okay we're streaming announce the kids [Music] m [Music] [Music] small [Music] beans makes sense here forever are do G h to toest [Music] good evening and welcome to gy Township Public School District this is a regular meeting in the with public 231 both and this meeting was provided to the press the G building and District website on January 1th 202 for May R call please Mrs Chester here Dr permenter here miss Lura here Mrs Avery here Mr Dace here Mr Jen here Mrs Herman here Dr here and Mrs car here can we all rise for a flight solute by Mrs flag the United States of America stand naice thank you have board here this evening as well we do have approval of minutes tonight from May 6 2024 can I have motion to approve those minutes please Mo second all in favor I any oppose any exensions thank you presentations please [Applause] test test chest chest 3 t [Music] all right so we have a few presentations this evening one of the first presentations is for our student safety data uh this report is going to be presented by S bgus our director of student services for general education she's also our antibullying coordinator for the district uh in addition this report is also part of the anti-bullying law and URS report which is from September of 2023 until December 31st of 23 uh later in the year or actually I should say in the New Year the new school year we'll be our end of the year report um which is our full year worth of data so at this time I'm going to turn it over to M good evening everyone thank you Mr Santelli for the introduction so we're going to begin this evening uh with the first part of the presentation and that is the ssds report period one as Mr Santilli shared this information is for September of 2023 through December of 2023 first half of the school year we just completed um everything thing you see on this slide um is a requirement by the state that we do need to report out to the board uh and the public so let's take a look at the first four rows that you see there um again this information is across the district so you're going to see for violence uh there were 20 incidents across the district during that time period uh for vandalism there was one incident for substance offense there was two um I will break that down by uh one of those offenses uh was a substance use and another one was a substance possession for the weapons offense uh there were zero U when you look at the next three lines we're going to go over here is our hi data um and the hi information is our harassment intimidation and bullying information so for the hi confirmed cases there were were 18 across the district uh the confirmed cases what that means is there were 18 full investigations that took place where the um the uh qualified for a hi uh confirmed case so it met all of the criteria for it to be classified as hi then we have the Hib alleged and what an alleged case is where there were 19 situations where a full investigation took place but it did not meet the criteria so it was classified with the state as a hi alleged case then we have our H preliminary determinations and what that is is there was a situation that came into the schools and there were 33 of these cases and through our district policy we're able to do what's called a preliminary determination um and it has to meet a specific threshold in order for an investigation to take place so there were 33 instances where the threshold wasn't met and an investigation a full investigation did not take place so I want to um just add to that whether was confirmed alleged or preliminary we do follow our code of conduct for all of those situations so just because something was alleged or it didn't meet the qualifications for a hi investigation we still follow the code of conduct so the last part of this slide is our trainings and our programs and these are trainings and programs again across the entire District during that period so for the trainings most of the that number that you see 69 there that is mostly for our staff our students and families okay that that encompasses all of those categories for the programs there were 89 and those are mostly for our students okay I'm going to talk a little bit more the programs as we kind of go through the next couple slides so the next slide um which we required to report to you is who actually does our HIIT investigations so I'm not going to read every part of this to you but you'll see the six schools are broken down and then our anti-bullying Specialists who are our school counselors are our lead investigators uh so their names are listed there for you uh and then also the assistant principal's names are there because they do assist with those investigations so again um this was just for that um report period one uh that took place uh next what we're supposed to report out is the nature of the confirmed hip cases so if you remember from a prior slide there were 18 uh hi confirmed cases so you'll see the breakdown here of what the nature of each of those investigations were what the reason was were those hi investigations what the outcome and nature of those were so obviously you'll see there that there were 14 for other distinguishing characteristics and a majority of those were for appearance um that is pretty much I looked at that before I wanted to make sure I had that for you um so we take that information this is great data for us um again as anti-bullying coordinator as Mr scantily shared we're consistently looking at this with the school counselors with the administration and considering what programs what interventions what can we do where is this occurring and we're making sure that we're putting in things into place to address uh areas of um need so the next slide you see here are our disciplinary actions and interventions and supports um having to do with student infractions so the disciplinary actions column which I'm not going to read everyone to you you can see what's listed there a majority of them are in line with our code of conduct um so if an infraction takes place multiple of these might be occurring many of these it really depends on the actual infraction and the student um how many times they may have been in a situation that a variety of these will take place uh for the interventions and supports this again is something for all students that are involved um in infractions that is that will be taking place um I will also add and I I said this last year too this this section is really really important because we're also not even responding at the time where something is happening with students but a lot of this is that proactive work that we're consistently doing um looking at data what interventions what strategies can we put into place and an example that I'll give you for the district and school programs uh is this particular school year uh when we had a send to help uh join us and they were providing tier one interventions and supports to um uh our students so they came in and they did targeted workshops for fifth grade seventh grade and eighth grade in the area of respect and anti-bullying um and that was specific based upon conversations with myself the anti-bullying specialist School administration where are our areas of need and what can we do to address these so that is consistent work ongoing work doesn't stop okay the second part of our presentation this part is super short um the 2022 2023 district and school official hi score that's the harassment intimidation and bullying hi grades so I'm going to share a little bit about the process so the data submission scoring if you remember we look at the first bullet there I stood in front of you in October and I shared all of the school's PB self assessment scores with you uh once um you had approved those scores I submitted them to the Department of Ed uh then what happens um is I'm going to jump down to the third bullet for a minute um they calculate all of the scores that were submitted and then they average those scores from all the schools and they give us um a score back for the district okay I'll just remind you in the second bullet there uh there were eight indicators that I shared with you in October for each of the schools and there's various indicators uh within each of the those um if a school were to perform and meet and exceed the expectations of the law in all of those indicators they would get a 78 so it's not out of 100 it's a score of a 78 is the maximum score you can get and that's if you have exceeded the expectations in all indicators um a 52 is if we just met the requirements so keep that in mind when I show show you the next slide so here are our 2223 official Pig scores so you'll see remember a 52 is meeting the requirements so in our district many of the schools exceeded the requirements in many areas um and we all they all had very great scores and when we average out all of those scores we get a district grade of a 75 we did very well 75 of 78 and this um the self assessments for the 23 24 school year um all the schools will be doing those in the fall and then I will be sharing that information with you sometime October okay that is the presentation thank you for your attention have a good thank you Mrs Burgess um as you can see uh she puts a lot of time and energy into the work that goes behind this uh as addition coordinator I've had an opportunity to sit in with a few of her meetings with the anti Bing specialist and one of the tools that I want to mention also and support of the board we've been able to implement hipster and that has allowed for them to seamlessly work uh through these cages uh with the building Administration with Mrs and even myself because at the end everything comes through and funnel through my office for final approval before coming to the board um it's been a great tool and matter of fact I know she mentioned the Senda and our partnership with the Senda which came out of Youth advocacy committee um but that partnership is really continue to grow and one of the things that we just recently did that it provides a lot of data so we had looked at even New Jersey cap as you know child assault prevention they have a a buing program um and we're submitting uh for opportunity to receive their Grant where they would be able to come in and again partner with us and what did we do I reached out to Mrs bur simply said hey where are most of is happening what gray level where do the Defenders things like that and we wanted to really highlight what gr level we want to focus these efforts on so we took a look at where most of the cases are happening and then we would submit the application and we're in the process of doing that now for support through your jersey cap for them to come in and work with our students like they do with childa prevention but with anti-bully and right now what are be submitting for both fifth and sixth grade to try to get ahead of it because our goal is to start targeting that particular grade level if supported in order to make sure that we're getting ahead of it being proactive with having those conversations earlier so that way we avoid um more cases and situations like this so again thank you for your work it's greatly appreciate thank you and thank to Mrs bures as well I do have a quick question in your opinion I know that we you know we've done this for several years now we've rided our grades and we've gone through the programs and has it made difference have you seen a reduction in the number of your cases or is it pretty consistent throughout your time here I know it's not a long period of time but just curious we be starting my seventh here somebody just ask that's longer than I thought I will say just made it does it yes right um so to answer your question um actually I without having all the data in front of me should be able to compare but I will say this particular school year we have seen the numbers decrease and I think you know in a lot of the conversations that we're having during those H meetings um I meet specifically with the anti-bullying specialist and the assistant principles um a few times a year but then I also meet the counselors more consistently and school safety climate team and and um hipster is is an ongoing agenda item every time we're meeting um the the cases had definitely decreased I know for uh a fact at the middle school um as a matter of fact every time we got together they the counselors didn't even want to talk about it because they were afraid talked about it yeah so um but we have seen a reduction and I think it has to do with a lot of the efforts not only just the counselors but the assistant principles I know this particular year they went in and did a lot more um proactive work meeting with every single class room and they did their bullying um they did their bullying talks they and and it really did I think make a huge difference that's exactly what they had they had shared that they felt it made a big difference right no thank you if you would like that specific data I can certainly get that no I was just curious in your opinion and you know I think it's a great thing to address it's a great program it's the staff is really good at addressing it I was just curious if we you know if the number going up or down or what the trend was so thank you any other questions Mr burgus yes yeah I have to first one first would seem to be most appropriate um with I think you had indicated that uh the most no worthy amount of substantiated HS if you will had to do with appearance what what is that what is it what is an appear um many of the appearance could be what somebody looks what somebody looks like it down by exactly each one was in category has appearance I would have to go into each one it could be a prle on your face it could be a l something that is B that some that's standing out to an individual that they are targeting and that's yeah I'm not asking for additional data I just wonder talk secondly I not I'll just focus on the Middle School uh general report uh at the end I think it says number of times preliminary determination was made was 30 is the data captured what's that out of 30 out of how many so the preliminary determination yeah that's 33 across the district okay so it's a two-step process right somebody makes a referral and it's determined whether or not it goes to the the hip determination correct the question I'm asking with regard to the capture of data how how are those referrals captured and are they set forth in this in other words is that 30 out of 50 is that 30 out of 100 we have a sense of that so in is 33 total because it's it's 33 total so those are 33 cases that came in through a h 338 form an actual report of of a um of hi a possible hit and then it did not go through a full investigation because the preliminary determination was done first and it did not meet the threshold of actually going through through a full investigation okay thank that's okay any other questions Mr BG yes I just have one um E I just wanted to ask you what is hipsters what does that mean so hipster is actually a tool that we use as a software think of it as software tool and basically 338 forms which are submitted either through staff parents or students um to report give l case go through that system and then is a notification so an anti-bullying specialist building voice principal and principal would be notified that a u potential Eng is is there uh in some cases depending upon the threshold and once they start doing that preliminary investigation you know if you if you take a look at Mr Gentile back to your question as well the 33 were total preliminary determinations but it's also out of the total confirm and allege if you add it all up this a quick math I'm not Joy but I think that I I have 70 here so 33 of the total 70 the other ones were either alleged or confirmed and the others were prelimary hster allows for us to go through that and provides those different tabs and within those tabs it has all the information that an anti-bullying specialist needs to start to uh investigate and then witness statements are stored in there the offender statements are stored in there victim statements and it's basically a place to crowdsource all that information and then Mrs Burgess myself building administration had the ability to take a look at that case from the very first step until the very end and it even has a timeline with dates because the anti- fooling law is very specific about hitting specific thresholds within that investigation uh so it helps guide us with that as well then everything is stored there and then even to the point where it gets reported to the board and then after the board meeting even my Administrative Assistant will use that tool to then generate of communication to parents of either said offender or victim so you mentioned parents are they allowed to view that information that's in that in that hipster software if there wasn't something against their child or were they allowed to view it like do they have access to yes would they be able to see what you write about them or the child or anything like that they don't have access as a parent however I would consider and and I'll I'll defer to M Halo that I would consider it a student record is off of the fact that we're storing that information in hipster I wasn't sure if you you to really respond or not if that was just your response so it depends if student statements we usually provide the parents as part of a student record because it's a statement the student made other information in there is part of the investigative report that typically isn't provided to the parents because that has all different other student information in it um and that's used for the investigation so typically that would not be provided um unless there was some type of HIV appeal hearing um in addition that was something that we're always looking at to see what people are entitled to if there is a h that parents are supposed to get a detailed letter with what the information was what the incident was what um remediation took place what consequences took place and what things are going on moving forward and that's all information that was supposed to be in those investigative reports so that's what's supposed to be going out to parents so they have that information decide what they want to do the next steps any other questions okay thank you thank you very much all right now we are going to jump into a few um other presentations uh so first uh we have a unique opportunity to recognize one of our students um so Sophia had had an opportunity this year to join a teen Arts Festival so gy Township had been participated in the local teen Arts Festival in in a while um they had the opportunity to go this year um it's a great opportunity for for all things within the Arts um and in this particular case as you can see I'm not going to read all of this to you but she did submit some creative writing and the creative writing in the piece is called vanished um and only did she get recognized at the county teen Arts Festival but she also then went to the New Jersey teen Arts Festival um to receive recognition through them uh so we thought it was quite the honor uh I did attach that excer um in Bardock for for all of you to be able to view um however I wanted to be able to bring her and I'm happy that she was able to join us and I know school let out on Friday and here she is on Monday so thank you for joining us but Soh why don't you come down and I want you to be able to explain congrulations I want to be able to explain a little bit about your motivation for this piece where it came from and maybe just give a quick little summary and Cliff Notes uh of it um so I like love writing it's like something that like I always do like when I go home I either read a book or I like like to write so when my mom found like a contest for me to join I was like so excited about it so I was trying to think of like some IDE to write and um how to write it so I wanted to like change it so I didn't want it to just to be like one the same story so how it in the beginning like the first two pages are about this girl um and her brother's going to the military the next day so they're spending like one last day together and then she sees her boyfriend cheating on her so now like that just ruined the entire day for her but like her brother he like helps her and talks her and they still get through the day together and then it goes like a few years after when she finds out that to die in the military but they there wasn't like a war or anything and there wasn't anything big going on and the military base isn't telling her much how uh her brother died so she's like determined to find out how he died so she travels to this military base and it's like far away from where she lives but she's so determined uh to find out how her brother died and then the story ends on a Cliff Hanger where like she's in the military base waiting to hear uh talk to like main people and then somebody comes out behind her and then he says like you don't get like a look at him but he's like if you're step's sister you're next and then that's like how the story ends with that fer so most people love fangers but that means there could be another story right so Sophia I need to a promise now when you're on the New York Times bestsellers list you're going to come back here with nine copies of your book for every board member right I have it now on on paper right that you're coming back now that's awesome thank you really part of it and it's excellent that's just awesome good for you congratulations and on behalf of the Board of Education this is just a little recognition for you um and continue to do what makes you happy and what you're passionate about so congratulations [Applause] also up next more congratulations first to Mrs Chester so congratulations big round of applause please so often times you know this this is a a pretty significant achievement because let's face it you're now a certified board member based off of your work um there are certain things you have to do certain requirements and there are members of the board course that have reached this level but because of your passion and dedication and the things that that you attend for instance even going to school board workshop and those classes that you go to um where you know we're running around I'm seeing you and passing but ultimately they allow for you to continue to uh have the rest of the board shine and and the work that you do and as a volunteer I give you a lot of credit for putting in uh time that goes above and beyond so thank you on behalf of the gall C School Community for your work thank you [Applause] also congratulations to Dr Moore Dr Moore why don't you come [Applause] down so 35 years I'm going to try I'm going to do my best I to make you cry but 35 years right in education and that's something something to be said I mean you know in education in terms of the work that she has done not just not just here in gway Township but obviously that Journey started well before you now we got lucky because we had we had the most time with you but you see four years at gtms 18 years at Roland Rogers and obviously a lifetime when you think about it in public education um I know and and the Secret's going to be out now too I know that she's not D she's not going to retire sit back and relax um she is very passionate about work in public education especially about really molding Future Leaders and you know I can't wait to see what you're going to do with njpsa through the principal and supervisors Association and FAA um I'm hoping that you're going to be back to you know maybe kick off some workshops here or there you never know and um and she's going to keep on flourishing um I do want to play a little video and share with the public and the board the video that the video it was unique because the students took lyrics and they rewrote the lyrics so students from Roland rewrote these lyrics for you letters and he put it into chat U GPT and it came up with a song the song AI but it's the kid let's play this video for is unett you have tou Hearts willing you the best your re re your always we are all students good luck onne thank you for your 18 years of Rog you're 22 years at Gallow to Public Schools it's never easy to say but we are lucky to have sh so many memories with you happy [Music] re love your is unett oh you have [Music] heart the best your re you may re but into our school we are grateful for all you done for studo we journey thank you for your 18 years at R Rogers and your 22 years at Gallow Township public scories re [Music] you off your next Journey you our journey and roll2 [Applause] [Music] [Music] so there will forever be a piece of you at Rand Rogers uh as you saw we ended with Robin's Nest and the St dedicated uh an area of the uh one of the courtyards for for you so ultimately uh there will be always a piece of Dr Moore here um and we're we're grateful for for your time um would you like to share a few words with the board good evening so 22 years ago I stood before the Gallow Township Board of Education and I accepted the position as principal of gtms I think Mr I think you were here okay um at that time I had no idea that I would be making history as Galler's first and only African-American female um principal in the district at that time I had no idea that I would become the principal at Rola Rogers a school that I have grown to love a school that I have contributed to the successes a school that will forever be a part of my life I am so grateful to have had that experience if it's a wonderful experience I love the students it's a great staff It's a Wonderful school and my letter I pointed out all the successes that we have had academically and socially and with all the clubs that we have I'm going to miss roller risers I told them in March I'll be back for R Across America week so I can still be a part of the school Gall toship will be a part of my career even when I go on to wherever God has me to go I know I'll be working at ring I'll be working at into PSA but Galler will always be first of my heart thank you so [Applause] much the board we love you too we love everything that you've given us for the past 22 years we've love everything've done for us done for the children done for the staff and this is really special that's a really nice way to see you all and thank you so much thank you suzan can I say one thing of course I voted yes 22 years ago I'm about no tonight you're not retiring any other comments thank you okay Mr gen would you kindly join me down here to give the background of our recognition for our family School Association so then we are going to be joined by both the read and rolling FSA members so this is the third time we're doing this thankfully uh tonight we're hear from the Reeds and the Roland fsas as I've said twice before uh these are the folks these are the parents who send their children who trust their children to our school district uh and these are the same parents that enrich the lives of our students in ways that as a board member I think sometimes difficult for us to comprehend uh and appreciate uh when I I've said to you guys each time someone has done this but do it again is when I went to a few of these meetings and and talked to uh members some of the members indicated that someone intimidating to come before the war and as I've also said to all the other fsas it is we who are intimidated by you uh you are the one I [Music] said what is like wait shouldn't we be leaving uh talk about intim our our staff didn't get up so they're used to it it's no problem and even though she's still on PO she finds Limitless time to commit to the kids in the districts to their own children everybody else so I introduce each of them to you or they can introduce themselves to you uh we are very proud that you are here we are happy you're here and as I said this really is not an over we are in awe for the contributions you folks make to the district year after year after year so I mean every Bo thank you very much and wow what your anticipating B are next year and the success that you have this year thank you hi I'm Stephanie shalter I'm the re Road president um this year me and Ben took over it was our first time to be honest we didn't really know what we were doing but we're super excited we had new events that they've never had before that they seem to be a success the kids are super excited every time I'm in the school the kids run up and say thank you even from events from a month or two ago they're just so excited to see us um we had parent night out we did a spectacular night bub Mar every month the school store the kids get so excited to come shop um we had funny farmcom the kids absolutely loved it this year we were able to have more assemblies than last year um so each grade everybody got to have I want to say two assemblies maybe even more um had done so much book fair we had two Book Fairs we also had Book Fair open um at nighttime for our art show and spacular event which I think the parents Lov being able to shop with their kids um art show was a huge success we had over a thousand pieces of art that the kids did and it was a lot of work but the kids loved it they loved showing off all their artwork to their parents I think that's it a lot we've done so much it is it's a lot we're excited for next year we're hoping to work with student council a little bit more um the kids on student council absolutely love helping us they helped us this year with pretzels handing them out um field day we had ice cream for all the kids and they loved handing everything out even to the teachers and they love being a part of it we would love to have them help us a little bit more thank you so much thank you hi my name is Rebecca I am treasur this coming year for gold Rogers um this is my second year with them and it's just always so exciting I love going to all the events volunteering and just seeing the kids so excited um I we have events at least once a month something we're participating in to all the kids and the teachers I'm going to turn this over to Ally she's more prepared for this Hi how are you my name is Ally sry um I'm really privileged to wear a few different hats in the district um but this is the hat that I've worn the longest um I have a seventh grader so I've been at um I also have a upcoming third grader and a 20-month-old um so I have a long history at Rolland 8 years and then many more years uh to go um so one thing that I think um I think about the role in FSA I was really privileged to be grabbed as a kindergarten parent and brought on um is the integration with our teachers that's really important to us um to bridge those gaps with um the curriculum where we can um we provide these glasstic uh readers to the kindergarten unit um that's something that the teachers really appreciate every year we do pumpkins for the pre kindergarteners every year um we have a wonderful relationship with the administration there and if there's any way that we sort of supplement um anything that we can we do um I know that Becky mentioned the G out pits that are going to be installed I'm very proud to say that they're adaa accessible which is something that's personally very important to me um and we have a lot of Rich Traditions at Rand um our Sports night that we have every year our sixth grade um barbecue that we all sing off our arm hairs on every year flipping burgers for the kids um we provide the sixth graders with a yearbook and a t-shirt um a lot of traditions that we have at rolling that we're really proud of thank you I just want to say as a parent from I one that went to Roland and three that went to Reeds and there's such a sense of ownership at both schools and there's so much involvement from the parents and I'm so happy to see that that's continued even now that my kids are gone but Bubba Mark I have to say they were always so excited to go get their pencils or whatever they were getting that time and sports night at Rome I just two things that you mentioned that still after so many years you know I remember from those schools so again it's something that the kids will definitely remember and just your involvement is so much appreciated from the board and it's really important that you continue to let us know what you need to support you anything that we can do that's what we're here for and it's so nice to have you here as well any other comments okay thank you all very much and I'd have to point out every FSA that we brought and and no different with re and Rolland it was I could have put this information on multiple slides to actually have it accessible in the presentation because I was condensing things maybe a smaller with f the amount of opportunities I mean it was really just the information you sent was almost impossible to get on to one slide so every little bit helps and I can't appreciate I mean enough for the work that you do for our stud in our community and it is just beyond uh exciting for those opportunities for our students so thank you and this summer big District push we're going to be trying to partner with the fs8 for all the schools to do once a month uh reaching out to the the community fundraisers to come back to that District FSA and uh rather than making it about you know Dairy Queen with you know one particular school or whatever the you know uh whatever that Community partner might be we District initiative as well so Something That We're look forward to but thank you very much for coming out today as well appreciate it thanks again [Applause] guys and at this time while see is transitioning back up here I will open up the meeting for public comment of agenda items if there's anybody that make a comment this evening on agenda items only if you can please come to the microphone okay thank you see none we will move on when St Mr s is ready for the superintendent report we can start with the attorney's report please thank you since the last time we met I had the opportunity to work with the district on construction matters contractural matters student and staff matters thank you any questions from M okay Mr s okay item 5.2 is our youth advocacy committee meeting update uh Mr Gentile would you like to present the information from your report yes thank you uh we met on May 15th and had a supplemental meeting about two weeks ago um the issues that we discussed most significantly was the state funding formula uh Miss Nixon did an exceptional job of pulling together how that works for us and uh issues that we might be able to if you will Tinker with to see if we can uh we can increase how that uh how state aid can be uh bumped up for for the benefit of the district and we working on that going forward uh specifically we're focusing on whether or not something to be done with the pilot projects that are approved by the municipality uh as the board is aware that the statute that provides for p projects does not mandate that the municipality consider school boards and the cost of Education in entering into those and so we're going to be assessing what if anything can be done with regard to that we also Spug with the ly program which is going for force and again we have uh stopped in uh partnering with us for the second summer which of course is excellent and we spoke about um summer camp and that's really pretty much was it we'll have a meeting probably towards the end of the summer thank you turn questions for Mr J and my comment more is I hope we do find a way to get fing and the ly program I know that's something very passionate about I hope you Mr okay items 5.3 is the student uh enrollment report as attached the out of District suspension report is attachs 5.4 and harassment intimidation and bullying report is 5.5 all our informational items no vote is needed thank you moving on to cre instruction at this time looking for appr of items 6.1 through 6.3 I motion to approve item 6.1 through 6.3 second is there any board [Music] comment may have roll call Mrs Chester yes Dr permenter yes Miss Lura yes Mrs Avery yes Mr Dace yes Mr genel yes Mrs hermano yes vice president theer yes and president Carman yes moving on to finance was there a finance committee meeting seting yes the finance committee met prior to the board meeting did review the June's bills list and we went through any agenda item questions and we received an update on the gtms chiller and cooling tower thank you moving on with Finance please thank you item 7.2 through 7.24 are up for your approval can I motion appr it 2 through 7.24 so mov second uh is there any board comment and I just did one uh clarification for the chiller Tower cooling items if board members would note that we're we're sending the original approval to fix the old and putting in request to get a new and that's been approved by the facilities committee and discussed with them um just want to make that because that's a pretty big expenditure thank you may have a roll call please thank you Mrs Chester yes Dr permenter yes Miss L yes Mrs Avery yes Mr de yes Mr jinil yes Mrs hermano yes vice president Basher Blau yes and president car yes moving on to facilities was the facility Mee yes we had one tonight before the finance meeting and we discussed the updates and everything and everything's as you said and Alex said everything working out good so far not going work good thank you is there any questions for Mr B okay moving on with facilities please thank you items 8.2 through 8.11 are up for your approval can I motion to approve 8.2 through 8.11 please so moved second is there any of the board comments may I have roll call please Chester yes Dr penter yes Miss Lara yes Mrs Avery yes Mr D yes Mr Jil yes Mrs herow yes vice president Basher BL yes and president Carman yes with on the personel Mr s so item 9.1 is a retirement um as we publicly addressed um it is uh with regret um the letter of intent uh from basically Dr Moore uh her time as principal of Roland Rogers 22 years in the district U we'd like to recognize her service as we presented earlier thank you can I motion to approve item 9.1 please so move second there any board with regret thank you may Roo please M Cher yes Dr perer yes Miss la yes Mrs Avery yes Mr da yes Mr Jil yes Mrs herel yes vice president B BL yes and president car yes with ring please at this time we're looking for approval of items 9.3 through 9.8 as listed in attach can I Mo approve 9.3 through 9.8 so move second is there any board comment may I have R call please Mrs Chester yes Dr Parmenter yes M mria Mrs Avery yes Mr nce I must substain 9.5 youment yes on anything Mr J yes Mrs Herman yes vice president AER yes and president car yes do we have any interu to see there are not okay thank you moving on to polic is their policy report that [Music] department we policies these devel curriculum development guidance counseling home instruction due to health condition unsafe school choice option programs for pregnant students postle accommodations for students student intervention and referral services uh session 504 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 students Comprehensive Health and physical education Bilal education special education gifting and talented students and the last one was needless public labeling of students with disabilities and I made a note on this one in the for the Comprehensive Health and physical education policy um in accordance with the provisions of njsa 18a call 35- 4.7 any student whose parent presents to the principal a signed statement that any part of the instruction in health Family Life Education or sex education is in conflict with his or her conscience or sincerely held moral or religious beliefs shall be excused from that portion of the course for such instructions being given and no penalties as to credit or graduation shall be it shall be I just want to make a note of that everyone will be clear this concludes report respectless Dr Sher parment thank you is there any questions for Dr [Music] Parmenter thank you moving on policy please so at this time we're looking to approve for a second and final reading items 10.2 through 10.7 as attach thank you can I motion to move 10.2 through 10.7 please so move second any board comment may I have a roll call please Mrs Chester yes Dr permenter yes m l yes Mrs Avery yes Mr da yes Mr gen yes Mrs Harman yes vice president mare L yes and president car yes continuing on the policy please at this time we're looking for approval of 10.9 through 10.21 for a first reading as attached thank you can I motion to approve 10.9 through 10.21 first reading please so move second is there any board comment May Mrs Chester yes Dr per yes m l Mrs Avery yes Mr da yes Mr J yes Mrs herel no vice president Basher BL yes and president Carman yes those informational items please so 11 point1 is our Board calendar is attached uh some special events are also uh listed uh for you mark your calendar and save the date uh this summer uh we have a couple of things happening uh here at the school um but for instance the Once Upon Time Players will present Rudolph the red nose reindeer a little bit after the Fourth of July gu big clap there um so Christmas and July is Right Summer Pops concert for gtms is also listed as uh August 7th at 6:30 and then two other events in September and October for the Ed Foundation the golf outing on September 19th and Ed Foundation First Bingo here at gtms on October 18 Again requesting board members to support those uh functions and moving on to Old business Please Mr C so under old business under item 12.1 we're looking to affirm the HIV determination reports as attached and 12.2 is the American Rescue plan safe return plan uh is mandated through the state this should be the last time if you recall through the pandemic this should be the last time that this plan needs approval by the board uh so we're looking for approval of items 12.1 and 12.2 as listed and attached thank you can I motion to approve items 12.1 and 12.2 so move second board comment may I call please Mrs Chester yes Dr permenter yes Miss laa Mrs Avery yes Mr Bas yes Mr Gentile yes Mrs hermano yes vice president Basher yes and president car yes moving on to new business please so under new business you can see under 13.1 uh as we discussed the stabilized school budget aid grant program that we are entitled to through the state of New Jersey uh is listed there uh in addition to 13.2 which typically is done this time of the year to allow for the superintendent to have hiring between board meetings looking for approval of 13.1 and 13.2 can I Mo to approve items 13.1 and 13.2 Some Mo EXC is there any board comment may I have a roll call please Mr Chester yes Dr permenter yes Miss Lura yes Mrs Avery yes Mr da yes Mr genel yes Mrs Haro yes vice president Basher BL yes and president car yes at this time we will open up the microphone for public comment is there anybody to make a public comment this evening seeing none we will go around with the room starting with Mr da do you have any comments this evening uh just a couple go right ahead congratulations Mrs Chester doing our gr uh I've been there I know it's like to attend a lot of meetings and different functions got State School boards and count schol puts out and uh you'll enjoy it you know uh I attended Mrs Beast I think it's Mrs nature form and the students did a wonderful job putting everything out there it was really great to walk through there and a great day for it a great day it was supposed to rain originally and like goodness it didn't rain let rolling again you know what can we say about weather and I also attend the concert Smithville and the middle school and the students are fantastic your talents and everything in the staff to guid them through everything really you know and U I think that's about it for now if I have anything else I'll let thank you Mr J Mrs Herman um I'd like to make a statement real quick um that it is my understanding that last year when our board voted on a highly controversial new policy entitled transgender guidance it was policy 5756 the board was advised the policy was mandatory and that the board did not have any discretion regarding whether or not to pass the policy it has become clear through litigation involving other school districts that the New Jersey Department of Education has not made policy 5756 mandatory it is only guidance school boards have the discretion to policy 5756 not pass it or draft a different policy addressing how to ensure a safe environment for our transgender students I thought it was important that the public be aware of the incorrect information that was given previously and at the time the board voted on this policy I would like to revisit the policy as a board to discuss if there is an agreement to revise some of the policies requirements or guidelines thank you thank you Mrs Chester okay so I have a few things too um first little Clos sorry um so first like yester days I was that nature vest I was actually there um working rather than um as a board member but I really wanted to um it was just an amazing event and if you've never been to it um I really highly recommend that you go as a board member it was a beautiful day and I really did not realize um how involved the students are until um this was my first time being there um really just amazing to see how excited they were to present and um how really interested all of the students were that I had a table there with um corporative extension and um just every student that came by really interested really listening to everything we were telling them and um I my colleague that was with me noted several times I mean throughout the day he kept saying wow kids in Gallow are just amazing he was just so impressed with everyone how polite they were how like I said so engaged and interested in um in the full event so um really such a wonderful event um next thing I want to all of conratulations and which is always um a fun thing Mr D was there was a that's one thing I forgot always always know a few laughs as well um Miss Parmenter um and Alexa was there as well so um always such a a fun event I love do the graduations I do them every year so um again it's just it's always so fun to see the kids going across the stage and um it's an exciting event and parents everything so um and the last thing I just wanted to mention is more as a parent um than a board member and that is um I don't think we always fully recognize um everything that goes on in the background and um I really had the opportunity this year to really see something um and mostly just because this was the first time in so many years we've had so many um uh school trips but um I uh my child's uh teacher and his um his a just did so much background work and um it's just really I I think we don't thank them enough and and really see all the background they did but all the research they did in looking everything up to make it something that my son could attend and um and be successful at and um it really touched my heart and made me think I I don't think that we give them the recognition that they really deserve for all of that background because we don't see it a lot of times but they really do a lot of background work to make all of that happen and to make our schools as inclusive as possible and so it's really more of a thank you than anything to teachers and all the AIDS and all the staff um you know conversations with Administration and staff and everything um such a positive experience so U mostly just a thank you as a parent um thank you Dr B I don't have as much as Mrs Chester but I have few things first uh congratulations Mrs Chester on being a certified board member and I attended the two graduations um and and this was the first year that I saw a l the group graduate and it it was exciting because they were excited and you can tell by the way they walked across the stage they walked across the stage the way they were this whole year you could tell and um the parents were there and the parents were very excited about it as well and it it was just very refreshing to see that and I I love going to the graduations as well and every board member really should attend a lot of the Affairs that we can because you get to interact with students and you get to see what they're doing and how they're doing it and how staff is doing it staff helped themselves exceptionally well they were excited also um it was just it was just a nice event it's just always nice seeing kids being happy about um their accomplishments and I want to say also um Good Luck to Dr Moore congratulations on the job well done and good luck to you thank you Mrs okay first thing I'd like to say is uh I did attend to the spring concert and I was amazed they did such a wonderful job I actually talked with some of the students one of my Matthews was in the concert and I talked to the the music teachers and I was really in awe of what they did it was really amazing uh second I just want to comment on uh e Herman I I'm kind of in agreement to that about the revision I would really like to see if we could uh consider that because I think that's really important thank you thank you oh can't I'm sorry M Avery were you forgetting me you're sitting back with this new system that's like the third time I've done it that's so sorry I would just like to thank the staff for another successful school year and especially the teachers because I as a former teacher I know what it's like and the reason why exists is because you guys need to recharge your depleted batteries um and after the 4th of July the summer seems to zip by so I used to always not like that holiday so uh have a great summer everybody and thanks for our job well done thank you I appreciate that uh echoing what everyone said congratulations job well done to the district um and well wishes to Dr Moore as well um during this time often go around and we talk about different events that we've gone gone to you know we've all talked about that most of us have talked about that this evening attending the eth grade promotional ceremonies attending different events at the schools um I firmly believe that is important for board members to attend events not just for visibility but to engage with the community that we are serving to understand our district our students are not just mbers on our page our policies are not just impacting we want to know our district we want to know the staff we want to know and understand our teachers and show support so I'd like to propose that each board member commits to attending at minimum one event within the next six months at minimum outside of our board meetings and outside of our committee meetings to show support for our district and to engage with the community that we serve thank you can I say one thing to that Alexa as you said it's important for us to see student students and the staff that are involved to make for the students they're our future and I think our staff has doing a great job especially the two ceremonies I went to for promotional ceremonies I can't call them graduation but it's still got four more years but it's it's really great the parents were well behaved this year as we all the students it was really fantastic thank you and to add to that i' I've gone to State functions I've been the Atlant County delegate I've done state level things for gall Township and I've said it over and over and over again our staff is one of the best staffs in the entire state of New Jersey you guys if we don't say enough I've again I've said it over and over hearing what other districts do what other districts have with issues with their staff with involvement with their staff with children the things that our teachers do our staff does in this district is topnotch we are we have the best staff and I'll put that up I've said it and I'm going to continue to say it so if I haven't in a while what other board members have said has reminded me of that you guys are fantastic you're appreciated and we all appreciate the work you do that that is the honest of I Tru second congratulations Mr Chester Mrs Chester um that's a lot of work work and I I've noticed this year you've been really really involved also much appreciated and it's really nice to see it's really nice to see that you're taking you know the time to get to understand and learn things and then apply it to our district and that's really great so thank you um and then I also Echo what Dr Basher blat said you know if we if we don't get involved with functions and Mr be backyard those kids are so engaged everying single year and most of us have been to that one or another it's fantastic so just echoing what everybody else said um and that's it we do have executive session this evening for personnel and that'll take us about 40 minutes we're going to come back in or not is that normally what we said okay we don't have to come back okay all right so we are going to take a motion to convene into to end regular session convene into executive session can I motion for that please so and all in favor thank no action will be anticipated after executive as well thank you