e S12 222 yeah 1 two 3 4 1 two 3 4 e e e e I call this meeting to order at 601 PM the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have an advanced notice of and to attend the meeting of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act the east Rutherford board of education has caused notice of this meeting by having the date time and place thereof provided to the record and South bergenite newspapers to have published and posted in the vestibule of the burrow Hall and Public Library copies of agendas are available 48 hours prior to said meetings in the board of education office and are posted on the eford School website www. erboe.net uh please stand for the flag salute and remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of the members of our Police Department fire department First Responders and our Armed Forces I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all roll call Mr bank is absent Miss Caruso here miss KY is absent Miss Mena Mr segalini here miss shemy is absent and Madam president liso here uh fire exit to the front and to your left uh committee reports uh School business administrator Mr verace thank you Madame President I I just want the board members who are present to focus on the addendum items I know there's quite a few but we wanted to make sure uh it was addressed f1a is the second bills list f5a is a approval of providers for tuition uh extraordinary Services contract agreements this is agreements with Bergen County Special Services f10a uh approval approval to decommission and dispose of kitchen equipment um when I first arrived here I was made aware that we had excess cash in our food service account and we needed to spend it so myself Mr Jen casbro and Mr batani we focused our attentions on McKenzie school and that the kitchen really needed uh an update so the equipment that the board will approve of decommissioning are older and they are being replaced with newer equipment so come September we'll see uh a much more improved more effective uh pitchen over at McKenzie f11a is the approval of the request for proposals this is for the read interventionist the bcba certified School behaviorist the math coach World Language Coach English Language Coach and science coach and if you look at the at the resolution you'll see who the who the avoid in a to the purpose the number of responses the amount not to exceed and that the contract term would start July 1 and of 2024 and would expire or would end in June 30th of 2025 f13a is approval of a contract agreement for for the 2425 school year this is for our vendor for cyber security services uh this is through actually through a co-op the escj co-op uh the prices did go up because they were locked in for five years so I had questioned that and because they were locked in for five years this was an increase of about $66,000 but we were assured myself and Mr valard that that this is going to be for at least three to five years this price and then won't change F14 a is to authorize myself to facilitate the close out of fiscal year 24 and open in fiscal year 25 f15a this was an RFP for a onetoone nursing services for medically fragile student this was uh the date was back in May so now we are awarding the services and you'll see the resolution as well as the contract their rates f16a is to amend the walk-on resolution for uh f12a as approved at the April 25th 2024 Boe meeting the reason for this is myself Mr John CASRO had a conversation with the Auditors and he brought to our attention that we needed to make a slight Amendment and the amendment in that resolution was to was to put in into the capital project fund to help supplement the referendum project this was just to remind everyone the settlement with doco so uh when it became when the auditor saw this he had recommended that we amend the resolution f17a this is the amend resolution f11 uh as approved at the May 23rd board meeting this has to do with our board attorneys it was to remove the $88,500 per year and just to keep the hourly rate not a total rate uh f18a and f19a are to proove the transfer of any surplus from the 2324 budget into capital reserve and into maintenance Reserve f20a is approval of continuing disclosure and independent register Municipal advisor services for the 2425 school year this is through Phoenix advisors it is capped at $3,000 I believe the district has been with Phoenix advisor for quite a few years now so this is a resolution that was not originally included so that's why it is an addendum item and I wanted to be memorialized in the 2324 school year and then the last one last Dum item f21a so in speaking to the state about the rod Grant I informed them I had the documentation ready I was going to submit it and they informed me about our resolution that we were going to withdraw from capital reserve to fund these cap capital projects well when I spoke with the representative uh from the state she informed me well you have to tell us what the project is tell us what the grant number is what school give us a a brief description what it's for and then also what the local share of the project is because there is a local share and then what the state will reimburses which is 40% so I had to put that in there if not they would have kicked it back to us and you would have seen this probably in July so that was the reason that's the reason why we're amending it is to include the verbage that the state is looking for in order to approve our Rod Grant so once they say that I shouldn't say to approve the rod Grant it's just to make sure that once we go out to bid we follow the necessary procedures and that we wouldn't be disqualified from uh getting reimbursements so that was the reason why we had to do that and that is it unless if any board members have any questions about the addendum items or anything else any questions no okay uh thank you Mr verace you're welcome Madam president uh super intendance report uh Mr Jan CASRO yes thank you madam president so uh student enrollment uh the end of June is 764 students uh we had our fire drills and evacuation drills for the month of June uh we had no new HIV but a reopened investigation per superintendent um to look at some extra information that had come to our attention that was submitted from the parents thank you very much those parents um that we were able to open up and look at the findings Al uh which we discussed in our last um work session long range facility plans as Mr barachi had said the McKenzie school roof section fou School roof section is something that's on the on our plate right now as well as the external doors over at fou School uh as part of my presentation this evening um I do have a mention that one of the board members had mentioned um to to you Madame President regarding um a question that had come up at our last meeting last month which was in May when um one of the guests that came here Mrs gagas had brought up several questions regarding title funds um funding of of of um title and basic skills um so I had spoken to Dr King Dobson regarding the questions that were raised publicly regarding those types of funds uh we prepared a presentation for the board this evening to iron out any um questions that anyone may have um so I before we go into the addendum items I'd like to call up Dr King Dobson to present to the board um the presentation uh based upon questions that were asked at the May board be we do now sure yeah is it okay yeah sure Dr King Dobson would you mind let me just stop sharing this hold on one second I need to use a m yeah you can use so that uh that those viewers at home could hear you uh let's give me one second why might not able to open that right but I G get rid of this Zoom thing I don't know why this Zoom is here this one here right yeah okay you go can you see that at home um you're sharing the screen should be good it's probably showing the agenda still correct yeah so let me stop and then resare there we go there we go now our folks at home can see okay Dr King dson will you okay uh thank you superintendent Jen CASRO um in my presentation this evening I have added a few uh pictures from our Greenhouse uh before I start I just want to say thank you to uh Miss dang she has put a lot of time and effort into um you know lead taking the lead taking the charge this was an environmental grant that we received and we purchased a greenhouse and the students were very Hands-On and um we're very proud of some of the products and produce it has yielded so far can it's not moving okay so purpose of today's presentation um we know that the spread of misinformation can be likened to a disease where falsehoods infect Minds low trust and ultimately undermine the foundation of informed decision making in society so I'm just here to present some facts to the board and some facts to the people of East reford um Community uh regarding our Title One programs and the way the funds are being spent in the district so on my agenda tonight uh it's very brief I will present to you an overview of our Title One program and I will um try to um summarize the concerns that were brought forward in the last uh board meeting I believe this was on the 23rd and um hopefully I'll be able to provide some clarity regarding some of the questions that were brought forward so overview of Title One what is the purpose of title one I just want to point out that title one is one of four or five seven different titles um we received re Title One title two three three immigrant and title four funding here in the district Title One Is to provide all signif all children significant opportunity to receive a fair Equitable and high high quality education and to close educational achievement gaps that's the overarching uh purpose of title one now with Title One there are two different typ types of programs that a district May Implement you have what's called a targeted assistance program and then you have what's called a schoolwide program here in East Rutherford we have the targeted assistance model not the schoolwide model in the schoolwide model all students benefit from Title One services but here in East Rutherford we only we we adopted well when I came in we already had the targeted assistance uh model and I continued with it so we are tasked with identifying academically at risk students and providing services for those students however in order for us to identify those students we have to develop multiple objective of uh education uh Criterion for these students in a schoolwide program is different you have to come up with a comprehensive uh schoolwide plan for for your for that school some districts they have a combination of models but here again I just want to reiterate that we have what's called a targeted assistance program okay so what are the key components of a targeted assistance program so only eligible children are identified with well how do we identify those students we have to come up with the Criterion um there's some general guidelines that we can follow but all local education agencies are tasked to come up with Criterion that are objective and there are few subjective components that you can lean into as well to determine what students will be eligible for those Services when you have a targeted assistance program your task with ensuring that students are able to meet the challenging state standards that are implemented Statewide and in the district as well we are also tasked with coordinating with and supporting our regular education program so whatever we're doing within our educ our regular educational program Title One provide funds for us to enhance some of those programs that are already in existence then we also have to provide professional development this is a mandate we have to increase parent engagement parent and family engagement um annually I usually host a parent Academy where I talk about title funds and um you know some parents out there you're hearing this information again I apologize some of you this is new but that's okay right for those of you who've come before to those uh sessions uh you you you'll know what I'm talking about so here are some of the mus haves that that local educational agencies should produce if they're having a targeted assistance program you must provide an accelerated high quality curriculum you must minimize and I'm going to really emphasize this point you must minimize the removal of children from regular classroom during regular school hours for instruction in this District there's been a big push to pull our kids out and to remove them from the Gen at pop so we can give them instruction whereas the federal government the state government is telling us that you're taking this money part of your responsibility is to minimize the removal of children from the regular classroom during regular school hours for instruction that is the federal law additionally we're task with reviewing our program on an ongoing basis we have to review the progress of children and we have to review our Criterion that we use on an annual basis and this is the practice that we have in East R since I've been here every single year I meet with the basic skills teacher teach teachers Title One some of them are some aren't and I think there's a little bit of confusion there I believe all basic skills teachers think that they're Title One teachers but that's not the case and I will explain to you why that is right but I sit with all teachers basic skills and title one and I go over entrance Criterion for the program we come to a consensus we modify as needed we talk about what worked in the past what we need to fix moving forward we talk about what forms we need to tweak what forms remain the same and and and and so this is how we we we tweak and we we we develop the program as we go on you know from year to year so again program purpose to meet the needs of eligible student planning when we're planning we have to tailored support for those who are eligible use of funds it's very clear how the funds should be utilized one of the things that I want to emphasize here is that I cannot assign the use of funds at will when you go into the application there are choices that you have to select from so I can't assign funds to something that's not a choice and that's not what they call all in Grand term and allowable use right so when you go into the application and I'll show you a snippet of that you will see what allowable uses are those are the guidelines within which we have to operate so we will go in and we will select based on conversations that I have with with superintendent Jin CASRO and other key stakeholders principles and whoever usse teachers we will say okay well this is what we will do moving forward right and those are the the the uses that are selected when I'm completing the application consolidating funds because we're a targeted assistance program we cannot consolidate funds if you're a schoolwide program then you can consolidate your funds but our our funds have to be clear and separate from local funds now this is a big one supplement not supplant and this is where a lot of people get into trouble you are tasked with we are tasked with making sure that when we utilize These funds we're utilizing them to enhance programs that are already in existence so if we already have a basic skills program we're using it to enhance that program we're not using it to start a program right because every year they will tell you you you plan for you plan to receive 80% of what you received the previous school year because the anticipation is at some point in time Federal funding is probably going to go away or it's going to keep reducing so any program that you have you must be able to sustain it with your local funds so whatever that you're using these funds for you're supplementing you're adding on to you're not replacing just want to make that clear now eligibility of services student eligibility is determined by multiple multiple criteria you can't just say okay the student is uh one one um reading level below grade level so this student should be in the program we have to look at multiple data points and the data points they have to be objective again they're two subject objective pieces that are allowable under federal guidelines and those two subjective pieces are parent recommendation and teacher recommendation and I I you can understand why they're termed as subjective right because those are based on on opinions observations not necessarily substantiated by by facts per se and then types of services students are to be pulled from regular educational setting as little as possible this is language that I pull directly from title documents I was going to bring the whole you know but that would not be fair right part of my task is to break it apart and love this language comes from the Grant application itself right so and and I would love to just sit you and walk you through an entire application so you see what it looks like so you understand the back end of things okay so I want to look I I really wanted to do due diligence to address the major components of the concerns that were brought forward so concern number one I try to organize them in themes to consolidate so I don't take up all of your time tonight right so the first one was that title one paperwork is excessive and um irrelevant I had made various phone calls to other school districts where I know the administrators asking them if they use these forms they had no idea what I was talking about except for the parental letter indicating that their child met the requirements to receive the services in BSI also when their child would enter or exit the or exit the program now that very well could be true if you're if you have a if you have a schoolwide program right their requirements are going to look different than our requirements in a targeted assistance um program at superintendent CASRO can you click on that please just to see um if if this document will open so I want to show you the documents that we use so this is updated document and this is the Criterion this is an example of criteria that we use for our kindergarten students uh for language arts if you go back up can you click on the link for me please and this is coming from here okay whatever you see in that document is coming from Title One Part A eligibility selection criteria it outlines it for you if you look at this document I'm not going to go through all of it right there you will see the language of subjective criteria I didn't make that up I didn't coin that term it's in the federal document and that's how they they they term it or the state document okay so I'm lifting and boring language paraphrasing in some instances if you can you go back super caser please thank you so if you look at the document it also says that not only should we develop entrance Criterion but we also have have to develop exit criteria and we have to notify parents we have to let the parents know what the entrance criteria is we have to let them know what the exit criteria is additionally when a student qualify we have to notify the parent and we have to document that the parent refused because if they refus we can't just say well they refuse it we have to have evidence and we have to have documentation of that so so as a result of these components if you go back to the presentation um uh sorry BSI all title documents and if you scroll down so these are all the eligibility for the different grade levels you you can keep scrolling down and this will be updated on our website so if you can stop here so this is what this is um a student information um worksheet and on here we document what services the student will be receiving and what Criterion the student met right what were the so if we say that the student has to meet four of six we indicate what four of six and then what we might do is we might document the frequency of services that we anticipate that the student will be receiving if you can go down for me please going down so here you have this is this is where this is the letter that we sent out to parents to inform them whether or not their you know their their child qualify you know for services the reason why we did that so the parents can see this at home okay be on the website there's the old forms are on the website right now we need to we need to update it um here we have teacher recommendation form so if a teacher wants to recommend a student then this is the form that they will utilize to make that recommendation you can keep going down and we you know one of the things that we we agreed upon because when I came into the district and when I met with the two teachers I was told that basic skills is a Dumping Ground you need to clean it up right so part of what we did was we decided okay teachers need to indicate what interventions they have tried in the classroom before moving forward to make recommendation for a title one um program and for additional services for these students so this is what this sheet is and then we have the release form right so the parent we if we send home and we say that your child is qualified then the and the parent says I don't want my child to participate because believe it or not there are some parents that do turn down these Services then this is the form that they fill out and they said back to us if you go back to the language I'll show it to you it said specifically that we must document and we must have signage that parents refuse um the the services that were offered to them if you could go back to the presentation thank you okay so here I just basically uh outline for you the different forms so the entrance Criterion that's revised annually the worksheets we usually develop every um in September the teachers they they collect the data right and then um you know they develop the information worksheets and the Improvement plan for the students parent notification letter is sent out the teacher recommendation form that's only utilized by the classroom teacher the parent recommendation form utilized by the parent and then the release form the parent release form goes home so if the parent is is rejecting the program we have a signature saying that they're they're rejecting the program and we have to explain to them also um exit Criterion and that's what dismissal form is because there's some students who they they they're enrolled in the program and they start to do well and then we have to exit them from the program so that that is the purpose of that form so as much as much as it might seem like a lot we're just meeting the requirements that we are asked to to meet right um there's nothing extra that I put in here um it's just all pieces the language from the grant that we're required to do and just ensuring that we are in compliance so you know I was looking to see when was the last time that this District received monitoring for for title one and I couldn't I for some reason I couldn't find it but I did find a neighbor and District that had their Title One um monitoring done and there were some findings and these were two findings that I thought that were very interesting and I kind of put them up here to see what goes into Title One monitoring they look at everything even the forms that you use right so for example the first finding they point out that the district did not provide evidence of multiple criteria to exit students from the program right and that the the school must have exit criteria in place and the parents must understand what why and how students can exit so I'm pretty sure they didn't have a form explaining to parents that they send home with the parents saying that this is how your child will be exited from the program and what was the required action you must establish and document document the only way to document is to put it in a document right so you must document and um and they ask them to submit the criteria to to the N NJ dooe for review because now they're going to look at it and they're going to say well this does suffice or this does not suffice the next finding was the parental notification letter they didn't think it was enough they didn't think enough information was in it they said well listen you did not include detailed entrance and exit criteria used for student identification and you did not explain to parents that they had the right to out of these Services right and the required action that you must revise your participation letters to include the specific multiple educational related Criterion used to identify students for Title One services this is just to give you an idea of what some of the findings can be when you when you're when you're monitored for Title One Services concern number one continued the monthly minutes and roster with a lot of paper shuffling that took up a lot of our time each month I felt like I was doing secretarial work I could have been utilizing my energy elsewhere to enhance the program I respect that and that's why I developed this form because I want to show you what the state is asking us this form was submitted once per month that was the requirement at the end of the month please submit this form with this data if you I'm going to go to the next slide you touching there Mr okay wait that's not the form so okay I'll get to it in a second so on the form there's certain data that I asked for race ethnicity you know whether the student is the ESL sped homeless and part of it is well what do you need this information for what are you doing with this information here's what I do with the information with accepting Federal monies there's also a lot of reporting tied to that there are two reports that I have to complete annually for title one two and one is the title one performance report it say here the school district must provide the demographic and service data and this information contributes to the National perspective of the impact of title one below it says all Title One districts must complete the following student participation and special service group so when I go in and you know just here when you go to a they have a lot of technical assistance sessions that they conduct in the state I've been to every single one of them every year because I'm always afraid that there's something that I'm going to be missing and that there's something new that I will not um catch if I don't attend these sessions but they will share out with you what information you need to complete the report right you need counts of students you need um demographics of students you need subgroups of students the only way to collect this information is to get it from the teachers who are servicing the students the student participation tab it's broken down into two areas right so here's where I have to put in the grade level and I have to put in you know racial and ethnic um uh information as well when I go into ewig and I'm completing the report this is what it looks like so that is what I use that information for if you see student participation racial ethnic group those are the different subgroups Hispanic American Indian I have to document how many of these students are are participating in our program that data has to come from somewhere not only that if you look at the form if there's a change in numbers I have to substantiate and I have to say why there's a changing numbers right so this is why when the data is submitted to me on a monthly basis and there's a change they will indicate student was dismissed or student uh parent withdrew student from the from the program whatever the case may be so I have facts to report when I'm completing the the application per se student by grade level I have to report those numbers out where you see public T targeted assistance that's up where you see F swp that schoolwide program if you notice it's all zeros because we're not a schoolwide program we don't have neglected and we don't have nonone public so all those numbers will will be zeros so special service group tab here's another part of the report that I have to fill in I have to report out how many homeless students how many English language Learners migrant and students with disabilities that's the information that you saw in the previous form right so here I will put how many homeless students it's right here I have to report out on it so that's why I asked for that information okay so time and activity report again was a lot of paper shuffling monthly Excel sheet depicts how many minutes the teacher had contact with the students through the course of the month you know I I I was a little bit hurt by this one because I went above and beyond to consolidate the form to make it more teacher friendly because now I'm going to show you what the state is asking us for on a monthly basis for time and activity sheet this is what they're asking us to produce to them scroll down this is taken this is what they're asking for they want to know what you're doing every single period it's a lot it's a lot and I recognize that I recognize it's a lot and that's why go back superintendent our form was Consolidated I tried I I I I I I try to consolidate the form share this here quick hold on so parents can see that okay this one here just so I don't think they can see it at home this is the this is what the recommendation is yes and then our form looks something similar to this uh see here we go go ahead okay I don't want to spend too much time on this okay so transparency and accountability this piece is huge I can only use this funds for what I'm allowed to use them for in the application you have to select and here are the options if you noted I pulled this from this last application that I completed the applications are open now in home room and this is where the process starts so in June when we meet and we said okay listen it was shaky last year we don't know how staff what Staffing is going to look like so let's not assigned any monies right now to teacher salaries right because if we don't meet the obligation we're not in violation and that's one thing I love about the grant it gives us flexibility you can amend it as many times as you want to however the amendment this a caveat it must be approved it must be approved by the county and it must be approved by the state and I'm going to show you what we did with this right so initially in June when I completed the original application chose that we would spend it on instructional materials extended day or year programs that's our after school program right and professional development activities all of our district coaches for the exception of Our World Language Coach is funded by title money the only coach in District that's funded with local monies is our world language uh coach so okay here's something else every year every year and you know what I can't take credit for this this is a practice that was in place before I came here this is something that we're told that you don't have to do it all you need is a resolution to say you accept the funds but it started before I came and I continued it because I thought it was a great practice what we do is we put out there for the public to see all the titles and the amounts of monies that we receive in each title not only that we go as far as a sign in line account right so you can see what line accounts what the expenditure is what line account it's assigned to and the dollar amount if you go back every single year you will you will find this information so it's public knowledge it's public knowledge about how the money is been s spent nothing is hidden there's nothing to hide you can't hide it it's impossible so now this is what I was talking about you can make an amendment so let's say you're going through the school year and you realize that oh I have X amount of money that I didn't spend they give you the opportunity to reassign it somewhere else and draw down those expenditures and put your money back into your local funds that's how you guys were able to get $80,000 back last month because we had some money and we went in Alex and I we did the amendment right and what I did was I make sure that I highlight the application has been approved no more updates because I didn't want somebody to say well you could have just gone in and and and put that in and this is this this is an application that we just completed and we have until we had until the 15th to um to to to do the to do the amendment right so when you make the changes you have to say what the changes are you can't just make a change if it's a fiscal change you have to say what the fiscal change is so you can assign it to at this point in the year you can say you know what I think we've given some services that we can assign to title and we're not going to assign it to teacher salary and benefits and we're going to take that money and we're going to put it back into into our local funds when we do that we also make sure that the amendment is seen in public and we make sure that it's board approved so all the information is there nothing is hidden really so bottom line what does all this mean I know you're saying well did we service or did we not service or title one student just we absolutely did service our Title One students okay we absolutely did service our Title One students we service them through our after school program we service them through our district coaches we service them by using title money to buy instructional supplies and materials and and even though the state doesn't like it we did do some pull out small group instruction for kindergarten through first grade because there's only one teacher in this District who's assigned to tile monies now you will say well why did the other want to do the paperwork because this was the conversation that we had and it gives us flexibility because now if I have more money that I want to assigned to teacher number two I can do that but I can't do that if I don't have the evidence of the paperwork to submit when I'm doing the reporting basic skills a lot of people are confused about basic skills they hear basic skills and they think basic skills is Title One basic skills is not not Title One basic skills is providing intervention services for our students who need it the most right and it's not even so much our students who need the most because you can have some students in tier two who could benefit from Basic Skills instruction if you look at the New Jersey administrative code and you look at chapter 13 it tells you that we must have small group instruction in the classroom and that's where you're accounting for your intervention services that's your basic skills right so when we have extra teachers who are pulling and who are pushing in that's an added on services to basic skills and I think there's a lot of misconception about that I'm not going to go into details about it but again New Jersey Administrative Code chapter 13 programs and practices to support student achievement information is there and then you can also Al check out the New Jersey tiered system of supports as well very comprehensive uh document that tells you about servicing students tier one tier two one tier three concern Number Three director of curriculum no District coaches um I'm just going to try to stick to what's evidence-based practice because that is what we're trying to move forward to we're trying to lean on data to make decisions not our feelings feelings aren't facts right I can feel the way I want about many things but that does not make it factual I didn't want to overload you with research data but I did put a very good simple research article that everyone can read about what the evidence is showing about a well-designed instructional coaching program and how it's beneficial to teachers it provides individual life intensive and sustained PD for the teachers right so just Al uh Dr not disrupt but the statement was made that we do that we need to hire a director of curriculum we have a director of curriculum which is you um and an addition to that is we have coaches to assist um we've heard our teachers teachers like the deal of having a coach in a to help because it's not a value toise for our teachers they're like partners with our teachers to assist them in direct instruction so to answer that question yes we do have a director of curriculum but we are adding the feature of coach and I do know in open transparency that there are some teachers that are not happy with the coaches and we tell them we're not married to anybody I don't know any of these people from Adams we're not married to them you get to test drive them and if you don't like them at McKenzie we went through about three or four science coaches before they found one that they really like so and you know I heard Rumblings in this District you hear a lot of Rumblings nobody really come forward to have a conversation it's just Rumblings so I heard the rumbling about another coach and I sent out a survey I was looking at the survey results and all the responses came back mutual and I'm like what am I supposed to do so I did put a leading question in there so now I have to use that leading question to make an informed decision it's it's it's not easy but here is what NJ doe says about coaches Title One Part a professional development hiring coaches to provide high quality school-based professional development in instructional best practices related to literacy we know that literacy is embedded across all subject areas I'm sure we can agree upon that right so um you know I think we're really heading into a a a great direction we started doing this before a lot of other districts recently I heard that there was a certain District where all the bu building administrators are now applying to become full-time coaches within that District because it's such a um enticing you know position so I'm very happy that for once we weren't on the bandwagon we we we became the trend setters because we realized that this was evidence-based practice and it was something that was needed in the district and it took administ rators out of it gave teachers a safe and secure space to make their mistakes ask their questions have shared conversations and again nobody's married to anybody if you say this is not working for us but you have to be willing to come forward to have those conversations okay I'm almost done Antonio concern I no I'm almost done Trend Trend in um in in in okay Trend in in special education okay this will be a a future presentation um pending discussions with the board and the and the superintendent um in closing I just want to say that um you know I truly believe that every setback is a setup for a comeback and and I thank you for allowing me just to go over some of the pieces of of of title this evening I hope you did learned something and um if you have any questions please reach out to me and I'm sorry that it took 40 minutes it should have been 30 minutes so thank you thank you Dr kin opson does anybody have any questions uh yeah I have multiple especially given that I was called out publicly after a 40 minute presentation did we did we get this email to us before was this presentation sent to the board prior to this meeting yes or no guys yes or no no no was the was the concerned citizen that four weeks ago presented this these issues has an email been sent correspondence been sent correspondence has been sent a telephone call has been made to that person including all of this information with the presentation not with no okay was a BSI teach pool in McKenzie school during this school year yes or no yes was a gift and in talented teacher pulled during the school year at McKenzie school yes or no A Gifted untalented concern did not come up I'm sorry that you was or was it not that's just a question you're here yes okay this is now the third presentation we've heard right I we have had multiple concerns from multiple parents we have a protocol that we follow we we have have we all heard of snowballing effects right when we provide so much information so as to not directly answer questions right we have snowballed this presentation a 40 minute presentation that the board didn't get prior to a meeting right that board members weren't given that board members that could not be here could not have addressed comments and we did not directly address the concerns four weeks so excuse me if I was you know a little perturbed because this is completely out of our standard operating procedure all right we have had many parents come with many concerns some over multiple months we have had incredible things about about other administrators right accusations that we all are aware of about other administrators okay this I feel is a dar ction of our Duty right a resident comes forward they have concerns right we then make a decision I I don't know what led to please someone someone please describe to me what led to a decision that we would have a 40 minute presentation on Title One funds right instead of when when the concerns were instead of saying yes a BSI teacher was pulled from Mackenzie yes A Gifted ened teacher was pulled due to external circumstances well well I can answer that response so the questions that were just posed by you were not accurate you are not accurate the questions were brought to our attention as a board by a teacher that was with us in school district and had questioned the funding um of our programs so when we are asked a question in public regarding funds it is our due diligence to make sure that we respond when we can I was was asked by the board president that when the board members were asking the board president when we would be presenting the questions to answer or response to the person then I was also asked by trustee um oh my goodness lost your name I'm so sorry Mana thank you man M Mana I'm sorry I apologize you know would you be contacting the person that posed these questions and I said yes I would we had reached out um a couple times unfortunately she you the person couldn't make it so um we asked her to listen in so that we could provide her with the questions that she had um and I felt that this presentation answers it answers the questions um two questions that you posed um were two of many I don't know if you read all of the questions and she sent an email to the entire board with a list of questions that needed to be answered and when you make a public statement out there my role as a superintendent is to address once I have all the information give the answers because again like we said like Dr kingdb said in the very beginning when we say things out there that are not true statements it puts the board and the east Rutherford school district in a very difficult situation so if we can address things it within legal limits and provide the taxpayer and and people that come forward and ask us questions I think we have a a role to answer that are your arguing right now that this is consistent practice with what we've done that's not what I said said you said excuse me said answer the question we answered the questions that were posed by the person that came forward and responded in a presentation that the board was not given Advanced copy of there are many things that weren't when we had our referendum board didn't get my presentation there were many things and we can talk about this in executive session I guess no this is a public convers conversation I would actually just like to ask some questions about the presentation go for so first and foremost in regards to Title One services are they also applicable to our gifted and talented program Kenzie I know we call it the enrichment program but do those do we use our Title One services for gifted and talented no no okay so we do not assign any Title One funds to GNT but that does not say that we do not microphone no we do not assign Title One funds to our GNT program but that's not to say that um if there was a g&t student I it's unlikely that that would happen needed services that they would not be pulled for those services or they would not be identified for those services but it's very unlikely that you're going to have a g&t student who's going to receive um those kinds of services okay because I I know that title one Services New Jersey can also be utilized for GI and talented so I just wanted to clarify that we at Mackenzie do not utilize any of those funds toward we do not use Title One funds towards GNT okay and then in regards to email because that's specifically what we are gearing this presentation towards there was allegations made that our Title One Services I guess had a lapse in the services that we actually provided to our students so I yes my clarification was simply was there ever a lapse at McKenzie school in the services and if there was a lapse were those parents notified that their that their children were not receiving these services that they were entitled to under Federal fund that's a great question so there was a lapse in Title One services but that's because the teacher was sick the teacher who is assigned to title One funds was sick again was that an extended period of time that the teacher was Ill or was it just a typical I'm not I don't know if I'm allowed to discuss teachers illness with a board member um I think everybody knows that I I you know in in the district know that we had a teacher that was um so unexpectedly was an expected unexpected illness and that teacher was out okay fair enough so then I apologize for the the previous question in addition to that there's no been other time throughout the year and a half that these allegations were made that the children's did not receive the services they were entitled to no no because if you're if you're referring to when Mrs gagas retired when Mrs gagas retired she was not tied to Title One funds okay so then there would not have been a gap in Title One Services right because Title One funds are tied to after school and it's tied to one teacher salary in the district so we can't say there was a gap in tile one services to someone who does who's not assigned to Title One funding okay thank you so I think G that just I think that that basically summarized what the concerns were in the email we probably could have just addressed it with those those are EXC excellent excellent questions Sharon can I a question how many um how many BSI teachers do we have in the district So currently we have two at um mcken and then we also have one at um f okay and that one at F Services F and Lincoln yes sometimes sometimes and sometimes we have it depends on the numbers it's a numbers games because sometimes the the one of the BSI teachers from McKenzie might pick up some of the students from Lincoln or conversely the teacher from F can pick up some of the students from Lincoln okay and what about a title one person we have one you said said yes and that person Services the entire District No it's impossible for that so this is why this is why the funds is a the funds are allocated to our after school program so majority of our students they received their their Title One services in the after school program which is what they recommend for us to do to assign our funds to after school or summer programs which is what which is where we provide the services okay so it's not done during the school day this title only K1 only K only K1 only K1 okay thank you you're welcome any additional questions I'd be more than happy to answer um I will open up the questions to the public on this only okay seeing none I close questions from the public thank you and thank you again I appreciate it thank you I just got call out publicly 40 minutes of price I would never get with anyone else I would publicly never call any that's just me e e okay and Madam president the second part is to honor one of our retirees Miss Cass are you ready again okay so the east Rutherford Board of Education in recognition and appreciation for Diane ctis vanwinkle whereas Diane ctis vanwinkle has served as a teacher with the East retherford Board of Education from September 1st 1999 through June 30th 2024 during this time she has committed herself and served to the educ ation of the children of the East Rutherford public schools and whereas Diane ctis vanwinkle has demonstrated outstanding instructional qualities throughout her career in education and whereas Diane ctis vanwinkle eagerly met the challenges to ensure educational Excellence for children and to serve for the well-being of the East Rutherford Public Schools community and whereas Diane ctis vanwinkle has served the east rord Public School District and our community with distinct distinction and dedication and whereas the members of the Board of Education and the community appreciate and hereby recognize her commitment to the east Rutherford Board of Education the east Rutherford school district and the children of the community now therefore be it resolved that the east Rutherford Board of Education acknowledges the efforts and commitment of Diane ctis vanwinkle for the dedication to the children of the East Rutherford public schools throughout her 25 years of teaching and be it further resolved that with the enactment of this resolution Diane ctis van Winkles recognition shall be so noted in the minutes and become a part of the permanent record of the district and be it finally resolved that the east Rutherford Board of Education wishes Diane ctis vanwinkle every success in the future this resolution shall take effect immediately and this was um adopted the 13th day of June 2024 so on behalf of the Board of Education and the eford community we thank you and I can talk firsthand about how great you are with your students and how you are going to be missed greatly yes we need a need a microphone so our friends at home can hear you thank you thank you to the board thank you Mr Gan CASRO you Dr Sharon King Dobson it's been a pleasure oh I know it's been a pleasure in addition to my 25 years I substituted here for about four years prior so uh as I said uh this has been a big part of my life and I'm moving on to my next chapter but again I'd like to thank everyone it's been a pleasure thank you Dan thank you that's right that's right that's right that's right officially that's right all right so the last part of my report is addendum items so under p2a um we are hiring uh a psychologist uh we secured a self-contained Middle School Middle School uh special education teacher um as well as an elementary self-contained special a teacher and of course a teacher of Theater which was when we first had a theater teacher last time we were very difficult to secure one there was not many people out there right not a lot of candidates but this time we got a lot um all the ones that came forward we had uh it was tough the last three the top three were really really good um but we believe that of course this teacher will be a addition all these teachers will be an addition to um the wonderful um staff members that we have here in East Rutherford um under p3a those are the addendum items um there's an MRA which is the um AI training that we're be going to that I've been mentioning um to the board so that is coming our way on it's a it's a three-day event 17 181 19 but the 18th is the main thing so we don't have to stay there at the hotel and all those things but this is really um looking forward to this they've been speaking about this in the county and also Mrs barale going to be going to a workshop it's a virtual Workshop um not to exceed that amount it's three days and it's about co- teing model which we're trying to move into the middle school so this is a perfect opportunity for for Mrs barale to take charge on this and this is something that she wanted to do so very proud of that I think that's the only and that's the only addendum items that I have any questions just b3a is supposed to be a one right rp3 3a4 supposed to be a one that's an exclamation point right yeah four that's an exclamation point right oh yeah that's the actual the title of the workshop no no no in total C am I wrong it's exclamation point comma five yes now I see it okay I can fix that right now I can fix it I can fix yes yes yes we must have the same type as the East picnic had that was a good catch okay back to you mam okay all right at this at this time I will open to the hearing of the citizens um on agenda items only anybody wishing to speak to speak we'll have the opportunity to do so you will have five minutes um yeah anything anything go for it um sign in I signed in ear state your name and address for the record yes hello my name is Kevin lion 77 Clinton Place East Rutherford New Jersey Dear Mr J kasaro and the Board of Education I'm honored to stand before you today as the newly elected president of our East Rutherford parent teacher Association I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the parents teachers and community members who have entrusted me with this resport respon important responsibility it's a privilege to represent such a dedicated and Vibrant Community as they take on this responsibility I'm reminded of the fundamental mission of our PTA to make every child's potential a reality by engaging and Empowering Families and communities to advocate for all children the mission is at the heart of everything we do and it will guide our efforts as we move into the coming years our children are our most precious resource and their education and well-being is our top priority as PTA president my goal is to strengthen our partnership between our parents teachers and this board of education and the East Weatherford community at large together we can create a supportive and enriching environment that Fosters academic Excellence creativity and personal growth for every student open and transparent communication is essential for building a trust and ensuring parents are informed and engaged we'll work together to provide regular updates on school activities programs and important decisions we'll create more opportunities for parents to share their ideas their concerns and their feedback our teachers and our school staff are the backbone of our educational system and as they dedicate themselves to nurture and and and educate our children our PTA will continue to support them through our various initiatives the PTA is a powerful advocate for children and education and we will continue to advocate for policies and resources that benefit our students at the local state and National level additionally we will strengthen our ties with the broader Community with a sense of unity and shared purpose our efforts can make a significant impact on the quality of education and the well-being of our students our school Community is diverse and it's essential that every family feels welcome and valued our PTA will strive to celebrate the inclusive environment where all ver voices are heard and all C cultures are honored we will work to break down barriers to participation and ensure our programs and activities reflect the rich diversity of our community with the ongoing support of our Board of Education we can achieve great things for our children and our schools thank you for your time and I work forward to a productive and inspiring school year thank you thank you Mr lions and congratulations on your yeah appointment thank you very much and if I may I just want to say uh congratulations Mr lions and thank you to miss green for all she did for the PTA uh she will be Sly missed but working you know seeing you at PTA meetings and you're a rockstar and we're very lucky to have you and brother absolutely and Mrs Green will still be part of the board as well as many other of the parents that you've come to know and trust and a few new faces as well so we're very excited to have a full fully staffed board for the PTA and a good couple of years ahead that's good looking forward to it thank you um correspondences to the members of the Board of Education none but I do have a question what is considered a correspondence to the Board of Education shouldn't Miss gagas email since it was emailed to all of us and including myself have been considered a correspondence to the board yes okay I just want to you know make sure that I have an understanding of it's address to the board yep as a whole right yep so just for clarification what is considered a correspondence to the board great question I'll be honest I get 5,000 spam emails you know obviously we're not going to consider them correspondences to the board but like what is considered a correspondence to the board I would say any written communication whether an email or The oldfashioned Written Letter is that all correspondence like even to a particular board member as opposed to the board president like who who would that apply to well I think it would apply to the board members or any particular board member um in their capacity as a member of the board okay thank you okay adoption of Prior board meeting minutes upon the recommendation of the superintendent the board hereby approves the following Boe minutes uh May 13 2024 work session meeting minutes May 13th 2024 work executive session meeting minutes May 23rd 2024 public session meeting minutes May 23rd 2024 public executive session meeting minutes so moved second we all were here yeah I was I'm I'm gonna have to take to you no so we need the table because we don't have enough votes right yeah we had yeah we have can't vote on the May 23rd I knew someone was missing yeah yeah there yeah so actually so we need to table the May 23rd uh public and exact and keep the May 13 we can keep to make 13th yeah that was going to be my next yeah sentence everybody here was here for the third yes yeah okay okay so uh Miss Caruso yeah yes so the 13th correct yes work session and executive okay uh sorry Miss Mana um yes all case we're tbling the 23rd then okay just to confirm May 13th yes thank you Mr seini yes to both May 13th thank you sir and Miss laruso uh yes to May 13th okay thank you superintendent resolutions upon the recommendation of the superintendent the board hereby approves motions S1 through S6 S1 approval of the fire and emergency drill report S2 approval of enrollment report S3 approval of harassment intimidation and bullying monthly report S4 resolution affirming the superintendent decisions relating to an alleged harassment intimidation and bullying incident reported April 4th 2024 S5 resolution affirming the superintendent decision relating to an alleged harassment imit intimidation and bullying incident reported date May 6 2024 S6 resolution affirming the superintendent's decision relating to an alleged harassment intimidation and bullying incident reported dated May 13 2024 so moved roll call M guso yes Miss meta yes Mr segalini yes Miss laruso yes uh curriculum committee since Miss shimley is not here miss Caruso thank you madam president upon the recommendation of the superintendent the board hereby approves motions C1 and C2 C1 approval of student field trips and transportation requests for the 2023 2024 school year and C2 approval of the East Rutherford school district 2023 2024 bilingual waiver application second miss guso any questions just one and Mr jeene Casper I know we've talked about this before but because I'm seeing we had to approv shop right in Wallington that happened in May and we're just we're approving it now I know we're we talked about we're gonna try to keep right not not have what I did after the fact correct I just had a conversation with Mr upani um this this afternoon and um he's going to be sending a memo to every single building principal because this is not new news right you know as you know as you just stated right so um where it's going to now be a directive that nothing goes out that's if it's if it's after the date before the board meeting we do not approve it very good it's that simple absolutely yeah yep thank you no thank you great question any other questions roll call Miss Caruso yes Miss Mena yes to segalini yes and Miss laruso yes and that ends my report Madame President thank you uh physical facilities commit Mr segalini no Personnel Personnel Personnel committee Miss Caruso you Madame President upon the recommendation of the superintendent the board hereby approves uh let me see P1 approval of the Kelly education substitute list and P2 Personnel actions second any any questions roll call Miss Caruso yes Miss Mana yes Mr seini yes Miss laruso yes and that ends my report Madam president thank you now physical facilities Mr seani thank you Madame President upon the recommendation of the superintendent the board hereby approves motion pf1 approval of monthly facilities calendar for June 2024 second any questions roll call Miss Caruso yes Miss Mena yes Mr seal yes Miss Luso yes and that ends my report Madame President community relations Miss n why thank you Madame President upon the recommendation of the superintendent the board hereby approves motion cr1 cr1 approv second reading of the new and revised bylaw policies and regulations second any questions roll call Miss Caruso yes Miss Mana yes Mr seini yes and Miss laruso yes all right technology committee Miss Mana oh I believe you had something to report I certainly do thank you Madame President all right for technology the information security program plan the district continues to proactively evaluate all appropriate District Technologies to ensure the safety and security of our data and information systems vulnerability scans were implemented to determine any areas of improvement staff training is ongoing with monthly opportunities highlighting common cyber security risks meetings remain ongoing to plan schedules U maintenance and improvements for the 2425 School school year e- rate purchasing for the 2425 school year is ongoing to support the technology infrastructure across the district beginning on July 1st work to fulfill components of the plan can commence in in conjunction with the start of the budget cycle budget development for the 2425 uh school year is complete and purchasing can begin upon rollover into the upcoming fiscal year student devices were collected and inventoried as we close out the 2023 to 202 for school year fine lists have been created and the technology department will send notices to the families of any students with outstanding fines fine must be resolved prior to receiving technology in September the 2024 2025 school year will see the continuation of the annual technology fee to help support technology programs within the district all students throughout the district will need the fee to be satisfied alongside their acceptable use agreements in order to use and take possession of District owned technology this District continues to use Genesis to share and collect data from families through the fors portal to allow for efficient and paperless Communications and the district continues to evaluate varying technology platforms to help support productivity efficiency and instruction within the district and lastly the district continues to evaluate policies and procedures related to appropriate Technologies to help support productivity efficiency and EXT instruction within the district and that concludes my report Madam president thank you um any questions so for I have a question about nothing I just a question um the fee um is it staying the same is it going up like what the same staying the same staying the same okay that is not something we have spoken about uh this year was the first year we are going to continue that there has been no discussions between myself Mr uh Jan casbro or Mr valard or any other administrators so we're going to keep it the way it is and that also includes um a reduction if you get free or reduced lunch we are is that what we did this year w we yeah we were we were waving if we if a child was uh considered direct certified okay direct certified certified only MH okay yes and we will continue that okay thank you you're welcome thank you Miss Mana uh finance committee Mr segalini thank you Madame President upon the recommendation of the superintendent the board hereby approves motions F1 through F9 and F12 and f13 so F1 approval of bills list number one F2 approval of the May 2024 payroll F3 approval of financial reports for May 2024 F4 approval of transfers for the month of May 2024 F5 approval of opt out oh approval of outof District tuition contracts for the summer of 20124 F6 approval of the Federal School breakfast and lunch pricing program for the 2425 school year F7 approval of agreement with nwea for the 2425 school year f8 approval of five-year copy release agreement with TGI Inc F9 approval of pilot agreement with Savas Learning Company for the 2425 school year F12 approval to amend resolution F14 as approved at the June 22nd 2023 Board of Ed meeting for EXT extraordinary unspecifiable Services f13 approval of contract agreement for the 2425 school year as before you second and I just want to make a note I I reviewed the bills list and then the um addendum bills list with Mr vachi so thank you for having that and the receipts available any questions um we skipped a 10 and 11 be there addend that's okay I just wanted to clarify okay all right roll call Miss Caruso yes Miss Mena yes sealine yes and Miss laruso yes second you could just sit here all right um addendum items upon the recommendation of the superintendent the board hereby approves motions c3a p2a p3a f1a f5a f10a f11a f13 a f15a f-16a f17a f18a f19a f20a f21a c3a approve the east Rutherford school district 2024 to 2027 language instruction education Pro program three-year plan p2a Personnel actions p3a approval of travel expenditures f1a uh approval of bills list number two June 2024 f5a approval of providers for tuition extraordinary service contract agreements for the 2024 2025 school year f10a approval of decommission and disposal of kitchen equipment f11a approval to award request for proposals for Professional Services for the 24 2025 school year f13a approval of contract agreement for the 2024 2025 school year f14a authorization to facilitate the close out of f of fisal year 24 and opening fiscal year 25 uh f5a approval to enter into contract for one toone nursing services for medically fragile student of16 a approval to amend walk-on resolution f12a as approved at the April 25th 2024 Board of Ed meeting f17a approval to amend resolution f11 as approved at the May 23rd 2024 Board of Ed meeting um f18a approved transfer of 2023 2024 Surplus to capital reserve f19a approved transfer of 20 23 2024 Surplus to maintenance Reserve f20a approval of continuing disclosure and independent registered Municipal advisor services for the 2024 2025 school year and f21a approval to amend resolution F10 as approved at the May 23rd 2024 Board of Ed meeting second just much fewer words than you just had to say any questions I have you go I just only just for documentation purposes since I wasn't here on the 23r do I vote on those that were you can amend it right appr yeah you can amend and approve because it's a different I wasn't here on the 23rd to vote on the original so do I vote on the amendment because it's yeah because it's already part of the okay I yeah I have a question on f10a um so we're decommissioning and disposing have we talked to any nonprofits or because there's like a Walkin freezer no was uh it actually doesn't even work so they don't work they don't doesn't even work okay uh myself as well as mashio and Mr bani we were thinking about it but the age and the condition of that equipment I want to make sure because you know why they do a bunch of of course of course but the the condition of the equipment uh I didn't want the no that work yeah somebody and the board of EDS name no I want yeah I want to make sure at least it was considered because a lot of this stuff could probably yeah but if it doesn't work then it doesn't work certainly uh any other questions I see the wheel spinning so that's why I'm not moving yeah hold on uh one more so f17a I know we had talked to Tom about it yes right and it's really but the the the total amount of money that would be spent is going to right average out to be the same it is really just the how how it how it is iners yeah yeah yeah yeah just want to make sure that that's clarified for people because whenever you see that we're kind of removing something like that uh it you know it can set up Fred Flags okay any other questions okay roll call Caruso yes Miss Mana yes Mr seini yes and Miss laruso yes old business new business I just want to say congratulations to our graduates and thank you to miss BR the The Faculty Mr Jan CASRO and the entire administrative team for an a great graduation uh it's always it's always great to see them so and it's cool to see the people we knew right it was so cool right our our extra yeah extra bonus board members that was kind of cool anybody else no okay um I'll open to the public again okay seeing none I close to the public um and at this time we're going to adjourn to executive session yeah just just a contract situation and uh person personnel and and some litigation stuff okay about how long do you think three hours 30 minutes at best congratulations again miss resolved that in accordance with Section 8 of the open public meetings act chapter 231 the board has the authority to adjourn to close session to discuss matters pertaining to Legal Personnel negotiations attorney client privilege Andor student matters said matters will be made available upon the determination by the board that the disclosure of the minutes will not detrimentally affect any right or interest of the the board the board expects to return to the business portion of the meeting in approximately I'm go with 40 exactly so moved roll call or all in favor I I any opposed e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e what the recommendations for Jillian not to vote if she really wasn't here from the beginning of the meeting okay okay colums motion to return to regular order of business so second all in favor I any opposed all right we do have one walk-on resolution my apologies I didn't I forgot that we were taking a vote um walk on resolution f22a approval to enter into lease agreement with MRA International Inc for laptops be it resolved D upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools that the Board of Education approve the lease payment agreement with HP financial services for laptops purchases through MRA International Inc through State contract uh NJ state of New Jersey nvp PC M 48324 D t- 72087 um fiveyear lease agreement $35,790 annually for a fair market value lease uh so moved again and I just questions yeah this was accounted for in the budget it's not an extra expense yes right it was I believe it was even mentioned in the budget presentation that we need to purchase new laptops for for a group of people so I just want to make that clear yes and that is correct and at the end we are not keeping it this is based on a recommendation of the administration because after 5 years the the life expectancy laptops no good no yeah otherwise we'd be scrapping them ourselves so exactly Alex any other questions roll call Miss Caruso yes Miss kie I'm gonna abstain because I would okay thank you Miss Callie Miss meta yes Mr segalini yes Miss shimley is absent and Miss laruso yes [Music] and um motion to adjourn the meeting second all in favor I I any opposed our next meeting next meeting is July 25th right at six o'clock