001All right. Uh, we are going to get started. So, I need a motion to be uh to kick off our April 29th board meeting. Sean Clifford, seconded by Matt Shibonoff. All those in favor? All those in favor? All those in favor. There we go. 6 nothing with one absence. So, thank you. We have called our meeting to order. Uh, let us begin, please, with a welcome to the flag. Our pledge to the flag, please. Oh, jeez. Yeah. 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. And that is why we should not serve me punch before meetings. Okay, too much sugar. Going to be okay here. All right, we'll go to the report
002of the superintendent, Dr. Burn. Good evening and thank you for joining us for our April 29th board of education meeting. This is our first meeting since spring recess and the first of two snow emergency giveback days. So, I hope everyone enjoyed the break. We are now in the fourth quarter of the school year, commonly known as the home stretch. Speaking of home stretch, many of us were on hand yesterday afternoon for the opening of the newly renovated softball field. The field looks absolutely terrific. I highly recommend you take a walk out there to check it out. Big kudos to our director of facilities, Rob Kamigliano, and assistant superintendent for business and operations, Gabriella Peruio, for delivering an incredible field in what felt like record time. On April 23rd, we hosted a parent university on AI
003in the Rise City School District. Dr. Murray, Dr. SAS zone and our technology staff developers gave parents all the latest information on AI technology in our schools and also provided a preview of the district's forthcoming AI handbook. We had a great turnout and a very good discussion. AI is also the topic of the lead article in this month's superintendent bulletin. So take a look for that in your inboxes tomorrow. The presentation from the parent university is also linked in that article. Beginning last Friday, Dr. Murray, Miss Anderson, and Miss Bole and I began the annual budget road show by visiting the O Osborne School PTO meeting and the Ry Rotary meeting. Yesterday, we visited with the folks at community synagogue, which is always a pleasure, and also the source of some really great questions. Tomorrow,
004we'll be at the RMS PO meeting, and then my favorite stop along the way with the seniors at Ryere Wreck. If you can't make one of those meetings, all the 2526 budget information, videos, and presentations are and will continue to be posted in a special area on the district website. Look for the link in the pop-up bubble that appears when you first land on the website. And that concludes my report for this evening. Okay, great. Thank you. Uh, so we will move on to presentation and discussion. Athletics Ad, Miss Doule. So, thank you for having me. Um this is just another um brief update on uh the state of athletics um specific uh to athletic placement process and policy. Um just to keep an eye on this. This is an everchanging policy that we established
005in 2021. Um again, we start all of our presentations um this evening listening to Dr. Murray kick off her speech um about the ride commitment. It's a it's a nice reflection every time we do anything related. um especially in my world of uh student athletes. So looking at the update, I just shared some information with the community and the board just kind of again I always like to look at the data of how many students are participating. You can see that are listed there for the high school. Um again these are not individual students. Some of these are uh repetitive because they're fall, winter and spring. But you can see clearly that majority of our stu athletes, our students rather are participating in some form of uh intercolastic athletics. Once again, so far our fall
006and winter teams are scholar athlete teams. Um again, that means that a percentage of the roster has u combined to 90 or better. And uh we're hopeful for the spring big game tomorrow, unified basketball kickoff at 150. We're asking people to come to the gymnasium so we can start around 155 versus Portchester. We're looking forward to that. I listed challenges again this year, but we're getting better. Um, every year gets a little bit better with transportation and officials uh dependent on the level and um we're thankful for our coaches and our families um communication pathways that we use for that. I list their school classifications. Um again I know that the public will get has opportunity to see this but um for board members that have any questions as to how sports are deemed uh
007a particular uh classification I'll just click on it quickly so you can see briefly this is just uh New York State Public High School uh athletic association numbers by sport. So next year 25 to 26. There's a brief description um of as to why we are where we're at with our enrollment numbers. Let me get it back out of this. And um just again another update uh looking at um the season as we we progressed through the p the policy was updated in 2122 if you recall in the winter and we were very restrictive but we opened the policy up with coach evaluation and um my oversight with this policy. So you can see where we are this year. This fall we had four student athletes. In the winter 10 and the spring our largest
008to date. And there's a caveat with that. Um if you look there was a large increase in influx because we did not have enough for a modified softball team and we obviously did not want to displace those student athletes. So students that were appropriately appropriately placed and were eligible to be able to go through the process um thankfully have a place to play at JV. So in this case it's a little bit higher than normal mainly due to that reason. Again this process is streamlined and updated and we're constantly looking at it. Um, I will come every spring and update because it's something we want to be be aware of. And I just list just again for more of information what the policy is in New York State. Commissioner's regulation allows all seventh and eighth
009graders to participate in high school athletics regardless of the sport with no restrictions. I love that we as a community and as a school district along with our board and our policy has some opportunity for students, but it's not wide open. Um, and for the most part in my four years since this has changed. Um, it's something that we constantly look at again following the process and and I think I feel anyways looking at it now that we're doing a good job with it. Any questions? I do. Um, so one of the questions I it's and uh it relates to the idea of students who are able to when when we go back to the placement process and so we need a coach recommendation and the evaluation. So I think about students who are new
010to Ry. Yes. And so we are very fortunate that over the last few years, every year we have new students coming in pretty much at every grade level. And so what and how are we either contacting, reaching out, informing or where would they even get a coach's recommendation from? Sure. So it it really depends on the sport. That's a great point because new students to Ry we usually get um from the uh counselor's office and I work with Wendy Wells to get new registers and I usually reach out to those families in grades 7 through 12 just introducing myself asking if their student might have interest in athletics and if so to reach out and um there's a transfer and eligibility component to that but also to give information but also um students like the
011sport of tennis let's use that We don't have a modified tennis team. So if a student in eighth grade has interest in tennis, what we do is um our tennis coaches work with if if a parent reaches out for example in this case and says my child plays tennis. This is where they play. Our coaches work with coaches outside of Ride to get scores to get an idea again to just put them through the process and then once evaluated if it's acceptable to place them there. they have stayed. We have had student athletes that have not when they've went through the process because through the process it's an evaluation. If the student isn't appropriately placed then obviously we would not keep them in that scenario because that is the key to this is appropriate placement.
012But Susan it can also come through the try out process for the sport. Correct. Exactly. If a coach notices a particular aptitude on a new student that they may not be familiar with 100% and that has happened because we don't want to give false hope. And so when I do the tests with the student athletes, when we get to the physical piece, I have a conversation about our policy and what that states and that they need to understand they may be wonderful at the sport, but for example, if it's a JV sport that there is an opportunity if we do have to make cuts that they are not eligible for JV and that they would have an eligibility at a modified level that has nothing to do with them, but this is um our policy
013and why. And when we get a little deeper into that um with these other sports that don't have modified, it really is an opportunity for coaches to go through the try out process to see where that student is if they don't know them. Good question. Great. I think that's very helpful. Thank you. Are there other questions of the board? I had a quick question about the school classification. Sorry if you mentioned this and I didn't hear you. That's okay. Um, is this evaluated every year? So it's by it looks like it says it's it was in October and so it's by sport and and by go back student number of students and so a lot of explain it just a little last year we were in a a different dimension and now we're and so
014every year are we evaluating so your six team classification sports are your AAA to D when you have six of those levels and so those are your boys soccer, girls soccer, baseball, softball and basketball and so if you look the difference between let's use like boys soccer and girls soccer the numbers are different these numbers are based upon the number of schools uh we do a participation survey and at the end of our survey at the end of this year the state collects how many teams are in that sport and then once we identify how many teams there are we the state association sports use a formula to come up with a percentage at the top a percentage at the bottom and they try balance the middle, so to speak. So that's why they will
015change every year because some schools may not have a sport and others may there may be an increase. So boys and girls basketball is a great one. We're a double A. We've traditionally been an A. The schools that were traditionally B are now A because it's just broadened the scope. So those state associations every year those sports we vote on that um depending on the season. So, this July, we'll vote on, I believe, the winter season um numbers, if you will. And Susan, I I know a one I read about in the media not long ago was SRS. Y uh they were reclassified to a lower class, but then they they bumped up to merge with them and so they bump back up to A. Yes. So, there's a formula for that as well. We're
016merged in uh individual sports, but if we were in a team sport, there's a formula for that. So, we would never merge with a team, for example, and get bumped to AAA. Um, so that is why that happened. Okay. Thank you. But this is always, if you're ever, please feel free to reach out anytime, but this is always on the New York State Public website because it's an often confusing thing, which I completely understand. It's confusing for all of us at times even. Um, but a lot of people think it's based on your ability when it's completely based on enrollment. Got it. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other? I have one and and it's certainly not something to answer for tonight, but I think it might be um it just might be interesting to look
017at what when we're looking at the numbers of students, especially because the spring seems to be trending trends a little higher. Um, I'd be interested to know what how many seventh graders versus eighth graders are we have are we looking at it doesn't have to be answered tonight, but just as a followup. Um, especially considering that there's limitations on the the types of sports that So, what I can share with you, Jen, is that seventh graders up until this year have been your individual sports where there's no modified. Okay. because um we've never taken seventh graders into team sports because of just what you said the the cut policy piece this year. Our first team sport where we did that was again due to the reduction of a completely no modified program. Okay. But up
018until that point we would not have done that. Um we look at heavily at JV is as much as we can to keep our nth and tth graders where possible and eighth graders if there's no cuts. seventh graders in those team sports are not normally looked at and it's not something we would recommend. Um, but that's where that spike comes. But mainly individual sports, your swimming, your tennis, that's where I see the highest numbers of seventh graders. And Susan, do you is it was it also softball last spring from your recollection that we had a good chunk? Yes. In my recollection of because we were 19 last spring and 32. Um I believe it was uh like five in boys lacrosse, five in girls lacrosse last year and like three or on JV baseball maybe
019and then um the rest were on softball. But softball traditionally runs a little bit higher with the eighth graders. Thank you. Anything else? Okay. All right. Thanks. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Appreciate appreciate it. Okay, we will now move on to the hearing of the public on non-aggenda items. We welcome and encourage our community members to address the board at this time. Please come to the podium, state your name, address, and if you are representing an organization. To ensure everyone has the opportunity to speak, please limit your remarks to three minutes. I would ask the district clerk to set a timer for 3 minutes. So if you hear the timer, please wrap it up. The board is here to listen. The public comment period is design is not designed to be a discussion. So
020please understand that we may not respond to your comments or questions at this time. We take your comments seriously and may need more time to process and research an issue. We will ensure questions will be addressed by the appropriate staff member or possibly answered at a future board meeting. We will not entertain comments regarding individual students or district personnel as these are protected under state and federal privacy laws. Please know that we take personnel concerns very seriously. On these matters, we would ask you to follow the appropriate administrative channels. As a reminder, the community may sub may submit written comments at any time to the board by sending those to rcsd board at risechools.org. Anyone who would like to come [Music] forward. My name is Phyllis Rothschild. 389 Ry Beach Avenue. longtime community member. I'm
021here just for one question. Um, there are no sports for sixth grade that are listed. Do we have sports for six sixth grade students? Miss D. That's okay. Um, our state education department um is for seventh grade and eighth grade for modified for middle school and then for high school it's a 9 through 12 usually. Um, we do offer club sports for the middle school as an opportunity, but it's not a competitive sport with New York State. Good question. Sixth grade though. Okay. Again, always my grandchildren come first. That was the question. Good. We have a a young man coming up sixth grade and I want him to get into sports. So, I don't want him to have an excuse. Well, I can certainly say having had a a son who came in, uh the
022the sports clubs for the sixth grade are certainly an activity that are well attended and the students really enjoy it. So, please encourage them to participate. Does do they do track at all? We do have track in seventh grade. Yes. Got it. Thank you. I love certainly. Thank you. They track me today. Yes. Yes, we did. All right. Wonderful. So, we will now move on. Uh, seeing no one else for public comment, we will move on to the consent agenda, can I have a motion, please, to approve this evening's consent agenda. Sean Cloffar, seconded by Matt Shibonoff. So, let's take a look at this evening'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
023assessment. Okay, seeing no questions, uh, can I have a vote, please, to approve this evening's consent agenda? All those in favor? That would be six to nothing with one absent. So, on this evening's consent agenda, we have, excuse me, we have um approval of our election workers. And so, I want to give a big thank you to all of our members of the community who work hard on May 20th to support the voting that takes place at the schools for our school budget and trustee election. It is not something that can be done without our community members, and we are very grateful for your work and effort on that day. It's a long day. I put in a plug for voting 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the middle school gym. It's a long day
024and these um community members are are wonderful workers and and really helped to make a smooth system. So, please make sure you go and support our community election workers by showing up that day. Uh we have an RFP awarded for our public information officer to Sarah Dur. We are always trying to connect and communicate with our community. It is a key to our long-term success as a district and we are fortunate to be able to continue to work with Sarah Dur in that effort. We have Yeah. Yeah. We have an approval of a gift from Milton School in the amount of $6,500 to support Mangum Recess program. Uh, this program helps support activities and shared experiences for students during recess, all while helping to move. My favorite, those big muscles. You got to get those
025out so you can learn and pay attention in class. So, we thank Milton School for their support. Uh, we have an approval of a gift in the amount of $6,500 from the Osborne PTO to support buses for field trips, as well as a gift in the amount of $12,000 to support the actual field trips from the Osborne PTO. It's great work that our schools are able to do in helping connect our classroom learning to real world experiences. We also have an approval of a gift for the amount of $1,490,000 $986 for Midland PTO for new playground equipment. This is going to be exciting new experiences for our students with the new layout of our school property with our new building addition. And so we are very grateful for our community support to once again help
026our students get those big muscles moving. So that's always exciting. We also are approving a merger, interestingly enough, of of athletics with the Ryneck schools for the 2526 boys wrestling season and approving the merger for the Ry Neck and Blind Brook schools for the 2526 boys and girls swim and dive teams. It's a great way that we are able to ensure that all of our student athletes who have a love for uh sports and competition can continue to showcase their talents and develop their skills in this way. So, thank you for and helping us, Miss Julie, make sure that happens for our students. We have lots of personnel moves, but we want to make sure that we draw attention to Miss Emily Trupia, who is going to be joining us this uh next school year
027as a.7 physical education teacher at Midland School. Congratulations and welcome. Miss Drew is here with us currently as a long-term leave replacement. And so, it's always exciting for us to be able to find talent who comes to us and is able to stay with us. So welcome. We have uh we have an appointment of many teachers and aids which are working to help support our ESY program for our students and it's always great to be able to support our students in their learning whether it be during the traditional school calendar or our summer calendar as well. And we also are approving an agreement with Diane Yokani Yok Yokani for the AI workshop for teachers, great parent university that was held on AI and there will be lots more to come for our community as we
028move forward in our exploration of AI. So that was everything on our consent agenda. Uh so let's move on to communications to and from the board. And we don't have anything. Policy did have a meeting. Did not have a meeting. Meeting tomorrow. All right. So, I can I can share one exciting little tidbit from pedestrian safety. Oh, excellent. Breaking news. Uh along Milton and Oakland Beach Avenue, there is a crosswalk that has been upgraded that I believe the Milton PTO has been asking for for quite some time. So now, similar to what we have at Midland Appamus, if you push the button once uh it goes through, all lights will turn red. So you can do a double cross, don't need to worry about cars. So a special thanks to the traffic and uh pedestrian
029safety as well as the city hall who made it happen. Yeah, that is as a as a past Milton parent that has been on the tickler list for eons and it is a big safety concern because you have the deli there and you have a lot of activity and then you have the fields and so that's really exciting news. Thank you. I think you may have mentioned it to me at the reception when I was appointed superintendent. I mean one of many things so many things. All right, that is great news. Thank you for sharing. Any other communications to and from the board, Jane? We also have um the health and safety committee meeting coming up this month before our next meeting as well as um audit committee. I do have audit on my calendar
030and we have you've been able to you've touched base with the board member who's health and safety. They know um the invites went out but Yep. There we go. That's all we needed. All right. Great. Uh, okay. So, no other communications to and from the board. We will be adjourning into executive session at this time. So, I will need in just a moment to uh have that motion done. But I will say just while we're here out in public, that we will have our next meeting, which will be our budget hearing, which will take place on May 6th, which is a Tuesday. We will be adjourning into executive session, and we will not be coming back out. So, this ends our public portion of the meeting. If I can have a motion to adjurnn into
031executive session. Matt Shimoff, seconded by Sean Claer. All those in favor, six to nothing. Thank you.