001Mhm. >> [singing] >> Okay. Too short. Sorry. >> [laughter] >> I'm sorry. >> [laughter] >> Good evening, everyone. The concert hall filled with the sounds of beautiful string It was the profound which moments that compromise the rich history of the Long Island String Festival. The success of the strength of string and the talented students and the parents who support their musical development and the quality of the conductors who together celebrate the power of music. This year we have one representative and that is from Lincoln Avenue Nathan This year we have recipients For chorus from Cherry Avenue we have friends >> Sunrise Drive And for the men and gentlemen of the This chapter of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance honors two students from each of our three buildings. These
002recipients are honest, self-confident, attentive, and enthusiastic toward class activities. In addition, they demonstrate exceptional leadership, citizenship, and excellence in physical education, health, and athletes acting as positive role models. Congratulations to from Cherry Avenue, Brooklyn Bertucci and Jack Miller. >> [applause] >> FROM LINCOLN AVENUE, MASON Marcello and Charlie Kachi. >> [cheering] [applause] >> And Sunrise Drive, Caitlyn Cameron and Paul Hogan. >> [applause] [applause] >> It is my pleasure to recognize the following students who placed first in their grade level at Cherry Avenue. When I call your name, please come up so I can recognize you individually. Hazel Shinsky, Danny Burke, Vincent Hausner, and Maddie Oliverio. >> [applause] [applause] >> Starting with my first grader, Hazel's project, What Causes Bagels to Mold Fast, investigated how salt affects mold growth by comparing how quickly plain and salted bagels
003developed mold. She learned that moisture on bagels causes them to grow mold and that salt is a preservative that prevents bagels from molding. Hazel, this is such helpful information for your family since they own a successful, busy bagel store. >> [applause] [applause] >> Moving on to third grade, Danny Burke tested which protection prevents baseball cards from warping. He evaluated different methods of preventing moisture damage to baseball cards and concluded that hard plastic cases offer the most effective protection. For all of our card collectors out there, plastic cases are the way to go. >> [applause] [applause] >> Fourth grader Vincent Hausner's project entitled Poster versus Pretender evaluated whether individuals can accurately differentiate between AI generated content and original designs using movie posters. He learned that many people don't fully understand AI yet and that it can
004be used to create very realistic but fake images. Many people cannot differentiate between what is real and what is AI generated. According to Vincent, learning to spot fake content is called media literacy and it's very important for everyone to understand. Great job, Vince. >> [applause] >> Maddie Oliverio, who is a great student, developed an engineering design project. So, this was a little different than the traditional scientific method. The Water Watcher was the name of her engineering project and she focused on creating a system to monitor and notify others of potential flooding risks. Maddie persevered through this process because she had to revise revise her design to make it work. Having a successful sensor system will allow for real-time warning so that cars can be moved, garages can be blocked with sandbags, and belongings relocated to
005avoid damage. Awesome job, Maddie. Congratulations to you. >> [applause] [applause] >> And now from Lincoln Avenue, our first place winners who will be representing us at the Brookhaven Science Fair. I'm going to call you up by name, so come on up. In kindergarten, we have Anthony Blanco. >> [applause] >> In first grade, we have Isla Castle. Second grade, Evan Neubauer. >> [applause] >> Third grade, Arthur Miller. Fourth grade, Alexander Felton. >> [applause] >> And fifth grade, Nathan Ransudha. >> [applause] >> We're going to start with kindergarten, Anthony. So, Anthony's project was titled Sleds and Sleighs. That sleigh. His objective was to find out which sled is the fastest. So, a big thank you to Dr. Ferris for calling all those snow days. Um and in conclusion, he found out that the disc was the fastest
006sled. So, good job, Anthony. >> [applause] >> Next, we have Isla in first grade. Uh her title of her project was Sink or Swim, a Sour Patch Kids Test. The objective was to see if different liquids dissolve Sour Patch Kids faster than others and does color matter. The conclusion was that the milk colors weighed all the same, red and vinegar dissolved faster. So, good job, Isla. >> [applause] >> Next, we have Evan. The title of his project was Detective Science. His objective was he wanted to see if fingerprints can change in different temperatures, which is very interesting. Um and I actually learned something because what I found out was that fingerprints can change in really hot or really cold temperatures. I did not know that. So, thank you, Evan. >> [applause] >> Next, we have
007Harper and the title of her project was Organic versus Non-Organic Foods. And the objective of this project was she wanted to see she wanted to be able to identify which types of foods spoil faster, the organic ones versus the non-organic ones. Um and in conclusion, she learned that her original hypothesis was disproven. So, organic foods actually expire quicker than non-organic ones. So, good job, Harper. >> [applause] >> In fourth grade, we have Alexander and the title of his project was Hold on. I lost my spot. I want to be able to get his title cuz it was very interesting. Uh Geolocation Technology Accuracy. So, I found this one very, very interesting. So, his objective was he wanted to find out which device is the most accurate when trying to locate his loved ones. And the
008conclusion that he found was that he learned that a Tesla Model 3 has the most accurate geolocation technology. So, Alex, not the iPhone? No, the Tesla Model 3. Okay. So, if anyone's in the market for a car, go to Tesla. Thank you, Alex. >> [applause] >> And finally, we have Nathan. And Nathan's uh project was titled Bacteria Concentration Moving versus Still Water. And the objective was that he wanted to find out if still water has a higher concentration of bacteria than moving water. And in conclusion, he learned that the still water had a lot of bacteria in every trial. The moving water had less bacteria overall compared to the still water. Uh this shows that moving water might not let bacteria grow as easily as still water. The experiment helped him understand how water flow
009can affect bacteria growth. So, good job and a big round of applause >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. Can you give me a minute of your time? Please have our Sunrise Drive Science Fair winners come on down. Ann Fury, Caleb Sharp, John Jensen, Faith Scrio, Christian Gallo, and Rory Jensen. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. So, so this year we had some really wonderful projects across the board from everyone. I did a little interview after the science fair and asked the kids what did they learn and who would this help. So, Ann did a project this year on which water bottles was the coldest the longest. She used different types and prices. Who What did she learn? Well, she learned what is the coldest water bottles to to to have and she knows that this
010is going to help all of our friends to keep their water coldest the longest throughout the day. Congratulations, Ann. >> [applause] >> Caleb Sharp, I think we have a little bit of a theme. Make this snow go away. I think that's how we all feel. Yeah. He used different types of salt melt to see which snow melted the best and he found that rock salt and kosher salt both had the same effect. He said this is going to help anyone who wants to get rid of their snow. Congratulations and thank you. >> [applause] [applause] >> John Jensen, be red or be dead. This was a project about where Johnny learned that the deepest in the deepest parts of the ocean, if you are an animal that is red or reddish, you are practically invisible. Those
011are his two words, practically invisible. He thinks that maybe this will help anyone who wants to study animals in the deep sea and that maybe a submarine could be camouflaged in the deep sea if it was red. Sounds great. Thank you, John. >> [applause] >> Faith Scrio, the big dissolve. This project is about density and surface area. She learned that the rate of solubility is something that changes. Big items dissolve slower and smaller objects faster. This she thought could help any parent picking out a piece of candy for their child making sure that they know the size that would be the most safe for their child to eat. Great job. >> [applause] >> Christian Gallo, ready, set, react. This project was about falling items and reacting to see how fast you can catch them. He
012learned that players who play more sports have better reaction times than those who don't. I hope you're listening, Dr. Cobb. I think so. He feels that this will help any people that are trying out for sports teams so they know that they have the best chance of getting on that team. Great job, Christian. >> [applause] >> And last but not least, Rory Jensen, heating things up, how temperature changes a magnet's pull. This involved paper clips, magnets, and heat. She learned that the colder a magnet, the stronger the attraction of will be for paper clips and that the more paper clips that it can hold. She feels that this could help people in the medical field to understand why MRIs need to be cold environments and using other magnets for medical purposes. So, congratulations to each
013of these five. >> [applause] [applause] >> Okay, now we're going to move on to our older high school students with some awards for the arts. With us is our art department and our chairperson, Ms. Person. >> [applause] >> Good evening. Our art department had another busy yet successful year with our students actively participating in over 20 community events. National Art Honor Society, our club of over 120 members, and maintained their status of excellence helping our members understand the importance of civil duty and community pride through the fine arts. We thank the community for their support and ask for continued support to help grow our department to even bigger heights. Our artists of future are our future. They are creative thinkers. They are the beauty in our ever-changing visually driven world. Among all the talent, we
014would like to recognize a few of our students here tonight for their outstanding achievements. This year the Long Island's Best Young Artists Juried Exhibit consisted of 63 public, private, and private Long Island high schools. Submitting of artwork for juries were 402 entries they received and the museum only selected 84 for display. We had not only one but three students for the Long Island's Best Show. One of which received a prestigious scholarship and another was selected to continue showing her work at yet another gallery. This level of excellence starts early at our elementary schools where our teachers work tirelessly to to help create an environment in line with our school philosophy learning patience, empathy, character, teamwork, vulnerability, pride, resilience, all the while creating a path for themselves through creative problem solving. We will be recognizing two
015amazing elementary art students for their contribution and character here tonight. We thank you as our community, many of which were former art students here. Keep supporting the arts and help this community continue to grow and be as amazing as Sayville is. I'm proud to say that I work here. I have been teaching here for a long time. Long enough to see so many students become adults and and upstanding citizens in this beautiful community and others surrounding it. I am beyond proud of all who have been part of this department and to continue to actively support us. Thank you and mark your calendars for May 9th, the all district art show where you can see all their wonderful work on display. I just want to bring up Mr. Hammer so he can briefly talk about some
016of our very amazing students and how special they really are. >> [applause] >> Good evening. We have a slide change. There we go. Kaylee, are you here? Come on, Kaylee. >> [applause] >> So, as Ms. Person said, we have the Long Island's Best contest and this year we had three entries that were selected. Just getting into the art show is an amazing accomplishment and so this year we had three and we're very proud. Kaylee, you don't want to talk about your artwork. I'm trying to get them to say a few words. Title? Off the Ladder. So, what they had to do was visit the museum and make a reactionary piece and so um you can see her artwork and then on May 9th you can see it in actuality. It's on display right now. So,
017thank you, Kaylee. >> [applause] >> Tom, are Tom? Um so, you might not be able to see from the artwork slide, but Tom created a really intricate piece where he married his love of math, art, and music and so he was able to find his voice through this artwork and then not only get selected but to win the Renzo Bianchi scholarship. So, congratulations, Tom. >> [applause] >> And Nolan, come on down. >> [applause] [applause] >> Did you like it? No. Good job. So, Calvin also got his work selected into the Heckscher um Oh, "Bound by Feelings". Trying to remember the titles. Helps to convey what the work is about. He not only got selected for the Heckscher, but he's also in the Go Ape show and that's Next slide. There he is, on the right.
018And uh Holding my own is the title of that, and I thought that was uh a really great title. And so, he also won uh an honorable mention at the Go 8 uh the APR exhibition. So, congratulations to Gavin. >> [applause] [applause] >> We've got some more. Um Ava, are you here? She was absent today, so she might not be around. Um so, Ava, you can uh recognize the piece up there. Uh maybe a few you guys have seen. For me, that's something I I hold dear, running to the ocean, running over the dunes. And so, um I love the way that she's captured that view, and um you can see her in this piece at BAFFA this weekend. Uh she'll be on display there, and you can check her out there. And the next
019recipient is Annabelle Hart. Come on down. >> [applause] >> So, this uh still life painting is her first oil painting. Not bad, right? Uh and so, this was on display at the Go 8 Show. And then, just this morning, I got an email saying that Annabelle has uh been the recipient of a scholarship that will be at the BAFFA show at the Guild Hall this weekend. And so, it's perfect timing, and Good morning. Congratulations. >> [applause] [applause] >> Hi, everyone. I am uh Mr. Michaels. I work at Lincoln Avenue in Cherry Avenue. Um first, I'm going to speak for um a student at Cherry Avenue, Brooklyn Vertucci. >> [applause] >> Miss Vertucci couldn't make it tonight, but she gave me um some words that she wanted Brooklyn can always be counted on to help in
020many ways during art class, and always has a smile on her face. It has been my privilege to be one of her art teachers at Cherry Avenue through her elementary education. Although I will miss her, I know she is ready for Sayville Middle School, and will fly high there both academically and artistically. >> [applause] >> And I would also like to recognize Ian Dinkle from >> [applause] >> All right. Um it's funny to say it, but I've been looking up to Ian Dinkle since we met, when he was in kindergarten. Um I'm 6'3, he was probably 3'3. Um I've been working with him once a week for almost 6 years now. During that time, I've gotten to know him pretty well. Um What has always stood out to me, even when he was five, believe
021it or not, is the quality of his character. I know as a teacher that I can always count on him not only to be ready to learn, to make his best effort on his projects, um but that they need to think creatively, but also to be a good classmate and a good friend to his peers, and someone that will always be there to help others, which he always does on a regular basis. It has been an absolute joy to watch Ian grow as an artist and as an individual. I am so sad to see you go at the end of the um when you go to middle school next year, but I'm excited to see the great things that you achieve in middle school and beyond. Congratulations. >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you. >> [applause]
022>> our principals and our art department uh teachers and staff. Now, we'll move on to the next and final phase of our congratulatory and celebratory remarks. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Dr. Cox. >> [applause] >> Good evening, everyone. Thank you, Dr. Ferris, Board of Education, our administrators, coaches, teachers, student athletes, families, and the entire community for your unwavering support of our athletic program. I have to say I'm intrigued by our science projects, and certainly going to get in touch with our elementary principals because uh what resonated with me was those science stars who could get rid of the snow. And we certainly could have used them in the spring because we started with snow on the ground. So, I I may need to talk to our elementary principals about that. It's truly an honor to
023be here this evening. Uh tonight, I'm going to provide a brief, very brief overview of our varsity seasons for the winter, and then we're going to recognize some of our student athletes who have achieved honors beyond Suffolk County. So, with that, our bowling team this year, a developmental year for our winter bowling team, coed bowling team. They were a New York State Scholar Athlete Team this year, which certainly will be a trend throughout the evening. Our girls fencing program was two and six in League Two, very tough League Two. They were New York State Scholars Athletes, and I want to congratulate our coach, Grace Cura. Uh she was recognized as Suffolk County Coach of the Year. Congratulations, Grace. >> [applause] >> Our boys fencing team had an outstanding season, uh actually led by Kevin Mulligan
024right there, who just received one of our art awards. Kevin, >> [applause] >> Five and three in League Two, they were seven and six overall. They made the playoffs this year as a team, uh which has not been done in quite some time. They were New York State Scholar Athlete Team, and our head coach, Nick Del Buono, who's also Suffolk County Coach of the Year. So, a lot of stuff going >> [applause] >> Boys swimming and diving, two and four in a tough League Two. They were playoff qualifier, and also a New York State Scholar Athlete Team. >> [applause] >> Girls basketball, great year, six and two in League Five. They took second place in that league. They were 13 and nine overall. Not only were they a playoff qualifier, were they also a Class
025A semifinalist and a New York State Scholar Athlete Team. Congratulations, girls. >> [applause] >> Boys basketball, eight and six in League Five, 14 and eight overall. They were playoff qualifier, and for the first time in many, many years, both boys and girls basketball were Class A semifinalist teams, and obviously a New York State Scholar Athlete Team for the boys. So, congratulations to both >> [applause] >> Competitive cheer, great year, Division Three coed. They took first, second, second, fourth, and fourth uh during the regular season. They took fourth at the Suffolk County Championships. They were game day semifinalists at Disney, and they were also a New York State Scholar Athlete Team. >> [applause] >> Boys track, seventh in the league, eighth in the county, New York State Scholar Athlete Team. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Girls track
026and field, they were third in the league, fourth in the county, and a New York State Scholar Athlete Team. >> [applause] >> Very proud. We have one member of this team who will will recognize in a moment. Uh but last year was the first year in the history of Sayville that we had a girls wrestling team, and we were combined with Bellport. This year, we transitioned, and we're a combined team with East Islip, Sachem, and Bayport-Blue Point. That particular team went five and three in League One. They were runner-up in the Suffolk County Championships as a team, and they were New York State Scholar Athlete Team. So, congratulations to our >> [applause] >> Our wrestling program, boys wrestling, had an another outstanding season. They were League Six dual meet champions back-to-back, undefeated, six and 0,
027back-to-back. They were 19 and six overall. They won the League Six tournament, and they were runner-up by, Carmine, what, one and a half? Brian, one and a half points, I believe, uh in the Division One Suffolk County Championship tournament. And to put that in perspective, as a small school like us, Sayville, we took second to Sachem by one and a half points in Division One. That is a credit to our program and our kids and our families, and what an accomplishment uh that was. And not only that, they were New York State Scholar Athlete Team, and congratulations to Coach Pesco, League Six Coach of the Year, in addition to his 300th win, which we'll recognize at the end of the year. >> [applause] >> I think I've been saying this for years since I've been
028back to Sayville, and it seems like we continue to compete not only on the field, on the courts, and in the rooms, but also in the classroom. Every single one of our varsity teams was a scholar athlete team. So, again, congratulations to our teachers, our administrators, our entire school community, because that's not easy to do. We continuously do that every season. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Well, I want to take a moment I'd be remiss if I didn't thank the Board of Education, Dr. Ferris, and our community, and in particular I say the Athletic Foundation, who graciously donated over $20,000 to the district to bring this to fruition. Now, it's hard to tell what that is, but that is an interactive Hall of Fame display that is now at our high school, which replaced one of
029our trophy cases. So, if you have a moment to see an event at the high school, right by the gym, in the lobby, please check this out. Not only can you look up all of our Hall of Fame recipients and their pictures and what they they accomplished, but you can also look at all of the championships in the over 130 year history of our school district, and you can view any yearbook from 1930 to the present day, including 1926, 1927, 67, I'm going to do that because I have to. But, it is special and I want to thank Stephanie Brickel, our high school principal, uh Jonathan Harris, assistant principal, Mike Bell. Our our building administration was very involved with this process along with our student athlete advisory committee and many of our community members and
030coaches. So, it it is special and I look forward to hearing feedback because uh I I want to know what people think and right now it's a lot of fun because our our students are looking up all the teachers that they had in high school that they knew went to Sayville. So, look out. You know, very cool. All right. So, at board meetings we like to recognize some of our student athletes that have achieved outside of our county as far as awards. So, we'll start out with our first one, Dylan Walsh. Dylan, in this past winter indoor track and field season, again, was a Suffolk County champion in the 1600 meter run. He's a New York State qualifier in the 1600 and also a national qualifier in the 1600. He has had some year because
031he was the county championship for cross country in the fall. Congratulations, Dylan. >> [applause] [applause] >> What a career, Ryan. For our competitive cheer team representing, he was all county and he was Newsday second team all Long Island. Congratulations, Ryan Walker. >> [applause] [applause] >> Girls, cross country and track and field just keep doing incredible things. National qualifier in the 4 by 800 meter relay, Ashlyn Beach. >> [applause] >> All county academic, national qualifier in the distance medley relay, Sophia Buffardi. >> [applause] >> National qualifier in the distance medley relay and 4 by mile relay, Elizabeth Buttrich. >> [applause] >> New York State qualifier in the 1000 meter run, all county, all federation, and a national qualifier in the distance medley relay and the 4 by mile relay, Christina Duffy. >> [applause] >> National qualifier
032in the 4 by mile relay and the 4 by 800 meter relay, Mariana Duffy. >> [applause] >> A national qualifier in the 4 by 800 meter relay, Sophia Duffy. >> [applause] >> All county academic and a national qualifier in the 4 by mile relay, Megan Lankowicz. >> [applause] >> A national qualifier in the distance medley relay and 400 meter run, Giselle O'Connell. >> [applause] >> And a national qualifier in the 4 by 800 meter relay, Valerie Vitali. >> [applause] [applause] >> Congratulations to these exceptional athletes. >> [applause] [applause] >> Wrestlers, he was a league six tournament champion, all county, runner up in the Suffolk County championship, and also a New York State qualifier. Congratulations, Jayden Taft. >> [applause] >> He's out on the cross field practicing as we speak. All county, runner up in the
033Suffolk County championship, she took second, and a New York State qualifier, Scotland Healin. >> [applause] [applause] >> He was a league six tournament champion, all county, third place in the Suffolk County championship, a New York State qualifier, and while upstate took sixth place in a very tough weight class, all state, Ryan Wood. >> [applause] >> He was a league six tournament champion, all county, third place in the Suffolk County championships, a New York State qualifier, a Newsday second team all Long Island recipient, and arguably maybe the best of the most difficult weight class in the state, took fourth place up there, all state, Carmine Catapano. >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you, everyone. Congratulations to all our award recipients. >> [applause] >> Okay, at this time we're going to transition into part three of our board
034meeting, which is our budget adoption and presentation from the superintendent of business. If you'd like to stay and join us, please do. If you'd like to exit to go do your homework and other projects that I know you're eager to get to, please uh take this moment to do so. For a moment he thinks the clicker works here and not there, but um So, for those of you who are remaining, um this is the budget adoption process. And what I want to I kind of make clear is this is not a budget presentation. We've already had three budget presentations earlier uh over the last several months. Budget presentation number one was a thorough review of our tax cap and also our budget revenues. Budget presentation number two is a review of review of our expenditures
035where Mr. Bartels went line by line over every single code in the entire budget explaining why any budget code was up or down any percentage and or increase. And then budget presentation number three went over our three-part budget which is required by law, our transportation, our enrollment, our trends, fund balance reports and projections and kind of focus on that. Anyone who would like to see those three budget presentations, this is going to be on our website. You can click on the link here and it'll take you to the three budget presentations and also the the revenues projections and fund balance reports for the district and any other financial information you need and it's all there online. Everything is very transparent and very much part of our process. But tonight we're going to kind of just
036summarize those three presentations and then ask the board to review and adopt. We did make a couple of adjustments so there's a slide on a couple of minor adjustments in the budget. It doesn't change the budget number that we're proposing. It's just we managed to take them from one code where there was a need and reduce them in another code where there wasn't a need. And Mr. Bartels will explain that. So at this time I'm going to hand over to Mr. Bartels who's going to walk us through this process. Okay, so as we start this presentation we're going to go over the same budget priorities we've gone over at each meeting. Try to do a number of different things with this budget. The first thing is to close the budget gap between our revenues and
037expenditures. We wanted to make sure we maintained all of our programs within the district. Which includes increasing some of the capital improvements to enhance some of the student experiences. We wanted to reduce the use of all reserves. So we're putting a lot of our reserves towards balancing the budget and reduce that. And we're also looking for ways to create new revenue to help support the budget. So tonight I want to make a quick review of the budget timeline. I'll go over a summary of all revenues and expenses. As Dr. Ferris indicated, we have reviewed those in detail in prior presentations. We have a few last minute revisions that we're going to include in the budget. Talk about some budget updates and some voting updates. And then again provide another status on where we are this
038year 2025-2026 revenues and expenses. So tonight we have the budget BOCES budget vote and Board of Ed adoption of the 2026-2027 proposed budget. This is a preliminary budget hearing. So this is the last time that the district can make any changes to the budget after Board of Ed adopts the budget today there can be no further changes made. There will be a budget hearing on May 12th. That's required by the state at a certain point in time in the timeline. We'll again review the budget and go over some other pieces but no changes can be made at that time. And then everything culminates on May 19th with the annual board election and the budget vote. So for our revenues for next year, we have a big increase in state aid. We made a number of
039changes in how we calculate some of our transportation aid for the current year and we're going to be generating a lot more state aid for this year that will also carry forward into next year. So budget to budget we see almost a $1 million increase in our state aid. Our budgetary appropriations as I mentioned we wanted to reduce our reliance on those so we were able to cut $1.3 million out of our budget appropriations for next year. And our tax levy will be up 2.7% which again is under the tax cap so we will only need a simple majority to pass the budget. Overall our total revenues are up 1.94%. Really we kind of work backwards using the budget to start with our revenues and knowing how much money we have that's how much we
040can spend so that 1.94% means that's how much we can spend the budget to 1.94%. So the overall budget three-part budget is broken down into three components, administration, capital and program. Our administration budget overall is down about $100,000. The largest reason for that is a portion of the business official's salary was moved from administration into transportation which is a program expense. That was done to meet part of the reason we increased our transportation aid for the current year and for next year. Our capital line is up about 3% half a million over half a million dollars. That's due to debt service that was being added due to the bond that was recently issued. And the program expenditures increases are 2% which is really just salaries and benefits going forward to next year. As far as
041percentages of the budget, our administration percentage of the budget has declined by 2.8%. Capital went up by 1.1% and our program percentage stays about the same. So what do we have in the budget? We want to maintain all current programs and staffing. We have done that so there will be no cuts to any of our current programs or staffing that we have this year going into next year. We were able to implement a new pre-K through five literacy program in the budget for next year. We have additional professional development to support and enhance middle school academic teams. We're going to continue the distribution of Chromebooks to students in grades five and nine decreasing the time in which students have those Chromebooks. We have the addition of three middle school sports teams to expand student opportunities
042and to keep kids involved in school. We have a restoration of the summer school program for struggling students. And we have restoration curriculum writing and professional development activities that were cut from the current year's budget. We also have a number of capital projects that we're going to use to enhance our facilities and that will cover all of our school buildings. Facility enhancements that we have include playground blacktop upgrades at Cherry, Sunrise and Lincoln. We have replacement of the middle school girls locker room lockers and floor. At the high school we're going to upgrade the wrestling room to the fitness center. Upgrade the weight room to a bike and dance studio and replace drop netting and partition in the gym. It's been an issue of routine. In the library we're going to install a shade system
043for the library skylight. And then we're going to have district-wide HVAC repairs and general repairs to siding, light work and other repairs that are necessary as we go throughout the year. In addition to those items which are included in our transfer to capital line within the budget, we're going to have proposition four on our budget. And what that is is to use our capital reserve for a range of projects. This funding is already in place. It's in our reserves already so there is no increase to the tax levy of the taxpayers for these projects but because they're in a repair reserve we're required to have a vote to actually expend those but the money is already there. Those projects are high school auditorium sound and lighting upgrades. For the move of the weight room to
044the fitness center. We're going to upgrade math classrooms with whiteboards eight at the high school four at the middle school. And we're going to provide additional security camera additions and upgrades at all four buildings to enhance security. So that totals $1.1 million which is what we have in our capital reserve. We do have some last minute revisions that we're going to make to the budget. A couple of few more things that we wanted to add and when we add items we didn't want to change the overall value so for everything we added we had to find something to reduce. So as I mentioned we restored the high school summer school program that wasn't in the original budget as proposed. We were able to fund that by decreasing our transportation service budget line. That line has
045increased a great deal for the current year. We are seeing a great deal of savings through shared ridership on a number of our buses and through some consolidation of routes so we're adding an additional 60,000 from transportation to cover that cost. Uh We're going to add back a budget line for the high school musical pit musicians. This is a $3,000 line that had been in the budget. It was omitted from the current year's budget but we do use those musicians for our high school musical. We're going to pay for that and we did find one other postage code for the same amount of money. We actually um We were consolidating all of our budget codes for the current year. There were a number of postage lines that were not uh consolidated for the current year.
046I was able to get rid of most of those. I did miss one, so now all of them are matched. So, all of our postage is within one of the postage lines. Uh and the last increase we had was for digital textbooks for French AP. Uh and so the main point to take away is that they agreed to reduce uh their supplies. So, their uh LOTE, languages other than English, so those supply lines are being reduced in each of the buildings to cover those additional digital textbooks. So, just some budget updates. Uh we are waiting still for state aid. Uh we had a budget extender which was passed yesterday. It was all the way until tomorrow. Tomorrow >> [clears throat] >> Uh tomorrow we're hearing they plan to add another budget extender. Um we do
047not know how long that will will be extended for. But, um all of the districts in the state are waiting for what the final uh numbers are going to be for our state aid. So, we can't make any changes to that. Um so, we can say we had not planned on having any additional aid. If we do get any additional, great. Uh but, we're not planning on anything more from the state at this at this time. Voter registration. Um May 14th is the last day to register to vote for the budget. So, if anybody has not voted, May 14th is your last day to register if you're not if you're not currently registered. Um as Mr. Cartales said, all of our budget documents and presentations are online. Uh so, this current one is in with
048board docs tomorrow. And it will be uh with the rest of the presentations uh under the uh business page of the school district website. Um you can find all of the presentations there as well as the line-by-line budgets. Uh we will update the line-by-line budget to include those few changes that I just mentioned on that previous slide. Uh I also wanted to uh mention that we've continued to work with our budget advisory committee. We've had some very positive and informational um meetings that we've had. Uh we've had some great uh having those discussions. Uh I had a couple of board members on that committee, uh administrators, teachers, and parents. So, that's that's been working out real well throughout the year. Um I also want to provide a revenue and expense uh update and fund balance
049update to show kind of where we are currently um in our budget. So, these two lines I've talked about a number of times. It's our spent expense lines and revenue lines. Um We've done a great deal of work the last couple of years. Um continuing to bring them closer this year. We're down to $370,000 Uh at this point I really do think we're making those lines to cross this year. Uh I'm not really ready to say that yet, but it really looks like that will be what what happens for this year, which uh I think is great. Um What that shows on the next slide, the reason for that is our fund balance. So, our fund balance uh we had planned to use $5.5 million of our total fund balance to fund this current year's
050budget. Uh if we had done that, that last bar there for 25-26 would have been below the $20 million number, $20 million line. Uh because our revenues and expenses are about the same this year, that means we really didn't need to use any of our fund balance. Uh or we used the fund balance in the real places. So, you can look at it either two ways. Uh but, at the end of the day, if your revenues and expenses are the same, you really don't have any impact on your fund balance. So, your fund balance should be approximately the same uh at the end of this year as it was at the end of last year. So, again, proposition one, uh our budget overall increased 1.94%. Our projected tax levy will be 3.79% increase. Again, it's
051under the tax cap. Just needs a simple majority to pass. Uh proposition four is for the use of our capital reserve. It's $1.1 million. Uh proposition number two and number three are for the library budget vote and it's the historical society budget vote. Uh presentations on those two budgets at the budget hearing on May 12th. So, those are the four propositions we have. Proposition one being the general fund budget vote, two being library budget, three the historical society, and four the use of the capital reserve. So, it's important to vote on all four of those propositions. And that's the end of the presentation. So, May 12th we'll talk about the school district budget again, just an overview, um some updates uh about what the tax rates will be, so forth. Uh the library budget and
052historical society budget and any additional voter information just to clarify that. So, I'll take a moment to thank Mr. Cartales who has been tireless in working at uh presenting and creating a budget that is sound, uh supports student programming, and is fiscally responsible for the community. Uh we have a really good budget this year, really good as you've seen outcome in terms of our revenues and expenses. And we're looking forward to this budget vote uh hopefully succeeding. And also there's the capital reserve which is again no additional cost to the taxpayer. It's money that's been set aside that was already voted on by the taxpayers. And we just need the taxpayers to vote on to release. So, we're looking at doing that as well. If any board members have any questions, I'll be happy to
053answer. >> [clears throat] >> Um all right. So, first, I'll I'll start with uh it would be beneficial if we could just receive this sooner. Um you know, we work full-time. It's hard to like wrap our heads around with these massive numbers. So, in the in the future I would really greatly appreciate it if we could get this uh a little bit sooner so we don't have to kind of like rush into things. Um but, with that being said, listen, the bottom line is that we have closed the gap, uh which is was our main goal as a board to do. Um >> [clears throat and cough] >> So, that's phenomenal news. My question is I just have a couple of questions. Sorry. Um So, all the adds I love because if we're able to
054close the gap and still add things, that's um amazing. My question is uh let's say the governor goes back on the UPK money. Are the things that we've added able to be sustained without that? So, let's say the money went from 10K back down to 5K or would we then have to be scrambling and making cuts? Or would we be able to sustain all the things that we added? Because we don't want to put ourselves in a situation where, you know, almost like with COVID where we got this windfall of money and we we added and things were great. And then that money was gone and it was like, "Okay, well now you have a couple of options. Either you start cutting people or you start cutting programs." So, um if as long as that
055can be we're adding things that are sustainable if that money were to go away because it's an election year and that was a huge increase and that really helped us because we're one of the only districts that offer that. Um so, that would be question one. Okay. So, if historically [clears throat] over the last 15 years or however many years, usually the governor's budget has been the same and no increases. It hasn't in the past increased. But, if it were to decrease, uh just like the year two years ago when we said we're taking $3.4 million out of foundation aid, yeah. We would have to pivot. We would have to change our entire approach. So, historically that has not happened. But, if it were to happen, we would have to look at everything again and
056redesign our budget because, you know, $600,000, which is what that UPK increase was, uh would be huge out of the budget. So, we'd have to then look at everything, not just those adds, but probably more than that. Okay. All right. Um so, if we get another 1% from uh foundation aid, would we then That would then cross the lines for us, right? I think Mr. Cartales said we already crossed the lines, but I think that would um again, we're crossing lines in this year's budget. Right. That would be affected in next year's budget. So, we'd have to look at how that And so, any actual that that would that extra 1% we would put into I would recommend that we hold that and then use it to reduce the amount of what we're using this
057year. Okay. All right. Um The capital projects, did we over I'm I'm the same question. I know we over projected, right? The number is because You have to in construction do a little bit over because if there was any change orders or any you run into problems, you need a little bit of a buffer. Right. So, let's say we run into a problem and it goes over that 1.1. Where would we then would that would we go into the general reserve fund to then Because once like, you know, we've all done projects in our house and I like you budget X amount of dollars. And if it's X plus whatever, you open up a wall and now all of a sudden, you know, you have nightmare after nightmare. So, where would that money come if
058if our if the budget for capital projects because we have 1.1 in there. If it goes over 1.1, any of the projects, where where would we get that money? So, we do have a number of um pieces in the general fund and the transfer to capital. So, there's a last line there is a couple hundred thousand dollars through various pieces which we haven't really identified yet and we just know they're going to be kind of site work or or um building related HVAC type of things. So, that could be used towards that. Um if there are we have even probably look back on our security upgrades, cameras, um those may come in less. Those are more uh specific numbers that that we have, but no matter which project it is, uh we would kind of
059look back at all of them and then we'd have to make a decision. Are we going to do everything that we wanted to do by this PC? So, you know, want to add X number of cameras. So, we want to add 50 cameras or maybe now we only need 40 cameras. Okay. Yeah, we're going to we'll have to play with that depending on how the numbers come The whole hopefully between the different projects, some may come in over or others come in less. That's Okay. All right, perfect. Thank you. I just would like to touch upon something um Desmond said regarding the distribution of the agenda and the materials. It does state in the policies and bylaws that the board should be provided everything at least four days in advance. I mean, I know my
060schedule is flexible, but everyone else here has a really tight schedule and to come prepared having absolutely everything read, it's difficult when we receive seven amendments from 9:30 in the morning until noon. Thanks. Noted. Uh Desmond, one thing I wanted to say uh with the uh funding for projects, I mean, that's why it's very essential to make plans as best you can in advance. But, sometimes there's things that are extraordinary that come along like with the Spark uh funding. It took so long for the state to approve everything. It was years and then by the time you go to do that project, of course, those cost us uh not valid anymore. And then you have to then look at the project itself and you have to do the class. You know, that's what you have
061to do. If there's any surplus, then that would go back into the capital fund. Um I like this budget. I think the community can definitely support this budget. Um but I I think what Desmond was a little bit skeptical about was, you know, we received a lot of money for pre-K and that was the governor's promise and and we're very thankful for that. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but we also got other stuff dropped back. Right? Like the the aid formula went down a little bit. So, I mean, hopefully that UPK money stays there and and we can, you know, obviously support that group. Um but um I I think it's a great budget, but it's just something we have to look at in the future. Yeah, with the state and the aid, any
062change in that in any way, shape or form over the years will affect us significantly in that budget. Um I just wanted to say thank you to Robert for doing such a great job on this. You came in here with some big obstacles and I I think I speak on behalf of the board when I say thank you so much for really just finding every nook and cranny that you could and really working it out. So, we appreciate that so much. Thank you. Call it a vote. Thank you very much. Put a thought in with that in I I too want to say thank you. Um I think that this has been a very transparent process and then going through line by line and understanding where you recouped money where you could, where you put
063it where it would be more effectively used, I think was um educational for everybody. Um we do uh appreciate the uh members of the budget advisory committee. That was something that we, you know, did for the first time this year. I think that was a um a good addition. Um I may be getting ahead of myself and this may not be until the budget hearing, but is that when you're going to go through the difference between a um if the budget were to pass or if we were to vote to a second vote or need a contingency budget? We did that in presentation number three. We had three slides about that and so that's our obligation where we're required by law to do that, but we did do that in presentation number three. Okay. Thank
064you. Okay, we have a vote on this later, so we'll have further discussion if we need. Um What is that if a superintendent Yeah, that's the end of the superintendent's report. I do want to note that we did give the board and this is for the board to discuss, two versions of board meetings for next year. Um it was discussed that some people really like the two meetings in a row and then two meetings off. Some people like every other, the first and third. So, we did two versions and I think it's important the board discusses it and then it decides how they want the board meetings to be for the future. Okay, so everyone take a second just to to look at it. Obviously, version one is mostly the two weeks back to back
065at the beginning of the month and version two is the um you know, spreading them out over the course of a month. The only thing different is the orange circles. So, if you're looking at it, then you know. And then there are some months like December uh where there's one meeting where there's a holiday, so they get split anyway, but the gist was either you do two in a row or you do first and third. This year just for context, we did it first and second. Last year we did it first and third. It's really your choice as a board what you want to I think it was a good experience this year. I mean, it was nice to have the uh everything done at the beginning of the month and then have you know
066the a longer space between each monthly meeting. Uh my experience was um and that's where it was done earlier and then we changed to this every other you know, we can probably get a meeting and um I think it's uh it was a good year the way the way it played out this year. So, I'm in favor of version one. I'm in favor of All right. I'm in favor of version two. Anyone else? I'm version two. Two. Um okay, Chris. >> [laughter] >> I'm indifferent. I mean, this year we did version one and it worked out. It's the same thing with the budget. Right. Right. Okay, well I'll take that thought then. Um My reason for uh version two over version one uh obviously I'm seeing about the time. It's all right. The version two
067My my issue was at times I felt disconnected. I felt like there was so much time in between meetings and things were occurring and and that just leads itself to more things having to be done. Either we have to come in and do them or uh you know, I just I just didn't I just don't think it's conducive. I just thought there was there was a lot of time in between meetings at times and sometimes I maybe felt like actually disconnected from the district because like we didn't we weren't, you know, aware and then sometimes that would lead to longer executive sessions because Dr. Paris had so much to tell us sometimes. So, that's The only thing I would also just add from an administrative point of view to the point that Mr. the board
068made earlier, when you have the back to back meeting, you're preparing for a week or two to get the materials to you guys. Usually we get it in advance of the first meeting. Then that Thursday's meeting is over and we're having the next meeting the following Thursday, so there's less time to arrange those materials. So, when you space them out, you do have more time to get that together. That's just to that Uh I'm just voting for version one. I just I'm going to be honest. I volunteer my time here. It's a lot of work. Um I happen to like a little bit of a break where I can get some stuff done in my home and be with my family. So, I think that we have really great communication with the board. We have
069email, we have text, we have everything. We have a telephone if we need to get in touch with with each other if something happens, it's it's very easy. So, I vote for If something came up, we could discuss it on If that's the case, we could always, you know, if it's an emergency, we could call an emergency meeting which we've done in the past. Um again, I I will say on the typical basis, I do prefer version one over two. Um it didn't The the every other week one was it was just difficult to to schedule. It was just it was way harder. But, I do I do understand that there is sometimes where there's too much time. So, um without having to um you know, get a couple of votes, can we look at
070it and perhaps come up with a compromise? Like I do notice to to Desmond's point that if you look at um October to November, there's a long stretch, right? Because October's such a long month. So, if we were to do the 8th and the 15th, right, and you move one of them. Um the rest of them, there seem to be like breaks so many times that the number of weeks in between sort of works out the same. like, um, even our version one, you know, April to to April 13th to the 27th, there I don't know if some of those dates can be changed because of the way the laws work for the the budget setting, but, you know, there's really only three school of four school days between those, right? Um, so, are there
071ways that maybe we can combine these two so that it makes it something that we could work on. Yeah. Why don't Why do we have to be locked in the version one or version two? Why don't we just set the dates that we want? That's basically what I'm suggesting. Okay. Yeah. Like, it it does help when there's a pattern. Like, I I will say that, like, cuz people remember, like, you know, first Wednesday or Thursday of every month, that kind of thing, but I think in the places where maybe we wind up with too big of a gap, it may make some sense to to adjust it slightly. Um, so, um, I would first my first suggestion using version one would be to move October 1st to October 15th. Oh, oh, sorry. No, move the
072first to the 15th. It'd be an 8th and 15th. Yes. No, I would say not to spread them, but I'd be okay with spreading them out, too. Like, that would be fine with me. You want to do the first and 15th in October? I was saying move the first, so it'd be 8th and 15th. But I'd be okay with spreading them too. I mean, just trying to make sure that we can find a compromise between us. Why don't we do that and then switch March? Like, why don't we go 4th and 18th in March instead of 4th and 11th? I'm sorry, Mr. Deckers. So, you see the big spread? 4th and yeah, March would be another one cuz it's another long month, so maybe we do 4th and 18th in March and we do 1st
073and 15th in October. Would that be a good, um, compromise for all of us? So, I have a question. Did you get these school calendars to see if there are any big events going on Yeah, we should set first. Oh, cuz I I do think some schools set the previous year and might already have something on So, I just thought maybe out of courtesy we could check out the parent Also, like, February 11th, like, the Thursday before break, I think we should get rid of that one. >> [laughter] >> I'll switch it like switch to a different day. It just doesn't I I don't think a lot of people are going to show up to it. I get it and we're here to inform the community. I think it's the one Thursday before break. I
074know. The Thursday you started moving to Wednesday. Well, we we have Tuesday and Thursday. Yes, the buzzing room. So, I mean, without I don't have them to show you, but so, we have tried over the last two years, two years ago we were trying to do the first and third Thursday of every month and it it worked and it worked, but it didn't always work. And this year we went to the first two Tuesdays of every month, uh, Thursdays of every month and now we're trying to figure out if there's a compromise, especially some of the longer month longer months that give us a longer spread than we need. I know it's really, really difficult with all the great extracurriculars that we do to not, you know, combine or, you know, hit something. It's impossible
075to just say that the district can't do anything on 10 or 20 Thursdays a year. Like, it there's just too many good things that we do. So, I think we try to hit the biggest ones and avoid those concerts, um, and and perhaps, um, yeah, say that I don't I don't understand that. Um, so, um, okay, but we will open this up to a public comment, you know, maybe a little bit anyway. And this is not something that you decide right now. We can play with it and then we can represent it and then vote on it at some point when you get a chance in the next Yeah, we can tweak it and give you another draft. This was our first go. Yes. So, we will we will tweak it and we will come
076back with a presentation, but I think we are going to find a happy compromise. I don't think that, um, it has to be one way or another. Okay. All right, so, just Sorry, can I bring my agenda back up? Okay, we did skip correspondence. I just want to mention that we did have two FOIL requests since the last meeting. Um, why is this not coming up? Use of uh, facilities report, any comments? Questions? Go ahead, Kathy. I had contacted Dr. Ferris because I didn't understand what what determines who pays and who doesn't. So, you had said that it's a committee that's there's a committee now that's going to look at that, right? Because it doesn't make sense. Yes, so So, one of the things that we identified earlier in September during our, um, policy committee
077was that we wanted to talk about the policy related to building use, field use, outside groups, inside groups, you know, charitable groups, like, what do they pay and what are the prices? We hadn't adjusted that policy in a long time, so I know that Mr. DeMola was had an order of events for specific policies that were needed to be talked about. This was one that has been talked about. I don't know where we are with that right now. Um, Mr. Castellano and Dr. Cox have been amazing in, um, researching what's happening in neighboring districts and even districts and, um, uh, facilitating conversation in our committee about how we feel about how things should go and, um, and we're taking our time with the conversation. I think we've met twice to discuss it and in June
078we're going to return to finalize, hopefully finalize, um, the decisions about how we're going to charge. Thank you. But I think it was it was really based on, like, if if the overwhelming majority of kids participating in in the event were Sayville kids, that would be an organization that we wouldn't want to charge. If it was a money-making organization that was using facilities to to to make money, which is fine, then that that organization would be charged and, you know, I think Brian said that that the prices haven't gone up in like 30 years. Yeah, they're they're very low compared to other districts. They're very low compared to to other districts. So, Brian and Danny have really done their homework there, so I'll tell you that. You can follow up with that. And just so
079you know, the policy committee gets together, they review policies, they recommend them to you, but as a board of education, you guys one of your roles is to review policy, discuss it and then vote on it. So, you'll get two readings and then even if the committee recommends something, you have the right as a board to tweak it, change it and vote on whatever you want. Yes. Yeah, Desmond and I, um, are sitting on the policy committee and a lot of time, thank you, uh, Danny and, um, Dr. Cox and and Mr. policy change is a slow one. So, it takes some time to do it effectively and really get the research and really be more clear. So, um, it's a good question, Kathy. Um, anything else on the facilities report? No. Um, how about
080the Sayville, um, the claims report? Sponsor? All right. Thank you. Um, and I just wanted to take the, uh, moment just to, um, Uh, just speak, um, because he's here at our table, I just want to, um, give a shout out and a congratulations to our board member, um, Anthony for being named the Sayville Victorian. Thank you [applause] very much. And and I'm sure senior year and all the awards that are beginning to become a reality, right? It's it's you're on the countdown. Um, we will miss you greatly next year. Um, also, um, important to, um, point out that we have our board and, uh, our board meeting on the same day as our budget meeting coming up in May. The slate will be, um, for the spot held by, um, Tom Cooley, uh, will
081be Tom Cooley running for that spot. Um, and for the open seat that was left by James Birch, um, it will be Jason Rowland and Kyle Valentine up for that seat. So, um, those are the people who put in and they will, uh, be on the ballot. Okay, anything else for the board discussion? Uh, yeah. Okay. Um, so, Mr. Decker had sent us all an email, so if we could just acknowledge that regarding the green bin clothing and I guess we would discuss it then at the next meeting because it really sounds like a great idea. Yeah, I think so. You said it yesterday was it? The 20th. You'll definitely have an opportunity to discuss it. Great. Thank you, Kathy, and thank you to Mr. Decker. We look forward to discussing that. Um all right,
082board meeting. Anything else? Okay, I'm going to move on to our first public comment of the evening. Um as a reminder, this public comment is limited to 3 minutes and it's based on agenda items only. Is there anyone who'd like to make a comment? Sure. Please come up and identify yourself. Thank you. Hello. I'm Jennifer Hochman. I am the co-president of SEPTA. Um I have a written question if you'd like me to read it or not. Uh so, SEPTA has had a number of elementary parents ask who the new orchestra teacher will be and if the leaving assistant teacher will continue or someone new will be hired. Uh we haven't seen that position posted yet and given that all the open positions have been filled, just wanted to see what the plan is and an
083idea of time frame if possible. Yeah, we're uh currently reviewing staffing right now, working with staff and with administration to determine uh which teachers can go where and what hiring we would need to do. Um so, that'll probably play out in the near future. Yeah. Thank you. Did I see another hand? Good evening, everyone. Kyle Downtown. Um just want to say thank you to everyone for the um the budget this year. Um you know, it's very comprehensive, um very detailed, uh especially that second uh budget meeting. I mean, you guys went line by line. That was very knowledgeable. Um you know, as someone who's been coming uh very regularly to the board meetings for the past 2 years, uh you know, this was just a a positive experience. Um you know, 2 years ago, if
084you remember, we um you know, you you mentioned it before, we talked about custom foundation aid um and um you know, how those formulas were going to be uh be reimagined, but luckily that has not happened yet, we understand. And then, of course, last year, um you understand we had a major budget gap. Um you know, there was teachers excess, positions excess, um some things that were uh you know, were lost. So, again, uh this year we just wanted to say that it was a positive experience, uh very smooth uh um very smooth process. So, again, I thank you for that. Um just one concern, one one thing to bring up um from last year. I know um a lot of student a lot of people you know, some of the teachers positions were excess
085due to uh budgetary concerns and also enrollment. Is that correct? There were, I believe, four positions. Yeah. Uh I want to go back to um some of the you know, the the teach the positions that were you know, um affected by enrollment. I believe a lot of those were primary uh you know, the primary grades, the first grade, first and second grade at four star elementary schools. Is that correct? Uh the biggest impact was in second grade. Um so, does the does the board have a strategy? Cuz again, looking at some of the data I saw, you know, a lot of those class sizes increased by six, seven, or eight students. Um you know, now they have 23, 24, 25 students in second grade, you know, above you know, that's way you know, that's you
086know, much above the average, which the average is 20.8. Um so, is there any strategy going forward or are these students, you know, uh put in hold for having, you know, four or five extra students in their class for the next you know, their elementary career? Yeah, we looked at that closely. That was our current second grade uh 23, 24, or 25 depending on the school. Um we're still in that zone when they're heading into the third grade, but I do want to recognize that in kindergarten and first grade they had 14 and 15, so they had a lot of really significant attention. We also uh work with principals to make sure there was pushing support for those classes and that when the small group instruction occurred, uh those students were doing well. And we
087have seen them thrive. So, um while those class sizes are a little bit higher than the other class sizes, 22s, 23s in like most classes, uh as a third grade class it's 24, 25, mostly 23, 24. Uh we're we're kind of holding there right now. All right. Again, just concerned that, you know, if there's an unless I see an influx, you know, I guess there's an unless there's an influx of enrollment, those numbers are going to you know, stay pretty static for their elementary careers. I was just wondering if there's a strategy Yeah. They might decrease They might decrease depending on progression as they hit sixth grade because there's a different set of teachers as well. Again, again, thank you again. Um thank you for the again, it was a very positive um and extremely
088positive budget process. You guys should be proud. I can't thank you to everyone involved with the budget, especially the budget advisory committee. I think that was a uh a good addition to this year. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Um any other would like to speak? Okay. Uh I I I just want to say something real quick. You know, I I I think Robert has us in excellent footing right now, but those lines have crossed yet, right? So, we still need more revenue than we're spending. And so, I I think hopefully if that trajectory continues, then we can start to look at, "Hey, what do we want to do better?" Anything you know, that's a great example Well, of of of such an example, you know, something that we could do, you
089know, once we get our money straight. So, right now we're level um and I think we're trending in the right direction, but you know, I think over years of time like now you can start to really implement some stuff that's going to you know, make our program better. So, thank you for that comment. Okay. Nobody else um has any more comments. Going to move on to our um our recommended actions. Um I'm going to take 7.01 to 7.05. Motion, Kelly. Second. Kathy. Um any discussion? Uh 0.05. 7.05. Uh any other discussion? All in favor? All right, passes. All right, 7.06 is going to be the budget adoption, so this is going to be by roll call. So, can I have a motion to take 7.06? Desmond. Second. Chris. Um any discussion? All right, has anyone
090Okay, I think most of us have made a comment on the on the budget already. I didn't, I just want to say again, I enjoyed the process. I think we're heading in the right direction. I think that this is a budget that we all should be proud of. Um and um anybody else? I want to roll call. Okay. Anybody else? Okay, then we go roll call. So, it's a yes or no. Yay. Yes. Kathy, yes. Kelly, yes. Tom, yes. Chris, yes. Christine, yes. Okay. Motion carries. All right, now taking 7.07 to 7.10. Can I have a motion? Motion. Kelly. Tom. Second. Any discussion? Yeah, I had a question on 7.9. Sure. If you can do that Um and I I I know you probably can't get into too much detail because of uh of what
091it is, but that's a that's a far that's a far like is there a transportation involved in that or like I just just because it's so uh that that's a that's a distance and there's a lot of districts in between, so I didn't I I know it's at a fine line because we can't discuss things that we can't discuss, but So, I'll speak in generalities. As you know, there's what's called cross contracts between school districts. So, many times if the school district doesn't have an appropriate program for a student or if they're looking for another setting, they'll put packets out to our special education department. Those are reviewed. If we believe we can, you know, invite that student in and give them a good service, we'll give the parent or the family a tour and
092they see if it's a right fit, but yes, transportation is provided, but ultimately the parent of any student, you know, they're in agreement and they decide to send their child here. All right. Um I just wanted to speak on 7.10 um for the approval of the donation of funds for various contributors of elementary orchestra. And uh you know, I just wanted to thank all those people for donating to the Patricia De Rico Memorial um and especially Susan Kraus. Um she's made a tremendous donation and and and all the people that are listed in the agenda. Um thank you for that and hopefully it helps the elementary school students. >> [applause] [applause] >> Yeah. No, I think I I I think we should name all of them, right? And I would like to say all of
093their names. Yeah, so we have Stephen and Natalie Jones, Cara Varga, Woo! Stephen is buying. Um Deborah Armendinger, Susan Kraus, Megan and Frank Longobucco, and Alice Cheesman Gross. Thank you so much for all of your donations. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Stephen, for your donation. Okay. Any further discussion? All in favor? All right, motion carries. Um okay, taking 8.01 8.05 Motion? Motion. Tom, second Chris. Um any discussion? All in favor? Okay, motion carries. Okay, at that [clears throat] time I just want to take a moment to recognize our new staff who was hired. Um I want to thank and welcome to the district our new librarian at Lincoln Avenue, Alexandra >> [applause] >> She was hired and new, welcome to the district. Thank you. Uh we also want to welcome uh back Roberta Zoller who
094has been on and off in our district. I don't know if she's here tonight, but congratulations and welcome back. Next year for reserve Roberta Zoller. And um also at the high school in our guidance department I want to welcome back Nina Santoro. >> [applause] >> Welcome to Sayville. We are lucky to have you and uh we look forward to all the great things you will do with our students. Um okay. Um It's a long meeting to wait to get I know, sorry. Just shows your dedication. Um all right, 9.01 um and 9.02. Motion. Motion. Second Desmond. Um okay, these are the budget BOCES votes. Um so any discussion? So we Do we have to go to name by name for the voting of the ballot for the BOCES board of election? Yeah, it's five candidates
095for five seats. So you don't have to pick them out individually. Okay. Okay. Um so I guess the first thing is I will say I stand in favor of the budget um that BOCES put forth. Um you know, we know that they use their money to do as much work as they possibly can. Um and so I guess we should pick them out separately actually cuz um yeah, sorry. All right, so I'm going to go back and amend that. Uh let's take 9.01 first for by itself. Um can I have a motion? Motion Chris, second Kathy. Um so let's first vote on the budget for BOCES. Um any discussion? No, all in favor? All right, yes. Okay, recording yes on the budget for BOCES. All right, now we're going to move to 9.03 which is
096the BOCES board election. Um so can I have a motion? Kelly, second Chris. All right, um this is five people for five spots. Um so if we just vote for all five of them, um any discussion? No? Okay, so uh voting for all five candidates for all five spots. Can um all in favor? All right, so that motion carries as well. Yes, make sure that Tom was was not present for either. Okay, thank you. Um okay, uh let's take 9.03 and 9.04 together. They're both policy related. Um can I have a motion? Kelly, second Desmond. All right, this is our first read on these policies. Are there any questions? So I just have a question about the policy that we sent on 9.04. So I mean, from what I read it is about trying to
097get parents engaged and stuff like that. Why are we rescinding that policy? Can you speak to that? I think it was it says cuz it was covered in in a in a different policy. So Nisba yeah, Nisba suggested that it was redundant. Right. Yeah, the 1900 and 1920 were I I think in past years accidentally adopted and they're almost entirely the same exact wording. So Nisba's recommendation was that 1900 was up in more current wording, 1920 should be rescinded so that there's no duplication and we're currently in committee right now. We started with the left policy committee meeting and we're going to finish up in June reviewing 1900 so that it can be updated as well. All right, any other discussion on policy or questions? No? Okay, um all in favor? Oh, no all in
098favor. That was just a review, right? Okay. Um ni um so 9.06 to 9.08. Can I have a motion? Chris. Second Desmond. Any questions or discussion? No? All in favor? Okay, motion carries. We didn't, I didn't. Okay, so we have to all in favor our first read of the policies 9.03 and the rescind, right? 9.03 9.04. Okay, all in favor? Means we first read it. Okay. Yeah. Um okay, upcoming dates. Wow, it's that time of year. And then my eyes were not working. Okay, April 23rd the Gabby Petito Foundation Parent Workshop 6:00 p.m. at Sayville High School. April 23rd is the District Jazz Night 7:30 at Sayville Middle School. April 28th will be the High School Spring Concert number one 7:30 at the Sayville High School. April 29th will be the High School National Honor
099Society Induction at 7:00 p.m. April 30th will be the High School Concert number two 7:30 p.m. at Sayville High School. May 6th will be Middle School Spring Band 7th and 8th Grade Jazz Concert 7:00 to 8:30 at the Sayville Middle School. May 7th Sunrise Drive Spring Concert 7:30 at Sunrise Drive. May 11th Cherry Avenue Spring Chorus Spring Concert 7:00 p.m. at Sayville High School. And May 12th will be our next Board of Education Workshop meeting budget hearing at 7:30 at the Administration Building. Okay, um I'd like to open our second public comment if anyone has any comments or questions? All right, there are a lot of people here if you're not seeing them, but they don't have anything to say. So thank you. Uh all right, um I need to make a motion or need
100a motion to enter into executive session to discuss confidential personnel matters regarding specific employees. Motion Kelly. Second. Second Kathy. All in favor? Okay, we're going to exact. Good night everyone.