e e e e three I call this be in order go ahead hit it three times I call this meeting to order very good well done well done Mr canel if you're able to call roll Miss calves here miss carasa here miss Carr here Mr Corey here miss garelli here miss Stevenson here M randelle here Dr Robinson here we have have a quel excellent can we have the flag salute please stand next to each other there one more okay go here right speak to it together whenever you're ready two go I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all turn off have a seat excellent adequate notice of meeting in accordance with PL 1975 chapter 231 notice of tonight's meeting was mailed to the record and the Ridgewood news on January 9th 2024 notice of this meeting was also mailed to the borrow Clerk and was posted on the bulletin board of the Board of Education office in the administration building on the same date all right would you be able to read our mission statement please founded on principles of education and partnership with the supportive Community providing exceptional education to all students to cultivate resilient responsible and engaged Global Citizens thank you Mr Laurel well good evening everyone we have some special guests uh today from from Bird Elementary uh we have River uh B and Ryan here River and B are both in second grade correct second grade and Ryan is in fifth grade and I know that our board members had some questions that they wanted to ask um River and be if that's okay and they're going to ask you some questions you can kind of give us uh some answers sound good so I'm going to turn over to Mr Rell first if that's okay Miss Randell all right so I want to know what your favorite thing about bird is my favorite thing about bird is that everyone is nice to each other my my favorite thing about bird um are um there's nice friends and the theme days are pretty fun thank you I do have something thank you um what what's your favorite subject my favorite subject in school is science because we get to do fun experiments my favorite subject in school is math because you get to do fun games and doing and doing math in your head I think is fun I agree math in the head is fun um so I want to know what's your favorite thing about your teacher my favorite thing about my teacher is um she tells funny jokes and she helps me learn um Miss Peterson is really kind for example when people are misbehaving she doesn't yell at them she just says something like please don't do that also she makes learning fun excellent excellent and so if you could be principal for a day what would you do um if I were principal if I were principal for a day um when the kids were at recess I would go outside and um if they doing something bad I'll try to stop them um first I would it would be pajama day then we would get candy at the beginning of the day then we would do an allg grade soccer game everybody would get the ball then we would watch a movie with popcorn also we would all drive in an orange Lamborghini to the mall and eat at the the food court that's for lunch after that we would go back in time to meet P the Soccer Star then we would go and pet tigers and Elon Musk would give us whatever we want and a million dollars then we would go home on the billion dollar program that's all sounds like a great day you have planned one more well how do I follow up my question with that if you can change one thing about Bird School what would it be um I would build signs so no one will do graffiti on the playground I would get a I would get a bigger gy sell your Lamborghini those are excellent excellent answers does any more trustees have any questions for our one Wonder ful two second graders River and B you did a wonderful job thank you thank you I have a question how did you get to see the eclipse at all today yes oh what were your thoughts I did also but I kept looking at it without my goggles because I just wanted to but then I quickly looked away because I remembered wow okay all right I know you got to be able to see that orange Lamborghini so I'm really glad that you did Keith can we edit that last part out thank you I appreciate that um and I believe uh thank you you're wonderful wonderful um Ryan I believe you have a whole report on overall on Bird right for fifth grade could you share that with us please hi my name is Ryan Loro and I'm a fifth grader at Bird School my favorite thing about bird school is the spirit spirit days we do my favorite teacher at Bird School is Miss marks she was my second grade teacher she is my favorite teacher because she was always so kind and made learning much more fun than it would have been without her some of my favorite activities that we have at bird are Community groups Multicultural night the Harlem Wizards and student council Community groups are a time where students from all grades get together in small groups to learn about each other and build community this year we are focused on ruler and learning about our feelings Multicultural night was on Friday and was a big success it was a great way to learn about other cultures and eat yummy food from places around the world the Harlem Wizards came to Glenrock on March 10th this is our biggest fundraising event of the year I love this event because we get to watch our teachers and business owners from our town play basketball the Harlem Wizards also do giveaways and raise a lot of money for bird school shout out to all the parents especially my parents who made this event possible the bird student council is working really hard to make everyone at our school feel special this year they've donated they've had donation drives spirit days and are working on one final event to the to end the school year I can't wait to see what it is thank you Ryan does any trustees have any questions for for for Ryan Ryan who was the best basketball player among the teachers Mr Bogan oh okay good to know Ryan who is the worst one no don't say that I'm just kid so it sounds like things are going really well at at bird and we do appreciate uh you sharing that very detailed report what was your thoughts on the eclipse today I thought I thought that it was really cool and that it doesn't happen as much so I was really happy that I got a witness it after school that's really cool my friends at soccer earlier today said the next toer eclipse is going to happen 20 years is that true or will it happen um in I forgot will it happen soon you know thankfully we have a science expert here who knows everything Miss Carelli can you please let us know when that's going to happen yeah well actually Ryan and I talked earlier before the meeting so Ryan definitely can answer that for us yeah it depends if it's a total eclipse or if it is a partial eclipse well we look forward to it again so again wonderful job let's give our readers a round of applause they were [Applause] excellent e e e Mr rante are we good for uh wrestling yet or no yes okay so now we have um our our director of Athletics uh Mr Frank violante who's going to speak about Jake Rickett we also have Cory Fitzpatrick here the vars wrestling coach Jake was a district 2 Champion excellent so Mr viante and Mr Fitzpatrick good evening it's my pleasure to introduce uh Coach Corey Fitzpatrick who's been our wrestling coach for the last 11 years when Corey got here our program was let me choose the words it was kind of shaky with the handful of wrestlers but he's done a wonderful job we're in the mid 20s this year we won a league championship two years ago uh he's done an outstanding job the kids really like him he's a good gentleman teaches the kids well and he's always there for the young men and uh if you ever go to one of his practices or go to a match and watch how they react to him I think you'll uh you'd be very impressed uh but he's in trouble because he dressed better than I did tonight so so your schedule is going to be bad next year but coach Cory Fitzpatrick thank you [Applause] Frank thank you uh tonight we would like to honor senior Captain Jake Rickett of the Glen Rock High School wrestling team uh Jake has just capped off an excellent final senior season for the Panthers in the 285lb weight class Jake accomplished many accolades throughout the season most notably the following in January Jake had a third place finish at the prestigious Bergen County tournament Jake then went uh went on to win the uh njsiaa District 2 wrestling tournament becoming Glen Rock's first district champion in 11 years following his dist Championship win Jake then won back uh won back-to-back matches at the njsiaa region one wrestling tournament earning himself a spot in the region one finals in doing so Jake became the first Glenrock wrestler to make the region finals since 2000 and to finally cap it off Jake's region final appearance earned him a spot in the njsiaa individual State wrestling tournament at Boardwalk uh at historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City uh Jake's individual State wrestling tournament appearance also became Glenn Rock's first since 2013 with all that being said we' like to congratulate Jake Rickett on an exceptional senior season please come up Jake Rickett e e yes yes cois Patrick was in Charleston in charge that's how he got famous um coach who would win between you and Jake just so we curious who would you got probably uh so we set up a ring double okay congratulations prob okay um at this time I think we have in the back uh robotics so we have Mr locatel I know Professor M's out on he's out sick but Mr locatel and our robotics team come on up good evening everybody uh I'm going to stall very quickly while they start to set some stuff up for the board um I just want to point out that this is Mr locatel and Mr M's third year yep as the robotics coaches uh since that time we've over doubled the program in size we have now two teams competing as opposed to just one so I'm going to talk just for a moment about what that's to the program um this year both teams qualified for the state tournament which has not happened in Glenrock they've qualified once before but we put two teams and a first year team into the state tournament um the students have worked really hard countless hours during the summer after school on weekends and as a result the teams did very well I'll let Mr lockatell tell you exactly how they did but um something I'd like to point out is that coach locatel was voted the robotics coach of the year so it's a great honor that's very well deserve so at this point I'll turn it over thank you so much Mr cusk and good evening and thank you so much for providing us the opportunity to come and not only demonstrate for you but also provide me the opportunity to uh brag about my students before if you do know me uh one of my uh fatal flaws is that I am anything but consign prise and especially so when uh I am provided the opportunity to brag about my students um and nothing could be more exciting for me after the incredible season that these students have participated in over the last 8 months these students have accomplished some incredible Feats uh so much so that usually I go out here and just Wing this because I'm pretty confident in my ability to speak about these things but I had zero confidence in my ability to be able to speak to you about the laundry list of accomplishments that these students have accomplished so I'll get to that in a moment and in the meantime please enjoy the two robots since this is our first year since we had so much interest that we actually were able to field two SE separate teams and then begin to provide the opportunity for students as young seventh grade to participate in it since the robotics competition allows for 7th through 12th and that was great because we had a huge influx of students extremely interested in partic ipating in robotics and learning all the different things so as I'm speaking you'll see the two robots picking up all those little hexagonal pixels and then trying to score it on that backdrop in the back a simplified version of what these students did over the last eight months so let's talk about a couple of the things that these folks did one of the most impressive things to me is the amount of Outreach that they participated in since it's not just about the competition it's also about getting out there and enthusing students and adults alike about robotics these folks participated in half a dozen different Outreach events over the course of the last eight months going to the Bridgewater Mall and participating for the public creating a stem camp for elementary students in the Glenrock educational system mentoring an F A first Lego League compet or team um at one of the elementary schools doing scrimmages for several different teams all across North and Central Jersey that came to this school and asked actually to come back since we did such a great job of being hosts for the different teams and the competition and then also providing a place for professionals to come in here and critique these students work both from a design perspective and a tournament we even actually had a host of the NBC show Hot Wheels challenge uh zoom in and provide us critique on the design in which we were having with the portfolio so overall an insane amount of Outreach then we moved to the competition space where last year we participated in three competitions with one team this year we participated in eight competitions with two teams one in which we hosted and as Mr Cusack said both teams out of the 183 teams in the state of New Jersey qualified for States and then made the playoffs during States both teams are in the top 24 in the state and then one of the teams our rookie team the galactic pigeon in the orange jerseys actually went on to win states with two other teammates and they are state champions so yeah no a fantastic accomplishment for all these kids the majority of the students on the rookie team had no idea anything about robotics before September um and the amount of mentoring that our Senior Team 8902 did uh was nothing but nothing short of of a miracle and I couldn't be more proud uh and that was why it was so honoring when these students uh uh nominated me for coach of the year and then uh I was honored enough to win that as well so it was a beautiful um and then Mr Yana one of my students actually figured out how much time these folks put in after after school and on the weekends just from September it was 400 plus hours it is an insane amount of work for these students to put this all this Outreach together for all these different students across the building but then also do all the competition work and there is so many of us now I mean the Schoo G page has 90 students alone and we're only allowed to bring 30 to Any Given competition so the support from both the district these students and then from you folks especially for some of you that came out to the competition uh it's been an honor so thank you so much for allowing us to come here present a little bit talk about it allow me to brag and then I did I'm not going to list off all 90 names but I do want to uh mention the different captains of our two teams and once again uh provide them the opportunity to be recognized by this board and the public so uh Craig hiler Eevee who Caitlyn Kim Noah Lee Joseph Yu Miguel asero and Selena Fang are just a few of the incredible students I have the priv of working with so thank you so much and uh please a round of applause for these beautiful students thank you thank you Mr locatel um it's just amazing what what you uh Professor M and your students have done over the last last couple years um and we'll say that you are without a doubt the biggest cheerleader at the at the events uh at the competitions Rob what what so the board and I are very supportive of Robotics we want to see it continue to flourish um you have the board's attention here you have my attention what are some things that that you need for us to provide even additional support yeah so I mean right now uh we love the amount of support that we do get but it's extremely expensive to run this stuff and we have three sponsors we're actually able to to you know get three sponsors for this season but there's no guarantee that they'll be coming back next season and I know the amount of work that me and Mr meray put in I you know I am guilty of even putting some of my own money up in order to make sure that that these folks will be able to uh perform at the level that they want to so the amount of time the amount of money and everything uh is definitely going to be I mean it's it's taxing it's draining for me it's worth it but any amount more to be able to compete with schools like Don bosow who has six teams in this league two teams in another league and four teams in another League um and none of them went to States and we had two teams that went to States so don't get me wrong I'm very proud of what they've been able to accomplish but any little bit of support either from a financial end or showing up to the events and the competitions we definitely go a long way to to make these students feel that you know their accomplishments are paying off and then you know the 400 plus hours that me and Mr M also uh you know that pays off as well so um any amount of support in that regard it goes a long way and very much appreciated so I do need some Direction later on separately about the rules of the competition when I I didn't confusing don't worry I did notice at the competition that that little paper airplane can go flying so I was we we didn't want to send it off to any but I think I think he would enjoy it anyway no great job you want to no okay oh thank God thank you for all you're doing for it um we love to see the growth and the progress um the two teams is amazing so you thank you appreciate it thank you so much yeah so um definitely we'll be we'll clearly see you all the time we'll be in touch we'll work with Mr cusac to make sure that you have everything you need to continue the success that you've had and we really appreciate we're so lucky to have you on staff and so thank you we're so lucky to have wonderful students there working with you it's uh one of the great things about Glenn Rock so thank you that's appreciate thank you so much thank you rob we're going to take a quick picture if we can with everybody okay let's go P our right on left okay right facing that way folks facing that way okay come on over come on over get I believe so the I inherited the cosmic Goose as a name as far as I understand it was made because somebody made the logo in a graphic design class and they just thought it was incredible and then after I made the second team thought about making the second team this year I definitely wanted to keep the uh yeah the bird theme so whenever we have going against each other we say go Space Bird so we'll do that on there at this time we'd like to take just a twom minute um intermission um intermission I couldn't think of the word so 7:32 Recess Recess intermission by miss carella all in favor all in favor thank you e e are back into our public session no those are yours all right uh Dr Charleston you're logging no uh Middle School oh okay so we have one more uh presentation if you remember about I guess three three three years ago um we uh came up with what we call the Middle School reimagine uh plan which was a a three-year process in terms of making some changes to the Middle School school um and we thought since we kind of put a bow on the bird pilot um which was a departmentalization we think it would be a nice uh a good opportunity now to put a bow on Middle School reimagination plan not that we're stopping with things we're doing but kind of just giving a great overview of what's occurred the last three years and where we're at so I have Miss gando Mr doosa I think Mr cusac here as well uh to present so I'm going to turn over to Mr Lando thank you for coming tonight thank you thank you um I just want to open by saying that Mr D Roa is here tonight and I told him to take some notes from what river had to say because that was was some pretty good stuff of principal for a day so um just wanted to start with that uh so Middle School reimagined our update we had our 2122 launch and we've been building on those updates over the last two years so this is this is year three for us um the next few slides that we'll talk about with philosophy are all based on the principal espoused by the Association for middle level education and really the purpose of that is to emphasize the idea that we don't want to forget about Middle School kind of crunched between Elementary and high school that they have their own patterns of learning that there's specific um tenants of adolescent development that are important for us to remember when we're talking about middle schoolers um so when you look at culture and Community as the first tenant of the ml philosophy um the core values we try very hard to infuse those throughout our instruction and our classroom and school culture overall and then the strategies and the services exemplify that team philosophy so each of our students has an adult Advocate who's on the team um either it's the team leader or another one of the teachers um in terms of the counseling and support services we have one counselor per grade level that follows that grade for the three years and we have the services of the wellness team then students if they need additional services they could move to intervention and referral services and potentially 504 or CST so it's a Continuum of a comprehensive services for them in terms of our safety measures we have the school safety team the threat assessment team the crisis response team Mr D Roa and are working on a more restorative discipline approach so we've been collecting some data this year and we'll be rolling out more on that next year um and then in terms of our Partnerships we're always looking for ways to communicate proactively whether it's through emails positive phone calls workshops and we've been doing more transition programming so that's the one tenant there of that culture and community that we really have been working on over those last three years in terms of curriculum instruction and assessment you have uh your departmentalization of your subject areas so our teachers are highly qualified um in each of those areas we integrate those other health and wellness andal competencies not only throughout but also through health and PE and through our advisory program and then rolling out ruler with the staff this year and students next year like we've done in elementary school um and then the last three bullets there are really all about the instruction being based on a really high level of Engagement and our assessments being based on problem solving analysis and critical thinking so when I I've had the benefit of going into class rooms and seeing the teachers teach these really highly engaging lessons and I understand now why I don't know math as well as our students do because they're doing those big thinking classrooms and they're getting up and their problem solving and they have the whiteboards and you know I had a teacher who was like memorize all of these uh multiplication tables so it's really great to see that engaging learning and the kids thinking about thinking that really high level of metacognition um and then in terms of leadership and organization we really are working on that shared Vision Mr doosa meets with the team leaders at least monthly they have those regular meetings and one of the um one of the things that he's brought to those meetings is this idea of one success and one challenge let's let's share one success and one Challenge and that's really just along the mindset of how are we continuously improving um so that's a really nice partnership there um in terms of our policies and procedures we set schoolwide expectations and we communicate those to the students um particularly through our quarterly meetings but just in and definitely in being in the hallways and being there to uh interact with them on a regular basis um and then our teachers like I said they're willing to try new things they work closely together on interdisciplinary projects and they're really dedicated to the students learning so when you put all of those together um that really creates purposeful learning and meaningful relationships for our students they're starting to think who am I as a student academically socially emotionally how do I contribute to my community and how does my community support me um so it's a really nice uh meshing of all of the different ideas um and then we did also move to the rotating drop bell schedule um after that first year um and like we've said all along that takes the kids about a day or two and they are fully immersed and they know they know where they're going and what they're doing but you can see a list of the different benefits of the rotating block schedule where they're meeting with their teachers at different times of the day so that uh that benefits different uh learning styles um they have longer times uh to be in class so that as for Project based learning and presentations um that helps as well and then we've been able to share staff more in terms of Middle School and High School teaching and have them have professional development that um is more Universal on a Continuum 6 through 12 um so those are all of the points in terms of just the philosophy and moving forward and Mr D Ro is going to talk more specifically about how teams have evolved over time thank you good evening everybody so we started the middle school teams in 2021 and but we did this by bringing an expert and author of successful Middle School teaming Jack burkam to work with us and he started off by helping us to really developed the protocols for our meetings as well as introduced us to the five elements of teaming and those elements of teaming are based around student advocacy regular check-ins to review student progress consistency among teachers the maintaining all student communication and parent contacts as well as coordinating the team assessment schedule um in year one we had the building wide launch in September with our supervisors serving as team leaders running team meeting and as the year continued teachers applied and were chosen to be the next team leaders and then attended summer training in 2022 in that second year the appointed teachers and appointed teachers took over as team leaders while Jack burkam returned once again to work with the leaders visiting every grade and team from there last summer we had one leader from each grade level receive additional amle training and our leaders created our advisory program which I'll be speaking about shortly we're in our second year right now with the teacher team leaders and we're reviewing our options for PD for this upcoming summer um moving along there we go uh we find the success of any team really comes down to how the team interacts and works together the teamwork that's built and what we found is that the increased collaboration leads to Greater connection and consistencies um for example there's more inter interdisciplinary planning between subjects leading to cross-cutting Concepts such as CER or claim evidence reasoning making its way out of the science room and into math social studies and English The increased dialogue and frequent review of students also allows teachers to identify and see how students are trending are we seeing students Excel across the board are they having difficulty in one subject and that really just sets up the dialogue for our teachers to figure out how best to support our students what are we going to put in place for them um lastly what I want to talk about is the team initiatives that I've been able to see since I've been here cards to unsung heroes I think is I mean I had to hand those out to the crossing Gard Nando across the street and you could see how touched he was by that it's these opportunities to me that when I first got to Glenrock and I spoke about it's you know what are we doing for the community and how are we interacting with this community you could see how touched Nando was um and then also the March Madness book competition in sixth grade teachers were paired or I should say students were paired together in teams to see who could read the most pages and most books and the group that won had the honor of playing the staff and myself and basketball um you know I'm not going to go off on a tangent right now but I mean I I mean it it was two deep threes Dr Charles really it was too deep I got on video but I'm not going to talk about that Kaitlin Clark deep 3 like logo 3es or like like Elementary School 3es I mean I'll show you the video I'm just a little bit beyond the logo I think the video can lie but let's check it out thank you and then moving on to talking about advisory um our advisory program was created to support the school culture that Mr or Lando had spoke about earlier by strengthening and building our students emotional intelligence um in this first year we focused on our four core values that you could see and infusing them into our school Community every day advisory creates a dialogue and it sets an expectation for how our students feel act and regulate themselves as this program continues it will evolve and merge with ruler which our staff is currently working on right now going forward the advisory program will continue to help our students students understand the value of emotions build their emotional intelligence and Elevate our school climate further we found the strength of or really the success of our advisory program lies in the new groupings as far as students getting to interact with each other from other teams as well as other teachers that they might not have the chance to interact with on a day-to-day basis um it also sheds new light for students on how they see the staff as teachers regularly share their own experiences in these sessions and lastly The Advisory program gives our students the guidance to better navigate adolescence so that our students could be their best resulting in less behavioral issues not just now but in the future as well so it's all about just setting them up for the future thank you uh good evening I'm back second round uh I'm going to talk about the scope and sequence there were two large um changes in the structure of the middle school when we did this reimagine plan the first thing was the breaking down of the block so sixth graders would stay with a sixth grade teacher for three subjects uh either in the morning or the afternoon where it was ma it was a Ela social studies and writing so what we've done in the reimagine plan was break that out um as principal jando spoke earlier it allows us to have teachers who are subject specific content experts teaching a specific course to the students so in ela in the sixth grade um the teachers still maintain that common planning time both within their teams and across their grade levels so that they still can plan co-curricular activities but now we have social studies teachers teaching social studies teachers ELA teachers teaching English uh and ELA teachers teaching Writers Workshop um in seventh grade Writers Workshop used to be an elective that students could take uh all students do now take that and we now offering additional supports where there are I IC classes where students are able to take that as well um all the teachers were involved in the curriculum writing in sixth grade so we didn't just have a small group we had the social studies the ELA the writer Workshop teachers all involved to make sure that they were hitting all different aspects of the curriculum and that everything that was being done in the block was being covered uh social studies again we broke up the block sixth grade social St is now a standalone course it actually helped us too because it realigned and redefined what we were doing uh one of the main reasons too was there was the New Jersey state Le learning standards revisions in 2020 um and there was also the Laura uh Laura Woon law for civics mandate in 2021 so with those changes it really was the perfect time for us to make this change and have that Standalone sixth grade course we aligned it with the fifth grade what they're doing the elementary schools so they do Colonial history and Civics so our sixth grade social studies now covers 1754 to 1877 in seventh grade they get Civics and in eighth grade they get world history which is then the precursor to our nth grade either world history or AP World History courses uh the teachers were all provided with Excuse me external professional development and curriculum writing time as well and for mathematics um the committee reviewed the program and we had algebra for everybody in 8th grade um prior to the reimagine plan so in 2122 the committee reviewed the program and curriculum support materials summer of 23 they wrote the curriculum for the two new Pathways um in 2223 those Pathways were implemented so all students come in and take sixth grade math in 7th grade it splits into two different Pathways um and those materials and curriculum were adopted in 2223 uh in 20 summer of 23 there was revisions obviously anytime you start something new you want to evaluate it see where it is make revisions um so this is the second year of implementation notable point in grade 8 65% of students met or exceeded State expectations on the math assessment in 2223 which is a 16% increase from 2122 oh we go now my favorite part uh the electives um as principal jando said earlier one of the great things too about the realignment of the middle school and high school and the reimagine plan was we get to share teachers so someone like Mr locatel who is our engineering teacher teaches 7eventh through 12th grade engineering so that builds consisteny throughout our program um Miss VR TV media teacher teaches 8th grade through 12th grade so we worked with the staff in 2022 we came up with electives uh the teachers were involved in the process of what electives would be beneficial to the students what ones did we want to keep in sixth and seventh grade in the old model the students were told what electives they were taking in eighth grade they had choice so they ranked their electives from I think five and they got to take two semester electives so now we offer um I think seven uh no uh eight or 10 in eth grade I don't remember off the top of my head I apologize but we do offer more diverse electives um the revisions were made we implemented them we revised the curriculums over the summer for the courses that needed to have changes this allows for more scheduling flexibility for the students it allows the students to have more opportunities to see different areas that they may not have been able to see before um and one example which I think is great is the growth in our band before this realignment band was something that was taken as an add-on you had to get pulled out of class to take band whether it was for your music lessons orever and we had fewer than 30 students in our Middle School band two years in we have more than 60 students now because band runs as a f year course which the students have the option to take pushing that forward that's going to continue to grow not only our Middle School band but our high school band so this is the start of a lot of what we're doing that will not only our middle school students but what goes on 9 through 12 so thank you very much for your time thank you everyone I I had I question quick question so we we ending year three right so like what are what are some of the next steps like what do you what do you foresee do you foresee additional electives of subjects were not teaching like what what do you what do you need from us in the board in terms of going forward I know that our program of studies is done in November December and voted on in January but like what where do you see four five years four five and six for say so two big areas I see are um a second wave of electives in the middle school because we're also growing so we have to look at class size um some of our electives do have larger classes so not only in addition of Middle School electives but the next step becomes reevaluating our high school electives so we start with the middle school and we build up we did an 8th grade TV elective last year we resequenced our high school TV media program we started our seventh and eighth grade engineering electives this summer Mr locatel will be and I will be working together to write the three new engineering courses for the high school so I think a big push that will be happening is um increasing of some electives at the middle school and then the evaluation of the middle of the high school electives to see how we can build on what we're doing at the middle school to improve those I I don't have any questions I just wanted to say thank you for the presentation thank you for this Middle School reimagining plan it was way overdue and I know the benefits are tremendous for our students so thank you and just keep up the good work thanks Mr doosa who won the basketball game between the students and the teachers and and and and there is a right answer teachers oh Mr D Roa Mr doosa I mean it was the climate and culture of the Middle School struggling right now you just you was illegal Mr Mr dut Mr dutzer was in the zone and he just was it he had quite a game quite a player okay that's fair I mean you know what it did go into when when it all cost over it was overtime it was overtime G the opportunity okay Mr Clump needs to be [Laughter] sidelined well we do uh we do thank you for for all all that that you've done over these past three years I know Mr doosa is new new it and I know that this is Mr G Lando's first year but um we put a big emphasis this is for the board in the community but we put a big emphasis on teams um and uh I couldn't be happier with how they they progressed these last couple of years I couldn't be happier with the efforts of our team leaders and and and the stuff that we're getting out of that at the end of the day it's we contining to do what's best for kids and providing supports for for kids um I look forward to uh continuing to grow the elective program and as it as it feeds into the high school I think I'm excited about that um and you and I think for all of us just seeing what was here tonight with robotics shows you the potential um of being able to link the middle school and high school together and grow those programs um shows that it was a and that example was a great success so thank you for coming out tonight and thanks for kind of putting a bow on this and and onward thank you thank you thank [Applause] you I know I can definitely say that I'm appreciative of having watched each of these steps of the process go through the um the last couple of years it's been interesting so it's always nice to wrap up a project so thank thank you yes it is um can I have a motion to discuss uh the resolution for the administrative professional day all right Miss Stevenson seconded by Miss Calvis um and for the national Administrative professional day of April 24th 2024 um if we all could um just in our usual fashion just go around and and read um each grouping whereas Administrative Professionals are the backbone of the school and District district organization they are the link between parents teachers and administrators and whereas Administrative Professionals complete a variety of tasks including accounting scheduling appointments maintaining administrative calendars and caring for our St students and staff they maintain attendance records answer the phone pay the bills and communicate with parents community members and staff and whereas Administrative Professionals ensure that School site and District staff have the information and materials to do their jobs effectively and whereas Administrative Professionals are the face of the school and district and are usually the first Contact that parents and community members have with our school district it is through them that community members and parents form positive impressions of our schools and the work that is accomplished in the district and whereas Administrative Professionals keep Pace with advances in computer phone and document reproduction technology in order to better perform their duties and whereas Administrative Professionals listen to students parents community members as well as staff members and guide them in finding resolution to their concerns and whereas Administrative Professionals are the life flood of the everyday EB and flow of activity in the school and district offices administrators teachers other classified staff students parents and community members depend on our Administrative Professionals on a daily basis be it resolved that the Glenrock Board of Education recognizes and acknowledges the positive impact of Administrative Professionals on our district all right may I have a motion to approve the resolution Miss garelli seconded by Mr Corey and if you're able to call rooll Mr canel yes Miss carisolo yes Miss Carr yes Mr Cory yes Miss garelli yes Miss Stevenson yes Miss Randell yes Dr Robinson yes motion passes thank you um we need a motion to open our public hearing on our Energy savings obligation refunding um School bonds and uh Mr and then uh once we have the motion um Mr Canalis are you able to tell us um exactly why we need this public hearing can I have a motion miss scarpelli and miss Stevenson seconds so the public hearing is necessary uh in order uh to give the official authorization of for the issuance of Energy savings obligation refunding bonds that will pay for The Upfront cost and installing of the energy conservation measures contemplated by the uh esip that we have been talking about over the last few weeks along with the associated professional fees once the public hearing is concluded and assuming the aboard adopts the corresponding resolution the board will be in a position to move forward with issuing the bonds um this is just a necessary step uh last meeting we had our first reading of these ordinances now we will have the final reading of the ordinances um and this will be followed by uh a ratings call later this week and then the actual sale of the bonds through uh the Royal Bank of Canada and uh we should be off and running and closed by May and then 18 months of uh installation all right thank you Mr Canales all right uh so public comments are to be on the Energy savings obligation refunding uh School bonds only U there will be a time later for additional public comments um 758 if we can open public comments please state your name and your address all right uh it's 7:58 um we'll close public comments seeing no members of the public to make comments can I have a motion uh to discuss the resolution B1 no all right Miss Miss Randell seconded by Mr Corey are there any um comments from trustees or questions on B1 garell a question I just see in here there's a limit as to what the interest rate can be so if it doesn't if we can't issue these bonds at 5% or less then this won't go through and do we know when the bond first payment might occur or what are we trying to have that happen uh as it stands right now it is being uh templated to be in July of 2025 okay any additional comments all right um can I have a motion to approve the resolution B1 all right yes this carella and seconded by any second Miss carar Dr Stephen Robinson we already have a motion on the floor okay so then in terms of approving if we if we have no more dialogue then we would just call the rooll call roll okay thank you for that point of correction Miss calz yes Miss carasa yes Miss Carr yes Mr Corey yes Miss garelli yes Miss Stevenson yes Miss Randell yes Dr Robinson yes motion passes thank you good evening everybody uh again so I'm actually gonna ask Mr uh mccy Miss hofburger to come on up we're going to kind of jump this a little bit the agenda just because they're the only two here I don't want to keep them here forever so Rob if you could have a seat where you were before in ter I'll get a chair for you right here for the members of of the of the public you're you were probably aware that the board has two goals for this year one is centered on School uh security Security in general and the other one is on on Communications and so uh Mr mccy who's our director of security and Miss hoffberger who is our director of community relations um both have a couple of things to share Mr mccy um we'll share very briefly uh the some of the findings from the security audit from porio was a company that board contracted out with in the fall uh and um they gave us some recommendations clearly we cannot go into all the recommendations because they are security um matters we did discuss some enclosed uh Mr MCC is going to give us just a very brief overview of some of those recommendations uh things that we're going to kind of tackle in the next uh couple year couple years and some maybe even immediately so Mr mccy thank you very much uh so January 29th January 30th 2024 uh poor Z comp service conducted a s site assessment of the district school buildings um as a result of that assessment there are several recommendations that they've given us mainly uh couple of points that I'll make is signage uh for the perimeter uh increased signs indicating property boundaries and authorise access um on the exterior uh increased signs to direct visitors for Park parking and access one Central entry point uh our visitor management software um they recommended we increase the electronic visitor management system to include the elementary schools and that will be managed by security cameras additional cameras to be added to cover Elementary hallways cover blind spots on the exterior our PA upgrade and after hours security measures uh decrease building access to only those designated areas for after hours utilization and security Personnel for additional events thank you m Mr mccor does anyone have any questions or comments I know a lot of this went over in closed session and we know that we can't share much in public but we did want to share a little bit and we do thank you for coming out and for all your work with school security and supporting the the board's goal this year so thank you thank you and you are free to go unless you'd like to stay you can go okay thank you all right and uh Miss hofburger is here to talk a little bit about and the board has this in backup which is a draft again we want to emphasize a draft of the community relations and communication plan which again is is the second of the two board goals for the year uh we're not going to go over all all 12 pages but I think we'll go over some of of the highlights and certainly would be happy to answer any questions questions that the the trustees have but I'm going to turn over to Tara to do a little brief overview of your thoughts um again this is a working document it's not a final document it's just draft um but we would like to get something finalized uh either in May or in June so we can make sure that we uh achieve this board goal this year with a really good comprehensive communication plan so Tara I'm going to turn over to you thank you um so as you all I hope you had a chance to look at it um this plan was created to establish a clearly defined Communications framework for the district in addition to supporting both the district's Mission and the Board of Education goal for this school year it's important to note that this plan is a working document that will continuously evolve uh to address any emerging needs or wants and that includes making changes from any feedback um or requested edits tonight the plan will be utilized as a guide that both the District administration and uh me as the Director of communications will Monitor and adjust as necessary um I I don't want to go through all 12 Pages like Dr Charleston said but uh main outline is we go over the Glenrock Public Schools mission statement in addition to some demographic information uh we touch on all of our Target audiences in the first section which is an outline of both um internal and external stakeholders we go over our Communications Channel which are the primary channels uh that we delve into for the bulk of this plan we talk about every channel that I have found that is utilized um for any type of communications and community relations thus far um an example of those we go all the way from the website social media School messenger communicate which is um the messages and emergency Communication System we use email Communications Genesis press leases uh the Glenrock Board of Ed meeting highlights that Dr Charleston sends out uh Glenrock media uh that the students run and Glenrock TV which is um up for discussion as well so again that's the bulk of the plan to go through all of those uh channels and how they are currently utilized and how we hope to continue to utilize them better in the future the assessment of the current state is um the next part of the plan arguably one of the most important sections in my opinion as it explains the findings of the current community relations and Communications functionalities within the district um it can pinpoint and identify our strengths weaknesses gaps needs opportunities for improvement and these findings are what helped us to establish the four primary goals for the plan um those four goals which are the rest of the plan really what what the whole um plan is about to try to reach these goals number one is the board plan I'm sorry the board goal which is to maintain a proactive media and community relations program to enhance the district's image on local state and National levels goal number two is to enhance Glenrock Public Schools digital profile which includes mainly the website and social media number three is to modernize while maintaining traditional aspects of the district's Visual and brand identity and number four is to update and streamline a crisis communication plan for future use so that's just a summary um of this draft again a work in progress but a um a good start in my opinion to a comprehensive plan it's it touches on a lot so the board has had this for a little while do you have any uh questions or comments is when you made this goal uh Dr Robinson is this what the the vision of the board was was this type of plan like we don't know what we don't know M and so um I think terara has done a nice job of putting something together um as a good starting point for discussion so the floor is the boards Miss carisella thank you terara I love this it was very comprehensive I just want to call out I was really um pleased to see the um when we talked about kind of the assessment the acknowledgement that the district is not actively or successfully promoting all the amazing happenings within our schools and I know these meetings we are so EXP exposed to all the greatness that's happening with you wrestling and Robotics just tonight and even our young students that came by but people don't know that externally and I'm always feel like I'm not fighting for our schools to let them know that but it kind of is a battle sometimes so the fact that there's awareness of that and that we're going to be tackling it is um just really thrilled about that um my only other comment about something to consider under the stakeholders while not a stakeholder I feel like people are always comparing us to surrounding um schools so I don't know if you'd want to as some kind of external like our peer schools or something like that just as an awareness I don't know that we're marketing to them necessarily or communicating to them but I know we get a lot of comparisons to them so maybe just awareness of them also being an external factor in things great thank you thank you so much thank you miss carel any other trustees okay I know I can definitely say that um looking at my Facebook feed sometimes I'm I'm noticing the Glenrock schools popping up a bit more um in in the search so I think that um the proactiveness of of the communication is definitely something that I visually notice so I appreciate your efforts um thank you and that's it so Dr Robertson are you saying that before terara got here that social media was not as done as well as it is now that is that what I H is that what you heard just just just okay it would be offended and not hurt the Facebook algorithm that's my it's all algorithm that's the answer all right thank you I will highlight that Tara's done two things in particular she done a lot of things but two things that highlight are the press releases that you've seen I think those are done very professionally uh very well and highlight things that would not have happened um if she wasn't here uh I think the one you just did was on U Michelle uh made name is Costa but that's something I would not have put together and that's out to the pr press and it's on social media so you're doing a really nice job of more formally recognizing our our students um even when they're recognized here at the board we had our gold our gold star winners that had formal uh press releases so it's wonderful and then the second piece which I think the board may see soon is The Branding yep so you want to share a little bit about that sure um so we are are working with a graphic designer um my goal as you'll see in number two I'm sorry number three is to not change not come in and make major changes the traditionalism of any brand is so important to me it's so important to the town it's so important to anyone who's ever gone through the Glenrock Public School System it needed to be cleaned up majorly and that's on all um all schools across all schools and at the district level and what I mean by cleaned up is um High versions of these logos having an official color of red um what red sh should we use so that all the Reds match um when branding and this will eventually lead to a style guide that style guide will have all of a comprehensive um looks of all the logos with the correct colors we are tweaking some to make them more uniform with the other ones for example across the elementary schools I just want them to look a little closer to each other keeping their school colors keeping their Mas Scots um everything that's there having the full school name um in the logo uh a lot of the schools don't even have that they'll just have um I don't know just not the full Coleman you know and not Clara E Coleman um so to me it was in major need of a cleanup but not big changes it just it'll be noticeable but in hopefully all positive way um and what those once those logos are done which the first draft has been um delivered to me and I'm waiting to find a good time to meet with a branding committee that I've formed um so to show them and then I'll meet with all the administrators I hope that that will lead to some final edits we have three round of edits three rounds of edits for each logo um those will eventually be put into a style guide with those colors chosen fonts um eventually that can lead to email signatures which is a personal goal that I would love across District um to have everyone have coordin uh email signatures that kind of thing um things for business cards uh fonts and colors and logos to use for that so it'll just continue to grow and that style guide will continue to grow but we needed a first point and uh this is it so we've we've begun thank you if I may I would like to mention my favorite thing that she does are the board photos on the on the websites where she gets those photos something incredible happening there I'm not sure where she gets it from Great teamwork that's what that is but your social media is not as good as it was um yeah uh sorry I just want to acknowledge that there is so much more positive press out there for us so even seeing the Glen Mar cazette Friday morning on my driveway seeing us positioned in a positive light and highlighting that so I want to thank you for forming those relationships um it's nice to have a positive front page um and we deserve it because there was so much good going on here so thank you not GNA say anything no I don't think I'm gonna bring Tara back again so thank you uh Tara nice knowing you um I could do this every Monday uh any other questions no so I guess our plan Tara would be do we want to have this finalize in the next month so the board no more comments outside of Miss carousel's comment we could put that in and then May have another draft or a final draft share it with the board the board not having you come to a meeting but can provide one last round of possible feedback and then we can finalize this and vote either at the second meeting in May or the second meeting in June so we have in that way the board would have would have achieved that goal for the year sound good thanks T thanks for coming out we appreciate it such a pleasure to have you here thank [Music] you back to the top uh yes we're really just on um it's one Personnel okay so I'll try to go through through through these uh quick um certainly happy to answer any questions and and entertain any any discussions or comments uh as the board's aware uh in the budget for for 24 25 is a full-time art position um and part of that was going to abolish the uh existing part-time art teacher position um that's no longer needed because we're creating a full-time position um the teacher that was currently uh part-time has accepted the full-time a full-time position so no one's losing a job but the board would be required to abolish that part-time position because if you don't then that position still is out there and someone would have claim to that so on the next agenda we will have a resolution to abolish a part-time eaching teaching position position okay we have some job descriptions there I won't go over them uh but I it's my recommendation that we just abolish them they're not needed um they're unnecessary uh so we don't have uh a Board of Ed or District web master that person just left right so there's no special position for that the Board of Ed communication media specialist that person just left she's a director of community relations and we don't have a supervisor of stem or steam which I think that was from 2013 or something like that so we have no no desire or anything to hire someone for that position so I think it'd be uh good to clean up on our end on the Personnel side but to abolish these these job descriptions since we don't plan on filling those filling those in the future so any comments or questions or concerns about that M carella I like the word Sunset versus abolish we will say Sunset but the resolution will abolish um but yes yes we can let them they will go quietly into the night uh so those will be the four Personnel resolutions outside of any new hires or retirements or things like that on our next agenda on our next agenda yes all right okay to the general section of policy so for policy um we didn't have any new updates from Strauss asme but in thinking about wanting to make sure that we Contin contined to discuss uh policy because that's really one of the main functions of the board right is to is to set policy I put these three policies on there just for review and then any uh changes if you if you think about if you think that there should be changes to them the first one is the activity participation which I know everything says that it was done when we switched over to Strauss estim in 2020 but our understanding is the activity participation came out of when uh Governor Christie made all those changes and the board was really trying to get money for uh because the Surplus was taken away that's back when the board like privatized the the the par professionals and the custodians and and instituted this um activity fee for middle school and high school for sports and clubs um and I'm totally not saying to get rid of it I'm just saying it's been that way since I we believe 2011 so does the board want to continue that you want to continue you at that rate do you want to make changes that's why I put this policy on there um if the board didn't want to do anything then what we would say would be reaffirmed on April 8th 2024 so that way people can say when they look at the policy wait the board looked at this they discussed it they want to keep it as is and that's good there's nothing wrong with that um so uh I thought i' put it under um so I thank you for that um I just think that we probably should clean up some of this because it does talk about the acceptance of checks and I think we're getting away from or trying to get away from the acceptance of checks for the payments of I know co uh Athletics is definitely credit card and I thought um you know any the activity fee possibly Middle School I'm not sure how that collection is being handled but um anyway I just thought I'd mentioned that that part of that I may Dr Charleston please um so the policy is currently being looked at by our athletic director and team to make sure that we are um in fact doing what the policy says um so once this comes back it'll come back uh with the appropriate uh procedure that is currently taking place which you are correct does not include checks and the only thing I would add to with Dr Charleston said that if you were to decide to to to abolish the the fees that would obviously not be for the 2425 school year that would be for the 25 26 school year correct because we have already budget anticipated revenue from that and I'm not advocating to abolish it the question is do you want to change those numbers is really what what you know I don't know if that's high if that's low um you know I I don't know the answer to that I know that when my daughter plays softball it's like $3,000 right for a season so I'm not saying to do that but these are are not extreme amounts it could be for for certain people so that's up to you if you want to change it you want to keep it for sports and get rid of it for clubs you want to add more you want to do this that that's kind of where I put this on there um and again I'm not advocating for anything keep it the same way I just think the idea of the board had a discussion and we reaffirm it is is a home run for us understood I I do have a question um maybe that can also come out of the responses of the board um what kind of feedback over the years have we received regarding the um these participation fees um and okay so none maybe um or any hardships okay thank you Miss Miss car or was it Miss Ste okay I um well I was never fully supportive of of it I did support it um but I'm not in support of adjusting amending I would just recommend that we keep it at the same amount I think at this point every student who enters this District knows that when they get to middle school high school that there's going to be an activity fee so to abolish it now Sunset it now um I don't I I'm not supporting but I don't agree with any price change cost change so okay did you have something Miss Stenson did you no you were asking like for feedback I don't really think there's not much but I I did like the uh Max that you pay because third sport was free okay then that's helpful um because some kids do do three Sports and it can add up especially if you have more than one child doing something but you know I just think everybody as little said when they first started there was a big controversy over it but I think everybody understands now it just it is what it is okay thank you m garelly yeah I'm I'm fine if we keep the fee as it is I would not recommend abolishing any of these fees um we are going to have budget issues going forward so I don't think we should eliminate other streams of Revenue that's my opinion what I really would like to see is the activity fee we completely 100% collect the athletic fee but without a problem but the co-curricular club fee I don't think is being collected as accurately as it could be so I would love to see what those Revenue numbers could potentially actually be for us before we can even adjust these numbers at all so I and I know it's been difficult in the past on figuring that out I think there's got to be some kind of mechanism we can put into a place to make it fair and the reason why I do think we should keep it is because there are some clubs that actually take more time and energy or just as much time and energy the one that we here today um than sports do so you know and they do travel and they so I do think it's it's unfair that only the sports is really the one that's being collected accurately thank you all right such a trust so we'll say we're going to reaffirm that and we'll revisit the checks and revisit how uh we'll provide more information on the collection process for the co-curriculars um but and that's what okay good good good good good all right the next one is timely because we're about to assign come on we're about to assign students this is not work there we go um I lost my spot there it is so 5120 is the assignment of students and and the big thing is that you don't have neighborhood schools anymore you haven't had it for years um but uh you know once the student students are assigned um they're in that school and then anyone else that moves in uh goes to the school with the lowest uh uh enrollment and that's that's worked but every year and we're next week we assign the kindergarten students which by the way we're at 161 today um and for if you're curious uh we were at I think 138 at this time last year so when we did the what we call the initial initial signing so um the question for the board I think on this policy and it could you may have other questions but is really the attendance Zone does the board want to continue with one the district is one zone and then we assign students not on proximity but on class size outside of the kindergarteners that come in we try to assign them to their neighborhood schools or with their siblings we follow this policy to the letter um but just so the board's aware we do get many complaints uh when people move in and move in next to col and have to go to bird like it's it's it's Relentless which is fine we deal with it but in clar in clarification that that's after I kindergarten I guess I I I'm asking because I want it publicly said I mean we do our best you do our so the kindergarteners 161 students we might get a couple of more when we do next week let's just say we have 170 by next week when we meet we will do the best we can to do it by neighborhood certainly siblings go to where they siblings are easy peasy and then we go based on neighborhood what you have happen every year is that someone on the same street goes to Central and Coleman and that's where we get the push back from or when they move into the district um they uh uh move next to Coleman and again are sent to bird or Hamilton and in their mind doesn't make sense and I get that but the policy my I enforce policy so I just want to make sure that the board is still comfortable with with that and this policy goes along with the other one because the other one's assignment of students too I'm going to listen the plug in my computer it died ju just um I don't know if it would be helpful to us but maybe reinforce with the real estate agents on how this works because they may not know thinking okay it's neighborhood schools they may not know what our policy is so just that so that the real estate agents have the information that they can share it them with their clients so this wouldn't perhaps not be such a big surprise to them or cause a lot of angst just like like a warning oh by the way if you know if this this might be your school but if the enrollment is high you'll be placed at the school with the lowest enrollment that's interesting how I guess going through that would we then look at just the real estate agents that are typically the the big ones for for you know like how do we get the Obscure but I mean I how about a press release yeah saybe tar could send something out to to the real agents the places in like that serve Glenrock like the ones in Glenrock Bridgewood or you know I'm sure or the big like the big ones like the wer or Keller Williams or whatever they are just to reach as many people as possible obviously we're not going to reach them all I don't think that's realistic but I think if we just kind of advocate that out there so that they know it someone is buying a house that this may be a possibility and is there a way um on our website like because I would assume that that if somebody was moving into the district they would be looking at the website to see what you know like about the different schools or like what are the schools or that what's the closest school like sometimes there's like a maybe even just in you know your common you know buying selling time you would have like something like hot item move uh you know moving into the district this you know take a look at our policy just kind of like a I I think that's a good idea also yeah with the reach out both I think would be a comprehensive look at it okay I don't yes yes we can we certainly can can do that I guess Tara to reach out I I believe again we can't speak for all agents but I believe that they're pretty forthcoming with them because when the parents say oh yeah we knew but we were hoping that I could I live next to Coleman why why you know why would you assign me to Hamilton like I live right there I could see Coleman that doesn't make any sense to me and so and that's fine like we do our job and it doesn't make its way to you and and that's but it does cause some consternation so I I think it's just important if the board reaffirms that it gives us more more support when I could say hey the board just talked about this on April 8th and they reaffirmed that this is the policy this is what how they want students assign it's fine yeah I can say I don't think that there's any more fair way than the way that it's been expressed in policy I'm comfortable reaffirming I just have one question so when someone moves to the district they're going in the elementary school age they're going to the school that has the lowest enrollment for that grade right um but could there be some kind of ratio like say maybe Hamilton just has 18 and that's technically the lowest but Coleman has 19 and they live like next to Coleman could there be some kind of maybe policy adjustment that there's I don't know if ratio is the right word Sharon helped me but like no I understand your question like and I get it like listen there's 18 at Hamilton and if I put you at Coleman there's be 20 at Coleman what's the big deal like one more kid like versus having 19 at Hamilton and 19 at Coleman for the second I deviate from that it's over mean if there was a the policy had some kind of ratio if it wasn't so drastic of a change I didn't know if it was so oh you miss car oh wait so so like that that's basically my thought um would that be amending the policy it would be so I'm kind of leaning towards that Sharon just had a good point yeah I mean I I think going back years ago I I thought any policy could have changed between way back when when I had a kindergarten um but I thought the policy was that when the class size reached a Max at that Elementary that was it so max was I think our Max is 25 but if and once they reach that then there's no room at bird you got to go to whichever one has the lowest so that's not how the policy reads right maybe it was tweaked prior to to me getting here or maybe maybe they they ignored it um and went the paths the path of of least resistance from the parents um I will share I don't think it's that that would not be fair to to the students or the teachers right that you have 17 at Hamilton but because bird hasn't hit 25 yet you're going to funnel all the kids until they hit 25 that's a big difference between 25 and one school and 17 another versus was it 20 and 20 if you did it like that um and you know that we've have gotten some complaints from one of the elementary schools for the the one grade which is at 25 and one section of 26 so um it's up to the board like assigning kids students is easy as long as we have a a a map to follow so the board just has to make that decision and maybe not tonight's that maybe it's something to think about in in the future maybe it's something to think about for next year right when we get get get to that point but you know Miss Rend I just I agree with Dr charlson I think that it's our job as a board of education to make sure we have like an equitable education for all the kids so to sort of him and ha on that I think the policy is written correctly and it it does allow for that more than it does because what if there was seven kids that came in and they all wanted to go there and you could only put three in how do you decide that I think Distributing them to be the most Equitable is our job and that's what we should hold to thank you Mr um oh yes Mr the answer might Simply Be instead of 25 making get 22 cuz if you have seven coming in the same week that's that's that would be a tough challenge but then you'd hit that cap at a certain point I think the the challenge of a town like Glenrock when it's you're thinking about people that are moving here they're looking for walkability and that's not really a thing that we have except for the elementary school experience so it's a careful balance of people that are really attracted to this town coming from New York City and the outer buroughs hobok and Jersey City and they they may be looking at buying their second family car and it's just it's part of the consideration of why they move out here because of that you know that walkability score I'm just looking up 65 out of 100 sounds like a almost D+ for the town and it's something that that the schools could perhaps we tweak that uh instead of having a cap 25 is a lot of a lot of students in Elementary classroom 18 does feel empty and it's it's a tough balance I'm sure in five years we'll have different class sizes and that that board the time we'll be looking at a different kind of ratio maybe overcrowding at that point difference but I think for the next couple years there's that that timeline of where we're trying to fill more empty classrooms so it's it could be the right policy for us to consider just a lower cap and make it more neighborhood focused okay all right I guess well considering that cap um Dr Charleston how would something like that theoretically even work like do we have any like what are some of the ratios or you know the student teacher ratios that we have in in within the elementary schools like I don't know choose any like any random grade in like bird or Central do we already hit that number that yeah so Hamilton obviously is the small smallest because of creating the four additional sections so that's two three so grades two through five at Hamilton are small your kindergartens are averaging 18 across the district because next year those kids will come into first grade and so first grade will have over 20 across the board and then you're just growing right so the ones that have the 10 sections um uh across there once once you're able to to put what's the word I want to use once Hamilton is flushed out and then we're starting to assign kids like this group here these 161 kindergarteners will be spread out um I think you'll be able to keep class sizes in that 18 to 21 range unless enrollment R just explodes um without that then then you're looking at class size like you have at certain certain schools 25 26 kids um I think it's hard if we were to put a number that says we're going to funnel kids to their closest school um until it hits a number I'll say 22 and then we go with lowest enrollment so the question becomes is that by neighborhood or by as the crow flies right is it miles is it steps that's that's silly is it quarter miles is it a neighborhood is it streets are you going to draw a map and say if you live here and there's less than 22 kids in grade two and you're just moved here from Ridgewood you're going to go to bird because you live in that area even though every other school in the second grade has 18 kids and now bird's going to have 22 is that what we want it's fine but you have to Define that can't I don't so you need to get then you might go back to like a neighborhood School type of thing or at least some mechanism where we when we assign students know that when you live there you're going to bird if it's below that number make sense it is Miss car is there any way to um I see that it says it was adopted in 2020 is that because that's when you switched over to St sasme okay um when you it was switched over were there changes made to the policy is there any way that we get an old policy to see what I could check I don't know I I didn't make any changes to it but I'll check I don't know if we have access to school boards our old policies but we'll look okay because otherwise Rona would probably have um okay yeah just I mean I think the policy should do what is going to be the best for best for the students but also easy you know workable for the administration I mean in an Ideal World all class sizes will be even right for teachers but it isn't perfect world so and that's why we have in there that there can be exceptions made right um so I mean I'm going to leave it up to the administration to do what's best for our kids and assign the classes that they think are appropriate but I think to hold fast to say if we have 180 kids there should be 18 kids in every single class across the district is is not 100% accurate too right because if I live right next to bird school and there's 18 kids in every class you know you've inconvenienced me sending me to Coleman or wherever it might be to make me the 18th kid there too so there has to be some kind of wiggle room within this but I'm going to leave it up to the administration to do what they feel is best for our students and if this policy written this way gives you that leeway to do what's best and right then I I'm not going to strap you into certain protocols so I'd like to go on the record that I hate number 10 on the policy yeah that the superintendent can make exceptions to this policy because that's what comes across all the time and they they have reasons so I don't like number 10 I think we should take it out um but uh I don't I have not ever made it an exception because I feel that once I do that it's over and and I get it and I feel bad for people so we put them on waiting lists and we do a much better job with our Central registar and waiting lists we have gotten kids off of the waiting list to go to District that they want to but to be honest with you eight out of 10 want to stay where they're at because they're used to it they like it they're happy there they realize it's not as big a deal to go an extra quarter mile to the school um so how how do the waving list work so the waiting list uh we we keep it separate so when a parent forget about kindergarten so when someone mov moves in in in October and and they have a second and fifth grade or whatever um and they're going to be assigned to Hamilton but they're like I really want to go to bird my great-grandmother went whatever I want to go to bird okay we'll put you on the waiting list and what happens is students can move out and it creates a spot and once it creates a spot where bird now has the lowest class size where we can then move somebody we go to the waiting list and do that okay we don't have a huge waiting list um and once sir asked if they want to leave if they say no then they're taking off the waiting list and they remain where they're at you might be you might um recall that we offered to move students from one of the elementary schools that had bigger class sizes to go to Hamilton which is very small um because of the added sections and no one took us up on that all right now those class sizes in Hamilton or 178 versus the 25 in the other school definitely would have lowered it lowered it down um so I think people become accustomed to their school and they're okay this just the initial I don't want to go there because I'm closer to this one or I think that school's better that's a good one too right that school has higher test scores a higher ranking so we get that that that as well I'm okay with the policy as as as as is just wanted to make sure the board is okay with how we assign students and if you wanted to tweak I'm certainly we could we could enforce anything um so maybe something to think about we can bring it up again at at a fure fut it's not going to affect next week when we do the kindergarteners but maybe something we can talk about next fall for something that we could Implement later on could chew on it some more and then maybe look at other districts and see how they assign assign kids and so on does that work I I fully support keeping 10 all the way at the bottom of the list so want it in both actually if we get to 10 that means 1 through nine didn't function properly so it it's right where it needs to be if anybody would like um at a future time to bring it up for a future year then um please just send me an email and we'll look over the course of the Year where we can put this in for another review okay if it's okay we'll just say your firmed for both of them because the other one's the same it's just assigning the students and then we'll but we'll revisit it in the in the future um happily and we'll see if we could find the old one from school boards would that update the date as uh M car point out then so okay it would be the same policy but then refreshed as it say reaffirmed tonight yeah M um just a suggestion just a suggestion um and it doesn't have to be done now because the lights haven't been put on the lower field yet but I think we need to revisit the light policy and the cost when we put those lights there um and the time we took away the time constraints at the upper field but now that we'll have two we might want to revisit the lighting yeah when James goes over his report tonight we'll get an idea of lights lights are looking after Christmas so we have time okay all right thank you we're good for that on to no items for governance um instruction and program all right Mr reest all right um so have a few things that I wanted to just talk through today I I think I mentioned recently that I was going to give you a brief update on the phonu pilot that we're doing we're going to have a complete presentation on this next month at the cow that the elementary principes the literacy coach the English supervisor will be here to do um but I wanted to kind of fill you in on on kind of where where we are in this so the conversation with with phonic started last January actually initial principal discussions with the principls and the literacy coach and and the supervisor and me um and the real kind of um purpose of those conversations is we felt that we needed a more cohesive research based phonics program across all four schools especially in the primary grades but later grades as well and so we' started looking into it I know that you you know this because you approved the pilot programs um back in September the pilot programs were chosen and ordered the teachers there are eight of them piloting the program right now two in each of the four buildings and they received professional development November December and they started working with their students in January so I've been talking with a couple of the teachers the team is meeting I think next week to start talking about kind of final plans they they looked before they chose these two programs at a bunch uh fundations hegr 95% group spellography from phonic to reading snde phonix first were some of the ones they considered and they they landed on trying out snd and phonic first so there are um two teachers in each building one doing snde one doing phonics first and they've been kind of corresponding and visiting each other and having conversations about that uh sundai is an Orton Gillingham based multi-century strategies are built in the teachers really liked the scope and sequence and the lesson Prim structure um the lessons are available fully online so it's on on a projected screen and it kind of goes through um pro professional development is required to use it and it's it's a full day of professional development from snde folks the staff there so they did that the other one that that you're going to hear about next month is phonics first it's also multi-sensory based systemic it's structured sequential phonics Bas direct instruction approach to teaching beginning at risk struggling learning disabled dyslexic ell reader I mean they've got it all in there um it's a bit more allinclusive than the sundai one um but a lot more pieces to manage like physical pieces um so they're going to talk more about that um the teachers I've talked to like like both programs they really do like them um they like the multi-sensory emphasis as well as the professional development provided uh one of the teachers I talked to has been teaching 20 years 23 years something like that and she said she learned all sorts of really great stuff not just about the program but about about the fundamentals of teaching reading that that the new research has which is great um so that was that was nice to hear but it is 30 hours of self-paced videos of training which is which is a lot right it's a lot to ask of of all of our teachers to do so it's it's something that that is is is happening there so they're meeting in the next week or two I think they're meeting actually Wednesday this week and then they have a follow-up one but they're going to be putting together a presentation for you for next week um these are these are the experts in the field you know I was a high school English teacher I'm not I'm not trained in phonics right so I I understand the bits and pieces I've I've attended some of the classes I know some of the what's going on here but we're going to get them here um I've told them from the beginning like I support this absolutely let's move where we want to go and I I trust their expert so uh be be ready for that that next time so I just want you to kind of get an idea of where we're going with them questions about phonics you'll hear a lot more next month all right second thing on instruction and program is math textbook selection so last year I think it was missell who asked does this mean next year we're going to have more math books and I said I said yes we are going to have more math books so um Mr cusak was here earlier talking about changing of the math progressions for Middle School and what followed was a new textbook selection for middle school math and Algebra 1 and then last year we went through the process to look at um geometry and Algebra 2 and next in line now is pre-calculus and so so why like the the real purposes is why are we doing this and the first is that we are updating the math texts to to make sure we're meeting the state standards on on math there are new ones that have to be new standards that have to be implemented this September um so we've been preemptively getting ready for that uh pardon me the other reason is that actually this year it's available but we're planning to implement it next year from the program of studies you probably remember this um the College Board is offering AP pre-calculus and so we needed a pre-calculus book that aligns to the AP curriculum that college board sets so um so those are the the main things driving it but also we wanted to make sure that these texts you know kind of pick up where the algebra 2 left off and get us to the calculus that we're going to um so the timeline of This was um missa Fortuna met with she had a committee of four so miss bukar Mr Weinberg Miss Nordman Miss Wallace they are all teachers of pre-calculus right now and some of them teach Algebra 2 and some of them teach calculus so they kind of have the the ends covered there as well from January through March they reviewed textbooks um a bunch of them actually um had five different books s Gage had four McGraw Hill Wy Kendall hunt they looked at a lot of different texts here and they narrowed it down to the top four in March they brought that presentation which you have in backup to the math department and um and they they were able to look at the work that they had worked at and they chose the text and and so what they're recommending is um a book from Pearson both of them are Pearson products actually one of them is called AP pre-calculus graphical numerical and algebraic and the AP Edition so it's right on the title AP Edition and then the other one is honor for the honors pre-calculus and the pre-calculus class is uh is one by Pearson it's it's the author I think is Blitzer on here so you're going to be seeing both of these for U approval next meeting on the 29th but I wanted to share this with you the process and then you have in backup um what why why they chose these things questions about math so does that mean we're going to be having a pre-cal AP pre-cal class yes yes so um we have it in the program of studies for next year and um I I think I think folks are going to like it you know I think people are going to sign up for it um I thought you were going to ask the next question which is does this mean next year we're going to look at the calculus books I'm not sure if we're going to look at the calculus books next year I need to talk to Michelle about that photo wa for Michelle yeah all right all right any other questions all right the last one is a little bit bigger so I I've been mentioning this kind of off and on for for the last kind of pres few presentations talking about how we're looking at um today we wrapped up the Middle School uh reimagine plan we've been talking a lot about assessment we've been talking about a lot of these things and um Keith if you would go ahead and bring out that that diagram that here we go so the state uses term multi-tiered system of supports mtss and they have this lovely graphic that up on on the board behind me which I think is actually really instructive so what we we've been doing over the last few years is you know our district goal is about assessment of student learning with the goal of providing responsive instruction this year it's about in responsive instruction to meet individual student needs differentiate instruction personalized learning this year administratively we've been really looking at what they call these multi-tiered systems of supports so what we do and and you've heard me present data you've heard me talk about other things here we do really well with most of our kids achieving very well right our test scores are very strong it's great we're doing really good work but where we have some work to do is on the edges right so the kids who are struggling the kids who are um needing additional support and also the kids on the other end that the gifted and talented kids right we have gifted and talented program we have enrichment we have things like that but I think that there's room for us to do better on those edges is is where I think we we could get a lot out of this and so so when we look at those systems of support this framework here kind of helps us understand and look at it like a road map where where are we doing well where could we we Beef It Up So basically a state describes this as a framework for supporting students through a Continuum of services provided through core programs and interventions the use of data to drive decisions based on the intervention referral system the framework provides schools with a structure to meet for meeting the academic Behavioral Health enrichment social emotional needs of all students and it aligns resources from within in the schools across the schools and within communities and counties to provide the right interventions to the right students at the right time so if you think about the work that we've been doing Middle School reimagine culture and climate all of the the bigger kinds of pieces that we've been working on for the four years I've been here for the five years he've been here um a lot of that goes in this red triangle that you see there right which is district and school leadership which is family and Community engagement which is positive School culture and climate and that's where we've been doing a lot of work we've been doing a lot of work academically with looking at assessments looking at how we use data looking at how we track that looking at subgroups you've heard me talk about all these things many times and so what we need to what we're starting to look at are the the things in the blue triangle right and so the blue inner triangle is the core instruction and the support services specific skills so core instruction we're doing things like really looking at our standards based instruction we're looking at assessments we're looking at new textbooks we're looking all the things that you've he me talk about many times and now we're starting to look really kind of closely at these um supports for specific skills and so um those tiers as they call them in the middle tier one is universal supports for all students what are we doing in every class as a classroom teacher my job isn't to just stand there and lecture about The Great Gatsby right my my job is to help you if you're struggling help you and find you and and support you right in class not oh oh well you're just struggling go figure it out yourself or you need to be referred out or you need to get special service or whatever but tier one is is my job in the classroom what do I do to help all of my students today and that should work for you know 80% of the students or so but when students are struggling more than what I can do as a teacher in class we move towards tier two so this is targeted this is small group interventions we see this much more frequently in elementary schools basic skills instruction the BSI math the BSA literacy we see we see that more fluidly happening in in um in the elementary level but we see that more maybe behaviorally in the middle school and high school we have the core team we have the IRS we have uh what M Miss jando was talking about with with all of the supports that are happening there um in these small group in interventions and then for for a smaller group of students that needed we have much more intensive interventions these are you know you would see pull out uh resource room classes you would see identification and classification those kinds of things for students so it's it's really intense and we do a lot of these things well we do a lot of these things very well but I think there's room for improvement to make it more systematized and more visible and more supported in in our school so when we go through this which is what we're doing now looking at this blue piece how do we make sure that everybody's getting what they need when they need it how do we make it so that kids can move in and out of these tiers of support fluidly right that I'm not a tier two kid the rest of my life but right right now I need this support and then once I've met these goals or benchmarks then I'm out of it and then if I have to come back I'm back in and to do that we need data we need to assess where they are we need to understand what's what's going on and and we do that we do that well but not consistently well and not consistent across all of the buildings right there there's room to to improve that so what I'm leading right now are conversations that are about how do we system systematize this and make it more Universal and and more robust for our students this is Dr Charleston and I have talked about this this is going to be a multi-year long process right this is not going to be a a quick fix we're going to change things for September and then it's great we move along it's to be how do we how do we value what we have already and where do we build right and so the process that I'm I'm using right now to to work through this with the administrative team and they're starting to work with their staff is is a process called appreciative inquiry and Keith could you move to the next one please so the the appreciative inquiry cycle is a is a change initiative that's based on uh what we're doing well right how do we start with what are we doing well it's um um it's a strength-based approach to analyzing our current system it's again what are we doing well how do we get more of it how do we systematize it how do we make sure that it's going well all over the place right this third grade teacher is doing a great job are all of the third grade teachers how can we learn from each other how can we support one another how can we work as a team so the appreciative inquiry cycle is kind of five stages really kind of four Once you define things so starting off with definition so we've been having meetings at our administrative Council and separate smaller meetings about what is mtss what are interventions what are they where are they what are we finding what do we what do we have like take an inventory um and then we spent some time on the Discovery phase what gives life what is you know the best of what is um what do we appreciate about what we're doing well here I think too often as as a teacher I felt this many times um administrators would come in and say hey this is the next best thing since sliced bread we're going to do this move forward let's go and without pausing to say but but what is already working right let's not throw away the good things that we have let's build on them let's let's make them better so we've been doing I've been leading conversations with those and with with that dis that Discovery lens and my administrators then reached out into their departments their buildings their their faculty to start gathering information what do we like excuse me what's going well what what is precious right what is really important here and and we're just starting to move into the dream phase which is this idea of what might be what is the world calling for this is about envisioning this is about where do we want to go it's about the dreaming like if if we could have anything we wanted what would it be right and so we're starting those conversations now ultimately we're going to move to design and Destiny design is okay now that we have an idea of where we want to go let's plan it out let's plan the first steps let's plan what needs to stay the same what needs to change what can we build on and and then the destiny is kind of how do we sustain it how do we continue learning from one another and and continue the cycle so since March we've been working on Discovery what are we doing well what are our strengths what do we like about our systems of supports and um the the results so far are teams teams of people um you heard Mr doosa talk about the the middle school teams but also my administrators are talking a lot about their inrs teams they're talking about grade level teams they're talking about departmental teams um that communication is really strong between a lot of our faculty members and our our support you know the CST staff and and folks like that we have systems in place um many of us have been in other districts where the systems are a little bit broken right and that's that's not the case here um they are here uh we do a nice job with identification and using data um especially identification for for child study team referrals um we do a a nice job progress monitoring especially as part part of the IEP process that is very data driven and and making sure that we're following up with students um we have a lot of resources in this district and a lot of knowledge a lot of qualified and appropriately trained Educators uh we're really proud of that we it's it's one of the the best things that we have here and um and we also have enrichment and acceleration programs that are that are something that we're proud of as well so we're like I said we're moving into this dreaming phase to designing from majoring to designing what do we want these systems of support to look like in 5 years what do we want students to feel what do we want parents to feel what do we want staff to feel um about our programs what steps do we need to take now to move in that direction and once these kind of structures are addressed how do we co-construct together a mpss program that that continues to build and and and maximize our resources and and that's the conversation I keep having is that we have a lot of really good things happening how do we maximize it right how do we how do we celebrate it and maximize it move it forward so I'm really trying to phrase these conversations in terms of appreciative inquiry right about strength-based thing it's so easy to start pointing a finger well that's not good or this or we but what what is good let's start there and let's get let's get more of that so you're going to hear more from me probably next month as these con conversations continue about what are some recommendations we have for for next steps um but I wanted to get you up to speed of where we are and what we're doing and also getting feedback from you thank you very much Mr venness um I know I I specifically have a question with regards to the tier system so the way that you um described it in that picture like would you have a gen gen general education student that would move between those you know three tiers without necessarily being referred to special education or is it it's a good question when you get up towards tier three you're probably a classified student at that point right and those are a little less fluid as far as those things but but not always right some when we talk about least restrictive environment um you are in the gened class as much as possible right and you're you're pulled out for a resource you're pulled out for a learning strategy or pull up whatever it needs but you're back in with with jet as much as possible so by the time you get to tier three you're Mo you're probably talking about classified children with an i AP but tiers one and two are are for everybody and actually when you when you're looking at a lot of the best practices tier one two and three supports are for special ed students as well it's not now that you're in special ed you don't get tier one we we all get tier one that's that's kind of the purpose of it and tier two and it's flexible for those students as well okay and would it be that someone could be tier one at on like one subject matter and then like require tier two and something else or like if it was like literacy or absolutely and and one of the main tenants is that as I said you're not a tier one kid forever right so right now you might be having trouble with multiplication or something and so you need some support in a tier 2 smaller group environment for ex number of weeks right and it's data driven of once once Miss Robinson reaches this then she's no longer part of this group and if she needs to go back then she is part of this group you know that kind of flexibility not grouping kids by tear right and would there be with um like with the the way that classes are run like you know you're looking at class sizes and and figuring out how um those teachers would be able to group those children appropriately for their level like that would all be taken into account longer yeah that's part of what we're talking about with systems and structures how do we do that and how do we support teachers in analyzing that data right how do we provide them the uh the expertise if they need it and the support if they need it but also time and and ability to do so thank you m Carousel um I just want to say thank you for continuing to challenge what we're you know where we could do better um I feel like you've made a lot of changes when you changes improvements when you came on board as far as making things more consistent across the elementary school so this is kind of an evolution of what's already been doing done what the supervisors have been doing so I just I'd like to see the progression and want to say thank you and I think it's great to leverage what's working and the success we're having to build this so thanks for the ongoing thanks work on this thank you for this um it sounds to me like a lot of this is like a looking at our inrs process and like a revamping U of all that which is for General ed students you know the whole purpose of it is to support the kids that are not classifiable or don't meet the the criteria for classification so more of a uniform inrs procedure throughout the whole District yep and inrs is you know sometimes used as a stepping stone to classification which is which is not really what the intent is right no actually I think it's against the state code exactly I've had that and I don't mean here it's used I mean in in general it's often thought that way and and inrs and respon intervention RTI and and mtss I mean it's alphabet soup at a certain point but the the gist of it is how do we help support individual teachers helping individual kids at all levels right and so that means um if I'm in my class okay let me pull a small group of kids to work on this thing like that's a tier one support and we see that a lot in a reader Workshop or a writer's Workshop or even a math Workshop right and how do we when we go to inrs the first question isn't uh how do you how do you fix this kid right the first question as a teacher is um this this kid is having a challenge and I've run out of I've run out of strategies let me let me go to my team of people and now we start like working on it as a team like a medical team might do so let's let's what's the staff it is that your your term for it what's it where they get together put all your minds together and like a multidisiplinary round type something like that rounds that kind of thing like this idea of of I know the kid really well these are the things I've tried and it's not working let me turn to my team which is other grade level teachers other upper or lower grade level teachers or the child study team members or the principal or like let's let's all collectively work on this that's the first step in inrs right and then we we build from there not let's send them out to the room of of you know somewhere to be fixed kind of thing I is more so to help support the teacher absolutely to devel you know everybody has different ideas and it's always good to because it's kind of an nice letting profession which is why the inrs is nice because people can exchange their ideas yeah and so a lot of our conversations right now are about thinking about inrs teams or thinking about teams of teachers and how do we strengthen those teams right how are we coaching into those teams to to better the team how are they coaching into each other how are they lending support to one another and building that that capacity what I was saying earlier we have a lot of excellent teachers we have a lot of resources we have a lot of great stuff here and and the room that we have I think to grow is to make those teams of teachers collaboratively you know better right the smartest person in the room is is the room not not the teacher right the thank you all right you're welcome expect to hear more next month looking forward to it um baring no other questions we'll move to special services Dr Dr McKay couldn't make it tonight so I'll go through what she had shared with me uh quickly the Cs Team all levels um they're currently uh working on student uh program projections for next year so programs levels of services and related services are all being discussed with students and parents at the IEP meetings did offer a couple workshops Upper Elementary executive functioning tips for at home that was on March 6 6 at 7 this Workshop provided parents with at home strategies tools and resources focus on topics such as organization time management attention and study skills it was presented by two of our school psychologists and we had six parents that attended uh move up parent information night for Rising Sixth and Ninth Grade uh parents for special education is on April 30th at 6:30 p.m. in the middle school high school media center this will provide parents information specifically about the special education program and services offered at the middle and high school levels regarding Janna Lee an update Jan Lee continues to visit the elementary schools in the middle school and high school working with teachers on both responsive teaching strategies and co- teing on our most recent visit to the high school uh middle school on March 19th she worked specifically with Co co- teing pairs anything else for that Craig good that's it for that all thank you now on to management and Community um so we talked about yeah the district communication plan and site security view analysis so congratulations to the board you're going to achieve your goals um woohoo uh we do have the unused emergency closing day left um so uh our next board meeting is April 29th uh we'd like to have it on that agenda for uh approval so we can get as much notice out as possible we had discussed I think last time very briefly of the Friday before Memorial Day weekend which would be I think it's May 24th um but again the board has a range of dat to choose from uh I just know that on the 24th there is nothing going on so it's a open day for us to use I would recommend that the board stay out of June because we just have way too much going on um so I think June I think the May 24th could be a good day if you want another day I would just have to do some research on it to make sure it's available so okay turn to the board all right um have a discussion I think yeah well yeah yeah okay all right um so any any um trustees have any you know either initial recommendations or discussion items with regards to the use okay all right so can we do a straw poll just to see if um you know who's in support of using the 24th uh knowing that there's no current major schedule conflicts so all those in favor okay Str so what I'll do is um I'll put that on the agenda for the 29th and then we'll get it out the next day so that'll be enough time for people to give notice just in case something happens between now and the 29th we'll just lay low uh but that'll be the plan okay thank you on to our business items sorry Dr Robinson I have a part time hearing you sometimes um so I have a lengthy report this evening um uh which Dr Charleston clearly doesn't want to listen to um uh so to to say that we are uh engaging on a um a rather ambitious uh summer of capital projects is an understatement um so uh this is will serve as the first of many updates that you will be getting um and one thing can be said for certain at almost every meeting from now through probably June you will either be uh accepting an a bid uh allowing me to go out to bid or allowing me to purchase something through a co-op so uh off we go so we'll start with chronologically is in the first thing we have are our Rod grants um our high school roof which is the roof directly above us um it went out to quote to a Cooperative vendor uh using a Cooperative vendor allows us to not bid uh which is good for us because it gets us moving rather quickly um it's primarily a restoration except for a small area I believe in the front which will be a full replacement um we anticipate getting back our quote and awarding at our April 22nd meeting um oh sorry 29 thank you so much um and substantial completion uh should be by August so this this will be all done uh before school starts so Coleman school which is our other Rod grant that was approved uh is is is developing into a problem uh so when we went back to do some further core sampling of the roof the uh roofing company uh identified conditions that would not be uh uh consistent with their initial uh remediation plan of a restoration but more of a full replacement uh so that is is going to take us out of the land of Co-op and put us into the land of bids uh it will also put us into the land of having to do uh some related engineering as we're going to be ripping an entire roof off of the building and replacing it all that being said um we will not be able to get this roof done for this summer so the colan roof will push to the summer of 25 we anticipate that we will have uh our bid ready to go out sometime this fall so we will be first out of the gate that summer of next year and get this roof uh repaired we we don't have any concerns about the roof so we're not by by pushing it to next summer really doesn't isn't influencing anything uh the rod Grant will still be available the only downside to all of this is obviously a full replace bement costs more than a restoration so this project will come in above what we originally submitted for our Rod Grant and that cost will have to be born by the district because the rod grants don't allow you to go over do you have any idea how much we are waiting on that so we think that the Delta is probably going to be somewhere around $10 a square foot from what they put in to what it's actually going to cost us so we we'll we'll see where that turns out to be next is our home economics room um we are all set to go out to bid uh this Friday um and award at our May 6th meeting um it's going to go out with three Alternatives the first alternative bid is to replace our stainless steel uh tables with four Islands uh the second option is going to be replacing the uh veneer plat plastic countertops like for Mica with a solid surface and our third option is going to be a replacement of door panels um with clear uh clear like Vision through so that the the the teacher can see inside of the of the of the base cabinet uh without having to open it so we're going to have those bid as alternates we'll see where where the all of the bids uh you know flow and we'll make the decision appropriately uh if I can get through my entire report on the room then we can we can entertained questions um our uh we met we had our first uh stakeholder meeting so what we've been having are these internal stakeholder meetings what people who are either using the room uh the principal of the school a teacher in some cases um have some input into what we're doing and talk about the room in the planning stations we had our first meeting on Friday uh we went over with them uh the pallet for the room they've provided some some uh recommendation and some uh concerns about the initial design we've brought those to our uh uh architect and uh we don't we we believe we'll be able to come somewhere close to their expectation um and keep the room um on track for Friday uh to get that bti out and this is the room that is um of our highest priority in terms of timing because we don't have another kitchen to put a class to put that class into so uh we're we're trying real hard to hit um all of our deadlines so that we can in fact ensure uh the room will be available in September Miss car um what was the add-ons or the alternates so the way it the way it works is is we're bidding a full gut restoration upper lower uh Cabinetry all new appliances uh a reconfiguration of some of the storage uh new exhaust system and then the bid package has Alternatives so for instance on the on the islands right it the base bid includes no island and we'll just use the tables that we have right the second one is it includes countertops that are solid surface versus the veneer laminate that we have in the base bit in the base bid is solid doors the alternative would give us clear doors and what that allows us to do is if the base bid comes in lower than we think we then can substitute some of the Alternatives in and not have to rebid these are not things that we're told when when were asked and I'm not faulting anybody but it it when I approved the the the the renovation I thought it was Soup To Nuts and now I'm being told that's not Soup To Nuts and we may no it is it is Soup To Nuts M but but you're saying that it doesn't come with these are upgrades it's kind of like when you go to buy a brand new home and you see the model home right the model home may have all of the options but the base home only has the base so what you approved right for $750,000 was a complete job we are still under a $750,000 budget we're just saying if we save some money on some let's say the floor comes in $25,000 cheaper than what was in the original budget maybe then I can do the islands so it just allows me to give more into the room at a full 750 without having to then go out and rebid okay yeah it's correct correct which is a countertop so no know um next we have the prek expansion here at the high school so phase one uh which is our abatement and demolition phase um the bidding there is slated to go out uh also on this Friday with an award of 520 um work will begin as soon as school is out um and we are moving forward with um we already had our environmental company come in they've reviewed all of the areas they have provided their remediation plan and the uh bid that goes that is going out is uh accomplishing each of the remediation steps identified by the environmentalist we are then going to run Phase 2 which is the construction phase of the preschool we're going to bid that out while we're in the middle of a batement in in June um and hope to award sometime during the summer with potentially a special meeting just to keep the ball rolling so that once remediation and demolition are over we can get right into construction which would then continue through the school year next year um the the the the the the staging area is is going to be where we all went out that that evening where the playground would be uh since that area is going to be uh changed um in its usage we figured that's the best place to have our staging area so that is where it'll be fenced nicely with a construction fence that's where the bins will go that's where the trucks will be parked and all that kind of fun stuff far away from that side entrance of the of the building but close enough to that entry way for work to continue and uh so the our first stakeholder internal stakeholder meeting uh with our architect is going to be happening uh if not this week next uh where we're going to start uh the The Architects have asked you know a bit about the teach teaching methodologies and some of the thoughts about what kinds of equipment and uh activity will be going on into the room room which would then try to be uh uh worked into the actual design of the room so we're looking forward to that as well as working on some color pallets which I will admit is not my strong suit all right so now we'll go down to the lower field um so the lower field there's two different projects going on so we'll kind of talk about them separately so we'll first talk about the actual replacement of the carpet and the expansion so the the initial thought is that that is going to be done under a Cooperative uh contract uh so we will not be bidding we will just be purchasing uh the carpet from the company that I believe did the initial installations um and who is a primary player in this space up here in in in northern New Jersey and for that matter throughout the state and Country um and so we have a very strong relationship uh with with that particular vendor and uh they have uh all but assured us we will have our field back uh and usable by August 12th so obviously that's the first day I believe Dr charlon for some for for practices to start so everything then went backwards from that date uh so we are going to get that particular the carpet and the expansion we're going to get that quote out to the Cooperative vendor on 524 um an award shortly thereafter probably at the very next uh board meeting so once we turn over the field with the brand new carpet and the expansion we will stop working on lights so lights and carpet will will start together beginning of June I think believe June 1st on is where we've blocked out the field they will be working simultaneously the lights will not be up by August 12th but we will stop work so that we can have the the students participate in our foral Sports on that brand new field and then the lights will then be installed once the season is over the where we are in planning on the lights is we've had our preliminary engineering uh assessments done they were out here on on surveys the other day in fact I think yesterday no today um and uh we anticipate that bid to go out on May 24th with an award on June 24th so again those th those two projects will work together um they'll start at the same time the field will be ready for use on the 12th the lights will stop and then restart after the season um the stakeholder meeting for that particular project um has not met yet um but we will be getting together to talk about the colors of the field how we want it strip and all that kind of fun stuff so that will be forthcoming our gym stairs uh which is probably the most vanilla of the projects that we're entertaining um pretty simple here nothing really to report other that we'll be bid we're going to get our bids out uh for April 19th and then we will award uh on 520 I think the only thing that that that that has come up so far is we may have to redirect traffic in that back road of the high school when when this is when when the heavier construction is going on here so we we'll figure that out in house so I'm sorry when is that expected to start that is going to start probably in the mid to late July but will be done before school starts all of the projects we just discussed will done by school those are also all the projects that we're working on with PSA we have two additional projects that we're not working with PSA that we're doing inhouse that'll be uh coordinated by our uh b& staff with an outside vendor so the first one is our counter and syns uh so we got back um our estimates from our Cooperative vendor again we don't have to go out to bid um a color palette has been selected material has been selected here we were able to get in a solid surface countertop um and uh we the 13 rooms have been identified this Project's running at the moment slightly over um and we're going to try to get that uh resolved um in the process of the renovation if not we will uh once we come forward with you to you with the uh purchase and the awarding of the contract to The Cooperative vendor you will see a bit more of a price increase there I think currently it's about $155,000 but we're working on that daily to try to bring that down uh the last project that we'll talk about is our painting project again also being done inhouse meaning b& will be overseeing it um the estimates are in um however the the original estimates were done with a non- coop uh painter which means it probably didn't include prevailing wage on all of the painters so when we went and we priced it with a Cooperative vendor came in a bit higher so we're going to look for another Cooperative vendor um if we can't find a Cooperative vendor um we we may just bid it and see where see where where we come out um so more to come on that one and lastly I will update you on esip so with tonight's uh vote we are now uh have a clear Runway to selling our bonds so on Wednesday morning I believe at 11:20 uh myself our energy Consultants uh and our bond councel and financial advisor are appearing before the BPU for their final blessing the BPU as as as an organization has approved it but now we have to go in front of the BPU board which is from our understanding of formality we will get approved by the BPU and then that will then set into to uh play uh the final Bond issuance activity so on April 15th we're having a ratings call with S&P um after that ratings call um Royal Bank of Canada RBC will be uh pricing out our bonds and then looking to place those bonds we believe that the bonds will close sometime in May um and once the bonds in fact do close we will be in a position to begin uh our Renovations which will continue for about 18 months with as as Miss garelli asked earlier with our first payment on those bonds anticipated to be in July of 2025 so that wraps up all of our projects uh the only other thing that we really kind of need to talk about is our budget um and at our next meeting we will be able to have our uh public hearing on the budget because the budget was approved by the state uh that news came down I believe it was last Thursday and in conjunction with that I I I just want to say I was very uh proud of a colleague who got a Hoin one on his half of the uh budget which was Mr vanest uh something he said he would not get but yet he did get so congratulations and kudos to him on that achievement um we'll work on my Hoin one in the future um and what else do I need to talk about oh we did have our RFP uh we had two RFP openings um last week uh on Tuesday um and and we attendance was light uh the first one was the doctor and we got no one and the second one was for Food Service management company which we got one which was pomptonian so we they'll be on our next agenda for appointment um for uh I believe it's a 2-year with three one-year renewals um and we will have that outlined for you moving forward and we have one action item which is uh the appointment of lurch Vincy and Bliss our Auditors to uh assist us in our bond issuance uh they'll be on the S&P call um there's some uh registration statements that they'll be filling out um things of that nature uh we we we we ran their cost through our bound Council across the the the the closings that he's seeing and we're dead smack in the Middle with our with our price so uh we feel real good about uh recommending that to the board this evening for your approval and I just want to make sure I hit everything ah uh New Jersey uh school boards uh think early um it is going to be October 21st through the 24th um and what we were kind of thinking to maybe make it a little bit easier in terms of hotels getting everybody into the same place getting us someplace that maybe is uh uh nicer uh uh we we thought that maybe we would recommend oceans which is one of the um the the participating hotels they for a great deal it's a nice clean modern room um and if that is agreeable to the board we will uh move forward with making plans to have everybody there yes is that good okay and then that's it what's that can't hear you nobody's allowed I don't think anyone wants to stay at the Nugget so you're safe based on your experience last year good luck with your reservation they canceled on them the morning of um I am absolutely sure that I am done now so uh Dr Robinson all I would need is a motion for item B2 um M scar I just have a comment so I I would like to know what the Coleman roof is going to come at before we we do the lights we have no idea what a full roof replacement will cost that will eat into our capital reserve account so I I would like to have an idea of what that number is going to be because I know you'd said that Coleman roof can't be done and now it's a more of a replacement as a refurbishment so that's just my feeling as a board I would like to have that number we' hope everyone would want to know what that is knowing the impact it could could or couldn't have on our capital reserve was not something we anticipated I can tell you that that cost will not be the increase in the cost will not be a deterrent for any other project that we are currently being considered maximum I would say maximum would be a $200,000 S I would still like to know that number we're going to provide you the number yeah I mean it's already been approved but I'm we're going to provide you the number but I do not think it would be wise but I will follow the direction of the board to hold up the lights on a number that I that that will not be significant enough to deter us from the course that the board has already uh approved um it may not be significant this year but it in turn will be substantial significance to the Future projects that were mentioned to to us that were down the line you know that no I I don't I I don't think it's material um and in fact I believe uh that we will in fact have addition to our capital reserve far in excess of any overage on the Coleman roof as our June deposit we had a very conservative um view of what we would have in Surplus going into a capital reserve at the end of the year and we had estimated I think it was $500,000 um as we get closer and closer to to June 30th that number will be significantly more than $500,000 so I believe your capital reserve um deposit uh would be uh pretty substantial similar to what last year was which was I think almost a couple of million doll so I think our Capital Reser actually I know our capital reserve numbers are fine um they're healthy and once we get the Surplus coming in um as James said it wouldn't it's not going to deter us from any doing any future projects that we had identified yes we will get all those num reported as soon as we know it which I would imagine I'd have that number at our 29th meeting thank you um are there any discussion um related to the esa refunding bonds before we call for a motion to approve okay can I have a motion to approve the resolution for B2 Miss randelle seconded by Miss carisella are you able to call Ro Miss calves yes Miss Carisa yes Miss Carr yes Mr Cory yes Miss garelli yes Miss Stevenson yes Ms Randell yes Dr Robinson yes motion passes okay uh can we have a motion to airm the um the decision made in the CIB 26478 all right Miss randelle seconded by Miss Stevenson can we call roll Miss calves yes Miss carola yes Miss Carr yes Mr Corey yes Miss garelli yes Miss Stevenson yes M Randell yes Dr Robinson yes motion passes thank you are there any Le on reports okay all right um baring no uh Lees on reports um we're going to open um our second uh comment section uh this one is for agenda items only we're opening at 9:37 seeing no members of the public present we are closing at 9:37 um um we actually need to make a motion to go back into close to discuss an item there will be no um action items or no actionable uh no action will be taken thank you it's late no action will be taken I need a motion to go back and to close Mr Corey um seconded by Miss scarpelly enthusiastically I see thank you all right all those in favor all right just take not even five minutes so Keith can get all the mics and get him out of here and then we'll start cuz I got to stretch my legs