good evening the cedar board board of education public portion of the board meeting it wait I'm reading the wrong one sorry about that 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 meeting of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Cedar Grove board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be advertised by having the date time and place thereof posted on bulletin boards in the district published and or transmitted to to the Verona Cedar Grove times and Star Ledger newspapers tap into online news filed with the Township Clerk and posted on the district's uh website can I have a roll call please Mr Grandy here Mrs Keegan here Mr Pac here Mr marzulo here Mrs Dora here good evening everybody at this point we're gonna open the um meeting of public comment on agenda items only and I don't have anybody for agenda items so I move to close that portion of the meeting um we're going to move to we do have a presentation tonight so we'll do the presentation first and then we will get to a committee report so M Jon why don't you come on up do you need a few minutes I can come back I just to you guys updated there thank you okay I'm here this evening hello Jennifer jessen F uh band and choir director and also Robert Savino our Orchestra director we're proposing a trip to Boston Massachusetts a performance tour and uh if you turn to the second page um we're asking for three days two nights it would involve two school days March 14th and 15th and um it's to avoid the St Patrick's Day celebrations in Boston um so coming home the 16th um and also the opportunity to be at um the Boston Symphony Orchestra concert performance and a group dinner and then Blue Man Group on Friday March 15th the first day we would drive to the University of Massachusetts in which um we would have a abandoned Orchestra CL clinic and choir Clinic um with professors at the University of Massachusetts and be able to perform selections and then get adjudication but also um Clinic atmosphere in which um students can see what it's like at the college college level and also interact um at on a college campus at the um University of Massachusetts and then the following day Friday I'm going to Fel Hall Quincy Market Boston Symphony Orchestra that night with an orchestra performance revel's Mother Goose langers The Dong aluminous note uh nose American premiere of D'Or jaacs the Noonday witch Janek sanetta conducted by Sir Mark Elder tangle wood Festival chorus there's a lot of things going on in the BSO that evening and then um that would be a performance day and also um the Freedom Trail then on Saturday coming home after breakfast and then stopping at Mystic seport and then we would be you know rested to come back to school on Monday we are approximating um 30 students hoping 30 students um it is right around the time when spring Sports begin um so there's a little bit of a concern with with that hoping that um coaches and Rob gogerty and I are talking um would be flexible with the amount of practices required before they um play a game um because it's such a great opportunity for the music program and helps us recruit as well well so any questions that's thank you thank you we we have taken the Boston trip in the past um and it was it was a lot of fun and Mr Savino um when we were talking about locations to go he's like you know let's let's do Boston that was a really good trip and the opportunities to to be at a college and um with professors of Orchestra and choir and band um even though we have small numbers it's a great opportunity for those students the only thing I would add is the same thing I added for this the athletic trips is that the students are in good academic standing right at the time of course yes which I know you're on that so and we also since the weather is kind of iffy in March um included the trip cancellation Insurance full refund um if there's weather issues smart great thank you very much you you want to go I do want to go right you go to that trip I'll go top it's warm Okay g to move into some committees good evening how are you we're going to start with you so that you can get go home thank you how are you today I'm great how are you very good thank you yeah so um this is a great month for us especially all school council we did um a very successful November food drive where we collected canned goods especially for Thanksgiving um and they went to local food pantri so that was great um for our December event we're planning on doing Deck the Halls again which is has been a longstanding tradition um where each class has a different Hall way and they decorate it's a little fun contest and fundraiser but something we're doing a little bit differently is we're going to decorate the doors this year instead of the whole hallways because we've had some issues with participation in the past and a lot of the teachers had fun decorating their doors during um October for Halloween so that was good and we're also anticipating a winter pep rally for winter sports which we've never done before so yeah that's what's coming up nice sounds great so sounds like a good start yes very good all righty does anyone have any questions you're free to stay or go thank you very much have a very nice Thanksgiving nice holiday yes we do okay so we're going to move on to our committee report uh we'll just go right down the road here Mr marzulo uh I am going to let Mr pal speak on behalf of facility uh I'm sorry Mr Keegan on behalf of facilities and I also attended personnel which Mr P is going to speak about so I'm going to pass it right down to Mr P okay thank you Mar uh Personnel uh agenda this evening is is very much what we discussed at our meeting there are no um personel items that are outstanding that that um to report to the community of board on everything that is uh that we did speak about is presented through resolution as recommended by the super AC um if I can may I move on the curriculum yes St yes I'll jump in at this a little bit more on curriculum we had a what I would consider to be an outstanding meeting uh on the 15th of November Mr Gro along with all the supervisors Mr Barbosa M masado Mr pi and Mr dor and myself and uh the meeting was I considered to be very inform um it Illustrated some of the district initiatives we were moving forward with and it provided insights into the implementation phase of some of their exciting program I I the administrative team and especially the supervisors will be commended for their efforts um some of the major highlights and I I think the community as well as our audience this evening will find it very interesting um the first is we have spoken a lot about um and presented back in September our test scores and we did know that note that we have some concerns about where we are in mathematics at various points throughout the the K2 district and um one of the things that we that was recommended to us is that we move with a new k to5 math series and um that was discussed last year and I'm happy to report that the supervisors along with staff both Middle School High School are looking into the possibility of um adopting a new k tood math series another interesting discussion that Mr Gro and the administrators are having which I'm sure you are having with yourself and uh your families and seeing on TV is the impact of artificial intelligence on schools and where we're going to be with AI um I I thought that the the conversation was very interesting and uh one of the perspectives we might take from that is um we would like to see AI be used not to beat the system but to enhance the system and from that uh Mr Gro and the team are analyzing possibilities um for potential constructional processes through AI um our staff is attending PD on AI and also is there going to be a need for a policy with artificial intelligence as we move forward um there was also a good discussion which we talked about that had something to do with our test scores as well they call it a dual elastic process and basically a very simplistic version of that when you you hear that word is test awareness um the district is and the supervisor are working in in the direction of making students aware of the type of questioning strategies that are being used on tests and um having our students become more familiar with what they are going to see on the test and it's not teaching to the test it's making students more familiar with the question that is there um next one was the state has just adopted new math and Ela standards all right which they have just told the districts about which is going to require the districts by September of next year to implement these so as the district moves forward I I say to the board I put in the note um that will probably reak some havoc on our 5-year curriculum review cycle because every district has to have a 5 years review cycle which which they address the curriculums this will have to now take precedent and funds will have to be expended to rewrite and adjust certain curriculums um there was still a lot of conversation around our middle school math programs and how we're fostering Improvement in that area and they also talked about some initiatives such such as um including thinking math C classrooms uh vertical whiteboard classrooms and emphasizing um the need for reading and writing in conjunction with Ela through social studies and that is an initiative they're working on this year and then finally uh M dor and I requested that the through Mr Gro that the supervisors and the principles um in an upcoming meeting at an upcoming meeting uh present how we are doing and progressing on our district goals and our building goals but the meeting was an excellent meeting very productive and um I would like to commend the uh the administrative team the supervisors for all the work they're doing moving us forward in these areas you want me to do FSA since I did um I also attended both FSA meetings North End and South End uh at those meetings um very Lively conversations focusing on some of the important things that we were speaking about um we did speak about the importance of parents logging into the portal um we once again reminded them that of that import talked about LinkedIn um reviewing that data and so forth we also discussed uh artificial intelligence and and then for them to be aware of it and we also discussed the referendum and I will say that I do get quite a bit uh quite a bit of information from the public and more so quite a few questions from them regarding the referendum initiative that we will need to move forward but the meetings were excellent thank you uh yesterday Mr marzulo and I met with um Mr de and Mr Bannon for facilities um Mr Bannon did a great job of updating us on the ongoing projects around the district including um the completion of the boiler work up at the high school that's all up and running just in time since the Letter's getting cooler um the stage rigging was repaired and is all compliant up to code and working properly up at the high school they just this past weekend um and the uh roing thermal scans have been completed so a plan is being will be developed on how to address any concerns arising from those um the rod Grant is still moving forward to do the electric upgrades at North and South and and um the agback upgrades and the gyms at build those schools and we are currently looking at how to utilize our sr3 funds so that um is something to be discussed and evaluated in the days moving forward weeks any questions discussions um really nothing to update the board on from the finance committee perspective everything that we talked about is uh is covered in the in the agenda great yes I just want to add to what Mr pet was saying about the uh curriculum meeting it was uh I I just want to commend the the team really working really hard the administrative team the supervisors and uh are really pushing the changes in the curriculum and the feedback that we're getting is that the at the building level that the teachers are very receptive so um really happy to hear about that so thank you for overseeing that Mr G okay superintendent's report yep I have a short one I just wanted to uh congratulate uh all of our athletes for The Fall season uh they had a fantastic season excuse me and I'm you know I'm looking forward to the winter season which is starting shortly uh I also want to um congratulate the the students who participate in this weekend's uh production phenomenal production as always um so we have some wonderful Talent here uh also just to piggyback a little bit on what Mr palic talked about um I know I said I would talk about this this is this is an agenda item on all of our administrative meetings which is AI and it's something that we talked a little bit about last time but I'll continue to talk about it um you know one of the things that we we look at are how can we um incorporate that into our instructional practices so our so the curriculum instruction team actually uh participates in workshops over at Monclair State and um they just recently went to one yesterday and they came back with some very interesting uh tools to use and we were talking about it today so it's something to we're looking very much forward to to unveiling and sharing with our staff December 7th is a professional development day and it's something that uh we the the team has brought in um a presentation on AI and to try to break down some of the uh misconceptions of it especially in education it is the future of what we're doing uh though it is a you know Christen masado our our supervisor of Elementary has said we have to be good consumers uh when utilizing this and that's something that our goal is to to help guide the staff on how to do that appropriately uh and again Mr pic had shared about a policy and that's something that we will be discussing in our policy committee and I think it's appropriate to start to explore that uh some surrounding towns have started to do that and I think it is appropriate appropriate to put something like that together but also to have that evolve as we evolve with that tool conferences were just today was the last day of conferences so that's always a uh an interesting time to help share how students are doing and how to support them and lastly I just want to wish everybody a wonderful Thanksgiving uh and hopefully everybody has a a a nice time to decompress have time with family friends and um be very reflective thank you okay so down to business we just not too many resolutions tonight so hopefully we move on pretty quick here so under the business administrator's report can I please have a motion for G1 through G10 please move second any discussion roll call please Mr grandi yes M Keegan yes Mr Pac yes Mr marzulo yes Mr Dora yes can I have a motion for H1 through H3 so moved second discussion roll call please Mr Grandy yes Mrs Keegan yes Mr Pac yes Mr marzulo yes Mrs Doro yes we good yep sry yeah okay uh under Human Resources a motion for i1 through i1 a move second any discussion there roll call please Mr Grande yes 2C with the exception of 2C yes we have to be clear yes what is your um position on 2C yes or no sorry um on Tuesday bottom of page n oh uh no on to see put yes to everything else Mrs Keegan Yes except no to 2C Mr Pac yes no on 2C and abstain um J KJ Mr marzulo yes to all except 2C no on 2C Mrs Dora yes to all except 2C which is a no and then under special services can I have a motion for J One move second discussion Mr Grande yes M Keegan yes Mr Pac yes Mr marzulo yes M Dora yes this time I'd like to open the meeting to the public on any school related item uh we do have somebody signed up today so the Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest public participation shall be governed by the following rules please preface comments by stating your name address municipality or residents and group affiliation please be mindful of your statement length keep keep it each statement to a three minute limit participants may not speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard please direct all statements questions or inquiries to the presiding officer presiding officer May interrupt Warn and or terminate a participant statement question or inquiry if it is too lengthy or abusive obscene or may be defamatory the rules may be waved if necessary to protect privacy or to maintain an orderly operation of the board meeting and Mr Martinelli the uh mic is right there John montelli 30 Hillside Avenue good evening everybody good evening and I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving as well thank you you as well I sent an email request um to miss Dora who forwarded to Mr guaso in reference to Flying the Italian flag for Italian Heritage Month all right and um I know you need to consider the request but I just need to know I have quick question on that um is the what is the policy of raising Flags other than the American flag this time I don't think we even have a policy on Flags Okay the reason the reason why I say that is that as you know over about half the town is of Italian descent um and I just like if if some other groups come up and just say you know I want to fly my flag or something like that like say the same month like and I just wanted to know like how is that handled so yes you did send an email and I shared it with Mr Gro and I know he responded back to you that um he was going to bring it to the board and the board would be discussing it in a a policy committee and that's where we're at we haven't done it yet okay the reason why I say that is because like sometimes it could be like a slip slope meaning that you know everybody wants like certain one group or another ethnicity wants their flag or another you know whatever whatever it is um and I just wanted to know like is there could there be a resolution like maybe flying the American flag since we're really all part of the American Experience we're all part of American citizens and that would probably take care of every group or satisfy every group and that's the reason why I'm raising the question I appreciate it okay thank you for your time you're very welcome okay I don't have anyone else on our list but absolutely am just state your name and your address please uh my name is Greg albre to Elwood Road I second what Mr monelli said I think the American flag covers us all uh I think we're all Americans no matter what our gender sexual identity ethnicity City I'm a German American I I don't want the German flag being flown the American flag covers everyone so I second one Mr M said than the other thing I would ask is during the last meeting Mrs Barbosa gave some very interesting information about scores and there was almost a correlation drawn between mass scores and attendance and I thought it was interesting I was wondering if we could go a little bit deeper perhaps and see if there there's any correlation between attendance and covid were more people out due to covid possibly and also more importantly if you could filter the data possibly by people who weren't absent did they also perform poorly on some of those scores where the scores weren't just about State average or so so basic question is could they filter it for kids who weren't absent and did they also do poorly or or did they do better same thing for there was a correlation implied between parents uh logging into the portal is there any correlation there for those kids if they could filter parents logged in x amount of times did their kids do better because when I was a kid my fa there was no portal and my father never logged in so I'm just wondering that that's my question basically thank you unless Mr Gro wanted to respond no I I think those are good points that's something that we look at when we we examine and disaggregate data we try to look at those finite points and to to really try to understand it a little bit better and how we can use that information to inform our instructional practices but as a team we can always go back and look and you you you and just to clarify what you're you're looking for is the attendance based on um the correlation of covid absences compared to a regular school year absence uh in in specifically on math math scores and looking about uh and then also examining um for the students who weren't absent at all um how did that how did that make that correlation and then you're looking for parents and just you bring up a good point I mean we didn't have that technology when we were kids growing up and our parents um had a very different perspective on how they were going to um support us as students right um and so I think you know now that we do have that that at our fingertips as parents I know for myself um it does allow us to to make ourselves aware and instead of I remember when I first started teaching you know sometimes the first time parents would ever know about how their child was how they were doing was when you had to call them in for a conference and they would look they would look at their child and say what you know I know that happened to me as a student so um no I I I think you bring up some really good points and these are things that we can definitely we will explore and and try to make those connected dots okay that'd be interesting to just see the data right yeah absolutely and I I also encourage you to please you know be in contact with our our curriculum instruction Department there are would be more than happy as including myself to if you wanted to sit down and and further that conversation in in chunks okay thank you sure Happy Thanksgiving everyone okay my name is Jason 78 ozone Avenue what is your last name Jason uh minet miot um so um I think uh the the AI was a great uh um thing that uh you know technology um I just wanted to find out like um how how much uh extensive um you know testing will need to be done uh for the AI and also um the the the AI is only as good as uh where the source of the information is coming from so um you know in regards to how many testing need to be done um when when pulling that data from the database what type of sources you will be getting that data I'm not sure if I'm following so um so basically uh um the basically the the the AI uh is pulling from multiple sources you know so um the the technology is only good as where that data is coming from you know like for example you say uh such and such it's going to get pulled that from that database to give you the information that you need you appreciate that kind that question because it's very true right we're only as good as information that we're given and where we can pull from and the reality of it all is that we are in our infancy stages of even being able to do those types of things right now what we're doing is we're looking at the products that are out there we're looking to see how those tools can help aid staff in instructional practices and how they could perhaps develop lessons and Aid in supporting students uh we look to get to a point again AI is rapidly moving it's moving at a lightning speed um our goal as Educators in this district and I think throughout the state and Country as all Educators would look at this as that we don't want to be left behind it's like when these first came out or the computer you know um we want to be able to be very uh up to- dat and current with our practices but we are definitely not at the stage where we can utilize AI to pull the like testing scores I believe we're going to get there probably going to get there pretty quickly too based on products that are out out there but right now we're really focusing on instructional practices and teacher support then we'll move into the student aspect and the analyzation of the of of data thank you sure okay so I'm going to close that portion of the meeting since there is nobody else uh announcement of future meetings our next meeting will be Tuesday December 12th and that will be at the high school and then the following on January 2nd which is our reor correct oh and congratulations to Mr pic who has been U joining us for another three years congrulations and so that reor meeting will be on H January 2nd and that will be at Northend all right um motion to adjourn all in favor I hi hi all right meeting ad thank you Happy Thanksgiving everyone good Thanksgiving everybody