##VIDEO ID:fl_XJUeH1FY## e e e e e e e e e e e e good okay everybody rise for Pledge of [Music] Allegiance Pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible Justice for okay roll call please Mrs Harold here Mr Pico here Mr Valley here Mr vardo Mr yagnam oh good Mr muscatell you know when I went to school after that we had to see my excellent okay this is to advise the general public and to instruct that it be recorded in the minutes that in compliance with chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 entitled the open public meetings act Stan hope Board of Education located at 24 Valley Road Stan Hope New Jersey has caused this notice to be posted at the office of the Stan hope Board of Education mailed to the New Jersey Herald the municipal clerk of the burough of Stan hope the Stan hope post office and posted at the Valley Road school and on the Stan hope Public Schools website setting forth the time date and location of the meeting mission statement the Stan Hope School District in partnership with the community commits to provide a quality comprehensive Ed education for all Learners with equal emphasis on academic excellence and citizenship through values respect and service our vision is to inspire and cultivate the community of innovative curious compassionate and globally minded Learners equipped with knowledge problem solving skills and the ability to persevere to make a positive impact on society and shape for a better future okay presentations all right we got to kick off the meeting with some good stuff um we uh received a we are vrs award nomination it came from one of our students going to be an eighth grade student uh coming into this school year um so just a quick reminder for anybody who's out there uh listening and watching uh the board launched uh their we are vrs award initiative several years ago to recognize our staff uh who do wonderful things every single day um so I'd uh I'm happy and thrilled to welcome uh Mrs Leslie salmon I'm gonna have you come up in just a minute she is our occupational therapist um and the student was was very direct uh it was a two line um but it was two powerful lines it stated that she is an awesome teacher and she always makes me feel special as her rational as to why she was nominated um I second all of that uh and I can also tell you that she works with some of our most challenging students and she always does so with a smile uh and in addition to that there's not a more collaborative member of our team uh in fact I needed to see her earlier today uh with our entire related service team it was during lunch and I knew that I can find them eating and working together through lunch um thank you Leslie for everything that you do come on up got the whole family here which is [Applause] [Applause] great okay and that brings us over to board goals and objectives Kelly it's all you just turn on your microphone tap it thank you first time in here in stanh hope so thank you so much I really appreciate it excited to uh get to work roll up our sleeves and uh first we're going to talk about ethics real quick I know that you've all um had this training before but we're supposed to do it annually um for qac so we're going to make sure we do that today and then we're going to lead right into District goals and board goals so just a quick disclaimer on um the uh the presentation itself it's for informational purposes only it's not meant to give you any legal advice certainly if there was any legal advice needed for any type of ethical issue you would follow chain of command and speak to your board attorney on that so when we talk about ethics we talk about uh keeping in our lean that really guides us the code of ethics to stay in our lean um as board members and guides us with our board service so this is just a snapshot of the school ethics act and it talks about um making sure that you avoid conduct that would violate public trust and we're going to show some examples of that um most recently the the examples of that is social media social media has become a big problem um with a board service and uh board members posting on social media so we're going to just chat about that real quick but this is the actual act itself and you have this all in your packets and then we're just going to talk a little bit about the different components the uh School ethics commission prohibited acts your mandatory training code of ethics and those fun little disclosures that you have to do every year so the people that are accountable are of course all board members and then also staff from New Jersey school boards as well and administrators this is what it looks like as far as um who is on the commission itself so there's nine members two uh board school board members five non-school officials and two School administrators so there's two different components uh there's advisory opinions and that any uh a school official can request that kind of information and then there's the ethics complaints and anyone could allege that there was a violation of the school ethics act and um community members could put in for that uh usually there's about 85 of those complaints filed per year and then uh 35 advisory opinions and we're going to talk about some of the newer ones so your mandat training that um this is new the first uh 90 days of your board service for year one uh you do have to do governance one by that 90day Mark so anybody that um was appointed later on in the year needs to do that within 90 days and then anybody that um is coming in in January would have to do that within that 90 days and then it follows uh the line down so then we're talking about governance two in the second year governance three in the third year and governance for if you're reappointed um or reelected and then that uh you have until the end of the year so just be mindful that if you haven't done uh your training your annual training please do so because we get little reminder starting in November but you do have until December 31st those disclosures those should have been uh you know done in April of April 30th if you haven't done them I'm sure you received a reminder but those are those need to be done uh new school officials have to do that within 30 days these are the penalties um for a violation so a reprimand is basically just a letter saying you know you did something that's improper don't do that again a censure is a Little Bit Stronger so you're getting a letter that's read at a board meeting and then that has to be put into record and that is posted for 30 days on the uh School website and the the website of the commission and then a suspension is something that is just for a certain period of time if that was a highlevel violation we had a gentleman that uh decided it was a good idea to have a Blog and uh wrote poorly about uh some staff members and did get suspended for about six months so that's something to be mindful of when we're posting and then a removal is for a high level violation so these are the the actual uh tenant of the code of ethics so when we talk about uh letter A a violation um would be going against that oath that you take when you first uh become a board member that's exactly what letter A speaks to and then with uh B we have to be mindful that we're here for all students not just uh certain sections of students so that what that's what B speaks to is making sure that you're including all students in your decision making C uh this actually tells us very clearly what our board um service should be about it's about policymaking planning and Appraisal that's it a lot of times uh board members think that they're here for other things um especially like rolling up their sleeves and working with the administration and that's not the case it's you're confining your action to policymaking planning and Appraisal so what would appraisal be that would be the CSA evaluation that you do um planning would be exactly what we're doing today the the district goals and board goals uh budgeting uh sometimes we're we're doing some of the planning with that and then policym of course speaks for itself letter D um speaks to how you're going to follow your responsibilities but you're not going to administer the school so you're having that balcony seat of um oversight so you're not dancing on the dance floor with uh the staff you're up in the balcony as a board member and you're just having that oversight piece so you're seeing that the schools are run well you're not in that day-to-day activity so that's really important uh for board members to understand and then e we're seeing a little uptick in E because uh it's saying that you're going to make no personal promises nor take any private action on your own remember your Authority rests as a full board you don't have any individual Authority and then also um you you can't make those personal promises we're seeing that a lot of board members are having difficulty going from campaign mode to board service mode um so when you're campaigning you're you're promising everything and you're saying that you're going to focus on this and you're going to change that but then when you come into being a board member you realize that you're part of a team and so you you kind of change a little bit and we're seeing that shift very difficult for some board members and that uh violation of letter e and then f is saying that you're not going to surrender your independent judgment for partisan groups or uh any special interest groups we see a lot of support when we're campaigning from different groups but then when we come together as a team uh when we're elected we have to be mindful that you're you're making decisions based on data and you're not making decisions based on political groups or any special interest groups and then G uh sometimes we see a violation on that it's because a board member feels that um they wanted to share some uh confidential information from executive with other parties be mindful that when you're in executive that information stays right in that room and it doesn't Devi at outside that room even with a significant other or what have you please be mindful of that because that is a very serious violation and that would be a violation of G and that that could cause you some some major issues and then H um you will appoint the best qualified Personnel available after consideration of the chief administrative officer that's meaning that uh you know just because you know Sally Sue might be this great administrator you you don't go ahead and recommend that person now remember that the all the recommendations come through the superintendent so it's really important to be mindful of that and then the supporting of the school Personnel uh when we talked about that gentleman with the blog he wasn't supporting them in their proper performance of their duties so that would be a violation of I so make sure a lot of times board members feel that when there's some Roar in um the district they go to social media and speak to that please be mindful that that would be a clear violation of letter I if you're speaking about Personnel in any way and then um the complaint uh to be referred to the superintendent a lot of times when we're in the grocery store and it's always in the grocery store that people come up to you and um and give you those complaints and that's great because you are representing the community but you need to to remember the chain of command when that's happening and you refer that over to your you tell your board president you tell your superintendent this is this is what I've heard and you don't try to fix that on your own that is definitely a chain of command so the dialogue on that type of situation would be like oh how did it go when you spoke to the building principal or the teacher or things like that instead of trying to fix that on your own a lot of times board members come on to board service and they're here to help the kids but that's not helping that's violating that chain of command so just be mindful of that with with letter J and then in your packet I put um some related cases that we've seen um one of the biggest violations that we're seeing is board members using their board email to um send information out to the public be very careful with that because you don't have authority individually and when you send something out with the board email it gives the um public that impression that you're speaking for the full board so just be mindful of of that when you're using that board email that board email should really only be for your board work a couple more cases in there and I I put those in for your leisure you can read those later um and then uh the prohibited acts this is very interesting because there's been different guidance on this so if you have somebody that in your immediate family that you have that conflict um if you have any type of legal conflict when there becomes a discussion you should recuse yourself so this is the new guidance instead of um years ago we would just abstain so we would sit there at the board table we would have the discussion about whatever it was and then we would sit there and when the vote came to us we would abstain well now the new guidance is saying to uh recuse yourself from the actual discussion and recuse yourself from the vote uh so very important when you have a legal conflict to uh do that and by recusing yourself means that you move away from the board table you could sit in the audience for that moment that discussion and then come back to the board Table after and that's only when you have that legal conflict but they're saying that before the way we did it before was you were basically skewing with the dis the discussion you're skewing that vote so no no discussion and no vote recuse yourself from that and then this is a definition of uh what a family member would be or a relative a lot of times we get a lot of questions on what's considered a relative what's considered a family member so I have that here and then a really good um chart that uh narrows it down to every little Nuance of relationship and whether you're conflicted or not so I put that in your packet this is new as of um November 2023 so this is very very helpful and then of course about um hiring relatives we know that we can't do that if they're already on um in the district that's a different story when you take board service so just be mindful of that this is a really great chart about uh collective bargaining and this um spells out exactly who can vote and who can participate in negotiation so I put this in there for you so that you can just reference that and then some more uh prohibited act cases and these come to you in an email um every month you'll have the board notes that comes to you in an email uh and they'll talk about different cases then also uh this is new guidance in May of 2023 uh that a board president if a board president is conflicted then they cannot uh sit on negotiations instructional committees or Finance committees and they shouldn't pick committee chairs either so just be mindful of that as you're picking your president that that is something that would have to be switched over to the vice president uh and then also when it comes to Executive session be mindful that like say your spouse wanted to apply for an open seat you wouldn't then go into executive and and be a part of that discussion you should Choose Yourself from that this is really interesting because we're seeing an uptick in advice from uh of council and that means that oh well you know I don't think I really did anything wrong because our board attorney told us that we could go ahead and do that and that's great and you can utilize that but you have to be very mindful that these four parameters have to be satisfied in order for the commission to say yes you could use that as a defense of advice of coun so I just put that in there and just make sure that when you do discuss something with your board attorney you tell them the full disclosure all the pertinent facts because they're making their decision based on what you're saying so it's really important that you tell the entire story for that and then volunteering in schools of course as a board member you can volunteer in the schools but it's that degree of volunteerism so when we talk about uh if you're going to come in unteer and you're going to give directives to staff then you would have to shy away from that volunteerism and or if you're going to be in the building often you shouldn't be as a board member a staple in the building you shouldn't be here once a week or once a month like you have to be very mindful of that that um staff are not to be taking orders from you and you staff sometimes feels very uncomfortable if you're in the building all the time it's it's an uncomfortable feeling even if they know you so just be mindful of how many times you're in the building and also are you giving directions because if you are then you would have to shy away from that volunteerism also if you're handling money that would be something that you wouldn't want to do as a board member so give that responsibility to somebody else and then voting make sure that when you're voting you're voting on data you're not being arbitrary or capricious not well this gentleman didn't say hello to me the past two times so now I'm not going to vote for him you can't do something like that you certainly would have to do it Based on data so then we talk about social media and when we're talking about social media certainly your First Amendment rights aren't taken away however you should put this disclaimer on if you are going to post from any of your social media sites this should be on here saying that you're speaking solely as a private Citizen and all opinions are um your personal opinions this is really important because uh if there is a violation you could show that you have that on there and remember the authority rests as a full board so you don't want the public to think that you're speaking for the board when you're speaking so this helps with that um type of uh position this is some of um the commonly question answer um questions to uh the the uh disclaimer and certainly just because you have that disclaimer doesn't mean that then you can just write whatever you want so just be careful with that um but the disclaimer does help and then uh if you do have a site that when you ran a campaign that you you know vote for me type of site uh take that down when you become a a board member because that would give the impression that you're speaking as a board member uh so they say that once your campaign is over you should shut that uh Facebook page or whatever page down certainly you can like at from your personal account you can like any post but if something is overly political you might want to shy away from that and then any type of divisive language any language that you would use um not use at the board table you shouldn't use on on social media and like I said you you get that um Schoolboard notes every single month and that'll show you different decisions that the uh commission uh decided what the violation was and um what some of the um outcome was of though so just take a look at that and uh and that's it if unless you have any questions on ethics that was the the speed reading one so we're going to flip over to uh to district and board goals so a lot of times uh and I'm I'm surprised that a lot of boards that I'm going to they don't do the goals every single year uh I noticed that you all do and congratulations for doing that but they don't really understand why you do the goals and so it just shows that um there goals are the foundation for a lot of different things certainly helps with CSA evaluation for policy development uh effective communication transparency accountability so that's why we go ahead and do that and it also has our laser focus on where we're at and where we want to go as a district so it's really important to uh set goals so that's great that you guys do that every year so this is just a cycle of of where we are with District goal setting so we did the CSA evaluation that's done by July 1st now in the summer months we set the goals we have this type of workshop and then once we determine the district goals today we're going to hand that over to the administration and the administration is going to sit down and do the action plans uh for those goals and then they'll come back if they're ready in September with those action plans and then you will approve those uh goals and the action plans at your September meeting um if you don't have it done by then you could do it in October it's not a problem but that's that's pretty much where we are and then all along the way you'll have updates on uh those key actions so uh usually about three times a year you'll have an update on how we are with the goals and where where you're going sometimes you have to adjust your sales a little bit uh and then we Circle back to this CSA evaluation so it's a uh a big circle um with the but it's really helpful to be mindful of where you are with your goals all year round um so that you can adjust you can make those adjustments and achieve your goals and then when we're setting those goals we want to make sure that it's something that is attainable realistic uh that it has time frames to it so that we all are on the same page so when we think about goals sometimes um I see with districts that some of the goals are like this word salad you want something to be very realistic and concise so that you know where you are with the goals at all times and so when we talk about District goals District goals are where the board and the administration come together and uh determine what direction the uh district is going in so everybody owns those goals so the board is the what and then the administration is the how those action plans but with board goals it's a bit a little bit different the board owns those goals and they also devise the action plan so we'll talk about that in a little bit when we do uh board goals and then you I noticed that with your agenda you always have the uh vision and and uh mission of the district so that's fantastic uh and you're keeping in mind all the data that goes along we're going to talk about last year's goals and uh how you achieved them so here we we are district uh goal one so um Steve I don't know if you want to uh chat about that but we did achieve uh you know the that goal yes so this is the or the last two years we've actually had goals that were structured around the referendum that was passed uh initially it was getting the referendum passed getting to vote and getting it passed um so number one although maybe not completely uh finished uh we're at the tail end uh and we do expect um the HVAC to pretty much be up and running by the time school starts next week uh so as far as I'm concerned I think that that's a goal that we can Mark as completed um the second uh for those of you who remember we we had initially planned to renovate the science classroom um this summer but that was a project that had to get pushed and we're going to be uh completing that project next summer um so you know in in speaking with with Matia separately and and emailing back and forth uh with Kelly um to me it made sense to you know want to continue uh this long-term goal which we anticipated would be 3 years and there was actually a an element of the referendum that I think I don't necessarily think was missed but it was an added component that I think we'll get into a little bit um when we talk about goals moving forward and then goal two was quite lengthy yeah second goal was a big we had we had first of all we had five goals last year which was way ever had before it was a lot but we were doing a lot and they were all things that we all felt pretty motivated to accomplish um this one was around curriculum instruction and programming um the first uh providing student choice and electives which I think we uh to an extent um achieved so partially achieved there uh but there's definitely Room to Grow uh and I would recommend continuing that uh and building that into this coming Year's District goals uh because we have some some pretty strong ideas uh now that we you know financially in a pretty stable place after last year um the second one um creating that collaborative program with lenpy Valley this is now year two where we have students attending what we're calling a zero period uh so lenpy starts uh earlier than we do we adjusted our start time last year if you remember by 15 minutes so that they can attend Len's first period and then be transported back to Stan hope so that they can attend our first period giving them the opportunity to take a a German a French class um uh band uh and or geometry honors um so I believe that one was also achieved um B uh we talked a little bit about student Choice um two was accomplished uh in our ability to move all of our curriculum to the new Google platform it's now accessible uh to public uh for free whereas we were uh using the Rubicon Atlas program that I didn't necessarily think was user friendly and they wanted to upcharge us pretty significantly just to get it on the website uh so we've we've been pretty happy with that um and then number three to continue to Foster the social emotional and physical needs of all students through a variety of programs mentoring opportunities counseling and through uh routine physical activity throughout the school year uh that's a component of this goal that I think I'd also like to focus on uh for next year and possibly Beyond uh and that was embedded in my recommendations uh that I had sent to Kelly uh goal three I believe was achieved um this was uh collaborating with all of our stakeholders uh to determine our district values uh what we stand for what we Aspire for uh and and develop that mission statement the vision statement uh and additionally the portrait of a charger the portrait of a graduate which we uh the board approved and we were able to roll out and it actually became um a a central focus at our uh initial faculty meeting this morning when we welcome staff back um District I'm sorry District go four uh was to investigate and explore uh our ability to apply for preschool expansion uh not only did we apply we were approved and we launched uh the program last May full day preschool fabulous um and on top of that we were able to build a second Preschool full day preschool classroom for this year uh which honestly uh minimized what would have been a 15 student weight list to a four student weight list uh so we're excited about that and then the last of the five goals um was to revamp uh our Visual and sound media program uh in our new stem lab uh it's something that we we started last year uh but honestly all of the equ all the materials weren't necessarily ready to go at the start of the year I think it's something that we can certainly do better moving forward um I don't know if this specifically is embedded in uh my recommended goals for next year uh but if you feel strongly obviously everything that Kelly's going to present to you next are suggestions right and and this is a collaborative process and everybody who's sitting here at this table should have the opportunity to to share your beliefs um and and whether you agree uh don't agree would like to modify anything that she puts up yeah so these are the proposed uh categories for the goal so uh School climate and culture referendum projects that we just we just talked about so you would add to that and then curriculum instruction and programming um so with the the first goal let's chat about uh climate and culture and and uh the board's thoughts on that uh have you ever done a a survey a climate and culture survey before not in about 10 years okay okay that's a great Tool uh I have a lot of districts that have done that and uh the when you get all of that data and and chat about that that really helps uh send you on a path of what everybody is looking for the the vision of um the community itself so that's that's really helpful Matia and I and principal dealo sat on a call recently um Ruckers is facilitating uh what they're calling the NJ uh Sai um program it's New Jersey school climate uh uh it's a platform and a survey that they will help us uh move through it's it's free uh it'll provide this platform so that we can survey not just our students and our staff uh but also parents and other community members um there's several domains that they that they include it was pretty extensive I mean it was a lot of information I don't think we need to necessarily use all of it uh but it is also being I don't know if sponsored is is too strong of a word uh but the the NJ dooe uh believes that this is is a program uh and an initiative worth moving forward with so personally at this point I think that if if the board agrees to move forward with such a goal this would be the platform that I would like to move forward with how does everybody feel about that itive group so so I'll just jump in for me school climate and culture is something that is really important I think we heard last year from the student Advocates right that we have some work to do there and um really looking for a way to uncover uh what the issues are and then what action plans we can develop in a manner that we can follow up on right um and so the the tool is one piece and its ability to give us that insight and the information um but in the the tool aside to the goal is extremely important so we keep up the work that some of the students started last year providing those insights into how the school's running great great yeah been a target for a couple years so a lot of times we uh when I I talk to boards that's one of um their concerns is that their community that they don't really understand the aspirations that the community has for the school district so this really helps with that um and I I think it's I think it's a great program I I looked into that program it's it's amazing and it's free so yeah when do we ever get anything for free right I I think also uh it almost ties into the previous District goal number two that that number three piece that we really didn't uh really touch on as much as the others uh you know to continue to Foster the social emotional and physical needs of all students through a variety of programming uh Mentor opportunities counseling and through routine physical activity throughout the school year um I think that the data that we collect from this might be the catalist to building more of these programs and providing opportunities uh for our students here in the school good so everybody feels comfortable with this goal the way it's written any does anybody want to deviate from it in any way but you or do you feel that this is something that you wanted to do word prop I thought it was I thought it was great okay so then we'll move on to number two uh so number two is about the referendum and some of the projects that uh we talked about with the referendum yeah that second piece uh to goal number two is is the one that we knew we'd have to do uh but it's become a a more significant project than I guess initially expected and that's the removal of the exist existing underground oil tank um you know the expense of the project isn't really an issue although maybe slightly more expensive than what we initially thought uh we've done very well budgetarily with all of the other projects that we've completed and we we clearly have enough money to take care of this it's just the process we have to go through Environmental Testing although we have zero reason to believe that there was any kind of L leak in the tank those are all things that have to happen before we we break ground and potentially take it out we've we're already in the process of exploring options to fill the tank possibly um with you know a concrete material um and that's all things that we would either have to get permits for and approval um after the uh after the Environmental Studies so along that way residential oil tanks they won't let you fill them with anything you got to physically take them out right so maybe uh because this is considered commercial maybe that's a different uh structure we're exploring all of the opportunities um partially and the reason we really want to explore that right I don't think in itself taking the tank out is a bad thing but because of the proximity of the tank and how close it is to our school we're talking you know we're going to be removing several sidewalks around the school uh much of the uh the new pavement that we put in is obviously going to be taken up it's going to be a significant project uh likely next summer hopefully early next summer um so it would be foolish of us not to at least explore it uh but my gut tells me that we'll likely have to re remove the tank um we've already uh if we haven't done it yet Carissa help me because you may know more than me um a company will be coming to remove the existing oil that we have in there it's not physically done yet but it's it's in the works so they'll be removing that oil lessening any kind of risk of uh you know leakage or contamination so where is the tank so it's right in front of the the exterior doors going into the gymnasium okay you'll see that there's you know you have your your black asphalt and then there's a a section of like concrete with some I don't know steel grates yeah I'm is that is all this going through the architect oh yes yeah he he's obviously going to be a part of uh all of these decisions and and data collection and everything and taking out the tank and draining it first yep yep right yes they they do become buoyant oh yeah be like a Marine coming through your pavement yep if anybody has questions on that project we're excited about the science lab too uh we were disappointed to not have it completed this summer um but it was it was definitely the right call because uh there was there was a lot of work um going on here in the school and then goal three would be curriculum instruction and programming so that elective piece so this is something that clearly came through in our strategic plan that we did did a couple years ago um you know just to give you uh and I'm sure you know being in Sussex County and working here you're very familiar with our small schools that you know when you don't have the numbers you don't have the students it's hard to offer more than that General art that General music that general you know stem class um however we've reached a point I I believe that the board agrees that we've reached a point where you know it's time to think outside the box and and figure out how we can provide these additional opportunities for our students stud we've stabilized our reading our writing our math our social studies and our science instruction uh it's it's really time to to focus on the Arts um one of the things that came through very very clearly at the Strategic plan and again I don't want to speak for the board but I believe that it's it's uh a top initiative is trying to get our part-time staff back to full-time uh and to be quite honest with you it's my belief through the scheduling process that that's really the only way you're going to be able to provide multiple options for students in sixth seventh and eth grade right now our our art teacher is7 our Music Teacher is is a 70% and although our stem teacher is full-time she has specialed special education responsibility so about 70% of her day is for stem um making those fulltime and and right now their schedule is just completely jam-packed so there's no room for additional programming and classes uh making them full-time I believe um will allow for that uh we have to budget for it uh it's something that I have been discussing with our inim business administrator and although we can't say yes or no for sure right now it's something that we feel confident we can seriously explore uh and with that it's a matter of of honestly completely rebuilding our schedule because although we've been tweaking it each year it's it's pretty much the same schedule that we've been rolling out for the last eight or nine years so I don't know if anybody has questions or suggestions in that area anybody no you guys are easy they're usually more talkative at 7 o' so uh we're we're all good with those uh those buckets so um does everybody feel comfortable with the way it's written uh any tweaking at all well uh there was something in the original set of goals that I saw that I wanted to build on but I didn't see it highlighted here in terms of we we've been upgrading our facilities which is excellent um talking about safety right um we have locked doors that's basically it am I right in thinking that new doors new doors do new doors I apologize um we can't guarantee anybody's safety and we'd have to be very careful on how we word it but is there any way we could start focusing on reinforcing classrooms and reinforcing how in terms of like active shooter drills uh I I've been seeing a lot of video there's a lot of different things they make for classrooms nowadays to to Really lock it down um I'm just spitballing here in general but there's so much emphasis on the students well-being mentally and physically which is excellent um that next level would be hey how can we make the building more secure are we up the par with everything that's considered standard nowadays I to make it a goal I know I would need to be a lot more specific on what I'm saying but that's the general theme that to me the one piece we have done a lot over the years right I don't want to get into great detail in public right because this is recorded and you don't want to give away all your safety security secrets I'm happy to have a conversation with anybody that wants to have that uh the one thing that we we are certainly looking to do next year and we feel pretty comfortable that we can do it through our capital reserve uh is I think Matia mentioned replacing every single classroom door in the building uh the doors are old the locks are kind of start the handles and locks are starting to get finicky uh and that in itself I believe is going to be one of the the biggest things that we can do for for school safety um I shared with actually staff this morning as we reviewed our safety security handbook that I went to a training in July uh that was delivered by two Coral Springs uh Florida police officers uh they were responders to the shooting in Parkland um they they were the responders who who moved forward and did everything appropriately after the the police officers who were initially on site pretty much did everything wrong um and the biggest takeaway that I took from that entire training was there were three levels in the building where the shootings took place the middle level had zero casualties and the reason for that is every single person that was on that level was able to get their door locked and out of sight before the shooter got to that level uh and all of the studies that we've seen all of the research that we've looked at said that when there's and you never know right you never know what somebody who obviously has mental illness is going to do when they they enter school um but all of the studies show that if a shooter can't see you or can't find you they're not going to try to bust open a door when there may not even be anybody in there right they're they're they're shooting they're attacking what they see um and we do drill at least monthly uh we talked about finding that light line of sight uh in the doorways we have shades on the doors you know we have our security cameras that our police can access on their phones and in their vehicles um we have our Panic alarm system we have alarms on every single exterior door in the building uh so I think we've done a lot I don't disagree with you um but I think once we get those inter interior doors um replaced I think that'll be a significant upgrade yeah I don't want to devalue the effort already put in and I I'm always impressed with the knowledge of not just you but the teachers and what they do in those situations it's just always evolving always better things to do so as long as those conversations are being had longterm or at least somewhat of a plan that's excellent and if you if there are other Technologies or anything that you see anybody please bring it to our attention we're more than happy to explore any and all of it yeah we actually workwise we recently installed in something that we're building that's extremely minor and it's just like automatic door stops that pop up behind the door and it's just magnet it was super simple and cheap if you have anything on that that you can share me because we we are right now we're at the stage of trying to identify a contractor that can come in and do the project we brought one person in and it was too much for them they're more of a locksmith they would come in to change our handles and locks uh but the door project in itself was was more than they can handle so we're working with our Anthony our architect uh to identify at least a couple contractors that can come in and and work through this project with us Kelly I think school boards last winter had a presentation on Safety and Security and active shooter I forget the gentleman who was in but they also talked about funding from the state coming down at some point on that yeah and I think also on certain contractors that that uh were doing this type of work so they actually have a list I can I can email it to you um and they do give discounts to schools things like that so I can I can send that to you so that's that's the one thing that I will be focusing on when I'm walking the exhibit floor at school boards uh this year and anybody who's planning to attend we can uh certainly take a look together they just put everything up for school for work school boards I had talked to somebody on the floor a little bit about you know one of the challenges obviously we face in our beautiful building is we have a lot of Windows we do have a lot of Windows um and they were saying That's not cost effective for most districts probably ours included to obviously swap your windows out for things but they were saying that they were in the process of creating something and I haven't seen anything because I've looked on their website before but I'd be curious to see if another company had it that in an emergency puts down like a barrier that comes down from the ceiling and I don't know if it would be coste effective to block windows because we can lock the doors and that is fabulous if somebody gets in the building if they're on the perimeter of the building I mean and it's horrible to think about but it that's really tough too and I'm just going to say once again I'm thankful for our Tiny Town in that sense less crime and craziness than in larger areas you never thought of that so thanks I'll have that in my head I'm sorry sorry sometimes those those cause other issues though it's like when they put in uh loose loose loose sight it's a 3M film that they put on the on the Windows too that helps that with breakage and things like that they they used loose I think it was loose site is it was kind of plastic which you can't break and it just ended up the Fire Department fire fire issue for sure well what I'm saying is when you put down something down if everything goes right it works perfect but it's the time that it doesn't where they come down in a fire and you can't vent or kids can't escape that's you know that's a side you got to look at okay so good so uh like I said we'll uh go ahead and draw those up we'll send those over uh to the superintendent and the administration and they'll go ahead and develop the action plans and then report back out with the action plan and then you would adopt those at uh your board meeting so then when we talk about board goals we're talking about professional development we're talking about your governance skills things like that so board goals should really be centered around that as well and then also aligning with the student achievement piece so this was last year's uh board goals so let's just talk about if they were achieved or not so the successful negotiation and agreeing of uh the collective bargaining agreement with uh the the Stan hope school so that that was completed okay good so that was achieved and then a goal two was to approve funding and support to engage in and complete a district policy audit uh you can get that done free from uh New Jersey school boards too uh if you wanted to send that we used uh initially Strauss SM uh and school boards did then a follow-up audit uh so we complete there policy uh our policy manual was up to date great and then uh to encourage board members participation in uh New Jersey school board events which is great because we're having Workshop I don't know if any of you are coming uh to Workshop but it's uh it's a really great event and then um to become certified board members I know that we have two Master board members in the room so that's that's great and uh did did you think about U becoming a certified board that's 16 credits so when New Jersey school boards comes into your meeting or any type of retreat you get credits for that so today you'll be getting two credits for this exercise and once you get up to 16 credits you become a certified board and that means something for a lot of different reasons it means that you're focused on student achievement and working together as a collaborative group and it means a lot to your community as well it it means that you're taking that uh job very very seriously as as you are and then you're constantly trying to improve so I I think that that might be um a good goal if you're if you're up for it uh like I said I would come into meetings so you wouldn't have to do it on any special day and then you would get credits as I come in and you can pick the topics that you feel that you would want to train [Music] on that sound like something that you would want to do I like the title you you just come here and speak to us before meetings and we get credit for it you do and you get a plaque it's all good stuff fantastic I have so I would say we can leave three and maybe add that to it or just reward it a little bit right I think that makes sense right three is one I feel like should kind of always be out there because with you know new board members always coming on and off to just always have that Target yeah right is there anything out that uh well we have some key positions that are coming up that I think are we would want to lock down maybe something get a long-term solution for the ba to see what the next step is I like the arrangement now personally very much so but there's it's temporary and there's some uncertainty there so yeah I don't disagree that that's good and then the other one was you know something aligned U to the student achievement right we've been put pushing for so long on the the middle school and the middle school environment we're getting so close and supporting Steve and doing all of that work but it really does take all of our work to in Creative problem solving to get there um so I think between those those three that makes sense to me right um the ba search right um something around the student achievement right it doesn't have to be necessarily focused on Middle School that's just the one that's been top of mind for a while and then becoming a certified board under number agree a table tonight that was that was record time everybody so good so uh Kelly do you need us to write this up or or do you write it and send us a no I'll I'll send it to you yeah thank you yeah I'll send it to you and then uh you can just have that for the next meeting to go ahead and adopt that so yeah so uh so that's where we are so any questions no okay uh I did put in there in your packets the topics that we train on so just you know you could wrap your heads around what type of topics you'd like to see and then I did put a uh 12mon planning agenda in there that's a great little guide that just shows you where you should be each month what you should be focused on as a board member so I think that's always so helpful but I'll type all this up and and I'll send that over to you and if you have any other questions just let me know okay thank you so much thanks so much I really apprciate it thank you I like agenda moving right along we just jumping right in okay okay so correspondents we had one any questions or comments on board correspondents no yes I like the way she signed her name little piece of artwork there huh back to you superintendent report uh just a reminder that back to school night is going to take place on Thursday September 12th uh the program will run from 6:00 to 9 our elementary will be uh 6 to8 our Middle School 7 to9 uh with opportunities to meet with our special Area Teachers somewhere in between um more info will be sent out to parents uh in the next uh week or so um I want to extend my sincerest thank yous to our facilities team uh for a job well done this summer again there was a lot going on there was a lot of cleaning because of the construction which added to the the regular cleaning uh I think uh Mr copich as our new supervisor of of facilities uh made a a real impact in his first year here uh in the building um and uh you know I think his crew are are are following him and and you know there's a I don't know I don't want to say that there's a greater sense of of urgency but there's a greater sense of of pride in the work that I think that they're putting forward uh so just personally wanted to thank uh Jay venuat uh Veronica tahada Tom Kavanaugh and Roberto Bautista as our F year custodial employees uh and we had a because we had so much work we had a whole bunch of uh summer helpers this year um all but one is former Valley Road School alumni um so Allison abne is the only one who's not from our school but she's worked with us over the last couple years she's excellent she's actually an art teacher now she got her first job art teaching last year she's done all the painting for the most part uh that we had to do this this summer Muhammad and jabber abdalah uh Joel burkowitz and Jack copich um job well done and uh really appreciate their efforts uh just a staffing update we're still seeking one par professional uh position I do have a couple interviews on Friday uh but we have already lined up a substitute to fill uh that position to start the school year so we are in good shape all of our certificated staff um our positions are filled and new staff was uh as they always are um welcomed and and nicely acclimated at our opening day ceremonies uh this morning um ice cream social is going to take place tomorrow at 4:00 here at the school for those of you who don't uh know what this is it's an opportunity for for our students and families to join together just before the school year starts to walk the building find your classes ease some of those anxieties that some of our students may have our middle school students will have an opportunity to uh try out their lock find their locker try their combination so that the first time that they're seeing these numbers you know isn't under all of the pressure of their of their classmates watching them not be able to open it when in reality nobody's watching them um so that should be a really fun event tomorrow it's sponsored by the HSA they will have all the ice cream treat available for the kids um we had our very first preschool orientation last Thursday uh despite learning that morning that our parking lot would be closed for absolutely no reason because the construction was nowhere near the parking lot when everybody came that morning um it was very well attended uh we were able to get people in on time uh the program ran for about 45 minutes although I think parents some parents were here for like an hour and a half just kind of exploring the classroom exploring the school um the kids were were just shocking well behaved for three and four year-olds I mean I was honestly blown away and very excited for the start of the year uh you know Mrs mcneir and Miss gutwin um have done a tremendous job getting the classrooms ready I mean Mrs gut win's classroom is literally from scratch all the furniture had to be put together you know placed all new materials uh and it it it looks beautiful so we're very excited about that uh and we're looking forward to preschool orientations for years to come uh and just the construction update uh for the most part all projects are pretty much done there's going to be some finishing work uh with the boilers I think I don't remember if I mentioned to the board but I at least spoke to Matia and shared that uh you have your univ vents in each classroom Center on the window wall and you have brand new shelving to the left and to the right well there's two pieces of shelving um aluminum or or you know some sort of a metal I don't know if it's aluminum it might be a little stronger than that there's two to the left two to the right but the one far right came in at the wrong size so they weren't able to install those uh they did that the their tin worker was able to uh create covers for the exposed pipes so nothing is exposed and we're hoping to have the new um Cabinetry here hopefully at the end of September but I'm sure all of you know how that that goes uh it's very possible it'll go into October um but everything is safe and secure the staff seem okay with the fact that they have one less cabinet to put their stuff into um all in all we do expect the hbac uh to be up and running you know obviously it's cool in here right it wasn't at our July meeting uh so there's areas that are working there's areas that they still have to get fired up um this floor was resurfaced uh if you feel up to it if you want to walk to our our gym floor after the meeting it was sanded down to Bare Bones uh repainted resealed it's actually beautiful we have our our newest logo now in the middle of the gym it really pops uh and and some of the damage section of the hard was also repaired uh natural gas line was brought in new boilers uh new water heater I'm sure I'm forgetting some other things but we uh we did a lot and we're in really good shape [Music] questions thank you a lot of work appreciate it yeah we're uh ready for the actual regular school year to start we missed the kids um policy and Communications we don't normally have meetings in August but we had some policy to review so we did have this one meeting yep yes uh we had a pretty lengthy policy meeting uh so apologize my notes don't necessarily correspond directly to the order of items on the agenda under policy but I'll provide a quick quick overview uh of the policies and regulations discussed uh policy 0141 is a board member number and term no major changes just minor language adjustments um nothing that would really impact you know our operations or structure 01 64.6 uh was abolished that was regarding uh virtual meetings uh a set of uh guidelines were provided by the state as a result of the covid pandemic uh as boards were transitioning to Virtual meetings and those guidelines have expired policy 2200 uh curriculum content references standards and more General notation uh for instance it now incorporates njsla for New Jersey learning New Jersey student learning assessment um as opposed to other standards um that that that might be outdated references the standards that have since been revised um and it also points to more General standards uh so that as uh standards are Rewritten and reopt by the state we don't need to reopt all of our policy um physical examinations uh that's policies 3160 and 4160 uh refer to um uh updates to physical examination requirements of new staff members and that includes specifically tuberculosis testing so there are some adjustments to language regarding that uh regulation 5200 attendance uh no major adjustments allows one state um ACC uh one state excused absence uh for students to attend a Civic event in grades 6 through 12 um if a student's absent to attend a Civic event it would not uh count toward their chronic absenteeism count uh which is 10% of the school year um and it's similar uh to take your child to work day how that would be handled by the district policy 5337 is regarding service animals um not something we expect to impact operations but it does uh provide guidance for us uh as uh a student may have a need that would require the the presence of a service animal so it does provide guidelines for the board uh in the event that that should occur policy 5350 uh deals with student suicide prevention it specifies required training of Staff um and uh on that note Steve noted that the center for prevention is scheduled to attend uh the the faculty meeting the school year and provide that training for the staff in October um policy 8420 uh deals with uh emergency and crisis situations and includes specific guidelines for how we would meet the needs of uh special need students who may have difficulty in emergency situations or emergency drills um so it just provides some guidance for us uh much of which I I believe was already being followed policy 8467 uh firearms and weapons uh uh there were no major changes just some clarifying language uh for how the district would handle concerns regarding firearms and weapons uh in the school setting policy 9181 volunteer coaches and advisers it references what is required of volunteers uh to serve in the role of a coach or adviser uh again no major changes there uh regulation 2624 I won't speak too much on it I'll I'll let Steve speak more to it but um that's regarding our grading policy uh and puts our district uh in line with recent adjustments that lenp Valley Regional High School has made uh not entirely there are still some differences but there was like a slight adjustment to the scale that I'll have Steve speak too several years ago lenpy Valley adjusted um their their final grade percentages to increase uh rigor uh in their school so most of us probably experienced when we were in school the the basic uh uh percentage scores of an a is a 90 through 100 a b is an 80 through an 89 a c is a 70 through 79 Etc uh to follow and be consistent with lenpy when they change they changed from an A being a 91 to 100 a b being an 81 to a 90 a c being a 71 to an 80 okay um lenpy before the beginning of last year changed back we unfortunately weren't aware of that uh and uh we then no longer for the year were consistent with their uh grading policies uh my recommendation is to change back to that to me there's I see no reason for us to not be consistent with them the only inconsistency uh that I believe we would then have is uh lenpy has done away with a grade of a d uh which um in in our case will be that 65% through 69% uh failing at the high school is below 70% my recommendation is to maintain the D um for the simple reason that students aren't achieving course credit here at the middle school level uh they're also uh at different developmental levels than students who are 15 through 18 years old uh and I think having that opportunity for a student to achieve a d not going through summer school you know but still receiving a lot of the the local supports that we can provide here um just kind of gives them that opportunity to to advance and mature uh without you know that progress being stifled so that's my recommendation and in addition to that there were a few regulations 3160 4160 that just corresponded to the policy changes regarding um uh uh let's see that one was the that one was uh the physicals of Staff members and then regulation 8467 was a updated regulation to correspond with the updated policy for firearms and weapons uh finally abolishing uh two policies 01 64.6 that was again dealing with the remote uh meetings and 7231 there's gifts to vendors a policy that was uh pertaining to Abbott school districts which is no longer relevant to us so it's being recommended for abolishment that was was a lengthy meeting we had a lot to go over and uh um you're happy to answer any questions you may have but uh you have certainly a lot of policies and regulations to review questions comments that was a nice report it was good on to you Gil ed services um Sussex ed services uh we're there uh things are moving along smooth we had a great esy a lot of great participation uh we just hired a new VA who started uh I guess going back to the interviewing process and application was just kind of hard to get somebody uh fully certified that would be willing to work for us at the salaries that we pay it just wasn't happening uh we hired a young man who has his uh ba in accounting and we hired him and he took he took the courses the course to get certified for the ba he's doing a a great job for us instituted a few things uh younger and a little bit more uh willing to take on the challenges of the Technologies and move some technologies and programs ahead so we're very very pleased with that um en moment are strong um the school next was broad step that was a school for kids with disabilities also has closed their doors and um we were able to pick up five students from them of coming across to us at at um Northern Hills the buildings are 50 feet apart um I know the superintendent is approaching the owner what she thought was the owner ofs that to try about to rent or buy the building and um it seems It's still tied up with the developer of that whole area where we are uh so they're trying to trying to search out who is the actual owner and see if it's possible to buy the building which would be great for us to separate uh some of the high school kids from the K to8 kids in in our building so we're looking to expand um Staffing wise we're in pretty good shape we still still have a few um Paris to hire uh the changing of the salary guides and increasing the salary for the power professionals really helped the um application pool uh we start we change to a minimum a starting salary of 20 and in two years you make 25 um that that that significantly helped um for us just put a little bit of uh reality check sometimes what we're competing with I was at a dinner for a friend of mine and the superintendent from Wong Hills was there and we were talking obviously a little bit of shopping the turn the uh topic of Paris came by and uh their Paris are all full-time all make 30 and change and all have full benefits so it's kind of hard for us to hold on to people with16 or $18 an hour and no benefits so it's just the way it is the way it is out there but the school we're in good shape and uh open up next week and we're we're well staffed questions anybody unfortunately we lost a bus driver it's not going to B run for us anymore yeah very unfortunate it is I'm too old to drive 75 or too old you're young yeah okay thank you anyway okay all right and for my part you heard a lot of what I was doing this month with Steve talking I came in I saw some of the construction projects and updates um most of the work has been behind the scenes regarding regionalization there's been no other meetings but just emails back and forth um between uh some of the board presidents and just trying to arrange the next meeting the most important thing that I want to call attention to though however is um on our agenda tonight of for vote is the formal res resolution to participate in the feasibility study so last time we took a vote it was to have the committee to talk about it this is actually a required step in the process to be able to move forward with the feasibility study because it involves applying for the grant and then down the road the distribution of the funds to do the work um what I wanted to pass out quickly um send them that way I'll send them this way um there was an article in the township Journal about regionalization um the article is primarily about Wallkill but we were mentioned in there Steve was actually quoted he did get a media call as did Netcong um and then Netcong when they passed this same resolution they sent out this letter to their entire Township um on the heels of passing the resolution so again we I wanted everybody to have that and as we move forward or if we move forward and and talk about um whether or not we would want to take a similar action like this particular letter um nek Kong and byro have already passed the resolution that's on our agenda tonight and it's on lenp for their board meeting last night passed last night was either last night or tonight I couldn't remember last night so again most of what uh has been happening behind the scenes uh in the last month from my perspective is really related to the feasibility study for regionalization um so again I just wanted to provide those materials and then we can talk further when this comes up on the vote if there's questions okay uh somebody already thought that we had already passed it already I know I heard that okay I did hear that and that's why I want to clarify the confusion what we passed before and like I explained in that meeting we didn't actually have to vote on forming that committee right we could have just appointed it and moved forward that's what the other boards did so I think that's what created the confusion I wanted to have the vote for our board because I wanted it to be formalized so I think that's why there was confusion I I joined a new U Foundation the Comm uh stanle Community Foundation run by the mayor okay that's where I heard that they say we already did I said I don't think so all right I do like that it hit the township Journal though and I thought it was a good article just factually putting information out but I liked it because majority of the community gets it right to their mailbox it's free they can see it so hopefully keeping them informed because I know they don't do nj.com also put out an article highlighting all of the districts that had received received funding uh last year or up through this year's cycle I unfortunately couldn't access it or I would have given it to you because I don't describe subscribe they locked down their content for certain things on nj.com isn't it crazy it is it's crazy so I don't have the article but it is it is in the news quite a bit lately um so just because of the money being spent on it by the state I think is what's driving the reporting more than anything um but like I said we can talk specifically about our resolution when we get there on the agenda um but that's really what I have been up to um that brings us to public session one but there is no public here so we can skip that travel and workshop reports questions comments school safety right on there n okay that brings us to the voting portion of the agenda minutes for approval can I have a motion please motion second there you go uh this is a voice vote all in favor I any knows extensions okay oh and now we quickly got right back to that resolution can I have a motion please moved second thank you okay so like I said number one here is the formal language this was provided to us by Mark right Gil Mark magard gave us the language he's the policy person um working out and it is it is identical language on all of the board agendas um so we're all passing the same thing the important thing to note on this particular resolution is that Netcong is the lead entity which means that um their ba is the one who kind of handles the grant sub the submission of the Grant and handles the funds um so they're taking on the lead position and that's kind of the important thing about this vote but if you if you read through it carefully here it just says that um let me see here that we would be moving forward to apply for the grant to do the feasibility study and then I guess the third or fourth paragraph down the very last one at the bottom of the page where of school district and it just says what districts are involved in this regionalizations yeah and you can see all four districts are mentioned [Music] by the way that superintendent from marong hills they're in the middle of it they're doing a regionalization they have uh they have nine communities a feasibility study or actually moving forward no no they got they they're in they're in their feasibility study they haven't gotten the results they're still doing the data but they're they're dealing with nine communities okay further discussion before we move to vote on this I want to give it time still [Music] reading you okay to move forward everyone yeah okay yes okay go ahead roll call vote Mrs Harold yes Mr Pico yes Mr Valley we just voting on one no this is for all five items I'll obstain on one and yes on two through five Mr vardo I'm a no on one and a yes two through five Mr yagnam yes Mr muscatello yes Mrs sharpstein yes motions Carri uh policy action items up next motion please motion second second thank you here's everything we just heard about uh any questions or further discussion on these hearing none go ahead Mrs Harold yes Mr Pico yes Mr Valley yes Mr vardo yes Mr yagnam yes Mr muscatello yes Mrs sharpstein yes motions car Personnel action items a motion please move second second go everyone a minute to go through them um if you don't mind I just want to bring attention to number 16 um we're as I'm requesting that we retroactively uh appoint Dominic Lama um although it says summer custodian uh he actually has been doing what he's been doing for several years now in helping his dad and the school uh get ready for the school year um moving Chromebook carts getting them loaded uh honestly anything technology he's been assisting with uh and the difference this year is now that he's turned 14 we can actually compensate him for the time that he's put in uh he's uh he was one of the students that we had here as our our advocate for the board uh and he's done a tremendous job not just this summer but every summer honestly that I can remember uh in the recent future or past I have a question I'm 16 how did you come up with the salary it's minimum wage is that what it is yeah can I make a suggestion would it be possible to give him $16 an hour because if he's what you say if he's that good you want him to continue to to help us and work I think it's a discussion to probably have for next year okay um one one of one of the concerns that I would have is we're we're paying several employees right who have high school diplomas and some college background $16 an hour um I think to then have a 14-year-old who hasn't started high school yet then making the same amount of money as as several of those other employees uh might not be a great look right away but it's definitely something to consider moving forward we're just trying to keep keep these young kids working yeah I was just excited that we were able to start paying them because he's been he's been doing it every summer honestly the entire L Lama family comes in during the summer to help so all right okay I noticed on um for 17 that Mrs Millie will be uh doing the track this year does that mean it's coming back uh I think she was approved for heart and soul oh okay it's a track on the it's the older version of Girls on the Run we've actually it's the middle school version the middle school version middle school version girl middle school version of Girls on the Run um it's actually something that we've been looking to do for the last couple years we haven't had enough student interest uh so hopefully she'll be able to drive that student interest up and that's not what it says it says track on it specifically says head track coach right okay I'm sorry I missed that so maybe that is something and that it's the head coach stien okay so we haven't had a track team in several years it sounds like she's looking to bring it back up yeah so I apologize for that I didn't realize it and if we can make it happen then certainly we'll make it happen cool we did we had a few meets one year yes and L he helped us a lot with the training and the Mr morsey coach did he he pretty much launched the program he's now coaching up at the high school uh track and cross country so uh hopefully Miss Melly can bring it back to our one our Glory from that for that one year we have the stuff too we bought it only used it once any other discussion okay roll call vote Mrs Harold yes Mr Pico yes Mr Valley yes Mr vardo yes Mr ynam yes Mr muscatello yes Mrs sharp motions Carry business services 1 through 18 motion please motion thank [Music] you any discussion questions comments alphab best coming back here today setting up on the uh fund 30 payments yes for the construction are we just about closed out with the exception of the science room no not yet these were payments three or I'm sorry four and five of the boiler the HVAC and boiler the H and the rooftop units so we're not completed with those those payments have not been completed I thought that's what they said these were no these are not the final payments no not that the final but it was the HVAC and the and the p and the rooftop units I thought that's what was a line item on it yes those are the lineups but we're not done with the payments on them okay yes we're not finalized with the projects okay we might have another round or two okay yeah there's a lot of finish work that's going to have to get done even once all the equipment is up and running tell you what walking in it was nice and cool boy yeah speaking of mashos they were probably way more grateful than than our board to have air conditioning in this space absolutely not masio is alphab best yes oh yes we've been struggling yeah all spring yes okay one quick question um on 8 to 12 new students existing students so ongoing um I believe most of them are current students we have to approve the tuition contract yearly okay no I just didn't know if we I was getting excited if we got more um not not quite yet uh we have a couple um districts that have reached out to us for potential um placements uh it should be noted that we're our student enrollment this year is over 340 uh two years ago we were under 300 uh so that's a pretty significant increase people coming inh lots of them I think we've had we think we lost seven or eight and we brought in almost 20 uh 20 new kids this year that's fantastic now preschool's happing plus the preschool they all count now because they did not they were tuition students which did not count on our state aid enrollment so that's okay roll call them Mrs Harold yes Mr Pico yes Mr Valley yes Mr valard yes Mr yum yes Mr muscatello yes Mrs sharp uh yes to everything except 14 abstain probably don't have to but I found out my cousin works there so in this school want to be clear yeah thank you oh new business right yes anybody got some new business before the board they'd like to talk about yep two people go ahead I don't know if it's no I just want toh congratulate Steve and the school for their recognition by the uh news and World Report of I guess it was 1350 middle schools were evaluated Nationwide right and we were ranked 104 and I I think that's excellent for us as little spec in Sussex County congratulations that was awesome absolutely I I had a note as well and I think you another report was you know New Jersey once again ranking in you know the top five states in the United States so I kind of view that as being in a top 10% of the top 10% certainly a feather in the cap and it's nice when you get positive news like that and it's not a surprise and we we see the work of our leadership and our staff and uh you know big kudos to everybody and that's a wonderful piece of news as you gear up for the start of the new year so thank you and congrats think great staff and consistency I think are two of the recipes uh for that and and we've we've had that now for several years and I'm appreciative any other new business yeah um thank you for sharing this well-written letter by bernardet who's the nekon board president uh can we put out some type of communication that's similar you know we even have one person thinking we already voted on regionalization that's like one too many um I just want to make sure we're controlling the narrative and not getting ahead of ourselves uh if you're comfortable with that yeah well I think what we should do is make sure the board as a whole is comfortable with sending out a letter um I'm not quite sure how bernardet did this with her board obviously it's signed by herself and by her vice president um I saw some emails come through they're looking for another meeting right within the next month she put out two dates right I think so now that we have passed um our resolution this evening then we can talk about this in committees and how we'd like to move forward with this I think that's a better plan and make sure that we're all on the same page great okay the other thing is is for us to us as a board now that we're a little bit on our way is to start thinking about what you may want a feasibility study to look at and it was just interesting as we were going through our district goals some of the things that popped up which would be ideal things to look at uh explaining I think we have to have that next meeting though first and then bring it back to this grou team even begin to suggest what we should think about I think I'm not saying I'm not saying we're going to come out with those items it's just as we're going through exercises things like what we just talked about expanding the Arts and uh you know more choices for kids those might be things we could look at I'm not saying let's put it down in paper just as we're going along just keep an open mind of what we could ask that group to look at that would help us that's that's what I'm concerned about that will help us yeah I'd like to thank the HSA for taking on the stanh hope day I mean for the amount of vendors that they have years past you they hardly had any vendors you know maybe 10 or 15 vendors but they got quite a quite a few vendors it's going to be a good day I think it's going to be probably one of the better days in the 10 years I've been here um because Madison is also having theirs and they get thousands and thousands and thousands of people going to the center of their town with all the vendors and you know tents and everything uh the only thing is Madison rain or shine they have it now Stan hope has been known to if it's going to sprinkle they canel the event so I think this event I didn't take a close look at the flyer but I thought the flyer advertised a rain date I feel like it did it was the next day yeah it was the so so they I know I I would guess I don't want to speak for the HSA but I I'm guessing if they advertised on the flyer then they've spoken to their vendors about that's a big undertaking I just would like to thank those people whoever they may be on the committee um for taking on that responsibility I mean that's a big responsibility exactly and and it's costly too right I mean there's there's some it's not all in other words my understanding is they have to pay the municipality for cleanup and uh hire this uh every vendor pays to pay in and stuff like that but it's it's you know I thought it was a little bit of a gamble to lay out to to commit to that and having not having a a vendor lineup yet and the dates on that is I didn't hear you the dates do you know October 5th I think it's the first weekend fourth andth fth andth in October October 5th is the date if there's no rain October 6th is the rain date some of them are moving because neong just moved theirs right neong used to have theirs in the middle of neong and have all different now they moved it to arbolino field yeah any old business I have a new business item um ever since we brought up the first conversation of the land use or the property that we own um I kind of saw a lot of opportunity in that and I want to be a bit more prepared with how I present this but I think um you know I run back there a lot uh and throughout the course of the year I'm involved with over a dozen events that range from 5Ks to 100ks um and there's a lot of opportunity for us as a board to host either a nature walk for the community or a 5k event back there um that's really relatively easy to do but would get the community involved and help us raise funds for whatever we seem fit at the time but it's uh something that I would be very passionate about doing could Mark the trails U make sure that we're on just our property uh but I believe we could get a really solid turnout and we can really get the community involved and have those um Trails available and then also you know host an event in which we can get people and raise some funds um so I'd be happy to compile more information on what that all entails so um just to speak to that I'm glad you you actually brought it up it's timely um I had a conversation with marono probably a couple weeks ago um initially about uh his help and support to get some of the the local sports uh utilizing our our field down below because we're going to be putting some money into to you know taking a little better care of it uh making it more playable allowing the wreck programs to put you know St goals and and line it out and all that good stuff uh and and he actually had brought up that he's exploring a grant opportunity and asked if we would be interested as a district in allowing them to use that 40 acres for a lot of what you're you're saying but also like a nature preserve um if you're okay with it I'd like to send him an email and copy you as long as the rest of the board is okay with it so that you might be the best person to have those conversations with him um if uh if appropriate I'd be happy to to go to a town council meeting with you um maybe discuss it a little bit further uh but he seemed pretty motivated to to want to use that land um not to not to necessarily build but again to improve the the usability for the community um so yeah I think I think that would be a great opportunity great also we have a lot of restrictions on fundraising here at the board level so having other entities help us and then it all go to a you know a worthy cause that everybody is contributing to is probably better I say my recommendation because the board can't do fundraising directly because everything's got to be through Appropriations grants and certain monies maybe contact the HSA if you want the money to be part of the school and the school fund and helping the students if you the president of the HSA is Alyssa white if you email HSA stop schools.org she responds timely when you were talking about the 5K it just on that property or through town or no it we would be just utilizing our property um so that we don't maybe want to I think also cuz you can really get some extra distance in there if you incorporate lenpy and the walking path back there that the kids use to go to school that's a great idea a couple things to that um not that Len would have any issues but we do have to obviously get access uh but 5K is the perfect distance to get a lot of people because we'll attract Walkers and we'll attract you know uh average Runners and those who want to compete in it as well so anytime you go larger 10K or above your your pool tends to get a little bit smaller unless we were to have two events a 5K and then a 10K but I would say we start small and we could build on something from there but it's a great idea just uh while you bring it up to plug to offer a plug for lenp Valley they're actually hosting a 5k correct uh I don't know if you know the date I was just looking for it um to honor their 50th Anniversary September 14th maybe it's Saturday in seur yeah 14th maybe yeah it looks like it should be a pretty fun event they're doing lots lots of several events that they're inviting our school and our community too so it should be a fun year thank you okay now on to Old business any old business what you doing on name in our new lab getting there all right public session number two but seeing no public that brings us to adjournment motion for adjournment motion second okay voice vote everybody in favor NOS abstentions know all right look that 6:30