good evening everyone and welcome to the uh regular board meeting for the month of May uh appropriate notice has been given roll call please Mr Chu here Mr Craig here Mrs Maya here Mrs molski here Mrs saino she here okay Mrs Seltzer here Mrs Shar Andia here Mrs Sherman here Mr tab here Mr delus here Mrs Kon here please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance pled Ali to the flag of the United States of America andice uh we were an executive session can I get a motion to exit executive session and a second all in favor thank you um without further Ado we had a um a tough meeting last Monday and uh what a joy this will be as as a different kind of presentation we have uh miss d' angelus's wonderful accordion Club coming to perform this evening are they going to be staying there or are they coming forward they're G oh even better okay so whenever you are ready thank you so much the accordion Club [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] than thank you for ACC [Music] [Music] for [Music] for [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] than [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] that was absolutely incredible and Not only was it just a joy to listen to but very impressive that what this was only a couple of months of practice and that was an incredible performance from all four of you thank you so much for coming and teaching uh some of our students and uh thank you to the students for coming and sharing ing their talents with all of us this was wonderful thank you very impressive all right um so Dr McDow that is a rough act to follow um but uh Dr McDow is going to present to us kind of where we are um uh what we should be looking to for next year and I'm going to move out of the way okay so good evening everyone thank you for being here as promised uh we wanted to make sure that we were painting the appropriate picture for what we should expect for next school year and so the title of our presentation this evening is looking ahead to 24 uh 25 uh still the theme of shifting from academic recovery to rigor and so we're going to go through um what is included uh in terms of how we're going to be tackling um this task given a very challenging uh budgetary season and so as everything that we do it is driven by our mission and our vision and so those are the guiding principles for our work and so our leadership actions as a school system are to analyze current systems and remove barriers move from from compliance driven activities to capability Building Systems really focused on instructional Improvement reframing and shifting to support effective teaching as well as committing to sustaining strong leadership in our schools as well as supporting and retaining dedicated faculty and staff and so we wanted to reiterate again our we have two priorities for the 2425 school year first supporting rigorous learning environments looking at engaging differentiated instruction tiered systems of student level support expanding opportunities for for our Educators to come together and plan and do their work addressing the curriculum shifts coming from the state uh Department of Education reinforcing ing our student support model which includes academics culture as well as mental health and then also building capacity for inclusive classrooms our second priority is supporting our infrastructure how do we ensure is appropriate workspace for all staff how do we recapture educational space in our schools how do we continually improve Safety Services and support for our students and then how do we maintain our facilities as well as planning for future facilities needs as well is how do we stay uh above the curve in terms of Technology Investments and services and support and then ultimately how do we improve communication for all of these things and so it really starts with our faculty and staff and so in this presentation we're going to share information that may or may not be just common working knowledge and so first and foremost um every faculty and staff member receives their annual contractual salary increases um which in includes for those who take advantage health and wellness we have Employee Assistance programs as well as extra duty pay opportunities and uh based on partnership with our association we introduced uh this past year a recruitment and retention um uh bonuses as promised last year based on U not just Community feedback but also it being the right thing to do we went on a two-year journey in order to dramatically update our compensation package for our instructional classroom assistance and so last year the first half of that compensation increase uh went forward uh and year two uh to make it whole um is included uh this year in addition and and this is extremely new is that we went out and we secured an additional uh culture and climate Grant with the sole focus of supporting our staff by the reclaiming of teacher time through the investigation and implementation of polic to help reduce administrative paperwork minutia and other tasks that really pull them away from supporting students in classroom instruction and so when we talk about our schools schools are not just buildings schools are not just the culmination of things schools are people and so faculty and staff are at the foundation of our schools but they also require Operational Support which comes in the form of administrative supplies facilities and custodial services technology communication and the like in addition to making sure that we are able to deliver on the promise of our students having not just a thorough and efficient education but having a well-rounded educational experience which includes clubs extracurricular activities field trips assemblies celebrations and other opportunities for students to engage in addition to classroom support curriculum professional development instructional materials U for students and tools needed to engage students for staff and so uh this year we will be digging a bit deeper uh this this summer in K through five literacy and so our goal is to close opportunity gaps for K through five students with access to programming and resources and also looking at what are things that are getting in the way uh that are contributing to disperate outcomes among students and so uh this is going to be an internal audit we're going to be uh utilizing the expertise of our own faculty and staff in order to run this summer based project we knew that with the standards changing in literacy and Mathematics now was a good time for us to take a deeper look in what we're doing the resources that we're providing and we're going to be uh uh isolating that audit this year specifically K to5 literacy and then we will expand to secondary and subsequent years we're also introducing a new um curriculum platform uh it's extremely important for our Educators to not have to go to four or five different locations in order to find instructional resources but it's also critically important that families and caregivers also have access to the curriculum tools that their children are being exposed to and so uh we're seeking to coordinate and and bring all of those resources together in one location with staff gaining access to this new curriculum platform this summer and families uh being introduced with how to access during back to school nights in September there's also been lots of discussion about uh explicit uh literacy instruction research based uh Lucy ckins balance literacy and the like and so dependent on uh what side of the discussion you happen to be um we in Colin would have always taken a balanced approach to literacy instruction and this year is no different with a few changes and so we know that we're going to need to be responsive to the k learning uh standards revisions but we're also introducing through the tool of amplify a universal screener and so making sure that we're using it to determine to what extent um core reading instruction is enabling students to meet and exceed expectations and so we'll be adding that in addition we will be adding a new tool um to focus on phonemic awareness in addition to decoding of text we'll be expanding from K1 to also K2 and we will build uh over time uh in addition to some of the other uh resources and specifically those of note we're taking a look at our crosswalks which includes the Holocaust the Amistad climate change Dei and informational literacy at the middle school level we'll be looking at learning standards revisions in addition to embarking on a two-year journey to shift to readers Writers Workshop at the secondary level um we'll be looking at how do we support are multilingual Learners specifically through our intensive ESL program um we have students that have interruptions in formal education and we are putting resources behind support for those students as well in addition to students that have been with us for a year or two who are in need of bridge level Services as they transition to an English dominant environment in addition to uh high school learning standards revisions as well as the development of a restorative course incoming nth grade students um that are struggling in in reading math uh the standards are also being revised and updated in math um Elementary will be engaged with our inter maath curriculum year three at the middle school year two and at the high school specifically in algebra one Algebra 2 and geometry it will be year two uh in addition to our supplemental math work we'll be adding for grades three through five reflex and fracks um as uh students work on their math fluency in addition to uh the development of a new course it's an integrated math course which takes algebra one and portions of geometry and over a two-year period our students are able to engage in Project based learning and more explicit content and so that will also be introduced this year to be able to tackle some of our ninth grade math challenges in the areas of stem uh stem we're currently our K through five program which is heavily dependent on Mystery Science will be up for review this we this year which will be led by the curriculum team as well as school-based staff um so that we can better align with the new model curriculum framework that was introduced in 20203 so we wanted to take our time with this and so we'll be engaging in that work this year we will also uh continue to uh support Ed puzzle at the middle of the high school level this is a video content management system that helps uh Educators uh use uh videos and standards aligns lessons in a more engaging way and they're able to actually share um solid high quality lesson plans um with each other in terms of humanities there are a few uh things that we are focused on and so our middle school program in the humanities or World Language is really focused on Spanish culture and communication and so there will be curriculum updates from uh grades six through eight this year in addition to maintaining our French German and Spanish programs there will be curriculum updates in German 3 and four as well as a new curriculum adoption for Spanish grades 9 through 12 and then in social studies at the elementary level Brain Pop is uh one of the dominant programs and so we will also be engaging with our Educators and our curriculum team um new programming for the 2526 school year related to the teaching of social studies and history at the elementary level in addition to a new course that's being offered um advanced placement African-American studies which includes curriculum instructional materials and then some pretty interesting field trips this year so we're extremely excited about that in terms of professional development professional development is broken up in a few different ways uh some it's broken up by grade band others it's broken up by content area and so we want to make sure that we have robust professional development and support for our Educators at the preschool level we will continue with creative curriculum uh we have been utilizing their core program we will be uh investing in their supplemental program as well because there are some standards that have changed and some Concepts that have now been introduced at preschool and we want to make sure that our students at their beginning stages of their education are appropriately prepared uh we're also looking at uh behavioral support uh with uh Handle With Care at the preschool level and then in addition to a a range of Elementary professional development specifically looking at our professional learning community supportal and behavioral support deescalation and Crisis Prevention Equity foundation training for all new faculty as well as foundational uh Equity training for office personnel and instructional assistance um and then Equity Council support which happens at the school-based level for each campus in addition to supporting year three of our Ed Leadership Academy cohort We Believe to uh that it's important for us to build leadership from within and so we'll be engaging in that in addition to you uh using our Title One funds to support targeted after school programming in math and literacy as well as our title two funding uh to support additional uh professional development and training uh based on what the content experts uh say that they need and so at the high school level um we're all of those things also hold true in addition to uh increasing mtss support uh specifically at the secondary level um with the addition of a second mtss uh coach also making sure that with our students who have moved beyond their uh Bridge uh that our non-esl classrooms also have sheltered English instruction to better engage students who are not yet fully English proficient in addition to uh Equity Council at the middle and the high school level and then a new project that we're extremely excited about given the discussions that we've had within our community for the last several months um we've gone and we've talked to some of our students and and the recommendation from students is that in order to change uh culture and climate on campus specifically when you're when you're working with teenagers uh they want to be a part of that that change and so we believe that it's extremely important that we Elevate student voice and so starting this summer we're going to be identifying a core group of young people as well as Educators to go through training and they'll be engaged in an action research project focused on collecting data looking at the data making recommendations and the plan to be able to move their school forward in a very positive way and so that work will start uh in August and carry us into uh the 24 25 school year and so in terms of student support I just want to give a a quick shout out in Kudos we have a uh a phenomenal U special services team we support roughly 360 students with IEPs across all nine of our campuses and it's extremely important that we continue to refine those processes we brought in an outside uh uh entity last year to do um a special review uh to confirm what we already know is that we have a high quality program um and we are ready willing and able to begin shifting what we do to really drill down and focus on shifting towards a more inclusive model and so our uh special services special education program includes self-contained resource pullout replacement supplemental inclass support occupational therapy Physical Therapy Speech Pathology behavioral support and ongoing counseling and so we also believe that it's important to continue to support social emotional and mental health services and so K through 12 uh between our seal programs counseling behavioral support uh academic intervention all of those Services uh will be uh maintained in addition to making sure that we have K through2 nursing support access to a certified athletic trainer for our student athletes as well as having a consulting position of record to be able to fill in uh uh the gaps so that our students are uh uh both healthy mentally and physically in addition to uh continuing with our partnership for safe routes to schools which was identified during the referendum discussions and so we don't have to wait until September of 2027 to start talking about safe routes to schools we've already begun and engaged in that work now and we'll continue to engage in that work to make sure that every student in our community has a a safe route uh to the campus in which they receive Services Technology support we are are uh reorganizing our technology team in order to improve customer service as well as uh uh shorten the response time for technical assistance in our schools uh we're going to continue with our Google workspace for education so Google classrooms or the learning management system that we use across our schools uh we're continuing with our onetoone Computing initiative and so annual cycles of of Chromebook replenishment and purchases uh in addition to making sure that we are ahead of the curve in terms of network security and data protection for both students and staff and when we talk about a continuity of service which was the goal to the highest degree possible how do we maintain levels of service uh that our students need first we're looking at a new learning schedule for elementary middle and high but uh for for this slide we're talking about elementary and so we believe that um in exchange for uh removing all of the non-contractual early release days for PC's providing our Educators protected time to be able to do their work um was vital if we're going to be able to fundamentally shift to um to address the rigor uh given the challenges that we face and where our data is leading us and so our home rooms will be maintained at our current levels specials will also be maintained music art PE World Language gifted and talented instrumental lessons will also be maintain um we will have uh behavioral support small group instruction will be modified based on the data and student need as well as tier two and tier three academic interventions will also be modified based on student needs at the elementary level students will have access to a full range of Counseling Services as well as continuing for us to refine our Seal program and so the Middle School uh currently the secondary team they're working on a tremendous Challenge and so the challenge is how do you develop a schedule that understands the Nuance that is developmentally appropriate for middle school students and high school students and so uh they will continue to work on this to make sure that students get what they need both at the uh middle school as well as the high school level through the utilization of time and so we also wanted to talk about we're very fortunate to have a robust Cadre of uh career pathways and so these are sequential trajectories of learning that students choose uh in the areas of band Orchestra chorus art uh technology design IQ which is a stem Project based learning and then a host of other electives that will also be offered for our students based on student demand and so when we move to the high school it's also important that High School teachers as well as middle school and Elementary also have protected time that is not uh directed for them and so allowing Educators space and time every single day to be able to do this extremely important work above and beyond their normal uh prep time so we're going to include that in this upcoming school year and so we also just wanted to highlight the codr of advanced placement courses and dual credit College uh credit bearing courses uh at our high school and so students have a wide array of opportunities um for them to pursue whatever secondary plans are and so we want to continue to make sure the students have choices and so the high school also has a wide range of career pathway options in addition to um electives band Orchestra chorus art graphic design television production audio production and Engineering introduction to engineering computer science cyber security and networking and so students have a range of options uh based on what they are interested in and so in addition uh we also in the belief of a well-rounded education um that cannot be uh uh achieved without access to extracurricular activities so student clubs so middle school and high school have a wide range of clubs we were very fortunate to hear one of the elementary clubs this evening with the accordion Club but at the middle school and high school it goes much deeper and far more expansive in terms of the types of experiences that young people desire to participate in in addition to robust fall winter and spring Sports both uh junior varsity and varsity uh boys and girls and so we want to make sure that uh there are things for our young people to participate in should they so choose and so uh of note um one of the uh sports that is shifting from a club to a sport pending um uh enrollment numbers is flag football and so we received last year a grant from the NFL um us and many other high schools across the country to begin expanding flag football for uh young women um we had teams that participated in a organized club and our our hope is is that we have enough participation uh in the spring to actually have a team uh that would become an official sport in the state of New Jersey uh this upcoming school year and so we've been talking in about the need for Community advocacy and so first I would just like to publicly thank all of the community members since Marks had have been communicating and advocating for resources at the state level uh we appreciate it uh and we believe that as a community it's it's extremely important that we continue to put the pressure on the state uh to do a better job of making sure that we have a fair funding formula for all students in the state of New Jersey and so uh this presentation will be uh uh sent out and made uh on our district website uh tomorrow and so uh the links are live and so any of the community members that have a desire to communicate with our state representatives our department of education and the governor's office we encourage you to do so and that concludes uh the presentation thank you thank you Dr McDow um that was a lot of information given to us all at once um so wanted to ask what would be the the best way or or kind of a timeline for how um both the board and the community can be um expecting maybe more detailed information on let's say things like their their children's schedules or um things that that would be offered next year uh for the the next school year things like that so I would ask for the community's patience and so given um um the the sophisticated nature of trying to balance what young people have requested um with the resources that are available uh schools will need um time in order to be able to speak with specificity and so the goal is before the end of the school year is to have all of that shed up in terms of uh new schedules uh complete opportunities and so we know that at a high level um all of the core academic courses uh that we have traditionally offered as our Pathways will be offered um electives are always based on um student uh requests and so the schools are actively engaged in that process um and student request tends to drive much of those discussions but the actual uh schedule itself um students will know before they go home for the summer um what they will be taking and the uh the uh practice has been for students to actually receive their physical schedule in hand and so but students will know before they go home for the summer uh of what but the when um that will come in the form of their formal schedule which will be located on in Genesis on August 15 and teachers will also be aware of what will they go home for the summer knowing what they will be teaching for the following year that's expectation that's expect um so thank you very much obviously lots more to come um on that uh so we move to section four Committee of the whole motion to enter Committee of the whole and a second all in favor uh Miss Coleman is going to take some time there have been some uh some recent legislation that is passed uh that she is going to explain for us what that means and the impact it has on us uh yeah thank you everybody I know we met last Monday o Glen's meeting was Tuesday night and their committees and as we were going through the leg as we were talking it was actively changing but um last Wednesday the governor did sign some measures so I thank everybody for their um their help with getting the governor's attention so there's there's good news and bad news the good news is we got his attention what made it very unusual is that he appropriated an additional $ 44.7 million for Education as a result of all the school districts screaming so it's if you had the money why didn't you just do that in the first um but whatever so you know we take um so I'm still waiting to get a lot of guidance back from Trenton but in the case of Collingswood um it's $1,894 not a whole heck of a lot we got about um 44.7% back of what they cut and they only cut about 42,000 so that that's the number um the original bill as written said it would be stabilization Aid and we would have to do a grant and do a plan it's automatic state aid we don't have to do a grant but I do believe we most likely in the month of June we're going to have to reapproved budget they're going to have to open up all the budgets for all the school districts so that we can allocate the state aid um as re revenue and then pick an expenditure account what's also written in the law is because he did this it's now comeb in upon the commissioner so lucky us another audit but we're going to have to somehow track the expenditures um where they went and for what purposes they were used for all the school districts because the commissioner is going to have to submit a report back to the governor um but so that was the first bill um so $188,000 I already know where I'm putting it probably in special letter Transportation because those lines are always very hard to budget for um but again I'll talk to the finance committee um and again whatever we do most likely the way the laws written we have to do something by July 5th so probably at the June board meeting we'll I'll be presenting something they did send a spreadsheet out we would have to basically reenter the last two years of budget information into an Excel spreadsheet and then basically tell them how we're going to spend the money and then resubmit and do the budget software um by July 5th so not a problem but so that's the first bill the second one um which I really thought had promise and then when I really read it I was like kind of interesting so I'm still digging on this one the second Bill basically gave School Districts The leeway to increase your 2% tax cap if you lost state aid between the years of 2021 and 2025 still don't know why he picked 2021 the only thing I can figure and again I haven't gone to a state meeting since this happened um is when he they ran the state aid uh formula this year they used the come for all the towns they use 2021 but unfortunately for both Collingswood and Oakland our Aid did not go down between the years of 2021 and 2025 so we would not be eligible because we didn't go we didn't go the wrong way now year to year yes but they arbitrarily picked 2021 so in 2021 Collingswood was about 11 million in state a um no we're 11 million now we're about 106 10.6 back in 2021 so they're not looking for the the progression it's just literally those two years those two years do the math if you if there's a if you went negative between those two years then you would be eligible to increase your taxes up to 99.99% of the difference um again I keep checking in the budget software just to make sure I didn't read the law right because they said they were going to update it on um our tax cap sheet it's a part of the part of the budget software basically where the taxes are generated um sing maybe I read it wrong but it nothing's popping out for either District so for Collingswood it's uh $188,000 um and more to come but I still think we need to Advocate and scream because everybody screams so loudly he wow found $44 million so I think we still need to scream it's highly unusual that we've already set the tax rate we've already signed with the burough so now all these towns it's not our taxes are staying the same but for those towns that do have that difference and they can go back to their towns I guess they're going to all have to recertify their taxes I suppose and I guess that's what Trent's trying to figure out right now but that what doesn't affect us and it doesn't affect districts like us where it's a structural issue not a not a you know like the the example that that a lot of people use right is barington where the one person moved in and and that dropped the them for just that one year ours has been a structural issue correct because the 2% just doesn't generate an awful lot right here and our our costs are going up so we really need movement on the 2% and the ability to ask ask our taxpayers because right now the way the law is written I can't ask unless it's something brand new and it's something that's not required for an education so basically you're saying I can't ask so when we're when we're advocating to the state what are we what are we now saying I really think the 2% needs to keep up with um the cost of living at a minimum if if they're publishing the cost of living adjustments and the CPI that busing contractors can apply to contractor contracts with school districts which this year was like 5.8 almost 6% but you're capping me at 2% which that 2% isn't even a half of my total budget so I'm really capped at like less than 1% um so mathematically just doesn't work anymore and they they need to acknowledge that I mean it's been capped at 2% Governor Christie so I think it's now to I'm All About You Know spending appropriately and watching what you spend and not over taxing but you know when the the gap between your Town's ability to pay and what we're allowed to ask for is millions of dollars and I'm cutting millions of dollars there's something wrong there's something wrong so that's my argument with the way the state has this structured right now because am am I correct in this that the the number that the state told us that we could conceivably generate from the taxes tax base in our town is I don't remember what that number was but it what it is a couple of million dollar difference from what we're actually allowed to collect correct correct yes somebody what it's about $6 million it's about $6 million right so the the state is our local fair share versus what I'm allowed to ask for locally because this was fairly eye opening to me who's admittedly not a math person that the state is looking and seeing Oh the town of Collingswood could collect $6 million more in taxes or from their tax base and then I don't know in their own world thinking we're doing it even though they know we're not and then what what we actually get that's 100% sure and they know we're not because part part of the budget software it spits out your status as a district as far as adequacy and again it's another term that they use whether you're over adequate or under adequate and we are so below the number they determine for adequacy meaning the funds needed to provide an adequate education with all the mandates that they set we're below that number because I can't I can't raise it enough to get there I'm chasing it every year I'm chasing that that number so $188,000 um it's something not great um and then in June um most likely I'll probably have to just re-approve the the total budget by inreasing it by that $188,000 and I'll have all the supporting documentation obviously presented at that time okay bethan can you explain to everybody what the fair share means like what what number does that represent of our community is it income is it it's partly it's it's income again last year I feel like I need like a master's degree in calculus or something but it's like nine pages of blah blah blah calculations but it they they used the 2021 income so the value of everybody's W2s intent like your state tax returns that you submit but then they also use the 2023 why not the same year I don't know but they used the 2023 um property values when they ran the the funding formula I do not understand I we were on calls with lawmakers who actually signed this legislation and they did not understand and we I explained it like a couple times and I had other Bas on the phone and they're like no that's exactly what they did and they didn't get it either so don't feel bad it doesn't I don't think it's meant to add up purposely um which is why I've asked that people like us are in the room when they're drafting the next funding formula when uh speaking of that when this current funding formula is how how old is the current funding formula do you know 10 years uh 08 it came in something like that yeah so the cost of educating a child from then to now not accurately being not accurately being represented in the funding formula it is currently now statutorily has to be looked at again I agree they every year they publish the comparative spending guide right where they literally say what the cost total cost it is to educate a child Statewide then they break it out by region north central South and they break it out by District type like K to 12 or k to 8 and I don't remember the number but I think it's well over 17 or $18,000 I think it's closer to like 22 23,000 the state only funds per pupil I think it's $3,181 but because we're in South Jersey we get less than that so go figure that you get we they they apply a geographic cost index so because we're not North Jersey they take the 133,000 per pupil which we know we spend more because we just do more because they tell us to do more and then we get less than that so we get maybe 12 something because we're South Jersey so yeah it's it's a frustrating process and I share everybody's frustration because every spring my head wants to explode it makes zero sense we do the best to make sense of it um which is why like my State Association has been screaming to get in the room like at least if you're going to publish a comparative spending guide that says what it cost to educate the children in New Jersey buy geographic region then fund it that way it just makes sense but they don't and my guess is they don't have the money because it would obviously cost a lot more um be I I'm my mind also does not work matthy so I just want to make sure I understand so 22,000 to educate and I know you've explained this to me but my brain just cannot handle it okay 22,000 to educate a child the state funds 13,000 but but we get less than that you take the total number of students in our district and and you you've said that um you know uh the special education students cost even more than that correct then you total it you subtract the amount that we get from the state the differences our budget but then you can only ask for 2% so that yes so that creates a deficit that's what you're saying yes in a in a in a nutshell and they do we do get state aid in in the areas of Transportation which has not been fully funded ever and we all know the cost of Transportation right now and they also Fund in the areas of special ed but they don't fully fund special ed either they also have another formula yeah on how they determine how much um they fund for those two items also thank you hope I didn't confuse everybody no thank you for taking us through all of that again I think it's important to just keep going through it because it's um and my frustration if you had the 44 million why didn't they just leave us alone right so and and as you said if they're going to publish what it costs to to educate uh a student then you know read yeah then we should have that ability to um to take that so so like we said um I guess the updated version of of us um lobbying our legislators is more about um fair share and funding formula um because that's that's the next step and that's looking um forward to next school year and next year's budget um okay thank you um for all of that can I get a motion to exit Committee of the whole move and a second second second all in favor moving on to section five future dates and miscellaneous information has more uh uh PTA end of year things as well as all of the promotion ceremonies um for elementary middle and then graduation being um on June 17th and I did say that the board meeting didn't make it on June 24th oh yeah it doesn't it stops at the 18th so June 24th is the last date that should have been on there um here at uh 6:30 um section six motion to approve the minutes of the May 13th special board meeting so move and a second all uh roll call all in favor I uh this brings us to our first opportunity for public comment 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 to resolve all that attempt sorry 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 listed listening and taking notes so that we can take all that is being said into consideration if appropriate clarifying comments may be made 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 appropriate staff members or administrators or be discussed by the board during future committee meetings members of the public are welcome to speak and expected to do so with the utmost sensitivity for everyone in attendance In fairness to all who wish to speak there's a three minute time limit per person and Miss Coleman has her timer ready uh please remember number two comes to the microphone state your name and address for the record oh she's just holding the sign for me is that okay this is my friend Brianna yes does everybody mind waiting two more minutes to let Trey give his I'm so sorry his report that's my fault thank you I forgot I forgot to to let him go first sorry about that thank you Kelly so we're we're going to jump to I think it's section nine usually the um the the student report just in case Trey uh has uh things he's got to do go ahead well I I'll purposefully keep this short uh today in particular uh high school students visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC after having seen a presentation on the life of a Teenage Holocaust Survivor uh uh from her daughter in America today uh since there hasn't been much time since the last few board meetings there hasn't been a lot of student developments for me to comment on and I'll be aware of everybody's time here and uh that's that's all for me today thank you very much Trey and that sounds like quite an amazing experience that those students got um so thank you for sharing that um and thank you to everyone that was coming up to speak for for giving him the the the time back to public comment Anna you're right wait am I supposed to leave this microphone here or can I hold it okay uh my name is Anna T and I am a second grade teacher within this District I want to address a significant concern regarding the approach taken by our superintendent in addressing diversity and inclusion within our schools I am a first generation kid my mom grew up in Cambodia and she was there during the genocide she survived it my dad is Cambodian and he was born in Vietnam and fought in the Vietnam War and he was able to make it here I have a deep understanding of the challenges faced by many of our students particularly those who lack parental support due to language barriers cultural barriers busy parents or those who just didn't know how to work the school system this personal experience is one of the reasons I became a teacher I strive to provide the support and understanding that I needed when I was a student I grew up and still live in pensak and I loved growing up there because they was exposed to so many different cultures and I respect them growing up I was taught to be be silent but now I speak not because I am brave as some might describe but because I'm tired tired of seeing the same issues persist without meaningful action a few years ago there was an equity committee that was established brought together parents teachers principles from each School the superintendent and the board president addressed diversity I should say superintendent at the time right to address diversity issues and promote inclusion this committe highlighted that diversity is an umbrella and we Encompass a wide range of issues everyone dedicated their time and effort to help their kids Thrive we met once maybe twice a a month on school nights and stayed late I was proud to be part of this group it took us months to realize there are different issues at the elementary middle and high school level and we all worked together shared our concerns and possible solutions however when our new superintendent was hired he dismantled this committee and created a Dei committee while I respect the intention I'm concerned that we have not seen meaningful progress in addressing racial issues I'm not surprised last year I attended a meeting labeled as talent and recruitment to help minorities diversify the staff to my surprise there were only Asian teachers and we were asked why we became teachers that is a very personal question you can see from my my poster this St contrast and seeing my colleagues who were also agan but didn't experience the same me was disheartening I was clearly upset there was no followup it's been a year so this experience highlights a critical issue grouping individuals solely based on race without acknowledging their unique backgrounds and experiences not only insensitive but also counterproductive and concerned that the superintendent couldn't recognize a generational trauma that relates to some cultures and ask us to share our experiences that led us to become teachers without being mindful as someone who is dedicated to fostering inclusivity and understanding I'm troubled by this oversight I thought I was being recruited to be part of the Dei committee I shouldn't have to beg due to my openness in Sharing how I overcame my trauma and how I'm positively impacting my students however it's been a year since that meeting and I feel like I was listening to but then IGN I urge the board to consider reinstating the old Equity committee or build a bridge inv every meeting to participate again our students deserve it uh Rosemary Pharaoh I live at 10:07 Stokes Avenue in Collingswood I spoke last week but I'll reintroduce myself again I am the mother of three sons and the grandmother of nine children six of whom attend coling with Public Schools uh I I spoke last week because I have a concern H as not only a taxpayer but most importantly as a grandmother of those children who are attending the schools about the current budget cuts and the cut of the 16 point whatever that decimal was of uh from the CL class rooms instructional positions at the very time that it appears that the Collingswood public schools have extended their administrative especially District Administrative positions I spoke about those salaries I compared them to Washington Township where I had been an educator for many years retired as principal of the high school and again I just want to say one more time uh I I think it it may have been an exercise in futility but I I think it's important to reiterate that uh even though the state is only giving a little bit of money back it sounds as if there will be a reassessment of the budget priorities and I ask once again that we be looking at that you as a board and of course the entire uh District administrative staff be looking at the priorities if we're not putting the priority in the classroom we are damaging our students we are taking something from from them that is so important and if we have what appear uh and I can only say by my experience appear to be uh an overinflated number of Administrators especially at the district level with very high salaries specifically looking at the agenda tonight that is approving a district business administrator at 100,000 uh these are things of concern and I just appeal to you as a board to continue to look at these and to uh recognize that uh again as taxpayer as that grandmother as that former educator that I I I appeal to you to please try to find ways to put more of that instructional staff back into the classroom and I also just want to reference one other item I noticed on the board again I point to this I think as an example of questionable expenditures and it's the item 11 is it 11.14 the uh appointment of a special investigator to review the district processes and procedures as they relate to Hib incidences I know the district has been struggling specifically at the high school in regard to incidents like that but again I know as an administrator I was fly trained in allhe policies I assume that all of your administrators are fully trained and I wonder why you the district doesn't have the Personnel to not have to get a special lawyer investigator thank you hello Rebecca finle 916 Park a um like a lot of you have spent the last few weeks reflecting on the racist bullying happening happening in our community and I realize that the really is in a place where parents teachers students and administration can effectively communicate with each other I'm grateful for the ability to address you here and for my freedom to discuss school related issues online without it affecting my employment but I think we need to establish additional space for back and forth discussion on this topic any viable solution to our current crisis will require all of these stakeholders to be in the same room identifying the problems and discussing what they believe can be helpful Solutions if anything is going to move forward it has to be collaborative collaboration requires trust and building that trust is a slow process I know that there are more direct ways to address iniquities in schools such as discipline disparities and achievement gaps those should still happen action and accountability are crucial in combating racism but so is creating safe spaces that allow people to share their experiences right now both parents and teachers are afraid to speak up because they worry about how it could affect their relationships with each other or Worse their relationships with students I heard that there was an equity committee attended by teachers and parents before the pandemic I would love to learn more about this who attended what did they learn and what about that group made them feel safe to speak I recently started working in higher education where I learned the true meaning of the idea that uh committees are where ideas go to die but I've also seen some extraordinary things result from committees it's a slower process but what comes out of it is valuable there are also methods to facilitate this kind of collaborative work such as group model building with the amount of talent and expertise in this community I'm sure that we can facilitate this I hope that you will also consider speaking to Equity commit committee members to get their Insight on how to start building bridges between community members thank you uh gret and Colley 920 Grand Avenue um during the the presentation from the superintendent there were uh slides showing different extracurricular activities going forward um I may have missed it I don't know if you can answer this back but um I didn't notice Theater Arts on the slides have Theater Arts been cut as something for middle school and high school or did I just miss that line on your slide okay all right uh the other thing um in the budget I do believe that we are doing a shared service for public relations I don't know what the exact term for with Haden Township um are we taking advantage of everything uh that they offer us are we communicating with them um because I don't know if you've seen Haden Township's referendum video and their uh PR outreaches they were phenomenal uh very educational helped get the word out to all levels of uh citizens um and I'm just wondering are there going to be more referendum meetings and have the ones for the senior citizens been scheduled yet Wayne Rossy 114 East palav um so I I've also heard um I know Dr McDow had a email last week about further um unfortunate uh racial bias in incidents in the schools and it's really disturbing uh to continue to see this I I feel like right now first of all I don't know if enough students feel like this is enough of a present issue if there's some need for some kind of action that would actually like sort sort of serve as like a wake up that the the things that have been going on are are simply unacceptable um I I did think that a lot of the items specifically in Dr McD presentation today seemed like positive things the my biggest current worries are that a lot of the things that are being brought up are teachers who are it's like it's starting with the people who already are in a good position as far as understanding issues um like I feel like a lot of like the that initial phase has been voluntary and that really bringing it up to the point where every teacher uh can have the hard discussions about uh race in their classroom and with their students is really important uh and sort of that idea of not just bringing along the people who are sort of out front but making sure that everyone is involved in this effort uh it really to me is is a critical part of seeing this through um um and the last thing I wanted to say is I I've heard from a couple teachers and administrators that there's not necessarily the amount of understanding that like some people have have alleged that uh is going on and I I think that that's something where communication and openness and being I understand that that there's a lot of privacy concerns but making sure that everyone is engaged and open and I think some kind of accountability type group that people uh Focus people are able to join into would be a really good way of making sure that that happens where uh different different staff are able to to talk and uh and share information and understand what what the environment is better because there's a lot of turning around that needs to be done thank you Leah foran 501 South Vineyard Boulevard um I have a question about the tuition for students that are leaving the district um if we are only getting like $112,000 from the state are we responsible for them filling the gap of the full tuition amount oh boy okay um now that that was mostly my question um the but thank you I that's it thanks so much I'm Alexandra guidos Smith uh 311 Lake View Drive I just want to comment on um last Thursday the amplifying black and brown voices panel that um that the board supported along with the burough and um I think it was hard for a lot of people I was really encouraged by the turnout I saw Neighbors I saw people I didn't know I saw people I just passed you know in the street I saw children I saw families um and I was encouraged to see that there were so many people that were putting themselves in a room to hear stories that maybe that they wouldn't have otherwise and I'm hopeful that that that can be built upon so um I thank you for supporting that kind of work and I hope to see more of that in the future I'm also really pleased to see um I I wish that the uh signs of reading people that were were had talked to you a number of times that they were here because like home runs across the board I love that you have dibles as a universal screener I love while we C ESP [Applause] two [Applause] Justin cordre Megan Brogan Jaclyn Pito Alysa hetrick Gabrielle Lynch Alexis Bina Ruth Elias Megan switch Kelly Amato Scott llin shanning caero Anthony leonus Aon Daly Erica Jacobson and Matthew twardak for working tirelessly to support our students you will be missed and we wish you well in your new positions next year hi my name is Angela kek I have been learning acceleration specialist for the last 11 years at Mark newbie Elementary based on the budget investment presentation provided tonight I think we as a community need more clarity and practical practical explanation of the plan you mentioned that academic supports would be maintained but as we reported as I reported last week we are moving from 17 teachers in the role of learning acceleration and mtss Coach to seven teachers uh roughly as our group um our case load is about 439 interventions a day these interventions are being implemented individually and in small group that number is not students but our number of interventions um I am still compiling data for the entire District but in terms of Mark newbie 42% of our students are in some sort of academic support service with varying levels of need with the proposed uh reorganization of Las I'm deeply concerned that only the neediest children will receive help we have always took pride in meeting the needs of the neediest as well as those who just needed that temporary push to get back onto grade level with this organization and our current class sizes I am worried that differentiation will not be enough to support these students thank you thank you to everyone uh for getting up to to speak uh wanted to make a few um I was just trying to make some notes here a few clarifying uh comments based on um public comment the first being um I believe for extracurriculars if I was understanding that slide it simply was just talking about sports I don't know that that means I'm not under the impression that means that other extracurriculars are not in like it didn't list all the clubs or everything either right so all of those things are are being offered it just that particular slide was highlighting Sports correct okay so so we can expect theater music various clubs that have been offered in the past to be there next year provided that we have um staff members who who want to um lead those would that be right so the the the schools are going to identify what students are requesting in terms of the clubs and they're going to offer a wide range of clubs and extracurricular activities as they do every single year and so I mean this year they introduced a cad of new clubs based on student interest and so next year will be very similar uh and then um a question about uh the kind of communication and Outreach for the referendum that information um or or future dates um will be coming out shortly the big um push and the this is just kind of the way it goes for any referendum usually comes um much closer to the actual voting date because folks have um uh they they want all that information right before they vote so that is that's something to look for throughout um the summer and moving into the fall um and then could you please Dr McDow um speak to um why the um the teachers of the year are are not being um acknowledged at this particular meeting so it was it was discussed with our association uh leader that given the time of the year given the tone and tenor we did not want to come off as being uh insensitive or toned deaf to the loss that we were all facing and so what was explained at that time was that a uh a larger reception and celebration uh kicking off the beginning of the year with invitations for recipients and their families small um celebrations took place uh in our schools uh over the last week week and a half um broken down by department but we felt that uh it would be um more important for us to uh to pause and then celebrate um the way that we have in years passed uh more appropriately at the beginning of the school year um given some of the challenges that we face right now and so that was what was explained to uh the leadership um and and so that's the decision that we decided to make in order to honor and celebrate folks properly thank you uh moving on to section eight the superintendent report uh Dr McDow will present I did answer it I I nodded to oh sorry okay okay yeah no I I nodded um section 8.01 um is the attached enrollment report April of 2023 is 2,269 uh April of 2024 is 2256 that's attached uh 8.02 03 and 04 are the safety drill suspension and anti-bullying report uh those are all attached um and just have one um uh short announcement that I wanted uh to make is that on Wednesday uh May 15th students from uh pause TV Panther films and panther Productions uh represented Collingswood High School at the 2024 Regional student midatlantic Emy award ceremony the event was hosted by the national academ the National Academy of Television art and Sciences Philadelphia chapter and took place at Temple University uh alongside the students was the adviser uh Miss Haro and Mrs cely from kleinwood middle school who graciously volunteered to chaperon our television students from across the region including New Jersey Pennsylvania and Delaware competed in categories including News sports documentary editing and talent and so every year um students across the region submit their very best uh video packages and it's a very highly selective uh uh judged competition and so the day start started off with a welcoming ceremony where students participated in meet and greets with Fox News sports anchors cbs3 photojournalists uh as well as professors at the uh Temple Klein School of media students were also given tours of the Temple University campus and their Studios and so as competitive as the Mid-Atlantic em Emy awards are uh Collingswood High School students brought home five nominations so congratulations to senior Charlie Giza senior uh Enzo damasi Lydia Anderson Jacob ederton Junior Piper Wright and sophomore Raina bar on their nominations and Senior Amelia TR brought home the Emy award for the talent category and so um we would like to uh congratulate and thank all of the uh the volunteers the advisers the folks that helped to make our uh pause TV uh what it is all of the nominated and winning videos will be uh posted on their on the pause TV news channel uh and we wanted to make sure that we recognize um our um award-winning television and film production team so thank you thank you Dr McDow uh we had section nine the student reports um by Mr ramsburg a little bit before public comment moving on to section 10 business administrator board secretary report Miss Coleman will present uh item 10.01 are your um monthly budget transfers for the month of April and 10.02 um is your financial statements your cash report Treasures report and cash flow analyses 10.03 is your Student Activity cash report 10.04 is your um Food Service financial statements for the month of April 10.05 are listing the purchase orders for the month of May and a 10.06 um is a list of the warrants to be paid tomorrow morning upon approval and I just want to in item 11.11 um I know we talked about in finance but we are hitting the 10% Mark as far as transfers into Transportation um for increased cost and and new routes we had some kids move in that require busing so I did send it to the county office um 10 days has expired and they haven't gotten back to me so we we can approve the transfer just I just want to explain to the board why that's on there thank you thank you Miss Coleman uh moving on to section 11 the 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 thank you uh seeking approval for the following items 112 to 119 as the board secretary's report as it was presented 1110 is the tax remittent Schedule for uh the upcoming school year uh 11-11 is that 10% transfer and transportation that Miss Coleman just uh explained 1112 are school lunch prices for the following school year uh 1113 is a exception of the donation of backpacks uh from Jefferson Health Enterprise which will be given out before next school year um a about 250 backpacks I think right now over in the board office um that have uh different supplies books and other things in there so we thank most importantly headon headphones yes and headphones so um thank you Miss Christina cardi for um organizing this and um getting that for our students uh 1114 is special investigator um moving on the recommendation to bring in an attorney from Madden and Madden uh this is reviewing comprehensive processes procedures related Hib incidents in particular those um dealing with racial bias um and ensuring that we have a third party those over 11:15 use of facility NAACP of Camden County is going to be holding their decision day on Saturday June 1st from 99: to 3 in the auditorium um then 1116 to 1121 22 excuse me are um uh use of facilities for all the Collingswood wreck programs over this summer which I think went on sale today so um so seeking approval for items 112 to 1122 so move and a second questions or comments from board members actually I wanted to ask Dr mcdell could you explain just a little bit more about uh the approval of the special investigator um what the the scope of work will be for the beginning so given given the historical nature of um culture climate racial bias and incidents that have happened um in Collingswood um we believe that it's important that we uh have an independent third party come in and and analyze what it is that we're doing we clearly have a problem and so part of getting to a solution is to First acknowledge that you have a problem and so we need to understand better understand is it a process issue is it a reporting issue what are the systems and structures that need to be put in place in order to be able to make sure that uh students don't feel the way that they feel and that we don't continue to have these in in Bubble Up um from time to time and so one incident is too many and we've had um many incidents and so we believe that we need uh independent unbiased uh uh third party that does not is not encumbered or restricted due to positional authority to come in and ask the hard questions of our organization and hold us accountable to making sure that we do right by all the students in our community and so we're seeking um first uh a document a process policy and procedural review and then um they would then come in and uh make recommendations for what additional information is needed before they can make recommendations about Solutions uh and we believe that this is a a solid first step in us getting some of the answers um that we have been un unable to uncover internally up to this point Thank you any other questions or comments from board members um can you speak to the um you U I think you specifically said the scope of of it um what what kind of timeline are we looking at when can we expect to get some information um obviously this this does sound like a very good idea but I think we need to be mindful of uh putting out that money and hiring considering all of the budget situations that we have had recently I um while I while I believe that state advocacy is very important I think at the same time we have to recognize that unfortunately the situation is the way it is and while we're waiting for State advocacy to hopefully um work out additionally in our favor we have to start making some decisions in terms of of cost cutting so would you be able to provide um some information about uh you know how long we're talking um would we be able to hear some of the feedback after a short period of time before we would we would we be voting to then continue the work so if we could just kind of get a sense of of of the cost here um I did interview the special investigator um I did ask him for a timeline at this point he's thinking could be probably several months because the first part obviously like Dr McDow said would be a a review of the process and procedures and basically the paperwork but the interviews start but to be hon we're getting in on summer right so for him to be able to go and talk to people over the summer I don't know who's going to be available so we just need to be realistic something in several months I did ask for um uh to him to keep me posted so I could bring back to the finance committee um kind of like where we are in the process and how much longer and everything and he said he would be keeping um our B our board attorney a breast of where he is in the investigation because we're trying to keep it like we don't want to direct the work we need to independently do his thing and then report back so I did tell him that we need to be mindful of the money and just to report back where he is in the process so that I can let you know and he was amenable to that so thank thank you for that so when you say several months you're not talking like you know 40 hours a week you're talking as he can schedule interviews with people sorry uh correct yeah he's a full-time attorney that that does other things so this would be in addition to other stuff that he does so he would have to find time in his schedule to do this but the first part would be um he did submit to Dr mcdal and I and I have yet to produce the documents because I don't have time we have a laundry list of things that he's asked us for that um pending his approval tonight I'll have to sit or with Fred or Fred I'll have to sit with his Administrative Assistant we have to submit him there's about seven or eight items that he he would like um that he wants to review before he can start I guess putting his plan of attack in motion if that makes sense it does thank you and um would you just briefly be able to speak to um would would our current solcer is he not considered unbiased is that is that the reason that we're going with with somebody else um I believe uh we reached out to our um our attorney on this one and he recommended just so the it's an independent person coming in because the board you know obviously the attorney represents the board's interest we want somebody who is not employed or on a contract with the board to do this so that it's completely um independent opinion um I just wanted to just a quick comment um I wanted to give uh Chris credit um instead of if we could think about it maybe instead of as an investigator and think about it as maybe like an audit I think that's a maybe a different way of of looking at it I think and it's probably a maybe a better way of looking at it um um um and also I think it's also um I think it's it's really important work and it's also um beneficial to student work so like I think that's also a way to think about it as well um I mean I know obviously it's going to be work that's going to cost money but it is also work that's going to directly benefit students so any other questions or comments from board members I think it's important I I I think it's just a a difficult um pill to swallow if we're spending money right now now after laying off a bunch of people I think we just need to be more mindful of what we're spending over time although I do think that this is important I would support it um at a certain time period but given the budget crisis I feel like we need to just be aware of what we're spending any other questions or comments from board members Sor item 11 so everyone when they're speaking lean in like this I think that was directed to you Mary thank you is is is this good we're good okay um for 11.11 uh sorry I didn't catch it earlier you're saying that we are or it's tabled we are voting for it or the transfer yes yes you are I just wanted to explain why it was on there and and also to to clarify there too I know Transportation comes up a good bit um And to clarify this is transportation that uh we are required by Statute to pay for correct like this is not arbitrary kind of like oh we decideed to transport kids this is like we we have to transport these kids uh by Statute correct believe it or not we still have children moving in um and signing up for school um I think in the last uh guess it was February March we had some people move in so some of the kids did require Transportation routes so my budgeted line for transportation um was exceeded about a month and a half earlier than anticipated and then I the um speaking on the budget again uh one of the things that I I want to make sure wasn't lost in um the discussions over the last uh couple weeks is that uh we did unfortunately also have to lose uh three administrators uh during this budget round um and so thank thank you also to them for for their service um you know I know also Washington Township has brought up a lot uh here and I think elsewhere I've heard elsewhere as well uh uh and comparing us to them and and I I do want to make clear that um in the their 2024 25 budget the per pupil total administrative cost that they're paying per pupil is uh 1,800 $83 right so they're paying per people $1,883 for their administrators right here in Con in 2024 25 we're paying $1,617 per people for total administrative costs so so again you know we are a smaller district and I commend you uh uh uh Miss Coleman for your work uh to make sure those costs stay low any other questions or comments from board members roll call please Mr Chu yes Mr Craig yes Mrs Maya yes with the exception of I think 11:14 the special investigator I vote no Mrs mulski yes Mrs aino yes Mrs Seltzer yes Mrs Sheridan Celia yes Mrs Sherman yes Mr tab yes Mr dilus yes Mrs Kaden yes and everyone you get I'm sorry to help everybody in back um on your little speaker thingy yeah you can turn the side there's a volume apologies everyone we didn't realize everyone couldn't hear I mean obviously lean in obviously but you guys can hear me right okay yeah make sure the volume's like all the way up on the side that's all thanks uh so moving on to section 12 the curriculum committee Mr Chu will present as loud as he can hello hell all right um the curriculum committee oversees and approves a district curriculum and assessment programs as well as field trips home instruction co-curricular programs and the school calendar uh so item 12.02 are two Elementary School field trips um item 12.03 is a middle school field trip um 12.04 are some home instructions out District placements uh 12.05 is additional home instruction out District placements uh 12.06 is uh a specific uh our district placement um 12.07 is a approval for us uh one1 aid for us the senior trip um and then uh I'm seeking approval of items 12.02 through 12.07 tonight motion to approve set items moved and a second questions or comments from board members I think that this uh might fit in here involving C uh curriculum so I know there's a questions about uh how we're ensuring that uh some of our our most needy of students are still in terms of I guess academic supports are still gain the supports that they need and and from our discussions I just want to make sure that this is this is uh correct from our discussions it's that uh one of the things that we're doing is trying to focus the extra supports on um uh the highest tiers of of support and need correct the students who need the highest tiers of support yes so I think that anyone any reasonable person would be able to argue is that um all students deserve something and so but the financial reality is is that we have to prioritize and so uh we do believe that um small group instruction is a very valuable tool in our school system we have depended very heavily on small group instruction for many many years and and this upcoming year is no different in a environment where um the revenues simply aren't there we have to make meaningful adjustments so the students get what they need and so uh we're going to be working um through our curriculum team through our school based teams to identify how do we strike the appropriate balance so that students get what they need and in terms of class size home rooms are not changing and so I think that we just want to clarify home rooms are not changing what is changing or is being modified is uh small group instruction that is happening at pivotal time throughout the school day and so that requires uh local Educators working with uh the curriculum team in order to identify how we accomplish that um and what uh resources and what level of support will be provided to students and so looking at the data is important also looking at alternative models is important but all of those discussions will be taking place over the next month right and I think something you mentioned that looking at data is important um you know I know that uh so sorry I'm just realizing that this isn't what we're voting on so we actually probably should not be talking about this so um apologies that I didn't um I'm a little slow tonight didn't catch that right away um any other questions or comments about what is on um the agenda for us to vote on about the curriculum committee tonight uh roll call please Mr Chu yes Mr Craig yes Mrs Maya yes Mrs molski yes Mrs saverino yes m Mrs Seltzer yes Mrs Sharon Celia yes Mrs Sherman yes Mr tab yes with exceptions where required Mr dolus Yes except we're required to abstain Mrs Kaden yes moving on to section 13 the Personnel committee Miss shared and Celia will present um the Personnel committee reviews all recommendations for teaching and staff employment considers co-curricular employment and considers all professional development opportunities for staff members this evening I am seeking approval of agenda items 13.02 through 13.30 um the first two items 13.02 and 13.03 are resignations 13.04 and 13.05 are um Med are leaves of absence requests 13.06 is a replacement for the resignation at 13.03 for a new payroll benefits clerk 13.07 is the long-term substitute teacher uh appointment 13 .08 is also the appointment of a substitute Shadow music teacher um and at 13.09 is the appointment of a middle school teacher and 13.10 there's a Amendment to the approval last new board meeting for tene faculty to reflect the correct um educational attainment for this individual 13.11 is the elementary lunch supervisor and 13.0 13.12 are the elementary School a lunch aids for next year U there's a whole list of them um Elementary permanent substitutes appointments are at 13.13 13.14 is the appointment of four Middle School permanent substitutes and the next agenda item 13.15 is the appointment of three High School permanent substitutes uh 13.16 is the appointment of four school security staff members 13.17 um we had approved several months ago um Miss Coleman's submitting Miss Coleman's contract to the county and then we finally got that back they very slow so that's approval of um her contract 13.18 is the appointment of unaligned staff for the next school year uh at 13.19 we have business service employees there's a whole slew of them they're all listed out there on the page um 13.20 is the point is the uh teach student teaching stien for 2324 for four different um students who have been in our district 13321 is the to approve two staff members to receive um Special Olympics unified Champion school stiped 13.22 is the athletic H excuse me Rec to approve the athletic EDP stien for the assistant coach for tennis 13.23 is the approval of the 24 2024 summer esy program there are three people or no many more than that three people they go up to the next page so we have a good summer robust summer program um 13.24 the appointment of two individuals for the sharp summer bridge program 13.25 the summer wellness program appoint appointments 13.26 uh approval of Summer child study team and related services staff and as needed basis to get ready for our kids coming back in the fall 1327 is summer counseling off uh authorization of Summer counseling hours 1328 um also summer counseling out um um sorry hours at the high school the early one was Middle School 13. 29 is our annual approval of Summer workers um both adults and our high school students who come out and do a really great job of the summer over the summer and at finally 13.30 is one travel expense item I'm seeking approval for so again I'm seeking approval for agenda items 13.02 through 1330 this evening thank you motion to approve set items and a second second questions or comments from board members roll call please Mr choke yes Mr Craig yes Mrs Maya yes Mrs molski yes Mrs Savino Yes except for item 1329 where I abstain Kate Seltzer yes Mrs Sharon selia I apologize I I do have to abstain from 1329 thank you for pointing that out I got you all right where' I leave uh Mrs Sherman yes Mr Mr Tabby yes with obss were required Mr dolus Yes except we're required to abstain Mrs Kaden yes and I don't think I voted but yes listen you're yeah thank you um it was mid me calling your name and I never went back I'm sorry section 14 the culture climate and policy committee Miss szer will present the culture climate and policy committee reviews all up and all updates and changes of District policies and regulations uh we had two policies up for a first read tonight um both are uh contain fairly small uh changes updating language and in the case of 9323 um making some small changes that are already already reflected in our MOA um we also have several policies up for a second read They're listed there we discussed them last month um and so I am seeking approval for items 1402 and 1403 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 Mrs mulski yes Mrs saino yes Mrs Seltzer yes Mrs sherid and celus yes Mrs Sherman yes Mr tab yes Mr dilus yes Mrs Kaden yes moving on to section 15 miscellaneous 15.01 is uh move on the approval of the uh Hib report from uh April 2024 that we saw in the April 2024 board meeting and then 15.02% filled internally and then uh another is a revision to the job description for principles uh so motion to approve items 15.01 and 15.02% job is that through the grant yeah yes she yes her mic wasn't working any other questions or comments and to to clarify that that uh is actually just the the re like wording of the pre-existing like prek position is that that was the one or that was the one that was removed and then now we're adding it back is that correct no no no not really so um in Running of a preschool program that is independent in a separate building um per uh per the grant you have to have a principle of record and so what we did was we uh dissolved the preschool supervisor role um and then we uh created a principle of Early Childhood which would supervise uh p through three uh that position will be pending approval from the board that position will be posted tomorrow right and we dissolved that position last board meeting correct yes yeah yes so I'm I'm sorry so who who did that job previously so so you said you said there was I'm sorry I don't mean who but I mean so so there was there was a supervisor and now it's going to be a principal okay but completely Grant funded yes okay there's no new positions on here that we're approving okay uh any other questions or comments uh roll call please Mr Chu yes Mr Craig yes Mrs Maya yes Mrs molski yes Mrs Savino yes Mrs Seltzer yes Mrs sherid and Celia yes Mrs Sherman yes Mr tabi yes Mr dolas yes Mrs kadon yes uh we are at section 16 our next opportunity for public comment this is more of a general um opportunity for public comment everyone um knows my Spiel I feel for now by now so in all fairness to wish to speak there is a three minute time limit M Coleman has her timer ready um please stand and state your name and address for the record good evening everybody Julia SZ 439 had anav um as someone who's been terribly saddened and really disappointed by the racial incidents we've been experiencing in our schools I want to thank you for making sure that we're taking the appropriate action through hiring a special investigator to make sure that we know that our processes are being followed and Report reports are being done correctly I can't underestimate how important it is and what I've heard directly from former student just last Thursday night um about the impact that that is having on our young people in our school buildings every day and every single child deserves to feel safe and valued and to know that their concerns will be taken seriously um and so thank you to all of you who voted for that Robin Hogan cea president I'm up here to clarify a few things that I understand um were said while I was not in room I'll teach me to leave the room um so Dr mcdell I understand that you claimed that we had a meeting and I approved of the um change uh what word did you use I'm sorry oh you can't reject you cannot respond I am so sorry you cannot respond okay so I just want to be clear we did not meet okay um can I borrow your phone thank you at 10:12 on in the morning on Friday an email went out um that read congratulations on behalf of the entire Collingswood Community you being selected as one of collinswood Staff members of the year um this year's recipients will be announced the board meeting but unlike previous years we will not expect you to attend so I'm just reading directly from the email that went out at 10:12 a.m. on Friday morning congratulations once again can I have my phone now thank you so at 1:12 I responded to I sent an email to you to Jen Floyd to Beth Rogers and to Rachel gner hi I just wanted to inquire about the change regarding the presentation of the Teacher of the Year Awards at the board meeting Monday night I was forwarded Miss Floyd's email which St that while yes their names would be read and acknowledged they would not be honored as they have in the past years with the presentation I was wondering if you could shed any light into this change and the reason behind it any information would be greatly appreciated we did not meet we did not discuss this I merely inquired as to why it was not a discussion you did not respond to my email but asked me to call you and you mentioned that it was because that you didn't want to be toned deaf for what was going on so but it was not a it was not a give and take and there was no me meeting if there was a meeting there is obviously there an imp impersonator of me running around if you could stop them uh that would be great thank [Applause] you Julie Schneider 819 Mill AB um the the idea of the equity committee came up today um and it made me think so I was part of that original Equity committee that was started by rean um I thought it was great I know um part of the idea was that progress is slow and uncomfortable and important and my recollection is that Co probably was one of the reasons that that um work stopped um so I wanted to encourage the reinstatement of that committee um it was held at the high school um there were several Representatives um and it talk about a lot of different kinds of equity um so I think that would be a really good place um to start um and actually when we were on that committee I remember we divided into three different groups and there was one group that was in favor of neighborhood schools as a way to achieve Equity there was one group that was in favor of looking for other ways to maintain our neighborhood schools but um increase Equity within them which was what I was part of and we came up with some some ideas um and then there was a group that was try kind of more forward thinking thinking what if we what if there were no limits and we could just kind of think of some other possibilities um this is part of the reason um that I'm confused about the current situation because I think um none of that was followed up on or or relooked at or anything like that um so maybe that could be a place um for some some good conversation so that's my recommendation thank [Applause] you uh yeah Wayne Rossy 114 East Palmera um my spouse had been on the equity committee uh when that uh happened and from her understanding it basically had not been meeting regularly shortly before covid happened and that sort of um it didn't keep going apart um I do think that we need more um spaces I I agree strongly with that idea I felt that earlier uh in the Academic Year I guess like last last year the forums at the library had been very positive as far as having more conversation and less people just talking at the board which I know is the required format for this uh I think that getting back to that would be great I know that there are hard feelings about various issues right now and uh but I I I do think that having a more collaborative discussion process was a positive and I don't want to see that go away um the last thing I'd note is I don't I don't know if how it's been um thought of because uh hearing the English language arts for the the younger grades being discussed made me think I have not liked the math curriculum that's currently being used and I found it very rather confusing as it tends to move between subjects without a clear sort of through line and also the students don't have anything physically to go back and reference in the lesson their books are kind of just big workbooks that they've been working through like bit by bit and I I just I don't care for it I know the previous math also wasn't popular but um I I don't know what feedback you've gotten on that but I I have not found it helpful and I found it very trying at homeor time so I I thought I would share that thank you um all right uh thank you everyone for coming tonight moving on to section 17 motion to adjourn move and a second second second all in favor have a good evening