By Nasrin Zahed

Comsewogue School District held its Board of Education meeting Wednesday, Oct. 4, discussing the since-passed homecoming festivities, honoring student achievements, approving motions and introducing behavioral initiatives at the high school.

Brandon, the Comsewogue student representative, overviewed the goings-on for the homecoming and spirit week, highlighting the class competition leading to the weekend’s pep rally and class floats parade. Each class was tasked with creating a float to go along with this year’s theme of “seasons”: seniors as spring, juniors as summer, sophomores as winter and freshmen as fall.

QR codes were made available to all at the homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 7, to vote for which theme students felt was executed best.

Mike Mosca, principal of Comsewogue High School, came forward to award the recipients of the College Board National Merit Awards. The awards were given to students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher and who displayed an outstanding performance on the PSAT. Students also received the National Hispanic Recognition Award as well as the National Indigenous Award.

The BOE went on to approve select motions for the evening, such as the approval to purchase iPads for the district’s use. The iPads will be purchased using grants received through the Emergency Connectivity Fund, covering 100% of the cost.

Mosca returned to the floor to discuss the behavioral initiative recently introduced at the high school level, referred to as the reflection room.

He emphasized the push to move into restorative practices as opposed to dismissive punishments such as suspensions. 

“The goal is to maximize students’ time in the classroom,” he said. Instead of taking students out of their learning environment and potentially setting them back in their studies, they want to turn their actions into a learning opportunity.

The goal of the reflection room is to take about two hours out of the student’s day to work one-on-one with advisers to break down the incident that led them there and, in turn, come up with guided corrective actions.

Mosca went on to praise the initiative’s success as there has been a downturn in student infractions as a result. “It’s been very effective so far,” he said.

The BOE ended the evening with what they referred to as “board kudos,” taking the opportunity to acknowledge members of the district’s community. Praise was given to the custodial staff as they installed roughly 30 Smart Boards over the previous weekend, as well as the building and grounds staff who worked to ensure minimal to no damage was caused by the flooding from recent rainfall. 

The BOE will reconvene Monday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m.