like last place like Emily you got to I think Jake isad okay welcome everybody to the cwell West calwell Board of Education regular public meeting tonight the board met an executive session Monday December 11th at 6: p.m. in James Caldwell High School room 105 the purpose of that meeting was to discuss Personnel litigation miscellaneous and old business matters that meeting has been advertised and is in compliance with the open public meeting act and njs a 10 4-6 also known as the Sunshine Law the matters discussed will be made public when confidentiality is no longer required and formal action pursuant to said discussion shall take place only at a meeting to which the public is invited tonight's regular public meeting is happening tonight right now at 7:00 p.m. on the dot in the James Cobell High School cafeteria the meeting is being streamed live but all Community questions and comments will be welcomed here in person the calwell West calwell Board of educ a regular public monthly meeting is also in compliance with the open public meetings act and njsa 10 col 4-6 also known as the Sunshine Law notices have been sent to the progress in calwell New Jersey and the Star Ledger new Newark New Jersey and tap into West essics notices have also been posted at the Board of Education Business Office Harrison School building Grey Street West cwell New Jersey and have been delivered to the clerks of the Bureau of Caldwell and West Caldwell for posting Brian can you take the role yes Al here Mr El here m m here Mr de here M here since we don't have our student rep can I ask the three students in the front will you come up and lead us with the Pledge of Allegiance would you like to do that come on up come sweet it's okay flag United stes America the for IT stand Nation God indivisible yay okay Brian are there any Communications for the board were okay so we're gonna move on to the superintendent report I'd like to invite timio and Jak here up to the microphone Tim did I get your name right I worked on thank you hi I'm Jake Imperial and I'm Timmy miao we're both house leaders at ger Cleveland Middle School we are leaders from from the house of Integrity we're here to share some recent events that have occurred at gcms recently we had a guest speaker come in whose name is Asia mayck and she talked to the school about all types of bullying and how she was bullied throughout her life at a young age she spoke in a method poetry called slam poetry to explain what she went through and it was very interesting how she did it she wrote a book titled the survival guide to bullying when she was younger and she shared about the book itself and how it came about one lesson that we learned throughout the assembly was that if you are in a situation where you don't feel comfortable or safe get help right away also our most recent house competition was a handball tournament handball is a game with two teams the objective is to get the ball into net with only passes and no steps the game is only 6 minutes long with substitutions during the game there is one goalie and five players playing defense and trying to score one game is played on one half of a basketball court and the other game was played on the other half this helped the students develop their teamwork skills with each other and also learn new strategies which were ultimately used to win the game knowledge was the winner of this tournament all right so every year at GCS there was a food drive which was set up to honor Mr Brown and they would collect canned veggies canned tuna and canned chicken every grade was encouraged to donate some canned food and another thing to know about this Feud Drive was that it was a competition because whoever brought which whichever house brought in the most canned food would win 100 P points we thank everyone who brought in cans for the food Shu because it all goes to good use and we and us at gcms definitely made a difference in someone's life at gcms something new for this school year is the make a difference recognition slips these slips are are given to someone who is seen making a difference in the school all these slips will be put in a jar picked from it when is when it is full each month Mr B will pull one winner who will receive a $10 gift card to a place of their choosing Starbucks Duncan Target Amazon or Chipotle and several consolation winners who can choose from the prize bin a gcms t-shirt a gcms water bottle or a book and more another thing that we have as house leaders are house days where all the house leaders are given a day to themselves the first house day took place on the day before Thanksgiving break all the house leaders were supposed to choose a friend to run a game or activity with some of the options that the house leader could have chosen were named that Family Feud or some gym games all the students were given a wristband in in The Home Room with the room locations of where they would be going throughout the day each house was split into five groups five different groups as house leaders we had to choose a group from a group leader from our house who would show everyone where to go and take attendance for the group at the end of the day of the first house day we had a special basketball game also known as Hoopa paloa where the teachers played the students it all starts with the students having a three onree tournament at the end of the day until they found the winning team that team is the group that will verse the teachers in front of the whole school unfortunately the sixth graders were taken by down by the teachers the seventh graders lost by a buzzer beater which means they only lost by one however the eighth graders managed to take a lead in the last few minutes of the game which allowed them to win the game it is an energetic and fun-filled event for all the students and overall everyone enjoys it the gcms the gcms band was the first to use at a newly renovated Auditorium when they performed their concert on Wednesday December 6th please join us on Wednesday December 13th at 700 p.m. for the gcms winter chorus and orchestra concert it is guaranteed it is a guaranteed fun night and will help you get into the holiday spirit the gcms Gingerbread House contest is also back and kicked off on December 5th all the gingerbread houses are due by December 19th and the winner will be announced on December 20th Timmy and I hope to wow the crowd with our cre ation thank you for our thank you for your time thank you guys great job now we're going to have a short presentation give a minute for the TVs to go on earlier this school year our curriculum and instruction team provided updates on our progress toward our District's 5year of strategic planning goals as well as our action plan to achieve and exceed this year goals that presentation is posted on our website tonight we would like to celebrate some of the good work we have done in recent years and continue to do around our district pillar of academics in conjunction with our excellence in athletics the Arts and Community our work around academics is integral to realizing our district mission to Foster Inspire and Champion learning for all when we commit as a district to fostering inspiring and championing learning for all we mean all students but also all of us Educators to continuously grow and collaborate in ways that keep students at the center in calwell West calwell schools we strive for academic excellence and also model a growth mindset we believe that with hard work and targeted support all Learners students and adults can grow to their fullest potential in our district we anchor our decisions always in what is best for our students in calwell West calwell Schools students are at the Center of all that we do with intention we have created and promoted four core elements of Student Center teaching and learning a shared Vision distributed leadership inclusive curriculum and responsive instruction our theory of action is that if we collaborate around our shared Vision build our capacity through distributed leadership framework and design curriculum instruction with children at the center our calwell West calwell students will have the knowledge skills and mindsets they need to succeed in whatever future pathway they choose that starts with the shared Vision so how do we plan and partner to ensure that our shared vision and values are enacted how do we anchor all decisions in what is best for students student focused teaching learning and leading does not happen by chance for us it starts with our strategic plan when we met a few years ago to create our 5-year plan teachers administrators and Boe members created our sheared mission statement our core values and our fiveyear measurable goals all rooted in our students demonstrated needs we know that a plan is just a paper in the absence of active Partnerships and that it takes a village to support children in reaching their full potential to promote our shared Vision we deliberately partner with families we are grateful to have active and inclusive homeschool associations and so many thriving committees to name a few curriculum essics County gifted and talented steering committee English as a second language comprehensive equity and of course our Board of Education committees finance and Facilities shared services curriculum and technology and Personnel within our elementary schools we seek to engage families through our parents's reading and math partner events across the district we promote transparency and proactive communication through our parent portal and our newsletters and we seek to engage in learning side by side with our families through our Community Connection series which has included presentations from the New Jersey Coalition for inclusive education the YWCA and our own staff our intent always is to partner so that together we can keep students at the center of all that we do our shared vision is a key driver for our Student Success and sharing leadership through a capacity building framework allows for us as a district to strive toward and attain our strategic goals as known across various sectors distributed leadership is a capacity building framework to support growth and organizational Improvement as a school district we constantly think about this question how do we grow our capacity to lead in service of students put simply we apply the same growth mindset we have for our students to ourselves as adult Learners we seek to grow and extend our own practice so that all members of our teaching and learning staff are leading with students at the center so how do we grow and lead in service of our students as a district we are proud to now have formal teacher leadership roles across all grade levels K through 12 second only to parents and families our teachers are closest to our students Monday through Friday and are critically important in our work together this districtwide teacher leader model does not exist in many places and the teacher leaders we have in our district are phenomenal our teachers engage in additional professional learning so that they can help their colleagues reach their growth goals often times leading training and events or opening up their own classrooms as lab sites for colleagues to observe promising practices that support students we are committed to teacher leadership and this capacity building framework because we know that when we grow our students grow it takes a lot of effort but there is a genuine love and care that our teachers feel and show through their expertise in content and pedagogy each and every day our coaches are teacher leaders who help engage peers in cycles of learning whether it might be about growth plans for reading piloting close reading units or enacting standards driven curricular chefs our coaches are Powerhouse instructional leaders who partner with teachers and administrators to help us meet our student learning goals our coordinators bring their expertise and Leadership to support across departments in all content areas ensuring coherence with in and across our secondary schools we now have foundational structures and systems in place like our professional learning communities teacher learning teams our instructional leadership teams some are institutes for admin rators and ongoing points of collaboration to promote coherence and feedback our learning walks teacher Le professional development and new teacher orientation are just some of the ways we grow and lead in service of our students our schools are thriving places of learning for both the children and adults within them our shared vision and distributed Leadership Model as an organization position us to skillfully lead with students at the center so how do we ensure that what we are teaching and how we are teaching meet the diverse needs of our 2537 students we start with our standards on curriculum we ensure that we are not only aligned with the New Jersey student learning standards but also bringing that learning to life so that our students experience Minds on education when we select programs like senonian big Ideas investigations and others part of our commit criteria always includes how cognitively engaging and handson or Minds on the learning will be for our students we seek to learn through questions and integrate inquiry based approaches as well as technology to enhance learning and to differentiate instruction based on our comprehensive Equity plan family committee members feedback we just created this year a K12 experiential learning progression so that our students get to see mirrors and windows into the many beautiful cultures within and beond beond Our Two Towns we constantly update materials to ensure they are responsive to students needs we believe in our mission to Foster Inspire and Champion learning for all and our curriculum is our blueprint for this Vision so how do we ensure that students learning needs are met how do we create responsive instruction this begins with a shared framework we use the Danielson framework for teaching and en normed use of the tool as an instruction leadership to you over the summer and throughout the year in co- observations and both Elementary and secondary principal meetings and instructional leadership teams we observe instruction and focus on student engagement and new learning we analyze multiple measures link it Running Records internal assessments growth plan data and use that data to inform professional learning and student supports in cell West cell schools we create differentiated Pathways that include all children from Smart support stem and summery our onetoone initiative technology infused lessons and evidence-based support systems our experiential learning program rocket readers inclass resource gifted and talented program an executive functioning class multilingual supports to students and families an individualized differentiated educational activities block an Orton Gillingham based program bonx first our n math tutoring and National Junior Honor Society tutoring we are a district brimming with resources designed to support each learner our book rooms are full of materials that teachers have requested based on students reading levels but also based on their interests and family backgrounds this level of student focused instruction does take time and work we are proud of the commitment our teachers and administrators make to support this level of teaching and learning those who attended the gcms presentation in November heard that we have a teacher study group there who volunteers their time to come to work early Friday mornings to learn about and facilitate discussions about how best to support students we work hard together to ensure our students are placed in classrooms with intention so that they are comfortable and also enjoy time with their peers to the maximum extent possible whether that's to meet a special ed need an English language learning need or a need for enrichment we ensure children learn within the least restrictive environment so they have space to flourish based on their identified needs we are proud of what we've accomplished so far we recognize that no district is perfect but we continue to focus on our fiveyear goals our mission and vision we should all take a moment to reflect upon and truly celebrate the thriving teaching and learning community we have created here in colell West colell schools on this slide are just a few opportunities to partner with us and share your feedback while you are always welcome to reach out to us starting in February we will be hosting an informal opportunity to connect with the assistant superintendent me Caitlyn Jones and the superintendent Dr Conlin through a First Friday's coffee monthly series please mark your calendar for the first Friday of the month starting February second to come chat with us share any insights or feedback or even just a swing byly to your coffee cup thank you so much for your time this evening for your partnership and most importantly for entrusting us to educate your children good PL it's all right thank you Miss Jones for your willingness to talk for 12 straight minutes that concludes my report great okay president's report so again just thank you so much M Jones for doing that for us was wonderful we really appreciate it so thank you for all that hard work um and thank you to our teachers for all of that hard work because it begins with you so thank you all of you I just want to thank you to Timmy and Jake for coming tonight and doing an awesome job day and to grow Cleveland for always representing at the Boe meetings and um they said something that was important they talked about the concert so I definitely know that there is a concert at gcms on Wednesday There's a concert at gchs on Thursday and I'm not sure if there's any I think there's concerts next week too right go right to the app if anyone hasn't downloaded the app yet I suggest your app all the information on when the concs are at each school is available right there on the app over the next several weeks of all all the yeah please so please go and support our kids because they're wildly talented and put everyone in the holiday spirit so whether you're going to the coral concert the orchestra band just try to go out and see them they they they need the audience and they deserve it and then just to let everybody know that the High School Musical pivoted and changed so was supposed to be foot loose and now they are proud to present Chicago which will be in the beginning of March it's going to be dynamic fun dark exciting wonderful ful so we'll have hopefully like a preview of that and we'll really Pump It Up starting in January February to get everyone out to see Chicago exciting um okay so finally part of the meeting that it's kind of a bummer for us up here tonight we are going to be saying goodbye to Mr ala so I I don't want to get emotional so I did write something down so I don't flab her on and he told me don't get me an Apple too bad he's getting the Apple everybody gets the Apple so he's getting the Apple but um so here we go it is with mixed emotions that tonight we say goodbye to Chris ala his dedication and unwavering commitment to the children staff and families of our community have left an indelible Mark Chris on behalf of the Board of Education I want to express our deepest gratitude for your years of service tirelessly working to enhance the educational experience for all all you have been a true advocate for our students embodying the spirit of service that defines not only the school Community but our community as a whole As you move on to your new Endeavors your legacy of passion and unwavering advocacy will continue to inspire Us in the now and those that will follow in your very large Footsteps in the words of Robert G iner Soul We rise by lifting others and Chris you have undoubtedly been a steadfast Champion for children lifting not only the educal educational aspirations of countless young minds in our district but also amplifying the voices of those often unheard finally I know this is not goodbye but simply see you soon we want to thank you for being a beac beacon of selfless contributions and a remarkable role model not only for our children of our district but also for your own children and the one who's not here as you step into to your new Endeavors the Board of Education would like to extend our warmest wishes for continued success may your journey be filled with prosperity and may your influence continue to inspire those around you thank you we miss [Applause] you so would you like to say a few words before we take a picture I really didn't want anything I made that clear but I've also never declined to say a few words so um I mean I'm I'm a selfish person I guess you should know that about me the reason I'm here is because I really desperately wanted my daughter to have full day kindergarten so many years ago um and we fought with some of the folks on this you know uh Podium here we we fought to try to get full day kindergarten through and we did and and shortly after that I I was sworn in to the board of ed in my living room alone um because we were in the middle of Co and again I ran because uh in part I thought you know we could maybe do a little bit more to get the kids what they needed um and over the next three years I met a lot of people I've had the support of a lot of people um I'm so happy to see a bunch of them here you know our our family's first friend maybe or one of the first friends his family made in the school district uh was Zack and who went to school with ly at Harrison school um so Zack yeah you that one I'm so happy to see you here and I and one of the things I remember because I went to a lot of Board of Ed meetings before I became a board member and I saw a lot of parents make the case for for their kids and one of the ones that's emblazoned in my memory is actually Zach's dad who gave a speech that I still think about from time to time defending his son um and talking about how important education was so I'm just happy that that family's here and that they continue to to do all the things they do for the town um an was one of the first people who signed my petition to run on the 4th of July I remember that um meline is often times a conscience of this board in this school district she doesn't mind telling us when we make a mistake she's very very straightforward about that I've enjoyed working with her through all sorts of different things with the Education Foundation and and I'm hoping we can continue doing that um Liz is very consistent and very thorough which sounds boring and like faint praise but I would say that she is more consistent and thorough as an attendee of these meetings than anybody since myself when I used to come here every meeting and push and push and push and it's easy to get up and say a few flashy words um but her dedication to this District she she puts her her time where her mouth is she shows up every single time um and I hope that God willing if she chooses one day if she wants to be up here I hope she gets there because she would be an incredible asset in whatever she wants to do for this District so I think that's just about everybody of import in the room um oh and also for my wife Aaron um I do a lot of things I do so many I do a lot of things and Aaron does every single thing with me everything that I do Aaron does so if I'm here Aaron's involved if I'm doing little leak stuff Aaron's involved if I'm doing Education Foundation stuff Aaron's involved and every little thing that Aaron does I don't do so all all of the cleaning up after the dog and a lot of the homework and a lot of the stuff at the house so she does that and also I don't know if you know this about my wife but she uh is the uh Deputy general counsil for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield so she's actually got a better job than I do she's smarter than I am and she does more than I do so it's embarrassing that I get any kind of credit at all but at the end of the day you know my goal here was to try to create and these folks will like vomit when they hear me say it systemic long-term change I I keep saying that that's the goal and to do that you kind of have to separate personal and professional a lot of the time you know because this is a business some of the teachers here have heard my presentation at the middle school about how this is a business and we got a budget and it's $50 million and how do we handle it right I think I'm three for three on that actually so um but The Guiding Light for all those decisions has always been Luke and Harper and I'm so happy they're here today and um I'm looking forward to see you when we get home thank you Julian for all the kind words I I'm not dying I promise we're all dying I guess but um I'm not dying imminently um I just got a new job and I got a lot more on my plate and I didn't want to leave I wanted to stay but one of the reasons I felt like I could is because this board has become so strong and so self-sufficient and I don't want to short any of the members on this board but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Julianne has transformed the way this board does business over the last year as president her strength her passion her compassion um there's no question that if cowards like me may leave after 3 years we know that Julian's going to make sure that this district is succeeding at a high level so for all of you guys whatever I need to do you let me know thank you to the administrators Brian Chris Caitlyn um and thank you for all of your support we have to take a picture come on we have to take a picture right you going to take a picture I know you love a picture come on oh pass the Apple pass the Apple thank you for the app so funny the only reason I told him we were joking I hope so before an executive him and I said to him my goodness I said I'm losing my sweet tooth buddy because him and I have the biggest sweet tooths on this board and we always go straight for the cookies like we're here there's all dinner we're like NOP we'll have cookies I'm like what's going to happen he's like you're going to eat all the cookies I'm like that's not good for me but that's probably what's gonna happen but I'll save them I did say too we should have gotten him a big glass cookie right eron that would have been more appropriate than the Apple I would have preferred a big regular cookie yeah fine okay um approval of the minutes so can I have a motion to approve the minutes please I'll make a motion to approve the minutes and a second I'll second it great ran can you take the role please yes yes yes yes yes okay so now we're going to move on to public comments on agenda items only since we're a nice group and we're all in the holiday spirit I think we only have to read this once tonight uh public participation shall be governed by the following the participant must be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments made by an announcement of their name and address statements are to be limited to three minutes duration participant may speak no more than once on the same topic until all others who speak on that topic have been heard all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer Board of educations use the public comment period of the meeting as an opportunity to listen to Citizen concerns but not to debate issues or enter into a question and answer session or cross-examination between the public and individual members be aware that not all issues brought before the board will be resolved this evening boards May respond to public comment by seeking additional information or by delegating the authority to investigate the issue to the superintendent or his designate the presiding officer May interrupt warn terminate a participant's comments if they exceed the allotted time or are objectively obscene participants may be civy liable for any obscene defamatory or slander statements made during public comment that being said does anyone have anything they'd like to get up on agenda items only anything on the agenda at this point in time okay sure come on up not a not a big deal if it's not we'll always reflect them should I sh I'm Ann man Joon I live at 141 small Avenue I want to thank the board members for time and the teachers that my son has had at Lincoln and Grover Cleveland school so I want to start out um one concern I have is a a question actually is that I pick up my son every day I don't really drive into school he has to walk but every day I drive down the Avenue and my son says there's a police officer like in front of the school I guess but I don't see really much any police officers either driving in a car or even I know there's crossing guards but I don't see a police presence so I don't know if that's something that I would have to contact the police department about or something that I would bring up here or I don't really know who to contact about it to be honest do you mean outside in front of the school I'm just talking about like Bloomfield Avenue I mean there was just someone hit was killed on Hanford and the police would be the one we don't control that we try to have them out there at the beginning of the day at the end of the day because of the traffic outside the school middle school yeah I haven't seen any police officers and I drive it every day from at 3:00 there's no Poli I don't I mean very rarely have I seen a cop car or police even like just standing outside I mean it's just very congested like I remember dropping my son to a babysitter in East Hover and there was cops on Ridgedale Avenue all the time cop cars like rosand School District I just find that we live that Bloomfield Day have Avenue you know is very congested by the middle school this is when kids are on their own more so than grammar school and a couple I don't think it was last year a student in Verona was hit by a car thankfully he was okay I guess there was sung glare and it was on the Avenue so it's just really something that I'm concerned about so you know for everyone's child um especially middle school kids cuz they're at the age where they're really like learning all these new ways to be on their own so you're saying I should contact the police department yeah we also have a shared services meeting so I'll put it on the agenda item for upcoming shared services the school meets with the two town the two town councils so we could bring it up as a as a as a point to have a discussion it's just very congested you got that triangle too by Academy Road I usually wait for him on Washburn lately I mean sometimes I have meetings on Mondays but other than that I'm basically driving the Avenue I see all the kids with with their tags and I don't see I mean there might be people by the school but there's no one on the Avenue and it's been couple months now I would have come sooner but I just got done with my graduate class I was been very busy I've been wanting to come um two of my friends wanted to come but they weren't able to make it so here I am by myself um the another thing was I I'm actually a teacher for 26 years and I noticed that we don't there's no so if my son is walking to school and has to walk home in a half a day he's going like five hours without eating I've always worked in a school where the kids always still got their lunch or a break so he can't eat so I don't know I just find that I don't know I don't know why there isn't like maybe not a 30 minute but a 20 15 minute like use the bathroom have a snack I mean it's a long day not to eat right an I'm so sorry I interrupt you on a half day on a half a day so like all right I didn't really complain like or bring it up in the past like most of the schools I've always worked always had an hour lunch at Lincoln at all the schools in the district were 40 minutes but now he goes to the middle school and he they don't even I work in a middle school they get their lunch period it's part of the day so he doesn't like he can't he told me he can't eat in class he can't eat in the hallways I just find it like I've been in school teaching various schools and different levels and I've never heard of kids not getting a break nor the teachers to go to the bathroom get a break I don't know I know we're very into rigor and all that but I feel like today we're sometimes missing the basics of school that is overlooked it's all rigger rigger rigger rigger rigger and we're not even letting kids have a break to go to the bathroom have a snack um that's not um I wanted to ask too about the after school program I don't really need it but I was wondering what have ever came of it I got all those questionnaires about the after school I grew over Cleveland is there an after school program there or it just didn't really happen we only had about seven students interested in the after school and 6:00 in the morning so there wasn't enough student interest or parent interest to start a before after school program we're going to send the new survey out the beginning of the year now that the winter months are here maybe we'll have that but we do have one available um down the road at Jefferson it's about a third of a mile away and if you sign up there six seventh graders can actually be walked in the morning so if it's a morning issue then you could actually be walked with one of the people through Champions will walk the students down to the middle school in the morning luckily my son is pretty um responsible and he's walking to school and then I usually pick him up so that leads me into my next thing is that this is the my main concern actually well the police and the bus I guess food is the last um I live on small I know this is far in the distance but I'm thinking what am I going to do with my son and I'm thinking other people have the actually I know a friend of mine has the same problem I do but she would couldn't come today what is if I'm living on small and the school is not centrally located how is my son going to get to school in to the high school down the road this is in a couple years I just find like it's not like in the 80s where everyone knew each other and it's just I don't know it's just not what it used to be I wouldn't have anyone I wouldn't feel comfortable even asking anyone to drive my son to school I'm just thinking like why isn't there like since the school's not Cally located I know it's like this two mile or 2 and a half mile or whatever the state regulation is but sometimes we have to look beyond the state regulation so I was thinking like when I was in school in Bloomfield I had to walk out to Broad Street and then the bus picked me up they didn't pick you up at your house per se but they at least picked you up on Broad Street or here would be on the on Bloomfield Avenue so I think that there is I know there's a need or eventually there's got to be some people that need a need that to get to the high school because it's not it's all the way across town it's you know I'm it's great that people have grandparents and I don't have anyone to help me I'm single mom there's I just I'm like do I move my house I don't know what to do so it is a concern um people like well then there there taxes going to go up well I'm like taxes are going to up anyway i' rather see it go to those school maybe maybe we could have the parents pay for that out of their pocket if they want to I mean I'm willing to pay for a bus to pick up my son if I have to my concern is the safety I don't see how he could walk I know it's not the state requirement but to walk from almost I live almost on the north cwell side of small to the high school I don't know how he would get to school um there's another friend of mine she lives on Park and she's in the same situation her husband she's a teach teacher and her husband works very early in the morning and she has no wa for her son to get to school so our boys walk together um I think it's something to really I don't know if anyone's ever brought it up but it's unfortunately it's 1980 it's not 1980s anymore and there's the neighborhood situation is not what it was so we need to I feel like we need to do better in the town for like not so much like the instructions and computers I think like for these just basic things that I talked about like safety how our kids are getting to school I feel like all of I've been in education for 26 years it's all about all this other stuff that I think is secondary and no one talks about these things it seems to be overlooked and that's all I'm have to say really um and thank you for your time um again I really appreciate everyone's time my son has has a great time in school he had wonderful experience so far are um these are just some concerns I have um and I'm sure that some other parents have as well and they just don't want to come and take the time to come here unfortunately thank you for your time have a great night thank you thank you an thank you and an we will take the time to discuss what you said so please just know we're just listening and we will take the time in executive session to discuss it okay I know you have a lot to do no no no it's important so thank you for getting up and sharing does anybody else want to get up right now we'll stick to just agenda and we can get back up on other stuff at the end of the meeting anyone else okay all right we're going to move through and vote so let's start with curriculum and Technology all right upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools motion to approve items a through g under curriculum and Technology on this evening's agenda and can we have a second please a second Brian will you take the role yes M Martini yes Mr El yes M ma yes yes yes motion carries great and then we'll move on to Personnel upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools motion to approve items a through g under certificated and items a through D under non-certificated under Personnel on this evening's agenda great and can we have a second second please I'll second okay Brian will you take the role yes Mr El yes M yes yeso um yes and with regret we have the um retirement of our business secretary Mary Jane trauka who's been a staple here and um so sad that she's retiring I'm sure she's going to be lovely and happy um but we're going to miss Mary Jane so yes other yes 5 Z motion Carri okay uh finance and Facilities Chris last one motion to approve items a through F under finance and item a under facilities on this evening's agenda and the second please I will second it great Brian can you take the role yes yes yes yes yes see upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools motion to approve item a under policy on this evening's agenda and a second I'll second Brian if you could take the role please yes yes Mr El yes M yes Mr yes M yes okay now we'll take any comments on anything outside of the agenda this evening good okay okay before we go into executive session or make the motion to do so I just want to wish everybody a happy holiday season whatever you celebrate wherever you celebrate on behalf of the Board of Education just wishing all of you love peace health happiness as we enter the new year when we come back it'll be 2024 exciting um couple things the board is going to be going back to two meetings a month we're going back to our old format of a Caucus meeting where we're not going to vote we'll only vote if necessary and then afterwards the next week go back to a voting Mee that's because if you have not been tuning in um we are going to be we are in the exploratory phases of going out for a referendum okay that will be happening in 2024 late in 2024 um steam committees Dr Conlin and my correct can we give some information about that there's steam committees uh science technology engineering arts and math starting in all of the schools so if you haven't got information yet look out for that the principal will be invited people to participate that teachers uh parents community members uh to the steam committee start exploring the effect that we may create steam labs in all of the the building as part of the referendum so and then we're also going to be doing a a group at the high school where the coaches are going to be talking about improving some of the athletic facilities as well so so it's your tax dollars it's your voice you really need to be a part of these meetings so please get involved at your building level if you have trouble getting in touch with your school administrator your principal please reach out to Dr Conlin so you can can get on and your voice can be heard and shared because we're taking in all of this feedback in order to build the referendum this board as we promis is going to be completely transparent every step of the way we need the public to be as much of a part of it as we are because we're trying to take the next steps in really elevating the district to a new level on All Phases okay our Athletics and our education all right so please reach out to your building principles get on the steam committee and share your voice um and I think that should do it can I please have the special helpers to come up pretty please okay take this down by Daddy because you're gonna go down there go ahead you go down go down by Mr there you go okay okay everybody stand around because you're going to help okay just wait for the que wait for the que ready hold it okay ready so can I can I have a motion for the board to exit a public session and go into private executive session at 7:46 p.m. in room 105 yes and can I have a second I'll second Brian can you take the rooll sure all in favor I I all against nay abstain happy holidays everyone this meeting is adjourned right guys do it I know she's going to have some feedback before when it's over