The Board of Education met for the last time this calendar year on Dec. 5.

During the Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Joseph Giani noted that since the bottle filling stations have been installed in each of the school buildings in 2017, to date, a total of 339,436 plastic bottles have been saved. There are currently 16 bottle filling stations throughout the six buildings. The environmental savings from this initiative are quite significant, as well as the financial savings to families who previously purchased plastic water bottles. Per building, the breakdown is as follows: BHS (184,664), BMS (87,6250, FPL (32,792), BES (10,098), VWC (9,623 ) and KSE (14,634).

The Board voted to establish the South Country Central School District Repair Reserve Fund for capital improvements or equipment repairs, which are not annual or recurrent. The repair reserve fund can be funded by budgetary appropriations or transfers and use of the reserve for repairs does not need a public vote. 

The district administration and Board of Education trustees congratulated Bellport High School math teacher Johnny Rojas, who was granted tenure starting Jan. 4.

Board President Cheryl A. Felice also congratulated the Frank P. Long Intermediate School and Bellport Middle School administration on their handling of the bomb threat prank at FPL earlier this month. She said, “It was gratifying to see everyone come together.”

Dr. Giani also thanked New York State Regent Roger Tilles for his interest in FPL’s courtyard learning center and Brookhaven Elementary School’s dual language magnet program. Regent Tilles visited both schools and read poetry to students in Sarah Rauch’s fourth-grade classroom and Steven Davila’s second-grade classroom. 

The trustees also thanked the owners of the new 7-Eleven on Montauk Highway in Brookhaven for the donation of $711 to the high school’s Center of Excellence.

In closing, Ms. Felice took a moment to talk about former U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush. “Today, on this Day of Remembrance for our nation’s 41st President, George H.W. Bush, I would ask all of our trustees and leaders within the South Country Central School District to be mindful of their commitment to our district and move forward into 2019 much in the way President Bush was remembered today…Serve with Integrity, Lead with Courage and Govern with Heart.”

The Board of Education and Central Administration would like to wish the community a healthy and happy holiday season! 

The January board meetings will be held on Wednesday,  Jan. 9 and Jan. 23.