001Test one, two right here. Turn it off. [Music] Yes. Good evening everyone. Uh let's rise for the pledge. To the flag of God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. First item on agenda is board recognition. So, um, we're gonna take Moren over to the screen over here. Come on over. So, we're going to be honoring Morin Dolan for her 30 years of service on the Sab. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] This is an unbelievable thing to think. This is her last board meeting as a trustee. Um, but certainly I think we have like an honorary lifetime achievement for her. Um, when I was interviewing for the job here in Savville, I met the board of education obviously many times. Um, but the thing that I was struck by was specifically with Moren the way she cared
002about students. Every question she asked me was about how do you support special education students? How do you make sure everyone feels equitable? How do you feel everyone feels included? How do you make sure that world language is taught from kindergarten through 12th grade? How do you make sure that steam and science and technology, every question she asked was about instruction and experiences for students? And that's why I knew that I wanted to work here in Sabo because there was a place that was focused on those things. And Moren, you have been a champion for those things for 30 years. You've been a champion for those things since I've arrived. And I appreciate you and your dedication to the students so very much. [Applause] I prepared a few words for you. Okay. So, I wrote
003it down so I'd be able to say it. Okay. Good evening everyone. Tonight, we come here together to honor someone whose unwavering dedication and quiet strength has left an indelible mark on our schools and our entire community. After 30 years of service on this school board, spanning more than 660 meetings, over 4,000 hours of volunteer time, it's nearly impossible to sum up the full scope of that impact. But perhaps the clearest evidence is in in the 9498 students who have walked across the graduation stage during that time. Yes, we counted on. and every single one of them benefited from the decisions, the guidance, and the steady support of of Sale School Board Trustee Moren Dole. It's not about the time, though that alone is extraordinary. It's about the heart behind it. Moren service was never
004about recognition. At times, it wasn't easy, but it always was about one thing, the children of our community. I've had the privilege of serving alongside Moren with for 17 years. At one of my very first meetings, she said something that stuck to me ever since. She said, "By design, things do not happen quickly with the school board. It takes time and the time is needed to allow the process to work to make the best decisions for our students." That insight has guided me uh more times than I can count. It has And it was never about rushing. It was about doing the right thing and for the right reasons. And Moren, I thank you personally for that wisdom. We didn't always agree, right? Well, we always listened to each other. We always respected one another's
005perspective. And we always share the same goal, doing what's best for our students. That mutual respect even though it was through debate and disagreement made us stronger. It led us to better decisions and it set an example for how we hope our students could one day leave lead with civility with purpose and with integrity on behalf of the entire board and the sale community. Thank you Moren. Thank you for your decades of commitment, your tireless work, and most of all your unwavering belief in the power of public education. Your legacy is not written just in the minutes and emotions, but lives but it lives in the lives you touch. Your decisions shaped uh your decisions shaped the school and the futures you have also built with your decisions. You will be deeply missed around the
006board table for your impact we felt for years to come. Congratulations and we wish you the best in the years to come. You're welcome. [Applause] In order to make this official, I will ask Miss Kelly uh to read the board resolution into the record. Whereas Moren Dolan served this school district and the students of the Sable Public Schools for 30 years as a board trustee and seven of those years as vice president. And whereas Mrs. Dolan's duties have always been discharged in a commendable manner with loyalty and distinction. And whereas Mrs. Dolan is a tireless advocate for the education and well-being of children. And now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education recognizes Mrs. Dolan's dedicated service and hereby expresses the gratitude of its members on behalf of the community. And further, the
007board of education hereby instructs the school district clerk to place a copy of this resolution upon the minutes of this meeting as a public record. [Applause] Okay, we have one more. Um yeah, there's one other thing that we wanted to repeat. A few years ago, the Sable Board of Education created the Sable Service Award. Um it's a special recognition honoring individuals who have made lasting contributions through their dedication and service to our community. On the past, we have had the privilege of recognizing Fred Langstep, John Mone, and Carl Kangelos, each of whom exemplified a deep and abiding commitment to Sable. Um tonight, it is our honor to present the Sable Service Award to our fourth recipient, Morin Dolan. Moren, your decades of service, your steadfast lead leadership, your unwavering focus on students make you more
008than deserving of this recognition. You join a distinguished group and we're proud to add your name to it. Congratulations and thank you for your service. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Okay. All right. [Music] Yeah. So, this is a really nice meeting because we get to celebrate a whole bunch of people, people who make a difference in the lives of our students, both adults and also the students who are here, too. Um, we did just celebrate Moren Dolan for her 30 years of service, but we also have other staff members and other people who make a difference in the lives of our students that we want to honor tonight. So, I'd like to call up a couple of really important people who make a difference in our schools with their volunteerism. And these are parents who serve as
009our PTA president. So, if you're here and you'd like to come up, we're going to take a picture and just thank you for your work. Uh, PTA Council Sally Carowski. [Applause] [Music] and Mullen [Applause] Drive. Marissa Roso and FL Middle School, Jennifer Pontetta. [Applause] Snapchat Martin. [Applause] Come on. Slide down. Um, these women work tirelessly, absolutely tirelessly to help their schools or their groups to have the most and the best for our students. They supplement us in so many ways with their volunteerism, with their events, with their activities for students outside of the school day. And they are dedicated to inclusivity and caring about every single child in our schools. We would not have a district that is as enriched and as beautiful as we do without these people. And I think it's a thankless
010job sometimes. People don't always say, "Hey, thank you for all you do." But we we know this is the, you know, the best we can do is say, "Thank you for everything you do. You make a difference for children." And that is something a life worth living. So, thank you. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] At this time, we want to honor a staff member. So, we're going to ask for uh Mr. Felosa, our director of food services, to come down. He has someone he wants to honor and speak about uh for you tonight. under walking down. Can I just make a comment quick? Um, I just wanted to uh as a Sunrise Drive parent um just really recongratulate I guess Marissa and and FA uh as a first-time parent um of a kindergartenner you know is
011a little intimidating going to a new building even though like I'm around kids all day and that's what I do for a living but you know you don't really know anybody and you know you're wondering you know you're looking around and and it's a nervous energy for my for my son as well but they were so welcoming and I could never thank them enough for what they did um and for what they do on a daily basis at Sunrise. So I just wanted to thank all [Applause] [Music] thank you Dr. Ferris St. board of education members and Miss Ron Liz Rolley. As mentioned, I'm Keith Felosa, the head of Sable's food nutrition department. Tonight, I'm here to pay recognition to one of the food nutrition team members, Miss Tina Marada. Tina is a certified teacher
012in the health education field. We were lucky enough to have Tina join our team in October of 2018 with a two and three/4er hour position at Lincoln Avenue where she learned a lot of things about this child nutrition feeding program. She worked, washed dishes, restocked shelves, ensured all students had a meal. Since then, Tina has grown from food service worker to an assistant cook to the lead cook at the middle school, where it has been said the lunches she serves are fire. That's a good thing. Yes. In a normal day, Tim will feed over 200 students in the middle school, assist in the feeding of another 1,000 plus students throughout the district while helping to set up and run functions throughout the district. But today I would like to recognize and thank Miss Marada for
013the dedication and hard work she put into a student work experience program that we have joined into with these these subies. Tina built the program to help the student use what was learned in the classroom to a real life working environment. Teter mened mentored this student and helped the student hone their skills and newly learned craft in an liveaction kitchen. Last I heard, the student is on their way this fall to a culinary school. Thank you, Tina. Great job. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Tina, it is with great pride to present you this certificate this certification recognition with a heartfelt thank you and congratulations on the wonderful job you do every day for the students to say. Thank you. Um, so Keith, we have a little surprise for you. Um, it's a little bit of
014a bait and switch because for the last seven months, our PTAs have been raving about you and what a difference you make in the lives of our students in food services. Whether you're running around helping out in every single kitchen rolling your sleeves up and getting in with your staff or you're doing special events for our PTAs and our other organizations, we felt we would be remiss if we didn't take a moment to honor you in front of this group and to give you the recognition that you deserve to make these difference in the lives of our students. And I hope this is an example that it doesn't matter what role you play in this organization. Every single employee in this district has the ability to make a difference in the lives of our students.
015And you certainly do. So, I'm going to read the [Applause] in recognition of his outstanding leadership in overseeing the school district's food service program with dedication and professionalism. His commitment to providing high quality meals ensures that every student is wellfed and ready to learn. Mr. Felos is a team player and he's always willing to pitch in and help no matter what the text. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Yes, it is. We've been begging Dr. Harris to give Keith a recognition since probably January. Um he does so much for the PTAs. He supports us. Um if it's a last minute call on a Friday morning that we need something for Monday, um he's always there to help us and lend a hand. And it really is great to have a partnership within the school knowing that we
016don't have to do the running around on the back end ourselves and that we also are supporting the school districts as well by using um food and nutrition. So for all of us, thank you so much. You make our job 100 times easier and you show up with a smile and it's so great to see you. So thank you all. [Music] [Applause] [Music] and the president of the cherry PTA asked me to read some words as well. Uh she writes, "Keith has been such an incredible asset to our PTA at Cherry Avenue Elementary School this year. He always goes above and beyond for our students. Whether it's last minute ice pop day, providing pizza for the whole school, water at field day, treats for our staff, or helping us with our after school events, we
017know we can always count on Pete to make it special. His attention to detail is top-notch. He will always make sure our students have an allergy friendly option and works tirelessly with his crew and our nurse to ensure safety for all of our students, which we appreciate more than ever. We can express. Working with him has been a true pleasure and we cannot thank him enough for all he has done and continues to do for our students. Thank you Keith for helping us to make this year so special for the students of Cherry Avenue Elementary. Our PTA wouldn't have been able to do it without him. That's from the Cherry Avenue PTA president. [Music] I wanted to uh recognize you this evening. It is an opportunity. We were gonna make a big video, but we
018ran out of time. So, I just wrote a few words, but uh I first met you, Keith, when you were the head chef of the high school and I watched you transition to uh director of food services, and it's been wonderful. Um and uh I just wanted to say I was thrilled to come back to Salem to be able to work with you for the last two years. Um it it's uh it's really I and everything I remember was the same. Uh keep your dedication, teamwork, and attention to detail ensure that every meal served in in more than just food, it's care, nourishment, and dignity for every student. You have turned a vital service into a shining example of excellence and compassion in our district. Whether you're administering behind the scenes or on the front
019lines, dawning a chef's coat, which happens often, uh your work does not go unnoticed. It makes a real difference every single day. For this, I thank you for your commitment, your heart, and your service. And if you've ever had a conversation or an email exchange with Pete, he always uh ends with appreciation and be safe. And it just shows the kind of person you are. So, thank [Applause] All right. At this time, I'd like to invite our high school principal, Miss Breer, up to the microphone. We are going to honor and celebrate some of our students for some academic awards, and then we're going to follow up with Dr. Cox after that with some athletic awards. So, Miss Bricker [Applause] [Music] Hi, good evening. Um, I have eight awards. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes.
020I have eight awards to present this evening and I'm going to start with awards for three of our Girl Scouts who have recently earned their Gold Awards. Um so please come to the front. Uh Emma Travaldia, Adria. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] And I have remarks I'd like to read about all of them, but what I' I'd like to say to start is that these girls all earned their bronze, silver, and gold awards. And that what's so special is they're all from troop 2405, originating from Cherry Avenue Elementary School. [Applause] What's super special is that all of these girls have been in the same troop together since kindergarten. um earning their silver award during the pandemic. And um I'd like to read some remarks about each of them just because I think it's super special to hear
021about what their projects have been. So Emma Travaglia's Girl Scout Gold Award project was titled Reducing Childhood Obesity with Education focused on addressing the growing concern of childhood cardiovascular issues through awareness and engagement. She chose to educate and motivate children in her local community about the connection between obesity, nutrition, and physical activity. Through her efforts, Emma reached over 1,000 children between the ages of 5 and 12. And as part of her project, she partnered with Sable Elementary Schools to launch a fitness challenge that encouraged students to unplug from screens and get moving. Emma plans to attend East Carolina University where she will study nursing and her passion for health and helping others continues to drive her academic and career goals. Congratulations. Adria's Girl Scout Gold Award project was titled The Garden and Games for Good
022Samaritan Nursing Home. Um, and it was inspired by her visits to the facility with Sable High School's Athletes Helping Others Club. Motivated to make a lasting impact, Adria created a native perennial garden, a wooden racehorse game, and a wheelchair accessible volleyball game to enhance the resident's outdoor experience and promote social engagement. And Adria plans to continue her education at the University of Scranton, where she will also play volleyball. [Applause] and Lauren just finished her project. We're very excited to celebrate um her project which is titled Bringing Seniors Together that focused on enhancing the outdoor spaces at the Bristol Assisted Living Facility in Sable to encourage social interaction among residents. Her project included the installation of raised vegetables and herb garden boxes that are fully accessible for seniors with mobility challenges, providing both a therapeutic and
023communal activity. And Lauren plans to continue her studies at St. John Fischer University, where she will major in athletic training. So, congratulations. [Applause] I'd like to say something before you leave. Um, girls, if you think about how many girls were in your Brownie troop so many years ago and look at you. I hope you're really proud of yourself. We're really proud of yourself. Congratulations. [Applause] [Music] Next, I'm going to share some of Mr. Coon's remarks honoring three members of our um robotics club. And I'm going to ask Mr. to come up in a moment to take a picture with um the three uh gentlemen that we're going to honor tonight. Anthony Allegresa, Connor Fallon, and Charles Mclofflin. And I have remarks to read about each of them. [Music] Um, in the words of Mr. um,
024he says, "Anthony, for your incredible leadership, dedication, and handson guiding the team through the 2025 first robotic season, from brainstorming ideas to building a 115 lb competition ready robot, your passion, perseverance, and teamwork inspired everyone around you. Thank you for helping drive stable robotics forward. One motor, one wire, and one late night at a time. Anthony will be attending Host University next fall to study of political science. Congratulations, [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Connor Fallon. Um, Mr. chairs, in recognition of your enthusiasm, initiative, and strong start this year as the vice president of the Sable's first robotics club. Your energy, problem solving mindset, and willingness to jump into every challenge help build our 2025 competition robot and our team spirit. We're excited to see how far you'll go. Connor will be attending Hostra University in the fall
025to study aerospace engineering. Congratulations. [Applause] [Music] And I have some remarks to read about Charles Mccclaclin. No, Charlie. I'm gonna be Yes. Okay. Um from Mr. thank you Charlie for your exceptional work as our lead programmer and key contributor to the success of our 2025 competition robot. As a newer member of the robotics team, you jumped right in, tackled every coding challenge and brought our robot to life. Quite simply, we couldn't have competed this season without your skill, focus, and drive. Thank you for making it all possible. And Charles will be attending St. John's University in the fall to study computer programming. So, tremendous work. [Music] [Applause] [Music] I have two more um students I'd like to acknowledge tonight. Um our saludiatoran and our validictorian. Um, and I'm going to start by honoring Taylor Carpentier,
026the class of 2025 saludiatoran, Taylor Carpentier. Taylor, come on up. [Music] Taylor Carpentier has distinguished herself as an exceptional scholar and leader at Sable High School, excelling both in and beyond the classroom. As president of the science national honor society and a dedicated member of the national honor society and tri music honor society, Taylor exemplifies academic excellence and a passion for well-rounded learning. Her leadership is evident in her role as a senior class officer where she actively contributes to student life and governance. She also serves on the student athlete advisory committee and the school climate advisory committee while participating in organizations such as the anchor club athletes helping others and roappa national social studies honor society underscoring her deep commitment to service and community engagement. A proud member of the save a blue swim team
027since 8th grade. Taylor earned the title of senior captain this past season. A testament to her dedication, perseverance, and athletic talent. In addition to her achievements in academics and athletics, she also contributes her talents as a clarinetist in the wind ensemble and actively participates in the RISE program, demonstrating her passion for scientific inquiry. This fall, Taylor will begin the next chapter of her academic journey at Cornell University, where she will be studying biological sciences. Please join me in celebrating and congratulating the saludiatoran for the class of 2025. [Applause] Now, I'd like to recognize Joy Rapidelli. Joy, if you'd come on up. [Applause] The class of 2025 validictorian Joy Racinelli has earned distinguished recognition as an outstanding scholar and dedicated leader at Sable High School. Her impressive academic achievements are matched by her deep involvement in
028a wide range of extracurricular activities that showcase her commitment, passion, and drive. A three-year varsity athlete and senior captain of the varsity cheerleading team, Joy has demonstrated unwavering dedication and athletic excellence, earning academic county honors five times. Beyond her, excuse me, beyond her athletic achievements, she serves as senior class president, representing her classmates with integrity, energy, and a genuine commitment to making a difference. Joyy's academic dedication is further reflected in her active membership in the National Honor Society, World Languages Honor Society, Athletes Helping Others, Roappa National Social Studies Honor Society, and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Her serviceoriented mindset and school spirit are evident in all that she does. Her dedication to the Sable School District is exemplified by her long-standing participation in the superintendence round table since the sixth grade. Joy has also contributed
029to the growth and development of her peers through her involvement in peer leadership. Moreover, for the past four years, she has generously shared her time and talent by serving as a youth cheer coach for PAL teams. In recognition of her academic excellence, leadership, and community dedication, Sable High School is proud to honor Joya as the validictorian of the class of 2025. This fall she will continue her journey at the University of Virginia where she is sure to thrive and inspire. Please join me in celebrating and congratulating the class of 2020. Thank you very much. [Applause] Thank you. [Music] Okay, now we have a next phase that's going to be kind of interesting because our athletic director, Dr. Cox, is upstate right now with our varsity baseball team will be competing in the state championships tomorrow,
030but he is here with us on live stream and we're going to try to do these awards uh in a hybrid type of way. We're used to that because we were able to handle that. So, Dr. Cox, are you there? You ready? Right. There he is. All right. Good evening, everyone. This is certainly a unique opportunity for us to present from Bennington. I want to introduce our championship baseball team behind me. [Applause] certainly restless and ready uh to be presented uh tonight. So uh I want to thank uh Dr. Paris and board of education uh all of our administrators, our faculty and staff, our s community for allowing us to present uh from Bingington here, but also uh an opportunity to support us uh throughout the whole year. Uh, a special thank you to Sal
031Matos. He's in the back of the room. I would like everyone to give a big round. [Applause] Also, on behalf of our athletic department, I'd like to acknowledge uh Miss Marine Nolan. Marine, thank you so much for your 30 years is your support uh was tremendous. Uh it's it's amazing your accomplishments over the course of that 30-year period. And again, thank you so much for your dedication to say. [Music] So, it's my honor to present uh a quick update of our spring season. just like to go through some of the things. We had over 33 college commitments and and signings. Uh on June 3rd, uh students who are participating in the division one, division 2, division three, and gym pro levels were acknowledged on June 3rd at our ceremony. It was a tremendous event. One
032of my favorite days in the year. We had our senior athletes MVP awards banquet this past Monday, June 9th. Uh was a tremendous success. It's our third year uh doing this dinner and I know that our athletes and a lot of them behind me now were recognized at this dinner as MVPs and obviously recognized our seniors is again one of my favorite evenings of the year and special event for our coaches families and our student athletes. This was close to our hearts especially this room. Gentlemen, what do you think? [Music] Yeah. I have to thank our board of education and Dr. Ferris captain uh for the support of this field dedication. This was an incredible event out on our baseball field. Uh and again I want to I can't thank everyone enough, our booster club
033parents, our baseball booster club. Uh they were tremendous in making this happen and for coach Bits was really a special event for his for him and his family. Congratulations to middle school baseball undefeated 10 and0 on the season. varsity [Applause] boys track and field team to four this year. We're also a miss scholar athlete. The New York State Public High School Athletic Association recognizes teams that achieve uh 90 or better. Uh 75% of the team has to achieve a 90 or better and track and field for boys accomplish this goal. And you'll see that this is a continued trend tonight. Girls spring track and field they were 5-1 in League six. They were also a NISPA scholar athlete team. Varsity girls lacrosse 12 in division two very tough league 14-4 overall. They were a classy
034finalist and wound up a classy runner up in the South County championship and also a miss for scholar athlete team. Varsity boys lacrosse classy semi- finalist 11-7 on the team and in Miss Scholar athlete team as well. Varsity softball they were 13-5 in six 15-8 overall. They were playoff qualifier this year and miss the scholar athlete team. Varsity boys tennis, they were 8 and4 in division 2, 8 and seven overall. They were also a team playoff qualifier and a scholar athlete team this year. Unified bowling had a tremendous year. It's our second year with unified bowling. It's been a tremendous success. Congratulations to Miss Morell and her team for an incredible season. UI basketball win. They were 33-2 on the season, but records still matter to us. Look at the smiles and and the experience
035that they had. Uh and it just continues to grow and be a tremendous success. Congratulations again to Miss Farrell and Coach Deon Perez on a wonderful season. Three new champions in the spring. Girls varsity golf, girls varsity play football and varsity baseball. [Music] Varsity girls got they were league three champions. They were an undefeated 12 and0 on the season and also a scholar athlete team. RC girls played football. Tremendous season. I had a distinct opportunity to come up last week to Courtland and watch them participate. very proud of this team. League 2 champions, undefeated 16 and up, 20-1 on the season. They were class B Suffet County champions, class B Long Island champions, class B Southeast regional champions, and they were class B district championship semi-finalists. They were top four and class B New York
036State and also a scholar athlete team. Big round of applause for Washington. [Applause] [Music] 11 and seven league uh league six very very tough league. They were league six champions. They were class A Suffach County champions. Class A Long Island champions, class A Southeast regional champions, and they were also a scholar athlete team. and gentlemen, let's take it home. [Applause] This team will compete tomorrow in the semifinal of the class A New York State Championship and we wish them the best of luck. My quick year review, we have nine elite champions. We had five penny champions, three Long Island champions. Cheer went to the nationals. They took fifth in the country in game day and 22nd in the country in traditional. They were top 25 in both. That's never been done in the history of
037state. Congratulations to cheer. 14th championships, girls cross country, girls volleyball took third. Girls playing as a semi-finalist in top four in the state. Baseball is already a top four team in the state and looking for more this weekend. Something that we're very proud of, the athletic department. All 11 varsity spring teams receive scholar athlete recognition, which also brings us to this. 100% of all of our varsity teams receive scholar athlete recognition. and we will be recognized by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association in the fall as a school of distinction which is also an outstanding achievement. So congratulations [Applause] [Music] again for us. Now, it is my honor to present some citations to our championship teams and some of our individual award recipients. First, let's honor our girls flag football championship team.
038Champions, Long Island champions, regional champions, and a New York State semifinalist. I'm going to ask for room to please hold your applause. until they are all called. And when your name is called, please come up to the front to get a citation. Abigail Albertie, Eli, Ashley Alexander, Juliano Alsama, Riley Cameron, Caitlyn Cohen, Grace Cullen, Sabrina Anon, Elena Hackinson, Grace Hansen, Kaylee Hillary, Kyla Castner, Jill Livingston, Kiara Lombardo, Annella Marina, Ashley McBride, Maline McInness, Olivia Pointan, Jessica Person, Karen Quinland, Trinity Rice, Olivia Rigggins, Lauren Smallley, Gabriella Sto, Bridget Spreckles, Abby Street, Emma Pelicowski, Ella Trauma, Emma Dvakia, Ava Bakers, [Applause] [Music] Re Sans, assistant coaches, Adam Dit, Deb Erso, Matthew Star, and Jason Gent. Congratulations to our flag football championship team. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Very nice. [Applause] [Music] Congratulations again for flag football. Big round of
039applause. [Applause] Now we recognize some of our individual honors before we recognize our baseball team here. Varsity girls track and field. The 4x800 relay made state championships and they're competing there this weekend. But I'm going to pull them out if they uh that they deserve recognition. Suffach County Champion in the 4x 800 relay. Jordan Weber, New York State qualifier in the 4x800 relay. Christina Duffy, New York State qualifier in the 4x 800 relay and Suffach County champion. in the 4x800 relay. Ashlin Beach, New York State qualifier in the 4x800 relay and Suffach County champion in the 4x800 relay. Maddie Griffin, New York state qualifier in the 4x 800 relay and a Suffach County champion in the 4x800 relay. Mariana Duffy, New York State qualifier in the 4x 800 relay relay. Elizabeth Butrick. Congratulations to them
040and good luck upstate and middle town. [Applause] Next, I'd like to recognize our New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance High School Leadership Awards. These students exemplify leadership, character, and excellence in health and physical education. They were recognized this past Monday at our athletic awards. Our female recipient, Isabella Mquist, [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and our male recipient, Andrew Law. [Music] [Applause] This is fun. Girls lacrosse, we have two outstanding accomplishments for our girls lacrosse players in addition to a wonderful season. Achieving Sucker County Girls Lacrosse Coaches Association academic all-American. Congratulations, Sophia Canelosi. [Music] [Applause] Unfortunately, cannot be here tonight. Our next recipient, one of the highest honors you can receive. She was Suffach County Girls Lacrosse Coaches Association All American. Congratulations, Junior Sophia Leafardi. Our [Music] honors have not been released yet.
041Certainly, there's more to come to all of our sports. We have one baseball player on the road whom we do know achieved first team all Long Island and that is Kyle Msina. [Applause] [Music] And now to introduce our league six champions, class A Suffach County champions, class A Long Island champions, and Class A Southwest Regional Champions again right here in Bingington this weekend. Our baseball team, please hold your applause. When I call you ladies and gentlemen, walk right through. Give a wave to your community and back. Here we go. Now, [Music] [Applause] Tyler Brown, Ryan Cameron, Patrick Fan, Gary Foster, [Music] Aan Labella, [Music] Alex Labella, Jack, Andrew Law, Nate Lewis, Shane Le, Kyle Pina, Patrick O'Brien, Max Person, Thomas, [Music] Jakeburgger, Chris, Joseph, Brody Brady Valente and our head coach Joel [Music] [Applause] [Music]
042and also making a trip up to this weekend or have my career draw. [Music] Again, I want to thank uh the board and Dr. Ferris for allowing us to present from Bingington. Again, I want to wish the best of luck for and congratulate all of our athletes this year and especially this spring. Thanks everyone from Bington. We're out. [Applause] That was certainly the most interesting uh athletics awards they've given at a board meeting to date. Uh and we're happy that we can have the technology to be able to do that. I want to congratulate all of our students and all of our um both our athletes and our academic award recipients and also our girl scouts for the job well done and also again thank you to our PTAs to our our adults who have
043been celebrated. Uh this is an absolutely wonderful school district with amazing students, amazing families, amazing staff and we are so proud of everything we've accomplished this year in and out inside and outside of the classroom. You talk about academics and athletics. It's really quite an amazing thing to see that every single one of our athletic teams not only achieves athletic success with their wins and their championships, but also every single athletic team being a scholar athlete team. It's just absolutely amazing community. So, I just want to thank the community, thank the board. I want also thank me for her years of service here in Sable. We wish you the best and um thank you for a really terrific school year for our students. [Applause] Rhonda, on behalf of the board of education, I want to
044thank you for your service in sales school. Personally, I want to thank you uh because I've known you for quite a while. You've been before your role as a business superintendent and I just want to say I've always appreciated, you know, your work ethic and thank you for your service. [Applause] Oh yes. Okay. We have correspondence. Um we received a letter uh from u a student high school student regarding the uh the board seat and then we also received a letter from the STA. Okay. Under uh board discussion we have the uh scope annual meeting on August 13 at the board mansion at 5 o'clock. So let Julie know if anybody's interested to go to that and also we have um the high school commencement uh just a discussion. Um, I wrote it up just
045to see maybe in the future if um board members uh feel um if they're flexible about being photographed if or to maybe give the high school a liberty to to look at the whole program and um maybe if we can make the process a little bit faster by, you know, just giving out the diplomas and then maybe doing photos off to the side. um you know that that make the process a little bit faster. Tom, I think it's a good idea if you're looking for input. I think to move the process forward and faster, I think it's a good idea. Was he looking for input? the new process. Well, right now the the process is, you know, you should stop for a photo, which is kind of time consuming. And after 17 years, I'm thinking
046like maybe I know other schools do it differently. So, I just wanted to see if the board was um you know, flexible, but let the high school look at it and if they have any ideas, you know, they're free to do whatever they would like. is for the graduates. Yeah. So that so what I would say is um because we're planning graduation literally next week everything the same for this year and then Miss Bricker will be able to you know work with her staff and figure out if she wants to make any changes. It's really should be at the discretion of the high school. Yeah. It's not I'm not saying anything for this year. I'm just saying as a open you know idea. I think we're happy to look at it but and for for
047the future but um leave the discretion of the high school to decide how you want to run. Yep. Okay. And um the next item any other discussion for the board? Okay. Okay. Then we have um public uh comment. Uh I'll open it up to the public. Does anybody wish to speak to? I have one person about that. It's off. It's good. Closer. Are you able to hear me? Yeah, if you're closer. There you go. Hi there. I'm speaking into to you tonight about what seems to be a musical math problem that's potentially negatively impacting some of Sable's most talented students. Imagine a student who struggles academically, but who absolutely shines in a specific area of talent, their music. something they're passionate about that brings them joy and validates them in a way that they don't
048get from other areas of school. They're so talented, in fact, that they're eligible for an extremely selective and advanced class full of only those students who share their gifts, their drive, and their abilities. However, despite the rigor of this class and the higher level of mastery, commitment, and effort that it demands, it's treated no differently in that student's high school career than any other school level class that's neither competitive nor selective. That feels like a missed opportunity to support the student where they're finding success and an invalidation of their pursuit of a path that is not in the core academics. Now, imagine an extraordinarily well-rounded student, a student who excels in all areas, a scholar athlete who's at the top of their class. They're enrolled in the most advanced levels, AP and honors in all
049of their core classes. They're active in clubs in their community, and an incredibly talented musician who's been playing or singing since fourth grade. They're so talented that they audition for and are selected to perform in an ensemble music class. They're in the running for validictorian saludiatoran perhaps truly the top of their class. I think we can all agree that most colleges would love to see a student with these varied interests and talents apply. Now imagine this student is told that it would be better for their GPA if they dropped out of that ensemble music class, the class that they had to audition to get into. One of the three most selective and advanced music performance classes in our school. that because this class is not weighted as an honors level class, it would actually hurt
050their GPA and so they're advised to drop it. What a horrible position to put that student in, and what a lousy way to curtail their extraordinarily well-rounded transcript when applying to colleges. This is not a hypothetical situation. This has actually happened on more than one occasion to more than one disabled graduate. Again, that seems like an invalidation of their studies in the arts as opposed to their core pursuits. In order to be in the string ensemble, wind ensemble, and corral classes, students must perform in an individual audition, demonstrate mastery of their instrument or voice, have exemplary musicianship, and be dedicated enough to handle the rigor of learning, practicing, and performing advanced pieces at an entirely different level than the orchestra, chorus, and concert band. These classes demand a level of scholarship above and beyond their
051grade level. They are truly the music department's honors courses. In this year's graduating class alone, eight students have already declared their major or minor in the field of music. Each of these students were enrolled in one of these three ensemble classes. However, nothing on their transcript indicates the fact that they were an advanced class. Colleges don't know the difference that Seville string ensemble is different from orchestra, their corral different from chorus or wind ensemble from concert band. And how would they when they're not weighted any differently than a non- selective course that's open to anyone? There is no doubt that Sable has an extraordinary music program. This year alone has been filled with incredible rankings, awards, honors, and designations that validate that our musicians are being taught at or performing at an advanced level. It
052seems only logical that the highest level classes available in our musical curriculum for which they have to audition be appropriately weighted as honored courses and to continue to not treat those classes as such feels like a disservice at best. We should never have a situation where students committed to excellence have to choose to sacrifice an area of expertise and talent because their most advanced classes are not being appropriately appropriately calculated into their GPA. Waiting these advanced classes as honor courses is not a novel idea. Other area schools who also pride themselves on their fantastic music programs and robust music offerings have honors level ensemble classes that are weighted just as any other honors level class in the catalog. For example, Huntington High School um has honor tracks available in band, choir, and orchestra. And Sichcham
053and Comarmac high schools both not only offer honors waiting of 1.1 just like we do for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. They also offer college credit through five towns college for the seniors who are in their wind ensemble, corral ensemble, and string ensemble groups. Those are the same classes that we have here at SA. These are not new classes that would need to be formed or new teachers that would need to be sourced. These classes are already in place as they have been for years. The only change that would have to happen is to correct the waiting of these classes to then ex reflect their advanced level. So my question to you is pretty simple. I'm wondering why not. And so I'm hoping that you'll consider the next year going forward perhaps waiting those advanced classes
054differently as honors courses for our music students. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you for the comments and what I'd like to do is look into this a little further and then I'm gonna have someone from the get back to you want to follow appreciate. Yeah, I that was fascinating. I'll be honest with you. It's something I've never thought about is weighing um the the the honors classes. I wonder if uh they do choose uh or if they are choosing music as a path in college, are those classes at least at the very least being recognized uh by those schools? Um but as far as weighing them as as the GPA is actually something that I've never even thought about. So it that that whole your your whole comment or ultimate question is
055fascinating to me. So, I can't wait to, you know, to get into it because it was it's interesting and it's a thought I've never thought about. So, thank you. And colleges do look at the rigor of the coursework no matter what the GPA. Also, a lot of colleges unweight everything and create their own rating systems when they look at acceptances and things of that nature. But we definitely want to encourage all of our students to take the courses that that they feel they can take on the most. We're gonna look into that. Thanks, Sally. Um, I have I didn't even think that was a thing as we're talking here. Everyone just seems to agree. Um, my own daughter takes one of those classes and I didn't even think of that. So, thank you for bringing
056that to our attention and I also look forward to the answer. Okay. Uh, any other comments? Yes, ma'am. Good evening. Ryan W. Um, first and foremost, and I make this with the most most respect. I can't believe we've done this for what essentially is my entire life. So, that's incredible. Um, and I know I typically come up here with a bunch of questions, but tonight I'm hoping you can just hear me out. It's the end of the school year, so it's feel it's important that we take stock in what we learned in the past year and where we need to collectively improve going forward. And it feels like during this whole budget scenario, there was a misrepresentation of accounting irregularities during the presentations that continually led to facts that, you know, weren't clear during the
057entire session. We have an illogical increase in general insurance. are told to blindly accept and pretend that it doesn't, you know, directly relate to malfeasance of the district and its personnel. And, you know, I want to remind everyone that that same negligence has cost at least two potential teachers their job due to increased cost about what our peers are paying. We also had mismanagement of transportation costs. We now learned we either had the misplacement, misuse, or misappropriation of school assets. a dog and pony show of a security forum where we clearly knew there was no budget for any meaningful changes and a blatant disregard of elementary students who showed up to these meetings. Now, if we zoom out a bit further, we've seen our reserves depleted to the point that we're pushing the precipice of
058being designated as susceptible fiscal stress school due to our low unassigned fund balance and recent operating deficits. And I don't know about you, but I don't think a town like Seville should already be in the bottom 10% of Long Island schools in terms of our fiscal rating. And we are dangerously close to being the third school to breach that threshold, which is where I don't think we should be trending. And I can tell you this, and I've seen the math looking at our our budget, we're danger dangerously close to achieving that this year. And then we had this pomp and circumstance made around administrators taking a solid freeze. But it does seem that certain administrators with the doctor titles are being made whole by increasing their stipens to $6,000 a year covering any lossbased salary.
059So this is all just scratching the surface. So my question might ultimately be what's the board's solution for all this? Are we finding new revenue sources, better managing our non-program expenses? Because to be clear after these past few months, I have no idea where your solution is. And personally, when I hear all this and the issues we're faced and the words that keep coming to my mind are ethics and integrity and quite frankly, I always struggle to find them when we have these meetings. And I think that's because the ability that it seems like the public to trust this group has been eroded to a point that I don't know how we resolve that. And I hope everyone feels a bit uncomfortable hearing all this because that's how I think our five, six, and seven
060year olds, our most vulnerable students who don't yet have their own voices and their families are going to feel all next year because they were picked as the scapegoats in all this. And if you don't feel uncomfortable, then I don't know how you can feel you're part of the solution. So I guess I do have a question at the end of the day for the board members specifically. At at this point, it feels like a lot of us feel we're just complacent or complicit in these issues faced in the district and we haven't meaningfully changed a thing. It feels extremely disingenuous where each meeting we say the kids come first, but then you sit here and tell us as parents it's just hard and that is it's okay for our children's education to be derel
061because there's nothing we can do nor any meaningful change that we can make. So my question simply is what meaningful action are you guys going to take. So I just want to thank [Music] [Applause] that each of the statements you made were completely accurate but I I welcome with one. So I'd love to you know at some point in the future sit down with you and kind of go over each of those. How about we do it now so the public's aware of it. I'm not gonna do it now. Um, but I do want to I do want to acknowledge that there are things that could have been done better and that we will improve on. Um, we're going to be doing a full uh deep dive into this budget cycle and also into the
062future budget cycles and we're going to be reporting out on that in September. And um and I I invite the entire community to participate in that and we're also going to have a budget advisory committee which we're going to invite people to join. Thank you for the recommendation. Um, and I think we're going to be uh able to show the community where we are, where we're going, and that certainly there was no malesence, as you said, or um mismanagement of the insurance situation. The mention of the items that you're talking about from the 1990s that were discarded and expuned from the records because we threw a lot of stuff out that was sitting around for 25, 30 years. We fixed a problem. We didn't create a problem. Um, there's a lot of pieces to what
063you said. I will just say this to you. Every single person who's sitting up at this table, whether been a board member or an administrator, cares deeply about our kids, cares deeply about our community and will do whatever it takes to earn back your trust and to show you what we are preparing for next year. So, I I feel badly that we were in the situation we were in this year. I think we came through it in a challenging way, but I can promise you from my forwards to you that we are going to show you um a really clear transparent process that you will be okay with in the future. How we do that? We're going to start with our new budget um committee advisory committee. We're going to have a new budget official
064who's going to come in and do an audit with everything. And we also have auditors who come in over the summer and report to the board of ed. We'll do that report in October. So, you can come to that meeting as well. But you're going to see very clearly that there was no um male distance as you said and there is a plan for the future and I I look forward to presenting that to you. I I wanted to say something. You know, I appreciate your feedback. You're clearly very expert at finances and honestly you have good perspective. You cross a line and you're blatantly disrespectful and I don't know why you do it and I think it undercuts your message like the fact that we have no integrity. Don't question our integrity. We have
065a we've actually have a budget advisory committee we're establishing. We have a great intent for Rockwell Center that worked for 20 years. We've taken significant action steps. I don't like that our fund balance is where it is. I don't like that our credit rating is. I I'm I've been incredibly frustrated, but we all spent a lot of time here doing this and volunteering in good faith. And when you say such disrespectful things, you lose it. And it's a shame because I think you have a lot to contribute. And I think most of your points are all on the money, but you undercut it by being so blatantly disrespectful, and I don't appreciate it. I also just want to add the fiscal stress score. We had no designation, which is exactly where we're supposed to be.
066I'd like it to be lower so we don't get closer to a designation, and we're going to make sure to do what it takes to to not get into that zone. But, uh, we are not in the bottom 10%. We are not a designated school. Our fiscal stress score is in the no designation, which is the best school. [Music] I just want to be something quick. I in no means meant that any of you act with no integrity or no ethics. I feel like when we get into the discussions that we have at these meetings, particularly over the budget, the lack of transparency leads to what feels like a lack of trust, ethics, and integrity. understand if we are not clear and open in providing all the correct information up front becomes very hard to
067rebuild that okay I want to make it clear that I do not think that's different than what was happening in a matter like that okay okay that's fine and uh and I'll just uh say that um we we heard the uh community um and uh definitely that's why we want to start uh the budget committee as Um many of us uh all of us choose to volunteer a time to serve the district and uh you know our fiscal responsibility is very important to us and um and I I you'll see in the future how we respond to that and I I'm going to be reaching out to the PTA groups. I would like to meet with those parents who put so much effort that we just celebrated into our schools to kind of go over
068uh you know where we were and where we were going to be. And I I'm ready for Mr. Bartell to join us on July 1st. But I think it's important that we do that so that we feel comfortable and safe that we're being transparent and that we're managing money well and that we're planning properly for the future and we will do that. I thank you for speaking because you're very knowledgeable every time you speak. Um, this past year has been painful, painful, and we do owe the community um time spent to slow the financial growth of this district in ways that will not hurt our children. And I promise you, we we are opening that up and looking at that. Okay. Thank you. Um any other comments from the community? Okay, thank you. Um we
069will now move on to uh board business. U recommended action minutes 70 and one through recommended actions finance 812. Um, I need a motion. Second. Kelly second. Discussion. Uh, I do have a question just curiosity on the lunch. I saw everything was free except for the milk was 75 cents. Is that like not covered by the state or? Well, part of a of a type A meal because of milk, but those are just the prices. Um and any of the alocart prices are all staying the same. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. And if the child takes a second meal. Yeah. Yes. Okay. I thought the way it was itemized like you know everything was uh free except they get a free meal but then if they have Yes. Every student is entitled to a free
070breakfast. Okay. Um uh so any other discussion? All those in favor? Against? Motion passes. Then I need a motion for new personnel item 9001 through new new business other 104. Um a motion and morning. Uh uh discussion. All those in favor? against motion passes and then we have let's see second public comment period. Would anybody else like to speak? That's it. And then I have uh upcoming dates. Okay. On June 19 uh June 19th we have Junth schools are closed. On June 24th Lincoln Avenue moving up ceremony. 10:30 a.m. That's at the middle school. On June 25th, Sunrise Drive. Uh moving up ceremony, 9:30 at Sunrise Drive. And also on the 25th of June, the middle school moving up is at 5:00 pm. On the 26th, the Cherry Avenue moving up ceremonies at 9:30 at
071the old junior high. On June 27th, it's the last day of school. Uh, also on the 27th is the commencement at the high school at 6:00 p.m. On the 28th is the rain date for commencement at 10:00 a.m. And on the 29th is a second rain day at 12 uh p.m. On July 1 is our reorganization and board of education at 5:30. And one event to add, uh, this comes from the Dolan family. Uh, they will be going down to Cafe Joel afterwards. Okay. And um in that case uh I think we are brief. We're not going to exact session. So I need a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion. Yes. You sure? [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Thank you.