[Music] e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Crystal Crystal e I can't find it oh okay uh Yanda Yolanda Yanda email she hear this Trenton Public meeting is called to order please stand up for the pledge of allegiance iedge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all before we go on to roll call I just want to say that if there's anyone who needs Spanish translation I am very happy to say that we have equipment in the back please raise your hand or see Dr Jose Rodriguez and he will set you up roll call Yolanda Lopez present Gerald truart Jean buoy absent Addie Daniels Lane present Austin Edwards present Denise Johnson present Sasa man here Jeanie weam present Larry trailer present we have a quarum the New Jersey Sunshine Law the New Jersey public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right to the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted on on the rules of this fact the Trenton Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting by publicizing the date time and place therefore posted on the web page the times and the Star Ledger formal action will take place at this meeting at this meeting excuse me mission statement all students will graduate with a vision for their future motivated to learn continually and prepared to succeed in their choice of college or career I asked for a motion to adopt the agenda with the following addendums in teaching and learning resolutions to approve the Joyce Kilmer Intermediate School scheduling team the uh resolution to approve foundation for Education Incorporated professional development for K through six teachers resolution to approve defined learning program professional development for grade four teachers for the 2024 Year resolution to approve Define learning for grade four students at Grant School Hesh paath Jefferson Kilmer battle monument and Parker for the 2024 2025 school year and student trips to um Philadelphia Sue Philadelphia Sue on finance and Facilities the addendums are resolution to approve subscription for electronic Legal Services resol solution to approve the development and subdivision applications with payments to City of Trenton planning board for dun Middle School the Revis uh it's a revised recommendation for RFP number 2324 D1 which is the award of contract for prospective organization to provide Staffing for one to one and bu bu and last but not least on teaching and learning I'm sorry on Personnel transactions new hires new hires resend appointments contractual entitlements salary adjustments and stien appointments those are the addendums so moved call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart Jean buoy absent Denise Johnson yes Austin Edwards yes Genie we yesie Daniel yes yes Larry triler yes motion with us now good evening and welcome uh this afternoon we have our student safety data system report um is he here I don't see him oh we need to get the do we have that up and ready to run yes come on out Mr Stokes I'm sorry I I didn't see it up there so I wanted to make sure it's ready to go so this information um is uh we have to present it twice a year uh to talk about how we are progressing with uh issues around violence vandalism all the things that are typically negative uh in our district so it gives you an opportunity to see growth also for us to to put together action plans uh to see how we address issues around culture in our schools so I'm going to turn the floor over to Mr Stokes and allow him to share the information regarding this year's uh student safety data system report compared to last year's information thank you good evening so we have a new clicker I'm trying to figure out how to use this thing once we get this ready I'll start I'm C so shall I sing a song while we wait for the thing to get up you know so we're having some real serious technical difficulties I'm going to ask if in the back they can just Advance when I need them to advance how about that so as Mr Earl stated uh twice annually we need to publicly discuss the incidents of violence and vandalism or the school safety data system entries that we submit as a district um the first reporting period is from September through December and then the second reporting period is from January through June so the way the presentation is laid out we'll talk about the incidents of violence followed by the incidents of vandalism um our incidents of substance abuse and possession incidents of weapons possessions and or use we'll do HIV we'll do our non violent act followed by our demographic breakdown of where where our suspensions what our suspensions look like next slide all right so for the second reporting period And this is compared to last last year same time we can see that we are trending down in every category um particularly the assaults and the fights um threats are just that threats threats of violent threats I'm going to do something to you so if we look down if we look at this data it's showing that we are trending downward from last school year which is a positive sign next slide in vandalism arson is always difficult to really explain so you can have a student that's playing in the classroom with a lighter and sets a piece of paper on on fire that's considered arson although there was no no intent to really do any harm it's just a kid playing so the arson is the same damage to properties are the same what's interesting is that we saw rizon thefts for second second reporting period we saw the rise in thefts because students are actually still in students bikes so we have students that are biking riding bikes to school so this second reporting period of this year we actually saw a greater incident of students that were taking student spikes that were either Unchained or somehow they were able to pop pop the lock substance abuse or substance use and possession this is an area that we unfortunately struggle with um as marijuana laws have been laxed and legalized for adults we do see that our students are engaged um and The Possession piece is students who are coming to school with paraphernalia on them so it doesn't necessarily have to be I have a bag of marijuana um it can be I have um some sort of paraphernalia which is falling into that category of possession so I can have wraps um I can have a a smoking device I don't want to call it a vape because a vape is much different than something that we use as adults you know to consume marijuana so that's with the substance possession and we're seeing you know increase um confiscation of those items at checkin and it's important to note that those items are being discovered during back check durm M morning back checks thank you incidents of weapons weapons use we had one weapons use this Mark this reporting period where a student discharged mace in one of the in one of the buildings um the weapons possession which is trending down which is good because last year we did see an increase in that number where students were actually coming with pocket knives um so we're seeing a decrease in that that that number from 25 to 15 thank you HIV so this these are numbers that I got from our coordinator um our district Hib coordinator Miss Linda W Simpson um and what we are what we need to do is for the ssds system we need to report every every time we have an investigation of HIV not an allegation but every time we have an investigation so what you see is that this time last year we had 10 um unfounded allegations or unfounded investigations compared to this year this this reporting period where there were again 10 um unfounded allegations that were investigated the confirmed allegations is what people like to look at so this year we we only had five compared to eight and those were investigation where it was confirmed that hi that the qualifications for HIV harassment intimidation and bullying had been met nonv nonviolent act nonviolent and vandalism acts and those are though just that those they're not fights they're not threats they're not substance abuse they're not or substance possessions they're not weapons those are all those suspensions that falls outside of of nonviolence and vandalism and we are definitely doing a much better job with that um you know 146 last last second reporting period to 119 and these are individual incidents it's important to note that these are un individual incidents so you can have an incident that has five students involved per se but this when we report to the state is the incident that we report so they were 146 ver 119 next so when we look at them side by side the acts of violence and vandalism compared to the nonviolent acts of V violence and vandalism looking at both reporting second reporting periods 200 last year second second reporting period versus 182 so uh we 18 fewer um this year this reporting period sorry 146 to 119 my math is really not that good um but that's definitely a decrease that we're seeing in terms of the suspens the suspendable incidents that we're seeing in our district year to date which is always a telling number and really tells a story tells part of the story story not the story tells part of the story so last year in total we had 354 reported act acts of violence and vandalism versus 208 nonviolent acts violence and vandalism compared to this year 26868 I did do a little bit of math on that so we were 86 fewer incidents which resulted in a 24% drop and then we had 40 reported 40 fewer reported incidents of nonviolence and vandalism so we are definitely trending in the right direction still a whole lot of work that we need to do but we're trending in the right direction next slide yearend suspensions yeah when I first saw this I was like Wow myself um so if we look at what's happening what has happened when we from September through June 2022 2023 versus this year 2023 2024 last year we had 1,658 suspensions acts of suspension 994 unique students that means different students only one look at at just a individual unique students so 994 unique students were suspended last year versus this year we had 957 suspensions and only 646 unique students right so that's a you know we look at the total number of suspensions we were down 701 suspensions which equals a 42% decrease unique students 345 less students I didn't say move go back 345 fewer students which was a 30 35% drop in the number of students that were suspended again Improvement but we still have a whole lot of work that we need to do next slide all right so we get to the demographic breakdown who's being suspended right when we look at our our black students 153 black males 138 black females 291 students of the 649 right so we that's almost 45% that demographic makes up 45% if I took the sped and broke that number down to take the black SP sped males and black sped females and added that to that number that number jumps close to 60% right so we still see that our black students our students yeah our black students are being suspended at a higher clip than any other student across the district Hispanic males are 29 Hispanic females are 38 MLL are the multilanguage Learners 96 males 37 females sped males 95 sped females 41 and then it goes on to the other demographics that are throughout that's throughout the district so this is what our suspension population looks like those 950 6 I'm saying not 649 students those are that makes up the 649 students that have been suspended this year I think that's the last slide if there are some questions we have I have a quick question the stolen bicycles has it been verified that it is other students stealing it's not someone from outside um the school building that's able to get on the grounds and take them themselves so the beautiful thing is that our cameras work right we need to point them repoint them in certain school districts I mean in certain buildings um but video has confirmed that it was other students who had there were students who were taking the bikes I and many of the bikes were actually returned right once we were able to once the schools were able to identify the student who took the bike they were able to get on the phone and this the bikes were returned perfect okay thank you I have a couple questions um do we track year toe um and what grade levels of suspensions are happening and if that's shifted if less high school kids are being suspended and more middle school kids are being suspended do you have those numbers so I can give you the breakdown for this year okay and we do track it year to year um I just didn't include that slide this year um so in elementary and I do have last year's number too okay so Elementary we have five students suspended in Elementary this year K to three 43 last year good intermediate at the intermediate level that's the four to six 207 suspensions and there were 2 17 last year at the middle school 178 suspensions this year 367 last year at the high schools 567 suspensions this is not individual students these are suspensions 567 suspensions this year 848 last year no this year 567 last year 848 so we're down at every grade level we're down and I believe that this is sustainable this I don't think this is an anomaly because there's a lot of work um that has that that has gone in onto it into this and I think this is sustainable I think our numbers can actually improve and what would you classify can you give an example of what a nonviolent slash vandalism sure an act of nonviolence and vandalism and I'm just going to use at the high school level a student that has cut class 18 times oh okay right so at the first class cut we're you're not going to be suspended but if it be comes an habitual thing um you make it a day suspension so anything that's not um that doesn't involve another individual let's say another student per se um would be considered an act of of Act of nonviolence in vandalism so um first of all I just want to commend everyone in this district for these Trends going down this is Teachers administrators parents superintendent Administration everybody has been working together I am so pleased to see even though you're right we still have worked to do this these Trends are really positive now I I have two questions one is um obviously like the the when they they check at the school at the at the doors it's obviously only showing things that are caught there may be things that are not seen right so those obviously are not reflected in in those numbers if it's marijuana or any sort of drug paraphernalia if it's not used during the day or whatever it's stuff that right just for clarification these are things that are caught okay um the other thing is this demographic breakdown that is very concerning for our African-American students and I know that we know so many of the issues that all our families are facing but when you consider that right now what is the African-American population's what 40% more or less or yes less than that that's a very high percentage of a small and it's at least for me I'm sure all of us it's really concerning and so uh you know I'm just curious anybody superintendent you can talk about this I mean I think a lot of our practices are are are really good how we've done trauma and formed care the restorative practices all those things but what else can we be doing to help this because that upsets me a lot so I will allow one of the assistant superintendent to weigh in on that but for me personally and of course the superintendent but for me personally I think there's some cultural competency work that needs to be done um so that everyone in the building right is aware um and we don't see a lot of the implicit bias that we currently see um that people may not be aware of that you know I look at a black male definitely than I look at a newcomer who just came right so I may tolerate one from one and not the other right so the cultural competencies and the implicit biases those are that's work that's ongoing that's ongoing and we have to continue to invest in that work and make sure people understand that it's real and that it exists which is why the numbers are displayed um you know because we can think that we're acting with best intentions but the numbers will actually tell a different part of a different story it won't tell the whole story it will tell part of a different story and just to add on to that I think he is uh dead on uh understanding how students show up uh in situations uh and having the ability not to personalize it often and we're human the adults are human you know sometimes our kids do our own children do things to us that hurt us and so and our response is Swift often and it's to get them away from us and we've been working hard and so has this group of people in this room and throughout the District of trying to understand what students arrive with get to know them get to know their families and then making decisions based on that because the action that takes place or the infraction may not always be directed towards the adults and some of our adults are doing a tremendous job others of us are still learning this is a tough thing to change when you've had 50 40 years of training about discipline because discipline for me comes from the 1970s and 60s well we don't discipline that way anymore and so uh we have to be thoughtful about how students arrive and then we do have there are consequences for poor Behavior Uh can we re store children can we say this is your consequence however I still care about you and we need you to get back to school and get back to work um and I think that's the hard work we're doing and that's the work that's not easy it's challenging it's messy but on the back end of back end of it you see numbers uh like these however we want to see numbers for black female and male decrease certainly for the percentage of students that we have and so we know that likely those behaviors will come from those students so then what and so we've been doing a lot of that we think it's working in District and we appreciate the support of all of our staff members our teachers counselors you can go down that list trying to just redirect a child and that makes a big difference so welcome I was going to say I can scream it's fine um first I want to Echo uh Sasha's comments as well uh really do want to highlight everyone in the district that's a part of the some you know this slide definitely work needs to be done but I think everything else that you were highlighting and some of the numbers that you just gave orally really reflect the work that's happening in the district to really maintain uh our children's well-beings right inside and out of the classro so personally want to you know give a round of applause to that I think you guys are doing amazing work there um but outside of our paid staff I think the only question that I have is uh it's going to be a little bit of my bias because you know this is the the job that actually pays me every day do all this uh free work but um can you speak more about uh any of the community programs that are out there how is the community coming together to help reflect some of these numbers right I'm thinking uh we started the walking SCH bus uh for example how is that reflected in the reduction of school suspensions the street teams that are inal in a lot of this work can you speak more about how the community is coming together to help our kids right so that's still an evolving process um before I lose my train of thought in acknowledging everyone I think the important piece that needs to be acknowledged is the students right the work of our students you know this is work that has and their ability to adapt to quote unquote new Norms you know we've this is work that started preco then covid hit and if we got if we remember the numbers from the year we returned from Co covid they were abysmal um so our students are starting to get back into the flow of being students our students are starting to get back into the flow of socialization you know um of how to have healthy positive interactions in addition to to the work that that went into rewriting our student code of conduct right which was heavily punitive um and now it's more about restorative you know so our students and their ability to be open to restorative practices and accepting of restorative practices I think a lot of the work a lot of The Commandments needs to go go to them right because they are the ones who kind of put an administ in a position to sign off on a suspension so the so the work that they're doing is is definitely commendable as relates to outside entities I think the presence of a street team you know outside of Trenton High out of of Chambers outside of Holland uh ml MLK um Tanga and daylight definitely helps to persuade um or dissuade a lot of foolishness that we were we're dealing with during the let outs you know that the whole piece around how do we incorporate the community into the school I think that's something that Mr Earl is working on I don't want to put words on his in his mouth those things that Mr Earl is working on to figure out how we can deepen relationships um so that we can be see a a what's happening on the outside reflected more reflected on of what's in the inside right because we're seeing fewer incidents thank God of of in fewer incidents out side of school um during dismissal than we were last year and the year before that um so we just need to make sure that we continue to work continue to momentum and figure out how we can bring that now inside the building where if I see you outside as a street team member now inside the building now if I give you that look you know that okay I need to straighten up right because there's a respect there and that there's a relationship there so there's still some work to do around that street team and other community organizations who are passionate about our children right and want who want to play a positive role and have have a positive impact and I have one question um first thank you for the presentation definitely was very insightful um along with this data that really was upsetting to me um the issue around substance abuse especially with our students is very concerning I know you mentioned how marijuana has deeply impacted and shown up in the school community when you're checking the bags finding paraphernalia are there other um substances that are being discovered along with um that that the students are bringing in and also are we seeing an uptick of paraphernalia being dropped around the school grounds at the beginning of the school day for example because kids know that they're GNA get their bags checked so thank God the answer to both of those is no um we're pretty much dis seeing wheat um you know if we start to see other substances I think we that's indic of a much larger issue and a much larger problem um that that we have to deal with but right now as of what's today June 24th 2024 um it's just weed and we're not seeing you know items being strategically dropped or placed um you know outside of the school building you know because our security teams are actually Ro roaming they're not just stationary at a at a particular Target now um and in in the building they actually walking the perimeters you know just trying to discover things more of a comment than a than than a question as a former uh parent of the Trenton Central High School graduate uh I just think it's so very important that our parents continue to be engaged with the schools I know that we've had last year uh parent uh meetings at the high school that went relatively well coming to the high school parents coming to the high school meeting together uh to deal with different challenges different opportunities different positive aspects of what's happening in in the district um so I just want to make sure that we U continue to work with our parents through our parent Community engagement team here in the district under the leadership of Dr Rodriguez of course Mr Earl um I think that's a critical factor in helping continue to make that push to to help our parents understand and as a par former parent of a of a graduate I I recognize and see the importance of parent engagement in this school but also how we link up with other parents and and help each other to deal with various situations and circumstances that may exist in the school with our children um so I think that's a possibly can be a factor that helps to eliminate or alleviate some of these challenges that we have specifically in the African-American Community as a as a black man in the district BPL board and as a parent um we have to be more engaged with our with our children uh in the school district not saying that parents are not but I'm just saying that I think it's an important factor in helping us to bring these numbers down um to to help the other thing I wanted to to share is um around this unconscious bias I think is it's definitely unconscious bias and it's a way of changing the attitudes of folk the way they think about things uh when they see an African-American student or African African-American parent coming in uh to the district to get things done I'm not saying I have evidence to show that there is unconscious bias but I believe there that there is uh history of that in our in in our in our society I think that that continue that training will help us to eliminate some of these disparities in the numbers and demographics here just breakdown so very very important it's about changing the attitude and thinking behind how we think about things how we think about that student how we think about that that particular offense that this student is doing versus that student and you have mentioned that so that that's been been my experience as well as an employee in a A in the district right next to the Trenton Lawrence so thank you thank you Terrence for the presentation thank you it was really heartening to hear how the numbers have come down and as you said um this students have a lot to do with it also and we thank all the teachers and all those other people who have contributed in their um their help to lessen the violence that we were seeing in years past so thank you once again if I may real quick last one last thing um this is a process right a process that I'm thankful that Mr Earl has shown a commitment to this process um the assistant superintendent have definitely shown a commitment to this process um to help not only our students grow but our staff grow through the trainings of um what's the training you did Mrs Grant restorative practices training that we had like six sessions uh this year um the leader and me work that uh Dr Conway is doing um so there's definitely a commitment from District leadership um to improve and help our students so I just wanted to publicly thank Mr Earl and the assistant superintendent and all of leadership for committing to that process thanks thank [Applause] you at this uh time we will go on to the um committee members uh or chairs their reports please I will start with all right sharing is caring um good evening board members evening members of the public uh specifically with the uh HR Personnel uh report uh here I just wanted to highlight um a few things specifically um over the summer we're going to have a lot of new hires coming in and I just wanted to highlight that fact because I know it's been the work of the superintendent the work of a lot of people in HR to ensure that we're getting people day of you know uh next school year starting ready for these positions ready to really give back to our kids get back to our district and might I say so myself some handsome salaries in there right so it goes along with what I uh keep blasing everybody that the district is a great place to work for it's a provides lots of opportunities and uh really it's a great way of giving back to your family and to our city as a whole so um other than that we have a few uh like a few about a 100 Pages worth of uh stiens and salary adjustments X Y and Z to ensure that our teachers are well uh paid over the summer um so they can continue this great work so I'll keep that brief but uh thank you for uh paying attention to that Vice thanks Austin oh yes board members we met with the fa committee on June 11th superintendent Mr Dr Rodriguez as well as Denise Denise Johnson and others uh we met uh on the with the face committee it was primarily a planning committee uh where we look to um plan for next year one of the one of the one of the I gleaning from the conversation one of the things that came out of that conversation was to be able to have the opportunity to combine some of the events that we have throughout the district for example some of our family and Community engagement events along with our board uh strategic plan event bringing that together so that we get better participation because there's a lot of events happening across the district a lot of great events happening across the district all year long in schools uh here in the administration building and across in community centers across our across our city um and so we want to be able to begin to consolidate and combine some of those events that we can into larger events where we can have a combination of of of things happening whether it be engaging with a parent having an opportunity for that parent to come to a 15minute session on perhaps a part of the Strategic plan uh having also uh child care which uh Denise cre and her team does a great job of providing that potentially food prizes things of that nature to to attract um our community in to hear about the great work that we're doing in the district but also to hear from them about some of the challenges that they are facing so we can do a better job um not only as a district but as a as board members and so that that's what I gleaned from our conversation from our meeting on as a face committee on June 11th we're looking forward to uh working over the summer to do some planning around what that looks like for next year uh so that's what we're working on in the month of July and August we will work together to have another few meetings over the summer to plan for next year uh to make it even better and increase the opportunities uh for parents and Community to come together and dialogue with us uh whether you're a parent whether you're a community partner uh whether you're an employee uh whatever uh station you have in our in our district in our city we like to get you connected and involved to to help us with the work that we're doing with our children so that was our work around the face committee on June 11th on the policy committee front we met on June 20th we reviewed uh two policies uh one policy was 1121 non-affiliate employee terms and conditions of employment and the second policy was 01 60.1 board member participation uh in board meetings using electronic devices in both of these instances we we had some minor changes in the language uh we expanded more explanations around different aspects of those policies for example uh in the in the on the non-affiliated employee terms and conditions of employment we put more explanation around vacation benefits and cly benefits uh we put more information and more explanation in language on who is a non-affiliated employee so that was clear we put more explanation and emphasis around our tuition reimbursement policy uh for our non-affiliated employees so those are some of the two or three of the major highlights uh that we did minor changes to that policy we did have a first reading at our last board meeting uh this is a second reading and a final reading before it goes into effect uh and so I believe all our board members had an opportunity to to review that and certainly can can ask questions um if they have any in terms of the board member participation on board member using electronic devices we fine-tune our language around proving not all not necessary was a language around the board member had to get approval to have to have electronic meeting we don't think it was necessary but just more board notifications so that was some language changing CH that was changed in that policy where a board doesn't have seek approval but needs needs to notify the board uh we limited the number of times that a board member can uh have an electronic device meeting or be electronic off site uh at for for one of our meetings we put some fine-tune language around what it means for our executive session uh which would not be allowed so those are some of the things that we put into that board participation you in board meetings in terms of using electronic devices and we think went for the better in terms of fine-tuning it uh and making it a better policy for not only for for the board but also uh for the public so those are the two PRS we had on our June June 20th meeting and that concludes my report to the board thank you good evening um on behalf of the governance committee our committee meets quarterly so I always like to remind the public on the reason for our governance committee um it is really to set policy and standards for the governance of us as a board not necessarily anything with the district but how we govern ourselves uh policies that may have to do with us or uh calendars uh superintendent evaluation things like that so sorry all I'm sorry technical difficulties okay so the first issue that we dealt with was we have a folder online uh which will be especially beneficial to new board members that has all sorts of things like our policies our standards um you know everything that you can imagine to be a good board member it contains all those documents so we went over what needs to be in there and uh with the help of our uh of our staff we will be reorganizing that making sure especially as we approach a new uh board year that all the documents are there things like strategic plan those are those sort of things we also are setting a standard that each committee will have a mission statement each committee that we have we will leave that up to each committee for them to do that and we worked a little bit on the mission of our governance committee we also um will have um members expectations again think about being a new board member coming on to the board there's a lot to learn a lot that people don't know and you know I know some of us have been on the board for a long time and we're still learning things so um more than anything it'll help in orientation for board members then to uh work with the with the president in terms of what committees speak to their skills and talents we also um evaluated the superintendent evaluation cycle when during the year that has to happen and we are now on schedule as we should be every year so that's really good and finally we reviewed our monthly uh board member calendar we have a calendar separate from the district a calendar of what board members need to be doing month by month to make sure that we are in compliance with this with the uh New Jersey school boards Association and with any requirements that are um that we have in terms of State submitting reports or anything like that so we reviewed that as well we will be meeting again in September thank you good evening uh the facilities committee met on Thursday June 20th um again we went over the demolition of uh junior 1 ml former MLK School um the contractor Ari Pearson um is scheduled scheduling to mobilize um a temporary water source had to be installed so that they have access to water in order to keep the dust to a minimum for the surrounding neighbors um the demolition is due to start up anytime after the 4th of July hopefully around around the 10 things will be up and running and uh forgoing any delays or anything it's scheduled to take two months to demolish and clean up the entire entire area um the following are on uh upcoming summer projects that are going to be done throughout the district um by the facilities uh group um we have submitted a requisition to get an outside Landscaping in to assist the janitors with the Landscaping of the buildings and to improve the overall appearance of all the schools uh we see that the weeds are overgrown and you know it's a lot for one janitor to take care of so we're g to get them some help um at the ninth grade academy uh we're work there uh in the final design stages of addition and renovations to the rear area and the basement of the school to begin to utilize those spaces um at the high school they're beginning construction of a new cafeteria Courtyard with a tent enclosure so the kids can go out there when it's raining and there's more room to spread out during the day um Franklin Grant Harrison hedgepath Robson um are all getting upgrades and Replacements of existing gy HVAC units all the associated piping and W wiring and parts to um include those areas in so they have air conditioning um Franklin PJ hill mcnight rera Robins are getting new playground systems with um impact rubbering rubber surfacing um Robins they're going to be moving and replacing the door systems throughout the buildings because these those are not fire doors that are up to code Kev Waller and Washington are getting electrical upgrades uh the Zigler building is proposed to be be demolished that's over on Prospect Avenue uh Harrison is getting new windows installed and parner and Parker and the maintenance complex are getting uh partial roof Replacements um Harrison School were looking to get new passenger elevated elevator installed so that can be ADA Compliant um the building and grounds building on Prospect and Parker School are getting partial roof repairs and Replacements and there's uh proposal for new Marquees for Jefferson Robson Central and the central Administration buildings and that's all that was discussed and we will meet again in August thank you so uh the curriculum committee it met on um Thursday June the 20th and the meeting began with a discussion um regarding special education um programming uh specifically the extended school year program that starts in uh July there of course are a couple of days of preparation preparation time for staff about 250 students have um enrolled at this particular time the program will take place at um PJ Hill school and there um four full weeks five days a week and all related services will be available um at that particular um program the theme that they're building on for this summer um is the Olympics where students will have to choose their own country and um and follow the Olympics and in fact create data data sets relative to the um Olympics also uh we talked about um pre the fact that preschool students can attend esy um esy programming if in fact it is included in their um program of uh study um preschool parents have been met with um to talk about the transition to um District kindergarten schools and uh there's another meeting schedule for um those prospective parents also um they're uh working on um September projections for placement and um there were some specifics regarding a community event that took place in conjunction with the um YMCA and so um summer casework activity um does continue and take place continue to take place and evaluations are continuing and the process is being carried on by um Summer Staff we then move to review the agenda items for um tonight's board meeting and um took a look at certain things that um were were discussed us um the fact is that professional development um is continuing throughout the summer that programming for the upcoming school year um is being placed on for preapproval that there will be um dual enrollment programming that's going to take place um summer summer courses in terms of dual enrollment programs will take place this summer in conjunction with Mercer County Community College um there's continued focus on building um Partnerships with various um Community agencies um the fire department the police department and Emergency Services have connected with and are planning with um this particular um group of uh parents to in fact parents and students to share programming and also engage students in their programs um we talked a little bit about the bilingual plan it's a three-year plan it has to be updated uh so we talked a little bit about that uh we again emphasize continued Community Partnerships with groups like Zeta beta um high tops boys and girls programming dress for and dress for success and uh we did take a look at the continued listing of student study trips um very important that our students are exposed to and being able to travel to different places around the city and so again those are the notes from the curriculum committee thank you um before moving on to public participation and I'd like to call everyone's attention to our policy number 0167 excuse me um if you look at the rules rule number seven stipulates the presiding officer May and I'll go all the way down to letter e wave these rules when necessary for the protection of privacy or the efficient administration of the board's business this evening we have over 20 people who want to participate and we want every want to participate and in order to be efficient with our times I am asking for a motion to um not suspend the time but rather to change it from five minutes to three minutes per participant so that everyone here can partici if everyone if everyone speaks three minutes then everyone that signed up will be able to participate and I believe that is fair everyone who signed up to 12:30 okay so if I may have a motion to change the everyone's going to be speaking we just we're just changing it from 5 minutes to 3 minutes and it'll still take us over the hour I you know the easy way out would be for me to say yeah let's do it the five minutes but we don't want to hear from half of the persons that came out to speak we want to hear everyone speak so I'll make the motion to allow everyone want to uh get three minutes so we can get everybody in here is there a second to that second okay okay can we please uh do you want to discuss it or should we go on to vote if there's no discussion we'll vote on it please Yolanda Lopez yes wait a discussion just so we're so we're clear okay the purpose of this is to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to speak rather than just 12 people with five minutes okay just so we're clear okay Jessie I ask that you please can continue in a respectful manner in this meeting so that everyone can have an opportunity to speak we want to listen to everyone at this time we are calling a vote so just a just a real quick question Yolanda yes so zero no zero excuse me we're still we're still discussion go ahead yeah so 0167 that you mentioned yes allow allow our our policy 0167 allows you to make the change in time and the opportunity here is that all of the participants who have signed up if we if we go to if we go to three correct we have an opportunity and it's just a one time thing it's not for every meeting absolutely I think I think that's a good I think that's a good conception you me tooll if there's no other comments roll call if you okay if so we don't have to walk out I'm sorry yes if we're not going to be respectful if we're not going to allow us to do the work we will have the guards take you out whoever's calling out please stop it please thank you roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart Jean buy absent Denise Johnson yes Austin Edwards yes jeie weam yes Addie Daniels Lane yes Sasa man yes Barry trailer yes motion passed the Trenton Public School District welcomes the attendance and comments from all members of the public at its meetings this public period is your time to be heard on any school or School District issue that a member of the public Fe may be of concern to the residents of the school district each person who signed up will have three minutes you will be notified when your three minutes are up you cannot yield your time to another person when it is your turn to speak please address all of your comments to the board president please conduct yourself in a respectful and courteous manner for anyone whose comments or actions either harass intimidate or threaten the safety of any person we will provide you with a warning or immediately end your common time also if you curse use vulgar language or make personal attacks we will provide you with a warning or end your comment time comments that adhere to these guidelines will not be interrupted also we ask that members of the public not interrupt the speaker during their public comment if you have any questions please ask your questions during your thre minute comment period after the public comment period is closed the board the superintendent or a design will address your questions to the extent provided by the law at this time I'd like to have Kenya Anderson please come up Kenya Anderson okay okay the next person Miss Crystal Feliciano I'm G start my timer thank you okay good evening Madame President board members I'm Crystal Feliciano I am a teacher at Trenton Central High School I'm coming here tonight to make on public record what I have sent to each of you individually in emails about my concerns about the HR process when it came to the recent hiring or position posting of the teacher leader position at Trenton Central High School and daylight school I do not feel that HR handled the matter appropriately I'm not sure if you have standard operating procedures that exist in the HR department but if you do I ask respectfully that you relook at them and consider I have interviewed two times times for the same position um and then I just got another notification last Friday that I had to submit a video interview for the same position that I interviewed for my concern is who is going to look at the video who is making the determination of what is going on as you know what I have already brought forward to you as my concerns um I ask that you look deeply into what is happening or what has happened I did submit a formal Oprah request for documentation that I have not received I did receive an email today telling me that due to the request that I made they would need an extension until July the 12th to get me the information I would ask that the board do your due diligence and just look and see I do want to say to superintendent Earl well to Madam chair on behalf of superintendent Earl thank you for the conversation thank you for your seriousness um in listening to what it is that I brought forward and what I asked and I do ask that you look into what it is that I've asked I don't think that people should have to go two and three and four times for an interview I don't think that a job description should be changed when a process is already in place you've already had name submitted and now we want to change the um job description I don't know if it's being changed to fit a certain candidate or not I don't know but I'm asking that we look into it and see and I would like the documents that I've asked for in the Oprah request because I do believe that if we can get down to it then maybe we can see exactly what is going on I'm just asking for fairness for myself and for all teachers that teach in this District I'm asking for fairness for the children and I'm asking for fairness in the process thank you thank [Applause] you next we have Miss Haley valon klander Miss Haley valon kurlander Tanya Connors hold on hi everybody okay my name is Tanya Connor or as uh I'm kindly known uh by my students nurse Connors I'm just here um on behalf of Washington Elementary School sorry I'm just here on behalf of Washington Elementary School we have 14 staff letters um which have 230 pages of testimony we have two parent petitions and we have five parent letters I would like to say that this isn't an attack this isn't an attack this is radical revolutionary love I love my school my teachers love their school we love our students we love our uh community and we want them to be treated fairly we want them to be treated with respect I want to go into work and feel like I'm treated with respect I'm an intelligent person I our teachers are the best teachers I've ever worked with they are knowledgeable they're kind they love their students there is no joy in our school and all of this is because um um of the toxic leadership of Miss Tera Ingram hi Miss Ingram this may feel like a surprise um because we didn't have a union we didn't have a chief union rep uh right now miss boy did an an amazing job but when all the letters started I I have no idea what happened she's she would championed us for uh a long time and I'm so appreciative of her but she's transferring to the high school and I i' take this fight up for her anytime so I appreciate um everything she's done but we didn't have a union rep so um the teachers got together and we organized and um we want to I'm going to email you um all of the information but I do have the parent letters here if I can read the parent letters for them because a lot of the parents um you have a minute left thank you weren't able to come what I want to say is that I endured a lot of trauma in my life I have a I was a dius baby I have a long history of abuse I shouldn't come home come to work and feel triggered I shouldn't come to work and witness other people being bullied and treated unfairly and carry that anger and that resentment that I can't say anything for them or watch kids get sent home for days and not be suspended but given a out all of this is outlined in the 230 Pages it's outlined in the five parent letters um I I myself I wrote a testimony of 133 pages that is 30 pages of testimony and 100 pages of um photographic emails and uh evidence I really want you guys to take this seriously we do thank you I hope there is an independent investigation and I really hope you to our parents thank you time [Applause] up okay next um prista Gargano or gardano we cannot save time um this is actually a testimonial from marago one of our families um Washington for [Music] [Music] [Music] Washington Washington I'm going to try to get to the basis um um Washington thank [Applause] youas Luana Hill Lana Hill Judy Martinez good evening board members superintendent and the community listening to these people come here today has completely blown me away because my complaint is about human resources the abolishment the Creations the way they hire people I don't know how at a job fair you can hire somebody on the spot especially in our position as a secretary in this District who need to know certain Technologies and computer skills I don't know how they test them I don't know if they go on Word of Mouth as to how they know these things but the process in human resource for hiring for posting for testing employment here is very lacking no one is doing their jobs in human resource this isn't the first time I've been to this panel to discuss this I have mentioned this before in the past and every time I question the response that I get on the the very next month is we asked they answered and they said it's not happening it's happening people are getting hired that have no experience people are being placed at a higher step on the salary guide with no experience something is lacking in Human Resources nobody's checking them in there it's just been going on and on now you're hiring people that the community is coming here to argue about that's right you sit there and you say you're for the students you're for this community yet you continue to allow this to happen I don't see any of these board members ever walking into these schools to find out what's going on in these schools you never visit the schools you never come in see anything that's going on in there but yet you sit up here and you make the calls and you make the judgments and you abolish people's positions and then recreate another position at a higher paying salary but yet you never know what's going on you make decisions here that affect people but that's all you do because you never go into there to find out what's really going on in these schools you have parents complaining about an administrator yet it will fall on death ears you have union members coming here and complaining to you about situations that are going on in this District yet it falls on death ears yes you say you hear me but that's the extent of it just listening when are these board members who keep just approving everything that keeps get putting in front of them my time is up yes thank you wow I I will I will take that I know you all heard thank you Mrs Denise walls good evening board members and fellow parents my name is Denise walls as you probably all know I am not a one-time visitor to any of these board meetings I come to board meetings regularly not just to complain but to please direct your remarks to the board but to but to also give homage where homage is due okay first I would like to say thank you to the administrative staff for helping my grandson Jesse with his IEP he has been handicapped for the last two years and had to have home instruction and in the beginning of the two years it was a fight to get him home instructed everything has gone through he did his last um um meeting with his teacher today who told him that he will pass to the 11th grade so I want to thank the administration the IEP Administration for that next I'm going to jump to Washington School which is where my granddaughter is a third grader she will be leaving Washington school has been a part of my life since her mother has been in school and my her mother Jordan's mother is 32 years old I've watched Washington School change hang I've watched Washington School get driven down to the ground so this is what has happened in the last two years four years okay I'm gonna hurry this up okay she what excuse me I'm sorry I've been a part of the school system Jordan came to Washington in her K year because of covid entering into her first grade year I did my best to jump in and help where needed at her school from directing traffic to helping pass without lunches I was there at the time Washington school was in failing status named as being one of the lowest elementary schools in the state of New Jersey okay then through that I was disappointed because Jordan is a very smart child because of my participation in Washington Miss Paige who was the prior principal entrusted me to be on the board to interview this the incoming possible um principal of the school the we had four candidates two of them were an absolute no for me the third one set a bar Miss Ingram came in and P and and set the bar very very high during her interview I have experienced her willingness to see how the school and staff ran in her beginning weeks and months at the school then I watched her put her plan into action there was no more disorganization at that school she made the nurse be a nurse and not the secretary not handing out passes not not and not handing out late passes she made she made she made the secretary do her job I'm asking the public to allow Mrs Wells to speak so that we can hear her we want to know her concerns your turn will come up Miss Wells okay I and lastly because the school was in failing she has now brought that school out of failing status Washington school is now the most sought after Elementary School in the district and my granddaughter tested as gifted and talented this year with six other children and that's only because Miss Ingram bought that school to a standard of teaching and learning for students thank you thank you next excuse me please please Miss Wells please stop if you continue to speak out of line you will also leave please stop it next we have Alfreda Wilson Alfreda Wilson Ayana laflor oh you're okay e e e have visited or asked anything and I've never seen um James Earl you are superintendent I'm glad to see you I had to ask someone who do you who were you shame on you if you allowed this to happen thank you next Ayana laflora okay three minutes I began working at Washington in 2016 before arriving at Washington for my first day I was told by many how much I would love it and never want to leave I was immediately welcomed and embraced by the staff and families at Washington and instantly knew that's where I wanted to be it appeared like it was a small close-knit school Community all staff including teachers pair of professionals nurse secretaries custodians and administration collaborated together to provide a positive learning environment for the students at Washington Elementary School student and staff were motivated to enter the building each day and try our best to handle our responsibilities in return students and staff alike we're celebrated often even with changes to Administration West Wes maintained a collaborative optimistic work environment however for the past two years the environment at Washington Elementary has negatively shifted the workplace has become divisive and toxic there has been noticeable decline in the school's morale and the teachers and staff overall well-being myself I was out recently for three weeks due to stress Washington Elementary School's core values of respect collaboration and professionalism has deteriorated there is now a general feeling of mistrust and disrespect among staff while there was District redistricting I believe the change is largely due to new Administration my first interaction with Miss Ingram took place at the end of 20 2022 school year at the end of the year meeting held by now retired principal Kim paage at the meeting the current and new staff formed a circle to introduce themselves Ingram in introduced herself as new principal beginning July 1 everything seemed normal I introduced myself my grade level and stated that I was also the building Chief rep for that school year Ingram immediately came over to me to hug me and made a comment suggesting that she needs to be good with me introdu continue with only her hugging and acknowledging Union representatives for tea TPA and TSA during our first meeting of the 2022 school year she introduced a new directive for using preparation periods and covering other teachers classs during to recet um during recess to make up for the time I immediately knew this was the breach of our contract however I was no longer our union representative the following day while I was setting at my classroom Ingram entered Ed my classroom the technology teacher was also in my classroom preparing com books and she told him to remove himself I assumed that she was going around to formally meet each teacher however that was not the case she sat at a desk and said you went to the union on me I was called off guard and shocked that she would approach me and to others they might have been scared to respond back I let her know that I was not the unior rep any longer she then went on to state that she assumed it was me because my name was mentioned to her by my by her supervisor Dr Conway she stated that he had spoke to her and asked if she spoke with me in regards to what was already in place I'm also going to assume that it was also acknowledge to her that my mother was a past tea president because she asked about how she's doing despite never her thank you thank you Vanessa Martinelli Vanessa Martinelli is Vanessa Martinelli here no thank you Tiffany hton Tiffany hton I need her to translate it for me as in Spanish from a parent uh um it's a parent letter we're just reading a parent letter she's utilizing her time to read a read it's in Spanish I'm going to read it in Spanish okay allow me a moment please okay thank you okay you'll have to forgive me but because you're the one that signed up um we can't allow someone else to take your place but if you would please submit it to us I do read Spanish I will translate it to the rest to the board of members thank you thank you Miss Connor via email or yes via email next we have um Anna palaos Anna palaos Dana Holton Marisol Tado good after good evening good evening everyone uh the board agenda tonight under item C abolishment you're abolishing a secretarial position in early childhood there are 30 preschool providers locations and secret and the secretaries in early childhood are responsible for registering over 2,000 students the two secretaries in early childhood serve as 30 locations one is assigned 1 16 preschools and the other 14 this school year ended with 294 preschoolers who do you think registered all of those students there is a misconception that the registrations are completed at preschool providers this is not true the preschools forward each registration package to the Early Childhood secretaries and the secretaries go through each registration communicates by email to each preschool provider for each student indicates what is missing from the registration packet and the secretary continues to communicate with the preschool provider multiple times until all of the information and documentation is received for each student their Early Childhood secretary then enters a registration into power school for each child I was previously assigned to Early Childhood therefore I am speaking from personal experience preschool students do not roll over regardless if the student attended the year before or not preschoolers are re-registered each year which means that the process I just explained is repeated all over again so who's registering and entering all of the preschool registrations for next year the amount of preschoolers enter into Power School directly affects the funding for preschools it was already a challenge to complete the large amount of registrations with two SEC secretaries because there are more responsibilities in the secretary's job description if you asked me there should have been three secretaries not two to complete all that is required but now you want one person to complete registrations for 30 preschools I would expect that you giving them one secretary unlimited overtime but even with that one secretary is not enough I remember Central registration first year I was hearing administrators bragging about how they registered almost 400 kindergartners in six months and that was with how many secretaries by abolishing a secretarial position and leaving the department with one you're saying that you expect one secretary to achieve what an entire department cannot achieve in six months we are asking that you pull that abolishment from today's agenda because that additional secretary is greatly needed we understand that you're creating a management Information Specialist for early childhood but what does that have to do with the secretarial responsibilities for the secretarial position you are abolishing those are two different positions and two different bargaining units with different responsibilities they are not interchangeable thank you thank [Applause] you next Brian Kelly Briana Kelly um Rando shello good evening good evening board Madame President Mr R I represent the custodial local 6236 ask me we have four custodians that are going to be terminated July 1st for not obtaining their border license I'm asking that they be granted six more months it's not easy to obtain a border license in the state of New Jersey no more it costs $600 for them to go to the school to do it I have a Latin woman working for me who doesn't understand English but her work ethics are unbelievable she'll be one of them to lose her job on July 1st I'm also here to speak about five custodians who are having their increment withheld they did not receive their letters till today or yesterday I am going to represent one of them in close session today so um and to look into the borderer situation we are going to high efficiency boilers throughout the district some of our schools have them now with these high efficiency borders we won't need borderer operators at my school Trenton High we definitely will need one because we have six of them six borders but once the district is all high efficiency these border license will not be required in every school so I'm asking that we please give them another six months to obtain their border license thank you thank you I appreciate your time y [Applause] next we have Bruce Boyd good evening board good evening my name is Bruce Boyd um the last time I came before this board it was to defend my name from uh a person who called me a thief but I'm back today to say that um over the past year I have partnered with Princeton National rowing Association Princeton University and we have brought rowing to the school district at no cost to this board we have spent over $30,000 on this program and I have volunte teered my time in three of the Trenton Public Schools training our young people on the sport of rowing and uh this past Saturday we did a big thing we made history in having the first Indoor rata urg Race that made national news with the US rowing Association with uh row2k you can get you guys can go on row2k.com you can see the pictures you can see the energy you can also see um the camaraderie amongst schools in and out of the district I'm here today to just say thank you to those board members and the superintendent who uh found it not robbery to come out and see because the pictures does not tell the story of the en that was in that room and the parents that were engaged that cheered for their children that then decided that they wanted to get on the rowing machines and give it a a pool themselves um so I'm here to say the program introductory to row and the stem to stern program is going to continue we just hope that we can get more support from The District in helping us reach more students as they matriculate from the intermediate schools into the uh middle schools where we have no programs so we don't want to lose those 24 students that we have in sixth grade that's going into seventh grade where we don't have relationships with the middle schools um and we do need some help with Transportation coming up next year with the metrication of those those students moving into to the middle schools we don't want to lose them the bigger thing was that the US rowing team came out and meddled our students and if you don't understand that that's just like saying that um the Boston Celtics came out and said we're going to give Championship medals to uh a basketball team that won a championship so the equivalent to having the the current women's us r team that's about to row in Paris come out to Little Old Trenton and support the students in Trenton um was Major and we hope that many of you don't miss the next one thank you thank you thank you very much up next J V this washingt [Music] kind person me for [Music] kinderg r gracias [Applause] Lillian Gomez Washington Miss Fe l for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] AB [Music] inter graas [Applause] next Lydia nvz Brana liia nvz BR hello I don't have a letter but I'm just going to speak up so I'm paa kast's mother she's been in Washington Elementary School since kindergarten she's been in Washington Elementary School since kindergarten she used to be a very loving little girl she used to be happy when um it was time to come to school um she loved her teachers her teachers love her back even the staff member as well as soon as Miss Ingram came into the picture she's been very um like scared to go to school she has been blamed for a lot of things in School Miss Ingram has never called me when paa has gotten hit gotten hurt my daughter's um Pina um she has allergy of peanuts and she knows it for the mom and daughter um muffin day um they were given some muffins and paa asked if he had peanuts to one of the staff members that was next to her and she clearly said um the staff member asked her um if he had peanuts and B was the Miss Ingram was like I don't know but you take what they're going to take she knows my daughter's allergic to peanuts Miss gunar has called me a lot of Plenty times for me to go pick up my daughter due to the peanut um allergies she has been gone to the she has gone to the hospital and stuff one time somebody some other students stole um Donuts from another student Miss Ingram called me saying I have to pay for the donuts 89 cents which was a pack of donuts but she wanted for me to pay more than that so she called me to go pick up my daughter and go pay that money I went to school pick up my daughter I want a when I spoke to her on the phone I did told her I wanted to speak to her in person she hide in her office and told the secretary that she was not there many times I been wanted to go to the school and speak to miss Ingram she never was available for me but she was inside the the her office also you don't have to cry she's not going to do nothing here to you also when um hold on they're here to protect you that's what we're all here for to protect you and other kids from person she has Miss um Miss Miss Lou has been there since the beginning of PA in that school just like Miss Connor as well the only wron the only time Miss Ingram wanted to speak with me was like a month ago when I told Miss floor that my daughter had gotten hit and I have videos where my daughter got bruised up and she still has brues from that child that did it she did not want her to answer my messages but I told miss laflor that if she does not answer my messages I will come to the um Board of Education and speak to the um Vice VI right that's when I in less than five minutes there goes Miss Ingram talking on the phone to me she wanted to have the meeting but it was oh I was already hit it up I was going to the um I'm pregnant I'm almost do so I I okay Clara Mayorga I short okay so I came here to speak for she's my sister um oh So ba has been abused a couple times in school and um the principal will never do nothing about it baa would come home with Marx and the one who would get in trouble would be paa it wouldn't be the student who has done it to her my mom has been to school many times to talk to the principal the principal would never show up she will always be hiding she will never come um there is proof of ba having marks all over her bodies Bala will come home with blood on her dried up blood um if the principal knows that b is allergic to penis the principal doesn't care she she wouldn't do nothing about it she wouldn't care at all and it's just very it's very disgusting of her honestly it really is and um the Funday is also something that is for the students they should all have an experience they're little kids and um the kindergartens didn't get to graduate because she canceled it the third graders didn't get to get the promotion because she also canceled it she's just not she's she's just very unprofessional and all she does is care about herself and really that's very disrespectful because they're little kids and they should have their moment they should have fun and that's all I got to say thank you honey and Miss tiia Duncan good evening so I originally had a different speech planned however in light of what you have already heard I am going to Echo that time time 10 I have come to this Podium to say that we have been collaborative we are willing to work by myself have been to Washington School on multiple occasions to speak about the actions of Miss Ingram my staff members wanted to do a v of no confidence long ago however we were told you know she's not going to get tenured you know I like to work for people where they are she's going to improve she has not improved and I'm going to implore the board you have three of my members on here that are being non-renewed that you're going to discuss an executive session none of the three will be tenured in September but they are not getting a chance to improve yet we are giving Miss Ingram a chance to improve although the Paris have an issue tea has an issue the secretary has an issue the parents have an issue and nothing has has been done to change the behavior if you go back a couple of board documents um one of our guidance counselors who was a Tara Ingram fan resigned and on her exit interview she stated that she has text messages voice messages where Miss Ingram has talked down on parents students and staff members of the Trenton Board of Education so my question is if we are going to give her another chance chance to improve then all of my members on the board agenda tonight for executive session that are being non-renewed or increment withholding I'm going to hope that you're going to pull all of that and give them a chance to improve if not if you are not going to do that then you need to say thank you Miss Ingram for your service this is not a good fit move on you don't need a reason other than it's not a good fit which is what you're saying about my members on the agenda in this executive session this evening now what I was going to get up there and say before this all happened I do want to thank the board the business and accounting office for processing our members retro checks on time correctly and that your Kudos I will say I did receive a call from Miss Betty Glenn because Miss Ingram did state that some of my teachers were complaining about her Paris and when I reached out to my building rep we found out that it was not true I attended a meeting with Miss Glenn and Miss Ingram would not reveal the names and I told her we don't talk about heay heay Cay okay so what I am asking this board to do is listen to the various stakeholders I could see if there was was one person I could see if it was two people you have 20 plus people documentation and you have a former staff member that has resigned that says she has screenshots phone messages voice messages from Miss Ingram talking down about our children and I want to let you know that you should never let a parent guardian or whoever get up here and disrespect my member or any other member of the bargaining unit without a repercussion I will also let you know that she is sitting outside of the board office right now waiting for a confrontation so please get security on hand because I know she not about that life and we all have something to lose we have certificates and jobs and we're going to be professional but we will not be intimidated harassed or bullied by someone that's not even board approved to work in our schools have a good night [Applause] thank you that brings us to a close to public comments um the table is now open to board members if you have have any comments this is the time to to do so I have some yes okay I just want to say I've been to a few events this past month and um was really impressed by um a few of them uh first I want to thank the high school for putting on a wonderful senior Awards night this year um a lot of money was given away to the students and it was very impressive to see where the school what schools kids are going to I also want to comment on uh the capitol city rowing Association uh event over at Sykes Academy on Saturday um those parents came in there to support their kids but had no idea what was going to happen and how encouraging everybody was to these students that had worked so hard and to see I would like to see this program expanded to all the schools so the kids can participate and especially get more boys involved you know there were I think about six boys doing it but it's a sport for men too and these obscure little Sports have a lot of money to give to kids to go to college and a parent of two athletes you know my kids half my kids' tuition was paid by the schools because they played a sport and that was D3 so the money is out there it's a way to get your education a lot cheaper than advertise so I encourage people to support this program and I'd like to see it continue I also want to thank tea for an invitation to their picnic the food was lovely and thank you for inviting me and just to let everybody um uh know that a Thing mo is running tonight at 7:30 for the finals for the Olympic trials so and that's all I've got thank you any other board member um is this the point where we talk about the renaming of the daylight Twilight not at this point no board consent okay okay um excuse me one moment I was just G yes please oh I was just going to wish um everyone a Happy men's mental health awareness month and happy pride month um I think those two things are very important especially in the work of our district and developing the whole child and a holistic community and I think that is nice that um you know you know we especially the city this year did some acknowledgement with the flag raising in an event on Saturday Downtown for pride and especially on the backdrop remembering that as mental health awareness mon making sure that we're conscious about you know acknowledging and having conversations around uh people's especially when it comes to men and and men of color uh the stigma around mental heal so I just want to wish everyone a Happy month when it comes to those things just just one important point I think I think that's very important that the community recognize a few things about our position as board members we have one employee that we hire as a superintendent at our business meetings which are this meeting right here board meetings even though we have public comment as a board we cannot speak or address those particular issues or concerns with the public public directly because this is a public meeting we are bound by the code of ethics not to do certain things so even though you may not hear us speak out about any issues that are brought to this board we we allow our superintendent who we hire our superintendent who we have confidence in who we believe in and we have the utmost respect for with his team to delve into research and investigate anything that comes before this board and so I want everyone to know this is not that type of meeting where we can have interaction back and forth as board members this is a public board meeting however we I am I'm sure all of our board members are concerned with the concerns that you brought to us whether it be Washington School whether it be HR process whether it be custodians whatever that whatever those issues were we we are concerned but we cannot at this meeting have dialogue back and forth about any issue also some great things are happening Bruce boy thank you for the work that you that you're doing in our district uh with the rowing I've seen on Facebook and I know your great work that you're doing um and others who have brought great great things to our district and so I just want to make that note to the community who are here tonight about our role on this at this point as board members now this was a community meeting there have been a different different type of interaction but this is not that type of meeting I'd also like to add that as board members we are not not allowed we can be bought up on ethic charges if we were to go into the schools to to see how things are running or to try to do any kind of evaluation that is absolutely against the statute of the state of New Jersey as our vice president Gerald trar was saying our only employee is superintendent James Earl and he is accountable to us for anything that happens in the district and that is why this process of public participation is so important because you're able to come and let us know we cannot go out investigate but we can listen to each and every one of you and it is important as we saw tonight to be respectful to allow everyone to speak and to give everyone an opportunity to be able to speak their minds and we thank you very much for being here tonight if there is no other comments just two yeah just two things um superintendent one is about um uh you know I've already at every meeting how grateful I am about the translation services I'm wondering if you could if there's an ability to provide that but the opposite way because when Spanish speaking people come up and speak their you know read I'm sure there are other people on the board that want to understand I think it's only Yolanda and I that that understand so it would be great if there were some vehicle um if you could look into that that would be terrific yeah yeah so so the mechanism when we're able to outfit the the auditorium which we plan to do right that was a part of approval that you've already approved so what happens is when you actually speak there's a chance for the language to be toggled back and forth so English uh speakers can understand Spanish or read it on the screen and then vice versa so and we're going to continue to explore the best way to serve our public so thank you superintendent the other thing too I was not aware of this rowing event I would have loved to have attended that remember last week we spoke last about an agenda coming every month of all the ACT especially around graduation please that would just be wonderful for us got it we'll do um yes we're happy to know that uh today we kind of piloted the equipment for Spanish-speaking parents to be able to understand everything that was being said and God willing uh by August we will have it all rolled out um and we would like to add Haitian Creole also because we know we have a a a good amount of Haitian familyties in our district if there are no other comments I want to open the um no I don't I just I'm closing the conversation and I was was um I wanted to ask for a motion on the on the consent agenda to to approve it motion to approve second roll call Yolanda Lopez yes after before roll call right isn't it yeah I I have it could be either before after I okay well but you called a question first first second on the motion yeah so I I have just um two things I was curious um I really want to applaud the district for giving away 650 Chromebook draw graduates that's fantastic but I just was questioning why we were giving um Chromebooks to raway district and a district in PA versus in our local Trenton Community there may be many nonprofits or anything else that may be able to use those Chromebooks so I was just curious if there was a restriction or or what there was no there there are no restrictions so uh I think what you see here I know we partnered gosh I don't know when with a a local group doing uh some technology beat code break something beat code coders or something so we we donated several to them uh so we'll we'll do that on on demand because we have excess in those area and typically they're outdated or they've run their life so we clean them up so they're operational I mean they're not the best but they're operational so if you happen to know the public or families of parents or people and organizations who are looking for technology we don't restrict it um so then why were we giving it to raway and Pennsylvania versus giving them to Local it's likely whoever reached out so we will oh c we didn't make the decision they reached out no no no we don't make the decision I mean we we might solicit we've asked some staff members or I've had staff members from even outside the United States reach out to me about Chromebooks and I say sure so get it organized and that's a more difficult process than it sounds so I typically don't get the response that I'm looking for because we have the Chromebooks right uh and so we also will use them like this year because we ATT tested them Chromebooks in the past some of our students felt more comfortable using the Chromebook instead of iPad so um yeah we don't solicit people to donate to uh if we have them we it's kind of a slow roll out of you know if you know people just tell them to reach out so maybe it's important that the community know that we do have Chromebooks that we can donate especially for nonprofits after school programs things like that we try to keep it local if we can okay yeah thank you okay is this the part okay so um I see that there we're going to vote on a name change for daylight Twilight where is that where is that information listed in our board information like in our board packet I I try to look I try to see where that's that where we were voting on well there isn't any information per se in the packet because this is something that we voted on uh a few board meetings ago um we discussed it about in two or three board meetings and we gave the superintendent the authorization with his staff to come up with the name for the school and so they came up with the name of the school uh for now it is going to be Capitol City High School 4 and then um um whatever the the um the other part is going to be depends on the curriculum that they they're getting together so it could be Capital City High School for entrepreneurship Capital City High School for civic uh civic education diplomacy whatever uh small community we're going to establish there I remember I do remember that we voted to change the name I didn't realize that the name had been chosen and whether or not there was any board input but I understand now that superintendent and his staff decided on the name so thank you we gave them we actually voted to give him the the opportunity or the privilege to do so with his staff right but that that wasn't clear to me so that's why I you know having things clear and explained is it's helpful so thank you for that I I don't want to be the stick in the mud but I don't recall us voting on I I thought that it was supposed to go to and trust me I love the name and I'm just about process that it was supposed to go to a committee I thought it was supposed to go to a committee obviously with the superintendent's input that maybe I'm someone could clarify that it was it was going I can't it was February February and then sorry it was determined that jeie would take care of the process and she made the decision as the chairperson for facilities that she would allow superintendent and his staff to choose the name and we said it was okay we added the other which form me was that one that we voted on that in February and I thought it was March or April it was March Mar it was March okay yes CU I was si yes because I'm the one that's usually bringing that up I thought it up a few times and we reached consensus during those meetings now I just want to also highlight that normally the process with the committee is stringent when we are talking about naming it someone and that's where the public has the opportunity to suggest names in facilities yeah we we have yeah we we have participation from the um I would have to look at the policy to see exactly where is at but yes we had that's what we that's what we said in February and that's why we um said it was okay for Genie's suggestion to have superintendent and his people do it any other questions on the consent agenda if there is none can we please have a roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Jo truart Jean buoy absent Denise Johnson uh I must recuse myself from any um partnership or collaboration with the Department of Children and Families otherwise I say yes yes jeie weam yes and with standing on Grant related yes Edie Daniels Lane yes Sasa mat yes Larry trer yes motion passed thank you for bearing with me I misplaced one of my sheets here that I need to read from um at this time we will be retreating into executive session whereas the open public meetings act codified as njsa 10 colon 4-6 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting under certain circumstances and whereas the Trenton Board of Education is of the opinion that such circumstances presently exist indicated as follows any material considered confidential by federal law state statute or Court rule any P pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiations to which the board is or may become a party to and any matter falling within the attorney client privilege to the extent that confidentiality is required to preserve the attorney client relationship and allow the attorney to exercise his her ethical duties as a lawyer in matters caption invoices settlements board grievance committee decision increment withholdings administrator contracts now there be a resolved by the Trenton Board of Education County of Mercer state of New Jersey that an executive session will be held on June 24th 24 for the statuto permissible purposes indicated in this resolution be it further resolve that action may be taken by the board when it reconvenes an open session be had finally resolved that the minutes of the executive session with regard to the above subject matter shall be disclosed to the public at a later date and to the extent that the same is not prejudicial to the interests of the parties involved no longer adverse to public interest or does not endanger any individual's right to privacy meeting adjourned oh I'm so sorry meeting to go into executive session motion move oh second I'm still in 2014 don't you know roll call roll call Yolanda Lopez truart Jean buy absent Denise Johnson Austin Edwards jeie we yes Edie Daniels Lane yes Sasa man Larry trailer adjourn to Executive session 753 wait a minute can we let the meeting be over y can't be right up here okay J I'm not going to I'm not going good not [Music] no e e she e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e oh now it's working all right just e go this Trenton Board of Education meeting reconvenes okay so I just want to alert the board that we we just emerged from our executive session conversation we discussed a lot of employee matters um one employee who was subject to a r notice did request that we discuss her matter in public so right now I just want to take the time to discuss the matter of Miss quett Jones with the board um Miss Getta Jones is uh Miss Getta Jones is uh being recommended to have her increment withheld Miss Miss Getta Jones has missed the entire year of work she has not reported to work in for an entire year um part of her uh part of her uh absences are due to a disputed um workers compensation claim the workers compensation has since released her her to recover uh has stated that she's recovered and eligible to return to work and Miss Getta Jones is not returning to work um at all and so she hasn't performed any service during the 23 24 school year and therefore we're uh recommending that her increment be withheld the microphone sorry how long ago was she cleared to return to work do you know I want to say two or three months ago I believe uh I do not have her clearance dat but for the last three years 2122 22 23 and 23 24 Miss wetta Jones has been absent from work and what was her position one more time she's a secretary secretary thank you thank you um so has she made any contact with the board since she was ordered to um allow to return to work yes so the board reached out to her and asked her to return to work I think they I believe want to say we sent her for a fitness for Duty I can't remember the date and at that time she presented an additional doctor's note to her to the physician that we sent her to saying that she still wasn't able to return to work even though she had been clear from workers compensation if there are no more questions who would move to approve the increment withholding I'll move this second Genie seconds yes yes yes yes yes yes yeah may I have a motion on RB I motion I second just clarify the motion the motion to approve the increment withholding in the matter of RB Larry yes I all right um roll calland morero Lopez yes Gerald truart Jean buy absent Addy Daniels Lane yes Austin Edwards yes Denise Johnson yes SAS mon yes Genie weak Larry trer yes motion pass just to confirm every name was called right do someone you may I have a motion on the agreement withholding for YDC I move to approve the increment withholding for YDC I second Moro Lopez yes Gerald truart yes jeany absent Addy Danel Lane yes yes uh Austin Edwards yes Denise Johnson yes s mon yes Genie we yes Larry TR yes motion passed motion to withhold increment for AK I move to approve the increment withholding for AK roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart yes Danel Lane yes Austins yes den Johnson yes yes yes yes second roll call uh Yolanda Morel Lopez yes Gerald truart yes Jean buy absent Edie Daniel Lane yes Austin Edwards yes Denise Johnson yes s yes uh jeie we yes Larry Trevor yes motion passed may I have a motion to withhold increment for SM yes I motion to do the increment holding for I second roll roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart yes Jean buly absent Addie Daniels Lane yes uh Austin Edwards yes Denise Johnson yes s time yes Jamie we yes Larry trer yes motion passed may I have a motion to withhold increments for TM make a motion to hold increments for TM second roll calland Lopez yes Gerald truart yes Addie Danel Lane yes Austin Edwards yes Denise Johnson yes s Anon yes Genie we yes Larry TR yes Mot may I have a motion for increment withholding for KS second uh roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart yes Addy Daniels Lane yes Austin Edwards yes Denise Johnson yes s yes jny we yes yes may have a motion for increment withholding for JD I motion yes yes yes yes yes may I have a motion for increment withholding for JM I motion is that it okay second yes yes yes yes yes may I have a motion for increment withholding for SJ yes yes yes yes may I have a motion to withhold increments for AF I motion yes yes yes may I have a motion to withhold increment for AG I moov that we W approve the withholding of the increment for AJ second to the motion okay uh Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart yes Addie Daniels Lane yes Austin networks yes Denise Johnson yes s yes jie we yes Larry TR yes motion passed the anch um due to the fact that the invo got to do the invoices I am so sorry yes may I please have a motion to approve invoices I second Yanda Lopez yes Gerald truart yes uh Denise Johnson yes Austin Edwards yes Genie we yes Eddie Daniels way yes s yes yes yes uh may I have a motion to settle NM and DS versus I I make a motion to settle uh NM and DS versus Trenton Public School District yes second roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart yes um Denise Johnson yes Austin Edwards yes Genie weak yes Addie Daniels Lane yes s mon yes Larry T yes motion pass C may I have a motion to settle with CW a motion to approve the settlement in the matter of CW roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart yes J Denise Johnson yes Austin Edwards yes Genie we Addy Daniel Lane yes yes Larry trer yes motion passed and finally may I have a motion to approve the administrator contracts moved um sorry who moved I did okay and Larry you yeah I'm sorry I'm so sorry I draw that no you can keep it keep it just want to make sure we're all in order so Sasa motion I'll second I was just get my head together roll call Yolanda Lopez yes Gerald truart Jean buy absent Denise Johnson yes Austin Edwards Genie wakam abstain from Hope from abstain from the contract related to assistant superintendent Jr right okay Addie Daniels Lane yes SAS man yes Larry trailer yes motion pass explain you want yes you want me to I'll explain okay due to the fact that I was reading from a draft and not the final agenda for executive session we missed one item that we need to go back into executive session but before doing so we want to make it public and that is in the matter of the superintendance evaluation okay so at this time I am requesting a motion to to to go back into executive session to discuss the evaluation second Lopez yes Gerald truart yes buy abson Addy Daniels Lane yes Austin Edwards yes Denise Johnson SAS mon yes Genie wakam Larry trailer yes motion pass uh Jour to Executive session e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e sry oh yes for motion to adjourn all in favor all opposed okay um I the majority did not say I okay meeting adjourned good night everyone for