good evening and welcome I would like to open the public portion of the February 21st 2024 Richfield Park Board of Education meeting the time is now 7:30 p.m. let's begin with the salute to the flag Mr bisc can you please read the open public meetings act the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the ritual Park Board of educ a has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time place therefore posted in the Bergen Record Star Ledger municipal buildings Board of Education offices and District website second part public participation will be conducted both in person and virtually through Zoom all public will be muted throughout the meeting public participation comments unlimited to five minutes public will be able to both speak and be seen by the board when participating virtually telephonically via Zoom individuals participating virtually that wish to make comments during the public participation will need to raise their hand by clicking the blue hand icon at the bottom of the zoom window individual by telephone that wish to make comments during public participation we need to hit star n on their telephone to raise their hand the business administrator Bo secretary will then unmute individuals one at a time to speak in the order of their hand was raised thank you may please have a roll call yes Mr Cooney present Miss craft here Mr fos here miss mcneel here Mr malulu here Miss Rodriguez here Miss Schmidt here miss valz here miss forth here president Martinez here we have a quorum we have several minutes to approve Miss valz would you please move the minutes I saw move um minutes from October 18 2023 um December 20th 2023 January 3rd 2024 and I move to table the minutes from January 17 2024 I'll second may I have a roll call for approval of minutes Mr Cooney point of order yes I think table the Min the one first and then move the rest I apologize I misinstructed miss can you table the first one that we're tabling and then move the others I move to table the minutes from January 17 2024 second roll call please Mr Cooney yes Miss craft yes Mr fos yes Miss mcneel yes Mr Malo yes Miss Rodriguez yes Miss Schmidt yes Miss valz yes Miss orth yes president Martinez yes that resolution passes can you please move the minutes I so move to approve the minutes of December 20th 2023 January 3rd 2024 and October 18 2023 second second may I please have a roll [Music] call Mr Cooney yes Miss craft yes Mr fos yes Miss mcneel yes Mr Malo yes for the minutes of January 3rd and I abstained for the ones that I was not a board member for in 2023 noted Mr Rodriguez yes Miss orth yes president Martinez yes resolution passes Sorry Miss Schmid yes wait I think she abstains from I'm a yes too Miss valz see yes sorry we had a long Prem meeting we're all going to take a deep breath um that resolution passes so Communications from the public no Communications to the full board from the public however I received several emails from a parent of one of our students and I have been briefed on the matter by the superintendent we will now move to committee reports buildings and grounds trusty Cooney thank you president Martinez the B&G committee met on February 12th uh present and attendance were Dr V superintendent of schools assistant superintendent uh business administrator Mr bisig District operations manager Mr igu myself president Martinez trusty mcneel truste Schmidt Miss Gonzalez the director of special services and Mr John Hayes supervisor of special services um to touch on a couple topics we spoke um Mrs Gonzalez and Mr Hayes had a discussion regarding special services in the program um reviewed the ongoing need for additional space within the Lincoln School to support the student population uh the current industri student population will need new space within the district to accommodate this growth we went over the numbers Miss Gonzalez reviewed the current anticipated growth as well within the 18 to 21 year old program regarding the um central office uh a potential relocation we discussed with Dr V the status and um looking into possible moves for central office reloc ation um districtwide technology upgrade report Mr igu reviewed the status of the district's technology infrastructure and our needs assessment Mr igu and Mr bisc reviewed the current concerns with our Solutions Architects and with the current capital projects that are supervised by Solutions touch based on the rod Grant update which is still currently under the review and needs further discussion before the final stages of the process the Junior Senior High School academic Wing hbac um we touch basa again on Solutions currently overseeing the project and we're just waiting for the new rooftop units to arrive for installation this summer we discussed the uh sound baffling in the gym and talked about the emergent maintenance uh Grant funds to purchase this much needed um aid for the sound BS in the gym as it's currently an issue to neighboring classrooms because of the sound districtwide hbac preventative maintenance contract Mr igu reviewed um which is needed for the district and lastly uh potential summer projects were discussed and the district is reviewing and obtaining estimates for potential to replacement and painting over the summer the meeting adjourned at 6:02 pm and the next meeting is scheduled for Monday March 18th that's it for B&G thank you thank you trusty Cooney policy trusty orth the policy Comm committee met on February 13th um the policy committee met on the 12th sorry um presid were trusty orth uh president Martinez uh trusty Schmidt and trusty malul uh the only policy we discussed that they was The Residency uh policy that was a 13 oh we really are a mess um we will move on to hopefully we're g we're going to correct it now hope we'll move on to community relations ad hoc committee trusty Rodriguez hi um the committee met on February 15 2024 the home school connection subcommittee met um the meeting started at 10:45 a.m. ended at 10:59 a.m. committee members in attendance Dr vinani superintendent of schools Sim Mrs anilan math coach Laura Woods Ela consultant myself um and trustee um schmith the committee discussed the success of the recent math night held on February 6th the event was well attended by Administration District employees and their families students and I just want to thank our um our high school students who volunteered their time students and also um it was well intended by students and their family the committee noted that this event was promoted by the central office Elementary School building principles math coach literacy consultant and the supervisor vsl World Language and BSI Flyers were sent home during parent teacher conferences thank you to the teachers and by building principles in addition to mass text messages messaging and email blast the math activities were engaging and appropriate students were proud to share their math experiences with their families and their friends too the committee discussed potential adjustments for future events such as the allocation of space to accommodate an expanded area for students in the early childhood grade thank you truste schmith the committee agreed to schedule another meeting shortly to discuss the third and final events for this Academic Year with a specific focus on middle school and high school students um that's it thank you very much faculty and programs trusty craft good evening the faculty and programs committee met on February 13th at 6m president were Dr VES Pani assistant superintendent of schools Carmela tra board president Dr martinz myself trusty Rodriguez and trusty valz we discussed the current agenda items for tonight's meeting uh on tonight's meeting we discuss our district organization chart that was created then is connected to our district goals we discuss our current before and after CARE program and possibly exploring adding some enrichment programs um to the program we discuss Career Fairs uh we're currently approaching career fair season it's part of our district roles to increase presence of the district at various Career Fairs Administration will be attending um the Bergen County community fair in March um and HR is registered to attend the William Patterson Mega career fair and the tcj virtual career fair in April we're waiting to hear back on Monclair who has a robust preas certified staff and the principles and staff are excited to be ahead of the game with regards to hiring we discussed the high impact tutoring Grant many thanks and praise to Carmela Tria for this initiative she was able to work very rigorously and we were awarded $154,000 Grant to help students in grades three through eight um to help them in math in in math and literacy so 120 students were identified and they're currently in the process of working through that the logistics of that program but it's a huge huge gain for our district with hopes to help with academic achiev achievement we discussed uh the March 13th professional development day there is a current shift our supervisors are currently in charge of organizing and creating professional development for their um departments we discussed the CTE in the exploration of expanding that program there was a visit to ptci to see the pro programs currently being run there which sparked ideas regards to connecting certain subject areas we're looking into the Perkins Grant and understanding our funding and how we can move forward with that Grant the homeschool committee connection uh was also discussed we just heard from trusty Rodriguez about that work on that math event that was a great success in talking about future events particularly GE towards the Junior Senior High School and finally we discussed the social justice committee the administration would like to determine what would be appropriate for this committee to move to do moving forward the committee identified current issues within the district that may be that may disenfranchise certain population in the district we're taking a particular look at multilingual students who will come to the district and how we're assisting them acclimate to their new surroundings that's it for faculty and programs we're scheduled to meet again on Tuesday March 18th thank you very much trusty craft finance and insurance trusty mcneel thank you um the finance and insurance committee met on the 12th at 6m Dr vasani M triglia Mr bisig Dr Martinez myself and M trusty mul were all in attendance uh we reviewed some of the agenda items for tonight including the maintenance Reserve withdrawal and some settlements that are on the agenda uh we discussed the status of the 2022 to 23 audit um we also reviewed a special services discussion with Miss Gonzalez and Mr Hayes um and we had uh in context of discussing the audit and the budget for next year we uh reviewed the process of how we will be be reviewing the preliminary budget um and also talked about the potential of the April meeting um needing to move to align with state requirements this committee will meet again um our next scheduled meeting is the 13th sorry the 18th of March thank you uh trusty McNeil you're back on for negotiations thank you again the negotiations committee met also on the 12th at 700 p.m. right after finance and insurance attended by Dr vasani Mr bisig um David dler our attorney Dr Martinez trustee valz trusty fos and myself um we are actively working on the rpaa contract that expires this June and our first meeting with that Association is scheduled for March 7th thank you for those very nice reports we'll move on to the superintendent report thank you president Martinez and good evening everyone uh first I wanted to just share that unfortunately our student Representatives cannot join us this evening so we look forward to hearing from them again in March uh as noted on the agenda I respectfully submit the Hib report that was presented to the board in executive session and in regard to some School news across our k6 buildings uh we recently held uh sponsored by the Women's Club and assisted by our friends at the public library uh The District spelling be and we had a number of students um participate and the finalists were able to move on so I just wanted to recognize them formally and congratulate them Ellie is caros of the Lincoln School uh placed in the top three within the fourth and fifth grade District spelling be uh Ellie then made the top three for the Bergen County level and she's advancing to the state spelling be in New Brunswick on March 7th uh Emma lantigua of Roosevelt congratulations to Ellie emlan UA of of roosevel uh uh actually uh won the overall grades fourth through fifth spelling B then she also then competed in the next level in the Bergen County district and lastly madun of the gr School uh came in second place in our District spelling be so congratulations to these finalists and uh thank you to our our sponsors and all of the um students who participated great job uh also in k6 news of the global School play uh Global School play day um students participated in and had fun playing with their peers uh all schools also participated in the great kindness week and classes discussed ways to be kind to one another uh within the school and our community which is great to hear at the Junior Senior High School our supervisor of School counseling Miss hasselberger hosted an informational session uh regarding the Early College uh program on Monday February 12th that was well attended by both students and parents in grades uh 7th through 10th and very pleased to start uh building the seventh cohort of this successful program uh the school council department will also be hosting a junior planning night for students and families on Monday February 26th uh the presentation will focus on the various Pathways students May pursue post High School uh the a academic to cathlon team competed on Saturday January 28th at Ramapo High School uh and brought in several Awards including three honorable mentions in art science and interview categories bronze and gold Awards and economics congratulations to Team MVP uh Jonathan numic and Stephen harz who qualified to continue to the state level of the competition and the Project Graduation parent committee's major fundraiser will take place on March 13th that's a Wednesday when we host the World Famous Harlem Wizards please come out and support this important uh cause the link to purchase tickets will be shared via email and social media uh which is forthcoming in regard to the agenda items and as noted in uh faculty program I'm pleased to uh present to the board the revised organizational chart which more accurately captures uh the current status of our administrative uh structure and Reporting lines uh we also uh have recommended it as previously approved by the um State monitor the shed Services agreement for technology and just a note on that as we um you know very carefully um made the transition uh to administrative structure what the research told us uh told us was the importance of having to trans trans IAL plan in place and we're very appreciative that Mr Egan was able to provide the shared services agreement for the district uh to ease this transition and to ensure um that all access and usernames and passwords uh you know ensured a smooth transition and moving forward uh to be able to inform of the upcoming budget in terms of Technology infrastructure um you know the shared service agreement has been very helpful um in terms of projecting and determining um some of the priorities within the field of technology so more on that in the budget uh presentation wanted to thank all of our families who joined the uh parent Guardian Academy event uh as shared by trusty Rodriguez um it was a really well attended event uh here in the cafeteria it was really great to see our our families and students participating in in math events together I wanted to thank the home and school connection uh for all their hard work and organizing a really fantastic event and we're very uh eager to begin planning our next one uh wanted to note that kindergarten registration will be opening up on March 1st uh all details will be provided as a popup on the district website and wanted to note that the there was a change in the preliminary budget meeting um change in date from Wednesday March 13th to Tuesday March 12th and lastly to wrap up the superintendent's report I wanted to welcome our assistant superintendent of schools Miss triglia who will provide a a brief report on the full Administration ation of the NJ GPA thank you good evening um back in September we had um reported out on the New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment um we presented on the spring 23 administration of the NJB uh NJ GPA which is the State graduation proficiency assessment that is administered to students in grade 11 to determine graduation Readiness this is the first Pathway to meeting graduation requirements in October students in grade 12 who did not pass the NJ GPI in 11 in grade 11 were given the opportunity to retake the assessment um to try to meet that minimum cutoff score of 725 in addition to students who may have not have passed it in this in the spring Administration students who were um newly enrolled into the state perhaps this was their first assignment in New Jersey school that did not take it in grade 11 were eligible to take the assessment or newly arrived English language Learners who were exempt in grade 11 as well um had the opportunity to take it so just to be clear what I'm reporting out on tonight is um the October Administration for students in grade 12 who took the NJ GPA either again or for the first time as seniors 28 students participated in the ELA and J GPA Administration in the fall of that 32% met the cutoff score of 725 the state average is 28.9 so I'd like to note that we were above the state average there in math 74 students participated with a 4.1% meeting the cutof score the state average was 11.2 um so this um like as we said was the first Pathway to meeting graduation requirements for students who were unable to meet it with the NJ GPI the district is working with um the teachers are are there's an after school program to help support small group instruction so that students can now begin the second pathway of Assessments um the state recognizes multiple assessments that can meet that graduation requirement the district is utilizing the acup Placer so um the teachers and students are working together and hopefully that will be the pathway they meet and then there is a third pathway should they not meet that requirement which is portfolio appeals but we're hoping that with the support Second pathway will be where where they meet that requirement and that's it so thank you thank you Mr for that report uh based upon that report there's any uh questions uh by the board all right hearing none that concludes my superintendent's report thank you president Martinez thank you Dr wani we'll move on now to the monitor's report Mr rean yes good evening all uh just just basically uh uh I definitely review the agenda and I uh approve and support totally the the resolutions that are there uh in addition like to report that uh we definitely have sufficient funds um uh to care for all uh obligations through the end of the fiscal year the um uh with regard to the audit the audit for for last year is finished and the uh Auditors will be uh presenting their ref findings uh uh to Administration tomorrow and um uh uh so we're on schedule to to uh have the uh audit formally uh produced to the board and uh the public at a at a public meeting that date has not been uh determined yet because we need some of the results of uh what what the administration is going to hear tomorrow um uh last but not least um I know it's it's public knowledge out there that would uh that the uh the board is looking to expand the Early Childhood that is uh definitely going forward um everybody just waiting for what the U the exact funding numbers will be uh when the governor releases the um state aid numbers uh I think that's uh it's scheduled for this month February 27th I believe uh and there'll be more information coming forth with that but it did it from everything I know everything I've seen the district has sufficient funds to uh to go forward with this program uh without uh reducing um funds uh District funds uh that's currently supporting other programs all programs will be the same and we will have enough money to to expand further to do the Early Childhood uh because it's it's like there's so much educational evidence showing that um starting a program like that um impacts the the three-year-olds and four-year-olds uh on so many different levels um um the board has still has questions concerning about make sure that if I if I hear it correctly uh they're concerned about what the financial impact would be on the district if there's going to be any impact in a negative way uh if I misspoke about that I I personally believe there won't be but if uh uh if I miss smoke with that let let any board members speak up now and and we can talk about it in more detail otherwise my my my goal is to to to move forward with this and then um be prepared to have people make a presentation to the finance committee uh so that or the whole board uh so that uh all the details uh uh can be put on the table so ends my report thank you thank you mran I I do just have one comment um as you noted Mr Ean the prek is an important component to education of the students in richeville park and the board definitely supports it educating our the residents of our town um the moving forward with the current plan um I know there's a lot of work that's been going on with that plan and as you correctly stated the board is um still waiting to hear um some of the long range financial implications and how that plays out for other programs um you you've seen the numbers the board has not seen them yet so um we will look forward to getting that information so that we can make an inform decision about how um we're planning to expand the program and where U to make sure that it makes sense in the broader context of our district sure absolutely very good thank you Mr M have any questions okay I just want to publicly say that again much to what uh trustee mcneel said I think that this board is in full support of preschool I just just think that we have limited information at this point and we don't have enough information to make an informed decision so um I just want to make it very clear that yes prek is something that we approve of but we do not have any information regarding what this is going to cost the taxpayer or the district so prior to that making a decision we need that information so just to finish and comment what you just said uh obviously I have the numbers and and uh go the point now we'll share them because they're being finalized um the thing is that uh this expanding this program is not going to have a negative impact on this school district I've seen the numbers and and the the idea of uh educating the the three-year-olds and foury olds in a more uh basic situation as opposed to just putting the the three-year-olds and four-year olds out to vendors what we're going we organize it um it'll be best for the kids and the money that's being spent will be spent on the children and no other kids are going to get hurt by this I I understand what you're saying you don't know that yet I do and that's why I'm saying we're going forward with this program and as the information comes forward it'll be definitely shared with with the whole board the finance committee everybody and because like as it was mentioned you're looking for what what the um uh the impact would be uh long range um whatever happens long range could be not known to anybody here only suspicions let's just work on the facts that we have now and we move forward because one of the things in in uh this program is if if there's a reduction in state aid towards the the the three-year olds and the foury olds uh this whole program will will will end with no additional um uh funds from the uh Field Park general fund I just have a question um sure um you had um you had said that you just made a comment about um having three and four year olds out to vendors is your goal to um um not continue our relationship with the co-op and little stars you no absolutely not we're still going to be we're still going to be connected with them and and supporting them too but now we're going to have um I'm going to say a better situation uh for the children that are going to be in the new program okay because I was confused about your your I'm sorry I'm sorry I I I I didn't Express that correct I I believe the grant requires that it's a blended system yes so that there have to be Community providers I don't we talked about that at the last board meeting but I was just confused about the statement that you just made publicly okay and Mr Egan the long-term implication is not really so much about the prek program itself but the space that we're considering and the future years on how much space we would take and how much that space costs and what it would be used for and that is a direct uh burden of the district and ensuring that that we're spending money there wisely is very important um also you know the the prek program from the state has been this grant money to districts at some point grant money like that will go away and it's Our obligation to ensure that we are putting in place a an effective and efficient cost efficient program that we will be able to sustain when the state money goes away so that's why we're all a little I'm I'm I'm sorry I'm I'm sorry you have to understand and I I've said this before and I think the information went on to the finance committee is that if the the state money goes away the program goes away because we're not obligated no we because the amount of the M the amount of money involved would be a a negative impact on this District if we if this District had to come up with that money and it would be it would be a negative impact on the taxpayer and my goal is to get this program going without having any negative impacts on the taxpayer are you going on this Mr Ean what confuses me there is aren't we supposed to be putting in a program that could potentially be sustained without the additional grant money so that so that we're never we're never put you're going you're going on can I finish no because you're going on a supposition a supposition which is not true I'm I'm not going on a sub position that it's not true that it could be true what I'm saying is we shouldn't be going going into this thinking if the state money dries up we're going to have to close our doors and send three and four yearolds back home to their parents after they've been in a program and after we've gotten this community um relying on such a program so what we're trying to avoid is being fiscally responsible and anticipating that either the state aid could completely dry up or be reduced and therefore we're trying to be as conservative as possible in our use of this money so that if we ever have to come up with that within the community we might potentially be able to do it that we're never forced to say the the state money is drying up so we're closing our doors well my my only comment to that is right now you have the commitment that that that the state is supporting this and it's across the whole state not just this District the whole state for Universal uh preschool so now okay so what should we not go forward with this program and let the three-year-olds and the four year- olds right now suffer no I we're fully supportive of going forth with the program we just want do it in the most fiscally conservative way well I I that's that's a nice phrase that you're using then I'm trying to do the same thing and we we have a program there and and we have like for instance if if this District decided to expand buildings and go out for a referendum and and take take over the program without the the additional state aid we would we would cancel the lease if if I can make what you're saying is that in the event that that the state money goes away we have to close the program and you I can make if I can make a suggestion because I think we're getting a little bit over our skis here uh because the board doesn't have a lot of information so Mr you you you've promised and I think the the lease is is in the works there's semi- finalized copy of it that's being reviewed uh I think that when we when we get those answers I think we'll be able to have a much more um fruitful conversation about how to proceed uh because right now the truth is the board doesn't know the financials of it doesn't know the long-term impact hasn't seen the out Clauses there's just too much for us to get into an argument about this right now I propose that if necessary we have a special meeting just dedicated to this prek program it's really the biggest Endeavor that this district has taken on since this District got in trouble for taking on things like this so uh as I've said before everybody on the board the majority of the people on the board got on the board because of the decisions that got us into into trouble and so we are a little bit fearful we are a little bit traumatized and so we want to go slow and and get all the information you're saying the information looks good you've seen it uh we'll take you on your word for it uh when our when the attorney sees it in The Architects and it's presented to us if if this is a good deal I think that this board will be right behind it uh if it's not we'll have to modify it or change it or or move in a different direction hopefully together but I propose move on I'm sorry Dr I have a I have a lot of respect for you and everything but but delaying this project this is what I I see coming it's just delaying this project and um this Project's going forward and then after we sit with you and you can see all all the information yourself okay so I I think both okay I think we're all clear on on where we stand okay very good let's hope it let's hope it all adds up um okay so can I ask if we have if we have closure we have closure please uh Mr bisc if you could just read into the record the walk-in resolution this will be a walk-in resolution on their new business resolve the Richfield Park Board of Education has determined that student ID 24373 shall be removed from the r Park School District 21 days following the date of the notice of final ineligibility unless a timely appeal is f with a commissioner of Education due to insufficient evidence to establish that the student presently is domiciled in richill Park New Jersey be it further resolved that the board secretary authorized prepare with the assistance of the board attorneys the necessary notice of final and eligibility to inform the parent guardian of student ID 24 0030 73 of the board's decision M Mr dler that resolution will go into Finance all right so can can I get a motion on that new business item please make a motion second we're the motion is for to vote on that resolution as new business we had a [Music] motion we have a second can I get a roll call please Mr Cooney yes Miss craft yes Mr fos yes Miss McNeil yes Mr malul yes Miss Rodriguez yes Miss Schmidt yes Miss vales yes Miss B yes president Martinez yes the resolution passes we will now listen to Citizens comments on agenda Miss penses you're on agenda off agenda off agenda okay so so wait yes hi my name wait yeah wait sorry sorry I'll call you back okay AG you're both off agenda do we have anybody on agenda okay we have some people online if we can promote them good evening Miss SC you're up okay hi guys uh Leslie got lead 464a Liberty Street Little Ferry the question I have for you tonight I noticed there are three legal matters under Finance uh two of them I understand look like special ed but can you elaborate on the third one um I was trying to figure out what kind of what that was in regard to it's the last one of the three if you can tell us without violating anything yes we will answer your questions at the end we're writing them now as you speak do you have any other questions no just just a third one I'm just trying to figure out what it is thank you thank you evening Miss hi I have a question on um 12.18 um it's on the maintenance Reserve withdrawal um is this coming about uh due to possibly the change we have made in other words have our bills been going up as far as having repairs done from outside um the you know agencies so to speak or or work U companies or is this a separate matter thank you do you have another question uh I did there was one more um the high impact tutoring Grant I'm just curious is this being done inhouse or is this um an outside agency coming in working with the students um that was something else I wanted to see if you could elaborate on and the last um the things that we discussed um prior to the opening of the um looking at the public comments are those considered on agenda or off agenda I'm sorry you're gonna have to repeat that okay the topics that we just discussed um before the state monitor with the state monitor or that would be off agenda before that that's off okay then I'm I've got uh that's it thank you thank you Miss blue one no more okay seeing no further comments on agenda we will move on to oh I'm sorry we move on to responding yeah Miss SC the um the question about the third uh item on the agenda is a Personnel matter so we cannot elaborate on that President Martinez I can uh take the the other two questions if that's okay uh in regard to 1218 and the maintenance Reserve uh this this is not due to any transition that we've made within the facilities Department if I'm understanding the question correctly uh this is to fix uh existing items we've had some water infiltration um we've had some simply repairs that were never done and as a result need to be repaired at this point uh in terms of the high impact tutoring uh this will be a blended model where uh we have posted internally for our St members to participate uh and providing small group uh targeted tutoring uh but what the the way that the grant um is set forth is that uh districts are to also partner with outside organizations uh ours being Mathnasium uh so there will be a process and information uh released to parents in terms of what that option uh may be for their children thank you thank you and as always I encourage people to uh he prob doesn't want this but I encourage uh the public to email the superintendent or the board president if you have questions that we can elaborate on in a different form um we will now move on to agenda items we have no policy to move this month truste or you are off the hook truste craft please move faculty and programs I make a motion to move at 10 10:01 to 103 Second Diane was second do we have any questions or comments from the [Music] board I guess not Mr B can I have a roll call yes Mr Cooney yes Miss craft yes Mr fos yes Miss mcneel yes Mr Malo yes Miss Rodriguez yes Miss Schmid yes Miss valz Miss orth yes president Martinez yes the resolutions pass we have no buildings and grounds to move trusty you're off the hook [Music] tonight uh trusty McNeil please move e uh finance and insurance sure I'd like to move 121 through 1220 for finance and insurance second second Mr Cooney is second you have any questions or comments from the board I would just I'm sorry I would like to Echo uh trustee Craft's thanks to miss triglia on the um grant for the high impact tutoring I think that's awesome the comments Mr bis and roll call yes Mr Cooney yes Miss craft yes Mr fos yes Miss mcneel yes Mr Malo yes Miss Rodriguez yes to all but I am an exstension on 1201 Miss Schmid yes Miss valz yes Miss orth yes president Martinez yes and the resolution is passed trusty valz please move consent agenda second you have any questions or comments from the board seeing none Mr bisig can I please have a roll call Mr Cooney yes Miss craft yes Mr fos yes Miss mcneel yes Mr Malo yes Miss Rodriguez yes Miss Schmid yes Miss valz yes Miss orth yeah president Martinez yes and the resolution passes trusty craft would you please move Personnel I make a move to move resolution 1401 to 1419 second we have any questions or comments from the board I have two comments one on 1401 the organizational chart I'd just like to say thank you thank you thank you it's the most clear um and welldeveloped chart that I've seen in this District since I've been on the board um and then also just wanted to comment on the two retirements um one maryi Ellen Murphy the long-term um art teacher in District and I'm sorry I don't kova the other shorter term art dist art teacher in District and to say thank you so much for the service to to the district I only became aware of their res ation this evening and so didn't um prepare any further statements but wanted to recognize their service um to our community I'd also like to add Mr Glover for his service uh to the district and I would also like to welcome our new employees to this amazing District I have no doubt that you'll find your colleagues leadership parents and students amazing and so welcome to Park and Mr bisig I would we have no other comments can I please have a roll call or Personnel yes Mr Cooney yes Miss craft yes Mr fos yes Miss mcneel yes Mr Malo yes Miss Rodriguez yes Miss Schmid yes Miss valz yes Miss orth yes president Martinez yes the resolution is passed we will now listen to Citizens comments off agenda we have two here and again I would ask that you keep to the generous five minute limit and respect the board's attempt to stay out of trouble um and to answer your questions completely and thoroughly Miss patanes hi my name isisa ban I'm a 79 Brinker Hof can you can you bring the microphone can you hear me better perfect okay my name is aises I live in 79 Brinkerhoff and my kids go to Roosevelt and I have two questions what is the district doing for the resource room because my kid were um evaluated in there for some particular reason and the resource room is not adequate for my kids to learn I sent an email email to the principal um but I want to know what is the district doing because four teachers in a classroom with four boards if the re pull out for resources for a reason to get one toone individually it's so be a small group and that's not what's being provided for my kids and I don't see any growth on my kids education and my second question that I have is the new program that you guys have for math since I'm seeing it um for how many years did you buy that program because I am an educator for 17 years mathematic and um I see how my kids struggle for basic math and I'm a high school teacher and I want my kids to go to high school and be able to pass the test and the way they're teaching the basic math it's a lot of procedures for them for a seven-year-old to do and that's all my two questions that I have thank you very much thank you mmy hi anat Tami 75 um Christi Street first I want to congratulate Mr Cooney on your daughter's first win in counting girls wrestling amazing um I also want to have parents hear me the ones that are here and at home please come support girls Sports it's very important I have a high school student and also a seven-year-old in Roosevelt so I would like more parents to attend the girl Sports there's never and nobody's there so my question is what is the board doing or what is this District doing regarding ESL in rosabel school Grant or Lincoln there is a lot kids that do not speak English and I'm not just speaking about Spanish and the other kids that are in the class are translating I'm a class mom I saw it with my two own eyes and I couldn't believe it what are we doing pulling a child for an hour a day to teach him a second language it's not enough how most of these kids don't even speak the native language how are you teaching them a second language this disheartening so I want to know what's the plan for that because the situation that this country is going through right now with Asylum we don't have room to think about prek and fourth year old classrooms how about we concentrate on the students that we have and give them an equal opportunity which we are not how do you teach a child math if they don't speak the language how do you teach a child history we're teaching kids about the American flag they don't know what a flag is we're teaching kids how to be kind they don't know the word kind they don't know the word kind in Spanish what are we doing here as a district how do you expect these teachers to teach a child a second language and get good grades it's it's it's I've never seen anything like that I came to this country when I was 9 years old and I was put in an ESL program fulltime in a district that didn't have the money that we have and I learned English in three years there is beginners intermedium and advance and I'm sure some of you on the board know that program you can go to North Bergen and get that program go to Union City and get that program we need to hire Educators that could speak a second language whether it's Arabic Mandarin Spanish whatever it is there is a child in a second grade that does not speak English speaks Arabic and this child has to rely on another student to translate so the parent doesn't speak the language either so what do you think is happening to this child then all the classroom everything is done in the computer they don't even know how to turn on a computer how is this child going to learn I'm a class mom and I saw it and I was like what is this this is insane how am I how am I getting upset at my son's teacher because my son is now where he's supposed to be when she's being pulled asking for water and she doesn't know what he's saying and my son happens to have a great teacher but I didn't think that because I didn't know what was happening in the classroom there's a lot of limbo students you know what a limbo student is a student that is not an a student and a student that cannot be in the resource room that's my child my child is the limbo student because he's not here and he's not here so in the middle the teacher is preoccupied with being here in the resource room there's four teachers in a resource room teaching eight kids at a time what is happening then how are we we going to get the grades and the scores that we need when they take the St testing how how are we going to get those numbers well we're here talking about prek why I had to pay for prek it is what it is we're going to spend all this money it's going to be Thomas Jefferson all over again how about we fix the ones we have that are in first grade second grade third grade that need to pass a test that need to go to high school and have a teacher like banz that doesn't is teaching them simple math in high school because they never learned it can't pass a test that's my question thank you thank you very much for your comments and [Music] I sorry about that that was we have to get rid of that timer U Miss Tammy thank I just want to say before we start answering questions I think we have a couple people to elevate but I I do want to read it not just to that parents have to show up to uh to girls sports but parents have to show up to the board meetings because um there's no other way for the board to know these observations from parents unless you come to board meetings unless you contact us so thank you for all those questions I saw the administration taking notes and certainly the board is taking notes thank you do we have anybody to elevate good evening Mr Lou you're up hi again um I was just um kind of doing a little bit of math so to speak on the um New Jersey GPA the test that was done um that we had the percentages of um students who passed uh one question I have is how many of the students that took this are new to the district and how many that took this are um English as a second language uh to possibly account for the really really scores um my other comment actually after listening to the two people that just spoke um they really had a lot of what I think about lately uh especially the first person that spoke to the math situation I'm currently tutoring one student from your school and a elementary school student or middle school student in hackin saac and after being a math teacher for over 30 years on the secondary level middle school and secondary level I totally understand why these kids are not being able to do well at the high school level the way we are teaching elementary math is never going to prepare them and I get introducing the topic that way but you can't continue to use this as the only method they have to learn uh to or perform uh an equation you know solve an equation or whatever um next comment is on the um actually the fire drill the first the fire drill that happened at the high school I guess it's a week or so ago the one where um the students were had to leave the building um I was rather appalled at what I saw and maybe I'm old school and maybe where I came from teaching all those years we had different rules but there were 10 to 15 I would say probably they look like seventh graders from the view from my house that were running around jumping on top of each other one kid picked up a stick and was running chasing another one um the horsing around and I didn't see one adult in the area um if that was a real emergency I was really watching to make sure nobody got hurt um part of me the teacher in me said walk around and go reprimand them but I know that wasn't my place but uh it really bothered me that this is the way it was being conducted um I actually taught in a private school where we had a fire in the building no alarms were working and I had to get a classroom of actually at that time a mixed classroom of sixth and seventh graders four flights down an old loft building and out of the building to safety and thank God those kids listened because we were walking through our way through smoke at the time so this holds a really uh important place in my experience that you can't hold a fire drill that way at least in my opinion and I just wanted to let you guys know that that's what I observed because that's just unacceptable uh in my mind no lineup I don't even know whether they even took attendance when the kids came out and I hate to say that but that you know um you don't even know if all your kids got out if you haven't and there are certain things that I just don't think we can bend or allow to happen so just keep it in mind thank you thank you m m do we have anybody else to promote good evening Mr Ramirez you're up hi Shar Ramirez 205 over peek Avenue um can you hear me yes perfectly okay good um I just had um I actually had a couple of comments from the uh previous um people who spoke which wasn't what I was going to talk about um but when it comes to it just it kind of hits it's very personal for me being an educator and in the current state of what's going on in our country where we are getting uh many children from other countries so when it comes to enl and ESL um it's it's just a very it's like Countrywide we need to do better um in my class right now I have four different children who speak four different languages that are just they are new arrivals and I don't speak any other language um so it's it's as a they do receive you know enl Services they receive it as much as they can but you know as a country I think we need to do better I don't think this is a Richfield Park specific problems so I just that really hits home to me um knowing that there's only so much limitations that as a board and as a town and as a school that that we can do for that um I do think that teachers in general need to be better supported when it comes to enl services for these children but um I just wanted to make a comment about that because that's not I don't think that is a rual park that richual Park is not going to solve um this problem but maybe we can take strides and trying to to help and support the teachers a little bit better when it comes to multiple languages in a classroom um the other question I have is that now that we have a new person um in charge of the prek um I have not been notified about the eak committee um so I don't know if it's still in existence if we are I mean it still has to be I don't know if they are going with um the previous members of the committee but we have not had a meeting since um the last meeting we had was with Dr haes um which was about a year ago um I think it was in April of last year so I was just wondering if uh they were going to continue with the ecak committee um we had a great Committee of Educators um and uh people that are in the community so I don't know if um we haven't heard anything about that so that's a little that's a little concerning especially since there are so many questions about the prek program that the ecak committee could you know help with that um so that was pretty much all I had to say so um thank you for your time thank you very much Mr Ramirez have one more good evening if you could just give me your name and address good evening this is Denise Sana Morales 101 Hobart Street I hope everyone is having a good evening today uh the comment that I wanted to say is a followup to um what another mom said in town um where she mentioned how she's noticed that there are children who do not currently speak English and therefore it is a challenge for them to get their education um conducted I don't know if this is a thought that has been previously discussed um so if it has my apologies but just throwing it out there being a mother of um a child who has difficulty with speech he currently has an AAC device and therefore he has the ability to get his message across using technology to his peers and anyone else in the class that needs to engage with him so just you know maybe planting a seed could we possibly use technology to give the children who are currently voiceless their voice because I can't even imagine what that feels like not being able to get your thought across simply asking for water going to the bathroom or whatever the case may be um and maybe that's just a temporary idea maybe it's a long-term um but I just wanted to share that possible exploration of an idea for these children who are currently in our school right now that's all thank you very much for that you're welcome no one else okay so we will move on to answering the questions thank you V thank you president Martinez I'm I'm happy to respond to a few that I can this evening and and if we're unable to we'll certainly do some followup as we have in the past uh in regard to the rosabel uh resource room uh this is a room that has two teachers and two uh teacher aids these types of rooms do require uh County approval but in response to um you know the the room itself and what the district is doing we're currently evaluating uh all facility spaces understanding that um you know some of these classrooms uh we would prefer to be able to have additional space um so we're looking at all of our programs programs not just unique to Roosevelt but across the district and and in hope that we can find some additional space for the upcoming year uh and this is um very much connected to uh pre- space uh in terms of being able to free up some space as well as uh the central office space that was commented on in our committee report uh to be able to free up some space uh within our schools as we house many of our offices within uh in regard to the math program we are in our fourth year of the savis math program we have another two years on that contract uh naturally we go through a cycle where we evaluate the programs in terms of change in a program I take on it is you know districts and administrations frequently change programs um which isn't always helpful uh because what happens is it's becomes essentially this vicious vicious cycle of changing programs where we are then uh retraining staff on a new program uh trying to move on to the next best thing uh that is presented to us and that's not to say that we certainly won't do a thorough evaluation of the existing program but what I would want to share is that it's not always the program uh that is the root of the issue uh so in other words what other resources and training are we provided uh providing to our staff to support them to appropriately um Implement effective instruction uh in the space of mathematics um in regard to this particular question um so you know again we'll certainly go through an evaluation process but but I just caution in terms terms of frequently changing programs because programs it's it's not the curriculum uh whereas they are aligned to standards and we align them uh to the curriculum you know it's not the end all be all and I just wanted to to share that as as we go through that evaluation process in terms of um the ESL program uh the the comment in in terms of this is a topical one so so thank you for that uh we do have an ad ad hoc uh subcommittee faculty and program uh which is the social justice committee and internally as the administration uh we've been meeting to discuss um essentially revitalizing that committee to uh take on uh topical areas uh to review programs and processes that are potentially disenfranchising or marginalizing uh different student populations or staff populations uh and uh to do to determine what the research tells us on how to amarate that uh what are best practi IES from other neighboring districts who have like demographics uh so actually the the the uh point that we're discussing now is how are we uh effectively acclimating our MLS uh to the district uh to examine what some of those practices are so the administration will be shortly reaching out to the the board subcommittee uh to present our ideas uh and to have a thought exchange on on best practices and moving forwards uh and and it it is certainly noted um you know we have had a significant increase uh in our ml population as an example of that from 2223 to 2324 school year uh at the Junior Senior High School alone uh we had approximately 28 student increase uh so that that number is not unique to the junior senior high school that does exist in uh across the district uh so from a staffing perspective uh by way of the budget process for the upcoming school year uh that is also something that we're turning some attention to uh in terms of um you know providing some additional supports uh for our students uh due to the increase in that population uh in in terms of um the uh NJ GPA uh data and the specifics on that um we're happy to take a deeper dive into that and uh report back out in terms of um some of the specifics uh that we have uh related to that question uh students new to the district how many were considered MLS and uh we can share that information uh based upon those numbers if it's appropriate to do so uh in terms of the uh committee for the um uh prek program uh our new director is aware uh of the need to uh again breathe some life into that committee uh she's very eager uh to begin to do some Outreach um to determine you know some interest and uh certainly that's something that that we're looking forward to to again Revitalize and and establish and I believe those are the responses that I can provide at this point can I can I just add one thing um I was um I wanted to just highlight um I think it was um Miss Rodriguez who was here who reported on L um MLS not too long ago and she had mentioned that there's a good percentage of our staff who has been trained in sheltered English instruction and largely I believe due to her efforts um and I would just say as an educator when I heard that had no idea what that was what it was about but it became an opportunity for me to um they were looking for volunteers in my district to go through that training and I would say I'm not fully through it um I'm still I'm still taking part in it but it's an excellent resource and I teach high school computer science so imagine teaching a non-english-speaking person something as difficult as high school computer science um and it has made a significant difference not just to the MLS in the in the classroom but to any of my special educa to every student in the classroom it has made a difference so the fact that we've had that here we've had teachers trained in this in this program while I'm not saying it makes up for everything it has made a difference and I think it's something that we should applaud for this District to have been a little bit ahead of the curve at least in that area yeah um I I do remember that meeting um Miss Rodriguez was standing there um and she was discussing the PD of you know providing shelter instruction PD um I've been teaching for 23 years uh I think more than 15 of those years I I've taught bilingual ESL um so there's like the parent said you know there's different levels of um of language development and you know um we have to look at each child individually so yes shelter instruction is a great strategy and I do remember Miss Rodriguez saying that um she um you know she's buying this PD but if I recall correctly um possibly expanding the program I'm not sure you know I'm not here but I clearly remember yes we are working I mean the district yes yes yes but um there's different types of trading too said that that's not to minimize the issues that you raised because you saw them so clearly they're still here but there has been talk among the administration about how to address this it is on the radiar there's been a big you know demographic shift in the country demographic shift in in the in the town and so we need to respond accordingly I saw you reach for the trigger yeah all right um we will now close citizens comments off agenda and may I have a motion to close the meeting the move we adjourn second and I'm assuming we're all in favor have a good night everybody yes and thank you to the parents who came out really appreciate it