here board member Meyer here board member sacket Gable here board president telesford here board member VOD Lani here board member whiter here corm is present right please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please take notice that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in the following manner that written notice was sent from the office of the secretary of the board at 10:01 a.m on May 29th 2024 that said notice was sent via email to Maplewood and South Orange Township clerks and the editors of the news record Star Ledger tapa and the Village Green all right for tonight's special meeting I'll just read my um introduction here good evening everyone tonight marks the culmination of a process that began on January 5th 2024 the board embarked on one of its most important functions selecting a superintendent I would like to thank each board member Callahan dval Wilson eert gford Meyer sacka Gable VOD lamman and Whit letter for their engagement throughout the process I also extend my gratitude to our business administrator Mr Burnside and and our assistant business administrator Miss Del Gario for their support and assistance a special thanks to board members Callahan and eert for serving alongside me as superintendent search the aison all our meetings and planning have finally come to fruition in tonight's meeting for the superintendent search we partner with Hazard young ATA and Associates or hya Edward McCormick and Karen Shaw provided a robust process to guide us through the search the process began with our engagement phase during which we received input from over 2,000 individuals through three Community forums and online survey and over 25 focus groups hya noted that they received more than twice the responses typical for community of our size demonstrating the high level of Engagement and Care from our community members we integrated your voices and those of other key stakeholders into a comprehensive leadership profile which served as a template for the job posting and recruitment efforts the board received over 40 applicants for this position which would narrow down to a short list of candidates who interviewed with the board over two weekends after much discussion and deliberation I'm happy to announce that the board will appoint Jason Bing as superintendent of the South Orange Maplewood School District Mr bring Mr Bing brings extensive experience and impressive qualifications to the superintendent role aligning well the district's mission to provide students with the highest quality educational experience his robust background in curriculum development and educational Administration will significantly enhance the district's ongoing efforts to improve academic standards and outcomes what impressed the board most was Mr Bing's profound understanding of educational topics including curriculum and instruction special education the budgetary process and Community engagement his depth of knowledge and expertise will Elevate the district's educational programs and initiatives additionally Mr bring has demonstrated a dedication to equity diversity and inclusion aligning well with the district and the board's guiding principles furthermore Mr Bing's familiar history and ties to South Orange Maplewood Community further solidified our confidence in his abilities to lead the district with a genuine understanding of the community's needs and values his local connection provides an added layer of insight and commitment the board is proud to welcome Mr Bing and looks forward to the positive impact he will have on our students and the broader School Community this evening we will vote on approving Mr Bing's appointment and passing a resolution for an early appointment to assist the district during this transitional period Please join me in welcoming Mr Bing to the South orang Maple School District we wish him well as he continues the progress we have seen over the [Applause] years and you can come up now [Music] and uh hear me thank you first I want to uh thank the board um I can say this uh to the public uh the process was uh comprehensive uh and every question every comment uh these particular board members have uh were community- based uh you could tell right off the bat uh that these students uh and the families were a priority so that was highly appreciated uh and your investment in this community was quite obvious it's one of the things that Drew me to this position so I want to thank you all uh for the process and I'm honored and humbled as I take this position and I look forward to working with the community um I know we're going to put out a schedule of town hall meetings in the very near future uh so we're looking to do a lot of face- t- face meetings and get to know everybody uh and uh move forward uh as we come into South Orange Maplewood School District um again I'm very excited I want to thank you all and I truly and wholeheartedly look forward to working uh with our community thank [Applause] you all right now we'll have our hearing of individuals and delegations thank you for coming in person and dialing in by phone this evening the South Orange Maplewood Board of Education certainly respects that you've taken the time out of your busy 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 timelines by policy and it will be enforcing those to enable as many people to speak as possible this evening each individual will be given three 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 and the second public comment period may be limited to 30 minutes all input shared with the board and board of education is taken very seriously and will inform future deliberations and work by the Board of Education and his committees um can I have Geneva McDaniel sorry I just want my kids to be able to sit next to me for a second okay come here hi thank you for your time I will try to keep this for three minutes but I am an attorney and very long-winded so it might be a struggle um um I brought my kids here um and I'm not sure if this entire is entirely the right form I've I've struggled a little bit to figure out like the right um place to tell my story many of you may I I don't know many of you may know me um I am Jiva McDaniel I'm the mother of uh Clinton and Jagger tucon um I've again if you know me you're probably sick of hearing from me but I'm here once again just to tell my story and make sure that it is heard by I guess the Right audience um I am a single mother whose children attend South Mountain Elementary um on 6:30 on April 12th we learned that the that my twins were placed at Maplewood Middle um I immediately FAL transfer request within minutes um I don't drive and I have and I'm a mother little means I have no way to get my kids to school in Maplewood um I purposefully chose a home that was two blocks from South Orange elementary so that my kids could be close to me and close to school it's okay honey it's okay um something to understand about my children which they have allowed me to share with you um is that um they've been through a lot in the past three years we've moved from New York during the pandemic they were denied at mittance to South or South ore mry and then they were sent to school in Maplewood and then they were transferred back to South Mountain um this transfer will be the third in three years during all of this my son has had mental health issues and has actually threatened his own life um my daughter has been distraught when we learned that they were placed in Maplewood Middle School I explained all of this to the school system um and I also explained that the Saving Grace has been that my children have now built a community with the kids all of whom are transferring to the school that is two blocks from our house um to sorry South Orange Middle School um I have been struggling to find the way to have somebody who can be an advocate for me or can understand why this is a difficult process listen I understand integration I understand the some of the purpose that is behind a a lot of this but I am I am really trying to get behind how to make this work for my children and when I have tried to call the superintendent's office I listen the day that we learned of what was going on I put in a transfer request within a minute because my son's best friend's mother is like is a teacher at SS and she was like just put in transfer request we didn't get a response other other parents got responses they got transferred requests accepted we didn't get a response I don't understand what the process is when I called the school board when I called the superintendent's office and asked what are the factors that go into this like you know how does this work they told me they couldn't tell me because they outsourc it's like some kind of like algorithm that's outsourced and like the school board doesn't like actually take charge of it like I am I'm here today because I want to advocate for my children but also because I just want you to understand from like an actual human perspective that this is traumatic to families and difficult like I understand integration like I said but but my kids are being punished and and and the explanation and the transparency and the communication is not there so even if it doesn't work for my kids which I really hope that it does like I I think we're on a waiting list or something but if even if it does doesn't work for us I want you to understand this is really hard for families and I don't want other families to have to go through what we are going through this is ruining the end of of their their graduation like everything and I'm just dealing with a lot okay okay okay so I apologize for being overly emotional everybody has heard me be overly emotional I'm sure like you know but I just want to be a face and a person who is telling you that this is really happens to families and this is hard so this is why I'm here and this is why I brought my children and I just want you to know okay okay all right thank you all right do you want to [Applause] guys okay okay okay thank you for your time I really appreciate it thank you move on to the action portion thank we have no more people signed up okay so we move to the action portion on the agenda you have two motions or two um two resolutions 4623 and 4624 for approval um do I have a motion to approve both yes motion to move those forward second second discussions on the motions so I'll just invite every board member to speak on the process they'd like to um so we'll just start down the line if you wish to speak say something if not that's okay so former Callahan all right well good evening everyone um want to thank everyone for being here tonight tuning in from home um especially on a busy election day um this is an exciting night um we are in a period as a district of change and at times turmoil we're adapting curriculum we're making a lot of efforts to integrate schools and enhance our approaches um particularly around culturally responsive teaching diversity Equity inclusion we have work on social emotional learning um we're facing a budget shortfall trying to maintain our commitment to aging buildings um but despite these challenges I remain hopeful and excited and confident in our abilities to move forward so before we move on to talking about Mr Bing um I also want to take some time just to extend some gratitude to our outgoing Acting Superintendent Dr Gilbert um his leadership and dedication over the past few months has been exemplary um he shared in our March 22nd meeting a saying from his Pastor we're either on our way into a storm going through a storm or coming out of a storm and he truly stepped up and stepped in during a storm he guided our district through numerous challenges ensuring that our schools continue to operate as smoothly as possible and I look forward to him continuing his impact on our district in his role as assistant superintendent of access and Equity so I want to thank him for his unwavering commitment and service and I think as we look to the future we are confident that Mr Bing will collaborate with the team is joining learning from their institutional knowledge and expertise while also bringing a fresh perspective and dynamic leadership that I believe will further our mission and enhance our achievements he comes to us with a really impressive background and deep leadership experience as a superintendent working in a variety of capacities sometimes responsible for a single district and at other times for multiple districts simultaneously he has unique experience such as being the chief academic officer in Jersey City which is Dr telesur mentioned earlier allowed him to demonstrate leadership across multiple important areas 3K through 12 schools curriculum and instruction special services Career and Technical education and English language Learners which will be an immense asset here and although his career has taken him across our state and into New York Mr Bing has that personal affinity for South Orange Maplewood having grown up nearby and not only has the experiences that dovetail with the needs of our schools but familiarity and a genuine passion for our community and the complex and nuanced work that being here requires his vision for Education commitment to collaboration and communication with stakeholders dedication to equity and passion for Student Success have been evident throughout his career and during the interview process this makes him an ideal person for our next superintendent I believe he will fit in naturally with the team have the eye to select new leaders and possesses the acument and experience needed to guide our district to new heights so it's my Earnest hope that as a community we can welcome Mr Bing with Grace and warmth so that we can collectively move forward together so as we welcome Mr bang let's remember that our strength of our district lies in the collective efforts of each member of our community our teachers staff students and parents together we can build on our successes and address our challenges with resilience and shared purpose this period of transition is an opportunity for us to come together support one another and allow our superintendent time to acclimate by fostering an environment of understanding and patience we can set a positive tone and more collaborative collaboratively together towards shared goals moving forward together thank you it's a tough act to follow um I I just want to also extend my thank you to Dr Gilbert um you know he did graciously step into a role and you know um situation in which it may not have been the the most ideal for him into his uh foray into superintendency and I personally have been able to get to know him even more in this this capacity and it takes a lot it takes a lot there's been a lot that has happened in this community over the past couple months and he has stepped up and showed strength and has had to make some really tough decisions um I I do look forward to continuing to work with him just in his I would say his normal capacity as assistant superintendent of um access and equity and um just want to welcome superintendent being here um you know Liz captured a lot of you know kind of the thought process of of what we went through the interview process his accolades um I am hopeful for this new opportunity and also would just like to say you know I hope that we as a community can welcome and uh kind of give some time to acclimate um as Liz mentioned we have we have a lot a lot going on we've seen that in our previous meetings of all the initiatives um we're about to go into our district goals next month and so I personally look forward to to superintendent Bing just diving right in and getting acclimated with us with the community with the teachers with the board and most importantly um with the students as well thank you I'm very happy that uh the board has picked Mr Jason Bing chelik to be the next superintendent of South Orange Maple School District the board selected him after a very thorough interview process where we interviewed some very very strong candidates what impressed me the most about Mr Bing is his dedication to being a lifetime educator he started as a math teacher and then he progressively got leadership positions as a supervisor then a superintendent and then last as a superintendent of superintendent Ian that's very cool I look forward to his leadership and I've always believed that Improvement needs stability I hope that he brings stability to our school district welcome Mr Bing um I too want to recognize Dr Gilbert uh just a few days after he took over I had Parents calling me the buses are on time we feel heard and that's all parents wanted at that time so I really want to recognize his work um I think he is going to be a superintendent somewhere else very soon um uh you know I think everybody has talked about U Mr Bing's experience and why you know he's the man for the job but um you know his breath of experience the confidence he instilled in all of us throughout the the interview process really showed that he was the person for this moment to take on the challenge of South Orange and Maplewood School District which we know is momentous so um I look forward to seeing you know his work in action uh I too would be remiss uh to not first discuss uh the remarkable uh past few months we've had uh under the leadership of Dr Gilbert uh Dr Gilbert was the uh superintendent that that helped onboard me as a new board member and uh he did have to step into this position uh in a a very difficult time the difficult when he stepped in and he had no idea what was coming down the road um and this is just a man with such a remarkable presence um you know he's he sort of leads our restorative practices part of the district and it's remarkable how that comes into what he does every single day uh and in meetings in with parents committee meetings uh he's just you know he's a guy who walks the walk um and sees every person and he guided us to a remarkably trying time financially culturally and emotionally uh and we are so um lucky to have had him available for that role and lucky that he is remaining here and and providing his tremendous uh skills still um you know knowing that we were going to have the superintendent search when I started as a new board member I was fearful uh you know walking into this process honestly I I said to myself and probably to other people are we going to actually find anyone decent who wants to come and and work here because this is an amazing place but it also you know I mean you can look at the news we have our our unique uh attributes uh and then how are we possibly going to find consensus across all nine folks on the board um and then we met Jason Bing and when I tell you you know we can't disclose what happened inside uh this um inside the chamber making this decision but I can tell you there was strong consensus and that was a remark thing because uh this is the thing first of all we had a remarkably strong pool of candidates uh we had very very very difficult decisions that we had to make inside that room and we would have been lucky with um a number of the folks who stepped up and were prepared to take this job um we needed a leader who was able to steer us through what were likely to be some Rough Waters to come uh we needed someone who has a high degree of oper ations knowledge uh and is experience at actually executing on major plans and seeing things through um and has experience with diverse districts and you know uh Mr Bing's remarkable history leads right into that right he was a teacher he was a curriculum supervisor he was a director of curriculum and instruction he was a director of special services he was a superintendent of a small school district he was a superintendent of a mediumsized school district he was a chief academic officer for a massive School District uh he's been a superintendent of a county level educational agency this guy has done it all and he came here and in talking to him it was clear he understood who we were and he knew the challenges that we face and he had some answers to give that were like yeah okay let's let's make this happen and so we are lucky to have gotten him and to make this hire and I am very optimistic uh for the trajectory that our district will be led in uh under his leadership uh and I'm thankful to get to be a part of it yes I agree with what my colleagues have already said Thank you to Dr Gilbert for his service during this time he stepped up and really managed in a lot of new areas for himself professionally and did a commendable job just trying to keep the ship steady in some often um unsteady Seas U I look forward to continued commitment to our district as an inte integral part of our senior leadership team and after going through this search we are now putting forward Mr Bing who embodies the qualities of our that our community highlighted as crucial for this role he brings deep institutional knowledge and operational knowledge as others have already pointed out and those should serve us well it's also worth noting that Mr Bing has ties to our community and values all that it has to offer um lastly thank you to my board colleagues for engaging in this process collegially and collaboratively um I think our positive Collective engagement so far sets a strong foundation for a smooth transition of leadership so thank you to all of you too um I wasn't planning on saying anything and I think everybody covered it all but I quickly just jotted out some notes um so first I do want to thank Dr Gilbert for stepping up and being a person who um in a moment where it felt like there was a lot of instability his presence and his ability to be so open transparent and communicative with District families with students with um um folks internally it really meant a lot and I just want him to know that we appreciate him very very much um so very quickly um the thing that impressed me the most about superintendent bang is you know right off the bat he has a vision teaching and learning and our teachers are at the Forefront of that Vision um and I wrote down in my notes as I was looking it over this morning you know one of the things that he said to to all of us that really resonated with me is this idea of democratizing decisionmaking and allowing our teachers to have a voice and setting the priorities and I think that's so important he kept highlighting you know you got to be in the classroom to see what's really happening and how we can make every meet the needs of every student um and I'm excited because I think that he brings a lot of best practices to bear so we can all look forward to seeing what those best practices are um so welcome superintendent Bing we're really excited to have you board member Callahan yes board member eert yes board member gford yes board member Meyer yes board member sacka gel yes board president telesford yes board member VOD lamani yes board member Whit litter yes motion [Applause] passes we have a hand carry for tonight as well [Music] [Music] this is board resolution 4625 to appoint the incoming superintendent as super supervisor of special services uh to assist with Mr Bing's transition to the role of superintendent of schools for the school district of South Orange and Maplewood uh is there a motion yes motion to move forward second second discussion on the motion forer so the public is clear and maybe so I'm clear I think we um I know it's our desire to make sure that Mr Bing can come in and uh begin working uh alongside the staff as soon as possible and uh well it may have been Our intention to specifically have him work for 10 days as super as supervisor special services that is an FTE that is open that he can fit into to facilitate having him on the books and doing that work prior to actually starting legally once the position is open on July 1 is that accurate uh yes for the most part um in order to facilitate this we had discussions with the county superintendent obviously one of the issues is that we still have under contract a superintendent and an Acting Superintendent uh and so to facilitate this in a formal way this was the most appropriate way to to do it and I'll just note that in general you know it is really um concerning that we do not have an actual person in that supervisor special services role and I'm hoping that we get that filled as soon as possible but it is fortuitous that that's filling this current function and and just to add I mean this is only for 10 days so this starts on the 20th of June and this position ends on the 30th of June and starting July 1 Mr Bing will be our superintendent all right board member Callahan yes board member eert yes board member gford yes board member Meyer yes board member sacka Gable yes board president tford yes board member VOD lamman yes board member Whit lter yes motion passes all right now we have our second hearing of individuals and delegations I don't have a list list hello uh Rosio Lopez president OFA I actually want to welcome you to South AR myura School District as you can see so Maya is you know most of the people as ASA that you have over here the the administrators um I'm the president Shir linol here our vice president I wanted to introduce ourselves that was part of the reason we came here today to meet you and I'm glad to hear that you want to listen to the staff the Educators that actually are the ones doing the job in order to take decisions we have been left behind for a while so we're very happy to hear something like that so welcome uh we are like a family a dysfunctional family but we still are a family okay um and um hopefully you have a great time here and we can you know have a great relationship if we have a great relationship our district grows and improves and we all want to have a a district that works well that you know we interact with each other and we are happy to come in every day uh I want to introduce you the ASA President and Vice President as well Ling YY and Melissa Butler uh they're not in our Union this different one but we get along pretty well and then uh for you I still have a lot a lot of time W no um I have two minutes but again welcome uh and now for you I want to get serious because what I saw today touched me personally I don't know how this algorthm works but I don't know if they look if they are single moms and sometimes when you're a single man with two kids of that age maybe you went through a wrath divorce especially when you have to leave close to a school and try to figure it out how to survive and I also know where is having a child that I had to go to a different school and then lost his friends because he had to go back to the school that he was supposed to and I know how that impact my son so none of you said anything and I know it's not your decision it might be yours one um but please give these kids the right at school help that Mom it's hard to be a woman you know a single mom in a district like this and having to drive your kids when you have to go to work to the other side of town please help her I mean again this algorithm has to also look about the human part and I I keep repeating this sentence we have to be more human we're trying to do these big things but we have to look at the little details people people are still people and we can't forget about that and the Damage that we can do to one of those kids could be forever imagine your kids losing their friends all the sudden and going to a school when they don't know anyone in Middle School just think about your own children how do you think they will and if I heard right she's a lawyer and seeing a lawyer losing like her composure here in front of all of us is for a reason she was really hurt so I asked you I don't know if if anything but I ask you personally to please help her if not maybe have to speak up in other places who knows but this lady you know she deserves it and her kids too thank you next we have Nicole [Applause] ji okay okay sorry um my name is Nicole Josie I don't usually get a chance to come out to these things um I am also the co-president of president's Council I have been an advocate for special education a PTA president um I have been a big advocate of our school district for many many years um and right now I am highly disappointed in our district and what we're doing with special education um last week when I heard about the resignation of Miss budine I just lost it we have no supervisor we now don't have assistant superintendent um I have two kids with IEPs in the district my son is autistic he's in the self-contained classes he is in Clinton with the ABA program and I have to tell you that you have the most amazing special education department in that school but they are not being provided with the resources to do their job we have now had to make the tough decision to go out of District because his teacher and his case manager said we cannot teach him we don't have what we need to bring it out of him and for someone like me who was deeply rooted in this community who believed so much in this community my husband grew up in this community went through all the schools we have had our home in South Orange for over 40 years and knowing that I now have to take my son out of a community that I have loved so much and put him on a bus and send him 30 minutes away just so he can get the education that he deserves is heartbreaking for me I don't know what we do to fix this but our special education department is failing every day these kids and we talk so much about inclusion in this community everything's about diversity and inclusion and that doesn't just go down to race it's not just race it's not just sexuality it's also kids and parents and adults with special needs they need to feel included in this community and right now they don't my son has to be separated and I am losing my connection with the community it's making me feel a little bit apprehensive about coming out and being a part of this because I feel like we are not wanted at this point um so whatever you do I hope that you guys really look for strengthening this department special education really needs to be a focus and I came here because I really wanted to meet the new superintendent and I hope he understands how important this is um general education is just as important but they both have to work together we have to support general education and special education we cannot keep failing our kids we cannot keep failing our special education families thank you [Applause] Now we move on to any new business anyone have any new business all right so the Board of Education will meet in public session on Thursday we passed that all right the Board of Education will meet and public session on Thursday June 6th 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the district meeting room at 5:25 Academy Street in Maplewood New Jersey in person and utilizing an online video conference platform to honor retirees and celebrate staff accomplishments action will be taken the Board of Education will meet in public session on Thursday June 27th 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the district meeting room at 5:25 Academy Street in Maplewood New Jersey immediately following the opening of public session the board will move to go into a closed session in the superintendent's office at 525 Academy Street and make New Jersey as well as using an online video conference platform to discuss personal matters with the attorney client privilege legal negotiations and other matters that may arise and required discussion to be announced at a later date immediately following the closed session the Board of Education will meet in public sessions estimated to be at 7:30 p.m. in the district meeting room at 525 Academy Street in Maple New Jersey in person utilizing an online video conference platform which will include hearing of individuals the community can view the meeting by following the steps which will be listed on the agenda if there are members of the community who would like to attend the meeting in person please note that masks and social distancing are optional in accordance with the guidance received from the local do and CDC action will be taken right that I like to make a motion to close our meeting thank you board member Cen all in favor all right we are adjourned