Members of the William Floyd Board of Education representing the entire Board, as well as all of our schools and community, spent this past weekend advocating at the National School Boards Association Advocacy Institute, held in Washington, D.C., a gathering of K-12 education leaders from across the nation who gather to advocate for their communities and to learn about the issues, policies and legislation that will most affect their districts.

William Floyd BOE members led by President April Coppola, and trustees Lorraine Mentz, Angelo Cassarino and Kevin Meyer, met with Congressman Andrew Garbarino (NY-2) and attended several panel discussions, general sessions and breakout sessions on various topics including teacher shortages, lobbying and relationships, learning recovery, COVID relief, student mental health, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), homework gap/broadband availability, parent engagement, parental rights, child nutrition and much more. Trustees also attended the keynote address delivered by Roberto J. Rodriguez, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development for the U.S. Department of Education.  

This has been just one of several advocacy efforts with the Board of Education as they recently attended an in-district retreat in the high school library to discuss the district’s priorities and advocacy plans for this year and beyond. Then, this Saturday, February 4, trustees, as well as district administration and representatives from across the school community, will attend the Longwood Legislative Breakfast, a roundtable discussion with state and federal representatives. They will then participate in the New York State School Boards Association Capital Conference on February 10, and will continue advocating with various in-district meetings with our local representatives.

The Board of Education will also kick off its annual Budget Advisory Committee meetings on Tuesday, February 7, beginning at 6 pm in the William Floyd High School’s Jeananne Dawson Memorial Library. This meeting will be followed by a regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting at 7 pm.

Budget Advisory Committee meetings will be held on the following dates at 6:30 pm: February 7, March 7, March 21, April 18 and May 9 (Budget Hearing). All meetings are followed by a regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting at 7 pm. The location is the Jeananne Dawson Memorial Library at William Floyd High School, 240 Mastic Beach Road, Mastic Beach, NY, 11951.