for the board all for three years Mr amaroso received 3,776 votes Mrs spieler received 3,724 votes Mrs Lambert received 3511 votes Mr howcott received 3,410 votes Mrs thomman received 3,2 34 votes Mrs Dumont received 3,152 votes Mr Cony 1,292 votes and there were 55 writings with that we will do the um oath of office I'll come out in the middle and we'll do this in alphabetical order so Mr [Music] amaroso walk over there do you want to like do it is it working or not it is working now yeah you want to hold that sure welcome back I Michael Amoroso do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey I'm Michael maroso do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the government's Lish in the United States and this state under the authority of the people so help me God and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and this state under the authority of the people so help me God I Michael Amoroso do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of a member of a board of education I Michael amaroso do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of a board of education and I will Faithfully partially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me guide furthermore I affirm and declare that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs1 1941 nor am I disqualified due to a conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 furthermore I affirm and declare that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs19 4-1 nor am I disqualified due to a conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 welcome back Mr Amarosa thank you Mrs Lambert I'm sorry should the floor okay hold hold it in the middle okay I'm Michelle Lambert do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey I'm Michelle Lambert do Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and I will swear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and the state under the authority of the people so help me God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the governments established in the United States and this state under the authority of the people so help me God I'm Michelle Lambert you solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of a board of education I'm Michelle Lambert to solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of a board of education and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God furthermore iirm and declare that I'm not disqualified as a voter pursuant to rs1 1941 nor am I disqualified due to a conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 furthermore I affirm and declare that I am not disqualified as a voter pursu to rs19 4-1 nor am I disqualified due to a conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 welcome back to the board of AD Mrs Lambert thank you ready all right Comm SP spieler you Solly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey I Carmela SP spieler do solemnly swear that I will support the the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the government's established in the United States and this state under the authority of the people so help me God and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the government established in the United States and this state under the authority of the people so help me God iar spieler do Solly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by law for the office of member of a Board of Education I do I Carmela spieler do solemnly swear that I possess the qualifications prescribed by the law for the office of member of the Board of Education and that I will faithfully and partially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of that office according to the best of my ability so help me God furthermore I have firm and declare that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuing to rs9 19 4-1 nor am I disqualified due to a conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 furthermore I affirm and declare that I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to RS 19 4-1 nor am I disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense listed in njsa 18a 12-1 welcome to the board of [Music] thank you very much thank [Music] you all right at this point in time I will take a roll call for the board Mr Amoroso pres Mrs bran pres Mrs calino here Mr gulo here Mrs Lambert here Mrs O Sullivan pres Mrs spieler here Mrs vendi here Mr Williams here right all are present we have a quorum all right my last task for this evening before I return to my normal chair is for to hold the office of election for the office of president for the Board of Ed just remind everyone the rules they're governed by uh bylaw 152 and what will happen is once I open the floor um you can nominate someone else you can nominate yourself you do not require a second for the nomination once there are no further nominations and we close the floor then we will go and we'll take a roll call vote if there's more than one nomination we vote in order that people were nominated does make sense all right I will open the floor at this time for nominations for office of president for the Board of Ed I would like to nominate Michael amaroso all right or are there any other nominations all right hearing none I will close the floor and I'll take a roll call vote for Mr Amoroso for president for the Board of Ed Mr amaroso yes Mrs bran yes Mrs coino yes Mr gulo yes Mrs Lambert yes Mrs O Sullivan yes Mrs spieler yes Mrs V toi yes Mr Williams OB all right congratulations thank you I will move all my stuff do I need to where heting want I got you have your seat back Bob thank you good job Bob yep switch the name please best board present in ever Bob can I keep the secret laptop oh yeah you can have that keep that all right okay I'd like to uh open the floor for nominations for vice president I would like to V I would like to nominate Michelle Lambert for vice president okay do we have any other nominations for vice president seeing none like to take a roll call Mrs bran yes Mrs coino yes Mr gulo yes Mrs Lambert yes Miss o suvan yes Mrs spieler yes Mrs Veni yes Mr Williams yes Mr Amoroso yes congratulations Mr Lambert excellent thank you Bob okay um the next thing is going to be um the Board of Education Code of Ethics um I think I will read the code of ethics very quickly as a good reminder and then we could uh make a motion to move wants to make a motion to move it but I'm going to read the code of ethics first a I will uphold and enforce all laws state board rules and regulations and court orders pertaining to schools desired changes should be brought about only through legal and ethical procedures B I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools which meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability race Creed sex or social standing C I will confine my board action to policymaking planning and appraisal and I will help to frame policies and plans only after the board has consulted those who will be affected by them D I will carry out my responsibility not to administer the schools but together with my fellow board members to see that they are well-run E I will recognize that Authority rests with the Board of Education and will make no personal promises nor take any private action which may compromise the board F I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups or to use the schools to gain P for personal gain for the gain of friends G I will hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which if disclosed would needlessly injure indivual uals or the schools but in all other matters I will provide accurate information and in concert with my fellow board members interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community for its schools h i will vote to appoint the best qualified Personnel available after consideration of the recommendations of the chief administrative officer I I will support and protect School Personnel in proper performance of their duties and finally I will refer all complaints to the chief administrative officer and will act on such complaints at public meetings only after failure of an administrative solution so I read that only to just reinforce our roles and responsibilities um for new members and just for all of us just to refresh ourselves because we don't often read our code of ethics and I think that it's a good thing to do once a year just to kind of remind ourselves why we're here what our Duties are um so I guess with that do we vote on that first in a second just the first okay can I get a motion to move it a second okay you want a roll call on that a roll call second uh Mrs bran yes Mrs coino yes Mr gulo yes M uh Mrs ulvin yes Mrs spieler yes Mrs Veni yes Mr Williams Mrs Lambert yes Mr Amoroso yes motion carries thank you um so Bob has sent out the meeting schedule I went over it I looked at it with my own personal calendar I hope all the board members have seen it and looked at it but I'd like somebody uh to make a motion to adopt our meeting schedule for 2024 move do I have a second second all those in favor say I I opposed okay motion carries okay um board reports and actions um I will read this and then I'll just ask for somebody to move it um the superintendent recommends all board members possess the qualifications required by law and shall be bound by the provisions of the school ethics act two the superintendent recommends approval of name stamps for the Board of Education president and superintendent on all checks to vendors all payroll checks and all agency accounts for 2024 three the superintendent recommends approval of checks generated by the custodial system and with pre-signed signatures of the board president superintendent and business administrator board secretary for 2024 four the superintendent recommends the appointment of Elena O Sullivan as the district's representative to the mammoth ocean Educational Services Commission for 2024 five the superintendent recommends the appointment of Jeff Williams as the district's representative to the mammoth County School Board Association legislative committee for 2024 six the superintendent recommends the appointment of Carrie vendi as the district's delegate to the New Jersey school board's delegate assembly for 2024 seven the superintendent recommends the appointment of Mary calino as the district's liaison to the Freehold Municipal Alliance to prevent substance abuse for 2024 eight the superintendent recommends the appointment of Diane bretow assistant superintendent as the district's school safety specialist nine the superintendent recommends approval of the appointment of Robert D business administrator as board secretary as the safety and health design as the custodian of records and as the public agency compliance officer for 2024 10 the superintendent recommends approval of the appointment of Robert M DEA business administrator as board secretary for the year 2024 11 the superintendent recommends approval of the appointment of Allison Williams as assistant board secretary for the year 2024 further it is recommended that Robert Dita business administrator be authorized to award contracts on behalf of the friot Tanta Board of Education that are in the aggregate less than 15% of the bid threshold currently $6,600 without soliciting competitive quotations and to seek competitive quotations when applicable and practicable and award contracts on behalf of the freeold Township Board of Education when contracts in the aggregate exceed 15% of the bid threshold but are less than the bid threshold of $44,000 so that motion can I get a someone to move that in a second second do we a roll call on that one all right all those in favor I I I opposed okay eyes have it okay so we got that I guess I should move number two public notice and number three no just claims just the claims ni you can do whatever you want okay so it's appointment signatories so the uh superintendent recommends approval for the year 2024 the business administrator board secretary be designated as the Board of Education claims auditor with authority as provided by 18a col 19-2 amended to direct prepayment of claims for Debt Service payroll fixed charges and any other claim or demand which would be in the best interest of the board to pay promptly can I get a motion in a second a second all those in favor say I any opposed did you skip two and three yeah you okay yeah we your public notice and the uh the bylaws okay you want me to read those or just move them whatever you wish to do um appr bless you bless you okay I'm going to uh make a motion for uh number two and number three the Public Notices I won't read it and the bylaw policies and regulations as listed in the agenda second second all those in favor any opposed okay thank you fees for cop of public documents I won't read it um can I get a motion in a second all those in favor say I I oppos I sa it so I haven't made copies for anyone in years okay it's electronic now this one I'll read I mean parliamentary procedures comes up once in a while the superintendent recommends approval to adopt Roberts Rules of Order 11th Edition as the official parliamentary procedure manual to be used to conduct meetings and appoint the board secretary and board attorney to act as the parliamentarians for the year 2024 and occasionally we have people that ask about that so Bob keeps a copy of the 11th Edition I have a cheat sheet that I said I will send out to the board tomorrow okay thank you it came from school boards that they kind of they recommend here's like the general guide for what you should be following at a board meeting okay it's rare but correct yeah when I think when you come as the new board member it's part of which you're trained in but we can keep a physical copy here I have the regular book yes my office it doesn't come up but once in a while it does um so can I get a motion to move the parliamentary procedures so move second all those in favor say I I any opposed okay um president's remarks um I would just like to wish everybody a Happy New Year it's good to see familiar faces I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and uh I don't know is the camera running oh it is running so to everybody uh tuning in happy New Year um I guess on a personal note um I want to say a couple of things number one I want to uh thank Mrs Lambert for the past four years serving as our board president um I could never fill this seat with what you've done uh for this board and I'm honored that you're my vice president to keep me in line and I'm sure you're going to enjoy that yes enjo okay and thank you to all the board members that supported me um and I will uh give you my time and effort this year to try to move the district forward on that note um I spoke a little bit to Mary earlier and we were talking about hey she asked a fair question what are your goals for the year um and I would say I think that this board on this particular event this night has to reconcile itself and say we're going to be obsessed with student achievement that's what we're going to do this year we're going to try to keep all the nonsensical issues that distract our administrators out of the boardroom so it's going to be my obsession this year to try to keep the board moving and in check in a direction where we're completely focused on advancing our students not to put the the wrenches on our curriculum department and that's not to say we've done anything wrong or different in the past it's just the model and the way the country's been going and what we've been seeing in the media and it's been happening to boards all over New Jersey I just think that we can set a tone we can set an example other boards could log in and watch our medas and they can say wow look how free old Township does it they're focused on their students and that's what's important to get done so that's going to be my mission and if I get out of balance just remind me that that's our mission and I think if we all do that we all don't come into our board meetings with any kind of an agenda or we come in saying you know I want this or I want that or someone told me that we need to do this or I saw this on the news we have to remember why we're here we're here to support our Administration so that they can get their job done and that our students can advance that's our number one goal so let's try to spend 80% of our meeting on that and then I think we could be successful so given that um I also want to schedule a retreat um so what I'm going to do is I'm going to send out an email this week um I'm going to propose maybe three or four days I'd like to do it this month if possible so I'm going to propose some dates for our board retreat and I'll wait and gather some feedback from everyone and then we kind of find a date that we think is going to work we'll set that date and then we'll come up with um an agenda I'll take some input as to topics that people want to discuss we'll obviously talk about some important things because we have a lot of you know new members on the board over the past few years and and sometimes it's nice just when everyone can get together and talk about some issues and questions you have about the board so a good part of the retreat I think should be spent on board norms and actions and open discussion and then maybe some other you know nut and bolts if we have time to get into some more you know abstract issues that go on with the board so that's going to happen and then of course the committee positions I'm going to think about over the next day or so hopefully by the end of the week I'm going to um sit down and look at the current committees and kind of hash out what I think is the best model for this year and I think it was rata yeah you sent an email and I kind of explained it's not really just a rotation we don't really just say okay everybody shift and move to the right it doesn't quite work like that we kind of look at what is going to happen this year and you know who might be a conflicted board member who might not be a conflicted board member and we'll look at who's been serving for how long and who has some experience and for continuity I don't like to shake up the Committees too much I want to remove everyone so there's a little bit of continuity especially in curriculum areas like that so I will look at that and try to come up with a model and then I'll just propose it and and we're all adults in the room I'm hoping that anyone in this room would serve on any comme and we'll be happy to do it if anybody has serious issues without serving on a certain committee send me an email but I'm going to assume that everyone is happy wherever they get put but if you really have an issue with something just let me know because I am open ears and I'm listening but I'm going to you know kind of look at where people have been and kind of make a decision hopefully I think by Friday I can get that done um I think that's it I question well no I don't have a question I just want I know we don't have a new business bus section tonight so I want to know if I could just mention this since we're not going to have a board meeting sorry so um we don't have a new business section but this is happening next week um the uh we're having a parent information s parent information session uh Mrs Montgomery is hosting understanding your child's K through five standard based report cards report cards went out right before break so we wanted to let parents have a chance to see the report cards you know if they have any questions try to understand and read them and we're going to have the information session for parents next Thursday January 11th here in the Board of Ed conference room so there's going to be an email going out tomorrow for them to register we're asking them if they have any questions ahead of time that they want to submit and then Becky can get it into her presentation but it's basically just going to um be how to interpret your child's new report card so for K through five thank you excellent thank you so um at this time I'm going to open the floor to public participation um this is anoun I just want everybody to know I saw it on one of the newsletters on January 19th correct me if I'm wrong there's a there's a Baro Eisenhower basketball Aon let me okay so barcalo Eisenhower girls basketball is Friday the 12th oh okay CU it looked like it was the same date both of the games no we had to modify it due to facility issues so on the 12th which is next Friday at Eisenhower the Eisenhower girls will play Baro Eisenhower and then the boys are scheduled to play at Baro on the 19th both games held at 3:30 so one on each side of town if you're not doing anything so 3:30 on the 12th at Eisenhower for girls 3:30 on the 19th at for boys and they're cross town Rivals so it's usually it's nice to yeah and if anybody you know want to see former students running out there yeah it's fun the cheerleaders are there it's cute nice do we have any other announcements or new business or band concert to turn back to quock a little bit got to attend the baralo band concert as always great job great concert well attended definitely well attended I was there with Dr bre Hower so um all right great thank you okay then I'm going to open the floor to public participation at this time uh this is an opportunity for public participation and anyone that wishes to address the board we would ask that you write your name and address on the sign-in sheet um and state your name for the record statements are limited to 3 minutes and should not be abusive obscene or defamatory in nature and this would be our only opport opportunity this evening so on on any issue do we have any takers okay seeing none then we are going to move into an executive session so uh whereas pursuant to njsa 10 412b the Board of Education May exclude the public from that portion of a public meeting at which the board discusses any of the matters described at njsa 10 4-12 B 1-9 now therefore be it resolved that in accordance with the provisions of the open public meeting act the Board of Education shall conduct a closed session pursuant to the personnel and legal exceptions prescribed by njsa 10 colon 4-12 for the purpose of discussing the following matters Personnel matter it is anticipated that the length of time of this executive session will be approximately 30 minutes and that action will not be taken in public after the executive session be it further resolved that said discussion may be disclosed to the public when reasons for discussing and acting upon it in closed session no longer exist uh do I have a second second all those in favor of going into executive session say I I okay thank you here y