CorpusRecord 97833

2/10/2026 Regular Board of Ed Meeting

A searchable transcript preserved as part of the Discourse Corpus. Passage numbers provide stable references within this record; verify quotations against the original recording when available.

Source
YouTube / Islip UFSD Board of Education
Date
2026-02-11
Location
Suffolk County, NY
Material
Transcript
Extent
4,779 words · about 27 min
Collected
2026-06-11

Transcript

Verbatim source text

001Good evening everybody. My name is Paul Austin. I am the vice president of the board of education. Mr. Denine, our president, could not be with us tonight. He had a prior engagement. Could you all please stand for the pledge to the flag? America. >> Thank you. Mr. Ley will give us our fire. >> In the event of emergency, please exit the doors of the auditorium and leave the building. Thank you. Tonight we'll have two presentations. The first one will be by Mrs. Brower for a public hearing proposed action concerning exemption from real property tax for eligible senior citizens and eligible persons with disabilities. And the second one will be by Dr. Jaketta with student achievement and opportunity in Iceland. Um I'll turn it over to Mrs. Brower. Okay. Good evening. Um, welcome to the ISIC

002Union School District Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities and Limited income property tax exemption public hearing. Tonight, I'm going to be sharing some information regarding our current limits and the possibility of increasing those limits. As you're aware, on August 8th of 2022, the governor signed the chapter 488 of laws into effect, which allowed to expand on real property uh tax relief for senior citizens with limited income and persons for disabilities with limited income. commonly referred to RPTL467 and RPTL459-C. These provisions allow for additional exemption amounts to qualified seniors and individuals with disabilities based on their income levels. The county of Suffach and the town of Iceland along with other jurisdictions have increased minimum and maximum income limits in response to the new law. You may recall back in 2023 February, the board took action on

003adopting income limits that are currently in place for senior citizens and persons with disabilities. Additionally, on February 12th, the board took another action adjusting the income definition to include distributions received from an IRA and annuity that were not included on the federal adjusted gross income based on based on current limits adopted in the ISIL school district. Um, there are 122 seniors and eight persons with disabilities that qualify for exemptions in our school district. I'd like to draw your attention to this slide that demonstrates the current limits. They start at 29,000 and extend to 37,400. You'll notice there's a sliding scale with reductions starting at 50% going all the way down to 5%. At this time, the board has been asked to consider revising income limits and coming closer to the maximum amounts town and to

004be consistent with town and component districts. By doing so, this would shift the tax burden to those homeowners that do not qualify for tax exemptions. You'll see some options on the next slide of um considerations for the board of education. On this slide, the first column represents our current limits. in the middle. This represents an alternative limit of $40,000 going up to 48,400. And on the right, it's the column that represents the maximum amount, which is 50,000 that goes up to 58,400. for our district. The town has provided information reflecting potential addition exemptions. Going to move to the next slide to share that with you. Um of 120 senior citizen exemptions and four persons with disability exemptions. If the board chooses to go to the maximum amount of $50,000, the impact on assessed value, which

005is used to calculate the tax rates, is estimated to reduce our total assessed value by 2.16 million. Using the current tax rates and the assessed value, homeowners could potentially realize a $92 annual increase on their school taxes. Additionally, with the increase to a $40,000 limit, there could be an estimated increase of $41. This is why a careful comprehensive review is required by the board of education and it's necessary when making decisions that impact the community. Prior to rendering a decision on any provisions to current limits, a public hearing is required. And that's why we're here this evening. Should the board of ed choose to make any revisions to adjusted limited incomes for the senior citizens and persons with disabilities that would take effect within the 2627 school year. They're required to take a vote and

006pass a resolution with the new amounts prior to March 1st, 2026. We want to share with the public that effective oversight of these tax exemption, it ensures that the school district maintains the necessary resources to continue to provide quality education without unfairly burdening taxpayers. I will now take any questions from the board of education. >> Sure. on the boat. >> I believe so. Yes. >> Yes. >> So, just correct me if I'm wrong. So, is it is it the board's deterative to have any alternative limit that the board would like to set or is it essentially these three options? >> Sure. So the first option is to do nothing and keep the limits exactly where they are. The second option is to go to the maximum amount which is the $50,000 or the third option

007is to go um somewhere in between. Um represented here is the $40,000 limit which is somewhat in between um and consistent with um some neighboring districts >> and and if the board decided to choose one of the alternative in between the current max could that change annually there be a gradual increase in the limitation? >> Yes. So if you go to the maximum, you cannot come down, but you can gradually increase over the years. So if the board chooses to go to the limit um the $50,000, that's where you would stay. But if you choose to make incremental moves, that would be something that you could do on an annual basis. Is there a timeline or >> I believe that it's up to the board to what limits they set? >> You're very welcome. >>

008Any questions from the public? >> Okay. Thank you very much. And should the board choose to make any um revisions, we will be um putting something on an agenda within the next few weeks. Thank you. >> For the next meeting, correct? >> For the next meeting. >> So, this this item will be on the agenda for board. >> Thank you. Good evening. Our goal this evening is to share a clear and honest picture of how our students are doing, not just academically, but in terms of engagement, opportunity, and access to programs that support the whole job. You'll see data tonight related to New York State ELA and mathematics. These results matter and we take them seriously. But at the same time, we also believe that a single test score does not tell the full story

009of a student or a school district. That's why tonight's presentation looks at achievement alongside opportunity, advanced coursework, science, and steam programs, fine and performing arts, and pathways that allow our students to discover their strengths, stay engaged, and see a future for themselves in our schools. Over the past several years, we've been intentionally intentional about expanding access to rigorous academics, strengthening the arts, creating meaningful learning experience that keep schools connected, sorry, keep students connected to schools. As you'll see, this work is showing up in important ways. From growth in advanced placement with um from growth in advanced placement offering in college credit courses to significant increases in participation in music and art to improve student engagement and outcomes at the secondary level. Tonight is not about celebrating or criticizing a single data point. It's about understanding

010trends, recognizing progress, and continuing to focus on what matters most. And that's providing every student the opportunity to succeed academically, creatively, and personally. With that in mind, we'd like to walk you through where we are, how we got here, and where we're headed next. In the first slide here, what we have is our New York State ELA data. Let me take you through what this graph represents. In the blue, you will see the county averages for uh the New York State ELA test scores in grades three through five. In the purple uh what looks to be purple uh is our district and the average scores that we have received between three through five. I'd like to point out a few things uh that that we see within this graph. Uh, one is the um district's

011data that has been consistently below the Summit County averages since year 2015, which is over a decade long. Uh, not until recently, which was last school years when we pierced that. And it's the first year uh in the past over a decade where we exceeded the sufficing uh averages and proficiency. that is uh and and for those who may not be aware are in the New York State ELA data that's a 304 level on New York state assessment. Um I also want to point out year 2022 that was the last year uh during that assessment and the utilization of that assessment that had the school district on a school in needs of improvement improvement list. We have not been there since. And you can see some of the how we shrunk that gap from 2022

012and in 23 24 and 25 on all three of those years during those assessments. Uh there are a number of reasons why we were successful uh from the year 2022. One we had the addition of our literacy coaches throughout our school district. uh the working of Barbara Wagner, our director of ELA, who works tirelessly at our elementary levels. She's a K through 12th director, but working tirelessly within there. Uh we have our administrators, our principles within our buildings, our instructional leaders who have been working extremely hard on the shifts and the instructional shifts that are taking place in our classroom. Of course, our teachers as well. We've raised our expectations and you can clearly see how that impacted the achievement scores of all of our students throughout our district. Um, and of course our students

013who were engaged in more rigorous work since those years and where we are at this current point. As I move on, I want to showcase a little bit more by showing you 2002. This is a graph representing where we were in 2002 and the difference between our district scores in 3 through five as well as uh compared to uh the second county average. As you can see, in 2022, we were we were just under 9% difference between uh the county average and our test scores to lead us to where we are or what we uh achieved last school year, which was over 3.5 percentage points above the county average. Uh it is an accomplishment I'm very proud uh to be part of and to work alongside all those great instructional leaders throughout our district. When

014we look at course 3 through eight, as as you can see here in this graph, this is the comparison of our county scores uh compared to the district scores from all the New York State ELA exams from uh grades 3 through eight. And you can see how that gap has um has shrunk from our 2022 scores all the way up which is in line with the progress and the trends that we're seeing in our elementary schools as well. Uh the reason why we look at these and the comparisons to the county just so you're aware is you know we have opt outs just like similar to our neighboring districts. So we want to compare apples to apples. You want to look at not only um the scores and how much you're achieving each year, but

015you also want to look in comparison to how you're doing with with other schools within your county. I think it's important that we constantly focus on that. This drives a lot of our decision making as we go through whether it's our programs that we're doing, instructional shifts that we have. Um I find this very valuable but I will always go back that um a test score is not the only piece of data that we look at and we look at a lot of different things but this was one that we wanted to showcase uh because of all the hard work that happens every day. I have the luxury of looking at it globally and what I mean by that I see the hard work that we're doing on a dayto-day basis throughout our buildings. uh

016again driven by our coaches, our our administrators in the building, our our directors, our students, uh the staff developers that we brought in. Uh we also want to make sure that we're aligned, whether it's the science of reading that we're aligning our our programs to um and and making sure that this is the best for all of our students. And when it when we think of all of our students, one of the things we also look at is our level one. That's the lowest score you can receive on our New York State ELA assessment. When you take a look at this here, this is the comparison of our county green to our district. We had higher level one scores on all of our tests since 2022 in in uh until last school year. And this

017is across three through eight. Um what that means and what that tells us is that one, our interventions for our struggling readers and writers, that's working within our classrooms. The other thing is is that when we have our tier one uh programs that we take part in, we're teaching all of the children, not only the ones um that may be on a cusp of moving us forward to efficiency level. So I we're very proud of the fact that we're starting to diminish those level ones because that means that we're reaching all of our students. Now where you see that on a daily basis in classrooms is the work that's being done with our teachers in small groups focusing on the needs of our students. Um, it's part of what our program asks for our teachers

018to do and it's it's a lot of what our coaches and our administrators are pushing on a daily basis and for what's important and what's best for all of our students. Similar to the ELA, here's your uh math grades from three through five throughout the years for over a decade. Again, starting in 2015, um, as you can see, we were, uh, consistently below that of the county levels at times, uh, a large number below percentage wise. Uh, again, looking at 2022, our last year, our assessment score that drove our school need improvement, you see the large gap that existed in there and how much that has closed since then, uh, leading us to 2025. Um what we have here um um is that graph similar to the one we had in TLA showing that we

019were over 14% percentage points different from that county uh leading us to less than half a percentage point this past school year again coaches were instituted in 2022 we had Miss Samini and Miss Pottage who works tarsely throughout all of our elementary buildings uh running in and providing the support for our teachers within there, John Pero, our director of math and again our instructional leaders of the buildings that are actually supporting some of these shifts that are in there. But this is the trend that we look for and why we look for this is that you see progressing growth year. Why? We believe that as we build strong foundations in our wing building uh with the support of Miss Glazer and the and the support staff there as well and our teachers there is that

020you will start to see these growing over time because we're building stronger foundations for our kids and each year we should be progressing at a stronger rate as we move forward. Uh which is typically to what this graph is suggesting here. Uh here's our 3 through seven. uh doesn't mean we don't need some work in some of our areas. We do have a couple trend, but we're still uh over um four and a half points uh different from that from the county in our math scores. We do have things that we're looking at. We have initiatives that we're driving uh especially with our coaches and in the elementary um in what we're expecting of our uh teachers and the challenging work that we're looking and the raising of the expectations in our classrooms. uh but

021we are on a positive trend moving upward uh looking to continue this year as well with our scores with our test will be taking place in the spring of this uh school year. again it was looking at their level ones again looking at about our interventions our math interventions are they in place are they aligned to what our students need um small group work in our math lessons are extremely important and also you know pushing the things that we're doing again focusing on what our kids need the most and you can see how uh last school year we had a significant difference between below that the county averages for a level one and again um believer point, but we want our level ones to be as low as possible and we also want to make

022sure that we are below what is considered to be average even within our social. Moving on with advanced placement um starting with AP Scholar, AP Scholar is uh granted to a child who gets a three or higher on three or more AP exams. Here in this graph, you'll recognize 2022 is the start of it. Um and then you look at there the Russian we we more than doubled from 2022 to 2025 as our AP scholars. Uh we have shared this rep before uh through social media but I want to share with you tonight to show you the progress of what we're having here at our high school uh and the uh higher expectations and the rigorous coursework that our kids are taking part in and in this case being very successful with it. uh 80

023scholars with honor. That's um a score of at least a 3.25 average and that's on all of the exams they take and a three or higher on four or more of the AP exams. They're again more than double from 2022. Great progress of of what our kids are accomplishing here at the high school. Our AP scholars with distinction has a 3.5 average on all of their AP exams and a three or higher on five or more exams. And and you're looking at students that we had 29 students in 2022 till uh today uh or last school year which was 36. Another good increase. Um some inconsistency with our AP seminar and AP research certificate. Um what we noticed is that some kids are finding different pathways than what they used to have is looking at

024other AP exams that they're looking to take part in. Um where it's not as attractable for some of our students. Uh so when speaking with some of the directors and counselors um we don't have as many taking those eight in getting that certificate. Uh and that's part of the capstone as well. um even though capstone only drop by two students uh but again it's the AP seminar that's the AP um research and I believe it's four more exams uh with a three or higher so a total of six AP exams that you would have to have a three or higher in uh for you to accomplish that AP capstone diploma um for um on that last one we had like I said a two uh two student drop from them but a little inconsistency within

025there and again it's really about pathways that kids are finding as we add more of these AP exams. We're also recognizing kids are moving towards things that they're more interested in and some of them uh that have uh lost some of enrollment was some of our AP seminar research. Um looking at the total scholar awards, I mean we we started at 97 in 2022 to 142. Uh it's such a large progress and to move that quickly. That's extremely impressive and I cannot thank the teachers more for the changes in the instruction that's taking place within here. The administrators who are supporting to to ensure that our kids are prepared for these exams. Um I I'm extremely impressed with the large jumps and gains in this. This is something that we should be extremely proud of

026in the school district uh and in our students who have engaged in taken these as opportunities for college level rigorous courses to take in high school here. Just wanted to talk about a few of the skills that we uh took. One of them was the seal of civic readiness. Um you'll get 100. We did not have this available in 2022. So 2023 is the first time that we had the seat available. We had 101 students. Uh 74 um this past school year. Um again, here's another um uh reason why kids have dropped out or not shouldn't say have dropped out have not taken uh this seal of civic readiness because they found other AP exams that they they they sought after as opposed to this. We have started to rebuild. We recognize that in 2024.

027That's why we have 74 last year and we're looking to get people back involved with our civic readiness um seal of civic readiness moving forward. Seal of white literacy and bilingual uh students who uh read, write, speak uh in multiple languages. Uh we started with 14 who received the sale in 2022 and you're looking at a little bit sorry 39 uh which is over uh I mean you're looking at almost three times as much in that short span. So very impressed with with that as well. I mean what we're painting a picture here is that in high school the the types of changes and expectations and the rigorous coursework that our students are taking and being successful with we're extremely proud of. Um this has been a major shift over a short period of time

028and and that's why we're looking back just over the last four years. Uh when you look at your fine arts, I'm extremely proud of the honors ensembles and the the art enrollment trend that's moving upwards. Our attrition rate that went from 36 uh% down to under 19%. Uh great credit to Mr. Hersitz and the work that he's doing within our fine arts department. uh our zero tier in music participation has gone up and the trend is going up in the upward direction and sustained enrollment across all of our schools within our music programs which is extremely impressive and looking at whole child and finding reason for kids to want to be in school and be part of a pathway that they are excited to come and be part of. One of the programs I wanted

029to showcase was our science programs and how we incorporated STEM a few years ago in all of our elementary buildings K through five. Um we also have our robotics K through 12 coding in our elementary buildings even competitions that we send them to. Our AP sciences only for a few years now has now four years of opportunities for AP sciences from 9th grade to 12th grade. uh PLTWs project away. There's a grant that receives uh we have 83 students up to date who have received college credit in regards to engineering and drawing. Um science Olympiads I want uh recognize our science and Olympia team at the high school. They are back to the state on March 20th. They are qualified. They were the seventh out of 65 schools just recently. We're very proud to see

030them back up at the states. It's been quite some time since we had this opportunity to be at the state level. Uh we'll be doing Syracuse uh on March 20th. Uh big credit to our uh Mr. Claps as well as Mr. Ojeri who has revived and rebuilt this program to where we're back at the state level uh competing. So uh and a big credit to all of those students uh who are really dedicated work very hard uh in order for them to be uh qualified. It is not easy in this region. Anyone who knows about science camp it is a tough region but then to come that 65 that's very very very impressive makes me very proud to be part of the school district seeing the success that they had at the recent uh competition.

031Um, we also have New York State Master Science teacher recognitions. We have a few over the last few years. The most recent, I believe, is Mrs. M. Scott Edwards, uh, who was recognized as a New York State science master teacher. One of the things I wanted to talk about was our state rankings. Um, we went from in 2021, uh, 299, just one under 300 to 200 in our state rankings. And we also increased as our national rankings uh over over a thousand almost 1,200 points with that uh to make give it more perspective when you look at some local or neighboring districts. Where did we lie out of these top eight uh districts? Uh well we were seven out of eight in both of those categories and we we have climbed up in that short

032amount of time to be um third on both of those levels. uh looking to creep up even further uh after that. It's again a credit to um the the work that's being done throughout our entire district and building the foundations of our kids, but also at our high school level and and raising the rigor of what we're providing for our students here uh in high school. So with that, as I as I think of, you know, Iceland rising and and what this means for our students and our families, I just want to conclude by uh stating that I want to come back to the most important uh take away from everything that we've seen. Student achievement is not defined by one test, one year or any one program. is built over time through access, engagement,

033strong instruction, and opportunities that allow students to discover who they are and what they are capable of becoming. The data we shared this evening shows areas where we are growing, areas where we believe focus areas where our investments are clearly making a difference. We see this in expanded access to advanced coursework, in the growth of science and career pathways, in the strength of our fine and performing arts programs and improve student uh engagement across our schools. Just as importantly, we see students staying connected, enrolling in challenging courses, earning college credit, and finding purpose in programs that didn't exist for them just a few years ago. Uh those choices matter and they tell a story that the numbers alone cannot. None of this work happens in isolation. It is the result of dedicated teachers, supportive families,

034engaged students, thoughtful leadership that includes our coaches, directors, principles, and a community that values education in all of its forms. Moving forward, our focus remains clear to sustain the progress we've made, to continue providing instruction, and to ensure that every student has access to high quality opportunities that prepare them for college, careers, and life beyond our schools. We appreciate your partnership, feedback, and your continued trust as we move this work forward together. Thank you for your time tonight. Any questions? >> I just had a quick display a little while ago is that you rankings. >> Yes, >> they are. Okay. Thank you. >> A little question about coaches. >> Yes. >> Prior to the slide coaches don't know where they fit in. >> Okay. So uh in 2022 23 school year we uh had invested

035in uh some coaches literacy coaches at the elementary level. Um what they do is they work alongside of our teachers. They support our teachers. They support uh during staff developers when they come in follow follow through after the staff developers leave. Uh they're an intricral part in helping with the shifts of instruction in our classroom. Um, we have two literacy coaches um that work within our K through five elementary buildings. Uh, and we have one point something of uh of math coaches uh because it's not full data she puts in. That's Miss Simi and Miss Pies. Uh, and they they do similar work on the math side as coaches and coaches who work alongside of our teachers. Um, and I think it it breaks down barriers and it's a different approach. Uh, we're very proud

036of the work that they're doing. They work they're they're perfect for their positions. Uh, I believe our our teachers feel comfortable with them coming into their classrooms. Uh, listening to them, being vulnerable, being able to say, "Hey, I need some help with these things." Um, and it's been a great approach for some of the instructional shifts that we're taking that are taking place throughout the district. >> How long existence? 22 23 school year is when we started um we utilized some uh grant money to get them started and we found ways to include them in our general fund as well. So we'd like to continue that because of such the great gains that we have and the support that we're able to provide our teachers. It's just like having extra arms for us to reach

037out and be able to support our teachers. Um, and I I will teach a personal experience. When I started, I had a coach and I I I found her invaluable uh for her to be with me to kind of guide me through some of the work. And and that's what we're seeing with our coaches that we have currently in our solution. >> Yes. projection. >> Wait, those >> Well, it's a it's a complicated uh calculation and the answer is soon. >> Yes, >> we're not there yet. Yes. Hey, what else? Thank you, Mrs. Brower and Dr. Jaka. Now we'll take questions from the board on any agenda item. Any questions on agenda items? I take that as a no. Questions from the audience on any of the agenda items? Everybody's good. Okay. So, I need

038a motion to approve recommendations upon consent for items A through L. Can I have a motion? >> So, move this through. All those in favor? >> Opposed? Abstain. The motions are carried. Now, we're at our public questions part of the program. Are there we don't have any question cards up here, but are there any questions from the audience of uh anything that they'd like to ask the board? A quiet crowd tonight. Uh it brings us to reports and correspondences. And one of our favorite parts of the show, our ex official student member report, Mr. Brody Deutsch. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. I appreciate the opportunity to give this meeting student report. Here are some of the upcoming highlights and announcements uh at IS school district. First, I want to share an important update for

039our seniors regarding local scholarships. The guidance office announced that the local scholarship deadline has been extended to February 24th and this is a hard deadline. Seniors should submit their local scholarship packets of guidance so they can be sent to local donors for consideration. Copies of the applications are available in guidance and the February scholarship newsletter includes additional opportunities. I myself have applied to some of these scholarships. So I I even myself I believe is a good idea to do something like that. Next, there's a unique hands-on opportunity coming up for students with a build your own fishing rod night. Session one will take place on Wednesday, February 11th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the ISUP High School cafeteria. Several rod options are available at different price points and payment can be made at the

040first session. Students interested in participating can contact Mr. Resza for more information. Next, the Iceland baseball program will be holding its inaugural first pitch dinner on Friday, February 27th from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Bay Iceland. The event helps kick off the 2026 season and will include dinner, refreshments, raffles, and live music. Tickets are $95 and include a buffet dinner and a raffle ticket with proceeds supporting the ISA baseball program and its equipment, events, and offseason activities. Registration is available through the posted QR code, and tickets are on sale through February 13th. Finally, there will be another postp prom meeting tomorrow, February 11th, at 7:00 p.m. at the high school to help build and set up for this year's event. It is not too late to get involved and support this special night for our

041seniors, and new volunteers are always welcome. We appreciate the continued support for our students, programs, and activities throughout the district. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Deutsch. You really pushed that postp prom. Thank you. Uh, now we'll have a report on the Crest PTA and SEPTA meetings from Mr. Clarine. >> Thank you, Mr. Austin. On Wednesday, February 4th, the Karmac Road Elementary School PTA held a joint se meeting with SEPTA online through Zoom. During the meeting, the PTA shared that there are 106 registered members and they are always looking for new members to join them. They raised $320 through their Miss Chocolate Popcorn fundraiser. This week they began their Miss Chocolate Pie fundraiser. Um upcoming activities for students and their families include the pot of gold challenge, the Scholastic Book Fair in March, park first

042responder celebration day in April, teacher appreciation day um the day before we leave for February break, and their fifth grade committee is starting to work on arranging events and activities for this year's graduating fifth graders. Lastly, on Thursday, April 23rd, the PTA is hosting their most profitable and exciting event, which is the Blue Jeans Ball at Captain Bills in Beayore. Uh, this year, the honores are our very own board of education trustee, Mr. Eric Buer, and fourth grade teacher Ted Dumard. Tickets on sale are for $60, and there are many opportunities for sponsorships as well. Um, SEPTA then shared about their sweetheart dance which was this past Friday, February 6th, which was very successful. And on Sunday, March 1st, SEPTA is hosting a special private postgame experience for our students and their families with the

043Long Island Net at the Nassau Coliseum. And all families are welcome to participate in joining that fundraiser. All the funds raised from these events will support a variety of programs for our special education students and their families. And lastly, throughout the year, SEPTA is continuing to host support family groups for our community as well. Thank you, Mr. Austin. >> And keep your microphone on because now you have the governor's executive budget proposal. >> Okay. Um on Tuesday, January 20th, the governor gave her state of the state address and shortly thereafter, the governor outlined her budget proposals for education. Some of the highlights this year include an increase of formulabased aid by 1.32 billion or a 3.6 6 year-over-year increase, an increase in foundation aid of 779 million, a $431 million increase in universal prek funding,

044and a $112 million dollar increase in expense based aid and traditional categorical goal aids as well. Uh however, the governor did not make any new proposals related to amending certain aspects of the foundation aid formula and there were substantial investments in the teacher pipeline programs, some renewable energy project investments as well, grants for student mental health programs and unfortunately there were no amendments made to the zero emission bus legislation. Uh the next steps in the state budget development process is a negotiation of the final figures between the governor's office and the state legislature prior to the April 1st, 2026 deadline. After the board meeting, um Mrs. Carr is going to attach the governor's an analysis of the governor's budget proposal from the New York State School Boards Association Long Island 3 as well. There's also

045going to be an attachment of the district's current state aid runs based off of the executive budget proposal. and I suggest that the community review those numbers and the analysis as well. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Clarine. Uh brings us to dates to remember. February 16th through 20th, the district will be closed for midweek recess. Our next board meeting will be February 24th, 5:30 p.m. executive session with the public session starting at 7:00. This will be a budget workshop at the high school auditorium. March 10th is another board meeting, 5:30 executive session, 700 p.m. public session, and another budget workshop. March 20th is a superintendent conference day in no school for students. And March 31st will be another board meeting, 5:30 executive session, 7:00 public session, and a budget workshop in the high school

046auditorium. That brings us to the conclusion of our meeting. I'd like to thank everybody who showed up for tonight's meeting and those watching on the video. I need a motion for enjoyment. >> Mr. Clarine, a second. >> Miss Presley. All in favor? >> Opposed? The motion is carried. Thank you everyone. Safe trip home.

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