I going to call this meeting to order Mr Gibbs will you please read the statement of compliance in compliance with the open public meeting ACT public law 1975 chapter 231 notice of this meeting has been properly advertised in the Daily Record and Suburban Trends its agenda has been posted at the appropriate locations and a copy has been filed with the Quantic Township Clerk thank you you please call the rooll Mr Bloomer here Mr CI here Ms Dempsey is absent um Mrs espito here Mr gon here Mr mcweeny here Mr Pompeo here Mr senic here miss Shen here we have a quarum thank you everyone please stand for the flag salute the flag of the United States okay good evening everyone Welcome to our March 14th regular business meeting tonight the board will receive a presentation from Mrs stagger regarding the mural that was recently painted at Hillview I think the mural looks great I'm looking forward to hearing more about it Additionally the board will honor a group of students that participated in the Mission of Hope effort and the board and Dr poris have been trying to get this group of kids together towards uh to come to to a meeting to honor their efforts for quite a few months I'm glad we're finally able to do it um their story and what they did to help others to me is amazing and personally I can't wait to hear more about it uh last a vote on the preas start times and end times is on the agenda tonight therefore if you are here to talk about that you can do so during the first public comment session because that is an agenda item and with that I'll pass it over to Dr ports thank you Mr siic our student amb our student representatives were not able to make it so I'll just give my report and then I will send it over to uh Mrs Stager for her presentation and also uh Mr Stager you need it I do have I'm not allowed to throw things in here anymore I got in trouble for that but I do have a slide clicker uh tonight there's an item on the agenda and this piggybacks on what Mr senic was saying to approve an amended end time for the prek program like to reiterate that this outcome represents a great deal of work by the teachers administrators CIS committee and me I'm aware that the two o'clock end time is not popular among many parents or some parents and appreciate the input that I've receiv received from several of you we've taken your concerns seriously and look to accommodate them but I do want to stress that our primary emphasis is on providing the best possible educational outcomes for our Young Learners what has been proposed and what I'm recommending accomplishes that by increasing the amount of focus contact time our tools of the Mind trained teachers can spend with their students I've been an intentionally difficult contributor to the district team in terms of the development of this plan as I expect that we as I want to be sure that we have explored every option possible and considered as many solutions as we can um even after the vote I want to continue working on to try to make sure that everything is as strong as possible and support our kids in our community our profile of a graduate committee met last night to continue its progress towards this very ambitious and important Endeavor I was unable to attend due to a commitment to another District event I received a positive report and how the group was able to meet objectives and set additional goals moving forward the newly approved Dr O'Keefe whom I congratulate on receiving his PhD will send sent me a brief summary um that will also include in my next newsletter also I'd like to keep the community informed of our progress and what I suspect will actually end becoming a three-year project that will produce articulate inspired outcomes uh here's what Dr o'keef S profile of Quantic graduate committee had its March meeting last night following the establishment of that District goal the committee has been formed and done initial exercises around the sorts of goals and competencies such a profile should con should contain last night the community examined existing profiles for both aspects that could and would not work for panic they also examine data on most frequently demanded skills for the workplace both trade and professional The Next Step will be to use all these collected discussion notes to begin sorry to begin to craft survey tools and questions that can be administered at the start or before a year two of the project Mr hazler Dr Keef and I are also meeting with the former superintendent who led his district through a very very strong profile of graduate process we're actually meeting tomorrow at noon and then at the last meeting I made a reference to my week of sjg this past week or so appears to have been my week week of Hillview I had a lot of fun uh in the staff versus grade five students basketball game he added support of three members of our police department and two of our lunates who also happen to be Varsity athletes at the high school along with Mrs Sager's impressive jump shot helped us to Prevail over a very talented and energetic team of fifth grade students I also earlier this week enjoyed being principal for a day on Tuesday while I can assure the board in general public that I have no designs on going back to being a principal ever I really appreciate how kind the student staff and families were to me finally I'm proud to share that all 12 of the eggs and Mrs Batista's kindar in class have hatched and that the students and their teacher are doing a magnificent job keeping the chick safe and warm I was also very impressed Mr serowski brought over an additional heat lamp when one of the chicks appeared to be injured and needed to have his own separate safe spot and I'm not kidding when I say any of that I'm also proud to say Mr hazler did actually pet one of the chicks um his interest level in doing so was not strong but he did it and the kids seem to really like it and I thought he was a great sport about it so thank you for that my friend with that I'm GNA turn the microphone over to Mrs stagger um thank you Dr pis um and thank you for covering Hillview on Tuesday uh although I am a certified superintendent I assure you I am quite happy being the principal of Hillview and have no desire to ever be become a superintendent so I think we're good in our uh respective locations at this time uh so I'm here tonight just to um tell you briefly about this wonderful project uh that the Hillview HSA sponsored for us uh in honor of our 60th anniversary that we've been celebrating all year and continue to celebrate uh we have Hillview stock coming up in April that's going to be crazy so uh everyone will get an invitation so we hope you can join us that day uh tell you a little bit about the mural and how it came to be uh Hillview has one of the the strongest hsas our parents do an amazing job with fundraising uh our largest event is the Suare that's held in March it's actually next week um I'm sure some of you will be there and it's it's a really wonderful event I love it it's just so great the parents all come out they have a great time uh they dig into their pockets and uh they they donate a lot of money for the kids and at the end of last year the HSA had around $20,000 um that they needed to unload and said we want to give it to you do something with it and uh that made me a little nervous because it's a lot of money and I wanted to to do something really special and the HSA and I bounced around a lot of different ideas and ultimately we came to the conclusion that for the 60th anniversary we really wanted to do something that was lasting and was going to make an impact um at the school and so we decided upon a mural uh I had worked with the artist who completed it Karen Frost Olstead in my previous District she works in coordination with mors Arts which is a wonderful organization um that provides a lot of um art enrichment opportunities for schools as well as local communities and um in the last District I I was with um she created murals in in all the schools and it's you know it is it's more than just paint on the wall it it really adds so much value to the Aesthetics and mood um so I gave her a call and she couldn't fit Us in for a large project this year but she was able to do a smaller project this year and uh we're completing a larger project next year so she came to check out the space and measure last June um and then this past fall we had a a brainstorming session and the HSA and staff members joined in the meeting and um you know we we really just told her what makes us proud of the school and the larger community and and in the mural there's so many local landmarks and events um as well as many other intricate details um that are that are represented and I think um you know are really important um to everyone in the town um so she she gained a strong sense of what makes Panic special and also did some research on her own and once she created the design and there it is there's the artist Karen Frost said when she created the design um she sent it to us for approval and then the out line of the design uh was printed on panels in in black and white the panels were similar to wallpaper um and it was interesting so the the the panels came and other supplies came um you know in in late January and she brought all of her materials in and she set up shop in the art room for about two weeks and the fourth and fifth graders painted the mural as well as many many parent volunteers and staff members and it was interesting to see because we had these panels just set out on the art tables and um it was hard to visualize it coming together um the the panels were then completed and uh glued onto the wall in the APR and uh a lot of clear coat was added and through through that process it actually looks like you know the the mural was painted directly on the wall um we have you know music concerts and many other events in that room so there you can see it the picture doesn't do it justice it really is breathtaking in person um but but there it is it's it's huge it's actually massive and uh really looks like it was painted directly on the wall and it's just uh it's you know we're really proud of it because it's going to be something that um could be a Hillview for the next 60 years and um you know everyone's going to enjoy it and it's a great first impression you know I'm thinking about kindergarten orientation when parents come in you know that's a great first impression um of our school um and I I do have to give a shout out to Dwight Gabe um Don for making sure that the space was ready um and you know now we're sort of transforming the rest of the APR finish painting you know the other walls white uh we're going to get some new curtains next year we had the new floor put in a couple of summers ago so uh it it's really it's really looking great in there um now next year we're getting ready to start planning for that larger mural um and that will be completed during the entire month of January the artist is coming back all students in grades K through five will participate they'll all be able to paint uh and that mural that will be on the walls uh the hallway walls near the gym um will'll be a little bit more representative of Hillview alone and the unique experiences the students enjoy each year and and sort of what all the different attributes that give us um our unique identity uh so we're really excited about that there's also going to be a fundraising piece where families can have their names placed on the mural for a fee um we'll be sending that out uh so you know alumni parents you know if you're interested in that it'll absolutely be available to you um and you know it's it's just amazing when the entire school can come together to work on something that everyone enjoys and can smile about and and makes a lasting impression because it doesn't happen often you know usually there's there's certain groups um that are impacted by by certain initiatives and uh so so this is one that truly is for everyone um we're super proud of it and I invite um everyone to come by anytime you want to see it so thank you that concludes my comments on the mural I think the thing's amazing looking the fact that it has little pieces of panic inside the letters like you have town hall and then the best part about it I think is that little Cub Panther that's like hanging on the side of it very very cool I I highly recommend if you haven't been by to see it to please go I went to see it and honestly I was like at my kids went to Hill viw I was like a little emotional really it's it's so Grand and it was it's it's just really breathtaking thank you for organizing and helping to done and just a quick quick note on that too and I admire how quickly you got away from the podium so you couldn't really answer any questions if they emerged but um she had told me the same thing she said to you that the picture doesn't no justice and so I figur I'll go over I'll take a look we were talking outside the APR about something else with one of the staff members and I glanced over and I actually interrupted I think you I said oh my goodness because it's it is massive and it really does look spectacular it's nice being in there while kids are in there too they're very proud to show it off um and you can tell staff members are really proud of it too it looks great I was also very upset because Mr serowski and Mr hazler pointed out that in my six years there I did nothing in the APR and you got the floor replaced and you got the mural and new curtains but we'll leave that part alone you did well done you did get the fan the big the big thing it is that mural is awesome weot there the other day and it is it is great so congratulations to Hill you and thank you to Mrs Stager um I'm here tonight and thank you to the board of education for giving me the opportunity to recognize some of our students um who are doing things outside of of pths but representing all that pths is and and so tonight I have the distinct honor of recognizing our mission of Hope students who traveled to the Dominican Republic this past November it really is a huge Endeavor where those who are attending get many generous donations from our community and companies as well as help uh to support them uh in their Endeavors as they're over there there were 32 adults and teens that traveled to the Dominican Republic this past November including some of our pths students and and and a student at PV and I'm proud to say that for many years we have had pths students participate in this mission trip that's supported by Our Lady of Good Council Church during the week the students participate in a wide variety of service projects that include spending time in the medical clinic time in the classrooms with young children and most of all spending time in the community I here they had a very competitive soccer match against some of the Dominican team uh players over there they painted they added a roof to approximately 21 homes for families who are not currently staying dry uh they also broke ground and began construction on a home for a family of eight uh who have a sick child Living Without A shelter part of the mission is to send school and medical and other supplies that are donated in a 40-foot container uh to an extremely published Haitian Community um and I'd like to thank Chilton hospital that generally generously donated medical supplies and other items as they are a big partner for us with our Allied Health Academy you're going to hear tonight some outstanding stories from our students um you know I'm not going to be able to do the trip Justice because I obviously wasn't there but it really does put their learning into practice and I'd like to highlight Maddie petrusa in our Allied Health Academy um you know she was helping students helping people over there by taking blood pressure working in the clinic and helping a young boy who had diabetes um and and so you know she is taking what she's learning in her classes and at in her internships and really putting into practice so I I wanted to really highlight that as well but thank everybody who went on this trip um and so they're going to come up tonight and and present they have a little slideshow that they're going to show uh but I'd like them to share their experience with you so you guys ready who's leading us off Kevin all right big guy you're up good evening Mr hazler Mr poris and Board of Education members my name is Kevin Baron and I a senior PTA HS thanks for having us here tonight and asking us to share our experience with Mission of Hope through Our Lady of Good Council Church my family has been involved with the Mission of Hope for the past 17 years I was able to travel to the domic Dominican Republic with group twice our mission is in a migrant worker Camp built Years Ago by the Dominican government for Haitian sugarcane Cutters when the cane went bankrupt the government no longer needed them and they were left with in extreme poverty because they are not Dominican citizens they can not easily go to school find jobs or easily move elsewhere diseases are common and malnourishment is a major problem throughout the year leading up to our trip we held fundraisers collected sorted and packed over 40,000 pounds of donations and lastly my favorite part of this trip was spending time with with the kids in the classroom hi my name is Nat IA and I'm a junior at pths education all began with teaching a few children on mud floors in the Shacks where the residents live back in 2000 an old shipping container was donated and fixed as up as the first classroom as our organization attempted to educate children it became a challenge to get through to some of them due to sickness as a result a clinic was built along with a room in a school since that time our school educates over 500 children aged from 3 to 10 yearly who would have no access to education otherwise ultimately we hope to expand the school during school day every CH child is provided a hot meal for most it will be their only meal of the day children will commonly bring home a portion of their meal only to share with their family it is the meal that gets children to come to school but they leave with the benefit of an education there are currently 9,000 600 patients register in the clinic with an average of a thousand patients being treated at no cost each month the school and Clinic relies solely on donations alone to keep these programs running our mission group is instrumental in visiting each year to help sustain them with all types of medical and school supplies this past November we put shoes on over a thousand adults and children through our partnership with Brandon's heart and soul we delivered several thousand pairs of socks as well every child also received a used backpack at Christmas filled with small gifts and personal care items What affected me the most on the trip was experiencing the beta in the community spending time with the children of the beta in their school and with their families in the community left an everlasting impact on hi I'm John uh so our service project VAR each year through our Raaz the roof campaign families or groups in the US can sponsor a family in this community for only $300 we are able to put an entire roof on a home for a family providing them with as with much needed shelter for such a small cost we purchase all the supplies and hire local laborers to help us it's a win-win because because uh we're also supplying jobs for locals fighting to feed their families over the past two years alone our sponsors made it possible for us to put a o imately 42 homes with roofs and we have built two complete homes we hope to continue this program because there are so many families needing help an an interesting statistic to help you understand the conditions these families live in most have no mattresses and sleep on mud floors heavy rains are common and when this happens School attendance is down by around 50 to 60% the next day this is because when it rains their only their homes are really only partially covered so most of the uh other clothing and their entire house really just gets soaked so they rather have like their clothes hanging out to dry than going to school with nothing so these families live in a world most can truly un appreciate without experiencing it firsthand which we're so privileged to do my favorite part was when there was a a beat up basketball court right next to one of the schools and there's just pile they just dump garbage and fees just everywhere all over the court and we it basically took us like three whole days just to clean up the whole thing we got a rim up there and it was that was like my favorite part because it was just it was just really awesome um W hi I'm Donovan and I'm a junior here at panic in addition to the raise the roof project we participated in several other activities during our trip that include things like spending time in the classrooms with the children volunteering in the medical clinic teaching English participating in miscellaneous service projects such as painting digging with train or water lines leading a community cleanup or simply playing with the children on the streets another activity we enjoyed was playing soccer a partner organization helped create a soccer program to get kids ages 5 to 18 off the streets the only requirement for the children is before they can play soccer they have to spend time with volunteer tutors on their homework most of these children don't have shoes so our group collects used soccer cleats balls and other equipment the children come in each day and grab a loner pair of cleats and our community helps make this possible we get quite the workout and the competition is tough as even many of our Varity soccer players will attest but we have a great time and one of the things I enjoyed most was when we built a small swing set in the community and it kind of acted like a playground and in the free time all the kids would go there and play with each other which they didn't have before hi I'm meline all travelers go into this trip with different things they hope to experience but for me I had a big interest in participating in activities surrounding the wellness and the health of residents as this aligns to what I hope to do in my future and complemented the experience I have in the Allied Health program the agenda of the week is flexible to accommodate everyone's personal goals I volunteered a majority of my time in the clinic and assisted in community Wellness visits we visited newborn babies to adults in their '90s beyond the obvious conditions of malnutrition we encountered many patients with dangerously high blood pressure once detected they would be referred to the free clinic where we would help get them be seen by a physician due to the overwhelming support of this community and businesses including chilon we were able to deliver medical supplies to help sustain the clinic in this upcoming year we hope to be able to expand and our ability to supply more products in the future for me one of the most impactful experiences was a lot of focus our group gave to a young boy named Benji who's only a few years younger than me his family is extremely poor causing a very treatable condition of diabetes to go untreated because they struggle to feed their family and cannot afford to be seen by specialists in the city or pay for medications his insulin levels were life-threatening and just looking at him you knew he's extremely ill and nearly dying it was hard for us to witness we with help with a few um sponsors and some money raised by our group Benji's been treated ongoing since we left in November he is being seen by specialist with this condition and receiving medications and help with proper nutrition we provided him with a glucose monitoring device to help the clinic get his health under control we hope to find the means to continue supporting him any parent with a diabetic child in the US with access to healthcare will tell you it requires a lot of care to manage diabetes so imagine living in a condition with little food running water or electricity a part of our community visits consisted of Wellness screenings along with leaving families with much needed bed sheets baby cribs and quilts donated from an organization in the town quilting for a Cause [Music] okay hi my name is Caitlyn Moore and I am in the e8th grade at PB Middle School this trip has truly changed my life and open my eyes to the reality of living in poverty as well as how together we can have a large and positive impact on the daily lives of these families who have little control of their over their unfortunate circumstances above all we'll always remember the constant smiling faces and the laughter of the children despite them having so little and it goes far beyond the gifts or presents we bring them but more importantly it's about our physical presence and kindness that matters most our visits will have a huge lifelong impact on these children they will forever remember our hugs smiles and love it doesn't take much to let the kids know how much we love them by simply holding their hands while walking down the street kicking them a ball or blowing them bubbles we can fill these children with happiness we got to experience firsthand how true this lifelong impact was when a few of our former Travelers were welcomed back with their names being called and children running to them for hugs Kevin a former traveler met a young boy named Jesus in 2022 they they reunited again during her trip this year it was heartwarming to see Jesus give Kevin a handwritten note telling him that it was his dream to learn English so they can better communicate in the future he then proudly displayed an English to Creole book he is using to help him achieve these goals many of us got to use this time to improve our Spanish skills as well beyond all the donations and supplies we provide it's these types of encounters that are just Priceless for us we all ended our week knowing that we made a lifel lasting impact on these incredible children and their loving community so on behalf of our entire group thank you for your time and for inviting us here first of all that's not easy to stand up here and give a presentation so thank you for that you know that that's a learning experience in and of itself but when you think about and I was I was as I was thinking about you guys standing up here you know one of the quotes that came out my mind was be the change you wish to see in the world you know and we need more leaders like you who are going to step up and and and help and so you know from the bottom of my heart I really appreciate everything that you did on that trip and I know it's not easy to miss a week of school and then come back and make up all that work and you know it takes a lot of dedication responsibility and and just I'm so so proud of each and every one of you and I want to thank your parents as well for for supporting you in this endeavor it is it's really really important and so uh I know the board appreciates that the community appreciates it and I know that people over there appreciate it so once again thank you very much and uh there's a brief little video here that uh that they designed so Chris if you could hit the video [Music] [Music] e [Music] m second this group also puts together a movie I know Mr Castle has a lot to do with that there's a there's a a movie that they put together so um once that's all completed from the trip I'll I'll forward that to everyone as well uh but it really is is something special just to see the smiles in that the smiles for you from you but also the smiles from them was just uh it's it's just so heartwarming so I want to take an opportunity to recognize our students um first up is Kevin Baron come on up Kevin grab right up there and grab a certificate we have kieren Brady Donovan Castle Sienna Castle I'm seeing this here okay John fod congratulations r TV student Caitlin Moore meline patuska Natalia sarella Jack Tobin conations Jack and last but not least Luke white I'm GNA try and get a picture in here I'd like to thank Miss Baron for putting a lot of this together and in the parents that are here uh thank you so much for your support of the students too really appreciate it you guys are free to go if you want to if you want to take off by all means I know you have homework and you know before you leave I just want to say one thing to you I cannot believe what I just saw on that screen you guys are like a light for somebody else in the world that's living in darkness yeah you sure be very proud of yourselves I'm very proud of you you're setting an example it's just it's amazing yeah I think as as much as I'm looking at you guys and I know I know a lot of you guys and the smiles on your faces compared to Smiles on this kids fa it's unbelievable I mean I don't know those kids I know you're a bunch of happy kids okay but the you change their lives it's it's absolutely amazing thank you and I'm s happy you got that chance to sit to just to see this um I thought I knew what to expect and then it it was actually overwhelming and I've known a lot of you for a very long time um so I I wish I had a better word than proud um if it exists please know it applies to you and I can tell you as somebody who's been living with diabetes for the last 16 years knowing what you are doing to help that child and that family um really hits close to home so from the absolute bottom of my heart I thank you so much for being such outstanding people not only just outstanding students in our school but just outstanding people um you give us hope for our planet so thank you all right now I think you can go now go do homework thank you see you guys night uh Mr Gibbs do you have a report yes good evening on this evening's board agenda there's an approval to submit the preliminary 2024 2025 budget to the county office for review and approval the preliminary budget is in the amount of 53,8 19,47 the school tax levy is a 2.89% increase from the current year using the safe regulated Bank cap of as well as a 0% increase in state aid for general education Appropriations a formal 2024 2025 budget presentation will be given at the April 29th board meeting which will provide more information on Monday March 18th the new carpet installation for Auditorium will start of which it is anticipated to take about 5 days to complete the media set of beam replacement will also start on Monday March 18th and it's anticipated to be completed in about 3 weeks the advertisement for the request for proposal RFP for the school's District's attorney will be advertised next week for a response date of March 29 this is just a reminder for those who have not completed their financial disclosure statements to let me know if you have any questions or difficulties in submitting your statement and finally the ninth town meeting will be held on Tuesday April 30th 2024 starting at 7 p.m. located at the high school auditorium the town meeting will be a zoning Board of adjustment meeting regarding the approval of one school Global's new facility that will be located across the street from the high school thank you thank you I know it's difficult to follow that so good job uh I'll now open it up to public comment on agenda items only members of the public may speak once for a maximum period of five minutes by the clock during this portion of the meeting the public may speak on an agenda item only uh if a member of the public raises a question the question should be directed to the board president and again there's there's another section for comment we can talk about anything you like at the end of the meeting but this portion of the meeting is just for agenda items um and before you start speaking please state your name and sign in um high school music parents uh Finance I'm here to talk about the uh budget for next school year um I hope I brought some light to uh our situation over the last year I think a lot of the The District budget conversations were happening in a different room from the music parents budget conversations uh uh um hopefully you're you're up to speed on what we do um I I feel like a lot of what booster groups are designed to do is being restricted for us because we're busy paying the bills instead of buying new equipment for the children things of that nature which these organizations are designed for um last week where the last meeting I shared a lot of information a lot of numbers on on stiens and and hours and group sizes and things of that I know this is not the Forum to make stiping adjustments for staff but that's about $20,000 of what we donate a year the rest is is is equipment is is all types of things that that are in the bills and the students are not working with new equipment that's what we want to be here for we want to buy new instruments we want to buy new rifles for the guard I mean they're wrapped in electrical tape so that they don't get splintered I mean they're so old they're falling apart and they're wrapped in tape so they can still use them so hopefully y I've I've I've I've shared enough with you over the last year that uh some adjustments can be made to to to help out the staff in the music department and then hopefully the teachers uh when they have no negotiations are interested in fixing some of that side of the equation for us so we can do things um to go above and beyond for the school not to just cover their bills and then congratulations to these students from Mission of Hope uh I'd like to get in contact with them I know I've shared with you uh the donations we've done for the Salvation Army with our apparel things left over I'd love to work with with this group and and them go there with those gifts right I mean this is a very personal story for them and some of them probably go back multiple times um but but uh I'll try to get in touch with someone from their group so we can work that out in the future as well all right thank you thank you oh boy watch out what's up everybody how you doing beautiful if you don't know me my name is Ryan herd nice to see everybody much nicer to be on this side I gotta tell you so I want to talk about three things first I want to talk about Mrs stagger no offense Dr Mike but I'm thinking she's kind of outperforming you she got that in there she's doing a great job and uh I gotta tell you you know all three of my boys went through Hillview my heart is with Hillview Hill is a great school all the schools a great school but you know what it's it's nice to see that kind of stuff uh number two Mission of Hope you know what in today's society it's really hard to have a faith base um belief system and really do those kind of things nowadays and to see that these I don't even want to call them kids you know young adults you know it feels do good doing good that's why we got to do more good so faith family and freedom they are literally living examples of what one person can do to move the needle so that's really exciting and that's from our town and obviously like yourself I love this town this is the best town in the world and it's because of our community and why is it because of our community it's because of our culture and it's because of these young adults number three I want to talk about the uh music program great program matter of fact it's an award-winning program why obviously because of the kids obviously the teachers but I got to tell you when I started getting into it seeing how much these kids do especially you know it starts at band camp and these kids between mini band camp here at the school going way up to Upstate New York and being at band camp there five days 12 15 hours a day I've never seen kids work so hard in my life I've been a part I've been a little league coach I've been Scouts soccer you name it I've done it just like most of you people too but wow these kids put in the time they don't complain they have a blast and I I got to tell you it it's just it's amazing and it's an amazing program because of Mr strier I don't know how he does it I don't know how any of these teacher do it right because it doesn't work at my house you know when any of the teachers go like this and all of a sudden the kids listen I don't know when they get home obviously it gets turned off I don't know but he commands a respect from these kids and it's just it's amazing to see and he doesn't do it through Authority like he does it because they all are just they respect him and he's a nice guy I mean quite frankly he looks like he's part of the band like literally but I digress he really is a great guy so is Bruno so is everybody else you know we've got a great group of people but I have to tell you I need your help and you're going to hear it just from everybody else we need more money and I get it you know you know that I'm the mayor of the town but I'm not here from that and we just went through budget season it's a finite amount of resources I get it there's never enough on one side and there's way too much need on the other side and you got to make your decisions I totally get it we're constantly making our decisions where we're going to put this dollar where we're going to put that dollar and it's you know hey it is what it is but I got to tell you the music program has the highest percentage of kids of any program in the school why because they're awesome and because they're number one it breeds that and the other kids see it you see it from the eighth graders that want to go into this we have a blast and I gotta tell you the other reason because of the parents you know they they literally do the blood sweat tears I mean literally when when we are you know not we I mean our number one manufacturer of all the things that go out there from trees to beds to whatnot I mean talk about broken Knuckles that's what Jeff's doing all the time it's like any program the parents are a huge part to that program I'm going to tell you we have a unique group of parents I mean they are 100% vested the amount of hours and money in kind just from doing it blows me away we just got back from Boston and I gotta tell you the kids were great it was great for us because we really enjoy seeing these kids from the music program going there and seeing the Symphony Hall and seeing what you can become I mean it blows you away you have kids from this school district that are just as good so I have to say I know I need need some help I need some money and I really appreciate everything you guys do because I get it so that's all I want to say thank you very much have a great day thank you my name's uh Eric goldbeck uh my son's a senior here in the high school and he's been part of the music program for five years um it's just been an awesome experience not just for my son but my family volunteering and helping and supporting as Ryan said um I happen to be in the transportation business and own my own business and when I showed up the first year and saw how they handled band camp I came back the next year with my own trucks and equipment and uh we properly transported uh to band camp up in New York state and since that going from one truck it's grown to two trucks um and two drivers and uh you know we meet here Sunday afternoon load the trucks luggage check come back Monday morning we drive up State unload set up anything from building scaffolding to striping lines on the field um and then we go back up Friday load up bring them all back to Camp um Mr poris I think you got the opportunity to help us out at one game this year you see the volunteer support that's needed to set them up for every performance um also the school trail that it's provided every weekend that's just not enough to get our instruments and props and materials to and from whatever performance I think another parent will get up and talk about that a little bit um I have a little sample here of what the cost for me to provide the two trucks um I'm stepping aside this year as my son's graduating so you know there's definitely going to be need for um more financial support equipment to continue the success program I'll share this with you guys and uh hand it over to the next person thank you sure hi my name is Christine Meyer I'm I'm not a public speaker because I'm usually running the microphones um so I wrote my speech here uh for the last five years um my husband Rob and I have provided um pths music with countless hours of both audio and video engineer Services uh Rob is a professional audio and video engineer and between the two of us we um have 20 years of experience doing audio and video work um together as a team uh the main service that we provide to pts pths is soundboard operation for the music department at football halftime shows band competitions concerts theater Productions and rehearsals in addition to the soundboard operation we also provide assistance with sound design for shows equipment installation and repairs assistance with equipment purchases equipment training recording of video performances and video Ed editing of recorded performances a fair rate for the expertise we provide to the school is around $50 an hour but we provide these Services gladly free of charge during the 2023 marching band season we donated approximately 150 hours of our services after the last school year we found that our marching band and indoor percussion Ensemble had outgrown the audio equipment that we had due to both student numbers and our placement in a higher competitive class over the summer we assisted Mr strier with the design and purchase of a new speaker system necessary for the band to maintain their competitive level and a digital audio mixer necessary to accommodate our growing band student numbers all at a price that our association of Music parents could reasonably afford and purchase so I have some friends here who have um some examples of some of the things that we've purchased uh one thing in particular that we we got I I mentioned was uh a digital mixer because we outgrew the mixer we had um and some equipment that went with that mixer which came to a total of uh $ 5,735 the amps donated toward buying that equipment and um during the season we had microphones break and um so we had to send out emergency repairs um and those microphone repairs cost a total of $142 thank you thank you I'm jenig um both my daughters are sophomores here and they both have been in the program since 8th grade they absolutely love it um and I'm here to tell you I think this might have been the biggest one that Christine was gonna say the speakers that we purchased and excuse me the the speakers that we purchased were 9,444 so that's just typically Iceberg of what we pay thank you thank you hi my name is Sue gbec um I'm here to just say how wonderful there there's no words that could express it I was just going to read this number from the paper but I can't just do that um this program has changed our lives you know it's added so much to our son's you know High School experience um it's so inclusive of all students all parents our the first meeting eighth grade parents or freshman parents go to we look like a deer in headlights and all this senior parents say don't worry we've got you you know and they just walk you through it and within months you're joining in serving pizza uh giving snacks at third quarter Hospitality I clean the closet I don't clean my home closets but every week from September October November I clean the band closet every week to organized snacks and plates and dishes so it's just been a great experience but they deserve your you know your backing so my only thing was that uh the association of Music parents donated $972 towards the new marching van uniforms thank you thank you hi my name is Stacy mey I was just goingon to come up and read a number to but then I was sitting here thinking how you should know a little bit about my daughter she's um 15 she's in 10th Grade and she barely speaks she's very quiet she sits alone at lunch because she prefers it not because she does doesn't have friends um she joined ban this year um she was going to do it last year but she she was chickened out um people encouraged us they kept saying just tell her it's a great it's a great place it's a great place so this year she finally got up the courage she went to band camp she thought it was really exhausting I was like did you have a great time I thought it was going to be like camp and they go swimming and stuff she's like we worked hours and hours every day you g to do it again probably so she joined band and she plays flute in the concert band um in marching band she plays the viop um she also plays the ukulele but that's not in the band um but I just want to say that for Angelina joining when she went to the open house the other kids came up to her and they were so welcoming and so sweet and kind and you know they give her her space to just be who she is nobody saying Angie you have to be louder or Angie you have to do this or Angie you have to behave this way they just let her be who she is and she's blossoming she gets excellent grades in school she's organized she does all her stuff on her own she's everything is prepared she looks forward to coming here every day she yells at me because we're not going to get there exactly on time Hurry up Mom hurry up so she's really looking forward to it and I just want to say Mr schrier and of the teachers and the band parents they're just such an amazing group and the kids they're just the sweetest kindest kids that I've met in a group and she's my third child so they've really changed her life and I think she's just blossoming because of band and I hope it stays keeps going this way so that's my story um anyway we spend uh we donate $236 to percussion s and mallets the MP donates that and $1,050 for indoor percussion drill and WR drill writing and music thank you thank you good evening my name is Agnes sedoric I would like to add my voice to everybody who spoke before for me B is a big family for everybody and I'm already making myself prepared that in two years it will be the end because I don't have more children to add to the band I just had two since 2016 involved in everything what they like to do and mostly it was color guard and band during the school time so it's um what I can tell more to those wonderful worlds before me that it's the most amazing experience and I'm really happy that we came to this town 2011 and had chance to add everything what we could offer to the town and to the activity in band and I was asked to tell that we offered band offered $145 toward um uniform gloves and Tinkles thank you thank you U my name is George fornier my son is a uh sophomore involved in the band he's been in the music program in the school system since sjg um and between the support that he's received from Mrs finnon for Mr fo and the PV and then joining the bands with Mr strier it has been such a huge change in our son for the better and it's been amazing he's come out of his shell he was honored here uh month ago for being a member of the area band um as a sophomore playing the French horn and when we went to the rehearsals there to see all the other directors that knew of the Quantic program and they were amazed at the Quality of students that come out uh in the music program here and I've also spoken to several U professors at the college level um who are quite amazed at at what comes out of this program um with a smaller budget as they have um if it wasn't for the amps and the money that they've contribute to this I'm not sure what would be going on um the the effect that it's had on our son has been amazing um he's now involved in horor cabalero is Marching for DCI competitions they'll be in in Indianapolis World Championships this year um because of what he learned here and the um amount of dedication and heart that they've gotten for this program has been simply amazing um my day job I'm an audiovisual design engineer for over 30 years I I help the Myers where I can um but also um recent recently we had a rack in the back that was falling apart and I was able to get a manufacturer to donate to us an $1,800 rack for us to mount all the equipment that's in the back of the uh um that's that's used for the wireless microphones back here and that was a free um to us but the amps um you know we have to don't we have donated over $835 worth of audio cables every year because those cables do not last being dragged down on the field um in the rain in the snow in the wind um and also we have donated over $300 for an accompanist on chamber night and I want to just thank you and just consider all that the amps are doing to help this music program grow and and we would like to ask you to please help us continue that thank you hi my name is Beth fornier my husband has said most of it for our son and just seeing the growth come out of him through this program through the school district has been completely amazing and I am also up here to ask for the support that they can give I never saw this growing up I I didn't go to a public school but I kind of am upset I didn't because of the experience and the education and just being through this music program has is so wonderful and I'm so grateful that he has the chance to do this in his life um the association music parents have donated $580 for the replacement of drum heads and slips and also last season they donated $418 for an antenna for a mixer because during States it broke so they had to quickly get an emergency antenna because we needed it for Nationals so the amps have been amazing and I'm really hoping that the school can also help support this wonderful program thank you thank you good evening uh my name is Pat ferano my daughter is a senior in the high school and um it's just been unbelievable being with these people you know Dr Portis before you said that you couldn't think of another word for proud meeting these people has been unbelievable to me you know I'll be honest with you I didn't think I had the time for it in the beginning and I'm so happy to meet all these people I mean we have the mayor working with us we had Dr poris working with us put come on pushing seven foot trees and I don't know if you remember doctors myself my wife and a few others making sure you went the right way we had to look out for you but uh I could be here all night talking about these people they're just unbelievable and you would not believe the time what they do every bit of their heart is it's it's unbelievable it's all these people right here and it's just nice to be part of this and part of this town they're unbelievable thank you thank you oh by the way my little sheet said $133 for U-Haul for the indoor percussion thank you for your [Music] time hello I'm April Gonzalez from pumpt Plains uh my daughter is a sop so she no she's not she's a freshman it's going too quick she's a freshman she's been in the music program she started last year in eth grade um have to say the music program done beyond amazing things for her she was in a very difficult position in her life and it helped her meet new people everyone is so super welcoming even all the parents looked out for her she has some allergies and don't worry we got it everyone is just very welcoming and accepting and just wonderful um I also have a seventh grade son who has special needs that is going to be joining the music program next year which I thank God for because there's really no sports for special needs so when they have limited capabilities it's it's the perfect Niche so we're praying that this works but um I just want to say of how between how great they are and the matter of time they they put into this and the fundraising the different fundraising um opportunities that they're coming up with to try and come up with all this money because there's only so much that you can really continue to ask parents for and quite honestly with fundraisers only so many times you can go to your aunts and uncles and cousins say hey can you buy this to raise money for us because we need you know they need these things you know so um we greatly would appreciate any help and assistance from the board and community and uh thank you for your time um I will say that last year the amps had donated $65 to cover the accountant for the 1099s and the 10 1096s thank you for your time thank you hi my name is Jennifer Steinberg uh this is my sixth year second child my first child did his four years and graduated last year and as everybody else has said it did wonders for him he was an introvert and now he's at UMass he's excelling and not only is it a great town but I attribute it all to the marching band and the friends and the confidence it built in him it's it's amazing to see my daughter as a sophomore same thing it it it's just incredible with this group of people and how they bring their children and the teachers and the support that we all give each other would be wonderful to get from the group up front the marching band or the amps have also donated $815 for marching band props thank you hi Melinda Dewey um Chris Ina Do's mom she's a 10th grader um she loves this program because there many options between the theater the choir just watching her friends also because they all a big network of friends also they help each other out and the piece that I'm talking about is the amps with printing $74 of sheet music thank you hi my name's Annie palano my husband was just up here so he kind of said it all um it's a wonderful program my daughter loves it uh the amp spent $2,663 on indoor percussion and uniforms and shoes thank you Kevin Weir I'm the co-president of the association of Music parents um I have a son who's been in a marching band since 8th grade and a daughter he's a senior now and a daughter who just joined this year also in eth grade I remember my first band camp I went up with them because my son forgot his instrument um but I went up and hung out with their for a little while and trying to watch him because many many people here know Mr poris too because he was his principal um he had some behavioral problems nothing major but some socialization problems so I was kind of worried how he was going to react at band camp and my friend Jeff Brunner here reassured me over and over again that that that this group is nothing but great they they look after each other they help each other out they do everything they can um I think he even made it a point to make his son like my son's Guardian for the day or something um but he couldn't have been more accurate this this group is absolutely phenomenal the both the parents and the kids they help each other they work with each other and all we need to do is just continue doing that um as the board we put together not only um all these donations for all these things you've been hearing about we also work to do like spring dinners and and band camp and the spring trip all this stuff is funded by the board through donations and volunte and volunteerism and whatnot and we just need all the help we can to continue this for these kids to continue them being successful and and doing what they love to do and you know getting those 10 foot tall trophies I mean there's one in the hallway right now and there's one in the band room from uh you know national championships they won um so one of the things that the amps have donated um this past year was over $200 worth of paint just to line the fields both at band camp and at here at the school for their practices for Marching for marching band um thank you thank you good evening my name is is Kristen naan um I have two children one who graduated who was actually we my husband and I have the unique um perspective our boys were involved in pretty much every aspect of the music department from singing marching band concert band acting all of it and it is a phenomenal program and um as actually a proud pths graduate class of 1990 I can attest that this music program in this district and especially in the high school has been fantastic always even back in the Dark Ages when I was here so um it's it's really a great program and it it's it just it's blossomed over the over the years and I just ask any and all consideration is so very greatly appreciated and I just want leave this little note that $300 was donated for it to to have a nurse on the music field trip thank you very much for your consideration thank you sorry hi I'm Heather sisler I am the proud mom of a senior and my daughter has grown up with music and has had five amazing years in the pths music programs she started out in the eighth grade and has participated in least five or more ensembles every year she's been in theater she's been in marching band she's been in the NOC Dives and choir and percussion and uh you name it um I've watched her grow as a musician a student a friend and a leader but I also have two grandsons who will be growing up in the Panic school system so that my interest isn't ending just in June I am really hopeful this program will continue I'm also the president of the music parents um so I see firsthand what needs our music programs have and how much the amp has done and continues to do for our students because we do help with all areas of the panic uh music programs I know the countless hours put in by our parents and by our students and you won't attend any performance competition or music event without seeing several parents in attendance each year our drum Majors attend a training camp which enables them to lead our marching band to winning performances the amp pays $376 each year for each drum major that's attending Camp so you've he heard tonight how great the music program is and how much great the association is and we really try but obviously we need your help to continue to make it better thank you thank you good evening everybody my name is Jerry josi um for those of you that don't know me or my family I have two sons that are currently in the program The Band program a senior and a sophomore um you know my family we don't raise athletes um so when we came uh into town and discovered the music program they found something that they could really latch into and uh really found themselves um same sentiments that everybody's expressing get to watch your kids grow and learn and develop some leadership skills and all that um but I think I think what's important about um what you're seeing here tonight is um the dedication that the families have towards this program um I wasn't prepared to get up here and speak today I thought I was just wearing my P crew shirt and providing some support but um here I am standing up here talking to you guys about how much this program means to everybody and you know the parents here all spend a ton of time um volunteering in many aspects because um number one because their kids are in the program but also um they saw uh the value of the program and how much your kids benefited from it and I think we all want to make sure that this program is there for our kids and for the kids coming in behind them many of the people here aren't going to be here next year so the lobbying for additional funding um isn't going to benefit them directly it's just they want to see the program continue to be successful all right um and then the amps have funded $525 for four jazz band clinicians thank you for your time thank you hello I'm Lucas naan and I did not anticipate on speaking tonight but um I am the aformentioned graduated child of my parents who both spoke um I graduated in 22 which is like two years ago already which I can't believe um but I think I can be a good witness as to the fact that um the person I am today is very much defined by my experience with the music program um I continue to do musical activities in college I am in the wind Orchestra which is a class and I'm involved in the musical theater student run organization on campus um and they continue to be very formative parts of my life um the attributes of a musician I think are very Clos closely related to what makes a good um functioning person in society um there are a lot of Cooperative skills that you learn um and dedication that any good citizen learns from music program and the person I've become while I'm still a work in progress of course I definitely am very thankful to what Mr strier and Mr Arnold have done for me um while I don't have a specific figure of money to give you all I can say that um I am aware of the financial situation of my musical theater organiz ization at the College of New Jersey um tcj musical theater is the second most funded organization under the college Union Union board which puts on uh comedy shows and large scale events so right under that is the musical theater and we got budget cuts this year but that's irrelevant but the point is out of all of the student run organizations on campus the music theater org has the second highest amount of funding from the100 million budget that all student organizations get that's just musical theater that does not include the any student Run music department um clubs that does not include the straight plays that does not include the Improv Comedy Group which are all sort of Under the Umbrella my point is that this mode of extracurricular activity requires help assistance financial support to run and to really have a proper impact on the lives of the people in it so please help us thank you thank you hi my name is Marlene Brunner I am the treasurer of the band parents um I can tell you seven years ago when we joined the um the marching band it was very small and I think we had 56 54 kids um we're up to over 80 kids now I think um the fundraising is getting harder and harder for us to do our town is um overwhelmed with fundraising from Little League to all the other schools and all the other organizations and it's like ail had said earlier um we can only go to our families so many times asking for donations or whatever but um the last two years we did take the Tricky Tray out of the school and um brought it to the Brownstone and we've done better but it's still not enough we still me we still need more uh so any kind of help we can get you know it's greatly appreciated so one of the checks that I have written is for $341 for Winter Guard props thank you thank you and I think I saw all your faces because you thought we were done but then I stood up so you're welcome anyway so hello everyone I'm Todd Steinberg I am the fourth year vice president of the amps um mostly because nobody else wants this position as you can all imagine sitting up there so with that said I wasn't planning on speaking tonight but um a couple things um we definitely need your help um I am in charge of all of the fundraising or tasked with the fundraising for this organization I have an amazing support system um they're sitting behind me now and like everyone else had said so far it's very difficult to ask the same band parents over and over and over for the support so please keep that in mind um and lastly just so if you're not aware we have brought home probably more recognition than any other organization in this school with state national championships we are the ones that keep panic and the name of panic out there um and and uh and bring that home every single you know for the last few years with us so please keep that in mind when you are going through your budget and my little piece of paper says Joel writing for $652 so thank you thank you hi I'm Jeff Broner um I build props I transport props I've been pit crew member for seven years watched the program go from 56 to 90 watch our trailer that you guys provide get smaller and smaller and smaller so I've been using my own truck and trailer for six of the seven years is transporting the props that I build um everywhere in New Jersey into Pennsylvania I've never charged a penny for any of my services and everybody my indoor percussion $117 for props these are minimals these are what I actually lay out of pocket I'm in construction I'm I have access to a lot of materials that get donated um these things cost way more the trees $800 they were way more than that we built a train for $800 not possible so just the the how how we've grown and what we've needed and I'll go back to to the fact of 1985 graduate I was never in the Band Room back then but I'm pretty sure there's instruments that we're using to this day that were there then and the amount of repairs that we do on a lot of this stuff is uh yeah this stuff just doesn't last forever we really need some help so yeah we have a marimo with ratchet straps that was an emergency repair two years a long time ago that's still there we shouldn't use the bright orange one but so we really need we really need some more funding we need another trailer at some point I'm GNA gain my sanity and not don't you know be here for every single weekend in the fall I've also do props for winter percussion and Winter Guard and uh I'm getting tired so someone's going to have to replace me we might have to pay something thanks for your consideration thank you hello I am Kendra Meer and I am a senior here at pths and I mostly associate myself with the music program here um I just wanted to say a few words about the music program how it's shaped my life and okay I'm going to start with the parents they are such a dedicated group of individuals and I don't know how anything in the music program would happen without them like they spend like so much time like out of their day to help us and everything and let me say the teachers the text they they spend so much love and care and time to help us all out and it's amazing to have them there and I don't know where this band would be musically or as like a team without them um I also must say that the band for me me it has really helped me grow my leadership skills responsibility and it has made me a better person um and the quality of people there is so good now I'm thinking about uh pursuing a music career in music flute performance and it's all thanks to Mr strier Mr Arnold these wonderful people and I can't thank them enough and we would really love for you guys to support us and help us as much as you guys can and thank you for your time thank you all right so I'd like to say thank you all for coming um it's an appropriate meeting to come here being that it's the preliminary budget so this isn't the final budget but it's preliminary so uh it's well placed that you came to the meeting I was trying to tabulate everyone that came up and said a cost and I I got somewhere around 27,000 does that seem accurate I mean I fudged a little bit because if you said like $17 I was just rounding up to 150 I was you know trying to keep it manageable for my promagnet brain but I think that I got it somewhere around there um the board definitely supports the band um as far as where the budget stands now um it's preliminary so we're still going through the process of reviewing it but I'll like uh Dr poris and and Mr Gibb speak about that more but um yeah the board definitely does support the band and if we can help you in any way we certainly will look to to do that I some want right over to me well I I do appreciate you guys coming out for this as well I know this is um something you're extremely passionate about um I'm just going to point out that Kendra publicly um voed appreciation for parents I think that's the first time in humanity that a teenager has ever has ever done so so thank you kandra for breaking thousands and thousands of years of futility as a parent but um definitely send um the breakdown of costs um I I'm glancing over here at at his math and um it's probably much better to have it in a spreadsheet or something of that sort and it is important to stress that that there is a lot of support and that what you're asking for is more and um in in form of Finance because I know there's a lot of a lot of support a lot of excitement but the these things are very expensive um and we we we understand that I mean I don't know if you guys saw the absolutely mind-blowing podcast that we pushed out about a week ago a week ago I shouldn't call it mindblowing because it makes s of being thank you like like I'm being sarcastic I'm not it's h it was really impressive because um I I told them when I forwarded them the link that I felt like a fanboy sitting there talking to Mr strier and Mrs Finn and and and then when when rapael came in and spoke about his experiences it was really powerful and something that came up and it and it was one of the themes you talked about with your children I was it was nice to hear from from Lucas and Kendra as well that this gives the kids an important part of their identity and um we we've we've spoken about it in this form we've spoken about it on the podcast in a lot of other conversations that when kids feel connected to places it's it's of incredible value it's great for the mental health it's it's great for the parent sense of longing involvement it's great for the overall Community um it's even really good for school safety so we we understand your perspective appreciate to your sense of unity um your your passion is unmistakable as is your connectedness and I appreciate that the night that I was allowed to help you can tell that I was clearly a deer in headlights but um I I I was appreciate with that and I really had a lot of fun too and I'll admit I was nervous and I I I think I had said to somebody like I I had to do some pretty pretty difficult things during during Co and other points in my career and that was probably the most nervous I've ever been so go go figure now I just outed that one um quick thing too is we we do actually have um a sports program though for students with special needs I just shot it down a couple I can't respond to all this I mean obviously a wealth and it's all it's all intertwined but we do have the Unified sports program so just don't I just want to point that out as just a a PR for those who are who are tuning in or those who are currently here um but obviously we're going to look through where the budget allocations are um we're not going to tell people if stuff's getting cut from somewhere that there stuff that's getting cut to go to music because it is it's zero sum so what comes from here goes there but I mean we'll certainly look at what we have I know Mr Gibbs in particular has worked incredibly hard on the budget um I've been more of a consultant capacity which is better for him because I'm not great with budgets but um you know what what he gave us a lot to work with and I do ask please to send us the the breakdown um just so we could see that because um data tells powerful stories I mean obviously people who make the place and your narrative is really important where we can see the cold hard numbers that's helpful as well so I just have a quick followup question for them can you um what's the time span of the numbers that you just stated is that is that calendar year 23 is that a school year it was the current school year was like one year ending today so rolling 12 months in the past year yeah I mean it's like a rolling Year got it okay just curious thank you okay thank you all for coming okay with that I'm going to move on to approval of the minutes and I'm going to ask Miss shenton to move the minutes sure I would like to um move the minutes from February 13 February 20th February 22nd and March 4th 2024 second any question or discussion on that Mr Gibbs please call rooll Mr Bloomer yes Mr cesi yes M Dempsey is absent Mr G yes Mr mcen yes Mr bomo uh yes to all abstain from March 4th M Miss chanton yes Mrs ESO yes hey Mr zanic yes motion carries okay that brings us into our regular business meeting um before we uh I asked Mr sies to move PMC uh CS uh CIS did meet and speak about the curriculum related to the prease start time and I would think that the update of that item and the content of that meeting would be appropriate before we move the PMC item so I'd ask Mr so we need to give that update yes thank you Mr senic so on Monday Monday yeah Monday March 11th CIS committee met um via Zoom uh members of the board were in attendance uh members of The Faculty at also sorry three members of The Faculty from North B of Art School were also in attendance along with the administration um CIS committee meeting was really there to discuss um the the learning and instruction that's happening in the prek program uh and how changes to the schedule may affect that learning we focus a lot on tools of the line program what it is what it does what's included in the program then we went through a variety of um questions from the board members um on obviously the the um tools of the mind but it wasn't just limited to um curriculum we talked about the impact that changes would have to students with IPS uh we talked about the impact that the transitions multiple transitions have on three and four year old students uh which is sometimes very stressful for them it occupies a lot of time during the day um removes them from act instruction time uh we talked about how additional classroom minutes may be app may be used for uh instructional time because they'll be not having as many transitions during the day uh flexibility of the schedule to include recess um playtime aside with the children which sometimes they don't get right now um for three and four year olds it's probably pretty important to give them some time to play work on gross motor development um social activity uh outside on the playground and of course we also did address some of the parent uh concerns that have come up over the last couple of weeks um about scheduling what it means to move the end time um from 2:45 to 2 o'clock uh also concerns that the Administration has and the principal that the school has with um the the rather crowded uh congestion at North Boulevard school during pickup times and how we have to keep the or we've always tried to keep the prekas staggered from K through five uh and then we also talked about what would happen to P professionals and the AIDS um with a different start time uh and also therapies and how students who receive therapies OT or PT or speech uh how that's worked into a schedule with a shorter day but more flexibility for the therapists anybody any questions on any of that no questions just statement so I was unable to attend the meeting but I did have a lot of questions so I want to thank everyone who attended the meeting who I I know that multiple people answered my questions um multiple times so I do appreciate all of that I know it was a lot of extra work for people so thank you yeah I was one of the people that attended the meeting um I I will say that to make a decision about whether this is good or not good as far as an idea or the direction forward in in my mind it came down to what's best for the children's education um that's basically the the Paramount thing that is keeping me uh or guiding my decision as far as yes or no um as far as special education it was um it was shown to be beneficial being that there's less Transitions and there was uh I don't want to sound really formal and use the word testimony but there was testimony from a a teacher that basically said that it's very difficult to transition some of the kids in and out of classroom throughout the day and then having them stay in the one classroom with a trained teacher that is able to provide all the education um would be more beneficial and then when I looked at them the actual instruction time between the the previous schedule and the proposed schedule it was like a 50% increase in in in math Ela and uh reading so I thought that was beneficial but so there was pros and cons on both sides but for me I thought that the the children's education and the benefits that this could potentially bring to it uh were Paramount in my decision I just want to add um Mr miini I don't know if you um addressed it but it something that was discussed within the meeting was ways that we um the teachers and the staff and the admin can um collect data to compare academic growth as well as behavioral growth and social emotional learning from this year to next year when we have what if if this does go through so um that I thought was really great I think that's something that will that will really drive the instruction going forward so so I think I so uh so I think all I mean the work that's been done has been really really well organized and thought out and I appreciate that [Music] um I know we are responsible for figuring out the best in terms of just strictly an education standpoint and we've done a very good job of that um whether we like it or not preschool is also could be viewed as a commodity right there are options you can buy it somewhere else so we have to I still think that with all the work that has been done which is really good we still have a lot of work to do to make sure it is the best um still not fully comfortable with the 45 minutes but I fully get it I understand it uh so I just again I think regardless of decisions tonight I think we still have to continue just to make sure it's it's Top Notch and expand it yeah I was chiming at that too and um one of the things I really liked about that that meeting we had Monday night is that I felt like there was a tremendous overlap of hearing from the actual practitioners who are there working with the kids um as well as the administrators who share in that and then my role is to be essentially Chief decision maker and yours is to oversee that and I felt the quality of questions was very strong and I really appreciated the openness and it provid the teachers an opportunity to provide it and I think you're right when you use the word testimony of what they're seeing firsthand from their kids um and what they believe would benefit from them and I know that they are very appreciative I actually stop by but they're very appreciative that that their opinions are being being validated because people are saying yes what what you're observing and your recommendation for making something better it's it Sound Logic and so um I'll get to also just work in what Mr Bloomer is saying is I don't feel like we're gonna be fully settled with preschool for for quite a while because we do need to expand the program and we're looking at places both within and Beyond borders of community but for the meantime for for this I I do firmly believe that the schedule that's being proposed is what's best and I'm going to continue to antagonize Dr schir and her team to try to find ways to get more more time out of it because I'm aware our first priority is for the kids and I also want to ensure that we're not overlooking the needs of families as well so we're looking for things we can work into the RFP um try to maximize everything but um I'm glad I I think so Mr M worked in too that we we also did have specific concerns that parents had brought up to us bya email and a few that had come up at the board meeting and were able to also look through what they had suggested and recommended and determine well we could take a piece of this but this doesn't really work so I found to be very constructive the process as well as with the outcome all right with that I'm gonna ask uh Mr CI to move the items on the PMC would like to move PMC 28-24 through PMC 26-24 second any question to discussion okay Mr gids please call the RO Mr Bloomer yes Mr cesi yes Mrs Dempsey is absent Mr gon yes Mr mweene yes Mr Pompeo yes Mrs shinton yes Mrs Esposito yes and Mr Senate yes motion carries okay Mr mweene you're like the uh the Go To Guide tonight so when you please move CIS sure I'd like to move CIS 7 7-24 through CIS 8324 there a second second question or discussion Mr Gibbs please call a roll Mr blueberg yes Mr cesi yes M Dempsey is absent Mr G yes Mr mwe Mr Pompeo yes Mrs shenon yes Mrs Esposito yes and Mr Senate yes motion carries thank you Mr Bloomer would you please move FF yes I'd like to make a motion to move FFA 11524 through ffa1 12824 second question or discussion I have a question I don't expect you to answer it because we just came up tonight but um can you advise us via email or uh some other method if there is a if the band funding was flat this year it went up a little bit from last year and uh you know what's what how much is allocated to it things like that yeah I can send you a detailed email as to what's being paid and we do pay a lot I mean I know they have a lot of needs and being a former band Kid myself I understand what they're saying and I sympathize but you know we were flat funded this year so that's a real bite for us uh I did a great job I think in making sure everything worked everything fit we obviously have legal things we have to take care of first like special education we're legally obligated to take care of that um so I think I've done a good job in trying to make sure everything is covered um and it's a shame that we got flat funded but that's that's what happens thank you anybody else Mr Gibbs please call the roll Mr Bloomer yes Mr cesi yes Mrs Dempsey is absent Mr gon yes Mr M yes Mr Pompeo yes Mrs chanon yes mrito yes and Mr Sonic yes motion Carri I'd like to take a minute to thank Beyond baseball academy and the ptea for their generous donations thank you and because we cannot get enough of them Mr mcweeny would you please move policy yes uh I'd like to move uh P1 13-24 through P1 15-24 second question of discussion Mr Gibbs please call the RO Mr Bloomer yes Mr CI yes Mrs d Mr kitten yes Mr mwe yes Mr Pompeo yes Mrs shanton yes Mrs espito yes and Mr sening yes motion carries thank you Mrs Esposito would you please move other I'd like to move uh other 0-24 is there second second question discuss GRE Greg can't move that 12 lead all right question of discussion not that we could discuss it being that it's please call the rooll Mr gloomer yes Mr cesi yes Mrs Dempsey's absent Mr G yes Mr mweene yes Mr Pompeo IO up stain and M chanton yes Mrs esito yes and Mr sen yes Bush and Carrick thank you Mr G would you please move the item under Bard Effectiveness yeah I'd like to move the uh motion BC -124 second question or discussion gies please call over Mr Bloomer yes Mr cesi yes Mrs Dempsey's absent Mr Mitten yes Mr mcen yes Mr Pompeo yes Mrs shanton yes Mrs Esposito yes and Mr zic yes motion carries okay that brings us to our second opportunity for public comment this time uh a member of the public may speak about any item that they that they wish for a Maxum period of minutes by the clock and during this time if you come up and raise a question please direct your question to the board president and state your name and sign in before you begin thank Dr poris for his little podc podcast featuring uh Miss Finn and Mr strier I I I thought it was was fun I think they had fun uh we you know we appreciate the you know of course all the sentiment of support and the kids do feel that they truly do um this representation here is just an example of me just saying hey if anyone's available they're working on their budget if you if you can come over Thursday and this is what happens this is I mean it's not going away that's not our intention at all um again like I said earlier I think there was I believe issue where these conversations were happening in two different rooms for a long time and I was only uh helping them out with board work for a few months and you know they were having a discussion at a meeting and you know I asked well did anyone fill out the donation paperwork for the district and they were like what donation paperwork and that's when I went back and I was like this is insane that there's been no record there's been no communication other than the staff needing and just asking and then the parents figuring out a way so I know the hole is really big um and it it has to be addressed in in two different areas but hopefully I've shed some light on the whole that's been dug I guess so to speak and you know we're we're not going to try to shrink the program availability of things to kids ever and if the if the staff has new ideas we're going to do what we can to give the kids more things to do uh we're just we're just looking for uh some some support when you can uh I'd also like to thank you guys for approving the marching band going to play the national anthem at the Yankees game um we'll keep we'll keep uh trying to beat you guys over the head with Yankee stuff and uh next week next Tuesday the the concert band class uh they have about 65 students going uh to Handover Park to perform in the state concert band Festival so that's that's part of their grade uh we'll get them there and all their stuff there so they can perform uh if you want to go see that it is open to the public it's good to see a lot of other schools a lot of different music You Walk The Halls in here and you hear the same song every day but you you go to something like that and you hear a lot of really really talented kids um that's all I got for today all right thank you thank you one one comment I forgot to make before I'm glad that it came up too about um the kids making the trip up to Boston Andor no sorry fellow graduate 1990 different schools I can't get I can't get my head around the doctor part you're still Mr reports so I this has nothing to do with um uh music or anything I just those of you that were on the board when covid hit I've always wanted to just thank all who all of you you guys did a fantastic job with all of that I mean my sister is a nurse my my niece as a nurse they worked tirelessly and it was very scary I went to bed every night scared that thank God they were both okay but just it's you guys just did a fantastic job I I don't I I'm not a public speaker at all but um just as a mom who just was scared as all of us were uh you just thank you from the bot like from the bottom of our hearts you got it it was as if you I don't know do you have these plans in place I don't I don't know but it was as if you guys all had this plan in place and it and it worked that plan was March 13 2020 it was exactly four years on day two days after my birthday it was like the world fell the world just fell apart plan was put together what about four hours at sjg well Sam you've been on here for a hundred years 100 years yeah so but seriously thank you all really I know it's in the past now but I I do appreciate very much thank you yeah you definitely had me at hello with that last comment so no very much appreciated and um it's something that um I I I've spoken about publicly I've spoken about it privately and especially with the the anniversary of March 13th that rather ignominious day say um success as you know from the ban program never happens in a vacuum and I think the same applies to the response that we had to to the covid pandemic and it was a lot of people pulling together and trusting each other and supporting each other and it was it was really great for me because as a a very new superintendent um I I was I was I was learning on the Fly and it was it was definitely insane I think we all have a little post-traumatic stress disorder still from it but um this community as it always does just ried together and made it pretty incredible and and so thank you for that it it was um it was time period in our lives that I'm sure a lot of us like to forget a lot of aspects of it but I think we should also remember the strength we showed the resilience we showed the community Spirit we showed and just the ability just to to shift with seemingly Ever Changing rules and everything else and really the superstars in that work our kids too because they they were thrown an awful lot and they just kept bouncing back and showed remarkable abilities to to adapt um and then the one combo I was gonna make twoo um from from the Boston trip and I was going to reiterate that it was Boston they didn't go to New York went to Boston but that the bus driver commented that in the 25 30 years he's been driving it was the nicest group of people he'd ever driven so um I know they really impressed the flight crew when they flew to Disney well now another mode of Transport um is very impressed and that is the bus drivers so those are the comments love the trophies I love all the other accolades but knowing that the character of our kids really um is being noticed that that that's me speak spams and that's that's ATT tribute to Parenting and that's also tribute to the kids as well as Community spirit and Mr striper somebody brought it up about how he he earns Respect by giving respect and you see that in the culture of that group so nice shout out there okay I'll close public comment and we move on to unfinished business any board member have any unfinished business Greg how about any new business board member announcements yes I do have one uh so uh this week the uh con countship High School FBLA future Business Leaders of America attended the state leadership conference uh in Atlantic City students competed with 12 placing among the top 10 in the state for their respective events and three students qualified for Nationals down in Forida this summer uh and proud dad moment here my daughter was a top five finalist for the scholarship event and she came home with a $1,000 scholarship right I'll go next I that's it all right go I didn't know you were going go okay uh on 36 I was able to read to to my kids at North Boulevard as part of read Across America um was a was a great day I was impressed with how inquisitive the kids were and also how well behaved they were um I didn't think I'd have as much fun as I did uh plus I got to miss a little bit of work so it was just an allaround great experience and then also on 36 I attended a njsba uh Workshop as part of a master class series on board leadership and the topic that evening was how to effectively listen to people which uh like I must be able to listen in some capacity because I got something out of it but after attending that there's a lot to learn about listening um so I'll distribute that presentation to uh the rest of the board so you guys could learn that as well and then the last thing I had was uh on 37 I attended a veterans uh committee meeting with uh Mr Mr Bloomer which I'm sure he's gonna highlight as well and uh we reviewed two design concept with an architect we picked one and the architect's preparing an estimate and moving that forward and we also discussed some from fundraising efforts I should have went first kid uh so uh yeah so on Wednesday and Thursday last week uh got to read to all three schools again great great event each year I want to thank Miss Oar from B Boulevard Miss iov from Hillview Mrs Mor from sjg um also got to see the uh the chick eggs be delivered which was an added bonus I got to see that uh so um I want to thank just the warm again just the warm welcomes we get when we walk into the building it's just uh it's it's always it never gets old and I did forget to look at the mural at Hillview when I was there and you were next to me so I am extremely mad at you for not reminding me to check that out um I didn't want you to point out that Mrs stagger was a better principal than me that came up a few times in the last week or so yeah recurring theme yeah it is a recurring theme uh and yes I'm I'm not going to just Echo from the uh veterans wall these conversations are are getting U really detailed and it's exciting uh to see it again something that's been talked about for a long time come to fruition I I have not an announcement but I have a question about the veterans well so I've seen on Facebook and my feed multiple times trying to locate trying to locate trying to locate have we thought about perhaps sending it out like out principles in the newsletter having like a little blurb because I feel like that would be a great way to actually get to family members who might still be in the district and might be an easier way to locate as opposed to Facebook so the well if you want to talk to so the there's a brochure that was just I guess I mean approved is not the right word but created um so that is going to start getting distributed distributed it has oh excuse me has donation information um and again we've been uh brainstorming a lot of different ways to fund raise uh don't want I mention I made I replied to an email today stating that I don't want we don't want to step on toes of other fundraising efforts I mean just hearing again band parents there's so many groups pulling from so many just so few resources around town every restaurant every place there you know it's they get asked a lot so um but yes that will be circulated yeah no I I wasn't even thinking about fundraising I was thinking about locating just general yes oh yes right that all be I'm G now yeah not an announcement but uh just a moment of gratitude uh as you all may have know uh in this last meeting for the services for my father-in-law who passed away last month I just wanted to thank you all for your kind words uh individually and your gesture uh meant a lot uh he was a machinist a teller of very bad jokes uh and a very kind man who did come to a senior breakfast I believe last year uh and was constantly impressed even though he was a proud Bergen County man uh of panic schools and students at that breakfast so I have a question about the uh the chickens Dr poris what happens to these chickens after they're hatched they go to a farm now the reason I ask is because when I was in second grade at Hill school I got to bring two chickens home the I know just goes how times have changed those chickens grew up in my yard for four years and then they went to a Farm in Pennsylvania um that's what they told you that's where they told you they went dude yeah it's not euphemistic they really do go to a farm they really that's pretty cool I thought they maybe went to Kevin Nelson's house um so uh all the band parents left and I had some nice things to say about them um I John joh Mr naan still there okay so I I want everyone to understand that we we do support the band and we understand uh how wonderful and much of of a quality program that it is um you guys keep coming up with this number of 56 I seem to remember a number in the 30s uh was how many students were in the band about seven eight years ago uh but I could be wrong um a recurring theme tonight was the parents were saying how wonderful the kids are and fantastic and nice and uh I would say that the Apple doesn't far from the tree if you looked around at the parents and the support that they are giving their kids I just think it's it's absolutely amazing and um I I just want to thank everybody that came out tonight and did speak and then just sat there and did gave support um it it really is it's a it's an excellent program and I don't know if the parents are giving themselves enough credit is honestly where I'm going with this um I do have one thing to say uh not with the with the budget or anything like that but the band has been a tradition a culture in panic for at least 40 to 50 years okay um has anybody contacted these alumni I keep hearing my kids a senior I'm not coming back next year well why not um have we contacted anybody who may be a banned grandparent at this point or or something I think that they might want to donate I'm not saying money but their time and and they're the people that actually know what's going on they've done this before you know you're not going to just get regular people to to help out but um I don't know I mean maybe you guys start like a charitable Foundation or something like that that you know it's it's just a thought I I know that it is a tradition and a culture in this town and I wonder if that might be an untapped area because I did hear tonight a lot of people saying this is my last year or whatever and it shouldn't be not that they have to do everything that they're doing but their knowledge is probably incredible and helpful to people so just a thought uh but I did want to thank them uh for coming out and letting us know oh and one more thing uh Mr na what is the problem with City Field and the meds I don't understand why what they're not the Yankees oh okay all right we'll see we'll see this year anybody else yes have you asked the Mets okay nobody wants to see the Mets um okay so just real quick I'll be quick um I would like to thank um the staff who attended our CSI meeting I thought it was really um collaborative and fantastic um I thought it was really great and we very much appreciate that um also I attended the profile of a graduate um meeting yes last night um we're looking at like Dr PES had said we're looking at surveys um looking at what other districts have established kind of coming up with our own um even Graphics so on and so forth how we could get the community involved how we could get the students involved um alumni um so I I think it's going to be great it is definitely going to be a timec consuming project but one that I think um will really benefit ponic and the students and I did want to Echo what everybody is saying in regards to the band parents um very much appreciated um their hard work never goes unnoticed um when I think of the band parents I think of fierce they are a fierce group that completely supports our kids 110% um um and really something to be proud of and I I know we appreciate I appreciate it and I'm sure everybody else does and um I'm sure that our kids do too so thank you um I just wanted to say the board eff this committee we met this week and made a few deadlines I want every want to be aware of uh the superintendent evaluation will be due on June 10th and your self- evaluation for the board will be due July 22nd thank you anybody else okay we do have reason to go into executive session tonight we will discuss student matters uh no action will be taken and we will adjourn from there our next meeting will be April 15th here at the high school uh is there a motion going to exec second second all in favor I any opposed good night everyone thank you