here everyone here we're all looking at me aren you oh all right I call this meeting to order um and I will call for flag salute everybody rise to flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all I'd like to take a moment of silence for all those In Harm's Way and I'd like to recognize the um the Clen as we keep them in our thoughts and prayers and the notice uh the statement advanced notice the the notice requirements of the open public meetings Act of the state of New Jersey have been satisfied by the inclusion of the date time in place of this meeting in the notice of the regular meetings adopted by this board on January 8th 2024 such schedule and notice of meetings was hosted at the municipal building the Mount Olive Library the Board of Education offices and six schools was submitted to the Daily Record for publication on January 9th 2024 and was filed with the clerk of Mount Olive Township on January 9th 2024 I direct at this announcement be entered into the minutes of this meeting roll call please thiso here here here here Mr here Mr here here um I'd like to take a motion to Res the confidential session um for matters of attorney client privilege confidential pup matters do I have a second personel is there a second second and hi hi hi um I bring the uh meeting back to order R Callo here Mrs here here Mrs Mendez here Mrs oal here Mr here Mr I'm here um I'd like to take a motion to move Us action section re approval of the minutes um Miss Melendez approve yeah make a motion uh for approval of the minutes 3.1 and 3.2 second any discussion Mrs Mendez yes Mrs yes yes Mr stach yes Mrs Aquino yes Mrs Fenton yes Mrs F yes Mrs FD yes M yes and do we have any Communications or petitions for the board uh we'll move on to reports and discussions uh superintendance report um at this time we just would like to share with the community that tomorrow schools will be closed due to the impending storm so stay warm and enjoy the snow tomorrow um at this time I would like to actually invite our orderer up going to be sharing our audit good evening everyone my name is uh Matt wilcott I'm a member at wilcots in company the district's auditors want to say thank you for having us again for another successful audit year I'd like to start off by thanking everybody here especially Lynn Dr uh Bia and Nicole for their help during the audit I can report that it was another Stellar audit this year uh there were two immaterial what I would call immaterial comments this year um one having to do with a very small difference between the asssa workpapers and the student role which again District this size it's bound to happen from time to time there's no major ramification which is why it did not make the actual a for report it's just a compliance thing that we need to look at every year and unfortunately even if there is one IM material number we have to make a note of it I will I believe there was only three errors out of 5,000 kids so it's a very small amount and this is a comment we do see in a lot of places uh the second comment is a comment that we see almost everywhere uh it has to do with the net cash resources in the Food Service fund so basically what happened during uh during the pandemic was the federal government gave out millions of dollars hundreds of millions of dollars all across the state all across the country to these School Food Service funds and the rule by the state is that you're not supposed to have net cash resources in excess of three years of of your operating expenses which again is really tough when you're getting hundreds of thousands of dollars at one point you got to spend the money you got to do this I did talk with Lyn Nicole there are plans in place to buy things for the cafeteria in these allowable costs but it just takes time uh it doesn't it's not a one two3 thing to buy a refrigerator or put in a new you know smoke detecting system I believe there's an exhaust system going in plans for that so uh that is a comment we're seeing everywhere but otherwise the school district it's in great financial shape uh like I said Nicole Lyn really uh top tier I mention this every year that I come here um this is the only School District that I go to that I physically get this report from the district uh typically I have to have somebody put this together it costs somewhere between 10 and $20,000 for us to do that and here Lynn just basically hands it to me so I would like to say thank you [Applause] L yeah so uh so yeah really uh you know you're in good you know good good situation here our reserves the money we're using are we generating into the reserves the maintenance Reserve um and yeah it's a great place to be so I appreciate everyone here and if there's any questions comments anything I can help with all right well thank you so much for opportunity we'll move on to the personel committee the Personnel committee meeting met Monday February 5th at 4:15 we discussed uh the complexities of the mom's athletic activity coordinator responsibilities while balancing a full teaching schedule possible solutions include secretarial help within the building to serve as the point of contact for communications during the school day as well as a rotating schedule of administrative coverage for after school activities the committee also discussed a retroactive one-month stien for Mom's principal Agatha Wilkey Agatha is currently the acting principal at moms but is also still performing her duties as assistant principal until a replacement for the position is hired and lastly Mr Moore discussed a new human resource job description with the committee the position with a focus on managing our Frontline human resource software plat platforms will also support the Director of Human Resources we have any questions from the board where we at what intervie for position for the assistant principal position yes we've already vetted and have done a whole series of interviews and we have someone waiting we're expected to appoint someone at the 2016 question the position for HR is that is that budgeted or would that be post budget it would be a post budget but we're looking to realign something well speaking the Shing that it's well ability and certainly with the new Department of Human Resources we want to make sure that you know our added platforms are thank you any other questions we'll move on to uh cric women technology committee so we met right before this meeting today and we had some visitors we had Mr Stan um discuss our Global education program um which is very intriguing we had Dr krider go through our Tech uh te technology service updates and um cyber security and then we had Miss mcder um discuss professional development days and what what's going to happen on those days any questions from the board add no okay well move on to policy and governance committee I I skipped over finance and operations I apologize 5.4 M Mr Gerald loves the finance and operation Finance stuff so much okay yes so um the finance and operations committee met on uh Monday February 5th and then again today um just before our meeting here um uh during that meeting actually both meetings uh Mr Miller shared several updates on operations one I really want to tell you about though that's really exciting is um uh Mr Miller and Miss showning have been looking into um a direct install rebate for our HVAC systems in the district which is you know HVAC sit on the roofs I'm learning all of this it's very exciting um but this rebate system is significant and so um to give you an idea of how uh much this roof the uh rebate system could save us if we look at a project that includes seven new rooftop units and new condensing units um projected costs for that are about 750,000 uh preliminarily that could qualify for about a 70% rebate so the district share would be 225,000 of the 725,000 of that project so they have done extensive work to try and see how we can um utilize this rebate system to really save us a significant amount of money um on our um rooftop units Etc so kudos to Mr Miller and Miss Shing for all of the work that they've put in there um to save us money and we're really excited to report on the specifics for each of the buildings um who will utilize the rebate um in our security update from Mr K fee we are at uh two uh $ 22,32 collected in fines by the township for bus violations thus far um that was for January $22,000 again a reminder that is collected by the town um and then finally in transportation um two of we accepted two bids for um our buses that we are selling and um the two bids total in at just at about $90,000 that we'll be getting for those buses so not bad any questions finance and operation I just want to reiterate that um you know Mr Miller has done a really tremendous job with the direct install this is going to be something really lucrative for our district because from a savings perspective and you know I know there's going to be questions as to why you know the district has not pursued this before things have changed as far as you want to go into Miss yes um actually um that's a great question why have we not uh pursued this before and we actually did not qualify before um it has to go into kilowatts and it uh and how many kilowatts that a a unit takes I'm looking at Mr Miller to make sure that I'm saying this correctly but yes uh they just changed the regulations of uh for kilowatts and now we do qualify for this program and so um we are going to utilize it as much as they will allow us so um thank you again to Mr grify for staying I'm sorry for Mr Miller for staying on top of those regulations Mr Miller any other thoughts questions okay questions we're having technical difficulties computers over here on the board do you can't anyone else okay we'll go on to policy in government um reading I can um Miss Melendez see mine see if you can see on mine get that point in time where we're all dependent on the internet I did I did I was just would you like me to review the policy minute got got it got it you got it okay okay uh the policy and governance committee uh met on Monday February the 5th and the members present with uh Dr Van Miss Nar Miss Mendez Miss Figora um Miss Jones uh the discussion items at the meeting was at the field trip policy the committee discussed amending the field trip policy and to distinguish between a school sponsored and a school affiliated trips for the purpose of limiting the district's legal liability also it was discussed that by law 0164 which is the committee made changes to the bylaw or is proposing to make changes to the by law 0164 conduct of board meetings to align with our S60 meeting agenda and the committee discuss eliminating the board comment section at the end of the agenda action on the amended by law was the Fair pending for further consideration and discuss the board uh it was also discussed by law 0167 the committee review changes to by law 0167 is the public participation in board meetings the boss was amended to incorporate wording recommended by our policy consultant and to limit public comments to four minutes in the agenda items you will see by LW 0167 was included for public participation in board meetings for the first reading any questions or comments I do can someone please um explain to me what's the difference between school sponsored and school affiliated yes I can explain that so you know we're really fortunate here that we have um really great opportunities for students to visit other countries and so and I know for the past couple years there has been some questions as far as what's the relationship between kids going on a trip and the school district so um this is basically for a holocaust trip in which we have a a trip that's directly aligned to a class curriculum and so that would be a school affiliated um trip so those are not necessarily a school designated field Tri trip that's typical so we kind of explain the difference so that moving forward as we hope to expand those opportunities for our kids to other um programs um that's what we're looking to do just to make sure that we have transparency um as far as the different types of trips available to our kids thank you any other questions or comments from the board all right we still have a technical difficulties back the little paper um let's move on to board subcommittees and parent and teacher Association and Le liaison reports we have any um members from the public with regards to any of our parent teacher Association good evening Erica marinko tins PTO uh today at tin uh our spirit day theme was we are all team for kindness and we all were our favorite um yes favorite team's J or Jersey except for the kindergarteners who dressed up for the 100th day of school and treated us all to a fun little parade this morning sweetness Friday February 2nd the PTO hosted its second annual steam night at tent so we had nearly 200 families show up to participate in the activities um the scouts were there with their Pinewood Derby track uh Dan Clark the scout leader um he also brought his 3D printer and made some really cool Legos as souvenirs for the students Mort was there with their robots and was another huge hit with students um we made slime oo black uh balloon cars paper circuits binary code bracelets um we experimented with color theor and capillary action and it was messy and fun um I want to thank Christina Capone and Sharon niia for their help planning and running the Robotics and coding portion of the event uh Shila Ross and National Honor Society for sending over some of the finest volunteers and my tin colleagues who stepped up and ran stations and helped me set up in clean up after the event of Suzanne Murphy Tara gentle cayb pupo and Angie madora and also thank you thank you Dr Bia and Mrs Aquino and Mrs fero for showing up um um our next tins gives back family volunteer opportunity is on Friday February 23rd in the TRS cafeteria we're partnering with nourish New Jersey for their rise and shine Breakfast Bag program and volunteers will help decorate and pack 100 breakfast bags for families in our local community um next thing is not PTO related but it's fun and I want to mention it um read Across America uh 2024 um Mrs Capone are um reading interventionist has a wonderful idea um Madame tins Road's living wax museum um it's tins Road's own version of mam to swax museum it's G to be fun um this year's um read Across America schoolwide project will feature biographical figures and highlight their contributions to the world each student will choose someone that they admire or find interesting and they'll read study and research all about their biographical figures at school then they'll create a project at home and dress up like that person for our living Wax Museum and this will take place March 7th from 6:30 to 7:30 so I hope to join us Mrs um our next fundraiser is on March 9th um The Tint staff will be serving up short stacks at Applebees in Mount Ola from 8 to 10 I'll be there so if you like pancakes I'll serve you some so be sure to strap on the old fee bag and stop on tickets are $10 per person which you get you some pancakes sausage scrambled eggs and a beverage March 14th is pie day and we're celebrating again this year with our pizza to kits from brandas and more info on that to come and lastly our glow dance is coming up on March 15th at the middle school and we're busy preparing for it as we speak that's it anyone else from the public with any good evening my name is Kelly an Smith I'm on the uh PTA board at Mountain View um thank you for having us tonight um we are happy to report we just had our girls dance last Friday night it was a big success we had over 200 people there um we had ice cream carnations a photo booth um dancing of course um crafts and some games provided um by our gym teachers so it was very nice we used all local businesses um Who provided the photo booth and the ice cream and then our local our Mountain View gym teacher was our DJ and also provided um the gym equipment so it was great we're going to have a very similar format coming up for our boys dance which is Friday March 9th um we are preparing our free family movie Nights in February there will be a Google form for each classroom and students will be allowed to vote between two so that'll be fun um we H are preparing for a lot of appreciation coming in the springs we have our teacher appreciation our nurse appre appreciation um we also want to recognize our bus drivers and our administrative staff and we also celebrated um custodian Appreciation Day this year as well as our uh crossing guard appreciation so we try to do things for everyone who's involved um in the school and the children oh and I'm sorry we don't want to forget our lot about our law enforcement appreciation um for officer Keith as well um we are also in the midst of planning our family fund day which will be a carnival theme we are deciding on a date in May um but that's going to be a great event um we are sponsor we are sponsoring two Awards second and third place um that our nurses are providing they have a challenge for our teachers called step up it's a fitness program so we are sponsoring some awards for them we are starting our second session of after the Bell this is a new program we implemented this year um it's an enrich enrichment program for students after school all of our Mountain View teachers um are eligible to teach if they're certified they pick a topic um parents can sign up they pay a fee um and then some of the proceeds go to the PTA and some of the proceeds go to the teachers so we've done some really cool things there's American Sign Language um yoga introduction to dance there's been Art In Session One um so just different enrichment programs that are available to all of our students um what else can I tell you we have a fourth grade fundraiser coming up um to Frank's pizza so anyone who enjoys Pizza 10% of all of the proceeds from your entire order will go to the fourth grade class because our fourth and fifth graders like to fundraise for their fifth grade year it's a heart-shaped pizza and my understanding is your entire order like even if you don't get the whole heart shape if you want a salad on the side or whatever it is so you just have to mention um Mountain View School um so and we had um I'm forgetting one other thing pardon me there's something else great that we did but I didn't write it down so I'll I'll leave you with Lauren Lauren's gonna be here next month and I'll make sure she adds it but thank you very much for your time and we want to thank the board um for just always being Allin for all students and really wanting them have a great experience in Dr Banji as well because she's very supportive of all the ptas and PTO in the district oh thank you that was it thank you Beth knows because she's on one of my Committees of on our fourth grade committee the Super Bowl was a great service project that the fourth grade class came up with and the fourth grade fundraising committee um and they did a canned food drive and so you voted for your favorite Super Bowl team who you predicted to win and all the um canned goods were donated to the local food pantry so the kids are doing some great stuff and giving back so thank you very much everyone for your time thank you thank you Kelly can I just add that the Frank's um benefit the dine to donate is tomorrow night to cook tomorrow everybody go to Franks mention Mountain View get 10% any other uh comments I just add I just wanted to add that the Mountain View with there's a committee that's being formed Kelly she's one of these people who gets involved in almost everything down there thank you for coming and I've always said and it's true that the PT and PTO are the backbone of our schools they really contribute thank everybody for what you do thank can I just share that we got um contact with bardocks they are down so it's not our issue is a p but just want to let you know that regressing anyone need one I gotra one we have any other um subcommittees any other Le on reports anyone else no okay I have no report um before we go into public comments on action items um our board attorney is going to read three additional um um resolutions that are going to be added we wanted to make sure that anyone from the public had the opportunity to comment on those action items though will be um items 11.4 11.5 and 11.6 and they're a little bit lengthy so bear with me excuse me the first resolution is residency hearing of pupil ID 6501 18715 whereas on February 2nd 2024 the Mount Olive Board of Education residency committee held a hearing for above reference student whereas on that date the parent of the above reference student attended the hearing and whereas the committee after having and heard and considered all the proofs and testimony presented recommends to the full board that it conclude based on the evidence and mother's own admission that she and her son are not domiciled within M all School District now therefore being resolved the board finds that the above reference D is not legally attend uh legally entitled to attend school in the district and further orders that the student dis in the district and be it finally resolved that written notice of this decision and the family's right to appeal to the commissioner of Education shall be served upon the parent as required by a law this is now 11.5 resolution for the hearing of people ID number 22829 um whereas on February 9th 2024 the Mount Olive Board of Education student code of conduct committee held a suspension expulsion hearing for the above reference student and whereas on that date the parent of the above reference student and the student's parents attended the hearing telephonically and whereas the committee after having heard and considered all the proofs and testimony presented after considering the superintendent's recommendation recommends to the full board that the pupil suspension be continued subject to the terms and conditions set forth below now therefore be it resolved that the board continues the suspension of pupil ID number 212 829 through at least the end of the third marking period while the pupil remains home on home instruction and be it further resolved that if the pupil satisfactorily completes her academic requirements while on home instruction the admin Administration will evaluate and decide whether she can return to the educational program in the district or whether her suspension should be continue to the bounce of the school year and we get further resolved that the pupil should not be permitted to attend any school sponsored events or activities or be on School District property during the suspension period and being finally resolved their notice of this decision and the family's right to appeal the commissioner of Education shall be served upon the parent as required by law and then lastly 11.6 whereas on February this is for student ID number 33141 whereas on February 9th the manal Board of Education student conduct committee held a suspension expulsion hearing for the above reference student and whereas on that date the parents of the above reference student and the student attended the hearing and whereas the committee after having considered all the proofs and testimony presented and after considering the superintendent's recommendation recommends to the full board that the pupil be disenrolled from the district now therefore be it resolved that pupil ID 33041 is hereby disenrolled from the district and placed in an alternative educational program at board expense to be it further resolved that the pupil shall continue to be suspended on home instruction until an alternative educational program can be identified which accepts the student be a further resolve that the student shall no longer be permitted to attend any school sponsored events or activities or be on School District property be it finally resolved the written notice of this decision and the family's right to appeal to the commissioner of Education shall be served upon the parents as required by law thank you Mr um I'd like to open it up to public comments on action items action items only please note members of the community may comment on any action item prior to the board discussion please state your name and address for the record all comments must be respectfully uh presented abusive or obene comments will not be tolerated please note this is not a discussion it is simply for members of the public to make comments on items for the board to hear it you knew I was getting up come on uh Martin wser 25 West AV of Bud Lake New Jersey freedom of speech I'm a big proponent of freedom of speech I'm not a big proponent of time limits I attend board meetings from other towns and I think the three minutes four minute rule to me personally stinks I think that people sometimes in order to articulate things need more than that the one great thing about Mount Olive we probably were the only town around here which didn't impose this which made us better than the other ones I've heard a lot of parents or administrative stat other towns say wow man's great they don't don't chastise the parents all right so I'm not a big fan of adding this policy just for that see I understand it I see it everywhere else we probably are the last moans by not having this policy put in place I'm sad to see it coming here personally and I I think that we don't need it because in reality how many people actually show if we had 50 people showing all the time that's a different story so maybe what you could do is modify the policy and say hey if there's over 25 people then there will be a time limit in order to preserve the board's time but when you only have less than two or three people come here that shouldn't be much of a concern and I don't think that it has been nor would it be um that's I don't know what action number it there is I just have a copy of it on my iPad the next thing I want to talk about is you ever hear the expression audit the Auditors and Karen a few years ago talked about doing a audit an outside audit auditing the whole district and I thought that was an amazing idea so I know the Auditors that order us from 3,000 feet up they don't really get down to the nitty-gritty I'd love to see our whole school district go through a full audit because Karen mentioned that I think three years ago and it's gone nowhere with the new board and you know I think it would be a great thing to do to know where every all the uh things are and it's like checking inventory you know I mean kick tires make sure that we say we have you know 45 of XYZ tires somewhere that we still have those tires okay also I noticed the agenda was changed um obviously I prepped the agenda few days ago um item number original 10.3 has been changed or was it removed the original one well I I'll tell you what it was it was involving another hiring an investigator for something going on here in District I noticed that it's not on the agenda today but it was on Friday it was on Saturday 113 it's 113 because it was 10 point uh something before so you moved it to a different category yeah okay are we going to put a cap on that as you know I always ask because there going to be a cap on that do we know what that Cap's going to be m is going to announce it when she gets to that section okay all right that's fine um and then lastly I've never seen sit where we have job abandonment here do we know if that was an aid or teacher or critical role job abandonment that was item number 88.2 we have to be constrained about what we can say about publicly I've never seen I don't know we can say much more than the employee stop performing their duties and exp position abandonment all right so they didn't leave the job they're just not doing the job when you're coding as abandonment is that fair because job Bing is that they're not even showing to me but I'll leave it alone never mind I'll retract that forget it that's it thank you anyone else who would like to comment on action items Brian Gallagher 1 through five crunch raw Drive uh action item I think it was 10.2 is that the time limit one okay policy yes yeah yeah no the uh about the policy on Public public uh commentary yeah the one yeah the one they're naming after me I heard 11.2 okay the one about reducing public commentary to four minutes yes uh I have to say uh it's disappointing that this would be one of the first major actions that this new board would come to the public with not even one month in as a newly reorganized reorganized and already as newly reorganized and jeez sorry it's been a while right couple months and already showing it two colors I'm sure with my history of long-winded commentary it may seem as though I'm upset or angered for myself but I'm not I'm upset and disappointed for a public which has over the past year or two made better attempts to reach out to the district and board with questions and thoughts and now the board has decided the best response is to further limit access and interaction by limiting public commentary and making it easier for them to control commentary sessions with no recent issues one might wonder why now if we look to other surrounding districts cutting off public commentary or restricting rules has been a way to prevent public outcry when a board knows they want to make decisions that will be far from what the public believes is in the best interest of the students neighboring towns have malicious have been maliciously trying to take away protections for transgender student populations and take literature and health curriculum out of classrooms based on personal beliefs with cowardly boards and committees using time limits and M cut offs to block the public and even their own student body from having their due process and saying what's best or right for them this board should be ashamed and disappointed in itself for making its first action to tell the public it wants to hear less from them the newly designated chair and members of the policy committee should also be ashamed and disappointed that instead of giving itself time to experience how meetings work prior to making changes it has decided to make an uninformed decision of change this early into its tenure this policy change is a way to muzzle the public and pressure them into rethinking speaking their minds the four most recently elected and appointed board members ran with the message of transparency and had the voice of the community members heard to calm the divisiveness we've seen as now board members these policy changes are the exact opposite first saying people should be seen and heard now as seated board members saying you get four minutes if this change gets approved the true message received is that your word carries no weight moving forward thank you thank you thank you car F 133 Flanders drown Road I didn't add the audit but I've been saying it for years so comprehensive operational audit um my first one is 11.3 and I actually practiced trying to cut down what I have to say so this is me succinct it's not as sweet I would like to see this board put a cap on the amount spent on investigations since quote improprieties related to governance finance and Personnel end quote were the focus of a defunct prosay and also the Cornerstone of some campaigns 11.2 policy 0167 quick shout out to all the previous presidents for recognizing the value of giving parents and community members time to express their concerns respecting how most of us have more than four minutes of frustration by the time we actually build up the courage to speak at a meeting or the many minutes of research that go into disproving the lies that are constantly perpetuated but kudos for cutting meeting times down for the seven people that usually show up in the three of us that typically speak hello everyone I'm Trista K 28 just IND Road Flanders and uh like the others I'd like to speak against 11.2 and I would like to read an email that I sent the board on October 11th 2022 it said dear manol Board of Education I want to sincerely thank you for not placing a time limit on the public speaking portion of the Board of Ed meeting it is so important that every member of the public feels he or she can adequately explain his or her position when a time limit is enforced I feel it only creates negativity with the individual and the community at large thank you for skipping a common Trend among Board of ads and supporting the public and I feel that email still stands today thank you you anyone else would like to comment on action items so you know we appreciate hearing these things um I'd like to make a motion then to close out the public comments on action items do we have a second second and we will move on to approval of monthly expenditures and reports and I have a motion missa um I'd like uh we could please make a a motion to approve the monthly expenditures and report by motion of seven 7.1 to 74 any comments discussions from the board and we'll take a roll call please M Jones Mrs yesal yes Mrs Mendez yes Mrs oal up Mr yes Mr yes Mrs Aquino yes Mrs yes Mrs yes and we'll move on to Personnel action items um Mr quino please I'd like to make a motion to approve Personnel action items 8.1 through 8 37 37 yes thank you yes 37 we have a second second and we have any comments from the board discussion would anyone like to comment on any personel items no I just like to say um thank you Sergeant La Larry Mals um he will be leaving us he's been a security guard over at the middle school um those who don't know he was a NYPD Sergeant upon his retirement he started as an officer there in 1991 um and you will be truly missed not just by the students but by the parents you know that he does a you know hardworking job keeping everyone safe anyone else I would just like to ditto exactly what she said it's a very sad day that he resigned I apologize we are just shifting through papers typically we have this up on our computers all right we'll move on to curriculum and Technology oh oh sorry tell these we're little distracted um call please mrso yes Mrs yes Mrs yes Mrs yes Mrs Mendez yes Mrs oal yes Mr yes Mr abstain on 8.32 yes on everything over Mrs yes all right now we'll move to curriculum and Technology Mrs uh Fon yes on the um recommendation to the superintendent I'd like to approve um n curriculum technology 9.1 through 9.8 second any comments or questions from the board we'll take a roll call please Mrs Pon yes Mrs F yes Mrs feral yes Mrs I'm staining in the won high school and yes to everything else Mrs yes Mr yes Mr yes mrso yes yes and we are on to finance and operations mgal yes at the recommendation of the superintendent I'd like to make a motion to approve action items 10.1 through 10.13 second any comments or questions uh from the board okay anyone else no um then we'll take a roll call please Mrs fitgerald yes Mrs MZ yes Mrs oal Mill yes Mrs yes Mrs aquo yes Mrs yes yes Mrs yes Mrs mer yes the next section administrative action items no um 11.3 there's a portion that will be added to a cap of $10,000 and included in the section is 11.4 11.5 11.6 and administrative action items Miss Melendez open the recomendation of the superintendent uh I make a motion to approve administrative action items 11.1 to 11 11.6 six 11.6 yes second do we have comments or discussion from the board Mr shachi yes um I agree people stood up on 11.2 I do too yes we uh we are asking the public to come and be partners with us be listen to them everything the board president always has the right to shut down any lingering uh Speech pontification whatever you want to call it that's going on but we should not limit the people that come here spend their time to come here and tell us what they want to tell us I would vote no on 112 anyone else comment discussion board members anyone else I'd like to say though um it's actually good for us to have these conversations to hear what the public says when we have something on the agenda we may be in one mindset um so for 11.2 I do appreciate the comments from the public um it it's informative to understand where the public coming from and yes we are one of the one of two districts in Mars County at the moment who does not have a time limit um it goes down to two minutes some go up to five minutes um and I do appreciate Tony that um sharing that there is times where the board president would be capable of shutting down any rambling comments that extend too long um so would the board like any other comments any other motion with 11.2 or just should just go right just want to add it's Lous person can stand up for four minutes sit down somebody else talk then get up for another four minutes and continue go on and on it's ridiculous would it be well to table this in my opinion and have a further discussion you can ask T you can make I would like to make a motion to table um 11.2 capable for further review by committee or something yes for further review by the committee I would second I would second that take it back Lauren roll call on the Mrs fent it's a roll call for the table in 11.2 yes Mrs F yes Mrs feral yes Mrs Mendez yes Mrs oal yes Mr orill yes Mr no Mrs aqu yes um I'll say yes to table 11.2 has been vote on and all uh the other items 11.1 11.3 four five and six any other comments or discussion from the board no um we take a roll call please M Mrs Mendez yes Mrs oal yes Mr yes Mr yes Mrs Aquino yes Mrs yes Mrs yes mrsd yes Mrs yes we will open the floor up public comments students parents employees and community members May comment on any item of Interest pertaining to the Mount Olive School District um please state your name and address for the record all comments must be respectfully presented abuse of our obscene comments will not be tolerated Erica Moreno 456 drown I just had a question about science fair and how many students have signed up I've talked to a couple of you about it um because it looks like this year we're not doing it with the schools we're just having a district one um kind of curious why and I emailed U Mr Robinson and did not get a followup so someone okay is there can you also or have him explain why we're not doing it at the schools there's not a lot of participation from what the first email he sent back said so and I just want to say on a personal note I worked very hard last year for tin's um science fair and we had very good participation and I was hoping this year we'd have even more and I don't think it's going to happen um there were two emails that went out one January 22nd and then one today um I don't know who or or why it has not been promoted but I feel like science fair is a big part of a child's academic journey and I don't want to see you guys just sort of sweep it under the rug there's no one participating when you're not promoting it okay so someone please get back to me thank you thank youse to come up and make any comment this was not a short Karen fumo 133 Flander Dr to Road good evening I encourage the public to stay up toate at the site www.nj.gov educationlegal ethics 2024 index. shtml and www. nj.gov backu slind A- case both of which in addition to board Docs Google and the chronicle are the basis for my statement I'm deeply disturbed by a recent article in the Chronicles citing new claims of Unbecoming behavior of our Administration and staff I find it hard to believe that within months Dr ban could have solidified relationships strong enough to collude against anyone much less the person that recommended her hiring Dr Bia is well aware of where I support her and where our opinions differ but I feel it's important to express publicly that nowhere in my concerns do both bogus unethical actions come to mind when I think of her usurping and colluding are absurd had the vote for superintendent gone another way a different cockamamy narrative would have been put out and would have been just as laughable I'm sure our previous ba left the district almost six months ago after being in Mount Olive for several years bringing up her Personnel matters after the fact comes off as Petty and as a violation of confidential Personnel concerns I hope others will come forward with their concerns against this accuser oh wait they have by way of multiple statements from members of MOA in early to mid 2022 and the basis of tenure Char charges filed by way of majority board vote Congratulations by the way to the remaining board members and recently unseated members on the SEC win saying the board is within its rights to enact the doctrine of necessity to get those 10year charges filed big win for the district and another badge among many that have gone in the district's favor as for charges against Miss Jones again how silly to point out an error in job title that would have been within the accuser's purview to correct this line of thinking doesn't implicate the remarkable treasure that Miss Jones is contrary it points out an inadequacy in the administration at the time I'm just curious which you all think is worse a phantom private investigation with no ties to the Boe allegedly showing up at your work or your previous employer washing Personnel issues out in the public the board should condemn any behavior that drags our staff through the mud before the facts are investigated we've seen almost every board member from the past couple of years drag through the mud and staff members all timed quite question ably I'm still not sure how you blow a whistle in July of 2022 after your administrator's voice concerned months earlier or strategically attempt to disqualify members from voting by way of torts wasn't that the ground for a dropped prosay again big win for the Boe on winning it or now five months after these torts were supposedly filed bringing up things that were so concerning they warranted legal action yet weren't concerning enough to mention at the time of the said blown whistle or to be brought to light in October instead came out right right around the date of the sec's decision in favor of the board of Ed's doctrine of necessity vote with a newly seated board curiouser and curiouser I hope people see through the charade and more than anything I hope the Board of Ed remembers which team you're on some of you may have gotten the ball to the one yard line for the other team before by way of prays how much did those cost the district and how did they play out by the way and ethical violations but remember you play for team motsd and you have 99 yards to go to get the ball where you're supposed to to be quite Frank given the ethical behavior of filing those proes to support an individual that with every new article proves why it was important to file 10year charges and cements my support of everyone with a grievance against our previous administration I have to make a public vote of no confidence in the President and Vice President of this board to conduct themselves without conflict to be unbiased on behalf of the full board the district or the community or to behave in a manner becoming of the positions being held also I've sat at the training sessions at the last two meetings and I have already seen multiple infraction since those trainings given that I was called the female version of another parent in town by our current board president I decided instead of being offended I would view it as a challenge so please look forward to multiple Oprah requests and ethics charges in the near future thanks that's called a setup but I'll leave at that um I want my name is Martin walls 25 Lake New Jersey um I want to thank you for shelving that one action item I think that was important for the community and number two one of the comments that was made um if everyone had the facts about school ethics commission and knows all the rules behind it which I kind of do um the school ethics commission made an improper ruling in regards to that case they actually do have the authority they just didn't realize that a judge gave them that Authority all right so there's a lot more coming so don't you know count all your chickens before they're hatched um and some people are allowed to file certain documents everyone is every one of you are okay doesn't mean that they're invalid incorrect okay but I can tell you the way you guys did the tenure charges was unethical and was wrong I said it the night of and I'll say today and I'll say to the day I die code of conducts and ethics matters things were done wrong and I think some of it has to be due to some other aspects but uh like I said I'm very proud of this current board and I pray that everyone stays exactly the way they are stay true to yourself keep your codeon and your eics going forward and mount all will'll never have a problem again thank you we have any other comments from the public we'll close out public comments do we have any old business old business anyone from the board about old business any new business from the board I do I would like this board and our Administration to please um think on and um discuss somewhere down the road of possibly moving our board agendas out a few days maybe starting in like June or July after speaking with Dr Bia and Miss Jones possibly we can be getting it a day or two ahead of time I think by Friday afternoon it's a little tough to have to read for the weekend so just something I want the board to think on moving forward I thinked I share the same sentence I I would like to request uh two business days the agenda before our meeting note of that we can at least move the agenda before board meeting that will be Wednesday or Thursday morning at least what do you foresee any um issues with that or at least get the agenda item I think we can take that back thank you everybody appreciates that you have any other um new business from the board I do um Mr orillo order Madam president I have a resolution like whereas on November 2nd 2023 C education appointed the law firm of kingc attorney effective immediately through the end of the 2023 2024 school and whereas the board has determined that it no longer Wishes the law firm of CH SMI and K LLC represent and whereas scari hbec has had responded to the board's October 2023 request now therefore be it resolved one resolution 5.1 passed at the boards November 2nd 2023 special board meeting appointing sh price LLC is hereby resending to any contract entered into between the board and priceby ter H is hereby appointed as the board atton for the C Board of Education effective imately and until the board's January the appointment of is made without competive because they are appointed a firm and a recognized profession licensed and regulated by law that will not reasonably permit the receipt of competive bids due to the qualitative nature of the services to be performed fees for the legal services to be provided shall in each case be in accordance with the terms of each of the appointed law firms proposals in response to the October 10 2023 RFP the board president and board secretary are authorized and directed to enter a contract with scarichi combat effectuating the terms of this resolution Nick price Smith and K El is hereby dirting turn F files except special education files Garn call that do we have a second to consider the resolution before theard second uh discussion from the board the resolution before any comments I do I think we did an RFP last year with the full board that were able to attend that meeting and the people that were there all voted yes unanimously I don't see any reason to change it not com do we have any other discussion comment from the but yes the board at that time was have the authority and the responsibility to revise all those arfp have the opportunity to go to the office and review every single RFP and compare to each other and select and decide what was in the best interest of the township of the school district the bo at that time which was in full Force an authority selected The Firm that they consider was the best interest for the school district and appointed and the contract was at that time with the board that was in full force appointed by the community to do that contract any other comments or discussions from the board um we'll take a roll call on the resolution that's been placed before the board yes Mrs aquo no Mrs yes this F yes Mrs Fitzgerald no Mrs Melendez no Mrs O'Neal yes Mr no Mrs Nar while I don't want to see the year go down the path that we did last year and I don't think there's any right way right now at this may I add something absolutely in any trial you go to and any decision you make you have to show cause why you want to pass that resolution I'd like to know the course that's not true we're voting on something very important here Mr um he mentioned that he would like the community to serve the Community Serve so yes present to the community but is the cause of the basis to the B what the previous for Education full author at that time we review the We compare them we interviewed we interviewed here the presentations and a whole new board that was not part of the process now decide to present that resolution but they don't have the whole background that that b part at that point even know who this other firm is you're voting to hire another firm Bo hasn't even interviewed The Firm how can you hire somebody you haven't even interviewed W they were interviewed by wh was M was not selected unless unless this board is fragmented I had the suspicion has has been fragmented since January maybe some board members are aware of something that the rest of the board the minority of the war is not aare I will comment on my own personal behalf I have had and I don't know legally how I can State everything I want to state so I'm going to be very vague but there has been a lot of mistrust in the last year I have tried to get answered I have tried to understand some things and it hasn't been successful so therefore I am comfortable starting new New Beginnings are not a bad thing and that is why I voted my answer because I have not been entirely comfortable with a lot of things and I'm happy to discuss them with you in in private because I'm not sure what's legally I can say in public but I do have my reasons as shocked as I was I actually am on the relief side because I have trouble trusting at some points so that is my personal opinion I don't know what everybody else I respect that happy I'm happy to tell you that I respect that and this is good that is a public discussion uh because our responsibility is for the weal administration of the school district correct and the good we are the St work of the tax pay correct so far from all the legal action that we have in the last year or has been dismissed or has been withdrawn and you are adventuring the taxpayer money because you have those issues but not looking at what has been the outcomes or all the cases inclusing inclusive the process that you to fill out I'd like to comment also so I've been the attorney here probably for about 20 plus years the only thing I would say um is that if somebody had a concern with my firm or my performance I would have hoped especially put yourself in my shoes that if there was an issue or a problem it would have been brought to my attention and given me a chance to remediate whatever that concern was it hasn't been and I find it particularly troubling that a new board member who knows me for one month make that resolution so it leads you to believe that perhaps somebody else um has spoken to that member I would have hoped Mr orilla would have at least spoken to me directly but I would have done with you tables were turned you're right M Manders you hit the nail on the head um I've prevailed I think in every case that was presented and all the challenges many can't discuss publicly that we dealt with last year and so maybe that's perhaps which driv that said just like to all issues that I have had have definitely discussed corly I think we've had more of the opportunity recently that not there I would hope that recognize that I have brought for my my concerns um and I don't know that they were always responded to whether the answer is what you want I want to hear or not I you know I do question a lot of things and I don't think so I felt that that has been resp you you you abstained on the RFP because you felt you had a conflict so not sure how you can vote on it tonight with my father the evening with interview and that's why I chose to abstain because you had actually advised when not and then later on you had actually advised that I didn't have a conf so I'm very confused too on some of the advice that I was given um and yes I do question things often and you should and you absolutely should I have two more comments pleas I was hoping that start this year we would have a unified board we were going to do a lot of good things there's a lot of things we have to do we made a Monumental decision tonight that I believe was a political decision because it was never discussed with this board this is the first time in I'm onest board 30 years that we have made an ons spot historical decision without a discussion by this board and I am truly truly disappointed and I feel very ashamed that's all I can tell you especially when we have legal actions ongoing a very important one everyone read the The Manor Chronicle right I have one more thing to say tonight I resigning from this board of education I will no longer serve on this board that has become political I've given everything I've can to this board for 30 years and I will not stand by and watch what happened tonight you have my resignation as of [Applause] tonight shame on this new board shame we're going to take a motion to go into confidential session um do I have a motion in a second for motions to recess to confidential session um for matters of attorney Cent privileging ination and it fur resolve that the matters discussed in confidential session will be closed to the public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exist um action may be taken I guess so Mrs Mrs Mrs yes Mrs Mendez yes Mrs o Mill yes Mrs yes meeting back to order um I'd like to take a motion to close out the meeting you have a second I would like to stay for the record that I step aside and the second half of the close session given that there was no legal counsel and I was not aware of the nature that the discussion that were going to take place thank you anyone else do we have a second for the motion close out the meeting thank you m Jones can we have a roll call please Mrs aquo yes Mrs Fon yes Mrs yes Mrs yes Mrs mes yes Mrs o yes yes yes