[Applause] call them meet into order salute the flag flag United States of America stand na godible andice for Mr secretary can you take the role please M Cherry present Dr Connors pres Mrs cordino here Mr King here m rheed m Rivers here Mrs Salgado Cowen Miss Smith here miss Stafford here we have seven present thank you hereby it being known that the Piscataway Township Board of Education has complied with the notification requirements of the open public meetings act for the announcement of this meeting date in place on April the 30th 2023 in the following manner posting of the public notice on the posting Board of the Board of Education in the administration building email notification to newspaper serving piscatway the home News Tribune in the cura news email notification filed with the municipal clerk at the municipal building on H Lan this meeting is being videotaped this recording is not an official record or supplement to the minutes is intended only as source of information that the public might utilize at a later date to familiarize themselves with the board activities executive session be resolve that the board adjourned to Executive session for the purpose of review and discussion of personnel agenda litigation HIV monthly reports and other matters pursuant to law njsa 10 semicolon 4-12 B can I have a motion can I get a second all in favor we're in executive session second all in favor we're now back in public session uh next on the agenda we have some student presentations tonight's student presentation is coming to us from Grand View Elementary School for the Board of Education appreciation month the students have been learning about what we do here on the board here's principal Neil D dassie to tell us more good evening good evening I am Neil Desai proud principal of uh gr View Elementary School and I extend my Heartwell heartfelt gratitude for inviting us tonight um to the board meeting so on behalf of the entire Grand View Community we are honored to participate tonight and as you know January is a board of ed appreciation month so we deeply appreciate the countless hours of dedicated service each of you volunteers contribute to our school and Community recognizing the important role you play Mr do m miss duus our vice principal and I uh embarked on a meaningful project with nine of our wonderful students uh together our students learned about the role of the Board of Education what you do and how you support our schools so we likened our school um our school to a ship um sailing across the boundless oceans of knowledge and the board is the captain right just as the captain ensures a ship's smooth and safe passage you guide our school's trajectory and strive for the best possible Learning Journey for every student so with this understanding our students wanted wanted to express their sincere appreciation for your tireless efforts we present to you a video expertly crafted by Mr Lee our wonderful art teacher capturing our appreciation to you the scataway Board of [Applause] Education [Music] thank you sh [Music] sh [Music] thank you Bo Ed for letting us have a nice place to go to school thank you B for giving us a playground to play [Music] on thank you B for giving us a safe place to work my name is pedar cedor and um I thank you for providing art tools and um materials to be creative and use our imagination my name is s and thank you for the gift of mus my name is I'm a kinderen thank you Forex I like to play with the because they're so fun my name is Noah and I would like you I'm and I'm a first grader at Grandy school I than you for helping us and be [Music] healthy [Music] [Applause] [Music] than [Music] [Applause] thank you Amanda Deus I am the assistant principal at Gran view as a further token of gratitude each of our students have drafted thank you letters they're going to share these letters and then present them to the board members in these letters our students are thankful to all of you for the numerous things in our school from art and music to technology healthy lunch items and math games we appreciate all of your support please know that these letters along with the video represent the culmination of their genuine appreciation for your unwavering dedication these students will now read their letter and give it to each of the board members and their letters are their gift to you for your support and dedication to our schools so first we have Noah [Applause] fesca dear be member thank you for making so we have math tools I love counting with K one Stafford right over here miss Stafford thank you thank you so much can I shake your hand thank [Applause] you we have TN [Applause] Clark de Bo member thank you for making my school beautiful and nice and goodness gracious we'll take it sweetheart and T we're going to give yours to Miss Smith here thank you T can I shake your hand great job thank you next week next we have pra dear board member thank you for always making sure learning is fun I love to math and social studies love pra you can give yours to miss Cowan Miss Elgato Cowan thank you thank you so much next we have Clayton dear board member I like working with the robots and iPad thank you Board of Ed for the chance to have fun and learn in dig lit class from Clayton m is not here so Mr Ola is going to take it Mr thank [Applause] you next we have Keith dear Boe member thank you for making sure we have amazing teachers and keeping everyone safe we make sure we have beautiful buildings so I can be with my friends and learn concealing [Applause] Patel next we have [Applause] Penelope dear B member thank you so much for all of your hard work and dedication thank you for all of the art tools and materials to be creative and use our imagination that help paint our bright future paths Yours Truly [Applause] Penelope the purple thank [Applause] you next we have Matthew duban dear Board of member thank you for giving me the opportunity to make new friends iul Matthew Riv thank you very much next we have Sally [Applause] dear Boe member thank you so much for all of your hard work thank you for also providing us the amazing quality of Music in gramu elementary school sincerely [Applause] Sally thank you Sally thank you so much and last but not least we have Moon km dear Boe member my name is Moon I'm 9 years old in third grade at Grand View Elementary I just want to say thank you for the things that you provide us with and the things you buy for our school things like the playground specials and other things you do for us thank you so much for all the hard work that you put in sincerely Moon thank you so much Moon and I have to tell you I had five kids who went to Grand View Elementary School so this is my heart this my passion that's my baby school where they all started but now on the behalf of the Board of Education I would like to let all the parents know I'm going to come up to the Senate area and we're going to um Neil and I will be presenting s ific Ates to all the students who are here tonight for them taking the time out of their schedule and your schedule to come here tonight to acknowledge us recognize us as board members we do what we do because we love the kids we care about the kids and we want to make sure the kids are always well taken care of and that they get the things that they love and enjoy like they said the Arts the music The Learning and the friendships that they're making they're for a lifetime so this is near and dear and thank you all so much for coming out tonight and for thinking of us and putting this together together thank [Applause] you well M Jerry's coming around I want to thank the staff members who gave up their time to come out and support Grand View uh also Mr deces and Mr Desai so thank you very much and parents you guys are awesome and this was uh exactly what we all needed tonight so thank you for [Applause] sure [Applause] T [Applause] Clark [Applause] Matthew Clayton [Applause] Campbell Keith Patel Sally J perfect pel pidor and finally [Applause] Moon okay and Penelope over of cute cute cute Smiles sure and school on Miss Nancy who's over on the right thank you thank you thank you thank you I love gr you I love all of you and you guys will be seeing me around your school I came last year coming again this year okay bye thank you again everyone for coming out and for all of my teachers who are out here who I still remember from day one miss you guys love you great seeing you back at you hi everybody happy New Year um I hope you're all doing well welcome to the new board members I'm Rahim I'm a senior at the high school and I am so sorry we don't have letters for you but we didn't know we didn't know but seriously thank you but seriously um I don't think there's like anything we could say to thank all of you for all the things you guys do for us so seriously thank you so much for everything all of you do um slowly but surely the second marking period is coming to a close um this first semester ends this at the end of this month um I feel like time's flying by um and with the weather I mean like I know yesterday was obviously really bad but just overall it's it's been hard especially in December um especially at the high school because of like all the flooding that happens near those roads um we've like a lot of times we've been excused for coming late up until like 7:30 7:45 even 8:00 because of how bad the roads get so I'm not sure if there's any solution for that um cuz it is the rain but um it has been a problem but we've managed um this Saturday the class of 2020 6 student council is having a Chipotle fundraiser at the South planfield Chipotle from 4: to 8:00 p.m. what's the date on that for him I'm sorry um this Saturday this Saturday yeah to the 13th um so they are going like if you just mention hey I'm here for the class of 2026 for piscato high school some of the revenue goes to them so that's just the easy quick way of supporting them um prom planning has began prom like it feels like it's far away but it's really coming up so fast it's on May 31st this year so just yesterday we were figuring out the theme um trying to figure out what we need to order um and we're going to be announcing those stuff soon so that's going to be really exciting um for the Cass of 2024 and because things are getting more expensive every year we're continuing our fundraisers so we have like Valentine's Day coming Valentine's Day grams coming up next month as well as other ways of fundraising through like senior merch Etc um seal of bi literacy testing has going has been going on so last year like the Juniors test for Spanish at the end of the year since that's like the predominant language that most students learn at the high school but now in the fall they open up the opportunity for seniors to test in most languages so for example I grew up learning Ordo so while we don't teach that at the high school I can still test for it so I actually had that testing just today and I think it's just a great opportunity for students who are bilingual to get that certified through the state just at the high school by testing um which was amazing um and college application season season is finally over or nearing over so now it's just a waiting game but I know many of the seniors believed that it's over um January is Muslim heritage month so there has been programming at the high school and throughout the district actually for that I know there's an assembly at MLK um we've been doing morning an anoun ments at piscato high school the MSA has been doing it actually the Muslim Student Association and then I know there's like digital signs outside all the buildings which was amazing to see so thank you and then Miss Kelly one of the teachers at the high school she put up a bulletin board recognizing like all the Muslim public officials in New Jersey and Miss Rashid is actually on there so that was amazing to see um I was working on it I'm not fully done but as soon as I do I'll definitely send over pictures um and then mock trial um I'm believe it's on the agenda we have a competition at the end of this month um we had a scrimmage actually just this past Saturday and Miss Kelly's actually also the coach for that and it was amazing pisgat high school has been hosting it for a few years now and we had about nine nine schools I believe from throughout the county as well as from Bergen County come in this past Saturday and we had the opportunity to set up the rooms it was like over a 100 students and we set up the rooms to model courtrooms just to get in some extra pack for the competition and it was a good learning experience and we had judges come in who were attorneys um and it was just an overall great experience and then we're looking forward to the competition at the end of this month um and so yeah I'm looking forward to what the new year has in store for us thank you okay well thank you um happy New Year it's great to see all of you and it's been a hot minute I wasn't here at the last meeting but I'm glad to be back um hi I'm tundi um I'm a junior at the BC high school it's nice to meet you new board of members um like Rah mentioned we didn't have anything prepared but I would like to say like we appreciate you all and we can't thank you enough um also like Rah mentioned the weather has been intense but I'm glad everyone's been safe um also seniors are done so shout out to the seniors for doing being done with college apps and um juniors are now going into the peak season of exams and classes but we're holding on um so there's beginning to be some activity um clubs are starting up after winter break um I know HOSA is hosting regionals next week which are pretty much State competitions so that's been super exciting um science leagues just had their exam today uh physics League chem League uh bio league as well and if they do qualify they go to states which is something to look forward to and I know um science National Honor Society and chem Club is uh working on a presentation on Modern particle physics so that's something that's coming up um as well as they just had their alumni day where a bunch of previous graduates came back and it was so good um it was nice to see them and see how they've gone into college and hear about their experiences um as well FBLA has started their sponsorship runs um pretty much where they go to local businesses over the weekend and just ask them to sponsor for mission life which is one of the biggest charity events here at the high school um that's also coming up so we're really excited uh it's pretty much to raise money for an organization or charity um and it's pretty big with a lot of people last year as well um speaking of FBA they're also planning a field trip to a senior center uh to pretty much boost the spirits of the seniors during holiday and winter seasons and I know they're talking with Dr Gray to get that approved and get that in the Run um also pway experience which is when like the high schoolers can go talk about clubs to I believe eighth graders and incom fresman um about like clubs and organization what's here to offer at the high school that's been rescheduled the next week so that's also something eight graders can come to um and also the last strategic goals planning me this meeting is this month so I'm very excited to talk there and see how that goes that's about it thank you thank you so much Tomi I have to tell you you to cover everything and that was you are store in the suit Saturday I was sitting in same here thank you so much for always coming with all the information that's going on not only at the high school but across the whole District you don't discriminate you make sure you find out what's going on at the lower levels in case parents are interested and want to know are there things actually taking place and you as a representative let it be known that you actually are covering the whole District not just the high school so thank you so much now I know you said college applications are finished that must mean you're GNA stay with us tonight no I know you you guys have work to do and I know you have to get up very early in the morning so thank you for coming out tonight giving your reports and do us a favor get home safe get home safely yeah okay now on to my president's report well I don't have that much to say because see they covered it already and their little announcements and the things they had to say but I still have to officially do mine I want to encourage all of our eighth grade families to come to Piscataway high school next Wednesday for the pway experience this unique event gives our students a great deal of information and fresh Insight on what to expect when they get to the high school learn all about the wonderful activities and opportunities you will have over the next four years the event was originally scheduled for this past Wednesday so be sure to mark your calendar for June 17th at 6 PM so you and your families don't miss out I want to give a nod of appreciation to Grand View Elementary yeah Grand View back in in the back in the Limelight to their third grade teacher Mr arams who I actually had two two kids who had him so it's bittersweet uh for finding a tasty way to combine science instruction with a lesson about good nutrition for his students Mr arams used a hydro hydropic H had it earlier now it's not coming off the tongue but okay hydroponic tower to grow various kinds of lettuce in his classroom then held a salad party along with the class of teacher natal Buzz to enjoy the Harvest the process gives our students a personal attachment to the food food they grow and eat and gives them a chance to celebrate their hard work with a healthy meal so kudos to him um and I'm sure the kids enjoyed it because nothing better than to grow your own food and be able to actually enjoy it as well so great idea great thing for the third graders to do something new but very enlightening and I'm sure the second graders are looking forward to having the opportunity to do it uh next on my president's report we'll have energy star certification yeah say a few words um so piscatway schools has long been um really a leading School District on energy related issues uh I recently got an email reminding me we're on our 15th year of having solar panels on our buildings um so the it was actually bad news because we're we're losing the uh higher value uh credits that we get because 15 years is the life of the uh solar panels but um it was a good reminder that you know we were really out in front with that and uh we've done a number of panel upgrades over the years we're of course in the final stages wrapping up our EIP but uh for the last 5 years we had a uh partnership with synergistic which is an energy conservation company they've been present in the district really helping to identify us to go even further than we have in Energy savings um in our buildings so uh last year we applied for energy star certification and we achieved it for four of our buildings and I'm happy to report that this year um all 10 of our buildings uh achieve that that we have Scott mu from uh Center jistic he's going to say a few words more of the uh nitty-gritty of of how we got there and and uh what we're doing and um I believe there's a presentation as well all right thank you all hopefully you can hear me with the microphone Sor s down so blow um so good evening my name is Scott Miram with sistic um sistic is an energy conservation company that helps School distri District save money on their utilities so that you can use that money for what matters most so we've U Been In partnership with scataway Township school since 2019 uh to achieve that goal and I'd like to thank this board of education uh Dr Manali and David Olivera for your continued support of the energy program i' would also like to thank our energy specialist Alicia quu uh for all the hard work that she's put into this energy conservation program and as well as the building principles teachers and Custom sodian um for working together to reduce energy use districtwide we are proud and honored to announce that in 2023 PC Township Schools has 10 buildings that earn the energy star certification for Superior Energy performance much like an appliance in a home earns energy style label buildings are also awarded certification for Energy Efficiency on average energy star buildings use 35% less energy cause 35% % fewer greenhouse gas emissions and are less expensive to operate to qualify for energy star a building score uh a building must score in the top 25% Nationwide based on epa's National energy performance rating system as David said this is the second year the district has earned the energy star recognition uh representing your sustained commitment to Active Energy Management Piscataway Township Schools now has the most energy star K12 certified build buildings of any school district in New Jersey so thank you so on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and all of us as sener District congratulations on this significant recognition we're very proud of our partnership with Piscataway Township Schools and your commitment to protect the environment both today and for f future Generations so we have uh Miss Cherry uh Miss Cherry sorry uh Dr rali and David come up and get your energy [Applause] star [Applause] and she has a very calm temperament because when I next on the agenda we have the superintendent report thank you guys so much it's been a pleasure than you get home safe uh thank you Mr Char um unfortunately we had an unfathomable loss to our school Community we had a second grader Eisenhower pass away uh as Educators and parents are Hearts break for this tragic loss of life please take some time to keep the family in your thoughts and your prayers please join me in a moment of silence thank you as usual please check out uh our superintendent report on our website our superintendent Corner highlights this month includes our cosmic bowling at scataway high school articles on the generous nature of our community uh honor rooll celebration PHS National Honor Society inductions and two articles also on uh couple of our great instructors Miss Valerie Romano a speech and language specialist was recognized by New Jersey family magazine and Miss jff Pritcher our high school science chair was recognized by the National Science Education leadership Association we're very lucky and proud uh that they are part of our family uh as T said uh please join join us at our uh third and final District strategic planning meeting on January 23rd uh Flyers went home uh Mr Miller here is uh tracking some registrations and everybody is welcome whether you're at the first two meetings or not you know please join us at the high school in the comment uh flyers on our website as well as was email to all the families if you register that would be great if you don't get a chance to register and you show up that's fine as well so we appreciate that uh as you know uh well documented Tonight Tonight is School Board recognition month uh the gifts on your on our tables for board members were from our arts department uh again great support for the Arts uh continually voted um the best community for Arts education in New Jersey and we know that wouldn't be possible without your support of of all of our uh all of our programs and things that we do so we really appreciate it um on a personal note um I've been in this district for 10 years and the support from the board has has always been fantastic uh you allow us to uh put together our crazy ideas you guide us with the policies that you create uh you support us in everything that we do and again personally as someone who works as part of this team I can't thank you all uh enough for for being on our side having our backs and being as one as we sit at this table it's not like that in all places uh in all school districts even in New Jersey Even in our County so I can't thank you enough uh again from a personal from a personal standpoint so and I believe that concludes my thank you so much Dr um next we have personnel and Labor Relations Miss Nancy Salado be it resolved the following motions identified as items a through G be approved as presented Mr secretary can you take the role please Mrs cordino yes Mr King yes Miss Rivers yes Mr Salado yes Miss Smith yes Miss Stafford yes Dr Connors yes Miss Cherry abstained from seeing yes to the rest motions carry thank you next we have a policy Miss Smith oh I'm sorry I skipped all the way over to a whole another page let's back it up just a little bit um there are no committee reports wow hey let's go back to the public comments okay public comments from the floor is there anyone in the audience who wishes to speak tonight if not I will not read hey perfect let's do the whole for the Board of Education recognizes the value of public comments on educational issues and school matters of the community interest in support of this position the law establish a period of public comment at every board meeting individuals wishing to speak must State their name and address comments are limited to 3 minutes duration but an individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on their topic have been heard the board may require that individuals register to speak prior to the beginning of the meeting participants May submit written material in support of their position all statements in or questions shall be directed to the presiding officer and no no participant May address or question board members individually all speakers are required to express themselves all speakers are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect and dignity for privacy rights of others whose legal rights may be affected please note while it is not the board's intention to stifle comments on the matters of legitimate concern to the school Community the public should be aware that if their statements violate the rights of others under the law governing defamation inor invasion of privacy they may face personal liability to their injured party if speakers are uncertain of legal ramifications of their comments the board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their own legal adviser anyone any audience wishing to speak please come forward state your name your address and you will be heard okay sure okay I guess my three minutes start now um thank you board for giving me the opportunity to speak I'm really excited um and grateful to be here I'm actually really grateful that I came at an evening where I got to see students uh present this to you so this was a wonderful opportunity I I thank the students for doing that to oh by the way jela Pani I live um on at 14 Crestwood Street in piscatway New Jersey I'm sorry you mind spelling your name for me I'm sorry jela j a l p a last name pirani p r an I I'm I've had the honor the privilege to have both my boys go through the piscatway education still since Children's Corner at River Road um been through Randal phille MLK kakac and now a freshman in high school I have a ninth grader and a seventh grader in kakac so grateful for all the teachers um and all the principals uh who have guided us throughout the years uh just two reasons why I wanted to come here one of them was actually based on some of the conversations I had with some of the people at the second fiveyear strategy meeting um and this was primarily with uh Mr Balano the principal of um the high school and one of the questions I had and a couple other parents who are uh upcoming freshman parents with me is why is there no more a class valid dictorian at the high school and I think there's some what I was told is there's some history behind it and we'd like to understand what that is and why um because the students are also wondering you know it's a fun competition for them and they'd like to understand why and what the reasoning for taking that away was and the second question I wanted to ask is I know there's a lot of U real estate space for physical lockers at the high school but given the schedules and I've actually attended the back to school night and I know there's a six minute time window where students have to rush between classes and they don't always make it back to their lockers before they have to get on a bus or the after school activity um so just wondering what are some thoughts I'm sure you've done a lot of research and thought process behind this I just wanted to understand that a little better um I have a lot more to say but I'll pause here and and see if there's any okay I'm going to look to the left of me no problem and then we will be addressing so I'll start with the locker uh conversation so we have um enough lockers more than enough lockers for every student in high school I've seen that um and uh we only assign By Request lockers yes and we probably only assign about 18 to 20% of the lockers that we do have uh because most people carry their stuff around and I've had three kids who just graduated high school in the last five years and and they've never used their lockers either okay um the high school is large we have eight minutes in between classes for that reason um and you talk about doing a lot of research and things like that I think the research and and what we put in place was the eight minut it used to be six so as of as of two years ago go it was 6 minutes in between CL and we made it eight okay uh partly because how large and and um not well thought out the high school was was planned and built because it's just so big with have um I would suggest did you talk to the principal about a Locker near things or did is this is this the first conversation that you're having this I mean I've just talked it talked it over with my son and you know his comment has been well nobody else us as a locker and I'm comfortable getting classes I think I I think a solution might be to talk to either the assistant principal that's assigned to your son and say is there a solution where we can get him a Locker close to a class that he has a problem with okay so maybe a locker that a freshman would have in this area give up that one and put one more centrally located okay um it's not a great solution not a great answer but the way the high school is laid out and uh with the amount of minutes that we have in a day eight minutes is the max that we could have gone and we did that for that reason okay no problem thank you now the first thing that you brought up the validator and salutatorian uh this conversation comes up every every few years I want wanted to jot some things down because I really um I want to make a a bunch of points that I I didn't want to forget any because it's a really important conversation it's not just one that um personally speaking as an educator I was a high school principal for over a decade um I don't look at it as fun competition I look at it as uh it kind of morphed into unhealthy competition right um this this District got rid of it over 10 years ago so I've been here 10 years it was before me I couldn't pinpoint the exact year I could have probably looked at all the board minutes but I didn't do that so it was way way before me um we really think that it causes in some cases and maybe not all right so but the sum is worthwhile for us to say it's not worthwhile here some emotional and unhealthy mental stress because kids with the again unhealthy competition with that's the if they have their sight set on these two things and that's the only thing that they want they'll do a lot of things to make that happen for themselves um I I feel it's again me and I I hope the board right it's a policy that we have that we don't have it in place right um puts like a misguided Focus just on grades and we at Piscataway we really feel our students are well rounded and and more than just the grades that they get um most colleges don't ask for it anymore class rank if they do we give it to them right what the kids don't really need to know that um so but the colleges if they ask for it as that again my three kids are in college now none of them asked the class r uh and they they again I don't know school school can calculate that if a school we we have it we have calculated already we know it you can call us we know college needs it find it from the school absolutely absolutely um and we also feel it causes some po decisions it takes away student opportunity uh for example if a student is in the junior year and they're looking at their schedule and they're saying well I'm not going to take this elective because it's not an honors class or an AP class if you take an honor if you take an elected that's not an honors class or an AP class and you get an A in it it'll actually bring your GPA down so students will decide and parents will guide them to decide don't take those classes take an option two and leave um take a study hall um so if you could see how that could morph into some unhealthy decisions uh because of this goal that they're chasing where you described it as some fun competition but we and from my experience as a high school principal Glenn's experience as a high school principal um we really feel that it does more damage than the weight that it's worth for two kids at the end of a year that they graduate what about the uh so is there uh sorry do I have the opportunity yeah yeah absolutely absolutely okay um so what about the opportunity for students to sort of um like I know when Kakak had their end of year ceremony the uh I forget the the president of the the student Bard student council I think they had an opportunity to sort of give thanks and you know recognize all the members um and the teachers is there something like that that happens so those those students aren't chosen by grades and I guess that's the difference of what we're talking about but at at the high school graduation there are students who speak and they're chosen by I'm not sure how the high school chooses them but there are students who speak um Rahim will probably have an opportunity to speak being the student board rep the class president usually has an opportunity to speak being the class president things like that but that's not said Stone yeah absolutely we have so we we try to um focus our graduation around students yes you know running the program speaking at the program I I make the comment all the time nobody really wants to just hear me speak at graduation they don't I mean they're there to celebrate their kids and they're there to hear kids and see kids and uh really celebrate their accomplishments uh so we really try to make it student focused um and and so we give them the opportunities there as well last two last year we had two students sing at graduation um so again we give them the opportunity to do all that okay all right so I hope that it makes it a little clear of how I feel as the superintendent and I I'm I'm I'm guessing how some board members feel about that the competition of alorian and salutatorian um and and what we feel that uh you know again it hasn't been here for 10 years so I'm assuming that people in the community agree for the most part obviously some agree differently so Madam president I you know because so I've been on the board 14 years and I first of all I want to thank you for being here as a parent um because I was there right at that spot in 2006 um when I noticed that at the high school with my children that they were going away from uh letter grades to at the numeric grades and then I realized that I felt they they weren't doing it correctly so I expressed expressed the concern at that time and it did help um where they actually changed over to the the uh numerical grades but to the superintendent's point in those 14 years because I actually have a folder from 2014 and there was a a board president who actually his name was Paul Herman he was the assistant dean of cigent program development at Rucker University and so I was reading this and um uh he was comparing New Jersey other states Etc and there were certain disadvantages of of children uh with class ranks going in um to certain universities B but the thing is that at even at that time he was saying that a lot of admissions were more based on GPA and sat and then what the Dr relli was talking about and so with with that and the unhealthy pressure of like now imagine you have 646 kids that's what that was my son's graduating class in 2004 and um and and you're you're you're one or two the difference between one and two and so that's the little bit of the history that I found and that I agree with the superintendent that the way in which we're going was a healthy way to go we find sometimes that kids are inundating themselves with AP classes yeah to try to do this um and a student schedule with four AP classes is is a daunting schedule uh there are nights when there is no time to sleep uh and they're falling asleep in class um because of their because they're looking to get their GPA up or get those credits that they could use in college things like that so if you add this to to that equation it could make that worse and we really don't want to stress kids out more than they already are but the Nan's Point too but then I found out exactly what you're saying is that that if you ask the counsiling Department if the University or the whatever College wants to know the class rank they will send them to them because if there could be some merit scholarship associated with that so they will they will send that information and I'll tell you my husband and I actually had this conversation uh my daughter graduated last year and in conversation my husband was like you know I we didn't think valid dictorian that was not in our that was not what we were uh you know striving towards but was like I wonder what her class rank would be and I was like oh the scat doesn't do it and I just I didn't even realize that um if colleges needed it that that was something that's available for them so that's actually very helpful information that you asked about and now um you know now we know that if um if that's something that colleges do need that our our counseling department our guidance counseling department has that ready to then send to you know those schools because there's a lot of money out there when it comes to GPA and um you know things along that line for college Madam Pres one more com um I'm actually a pediatric nurse practitioner by my daytime job and I'm sure that if you know we're scientist so we look at research and also everything here we do on the board is very data driven you know I'm sure that if each one of us were to go after this meeting and look up the research we would find much evidence to the effects that you know the healthy competition might have on our young people um of the goals um that we have as a board and has been in our you know strategic planning and on and going ongoing for years and years has been um mental health and wellness um I sit on you know the community um relations uh board and um committee and as a chair of that I I definitely can see how something like that could become definitely detrimental to the mental health of some children not all but but I'm sure some so I will take it on a task to do some research on it and um I will get back oh I appreciate that thank you because you know I I totally agree with all the points you guys are making about being a holistic child and I know that was one of the things that was actually one of the main topics that came up at the second five-year strategic plan but also when we think about real world and that preparing them for what's to come after they finish High School some of the real world experience is not always going to be as pleasant gent sure be as gentle I think that's the right word and it hopefully that's a that that's something that I kind of grew up yeah um just recognizing and realizing and being prepared for that so that was my uh that was our family thought and a couple other parents that I've spoken to and there's no doubt there's the other side to that argument just what is what is you know the the a good practice for the greater good of our of our community and I I don't disagree with you okay thank you thanks for bringing attention and don't hesitate to come back and talk to us more questions that get our brains going see in three three years you'll be on the board of education that's how happen especially when you have nine of the cutest kids you've ever seen in your life that's true okay um have a motion to close public session motion second second all in favor I okay public session is closed there are no committee reports this evening so next we'll have the approval of minutes Mr okay being resolv that the following minutes be approved as submitted and you say the dates all the way in CL uh business meeting December 14 2023 executive session December 14th 2023 motion second all in favor and the minutes have been approved PH school planning and operations Dr Connors we resolve that the following motions identified as items a through I be approved as presented second Mr secretary can you take the role Mr King yes Rivers yes Mrs Salgado Callen yes M Smith yes M Stafford yes Mrs cordino yes Dr Connors yes Miss Cherry yes motions carry policy Miss Smith page six six you resolve that the following motion identified as item a be approved as presented second Mr secretary can you take the role M Rivers yes Mr C yes Miss Smith yes M Stafford yes Mrs cordino yes Mr King yes Dr Connors yes M Cherry yes motion carries curriculum Mr King we resolve that the following motion identified as item a be approved as presented second Mr secretary can you take the role M Rivers yes Mrs yes M Smith yes M Stafford yes Mrs cordino yes Mr King yes Dr Connors yes M Cherry yes motion carries Public Services Mrs cordino Fe have resolved that the following motions identified as items A and B be approved as presented second Mr secretary can you take the role Mrs Salado Cowan yes M Smith yes Miss Stafford yes Mrs ordino yes Mr King yes M Rivers yes Dr Connors yes M Cherry yes motions car administrative of auxiliary Miss stford sure be it resolve that the following motions identified as items a through G be approved as presented second uh for the board just like to note on item e that motion shall now read that Dr Tom Connors will be appointed to serve as the District representative and item F Miss Shantel Cherry will be appointed to serve as the alternate District representative so those uh edits will be reflected in the board minutes but th those are the Motions you're voting on Dr Connors for letter e and Miss Cherry for letter F okay okay also I'd like to acknowledge uh theor sh Middle School's P for donating $5,900 to the Piscataway Township schools for four coach buses for a field trip to the New Jersey state aquarium um what parents can do when they get together collaboratively and work in fundraise would Amaze the outside world I remember being PTO president at Grand View Nancy was previously the PTO president at Grand View after myself the work we put in because we went in on a mission I'm not going to say it was a normal Mission but it was a mission um but we were able to achieve it but the foundation was was set up already and the parents were already engaged involved and willing to put the work in so you get out what you put in and this is living proof of it by the donation of those four buses so we really want to thank Theodore Shore uh PTO for accomplishing that and for doing that for the students Mr secretary can you take the road Miss Smith yes Miss Stafford yes cordino yes Mr King yes M Rivers yes Mr Salado C yes Dr Connors yes Mr Cherry yes motions carry okay old business anyone with any have one quick comment uh We've really documented board member appreciation month uh well tonight I also want to acknowledge board members from other District Joe Toma is a board member and his hometown of row uh and again it doesn't just stop with the the kids at Piscataway so we appreciate everything that you do for the kids in Piscataway also and for the staff here uh but for also the kids in raway and the work and the and the volunteer hours that we put in so thank you Joe and I also want to let it be known he's the board president this year as well yep so he's playing many roles and wearing a lot of hats but he knows the work that needs to be done and he's willing to take it on and do it so we thank you [Applause] c um Madam president a couple of things um as um a vice president of the New Jersey school boards Association um next weekend not this one is the new board member orientation and so I'll be participating in that and hope to see uh people there um second thing is that uh we talked about at the New Jersey school board's uh board certification program and we are um six out of the needed 16 hour credits we've had three two-hour credit sessions last year and at these sessions we discuss and learn uh about different topics that we pick um the next one we're going to be doing is student achievement and then the board's role in curriculum we've done in the past um how to put a uh make a referendum question uh put on eventually put on the ballot etc those are examples and in the end what you get is uh is um a certification that that we've gone through that process and historically again in the last four 14 years we've done it I think three times and those are the three PLS over there so uh it's great to keep learning and that's what the the board um does and I'll put a plugin for Beyond board certification for the new board members uh Nancy was the latest one I think is the board member Academy there's levels where there's the certified board member there's the master board member and then there's the certified board leader and so uh stay involved with uh all those programs uh I feel uh that a lot of our success as a school board has to do with our training in governance and that's what this is about and so uh thank you and so those those two things go to go to the new member board orientation and uh let's continue with the board certification and that's it thank you Dr Connor anyone else with old business I CNN can uh launch a new business now Madam president have one and that is for the new board members whatever is that Athletics uh there are senior nights coming up uh and we have a schedule that was of the dates and for the new board members and we we get to go to any GMC uh games and events for free so make make sure you get a pass so you can go it's away or home and look up those dates for the seniors and um if you can go because there's nothing better than I than I think than the community especially the parents the senior parents seeing board members at the at their children's uh gam so please do that that's it thank you Dr Connor um just feeding off what Dr Connor says um um this is my first year actually getting a volunteer at the high school um with the little student store and I'm a big kid at heart so I'm having a ball up there but um Dr Connors is always up there um socializing helping if need be um but again the parents are involved because their students are a part of it if we continue that path and get more parents involved even if their students aren't a part of it we'd be surprised at what we could achieve uh tonight there was a meeting of ptso at the high school not sure the success of it or how many people attended it but hopefully they got some participation and got some parents to come on board and say okay let's get this program up and thriving again because the students could really use it because it's not like it comes back to the district itself is all put on the student athletes themselves and that's where the difference comes in at because they work hard they put in the hours and all they want return is support um to watch the wrestlers yesterday including female wrestlers it was just like when she pent her opponent was like oh go ahead pway I see you um but the pride on her face like I did this like I did this in front of my home team I this in front of my home audience and she was so proud and I got to speak to her afterwards but it was just a great feeling to be there and to witness it so like I say the parents are involved the students are involved and if we all work together we can be achieving a whole lot more with that being said can I have a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting motion second in favor we are [Applause] Jed