to the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act before board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published on January 11th 2024 and posted on the district website at www.foe.com published in the board's designated online media Outlet newspaper the record of the Star Ledger filed with the clerk of the bur courtly and mail to all persons if any who have requested said notice please be advised this meeting is being recorded and may be broadcasted on local TV and online at future date the open public meeting act allows for remote participation at board meetings and defines meeting and in a gathering with aoral or by means of communication equipment which is attended by or open to all members of the public body held with be intent on the part of the members of the body present to discuss or act as a unit upon a specific public business of that body roll call please Mrs Byers Kang here miss colback here miss Curry is absent Mr Knight here Mrs kotang here Mr Lopez is absent Miss morel yeah Mr Rabino here Mrs RoR here the board convened executive session at 6:30 pm to discuss legal personnel and other confidential matters Dr Kravitz will you begin by sharing the superintendent report good evening everyone and thank you for coming out this evening to the Board of Education meeting as we all know the end of school has arrived and we're very happy that this is our chance to rebuild and start and prepare for the upcoming school year uh we still have some openings I'm very proud to say that this morning I was informed that our music department has someone who will be meading the the band next year uh they agreed to the so we just wait for the next board meeting on of them but as of today we were told the person accepted the position there are nine cases of HIV of which three were founded and we have one administrative change which is 11p please note the uh the compensation should be $55 not $40 in for game workers um other than that I thank everybody for a successful year we have a lot of great things happening in our district more things to come step by step it's a long process and I believe that Taylor also like to speak M RoR M um so before we move on we do have a walk-in resolution it is 17p and it reads therefore be it resolved the fort Le Board of Education approves the board's evaluation of the superintendent of schools Robert L travitz Ed MBA that is 17p thank you madam president um just board members and members of the public just in order to uh attempt to manage expectations um we see a lot of members of the public in attendance who were here at the last meeting who we anticipate uh May exercise their right to make public comments uh during the alloted time you have every right to do that however please please note that the board cannot and will not be able to respond to any comments or questions you ask um that may relate to a certain Personnel matter and I'll put coren s the board cannot respond to Personnel matters due to privacy of those individual employees who have rights pursuance the state and federal law as well as to protect the obligation of the board um members and the entity of the board education so again you can say what you want within certain limits but please be mindful the board cannot [Music] uh are there any board members who have many [Music] reports hello yes okay um hi I have a committee report for the building and grounds committee so we met on Monday June 10th uh at 3:45 until 4:45 um I was in attendance my name is Tanya bers Kang along with Mike Rino Doug Lopez Lester Taylor Dr Kravitz andina misseri and what we discussed was um to go into an shared service agreement for the little National Field uh with the town of Fort Lee that's a a long range facilities plan and um Lester Taylor will be working with us to make sure that everything is taken care of um and we'll go through the process the county first has to look at it and uh the other thing we just discussed that excuse me at that meeting was the assessment for the hbac for the is school thank you so Friday I had a Personnel committee meeting um the committee uh consists of Amy Kang D loopez Chris R myself Dr kit m veger m missies uh we discussed Personnel issues it was a very productive informative uh meeting and we will be having uh another personel committee meeting um sometime mid July so also last week the policy committee met um it reviewed just briefly the cooperation with law enforcement policy 9320 and some related policies um also a member of the committee which is comprised of me holly Morel Amy kotang and president Christen RoR requested that the committee discuss um remote public participation and public participation at meetings um there was um varying views expressed on changes to those policies um I think a majority of the committee was in favor of um tightening them up and there were a number of options discussed and I believe the administration is looking at uh drafting some changes that will appear on a future agenda and I'm sure there will be um some robust discussion of the changes all right so does anyone have um any board members have questions or comments on tonight's agenda or their topics hi yes I have a question on um 3p there's one name on 3p that um Leandro Perez um transferring from the fort Le High School to the Fort Lee um LSC the Middle School um so LeAndre Perez um is a is the high school custodian um the main worker there and to transfer him out of that position um I'm wondering is that a voluntary uh transfer if I may um board members you have questions about person no items they should be addressed in Clos executive session um um a I don't know if the employee was RIS um but even if they were rised unless the employee uh authorized a discussion about their individual employment in public it has to be in closed session okay thank you I thought if their name was on here that you could ask about it it should be in closed session okay and then also just as a general proposition uh transfers don't have to be voluntary the superintendent has the prerogative to recommend to the board the assignment of a staff member to any position within their certification um with it be a teaching staff member administrator or facility employee so I have a question on 29 f it is um the resolution where at the end of the school year we transfer um money into our capital reserve I understand we won't know the precise amount until the audit is concluded in October but do we have some order of magnitude as to what we'll be transferring into our Reserve account at this point I don't we don't even have the um the award yet for the extraordinary Aid and that's one of the revenues that we have to acrw for June 30th I'm hoping by mid July to have the number because we haven't even closed out the month of June yet so by mid July the July 15th um not yeah July 15th meeting I should have an answer for you by then okay thank you do any other board members have questions or comments on the agenda or any other topic okay I have a motion to open the floor to the public second motion Rino second Kath all in favor any oppose or extensions okay we will hear first from members of the public physically located in the cafetorium then we will take questions and comments from those participating remotely participants are limited to 3 minutes in which to make their statement for remote public participants please select the raised hand button Mr rerio will recognize each Community member in order that you raise your hand please then unmute your microphone state your name and address for the record and begin your comments All comments are limited to 3 minutes there anyone in the audience who like to speak please just remember to state your name and address for the record good evening can you hear me yes good thing I'm short that's where the might is okay uh good evening my name is Annabella one Executive Drive mom of a Rising High School senior in the district and a crowd band booster um last month myself and three other band booster officers spoke at this meeting to express our concerns and offer our support for the hiring of a high school band teacher whose role also serves as the band director of our beloved marging Band program um delighted surprised and delighted to hear Dr krait's update that uh if I heard correctly there is a high school music teacher that did accept um because just want to make sure I heard correctly because we were made aware that at this late stage in the game there was no one hired nor were there any more candidates in the pipeline so um that's correct there's someone who did accept today okay wonderful that's that's wonderful [Applause] [Music] and um would you be able to just confirm when we could expect to see that on the next agenda: 15th will be on the agenda wonderful thank you so much we're very happy about that I was told this morning at 9:01 so miraculously I you know administrator came to me and said they said yes said great now that's off the checklist that's amazing news thank you hello um also short so thank you um Kim wman Won 157 Kensington Drive for Le um did also speak on May 20th at the board event meeting I'm back and obviously we all thought uh we were coming to talk about something different um about the need for band director and it's wonderful news that you um hired somebody they' accept it um the only other thing I just want to mention is at this time um we still don't have music we still don't have drills we still don't have an assistant fan director we are still short staff understanding that on May or you sorry July ju 15th it's going to be inserted into the um agenda which is fantastic but I can't emphasize enough like just we're ready to go the band's ready we have 90 plus band members ready to start practicing anything that anyone here in this room and anyone on the phone can do to try to expedite the process and try and sort of getting approvals for us to fully stop up so we can be ready to roll by you know whatever mid um sooner than later you know July would be fantastic I am meeting with Mr tomorrow morning now that we have someone I come up with a ke plan on how to make that happen so even if we have to we can't approve them legally until they're on a board agenda but the intent is to start to put everything in motion yes um I guarantee any one of us in the room uh banned officers we will meet with you we are here to support there's no limit that we will take to help the band so anything we can do to help appreciate it very much thank you hi um 15th Street I was here um the last meeting no two meetings before to speak about a concern I'm very happy to hear the news and then like Kim said um still concern about time wise we are supposed to have the first practice in the second week of July and then we are supposed to have like assistant director um other staff de staff like and then we as a parents we going to do anything to support the keep the program thank you thank you good evening everyone uh my name is faw uh 1415 hon Avenue for Le um me and many other parents and student were here on May 22nd I appreciate the board member and the administration listen to our concern and we receive a a very happy news that um behind me there are a lot of our high school student parents we all come for the same purpose um we appreciate that everyone spe of the process and uh with the summer coming many student already planned out their summer schedule including the moning band practice so at this point I just want to express our uh gratitude to everyone here um uh everyone in the event Administration parents and students thank you thank you [Applause] smel Bergman 163a old palate road I was also here at the last meeting to express my concern over a lesson given in forly high school by Mr walowitz and Mr balagu and what I really like to do this evening is to focus on students education is about students what I'd like to ask you the Board of Education to do is to think of the Jewish students that were in the room Mr Bag when Mr wtz and Mrs bagum gave their presentation in which they essentially said it's okay to hate Jews if their zionists that when Hamas goes and kills innocent Israeli civilians it's not terrorism it's just a form of resistance and that when they did so on October 7th it's sort of excusable because they had broken out of their confines and it was simp another clash between Israelis and Palestinians rather than a prrum inflicted upon the Israeli public by terrorists and i' ask you to think what a Jewish student would think in that room when they're told to hand in their cell phones and told that they can either leave the classroom or listen to this sort of rhetoric and how does it look how would it look if those students did indeed walk out of the class classroom before the lesson what impression would to make on their classmates in what way does that single them out as the zionists in the room now if you would imagine heaven forbid that a similar lesson would be given defending the conduct of the k k clut Clan saying that they're not some sort of racist organization they're not as bad as you thought and then if students of color were pressured to walk walk out of the room would we let that slide and of course we wouldn't and nor should we so why should we let a similar lesson about Hamas which discriminates against Jewish students livee without saying anything but we haven't heard from the board of what their opinion was about this lesson we haven't heard any statements any condemnations and we don't know what will happen to prevent this from happening again in the future or whether there will be any significant consequences to the instructors responsible for this lesson and I know it's not easy to make a decision in this circumstance but the courageous decision is the decision you should make and so our eyes are all on you and we hope that you'll make the correct decision the decision that will ensure that any student who walks into a forly classroom will not feel discriminated against because of their race or the religion and that will ensure that they all receive the proper education that they should I hope that you will take my word [Music] [Applause] seriously hello my name is uh Daniel live in forly met North I just wanted to take a moment to address directly the two board members that decided to vote no on 11p at the last meeting I feel as though there's a much needed reminder that you were voted in to ensure that the district avoid unnecessary lawsuits at the cost of our tax dollars and to ensure that the district is able to retain the necessary staff to be a viable and enticing education option for families considering investing in forly I am extremely critical of your continued willingness to lean into Scandal and drama to the detriment of the district and its ability to hire talented and skilled Educators in the future standing and the plotting to an enticed and disregulated crowd is inflammatory Unbecoming and dangerous the lack of leadership qualities with regards to deescalation strategies are striking and are indicative of how little you are deserving of the leadership positions you take advantage of and it becomes more and more apparent with each controversy in which you seemingly the light and being the loudest voice get it together hi I'm going to have to settle I'm sorry good evening my name is jenevie Callahan I reside at 100 Avenue E and I live in loai New Jersey I am a current employee of the Fort Lee Public Schools I was hired here in 2009 I was blessed to have been chosen by Rosemary jock M she brought me in since I was here I cannot thank you all enough for the incredible wonderful enriching moments I have had with your students I'm sorry your children my students I can't wait to see will Sammy do I need to say her I took a medical leave of absence on February 9th of this year due to mental stress and anxiety since I have left I have popped in to your meetings exactly three times I lie twice the first the first video I saw was of a student super the fortly public schools for an event that happened in seventh grade heartbroken is what I was the next set of videos that I actually popped in to to see you all was the um the policies with the uh whether or not parents can be informed about certain situations when it comes to communication between students and parents on June 4th on June 4th meeting I watched about as long as I could I I have worked so hard to create a climate in my classroom where the things that are going on behind me do not happen we all must be ashamed [Applause] [Music] from Fort Lee first of all i' like to commend the board members that have passionately expressed their dismay and their discusted for the two teachers that have allowed the festering of hate the classrooms of Fortland New Jersey high schools I know that many people would like this episode to go away it's much easier to have it disappear we all want problems to disappear but when we don't take the proper stand we are responsible for the next ones that happen so I know that your jobs here is to make things look smooth and peaceful and loving because we do want a loving environment however standing up to hate all types of hate is the primary responsibility of every human being I'm insulted I'm hurt that since this episode has been brought to light there has been no cond condemnation whatsoever from the board of directors of Education or from Principal vice principal I don't know who fully is responsible for this tragedy who allowed who approved the subject to be discussed but it's irrelevant they'll be taken care of either by you or by the almighty God but you as individual human beings people that were trusted to protect our children should for the record for the history should at least know that their leaders condemned hatred in the classroom and we've been waiting to hear from the Board of Education from anyone who's in position of power superintendent some letter that says hate in our classrooms will not be tolerated I've not seen that from the mayor and Council I haven't heard it from anyone here it's not enough to make these teachers go away it's a position to take as the leaders of our education we'll be waiting and watching thank you [Music] [Applause] Bravo Mr rero yes Keith Goselin you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Keith Goselin hi everybody um Keith golin 2185 Le Mo Avenue uh Fort Lee uh I am here good evening everybody just to um kind of announce that we our elections are ending this week for the special education parents Advisory Group um and to alert parents of students with 504 plans that there was a little bit of a glitch but you were sent um the election ballot last week and that's why we extended the voting um till L Thursday so uh parents who have ch or students with the IEPs or 504 plans please do um check your messenger or your emails and vote um and you can also reach out to me directly if you have any trouble um as some people have been doing so thank you all very much have a good night Margarita voder you've been promoted to panelist please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes uh hello everyone uh my name is Margarita voder I live at five Victoria uh place um so I Was preparing to say and and mayor conov actually said exactly what I wanted to say no wonder he's my rabie but couple things I want to say first of all regarding the last meeting I believe every person has to have three minutes without interruptions I agree on that but at the same time open support to Hamas which is terrorist organization uh declared by United States should not be allowed there should be no allow I don't understand why those calls to openly supporting Hamas in bashing United States were allowed last time uh second it was a a little strange situation both of the members voted by the end to allow for the teacher to resign instead of firing here so two members expressed their views nobody else when they voted said anything and later when there was some kind of you know post on Facebook some members you know or their friends said they could not comment because investigation is still in progress so I don't understand why they were forced to what if the investigation was still in progress they had to to explain their vot they had to have a right to explain their vot and yes the third thing I totally agree with mayor kov we have not heard from the V uh from the principles of the school from the board from the superintendent from the town anything there are several weeks we have not heard that you know our school district condemned Hamas propaganda in our school we are getting emails when someone smoked in the bsro we getting EMS when someone use nwork we heard nothing not from the town not from the mayor actually last time there was Z Z representation by the mayor of for Lee on the board meeting when there was a sex education meeting there was a representation we haven't heard from the superintendent we haven't heard from the board except uh Paula wanted to say how close you know she takes it and and and that she read all the email and it's very Bing and and and here and Casey said that you know that they could not vote for letting this teacher just going so I don't understand it was correct process maybe the lawyer or the superintendent can explain why they had to vote but they could not comment because if the investigation is still in process why there was a vote and also if superintendent can also answer why we hadn't have anything heard Jewish Community haven't heard anything let's let's now imagine African-American Community the same hate thing happened why haven't we heard anything from them I want to hear from Mr kravit thank you Andrew you've been promoted to panelists please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Andrew hi Andrew Gman 326 Bridge Plaza North Fort Le New Jersey U I have a couple questions um I see on tonight's resolution there is the resignation of Dana Davis director of special services so I have a couple questions number one will somebody be appointed interm acting in that position in that position also number two is um Can a member a Executive Board member actually of CPAC be on the committee the hiring committee or one of the panels for that um interview process also last month on the uh Ved agenda the Ved approved a bunch of sub substitute teachers are any of those substitute teachers um certified in special education and also what is the plan if a teacher in special ucation to go six for you know multiple weeks there's nobody uh certified thank you so on the agenda is Miss Davis who did resign we have an advertisement in place and we already have candidates and we will be starting the interview process she uh any individual who resigns from a post has to give us a certain amount of time which allows us the the ability to um replace them so we should make de by the beginning of the year if not sooner as far as substitutes I do not know the answer to that question of which substitutes have licenses to teach sometimes we have had substitutes who don't want to teach just want to be substitutes and as far as um the plan when a teacher is absent if it is a long-term replacement they go under a board agenda they're paid accordingly as opposed to a daily rate for substitutes that are Replacements on a on a one day per per DM rate um and as far as tag there's a board policy regarding hiring any director or above there are Board of Education members who would sit as advisers on the um the hiring committee they're not to speak but they can observe as we go through that process for anyone who is an administrator I supervisor above Hassan you've been promoted to panelists please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please please state your name and address for the record you have 3 minutes hi good evening [Music] um Board of Education I think you're having some audio problems can you possibly get closer hi can you hear me sorry that's better um let me start by saying it's say shame that some of your some of the audience needed to mention the circus that happened on June 4th um where the audience overtook the stage I mean they got their feelings out congratul but I do want to say to the board members that you have the patience of saints I applaud each and every one of you for tolerating the whole entire sa um I would like to move on to more important things in life importantly I want to talk about the the teachers and the instruction um for th for my child like he has um he's in certain classes and I I'm requesting that the teachers be more informed or maybe have signs of reading certificates Willingham based I think that that's what that is what is really needed um and that's it that's all I have to ask for today so much a Kesha you've been promoted to panelists please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes hello do you hear me yes do you hear and see me okay thank you very much for allowing me to speak my name is T and I am at 484 Main Street um last time I was cut off um I demanded an email with answer why my speech was cut off i' would like to know because I'd like to know the rules and the regulations so I don't repeat I don't repeat myself doing running the same spiral again now tonight I want to enforce for the fortly board uh to keep maintaining zero comments on what has happened to that classroom with high school teachers until the investigations take place and they are completely ended and field and if there is any Court rulings uh please maintain zero comments until the rule I mean the court rules as far as for the Hamas um I am also a Muslim but Hamas is a terrorist organization and um not because um he she or someone says so but because it is so and a lot of Muslims are not agreeing with um protecting Hamas we uh condemn their actions they are a terrorist organization they are going against the innocent people I don't want my daughter or anyone to hate someone just because they're Jew um absolutely not would hate someone if they were a pervert or they were a thief but not because they're Jew as far as for the Zionism that's also a terrorist Elite that has Ru three qus of our planet and has infiltrated Hamas and operates Hamas um out of this I would like to um have some other comments about our schools if you can um add flow water filter stations in every corner in our um schools also I had an email that the kids had a party and they had some fried food as a healthc care professional I worry because uh fried foods causes obesity and and cancer if you can substitute that from um with other healthy alternatives I would appreciate and um in the future I suggest strongly suggest that teachers walk around with body War cameras and um they go and have their speeches and their activities in are other areas that are cameras so that we won't have any incidents I have asked for that to happen in healthcare too um and everywhere where um people work in public Services um also the parents must have access to those C and um for the board members they should keep um open line of communications with people at all times and also the last but not least I have asked for adjustable chairs and adjustable desks for our students and children in schools and I thank you very much and I yield my time to the other parents Howard Lipoff you've been promoted to panelists please unmute your microphone and feel free to share your video please state your name and address for the record you have three minutes Howard Li off okay one moment I'm trying to start my video it's not starting there I am thank you very much I'm Howard Lipoff I'm The Treasure of the Fort Lee Education Association I teach at the lsf Cole intermediate school I guess I don't teach now the school year is over but normally I teach there um I live at 161 Main Street in Little Falls just um I'll try and be very brief uh looking at the agenda where when I saw it over the weekend I was very saddened to see uh Diana Davis uh leaving uh uh most flea members or all flea members I've talked to over the years uh I don't think there's been exception have had a uh good relationship a very good relationship uh with Diana Davis uh we will miss her I also saw Dina misseri on the list um of those leaving I I uh I think the members of flee uh we all wish her the best in her future endeavors um but perhaps the most sad I was was to see Mrs benali um uh leaving the district she's one of our AIDS who worked very closely with the um special ed students at the Intermediate School uh I know firsthand she did an excellent job our AIDS are some of the people who work closest with the special Edge students I think this is a big problem in uh our district in getting quality people in and keeping them stay H you froze on us she was in our district for five years better pay I think you have a poor connection Howard and um and I freeze here did you hear what I said or I we missed the last 30 seconds okay let me just say Mrs benali was a wonderful Aid and I better benefit better benefits better pay and I'm sorry something's wrong with my internet should I repeat my last few words uh know [Music] I was talking about the pay they he better pay if we're going better benefits if we're all right Howard thank you I think we got your [Applause] message there are no more raised hands all right may I have a motion to close the floor to the public second Morel all in favor any oppos or exstension okay moving on to resolution I have a motion to items 1 through 2 motion Mor call Mrs firers Ken yes Mrs kbak yes Mr Knight yes Mrs kotang yes M Mor yes Mr Rabino yes Mrs RoR yes May have a motion to approve item 1 CR through 2 crur motion motion morale second roll call please Mrs BOS Kang yes Mrs kach yes Mr Knight yes Mrs Kang yes M moral yes Mr Rino yes Mrs RoR yes I have a motion to approve items 1 F through 29 motion second motion Morel second Rino roll call please Mrs buers K yes M colback yes Mr knight uh no on 21f yes yes okay Mrs Kang um yes on all 19 there's no attachment to those so I on M Morel yes Mr Rabino yes Mrs RoR yes we have a motion to approve items 1 p through 10 p 11 P as amended by Dr krabit most 12 12 p through 16p and Walkin item 17 P motion second motion morale second cang roll call please Mrs firers Kang Yes except for on 3p I vote no to should I say the name or which one that you voted one name I vote no to one name one name it's listed so yes Leandro Perez okay everything else okay yes yes yes Miss Kat yes Mr knight uh yes all the special than to Mrs Kang um yes to all um special thanks to dinina very very special thanks to you um and also um to Mr um is taking of Miss moral um yes to all um on 3p name I'm voting no one that's Jose okay and we going to miss youa okay Mr Rino yes exception of forz on 3p okay and then Mrs RAR yes okay is there any old business new business just conrat we have a motion to adjourn motion morale secondino all in favor oppos thank you