of the open public meetings Act njsa 10 uh colon Fort 6 PL 1976 c231 S1 amended 2006 C70 S2 the azri Park Board of Education has provided ad quate notice of this meeting by sending a notice of the time date location and to the extent known the agenda of this meeting to the asur park press the new coaster on January 27th 2023 via email copies of this notice have also been placed at the administration building Bulletin Board District Schools Asbury Park Municipal Building Asbury Park Police Department and filed with the city clerk on January 27th 2003 uh I'm going to read our mission statement azard Park School District will provide all students with a comprehensive and Progressive education where everyone possesses the skills and character to succeed in a diverse and evolving Global Society roll call Miss Glassman here miss lazinski here Dr Penna here Mr Remy here Mr Mr Rogers Mr Saunders vice president gorilla here we have a quorum okay uh let's do flag pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic stands one na under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay right um now I know that it says on the agenda a motion to go into executive caucus I'd like to make a motion to amend that uh the next agenda item to be the um vacancy interviews uh there was a vacancy that that took place uh back in December and we gave adequate notice for we gave adequate notice for um folks to to apply um we received applications from uh from five individuals one has uh withdrawn her uh her uh application candidacy Miss Miss Cook and so um we notified uh the other four candidates to uh to come to the meeting today cuz we've got a couple questions to ask them so um the way we're going to do this I'll just I'm just going to go over the format of Mr girl I have a question yeah um just so the audience knows uh we did receive a email from Miss cook but um her concern was that today at 2:36 that she had not been notified about what time she was to be here today if it was today and um she also stated that she heard somebody was already chosen she she withdrew her name and uh then Mr gillo followed up and did tell the board that he called the other candidates at 3:00 to be here tonight and um he didn't reach out to miss cook but I don't know if I don't think there was adequate notice for people to be here um and uh the other question I had is that the board was not asked to supply questions for the candidates um we did get some an email about some you know proposed questions from school boards but we were not notified about submitting questions to the board president and having a selection of a number of uh questions we usually have a question for each board member to ask so I just wanted to um comment on that uh my own opinion is I think we should wait to interview because they didn't get adequate notice and M cook was not notified well I I can answer to some of that and then I I can ask uh uh Mr Weiss for the uh for the process of uh of vacancy interviews but um actually an email was sent out a week ago um it was sent out by the board president uh saying exactly the format for filling this board vacancy um we literally what I was just about to to explain um uh Mr we can you can you um give me a bit of uh information in the board how the board vacancy the format is to full sure can I say something [Music] Mr I think that adequate notice was given we said at the J at the reorganization meeting that these interviews would take place at this meeting' yeah so um thank you Mr gillo to answer your question um the law and statutes actually do not provide a process by which board vacancies are to be filled and in the absence of any law code um or statute on the matter the board's process for filling a vacancy is essentially the board decides and Designs the process by which interviews are going to happen happen Etc um arguably uh no interviews are needed and the board could just pick names out of a hat it's it's kind of that Loosey Goosey uh in terms of there's no statutory requirements that anything be done with that being said typically boards will invite people to submit their names for consideration there are typically public interviews that happen at a board meeting and then typically uh boards will after the public interviews boards will retire to Executive session to consider the candidates uh after which um they'll come out from executive session and appoint uh the board member by way of a formal vote and then that new board member is sworn in so that's typically how the process works again not um not outlined or required by law or statute but uh more or less the way that things typically work amongst boards in New Jersey so uh so uh we sent out the proposed questions for board candidates last week um and uh uh we can probably start with the with the uh with the different candidates that we have I think just going oh thank you very much yeah yeah thank you will each board member be offered a time where we can ask question or is it just as I was told that only one board member will ask questions of all of the candidates will each of us have an opportunity to participate I and furthermore I don't know who decided that it would be one person to ask all the questions because I'm part of the board and I wasn't apprised of that um yeah to speak to the board president on that but I have no problem if you want to read these questions um if you want to have a a bit of time to uh ask a followup um here's the thing we need to be brief on this we've got a long schedule uh today and um we want this to be timely and effective and have the same questions for each for each uh candidate I would ask um if as one candidate comes up to answer the questions the other candidates if they could please leave the room um that way it's fair you know it's it's a little fair to have to have that since we're going to be asking the same questions to each of them you know Mr gorilla we shouldn't be talking about the process tonight we should have already talked about it prior to this you know Miss Rick's asking those questions I I don't even know what role each of us are playing tonight it wasn't communicated to any of us when we hadn't discussed it hold up and speaking in a matter of time Mr gorilla as you said in a matter of time and we're trying to make it brief I feel as though they all should be present and answer the question back to back to back just like a like how we did during campaign if you're speaking in a sense of time okay so so we all can sure and you know just for the sake of transparency um if uh I'm sorry did you have something to say for the sake of transparency if you wanted to if you wanted to if you wanted to ask follow-up questions I think that you know that makes sense not only follow-up questions we have four questions here and we are to ask each candidate as I understand it the same questions my concern was who decided that it would be one board member to ask all the questions we didn't that if you a board member I was not made aware of this process and I'm big on process right yeah I mean this was emailed last week but again we could yeah Miss Miss class I I honestly do not know why we are arguing about this this email was sent out by Mr Saunders on January 22nd it talked about the format it talked about the questions in the last line of his email if you have any questions or comments please send them to me not later than end of business Tuesday via email and how do you know we didn't still as a board member I'd like to ask my own question I don't want anyone speaking for me you and like I said if we'll allow some time for followup questions well your own questions right I want to ask my own question from this list here oh from this don't know when it was decided and I want this for the record I don't know when it was decided who it was decided by that one board member would represent all of us and asking all the candidates the same question so no one said anything about one board member asking all the questions oh that's what you're saying but that's not what I was told by Miss GL one person could ask right M Mr Mr Mr Vice President yes uh can we move forward yes the four candidates are here right they're prepared and we're wasting their time yeah absolutely all right thank you all right thank you uh so let's start with Mr depalo Craig [Music] [Music] depalo Mr Pao can you um just say your name at address and um if you want to make a very very brief opening statement uh Craig theala 14400 block of 4th Avenue uh glad to thank you for hosting this um and thank you for everyone who put this together okay great um Mrs RX would you like to ask the first question okay yes good evening don't do it Mr Dalo depalo how are you doing well how are you how do you see yourself as a board member and the role that you would play as a board member uh how would I see myself in the role um well to set goals and directives to um understand and Implement policy to uh essentially uh it would be a it would be more of a legislative um it would be more legislative than it would be managerial uh Focus uh the focus should be on what needs to be done and not how it gets done um questions all a rational basis should be applied to um all yes and no questions and uh uh promote uh achievement and success good evening what specific skills would you bring to the board I currently I hold a bachelor's degree in accounting I currently I'm currently employed as a union rep a shop steward uh in a at a uh Maritime labor union I have experience with uh cbas uh um I uh with that said um the I noticed that the uh the school budget is is uh mostly uh comprised of um well the school budget is mostly comprised of uh Personnel costs and uh that would be negotiated well that is uh tied with the um the cbas of the unions I have uh volunt volunteer experience with uh the IRS I prepared uh tax documents for underprivileged uh well under served communities and I also served uh I also volunteered at the New York City Department of Investigations uh I wanted to be active in um auditing so uh they we audited small businesses that were flagged for fraud Mr Rogers want to take the next question uh Mr depalo what areas do you believe our District's greatest challenges and what areas do you believe are most significant strengths well the challenge is um finding and retaining good teachers good talent uh the budget crisis the tax uh the increasing tax uh on homeowners the the challenges with well the low scores and the challenges with bringing people together to work towards one or the same goal uh strengths uh there's this district has many strengths one is um the people uh everyone here the parents the board uh the teachers anybody who's in this room right now paying attention that is a strength they're we're watching the you know the directives uh that we're watching what's being decided for our children in this room in this room and uh I think that's I think that's a strength Dr pen uh can you do the the fourth question okay in light of the serious issues facing our district are you aware of the significant time training commitments and ethics law and financial disclosures required for Schoolboard membership yes ma please describe your understanding of what time what your type of time commitments are and you're willing and able to make on behalf of the board and the district I will be at 100% I understand the commitment the uh obligation if you're uh appointed as a board member it's it's an important role to hold uh there's training I would I would be active I would um enroll in training right away uh mandatory and optional if available uh I would familiarize myself with the bylaws I would uh want to be appointed to a committee and I would absolutely guarantee that I um would be in full attendance to all meetings um I I I ran a campaign I I put my full effort into this uh last fall um you know I I want to be a part of the board um and I'm still here trying to be a part of the board uh you know contribute hold on I got a question yep follow yep follow um it's two-part question um what makes you want to be on Asbury Parks Board and also what Vision do you have for this District uh I've got the energy I've got the time I've got the passion I love this town I I'm I'm in love with Asbury Park and I want to see it thrive in all aspects it's thriving in a real in real estate in some neighborhoods but not in others it's thriving as a as a a commercial Beacon but we're still but this it's just not fair I want I'm hoping that we can raise the bar for our for this school so that kids get a fair shot in life the world is very competitive we're dealing with AI technology and and we just need to you know we're a part we're a community here everybody needs a fair shot um my vision kind of ties into that I would love to see all of those things come come together thank you any other followup questions okay thank you Mr Pao thank [Applause] you okay going in alphabetical order uh we've got uh Mrs Kendall please state your name and and address my name is f kendle I'm a resident of asur Park in the 1200 block Happ been thank you would you like to say a few words before we start the questions uh yes I I I've for people who know me you may know that I was involved for a long time then I gave it up and like I just told somebody unless you have a dog in the fight I'm not one of those people who kind of do stuff but in Asbury Park I got two and they're in a fight and to me I just don't think they're getting the type of help that I want them to have to be able to when they leave this 1.5 square mile area that the world sees them and they're ready to handle it no I'm not I don't think I know they're not I know you know I know thank you uh M GL do you want to ask the first question sure what do you see as the role of a Schoolboard member okay the a school board member as far as I'm [Music] concerned I think collectively they're supposed to in my opinion work as a l um way I see it here it's between the staff the families and the administration but they're the people who are supposed to to coordinate and in my opinion they're supposed to ask questions they're not just supposed to if somebody says jump you don't automatically say how high you ask why do I need to jump and how far and what's going to benefit me etc etc I see the board as like I said a buffer between all different parties Mr Remy you want to uh ask the second question please oh okay okay um so is it okay all can I can I ask my own question now uh we want to leave it to the to the to the end we want to get through like each each thing but I'll be the first person I I I go to um okay uh Mrs Kendall yes what specific skills do you bring to the board um I think I bring a certain amount of familiarity because I've been around here for quite some time so I know a lot of the families um and of course I worked for this district for 30 years 1 month and 3 days so I have a working knowledge of what it has been at certain times and from what I see right now and that eyewitness knowledge is absolutely invaluable Miss Kendall yes what areas do you believe our district greatest challenges and what areas do you believe are our most significant strength what areas of the strength of what basically the challenges and strengths are we looking at what are what areas do you believe are the two okay I know for the fact the challenges are how well the students are prepared for the future I know that a lot of things are done on standardized tests and that may or may not be so great but if that's what's being used a standardized test then our challenge is to do well on it and I know for a fact that we don't do well on it if you place 436 out of 436 or 435 out of 435 in language arts those are the challenges but I also know that when they work together when at least when everything's working together like a a a machine that these children in this District do not have to stay at the bottom or the end I know they can rise I've seen it so their strengths are that they're trying everybody's still trying that's the strength everybody's still trying thank you uh Mr Rick would you like to ask the fourth question [Music] question okay just so anyone who didn't hear uh Mrs Rick said that she was going to pass on the questions because Mrs Kendall is her nextd door neighbor okay um I'll I'll ask it um so this is a pretty important one um one is kind of an yes or no and then kind of the okay description so in light of the serious issues facing our district are you aware of of the significant time training commitments ethics law and financial disclosures required for Schoolboard membership no okay well can you describe your understanding and what type of time commitment you're willing and able to make on behalf of the board in the district okay since I am a retired person I have the time your time could be my time that's no problem and as far as whatever rules and regulations if y'all read them and understood them I can read them and understand them too because I understand I can read so that's no problem I don't know what they are but I can find out and the time is no problem app time can be my time appreciate your honesty Mr Remy you got a followup question I feel as though you answered uh so why you want to run or why you want want to be a board member but what's your vision what's your vision for this District sweetheart I really think at least for me mhm I are there any little children in here okay I I I'm just a person who's like I'm tired of like half half done stuff I want it done and I want it done to the best of you're built granted everything can't be perfect and I know that but it can be better but if it keeps going wrong if it's keep being a factory that's turning out cars with square Wheels you either shut that factory down or you get some people in there who work the factory to make wheels that go round on the car simple that's what I I know at least I really really want now and and because my children at least two of my children went to this District that's why I'm saying I have a long history with Asbury far two of my grandchildren are in this District right now and I keep comparing because I also have a grandchild in another District that's really close by here and I see the things that one of them does and I see the thing that the other two do and I'm thinking it's got to be better it's got to be better and and believe me I know it's it's not one anything it's not just the teacher not teaching now it's not just the parents not coming it's not just the administration Barden of people it's uh a whole lot of things a whole lot of mixture and I say the board issue if the board works and the board works collectively and especially in the best interest of the children in Asbury Park I know they can be successful I know they can I have no doubt any other follow-up questions okay thank you Mr kennall thank you Miss uh miss Ma which I completely mispronounced got be miss Ma up here I was the only person that stepped out hi my name is Dr Shad maxud um thank you for having me here giving me the opportunity to be here among you all sure is this better okay sorry okay so uh do you have any opening statement or anything or if not yes um my husband and I been living in asbery park since 2011 I came to this country at 17 by myself for higher education and freedom and I like to pay my dues for so many of our immigrant parents in our district in our town that don't know any better don't have a role model I've gone through that and I just want to be here to help I have faith in our district in our Educators and our children I have a son in the system and I can be any happier with the progress has made I want to be able to be an advocate for him and for the parents that are not aware of what we are offering to our children great uh Mr zinski do you want to ask the first question good evening hi what do you see your role as a school board member I like to be an active listener for a while and just learn about my team's agenda and what they are offering so I will be listening for a little while we all come in with our own agenda and Theory so I wanted to see where the Common Grounds are and how I can participate in what area I can participate the most I am an MD I'm a mom I am from Asbury Park and this is my forever home so whatever it takes I will offer my time thank you uh Mr Rogers what specific skills would you bring to the board critical thinking I've been trained and worked in this area for over a decade um multitasking I'm great Under Pressure I can perform many task at once and I think I've been trained for this position in a different in a in direct way Mr hi uh what area do you believe are our district greatest challenges and our uh [Music] strength greatest challenge in my opinion from what I have seen is the curriculum policies that are not fully implemented um one of the greatest things about our district is our Educators how dedicated they are and how strong their foundations are and I have full faith that with them we can build and repair what's missing we need our Educators okay yeah I just asked if I might have missed this but what are our strength um our Educators our dedicated Educators okay day and night the are working oh continuing on that that was our strength what what do you see as our greatest challenge curriculum policies are not implemented as I mentioned before okay okay and that's my strength as a as someone that has been in education for years and years what it takes um I think there are work to do in that area in my affinion Dr pennet hello hi in light of the serious issues facing our district are you aware of the significant time training commitments and ethics law and financial disclosures required for Schoolboard membership absolutely please describe your understanding of what type of time commitment you are willing and able to make on behalf of the board and District I am aware there are a lot of um training involved uh as someone that has been trained as a physician um I am aware of what it takes to go through them and finish them and be able to execute them for educators and our children I am dedicated to finish that as soon as I get a chance welcome that's it do we have any follow-ups oh what is your vision for this board and the children of this District I have a great vision I that's why I'm here my vision is so clear because of just the last few months interacting with our Educators and our children and how day and night they're putting their time safety they taking the time away from their own family and putting it for our children I've seen that firsthand um I am so happy with the progress my son has been making I want the same vision for other immigrant parents other parents that are not aware of what our district is offering to their children I want to be an advocate for other parents um be their voice because I knew I had help and I've gone through that with my own personal life and I knew what it takes to have higher education better education I want to be able to help other families to learn about that you're welcome okay uh well if you have a followup you can go ahead okay thank you again thank you and finally Miss passerini hi hi there name and address and if you have an opening statement hi my name is Natalie Pini 1113 as very a um and let's get into it all right uh M Glass when do you see board M oh sorry sorry what do you see as the role of a Schoolboard member I see my role on the school board as a communicator and a relationship Builder that has what I have prided myself on in my entire career I believe that creating and fostering genuine relationships between all the stakeholders and working in a more collaborative and constructive environment is what is needed most right now and that is how I see myself being a valuable member to the board you've got the vision uh question right because we'll say that for the end uh I'll take this one um what specific skills would you bring to the board I have led a successful career as a marketing and Communications leader for over 17 years I think we could all agree who have been here since 6 p.m. tonight that certainly internal Communications could use a little bit of a fluff and I would be happy to help with that additionally I think it is incredibly important to continue to engage our community in the most effective and efficient way our internal Communications are clearly broken and need to be done better but our external Communications with the community so they know what we're doing they know what the plan is they know the Milestones that we're achieving together is incredibly important and that's something I would be happy to help with additionally from a f perspective I personally oversee a $30 million pnl that I optimize on an annual basis and I would be happy to lend my eyes on the budget issues as well any follow-ups what areas do you believe our District's greatest challenges and are and what areas do you believe are most significant strengths our greatest challenges from my point of view are from an academic success and a financial point of view our test scores are not where they need to be our resources and tools that we're providing for our students are not equipping them to be successful as people in the world outside of this town and from a budget perspective we all know what the numbers are enrollment is going down taxes are going up we need to figure out how to make these numbers work okay uh m pasini in light of the serious issues facing our district uh are you aware of the significant time training commitments ethics law and financial disclosures required for school board membership no okay back to that communication issue yeah and please describe your understanding and what type of time commitment you are willing and able to make on behalf of the board and the district as I just said I don't have that understanding that being said my time commitment I happy to participate and as much training as required board meetings committee meetings and be an active member of this board I have a very flexible schedule um I might not be retired um but I'm happy to aot a majority of my time to the success of the kids of this town followups what is your vision um for this board and the children in this District I don't have a vision for the board per se my vision is for the children of Asbury Park we live in a town that's known for a tremendous amount of great things and academics is not one of them my vision for the students of this district is that people not only from all over this country but all over this world want to come to Asbury Park to find the talent for their companies and their organizations and make their places better they want to come to Asbury Park to find the best and the brightest who have been equipped with the tools and resources to help the world be a better place anyone else okay thank you very much thank [Applause] you so why don't we make a motion to hold on uh uh excuse me can I make a comment right now I want to I want to everyone in this room to give each of these people a hand because right now what we're doing unpaid position and the fact that trying to make this District effective and for anybody to volunteer I think is is is well reserved because this community needs as much help as much love and energy to make it better so I want to applaud again let's give them a Round of Applause Mr Rogers I completely agree I'll make a motion to go into executive to discuss matters of the new the candidates and um we shall return in approximately I'm saying like 15 15 minutes move it second Miss Glassman yes Miss linski yes Dr Penna yes Mr Remy yes Miss Ricks yes Mr Rogers yes vice president gillo yes president Saunders yes we're going into executive session I would like to have a motion to open up back the meeting after [Music] close motion don't you have motion to motion to I would like to make a motion to resume public the public meeting it second all in favor opening up the um meeting I any you want to do a roll call okay Miss glass here Mr zinski here Dr Penner here Mr Remy here M Ricks Mr Rogers here vice president gillo here president Saunders here excuse me can I make a motion to go back toac for two minutes quick to Quick Mr Remy I respect your decision and I agree with it maybe we can go back for two more minutes in regards to what of what we just discussed in regards to candidate candes yes minutes you're talking about the candidacy right yes I think I'll second it I think we have a motion I make a motion to table that because we did make a decision in executive session so I would like to make a motion to table that Mr Remy just I second it and I make a motion to table that because the board has made a decision and I mean it's up to the board so make can second mind and we'll have a vote and you decide whether you're going to go in m i make a motion to table your motion so because because there's a motion to table um you you you would uh take that up to the extent there's a second um so is there a second to on the motion to table second okay roll call this is a motion to table to go back to Executive for the cacy only miss glasman yes yes that's to table the motion table Miss lazinski yes Dr Penna yes Mr Remy no no Miss Ricks no Mr Rogers no no vice president gorillo yes president Saunders no it's TI and that makes the motion [Music] fail now back on the motion no now it's back on the motion this is a Yes means to go back and to Z and no means not to miss glasman no Miss lazinski no Dr Penna no Mr Remy yes Miss Ricks yes Mr Rogers yes vice president gillo Mr I'm president Saunders yes the motion is TI so it's fail so we stay here in public anyone have a motion would anyone like to make a motion to appoint the candidate at this point would anyone like to make a motion to appoint a candidate I would I would like to move to appoint shade mud to fill the vacancy on the board I'll second it [Music] who second the um okay thank you okay this motion is to point point Dr Maud sorry if it um didn't say that correctly as to fill the vacancy that currently exists on the Asberry Park Board of Education your yes vote would be for her to fill it your no vote will be um not to miss glasman yes Miss lazinski yes Dr Penna yes Mr Remy yes Miss rck no Mr Rogers yes yes Mr gorillo Vice President gillo yes president Saunders what was the motion to point Dr Mau no the motion is carried congratulations Dr [Music] Mao at this time I'll ask you to come to the podium to take the oo office [Music] thank you please ra please raise your right hand and read the oath of office that I just gave thank you everyone I I sh maxu do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of state of New Jersey and I will bear real faith and allegiance to the same and to the government established in the United State and this state under the authority of the people so help me God I shade maku doly swear read it again swly swear that I possess the qualification prescribed by law of the office of member of Board of Education and that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to R s194 D1 nor disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in New Jersey NJ s18a 12-1 and that I will Fai Faithfully importantly and justly perform all the duties of the office according to the best of my ability so help me God congratulations thank you so much thank you all right all Mr Mr [Music] President Mr Saunders yes can I just uh make a just point of personal privilege to say a couple things go ahead okay uh I just wanted to to say I wanted to Echo what what Tracy said before about thanking everybody who made the commitment um personally I I was I think I speak for everybody that were really impressed with with with everyone's answers and presentations there's an election in November think about running that's all if you're really committed to it definitely think about it so that's all thank you got at this point we would like to go into second session to discuss to discuss personality matters we should only be approximately oh 30 now or less or less I'll make a motion second so um just for purposes of clarity for the board members and for the public the board is going to Once uh the the the roll call vote has been taken the board is going to retire to Executive session to discuss Personnel matters litigation contracts and to receive attorney client [Music] advice Miss glasman yes Miss lazinski yes Dr Penna yes Mr Remy yes Miss Ricks yes Mr Rogers yes vice president gorilla yes president Saunders yes we're going into executive session oh I'm sorry Miss M Dr ma Max yes or no yes thank you I'm so sorry we retiring into executive session roll call I just here a second who second that um I heard Mr M thank you m oh okay sorry thank you Mr zinski this is the open the meeting Miss Glassman here miss lazinski here Dr Penna yes Mr Remy here M Ricks yes Mr Rogers here miss mic Dr maxu Dr maxu I'm so I'm G to practice it I make sure thankk you vice president gillo here president Saunders yes we have a Corum yes I first want to apologize for the lengthy um time that we spent in Clos exac we had some issues that we needed to resolve and um there was some presentations that we needed to um have let put on my glasses so I can see in accordance with the provision of the open public media okay where are we I think we're on uh is there presentations tonight okay presentation um due to the uh elections this evening we forego um the monthly presentations but we will double up um next month Mr Saunders uh would you want to go right to the public portion so we can have people get up since they've been waiting if they want to say something okay this just a suggestion in accordance with the board policy 0167 the asort board the as part Board of Education recognized the value of public comment on educational issu ues and other matters importance to provide members with a public to to provide members of the public the opportunity to express themselves on school matters Community interest the public comment portion of the meeting is not a question and answer session and all public comments shall be directed to the board president or the presiding officer of the meeting members of the public who wish to make the public comments must be recognized by presiding officer officer and provide his or her name Municipality of residence and group affiliations and acceptable if acceptable all public comments shall be directed to the presiding officer and are limited to 3 minutes in durations members of the public who do not follow foregoing rules and interfere with the orderly operation of the board meeting may be removed members of the communities came to address the following anyone who has a public comment please stand [Music] now Felicia Simmons 10:34 Su Avenue Asbury Park New Jersey um sitting here um decades now um coming back and forth to these meetings and I've only seen a few constant the constants of eagle play the constants of things moving the constants of internal or external fighting to keep things destabilized it's a a a working tactic I told someone outside you know insanity is expecting something different right after doing something over and over again but consistency and um I can't find the right words cuz I'm tired I've been here a long time I had a long day um um consistency after you see things work like the stabilization and gutting and all kinds of fighting and other things to you know distract right cuz in the end after all the eagle play after all the things that happens who loses are the children I I sit and listen and I I I know what's on play as you know Bradly Obama school is um going up right now here's the thing if you truly hate Asberry Park you will truly continue that that notion because it is a encapsulated asbest school so if you go you can't even drill in the walls because the whole school is a bomb so when you go to destroy or to tear down you literally kill the neighborhood I mean dust brown ground right everybody over it and that's happens to be where all the little brown children pretty much live right so when you talk about things in history I'm not just going to talk about the hundreds of years and hundreds of thousands of dollars of history that is in the school in the artwork after I sit and listen to all the stories from Dr West who was the principal over there for millenniums right just ask somebody right care it's a curriculum it's not about egos it's not about people who sit up here because again they play against those things right they sit and watch these things I've watched it over and over again right I watched okay this this year we're going to side with the superintendent so we can keep them fighting and then this year we're going to side with the the the residen to keep it fighting cuz it all happens when y'all are destabilized and nobody says hey wait up a minute right there's nothing that ever happens but the gutting of the district and I've watched many many people gut this District snatch out every dime the high school looks the same as almost 20 something years ago when I graduated from it thank you Miss um Felicia and we hear you M Simmons and we hear you is there anyone else at this point we're going to close the public participation portion of this meeting and we're going to go to the um Hib report good evening everyone for the department of student services for the month of January there was one Hib it was determined to be unfounded superintendent report as of next good evening everyone and welcome Dr masud did I pronounce that correctly yes okay welcome on board um as you know um our attendance and um our enrollment data dashboards are are in your presentations this evening um and so we are averaging about roughly about 90% right now um coming back in off the last um month of December so we had um just a few few days um to be back and we're working on improving that we get daily um updates and we're um and our enrollment is pretty much steady um and so that's where we are we're starting our early childhood registration as well um and a few other announcements that are presently on our district website thanks Dr Adams next will be the state monitors report um again I'd like to Echo um Dr Adams thank you very much for everybody being here because of the length of the meeting I'll keep this pretty short I want to thank everybody in the administration of the board have had the opportunity to meet and talk with to really get a detailed understanding of the current status of the school district um I plan to get out to every one of the school buildings I get to plan to go to every one of your facilities it's just been a little bit slower start than I wanted to but I really do look forward to working with everybody in the future and anything that possibly that can do to help you know student achievement the district that's my bottom line as well thank you next um we're going to um report from the committee chairs you know what we're going to read the resolution first and then we'll um have a report from the committee chairs sorry about that guys good evening um I'm going to be reading a resolution um and at the conclusion of it uh to the extent there's a first and a second please feel free to do so this is for board member recognition month whereas the New Jersey school boards Association has declared January 2024 to be school board recognition month a time when all residents can acknowledge the contributions made by our local school board members and whereas the Asbury Park Board of Education is one of 581 local school districts school boards in New Jersey which sets policies and overseas operations for public school districts and whereas the Asbury Park Board of Education Embraces the goal of highquality education for all New Jersey public school students and whereas the New Jersey local school boards help determine the educational goals for approximately 1.4 million children in Pre kindergarten through 12th grade and whereas New Jersey's 5,000 local school board members who received no remuneration for their services act as advocates for public school students as they work within administrators teachers and parents for the betterment of public education and whereas school boards strive to provide the resources necessary to meet the needs of all students including those with special needs and whereas Boards of Education provide accountability to the public they communicate the needs of the school district to the public and they convey to school administrators The public's expectations for schools and whereas New Jersey can take pride in its schools which rank them among the nation's best in k achievement indicators such as the national assessment of educational progress scores and the preparation for college through advanced placement offerings and sat assessments now therefore be it resolved that the Asbury Park Board of Education does hereby recognize the services of local school board members throughout New Jersey As We join communities Statewide in observing January 2024 as school board recognition month and be it further resolved that the Asbury Park Board of Education urges all New Jersey citizens to work with their local Boards of education and public school staffs toward the advancement of our children's education there's a motion in a second I'll move it [Music] second Miss glasman Miss lazinski yes Dr Penna yes M Mr Remy yes Miss rck yes Mr Rogers Dr mansu yes vice president gorilla an easy vote Yes and president Saunders yeah [Music] congratulations President sand okay we're going to do committee can I just uh I I noticed on the agenda we have a close session um meeting minutes we didn't receive them tonight can we is there a way we can take that off the agenda for tonight and then yeah we could um we could definitely um table that up to on next meeting thank you okay we're going to have um Comm reports um we're going to start with Finance okay the finance committee met Thursday evening Dr Simmons presented a snapshot Revenue analysis of the district illustrating the critical Financial condition of the district and the need for serious measures uh to reduce expenses and the need for additional state aid an additional Revenue uh one of which was discussed in in some detail uh which is this continued project to verify residents of students to assure that the that funds are not leaving the district uh that are otherwise um inappropriate um we also discussed uh Simple Solutions such as not waving uh facility fees where we lose something like $60,000 a year by waving um those fees and that is on top of the uh the cost for the buildings and uh maintenance people uh to clean those facilities before and after uh they're used by outside organizations um and last we discussed the uh preliminary results of the financial a audit of the district which are clean thanks buildings and ground which we have no report at this time oh you do yeah uh so buildings and grounds we um we discussed uh with Dr Simmons a couple of issues a couple of agenda items um are pretty important uh one is the building sale for the property on Second Avenue um which we're going to be um uh we're going to get a presentation uh next month uh on to educate the board and the public on how School Building Sales um are accomplished it's not just putting a for sale sign up and um we're going to uh discuss uh and ask as many questions as possible because we're all kind of in the same vote with this in terms of I think there's only two two people people here that uh were in the middle of of uh have experienced that uh any kind of property sale in the in the district also um okay okay um also um we spoke about the lease uh and I don't know if Dr Simmons can you just give a brief kind of synopsis on the issue with the uh with the leasing of the the building sure um currently the um the building on 910 4th Avenue is being our lease is up um and at this time as um most you know there's been discussions for a few years on where to um Lo relocate the administrative off offices to um based on conversation and um board discussion um a proposal um is um going to be presented to move the um administrative offices eventually to the Obama building and also create um opportunities for Revenue Generation Um but the and that process will come about through the sale of um possibly the maintenance building um The Hope is that that process that we'll start doing presentations on next month will um give us the money to do the minor pretty much minor res uh renovations to that building to at least make it um be able to occupy both the staff of the administrative building that's currently in 910 um 4th Avenue and the maintenance staff once we sell that building um so the lease that we're asking for at this time is for uh 24 months to get that process going once we get the sale of the maintenance building then those revenues will be used for the um um the renovations for the Obama building to then move the staff into there and then also prepare the building for other options in regards to making revenue on the other floors of that building so that presentation will start next month with um Mr um Adam Weiss giving us the um the regulations that are needed in order to sell the maintenance building and then the hope is that those um revenues will then be decided by you as the board how they'll then be um appropriated accordingly so the extension is just for those um two years to sell and to renovate and then move the staff in currently there's no funds um to do that so that's why the sale of the building would be um the start of that process okay um thank you thank you Dr Simmons we also um well Dr Simmons presented also the proposal from the architect to begin the designning construction of the tennis courts over at MLK finally um the fee is $225,000 it's on the agenda for approval um I did um connect Dr Simmons and um and Ivy I'm sorry and ivy with Aaron uh from the asber Park tennis initiative because it was informed by me that the money has to be spent by June 1st and right now the timeline shows uh that completion uh the completion would happen in August um and I don't you know speaking for myself uh I don't know about the rest of us but uh I could say that we want to find at least in the in the buildings gr me we talked about trying to have an uh an accelerated timeline when it comes to this um this is a we can't look a gift horse in the mouth and they lose they end up losing the money uh if it's not spent out by June 1st and I think that would be that's a reasonable time to to build a couple tennis courts and have a really nice ribbon cutting for them uh in time for the summer for the kids so um uh I hope that Ivy if you could call them tomorrow like tomorrow morning on this he's going to email me everything tomorrow great great thank you and just um if I may I believe if I'm not mistaken that this is actually the second extension of time right that the tennis initiative has been given because that money was supposed have been spent probably years probably about a year ago this is something from 2 years ago and this is this is something where um you know I I don't want something that's going to be so great for the kids to become an embarrassment let's try to get it for you know a ribbon cutting for the summer so the kids can enjoy it okay so and I think it's it could be done without going to bid because there's co-ops right that that that so yes um the architect had started started looking at options and she did submit a couple of options for some components of it already so she is on top of that so hopefully once we had this approval tonight she could just continue to move on with that project okay great um and then finally we spoke about um the fields and the outdoor courts uh to start the discussion uh for p to have them for public use um Dr Simmons shared that the costs of maintaining the fields are costly and we don't collect enough Revenue to continue to maintain the fields and open them up for public use um but both Miss glasman and myself we indicated that we could begin to work with the city of Asbury Park and possibly create a collaboration to have the kind of uh to collaborate and and share the costs of maintaining the fields for public use um to be assumed by both entities and I'm glad to see uh Deputy Mayor Quinn is here as well um but we can we should start having those conversations with the city and on top of that we talked about scheduling the regular meetings with the city officials so we could talk about that along with other things where kind of the school district and the city intersect uh and that completes my report thank you Mr BR next is policy uh we had our meeting and there is nothing to report there's no updates from stes Mr Remy Athletics Athletics is up next I think Athletics man okay president Saunders can I just mention something in regards to Athletics I went to the boys club for the um rowing um presentation that um Paulie what's Paulie's last name um excuse me Shan uh presented uh she had uh teammates from uh Mammoth University that do the crew the rowing and teammates from Rumson Fair Haven and the coach there also and there's a few there were quite a few kids that came to look at this film uh that that is a story about a group of uh uh young black men that decided to take up crew and row and um it's a a moving motional uh movie so I did not stay for it cuz I do not like like to watch movies that make me cry um but I wanted to let everybody know they do have a program I think it's once a month and the young people in Asbury Park can go to the boys club I don't know what the schedule is I'm sure it's on their website so if you know anybody that's interested in learning how to row it's also very good for athletes cross trainining um she did mention that a lot of football players you know professional uh sports players do row on the off season to strengthen themselves and work their bodies so um just check out the website of the voice club or give them a call if you know somebody that wants to participate in this uh program I thought it was very nice yes may I add on to that it's easier it's easier to get a college scholarship full college scholarship through rowing so just keep that in mind just on just on that really quick I'm sorry is there a possibility that we can bring rowing to the to the high school what it is um Joe is that they were able to get 10 uh rowing machines donated from MTH University so that's something that we I know we had talked about in athletics uh last year a year and a half ago but there wasn't any way to get equipment and they're very very expensive I don't even want to say what the price is of each machine so that was something that was hindering us um at that time but she they were able to with the boys club to to make that connection and and get that going so they very happy for them thank you um next is curriculum and instruction I'm not the chair anymore okay all right we'll move on um let's move on to acceptance of minutes motion we need a motion to accept am minutes move it second these are just the regular minutes correct yes okay yes this roll Clause just for the regular minutes we'll um put the executive ones on the next agenda Miss glasman uh I can only approve the reor minuted Mr zinski yes Dr Penna yes Mr Remy yes M Ricks yes Mr Rogers yes Dr mansu yes vice president gillo I'm going up stain I wasn't there um I was I mean I was in I was here okay now and um I have a question um I was in the room but I was not a member um there's no hard and fast rule if you feel that the minut did properly reflect the meeting you could you could vote okay so yes thank you um and president Sanders yes Dr Adams good evening our export consent agenda on all items uh with the exception of 2A on B1 all the way through b 4 number 17 I'll move it second Miss [Music] Glassman yes s yes Miss lazinski yes Dr Penna yes on everything but I'm abstaining from B1 uh 1A thank you Mr Remy yes M RX I'm recusing myself from I'm recusing myself from B3 9 B all others yes thank you Mr Rogers abstain from everything Dr mansu can I be excused on this yeah you could abstain of St yes thank you thank you vice president gillo yes um up stating on uh to ABCD on B1 thank you and president Sanders yes thank you s I move agenda items C1 through C11 I'll move it thank you second thank you Miss [Music] Glassman I just have a question was there a um fee waiver on this for uh facili use or not I don't remember I believe so I'm looking for it now yes there's a the Vol ball fee waiver uh number 10A on C4 okay okay any other questions okay this is for um C1 through 11 Miss glasman yes as to all except for no on C8 thank you Mr zinski uh yes on all except for 10 the use of facilities oh wa oh I'm sorry my I'm incorrect I apologize I was also no on on C10 the use the facilities yes sorry okay so that's a no on C8 and C10 is that correct thank you sorry no problem thank you Mr zinski Dr Penna yes on everything but C10 a there's no Mr Remy Miss Rick no on 10 a all others yes thank you Mr Rogers obain thank you thank you Dr mansu No One C8 yes to all thank you vice president gillo uh yes to all uh except for the use of facilities thank you and president Saunders yes thank you I'd like to make a motion to close uh the meeting before you make that motion I just want to welcome Dr mud to the board thank you I Look to working with you collaboratively and if you have any questions that like the board will do anything that you need to be done as far as making your transission to the board um easy one so you can make your motion Miss motion to last oh the results of the um votes I'm looking at it um all pass I believe except for C10 four I have five NOS on C10 which is the use of facilities waving all fees okay all other items pass can I make a motion to close this meeting move it to adjourn it move all good night everyone thank you