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 good evening everyone the public has been duly informed of this meeting in accordance with chapter 2 231 of the public laws of 1975 by posting at least 48 hours in advance a notice on the bulletin boards in Stevenson and Churchill schools a notice to the Township Clerk a notice to The Herald news and the progress please stand for The Pledge Allegiance Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all be it resolved that the Fairfield Board of Education recognizes Alex Chen as the 2024 Mecca Integrated Medical Center Incorporated scholarship award resist recipient for academic Excellence Mr Chen a former Churchill student will graduate from West Essex High School as class salutatorian in June 2024 and plans to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he will be studying aerospace engineering let's give him a big round of [Applause] applause e okay we'd like to open up the floor on public comments on agenda items only public comments on agenda items only we'll close that Kathleen thank you okay in uh Dr Celli's absence I'm going to cover um her side of the agenda so I'm asking the board in caption only it's a very long agenda and I do apologize that 17 pages so the first caption is Personnel a certified staff approve the maternity leave of absence for the people listed on page two A and B employment um items a through I listed on page two and three retirement of Lisa Macintosh with regret best wishes and appreciation for 39 years of service to the students of Fairfield that was item three retirement on the bottom of page three item four on the top of page uh four is for the extended school year approvals the job descriptions item five is job descriptions revised for the principal director of curriculum and instruction and director of special services Item B for non-certified staff items one through three is for appointment and reappointment of um School playground AIDS and cafeteria AIDS um item three is the reappointment of the bcba for 12 month um establishment effective July 1st um item four is reappointment of exempt non-certified employees items A and B on item four substitutes at the bottom of page five is to approve the substitutes for the 2425 school year on the top of page six Administration is approve the evaluation for the superintendent effective the 2324 school year as submitted on May 2nd 2024 the um resolution for the emergent hiring to hire people between board uh meetings is on page six administrative reappointments is listed on page three the middle of page six for Megan cfone Ray Sana and uh Dr Michael Trabuco um item four is to reappoint the coordinator liaison and office officer assignments for the 2425 school year um and then item five is the evaluation tools that has to be regularly uh reapproved for the 2425 can I have a motion motion second um Mr FEI yes Miss Street yes Miss Al time yes Mr D Pasqual yes okay for curriculum and program I'm asking the board to approve items A and B safe return plan re approval and the annual approval of the current curriculum and textbooks can I get a motion motion second um roll call Mr feedi yes Miss Street yes Miss alai yes Mr D pusar yes policies and regulations item a through C the annual approval of the current policies and regulations school security security drill statements of assurance and Hib investigation confirmation from May 22nd 2024 executive session a motion please motion second U Mr feedi yes Miss Street yes Miss alai yes and Mr D Pasqual yes under on page8 at the bottom pupils the Child Nutrition program for receiving districts is only one resolution may I have a roll call or I'm sorry a motion motion second thank you Mr feedi um roll call Mr FEI yes Miss Street yes Miss alai yes Mr D Pasqual yes okay under business resolutions business resolutions are a through DD um with approval and discussion so I'm asking the board to approve the minutes as listed on on May 16th and May 22nd the bills and claims uh item D for uh bills and claims list for June 7th and affirm the payroll for May 30th and June 15 um item c as amended for the transfers item D is to um approve the board secretary and treasury reports for May of 2024 capital reserve this is um a perfunctory resolution for capital reserve as well as maintenance Reserve um as listed on page 10 the treasurer appoint the treasurer of school monies Mike HCK to serve for the 2425 school year under contracts The Joint purchasing agreements for Boards of Ed of two or more districts to participate Environmental Services um appoint Carl and Associates as our environmental and for our our right to know training in the amount of $3,900 they integrated Pest Management on the top of page 11 for the 2425 school year um participation with the susex county regional for our joint Transportation agreement our health benefit broker which is our um I'm sorry iMac insurance company our Bergen Municipal Employee fund which is the Bergen Municipal Employee benefit it's it's basically the um participation at in the joint fund for health insurance and other things um our Collective maintenance of Student Records which is policy number 8330 our annual tuition late uh rate for the 2425 is listed our related Services which is our Wellness Rehabilitation for physical therapy at a cost of $95 an hour and evaluations at $300 an hour our employee health benefit plan their new rates for 2425 under Etna item P item Q is our prescription coverage rate as listed for 2425 our dental plan on the bottom of page 13 and the top of page 14 as listed our vision plan for the 2425 as listed on page 14 under administrative and again I apologize for this long agenda um this is kind of prefunc but it has to be done our adhera coordinator which is Don pero supervisor of buildings and grounds our aestus program manager which is Don pero again and our right to new officer which is John pero contracts um the contracts that are attachment H which if you look on the agenda there are it's a long it's probably four or five pages those are contracts that this year we approved as a board but this is an audit um perun type of thing and we're anticipating to use for the following year if we use another vendor it's board approved anyway our added District placement um New Beginnings in in Fairfield for the period of July 1st 2024 through June 30 2025 for tuition charges of $1 166,167 128 um we're approving our ABA therapy um I should say therapist for home instruction um not to exceed 20 hours a week at $618 under administrative we're um approving the petty cash for 2425 as listed for each of the school special Services superintendent's office and board secretary administrator's office and again um a wonderful thing is um Alex Chen that Mr Pasqual just it gave him that wonderful honor um he's I guess did he leave already Yes left um I wanted to thank him but okay um so for his Excellence academic excellence and the last page which is really 16 and 17 which is the annual boiler boiler cleaning for combustion Service Corporation at $842 um and to amend a quote that we received a month ago that we approved but it included tax and that was 13,9 um 13,600 and the purchase of one fireproof file cabinet and the reason why we need this is for our minutes the minutes have to be kept in a fireproof cabinet and we have we don't have one and believe me I don't want to spend this money but we have to um so can I have a motion so to discussion well motion first and then discussion motion discussion so Cathleen wait minute I need a second did you second yes okay on CC and DD the difference between and you and I spoke about this the difference between the two companies appear to be on paper uh the trim around the windows correct the framing so they're charging roughly $3,000 to frame one 6x6 window on right on each side on each side so it's the on one side and the other uh because we're going to be calling for a special meeting in July is it possible to hold off on CC until we speak to the vendor I know you reached out for them I have as well for them to go in a little bit more detail as to why the trim is $3,000 right so what we'll do is under discussion um we'll withdraw item CC okay okay and then this we'll bring it back uh this summer when we decide to have a board meeting okay and in regards to DD I'm assuming the safes that are labeled is what's customary for a school to use in situations like this yes okay that's all thank you Mr feedi yes Miss Street yes Miss alai yes Mr D pasal yes thank you Kathleen anything under their old business I have something under old business um I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Mrs Kirk and Mr sylvestri for putting on the Churchill play aliens attack Fairfield I had the opportunity to attend the things that you're able to do with those children are is amazing nothing short of it they spend hours and hours practicing sometimes till 5 six o and really you know it's some of the kids' first introduction into drama and you know stage Direction and I really think that it's so important and they love it I know my daughter was one of them and she's a shy kid and to see her come out of her shell by doing that was wonderful and I know that's probably true for many kids so I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the time and effort thank you very much anything on their new business okay committee reports just an update on the negotiations committee teacher contract negotiations are still ongoing and as mentioned at the previous meeting we are at an impass negotiations have stalled over time the board is seeking additional time before school to be used for various professional purposes lesson planning grading parent communication and extra help opportunities for students we will continue to keep an open Dialogue on both ends in order to reach a fair and Equitable agreement anything else on their committees Jo Melinda okay public comments on non-agenda items only well can we spin that around for Mrs mayor please on okay good evening um as president of the FAA I have to say that um I was appalled by Mr Santana's email villainizing me to the community earlier this week his misleading email about teachers volunteering is disheartening and divisive as teachers we've dealt with a lot this year understaff classrooms colleagues leaving and Miss preps due to the lack of substitutes just to name a few one has to ask themselves how we teachers can be both the solution and the problem at the same time currently the educators of Fairfield District are at an impass phase of negotiation with the Fairfield Board of Ed which means the Fairfield Board of Ed decided not to agree to a fair and Equitable contract therefore we are unable to work outside of our contractual hours which is not unheard of when negotiations are in this phase until we receive a fair and Equitable contract we will not work beyond our contract hours while we await mediation every other profession gets over time except teachers we are not in the position to volunteer our time given to our to with our current conditions we are all dedicated teachers and should not be demonized for wanting a fair and Equitable contract for ourselves as committed Professionals of the Fairfield District our top priority are our Fairfield students educating them is our calling and for many of us we look to Fairfield as our second home denoting the meaning meaningful relationships we have built with our classroom families we take pride daily in educating and using our expertise to provide the students with a safe and secure learning environment that produces lifelong Learners we are appreciative of those who value us our integrity and our commitment to our calling the faa's only ask is a fair and Equitable contract thank you [Applause] anything anything else under public comments non-agenda items only non-agenda items only this is the last opportunity to speak just please state your name and address Alison miaso 7 drive I'm speaking on behalf of myself and my family and hopefully many of the parents in the audiences as well I understand that our district is in a very challenging position we understand there are Financial constraints that Force us to make very difficult decisions we have an aging building or buildings rather that are causing a need for continued repairs and sometimes when we come through the agenda the items that get presented can give us a bit of pause right just from an optic standpoint today I think we all kind of acknowledged it right $5,000 for a safe feels almost excessive when we're really struggling with the loss of AIDS in the kindergarten classroom or other kind of challenges that would really affect our children's education that said in a negotiation phase we understand that there's a limit to what the board is able to do financially but I speak on behalf of my family and also many community members where we very much support the teachers in their pursuit of a fair and Equitable contract and my concern is that we do not want to be in a position where the teachers feel that they're undervalued where we feel that they take we are taking their time for granted there is often many occurrences both before and after school as well as throughout the classroom day where teachers are going above and beyond what is stated in their contract now they do that as you just heard Miss mayor say because they have a calling they really value and invest their time both during the classroom day as well as in their personal time to really growing our community we have seen throughout the course of this year a continued Exodus of teachers an alarming rate of teachers leaving our district and I'm concerned that if we continue to to promote a culture where they feel that their time is not valued and where they feel that we do not appreciate their efforts we're only going to see that worsen and while in the short term we're making very difficult financial decisions the compounding effect of losing good capable qualified seasoned veteran teachers and then having to invest lots of time and effort in recruiting not always successfully bringing in the best candidates because sometimes we're coming to Market at a point where there's not always a great availability of teachers that may be in the Market at the time and then having to find continued Solutions often looking to substitutes or other kind of compromises is ultimately degrading the quality of the education The Childrens will receive but it's also going to further build upon and create an even more challenged budgetary environment for us as we have to then continue to recruit in new staff now I know the board has expressed and I believe wholeheartedly which is why we've supported you in your pursuit of these positions that you were trying to Advocate also for the betterment of the district I know you also support our teachers and through a negotiation it's a challenging process but I would just like to say today on behalf of my family that we fully support a fair and equital contract and we want to make sure that the teachers understand that from our perspective we are happy to see the board do whatever it takes to ensure that their time is valued and they receive proper compensation and renumeration for the time that is being asked of them thank you very much you can jump in then I will just in response to that I appreciate that um I'm not on negotiations team but obviously I I we talk about what goes on I can tell you I guess there's only certain there's only a certain amount of things I could actually say it is not dollars it's not just say just without go being able to go any further it's not perent dollar as a matter of fact one of the goals of this board is to make sure every teacher on every step is treated fairly for their experience and for what they do here that is that is all I think I can say without yes stretch limit yes and uh to Mrs mayor's Point uh earlier uh we we appreciate uh our teachers and we do want what's fair and Equitable and uh you know unfortunately uh the email that went out the Board of Education was unaware of at the time uh but what I could assure you the board of education did at that time was rally to make sure that the student safety was Paramount and first and foremost that's why the the police department was there in addition to myself to make sure that uh because of the job actions which um took place um even though we are currently under a contract didn't affect the safety of the students so the board of education's first and foremost uh concern are the students and their safety and that's Paramount above anything else and I think from the Board of Education and the general public receiving an email less than 12 hours than a school day I think the safety and concern of the students based upon the job actions the Board of Education acted on because the general public should know that we received the correspondence about this from Mr Santana shortly after the board president sent it so I feel the Board of Education in hours did exactly what it needed to do in short notice to make sure that the student safety was first and foremost and I want to thank everyone that was involved in in assisting with that so I have nothing else on the contract anything thank you come up Nicole SP say your name even though we all know hi Nicole sud 28 Allan Drive um maybe someone could help me understand budgeting and finance because I know we're in contract negotiations it seems like we can't meet the number the teachers want um we got rid of kindergarten AIDS but we've brought in a new hire on the 10th step so if you could explain that to me because I don't know how we have money for that and obviously their steps are going to progress yeah um but we're short in other areas and we're sort of not taking care of what we have already I can answer that quickly so first and foremost I'll touch on the AIDS nothing can be done with the AIDS until the teacher's contract is settled that's first and for formost I'm asking how it's budgeted though like why there's money here but not there well in this particular um applicant it's based upon experience so you're asking why a teacher is hired a maybe I'm not clear how can we afford someone with that experience rather than someone who's at a step two when we can't afford what we have already I they need their steps their degrees they have I get that but why can we afford step 10 but we can't afford what we have that's what I don't understand that's my question yeah yeah I'm not sure either Kathleen jumping here if you don't mind obviously yeah so Kathleen just to clarify we saved money in this particular case as opposed to what Miss sudol's insinuating that it cost us more money I'm not in that's not fair I'm not insinuating I'm asking understand it's not but there in in the budgeting process there's always there's a lot that you don't there there's some and that's why I asked don't no I just want to clarify no I think I think I think we're listen there's always going to be some some room and some um how like different like a breakage where you know we have we in this situation we might have lost money in this situation we might have made money it's it's just it's not enough dollarss and cents to I guess I don't want to step over over dollars to pick up pennies in a budget situation right like they're a bigger fish to fry then if we hired two people at step 10 and let three people go at step step seven however it works right it's just it's not that much to hone in on in my opinion just from what I look at and there always a little bit of a cushion to anticipate teachers leaving I mean what we've had in the past year happens nobody wants to hear this but happens in a lot of districts in some ways you can't blame them but they're G they're also giving up have you ever seen a situation where you have 10 your teachers leaving and it's a lot of times it's I don't blame them for the money Focus that is in their minds and what the districts are going to and what they're paying we can't fix that until we fix our guide our guide's broken and that goes through um negotiations thank you Joe for answering my question respectfully I appreciate it thank you for your comments anyone else on public agenda items non agenda please come up just state your name hi Donna gualter I'm um I live in this town 192 big pieace road and I'm also obviously a teacher here um I'm sorry I wasn't planning on coming up but your comment on the the issue with go having to go to mediation for the contract not having to do with money I'm Maybe I'm Wrong okay you were saying something about the percentage and all but the time that's being asked to come ahead of time for all the things that you want us to do that's being asked without any compensation um we can touch on on certain things I mean I I know we can't get into details but I just wanted it said here so there's certain things that the Board of Education feels is uh needs to be corrected and in some p particular schools we have teachers walking in with the students the same time the students are and these are things that we've brought up in the past that's our contract we we understand that and that's why we we get that we get that but during the negotiations contract I've been told several times by members of it because of morale it's not at the right time to negotiate these things well from a board standpoint it's the only time because it's a contract we're going to commit to for three to five years so we can't base our decisions on the membership that is meeting with us saying listen morale is bad it's not a good time to ask for these things because from a board standpoint it's the only time it's negotiation contract time but how can you say that I'm sorry I didn't mean to cut you off course all right how can you say that it's the right time to ask for more time for no money so I I think I'm a little yeah I here's here's can I just I'm just trying to formulate a thought process here without breaking any laws or whatever whatever I'm doing wrong up here um if I have a job from 9: to 5 I can't do it accurately and the right way if I show up at nine o'clock now you're following your contract you're following your contract a lot of these teachers if school starts at 8:30 they're there at 8:00 already oh I'm one of them right so I I still don't understand it and I'm not a teacher my wife's not a teacher I don't know how to run a school all that kind of stuff I just don't understand if it if it's X number of time that doesn't bring you if you normally get there at 8:00 and now this brings you to 7:30 in the morning totally totally get it you're already there but I don't have to be there at 8 o'clock so that that's a technicality okay teachers everything that's technicality everything no no I I want to be Coop they're the teachers though they're the assets of the the only assets we really have the yeah thank you for your comments apprciate and I appreciate you listening it was just that I wanted to make that know when you said it had nothing to do with money yeah and I can assure you thank you for your time but I could assure you that even as recent as executive we are working to come up what's fair and Equitable for all so just because we're at an inass now doesn't mean that we're going to be in the future of course yeah it will get rectified yes it has to I have faith in the teachers of this district and the teachers that have been educating our children that that we will present something that's that both parties fear feel is fair and in the best interest of the children without going into the major priority of course thank you for your time anyone else public comments non-agenda items so um maybe one quick comment sorry have to Alice um maybe one quick comment and then one question so um guess my comment is that I hear your point Joe about there's a contractual start time and then there's your own personal decision and when you want to present yourself and make yourself ready for the day which is everyone's individual discretion but when it then becomes part of a contract negotiation and you're now requiring an allotment of time that then accumulates over the course of a week or month a year it does actually translate into hours if they're not being compensated that is a tangible impact to teacher so that's my point of view um I'm also not an educator I work in finance and trust me there's no such thing as ninet to five in the job that I do but I also recognize um how it is perceived on both parties so I just want to share that as a comment and then my question which does relate is when I heard earlier in the discussion the type of activities that were being requested during that additional time the one thing that was noticeably absent from that was potential Duty assignments that might be for any need to support uh drop off process at either schools and I know that that is a looming topic I'm not going to insult you by asking do you have any updates because I'm well aware that there's a lot of complex um things that are going into factoring and how the start of school is going to operate but can you please clarify if there's an expectation that the teachers will also be supporting duties in the morning for extended drop off processes due to the lack of busing well uh I I guess what's fair and the only proper way to answer that is we won't know what that is going to look like until it happens now I could tell you that I had the opportunity to meet with the chief of police uh a couple weeks ago for shortterm for short-term Solutions and long-term Solutions we are looking at uh different things in both schools to make the drop off and pickup situation a little bit quicker it's obviously we can't discuss exactly what we're looking into because it's going to take some time um but we do have the support of the police department uh in the short term to figure out you know what's the safest way to get the kids in school you know out of the cars and in the cars so we are working uh on that and we will continue to update you when we know what um what the plan is going to be for September we've we've done the calculations we know the enrollment in Tiny Treasures we know how many students are going to be busted we have an idea on how many students are going to be dropped off um we do hear from a lot of the parents that there's going to be a lot of car pulling so we're expecting a uh an increase in cars but we really won't know until the day of exactly you what that's going to look like so all we can do is plan accordingly and go from there and I appreciate that a lot of effort is being spended to find the best Solutions and perhaps multiple Solutions because it might need to evolve with the reality of the situation do you anticipate when the community will be informed particularly if there's any potential change in the start time of school is that something that's going to be like a late August announcement in advance of school do you have any kind of view of by August yeah we're going to give everyone you know ample time to prepare uh we extended the enrollment uh for Tiny Treasures because there was a a lot of people that initially said they were interested but unfortunately it the numbers are very similar to where they were uh this current year so we don't see a big influx of people utilizing that before after care service so that takes uh puts us in a position where we have to account for more cars obviously and that's one of the meetings uh that we recently had with the police department because obviously safety is their number one concern as well and sorry I know feel I don't mean to be going back and forth but one additional clarifying question is part of those discussions is there any contemplation of crossing guards or support particularly where we have children that are crossing over the overpasses over the major so I have uh again met with uh Chief mana and they are evaluating the situations now this year on where the crosswalks are being utilized and uh they will come up with the plan and and put them where they are needed thank you thank you I just have one uh thing to maybe clarify or add to it the fact that we have teachers who are coming in or being asked to come in early to help with the the bus duty is making um which allows the children to come in earlier is making the teachers who are coming in early look like they're walking in with the students when they are not they're actually there early but the day doesn't start till 8:35 so the fact that we are allowing the students to come in earlier is misleading to the parents when just to clarify that I mean you don't need to be there an hour before school to be ready for your day you could be there 15 20 minutes early and that time is what teachers are doing so if they are walking with the students at 8:20 then that allows them to come in and get ready for their day just want to make sure that that part is clarified thank you thank you very much anyone else on public comments non- agenda items just state your name and address hi my name is Stacy Scalia 22 stag Trail I just kind of wanted to say from a parents perspective that this year there's been a it feels to the children like there's been a lot of loss there's been a bunch of teachers that have left um and and that does impact the kids right they come home and they're saying oh this person isn't here anymore or this person left and they do hear things oh they got a job somewhere else there's somewhere else that pays more money um and so as a parent I'm trying to explain this to them and I'm you know talking to them about how maybe you know we'll see the teacher somewhere else or maybe we'll keep in touch um I I don't work in education but I do run a business and I have a team um and I work really hard to Foster the culture right you see my face all the time I'm never asking my staff to do jobs that I never would do um and that that culture that feeling that you get when you walk into my business starts at the top and you know my concern is that there needs to be an accountability starting at the top that promotes that culture right it's not it's they Foster their culture between each other but it starts with the leaders and so we as Leaders um me leading my household or the business that I work in you know I put that time in to make sure that um doing things not only legally that I have to do but also that they know that they're sort of in a safe space and that that they are then able to do their jobs efficiently effectively that they have the tools that we need I mean one of the things at the starting of this school year that I know that the teachers that had my children were asking for things like like the nurse was asking for Band-Aid donations um you know that set the school year tone to me as a parent like okay they're in triage mode how do I as a parent help them and then my kids are coming home and these people are leaving like we really need to Rally As Leaders to make sure you know we're not sending out an email that's um you know trying to put one fire out while creating another fire that this person's in pinning on that person like we need to come together and be strong because if we're not that no no one's going to stay in this District it's it's really embarrassing to say that I'm from Fairfield right now because a lot of districts locally are like everyone hears about this stuff I I just think as Leaders everyone needs to get on the same page and Stand United and strong to work for the teachers who then work for the children because that's why they're here thank you thank you anyone else public comments non- agenda items all right we'll close that portion before we go on to our next meeting I would just like to take a minute to thank Dr selli unfortunately she's not feeling well that's why she's not here tonight but we' like to say with great gratitude a plaque that we will present to her in the board office to Dr Susan Celli in honor and with deep appreciation for your outstanding leadership an exemplary commitment to the education of the children of the Fairfield School District 2013 1 to 2024 presented by the Fairfield school district and the Fairfield Board of Education June 13 2024 next meeting be resolved that the next meeting will be held in person August 22nd 2024 public wor section beginning at 6:00 p.m. followed by executive session with public session resuming at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the Fairfield Municipal Building motion yes yes yes yes [Music]