Education meeting we are calling the meeting to order and it is 7:10 p.m. and if everyone could please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance a reading of meeting notice the New Jersey open public public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon in accordance with this provision of the act the Verona board of education has cause notice of this meeting to be published in the Star Ledger posted with the township of Verona and the Verona Education Association postings of this meeting setting forth the time location and agenda were posted at the Verona Board of Education office and on the Verona Public Schools district website copies of tonight's agenda and resolutions have been made available to the public via the Board of Education website Mr Cruz if you could please um call roll call sure Mr Walker yes Mrs prel yes Mrs Farrar yes Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes we have corn thank you thank you moving on to our agenda uh I need a motion please to approve our minutes from our May 14th 2024 meeting so moved motion by Mr Boon seconded by Mrs Rella any discussion Mr Cruz if you could please call rooll Mr Walker yes Mrs Fel yes Mrs Farrar Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes motion carries thank you moving on to our superintendent report by Miss Dian juppy good evening uh so we talked a little bit about high impact tutoring last week that it was going to start it has started um uh started on Monday um our tutors and our students are reporting positive uh experience so far I do want to just go over with the board um some things that are may change in the initial uh from the original plan so we started with grade four obviously we know that the state um dragged their feet right they were supposed to tell us in October then our initial Grant was uh not approved we had to resubmit the grant we resubmitted the grant it was approved and then they said it was approved but hang on hang on hang on hang on we gave us a verbal approval they would not give us a writing an approval and writing um and it's $133,000 right so we didn't want to start the program until we got a written approval from the state um and we did last week which is why we were able to um move right into it on Monday um we chose uh to start with grade four because they're going to age out at the end of the summer so getting as many students with in grade four now because as of August they are no longer uh um allowable under the uh terms of the grant so we had SL slated grade three to begin in the summer and go summer through probably um around the winter break uh however we're struggling to um find the students that are available the students that would benefit from the tutoring that are available because of Summer commitment so they're looking to see if we need to extend that not do tutoring over the summer and do it um before or after school in September because we want the students that are most that will be most impacted from the grant to actually receive those Services um so when when a student generally refuses an opportunity like this we go to the next person on the list but we're having a good number of students that are just not available because of pre uh existing summer plans or Camp plans so um we're going to re-evaluate whether or not we're going to start in the summer and um that will be done obviously in the next week or two so last evening I attend well uh uh Mrs presco and I attended uh A really lovely tribute to three of our retiring teachers um Mrs Linda Baron Mrs Maria Meyer and Mr Tom white who collectively have more than 95 years of uh really quality teaching um it was a really nice event except for the part where Mrs prisco and my graduate high school graduation picture wound up on a screen you never want that um but it really was a a very lovely event um a testament to the three teachers service to the district and I think uh the next one is uh for Mr morn who last night I unfortunately had to choose between honoring these three teachers or going to his last official concert um but uh I I heard the concert was wonderful and yeah great good to hear it's um it's amazing to see and I believe it was elementary middle and high school together in one concert was a half an hour show um and we had Pro approximately 50 people in our gymnasium at the high school last night honoring Mr morn and celebrating our students across the District so um but he will also be having a a retirement uh dinner as well so we had some uh fourth grade uh fourth graders um walked over to hbw today for tours they were from Brookdale Avenue School and Forest Avenue School we are in the middle of conducting map testing at hbw and um just to give a quick Staffing update um the uh the tenure the new tenure track position that we spoke about at last meeting we are uh We've accepted um applications all week and they're going to begin interviewing um the uh we did hire the art the registered behavioral technician uh we are still in discussion with a replacement gifted and talented um teacher K5 uh we are um interviewing for the special education leave replacement at hbw we are now we've gone from accepting applications to interviewing uh the instrumental teacher at hbw because um Mr Halper will be taking Mr Boon's spot at the elementary level and at the middle school um we had Mrs acrian and Mrs ker and Mrs Simmons have been really working at trying to create the special education schedule when you schedule um you always start with special ed because it's the hardest schedule to do and um as a result of special education law and limits on the number of students that can be placed in an in-class support setting you often wind up with more sections than you would if you didn't have um you didn't need inclass resource or inclass they call it ICI here but it's generally known as in-class Resource as a result we had nine sections extra in special education primarily in social studies and science for in class support and that equates to a teacher and a half so what we're going to do do and uh Mr Cruz and I discussed the um finance and impact of that we need to advertise for a full-time special education teacher at hbw and we'll cover the other sections as six period sections trying to cover nine or eight or nine sections as six period would be uh really hard and um uh not great for our kids um it's difficult when you have an extra period and you're trying to juggle and um so we'll be hiring another special ed teacher at hbw so we're accepting applications for that at the high school um I am very uh happy to let you know that we found a special education math teacher um really uh enjoyed the interview with him and I believe he's on the agenda this evening um I'm sure Connie put his information out to you in the in the board packet we also hired uh an AP Environmental Science Biology teacher who happens to be a former Verona High School graduate and uh very very uh uh eager to return to Alma Haram ma as a teacher we are still accepting applications for the Spanish uh leave replacement um we are still trying to find a part-time uh substance abuse or Student Assistance coordinator and still accepting applications for the anticipated physical education teacher so last uh meeting we had a question about Aaron's law Aaron's law is um uh was passed in late 2019 regarding the um requirement of school districts to um do age appropriate instruction on um what is sexual assault and you know stranger danger all the way up through human trafficking um so the state the the way the law is written is that it char as commissioner of Education to provide to school districts uh guidance which we got this year so um we i i attended a round table today and uh we had a presentation from a company that had some has really good resources uh and and they're free and they're quality so uh over the summer now we have three sets of resources that we're going to be reviewing and um U Mrs Paul Mari and the and the P health teachers will go through and see which one is the best fit for our needs um but it was interesting that we had a question about that at our last meeting and uh they're kind of coming out of the woodwork as the state just released the guidance all these programs um that's um my report for this evening thank you does anyone have any questions or comments quick question is it Aaron's law just want R Ain e r i n thank you thank you moving on to our agenda to our business administrator report Mr Cruz sure uh good evening everyone uh in finance this month uh there are a few resolutions uh in tonight's agenda um in uh the first one that I just wanted to point out is the 2425 renewal of our food service manager vendor pomptonian along with the 2425 uh meal price list uh another piece that I want to point out is that we are going to have a request for proposal an RFP uh later in the fall uh uh hopefully before the spring uh because uh at this point we're uh this is the last year of that uh current agreement with pomptonian so uh at that point we will evaluate also um whether or not um where our numbers with uh free reduced lunch uh students and the participation in the fall and also um to be to better assess uh which food provider will be a better fit for Verona going forward in year 25 26 and Beyond the other um renewals that we have there is um also our our 2425 uh health benefits with brown and brown um the health uh benefit provider which is AER health and for our dental benefits is Delta Dental and lastly resolution uh E9 I just wanted to uh highlight uh this is a RFP that we will that will be facilitated by the hunon uh County uh Educational Service Commission also known as the hunon uh Co-op uh the the uh one of the things that uh we do is on a a 3 to four year cycle is a uh lease financing um uh this is something that's already planned uh is uh about uh $250,000 a big portion of that on about2 14,000 is for new it Hardware or servers along with uh uh IT services that goes with that um and right now that's to replace an an aging uh server system that we have it's about eight years old uh one thing that I want um point out um as we mentioned in previous uh board meetings uh the these new servers will also allow uh enhance uh surveillance um uh capacity where where we will be able to store up to 90 days of active footage um and additional security enhancement in the it space uh so as mentioned this is something that was already previously planned uh and the last 355,000 of that um uh will be allocated uh to replace a 27 Ford cargo van in our maintenance uh Department um which is in really poor condition um and it will be the proposal is to replace it with a a new 20 uh 2023 uh Chevy Cargo B and that concludes my report for tonight thank you thank you Mr Cruz does anyone have any questions or comments from Mr Cruz I'm sorry Qui sorry um thank you because I did have a question on E but you're so you got to it when we um for the um pomptonian is my school bocks then is that um through pomptonian or is that something that we Outsource so as an independent vendor as a point of sale transaction platform so we do utilize in in our agreement with panonian um they manage it for us but it's a platform that we um get to say which is the the parent company for my school bus is uh Heartland okay so so there are other vendors that we could use for we could definitely switch that that need an RFP as well or no because the cost of it is so minimal yes we we if that's something that we want to look at and especially now in the summer before the start of the school year uh if there are I think last year we started looking at um other uh third party providers in that space and there are a few options um besides my school bucks which probably will be a better cost for for parents yeah because it seems like it they increase the the price of it and also the service fee is much higher um and I don't think this isn't this is not a I'm not sure when I don't know if you even have the answer to this but when the when the kids are on lunch line and they put their codes in that goes directly into my school bu right is that where so yeah it gets uh subtracted of the kid like to see the is that what that platform would do whereas like if a student is trying to buy lunch then it's kind of confirms that it is in fact that child that is buying that lunch is that through my school box is that that platform that is uh the point of sale transaction system I believe right now they just use like a a codee so student has to punch in their their code um in order to confirm their account so if a student gives their code to someone else or someone else just has just yeah because it's a big problem I believe and I'm wondering if there's a platform that we're kind of looking into if there's one that could also offer some type of I don't even know if it's if it exists but something where kind of like a check balance just to ensure that if it actually brings up the student's ID to confirm that this is actually that child yeah so we could definitely uh look at that and and make that switch over the summer that's something that why did they go from swipe cards to an actual code that can be seen as you're doing it you probably weren't here when that happened no yeah I wasn't either I could ask a it's aot yeah okay great thank you thank you thank you I'm sorry one one quick question uh jge I'm static about the finding of the deal that we got on that that truck so good work um I I but I do have a general question as our Fleet or the the vehicles we use uh do age out and we have to replace um do we at what point do we start looking at EV opportunity these and are there any federal tax credits I'm sure in this situation it just would not have been cost effective but is there something down the road that will become available so so right now there are a few EV um options I I think it's um it's getting the buy in for like having the infrastructure and and a combination of uh of the two of uh infrastructure and then also uh the buyin I think as now as uh the adoption of VBS is actually is happening on the consumer side um most likely you know we'll start shifting on that side I think even on the school buses um a lot of folks are not recommending right now because the infrastructure um for it is not it's not established especially let's say we have an A an athletic event at a different County and the bus needs to be charged um and that school district doesn't have the infrastructure to charge it that it's not it's not there yet so I think um waiting to establish the infrastructure is it's a big piece thank you moving on to our student representative report from Miss shado okay so uh just first of all I'm very late on this but congratulations to the VHS Deca club for its success at the national competition back in April April end of April April 30th in Anaheim California so students were recognized for their fundraising efforts knowledge of stock market in particular and their presentational skills especially Katie Ang who received one of the top 13 scores worldwide for her presentation in the sports and media marketing competition yeah uh congratulations to farita Sharif a sophomore VHS whose artwork will be featured in the in the South Orange performing art centers inspired Minds Young artist exhibition um farita super talented she's public she's like put her art out last year in the like School literary magazine so it's awesome to see her getting like that sort of gallery type setting that they're giving for these kids in the area and uh congrats to Riley Ying for winning the njs AA scholar athlete award the awards presented to students with participation in at least one uh NJ njsi AA sport a minimum of a 3.0 GPA and this is from the website Who exhibits outstanding school and Community citizenship um on Saturday June 1st the class of 2026 will hold a car wash at hbw to fundraise for future events prom senior banquet that sort of thing and that'll be held from 10 to 2 and uh the Verona High School seniors are a week into the Capstone program as of right now and just wanted to say thank you to Mr or and Mr Hershman who've spent the past year preparing the program and making sure that it's a smooth transition and rewarding experience for students and the businesses that are giving them this opportunity I'm at a I'm at a immigration law office in mle right now and uh that's my report thank you Rees does anyone have any questions comments as always thank you Rees and moving on to our committee reports facilities and operation I can take um facilities U excuse me u a bulk of what we have is on the agenda under Section D um couple other highlights of note um we are looking at um we excuse me we are waiting on a proposal for a repair Solution on the lower field bleachers um the the Press Box uh project is um uh beginning to uh take root uh that will get us through uh this year um and then we're also looking at uh again at VHS the artificial turf replacement uh both the upper and lower Fields um uh this as I mentioned is on the agenda um but we are looking at uh the replacement of the existing existing railing for parent and student safety over at uh Forest Avenue so um more to come on that uh and as I said the rest of it is pretty much on the agenda under uh section D I'll pause there anyone have any questions for moving on to our Athletics committee report Mr Walk would you like me to report out you know it thank you uh spring Sports is pretty much winding down however I just got a report from um our ad Mrs pomari that our girls lacrosse team won the quarterfinals so they uh beat Mawa and they will play in the semi-finals this Saturday against Glenn Rock so congrats to the the girls and girls and boys track team they will compete um at the state sectionals this weekend at Ridge High School so good luck to them we have on our agenda also bus drivers there's going to be a post looking for uh bus drivers for the next school year with they obviously require CDL license uh on our agenda also we discussed um possible um it's been brought to us about flag football for girls in the spring we have to get some numbers on that and circle back about maybe a club team for that and just kind of get the numbers about for that um we are putting out some more signs at the softball baseball field regarding foul balls um of where to park and to be cautious of the foul balls that have been smashing windshields so there's going to be more signage put there uh we we hosted the Essex County lacrosse finals for the boys and girls up at our field we were the host we didn't have any teams playing but we were hosting that we also hosted the g&t finals it was Livingston vers seen Hall seat Hall on that um we reported last week about our athletic scholar Patrick hum and um Eli um Ellie B congrat again to them and re she mentioned about Riley Ying congratulations to her and also our best teammate award was Megan win so congratulations to Megan Sports boosters Awards is on June 14th and also in discussion was um The Freshman volleyball girls volleyball which is going to be a pay to play starting in this um next year and Mr Waka did I leave anything out thanks thank you any questions or comments um real quick two things uh just like for the record real quick uh congratulations to him for rying and number two uh for the girls flag football is that is that like an njsi is that like or is it just like group of it is but it would be um for here there's not many um schools that are our size that really participate or have a a team so if if it ever came out it would start out as a club program um the bigger schools are participating for I think there Mrs pomi said there are two Like official yeah and I don't remember what she said Monclair okay so it's just in discussion there's some interest so and we also have to worry about um our numbers of girls that play other sports that we would could take away potenti from softball track because it's a Spring sport and we're and we're already hurting in softball our numbers are low in softball thing too like we have I think ree we have about somewh it's about 50% of the females in Verona High School play a Spring sport which is a which is great number right um but there's also you know other half females which either aren't interested in sport or have other things that they want to do um so a flag football team is not going to require just four or five people it's it's going to require a whole bunch so it might just be an issue of we might not have the the bodies to feeli the team or like the super said if if we do take bodies away from other teams you know then then that might that might prohibit them from from achieving what they want so it's a kind of thing where if if it did happen it'd be a cool thing and why would we not want it um but right now just information back Gathering stage would there be a potential solution in that that uh if there's not enough to form a whole team but and not taking away from the other spring sports to do a joint venture with another like siiz School in the area that might want to participate in that I think you know Diana or Laura would would speak better to but I don't think just based on my understanding of this board I don't think we'd be opposed to to exploring that at all at least I don't think so thank you um moving on to finance committee I'll take care of It's Always on days that Mr Cruz reports so pretty much ditto what Mr Cruz said um I will say that we do have um there's a couple grants that are in the works um for HVAC upgrades um there's some HVAC units on the high school I believe uh that have that are at the end of their life um and that's really about it because oh yeah no that's it because he's covered everything else so thanks thank you any other questions all right moving on to public comments on agenda action items only if there's yeah oh I'm sorry I skipped education sorry back to committee reports sorry Diana committee sorry I was looking right at it too I'll try to um be quick education meetings are always long um um okay so just a brief overview um Dr Miller gave an overview of our academic Support Program um spoke to some of the AP courses that are are being finalized um in total there were 565 exams that were administered across 27 courses um if for students who did take the the AP exams you can expect to get the um subject score rosters July 8th and then the student data file scholar reports on July 15th um curriculum writing as always is underway and planned for uh the summer um next curriculum council meeting will be on Wednesday May 29th and available to be streamed for uh members of the committee um for next year Dr Miller is also working on the uh professional development for the diversity Equity inclusion and belonging goal um we currently are working with uh J platell group um and there will be a group of teachers who will be uh part of the the work and then they will turn key the work that they do out to um other teachers we had a little discussion about the unpacking of standards and which standards um I think we be worked on so I I my take was that the next meeting I'll probably be able or we'll be able to report out on where we fell with that um as far as assessments go um map growth assessments those are our our district benchmark assessments for grades one through four will be uh administered during the week of June 3D to the 7th and grades 5 through eight uh during June 5th and 6 njsla testing is nearly complete um possibly not as important for the general public as it was to teachers but um Governor Murphy did sign something into law uh for a temporary revision to shes which is something that education ERS are um marked on however um I think an important thing to note there is that any teachers who are in their first year of employment um non-tenured or uh without a record of a pre-existing SGL they'll still be required to do so so that will be a way for districts to um evaluate and kind of follow those teachers um let's see in oh we had um again we we discussed the letters training which is a um multi-sensory approach for uh literacy we have a group of teachers who have been certified so we discussed um kind of determining which teachers have not to see if there's interest in there as well um for a goal of having as many teacher certified as possible um for special education um child held their end of year social last week um I was not able to attend I did have something but um they child is always so wonderful and and does so much for the district so yeah it's good um so always thank you to them for their work um we discussed also special edit projections for uh preschool and then also for our ICI which is in-class inclusion um last year we uh or this year I'm sorry we implemented for the we implemented it for the first time um so moving forward um Miss Simmons who's the director of special um services will you know we basically will be um seeing where the needs are and then based on what the needs of the students are at which school um they'll you know continue that ICI which again is inclass inclusion support um let's see uh esy is end of school year for students who are eligible so that will um begin Monday June 24th and run through Tuesday June 23rd um let's see um we were selected for the Department of Education Grant opportunity um it was a dreams project um which is a mental health uh which supports mental health um and then I think that was pretty much it I miss anything no and then also I just want to make note we had Security on the um agenda for committee reports I had a family emergency yesterday um and could not attend um so we will meet prior to the June 11th but I I apologize and I thank you for being flexible um but thank you does anyone have any questions on education okay now I could go on to public comments on agenda action items only anything that we are voting on if you have any comments please come to the podium and state your name we have three minutes seeing none moving on our agenda we're going to go into discussion items new new business or old business one board president commissioner um so hipster is a hi data collection instrument um it doesn't prevent Hib it just collects in Warehouse is and stores our data um our contract with hipster runs out in about a month uh I don't want to put words in our superintendent's mouth um but it seems that she is is not interested in in keeping hipster uh but that the district principal seem to really like it again if that's incorrect please feel free to refute me um that's correct my opinion is that the anti Bill of Rights law uh was made with very beautiful intentions but it's a very poorly written law it is mostly a copy and paste of what affirmative action laws for adults um and since essentially this is a copy and paste of something intended for something else I don't believe it does as much as it was intended to do to curb incidents of harassment intimidation and bullying um the Hipster program is in my view a uh a poor instrument for for districts to use to track HIV data I think that perhaps if were a large District like Newark or Patterson or Clifton then I could see some Merit in using this particular program um but I don't believe that we need this program in Verona and I think that it actually makes the whole Hib process more confusing and and wor therefore if our superintend this but she doesn't want to hurt the principal's feelings then I ask that our board consider simply taking this very odd situation into our own hands and just when this comes up if and when it comes up on a future agenda we consider saying no we don't want to pay for HIV and that settles the problem right then and there um I believe that if we do this it will benefit uh both our anti-bullying specialist and our anti-bullying coordinating staff even if they don't think it will uh because this program um this particular program in my view causes more confusion to the HIV process than it does you know prevent it or or or provide clarification uh with that said um this does not mean that I support bullying of course I I don't umcl but what I'm saying is that hipster is not answer for Verona so if this does come to an agenda I just ask that we consider saying no to it yeah and I just want to point out it's really not about feelings it's about Mike coming in and making a lot of change and making decisions that pick your battles right so um we're doing a lot to make change here and fighting over hipster when it's been established in this District for many years and it's what they rely on I think it's garbage myself but um or hey if it does come on agenda can you just give us an alert coming yes do we have are there others I have to tell you I don't know because I never felt the need to to need to pay for a program to to monitor something that you can do with 338 form that the state provides to us that we have to use and the spreadsheet okay yeah I was about to ask what was your experience with it in kennel laon uh in both kelon well it wasn't in Livingston when I got there but I know they they don't use hipster um we used um the form that the state provides and before that we had our own form and we managed it with um a spreadsheet experience is that when when you're sending these reports to parents and and these are sensitive and and whether and we've been on both sides both my family and then School I see both sides of it um I I think the the Hipster program it provides an impersonal approach whereas I think just if the district makes something that is right for them and and right and as as far as how they want to communicate important information to parents I I think we could create something far better that but that's just my opinion yeah the only benefit to Hipster is that it is a I think they've had it for 12 years now it is a database rather than a spreadsheet so searching back back to look um at like repeat offenders um you can do that with a spreadsheet obviously the database is easier to do that um I think our principles really are afraid to lose that historical data we can download it into uh you know onto a hard drive and have that um but is that is that something though that could be um kept through Genesis yes I don't I don't know how in Genesis I think the other appeal for our principles um with hip is it does send you a reminder that you're you know you're coming up on your three days or your 10 days it keeps them on track in terms of the timeline but again I spent 10 years somewhere else not needing that timeline to keep in line the solutions are so Elementary yeah like they're so Elementary um and I just don't see it's it's not even a money issue for me it's just that we this is not a it's not you your own words were garbage so that for me is all we need here are there any security issues about going outside of the hibster environment I'm not what by mean by what I mean it in other words is the data more secure in the Hipster of environment as opposed to keeping it on a spread sheet um I would trust our internal it security as opposed to a third party vender to be honest um I I I'll just I'll leave it at that yeah no yeah and keep we keep other student information on spreadsheets right I mean that's how we keep store data even if you're if it's in Genesis and you pull it out for a state report it comes out into a csb file yeah um coming back to I think Diane I'm sorry if it wasn't you um asking about the Genesis opportunity I mean overall we don't use Genesis to the degree that we could or should be and that is an interesting question to me what we do not and and it there is an HIV portal in Genesis because we don't use it I'm not familiar with its functionality but I can certainly look into that maybe that would be the first stop yeah thank you thank you Mr Waka um I just have I wanted to mention that I attended the landing art show and I would just like to thank all of our art art teachers in all of the schools um for all their dedication and work they put into the schools because at landing and I'm sure it was like this at all the other elementaries um the hallways everywhere you go it the the time that they put in to display all the children's artwork is incredible so um I would like to thank them for all their time and effort for the art shows that they do um and the hbw spring concert I attended the one evening up here for the middle school so nice such talented um students we have so congratulations to all those students and I just wanted to also mention um Diana if you wanted to report out about attending down in treton you went to the delegates assembly on May 18th I tuned in for a little bit online it was a long one it was a very long one but thank you for attending that in Trenton um if you have anything to report on that that's all I have really for now yeah it was a it was it was a long meeting um productive one there were 14 resolutions that were um it was a lot yeah 14 resolutions um I think the most notable ones were the um there was one on pilot programs which is payment and L taxes which is something that we've discussed a lot about um interestingly um I think the the way that this was worded would not have helped a district like Verona um and it wound up failing for that Reon because each District's needs are so different however I think it's really important to note that the fact that this was up for a resolution and the conversation that was being had around pilot um really does um bring light to the fact that there are many many districts throughout the state that are significantly struggling due to um new housing and the way in which the state formula is impacting funding and the way in which districts are either receiving pilot funds or not receiving them so this is not a Verona problem this is a Statewide problem um and a big issue so even as a board I know we've been talking about it a lot but perhaps it's something that we can even further discuss about you know thinking about a resolution something that we can bring to the table too to share how it's impacting us that was one the other was Capital reserves being able to be used for school buses EV or electric vehicles so that was interesting um and then there was language over um there's a resolution around changing the language in around Hib to include the word intent so whether a um there was intent for um a Hib claim or not um and I think it went nowhere it's going back to the table to to talk through the language again um they were both you know both sides were very um passionate about whether the language should be in there or not it's the only you know Denise you know is better than I but typically and Kyle obviously right and legal intent is important it's not in hi language at all so um but again it was it was great but I think those were probably the three most notable ones the other issue with Hib from a district point of view um is if you impose a a a suspension say to for a student we can impose up to a 10day suspension and that's our prerogative right a parent can appeal that but they have to go through a proc process and but with Hib parent can appeal anything they can appeal a detention they can I mean it's it doesn't it's not consistent with other disciplinary um uh procedures in school districts so there's a lot that um that organizations like njpsa njasa um uh the the lead group have been asking the the the legislature to take a look at uh changing the way that law is written for lots of reasons um but um I something else but it'll come back oh there was one thing if you're done there's one thing for new business I met with uh uh Mrs Kieran from Miss Karan Mrs Kieran from um the burrow clerk not burrow Township Clerk and uh we were talking about um the two new special elections that the governor uh okay and because we are a district that does voting in our schools that means this opens us up two more times one of them is July which while we're not in school our buildings are used by Recreation by VC and by um potentially the Verona music and potentially our high impact tutor in Grant so um that's problematic and the other is one in September right so we're back to school we're in September we did it as much as we could this year to have off um on June 4th we gave that Dat Back we did have even though it's a tough week in November we have election day the general election off so that uh because we know that's going to be a very busy uh election um one of the things that we talked about is there's an opportunity to move that municipal election to November and as a school superintendent if we can do that and from what I understand from my discussion with Mrs Kieran is that's also a savings a significant saving savings to the Township in terms of monetary what they have to pay for if it's just a municipal election or if the County's doing most of the printing and it's just our additional the same Township that has not given us any pilot funding yeah it's about $75,000 to to run that election yeah well we wouldn't I think we'd save somewhere around 69 because I think it would cost uh the the township about 6,000 if we did it in November and I have to be honest I don't know the arguments for not doing it in November they they right right they right we're in November right right sorry them sorry sorry sorry um this voting in the schools is is new to me uh so I I don't know the arguments for not moving it to November I mean for moving into no well no to not move into November so um council elections are in May yes they could save money if they move they could save money they move the council elections from May to November right so we are on the hook for a July election when our kids are in our schools even though it's not formal school they're in the school that day we have a November uh election that we closed on and so now we have a two-day week that week because of uh teachers convention then we have um a May election um and uh which is just for Council so it would be nice if they consolidate that to November thank you I could just um piggybacking a bit on uh that Di's um report about the pilot um from the pilot funds from the delegate committee there has been some I've seen on some boards for uh school board members resolutions that have been passed by other school boards they're listen they're without teeth it's it's just basically but um I think maybe if it's looking like there's going to be more pilot coming up our way um in Verona there was there was some talk about um transforming some areas into areas of need or whatever the designation is legally uh it might be worth us at some point at least putting it out there so that if Town folks aren't um paying attention maybe they will pay attention a little bit more and realize that these choices by the by the town ship Council impact us and greatly in some regards and we don't have the funds coming to us um whether or not students are coming out of whatever eventually is built the Schoolboard funding is predicated on everyone paying into the school board whether it whether you have children whether you're retired or whether you're a business everyone is supposed to pay a share share to educate the population um it's it's a choice that was made hundreds of years ago um and by allowing townships to carve out these exceptions that are becoming larger and larger it's burdening schools and it's burdening the taxpayers because there are things that we're going to not be able to afford to pay for anymore things that your kids love and I'm GNA throw out the sord sports um you know not just that it's going to force us to potentially redistrict our schools and we know this community loves their neighborhood schools right and and even beyond that though Sports AP tests like class sizes all these things are impacted by the funds that we receive through tax dollars um so while it may be a resolution without teeth it might be a resolution that we want to consider putting out there um so that when not looking like we're just sitting here saying okay we'll just not get money anymore um we have asked for and Miss prisco has has gone to board meetings and we've asked for meetings we've asked for money we've asked for yeah we we've for years we've said just give us something anything um and the answer has been no like the $69,000 I laugh because I recall a few months ago we were talking about you know if we had rece the per pup cost of the children that that attend schools from the hilltop or Hilltop Hilltop right um and I think it was right around $70,000 so like you know they're they're willing to pay for an election for electing two people but you know they're not willing to Pony up some money for us to educate the children that they're encouraging to come to our communities and I welcome anyone who wants to come to Verona I love ver I bought two houses I mean it's it's a great town I love that my kids are being raised here but um you know sometimes money is an issue and Mr Cruz can attest to that probably better than anybody here sorry I didn't intend to interrupt I think um one of the challenges that you hit on um is is a couple fold that we have the risk uh we look to our friends in Cedar Grove um and they get the funds where it gets tricky is it's not not an Apples to Apples comparison from Verona into the situation Cedar Grove has so it's like you're playing three-dimensional Vulcan chess when you're when you're trying to figure out how how this works and and the the other problem and look we're not going to solve this here is that the the pilot money the pilot program was never really intended for communities like Verona um it it was you know the the communities in West Essex that are glomming on to it it was never intended for this for for redevelopment and um yet here we are and so you have these disparate uh funding models that that we're just grappling to keep up with um but to your notion of a resolution I think what we need to see is a transparency so that we see how that money is flowing and that how the community sees and understands that how that money is Flowing because it is not um a for like transaction oh if I may I just had two other business things that I wanted to mention I don't know if they're business per se but um I did also we already gave um a pretty significant shout out to uh Mr morn and I I think I would just be remiss again uh he he has meant so much to my children um they're both in college the experiences they still have a love for music um that that will be Eng with them um from an academic standpoint um study after study just shows how math Improvement uh is driven by success of music programs so I I just again thanks to Mr morn uh and his family for everything they've given to this community um and two other quick nods uh to folks in our community uh we mentioned Dr uh diio uh his son Christian just graduated this past weekend from West Point um and uh Christian was a member of the 20 class of 2020 and uh these students that graduated in 2020 uh just you know from one adversity of of ending their High School careers starting their college careers in uh the shadow of covid um I'm just really proud to see that and and another shout out and and there's so many kids from 2020 that are doing well but um another Verona grad uh who went on to West or excuse me Wake Forest Abby Romeo is uh working um in a reelection campaign uh for Senator shered Brown in Ohio um and again seeing our students take these high-profile opportunities uh it just shows that we're doing the right things here thank you thanks for the time thank you thank you for reporting on that appreciate it anyone else have anything okay thank you uh corespondence do we have any correspondence we did you all received it yes thank you mhm moving on to our resolutions I need a motion please to approve Personnel resolutions A1 through a20 solute motion by Mr Waka seconded by I'll second by Mr Boon any discussions Mr Cruz I'm sorry just one question um and this is for my education we have um and I saw this in a couple situations throughout um where we say salaries will be adjusted when negotiations are complete um what how how big of a range do we see from from those asteris uh numbers that's a good question one uh we can't really answer yet so first of all even even if we had a um an actual uh percentage settlement or tentative memorandum of agreement on a settlement the construction of the salary guide is very complicated so what happens is let's say you have $50 million for salaries and you give 3% on that salary take that 50 million multiplied by 3% that money gets added into that 50 million and then that gets distributed across how many columns do we have eight six eight 16 down yeah 16 16 down and eight across so and and it's not just it's not just that guide it's also the custodial maintenance guide It's the um Power professional guide It's the administrative assistant guide so you take that new amount of money and then you have to distribute it across several guides that have multiple columns so it's really it's hard to protect in addition to stiens what's that in addition to stiens in addition to stiens if the increase is also on stiens and coaching uh salaries so it's uh it's a moving Target understood thank you yeah thank you any other questions Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr Walker yes Mrs brazel yes Mrs Farrar uh I'm going to recuse myself from A9 and I vote Yes on the rest Mrs prisco yes Mr Boom yes motion carries thank you moving on to our education resolutions I need a motion please to approve resolutions B1 there's a lot of on to to B20 motion by Mr Waka seconded by Mrs fera are there any discussions seeing none Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr Waka yes Mrs Vella yes Mrs Ferrar yes Mrs prisco yes Mr Boom yes motion carries moving on to Athletics and co-curricular I need a motion please to approve resolutions C1 through C4 so move motion by Mrs bellaa seconded by I'll second Mr Boon any discussions Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr Waka yes Mrs Vella yes Mrs Farrar Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes thank you moving on to our resolutions for facilities I need a res a motion please to approve resolutions D1 through D5 so moved motion by Mr Waka seconded by m I'll second it braa any discussions is I have one quick question that D5 is that the railing on the playground at Forest yes okay thank you thank you Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr wer yes Mrs Vella yes Mrs farar Mrs prisco yes Mrs Boon yes motion carries thank you moving on to finance I need a motion please to approve resolutions E1 through E9 so move motion by Mr Boon seconded by I'll second Mrs per are there any discussions I I have one question um and this is probably getting way into the weeds here on on E3 um with the YMCA of Monclair using the hbw school as a bus stop I I have to ask and so this is more for my education what what kind of liability issues are there with the YMCA using that that we need to be aware of so we do ask them uh to to provide their liability insurance so that's that is something uh we do as a facility um uh usage uh even though we don't charge them uh to to use the site as a stop that was I recall from when my daughters took that bus uh they don't go into the building it's strictly they just hang out outside if they need to use the restroom they actually use the library across the street and that was my third question thank you Mr Boom Mr Cruz if you could please call rooll yes Mr Mr wer yes Mrs Vella yes Mrs Ferrara yes Mr Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes motion car thank you thank you moving on to governance and policy I need a motion please to approve resolution F1 soov motion by Mr Waka seconded by Mrs braa any discussion Mr Cruz if you could please call roll Mr Waka yes Mrs Vella yes Mrs Ferrar recuse Mrs prisco yes Mr Boon yes motion carries thank you moving on to our public comment section um anyone from the public wishing to speak on any matter please approach the podium once recognized please State your first and last name for the record you will have three minutes to address the board there will be no cross dialogue during this public portion if there is any questions that can be answered only the superintendent board attorney or board president will respond at the end of all comments you will be granted one time to speak and there will be a time limit of 1 hour for public participation and again there's um there will be no back and forth anyone please can come to the podium now before I begin I just want to I did have a comment on the agenda item I didn't pop up early enough um an agenda item that was brought up today so I do have that point I don't know if I can utilize the opportunity now now that'll into my three minutes but I did have um something to say regarding eron's law um it was a part of your agenda item was that correct was that an agenda item it was just okay so that'll be part of my public comment then yeah okay I just want to know and then secondly before I start um am I allowed to play audio recording from a previous meeting for the public it was a recording that was publicly put on Zoom is that something I can play back to the board okay um okay thank you so my name is Jullian armeny um again I have four kids in the FM Brown section of beam of brona so regarding um the comment regarding Erin's law um it was approved in on July 25th 2019 the guidance document you referred to that I was handed today by Charles Miller in my meeting with him was actually released on a uh April 25th 2023 so over a year ago so when you make comments that it was just released I think a year is a is a a long time that that guidance document has been in place for schools and it was released by um the New Jersey Board of uh boards to the boards of Education to review and Implement so I just want to note that it's been over a year since it's been available for schools to review and incorporate into their curriculum um and me as as a person in the private sector if I took a year to implement something that was law by law to be mandated I wouldn't have a job today so I just want to I just want to state that that's how my career goes I need to implement things that are mandated by my company much quicker than a year so that is concerning to me um and just as a person who learned about the alleged incident FM Brown within five days I was on the phone with Dwayne Dixon who is the Essex County coordinator for NJ cap New Jersey child abuse uh prevention I was on the phone with him learning of opportunities right right now there's a free grant available to all schools in New Jersey to provide uh resources for schools to implement eron's law So within 5 days I was able to accomplish that as a citizen concerned about my children and our students so I just want to make that clear additionally I know we were talking about the Hib and I know uh Mr Waka you said certainly we can change the way we manage Hib but you don't condone bullying but I have to say um and this is where I wanted to play back some of the comments from from the last board meeting um it's quite concern it's quite concerning to me that we're all allowed to express our opinions um on this forum but when certain language is used it is quite concern JY so this type of language being used and then you saying that you don't condone condone bullying is is quite surprising let's stop calling child names and if you don't feel safe close your mouth and go somewhere else thank you very much the fact that somebody can get on this microphone tell tell people to close their mouths and then so it it doesn't set the right tone to the community when somebody gets up on the microphone and literally says if you don't feel safe in our community you can close your mouth or move or go to private school um vice president Denise verel you said how much you love this school I have four children that I want to go through this school district so I think safety concern should not be address address publicly in that manner and then for a board member to immediately reminisce about the relationship with that commenter does not set a good image for this school district and the image of this school district is very important right now so whether you think it's warranted or unwarranted the image is not right right now I'd like the board to know we've been implementing Aaron's law regardless of that document it was released after we wrote curriculum for the health Cur culum it more of it will be incorporated this summer but we have implemented that curriculum thank you thank you Miss aren for your comments is there anyone else from the public that would like to get up and speak good evening my name is Haley Mander I have two daughters at FM Brown um I want to know what will you do do next time a child is abused on school grounds I'm here because I want better procedures in place to prevent this from happening in the future I want our schools to take a victim signs and admissions seriously I understand it's hard to believe and easier to say this abuse didn't happen however training would have taught everyone involved that children do not lie about abuse like this and it does unfortunately happen in schools this continued lack of belief the inaction and subpar approach to abuse is why we are here I have read the girl's medical records there are seven to eight professional doctors who have written that she was molested at school sadly there is much more evidence that this did happen to be defensive and say and I quote the superintendent and the principle this rarely happens is ridiculous and dangerous it was clear from the very beginning that they didn't take the girl statement seriously we need better leadership than that there has been talk about incentives what incentives does six-year-old girl have to come forward with this what incentive does the family have do they want to move out of town no did they want to move to a private school no I have seen her cry in panic around my daughters because of her PTSD she Associates old friends with effan brown and her abuser my daughters and I have witnessed her PTSD firsthand the girl's family has to Shield her from all of her triggers which are F and brown the pool the athletic fields birthday parties all because there is a chance of seeing her abuser she was and is completely isolated so as far as incentives this family asked for none of this a year has passed and there has been no solutions from the district the only thing you said was we have better cameras now but we were in the process of putting them in before this case there has been zero support for all children in this situation at the last board meeting on May 14th when asked who School staff should report statements like this to miss gppi said they are to report it to the principal this is a problem according to public data FM Brown did not call the police department the entire school year of 2022 and 2023 on January 19th the girl told her teacher a boy touched her down there and her teacher failed to believe her and failed to move her seat this resulted in her running out of the classroom to go home on January 31st when she went straight to the ER her statements from January 19th and Beyond is supported by me medical records that I have seen the principal didn't didn't do anything from January 19th to March 30th no call to the police no call to CPS the school only called CPS retroactively in March after they learned the girls trauma doctor called the school then sent a letter out in April to second grade parents only because a few kids were questioned on bathroom policy no one investigated if the abuse occurred I encourage everyone to read the claims notice and the hundreds of pages of documents in Discovery I respect our teachers and what they do for our our children however I absolutely expect better leadership it's never too late to do the right thing thank you for your comment Mr Mander aru kman I have three kids at FM Brown false public State statements were made at the last board meeting the board has done nothing to correct them I am here going to clarify the misstatements because you let the Mis interpretation stand at the last meeting allowing false information to continue last year a letter was sent to second grade parents stating that there was an incident of inappropriate physical contact between two students in the girls bathroom at FM Brown the statement also quote said neither law enforcement nor child protective authorities have made any findings related to the allegations this has been misinterpreted by many parents as saying the actual inappropriate contact was invested tigated and it was not after the letter was sent some parents met with Dr Lanzo and Miss dppi we asked if the child onch child touching had been investigated they both stated that the only thing that was investigated was FM Brown bathroom and policies and were found to have no issues Missi clarified this again in an email she sent to the victim's family she states quote dcpn P investigation of the school's protocols and processes was complete and that a letter of explanation for that investigation was going out to parents the words protocols and processes was not even stated in the letter sent to parents you led parents to falsely believe that the actual incident in the bathroom was investigated you later noted to only a handful of parents that the letter was only referencing school's policies and not the inappropriate touching I would also point out for people who say that kids lie adults lie too adults also tend to be more calculating and persistent in their lies whereas lies told by young children often unravel once the evidence is uncovered in this case the victim's statements have told a consistent story and been supported by so much evidence that has been gathered to share a personal story my daughter saw the victim have a panic attack in the bathroom when the inappropriate touching was first starting in first grade although shocking at the time we now know the victim thought the accused was coming back into the bathroom to hurt her in second grade I would see the victim at dismissal burst out of the main doors and run straight home she couldn't run fast enough to go home away from the school now in her new school she is back to her calm self she does not flee the school and she does not make excuses not to go to school do not say that this cannot happen in elementary school kids do not lie about sexual abuse the victim is not lying please be brave enough you and the public to ask questions to learn the truth thank you for your comment thanks keep scaring is there anyone else that would like to come up to the public hi Laura siligato um I continue to have a lot of concerns about the lack of seriousness passion and the proactive steps that are not being taken to make any change in how the community is being addressed communicated with and heard um today I have just uh two comments um just to show you just why I am so frustrated by this um in the last meeting during the portion of time at the end in which um Miss dppi were answering questions that were posed by the community um in response to a question about the protocol on um what is the protocol and policy for teachers or staff reporting abuse um you said and I quote sexual abuse of any kind or any kind of abuse that is reported to the principal this is not true um my concern is that your statement does not follow the law or the actual adopted policy by the district um so this is an example of why many of us are concerned and feeling distrustful of the administration the law is that any person who has any suspicion or has been directly told of potential abuse whether they believe it or not must report it to the proper authorities immediately the law for school specifically states that the teacher or staff do not have to report it to the principal unless that does not interfere with that immediate report to the authorities they can report it to the principal afterwards they don't have to legally report it to the principal at all although I think we could probably all agree that's best practice um my issue is that if you can't even accurately report to the community what the policy is in this public forum I lose all trust that our teachers and staff are being directed and led a appropriately um in this matter and that opens them all up to potential consequences I urge you to review who provides the training on the topic of child abuse to The District staff um and and please look for a new training provider who has a specialization in this area I know a few if you need s suggestions um lastly I urge you all to be aware of how you respond to members of the community in this forum in the last meeting I noticed a lot of small differences in how you respond um but it was very evident in showing your bias um those of the community who were full of Praise And um just in love with our district and Community which in 90% of the way I also am in love with our district and Community but it was thank you so much for your comment thank you very much for your comment and those like me who have some criticisms have some questions thank you it's it's a small difference but it's a big difference and it's really again just showing how much we are not being heard we're not being taken seriously and and just losing all my trust and faith in your um how how much you're taking us seriously thank you thank you MRG for your comment is there anyone else that would like to speak thank you nothing okay all righty all righty hold on let me find my notes back this the next scheduled public meeting will be held on June 11th of 2024 beginning with confidential session at 6 PM public s session at 7 p.m in the Verona High School Learning Commons I need a motion to adjourn so Mo motion by Mr Boon seconded by second Mrs Ferrera it is 8:25 are we all in favor hi it is 8:25 and our meeting is adjourned thank you have a great night everyone