all right it is 617 the board has been in executive session for the past 15 minutes for the purpose of discussing confidential matters as outline in 2.01 the matters that were discussed will be disclosed to the public as soon as possible once the reason for non-disclosure no longer exists any questions or discussion so move second and that may you please take the V here yes yes yes yes Quinn yes Mrs yes yes thank you very muchette all right great um tonight we have a couple presid presentations our first is from our Auditors um CLE CL and Company will present an overview of the 2023 annual audit to the board thank our manag perform the audit um year do our audit give you a presentation on what we found our AIT um actually wasn't here that long ago here was in April because as you know the last couple years very late with your numbers and uh but this year they actually came out with one time uh that being said uh we one of the few districts that is actually done uh early we have the school district gotten so used to being getting it done in January and February that most school districts aren't ready so congratulations the finance offic did a good job getting ready to when we ask what we needed we given it right away so it's done promptly um as I mentioned each year we we do a financial and compliance order do Financial make sure your financial statements are fairly stated and complies make sure that your compliance with all the rules and regulations the state jourey uh we're looking at your payroll your cafeteria you know your your food service grants your Assa we go through there's a whole there a book this that we have to follow guidelines from state New Jersey to make sure that you're compliance with all rules regulations I'm happy to report that your financial states are fairly stated um the purpose of our ORD to give an opinion the opinion is an unqualified opinion which is a good opinion and there are no recommendations to the order of course they won't be required to do a corrective action so uh we had an ex comp with the administration we over everything we found like that overall your finances are in good shape um your capital reserve you have a healthy capital reserve it's a little bit less than it was last year but uh you still have you know little over $4 million put away for capital projects going forward uh you overall your surface are down slightly but they're still fairly healthy so I think overall the school district is in good Financial shape anybody have any questions about the process or where things stand see none we'll see you next year thank you very much appreciate it um our next presentation is by Our Food Service Company mashos um going to give us an overview of the company um they are currently our vendor as of date so please thank you is everyone great sorry do you remember how it used to be when you have the exam was not expecting it's a pleasure to see a lot of the principles of and as you can see in our house we came the entire team from the the one here are on the field on a daily basis uh Derek to Susan who is uh Derek support I'm Susan and dere support uh our corporate executive corporate Chef the heart of uh the company and the brain of the company right there it's Frank M the co thank you for having us tonight I have to tell you I've been in Middle first 25 years I Adit though my first year here was 1999 I did but mid sex wasn't the reason why I got I can tell you that um in fact um I believe in 25 years this is my first so it's it's a great um we have a brief PowerPoint that I want to go over but I want Le get that out that I mean there was a reason why we were here and I just want K to address that to say I've enjoyed my 25 years here and wish more Frank mas and I are committed to make that happy that's why one of two owner operator companies left International or owned byal grou you're important us want to explain how we got she is the bridge between the brain the heart and the rest of us there's always one person that's why we let stand that's it this is why I'm standing so far apart exactly my name is Katie mosa I'm the director of f supervision for spend a lot of time with our operations team and and Frank um so back in October um it was brought to our attention at the New Jersey school boards convention that um there was that the district had received a conditional um their health inspection for one of our schools so we immediately sprung into action I actually uh the Thursday of that school board's convention ended I drove right here and met with Mrs gordano and we sat down and put together a plan of action um for the district so we're going to touch on a few of those things that we are moving forward with and some on how we've addressed some of the conditional that we were cited for on the health inspection so we tried to yeah we we make a list we're we're in the area uh we uh oversee a lot of the school actually I prefer to think of it as we're part of the communities of these schools because we're trying a lot to to build that bridge with the parents with the students as well as with the the admin of the school uh just some of the schools is theelen planfield Bridgewater Montgomery Township South River Public this is a new one for us and we were really excited being there as well as South amb booy Somerville public Edison and north and these are just the ones they are closer to to your area um our team I actually ran through everyone in here and this this is the the main people in arph this is our staff a lot of them have been and this uh these are just the ladies from the high school that have been in here for long than we have we were just going through the pictures and Derek if you want to talk about them sure hi everybody I'm Derek schapel the group service director um we have 19 women that work for us here in Middle sex and 16 of them live in Middle sex and five that you see up here have been here for over 17 years Elsa's been here in the district for over 33 years um just showing kind of kind of team that we have here you know they're all committed to this um especially having kids in the in the system you know here that they really care about what they do I've never met a group of women that that really do what they do and they want the best for children especially since some of them you know are eating eating here every day even Maggie's daughter even works over at marar school um she's a teacher for um special ed um she looked school here all the way through uh Maggie was actually her lunch lady and U she continuing to be here so we have a big strong team that's here uh and again mostly local women um the other ones are from dun Allen and North l so everybody's everybody's very close Janet was actually sharing a fun little fact with me we were walking through a watch on school after the food advisory and she mentioned that she did first grade in Wong school she then moved out of the district but it brings back memories that's where she serves breakfast every morning we put and you have the paper copies I don't want to go through everything and there is basically a snapshot of what the standards for the meals are both breakfast and lunch which are the parts that we need to serve the whole grain uh the the vegetable the fruits the protein everything that is there we just wanted to point some because it's every single time we have a meeting the question is we don't want that th for our children we don't want this product our products are not fried we don't we don't fry them everything is baked there's no MSG no any additives it's whole muscle protein and everything that that we serve they might be looking like this like the fries the students would be oh these fries theyy them no we did not we B them um and actually all the grains that we're serving they are home grains we are partnering late we did it how long it's been three weeks uh with a local bakery and we get uh fresh Bagels every single Friday Derek was the one that that spoke with them and H and they're helping us do that NSL br prod but it's fresh and they're they're great we have great reviews bizar yes every Friday students have get really and then we have the the farm the farm from school we partner with phone s to bring fresh local produce uh for the month of December it's going to be apples radishes potatoes and squash they're going to be featured somehow in the uh in our meals they're locally grown and we're going to do either tasting some of the stud especially the younger if I'm giving them squash they're going to look at and be like I don't want to try it but if we do like small samples especially for them would be something that they might be in TR actually next week on the menu next Wednesday I believe it is we're doing a cured cabbage salad um so that's going to be featured and we're going to hand out samples it's going to go with the lunch meal and additional vegetable and that's a local product Zone 7 if you're not familiar Zone 7 is actually in Ringo New Jersey so it's not too far from here they Source all locally I don't want to say just grown products it is they do wheat they do local cheese they do dairy Meats cheeses vegetables fruit a lot of different products so we have a pleora up Byam to Cheese from and that kind of goes really well with the local full School rent uh we are working on inter for mle sex um as of now it's around $10,000 uh 9,98 uh and 31 cents to be exact we are planning on incorporating it in the breakfast in the lunch me but also we are thinking about ordering something different for student doing some tasting from products that they're not necessarily really comp in Norm trying them and doing some f market for the community we had a couple of conversations uh uh regarding this when it's going to get warmer we would love if you guys are interested in helping us facilitate and spread the word to the community we would love to go Farmers Market product that it's PA with the grank money it's the the families uh the students the parents grandparents everyone can attend we're going to do a St and it's great the interaction with the the families it's unbelievable we we tried it a couple of times and we would love to do it here we've actually partnered with a few other districts who've done it in multiple different ways where the families help themselves we've also done it where we've handed everyone a bag so everyone gets a bag of the same products and then they also Incorporated some of the school community so they wrote recipes on cards and the students helped type them out and on the flip side of that card had artwork drawn by the fourth grade students or something like that so um and then the National Honor Society students came and actually handed out the bags so they got their community service hours so it truly it wasn't just Food Service it Incorporated the entire school district and then the community as well all right now's my part so a long time J Porter corporate Chef um my job job with company is so I lead a team of nine corporate chefs and we go out to schools uh we do Chef um we had one here uh October 12 we did a Wing Bar at the high school uh I've been in District four times already to do uh culinary trainings with the Middle School staff uh I've been here at the high school training just one sorry we're going to we're going to they're literally sample from our menu what it was served last week what it was going to serve this week with the students and we actually put them in the container the way that it looks for them when they're coming to the line so we are bringing you what the uh students would eat so you guys could physically see p feel of what we are serving in our cafeteras the sealed meal is what we would serve to a uh a satellite school for satelliting from from High Elementary School yeah so the element school we have boxes we have par uh that would be muff meal breakfast sandwich H Ries that are on the menu next Monday uh again and at the high school level there are several ways you could present that um and then we have a little [Music] video [Music] so we did start a program we piloted it last last year uh we do scratch make pizzas uh so it helps with usage of Commodities dollars that uh that the district would get from the state uh you do have a sample uh if you guys want to try a little slice half slice of the pizza that's showing in there it's just a cheape pizza nothing with meat on it we forget it I think it was how does this go I'm ask how is so and I'm going to tell you because there might be somebody sitting in this audience who texted me and said there's no more dominoes what is going on but she hasn't complained about the pizza that's coming so I'm actually really excited I yeah so we have we have we have probably 32 two different styles of pizza we can makeone stroles dog nuts uh dominoes you can get plain pizza right uh we make pepperoni we make buffalo chicken uh bacon chicken ranch meat lovers Mediterranean there's a wide variety we could give the district that Domin cannot so um in fact the food advisory committee meeting that we H at wat and Hazelwood the feedback was that they wanted TOS on their Pizza suggestion pepperoni chicken and I'm not sure how populara will be try did anybody not get that how about you try sure so parents and students parents and students have their own brand Matthew's branded website right on the middle sex burough School District website you can just go to Food Services and at that cage you could find the link for the menus parents can put money on their child's account through the pay schools link there's Priceless the welcome letters all the information is there and I believe it's in English and Spanish um also our neutral slice menus are interactive so parents and students can go onto the menu at any time click on any of our menu items and up comes the nutritional information and any allergen information so if anyone has any allergens they can certainly access that there as well um we also have a of course every's for everything right so there's a neutr slice app as well so students if you want to download the neutr slice app you can see what the menu is just because of your fingertips um and probably the most exciting thing and I don't want to say it little go off but we now have voice menus um so I'm going to try this so Alexa ask School menus what's for lunch on Friday December 15th for lunch on December 15th 2023 middle sex high is serving buttermilk pancakes local blueberry compost strawberry compost breakfast sausage and hash browns so you don't even have to PR I know in my day my mom used to take men and put it on the refrigerator you don't have to do that anymore technology is a wonderful thing so chef Jamie spoke about the uh Chef days and some of the exciting things that we're doing with the food we've been doing this in the district our food advisory committee meetings we touched on those as well the state guidelines say we have to do them once a year masio standard is twice a year so we usually do one in the beginning of the school year which Derek has already started and then we will do the other the rest of them uh we will do in the second half of the year we touched on our Jersey Fresh and bagel Bazaar which is a big hit so we do have some new and upcoming promotions we're very excited about the coffee Throwdown if there's any coffee drinkers at the high school you might want to come check out the throw down between Wawa and Green Mountain we'll be there sampling and the students will get to decide what coffee they like best and that's the coffee that will be served in the cafeteria with the bagels of course on Friday y uh yogur parfet we put out some yogurt parfit uh we have those some theme bars and chicken wings every student I think that comes through the line at the high school think you guys can probably attest this hot sauce on everything right no you guys don't like that every student I see puts hot sauce or some sort of spicy sauce with their lunch so we're going to start featuring chicken wings multiple times a week tossing them with the hot sauce at the middle school we're going to be introducing the yogurt pares and the chicken wings and at the elementary schools I know I spoke with the principal over there the bzo boxes were a big hit over at Wong and um we are going to we actually have those on the menu this week um pizza with toing we talking about so I'm very excited about this um this is a national school lunch program equipment assistance grant um there's $20,000 that is available for each school from this grant um all we have to do there's a small application that needs to be filled out and that we can be used for anything within that school that deems necessary to help the Food Service program um some ideas that we have come up with is cold holding merchandiser in the high school the one that is currently there uh they no longer made parts for so rather than waiting until it officially dies and we can't fix it anymore we'd like to be proactive and perhaps get a new one before something happens um stainless steel prep table so one of the items on that conditional health inspection was that a few of the tables at the high school and the middle school have a wood top which is no longer allowed in Food Services um due to bacteria so stainless steel is the preferred method so we purchase some of those um a half holding merchandiser for Monger Middle School is always a funny age because they may not have the sophisticated palette for some of the high school items but they're older and they don't like the little finger foods for the elementary kids so we like to do a lot more burgers and chicken sandwiches a lot of those kind of grab and go fun to eat type things and a hot holding merchandiser would be very helpful in helping us achieve that and then finally a hot Andor cold well for Hazelwood Elementary so I actually um joined I should say tagged along with Derek to the Hazelwood food advisory meeting and he showed me that there was a room where our milk cooler was positioned and that's where we keep all of our cold holding um and I believe there was a fridge and a freezer in there there's definitely a refrigerator there the thought was maybe perhaps we could purchase a cold and or hot well and we can start serving students from that colder hot well rather than serving them at a B and we call them Oliver containers but a pre packaged container just something to sort of think outside the box and do something a little bit different I'll hand it over Tok you for coming all you questions from you I do want to get one thing on the a I want to see if there's any questions first I have a question is hwood elementary school the only one that doesn't have that is that why you said or you just happen to go to that school it's the only one that has the space available don't also mention it's not listed as vento box is that the vegetables from the Harvest or is that how it's might say fruit and cheese or yogurt it's either fruit and cheese meal or yogurt par yogurt muffin meal yes I think it's a yogurt muffin meal usually or that's that's how it shows on the yeah I just have never seen I know my daughter would eat that but I don't see where it doesn't yeah we can certainly the wording normally it's just saying a meal because everything is pre packaged and it's a grabing Bo muffin meal or yeah oh absolutely for Theo that the recipe from box is nice and wider I feel if you said that like I would I don't see it there and I know saw that I would say oh she would love that but it doesn't say that I know what it is yeah that's why I saw that and I thought the that's great about neut life is that we can go back to the office right after this conversation change it and it'll be updated immediately it's a live the live menu so once we make the change it happens immediately and it's really funny because for us we already know what what it's going to look like how it's it sense now see it what about you know I could think we have a population here that might be vegetarian I think our populations are growing um do we have vegetarian options Just Pizza yes yes we always do have a vegetarian option a daily basis we did a pasta bar on Tuesday we did a pasta bar we offered a bologan sauuce a marinara sauce and we offered an alfredo sauce with chicken on the side could get either the Mariner or the Alfredo both when meatless as an option we also had fish sticks on the menu uh one day as well so we do change up what we do we have a yogurt option every day humus and yes it is advertised it's not on the serving line because normally it's a grab situation we had inst grab I don't have any chicken and this this doesn't taste like chicken so we do keep it separate from the from thein meals but they are advertised there's there's the labels are there and but we also have we print the Flyers yes on the on the serving line see salad instead of putting a meat or chicken you know cheese sck or cheese in it you know get a protein and not and not every meal is is a meat based meal we have uh we have Ries coming up so potato and chees we have uh I'm sorry coming up again so I mean there there is a bunch of menu items that are fa venu grill cheese and tomato um that are not meat heavy 25 years been here that's all of all one thing about I we only 1999 it's 29,000 that's all we so when you raise your lunch price that's middle that's what you use to cover your expenses to operate the and also have a Prof rashio gave the board options how to handle the lunch price increase for this coming school year because covid reimbursement of 45 cents per meal being taken away from each district so as a company we went to every school we have we were the largest provider of food service in the state we don't lose business and describe to everybody what options you had regarding the lunch price increase in every single instance you were given you wanted to maintain the same guarantee which I've never missed you need to raise the lunch price this month you wanted to make less money in the guarantee so you had options somehow it was ConEd incorrectly that it was we were jamming down the lunch price increase to you that you must take and I think it was also conveyed that that was somehow our profit That's So Not Who We Are Who I Am and how I manag to stay here so I hope that helps clear up any of the misconceptions here I mean you certainly have every right to roll back always made a profit my guarantee here 50,000 and you haven't had a year that you made less 100 so guarantees me nothing the money is yours right the more meals we serve and by the way we serve 64.5% District that's an incredible healthy that's a lot of stud a lot so when you take 45 cents away from each meal of course it's Mak a considerable difference what happened ever since the state said taking 45 cents away guess what they raiseed the reimbursement rates back up again for this school year after all the Abend and contract went out so what does that mean it means that you're the day you already have a profit of $30,000 you're on PA to make over 100,000 so the 45 cents you took away and you raised the lunch price back the money so now you're back at the same threshold you were so if how it was conveyed by us or the prior Administration to you made it seem like this was it take it or leave it I apologize for that that's bad on us but I wanted to make sure when I was given this opportunity to make sure you understand I appreciate the business certainly didn't want to make come across that was the way the only options you had think 25 years been able to work with everybody on the board over years and I hope it continue to work that so that's my sh we're only one of two companies like I said that our owner operated and us and pomton and food every other company that's on the state approved list the U RFP was either bought by capital investment company and they're posing as owner operators and or International so I've managed to be that guy for 25 years and we're here tonight really appreciate it so thank you appreciate you taking the time again can I ask a question yes absolutely 100% so you you mentioned the lunch prices there is a minimum I mean the maximum there is an amount we have to charge that is correct and this year coming uh with the accounting and we went over it it used to be at least 3457 in order to meet when you're going to have your state audit they will be looking at it if there were any fining previously and your meal prices were lower than what it was expected this would be the second finding and it would lead to Yes it needs to be so now it's getting closer to 350 and by next year I would okay and then the other thing that I've heard throughout the district is portion and a lot of that is Fally and state mandated correct there's different portion sizes for all the different age groups okay so we follow the guidance based on what the state and the federal guidelines are and those are the portions that we serve for and unfortunately the way that it comes we can the students can have as many fruits and veggies as they want but that's not what they want they unforunately that is the one that is really strict regulated and that's the one that we cannot put it on a reimbursable meal but fruits and veggies they can grow three four two no one is going to stop that from that okay yes thank you if you wanted to now that you know the trend of the money that you want to make and we're not on a mad cash to make 100,000 plus there are some options that you can do for creating more activity and promoting more bigger portion sizes for certain items and stuff like that so we can do that with the you know with the construction of the board so we can pick and choose those menu items or we can do promotion days anything that you want to do so I mean your guarantee well in safe but I know it's not about the money so if we wanted to think about how you spend some of that Circle I think we have plenty of money between the grants quicket stuff that want from previous years so it's an option for you guys that that would be my other statement is the profit is used to update our kitchen and our food services it's not just going back general fund it must go back into the school corre service fund yes and when you're getting a you're going to have and one can was referring to those specific uh instances because I I saw you looking and kind of question like the chef days for example normally we budget a chef day once a quarter or once uh uh twice a year if there's no need to be so restricted in this we can do the chef day let's say every other month on the chef day specifically we don't follow NSL guidelines per se we still use whole brain we still use whole uh low fat and all that but the kids have a bigger array and abortion is not as restricted so we could start budgeting uh more and working towards having more Chef dates if that it's not the the budget is not so cutting right anytime you see any of our chefs or any of our other staff they're paid for out of our community so there's not additional cost from us thank you thank you everybody okay all right um we're going to get to um other present um and unfortunately our employee of the month was unable to attend tonight so we're going to get into the next recognize um I'm not a historian on the board of ed past but I can tell you it'd be hard pressed to find two individuals that were more dedicated she's not here no thank you um I think you know if there'd be hard pressed to find two people that have put more time in more dedic to our kids than the next two people who um whose time on the board this year has come to an end so we have um to make this recognition whereas Mr William Coy B Coyle has served with distinction and dedication as a member of the middle six pero Public School District Board of Education from January 1998 through December 2004 again from January 2006 through December 2012 and then again who's kinding up to join us from 2017 through 2023 whereas he has demonstrated the steadfast commitment to the Improvement of education and the well-being of our students within our district Mr P has actively participated in key initiatives committee decision-making processes that have positively impacted the educational experience of all students he's been a tireless advocate for the interests of our students parents in the community at large um be it resolved that the middle SE Board of Education expresses its deepest appreciation to Mr coral for his invaluable contributions to the betterment of Education in our district therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education wish to extend its best wishes to Mr Cole and further thank him for his unwavering commitment to the families of b six B and again bill it goes un said it just I don't you probably know and we'll find out later but I don't know if there's you know between the two two people putting more time effort it's just it's inspiring um for especially somebody like myself as a new board member to see what you guys have have put in but thank you we have something in your Trish if you please join me photographer I [Laughter] guess [Applause] and not that you think you could actually top that um but Mrs Sharon Schuler has served with distinction and dedication as a member of the board of educ middle sex Bor School District Board of Education just is continuous January 2008 through December 202 3 um she has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to the Improvement of education and the well-being of students within our district Mrs Scher has actively participated in key initiatives committees and decision-making processes that have positively impacted the educational experience of all students has has been a tireless advocate for the interest of students parents and the community at large be it resolved the milx burough Board of Education expresses its deepest appreciation to Mrs SCH for her invaluable contributions to the betterment of ation in our district therefore be resolved now the Board of Education wish to extend its best wishes to Mrs Scher and further thank you for unwavering commitment to families in milx borrow and I just Sharon I mean these both that everything but Sharon how I mean she drives to Trenton for stuff I mean she's been our um school board's delegate um for a countless number of years and you I just know what each one of us does as a board member I could just tell you she does three four five 10 times the amount each I could just said each one of us is done and it's just it's inspiring and we I appreciate it I know we all appreciate both beely it's like [Laughter] [Applause] UMD [Applause] one ofi Michelle what a say can you bring back one of the blacks we could just fix it if I may yes please bill please I'd like to thank all the superintendents and there have been a few and a couple of interims and all the many board members I've been associated with in in 18 years and I thank them for putting up with me all that time um to quote Michael coron every time I think I got away they kept on pulling me that I was asked more than once to to return and sometimes against my better judgment or Sue threats that if you go back up what are you doing but uh time's up and uh I won't be here again Sharon I hope will'll return We'll Never Say Never Never Say Never I a couple times and uh and I thank all thank everyone that uh I've worked with over years there been I I don't even know how many board members there been you both have set a standard that you know I don't know I know I won't come close you never say that now I know true yep no doubt about but still it's not it's just you guys are amazing and thank you and thought that's crazy did more thank you okay we have a little video for you [Music] [Music] on behalf of the students and staff of Parker Elementary School I want to say thank you for all your support and encouragement during your time on the middle support of Education thank you thank you thank you hello from school this is this is zley here in Mrs bonso's classroom and we just wanted to thank you for your years of service to the middle sex Borough schools so Mr Coy and Mr Scher you'll be very missed um but we appreciate all you've done here in our district you Mrs Scher and Mr Coyle thank you for your years of service we wish you the best with all your free time our hael Huskies want to say thank you thank you for you've done for the students in Middle thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of our hearts we thank you for everything you did for us here at PHX high school thank you for your D thank you for your commitment thank you for your service thank you for [Music] your Sharon to you from us thank you miss you [Music] [Applause] [Applause] you right um just I just got a couple announcements I just want to say last Friday we our educational Professional Services and Governor educators of the year it's really it's the second year that I participated it's it's such a cool thing they go around each School announce the winners um this year at the high school Mr L was driving the Zamboni or whatever around um it really is cool that the the rec the teachers and and staff that we recognize their families come um Brenda spent the whole day which was great I unfortunately been little we get to high school I just you know we'll let you know next year but if you can make it we get the party bigger and bigger but um the band plays down through the high school it was it was really really cool and again it's just another way to recognize some of the awesome staff that we have here year in year out and then December 22nd we have our um senior citizens lunch um it's Friday it's in the gym right cafer cafeteria um Friday 22nd another awesome event that that we put on that's all the announcements I have for this evening I'll turn over to our superintend of schools Dr Roberto fre thank you well those are my announcements also no you're fantastic um just uh really quick it was fantastic I don't know if you had an opportunity to see A Christmas Carol here at the high school it was phenomenal a high school students did a fantastic job hatch off to the entire visual Performing Arts team it was excellent we have a Winter concert coming up here next Thursday so I hope you all can attend we will be there and like Mr Nicola just said we celebrated our educators of the year the video will be out soon on Instagram and Facebook and you can continue to celebrate with us we will recognize them officially once we get um our County certificates in the spring and and our Educators get to apply to be County educator of the year so hopefully maybe we can have someone from middlex represent our County um finally as Todd said we also have our senior citizens brunch that is coming up next Friday on the 22nd last year we had a fantastic time with our seniors and we're looking forward to doing it even bigger and better this year happy holidays to everyone a thank you Dr Freeman our acting business administrator and board secretary Miss Annette gordano good evening um only thing I have really is the budget will be starting up soon so to come on that all right awesome thank you that for everything um are the aison reports um last mon our burrow Alliance committee along with our bolia community advisor panel which I understand you may want to continue to do so we can discuss well first violia or nor the alliance met in December so we resume again in January okay and U the alliance was beyond going and U theol has stated that yeah if I wanted to continue I can continue yeah well we should you could do that as a citizen but we can also talk Dr and I see I don't know figure something out maybe Som we just collaborate you and I but I think it's great that you're willing to is real I enjoy so I'm glad you're able to do it and um so we'll talk about that further but thank you very much sure um all right MX County SBA delegate Mrs Janette Deus so the M County sorry evening everyone so we um had a inperson meeting in Woodbridge um and at that meeting we had someone from the bush Door Group Aaron give us a briefing on the news Le law and how various school districts are handling it and just went over you know briefly some some things to be aware of um but a lot of the stuff we talked about in committee so there was nothing really new for us um the other thing that they did Cover was polling in schools and I know that that has come up before um as a concern um particularly with um the primary coming up in June typically the November elections um the students are off but that's used as a professional development day for teachers to minimize the amount of students in the building they recommend that that they we're doing exactly what they're recommending so the and the Union County Clerk was the speaker and so they're used they talked about how they handled it in Union County and he knew all of the county CLS Sharon and I were like surprised because he was like name dropping all these clips were like wow he mentioned which is more yeah like he knew everything and we were like okay so he's pretty credible um and what he said about the June election the primary is you know um because we have a certain amount of days that we have to hold to close the school when we would like to close the school they do recommend half days um for those days early dismiss longer um and the one thing that I took away that I because I know a lot of people like why do they have to use our schools Apparently that is a law that came down and they the um it's law they they can use our schools there is a process to go through if you want our schools not to ose but apparently there are lots of different stipulations as to why they select certain locations accessibility uh closeness to the district um Wii WiFi um a whole host of reasons and things that need to occur so that in small districts like this there really is no other place that we could use so um I think that some districts have a lot of issues I feel like we have a really good relationship with the with the clerk and the and the town count like I think it's we've been able to work out whatever issues we've had so we've been pretty lucky but just I know some districts with you know people often say why have why do they have to use a school well it's it's a mandate that that's they have to use I know thank you for sharing that and I can give you more they usually send the notes off for would you the notes so with all the the statutes and all that um and then the next meeting is going to be in March that'll be virtual so anybody can attend you just have to register for it all right thank you Janette um our njsba legislative officer along with our njsba delegate this is Sharon sh so you guys think this this is my last meeting but I actually have a virtual meeting on Saturday I was gonna say I that does not surprise me and I wouldn't be surprised if you drove the Trenton if it wasn't virtual either uh well the legislative committee has decided that it's actually easier to do it virtually because that way they get more participants out of the because we're Central so it's only you know 50 minutes for us but there's people that drive two and a half hours years um the big so I'll send an update after the legislative meeting um but the big thing that did occur is I we did go to the legislative U meeting and that was on December 2nd and that was at um Mercer Community College um so just so that you guys are aware this is the delegate assembly handbook and and I want you guys to understand that the delegate assembly makes rules and changes bylaws for New Jersey school boards only they do not make law they basically change what school boards advocates for school districts to treaton they're not making any changes to the law they're changing bylaws and policies within the school boards itself because they are the major advocacy piece for all local school boards um there were five resolutions for that um I can send an update um it wasn't anything super exciting um it did take three hours though Janette was online um just because everyone likes to have a say um so um the other thing in the handbook is there are sitting uh committees the legislative committee this the special ed committee um the the County Chairs all they all have reports in here and this is available online I'll send you guys all a link to it but it can be found on school boards um also under the delegate assembly and then that's pretty much it they also are not getting rid of me as a small group leader so I will be at new board member orientation in January and February continuing my training on a small I have a feeling you're GNA it to we'll see thank you Sharon very much some point I gotta find one of these positions at pays why they call Consultants with your experience find some MX or mil 6 Public Library Board of Education representative M Aron good evening everyone our last Library meeting was this past Monday um the only thing I really have is that uh the friends of the middle sex Library put on all sorts of different events throughout the year and their last one is next Wednesday the 20th there's going to be a holiday concert that they're hosting and that'll be the last event for 2023 and they have a ton of variety of different things that they'll be starting in January of 2024 so you can check that out and they are also always looking for um volunteers for those kinds of events also if you're interested and our next Monday will be Monday January 8th thank you thank you Aon um and our student representative Miss Thomas hello um today um we're doing a Parker School Spotlight firstly I'm going to talk about how they're making learning engaging as cute the kids are they tend to have short attention stand so they're easily looking for new things to F on and Parker Elementary School has implemented many measures to cultivate a place where learning is engaging for these kids Harker Elementary School understands that strong bond between Educators and students will spark a genuine desire to go to school so teachers make sure to know and connect with each child teachers use music and videos while teaching to keep kids interested in material Parker Elementary School has also shifted to make the majority of their class time student Le and teamwork based which has proven to help children retain more information to be excited about class material Parker school days are filled with Community love and to dance breaks poets puppet shows and so much more Parker's Rich Community has SU brought four years old to 8 years old to actually enjoy and look forward to going to school Parker Elementary School has set up tons of exciting team bonding activities and I was told to give a big shout out to Parker's parent teachers organization at the beginning of the school year a schoolwide playd was done designed for students toet new classmates and UL Ely further fostering Parker's Rich close Community the P also did a drunk in treat where kids could safely trick or treat they also set up a schoolwide bingo game and are preparing even more winter events Parker Elementary prioritized Community because strong communities provide helpful soil where strong students can bloom at Parker Elementary School they really focus on building life skills Elementary School is a time where students are still learning how to play and interact with other students some of the issues that um they may run into is students playing a little bit roughly so Park Elementary Works to make sure to instill personal skills in kids that hold the power to guide kids for future years in response to the trend of playing rep teachers have taught kids to interact with each other more appropriately they provide examples of fun and safe play and have even taught kids how to read facial expressions to accurately gauge emotions so they can respond accordingly when students do display behavioral challenges Parker focuses on positive behavior in order to encourage more positive behavior kids are identified and recognized for positive behavior and lastly Parker's main goals are supporting students and staff fostering a community where young children can still safe and comfortable sparking intellectual curiosity establishing routines for elementary students now that will carry on into their High School careers and park Administration has also been meing with students every day in order to analyze Trends and then shift approaches accordingly in order to make academically and socially thank you thank you Miss Thomas the research um we are to approve board meeting minutes superintendent recommends approval minutes as presented regular public meeting November 15 2023 committee the whole November 14 2023 committee the whole executive session um 11 14 2023 Corrections and revisions the previous board agendas superintendent recommends approval and Corrections revisions the previous board agendas as presented superintendent recommends approv of items 5.01 5.02 so move second are there any questions or discussions and that may please take the role Mr yes yes Mr yes yes um obstain on Committee of the whole minutes um and the executive session for the committee of the whole yes to is Mrs Perry yes Mrs Quinn yes Mrs Robins yes Mrs yes thank you Anette um we're going to now open up the public comment portion of this meeting comments at this time are limited to agenda items only please come to the podium and put your name address email address and Sub of comment into the record book before speaking please give your name address and subject comment that Miss Anette J acting business administrator board secretary and director comments and questions to the board president may speak on two separate topics from the three minutes agend agenda public comments only agenda I'm sorry that would go at the next one towards the end I don't believe it's on theend yes yes yeah no second public comment por service who else contct Lov to Second thank you for you know you're you're amazing thank you thank you all than thank you all right we're going to close the public comment portion of this meeting um start on our committee reports um I do want to make this statement 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 a unanimous vote before matter is placed on the agenda at a public meeting the Administration has thoroughly reviewed the 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 the members fully understand the matter when the committee is satisfied with the matter is presented to the Board of Education with discussion before any final action is taken only then it is placed on the agenda for Action at a public meeting such as tonight um we're going to start with our committee chair Personnel Mr Janette good evening everyone the Personnel committee met uh last week on the 5th and and we review the items that we um presented today we also had an opportunity to discuss these items in yes last night so this evening I'd like to present um 9.1 through 9 12 second are there any discussions or questions and that may please take the role we I guess this is section 9.03 what are the TVs is that because we have position so if you remember last night disc the after school program to at each at each grade level Ela after school at longer so we still not have bla typically that wouldn't be on here for tonight but it was too late to take it off but it would be teacher tees that are going to teach the eth grade after school Ela right okay okay that's fine just what yes last night when we discussed the after school program okay so that's specifically for after school yeah yes okay Title One okay all right and that may please take the all Mr n yes Mrs Reynolds yes Mr yes yes mruse on 9.12 number n yes to everything else Mrs Terry yes Mrs Quinn yes M Rob yes yes thank you Annette our education committee chair Mrs Brenda Perry good evening uh the last meeting we had was last month and once we reorg and figure out when our next meeting is probably be in January at some time um tonight the items uh the superintendent recommends approval of the education action items 111 through 1114 so move second are there any questions or discussions and that may please a ro Mr yes re yes Mr yes D yes Mr yes Terry yes yes Rob yes yes thank you in that um our policy committee will the 12.03 adoption of bylaws policies and regulations um policies superintendent recommend approval of policy action items 12.01 through 12.03 as presented so move second we have any discussions or questions no and that we we St the all yes yes yes thank you Annette and our facilities and finance committee chair Mr Sharon SCH uh the finance and Facilities did meet um last week and the next meeting will be sometime in January with the new committee um this evening I would like to make a motion for approval as recommended by the superintendent for the facility items 14.01 to 14 second we have any discussions or questions no and that may please take the role Mr n yes Mrs rold yes Mr yes Mrs de yes Mrs T yes Mrs Terry yes Mrs Quinn yes Mrs Robins yes Mr yes thank you Anette um is there any ongoing business the board would like to discuss any new business all right at this time we're going to open up the public comment portion of this meeting which can be on any topic please come to the cting for your name address email address and sub comment to the record book before speaking please give your name address and sub comment Mr Jano act business administrator board secretary you direct the comments and questions to the board president and you may speak on two SE topics minutes I know meeting a few ago my understanding but is there really any anym uh I made an over request than you that uh for how much goes into the general fund every year and we are trending around $50,000 every year from this activity fee which I hate to say this mostly go I from any club advisor I've talked to it is really impossible to get any money out of the general fund without it being a insanely difficult process where it shouldn't be so I think it's either time to revise or consider removing the activity fee Al together I was implemented when there was state tax cuts or School Cuts budget cuts from the state but we now have Title One funding because of the Woodland switch there's really no need for this $50,000 that we really have no use for not I would say use for but it's not you know I appreciate Mr Donald um from just an athletic standpoint the fees that go there but it does go into general fund it does go back into Athletics but yes not L it's an ongoing discussion but thank you for your thoughts night good evening Michelle Lo um I'm gonna speak as a um employee so uh first of all I would like to reiterate um on um sorry the U 1111 donation to the school the Damon family has donated for um 3D printers which are now in the back of our library and have been put to use uh we received these last week and along with a bag full of fil filaments um our tech one of our Tech um people have cleaned them up got them working and um I just like to reiterate the thanks to the D family