[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ready right okay good evening this is the matachin Board of Education meeting for Tuesday January 23rd 2024 with draw rise to the flag salute please flag United States of America to the stands andice thank you notice of meeting please I hereby make this statement to indicate compliance with the open public meetings act known as chapter 231 of the public laws of New Jersey 1975 which became effective 90 days after enactment January 19th 1976 notice of this meeting was given by providing the location time and date of this meeting and posting of the same on the front door of the Board of Education offices by delivering copies to the burough Hall and the matachin public library the home news and Tribune The Star Ledger and by filing a copy with the burough clerk as prescribed by this law thank you uh Volo Please Mr bot here miss cook here Mr derflinger here miss dbag here Mr glasberg here Dr Johnson Marcus here Miss Colleen here Mr lton here Dr spner here Mr sus here thank you um no Showcase of success this evening but we do have an introduction tonight okay we have an employee that you've recently hired that we'd like to uh unveil publicly for the board in the public so as I introduce her I'll ask her to make her way down to the uh the uh Podium so we recently the Board of Education approved uh miss Patricia Lewis as our new supervisor of special education you know the position was uh vacant as we uh promoted um Den basis to director of special uh services so Patricia Lewis um is a veteran teacher uh ldtc member on our child study team and we're excited what she can bring uh as she embarks on her first administrative job as supervisor of special education right now she's wearing two hats uh as she continues to manage her cases at Edgar school as well as steps into the um the supervisor role we're working very hard diligently to find a replacement for her uh so she can start wearing one hat so Patricia thanks for coming tonight we really appreciate it thank you and I just want to say thank you for the opportunity um my time in a touin this is my third year here and I've grown in the lgtc role and have really gained a lot of knowledge under Dr Herzog and miss bonisa so I'm really looking forward to growing in this new role and to being able to have help even more students in the matachin community staff and community members thank you well thank you thank you for coming tonight and thank you for stepping up into the your new role and uh congratulations thank you thank [Applause] you okay the um the meeting is now open to the public seeing none we'll close that section and we have a presentation I do I'll make my way to the podium quick presentation so as we do every six months uh we uh present the uh SDS ssds and HIV uh reports this is for period one that's the school year period from September to December so our student safety data system the ssds system um the first slide is incidence by school and we have a total of 14 12 of those at our middle school so these categories so what do we report the state requires every District in the state to report on violence vandalism substances weapons confirmed HIV alleged HIV and other instances leading to removal so as you look through the categories they may they may be due to multiple offenses so they may not all add up to the same numbers on the first slide but you can look across the um the the Spectrum there of the the cases that I talked about previously by the categories the state provides so these categories are kind of overlapping in some cases sometimes they fit more than one category um and so you could see the numbers here so now specifically we're also asked to report out specifically on Hib harassment intimidation and bullying instances by school and so we had 13 in the period one September through December um reported to the Board of Education two at Campbell nine at Edgar two at the high school for a total of 13 across the district and then finally we have made a promise to the board that once the the state offered this ability to not investigate cases we call it option G because in our board policy it's it's an option it's letter G um these option G is when even if all the facts of the initial case um were to be true the finding still would not be HIV we don't use option G very often we investigate almost every case unless it's clearly obvious that all the facts being true it wouldn't even be HIV it might be Cod of conduct but it wouldn't be HIV so we only applied that once typically we apply that a handful of times five or six times each year the vast majority 30 or 40 instances on average we investigate fully and come to a Hib or not Hib conclusion uh just for comparison as I mentioned we included a period one the current period one versus period two just looking back so you see about eight um eight in each period that's that's kind of typically what we see for option G's and that's my report for today I can take any questions that you might have thank you Dr Caputo um any questions from the board Mr sus thank you for the presentation I think I pointed this out last time I mean obviously one of these schools stands out you know compared to the others um you know I would have normally asked like you know can we look back and pass data but you know obviously you're dealing the pandemic was in the middle there I mean is this is this the new Norm I mean we hope not as I've said before and I actually use this today in a conversation we have if there's one HIV incident it we can still do more right so if there's 13 we can do something more 13 times that much more um that being said is for most districts do the majority of their HIV cases happen in Middle School yes um do we report everything maybe some districts report less yes uh we take every case very very seriously we know there's a potential victim in every case um so we have a lot of non-hs but that still result in code of conducts and counseling and interventions um again our job is not done until the zero HIV so other questions from the board y oh I'm sorry um Miss clean sorry we've only been on the board together for six years Miss clean Mr Le could meet each other curious um like Mr sus had pointed out right we um is there time with teachers sometimes we do articulation between buildings you know to kind of share practices or Trends do we do that from cble to Edgar and the high school because to share practices maybe that the high school is finding effective with the older students that can be tried in the middle school or that Campbell so that they're seeing a continuation to kind of keep that stream since the numbers seem to Peak in one area yeah great question as you know being in a district um each School District every year is required to have a uh two meetings with their anti-bullying coordinator in our case that's Alana curtain um with each of our abss that's our anti building specialist so we're required to have two of those meetings every year which we do uh we're required also to do trainings and part of the this report that goes to the state list the number of trainings that we do we can always get better so we're always looking for suggestions we're looking for our parents and important stakeholders this with our students what can we do better to reduce the number of hivs both victims but also reduce the bullies um and anything that we we we we uh present what we have we also accept any feedback that we get so is anything better out there that we're doing to stop bullying we're all yours thank you other questions from the board thank you thank you for presentation thank you okay thank you um next is the president's report um this has been a very difficult week uh two weeks rather for um three weeks for the matachin school district um we've had um twin um tragedies uh we lost a student um and one of our teaching staff uh and and her family was um involved in a horrific accident um and I just want to say that on behalf of the board um extend our concern and care and love and sympathy to the family of uh Olivia Rodriguez and also to Joelle Williams and her family um um there's not really anything we can say or do other than just to acknowledge the the support um that the district has shown to both families our students and teachers and administrators have have come together uh to try and alleviate the the pain and suffering as best they can of of these two um um District families and um I just wanted to say how proud I was as president of the Board of Education I'm sure my other board members are as well as of how much the community has pulled together uh to support um our fellow um District families so I just wanted to say that it was a very difficult few weeks for the district so thank you uh Dr Caputo superintendent's report uh no other report except Tech what you said and I'll certainly pass that on thanks to our staff and to uh the families uh the next time I talk to them so thank you thank you um committee reports it's my understanding that only one committee hardworking committee has met um in January since our reorganization meeting um so miss cook what did policy discuss I wonder what policy discussed okay to keep it formal the policy committee met on J January 16th um our one and only agenda item was the calendar for the 2425 school year um because we've had a lot of challenges trying to reach one that will work um so we wanted to give you um at home a little feedback and a little bit of excitement I would say towards the upcoming new changes to the calendar so as you all know the district's entering two years that are going to Forever transform right we talk about the referendum as a once in a-lifetime thing and this this really is um so it's going to transform the look The feel and the alignment of our schools um we're excited to get going um not just with construction but also with grade realignment and we want to do so in the most productive way um with that construction on the immediate Horizon our two top priorities are supporting efficient construction while minimizing disruption to the student experience in our teachers and staff uh we've worked with the Architects the construction manager the district the committee um there have been many people involved in this to try to um assess and include and incorporate the needs of all the stakeholders in the district um as a results the calendar for the next two years is under very tight constraints um and Dr Caputo multiple people throughout the district and the board have been working hard to balance these needs um so that we can have not just successful construction But continuing successful academics in the district at the next board meeting on February 13th we plan to present the calendar that incorporates these requirements and this feedback it will include key dates based on the requirements to move construction forward which include things like more time in the summer so an extended period of time um and full weeks off during the school year this is not a one-year calendar we will be only voting on a one-year calendar but the impacts of all of this go throughout the next two years as construction continues but for details because it's still pending for the 2425 school year the exciting details include um November remains a full week off for that November week there's more than a week off for the winter holidays the way they fall this coming year for everybody um and still a full week of spring break and the final note and the reason we wanted to bring it up is that it does include bringing teachers and students back to school in the last week of August which I believe is the 26th so as I mentioned these changes are significant and they're going to impact the district not just next year but the year after but we're excited after that as a policy committee and as a board to return to traditional calendar decisions after that um which will include more thoughtful point of view in reflecting on you know the needs and the feedback and the requests of the community that try to include everybody um and I also wanted to thank the matachin Education Association for working with the district um and the board to assist with these changes um once a few other legal items are worked out hopefully in the next week or two we will post the proposed calendar on the district website prior to our anticipated vote on February 13th and once it's posted any questions can be directed towards myself as policy chair my emails on the website um or through your normal building chain of command to reach the appropriate person who can answer your question there you have it thank you Miss Cook um are there any other board chairs who wanted to say anything about their committees I know they haven't met yes Mr grasper yes construction hasn't met um thanks policy for all of that work that will help the construction process um but I did want to point out um we're meeting as a committee because the bid opening is on February 7th so we're going to meet that night more importantly maybe for for people who are interested at home there's an open public committee meeting on February 12th at 700 p.m in the mouen High School uh Library so we were committed to having monthly or every other month open public committee meetings we're going to continue with that process for now next one being February 12th you can get an update on the project which we do at these board meetings as well uh but it's in a much more informal setting where you could have the opportunity to interact with members of the committee so February 12th 7 p.m. in the mouen high school library thank you thank you Mr glassberg Miss clean this is not about extracurricular I'm the liaison one of the Liaisons to the Edgar Moss PTO to the Moss Campbell PTO I was at their meeting um last night is it just last night yes okay and um anyway uh two two points of note from that U that I just wanted to share publicly um one uh both principles when they spoke to the PTO wanted to express their gratitude to the PTO for their assistance through the past couple of weeks and helping the staff um and so we always know that it takes um everybody's involvement to support the schools and that was acknowledged I thought we should all know that that was acknowledged as well to thank them um and a big event is coming up for Campbell school and they were making kind of an all call for volunteers so anybody who's watching that has a kid at Campbell um the spring Extravaganza is back and they are looking for parent volunteers to staff the rooms um and they'd be thrilled to have people reach out and um ask how they can get involved or how they might sponsor not sponsor participate in a room um um and uh they did a great job of making it um accessible and not overwhelming for Parents try to wrap their head around it's positive person paloa and we can all use a little bit of that so if anybody's interested please reach out to the PTO for more information thank you other uh reports from committees seeing none any questions for any of those items okay thank you um moving on we will go to the student board member report Miss nbang yes so I hope um as we step into the remainder of the month and embrace the transition to February there are some exciting events lined up that I would like to share with you firstly marking period 3 is now in full swing from a touch in high and eagerly awaited final grades for marking Period 2 will be revealed on the 29th it's a great time to reflect on your achievements and set new goals for the upcoming academic period Then from the 29th to the 22 2nd of February get ready to unleash your school spirit during spirit week it's a fantastic opportunity to showcase your creativity connect with classmates and mostly important most importantly have a blast for more information you can go on the school's Instagram if you're looking for a way to contrib contribute why not join us on Wednesday the 31st in the morning to assist the student council in decorating doors your support would be highly appreciated for parents upcoming n9th graders mark your calendars for the parent parent orientation on February 5th and on the 8th it's a chance to familiarize yourself with the school environment meet teachers and get a glimpse of the exciting Journey your child is about to be introduced to but also don't miss out on the upcoming music events at Edgar school on January 24th they will hold their band concert followed by a chorus concert on the 26th you'll be amazed by an incredible Talent the students have to offer so mark your calendars thank you thank you uh any questions for our stud representative thank you um this point I'd like to ask if there's any old business from the board seeing none is there any new business from the board seeing none I'd like to move the approval of the minutes of the Board of Education meeting January 2nd 2024 is there a second Miss Cook are there any comments or Corrections on those items those minutes sing now roll call please Mr bot yes Miss Cook yes Mr derflinger yes Mr glassberg yes Dr Johnson Marcus yes Miss Colleen yes Mr lifton yes Dr spner yes Mr sus yes motion carries thank you um move to the recommendation of the superintendent of schools often times it may appear to members of our audience that the Board of Education takes action with very little comment and in many cases unanimous vote before matter is placed on the agenda at a public meeting the Administration has thoroughly reviewed the matter matter with the superintendent of schools if the superintendent is satisfied that the matter is ready to be presented to the Board of Education it is then referred to the appropriate board committee the members of the board committee work with the administration and the superintendent to assure that the members fully understand the matter when the committee is satisfied with the matter it is presented to the board of education for discussion before any final action is taken only then is placed on the agenda for Action at a public meeting I'd like to move the Personnel items A1 through 23 is there a second Mr sus are there any comments or questions on those items sigan wel call please Mr bot yes Miss Cook yes Mr derflinger yes Mr glasberg yes Dr Johnson Marcus yes Miss Colleen yes Mr lton yes Dr spner yes Mr sus yes motion carries thank you uh Mr LIF before we move on if I may the board just accepted in item number A1 a retirement and that's for Megan Jenny Campbell School reading specialist who is retiring June 30th Megan has been instrumental in helping to shape literacy practices in mouin during her 26 years with the district through her role as interventionist inrs coordinator and Coach Megan's impact has felt across the building with both students and staff in fact in the past two years Megan has presented at conferences and has published Journal articles helping to Showcase mouin across the state it comes as no surprise that Megan is often recognized and celebr to faculty meetings for providing valuable feedback and assistance to colleagues Megan has been a model Helper and we wish her a very happy and healthy retirement thank you on behalf of the board congratulations to Megan Jenny um 26 years is a long time uh and to contribute to our district and our students in the way she has was is really quite uh admirable and uh her retirement is well deserved so congratulations okay um moving on to finance Mr sus i' like to move items B1 through B5 as listen on the agenda thank you are there any uh is there a second Dr Johnson Marcus are there any comments or questions on those items Mr sus quick question for uh Mr Harvey um item five is for a Cooperative Services agreement with Bergen County how did Bergen County get picked let's say over let's say Morris or Somerset or someplace we do use those also we use we use middl obviously we use Somerset and we use Morris and a couple others this particular one was recommended by our Architects and there's some items on there that we may be able to purchase at a lower cost than going through the bid for the upcoming project but this resolution doesn't bind us to purchase anything thank you any other questions from the board on those items wel call call please Mr bot yes Miss Cook yes Mr derflinger yes Mr glasberg yes Dr Johnson Marcus yes Miss Colleen yes Mr lifton yes Dr spner yes Mr sus yes motion carries thank you um I'd like to move an additional Finance item and I'll read it since it's not on the agenda um it's headed uh athletic trainer Services move to approve uh same day G SD same day same day game day is that what SD I'm leing I can look that up move to approve SD G that's the name of the oh that's the name of the company apologize move to approve SD game day to provide athletic trainer services at a rate as on the agenda for a three-hour slot as needed for athletic events in the mouin school district is there a second um Miss Colleen are there any comments or questions on that Mr lton I could probably just put a little background because it's unusual other districts do other boards we typically don't do this so we have a situation coming up this weekend with home games and our trainers not available our backup trainers who are also our coaches in District are coaching and our Backup backup trainer which is Jag trainers has no one available to us so we've never had this situation since I've been here so um as a as an addition we're asking the board to uh to approve SD game day who's a trainer organization some nearby districts use for us as a backup we would need them this week weekend they'd also be approved and for future as needed should any situation like this happen again where our trainer our backup trainers and our backup to the backup trainers were not available thank you for the explanation any other questions on this item roll call please Mr bot yes Miss Cook yes Mr derflinger yes Mr glasberg yes Dr Johnson Marcus yes Miss Colleen yes Mr lifton yes Dr spikner yes Mr sus yes carries thank you Mr Li I appreciate that sure not at all Miss Cook policy yes I'd like to move item C1 is listed on the agenda thank you is there a second Dr spiger are there any comments or questions on that item roll call please Mr bot yes M cook yes Mr derflinger yes Mr glassberg yes Dr Johnson Marcus yes Miss Colleen yes Mr lton yes Dr spner yes Mr sus yes M motion carries thank you um Mr derfflinger curriculum thank you I'd like to move um items D1 and two as listed on the agenda please thank you is there a second Mr glassberg are there comments or questions on those items singan W call please Mr bot yes Miss Cook yes Mr derflinger yes Mr Glaser yes Dr Johnson Marcus yes Miss Colleen yes Mr lifton yes Dr spner yes Mr sus yes motion carries thank you the meeting is now open to the public for any topic seeing none we'll close that section move to announcements Mr bot yes uh We've covered some of this but I just want to acknowledge first uh mestan High School 9th grade orientation Monday February 5th uh for parent 6:30 to8 p.m. uh for Edgar that's also the same day report cards are coming out which is exciting for some and maybe not for others uh for the PTO for Edgar designer bag uh bingo registration ends on January 27th and the event is February 3rd on Saturday great fundraiser for Campbell uh we've heard uh a mention of it spring X volunteers Campbell event is in March Moss event is in May and you tend to have multiple volunteers per class and the event is wonderful and it flexes to your availability so we encourage folks to volunteer with whatever time you have um the PTC wanted to highlight that May 3rd is a district-wise districtwide fundraiser at Jrs and Fords so they looking for s aution and registration participation more information coming soon uh and then uh also February 12th uh for those with questions about construction uh it's a welcome space for conversation at matachin high school on the 12th uh and that's all thank you um congratulations on your first announcement thank you so much seamless seamless smooth this point I'd like to make a motion to adjourn is there a second Miss Cook everyone all in favor say hi thank you and good night Carolyn thank you for being here Carolyn well tonight this [Music] weekend