we need order fled to the flag of the United States of America to the for stands Nation God indivisible with Li and justice for all go call Mr both here Mr Chapman here Mr parel Mr G Mrs Miller here Mr Pender here Mr cleberg here Mr Casio here Mr P in accordance to the terms of Sunshine Law adequate notice of this meeting was posted in all school buildings the administration building B clerk's office public library free newspapers and tap into on January 8 2024 please the adviser of no smoking on school grounds inside or outside anytime please silence all electronic devices and pursuant to District policy number 0167 each statement made by participant shall be limited to 3 minutes ration and no participant speak once the same top okay at this time uh resolve pursuing to the open public meetings act the board meets and close session at this time to discuss confidential matters pertaining to a student matter action will be taken uh we should be back in about a half hour to 45 minutes can I get a motion second good all right like to call a meeting back to order please is it working yeah mhm okay any uh agenda additions yeah there's one agenda addition I'm just trying to see where I'm going to put it ucation a student uh resolutions how about uh 10 e this could be read as 10 e say says uh resolved after consideration of the information presented by the parents during this evening's HIV appeal as heard in executive session the board hereby directs that the matter be returned to the principal for further investigation to determine whether additional information exists to support a finding and we will reconsider the matter at its next uh our next HIV report okay any public comments on agenda items only resolution to approve prior board minutes Mo second roll call Mr V yes Mr Chapman yes Mr farell yes Mrs Miller yes Mr ped yes Mr cleberg yes Mr Casio yes I Student Activities we've got a through e so move second roll call Mr V yes Mr Chapman yes Mr yes Mrs Miller Mr Pender yes Mr tberg yes Mr CCO yes on to policy a motion move second member comments roll call please Mr both yes Mr Chapman yes Mr farell yes Mr Miller yes Mr Pender yes Mr cleberg yes Mr C yes on uh Personnel uh letter A only at this time get a motion so move second roll call please discuss discussion on um I want to congratulate uh Mr Mort on uh position I I don't know if there could be a better person to uh to fill that role anybody else just just so we're clear you said only a only a yeah roll call soon Mr both yes Mr CH yes Mr barell yes Mrs Miller yes Mr Pender yes Mr cleberg yes guys you yes also in Personnel can I get the B through e Some Mo second let me just get to my page there's a lot there all right discussion anybody roll call do you vote Yes substain on E 139 my spouse Mr Chapman yes Mr bar yes Mr Miller yes Mr Pender yes Mr cleberg yes Mr Casio yes finance a through z I believe moov second discussion roll call Mr V yes Mr trapman yes Mr caranel yes Mrs Miller yes Mr ker yes Mr cleberg yes Mr you yes any public comments Megan winter with Stephanie Drive Mr Chapman became a board of ed member in 2016 and decided that his first job was to go after Debbie Bo's daughter for no other reason than the fact that I was her daughter he voted against my appointment as coach of the Middle School softball team despite the recommendations from coach Pan the ad and my own credentials Mr Chapman called sitting board members to vote against me at the meeting simply because the board president's daughter shouldn't be coach only Mr cleberg follow Mr Chapman recently made another decision which will affect the South Anon High School softball program forever the pressure he put on Coach pancerella nead leading up to their resignation is the latest case of how he uses his position on the board to intimidate coaches and school Personnel through the chair Mr Chapman you once told another board event member your pinky finger knows more about Finance than she did well I'd say coach panella's pinky finger knows more about softball and his team members than you do yet you still used your position to carry out your Personal Agenda which created a toxic environment to the entire softball program Mr Chatman for the chair you stated in a tap article the role of the Boe member is to make sure the schools are well run not to try to run the schools I know the administration currently running our district is far more qualified to run a school district than I am during my time as president other board members were prevented from micromanaging or overstepping their legal boundaries end quote it is clear that you think you hold yourself to a higher standard but I would say your actions tell a different story your statement Echoes the code of ethics for school board M section 18a 12- 241d which states I will carry out my responsibility not not to administer the schools but together with my fellow board members to see that they are well run Mr chman would you not agree that you violated this section of the code of ethics after all you and your supporters accused Boe member Debbie Bole of violating this for trying to use influence improperly to support a private cause which were grounds to file an Ethics charge while Mrs Bo's violation was with regards to a message she sent as a Unico member asking to have the band play at a Unico event your issue at hand is a direct attack that you made on a coach because of playing time that you did not agree I just want excuse me this isn't working I just want to jump in I know you're talking but if we're going to bring anything to do with students that's not going to be allowed so just make sure you bring something with students I'm just saying I I can see that it might be going in I just wanted to give you a heads up and everybody who would speak is that is that that's not going to count towards my three minutes no just go ahead I'll give you an extra 20 seconds okay again you used your influence to support your own private agenda Mrs Bo's ethics violation read the commissioner of Education concurred with the penalty recommended by the commission for respondents actions in bypassing the China commands and criticizing and questioning District administration so I'm wondering Mr Chapman since you are so well vered with regards to ethics violations how did you not commit one you have done far worse you caused the Beloved athletic director to lose her position and the winning his coach in New Jersey to resign Mr Pender you said you will make sure this doesn't get swept Under The Rock will you be Gathering up your fellow board members to sign an Ethics violation Mr gakis when Debbie Bo was accused of saying something on social media you stood up like it was the St wch trials and demanded her resignation where are your vitriolic demands now where are all of you thank you georan Larson 223 Broadway Avenue in a town with such a rich history of High School athletics it is a disgrace to these athletes that the Board of Education and the high school administration has allowed allowed politics to play such a dominant role coaches are being forced to being near figureheads of the ad Administration and board they are not only being told who should be on the team but who should be getting playing time what is next do they want to call the play in a football game or tell the pitcher what pitch to throw remember you the board and the administration hired the coaches to give the athletes a chance to improve their skills and win if you are going to hinder their ability to coach by pushing your own individual agenda who are you actually hurting you are hurting the high school athletes and I can guarantee you that 99% of them do not care about your agendas where is it written that at least one coach per team must work within the district there have been way too many cases in this town where quality coaches have been turned down and that was the reason there have been state champion wrestlers turned down Allstar and college level cheerleaders turned down as well as semi-pro football players having been turned down the experience level that these athletes had was second to none and they were former South cleanville graduates that wanted to give back the best candidates should be given the position the individual agendas of the board and the administration put aside this narrowed mindness needs to stop as the only one getting hurt are the high school athletes it is appearing to be the norm where athletes are more trusted than the coaches themselves you hire coaches to mold and Mentor these athletes into best into the best that they can be into many situations in the past several years one athlete on a team has an issue with coaching staff and instead of the Board of Ed and administration backing the coaching staff they criticize them if there are 20 athletes on a team and only one has an issue is it the coaches or that individual athlete I guess that depends on if that athlete is a friend or relative of someone on the board or Administration the reason I can speak to this is that this has happened to me twice over the course of my 30 plus years of coaching and in that time I have coached over, 1300 athletes with only two issues which is as well as under a half% you would think that that track record the board as well as the administration would have backed me but most of them and most of you did not 10 seconds coaches are employed for specific Seasons which has beginning and an end date holding coaches accountable during their specified season is completely understandable because they on C under contract anyone else okay so all right any board member comments go ahead yes thank you um as a board member I can speak on specific Personnel issues but what I do want to address is the public response to this issue and anything else referring to the board or the school district the people who go on Facebook uh letters to The Observer The Observer article just putting stuff out there without knowing all the facts asking the Personnel involved and just taking one person's statement and feelings and blowing it up all out proportion is not helpful the the insinuations in The Observer article and the letter to the editor there the Facebook responses and the post some of them by responsible journalists who should know better than to just put something out there from one side without looking for all the information uh this is just a local example of the U the animosity and uh the the misinformation that's going on throughout the country today political and otherwise you know if you see something in an article one person's opinion ask questions find out whether it's true don't just go and agree or put something on Facebook and just span the flames it's it's horrible it just does not help research ask questions and maybe you'll find out that one person's diet tribe is not the whole story anyone else I'd like to just reiterate what Bill said um you do okay go ahead um I just want to remind everybody out there that a child of a board of education member does not lose their rights Board of Education members have a responsibility if they see something happening to report it to the administration I could only imagine that if something happened to another child and it wasn't reported to the administration what your reaction would have been that's all I'd like to end it with this um is that so there are things that we can and cannot say up here you do not have all the facts and we cannot give you those facts all right we violate Personnel uh we violate child students rights um again what Bill said you don't have all the information okay so it's easy to critique from the outside um we have chosen and based on our legal council there's things that we cannot tell you all right some of you have have elected us up here to trust us that we try to do the right thing we're not always perfect okay but uh we try to make the best decision we can I can tell you but what's been told in the public is not 100% correct that's all I can say at this point thank you we need a j oh I'm sorry need a motion motion motion to close the meeting Sharon Shar wants to speak Sharon now you want to speak good morning oh okay first thing is the new Garrison and Leo will will be retired as of August 1st we are truly grateful and thank you for all your years of service hard work knowledge inspiration mentorship and everything else you have done for the children of South lanko as you begin the next chapter of your lives I hope you both have an enjoyable fun relaxing and healthy retirement you both truly deserve it I'd also like to congratulate Tara Martinelli on the new position it is welld deserved I know you're going to do a wonderful job and look I don't have any social media at all I don't go on social media I can only hear what what people have said but the one thing that um upsets me a little bit is you know everybody has right to their comments everybody has you know First Amendment rights but please refrain from criticizing a child no one wants their child to be criticized especially all over the internet and everything else um that child has nothing to do with this so please you know try to refrain from criticizing children thank you get a motion sorry yeah I'm so sorry ex up to the board side stre sure sorry about that hi my name is n i at 2 386 will have this is our first board meeting so we have no idea how these things wrong I'm so sorry um our oldest son is only in first grade so this is all very new to us um we did come though because we are concerned about the um the busing situation that's happening now in town our son is a student at Riley he's one of he's the oldest of three we have two younger children at home as well um me and my husband both work full-time in the city um and so busing was a huge sa a a huge Lifesaver for us for us to be able to do transportation for our son means that I would potentially have to quit my job for him to be able to get to school uh we moved to this town under the um the understanding that our students would be bus to and from school on some occasions I've had to take him to drop off and drop off at Riley I don't know if any of you have children at Riley but it's a mess I mean it's really really difficult it's a very small U there's nowhere to park and then for pick up we used to have to pick him up at preschool um not at the annex he was there before the annex and you have to park and then go pick him up from the classroom there's no parking and I would be gone for at least an hour um just to pick him up from school this is like a huge issue for those of us who are working and for those of us who have other children at home uh we have a baby I can't just leave him I have to wake him up early in the morning to bring him to school with my son and then still get to work on time and still bring his other brother to school because we can't send him to preschool at rley anymore because they're a lottery um so we're just haven't really like I'm wondering what were what are the options going to be for parents going into the next school year when transportation is something that we heav be relied on I find it really hard to believe that 98% of the students are going to be now no buses to Riley I think only one Street in the entire town or the entire um District qualifies for busing so Riley school that's what I was told um and this really did come as a shock to us as I mentioned this is our first meeting we didn't really understand or know these things were going on um and so we are hopeful that there are going to be options for us to be able to still get our children to school in time um and that isn't going to affect our livelihood um and that's really it thank you guys for everything you guys do we just you know we hope that there are going to be options for us going into the next school year I I did want to to respond to let you know unfortunately we have been in discussion about uh what was considered to to some degree courtesy busing um we were not at the U the distance requirement for the state of New Jersey we had to increase the distance requirement um which did eliminate some of the the um options for the students who were USS um I'm not exactly sure uh what you're being told about one it actually affected 200 students in the district so it's affected 200 students um we then were uh cut um from our our our state aid so we were down uh you know over a million dollars um that also sped this process up we're having more students entering the district and they're entering in an area where uh we have to provide more busing so we have an issue with uh the the availability of buses the availability of uh bus drivers so at this point we are we are at what the state says is the requirement for our our transportation we are not uh talking about changing that at all so unfortunately those that do not are are not going to be receiving busing in September that won't change the only thing we offer is uh we cannot offer at this moment we don't know if that's going to change it has to do with the Staffing but we do have before and after care in all of the elementary schools and um and after care in Grant so that is an option for our parents for those that have to drop off their students um earlier if they have to go to work which we understand but unfortunately at this point we won't be able to change back to what we had been doing for the for the last couple years while we try to address the increase in the population um the shortages of buses that we have and the decrease in our funding that we that we experienced can I ask a question so what's going to happen because before and after care is not going to be an option for us so what's going to happen at Riley as I mentioned I mean every month like clockwork we got an email from the principal like even those of us who bus like guys reminder kiss and drop kiss and drop kiss and drop I mean it's a mess so what is going to be our option I can't if if I were to work for mly let's say there is no option for me to do an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon just for one of my children when I have three so what what are they going to be doing to like alleviate that that pressure from us because right now as it stands it's not doable and you're talking about most of the students when I said one street I meant only one street qualifies for busing I was told from the board of Transportation the Department of Transportation so that means 98% of the school 99% the school is going to be dropped off and picked up I I'm that that's they're giving you incorrect information or maybe this is miscommunication um but either way that's on us we have to do a better job in controlling the traffic you are right the two heaviest schools with traffic is Riley and Roosevelt Roosevelt has a better pathway in going through with changing the the traffic pattern we are working with the South planfield Police Department see if there's a better way that we can bring students in we may have to look at an option of um possibly having the students uh enter in maybe 10 or 15 minutes earlier as long as we can get supervision so it would stagger the the parents coming in unfortunately uh most parents want to drop off at the same time so even though that we might have you know 10 or 15 minute leeway now if we expand that it might uh you know alleviate some of the traffic but that's the issue it's it's on it's on us to try to work out a better traffic pattern and get the the traffic moving a little bit quicker is there a way that they can make an appointment with you uh tomorrow or next week to discuss this further their questions back and we don't have any answers no problem thank you very much guys appreciate your time no problem else can I a motion to so Mo second all in favor meeting