good evening I would like to call this meeting to order may I have a roll call please Mrs capelo Miss caranel here Mr Cohan yes Mrs Mackey here Mr McDowell present Mrs Mani here miss miss Santana present Mrs Scott heeden here Mrs Williams thank you and for the record uh Mr Cohen is remote Mrs carbonel would you please lead us in the flag salute I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Madame vice president would you please read the mission statement the mission of the township of Union Public Schools is to built on the foundations of honesty Excellence Integrity strong family and Community Partnerships we promote a supportive learning environment where every student is challenged inspired empowered and respected as diverse Learners through cultivation of students intellectual curiosity skills and knowledge our students can achieve academically and socially and contribute as responsible and productive citizens of our Global Community thank you Miss Coons please read the open public meetings act statement yes in accordance with the provision of the New Jersey open public meeting act the township of Union board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the day time and place thereof published in the Star Ledger and Union County local sources posted at the administrative building of 2369 mar7 Union New Jersey filed with the Township Clerk and mail to all persons if any who have requested so the Board of Education offers members of the opp uh public an opportunity to address issues regarding any item on the agenda or any on any issues individuals need to identify themselves by name and address public comment is limited to three minutes issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board all comments will be considered and a response will be for forc coming when and if appropriate the board ask all members of the public to be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking comments regarding students and employees of the board will not be responded to the board Madam president thank you the board will go into executive session to discuss Personnel students and or legal issues and we might take action once we return may I have a motion to move into executive session second second so moved by Miss Scott Hayden and seconded by Miss uh Mani may I have a roll call please miss capelo miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan Mr cooh okay Mrs Macky yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mrs Scott heeden Miss Santana yes where do we have second who seconded that I'm sorry thank you so much Miss marn um vote call please miss capul miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan Mrs macki Mr McDowell abstained Mrs Mani yes Mrs Scott Hayden Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes thank you next we have our Communications that are reflected on the personnel and operations agenda Miss for communications that's a personal operations that reads that thank you do I review it individually no thank you and at this point if there's any comments from the public on resolutions and all other matters we would love to hear them okay good okay do I have to start over or are we good good with the name okay so this is more about thanking a teacher publicly so my daughter at Battle Hill has Patty bgda she has gone above and beyond to help Chelsea we have not had the greatest meetings lately she's been struggling and Miss BDA who's her gen ed teacher because she's also in resource has gone above and beyond out of her way has advocated for my child like it was her job like her only job we should have more teachers like Miss BDA I am still having issues with my child and getting some proper help but miss bogda is there every step of the way she helps out she checks over work for me we talk about the best ways she advocates for the child for the best interest of the child and I've had great teachers thank God all my jened teachers and Miranda's teachers they've all been wonderful but she miss BDA has gone out of her way and you would think this is her own child the way she advocates for the kids because that's who she looks out for and I just wanted to publicly thank her that's it thank you thank you so much any other comments from the public on resolutions or all other matters it's going it's going it's gone so I'll hand over um the mic to our superintendent Dr benaquista for his superintendence report thank you madam president as you could see uh my uh agenda tonight will talk about as we do monthly uh impact employee recognition recognition student recognition a small glimpse of of what's going around uh throughout our district as well as uh we have our regular Hib uh reporting and affirming and then this is the by anual um where we have to review from September the first reporting period September uh till December and then as always our great leaon uh we'll share some uh highlights also uh that's going on so as we know um I spoke about it before when I created the impact award I'm really looking uh actually like Miss Diaz just highlighted people throughout our district that really do make an impact not just that the kids might like but they're going above and beyond and they're really um doing that stuff that's making a difference in our children's lives we have a lot um uh monthly people um nominate Community uh internally other teachers other staff members and um you know the first one I would like to call up is Mela wh in land she's uh at Union High School and she's a certified School uh psychologist come on up and just join me for a second Madame President so I I've I've known Mela for a long time just got to work with her many times too on on different situations um so you know I Madam vice president I apologize and I um you know a lot of times getting to know and working with teachers and staff members you know I see the great things they do but in this case a Community member a parent of ours reached out um and talked to him for a long time he followed up with an email again kind of confirming everything that how Miss uh Whitman land um helped and you know what he says is that what he has gotten to know is and I I put up a couple of the things but especially our CST truly advocating for our special ed students is huge um you we try to as Educators get our specialed uh students to advocate for themselves but it takes time it it takes people encouraging it sitting with them and and and modeling for them um where we need our our professionals to advocate for our students when it's warranted and you know in this case um I know Miss wh Whitman land has done that um also just when she's getting notified she's responding you know we talk about communication it solves a lot of things but not that she has to respond there's hours that she's required to work and there's hours not a and it was stated to me and I I've known it other times she goes above and beyond um I'm sure I know her family's here I'm sure they would probably confirm with it um but she she is getting back to our our parents sometimes on the weekends at night you know um and again not required to but you know obviously when you when you read stuff and the students need something you know it it's it's ingrained in you it's hard not to I'm sure um and you know she really um with our our children that when you're trying to find what's working and what will work for them you know finding those right accommodations and placement um is important uh because you want to keep educating the child at at the least restrictive environment to get them ready to transition after school and and um I I want to give highlights to to that as well uh she has the best interest of students um and again when when she receives questions a lot of times somebody will say I don't it's not my responsibility hopefully not but and maybe they they don't lead that person to where they're going to get the answers from um and and again miss Whitman land doesn't leave it where it's just hanging there that I can't help you she'll also bring that parent that situation to the person that's going to help so with that I thank you um I know you're making an impact on our kids and I appreciate all the everything you do your hard work and um how you support our our children so I really do appreciate that so just there thank [Applause] you Mr John Boyd would you come [Applause] up so I I asked Mr Boyd I know he was recognized by the Rotary Club Club recently but you know my eyes opened up I I've known some bits and pieces of it he shared some things along the way but to it really hit home when I got to know a little bit more so John volunteered over 20 years ago and 2002 is when it started right um with the little league Challenger uh Division and he was he's a coach still a coach after the 20 plus years um to help kids that um uh uh you know and you could probably explain it to a little more than me but with that need help a little bit socially with communication skills as well as physical skills and emotional skills um you know John started getting involved when his son jayen jellen jayen jellen J jayen sorry about that was involved and uh has continued all these years so if JN as a parent was just helping because of his child that need it needed it he would have been done how many years ago 17 18 19 years ago so but John hasn't he stayed around and is still doing this for many children hundreds over the years correct and now which which really touched my heart is that his son who he started with is now coaching with us that's amazing so I I I I want to just thank you and again John works for us on the maintenance side of our our um District so it it just shows also how any employee of our district can touch the lives of children in many different ways um you know not a lot of people will volunteer their time it's hard today you know people again are are running all over the place but John found a way to stay involved and still reaching these kids and helping these kids and then on top of it being able to coach with your son which got you there is amazing so I just congratulate you you come on up Miss president miss vice president M president vice president and let's just take a picture and it's a small token of recognition but I do appreciate what you're doing for all our kids so real real quick uh me and girls just happened they did awesome it was I really enjoyed it I saw the Sunday show um and I was going to have them come tonight there was a lot going on uh to again so you guys could put a a name and a face together and see what wonderful things we're working on sending out our uh later this month or early next month our next Edition but they did a mid mid-mon uh highlight of Mean Girls they had a lot of from what I understand all three nights it was it was there was pretty much packed so and and it was an amazing show and more to come on that um the many people might not know but um January is now um recognition month for Boards of Ed throughout the state so I just felt the need um to recognize the Board of Ed education members for again their their time volunteering to help all our our students um school boards is the organization that kind of oversees it and they're asking all School District to recognize the the boards of Ed um obviously sometimes it's a thankless job but I I am very very lucky because I know what who I'm working with and that it is uh it couldn't I couldn't ask for a better board that's going to uh fight for our children our community that has the best interest of everyone and I'm going to recommend um that um they're asking that districts adopt the resolution that every January will be a month to recognize Boards of Education um I do have I would like to call everyone up and we get a quick picture I have a a a certificate as well as I'll just read uh something I wrote um heartful thanks to the school board of education I hope this message finds you well I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the invaluable service you provide to our community as members of the School Board of Education your dedication to ensuring our students and staff success and well-being is truly commendable the countless hours you invest in making decisions that shape the future of our educational system do not go unnoticed your commitment to fostering a positive learning environment and promoting academic Excellence is inspiring thank you for the tireless efforts passion and unwavering commitment to the education of our children your work has a lasting impact on all students lives and contributes significantly to the overall well-being of School Community as a committed member of this school Community I grateful for the hard work and dedication each of you brings to your role please know that your service is appreciated and your contributions make a meaningful dis uh difference I wish the you the continued success in all your endeavors and I look forward to the ongoing positive developments you will bring to our educational system in the future thank you want to get a quick picture we just got here you I got to make it work thank you very much so uh so next up is a small glimpse with with a small glimpse I'm just trying to touch on some great things because we have a lot going on around our district Dr pre is going to help me out shortly but I just wanted to highlight um one of our programs here at the high school tomorrow's teachers um you know and I ask for just a little bit of all they do or have done throughout this year that they'll continue to do and I just um put up some pictures they do create bulletin boards in our in our school to make it more festive and and meet the themes that are going on during that time they do uh attend uh con conferences one was at William Patterson on October 13th and then they also have to put in observation hours um I was also at the Holiday CAG um I know some of the board members were there the holiday um party they were helping out at the Holiday party with our cpag and our students so they just do some wonderful things they're right now I guess they're in that program they're interested in education which is great we need to get more students involved uh as we know it's tough right now with the challenges in uh education getting uh people going into the field so that's that's a a shout out to Joseph Deli who oversees it and all our students um Dr press do you want to just highlight um what's going on on the educational side with Muslim Heritage Month as well as the pilots coming up yes good evening everyone so with regard to Muslim Heritage Month uh a number of our schools if not all of our schools are celebrating it in various ways from morning announcements highlighting Muslim Americans to Virtual Halls of Fame that uh one of our schools is doing like Jefferson we are uh we also have lessons taking place in our classes so that our students are not just exposed to the efforts and the advancements of um the Muslim Americans but they're also become more appreciative of what's out there and what accomplishments have been made uh by them so we appreciate our schools our teachers and our administrators for continuing that celebration in terms of our curriculum plan excuse me in terms of our literacy uh definitely we're continuing with our focus on being the um Elementary and Middle School primarily in our elementary school we have we're piloting two programs and we definitely want to be sure that we're not just building the foundational skills that our students need in K through 2 we're also providing providing for better transitions through 3 to 5 that allow for not just reading comprehension but Advanced learning which will ultimately help them as they move into the middle school and our goal is to ultimately have um the same program in K through five so that our students not only transition uh seamlessly from um grades uh fourth to fifth but also then once they get to fifth grade they are better prepared and have better footing when they go into the middle school in terms of math as we had shared last year we began to look at different PR programs that would meet the needs of our students as well as still ascertain the level of rigor that we'd like to happen and continue so we're uh doing that in our middle school and we have um many teachers um both at the elementary level and Middle School level who have volunteered to Pilot what programs are best suited to meet the needs as well as the curricular rigor of our Depart of our district thank you Dr PR so as I have to do monthly uh this right now is just our monthly reported hibs so from January 10th to January 23rd we had two founded uh zero unfounded and zero inconclusive uh those were the schools that had the two Bernett middle school and Union High School so uh we're affirming six cases uh six were founded five were unfounded one inconclusive and there's were the uh where the cases were there was one at Battle Hill two at Bernett uh founded one founded at kuami two at Union High School the unfounded were Franklin 3 and a Caldwell one and uh Livingston one and then the inconclusive was at Union High School so now twice a year this is reporting period one we have to report on all our cases as you see in the first half of the Year there was 88 cases uh 44 were founded and on the other side 44 were unfounded SL inconclusive and and um this is all going to be posted uh online so I'm not going to read through the whole thing it's very detailed I encourage people to go up and look I'm going to highlight some things but there's our schools that were they were founded and unfounded and conclusive um that was the breakdown and again just to note some cases um might be more than one criteria so the numbers might not match but uh based on uh they could meet two different criteria so uh there you have the based on the um the different categories um the types of and and nature of Support Services uh there's a lot from counseling to education to detention to suspension uh sometimes police notification um you know mediation and stuff like that so uh you know lots lots of different types of uh uh interventions uh that's a list of our anti-bullying and specialist by building some of the District programs we're doing uh we do do assemblies um again I'm not going to read through all of them U there's some you know I'll highlight some on vaping uh digital citizenship uh bullying um you know out uh box out bullying uh respect pbsis and then some of the student and parent support small groups new students grief self-esteem uh girl connection social skills uh again a lot going on within our schools uh into the classroom some of the things that how they integrated in the classroom advisory uh classroom Home Room lessons Elementary month monthly Hib seal social skills mindfulness calming techniques uh digital digital citizenship uh there's daily announcements uh Freshman Class meetings at Union High School uh health class uh integration and then programming and resources uh there's some that's you know for the councilor's Virtual Office mindfulness uh Google Classroom activities by the counselors uh plc's by the counselors morning meeting slides Spirit weeks the counselors do do a lot of throughout our district Spirit weeks to to hone in on some of these uh you know the elementary school I believe it was last is it this week this week is respect and and teaching the kids and uh you know we'd like to also tie uh make it fun and and sometimes the teachers are dressing up wearing their favorite uh say sports and stuff like that they have different themes throughout the district to try to encourage everyone to participate um there's districtwide events building activities and again as you see there's a lot our counseling department handles a lot of this uh along with collab collaborating with other uh staff members but uh again we just keep trying to do more and more to impact the children especially when it comes to these cases uh because we want to keep finding ways to connect and obviously uh slow down or or stop the amount of uh hibs that we're dealing with so there is a lot of trainings that go on as well uh the school safety culture climate committee uh they meet it's mandated um professional or development opportunities there's been a lot of that going on so again a lot to keep impacting positively impacting harassment idation buling and then just again the look forward our district uh will it will be going out shortly we're looking to take part with the American Heart Association um it's Go Red For Women it's on February 2nd I encourage not just our school Community but the township commu the township anyone in the community wear red on February 2nd it's to bring awareness uh Cardiac Arrest as it says there leading death uh leading cause of death in the world and each year more than 30 350,000 out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest occur in the United States almost three over four happen at home and then they're wearing the red for the women it it's to highlight that right now uh only 39% of the women receive CPR compared to 45% of men and they say it's um I was reading a lot online I put a link so you guys could go learn more about it but sometimes people are afraid to intervene and that's what it really is we're we're encouraging people to get CPR trained but also to be comfortable intervening if something's happening so we're going to support this this came from a colleague in another District open my eyes to it and we're going to put red light bulbs at all our buildings at the front entrances so it's a wave where we they ask for pictures to show how many communities are getting involved in this so I encourage everyone to wear red on February 2nd um at the same time we will we're not there yet but the bumper sticker there's a lot of people that that were took part of it some amazing artistic designs it's going to be very hard to choose I might have to choose a couple uh the top three or four because there's so many good ones we're going to be finalizing that by next month and I would like to highlight that as well as our job board again so next I would like to hand it over to uh Nas uh uh Nissa Phyllis and Gia Patel as they do every month uh our student Liaisons um will present and then I'll get the slideshow up you can just click slideshow in the top right corner good evening everybody um thank you for giving Nissa and I your attention it's always our pleasure to compile um the highlights so we're just going to go through the December and January highlights so first starting off um for the extracurricular section um senior class Council held an event and it was a winter wonderland on December 20th um the council organized a fundraising event in the Union High School cafeteria with a really cute Winter Wonderland theme the event featured engaging activities like gingerbread house competitions a cookie decorating station um and a hot chocolate bar next um was the Mean Girls production it was from January 19th to the 21st um the UHS pack successfully staged a captivating production of the musical Mean Girls and emotions ran high specifically with this play through performers because a lot of the seniors acknowledge that this could possibly be the last production of 2024 so they described this as Bittersweet as they were bidding farewell to the stage while cherishing members um next was the tups parents Academy um and on January 19th here in the library they conducted a seminar to explore the profound effects of stress on both physical and mental health the event underscored Union's commitment to prioritizing the well-being of not only the community but also each individual this seminar is part of a series of initiatives that are taken exemplifying the significance of collective and individual well-being within the Union Community um next is the seventh and eighth grade info night which was held in the big gym um this is a yearly event and students were introduced to an array of extracurriculars including Sports such as track and extracurriculars including dance team um next is the winter coat drive the UHS Empower Club is proud to announce their winter coat drive taking place from January 2nd to February 1st this initiative aims to support families in need by accepting both new and gently used coats in alignment with the Union High commitment to community service the UHS Empower Club along with other Affiliated clubs remain dedicated to making a positive impact and exemplifying the value of compassion and assistance um next is plans of a UHS fashion show um the senior Council and student council are delighted to announce their collaborative effort in organizing the 2020 24 Union High fashion show this annual tradition featuring our very own UHS students as models is eagerly anticipated by the entire School Community as plans unfold and additionals detail and additional details are solidified I'm excited about delving into the project and providing updates and on to the athletic accolades okay um the UHS wrestling this past Saturday our high school hosted the Union County wrestling tournament 16 Union County schools competed in the long day tournament UHS senior Daniel Colin won the Union County championship at 175 class defeating Joey Asura of kford by pin Dan is the First Union County Champion since 2017 unions AEL aserado finished second in the 138 pound weight class and Union finished fifth in the team standing the Union High School wrestling team is currently 10 and four and ranked fourth in the new Jersey North Jersey Section 2 group 5 Alysa Alor is the top ranked female wrestler at 235 in NJ early in January she finished first in the Elizabeth ladyes Minimate tournament and first at the Bergen County girls wrestling invitational Christine Pierre Lewis finished third at these two tournaments for Union UHS track their Union High School track throws competed in the Pioneer shop put night Esther armadi and babaa Olo finished in first place the Union High School track program competed at the Union County championships on January 19th the girls 4times 400 meter of Muscat kid anuo and hendo are in second place Caleb doson and second place in the shop put with a PR of 490 marara portando earned fourth place in the 400 meter with a PR of 59 seconds and 48 and six in the 200 Cassidy kid earned six in the 800 meter dash congratulations to longtime Union High School track coach Bill Toronto coach Toronto has been inducted into the New Jersey Scholastics coaching Association Hall of Fame class of 2024 coach Toronto coach track and cross country at UHS for over 30 years accumulated hundreds of win over 30 County championships section championships and group state championships union union representative Samantha therer is to a senior at UHS is a member of the UHS field hockey basketball and track team she represented Union at the National Women's and girls in sports day at rers University during the rers women's basketball game on Sunday January 14th December athletes of the month number one is Arian bantes boy swimming number two is Francis Bantu girl swimming three is Samad Alim bowling four is Gabriel hargo wrestling please be sure to follow the UHS sports page at UHS Sports to keep up with all the latest Union achievements and thank you to miss noes for all these wonderful pictures not over yet um so for union Bowling s Lim is competing in the Union County boys Bowling Championship today at Jersey Lanes in lynon Samad was in sixth place qualifying for the finals only the top 15 Bowlers in the county qualify for finals um Michaela may is competing in the Union County girls Bowling Championship today at Jersey Lanes 2 and she ranked sixth in the county thank you that's all thank you and Madame President that concludes my superintendent's report thank you next we will have the education student discipline committee man Mr McDow to present the resolutions to be voted on tonight thank you madam president upon the recommendation of the Stu of the superintendent of schools the education student discipline committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration uh A1 and A1 I'm sorry E1 and e1a have been voted on already uh so we will vote on uh E11 through uh well E11 affirm superintendent determination of Hib e1- one8 uh the superintendent report on harassment intimidation bullying for the period January 10th through January 23rd uh approve acceptance of funds uh which is E2 E3 approv application and re and receipt of funds the uh NJ doe mental health screening Grant uh E4 approved January report uh also for Hib uh E5 approved curricula for Algebra 1 US History 1 and US History 2 and again these are all in accordance with the information in the hands of each board member a E6 approve updated 20 thou 2023 through 2024 school calendar uh E7 approved 2024 2025 school calendar uh E8 approved the settlement agreement and general release for DC and JC uh on behalf of MC yes E8 E8 okay um ass everyone heard that we will return the executive session at some point and discuss E8 so that won't be vot voted on tonight E9 is to approve uh approve and these may not be in your agenda but they have been added uh E9 is to approve the reinstatement of students uh and this is by their ID number uh 25848 25600 268 289 26059 and 25882 and again these are this is per the recommendation of the superintendent of schools uh E10 is to approve the suspension of student number 26819 uh and we have uh uh some uh hibs that we will vote on individually but for now we will vote for uh the ones just described from E 1-1 through E1 second thank you any discussion wonderful Miss Capo roll call please yes yes yes yes is that on okay abstain on E9 and E10 and yes to everything else yes continuing on there are three Hib investigations that we will vote on individually tonight um and these are all under E11 uh the the first one is a motion to affirm KS I'm sorry KMS number 10 in accordance with the discussion in executive session there a second second there's no discussion Miss capiola roll call please miss carel yes Mr MD abstain m yes Mrs yes Mrs will abstain yes the second Hib on the E11 is a motion to reject Lees number two and initiate a re a reinvestigation in accordance with the discussion and executive session second there's no discuss Miss Capo roll call please miss yes Mr yes yes yes yes yes the third and final Hib investigation under E11 is a motion to reaffirm uh FES number 7 in accordance with the discussion in executive session second if there's no discussion Miss Capo roll call please yes yes yes yes William yes yes thank you next we will have fiscal and planning committee chair Miss carbonel to present the resolutions to be voted on tonight good evening everyone um I first would like to thank the superintendent and the assistant for giving such a detail presentation and recognizing us tonight and definitely um nii and um Gia that was very thorough um you guys are working very hard and it was truly impressive so thank you um fisal and planning committee um there are um a couple of resolutions we voted on during the work session on January 9th which were F7 and f9c F16 is for informational purposes only we will not be voting on that and Madame President president if you don't have any objections may I call them in Block so F1 with the exception of the ones that I previously called F1 through F15 is there a second second thank you moved by Miss carbonel second by Miss Mani is there any discussion wonderful can I have a roll call please miss gel yes Mrs ma yes Mr mdow yes Mrs yes yes yes yes thank you we have nothing to report out for agreements and negotiations next we have the operations committee chair Miss Kim cot Aiden to present the resolution good evening upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the operation committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration 01 approv the security drill bus evacuation reports um 02 which are discussion items request from the township of Union to use Jefferson School um and 03 request from Town of Union to use Jefferson School which is only two different dates um second one is request from Human Relations Committee from the township of Union cheered by Reverend Wright to use Jefferson School for the Black History Month event on February 17th 2024 between 11 and5 and one previously was um requested to use Jeff school or Auditorium and parking lot was the township of unions BM crowns the musical performance on Friday February 9th 2024 at 700 p.m and Saturday February 10th 2024 at 12:00 noon and 6:00 p.m. with the rain date of February 16th and February 17 thank you is there a second second any discussion hearing no discussion this motion has been properly moved by Miss Kim Scott Hayden and seconded by Miss Nancy Mani can I have a roll call please miss capol yes M yes yes yes will yes yes thank you next we will have the Personnel committee chair Miss Nancy Mani to present the following resolutions thank you madam chair um May I pass these as a a group as well okay upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools the Personnel committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration p1- a through uh P5 second any discussion hearing none this motion has been probably moved by Miss Nancy mani and saned by Miss Marilyn Williams can I pleas have a roll call please miss Capel M yes Mr yes Mr MD yes Mrs V yes Mrs Scot yes yes Mrs Willam yes yes thank you this meeting we have nothing on policy at the moment uh moving along we have Mr Mani we will have the following residency resolution okay upon recommendation of superintendent of schools The Residency committee presents the following resolutions for the board's consideration uh these students uh remove were removed voluntarily transferred as District because The Residency but there's no vote requir thank you moving along we have Mr mcdal the technology chair to present the following resolutions upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the technology committee presents the following resolution for the board's consideration T1 approved list of equipment for recycling in accordance with the information in the hands of each board member thank you is there a second second thank you any discussion this motion has been properly moved by Mr Ronnie mcdal and seconded by Miss kimen can I have a roll call please miss capiola miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan Mrs Mai Mr McDowell yes Mrs bisei yes Mrs Scott haeden yes yes Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes thank you um may I have a motion to approve the bills motion second thank you any discussion this motion has been properly moved by Miss carbonel and seconded by Miss maryn Williams can I have a roll call please miss catfield miss benel yes Mr Cohan Mrs Macky yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mrs Scott haen yes Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes thank you so much and I'm moving on to unfinished business yes oh well I'll get used to me talking some more um I I think this will be categorized as unfinished business and I want to kind of Dr B to close in the loop on um feedback from parents regarding Zoom um as an outlet for us for the community to be a part of these Boe meetings um and I think that there needs to be some clarity in terms of why isn't Zoom an option um and what options are there for parents to address this remotely um because the key is we need to give communication you know good bad or IND different whether it's something we want to hear or we don't want to hear um but parents you know are requesting some clarity in terms of Zoom so can you just give us some insight into why Zoom is not an option um and what options are there for parents to join us remotely without coming so it it's not about Zoom as much as having um being live here and then people on Zoom at home if we were all on Zoom it would work like it did not too long ago when we had to hold a meeting on Zoom there wouldn't be uh the issues like that we've dealt with in the past when when we're trying to hold the meeting in person and then the the the community on zoom we're we don't have the equipment we're not set up for that um that's why you get the feedback that's why you you can't hear uh you know we weren't established the equipment the set up wasn't established to do two different settings and again it um I I did speak to it about this they're they're not at a level where they can we would have to get a lot more equipment um we would we're not set up to to do a a remote meeting with an inperson meeting got it so again if we could go if we go all all Zoom so a lot of people say you you did it it it worked right but it's it's not the same when you're in person and then also have a a community at on Zoom to manage it um and I don't think it it's it's not as uh clear uh so there's more that go into it our hopes are that in the future we we do have a setting that could accommodate that great but otherwise I know it is put out there I believe on uh the township Facebook as well as uh our local channel great so and then uh uh Miss NES who does our Facebook it's out there as well right all right wonderful thank thank you I think that that that was key we did it we didn't do it it needed to be clear yes and if I may say it might say having the two separate platforms is the issue moving forward if another emergency is presented and we have to do Zoom we will do Zoom if an emergency is presented on the same platform where everyone can be heard um any other unfinished business wonderful I will move on to new business um I wanted to announce that we received a letter of resignation from Miss McKenzie on January 9th 2024 we wish her well in all future endeavors and we will announce the future appointments for this seene Madam president yes um I just wanted to say that I attended um the CPAC meeting it was remote uh last week uh January 16th um and they had they discussed um the holiday party um with the the students there and you know different activities but they also had a guest speaker Greer gerlin um who's an attorney and she uh reviewed laws pertaining to special ed um the resources for the parents uh parental rights and specialed um transitional planning for our students when they graduate um and and they plan on having more guest speakers so it was very informative so I encourage anyone um that can um to join the meetings uh they're on the our website the the CPAC committee so I encourage you to come um or to when they have them remotely to to join in they're very informative thank you any other new business Madam Madame President I I have a couple of items um very quickly n S I want to apologize because I said n earlier and um I know we're celebrating the red um it has to do with the first aid and CPR right Go Red For Women yes so that that's commendable um um and I was wondering do we have that as part of our curriculum and PE Health where our students get for state and CPR certified we do have a lot of people getting trained in for State CPR I don't know I don't think it's all special ed but um it also you know no the students I mean yeah we have students getting certified along the way but not all got it okay thank you that's awesome uh Madam president uh just a a small comment um uh uh as as a board of education we are we typically stress that our children if they need help with stress or or having uh I guess bad days or bad situations for them to seek out help one of the things that we discussed in in the executive session was uh also making that kind of resource available to parents uh we know I think we're all aware of what happened this week uh with the family here in Union uh an an absolute tragedy and I could only imagine that if there were some resources available uh to those parents maybe that would have would have helped out uh one of the things we discussed in executive session also was as I said making those kinds of resources available on our website I'm I think I I think no you so far you were good but every time you keep saying when we discussed in executive session I apologize makes me stand up in my chair gotcha gotcha um well one of the things we would like to do is to make resources available online not only to the to the students but but also to the parents and I think I think that was a a very worthwhile discussion I'd like to see us see us follow up on that because uh who knows how many uh lives it could save down the line and excuse me for mentioning executive session thank you you're right and speaking of executive session U we we are going to need to return to discuss a couple of matters so and and I would just like to highlight um with the un uh the tragic situation that happened I I I think it also has to be recognized how much our community stepped up um not just the schools but the community itself I know um there was something posted to donate because of the costs and I know each school it participated I don't have a full uh number throughout our district because it was just put together in the last day um but I also when I saw online and Miss Nunes I don't know if you checked it recently they were over the goal correct Miss noones so the community raised over $25,000 in such a short period of time for this again um horrible um unforeseen um tragedy but I think it says a lot thank you and now the board will go into executive session to discuss Personnel student and legal issues and action might be taken once we return may I have a motion to move into executive session Mo second second okay Miss Capo roll call please motion yes Mr Cohan so yes Mrs Macky Mr M motion to reconvene regular meeting so moved second second roll call please yes yes yes yes yes and we are moving over to the resolutions EA oh oh I'm sorry thank you I was ready to go um E8 upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools the education student discipline committee presents the following resolution for this board's consideration E8 approved settlement agreement excuse me okay never mind um we don't have to mention the upper the upper limit right no okay okay approve you're right you're right thank you uh E8 approved settlement agreement and general release approved settlement agree agreement I'm sorry and general release for DC and JC on behalf of MC in accordance with the non-public information in the hands of each board member second any discussion uh this motion has been moved by Mr mcdal and seconded by Miss Kim Scott Hayden um roll call please miss capol miss carbonel yes Mr Cohan yes Mrs Mackey yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs beny yes Mrs Scott haen yes Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes may I have a motion to adjourn adjourn second roll call please did we get a second wait second Oh I thought Mr buggy second did it for a second if I could M yes Mr Cohan Mr C Mrs Macky yes Mr McDowell yes Mrs Mani yes Mrs Scott haen Mrs Williams yes Miss Santana yes good night yes enjoy your day