of this meeting was provided by the secretary of the board on May 4 14th 2023 to the home News Tribune and the clerk of the city of New Brunswick the time and location of this meeting and all meetings of this body are posted in City Hall 78 Bayer Street in New Bruns call Mr General Drell Medina Hernandez here sew here Mr Spencer Mr M here we have a thank you moving to item number two the black salute mov Dr Johnson to the flag of the United States of reminder that our next regular monthly Board of Education meeting will be held on the 4th Tuesday January 23rd on the 4th Tuesday sorry January 23rd 20 2024 beginning at 7 pm. here at New Brunswick High School in the same space the auditorium uh moving to item number three presentation by New Brun High School choir directed by Mr Adam pres good evening everyone today we have a special performance from select students of our New Brunswick High School choir under the direction of Mr Adam hercowitz we have two selections for you this evening our first selection is Alan nanita Nana a traditional Spanish Carol arranged by Sher Porterfield this Timeless piece invites us to immerse ourselves in the rich tapestry of holiday Melodies embracing the warmth and joy that this traditional Spanish Carol brings for a second selection the choir is excited to present a refreshing take on the festive spirit with a song that cast captures the essence of a millennial celebration composed by Nathan how our addition of I want to stare at my phone with you combines the magic of the holidays with the unique experiences of Our Generation so sit back relax and join us as we embark on a musical Journey that blends tradition with a contemporary a perfect harmony for the holiday season thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] see [Music] eyes [Music] USS in the forest you arew Angels [Music] children [Music] [Applause] yeah [Music] everywhere War by the fire side we can hide [Music] theid bring us together [Music] the holidays together [Music] I with you with [Music] [Applause] you good you thank you so much for that performance something about the magic of music right that makes you feel like the holidays already starting so thank you for that moving to item number four minute I please have a motion to approve minutes for November 21st 2023 yes motion approved item number five the superintendent report Dr Aubrey John thank you good evening as of December 2023 we have enrolled 9,334 students there were 10 cases of harassment intimidation and bullying there was 145 suspensions our staff attendance was 94% and our student attendance was 91% uh we had 11 positive cases for employees and 13 positive cases for students just like to reflect again um through our partnership with the New Jersey black women physician associate Association and new Bruns tomorrow on December 16th we administered 58 flu vaccines to students and adults and nine covid vaccines to adults our next vaccine clinic is scheduled for Saturday January 20th from 10:00 to 1 p.m. at Red Shaw school I do want to share that I'm delighted what I'm really really really delighted to share I attended an event that brought a sense of um pride and warmth to my soul and that happens not too much and I'm sure um everyone who attended probably felt the same way on Wednesday December 13th I attended a together a winter side by side concert celebrating thriving partnership between rucket Mason Gro school and our New Brunswick High School no our esteemed New Brunswick High School music department this concert showcased the active participation of 135 students it was amazing to witness our high school jazz brand our concert band our Orchestra and Rucker syphy Symphony Orchestra played in unison together hence side by side program and it's a powerful Testament to the profound impact this collaboration has in our school Community under the Visionary leadership of Dr Li the Ruckus symy off Orchestra they seamlessly wo the melody into the fabric of our community given the rise of this new part partnership excuse me a special thanks to Dr meringer Mr Al atalita Mr boat our dedicated music teachers support staff and the leadership of New Brunswick team for their unwavering support in facilitating this initiative as we reflect on the success of Wednesday's performance I'm filled with gratitude and eagerly anticipate the continued growth and success of our remarkable Union with Ruckers Mason Groves and and the enrich that it that it brings to the lives of our students in our entire Community during this festive system excuse me during this festive season I'm thrived to share the heartwarming celebrations and Community initiatives that have taken place across our district excuse me my contact is a little blurry um several of tolerant talented students had the opportunity to attend this year's The Nutcracker performance at the St Theater Lincoln Elementary School is making a meaningful impact by donating cereal boxes to five Lo's food pantry additionally many schools have embraced the spirit of giv through the adopter family program and almost all of our schools have generously donated gifts to their students new brck tomorrow and Johnson Johnson staff donated approximately 130 coats to students and their families at the Bita Valente Community School Johnson and Johnson also hosted Christmas activities and donated gifts to the McKinley Community School Lord Sterling Community held a movie night for students and families the New Brunswick High School drama club held a production of 12 angry jur and the annual gingerbread house competition took place today congratulations to the winners several schools across the district have given students and staff the opportunity to take pictures with Santa Claus and celebration of the upcoming Christmas holidays wo Wilson Elementary School received over 400 gift donations for every student in the school Livingston Elementary School is hosting an event honoring Las pasadas a Latin celebration that takes place during this time and the new brunic middle school will be having the adopted student for Christmas event where staff donate different gifts to selected students all also I just want to share I had the opportunity to visit the Saddam Street Reformed Church off on dff Avenue on Friday and I witness Miss Miriam mered who's the director of the community health promotion promotion program at Robert W Johnson and her team WRA over 1,000 gifts her team included community volunteers teachers students board members and after see that I definitely made a commitment that next year we will bring a team to partake in this festivity um I had the opportunity to wrap a gift I could not leave without there but you should have seen the number of gifts in all the church's pews I mean I'm sure those gifts were blessed so thank you for that invite as we approach the well-deserved break I want to extend my warmest wishes to our students and their families District staff teachers administrators board members whether you're celebrating in your own way or simply taking a moment to relax unwinded or decompress I encourage you to embrace the spirit of the the spirit of the holidays and find joy in the company of those you hold dear wishing you all a joyous and peaceful holiday season thank you I concludes my remarks thank you Dr Johnson um can I please have a motion for second Drell Herz yes Mr Spencer yes Mr D yes motion approved moving to item number six the student representative report Miss J pz she's not in attendance so um we wish her a happy holiday and we're going to move on to item number seven the facilities committee report Mr Edward Spencer chairperson the fa committee report uh we met on December 13th we discussed the school facility the use of the school facility policy we reviewed our current use of school facilities policy against new recommendations from Strauss Esme Strauss Esme is a consultant firm that many public schools used to provide guidance developing and maintaining policies consist consistent with state and federal laws we will be we will be revising this policy in the near future updated in high school gym Edition we are on schedule for the roofing and exterior walls to be placed by the end of this year as I mentioned before this will allow work to continue inside throughout the winter the over overall completion schedule is still on track for August of 20 24 we were also presented with the high the high school media center Renovations we discussed the idea of renovating the high school media center when the high school was built the media center was designed and furnished to be a state-of-the-art space we held this month's facilities meeting in the media center so that we could better visualize the space what enhancements should be made made that would keep it current with the needs of the students and staff I will continue to update you as we advance our planning that Madame President concludes my report thank you so much Mr Spencer moving to item number eight the athletic committee report which will be by Mr ad good evening the winter season is in full swing with basketball track cheerleading and wrestling already starting their a competition season the boys basketball team opened their season with a decisive win over Academy for Urban Leadership led by senior Omari Williams and Junior Chris but fell to North Brunswick to start their opening weekend with one win and one loss the girls basketball team secured two wins versus South Amboy and Somerset voltech to start off their season 20 uh led by Junior Kennedy Johnson wrestling had a quad match versus mouin freeold Township and Woodbridge to open their season on Saturday James Gonzalez has uh two victories over Woodbridge and mouen uh and the women on the women's side uh Livy Gan uh has three wins over the weekend zedi Pard qualified for the quarterfinals at Sunday's tournament with teammate aland spana boys and girls track ran at Ocean Breeze and Stan Island freshman ad Diva Johnson earned a medal at the 55 meter and 200 meter events all of our sports teams are out to a strong start beginning this season uh and I need a Reconciliation for the November report second Dr cwell yes Mrs Medina Hernandez yes M Ortiz Mr yes Mr Spencer yes Mr D yes motion approved moving to item number nine the curriculum policy committee report which will be done by Mrs sise thank you madam president the curriculum and policy committee met last week we did have a presentation by Mr Hill uh this was for the academic support three-phase plan the district will introduce a three phase uh academic support for students with a focus on test taking strategies and targeted tutoring aligned to the major content standards in mathematics and English language arts starting next month immediately after the break uh we're looking forward to that the resolutions uh that we were presented were reviewed and approved we had one policy that was abolished you'll see it in your agenda it was P3 432 and p43 regarding si le that one was abolished and then we have new and revised policies and regulations PNR 1642.1 regarding sick leave is a new policy um so on July 3rd 2023 revisions to the statute significantly expanded the scope of allowable uses of sick leave for School District employees therefore P3 432 and p4332 have been abolished and combined into a newly developed policy 1642.1 as the provisions apply to all employees of school districts receiving sick leave uh p2270 religion in schools has been revised the updated policy 2270 references the 2023 guidance on constitutionally protected prayer and religious expression in public elementary and secondary schools eliminating the need to revise Pol policy 227 70 every time there is any change in any subsequent guidance released by the US Department of Education and lastly P3 23201 is high impact tutoring Grant health and safety plan uh it's a new one the New Jersey Department of Education requested that the district create a unique health and safety plan policy to ensure students are safe during virtual and or inperson tutoring process whether ing is taking place with an approved vendor or in District staff member that concludes my report Madam president thank you so much um moving to item number 10 Educational Services Commission of New Jersey Dr darl cwell thank you madam president the Educational Services Commission met on Friday our monthly board meeting and continue to have record record attendance from students students with special needs throughout throughout the state of New Jersey you know one of the things that's becoming apparent is that the esj is one of the best educational services uh Commissioners in the country and we're starting to get interest in our services not only across the country but internationally because many many countries do not treat students that are special needs with the kind of respect and care and love that that the commission does so we're really looking to to grow that they they joke that I'm I'm going to Intergalactic you know not only we're going to do the world we're going to going to take it over but it I I encourage folks and they're open for tours to tour the Educational Services Commission you're going to see some of the most dedicated teachers and and and a a place of of really love in one of our nine schools so um so things continue to grow under the leadership of Nadia Rano the new superintendent that's my report thank you so much moving to item number 11 public comments do we have people that sign find out Dr Mr yes the first person I'll call on microphone is April Nicholas good evening please state your name and address hi there um it's very loud so taller than normal before I got shorter um April the claps 143 CM Street uh no questions tonight I just want to say I thought it was a wonderful performance by the um always love to have uh presentations at the start of these meetings whether that's to showcase the Arts programs or science programs um so I really appreciate that and have a wonderful holiday season everyone thank you so much have a good evening happy holidays our speak M Miss Linda St hi Miss please state your name and address hi good evening Linda Park Boulevard um I do have some questions and I'm hoping if I finish it before 3 minutes that maybe the answers that are known could be given now because the questions from last time just stayed in the air so um I think it's so great the that in the field of the Arts the cooperation with Ruckers with Mason gr and with our um Public Schools I would love to see that throughout all areas and grade levels um which brings me to I had asked last time about you know Lincoln School getting a waiver um by not being singled out as the only School in the longterm long range facilities report that was not going to even after the completion of the new school and the renovations the additions it would not be in compliance with the square footage requirments and I was thinking maybe that that meant um I I'm hoping it means there be um maybe a Revival of the idea of having um cooperation with Ruckers Graduate School of Education in that regard they had talked about having a lab school in that same that area right there where Lincoln School is so I'm hoping that's back on the table if anybody has any information on that I would appreciate knowing I would also like some clarity on whether substitute teachers are allowed to start teaching before they've been approved by the board uh I know I had to wait but that was 50 years ago so things have changed they've changed um and has that ever happened in any other cases um besides uh Dr tra where people started actually subing before they were approved by the board um and I also would like to know if uh we have a price for what the the pte Middle School building is being sold for buying it for or what the state is buying it for us for okay that's my questions um if in this minute is there's any answers um I'm going to ask Mr JN if we have any response about um L Lincoln I can answer question one and three so in regards to linoln school and long range facility plan it's in there to be replaced whether it's going to be collaboration with Rucker that's all unknown we need the money from the SDA in order to do a replacement school it's not on their priority list right now their priority list continues to be schools that are providing uh more seats for kids so um I personally don't see a new Lincoln School being built anytime soon getting the state to approve it but it is in the plan to be replaced and a new school built in terms of the price of the new pte building uh I don't think we're that's an ongoing negotiation that the SDA is doing with the owner of that building and we're not at Liberty to talk about that at this time okay and I don't know if their rules regarding those negotiations if that's ever going to be a public that's more for the state to decide not us okay and The Substitute Teacher question Dr Johnson will will say something about that just in general in terms of all type of uh employees that do um all type of candidates that do apply the board does give me the latitude to hire or bring people on board pending board approval you will see this a lot during the summer months um as we ramp up for school uh as we receive candidates sometimes we cannot wait till September because we want to start the CL you know school with teachers in classes and they have they do afford me that as well as hard to fill uh positions and my goal our goal is to to find Qualified uh teachers and staff and put them in positions um sooner sometimes rather than later um the way it is now you know we want to have teachers in front of kids um the vacancy rates are are high across all districts and I've always been afforded uh that Latitude but the final decision rest with the board thank you so and the second part of that question was has it ever happened before that someone you had put in place then proceeded to not be approved by the board I don't recall maybe May maybe not I don't recall but maybe there has been thank Youk you speaker yes Dr Raymond TR good evening please state your name and address thank you Dr Raymond Trigg 16 V Court North P New Jersey today I address the recent denial of my application as a substitute teacher in the New Brunswick Public School District as of December 19th 2023 and after three email requests I have not received the requested clarification on the reasons behind the denial while recognizing the board's heavy workload transparency and open communication are critical to the collective dedication to the district's educational success my commitment and contri contributing positively to the educational environment of the new Brony Public School District remains unwavering I've have dedicated over 30 years of my life to the safety and education of the students in this city therefore I kindly reiterate my request for comprehensive explanation regarding denying my substitute Services I have successfully passed the New Jersey criminal background check I possess the ne necessary educational requirements I am also aware of the district short and need for substitutes in addition to this matter I must bring your attention to the persistent harassment I have endured over the past three years from Charlie crra he has continued to promote unfounded defamatory claims driven by a personal Vendetta and tempting to undermine my professional opportunities Mr cr's actions which include sending letters attending meetings publishing inaccurate articles and social media posts are slow slowly aimed at damaging my reputation and handing my professional growth I have consistently addressed these false accusations providing documentation to refute the unfounded claims he continues to spread I was neither charged nor arrested for the allegations against me they were unsubstantiated I believe his action stem from incidence during my tenure as a police officer including several arrests and domestic violence claims filed against him I believe this is the basis for his personal Endeavor against me if you need any additional information about his domestic violence history go to Charlie tr.net I share this information with you today as credal attempts to bring up his article during these meetings to dissuade the board from approving me as a substitute teacher it's crucial to note that his actions are not based on factual information but based on Personal Agenda I have faith in the Integrity of this board and commitment to fairness and Justice I sincerely hope the board will consider the facts presented and make decisions based on accurate information rather than unfounded claims by aible I'm open to further discussion and providing any additional information necessary to address the board's concern thank you for your time consideration I appreciate your dedication to the well-being of the new Bron Public School District Dr Rond trade will I get a request from you madam president so to follow with the policy of the board we don't we do not discuss personel even if that's the person that's in front of us that's been on policy but we do thank you for your message um for your comment and we'll be talking amongst ourselves thank you thank you and Happy Holidays happy holidays uh moving to item number 12 um just to kind to kind of always feel like I'm talking um continuing that conversation and the message that Dr Johnson um last during New Brunswick has been um with that collaboration of the um New Brunswick Cultural Arts Center which they usually have a First Fridays um they actually invited our kids to also perform in the city and be part of the really the kickoff of holiday season in New Brunswick and I was there it was a little rainy we didn't care uh and the kids really we had kids from third and fourth grade from for Robinson we had middle school kids that were there our sixth and seven eighth graders um and it's really right most of our work in in really creating this environment where the kids not only see themselves in the community but they also love our community um so to be there and to see them just having a really good time me brunck I think it really sets the foundation for who they're going to be as leaders and hopefully leaders here in their own town so with that and today with the choir the magic of music and the art I wish everyone a happy holidays uh Merry Christmas and we'll see you we'll see everyone next year God will with me so moving to item number 13 consent agenda can I please have a motion to accept resolutions a through a Dr cwell yes Medina Hernandez yesz yes yes abstain of resolution AO so noted moving to item number 14 the finance committee report Mrs Diana s chairperson thank you madam president the finance committee along with all members of the neun Board of Education had a chance to review the finance committee report and I'd like a motion to accept the motion accept the report drw yes yes yes page 24 Mr yes Mr D yes Iain on Page 6 14 and 19 uh yes and I'm stain on page 24 please motion approved moving to item 15 resolution for close session whereas the open public meeting act New Jersey and njsa 10 4-6 provides that certain matters of a public body may be discussed in Clos session and whereas the Board of Education intends to discuss matters as follow Personnel matters and matters of attorney client privilege now therefore be resolved that the first set subjects shall be discussed in close session by this board of education and staff administrative staff in the minutes of set close session discussion will be made available to the public when the reasons for the nond disclosed in accordance to the public open public meetings act no longer exists can I please have a motion for close session second yes Mr Spencer yes yes we are now in close session