I this Sky we okay the time is 7 o'clock I hope to take uh time is 7 o'clock I hear I call this meeting on the ridger board of education order the rider board of education has been meeting executive session pursuing to Jersy statute 10 col 4-12 the minutes of this meeting will be released when the need for confidentiality no longer exists Miss Co can I have a roll call please miss Brogan here Mr Donnie here Mr mmud here miss quack here Mr LMBO here can please join me and stand for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you pursuant to the open public meetings act Vance notice of this evening's meeting has been given to the Ridgewood news the Bergen Record and the clerk of the village of Ridgewood in addition notices of this uh meeting have been posted in the office of the board secretary and all of our school buildings I believe we're going to start with a wonderful holiday student performance right Dr schz there we go uh we may need just a couple minutes for our student performers to gather themselves so if we want to proceed with some other business that might be most prudent you want you want you ready for your report you can jum a DOT oh thank you um so to begin with the new players finished up their four amadas performances I didn't personally get to see it but I saw the costumes and the behind the scenes and it was spectacular I think it was definitely one of their best performances uh new players in concert will begin having their official practices on the 18th there are 20 amazing directors managing the seven shows this year that include bring it on and Juliet Matilda Hamilton A Nightmare Before Christmas Little Shop of Horrors and High School Musical there was a record number of participants this year which which is really exciting um if seniors are still interested and have not already there are signups going around for the senior fashion show um it is important that these are filled out super soon if seniors want to participate if they want to change the fun facts that are announced they can email Miss cordasco 17 Ridgewood students were nominated by staff and received the first maroon Awards of the 2023 to 2024 school year maroon awards are given to students that exemplify exceptional conflict regular regularly without the intent of being recognized sign ups for the biliteracy test have been emailed to Juniors and seniors there are numerous languages students can test for beyond what is provided by rhs so if interested the test will be given in January members of the German club visited the German Christmas Market in Sussex two weeks ago the advanced marketing merchandise visited Disney last weekend they went around Disney and saw the behind the scenes of the park and how everything works so that when they return they could design their own Park they reviewed each park at Disney and saw which areas need Improvement they also rated different rides and focused on what Disney um could do to help Market it better um I have APR history students were Vis supposed to visit the met today but unfortunately with the delayed opening and weather that's uh now postponed but it will be happening soon um there is a sweater contest in the Campus Center on the 22nd getting everyone excited for the holiday break and additionally the F freshman Focus classes will be celebrating the holidays with Gingerbread making competitions and holiday games project interact is making holiday cards to send to Veterans and Rich Crest seniors also collecting money for the Mr pizo international student travel scholarship fund using candy claw throughout the week of the 11th the choir Winter concert is actually tonight with all levels of choir attending there is an alumni panel on the 22nd for Ridgewood High School seniors there are five to six freshmen um from colleges that will come in to talk about their first semester and how college has been they'll cover what the workloads are like their preparedness personal anecdotes and the social scene of college which I'm personally look forward to as a senior um as for sports the girl basketball had three scrimmages setting them up for their season opener on Thursday against pcti the boys basketball also had a game on Thursday and also on Saturday which they won last second um to a three-point uh shot which was really exciting as well I wasn't there but I saw a lot of videos the swim team also had their first meet on the 11th last week and the ski club will be starting their weekly trips to Mountain Creek in January the slots are often filled very early but if interested students should try to contact Mr puny or Mr Quirk and I just want to wish everyone a happy holiday break excellent thank you so much Miss bronstein um and now we have we do do have our students ready to I want to introduce and welcome up we have a string quartet from Ridgewood High School who recently has has performed um at our amadas performance by the new players and they are here tonight as part of our student showcase to perform for the Board of Education and the members of the public who are joining us here tonight so I think they'll need a few minutes just to get set up please all take your time they'll be joining us now and they're joined by their teacher Miss jono it was very interesting in the uh beginning of the amadas each performance had a different group of students performing it was really really really special [Music] for [Music] h [Music] [Music] all [Music] Beau [Music] e than [Music] f [Music] [Music] 4 that was fantastic thank you guys so much incredible wow it was great and classical pieces like that are remarkably difficult to play so congratulations to our our quartet absolutely so we're g to start with our first public comment portion of the evening if you wish to speak just please step to the podium you have four minutes please introduce yourself for the record and thank you for coming [Music] out give us one second the back okay oh great okay all Lori Weber 235 South Irving Street at the last public meeting the reading of Shila Rogan's resolution of censure was a surprise not because it was not supposed to happen but because the board sent out the meeting agenda to the public twice with no mention of the resolution on it an additional surprise came when Miss Brogan spoke at length in defiance of the school ethics act making several false statements about the adjudication of her ethics case and a prior litigation matter she was involved in and although I acknowledged her right to speak at that time I want to make clear that I did not acknowledge her right to lie Miss Rogan asserted that the school ethics commission and the commissioner of Education made a decision in her case that was not based upon truth or facts as the person who originally provided that truth and those documented facts I take exception to miss Brogan's mischaracterization of what her resolution of censure represents if I had the unlimited time to speak that she had I could cite documented proof and court records that would refute each of her false claims suffice it to say that the civility I extended to miss Brogan in my remarks at the last meeting were missing from hers to be clear Miss Brogan violated the law the highest state authorities on school ethics including the chief executive school officer of the state of New Jersey found her actions so egregious as to Warrant the penalty of censure ironically that attempt to shed responsibility for her transgressions represents yet another violation of the school ethics act Miss may not in her official position use the public meeting which is advertised broadcast recorded and memorialized with minutes all funded by the public to lie to the public for the sake of her own interests Miss Brogan's false assertions represent an attempt to mitigate damage to her reputation brought on by her own misdeeds clearing the way for a leadership position when the board reorganizes in a couple of weeks weeks and her reelection when her term expires next year a former board member was recently censured for lying about one of the very same litigation matters at a public meeting in order to serve his personal interests that happened at the same meeting where Miss Brogan committed her offense they were represented by the same attorney yet miss Brogan's response to her own centure was to reject the school ethics act and then commit another violation that she knew to be an offense the board should realize that a second finding of V finding of violation for Miss broken could per New Jersey Administrative Code carry an enhanced penalty possibly suspension or removal from the board and the school ethics commission has recently made changes in its procedures which will streamline the adjudication of many complaints while miss brogen could have been humble and contrite or could have said nothing she chose to do exactly what she accused our state school authorities of it was not their findings but miss Brogan's response that was not based upon truth and facts Miss Brogan could have let the reading of her resolution of censure Mark the end of this ugly chapter in her service yet instead she chose to double down on her violation thank you thank you good evening Ann loving 342 South Irving Street as this is the last night of of Mr lambo's tenure I wanted to personally thank you for running for office and for serving it's a thankless job in many cases and uh I appreciate that you stood up to do it I didn't always agree with you but that's neither here nor there I appreciate that you ran and I thank you thank you okay no one else in the audience and looks like there are no callers so we will move on to the meeting I'll close this public uh comment portion of the evening there will be a second portion at the end of the meeting as well all right we have a presentation here and that is a special resolution honoring our board president and outgoing board member Mr Michael LMO um would any of our members of our board like to uh uh move to hear uh read the resolution I I I'm offering sorry I'm offering to see if any of his fellow board members would like to read this resolution on his behalf and so thereby make a motion uh to to move the resolution forward and then with a second to then read the resolution and then miss cot can take a vote to approve the re resolution so would any board members like to read off like to make a motion to read the resolution or would you like to read the resolution I I make a motion to to uh read the resolution into the record so I think he's asking you to read it got it sorry resolution honoring Michael Lambo whereas Michael Lambo has served as a trustee of the Ridgewood board of education for four years of services to the community the staff the administration and most importantly the students of Richwood public schools and whereas during his tenure on the board Michael LMO was a member of the finance facilities Communications and policy committees and whereas Michael LMO served as President and Vice President of the Ridgid Board of Education as a liaison to the Federated home and school ass Association and the learning Services home and School Association cpeg and as a member of the late start committee and whereas Michael LMO received the master received the master board member and certified board leader certifications from the New Jersey school boards Association and whereas as Michael Lambo completes his tenure and leaves his formal services to our schools the board wishes to express the appreciation for Mr lambo's years of service to the students of the Ridgewood Public Schools therefore be it resolved that this resolution be entered into the official minutes of the Board of Education meeting held on the 18th day of December 2023 thank you Mike for your service thank you and do we have a second good and then Miss K can you take a roll call please miss beran Mr Donnie yes Mr mmud yes Miss quack yes Mr LMBO yes uh I would like to say a few words if that's okay jimy yeah um just want to say you know that today it's finally arrived and I just want to take a few moments uh to thank everybody here for my time here on the school board board four years ago seems like a lifetime away and I began my tenure here and most of you know my dedication to the school started long long before that getting elected to this board was truly an honor and I went into it with great enthusiasm I had no idea that I'd be leading the greatest school system here in Bergen County let alone the country during one of its darkest times of covid I alongside my fellow board members work tirelessly on almost a daily basis with our Administration to make sure that our students had the best learning experience during those times we did our best to keep them in school and we are one of the few that were able to do so on a consistent basis during my time here on the board we've had many amazing accomplishments that I'm truly proud of when I went down to sit down and try and write them all out they just kept popping up in my head and I'm still sure I'm probably forgetting most of them when I became president of the board there were a lot of issues that have been been debated over for a very long time whether it was Orchards remediation project or the late start initiative these issues have seemingly no resolution in sight I'm happy that we're able to get the Orchard remediated and a late start initiative has been started this allows our older students to get more rest which allows them to be more focused and learn better we once again became Pioneers for other districts we started the steps program which proves our commitment to our students and creates that special learning environment and also keeps our students in District that's a win-win for all of us through policy changes we created more transparency to this board encourage more public input we've maintained the public call-in uh comments and the live stream of our meetings as our community and parents can watch and participate from home it hasn't always been easy as we've been unfortunate lost many of our season season staff during this time and I've always tried to maintain a positive working environment for our team and supporter Educators however I could I try to be a mediator when necessary and have that cool calm demeanor that's helped us through our struggles our parents our staff and our students are so very important and I leave here having help put an amazing Administration team together and I look forward to seeing them all grow I've been so fortunate to have supported our students as much as possible whether it's making a fool out of myself during the Wizards game for charity giving guest lectures at the high school cheering for our athletes or just being amaz our student performances like we had earlier I've never not been impressed by the amazing talent that our students have and it's also because of our student our teachers and our staff that Inspire them each and every day I am so grateful have been allowed the honor to speak at our convocation to inspire our staff and to speak at graduation to inspire our students not many alumni get that opportunity and I truly hope that those students remember to wear their sunscreen and pack a sweater in their cars so that's it my time here has come to an end for now but that doesn't mean my commitment to this community and the people I've served for so many years is over I've been humbled by this experience and I've met some of the best people around because of it I've always tried to keep our students our teachers our staff and our community and our schools of mind with everything I've done and I'm proud of my work here on the board I thank so many of you for your kind words and encouragement and I'll see you all soon so I just have one thing left to say to the new board that's coming in I wish everyone the best of luck don't let me and my boys down because we're all counting on you so thank you very much thank you um I think we only be prudent uh to take our picture now while you're while so your kids don't have to stay for the whole meeting right why don't we come out for a nice picture Okay Anthony is back there hiding somewhere getting in Mar we you love seeing them all right and as this is part of still in my presentations I just want to thank uh Mr LMBO um youve been a part of the board that's hired me you've been been with me along the way I really appreciate uh uh really appreciate all the time um your commitment to the district you certainly are committed you're out and about all the time so yes it is I'm so I just appreciate apprciate greatly thanks for bringing me thanks for being part of the five that brought me here and the president at the time I really appreciate it it's been a I'm blessed to be here in Ridgewood and I and I have uh you to thank for that so thank you very much you're welcome thank you have a regular report or um as far as a superintendence report um just a couple of just brief items um I want to just start by thanking everyone for their uh their help today this was a very unusual uh schedule adjustment we had to make during the day today this storm that we've all experienced first of all I hope that everyone has managed to stay dry I know that not everybody's homes have um and I hope that all of you have um we had some uh we knew that we were going to be having some rain we knew even last week we had a similar storm this one really pushed more rain and pushed more wind as of very early hours this morning we were dealing with quite a bit of water but we didn't necessarily have the trees down we didn't have the power line down between about 6:30 and 7 I started getting pretty significant reports of some real problematic conditions here in town um and I guess moving forward we need to I'm sharing this now because I want to thank everybody but I also want to signal that I think moving forward we need to really recognize that the new this new era we're in a new era of rainstorms that can cause significant uh problems to our openings of school I when I was a kid there was no such thing as a delayed opening due to rain um but we seem to be having different clim climate patterns and uh and we seem to be having a lot of extreme circumstances so uh it's just something to keep in mind for everybody that as we look at heavy rainstorms um with high winds and heavy rain accumulation that a delayed opening might be something that we really need to be kind of prepared for um and I may need to call that with a similar level of advanced notice that we would make uh a snow call anticipating tra hazardous travel conditions but I want to thank everybody I was it was a quick turnaround we typically would like to call things much sooner than that um but when I when I learned from the village that we were seeing power lines down um it changed the calculation that we had uh for our day and no longer felt safe so uh so we had a lot of lot of great all hands on deck making things happen today I also want to thank the village of Ridgewood we had a tree uh straddling the road right by Ridge Elementary it was very questionable whether we were going to be able to get people to ele Ridge and uh they were able to redirect some of their teams and get that tree removed very quickly uh with the delay opening so again thank you everyone again uh this was my first delay call with everyone I usually like to give people much more notice than this this is the most last minute I've ever been with a call in my whole career and it's my first one here so uh please know that I will be giving much more notice in the future so thank you everybody thanks to the team who was able to scramble and make that happen safely for all the kids and also we had quite a few one of the reasons why things went pretty smoothly this morning is that we have a lot of Faculty members and administrators who choose to get to their buildings very early and that was very helpful especially when we weren't sure uh when the buses weren't really clear what their status was so just a shout out to all those faculty members and uh office workers and administrators who were at their building at their normal time today uh they really helped to make sure that everybody was safe and that everything went smoothly so recognizing them I think I think the communication was uh as immediate as it could be with the change in circumstances I think because things were changing at the last minute and also the communication so thank you for all the communication uh with different timings and because earlier we always used to have two hours means two hours or delayed means two hours but now with rhs has it's not two hours and all all of that permutations and combinations and emails and text messages so I think it was handled the way the best it could have been with the changing circumstances even Village Hall announced just a few minutes before you announce that it will be delayed opening for village thank you it's very kind what I really liked also was on the website or even on my phone you'll have a popup immediately with all the closures which was I hadn't seen that before and I thought that was a real Improvement a real enhancement well off to to miss corla she did a wonderful job with all that I just want to also add the um you know there was an additional curveball that was also thrown in with one of the elementary schools losing power throughout the day and that was also very that information was also pushed out as well I know that was a an additional issue that was was unforeseen so and some of the students who were dropped off were taken care of during like they not sent back right yeah yeah and again so so we had H we had some students who were dropped off at regular time so we didn't force those students home we kept those students and made sure they were supervised so again I'm grateful for the teachers and administrators who were able to do that um and yes over at one of our elementary schools we did have a power extended power outage uh the team there was fantastic in managing that really well District staff managed really well and helped to provide support on the scene and again miss corus really helped with communication we were able to we actually were able to do a flip we had to cancel after school activities briefly and then we were able to really quickly turn them back on and keep them all so that was really nice so thanks again appreciate that and then as far as just the rest of my superintendent report I just want to just thank just commend all of our staff and students uh this is a this is a really uh we think about this year often um as a really beautiful time of year with lots of celebrations but in reality it's a very busy time of year for many and it's a very difficult time of year for many as well holiday seasons uh for some uh sometimes they they Mark uh the first time through a holiday season with with a loved one that they no longer have with them um this time can remind them of past trauma and it can be a hard time for some so at our schools we try to acknowledge that and recognize that and really be available to our students and our staff as best we possibly can and I'm grateful that we have a team that recognizes the complexity of this season but as a community I want to wish everyone the best this is our last board meeting of the current year we'll be having a reorg meeting in the new year and before that of course we'll have an extended break and I just want to take some time and wish everybody a really restful break I hope that everyone takes some time for themselves um take some time to rest but also take some time to do something productive for themselves as well and uh hopefully everybody can come back uh with a refreshed and ready to go for 2024 so happy happy holidays and happy New Year everybody right I'll set thankk you K we're going to move to the consent items for regular routine issues a attendance at conferences I move attendance at conferences I'll second Miss Brogan yes Mr Donnie yes Mr mmud yes Miss quack yes Mr lumbo yes B Administration I move B second Miss Brogan yes Mr Donnie yes Mr mood yes M quack yes Mr LMBO yes St curriculum and instruction I move curriculum instruction I'll I'll second that I just want to while I'm second just outstanding job with the curriculum committee frean next that's some of these are fantastic these these courses look very interesting so great job you know there's a lot of work for it for this Miss Brogan yes Mr Donnie yes and I I just want to Echo what Mike said there are a lot of new courses that are being added um including U new AP courses and that will give our students more opportunity for AP courses and middle school math courses to cover some of the gaps that we had in math so there are a lot of good courses here so yes Mr mmud yes Miss quack yes Mr lumbo yes can I take some of these classes the Real Estate One cyber perfect Mr LMO I just want to point out as we move to human resources that we have an addendum here that needs to be read into the record absolutely so we're going to D Human Resources I'm also while propos this it's going to be six-h this is going to be the approval that I'm going to read into the record for the uh for the uh minutes the Ridgewood Board of Education upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools accepts the retirement of ktie kashmanian in accordance with the agreement also I'll move I second I just want to uh particularly thank though Dr casman Manan for 20 years of service to the Village of Ridgewood plus her additional time at other districts she's definitely going to be missed we uh I enjoyed many many long talks with her and her dedication to the school so we thank her and I'm sure in the coming months we'll have a recognize her more absolutely yeah and Dr kesman has been really a part of the fabric of the community being a resident as well and uh we're really grateful for her many many years of service and wish her the best I'm also just point out real quickly for anyone who's listening if it's all right Mr LMO abut that we'll have some messaging coming out actually tonight some members of community and no doubt will be concerned Dr kashmanian has been a a fixture and a and a consistent leader for George Wasington middle school so we'll have some guidance regarding what our processes will be to make sure that we can find a suitable replacement for her um I just have a technical correction it should be 6 I not H just if it matters for technicality because we already have an H there we do so then we will add that as six I six I was going off what I read right just noce that I too wanted to wish uh Katie uh good luck I've had the opportunity over the years to work with her um on the municipal Alliance and um you know she's been uh a u good Steward uh for um students in terms of uh looking at uh uh um substance um substance abuse and anti-substance abuse messaging so uh so I thank her for that work um and working with uh the other principles in the district yeah I want to uh thank Dr kashmanian for her service uh good luck for in her retirement and uh for me on the personal side both of my daughters uh went through GW and they both learned a lot from her um in her guidance so so thank I really I'm thankful for her I just want to make a correction it should just be seven it is not part of section six I'm sorry I didn't think so it's its own by itself okay so it's approval It's s D7 approval resignation for the purpose of retirement seven b Miss Brogan yes Mr Donnie yes Mr mammood yes Miss quack yes and I want to add that um she has been a long time um leader of the district and we wish you well yes Mr limbo yes moving on we're going to be e finance I move Finance I'll second I want to uh thank before we go um the Somerville Halls dad's night for their gift for the uh the promethian boards at Somerville the uh High School activity count I let bu Danny Palestine and the rid Education Foundation for um their generous donations I know the uh the Education Foundation was for the Brianna Scurry author visit at the high school who is a uh member of the women's uh soccer team and she has an amazing story so she's uh very interesting I know that school is going to benefit from that as well as the U the other gift at the Glenn school for the uh their Walker and the activity fund for the chaperon so we really thank all of our generous donations Miss Brogan yes Mr Donnie yes Mr mmud yes Miss qu yes Mr lumbo yes and thank you Miss cot for your your work on the uh so I move approval of bills I will second that Miss Brogan yes Mr Donnie yes Mr mmud yes Miss quack yes Mr lumbo yes board member announcements Miss Broan thank you um I just um I guess it was last week or the week before or maybe it was the week before that um I think we all attended the uh did we all attend the New Jersey school boards uh Bergen County or virtually or yeah in present I did it virtually uh and it was really it um it was a topic on public relations and Communications and the importance of sharing sort of the positive news um about student and staff achievements uh which ends up fostering heightened morale and trust and and is a you know that good news um information and and they looked at the positive use of social media uh and as I listened to the presentation uh there was no doubt in my mind that we are very lucky to have Christine corus our as our public information officer she's doing really an outstanding job and following a lot of what we heard about best practices so um it was um a wonderful presentation and um very much in keeping what we're doing here in the community so um uh thank you to that um this uh past week I was able to go to the rid Ridgewood High School band concert um it was there it featured the symphonic band the concert band and the Wind Ensemble and um the Campus Center was filled to capacity I think there was standing room only um and it was really outstanding again um it's so wonderful to see how our staff celebrates um our talented students and how wonderful our students are you know are taught and how they are ready to perform after three months on on some of these really complicated uh pieces so um thank you to the staff for that and to the students on the safety commit oh I guess that was a committee report you want me to wait on that one on the Safety Committee um the health department um has received a gr The Village Health Department has received a grant and has brought the license brought bought the licensing to bring two movies on curriculum material to Ridgewood um The Village Health Department is working closely with Dan kild day who in turn is working with our health and guidance teachers um elementary through high school to use these films and resource materials with students um and the two the two films one and these are by um an independent um producer developers uh one is like and like explores the impact of social media on our lives and the effects of Technology on the brain and on learning understanding that virtual connections is a huge part of our socialization and can have many benefits how do we use it to best inform educate and Inspire us to self-regulate so we can enjoy a more balanced and fulfilled life and the other movie is angst which actually was shown in the district I believe it was in 2018 when we had a showing uh for parents and students and staff but we're going to bring it back because angst aims to improve um the stigma and and opens to remove the stigma and open up the conversation about mental Health um helping our Our Youth and their families understand that a certain amount of anxiety is healthy but when to recognize when anxiety is too much and we are hearing a lot about increased anxiety um the the the hope and I it will happen um will be that we'll be sh um there will be specific times in in the probably March April area where the these films will be shown and there'll be panel discussion for both like and EGS and those dates will be announced so um do uh take you know do take notice of that and I'm sure that um Christine will be um helping to push that out um and finally um I just a shout out again we've got so many partners in the community that help one of course has been the village uh health department and another is the library and a shout out to Ridgewood library and all the offerings they're having and they opened a teen room uh this fall but the um the the things that they're going to be doing and I think it's great during midterms they're going to have midterm support and they're going to have extra table and therapy dogs and Pizza on January 24th at 5:00 pm uh for our students students to take um advantage of that Mar ma March Madness book bracet brackets are going to be um available and ultimate uh youth um young adult showdowns to vote on the best young adult book of all time a coding for teens um uh they're having a Cahoots trivia teen tech club uh teens get into Friday so they'll be open for teens between four and five for um our grades 6 through 12 and teen teen Cooks unite so there are lots of programs and I think it's really great um the work that the library is doing and trying to um support and give opportunities to um our sixth and 12th grade you had me at pizza and therapy dogs yeah yeah sounds amazing thank you Mr py good uh just a couple couple announcement things um again at the Bergen County uh meeting that we all either in person or virtual um before that presentation they also had the uh the welcoming of new board members too and it's always a you know it's the end of the year and I thought that was a great time though that everyone gets together and there's a lot of u a lot of years leaving I saw some uh but it was really great and so I wish you know not just our new board members but also all the other board members the the best you know going forward um couple things the was right after our last meeting it was the uh the dad's night uh in the police department had their annual uh basketball game at which the dads one handedly and it was a toy drive that actually today I think it was postponed because of the weather is when all the toys for thoughts from the whole count County and all the toys come at the Armory and uh it was it's a really great event they went to all the schools they had um they caught the Grinch and they drove around it was really it's a great time to have um and I think this weekend the fire department is g to be driving around the um the village as well the I did get an opportunity to see amadas and it was fantastic and I know we were just talking about you know these talented students playing and before each performance they had a different group of students playing different works and it always amazes me just as Miss bro was saying with the band just with three months these kids practicing you know in this very very dark very very difficult uh period piece and they had very very little time of preparation and they do an outstanding job as they always do and it's you know if you know if you have don't know the play the movie I mean the movie won eight Oscars best picture best actor I mean it's it's a fantastic movie and the uh these kids really nailed out of the park so I say it every time um you know our bands our student athletes and our student performers are always outstanding and the only other thing I have coming up uh this week I think it's Friday is the alumni panel I think we were invited all invited to on Friday morning so that's going to be a good time I have board committee reports you had a committee report at Le I just just report on the Safety Committee um and I just want to say that uh this year I've noticed an improved collaboration between the committee the police and the and the village engineering improvements were made to the intersection of Hamilton and Morningside with a focus on both pedestrian and traffic safety uh continuing monitoring and assessment on possible improvements on Clinton for students walking to Ridge school so there's a I think a heightened um I I don't say that we weren't doing it before but I think it's just um they're they are just looking um in detail at some of the issues that have brought been brought forth on from parents regarding safety so and uh the representation from police department and Engineering oh good and so that's um been very helpful in terms of understanding some of the topics that are raised and and why things can happen or things can't because sometimes you know it's it's sort of easy to say let's put a stop sign or let's do this or that and and that's not always the best solution but they're um articulating that I think helping us all to learn more so thank you for you know thank you to and the village engineering again this collaboration is great oh great I have seen a lot of those bump outs popping up all over the place so it's been good so um yeah I have an update on facilities committee uh we met on 13th um December 13th uh the RFP for architect was to be open on 15th I don't know if uh Miss Scot if you have an update on how many or we received 10 submissions okay perfect so by that time we were just waiting that okay it will be open on 15 so we have 10 submissions and now Dr Schwarz and Miss Scott will be uh looking at the initial um they have a specific criteria uh to sort uh and look at the uh applications or the submissions and then they'll advise the next steps on that um we um talked about a feasibility study for athletic fields that Dr Schwarz is working on with some community members that what are the options long-term shortterm for like this would be a topic again for today uh the flood mitigation and we can't if we can't we can't mitigate the flood but how can we mitigate the loss of field and what are the options there so he's working with um Keith from Village they are Village manager and some community members um and state and federal officials then we talked about high school roof um so uh the fabrication of the coping so just to remind the high school roof project was completed earlier uh but there was a change order or recommendation from the architect and the roofer that we should replace the stone or we should overlay the stone coping with a metal coping for a long-term solution um so they fabricated the uh metal coping that fabrication is done and since it's a heavy equipment that will be lifted up um they're waiting for a time when students are not in the school so most likely it will be done during Christmas break that's where they were trying to schedule it for um same thing with uh the uh pacng direct install uh air conditioners so those those units the current units are in working condition except uh Campus Center I think and so we need to replace them before uh summer and they are working on the right scheduling time when they can be replaced um on that uh there was one note that when this project was originally speced uh by psng direct install program so psng direct install does not give us uh the remote monitoring cap or remote adjustment capabilities so those would be added at our cost uh to tie into our Central BMS uh control system so custodial can manage it remotely um and that would for one school I think the cost was about 29,000 and they are working on on the other schools but that was the highest one the most units eight units I think there then uh we talked about rmar cont contract and Miss Scott and Dr Schwarz are streamlining some of the positions there some of the contract staff there and how it can be more optimized then we talked about the HVAC projects that we have for two schools um Ridge and HW um that what could be next steps on th those Miss Scott talked to Westwood uh business administrator uh as we had requested that just as a reference check and they uh provided some inputs on how we can improve or they had requests requirements to improve the fresh air intake uh because with your the currently the Sy the way systems work is uh we have unit ventilator in every classroom uh with the gas or hot water based systems and those unit ventilators bring the fresh air uh when they are also doing the heating of the rooms um so with um Mini Splits or vrf systems it would have to be a separate unit unit that will be bringing fresh air um and then um the the facilities manager has somebody scheduled to come on December 20th a contractor and they will also provide some um inputs on the design and the pricing so they are basically working on collecting more information on that project and I think that was it unless I'm missing anything Mohammad or no no I think I think that was the only thing I'll just add is one idea on the table just for everybody to know is once we do have a new architect that we kind of potentially take a holistic look at the flooding situation uh all ideas potentially on the table so I know that's a big topic of concern in the village but so it is definitely something top priority for us we had the uh Finance meeting um same day uh the audit is complete I believe it was Friday was the audits are having their exit interview with the two of you um we're hoping that the presentation of the audit is going to be at the the second meeting of January the January 20th meeting um we want to make sure that the presentation goes out ear sooner than later so you have more time not just like a couple days to look over all the information 22nd thank you I knew it second meeting January um however you know the committee wanted to make sure that the presentation that the information gets out sooner the better um there was an issue that has come up in the past with the uh the Cyber Insurance uh that we went over the two options and the the one option that was best for the village that I'm sorry with the district we uh we approved did we ever I know I had asked that question about the two numbers was that was that correct in that okay so it was a cheaper option but gave us more coverage it a very Adit stages yeah I thought it was a misprint that's why it was um the and then we discussed the community school which is going to be a bigger overt uh undertaking uh coming down the line uh there's just some issues that uh they the business office wants to just tidy up things and it was you know our position that we want to make sure that we even though we're going to look at everything we also want to encourage the community to give their knowledge out the purpose of the community school is to have community members come out and share their knowledge and we don't want to discourage that so while we're looking at all different ways to encourage a community school and and make sure everything's run properly we still want to make sure that everything is you know we don't want to hinder you know people we have we say this all the time with in different issues that we have so many great resources here in the village we want to make sure that we we utilize them and share their knowledge think that was it M yeah I think that was it yeah it was very quick yeah I mean it's not quick the audience is going to be very patient that's in January I do have a Fields update uh we had a meeting um and uh we carried over to the subsequent meetings an update on the field use policy there is a subcommittee looking at that um and some of the changes that are proposed would be having um uh longer lighting um hours potentially taking advantage of the improvements in lighting so it's more focused and you have less uh light pollution um that is being you know again there's a subcommittee who's working on the revisions before they are completely done and it will then um kick up to the fields committee and when that will be more of a 2024 event um part of that also is pricing on the fields that's just something again that I think the committee the subcommittee may look at or they may just um indicate that he needs to be settled at a different level and we continue to explore not explore but we continue to talk about master library and encouraging all the users to put in the information themselves it is um uh Keith cook and the athletic department and the Personnel here at the Ed Center they've done a lot of work to inform the users and the different uh athletic teams on how to implement how to implement onto library that um covers we have one platform for the bard of Ed another platform for Village Council fields and so um we've I think uh the Board of Ed has actually now um created a presentation that will in a way onboard different team leaders should there be changes in the different sports teams leadership so each time new people come on they will have this manual so that they can use it as a resource to input their schedules uh so there was a quite a robust discussion on Master Library um and uh and the and the benefits of using it but it is there is a learning curve for everybody it's a lot of games uh fields are definitely at a premium so it was a it continues to be uh an area that we spend some time to make sure that the different teams are aware of how to use it putting the schedule so there are no scheduling conflicts thank you I just you oh I just had a question go ahead go ahead I is that U Master Library it can be POS I absolutely I mean um so maybe because I'm so deep into it but um it it has provided um a centralized uh information for that is really necessary to understand um utilization and also for safety purposes so that we as a district know what's actually being used before there was a a lot of informality built in and relationship driven so if you knew you were going to say have an event at Orchard you would know maybe the building principal reach out and you know it became a little bit when you have those kind of situations that could be an outside event that could go on they may not realize that there's another event that's going on and they would create conflicts so this uh this was necessitated by an old uh software that became obsolete so it was a legacy application that we was no longer going to be supported so we really had to Pivot to this master Library um it is really really um it can be very comprehensive but there's a lot of information that's required so there is a learning curve so now you have to put every game and there uh every match uh and so it's it's a matter of um uh adopting um the different um I guess the different parameters and as Master Li as we use Master Library what has also it has dovetailed with different regulations that we as a district have to abide by for example for events now there's different um like flame requirements when the vendors come in they need to have certificate of uh they always need to have insurance but there's different U food safety requirements these are all uh it's definitely more paperwork we have to do it it's not master library's fault but it's it's it it protects a district and also protects the utilization of all the all the facilities because it's not just Fields it's every it's a parking lot it's a classrooms it's Auditorium so it's a very comprehensive program um that we are just getting used to I mean not just it's been maybe over year year and a half maybe two years um and I do give uh Keith cook tremendous um and Gabby here at the ad at Center for really um manually inputting the initial games themselves um and trying to make sure that the different sports teams take that take that task on and not be so it's not so daunting like once you kind of get used to it but it's it's something that has to be done can I just once again I just I know we spoke the last time the Village website it just says it's on Zoom I don't know if you can bring that up in a meeting yeah they never it's hard for the public to uh yeah to see is is there a way that we can put it on our website too guess we could so I think we'll both so well definitely I I know next year some of well for the first few meetings it will be through Zoom but eventually I want to say Mr cook mentioned maybe by March we may be once in person but you know to the extent that we can do that Absolutely I'll I'll I'll ask if we can put it I know it is on the Village website it says on Zoom it doesn't say any way to for anybody to watch it it's usually the first Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. yeah but is it a Mike Mike is it a village committee or joint committee it's it's a joint committee but it's on the Village website so we are not Le on to that it's it's joint it's because some of other committees are Village committee and the way they Jo it's own it's for the village of Ridgewood and the district's Fields so then then yes can advertise it yeah okay okay but like they're they have a very detailed on their on their website just just says on Zoom so say if you can bring that out most other Village committees are run right as per whatever their chairman however their chairman wants to run it or chairwoman in person it's chair person in person it's here just a suggestion yes yes yes great excellent okay uh that's all the committe is correct uh discussion items this broken okay acceptance of minutes I move the December 4th regular public meeting minutes oh I had a um this I think might have there was so much going on today that uh I did um want to include these comments on the record I had asked publicly at the meeting um on December 4th uh they were not Incorporated so I'd like to introduce it here um as we and memorialize as part of the December 4th minutes um are you making a motion to change the minutes I'm making a motion to I I had asked at the December fourth meeting if the minutes could be captured on the record and they were not so it would be not not but it was not fully Incorporated so um the minutes that came out I did provide um the changes so I'm entering it as part of the record for my written for my verbal request at December 4th right so uh the minutes are prepared at the discretion of the board secretary I believe the minutes that I present were fair and comprehensive I did see your notes um I have presented them and signed off on the ones uh that I prepared if you would like to change the minutes I believe you need to make a motion uh to change the minutes part of part of my so here's a here's a question which is that if a board member requests that the comments be put on the record on can that be voided because I did not void how that does that how does it get um honored I guess or I don't know what the word I'm looking for do you know what I mean if I say I do yes I think we have we don't we have this is not a court proceeding um and the minutes of the meeting are not over verbatim transcript I know that the uh School boards Association will tell you that uh any board secretary will tell you that so unless is something that's been misrepresented if I got a vote incorrect please let me know but you've also summarized here in your own language some information that you want me to include that I'm not comfortable with I'm comfortable with the minutes that I presented so if a board member says I would like these comments on the record if you feel uncomfortable that's what you're saying so this isn't a record though it's just the minutes and the idea is to have a capture what occurred at the meeting but not verbatim I these are not verbatim so the first so there's three but there's really only two because the first one is this is what happened at the meeting Miss qua asked Miss cot what the heading will be on the minutes since essential was not on their agenda that did happen so well many things happen but the I if I noted everything that happened during a meeting I would spend from today until the next meeting doing minutes but I am asking you to include that because it did happen and as Mr LMO pointed it is part of being transparent it did happen and then my question was not my question what I think would be appropriate for transparency would be before Miss Brogan makes the following statement I think it is entirely appropriate to add two things the first Miss quack ask Miss cot what the heading will be on the minutes since essential was not on their agenda Miss cot read before the school ethics commission blah blah blah which is now on the agenda so it is that captured in the minutes right that that the title and the O oal docket information is now all captured in the minut that was not that was not read at that meeting and as Mr LMO noted that he accidentally whatever that he missed that top part of the censure so the so to be transparent at that meeting we opened we read starting with whereas blah blah blah and then miss quack made that motion and Miss caught read into the minutes that part which is now part of the minutes and that would be a Verbatim transcript of what what transpired so what I'm saying is that I presented and signed these minutes if you would like to make a motion to change them I think you have to go through the proper process to change them this um I have accurately reflected what has happened in the minutes but that's so okay so in in your in your asserting that um the minutes that does not reflect the sequencing of events that's what should be memorialized you're selecting certain items that you're in but anyone could do that right and then we could have but this is minutes that never end I think that's the problem and I I I think it's still and I'm looking at the minutes we do still have like it still goes to the video there's also right so everything right and I we site to the exact location where you can view the entire thing if someone is interested in getting a Verbatim transcript I believe you can actually have YouTube do that for you so I think the way I understand this is M M Scott is saying that there is a minute there are minutes that should prepare if any one of us want to change them we have to move a motion to change and if you have three changes then you would move move three motions to change the minutes so you move remove three motions no and we vote on those I can just do two doesn't matter okay so I make a motion to change I I can do all of them but they need to be one by one with this is a new process so I would say one by one one by one okay any minut in which you want to do it but we I think we need to make I make a motion to add to accurately reflect the sequencing of what transpired not not sequencing to ACC accurately reflect this which is Miss quack asked Miss cot what the heading will be on the minutes since essential was not on their agenda Miss cot reads before the school ethics commission OA docket number e-4 6-21 agency docket number 8-7 23A SEC docket number c71 D20 resolution of censure in the matter Sheila Brogan comma ridard Board of Education comma Bergen County this was not read in the and and this is entirely appropriate because this was not actually read until you read it I second do we vote on that or we have to vote in that entirely because we vot we vote on Amendment amend am am Miss Bren abstain that counts as a no for this purpose Mr Donnie yes Mr mmud um I would prefer to get these changes in writing because I'm confused as to what we're changing exactly there's a lot of technicalities in that so I'm abstaining for now but I prefer if we get it in writing so I can compare the current with proposed and really read through the details Miss quack yes Mr jumbo no I the motion fails okay so the second one is on page 17 under a discussion regarding the process of changes to the agenda as per bylaw 0164 unsued this is what um I had publicly asked at the commentary all of it be put on the record C3 Hour 3 colon 28 colon 42 so it's in 3 hours 28 minutes and 42 seconds is when at the end I did ask that it be put on on the written record so this is the motion Miss quack noted that this censure was handled differently from another censure that occurred on October 2nd Mr Donnie asked for clarification or notification Miss cot confirmed that an email was sent to the board at 6:21 p.m. about the updated agenda on the board drive and on the district website Mr Donnie noted that the overarching question concerns notifying our constituents on any changes on the agenda the last agenda that was sent to the public around 2: or 3 p.m. did not have the update going forward should another email go out with changes to the agenda the superintendent noted that we should establish what our Norm should be on walk-ins because if it is not on the published agenda it is missing from the public view Miss quar noted that she was uncom comtable with this censure as a walk-in item second Miss Brogan abstain Mr Donnie yes Mr mmud abstain for the same reasons I before Miss qua yes Mr lumbo no I'm reading these minutes see them it's all here that part is not there and I'd ask for to be put on the record so we have one uh board member who is requesting a written um copy of the suggested Amendment so should we table this and then I can send it to all of you and then um we can decide oh is there is there a third one or the other two they unfor fail well it doesn't I mean I am assuming it's going to fall fall on the same lines I think the main question is this minutes shouldn't be approved unless we are all comfortable well we could vote on it as well no the two minutes are usually All Eyes otherwise don't pass the minutes so right now there are two people who are not comfortable with the minutes yeah the minutes fall under the same vote as anything else they do not have to be all eyes right so you so say nay no but we have a but in the historically whenever if even if one person has requested clarification we have tabled it we have we and if we we want so I'm I'm moving a motion to table the minutes until Miss quack can provide written um explanation to Mr M then he has time to think about it so I have a different idea right this is going to get voted on regardless now or later you can vote to pass it now see the written see it in writing and then vote the motion to amend later and that's either going to pass or not pass and the same I think we'll be just deviating from years of practice that the board but if we table it I but any time we had uh any questions with the minutes what like what's the rational to make an exception for this one it's not an exception I mean this is going to have to be voted on regardless um so we can vote on it as is and then when we have to digest the changes amend I get that all I'm asking is we have never questioned never ever in last three and a half four years since I'm on the board a board members attend them two minutes so what's changing now why I know that this has been a thing going on for quite some time that the administration's asked for our minutes not to be a Verbatim issue with minutes this is not verbatim and a board member has requested that the comments be put on the record and if they're not then then then the question is the other board members have to be comfortable with the change and that's where we are and we have one board member who said you know we I just need more information and I did not know that we were going to deviate from practice where if I had requested some comments to be put on the record that they would not be so I understand that what's happening is that those two Amendments have failed now there is a position for the is to be accepted that we can vote on if it passes we can pass if it fails it fail and Mike what's the rationale to deviate from All Eyes just for today for my for me well this is we're getting information that I mean it's it's always been all eyes or NS and we've always done that right and if if we did not have I just want to also clarify something I mean everything we do in the meeting is technically on the record right everything is public it's recorded the recording is there the minutes is always just a summary I get all of that I'm just asking so so my question though is why what is the end game why does this particular part have to be in the and I'm just curious because a that censure was handled very different the whole Crux of this was that that censure was handled very differently from October 2nd and from every other practice the agenda went out to us internally at the board it was pulled and then the public had no idea I had no idea because the email came out at 621 and I think that this whole matter has been handled in a very unusual way and I just want to reflect on it but no not just reflect on it it just won this is being transparent and and and and this is a censure that there's School ethics commission has guidelines on how it's supposed to be done and so why are we not I I understand what you're saying but you're not answering the question what why does it have to be in the written minutes it is on the it's on the video record and it so the my question back to you is then if it's on the if it's already in a format what is so wrong about putting it to paper like I don't I I don't understand if you're saying it's already publicly available why am I why is this such a uh why is it being handled differently I don't think it's handled differently I'm just I that's all my question let's vote on the am let's vote on the proposed motion from Mr so there's a motion to table from Mr Donnie do I have a second second Miss Brogan Mr Donnie yes Mr Mohammad no Mr Mahmud I'm so sorry that was a no Miss quack yes Mr LMBO no motion fails I make a motion to accept the minute need a second second anyone can second even if you do not intend to vote Yes I did yes Miss Brogan isn't it usually just all eyes oh this is a motion no this is this has always been a motion abstain Mr Donnie no Mr mmud yes Miss quack no Mr LMO yes the motion fails two it doesn't pass it doesn't pass we have two two yes and we have two who knows yeah so the motion fails I understand that I just want to noted that I can now not vote on amendments so if you wanted to add anything and change it just just be not of that what does that mean what do what mean if if this doesn't it fails and it goes to the next meeting or go meeting so then um Miss MC is likely to abstain because she was not present uh she doesn't have to because obviously it's on right TV and she can get a written copy of the uh minutes that I've prepared um and we will vote again okay the meantime is quak you can provide the written copy to Mr mmud well that or fail no but no no yeah it did fail though right am I correct the amendment failed the amendment failed you can't just keep redoing it she can I can she can send the information the mean it's the minutes fail but we'll yeah you cannot not vote on the minutes forever and ever no know that I'm saying there's Amendment for the minute we might be in a position where there's no minutes that have now been passed so I'm not sure what what that puts us in well I get that I was talking about that earlier okay other business does anybody have any other business Miss broken I'm actually just um Mike on Mr LMBO on that note I'm actually going to reach out to the board attorney to see what happens in this instance um when we have this vote because I don't want to say unilaterally that this is this has not passed I will actually confirm with okay uh Mr giobi thank you thank you can I ask you something Miss cot generally in the past when there's been one abstain two yeses and two no including when we were voting on the amendment those were deemed as as not passing but in this situation it was deemed as questionable or you wanted to confirm with the board attorney I want confirm the board attorney yes um that you yes I do want to confirm with the board attorney because that would mean that if the board attorney said yes then it passed and that would mean my prior amendments where it fell on the same lines where one abstain two yeses and two NOS also would have I I don't believe I've present for oh actually you're right no the amendment yes so she when she passed so if when she had the amendment yes there were two abstains yes two yes yes and one no right so if the final vote passes because of one abstain then the amendment is also passed because it had two abstains right and the minutes will pass with the amendment my question will be if the minutes need to be voted on and passed at all so if we have presented the minutes and the board is has split what is the outcome why minutes different from other agenda items I'm going to ask the attorney I'm not going to uh engage in conjecture here but I'm certainly going to ask Mr giobi I just want to make something really clear though and I think we can all agree that we're just kind of talking about SCH like like what's here or there I don't think anyone saying that something happened that didn't happen or not we're not just what's on the minute yeah yeah I'm I'm I'm just I'm just surprised because one all the all the um uh all the Amendments that have been proposed are already on the on the verbal public record and there seems to be resistant to put it on the written record that's unusual the second thing is that somehow then deviated not Devi then that became a broader discussion of voting roles that when one you know suddenly the in one de depending on the question it can be passing or not passing and and I you know it as long as I have been on the board when you have this kind of situation this voting pattern it fails one abstains and I did not say that it didn't fail I said that I'm going to ask the attorney if we need to put these on the on the agenda again but then if we if the but that would be because that means if we if we don't put it back on the agenda that would imply that the board voted which voted to approve it which is not so I'm not saying that that is why I'm GNA seek advice from legal council yeah know I think I mean Miss car is is providing the best answer possible she will check with the attorney to make sure we're following the right process and procedure so okay and who knows maybe this we did all this wrong so maybe we have to redo it in the next meeting or whatever the outcome is I don't know I don't know what the outcome will be so yeah I think the question thank you for that suggestion I think so if you could ask on on just um the amendments to if it failed yeah then that would mean maybe the whole thing passed with the Amendments could be yeah could be okay other business this broken Mr d i yeah the the only other business I have is the happy holidays absolutely absolutely we have our second uh public comment portion of the uh evening if you wish to speak thank you welcome come to the podium you have four minutes just make sure you identify yourself for the record call I okay there okay thank you Lori Weber 235 South Irving Street I've been sitting on the edge of myair chair not sure if this was Miss qua intended but I have an answer to the question that Mr Limo posed as to why you would have to be a little more specific about the reading of the resolution when it's all in on the video and I think in this case the reason would be is because part of the process with the censure is that the meeting minutes must now be provided to the school ethics commission as evidence of what happened and because of that I think that it does have to be a Verbatim actual record record of the events for the school ethics commission I think to give them anything other than that would be a bit disingenuous considering this is the school ethics commission so I mean I'm not here as an attorney I'm just here as a person who has enough experience with them and has attended enough of their meetings and read enough of their opinions and advisories that that would be a reason to make this one point so specific I'm not sure why the Board needs to labor over and over this or why anybody would be against making the record more accurate for them but I think that would be a good reason to do that thank you thank you good evening again Ann loving 342 South Irving Street well this was just downright embarrassing we have five elected officials up here if one of them wants something in particular put on the minutes that should be honored okay that's I mean why would why would anybody argue against that we elected these officials and those of us in the public who open the minutes if we want the minutes to be specific about something you know do we have to then go to the the videotape do we have to do all these other things if a board member asks for something to be put on the record it should be put on the record and I don't think that a paid employee should argue with an elected official this was really embarrassing thank you I don't see anybody uh their hands raised there's nobody else left in the audience we will close the public comment portion of the evening and with that for the last time I will hereby move that's Mee of the ridger Board of Education be adjourned can I have a second second all in favor I hi