number of meetings listed um so may I have a I apologize I will now move to accept a motion for the minutes of pit board of education on January 17th both in regular and executive session our approved dis printed and reading dispense with may have a second second all in favor any objections any extensions Mr okay I will now move to accept a motion for the remaining minutes pardon Mr s was asking something oh gotcha um the remaining dates listed below for the pit board of education is held on those dates are approved and printed in Reading dispense with may I have a second second all in favor any objections any extensions Iain okay that's going to bring us to our president's report on January 26th I had the opportunity um to meet with mayor Razzy and we primarily discuss the Bon referendum that will be coming up on the December 2024 ballot um Mrs papar and Mrs Ferell were able to attend the njsba glester countywide meeting um last month on February 7th I attended the school reorganization conference at Rowan University Rowan University has a regionalization Institute um they help facilitate pH feasibility studies for those districts that would be interested they provide state tax dollars to evaluate those options I thought it was particularly interesting that since 2013 only one district has regionalized and also of note that District um contained three smaller districts it was two sending uh preschool through sixth grade elementary schools that sent to One 7 through 12 districts all three of those districts combined in their total enrollment were 740 students in the entire preschool through 12th grade district so it was it was really um it was interesting I think that the board has done a nice job of educating itself on some of those conversations I think it's imperative that we continue to kind of monitor the political climate as it pertains to those discussions um but we know that as a board of education we're committed to ensuring that Pitman Public School District maintains a preschool through 12 format for Generations the Gloster County educator of the Year panel is being convened this year and Pitman has the privilege of serving on the panel um board member frell has agreed to serve in that capacity the legislative committee for the njsba will be holding their meeting on March 9th these meetings are available via Zoom if anybody has any interest I found it really valuable the agenda which is a two-year rolling calendar for legislative advocacy has already been established but there is always very interesting dialogue we typically receive a governmental relations update from the njsba if anyone has interest in attending that as well uh Mrs papalardo and I have both registered for the njsba South Jersey leadership conference which will be on March 16th if anyone would like to join us there are breakout sessions for the president and vice president but um it's rare for South Jersey to get some of those regionalized programs so Mrs Pap brought it to my attention and I really appreciated it so hopefully if anyone would like to carpool just reach out the gluster County School Board association's eighth grade dialogue will be hosted by Pitman Junior Senior High School on March 21st this year so we're really excited I'd like um if board members are available to please register for the event I'd like as many of us on hand to help make the evening go as smoothly as possible if there's anything that we can provide in advance to the district or or roles that you know that we need to have identified for us to do Pass Out programs hold open doors all the good stuff mandated governance training dates have been released for inperson options none of us are required to um complete that within the new 90day provision that the state all requires but we are required to to make sure that we register for our mandated training they have their live dates for 2 three and four but they have not released their self-paced so we just want to keep an eye on it said mid-February but it's not up yet I checked today so yeah so just keep an eye out on if you're going that route the superintendent evaluation process will start um next month Mrs paval Ardo is going to oversee that process again we are permitted to do the short form um for Mr chrisen so that is likely the direction the board will take and we also need to discuss the bond referendum in Greater detail um it's something that we had discussed moving forward we may need to discuss as a board how we would like some of these decisions that need to be made in the inter between board meetings handled my thought process would be that the finance and Facilities committee would be the best or most appropriate committee for that type of discussion but I wanted to kind of get any feedback from other board members or see if you had other thoughts anybody have any objections to finance facility handling business in the interim no okay great that's gonna I'm G turn it over to Mr pres all very good just a couple things to report our HIV report for the month is listed in there I think they had three incidences that are part of that report report for the month is also included just want to let everybody know that we finally received our official notification from the state as far as our Rod grants uh the rod Grant provides us the funding that only alls to address the HVAC here in the gymnasium white weight room and also the locker rooms it's the last area of this particular building that does not have full HVAC capacity so we're looking forward the possibility of maybe getting that project done the Summers is going to be really tight it'll probably extend a little bit into next school year and they will certainly work around the different school activities uh we're anxiously waiting for the opening of our playground uh we're getting very close we anticipate that there a concrete pad will be installed this week that'll allow us to move the tables and chairs over for that particular area and I think once that's completed we're looking at the possibility of doing our official ribbon cut ribbon cutting ceremony so uh we're looking to hopefully have that opened up by the first of next month and just want to mention as it was mentioned we do it's our budget season so we will having some conversations we'll have a meeting with the board in a couple weeks specifically to talk about the budget we will be getting our numbers before the end of this month so it'll give us a clear indication of kind of where we are and kind of where we need to be so more to come as far as that issue is concerned that's it great I will turn it over to our student representative thank you um students have been enjoying the mostly uneventful few weeks since the last meeting uh we're super excited to wish alijah krisen congratulations on joining the a thousand Point Club and representing pshs on the court along with that the music department held their annual Pops concert yesterday uh congrats are in order for Panthers on a successful concert coming up next month if any community members are interested NHS is hosting a blood drive at Rock Church from 2: to 7: p.m anyone interested can reach out to me if they have any questions uh thank you that cludes my thank you we did not have a data ad hoc committee meeting this month but we did have our CA uh CSA search committee so if Mrs Bolton would like to share off all right here we go lots of excitement this month uh the CSA committee had another busy and exciting month however this time around we involved the entire board um besides our one conflicted member um as we continued in our process of hiring our new superintendent so as you can see on the agenda we met on January 22nd 24th and 25th to conduct our first round of interviews uh the first round we spent about 12 to 15 hours interviewing and deliberating deliberating um over our 15 first 15 candidates after that we narrowed things down to about six candidates and move to our second round in this round we held on hour long interviews where we got to know the candidates a little more and we did that on the 29th 31st and February 6 so uh for both the first and second round we included members of the paa some of which are here tonight um to sit with us to listen because we really wanted to get some of their feedback at the end of the night after yet another deliberation we came down to three candidates that we felt could be a good fit for our school district and we invited them to take a tour through our three buildings um two to three of us attended each of those tours which lasted several hours um after touring we sat down yet again with each of the candidates for one final interview um so this rigorous process included hours of interviews and many questions directed towards both our current situation as a district and our future along with time to actually see our students teachers and staff in action in the end we feel like we found the one that will build on our unique traditions and partner with our families and communities to educate all students to be Discerning ethical confident citizens so we'd like to just take a minute to thank the many candidates that came out that um took the time and interest to interview with us we'd like to thank the paa um who stayed after school and came back to greet and sit with us during the interview we really appreciate you guys uh thank you to all the staff who took part in our survey we came up with additional interview questions from those um so we are thankful for those and especially those that let us pop into their classes um on our tour it really showed I think it really impressed our candidates what Pitman is all about and we would not be the district we are without the staff and um of course we'd like to thank the students who came up with questions and even film them to ask our candidates in one of our rounds they were pretty impressed by the kids and we are super proud of them um and last but not least we have to thank Mrs Miller our fearless leader for keeping us on track and helping with everything um me so many of the candidates came through and said wow this search was intense and it was real we really were able to show who we were as a district and what we want out of our district and our you know new leader and Miss April was a big part of that so thank you thank you everybody was really great put in a lot of hours then a lot of hours a lot but it it was worth it was worth it we really felt like we wanted to put the time in to our new leader so yeah I'm glad you all did sayar we think MBI owner should do the heavy LIF April this is the single most important decision that you all make yeah you appreciated that and you took it you gave it the seriousness that it deserves definitely so we are GNA move over to financing facilities and I'll turn it over to Chairman gon want to read on my I do you want can you read it or you want me to read it can you read it I can just give me one moment iie I'm Sor Natalie you have it no I don't have pull up sorry I I keep the agenda in Stace everything's off by one number okay because you keep adding to me everything's off by 190 okay all right here we go um so the finance and Facilities committee met on Wednesday February 14th at 3:30 p.m via zoom in attendance were Mr Gman Mrs Rose Mr crisen Mrs Miller and Mrs Bolton they discussed the M the uh items on this month's agenda items one through five is that what I'm doing okay one through five were normal bills things such like that um item number five is a motion to accept six item number six is a motion to accept um our board audit review and there were um no issues with it at this time correct um item number seven is our lease agreement with Washington Township regarding Kindle school um or I'm sorry item yeah item number seven item number eight is uh about our bond counselor attorney for the upcoming referendum item number nine pertains to Panther Club revised paperwork um to reflect payback wording for Miss time and item number 10 is the digital ticketing service that we use for athletic events um and there may be some further discussion on this topic with that i' like to any discussion yes so I just want to follow up that I did speak to Mr along regarding the hometown digital ticketing and event management I we wanted to ensure that we weren't precluded from accepting cash at our games um and I was actually able to view the hometown digital ticketing system and it looks like there's an opportunity to possibly even integrate it with our um lunch app so that we could provide digital passes if the board was interested in taking that type of policy for students that maybe on our free and reduce lunch so I think it really looks like it's pretty versatile and we may be able to kind of use it in a capacity that we previously hadn't um and it could offer some opportunities to students that they maybe formerly didn't have so just wanted to provide that update will it allow a student to arrive at the door with you know whatever it's $2 I think right now and still be admitted to the game yes we can still accept cash is that what you're asking yeah because some kids you know their mom gives them money to go to the game to Yes it doesn't get in and if they don't have this app on their phone or whatever maybe they don't even have a phone what a dream the um it does not yeah it does not preclude us from accepting cash that was my make sure everybody can get in if they want and I think it's important for everybody to understand that obviously it's pre-sale tickets the issue here is mandated by the state um and the possibility that there won't be tickets available at the door because they will be purchased online beforehand so certainly people who are interested in going to any of the games I think it will only be the first the uh finals if we have the finals sectionals and enough is what I read for the n and we're going to do one extra game and before that just to practice so that we have it kind of in hand before we get as I read Mr shiver's email yesterday I guess it read as though the next round of the playoffs should Pitman get there you have to buy the tickets ahead is that how it is and I understand that's more interest in that game and because you're required to allocate 40% of the tickets according that's what the language I read to the other team so that you can ensure Equitable access well to some degree you still receive a small you know advantages 64 oh okay so you have to allocate a certain percentage for the other team okay okay I would just like to take a moment and just you know certainly commend the business office on the audit uh that's a big undertaking I don't know I've not been to many districts in which there have been at least some level recommendations I think sometimes I find these Auditors take pride in finding things to recommend to the board that they they need to fix so it's certainly it says a lot for the operations of our office the work that's being done there to have an audit with no recommendations uh and they do a great job thank you yes thank you thank you um with that I'd like to make a motion to approve items I didn't look ahead one through 10 yes as uh listed have a second second Bol excuse Meo yes Bolton yes farell yes papalardo yes Co yes Miller yes Gman yes motions move every curricul instruction and turn it over to committee chairwoman Mrs the curriculum instruction committee met on Wednesday February 14th 2024 at 4:30 p.m. in attendance were Mr chrisen Mrs Moody Mrs Rose Mrs Miller Mrs papalardo and myself we briefly discussed the items that we will be approving on tonight's agenda you'll see we are approving the world cultures kindergarten curriculum this evening also discussed but not on the agenda was the recommendation to reinstate the elementary safety patrol for the fifth graders it was agreed that the safety patrol program would be valuable for our students with that I'd like to make a motion to approve items to as written discussion okay it's okay I had processed that was out of order any discussion okay did you second right second Pap okay sorry I have to abstain from 25 but yes to all others and 17 and 17 17 wait no 16 sorry 16 and 25 yeah than yes pH yes papardo yes po yes Gan yes Miller yes motions great I'm just going to take a brief moment um after this vote so we just want to recognize that we have hired our future superintendent Dr Preston Dr Preston is with us this evening I'm just going to say a little bit and then I'm going to ask Dr Preston to please step up to the podium and um kind of just briefly introduce himself so on behalf of the Board of Education we want to welcome you to the Pitman Public School District we're very excited for Dr Preston to be joining us on July 1st Mr chrisen will continue providing his outstanding Services until June 30th we finally allow him to retire uh so Dr Preston's experiences include serving as Chief academic officer curriculum director supervisor of English and social studies and as an English teacher um I did want to share and just to kind of second some of what Mrs Bolton had said earlier it was a real joy for Board of Education members to have the opportunity to tour the buildings with the candidates we saw all the wonderful things that our students and staff are doing and our administrators and to kind of see it with our own eyes was really great and we feel like it highlights some of the wonderful things that we know about Pitman but got to see in lifetime and you kind of forget as your kids get a little older how great it is to see the preschoolers and seeing the preschool expansion program in particular Mrs Miller was wonderful because that's not something that I had been very familiar with and so the classrooms are amazing and how in-depth the program is it was just really great so we as board members commented on that and we'd welcome any opportunities in the future because it was it was great to walk those buildings with the candidates and see it with kind of fresh eyes um so we we just wanted to also share how appreciative we are to Mr Chrisman and Mrs Rose for their assistance during this process they were extremely Hands-On and tolerated all of our Shenanigans like student questions and setting up interviews and Tech Team and no matter how many meetings we had to advertise and schedule and call we did have um nearly 30 applicants and so we wanted to make sure that we took our time in due diligence in processing all of that information um and so we just one of the things that kind of struck us throughout the interview process that we spoke to was that folks would ask us what's your greatest strength and our response was our people because we think that really is the foundation of our school district and so we are really excited to welcome Dr Preston to our team and be one of our really wonderful people so thank you so much for joining us um [Applause] so so Dr Preston I'd love to have to say A you thank you I did prepare remarks my dad Tau me a long time ago that if I speak extemporaneously I get long winded so he's a good speaker himself I don't know I don't really need this I think you can hear me everybody hear me um uh I know Pitman is a town that loves its traditions and um it's people uh consequently when people love tradition and people you don't like change so my only only request before you approve officially approve me is that you at least let me look to change that pink color only thing only I it's a bold choice for for viewers at home that are unaware it is very particular shade of that's right line um more seriously though I just kind of want to Echo um what what um the the board had said about the process it was certainly rigorous um and my my my whole thinking there is they're volunteering their time and and I sometimes have to remind people that board members in New Jersey don't get paid um and so certainly it was a it was a great process it was it was really good to get to know them and not everything it wasn't just you know yes yes yes it was a good conversation it was a great dialogue I got to ask good questions um I wish I could make a motion to uh you know treat them to a spa or something I don't I haven't met the solicitor yet so I'm not quite sure that willly um but uh yeah that was it was it was quite quite a rigorous process so I appreciate that um as much on my end um I have felt Beyond welcomed uh by the paa by teachers um by former teachers um Beyond welcome to this community which I know is tough because I'm not a frommer I hear that's a thing here um from the time I set foot to the students who asked their questions to me to the teachers who evidently are committed to Excellence and to all the administrators who very proudly uh along with Miss Miss Miller Miss Bolton uh gave me tours of their buildings the spirit and Zeal they had walking around uh I I thought I was coming to like Princeton University um very close with the black and the you know the black and orange so um it really really felt welcomed um Pitman res resonated with me personally from the start it's a town that uh has so much pride um there isn't a place you can go east to the Delaware uh where people don't know the alliteration Pitman Pride um it's a it's a town rooted in Tradition and connection and education and family um and and one of the reasons I'm here tonight is because my family they all came out my uh my my wife uh first and foremost Jenna she's as much a part of this as anybody uh she's my adviser my consiglieri you're really appointing her as superintendent tonight um so little did you know my daughter Caitlyn uh she was the first to teach me that despite my shortcomings as a parent I got incredibly lucky and I'm incredibly blessed to have a daughter as kind gentle vivacious and caring as she Jack my son was the first to teach me that it was possible for a nine-year-old to know more about math and baseball than me while not making me feel bad about it uh my mom uh while her vocation was not uh in education she was a faithful Sunday school teacher for 30 years 35 years um and just the joy she she had uh greeting those kids I mean that impressed on me she probably doesn't even know it from a very young age that that was her that was her you know the light and joy of her life my dad um certainly a massive influence he taught me that teaching was second only to the ministry of dealing with the Human Condition uh he was an educator for more than three decades uh most of which he spent as an industrial arts teacher at Springfield High School in Delaware County um I want to convey just how grateful and humbled I am to be able to serve these students this school Community I spent the past 17 years about a mile down the road I um in another proud town called Glassboro um I very briefly left New Jersey about 7 years ago to take a vice principal job in the uh at Garnet Valley School District but the pool of New Jersey was strong and I came back I've been in various roles all of which have allowed me to see the rub of a good superintendent a leader who is able to synthesize and discern the desires of many stakeholders parents and grandparents and in Pitman great-grandparents community members Civic organizations administrators teachers clergy and Define the most pressing question of all what is best for students we hear it invoked all the time as a criticism when an educator isn't doing well that person doesn't have the students best interests at heart as a praise for an educator we think is great that person always makes decisions with students in mind or as a signal of self-righteousness I would have made a better decision that would prioritize students than that person almost every question asked of Me by the students in the interview Rebecca you were in the in that too yes I I enjoyed that I had I do have answers for that um at its at their heart there was a curiosity about what a new superintendent would do to enhance your daily experience how the new superintendent would not only give them the best experience but would create a more challenging experience would make their school a place others would flock to in droves I've been pondering this large and philosophical question and submit to you that I think I have an answer answer and it's very simple I will serve the students and families of Pitman by making clear to Pitman what they already have a group of people not afraid to share their goals and Ambitions to work hard to achieve not merely by receiving the best but by striving to collectively be the best that can be each day before my three minutes is up is that what it is three minutes I know I'm already over yeah yeah thank you exception um I promise it's not always going to be like this a couple of additional people I want to thank uh is Chris Morris here Chris Chris Morris's job on the F the first interview was to greet me and to make me feel welcome he he wasn't even there um to entertain me and and I I say I need to thank him for that because if I was entertained and maybe a little more jovial in those and not as serious I maybe I wouldn't be standing here today so I owe Chris Morris a debt of gratitude um so I appreciate that um uh I want to thank Miss Rebecca Moody um Miss Moody I took over as assistant superintendent in Glassboro March 17th 2020 I had no idea what I was doing I I it was unbelievable um and anytime I had a question I Would S submit it to the county group Miss Moody was the first one to get back to me at every County meeting she she uh you know cooled me down everything's gonna be okay um and so she's she's certainly a force to be reckoned with at the county level and I'm I'm just privileged to be able to work with her um Miss Rose uh thank you for and Mr chrisen as well I'll get to that but M Rose just for setting all this up I know that was Yan's work um I think something that's that really again I just be there's constant affirmations of how wonderful a place this is and a testament to the fact that uh you're you're the board is approving this Rose resignation um and she has had nothing but amazing things to say about this place on the way out and I think that's very unusual usually you'll get a dig or something from somebody but it was you won't hear me say a negative thing about this place and so um I I appreciate that as well um and certainly Mr chrispen um I I I believe um it's your nephews and nieces that I I had the privilege of teaching in Glassboro so I've known the krispen family for a long time um I want to thank Mr krispen for assuring me that this is a place that's a great fit um long conversations a lot of questions and I I just appreciate Mr krispin's leadership uh big shoes to Phil um and uh I I just appreciate that the honor you've given me and I'm very humbled so thank you and I look forward to to starting I'll be around I'm just down the street so you'll see me popping in and and uh I'm I'm always available so thank you very [Applause] much so I'm actually going to take a brief recess before we go into communication and policy um so if we could take a a quick recess and I'm sure folks want to have an opportunity to introduce themselves to Dr Preston um we'll we'll reconvene in a few minutes guys we're going to go ahead and get started again so it looks like we left off on communication policy so I'm going to turn it over to chairwoman hiona all right uh the committee has no action items for this month the committee did meet and discussed the process that we're going to use to um do a more comprehensive review of all district policies and we identified one policy related to student Chromebook repair costs that I think next month the full board should have a discussion about um that's an ongoing problem but as the rest of the board was very busy this past month with other business we did decided to put off the first chunk of policies to review until next month thank you it's going to go ahead and bring us to our second public comment please state your name Municipality of residents and group affiliation of ASO and limit your comments to three minutes you recognized to speak please come stand at the podium hello hello uh my name is Jeff Smith I live at 338 snd Avenue um also a teacher here at the Junior Senior High building mostly eighth grade some high school um first of all congratulations to the new superintendent and uh thank you for giving me a little bit of time up here and I appreciate everything that you guys do um my question and and comments about uh the schedule for next year uh is it my understanding that the high school is going to go back to a nine period day is that that correct yes the high okay so um are there a plan yet for what the junior high is going to be doing no no okay uh who will be deciding how that works uh we'll certainly be getting together with with Sher and Kristen and we'll be in that conversation it's something we continue to talk about unfortunately as you know may not know but we've not been able to meet for the last month and a half so those meetings will kick back up the administrative team is meeting this Thursday you know part of a Jeff is going to be budget um considerations you know because to fix the problem we probably could use a couple extra teachers you know to kind of provide us the opportunity maybe to fill that ninth period at the junior high level so that's also you know a reason for kind of waiting for a couple of weeks before we get our numbers and kind of know where we stand but we have talked as a board we've talked as Administration we know it's the biggest issue we're facing as we prepare for next year okay and certainly I I hear what you're saying it's concerning because we have to fix it there's just no no other options okay uh just some comments with it just seemed like the last time that um we had to have any kind of changes when we were at the old building is really just the answer was was just to add more kids to each classroom and I understand that that is a necessity sometimes um but we were really kind of hoping that there would be some tweaks to the schedule as well um but it seemed um that there really wasn't I was told at the time that there just wasn't time to do that within a year so I'm hoping that we're we're starting already to really think about what we're going to do with the junior high next year we had talked before about uh possibly having more time for for ELA and math and I think it's a crucial area uh crucial time in these kids' lives that they do need um more of a foundation especially um in math and Ela to prepare them for their High School courses um I know that I teach one high school algebra 2 class this year and those kids are way way way Beyond um and I really think that if you know they had them more time in seventh and eighth grade uh for Math and English that uh it would very very much benefit them and kind of catch them up to where they need to be um I will not use CO as an excuse for anything I don't allow the kids to do that um but you know the the truth is is that our numbers are not what they used to be um when I first started teaching here we had a block schedule at the middle school we had 89 minutes for Math and for English and our scores were the highest in South Jersey and you can look them up um and I can stand by that now 89 minutes is a lot to ask for I realize that I realized there's restrictions the number of teachers we have and everything um but it's something that I really hope that you would consider if we do go to a nine period day I do think it's possible to a double block of English and a double block of math and then just have your other classes with that um please please please do not give seventh and eighth graders 48 minutes of lunch that would not be a good thing to do right now they only have half of that and they do not even need that much time so just something to consider with that and I I just hope it doesn't just fall on just the principal's uh plate to have to come up with this something this important then maybe we look into other districts and what they're doing in the junior high level as far as their schedules and things like that and see if we can make something happen all right here Jeff I mean certainly the best option and we've talked about it we've talked about it administratively would certainly probably be to have the middle school work on a different schedule than High School like maybe an hour for each period high school would be maybe 45 minutes but because of the sharing of not only teachers but the sharing of spaces cafeterias and uh gymnasiums it makes that very very difficult to do but you know even Rebecca and I were just talking this week just bring brainstorming ideas along the same line of what you just said and how we can increase time in those two areas especially we've been talking about for two years now and how and that's where I was thinking that if you did have a nine period day and four of those periods were for Math and English then the other five periods would be your social study science uh gym related arts and um lunch and not equal seven periods there now I know it's not that simple to just say that um but you know it's something that like I said I hope that really we really spend enough time know that's going to take additional staff to do it however it's structured and that's some where the budget's going to come in but we we know that's the number one option we want to do our best to try to address those areas if we can okay yeah all right thank you appreciate it do we have anyone else for our public comments see none it's going to take us to Old business no new business no okay so we are going to go into executive session and we may take an action item upon return regarding a walk on motion to provide the finan and Facilities committee with opportunities regarding the bond referendum discussions in the in the time between this meeting and our next regular board meeting um but that would be the only actionable item that we would take when we return from executive session so may I have a motion to enter executive session please so move fla I have a second second all in favor 20 30 minutes for executive session yeah this Rose how long would you to yeah I'll go as quick as I can said we'll we'll estimate so we are going to excuse ourselves and go across the hall where we hold executive session um like I said that's the only action item that we intend to take so you're of course welcome to hang out here uh if you'd like to but we just wanted to make sure that folks are aware and we will continue to live stream when we return into open public session as well so if you'd like to get home at a reasonable time you will be able to pick up and see what we did once we returned into public session via the live stream um and YouTube video it will not but just in case so that everyone knows thank you second all in favor okay we are not walking on any action items this evening may I have a motion we will conduct business in a committee structure over the next two weeks and may have a motion for our March 6th meeting May I have a motion to adjourn please so moved papalo I have a second I'll second that all in favor I thank you very much our next meeting is March 6 long yeah