to the flag the United States of America it stand one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all Mr secretary can you please take the role Mr Cherry present Dr Connors present Mr cordino here Mr King here Mrs Lane here miss Rasheed Mrs Salgado Cowan present Miss Scot here Miss Smith here we have eight presid thank you Mr secretary hereby it being known that the Piscataway Township Board of Education has complied with the notification requirements of the open public meetings Act of the announcement of this meeting date in place on April the 30th 9 20123 in the following manner posting of the public notice on the posting board for the Board of Education in the administration building email notification to the newspaper servant Piscataway the home News Tribune and the ca news email notification filed with the municipal clerk at the municipal building on hose Lane this meeting is being videotaped this recording is not official record or supplement to the minutes is intended only as a source of information that the public might utilize at a later date to familiarize itself with the board's activities executive session the resolve that the board adjourned to Executive session for the purpose of review and discussion of the Personnel agenda litigation HIV monthly reports and other matters pursuant to l njsa 10 semicolon 4-12 B I have a motion motion can I get a second second all in favor we are in executive session result that the board reconvenes back to public session can I have a motion motion second second all in favor I we're back in public session good evening everyone thank you for coming out tonight we're going to start off uh with our student presentation our student presentation tonight will be brought to us by the Randol phille Elementary School the students will be performing two songs from their upcoming winter singal with some of their classmates beautiful artwork and acting as a backdrop here's principal Abby s go to tell us more thank you do I stand over here turning around in circles my back that's okay we are worry I want to welcome everybody and appreciate the board and everybody in central office for having us from randville um interesting thing yet when it was brought to us that we had the opportunity to present it Bo um I didn't say hey Mr Warden can you do this I presented all the special Area Teachers and I'm like guys you know decide amongst yourselves anybody interested let me know and very indicative of the way that teachers work at Randol though it wasn't just one teacher wanted to be a part of it but we have Mr Warden and Miss mcginness who both volunteered to do it together both as an art presentation as well as as a musical presentation um school year has a lot of different seasons and ups and downs and different Vibes throughout parts of the Year this part of R bill is very warm very thankful very close snit it's just the time to reflect and really be together and appreciate each other and I think that that is a big part of what you're going to hear this evening really wanted to bring some of that flavor some of that feeling to you get an idea of what it's like at randville this time of year through the music so I'm going to ask Mr Warden to talk a little bit more about what we're doing and again give a big appreciation to miss mcginness for the beautiful backdrop that we have from our students that are also helping the I will say this is going to audience as well as board members in central office correct me if I'm wrong I mean this is an inclusive single and we want to have everybody participating as much as possible Right more other than me the more more voices we hear all right Mr W please thank you so much thank you guys thank you so much for coming I don't have much to say other than we're so excited when um we pick these three songs together it's some of their favorite songs um and we added some movements and there's a little twist for our last song we'll be doing three songs uh the holiday season here comes the snow and a song called Jingle diive which I'll talk more about when we get to it so [Applause] that's you make it look better make it look [Music] theid is here in [Music] the everywhere bells are ringing and folks are singing [Music] good is here inure Cate the everywhere ringing and FKS are singing and feel good [Music] cheer I can feel the the is here tnk in the a Cate the future Cate [Music] the Ring Sing all fall the holiday seon the holiday [Music] [Applause] seon [Music] [Music] it's down it's falling gently up on the ground here comes the snow it's falling down blank [Music] ground on wi down theill [Music] win it'sing down it'sing it's the ground ground here comes the snow here the sow it's falling down [Music] [Music] down the road having winter [Music] day in Winter down down [Music] down all so our next song is called Jingle dive and there's a little twist to this song for the first time you might recognize it you sing it normally but for the second time when we repeat it I'm going to have you all sing with me so ready you'll recognize the song they'll show you how to how it's done first and then I'll help you out so enjoy [Music] anyway [Music] dashing through the snow in a on open all the field we all [Music] the making spirit it is toide and sing song T jingle bell jingle bell jingle all the way oh what it is to jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way oh what fun it is to [Music] you guys ready ready right here we go here we go going to take it off [Music] first all the fields weing on the [Music] waying [Music] making jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the [Music] way is ride open jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the [Music] way to ride in [Music] [Applause] [Music] a W well I have to tell you your talent your moves your outfits fantastic costume design but what's most important you came here and you performed for us and we really appreciate it we want to thank the parents [Applause] most importantly showing a community the diversity within Piscataway and what it looks like so on behalf on the board of education I want to present everyone with a certificate it will have your name on it with today's come over to your music teacher I'm going to hand it to him one by one he'll call your name you'll in the middle and then at the end we'll all take a group picture [Music] together so you know um certificates will also be back at the school for the wonderful artists who did this thank you very much for your participation as well it's been [Applause] great [Applause] Brown [Applause] law here Ariel Brown [Applause] Patel little Campell [Applause] we two R put the small ones in the front all right working it out now you can see him all right everybody ready cany holiday holid all parents get it okay wait for your parents for your smile faces don't cover your faces put on your [Applause] stomach thank you Rand than you holid sing My Wish what more fitting time to do it literally my last one right anybody else I I'll I know thank you you guys having us today like I said I'll have Melissa email you once T okay and you [Music] [Music] guys you can see each kid's personality how they perform right little kid at the top he was you know he was kids going places no [Music] know oh uh oh some someone left their Co now it's probably uh that she had on the yeah right there she's coming back right now there she is yeah she that pretty plaid dress with the braids oh I love she live and learn from we follow that so can all the rest of the presentations don't worry about it follow Dave's gonna sing for us Dave you're gonna sing da oh you're gonna have to wait in line for that one all right back on the agenda we're going to go to the student representatives for him right uh good evening everyone I hope you're all doing well um Tom's not here today so you're gonna have to listen to me talk double the amount sorry not sorry I think you can handle it say sorry not sorry so high school programming as always has been amazing the ICA recently held their annual garbon night which was amazing I know many students came out and it was a lot of fun just a bunch of um different cultures coming together and then also the last night the FIS gway High School choir um had a concert and I unfortunately couldn't go but I heard they put on an amazing show um and the fact that it was so many student L performances I heard it was amazing um the National Honor Society had its induction ceremony for the fall cohort of inductees and um including poni and um I know Dr vanelli was there Dr Connor um and it was just an amazing night and I know we had more inductees this year than last year which was amazing um the girlup club held their sanitary drive it ended and so they collected a bunch of donations to donate to local women shelters um the Chiefs for Christ held a toy drive and they collected a bunch of toys and they also donated them um and with so many extracurricular activities going on since they extend until like 3:00 p.m. we obviously have late buses and those were initially getting crowded but the district added late bus extra late buses which has been good um because before we were facing like overcrowding issues on the buses but now from what I've been seeing and from what I've been hearing um the additional routes have been really helpful um also yesterday the National Honor Society held their semiannual blood drive and I believe they collected about 80 pins of blood which is amazing and I know like each person that donates can save up to three lives and I think it's just a great opportunity for students to get a chance to do that just at the high school and then they're also going to be holding one in the spring um and then the drama club had MC Beth and I know it was amazing I went it was amazing and then also in the spring they already start preparing um for their Mean Girls musical so I know so many students are looking forward to that they already had auditions or are having them right now um and then Club photos are going on today and tomorrow because we have so many clubs literally from 7:00 a.m. to 1:45 they have clubs lined up from today and tomorrow just getting pictures in for the yearbook um this month and next month we have the New Jersey seal of biliteracy testing happening at the high school and so the most popular language is obviously Spanish but they offer it for any language even languages that they don't teach so for example like if someone was UE um by them themselves they can get that tested at the high school and then the can facilitate that and then New Jersey provides a seala b literacy um based on you passing that which is a great opportunity um also the safety ambassadors program that me and Tommy are part of where we go to Eisenhower and teach the little kids safety is starting back up in February so our first month that we're going in is February and we have a new advisor for it so we've just been getting that organized and we just had a meeting today and then we're going to have a meeting with like the Ruckers um staff that runs it from Robert with Johnson's Hospital next week for just some additional training on how to speak with kids making sure that we're good and we can um provide that message as clear as possible because it's quite important um also this is P's part so I'm not really a stem kid but um there's a lot of science-based Cl activities going on at the high school we had the Science Olympiad um interest meeting um the chem League the physics league and then as well as the science National Honor Society and C chem Club so there's a bunch of science related extracurricular opportunities and I know today or yesterday the cam club and science National H Society held like a meeting to Showcase to the entire school all the opportunities they have to get internships and anything of that nature already from GetGo in high school which was amazing um and I know with this season we have college decisions coming out and then um the school counseling department has been doing an amazing job with that they also held instant decisions Day this year for many schools where the admissions representative just comes in and they literally read your application there and tell you if you're in or not which can sound nerve-wracking but I know so many students got in through that for many colleges and that's the school they're going to now and the fact that it all happened through the high school was amazing um and then I know I speak for everyone when I say we're excited for winter break um but with that we have so many festive activities going on at the high school the piscato gives back Club is holding a winter movie night um at the high school for volunteers next Wednesday um the class of 2026 is selling holiday candy Gams um our senior counsel we had a hot chocolate sale for the past few weeks and then we also started a thrift store so in the school store with the help of Mr patelli so we just had um students donate any extra clothes they had and um now we're selling them as like a little nice mini thrift store at the school um cuz I know that's a big thing um amongst high schoolers um and then also the Spanish club is holding their holiday food drive to donate to local charities so there's a lot of charitable stuff going on at the high school as well with this season and then the student government is hosting its winter spirit week next week just to end off the year strong um with a good way to get school spirit and yeah overall it's been amazing thank you and happy holidays thank you so much as we usually tell you you're more than welcome to stay However if you decide you must go we understand um have a happy holiday season doing things as you do continue to be the positive spirit that you are and looking forward to 2024 with you you're welcome uh next uh will be my president's report I was pleased to be able to attend the recent what's next career fear at Piscataway High School where 118 Juniors and seniors got the opportunity to explore a range of options to pursue after graduation for those who do not wish to go to a 4-year College 30 presenters were on hand to meet and to talk to students about areas such as construction trades the military law enforcement firefighting Community College or trade school real estate diesel mechanics fashion cosmetology Auto Sales and more this event is a key part of the district's ongoing mission to expand opportunities for non-oled bround Learners thank you to the Pas scataway High School depart High School's Department of College and Career counseling and the district's Department of diversity equity and inclusion for doing a wonderful job in organizing this important event we are in the heart of the holiday season and I want to thank everyone who came out to support our students during the district's holiday concert series students singers and musicians from the high school and middle schools did a wonderful job creating a festive mod mood with their musical talents if you did not get a chance to get to a concert yet you still have a chance as the district concert series concludes next Wednesday with the high school instrument instrumental music concert also our PHS honors choir was featured on news2 Sounds of the Season singing Silent Night it has aired throughout the month and is available to watch anytime on news2 website on behalf of the Board of Education happy holidays to all uh being able to go to the non-bound career event was enlightening refreshing and also just showing we're trying to meet the needs of all students not just some students students were able to gain listen hear and get a new path that they will be able to follow that they had not even thought of to watch the engagement of the students with the presenters were there asking the questions that they were asking and walking away with informative information was so refreshing but yet at the same time looking at the administration saying you listened and we're getting it done um I'm looking forward to what the future holds and watching that program expand even more because I know there are still more Fields out there that we can tap into and have them present to the students in areas that they have not thought of and may not ever have been presented to them but may actually P their interest to say okay I can do this to see the entrepreneurs who were there who were PCAT away alumni um incredible is it was able to show them that you two can do this I came through this same school system that you did and I was able to achieve this I'm here if you need support you can ask me any questions and I can mentor you I can talk to you but most importantly I can encourage you so for that like I say I thank the administration and all the work that was put into it cuz it's no easy task when you constantly ask to do more do more do more but they listen and they do more and they do more and they do more so again thank you thank you Dr vanelli and the whole team for doing so listening and actually saying okay we are reaching more students and giving them more opportunities than ever before and that concludes my report for my written report but next we have two board members this is their last meeting with us um it's a Bittersweet moment because with it comes change but with every day that you're here on Earth there's going to be a change so at this point in time I'm going to go to the podium now we know that's against my religious beliefs but I'mma do it anyway so on the first one I'm going to recognize Miss Lane in recognition of your service and personal dedication to the children of Piscataway Township Schools through compassion commitment and exceptional leadership your contributions built character and enriched education for all of piscatway students that's what's written on the plaque speaking to you Chantel Cherry to Kim Lane I want to thank you on behalf of the board of education for all of your Relentless hours you put in not only in town but also at the state level for all the involvement and initiatives that you put into place with the njbs they can't thank you enough and I can't thank you enough but most importantly what you brought to the table the ideas you presented but most importantly you're passionate about the kids getting to see L'Oreal behind the scenes what it has to offer because usually if you hear Warehouse people like oh my child ain't working at warehouse but you were able to show them there's behind the scen jobs that are not physically working on the line they actually create an engineering and the rest of development that comes with it so on behalf of the school board in scataway Township I want to present you with this back than you and I'm saying this and I'm more than certain it's going to be true I know you will be back there's no doubt in my mind so I'm going to put it on record I expect to see your name on the ballot in November and continue to do what you do I know you're going to be still working on things trying to get kids involved and making sure the district hears you and I know you'll reach out with no hesitation if you see something or find out about something it will benefit the students of this scy so for that we thank [Applause] you I I did prepare something okay I'm going move to can I say something first thank you so much can I say something first before you say something I wanted to personally thank you for your four years of service to our school children at the local County and state level at the local level uh here in Piscataway thank you so much for you know your contributions to the fiscal plannings and operations committee at the county level thank you for your stepping up and getting elected on on the middle sex County uh as an alternate delegate to the New Jersey Schoolboard Association uh board of directors but at the state level you know speaking as a state executive officer of the New Jersey school boards Association thank you for coming up with the idea to have an unsung superhero session at the annual New Jersey school board's Workshop in Atlantic City your idea to honor and recognize School District staff members such as custodians nurses crossing guards Librarians AIDS bus drivers cafeteria workers SRO to name to name a few who do not always get the credit they deserve was a resounding success and thank you for that so Kimberly all the best in the future thank you so much Tom and thank you everyone thank you Shantel thank you everyone this well I'll start it out the I speak with my heart through my writing so in the company that I work for for anyone who leaves the organization I write them a poem tonight I didn't write a poem I wrote a speech and it's it's the way that I honor in respect and speak my heart and the way that I feel and I just wanted to take a few moments to share that with you all this evening inspired at every visit at every event with every interaction I was inspired by and so extremely proud of our Dynamic District I am and remain so thankful for the opportunity to serve on the pasaway Township Board of Education and what an opportunity it was having served four years on the board I was part of a team that helped govern the district through a pandemic I attended every graduation ceremony including two different and Innovative ones drive- through and football field to celebrate our seniors and I continually witnessed the care and Stellar work of our District's Administration faculty and staff that ensured for our students safety and their successes the latest surveys confirmed it but it was always evident to me and I'm sure at all of you we have an Engaged and passionate team of professionals and we see a direct reflection of their hard work in our students Smiles their artwork their Innovations we hear it in the music that they play their Poise and delivery in their presentations I noticed the theme care they care about each other and they care about the environment too for example the two students from Arbor school who talked about ways to protect our waterways fish marine life they delivered and developed a solid well structured and compelling case that evening and I'll never forget it and of course who could forget about our high school students who developed the Innovative way to curb Lantern flies right I think your son was part of that um there was a NASA invention developed to see the effects of atmospheric change on agriculture and I will always remember the Lego animation project the Thanksgiving Day robot parade amongst all the other plays concerts performances and athletic competitions I attended and will continue to attend to support our students I remain wowed and impressed and let's talk about the engagement of our families and citizens amazing we need and greatly appreciate their involvement their feedback volunteerism and participation it is vital and it is valued so thank you some of you may know this and for those who don't I'll tell you a little bit about the two people who watch over my dad was a factory worker here in town and my mom was old man Jade an unsung hero in my neighboring home District we didn't have a lot but my parents always instilled in me the importance of giving back I'm an active participant in serving many capacities here in town but I must say helping our students and our community in this role has been more an an enriching and rewarding experience many people ask what what is it like to be on the board of that be a Boe member and I always answer the same it takes dedication commitment situational awareness sacrifice the heart and the passion to help students and their families at my first opportunity after taking my o of office I began taking classes and attending as many njsba webinars and seminars as I could I never missed a regular business meeting and was proud to obtain my certified board membership in 3 years serving as the board's vice president the delegate and the alternate delegate to the njsba assembly it was nominated by my contemporaries on the boards to serve as the middle sex County school board board of directors I am deeply committed to REM remaining an active volunteer serving as a member of the public on two committees on which I currently sit as a board member and in my opinion after saying all of that it's not our titles the letters after our name or before it even the car we drive that defines our successes it's our empathy our willingness to give to be present to put in the work and be accountable that speaks volumes about one's character and how successful we really are success to me is not what you have but what you have to give for students who are wondering what am I going to be when I grow up my advice is that of the quote that says in a world where you could be anything be kind please be kind mind as the boards leas onbl toown Middle School Stay Gold golden kns to all the students faculty staff and administration and community at large go Chiefs it was truly an honor and a pleasure to serve I wish the board and the district continued successes the happiest of holidays and a healthy and prosperous 2024 thank you all so [Applause] much belly thank you so much thank you you're welcome appreciate uh this next one [Laughter] girl girl this next one is personal um um because when she decided to run for school board with me on my team three years ago I thought the courage of such a young person to throw their hat in the arena and say okay I want my voice voice to be heard I know she's going to cry because she was about crying walking in the building but it's okay that's Tears of Joy from the little butterfly who came in who did not know she had a voice who did not know she had a say who did not know she had power within her name that's my Zoe that's my boor daughter she's been under my wing she will continue to be under my wing when she walks the stage in December from Ruckers I'll be sitting in the audience cheering her on Nancy and I'll be there loud and proud that's next year I know but the most important thing I want you to know you are somebody you proved you are somebody and there's still so much more for you to to go you have shown the world you have shown young people that they too can be just like you they can run for any elected position they want to in the state of New Jersey all they have to do is be a registered voter put their name on a petition get their 10 signatures and disguise the limit you came into this not knowing what you were getting into but you stayed the course even when it got rough you stuck it out we wrote notes to each other you would tell me to smile if I look like I was checked out and I would send you a note back across are you okay we did that the whole time on the high school stage never violating any ethics but just importantly encouraging and keeping each other going I'm going to miss you miss you too but most importantly I'm happy to see the Unicorn go out the door clap her wings and say okay what's next for me so Zoe on behalf of this Piscataway school board and recognition of service and personal dedication to the children of es scataway Township Schools through the compassion commitment and exceptional leadership your contributions built character en Rich students for all of his scataway students what you most importantly did was show young people use your voice use your vote it matters it makes all the difference in the world because what you brought to the table was what you had just lived all of us have been out of school for a long time so we we don't have a clue what's truly what it takes to go through schools nowadays what's involved in the school district what's going on in the buildings but most importantly when you can get someone who's lived it who's actually a part of it who still has friends in it they can give you inside information that no one else can I'm able to bring some of my information because I still have the three kids in District but without them I wouldn't know half the stuff that I know so for this I thank you for putting in hours for sticking it out but most importantly getting to the Finish Line you didn't crack it was an honor it's my honor y I didn't really prepare anything no need to we got but I do want to thank everyone because I started my parents are here and that means a lot to me cuz they were here when I graduated high school they were here when I started Rand phille which it's so funny that this night started with Rand phille and my whole journey started with Rand Phil and ends with Rand Phil and I started I graduated high school and then I decided to run for the board and I was so scared and and I just saw myself grow up you did and like believe in myself and that's like probably the most important thing I've learned is like the growth has been incredible like I've really grown into like a woman that I'm really proud to be and you found who you are found your and you found who Zoe part of that and um believed in me and even people who didn't believe in me like believed in me in some way cuz they were thinking about me but it was really an honor and I feel so proud of myself and just proud to have even been on considered to be on the board and people believed in me and and I'm also really proud of you like really I hope you keep doing what you're doing because cuz every meeting you speak I'm like oh this is exactly why I ran and yeah I just love you guys anyway that's it okay got take a picture girl no knows got it oh yes of course you are you always have to take three yeah three is the rule CU you never know three that's right my love [Applause] and that concludes my present report and presentation for this evening now we'll have the superintendent report all the auditor going to come up next wow you got called to the podium quicker than you thought you're making it difficult tonight to follow all these presentations Come On Dave what do you got I'm not going to try to top them because it would be impossible um good evening everybody good evening one one piece of excitement is you're getting two order presentations within 12 months I know Tom's very excited about that uh this is the first time in 5 years that uh the state was able to provide information on a timely basis so that we could actually meet the statutory deadline December 5th uh it was kind of a surprise they were providing no one really knew about it until it popped up uh so you know not not all schools were able to meet the deadline because of all the backups for 5 years um so you know and Truth to be told the district's only one of 27% of schools in the state that were able to issue their order on time uh and really a big result a big reason for that is uh the cooperation of all the district personnel and employees uh so that's always very much appreciated here you all what it lasts four weeks in time where we request a lot of information uh so the District employees you know in addition to their regular duties have to you know sit and and help us and uh respond to our requests they always do so very professionally and very timely so we always appreciate that uh we are issuing an unmodified opinion we did Issue an unmodified opinion on the fin of the district that means that the district complies with and follows all the required accounting uh principles and practices uh that the gby requires as well as the Department of Education from New Jersey uh the district again received a Ser of excellence and financial reporting so congratulations to the district for that six straight year that has occurred the district continues to be in sound financial position uh the general fund fund balance was $61 million at the end of this year an increase of $7.6 million of that only $3.5 million is what's called unrestricted all the other amounts are restricted for the purposes $28.2 million is restricted for Capital purposes 6.5 million is restricted for maintenance purposes you have an million million dollar emergency Reserve $96 million is what was utilized within the 2324 budget as a funding source $7.7 million is considered what we call ex Surplus over and above the 2% in all the different restrictions that amount G be designated for for the 2425 budget and $1.8 million was restricted for unemployment uh trust food service position was $1.6 Million which is um higher than most years a lot of that's because of the high reimbursement rates as well as the free lunches that were provided during Co so all school districts in the state have have higher balances now uh that is particular concern of the new Department of Agriculture uh there's a a formula that they do that they look at uh where they consider certain amounts too high uh so the district you know is in that position or was at June 30th by $237,000 District business office has already um taking that into account uh they ordered a stive amount of uh equipment uh to upgrade facilities within the food service areas of the schools uh the child uh adult school and childcare program net position was $2.6 million a slight increase of $200,000 uh one of the things that's kind of remarkable for the district is that there's no bonded debt of the school that's pretty unusual and rare uh to give you an idea you're allowed to have $424 million of outstanding debt and you have zero so that's you know pretty impressive you do have an EIP lease that's 13 $14.8 million at the end of the year but that's not considered Bond of debt one of the other items that one of the other responsibilities that we have is performing a single audit over the federal and state Grant programs uh so we pick major programs we test their controls and compliance over those programs we've issued an unmodified opinion on compliance with those programs so no uh findings as it relates to compliance and we also issue a small report orderers management report uh in that we did not note any items that require corrective action by the district if there's any questions that anyone has I'd be more than happy to answer them no I I want to thank you for being here uh David and um also thank the business administrator for you know doing a remarkable job year onye I mean six consecutive years to uh to get that um you know uh the uh annual comprehensive financial report the the certificate of excellence is is is um remarkable and I'm speaking both as the chairman of the fiscal plans and operations committee and also you know as a VP Finance from the Drizzy School boards and one thing about our board is that you know we take our finances seriously and and Kim knows I she's been on the committe and um we really pay attention to the details and everything that goes into it so my my only thing that I want to say to all the school board uh my fellow school board members and um any new board members that may be listening or whatever is that the one place that you can find out all about Piscataway and its school system where we've been where we're going is in this annual comprehensive financial report in the introduction and please read those pages there's so much information in here that links to why we are in this good uh position and it talks about uh the school system itself it talks about our enrollment it gives a history of the uh enrollment it talks about our ratables in town and how they've been changing and as people know that my thing has always been State funding and we can trace it right back here to that pie chart about uh the ratables in town uh of why we are in particular situation with state aid as well as the in decrease in enrollment and it's a just a great great spot to read about um if if you if um you're going to be on the board and I recommend it to everyone and and I think and again and thank you to the uh Administration for supporting it but we have a very very very good um uh school system and it's recognized uh around uh around the state and thank you thank you dude thanks happy happy holiday holidays as well now on to the superintendent report all right before get my report I want to uh from the administration uh thank Miss L and Miss got for their service um it's well document this is a volunteer job and the amount of hours that you put in uh and for the right reasons is incredible and we appreciate your service and uh and we know we'll be seeing you around so we thank you for your time and again from all of us the administration the central office uh supporting the teachers supporting our our building administrators being around being there means a lot so we appreciate that thank you um as always check out our superintendent report uh it is on uh on our website under the superintendent corner this month's highlights includes PHS honors and events our staff professional development day we have uh three of those throughout the year uh and also various curricular projects also this time there are a couple of inserts highlighting uh some holiday celebrations over the past couple of months which is really nice so when you get a chance please go online and and check those out another story in the superintendent report um was about our kids from MLK our art students from MLK actually making uh coffee sleeves for Starbucks so our our art teacher IR nikovic goes to Starbucks I'm guessing every morning and she had an idea for this uh for they she saw the red cups for the holidays and uh it was a a plain sort of cup sleeve the cup sleeves keep it your hands a little you know away from the cup um and she had an idea of having your art students just create some really kind happy joyful cup sleeves and star bu was like that's fantastic we really really love that idea it could really have uh an impact on our community just to spread kindness anyway not only is it in our um superintendence report but uh not everybody gets a paper anymore like this but anyway it is on the front page of the home News Tribune today we want to thank Gary Miller for uh we documenting it but Irene yep yep Gary Miller is great uh and Irena nikovic and the kids at King uh Mr kho the whole nine yards so it's just another way we connect him with our community uh so when you get a chance you could get this online as well uh just give it a read so really appreciate that so uh before I get to our uh semiannual reports from Mr rubben and and Dr lman I want to wish everybody a wonderful winter break happy holidays whatever you celebrate hopefully you get some uh to spend some time uh with your families and uh and resting during winter break so we really uh we really take everything here seriously about education and kids and mental health and wellness and this is a big part of that getting the rest when you when you uh when you can get the restr so uh on that I will turn it over to Mr Ruben first to do our sem semiannual HIV report thank you Dr anelli and good evening board members as you know twice a year under the anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act um I as the district anti-bullying coordinator on behalf of the superintendent come before you to share some information and some data about our anti-bullying campaign here uh tonight's report which has been circulated to all of you covers the six-month period from January 1st to June 30th during that period we had a total of 43 reports of HIV which were fully investigated of those 10 incidents were found to be substantiated and of those that were substantiated you see summaries toward the back of how each of them were dealt with one of the things that I look at as the district anti-bullying Specialist or whether there are any patterns this is a very data driven process that we have under the anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act where within a very short time uh we get to see what's going on in the schools things that may have taken in the old days months to fill their back to Central Administration and no way to kind of triangulate different bits of data to find out where a problem really is this is very um information rich in the sense that within a very short time we can find out for example is there a problem on bus number whatever because we've gotten a certain number of reports uh from kids from different schools that travel on that bus and to be able to Target resources to solving problems rather than just indiscriminately throwing money um at issues um and I think that the way we handled each of these reflects both support for both the victims of HIV and also as necessary support for for uh the offending students who may for whatever reason be motivated to do whatever they do so uh the report summarizes where we are um I see no patterns here one thing I look for are there any patterns of misconduct that require it the good news is I don't see any we track this very closely each one of these incidents appear to be oneof incidents not to be trivialized or minimized and dealt with but we don't see any emerging patterns that require some sort of cultural uh change in the district so with that prepare to answer any questions if not yes so I know that the the governor just did anti-bullying task force uh when when are those results going to to filter down to the uh Local Schools um if a has a report been issued yet has it been yeah pardon me yeah that's the question oh I'm una aware of the report being issued yet I I my understanding is that the task last I checked the task force is still uh looking at any improvements or changes um one of the good things about the law is it's not etched in concrete it has built into it certain benchmarks of time where we press the pause button and take a look at how we're doing and so the governor's appointed the task force to do that we expect to see some recommendations based on the experience we've had since the last time they looked at it in 2018 so we're anxiously awaiting that report with that I yield the floor to my colleague Dr rman to for his part of this presentation I'm the only tonight has got no applause I just got Applause the top of the there picture no picture didn't happen that's funny didn't happen all right good evening Dr relli uh board president Miss Cherry board vice president Dr Connor and the rest of our esteemed members of our Board of Education uh tonight i' like to present our district uh semiannual ssds report um it's uh just like um Mr Rubin said uh it's covering the time frame of January 1st 2023 to June 2023 the report that was just handed out to you also has the numbers of SDS incidents for the year before uh same time frame January 1st 2022 to June 2022 eliminating the 10 HIV cases that again Mr rubben so eloquently presented our district reports 67 occurrences uh during the time frame I just said nine infractions of vandalism seven weapons violations 14 occurrences of violence and 33 substance abuse accounts be really easy to just give you this report and um you know sit down but I really wanted to take some time to drill in on each category uh just to give you a little more information starting off with violence of our 14 uh incidents which we're proud to report is down almost 40% compared to the year before uh there was five fights eight threats and one other event that I had to classify as other um something was thrown across the room so it wasn't a fight or a threat so she made that other and the of the 14 incidents 57% of these incidents involve students who already received receiving additional uh assistance from our district and we continue to uh receive that additional assistance to hopefully correct these behaviors the next category vandalism is a uh it's a it's a different category in that there's a robust amount of of incidents that could fall under this umbrella uh for instance with the nine incidents one um in my opinion of what vandalisms definition really is um fits uh this that definition of damage to a bathroom the other eight incidents include six six incidents of theft greater than $10 uh five of them happened in our school's cafeterias um we had one issue of trespassing a student uh was where they weren't supposed to be and one report of inappropriate post on social media so all those fall under vandalism uh for weapons we had seven incidents we confiscated Four pocket knives during this time frame one little can of pepper spray and two water guns you might ask why would water guns fit in uh description of weapons in in both instances um they looked um they didn't look like toys so we wanted to send a message like something like that even though it is a toy it is a water gun is could be a point of chaos and should not be you know outside of the house so we wanted to make sure that that message was cl loud and clear of those seven incidents um six were uh solely possession uh thankfully the one incident that it was a possession did involve one of the toys so I was happy to report that uh last category was substance abuse we had 37 occurrences 21% I'm sorry 21 or 57% of those um occurrences were possession uh the 21 possession were nine items of paraphernalia six marijuana four nicotine and two alcohol and the 16 use was 14 marijuana and two nicotine looking at these numbers our biggest increase in respect to the total numbers did definitely happen in substance abuse which if you look at it at a certain light you know and I look at it this way I believe that is a positive now some might look at me crazy and say how could that be positive uh the reason I say that is after disciplinary consequences are obviously uh D to the students involved in these 37 cases those students meet with their guidance counselors a student assistant counselor and anything else that's needed to assist the students in you know getting back on the right path and staying on there so again 37 again is our highest number but those 37 the people involved in those 37 incidents are definitely getting assistance uh to wrap this up I want to go over two key points very similar to the two key points that I covered uh back in uh June uh the first one is to most of you know me by now I'm big with numbers I love math um with the 67 incidents that put it in perspective of what how big our district is I looked at the total enrollment on June 30th 2023 we had from kindergarten to senior year not including our our pre we had 7,440 students enrolled then from January 1 to June 30th again 2023 we had a total of 109 school days so if you multiply the total enrollment by our school days uh we have total school days have 80,90 so if you compare that to the 67 incidents you calculate that on 0.0082 6% of our school days that's that that required an ssds report so to put that in perspective a little better to get to 1% which obviously is very very low we'd have to multiply those incidents by over 120 so that's something our district should be very proud of district is working very hard to make sure everyone is safe students and staff parents and everything second key point I like to make and again very similar to what I made in June with one uh important tweak uh we increased if you look at the three categories of vandalism which as I stated was mostly theft uh weapons which again were all one possession and substance abuse which was 57% uh possession those three categories uh compared to last year we had an in increase in 12 total incidents um and I remember the as I said the only way as a former High School principal I know in those types of occurrences the only way you catch that before it happens is by Intel from students parents and things like that uh in June when I was only on the job for about a month and a half I said that I think the exact terminology I used was it could be argued that the rise in those occurrences has a direct correlation with the Positive relationship our staff has developed with our students I'm not going to use that terminology anymore because now that it's December I've been here eight months I could sit here in front of you confidently say I am sure that the positive relationship our staff members formed with our kids is a reason why uh we're able to catch more of these incidences because our kids want to help us make our school safe they want to help us make our schools the best they have school pride and that's another great thing that I think our district should be very proud of that being said I know the goal is to get these numbers reduced eventually to get to zero that's the the main goal so just want to talk about some of the many programs our schools participate in to assist us in that goal uh we continue to do the week of respect School violence awareness week we have safety and climate uh committee meetings Hib trainings uh Dei monthly celebrations uh character education program several assemblies on Mental Health Awareness social emotional learning and violence prevention and new this year we've been in constant contact with our community outreach team which is for formerly our Municipal Alliance and we're able to set up uh anti-drug and anti- vaping presentations that are come that will be coming to our schools in very early of 2024 we continue to do whatever we can to assist and help our students and staff and parents in any way we can thank you so much for your time I'm happy to answer any questions yes sir uh Dr Lon and uh thank you for um the detailed report and uh I know that you need to have the semiannual public hearing my question was is that in terms of individual types of incidences in terms of percentages um and you talked about bca's district is you have any idea of how we compare to districts of similar size like say in Middle sex County are we uh very similar to other districts uh as far as our population is I it's it's hard to get that information from others but you know I do have you know some background in other places and I I assure you that our district is better than a lot of other schools so our district times you know 10 buildings again not including our prek buildings are we're doing very very well yes maam okay so my my question is these are all things that have been like um reported and caught right right so this is basically what's been disciplined and what we caught so when I look at the vandalism going up um like as a teacher I know a big thing we faced this year was the Tik Tock challenge where kids were destroying bathrooms so it was a huge problem where kids were coming in a little bit at a time they'd bring you know like tools in someone would loosen a little bit more someone else would come in loosen a little bit more until a SN came off or um some something else so I didn't know if we had an issue with something like that and if um if this was just does it represent I guess my question is this is representative of what has been disciplined and caught correct not always maybe reflective of other things that are going on so I have the same question to with the you know not with the substance abuse um because we have 37 and I know as a parent um I get some feedback about um the bathrooms yeah and um the amount of um activity going answer your question there's absolutely some of that no question about so that's no question about things that we might not be able to uh discipline or catch we know happens uh and and what Dr lman the point he made about the the categor is going up so we're finding out more our teachers are more Vigilant right a good thing things are happening unfortunately uh you know teachers are more Vigilant they're paying attention kids are more Vigilant they hate vaping in the bathroom can't stand it I I know we talked about last year a little bit um if I remember correctly like maybe different initiatives to uh detect like vaping in schools right if I'm if I remember correctly right is this we have presentation coming in uh back in my old uh my old stop we purchased actually um some some uh contraption that was supposed to detect and it did it not so it wasn't effective yeah so that's good we're not wasting money happy that we're not spending money that's not effective we look into those things and um we're we need to ask the students to get us the technology to detect it then we'll get something that works yeah and as drelli said for that answer it's perfect where you know we know we're catching this is what document yeah so we want I don't say we want but we do expect these numbers to go up yeah I don't think it's a bad things when some of these numbers go up I think it's a little bit more reflective of what's happening and that and that it's being reported and that you know we're being vigilant to make sure that our schools are safe and we can get more kids help 100% we're definitely not keeping our head in the stand we know we know what's going on and we're trying our best to to they Rectify yeah I know it's I know it's not an easy fix yeah but you know just that it is something that we need to continue to to work on um you know for for our students and our school thank you do thank you thank you very much happy holidays [Applause] everyone that our report yeah thank you we need a picture with it picture we're just CL we're going to clap crazy today Personnel on Labor Relations Nancy Salado Co be it resolved that the following motions that identified as a through e be approved as presented motion second Mr secretary ke please take the roll call Mrs cordino yes King yes Mrs Lane yes Mrs Salado Town yay yes M Smith yes Dr Connors yes Cherry yes motion's carry uh public comments from the floor the Board of Education recognizes the value of public comments on education issues and school matters of the community interest in support of this position the law establishes a period of public comment at every board meeting individuals wishing to speak must State their name and address comments are limited to three minutes duration but an individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the 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 question shall be directed to the presiding officer and no participant May address or question board members individually all speakers are required requested to express requested to express themselves in a civil matter with due respect for the dignity and privacy rights of others whose legal rights may be affected please note while this is not the board's intention to stifle comment on matters of legitimate concern to the school Community the public should have awareness that if their statements violate the rights of others under the law governing the the defamation of invasion of privacy they may face personal liability to the injured party if speakers are uncertain of their legal ramifications of their comments the board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their own legal advisor are there any uh public comments coming from the floor this evening then and I see none can I have a motion to close public comments motion can I have a second all in favor I okay on to the committee reports there's a couple committee reports that have to be read this evening um we'll I'll start it off with curriculum the curriculum meeting met on December the 4th 2023 to discuss the dance and theater curriculum updates in math vocabulary radio broadcasting and more dance and theater K8 criteria Rebecca staki the dance and theater curriculum have been put together by great band K2 3 to 5 and 6 to8 to meet standards there are dance and theater opportunities aligned with exist in PHS dance and PHS middle and School drama programs these have been occurring but are now clearly documented course modifications by Chris arando radio broadcasting is moving to a semester course from a full year course to allow more students to fitted into their schedules the pacing guide is being modified so the course covers the same topics the aim is to allow more students to take additional classes in this elective math updates K toy by Rebecca Dayton Rebecca day share that the core and supplement resources available for the use in elementary math this included logging into the new go math platform called Ed while in Ed Miss Dayton showed how to access various materials to support students and families at home domain specific vocabulary Janine albanes the Satler vocabulary program has been rolling out in grades 4 through eight the vocabulary units are being taught and students have workbooks teachers have gotten positive feedbacks and vocabularies being used in student writings domain specific vocabulary consist of words listed based what is being taught the aim is to standardize these lists Student Success and retention Brad Butler Brad Butler an educational consultant and author who has spoken around the country would like to do keynote presentations for students in or do professional developments for teachers The Hope program curriculum is a character development program to help Force the students into pure leaders artificial intelligence Nik key Nik key a practicing computer science engineer discussed the uses and impacts of artificial intelligence for all students and teachers and why it needs to be a part of the educational discourse Dr Baskerville requested that further questions be deferred until our February 5th meeting when John Bart bartro district manager of Information Systems will be in attendance and that concluded the report for curriculum I have to tell you the engagement in that meeting Monday night was incredible especially with the artificial intelligence to watch the new math assistance that we're now using um with go MAF to see it online to see it available in different languages to see the assistance that they offer the additional questions that the students are able to go in and practice so that they can Master the skill that they're working on it's definitely going to make a difference in the gradings and the rate of State passing testing that we have with students growth and math um looking forward to seeing what the rest of it brings out and see where the data shows us in the year from now what the difference it made or did not make and was it actually worth the move and seeing the growth within the students and that concludes my report for curriculum culture climate and community relations Miss elado Cohen thank you Madam president the culture climate and Community Relations Committee met on November the 21st 2023 to discuss positive messaging Community Partnerships and wellness Services positive messaging monthly themes quotes and Marquee images for the um ending in the months of October and November were shared and discussed November themes um was gratitude and thanks Marquee images included Veterans Day and Diwali the committee discussed um possibility of sending out a positive voice message to all families with words of encouragement or posting positive messaging thanking parents and or Guardians during the um holiday winter seasons um Community Partnerships planning is underway for the PHS Business Academy students to be mentored by the Ruckers business school students regular meetings have been taking place with the nesby Jr uh meet Club under the guidance of the supervision of Mr hammerin hammerin the district will explore ways to continue to make families aware of the these opportunities the district formed a partnership with uh Junior Achievement of New Jersey that's a new partnership we have and um programs will take place across the district throughout this school year Junior achievement's purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy on October the 25th uh Jersey cares engaged in a full full day of service at Martin Luther King Intermediate School um they beautified the teachers um faculty room with uh Furniture an inspirational quote on the wall they also created an outdoor classro um and constructed two outdoor Library stands and furnished them with books they also made uh class presentations to the fifth grade students on topics and of principles of flight uh keys of of recycling and 3D printing Wellness Services information was shared about the Haven family nights being held on November the 30th at 6 pm. family night Flyers um was to include more details like the schedule of events uh for the evenings as well as uh the End Time new business um information was discussed about Dr Lanay Stevenson the leader uh the lead researcher of our District's Equity audit um she recently was at the district to visit the PHS and middle schools and at November the second board meeting she shared the details and the results of her Equity audit work Equity audit work to date okay um on just a little personal note on culture and climate committee we as a committee we really really excited about the new partnership um that we're having with this Junior Achievement M um and it looks like it's going to really bring about a lot of positive change to the district um it's at no cost at all to our um District which is always key and um it it's just bringing in a lot of um it's a very recognized organization and the fact that we were able to secure that um partnership is really really good I did have an opportunity to attend the Haven family night on uh November the 30th at 600 p.m. it was well attended um families came I think the fact that they provided uh such a detailed flyer of what the night's uh agenda would include um really helped people to like sort of P come in um drop in when they could throughout the night and still be able to you know get a good uh a good event um so that was great they had the the the kids uh you know um child care which was key and they also had lots of food so that was helpful for the fam since it was such an early night they didn't have to worry about dinner so that was a real consideration when you're having things early that the parents come bring their kids and they can also provide a meal that was very very well attended and a nice event overall and that concludes my report thank you m uh fiscal planning and operations Dr Connors yeah the fiscal plans and operations committee December 6 2023 to discuss the 2022 2023 audit the 2024 202 budget capital projects and more on the audit uh you heard uh David Ganon speak tonight uh was one of only 27 of the school district Statewide that met the audit report filing deadline of December 5th uh David Ganon um reviewed a presentation summarizing the audit process the financial performance of The District the healthy Reserve fund balance accounts another successful year with no audit findings Mr Ola discussed the balance with the capital reserve and the use of the funds for the door hardware project and other capital projects Mr Ola informed the committee about our selection for the Consolidated Federal desk monitoring the review will include and I do not know what Esa stands for but I do know that idea is individual with disabilities Education Act and arp is the American re rescue plan and Esser stands for elementary and secondary school emergency relief um federal funds is you um some little got yeah postcards uh so so I guess we were we were the bottom line is that I must they must have uh the federal government must have drawn out of a hat and we are lucky enough to be chosen to have this Consolidated Federal desk monitoring just what you need right David Elementary and secondary elementary and secondary had it hear Too Elementary and secondary school emergency no no one okay Education Act education education act it's close Okay well on the budget um school and uh Department budget submissions were made on December 1st meetings will be scheduled to review the budget submissions over the next two months salaries and benefits have been rolled over into the budget and the financial impact being assessed uh facility capital projects the generator and water cooler replacement projects are complete approval of the final change orders will be on the December board agenda um we have water coolers now in the uh these pools there people can go and fill up their own container on the architect and Engineers are exploring options for the replacement of the Dust collection equipment in the uh SC High School wood shop bid release is anticipated for January the survey of the buildings for the Dual Hardware upgrades will complete will be completed this week finalization of the bid specification should occur uh this month remember this is the projects that we're keeping uh safe schools um and um to do the the door hardware upgrades uh the Department of Education approved our application for the addition this is big news the the uh Department of Education approved the application VI addition of 11 preschool classrooms to Eisen hour uh yeah um and under um however uh uh the state sh share would be this is like the we did in the past the state share is going to be 40% we pay 60% um and it's an estimated cost of 10,497 500 or 4,199 uh that's that's what the state's going to pay uh the local share will be ours which will be 6,298 500 and District administration's reviewing this feasibility of proceeding with the project the Energy savings Improvement program which which we call esep esip um window blinds have been installed on the piscato high school windows and Transformer upgrades at the piscato high school were completed the district held a meeting with Seamans to discuss the lack of progress on the project Seamans is allocating resources from other departments to help with the project Food Service update policy 8500 Food Services is being recommended for approval by the policy and legislative committee to reflect updates from Strauss smme policy 85 00 will consolidate and replace the district's previous policies 8500 uh 8540 and 855 New Jersey school business legislative update uh the committee um since David sits on the uh New Jersey [Music] School asbo uh business here's the association of school business officials and then and since I sit on the New Jersey school boards Association we always uh take time to see if there's there's any legislation that's going to affect us so we report out to the committee and uh the committee discussed this one called uh assembly 4496 regarding the construction of school facilities and assembly 5687 regarding the requirement to assess cooperatives for every purchase and Mr Ola reported on the New Jersey Association School business officials legislative committee meeting with Senator Ruiz the New Jersey School Board Association actually which now our board president actually is on the legislative committee representing District 17 is that we have a meeting uh this Saturday uh with uh newly reelected Senator R gopal Who chairs the Senate education committee so we'll meet on Saturday and we'll get even more information uh about what's happening in our Lan Duck Session right now uh and that's it my report make clarification so if we go back to these uh classrooms for Eisenhower uh the last sentence is pretty important District administration is reviewing the feasibility of proceeding with this project right so um the state comes out with a lot of things that we could apply for and and in this cryptic grant that we could have applied for um we really didn't know a lot of details David and I discussed this uh decided let's just put our name in the Hat see what's going on so we didn't even know how much money they were going to pay or we were going to pay for a project like this right um so we put our name in the Hat here uh how many months later David two maybe wasn't wasn't wasn't a long turn around right in the summer yeah yeah so maybe three months later they come back and they say well these districts have been awarded this opportunity for this grant um short turnaround cryptic kind of kind of Grant opportunity um and we want to make sure that we have plans again four or five years from now in case we need things so uh that's where we are uh no solid plans you all would know right about any about any uh plans to add classrooms but we're in the process of of seeing if there's a need and if it's feasible uh parking over there is not great as it is right it would you know it would just be there's a lot of things so I just wanted to clarify for everybody who heard that we're not going to start construction on classrooms tomorrow that's funny because my comment was going to be so when I was looking through this report one of the things I highlighted was they give you all the schools because I'm the Lea on for Eisenhower is that the building is 68 and there's been no renov there's nothing updated since 68 where a lot of other schools are old but they've had updates and you know Renovations so Eisenhower we'll take that into consideration well I just think that yeah we definitely want to make sure that we're servicing especially when we looked at the data right and that's one of our schools that's in need of like we need to pull up not not that I'm all 100% test scores but you know we we start we start at the bottom with our young kids and then we build you know from there so I I get the fiscal part and I know that's a lot of money so just you know I'm I'm advocating for my Eisenhower Fant um and I just think um you know that's a an option maybe worth pursuing yeah the takeaway because what happens to to to Dr relli's point and um when I went over it is often um people will jump on the you know we're going to put 11 classrooms and and the thing is that that's not that's not that's what's Happening Here is the importance about all of this from a fiscal point of view is the fact that what we are and you heard how how good things are going F fiscally is that the school Development Authority which is money the legislature bonds they make that available and what happens is that they give you this deal they give you this deal where they'll put up 40% and then you have to put up 60% and that's the takeaway here is that we're exploring an opportunity for them to pay for something that we need and an example to your point was the last time that we um that we put a class one was um was um Grand and that's why it says it over here that's why it's important what you just said that that that piece has so much information in that con report but the takeaway is just to what the superintendent says so we don't have any plans but we do are are very proactive in making sure we can secure some money if we do choose to do it so now I'm thinking you know you talk thinking out loud that's a that's a lot of classrooms that's a that's a lot of classrooms and I know we have um other schools that we leas that a lot school so I guess that could be impacting multiple things because you don't have a need for 11 extra preschool classrooms at isenhower say you don't have that there there are other Financial factors there okay so yeah I I can see it's multi-tiered this is not a quick fix this is nothing we're going to but it that's why we're still analyzing we're not yeah I the more you think about it the more you realize how um how many moving pieces there are so thanks for keeping us aware that that this grant was awarded but um it is not a Telltale um it is not a guarantee that we're going to do it got it if we move forward we'll get the money I we have to figure out okay we won't start taking next week no thank you thank you and I have one uh final comment uh a brief update when I attended one of the last uh New Jersey school board's um board of directors meetings in Trenton a few weeks ago I did have the opportunity to ask the government affairs representative who gave us a briefing on all the legislative and policy Affairs that um were going on in the lame duck session and I did ask the question about where we stand as a state for funding for Ev infrastructure right it's something that we can't forget about want to keep it top of mind it would be great to see the district move forward in initiating that I know you've been very active in seeking the grants to to get that groundwork lead that infrastructure um and unfortunately it's he said that it's it's there is some movement but it's it's not as Grand I think it's kind of been back bured which is is pretty sad um I think it's a function of you know making sure that we improve our grid structure to then improve you know to then lay the ground work and and the um you know the hardware and get that all going but it's definitely something that I hope it's my expressed hope that the district I know you will David um keep that top of mind because it it would be great to lead the again pardon my pun I can't help it lead the charge to have us um I know Le the charge on um on getting that you know put through it's good to mention the grid because I had a conversation um with somebody recently just I always have these conversations to see what's out there and uh this individual said to me so there's um plenty of places in New Jersey where the grid can't accommodate uh power feeding into it which you know is helpful for the charging stations like it's so interconnected and even in places where some districts want to move forward they can't because psng or jcpnl just their grid is so outdated that it can't support it yeah once again so many moving pieces before you can you know you could be on board for something but to actually Implement there's it's either paperwork or the infrastructure that's going to bind you right so well thank you uh next we have policy Miss Smith the policy and legislative committee met on December the 7th 2023 to discuss various policies and regulations and pending legislation the committee discussed and approved the following policies and regulations to be placed on the board of education agenda for the first reading the list is at follow all of these are revised uh regulations Examination for cause attendance Examination for cause revised again Examination for cause there's three different um uh regulations there covering different items and education of homeless children and youth revised the following uh additional policies and regulations were approved for final adoption on first reading pursuant to board bylaw 0131 the list is as follows reimbursement of federal and other Grant expenditures revised Federal Awards and funds internal controls allowability of costs a new statute the new regulation Federal Awards slash funds internal controls mandatory disclosure a new reg Federal Awards slash funds internal controls conflict of interest a new a reg federal funds duplication of benefits a new reg contracts for goods or services funded by federal grants revised and Food Services revised citizens advisory committee revised Federal Awards slf funds internal controls allowability of costs Mr Rubin provided the committee with uh back background information on when and how medical and psychiatric examinations for staff occur under policies 3161 and 4161 including due process for affected employees committee members expressed concerns about the accumulated unpaid meal charges while the committee provid approved uh rather policy 8500 as a stop get measure it recommended that the board establish a committee to examine the issue in more depth the committee also approved the abolition of the following policies and regulations um sick leave policy 3432 sick leave policy 4432 bridgeyear pilot program unpaid meal charges outstanding food service charges and school nutrition programs proposed policy and regulation 5111 eligibility of Resident and non-resident students was pulled from the agenda for further review Mr Mr Rubin briefed the committee on several pieces of pending legislation including proposed amendments to the anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act and a bill providing for video cameras on school buses to catch drivers illegally passing them that concludes my report thank you m um I just have a question um for the PO you know for your committee ruin if anybody can answer the these the abolition of these policies is that because there are other policies now in place that sort of take their place right for the sick leave the unpaid meal charges and all like that okay thank you that was my question anyone else any other questions okay uh that concludes all the committee reports approval of minutes Miss Lan via resolve that the following minutes be approved as submitted business meeting November 2nd 2023 executive session November 2nd 2023 second all in favor be a resolved that the following minutes be approved to submitted for the special meeting that occurred on November 16th 2023 motion second all in favor I I fiscal plan and operations Dr Connors be resolved following motions identified as items a through K be approved as presented second no motion second Mr secretary can you please take the RO yes Mrs Lane yes M rashed excuse me Mrs Salado um yes for a through I abstain from J and yes for k m Scot yes SM yes Mrs cordino yes Dr Connor yes M Cherry yes motions Carri policy Miss Smith be it resolved that the following motions identified as items a through C be approved as presented motion second Mr secretary can you please take the role Mrs Lane yes Mrs Salado yes M Scot yes M Smith yes Mr cordino yes Mr King yes Dr Connors yes Mr Cherry yes motions car curriculum Mr King be resolved that the following motions identified as items a through F be approved as presented second or motion Mr secretary can you please take the vot well can I just a man of discussion is that the um c um that acceptance of the New Jersey quality single accountability I mean that's an important one that um you yeah cack and um you know thanks thanks to the administration for yeah no you know you're welcome um so so everybody knows it's a a state monitoring that happens every three years uh and we get categories I think the Dr B what 25 pages of categories where we assign you know different types of numbers um when I was in Dr B's role it was uh thrust upon me and unfortunately bill is uh now in that role so he's the he's the one putting it all together and I do want to Echo thank you to him for for all the work there are um you know different categories operations Personnel governance fiscal management and instruction and program and we basically tell the the county and the state this is what we think we're doing and then they come in and monitor us and give us a score at the end of this so this is step one uh that we'll we'll submit our dprs our numbers tomorrow um and we need to make sure it got approved tonight so Dr B thank you for all the work there I appreciate it a lot of work Round of Applause again [Applause] Mr secretary you take the RO Mrs Salado C yes M Scot yes M Smith yes Mrs cordino yes Mr King yes Mrs Lane yes Dr Connors yes M Cherry yes M car P Services M cordino resolve that the following motions identified as items A and B be approved as presented second Mr secretary can you take the role count yes yes Miss Smith yes Mrs cordino yes Mr King yes Mrs Lane yes Dr Connors yes Mr chry yes car Administration and auxiliary Miss sco be it resolved that the following motions identified as items a through D be approved as presented second Mr secretary can you take the role yes Mr cordino yes Mr King yes Mrs Lane yes Mrs algado Cow yes Dr Connors yes M Cherry yes motion car old business any old business uh Madam yes president uh be on the lookout uh for me in January for an email uh about putting together a next special meeting concerning the New Jersey school board's uh board member Academy board certification this would be our fourth of our eth session and we chose student achievement and the board's role in curriculum so we'll try and knock that out in January okay perfect sounds good now that Dr con brought that up be on to lookout for email for February where we want to get together on a Saturday have open conversation do some dialoguing do some bonding and let's get down to business and see what we can make happen in 2024 new business any new business um Madam uh president real quick uh that uh two things first you everybody got their piscato High School uh uh multiple activities sports schedule yes so take a look at that and again emphasizing that um you know you got the senior nights TR to get out to a the senior nights um second thing is that uh both um uh Kim Lane and myself have been uh delegates to the New Jersey school board's delegate assembly and what the delegate assembly does it brings together uh representatives of local Boards of Education across the state it's kind of like the United Nations of local school boards and uh what they do is they submit you can submit resolutions belief statements uh so so that this body would adopt them and then put them into their policy manual and then the policy manual is used as an advocacy tool for the State uh legislature for the assembly and uh Senators on on on topics and and it it's always very interesting because when you get that many people together and start discussing these resolutions some of these the topics you really feel you feel for these like plane field Etc a lot of them from planfield but resolution one was submitted by planfield Union County addressed the ability for school districts uh to classify students as excluded from cohort what happens is that the school schools are um uh their their graduation rates are based on their enrollment they're finding that a lot of students are out of the country they're here and whatever blah blah and it affects their numbers so that resolution was approved resolution two was again planfield proposal OS policy supporting a provision that non-english-speaking Career and Technical education Educators be permitted to obtain certification without English proficiency when subsequently paired with an English-speaking Co co- teer that had a lot of discussion actually that resolution failed uh uh and you were sitting on in on the zoom resolution three submitted by Essex County Schoolboard Association address guidelines for evaluation and selection of instructional materials in New Jersey Public Schools um this was actually interesting it was actually an anti- book Banning uh that we renamed I forgot we we renamed it because we wanted to get the word book bang out of it but actually that resolution was approved so um resolution four by Franklin Township Warren County proposed additional policy language supporting school districts assess to data resources that effectively and thoroughly document prior employment histories and individuals who conduct uh uh conduct implicates the physical and emotional abuse of children that was an old bill that um you know was called was dubb that me passed the draft and resolution five uh which which actually I had put in uh was actually focused on New Jersey school board's nominating committee and proposed a substitute resolve clause for inclusion in New Jersey school board's bylaws amending one of the articles on uh how the nominating committee uh was would be structured and after voting to approve that um that was currently approved so that's my report on the New Jersey school board's delegate assembly I just have one thing so simple and so short I just got an email used to say school board yesterday that I've officially satisfied my requirements for new board member certification that's so you reached uh 30 GRS 20 no no this you can only use your first two years so it's your it's your new board member so I know all I need to know about being new okay anyone else with any other new business we not see no other new business can I have a motion for adjournment motion second all in favor areour it it is done all right