call the meeting call the meeting to order please rise for the flag salute we have a flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all the New Jersey open public meeting 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 the Verona Cedar Grove times and the Star Ledger newspapers tap into online news filed with the Township Clerk and posted on the district website can I have a roll call please Mr grandi here Mrs Keegan here Mr Pac Mr marzulo here Mrs Dora here good evening everybody and everyone at home it's nice to have a full crowd um we are going to um move to public comment on agenda items only and I see that no one has signed up so I move to close that portion of the meeting and we will move to we're going to skip the committee reports and go to uh some presentations best part of the meeting we have some presentations tonight um what do we want to start [Applause] with oh here we go sorry about that uh student of the month Miss SAS good evening everybody I know it sounds here would you like to use mine Mr deas good evening I'm pleased tonight to honor some of our distinguished students I want to start with honoring our students of the month these are the recipients for September October in November um I want to start with just a little bit of a backstory regarding student of the month each month of the school year we choose a character trait that we would like to highlight that aligns with our seven mindsets curriculum the students we recognize tonight have been chosen by their teachers as students who exemplify these traits in September our theme was responsibility we were looking for an individual who takes accountability for their actions and their uh commitments to school very seriously the staff were asked to nominate students who were well prepared for class complete assignments and follow directions by working collaboratively with teachers and peers our September student of the month is Bobby Kelly come on up [Applause] Bobby thank you you stay right here so we can get your picture with everybody October's theme was everything is possible we were looking for a student who demonstrates positivity in all situations we asked our staff to nominate students who have positive attitude always seeing the glasses half full embracing change and always striving to reach New Heights our October student of the month is Ian meding you're welcome your picture and November's theme was attitude of gratitude we were seeking a student who always acknowledges goodness in people and situations we asked our staff to identify a student has overcome obstacles shows appreciation and acknowledges their gratitude for their opportunities in school and Community our November student of the month is Gabriella Florentino you get in the picture you're welcome when you all stand together we're to get a picture of you [Music] okay nice [Music] [Applause] [Music] than so [Music] nice I have another one so um on November 17th and 18th Cedar Grove High School presented the play Puffs we all know the story of the magical boy who spent seven years in Wizard School while Puffs was not about him rather was a story about the other students who went there too as a lover of the boy wizard story I was not sure how i' would feel about this parody however I was blown away by the incredible performance from our students the show was funny and clever while while delivering a heartfelt message that there is a hero in all of us I am so proud to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of our students tonight we are going to recognize the advisers cast and crew chiefs of the production the production was a joint effort for those who sit here before you and so many who work tirelessly behind the scenes I want to say thank you to everybody who had a hand in making this place so successful at this time when I call your name please come up and receive your certificate and stay in the front so we can grabb a picture together uh Adriana caceres yes that would be great they in alphabetical order that's good Isabella catalo Aram dearion Eddie diaran Eddie's not here um Adam DeVito Jesse Franks Jesse Franks I'm sorry Angelina Hashim MOSI kayin louisi Emily Pier Emily rattel Caitlyn sherban Eric Silverman Jack Simon uh Michael palmary I for some reason Benjamin weiner our crew chiefs G Del Moro Sienna [Applause] Giordano Nancy Guan philli Kaminsky Maddie mcneel Nicole Pastula Samantha Voss I would also like to acknowledge and ask our um producer Jackie libowitz our assistant Producer Mike Jen Carelli our Tech adviser Tyler cotch artistic adviser Miss jessen and our set crew adviser Tom catell to also join us as we recognize you for your incredible hard work thank you so much for all of your time and dedication we're going to get a picture of you all [Music] together [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh I just want to give a shout out for the winter concert uh which is Thursday night at 6:30 we would love to see anyone art show 6:00 art show yes um the art teachers are displaying some of semester 1 um artworks and in the lobby at 6:00 and then 6:30 our Winter concert thank you great okay good evening I'm I'm here to recognize um two of our fall athletic championship teams from this fall athletic season um before I do so I just want to congratulate all of our fall athletes coaches um and and teams on another Su very successful fall athletic season um proud to say again all of our fall athletic teams um qualified for our state tournaments um had a great season um our girl soccer team made it to the sectional semifinals for the second year in a row our girls cross country team um finished second in the super Essex Liberty division ch um championships and and our girl soccer team again finished second in a very tough super Essex Liberty um division conference so congratulations to all of our fall athletes coaches and teams again um but two teams um stood out from the rest winning some championships this year I'm going to start with our girls volleyball team who captured the 20 23 super essics conference Colonial division championship um they had a division record of 11-2 um the overall season record of 209 and reached the program's first ever State sectional championship game so they had a historic run there so great job girls um as I call you up I'm going to read through the proclamation um when I call you up come stay up here so we can get a picture um this is a proclamation congratul ating the Cedar Grove High School girls volleyball team on their Championship whereas during the fall Athletics season of 2023 the Cedar Grove High School girls volleyball team won the super Essex conference Colonial division championship whereas this team had a super Essex conference Colonial division record of 11-2 whereas this team had overall season record of 20-9 and reached the program's first ever NJ siaa State sectional championship game whereas the 20 23 team roster was Valentina biseri Isabella [Applause] Keta JC Lynn [Applause] nardello Amanda Eustace FIA ISO Ella laforgia Kristen Walter Dia bavishi Blanca bonello Daniela D'Angelo Sullivan tensa Leah Weinstein Caitlyn OK coner Isabella stes and our coaches head coach will Leonard and assistant Deanna Dort just want to congratulate our Cedar Grove High School girls volleyball team one more time and wish them the very best of luck in the future [Applause] congratulations [Applause] [Applause] our next team I would like to congratulate is our footb footb team for capturing the 2023 super Football Conference National Red Division for for the fourth season in a row um they finished with a national Red Division of 4-0 and and had an overall record of 8-2 um this Proclamation con congratula the Cedar Grove High School football team on their Championship whereas during the fall athletic season of 2023 the Cedar Grove High School football team won the super Football Conference National red division championship for the fourth straight great season whereas this team had had a perfect super Football Conference National red division record of 4-0 whereas this team had overall season record of 8-2 whereas a 2023 team roster and I'm going to try to call the guys who are here um n niik zunic Jerry Tara Xavier [Applause] andar Pierce asog Nick Testa Steven Paradiso Nick Russo Jackson Maurice Connor Kerney and seniors Giovanni cassili Jamie D Silva benera B Zaki Lucas stro Nick tro Nick jario Jean Carlo Gonzalez Robbie Hayes Nick ianacone Bobby Kelly Nick Robinson John LCA Tara Greg Vitali and Peter saner [Applause] rescue I would like to once again congratulate the Cedar Grove High School football team and wish them very the very best of luck in the [Applause] future you're going to have to make two rows two wow see guys what's going not of the new I did this until like today how EMP always happen it's cold it's really that is fun that certainly is the best part of the meeting it's always fun all righty we've kind of cleared out all right so we're going to move on to committee reports and we're going to start with Mr Kelly tonight good evening how are you good evening how are you very good thanks um really three main things for the month of December um first thing you guys know what uh deck the halls is MHM uh just for people that don't know it's a little competition between the grades every grade gets assigned to hallway and whoever has the best decorated hallway for the holidays gets a little bit of money for prom so you know seniors we're hoping this year we're going all out um second thing is Sebastian's toy drive big thing we do in town every year in collaboration with the high school with the uh Survivor family so if you if you have um any new unwrapped toys please bring them to the vestibule in the front office at the high school that'd be great um and then last thing huge thing that we're starting to bring back this year um we had a conversation with the faculty and the students and like the student body and we decided that for the month months of I think it's either March or April we're bringing back lip sync finally yeah okay so participation everybody wants to be there it's going to be big again we want to bring it back make it permanent I know uh Co messed things up a little bit got canceled for few years here and there but we're bringing it back so we're excited do we have an anticipated date or time frame I think somewhere between like the second and the third week of March I think not a definite date yet but soon I know it's probably going to be after the the spring show I think probably the week after the spring show yeah awesome excellent looking forward to that that's basically it all righty well thank you very much no problem you're free to stay or you're free to go your call thank you so much have a good evening to all righty so we'll move on to some um you too Bobby okay I'll start with the committee reports not too much to report this month or this week uh we did not have a curriculum and instruction meeting this um since the last meeting but I know that uh Mr pic and I had reported on the last one um and then the other one was Personnel Mr marula and myself um attended a Personnel meeting and um most of the Personnel or all of the Personnel um or resolutions tonight they're pretty much standard-based uh resolutions that you'll see on the agenda so nothing really beyond that to report on Mr marzulo uh just like you said I attended that personel meeting with you uh which was a you know standard uh I also attended the facilities committee meeting with uh Miss Keegan um which she'll report on shortly but I just do want to take the moment to congratulate all those students that left uh there's a big crowd here but uh the football team the volleyball team on their accomplishments um you know best of luck to our winter athletes that this season's coming up uh and also to our theater program that they put on that great show uh in the fall and all our theater and art programs moving forward for the winter and lastly I'd just like to wish all our families our students our our um faculty a happy holiday safe holiday season Miss Keegan okay um congratulations to all those fall sports teams and good luck talk to the winter teams um the facilities committee met earlier last week um we talked about how the rod Grant has been finalized so the process for the North End South End Electric upgrades and the HVAC um upgrade in the gyms is going to start um how long that'll take it'll depend on how long it takes the materials to come in and get going with that we also discussed the sr3 funds what's left of those and we're in the process of identifying items in need of attention that are also going to bring about a cost savings to the district so you'll hear more on that in the coming month or so that's all I've got thank you Mr Grande thanks so um I attended a finance committee meeting on December 8th um and there was a few different things that we discussed the first was uh I guess Mike favorite the annual audit uh we discussed how the Auditors are currently in the field and be getting some of their testing uh we discussed continuity with the audit firm being used as well as the signing partner um and we're anticipating their opinion probably sometime in January um to date there haven't been any any issues that have been identified which is good news uh we also discussed the comprehensive maintenance plan which you'll see on you know in the materials here and that's a uh a plan that's required to be uh filed that outlines actual and projected maintenance work um we also discussed the Esser Grant Amendment as uh Cen just U just mentioned um and you know the potential options for using those Grant funds uh in particular we emphasized you know first looking to spend money on items that will provide a a a recurring uh cost savings um you know when when considering you know what items to actually use that that money on so uh we had a nice conversation about that and then lastly just as usual we looked at the uh you know the bills the bills listing nothing unusual to report on that that's it and just some further clarification on the es monies there's um for people that are not in education there are stipulations and requirements um that you have to stay within in order to use those funds you just can't arbitrarily uh use it for anything and then the other stipulation is it's for projects that must be complet it by the date that the Esser funds expire so we have to be very mindful on projects that we are going to use that funding for that we cannot be in a situation where the um project does not get completed by the cut off date and then we lose those funds and then are being held responsible for the work that we did uh start so that just all goes into um the whole process it would be nice if we could just use the money and use it what on whatever we need but unfortunately that doesn't uh that's not the way it works so just a little what is happening here um all right so um all right so we'll move on to Mr Gro superintendent good evening everybody um just a couple things uh first of all I just wanted just to share with everybody here that we had our PD uh on December 7th which was really uh a pretty eclectic slate of things the teachers uh and the staff were doing in the in the district it it ranged all the way from you know our our articulation to looking at art artificial intelligence for the staff uh preparing for the Arts Festival data in School counseling as well as Suicide Prevention sealed by literacy our security officers did scenario training um as well as building based needs and uh law throughout and Equity throughout um gifted and talented so that was a pretty comprehensive day that the staff took part in uh one of the things that I you we've been talking about I I'll continue to highlight it which is is AI artificial intelligence and actually miss englas which Pres presented here tonight she and I actually went to a round table over at calwell University and we went through we actually had a wonderful time where uh there was a big presentation about generative AI which is what we are are looking at and and starting to embrace through as a district it's in its infancy stages like I continue to say but we learn so much more about it the reality of it all is we've been using artificial intelligence for more than 10 plus years uh in ways that we don't even realize it so uh it's something that I'll just continue to talk about if there's ever any questions about it I'd love to answer it but our staff is starting to understand excuse me what it is how it can be used in the classroom as a as a instructional leader and how the students can use it uh the other thing I'd like to just share is uh i' always like to around this time of year the mcaa family does a fundraiser for a kindness for Christopher and if everybody recalls it is a um there's a tragic story about a a student a child Christopher who lost uh his life and the um Call of family every year uh not only here in Cedar Gro but throughout they Place donation boxes for pajamas for for for children and again uh the family did place them in each of our buildings including lrp with donations and I just wanted just to recognize them because it's such a you know during this holiday season which is a time for reflection on each of us on each other and doing doing something for for others you know putting ourselves second and putting others first and uh they've done that so I just want to give a shout out to them and thank them for that and also just want to wish everybody a happy holidays and safe holidays that you have wonderful times with your family and friends thank you thank you and same to you thank you all right we get down to some business here on page five under the business administrators report can I have a motion for G1 through G8 please second any discussion roll call please Mr Grande yes Mrs Keegan yes Mr marzulo yes Mrs Dora yes under superintendent report General Administration can I have a motion for H1 through h six so move second any discussion roll call please Mr grandi yes Mrs Keegan yes Mr marzulo yes Mrs Dora yes Human Resources can I have a motion for i1 through i7 but I would like you to strike I3 and replace it with addendum A1 so move second any discussion on that roll call please Mr Grandy yes Mrs Keegan yes Mr marzulo yes Mrs Dora [Applause] yes all right under special services can I have a motion for J1 so move second discussion roll call please Mr Grande yes M Keegan yes M marzulo yes Miss Dora yes I open this portion of the meeting to the public comment um means I see we have one person on the list tonight uh the Board of Education recognizes the value of public common 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 your comments by stating your your name address and Municipality of residence uh please be mindful of your statement length keep each statement to a three minute limit particip 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 comments or statements questions 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 maybe defamatory these rules may be waved if necessary to protect privacy or to maintain an orderly operation of the board meeting Mr kcki good evening even just oh yeah thank you um you know coming to board meetings on nights like tonight are really great I I you know you have to you have to just look at what some of these kids are able to accomplish and you know we don't we don't have a big school system it's it's incredible what we do here um I appreciate you saying that well our staff our teachers our administrative staff work really hard our parents oh yeah it's total you know everybody's in um I'm here for my granddaughters and I need some information the October 30th meeting there was a presentation by Mr Grande on a um meeting he went to with the school boards Association and they were proposing a resolution to resist the Banning of books and you voted no I I have four questions why did you vote not to support the resolution why was there no discussion among the board what does this mean to our kids and teachers and what has this done to our reputation in Cedar Grove so why didn't you support the resolution so uh we didn't support the resolution the res the resolution wasn't supported because uh when Mr gr and please interject if I'm misspeaking um Mr Grande attended the meeting he asked some very specific questions regarding the resolution and uh the implications of it and the questions were not answered there was a lot of areas of the resolution that Mr Grande felt were um what's the word I'm looking for just not specific enough did not provide enough guidance so he inquired about some questions the questions that he inquired about were not answered and so there was um some room for error and there was some room for gray gray areas that we were not or he was not um comfortable with so it the decision to vote no was not a board's decision to vote no in that we were going to ban book this board event is not Banning any books we have never banned any books we will continue to provide and please interject Mr gro we will continue to provide our students with the materials that is age appropriate content appropriate which looks different in every building at every age level and we are not in support of banning any books I appreciate that and this actually answers my second question it it this kind of discussion would have been extremely helpful two months ago in terms of you know and I'll tell you why because the what I took away from it was we're not uh we're not going to support that and we're not interested in in resisting it but there was some clarification uh Mr Grande did give some clarification at the following meeting uh clarifying that so that people did not take it way take away from uh whatever was put out in the public that the board was Banning books we are not Banning books the bottom line is we have never banned books we have no intention on Banning books our decisions to uh what is in the classroom will continue to be done as they have in the past and material will be age appropriate and content appropriate we really didn't even have didn't even get to the point where we could have a healthy discussion about the uh about the proposal because it was like Don mentioned it wasn't written that good it was you know there was a lot of things that were out of scope it didn't run to just the actions of the board it ran to actions of the town or you know um parties outside of the school board so it it really as I discussed in that follow-up meeting it just was a very you know it wasn't it wasn't a strongly worded proposal and one that we couldn't support as written and I made all those comments at the at the meeting itself and none of them were addressed so uh that's that's the reason I think Don you summarized it very well yeah okay I you know the other the other part to this is um this is just a are we at a point where and you would know this better than I would are we at a point where we need to do something a little a little more uh I wouldn't say concrete but some kind of document or something that kind of gives some guidance in terms of what we do with books I like for example I know there's a curriculum committee right and in terms of the materials that we use in school books I believe the curriculum committee looks at those books and those books get kind of bubbled up to that that group and and um can either be used or not used and and if there's uh a discussion in terms of what kind of material uh we're using and how how we're going to use it and all those things um kind of gets caught in there so to speak I I say caught is not a right a good word but in there somewhere I I'm just afraid and and I appreciate you saying we're never going to do this but you know Never Say Never I mean we could get to a position where um somebody could get very very angry at certain things and and you you know we went through some things a couple three years ago that uh as a board that really was not only upsetting but just it wasn't necessary so all I'm saying is is that if you believe that we're fine and there's nothing else that needs to be done and we're confident that we're able to manage the process of someone saying I don't think you should use I don't know and Frank's diary that we have a way to respond to that in a productive way and not in a nonproductive way and you know that that means a lot of people get what they want well we can all I can assure you is that we will move forward in a productive Manner and discussions will are ongoing all right but I do appreciate your comments and your statements all right thanks a lot appreciate it have a very nice holiday you guys too thank you okay I will uh close that portion of the meeting our next meeting will be um after the new year January 2nd um that will be our organization meeting um we're going to change the times a little bit public will be at 700 p.m. and executive will follow after can I uh a motion close all on agreement bye yes yes okay have a very nice holiday healthy New Year healthy and happy New Year with your families everybody up here everybody at home you too thank you