits of that and we have one uh member of our new community expanding community. Miss Emily Trupa is here tonight and so congratulations. You are a fully 1.0 as of 2627. So welcome aboard. We also have the adoption of our MOA with our employment contract
039for our secretaries, clerical, school nurses, and our computer aids. This agreement is a great example of the collaboration between our staff and our administrators with the best interest of our employees and our students and our financial future in mind. And so we thank all of you for your hard work and effort on making this agreement possible. And with that, we will now move on to presentation and discussion number two, public versus private athletics. >> Miss Jul, >> we'd like to like to invite Susan Susan Dule up, our athletic director. No. Nope. Um so, uh we wanted to have a discussion with the board around um private versus uh public athletics and competition. And this is a very hot topic in the athletics world across New York State. Um, and specifically in section one. Um, so
040as you know, we participate in section one and there are 11 sections in New York State. Um, and there's currently a committee at the state level called schools without borders. It's an ad hoc committee. Um, and they're really looking at um the where if if private versus public schools should be playing each other during the season, postseason, um, at state competition level. And there are varying opinions on that. And so Susan, I wanted to talk with you about kind of what section one is thinking um and kind of our our role in that as a district. >> Thank you so much. Very well said. So this is a um deep-seated conversation that's been going on for probably over at least 30 years um at the state level. So um just twofold before I get into
041the local and the state like Dr. Murray discussed, I wanted to um I was happy when she asked for me to come to discuss it because there are members of our community that feel very passionate about this as well. And so the best example I can give you with this which will make sense to you more than likely is um one of our pathways for our student athletes that have happened in the past. So New York State Public High School Athletic Association has member sections as Dr. Murray said. There's 11 of them. And within those 11 sections, sections are allowed to um to run their sections under the guidance of New York State public, but they can be more restrictive. They allow me new members to join. So for example, in section one, we have
042non-public schools of Alberta's Magnus, Lfell, KO Academy, and the Urseline School. So there are four schools within section one. They are following all governance of um state education under New York State Public High School Athletic Association including transfer and eligibility. However, as you may know, because they are non-public, they are tuitionbased. Um people like to say often they recruit, which technically they can't. They have to follow the transfer eligibility. However, um you know, there are schools we've competed against where their entire rosters are not only from various districts, but also different states like New Jersey, Connecticut. Um so the example I would give you two years ago when our state, our girls won the state championship in soccer. We competed against Alberta's Magnus in our own section to win the sectional championship. We then went
043to section 9 where we competed against our lady of lords, a non-public private school as well. In section 9, the next step uh we faced a school um out of Buffalo that was a public school who had beaten a private school out of Rochester, Rochester Aquinus, who we played in hockey this year. >> Um so we landed in the state semi-finals. It just shows you the path where there are only approximately 10% a little under 10% schools in New York State that that participate in NISPA that are non-public but very strange when you look at a classification and schools are winning or uh winning their sections where we and our students are facing these um schools. So many of our when I was in RIGE two years ago or rather uh many of our community
044members or parents of our teammates or of our students had come to me like you just questioning like why is this happening? They're private. This is a public high school. Um they're member schools. They pay member dues. They follow membership guidelines. So that's kind of where my journey started as far as our Ry community and what I could do locally. And then at the section level, I sit in a couple different roles. My role is the New York State Public High School representative for section one is a female rep. So I brought the sectional concern with my um colleagues to New York State Public High School on the behalf of section 1 that we found this unfair, inequitable, and we would like the state to look at this. Dr. Jose, our executive director and the
045president at the time ordered the uh a subcommittee to form called schools without boundaries. And that started the New York State Public High School, the state's organization um committee to come up with suggestions and guidance. And so where that sits right now presently they've met twice um that consists of superintendent, athletic administrators that will sit on this private and um public schools as well. And presently we are giving feedback to our local representatives. Ours uh right now is Joe Sigillo and Jeremy Loft who's the Putham Valley superintendent who works collaboratively obviously with the lower Hudson Council of Superintendent that Dr. Murray was referencing. They will meet on March 24th to give feedback. >> April. >> March. >> My head is in March. Apparently, April 24th to give feedback to uh the greater good of all
046those 11 sections reps to come up with guidance as to what the next steps are. Um we locally know those three steps are remain the same which means assess uh we have a a committee that assesses where uh teams are and if they should be boosted up a classification based upon their success. Um so option one would be to remain the same let that play out. Option two would be to come up with a hybrid model and option three would be removal of those teams and placed in their own classifications for postseason. So that's the state. Locally as a section, we've been pushing this through the state quite a bit, but we haven't seen as much movement. So our section actually just released today a press release that our athletic council will vote next week
047on um removal of our private schools, our non-public schools in section one for postseason play. So, in other words, those schools I mentioned would still be allowed to participate in section one if they so choose as a member, but would be placed in a postseason either competition against themselves or once they finish the regular season, their seasons would end. So, uh you may see something about it just coming in here. My fellow colleagues from Syracuse are texting me, great news. I'm like, what are they talking about? I was in the gym and then I saw Kevin Deainy had posted um about the athletic council's um voting because it was a press release about what we are doing locally because each section has a constitution. So we're able to obviously look at that constitution and make
048ballot votes. So I tried to be as brief as I could but this is a huge topic and um I will you know Dr. Murray is very aware of it, but I will send his information comes um handouts or anything that comes from athletic council. I personally am not an athletic council member uh voting member, but I will be there at the meeting as a the rep. Um and then in May, I think it's May 4th and 5th. Um May 3rd, excuse me, is the do you think schools without boundaries, we'll have another meeting and then May 4th and 5th I will be in Saratoga at our state meeting where this will continue. So I will keep you ab breast but I should share with you my experience um as an athletic administrator but also
049within our community. Our community is very much athletic community behind our student athletes giving a fair and equitable opportunity to compete in the postseason with schools that you know pick from what we have so to speak. You know we're not able to go out and get tuition based students to just come for athletics specifically. Sorry, it's a lot. >> No, it's it's it it is a lot, but it is a very weighted uh conversation and um one that I think it's really helpful for all of us to be aware of. As you know, we are um a member of the Lower Hudson Education Coalition and um I sit on the executive committee of that board. Um and so within the last two or three weeks, there has been a bill actually that has been introduced
050at the state assembly level and it is um requesting that private schools be removed from playoffs and state championship play, not to remove them from the regular competition. Um and the Lower Hudson Education Coalition has uh put together a letter and it appears as if it will be approved by all of the members which will be sent out which will also then be in support of uh keeping the private schools out of state competition and we appreciate that and uh you know just speaking to my colleagues that tonight that I was we were discussing this you know it's just another layer um again it not to confuse use as I mentioned there are many schools that compete outside of the section. So when you locally see an Iona prep a form prep for example they
051compete in a different league where they have different set different sets of rules. So recruiting is totally acceptable um but they're not participating in our section. The schools that I mentioned the four schools in our section um are member schools and compete in postseason presently. So that that's a little bit of the difference. Susan, one question. So when you say postseason, um does that that means any like any divisionals, sectionals, they they would be removed from any of those pieces and it would only be for that init that regular season um calendar. Uh correct. So years ago removal completely uh brought a lot of discussion with lawsuits and you know an an area where they were not looking. So I feel like the lower Hudson super dense council and our executive committee in the section
052have looked at like how can we support students still and give them opportunities if they so choose to be members um so they'll get schedules just like any other school but the postseason will either be removed or they can compete against one another. Our our hope was that the state would do this and we've been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. are hopeful that that will continue alongside in parallel with the section. But as a section, we can't wait because obviously we've met with these um schools that are non-public schools in our section to give them a heads up. Um I believe that was in March. Um and then from there, we would like to this to potentially take effect as early as um September 2027. So to do that, it's only fair that
053we would share that information with those schools so they can make decisions with what they would like to do next as well. And the bill that's at the state level specifically says it does not eliminate regular season scheduling, scrimmages, holiday tournaments, or invitationals. Susan, I um two questions. How many um schools are in our section? I know you said there are four private schools, but how many schools? >> Sure. >> Roughly just a little bit over 80 if you count all K3, K8 and special act schools as well that are a part of our section. >> Wow. Okay. And um these four private schools are do they compete against all of our teams or is it specific to different sports across the all the teams that they have? Some are larger than others. For example,
054Ursine's an all girls school. So obviously it's just girls sports. Um, and it depends on their classification. So, you know, we'll play, um, certain teams like right now, Magnus, for example, um, is a class C school, but they've been bumped up because they've had success. And in our section, that has always been our rule is if, um, you follow under the eligibility, transfer eligibility, and, um, they they will move uh, schools up to the highest classification as they get successful. So it just depends on the sport. It depends on how good they are at the sport. Um the size of the school. For example, KO u is obviously um uh a school or all the students are from Japan. So we're actually competing against another country so to speak of students that come here for
055education. And traditionally they've been good in soccer. And boys soccer they're class A but they're a C school by classification number. So, it just depends on the sport. >> It's very confusing. >> It it it can get confusing. Yes, definitely. Um, but more specifically recently, you've probably seen like girls basketball, there have been many times where Alberta's Magnus and Urseline are playing each other in the finals to go on and Magnus won a state championship this year. And if you look at the girls state championships in basketball, I don't remember, so don't quote me on it, but it it was at least a minimum of three of six, if not four of six were private, that won state championships. Okay, >> great. Thank you. I know you had mentioned that I guess there are you
056know to the transfer of eligibility some some of these are other criteria that need to be met I guess what's the current mechanism within the section to enforce and again you know not not claiming causation but there seems to be a very high correlation of private schools so what's that governing mechanism to ensure that they are following these rules >> sure That's a great question. So, it's kind of twofold. Number one, there is transfer and elig eligibility paperwork. So, any student that comes into Rye, for example, that transfers into Rye, uh whether they're returning from a private school back to Rye or they're moving into the district, whatever it may be. Part of our registration process is that form that Wendy Wells will give to the families that comes to me. and between guidance Wendy
057and myself any new student that paperwork must be completed and if there's anything on there um that that deems that the like a return to residency that needs to be approved by the section. So there is a mechanism per district when a student's transfer in to to look at that. So any student that would let's say go into a private school in section one they must complete that paperwork and if that student has participated in a sport in a high school sport they eligibility they can't just um you know move to that area or to that private school and participate immediately. There's rules in place for example they have to sit out a season in order to but they could compete after that. Um, and then as far as the um overseeing, you know, that's
058the question, right? Like how, you know, schools obviously are going to fill out their paperwork and turn it in and do their due diligence as much as they can. But there's the perception, right? Um, if they were ever caught uh violating that, then as member schools, then the section can put them on probation, remove them. I know in my time as an athletic director, we had one school that was removed from the section um Kennedy Catholic out of Smer's JFK. Uh they were once a member school and they were removed as a member school because of a violation uh locally. I forgot which school district, but they were finding flyers of coaches seeking students from a school to come to an open night where they could um you know, so to speak. um it it
059was whatever was on the fly, remember it was it was recruiting in a sense. So when they're caught, so to speak, then they're held accountable, but it's finding the evidence obviously to prove that somebody in Indeed is recruiting. You know, obviously they're following rules or most are, but there are always those perceptions. So, I had one parent that could tell you every student athlete on the girls soccer team two years ago and where they went where they should have went to school and their boundaries and where um who was on that team and what club they played for. And ironically, the coach was their club coach or the director of missions. And so, there's all these things out there, but it's perception and the reality of if there's evidence, if there's evidence, then we can
060certainly move forward as a section. But without that then we're relying that every school district would follow the transfer and eligibility. >> I guess ju just for for my own education uh is >> where does Ry Country Day fall? Sure. I mean and again how would a private school currently compete in >> Absolutely. Great question. So there's different So Ry Country Day we play in different sports because we choose to pick up non-league games with them. They're not a member school of section one. They're a member school of their league. So you have many different you have independent leagues, you have the uh PSA, you have the Catholic high school league. Um schools can petition different organizations to be a part a member of those leagues. So somebody like Arai Country Day where they can
061recruit kids to come to their school. It's completely legal as part of their membership of their organization. whereas our membership does not allow that to happen. So if you are going to be a member, you have to follow the rules. So Ry Country Day is just in a different structure. So those four nonpublics could choose to be a part of a different um organization. They've always chosen to be part of section one. Good questions though. The transfer eligibility is something that always makes me nervous and I try very hard to stay on top of it because if we ever if a student came in and I we didn't file that paperwork that's an ineligible student and we forfeit whatever games we've participated in with that student. So first day of practice it's always anybody new
062to Ry anybody new to just as a double check. >> Any other questions or I don't think so. Thank you so much. It was really informative and um if there are any updates, it would be great to pass along. >> I wanted to thank you for hearing about like the coalitions doing that work. That'll be great to share with my colleagues as well because we're all buzzing about it, too. And to Dr. Murray and all the superintendents, they really um have helped catapult this uh to a higher level between Niscus and every their work they've done locally. It's just it's we've been a little bit of a thorn to the rest of the state with this and it's a good thing. So appreciate everyone's support on that too. Thank you. >> Thank you Susan. >>
063Just one one last question. I mean I know that that Jane has been active with uh and you've been active in the sectionals but is there anything that >> you know family members or community members if they're interested should be doing? Um, that's a great question because I've had families ask me quite a bit when we were first doing like what can we do and I and my response was you just the process needs to continue because we have an effective process. Um, if for some reason that process didn't come to fruition where we thought we needed more support then we I know our families we could rally um that support. But yes, thank you for asking. But we actually I feel like in a really good spot. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> We're in
064a really good spot. I think we're a pretty unified voice at this point. Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. Great. We will now move on to policy review 1500 public use of district facilities. Miss Bole, >> thank you. So, we discussed uh this policy during our last meeting which was now a very long time ago it seems. Um and uh essentially this is a uh combination of a um another policy also with the number 1500. Um but we've included um that information into the to the uh latter section of this policy so that we didn't have two separate ones and we can include all of the information about public use of district facilities uh within one place. So I don't think there were any other questions related to this that I've heard. >> Okay. And that was
065that for that. >> Okay. Great. Don't go too far though. >> I'm not. >> Okay. So information and discussion policy review 2245 our exeicio student member for the board. >> Yes. So, we um we met as as a policy committee and discussed um we brought this back up because it's a brand new policy that was just implemented as of July 1st of this year. Um and so, uh we really wanted to take a look at, you know, from a process standpoint, what we had implemented last late last year when the um policy came into effect, is it working for us? Do we want to try something different? So, and um after having consultation with the administration at the high school, um we uh decided to try a slightly different approach to um how we will
066get our um exeicio student board members. Um last or for our first year, it was the student government representatives that became the exeficio board members as well. And this this year, we'd like to try out an application process. So, what you'll see here is a description of um what that would look like. It's not the detailed application obviously, but um there are uh just a couple of uh important eligibility factors. Um and then the other difference would be that the exeicio student board members would be selected by the high school principal and the superintendent of schools. So we are um shifting a bit to how we're approaching um finding our exeicio students um student board members and seeing how this how this plays out for the students questions. I do um so this year we
067had a rotation. >> Yes. And so what is the recommendation for next year in terms of number of official officers? >> The recommendation is to have two um at at least two but I think two would be the um the the optimal number. Um, we're hoping to have one who is a rising junior and one who is a rising senior so that for the following year, you know, we could also have someone who had some experience with the um position to be a part of the process. Once again, that's how we're trying to um recruit right now. So I just wonder if if you're do we want to be a little bit more we say at least one that will designate at least one exeicio member but we're really ideally we don't want so we're
068I mean you want more than I don't know >> go ahead >> right no so if you if you um page down a little bit more where we get into the details we talk about um a student one a student who is a rising junior and a rising senior um a member of each of those classes is to be a part of the right. So then we need to change the top. We're we're we're saying there's at least one. So in the very first line there, second line, we'll designate at least one exeicio member of the board. But really, ideally, we want two. I just feel like consistency should probably just say >> two members. And then cuz then as you page down, it's clearly obvious that we want to have >> two. I mean,
069>> is there a reason that it's a minimum of one student from each class? >> Well, I think the theor the thinking was to not um restrict if they felt there was another student who was very who was a great candidate and and would fit the role really well. Um so that we weren't so tight on a particular number. Just to give the superintendent and the high school principal a little more wiggle room. >> One point of clarification for that first line. I mean the regulation is one. Correct. And that is why the reg that is based on regulation not desire to have two. >> Okay. >> Pursuant to the law you're saying >> law law says one. >> The pursuant to the law is the reflection back to the the statute statement. Got it.
070Any other questions? So, uh, we'll adopt this at our next meeting. And then what will the process be for students? >> We're still working that out. Um, but there will be, you know, we're envisioning an application process taking place in May. Uh, where there'll be something written that, you know, that have to put together and then they would be interviewed by myself and Mr. Hara. >> Sounds good. >> Yes. and I appreciate you saying that. So, we are we are hoping to expedite this in order for that process to get started as soon as possible. Um, so instead of having this be uh a double reading and then an adoption, we're hoping to be able to adopt next week. That's our next meeting. I guess next week. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, to be able to
071adopt it next week. >> Yeah. I mean, it's the middle of April. Yep. It's crazy. I know. It'll >> be June before we know it. >> Okay. Okay, sounds good. >> Great. Thank you. >> All right, communications to and from the board. We only have those that will take place in the future. Curriculum council tomorrow night and policy next week. Uh any other We didn't have anything else, right? We're all good. All caught up. All right. So then that means our next board meeting is next Tuesday and we will have an athletics update. So any other tidbits? Nope. We're all done here. Excellent. So can I have a motion to adjurnn the meeting? Everybody wants to stay except for Mr. Shimonoff. And Sean Clapper would I also like to go. So she's seconded. All those
072in favor for going. Now it's 6 nothing with one absence. Thank you all. We'll see you next week.