[Music] [Music] [Music] pursuant of the open public meetings act adequate public notice has been given by the secretary of the eim Township Board of Education in the following manner posting written notice on the official bulletin board of the Board of Education Office emailing written notice to the brones and County Times in The Courier Post filing written notice in the municipal clerk of eam Township Mr Yates can we have a roll call please roll call Mr Bach pres Mr Brown here Mr dear here m Miss Fox here Mrs null here Miss Lee Mr Thompson here Mr pisaro here Mr conon here we have a quorum thank you we'll now be looking for a motion to move into executive session whereas an njsa 10412 allows for a public body to go into close session during a public meeting and whereas the Board of Education of e sham Township is deems it necessary to go into close session to discuss certain matters which are Exempted from the public and whereas the regular meeting of the Board of Education will reconvene following the end of the Clos session at approximately 7:30 p.m. now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education will go into Clos session for the following reasons as outlined in njsa 104-112 items 2.2 through 2.4 do we have a motion motion by Mr physico seconded by Mr Bach any questions or comments before we head into an executive session seeing none roll call please on Executive session Mr Bach yes Mr Brown yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes Mr ficaro yes Mr conon yes we're in executive session now thank you we'll see you all back at approximately 7:30 [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 1 [Music] yeah [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] oh [Music] yeah [Music] oh [Music] [Music] you [Music] w [Music] w [Music] w [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] what [Music] h [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] oh [Music] [Music] w [Music] with all those who are able please rise for the fledge I pledge allegiance United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you mission statement tonight will be read by Mr demarcy the mission of the eve sham Township School District is to promote excellence in an environment that engages students in meaningful learning experiences in partnership with students dedicated staff families and Community the district provides a strong Educational Foundation that will Empower our students to achieve their unique potential Embrace self-directed lifelong learning develop the skills necessary for appropriate risk taking and responsible decision- making repeat respect themselves and others problem solv individually and collaboratively become contributing members of a diverse Global Society thank you Mr deari I'll now hand the floor to Dr Smith for presentations that's e we want we want to rec want to recognize these these wonderful students for earning placement in either the Olympic honors band Andor the all South Jersey band so if all the students could kind of come over along with Miss Goldman and Mr White please and uh Mr Hoffman I saw here and Miss green they may not want to come up but they're here I want to acknowledge both of you as well for supporting music programs in your [Applause] schools so we've got uh Dana Kerber Olympic honors band congratulations congratulations Evan sarone for Olympic honors bandul Casey Liza did I get there okay for for South Jersey band great job job elain eart for Olympic honors band and Carly Ridley for South Jersey band and Timothy Carl for South Jersey band and Olympic honors band he's had another gig so uh and in fact you know two of our students were at another gig earlier tonight they were playing with the eam Jazz machine which is um I think a group from the high school mixed in with the middle school and they were over at senica high school and that's music you can travel all kinds of places you know through your instruments so just encourage you students to keep with it you know carry it on with you through Middle School into high school it's you played so beautifully and we're just so glad that you're here as our students making such wonderful accomplishments so congratulations again if we can give one more round of applause thank [Applause] you thanks M gold oh picture make sure that Barry gets in the picture if any parents want to come up and take pictures too feel free to come forward so now we're gonna We Go From the Arts to Athletics uh if we've could have the Dei Middle School girls basketball team join us up front and then we've got hedge coach Melissa Walker and assistant coach Caitlyn Rell if they could come up too um awesome I feel a little smaller all of a sudden s here see I don't you know if you want to say anything about the season all just tell us a little bit about it okay undefeated I just I'm asking like give us a little nugget like like a little bit I mean that's that's an accomplishment right um actually 18 and0 if you count from last season we haven't lost since December 2022 which is very impressive um some of these girls have played since they were in sixth grade seventh grade amazing I I can't talk too much because I'm going to lose it uh super special girls they actually raise your hand if you're playing a championship game this weekend as well yeah eighth grade travel team made it and then so did the seventh grade travel team Cherokee is extremely lucky to have these girls they've taught me a lot more than they have any idea all right awesome girls that's awesome that's awesome that's fantastic so we're gonna call you up over one at a time uh Isabella Bandoo come on [Applause] over Gabriella dispenser Aaron Gallagher Sydney Gaiman Lillian gorsline rain green Gabriella [Applause] Medina Maggie melnichuk graci [Applause] odonnell gyneth Oliver Arna Patel Rogers Mora Spicer Carly sansky that I get that right did I say that right sansy sansky SSP thank you thank you Lauren [Applause] Vega and Lee weiner awesome can me give me Round of Applause for the entire team and the coaches [Applause] fantastic good job a lot so uh as I typically do at the end of presentations if there were families here for the presentations you're welcome to stay if you but it feels like between the the band students and the basketball students there's a a lot of practicing going on so if you got to get off to practice or anything else feel free to leave we appreciate so much everyone coming out for those presentations and congrats again to the wonderful students all right the meeting will now be open to the public referencing agenda items only however if your questions or comments pertain to litigation student or Personnel items or negotiations we would ask that you see the superintendent after the meeting since we do not discuss these matters in public please limit your comments to three minutes per person and state your name and address at the beginning is there anyone who would like to speak about agenda items today um that is a board created section we do have two motions under that but it's nothing that is public information or both student matters okay but do I speak now do I speak no you would speak in the second the second portion yep thank you all right seeing none we'll close that section out moving to the approval of the minutes we need a motion to approve item 6.1 and 6.2 do we have a motion motion by Mrs null seconded by Mr Thompson any questions on the approval of the minutes seeing none roll call please Mr Yates on the approval minutes Mr Bach yes Mr Brown yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox abstain your abstention is noted Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes Mr fisicaro yes and Mr conon yes that motion carries thank you moving to superintendent items uh we need a motion to approve items 7.1 through 7.8 do we have a motion motion by Miss Fox seconded by Mr ficaro before we vote I'll hand the floor over to Dr Smith thank you Mr Canton I'd like to start off by recognizing the importance of this month as Black History Month in etsd and Nationwide to that end I'd like to highlight the leadership of our board member jiren Brown who has already made a positive impact through his thoughtful and kind approach and great sense of humor which I look forward to more of uh in these early stages of his time on the board first second and third anytime and particularly during The Long Winter stretch I'd like to thank our staff for their dedication day in and day out the work with children is very rewarding but education also has its stresses especially when budget cuts are looming and with the uncertainty that that brings starting next week there will be meetings just with staff to discuss Staffing impacts of our budget our tenative budget board meeting will be on Tuesday March 19th at 7:30 here at Marlton Middle School per standard budget timeline information regarding the 2425 budget and future plans will first be shared publicly at that meeting District timelines depend on state timelines state aid numbers were only just released this afternoon some districts their aid changed a lot the final budget approval meeting will be in late April early May providing time for stakeholder input a District's process takes the time that it does to enable consideration and Care in preparing the budget and Future plans all in alignment with that District Mission read so well by Mr Demari at the outset of this meeting which is to support students absolutely to the greatest extent possible the March 19th meeting will include also a presentation about preschool namely preschool education Aid now this opportunity people may not know Governor Murphy spoke about it again in his governor's address earlier this week it is nothing less nothing short than the greatest single opportunity ever provided for any District including this one in the state of New Jersey and any District in pursuit of its Mission has to talk about it the chance to provide two full years of school for every three and four year old in town not only at no cost to the local taxpayer but earning more money back for etsd in order to preserve and restore programs and services for all children and we will hear on that same day March 19th and and next week with staff about what the budget next year looks like and unfortunately um you know we are going to need to be making some cuts as we sit here right now we are all paying for preschool for other towns kids every town around us and Beyond and we're paying not only for the preschool for those children but we're paying for the money that those districts are getting back for their regular budget that they're netting for their budget from that preschool expansion we'll talk more about all this on March 19th because again any District in fulfillment of its mission to provide the best possible education for all children now and tomorrow and the day after that must talk about preschool and we'll talk we'll talk application we'll talk scenarios we'll talk possibilities let me be clear no application has been submitted nor will one be until at the earliest the summer so the next deadline is August there's time to walk and talk talking about the budget will be horrible we are trying to find the least horrible path but I am looking forward to March 19th because then at least we can be talking about it because uncertainty is really difficult and I wish we could talk about it right now but we can't and also on March 19th most of all looking forward to talking about to opening the public conversation about preschool and the incred incredible positive potential of that which no one no one can fully conceptualize how impactful it could be to provide two years of school full days for the youngest students of a town they they're academic their social their emotional growth and how that impact of those two years is going to Echo into kindergarten when on day one of kindergarten they actually have two years under their belt on through first grade second grade elementary school middle school high school college career affecting how they are as people as parents as neighbors as everything that's the mission of a district that's what we're going to get to talk about I can't wait I hope to see everybody back here on March 19th last two mentions first for beer um I will be sending emails [Music] tomorrow to the Beer staff and Community announcing the plan for beer moving forward uh Mrs Schroeder's leave has changed and extended like I said emails going out tomorrow on that I would like to thank interim principal and former Jagger principal Miss Su scrunchie for her help over the past weeks as her last day inter principal with us was Tuesday this week lastly a huge and heartfelt thank you to our eim Education Foundation for the tremendously successful undertaking that was the Double Down fundraiser on February 2nd truly a village effort our district appreciates all the work of EF for our students especially going into the seventh straight year of State a reduction and as a save the date the next big EF event is going to be on Monday June 3rd which is the Memorial Golf Classic and that ends my comments Mr K thank you thank you Dr Smith any comments from the board taking a uh get used to this uh taking a look at the uh at the agenda just we're going into the first reading of the calendar today um I am very happy about this in particular for adding in these two new holidays Eden Dali I think this we have a community that is growing in diversity I think that's very important for us I think it's great for the township I think it's great for the school district and I look forward to uh having these days recognized so I'm very excited about this and I just wanted to share that in this first reading so thank you again for everyone who's worked on on that here and in other school districts that supported into this thank you any other comments from the board seeing none Mr Yates roll call please pardon me on administrative items Mr Bach yes Mr Brown yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs NL yes Mr Thompson yes Mr fisicaro yes Mr conon yes the motion carries thank you moving to item eight curriculum and instruction we need a motion to approve items 8.1 through 8.6 motion by Mr Brown seconded by Mrs null any board members have any questions or comments on Section 8 seeing none roll call please on curriculum and instruction Mr Bach yes Mr Brown yes Mr demarcy yes M fox yes Mrs N yes Mr Thompson yes Mr fisicaro yes Mr Compton yes that motion carries thank you moving to item number nine we need a motion to approve items 9.1 through 9.17 under finance and operations do we have a motion motion by Mr dearcy seconded by Mr physico any questions or comments from the board Mrs S I just had a question on 915 for Mr Yates I noticed this is an I believe an application for funding is it a grant for some of the capital projects that we were looking to do namely a few of the schools and the HVAC systems yep so the uh New Jersey school Development Authority has made uh approximately $75 million available to public schools in New Jersey we qualified for roughly 103,000 um and working with our facilities team we've identified that we're going to put to use um those funds towards new boilers in two locations three boilers two locations okay so this is not we are we guaranteed to get this funding um to my knowledge yes okay yeah as long as the board approves the submission of this and we submit a uh proper application which really just lists the identified projects boilers would qualify we get the funds okay great thank you you're welcome any other questions or comments seeing none roll call please on finance and operations Mr Bach yes Mr Brown yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs N yes to 91 92 93 abstain on 94 board member travel as I have signed up for some trainings and workshops yes to 9.5 through 9 16 um so to clarify yes to all you're abstaining from 9.04 correct your abstention is noted thank you Mr Thompson yes Mr fisicaro yes and Mr conon yes that motion carries thank you moving to item 10 Personnel we need a motion to approve items 10.1 through 10.10 do we have a motion motion by Miss Fox seconded by Mr Thompson any questions or comments from the board seeing none roll call please Mr Yates on Personnel Mr Bach yes Mr Brown yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs NL yes Mr Thompson yes Mr fisicaro yes and Mr conon yes the motion carries thank you moving to item 11 under policy we have no new policies moving to item 12 committee reports are there any committee chairs who would like to share a report this N I wanted to briefly share the curriculum committee did meet earlier this month and we have one new member well I'm new but also Mr Demari welcome and we uh look forward to your addition you've asked many excellent questions so together we discussed um many things Bas we discussed a lot about the budget for next year and also the revisions coming up that are for for the language arts curriculum we spoke about that and um let's see what else oh the high impact tutoring grant that miss mulick explained to us which was on the agenda tonight she had put in an application if I'm remembering at some point in the fall and we are awarded the money but we need to have approved this resolution to accept the money so the high impact tutoring Grant is going to go for specific things you have't earmarked for and if you don't mind just a little bit about that because I don't remember try to Pro so me uh basically the grant was $230,000 um and we are using that for third and fourth graders that was a like you got priority points for shoot targeting third and fourth grade so that would be through our reading staff providing that we also are using it for all for before and after school tutoring for IRS as well as to support a couple of our summer programs uh for students in thank you so that's basically an overview of everything that we discussed at curriculum and we of course meet monthly so I'll report back next month thank you thank you Mrs noler there any other committee chairs who would like to share a report seeing none we'll move into Old business of which we have n uh item number 15 new business we have two items for new business today we need a motion to approve the special education settlement as discussed in executive session do we have a motion motion by Mrs N seconded by Mr frero uh don't think we can do questions or comments so we'll move to a vote on new business item number one Mr Bach yes Mr Brown yes Mr demarcy yes M fox yes Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes Mr fisicaro yes and Mr conon yes the motion carries thank you one more item of new business we need a motion to uphold the finding of no Hib as discussed in executive session do we have a motion motion by Mr Brown seconded by Mr fysic Caro roll call please Mr Yates roll call on new business item number two Mr Bach yes Mr Brown yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs null abstain your exstension is noted Mr Thompson yes Mr fisicaro yes and Mr conon yes that motion carries thank you we will now move into open public comment this meeting will now be open to the public referencing items of Interest how however if your questions or comments pertain to litigations du in or Personnel items or negotiations we would ask that you see the superintendent after the meeting since we do not discuss these matters in public please limit your comments to three minutes per person yeah please limit your comments to three minutes per person one public comment per person and please state your name and address at the beginning and Pope 16 kirkdale Drive Marlton New Jersey addressing I don't think the microphone's on and Cataline 16 kirkdale Drive in Brush Hollow addressing the vote it's I have it marked section4 is that correct uh yes ma'am okay the first thing I would like to do is address the board on number one do you read what the state of New Jersey publishes for instance the December 2023 anti-bullying task force specifically contradicts each vote that affirmed that ruling the difference between bullying and conflict do you even know what it is clearly you do not if you did you could not make that vote in good faith secondly do you know what the qsca is you all want to know what the qsac is Miss please Face Forward I want them to hear it because they have a right to know that that is a report that should be published by the school district by each school as reported to the state of New Jersey it gives a grade if that grade is less than 80 the school is considered interum which I don't even know what that means but I will tell you you want a grade above 80 because that's high performing I have looked at every school individually I've looked at the board's website I have placed a phone call to the superintendent's office there is no reply at all and yet the state has said without a doubt it must not you may not maybe you could would should but you must publish that report when I call the superintendent its office I was told you'll get a call back right away except the person answering the phone didn't know what it was so she had to find out do you know what it is if you do have you been given the report and if you have why haven't you given it to the public now as far as this anti-bullying all I can tell you is when a child is pushed down and he receives bruises and abrasions and it doesn't happen once it happens two times it happens three times and you say it's not bullying because this person doesn't have some identifying characteristics well let me tell you something if I ran into any one of you in a store and I decided to push you unprovoked if I decided to slap you in the face causing bruises and bleeding do you think you would consider it an assault and here's your choice boy board here's your choice if it's not bullying then it's a conflict and the difference between a conflict and bullying conflict is two people it's a fight it's you and me bullying is one person you've reached three minutes please wrap up your comment I can't everyone gets three minutes so I have to enforce that equally then do your homework and I won't have to come [Applause] back good evening my name is Cindy Las Salvia I'm a teacher here in Eve sham for 23 years classroom teacher reading recovery teacher and now the reading recovery teacher leader for our district as stated before with the budget talks getting into full swing I'm sure there's going to be tough decisions that will have to be made in light of lots of talk around town and social media I wanted to make sure that you hear about reading recovery in a positive way all of its successes and how we've been addressing the needs of children here for years and years I also would like to emphasize some facts about reading recovery we appreciate that all voices are heard I want to talk about what reading recovery is and what reading recovery is not briefly reading recovery is not a classroom program it is early intervention for students who come to first grade significantly behind in Reading and rating from both half and full day kindergartens and outside educational settings it is really hard to wrap our minds around five and six year olds already coming in way behind but that's the reality this is an intervention that is supplemental to good classroom instruction we have wonderful Partnerships with our classroom teachers and that is invaluable for our students Success reading recovery is not longterm it's shortterm to help student students accelerate their learning with a highly trained teacher teachers are trained for a full year and after that teachers attend 18 hours per year in professional development reading recovery is evidence-based research-based and yes science-based data is collected every year for every student reading recovery teaches phonics and phic awareness on a daily basis along with fluen comprehension and writing skills children need to know letters and sounds in order to read I am absolutely happy to further this conversation at any time with any of you and we can look closely at the data reading recovery has has been and continues to be the most highly effective intervention for our young students it is financially self-sustaining Eve sham is a training site and we have outside districts pay for their training when they come to us year after year reading recovery is a partnership with all stakeholders I have forwarded the board parent questionnaire feedback surveys I have forwarded the board first grade teacher surveys please take the time to read all of them parent surveys are not just emotional feel-good stories they represent real kids in our classrooms right now our district has valued the importance of early intervention for the many for many many years we invest early in all of our students just like we will be with the preschool and we place an importance on helping our most needy Learners crack that code ma'am you reached three minutes please thank [Applause] you hello my name is Rachel zabriski I 534 Justice Drive Marlton New Jersey and I've come here tonight both as a resident of eam Township but also as an employee of the eam Township School District I have taught kindergarten and I'm now currently employed at jaggard elementary school as a reading recovery teacher and the school's interventionist I've raised all four of my kids in eam Township and they've attended the Isham Township school system ever since kindergarten one is now in college two are Cherokee excuse me and one is currently at Dei Middle School three out of my four children were very successful with their academic careers they all have pretty positive experiences but my one child my daughter struggled with reading she's quiet shy introverted doesn't really like to take risks lacks some of the self-confidence that's needed for that and overall she did not like reading which breaks my heart to say that as a reading teacher but it was not her favorite thing to do when she was in elementary school she also was was recommended and to be brought before the inrs committee for attention and focusing issues her first grade teacher and I communicated often and we both agreed it would be best to have her screen for reading recovery unfortunately when she was screened she was not eligible there were other students that needed it more than she did as a teacher and at that time I was a stay-at-home mom I worked very hard with her but we all know how that goes sometimes when you're working with your own kids it's not always the best scenario and the reason I'm telling you this and sharing the story with you is that she struggled with reading not because of the curriculum it was because of who she was as an individual with time and growth and development she got where she needed to be but as I said it was always a struggle for her as a read and Recovery teacher I've seen students come to me that struggle with reading for so many different reasons their home environments do they have books there some do some don't are they read to some are some aren't what was their previous schooling experience did they attend preschool which hopefully now with moving forward with Ean that's not going to be as much of an issue as it has been in the past their background knowledge some of our children come they have plenty of experiences but not all of them do and do they have that support that's needed to help them succeed with reading some children who are younger and not developmentally ready struggle with reading because reading and writing both are developmental skills and they are complex some of them have stronger oral language skills and some have weaker oral language skills speech and language development all of this has an impact on how successful a student may be with their reading it's not just minutes okay thank you good evening Heather Toco 16 Anapolis Drive uh I've been an eve sham resident for 17 years um both my children have gone through uh the eve sham Township School District my son's currently at decy midle and my daughter's at Cherokee um I've also been a reading specialist at a neighboring school district for 22 years and throughout my teaching career I've had the opportunity to be involved with numerous reading programs and what I've learned is that no single approach helps every child last year when I was presented with the possibility of Bec becoming a trained reading recovery teacher I jumped at the chance to teach this research-based program teaching with reading recovery methods I've been able to accelerate my students reading growth so they are on par with their peers in the classroom this has been the most effective program I've ever used with students who are struggling to learn how to read and a great component of this program is the ongoing professional development that takes place after the training I truly feel for fortunate to be a reading recovery and to have the support of Cindy lasalvia and Eve Shan to continue my professional development and the residents of Eve sham School District are just as fortunate to have all these amazing reading recovery teachers working with the students here to accelerate their reading growth thank you hello Melissa Smith 239 Foxwood Lan in Marlton I'm speaking as a mom a teacher and a taxpayer in Marlton I'm going to speak about being a mom first my son attended full day kindergarten at Rice Elementary he had an absolutely wonderful teacher Mrs debio as he entered first grade he continued to struggle with learning his letters sounds words and early reading readiness skills as his difficulties continued in first grade he was fortunate enough to qualify for the second round of reading recovery with Tina plumber he was able to receive the much needed one-on-one intensive program that was specifically geared to his needs my son son has since been diagnosed with dyslexia but now he's a real reader I credit the Intensive interventions he had through Reading recovery in his first grade year with helping him gain the fundamentals to be as successful as he is now as a teacher in our district I taught first grade for eight years my co- teer and I would hope and pray that our neediest readers would qualify for reading recovery 5 days a week one-on-one intensive intervention 12 weeks for children to flourish many many of our students would exit reading recovery on Benchmark level I've personally seen the success of this program both as a parent and a teacher as a resident and a taxpayer in our town I ask that you continue to allow the children of Marlon to receive the benefits of this necessary program that has proven to be so successful for our children thank you [Applause] Gina D Simone 313 Windsor Lane shocker I'm going to talk about reading recovery so let me be clear I wholeheartedly agree that our school needs the addition of phonics and spelling programs as these are fundamental skills needed for successful readers however these components are already an integral part of our current reading recovery program you know what they say if it's not broken don't fix it reading recovery is not broken we don't need to fix it it's an intervention offered to first graders as you already heard that are below grade level it's designed and executed using all the fundamental parts of reading phonics pheic awareness vocabulary fluency and comprehension I'm going to try not to cry here my son Braden has been fortunate enough to reap the benefits of this program as a parent watching a child's struggle is awful you know your parents most of you I'm sure so this program's been incredible for us under the expertise of Mrs Ur good my son has made progress he is meeting almost all categories except for one with his fellow first graders this is I can't even express how this makes us feel as parents and that's in just 20 weeks in other in our world where we're always looking for the next best thing the next new fed the next best practice please stop and look at what's right in front of you this is working you hearing that it's working look into this please read and Recovery is phonics it is everything that we are looking for and as a district as a teacher of more than 22 years I beg you to add to our program and not take away Mrs urg good and the other read and Recovery teachers have worked endlessly to help our struggling students they get rigorous intensive training that is ongoing it supports individual needs we can hand Any teacher a curriculum protocol but knowing what to do with it and how to help a child is different it's more than phonics we cannot forget the human element on a personal note seeing my six-year-old go from feeling stressed significantly behind his peers to wanting to read begging to read reading to our our rescue dogs that to me is priceless you can't get it from a curriculum protocol you can't thanks Mrs Ur good you have changed our lives and we are eternally grateful thanks for being a teacher that not only goes above and beyond but loves what they do and loves to make a difference this Mr Smith and the board this is reading recovery thank you I am Mike fiser I live in 49 B Air Drive um thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today I'm here as a parent deeply concerned about what I've heard regarding potential cuts to the reading recovery program I understand the challenges of budget constraints but I firmly believe that the future of our children especially those in dire new of support like my son Dylan should not be compromised Dylan's Journey with reading was not an easy one I still vividly remember the struggle in Dylan's eyes and the frustration and Silent tears when reading a basic skill that many of his classmates possessed it was heartbreaking to see him come home frustrated feeling left behind as his classmates move forward but then something remarkable happened when Dylan was introduced to reading recovery it was a Beacon of Hope tailored to meet the needs of children precisely like Dylan it gave him the one-on-one support he needed from compassionate teachers lifting him up word by word book by book until the day came when reading was no longer tore but a delight and even an adventure within weeks of starting the program we saw a change he went from being a child who couldn't follow along of us when we would read to him to one who couldn't wait to dive in to show us the words he can read and before we know it he was ready to select books of his favorite athletes solve Mysteries with Encyclopedia Brown or get lost in the Magical World of Harry Potter but perhaps the most amazing part of read recovery for Dylan was not just the tailored academic support but the relationship it fostered his teacher was more than an educ educator she was a mentor helped him gain confidence in his academic ability this program gave Dylan the courage to take risks to embrace challenges and to grow not just as a reader and writers but as a confident young person ready explore the world of learning with enthusiasm I urge you do not let budget cuts undermine the Val this invaluable resource the costs of this continuing are reducing the re reading recovery program is far greater than its Financial expense we should we would be failing our children are most V vulnerable at a time when they need us most in Sharing Dylan's story I hope to shine a light on an immeasurable value value and profound impact of children who like Dylan have found their path through Reading recovery it's a plea to protect and cherish the program that holds the power transform the educational Journey let's ensure that every child has the support the care and the opportunity to reach the full potential thank you for your consideration let's make a choice to support these kids growth their confidence and their future hello my name is Heather urg good I live at 129 Hamilton Road I am a teacher in the district I am also a parent of students who went through the district I have a current eighth grader um as a parent and a teacher in this District I've heard a lot of thoughts and opinions Lately from various stakeholders about what is best for children each side comes with their passion their data their anecdotes but I truly believe that all of us the Board of Education members the parents the administrators and the teachers we all want what is best for the students the children who we are all here to serve I started as a first grade teacher here in the district district and when I taught first grade my colleagues and I would work hard to meet the needs of the children that came into our classroom and we would celebrate when one of our students was chosen to participate in Reading recovery because we knew that would make a significant difference in their abilities to read and write there's nothing like the collaboration between a first grade teacher and a reading recovery teacher to help meet the needs of a student who is struggling with early literacy skills that is what inspired me to get trained in Reading recovery knowing that I could make a real difference for students in our district now as a reading recovery teacher at Dei Elementary School I have worked with all kinds of children I have worked with children whose home language is English Arabic Spanish Russian Bulgarian Punjabi Mandarin and Ukrainian I have worked with students who are in regular education spe special education and those with 504s in doing so I have witnessed how complex learning to read and write is and that no two children need exactly the same thing to become the best reader that they can be there is no one siiz fits-all program when it comes to teaching children to read and write our curriculum meets the needs of many but not all reading recovery meets the needs of many but not all systematic phonics instruction meets the needs of many but not all teacher expertise ongoing professional development and high expectations for students are all factors that have been proven to have a positive impact on student achievement and growth I can assure you of this reading recovery teachers have expertise they participate in meaningful ongoing professional development they have high expectations for all the students they serve reading recovery teachers teach phonics they teach site wordss they teach strategies for comprehension and for problem solving words that are a part of our very complex language reading recovery meets the needs of a wide range of Learners it does not discriminate and it helps them grow and become more confident confident readers and writers my hope is that all the stakeholders here tonight can agree that reading recovery is not harmful to children as some may have you believe and that it is vitally important to have an early intervention in place that strives to accelerate the growth of the students who need it most thank you I I'm Ed Goodman 11 Stafford way um I have a son in kindergarten at Rice I've been a special education teacher for the last 15 years I'm speaking tonight to support the need for a structured systematic phonics approach in all K to2 classrooms in the district it's obvious that many people have um some positive things to say about reading recovery however that's just an intervention and I think that's also clear um what what I believe and what our parent advocacy group believe is that in our district we need to have the structured phonics approach in all the kto2 classrooms a few weeks ago we met with representatives of the district um and I was encouraged by the meeting honestly because I feel like there's a lot that we do agree on um the first thing I feel like we agree on is that reading is complex that was stated multiple times tonight as well as in the meeting however a structured phonics program in early Elementary grades can make it much less complex by giving students the ability to attack the complexity of reading by relying on skills they've learned rather than guessing based on queuing strategies that are taught throughout the district's um literacy programs so being that reading is complex why aren't we evolving to meet the needs of our students with current best practices currently States across the country are seeing a need for phonics instruction so much so that they're requiring it in their updated standards I understand the district uses the fontas and panel phonics program however Ed reports rate the program as partially meeting expectations for reading foundational skills with a score of 114 out of 202 and in my view that's just not good enough while reading is complex and we agree on that we would like to see the complexity being addressed in our programming another thing that we agree on is that we have great teachers here in E sham we should be giving them the tools they need to make sure that every student is taught basic literacy skills that they need to thrive in their education the programs we had we use have made major shortcomings in phonics instruction and have come under criticism from Recent research it's clear that we have terrific Educators we should be equipping them with the resources they need to be highly effective the final thing that we agree on was that we want the best for the children of eam I'm lucky enough to be able to provide my son with structured phonics instruction at home but not all parents can do this I know I'm doing what's best for him because I see it in him every single day a structured approach to phonics is what is best for all students in Eve shamp everything that we agree on gives us a lot of common ground and we should be working together from that common ground to have a more effective conversation moving forward I challenge the board and District administration to look at the research that the parent group has shared evaluate our literacy programming although I agree that there is no Silver Bullet there is not one end all Beall approach it is clear that our programming does lack a stru a structured phonics program and quite honestly it's dated um this is resulting in growing learning gaps in Upper Elementary grades in middle school I see it every day at work and I'm sure if you ask some of your reach three minutes thank [Applause] you hi Jen peoples 211 Royal Drive I wanted to take a moment to address the board and administration tonight although I fully support reading recovery that's not why I'm here I have been the PTA president at beer school for 12 years but I have been a parent and volunteer there for over 18 I have had four kids go through the district my youngest being in fifth grade I'm here tonight because what is going on in our building currently is just sad our principal is out on leave until after spring break our interum has left and our guidance counselor has recently resigned and there has been zero communication that has gone out to the family since January we deserve transparency our children deserve transparency the entire situation from an administrative standpoint has been poorly mismanaged and it's very disheartening there has been no consistent person in our building for weeks no one to offer support answer questions Etc no one has stepped in no one has stepped up the way they should have for our children our staff and our school and this is not the first time we had a very similar situation occurred just last spring it is also my wholehearted opinion that if it was another school it would not have been overlooked for this long we love thank you we love and support our teachers and staff and I have to tell you they've W done a wonderful tremendous job during this very very difficult time for us but it has drastically affected morale it has drastically affected school spirit and it will affect our children it will I do understand after reaching out to Dr Smith today that you are seeking an alter like a permanent solution it just never should have gotten to this point I speak tonight as a parent advocate as a PTA member as a voice for our children we deserve better thank you for your time Kimberly Hansen 111 met View Circle good evening as each and every one of us standing before you tonight do I have a significant number of concerns about what's happening in our district at the Forefront of on what's many of our minds is the fifth grade while I'm unsure if moving fifth grade is truly a possibility Dr Smith's lack of response on the matter leads me to believe that it is as a former educator myself I can only express how much of a mistake adding fifth grade to the middle school is I have spent 13 years at a middle school teacher have my graduate degree in educational leadership and development I have done extensive research on the history of middle school and why it was developed it exists to give students ages 11 to 14 a separate place to grow mature and come into their own when done right middle school should be a safe place for students to not just focus on their academic achievements but spend a significant amount of time working on their social and emotional development as well most fifth graders are outside of this age range and a full Middle School model is not appropriate for them there are articles that explain more about why fifth graders do not belong in a middle school setting they need that extra year to grow and mature and I am truly questioning what we are considering sacrificing that year for personally my biggest concern however is our sta staff as I'm sure you know there is a mass Exodus of teachers all over the country teachers and staff are leaving not just their schools but the field of Education itself they're not leaving because they can't hack it or because the job is too hard they're leaving because they are not supported and they are unable to do the jobs they were hired to do I have expressed my concerns about this and have questioned what administration and the board is doing to support them and my concerns have been dismissed or fallen on deaf ears my own daughter has lost two teachers who have left the profession my concerns were dismissed because these two staff members left on good terms and while that very well may be the fact of the matter is that these teachers still didn't feel enticed enough to stay many of the families here tonight are frustrated at a lack of transparency and communication there have been more resignations and Staffing changes that we as families have not been privy to and have to find out through the grapevine or emails that happened too little too late I am imploring you to work with families teachers and stakeholders and have us in conversations about the future of our district starting those conversations in April is too late to our teachers I say thank you I see you I see what you do day in and day out and I appreciate you I know what it's like to be in your shoes and I promise that as a parent I will do everything in my power to support you advocate for you and your well-being hello my name is Audrey Gillan I live at Rockingham Drive in Marlton I'm a retired employee of eam Township School District I have three children who attended esam Township Schools I have attended many board meetings over the years at the January board meeting this year the word transparency kept being repeated February 20th 2024 this year just about a year after my retirement I received a check from the eim Township School District I believe this check was for the overpayment of my share for health insurance benefits IIM Township School District was not in compliance with a law that was passed and signed by Governor Murphy in July of 2020 I just want to say to the parents the administrators the board members it's important for the parents here to keep speaking up keep asking questions and keep showing up the truth always comes out and your voice should be heard thank [Applause] you good evening my name is Colleen Ellis I live um on tby Lane in Marlton um I'm here because myself and I think a lot of other parents feel like we were sold a story when we were urged to vote to fund full day kindergarten with our tax dollars um and we did so in order to preserve our Middle School structure and we feel like the rug is being pulled out from under us in the name of pursuing a preschool Grant additionally I am hearing from friends and neighbors who are teachers in the district and who are members of the union and of Union leadership that Dr Smith has not been transparent with them about proposed budget cuts and has not collaborated with them in uh an effort to see where those cuts can be made or shifted it seems foolish not to include the people who work most closely with our children and who know better than anyone the impact that any Cuts would have on them in preliminary discussions about the budget especially in a district whose theme is cooperation parents and teachers are tired of being asked for patience when our kids education is at stake and rumors about cuts are flying around unaddressed and the failure to address them just lends Credence to those rumors I urge the board of education to ask the following questions regarding the preschool plan how is this going to help our current students when it will mean the district having to match the grant money that is given by the state which can only be used for the preschool program what is the plan for implementation these grants have a quick turnaround time of 60 days once that Grant is procured is this District prepared to implement a full program in 60 days and are you thinking about the children that are going to come here with IEPs where now you have a half day preschool disabled program you will have to offer a full day preschool disabled program and those kids are going to need support and sadly I don't think judging by the current state of the special education programs in this District they're prepared to expand that support what happens when the grant money Runs Out out and the district is left to fully fund the program and also given the numbers released by the state today that show a significant reduction in the anticipated cuts to state aid how does this affect the budget that's currently being developed and not discussed with parents or teachers or anyone else who has a stake in it my husband is a US Coast Guard veteran and I'd like to leave you with a quote by Captain Warren judge who's the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Training Center in Kate May transparency and Leadership is not merely about revealing facts it's about fostering trust through openness honesty and accountability thereby Illuminating the path towards Collective success we as a community are continuing to ask you for transparency in the interest of the success of this district and all of our kids Amanda gaun five links way it's disappointing to have to speak again tonight regarding our advoca advocacy group's concerns for Eve Shan's early literacy curriculum however the district's in action compels me to do so I'm here to express the urgent need to closely examine the philosophies practices and programming of your early literacy curriculum the system is broken esam's use of an inaccurate benchmarking system leads to inaccurate identification of students in need of intervention the students who are identified are then placed into intervention programs that are considered by research and literature to be insufficient for struggling readers and ineffective for dyslexic students there's a complete lack of effective progress monitoring in both the general education and intervention programs the general education and intervention programs do not meet the criteria as a structured approach to literacy the district continues to ignore the substantial evidence that demonstrates structured literacy is more effective for all readers not just struggling readers however none of this is new information I've been expressing this and providing the supporting research in literature since October the district is citing philosophical differences or the reading Wars to justify the their inaction however the large body of research that exists regarding the science of reading has made these so-called reading Wars irrelevant a leading expert in the field Dr Seidenberg describes the increasingly Advanced sophisticated body of scientific reading research that has developed over the last several decades as quotes it's not at any level where any reasonable person could debate it doesn't turn on one lab or one funding agency or any one method it's an overwhelming success in the science and yet it has had almost no effect on how educators think about reading and indeed people are quite willing to keep fighting the reading Wars endlessly similarly another leading expert in the field Dr Moz questions the room for philosophical debate in the teaching of reading Dr Moz States preparation for teaching reading often is more grounded in ideology than evidence while the academic freedom that professors often invoke has a place in teacher education its claim is not as absolute as it may be in the humanities professional preparation programs have a responsibility to teach a defined body of knowledge skills and abilities that are based on the best research in the field this is no less important in Reading than it is medicine or law evidence to guide our practices is stronger than it has ever been the preparation and professional development of teachers must be better aligned with the Decades of reading science I'm here tonight to remind e and Leadership of their responsibility to their staff and the students they serve to stop ignoring the Decades of reading research that it should inform instruction and practices it's time for ISM leadership to St believing in a false dichotomy between a structured approach to foundational reading skills and developing Rich comprehension in a love of reading and learning as Dr Moz States the science of reading is inextricably linked to the love of to teach and Inspire the Next Generation we simply can't have one without the other thank [Applause] you Angela Stuart Wong kirkbridge court tonight I'm asking for transparency from the board and from the superintendent transparency for what interventions and curriculum change will be provided to our children that will provide explicit research based fonic instruction also how will the district measure progress and growth moving forward I left the recent meeting between parents and administration with more questions than answers again transparency and communication also transparency for what will happen with fifth grade my daughters in third first and preschool will be negatively impacted by this change my third grader already was virtual for kindergarten due to co co already negatively impacted this group of children socially emotionally and academically now you want to transition them early to an environment that is not developmentally appropriate let them stay in the elementary environment let them be leaders let them socially and emotionally grow where they are developmentally comfortable and safe thank you so my name is Tama I'm one of the members of the Marlon Muslim families can I start first with our greeting in Islam Salam alaykum which means peace be upon you as one of the Maron Muslim Community I would like to thank you Dr Smith and all of the members of the board of education for supporting our propose to add to add fit as a holiday in the school calendar for everyone fit is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan Ramadan is our hly month which we passed for 30 days from down to Sunset our children are honored and grateful for your decision they feel now included they feel their voices were heard thank you so much I'm sure your decision today made difference to our children and for the coming Generations we appreciate all your work and thank you so [Applause] much hello uh Jason RC kirkbridge Court um I'm a parent of uh kindergarten and first graders in Eve sham um I'm not in education or an expert in reading strategies or philosophies so I won't share my thoughts on why I believe the current reading curriculum is outdated and inadequate or why I believe an explicit structured phonics curriculum is needed instead I'd like to share some observations and experiences I've had related to struggling with readers in our curriculum uh it's been my experience that borderline struggling readers are not being um given helped with additional um with additional resources and the reason that's happening is a lack of resources my daughter was recommended for reading covery recovery by her kindergarten teacher uh towards the end of the year uh and after the districts or whoever's consideration she she was denied because she was a borderline student and there were many more students that needed help or more help than her is what we were told um so in short there were too many kids that needed help with reading for the district to support um there have been there have continued to be struggles this year in first grade with reading um at our first conference we again inquired about reading recovery after being told of those struggles and we're again told that there wasn't room for her um um and that there were in fact only eight spots in her school for first graders um so she continued to struggle we were continued to be notified of her struggles and she was just recently been accepted into the reading recovery program which we thrilled about she's finally going to get the help that she needs um and so I share all of this as an example of how we're failing our students a lot of you know there's there's a lot of different ends of this but um the current reading curriculum is creating more students needing help than the district can support by choosing to not by choosing to not Implement an explicit structured phonics program and also not providing sufficient resources to certain groups of readers they are creating a growing group of students that need help and then refusing to help by not providing sufficient training to teachers and very limited access to reading Specialists if you can't support the number of students needing help with your reading something has to change and to the reading Recovery Specialists we love you guys we need you guys we we want you guys to have the tools and resources to help our children thank you hi thank you for your attention tonight I'm Cindy Rogers I have a third grader a sixth grader and I teach fifth grade in another District tonight I here to be the voice of the teachers our teachers many of them at e sham Township School District are not comfortable speaking publicly for fear of Retribution so they've asked me to speak out on behalf of them about their concerns about the possible restructuring at the middle school one employee asked me asked me to share that she has children in the district but is considering moving out of town because of the possible changes this employee also regrets voting for full day kindergart and feels misled another teacher is concerned about fifth and eighth grade potentially sharing bathrooms riding buses together passing each other in hallways at arrival and dismissal she said it's not age appropriate and also the start times are too early for a 10-year-old another is concerned that they will be required to teach a subject that they are not certified in staff is concerned about cutting independent study which is when students meet with their teachers for extra help to catch up on work from being absent to meet for tier three teachers are very worried about our special education population Cuts would cause them to have several special education teachers throughout the day and no independent study time where they can finish tests or get support or review material teachers are worried about losing their Team Planning time which means all co-planning periods are gone teachers can no longer work together helping a struggling student plan lessons or units or theme days for kids they're losing a planning period and gaining an entirely new class to prep for teach and grade staff noted that students will be moving all over the building and there is not nearly enough staff to monitor the Halls lockers might not be in your classes what happens if a students forget something do you waste 5 to 10 minutes having them go back to their lockers to retrieve it or will teachers start giving zeros they also brought up that students will not have the same guidance counselor or vice principal throughout their years at Middle School since they will be all over the schools instead of one designated house class sizes will go up parents need to be aware of how much children how much help their children are going to be losing because teachers will not have the time nor the flexibility to provide for their students anymore and teachers do not want this change they want to help and support and motivate the students not turn them away we do not want to see the house concept go it's so much better for the kids to have a team one staff member said and I quote every single thing about this plan is detrimental to the students and staff these are some pretty heavy thoughts from our teachers and I say teachers of teens and pre-teens are pretty special people they're dealing with children who are trying so hard to grow up but are still kids kids who are pushing the boundaries pushing away their parents navigating changes but who need love and support and understanding our teachers need that time and space to work with these youngsters 83% of the budget is teachers and that's who it should be we need them they are the heart and soul of our schools and yet their voices don't feel that they're heard let's fix that thank you hello my name is Jennifer peelman and I live at 33 snuffbox Lane my husband and I both attended eam schools as do our three children tonight there are many people in this room coming together to stand for what they believe parents want fifth graders to remain in elementary school settings because they Thrive developmentally in that environment Beyond this room there is a petition of over 525 signatures who also feel that 10 years old is too young to be in a middle school setting in class on buses and in after school activities supporters supporters of the current Middle School structure stand here tonight in hopes of protecting a model that is the Envy of many other districts we can't allow our middle schools to become Junior highs our pre-teens need a safe environment where they can be seen as individuals by their teachers tonight you see passionate people United in the red color thanks for wearing it Dr Smith long before this this meeting people have written emails made phone calls done research and more all in the name of sharing the super with the superintendent and the board the vision for the their vision for this District in Dr Smith's recent email update he highlighted that families were surveyed about cultural holidays in the school calendar I applaud the fact that families were surveyed and their input was included the desire for collaboration and involvement is a theme that is echoed at school drop off PTA meetings and social media people want their voices heard they want to offer ideas and more than anything they want transparency I am deeply concerned about transparency particularly where the preschool expansion Grant is concerned as we Face Aid reductions and Rising costs of everything it does not seem fiscally responsible at this time to apply for the preschool expansion Grant in the name of transparency I feel it's important to share that this grant does not provide all the funds that are needed for the program and the district would have to put up Financial Resources in addition to the grant to cover expenses at the January Board of Mee board meeting Dr Smith spoke about his dedication to students he seated I can't stand up in front of our community and talk about reductions to kids that we serve to pay for a program for kids that we don't he was speaking specifically about TBA but I believe the statement still completely is applicable to the preschool expansion Grant if we move forward to the grant now at a time of rising cost in the district we are essentially inviting more students to be part of the district while changing the experience for the children that are already here and that change is not in their best interest academically or emotionally Dr Smith and members of the Board of Education you are sitting in a room full of passionate committed and knowledgeable change makers you are in a position to bring the groups together we can work to achieve something we are all proud of I encourage Dr Smith and the board to host a strategic planning initiative where employees parents students students community members and stakeholders can come together in collaboration now is not the time to add programs at the expense of our current students it is not the time to hastily restructure the district or cut program minutes it's the time for collaboration and strategy cooperation is key and I hope Dr Smith and the board set an [Applause] example my name is Andrea Tierney at 241 conastoga Drive I am the parent of three children in this District I know you have continue to ask for patients from the community but we also recognize the need to fully express our concerns before you move forward with the plans that may be that we may be deeply opposed to as you formalize your budget proposal we hope that our voice gives you the opportunity to reflect what we value most I want to speak to our opposition to any form of restructuring our current School models we are opposed to reorganizing the middle schools in all 56 and a 78 school we are opposed to removal of the team models Middle School teachers need to be able to collaborate to support our children appropriately Junior High models have gone by the wayside because they're developmentally inappropriate for this age group we are opposed to removing the fifth grade students from their home schools these children have begun their education in an unprecedented time with Co lockdowns they need consistency and support more than any other group before it is essential that we do not further imp experiments these ideas do not align with research on students social and emotional well-being rather they serve as cost-effective educational factory models that are just pushing out products you cannot cut Corners like a business when you are in education we understand that free preschool sounds enticing but we know that the implications of this program come with substantial requirements this grant is far from free and it burdens the burden it places on this District demands will is going to take away from our current students those that we're obligated to provide for if the state is committed to providing free prek programs it should be fully operated by the state and allow the districts to continue to concentrate on our current students we also know that this grant is never guaranteed to invest a tremendous quality of our resources and uproot our current students to accommodate the prek program in elementary schools is foolish you are only one election away from having a new Administration come in and eliminate funding this makes no sense we are wholeheartedly against the district seeking this grant okay I'm going to speak a little bit separate to reading recovery my daughter went through the reading recovery program and it was tremendously helpful but she's no longer in that program and now I'm seeing a backslide I am fortunate enough to have her in a special program in Burlington for dyslexic students okay that is rooted in oron gillium methodology it is very important that we not just put them in Reading recovery reading recovery is amazing but it's not the the only thing and it's for kids that are most critical okay she has greater potential than what she's reaching right now and I have the means to take her to tutoring but not every family does um this community is engaged and supportive of our schools that is a gift that many many struggling districts dream of do not Overlook how fortunate you are to have informed and motivated parents we would be happy to support Advocate and organize on your behalf of our district and our Educators in just one month our Facebook group has has brought 700 people to this conversation you have the opportunity to change the Public's perception and show that you are listening to us we will be patiently looking forward to see I know okay we will be patiently looking forward to seeing your tenative budget in [Applause] March hi my name is Haley wilham I live on pen Court in Cambridge Park I have two daughters one is in kindergarten right now now and one will be in kindergarten this next year um my husband and I recently moved to this school district because we believed it was a great school district and we wanted our kids to go um to Dei Elementary and Dei Middle um as a community the quality of the school district is of the utmost importance not only does um it attract families who like myself and my husband were seeking a good education for our children um but more importantly quoted directly from the e sham Township School District Mission a strong Educational Foundation will help our children achieve their unique potential Embrace lifelong learning develop necessary risk-taking and decision- making learn self-respect problem solving and most importantly become a contributing member of society this district is at a pivotal moments we can either rise together with transparency at what we are facing as a school district to find and fund a solution to this budget deficit without closing more schools without changing the structure of our middle and elementary schools and without cutting necessary programs to fulfill our District's mission or we can fall together I know that a lot has been said this evening it is only in response to rumors of the board's plans as the budget has yet to be released one of those rumors that I've come to know is the plan to close dcy Elementary I know originally when the vote for full day kindergarten was discussed there was a last resort mentioned um which would be to close decy Elementary if the vote did not pass now that it has pass it is my understand that my understanding that decy is still on the chopping block that means about 300 students would need to be redistrict elsewhere to schools that already have nearly 450 to 600 plus elementary students in a district that is so extensive deacy Elementary is a gem it is a school that provides a small school feeling in a very large District it is a school where a large proportion of kids walk to school with their friends parents grandparents and even with their pets parents talk to each other catch up with their children their children's friends for decades researchers have pointed to the one key School success factor that transcends nearly all others such such as soci Soo economic status student background and that key success factor is actually parental involvement it has been proven students whose parents stay involved walk with them to and from school volunteer at their school have better attendance and behavior get better grades demonstrate better social skills and adapt better to school the benefit of elementary students going to school close to their home being able to actively commute to school by biking walking and scootering is unquestionable and I know I can confidently say that the majority of us parents at deacy elementary moved into these neighborhoods so that our kids could walk some of us even reap the benefits of being a walker ourselves growing up and we wanted the same for our kids so I stand here tonight to implore the board to find other ways we are a capable Community who have an underlying similarity we love our children and we want what's best for them so please work with us parents before making these decisions that can have a lifelong negative effect on our child's education the school's success and more importantly their childhood Rachel Willie 200 Tomlinson Mill Road last time I was up here I was speaking to our community and asking them to vote in favor of the kindergarten referendum today I'm speaking to our board and superintendent being part of the kindergarten committee was an incredibly rewarding experience it was my first experience as a resident and I was energized and inspired by the other members and residents the moment that we learn the referendum had passed will be treasured in my mind and heart for many years to come that moment was special because it gave me the Incredible Gift of experiencing the power of working together for something and not against I believe in the power of Hope over fear and I believe that people are motivated to build by hope and motivated by fear to tear down it has been heartbreaking for me to hear residents and staff members of our Township voice their fears about the referendum they feel they were convinced to vote Yes for the referendum only to learn that they may have been Mis misled or misinformed I have to assume that hearing the residents fears and suspicions is difficult for many of the members of our committee in the absence of information people fear the worst having personally experienced the positivity and heard the motivations of those of us on the committee I find it difficult to believe people were misled I'm not a leader and I don't know what it must feel like to deal with the pressure and frustration of your positions I am a staff member a resident and a parent and I'm asking our board and superintendent to please include the ETA Union president in the discussions and planning for the budget please again include parents and residents in the process allow them the chance to give their valuable insights and perspectives as the plans are being built instead of as a reaction to What has already been decided please give the power of Hope another chance and deny fear the opportunity to grow thank you for your time hi my name is Erin guini I'm 25 Nottingham Road I'm going to Echo a lot of sentiments that were already said tonight um last year in the fall the goal of this District was to get tuition free kindergarten for all students we the community were an asset to that process you needed Us in that process we advocated we advertised we spread the word and you rode our momentum all the way to the bank we put a feather in your cap and we earned something for our district to bring us up to Pace with all the other area districts however it's critical to point out as many others have that some of us do feel misled we were told that voting yes for kindergarten and bringing that into our district was not going to impact current students I voted yes for full day kindergarten and I have no horse in that race my kids are out of kindergarten I paid thousands $11,000 for kindergarten and I still voted yes for other people I feel that I was manipulated and I wish I could get my vote back these new proposals leave us with lots of questions questions about time timelines questions about how this plan is going to impact our children and almost as importantly questions about what other tricks you have up your [Applause] sleeve our children have heard these rumors they are coming home asking us where they're going to school next year and we do not have answers for them we are asking for transparency all of us we are asking for honest conversations you are asking for input we are asking for dialogue we want you to be able to answer the questions that we are coming up here and asking rhetorically in three minute chunks of time you relied on us to help you pass that referendum and now we are being silenced by the repercussions of that vote I would like you to slow down I would like you to think about how this is going to impact the children that are currently in our schools and I would like you to make sure that what you do and what you propose does not negatively impact some to positively impact others thank [Applause] you my name is Aaron Gerson I'm going to withhold my address but I have my license if you want to see it and Dr Smith I believe you know me by now since you no longer respond to my emails I'm a Marlton resident and a mom of three kids I have over 10 years of experience teaching at public and private collegate institutions in Alaska and New Jersey and over five years in organizational Communications and I mention that because foundational educational years are critical to ongoing development and I've seen it firsthand in student later my husband and I bought our house here because of this District I remember when my oldest now at Cherokee went through a reading recovery with Mrs Las Salvia and it was a GameChanger but things have changed and that's why I'm here wearing green and red my youngest is at beer I Echo the concerns about the lack of communication and the lack of administrative leadership across the board and especially at beer I Echo concerns about moving fth to middle school I Echo concerns about how we best support our youngest Learners as well as how this board makes decisions that impact all of our children and the future of our schools here I call on you to allow open dialogue regarding strategic planning to be transparent and to start acting like it's your kids in these schools now hi my name is Tiffany Davis and I live at 25 appway first I want to say thank you to the board for what you do I know that it's a volunteer job and it's mostly thankless today I'm here to speak regarding the consideration of fifth graders being moved from their home Elementary School to a middle school setting I have two children that this would impact my daughter Eva who's currently in in fourth grade at VanZant Elementary and my daughter Lily entering kindergarten in the fall while I'm thankful and appreciative that kindergarten was voted through I'm beyond distress to know that Eva might miss her last year at vzy without any real length of time to prepare for a transition to a midal school setting Eva was in kindergarten when the pandemic started and the school shut down she was also fully remote for first grade since I was working from home I'm grateful that I was able to keep her home and safe during that time but she did miss the socialization and typical Ed Ed first grade education my all kids during that time during the pandemic to keep her spirits up I would remind her that it would all pass and the amazing things that she had to look forward to after especially fifth grade at VanZant fifth grade at VanZant is beyond magical and I only ask that if you make this change you would give everyone enough time to prepare their children properly Ava has aimed to be the first person in at school in the car line every day since learning in third grade that she could be selected for card line safety and fifth grade she really wanted to be a safety she really wants to be a safety to help walk little kids to their classroom ever since she saw a few having a hard time leaving mom or D at the Carline getting and getting to their classroom calmly Eva's also started preparing for her fifth grade student council run that I'm not sure she would attempt if not in the comfort of her Elementary School where she knows she's always been supported by the amazing staff and faculty around her I could go on about the things that Eva would be devastated to miss out on but I hope that gives you an idea of the few things that many kids would be shattered to miss out on while I do understand that you're working diligently to make a shrinking budget work the BET to the best of your ability in a position that no one wants to be in especially people in charge of shaping the lives of young children my only ask is that you do not rip the current fourth grade students out of their school who have not spent any time mentally preparing for such a life adjustment or being prepared by their teachers and adults around them please take time to consider what it would do to the emotional stability of 9 and 10-year-old little kids now knowing that Lily my in my incoming kindergartener might not go to school might not go to fifth grade at VanZant and may go to a a different fifth grade housing situation it would allow me time to adjust my Approach in transitioning her at a younger age in tamom with her teachers and with ample amount of time if this transition is truly the best solution for a hard situation then all I ask is that you give us some time to prepare and for research to be done and not just Jam this through let's all work together for the best outcome for all of our kids thank [Applause] you is there anyone else who wishes to speak seeing none we'll close that section out just to reiterate I say this every month um to all of those who spoke today and especially those who didn't get through their 3 minutes please do email us your comments ments um I think that's important hearing them all today is wonderful we like to read them as well um so to everyone especially if you didn't get through or three minutes please do email us your comments as well um moving to board yeah go ahead thank you Mr canthon i' just like to there was a lot of great shares tonight we appreciate everyone who took the time to come either to listen or to speak um I would like to say some responses the um it is I wish like nothing else that we could share the budget tonight right no no the to and I and no one this is one of those things where so just to give you an example of some data the comments tonight which we appreciate every single one of them lasted for over an hour not one person volunteered tiered one cut so please let me finish right please let me finish okay it it is well I'm please just let me finish right I so I share that to underline that it is not easy to build a budget in the seventh year of State reduction with Rising costs in every area when we've already cut everything that was cut the last six years can't be cut again and unless you're on the inside of that a person can't understand right so I all the ideas that we heard tonight we want to hear those okay and I but I am saying as a data point there wasn't one idea shared that involved cutting something and that is that is not the the need to balance a budget is no one else's responsibility other than the board and Central Administration right I I'll I'll I I was trying to engage in dialogue but it's not going to work so would any board members like to make any announcements I would like to just say thank you I know I recognized a lot of names from corresponding with you over the past few weeks and like I've said in in terms of the transparency I do understand um it's kind of just ever evolving and thank you for coming like I have definitely been listening I know the rest of the board has been listening we've been having conversations on this and just please continue to email any ideas any concerns you have we are listening to them thank you Miss Fox Mr [Applause] fer I want to just quickly uh quickly say something and uh echo echo what you what Miss Fox just said um i' I've been through a lot of these and when you come up here and this I'm speaking for myself here uh this is very important to me uh I took copious notes of a lot of what you said tonight I take value in what you said tonight and I'm hoping there's two things that I hope for in March one a clear dialogue from us at this table so they finally can hear from us because I think that's important for them because right now what it feels like and it can be frustrating is that it feels like they're talking to a wall and we need to when that time comes in March we need to open that like a door and show that discussion of what's going on for us that's incredibly important secondly as I said before I use this time your emails have been so so important and heartfelt to me I've tried to reply to as many of you as I can can but sometimes it gets a little little difficult and I apologize if you're not one of those people um I'm going to take your concerns and it's going to help me in the next few few weeks marinate because I need that that's important for me to make these decisions because you're you're right you're right we're here we're elected we have to make these decisions all right that's absolutely 100% true and I got to be you know I got to stand up and I got to stand tall and do that whether it's it's right by what goes here right by you I have to stand tall by that just like my colleagues do here all right so we get there there's two things I ask here for my fellow board members One open dialogue and discussion I think that's fair and two we're explaining two plans two different presentations it is very easy very easy to take those two presentations Bumble it up on our end to make it confusing we need to create Clarity because when things are confusing confusion turns to fear and fear turns to anger we cannot let that happen we're too strong of a community for that so it is vital for us as a board and my advice is to marinate on everything that was said all right we're going to come back collect ourselves here two very vital presentations separate from one another but so very important have that dialogue that we need to have ask those questions we need to ask all right and do what we need to do that is right that's our responsibility that's our job that's no one else's that's ours all right but I want to make that clear to you all tonight from me all right and I I I won't speak for anybody else it's not fair but I have I am listening and I understand and I appreciate you all of you thank you um you know I think Mr ficaro said that very eloquently and accurately as to at least how I feel um so I'm not going to you know extend that any further than it needs to go aside from saying thank you for coming out and you know telling us your concerns I've read through many emails uh if I haven't got back to you yet I'm I'm working on it uh and uh but other than that you know that's how we know uh and also know you know before I was on the board I've come to many public meetings and there's been times where I felt you know they're not listening to me um you know here's the notes I I could tell you you know all of us are are are hearing what you're saying uh and we're talking about them um aside from that some other stuff I wanted to mention earlier in the meeting was mentioned the eam Education Association they had the fundraiser doubled down uh they raised tens of thousands of dollars for the district that is a direct assistance we see see that in the form of classroom supplies uh education resources that get used to literally help teach our students um so thank you to that group they do amazing work every single year uh and I just wanted to recognize them one more thing um state aid reductions was the reason is why I ran for the Board of Education uh that's something I was studying in college uh I'm still studying it and at the end of the day I think it's the biggest issue our community faces but not just us onethird of every other community in the state of New Jersey last night I was in Haslet speaking with their Board of Education members as well as their state legislators and probably 70% of that meeting I was at was spent talking about school funding reform and the money that they lost this is an issue that our community is not alone in that we have to unite with other communities if we are going to make treaten ultimately heard about you know how we feel about the state aid reductions that our district received uh and for that I wanted to share two opportunities uh that that are out there the we we know Governor Murphy just announced what his budget was uh which for the past five years has consisted of uh well over it was $7.6 million in losses to our district uh this was the last year that you know of the those portion of that $7.6 billion uh and there are public budget hearings that they are conducting both virtually and in Trenton to talk about that issue and where we have the opportunity to go and speak on Eve Shams behalf I know I will be at the meeting uh in in but there's also a virtual option uh the two Trent meetings for the assembly budget committee are Monday March 11th uh in the State House Annex um at 9:30 a.m. as well as Wednesday March 20th now you know go figure they put it on a week day everybody's working at that time uh so you also have the opportunity to uh speak to the Senate budget committee which will be hosting a virtual call-in session where you can express your concerns about how much money we're losing uh at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday March 26 uh if you are curious and interested about speaking on Eve Chan's behalf to the big policy makers in Trenton uh that we talk about you know the state aid cut so much please email me and I will be happy to share those details with you thank [Applause] you I love going after the two best speakers we have on the board sorry um I just want to you know let everybody know thank you for coming out and speaking we do appreciate your emails we do read everything um I know I'm a little behind on responses you know myself but work's been a little tough this you know past week and half um we are elected officials you've elected us so we are here to represent what the community feels I take this very seriously please keep your voices heard thank you anyone else likes to speak seeing none I'll just reiterate the opportunity to testify that Mr deari talked about um I've gone the last 3 years um it gives us an opportunity to be one in the crowd that talks to another governing body so it's a very humbling experience so we do understand what you guys are going through when you're talking to us um if anyone would like to speak we've had parents come with us before when we testify so please do like Aiden said or like Mr Marcy said email him email me email any board member um we'll be able to to organize and and testify over there um last year in the year before we were the only Board of Education who uh testified I I find that shocking um and we were also the only group who had more than one uh person speaking towards the the budget committee over there so um the more the marrier if you guys would like to to join us uh to come speak let us know closing that section out move over to a second executive session which we need to have tonight whereas an njsa 10412 allows for a public body to go into Clos session during a public meeting and whereas the Board of Education of eam Township is deemed it necessary to go into close session to discuss matters which are Exempted from the public and whereas the regular meeting of the Board of Education will reconvene following the end of Clos session at approximately 10:15 is uh now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education will go into close session for the following reasons as n outlined in njsa 10412 we do not expect no action yeah we do not expect action to be taken after executive session do 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