all right that was very loud sorry the mics got turned up from last month I hear feedback was was given so there we go um good evening everyone and welcome to the Monday March 18th regular board meeting for Collingswood School District uh appropriate notice has been given roll call please Mr Chu here Mr Craig here Mrs Maya Mrs molski here Mrs Savino here Mrs Seltzer here Mrs sherid and Celia here Mrs Sherman here Mr tab here Mr delus here Mrs Caden here please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible and justice for all okay uh we did uh have a brief executive session um and we are now moving on to section three presentations we have uh Chief Carrie here to give us an update on how uh the SLO has uh the SLO position has been working for this year so far all right so I just wanted to give a quick update on the SLO program uh I know there was a lot of concern and questions going into the program and although I do have some data I will start by saying this isn't really a good interpretation of what the program is or what it's capable of uh if you're going off with strictly numbers I can tell you that as compared to last year in the first six months of the school year U the school saw 117 calls for service whereas this year there's been a reduction to 79 calls for service most of those were at the secondary level so the high school itself went from 67 to 36 calls for service and the middle school went from 31 to 15 so although the numbers are rather small uh the percentages if you were to break it down that way they're they're rather significant a lot of that could be attributed to a number of things so I think we had the stance from the beginning that the SLO program was not going to be that one piece that was going to to change everything it was going to be a piece of the puzzle that needed to happen to change some of what was going on so a new high school principal I'm sure has helped with that as well so that and better coordination with the SLO I think has made an impact um we started out the program being very very cautious and that was by Design so we set pretty tight restrictions on what the officer was able to do and not able to do um as the program evolved over the six months I think we have some lessons learned as a result of that we found where the SLO could be more beneficial I don't think we found a way that there's been a negative to the program other than the fact that we maybe overly restricted the position even more restrictive than the parameters that we set out but again that was a decision Dr mcdal and I made U being overly cautious about what the program was going to be how we were going to mold it and how it was going to take form and shape into what a successful program would be um I will say that again it's hard to quantify the number of calls that were not made as a result of the SLO getting a phone call but I can say that and I'll provide a a few brief examples last week being one of them so for those unaware the SLO has resigned he is no longer with the district he has moved on to another position uh with another municipality so the result there is we were going back to the way it used to be where we have uh the patrol officers working during the day they're the ones that are going to be getting the calls for service we do have a juvenile detective uh who is there for more complex or complicated matters but they are separate from the officer responding to take the initial call for service so last week for instance uh there was a call that was required per the mo MOA officers did come out to the school and the end result there was actually um in my opinion a lot different than it would have been if the SLO was involved so if the SLO was still in District I think that the matter could have been resolved with a phone call to that person uh that person having more knowledge about how the school operates theou and some of the Dynamics with the administrators and the students and families that were involved so because that was not the case uh an inexperienced officer responded needed someone to respond with them to help and disrupted the day where it did not necessarily need any disruption to the day what that also did was kind of paused the school's ability to take action until law enforcement was notified conducted their investigation and completed the investigation whereas if the SLO had been there it could have been a phone conversation or a a very brief I guess consultation with school administrators that would have moved that process along another way in which the SLO was beneficial when they were here is we had an incident where again per the Moa law enforcement had to be notified the School receives information they notified the SLO and from that that investigation branched out to actually two different municipalities so in addition to Collingwood it had gone out to two different municipalities just given where people involved lived typically what that would mean is Collingswood would call municipality a let them know what information we had ask them to then investigate that matter and get back to us what happened in this instance is that officer grig Theo went to municipality a spoke with the investigators there met with the family there determined that it didn't actually occur in municipality a it happened in municipality B so again going back to what normally would have happened is Colwood would have called municipality a they would have called us back and said yeah it's not us you've got to call municipality B we would have called municipality B I'm thinking they would not be all that happy that we're calling them giving them a bunch of information and letting them know they have an investigation to do um and that would have caused a lot of delay in regards to the criminal or law enforcement investigation which slows down what the schools able to do as well but because we had the SLO again he went to municipality a found out no it didn't happen here went to municipality B met with investigators and supervisors there and was able to come to a resolution of that by the end of the school day if not shortly thereafter so by 4:00 it was resolved and we had information um we were able to relay that back to the school and by the next day at school they were able to do what they needed to do on their end because the law enforcement or criminal investigation was complete at that time um so I don't want to say that's a success story but that is an example real life example of some of the things we had spoken about that could be beneficial about the program so that is a real life example of how that came to fruition another one is we had a missing student and this isn't really a success story as much as a collaboration story or what could be a collaboration story we had a missing student uh there's attendance meetings that happened at the school and during that attendance meeting there were a lot of questions a lot of concern about the student and the student's family so on law enforcement end we had done a lot as far as the investigation to determine where this student might be what kind of danger they were in um and it was an ongoing and active investigation that we were aware of a lot more information obviously than the school would have been so what came of that was there was an attendance meeting and after that attendance meeting the school reached out to me and asked on the status of this juvenile um now what came of that was the understanding and I guess the light bulb went off that said okay this is one instance where we can loosen the restrictions on the program to allow better coordination between the school and law enforcement so that we can move toward finality for this Juvenile and their family um in speaking with Dr McDow we we did discuss that there are some restrictions obviously that still need to be in place and law enforcement has no place in being in every single attendance meeting but attendance is just one example of those times that the school can collaborate with law enforcement to get to the same same end and that end is helping and navigating people through systems that are very very difficult to navigate through um so they are just two brief examples in six months that I can give you that are quantifiable or at least something real and tangible that you can look at to say okay there is a benefit to the program one that we made speculation about that could be the case and ended up being the case so as of now iess said six months in we've learned a lot of lessons um those lessons really are in my opinion what the program could be so overly restrictive to begin with I think that we found that the program can expand to go to the boundaries of what we've set up the program to be without being overly intrusive disruptive or violating any privacy concerns that there might be um we were again very very cautious in the roll out of the program because of the concerns of the community and I think that uh I can speak at least for the law enforcement perspective on that I don't think we came anywhere near meeting what people thought this program might turn into to be or would be uh what it really was is a program for coordination and collaboration with the school district which is again what we set out to do and I think we've laid a pretty good base or or set up a pretty good base of where to start moving forward um so with that said uh there was a lot of caution in the beginning uh unknown what this program might be but after six months I I I believe and with Dr mcdow's help I think we found out really how to move forward with this program um as examples Mr MCD or Dr mcdal and I would meet with the SLO on a weekly basis um that is not really the way the program was intended to be the program is intended to be that the SLO would meet with building administrators and build a report with building administrators um maybe have an opportunity to discuss being in those attendance meetings or other meetings or other information that could be shared while still holding privacy but being as cautious as we were with the roll out we wanted to have a lot of control on that to make sure we didn't step outside those parameters however six months in I think we have a pretty good understanding at least Dr mcell and I have a pretty good understanding of what that program is what the potential of that program is as well so I I know if there's any questions from the public or if that's allowed during this session no not allowed sounds good so uh I don't know if there's anything more that I could share uh I can say also since I said the SLO did resign I am in discussions with Dr McDow now we believe that building that good foundation it would not make any sense for us to rush a process to get someone into that role to fulfill the rest of the obligation for this year it would make a lot more sense for us to sit back vet out the right person um take some of the lessons learned from officer Grigg and maybe find someone that may has more life experience uh might have a family and has some more dealings with juveniles at home not necessarily so they can deal with juveniles in the school but to have a different level of empathy and compassion not that it's something we don't have one of the core tenants of the police department actually is compassion so it's not something that we don't have but but it is something that can be higher with some than others and I think it's important to find those characteristics in the person we're looking for training is only offered so many times a year um although you can get exemptions and we could put someone in the position without the training again I don't think that would be beneficial and it would be doing an injustice to the work we've done for the six months and Beyond really the six months trying to set up parameters for this program so for the time being I think it makes the most sense to kind of pause sit back take the Lessons Learned start vetting someone within the agency who might be uh capable of doing this job and go through the interview processes with the board again to determine who a suitable replacement for officer grig is so that's all I have thank you thank you Chief car um moving on to section four we are not going to uh have a committee of the whole section this or tonight um we know we have uh another meeting scheduled for next week that um would most likely be the topic of discussion and and uh feel that it probably makes more sense to to wait on that so I'd like to turn your attention to section five future dates and miscellaneous information and uh really drill down on a couple of important ones that the board would like you to be aware of and to mark your calendars uh for the first is next Tuesday March 26th there will be a special board meeting here in um the same location at 6:30 where we will have our uh first official presentation on what our plans are for the bond referendum um so please tell your friends uh an email will be going out this evening um with those dates and uh information on how to attend it will also be recorded uh and put up on our website afterwards then there are two information sessions scheduled for the two weeks after uh spring break that's Tuesday April 9th and Tuesday April 16th both are at the Collingswood Community Center at 6:30 and those are they're intentionally made to be uh more informal so that not quite as intimate as our Roundtable discussions at the library we did it at the community center so that um we would have more space but that is the opportunity for um once everyone has had the chance to digest the presentation to ask questions bring concerns give us suggestions feedback things like that so we wanted to make sure that there was an there was plenty of an opportunity for folks to sit with the proposal um for a bit of time and then come back and give us some feedback uh on those dates and then finally the next official Boe meeting will be Monday April 29th and that meeting will have uh the official presentation on um our budget we are voting on our budget tonight uh but that is a preliminary budget which is why there is not a presentation on it because um we don't have all of the information needed to give you this specifics that we feel that the community deserves so we're waiting until uh the April meeting for that so there's lots of other wonderful things on this future dates list that I encourage all of you to uh attend uh but um wanted to draw your attention to the specific ones having to do with the referendum and our next board meeting um moving on to section six routine business sorry I took a page with me uh motion to approve the minutes of the regular board meeting on February 26th and the um March 9th board retreat sove and a second second roll call or all in favor all in favor uh we have have now reached our first opportunity for public comments the purpose for this public comment section is to discuss items listed on the agenda additional more General comments may be made later in the meeting the public is reminded that attempts to resolve all concerns and complaints should first go through appropriate staff members and administrators the intent of public comment is to give the community the opportunity to provide feedback to the board we will be actively listening and taking notes so that we can take all that is being said into consideration if appropriate clarifying comments may be made at the end of the public comment section for more detailed responses to concerns communication may go out later in the week by the appropriate staff members or administrators or be discussed by the board during future committee meetings members of the public are welcomed to speak and expected to do so with the utmost sensitivity to everyone in attendance In fairness to all who wish to speak there's a strict three minute time limit per person during public comment Miss Coleman will have her trusty phone timer uh and we'll let you know when you're uh getting close to the end of three minutes please come to the microphone and remember to state your name and address for the record hi my name is constant ditel I live on King Avenue here in town um I'm referring to M523 and I was a little confused it says it will be a first reading tonight read that for the first time maybe some of my questions will be answered then so I guess I'll make them now and maybe you're G to say well you're going to find out anyway but I don't know that at this point um this is an interesting referendum because it refers to our protected categories of the njac but this is the first time I've seen a specific reference to migrants um as it pertains to um achieving equity and I think this begs definition because migrants migrants used to mean people who would be day laborers and move from place to place migrants is now becoming to mean people are living here permanently from another place so I think this begs definition because it can also mean those who are not legal citizens um now I know we open our schools up to um people who are not citizens at the same time I believe we want to encourage them to be citizens um I might add I I raised my children in Haden Heights and then I lived in Manhattan for 15 years and really enjoyed the diversity here and that's why when I came back here I moved to Collingswood so I'm definitely on on on your team here um I had friends there who became legal citizens with the past two years one was Chinese one was German in the past four years they became citizens one was Hungarian another Finnish another Iranian and another Armenian um they're coming through the legal the legal process so guess I'm bringing this up because I feel we are going out of our way to include migrants here in Collingswood and I believe that's going to become more of an issue moving forward and if it's not part of the njac protected categories list I'm wondering why why we are stepping outside of that and maybe I'm not understanding what you mean by migrants so that's why I wanted to say I think it begs definition so I would just like to hear more about this as to where this will go thank you hi Wayne Rossy 114 East palav um yeah so I think that uh having heard that to my surprise um the school Aon officer uh has resigned I honestly feel that if we can go the rest of the year without one then I don't see a burning need to replace uh that position especially given uh the state of our budget and the fact that the the state has been quite unkind uh to us in the uh budgeting process I think that the frankly the money can go to better places and the things that uh Chief Carrie mentioned that were positive could be done by someone could have been achieved by someone who is not uh long enforcement official so I I think that I feel strongly about that I do appreciate that there are a number of equity um initiatives on the agenda and I would also like to hear more uh during that section um about like the the means and the goals of it um and lastly I I just want to say that I think that uh it is very positive that the uh board move ahead with um with the continuation of the contracts for Dr McDow for bethanne and uh with hiring the new um uh curriculum superintendent for curriculum so I think that that's all uh very positive on this agenda thank you we have Foreman 501 South Vineyard Boulevard um like Wayne I'm also pretty surprised to hear that the SLO resigned um given that everything Chief Carrie just said I um I'm a little disappointed that we don't have any data on how many calls were made last year the frequency of the calls and if those calls were minor infractions versus this year what the calls were about um I wish that that was something that was presented I mean given that the person isn't in the position anymore I guess that's not surprising but um I expected more from the presentation tonight on the why um and then it sounds like we can't train every officer on the police force to have a deep understanding of the school which is makes sense to me but I do think that it's important to have one or two people have some grounded understanding of the school so that people are not showing up and disrupting the school day and that seems like something that the police should be taken care of and not the owner should not be on the school to do that it should be something the police department is is doing and paying for um also given that everything Chief car brought up about the attendance meetings I think that that's a golden opportunity for a social worker I think that if we had a social worker instead of an SLO we would not be worried about attrition not be worried when an officer wants to go to another municipality for a pay raise I think that would be a great opportunity to have someone in there who can both liaz with the police department in an effective way and be a part of the school and then lend their skills to the school in other ways um especially given how tight our budget is I don't think the SLO as it stands should remain a position I think that we should rethink that and take this as an opportunity to tighten our belts and get those kids more support with a social worker thank you Gretchen Ki 920 Grand Avenue Collingswood uh I just would like to say that I support bringing back the SLO sounds like from Chief car's report there was measurable differences from last year to this year I understand that we don't know how many times they didn't call because that would be very difficult information to glean but it sounds like the times that were called dropped by a good percentage uh I have two I have a graduate of our school district I have a senior right now and I have someone who's about to be a freshman in the high school um it can be scary when you drive by at lunchtime and and see things happening I'm not talk about this year and other years it's been a wonderful change from last year to this year I can credit yes the new principal but I also think there has been some really positive things going on and I hope that that initiative continues hi Lindsay auster uh 105 Migel Avenue um I'm just referencing the proposed calendar and I am very appreciative of Jewish High holidays being off uh very appreciative of rashash Shana and just wanted to point out that it's not uh in Jewish faith is not necessary to also have off on the the day before Yom kipur which I saw is on the calendar so just to consider Another Day that kids can be in school as the holiday does not start until sundown that evening uh thank you everyone uh we're moving on to section8 the superintendence report Dr mcdal will present uh so good evening everyone thank you for being in attendance on this chilly day uh the weather keeps playing a harsh joke on us one day it's 72 73 degrees and the next it is freezing uh so thank you for joining us um as it relates to uh section8 um 8.01 our enrollment for uh February of 2023 was 2283 uh February of 2024 was 268 with the uh enrollment report attached uh 8.02 and 03 are the school safety drill reports as well as a suspension those are also attached and then just a few uh announcements and positive uh updates as it relates to our schools to our students and our staff uh and so I want to start uh with a very highlevel um budget update uh earlier this month we reached out to our school communities to share information regarding uh Collingswood receiving uh flat funding in essence for the last three years and significant reductions in state in overall state aid to Oakland despite the state's announcement to significantly increase overall educational spending in addition to the rising cost of educational services for students uh we are collectively disappointed to receive this news and have reached out to the New Jersey Department of Education as we are still unclear as to the reason uh for the state's decision or the state interpretation of the funding formula which is set to expire this year uh we will continue to advocate for our school communities as we plan for the new year we would like to publicly thank our board members in Collingswood and Oakland for their partnership advocacy and public hearing testimonies in addition we'd like to thank District Six state Senator James Beach assemblyman Lewis Greenwald assemblywoman Pamela lampit and District Five state senator Nilsa Cruz Perez assemblyman William Spearman and assemblyman William menen for listening to school districts that were affected and also advocating on our behalf at the state level um we were equally surprised and disappointed that these uh uh Financial Cuts came in the midst of the lurking fiscal cliff due to the expiration of covid Area Federal funding this September uh over the coming weeks and months we will be exploring additional actions to appeal the continued decrease in overall funding as well as the challenges associated with the state's flawed School funding formula we're coordinating advocacy efforts with other surrounding districts that are similarly affected and our uh state legislators however uh we must accept that our current situation is difficult and it will require us to make extremely tough financial decisions in the coming weeks uh as we review and re-review and re-review uh our school and Department requests we will continue to emphasize student need and staff retention so although we will be sub submitting a preliminary budget this evening to the Camden County Office of Education it will take time until we have a firm grasp on what the actual impact will be uh over the next month we will be working closely with school leaders Association leaders and Community Partners to finalize a budget that honors the values of our community we understand that this is not what we were all hoping for but our school Community has proven time and time again to be resilient and we will get through this as we have all other uh items together so in the interim uh we will be sending out uh communication to both communities asking for your support and your advocacy in the form of writing letters to our local and state representatives to Advocate on our behalf and on behalf of public education in New Jersey uh for an equitable school funding formula that prioritizes and values and needs of all students in New Jersey we'd also like to uh acknowledge this week starts or today uh Begins the uh neurodiversity celebration week and so on behalf St of the special services team and Collingswood and Oakland's uh cpag which is the special education parent advocacy group we're pleased to share our plans um those will also be uh sent out this is a districtwide initiative that is an important step towards our goal of making our school communities more inclusive so what are the goals of neurodiversity Celebration week is to increase awareness around brain differences in schools and Community share information about neurot types such as autism ADHD and dyslexia and in a strength-based and inclusive way learn how we can support and accommodate students with differences within our communities and then celebrate being a part of a world that values all kinds of minds and so the team has worked to develop a guide that outlines daily themes discussion questions and classroom activities for teachers to complete with students each day this week uh and we are excited about uh our classes that are going to be participating and so in addition uh just to give another reminder that preschool registration is uh is now open until April 1st and so all Kingwood uh children ages three and four are eligible for full day preschool without charge for the 2425 school year uh if your child is eligible we encourage you to visit the registration page and complete the Lottery application prior to the April 1 deadline uh we' also like to give an an additional plug um this week starts Shrek the Musical and so the coling with theater group is ing up for uh their new performance we have a huge cast um of talented students and production staff and the two-hour show is not something that you want to miss uh please come out to support the show um uh uh starting on March 21st through the 23rd tickets are still available um at www.c Collingswood tix.com uh you heard earlier from Chief K uh regarding the SLO um and I would uh uh say that in addition to what was shared is that um last year Collingswood uh Grants Department uh was able to receive a federal Safety and Security Grant and so in preparation for a really challenging budget year we pulled funding for the SLO out of the general funds um and it will um uh should the position uh return um it will be aligned and it will come from Grant funds from the federal government for that intended purpose it will not uh affect the uh annual budget um Athletics uh continues to be a shining uh uh a spotlight in our school community and so we encourage everyone to check out the spring sports schedule uh tennis softball baseball lacrosse track and volleyball are currently uh active right now we'd like to announce some of our uh just a few of our standout student athletes and so Tomas money made the first team All Conference basketball team um he also played in the AL Carino all South Jersey All-Star game uh this past weekend at ruter Zoe suvan has been named the 2024 South Jersey invitation basketball tournament most inspirational player this award is chosen at the end of each season by the board um of the South Jersey basketball tournament club Zoe scored her first Varsity points versus delce High School in the tournament the gym was packed and it was a moment that impacted everyone in attendance and after the game she was also awarded player of the game uh Zoe is a great example of uh to all of our student athletes that hard work and a little grit can take you a long way we're also proud to recognize uh football standout Shakur Carter for being recognized as the njsiaa All State Allstar Shaq becomes the fifth Collegewood high school player in the last 40 years to be um to represent the South and the Phil Sims north south All State All-Star game on uh June 9th of 2024 he currently holds the school record for the most receptions in a single game the most career catches the most yards gained the most touchdown receptions and uh by his own valtion he says that with the support of his family his team and his teachers uh he's extremely proud to represent K's nation and so we salute all of our student athletes all of the coaches all of the volunteers um all of the families that support our student athletes every single day uh students from Collegewood High School also participated in a four-day long model uh United Nations convention in Philadelphia we were one of 16 schools from around the country to participate the students engaged in conferences related to international issues and practice skills such as public speaking academic debate and critical thinking we'd like to publicly thank adviser Mr goldurn and all of the volunteers who supported our students over the long weekend in addition um in honor of neurodiversity week um our ignite program went to Del Regional and so they spent the day with their pen pals so dely and Collingwood students spent the day socializing participating in engaging activities including a scavenger hunt tour around the school they met with the leadership team and they even shared a meal together our Collingwood students did a phenomenal job of representing our school and our community what a great way to spend time with new friends special thanks to Mrs Williams and Miss O'Brien for leading this important and inclusive effort so the words performance motivation recognition and pride are characteristic of the Kingwood High School Renaissance program this program was established to recognize and honor students for positive academic and behavioral contributions on campus the demands and desires of our students within this new millennium are changing as the world rapidly changes around them they're in a constant uh journey to discover uplifting experiences belong to something greater build strong and unique identities and ultimately find success this is achieved by recognizing the efforts and achievements of the teachers and students and rewarding academic performance through incentives on campus Renaissance schools often Focus their uh programs on improving overall academic performance improving attendance increasing graduation rates and creating a positive safe School environment we would like to congratulate the 194 students who earned the Renaissance distinction for the second marking period period and they were celebrated this month during a CL class assemblies um we would also like to wish uh our Wellness Center a happy anniversary and so the wellness center in coling with public schools has been now open for a full year we originally started in the high school and expanded in Middle School we've also integrated social emotional learning academics and behavioral support since the grand opening we have supported over 250 students and continue to grow the wellness team uh the wellness center team collaborates with the counseling department the child study team the uh Middle School and High School administration teachers students and families uh and we are extremely thankful to have this Resource as it allows for the whole child to be seen heard and supported happy anniversary and that concludes my report thank you Dr McDow uh section nine is the student reports but I know at least one of those students is currently in Tech rehearsal for Shrek um so I'm guessing that is why they are not here a reminder again to buy your tickets I think it's going to be a great show there's two different casts so you can go see it more than once even um section 10 the business administrator board secretary report Miss Coleman will present all right this evening 10.01 are your uh February monthly budget transfers 10.02 are your financial statements including your cash flow and cash report 10.03 is the Student Activities cash report we do not have a food service financial statement for the month I just got it this morning so it wasn't in time so it'll be on for next month 10.05 is the listing of the purchase orders that have been issued this month and 10.06 is the listing of the warrants that will be paid tomorrow morning pending approval this evening thank you Miss Coleman moving on to section 11 buildings grounds and finance committee Mr Craig will present the finance buildings and grounds committee reviews all financial statements purchase orders and warrants on a monthly basis committee also reviews and approves all contracts with outside service providers and oversees all maintenance and capital Improvement projects districtwide uh seeking approval for the following items um bethan should we skip the food service yeah I've got it it's it's noted okay so uh 112 to 119 uh the board secretary's report is was presented uh 1110 is the submission of the preliminary budget for County approval as was mentioned men earlier 1111 is submission of next year's preschool budget to the New Jersey Department of Education uh 1112 is the uh acceptance of a RFP request with ESS to provide par professional staffing for the following school year um 1113 is renewing our um continuing our agreement with camman County Educational Services Commission uh 1114 is approving Garrison Architects uh to to submit um the proposed schedule of school facility projects as they are ongoing um 11:15 is the approval of to go out and find a bond attorney 1116 also an attorney uh to help us with with the contract for Park View uh 1117 uh request for following uh list of rfps to be put out 1118 is year two the school based mental health programs Grant accepting of those funds $250,000 1119 uh is a submission of the teacher climate and culture Innovation Grant 1120 another small Grant application um this one to sustainable Jersey schools 11:21 is the school health insurance fund and approval of that uh 1122 and 1123 are shared service agreements Woodland and then with Collings with burrow 1124 four is the acceptance of a generous donation um from Resident Kyle Chang a couple ThinkPad laptops um some iPads so we thank Mr Chang for that generous donation uh 1125 to 1129 are use of facility requests um and we are seeking approval for items 112 to 1129 thank you uh motion to approve set said items so move and a second questions or comments from board members I have a question about the submission of the budget um um is there any I know you said we can't provide a lot of detail in terms of like what's to come in April but what are we submitting now to them and does that like do they see any potential or do we see any potential cuts to staff or our student basing positions we are um so I have made substantial cuts to the Callingwood budget um to get it to balance in order to be submitted to the state as far as um reductions and where they're coming from this is between now and April 30th Dr McDow and I are going to be sitting with everybody to figure out how best to tackle that so I just took I literally just took three or four of the largest line items and just to get it to balance um to make sure that we were within our statutory requirements to submit a Balan budget within our tax levy that were required um but some of the hard decisions are going to be coming between now and April um which is why we're not like rolling out with all the details because it's very fluid at this moment but um the final budget presentation will be obviously at the end of April but you'll have everything by then I just did what I had to do over the weekend to get it done y so all we're sending to the seat is just saying that all of our numbers add up essentially basically all rbl all of our numbers add up um and this is our budget and I'm not exceeding my taxing Authority basically and between now and April we'll figure we'll figure it out and those conversations um will happen internally within the district um and within District's Administration and staff to make sure that they're the first people that hear that information would that' be accurate yes any other questions or comments from board members roll call please Mr Chu yes Mr Craig yes Mrs Maya yes Mrs molski yes Mrs saino yes Mrs Seltzer yes Mrs sherid and Celia yes M Sherman yes Mr tab yes with abstentions were necessary Mr doas yes Mrs Kaden yes moving on to section 12 the curriculum committee Mr Chu will present uh the curriculum committee overseas and approves uh the district curriculum and assessment programs as well as field trips home instruction co- curric programs and the school calendar um 12 point 02 03 and 04 are field trips I actually don't have my list today so we not be listing those off um 05 is uh overnight field trip for High School indoor garden percussion competition um 06 is the appros 202 2425 Kings with school calendar uh and that is linked in the agenda um 12.07 uh is uh listen learn Playco that's another presentation for preschool students this time uh uh to prove Mr Boom Boom um to uh play I think West African drums um for uh pre yeah for preschool students so I am seeking approval for items 12.02 through 12.07 thank you uh motion to approve set items and a second questions or comments from board members I do have another question uh regarding the school calendar I know last year I see that a lot of half days have been removed and we've talked about that but I also want to follow up on the supplemental calendar is that something that we are going to expect to come out or is that been something that's not going to be in exist in existence anymore so yes there will be a supplemental calendar but the supplemental calendar will not have uh dates days off um the community uh as well as the expectations of the board is to lessen the confusion and so we took all of the feedback that has come in over the last year we synthesized that um this is the draft of the calendar so the next level is that it will be uh colorcoded the supplemental calendar will be um announcing testing dates only not days off uh and that will come after the state announces the uh the testing dates so are there still going to be like secondary half days and then have days no okay and just just to clarify like on basically on the supplemental calendar there will not be any additional early dismissals there are early dismissals on the calendar itself correct uh but those are the ones that that will be there want be additional one lat right so all of the proposed early dismissals are listed here um and that was the feedback that families gave um lessen the confusion so I have a clarifying question about the yam kapor um date I thought we had we had drilled down and gotten that right but now now I'm confused and I don't have it in front of me so do we I mean I guess we can always amend that if if needed um next month if we need to look into that um but I thought is that we we don't have a half day or a day off before the day we we just have the date of correct it's one date right so yeah so yam kapor uh starts Friday at sundown is I believe and then it's actually on Saturday if I remember correctly that's October so that's what you're saying 9th and 10th I think okay um and so right now I believe October 9th is a day off which is and yam would start October 11th is the day off October 11 but okay yeah oh October 11th necessary for celebrating the holiday so then the the we could potentially not okay the but then with rashash Shana the uh that starts on the Wednesday at sundown and then ends on the Friday at uh was it they say I think Twilight is what they say so so then um what's on the calendar right now is that actually that Thursday the full day right the single full day would be the day that's off right okay um so at this point um because I think discussions would need to be had with um folks working in the district to talk more about October 11th but perhaps that's something that we can um look into whether that's a day that that we need to have off or or a day that can be recovered so um thanks to the Community member for bringing that to our attention and uh we can we can look into that more uh any other questions or comments from board members I just mention also with the calendar one of the I think nice things about it is that uh because uh Christmas Eve is on the 24th which is uh a Tuesday um uh through I think discussions we felt that it was better to just have that Monday off right and so it will be a little bit longer break but I think it works a lot better for families students teachers you know administrators and so that's something just to keep a note of okay uh roll call please Mr Chu yes Mr Craig yes Mrs Maya yes Mrs molski yes Mrs saverino yes Mrs Seltzer yes Mrs Sharon Celia yes Mr Sherman yes Mr tab yes with obss were required Mr delus yes Mrs Kaden yes section 13 is the Personnel committee Miss Sheran Celia will present the Personnel committee reviews all recommendations for teaching and staff employment considers co-curricular employment and considers all professional development opportunities for staff members uh this evening I'm seeking approval of items 13.02 2 through 13.25 um items 13.02 through 13.04 are resignations there is a rescinded contract at 13.05 a transfer at 13.06 um there are leave requests from 13.07 through 13.11 um at 13.12 is the appointment of a math teacher um 13 13 through 13.5 15 are long-term substitute appointments um 13.16 High School PLC leader appointment 13.17 is after school clubs a revised pay rate um 13.8 Elementary School Club in Tatum um which is the spring art Club 13.19 is the approval of the contract for bethanne Coleman assistant superintendent for business and operations and the board secretary at 1320 is the contract renewal of Dr Fred mcck McDow superintendent of schools 13321 is a twomon um contract for Meredith Howell Turner who is our new assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction her full 12E contract is up for approval 12 month what did I say 12 year 12 year no um oops sorry about that all right 12 month approval uh 13.22 um and 13.23 is the granting of a tuition um tuition for student tuition free for student 13.24 appointments of four substitutes and tutors 13.25 is the travel expense form so again as I said before I'm seeking approval for items 13.02 through 13.25 this evening uh motion to approve set items and a second questions or comments from board members roll call please Mr Chu yes Mr Craig yes Mrs Maya yes with the exception of 13.20 where I vote no Mrs molski uh yes except for 13.20 where I vote no Mrs S Ino yes Mrs Seltzer yes Mrs Sharon Celia yes Mrs Sherman yes Mr tab yes with exceptions we uh required Mr delus Yes except we're required to obstain Mrs Kaden yes uh moving on to section 14 the culture climate and policy committee Miss Seltzer will present the policy culture and climate committee reviews all updates and changes to District policies and regulations um there are five policies that we up for a first read um I want to clarify just based on some of the comments from earlier uh that these are um policy updates that come from a by recommendation of a policy service that many districts not just here but across the area use um and so these are are not recommend uh recommended changes per Collingswood alone they are recommended by by the by the service um and a lot of the changes are for updating language and updating standards so uh shifts in language around Equity gender um students designated multilingual Learners um everything okay okay H and shifting away from Common Core references toward New Jersey state learning standards um so seeking approval for items for 1402 so moved second seconds coms questions or comments from board members all right is everything okay how about that now I was trying to make note of the policy that okay was mentioned like had the word in it so I could go back and look at it I knew Roger would have it I was like I didn't have it that's what it was sorry okay you know so I know that a lot of these um policies are both uh given to us via recommendation from the school or policy service but then a number of them are also um by Statute basically that we have to by regulations do do we know which ones here are required by Statute or regulation it's okay if we don't oh I believe what was the question oh so somebody had to hang up their microphone um I can find out these all yeah they were all mandated requirements that came from so there's either a change in statute a change like in a term so if it's a strikeout it's mandated so um yeah so awesome thank you I think also just important to note that the equity and class school and classroom practices policy is not the same thing as the district's Equity plan which is more robust and more specific to the district um this is just about statute same with the comprehensive Equity plan as well actually um ours that's a mandated one by the state um are what would be considered like the public facing or internal document is definitely more robust than that one um any other questions or comments from board members roll call please can I apologize Mr Chu yes Mr Craig yes Mrs Maya yes Mrs molski yes Mrs saverino yes Mrs Seltzer yes Mrs sharid and Celia yes Mr Sherman yes Mr tab yes with exensions where required Mr delus yes Mrs Kaden yes uh section 15 miscellaneous we have .01 is the previous month's uh Hib report uh and that's the Hib report for February 2024 and then [Music] 15.02% a second questions or comments from board members uh yes so and looking ahead at these potential job descriptions are is this us approving this tonight is I indicated that we're going to be looking for people to fill these positions we actually have people filling them right now yeah so last year remember I asked for additional help with the tech team and I was denied so in order to get the services to the schools that we need and keep up with the tech ticket we have a database um I what her job I we call her now we call she's a she's a guru the she's a coordinator in the board office she does NJ smart and Genesis um she just finished her degree so we took Patrick's job description and her job description and we kind of split them down the middle 50/50 and she's going to be taking a lot of the the management and and stuff and Reporting requirements that Patrick does with me off of his plate to free him up so we basically just somebody already having the district she's just picking up additional responsibilities to help me with the tech team so these two roles are just clarifying what their job descriptions are yes they met um along with me and we looked at job descriptions and we split them 50/50 okay okay any other questions or comments roll call please Mr CH yes Mr Craig yes Mrs Maya Yes except for 1502 I'm going Mrs molski uh yes except 1502 where I've stain Mrs saino yes Mrs szer yes Mrs Sharon Celia yes Mrs Sherman yes Mr tab yes Mr doas yes and Mrs Kate yes uh we have come to our second opportunity for public participation this is for uh more General comments I think everyone that was here pretty much um heard what I usually say but just reminded that attempts to olve all concerns and complain should first go through um appropriate staff members and administrators that were actively listening and taking notes and to uh everyone's welcome to speak and expected to do so with the utmost sensitivity for everyone in attendance um it's a strict F three minute time limit uh Miss Coleman will be keeping time please come to the mic uh state your name and address for the record gr and kle 920 crant Avenue callings uh just a couple things uh hopefully I'll go as fast as I can um just wondering what is being done to court new teachers and for the morale of teachers um unfortunately I've spoken to a lot of people uh out in the other districts who are looking at positions that are open here and have uh stepped away because we're known as a hot mess and I know we're not a hot mess but I'd like to know how we're getting the message that we're not a hot mess out there there because we have fabulous programs we have wonderful children our staff is phenomenal but we're still out there as a hot mess so we need to change that so other people want to come here um also I think our Communications needs to step up for our High School uh there are parents out there again I have this I'm on my third coming into the high school so I know about these great things other people don't the engineering program the TV program digital music people don't even know we have a swim team I do but I think it really needs to get out there um again we have fabulous teachers we have fabulous children please keep it that way as much as you can but also we need to get new people in and we need to change the view also staff contact information is gone from the website we've been told that it was a best practice uh however there's no listing of Staff anywhere on the website um seems very odd that you can't even find administrators for your buildings nothing you can search staff directory it's not there uh we were told that it was because of fishing or uh scam emails being sent but can't this be behind the password of Genesis we were also told well if if you know the first initial and the last name spelling there you go what if I don't know the first initial what if I don't know how exactly to spell the last name these are things that I think could be on Genesis very easily we also asked for a hard copy that was a no so these things I think are really important for your transparency and for people to reach out we want to be able to tell the teachers hey good job we can't do that thank you okay um thank you for that feedback um we will look into some of uh those concerns um and at this time we are at section 17 motion to adjourn the meeting and a second second all in favor thank you everyone have a good night remember uh to come back next Tuesday the 26th