welcome to a meeting of the Madan abine Board of Education um the New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or agreed upon in accordance with the provision of this act the Matana aine Regional School District Board of Education advertised this meeting on June 20th 2023 in the Asbury Park Press and the Star Ledger these notices were sent to the municipal Clerks of the burough of mwan and the township of aine and the mwan abine public library these notices were also placed on the district's website can we please stand for the pledge of Leed [Music] States [Music] naice thank you who call case Miss Vias Miss Martinez yes Mr McGovern Mr Monon Miss Scott here miss barell here miss wari here Mrs goie here miss pal here okay everybody's here we moving to Executive session be it resolved that a closed session be convened for the purpose of discussing privacy personnel and legal matters the subject matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides although the board cannot guarantee it the length of the executive session is estimated to be 1 hour after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business action will take place okay I have a motion to second to go into executive session all motion second we are in executive session all in favor now we're in executive session okay we're back in public session um uh can we have the uh the voting on the minutes can I'm sorry can I have a motion in a second to accept the minutes uh as listed in the agenda I motion second okay um can I have a motion a second to accept the corresponds to the board that's listed in the agenda second thank you um so uh I guess we do we have a superintendent report okay all right and um board president's report I'm going to ask for um I me there isn't much on my side so um ask for quick update from each of the Committees we do maybe negotiations on tonight's agenda you'll see up for approval um the collective bargaining agreement between the mwan abine Regional School District Board of Education and the mwan abine Regional Education Association the collective bargaining agreement covers teachers clerical bus drivers and custodial maintenance technology and covers approximately around 550 employees the memorandum of agreement is for the period from July 1 2024 through July June sorry June 30th 2028 pending the salary guide so you'll actually see that on tonight's agenda um I did speak to Mr Bara beforehand unfortunately um he's not able to join us tonight due to a prior commitment um I wanted to thank the board's uh negotiation committee Mr burela and the mwan abine Regional Education Association committee and our central office team for their hard work time and dedication to this process we started in early January and after about 6 months of negotiations um we're pleased to announce that we recently um wrapped up the process um with the exception of the salary guides which we will begin actively working on next week um over the past 6 months the entire team has worked hard to come up with a fair and Equitable agreement that ensures students are put at the Forefront that we acknowledge and appreciate the work the staff has put into furthering our students education and providing a pos positive learning environment that we are um and that we are fiscally responsible thank you again to everyone involved I think we all did a really great job of listening to each other's points of view contributing ideas and feedback and working to find ways to ensure our district continues to move forward in a positive direction One once the contracts have been officially um revised and approved they will be added to the district website thank you thank you um and do you have a an update on the policy committee yes thank you Mr pal um so the policy committee has been working on our hazardous well we've been working on a few but um most importantly right now our most urgent policy is the Hazardous routes policy so um I do want to thank everybody we've been meeting a lot uh more often with Administration and the policy committee plus working um on our own doing some side task but um so right now what we're doing is um Mrs Perez had spoke about sending out a waiver which will be coming out hopefully early next week um to the district for all the parents that do qualify for busing if they do not need busing for whatever reason to um please wave their seat so that we could open that seat up to other community members that may need it things change kids get their licenses whatnot um so that's a very um important um piece that we're going to talk more about and um we also have added um to the Middle School um some after um I want to say after care Club type um time for the kids to stay if need be um so parents can pick them up if there is a busing issue with the middle school so that has also been worked on and um I appreciate everybody who got that together as soon as possible for for the parents that are concerned um we're working on looking at of course the highways 3435 are always a concern um we've been looking at uh M Road a couple other roads that came about for concern we were going over the Hazardous uh policy and the grid trying to see if there were roads that were hazardous that aren't um due to maybe putting sidewalks or curving or things that have may have changed to grab a couple seats back um as far as the highways are concerned uh 34 probably is the more locked Highway 35 we feel is a crossing highway so we're trying to work with ideas for that um so there's just a lot of different things in the air that we're we're dealing with and and um getting admin involved in and I appreciate their time and transportation it's just a lot of brainstorming maybe combining spots so um we are working it we are discussing it this is a daily um um thing that we're we're working and as soon as we get um some more concrete um ideas or um Solutions thank you um we will be uh addressing it and talking about it but again look for the waiver to be coming out um and that is only going to be for parents that qualify right now for busing um and asking if they do not need it to please get their seat back and and then maybe another child could pick up that seat just to free up some space so we appreciate that um and I think that's it for right now so um we we'll keep you guys updated thank you thank you so much thank you um and just occurred to me a couple quick um housekeeping as as a board um we uh uh we have the we we're in the process of evaluating the superintendent and we're nearly done with that piece of the process for the year um and then our board goals will be uh a a new draft will be out so that eventually it'll be adopted in in public session the board goals that we've worked on um and then the superintendent will also be working on District goals over the summer which in involves um the board as well um so yeah Summer's a planning time in a lot of ways so uh just wanted to get a quick update with that okay so moving on um there is no student Representatives report so um let's go to the curriculum and instruction agenda Mr Lan thank you and good evening for asking the board to approve under prent instruction items a and b 1 through 35 including items that are listed in red from the cow there's only one item listed in red and that would be item number 35 that concludes curriculum and instruction can I have a motion in a second to accept the curriculum and instruction agenda all motion is there any discussion I did just have a question sure I saw in red the um Middletown and I'm just curious why um we would send a student leave Matan to attend Middle Town so that that's actually under the student services agenda oh I'm sorry my but I'll address that when we get there that's no problem I just wanted to reiterate that um I know that there's a lot of uh items on here that are you know software Solutions or or teaching AIDS um that we're uh you know planning to approve and they're re-evaluated every year um and you know we check in with the teachers to find out if they're using them how they're working we're not renewing things that don't seem to be working or not being used and um you know trying to really watch The Pennies there in terms of what we're spending on um our students may ask a question I'm Mr lean I know you explained this to me a little earlier about the specifically the foundations program that we use and there was a question um in the community about using foundations and how we I think we um a couple of years years ago preco we used it and then we kind of during the co years kind of backed away from it a little bit and now we're reintroducing it and also expanding it and you had explained that to me very well so I was wondering if you could just clarify for the community um um why we chose like that Avenue that pathway that we chose for foundations sure so foundations is um a instructional strategy teaching phonics so when you're teaching are youngest Learners how to read and you're breaking down rep parts and words and bow sounds and U clusters of words phonics foundations is the leading uh curriculum package that does that we've had foundations in the district prior to 2020 um and we met a lot of success for it preo co comes along we go virtual instruction foundations is not a way you can instruct reading and phonics virtually it doesn't work to uh for the Fidelity of the product and to instruct and to see differences with kids in terms of reading instruction it doesn't work and when we came back in a hybrid model where we had virtual and iners still didn't work so we had moved away from it just out of necessity um now that we're well beyond that and we saw the success that we had with it pre-co um we realized that we need to reinvest in grades K1 and then expand into grade two which uh there's clearly an opportunity to do that uh and we have teachers who support it who had used it prior we have new teachers who will be trained training actually began in June training will continue throughout the school year uh so it's a product that when we talk about investing in a vision of literacy and we talk about interventions for kids uh that is really the Forefront of what we're doing thank you I was I just thought it was important to note that this particular program seems to be like a face-to-face program and that that's why we had phased out of it during the covid time so thank you for explaining that there any other questions on curriculum instruction seeing none can we go over the student services agenda yes so student services we are asking the board to approve items 1 through 21 including items that are listed in red from theal I'll go over a couple of them so the the first item in red I'm on page4 it's item number two listed in red under item number two um per student IEPs that were making a recommendation for a student to attend at a district placement the item in Red so this uh the cost has listed the dates is listed you can see it's a short amount of time it was at the end of the school year I can't get into too many specifics but Mr scop to answer your question um there's a specific program at Middletown that the student needed um and so they offered the program and we were able to send our student there to finish out the the school year continue on with the student services agenda uh if weum to page three of 14 you'll see that there are three items listed in red at the bottom of the page and that's for ad of District placement you can see the um schools cost and effective dates is listed in Red so those were additions from the Cal and then moving forward again page 11 of 14 so we've added one additional person in L red um to do diagnostic testing for the upcoming school year page 13 of 14 uh there's a cost as list and read it was just it was a TBD cost for the cow so since we now have the cost that's listed in red and then finally on page 14 of 14 so item number 21 this is listed in red and this would be service providers for the 2425 school year so an additional listed uh this particular service provider does a variety of things including home instruction consultation M he counseling um so that affords us some flexibility for the upcoming school year um just one make a quick Miss case want to make a quick um change to the minutes under the effective dates it should be 63025 that concludes student services can I have a motion in a second to accept the student services agenda I I have a motion we do the Motions so we do the question it's thank okay and then are there any questions um this diagnostic testing line um is that per test or that that number per test [Music] yes there any other questions seeing none we will move on to the Personnel agenda Personnel we're going to begin for Action this evening um each board member has two walk-in items for Action so walk-in item number one appointments for the 2425 school year with names positions salaries and effective dates as listed walk item number two is a staff array change with the staff member new assignment effective dates is listed so two walk-in items for Action onto the regular Personnel agenda we are asking the board to approve items a b C1 through 16 and D1 through6 that includes items that are listed in red from the cow that concludes Personnel agenda can have a motion in a second to accept the Personnel agenda motion are there any questions or discussion I just have one question in terms of the um appointments extracurricular activities on that one I just want to confirm all of those are activities that we anticipate will be happening that's why they're staffed as they are I know some are still TBD but I just want to confirm as we're going through things it's things we definitely anticipate okay any other questions or comments I see none we'll move to the policy agenda thank you on the policy agenda we are recommend to the board to approve for first readings so the board will be taking action this evening for a first reading with the policies and regulations as listed part one and then part two at the bottom the board we're asking to take action on the abolishment of uh policy 5755 that concludes the policy agenda have a motion in a second to accept the policy agenda um you have any questions or comments I'll just start with my own that um just for everybody's reminder since we have a lot of policies here that um we did discuss them during the cow and um I believe an update was made at that point but prior to this first read and then they'll still have an opportunity to discuss at the next meeting because it'll be a cow again and then the second reading will be in August no no there is no cow again crap there's just a ram in July a ram in July yes okay we so so um prior to the ram in July if there's something on here that you think needs more time please let us like people know and we can table it that's okay um just want to give people a heads up um because there's going to be a lot more coming from stra asme so it's just from a process standpoint I think it makes sense to just pull out things that need more thought and everything else we we just go ahead um do are there any questions or comments from anybody else M pal I did just want to comment um we have the right of privacy on the last um agenda for first read so it's on second read and um when the policy committee met on Wednesday yesterday um we looked into that and so there was a concern about that this um specific 4,000 said or 4324 said support staff and so there was some um discussion about should it say all staff um but then the policy committee looked into the other other privacy um policies and there are policies for staff and for children as well so they're all separated um but there was some verbage that um our lawyer Mr Rubin had added to the right of privacy um the 4324 that we thought should be consistent the other two so we sent it back um Mi uh Miss fori had sent it back to admin just FYI um you know we we would like to take this piece and put it into the other two policies just so that they're all consistent and that email was sent yesterday so that policy should be um good to go as far as moving that one along I'm trying to close the loops and I also um had asked uh Miss case she had pushed forward the facilities policy real quick about that um and so she had a bunch of suggestions on there we took some um suggestions from hen's policy so we incorporated all that I passed that back she um passed it to grounds and maintenance and there just making sure we didn't miss anything so we can put that one to bed and you know these little uh yeah everybody's you know on on different schedules so um that one should be next to be able to uh get on the agendas for first read as well all right thank you I to that up thank you um any other questions or comments so does that so this if this is the second read that one policy done will be approving it we did not take action so the actions Yeah we actually SE things four times talk um when it comes to the one policy that we're abolishing just so community community members are where I know we're abolishing equity and educational programs for students that information is obviously incorporated into other policies that's why we're abolishing those well that's correct okay thank you that's a good point just to reflect for the minutes then that'll be first read June 27th not 17th yeah today um and one other thing Mr pal I know um Mrs scolly had mentioned about the um the sportsmanship so they had added that as well um the verbage as far as making sure that it's um consistent both sides so that was also done and pushed forward if if you guys had uh noticed that as well thank you just quick follow up Mr Mar because I think you mentioned at the last meeting under sportsmanship um so we have passed the draft policy along to our supervisor of Athletics to review um I think one of the there was a board member question about signage of um the the rules as listed in the policy about sportsmanship so we actually do if you walk into the gym there's a sign here in in the main gym uh and then there's a sign outside the football stadium which is pretty faded I had a conversation with the principal after the board meetings so we're get those signs replaced so they they exist um but we're at a point where they're kind of sunwash so they they should be replaced to R policy so yes there there is signage there thank you thank you thank you thank you so much for following up in that much detail fastic there any other questions or comments see none move to the finance agenda good evening we're looking to take actions on items 1 through 36 five is the final bills list of transfer so that we'll be able to close out June 30th at the July 25th meeting and then as we move on we will go to page believe it's eight S no seven we are passing the resolution for number 27 for the 2-year contract for the substitute staff services that will go through the office of State Controller after tomorrow and then on the top of page nine We Are awarding The Joint share Transportation routes for added District placements where we can share the cost with other districts as listed in the chart we were thrilled to finally receive the first portion of federal funding as listed for Title One title two and title 4 we did take advantage of an opportunity for the cops Grant so we can hope to have assistance from them uh in order to pay for extra cameras uh the server and um also some home monitors we are waiting on a response but we did apply we also had the submission of the Perkins grant for high school and then 32 will be the approval that we spoke about earlier with the m and aine Regional Board of Ed as well as the Regional Education Association from the 24th through 2028 uh 33 is the settlement agreement as listed 34 is the approval of the contract for the food service line improvements here at the high school uh we're really looking forward to it they're supposedly able to do the work over summer so as the new company comes in we'll also have a new line set up and then that would be all the additions for this mon have a motion in a second to accept the finance agenda I'll second uh any questions or comments yeah number 33 the settlement agreement um since that's new on this agenda can we have information on that I can update everyone in exact cuz it's about a student okay Mrs Miss pal I just wanted to um say um thank you to Mrs case for always filing for every um uh Grant or anything that cops Grant so we appreciate that um because I was reading that and I'm like I hope that that works out and that would be basically just for uh I don't want to say technology but kind is that just Tech on the school it's it's a little bit of Staffing a little bit of tech and a little bit of server um what happens is 287 is the full percentage of the grant they would pay for 75 as much as we spend and then we would take on the other 25% locally all right and and when do you think like how long they haven't given us a date right yeah okay um and then the other thing I just wanted to ask um I um have been following the Food Service I appreciate that um the new company has taken time to spend uh time with our new employees and and interviewing them or chart Will's employees interviewing them and um you know maybe hopefully offering them packages is there any quick update on that or uh sure so they had two hiring dates um both were very successfully attended uh many were hired and they're looking forward to getting started uh they will come in next week to really jump in you know to the cafeteria space and really make it their own and then Staffing are doing their report of the backend stuff and we'll continue now to get lists and get them ready and set up for September but from about this time until the start of school they'll start going through their trainings okay um maybe just before school starts maybe we could just take a peek once things are done in here I'm curious to see I can't wait to Showcase it yes so yeah maybe take some before and after but yeah so we'd appreciate a little tour that would be awesome is this the only School looking to do currently right now this is the only school we want to um ensure that we don't bite off more than we can chew and there is a ton of brand new uh service line is going to be Deli in the middle and then two different service lines at the end some with multiple so that we can really get the the kids in and out as quickly as possible so that they'll have more time to eat and then it's really putting a ton of brand new equipment back there so that we could do the best one of the things that I'm really excited about is that we're going to be like a little wah Wawa and they'll be able to for the deli part be able to actually like ask to have their sandwiches warmed up or paninis and things like that perfect okay and then just repeat in case somebody um is watching this this um meeting and not others that that money was allocated specifically so this money is out of the Food Service account it is not out of the district local account um last year as part of the audit we know that due to co and receiving extra funding we had money that we needed to spend and so we took that time and opportunity to have vendors and assistants so that we could really update our facilities update our space but also have a return so that we can see an improvement so then we can share the wealth amongst the other buildings thank you actually I just wanted to um ask kind of something similar in line with this so I know at one of the previous meetings we had a couple of um the Chartwells employees come to inquire about um how they could or what their future he for them so did you speak to those employees like not specifically but like this other company has had so there were two two different dates in which they could show up both were well attended they were interviewed on the spot then and our our charwell employees many were yes okay excellent two different times in June good okay that's fabulous and then um what was the other um I thought I had one more comment but I am excited to see the new you know the new cafeteria um I'm excited for the change but I'm glad that we're taking care of our employees also okay I guess that's it for now thank you any other questions and comments about the finance agenda there's always new business I'm sorry Lindsay so the money that we did receive in the from the covid um could only be used for cafeteria correct we weren't couldn't use it for anything else I'm just curious cafeteria funds only only and it could not be used to pay off the negative lunch balances either do we still have a lunch balance oh yes okay has has that decreased at all since we've been t Okay okay so thank you okay that is good news thank you okay are there any other questions or comments about the finance agenda we see none uh the board recognizes the value of public comment on matters of interest to the school Community individuals wish to speak must State their name and Municipality of residents comments are limited to 3 minutes duration but an individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard all statements should be directed to the board president and no participant May address or question board members individually all speakers are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of those whose legal rights may be affected please note while it is not the board's intention to stifle comments on matters of legitimate concern the public should be aware that if statements violate the rights of others under the law of defamation or invasion of privacy they may face personal liability to the injured party if speakers are uncertain of the legal ramifications of their comments the board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their own legal adviser are there any questions comments public no okay in that case um I guess we'll go to voting on the agenda items Miss Martinez yeah Mr McGovern Miss SC Yes except for sorry about we uh [Music] yes9 which [Music] section no understood so not number down and didn't got it [Music] so I I believe there are two that I have seen from under student services page five um third line item and on Personnel walk-in item the last line last on page on number one or number two number one and number 32 in finance so noted thank you thank you for your help Miss brell yes thank you Miss wari yes Mrs goie yes Miss pal yes thank you all items passed thank you um does anybody have any unfinished business Miss pal I'm not sure where this would fall um I just had um um a couple questions and a um just one comment I know that um I guess Miss case would be um best to ask this um I know that we're not voting on it and um it's not in the agenda but I just wanted to ask a few questions I or I had previously asked um about the why time um would would I I I can ask so um I wanted well my first I had sent an email um my first concern was the amount I am a little concerned about the amount which I know some of us have vocalized about that um just just due to the fact that it is more than double of what it would have been for subscription busting and I worry about our community being able to handle that um setting that aside my question was um being that we've been with the Y for so many years and um we have um renewed them again is there any any way to negotiate that price the price is for a 6E course I believe it brings it to about $80 a week uh we can obviously bring them correspondents back to let them know and I'm sure they're also going to let us know uh how many minimum they would need in order to run the program okay I appreciate it and then my other question was some of the items um some of the options for the kids kind of sound like clubs and and stuff of that nature which was great What in in my mind when I think of why time I think um you know it's community members maybe that work for the why or they're not necessarily certificated teachers but some of those um options seem to be a little deeper than what I thought people would be able to handle and or teach that stuff like are these people certified or able to or I don't want to speak out a turn I don't know the answer to that you know what I'm saying like am I articulating it right I just thought that that was above what the why really represents um and I'm not trying to say that they're they're the Y has been great on feedback and ensuring that they're hiring people that will be able to facilitate the needs that we're requesting that would probably be a better so I believe that if they're running this program they believe that they have the Staffing in order to fulfill yeah and this is Sol talking about the middle school program yeah yeah yeah no only middle school and that they're really trying to find something that's assisting students and making it more of a club aspect versus calling it before and after yeah yeah no that I appreciate it um and and so let's just say I'm thinking middle school kids you know how they are after school they just want to chill or they just want to maybe do their homework it is there an opportunity if they don't want to be involved in these types of options can they just do home homework or how does that work do you know the answer to that I don't know that just my head so the short answer is yes we're trying to provide students some other opportunities instead of just will be considered traditional after care but yes if a student is looking for a quiet place to sit and study and get work done then yes so at minimum it would be the the same cost it would just be they choose to maybe be with themselves in a quiet area and do their own thing versus participate um and I would just be curious if we could find out um what kind of people would um actually be running those those just curious because some of that stuff sounded really cool but I'm thinking like if I applied for the Y to supervise children I don't feel like I'm qualified to to teach that stuff we find so just curious sure okay thank you m so just adding on to what Miss Martinez say because I actually have similar concerns I know I've already expressed them to you guys but just reiterating what she had said is I have concerns on the ca as well I think um for the Aftercare I just think I know it's not called Aftercare I know it's a program um but that's essentially what the community members had asked for and I just think that it's it's a pretty high cost um so I don't know if we have other potential options to think of about I know it can be pro-rated which is good um but again like Miss Martinez had said I think some of these parents are looking for not necessarily just a program for a program for their kids which sounds like a great program but if their child's not interested in it you know and the parent just needs an extra half an hour to get home in order to get the kids um at the school you know ensuring that the kids don't have to be forced into a program and that the kids can have something even if it's just they want to do their homework um and they can sit quietly somewhere and do their homework I just want to make sure you know because some of the parents may just sign up because they really need the after care and I just want to make sure that we're not you know that we're being flexible um the costs as I mentioned is a little concerning for me um and then I um but those were like my big concerns is just ensuring that we're trying to you know I know there are a ton of after school things that kids can do already but I just want to make sure we're you know thinking about this like in totality and the community members concerned I actually had a question about the totality maybe maybe we have the same question was um I think I I just want to get a sense of the schedule of because I know there's multiple offerings that are like wrap around the day um and so I I I don't think I've seen it all in one spot but maybe I had um there's as far as I know somebody correct me if I'm wrong there's Before Time uh 5 days there's the this um extracurricular program Monday through Thursday and there is after time on Fridays as well am I correct in all that all separate all a card yes okay just making sure it is available not in six week blocks yes right but you don't necessarily have to be in the program you can do um your own you can do your own thing you don't have to be in the club but you okay but there is still a six week block even if you choose not to be in a club you would still have to so if your child wants to do say after care in the middle school they don't necessarily have to be in a club but they have to do they have to reenroll every six weeks if they're not in that club and they're just doing their homework waiting for their ride I believe if mem serves me correctly it's also you can sign up for three four or 5 day or there's a drop in so because and the reason they're also doing that is because they're trying to strategically also allow the kids to participate in the clubs and activities that the district provides and they don't want to have that go down while their membership might go up so they're trying to work and they really took a look at like what we do and spoke to ensure that they're allowing the kids to participate in the programs that we already have on campus so is that then a at a different rate well we wouldn't charge like they wouldn't be charged then it would be different there's different rates if you just need before there's different if you need after and then there's different based on the days and then it's and then obviously some of those programs are based on the six week just due to how our programs run in the Middle School oh that's and so they're trying to give a whole Litany of different things and try to make sure that it's working for the district so maybe this rate of the 480 for the 6 weeks is because it's a club type program versus the alart other options that you're mentioning here and all the all the schools have an allart okay okay so that's interesting cuz when I was reading it it just appeared that we were it was every 6 weeks and it was a club or you could do your homework well they're trying to figure out how to incorporate it without just calling it after care or before care kids middle school and after care is going to sound very babyish yes okay so that's so when we do finally like push this out we should probably be more um so it won't be us that pushes it out it'll be the why the why cuz it's there their Community their their program um obviously we can share information out as best we can and through newsletters okay um but they're they're really going to be pushing it cuz it's their material okay but they are obviously they've taken our feedback multip times and they're thrilled to learn and try to get us the information and the programs that we need okay yeah as long as um it's understandable that would be great yeah yes exactly showing all the different offerings thank you before and after yeah not just after but also before and then one last question I remember what it was um is there a minimum number of children or students that they need in order for the program to run there's always a minimum number I don't know okay so as people are sign I just want to make sure we maybe if we could find that out right now so early interest letting them know they're interested okay we're so if we didn't hit the minimum I'm assuming the money would go back to the parents obviously and okay I don't even know and then we'd have to come up with an alternate solution okay thank you um I just want to be clear so I I I just want to make sure in my mind so there's a couple things so I would ask if we please could maybe ask them um for a little more information to give to us um so like like I had mentioned like about the teachers what what their type of qualification I want to say teachers but staff staff um and then a real breakdown of what they offer and options and times and whatnot but so I I just want to be clear that if you choose to do the $80 a week the 480 for the 6 weeks or whatever it is um and they choose to not participate in one of those options they still a have to pay and B making sure that the Y is okay if the kids do not want to participate and let them just do their homework or whatnot like so what are their thoughts on that I just want to make sure like because it's not like there's a discount if you just want to do homework right it's the same it's going to be the same cost I'm assuming right I I just want to be clear maybe you don't have these answers and that's fine but maybe we just ask them to pick their brains a little more about so what if a child which I think a middle school kid's going to say can I just do my homework and the mom's going to say the kid's just doing his homework he's not part of the club what do we do for in those circumstances so I'm just curious and make sure this gets out as soon as possible so obviously the parents are aware did they give a timeline to when they are going to be posting all this or for the for the parents anyway Mike do you a timeline um I don't have a specific timeline but that's on my list of questions report back to report all right yeah if you could just updat update us on that Mike cuz if the community has questions then um we'll be able to you know send them to to you guys for answers or I just feel like there's a lot of unknown out there so um maybe just giving the why some things that think of before they push it out and um the and I guess this could be for new business I'll wait do we have un finished business I just have a question about I know that we um um do not have a current filled role of director of Dei position and I know that um for uh the orc chart chain of command it was removed from that since we don't have that role fill um and I had asked at one point about if we need to keep that role or get rid of it um because I know that a lot of those duties have been um sort of shared among existing positions so that saves us ahead a salary there I I'm just wondering if we should go ahead and talk about abolishing the position because I know that there's been some Community questions about you know I see the position I don't know who's in it I've never heard of that you know I've never heard of such a position or whoever held it we did have somebody in that position at one point but I'm just wondering if we could revisit a reason to have that position without it being filled just dangling out there there are you proposing to what abolish the job description well the position I mean we're not filling that position we've decided that position but if it's not I'm just confused like what what else needs to happen if it's not the chart there is an option to abolish the position I know that that was stated to me so okay yeah but the way that it was explained to me was that in case it never needed to be filled again we would have that we would have to recreate it but I don't really NE really think that I mean if we have any cause for a position it should probably be from scratch anyway because if it's just the description that's laying here right now that nobody is doing that job or filling maybe we should look at it if we ever need to use it again and create a new job description just I don't know what you would call that um new business old business or for for future discussion yeah put on future discussion I I do think it's on the Staffing array I it's not on the or but it is on the um sta array for 2024 2025 which could be a little confusing that's where it is sorry behind the yeah behind the info um okay we'll see yeah we can bring it up with the superintendent to add on to the conversation right I can I can speak to it briefly I can't get into too many details because it does tied into Personnel but I will say this it's on the staff right because the individual who holds the position still holds the position July one even though he holds an acting title should there in the near future be a recommendation for this person to do something different is little obuse then that person wouldn't fill the Dei position with P something else that it would make more it would come off a future staff AR right it may make more more sense to have that discussion that abolishment but at the moment we have a person in that seat so we a recommendation on behalf of the superintendent is to maintain that position for the moment as we get through the summer there's will be some more clarity to this discussion um so I would say before we get to September 1st we may want to revisit this discussion that thank you very much thank you um I just wanted to add that I think it's a crucial position and I am concerned about it being split among other staff members um and I hope we'll be updated on how that's happening to make sure that those duties still happen because it feels like to take in administrative role that helped such weight and divided among other people who also have so many responsibilities I think we definitely need to keep accountability for where that's all going because then it does beg the question that M war is saying like do we need that position to be there um but it has served such an important role in our district and there's so much being written about Dei in the news and I'm proud to be in a district where it is valued and integrated into so much of what we do um it's a really important question and I want to make sure whatever form it's happening in our district it's being done well so I I'll say this you'll Mr Scott you'll have some clarity and some answers to that before we get to September tying into my previous answer so yes you'll have that opportunity and there was there was a point when I was serving on some committees under director Personnel at the state level where there had been discussions at the state level where this would be not only a recommended position but a required position that hasn't come to fruition yet but there may be a time where it does which would then necessitate having the position and um would it make sense for us to abolish it then to bring it back if it's required maybe um because maybe those requirements would give us some clarity on how to redesign the position at the moment that that talk is kind of quieted down a little bit but should it come back we're we're at least we're prepared but we're having discussions and you we have a position in place we have a job description so we we are prepared um but what I would like to say um Lori you made a good point in that I feel like it should not be a position versus a culture so it should be be wrapped around in everything we do not necessarily that shouldn't be a position but in addition to if nothing else so I'm I'm that's a good point in that if we don't have the position we have to make sure we're picking up the slack somewhere else so um and maybe moving forward we'll be able to differentiate what that looks like but yeah so thank you [Music] any other new business okay on new yeah we're on new I'm sorry yes no I just lastly I did bring this up with the policies because this is kind of new new um but Danielle um we've all spoke about social media and policies and phones and just enough of all of that and we're tired of it and whatever so um Miss Perez had said that in her superintendent meetings that the um our our sister local districts Oldbridge Middletown whatever have been um speaking of being frustrated and trying to come up with something that will help moving forward in the older grades with the phones so I was happy to see we were happy to see yesterday on Middletown's website I mean I'm sorry on their agenda which will be going on their policy um um website is a um a phone away for the day policy and it's for the middle school high school um so I quickly printed it I shared it um with the policy committee and Miss pre and you know um I know Administration agrees with us that we we need to come up with um a solution and sooner than later so um Mrs Perez had mentioned one want to talk to the middle school and high school principal uh principes and counselors and get some feedback from them because of course we need a total buyin from staff um this can't just be done because we think it should be done everybody really has to be invested in it so um that is going to be something that we really are going to be vocal about and push moving forward I know we only have a meeting in July and August one each month but there'll be a lot of work behind behind the scenes to get that going cuz I would love to see something in September um for that for our schools so that's just something coming up so thank you for everybody who's pushed that forward as well just to to reinforce what Miss Martinez is saying if you look at every other aspect of our society we acknowledge that cell phones are a distraction don't don't text while walking don't text while driving don't look at your phone while walking don't look at your phone while driving but yet you know there seems to be like a little push back into not bringing it into the school and I think it needs to be brought into the school because they they here to learn and focus and even having the phone around we did something in my job that we we counted how many times you we locked the phone up from someone that was going out to work for the day and we counted how many times they had the urge to look at that phone over the course of an 8 hour period 356 think about what that means for the kids in school if the phone is just KN so just wanted to reinforce what you was saying well it does to a certain extent I mean it's you know not that high school is always supposed to be training for uh work but um at times it is you know that that that uh being reliable and being on time being present being prepared those are all things that you need to have at work and one of the big things for a lot of us have been dealing with Folks at work who don't do work and are on their cell phones Mrs pal if you don't mind I can give a quick update also this we talked about this during the cow um two things Mr Martinez what you just mentioned will be on our agenda when we meet with principles July 12th we have our July summer meetings that's one of our agenda items to talk to them about uh and then at the last meeting board member had asked um we have a Community member Mrs N who's come before the board has made some requests and shared some initiatives so she and I have been communicating Thea email um one of the initiatives is the wait until 8 wait till 8th grade in terms of cell phones so just a quick update for the board so she is coordinating with the PTO for each building to roll that out or at least to get the initiative started um I did say to her that I would be Al on for her to the board um so as she has some updates with the the committee work that she's doing at the the parent Community level um she'll share with me and I can share with the board uh and she just wanted to to hear from me via the board that is it okay for her to take the next steps to reach out to the PTO to get this initiative going and I did on beh the board I did say yes we talked about it at the last meeting for her she's got the green light go ahead start having the conversations and then when we're ready to Ru things out at the building level then I I'll be able to step in and play more of a role there thank you yeah thank you thank you I I would like to add too that we do have um existing policies that um do outline cell phone use in school that are are fairly restrictive um and the the key is really making sure that everybody understands that we're going to be asking for a lot more enforcement and I know it's it's a tough battle but at some point we're just going to have to dig in and say we're going to follow the policies that are on the boook very closely yeah this why initially uh when you and I discussed a little bit about you know a policy related to cell phones and I was initially very nervous oh my gosh it's already June how would they possibly update the code of conducts and everything related to this and then I thought wait a second we did that last year because we worked on the the the policy with the cell phone communication and they're not supposed to be SE be seen in school so heads up okay all right well um is there any other discussion of new business okay we have another executive session much shorter hopefully um be resolved that a closed session be convened for the purpose of discussing privacy personel and legal matters the subject matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides although the board cannot guarantee it the length of the executive session is estimated to be half hour yeah 30 minutes um after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene to proceed with business action will not take place have a motion of second to enter executive session all right all in favor now an executive session