board member Elizabeth Callahan here board member of Nubia dval Wilson here board member Regina eert here board member Bill gford board member will Meyer here board member Shaina sacket Gable here board president kawi telesford here board member Arun VOD lamman here board member Caitlyn Whit letter here thank you all right can we please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance all right uh please take notice that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided in the following manner that written notice was sent from the office of the secretary of the board at 2:30 on January 5th 2024 that said notice was sent via email to Maplewood and South Orange Township clerks and the editors of the news record Star Ledger tap into Som and the Village Green can I have a motion to go into executive session to discuss hi reporting litigation stat St us and Personnel thank you board member eer all in favor say I all right we go into executive session sorry sorry one more thing to say yes whereas the length of executive session is estimated to be 60 minutes after which the public meeting of the board shall uh reconvene and immediately adjourn or reconvene and proceed with the business where formal action will be taken now therefore be resolved that the South Maple Board of Education will go into executive session for the stated above for the above stated reasons only and be it further resolved that the board hereby declares that its discussion of the aformentioned subjects will be made made will be made public at a time when the public interest in in disclosure is greater than any privacy or governmental Interest being protected from disclosure okay e e sorry my apologies we will have a performance by John Campbell and so we await your wonderful performance [Music] [Music] no [Music] e [Music] n [Music] e [Music] e [Music] I [Music] e [Music] [Applause] all right we can get started then so I guess we'll start with the approval of board minutes so I guess we'll start with the approval of board minutes for January 4th and then executive session minutes from January 25th yeah roll call all right the next thing we have is our student representative ofd um hello everyone um congratulations to the girls fencing team for winning njs I AA District 3 on Sunday Monday February 4th the team advances to the njsiaa team tournament congratulations to senior girls basketball player Talia Baptist Talia scored her 1000th Career Point on February 15th in a regular season game versus Bernard's High School congratulations to Columbia High School wrestlers on their success at njsiaa District 11 at Morristown on February 18th Jared Van Allen District Champion August cat Second Place Reed ow second place they advance to the regional tournament at West Orange good evening everyone over the past few months we have met with Administration multiple times to stress the importance of increasing the visibility of admin in the school with principal Sanchez gone there has been a huge disconnect between the student population and authority figures in the school it is important that we realize that a good amount of problems that are happening at the high school right now are a result of the disconnect students don't know the administration so they are less likely to trust or follow policies that are put into place under the administration there is also no sense of assurance after happenings like the incident on Friday which leads to a state of unease in the building we have gotten overall positive reactions from Administration about the idea of forming personal and meaningful relationships with the student body and look forward to seeing them come to fruition speaking of the incident that occurred last Friday I can't say we are very surprised that it happened gwenith and I have come to this meeting almost every month stating how the ID system in place at the school is tenuous and ineffective what we say is clearly not unfounded and the fact that it took an actual breach of security for a reform to be made shows that we are not being taken as seriously as we should be we would also like to address the issue regarding the stage gwenith and I highly recommend that steps are taken to expedite the process of rebuilding the stage as it is an integral part of the School Colombia is known for its exceptional arts program and the absence of a place for these Arts to be expressed put puts a deep dent in the Colombia Community special dance the step team and the musical are three things that define Colombia high school and the fact that they cannot perform on their own stage when they brought so many accolades to the school should be a top concern for the district construction is also taking a hefty toll on the school students who want to enjoy the weather and eat outside on riter field have to Traverse through wet mud and eat amongst swarms of flies all any student wants at Colombia is a sense of normaly and we implore you to take every action possible to return Colombia to the school that we know and love Switching gears gwenneth and I were also able to sit in on a student government meeting at Maplewood Middle School and it seems like they are making positive impacts on on the school environment when we went they were planning events for Black History Month we were so excited to see these passionate young students and are sure they will continue to do great things for the community that concludes the student report for this month we are open to any questions at this [Applause] time next is the superintendance update thank you good evening um Board of Education uh members of the public thank you uh gwenneth and uh ASA for your report and I will now go into my superintendent report Columbia High School senior auni zubeda has received notification that she is a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship and October Zaba was the only CHS student who was named a semifinalist we wish her all the best as we await the National Merit Scholarship corporation's announcement of the scholarship winners in late March congratulations to South Orange Middle School principal ly Herby Hill and all of the SS staff and students who particip iated in the second annual my black his beautiful performance on Saturday at the South Orange performance art center uh Miss Irby Hill and the's community plan to continue this event in years to come Audrey Nora a Columbia High School Jr has gotten National exposure as the co-author of tiny Travelers find your Forest a book that beckons children to discover Forest no matter where they live earlier this month Nora was interviewed by the Kelly Clarkson show where she talked about how she wants every child to know that they have access to the forest currently the book is available only at Target a Spanish version of the book is expected to be published in late March Columbia High School students involved in the aspiring Leaders of Tomorrow Club have spent Black History Month looking for people of color who have achieved leadership positions is part of a special scavenger hunt math teacher BB Banner the clubs fac faculty advisor came up with the idea as a way for the a lot members who are predominantly people of color to visualize the possibilities of their own future there were a variety of different professions on Banner scavenger hunt including doctor lawyer engineer police officer School principal and someone who started their own business today I joined the members of a lot as they gave presentations about the people they interviewed it was really wonderful to see the many people in our local community who took the time to walk with the mentor and Mentor our young people congratulations to all the district teachers who are recipients of the 2024 Chief Foundation double Prince educator Grant Awards more than $81,000 in Grants were awarded to teachers throughout the district which is a new achievement Foundation record these grants support our Educators Innovation and creativity in teaching we thank the achieve foundation for their continuing partnership in supporting our teachers and we thank all who made donations to make these Grant Awards possible South Orange and Maplewood School District library media specialist and Elementary School students participated in the Maplewood library's kids speakout event on February 10th the event was a celebration of Black History Month that encouraged students to express themselves through spoken word poetry and the Arts all the district's elementary schools were represented by works that were either presented or on display at the Library very special thanks to all of the district's library media Specialists who helped our students participate genifer Latimer at Clint Elementary School Teresa quick at dilia Balden Maria kazanis at Marshall Amy pop at tusin J Janine putry at se bo bo self Boyen and Elizabeth Taylor Fox at South Mountain Dr Jane Bean folks District supervisor of English language arts has co-authored an art article that has been published in literacy magazine and academic Journal published by the United Kingdom literacy Association the study examines students using annotation which is student reading and thinking about a text together and how it can be a pathway to understanding in the learning process this morning it was my pleasure to join the South Orange Middle School Community to hear a lecture by Jolette hilik daughter of Katherine Johnson hilik spoke to the students about her mother's autobiography reaching for the moon which was released after the book and film hidden figures Johnson's books tells of her life story of being a young girl who showed an exceptional aptitude for math faced the challenges of the brutal racism and sexism and grew up to work on many NASA's of many NASA's largest projects including Apollo Le M the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first men on the moon this was a great opportunity for our Psalm student students and I want to thank everyone who worked to make it happen I have received numerous emails of inquiry and support for the Colombia High School principal please know that because this is a Personnel issue I cannot go into details about the situation what I can say is that I had hoped the Colombia High School principal's leave would have ended by the end of this month but this is not the case the Columbia High School principal is still on leave and assistant superintendent and Bodner is continuing to serve as acting principal but I'd like to take the time publicly to give my gratitude and support to miss Bodner who has not only continued in her role as assistant superintendent of curriculum instruction but has also taken on the responsibility of managing and leading Columbia High School during this challenging time it is true that she has been doing two jobs but miss Bodner has been spending the lon share of her time and her abilities at Columbia High School we are in conversation regarding the visibility and accessibility of the high school's administrative team during the High School principal's leave of absence these are very important things and to us and Miss Bodner and the administration team are going to work to remedy some of these disconnects that we are hearing about in communication with the students and families to do everything they can to increase their visibility and their Connection in the meantime Mrs bartner is doing a remarkable job and drawing on her expertise as a building level leader while still working to promote an effective curriculum and instruction program throughout the entire District now ID like to shift to the events of last week I understand that videos of a fight involving an individual who was led in the Colombia high school and one and one of our students has been making its way on social media in connection with the cold yellows on Friday as a point of clarity this fight was totally unrelated to the cold yellows on Friday the fight occurred on Thursday and the students who were involved in opening the door to let that person ENT the school as well as those who were taking videos of the fight have been disciplined according to the district code of conduct Additionally the cold yellows on Friday the Maplewood Police Department did a sweep of the entire building and viewed videos with along with our Colombia High School administration team and there were no trespassers or other weapons for found I will be also doing a walk through with Mr Stanley valis and the Maplewood Police Department in of the high school tomorrow morning now I want to take the opportunity to talk about School Safety and Security following the two calls for cold yellow or a shelter in place that happened at Columbia High School last Friday we take what happened very seriously we have been reviewing the events that transpired trying to learn as much as possible about what worked but most importantly what improvements we need to make to help make sure that all of our students and staff are safe when they are at Columbia High School I will be as transparent as possible in talking about school security matters but please understand that if I go into too many details about our efforts to keep everyone safe and secure I can do more harm than good my goal tonight is for everyone to understand that when we say that safety is a top priority in this District I am not just giving you lips service we want to do everything we can to keep everyone safe on Monday morning I completed a my first walkthrough of the high school with School Safety and Security director Stanley valis and Facilities director Tom jilo we Revisited some of the places where reported incidents played out on Friday and check different components of the security infrastructure I also met with the Columbia High School administrators as well as members of the district senior leadership team and I would be remissed if I didn't say from the onset how grateful I am for assistant superintendent and acting Columbia principal Anne B bner for her leadership on Friday and the the the Columbia High School administration skillful work through the tense and complicated day keeping their focus on safety of students and staff and I also want to take this time to thank the Maplewood Police Department for their response and assistance during these events on Tuesday I met with Columbia High School teachers and I was very pleased of their willing to help the overall efforts to keep our students safe I greatly appreciate the many suggestions that they made and we are currently reviewing those to see if many of those can be implemented student IDs one of the first areas we addressed after Friday were making sure that all Columbia High School students had their student identifications Miss Bodner and the CHS administrative team issue replacement IDs for any students who needed them on Monday and they have made sure that students scan their IDs as they the building every morning this week I cannot overstate the importance of students having their IDs this is how we can verify every student that's in that building is a member of the Columbia High School community and that they belong in that building also teachers and staff need to see these IDs when we're trying to account for students when there is an emergency designated entrances at Columbia High School we will designate three areas for students and two areas for staff to enter and exit the building staff should also know that we will be allowing them to use any of the student designated interest areas door alarms as an extra measure to guard against doors being propped open I have authorized facilities director Tom gilo to develop a proposal to install alarms on those Columbia High School doors that are not used as entrance and exits these alarms will sound when the doors open for a few moments propping doors open propping doors to let people into the building puts everyone at risk that is why on this point I want to be extremely clear any student found to have propped open a door to let someone from the outside in will be disp disciplined according to the district's code of conduct Communications a school Community must be alerted immediately when there is a cold yellow shelter in place cold red lockdown or an evacuation to that end we have asked all staff members throughout the district to opt into receiving School messenger text messages that way when staff members receive an alert of an emergency they can begin employing the corrected protocols the text Communications will be in addition to existing communication practices on our school buildings including announcements over the public address system and emails the staff the district as it school and its schools will provide alerts to fam F maintaining the best communication practices as advised by the state of New Jersey to minimize the possibility of incorrect information being released details about an incident may not be released until after an incident ends and all facts have been confirmed the district will also be increasing technology among our security staff to enhance their ability to communicate with school administrations it is my intent that these measures will not only be adopted at Columbia High School but they will all be adopted at all of our schools throughout the district understandably there has been an ongoing discussion on School Safety and Security in our district for years throughout that discussion there have been mentions of different companies Technologies and protocols that will be to be implemented to Aid our security a number of those mentioned protocols have been implemented at Columbia High School since the beginning of this school year there have been designated specific entrances for students and swipe machines although some have not worked properly have been used to check in student IDs these requirements were noted in the L latest edition of the CL the Columbia High School student handbook although the use of the machines has been scaled back due to difficulties with the management the use of a technology called swi K12 was also pre previously mentioned which is the brand of machines we are using the to scan student IDs it was suggested that Swip K12 could be used to give students access to the school library although there is some doubt about whether there was a security that there was a security priority here Swip K12 technology cannot be used to track a particular student throughout the school day as it was suggested at one point at this point we are resetting the conversation on what our needs as a district and what technologies are best to meet those needs I am meeting regularly with members of the district senior leadership team to explore the different options available in Communications and ID scanning and we will be providing updates on this as soon as possible if you take nothing away from this these remarks know this on my watch the South orang and Maplewood school district will do everything we can as soon as we can to help keep all of our students and staff safe in our buildings the district will be accountable to all our families who trust us with their children as well as the families of our dedic ated colleagues but we cannot do this alone we will only be as strong as our weakest link this is why it is important for everyone in the district Community to do their part together all of us can make Columbia High School and all of our schools a safe place to learn and work and this concludes my report next we'll have a update from our business administrator thank you board president ellesford uh tonight we will have a presentation for our annual audit and this evening we have Mr Robert provos and John finina hello gentlemen hi Eric good morning uh good good evening rather board memb sorry thank you for having us and superintendent as well I'm R provos the partner and engagement John finina is the senior manager he's going to be going over the annual comprehensive Financial report and I'm just going to touch on the auditor management report and go over briefly some of the um audo processes that take place um and it's a pretty lengthy process we're out there roughly two months from beginning to end so with that I'm going to try to screen share and John's going to go over some of the financial information it is roughly a 200 Page report but we're only going to touch on two or three pages which we feel are the most important so I'm going to bring up the financial statement and with that I'm going to pass off to John finina and please let me know if you if you need it en llarge or you can't see the the entirety of the the report yeah can can you zoom in please absolutely is that better for you guys a little more please that's that's good thank you okay okay John take it away John you're on mute I believe our apologies I guess John is having technical difficulties no big deal I'll cover this for him as well so these are the Enterprise funds uh schedule B5 so I just want to briefly touch on that as you guys can see I mean you guys I think are exactly where you need to be with these particular funds they both increased as you can see we lost the top but the left column is the Food Service Enterprise fund and the right column is the laty program which is pretty much your your child care programs here so they're both operating very well we think and again These funds aren't really uh there to maintain you know a significant amount of surplus so we think that's exactly where you guys need to be and you guys did have increase in daily sales and participation and which attributed to the increase uh in these particular funds so with that I'm going to jump to the general fund side of things and guys please let me know if I go to zoom in zoom out can you zoom in please yes is this good Eric yes thank you okay so this is basically where the general fund stands which is the the main operating fund of the the school district and as you can see it's the fund balance all the way at the end is roughly 40 million milon now keep in mind out that $40 million much that is earmarked for specific reserves the capital reserve maintenance Reserve um Etc and this was an increase roughly of $1 1.4 million from the previous year but keep in mind how that happened was you guys made a a very intelligent prudent decision we feel to um sell some school buses this year which is this per proceeds from sale of assets and that gave you just over $2 million um which attributed to that increase and then you also had some FEMA funds this year which are around $3 million and you know chances are you probably won't get the $3 million you get next year you may get something but you know FEMA sometimes is all over the place on what they're really willing to to give out but the sale of buses for sure is probably um you know a one-time one- time Revenue source so that's basically all we're going to touch on the financial statements in Le of time um if you guys have any questions I'll certainly uh answer whatever I can especially since Sean is still muted I believe and then uh if there's nothing I'll certainly move on to the AMR and maybe quickly over the auto process any questions you can move on to the AMR John okay so with AMR I wasn't necessarily going to screen share if you want to I I certainly can and I do have it up but basically that that's just a template we get from the state that you have to file if you have findings or you don't have findings and really that's just it goes over the entire Auto process where you know we have to test certain sections that are dictated by the state um we go well beyond that we believe you know we take a deep dive into the funds and the balance sheets you know we can say the funds are very good standing you look at fund 10 fund 20 fund 30 in very good detail you know we could definitely say there's definitely no misappropriation of funds or assets you know same could be said for the Enterprise funds I mean I think the accounting you guys have is is very very strong and I think you guys have a very very good internal control process over there that you should be proud of in a very good internal control environment and so that being said you know we like I said go past with the AMR has we test Student Activities interal controls we go into compliance with local public contract laws we certainly do a very very heavy dive uh in Grants you know including the the single audit but we go beyond the single audit and we test other grants uh that are on the schedule federal and state Awards like I said it's it's a very intensive process and we certainly test a a significant amount of transactions and you know with all that being said your uh School District only had one finding that needs corrective action so I think that's something to be proud of and that finding related to one of the grants extraordinary Aid and it's going to lie is AMR finding not a finding within the financial statements which is significant and we believe how that occurred was when the application was filled out in May of 2023 the district isos used the letter that was issued by the state in March of 23 but the district used the letter in February of 22 and there was a reason for that it seemed that the letter that came in in 2023 had some very very high costs that the school district was little concerns that were not accurate so to be conservative they went back and used a 22 letter instead of the 23 letter um and I did have some conversations with the state back and forth and and you know it's one of those things it was hard to quantify one way or the other and you know since that time it's been corrected all it really was was now going forward use the most recent certified letter by the state when you go through the extraordinary instructions it tells you just that to use the most recent letter so going forward that was probably just an isolated event that happened last year for the June 30th 2023 financial statements other than that we just had two other suggestions management one is just generally you know every five years or so probably should get a fixed asset appraisal um and Eric and Andrea are aware of that and we collectively decided to probably make sense when all the capital projects are complete to get that done in L of doing it now and then doing double work and more costs obviously down the road so um that's why that's there that's a repeat from last year that does not require corrective action deader other suggestions management relates to the Food Service funds and that's just something that came down from the Department of Agriculture that said you know if you have a decent amount of cash sitting there just develop a plan to spend it and the district has such plan but you know just like everything else with the the covid uh you know layover things believe or not are still on back order Etc so you know it's hard to purchase many items when they're still not always available so so that's what we had for the AMR like I said I think the district does a fantastic job you have an unqualified opinion on the financial statements as well as single audit which is the best opinion that a school district can get so I think that being said one finding is speaks volume with you know all the areas that I mentioned that we test so I think the district should be proud and you guys have a very very solid Finance team we feel with that that's that's all that we had um we're trying to keep it very high level but I'll certainly answer any questions that you guys have hey Rob can you hear me yes okay excellent so given that there have been no findings uh I mean I'm going to be asking you a leading question but if you were to rank us with all the other boards that you well the school districts that you do with would you give us an a a grade A oh absolutely now I said this finding isn't even something that would affect your fund balance numbers or anything like that um unfortunately it was probably just a cleric error or typo somewhere along the process that yielded you know the wrong cost on the letter but no I I think absolutely an A+ I think you guys do a a great job and you're a big District that's awesome I like I like a uh so I just want to thank uh you know the business office business administrator and the entire office including Andrea and everyone else for for doing this I know it's a tough job and it seems simple and it seems like you know oh my God it should be so easy to do but it is not and the only other thing I want to add is that last year we had at least three audits I mean maybe many people look at audits in a bad way but I think audits are good because they give you a benchmark against what you can improve and since there have been no findings in those audits well actually one of them had it special ed had it but in in the other two audits including the federal audit there was no finding so that's a great that's a good thanks yeah absolutely you guys do a great job and like I said every year it gets tougher and tougher with you know some of the co grants Etc out there and you guys really handle that very very well any other questions well thank you Robert you're absolutely right it is an entire team that that the business office just just clicks so um perfectly sometimes and 99% of the time we're good but thank you sir of course anytime and agreed have a good thank you for having us again everybody have a good night you as well all right next will be the board president's update which will be a presentation from hya on the superintendent search but first I was just going to read a statement uh about I guess the work that we've done this month um so I just want to say hello everyone good evening um tonight is a significant moment for our community we're here to acknowledge the importance of understanding each other and how it connects all of us recognizing our interconnectedness helps us realize the responsibilities we have toward one another which in turn propels us toward our Collective goals this journey of progress shapes our choices and guides us towards a shared purpose tonight I would like to explore three key facets of understanding that what and what it means for our school district drawing on recent interactions with our community our Educators and board Members First I would like to commend the community for their remarkable engagement in the superintendent search across three Community forums and online survey and over 25 focus group we have received input from over 2,000 individuals in our search this community should be proud as hya our search firm put it we receive more than twice the response in our community survey in a community for our size we have integrated your voices and those uh and those of other key stakeholders into a comprehensive leadership profile ensuring that the aspirations and concerns of our community are integral to the selection of our next superintendent second I want to underscore the importance of understanding and supporting our Educators as we begin negotiations for a new contract with Soma we approach the table with a spirit of collaboration and empathy our recent meeting marked the beginning of a dialogue a dialogue grounded in mutual respect and a shared commitment to fostering an environment where our teachers can Thrive and our students can flourish we recognize the immense dedication and talent of our educ ators and we are committed to ensuring that they receive the support and recognition they deserve finally I want to celebrate the spirit of understanding on our board as we held our first Retreat of the Year focusing on the topic of governance it allowed us a moment to build a foundation to align our priorities and move forward from a place of shared Vision tonight we will adopt a code of governance that will help us fulfill our moral imperative to improve student well-being and outcomes and of course there was a little levity we shed a drink afterward while the path ahead is still uncertain let us take comfort in our efforts to understand each other it is through this ununited effort that we will achieve Excellence for our school district together let us Embrace both challenges and opportunities with a commitment to a common good thank you and with that we'll have our presentation from hya the uh biggest decision I've had this evening is whether I should walk around or sit down and I think I'll I'll try this uh from a sitting position to start with the uh often when I use a microphone it's all over the place CU I I talk with my hands but uh again good evening it is a uh certainly a pleasure and honor to to be here and before we get into the report uh just the structure of what we will do this evening and why we are doing it uh we want to report back to the board and to the community the input that they provide Ed us with uh with that input we also want to demonstrate what we believe the desired characteristics for the next superintendent should be share with you the timeline where we are in that timeline and and then now uh ask you to of course set our report but it's our report but we need you uh to approve the uh Desir characteristics report with that we can officially kick off the uh uh the search it is uh although it's been started uh some weeks ago it is a uh and just to uh uh there are people who are already applying for the position that is a uh and we haven't done anything but posted so so the uh so we're we're in good shape there was a uh during the during the interviews uh with a number of folks they talked about there's so many things that are not good happening in the district how in the world are you going to find a highly qualified person uh for this position and I come to you this evening to tell you uh that there's more good than bad uh that there is a there are number of great people who are great leaders who are looking for a challenge but a place of great opportunity and potential and so at we get to the end of the evening we will talk about desired characteristics and our view of how we blend the potential with the challenges that allow ahead of you so it's not just challenges it's the potential to be greater than you are as we sit here today so let us uh with that I want to take you through a couple charts there seems to be an interest of who is in uh hya and I um like the and we've done this a number of times so some people in the audience and some of you probably have heard it that nauseum and probably tired of me uh uh going through this chart but I you will see later my picture and I enjoy showing my picture so the hya is a national firm uh we've done about six 00 that number is close to, 1700 now over the last 35 years of superintendent searches cabinet level searches uh we have a 135 or so Associates around the country uh to that end we've already received one U application from California so this is indeed a national search with a local team uh we uh we have full-time back office and IT staff that will help us uh accumulate the applications sort them uh develop a portal for the board where information will be available to them on the candidates as they come in as we vet them and uh and get them ready for presentation to you sometime in the week of April 1st I trust it will not be April 1st I have just a personal uh request that we not do this on April Fool's Day I would um but uh we will ask you if April 4th is a viable date 3D April 3rd is a viable date to Wednesday uh uh and U if if you could verify that on your Calenders in the next few days and if we can lock that in we would appreciate it our process is four four phases uh the first phase is the engaged phase uh and during this phase is what we've just gone through and what we've just completed uh officially I hopefully we we we will say us complete uh tonight uh we talked to uh almost uh 28 29 groups three Community groups two in person one uh virtual we will almost 1,00 people uh responded to the survey and as the president just stated for a district this size that's about twice of what we would would have expected we've talked to 211 people directly uh in the district outside of the district uh that 211 I normally would have expected to be somewhere around 115 120 uh in U in that area uh so it's a great indication that the community uh was uh involved interested and the and to care about the district uh certainly uh they uh talk to us about strengths and challenges and we and we'll talk talk some more about those things but I uh there is a uh we were very comfortable uh working with the community uh very professional very civil uh very engaging so I so I I thank the community uh for that uh the last uh uh community meeting that we had one lady though question why I would want to have a uh meeting on on President's Day uh they uh but I will tell you she drove from upstate New York to be at the meeting so the uh didn't like the date but she made the meeting so I I think that's a kind of dedication that makes a whole lot of sense for the district there is a uh uh we will after tonight we will officially move into the recruit piec of the uh search I would expect that we will um uh next 3 to four days uh three I'm sorry two to three weeks uh we will uh have somewhere in the neighborhood uh and don't hold me to these numbers these are educated guesses but I would expect that we will have 40 to 50 applications during that time I would expect that um we will uh go through our various advertising pieces of it and with the with the approval of the uh DC tonight the desire characteristics we can update our advertising channels we will go out to those 130 people that we talked to we send something out to them and say Here's a great opportunity and usually uh we get good feedback from that from that piece of it there is a uh uh uh once we have done that we'll come back to the board I just of the April 1st date April 3rd with a slate of uh candidates that will um uh that we will uh uh interviewed all of them I will not bring anyone to you that we've not talked to and we're not met uh that wouldn't work but we will have a you have an opportunity to uh uh to look at the best of the best uh and start the interview process that we scheduled for the April the 13th and April the 20th the uh so so that will morph into the select phase uh where we would do the interviewing and we will help the board facilitate the development of questions that alignment with the uh Desir characteristics piece of it and I keep referring to the Desir characteristics because of uh a couple reasons one we want to make sure that everybody is vetted through the same lens and that becomes a document to ensure that uh we make no differences race or gender or uh national origin everyone is vetted through the same lens and that's uh and at the end of the day everyone will have the same opportunity to impress you with their skills who those who make it through that through that process it is also so we use it for recruiting uh the board will timately use it as part of their interviewing process the we will uh then um uh finish up that facilitation send up that the re the interviews the board will make a selection prior to making the final selection will have an opportunity we uh will uh have a third-party deep background check probably a background check that I couldn't pass but it's a it is a uh we will have a 7year look back on U everything from uh civil records to uh criminal records to to uh Financial records bankruptcies uh social media news media uh all all of that uh will come forward uh uh I think I said credit reading but if I didn't credit checks it is a so be uh it's a thorough background check before the board makes his final commitment and announcement we would expect on the and I think I'll show you the timeline in a moment uh the uh we would expect that by May 1st in that first week of May uh the board will have an great idea who their preferred candidate is uh and will of course make that announcement on their own schedule uh keeping in mind that the date for the new person to start is is July 1st and and often the individual may need a sixday Runway to extricate themselves from their current Uh current position so we try to allow 60 days so that could happen uh and we want to make sure that we're uh we're in uh in place that that's in place and that that timing works there is a uh uh uh that that calendar we're on date uh long time I think it says uh February the 29th and we're here uh we're uh we'll move forward on the on the schedule uh I don't anticipate that um we will have any unusual delays I I can't predict every snowstorm but we will uh be pretty much uh ready for the board to be in position to know as our preferred candidate by the first week of uh of May there is a I think yeah this is the picture that I was speaking of uh I'm the senior associate uh and uh Karen sha she will uh introduce herself in a moment and take you through the LPR the leadership profile report and what the the information that we got back from uh from the community there is a um uh if if you're interested in reading this I you probably got much better things to do than that there's a uh it is on the website of the uh of the district uh but you should know that the uh my background is strategic planning uh bo board development and uh and superintendent seches uh when I when I was working for money they I was a in finance and most of my corporate experience has been in finance and with uh with the uh and I focus at that time near the end of my career on high potential recruiting of high potential candidates there is a some uh also not on this piece of it I should know that I'm a a former current board member this may be my last year at uh 30 uh 37 years in in uh in New York Duchess County District um that today is about 8,000 students uh we um started at about got up to almost 12,000 but uh but the uh uh district is and the community has shrunk as as uh as the industry has has left the area but the uh but uh I think if you if you check the Music Awards in New York you'll find it Arlington is at the top of the class uh academically and um Arts and Sciences so we have a great affinity for uh for excellence in in schools and education and what that means to the community Karen will take you through uh and I'm sure we share can share similar experiences with you in that regard but uh uh and then she'll take you through the LPR and we'll come back very quickly uh double team the uh desired characteristics report Karen great okay so a little bit about myself um so I was also a former board member in New Jersey um for six years and we actually used hya for our superintendent search and our strategic planning we had such a great experience um with hya that after um I say I retired from the board I did not run for reelection but I have a passion for public education um and I really wanted to help other school districts find their leaders um and help them with strategic planning which I think is so important for districts really to move forward they're both critical things and and the board doesn't get to do a lot of things but those are two things that the board does get get to to weigh in on so um and it's been a great experience working with hya and really working with Boards of Education um and also Ed and I sometimes we're teamed up superintendent and board member just be get getting those different perspectives on things Ed and I both happen to be board members but we've worked together on a number of searches and um we do get along very well and um we've done some great searches together and it's also it's been a pleasure getting to know your community um as Ed said Not only did we um very impressed by the amount of Engagement um but in addition we not only these numbers but we also gave out our emails to everyone so anyone had the opportunity to email us and that was reflected in some of the notes as well so um the number might be slightly higher from the email and then the community engagement but we wanted to really make sure like to me this engagement phase is so important and so important for Ed and I also because we're really that first um interaction that the candidates have and we're really trying to understand so we really need to get a sense of your Comm commun community and I think we really did get a great sense of the community and it's it's been a pleasure um so let's move on to I know it's pretty hard to see the numbers so yeah can zoom in a little bit perfect so we don't have to go through each group and and it's um just to get a sense so when it says na sometimes the groups on the survey the survey was only disaggregated by six groups um that doesn't mean we didn't do community members it's just put in a different group so basically the groups between the surveys um and the focus the interviews and those focus groups as Ed said 21 was at the bottom but we talked to board members building level administrators and supervisors administrative team Community me numbers um that was a survey one but later on you'll we'll get to the Forum numbers teachers um social workers and guidance support staff non-certificated Elementary Middle secondary both with the teachers and support staff um Community leaders and representatives including the preschool leadership um collective bargaining leadership the special education uh groups president's Council of the PTA parents that's where that all group group falls into that's where all the community forums were um and then students at the middle school and high school which is always um some of my favorite groups to get information from so um for the survey groups it was disaggregated by those six groups that you could see on that side and um 1875 that's a great survey response so that it was really amazing to see that kind of response from the survey um moving on um actually I think I have my going to slipped to the survey so as I said the survey was completed by um 1,875 stakeholders the largest stakeholder group um not surprisingly was parents but 85.6% were parents um and teachers made up the second most popular Group which was 8% um I think we're on a different slide go back I'll keep talking well there you go we're there um the third largest group was community members was 3% so that parent group really made up the majority of it um just kind of high level and the survey this is just kind of summary of the survey you did get a full report of the survey probably in the portal um but just to to give you high level the following statements were perceived to be the strengths um technology is integrated into the classroom and the TL is what we call um it's teaching and learning those are the categories that we use um the second one the district engages with diverse racial cultural and socioeconomic groups that's under Community engagement um district schools are safe teaching and learning the district employs effective teachers administrators and support staff in its school that's under the management category the district is working to close achievement and opportunity gaps and that's under vision and values so those are the different categories the top leadership profile characteristics um constituents desire and the new superintendent are to recruit employ and retain effective Personnel throughout the district and its schools that's management Foster a positive professional climate of mutual Mutual trust and respect among faculty staff and administrators uh Community engagement provide transparent Communications under Community engagement establish a culture of high expectations for all students and Personnel vision and values effectively plan and manage the long-term Financial Health of the district man agement and from what we saw and you'll see also from the leadership profile report it pretty much matched up what the survey these were very similar themes that we saw in the focus groups in the interviews as well um that came through in the survey not exactly the same but pretty close so going on to the strengths um so some of the strengths of the district um the community's reputation for excellence diversity always came up as number one um and the cultural and the cultural opportunities that you have in your community it's pretty amazing I didn't even know how many famous people lived here um and just so supportive of the pride of the Performing Arts and things that you don't see in a lot of other communities and you know it was really amazing to see that and that kept coming through um also the geographic location being easily accessible to New York City it people said that was always makes it a great place to be just a very desirable place for people to live and really raise their families and that was really shown through as a strength um the community overall is very supportive of the schools and places a high value on the education it is multigenerational diverse active and vocal Community with a high level of participation always comes up as a strength and a challenge sometimes but um in this case it is a strength it's also a tight-knit cozy Community um emphasizing belonging which includes the interconnectedness of the neighborhoods and diverse interactions among the residents it's really interesting how you are Two Towns but it seems to be intertwined um through the school district and and there is a meshing of the towns which is really everyone really thinks um the interconnectedness means a lot to the community the student body um is definitely a strength very active very invested they advocate for themselves um Dynamic school system with high expectations and really a strong commitment to educational growth and Equity um that was shining through um valuing inclusivity and Community engagement academic Excellence which we talked about too um really creating a safe environment I know there were some discussions earlier about um some of the challenges you had in the high school but overall and we've asked the question the focus groups everyone seems to feel safe here um and the students and the parents and that that didn't seem to be a concern um highly dedicated staff and great Educators was definitely a strength high quality hardworking passionate professionals um and engaged parent community um really contributing time and resources to support the students and the schools um some of the challenges so concerns about declining academic performance um they people felt that could be a threat to the community's reputation um academic suffering during the pandemic mostly in the Elementary grades um which isn't unusual I think for many school districts these days some people felt maybe you're not bouncing back as much as some of of the other districts but again that that is we're seeing that in a lot of districts um equity and access were noted as challenges related to curriculum um struggling to implement the systems and procedures um focused on equity and closing achievement D gaps especially in the special education population and Eng English English language Learners sorry about that um also implementing the Fergus report recommendations and the intentional integration initiative triple as people call it um as really the passion is there the commitment seems to be there it just hasn't reached the full potential and the scope and and we'll see that even in the desired characteristics for the next superintendent really trying to get these um more solidified and more systems in place for that providing Equitable access to special education programs in the neighborhood schools is a concern um people move here for special education services sometimes they seem to be disappointed in the services or need to litigate um and to retain services for the children so we did hear a lot of concerns regarding special education overall um High turnover in administrative positions um there's been a lack of stability in those roles um and and vision and and that just happens a lot of times the frequent turnover um inconsistent decision- making um because of that turnover so hopefully with this um the search and this process you're going through um defin itely some of those challenge will be um challenges will become addressed um also the needing to address teacher relations and teacher morale seems to be low School culture um teacher retention problems and hiring issues which is something going on across the country as well um teachers feeling they lack support and resources uh lack of transparency in poor communication has led to an erosion of trust um and again I think this was the past a lot of these things come up as challenges sometimes just so you know is not necessarily right this moment but sometimes it's just things that happened throughout the past as well so needing to unify the district around common goals um and really building trust through among all stakeholders um and building Community engagement and incorporating transparency and I think that all goes hand inand um budget allocation and management was expressed as a concern and stakeholders wondering why certain programs and services are funded over others and how accurately the budget aligns with the resources the district needs um you know and sometimes that goes hand in hand with communication so that's just something that came up um aging buildings um definitely we have heard about um not been prep um needs needing repairs and um I think in some of the student groups we heard that as well um and some of that becomes a financial burden obviously and an operational burden so I think Ed do you want to go on to the side characteristic oh you have sure the uh two things U the U the survey that we and the LPR we will recommend to the board that you add the uh add these to the website uh oh that we uh that they are added to the website they U uh the at least executive summary of the LPR uh and and I would tell you that when you go throughout notes you could add those also from the LPR if it's the will of the board the uh the as when finish the uh characteristics piece that they too should be added the full survey that the 1800 folks uh uh uh apply a did we will uh should be also added and uh be very visible so that anyone who wants to can read the comments from the community it also becomes a great record for the new superintendent a great starting place for he or she to start to understand the district and the and the issues that are there there is a uh uh and before we move to the um next phase one if you have some questions to uh I needed to just than a couple of people U uh Paul breaker uh Eric Burnside darthy Connor uh they were greatly supportive during this whole process uh and uh manage the communications and trying to put together 28 meetings and um face to face and three uh Community meetings uh we needed the support of everyone from inside of the organization so we we thank you for that there is a uh we uh uh so and I and and and again thank you to the community for their input and uh and willing to sit with us and and uh share their thoughts with us are there any questions on the community input yes sir I I probably missed the last part that you said but can you confirm that this presentation along with the survey and all will be available on our search microsite yeah confirm that it will be everything you see here will be available in the portal available for the community okay portal for the community not portal for the board members for for the public you want are you asking me for the public or for you I'm asking for the public yeah that how much you want to put on we're recommending that you put it all on but the board will make that decision how much you want to put on okay thanks and I and I I apologize for setting you up like that but that is a it is U uh but it is indeed your decision of how much you want to put on this any other questions on the community input we have so with that information that Karen just took you through we uh we we put together U desire characteristics for the next superintendent and and quite frankly there is a u um in the in the very first paragraph of this piece of of this section uh we at we will seek someone who's Innovative a consensus Builder an equity centered educational leader who is trustworthy collaborative and transparent yeah quite frankly we could have stopped there but because those are the threads that sort of permeates through all of the discussions that we've had with the community members staff members as well as the board members so it's a uh uh it is um uh but we did finish the document with is uh and uh and we'll take you through those and see if there uh there is a um any any changes you you would want to uh want to meet is there a theme that we didn't do that you may you want to insert I we're caution against rewriting the document because there's nothing more tedious than a community trying to write a letter so the would it' be helpful if we miss the theme in this uh we there's some thoughts and I I know a the board members sent to us and we got and it talked about a discussion between a a proven tra record and a commitment when you talk to the community both of those things were in place it was not one or the other so we tried to capture that thought it is uh in in what we had we tried to balance the uh the uh this the challenges with the opportunities and make it this is challenging but if you do the if you if you got the fire in the belly and the skill set you can do great things here so so we tried to maintain that balance it wasn't our job to uh to go and try to destroy the district in in the Public's eye uh it's a ful that's disaster that's a fulfilling uh prophecy if we did that so it's it's it was as you read through it and as you've had a chance to look at it those were those were sort of the um uh that was the theme that we Tred to maintain in terms of this document now this document will go everywhere it we go on the on on on Ed week it'll go on the hya web page and our web page get we got about 25,000 hits a month it will be at um we will send it to ASA alas uh napy uh the regional uh places that you decided on so it it is um we want it to be a a prerequisite of what you want in the next superintendent uh but also uh not sugarcoat that is not it will not be an easy job it's not um it's it's not scar Ste it is uh it is a it is a uh it will be challenges but those who are up to the challenge can certainly have uh see great rewards so so that that's the overview and uh you want to start so this is we'll read this um but it's up there as well and this is our draft yeah okay so after seeking input from the Board of Education students teachers parents staff and community members through focus group interviews Community forums and a stakeholder survey the South Orange Maplewood Board of Education seeks an Innovative consensus Builder Equity centered educational leader who is trustworthy collaborative and transparent and who possesses the following characteristics an experienced educational leader who has a passion for and commitment to student achievement and will work collaboratively with the Board of Education a staff and the community has a track record of successfully implementing education initiatives designed to enhance student achievement while galvanizing CommunityWide support is an Innovative leader who can Inspire Empower and motivate staff to achieve lofty goals has clear under clear knowledge of public education and New Jersey Department of Ed rules and regulations understands best practices in curriculum and instruction and experience in collabor ly implementing systems and procedures to support necessary improvements recognizes the intricacies of special education services and demonstrates proven success in providing exemplary special education programs and services is committed to enhancing student learning and improving student outcomes demonstrates fiscal Acumen and can responsibly manage the Equitable allocation of resources including upgrades of District facilities to align with District needs a relationship Builder who is committed to and prioritizes equity and inclusion and demonstrates an understanding of the diverse needs of students regardless of background and abilities is an outstanding Communicator who is able to gain trust through motivation and engagement with stakeholders Fosters a professional and open environment when dealing with challenging issues show caring transparency and honesty in public forums and small group settings value student voice and uses a whole child approach to support the needs of all children invest in the community by being visible and is actively engage in building and sustaining positive Partnerships and relationships with stakeholders a proven unflappable leader who displays courage in the face of challenges and the ability to navigate complex situations with Integrity confidence and empathy is personable politically Savvy and astute and is also a Visionary who is able to collaborate with the board teachers administrative teams parents and community members to accomplish goals seeks input before making decisions communicates the rationale behind each decision and stands firm once a decision is made supports and empowers an effective leadership team and staff a successful candidate will have or have or immediately um be eligible for New Jersey school administrator certificate which is just a state requirement um and be available to begin no later than July 1st 2024 uh compensation salary in the range of 240 depending upon actual qualifications experience and credentials and subject to negotiations and that takes place at the board level after the final candidate is is picked um and the benefits similar to any of the other employees that also takes place during the negotiation period and then we just have our website where um the job is already posted as Ed said this the desired characteristics and usually the leadership profile summary at least is put up with that so that candidates get to um see what the district's really looking for I think that's I think that's it yep Oh and questions who real questions yeah unless we want to go back so um so first thank you um done a lot of lot of work and we appreciate all the feedback you were able to get um one thing I noticed sorry I'm like Miss grammar um we need to add an l and able and that I noticed that too was I didn't until tonight yeah yeah but anyway I know we'll do spell check so it's all good um so you know I had a few things that I wanted to I I know I sent you my my edits but I wanted to make them publicly known just so that the the board can also decide as well I think there are just some I didn't have a lot of suggestions but there were certain phrases and buzzword that I know um are are important to fellow board members important to myself and they could be important to the community as well based on the feedback that we got so under the experienced educational leader first bullet um I didn't want to add another bullet because I know this is already long but um if you decide to make this another bullet so be it but I think it's important to add somewhere that this person has experienced developing long-term strategic plans um and the way I wrote it was developing long-term strategic plans that unifies the district around common Golds builds trust among stakeholders improves committee engagement and incorporates transparency um I know you mentioned transparency already above but I think the long-term strategic plan is so important for this district and it will um most likely if we do it incorporate so many different voices and so I think that's really important um in the second bullet point you know I love that it says has a track record um it's like my favorite phrase but I think it's important that we have someone who um is using research and data to inform their strategies as well um we have a data committee I know that the board and the district has been working really hard to acquire data and then be able to use it to inform our decisions and so someone that has those qualities from a track record standpoint I think would be great especially when it comes to closing the achievement Gap um I didn't see closing achievement Gap in here and I think that having somewhere is really important so I was putting it in the second bullet so using research and data that will inform strategies to successfully Implement education initiatives designed to close achievement gaps in primary and secondary schools um and then in the third bullet I think including a results driven leader who can Inspire Empower and motivate staff to achieve lofty goals while keeping morale high and staff turnover low maybe that's too specific but because we talked we received feedback from the community about teachers I think it's important to incorporate that we have an expectation that this leader is going to be working towards that with our staff and teachers um and then also in the seventh bullet um including students of diverse socioeconomic levels I think is important it was mentioned in our survey feedback and we have such a diverse socioeconomic population it's very unique to South Orange and Maplewood and so um maybe that's more of a commitment and not a track record because it's so unque to who to our community so I'll let that one go um and then lastly under a relationship Builder um I think if we could include track record there that would be great in the first bullet otherwise commitment would be fine um when it comes to prioritizing equity and inclusion and then also staying connected to the caregiver and student Community to understand and improve the diverse needs of students from all backgrounds um we want someone who is able to do that and who is proactive with doing it and not reactive so those were my suggestions um I I haven't thought of any new ones but I still stand by those thank you actually I had one quick question um the advertisements that you're going to be placing do we get to see those in advance you're placing ads you said right like in publication or are you placing ads I thought I heard you say you're placing ads did you advertisements Ed in ed in Ed week uh yeah exactly do we get to see those ads in advance uh yes you did and the the uh the initial ones already on the online piece of it very Pro for proformer ads when you saw the posting uh from um uh that was really a derivative of the posting that was done last last uh last year so um um but be happy to show those to you if you look at it we you yeah that' be great thank you yeah there's a uh uh um I don't think there'll be any significant changes based on what saying yes bill could you just describe for a moment here I think you may have before but just a little bit more focused um the way that you use this um the desired super superintendent characteristics document now that you have these bullet points and maybe tie it in with that um what uh what you go into with the recruiting specifically we know we have the ads kind of the passive approach what is the uh the active Outreach looking like right now well the what happens with the Desir characteristics is uh when they look look at the district and look at this there's a section on the website here as well as with hya this document will be there and it's the first test that they that will create interest they either uh believe that they uh have those qualifications can beat the challenge and they're they're in the uh they're in the running uh and from there they typically call us and we and uh they meet a clip level we'll talk to them and specifically they will ask questions about specific parts of it and we go into some of the details and the nuances of uh of each of those items or wherever they have items are and we check and we check their backgrounds against this uh against this document against this desire characteristics if uh for instance there may be a a great airplane pilet I don't want to pick up airplane pallets but it has no it has no relevancy or no connection to being the superintendent and what you're looking for in the superintendent so uh could have all other kinds of credentials but would not pass the test so it becomes a litmus test both for interest evaluation uh and uh uh uh and final and final decision point of who you who you actually select if it's a uh it becomes a it is a uh it's it's the uh it becomes a holy Grill because so when when you ask me did we why did we pick this person versus that person we should be able to go back to the doc and and when the community asks you the same question you should be able to go back to this docum and with regard with regard to the uh the recruitment piece how is that Outreach kind of what are the the mechanics looking like you uh is this based on kind of a a list of folks you know of or do we have a list of folks no uh I don't right now I don't know by name by state I I know that we have a uh uh 16 people have already applied I know that they are uh by and large the the first test for me is that they are uh that they people who are in a in a in a very good position to be competitive on first blush I don't know any more than that because we haven't vetted them we haven't talked to them we haven't looked at their backgrounds we have uh we haven't tested their body of work so all of that all of that is to come so the so uh it is a it it's a journey so so the people that we bring to you meet the basics of the uh desire characteristics and then uh and then we flush out other other experiences uh there is a uh and there'll be some of it you will have to do when you interview the people because what's important to you we did not rank uh uh uh any one piece of the business repairing the uh uh buildings for instance is a major issue uh but but you're not looking for a carpenter you're looking for someone that can manage the process and make sure that it happens in a timely basis so does that does a person does he or she have experience in doing that and making taking a project no matter what the name of it is and uh um and and making it happen and and being ensuring success with it because if if you can manage the process then I can pluck in any anything that I want to and have a good manager manage the process to the end uh there's a so if it if it's a uh so so that that's what we're looking for people who are who are great communicators who intuitively got good management skills can get people to gize around common goals and a lot of folks people in the district talked about that and and bridging those gaps that are there uh everyone was on their best behavior we didn't see a lot of those gaps but they told us about them and uh so there's a but but there's a I mean it's it's it was gaps between the board and the community uh the uh groups in the inside of the district uh two outside there there were uh discussions of of uh issues between the communic ation between teachers and building principal building principles and and the central office and central office and the board so so the uh we started off with a word of person is going to have to be a unifier as it and bring all those people everybody in the district into one Accord and I don't know how you how you write all of that but we need to know that and and and and we need to be the ones held accountable to bring you people who can do those things uh Adan Karen thank you so much I know you you put in a lot of time in this um especially in the engagement portion of it which I know that um I'm only going to speak individually but as a board collectively we we expressed how important that is um I think just in the interest of time I don't you know maybe we can do a followup but I think I'm still I I'm still unclear with Will's question on like the there's passive Recruitment and then there's I'm not really sure I heard what what are you doing like proactively with the desired traits um I know we still have a lot of folks here who have waited very patiently so I think in the interest of time maybe we could just schedule another meeting that's an important point if I can excuse me for interrupting you because I I missed the essence of Bill's question if there are only two kinds of recruitment there there people who come in passively or active uh really and the passive ones are the ones who are uh uh who are typically wait for someone to tap them on the shoulder and say you know this is a great opportunity and you should come in uh the the active ones are the ones who are applying every for every position that comes open so so there so there are only two two kinds two types of uh of recruiting uh we probably uh place about 50% of the people that we place come through uh uh passive recruiting we will go out and with this document with the uh with all the information we have about the district and talk about the people who are who are they're they're comfortable in their position they're doing a great job their families are comfortable they know they're going to move at the next couple years or so and we talked to them about accelerating that movement uh uh before that and to start to think about the process uh sometimes it sometimes it resonates sometimes it doesn't but about half the time of those that 1600 folks we showed you earlier the place about half of them came from referrals of people who were not actively looking for a position so so if I if IOD your question if I got it right this time that's we uh we use this document uh when we talk to people who in the passive part of the recruiting part thank you all right um I think in the interest of time we'll just wrap that up I want to thank you again for coming on and presenting us the characters to profile uh thank you and again we appreciate your support Mr President uh the uh uh and we will wait for your next instructions thank you thank [Applause] you next I'll read the board president's statement the school board meeting is a business meeting in public and not a meeting with the public often times it may appear to members of our audience that the Board of Education takes action with very little com comment and in many cases a unanimous vote before matter is placed on the agenda at a public meeting the Administration has thoroughly reviewed the matter with the superintendent of schools the superintendent of schools is satisfied with the matter 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 Administration and the superintendent to assure that the members fully understand the matter after the committee discusses the matter it is then shared with the other board members for consideration only then is it placed on the agenda for board discussion and action at a public meeting um the next we'll have our hearings of individuals and and delegations how many do we have how many right thank you for coming in person and dialing in by phone this evening the South Orange Maple Board of Education certainly respects that you've taken the time out of your busy day to address the board of educ board at tonight's meeting we value Public's involvement in our school district and we are eager to hear what you have to say the board does have time limits by policy and we'll be enforcing those to enable as many people to speak as possible this evening each individual will be given 2 minutes to speak please do your best to stay within that 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 of education is taken very seriously and will inform the future deliberations and work by the Board of Education in this committees okay all right so I'll first ask do we have any students we'd like to have them speak first hang have G [Applause] Brown um can I begin or do need the timer okay okay hi my name is GTH Brown I'm a junior and an extremely proud member of the special Dance Company when I moved here in fourth grade I attended my first CHS play being young I'm sure I did not appreciate just how incredible it was but my parents certainly did over the years I recall countless conversations with neighbors and family members about just how incredible the Arts programs at CHS were it is known the district heavily Associates themselves with having pride in the Arts this feels misleading it implies the district gives support to the extent of which the Arts give our district a positive reputation to me it seems the district only benefits from the dedication of students parents community members and teachers to the Arts but when it comes time for The District in turn to dedicate itself and really value and prioritize what it says it does what is done if the district gave the Arts the full capacity of attention care and resources they deserve the auditorium would never have been neglected to the extent of which it was the stage needs to be fixed for the spring CHS is undoubtedly struggling and the events that use the stage will be able to repair some of what has been destroyed this year as far as our CHS Community yet what I feel is being brushed over is how this happened why were administrators having meetings prioritizing Library spaces I've not heard a single student say they wanted while students were working on a stage not up to Legal code why were students working on stage one dear one day and permitt it to go near it the next no person is permitted to step on stage currently that is how dangerous it is let the situation be a lesson if the district's neglect continues what will be left mismanagement will have officially destroyed practically every last good thing about Colombia so the stage must be fixed for the spring not only because it is the right thing to do but it is because what we deserve it is what we deserve after what we have given to this district and to this community after all we are the ones who work and sacrifice so much is a functioning Auditorium too much to ask for I believe we are owed that much thank [Applause] you next we have Leah [Applause] glass hi my name is Leah glass and I'm Simone mcre and we're both members of the CHS musical as well as the special Dance Company captains before we speak about how this pertains to special dance we want to acknowledge that the stage being broken is a schoolwide issue we have spent the last two days reaching out to over 10 different programs affected some of which are present tonight while others were not able to make it after speaking to all of them it is evident that there is an overall feeling of neglect and hard that this situation has caused step aspiring Leaders of Tomorrow stage crew band Orchestra the Multicultural Club student council Hall of Fame the musical and special dance have all been displaced this is a schoolwide issue alongside Mr Mano and our co- Captain Lily pen Vero we are currently searching for another space to put on the special dance show we have reached out to multiple other venues and none of them are able to provide us with the necessary conditions every year leading up to the show we have 3 to 800 p.m Tech rehearsals over the course of two weeks this time is vital to the safety and quality of our production we work hand inand with the CHS stage crew to set clean and tech 20 plus pieces on stage no out of District option has provided us with more than two Tech days or has permitted our student stage crew to be involved in the process in addition a majority of our audience are map so locals moving our show out of the district would not only hurt our ticket sales but it would deny members of our community the opportunity to see dance live and on stage we have contacted Psalms and MMS in an attempt to keep our show in the district but they claimed the risers on their stages cannot be moved during our Tech weeks because of this we would only have one day to Tech on top of this there are many many aspects of those spaces that are not functional do not work and would not allow the additional lighting we need given this the only adequate space for our show to take place is at CHS we understand that the stage breaking was out of everyone's control but what is in your control is what you do about it special dance is one of the most well-known and respected programs at CHS is one of the only programs that the entire school is invested in we ask that you look into every possible solution and work together with the members of the community who have already come forward willing to help to find a way to support the Arts thank you next we have Tessa Lipkin Tessa [Applause] Lipkin hello I'm Tessa Lipkin and I'm one of the leaders of the CHS stage crew I'd first like to thank the administration of both CHS MMS and the support of the board for providing us with a space to do our show this year everyone involved including the crew is immensely grateful how however the relocation and subsequent chaos of the show this year is something none of us want to experience ever again it has put an unprecedented strain on both our resources and the crew members themselves as you all spoke tonight the entire crew was at MMS to trying to build and light a show in less time than ever before and while I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak for crew here tonight I truly wish I didn't have to be here I should be have been at MMS where some crew members had been working against time and pouring their hearts into the show to make it the best they can for over 5 hours but the issues with our system are too big to ignore as a crew we know we play an important role in the production process we run Tech not only for the musical and special dance but also every other group that is speaking here tonight it's cliche to say but there wouldn't be a show without us however there also isn't show without a functioning stage which requires the fly system the preservation and upkeep of the auditorium facilities has been painfully overlooked despite the presence of the Arts in our community our school is known for the quality of our Performing Arts but when you work intimately in these spaces and with these programs you see that the success is due to the overwhelming dedication of the students our current space on the other hand is holding us back restoring the fly system to not just what it used to be but something better is in the best interest of everyone with any stake in the future of Colombia the CHS stage crew teaches not only theater Tech but also valuable skills in basic construction if our stage is inacessible every Columbia student loses access to not only the Arts but these opportunities as well we implore the board to look into all options for our stage but Place emphasis on longevity when place looking for a solution we are no strangers to troubleshooting but this is a much larger issue a quick fix is necessary for spring Arts programs but we cannot stop there it's incredibly important that there is continued focus on the longterm health of our theater every group that uses the auditorium not just stage crew deserves a space which reflects the our community's claimed commitment to the Arts and on behalf of the entire CHS stage crew I urge you to make that a reality thank you for your time next we have Skylar Smith and Mary Grace rumbley good evening my name is Skyler Smith and I'm Mary Grace Rumley and we are both seniors at CHS in 2020 our Middle School show Mama Mia was canceled because of the pandemic fast forward four years we were doing the same show but this time we don't have a stage accidents happen however the stage being deemed unsafe to perform on is no accident it's a product of the administration's neglect of the necessary care of our Auditorium and their lack of urgency and seeking out other options to fix it performance groups including the musical the special dance company and The Shakespearean Festival are now forced to relocate with short notice and limited available space why can't money that we received from allowing American horror stories to film on our stage be used to fix the very area they were filming at you start however this issue does not just pertain to the Arts there are so many other organizations such as the Hall of Fame committee and the Multicultural club that are now on able to Showcase their hard work though the loss of the auditorium primarily impacts the CHS student body there are so many other individuals working tirelessly behind the scenes to help us solve this dilemma yet as a collective we have received very little reassurance from Administration that our concerns are being addressed without a principal sufficient security a library and now an auditorium it is very clear CHS is in a very vulnerable position without the Arts you are no longer you are not only losing your largest audience but also your biggest supporters if you truly value student voices it is so important that you actively look into solutions to fix the stage and prioritize this immediately we want to graduate knowing that the future of the Arts in our district will continue to flourish and after the stage is restored steps are taken to properly manage our performance spaces thank you next we have Marlo Alexander good evening my name is Marl Alexander and I'm a senior at CHS it is my fourth and final year performing in the Columbia Musical and my second and final year in the special Dance Company the Arts at CHS have impacted my life immensely and empowered me to pursue a major musical theater and a minor in dance in the fall I've grown up watching CHS musicals and special dance performances on the Columbia stage each performance fueling my love of the Arts pursuing my passion of performing on the Columbia stage has been a magical experience and it is heartbreaking to have it taken away my senior year I am fortunate to have had the experience to perform on the Columbia stage as as many of our most successful alumni it is evident that our Auditorium has professional capabilities that we are now being robbed of professional capabilities that have have inspired me to pursue a career in the Arts have inspired many before me and may seize to Foster the future of mapso breed artists if there is not an immediate fix for the stage opening night of last year's musical was one of the most fulfilling night experiences of my life the CHS stage has a magic to it and now it is too late for the musical to perform on it but it is not too late for special dance and countless other clubs and extracurriculars to experience the joy of the Columbia stage the spectable of the special dance show is unachievable anywhere else but Columbia stage crew's ability to create intricate lighting and production design is unachievable anywhere but Columbia our ability to dance safely and Marley is unachievable anywhere but Columbia as a district who prides themselves on the Arts it is important to see the district's hypocrisy and their neglect of the auditorium it is imperative to look into every possible solution for immediate repair put your money where your mouth is this agage must be fixed thank you next we have Sophia [Applause] Bruno hi my name is Sophia Bruno I am a senior at CHS and is my third year in the special Dance Company special dance is not only a valued part of Columbia High School but a valued part of the masso community and Beyond people of all ages especially young kids come to the special dance shows to get inspired and excited to be part of the CHS community in other words the prestigious Arts programs at Columbia is what attracts parents to put their kids into our community in the first place ever since I moved to South Orange New Jersey when I was 5 years old my parents took me to see the special dance performances every single year I remember being Star Struck by their incredible talent and I would get chills from the loudness of the music and the Vibrance of the lighting it had been my dream to be part of the special Dance Company ever since I was a little girl this feeling of overwhelming inspiration in my 5-year-old mind is what I know so many other kids feel when they come to see the special dance performance to the Board of Ed I feel let down we need your help to work with us to keep this program running with the same potential it is always had it is so important to look into other ways to fix the stage because it's a vital to the success safety and future of this program having the performance outside of the district does not ensure that we will have a Marley a perect a protective surface and having the show outside of CHS in general will make it not as safe additionally we evalue our crew members who make the show what it is if our options are deferred to a venue outside the district we wouldn't be able to utilize their hard workor and skills they're part of the show just as much as we are thank you for listening and I hope you are able to continue the legacy of the Arts at CHS next we have Annie [Applause] mcellen hello my name is Annie Macklin and I'm a senior at Columbia and a member of the special Dance Company being able to showcase our student choreography at its full potential is critical IAL to us it is a culmination of our hard work time and dedication due to the current state of the auditorium the assemblies for our peers are likely to be canceled altogether and the shows itself are not going to be at the same quality level because of the inadequate alternate performance spaces we have been offered we are not the only people suffering either there are a ton of organizations in the school that rely on the auditorium and not being able to use it has been devastating to all of us we are angry and upset about the way that the issue is being handled because we feel it is not being treated like a priority the auditorium is a special place to the students and and the overall Community the CHS Auditorium was the place where I danced on stage for the first time as a little kid and I know that that is true for a lot of other current students what am I supposed to tell the fifth grader I babysit who was so excited to be in the fifth grade for the sole reason it meant he got to watch the fifth grade special dance assembly which is held in the auditorium annually people being able to watch us perform is just as important as us getting to perform the space is Central to so many things and at the very least it needs to be patched up enough that it is functional until the end of this school year if repairs can't be finished quickly enough for a certain program you must find an equal replacement with an emphasis on equal the special dance company has suffered enough this year we no longer have access to the dance room due to construction so we're forced to work in the blackbox theater which is dirty concrete flooring that poses safety RIS to us we also have to change in the schoolwide bathroom after class now that the locker room isn't available meaning anyone can walk in however we make it work we love and care for this company and its people and we are so dedicated that we deal with the issues with the smile on our faces we have made these accommodations for you but we refuse to make this one the auditorium needs to be fixed next is Lydia [Applause] Ryan hello um I'm Lydia Ryan and I'm a senior at Columbia it is my fourth year in the CHS Musical and my third year in special Dance Company I'm here to talk about the importance of a temporary solution for the CHS Auditorium stage we know that the board is looking into long long-term fixes for the auditorium and we appreciate that so much but right now special dance is without a home and a temporary solution that would allow us to perform in May is within our sites if we just get approval and monetary support um qualified professionals who work in teching theater have told us that there is a solution and the board has not looked into it in a district that Prides itself on being a champion for the Arts it is deplorable that the CHS musical program is being forced to re rehearse in a church hall because the school refused to look into the full breath of solutions for the stage it is too late to fix the stage for the musical but it is not too late to fix it for this year's special Dance Company the stage crew and the dozen other clubs that value our Auditorium space it is my last year in this unique program and I want to have the opportunity to perform for our peers at the annual assembly one of the highlights of the entire program and I've had so many friends tell me that they would be incredibly disappointed if we didn't have our in school performance which accounts for a large chunk of our tickets sales without the stage we have less people to view our art I'm choreographing my own piece this year and I want people to be able to see what I've worked so hard on my art and the athletic abilities of my fellow dancers deserve to be recognized and supported monetarily our historic Auditorium space deserved to be deserves to be used by our insanely talented artistic groups the community looks forward to our performances and without a stage where our stage crew can reach their full capabilities and a stage that people can easily commute to we can't give them that can't we spend a small fraction of the large sum of money we have budgeted for repairs on one of the most beloved programs at the school we accommodated the film Crews disrupting our Tech process because we were told that our program would receive the money now is when we need that money the most we have a program desperately in need of a home for our passion please help us do what we do best thank you for your time next we have Leah Gyer hello my name is Leah Gyer I'm a junior at CHS and this is my second year in the special Dance Company I am here along with fellow company members and representatives of several other organizations to ask you to please consider any and all options to fix the auditorium stage as soon as possible special Dance Works incredibly hard each year to choreograph and put on our show in May it is an event the company the community and the school looks forward to each year special dance and the Arts in general are the spirit and pride of CHS students are always excited for the special dance show and assemblies if the stage is not fixed this year we can't have these assemblies or the opportunity to perform for our friends during the school day and the community in our Auditorium the show will suffer from the huge loss of tech time and the learning curve that comes with performing in a new space the loss of our performing space is incredibly unfair to us dancers who have put in work all year long and especially to the seniors who will never who will never be able to dance on the CHS stage again special dance is also current currently displaced from our room because of the construction in the sewing the district has prioritized the needs of other facilities as well we hope you care enough about our program and Stage as you care about improving the school and District in these other ways I love special dance and I love to perform without the stage the special dance show will not be the community event we know and love and I and all other dancers will not be given the full will not be given the opportunity to perform to our fullest if the district says it Prides itself on its Arts programs yet at the same time refuses to fund or explore all options to fix the stage and supports support the Arts it does not truly value the Arts please prioritize our stage and give the students the space to perform in their own school this spring thank you next we have Alysa [Applause] lures good evening my name is Alyssa lures I am a senior at Columbia High School and a member of both the special dance company and aspiring Leaders of Tomorrow the stage is in accessible but we still have a show to put on based on the current conditions of the special dance company as well as other Performing Arts organizations at Columbia High School it's increasingly clear what little thought the school and the Board of Education puts into the youth Arts programs in our community despite the hard work that we put into our performances year round I'm a member of aspiring Leaders of Tomorrow a club consisting of and celebrating people of color at CJs we host our end of the Year banquet every June that celebrates the achievements of our club members we put in a lot of work and a lot of money into this event Miss Banner our club adviser has been asking for Club funding despite recently receiving a grant for the first time in 8 years from achieve the banquet is how we get most of our funding to have that taken away is an impediment to our club we are currently trying to find an alternate solution just as the numerous other clubs who use our high school stage R I used to be the CHS Multicultural Club president during my freshman in sophomore year on behalf of the current CHS Multicultural Club president kaaden Edwards she says quote our Multicultural night is a VI showcase that embodies cultural diversity within our school at the end of the year additionally our club pays tribute to the rich Heritage of the African-American Community for our Black History Month performance this year however we have been unable to Stage our performance due to the auditorium's closure despite these challenges I remain hopeful that we can find an altern find alternative ways to celebrate and honor our diverse cultural heritage end quote she wants to thank you for your attention and support on the last day of Bach History Month I'm standing before you to notice the clubs that provide spaces for people of color in the school to feel celebrated and heard notice the groups that dedicate hours into putting on a show to express themselves on the CHS stage we need you to provide a solution The Show Must Go On thank you next we have stie [Applause] Howell hi hi my name is Satie Howell I a sophomore in special dance and the musical but today I will be speaking on behalf of the Shakespeare Festival the stage is vital for the Shakespeare Festival as it uses it all day for the performances the festival is a chance to bring together the entire school and get students to interact with and respond to the material along with their education without this without this the stage can't without the stage this can't happen we've tried coming up with Alternatives but the Administration has rejected each one the gyms interfere with PE classes britzer has construction and the black box is too small so it comes down to this no stage means no Shakespeare Festival which means no students enjoying literature as a community we SE on the the request of the CHS stage crew as well as all of the other great groups that utilize the stage and urge you to find a solution thank you next we have ACA [Applause] Glassman hi my name is name is Asa glasman and I'm speaking on behalf of two CHS programs affected by the stage that cannot be here tonight from the step team the infinite step team has been around for over a decade as a part of the CHS MLK Association we use the auditorium for several performances and competitions most notably needed for our upcoming April 20th infinite and Beyond competition which is not only our primary fundraiser but the highlight of the year for our team we've been working hard to organize this event and it would be extremely devastating to have to cancel this competition and other endof year performances especially to our seniors who hope to have one last competition memory from student council the stage is a crucial space for Colombia's most beloved events including the Hall of Fame ceremony where we honor CHS alumni and allow the whole student body to learn more about their predecessors and the annual School in action night where performances by our talented students introduce the incoming freshman class to everything CHS has to offer the inaccessibility of the stage has infringed both of these events tremendously student council is working tirelessly to ensure that the events can still be enjoyed by the students but not having access to the stage takes away from what makes these days special the band had to relocate both of their concerts to SS which has put them at a disadvantage and the Multicultural Club run by Miss Kyo will potentially have to cancel their show altogether the stage the stage of being un inaccessible is not something that can just be brushed off it must be addressed next we have Haley [Applause] [Music] [Applause] CER hi my name is Haley camper I am a senior and I'm here to advocate for the orchestra program throughout my four years at Columbia I've been involved in Orchestra choir Shakespeare and theater all of these programs require the stage the stage and Auditorium are integral parts of the arts program at Columbia one of the largest examples being the Columbia High School Orchestra program which utilizes the stage for performances rehearsals and master classes with professional musicians the Orchestra program is too large to use any other space without excluding a significant number of students additionally the program is expected to double in the next year and further neglecting the repair of the auditorium would severely hinder the program the other Arts at our schools are equally affected by this concerts rehearsals and other events like interactive programs with the middle school which is an extremely important resource for the transition from middle to high school all require the stage to be in service the district must look into immediate fixes thank you next we have Melanie gger hi Melanie from Maplewood and first I'd like to thank all the students who have done such a great job advocating and um for themselves and for their Community now that the spring athletic season is upon us I'm here again to discuss the amount of classroom instruction that athletes are required to miss to attend their away games as anticipated the baseball team team specifically has 10 away games in 7 weeks it is estimated when you're thinking about all the baseball players that 530 class periods or approximately 24,000 minutes of instruction will be lost so students can attend their away game and that is one sport you also need to account for softball boys and girls lacrosse boys tennis and boys and girls track hundreds of thousands of instruction time are lost because of how the district chose to design the CHS schedule I have with me the December 11 cni committee meeting agendas which reflect that Miss Bodner Mr porino and Mr Ford discussed this issue and identifi that the sports teams are using the same buses as we use for elementary schools the note goes on to say that the community would be updated on the situation I'm hoping that there has been some progress made to figure out transportation for these students so they do not need to miss so much instruction time CHS students now are in the process of registering for next year's courses I'm hoping that there's been discussions about what next year CHS schedule will look like as you heard in the fall the schedule and needing to miss ninth period class to attend games influenced students decision as to what courses to take with students reporting that they opted to drop down in level knowing that they would need to miss so much class as the district is deciding on what the CHS schedule will look like next year and hoping that and hopefully that that decision will be communicated very soon I want to share with you my students experience with first period conferring that happened this morning he forwarded an email to me after he was at school from his teacher uh and the teacher had said that she would not be a conferring because her she had car trouble stuff like this happens I appreciate the teacher communicating to her students but you have students who received this message after they are at school planning on getting help from the teacher but your time is up sorry okay I'll just add that this happens all the time uh and that conferring first period just does not work thank you thank you next we have Michael Solomon those kids advocating for their stage is a very tough act to follow I wish you all the best guys you did a really good job I'm here for a very different reason um this morning very early this morning my son Gabriel represented the district at the New Jersey State Bowling uh championships and while he didn't medal I think he acquitted himself honorably and so I've come just because I want to personally thank uh Dr Gilbert and the board uh missaki Gable for your lovely uh message of encouragement thank you so much for intervening and making that possible it was very meaningful to him and um it also inspired me to uh bring to you some research I've been doing since the last time I came here to speak because I've been asking to see if we could get a bowling team both the boys and girls bowling team for the school here I've spoken to a couple of athletic directors to corroborate the budgets that I've seen and I've determined that for less than $7,000 each we could field two full teams and why do I think that's such a big deal not just because my son is a bowler but because I have been absolutely uh moved by what a diverse and inclusive community exists among um bowling athletes it's really something else you it's really something to behold there are kids of every background every economic background every ethnic background every shape every size nothing no particular physical attribute is required uh to participate in the sport and there's a level of sportsmanship that I've my son's played several Sports I've never seen anything quite like it and I think it would be an excellent addition to this school I would urge you to consider it I will share with you um under separate cover as they say what those budget numbers are so you can uh evaluate them properly and so in my remaining 10 seconds I just wanted to reiterate my thanks to you um it was very meaningful thank you so much next we have Matt glass sorry for skipping over [Applause] you sorry for skipping you you were like before all do this don't worry about it it's the first time I was early for anything in my entire life so um I'm Matt glass I've lived in South Orange for 18 years uh my wife Jen and I are a parents of Jess class of 24 and Leah class of 20 um I've been involved in this in these two towns in lots of stuff over the years and I never felt compelled to come to this meeting except for now um and that's because of the stage so I'm going to bring it back to the stage and absolutely I'm so proud of all of them learning about advocating for themselves um but and you don't need me to tell you how important that stage is to that building to this community what I want to talk to you about is what we're going to do this is Absol absolutely a self-inflicted wound we got through Co CL was not our fault um I've been advocating since 2015 for someone to oversee that theater um and I've been working with other parents in the district to celebrate the best thing that we do this is the best thing that we do um but I'm I don't want to talk about what happened I want to talk what's going to happen and you've heard all of them say it has to be fixed I'm in production I'm not a rigger um but there are parents out there some who are watching tonight who work in this industry and who are leaders in this industry and who know a lot about what's going on at CHS there is a way to fix this in a shorter amount of time but to do that it's going to take some bravery and it's going to take actually treating it like an emergency um not going through an maybe an existing protocol or contract it's going to take somebody hopefully volunteers and professional staff to step up and say let's get together let's use the resources we have in this community who know what's going on and how to fix it and let's at least try I can't guarantee you that we have the money or we have the time to do it in time but I can guarantee you that doing nothing is not acceptable there is a chance for us to fix this for special dance and every other kid who came here to plead with you and I'm pleading with you let us help you let's do something to try to fix this before another season is lost and then we'll talk about the long-term of how to fix it for good thank [Applause] you next we have Jane [Applause] Conrad I'm here to ask you to please sever turfing ritzer field from this Bond ask it is clear you can have no idea what this project could cost as you've just been hearing this this district has so many needs none more urgent than fixing the stage in my opinion you just spent double the amount originally allocated to replace plastic turf at Underhill with ritzer you don't even know if and where you can build because it's the D who determines Wetland status and permit requirements we can also see that the plans and budget do not reflect the cost of controlling groundwater which destabilizes the turf field base in which we expect at this location and the cost of detention structures in order to manage the 100-year 11inch rainstorms that will be required under state and local storm water regulations as AER reminder supporting girls Athletics does not require plastic Turf having good playing fields does not require plastic Turf it does not require cutting down trees moving streams fencing the field like a fortress or spending Millions when Columbia High School doesn't even have a functional elevator or a functional Auditorium all it requires is a commitment from the district to dedicate a fraction of what plastic Turf would cost to natural grass maintenance thank [Applause] you next we have Tiara [Applause] Knox good evening everybody my name is tiar Knox and I'm a proud alumni of Columbia High School class of 2013 where I graduated as special dance captain and I returned as a student teacher my senior year of college in 2017 when I was studying um to get my degree in dance education so I've spent over 10 years involved with teaching and supporting the special Dance Company at Columbia High School and before proceeding with my planned comments I first want to acknowledge the student remarks and express that it is absolutely heartbreaking that the students don't have um proper rehearsal or performance facilities but I'm here to speak in support of the teacher of special dance the instructor has been a dedicated teacher at Columbia High School for over 20 years and has worked extremely hard to build a special dance company and ensure a meaningful experience for everyone involved every single year there are countless alumni that have come back to teach perform and support the company in a variety of different ways and that serves as a testament to the outstanding work that the instructor has done to build a healthy and positive community in fact many alumni including myself have gone on to pursue successful careers in Performing Arts because of the foundation and training that we received in the special dance company as a current educator who also directs a high school dance company I know firsthand how difficult it is to establish and grow a high school dance company especially one that is as distinguished and notable as the special dance company and I even have more appreciation for our teacher now than ever before and I can truly say that my life would not be the same had it not been for special dance and the love encouragement and training from the outstanding leader of the special Dance Company special dance is and has always been a safe space where we are nurtured cared for challenged artistically and groomed for greatness and we have an outstanding teacher that loves all of us I want to thank all of you so much for your time and I look forward to continuing to support the special Dance Company under its currently leadership next we have Dandrea Taylor [Applause] Stewart hi good evening everyone my name is Dandrea Taylor St and I'm a proud graduate of CHS in 2016 and former co- captain of the special Dance Company special dance and its director have been integral parts of my life since I was just 10 years old following in the footsteps of my brother who also graduated as co- captain in 2012 it's heartbreaking to address the accusations surrounding something and someone who is so dear to me but I'm here to illuminate what special dance truly represents and the exceptional character of its director to start special dance is a family we want to be together always it's what solidifies our lifelong bonds and friendships and like all families we have our ups and downs but the love always remains intact between each member and it's and our director it's important to clarify that special dance is a student choreographed company allowing us to run our own company with constructive guidance from our director the quality of our shows speaks volumes nearing Professional Standards and producing record-breaking artists like siza but achieving this requires mandatory outside rehearsals there is simply not enough time dedicated in the school day for special dance in order for that kind of art to be produced I first witnessed this at the age of 10 when I got to tag along to my brother's SD rehearsals since he had to babysit me practices always take place outside of school just like any other sport but with SD you learn full autonomy and hustle by arranging the time and location of your practice whether it was someone's church basement or dance studio it was up to each student choreographer to find the time and space to bring their peace to life this same hustle informs me and my brother's creativity to this day if you have a vision it is your complete responsibility to bring it to life I watched each practice as creative ideas were exchanged and built upon ultimately ensuring that the goal of practice was met being at those rehearsals is what inspired me to become a choreographer and had me excited to get to high school and audition to be a part of that family once I became a member of SD my SD cohort Shain the same enthusiasm for rehearsal we embrace our responsibility of representing our company and our show striving to impress our classmates and our loved ones I'll send the rest thank you thank you next we have AR Cella uh good evening uh esteemed de uh members of the board bed I am writing to express my concerns regarding the proposed plan to ter fritzer field the project restricts access to the field for the whole of the student body and the general Community this along with potential health hazards from pfas make turfing ritzer field an unsound proposal for taxpayers to Bear first inflation and supply chain issues have driven up the cost of turf ritzer turf's limited lifespan approximately 8 to 10 years requires it to be replaced and repurchased durability is not a given as evidenced by last August's ruling by a federal judge in New Jersey to have multiple M municipalities Pro proceed with a class action suit against a Turf provider for allegedly selling faulty Fields disposal which I did not see itemized in the turf versus grass comparison and turf replacement mean hundreds of thousands of dollars more in cost and more disruption in a few in a few short years however uh potentially more costly is the presence of pfas which are widely used during the molding and Extrusion manufacturing process of artificial turf and can um and can also be found in recycled material used to make Turf pfas are a class of man-made forever chemical contaminants banned in many products and it is common knowledge that they adversely alter immune and thyroid function uh cause liver disease lipid and Insulin uh disregulation and a host of Developmental and reproductive issues pfas can be released into the water system the air and through General contact with the turf material and in turn be absorbed by our bodies our neighbors in R uh in Ridgewood and Livingston New Jersey are dealing with drinking water contaminated by pfas this potentially hidden cost is too high for all our students in our community to chance next the proposed construction replaces nearly all ritzer's grass field with artificial Turf this vast amount of plastic will be walled off in various 6 to 10 chain chain link link chain link fences around its perimeter the Valley Street and Hixon Place Sidelines will have back stop netting as high as 35 ft and large your time is up thank you thank you um next we have Macy Conrad po I seed my time to her is that possible no then just start right here well then I read her letter okay um just just start okay Sidelines will have back stop netting as high as 35 ft and large lamp posts will replace the existing Bank of trees facing Valley there will be only three or four small entrances to this quasi Sports Complex the side most adjacent to the school will have only one minor entrance and the interior of the field will at times be f fitted with portable fences to further seal off spaces this limited access effectively eliminates any non-tf activity presently students use Ritz or field to stretch their legs during lunch or to find respit from the indoors that will all disappear students congregate here during fire drills and hold the club Fair there that will be gone the track team chs's largest athletic team held its awards ceremony at ritzer when the cafeteria was unavailable and the gym too hot their lawn chairs and tables of food will not be allowed on plastic Turf project Adventure the CHS ropes course used by the whole student body will be dismantled reconfigured and repurchased how will that work with all the fencing more money and less access also regular Flats sold shoes degrade turf turf requires turf shoes with small rounded studs on the Soles to avoid slipping and injury this best practice should not be avoided or it could open the district to potential lawsuits if someone is injured likely this will restrict marching band as they use regular sneakers cross country does not run in turf shoes nor will the regular CHS gym classes be using them so again restricted access a turf field is only for Turf sanctioned activities this proposal simultaneously cords in large amounts of students within its fencing and few and far between exits what are the risks here and it also effectively prevents access to a majority of student students not directly involved in the turf sport my remaining seconds I will just say please reject turfing ritzer field and let's fix the auditorium instead thank you thank you next we have Deandra [Applause] Allen hi so I'm Deandra and I am a 2015 Alum of the special Dance Company um I didn't necessarily come prepared for any beautiful string of words but I am here in support of the special dance teacher and director and one thing I can say is she taught me love passion and grit I think it's so important for the dancers and for myself that coming away from it that were taught what it's actually like in in real life what it means to love something what it means to push yourself and push yourself in a way that you are improving and not just saying what is needed to be heard because out there in the real world it is very different from this bubble of a community and if we're if we really want to prepare our kids and the people of this community we need to be real real in a sense of what it means to be you and then how you view yourself um outside of this and so I think it's really really important that I've shared my experience and this beautiful experience of what it means to dance what it means to love and what it means to push yourself and those are the really the three things that I've taken away and I still use that to this day um I am a very busy professional woman in the world of Finance so I've had to take that with me and so I just want to say in support of her I love her and I love the company because it creates a very safe space for a lot of students and so I hope that we can um see that thank you next we have P or pay okay uh Kyla Williams right Jen Spiegler hi all thank you I'm Jen spigler from Maplewood thank you Dr gilbbert for your listening tours um I speaking today as a stage crew parent and member of chisa um I truly hope that you heard the remarks from Tessa um she spoke on behalf of the stage crew I have no more words to add than what she spoke eloquently um they are tirelessly working they started stage cre these kids in elementary school in this district and they have learned and grown from everything that were empowered to do with all the parent volunteers and the instructors it is abysmal that you are not fixing this stage to keep these kids growing with their passion the stage the theater everything that they have learned since they started here is not functioning we just got an email from someone who is working with them um and said students are dedicated passionate tired exhausted and simply fired up about the situation please listen to to the students of this District as a member of chisa we have learned from the teachers in the district that they have learned to go to Facebook Marketplace to fund what they need for the school district chisa is here to serve them pizza and other things they are not here to serve as my understanding to provide tools that they need to learn from so if that is not true then we need to be informed about that but they've been told by the supervisor to go to Facebook Marketplace to fund I also just want to address that one of my students one of my children has been in the school for the past two months with two classes without any teacher a sub for two classes for two months um I also just wanted to quickly address the safety issue thank you for your remarks but I think some more information needs to be looked at because the students have come home from school and are talking that there have still been people in the school that shouldn't be there I app appreciate everything that you guys are doing here and please I implore you to listen to your students and what Matt said the parents are all here to help and we want to help thank you next we have Leslie Kerner all right my name is lesie Kerner and I'm a South Orange resident tonight I'm speaking on behalf of myself and Sarah ioio as the co-presidents of the Columbia HSA we'd like to address the state of the building and the associated safety and communication concerns one of the values that you as the board bring to our district is the ability to share multiple perspectives about how to solve problems creatively and we ask that you do that now and to help guide the district to a solution the best serves our students and families the most public and probably most current issue with the school is the stage being unusable you've heard a lot about it tonight we'd like to thank Dr Gilbert and his team Miss granau and her team and of course the amazing mam Mia production team for their collaboration in finding a solution that we hope will work for the CHS musical although we're still waiting to hear whether the requirements can be met while the musical may be the next and most visible event to happen on the stage as you've heard tonight there are dozens of additional performances events and events scheduled for this spring that will require the use of the stage we owe it to our CHS performing artists and other students to not have their shows and events cancelled or moved out of town to locations where families friends and other students may not have access to attend these performances we encourage you to seek other estimates about interim solutions that could make the stage safe and usable even in advance of the full fix that we know needs to happen we know it's tempting to see the current $200,000 estimate as a barrier to any immediate action but we're begging you to be creative and seek alternative estimates and affordable Solutions so that our kids can perform in front of their peers in front of their communities and families and even more importantly that our student body is not deprived of the enriching performances that they are able to see on their own School stage as a side note we've heard from Professionals in the community that have access to the stage that um there are in fact less expensive options that can make the stage safe um I have other uh safety and and Communications issues I'll email them to you because I'm going to run out of time but in summer we owe it to our students to make them feel safe and cared for I know you know that um the state of our building and lack of response to pressing issues is something students have come to expect but and without a permanent principle there's no one advocating for them directly thank you for doing it thank you next we have Calvin Jones hello I'm Calvin Jones my wife and I moved to South Orange during the pandemic and share a home about four blocks from here with our daughter son-in-law and granddaughter who's now a second grader in Marshall school um we're probably atypical for retirees in the community since we moved here from the south instead of going going in the other direction um we lived for 30 years in Mobile Alabama where our children went through public schools and during that time there were frequent tax referenda to raise money for the schools there was a lot of opposition among many of the voters but we always had signs in our yard and spoke in favor of the increases because we believe in the importance of public education and although our property taxes here are many times higher than they were there we don't object because we've been pleased um at how good the teachers curricula and in many cases the facilities are in the system here and we're happy to be a part of this community in other words we're pleased when the money is wisely spent but we do object when expending public money for a purpose which causes more detriment than benefit is is carried out and I think the proposal to install All Turf at ritzer field would fall into that category previous speakers have given details about how exactly that would be harmful and I would just say that economically there's the E there's the high cost of installation for an artificial and potentially toxic material as well as the cost to maintain and replace it environmentally putting an imper surface over a wedland area and increasing the likelihood of flooding in the river which has already flooded several times since we've been there uh and also the well-being of the student body who would be closed off in various other areas so I hope you'll consider that thank you very much thank you next we have anetta Hana hi my name is anetta Hannah and I live at 53 Hixon Place directly in front of my house is ritzer field which means that what happens at CHS has a tremendous impact on my life I also lived in the College Hill Neighborhood from 20 from 2003 to 2013 so after third almost 20 years of living here as the mother of two children who went from Seth Boyen to MMS to CHS I'm very attached to her schools that's why the thought that the district is acting with what seems to be a lack of accountability and transparency is so disturbing to me this lack of transparency around the finances for our long-term facilities plans is disturbing the lack of due diligence around the New Jersey D requirements for major improvements is also disturbing the lack of accountability to local res residents taxpayers and stakeholders is deeply disturbing which means that the plan to cover ritzer with Turf is disturbing to me and it really raises questions about what the district doesn't know or what it doesn't want us to know and these questions are not going to go away that's why the only responsible decision for the district to make is to press pause on the current plan sever Ritz are from the larger facilities budget and respond to these questions with the transparency and accountability that I know you believe in thank you next we have Eric shorter hi I'm Eric shorter as you just said um and I thought I was coming here because I was angry but I realized it's not anger it's confusion given everything we know world leaders top scientists racing to mitigate the environmental degradation on our our planet here we sit in our community prepared to rip out the natural grass that sits right outside our building and replace it with garbage and I do mean it's garbage I've heard the financial plans and people talking about disposal this and Disposal that there's no disposal it's landfill and it's toxic and I'm confused as to why people that I respect and think are intelligent would consider such a degradation to our planet to rip out 3 acres of natural grass Irreplaceable soil to put in something where nothing lives no birds no Bees No squirrels no rabbits No butterflies no ladybugs and no children that live right outside this door on Beach Street 3 years old four years old doing summer salts on a sunny day in the grass now the argument for the sports Community fine I hear that but you do not have to replace the field with garbage when we can fix the grass now given what's going on at the theater the elevators and all the other stuff I don't have much hope that you will maintain an artificial turf field properly and the replacement will be costly just ask Ridgewood Dwight tomorrow my time's up sever it next we have Joshua [Applause] Bradley hi my name is Joshua Bradley I graduated 2020 and I'm a proud alumni of the special Dance Company um and since graduating I've contributed as one of the special dance alumni managers and I plan to again this year under the current management um so the special dance company has positively impacted the lives of many under its current artistic director and uh the special Dance Company teacher provides a safe space of quality dance education in a multitude of genres and techniques the special dance teacher has long prepared students for careers in dance and it's under the direction of of the special dance feature that the special dance company has been able to collaborate with one of New Jersey's Premier Dance Companies Nimbus dance under her Direction the work of company members has been featured by dance New Jersey and performed at Monclair State University it was also under the special dance teachers direction that the Alvin dance residency was made possible this new uh sorry the special dance teacher has always been a champion of dance in our community providing opportunities for student dancers who would who would have been overlooked due to lack of resources the special dance teacher is not just a teacher or an artistic director she act as an as a coach Advocate and surrogate mother surrogate mother to many during my time at CHS the dance room was my safe space and I ventured to the dance room during any free period to learn and H my craft my experience in the company under the direction of the special dance director is one that shaped me into the M into the multifaceted artist that I am today thank you next we have Rosio Lopez next we have Jessica [Applause] Miller thank you for having me this evening um it I thought it was interesting that there was a budget present or the the audit presentation um I think everybody should actually check that out because one of the figures I thought was rather interesting is the debt load that our district currently carries is 172 million um and this board is asking for 30 million more to be bonded with very little accountability and explanation um I'm a resident of Hixon place and I have serious concerns about the plan for ritzer field this plan creates three acres of new new impervious surface and sends all of the runoff into the already overburdened Valley Street storm water pipe New Jersey storm water and Inland flooding regulations are required for a development of this size when Westfield learned this lesson it added $2 million to their project so either this project will be built according to these plans and send all of the runoff into the local area and downstream Maplewood or it will cost a greater amount of money it feels risky to assume that there is no evidence of wetlands without first confirming through the LOI process of the D the school administration shows that they only began inquiring about this on J on January 24th when they were alerted by the public this the dismissal of this designation feels almost too cute by half if this was a private development this would appear in front of a planning board where the public could ask questions and town professionals could review lighting plans parking plans storm water plans and environmental impact statements to assure that all the details add up we are the neighbors who will be burdened with additional costs to cool our homes the lights will shine into our living rooms and our children's bedrooms during large storms water bubbles out of the manholes on Valley residents have lost cars and had water coming up through the sewers when the storm water system is overwhelmed this area cannot handle this additional 3 acres of runoff thank you Jessica thank you can send this Neo thanks next we'll have our online public speaks the first person we have is Taylor McFarland can you hear me can you hear me yes okay perfect uh thank you for the opportunity to speak my name is ter McFarland and I'm the conservation program manager for the Sierra Club new JW chapter the Sierra Club is the nation's oldest and largest Grassroots environmental organization with over 120,000 members and supporters in New Jersey and 3.8 million members and supporters Nationwide uh the New Jersey St Club opposes the artificial turf proposal for ritzer field we do not support replacing natural grass fields with plastic artificial turf because of its severe environmental and public health impacts there are significant land use impacts when open space and natural grass playing fields are converted into artificial turf loss of Wildlife and natural habitat increased impervious cover and increaseed flooding are just a few impacts a regular sized artificial turf field contains 500,000 pounds of plastic which results in microplastic shedding into the environment the plastic blade seeds and rubber infill are not physically Bound by the turf and Scatter into the surrounding environment unfortunately these artificial turf fields are not recyclable which means they end up in landfills or are dumped illegally the elevated surface temperatures of artificial turf fields have shown to contribute to Heart heat related illness one study found football players are 11 times more likely to suffer a heat related illness playing on Synthetic Turf artificial turf typically costs 450,000 to 1.5 million for an official sized Athletic Field the maintenance and fertilizer costs may be higher with natural grass but when you replace but but you must replace these artificial turf fields every 8 to 10 years so over the longterm natural grass is less expensive and better for the environment this artificial turf prop proposal will need significant review by the New Jersey Department of Verma protection uh because of the environmental impacts um so we asked that South Orange Maple Wood School Board of estimate invest in natural grass playing fields that are safe for the environment and safe for them thanks next we have Chloe lence hello um I just wanted to applaud the students who spoke about the necessity for a functioning stage and I hope that issue is resolved as soon as possible um because it is vital for many of the Arts programs at CHS um my name is Chloe Lawrence and I'm a 2018 alumna of Columbia High School and I'm here to speak about the special dance teacher and my experience as a member of the special dance company for three years um the special dance teacher is committed to the Arts and their students they have always upheld the philosophy that arts classes are just as valuable as any class academic or otherwise um this philosophy has helped shape my decision to pursue a master's in the Arts field and I'm so grateful that I had a teacher who taught me the importance of valuing the Arts um the special dance teacher taught me time management commitment leadership kindness and compassion they encourage students to express ourselves creatively and facilitate an intentive environment where students choreographed important dances about critical societal and social justice issues aside from being a member of the special Dance Company I was also on the Columbia High School swim team and the special dance teacher was understanding when it came to students other academic and athletic commitments while Sim mously maintaining their love for the special dance company and its importance the special dance teachers leadership plays a significant role in the special dance show being one of the most highly anticipated events of the school year but beyond that the special dance teacher was there for me during some of the most difficult times of my life they created a space that allowed me to creatively process my health issues in the passing of one of my parents through a dance I choreographed and performed with two other members of the company this opportunity was transformative for me and I owe much of that to the special dance teacher the special dance teacher is a valued member of the community and one of the best teachers I had at CHS I continue to carry the values and skills I learned from the special dance teacher and the special dance company thank you for your time next we have Dan kogan drew a resident of Maplewood a parent of a recent graduate and of a current ninth grader at CHS I'm also president of the CHS ultimate board of directors CHS ultimate is a not for profit 501c3 founded in 2019 to support and sustain Ultimate Frisbee in Maplewood South Orange which as you probably know is the birthplace of ultimate I speaking tonight because I learned one of the items on the board's agenda item 4576 J authorize the business administrator to enter into an agreement with Ultimate Frisbee I understand that the board we voting to provide the Underhill facility to our teams at no additional cost and on behalf of CHS ultimate I want to strongly support this proposal and thank the board for recognizing the contributions that our teams make to the community uh I'd like to say a quick word about sport of ultimate and the CHS ultimate organization ultimate is fun and healthy cultivates leadership and agency and young people the game is 100% player afficiated Ultimate participants value leadership Equity Integrity responsibility and joy annually CHS ultimat serves more than 140 students from our community together with our coaches many of whom are CHS alumni this spring our programs will provide an average of more than 150 hours of Ultimate Frisbee training and competition for each of our participating athletes in the last year our teams at the middle and high school levels in the open and girls non-binary divisions have traveled to North Carolina Virginia Utah Massachusetts New York and Pennsylvania to compete at the highest levels our sport has to offer as an organization our goal is to increase participation and ultimate across our two communities by offering participants of all skill levels and regardless of financial ability a wide range of opportunities to participate in the competitive sport of ultimate and any reduction in our operating expenses helps us to achieve this goal so thank you again to the board for your support we're proud to represent the Maplewood South Orange Community thank you next we have chamako Obi digo good evening ladies and gentlemen again my name is chamako beo uh class of 2014 and a former special dance member I come to you today because I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to share with you the profound impact that our special dance teacher has had on not only my life but the students here at Columbia High School and specifically at special dance when I think of our special dance teacher it reminds me more of just dance steps and routine it reminds me of the unwavering dedication passion and resilience that they embody from the moment I stepped into special dance this teacher became more than just a teacher they became a mentor a role model and a source of inspiration their character is defined by their Relentless pursuit of excellence and their commitment to nurturing each and every single one of their students talents and aspirations they see potential in every individual and tiously encourages each and every single one of us to reach Beyond our perceived limitations through their guidance and encouragement they have instilled in me a sense of discipline determination and self-confidence that extends far beyond the dance floor that I still utilize up until today one thing that sets this teacher apart is the ability to impart invaluable life lessons Through The Art of Dance Beyond perfecting plas they teach us the importance of P perseverance teamwork resilience in the face of adversity they lead us by by example showing us the success is not measured solely by just accolades but by the courage to pursue our dreams and unwavering determination so I come to you today as a testament of this profound impact that our special dance teacher has had in my life it's not only shaped me and to the health care professional and the leader that I am today but has equipped me with the tools and values that continue to guide me on my journey and I am forever grateful for their guidance and their wisdom and their unwavering belief in my um potential so in closing I invite everybody to just understand and celebrate and acknowledge the remarkable character of our special dance teacher and the profound impact that they had on shaping the lives of our students thank you next we have Tiffany Wilson the community members not online next we have Shannon cuddle hi everyone can you hear me good evening oh yes we can hear you okay sorry I Frozen on my side um good evening um so first I just want to pause and take a moment and say thank you to all of the the amazing students that spoke up tonight and uh stayed up late on a school night um to be able to speak out um as a former theater Kid myself this is an important issue um but I'm here to also uh uplift um CHS Spectrum Club um and um highlight them as well um uh for our district and Community CHS Spectrum Club along with the New Jersey safe schools Coalition over the weekend held a vigil um to honor the memory of NEX Benedict A lgbtq Plus student from Oklahoma that faced bullying um and died and during the time um that our students and Community came together we had over a hundred folks from across the state in New Jersey but the most powerful thing was hearing from our students we had students from our elementary schools our middle schools and our high schools and former alumni even come back and speak out uh speak out about bullying that's actually they've experienced here in our Beloved School District district and even our low elementary kids and middle school and high school kids even spoke bravely telling their truth the stories about the experiences of homophobia and transphobia that they experienced in our hallways uh in our beloved South Orange and Maplewood Community and also access to bathrooms and the lack of access to bathrooms um at the elementary middle and high school I wanted to bring that to your attention but I also wanted to bring up to the attention the fact that even in our rainbow beloved communities that are our students especially most Mar marginalized and most vulnerable students are still feeling the impacts of Hib of bullying and why it's so important that we be the model for the rest of the state especially now in creating welcoming safe schools and I would implore our Board of Education to be able to create a resolution reaffirming policy 5756 and affirming all trans and nonbinary students in the state and in our um School District thank you next we have David ker yes uh you can hear me right yes okay thank you yes uh my name is David craker um I'm a resident of South Orange and I'm also on the planning board for South Orange uh I do want to say that uh one thing that I really like about being on the planning board is a transparency uh everybody hears the conversation out loud um and then the other thing that I like is the system of checks and balances that we have so that we have some lawyers presenting one thing and then somebody else is reading it from the town and we we talk about it back and forth um and I really would urge you to uh decouple the riter field um uh returing issue from the rest of the bond tonight that's that's really why I'm here um but I really want to say I i' wish that you would follow you know some of these practices that we see on the the planning board um if you were to go forward with this issue uh many of the things that we do on the planning board the things that we follow is we have a lighting plan a traffic impact plan environment impact environmental impact plan a storm water management plan and a community outreach um mechanism that we use and so I would say that if you're going forward with this you need to follow those things as well um the other thing is um once again I'm wanting you to sever the the riter field uh issue from the rest of the package um but whatever you do I'm really urging that you take a precautionary stance over a remediar stance thank you next we have Tony mazaki that Community member is not online next we have Ali Gans hi um let me pull up my notes hi uh I'm olly Gans I'm a resident of Hixon Place uh like many of my neighbors who have spoken tonight um I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak I am here to encourage you to vote against the plans to turn ritzer field into artificial turf the points that I'm going to make are ones that you've heard many many times before but that bare repeating so some of the main points I'm going to hit upon tonight um are mostly related to the financial impact of this but there are also health concerns um environmental concerns and quality of life concerns firstly the estimated cost of this project has more than doubled the amount that was voted on in uh when this issue was voted on in 2019 and despite the current $4.5 million price tag the current plan still does not even reflect the true costs the current plan does not account for any of the infrastructure that will be required for storm water uh infrastructure and I I'm really just scratching the surface here but at the end of the day um this plan and the associated costs really just have not been thought through and it's the taxpayers who are going to pay the price literally um there has been zero Outreach to local residents about these plans even though we will bear the cost of cooling our homes from the heat island that this will create and the current site plan posted by the school district shows none of the infrastructure that will be needed to protect the raway riv River from contamination which provides drinking water to the town of rawe I feel strongly that we need to find another solution that makes sense financially for the taxpayers of South Orange and Maplewood thank you next we have deani guha hi can you hear me yes um so I'm deani guha I am a resident of South Orange I'm also on the South Orange zoning board but I speak for myself not for the zoning board um the well-being of the district is very close to my heart that being said I'm quite surprised by the breathtaking lack of detail in the brond bond proposal for 30 million the district currently has a debt of 172 million taking on another 30 million without any details of what is being proposed is not okay the bond proposal should show accurate numbers that reflect current needs and not wants I'll start with ritzer for which we have some details first I want to point out that you're proposing to convert over 3 acres of natural glass grass to plastic for comparison average homes in our town sit on less than a quarter acre so riter would be about the size of at least 15 moderate size homes covered in plastic the cost comparison for natural crass versus artificial turf is misleading it includes just $600,000 for Turf replacement once in 24 years when we know the turf guarantees only last for 8 years the current Turf replacement for Underhill SE seems to have cost 2.5 million and it's only about half the size of the proposed ritzer the cost of for Turf at ritzer doesn't include any numbers for storm water management which is required for any major development even more alarming is the risky advice by our District's Consultants to sidestep ngdp requirements for the project there are no traffic study numbers nor any lighting plans no visualizations of what the area will look like after the 30t high Nets are installed over the 8T fencing there has been no Outreach to neighbors the lack of care exhibited to by the way this project has been handled should give all of you cause this project should be severed from the rest of the proposal and the entire packet should be broken down into smaller parts with detailed cost estimates thank you next we have Lisa levra that need members not online all right next we have Brian Gunther can you hear me yes so everyone on this board my name is Brian Gunther I live on hixton place in South Orange as everyone on this board knows last summer 2023 was the hottest summer on this planet I think we're all in agreement that global warming is real not fake so it boggles my mind that we would even be talking about putting plastic on an already open field in a progressive town that we live in we talk about Equity we talk about the environment we're going to cover a field with plastic why not find an old parking lot somewhere or an old building and knock it down and put plastic over that there's just no need the planet's dying I can't believe we're having this argument some of you on the board have your doctorates in science you still want to go this direction just think about your kids your grandkids your grandkids are going to be living in a world much different than we have now why should we be adding to it please think about it it kind of seems like there hasn't been much thought I really hope that you guys can re talk about it and think about it from that perspective thank you thank you and that's it for public speaks yeah that's that's all for public speaks that's all the speakers um no can you can you email that to us um yeah there's a second public space and you can speak after right um okay then we'll just do the committee readouts now yes we'll just go down the line yeah confirm me hi everyone thanks to everyone who's still here all right I'm going to do our special services ad hoc committee readout the special services ad hoc committee met on February 12th 2024 we began at 7:00 p.m. and adjourned at 9:10 myself board members Meers and whtl Acting Superintendent Dr Gilbert and assistant superintendent of special services Susie bdy were all in attendance the first topic we talked about was the New Jersey cusac visit we began the meeting discussing this audit site visit which occurred on February 14th for context this is part of the Department of education's monitoring and a district self- evaluation for public school districts Miss budine shared that the visit typically involves a monitor from the state coming to the special services department and reviewing records based on a randomized list of students often the the visit is a single date but occasionally monitors return for a second visit after the February 14th visit which did not include any special education review Miss budine was informed that a representative would be scheduling a return visit and the monitor did return on February 20th at which time information around home instruction was requested for review no additional documentation specific to special education was requested or reviewed at this time the second topic we talked about was the 504 investigation and next steps Miss budine reviewed the findings of the recent investigation into 504 cases at CHS with the committee a remediation process has been implemented and is underway to review and potentially revise any affected 504 decisions affected families have been notified or are currently being notified Miss budine hasn't is continuing to provide professional development and oversight as needed and finally policies related to section 5044 students were discussed for revisions to improve Clarity around team composition and add safeguards to that end this has has been moved forward to the policy committee for further review and discussion the next topic we went through was home instruction uh the discussion here was had about home instruction how it's utilized um how we provide it and the recent data regarding our students uh who are receiving home instruction the current status of cases in which a home instructor is yet to be assigned were also reviewed at this time the next component of things that we talked about were data collection and Analysis uh so for context Frontline is A system that contains the majority of our district Special Education data Miss budine did share that any data that is put into an IEP via Frontline can technically be tracked however she acknowledged that there are few limitations to the current data warehouse and that outputs that it can produce uh one is that this information is really only as good as the information that is put into the document so the work is being done with the federal monitoring corrective action plan that directly addresses some of those areas to ensure that all the information that needed is accurately inputed the second component our limitation is that additional requested data must be tabulated and then visually displayed by creating secondary systems or documents um and that was the case with the data that I will discuss that we reviewed in this meeting so miss budine furnished data that had been requested regarding our district self-contained programs out of District placements and unilateral placements at a high level I'll share some of our summary uh so the most prevalent in District self-contained programs are our language and learning disability or lldd classro rooms with 41% of our self-contained students placed in classrooms of lld the second finding was that within our total self-contained student population there are racial disparities present 60% of our students who are placed in self-contained settings are black students and another key takeaway from our data review was related to our outof district placements where in roughly a third of our students who are placed out of District have autism classifications so identifying Trends within the district using data is critical as we work towards our share vision of inclusive inclusion and Equity so in light of these observations a discussion followed about how we continue collecting statistical data and information on referrals data related to demographics of students who are placed under self-contained programs and are out of District placements therefore this information um it's not currently housed or tracked through our I IEP tracking system um but we are working on structuring it for better tracking and information moving forward uh this includes items that we previously discussed like home instruction referrals demographics and outof District placement the district Shar that it will work towards standardizing this information uh for more frequent review and Analysis as we move forward with improvements to the department overall in the upcoming years and this committee looks forward to continuing the work and drilling down on this data in the future next we talked about inclusion and Equity this discussion was about how special education is being embedded in the equity work that is being done across our district Miss budine discussed the team approach that she miss wble and Dr Gilbert Take and how they view this as an integral part of the overall vision of our Equity work she indicated she's currently engaged in direct work with child study teams are related service providers and teachers on a case-by Case basis this includes things like working with a team to ensure that we're using strength based language language in reports at meetings and in communication with our stakeholders and working through case example using an equity lens to review decisions that are being made and to compare outcomes a long-term goal here miss budine shared is that all IEP meetings would have normed language and Frameworks all reports would have consistent language that reflects our commitment to ensuring that strength based approach and perspective of our students and this committee would like to maintain this as an ongoing point of discussion in future meetings and identify additional ways to monitor inputs and progress there next we discussed the CPAC resource fair that was proposed uh a resource fair was proposed to be held in the spring and Dr Gilbert and Miss budine plan to discuss that in their upcoming check-in after which Miss budine will connect with our CPAC leaders regarding the potential for this event next we talked about the potential for a special services experiential survey a survey has has already been disseminated to our special education families based on an audit but the idea was raised of circulating an annual survey that would support a more regular Cadence of feedback this would work towards maintaining special education family engagement and identifying Trends over time to celebrate our wins and identify areas of growth this was discussed and will be considered but no decisions were made in this committee meeting in closing there were no special education budget related items that were up this month but a theme for this month for our committee was around transparency via data and how it informs and drives our decision-making and I want to thank Miss budine for preparing all of the requested data and her detailed review of it within the committee there is an enormous amount of information that requires the attention of our district leaders and subsequently a lot of work and decision-making is required and it's really evident to us that Miss budy and her team are actively considering the current landscape of that work taking on the challenges and charting a path forward to continually improve Educational Services for our students and families that concludes my update and I'll pass it along thank you next we have an update on Personnel the Personnel committee met on Monday February 26th board members VOD lamman dval Wilson board president tford and I were in attendance as usual we kicked off the meeting reviewing the Personnel resolutions a couple of things I wanted to highlight I'm excited to report that later this evening during the action portion hopefully soon that the assistant principal position at Seth boen will be filled by a longtime SSD employee a teacher in the district for 20 plus years who is also a CHS Alum as we reviewed the substitute resolution we also discussed the process of volunteers within the district Dr Gilbert acknowledged that protocols have not strictly have not been strictly enforced but that that this will change moving forward as it's important that all buildings are following the proper volunteer protocol adhering to the district policy that governs volunteers we then reviewed the vacancies report that reflected a revised format person requests at the last committee meeting I'm happy to to see how this report has improved during my time on the committee and while there are still some tweaks to be made I want to give a kudos to the HR staff involved for continuously taking committee feedback to provide requested information in a format that is easy to digest we are now able to get a better sense of vacancies as a percentage by each building and see how many vacancies are actually due to leave Replacements which is actually about over about half of them an additional layer of data we are trying to understand is identifying month month Trends so as I've mentioned um you know this report will continue to evolve the committee also discussed making the date and charts available on the district website and the goal is to get something up and running by slash over the summer as this is a crucial time to understand vacancies heading into the new school year at the time Dr Gilbert also mentioned that he is working with the director of technology to create a page in our district website that includes the demog demographic data of our District staff speaking of leave Replacements we had a discussion around concerns for hiring um for these positions vers substitutes Mr adid Doan discussed that we are now raising the daily rate for our subs in order to attract more subs and help alleviate some of the costs associated with hiring for leave Replacements Dr Gilbert and Mr adid doyan provided an update around confidential Personnel matters and noted the board's concerns during new business we held a few brief discussions we talked about the 2023 24 school year observation schedule I brought this up to check in if the district is on track to be on schedule for the state submissions if in the spring and if not how can we ensure that we are um HR has stated that they will provide this information in the next meeting we also discussed the Parenting Center um the position of the director came up during Dr Gilbert's listening tour how um and he has committed to finding out how it was previously funded and what the position would potentially look like in the future more discussions to follow in future committee meetings no decision was made we ended ended the meeting talking about hiring process and background checks Mr idne addressed the hiring practices explained in detail including how background checks are completed for new hires he also informed the committee about the past the trash law this is something that requires us as a school district to conduct a review of employment history of the applicant by contacting former and current employers to determine if the prospective employee has any pending or substantiated allegations of child abuse or sexual misconduct over the past 20 years the idea behind the law was to ensure that a prospective employer would be aware of these pending or substantiated allegations of child abuse or sexual misconduct before hiring the employee and the trash would not be passed from one school employer or contractor to another school employer contractor and that's it our next meeting is Monday March 18th at 6:30 p.m. any questions next we'll get an update from our fft committee uh the fft committee met on Feb 27th uh joining me were board members kalahan Meer and board president Dr telesford the administration was represented by Dr Gilbert Acting Superintendent Mr Burnside business administrator Mr Del gorio assistant business administrator Mr bonds Tech director and Mr jilio the facilities director the first topic we discussed was actually the same presentation that all of you saw on the the audit of the last year's budget and uh we were presented with the acfr and the AMR I mean these are all complex acronyms that actually mean annual comprehensive financial report and the auditor's management report we're happy to report that there were no findings and was just one recommendation made in in B the categories the next topic we spoke about was Board of school estimates and we had to reschedule the board of school estimates to March and we we discussed about how the resolution should be and what we should take there the next item we discussed was on the Reser drainage uh with the architect and the architect will research and get back to the committee with a document on how it was been planned for the next topic we spoke about was CHS Auditorium the district is in the process of not only uh doing safety checks on all the auditoriums in in the in the in in our district but also getting courts to replace rigging and Lighting in CHS and also you should know that we've uh I think we pretty close to finishing or have already finished the rigging and Lighting in the Seth boen Auditorium we talked about change orders for Clinton Balden and CHS in the facilities update Mr jilo give a overview of the projects his department has completed this month they include repaired classroom floors in Tuscan Marshall and Maplewood Middle School there was a partial roof roof replacement in Seth boen the CHS Media Center had a large section packed up for construction and they performed snow removal on two storms in February after that we had we actually spent a big chunk of time talking about the next year's budget and the committee reviewed the major increases in the budget and the possible savings to offset those increases we also reviewed the historical Trends and the current budget for par professionals committee reviewed the advantages of moving into self-insured Dental model and we also looked at the lease purchase for finance and insurance for tech devices uh the fft committee is scheduled to meet one extra time in March on the 6th of March to discuss uh budgets and you know look at various other things to give you an update there a few questions that came up about the Vanguard theater group there was I'll just skip that just you know online not very important uh we have a huge unpaid meal charges across the district and we talked about the strategy on how to collect the Fons from the parents and uh you know follow the policy that we wrote last year uh we had a brief discussion on the baseball boosters fundraising which we decided to table for next meeting as there were many questions in there the other important thing that should you should know is that the subscription busing survey results are out they are they have been attached to the fft meeting minutes on the website the overwhelming majority of the community that participated in the survey results does not want to participate in uh subscription Transportation so at this point the board is not going to recommend going forward with subscription transportation to the district uh we discussed a couple of policies on personal records student records and Reporting potential missing or Abus children uh we have a couple of resolutions coming up change orders and a donation from South orang library and in new business we talked about committee receiving an update on the special education audit and uh which that should be completed soon so that was in the fft committee meeting thank you um when can the board expect to see the first draft of the budget so the budget process is ongoing going I mean as you know I mean the typically the presentation is going to be scheduled for March 14th that's when the preliminary budget is presented I guess in in public uh we may have some more preliminary numbers as we've already shared once before will be available after the next uh F50 meeting on the 6th that's Wednesday okay my next um update will be for policy I'm going to do policy and data if that's all right we'll do both uh uh quickly you can go and read the very exciting uh minutes online the policy uh committee met on uh Tuesday February 20th uh with uh myself uh board member sacka Gable Whit letter uh and Dr Gilbert uh Miss Budan uh there are four policies that we're putting forward for first read tonight uh these are generally speaking policies that are part of the uh big catchup process from last year to get ourselves up to date on uh our policies that needed to be updated uh you will note uh there's uh uh policy 4281 inappropriate staff conduct uh policy 44 21.13 post natal accommodations if you are a board Watcher and you looked at the agenda yesterday to look at this we updated language on that we realized that there was some language that could be more gender inclusive with regard to uh nursing parents specifically uh policy 4425 work rated disability pay notably policy 55117 regarding School District issued identification cards uh we synchronize the language in this policy with the requirement in policy 7440 requiring uh that Secondary School students wear their IDs at all times and also gives principal or their design uh the right to require display of IDs uh um at school events after hours and require students to carry IDs uh at those times uh we have several policies that we're looking at for subsequent dates uh we're looking at policy 2418 regarding Section 504 uh to look at language that will clarify uh who is required to be in certain meetings and also what other um uh pieces we can put in to strengthen uh these uh protections we're providing to students with disabilities uh policy 5111 we've been looking at that with regard to uh flexibility around when a student is required to be unenrolled after not uh being in class because they've uh had to have necessary travel for Visa purposes and also to make sure that we're addressing any anti-bias concerns there are uh with regard to residency checks uh also uh policy 5512 regarding HIV uh we're looking at whether there is uh Merit to changing the policy from uh investigating every claim with a full investigation to giving principles an initial uh threshold level of determination uh so that may come up in a future date um and that is the the essence the broad pieces of what we discussed in policy uh our first data committee meeting took place on January 29th this year uh the data committee the it's a special committee we're looking this year sort of at two branches we're looking at the best ways to be collecting data as well as the best ways to then use the data uh we had a terrific presentation uh from uh Dr Gilbert uh uh Miss Bodner and Miss kareah regarding uh the data systems that we have in place right now uh we have a a number of different data tracking systems that uh interconnect together and we have a tremendous tracking product this uh uh super mega spreadsheet connected to all sorts of data sources that can give a really uh impressive presentation of the uh functioning levels and kind of dashboard of where students are in each particular class uh each particular teacher or service provider the issue is that this is you know sort of strung together with with duct tape and bubble gum uh it is a great system that very few people in our district can actually use at one time so uh our goal is that hopefully we can uh build a new system uh that's able to do this but really make it accessible so that any teacher could you know pull up a dashboard and say let's see uh how my class is functioning you know where are the highs where are the lows and go from there now that's going to require money and it's going to require uh putting out an RFP to find an appropriate data warehouse product that's going to give us what we need uh so we're going to have to look a bit down the road to see when we can have the money for that forecasting Etc and the other piece as far as ways to use the data we've had a discussion as far as looking at reports that the district puts out considering uh ways what numbers we're showing and how to show numbers with a context that allows uh the best understanding of what we're showing whether it's uh particular student achievement over time looking at disparities by race uh or other really important functions especially as we work through uh the Fergus committee report uh and and committees to understand uh our our positions over time uh so that's going to be an ongoing process the data committee is likely going to be meeting on approximately a bonly uh Cadence and uh we've got a lot of good things to work on questions next we have an update from cni okay I will give the February curriculum in and instruction committee report the cni committee met on February 21st at 6:30 p.m. with all board committee members as well as miss kareah miss weel and Dr Gilbert in attendance the first portion of the meeting was focused on updates pertaining to District goals first up was intervention and referral services inrs now that quarter 2 has finished Miss kareah is meeting with school administrators to break apart inrs data they're looking closely at Why students are not passing classes they're documenting any interventions that have been used in the classroom and sending the information to inrs additionally instructional coaches have now been assigned to support all inrs teams it's important to note that while research supports having academic intervention teachers for kindergart through second graders students in Upper grades who need who need it receive academic intervention support directly in their classrooms with their classroom teachers the district is also considering a gradual release leas model as students receiving academic intervention move from second to third grade additionally as SSD moves away from Teachers College for reading and towards the science of reading the district is being proactive and supporting students in grades three through five who may have gaps in their Mastery teachers are are engaging in professional development to mitigate challenges and fortunately the newer reading curricula also have intervention tools as part of their programs now that a solid process is in place the Comm there will be a community friendly FAQ page shared on the SSD website about the inrs process um just wanted to note that a visiting qac rep remarked that our inrs system is the best he's ever seen Miss karea thank the inrs team for providing all the necessary documentation to get things to this point uh next we talked about Freshman Academy the CHS freshman huddles have ended and Miss Bodner is assembling a team to reassess that whole program for next year um we moved on to gifted and talented Miss kareah is currently planning a gifted and talented roll out for administrators then she will be training teachers the goal is to test students by spring break but miss Korea cautioned that this should be a natural experience for students um not an intense testing situation and at home preparation is not necessary after the tests are administered the results will go to parents after spring break Miss kareah has conducted a lot of research and putting together this plan and emphasize that gifted and talented will not be a program or a destination for students to attend rather it will include Services similar to the way there are interventions to support students who may be struggling in certain areas areas the results of the g&t testing may show that students have certain needs for enrichment in particular areas Miss kareah will also provide more detail at the April board meeting she has already assembled a team including teachers and administrators and will'll be reaching out to include parents on that team as well we talked about um student absences as it pertains to the high school mostly and Credit Recovery the district is fixing current issues for students in need while also working to develop a system that's sustainable longterm there were no new budget items this month but the district is preparing the anticipated costs if any for initiatives such as gifted and talented um included with the Fergus recommendations Freshman Academy and magnetic reading we moved on to a few new business items first was the newly mandated information literacy and social media instruction which will be written over the summer for ELA and social studies in K5 this instruction is already part of the National Library standards it's dissected even more in the secondary PE and health curriculum the district will work with a Parenting Center to develop at home components to be included in the curriculum more will come on this in Miss weel's presentation in March the state is adding learning standards for grief and loss lessons while it can take two three years for the state to fully build out the resources around this legislation the district will look to be proactive Miss monfasani is researching and incorporating these lessons into the health and PE curriculum for grades 6 through 12 board member Callahan shared that the grief organization imagin is writing the curriculum for the state and looking for school district Partners this is a possibility that the district will find out more about and consider um last under new business there was some concern around midterm Ela grading rubrics for 10th 9th and 10th grades which included floor grades we were informed that Dr Bean folks used a PD session to hear more about this directly from teachers we look forward to hearing more ourselves about the outcome of the discussions so when the board is looking at achievement data we have an accurate picture of the story the grades tell there were a couple of policies up for discussion um 5512 um is regarding HIV which will come up at a future board meeting um we saw a presentation from Miss weel on the HIV data and procedures in addition to the update given by board member Meyer we also recommended having principles explain the Hib process during back to school night so that parents have a better understanding of what to expect throughout the hi IB process and we talked about 5517 student IDs which board member Meyer has already updated us on and lastly I'll say that one theme prevailing throughout the curriculum and instruction topics this month was intention while District school leadership uh team members may appear to be moving slowly at times uh there is a great deal of thoughtful work being done behind the scenes they are considering the best uh interests of our student students Consulting current research Gathering input from stakeholders and planning toward long-term Solutions and that concludes my report all right now we move on to the action portion of the meeting thank you uh board members this evening we have resolutions 4573 through 4582 are there any requests to sever hearing none seeing none all right um we're now in discussion Meer thank you I have uh two separate items so I'll ask first um with regard to resolution 45760 which is concerning the uh items being sent to the board of school estimate um I've personally spent a lot of the month of February learning how a board of school estimate works and I've also learned that we're the only type two District that has one so it's you know s uh uh uniqueness um I just is that really oh that's not what njsba told me okay um so I uh was curious to know uh with regard to this uh proposal uh that's being uh proposed for the bond uh at the board of school estimate what is the ability uh in here to uh separate parts of the project one from the other um I know this had to go to the state for approval uh and then comes here and it goes to the board of school estimate is there an ability to parcel things out at this stage and if not what would what would happen all right so after uh confirming with Patrick we've had many conversations about this uh unfortunately we're not able to sever those out we would have to go back to the Department of Education and start the uh approval process all over again and that would take months to do and what would happen to the other construction projects during that time that they would be held up because they're all part of that one project ID number and what we're trying to what would we would be trying to do is get separate project ID numbers for each individual project okay thank you just a follow-up comment on on the the question board member Myers asked is that if for whatever reason we don't pass this resolution we will have no money for South orang Middle School I mean let's be clear on what will happen if for whatever reason we don't pass a resolution you know a lot of other things may or may not be as important but South Orange Middle School is a big chunk of it I mean we don't need a PhD in math to understand that if Maplewood Middle School cost 19 million you know South Orange Middle School is probably going to cost the same and that's what the public bid came out to uh in the last bidding process so so one one further question if no one else has one uh with regard to resolution 4576 J uh regarding Ultimate Frisbee um soly a comment I think that this is um a a great thing to do I know that ultimate is one of the very few Athletics that we have that is not an actual School sport but is rather a club so it's sort of singled out as having to pay a um a fee for use of facilities I do want to be mindful uh and think in the broader context about um I know that we promulgated a new um uh sort of rate sheet for use of facilities and that has impacted a number of um organizations in our community such as the ptas uh so I'd like us to think about taking a broader view as far as the framework for when we are making exceptions to this so that we are uh being evenhanded and accommodating everyone uh as best possible while of course um covering our own finan ances um in that regard I mean I understand that point uh looking at this from a broader context but I think we can also look at this as a single time thing for something that is quite unique to our community um for all of us that go through Columbia High School we all learn that we invent an ultimate frisbee so taking some sort of exception for the club team whatever you want to call it I think it is something that fine with and yes while other organizations may have to pay these fees um we didn't invent those organizations we never invented the PTA but if we invented ptas then I would want the ptas to have free use of our facilities also I mean then we I mean we should be this is one thing that I find a little you know concern but not concerning I'm a little disappointing in our district is that we don't take pride in what we create I mean we invented ultimate it happened here in the in a parking lot and probably rer was the first place where they had an official match and it's an international sport I mean last last week I had gone to one of my one of those College visits with my my older one and the director of admissions walks up and says hey how many of you pay ultimate like oh we invented it hey so I think we should be proud of what we have I'm not saying that we shouldn't take care of everyone but I mean you know this is something that's ours the three founders are in our Hall of Fame the least we can do is to give a nod and say you know what you don't have to pay for the facilities where you were born I just want to say I think we do take pride in what we create I mean we heard from the special dance team today that talked about and years back right um we have three Columbia High School um board members and you know I agree with Will's suggestion here that it is something that we just have to consider right because every organization is so important to all the people who are involved in that organization and trying to make a determination and what's more important or who should get access um you know these are things that you know bias could be involved right so I think I do think that we should have a more broader view on this and while I will also support this resolution this evening um I agree with what you were saying [Music] well now I have a different a comment on 4574 d as in David and I'm happy to see that we increase the substitute teachers pay as uh you know board member eert informed us it is extremely it's very competitive especially when we compare it against our neighboring districts and that's a that's a good thing so I just wanted to highlight that we are doing that in today's resolution any other comments questions all right board member cahan yes board member dval Wilson yes board member akert yes board member gford yes is there board member Meyer yes board member sacket Gable yes board president telesford yes board member V lamman yes board member Whit letter yes motions pass sorry we also have two hand carries e e adani yes board president telesford yes board member sacket Gable yes board member Meyer yes board member gford yes yes board member eert yes board member dval Wilson yes board member Callahan yes yes sorry motion passes and that concludes the action portion all right and we'll have our second hearing of individuals and delegations how many do we have and we have AR Cella push push the button U push the button yeah oh okay thank you uh thank you for allowing me to uh finish reading my letter um I just realized that I um that I didn't have it on last time in any case um I wanted to ask so did the bonding just happen so so did you so did you just pass the the no I'm sorry just the what did you vote on just that is the resolution to the the first resolution B school that's the resolution to the Border school last but okay I'll just finish reading my letter sorry thank you all right so this is regarding ritzer field um this proposal simultaneously uh cords in large amounts of students within its fencing with few and far between exits what are the risks here and it is also affect and it also effectively prevents access to a majority of students not directly involved in Turf sport the ritzer field proposal seeks to spend a disproportionate amount of money on a complex that benefits a small subset of athletes and not the overall student body to fund this as such would be a lapse of fiscal responsibility by the district let our taxpayer money provide the largest benefit to the greatest number of students in our community at large please reject turfing uh Ritz refi and uh perhaps let's fix the auditorium instead thank you can I I just wanted to ask also about process like how do what was it that you voted on earlier like when will we know if what happens after this does it go to the board of estimate we can speak afterwards I didn't hear you I'm sorry thank you all right then I think now we're moving on to new business have any business yeah I'll just not briefly uh we have an fft meeting happening uh this week to talk about the budget I would like to propose that we try to tack on a couple minutes in light of all of the discussion about the CHS Auditorium just to understand whether there are any alternatives to what was discussed at the last meeting and there may not be but I just propose that that um go to the committee uh as soon as possible know there's no you I'll add it to the agenda there's nothing to vote on Whit letter I have very urgent new business it's nubia's birthday sorry I just had to say that we made it 1212 woo happy birthday oh may have a motion to wish or I'd like to make a motion to wish nuia a happy birthday do I have a second I think point of order that is an inappropriate motion but also a second all right happy birthday all and favor say I I Public Service any more new business all right and I say Board of Education will meet in public session on Thursday March 21st 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the district meeting room at 525 Academy Street in mwood New Jersey immediately following the opening of public session the board will move to go into a close session to the superintendent's office at 525 Academy Street in Maple New Jersey as well as using an online video conference platform to discuss Personnel matters within the attorney client privilege legal negotiations and other matters that may arise and require discussion to be announced at a later date immediately following the closed session the Board of Education will meet in public session estim made to be at 7:30 p.m. in the district meeting room at 5:25 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 if there are members of the committee 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 D do and CDC action will be taken and with that I um make a motion to close this meeting at 12:14 a.m. second all right all right all in favor say I all right we are now closed thank you