next one yes good evening everyone I'd like to call the work and Action meeting of the bota board of education for Tuesday November 14 2023 may you please stand for this flagge Al to the flag the United States ofer thank you the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of the public bodies at which any bodies affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the board the bagota board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the DAT time and place thereof hosted on the boto bur Hall communicated by letter to the record filed with the clerk of the bur of and posted on the Mota Board of Education website um also present tonight is superintendent Damen Kennedy um a replacement attorney Drew K correct corre thank you very much uh for Thomas coin School business administrator and board secretary eron fil board secretary Elizabeth Louise and we have no student representative tonight and the Roll Call Mrs Alvarez Mr Alvarez present Mr Chavez present Mrs Cruz present Mr Navaro present Mrs olivo present Mr Ortega present m rord is absent Mr Manda present we have the cor pres um for the record idalia Alvarez is working tonight um as her she does night school and Mrs rocket is out in San Francisco um for job duties so they excused himself this evening um I'd like to open the floor uh hearing on CI for Citizens on agenda items only do I have a motion olivo Mrs olivo do I have a secondz Mr Chavez any board discussion all in favor any opposed there's any member of the public who would like to address agenda items only please come forward speaker please state your name name and street address you have five minutes nothing yeah no one yes Susan Harper yeah Susan Harper 344 River Road in theota um I uh I'm not I can't I can't look at the agenda because your the website isn't a mobile friendly website okay so what I'm trying to look at it on my mobile phone uh it doesn't like where the links are to the agenda and to the board minutes you can't access them when you're on mobile so I wanted to just point that out uh because there may be something on the agenda I wanted to address but I can't necessarily see it okay thank you okay thank you thank you I'll refer to the it Department look into that please anyone else no may I have a motion to close hearing of the citizens on agenda items only Mr Alvarez do I have a second Chavez Mr Chavez any board discussion all in favor any opposed moving on to uh section 31 of the agenda superintendent report Mr candy okay good evening first of all we've had uh four hibs this month two at Steen one at the middle school and one at the high school all four of them were unfounded uh just to let the community know Steen school is currently conducting a traffic study uh we're looking to figure out uh some help in the morning to figure out if there's anything that we could do on our end that can help with drop off and pickup so we're going to be doing that and also at Bixby uh the initial Harvest from the healthy meals Grant has yielded two large bins of salad in under a month which was delivered to the cafeteria and will be used this week it was pretty cool I'm going to send out some pictures but it literally grew in three weeks like you cannot believe how big it got it looks pretty good the big spe playground is now open to the public we will be hosting a small veterans assembly tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. in front of the high school so any board members if you're able to get sneak away from work it only is going to be about a half an hour also next week the auditor will be here to present the findings from the 2223 school year and then just some two Grant alerts uh the US Department of Justice has officially notified bota public schools that we have been awarded the grant of 479,000 20 23 cops office School violence prevention program this highly competitive Federal grant initiative is a testament to our District's commitment to enhancing security measures across all four of our schools it's worth noting that only 206 districts Nationwide received the Grant and Boda was one of three New Jersey schools to receive it so um and in addition to that Grant we also received the New Jersey high impact tutoring grant for the ount of $76,000 this was a very specific Grant geared towards third and fourth graders to provide high doses tutoring free tutoring to our students after school um so kudos to Mr Chang but the the cops Grant is a tremendous Grant to receive and we're talking close to $500,000 that's going to help provide security measures in all four of our schools so again Big Time shout out to Mr Chang on that because he is our our grant writer that concludes my report can I have do can we ask questions about that sure yeah um just a couple of things absolutely wonderful Mr Chang thank you very much for all the hard work that he does on um getting all these grants for us uh I noticed that in the cops Grant it you had um or whoever wrote it out um had mentioned that the enhan the funds were going to be used towards enhancements to the surveillance systems cameras with aim of minimizing blind spots on school premises and enhancing the visual quality of the existing footage and upgrades to communication equipment there was also a notation there that um it could be used for other kinds of enhancements do you have like uh could you give me an idea of what those other enhancements might be yeah so part of this grant also is going to help with our vestibules in the in all four of our schools it will help pay for some of that so uh new doors there's I I didn't want to mention everything in our grant because it comes down to security no also that really doesn't go I'm although it is a very large amount it doesn't go far and I know our parents have all been very concerned about our entrance ways and that's really where you you hit the nail on the head for me that's where our parent you know where I was going with that if any of those extra funds would be used towards kind of that so just to be clear yes specific money can be used for that Grant we couldn't use it for new construction correct so we can only use it for certain parts of it existing and things like that so anything new we have to use out of capital Reserve but this will help uh minimize the cost to the district I mean we're a small community and I really do appreciate the um The Presence at the front door um honestly I haven't been able to visit Bixby orstein or um in the Middle School when I've gone it's always been after hours um so I'm not sure what it's like during school hours but I do appreciate the presence of individuals there um The Friendly faces that we see and they're actually faces that we're famili most of us are familiar with as parents so um I'm I'm very grateful to that but I know that that has been a concern in the past I also don't want it to feel I don't want to offend anybody when I say this um for our students I don't want it to feel like they're just being policed and that they're they have no um H that they can't do any not not that not to say that they're they're looking to do anything malicious or anything bad but like they're every step Big Brother's always watching you know and sometimes that makes you feel as if you can't even be s so one of the you know you mentioned that we want um the kids to concentrate on you know education and their improvements but I just don't want our children to end up feeling like they're in some type of uh box where that's all they're being done is you know the eye is on them for that so that was just my comments on my personal comments on that U for the cops grant for the high impact tutoring Grant um it was 76,000 in there I read that it prioritizes on third and fourth grade so is that specifically just those two yes it was a it was a very specific Grant from the doe that uh this is the group that was identified that were impacted mostly during covid because of their reading ages so that's why it was prevent uh presented to those uh grade levels okay all right thank you going back to the C again my comment is not to make I know that we do our best here and I appreciate that everything that we do to make our children feel safe but at the same time sometimes and I've always felt this from very young uh from being a very young parent um our I think our children's voices always need to be heard and sometimes it's through parents that they have to be so I just wanted to voice that for them that was it thank you very much thank you Trina anyone else to that point just so that people know what the best Ral is conversation is about and and while I I do agree to an extent Mr Lio um people struggle too when they don't feel safe so and and staff um so I don't know if anyone remembers last year um someone was let in or or not the previous person was let in the second person threw a book bag into the door and ran into the school and pulled the fire alarm we became increasingly concerned because if someone wanted to you know this was just my words a clown but would someone have been serious there's two doors to the right two child doors right I think like 40 50 kids they could have created a serious problem for us um and thank God in this case they took off they ran but that could have been so what we recognize some schools don't have a Vue so it's like is it perfect probably not but at least you have enough time to buzz them in twice and pay attention to why they're there and if they're there with good purpose right because I think we've learned over and over again that when people want to create um or wreak havoc in a place you kind of see them a little jittery a little finicle they start looking around and those few minutes can change the course of action and because we have S with you know officers with weapon guns they're behind that vestibule somewhere in the building it can it can T someone from being locked in in between two areas so that's why those vestibules came in they were a lot of money we were looking into it we were still going to try to do it on on our own dollar but this grant came in and it's going to help us a great deal and it's not footing the bill so it's a really good thing um and there's a lot of other things um when you look at technology to to the point where uh Mr Leo mentioned about F boxed in well technology today allows you not to feel that way it's watching you in a whole another way um we we we were at the board of uh at convention and AI you know today can almost like see you down the hallway and almost predict your actions which is weird but but it's real it's the future you're not constantly reprimanding you're almost knowing so it's it's a weird thing we don't know where we're at but just to give people Clarity um moving on to resolution 42 4.2 approving of the minutes 17 um October 17 2023 if there's any discussion any suggestions any concerns from the board no moving on to 51 resolution on the policy section is any did anyone see anything my SK I did 4 two oh oh so sorry can I just go back for the record 41 which is uh approving of the minutes October 10th on the public work meeting Open session does anyone have any concerns we went over 42 just for clarity 51 policy section we're all good right 610 uh the education portion which is uh for education does anyone have any concerns any discussion 78 Personnel section any concerns C 71 through 77 any questions 87 moving on for 87 Finance section which is 81 through 86 you've all reviewed that I hope any questions or concerns thank you board and we're going to take action on two items I know it's a work session but we're going to take this action it was advertised as such and just before I forget uh for Mrs Harper I did the reason I was on my phone is that you're right oh Mrs olivo as well went on it so if you saw us on our phone so it we need to look into that there is no way to look at it so yeah help us out here unless it didn't pop maybe it's an apple thing it wouldn't pop up the only thing that popped up was a notice of work session meeting all right so we'll look into that thank you m Harper it has to be equal for everyone um 101 is the action item on the agenda which is approval for 101 do I have a motion to approve resolution 101 motion Mr Chavez do I have a second Mr Alvarez any board discussion or fa Mr Alvarez yes Mr Chavez yes Mrs Cruz yes Mr Novar yes Mrs olivo yes Mr Ortega yes Mr Miranda yes motion carried thank you uh moving on to another Action meeting which is I mean action item resolution 102 do I have a motion to approve resolution 102 motion Mr Chavez do I have a second second John Mr Ortega thank you any discussion roll call mran Mr ol yes Mr Chavez yes Mrs Cruz yes Mr Navaro yes Mrs olivo yes Mr Ortega yes Mr Miranda yes motion Carri TR award from Mr Ken may there's a setting that just we'll look into it Show me um so then it's Franks to okay yes yes I concer moving on to our committee reports 111 is there any committee reports for the board today we had a building and grounds meeting uh we're wa we're on our way um to go to the Buildings Department to have our courtesy review um at this moment obviously we will let you know with further detail what is going on but we are moving forward and we thank everyone for their patience on on every matter and we appreciate it thank you thank you Mr Chavez anyone else um on behalf of BC rocket and and and the negotiation committee I want to thank you once again um we have been praised for doing things rather quickly um not too quick in this in this in this turnaround but um but quick enough to get things done and keep people happy um we're in a place that we're trying to keep our qual you know everyone that matters in bot in our district we just wrapped up in somewhat shape or form the the negotiations with the administrators uh which I'm signing off tonight um I want to thank you for that and I also want to thank uh Mr damy Blaze and everyone there uh we we we did have a you know it's just how good they are how fair they are when you request is here and you say you know we really just have this and you get to a real middle ground because you can tell people care it's never a discussion about all the money what you can't you can't do it's always about where is pakota as a place and you know a lot of people complained about where our our guide and salaries were we were probably one of the worst guides in the county did you say that that's what I kept hearing and over the last three to four years our guide has gotten better than everyone else and and and it's true you know people want to say we've been able to not increase taxes on the behalf of the board event we've you know that's been a big fight with her fun we we have been able to cut some pencils either here or there our grants have helped us the state has helped us the quality of how we receive monies from the feds and the state you know that that argument you know our fond is Relentless Liz is Relentless these bills are in order so when you do that you kind of find pennies and and we've been able to get that guide up and I know that people may see teachers as and forgive me as second class citizens but they're the citizens I hear that I hear that right they're the reason that I'm successful that some of you are successful there are the reason that the ball RS the reason you're in the T today right and Mr Kennedy without that Foundation we simply do not have uh you know strength moving forward and education so our staff is important and and and to Any teacher in America around the world you're you're important our administrators are important we saw that first coming my understanding is that people were pinching for 20 some years and we were able to do that and then some so our guide I was I heard at the convention several times wow your guide has really you've really come up you're really a player um you know whether some people have it in the front we have it at the end we have it in the middle however we teachers look at that we have really come up we have really come up and we're at par with with Bergen with some a lot of great areas in Bergen County and and I saw that recently because when you have someone who want you know who's leaving and then they come back that tells you a lot it tells you that people want to stay in bot and we really appreciate your commitment and I just say that because you have to empower our administrators to continue to think like that and to continue to serve our district um so thank you to them we opened up the playground we had a um for big spe we had a u a ribbon cutting there were a lot of kids there a lot of parents there and I know what it means to me you know I come from East Harem uh my my playground didn't have rubber bars we uh I my wrist broke I can tell you everybody having a playground where I come from was a real rare thing instead you got on the train on 103rd and you drove to 91st Street so that you can play in the really nice playgrounds in you know Lower Manhattan so so it when you get to see that and you put this playground up and these are some of the residents who are coming from the same areas it you see those Smiles on those kisses and the kids and the faces and the thank you from the kids from the kids and they want to do the ribbon cutting so I don't know what it means to a lot of people but it means something to me and I had the opportunity to enjoy that in our first playground in steeve now you have playground in big spe and I can only imagine what these fields are going to bring upon theoda and I hope that we have enough gold shovels for the entire Community to come throw a party because it's finally something and I used to say that if you look at my voting record in the past when I was down at the council I used to always say I can't believe that I come to this town I pay all these taxes I do all this and I almost rather go back to Harlem and box in Harlem Club because I had a little better so because if you look at the so-called rec center it's not a rec center it's it's a small file building anyway so so I'm glad we're able to give people um something back and and it's coming through grants it's coming through Chang it's coming through all the areas that's it for me um anything else I'm moving on to Old business 121 is there any old business moving on to third uh 131 new business okay let's open on I was actually doing those on purpose I'm not sure if it's new business though um speaking of um the field uh just a quick question it was just asked uh of me when I was at the uh the band yeah which by the way the band did a fabulous job I enjoyed it completely go ahead say what you want no you say no no no go ahead because you know you were there you were there the whole time guys um so no matter what happens moving forward I'm a bit conflicted in this and I will step from away but you know when you come from where and I have to say this right and but I want to hear myself now you want to hear it when you come from where I come from there is no Pride it's just everybody offenses for themselves everybody does what they want to do um and you're almost flight and fris part of like we own xiety in New York um you're more worried about what's going to happen to you on your way home and and there's no Pride there is no Pride I play basketball I play and I have to defend myself on my own teammates play baseball but bod you know they have a lot of Pride it's real pride and and I my wife attest to this I was like really we're gonna go in this cold weather and we're going to go we're going to sit on these beaches we're going to watch B I'm not kidding for the band festival and then I'm there and there's Witnesses I became extremely extremely and it's happened to me at the football games it's happened to me at the baseball games but band brings music when you have music it thumps in your inner being those drums thump in you guys we are performers we are performers I saw Clifton I saw these really big BS and I just want to teach you the ratios right you have 1,200 kids in some School District High School high school kids so not the whole District High School and had 89 Bann players you had some that had 1,700 with 88 Bann players right then you had some that were 700 with 60 band players we are 402 that the number 404 see I know some of my record and we have almost 60 band members right oh my God from the we so just so you know this is very biased do the best you can whatever we can for any of our programs some of these programs come out with a real standup uh they come out with art let's get involved as a board I beg you please if you go out there for those who haven't been there just like I did it I will never not go to another thing like that in bota it was a lot of fun it was cold it didn't matter what that what our band did you got to understand I've been watching them at the park I said they're little novice here there right I make fun of my son in in such a in a nice way and when you watch these kids come out and perform in my opinion they were top six out of 20 1920 they were top six with almost nothing compared to the F the first Five Guys the first five had everything from I think Genie Star Wars this that our fireworks right yeah that's all they needed our music proved that our performance and kudos to our instructor Mr director he does a phenomenal job and if you can go downstairs once this is done in about two minutes go to that room they're down there practicing Jazz he's begging my son not to leave the school district because he wants to teach him out do things go and say thank you because if you sit up here I believe you sit up here for bota Pride go down there and say thank you what I saw was something I had never seen it was like college level performance where you see on TV and our kids perform at anybody's level with a lot less all right I will add to that you're 100% correct on the music I still remember my band from high school's um drum theme so I can still do it and I can still play it on my hands I don't know if Damian can but I can um and botas is also in in me and I will say go band go when it's time to say it so um uh that on that note with uh with to add to the band it just made me realize something about the parents also um I just wanted appreciate the parents that stand by their children and even some parents that don't have children in some of these clubs and stand by and actually um donate their time donate any monies donate any foods because through football season as the football Mom I had a lot of parents that don't have children in our in the football um program and that were donating left and right to these children so parents and the parent clubs of these clubs in our school that helped to show The Pride I just wanted to shout them out because a few of them are there and um I know we're we're really in the background we look a hot mess we feel a hot mess but the fact that our children are fed and they look happy and they look so just like in it um that just fills me up with everything and even though I'd had no children out there performing I know my mouth was there for each and every one of them and if I could scream their names I would have I'm a last name girl so it would have been last names for all of them um so uh I just I think think they did a phenomenal job and I love that our parents are really really getting into it with them too so thank you parents um and those that are out there in Zoom land for it as well as far as what the other thing with new uh with our field the reason the band was that um one of uh it was also uh something really quick that you know I touched on with Frank he thought of it also we're so happy and so proud of what we're going to have um even band parents were talking about it that it would be great if we could possibly in the future bring a festival to bot so just you know that being said I just wanted to start putting that in people's heads already to keep bringing promotion to our town um it would be great H the one other thing about it I don't know if it's going to interrupt and certain senior parents wanted to know and since I'm a senior parent I guess that's what I'm asking for them is the breaking ground of our field going to interrupt graduation 100% yeah absolutely so so actually I'm glad you said that I would like to have our hearts broken now to the ticket amounts that we're going to receive to versus later so that no one has any expectations plan is that however I think we need to start maybe talking to hackin they have that Park it's empty see if we can get perence ahead of time for everything we're going to need we're going to need you know well we don't we you there's no we're just not going to finish by then I mean we're I'm talking about our I will say this this it's good that you point that out right now because that's not something I thought of but maybe we could talk to the burrow and maybe do something at olon park or something like that because we have space there with a with the stage which kind of is a day we just gota put sh oh the little par yeah where they have the little stage we could look to see the Gaze The Gaze Pavilion over there listen if we have the space and if we can keep it home I'd rather stay home but if if if I understand we're you know the class that we are we got to go down and look and see it would be great if we can start thinking about that instead of waiting till last minute because I already thought about it and I know parents are thinking we're gonna you know the one fear that we always had every year was what the weather this year it's not about weather it's about we have breaking ground you talked about Golden shovels we don't have golden tents so let's see you know let's start that conversation already that was it for me so thank no no good you know I mean we're not up here to steamroll this all the time we have to talk about these things um on November 28th so so one of the complaints that our band folks have because I hear it is that sometimes it's really muddy out there go bang go go bang go and just just because I want to throw her under the bus so when I was there there were one two about five parents six parents and and we sat right and and I was complaining about why is it why are go here this is not right and I was you know complaining right they should all come off all these kids and when the band started playing and started screaming you should have heard they came from everywhere they were all over the place and one of the biggest tones in the whole was Trina oh gosh I knew right away it was her I said There She Goes so thank you Trina um on November 28th the planning board um we presenting courtesy review for the planning board the reason I bring this up is it is important that everyone knows that the planning board is also an important integral part of the entire burough process with these fields so November 28th um and maybe we could discuss it with coin I think the entire board should go so he would have to publish something I think believe saying that the board won't be present it won't necessarily be a board meeting but I think that this is one of the most important parts for Goa has actions vodo has taken in many years and everyone should be in this little place um because at that point we're gonna have big discussions about moving forward moving these fields forward because those band kids also said it was muddy so now with new Turf and new Fields they're going to be able to practice on the football field you know so this is a thing for them too so just putting it out there I'm all good with that um moving on to 141 section of the to open the floor to hearing on the public on absolutely anything do I have a motional is that a second Mr Chavez yes sir any board discussion all in favor any oppos thank you very much is there any member of the public who would like to come up state your name street address you could speak on anything microphone why is that there hello oh um wow I could not have planned that conversation better myself oh because I am here um as a band parent to speak about band things uh but um first I want to thank you all for coming out tonight I know you know this is a a job that is rarely recognized as glamor and nobody gets into the board for you know the fame and recognition so address Victor Hernandez 74 chestnet Avenue thank you uh good evening members of the board uh I am here this evening to request new band Uniforms on behalf of the marching band program and parents um you know first I'd like to talk about some of the positives right that I'm seeing not just with you know the band program but just with my daughter who's in the Band program um social skills right um cognitive you know development she's playing music constantly um her math is getting better thank you right uh leadership skills I know um she's really taking uh taking it serious teamwork time management she yells at me in the morning to hurry up and get out of the house because I'm late um currently our band well a little bit about our band uh in 2021 uh we had 36 students 2022 we went up to 38 students uh this year 2023 we're up to 54 students uh so that's almost like a 40% increase from uh last year to this year and thinking about that right conservatively so let's say we got another 20% right because we're going to have some seniors leave right that's usually at the end um you know we're looking at possibly 64 students uh and speaking to Mr Miranda's point about you know I was I was listening to How many uh at the band Festival I was listening to how many students right uh were in the school compared to how many were in the marching band and we have almost 15 uh 15% of our students in marching band the student interest in marching band is growing and uh we'd like to keep up currently we have uniforms that are about 20 years old um our current uniforms we have served as well right but they're showing signs of wear and tear uh our band director Abe uh David Abraham he's doing his best he's replacing about three uniforms per year however it's peac meal and if we continue this practice there's going to be no opportunity to get to update those uniforms um it's going to be just the same ones just some are going to look cleaner and some are just going to be 20 years old um and so by by getting new uniforms it gives us a fresh new look which will mirror the fresh new look that bota schools are getting uh we do understand that budget condition uh considerations are always at the Forefront of our decisions you know however the impact of new marching band uniforms does extend beyond the field right they contribute to the overall positive atmospher atmosphere and culture within our school fostering a sense of belonging and pride that extends far beyond right to have time show uh this board has shown its commitment to renewing our school facilities and programs your work on helping P the referendum illustrates your dedication to improving bota Public Schools investing in new marching band uniforms is is an investment in our school's reputation uh and Community Pride when our band looks and feels exceptional it reflects positively on our entire institution uh it showcases our commitment to Excellence uh atten to detail and the importance go to places on the Arts and um extracurricular activities we hope you consider supporting our children the band needs new uniforms go band go so here's what I'll say to you I uh I've been in bota since 2010 I was the vice principal of the high school the principal of the high school and now the superintendent last six years so I know exactly what goes into the band and I will say at no time has the band uh that that I can remember has ever come to us and said we need new uniform so it's not like something that uh they come to us and 's like no so this is definitely something that we could look into and I know just from a community standpoint they're at all the parades they play the uh during the holidays they play for the senior citizens so we always say like our band has 60 kids our football team has 30 right so we're always like our band is even bigger than our football team which is is usually the opposite in most districts so it's something that we hear and this is actually the first time that someone has come to my to my attention and Mr Miranda called me texted me sent me videos several times during the performance telling me that we need to get new uniforms for these kids so guilty well yeah I heard no I heard that I heard they were gonna build a pirate ship we he saw the pirate ship I said someone stole that PIR we are Buccaneers hello we we we um we all we uh we need to do something and I don't know how to say that but um I saw some of the uniforms saw it um like I said I'll step back but I asked board um my son did get his overalls and I had to buy I had to give them my black socks they're like two Ines too short but that's okay you know he gets up puts on his hat I think you know the hat is really old school um you look at some of these hats these folks have um you know our uniform is dated we need to show Pride with everything we're doing um to treat this point bringing on a an event in bod we're not you know we're going to work meaning I'm gonna push everybody to work fundraise especially in a new field right but you know I think that I think it's a good opportunity also to redesign the uniform make them flash out that way you can have the kids design and present to us which one they like better something a little modern yeah modern you know something own classic but modern absolutely no it's exciting Jackie terti and 110 Palace AV I just want to add to that really quick since I'm here um I happen to have two kids in the band my younger one is now in the band and I wanted to add um two points one is of the older kids in the band there are not as many it is a Young Band so the fact that they are so good is amazing because they are pretty young a lot of eth and tth graders which happen to be the years my kids are that's just a coincidence um but that being said if we could do new uniforms soon you have a chunk of kids who will really get the benefit out of them of course we want to support every kid in the band but because you have a Young Band now is a really good time to do it because these kids we want to keep them in the band we want them to stay involved and they would have the benefit of of a number of years with new uniforms um sure the the older kids would definitely get that benefit but I just want to point that out that it's interesting that it's a bit of a younger band and the second thing I wanted to say is um a lot of these kids in this band are multi-talented they are in the drama club they are in the art Club they are in sports they are really multi-talented they do lots of things they are in student government um for instance I mean one of the one sport the two sports that don't really match obviously are volleyball and football because they they conflict there's a football player who came to the band at the very end and played because he was in the band last year decided to do football this year and he played um in the show on at the festival because he loves it so much too you can't you can't do both simultaneously but the band is a very welcoming Community I think uh Mr Abraham has really continued that which started with Mr mccan which I'm sure many of you remember Mr mccan who 30 years I think ran the band here and it was he's the one who established this in such a great program so I do want to mention that you have CrossCountry kids in that team on that band that cross the boys and the girls are literally their Triple Crown winners last year they are division Champions this year they have some of the best runners in Bergen County and we want to keep them in the band and I'm telling you a lot of those kids are like oh my God it's such a commitment so I just wanted to make that point that you got a really good group of kids and one of the things as as Victor really I think really well said um when you look good you feel good right so just kind of adding to that thank you that's an noely thank you absolutely look you know I think you all know when when I believe in something I don't stop and I think you all know that about me um my son had told me previous to that think it's the mic so so I think at some point we all live a little vicariously through our children oh I think every day and it's open discussion right as we should be as a board um my son had told me initially like oh I don't know if I want to do this a big commitment and after that night he said oh I'm coming back so because they're multiport multi-talented kids um I think they have a real Competitive Edge and they saw what it's about a lot of them say shame it's not a competition which is rare to hear in today's generation right they're like shame I will say this um one thing I learned is and you know we're at the eighth grade and ninth and 10th but they have friends at high level um grade levels and um and they have good friends like positive role models and and they're communicating better and and that to me is like a feeder to actually having um great seniors and so on so forth so it there's a lot of good to come from from your support um but that's all you have more all right let's get them on Anon Anette talking and now we can't hear are you there all right I'm gonna go on next and then give the time next person Susan Harper Susan Harper hi thank you so um I want to Echo what the last two speakers said um my daughter was a you know a former band member um the uniforms are exceptionally old I was absolutely shocked when I saw the uniforms when I would go to the the invitation all those competitions against you know our other um towns just even the surrounding towns I'm not even talking about towns that have enormous you know resources to them um it is time to upgrade these uniforms um it's it's way overdue and um and I regret not even speaking up I didn't know that nobody have spoken up about this a long time ago um but now it is a good time to to look at it again so that's one number two you had happen first of all congratulations on the grants I think it's absolutely fabulous news um it was also mentioned just about AI um I think that some of you have probably heard about um in another town that AI was used to morph young women's bodies um faces onto um nude bodies and it was really really horrifying and disturbing um I hope that as our technology is evolving that our policies are evolving as well and that we are constantly taking a look at that to um protect you know our children and to also put them on notice you know what is appropriate behavior and not is not you know what is an appropriate behavior and I'm not suggesting anybody's doing anything like that I'm just saying that it's important that we keep up with policies as the technology is changing so rapidly and then finally um just coming back to the fields again not the football field but the baseball field um and Miss Miranda you know that we've had a conversation about this but not really publicly um I'm still not really clear and it seems like a lot of people still AR clear as well just the impact to the environment um on the baseball fields it would be helpful if the Board of Ed would um share just the renderings of which trees may be removed um so that way the public is aware as this is on public taxpayer Green Acres Park land thank you so I I will say this we just had a meeting with the uh our architect and the engineers night we are finalizing those plans I would like to send it to the uh bota Council first and then we do have a a meeting before the zoning board so I would like to give it to these people first before I share it with the public um I just don't want to put anything out yet until I put it into the people's hands who have to see it first I don't want other people to have that so I'm hoping by next week maybe that we can uh discuss that a little bit further but I am sending something to the council uh tomorrow CU they requested an update and we literally just uh met with the Architects tonight and finalized everything for the 28th meeting so everything will be clear on what the plan is and then everyone will have input moving forward absolutely that's great it's going to be Susan it's going to be colorcoded I think that was we're trying to make it as clear as day because there's a lot of information on this plan um there's a drainage and even myself I was looking at it and then there's fencing and there's survey line so what I did for the trees what I've requested for the trees I haven't done anything what I requested was to color coat what trees are going why um what trees are being replanted um I think there's an estimate of like 26 are going down 27 are coming up something like that think something like that I think in total more trees will be added than were taken down yeah not it's not a lot more but it's there some will remain um there was one promise and one commitment from this board based on what the people wanted is we want to be able to access the other fields we want to see it we want we don't want it to continue there's a there was a big divide in Voda between and we just talked about every reason why we need to enhance fors enhance this to keep our kids combined together no matter where you come from what Walk of Life your bans and near bota um so we've committed to removing these high fences when no one ever had access instead into a more for fence for safety reasons or three and a half foot and Gates where people can run and walk and do things and take the division take that wall down those big bad words right but take that wall down so we've committed to doing that in order to do that there's there's a lot of things that have to be done we've also on behalf of the board took action on something that needed to be done which were those baseball fields right it's like if I used your pool to Kennedy's point and then I gave you new pool next here you'd be really happy right so that's what we've done is but in order to do that elevation has to occur so there's a lot of elevation some drainage and things in order to elevate the whole park to a better standard than your current you know completely out of flood but to make to improve it those trees have to come down there's just no way to to wrap dirt around trees there's just no way to do it um trust I've asked I really don't want to face this question in boto that has a tree emblem right we had Parts I just go right but but I we have to remove trees we have to but we have committed to replacing trees and save as many trees as possible another thing that came up when you saw the concept plan there wasn't a soccer field drawn out on the grass side of the baseball field which there was a whole lot of little things because I wish people came up and spoke so we know but there's a lot of chatter underground in bota and some of the chatter was oh they're taking away the soccer field the very soccer field that was voted at the council and painted out in 2006 I know I was there so we're now doing it again we're there's a picture picture so just know that we're putting these plans out to the mayor and counsil tomorrow we're also giving them to the engineers of the planning zon and to get ready for a a courtesy review um they've been very Cooperative with us as of right now um so I think we're okay so forgive me we don't want to take trees down I mean we have tried act in every possible way trap The Architects and the engineer how do we not move the tree trees have to come down in order to elevate grounds and make them look beautiful um and that's all for me um and oh for the PTO of the Middle School kudos to the Past PTO they're doing a good job the present PTO I saw something go out that there's a donation to the eighth graders um so kudos to that thank you for keep keep the eighth graders thriving and everybody else moving forward yes she said please try again Anon anet you want to type in that question you could type your question in on the same way she's muted I asked her to unmute it's not muted though it's it's not on our end she has to unmute her own can you unmute anet wait where's a question can you type in your question she uses she does because she's saying yes please try again she's saying that it's not working for her to unmute so tell her to type in her questions under Q&A what I mean it is technology right I did I told her oh can soccer have access to the Fieldhouse do you mean in the future are you do you mean in the future yes oh yes of course yes yes with our new field to be to be clear yeah they're all gonna play with the almost New Field yes I don't think that'll be a problem should it should be good if you have anything else type it in or just give me a thumbs up or okay or anet now with with the what is we're going to have lights so we can have games at night all yes they never did before their belongs would get wet in the rain yeah that is not a problem I don't think because they'll be playing on that field so they're are two locker rooms there we'll have to figure something out to make that happen but I don't foresee that being a problem all right good night good um for the lights really quick for the and it would be ideal to maybe put a proposal together maybe at our next like what it is the cost and and maybe we'll assign a liaison from the board well I would definitely commit I would definitely talk to Mr Abraham get him involved in process with yeah all good all good um it would be great to get together and because we want to know from this a fundraising standpoint two quotes right that's all you got to tell them two quotes yeah and just to see how we can help two quotes their Contractors State Contractor Co I mean once they have aign I can help to find a vendor too thank you thank you youran and when he says something he says it Trina no yeah I just uh before we go um I just wanted to make mention of something we're all talking about you know people donating giving time and all that and um I just want to give a real shout out to Dr lash with the Halloween um party that he had here uh for us uh what was it October 27th was that the date um and I saw a lot of things happen um I saw older I mean a lot of people were like oh the older classmen are not going to want to come if families are here and parents you know what they did you know so for people who said they didn't want a lot of maybe not all of them but a lot of kids dressed up and they came it was the first time out um I think that lash did a great job with the support of C of of missa and the counselors you know helping out with donations of um decorations and um Candy also with the PTO and other parents that came in and of the students they came and they volunteered their time and yes of course it's kind of a come on I'll give you your volunteer times your volunteer hours but they engaged you know they had fun they they they they joked around a bit they had fun they even stayed around for Dr lash to the very end and helped clean up so it was a really good Community vibe that I felt for all of bota I hope it does keep for next year and um I I hope he does have the energy to have it happen again it was exhausting I will say that at the end of the night I don't think once I sat down I didn't want to get back up but it was it was a wonderful night and I think he did a great job and I know he had a lot going on with test uh testing that week so it was kind of um uh um he hectic for him um plus he had us PTO moms um kind of talking to him every day asking him did you get this did you get that did you do this on top of everything else that he had to do so I think he did a fabulous job with the support that he had also and I just wanted to make mention of that also the uh High School is doing a formal I believe in a week or two and this Friday Dr P told me over 200 kids will be coming that was amazing yeah tickets bought already so that's confirmed 200 children confirmed the eth and they're doing a special eighth grade dance for those kids and the eighth grade they're all ready for this special dance they're just it's it's just I just um you know good things happen good things happen for students you know during the co years and maybe even a couple of years before covid there was less Community conversation and activity happening I see it coming back I'm so proud of it you talked about Pride a lot I see it coming on my way out I don't plan on go leaving I know doc uh uh coach chapleton um May mention that uh Mikey's leaving but I'm not uh so I I actually I I agree with that I'm not I'm here so we'll pick it in front of you you'll pick it I'm not going anywhere and I appreciate everyone who who gives and uh gives back whether or not they have a child here for that so it's a great feeling and a nice thing to see for our small community thank you so just we're about to close U this is the longest meeting based on Pride we've had in year I I will just add one last thing too because um we just did finished with fall Sports and obviously cross country did a great job and it's really uh funny to me because our girls volleyball team um lost in the sectional finals which is a great year for anyone which people they shut down the town for and it was considered one of our Worst Years in the last 13 years so uh Mr Dupo is going out in January um and he's been having a tough time at it but um just congratulations to all our our our fall Sports winter sports starts Monday already that's right Mr with his 600th win to yes 600 wins so lot of good stuff we have a lot to be proud of here yes do I have a motion to close hearing of the citizens and hearing of the board members Chavez Chavez do I have a second second Cruz Mrs Cruz any board discussion all in favor I any oppos we have a motion to adjourn motion yeah that was closing motion Alvarez second olivo all in favor I any he opposed good night everyone