board member Nubia Deval Wilson here board member Regine aert here board member Bill gford board member Alysa malespina board member Coe telesford here Bo member Arun VOD lamani here board member Courtney Winfield here board president Caitlyn woodl here board member Johanna Wright thank you thank you please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which is stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please take note that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in the following manner a written notice was sent from the office of the secretary of the board at 2:30 p.m. on January 6 2023 that said notice was sent via email to Maplewood and South orang toship clerks and the editors of the news record Star Ledger tap into tooma and the Village Green this meeting is virtual this evening because the anticipated attendance was expected to exceed the board of education's usual meeting place at 525 Academy Street which can only hold 200 people with no chairs in the room and 133 people when seating is provided the board and District considered relocating the meeting to the Columbia High School auditorium but we ran into logistical challenges as we could not conduct virtual public speaks and board members could not participate virtually if held at this location we never want to turn our constituents away at the door which we would risk doing if we were to hold the meeting at the central office building we also don't want to turn anyone away who can only participate in board meetings virtually by holding the meeting virtually this evening we protect the entire community's ability to participate in our board meeting I received confirmation from Dr Gilbert today that the IT department is already looking into acquiring the technology needed for Columbia High School to be an alternate sitee for our board meetings going forward this evening we have roughly 81 people registered for public speaks and because of the volume of speakers we will be limiting public speaks to 2 minutes per person at this rate it is expected to take close to three hours for public speaks we have decided to postpone The Dating Violence presentation to December and to move up public speaks to occur after the student representative update superintendent update and board president update but that being said I'd like to make a motion to adjust the agenda this evening when we return from executive session after the student representative update I'd like to move the business administration update to after the first hearing of EV individuals and delegates do I have a second to move the business administration update okay thank you board member eert all in favor I can't see everyone hands but um yes okay great um thank you so with that I'd like to make a motion to enter into executive session at 6:36 p.m. to discuss attorney client matters Personnel negotiations hibs and litigation status reports the length of the executive session is estimated to be 75 minutes after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with with business where formal action will be taken may I have a second thank you board member dval Wilson all in favor yes thank you the vote appears to be unanimous um we will now adjourn to close session so we shall see everyone very soon can you see me yeah we can see you okay it's weird I can't are we live now Keith H yes we are okay sorry we all right we have five board members on perfect okay we are now back in regular session good evening and thank you for joining us tonight I wanted to repeat some information that I provided before the executive session about the board's reason for being virtual this evening the meeting is virtual because the anticipated attendance was expected to exceed the board of education's usual meeting place at 525 Academy Street which can only hold 200 people with no chairs in the room and 133 people when seating is provided the board and District considered relocating the meeting to the Columbia High School auditorium but we ran into logistical challenges as we could not conduct virtual public speaks and board members could not participate virtually if held at this location we never want to turn our constituents away at the door which we would risk doing if we were to hold the meeting at the central office building we also don't want to turn anyone away who can only participate in board meetings virtually by holding the meeting virtually this evening we protect the entire community's ability to participate in our board meeting I received confirmation from Dr Gilbert today that the IT department is already looking looking into acquiring the technology needed for Columbia High School to be an alternate site for our board meetings going forward so thank you for to District administration for looking into that with that I'd like to make a motion to approve the board meeting minutes for the executive session and regular meeting minutes for the October 16th 2023 meeting and for the executive session and special meeting minutes for the October 30th 2023 meeting do I have a second thank you thank you board member eert all in favor say I I I the meeting minutes are now approved as mentioned earlier this evening we have over 80 people registered for public speaks and we expect the public speaks to run for close to three hours we have decided to postpone The Dating Violence presentation to December and to move up public speaks to occur after the student representative update superintendent update and board president update well we're going to start the meeting with our student representative update we're really proud of the work that both ASA and gwenneth have done to support the board in updating our student representative policy so I will pass the mic to gwenith for presentation on that as well as for our board recognitions can you hear me yes we can hear you okay um let me know if I glitch out um hello everyone here are this month's recognitions congratulations to Henry Weinstein a fifth grader at Delia Baldin Elementary School whose artwork has been chosen to be displayed at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center fall 2023 exhibition congratulations to Columbia High School student filmmakers Dylan Charles meta Jared Jackson Elliot spelberg and Zack shman who participated in the Garden State Film Festival showcase at the New Jersey school boards Workshop in Atlantic City the student film that was showcased was the culinary arts of South Orange a three minute profile of Mo mozarella an Italian restaurant on the Valley Street in South Orange the film won first runner up in the Garden State Arts Festival New Jersey homegrown documentary short High School category in March congratulations to the cast and crew of the Columbia High School parnassian Society production of its fall drama DNA by Dennis Kelly the dark comedy about bad crime and a bad coverup was sold out for two evenings the cast featured the following students freshman Khloe Reus freshman Eloise Bal Joseph Junior Hayden Groner senior Sabrina Manion sophomore Teddy O'Brien freshman AA lick sophomore L Smith Senior Maddie Goodrich senior Justin muhamad senior Ash Barton sophomore Z hunt the show's crew is led by stage manager sopur fonnie who's a junior and a lighting technician Max Co who is also in the 11th grade now for my November report firstly I would like to address the proposed policy change that ace and I worked on in a meeting with board members Caitlyn woodlet and Nubia Wilson the new policy has removed the alternate position and instead created two rep student representatives of equal status and responsibility the goal is that these Representatives will work together to accomplish more as a team than as individuals the student representative job is a lot of work and responsibility and having two students will not only be more efficient but it will also better represent the student body in having two winning candidates as for elections each student will have two votes similar do the public gets multiple votes for the board of AD elections the two candidates with the most votes will become the new student Representatives we hope that you consider our proposal and understand the benefits of collaboration and representation ASA and I met with Mr Sanchez this month and discussed a new student group created unofficially referred to as the Justice League composed of two leaders from various CHS clubs primarily those focused in social justice the goal is to not only create an open forum for students to voice their concerns but also to give these leaders the opportunity to make changes that will aim to invoke feeling ings of safety and belonging within the walls of the school we will continue to give updates on this project as it launches and progresses next we address concerns we had over the construction at CHS ace and I have heard many student complaints regarding noise and barricaded Halls which impact student learning specifically on the day all chemistry students students were taking their quarter final loud drilling could be heard and felt coming from the second floor sewing where many classes including chemistry classes were taking place most student frustration comes from the promise made by Administration that disturbances such as these would not occur many are looking forward to the results of the renovation but not if it is at an academic expense Mr Sanchez made it clear he understands this is unacceptable and is working to prevent these issues from happening again he also updated ASN ey on the new Behavior threat assessment security measure which is an effective problem solving approach to assessing situations where a student may have a potential may have the potential of harming someone or themselves as far as security as and I have been discussing improvements that could be made to make CHS stronger in our meeting with Dr Gilbert we explained how very few students wear their ID cards as mandated by the school and many do not swipe in in the morning with the key card system to us the main issue is not that students are not wearing their IDs but that Administration was unable to enforce a security measure that they believed to be extremely important students know this it not only leads to a decrease in confidence in administration but it also creates a dangerous environment where students are under the impression that they do not need to take regulations seriously on the in the coming weeks we want we plan to meet with CHS admin to discuss ways that security can be improved through increased monitoring of stores by security Personnel this is not to say Administration is not trying to improve these measures but we want to emphasize the importance of cooperation from all faculty if any regulation is going to be well enforced we also want to ensure that the goal of improved safety is not being lost as the year progresses this is a pattern that has been seen in the past which is arguably Why students did not take the new ID measur seriously from the start a large school of Asa has been to improve the support of students by faculty across the school Mr Sanchez has set our plans for a college fair in the spring into motion to give students the ability to learn the opportunities they have postgraduation we also look to the counseling center many students at CHS do not have a relationship with their guidance counselor Mr vone the head of the department explained how the grade 10 12 counselors have around 200 students each and the Freshman counselors 250 students each because of this it is extremely difficult to expect each counselor to make maintain a strong relationship with each each of their students at the same time students should be able to see their counselor in the hallway and expect them to know their name which does not regularly occur it is also difficult for students to build relationships with their counselor because they are inconsistent some students have had five counselors in less than four years at Columbia we acknowledge this is not an easy fix and we respect the measures that the counseling department takes to encourage students to reach out to them and succeed but it is our responsibility to be honest that many students do not feel individually supportive for students who do not receive Assistance or guidance at home not having a trusted adviser could be detrimental to their High School experience Mr veon informed us that they believe a main component of solving these problems is increasing the visibility of the Counseling Center they are creating a student teaching assistant model for counselors making more structured introductions especially when counselors are switched holding counselor sponsored college visits and planning a college Network program Squire presentation for all grades we look forward to continuing to work with the Department depart to improve the connection between counselors and students this concludes my report for November and I'm open to any questions thank you thank you so much do we have any questions for student representative Brown well thank you so much for everything you presented us with this evening the board we will be voting on first read for the student representative policy and should um we approve that then it will move to Second read for December with potential adoption so thank you so much and thank you to ASA as well so now I would like to give the floor to Dr Gilbert for his first superintendent update as our Acting Superintendent thank you president Whit letter uh thank you Miss Brown for your report to uh President W letter and other members of the Board of Education to uh members of our SLT and to the community at large I'm Dr Kevin Gilbert this is my first acting super my first superintendent report as as your Acting Superintendent and so uh please bear with me and and If I Stumble please charge it to my head and not my heart so first of all I would like to say that I have successfully completed my 10 schools in 10 Days Tour of all of our schools many of you followed along while on on our social media platforms uh this morning I finished my last stop at tusin and boy did they give me a send off um I want to thank all of the schools all of the principles all of the families all of the students uh all of the leaders that I met along the way and your worn smiles and your greeting and your your help me get through the earlier parts of my day uh I also would like to thank Mr Paul Brewbaker who served as not only my valet but uh my planner as well as the kind of coordinator of these trips and he was with me every step of the way and I really appreciate him for that I would also like to compliment and thank our wonderful staff of the the South exit exit fire department and all those who helped us with the unfortunate uh holiday event because of heavy rains that caused us to have to close Seth boy in school for one day before Thanksgiving break uh uh they worked hard over the holiday break we would not have been able to get that school back open on the Monday we return if it had not been for our facilities director Mr Thomas jiggalo and his team as well as Andre vassel Martin Prague and Angel Gonzalez who are part of our District Maintenance team uh again I want to thank South exus Fire Department Fire Chief Joseph Alvarez and everyone with the fire department Department as well as the Maplewood Department of Public Works for their assistance as well as United welder plumbing company uh keing heating and air conditioning company air Mar custodial services our electricians from troller electron electric for all of your work over the holidays to help us get that school back open December 4th through the 8th is inclusive schools week uh we are preparing some activities through our arts and ourl uh physical education courses and I would like to thank the stakeholders as well as the internal group of the access and Equity office and the curriculum and instruction office who met with those stakeholders including some of our teachers some of our community members who have put together a wonderful program and we look forward to showing you what inclusivity looks like the week of December 4th through the a uh we are continue to celebrate that more of our Colombia High School senors are making that Mark on their AP exams the number of Colombia High School seniors who score three or higher on our AP exam increased by 10% we also want to look at the fact that uh 40% or more of the 2023 graduates took at least one AP exam during High School of the 388 uh CHS graduates and 20 through 254 or 65% took at least one AP exam while they were in high School 25% or more of our graduates scored three or higher on at least one AP exam and of our 388 graduates uh 205 or 53% scor three or higher um Seth bordon fifth graders I participated in the first ever Ruby Bridges walk uh nearly 400 Seth bordon Elementary School students took a walk on November 14th to commemorate the historic bravery of six-year-old Ruby Bridges who walked to the who walked to a federally desegregated Public School in Louisiana on November 14th 1960 you've probably seen that iconic painting of that picture and these uh Seth Borton elementary students had their first walk and I participated with them and it was a complete success I want to really give a special thanks to the SE the sth board and fifth grade safety patrol uh and the and the faculty mentors Donna fre R and Vanessa laforest the district fourth graders also performed Beethoven's Fifth at soac uh the district fourth graders took a field trip on November 16th to the South Orange Performing Art Center to hear Deluxe Orchestra with the point of sparking interest in music among our students the CHS alumnist to I want to recognize two of our alumni as well as a teacher of ours first is Marvin jean jean who graduated from Columbia High School in 2016 and he has been returning to his album mod to give presentations about the medical profession at the school's pre-made Club John is currently in his second year at Ruckers New Jersey medical school and has started the club while he was as as a as a student while he was at Colombia high school and is giv back and then I also would like to recognize Columbia High School science teacher uh Beyond Dr Beyond IA Sila who is recovering after injuries on her left knee she suffered during the New York City marathon on November 5th the Dr Sil silver has been using crutches while teaching her AP environmental science and Anatomy phys physiology classes but she expects to be able to resume her longdistance running early next year so we appreciate her dedication to the work and the cause and finally I would like to talk about we had a visitor at Maplewood Middle School Daryl McDaniels of the rap group Run DMC visited our students at MMS uh special thanks to uh principal granal assistant principes Lewis Brown and Peter castlo for successfully hosting Daryl McDaniels who encouraged and inspired our young people and special thanks to MMS dance teacher Caroline orando who was instrumental in arranging M McDaniel's visit to MMS now I would like to take a few moments to clarify some information as it relates to mapso Freedom School and professional development of our staff South Orange Maplewood school district has not contracted with map mapso Freedom School to do professional development we have had some South Orange Maplewood school district teachers who are members of mapso Freedom School condu three professional developments for us first in August our new teacher orientation and September and all staff professional development day and in and then in October PD day for our Middle School staff these trainings were centered on anti-racism and anti-bias development of adults to prepare them to be more culturally responsive to our students if you recall one of the Fergus recommendations was that we build the capacity to conduct professional de developments that go deeper in helping our staff build culturally responsible skills to help meet the needs of all of our students but particularly our black indigenous and other students of color these teachers have not only the training but the experience to do just that they were not sought out because they were in mapso Freedom School they were sought out because they have the skills necessary to provide quality anti-racist anti-bias professional development please note peer-to-peer learning is one of the highest forms of professional development that A system can offer its staff and these teachers have saved the South Orange Maplewood School District between $4 to $60,000 when I first arrived to the South Orange Maplewood School District in May of 2022 I met with several teachers and the one thing that was stated to me is they wanted the district to rely on the skills and talents of current teachers so we are constantly searching through our own to profill our professional development needs these teachers are paid on a rate negotiated in our contract with sua for any teachers who develop plan and deliver professional development the materials used for the professional development are reviewed by both the office of access and equity and the office of curriculum instruction the evaluations completed by participation in these professional developments have been exceptional with scores ranging between four and five on a fivepoint scale where one is the lowest satisfaction and five the highest satisfaction and we did not receive any complaints from any of the participants for any other the sessions on any other the information that they presented or any feeling of the participants who felt uneasy because of what they were given these teachers have not only had these teachers have had have not had any negative scores or irregularities on any of their evaluations as teachers by their principles or content content supervisors and they all have proven a proven record with working collectively and collaborative collaboratively with students families and fellow staff members I would be remissed if I didn't touch on the concerns raised about the safety of our students in our classroom to this I say we are governed by policy 5755 equity and education programs and services 57551 access and Equity 2260 air ative action programs for students for classroom practices and 5512 harassment intimidation and bullying and 2270 religion in schools if any staff is suspected of being in violation of these policies towards our student upon receipt of a complaint they are thoroughly investigated we have an assistant affirmative action officer who assists me as the district affirmative action officer in investigating student complaints when filed and in addition to our administrators and other design native staff who also can do that I have complete confidence in our administrators anti-bullying Specialists and other staff charged with investigating reporting and disciplining Any teacher found in violation of a student's dignity I assure you that our commitment to creating anti-racist and anti-bias school cultures and climates is strong and we will continue to govern ourselves accordingly I acknowledge right now that our Community is hurting our students are hurting and we are in challenging times but I reaffirm our commitment to our students and families and will continue to collaborate with those who are willing to help us as a district support one another support our families and support our students as I close I would just like to give you an update on uh my 90-day plan and the next steps I have finished my 10 School visits I have met met with departments principles assistant principles I've set up one-on ones with both rosil Lopez president of sua and lean Irby Hill president of Asa I've also been continuing my one-on ones with the deip PTA HSA president council rep e Hart and the CPAC Dei rep Victoria Bond now that the school tour is complete I will be convening a group of people to plan the listening tours that I have scheduled to I would like to schedule in January I am leading SLT in a strength weaknesses opportunities and threat analysis and I working with our district Equity team which consists of stakeholders and District personnel as we prepare to meet the district goal of developing a Dei strategic plan your community input information will be coming to you soon so all of you can know how to help us with that and I have commissioned our our director of human resource tday ad adoring to lead a group of Educators in developing an adult well-being Comm uh plan that we will hopefully roll out in January for our staff and finally I just want to alert you that there will be one difference that you will see from me that Dr T from Dr Taylor I will not be responding to the public spee comments I will be following the advice of our attorney who was asked that I not do that but please note that those who would desire a response or will be providing us with their emails and we will provide that response from those who um have request request one and to Madam president that concludes my report thank you so much Dr Gilbert you've done a lot thank you very much um so now we'll move on to my board president update and then we will start public speaks so I wanted to start off on a personal note with an apology to the community as someone who voted in support of the mapso Freedom School liaison earlier this year I was personally unaware of their political advocacy work and had I known that this was an aspect of their organization I personally would not have voted in support of alaon I'd also like to acknowledge my board colleagues Dr telesford and board member V Manley who during meeting had asked the board to do more due diligence on the organization prior to approval and they were right lessons have been learned by this experience by establishment Boards of Education are apolitical entities in fact our code of ethics states that we will refuse to surrender our independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups or to use the schools for personal gain for the gain of friends our number one job as a board of education is is to make sure that the South Orange Maplewood school district is well run and that our close to 7,000 students are receiving a best-in-class education we should not bring politics into the leadership of our schools and to uphold this principle the board will discuss the discontinuation of the mapso Freedom School Board liaison at the meeting later this evening the mapso Freedom School has entered the political fry with recent social media posts while the mapo Freedom School retains the right to express its unique political perspectives it is advisable for the board to avoid the establishment or continuation of any non-mandated liaison relationship with any organization that is actively involved in political advocacy work to avoid the risk of the board's liaison relationship being construed as support for any specific political Viewpoint the board cannot take action on behalf or at the request of a special interest group or persons organized and voluntarily United in opinion and who adhere to a particular political party the board deeply cares and respects every single person in our community and we recognize the pain that many of our community members are experiencing and the Divide this pain has caused amongst us tonight's meeting will be a deeply emotional experience for all of us on this call I ask that everyone who intends to share their thoughts and unique perspectives this evening please approach public discourse with a sense of respect for one another let us collectively show the children in our district what empathy and unwavering care for every individual looks like our students and educators are in pain and they are watching us this evening to understand how our community will get through this together I hope that we can lead by example and show that amidst our disparities love and understanding has the power to Prevail now please let allow me to read the board president's statement for the record the Schoolboard meeting is a business meeting in public and not a meeting with the public oftentimes 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 meeting the Administration has thoroughly reviewed the matter with the superintendent if the superintendent is satisfied that the matter is ready to be presented to the Board of Education it is then referred to the appropriate board committee the members of the board committee work with the administration and the superintendent to assure that 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 and action at a public meeting we will now begin our first hearing of individuals and delegates this evening thank you for dialing in by phone this evening the South Orange mapb Board of Education certainly respects that you've taken the time out of your day to address the board 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 it will 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 afforded to you the first public comment period is usually limited to 1 hour but we will be allowing all public registers to speak at tonight's meeting and that the public comment period will be close to 3 hours long the second public comment period may be limited to 30 minutes all input share with the board of education is taken very seriously and will inform future deliberations and work by the Board of Education and its committees and we will We request that as we read your name um that you please state your name and town of residence for the record so with that let's um let's begin the First Community member is Karen Kar Karen Kar South Orange I'm here tonight to ask the Boe and suia to sever tise and seize funding with mapso freedom school I a Jewish Israeli American I have a daughter who will be in the district soon and I'm pregnant with my second mapso Freedom School recently shared a post that called the October 7th Massacre necessary military resistance they wrote the solution to the conflict is simple dismantle the Israeli State the cruelty of these statements cannot be overstated the horrific mutilation and Slaughter of innocent people and this group we discussing called this necessary labeled this resistance it's not just one post but 24 posts all focused on the anti-israel propaganda their account of the conflict is a one-sided narrative rooted in bigotry they have lied about how the Israeli government works thrown around dangerous false accusations engaged in the offensive whitewashing of Judaism and distorted the Jewish people's history they have demonstrated repeatedly that they know nothing about the region or this conflict and have no interest in learning their inability to prioritize facts over their own bias shows us that they are not ethical Educators children should not be subjected to lies due to the unchecked Prejudice of their teachers as a mother I will fight endlessly to keep that from happening mapo Freedom School Prides themselves in standing up for minorities but has decided we the Jewish people are Unworthy of empathy mapso Freedom School may have done good in the past but it does not excuse their current spread of hate we have alternative better organizations we can use this is not about censoring Palestinian history or the suffering in Gaza it is about valuing facts Above All Else and promoting peace instead of hate at a recent rally a district teacher associated with Freedom School denied being anti-semitic while simultaneous chanting from The River To The Sea a known call for genocide Mao Freedom School denied being anti-semitic while glorifying our Slaughter and calling for the full destruction of Israel their willingness to accept the label does not matter their actions do thank you thank you Karen ofer vugman can you hear me yes sorry I have a issue with my camera um my name is goer I'm an Israeli born south resident um so throughout the years of experienced the harsh realities and violence and conflict having witnessed the Gulf War suicide bombing steering apart buses coffee shops and restaurants the Passover and dolphin arm discoe massacres that that have left an indelible mark on on my life these events occurring before I even graduated high school shaped my perspective on the world and its inherent complexity I've also been to the Gaza Strip in the West Bank witnessing the struggles faced by the Palestinian people including fanatical violence that add to their plight what I can Asser with cty is that the lands of Israel the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are soaked in innocent blood on both sides of the conflict and hate especially when fueled by inent formation baseless accusations and distortion of historical facts stands as the primary source of this tragic Bloodshed unfortunately since October 7th maps of freom school in its members have been doing exactly that this group while claiming to be well educated on the complex history of the midle East has engaged in demonizing Israel and citizens they legitimizing Israel's right to exist I have shared the content propagated by this organization and its members since October 7th with our esteamed board board members superintendent Town officials and local community leaders but I found deeply disturbing is that amidst the post published on the same day Hamas invaded Israel there seems to be a glorification of this act being made by this organ terrorist organization all while Israeli women were being raped and then executed children kidnapped and families burned alive despite the positive contribution maps of fillers who may have made in the past it is evident that the recent actions are not aligned with the value be hold here in this community since October 7th Mis organization has predominantly been Shing hate hate that jeopardizes the well-being of our Jewish and Israeli students today I urge you to take a stand against this hate it is imperative that the board cut its TI with the maps of f school and remove it Le on the recent actions have threatened the the Harmony and sey of our community thank you thank you Michael Goldberg hi can you hear me we can hear you fantastic thank you um good evening uh Michael Goldberg South Orange New Jersey uh resident for 25 years I'm here tonight in support of resolution 4546 to drop the liaison to the mapso Freedom School as your Council advised when you established the liaison earlier this year quote you also want to be careful of whether or not there's any ties That might not be be within the same interests of this organization I would fully vet this before you attach the school district to it unquote as you noted previously president Whit leader um that was obviously a mistake and I greatly appreciate your apology on that uh based on social media posts and public comments by the leader of MFS is abundantly clear that the values of MFS do not align with those of this community and since the terrorist attacks on October 7th the offensive political rhetoric coming from MFS has increased dramatically it is clear you must sever all ties with this group imediately that starts tonight with dropping the liaison but we also must ensure they are not given access to school facilities or funding of any sort I'm a big believer in freedom of speech but that does not mean there's freedom from consequences of speech their divisive and offensive political rhetoric has consequences political groups especially ones that spew hate speech have absolutely no place in our school district and we should not have any extremist political groups providing professional development to our teachers or being involved with our students our students and teachers need to be educated by thoughtful rational and unbiased parties not a political group that urges teachers to quote teach about Palestine in every subject and at every grade level unquote yes those are their exact words I'm a proud and active supporter of Israel but certainly would never expect it to be taught at every subject and grade level history and geopolitical and geopolitics are complex and our students deserve a thoughtful age appropriate curriculum of Education not indoctrination I urge you and SAA to sever all ties with this political group IM medely thank you for your time and for your service to the community thank you Alana stelmach hi hi we can hear you my name is Lana stalmach and I'm a speech language specialist who's been working in this district for 15 years I'm the mother of two teenage children and I'm a refugee who fled from the S for S Soviet Union with one suitcase and no language due to religious persecution and anti-Semitism our lives were threatened because we were Jewish never in my wildest dreams did I think that after fleeing to America believing we were safe to be Jews that I'd be here today risking what honestly feels like so much to say what must be said it shouldn't feel this way over the years I've had the honor to have interacted with many esteemed colleagues and have passionately worked with no less than a thousand families all of whom have impacted my heart deeply by giving me their utmost trust to help their children use their words as we say words have tremendous impact on everyone's lives and this continues throughout our lifespan words can help children and now us as adults feel love loved comforted supported respected safe and encouraged or hurt worried fearful ignored alone hated targeted delegitimized petrified horrified dismayed and hopeless using my words today I speak on behalf of many here and those who could not be because of parent teacher conferences to firmly Express to the me members of the board that the words we are hearing from the MSO Freedom School some of which have been deleted make us feel the following there are far too many close ties within our district with organizations that find comfort in the suffering torture murder rape mutilation and sheer intent on the destruction of the Jewish people we feel this and we know this all across our country all across our country we are seeing insightful vitals having horrific and shocking impact thank you for listening we implore you to break these ties thank thank you Elana yal brokan I hi can you hear me we can hear you you can hear me now we can okay thank you okay thank you my name is yal Brockman I'm a resident of South Orange over the past six weeks the mapso Freedom School has shared anti-israel and anti Semitic language tonight I'm here to urge the Board of Education to take a stand against disinformation hate bigotry and sever any ties with the organization I went to brandise University and graduated with a degree in Islamic and Middle Eastern studies so I spent four years studying Hebrew and Arabic the Jewish Bible and the Quran Middle Eastern history and the psychology of terrorism the maps or Freedom schools Mission says we intend to Foster critical dialogue that leads to action yet none of their posts encourage dialogue an organization which shares and address with our public schools has consistently pared the Kamas narrative and is no place working with students teachers or administrators the maps or freedoms goals repeatedly spread anti-israel and pramas propaganda on their social media posts about Israel sharing an apartheid state and zionists are settlers and colonizers it ignored that Israel has 11 Arab members of parliament Arab Supreme Court judges doctors and lawyers or that Jews have had a continuous presence in Israel for thousands of years present ing only the Kamas narrative is racist against Israelis and the entire local Jewish Community the school is also called for the dismantling of the Jewish state but not the dis not one post against represen nothing against theas terrorist to breaking their bones in the process shooting them mutilating them and taking their body parts as souvenirs this ter by the M or fre on their Adit military resistance and I ask how a group like this education teachers union and district there are hundreds of organizations which can provide the important anti-racist education for our children without the vitriol against Israelis and Jews and therefore urge the Board of Education to take a stand against hate and bigotry and sever all ties with this organization thank you thank you Le Leia card can you hear me yes we can he you good evening my name is Leia cord and I'm a proud resident of South Orange my family chose Som for its beauty community and diversity however I stand before you tonight with both fear and sadness in my heart in addition to being a daughter wife and mother I'm also an American Jew and I don't feel safe in our community anymore this is in part because of people in organizations like mapso Freedom School the Boe has established mapso as a legitimized organization that our teachers and subsequently students should trust an organization that positions itself as one that provides anti-racist in Equitable curriculum yet at its core it's emphatically anti-semitic in its social post mapso refers to Israelis as quote Colonial settlers and their actions as quote genocide and occupation it even tries to excuse the loss of Israeli lives on the quote ongoing occupation I'm not going to stand here and tell you that this war between Israel and Hamas isn't devastating but that is not what mapso is teaching mso's content in curriculum is staggeringly biased there is no mention of Hamas of the hostages or the brutal October 7th terrorist attack that killed over 1200 innocent civilians and broke the existing ceasefire instead mapso curriculum refers to the genocide of Palestinians ethnic cleansing and how Israel should not exist if you have the responsibility of developing curriculum that teaches our children crucial history you have to tell the whole story you cannot pick and choose similar to 911 in the Holocaust there will never be a story that justifies hamas's actions on October 7th rape murder torture and kidnapping can never be excused I ask that you sever ties with maps so immediately there are numerous other organizations including learning for justice and unpacked for educators who can be trusted to provide an unbiased holistic education to our children do you really believe that mapso freedom school is capable of adjusting both its curriculum and its organization as a whole to reflect narratives that are act that are factual and unbiased and are you in a position to put the checks and balances to ensure this I hope you will do the right thing so that every group is properly represented in our community including mine thank you Henry [Music] satone hello hi Henry satone for South from South Orange on behalf of the S anti-Semitism monitor SSD schools are not working to promote create and sustain positive School cultures and climates like the student handbook says they are supposed to because they've been conned by a group operated by an elied set of faculty and politically powerful Community groups mapso Freedom School a school within a school that supports teacher professional development and I hear heard you Mr Gilbert but they are providing the PD to the teachers that are giving the PD um pay students stiens to attend its after school programs and receives significant material support from the district we see their posts on social media what are they doing these things are racist violations of title six on the basis of race and national origin that's two bases that we have here some of this stuff one of it is promoting adoption of a new curriculum now that calls for the quote dismantling of the state of Israel and talks about you know engaging in violence to do that what state in world history has ever been dismantled without a genocide of its citizens is it even permissible under title six to teach something like that or to propose it as curriculum and right after October 7th and I already spoke last time about this they brought a BL Army member and convicted police killer who murdered two police officers in Harlem to the Saturday school to talk to the kids about hamas's resistance and promoted him as a former political prisoner you've got to be kidding me guys but you know who the bla was some of us are old enough to know who it was that that was a Marxist leninist group funded by the Soviet Union back in the 70s these people were put in prison for a reason it was never there to secure anybody's equity and then lastly they just attended a rally where they LED genocidal chance against Israeli Nationals many of whom live in our community this is evil it's not a political thing this is complete evil this activity is all coded calls for supporting violent extremists we have seen what has happened on other college and high school campuses where students radicalized by racist groups have committed acts of actual violence you cannot teach children violence is okay and expect them to not engage in it you are their role models all of this is promoted by faculty protected by tenure they never do anything that could get them charged they sit back marinating the kids to do it for them thank you Henry thank you Kim barod can you hear me yes okay great um my name is Kim Garo I'm a resident of South Orange New Jersey and I'm speaking here tonight to request that the school district Cuts ties with the mapso Freedom School this group continues to perpetuate anti-Semitism in our community and should not be allowed to use the district's resources on to do so sometimes this group's anti-Semitism is blatant with social media posts that include tropes like from The River To The Sea however many times it hides behind the Jewish identity of some of our Educators and organization such as Jewish voice for peace to espouse its hate while subverting accusations of anti-Semitism so much's Jewish Community is not fooled and you should not be either according to a study from the Ala initiative which was later cooperated by brandise University anti-Semitism is eight times more likely to occur on campuses with at least one active anti-an group that statistic is staggering and should be reason enough to cut ties however I know for many members of our community this comes down to an issue of free speech we are not trying to deny anyone their right to free speech when our schools leaders affirm the importance of Free Speech but also firmly and clearly warn that free speech that Treads into hate speech is unacceptable you make it clear that our schools are safe and welcoming for everyone however when you don't you become complicit in allowing this heat to grow thank you thank you Mor javani that Community member is not present okay thank you Lauren Levy can you hear me yes we can hear you hi hi my name is Lauren Levy South AR resident and parent to two half Israeli Jewish students in the district since October 7th Massacre occurred my Israeli family has endured massive chaos the Rockets started they had to run a shelter more than 10 times a day and four were called in to fight a war that a Palestinian terrorist group called Hamas by proxy of Iran caused just two weeks ago my nephew was injured in an explosion in Gaza thankfully he is alive but with injuries however Our Lives will never be the same as you can see my family is deeply invested and affected by what is happening a few days into the War I started to hear about a social justice School based out of Som called the mapso freedom school I'll admit I wasn't familiar with this organization so I did a lot of extensive research what I found was absolutely horrifying this mapso Freedom School which originated from marginalized people in our community with spewing one-sided biased hate towards Israel since October 16th there have been over 24 social media posts of hate indoctrination false information of history and Dynamics about Israel while not once condemning the actions of Hamas I was Shell Shocked words used like ethnic cleansing genocide apartheid have been used about Israel multiple times this is a classic anti-em anti-Semitism as divined by defined by the US Department of State how can an anti-racist groups view hate towards the Jewish Community for the horrible atrocities in the Middle East they teach one-sided bait haste to indoctrinate the teachers and children in this District this is not about censoring the teaching of Palestinian history but clearly the teaching of biased information about his Israel a ceasefire rally was held in South Orange a mapso Freedom School representative slchs teacher screams free Palestine and states he rejects charges of being called anti-semitic then another individual scream from The River To The Sea Palestine will be free these phrases call for the destruction and genocide of the only democracy in the Middle East the only country where Drew Jews Arabs Christians Drews and bedan people live statements that are made in this fashion are directly related to anti-Semitism islamophobia christophobia because they are mutually exclusive with the population of Israel please thank you um Jennifer cron hi there can can you hear me yes we can thank you I'm Jennifer cron a South Orange resident for over 25 years A lot can be said about the maps of Freedom School and you'll hear nearly all of it tonight so I just want to point out two things first is that this organization teaches our children that oppression is worse than the grave why would our school district endorse an organization that promotes an extremist suicidal mindset through adolescence second is that in aligning itself in support of hamas's illegitimate war against Israel the mapso Freedom School has appointed itself judge and jury of all of us who do not accept that a declaration of Oppression gives anyone license to Gun Down peace activists tie innocent families together with bailing wire and burn them alive and shoot teenage girls in the head while gang raping them this we are assured by mapso Freedom School is not evidence of anti-semitism ISM it is simply resistance I have to wonder is there no limit to the arrogance of radical activists who think they will inform Jews of what anti-Semitism is not is there no end to their telling our children that they alone know who the oppressed are and who the oppressors are mfss leaders have a lot of ignorant opinions expressed with the passionate self-confidence of zealots but the Jews of South Orange and Maplewood are not on trial and we know the tune of every one of their dog whistles MFS is promulgating hatred of my people through its activities conducted on School District property with School's district resources through its staff development indoctrinations and in its pronouncements on social media the school is entitled to its freedom of speech but it is not entitled to create a hostile work or education environment for Jewish or Israeli students or staff it is plainly in violation of title six of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mapso Freedom School us has no place in our schools nor any legitimate role in educating our community's children thank you very much for your time thank you Alana Bryant H we can hear you okay hi there I'm Lana bran I'm a mom from Maplewood with two sons who went through the K12 so um SOS D school district one of the reasons I chose this District was its Multicultural inclusivity a great example of this was my older son's Bar Mitzvah where he stood with his Fest buddies from Maplewood Middle School a Roman Catholic a Muslim immigrant and a Buddhist and together they read excerpts from Martin Luther King and malalo YF but I am here today because this Vision in Maplewood is under threat and South Orange and to hold the district to its commitment for freedom from bias bigotry hatred and violence that also applies to Jewish students for this reason I believe Maplewood uh mapso Freedom School has every right to exist as a political activist organization and it has a right to freedom of speech but it does not have a right to use Som schools as a base or mailing address or to train my son's history teacher at Columbia High School this is not about the issue of teaching the history of Palestine and Israel by qualified teachers this organization has a biased agenda that discriminates against a relig I and ethnic minority in our school district the language is biased it is discriminatory inflam inflammatory and targets a a minority group uh the defamatory language is designed to Deli legitimize uh an ethnic group in our community the Jewish Community using language such as genocide racist and aparte there is no pretest pretense of objectivity at MFS Mel Catz one of the organizers proudly says on Twitter teaching is political neutrality isn't an option another organizer Miss Ary price says we can't get up caught up in the use of racist tropes like terrorists quote unquote she puts terrorists in quotes to justify Israel's white supremacist apartheid state in her own words hamas's murder torture and kidnapping of thousands of people including babies and the elderly were not terrorist attacks and to acknowledge this just makes you racist we cannot have people who support genocide and discriminatory language teaching the diverse children in our schools you are a board of education that supported the cancellation of Halloween activities out of inclusivity thank you Alana thank you very much Heidi Goldberg can you hear me we can hear you yes I'm Heidi Goldberg a Jewish resident of South Orange and mother of two Jewish children one of whom attends Columbia High School I'm also a granddaughter of Holocaust Survivors Som was the place where quote hate had no home but lately that is not the case I have felt marginalized and gaslighted as do many other Jews in our community and around this country shortly after hamas's terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th I learned about the mapso Freedom School an organization committed to combating African-American racism an admirable cause that Jews have supported and have been an active part of ever since the Civil Rights Movement however over the past month and a half mapso Freedom School has focused their mission to posting about and teaching fabricated history militant propaganda against Israel their new mission is to indoctrinate our children from prek through 12th grade with her distorted and hateful misinformation some contentious words they use about Israel are ethnic cleansing genocide oppression colonization racist and apartheid state which are lies Israel is the only Democratic nation in the Middle East 21% of the population of Israel are Israeli Arabs Muslims Christians Jews and others are all equal citizens map Freedom School are not experts in the history of this region nor do they portray a nuanced and balanced explanation of History MFS calls for Palestine to be liberated from the river to the Sea that is a dog whistle to commit genocide against Jews and wipe Israel off the map MFS is blatantly anti-semitic because when you call for the death and destruction of Israel you are anti-semitic members cannot pretend to hold a peaceful vigil when their rhetoric is violence hate and defamation this group has no place in our Som schools any longer hate speech is not free spech and has consequences ignorance is willful ignorance at this point I'm demanding that the Boe fully and completely seever ties with napso Freedom school and that s SOA immediately stopped funding them and that the district discontinues them for educational and professional development from today onward it is the Bo's obligation to ensure the safety and security of all of our children while at school including our Jewish students students to think crit thank you very much Noah dagin hi can you hear me yes we can awesome and hopefully I'll start video hi my name is Noah I'm a resident of South Orange um I have two children in the district one in kindergarten one in preschool I'm originally from Israel my entire family is from Israel and saw many of our loved on and friends I grew up in Israel and unfortunately I've grown up through many wars through terrorist attacks and my family has been P personally impacted by a terrorist attack my family is originally from Morocco from Turkey from Poland and Russia I grew up knowing that some my extended family then survived a holocaust or a journey to Israel my family grew up in Arab countries and were kicked out of them living in s and deciding to live here we expected our school district to be an inclusive and safe space for our children having a connection to any kind of group that only presented one extreme and radical side of a very complex situation and introducing hate speech is in direct contradiction of being an inclusive community let alone supporting this type of group financially and allowing them to provide development for the teachers I've been truly appalled that this is the case in South origin Maplewood s the since the tragic day of October 7th where fellow Israelis were murdered were brutalized were raped were kidnapped people that look like me that can be me that could be my children that are the same age of my children that have the same names as Us Maplewood Freedom School has introduced H spe and has called for dismantling of Israel where my entire family lives I can't tell you how disappointed shocked and amazed this has made us I expect you to drop all ties with this organization on a personal level I'm deeply embarrassed that there are people who are part of my community and support this organization they might identify as Jewish and use that but we do not share the same beliefs thank you thank you very much Dana luchano hear me yes okay yes we can yes sry as an educator and as the parent of a Jewish col I high school student I'm alarmed at the calls for the district completely sever ties with the mapso Freedom School an organization that has done amazing and necessary work with our students and teachers on the basis of the false equation of social media post critical of Israel with anti-Semitism and hate is being claimed that Jewish students in our district will feel unsafe if they hear mapso Freedom schools and others calling for justice in Palestine or criticizing Israel even very strongly it is absolutely unacceptable if any Jewish student including my own Jewish child experiences anti-em ISM at school and we need to engage in active education against that but we need to be wary of the false representation of legitimate criticism of actions taken by the state of Israel as anti-Semitism we cannot seriously combat the latter if we are constantly conflating it with the former and while respecting that some students do feel deep cultural attachment to Israel we also need to acknowledge that there are criticisms of the state of Israel and of the Zionist project that do not come from a place of anti-Semitism or hostility to Jews I would also ask why no one seems to be questioning how our Palestinian Arab and Muslim Students feel when the question of justice for Palestine is deemed unmentionable why are we not asking whether they feel safe when they are forced to live week after week with the news of the terrible death Co in Gaza which almost nobody has mentioned so far or when they hear about violent islamophobic attacks like the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont last weekend and I would point out that mapo freedom school was started precisely because our black and brown students not only felt unsafe but were unsafe and continue to be unsafe in the classroom and elsewhere in our community due to racial profiling and harassment by the police disproportionate overly harsh discipline rates in our schools racially biased tracking the list goes on we need to be thinking here uh tonight about the safety of all of our students this will never be accomplished by creating an atmosphere of silencing and fear thank you Donna Abu good evening I'm here today to speak on behalf of mapso Freedom School tonight I wish to address a crucial matter regarding the resources we utilize in our educational curriculums specifically I would like to pose the question to the board will we be considering the Banning of all materials that critically examines human rights violations committed by the Israeli government among the organizations whose material you may need to re-evaluate based on their criticism of the Israeli government's actions towards Palestinian towards Palestinians are the UN Human Rights Watch Amnesty International the world health organizations Doctors Without Borders and the UN Refugee agency additionally there are many educational resources like the Zin project rethinking schools learning for justice new Zella crash course CNN and MSNBC that we use daily which criticize Israel's treatment of the Palestinians furthermore will we be banning teachers from mentioning or quoting figures such as Desmond Tutu Nelson Mandela Pope Francis Greta thunberg and Malala the question also extends to the display of black lives matter Signs by students and teachers will we continue to allow such expression of support being that these group that this group has advocated for Palestinian human rights and will we retain the ability to educate our students about influential figures like Angela Davis Malcolm X Tama mallerie Alice Walker assada Shakur the Black Panthers stokeley carmichel STI Snick Betina love Muhammad Muhammad Ali because they have all voiced their solidarity with Palestinian Humanity moreover do we plan to remove books like ibraim mendi ex as had to be an anti-racist or the work of tanasi coats from our libraries if the answer is yes how do we reconcile the decision with Dr Ferguson's recommendations to teach black history comprehensively will we only be allowed to teach black history if it doesn't humanize or stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people the sad thing is as we Rec recognize that there is a death toll on both sides the the amount of children who have died in Gaza alone surmounts the amount of children we have in our entire District please remember there is no more school in Gaza it is very tragic to see Jewish children dying it is very tragic to Jara soltero can you hear me yes yes perfect thank you my name is jar stto I'm a resident of Maplewood for about eight nine years now I'm here today to ask the board to formally remove ties with the mapso Freedom School this includes removing the existing liaison stopping our school district from using the mapo Freedom School for any educational or professional development purposes and seizing all donations to the mapso Freedom School anti-racism training is extremely important and it's imperative that our school district partners with an anti-racist organization that represents and respects all Races truly understands intersectionality and who advocates for peace with mapso freedom school's sharing of anti-Semitic tropes hateful language and simplified and inaccurate history lessons it's clear that the mapso Freedom School is more interested in pushing their political agenda than creating dialogue and safe spaces which are Paramount to building inclusive schools and communities since the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7th the mapso Freedom School has continuously shared on their social media accounts one-sided harmful content that justifies the horrible violence on October 7th at a local vigil last week members of the mapso Freedom School LED from The River To The Sea rallying calls which is an anti-semitic and dangerous slogan that threatens the safety of our Jewish Community to date the mapso freedom school has not condemned Hamas or their deadly and violent terrorist attack nor have they addressed the historic rise of anti-Semitism this hateful rhetoric has no place in Soma or in our classrooms and I urge the board to seever ties with the mapso Freedom School immediately thank you thank you Amy patronite hi can you hear me yeah great good evening Amy pite South Orange I've lived and work in I've lived and worked in Som for over 20 years I'm speaking this evening to ask the board to remove the liaison for the MSO Freedom School mapso Freedom School has shown themselves to be a political propaganda organization which spreads anti-semitic hate and has created a dangerous environment for students in our Public Schools they purport to be an educational organization but since October 7th it's clear from their public post and behavior is that their driving force is anti-Semitism and anti-israel propaganda there is no ambiguity about their anti-jew hatred no organization should have the sanction in support of our School Board District policy 5512 States the Boe prohibits acts of harassment intimidation or bullying of a student I'm fairly certain the board never imagined having to protect Jewish students from being bullied by their teachers I highly doubt their abrupt pivot to blatant anti-Semitism has been reviewed and approved by the office of curriculum and instruction or the office of access and Equity mapso freedom school is actively creating a situation where our children do not feel safe I can't explain in two minutes why their continued misuse of words and phrases are anti-semitic but I hope none of you still believe that from the river to the sea is an aspirational chant for anything other than the annihilation of Jews just today hamas's leader publicly stated that October 7th was quote just a rehearsal and a preview of what it hopes to unleash on Jews I commend Dr telesford and Mr vadlamani whose gut instincts were correct in February Mr vaman said we don't know enough about mapso Freedom School or their educational or professional credibility even the board lawyer recommended to fully vet them before attaching our school district's name to it for the board members who voted in favor knowing what you know now would you ever have supported this in the first place it takes a lot of courage to admit you made a mistake and I applaud the board for attempting to write a wrong the Board of Education cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that an organization purportedly dedicated to anti-racism is instead actively overtly and explicitly engaging in racist and anti-semitic activities our schools should be sanctuaries of inclusivity that actively avoid and denounce association with organizations that promote hate and discrimination there is no place in our public schools for hate and advocacy of violence thank you thank you Gabriella Guzman Gabby can you hear me yes we can okay um I just wanted to address some of the accusations that have been made about uh mapso Freedom School um so in terms of like using phrases such as genocide ethnic cleansing and um an aparti like these are statements that have been made right by legal Scholars right by um human rights organizations so such as Amnesty International Human Rights Watch um B salum which was an Israeli newspaper all of them have used the term aparti to describe uh the state of Israel's policies towards Palestinians uh both in the West Bank um and in is in Israel self um I just want to I just want to say that you cannot accuse um someone saying AP paride right as anti-semitic um all right I also want to say I want to talk about the accusation uh using the word genocide to describe the current um uh atroc atrocities that are being committed in Gaza right so Mar bav who's an Israeli professor and he's also the world uh is the world leading uh genocide expert uh one of them has also uh said that what Israel is doing has genocidal intent uh more than a hundred Scholars and organizations signed a letter urging the international um Criminal Court to take action given the Israeli intention to commit genocide visibly materializing on the ground and there are also human rights organizations that are currently suing um Biden and other officials for eating and abetting genocide right so this is this is a view thank you very much cassia Mel oh can you hear me yes okay public education has a full-on staffing crisis teachers are leaving the profession in droves and not being replaced when you ask teachers about this you often get an unexpected answer they don't say site our low pay or abysmally weak pension the worst in the nation in fact although these certainly play a role what teachers will tell you is that over the last decade there has been a complete assault on teacher autonomy teachers are increasingly given directives threatened with censorship and buried under a pile of never-ending paperwork I share all of this to add another perspective to the current problem of Palestine censorship in our schools it will make our staffing crisis worse we are chipping away at the very last vestages of teacher creativity and autonomy that is left we must allow Palestine to exist within our schools and we must expose all of our children to histories of Oppression and resistance if thinking critically about the ideology of Zionism threatens our students then we only have ourselves to blame for continuously selling a lie that Zionism is Judaism and vice versa keep in mind that Zionism originally represented a very marginalized group a minoritarian movement that was not all that popular until World War II when its particular world view and the need of empire for an outpost in the Middle East collided young people are increasingly rejecting the conflation of the state of Israel and Judaism I have been so inspired and Blown Away by so many Jewish comrades In This Moment not only standing up against genocide but rejecting Zionism and white supremacy there is no reason that Palestine should be a threat to any student just like black history or lgbtq history should not be a threat to white or Strait sis students the train is coming and it is a free Palestine train young people are standing on the side of Justice against oppression against apartheid and against genocide parents get on the train and support mapso freedom school's inclusive curriculum thank you Jen Sturm hi can you hear me yes um hi my name is Jen Sturm and I'm a Jewish resident of Maplewood and a parent of a Jewish Columbia High School student it is so troubling that the Board of Ed is taking on a call to sever ties with the mapso Freedom School this is reckless and irresponsible and doing so would open up a hellscape from which we can Envision will come forth endless attempts to suppress freedoms of speech and Assembly not to mention all the lawsuits sure to follow to my fellow Jewish people in s please don't be fooled for a second that anyone who supports this kind of action won't turn it against you when the time is right precedents like this only serve to hurt us in the end suddenly a teacher can't post about her Shabbat dinner on social media an educator with an iand for Israel sign in her yard risks losing her job not because any of the people fighting for social justice in Palestine are coming for you we are not but because we have actual common enemies the ones who are trying across the country not to mention towns nearby to ban books such as art spiegelman's Mouse a survivor's tale of the Holocaust they applaud your efforts today as you make their work that much easier speaking of art spelen who I think if if we could all agree on one thing it might be that he's certainly not anti-semitic he had this to say just a few years ago and I quote there is definitely a shift in the American Jewish Community with many more of us speaking openly about our opposition to and disgust with the Israel Israeli occupation the recent horrific shelling of Gaza has broken through the reluctance many people have to openly criticize Israel hamas's awful grip on Gaza does not justify the killing of so many Innocents as the Maplewood South Orange Community we support the rights of all teachers students and community members Palestinian students and staff to teach and speak out in favor of ending the occupation and a free Palestine and we reject all attempts to silence and intimidate all members of the Maplewood South Orange Community through ploes like this thank you theah ziden hello good evening even as an educator in New Jersey public schools for over 11 years so far and as an advocate for students and teachers I want to address the Maplewood South Orange school district for their contribution to the Eraser of identities that are forced into marginalization this can include people who are black brown lgbtq Muslim Jewish immigrants refugees women and many others the district signed off on a resolution in the spring of 2023 the teach truth policy it's critical that the words and actions align when we have a responsibility to our children and young people after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 we saw a rise in initiatives in public education related to racial equity and inclusion in order for this work to not be performative we must reflect teaching the truth and this includes not penalizing ing teachers who were inclusive in recognizing the struggle of the people the group of the mapso Freedom School um Educators has served the community for years um through the black lives matter at school their Saturday school program the model Gary project and most recently the students for justice they have sent um they have served students and Community through their practice and contribute to creating a platform for students to use their voice and most often they have provided a space for students who are typically silenced in public education in this heightened genocidal Massacre against the Palestinian people and I say heightened because this has been ongoing for 75 years Amnesty International along with all major human rights groups um globally have labeled the imposed Massacre on Palestinians as a genocide particularly because of the 20,000 murders in the last eight weeks in Gaza and the West Bank all lives are of value because they exist um it is imperative that we recognize the harsh reality as all accredited human rights organizations in the world have the group of mapso Educators very much Amanda Burns elhi hi um um hi my name is Amanda Burns elus hi can you hear me we can hear you okay hi my name is Amanda Burns El hni I live in South Orange I'm here today in show of support for a teacher at Psalms who I feel has been mischaracterized on a local Facebook group first I would just like to say I really admonish this behavior on social media I always feel it's imbalanced and one-sided to pose an accusatory question or make a blanket statement about a teacher instead of going through the appropriate channels such as talking with the teacher going to the school administration or principal and finally writing the Boe or superintendent writing a post that brings about such vitriol with negative comments asking for the teacher's name and DM and calls for resignation for me are wildly inappropriate we've seen the same thing happen to another teacher in this school district and no matter what the outcome is it was still judge and jury by social media which is completely unfair I know this teacher I worked with her on advocating for eight holid holidays off within our school district as it was very personal personally important to me my family and the Muslim Community she worked with a group of kids at Psalms um where a petition for Muslim holidays was started by a student who was doing this for his bar mitzvah what a beautiful thing to have such understanding and empathy from another community um as he felt was under representative underrepresented in the acknowledging of important holidays I'm indebted to this whole group for their work and as I and my good friend so Sarah schal have been working on this for a couple of years things that were said about this teacher are not true or completely misconstrued a rather egregious example was that she kept a supposed tip jar on her desk ask but this is actually her own money in a jar for the kids to use if they might fall short with funds to buy a drink or a snack Etc not even close to a tip jar let's not be judge and jury on social media with teachers anymore because we don't know their side of the situation Harry Gordon hi can you hear me yes we can hi hi I speak as a former PTA president of the Tuscan school and a parent to children in the district the South Orange Maplewood school district has been working for years to make our classroom more Equitable and that work is ongoing I ask you to please continue to collaborate with unapologetically anti-racist organizations like mapso Freedom School to ensure that work is successful I understand that mapso freedom school has come under Fire for uplifting Palestine and giving vital historical context to the situation which includes colonialism imperialism and 75 years of occupation it's exactly what an anti-racist organization should be doing right now it shouldn't be controversial to condemn apartheid and genocide but here we are yes genocide it is in hyperbole the Israeli government has brazenly declared the intention to commit war crimes and over 800 genocide Scholars have written an open letter calling it a textbook case of genocide numerous human rights ORS like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International call the system of Oppression and domination against Palestinians apartheid condition positions which Nelson Mandela said were worse than what he experienced in apartheid South Africa Israel also receives billions of military aid every year from the United States so all US citizens have a vested interest this is our tax money that could instead go to better funding our education or health care current events in Palestine are absolutely devastating the teachers in our school district lack the tools and support to speak about it or facilitate discussions for their students that's why having a partnership with mapso freedom school is so necessary the rhetoric at every level of the US government from the president down to Township committees is fomenting islamophobia and endangers not only Palestinian and Muslim Students but anyone who might be mistaken for being Arab all of which makes it more important than ever to have a group like mapso Freedom School which helps make students feel seen heard and supported Mao Freedom School also ensures our classrooms are spaces where all students feel a sense of belonging by providing vital anti-racist training to teachers the Anti-Defamation League ADL is often brought into school to teach about anti-Semitism their statistics are often cited unfortunately the AGL is not an anti-racist organization because they are Zionist very much David Lewin yes we can thank you good evening my name is David Lewin and I've been a South Orange resident since 2017 and I'm here tonight to say that I enthusiastically support the mapso Freedom School and the vital work it has been doing since it's founding the Freedom School is committed to Progressive anti-racist pedagogy and is a model of social justice education shamefully the Freedom School has come under attack from enablers of the apartheid Israeli state in our community for supporting Palestinian Freedom as an anti-zionist Jew who had family murdered in the Holocaust and in pums and zarus Russia and who had family sacrificed their lives during the second world war fighting the Nazi war machine I greatly admire the Freedom School for its courageous solidarity with Palestinians as for local deniers of Israeli genocide who have absurdly slandered the Freedom School and other Palestine supporters as anti-semitic I can only say that there is nothing anti-jewish whatsoever about supporting Palestinian liberation from 75 years of systemic Israeli racism settler or Colonial dispossession and state sponsored Terror or calling for a free Palestine from the river to the sea with equal rights for all regardless of their religious or ethnic identity I implore the mapso Board of Education to defend the mapso Freedom School and others in our school from This Racist mccarthyite smear Campaign which Mirrors by the way right-wing attacks around the country on critical race theories and adjacent disciplines and to honor and support the work of the Freedom School in whatever ways it can and to the Freedom School Educators and students thank you again for showing our community what solidarity with the oppressed and Truth teaching look like and for showing us what it means to say that we will not be silent and we will not be silenced thank you thank you NOA sadani am I being heard yes hi my name is NOA and I am a West Orange uh West Orange resident um I'm here to express my support and admiration for the work of mapso Freedom School when my voice was unheard mapso Freedom School provided me with the support and community in light of the rise of islamophobia and suppression of Palestinian voices I cannot stress how great ful I am to have that support I respect their integrity teacher engagement and dedication to Preparing young people to be informed and active citizens the mapso Freedom School showed up in solidarity with West Orange student walk out who are feeling isolated threatened and silenced give them giving them their rights of freedom of speech I support mapso Freedom School in addition to all teachers and students in their current efforts to examine the crisis in the Middle East through the lens of History it is sad in these times that people are attacked for advocating for peace we must help children find a solution to conflicts to conflicts other than War as Howard Zin said as soon as you suggest that it is important to consider something other than violent retaliation you are accused of sympathizing with the terrorists it's a cheap way of ending discussion without examining intelligent alternatives to present policy so I am not surprised to hear that community members want to sever ties with mapso freedom school but for those of us who believe that what James Baldwin said was true the children are always ours every single one of them all over the globe and I'm starting to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality maps of Freedom school is on the right side of History speaking up for the oppressed thank you thank you Tova fry hello can you hear me yes we can okay I am a resident of West Orange but I'm a Jewish person who really doesn't like the whole idea of stating that the jewi Jewish Community speaks as one voice because we don't we have different voices just like every other community does and my voice says not in my name do not commit genocide in my name the genocide that's going on in Gaza is a historic genocide that is just outrageous and so violent um that over 7,000 children now have been killed um by the US Israeli War Machine and and I say not in my name and I applaud mapso freed Freedom School for speaking up on the side of Justice um I was born in occupied Palestine uh because the US government wouldn't allow my parents after World War II uh into this into this country because a quote is against Eastern European Jews after all my grandparents and a number of my aunts and uncles were killed during the Holocaust so instead my family wound up in um what had just become the state of Israel where an Israeli soldier or soldiers stole a Palestinian family's home and gave it to my parents and that's where I was born so speaking through the lens of History like mapso Freedom School wants to do and is trying to do when you look at it on that microcosmic level that's just an example of why we're all or a number of us here are saying uh 75 years history didn't start on October 7th there's been 75 years of ethnic cleansing apartheid and we we need it to stop and we need maps of Freedom School to be able to speak up for uh the student L you're muted oh sorry I didn't sorry about that um natania Kremer hello my name is natana I live in West Orange as a longtime social worker and anti-racist educ Ator for justice and Community Action as well as a non-zionist Jewish parent I'm adding my voice tonight in support of mapso Freedom School a phenomenal group of justice-minded diverse Educators parents students and community members who stand for peace and humanity and who consistently demonstrate their commitment to standing for all students I have profound admiration and gratitude for the dedication that mapso freedom school has shown to supporty their voices for Meaningful change as one recent example when West Orange high school student organizers organized a peaceful protest in solidarity with Palestinians and were feeling isolated threatened and silenced mapso Freedom School turned out to show support and ensure that our students knew they were not alone the Educators who comprise mapso Freedom School are courageous principled generous deeply committed and serve as a model for how to put love for students into action since moving to New Jersey I have witnessed experienced and benefited from the multitude of ways that mapso Freedom School centers Collective Liberation as a core value as they partner with and support young people I share their inspiring and impactful efforts and the resources they distribute with other local parents and Educators including book discussions black lives matter at school programming professional development resources to confront institutional racism I attended the most recent teach truth day of action with my daughter and have been so moved and inspired by their work that I look forward to the day that she is old enough to attend the Saturday Freedom School it is absolutely critical that much-needed anti-racist professional development continues to be offered and that mapso Freedom School continues to support student groups in their Saturday Freedom School through black lives matter at school the model gar student convention and so much more please do not eliminate the liaison between the board and mapso freedom school thank you thank you Susan L and Susan if you could State your full name when you come on that would be great all right we can hear you okay there we go now we can't you can't hear me now we can okay um so mapso Freedom School came to my attention and sorry Susan can you I'm so sorry to interrupt you but could you please state your name for the record please thank you so much sure Susan lugashi so mapso Freedom School um is an extremist group whose posts are full of hateful rhetoric and false information and will mislead students and create more division more hate and more anti-Semitism that will lead to violence this organization is anti-Semitic as they clearly don't believe that Israel and the Jewish Nation have a right to exist and have a land while we strive for peace groups like The sabotage the future of Israelis and Palestinians they're trying to dehumanize the Israelis and Jews and have people believe there's justification for the Hamas evil barbaric atrocities on October 7th their words of genocide colonialism and a paride are inaccurate and are not freedom of speech there hate speech that does not belong in our schools and has consequences their claims to erase our Jewish history and say that we colonized colonized Israel in land where Jews have lived for thousands of years is is just beyond I mean for centuries Jews have been oppressed and have fought for their survival and for the land of Israel not one post condemned hamas's barbaric Massacre rape kidnapping while we have empathy for the death of Palestinian people Hamas does not Israel was dragged into this war it did not want um one of the co-founders of the Freedom School had quoted and posted we can't get caught up in the use of a racist tropes like terrorists and justify Israel's white supremacist aparte State first Hamas is a US designated foreign terrorist group and they won't recognize that which scared me because to us it means they supporting Terror and the genocide of the Jewish people because that is in the Hamas Charter she's calling Israel white supremacist which is completely wrong hateful and offensive to the Jews of color I am a North African Middle Eastern Jew my family from Morocco and Lebanon which were persecuted for years for being Jewish and they had to flee for their safety they are black Jews they are brown Jews they are Asian Jews we are not white supremacists and that is false claims it's also offensive to the Arab Israelis Jews beduins and bahis and Christians that live Susan I hope you cut ties with them thank you Susan Jennifer nalon I do not see that Community member online okay thank you Noah Marcus yes hello hi Noah hi Noah Marcus from South Orange I'm here tonight to ask the uh Boe to sever all ties with mapo Freedom School including any liaison on two points they've clearly shown themselves to be an active political entity something that's clearly against your rules and uh on the second Point our town has a very clear slogan hate has no place in Soma however we have allowed an organization that regularly posts um hateful rhetoric towards Jews and Israelis to educate our teachers and students must immediately correct this wrong and really do better in vetting organizations in what they are providing there's a big difference between being compassionate to the Palestinians in their strife and continuing anti-israel anti semetic rhetoric tropes including Israel is a genocide which is really hard to understand considering the two you know million plus Arabs that are freely living in Israel currently and quoting from The River To The Sea and just to you know make it really clear the river is the Jordan River and then there's the sea there's nothing in between right if it's from the river into the sea there is no Israel well I do think there should be open dialogue and education on these subjects these must be based in fact and not in one one-sided madeup rhetoric thank you thank you Brian Ford uh hello can you hear me yes we can uh thanks uh my name is Brian Ford I'm a high school history teacher living in Montclair I'm a member of several organizations that have worked with mapso over the years I consider their Founders and members dear friends in a speech in 1968 Martin Luther King Jr said cowardice asks the question is it safe expediency ask the question is it politic vanity an ask the question is it popular but conscience asks the question is it right and there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right the notion that mapso freedom schools refreshing and Unapologetic solidarity with the Palestinian Liberation from Zionist occupation is somehow more political or more controversal than their other social justice work is false the difference is because of the weaponization of anti-Semitism using ridiculous definitions thereof it is not safe they are operating on conscience while those around them are operating on cowardice in my role the organizations that I'm in and as an individual I've been with so on many occasions from uh book groups to Black lives matter at school Statewide organizing to teach for black lives activities by the way the official position of BLM and BLM at school I'm a member of the ladder on the curriculum committee is a free Palestine from The River To The Sea to say that that is anti-Semitic is ridiculous I support mapso Freedom School and their members who do PD in their current efforts to examine the ongoing settler colonialism apartheid and genocide in Palestine through the lens of TR true history it's sad that people get persecuted for standing for justice but if you study history you know that those two things go hand inand Palestinian activist and writer Muhammad El kurd once noted much of what's happening in Palestine will be in future history books as an example of revolutionary struggle waiting until history books tell you what to celebrate is easy it's much harder to stand on the right side of history as it unfolds in real time I hope the Som district and Community can overcome their cowardice and join me map so thank you Sher langbert I do not see that Community member online okay thank you Olivia Chong can you hear me yes we can okay I'm currently a sophomore at Vanderbilt University studying public policy and social determinance of health and have been a South Orange resident for my entire life I'm speaking tonight to express my unwavering support and admiration for mapso Freedom School and their tireless work to uplift and educate the students and faculty of the district most importantly I support mapo Freedom School students and Educators in the district advocating to end to the violent occupation in Palestine in a district that Prides itself on inclusion diversity and a strong dedication to social justice there has always been a disappointing shortage of resources for our students and faculty of color mapso Freedom School not only provided me with the chance to learn about topics ranging from police brutality and abolitionism to toxic masculinity and dismantling the patriarchy but gifted me a safe space to talk about my experiences as a person of color in this district and in this world all things that I did not or learn in the classroom as a former member of mapo Freedom School I will continue to support this organization in their efforts to continue working with District students and faculty as they provide critical education and genuine inclusion that we especially lack in our schools to end District support for MSO Freedom School would be doing an irreparable disservice to this town its Educators and most importantly its children mapso Freedom school's Resolute dedication to educating and preparing young people to be informed and active citizens and core values of giving a voice to the voiceless and freedom to the impressed cannot be ignored or taken away to argue AED ation of free speech and equal protection in mapso but deem not just support but mere mentions of the over 75 years of Palestinian displacement unlawful imprisonment brutalization murder and suffering as hate speech and acts of anti-Semitism is Despicable it is organizations like mapso Freedom School that are giving the children and faculty of this District the proper support encouragement and education that our schools continuously fail to provide and it deserves the utmost support from the district and the town's people thank you Jacob Chaffin Jacob we can't really we can't hear you well uh can you hear me now is this yes we can thank you hi my name is Jacob chaff and I'm a Maplewood uh resident and a partner of a high school teacher in the district I'm here to show my support for the work of the mapso Freedom School and their courage to stand with Palestinian Liberation and the call for an immediate and permanent uh ceasefire as of today 15,000 Palestinian civilians have died 6,000 among them uh children uh and what we are witnessing is the attempts to silence and send Ure people who are willing to say that 6,000 children is too many dead in Gaza and that it needs to stop now what is happening is a genocide and people are denying that by cutting ties with the maps of Freedom School this board would effectively be adjoining genocide deniers uh and preventing teachers and students from speaking out against uh what is one of the worst atrocities of the 21st century um and again I just want to show my support for the mapso Freedom School and all teachers and students to speak the truth um what we're seeing is also uh going to be moving into more bullying intimidation and retaliation against those who are willing to speak out uh and call for a ceasefire and for Palestinian Liberation the school board I hope is courageous enough to stand with teachers and uh students who are um again uh supporting Palestinian Liberation freedom for Palestinians uh that is is being called anti-semitic but truly freedom for Palestinians is freedom for everyone thank you thank you Al fredman I do not see that Community member online okay thank you sail albas hello hi we can hear you seil okay great hi I'm SE abud mwood resident I find it deeply concerning that our school district is entertaining calls to sever ties with the mapso Freedom School I fear that these calls are resurrecting very dangerous McCarthy error repressions and persecutions of those whose teachings and opinions may be controversial censorship is a violation of our constitutional rights Prejudice and racism or violations of civil rights and bias is a denial of our students right to education it is our responsibility to provide all educational opportunities to all students in the district even if it may be unpopular and may evoke discomfort giving weight and strength to those who seek to censor defund or dismantle the mapso Freedom School is a contradiction to the progressive and inclusive community we claim to be there is an Awakening happening throughout the world regarding Gaza visual truths are being documented out of Gaza by the Gins themselves for the world to see it is thanks to social media that the narrative is Shifting through education awareness and learning is bringing Millions out in protests in support of Palestine held in major cities all around the world I find that many of the common stated tonight promot promote racism islamophobia and the denial of the recognition of Palestinian Humanity I've heard so much misinformation misinformation and bias as an Arab and Muslim I say with absolute conviction that our voice our narrative and our humanity is not represented in mainstream media in the news nor is it advocated for in our government's policies we experience islamophobia racism attacks and fear within and outside of our community the dominant narrative regarding Arabs Muslims and specifically Palestinians has been racist islamophobic and frankly ignorant I'll give two examples of why the education programs of the MFS is so important I'll throw out a word terrorist what did you immediately think of did you think of a white man with an assault rifle storming a school did you think of an army blowing 7,000 children to bits in their sleeping in Gaza or do you think of a Muslim I have I have a friend who has a PHD in chemical engineering who once asked me if the Christians in Egypt are allowed to speak Arabic we are drowning in a sea of bias and misinformation much thank you seil Joseph Gabriel hi can you hear me yes uh could you speak a little bit louder yeah can you hear me now oh yes that's better thank you excellent thank you hi I'm Joseph Gabriel a resident of South Orange and I'm speaking here to make two points in support of Freedom School number one at no power like the power of the people because the power of the people don't won't stop that that was the emping chant that I heard from Freedom School in spota park 10 days ago the phrase in question the one with River in it the one that I won't say I heard that phrase exactly once that night not from Freedom school but from a Jewish speaker not chanted repeatedly but rather said to call for Peace and Freedom and dignity I did however see that phrase as did many others scalled in red on a sign held by a pro-israel agitator again not Freedom school so my first point is that as the board considers action regarding Freedom School I urge you to please critically look at all the actual facts and not let mischaracterizations drive your decisions Point number two as a product of New Jersey's public school system I learned about the horrors of the Holocaust the establishment of the state of Israel and America's long allyship with with Israel I was enriched by that education and I grateful that those were unquestioned Staples of my high school curriculum three decades ago here in New Jersey I did not however learn about Gaza the West Bank or the struggle for Palestinian Liberation in that same history class we learned about Martin Luther King Jr but we did not learn about emit or Malcolm X or redlining those subjects were too uncomfortable for our unprepared teachers too unfamiliar for our parents who had themselves never learned that history and as I got older I came to realize how lopsided my education had been telling a neat narrative true enough in what it covered but incomplete in its truth and I would like that to be different for my two arab-american children that they are taught the full breadth of History supported by the Freedom School history which is often complicated messy confusing challenging or uncomfortable and that is exactly why we must teach it in order to avoid repeating it thank you thank you FIA Mo can you hear me yes we can hi this is FIA Mo I'm a resident of Maplewood parent of a um preschooler in the district I also wanted to just uh quickly chime in with my support for the uh mapo Freedom School uh echoing what others have said um this seems like a targeted attack based off really disinformation on social media um as the previous speaker said the phrase in question was never said by the speakers of the mapo Freedom School if they if the people who are there actually listen to what the maps of Freedom school said they spoke about empowering students to speak out for what they believe is right and they didn't say anything about picking a side they just talked about empowering students to speak for their convictions and so I think um and it's for that reason I really believe we should um continue our TI with the mapso Freedom School this is not about you know just this one issue this is about trying to silence voices that are speaking up for Palestinian voices and this has been happening throughout the country and this really shouldn't be happening in our district what the work they do is important we need to keep it here thank you Tikka jagot I do not see that Community member online okay Leah Owens uh the same with that Community member I do not see them online okay Kathy carliner do not see that Community member online either Sam carliner neither Sam or Cathy are online okay Isa Grant I do not see that Community member either online Okay um Lauren no last name presented [Music] but no Lauren okay Daniel gos link hello this is and Dan gosink together um thank you can you hear us thanks yes we can um I wanted we wanted to address two concerns on the agenda tonight both the um absence of the mapo Freedom School liaison and also the inappropriate staff conduct policy 4281 I wanted to address both of them since the inappropriate staff conduct policy appears to be going forward at the same time that the mapol liaison has been removed um from the board and from my perspective it appears these two are both linked and they feel targeted um as the parents of three students in this District we are very proud that our older children at CHS and SS have had the ultimate privilege of being in four mapso Freedom School teachers classrooms mapso Freedom schools contains some of our District's very best teachers and the professional development that they provide helps our teachers facilitate challenging and uncomfortable conversations in inclusive classrooms and is an invaluable resource for teaching the truth there are clearly a lot of folks on this meeting tonight who are made uncomfortable by folks speaking the truth and want to characterize words such as oppression genocide occupation violent colonialism or from the river to the Sea as anti-semitic hate speech but that doesn't actually make those words hate speech and calling for the freedom of one group doesn't inherently mean calling for the destruction of another anti-zionism is not anti-Semitism and there's nothing hateful or anti-jewish about supporting Palestinian Liberation or calling for justice and equality for all throughout historic Palestine this should not be controversial and I hope would not scare our Jewish neighbors the inappropriate conduct policy is censorship this policy appears to restrict the actions opinions and and speech of teachers and can be used at will and without consistency I am concerned that this policy will be used against teachers in the name of protecting students but it is not protecting students it is allowing for the punishment of teachers who teach the truth it is folding to the pressure of vocal zionists and racist in our community in a way that puts teachers and staff members at risk of losing their employment for speaking the truth our district adopted a teach the truth policy which we must abide by and not have thank you very Kim Collins not there Keith just doing one more check now that Community member is not there okay Kate Ro can you hear me yes we can okay my name is Kate Roan I've lived in Maplewood South Orange for over 30 years uh we moved here because it was not a lily white right-wing Town my kids have gone through the school system and benefited from The Amazing dedicated teachers who have taught truth to mine and other kids I'm here to express my strong support for the mapso Freedom School which is a beacon of learning in our diverse Community as its formation was to address our community's past racist practices I can't stress enough of how empow empowering this program is for our teachers and students particularly black and brown for them to be attacked and accused of anti-Semitism for including a Palestinian perspective such a dangerous precedent is and is a form of censorship and I just want to say talking about hate speech at the one Soma visil for um Palestine the zionists there were so full of hate they spit on us yelled obscenities at us and threat threaten to find out where we worked and get us fired and those people were not for freedom of speech today 42 states have already passed or attempting to pass legislation forbidding the teaching of racism sexism lgbtq history and depression throughout us and international history teachers are being bullied and threatening for signing the Zin education project pledged to teach truth which says we the undersigned Educators ref to lie refuse to lie to young people about us history and current events it is not anti-semitic to say what is happening in Palestine is genocide I know it's no use talking to the people who um don't want to hear facts about the human rights groups that have denounced the state of Israel of a heart tied and genocide criticizing the state of Israel is not anti-semitic the US is aiding and abetting this Onslaught and instead of attacking attacking our our community members who want to see all persons everywhere have a democratic and sustainable life we should demand the US stop funding endless Wars and invest in quality education and social support for our students and our communities thank you Brett Robertson hello can you hear me yes we can good evening my name is Brett Robertson I'm a resident of South Orange and the parent of three students in the district I'm here tonight to speak in favor of mapso Freedom School and the work they do and to encourage the district to honor their commitment to teaching the truth even when it is difficult it has been unfortunate and shameful to hear many comments tonight from people mischaracterizing mapsof Freedom school's positions and comments as anti-semitic which is simply false and slanderous it is instead the height of anti-Semitism to suggest that criticism of the state of Israel is anti-Semitic particularly as the majority of Jewish people in the US are also critical of the Israeli government I denounce the Israeli government just as I denounce the US government for their roles in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the West Bank that is not racist or anti-semitic it is simply acknowledging the horrific truth I had the privilege to meet some of the teachers who are members of Mao Freedom School and know them to be dedicated highly skilled deeply caring and absolutely dedicated to teaching the truth to our children they have The Bravery to speak uncomfortable truths at fraught times such as what we are in now any sanction on maps of Freedom School would indicate that this district is rejecting the principles of diversity and truth that the community purports to stand for it would indicate that the district does not care about Arab Muslim and especially Palestinian students teachers staff and community members and it would also show that comforting lies are preferable to hard truths many people would rather avoid any discussion of what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank right now I understand the Temptation for school members and officials however I think this does a profound disservice to our children who deserve to behold the truth I hope the district will will recommit to our teachers to telling to teaching the truth protecting the right to free speech for all members of the community thank you thank you very much Rachel Marcus hello hey Rachel we can hear you hi thank you for your T time my name is Rachel klinghoffer Marcus and I live in South Orange New Jersey and I'm part of the Jewish Community here a community I moved to eight years ago to raise my family here to this town specifically for its diverse warm community that proudly displays hate has no home here on signs on their lawns since October 7th that statement seems to be exempt when it refers to hate against Jews I am here along with other members of the Soma Community concerned about the mapso Freedom School and its relationship with our school district we are formally requesting that you immediately cut ties with mapso freedom school and cease any professional development Andor training with mapso freedom school we should not and will need not be part of or accept any hateful rhetoric and misinformation about the terrorism in Israel and Gaza being spread in our schools they are political and have their own agenda which does not align with the Boe they operate without regard for actual facts denying Jews are indigenous to Israel Des describing Israel as Colonial oppressors who commit genocide these false hate ful speech is not free speech these individuals were chanting just down in South Orange Square last weekend tearing down posters of kidnapped children chanting from The River To The Sea the destruction of a whole people and a nation these people have no place teaching students or teachers as they propagate hatred and violence towards Jews I asked the Boe to write this wrong to let let make a truly inclusive environment for all for all people for all religions for all nationalities for all colors we can find a better way together with freedom for all freedom for all Palestinians for all Jews for all white people black people for us all to be together and live in peace because I know that's what our community is and that's what we all care about thank you for your time please remove the liaison from the map so free to thank you very much thank you um sorry where was I now okay sorry about that Celia Graham does not appear that a community members online thank you Donna a we can't hear you very well I'm sorry I already had my chance to speak thank you oh okay all right thank you TJ Whitaker good evening my name is TJ whiter I'm a 20-year teacher at Columbia High School and I'm a co-founder of mapor Freedom School James Baldwin said to be a negro in this country and relatively conscious is to exist in the state of Rage almost all the time msel Freedom School was born out of racist treatment of black students in South Orange maple School District everyone knows that history we were the only ones who supported them when they were beaten by the kids were we political then were we political when we supported students who expressed themselves uh about being lgbtq were we political when we supported our students who were expressing their interest about not having cops in school were we political when we supported students right who protested the recent roie Wade resolutions I say no we have not promoted a K12 curriculum on Palestine but what we have done is the model Gary project the model Gary project allows students to do research on various issues from politics to education to health and wellness to social media and to present position papers right in conversation with students from around around the state right in order to talk about the issues as they see them right in their world the really ironic point about the model Gary is that one of the very people who was trying to end liaison to msor Freedom School with the board his own child benefited from the model Gary project that's just one example in our Saturday school we're talking about hard history and so when someone raises the issue of political prisoners we need to understand the history of The Counter Intelligence program in the United States it was the United States government and the FBI that's literally set up a program thank you TJ will suner hello hi we can hear you thank you hi I'm an alumni of South Orange Maple school district and have been teaching coaching and Advising student clubs in the district for the past seven years I have a ba in history of Masters in Social Studies of education and have completed numerous training courses related to Human Rights social justice and educ ation including undoing racism the Amistad summer Institute and the summer Human Rights Institute at the Lightner Center for international law and Justice at forom law school I'm also extremely proud to be a co-founding member of mapso Freedom School like many of our students I grew up in an Interfaith family one thing I learned from my Jewish Family is a lesson we repeat every year during Passover seder that we have a responsibility to others to speak out for what is right and especially to speak out for the oppressed I also hold dear lessons that I learned as a student here while I fell in love with diverse peoples and cultures and and witnessed and learned how our schools and Community fell short of giving all students particularly brown and black students full access to the education and spaces that white students and families received and operated in his lessons and observations along with good teachers taught me the importance of critical evaluation of History to understand our current circumstance this passion for justice that I share with the other mapso organizers many of whom also matriculated through this District as students or teacher currently is based out of our love for this community and the students in our schools we and the fum School dedicate countless hours away from our own families to spend time meeting studying planning lessons and organizing events because we love this community we love our students and we believe that a more free and just world is possible we believe that students should be empowered to ask difficult questions learn and evaluate history and form critical opinions even when the answers make us or them uncomfortable it would be be it would be a betrayal of our own values as an anti-racist organization to not acknowledge the inalienable human rights of Palestinian people as it would be a betrayal for us to remain silent when harm is done to black and brown students in our own schools we hope stance empowers others particularly young people to study organize and take a stand for what they feel is right even in the face of censorship I ask the board maintain all resources privileges Etc currently available to the Freedom School and propose the implementation of a Middle East studies curriculum as is clearly of great interest to many in our community thank you um board president Whit lter we have um Community member is Som Grant it looks like we're not able to unmute before Oh Celia um yes s i o m a grant oh where is that um right above that Lauren no last name oh okay there it is perfect yep okay thank you no problem hi I'm a sophomore Smith can you hear me yes we can okay I'm a sophomore at Smith college and a lifelong South Orange resident I recently graduated from Columbia and during my time at CHS I had the opportunity to be a part of mapso Freedom School upon first hearing about this program I was ecstatic that there was an effort to address discrimination and bias prevalent in our school system I as a student of color know that this is more than necessary mapso Freedom School was the first time I had access to a safe space to discuss race and racism in an academic setting the opportunity to learn about complex systemic issues that nearly that impact nearly every facet of our daily lives is absolutely invaluable it is an opportunity that should continue to be accessible to students and Educators within our School District as I truly believe that a district as diverse as ours and a district with as many instances of discrimination as ours can only benefit from such program I further express my admiration and support for mapso Freedom School as I believe it has helped to shape me as into the student I am today here at Smith college I recently declared my sociology as my major my interest in interpreting the world from a sociological perspective stemmed from my involvement in maps of Freedom School our extensive conversations about political organizing abolition and patriarchal stru structors vastly resonated with my interest in a way that my classes never had I specifically recall during our discussion about abolition der Pernell an acclaimed human rights lawyer writer and organizer joined us to share her wisdom and knowledge on the topic I later had the opportunity through mapso Freedom School to read her book becoming abolitionists and moderate her book talk meeting Mrs Pernell was one of the greatest opportunities I had during High School it was through meeting her and reading her book that is I decided I too want to pursue a career in human rights law I have maps of Freedom school to thank for this amazing opportunity and for introducing me to a world of information that I now have the ability to pursue through my higher education journey and Beyond maps of Freedom School is an invaluable asset to our community that should be protected and praised it is nothing short of an amazing program that will benefit all who partaking it thank you Rosanna mccre hello can you hear me yes we can okay great um my name is Rosanna mccre and I've been a part of this community for over 23 years as a resident of Maplewood I'm here because I think is it is very irresponsible to provoke privileges from map so Freedom School that allows them to district schools for community events these include programs such as black lives matters week of action as a mother who has raised three black young women I support a program that has always allowed them to feel seen and supported when this district has so often made them feel invisible I'm especially concerned about this program being impacted because my daughters love being a part of this group they benefited from their involvement because it actually made them more aware of global issues and allowed them to be more open to perspectives from other cultures and ethnicity they also built so many beautiful relationships with the teachers and administrators and other students of the mapso Freedom School that they maintain today resisting racism and oppression is never easy but these teachers have been courageous enough to share their beliefs knowing that it would not be popular they are brave the sponsors of MFS are dedicated and amazing Educators and to take away what they have built is absolutely unacceptable thank you thank you you hear me oh yes we can okay it's AO okor IE price I'm a former classroom teacher co-founder of the national black lives matter at school mapso Freedom School and co-founding organizer of the teach truth campaign in partnership with this in education project I'm here to speak in favor of mapso Freedom School and the invaluable work that they provide to Educators and young people in the district and Beyond in 2016 MSO Freedom School was started because of the history of antiblackness in the United States but most specifically in South Orange Maplewood as an Alum of both Seth boen and Columbia High School I'm all too familiar with the violence that permeates in this district and Community black people are were and have never been safe here in South Orange and Maplewood my parents also moved to the district because they thought it was diverse and inclusive and we also also really we found out what that really meant for black children and they understood that that their children would not and were not loved and valued here they were deceived we quickly found out that the image is a facade I was 11 years old and my brother was 10 years old when my parents made the very difficult decision to send my brother and I to Ghana for schooling because of the targeting anti-blackness here in the district I understand we were able to escape that racism here for the time period but so many others are trapped here and were trapped here my motivation to help start the organization was grounded in my experience as a student in the district and as a former classroom teacher who not only experienced but witness the ways that the country punishes and pushes black and Indigenous folks so far to the margins we wanted the freedom school to be a space that served as a refuge for black students other students of color and our accomplice with an understanding of building a multi ethn racial Society we understood that not only do the students need the support but the Educators needed the Education and Training to help Shi their pedagogy next up we have Vanessa pron hello can you hear me we can hi Vanessa hi good evening everyone my name is Vanessa Pon and I live in Maplewood I'm speaking tonight to express my support in airation for the work of Maths for Freedom School and support for all teachers and students in South orang School District to teach and speak out in favor of ending the occupation and a free Palestine I've had the opportunity to participate in map Saturday freedom school one of the SAT one of the Saturday school topics was the black lives matter protest because it gave us a safe place to express our feelings and of course to teach us about the many ways in which black people are being mistreated in society and how institutions and laws and policies helps to continue that unfairness we talked about how some people were offended by backlashes matter because when people are offended by the terms like backlashes matter recently from River to the sea to take away from that movement that only upholds white supremacy white supremacy relies on confusion and Mis information this is why we need already Freedom School they spread the truth Vanessa are you still there okay thank you Vanessa Susan Farber hi can you hear me hello my name is Susan Farber my kids and granddaughter live uh in South Orange presumably this board's goal is to avoid the kind of inflammatory propaganda and outright brainwashing proposed by mapso and provide a balanced fa approach to any sensitive topic continuing a relationship with mapso creates a clear and present danger its curriculum only talks about facts that support its agenda it doesn't use any other facts that support any position other than that and it lays out nothing considering the the perspective of Israel which is very interesting to me I daily watch and witness what regular folk in this community it do respecting the tearing down and defacing of photos of kidnapped Israeli hostages in New York and here also people spew from The River To The Sea which does mean a cry to destroy Israel this notion that anti-Semitism is different from anti-am Zionism has really been completely debunked after October 7th three examples of what happens on on colleges campuses and also in schools including in New Jersey and these are just this is just a few of very of of many examples a Stanford lecturer made Jewish students stand in a corner branded them colonizers trivialized the Holocaust and hailed Kamas as Freedom Fighters don't say that that's possibly conflating anti-Semitism and anti-zionism it is exactly the same online post targeting Jewish students at Cornell included if you see a Jewish person on campus follow them home and slit their throats and I'm going to bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig Jews last week 400 high schoolers in Queen 400 high schoolers stor the hallways and terrorized a Jewish teach Thana can you hear me we can good evening everybody my name is Fara ch um I'm going to read out some statements made by Israeli lawmakers since October 7th defense minister y Galan said there will be no electricity no food no fuel everything is closed we are fighting Human animals and we act accordingly Israel Heritage Minister amihai ilahu said dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza Strip would be one of the options for dealing with Hamas Israel's national security minister itamar Ben G said my right my wives my childrens to roam the roads of Judea and Samaria are more important than the right of movement of the Arabs Moshe figin the founder of Israel right-wing zud party said there is one and only one solution which is to completely destroy Gaza before invading it I mean destruction like what happened in Dresden and Hiroshima without nuclear weapons everyone has heard these dehumanizing racist wild and dangerous rhetoric from the lawmakers and witnessed the brutal Massacre of over 15,000 innocent civilians over the past few days so have the students and Educators maps of Freedom School is helping students exercise their right to free speech truth and fighting for the rights of others I want to ask you would you cave under the pressure from from White supremists if they were offended by the chance of black lives matter of course not then why are we succumbing to pressure from anti-human zionists students and teachers deserve to feel comfortable within a educational system that does not gag suffocate censor and silence the voices of those who seek a free and just world for Palestinians if Israel does not wish to be labeled an AP parid State then perhaps it should stop behaving like one this is a criticism of the Israeli government not of the Jews as many Jews support the cause for free Palestine perhaps it's time now to show our kids and community on how to tackle bullies and fight for the people who are real victims rather than the ones who like playing one I ask you to defend maps of Freedom School and stand against those who seek to silence us and undermine the very principles upon which this great nation was founded thank you for your time free Palestine thank you James Davis it does not appear Community member Davis is online okay Leila gold hello we can hear you all right hello my name is Lyla gold I'm a Maplewood resident of CHS Alum the former student body president and an ethnically Jewish person though this latter identity is not one I should ever have to weaponize I'm here to speak against the centuring of students and teachers in this District who have spoken in favor of Palestine and against occupation students around the country are facing harm for standing against genocide for being Palestinian or even for being Arab or Muslim just in the past week three Palestinian students around my age were shot in Burlington in the last few months I've witnessed the fear of speaking out and the harassment of those who do I've watched my friends be arrested and unjustly treated within their confinement and I've had to cover my face during peaceful protests for fear of being doxed by zist meanwhile in Gaza over 14,000 people have been slaughtered since October 7th around half of them being younger than I am I am 19 entire Bloodlines have been destroyed my point in saying these things is that there are real consequences to voicing oppression to an ongoing genocide many people in this community have had to face these consequences including students who have been harassed by their peers parents and even local rabbis and including the mapso Freedom School a local Collective of teachers whose connection with the district appears to be threatened by the influence of letters and comments from local zionists I stand in support of and in solidarity with mavo freedom school they provide education and information that the rest of the district frequently does not they support students in high school I remember these teachers uplifting student initiatives when others didn't they are not extremists they are not anti-semitic and they are not calling for a genocide against Israelis in a recent class of mine our professor was shocked by the lack of propaganda free education that we had all received surrounding this situation because SS because in SSD I was never taught about this issue let alone the truth of the genocide against Palestinians and the historic Israeli occupation of land and disregard for Geographic agreements instead we attack those who do try to speak out and threaten groups like these who in this situation are only guilty of supporting human rights on social media I'm asking all of you as a board protecting to serving Georgiana Hart mute oh can you hear me now we can hear you now okay uh my name is Georgiana Hart and I was a school nurse for over 27 years I'm currently practicing part-time as an advanced practice nurse and I have been a South Orange resident for over 20 years I was very concerned and applauding the response the compassionate response of the South Orange Township in regard to the Israeli Gaza conflict but the reaction of the powers that be by Netanyahu who spoke about the reaction to Pearl Harbor as parallel to reacting to October 7th was grossly out of proportion where the tonnage of bombs has exceeded by unprecedented amounts those thrown at nagasa and hirosima and does amount to genocide so I'm very heartened by hearing the amount of support here uh for those people who speak up for the not for Freedom School and perhaps this forum has been a bit of a not for Freedom School Forum because I'm hearing that that uh Netanyahu Coalition does not represent the Jewish people that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people just as our tax dollars here do not condone supporting the Netanyahu Coalition and I would hope that thank you very much thank you Luma Hassan that Community member is not online okay Ernesto Aro hello can you hear me yes we can oh thank you so I am an educator and a father of three school age children I'm here in support of mapo I have benefited from their work I have collaborated with their work and I appreciate and love their commitment to social justice and education I'm grateful that they teach young people to question to question authority to question power and I want to be very clear that the critique and the opposition of political lead leadership and Military strategies should not be conflated with hate speech that the critique of colonial aparti and genocide at the hands of a fascist state is not anti-semitic when we speak about protecting education we must protect the abil the ability to question authority and the ability to question oppression especially when it is State sanctioned are we recommending students not learn about movements movements that question leadership what about about curriculum that highlights abolitionist anti-racism what about curriculum that highlights indigenist Uprising such as the Battle of Little Big Horn known as general kuster's Last Stand what about talking about the rebellion of Harriet Tubman or the rebellion of nat Hunter what about State sanctioned State sanctioned the worst think we lost you well thank you [Music] Ernesto Andrea bramfeld hello hi we can hear you to slow down and not oh hi it's Andrea bronfield from South Orange today I'm asking the board to terminate the liazon position with the mapso Freedom School through its posts and actions the mapso Freedom School has shown that it is not interested in education that Fosters productive dialogue instead it's one-sided narrative regarding Israel which is factually inaccurate Fosters anti-Semitism and intolerance in our community this is not an organization that should be teaching our children so I ask the board to terminate the leaz on position stop all professional development teaching through this school and cease to funding to the mapo Freedom School thank you thank you Sierra ohanlan Boon hi can you hear me yes we can cool U my name is Kira ohanlan Boon I live in Maplewood um and I support the maps of Freedom School um um to preface this I want to make clear that it is not all not at all my intention to dismiss any valid concerns that Jewish people have in our community who are experiencing actual anti-Semitism as a result of all that is going on uh at the same time I want to make clear that the Israeli government is a separate entity to Israeli citizens and Jewish people and it is entirely fair and necessary to criticize governments while it's important to make sure no targeted hate is spread and no hate speech is used we need to acknowledge that the people of Israel and Jewish people alike are not the ones being criticized when people criticize the Israeli government and thus criticizing the Israeli government is not anti-semitic people in our community obviously disagree on this but I believe along with many other people that the Israeli government's approach to fighting Hamas which I would put in quotes personally um is extremely excessive and shows no true care or compassion for Palestinian people in the least and thus as goes for all governments we should be able to use our First Amendment right and criticize the Israeli government for their actions people in the district have been harassed for showing support for Palestinian people as many in our community are so quick to associate that with anti-Semitism when they are not inherently connected at all and it makes sense that in schools and in our community people are going to talk about this and have differing opinions so taking the same approach as our school's sex head program since people are already talking about these things since they're already happening these conversations should be facilitated to prevent further harassment or any sort of hate speech and the work that mapso Freedom School does is especially vital and important to handle something like this and so um with my last few seconds I just want to reiterate that people are not their governments um and any criticism of the Israeli government should be protected by the district and the maps of Freedom School should not be severed from the Board of Ed thank you thank you Michael wler hello oh hi can you hear me yes hi I'm Mike Wexler I've been a resident in South Orange for 10 years I'm from Essex County uh Milburn like grew up here um msim Freo school was created to build equity awareness and education in our town something that I and many others in the Jewish Community fully support and it's one of the many reasons we moved to this community October 7 happened and a post was shared on mapso Freedom School social media pages that featured countless anti-semitic dog whistles nothing obscure and vague about what they wrote in those posts that were mentioned earlier we've heard them continuously tonight spoken callously by many individuals on behalf of this MSO Freedom School dog whistles dog whistles and more dog whistles and it's hard for Jews to hear these things from the river to the sea is absolutely anti antic unequivocally anti-semitic colonialism is an anti-semitic Trope genocide as well we hear these things we feel that we are in fear something that no one in this community seems to understand no one is listening to 1,00 plus Jews were barbarically tortured and massacred babies thrown in ovens burned alive 240 were kidnapped let suppos a social justice an Equity Group post something that comes close to celebrating the attack I am so angry I cannot contain myself and I'm sorry I wish I can contain myself but I am horrified I am so upset I'm living in a town that is supposed to be a Bastion of progressivism and liberalism we we lost river to the Sea when you say that out loud most Jews we hear Holocaust 2.0 I'm sorry the mapso Freedom School was intimately involved and one of the members who was an Els teacher at CH at CHS LED those gathered enchanting from The River To The Sea Palestine will be free that same teacher also said we reject your accusations of anti-Semitism thank you thank you please get rid of mapso Freedom School immediately um the next person is Jeffrey Bennett hello can you hear me we can um I also write to ask I also ask you to eliminate the liaison to the mapso Freedom School I feel that the MFS liaison is not appropriate in light of how the boe's other liaison are governmental or quasi governmental and the MFS own political stances I know that you as the Boe only have seven Liaisons at present achieve the BOS the Essex County School boards Association the njsba delegate assembly the field use trust the njsba delegate assembly and the mapso Freedom School I would consider all the other leaon to be governmental or close auxiliaries of the school district for the njba delegate assembly s County SBA the BOS the Liaisons we have to them are intergovernmental um where we are ourselves a member of the body that we are representing ourselves to we're parts of a whole it's not the board of education's relationship to an outside group although the liaison to achieve and CPAC are to Independent groups they are groups that we need to have close relationships with and which other boards of Education have equivalence to the mapso Freedom School liaison is an anomaly the MFS performs multiple functions um in what we call education it's a teacher caucus and it's a b it would consider itself a Civil Rights group but we don't have other Liaisons with other education groups in the town like we don't have a liaison to the adult school we don't have have a liazon to itself nor the NAACP nor the CCR we do not have a liazon with the PTA president's Council right now and we know that the PTA are very important we don't have a liaison with the YMCA even though the YMCA provides after care and before care so the so the MFS stands out as being quite different from other Liaisons we have um I also would take issue with the allegation that the Israel's committed genocide here it's a very difficult topic to discuss but if you look the histories of real genocides from what happened to the sarian to the Armenian Genocide to the Greek genocide in World War I um to the holor in Ukraine what you see is actually I hate to say this much much more je thank you Mindy Greenspan hi can you hear me yes uh good even evening my name is Mindy Greenspan and I'm a longtime resident of Maplewood I'm also a proud anti-zionist Jewish American that supports the rights of Palestinians to live in Freedom not under occupation I reject the premise that to stand against genocide is somehow anti-semitic and the idea that the only way we can stand with Jews is by support supporting a violent ethnocratic state that is anti-Semitic I feel that being a good Jew and a good citizen of the world requires that I recognize the sanctity of all life and stand up and fervently oppose the oppression of any people when I moved to Maplewood 25 years ago raising my son who graduated from Columbia High School in 2007 my move was a choice that reflected my values it was and continues to be a place with a wide diversity of lived experiences opinions and World Views there are on ongoing right-wing attacks on gains that have been made for equity and justice for oppressed and marginalized people in this country and around the world power powerful forces supported by corporations lobbies and media have been attempting to silence as we see with the weaponizing of the label anti-semitic when there is any criticism of the state of Israel attacks on mapso Freedom School mirror broader racist attacks on critical race Theory and teaching the truth of US history the teacher Collective called mapso Freedom School is doing the necessary and critical work in our community to counteract this misinformation educating and supporting our Educators and students and I unequivocally stand in support of their work free Palestine thank you Adam [Music] Shapiro you hear me me yes we can hi my name is Adam Shapiro uh my wife and I have lived in South Orange for 12 years while raising our three children I'm a career educator and administrator and a current parent of a CHS student I've studied and taught about the history of modern Israel over the past two decades have traveled to the region 10 times over the past 30 years have many friends and family in Israel including two of my wife's cousins who currently remain in captivity by the barbaric Hamas terrorists in Gaza there should be no question about whether or not to sever ties with the mapso freedom school and I applaud Miss whtl for her statement earlier this evening in regard to her reconsideration of her previous vote and support of aais on seat I'm acutely aware of the power of professional development and in some cases the long-term relationships that can come from these engagements I'm deeply Disturbed to think about what this might mean for some of our teachers in the district throughout my career I've relied on many of these professionals who have entered into our school buildings as resources to turn to months and years later in this case I'm deeply fearful that the same may be true and the teachers in our district May once again turn to them for leadership and guidance during these very troubling times mapso Freedom School has shown their true colors they have abandoned their mission as an educational organization and have now squarely become a political organization who supports and amplifies anti-Semitism and terrorism in addition to seing ties the Boe must also do everything in their power at this moment to both fully distance our district from these antithetical beliefs and reinforce our faculty and staff that this group cannot be relied upon to put out trustworthy and valid information resources our community is one where differences are honored and respected and while I don't presume to believe that all of us share the same ideas and principles I do believe the overwhelming majority do not tolerate hate or hate speech and would not want their kids to be indoctrinated in school to believe that these ideas that run counter to the Norms of our society are acceptable I implore this board to resend any sort of special status for the mapso Freedom School as they are no longer an educational organization as they were once presumed to be rather they are a misguided political organization who finds themselves on the wrong side of History during these very serious times for our community country and world thank you Sunny Stout uh that Community member is not online Karen seagull hello hi Karen my name is Karen seagull and I live in Maplewood my daughters are currently in the district and hoping to send our third in the future as you have heard from many people today our community is scared scared angry and feeling the divisive nature to which polarizing language and sentiments from mapso Freedom School are pushing us further from one another we are not silencing Palestinian history or the suffering in Gaza we're asking the district to drop an organization that is unapologetically calling for the elimination of the state of Israel and has not once condemned the events that occurred on October 7th when our adults cannot have pulled our values of support empathy and inclusion we must ensure that our children are taken care of I ask you to look hard and deeply at what kind of organizations we support and therefore how we hold them accountable our sensationalism and absolutism the principles that we want guiding our Learners I hope you take the steps to bring civility balance and kindness to our students and our community thank you thank you caner Rebecca Moses ker Moses are you there uh what do you think Keith do we yeah everything appears correct the audio settings are showing up correct on the um for the Community member so we might want to move on okay we can always come back um Rabbi Dan Cohen good evening can you hear me and see me we can hear you but we can't see you all right good evening um my name is uh Rabbi Dan Cohen I have served at tempor Shar too Israel in South AR since 1992 and I have the honor of being the senior Rabbi for almost 25 years I a proud South Orange resident I am pained to see the divisions that have emerged in our community and I'm worried about the impact it is having on our young people two weeks ago I met with 75 of our local Jewish students I heard their feelings of isolation their pain these last two months have shaken them to their core and they are not alone in the 50 days following the Kamas Massacre the ADL has documented 1,481 anti-semitic incidents across the United States a 300% increase during the same from the same period in 2022 and that number is growing we all want our children protected from the ugliness of this world and turn to our local institutions to work to create spaces that will make them feel safe accepted and embraced and one of the key institutions where we look to is the and we expect this from is our public education system what I heard that day and on a daily basis ever since is that this is not the case currently in our school district part of the issue not entirely but part of the issue is the presence of msal Freedom School as we previous heard this evening their social media post on October 7th was chilling that came from an organization committed to social Equity an organization that has was formed and had performed important work and it made it all the more shocking to come from them and the attempts to gloss over that this evening rather than own their own hatful posts is sad in the weeks since we've they've doubled down and tripled down it is one thing to advocate for the well-being of civilians in Gaza I support that it is quite another thing to share social media posts and Lead chance at public events that employ tropes that are heard by members of the Jewish Community as direct threats to the existence of Israel and the well-being of Jews if there were any group connected in any way to our schools in Su that were expressing views deemed to be racist homophobic anti-semitic or in any form AI we would expect the schools to immediately act that is not what has happened here so far we are not seeking to limit Free Speech but we recognize that with free speech comes responsibility and that line has been crossed time and again and we thank you um Rabbi Jesse olitsky can you hear me okay yes thank you to our board of education for your commitment as dedicated lay leaders commitment to our students commitment in our district is twofold is to create thriving educational experiences for our children and to do so in a safe space as Rabbi Cohen mentioned uh together with other Jewish clergy in the area we met with over 75 CHS Jewish students last week who are not feeling safe right now our task as a community as a district is to create safe learning opportunities for all of our students I want that for every single student in our district so I don't speak my opinions tonight but I want to share their opinions who feel like there's not space for nuance there's not space for multiple narratives there is not space for empathetic listening and there's not space for them to have conversation uh if the goal of any professional development in our district for teachers is that that is not what is happening right now they feel that they don't have that space in classrooms when they see what has been posted by their teachers or by organizations that their teachers are affiliated with they do not feel that they have the space the safe space in that classroom with their teacher to have difficult conversations that's really what we're talking about a difficult conversation we want to empower our students to have conversations that are difficult but to do so in a space where they feel supported where they feel safe that is not what's happening right now any professional development that does not create and provide safe space for all of our students uh is failing all of our students I urge you to take that into consideration if we want to create safe space for all of our students in the district going forward thank you thank you Sebastian Torres can you hear me yes we can okay I'm sorry uh first I would just like to say good evening to to the board um it's I mean it's quite dystopian to actually have to hear this right now that an organization that is named Freedom School is actively trying to be censored by people who are claiming that they want to have students engage in dialogue um it just it just sounds very oxymoronic to me um personally I'm a resident of planfield I'm an educator um I've engaged with a mapso freedom school on various Locas for professional development I feel like the Freedom School is a great asset to your District um I think it provides a lot of professional development that is much needed for a lot of Educators particularly when it comes to dealing with students of color students who um oftentimes feel marginalized by um their environment their schools and their communities um so overall that is um my sentiment about all of this um I support Ms Freedom School in their current efforts to examine the crisis in the Middle East through a lens of History um through diverse perspectives um as Ed as Educators I think we're often expected to promote critical thinking I think M Freedom school provides a platform not for hate speech but for the voices of students and community members who are often shunned chastised for simply agreeing to uh simply not agreeing to the dominant narrative um I think it's disingenuous for the district to claim to promote diversity while simultaneously censoring Nuance perspectives um accepting and embracing the idea that criticism of an oppressive State like Israel is equivalent to anti-Semitism is not only anti-jewish but I think it's an invitation to keep distorting history um the posts M made by mapso Freedom School are not rooted in hateful propaganda that is somewhat unique to this organization as many tonight would like to claim but it is based on extensive work done by academics and many institutions of Higher Learning and other respected human rights groups from across the world thank you thank you Jennifer Greenberg that Community member is not present okay sh hater no not present was present but looks like disconnected just now okay um win maora now that Community member is not present L Prav sorry about that love are you there uh do you hear me we can hear you a little bit yes I'm a left krov I'm a longtime resident of a neighborhood town of Livingston and I'm here to raise my voice against uh uh Freedom School participation in education uh curriculum at uh uh South orage and Maplewood and my main point of my of of what I'm thinking is that if uh other site decides what constitutes uh uh racist behavior and they claim to be anti anti-racists why they don't trust majority of Jewish Community to decide what we consider racist behavior and from what I read about uh you know about Freedom School the older statements are demonizing and singling out Israel as a you know as a as a racist State as aparti state which cannot be further from truth as a lifelong Zionist I consider uh Israel and Zionism as a National Liberation movement and not uh not a racist on oppressive movement at all it's a it's a it's a national Liberation movement and it's absolutely inappropriate to teach kids uh you know something OPP totally opposite to what idea of Zionism means you know like so I'm totally against uh admittance of a Freedom School uh to be present in uh Maplewood and uh you know and South orig it's just it's just crazy you know to in my opinion this is just uh you know this is the most racist statements that I ever heard even from people on that you know in that in that in that webinar let us decide what constitutes uh racist Behavior towards us we never question uh racist Behavior towards uh afro-americans or members of lgbtq community we trust them to judge what constitutes racis St towards Hannah Vieira can you hear me yes hi thank you so much I have a lot to say to the many misguided comments that I heard today but I'm going to keep my comments short and targeted please disassociate with the maps of Freedom School immediately it is appalling that the schools are associated with an anti-israel group people calling here today on this call do not have the right or authority to to create a definition of what anti-Semitism is I ask the Board of Ed to please immediately adopt the IRA definition of anti-semitism this is crucial anti- anti-zionism is a mask for anti-Semitism and Jew hate does not belong in schools thank you thank you okay now we have David troll can you hear me okay um if you could speak a little bit louder sure how's that oh that's better yep thank you thank you so much so um David troll I'm a resident of neighboring Town Milbourne Township for over 20 years many friends in Maplewood and South Orange and a lot of history there normally I wouldn't be speaking at a neighboring District but recently mapso Freedom began organizing around the Milbourne Board of AD and coming to a meeting which came to my attention so I actually came here to do some research I I saw some of their initial online activity um that some of the speakers tonight have mentioned and it obviously created some concerns um there's an important emphasis on social justice which many people have called out there's also some incendiary rhetoric around Israel and I wanted to find out more obviously sitting here for a few hours I've learn quite a bit uh I wanted to thank Dr Gilbert for his earlier comments which clarified your District's relation ship with the organization I want to thank the board president for her comments on the background of the liaison role that certainly answered some of my questions um and since I have those answers I'll just leave you with a couple of thoughts um I think we can all agree the war in Israel and Gaza is terrible uh almost every death there is tragic and I say almost because the Hamas terrorists who started the war who regularly attack Israel and who oppressed the Palestinian people they should be removed I wish all those people had freedom from the fear and the hostility of that group I didn't hear the opponents of mapso Freedom ask the district to stop teaching about Palestine I I heard many Express support for social justice in the curriculum uh some Express Sympathy for the agree Palestinian people I think what I heard was they should stop indoctrinating teachers and students with one biased version the Hamas version of events uh that's not McCarthyism that's parents standing up for their children and their families that's the voice of of the district and as some people mentioned it could be a title six violation uh I then heard many supporters of the Freedom School insist that Israeli genocide apartheid settler or colonialism is the truth it should be taught and they outright stated that people who disagree with them are being racist while as Lev apley put they then denied the Jewish version of anti-Semitism so my my pardon comment is the Freedom School if they can't provide a balanced perspective that supports the whole community values either that curriculum needs much better supervision or maybe they're not the right resource I certainly feel that not right for Milburn which is what I came to find out I want to thank the board for extending this meeting to hear all the voices from the surrounding community and uh that's all I have for tonight thank you thank you Anna schwarzer you there Anna hello Anna she thought Anna are you there okay I think we'll go to the next person Lena kic it does not appear that Community member is present okay Jad toku hi can you hear me yes we can okay perfect hello thank you for having this um I want to be on the right side of History so I'm expressing my support and keeping the L on from mapso Freedom School as a Sommer resident I moved to this District recently after growing up as part of the Immigrant diaspora in Brooklyn because of the existence of programs like this for my two daughters one of whom is in the district I want my daughters to be able to speak without censorship or intimidation and I believe MFS empowers kids to think critically about complicated issues as a Muslim resident whose family fled Crimea from persecution of Muslims under Stalin I attended several vigils recently and the last one that others have referred to tonight was supposed to be a family-friendly call for peace for all affected instead there were Zionist counter protesters there yelling at me some of whom spoke tonight in opposition to mapso Freedom School I will not name names but I leave this picture up here that sign read from the river to the Sea that's the only flag you'll see those counter protesters were cursing at me and yelling at me as I held my 15-month-old or three-year-old daughter threatening of doxing me and finding out where I work so I can get fired for attending this visel opposition to the actions of the Israel state is not anti-semitic similar to how opposition to Saudi Arabia is not islamophobic I can be critical of China for their treatment of ugers but why can I not be critical of Israel for their apartheid treatment and genocide of Palestinians there should be no place in our community for anti-Semitism or islamophobia but this attack on MFS will make marginalized communities here in Som feel further marginalized and irresponsible by the Board of Education because it will make it harder to attract diverse families and talented Educators to the district thank you thank you Jennifer Greenberg can you hear me great yes we can my name is Jennifer Greenberg I am a South Orange native and a product of our school system myself I am a mother raising five kids three having successfully graduated from Columbia High School and two currently attending CHS my deep connection to our community fuels my commitment to its well-being hate has no place in Soma we are told while the school was initially envisioned I'm sorry I am compelled to express my profound concerns and earnestly urge the board to several sever all ties with the current mapso Freedom School hate has no place in s while the school was initially envisioned as a bridge to improve race relations within our district and our everyone belongs here Community its presence since October 7th has been disconcerting to the least despite its professed mission of building a better world through anti-racist and social justice work it has veered far from its original objective instead it has unmistakably focused on a one-sided and historically inaccurate promotion of anti-israel Ric the school's social media pages are consistently showcasing content that not only promotes violence but also Fosters a deep unsettling atmosphere particularly through the hate Laden messages targeting the Jewish community our schools should be sanctuaries of safety and nurturing for all children regardless of their backgrounds tolerance and peace must be actively nurtured and this begins with the words we choose to impart to our children I implore the board and the district to swiftly sever any affiliations with this organization that compromises the inclusive and secure environment that we aspire to provide to our students please hear us and protect our children by removing the mapso Freedom School thank you very much thank you Susan lugashi this may not be that oh sorry I think she was here before but now her last name is here so so okay okay thank you Susan um Jay Feldman hello we're having trouble hearing you okay oh that person just disconnected okay um morai javan's on here I don't think we heard from them before right yeah yeah okay they on now yes they are okay thank you well I actually get to speak okay thank you uh and thank you Caitlyn for for putting this together it's it's not easy uh play like four or five hours at this point so good job uh well my name is morai um I live in South Orange I have two kids in the district I'm an Israeli um an idea veteran ex the Israel different sports and I'm very proud of it um and I'm absolutely shocked I'm shocked by what's happening in our district with maps of Freedom School you know they spread vile anti-semitic Post online they blasted all over and their leadership attends a vigil in South Orange chanting free Palestine from The River To The Sea P would be free they're calling for the complete annihilation of my country Israel my family lives in Israel they've been attacked by Hamas on October 7th just just to the idea just to to talk about it there's still over 100 7 hostages held under ground by Hamas terrorist Israel just today had a terrible deadly Hamas terror attack in Jerusalem a Hamas operative killed a woman sitting in in a a pregnant woman in a Boston and I can't believe this is happening in our school district M of Freedom School has to completely U be out of the district we cannot support it not with our tax money not with facilities not to say that Israel Israel is committed genocide that Israel is an apartheid occupation Colonial apar somebody said coloni part saying col is not anti-semitic it's yes it it's anti-semitic it's hate speech it's unacceptable and and have them around Educators should not happen they should not be anywhere around Educators in our district thank you very much you Diana camon does not appear that community members online okay thank you Mr Bond Jordana horn Gordon can you hear me yes we can great thank you I'm an earlier speaker um sorry jordanah horn Gordon like Dave troll came um to see from Milbourne Township an earlier speaker mentioned their experiences at Passover saders encourag them to work for justice I believe that speaker may have missed an equally important component of the Passover theater where in the hagata it says that in every gen any every generation people have tried to murder the Jewish people this generation is sadly not exempt from this history as illustrated by the genocidal Rampage of Hamas in Israel on October 7th Hamas actively wants to murder all Jews full stop they'll tell you I'm wondering why mapo Freedom School does not denounce explicitly purposeful and vide documented genocidal Behavior when it occurs against Jews I hear Advocates of the Freedom School claiming that the program is so good at giving perspectives from various cultures at equity and at critical thinking yet I see no denunciation whatsoever from mapso Freedom School of rampant Jew hate or of the events of October 7th or any recognition of any element of Jewish indigeny in Israel none of this seems balanced claiming the mantle of righteousness while negating the lived experience of other s is hypocrisy hearing non-jewish people repeatedly claim something is not anti-Semitism seems to go against mapso Freedom school's own precepts I for one personally I don't dispute that anti-racism education is necessary mapso Freedom school's purposeful and willful blindness about Jew hate shows that it is no good at it thank you thank you okay we have um Dan Sloan H hi good evening uh my name is Daniel Sloan gosink my partner spoke earlier um we're the parents of three children at SSD schools uh one at Columbia one at SSS and one at Clinton uh I myself am a teacher I teach High School Global Studies uh last week my 10-year-old wore a cfia to school in solidarity with Palestinians and was bullied by students there to remove it um no one spoke up for him um it was demanded by this student that he remove it even after my child explained what it meant explained why he was wearing it and why it was important to him he stood fir although he was alone and refused to compliant in the demands of this other student um I want to speak specifically to maps of Freedom school now um what we've heard tonight are firsthand accounts from the founders members parents of students who benefited and students themselves uh one of whom I believe I heard was president of the student council who all stand with Mato Freedom school because of that firsthand experience they had the alternative has been broad attacks on Words and slogans from F from folks with no firsthand experience with mapso Freedom School many of them literally don't know the name of the group one of those in opposition who's already been mentioned not by name and I won't either who spoke tonight was the Community member at the Interfaith vigil for Palestine who held a sign that's already been described the only person on this called tonight who has called for the literal genocide of people who are currently literally being genocided thank you um Daniel or Danielle Thorne sorry can folks hear me yes we can okay Danielle Thorne South AR resident and parent I am here tonight to speak in support of the Educators in matso Freedom School I knew many of the matso Freedom School Educators before matsum Mato Freedom School was founded some of them were my teachers some of them are my fellow alumni all of the Educators I know personally are educators of deep Integrity Dr Gilbert's description of the expertise of those educator is fully consistent with my experience these are Educators who put their tenure on the line to support our students myself included and especially our black and brown students at a time when our Administration Boe and Community was collectively comfortable with internal segregation and wildly disproportionate discipline in our schools some of these Educators were here for black kids before black parents Workshop before s Justice before s carers or any of the current collectives that purport to advocate for the interests of our black and brown kids they were here before access in equity they were here before all of it I have watched some of these teachers in action for nearly two decades I know their deep-seated commitment to Justice their commitment to critical thinking and their analytical framework these educators are some of our most invested some of our most beloved and are philosophically and fundamentally opposed to bias in systemic Injustice their former students are some of the staunchest Allies Against Racism anti-Semitism islamophobia and other forms of bias that I know they inspired us to dedicate Our Lives to fighting hatred and oppression before you take any action against this group or the Educators within it you must do more than a surface level inquiry into the complaints levied against them from parents who admittedly just heard of them them in the last eight weeks please do not act hastily in response to the high emotion of this moment to undermine a group of Educators that has served our district so Faithfully for so long thankk you Danielle the last public speaks of our first public speaks is from I kuu Ona hello can I be heard yes we can hear you all right uh good evening thank you so much uh my name is EK chuk Yama I attended Elementary Middle School and High School in the South orang mwood School District and I graduated from Columbia High School in 2002 my mother still resides in South Orange but I'm a a resident of the next door town of Irvington I'm also a public school educator um and I'm also a co-founder of mapo Freedom School um um I just want to talk a bit about the context of how we were founded uh as you all know there was an incident of racial violence that took place in our community we chose to respond with the Freedom School side by side with the very students who were harmed to do a teaching at Columbia High School when that event happened in the summer of 2016 I understand many of the comments some Pro some against mapso Freedom school but we should not be reduced to just our social media presence we've done so much more than that uh throughout the years also um to do any kind of anti-racist work to Fight Against Racism to fight against sexism poverty War anything like that is inherently political work if I may just cite a definition from the Cambridge Dictionary of the word politics it means uh the activities of people who try to influence the way a country or a community is governed historically the context of Freedom schools since 1964 in Mississippi was all about empowering um folks who are learning how to vote uh or getting you know getting the right to vote it was always about exploring the authentic problems facing our community it was about building critical thinking skills I realiz I don't have a lot of time but in the same ways that I feel like mapso Freedom School is being mischaracterized so were the Freedom schools back in 1964 they were they were being treated as um you know an Invasion from the north as it were so once again just want to thank you for your time and uh I'm certainly a supporter of mapso Freedom School thank you very much okay um so that concludes public speaks thank you for everyone who dialed in to participate in the meeting this evening um we very much appreciate it so now I will turn it over to Mr Burnside for his business administration update thank you so I'm going to start with the construction rundown real quick um at Marshall School we're continuing with the interior and exterior masonry wall construction on the first and second floor um the contractor is continuing with the electric ruin they've installed roof drains and continued with the above ceiling storm piping um they're beginning the rough metal framing for the exterior metal panel they're continuing with the fire alarm on the second shift in the existing building um right now we are receiving the standing seam roofing materials and they're beginning the exterior foam spray instulation um montros will begin in the summer of 2024 that's going to be the HVAC work um Columbia High School's moving along rather rather well uh demolition in the b-wing is now 9 90% complete um the beam Pockets at the pool area are completed the new opening for the double doors and the pool area is 75% complete the rough in of electrical and piping for the new bwing science labs is underway um Locker removers Locker removals were done over the November break and the temporary partitions are set in place at at area C to allow for the pool area work to continue and um we just had the uh Maplewood Middle School uh construction kickoff meeting on November 15 as uh we move along through the school year we have another audit that is starting so this is the third one in the last seven months this one's called the New Jersey quality single account accountability continuum also known as NJ cusac um NJ cusac is the Department of education's monitoring and SE and District self- evaluation system for public school districts the system shifts the monitoring and evaluation Focus from compliance to assistance capacity building and Improvement uh the system focuses on monitoring and evaluating school districts in five components that based on re research have been identified to be key factors in effective school districts uh these components are instruction and program fiscal governance operations and personnel and that's my report great thank you does anyone have any questions for okay board member bamani Mr Burnside can you please clarify the construction that's happening in CHS that there is no work being done for building the pool it is using the pool area to build the new guidance and the commona that is correct so all the demolition um I actually got a good look at it right before the uh Break um the uh the the demolition that has taken place is a it's along a wall so there's actually um or holes that were built into the wall and all of the uh the residue if you will from the Block is now inside the pool so they're actually filling in the pool as we speak thank you any other questions for Mr Burnside okay seems like we're good to go thank you Mr Burnside um on the agenda this evening we have committee reports but due to the length of public spe this evening we will not be doing committee meeting report outs all of our committee meeting minutes will be posted to the public website so we will now uh move to the action portion of the meeting and normally I would pass this over to you Dr Gilbert all right pass you're gonna pass it to me or you you unless uh if you want I can do it today oh no I mean let me let me try I mean nothing like on so uh U excuse me sorry before you start uh Dr Gilbert I have a suggestion maybe we can move the resolution for the changing of the Committees and lers on up front because many people are watching this and they've been doing this for like last five hours and for most of them that is the most important uh resolution I mean they I mean I'm sure they think it's very important but talking about first reads and second reads of some policies are not as interesting to them so my suggestion is we just move that up front run did you want to make the motion to do that I I don't think I need to make a motion oh okay I he's making the motions for every resolution I'm happy to make it if you want okay uh give me a second sorry where's the resolution number um um um if you sorry go ahead okay if you give me the resolution number I'm working with two computers here of the resolution you want me to put up front I I can I can make the motion if you don't mind okay why don't you go why don't you go ahead and make make it easy abolutely so I moved to I moved to vote on resolution 4546 which is approved revised Boe committees for the 2023 calendar year okay does he have a second do you have a second thank you thank you VP dual Wilson and Mr Burnside please take the roll call actually sorry it's open for discussion yes yes anyone have any to say okay we will I take aab sorry no oh sorry okay go ahead go ahead board my record you um so you know I want to thank everybody for joining and for sitting through this meeting um I know it's a very emotional a very charged topic um I you know I also want to apologize to the community and to my fellow board members for previously approving the liaison in February without really having a comprehensive understanding of all of their activi of the organization's activities um as a board member it is my responsibility to ensure that each decision I make is well informed a commitment that I made to the community and regrettably I fell short of fulfilling in that um in relation to this previous vote um I am committed to doing better but I do want I think it's important to note that my vote tonight does not signify my personal thoughts of the work undertaken by mapso Freedom school instead it underscores what the board president said earlier the assertion that as a board we should refrain from establishing non-mandated liaison relationships with organizations that can be actively engaged in political advocacy the decision is aimed at maintaining the board's a political stance ensuring that any liaison relationship is not construed as endorsement for an organization's polit political advocacy efforts so I just wanted to share that just for a public record thank you thank you uh board member Winfield uh I guess I want to just say a couple of things I think that you know I I still have concerns about the ways in which we shifted our decision to add Liaisons at the beginning of this calendar year and and continue to have those I think that um the decision was made somewhat haphazardly and um you know we expressed concerns at the time about that but I have real issue with this notion that um as a board of education or as an education institution that we must remain somehow apolitical when the reality is that education in the United States right now is one of the most political things that you can be involved in and you know when I think about um what we're spending so much time as a district grappling with what we've been unpacking in the Fergus recommendations um an organization like mapso Freedom School um is is frankly a resource to be able to advance much of that work and I understand and really appreciate the perspectives that have been shared tonight I absolutely hear the unbelievable amount of pain in the voices of our community members as they are unpacking their own personal experiences um in relation to what's happening on a global stage and I have a real real issue with the way that mapso freedom school is being characterized um in a way that frankly does not align with the body of work and um the resource that they have provided not only our teachers but listening to many of the students and the Alum who spoke to tonight um and so while I still really really have issues with the ways in which we don't have a very rigorous and consistent approach to assigning Liaisons I think that I really implore the new board in the new year to take a step back and really unpack the intention behind assigning liaison the purpose and really create some coherent approach to that um I it does not sit right to me that we are are using a um a very technical um you know board committee leaz on assignment as a proxy for indicting what feels like um an organization that has been doing this work long before it was sexy and long before it was mandated by legal action I'd like to say something go ahead can I go okay great and appreciate some of those comments uh Courtney uh I just wanted to say that I do not believe mapo Freedom School has been provided due process um on on November 21st TJ Whitaker respectfully requested the opportunity to give a brief presentation on mapso and the work they do that request was denied by the board president without justification now we are to vote on a resolution to terminate the Le the liaison with without them getting a real opportunity to speak this sets a a dangerous precedent remember what we heard from our students and Dr Gilbert himself that this the PD received the highest scores with no complaints and they save District dollars we always say we want to uplift brown and black voices in this District but when we don't like what we hear we say turn it down we should not and cannot pass judgment without giving mapso the space and time to speak for themselves in two minutes is not enough thank you so I just want to correct something there um regarding the request for Public Presentation um as a reminder the Board of Education it's a business meeting for the board and this year I receiv received two requests the one from U Maps Freedom School and also a a request from a Community member both requests have been denied and the email that I wrote to mapso Freedom School gave reason as to why it was denied and that was because Dr Gilbert was going to be speaking to their professional development work and I also again Express that we are an a political entity the board we were not making a motion to sever ties with maps Freedom school but to eliminate the liaison between the board and this entity because they have entered the political fry and based on what you're suggesting tonight because there's two lenses of which people are looking at this tonight we are looking to remove the liaison role because of their political commentary and So based on what you're saying suggesting they should be able to come and defend those social media comments which is not appropriate for our boardroom and so I understand that it's upsetting I wish we could let anyone come and present to the board but our board meetings are for our board work and I invited him to attend our public speaks he Mato Freedom School has every invitation to attend not only tonight's meeting but every meeting um and we sat through three hours of public speaks tonight to make sure that everybody's voice was heard go ahead Kat and take it to her sorry sorry thank you you done this board member Deval Wilson okay hi thanks um yeah thank you for all who's attended tonight um it was going to be a long night and uh I just want to re reiterate some things um that kayln has shared and Echo some of the things that my fellow board members have shared um one is that you know there's been a lot of misinformation out there and just reiterating that mapo Freedom School does not have any contracts and does not have any formal relationship with the board other than the liaison role um board member Wingfield I agree I think that if we're going to continue to have liaison in the future um that needs to be more defined um because it is a very gray area um in addition through the vote tonight only the board leaon relationship will be ending this vote does not impact the professional development in our district I want to also make that clear because I think that's a another misunderstanding that I've heard from public speaks tonight um I appreciate the update that Dr Gilbert gave to provide context to the community on maps of Freedom school's relationship with the district um and that maps of Freedom School does not have a formal contract with our school another big misunderstanding also I want to say that I'm pretty I'm confident that our district will continue to ensure that its curriculum and professional development sessions are properly abiding our policies is one of the this is one of the things that Dr Gilbert said in his uh in his uh update today um with that said I believe having Le Aon with non-state mandated organizations is a liabil is a liability that we should no longer undertake um our board president stated we're in a political organization and I believe we have to sever ties with mapso um because of that and not cherry pick or play favors when it comes to this um look I've studied religion I have a degree in religion I very much deeply understand why people are hurting on multiple sides of this topic um and again I I want to thank everyone who came out tonight to speak um and I really appreciated the board president's words when she said I hope that we can lead by example and show that amidst our disparities love and understanding um excuse me love and understanding has the power to Prevail that's all I want to say thank you board member Wright and then Dr Talis for uh thank you and and good evening everyone it's been a long day and an even longer night but I must say that our young people have learned that you do not accept Injustice and I thank the mapso freedom school for that um as I sat here and listened to everyone speak uh the bottom line is um that I have to agree with board member um uh bill um about o not affording the mapso Freedom School um the opportunity to present to the board I think they speak too well to be spoken for while I appreciate Dr Gilbert uh filling Us in you know again about the maps of Freedom School and and the important work that they have done uh uh for the district on behalf of children of color black children and children with special needs um we appreciate all of that and some but here's here's the thing everyone that I've heard from who has participated with in the mapso Freedom School um has done a fabulous job and I must say I have presented in the past for the mapso freedom school so I do know what they're about uh unlike most of you here I remember when mapo Freedom School was formed and why it was formed and they have been doing the job for our students that the district has not not been doing but I didn't hear an outcry about our children I didn't hear it and so now we're here to stop the very people who have been filling in the gap for our children I understand when people talk about being political and stuff I I just want to know how is the board apolitical we ran campaigns uh when exactly did we enter the political Fray you know we have anti-racist education and organizing is is apolitical until people certain people say well that's so you know when they began to advocate for children they began to turn around we've been in a really bad State between the children being isolated not being able to communicate uh not being able to to visibly be seen the maps of Freedom School teachers and uh saw them and former students and and and and what I'm looking at is I know most of the the the teachers and the students that are a part of mapso Freedom school because they were a part of this District of this community and I think it's horrible that we didn't get to sit in person to talk face to face because we're we're we're a community that's hurting and we need to heal and we don't know how because everyone's so angry you know know there you know our thoughts trigger trauma and that's what I heard tonight but I think we can do a lot better than everybody jumping on a bandwagon that they know 15 to 25% about and we know 100% about it as board members and so here we here we are again uh listening and I and I wanted to listen to everyone and and figure this thing out and I can't go any place but where I've always been and so support of people who support our children like the mapso Freedom School especially when none of us have and to do this so quickly just let's hurry up and get it done because somebody told you to do it no thought about the children didn't sit down and say why don't we have a talk let's find out what's really going on let's see who's po posting who's doing what does it mean it doesn't mean anything people are just angry I want people to stop killing one another I would love for people to love one another I would love for people to be okay that's the LIE we tell ourselves most every day that we're okay we're not we're not okay tonight we're not okay and some of you don't feel good about what's happening I'm not okay with it I'm not okay with coming after people like this especially people who are from your own Community you know we didn't break into this community we moved here we live here we love one another we care about one another but we don't act like it everybody wants to get somebody else I say we take a deep breath and think will we be our friends if we treat the people the way we treat ourselves the hate has to stop no Stigma yeah stigma free City I feel like we're that small town in the South right here in the north we're that little town in the South this is the way we're acting attacking people call name calling it's horrible this is not the way you model for your children this is not the way you do it they're trying their best to model for you so we have to talk so people will listen and listen so people will talk and I am so sorry that people are hurting but we all are I'm hurting for our children I'm hurting for the world I'm hurting for us I hope we'll think about this and not rush to hurry but don't rush to judgment and if you've ever been a part of Injustice then you know how it feels it's a different feeling I mean after all you know we we talk about how people are are mean all over the world somebody made a great point and saying that you don't hate the people because of what the governments are doing we have to embrace one another people we have to do that we have to do a better job of it as adults and I certainly wish that we will have the opportunity to sit down and talk with one another and some type of community form or something but this I'm not going to sit here and stand for our communities to be so divided like this we work too hard you know to come to a a a place where we are and I've spoken to a couple of my colleagues you know about that uh but you know this is horrible this is this is this is really you know embarrassing we can do better and and and somebody should have said to mapso Freedom School can I talk to you can we sit down and talk to you before we hit social media and we go crazy we just really have to do a better job we have to heal people everybody's ready let's go let's go get them we have a new superintendent who has a a huge plate I'm sorry uh Acting Superintendent whose plate is full he doesn't know where to begin or where to get off and here we are dealing with with with things like this all night long we have bus issues with our children it's going on right here getting them to school on time we have teachers who feel disenfranchised even more volunteer in their time to help our children and this is how we show them what we do but I'm I'm going to start been a long day and if I've rattled on I'm so sorry been up since 5 long day in court and here we are so a long evening and uh I appreciate all of you who came out to speak I really do I appreciate I know it took a lot of time you could be with your families I appreciate it thank you thank you Dr telesford just want to say I appreciate all the people that spoke tonight um I guess I would have preferred to have something like this in person because I think one of the issues that we have is that when we speak in vacuums whether it's on social media or whether it's from the comfort of your virtual home and being only able to speak at your computer we lose that ability to see each other and talk with each other and I think a topic like this really was important for us to see each other um by understand like we made a decision to go virtual and um yeah I guess the the one thing I feel like listening to to this topic is I feel as though many people are not seeing each other's Humanity here and I really hope that from I guess from this public speaks that it's not we are not making a decision about whether to close down Maps so Freedom school or not but it is about I guess what the board's function is um I like to push back against this idea of us being apolitical because I think we are a political body um when someone when we just passed a resolution earlier about book Banning because we know that books are being banned all over the country which is a very political act um we also have people that are standing against the lgbtq community coming in and saying they are damaging my family or my child and we as a board stand up to protect that community so we do take very political stances we are inherently a political body um and I guess sometimes there are some topics that maybe we should not have a we maybe we should not offer our voice on and I can understand on board saying we don't want to speak on certain topics but I think I really want to push back on that idea that we are an apolitical body we are a political Body by nature and topics like this are going to come up so I just think it's very important that we lead and try to you know Foster that discussion board member of valani I I have nothing more to add in terms of uh the arguments for one side or the other I'm just a more practical thing is that for this resolution I just want to clarify that voting Yes means you want to accept the resolution and remove the leaza on to maps of Freedom School and obviously voting no is the negation of that thanks okay and it doesn't remove anything when it relates to professional development or what they do with teachers it's a very SE that's a totally that's no sorry let me clarify that we been board the board has no business dictating that that is something the district takes care of we don't have it in our policy to either affirm or deny any work with maps of Freedom School we are not involved in picking maps of Freedom School we're not involved in any of those things so I we shouldn't be even be making statements like we asking them to do something like that we are not asking them to do anything that is an independent function of the superintendent of the schools and they will do what they do our job here is to worry only about the liazon to the to to an organization and which we have full right to get into and get out whenever we choose to all right so with that we'll close discussion on resolution 454 six and we'll go to rooll Mr Burnside member AER yes board president with letter yes board member gford no board member Wright no member Duval Wilson yes board member telesford yes board member Wingfield no board member VOD Lani yes motion passes okay so um we will now be open we'll make a motion to well I guess let me start off by asking are there any other resolutions that people would like to sever Dr telesford yes if I sever 4544 will that bring up the all the um all the I guess the policies that are up for first and second read so how does it work now Patrick I know that are you trying is this for the uh which one is it is it first read or second read which number let me look at the number oh I guess it's 44 4544 um seven and eight of the first reads in the first read seven and eight okay um how does it work again Patrick sorry I would only sever the wounds in particular um among the policies that you want sever so for that reason it would be 4544 subparts seven and eight and then the rest of the 4544 to the extent that it's not separed can just go forward so basically what here's what I would do I would make the motion to um sever 4544 um SE first read 7 and8 and once that's done it'll pull it out of the motion and then you can you can still vote on the first motion seven8 are no longer included in that motion and then seven and eight will be its own separate motion okay I'm sorry a little little confused I me 4544 has a to G it has nothing else in it I don't know I'm looking at the attachment so should I be looking at the main page look at the main page you'll see it's in the um 4544 first read uh seven which is policy 5120 assignment of students and then eight which is 5124 internal yep thanks yeah okay but are there any other oh go ahead I don't know who's just speaking but is someone talking okay are there sorry sorry about that can can we also sever um 4281 4281 4281 I don't see inappropriate oh sorry in the first read okay 4281 okay oh in in the second read yeah okay so 4544 second read number five are there any other resolutions to be severed or okay so I guess I'll make a motion to seever resolution 4544 first read subpart 7 and 8 and 4544 second read subpart five do I have a second second thank you Dr telesford so we would be in discussion then Patrick for all of the or now do we make a motion to I'm sorry did you do an all in favor on that uh oh all in favor yeah sorry all in favor raise your hand sorry all right so then they're severed um and they can be separately um it's up to you the order that you want to proceed because they're now they're severed so you can do the whole slate motions and then address those three or you can do those three and then address the whole slate of motions either way oh yes I'm sorry um is the what was it I think there was also the settlement agreement that's you want to sever that one yeah okay um so the motion to sever 4548 do you a second second okay thank you all in favor raise your hand I think right okay all right so um so now i' like to make a motion then to discuss uh resolutions 4537 through 4547 not including the uh resolutions that we've set okay board member vman in the resolutions that are up for second read There is a resolution that we are abolishing which is the 8550 which is um 855 yes unpaid meal charges outstanding food service charges uh can you just explain because there's you know there were a bunch of questions asked as to why we're doing that I mean I mean I can go ahead and actually I'll make a statement first and then you can correct me if I'm wrong is that this particular uh policy has now been adopted into New Jersey state law and we no longer need it everything 100% of what we have in this policy is now part of the New Jersey Law so therefore we no longer need it so can someone add to that well also what we discussed was we have policy 8500 which is Food Services which is the latest version from the state which makes 8550 out of just it does it's out of out of what's the word I'm thinking of out of date it's it's redundant yeah yeah and we we we had asked for um Food Services to take a look at those policies to make sure that there was that the food services policy everything was kosher there was nothing that was in the old ones that need to be in the new one and um so yeah I mean that has been looked at eded already and I mean Patrick can't add anything on if I'm missing something but but that was why though that's why that one is being abolished and we have the new 18500 cool thank you okay I normally don't do this part so I'm yeah so Eric did you get so board president moved all of the Motions I don't know if I heard a second no did because then I saw arun's hand so can we get a second on that again okay and now all of those motions are up for discussion correct any one have anything to say okay so seeing no one raising any discussion points we'll close discussion and we'll go to roll okay uh this is for 4537 through 54547 correct board member V Lani yes board president will letter yes board member Aker yes board member dval Wilson yes board member telesford yes board member gford yes board member right she's not there board member Wingfield yes motions pass thank you so now I like to make a motion um to discuss resolution 4544 um do we have to do each one on individually like subpart seven by itself you can make the motion any way you want to make the motion the issue is that you know if you make the motion with all three then you're voting on all three at once if you make the motion with one of them you're voting on that one okay Bo if he has a and Bill if they have a preference my suggestion would be that whoever asks for it sever to make the motion perfect and the reason for that is because a person that makes a motion is actually under Robert's Rules entitled speak first so since they're the one that asked for it seever it would be logical for them to speak first on it the only thing I would caution and we haven't gotten to it yet is that 4548 what involves a student and it was a confidential settlement agreement and so there actually shouldn't be a discussion out here we had that discussion in executive session so at this point though if you're going to look look at the policy motions um board member gford board member tford had asked for the S so whoever wants to go first I would say I would say go for it you're on mute quae I guess I'll just start with the we'll do first reads and second reads and we'll start with first reads first and go to Second reads and then go to the the the settlement um and I guess with 5120 and 512 2 four my my main concern is that you need to make a motion oh I'd like to make to make a motion to I guess open discussion on 5120 5124 have a second second thank you are you g to vote on both together if you yes both together okay um or actually no we'll do them separately I'm sorry yeah do it again yeah I'd like to make a motion to have a discussion on five 520 and 5124 separately do I have a second second all right all in favor all right so I guess the main reason why I pulled these two out was because these two policies last month they were they had gone through um admin feedback also with any sort of stakeholders the languages changed it was up for first read in October and then somewhere in between after that meeting and up to our policy meeting it was not full they was not fully edited a lot of the language changed from that initial from that initial first read um so for for 5120 the major change was changing the language to make it not a pilot program and now we're just going to make it a program so it's going to be a full program in 2425 and I think that's a little premature I think we want it to actually have test runs to make sure that if we are changing it we're going to make have have like actual data something that we can follow as opposed to just saying we need to have a full program 2425 that was not what the direction we were going with at the outset and now we're changing that um uh the next one 5124 the language has changed and as far as I know the admin has not had much feedback on the change in language particularly on things like Transportation um one of the major changes that I saw was I wanted changing the TR changing if a student changes address in the middle of the school year we would be normally they don't get Transportation because we want to maintain bus routes so we not altering it tremendously when students are moving within the school year but the next school year they can get Transportation this language is being changed to now give students that ability to get Transportation I know it seems like it's we're being mean by saying oh they shouldn't get Transportation but that is a significant change and I think admin should at least have input on that and they haven't and what little language and what little input I heard during policy meeting when we didn't actually see the actual full changes were it was they were not fully confident or supportive of this language change so I think that we should not be just changing policy language like this in between meetings I understand why people are trying to rush this but I don't see there's a reason to rush this we can just do this at a very like relaxed pace and change these change these policies and if that doesn't happen next month it can happen in January February it can happen next year we don't have to rush this I would say um Deval Wilson yeah thank you C for your thoughts on this you know I'm I'm a little confused on the we'll start with 51 5124 when it comes to the transportation um if some if if a child moves residents yes they still fit the requirements for a bus they should get a bus I don't understand what the problem is it doesn't make sense to me and and it's happened to it's actually happened to a lot of our to some of our black students where I met a mom she she her child was going to Seth boen and was supposed to get a bus she moved to South Orange and they weren't giving her a bus anymore like that's ridiculous she's actually far enough away she would have gotten a bus otherwise I mean this was when this was when um courtesy buses were were were no longer and because of this policy I think we are in I don't understand why we're constantly trying to take away the the potential for a child to get to school through a bus if they're able to get a bus because they're 1.25 miles away or on a hazardous Roo or all these other things they should be getting a bus and I don't think it's our our place to prevent them from doing so because they just move to their house and people move around in South Orange Maplewood a lot yes and that's the point I would say the moving around part is we've already seen how moving one or two children around can change the whether the bus is gets there 30 minutes later or gets there on time so yes when students are moving around in the middle of the school year that can alter their bus rots for people that may have had something that was established for I get at this bus stop at 7:40 every morning and now they're saying oh no it's different now that's a b problem well I I feel like that's getting into much of the weeds of administr of administering because quite frankly we've got hundreds of roots right now we have we we have so many more opportunities for kids to be on buses and we actually are under budget right now for our transportation we we we actually have not used almost $200,000 in our bus budget in our transportation budget so I don't my point though is my point is that we have not heard from Administration on this change this has just been the change in the language and I think we should hear back feedback on that before we just change the language because we have not heard any feedback on that well right now it's a first read so if there's additional requests that are being made later from the administration they can make it but my point is I feel like it's going a little bit too far to say that and you're from a perspective of what if there's no space on a bus you have to change your route well that's the district's job to do that and quite frankly we have a lot of buses we have we we have a lot of routes we already have children going all over the place the probability of there being a route for that child to be on if they do move is very high and I don't think it's our place just to to question what if there's not a rout the district's job is to figure that not our job I don't think it's a policy driven thing that should be done I'll respond to that but I'll let actually board member V then president would let her speak actually the other thing I wanted to say which will be quick about 55120 let's say that for for next because I want I just want to say f so 5124 first that's why I was saying it okay sorry 51 512 5124 5124 yes so I actually I don't I'm not as concerned about the language of I mean I am concerned but that's a secondary problem I it just seems to me as if this has not just gone through proper process I mean has it been to the the the relevant committee first gotten the language done approved it and then moved on to the policy committee it doesn't seem like that's what happened uh because clearly if it had happened then we'd have seen this full document in the policy committee correct so I mean just can someone explain to me if this really went through the whole process because it doesn't seem like it because the very fact there are there is there is you know this all these conversations and back and forth it just seems to me it's not ready to go out yet where's our policy chair I mean I would assume if the district is giving us a first read on something it the district did what they were supposed to do with policy I'm sorry please don't blame the district last time the Super brought out a policy you you know you you fired him I mean so you know let's not talk about who brings the district out the policy out I mean let the policy chair bring out the policy is this policy can stand say that yeah yeah so this policy has been going back and forth for a while um Dr Taylor actually you know I I believe this is the policy that he wanted to get more feedback from the alvas group and we did that uh we put in some of those changes um but we felt that the document had changed so substantially um that it could not go back that it could not move forward to Second read and that is that is why is up for a first read uh now so you know this is the administration you know taking time uh to speak with our consultants and make sure this is a good policy so we wanted to you know do the right thing and bring it back uh as it changed so substantively and so that that's why it moved back that's why we're here did it go to an appropriate committee though not just policy committee because policy committee does not make on internal transfers but I I believe that went through I believe this already you know I mean look it's it's midnight I I'm you know I'm certain that this did go go to committee already it went to committee then it went to Dr Taylor and the Alves group changes were made uh I spoke with with quawi um and Patrick we both agreed that the changes were so substantive that it would had to move back everybody agreed on that and that's why we are here now I I think there is some confusion here though and but I will first let board President we let her go speak first because she hasn't spoken okay sorry and I know board member ER did you want to speak because I feel like your hand's been up for a while I can I don't care either way okay um I also you know regarding the removal of the language of students in this category are not entitled to Transportation regardless of the distance from home to school I do think it makes sense to remove that language because it's it's contradictory to our transportation policy right now our transportation policy is such that we are transporting all elementary students K prek through five and to say that we're not it's not Equitable to say okay we're going to transport all K through five students that live you know and we don't have the actual mileage and the policy but but we're not going to transport students because you moved midye like that just doesn't make sense to me so I do think taking this language out actually aligns to our transportation policy and the sentiment of the board is that we want to make sure that kids that live um 1.25 miles or more are getting a bus uh prek through five in support of the intentional integration plan right that's the backbone so I just want to reiterate that I think this makes complete sense because this would pair perfectly to our our brand new Transportation policy yes Bo member eer yeah um I don't have much to say I just I don't want to belor it but I think you know Caitlyn you actually made a really great point and that's why I had brought it up and and newbie if I recall I even think at the last boarding me board meeting you might have brought this up as well but it was just in contradicting it was contradicting to our current Transportation policy so it wasn't anything you know trying to pass that really quickly it just now that we had amended our transportation policy eligibility requirements in terms of mileage has changed so the idea was if you are just moving within our communities as long as you are eligible mileage wise you should receive it and that literally the intent of that removal of language I guess okay one thing I want to make the point of is in our last board meeting in October we did have this up for first read and then remember Deval Wilson said I wanted to change hardship language and Dr CH said yes we can consider that and we will look at that in the next policy meeting um then the language was changed where someone crossed out the language and then they said okay let's put this up for second read but that was not yes that's what happened because I want I want to correct hold on hold on I do want to correct it was up for second read but that's not because anybody pushed for it I actually spoke with Dr Gilbert earlier this week because I was so confused because I didn't see 5120 or 5124 up for first read Because as Bill mentioned substantive changes would go back to first read so when I spoke to Dr Gilbert he also had a couple of questions because you know understandably he wasn't as involved in um in these policies prior to uh taking on this acting role so um it was at that point he clarified whether it was a mistake or not it was not intended to be up per second read and that is why it's back up for but that's not the point I'm trying to make now here the point I'm trying to make now is that there were substantial changes made in the policy meeting and we now have the Acting Superintendent who has not had any input on this um Dr Dr Gilbert how much input have you and admin have had on these new changes to the policy because the language was changed after it was up for first read and that was from input from Dr Taylor so how much has your team and or and you have had on providing input on this particular policy so because it was actually done under Dr Taylor of I have not personally or my team Revisited this since the old original changes have happened but understanding this this first read I was assuming that we were going through the process and so that possibly happen I but in terms of your question we have not I have not had an opportunity to go through a thorough examination of the policy albe it because Dr Taylor had already ran it through the first time which I was part of that review process right but yeah but I did have discussions as Miss eer just uh talked about I have had discussions with board members about some of the just questions about some of the changes but in terms of directly running it through other admin other people on the SLT that is not happen because I I guess my question is wouldn't it be prudent to for instance to ask Transportation would this change be a substantial having a substantial effect on your ability to um transport to students I mean you're answering no for them but I'm saying I believe the the district should be able to answer those questions first before we move forward if it yeah this is just me trying to really grasp around understanding what happens after after the first read and what the assumption is going to happen uh following that so I would think that categorically since it's in first read we would have an opportunity as Administration to look at the change after first read to make any input before it goes I think it goes to the respective committee after it passes first read then goes back to the policy moves it through another committee but during that time Administration will have an opportunity to add its input because if they do provide input then and there are changes then it has to go back to first read again because that's if if the if the if the changes are substantial right so if we look at it and we have different changes yeah we have to go back to the committed to see if we have to move with the first read so what I'm trying to say is I'm just as part of the process my assumption is that we get another chance to look at it since it is now back at first read based on the other changes that have been made I guess the question is here like if you look at the policy itself there's minimal we're in 5124 there's minimal changes I think the language that seems like some board members are concerned by is the removal of the hardship language and I guess I'm just wondering why you know it says hardship does not include Child Care needs Transportation work hours and peer group placement because those are not minimal changes those are substantial changes to the policy even if it's just two words the two words could change policy substantially I can answer that sorry sorry not not to cut you off right well actually I did cut you off sorry go ahead in in 5120 I know they're cross referencing because they're very tied together there's new language added and the last sentence is a very big sentence is lastly the board of course expects an equitable unbiased proposal that after review and testing does not undermine the intent of triple I my concern as with many other people is that we're chipping away at triple I with all these small changes like for example you've taken away hardship does not include Child Care needs transportation and pure group basement that means tomorrow if a parent decides that oh my my neighbor's kid is going to go to Tuscan and I want to go to Tuscan too that hardship is no longer a hardship and they'll come and flood us with the transfer requests that is my core problem I'm I'm being very honest with you okay this is not about one word here or two words here at the end of it my fear is that we're chipping away at triple I so so we we talked about we discussed that Aron in because I joined the policy meeting to discuss these because these are two policies that I've been I mean 5120 I started working with Dr Taylor on in March of 2023 um you know 5124 is is is fairly newer but um we did discuss the hardship language and I I think um you know in the meeting we talked about there is a process in place like it's already reviewed on a case-by casee basis the district already has the appropriate folks in place when somebody puts in a transfer request so my argument to that was I was trusting the process in place that they're going to know when the right time is to make that determination so I don't disagree with you on the peer group placement one you know I could I could speak at length about you know that I don't feel that we as a board can determine that work you know conditions or whatever are not a hardship I actually think it's really inappropriate because we don't know anybody's specific situations um but I I don't disagree about the peer group placement I I will I'll acknowledge that part but I think that that's the the just change in that language though the reason why I think that we can have a caseby case basis is because we said here are our list of restrictions and then okay if you're not one of these restrictions we can look at your case for transfer if you now say we're going to remove that list you are now increasing the number of requests that can come in and there will be a substantial number of requests now because you've removed all language saying there are no restrictions and if you look at other districts that even allow things like Child Care Transportation there is an auditable there's a way that you can audit the paper trail so you can see it's not just someone coming in saying I have a have a I have request I think we need to put in some of those types of protections so we don't have a system that is inundated and and I think that's something that Dr Gilbert and I spoke about in terms of like the regulations that they put in place around it um you know because he brought that concern up you know in our in our in the meeting talk but we can still put that into our policy though that's not without putting in regulation we can put in language to ensure that you know for instance for any for any sort of transfer request there should be some sort of auditable auditable paper trail for something can I talk because I've been regulation for a while and also based on Robert's Rules I think all of us who have been talking have this will be my second time talking which means we're gonna have to wrap this up um why no you can keep going based on Robert's Rules we're supposed to we choose not to follow Robert rules Robert Mr it is only two people and you you can't it's each person you get one turn it goes around and then another and then it goes around again and then it should be done and so if people have spoken back and forth that's technically not how this works but anyway but yeah so I just want to share like what I shared in the last meeting was it is not the board's job to tell a parent what their hardship is or isn't in order for their child to get to school it is very disrespectful let the district do their job to do it on a case-by casee basis it is not say it is not a board member's job to say you getting to work isn't a hardship how dare us say that to a parent please how dare anytime anytime people use words like shame and dare I just tune out okay I me don't Case by case b just like we don't tell the district how to figure out their placements I think we're getting a little we're we're we're decide we as a board yeah finish and then and then uh board member wingfield's hands up um yeah so so thank you I wasn't done talking and I also want to reiterate that we are not during covid anymore everyone's working from home like there are so many different family situations right now because of Co people have lost their elderly caregivers people have lost people have more than one job now just to survive pay these high taxes no I think it's really messed up to be putting in a policy all of these things I think what I said last time was what is a hardship death that you're that the the the child is parentless so I think it's going too far let the district do their job they already as Regina said they already have a process Case by case and the second thing I want to say because it's related hey Robert's Rules we done talking is that I think that we could actually be sued by keeping that language in 5124 about not letting not letting students be entitled to Transportation because technically students and parents can apply for transportation all year so to board member tell us for his point of what happens if a kid in the middle of the Year needs Transportation it already is happening there is no hard stop to applying for transportation the state doesn't let us do that it is not allow so we could actually be sued for keeping that statement in there while also having another policy that says we allow students to be to receive courtesy busing and then having another policy that says that we allow students to have transportation if they're on hazardous routes you're going to have three different you're gonna have a policy that's negating all of that and we're gonna get sued if a child needs a let's get legal let's get legal's opinion on that F needs a bus in January 2024 all of a sudden and they meet all the qualifications that that parent can apply and they're and the state protects them and does not allow us to deny them a bus so that's why that language needs to be removed from 5124 we will get sued did we get legal Wingfield she has had her hand up and we're just thank you for finishing board member Deval wison I I just think that it's an abdication of the responsibility of the board to put decisions like this on a caseby Case basis on on uh District right so so the idea that Dr Gilbert would be responsible for like making these you know subjective determinations is a setup in its purest form it's our job as a district or excuse me as Board of Education members to set the policy and it's his job and his team's job to enact that policy and everybody in here knows full full well that on this topic in particular abdicating that role and responsibility to the district to make Case by casee decisions is a setup and it's and it's not appropriate and it's not okay for us to pretend otherwise and it will just be a complete open door for anybody applying for any type of hardship they want and and God forbid Dr Gilbert and his team decides to deny one I can only imagine the the the blowback um not just from the board but from the community because it's not an objective uh policy so I think it's really important that we spell that out it's our job to spell that out and I think that we need to take some more time so that the Administration has a chance to weigh in on this I mean look like we're losing students because we aren't able to recognize hardships I mean all of us got an email from decisions can you show me some data please about that you please I just gonna say we all got a we all received as a board a transfer request from a student their parent on October 30th it had gone through the district they had submitted a request because the parents the father Works an early morning shift the mother has to be to work at 8:00 a.m. they could not take their child to the school and they asked for a transfer they wanted to be transferred to a closed School um this I think they submitted for a transfer request twice it's a family of color and ultimately they stop sending their son to the school and they have notified us that they are going to be pulling them from the district and trying to find another school for them because we couldn't we weren't going to be flexible and say okay this family is experiencing a hardship because they need both parents to work and those parents can't take the child to school and the child doesn't have transportation so that's why we have I'm going to deny that request you don't think that that's a hardship this is the reality of what families in our our district are facing and this is we know we get a lot of transfer requests as board members we don't often see it this family wrote to us because of how frustrated they were I mean if we're going to sit here and say that families aren't experienced ing hardships I just think that's really really inappropriate we're all on these emails yeah I think it's inappropriate for us to take every single email that comes in and say we should change policy every time we get an email that's we should really have a organized system if we want to make these changes to I to address those types of things then we should make a very concertive effort to ensure the system is still very functional not just change things say anyone can now come and dis a case-by casee basis have been up for discussion since March internally amongst board members and with ad minist right and we had a firsty policy that was changed and then it was changed the last minute for this for this committee meeting board member eer I think you're on mute um sorry I just want to kind of finish off I mean listen I for one if we if if we're going to belabor the hardship argument we can talk about peer group placement I'm open to talking about that I'm not open to talking about the others um because again we don't have the data on it or I you know my assumption is nobody has even really just been open to say like well my whole block is going to this school and I'm not going to this school but sure you can make some assumptions that if you open up the floodgates that category would probably be the one in which you get the most requests so I'm open to discussion on that the others I'm not for the reasons that we've already talked about so then you want to put back hardship language then you're supposing putting back some hardship language then because some P peer group placement I'm open to talking about that hardship does not include peer group placement peer group placement I'm fine with that I'm not fine with I'm fine with that too is I think that's just ridiculous I mean then then I mean you should read every word in there there's Transportation but they're saying are we like are we editing the policy live in the middle of a board meeting are I don't understand what's going I'm I'm trying to have a conversation I'm open I got that but I think the conversation needs to happen back in committee it's it's it's almost 1:00 a.m. and I think that it sounds like people have different ideas and they need to flush those out and I think that's great I don't think this is the place to do it I think that we need to send this back to committee so that conversation can happen and a working session can happen so that another draft can come in front of the board we we've had that though like there's sometime likea we have this conversation resolved not resolved and people are throwing around different ideas and this is not the appropriate venue to do that you do that back in committee that's funny because I thought when Bill first gave us the new policy process the reason why we went to First reads with there being track changes like this was it was an open discussion to talk about if there were other ideas which is why we l brought up taking out hardships so no I it's wrong to say we shouldn't be having these conversations it's the one time that nine members of a board can come together and collaborate I think what we're doing is actually a great example of how we can all work together and try to come to consensus and if we can do that live in front of people at 12:36 in the morning I don't see that as a bad thing I see that as a pro and so if we go back and say hey you know what put put in peer group placement I can see the side for it I'm not going to sit here and say that we're wasting our time so let's let's make it easy right I mean I make a motion to send this two policies back to committee not two why are we sending two policies back there's nothing wrong with hang on give me one second what's wrong with 5120 so you change it from Pilot to Let's close conversation then on 5124 okay then I make a motion to move 5124 back to committee well I have a question I think the lawyer needs to advise that a substantial change to just put peer group back again if it's not then there's a motion on the floor motion on the Flor I can make any motion I want you're happy to you're happy to I mean I'm happy to take votes on it so I'm making a motion to send 5124 back to committee second we have to vote on yes please Mr bonide this is 5124 back to committee that is correct board member VOD lamani yes board member telesford yes board member gford no board member akert no board member Winfield yes board member Deval Wilson no board president with letter no board member Wright no motion does not pass okay so now can we take role on the motion itself to pass it continue doing what uh board member D Wilson said is a great example for our public to see we continue discuss until we come to a resolution no wait what I said this is a great example of public seeing us work together let's continue working till we resolve this and then vote on it yeah what do it we're gonna we're now going to vote on the uh what is it hold on it's 4544 F right because we were just in discussion now and then you made a motion and now we have to go back to approve it as a first read correct yes and all I was saying I got cut off and we're all excited was that I didn't see putting peer group placement back in as a huge substance of change that can that can be adjusted and still be moved on as a first read was what I so anyway I just wanted to make put that in the record of got cut off Patrick's talking but's on have to do that now so if you have um sorry four five this is I'm sorry it's the policy 5124 if you you would want to add that in Now by Amendment and then you can still pass it as first read as amended okay so we have to make a motion for it need a motion to amend policy uh five1 two4 and it it would then you know changing that strike through sentence in the paragraph it would read um this is in paragraph 2 subsection D hardship not include pure group placement i' also like to see transportation in there transportation is not a not a hardship if if you are one if you are8 miles away from school and you cannot for whatever reason transport your kid to school I mean we're not providing Transportation transportation is not a hardship that's what I'm saying this is not I mean we want to continue talking about this for the next I mean not a hardship I have to B to differ on that how can you differ on it we have a policy that says 1.25 miles I'm giving you a real example I know I am a parent who lives 08 miles away I claim hardship on Transportation will you provide transportation or will you provide a transfer well I think it's a case by case basis I know what you're saying there's some there's definitely a gray area there I hear what you're saying saying but then that's exactly why this needs to go back to committee and out the gray areas we should have no gray areas behind having a policy with gray areas means we put the district at risk and we make them my point is one of the reasons why we're saying let the district handle it is because they're the experts they already have and if you're saying no then what then no we own the we own all this policies it's us you're not you're not administering the school my point is transportation poul makes a lot of sense but all these other things are very they're not it doesn't make sense for us to be saying if that's a hardship or not is what I'm saying and that needs to be a caseby casee basis I'm giving you an example you tell me how this works homeless for example well I think there's actually a whole another thing for homeless but but there there's so many situations that that could necessitate something like that and so having in a policy I think as not a hardship doesn't make sense but that's just my personal opinion I think also I think that if we're going to add peer group placement that should be a separate resolution or whatever it's supposed to be let let's vote on that and then Aron if you want to say and I want to add transportation in then that needs to be a separate vote I would say why should go back to committee I mean what how many times will I make a resolution keep adding word I mean I can we can sit here all long and do that right you can hate the process all you want but that's the process so I'm saying first let's do the first one which what are you talking about please let um it sounds like board member erer would like to speak I'd like to make a motion to amend 5124 to include hardship does not include peer group placement second all in favor raise your hand or not everyone's on the camera so I don't know okay so then maybe we have to do roll call for because I don't sure roll call yes okay let's just do roll call sorry because all right sorry bide can you do roll call Mr board member Deval Wilson yes board member telesford yes board president with letter yes board member Wingfield she's gone board member gford yes board member aert yes board member Wright yes by the money no motion passes you just amended the motion the motion is still pending yes first read 5124 as amended can we go to vote now board president will letter yes board member Wingfield no board member tford no board member v lanii no board member eert yes board member Wright yes board member Deval Wilson yes Bo member gford yes motion passed are we on 5120 are we are we talking about yeah so now we're on resolution 4544 first read uh so sub seven first read which is 5120 great assignment of students um this is the same reason I would say as the last one language was changed after the fact and we did not go back to admin and there discussions with their stakeholders about whether to have a pilot program or to now have a program a full program up ready for 2024 25 I think that's that's substantial change my Deval Wilson and board member B lanii so I I have to beg to differ I know that this has been discussed and Dr Gilbert even said in our Municipal Partnerships that he was looking at this policy and policy was looking at the policy and one of the things that our lawyer pointed out was when you use the word pilot in a policy that is used for curriculum we're not talking about curriculum in this in this policy we're talking about the international integration initiative that's not a curriculum this policy is also stating that that it will be reviewed and tested to make sure that it doesn't undermine the intents of the II the same with with year one and two of our integration initiative it was reviewed it was evaluated it is it is a it is it is constantly being improved on and I would assume that it would be the same with this the AL group has wor has suggested that we create a socioeconomic driven weight lless program it was one of the recommendations they have done this in other districts around the around the country the policy has been looked at and worked on since March and has been in front of the El group multiple times and so the way that this language is written is so that the II is maintained so that it is not under mind and we're paying a lot of money for a consultant company to give us advice on how to continue to improve and hone in our integration initiative I don't know why we would ignore that and we've already the fact that this is SCS neutral enables it to not undermine and I would assume just like we have with the integration initiative this will be looked at year-over-year to make sure that it is implemented properly and to and to see the key learnings the district seems to be doing that with all of these programs so why wouldn't they do that with this um that's all I have to say and I guess the other thing is this probably we should probably have what the actual the what the actual transfer policy is as opposed to this this reads more like a resolution like we we would tell the district to work with the work department lead to work with stakeholders to create this program so this may not actually be this is really not appropriate language for this policy I think we should really have this as a resolution separately and then have that work done so that we can amend this language in this policy I think that I don't understand that Patrick about that I mean the original language was the actual transfer policy and the language said hey we don't like this we don't like the language because it can unravel the triple I and so it was changed to this language but this language really is not as appropriate either why yeah I don't understand because it's it's reason more like a resolution it's not a policy can can I jump in and say why Patrick actually let's have a so think think I know but let's just Vol he had his hand raised so so when we started the triple we didn't start it with every grade in the school we started it with kindergarten first and then we moved on to fifth grade in in in in middle school and so on that's called a phased in approach you don't do a big bang approach for the entire school this language tells the the district the administration to go create a weight list policy for the entire school that makes no sense look at that it says board request the superintendent to work with appropriate deers and develop a social economic weight list program for consideration for this school year that means for the entire school what all whatever 10 gares you do that instead I would recommend since it was a pilot and if you don't like the word pilot put in something that says a phas in approach or some kind of a guidance for administration so that they can do it starting with leard first second first third first and and over the next four years everything gets done that's common sense I'm not asking for something ridiculous out here correct remember record so the way that I'm reading this though is the the 5120 assignment of students is related to II so it's the the the weight list an SCS neutral weight list would be applicable to II grades the language is actually broad enough that you know if if Dr Gilbert comes back after trying to figure you know work on the process and says okay it'll be a phase in approach like I mean I can only speak for myself but I'm open to talking about that I mean you know at this point related to previous com what did we do init sorry board member eer was speaking yeah I know but I mean so please let her finish using the same arguments again and again saying I but let her speak she didn't interrupt you so can you please let her finish what she was saying I hear you Arun what I'm saying is that I believe that this is Broad enough that it actually gives them the flexibility but it just doesn't say pilot because it's not what it is that's exactly what pilot means I mean you run it on a small segment first and then you open it up to everyone else or you call you call it phased in approach you can call I mean think about this the language you says the board request superintendent okay what if the superintendent doesn't take to the request what happens then the group for every integration program that they offer in this nation they have a transfer policy in those districts year one I believe it was either the year one or year two report recommendation one and two one and two was to have a transfer policy we just approved a finance resolution where we could pay up to 44 $4,000 to Al next year we have them on retainer we're spending money this is something that they think we should have we've been talking to them about this since March of this year a pilot program the intent of the board is that we want a sustainable transfer Pro policy that allows folks to to move to different schools ATS neutral so I see we then follow their suggestion then what was suggestion they were going they provided a um an SCS neutral transfer program that included students that was um that was when their spot opens up they would offer it to a student they can move or not form mord I just I want to clarify the initial um recommendation was one we discussed it I can't remember honestly at this point when it was like too broad and it was more applicable to the districts that they work with that have controlled choice because it would automatically if you didn't get into your first choice you would get automatically put onto that weight list and if you got into your second you know you'd be automatically put on or whatever I'm sorry the third you'd be automatically put on the appropriate weight list that doesn't make sense because we don't have controlled choice so way like what is that it would be s neutral so I think that's the most important thing that we want in our system is Right absolutely it's sces neutral well the language here and then we have to we have to close conversation about this the the language says that this would be done in such a way that after review and testing it would not undermine the intent of triple I so everything that seems to be concern what would be designed wouldn't undermine triple ey I mean you can see why I have such low trust in that language right no no we just did 5124 and that was filled with stuff that is breaking triple ey it's it's almost 1 o'clock in the morning everyone more than twice so we will go to roll no okay let me start let me put that think about 1 rest it is 1:00 because very very long publics and we had a long public speaks because people chose to have we should have we could have saved all this we're going to close conversation now and we're going to move to public we're going to I can't even speak anymore so we I think it's important that people it's almost 1 o'clock in the morning we've had debate about this we are now going to go to roll call Mr Burnside send it back to committee that's an option there is always an option which you're choosing not to tell so don't tell me means you know it's it's a late timing thing it's because you want this to pass that's why you're doing the rooll call what did you say send us back to committee can we vote Yes yes please vote this is 5120 correct board member AER yes board member Deval Wilson yes board member telesford no board member is not here board president with letter yes board member wri board member gford yes board member VOD Lani no motion passes okay so now um it's 4544 second read number five which is policy 4281 inappropriate staff conduct and I'll um Bill you you got the yeah you know um after hearing some concern from the public and looking at it myself um I think that it should go back to the policy committee for discussion instead of passing uh I'm looking at it it does look like a policy alert that we really didn't um do much editing to and and I do fear especially given the climate right now and and the concerns around free speech that uh you know we we should have this go back to discussion uh to committee so I would just make a motion to bring this back uh to committee for further discussion if somebody would second that second sorry I didn't seconded who who was iton okay thank you to vote on that Patrick or can that just happen you need to you need to vote on it all right let's vote on it let's vote on it open for discussion right I want to speak wait what did you say Patrick sorry I couldn't hear you right so you to send it back to committee it has to be voted upon but there's a discussion on it now I'm I'm very Ian very pleasantly surprised that everybody wants to send it to committee and look at it twice more when two exact same policies with as much difference on the board as this one was not I mean it just seems like you know the board majority has a view in mind and they were like oh these two things are our pet projects we should push them through this one seems like oh somebody came and spoke at public speaks and I'm a little concerned so send this back to committee it just does not make sense be consistent do not be inconsistent um I think that's really an appropriate comparison when you actually look at 4281 I understand what member gford is saying this doesn't have any changes or edits to it other than choosing superintendent or design and we chose design um it's the template of stra sesme and if our and and if our policy chair is is is saying hey you know what I think maybe we could do more with this then I respect that and especially seeing that we didn't make any addition uh changes I'm open to seeing how this could be further um further adjusted and and so so yeah I think it's a very different situation those other policies have been worked on since since March and we clearly don't have an a consensus on what should be in the policy so it doesn't matter how long you've been looking at it what matters is whether we agree on it or not and we had we well you know I would invite you to read it and then give me your feedback so I can't wait to get it what on the policy which policy disgusting sir listen let's get this everyone knows how they're gonna vote on this so that's exactly my point everybody knows how you're going to vote on it so therefore you push your pet projects forward and wait hold on one second though I'm just gon um one thing I want to add though because Outsiders don't realize this when we say it's that those two policies the student transfer um 5124 and 5120 had been looked at in March I need District was looking at it in March we couldn't see a copy of it until the fall we had no idea what was going on behind the scenes it felt to us like it was actually that nothing was happening so when we say it was not the district that was doing anything don't blame the district on this I would saying I just want to make that clear I don't want to get an F I just want to make that clear to people that we're not we're not but the district had nothing to do with that but I will say I do not mind this going back to policy to review I think it's important if just because I do agree like if there are those concerns especially because people are are may use things like this to retaliate against people it is worth looking at again but I don't think that it is not comparable to 5124 and 5120 because the language in those policies were changed after the October meeting so the language was changed very quickly after we had had something that was fully vetted by the administration so to say that we've been looking at it since March we had final language and then the language was changed at the Bea board members themselves as opposed to in working in concert with the district so to to say that that's true because all those um suggest all the suggested Chang were made in the public meeting for those they were changed they were changed after the meeting they were changed after the October meeting they were changed and we did not actually see the full language changes in the policy meeting because they were not part of the folder of our policies wait and that's true I didn't I look in my folder I'm gonna let policy chair but I will tell you that as somebody who was spearheading those the the revisions yes you spearhead the revisions and you had the I did not I did not I did not try to I said I sent it to the appropriate parties to be reviewed during the policy committee and I'm not trying to throw anybody under the bus but I'm not GNA let you accuse me of trying to do something I didn't accuse you of anything I'm just saying that the policies were not fully there for policy meeting okay so the all the edit red it on the screen we reviewed it on the screen I was at the policy meeting we reviewed it on the screen yes but there's lots of scrolling around oh my God it was someone looking saying there are too many substantial changes but that's not my point my point is that I'm willing to take this one back to policy committee and the other two were changed after the October meeting and I'm I'm I'm happy with that okay and that's what that's what the discussion was about was you know the code the yeah so let let's focus on that and uh you know can we call that for a vote Mr Burnside please to send it back to committee Mr yes to sign to send it back to committee for discussion thank you sir board member of vad lamani yes board member Deval son NB we couldn't hear you we lost there oh here I thought I said yes and I'm muted sorry so that's a yes yes yes board member Wright yes board member telesford yes board member eer yes board member gford yes and board president wlad yes motion passes thanks Bill thank you Bill so now the last um resolution that we have to approve is resolution or not approve um resolution 4548 which is a confidential settlement agreement um vote yeah we'll just go to vote on that still need a motion in a second to pass it oh sorry okay resolution for do I have a second second okay thank you board member dval Wilson we will go straight to vote board member vman yes board member right board member right is she's here she's muted board member dval Wilson yes board president Whit letter yes board member eer yes board member telesford no board member gford yes motion passes sorry uh yes for me I'm sorry I I took a little potty break I got it thank you all right so um we did it we finished the action portion of the meeting we sorry yes sorry madam president I have my hand ra we have two hand carries that you by by Lanna that we have yeah no discussions can be made on those though right those are confidential right correct correct they're the the Hib appeals for those still watching says there's 26 particip 14 attendees still like wow it out on a Thursday night um so we'll just then um on I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution 4549 A and B do I have a second or to vote on it sorry okay thank you board member eert um it's up for a discussion which we can't have one so can we just go to roll on these two hi appeals president with letter yes board member vman yes board member yes board member Talis for yes board member gford yes board member Deval Wilson yes board member eer yes motion passes so now we're okay Dr Gilbert all clear on this thank you great thank you um so we are have our second hearing of individuals and delegates but I don't see anyone having registered just confirming with Keith that that's the case that's correct no one knew has registered perfect okay so then we will move on to new business does anyone have any new business this evening okay seeing none we'll close new business with that I'd like to make the following motion the Board of Education will meet in public session on Thursday December 21st at 6:30 p.m. in the district meeting room this meeting will be a 10year celebration for District staff and we'll also have a ceremony to honor board members malespina Wingfield and Wright who will be rolling off the board um at the end of this year the Board of Education will also meet in public session and hold its annual reorganization meeting on Thursday January 4th 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the district meeting room and this will also be the swearing in ceremony of uh Shane isaka Gable will Meyer and Liz Callahan Callahan may I have a second thank you Bor member eer all in favor that appears to be unanimous so now I would like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting on Friday December 1st at 108 a.m. May I have a second again thank you board member Deval Wilson all in favor okay meeting is adjourned thank you every everyone good night Eric when was the December meeting oh he missed he went out all right oh it's December uh okay thank you good night thank you night