e e e e e e e e e e e please stand for the flag salute flag United States of America stands nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all standing for a moment of reflection thank you yes okay all right I am here I promise and with the ad statement of advanced notice the notice requirements of the open public meeting Act of the state of New Jersey have been sa Satisfied by the inclusion of the date time and place at this meeting in the notice of regular meetings adopted by this board on January 8th 2024 such schedule and notice of meeting is posted at the municipal building the Mount Olive Library the Board of Education offices these 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 that this announcement be entered into this meeting the minutes of this meeting and we'll take a roll call M Jones Mrs Aquino here Mrs Fenton here Mrs fera here Mrs Fitzgerald here Mrs Melendez here Mrs oil here M Dillo here Mr Chach here Mrs mariss I'm here and we will take a motion for the approval of the minutes oh Mr Queen is already on Ito here we have a second second okay um a roll call on any uh questions from the board on minute no and we'll take a roll call then Mrs Aquino yes Mrs Fenton yes Mrs fera yes Mrs fitgerald yes Mrs Melendez yes Mrs O'Neal yes Mr orilla yes Mr stachi yes Mrs naris yes and the superintendent and members of the board are there any um Communications or petitions no no and at this time we're actually going to move to you want to do student liaison first or yes yep so we're GNA move to student liaison reports and then we'll go to our superintendent report after our reports and discussions just so that everyone's um aware we're going to go into a brief close session also give everybody you know a chance if they wish to clear out and then return back to open session so our student leis on reports good good evening we just wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate every student on an amazing year and the best of luck to the class of 2024 as they finished their last week of high school and begin a new chapter of their lives it has truly been a crazy month so instead of listing everything like we usually do we wanted to share a few of our fa personal favorites from this year so for me my first one's sports event from playing on the field at Mount ol high school and experienc some huge victories to gain to watch my friends play the sports they love and gain to celebrate and cheer on teams with my friends has truly been a blast this year to the musicals of course another favorite of mine has been the musicals that I get to watch with my family it has really been an enjoyable experience and really been some amazing nights that I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to attend I will continue to always tell people to go watch the plays that has brought to life by the talent of this District I I will definitely be going to watch any plays if possible on breaks from college and of course to wrap up the year prom a fantastic night that was put together by our class counsil and advisers was truly spectacular everyone looks absolutely amazing and taking pictures and having fun on the dance floor with my friends is a night I will never forget and will cherish forever to continue on with what Gabby said some of my best memories from this year have undoubtedly come from our high school sports this includes just watching games like our our exciting football game at Roxberry that everyone remembers which was honestly probably the first time I knew what was going on in a football game and just playing sports myself um this especially includes making into the group championships with my cross country team this past year which if you don't know what the cross country team is we're the people who run around the school for an hour every day speaking of cross country a more recent memorable event of mine has be Marauder Fest where we got to watch performances from all of our favorite teachers including one where my cross country coach and my psychology teacher spit water in each other's faces and of course my experience is here as a board of ed leaon I'm more than grateful to have had this opportunity which has truly helped me grow in so many ways it completely pushed me out of my comfort zone and gave me the confidence to eventually step up as student council president next year as someone who is still afraid to get up in front of everyone in the cafeteria to throw away their garbage at lunch I hope I can inspire all of you to step out of your comfort zones as well and not to mention this position has also introduced me to Gabby who has been an incredible role model and I can't wait to see what she does in college so I've been watching an attending Board of educations for the last couple of years now so when I heard this position as a board of yison was a thing I was like so excited and I had the opportunity to attend many meetings and present while listening in order to report back to student council members for them to learn about what's going on in our community being involved in many activities in school and around the community has given me the chance to share all the amazing Awards students have earned and informed the public as well as the board of course of different events that are happening in the M of District this opportunity has also given me the ability to work on my public speaking skills and collecting information it's been an honor to represent the student body of the at the Board of Education meetings and has been a learning experience filled with lessons I will take in life now as I leave the M District I'll be continuing my education at West Point Academy I would like to thank the present board members and past board members for the opportunity to be the Board of Ed education leadis on this year and I to wish Alison the best of luck as she goes into her senior year you're going to do great hope that the board in this community have an amazing summer thank you thank you thank you ladies Ladi you hold on um if you have any questions from the board first I just have a comment I just want to welcome you Allison and wish you the best of luck in everything you do and thank you for everything you've done for this school I really appreciate it you you guys mean the world to us to have you guys here yeah thank you [Applause] and with that we're going to move to the superintendent report fantastic I'm going to invite Mr Kevin stanbury up to the podium he's going to be introducing the phenomenal high school programs that are going to be um up tonight which include unified um or seal by literacy recipients as well our um Sports recognition for the spring season good evening ladies and gentlemen board members uh gives me a great deal pleasure to introduce unfortunately one of our entireties this year who really put the Unified sports program and even unified curriculum on the map she's uh served Township School District for 33 years how about a big round of applause and welcome to miss Nancy [Applause] Gilbert okay so this year um is the first year that unified soccer has had the opportunity to try out for the Red Bulls and through Mrs malat myself our two our athlete and partner tried out and they signed with red bulls so one of our App Partners cannot be here so I'm putting his brother in his place so if Zane maaba could come up for a more and if SW could please come up so the MLS ESPN and Special Olympics have partnered up Across the Nation for um Unified sports within the soccer um realm they've already played one game they played the New England reevolution they are going out to Colorado on July 12 12th and they're playing on the 13th against the Colorado Rapids and I had made a little presentation here of the journey so their Journey began in April they got to go to the Red Bull Stadium they met their teammates we have four of our friends actually from West Morris and that we have now met through our track activities I've got a big mouth um through our track activities we were at the Special Olympics over the weekend for the summer games and visha had some of his teammates come right up to him so it's been fantastic next one Signing Day April 30th 20124 soar and visha signed their official contract for becoming a Red Bull and they are now so I have M with his signing and his jersey and this is AAR in Disguise so here's their roster and numbers they have a great team um I think that they're really going to become good friends especially after they spend three days out in Colorado I already got my ticket to go to watch um so it's going to be exciting so here just a other pictures from Signing Day the one walking back into the stadium is probably my favorite yes they had welcome to the Special Olympics so on May 11th they had their first game they played the New England re uh Revolution it was a nailbiter like I was like on the edge of my seat um it ended in a tie everyone was in Smiles they all got their medals it was a great game it was a legit tie they went back and forth okay so their next stops are going to be traveling with the Red Bulls on their chartered jet to Denver um July 12th to the 14th uh playing the Colorado Rapids the other game that they're going to be able to see is um at home at the Red Bull stadium is August 31st that's where they play Philadelphia Union so we're very proud of these gentlemen um they've worked hard um I'm turning over my hat this year to Mrs malfetto and Mrs Gren Stein who who are going to be our future unified Soccer Coaches all right so that being said Nancy is retiring Nancy has been asset to the community as well as the school she taught for six years at sire and then continued 29 more years at Mount Olive high school she has been involved with special Olympics from the start back in the 90s while attending High Point High School she was involved she worked alongside kid atiny high school and volunteered while attending TCNJ so ever since she's been coaching molive school district for the last 35 years she has brought Special Olympics to Mount Olive sorry have big a big um role I know um Unified sports has started started back we started it back in 2018 with an initiative of students um with and without disabilities coming together for sports and Athletics and becoming more involved in a unified culture of the high school so with that we have pushed for the initiative of becoming a unified Champion school which we proudly hang our Banner and we have a national Banner for that as well um we [Music] are very proud of all the work that Nancy has done and we started the unified Club um for school leadership and we offer activities open to everyone monthly meetings we also offer wh School engagement and activities announcements and everything open to everyone so it's a really great great program that we have brought to the schools and Nancy has been a champion for inclusion and she's going to be greatly missed but we just had our Sports banquet and we were brought to Tears by the words of our students so the impact that she has made has I know it's GNA be a cry has um really made a difference so I'm going to hand it over to our students to come up and say how much yes Trevor yes because it was such a beautiful so we is that we left our Sports bank with us now to come here and we celebrated our um unified teams and Special Olympics athletes who all have amazing alkalides but Nancy has played a huge part in the development of the program and every student Who's involved their lives so Trevor has made an artistic poem um for Nancy and he read it at her banquet and I think you guys should all appreciate it as well this is for one person that we all know Miss Gilbert standing to the right and I wrote this because it touched me I wanted to touch her just like it touched me so oh Mrs Gilly B Whoever thought that would be where you're a 30-year-old something and Counting retiree Now by starting M Mo UniFi you've changed so many lives now it's time for you to take it all in sit back and just cry you've taken on every single little Challenge from the start except when I'm hunched over for my run about to barf and whoever knew on this journey that you would Embark you would leave an everlasting impact on our hearts 5T of Terror and no it's not no error that you were put on this world to make this place fair this summer when you're having fun and bathing in the sun congratulate yourself and pat yourself for all the hard work that you've done just like this poem all good things must come to an end but we will never forget the relationship the people and the friends so as we say goodbye to our Mo Legend Miss Gilly B we wish you the rest in your next stage of life our good old retiree so that was an artistic poem and we also have a beautiful tribute to Miss Gilbert that another student had written and I can't read because I will be in tears so I'm going to pass the mic over to Zane to read this for Gabby Harmon who wrote this they just did this Miss gobert thank you for your continued support throughout my four years of high school going into high school with Co so many of us struggled to find a place to fit in and be accepted and you made this transition EAS for so many people you've taught us the meaning of inclusion kindness and acceptance and truly embody these values in all you do thank you for all you've done for all of us and for always being there for all of us to be a positive Mentor even on hard days your efforts and achievements truly don't go unnoticed and you've made a huge impact on the lives of so many thank you for being the motivation and Inspirations for so many of us needed and for your endless gu guidance in each year will and each year each year which will continue to drive all of us in the future I know I can speak for so many when I say you've defined to us what success truly means and you will be missed you've changed not only the values of Mount Olive high school with your legacy but equally changed the lives of each individual that has had the privilege of knowing you I'll never forget the memories throughout the past four years that have held some of the most valuable lessons of my life best of luck in the future thank you again and we can't wait to see you again [Applause] so I just want to add a few words about Miss Gilbert she has been my colleague for the last eight years and I've known her as a colleague in special education but I have never known her on the field of our sports teams and I'm I coached the Mount Olive High School swim team and that's my passion but purely I have recreated I have I have a new passion now and I feel like these two women right here have created such a sport in Unified sports itself if you get a chance you need to come to a Unified sports meet event it is the most empowering athletic event I've ever been to and I cannot wait to get started next season um with this fabulous woman and I have some big shoes to fill because passion it is all about passion and I think if each and every one of us remembers that when we teach when we when we raise our kids Um passion is what gets us through and what makes it so miraculous and this Nancy you have made unified truly a passion of yours and the kids that are involved in unified are just simply amazing I have never been around I mean the most kindhearted kids in in my life and they really make a difference in our district so I'd like to recognize any student any Aid um Any teacher that gets involved with Unified sports it's it's really something special and Nancy we have one more gift for you we've been giving her gifts like every day and she truly earns husband I need next so this gift you you can keep yourself in unified in our in our Lo horse it's a blanket you know every everybody needs a blanket yes we love [Applause] you okay I'm not one for many words but I can cry in front of all you um you know you have to do this exit interview thing at the end when you're done and it makes you sit down and like go over everything and reflect and Mount Olive has made me the teacher and the person I am today I started at sandshore Mr Kelly said we need you to go to the high school start a new program and I said what okay we're going to make a new program at the high school and I never looked back um leaving this year was a hard decision and some parents keep asking me to stay another year so I could wait for their child to graduate um but it's time so I know I only have to wait 18 180 days um until I can you know come back and see everybody and actually step into the school so um I'd like to thank all my colleagues too um the athletic department has been a huge family I'm now doing fette at the high school for unified PE we didn't get to mention that we now have more classes at the high school my oh I'm gonna give back sorry um Nancy started unified program in 2018 with the track and field in 2019 we began with bowling and basketball it has grown and now um with the club and activities we also offer now offer unified electives unified PE maker space theater video production music in our lives and sculpture and all of this is because of your hard work so well it's because I'm a painbody I I make myself very vocal so thank you Administration thank you Dr Gia because she has also been the force behind getting in our unified um electives our kids are asking for more and more um so it's just opened up a lot more doors and Zane is our president for next year so he's going to probably be bugging a lot of you on my behalf next year so Zane welcome to president and ladies good luck thank you so [Applause] much all right fantastic program fantastic story Nancy made inclusion before it became a hot term and that's the truth of the matter that goes back decades so thank you once again our next pres uh presentation is our seal of by literacy and our uh teacher who is responsible for this uh this incredible program will tell you a little bit about it I'm also going to invite uh the area coordinator for World languages to help disseminate the uh the uh certificates so at this time I'd like to call the microphone Mrs Veronica Cruz and Mrs Susan [Applause] swety good evening Dr Bania board members administrators teachers parents families and students I am Monica Cruz one of the Spanish teachers and co-advisors of the World Language Honor Society at Mal high school today is a special night for many Juniors and seniors who will be receiving a tremendous accomplishment the Seal of a literacy award the Seal of a literacy is an award given by the state of New Jersey to students that have attained Proficiency in two or more languages other than English the vision of the seal is to recognize the benefits of being bilingual or or multilingual the seal encourages students to continue learning languages expands their knowledge of other cultures and provides many opportunities for them in colleges and job careers we started this program four years ago and it has been a great success since then this year 52 students 24 seniors and 28 jors are being recognized for this outstanding academic success the languages students have demonstrated fluency this year are Albanian Bengali Czech Filipino French Hindi polish Portuguese Slovak Spanish Ukrainian and Udu I would like to thank the Board of Education as well of Dr Bania for making this possible for our students finally and most importantly I would like to applaud the students who decided to accept and take the rigors of this program these students who will be receiving the Seal of by literacy diploma had to take a rigorous test which demonstrates they are able to speak comprehend read and write in one or more languages other than English I have to say that these students while I was administering the test took this task very seriously and worked very hard to excel I'm very proud of you all and I have no doubt that this step that you have taken will definitely enhance your career I am very proud of all of you students students and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors thank you also to the parents Guardians teachers and administrators to help our children succeed and to help them continue enriching their lives by learning new languages and appreciating other cultures thank you now I'm going to call the students who will receive their certificates please come up when your name when you hear your name I'm want to start with the seniors Amir B English and Spanish M cabil English and Filipino Sophia Cruz English and Spanish Elana for herandez English and [Applause] Spanish Savant Gonzalez English and Spanish Oliver caox English and polish Isabella Kus English and [Applause] polish Alexander M English and Spanish Spanish ja M English and [Applause] Spanish Edson n sapata English and Spanish Elizabeth Perez English and Spanish Peter pineros English and Spanish Stephanie Ramirez English and [Applause] Spanish alaish English and Albanian gedra English and Spanish Shanisha English and in Hindi Stephania Valencia English and Spanish Valerie Valenzuela English and Spanish V English and Spanish Michelle guic English and polish Anita yasinska English and Ukrainian Ariana Z English and Spanish now we're continue with the Juniors asan Amador English and [Applause] Spanish blessing anion we English and French Risa Salan English and Udu [Applause] congrats leardo AA English and Spanish T buan English and [Applause] Bengali Stephanie quas English and Spanish congratulations English and Spanish dianella Foo English and [Applause] Spanish niol France English and [Applause] Spanish Maria Gonzalez English and [Applause] Spanish eres English and Spanish thas Honda English Portuguese Valentina rut English and [Applause] Spanish Sheila kuik English and bosan [Applause] congratulations Christian lovic English and [Applause] Russia mahela masaro English and Spanish Meen monteroso English and Spanish Kara angaro English and [Applause] Spanish hayin Orga English and [Applause] Spanish Darin puol Mendes English and Spanish dianji P Mendes English and [Applause] Spanish Ohi Maria Rees English and Spanish Robie reha Czech and [Applause] English Hima Rodriguez English and [Applause] Spanish Aisha shik English and Udu [Applause] samanta sto English and Spanish Lord Thomas English and French and Tessa zenko English and Slovak [Applause] congratulations all and thank you very much for being here and last but certainly not least uh let's hear a big round of applause for our director of Athletics Mrs uh Colleen sule to present an incredible spring season for our student [Applause] athletes thank you Mr stanbury um should I be facing here or here I'm not really sure where do you guys want me to face there okay all right I shall do that then okay so congratulations for academic students and the uh seal of by literacy it's pretty amazing so so many students uh special congratulations to uh our good friend uh Gilly be I think it is now had I known that earlier life would have been a lot different in the athletic office so congratulations to Nancy we certainly will miss her um you know they say that leadership really is influence and uh you will be remembered for not what you did but what you inspired to do after you leave and I think Nancy you you really did nail it um on a on a personal note I know that uh you've also educated me in the process so I certainly do appreciate your mentoring of me in a in a place that is uh absolutely so incredibly near and dear to your heart so congratulations on an incredible career um you are one of those people that are going to be able to look back and wonder if you did good and uh there is no doubt about that so congratulations to you as you move forward so I have the uh pleasure uh what we're going to do normally I like to do a little bit of State of Affairs just kind of like what we've done but uh this house is packed I see it I think it's phenomenal and in the spirit of time uh I will debrief uh Dr bji at another time uh for all the incredible things we're going to stick to Spring Sports we have a couple of personal accolades uh before I move forward I'd like to thank the board of education for all your support and um we certainly know that we cannot exist without a true team effort by everybody involved in the school district and Dr Vania uh your support and uh Mr Kevin stanbury in building District administration so thank you so very much especially thank you to our athletic Administrative Assistant U Mrs Katie Rubright um I certainly don't say She's mine because because she's everybody's so thank you for all that we have a couple of personal uh individual Awards we we've honored a handful of student athletes so tonight we've brought the New Jersey Athletic Conference male and female athlete of the year and uh Mount Olive Marauder male and female athlete of the year in a nutshell all of these awards are really based on academic Excellence athletic achievements leadership character and community so I'd like to bring up our njac the NJ is our conference that we play in Mount ol plays exclusively through the NJ and uh that is comprised of 47 schools tonight we have two two award recipients for the NJ uh athlete of the year and I'll talk to a little bit about them I'd like them to come up after I call them uh for our male recipient it's Jack mullery and our female recipient Gabby DRS and a little bit about them each so Jack mullery Jack actively participates in various extracurricular activities such as best buddies student counsel class counsil volunteer coaching for youth lacrosse and Key Club in recognition of his academic and athletic achievements Jack has been awarded a meric scholarship and an athletic scholarship on the field Jack has excelled in football basketball and Lacrosse earning Varsity letters in each sport and serving as captain during his senior year for all three seasons his athletic accomplishments in football being named to First Team all conference second Team all County and The Marauder award in basketball Jack earned Most Valuable Player and defensive player of the year he also received honorable mention and First Team all conference in Lacrosse first team All Conference second Team all County second Team all state First Team all division in Lacrosse he's in the books for scoring the most points and goals in the top 10 Jack will continue his Lacrosse career at Pace University and Jack expresses his gratitude to his parents coaches and teammates for their unwavering support throughout his career congratulations [Applause] Jack Gabby DRS we all know Gabby here right like she's got time to do anything else Gabby stands as a testament to the ideals of student athletes everywhere Gabby is a volunteer EMS Bud Lake ambulance Squad Morris County Sheriff Department Explorer Program Cadet in the Travis Manion C Cadet Battalion Knights of Columbus assistant coach for Mount Olive Junior Marauder girls flag football and basketball teams Leo's Club Web Web Master leader student council Board of Education liazon Air Force Junior Ry unit Commander Morris County Sheriff's Department Explorer program logistic coordinator for National Honor Society member of rppa Honor Society The Raid Athletic Club and member of the national English Honor Society Gabby is an all-year athlete who participates in all three seasons Gabby is a four-year Varsity winner for soccer and a three-year Varsity letter for basketball in the spring Gabby was a Pioneer for the newly added girls flag football team there she was a three-year starter and threeyear Captain Gabby was Captain all three seasons again in her senior year her accolades extend beyond soccer All Conference selection flag football honoral mention all conference all division award and First Team all division award excuse me for defense all division award second team for offense she was also awarded the all division award first team defense and The Marauder leadership and pride award Gabby's academic and athletic Journey continues as she will be attending United States military acad prep at West Point where she plans to major in Psychology with a minor in terrorism studies where she also plans on participating in club sports congratulations Gabby [Applause] drum so we have three Mount Olive athletes of the year uh we have one male and two females because uh that's just the way it rolled this year we had incredible athletes and we um want to make sure that we're honoring all of them our male athlete of the Year Adam D Christoper that is a lacrosse swag isn't it congratulations so we uh we have honored these athletes at the senior awards banquet um where they also received plaques Adam served as a class of 2024 vice president and participated in the National Honor Society and the science National Honor Society Adam has been awarded the prestigious scholarships from Stevens Tech Institute of Technology including the presidential scholarship and the Edwin a Steven scholarship as well as being recognized in the prestigious lawence T babio Pinnacle scholar Adam has been a three- season Varsity athlete participating in football basketball and Lacrosse throughout his high school career he has earned numerous Varity letters and held leadership positions serving as Captain in both football and Lacrosse during his senior year he's a four-year Varsity letter winner in Lacrosse Adam's athletic accomplishments extend beyond in football he was the team Most Valuable Player second Team all division linebacker most outstanding player first team All County first team Team all division second Team all group four third Team all state and he won the 2023 Mini Max award in Lacrosse he's a two-time most valuable offensive player he's a three-time first team All Conference a three-time first team all division a second Team all state and a first team All State he won most valuable offensive player and miraculously figured out a way to win most valuable defensive player too he's broken lacrosse records career points was 236 he smashed it with a 278 career goals was 145 he smashed it with a 178 and he also leads and uh warded a record and 93 assists he has 100 most exciting just this week Adam D Crystal faroh was nominated and awarded the 2024 USA lacrosse all americ congratulations ad he's our he's our first Laos All American Adam has chosen to continue his academic and athletic Journey at Stevens Institute of Technology where he will continue his Lacross career congratulations [Applause] female Mount Olive athlete of the Year Izzy kobush she's getting so fast on her and Kevin raced in the hallway today Mr stanbury law well he was on a scooter and he still lost Izzy has been an active member of various academic and Community organizations including serving as a volunteer coach at the mount ol Junior Marauders plag football program and holding leadership positions in the raid Club National Honor Society science National Honor Society National math Honor Society social studies Honor Society World Language Honor Society National English Honor Society medical Club president and team president woo while holding nine AP classes Izzy has contributed to girls soccer football and flag football teams earning multiple Varsity letters for football in the fall Izzy was the first female on the Mount Olive high school football team she was the all-time leading fan yeah absolutely she said thank you she's the all-time female scorer in football and uh as of 2018 there are over 200 female athletes playing fall football which is an incredible impressive stat for actually taking the field for one season uh she uh maybe we all remember but she has a game-winning State semi semifinal field goal against seille I'm sorry and yep against sville and maybe I'm sure but the whole world was at the rockburg game where Izzy kicked the winning extra point to throw us into a state championship so congratulations she has the second most points as a kicker in school history and she's a finalist for the nj.com Game Changer breakthrough female athlete of the year for flag football Izzy's skills and dedication have recognized through her inclusion in the All State team the first team North Jersey and the first team all conference and voted as her team Most Valuable Player Izzy will continue her journey at the University of Connecticut on an academic scholarship congratulations Izzy Mount Olive female athlete of the year and also Morris County scholar athlete of the Year Natasha Redmond she doesn't she's purposely walking slow because she only really knows one speed very intentional all right Natasha now I'll mind you I promise you there are no typos in here and there I do not cut and paste multiple paragraphs with the same information this is incredible Natasha has earned a400 on Sat Natasha is the member of the Leo Club gender equity advocacy club and the raid Athletic Club she is a member of the National Honor Society the science National Honor Society and the math National Honor Society Natasha has participated for three years in cross country and lettered three years in indoor track serving two years as Captain Natasha also lettered four years in track and field serving two years as Captain Natasha is a four-time MVP a four time all conference selection and a five-time All County selection Natasha holds indoor school records in the 55 meter the 60 M the 200 meter the 300 meter the 400 meter and the 500 meter she holds the Morris County Indoor record in the 200 meter was backto back Morris County champion in the 55 meter and backto back State sectional champion in a 55 and the 400 Natasha broke the 55 Meter State sectional Championship record and was the indoor group three championship runnerup in the 55 and the 400 this winter Natasha plays third 400 meter at the New Jersey meet of Champions earning All moris County First Team all group three and third Team all state honors for outdoor track she holds the school records in the 4X 100 the 100 m the 200 meter and the 400 these are records Natasha is a two-time outdoor County Champion the 100 200 and 400 she's a two-time state sectional champion of 100 and 400 placing second in the 100 meter and third in the in the 200 meter in the New Jersey meet of Champions Natasha was also an all group three and all state selection recently Natasha broke the county Championship meet record in the and 400 she is a four time track most valuable player and she's received the unsung hero word two times Natasha will attend Cornell University majoring in biological sciences this fall she would really like to thank her mom for always being there and for being her biggest cheerleader and and she could have never done it without you congratulations Natasha Redmond [Applause] unbelievable unbelievable congratulations to our individual athletic award Achievers uh tonight we'd also like to celebrate Three Championship spring teams uh girls flag football girls lacrosse and girls track and field so without further Ado I'd like to bring up Coach O Conor for girls flag football I don't need that um so would like to First congratulate all the award recipients tonight great honor um loud enough so that's right I just want to congratulate all the water recipients tonight for all your accomplishments it's a great honor I'm here tonight to to uh talk about our girlss flag team first I want to thank the board of ed for three years ago for Having the courage and foresight to start this program we've been doing for three years so thank you for doing that uh the sport has grown tremendously three years ago there were only about 30 schools in New Jersey now there's over 100 Schools and our program keeps on growing they've really been doing a great job uh have up here tonight coach Rebels coach murl who been with me this year uh girls this year finished with the final record of 11-1 they were uh backto back conference champs this year year we had our first ever Mars County tournament they won that we had a jeree which they also went undefeated and won that and unfortunately they lost in the state sectional finals uh this year but they were the most successful team over the last two years the only team in New Jersey that had over 20 wins in two years uh and all this you only in their third year of existence so great job so at this time it's like all the girls that are here tonight to please stand up come on up here to be recognized with your award certificates from the Board of Ed so if they come up here I'll kind of say their name as I come up if Izzy's going first going to be slow come on up girls so I Stella Orana Sophia Orana Izzy K Bush which you just heard about hia darani Stephanie qu Shana Shaw robex Hernandez Faith Rado juliaa make sure see everyone there Addison FEI Isabella Cuba Emma glaro Avery green zamaya choa Catalina Michelle and Gabby DRS congratulations girls suful than you suppor girl and at this time congratulations ladies going you can go back to sheet I know this time I'm supposed to introduce uh coach Kevin Pon for girls track come on up [Applause] I was told to tell everyone not to leave until all the sports have been uh been going so good evening Mount Olive my name is name is Kevin person I'm the boys track and field head coach however I also coach the girls team in the Sprints we also have Coach cizo who is our hurdle coach and Coach banan who's our throws coach uh tonight I have the honor and privilege of talking about our girls track and field team and their amazing success this season um basically the season has been nothing short of spectacular uh they did something this year known as winning the Triple Crown of Morris County uh what that is it's three major championship competition so that includes the Morris County relays the NJ Conference Championship and the Morris County championships to start off the Morris County relays we've never won that in the history of our school because the truth is with the moris county relays it doesn't just take one individual Runner to win you need three or four girls for every single relay and multiple events so every girl you see up there contributed to the Morris County relays so when we won that in the very beginning of May that really opened up our eyes to see how deep our team is and how good good they were the next week we had our n Jack Conference Championship which included a couple relays but more individual events so some of our Superstars could really take uh take hold and do really well for themselves so we won the N Jack finally we had our Morris County championships Morris County is one of the more competitive counties in New Jersey but once again our girls stood on business and left with the win so with that being said I would like to congratulate all the girls up here and I want to come up and basically being so so successful winning the Triple Crown doing something the school's never done in our history I congratulate all of them they've been doing such a fantastic job this year and we even have a couple girls going on to our state finals which is going on tomorrow night so as I call you up girls uh come on up we have Morgan Ryerson AA Welsh Sydney Dugan Natasha Redmond Deandra I Amy Rubenstein Carly far Nicole molter Jayla Roberts Emily vuli and Faith Russell and at this time I'd like to bring up coach Sweeney to talk about girls lacrosse [Applause] hi everyone um so the Mount Olive Girls across team went 14 and four this season we were Independence Blue division champs and undefeated at home our success this year was built because because this team was truly the definition of a team they worked together and made each other better each and every day um I wanted to come up here and thank the athletic department the district and the board um without your support the field space the equipment um we we would have never had the successful season that that we did we are so grateful to be part of the district that puts such an emphasis on extracurricular activities and allows us to succeed both in and out of the classroom um to The Varsity and JV members of the girls across team the coaching staff and I are so incredibly proud of you girls um to our graduating seniors thank you so much for your dedication over these past couple years um we wish you all the best in the future and to the girls that will be back with us next year we are so excited to have you back next season and we are excited to build upon the success that we had this season first Alyssa Han Caitlyn Shaw Juliana moscatello Isabella Mello Maggie kis Lauren Helder Belinda minini Lexi Han Katie Venus Jenna shud Ava varos and Autumn pz [Applause] why are you going that way [Applause] how about another round of applause for all of ourlet and that concludes the high school special presentation for this evening thank you all right at this time what we're going to do is I'll take a motion for the board to go into a closed session very brief close session and oh oh first are there comments from the board with regards to our students that have recognized okay I just want to say congratulations to everybody I am so so so impressed and I say this every time but every time you guys come up here it just blows me away every single time so really congratulations to Administration congratulations to all the kids in sports I'm so proud of you I just it amazes me congratulations and Nancy you are going to be so missed I just have to tell you that you know how I feel about you any other comments from the board all right SP said at all um Miss Gilbert my B name was Gilbert the nickname was gilby for the record but you will be missed um with that we'll take a motion to go into Clos session we allow those that wish to you know go your ways and congratulations to everyone and then when we return we will actually continue with the remainder of the reports all right do I have a motion so moved any uh all in favor I we are in close session e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay we are ready um I would like to take a motion to call us back into session do we have a motion so moves do we have a second back and M J will take a roll on that Mrs Aquino here Mrs Fenton here Mrs fera here Mrs Fitzgerald here Mrs Melendez here Mrs O'Neal here Mr orillo here Mr trach here Mrs L I am here so we will move on to 4.3 the Personnel committee report and Mr quino yes the Personnel committee met on Tuesday June 4th at 400 pm and we discussed District exit surveys and interviews uh Mr Moore explained the survey and interview process that every employee leaving the district is invited to participate in the committee was able to review and discuss several employee responses from a redacted version of the results form and the committee would like to discuss survey results in Greater detail at the July committee meeting Dr Bia discussed the Mount Olive HIV protocol Proposal with the committee The Proposal involves bringing in attorney David Nash New Jersey's leading HIV expert to conduct the district HIV protocol and procedure review as well as training current staff and Boe members the committee was provided with an update on the buildings and ground supervisor V vacancy uh Mr John masso will be providing consultation and support to the department while the job search is taking place and serve as a bridge between Mr Miller's last month of the district and the new hires board approval later this summer the committee also discussed a sabatical proposal from one of our high school teachers and agreed to have the full board hear the proposal and have the opportunity to ask related questions the committee reviewed Dr B's proposed sidebar agreement regarding an increase in the longevity pay stiens for the district's power professionals and lastly Mr Moore shared an update with the committee about some of the district's exciting new hires for the 2425 school year many outstanding hires have been made this past month and we look forward to their contributions to our school Community do we have any questions from the board no okay seeing none we will move on to the curriculum and Technology committee report Miss Pon hi thanks yes we met uh Monday uh June 3 all were in attendance um we had Dr Cryder with our technology update she provided an overview of the accomplishments of the district technology department in May in the upcoming technology purchases uh we had a middle school overview um Mrs wilki shared an explanation of Cycles versus electives at the middle school and stressed the importance of exposing students to various topics during middle school education she also shared some of the changes to policy and procedures for next school year including Locker backpack and cell phone usage there are also going to be a slight change to the BT schedule and administration Administration responsibilities to enhance the efficiency of the school um we had Mrs MC um do some shared and overview of the summer planning of the curriculum writing plan for the Summer She also previewed the professional development goals for next school year and some of the vendors that we will be using to support those opportunities during the administration Retreat and the first days of school we had lesson lesson planning she also went over um we previewed the lesson planning template that the district will share and um staff will use as a guide for their lesson developments for the next school year do we have any questions from the board no oh great thank you we will move on then to finance and operations committee Miss fit charal yes thank you uh so finance and operations met on Monday June 3rd in attendance with myself Mr orillo miss naris Mr Miller and Miss showning um you'll see in the minutes and in obviously board docs uh what we talked about I actually want to cover off on one key item um that we spent you know significant amount of time discussing which is um that is the subject of of our recent legal expenses um the finance and operations committee spent a significant amount of time talking about that on Monday and it has been an ongoing conversation um you'll see in the bills list that our most recent uh legal fees are higher than previous years of the of the same months when you compare overall and I want to make sure that it's clear I understand that those fees are higher and the committee understands that those fees are higher right now um and we are actively addressing the issue so what we talked about on Monday was some strategies to put in place to help bring those down we've been talking about about those strategies for um a few weeks now really trying to find some smart strategies to bring the cost down including reducing legal involvement in opras HIV residency Zero Tolerance a lot of those obviously contribute to um our legal fees and so you know there's only so much control we have over the hibs residency hearings Zero Tolerance opras that come in but there are things we can do to make sure that we're being very smart with the way that we're using our legal expenses so uh we are currently awaiting that may Bill to assess if the strategies we've put in place are working and we will report back on that after our next finance committee meeting at our next board meeting any questions questions from the board and then we have a policy and uh governance Miss Melendez yeah we did a meet during this cycle there is no report at this time thank you all right at this time do we have any board subcommittee or Andor parent teacher uh Association gazon reports do you have anyone who would like to come forward for parent teacher associations no they all all up anyone from the board have any reports for sub committies or parent teacher L on all right and then for board president report I think we've had a lot to show for what this District does um and just really proud of our staff um the year is coming to an end and I hope everyone really enjoys the graduations we'll see we have e8th grade graduation on Wednesday and we have high school graduation on Friday good weather good weather right um before we go into public comments on action items I do want to read off we have two resolutions that will be added to the agenda and they will go under 1024 and 10.25 my apologies I'm writing them down here all right the first one is resolution for the residency hearing for students number 65018 935 and number 6501 8578 and number 6501 8577 this is um number 10.24 whereas on June 6 2024 the mount Island Board of bed residency committee held a residency hearing for the above reference students whereas on that date the parents of the above reference students attended the hearing and whereas the committee after having heard and considered all the proofs and testimony presented recommended to the full board that it fined based upon the residency investigation performed by the board director of security that the students have not been domiciled within the Mount Olive School District during the 2023 to 2024 school year now therefore be it resolved that the board finds of the above referenced students were not legally entitled to attend attend school in the district during the 2023 to 2024 school year and be it further resolved that the parents be assess tuition for the students ineligible attendance in the district schools in the amount of $ 58,7 49 and be it further resolved that students shall be permitted to attend the school in the mount school district for the 2024 to 2025 school year provided the district is furnished with the family's final documentation of of their lease within district and the sale of their house and provided the parents re-registered their children with the district prior to the start of the 2024 to 2025 school year and be had finally resolved the written notice of this decision and of the family's right to contest same before the commissioner of Education shall be served upon the parent as required by and then we have 10.25 resolution for the residency hearing of student number 65018 427 whereas on June 6 2024 the Mount Olive Board of Education residency committee held a residency hearing for the above reference student whereas on that date the parent of the above reference student attended the hearing and whereas the committee after having heard and considered all of the proofs and testimony recommend to the full board that it find based upon residency investigation performed by the board's director of security and the parents admission that the student has not doil within the mount School District since March 23rd 2024 now therefore be it resolved that the board finds the above reference student is not legally entitled to attend the school district school in the district and further hereby orders that the student be disenrolled in the district and that the parent provide proof that the student is transferring to Rand off Township School District for the upcoming 2024 2025 school year be it finally resolved that written notice of this decision and of the family's right to contest St before the commissioner of Education shall be served on parent as required by law and so I wanted to read that before we open the floor up to any public comments on action items so we're moving to 5.1 members of the community may comment on any action item prior to the board discussion please state your name and address for the full record and all comments must be respectfully presented abusive and obscene comments will not be tolerated and please note we will um the discretion of theard president is that if I um see that the abuse or the language or the tone is out of line or if the the matter is not within the um confines of the law I will uh be required to gather you so floor is open to anyone who wishes to come and speak with regards to action items is this on good evening uh my name is Tom bstone I'm here representing the Education Association of Mount Olive tonight um have several members here who have asked me to speak um to uh help support some members who are facing transfers that we are asking you to vote no on while I sent a letter that gave you a brief excerpt of the reasons that uh I recognize that it's not appropriate to discuss Personnel issues in an open meeting so the reason I'm here today and the reason so many of my colleagues are here years is to remind you and the administration of the necessity of listening to their staff I've been an employee of this district for 30 years and have been president of the association for quite a bit of it and in that time I've only been compelled to speak to the whole board on a handful of occasions to be clear I hate it I get nervous speaking in public and don't like to be the center of attention but sometimes it's necessary the first time that I ever spoke in front of the board was during the tenure of Mark mongan in that case it was a board level grievance in those days as I recall Tony correct me if I'm wrong the entire board would hear agreements and this one was a simple case of a superintendent incorrectly withholding an increment in that case the board recognizes that my interpretation was correct correct in remed the situation I even remember the case was propes haddenfield was the uh president that said on that I fear that in this era such a decision would not be made and we would be forced to bring such an issue to arbitration or perk since that time I've only spoken to the board as a whole until last year during negotiations when board negotiating teams sometimes get the idea that rather than negotiate they would rather wait it out and try to implement their last best offer the last time was pretty recent and involved the implementation of an agreement that was made between the Board of Ed and emo around the secretary some of you may recall I do not know what was happening behind the Board of Ed behind the doors um around the implementation of it and at the time the board president reneged on it I don't know why but as a result rather than speak with the board as a whole we ended up having to file charge charge of unfair Labor practice against the board so we had to go to perk and it was not until literally the day before the hearing that the board's attorney notified us that the agreement that we had made would be honored understand this cost a great deal of hard feelings for my members there's a great deal of time and effort on me and my Executives behalf when I would rather quite frankly have been doing more to do a job teaching and it probably cost the taxpayers of this town quite a bit of money in legal fees all to do something that just could have been handled by us talking things like this may be a minor inconvenience for you and the highly paid administrators please recognize that sometimes decisions made have profound effect on the people who spend their lives caring for the children of this community for tonight I simply ask that you vote no on the transfers in question in this case it's not just an oversight this isn't just somebody making a rash decision but as I said in your my letter it's a mean-spirited attempt to exert control rather than work with the great staff of this District the OS executive committee is always willing to work with the administration of Mount Olive but the Administration has to respect their staff enough to work with the people who have been voted to represent them thank [Applause] you do we have any other members of the public who would like to come and speak with regards to action items and action items on one last time anyone okay we will then move on thank you we're moving on to the approval of monthly expenditures and reports can I be motion Mr for approval of monthly expend 6.1 through 6.4 sure I like to uh move that we approved monthly expenditures reports 6.1 through 6 what was it three four four I'm sorry do we have a second second and do we have any questions from the board yes I do there you go um I'd like the board to table the legal fees until we discuss it in Clos session later please we have any other do we have a motion to table um we have a second for the motion to table second I'm sorry second we have time do you want to take a roll call Miss Jones then on the tbling of the legal fees do we have any um discussion on the tabling of the legal fees first no we'll take a a roll call then on the tabling just of the legal fees till we discuss them in close session and then we'll make a decision Mrs Aquino yes Mrs Fenton yes Mrs figa yes Mrs Fitzgerald yes Mrs Melendez yes Mrs O'Neal yes Mr orillo yes Mr trach yes Mrs naris yes are always in fav favor of conversations all right and then do we have a motion to um a second for the moving of the remaining items 6.1 through 6.4 second and do we have any uh comments or discussion on the remaining items no seeing number will'll take a role for Miss Jones Mrs Aquino yes Mrs Fenton yes Mrs fera yes Mrs Fitzgerald yes Mrs Melendez yes Mrs O'Neal Mr orilla yes Mr Chach whatever the name Jody Bosch appears abstain yes and everything else and Mrs naris yes and we'll move on to Personnel action items uh 7.1 through oh my goodness 7.44 Mr quino yes upon the recommendation of the superintendent I'd like to move Personnel action items 7.1 through 7.44 do we have a second second and do we have any comments or discussion from the board 44 all the way to the end for personel can we also table the transfer 7.5 at do we have any second for the motion to table 7.5 the only yet I will say is with conversation around um Personnel we have to be um cognizant of if we r or did not r employes as long as it's a general conversation without do we have a second on the table in a 7.5 employee transfers to discuss further no second okay so tbling then fails um do we have our conversation um for the Personnel action items no seeing none we will uh do we have a second then to move the action item we did Mrs Fenton seconded seconded okay then we'll take a roll call for personnel action items for all action items um the tabling of the action of 7.5 did fail Mrs Aquino yes Mrs Fenton yes Mrs fera abstain on all of them or on 7.5 yes to everything else Mrs fit darell yes Mrs Melendez yes Mrs O'Neal yes Mr orillo yes Mr stachi yes Mrs naris um yes what I will say is I'm always open though to conversations and information with regards to you know any items that of of concern whether it be our staff or Personnel um and I do want to say I do appreciate the best interest of our students whether it be you know the safety of them ensuring that each building is properly staffed so I will say yes to all items yeah I make a correction on 7.41 also miss Joey Bosch his name has mentioned there too so I stay on that okay is that everyone John yes okay we're going to move then to cor uh curriculum and Technology action items um 8.1 through 8.11 and Miss Fenton uh yes upon on the recommendation the superintendent I'd like to approve uh C technology 8.1 to 8.1 second do we have any comments or discussion from the board on any items see none M will take a rope off sorry if the mic is not Mrs Fenton yes Mrs fera yes Mrs Fitzgerald yes Mrs Melendez yes Mrs O'Neal yes Mr orillo yes Mr stachi yes Mrs Aquino yes Mrs naris yes and I was happy to see we were able to get um Mountain over to met so thank you for that um we're going to move on to finance and operations action items 9.1 through 9.13 Miss Fitzgerald yes upon recommendation of the superintendent I'd like to make a motion to approve action items 9.1 through 9.13 second do we have any comments or discussion from the board seeing none then we'll take a roll call M Mrs Fitzgerald yes Mrs Melinda yes Mrs O'Neal yes Mr orilla yes Mr stachi yes Mrs Aquino yes Mrs Fenton yes Mrs fera yes Mrs Mercy yes and we'll move on to action items 10.1 through oh my goodness and we are now at 10.25 with the two new resolutions and Miss Melendez sorry that's okay upon recommendation of the superintendent I make a motion to approve uh administrative action items from 10.1 to 10.25 second we have any comments or discussion from the board no okay seeing none Mr Jones well I do have a question on the professional development um I will be OB stating Miss Jones on Miss Louisa I think you're listed on that one too we want today not 10. yes and then the other question I do have is 10.3 is professional development for the board members at the all um do we all need to individually abstain on that or can we vote on that no that's permissible okay perfect want to make sure we're following all rules okay Mr J control call Mrs Melendez abstaining 10.2 yes to everything else Mrs O'Neal 102 yes okay thank you Mr orillo yes Mr stachi yes Mrs Aquino yes Mrs Fenton yes Mrs fera yes Mrs Fitzgerald yes and Mrs NY uh yes to all items um obstain on 10.2 and we are on to Old business do we have any members of the board May comment on any item or topic that was previously discussed by the board do we have any old business no okay we will move to 12.1 any new business board members anyone all right here we go we're going to open it up to public comments uh students parents employees and community members May comment on any item of Interest pertaining to the Mount Olive School District please state your name and address for the record all comments must be respectfully presented abusive and obscene comments will not be tolerated and the same still um we look forward to hearing what you say but please keep them within um you know proper non-abusive or obing comments please note we can't comment or Personnel items and we open the floor please state your name and your address for the record we have anyone hello everyone uh my name is Rich mowy one Clawson Court in Bud Lake um before I have some I have something to say that I I'm going to read because because I'm not really good at winging it um and you guys don't want to deal with that so uh I've I've written it down but before I do that um thank is a DJ yeah I know I I was G to pick it up and start singing but um so um but before I I get into this um I wanted to talk about um just real quickly do a little advertisement for the CPAC uh which is the um I don't know if all of you guys and all of you guys out there know um but it's basically it's the parent run group it's for parents run by parents um for special needs children and uh young adults and right now we have a president who is used to be um Genie over there um but we have a president now who lives in Long Valley and who has a lot on her plate with uh two she's raising two uh children with disabilities um so she's got a lot on her plate but she's doing a heck of a job trying to run this thing by herself and every time we have a meeting and there's a meeting tomorrow night at at uh 7 o'clock I believe it is uh she asked for volunteers for people who want to step up and help and it's like talking to the wall uh we don't get a lot of participation just not a lot of people who show up for these meetings and if she goes away the parents group is going to go away and that group is way too important for it to go away so if anyone's listening to me online or here or if you know people we need to he have your voices so that they can help our kids and our young adults so please step up to the plate every position is available and you don't have to do it all by yourself but anything that you could do to help am would certainly be appreciated because it goes a long way for all of our kids so that's my announcement um guess you can do that um as I said I'm going to read this just because it's important um for my son and for other kids with special needs first off I'd like to thank everyone for doing what you guys do as a parent and taxpayer I always appreciate the efforts of people who volunteer their time tonight I'd like to talk to you about the life of special needs parent as it relates to their very special children or young adults it's a joy to be blessed with any child they are each a gift in their own way but when we are blessed with a child who's quote unquote different the road is a completely different road we are blessed for sure but the path is certainly different when we are raising our and I hate this term but it is what it is neurotypical children we are preparing them for their lives knowing that their future is bright as they head towards independence it's different with our special children I think that I can safely say that all or most of us special needs parents share something in common our children all have different needs we all all our kids are different for sure but as parents we share one thing in common something that is always in the back of our minds and typically it's about 2: a.m. in the morning when you think about it who is going to care for our children who will become adults when we are no longer here who's going to care for them who's going to love them who's going to give them life that they have and the life that they deserve will it be siblings will it be other relatives will it be a state will it be themselves a scaring prevailing thought that I have is my son is living his best life right now while I'm here it's a rhetorical question as my mother used to say Richard no one will ever love you like your mother now I'm a father but I get what she was talking about my kids lost their mother when my daughter was 15 and my son was 11 so unfortunately they never will get the love that only a mom can give and trust me since Lisa past I live in a mom's world and moms are truly amazing in so many ways but that's not possible so my kids get me and I do what I do to make sure that each one gets what they need to live their best lives now which brings me to Maddie the reason why we moved to Mount Olive was for Maddie I sold my house in Long Valley that I loved by the way to get him to into a school district that had amazing special needs program so we moved here in 2021 it hasn't been easy but overall Mandy has enjoyed three years in the man Olive system with the help of some very very caring people Maddie has developed and progressed but now he's 18 and graduating quote unquote on Friday it's not your typical graduation because he's eligible for another three years of public education in the 18 to 21 transition program therein lies the opportunity and the challenge as parents what we do what do we do when our kids are graduating high school we help them find the perfect sit now I'm talking about neurotypical kids what do we do with these kids we help them find the perfect situation for me them After High School whether it's College Vocational School army or work we help them explore and figure out what best path is some will be the right fit and some won't that's just how it goes but whatever the choice we help them figure fed out we help them figure out what will help them grow into who they want to become however as a special needs parent it's different our kids reach 18 and we hope we hope that we've filled out the right paperwork we've gone to the right agencies we've been given the right amount of information about transition into the next phases of their lives 18 is the first Cliff that we parents walk when our kids turn 18 we are walking off a cliff that's the first Cliff the next one is 21 years old when those same kids are going to go off the next Cliff with us and our and we need to be prepared for that at 18 we focus on things like guardianship power of attorney Health Care proxy getting a non- driver's ID finding Specialists for their health care to make sure that their health is taken care of things that we don't do with our our neurotypical kids we learned or at least try to learn terms with big important meanings like DD DVRs SSI SDI Medicaid vocational training Independent Living job sampling job coaching and yes even College preparation and we also work did you know that there are over and the last thing I mentioned was College Programs which are pretty amazing right now did you know that there are over there did you know that there are specific college programs for young adults like Maddie and others like him did you know that there are over 300 College programs in the United States that include colleges like Clemson University of Syracuse University of Alabama University of North Florida Georgia Tech CCM TCNJ Warren Community College and the list goes on and on these are 2-year programs these are four-year programs they are commuter College Programs they are programs where the kids stay on campus did you know that our young adults can enter these programs until they're 26 years old that's right our young adults can complete their 18 to 21 program and they can get prepared for a college program just like our other kids they're their's is just a little bit later and it's a little bit different it's important to understand these programs are non-credit programs these are mostly certificate programs and each one is different and each one is to a different level based on the students capabilities but the common denominator they offer our young adults the opportunity to learn grow have fun develop relationships but most importantly help them on a road towards the level of Independence that is best for them in other words for Maddie to have the same opportunities to build his best life just like his sister Lauren it's important to note we're not talking about Harvard or Y Yale type education we're talking programs with a big emphasis on the level of Independence that is best suited for each young adult I just wanted to just read this real quick this is about a young lady named Elise MCD Danel through a program called think.net which is focused on helping our kids in the in in areas Like This Ellie McDaniel is a this was in 2021 and she is a 23-year-old young lady with Down syndrome and it's just a short interview it just is uh uh she's um she entered a program at the University of Tennessee called the future future program the question was what what is your name where are you from and what college are you attending my name is Ellie McDaniel I'm from Knoxville Tennessee and I am attending the University of Tennessee what classes are you taking what is your favorite I'm taking a sign language class A CFS class and a career life planning class I don't have a favorite one maybe my sign language class what do you like to do when you're not attending class I like to hang out in my dorm in tabletown I hang out with friends sometimes I also listen to music sometimes what's good about college I like having classes in person because it's a good to hang out with more people and have the college experience I also like living on my own because I like being free from my parents but I still miss them sometimes that's nice to hear what do you hope to do after college after you graduate or get your certificate I hope to get a job at the Tennessee School for the Deaf I also would like to start a program for Deaf adults who are aged out of the young life outreach program and camp program I also want to be the an ambassador for Best Buddies an organization that promotes supports inclusive living for individuals with ID and it just says here off to the side Ellie is a great example who has taken full advantage of all the future program has to offer so what do I do at this point Maddy's 18 I'm hoping and I'm praying that I've made the right decisions along the way so just like my daughter I decided to go off and look at different transition programs to see what was available for him just because I I needed to do that I owed him to him so I set off on a search to look at different transition programs to learn as much as I could about the leadership the direction the culture the curriculums academics but most importantly for Mad the ability to help him with his exe executive functioning skills M's a little bit he needs some help basically needs a grow up and and some help in some of these executive functioning skills including planning organization flexible thinking following directions problem solving goal setting self-monitoring self-control attention all these things that will help him with his independence these are things that will help Maddie function more independently Maddie would like to go into a college program but he needs to grow up he needs to work on some things that will help him in this environment I've researched colleges and firstand what is required for Maddie to be accepted into a college program it's within his grasp and I know he can do it Maddy's not your best student he passed all his classes but grades for our kids really don't mean a whole lot in all honesty Matty's reading level is around third to fourth grade he'll never read gun with the wind but neither will I his functioning his functional reading is great his math knows so great but there's calculators and he knows how to use a phone so he can do a 20% tip um because he knows how to use his credit card with the best of them madd's smart he's clever he's intuitive he's got incredible people skills he's an unbelievable he's unbelievable technology he stays by himself he cooks by himself he pays for things by himself with his debit card he arranges time with his friends he has a couple side hustles going please understand he does all this within the bubble that I've set up for him I've teed everything up for him since he was young with the hopes of finding that level of Independence that was best for him and also my daughter I want her to live her life as well so what did my process look for my look like for my daughter it was going to Florida State University it was going to um endicot in Massachusetts to look at schools for mie was a little bit different my process included visiting or speaking within other transition programs in the area including marown Anover Park randoff cea in South hunon Mars NES Roxbury Jacksonville Florida the north Florida school of special education and the Mount Olive belief program I learned a lot I met with some incredible people very special people and they learned that each one had diff had different things that they could offer our kids with special needs the one program that really stood out to me Head Over Heels Above the Rest in terms of what I feel would be great for mat for for a program for Maddie was the randoff program what struck me most about uh was the Forward Thinking leadership and the culture that has been built the program has strong leadership and understanding about the importance of student- centered learning basically this is a learning program developed around what is best for a student not a one- siiz it's all mentality Rand really had an understanding about the importance of building a program that best fits the needs of the individual this can be demonstrated by the fact that they have two transition programs not one they have two they have a program that is uh for basically anyone who has a need to get into from an 1821 program and then they have basically a step A Step Up program which you have to kind of get accepted into it's and accepted is not the right word but basically it's a pro it's a program that's designed for kids who have aspirations toward I'm not sure if that's the right word but they Aspire yeah okay it is Aspire aspirations to go to a pro to a college program it's smaller you need to get accepted it's off- campus they bought a little house just out to the high school and that's where the program in it has an academic component to it it focuses on Executive functioning skills it has a focus on vocational training has a speech therapist that's there assigned to the just to the program all the time and goes out in the job settings with them has a big emphasis on life skills and Independence and what's especially important to me has graduated ated other students two and foure College Programs this is the only program that I visited that could tell me in depth about how they prepare their students for these college certific programs I'm winding up here guys I promise for Maddie I feel it's a great step from Mount Olive High School to help him to help him get ready for the next level of Education which is will be a college program in two or three years it's a program that is tried and true and it's already in place New Jersey doesn't have school choice I think we should but we don't so I created my own version of it I guess part of my search process was sending and I don't I'm not it's not that's not important I'm determined to get my son what he needs I'm determined to get my son what he needs so that he's prepared as possible to have the skills necessary to reach the highest level Independence possible I owe it to him to help him find this best path possible path I would not be here unless I felt very strongly in what I believe some of you know me I've been vocal in my support over the years for the people who really make things happen in Mount Olive the power professionals these are the people in the trenches these are the people who make incredible decisions on a daily basis about things that most of them will never know can never imagine and really don't understand these professionals are heroes in my mind in closing I want to en encourage all you to think about your children think about what you would do for them to help them have the life they deserve think about getting them to that place where they can leave the nest and take it from there now stop for a minute and think about special needs parents and their children there really is nothing that I can say that will TR truly help you understand how it's 247 365 for Life there is no break but stop for a minute and imagine that you saw a path that you could help them develop the skills and the the tools and skills that could change their lives I think that most of you would fight really really hard to walk down that path just like I'm trying to do for my son that's exactly why I'm here not only for Maddie but for others in our special needs Community Maddie is older and will be leaving public education soon two or 3 years but there are other parents behind me with the same challenges and opportunities I want you all to to understand our special needs Community needs your support in a big way in a big big way especially at the 18 to 21 year program changes happening for our special needs kids and opportunities happening our kids today these kid I say all the time that MD MD was so lucky to be born at this time because if it was 15 years ago his life would be completely different our kids today have so much potential and so many opportunities so many don't you think it's your job and my job to know what these are and to do what's best to help them I certainly do so my questions are how is Mount Olive preparing for these changes and these opportunities for these kids how is the district currently addressing the unique individual needs of each child and parent in this community how are you looking to think out of the box and develop the culture that will work with parents to help each parent maximize their child's potential it's time to throw away the traditional IEP with a bunch of goals that are never measured and develop a life plan that's best for the individual sitting right across from you who deserves every chance that each of you have they just need a little bit more guidance more patience more understanding and some more Direction parents administrators teachers AIDS all need to be on the same page with the parents Voice or the young adults voice leading the way it doesn't have to be contentious although I I will tell tell you that in my life as a special needs parent is a life cycle of you're on the same page until you're not and if you've ever had to deal with life insurance or insurance companies it's the same exact mentality you get worn out because there's paperwork like this and you have to take notes and you have to remember things and you have to fax things you have to email things so it it it tends it can be contentious and it doesn't have to be here's my idealistic side this is the side my wife used to say just used to smile at me and Nod working together with an open mind can lead to incredible results thanks for your time thank you and and if anyone and I've visited all these programs so if anyone's interested if you want to know what they what what makes them tick one what makes them these uh programs tick I'm more than happy to share some of the things that I find because there are some amazing things that we can all learn from so thanks for your time everyone thank you share that information we're always open for information thank you you have anyone else who would like to come to the mic oh come on Martin Wells 25 woodrest Avenue Bud Lake New Jersey it's hard to compete with that so impressed with what he had to say I knew he was going to say Randol because I know they have a great program for secondary steps over Mount Olive not that we can't get there but I hope that we do but the reason why I wanted to come up here today is to say what yet again how our Township is so different from other townships Board of EDS and what I mean by that is we actually recognize our students on a regular basis we give Awards we give acul most townships don't do that okay we take the time to our children on many pedestals all right for their accomplishments their work their ethics uh someone like there who's amazing on her own all right deserves to be there I love the fact that we do it for every aspect of every child from anywhere from regular class to special needs and I hope Mount Al stays that way because that is what makes Mount Al a great place to live why I choose to live in this town and that's all I have to say thank you you we have anyone else anyone else who would like to come to the mic all right with that since we don't seem to have anyone else um we will move on to the board in administration uh comments members of the board May comment on any item of Interest pertaining to man ol of school district and we will start over with Mrs O'Neal comment um I wanted to say rich thank you for all of your comments and thank you for saying that about ceg am needs help and I know the programs that you're talking about I respect all of them very much you know that and I think that it is you know something to work on um I wanted to say congratulations to all the athletes and um kids who got Awards tonight and congratulations um yeah so I think someone during Miss Gilbert's presentation mentioned that what makes her and what makes you know the staff so incredible is the passion is what makes this experience here in man Olive truly miraculous I appreciate your comments I appreciate your passion for for all of that really interesting I hope that we do get to hear more about that that is something that we do need to pay attention to as the Board of Ed and obviously as a school district um I have been so impressed by The Passion of of so many of our professionals and one of the places that I didn't expect to see it but I did I got to attend Marauder Fest for the first time ever is my first experience ever doing that you guys that was something so I mean I watched people getting spit on it was a good thing I promise it was but there was like putting the the crazy thing that stood out to me about that marer Fest at the high school correct what's that the marauder Fest at the high school it did not happen at the fifth grade Marauder Fest let's all be very clear I'm sure that was a lovely event your children were safe and were not spin on yikes so the marauder Fest at the high school was definitely my first ever experience with that and while it was it was crazy and very entertaining I think the thing that stood out to me is how passionate our professionals are our teachers to get up there and to do the things that they did and tell the jokes and do the stunts and do the skits and put the time in it was really impressive and the passion that they have for the kids um and they raised $112,000 for the Riley family through Marauder Fest um which was incredible absolutely incredible so I just was blown away by the passion really appreciate this district and everybody who is involved in that and so many Professionals in our district who just regularly blow me away with their passion for what they do and that's it I want H to congratulate all the rores and all the athletes and the graduates uh not only uh the seniors uh but also the eighth grader going into the high school um very excited for that um I want to mention and I share the sentiment of the gentleman about CPAC it's a great organization and and we have a lot of special ed students here and the meetings are mostly are virtual so you can even be cooking and attending the meeting so please do not hesitate to to reach out to them there is a lot of good information uh that they share and they bring uh also speakers uh with additional information for the parents um I understand your concern also my family ourself we are going through that Journey uh my nephew is graduating also and so that program 18 to 21 transition is very important and there is a lot of information but not centralized so it's very hard for the parents uh to go and try to reach all that kind of information and CAC is an organization that they have those resources over there at that information readily available to any family member um so I exort those uh parents uh with a special a that please reach out to them um and attend the meetings are very informative uh M Dr Banja and a couple of board members we attend also to those meetings um and there is a a lot of good information um also um I would like to to congratulate uh Gabby and thank you so much for your service during all this year as a Leon and and getting us on track when we need it so thank you that's it Mr shach thank you yes I I would also like to thank all the students who won awards this evening they really are impressive and I'm very proud of Mount Olive that we are able to be able to take these children and and work with them and allow them the ability to exceed or at least search for and find the things that they want to do I would also like to thank our staff we have an incredible staff here and and these are the people who nurture these students who teach these students guide them and help them accomplish all of the things they do so let's not forget the fact that they have a big investment involved here too that's that's about all I have to say thanks I think everything's been said I will ditto everything that everyone said congratulations to our students um to our faculty and to our administrators we couldn't be here without all of you so thank you so I was smart and I did my congratulations in person so I don't have to do that again but Richard I'd like to know that we do hear you and I actually grew up with my uncle who was uh 20 years older than me and it was in that era that none of this was available and it was a big struggle and I have to tell you I was very proud We got him into a home and we got him into a lifestyle it can be done but it is challenging and I wish we we had a little bit of that preparation so I would like to fight for better preparation in our young adults in our special needs because it is so important because we really struggled through that and I I totally understand where you're coming from so I I hope we could um excel in that era in the near future [Applause] and we're going to swing over to Mr oilla uh I just want to ditto what everybody else has said um I am blown away by our staff here and our students and it's is an honor for me to be in this seat and I'm proud to be part of this and proud to keep this District going that's it thanks thank you andera I just want to Echo the cons Sentiments of all my fellow board members congratulate our graduates of 2024 and I also wanted to to say that I had the privilege of attending the second and fourth grade field trips at Mountain View and I want to thank those teachers for um planning and educa and excellent educational experience for our students in those grades I guess I'm gonna Dr to B do you have anything I would like to D but certainly we're excited that this upcoming week we have many festivities um coming up we have our Middle School graduation scheduled for 6:30 on Wednesday um with the rain date of Thursday Follow by our high school graduation on Friday at 6:30 I do recognize that Friday's weather is questionable um as you know I do stalk the weather constantly and um we'll be making a decision as far as what's going to be happening for that ceremony but right now it's still taking place on Friday but we will monitor the weather because I know many people have that on their mind and I will wrap us up um I don't think there's anything much more to say you know we're at the end of the school year um congrats to all of those you know retirement Mr van Stone I think left before we could say but thank you he is um going into retirement as well um and Gabby I wanted to ask do you ever sleep we need to talk about recovery here um you know I know you're an athlete and all but I'm convinced these students I don't know how they have the time in the day and then the staff that works with them my goodness um we have an amazing staff um and when we talk about passion we even see that they're passionate about the buildings that they are in you know and then their buildings some of them are going to meet in influence you know amazingly additional students across our district We Are One family one district and you know I think that's how we always look at it um as we head into the the week graduations amazing and also Happy Father's Day to all of them out there um you know wherever you may be spending to day please celebrate um and please have an amazing summer as you know I know we have one more meeting in June but the school year is coming to an end and celebrate everything that's accomplished from our staff our Administration everyone and all of our students they're just amazing and have a great year we are going to go in to uh close session and do we have a second to to close session second okay and be it resolved that the board meet in confidential s for the purpose of discussing Personnel matters of attorney client privilege um pending and anticipating litigation um I I'll add I'm not don't think we have it on the agenda confidential pupil matters and I don't think we have negotiations but we'll just say be a further resolve that the matters discussed in confidential session be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exist action may be taken do we have a second motion I second yeah that was me second all in favor I all right we are now in confidential session e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e [Music] all right I'm going to call the the meeting back into session do we have a motion oh these are off speakers are down but still talking to them for the recording okay the recording going to it off all right so we're coming back into session do I have a second or a motion to come to a session and do we everyone in favor all right and now I've taken a motion to close out and adjourn this meeting everyone in favor I all right M Jones we are done we are closed good night everybody thank you for