all right good evening everyone I'm going to call the meeting of the P Troy Hills Board of Education to order on July 25th 2024 in compliance with chapter 231 Public Law 1975 entitled open public meetings act adequate notice of this meeting has been provided as specified in the act in the following manner a meeting notice was published in the newspaper and on the district website on January 17th 2024 in addition the notice of the meeting was posted at the municipal building in the schools in a copy of the notice filed by the Township Clerk and transmitted to other newspapers on June 19th and June 27th 2024 these include a daily record The Star Ledger parsipany Focus tap into parcion parsipany patch and the district website this regular public board meeting is being video recorded as per bylaw 0168 the recordings of these meetings will be available on our district website and your video on the Go YouTube channel we ask that you please refrain from using student or staff names in your statement professionalism is expected at all times may you have the roll call please Mrs Abraham here Mr baros here Mrs kogan here Mrs mayor here Mr rehea here Mrs Chappelle uh she's absent here okay I didn't know who's Dr Wright here Mrs golderer she won't be attending the meeting too Mr chaa here at this time I'm oh um we have stand for the pledge of flag thank you very much I Al to the flag flag of the United States of America and to the stand nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all all right we have no student committee reports and at this time we're going to suspend tonight's regular agenda and allow for the presentation of the 2023 24 graduation results for Paran high and Paran Hills High School um including our New Jersey graduate graduation proficy proficiency assessment pardon me um before before we start uh Nancy um I just like to take a moment uh we had a tragedy occur in par siany um a few weeks ago we lost a uh a young man to a just a tragic accident and I just like to have a moment of silence um to honor his memory thank you yes oh that's right he talks about it you were wary of trusting me with that rightly so apparently um let me just make sure I'm good here because this is a new clicker Joanie the side that's not going I was afraid to test it because I didn't want to you want to click and then we'll switch okay so good evening it is my pleasure to be here to talk to you about the New Jersey GPA the graduation proficiency assessment that our Juniors last year took class of 2025 uh this is just restricted to the GPA so this is not the big show that uh I present to you in the fall with the nsla for all the grade level and access and DM it's not all of that it's just the GPA that the 11th graders took um go ahead Dennis so a little bit about the test okay I guess it wasn't the remote perfect okay so about it as I mentioned it is a grade 11 test grade 11 only only in the same two areas that NJ ASK is um English language arts and Mathematics there are only two proficiency categories a student is either graduation ready or deemed not yet graduation ready it began as a field test in 20123 some of you will remember for the class of 2023 I should say and now for the classes of 2024 who just graduated and 2025 who this year will be seniors it is a graduation requirement uh the NJ doe has not gone further than the class of 2025 to say what the requirements will be but all signs point to it will continue for the next set of classes as well um should a child be not yet graduation ready according to the test there are alternate Pathways to graduation for that child um Dennis will get to some of them later in the slides show go ahead okay so the first uh result slide is for the ELA the English language arts and you can see that we're very consistent in our all students group so we have an all students group an economically disadvantaged group a students with disabilities subgroup and an English language Learners subgroup those are the three subgroups we are always looking at when we're looking at these test scores so a lot of consistency in ela for the all students measure right up there at 89 very good 89% and I have the state um the state averages underneath in Red so we are performing above the state certainly well above the state um and you can see that that first year of the field test was not so great but look at that jump to 89 and consistently staying there very positive and then if you go over to our subgroups they all went up so economically disadvantaged went up and students with disabilities and the English language Learners so yeah very nice to see and later when Dr Mor talks about some of the interventions that we've put into place you're really seeing the fruits of that labor here so that's fantastic um the next slide for mathematics more of the same with a couple of exceptions but a very nice jump in performance over the state which is nice um and from last year to this year in all students we have a an increase so that's good the economically disadvantaged very big Improvement which is lovely to see in the students with disabilities group I know that there's a a deficit there from the year before it 19.7 to 19 what we want to remember is first of all we wouldn't call that significant when we were really analyzing anything but what I can tell you is making it even a little less significant um is that we had an 11 and a half% increase in population so there were 11 and a half more a percent more children children in that category of students with disabilities taking the test than the year before um and then in the English language Learners it looks big right it looks like wait why was 6.3 proficient or graduation ready the year before and now zero literally that was one student so in that class of 2024 one of our elll Learners was graduation ready and then last year not one so it really is just the difference of one student like we we say sometimes literally it was um now the interventions I'm going to pass it over thank you very much uh these are interventions that take place during the school year uh we divide them into of course at three levels elementary middle and high school I'll run through these uh for you at this time um we have BSI uh math and language arts teachers one at each Elementary School who are there to support our um struggling at risk Learners uh for students in K to 5 um our reading Specialists are there as well Title One inter interventionists are at um are six Title One elementary schools um so there's two for those sakes they divide their time between uh three buildings next year we're down to four Title One schools at theary elementary level and then we used our RP eser funds to develop intervention programs they were either in the morning or the afternoon and they were used for ELA and M support we gave the principles Liberty to look at their building needs their staff um their Community to develop programs they felt uh was best for their building at the middle school level we have our lunch and learn program lunch and learn program during lunch periods uh both teacher assigned and by student requests student request is uh usually more fun okay for the kids um teacher office hours for extra help makeup work studying Etc and again at the Middle School uh the principes had those ARP aser funds to develop a program that suited their building and their students the high school level we have a homework club after school um continued office hours this is the second year that we did the end of market period makeup SL intervention day where um students had a time to come and meet with teachers to see where they were short to do makeup assessments is really good in helping kids uh get through classes and improve performance and then finally they had the RP ESR funds as well to develop intervention programs our summer programs are going to sound familiar to you uh and they're broken up into three different levels and they're all running right now so uh we have um the high school is thriving right now we have ESL kids there we have elementary kids there we have uh math uh students uh from the high school as well so it's it's busy it's great to see the kids interacting with teachers and with each other today at the at the high there was an ESL parent meeting we had I think almost 40 ESL parents show up to learn about the ESL program uh Vicki santen surveyed those parents about needs that they had so we're going to develop uh night programs for those parents to really tailor it to to what will help them the most so we have as I said we have ESL summer program going for three weeks that's in person uh that ended today Elementary summer step stepstones runs for three weeks that's virtual so there's tons of kids logging in to get some virtual lessons with uh our teachers Elementary summer skills boot camp is for three weeks that's running at the high I believe there's one more week of that and then extended school year for our classified students and I believe it's running out of Norwood uh and they are about halfway through that program at this point our Middle School student are invited to the ESL summer program running for three weeks uh they've extended school year uh for our students with IPS and then the getting ready for math classes which are virtual run for four weeks so getting ready for um sixth seventh and eighth grade math to get some proactive uh tutoring to prepare for the school year and at the high school level again ESL summer program our extended school year and then the getting ready for math classes uh covering Algebra 1 geometry Algebra 2 unrelated to uh intervention we do have um some offerings at the high school level for students to to to jump uh math courses but uh those aren't really interventions the last slide talks about the graduation Pathways and Dr gante talked about students who didn't pass the NG GPA and how they then um earned their State graduation their diploma at the high there were 236 students who graduated last year and 258 at the hills and then then there are three categories of students finding alternate Pathways to graduation okay the first pathway was a substitute compet competency test could be the act the PSAT um what's the military one the asab AC the acup Placer so we have different different venues to get students through and to be very honest with you we'll we'll try whatever works best for each student and they'll try multiple Avenues so there were 43 kids at the high who got that um met that assessment requirement um through a competency test test in 61 at the hills the portfolio appeals process uh kind of comes when those alternate tests don't work and then we begin the portfolio process and that's uh a longer more involved process where we have teachers assisting students to complete tasks that we then submit to the state there are 33 students at the high who needed that route and only four at the hills um some students meet that requirement through their IP um that's Des uh designation uh stipulation in their IP three at the high zero at the hills and we're proud to say that there are no students who denied graduation by failing to meet a state um assessment requirement at either high school that was good news thank you very much we'll take questions guys if you have any do any board members have questions for Dr jagan or Dr Moone seeing Alice and kogan I just wanted to know if we have the ability to drill down in those numbers to tell which of the students in some of those categories are actually taking advantage of these interventions or like how are we correlating we're providing all these interventions but how do we know that the right kids are taking them and that it's helping some of it we can do I can tell you anecdotally that they are um our ESL uh program that runs through the summer is our ESL students who struggle with these State assessments the summer summer boot skills camp for Elm students are kids who we've identified as at risk either through assessment State assessment scores or their you know their their class scores uh and teachers and administrators recommend those so a lot of those students are the ones that the ones that we need to take be taking this course we could drill down further and yeah I I mean we could correlate that on spreadsheets but I was going to say too you know I know how we choose those kids for some of those interventions and this is part of our standardized testing is always part of how we identify the kids so yeah you could and I think we already kind of do but we could yeah on the Mathematics page under the English language Learners you pointed out that um it was one student and for this year and who did not uh was not proficient no let me just it was that in the year we had six 6.7 proficient that was one student and then that was proficient and then this current class of 2025 did not have that one not no one was proficient that's why it went down all right yeah yeah so so there must have been like at least like 20 I don't know how many students must be at least 20 students I do 16 and 18 16 and 2024 and 18 in 2025 class so I know what you're I think I know what you're saying about uh it has to have at least 20 to count when we do the subgroups here like to get 5% like if one student passed you'd need at least 20 to get yes but for those percentages they don't only do the 20 on the graduation assessment they do that on the nsla the subgroup has to have 20 or more to report it out to us but not on that okay so all right you're right to think that your line of thinking is right all right thanks sheo thanks uh I just had a couple of questions on the ELA and the mathematics I know you said the state broke it down by all students but do they break it down by something they only give you the all students for the state is that something people request or uh I don't know I I know they're probably reluctant but uh because all of us in all of the districts have much lower numbers in those subgroups so I'm sure the state has even lower for the nlaa that seems a lot more relevant yes yeah as to GP where it's graduation it's like one and done you either are you aren't yeah and then um in the mathematics you said there was an 11% increase in the population taking a test class of 202 class of 2025 11 and a 12% more students in that category yes is there an expectation that there will be that increase again uh that would be a question for Mr court right um and because he knows his population you know very well um so I don't know you know it's just whoever it is in the junior class this coming year that's what it's going to be okay and then um just a really quick question uh extended school year for elementary was it Lake highwa or no I think it was Lake Kata cuz my son used to location every year oh okay cuz it's been Lake Kata for down the month of July custodians can't work so we kind oh I was just curious cuz it was like haata for the last few years so I thought maybe just yeah this year yeah and I think extended school year is ending tomorrow right I'm going to trust you yeah my son I think Mrs May has a question yeah thank you as usual for these great presentation is there any way to I guess to measure how effective our summer intervention programs are I guess we have to wait for the testing when they get back into school I mean it would be kind of neat to see the kids that took part you know how did they Fair do this really have an impact on them I think that's what we can look at oh it's definitely possible yeah I'm sure that the teachers have already you know put into place some assessments coming forward in the fall I'm sure that's already in place right to to make sure they're making some get something in the fall I mean our own like our Boi eoi so those benchmarks are there to see how those students have yeah I'd be curious to see how you know how positive they took this this experience and if it was really worthwhile I'm sure it was but loves I talk about it could be interesting yeah yeah thank you I mean there's always the like there's the there's the numerical progress right right so we'll see hopefully an increase in test scores but there's also like the social aspect right in every day and their self-image aspect you know so there's there's two sides of and they're feeling better because they're more competent so I think there's a whole lot of stuff that's involved in that and maybe the lack of regression like even if the test SC stays the same it would have gone down if they had right G yeah just a thought Mr Rea yeah um on the English uh page in 2023 I guess as an aftermath of Co the scores were much lower than 41% uh of parity students were proficient or graduation ready I guess and then but on the math 68% and it was pretty close to the sub quent two years but yet there's when you look at the English there's a big disparity in the future years and I'm just wondering you had any insights as to why that would be there'd be such a disparity between performing same kids performing at the English and not doing so well but and Performing pretty close to the average at the math level yes I would imagine something about the test yeah right yeah first of all you know it's a field test and everybody knew it was a field test and the English portion would require more writing and these are adolescence and um they're probably going to put forth a little less effort when they got to do a lot of writing than they would if they were going to do the math problems that's what I would venture to guess um I don't know if you'd agree science science oh yeah gr oh they're not school yeah so even though they knew neither really counted the math they didn't have to maybe put forth that you know writing is always tough and I would attribute it to that okay yeah I didn't realize was W differ right yeah yeah and you know overall we're performing better in language arts so why would that be the one that they're not doing and I think that's why it's more of like a lazy as much as we hate to use that word kind of a thing writer's block yeah writer's block there you go win win Wendy did you have any questions uh no I'm appreciate you offer though absolutely any other questions well thank you again I really appreciate the uh information you nice work man hope you're having a good summer um is there any correspondents to come before the board no there's not thank you is there any unfinished business this evening for the board seeing none okay we have uh committee reports I think we have a fair number of reports uh today um we'll start from my left with Mr reaya okay uh finance committee met tonight um uh consisting of uh Mrs Abraham uh Mr Chao Dr Sutter and Mr Desco and uh we went over a couple of things one of the items of Interest was um a uh the audit update the audit has some of the audit um procedures have started some of the testing testing s uh sampling for transaction testing and uh we'd like to get it done on earlier than than last year um also we raised the issue of um offering some type of uh Financial developing some type of financial literacy or education to board members that might request it or might feel comfortable more comfortable if they had some access to additional knowledge some of the topics that we talked about and we're going to probably think about adding to it are um the budget um the uh yearend reclassification of funds to various um uh general ledger accounts uh the fund balance and the approval process so um this is like a way to empower more board members who maybe you know maybe Finance isn't like their strong point and if they would like uh you know we can arrange to uh develop like some specific topics to talk about yes Judy uh I I think I even let you know that I know New Jersey school boards had a webinar devoted to how to read you know the financial you know all the columns and all the things and it was really I mean I watched it it was really very useful so it's just something to think about it's just a webinar you could just plug in and watch yeah they can access that through the njsba website go into the training tab at the upper right hand corner and see the program last year I'm sure we could find it y okay and and uh thank you I I didn't realize that that's uh helpful um and that's it that's all I have any questions for Mr Rea okay okay thank you uh Judy Personnel yes uh I will give the Personnel report because Mrs Chappelle is not here um we met on the 18th present were Mrs Chappelle Mrs Golder by Telecom myself and Mr Ricker um there were matters discussed confidential District Personnel matters um the second one was the review of job descriptions they uh lead B lead behaviorist and and the CST PPS Lea on and I think the the reason I think that these job descriptions were tweaked a little bit was to help Keith manage all that has to be done these people now report to Keith and it takes a little off of his his tray um where am I uh security school security officer um we were told about that there is another one coming at right a class three I believe yeah right at the highs senior internship cens um for a good reason they were they have to be um increased because of the number of participants which is always a good thing when the program is so successful assistant ba um with with the uh exiting of Sue there was a call to have interviews for potential people potential whatever um I think there were eight and then some dropped out and then there were five and the person that really Rose to the top had the most experience and you know she was offered the position and I think uh and I think she was very well thought of in her former district and the reason that she would make a move is because of geographically it's easier for her to commute from home to work so you know they were sorry to see her leave according to Mr Ricker so um it was a good meeting really good meeting and that's it thank you any questions for Judy no okay Alison did you have a report no not this evening right thank you uh we will go to sheel okay thank you uh Communications met yesterday present were uh Dr Sutter Mr rehea and Mr Chao uh we discussed the pilot Communications and the East Lake warehouse and uh Mr rehea and Mr baros were able to attend the planning board meeting on Monday July 22nd uh we also discussed the outcomes and discussions surrounding the pilot and how East Lake Elementary School could potentially be affected by the warehouse apartment Warehouse or apartments and and the number of school children that could uh impact the district uh East Lake was further discussed um we talked about how it was discussed in February 2024 with with the developer and the town had recently informed us about the ongoing plans more as a courtesy uh concerns included environmental impacts water runoff or flooding sound barriers Etc uh we have continued attempts to negotiate with the mayor and Town Council in good faith and the plan to send a weekly certified mail letter to the mayor uh it has been more than two months since the last in-person meeting with the mayor and there's still much to discuss regarding not just Pilots but also capital projects shared services Etc in addition to that we also discussed the Chinese Cultural Exchange program it was mentioned and discussed um against about the exchange cultural program in the past um and who was able to participate and the general consensus of the program a number of students were recently in town visiting the mayor's office which many probably saw uh the pictures and write up on social media which was what prompted the discussion thank you uh thank you sheel any questions for for sheel no um I a couple of things uh some under new business but I i' I'd like to address the um the ladex warehouse uh based being you brought it up in your report it it appears that there is a um misnomer that there's misinformation being provided to the public that the Board of Education somehow endorsed or approve uh the plan um to redevelop 20 and 30 ladex from commercial office space to um to warehousing and I just want to go through a couple of facts and um you know my conclusion on this on January 19th of 2024 the developers attorney who was developing that that property sent an email to the board attorney asking to meet regarding the proposed warehouse at at that site the developer quote wanted to reach out to some of our neighbors including the Boe to provide a private presentation SL briefing of the project so that the Boe can see and comment on the site plan unquote I don't know if the developer reached out to any of the uh other neighbors in the area um not aware that that happened or not on February 9th a meeting with the developer was held and in attendance at that meeting were Dr Suter Mrs tadesco our board attorney Kate cillan uh vice president Golder Mrs Co kogan Mrs Mrs Chappelle uh and myself representing the developer with the property owner the attorney uh an acoustical engineer uh and a waste water engineer the developer um in a meeting that probably lasted about 90 minutes presented the site plan and solicited input from the experts who were in attendance board members and administrators asked questions and a great deal of time was spent on flooding noise and pollution that might be generated from an operational Warehouse that was was going to have uh trucks uh coming in and out of the site um having some knowledge of site development I felt that they did an adequate job uh on answering our questions and on presenting the site plan uh board members had the opportunity to um ask questions which a number of questions were asked and um in the meeting concluded amicably but I just want to make sure the public knows because the I think the mayor keeps saying that the Board of Education endorsed the plan and approve the plan um that's not the role of the Board of Education um personally I appreciated the Outreach from the developer to talk to us as as a neighborly Jester that this was happening but the town knows what that area looks like it knows it's um to the to the South and to the West um there's a school and it's very residential um to to the north and east it's more commercial it was the town's decision to approve the site plan wasn't the board of educations um I guess the town could have looked to have something else built there I mean it's not going to stay vacant it's not going to get plowed over for Green Acres that's just not going to happen the other options could have been more high density residential development um it could have been light manufacturing it could have been a number of different things but when faced with you know 5,000 units and hundreds of new school children coming to the school district over the next several years I think it was the consensus of the board the administration at the meeting that more high density housing was probably not an option we wanted to pursue there um again we appreciated or at least I did the input from the developer and the experts who were there um I think they did a very very good job describing how sound was going to travel how Wastewater management was going to occur uh would Allison or Dr Sutter care to comment on the meeting as you were there too no I think that's a good summary we were never asked for permission or approval we that's I took it as an informational meeting and I think that they reached out to us as a courtesy and we appreciated the courtesy to give us the understanding of what was going to go on there and give us an opportunity to answer questions correct this is what we did yep now this meeting wasn't a secret meeting by the attendees involved um the board was briefed in closed session um in fact a coraly uh second time I use that word tonight I got to find another word to the meeting was the the exploring the possibilities of converting a commercial office building into a school and I think we we did with our architect and um uh the board pursue that opportunity only to come to the conclusion that it's not cost effective to to retrofit an office building to to to a school and again I hope no board members feel that they weren't aware of this there's there were a number of closed session meetings where this was part of the discussion um and then it it morphed over into the uh the office based discussion but I just wanted to clear up you know the fact um that the board did not approve or endorse the warehousing in that area we simp had a presentation by a developer who was going to present a site plan to the town that they could approve or not approve we asked our questions and we thanked them for their time and that was fundamentally how that went any questions on that thank you uh Mr baros policy thank you Mr President policy met on July 9th in attendance were myself uh president chafo superintendent Dr Sutter miss benos Mr Rea Miss Chappelle um we went over four um by uh one bylaw and some policies um they're all listed on your uh sheet uh we reviewed policy number 5410 promotions and retentions and P 5464 early graduation and had additional questions and we're going to hold it until the next meeting I think we were also looking for some um comments from um board attorney on that I believe they have already come back so I we may have already passed that point um the policy committee reviewed uh p232 class size and we agreed to put a resolution uh into to wave the class siiz policy of 25 for grades 1 through five for the 2425 school year um any questions Judy um we're waving that what will be the cap will there be a limit we're waving 25 so where will we go uh I believe and Mr Dr Su you probably yeah address that I think we would we would have to see what that what that comes out to Mrs mayor I can't make a decision on that now I'd have to see what the class sizes are and where the Overflow would  I thought it was K through five through yes well what's on our it only says one through five yeah but's on the actual bulletin yes the the bulletin says grades one 125 so should we change bulletin number seven no because it's overflow got it um but within that we still have to stick within like the fire codes and all that so is a limit okay I don't I don't think there's I don't think it's anybody's intention to go packing the classrooms but with the pilot programs coming and new development here we have to be sure that we can educate all of our students we have to make sure that we can hire the proper staff and we have to be fiscally sound in doing so so we were not going to there's no intention to be packing classrooms however we do have to educate our kids and Tim or Bob if I'm not mistaken uh you guys did some research with what other school districts in the county um are doing with this policy and I think we're one of the only ones with a defined number in our policy is that do I remember that correctly I know that other districts have waved their policy right yeah so I mean I can speak to that okay and then doing some homework uh districts in which have been affected by these uh unfunded pilot mandates are waving their classroom size policies um again it's a year toe um but that's where we are right now okay thank you any other questions for Mr baros just she sorry she just wanted to know if that resolution would be ready for the next month's meting it's it's it's here it's it's in the it it was a very long bulletin with the addendums and readings but yes it's here yes Alison I just wanted to make sure like the policies that are getting revised none of those revisions actually change the day-to- DAT operations of what we're actually doing correct yeah okay thank you thank you um so like just to update the board on an ad hoc committee that was held on July 17th and attendance were Vice President golderer Mrs Chael via Telecom Mrs kogan Dr Suter Mrs Tedesco and myself um the committee discussed next steps to continue to engage the town uh to negotiate uh pilot Revenue sharing uh the potential expansion of shared services and how the Board of Education and the municipal government can better work together to serve the residents of the the town we have um either individually or through um The District administration reached out to um the the mayor to schedule additional meetings and unfortunately those meetings um have not been scheduled yet and we really have had no dialogue with him about scheduling that third meeting we've had two so far this year uh and an attempt to re-engage them we're going to do a couple of things um we're going to send the mayor a letter and we'll make this a weekly uh Endeavor to ask for a meeting with them um it does take two sites to negotiate a topic and we cannot move forward without working with them the committee also discussed various ways to communicate to the public the adverse effects of pilots on the district and make no mistake that high density residential housing whether they're under a pilot or not will impact a district with additional students that will require additional space that will have um operational expenses for teachers and resources associated with them so we are going to um ensure that our district website is updated the FAQs that are there are updated um we will have some press releases that will will put out uh potentially board resolutions um encouraging the township to uh come back to the negotiating table and you'll see there's a large poster board over there and perhaps for the next meeting we can maybe put it on easel be you know behind us so that it's within the camera I'm not sure if the camera can see that or not um to make sure the Public's aware that you know the pilot issue has not gone away um the board of education has been um silent on it because we believe we were making Headway with negotiations with the township unfortunately does not seem to be the case any longer so we will have to ramp up our Communications efforts and to ensure the public is aware of what's Happening um the ad hoc committee also reviewed the latest demographers report and the District administration is formulating a plan to address the increase in student en rment that will occur as a result of these uh pilot projects over the next uh 3 to 5 years any questions on Pilots ad hoc committee information okay are there any Miss anybody with leaz reports or any Comm other committee reports no okay thank you um okay we have the approval of the minutes executive session and regular minutes of June 18th 2024 I have a motion please to approve those minutes chel Jack roll call please Mrs Abraham yes Mr baros yes Mrs kogan yes Mrs mayor yes Mr Rea yes Mrs R Dr R uh could you repeat that Wendy she abstains y Mr choppo yes so Dr Suter up to the superintendent's bulletin number one um thank you president chaa good evening um our talented artist program finished its two-e intensive program at our Middle School student artist thrived under the direction of Mr Mrs Laura Rizzo and Mrs Brianna Matarazzo our students were busy creating sculptures dying paper building personal sketchbooks exploring mixed media and glazed ceramic Creations the program ended with the annual tap art showcase which highlighted incredible pieces of original art our summer has been extremely productive thus far our maintenance team has been extremely busy with Summer facility upgrades at various schools these projects include installation of new air conditioning units at the jrw cable installation and running of wire the removal of old vanities installation of new sinks and vanities at numerous elementary schools the refinishing of gym floors at numerous schools throughout the district the milling and repaving of parking lots in driveway areas at numerous schools the installation of new walking Track at CMS deep cleaning and floor refinishing at all district schools and finally our maintenance supervisor operations maner and interim business administrator and I are reviewing and preparing all buildings for the onsite qac inspections that will happen this year I want to thank the custodial maintenance staff for their constant professionalism especially during these hot months they really have been great our summer programs have been running smoothly these programs include extended school year English as a second language summer stepstones summer skills boot camp wide Ro to Summer getting ready for middle school high school math High School summer acceleration talented art program and our Junior juvenile accountability leadership program our teachers and supervisors are busy with curriculum writing this summer with have been adding the completed curriculums to the TLC summer agenda TLC members have been provided with links to these updated curriculum so they can review them our HR department has been busy hiring staff as we prepare for the start of the 2024 2025 school year Mr Rickard has done a great job appreciate that and finally it was a great pride and pleasure to announce that Robin tadesco our inim business administrator her staff in the parsipany Troy Hills School District has received the association of school business officials certificate of excellence in financial reporting for the fiscal year 2023 thank you Robin for all you [Applause] do thanks for making for all you do to make our district run so efficiently thank you you can speak about the award more if you like during your secretary's report uh tonight for your approval we have superintendent Bolton items 1 through 75 with ad addendum and readin items 76 through 96 any questions for Dr Sutter Mrs kogan I I do but I don't know that you even know the answer and I don't expect the answer right now but thanks Miss kogan like you just listed off all those summer programs do you do we have like 10% of our students taking a part of those or like 50% I just kind of would like for you later to provide us with an idea of about how many students are actually taking are participating part in our summer programs we can get that number for you I don't have it off the top of my head I can't she kind of knew that didn't she it's all right we'll get that for you any other questions for Dr Sutter okay saying none Mrs Tesco secretary report hi everybody on tonight's secretary's report we have our regular business motions including the approval of a ward of contract for a door replacement bid as well as an RFP for athletic fields maintenance anybody have any questions Timothy thank you Miss Mr Tesco uh quick question and it's I should have asked you before or sent you an email and I just thought about now uh being a transportation falls under um your area north book road is a nightmare I just taken uh school kids to Camp trying to get down bck road is is crazy um I know this is going to go through the fall um with all the work I mean it's just it's been spot work at this point um have you been able to discuss this with trans with um sta or I me I'm thinking about Lake hawaa Rockway uh I mean just the schools that Dov tail off bever road I have not done had that conversation I know I've talked to Tiffany about it she would be the one who would be contacting sta about our home to school routes right but um I will just make sure that she is but I have I have not uh it's literally tagging on about 30 minutes to any route that I got it I I do everything I have to avoid bed Brook Road I can only imagine when September hits and schools are in what's going to look like so anyways thank you thanks have any other questions for uh Robin uh Wendy do you have a question no I just wanted to jump in uh and say S transport committee is meeting in a few weeks I can add that to the agenda and see if we can something on that yeah thank you Wendy to adding that North beverick issue onto the uh Transportation committee agenda so no other questions for Robin I think we have a couple items of new business I think the first one might be yours the webinars oh all all of these your your J oh sorry go ahead okay um I'm sure that you've all gotten those um emails from New Jersey school bar boards bars boards about the webinars um I attended to I attended what's brewing in education law which was you know pretty much what we've been talking about um you know ethics violations make sure you do disclaimers all of that you know they were very clear and there are new ethics laws in effect that are that are a little bit twisty so you kind of have to read through them the other one that I thought was really very interesting was uh the state budget recap and legislative update um there were uh it the budget was very interesting but I found the different laws and the different bills and stuff that are on the governor's desk there were some um let me see uh let's see to alleviate bus driver shortages you know it's on the governor's desk they're talking about you know different the drivers would not need to possess a CDL or any additional endorsements there was a whole list of things to make it where we can get more bus drivers another one on the governor's desk enhancing student literacy you know that's a big one working with literacy in the different schools and making schools really take note and be accountable which we are um heat stress standard I thought was really interesting if the temperature goes indoor or outdoor there's two different measurements you know that's it you can't you can't do that um freedom to read I thought was very interesting um it establishes requirements for Library material in public school libraries and Public Library um protect School library staff members and Librarians and you know that we do have a process where if a parent or somebody re you know questions any reading that we go through so they were talking about that um pension re enrollment I don't think you want that pH physical education opt out that was a bill that's being moved along where if kids can opt out at fed um if they have different if they've been doing different things to get the credit for that so then they can use the study Halles um they must be inv uh enrolled in AP class dual enr enrollment program college level course or a need of additional academic support due to low academic performance so they would get additional study holes in lie of PE during the athletic season and receive receive the same number of credits so that's something that they're talking about um mandatory instruction on labor movement that's a noteworthy bill but I found that to be a very very interesting webinar because it touched on a lot of different things that we talk about so I mean you can always go find it it's probably easy to pick up there's another one that I thought um it's in August it's best practices for policy development and maintaining the manual and we've been talking about our policies and you know stra Esme New Jersey school boards so I thought that was one that people might be interested it's on August 7th and they're from like 10 to 11: they're an hour um so that's that with the webinars i attended the other thing is last week as sheel reported um the Chinese students were visiting um the reason I was invited was because the people who were there with the students I had met when I went to China that very first time when we had the exchange so it was nice to see them again it was nice to see the students um I think they were being hosted by Livingston if I'm not mistaken I I I think that's what they said but they had a really robust schedule um one young man was there he was there this was his second trip he was there with his younger brother um and he was kind of chaperoning the boys which I thought was kind of neat um the question came to me you know would Paran be interested in doing that again and I said that was something that would be left up to the superintendent um they would have to contact Dr stutter so I gave it to you um but it was nice to see see the students they were really excited they had good questions they wanted to know a lot about politics in the United States um it was just really fun to see them and the question I asked them what was I asked what was the most exciting thing that you did and one boy answered he said bowling and I was thinking oh okay good for you you know you tried something new so it was great so just thought I'd let you know and that's it uh any questions I do have a couple of sorry I do have a couple of comments on the Chinese Cultural program I just need time also whenever oh yeah sure absolutely yeah um first you know thank you for reporting out on that I I try not to be a negative person um generally pretty positive but I do want to talk about this a bit um I believe the district is very accommodating to to the mayor and to council people in the things we do we invite them into our schools to speak uh we invite them to our graduation ceremonies and give them VIP attendance we allow them to hand diplomas out to people who they select um none of that's required the district doesn't have to do that um but I I think sometimes there's a perception that because someone's a mayor or a council person they are above residents of the town uh and they're not when it comes to participation in the school's activities they are simply residents like everyone else and whether they have mayor or councilman in front of their name uh really doesn't matter in my opinion I was surprised actually um at the uh student scholarship award ceremony that was was hosted in June when after a particular scholarship was uh hosted uh the mayor followed the lady up to the stage and gave a student a scholarship that was never approved by the board never communicated to the board have no idea what the selection criteria was for that scholarship but nonetheless he did that that is absolutely disrespectful to this board of education that he feels he has the right to usurp our processes and do these things now when it comes to the Chinese Cultural program um I I do have a concern that one Mr Negal knows this was a board of education program uh I think he may have spurred the district to actually get into this yet the administration couldn't find it upon themselves to call Dr shter or call myself and say chinesee students contacted us we're going to host a celebration at Town Hall would you like to be part of it but instead um contacted one board member and other board members who are still on the board also have gone on this uh trip to China and again I I think that's just re really disrespectful um as I said I believe Mr neia spearheaded uh this program it lasted for a number of years um the program is not a true Exchange program uh which was stated by Mr negia in his um Facebook posts the Chinese students do in fact come to Paran for two weeks and they are hosted by parsipany families and they spend time in our schools um District administrators and boa members did go to China and part parity students don't have the opportunity to go there um so it seemed a little bit one-sided and it's not an exchange program um and in my opinion to The Spar the parcion Boe uh and our Administration Mr Negal stated and I do quote the Boe halted the program well can anyone guess why in 2020 the Boe halted the program Cara well something called covid struck the world and when the co pandemic subsided enough so that it was safe again to consider restarting the Chinese Cultural program the former superintendent decided not to continue with the program her reasons are not known to me I did recently speak to Dr Sutter um about Mr ne's Chinese Cultural program he spoke with the appropriate administrators and determined that the program offered minimal academic value to our district it caused a lot of work to host the students and we really got nothing out as as a district the Chinese students I do imagine benefited but the district did not um so the township poost this gratuitous photo up with the Chinese students at Town Hall um again I'm a that Mr borar Mr negle wouldn't even consider calling the Board of Education and extended invitation to attend this event I'm sure some of us would have liked to go but instead they they did not do that and the only benefit that I can see is that Mr negle got to go to China three times for free and we we really do need to ensure that the township isn't walking over this board of education or this school district so I think henceforth going forward if we have requests by the mayor or the council to come to Invitation Only events we really need to vet that request because what I've seen the last several months uh is a total lack of respect for the board um anyone like to comment on that Dam sure thank you Mr President um my apologies Mrs benos I did not get to you in time to ask you to get spot on the new business portion of the agenda um cuz I really was didn't know whether I was going to speak or not because you know I'm trying to change a little bit here but it's always hard for me um so as was mentioned this past uh Monday I attended the planning board meeting um and uh happened to be in the attendance was Mr rehea and uh we were there as uh as a couple of uh couple of Joe taxpaying citizens um the event was a a pretty full house um a lot of families from the East Lake uh area um and as as as has been previously mentioned uh several times um the the developers attorney Mr engino and Mr Mayor mayor barberio mentioned that the Board of Education was made aware and hinted or suggested that the Board of Ed and the administration had approved during the roll call vote as we have here um planning board member uh stated this and I will quote question was was the Board of Education notified and were they met with and if they were not no one then came up and objected to any questions any questions any Witnesses they didn't make their concerns known today so I believe that they were notified and they have the problem if they have a problem with this project that they do not have a problem with this project so I am going to get I'm going to say in my gut that they said they knew about it and they said everything was fine I cannot speak for anybody else sitting here at this table um and in my 60 years of life I've noticed that I do forget things sometimes I do not remember in any type of session discussing other than what I learned when I did my role as liaison at the council meetings they discussed it but other than that um I did not would not and never would support a 24x7 active 27 Bay warehouse behind a school I don't care what the purpose is and I do not buy into the scenario that um there is only two choices um that's that's that's that's a false narrative um that a five-story building instead of a warehouse um I I don't buy that not for one minute uh during this session here my colleague Mr Rea who I have a lot of respect for um spoke as a private citizen and like we all have to do whenever we speak we have to give our disclaimer now it's not a disclaimer that we made up or I made up or a board attorney uh gives us our disclaimer and if we write a letter to the editor or we're entitled to our first amendment rights but we do have to disclaimed that we are on the board and that we are not speaking for the board which was done at the not only uh and and the best part was is that um my colleague did not come up and have a um you know I hate this idea what are you doing it was a thought a thought of a different idea a different suggestion or something else to think about and what I'm learning unfortunately is that you cannot have a thought you cannot open up a a dialogue so the board the attorney Mr engino and the mayor attacked my colleague and I was disappointed so during the uh roll call the mayor stated this I do not have the luxury to say I am coming here as a private citizen I am the mayor 24x7 that's how people look at it I will I do I don't know how any other board in this town can actually say that but I can't do that I have become the mayor as the mayor and have to come here 24 by7 and that is what I have to do and I also have to be candid and upfront and honest with you well I didn't want to have to remind the mayor that the mayor gets paid to be the mayor 24 by7 and that most of the PE all the people at this table are volunteers I was disappointed at the disrespect to our board lastly Chinese students um I went in 2018 what an experience um and the students that I met um it changed me and just it's something that I I don't think I'll ever experience again at least not at that point and then the students came back to New Jersey some of the students came back to New Jersey that winter and I had one student stay with me my family for about a week uh and to this day we still communicate with her as a matter of fact she's going to college in Drexel Drexel and we'll probably come and to visit the berio's family and I just we just did that because she was a gift for a week and then I read this post I had the opportunity to meet with some of the folks I had to I had met in the past in China with the exchange program we used to have with the pipany Board of Education although they no longer interact with the poran school system because the Paran border of Ed halted the program and our sister schools in China they still wanted to meet with us Paran Town Hall which was a wonderful time it was great to see some old friends from China and the exchange program we used to have in Paran and they are now interacting with the Livingston school system wow I was not part of that vote that dis standed the program we stopped the program because of Co in 2022 when I was elected board president I had a conversation with then superintendent Dr Sergeant about restarting the program our Superintendent at the time said and I agreed with her that since we were just coming back from Pro from covid we had just had com off closing the schools that we were going to wait and I thought that was a good idea we had to take care of business at home I love the program I think it's a great program but to have an elected official who used to be the the Board of Education president post this on his public Facebook page I felt was a disgrace and I'm also disappointed that um there was not any type of notice given by the participants being uh Mr neia or Mr Mayor roberio to our leadership to let the leadership know that this was happening I had to read about it on Facebook that's my comment thank you any uh comments or questions you had a question for me in Clos session would you like to ask that question can I just throw one thing out sure in relation to my report on the bills and all on the I'm sorry on the what if you look at your Clips um the mayor did signed the electric School Bus bill just may the governor I mean the governor I got the mayor on the brain now okay that's it correct we'll we'll see how the electric School Bus bill goes I was going to let you speak say whatever you wanted say and then I had a question so a couple of board members um asked me about my participation in a a political rally in June and I wanted to just State my position regarding that political rally um I was actually asked several months ago to participate in that rally and it was at a time where the board and the administration of the mayor and the administration of pany were having a meaningful Dialogue on pilot programs pilot projects and I declined the invitation to attend and to speak at the rally however as time went on and it became quite Apparent at least to me and I'm sure some others that um a a third meeting with the township seemed to be dubious at best um I changed my mind and I accepted the invitation to speak at the rally now the rally was from an individual who will be running um in the Republican primary for mayor in 2025 and I think there might be a perception that was that a wise thing to do or not um and that's that's fine everyone has an opinion on on this or that but you know in my heart of hearts the the dialogue with the township had ceased and it didn't appear that it was going to continue and even regardless of that um as an elected official we can't not negotiate or speak to people because we have a difference of opinion um we're backing a different person for a particular office when you're sworn in you you acknowledge an oath of office you swear to an oath of office that you're going to uphold certain things and whether you're a Democrat or Republican you should still have the ability to work together uh personally I enjoy talking to people who disagree with me because I generally learn something from them I'm not often Sue but I generally Come Away with some something positive putting all that aside I did seek legal advice prior to um speaking and as a few people alluded to as Board of Education members uh we we have to do some things to ensure that whoever is listening to us isn't under perception that we're speaking on behalf of the board now the board as a whole is a non-partisan entity there's no there's no denying that however individual elected board members have the freedom to do whatever they want politically uh we we are not nonpartisan individually um we can support Republicans Or democrats or Independents Libertarians whomever and as Board of Education members just like other political uh uh elected officials we do not surrender our first amendment rights to free speech uh and that includes endorsing or supporting political candidates we we simply don't and my speech at that rally uh clearly started with the standard disclaimer that I was the Board of Ed president that I was not speaking on behalf of the board now that's only one part of the story the other part of that story because disclaimer doesn't mean much if you say that and then go on and pontificate about board operations or District business so part two to that is you you can't just disclaim that you're speaking as an individual and then go on and talk about in detail board operations so I painstakingly just made sure that I did not I I talked about the candidate I talked about the upcoming elections I talked about the challenges facing par siany but I didn't Venture into uh Board of Education business uh during that speech again again you can disagree with whether or not that was wise that's fine um but I I'm not surrendering My First Amendment rights to endorse whomever I have two magnets on my car that support a particular movement or ideology I actually got flipped off on the way back from work yesterday by a young lady in a car I guess she didn't agree with me and that was her First Amendment right to do that so you know I I gave the speech on June 29th I would do it all over again in a heartbeat and I will continue to support elected officials as I see fit um the mayor has an obligation to negotiate I don't care if he doesn't like my point of view I doesn't like other board members points of view um he can't abdicate his role as mayor because he feels one way or the other so I just wanted to address that I'm happy to answer your questions to a point Mrs mayor I have I agree with you everybody on this board as an individual has their right to vote or to speak to whoever forever whoever they want I absolutely have no issue with that the thing that I think needed to be cleared up if and it was no fault of you it was how the paper perceived the um attendance because in the paper in bold print before it talked about you being there and whatever it said um Board of Education supports now that should have been corrected because it is not the Board of Education that was supporting it was individuals acting as their own on their own behalf not as a board member supporting him that is fine I don't have a problem with that but I do believe because I have read numerous things from people who are saying that they thought the Board of Ed was nonpartisan but that little blurb and not that it was your fault it was the new newspaper took that for whatever reason um whatever reason they decided and that because you were there and there were other board members sitting up there not in the audience that the Board of Ed was supporting and that's what I think needed to be addressed that little tiny caption I think should have been addressed to let people know that as you said you were not speaking for the board you were speaking for your self and everybody who was there was speaking for themselves but that little bit made it sound like it was the whole board and that that's where I think the problem I think that's I think that's a valid point perhaps Mrs benos we could look to contact uh was that Daily Record who that was in The Daily Record perhaps we can contact The Daily Record and ask them to print a correction to that um I specifically did not to speak to any members of the press after that rally was over I made a conscious effort not to do do that well that's one it that was of no fault but that should have been addressed I think okay I appreciate that that's a valid very valid point Jack I just want to go back to the town the planning board meeting and I did speak thank you for your kind words Tim I did speak and uh and I started off with my disclaimer but then I went to like everyone here is appointed or elected including myself right away I was stopped by by Mr engino and he said he was confused I didn't mean to confuse him obviously I was a little too crafty for him by saying but if I if he had let me finish the sentence I would have said as either appointed members for the public or elected we are here to serve the public and that is what we are there to do and I and the only reason I would even go to the to the either to the Town Council or the planning board meetings is if I think they're doing something that isn't the best thing for the town and I spoke up to as a private citizen just to lend my support for the numerous people who had far more expertise and than I did but at least to just point out that there could have been an opportunity for for a broker deal between developers that land is owned by a developer and maybe arrange some type of uh deal with another developer it's you know what a lot of times they just pursue the the easiest way forward and sometimes if you come up and spend some extra time and you can come up with a better solution that benefits the entire town and I think there needs to be more of that and uh and you know the mayor you know pointed out that you know I'm I'm a board member 24 hours a day yes I am but that doesn't mean I abdicate my my my rights as a citizen and uh and I don't and and and unfortunately some people in government seem to think that you that that the freedom of speech is an option and uh at all levels of government and I'm not talking about just the mayor it's at all levels of government that we seem to be getting away from that and that is like the worst that could happen in our society thanks Jack okay seeing no other board members we are at the hearing of the public um it's a very long introduction uh to to get to the hearing of the public does anyone wish to speak tonight and I'll go through the okay then we'll go through the introduction uh at this time if there's anyone who would like to address the board please come up sign your name and address in the book at the Lector and state your name for the record and please address the chair each person will have 3 minutes to speak to the board it would be helpful if you would like to address the board to please come up now and sign the book so that you ready when the first speaker is finished as a reminder we are video recording this meeting if you are a student who wishes to speak we ask that You' not provide your home address but rather give only the name of the municipality in which you live if you are a parent wishing to discuss a specific matter pertaining to your child during this portion of the meeting you may request that the board temporarily suspend the video recording alternatively please consider speaking privately about the matter to the superintendent after the meeting speakers should refrain from from using specific language student or staff names in their comments and are referred to bylaw 0168 for further information regarding the video taping of the meetings thank you very much please hi um my name is Nicole frany I live in Lake pipany I attended the planning board meeting the other night and I appreciated Mr beros and Mr Rhea attending the meeting and helping me out because I didn't have an agenda um I grew up in parcion um we moved here 1970 I moved away and I became a planning director I have expertise in planning site plan review rezoning watershed management storm water you name it I reviewed hundreds of site plans so I will say that it is totally unacceptable that there were only two uses proposed for the site it's obviously what why that was done but my main concerns after being at the meeting I hadn't planned to come here was listening to some of the mothers who had students in East lak School um a few of whom are significantly ill immunic compromised I don't want to say specifics even though they said it in public but I really don't want to do that I would talk to a board member after if that was okay um I unfortunately hadn't been aware of this development until recently so when I went to the meeting I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be but I will say that um it was very confusing about what was actually proposed it's completely inappropriate to have have that level of industrial usage immediately adjacent to where children are going to be outside and playing you're going to they talked about maybe the buffer will be completely removed between the two sites I hope that's not the case um and there will be an 8ft wall put up or something but I wanted to say that I wasn't aware that you had been communicating or sending letters to the Town Council but before I think they still have to have a final vote I would request a few things I would request that no buffering that was put there for a Corporate Park should be removed when you're putting that level industrial use there all that green should stay because it's pretty significant now it's somewhat mature none of that should be allowed to be removed there should be outdoor air monitoring on the border of the site as well as I would suggest that you put it in the school as well because they'll tell you where it will travel or not travel the same with noise I would put up noise monitors as well just to be on the safe side but those are you know I am concerned about the storm water and the potential for spillage I wasn't aware of any discussion about what kind of Warehouse it w was what was going to be in the warehouse what was going to be transported is there any potential for any kind of accident hazardous material or anything like that I mean and it's 24/7 which is significant because it's early in the morning uh you know when school buses are also going to be you know making that route I was concerned about the intensity Development Across The Street um children there are they going to be mandatorily busted to this site or are they going to be tempted to walk to East Lake is there a safe way to walk that route uh that's those are some of my concerns just right off the bat but I will was happy to hear that you're still trying to um communicate but I plan to go to town hall get a complete copy of the site plan and also look into the Redevelopment plan and how that was done it seemed to be very specific and very quickly to have that amount of data to have these meetings about what was going to be proposed um I do agree there were several people at the meeting that had good suggestions um why this site there's other sites that are available they just Chang the zoning also on Campus Drive why don't you put it out there where it's already going but those of us who live in the lake are trapped you know we can't get out unless there's a light and the light coming up to Allentown where school buses will come is maybe 30 seconds it is so quick because of the amount of traffic on pcip road you maybe three cars get out and if a bus is there it's the bus and maybe one car if they're really quick otherwise you're sitting there waiting for a long time and that is just not a good condition you know with the amount of traffic that may be now going to pick up these kids at the um at the other site so and that's thank you for that yeah yeah that's all I wanted to say and I just wanted to you know thank you for your service thank you good evening Matt deito a parcion uh just want to talk aan about this uh these Chinese student visit that recently happened that uh one of our former board members uh posted about um in these these these trips that were done in the least one from when I I was still on the board in 2018 and 2019 was reiterated a multiple times by this gentleman who would say that the cost was zero to the district it was being financed by this Chinese TV station to bring bring people people over to China to visit and then and experience China in that way um so there was Zero cost at the district which is fine as a result the board never had to approve anything in that regard for those things so there was never any reason for us to approve or disapprove these trips after Co started and and we went went away from doing it didn't want to come back I understand uh that was all on the superintendent at the time Dr Sergeant's decision not the boards additionally I don't see how and I understand Mr baros enjoyed his his time there and he he himself learned there I don't see how there was any real academic benefit for our own students in our district for these for for either these these Chinese students coming here for only about what two weeks and they're conversely our administrators and board members going there to to China do see where the benefit was for that so to restart a program like that again I don't see where there's benefit to our district for it uh additionally as I was saying about cost these kind of programs there's other programs that happen in our district that the board never approves recently in in April my daughter did a trip to Italy with several students from parip hills with with two teachers and that was never needed to be approved by the board because it was completely C cost was done by the parents and the families so there was no cost to The District in that way this just an slight example to that thank you very much have a good night uh thank you Mr DeVito do you want to address any no thanks thank you um I just want to thank uh you for the suggestions on air monting and nor norise monting something we'll certainly um look into uh and again I'll ask Mrs kogan or mesco regarding the green zone um we were told during the meeting in February that uh because we did Express an interest that the site plan looked like it was thinning the Trees Too Much between the two properties and we we were told that the developer would plant additional trees on the east lake side of that buffer zone uh to accommodate for anything that take down on the warehouse site of that do I that's that's correct right okay thank you plans have changed yeah apparently okay anything else for this evening no okay then we are up to a roll call vote on the superintendent's bulletin items 1 through 7 5 with addendum items 76 through 95 in Reading may I have a motion please6 96 I'm sorry a motion Mrs mayor second Mr Rea uh roll call please Mrs Abraham yes Mr baros yes Mrs kogan yes Mrs mayor yes Mr Rea yes Dr Wright yes Mr chafa uh yes and Wendy thank you for attending from such a far distance we appreciate it uh being there's no further business I had a motion to adjourn the meeting Allison second it by Judy all in favor hi I I