thank you everyone for coming out tonight uh it's now 6:31 p.m. and Mr bnte can you do Road call Board member Elizabeth Callahan here board member Nubia Deval Wilson here board member Regine aard here board member Bill gford board member will Meyer here board member shanea saaka Gable here board president Coe telesford here board member Arun vadlamani board member Caitlyn Whit letter here thank you all right please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you all for coming and we'd like to begin with a performance by a string qutech from the South Orange Middle School hi my name ISP and I play first violin I'm here with from South Orange Middle School we are in intermediate myself like envir my partner and in a moment song a piece composed by Christian Williams who was an africanamerican composer born in 1978 the song is set in the of Min and his intense well exitting with the battle Maring driving song for the purposeful Melody of the upper Street SE this represents each of our towns perfectly for our performance thank you and enoy [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I [Music] say hello quick my name is Bill Cook I work with these kids and I've been with them for about 26 years this is my Mr Robert such a pleasure to work with these young folks uh they're in the eth grade now had I just can't put words how much I love do the same way thank you very much for your thank you okay please take notice that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in the following manner that written notice was sent from the office of the secretary of the board at 2:30 on January 5th 2024 that said notice was sent via email to Maplewood and South Orange Township clerks and the editors of the news record Star Ledger tapena and the Village Green where is whereas why while the senator Byron M buer open public meetings Act njsa 10 4-6 requires all meetings of the South Orange Maplewood Board of Education to be held in public njsa 10 4-12 set forth nine types of matters that may lawfully be discussed in executive session without the public being permitted to attend and whereas the board has determined that one issue is permitted by njsa 10 colon 4-12 to be discussed without the public in attendance and shall be discussed during an executive session to be held on Thursday March 24th 2024 at 6:30 p.m. and any matter which by express provision of federal law state statute or rule of Court shall be rendered confidential or excluded from public discussion the nature of the matter described as specially as possible specifically as possible without undermining the need for confidentiality is attorney client privilege hi reporting and litigation status report and Personnel whereas the length of the executive session is estimated to be 60 minutes after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business where formal action will be taken be it further resolved that the board hereby declares that its discussion of the aformentioned subjects will be made public at a time when the Public's interest is in in disclosure is greater than any privacy or governmental Interest being protected from disclosure all right I'd like to make a motion to go into executive session second thank you Callahan all in favor I right we're going to Executive session e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay e e e e e e all right good evening get back to the regular meeting so like to make a motion for approval of our special meeting held on February 6 2024 our special meeting held on February 22nd 2024 and our executive session and regular meeting minutes for February 20 20 29th 2024 do I have a second thank you board member SAA Gable all in favor all right uh next thing we'll have our student be representative update uh hi we're going to start with the recognitions congratulations to Columbia High School junior Laurel sacket who competed at the US who competed at the US synchronized skating championships in Las Vegas sacket became a double National medalist earning both bronze and computer medals with her teams the so pack is going to announce the winner of the Paul bark emerging artists award Simone mccre CHS Senor at at the choreographer showcase performance on April 3rd Simone has choreographed a piece and will be dancing in the show congratulations to two deia balen art students kindergartener Corin finery and fourth grader Willa Bay both students both students were chosen to have their artwork displayed at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark congratulations to the cast and crew of Columbia High School's excellent production of Mama Mia despite being relocated they have been putting on an excellent performance before sell before sellout crowds the cast and crew of the South Orange Middle School spring musical also gave outstanding performances of The Adams Family congratulations to all the students and staff who worked on the great production congratulations to the cast and crew of Maplewood Middle School's excellent production of Mean Girls Jr in February they put on excellent performances under the leadership of MMS Coral director Regina Bradshaw Sally shup was selected as a member of the 2023 to 2024 New Jersey All State Jazz Ensemble and was also recently selected as a member of the 20123 to 2024 all North Jersey region Jazz Ensemble Theo Abbott was accepted as a member of the 2023 to 2024 North Jersey area Wind Ensemble Jackson pelino was selected as a member of the 2023 to 2024 North Jersey area Wind Ensemble as well as was the alln north Jersey region symphonic band Ron gayowski was accepted as a member of the 2023 to 2024 North Jersey area wi Ensemble as well as a all North Jersey region wi Ensemble William wheeler was accepted as a member of the 2023 to 2024 North Jersey area Wind Ensemble and EMT Simon was accepted as a member of the 2023 to 2024 all North Jersey region Jazz Ensemble soac is going to announce the winner of the Paul I think I already read that one all right that's it um now for the report we want to issue a thank you to administrators who have been putting themselves out there in the halls and saying hello for example we have received lots of positive commentary from students about Mr mccormic and Mr King's involvement in the Halls This truly goes to show that what we are saying is true students don't need extravagance we need to be shown that you care we decided that a survey would be the best way to demonstrate exactly what it is that students need directly from student voice it was shared across our own platform student council and cougar Nation to ensure it was Anonymous and that we had a diverse amount of respondents of our about 70 respondents 95.3% selected yes when asked if they felt an administrative absence at CHS when asked specifically if they felt the CHS Community had suffered this past year due to this AB absence 82% reported at least an eight out of 10 where 10 was the most extreme suffering usually when as and I conduct surveys such as these we do not get as much Student Response to the unrequired open-ended questions this time was absolutely not the case we are going to read a few of the many quotes that we received from Anonymous students when asked about what they want the Boe to know about the state of CHS please note this is not meant to be discouraging but it is a sad reality that ASA and I have the responsibility of bringing to everyone's attention we also want to note that some phrasing and names were redacted and that these quotes may seem General as a result we are very cautious in choosing ones more broad one CHS feels very unconnected and lacking Spirit two it feels that we have no board we have no board support we need leadership and a stage and better security three it's literally and figuratively crumbling four we need leadership stability Colombia feels like it is falling apart five it feels that like there's a lack of organization and Chaos happening with them not being here to keep things together six CHS is much sadder now there's a lack of community seven there is a noticeable lack of communication eight I want the Boe to know that the state of Columbia High School has drastically declined we are not at the same level as Prestige as we were 10 years ago nine I feel that everyone in CHS is kind of scrambling and very very lost now 10 CHS isn't the same as it was at the beginning of the year 11 there is so much more I feel like I could go on forever we understand that this is nothing very positive but all that this means is that there is room for growth students want to connect we want to return to the community that we used to have we cannot emphasize enough how valuable approaching students speaking with them learning their names answering their emails standing outside in the morning introducing yourself on the loudspeaker and being physically present are and it is a lot to ask each person who works in this district has a lot asked of them we know this and we heavily appreciate this but doing these things which will of course take time will benefit everyone we implore you to remember that students are extremely conscious of what is going on this is an incredible opportunity for each administrative leader to connect with the school to to become a part of this school not just on paper but in students eyes we hope everyone here chooses to put students first understands how students are feeling and make choices that best reflect what we have made clear is necessary we also want to issue an immense thank you to teachers who have remained a consistent source of support stability and information your dedication is not unnoticed by us or the rest of the student body your work is helping to keep students learning and growing providing comfort that has been increasingly difficult to find thank you very much now on a a slightly more casual note ASA and I discussed the importance of having study space for students to go to as the Maplewood South Orange and CHS libraries are typically close to students students are place are seeking a place to study and feel that there is nowhere for them to go we will continue to work with Administration for a solution and we hope that as can be of assistance in advertising where students can go to get some quiet work done each period of the day also security has been very successful with the implementation of IDs which we are very happy to report we want to thank Mr vales for his continued support ideas and willingness to work with us idas have become a part of our school culture and are being very well enforced by security this has created a large side of relief and increased confidence in Colombia's capabilities to protect students that is all for our report thank [Applause] you next we'll have the superintendent update thank you uh ASA and Gwyneth I appreciate you and your work does not go unnoticed I have a few updates before I go into my remarks this week I testified before the New Jersey state senate budget and Appropriations Committee and the New Jersey State Assembly budget committee as they held their budget hearings there were chances to these were chances to uh raise the profile of South orang Maplewood School District among the state lawmakers who make decisions concerning state Aid to school districts during my testimony I expressed our gratitude for the additional $1 million in state aid that we grant were granted but I also noted that it falls short of the 3.7 million drop in other Aid including Federal uh funding that we now face I requested an additional 2 million to help our district mitigate if not eliminate the reduction in force we now face thank you to business administrator Eric Burnside assistant business administrator and Andrea delgreco and for their assistance in preparing for those two important meetings on Friday I made the last two stops on my listen and learn listening tour with students throughout the district I set out to meet with a diverse group of students at Columbia High School our two middle schools and our fourth and fifth graders at our elementary schools uh it was an enriching experience to hear the students per perspectives on what they like about the schools they attend and what they think can be better there were plenty of women history M history made at the njs ia's meet of Champions in Sten Island on March the 3rd CHS senior Gianna green placed fourth overall in the high jump while CHS s there you go yes CH chsc May ding set a new Columbia High School record for 5 minutes 2.92 seconds for the 1600 meters the previous record of 5 minutes 4.4 seconds was set by Maplewood Middle School principal Daryl gal's record stood for 26 years the Columbia High School Boy shuttle hurdles team took fifth place at the Nike indoor Nationals at the New York City Armory on March 9th earning allamerican status then the team of the CHS senior Stevenson memo khed Ralph zamir Rowan and Miracle aoli made the crowning achievement after years of hard work and countless hours of training with their mentor Gary Moy who has coached them since they were freshman THS Jr Earl Hart III was named athlete of the Year among 15 and 16 year olds in cross country by the USA Track and Field the national governing body for track and field longdistance running and race walking in the United States Earl competed in a series of track meets leading up to the New Jersey championships where he finished third overall and first in his age group which qualified him for Nationals and last but not least I want to send a congratulations out to the district director of curriculum and instruction who can now be addressed as Dr zoraa Carrera Dr Carrera successfully defended her thesis and dissertation entitled andr I can't talk andrological framework in professional development teach practice and professional growth impact and now has a doctorate in educational leadership with a specialization in curriculum and instruction and the last thing I want to say before I do my actual remarks is that we've received a lot of emails in reference to changes coming up for our sixth grade mathematics next year there will be no change to our sixth grade math next year I repeat there will be no change to our sixth grade math next year can you go ahead and put the graphic up for me please I want to begin my marks with this graphic many of you may not know that I have many hours of training and restorative justice being restorative is a key part of my Fabric and a huge part of how I try to live and work like most people I fall short every now and then but I try to hold to the basic tenants of restorative justice as best I can this District's commitment to establishing restora a restorative justice culture was one of the things that led me to come here most people believe restorative justice to be a program an initiative that is incorporated as an alternative to discipline but in reality restorative justice is so much more it's an indigenous philosophy that focuses on relationships and building Community it's not something we do to people is something we use to challenge ourselves to be our best Sal it is a way of being being a culture and it is a way of being a culture and I want us as a community to embrace the true essence of restorative justice as we navigate through these challenging times we are facing the graphic behind me highlights what that culture looks like is a culture grounded in respect Mutual concern and dignity and involves nurturing healthy relationships creating just and Equitable environments and repairing harm and transforming conflict the of a restorative justice culture is what is in the center people are worthy and relational that is the essence of a restorative justice culture that we focus on the humanity of one another this is why we have to Aspire to be a restorative Community it is in this vein I want to acknowledge the legal matter that is before us I cannot speak to the specifics but I want to acknowledge that we have a student that we care for a student a daughter a classmate who didn't feel cared for by our community and feel she was harmed and AG grieved by actions taken in our school I want to say emphatically that you matter you are still our student and I am willing to work with you and your family to ensure you receive the necessary support and care you deserve additionally I have to acknowledge that we have one of our employees who is also a member of our family a husband a father and an educator who is beloved by many families and students and is also hurting and EST strin from our community you too are a member of this community you matter and are also deserving of our care and support during this time the best thing we can do as a community is to allow the legal system to do its job to allow them to weed through what is fact and what is fiction and make the final determination on what that truth is in return a restorative Community focuses on the humanity of each of these individuals and provides them what they need also want to acknowledge that the CHS family students and staff are shaken by what has occurred I am presently doing everything I can to provide you with the principal for the remainder of the year and I'm still working to help provide those connections you've been demanding to feel the void of not having the CHS principal there on the topic of humanity and care for students and staff I have recently been contacted by both Jewish and Muslim staff members who have made it known that they don't feel cared for supported by our district I have also been contacted by students from both Faith faiths as well it has been a constant reminder to me that as a district we have to keep our focus on our students and our staff and they deserve not only our attention but also our support I've said it here before that if one student and now I'm adding and one staff member feels unsafe or uncared for then we have much work to do I am recommitting my energies to focusing on our students and staff working working toward making our community whole and developing a strategy that reconnects all of our staff and students to this District my former pastor had a saying he said we are either on our way into a storm going through a storm or coming out of a storm SD we are definitely within a storm but the best part of going through a storm is that you will eventually come out of it what doesn't break us will make us stronger we have great students we have great teachers we we have great leaders we have great families and Community Support by aspiring toward creating an authentic restorative justice culture centered on our Humanity we will Thrive and navigate ourselves through these challenges and come out stronger and better than ever I plan to hold a series of night sessions for anyone interested in learning more about building an authentic restorative justice culture please stay tuned and that concludes my remarks next we have our business administrator's update thank you we'll start with our construction update we'll start with the Marshall school um right now 80% of the uh sun shade installation is complete um there is 80% complete of the curtain wall glass installation at the courtyard and stair lower areas uh they're continuing with the HVAC control wiring 85% of the ramp is installed they're continuing spackling on ceiling sofits there's a continuation of the duct work installation at the first and second floor corridors and completed the first and second floor plumbing and rough piping mantro school is still scheduled for the summer of 2024 and at Columbia High School the boiler and Transformers are ongoing for installation inspections are moving along the b-wing science rooms are to be inspected this week and to be turned over to us shortly the b-wing science room's casework is installed the steel erection underway at the comments for the new seating Riser is is looking good the fire alarm work is underway underway at night and the d-wing removal and new Louver installation is underway the South South Orange middle school and Maplewood Middle School submittals and purchasing equipment are ongoing um installation of the new electrical service at SS has begun and installation of the fire alarm and PA system at Maplewood Middle School has begun on the second shift I just want to read a statement from our architect about the elevator at CHS the scope that is in the project for the high school elevator is related to refinishing the cab interior including a new control panel in the cab the scope does not include mechanical or operational systems the line item in past budgets to add another elevator to the high school was not cut it was not included by the district as a high priority the line item was for an addition that would include an elevator um our architect has reviewed versions of the budget back to the original report in April of 18 that budget included only the line item for the elevator addition as a priority three at some point point later the district had the architect add the second line item to renovate the existing elevator cab which was the scope designated as a priority one and included in the high school project right now moving forward we've reached out to paramis he is the contractor working at the high school to get a quote for a replacement of the mechanical systems for the elevator so we can know the cost also um today we just received a quote to replace the rigging at the uh uh Columbia High School auditorium uh right now the next step is discuss options for funding at the next fft committee meeting and we also met with some families here in central office um Dr Gilbert would you like to expand on that yes so um myself and a contingency of uh administrators here in central office met with Mr Matt glass and a contingency of families if you remember Mr glass came to our board meeting and said that he had a group of people who were willing to come help us kind of come up with a solution to get the stage fixed so we did have that meeting it was a very productive meeting uh they did submit a proposal to us at this presid time we are looking through that proposal and we're sending it through uh our rigor to our rigor to look at it to see if it's something that's doable uh and then once we make the determination on if it's doable they also gave a second option around renting if that if that wasn't doable we're going to look at both of those options didn't make any guarantees but we're going to try to do everything we can to see what we can have happen so see what the possibilities are and so we're just waiting to get that um report back from the rigger who's looking at the prop to see if it's something that we can do and the most important thing for me is safety and I need to get that certificate of safety that what whatever we do I want to make sure that our students are safe when we do it but the good news is we think we are progressing towards something and I do appreciate meeting with those families and Mr glass for organizing that so stay tuned all right I'll now give the board president's update this has been an incredibly busy month for the board we began the month with a job opening for our superintendent search which has been extended to March 27th yet we are still on track to start looking at candidates in the first week of April this month also saw our continued discussions with Soma it was a lively meeting at the beginning of the month I along with board members VOD lmani and eert were happy to see so many come out with great Fanfare to begin our discussions as as these negotiations continue we aspire to a goal of providing employees in our school district with the support they need to thrive here this month also saw our preliminary budget as many have seen our school district is faced with a budget shortfall this year these challenges demand careful attention and decisive action from our school district exploring avenues for cost-saving measures reassessing spending priorities and seeking alternative sources of funding are essential steps in addressing this financial shortfall is also important to acknowledge that this budget Gap isn't unique to our district but reflects broader economic challenges across the across this collaborative efforts among administrators Educators and the community will be crucial in navigating these difficult times and preserving the quality of education for our students and finally I understand that many of you have written to the board about recent events in our school district as a policy and consistent with Our obligation under applicable laws we do not comment on specific Personnel matters or discuss confidential board deliberations we would like to say more but we cannot we appreciate we appreciate everyone that reaches out to the board or comes here to do public speaks please understand that your voice is heard and we encourage you to encourage you to continue your advocacy thank you now do the board president statement the school board meeting is a business meeting in public and not a meeting with the public often times it may appear to members of our audience that the Board of Education takes action with very little comment and in many cases a unanimous vote before a matter is placed on the agenda at a public public meeting the Administration has thoroughly reviewed the matter with the superintendent if the superintendent is satisfied with the matter it read it is ready to be presented to the board of education is then referred to the appropriate board committee the members of the board committee work with the administration and the superintendent to ensure that the members fully understand the matter after the committee discusses the matter it is then shared with the other board members for consideration only then is it placed on the agenda for board discussion in action at a public meeting all right um thank you for coming in person and dialing in by phone this evening the South Orange mood board of education certainly respects that you've taken the time out of your busy day to address the board of at tonight's meeting we value public involvement in our school district and we are eager to hear what you have to say the board does have time limits by policy and we'll be enforcing those to enable as many people to speak as possible this evening each individual will be given two minutes to speak please do your best to stay within the time offered afforded to you the first public comment period is usually limited to 1 hour and the second public comment period may be limited to 30 minutes all input shared with the board of education is taken very seriously and will inform future deliberations and work by the Board of Education and his committees all right so our first public speaks is Lauren ruin okay thank you my name is Lauren rutkin my husband and I have lived in Maplewood for 18 years we have one Co high school graduate and two currently in 9th and 10th I am Jewish and a proud Zionist because of my Avid Zionism I never have a problem acknowledging the warts of Israel Society just as I do here in our own American democracy I believe in Palestinian statehood I do not find conflict in both condemning the atrocities that Hamas perpetrated on October 7th stating Israel's right to defend itself when attacked also I believe in fighting for the protection of innocent Palestinian lives we moved to this town because we believed in activism and Justice however today I believe we are being manipulated into a world where we must live by false binaries we are either the oppressor or the oppressed or just or unjust we have lost all ability to see gray since October 7th the word Zionist in our community has turned into a toxic word I fear wearing my Jewish star the rhetoric the rhetoric coming from anti-israel groups and social media posts lack Nu nuance and context how is it that in a community where we are trying to create safe spaces some Jewish children suddenly feel excluded from their own fight for justice our social justice tense should be cross-sections of an environment that is devoted to really knowing the other as self when discussions about complex issues devolve into simplistic or polarizing narratives it hinders empathy and constructive dialogue I am open to having any conversation as long as someone is able to acknowledge that I too have a right to ex exist the same way you do can we agree on joint values all while speaking civil about that which we don't agree I believe we can hold multiple truths at once and it is ultimately essential to Foster critical thinking and empathy amongst our children all of which is fundamental in building an inclusive Society I come here more scared than ever than I ever thought I would be by virtue of being Jewish and a Zionist yet I want to be hopeful can we be a place in Maplewood South Orange that models a brave attachment to difference can we work to put out the flames and not add fuel I encourage the Board of Ed to tighten policies around allowing speakers who pay taxes and live here and work in this district and not hear from Outsiders who come with an agenda in fuel Flames I want to thank Dr Gilbert Frank Sanchez Miss wble Miss Bodner and Mr King and their teams for partnering with parents to navigate these most treacherous times in our community I know we can do better we have to do better next we have Rachel fiser Rachel fiser I'm here to read exerpts from the review of opinion of independent investigator alleged affirmative action incident involving high school principal Frank Sanchez this was prepared by William EST Tonio Esquire chair of the education department of Cooper levenson attorneys at law this report was was provided by FR Sanchez with the consent of his attorney this is an excerpt from this report as noted in my email of December 21st 2023 to Mr Patrick carig the report the initial report provided by Carl Taylor Esquire formerly of this office should have been deemed a draft report only and subject to revision change and further peer review sorry as such my review has now been limited to a review of Mr tor's notes records and reports review of information that had been supplied to Mr Tor including but not limited to incident reports and security video I have also had the opportunity to speak to principal Sanchez's attorney Mr Robert Schwarz Esquire who then provided information from his office as a result of that interview please note the following thank you next we have Jane Perry I'm Jane Perry Maplewood Mr Taylor interviewed complainant regarding the March 9th 2023 incident which can be reviewed in his report what Mr Taylor did not know and which was not disclosed to Mr Taylor was that this complainant specifically requested principal Sanchez to be involved in a meeting regarding her school placement after this alleged incident occurred indeed upon receipt of an audio record of that interaction on October 19th 2023 principal Sanchez had made during their meeting it is very clear the complainant did not feel that she was in danger in principal Sanchez's presence and in fact engaged in a very convivial and collaborative discussion this fact undermines the alleged severity of the situation furthermore upon reviewing that information principal Sanchez's record of the event is bolstered and made more credible indeed it would seem quite unbelievable for principal Sanchez to have engaged in an affirmative action violation against a student and later willingly professionally and responsibly became become involved with that same student educational placement and program at the students request thus to the extent that Mr Taylor described principal Sanchez as being defensive or perhaps having some other type of perspective that conclusion does not seem to be subject to objective corroboration next we have Stephanie nasta in addition I have reviewed the interview notes and Reporting regarding the interview of the two former assistant principles principal Butler and principal ward in reviewing those interviews it is troubling to read that both principal Ward and principal Butler created the impression that principal Sanchez had acted in a manner in which was disadvantageous for female students of color first there is no record of any anecdotal evidence regarding any specific instance besides the alleged incident being investigated that was provided by either principal Butler or principal Willard Ward to confirm this accusation to Mr Carl Taylor second I have not received any specific data and no data was supplied to Mr Taylor demonstrating in any manner either correlation or causation with regards to discipline incidents perhaps more inditing of this allegation is the fact that these administrators felt that this environment existed in which principal Sanchez treated female students of color in a disadvantaged way they had an independent professional resp responsibility to report that to both the affirmative action officer as well as the chief of school administrator I have not been provided with any information that provides this report was made in writing or was made in any official capacity to the individuals to whom such a report was directed as such I find it to be somewhat disingenuous to use a single affirmative action report to create a narrative of some type of disperate and hostile education environment with regards to this other student interviewed I note that only the students who are identified as being supportive of the affirmative action claim were interviewed and other students who might have also witnessed the incident or have interactions with principal Sanchez were not interviewed next we have Dr Mia Charlene White hello Mia white from Maplewood review of security video I have reviewed the security video provided to this office of which Mr Taylor makes reference in his report I do not believe that this security video demonstrates that principal Sanchez acted in a manner that was unprofessional engaged in Restraint that was inappropriate or directed the student into a stairwell with prior knowledge of the limitations of the security video capturing images in certain sections of that stairway I have reviewed the video at length and note that in general none of the indicia of a staff member engaging in inappropriate physical contact with a student are demonstrated in this video after having reviewed the matter the policies and relevant case law it does not appear that principal Sanchez's Behavior was as a result of an individual ual's distinguishing characteristic or race indeed as noted before while there clearly was an interaction between the complainant and Mr Sanchez this interaction was based on complainants Behavior more specifically her behavior in refusing to follow principal Sanchez to the office to De to deescalate her behavior where she was allegedly intending to confront students who had named her in a different Hib Hib as such I do not believe it is necessary to go into any further analysis as this appears to be an unfortunate significant interaction between a principal and a student when the principal was trying to prevent the escalation of a situation regarding Hib and where the failure on the part to deescalate resulted in characterization of the matter to have broader impacts next we have Ray Beck review and findings principal Sanchez did not engage in behavior that violated the affirmative action policies of the South Orange Maplewood School District principal Sanchez should be returned to work security video does not demonstrate principal Sanchez engaged in Behavior Unbecoming a public school official and does not demonstrate that principal Sanchez had prior knowledge as to the limitations of said video to the extent that the allegations by a former principal and present principle that that there is a hostile educational environment in particular by the imposition of discipline or other measures against female students of color that allegation if it is to be investigated must be made in writing and must be substantiated with evidence both anecdotal and as well as statistical my investigation and review to analyze the initial draft report um excuse me it had come to my attention that a copy of the draft report which had been provided solely to the client and counsel may have been provided to the Maplewood police department and perhaps County Prosecutors I was prohibited from speaking to any of the individuals interviewed including most notably principal Sanchez who had not had the opportunity to hear the specific allegations made by the other Witnesses and to reut same according to the administration this incident was contemporaneously reported to law enforcement and child protective services and then again reported a second time there is no record any investigation occurred in my discussions with the Essex County prosecutor's office I raised the concern that the purposeful leaking of this report before it was finalized if done by a then Board of Education member or School official could be in my opinion a violation of New Jersey code of ethics for school board members without identifying specific Provisions I think a number of those ethical rules were violated if this report was leaked by a school board member or School official [Music] next we have Kathy greenstone Kathy [Music] greenstone hi I'm Kathy greenstone a South Orange resident and CHS parent the unethical actions of just a few adults have done grave harm to Frank Sanchez a good person and dedicated educator the fact that this Injustice is coming from within our own school district is a true crisis that must be addressed a former board member who presented herself as a loud advocate for justice has instead created chaos By ignoring the direction of our school district's attorneys engaging in improper behavior and leaking privileged and misleading documents while this person claims to support Equity the true impact of her actions is to destabilize our district drain precious resources and subvert the progress we are trying to make in achieving Equity chaos costs it is critical that we restore our school district to a place of integrity and good standing where our Educators feel supported in the incredibly challenging work of leading young people both helping them flourish but also being there for them when they are in crisis so we need three things won an investigation into that former board member who leaked confidential Boe documents why did she provide police and or prosecutors with an inaccurate report that had already been discredited two a sweeping effort to reassure our teachers and administrators that we will no longer tolerate this type of manufactured Witch Hunt three accountability for the Bad actors who broke the rules we now have a new board that seems pretty unified in their intention to move the district forward I sincerely hope we can write the very clear wrongs that a few adults in town have done I hope more facts and evidence can be brought to light and I hope that we can expect to see Mr Frank Sanchez exonerated and back in the hallways of CHS very very soon for the benefit of our schools and our students thank you next we have Mary Ellen Dawkins Mar Ellen Dawkins uh marelen Dawkins Maplewood I'm reading this on behalf of Stephanie nasta palado um who read already I am deeply disturbed by the clear dysfunction that has contributed to destabilizing our district fiscally and administratively a breakdown in trust between the Boe and the former super has added up to chaos on every front the duplicity of the former board member who acted unethically and unchecked an effort to malign the career of an excellent educator and critical member of our school Community is beyond troubling and the complicity of the former board president in allowing this circus to proceed is unconscionable there is responsibility to be taken by those who are accountable for this mess I implore you to take it in addition to calling out the corruption I am here to voice support for Frank Sanchez as a parent of a recent grad who greatly benefited from Frank's energy and Leadership especially throughout the difficult time of the pandemic and as parent of current freshman at CHS who is missing out on that leadership and the continuity of a functional Administration before Frank began at CHS in 2020 the kids had been disappearing into their bean bag chairs and going crosseyed on their screens during hours upon hours of online classes as soon as he took the Helm of the high school we regularly started receiving informative and inspiring emails from his desk and the kids began to notice his presence in their online classrooms he brought the light back into their eyes and when the kids re-entered the building he was there at the door to greet them every day by name he made things feel normal and even fun in a time that was full of uncertainty and fear he made prom and graduation so special and celebratory for these kids who had spent a good part of their teenhood inside their rooms one of my son's favorite photos from prom is of him and Frank beaming at the camera Frank Sanchez made these kids feel hopeful and safe in an increasingly unstable World his absence at CHS is felt by the students and teachers alike and after all of these ants and accusations he still wants to come back I implore you to investigate whomever delivered this flawed report to the police cooperate with authorities to help exonerate Frank Sanchez and work toward reinstating Frank Sanchez thank you next we have Fabiana glasby Fabiana glasby uh jlyn [Music] Ryan Jocelyn Ry said Orange um I'm not reading my own words I'm reading the words of four black female CHS students and recent graduates who sent me messages to read to you tonight throughout my time at Columbia High School Mr Sanchez went above and beyond to ensure that students felt safe secure and welcome he had a remarkable ability to strike the perfect balance between being friendly and serious which made him highly respected among the student body especially during my senior year Mr Sanchez was always ready to help me plan an event or think of fundraising ideas I felt comfortable asking him for help when I needed it and he always gave me his full attention I cannot say this about any other principal during all my years in the district and what's going on is truly devastating to me and my peers next student it has broken my heart along with many seniors at Colombia to see what has happened to principal Sanchez the number of students who have stood up and said something should mean something we believe in his innocence every student in the school has a different story of walking through the Halls greeting Mr Sanchez his energy lighting up the school every single morning a principal who knows his students and cares for them we will continue to stand for Mr Sanchez's innocence as we believe he deserves to come back next student I had an incident with a strange man approaching me when I was going to practice after school hours I informed Mr Sanchez and he took immediate action he got the security camera footage and sent it to the police and my parents he is literally the best pres principal ever that actually cares about his students next message Mr Sanchez is always very kind and patient with me when I'm having a hard time he tells me to breathe and waits until I'm calm and then walks me to class I can't wait for him to come back thank you next we have Sarah ioio I'm Sarah ioio from Maplewood we need to move towards restorative practice for everyone in the community and that should begin tonight our teachers are working in conditions of uncertainty and fear right now we might not always agree on everything but at the end of the day seen and unseen teachers do so much including regularly stepping in to prevent fights or breakup fights sometimes right outside their classroom doors teachers must feel like they're juggling 12 balls with few resources tons of anxiety and a lot of fatigue teachers we see you we need to take care of the staff because they are the core but forgotten people in our buildings imagine if the staff feels worried about their employment or if they feel afraid of being judged without fairness and transparency as they watched this episode unfold around Frank and exploited students being used to create chaos they might worry that this railroading could happen to anyone and that is how people end up feeling silenced staff we see you it seems to us that Frank has been let down this impacts our community stability and our kids to Frank and admin administrators who have tried to engage in restorative practice even under these very tough Dynamics we see you lastly to all kids and especially the kids who are involved in any way in this we see you and know that none of this is your fault it's hard to be a kid we know adults we have to model how to come together responsibly and ethically on this we owe our kids that much they're watching we must find a way next is Barbara Bart Barbara Bart hi um my name is Barbara bicker I'm a resident of Maplewood um my wife and I moved here in 2015 with our two children of color who are adopted and um we moved to this community because friends who we had here already um talk at nauseum about what an ethical and incredible Community this is and um I'm an educator and have been in schools a lot as a teaching artist and I know what it is to be in a school that uh has a supportive Administration and a supportive board and I know what it is to be in these schools because I'm friends with folks who are teachers here and I've been a teaching artist in these schools um to be the teachers who feel not supported to be the teachers and the administrators who feel afraid and I think what we have just you know the chaos that has just unfolded and begun to rain down on us in the last um in the last year since uh I'm going to go back to last May when we were all here because we got the word that the board was going to vote that night to oust Frank Sanchez loads of people showed up loads of young people showed up and we were outraged that the man who had shown up dur just before the pandemic and was steering the ship as a you know as a shining light for our students and our children um was about to be washed away with no real reason that any of us knew and we were outraged and we showed up and we spoke out and and our children spoke out um and then fast forward to January the kids came back to school my son is a senior now he he came home from school um after Christmas break and said Frank Sanchez has gone we don't know where he went what's going on the deafening silence around that was outrageous to have to live with and then fast forward to now in the events of this past week um I question the ethic questioned certainly the ethics of the community I questioned the ethics of the board members who allowed this to happen I question the ethics of uh what what whatever whatever actions let me finish I question the ethics of whatever actions were allowed to take place by the folks who are complicit to get Frank Sanchez arrested outrageous and um who will come here to teach who will come here to be a leader in our schools if this is allowed to stand Frank needs to be saved thank you Barber next we'll move on to our online public speaks the first online public speaks we have is Nathan marinov that Community member is not online next is Carrie Gordon hi can you hear me yes great uh hi my name is Carrie last week I reprend reprimanded you about the apology letter for the Ramadan flyer because you allowed yourself to be bullied into genocide denial and did not follow your own District policy about controversial topics to distinguish fact from opinion proof from allegations and logical substance from assertion this week I wanted to read you the statement I would have sent if I were in your place dear SSD Community it has come to our attention that a fly about Ramadan which was distributed to our high school teachers by an assistant principal has been called into question this flyer aligns with our district policy for cultural competency and AIDS teachers in their understanding for our Muslim Students fasting during Ramadan while this fire was not intended for instructional purposes in the classroom it was meant to alert teachers about current events in Palestine and Sudan that our students may be particularly sensitive about during Ramadan this year our school district passed a resolution to teach the truth and support a culturally responsive education we have a diverse community that includes both Israeli and Palestinian families as a school district we are dedicated to providing safe School spaces for students to learn and Foster understanding free from bias racism islamophobia and anti-Semitism if your child is struggling emotionally over current world events please let them know that our counseling staff is available to them for assistance sign the SSD Administration please you must do better you must follow your own policy for statements and teaching about Palestine this District statements catering to the feelings of certain people in our community has been at the expense of your own Palestinian students families and teachers thank you next we have Marwan abud that Community member is not online next we have for chugle I have unmuted myself can you hear me yes all right um good evening everybody my name is Fara CH and I have a student in um Maplewood Middle School first I want to begin by thanking the teachers administrators principles of both mle school and high school for keeping our children safe uh today and for making their safety a priority over everything else uh for me teachers are the parents our kids have in school they educate them care for them help them help in shaping up our kids Futures and personalities our teachers job is to teach kids the truth and facts however inconvenient us to hear them and some parents in the districts are district are making it next to impossible for our teachers to do their jobs we want our teachers to protect our kids from bullying yet some parents have left no stone unturned in bullying the teachers I for one would want to send my kids to a school where the teachers are an example of leadership morality and Humanity I refuse to watch teachers being pushed into constantly apologizing for doing the right thing no teacher should have to think twice about getting suspended sued or losing their job over speaking the truth or doing the right thing not to mention the constant compromises we expect from them to make while underpaying them what has happened in the recent past with reference to mapso Freedom School principal Frank Sanchez and the Ramadan flyer is appalling my kids can freely discuss 911 and have an open dialogue about it yet some parents want to gag the staff when they distribute a flly that accurately talks about Israel's brutal barbaric assault on Gaza why because truth is inconvenient to some parents they want to live in their fancy Disneyland bubble while children are being burned crushed maed and orphaned these actions of these parents is not to convey their hurt feelings for them even if the waiter at a restaurant forgets to put ice in their water it becomes anti-semitic is to make a drama I urge our next speaker is Rich and sadal that Community member is not online all right next is Adrienne SLO that Committee Member is not online next we have Dana Luciano that Community member is not online all right next we have Henry saton that Community member is not online Rochelle Santos that Community member is also not online Dina Roman that committee memb is not online Sharon ultman that Committee Member is not online Maya [Music] Lang Humanity member you're unmuted Hi how are you you can hear me yes awesome all right um thank you for having me today I it saddens me to have to go on and speak instead of focusing on school issues we have to constantly be defending ourselves as Jews I'd like to address the use of lessons plans resources and other materials created or promoted by teaching while Muslim while claiming to be a proponent of social justice and discrimination it's anything but that it contains harmful anti-semitic anti-American rhetoric that not only contain that that only contain factual inaccuracies but puts our students and Educators and the community at large in danger they are a radical organization that promotes blatant lies about Israel and denies the legitimate existence of Israel they teach the false idea that Israel is occupying Gaza and the West Bank they teach the blatant lie that Israel is an apartheid country on February 19th 2024 on their Instagram teaching W Muslim partnered with other groups in attempt to interfere with the program regarding stories of the survivors of October 7th terror attack in Israel this was horrific on their website you'll see words such as genocide settlers colonizers and occupation to name just a few these statements are no more than blood liable used to fuel hatred towards the Jewish Community the notion that the Jewish people do not have a right to sovereignty and a right to live in their indigenous homeland of Israel is anti-Semitic it is clear that teaching W Muslims has malicious intentions and their agenda is to provide misinformation Educators who will then teach it to their students in an effort to plant seeds of hate in these young minds and to turn them against the Jews in the state of Israel and to convince them to dismantle Israel we've seen this on college campuses it's been happening for 20 years and now we reap what we see and we're trying to turn back time and fix everything it is your responsibility to upold the principles of academic integrity and prioritize well-being and education of our students Above All Else allowing these materials in schools is a violation of title six order 13899 thank you may next we have Muni mura next is Brian Ford uh good evening can you hear me yes thanks so I am uh saddened but not uh not surprised to once again have to inject truth into liberal Zionism which not only tries to dress up and deny the irrefutable colonialism and genocide happening in Palestine but sprinkle in the can't we all just get along nonsense as if there are equally valid claims to the land let alone symmetric power they push peace in the total absence of Justice yet claim human rights and now they attempt to silence voices of opposition unsurprisingly teaching one Muslim is a phenomenal resource of phenomenal people who educate the broader Community not just from the Muslim perspective but on all things they've brought Palestinian voices to the Forefront during this genocide um they offer professional development and spaces where Educators can collaborate on the crucial work of bringing sorely lacking truth and Humanity which is lacking in Zionism into our classrooms and above all else especially in a time when it's really easy to tap into the part of us that approaches social justice work from the anger at Injustice and the desire to dismantle the old teaching while Muslim helps us to also come from the part about that approaches this love uh work with Humanity love with an affirming an empowering Spirit collectively as Educators if we're not uh uh comparing what's going on now to the Nazi Holocaust and to the indigenous genocide in the US or Turtle Island we are doing the educational malpractice that abets the continued unfolding of historical injustices you see this genocide happens precisely because of the disinformation and censoring that you just heard from the speaker before me uh when people in this meaning can travel to Palestine and take people's lands and have more rights than people who have been there for 200 years and kill them with impunity can't even have an opposing voice in a flyer I think it's pretty easy to know who the villains are from The River To The Sea Palestine will be free next we have Aria traman uh good evening my name is Alexia and I'm a social studies teacher passionate about giving young people opportunities to think like historians and confront difficult histories in a loving environment I genuinely believe that social studies education can help create more empathetic communities Central to our Collective success and helping young people grow into more empathetic adults is ensuring that our diverse student body feels comfortable to share their own experiences and worldviews with their classmates and their teachers the recent attacks on teaching W Muslim are an alarming sign that not all caretakers administrators and policy makers care about their Muslim and Palestinian students in this District I have seen an incredible amount of misinformation much of which is overtly racist about teaching while Muslim and I'd like to take some time to talk about the wonderful work this organization has done to support teachers in New Jersey I've attended three pre PD sessions run by twwm since February two of these focused on how to integrate lessons on Palestinian culture and history into our classrooms at both of these sessions I was amazed by the environment twwm organizers were able to cultivate given the state of the world it was a session full of Knowledge full of empathy and love another session focused on our rights and prot ctions as teachers in New Jersey um I feel it is appropriate to remind this audience and this body that during World War I the New York City Department of Education fired Any teacher who refused to sign an oath of loyalty to the United States in the absence of responsible local governance organizations like twwm are the only thing keeping New Jersey schools from enacting a similarly archaic fascist mandate I urge you to actually actually speak with the amazing young women who run twwm who are skilled teachers that care deeply about all of their students do not fall for misinformation and Zionist propaganda and please protect all South Orange Maplewood students and stop the attacks on twwm next we have Andrea Castellano that committee members not only next is Bobby Luxenberg that Community member is not online Jasmine Williams Community member Williams you're unmuted can we member Williams can you hear us we may want to try to come back to that Committee Member Daniel Sloan uh good evening um I'm speaking tonight on behalf of myself and my wife Megan we have three children in the SSD schools Megan could not be here tonight as she is at the CHS prod production of Mama Mia and texting me how much she loves it uh we're here to speak on two topics first to voice our intense disappointment that the district chose to retract and apologize for the Ramadan flyer that spoke the truth about the genocide in Gaza and second of voice our support for our amazing principal Frank Sanchez in this community we claim to Value critical thinking and the sharing of perspectives however for the past six months there is one perspective that has consistently been silenced for fear of losing their job or being dox the one that includes the 75y year Israeli occupation of Palestine and the current murder of over 30,000 humans in one very important way our district has done what is Right we' have adopted a resolution that demands that we teach and speak the truth in the spring of 2022 our community overwhelmingly supported this resolution this resolution protects teachers and administrators and allows them to do their jobs by including lgbtq lives in our classrooms and Curriculum by teaching the real history of America including the genocide of indigenous people in the settler colonial state by teaching deep and Powerful black history both the struggle and the Victory and so many other truths of our American and global history of exploitation and oppression that is often absent from our curriculum the teach the truth resolution that our SSD Boe pass states that we will quote support and defend Educators use of teaching materials that incorporate diverse perspectives that represent and acknowledge the experiences of all students all students where are PAL Palestinian lives in our curriculum and our lessons and our messaging our district has the opportunity to do that by supporting the distribution of this Ramadan flyer and the inherent truth within it from the flyer when we speak about celebrating Ramadan within the US context it is imperative to contextualize that the US is a co-conspirator with is Israel preventing Muslim Palestinians there is no lie anti-s next we have zad Mala hello can you hear me yes hi my name is zad and I'm a resident of tenek and while I'm not a South Orange resident what I've heard tonight resonates with me because much of the dialogue is familiar to me as a conversation is not unlike what we've discussed in our own School War meeting meetings in Town Council it seems there's a lot of division in this community and a lot of finger pointing rushing to condemn anyone who speaks in support of Palestinian lives and this brings me great pain I think many people who speak in such a way against the Palestinian cause have never met a Palestinian or taking the time to listen to their stories I'm blessed that I've been in community with the Palestinian people for much of my life and have heard many firstand accounts as to their experiences and the experiences of their families many people joining us today believe that what's happening now started with October 7th but that isn't true we use the Arabic term neba or catastrophe to refer to the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians from their indigenous land in 1948 this NECA has been ongoing ever since and most recently we have seen the latest stage of this genocide and ethnic cleansing taking place which has resulted in nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza being made homeless living amongst Rubble wondering what will kill them first starvation or the bombs of which drain down upon them it brings me no pleasure to describe these events to you all in such graphic detail but it needs to be understood that this is a real tragedy unfolding around us and it appears that there are people in this community who wish to make it that we can't discuss this neba this catastrophe I believe it is important that we don't allow this censorship to happen and that we facilitate honest conversations in our communities so that students can understand and we can end this cycle that has kept Palestinians dehumanized for decades I truly believe we need to make space to listen to Palestinian voices and the voices of people advocating on their behalf without fear that this dialogue is controversial there is nothing controversial about Palestinian existence or Liberation and I trust that this board will do the right thing in enabling these conversations in an effort to strengthen your community next we have Ellie shrier me hello hear you good um good evening I'm Ellie and I'm a middle school Humanities teacher and I am here to support teaching while Muslim a group of dedicated Educators who focus on developing empathy and compassion in a world that needs these two things more and more I believe that it is my duty as an educator to provide students with opportunities to think critically about the world and to deepen their capacity to show empathy for others this is exactly what teaching well Muslim does to be clear the attacks on teaching M Muslim are racist and islamophobic these attacks demonize the Palestinian people and deny Palestinian history and these attacks marginalize Muslim and Palestinian students families Educators and members of the South Orange and Maplewood Community and these attacks based on lies and misinformation are based on hate I ask you as Educators and community members to stand against hate support your Muslim and Palestinian students and families support Muslim and Palestinian Educators support critical thinking compassion and empathy in public education in South Orange and Maplewood support teaching well Muslim thank you next is Amy Gallatin that Community member is not online Morgan Fields okay hello um hi my name is Morgan I an NJ resident of Hudson County a former student in NJ I'm here to stand with the teaching while mus teaching while Muslim that has faced anti-palestinian and anti-arab and anti-muslim attacks due to the information that was made available to teachers regarding Ramadan as a mixed person who is black Puerto Rican and and Korean I feel extremely cheated by the school system and not understanding the history of the people I come from and the atrocities committed by America against them to this day children's intelligence deserves respect children do not need want or deserve to be spoken to like they cannot handle the truth about the genocide of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government they are hearing about it somewhere already as the world is talking about this that information you cannot control I know that as a 24 year-old now I look back on schooling and realize I feel disconnected from myself because I was never taught about people like me or my history that I hated myself as a child because I rarely ever saw myself and if I did it was a picture of someone like me being brutalized this is the same for many children practicing Ramadan right now please do not cheat the children of Columbia High School who so obviously at the beginning of this um call they obviously care about their schooling and education thank you very much for your time and free Palestine next we have yes you can you hear me now yes okay um sorry I'm just trying to make sure that I don't unmute Myself by accident okay uh so my name is Yasmin I am a Brooklyn New York resident I have family members in ten neck and the reason why I'm on this call tonight is because of the Ramadan flyer and I just want to remind everybody body since it seems like people forgot uh Palestinians also include Christians and Jewish people um during Christmas priest Mund had canceled Christmas and yet Christians continue to celebrate um the US and Israel uh say that they're um they're a democracy but they're really not I am Palestinian and I am speaking on behalf of my ancestors all of us came from Canaanites and Zionist do not want to hear about the history of when they came from Europe my grandmother from 1947 housed people inside her home and a few months later became a refugee and she passed away last year um last year before October 7 since everybody wants to continue to talk about October 7 before October 7 248 Palestinians were killed last year um there are over 9,000 Palestinian hostages um since tck was mentioned there's also illegal sale of lands in tck Flatbush and Canada um my goodness it's like how what can I do in two minutes thank you Brian and Dan for all for all your support um I don't understand why we we got this far because students have to come first um if there's ever Zionism to be put into the curriculum I am against it I don't accept Israel um let's see what else talk about the neck b or do you want to talk about the hag the stern gangs all that formed the iof that we see today free Palestine from The River To The Sea and end the occupation not just a permanent ceas fire thank you next we have Boris Duan that Comm members not online Connor Spiegel thank you for unmuting me um I wanted to remember the the words in the opening statement by the superintendent which talks about respect and dignity and correct me if I'm wrong but I think the message that was being conveyed was that we should respect each other love each other and support one another and to me what that means is not taking away from somebody in order to make somebody else feel better and unfortunately that's what I think teaching while Muslim does uh besides the fact that they distributed a flyer which is an opinion piece rather than being educational uh they've also provided information that clearly hasn't been vetted to schools in the past in other districts and um the fact that the students that you heard in the beginning of the meeting have called for more unity and togetherness and cohesiveness well that's the opposite of what teaching while Muslim provides what teaching well Muslim provides is um motivation for dislike disjointedness and more division than we currently need right now at all I implore the district to expel student while teaching while Muslim from your curriculum and I think you should take a long hard look if you can't do that about the curriculum because it is very very very um divisive hateful and overtly anti-semitic and if you're tired of hearing of the term overtly anti-semitic please feel free to ask anybody who is connected to Jewish studies what that means thank you next we have Dan Kushner hello can you hear me yes okay so first I want to uh give my support to principal Gilbert decision to retract that outrageous flyer I think behind this flyer besides lies there's there's a lot of hypocrisy stating a genocide is not the truth Israel is not acting genocide on the Palestinian people in fact Hamas is the main reason for loss of life in Gaza but the prop Palestinian refuse to admit it more than that they support Hamas and support Hamas doings calling us a co-conspirator is also a lie there is no conspiration here our President Biden said that it's Israel's right and its Duty to abolish and fight Hamas and that's what Israel does and Israel tries to spare people's life while it does so while Hamas is trying to use them as human Shields let there be no uh lies about the history here as well the Israeli Jewish people have existed for 2,000 years in the holy land and their connection to that land um is indisputable okay any lies about an existing Palestine state or an existing entity there was never a sovereign Palestinian uh state in Israel there was never a a prime minister that was Palestinian or a curreny that was Palestinian it was very clear in 1948 the UN declared an Israeli State for the Jewish people Israel has offered many times the Palestinian come to a two-state solution but they already refused and responded with violence okay what happened before 1948 was the British mandate what happened before the British mandate was the Ottoman Empire when was there a Palestinian state in that regime any lies about a Palestinian State any lies about um genocide or ethnic cleansing and such do not exist you people have never really V protested like this what happened in Syria happened in Yemen or in Sudan thank you next we have say anas that Community member is not online I a elendi can you hear me yes yes hi um my name is a Al gendi I am a citizen in Oldbridge sorry I'm a little thrown off by Dan's um rant um Dan seems very uneducated but I want to speak on behalf of teaching W Muslim we strongly condemn the backlash to the Ramadan document sent out to SST Educators earlier this week while several versions of the document do exist an administrator sent out one that centered the plight of Muslims amid global oppression oppression that the US has loudly and actively supported and participated in telling the truth is not inflammatory it is vital aspect of shutting light on Injustice several International institutions have referenced actions undertaken by the Zionist entity in Gaza as genocide according to numerous reports there is mentioned that since the conflict quote since the conflict began the US has sent to Israel thousands of military equipment including ammunition Vehicles personal protective equipment and medical supplies this is the precise definition of co-conspirator Dan and therefore is not misinformation it's crucial to question whom our schools prioritize when they actively discourage consideration for Muslim Students how can we acknowledge the experience of Muslim Students during Ramadan while ignoring their reality and that of Muslims worldwide the situation also prompts us to wonder why there wasn't a similar outcry about politicizing education when discussion on Ukraine or events on October 7th were circulated it's clear that schools are selective when engaging in quote political discussions or promoting quote inclusivity often neglecting the needs of Muslim Students and students of color in these decisions the document was intended for educators at the request of Educators to turn our words into a sharable document to show consideration for their Muslim Students in light of global events it did not explicitly instruct teachers to decimate to decimate any information to students we fully support the cont the content of that document thank you thank you next we have eval brokan is that better thank you my name is yval Brockman I'm a resident of South Orange um I don't think that anyone here uh who spoke um against the flyer and thank Dr Gilbert for for what he did for retracting it would say that it's a bad idea to have teachers have information on Ramadan I think all of us who think that this flyer was a disgrace and anti-semitic and anti-israel would say it's a great thing to have education about Ramadan and Diwali and Quanza and Passover and all the holidays that affect the students of this District what we object to is the politization of this flyer which said that Israel is stopping Muslims from celebrating Ramadan this is a picture from Jerusalem of 40,000 Muslims celebrating Ramadan on the Jewish holiest site in the world this is the third holiest site for Muslims and the first holiest site for Jews and Jews are allowed to go visit there but not allowed to pray Israeli law forbids us from praying at the holiest sight in Jewish history because we have recognized Palestinian sovereignty over this land over this specific location so if a flyer was sent out on Passover explaining what Passover was and it said it's important to keep this in context of hamas's genocidal attacks on Jews and the oppression of Jews worldwide by Muslims worldwide Jews like myself would have a problem with that because that's not what Ramadan is about and it's not what Passover is about and it is important to keep keep history in mind everything that Dan Kushner absolutely was right and everything that the speaker said following that was absolutely right the people who like this flyer want Israel to cease to exist thank you very much thank you next is Anna Schwarz can you hear me I live in Summit and I'm here because I was deeply Disturbed when I saw the so-called Ramadan flyer and um I would like to thank Dr Gilbert for not supporting the hateful anti-semitic uh anti-American rhetoric of the flyer um the only reason I'm able to um speak before you tonight is because um my grandparents had a bad feeling uh dur during World War II when um their town in Western Ukraine was invaded by the Nazis they managed to escape but unfortunately the rest of their family did not survive in 1942 the Nazis rounded up all the Jews in that town locked them up in an underground cellar and um everyone slowly died of Suffocation for many days the terrible crying coming from the cellar was heard the name of the town was uh satin and it's still there and their Jewish population currently is uh zero last October 7th in Israel was a day straight out of Holocaust the number of Jews killed was typical for a holocaust day and so was the brutality children were murdered in front of their parents parents in front of their children women and teenage girls were raped and their body parts were cut off babies were burned in ovens and beheaded Hamas Liv streamed their atrocities and promised to do it again and again until no Jews are left alive thank you thank you thank you next we have rainy hon hi can you hear me yes hi um my name is rany I'm from piscato but I I'm you know I thought it'd be important to speak today in support of teaching well Muslim um what bewilders me the most about the situation situation surrounding teaching W Muslims Ramadan flyer is the fact that those who call themselves educators are actually unable to distinguish Zionism which is a political ideology from Judaism which is a religion um in his apology Acting Superintendent Kevin Gilbert stated that this resource contained language that at any time would be inflammatory but particularly now is deeply problematic and inappropriate for our schools I'd like to know what part of that flyer exactly did Mr Gilbert find to be inflammatory and problematic was it the part that appropriately named the us as a co-conspirator with Israel preventing Muslim Palestinians from partaking in Ramadan it can't be that because we know for a fact that the US government continues to spend our tax dollars arming and funding Israel's ethnic cleansing and genocidal campaign in Gaza or is it the part that states that Israeli Zionist occupation is committing genocide against Palestinians it can't be that either because Israel is in fact actively on trial for genocide at the world's highest court unless maybe Mr Gil Mr Gilbert and those who share his feelings of disappointment anger and sadness are actually just uncomfortable with the language in the flyer because it is language that challenges their personal moral values and forces them to reflect on their Humanity members of teaching while Muslim are not responsible for your guilty conscience and should not be forced to use water down language to comfort your egos please have the humility to step back and reflect on what it means to be an educator please teach your students to have the courage to challenge the status quo especially when the status quo contributes to oppression and Injustice we owe it to ourselves and our children to always uphold truth and Justice even if doing so requires that we challenge our very own values free Palestine from The River To The Sea thank you next we have Michael Goldberg can you hear me hi can you hear me I you need to speak a little bit louder we cannot hear you can you hear me now a little bit better okay can uh I'll try to speak loudly thank you uh I appreciate the time I was not planning to speak um but I could not resist after watching what's been going on this evening um uh my name is Michael Goldberg a resident of South Orange a proud Jew and a proud Zionist proud Zionist um I'm calling in to say thank you to Dr Gilbert uh Dr Gilbert uh first of all I want to thank you very much for your um Swift action last week to retract that flyer and for issuing a public apology to the community greatly appreciated that was leadership likewise your opening remarks at the meeting tonight leadership thank you for your leadership trying to set the proper tone for the community for people to see each other hear each other and to get along thank you for your leadership Dr Gilbert I am just astounded at what is transpiring tonight where this meeting is being hijacked by residents from Brooklyn tenek Hudson County Montclair Oldbridge and Piscataway just to name a few this is the South Orange and Maplewood School District there's a lot of issues as we all know in this District to do serious work we obviously have a budget deficit uh the issue going on with principal Sanchez there's a lot of serious work to be done and to be hijacked by these outof Town residents is really unfortunate um I believe and I I encourage you uh to look into what Livingston does I believe Livingston has a requirement that commentators must be local residents and I think that's something a policy this board should look at um we do not need divisive groups like like uh teaching while Muslim and mapso Freedom School in our district that are spewing anti-israel and anti-American hate speech I thank you again Dr Gilbert and the board for your leadership and uh I wish you a good evening thank you and last we'll have Elana stac that commun member is not online all right and then we will there are uh two community members right we're going to conclude our understood we had enough speakers for now so then we'll just move on to our action portion of the meeting if they still want to speak during our second public speaks and they can all right next we'll have our committee reports so we'll start with you board member Callahan all right good evening everyone I'm going to start with the special services ad hoc committee readout the special services ad hoc committee met on March 7th 2024 we began at 7 and adjourned at 9:00 p.m. myself board member Meyer and whtl acting superintendent Dr Gilbert and assistant superintendent of special services Susie bdy were all in attendance we began the meeting discussing the federal monitoring our district is currently engaged in this is a continuing process and Miss budine was told that our next spot check would occur anywhere between December and April it has not occurred but she anticipates that it will happen soon she shared that the department has made Moves internally to leverage experience and strengths of the team while also identifying individualized areas for growth during the federal monitoring corrective action plan process process and putting specific plans in place to address those on a case-by Case basis next we discussed the schedle education budget Miss budine prepared a brief presentation for the committee on that and key factors for discussion included our par professionals per people expenditures and the implication of the budget deficit for next school year overall special education funding per pupil has gone down while the number of students classified as needing special services is on the rise however the special education budget is decreasing proportionate to that we had a robust discussion around par Professional Services which included a look at historical data a breakdown of power professionals by location and new requests and a current audit being performed internally by Mr Mullen the audit includes examining time sheets and billing to ensure accurate billing practices reviewing um anything that might contain cost savings and also includes reviewing paraprofessional requests assignments and schedule this also includes reviewing the process and procedures for requesting paraprofessional support and ensuring that all connected to appropriate mandates tracking request rationals to build in more responsive interventions and working with our principles to improve schedule efficiency to maximize the use of our power professionals within schools uh I want to acknowledge that this audit is incredibly labor intensive but incredibly beneficial undertaking for us so I want to take a moment to just acknowledge Mr mullen's work on that we thank you uh prior to covid our district was under budget on par professional allocations however postco we have been over budget each year and this increase um in the number of new par professionals is directly related to an increase in our students who are classified as needing special services as well as new specialized program in the district that require a higher student staff ratio uh with regards to par professionals we also review the guidance that our CST teams are using regarding determination of need and how moving forward we can move to enhance that efficiency with principles being brought in around Staffing conversations once determinations of need have been met um and also future steps around developing a system for Progress monitoring for our students who have assigned onetoone or shared power professionals to make databased decisions about what support looks like over time um as well as really taking a look at the rationals we're getting for p professional requests so that we can look at trends that are identified and we can provide more relevant coaching and tools an additional post-pandemic challenge connected with Staffing shorted is noted by Miss budine was also compensatory Services um those are services that are part of an IEP but could not be provided and then have to after the fact um that was largely related to with related Services um this was an area um that is likely um excuse me um in addition to this area another area um in terms of program supplies for students may have to be cut um with our current budget next we talked about family engagement uh this discussion included continued conversation around an experiential survey one was sent out to family and staff this year as part of that Federal monitoring and CPAC has o administered one in the past a recommendation was made to think about a district administered experiential survey for use over time that would help us to identify Trends among staff families and students uh further consideration and discussion of this will then be had towards the end of the school year for potential implementation Miss budine also provided an update on the proposed CPAC recess resource Fair uh which is a CPAC sponsored event that we are happy as a district to support um and this we will have more information forthcoming finally or almost finally we also discussed uh the mechanisms of information around disseminating students IEP information to folks working with students particularly our specialist teachers who work with every single student in the school um so wanting to make sure there are effective ways to get that information out and make sure over the course of the year as students receive new 504s or new IEPs that there are ways that those teachers could be alerted to those to ensure that everyone has the important information they need to provide kids what they deserve next we talked briefly about mental health supports at the elementary school level um currently we have uh Social Work interns and social workers at the elementary school level uh Miss budine did acknowledge that additional support similar to some of the more robust models at secondary levels could be helpful but at this time aren't fiscally possible so as we progress we will continue to main this maintain this as a point of growth and possible discussion in the future um I'll allow others to talk more about the policy but we uh have up for first read tonight a revised Section 504 policy the committee did discuss um adding Clarity to that um around things like person with firsthand relevant knowledge of the student um and in addition we also talked about 504s um in terms of the context around student involvement um and then as well as um how we again look at Trends over time to improve our coaching and responsiveness in the classroom so that as we're looking at what accommodations and modifications we're providing writing um we can be responsive in promoting an inclusive learning environment um in closing a theme for this month with our committee was really around prioritization and goals we had a really robust discussion around the challenges and opportunities within special services and how we set goals to focus the work of the committee um I would like to acknowledge Miss budine for her transparency willingness to acknowledge and process the questions that we've had um on the committee and also acknowledge the rest of the committee members for sharing their unique perspectives in grounding our work these first few months together I'm really confident that are moving forward with intention and the shared goal of continuously improving the experiences of our students with support needs and their families so that wraps up our special services update and then I will give a brief update on our Municipal Partners meeting okay so the municipal partnership meeting was held on February 7th 2024 we began at 12:30 in the afternoon and adjourned at 1:48 it was myself board president president Dr telesford Acting Superintendent Dr Gilbert and we were joined by South Orange Village president Shea colum Village trustee Dr Olivia Lewis Chang and maplewood's mayor Nancy Adams as well as committee person Deb angle uh Township administrator Pat wary also briefly joined during this meeting we discussed a variety of topics where our two towns and districts intersect we began with discussion of the greenway project committee person Deb angle provided history and current updates to this project including reviewing the developer plan to Mill pave and stripe the area and then once completed there's a one-year window where we would be able to request and make any necessary fixes goals of this project that are worth highlighting is that it would help to minimize traffic uh promote biking and walking and the overall walkability in our towns and importantly add some green space to promote beautification um and the known mental and physical benefits for all citizens of being outside in those green spaces as the next step we are going to try to have our town engineer join our fft committee to answer uh questions regarding that Pro projects next discussion was had around biking to school um maplewood's Deb angle had questions regarding why some schools are deem safe to bike to While others such as tuskin and South Mountain are not and Dr Gilbert shared that this is really based on principal discretion regarding feasibility and safety around the conditions of those schools members generated potential Solutions such as gathering information via the walk Bike Run committee um can we look at dedicated bike paths um and identifying areas where crossing guards or the presence of uh police could mitigate safety concerns that might allow for biking um on our list of to-dos is creating a list of considerations around what makes an area safe enough for biking to be allowed and also coordinating a meeting with townships to plan for crossing guard uh guards based on our triple I placements next we had a discussion regarding the youth advisory committee and student government Deputy Mayor kpe and commit person angle are going to be part of revitalizing this initiative which is super exciting um in this Maplewood kids are selected to advise the township on programming and learn about Civic leadership historically members had been selected mostly from CHS but they are seeking to look at ways to include our middle and elementary school kids as well Dr leis Chang raised the issue of student mental health around the cause uh causes of and managing stress for our students at Columbia she shared concerns that had been brought to her and while we acknowledge that this is a small anecdotal set of information this feedback is nonetheless important and similar to those we've received from other stakeholders including our student reps this generated a discussion around our District's restorative practices that Dr Gilbert spoke about eloquently tonight um they he discussed the work we are doing the way their district has invested in it and how it has been impacted as the district addresses some other competing priorities at Columbia finally we talked about ritzer field a discussion was had about this in which uh president colum expressed the needs and interest in publicizing more information given the volume of emails that they received on the topic there were worries flagged about flood mitigation and JD P approval which the district is committed to following the process as outlined to assess Wetland designation mayor Adams also expressed concern there about the wetlands designation as well as broader concerns uh we appreciate our M Municipal partners and we look forward to our next meeting March 27th at noon do I have any questions on either special services or our Municipal Partners thank you next we have personnel the Personnel committee met on Tuesday March 19th at 6:30 p.m. board members VOD lman board president telesford and I were in attendance board member dval Wilson was not able to make it we kicked off the meeting with special guest Carrie wble Who provided an update on an HIV investigation and once completed she left the meeting we then went on to review the Personnel resolutions there was a discussion around leaves of absence and how those classes are covered um for those that may not be aware the district will either hire or leave replacement a current teacher will teach that class and receive six period compensation or we utilize a daily uh a substitute whether it's permanent building sub or a daily sub we currently have about 27 permanent building substitutes and as we discussed in last Thursday's budget meeting these unfortunately will be cut pending final budget approval next year based on an analysis done by the ba office we'll be able to save significant dollars as we're not only paying their salaries but health benefits which have been sharply increasing they will still just to confirm they will still be able to work in our district on a perdm basis at the significantly higher rate that was approved at the February board meeting as a followup the committee asked the district to provide more data on what we have spent this current school year for six period compensation Mr adad doyan provided an update on the Personnel related um Dei strategic plan as part of the District goals he's been working closely with an internal diversity team on a strategic report that will be presented to Dr Gilbert next month for review their report includes details on targeted recruiting and retention its impact and how to overcome uh certain challenges that they've identified um and just as an FYI Dr Gilbert will be reviewing action plans for all district goals at the April board meeting during old business Mr adedo shared a status update on evaluations the committee expressed concerns that we are not on track for all to be finished on time Dr Gilbert shared that he has a plan to address this with principes and supervisors and the committee will be keeping a close eye on this moving forward to ensure they are completed by the end of the school year during new business we discussed the uh 2425 budget implications related to Personnel how the district um will handle staff and teacher morale during these hard times and what other areas we can look into regarding savings to reduce the impact of the Riff uh unfortunately I can't discuss anything um further to that and we ended our meeting and our next um meeting is Monday April 22nd at 6:30 p.m. any questions all right I'll do the fft readout um the fft committee met twice this month um our first meeting was held on March 6 2024 in attendance were myself committee chair VOD lanii and board members Callahan Meer um from the administration was Dr Gilbert Mr Burnside Miss Delio Mr bonds and Mr julo we discussed several items the first was Underhill field the administration confirmed that there were three tears in the turf which was a result of unauthorized use by Community residents while we understand that the desire and need for access to Playing Fields the administration with support of from this body want to stress that no one should use the field unless they they have filled out a faculty use form and has been approved the administration is currently researching field management agreements and looking at how other districts manage their fields the next topic was the CHS Auditorium Dr Gibble arranged to speak with community members who offered their expertise and assistance in helping to help to help reopen the auditorium which was scheduled for March 12th during our meeting we learned that inspectors gave the recommendation to close the stage making the stage unusable for the remainder of the school year this recommendation was concurred by our insurance carrier who stated that no students staff or community members should access the stage at this time the district is hoping to use a co-op that they are part of to speed up the process repairing the stage but emphasize the patchwork repairs that previous boards have used may not be ideal rather a full in renovation is needed to reopen the stage and keep it that way next we discussed the budget and the community reviewed Revenue inre increases in expenditures savings and a possible gap for the 20 2425 budget we also discussed Technology Insurance we had a follow-up meeting on March 13th in which the same members were all in attendance there we discussed change orders one was at CHS which was 32 $32,988 for the slam lab support reinforcement and over $200,000 for lighting in the common area common area next we discussed the budget which included uh we reviewed the tax levy Revenue increases in expenditures and savings we also had updates on the possible deficit for the 2024 25 budget we also had discussed the border of school estimate request which I will review briefly later uh we also talked about the K through five math initiative and its impact from initial implementation and also our board meeting discussion on the budget um for the board of school estimate meeting the bo the Boe put forth a resolution that covered projects at SS Columbia High School including renovations to Turf at richer field to Turf richer field while the Border School estimate was not supportive of the entire scope of the project we were able to secure funds to finish projects in our high school and middle school the board is still supportive of completing every project in the lrfp any questions all right there that's done I guess we go to policy great thank you the policy committee met on Monday March 11th uh in attendance where myself along with board members sacka Gable and whtl uh Dr Gilbert was in attendance with misss budine and a cameo from M Bodner as well as our amazing uh administrative uh staff we have uh four policies that the policy committee has put forward for second read tonight uh among them we mostly have updates that are uh addressing our language and conforming it to updates in uh State uh statutes uh notably policy 55117 is being updated along with our uh local rules to clarify now that both middle and high school students are required to wear their IDs at all times during the school day and that they are also going to be required to have their IDs on them during all School sponsor events on campus uh to be displayed whenever uh requested by a principal or designate uh those went through first read last month and are up for uh approval tonight we have several uh policies that are up for first read as well as a result of work in the policy committee and referring to other committees uh for their review uh a few of these are notable for changes that we're making uh locally and changes that will have um a significant impact uh on our students in the community first of all policy 5512 the policy on harassment intimidation and bullying this is a policy that was actually amended just a year ago after the New Jersey anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act was amended uh at the time the board last year put into effect a requirement that every report of an Hib uh possible incident would be fully reported uh and that would go all the way up uh through the full investigation uh and uh the feedback from teachers and staff as well as uh our uh parent and uh student Community has been that that may be taking some of these investigations farther than they needed to go there's another option in the policy that we are reverting to at this point that allows for principles to make a preliminary determination as far as whether uh the uh basic elements of an Hib have been pleaded in the complaint for investigation uh there have been some concerns about if we're leading if we're letting principles make that initial determination will there be HIV events that are missed um so in addition to the fact that the superintendent gets every one of those incident reports for review and can remand them back for review as needed uh we're making a local change to that policy to indicate that the board on a monthly basis will receive a report of every of how many incidents per school and broken down by demographics were uh uh made about an HIV complaint but determined to not be part of that so we can track Trends to see if there is something going on there uh we're also uh putting up for first read tonight uh policy 2418 which is regarding Section 504 accommodations uh there's a couple big pieces being changed here first of all is clarifying who is required to be a part of the Section 504 team and specific specifically making sure that uh a teacher that has firsthand relevant knowledge of the student is required to be part of the team not just a teacher in the building uh which we think is important to make sure that uh there is someone with relevant knowledge participating in that child's uh uh 5014 and secondly while it's not required in the federal statute for a 504 uh evaluation we are uh proposing uh a specific time frame for how long an invest a an evaluation for 504 Services can take uh and so we have here that uh the district must Now respond to a request for 504 services within 20 days uh that for 504 evaluations that don't require formal assessments that the plan the meeting happened within 45 days and for uh evaluations that require formal assessments that happened within 90 days so this gives parents uh and the district clarity as far as how long this process should take and you uh if a child is eligible they would receive that plan back within 7 days after the meeting there's also a few things that we have on for new business uh in policy notably uh we've taken three policies and referred them to the special services ad hoc committee for review uh 3217 and 4217 which are regarding the use of corporal punishment and policy 5561 use of physical restraint and seclusion techniques for students with disabilities uh this is stemming from uh discussion among concerns that staff members have about uh in incidents where uh some level of uh physical input is required through for example our Handle With Care Program uh for addressing students who who have um a need that would require a physical input making sure that teachers uh have the right protections uh so that that's being done correctly uh and appropriately for all so that is going to be under discussion to see if there are any changes needed to our policy to ensure that students staff and teachers are all being kept uh safe in that process uh all the other info about the policy committee uh ongoings are in our minutes which are posted as always on the board of education committee's page uh right after the meeting any questions great thank you than we F cni okay so the um curriculum and instruction committee met on March 13th at 6:30 p.m. we had um board member Duval Wilson and I in attendance um unfortunately our meeting conflicted with fft so board member Callahan couldn't join us but this has been corrected going forward Miss bodder Dr kareah and Miss wble joined us from the district team we kicked off the meeting with a vibrant and informative presentation from our District's instructional coaches there are four instructional coaches in the district two at the elementary level and two at the secondary level the coaches have been trained in gym kns coaching philosophy and they provide voluntary confidential coaching that's available to all teachers they support District initiatives such as new teacher orientation professional learning communities Equity audit recommendations parent engagement teacher workshops and so much more coaches are also now a part of every inrs team and this change has led to consistency across schools and sharing of interventions and strategies the presentation included teacher feedback on their coaching experiences which yielded overwhelmingly positive results I was particularly struck by the opportunity our coaches provide to keep keep our professional learning in District as they're able to go out attend trainings and come back to TurnKey their learnings with District staff next uh Freshman Academy freshman huddles are currently being discussed and planned out for the full 2425 school year we moved on to equity audit and Fergus recommendations given the numerous cni related Equity audit recommendations we decided to make this a standing agenda item each month recognizing of course there may be some overlap among topics also the district cni admin team meets monthly with Dr Fergus so there will presumably be updates for that team to bring back to our committee this month the cni committee discussed Middle School Math Miss Bodner stated as did Dr Gilbert in his address at the beginning of the meeting that there will not be any changes to middle school math for the 24 25 school year they will take the next year the admin will take the next year to look at the data and plan with teachers to consider any changes to sixth grade math for future years in our discussion the board committee members advocated for and stressed the importance of parent education on the rationale and plan for any future updates to middle school math selection the admin agreed and added that they will include guidance for caregivers on how to make middle school math choices with their children as recommended in the audit regarding the budget there were no new budget items for this month but we did discuss the implications of the budget deficit for next school year as Mr Burnside presented in the preliminary budget um the cni department was able to find areas of savings for next year fortunately the bulk of professional development for phonics and math at the elementary level is complete and next year these areas will be prioritized as shown in his presentation there was a figure of $774,000 that cni was able to save for next year those funds were previously allocated to the new K5 math program but the district will not need those funds again next year because year 1 is the most expensive other savings will come from cuts to supplies and PD and while miss Bodner believes the district can make due for next year she expressed concern that it will not be sustainable hence my question in the budget meeting about how we can rebound from this deficit going forward next we discuss some um new business items the CHS admin team is working on next year's schedule and looking at many options changing a master schedule is incredibly complicated and affects Staffing and the number of electives that the school can offer the goal is to have a decision shared with the CHS Community by early April as outlined in the comprehensive Equity plan the district should be informing parents of the equity related professional development being offered to teachers and administrators from now on this will be included in Dr Gilbert's newsletter thank you Dr Gilbert we also set the upcoming cni committee meeting dates for the Thursday the week before every board meeting whenever possible June is the only exception uh we discussed the cni related policies to which uh Dr board member Meyer has already referred of 5512 Hib and 5517 on student ID cards we Clos the meeting with the wonderful news that Dr Gilbert shared earlier about zoa Korea our District's director of cric and instruction and that she's now Dr kareah after completing her doctorate the only thing I'll add to that is that um her dissertation has been nominated for dissertation of the Year by the University of Phoenix so double congrats to Dr K all right with that we'll move on to the action portion of our [Music] meeting board members for your consideration tonight we have resolutions 4586 through 4593 can I get a motion can I get a second second thank you we're now in discussion I have something I'd like to share heyy Dev list still here um so yeah so I wanted to recognize policy 4281 on inappropriate staff up um during my first year on the board I had advocated for the board for board goal to be to review prior policies that protect children from abuse on school grounds in case um enhs excuse me in case enhs could be made as well as pass new ones that further protect our students from abuse so I'm glad that we're passing this new policy um as a policy says it instructs the process for how School Personnel compensated and uncompensated are required to report alleged misconduct when it is believed a student has been subjected to child abuse or neglect by School staff and leaders I hope that the district reviews this in great detail um the importance of this policy with District personnel and the appropriate State mandated steps that personnel must take if or when they believe a student has experienced abuse by a staff member I personally know how difficult it can be to advocate for yourself as a minor when you've been physically or sexually harmed by an adult so I think this policy is great um it helps give um it helps give the voiceless safety and support so thank you to all who are supporting this policy thank you former Meer thank you um so just a couple things here first of all I want to uh call out in uh resolution 4586 a under retirement uh we opened the meeting uh many hours ago at 6:30 with a terrific uh presentation from our Middle School strings the director uh Bill Cook uh I didn't notice till afterwards uh he is retiring at the end of this school year so I wanted to give special kudos for the uh performance uh that he was the director of and for the 26 years of service that he contributed to to our district uh I also want to just acknowledge uh this is the uh second uh group that's been in this room this week of course we had the board of school estimate meeting on Monday and we are asked to look at resolution 4589 K uh which is a uh substitute resolution from what we passed uh a couple weeks ago uh in The Proposal that we had uh given to the board of estimate which of course was uh funding additional money in our lrfp to cover uh the uh Construction in the South Orange Middle School uh Columbia High School for General Renovations the girls locker room and the question of how to deal with the uh ritzer field uh and uh as folks who watch that meeting know uh the board looked at the request for uh about $4.5 million for ritzer field uh and made the determination uh to not fund 4.5 million for artificial turf uh and not to fund a smaller amount for natural grass but to fund nothing at all for ritzer right now uh so we are being asked to accept this uh substitute resolution to get the rest of that work funded so we can do it uh but with the open question of what's Happening um I'm going to acknowledge you know back uh a few weeks ago we had a meeting meeting here where I asked for clarification on what happens uh if uh is there an opportunity to sever part of this uh and uh the understanding that we seem to have at that point was that there was not an opportunity to sever and it seems that um somehow that that understanding changed and the board was a board of school estimate was able to sever that um but I just want to clarify you know we are going to need to come back and figure out what it is that we're going to do to make sure that one way or another we are addressing the needs of our student athletes uh and developing a field surface of whatever composition that's going to uh meet the needs of of all of our students um and so well you know I think no one moved to sever this tonight I think we all agreed this money needs to be uh bonded so we can continue our construction projects uh I do want to highlight that we're left in a situation where uh we are not going to be able to do anything on that uh that part of our facility in need of uh Improvement until we uh either find money somewhere else or uh come to a resolution that uh the municipalities can uh help us support accurate um will covered it pretty much what I was going to say and ever so eloquently as he does but um you know I just wanted to mention as you know the board was unanimous in their vote to ask for $29 million from the board of school estimates that would include the desperately needed work at SS and CHS including the renovation of the girls locker room and the ritzer serf expansion um you know while the outcome was not what the board had hope to move forward with it does mean that we can start to move forward with the other Renovations so that's a good news um and I also equally want to stress that you know we we have a lot of work cut out for us because our female student athletes deserve their own dedicated Fields both varsity and JV just like the the boys have and um you know I think we're just going to have lots of future discussions of how we can make that happen given the uh budget constraints and unfortunately the outcome of Monday's meeting thank you board member WHL um I don't have too much to add because both of you did a great job but I just wanted to voice that you know the outcome of Monday's meeting was really disappointing you know back when the long range facilities plan was being was being planned the amount of work that had to get done at our schools and that was again you know prior to 2019 was over $300 million and so what we're focusing on right now is that first tranch turfing ritzer was part of that work and we heard from our students that this is not only a need for our student athletes but it's a need for our Columbia High School students who would be able to use it throughout the year for PE um the state of our field fields in general uh whether it's at the municipal level or at our own schools um they are you know just abysmal and I can't imagine you know not only is it embarrassing for our students um other students and other schools don't want to come here to play our students so um I really wish that we weren't faced with the decision we are facing right now but you know conversations that we've had with the district is that we have to figure out how we're going to make good on turfing ritzer field as part of the longrange facilities plan um and I'm hoping we'll hear more plans around that um yeah I wish we were in a different position than we're in right now I'll add that yes I'm also disappointed in the vote for the Border School estimate but taking listening to our Municipal leaders I think we will be having ongoing discussions about fields and field use in our community because it's not just a problem for our student athletes is a problem for all children in this District or in in our communities so we need to have a much more robust discussion uh because yes it's unacceptable and as we look at the long-range facilities plan yes we talked about that first trench where we have all these products that we wanted to to work on some had to do with expansion other have to do with safety and as we know with the elevator and also the auditorium we have these new issues of safety and when we first conceived the long range facilities plan we had these first High priorities and some things were lower priorities however as the years have gone on we're now around 5 years later we probably need to do a reassessment to find out what are our higher priorities that we need to start getting done immediately so that we can start having ongoing projects where we can start improving our schools and any other comments okay I think oh for member Callahan I would only add to that um because I think everyone covered it too um we talked a little bit about internally what we can do I know community members had brought that up last week and and it's important to surface right what can we do internally to kind of look at field usage and ensure that there is an equitable distribution of how fields are used amongst the teams that are at play as well and so I think the responsibility is shared both internally as from a district perspective as well as uh to board president uh telis for's point with our Municipal Partners around what field usage can look like in our two towns to address this um in the absence of having the ritzer solution all had one more thing I wanted to add right um I agree with what everyone's saying but uh one thing I want to add is that um I'm I'm very concerned because our high school in general our high school is like the flagship of your school district um and our high school is crumbling along with a lot of other schools that are having challenges but um our facilities at the high school are just not up to par and I personally see that as a huge liability and so I hope that over the next few months fft can discuss how we are going to financially cover um a lot of the the challenges structurally and even from a beautification standpoint of our high school um in addition to our other schools I mean I know people are worried about the ceiling falling on them at the at South Orange Middle School um glad that we were able to get certain things passed but um as I said the high school is a flagship and I think we need to start thinking about our high school in that way um because it is a liability if we have a high school that is in the state that it is right now and I'm not talking about from um the inside of the of the school from a social environment standpoint I'm talking about from a from a facility standpoint um and I also just want to underscore because we talked about it I talked about with my board colleagues but our district cannot wait another year or 2 years for our auditoriums to improve so that they're safe for our students and I just want to reiterate that because it's so critically important and it's something that has been on the radar screen screen for quite a number of years and I just want to make sure that there's something that's discussed and brought before the board I know you guys are adding it to the fft agenda but I want to understand what the implications are going to be for our budget um by our next budget meeting so we can understand if it will be covered by funds um if not through our budget then how are we going to improve the auditoriums cuz I we really just I just I can't emphasize enough how important it is that we take care of this all right Mr Burnside roll call I one more thing one one more thing okay last one I'm sorry last one all right fine sorry um I as a I think unrelated to the the budget and those items I just wanted to say um as a board member and a parent and educator I want to acknowledge the importance and timeliness of two of the policies that we are currently looking at I think board member jaal Wilson pointed out that we are looking at a critical policy protecting and providing voice for our students when harm may have been done as well as those that spell it with Clarity the training and protections that our staff need to have in order to deescalate and intervene in challenging moments to maintain student safety and so this feels really important in the wake of what is happening in our district and I want to acknowledge the poignant commentary and feedback that we've gotten from staff and students in our community um and just reiterate that we really as a board are committed to transparency and accountability and improving the well-being of what's happening right now thank you all right Mr Burnside roll call Board member Callahan yes board member dval Wilson yes board member akert yes board member gford yes board member Meyer yes board member sacket Gable yes board president telesford yes board member Whit letter yes motion passes okay we'll have our next hearing of individuals and delegations so if those people are still online the first or do we have any on the list we wait there no no all right then we'll go online first is Pavo Vasan I'm sorry that Community memb is not online how about Eugene litvin I no and Bella Morris not online just all right with that I guess it's new business oh we have a Jasmine Williams oh yeah Jasmine Williams is he still yes hello can you hear me this time yes awesome thank you my name is jnon Williams I am not affiliated with this District in particular but as an educator in the state of New Jersey I understand that all of our children are are shared responsibility to care for to nurture to protect and to do no harm to it's quite unfortunate to hear the violent backlash to teaching while Muslim has been getting from Simply reminding this Township that brown and or Muslim Students are worth holding empathy for especially in the case of Palestinian students observing this Ramadan before I continue I want to share a quote quoting someone and rewi rewriting their words makes it a quote from you and not from them any longer to change the meaning of if someone's words without permission is offensive enough to then contact the quoted person and try to justify it as it to them is even worse is verbatim or bus from steuart Stafford I share this quote to emphasize how IR responsible and malicious it is to distort facts of this matter to fit it into a fear mongering narrative is violently offensive and inflammatory to allege that teaching while Muslim is infiltrating schools with anti-American propaganda when the consistent Mission and impact of teaching one Muslim is to actively include social justice anti-racist and anti-islamic curricula and Educators in schools the teaching well Muslim website was sought out and um to provide resources and materials were chosen by admin of this district for this to be a debate and truly good faith I must ask everyone was the Civil Rights Movement anti-American were those who fought for equal rights and anti-discrimination laws which so many of us are predicted by today propagandist that lied about the hardships faced by minorities stop with the egregious hypocrisy and lies to be pro-american is to stand unequivocally for teaching musl thank you thank you now we move on to new business does anybody have any new business for M Meer thank you um so as we know the discussion on Monday uh at Board of school estimate uh and addressing the question of money uh for ritzer field led into a discussion a very reasonable one about what about funding for everything else uh one piece that came up uh that was very concerning is the discussion of the elevator at CHS which I understand is presently operational but it's gone in and out of service uh and we know that uh ADA accommodations are crucially important both because it makes us liable and much more importantly because it's limiting the ability of our students with disabilities to be educated so uh I would like to request uh that the department uh that the district on a an expedited basis create a uh a report uh looking at our infrastructure as it relates to uh Ada including elevators ramps and Associated things uh to present to fft so that we understand what items uh are currently in need of repair what items can come out of our operating budget versus uh what would need to uh be presented for a possible uh Bond or similar uh and as um Bo President tford also noted the uh lrfp is not just the oneoff bond that we did five years ago it is in fact a a requirement by state law that is a five-year Cadence for looking at all of our uh infrastructure we know that um last time we looked at this for the $157 million bond that was out of $300 million or so of work that the district needs uh and I think it is warranted for us to make sure that we are getting that process rolling again and looking at what our District's top needs are uh so I'd like to have fft uh and have uh the uh facilities team start working on that uh and definitely as part of that looking at the auditorium I'm happy to know that that is uh being looked at right now with our our involved community members on the auditorium but to the degree that we can't deal with those out of our our operating budget uh to look at where those would rank in our overall District priorities for maintaining our infrastructure uh so that we can look at the next thing to come as we finish this round of construction all right with that I think we can move to make a motion to close the meeting um Dr Gilbert don't boo me but I'm looking at uh Miss Lincoln here and in my opening report I talked about the uh listening tours and I said I met with fourth and fifth graders but Marshall doesn't have fourth and fifth graders so I forgot to acknowledge those uh those nice those lovely third and fourth grad those those second and third graders that I met with at a Marshall Elementary School but I want to put that on the record thank you I was just going to say I I think that's a great idea I don't know if we have to like all say we we agree with that I just want to make sure that there's board sentiment here that I think that that work should be done and that would be very helpful so thank you will all right can I make a motion to close thank you m accurate all right all in favor I all right the Board of Education will meet in public session on Thursday April 25th 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the district meeting room at 525 Academy Street in mwood New Jersey immediately following the opening of public session the board will move to go into a closed session in superintendent office at 525 Academy Street in Maplewood New Jersey as well as use an online video conference platform to discuss Personnel matters within the attorney client privilege legal negotiations and other matters that may arise and require discussion to be announced at a later date immediately following the closed session the Board of Education will meet in the public session estimated to be at 7:30 p.m. in the district meeting room at 5:25 Academy Street in Maplewood New Jersey in person utilizing an online video conference platform which will include hearing of individuals the community can view the meeting by following the steps which will be listed on the agenda if there are members of the community who would like to attend the meeting in person please note that mask and social distancing are optional in accordance with the guidance received from the local do and CDC action will be taken and with that we will close the meeting at 10:53 [Music] p.m.