e [Applause] Mr must roll call please Mr Costa here Mr Bono here Mr fi here Mr medo here Mr Rivera here Mr saano present Mr Silva here Mr Holmes present Mrs kispa present present in compliance with the New Jersey open public meeting law commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law the violent board of education has caused notice and posting of this meeting to be sent to the following announcing time place agenda Etc The Daily Journal SNJ today the Press of Atlantic City Vista Bueno the clerk for the city of vinand and the administrative office public bulletin board would our wiso students please come up for the flag salute thank you that's good it's good it's good there Mr sabran is going to be bring in you some certificates for for for [Applause] oh my goodness I will now open the public hearing on nominations for the naming of violent High School South building in honor of a person meeting the criteria of policy 7250 speakers will be requested to sign yellow sheets so Mr mustell can be provided with the correct spelling of the name of each speaker those speakers will be called in alphabetical order in the event someone arrived late or for some reason didn't fill out a sheet he or she will be permitted to speak after the alphabetical list is completed speakers will be given three minutes to make his or her presentation including how the nominee meets the criteria under policy 7250 I will signal when one minute remains so that the speaker can wrap up his or her comments so try to please uh limit your speaking to approximately 3 minutes I ask the audience to avoid repetitive comments and request that subsequent speakers only address new points to be made speakers may only be address nominations submitted prior to the published May 24th 2024 deadline these include Lieutenant Charles asela Mr mustell do we have any yellow sheets we [Applause] do Stephen mevans okay my name is Steve pevans and I'm here to recommend that the uh violent south building be named after chick asela I want to explain myself first I was a very close friend of the Aela family over years my aunt was Carl celed Nick chick's father secretary at City Hall and I work closely with Nick on community projects here uh when he was Senator and he was always great with the violent Community projects also I played Sports I played in 1965 it's a long time ago uh I went out for the violent football team and chicky was on the football team and he reached out to help us out as much as we Poss could I also played winter basketball with him and again he was the same way you know he was always helping the younger guys out and he was always stopping bullying I know when he graduated violent High went to violen high had good grades and he went on to Spring Garden architectural Institute for a year and then he returned to vinand and when he returned several of his friends went into the service and I know he felt strongly about defending his country and he joined the service uh everybody knows what happened after that the sad situation but I he always uh chicky always had deep respect for violin itself violin high school and his fellow classmates he always had deep uh deep respect and I think once the school's named after him it'll be an honor because the students at the school want to know this is the chicki as Sela school and they're going to look into who this guy was and when they look to look into it he would be an excellent role model for the children today thank you very much nicaela good evening everyone and thank you uh once again for the Vinland school board for entertaining uh my brother as as a possible nominee to be naming VHS 1112 um real quick I think um uh the important part of this is is our family our heritage here five generations in violent uh the asselt and pasquali family merged after World War II and my mother married my father Carl Sela a farmer in East vinand uh who went away volunteered to join World War II become an bomber uh crew in the Pacific Theater came back married my mother and as many of the World War II vets came back the greatest Generation started producing families he was the first of uh three sons and uh he had a tremendous amount of patriotism attached to him because my father truly believed in this country our family came here in 1871 en violin 10 years after it was formed uh my grandfather great-grandfather built many of the schools and churches in this community up and down Landis Avenue uh the the uh original Library the Historical Society we were leaders in the in this in this community and building it I stand on their shoulders as you know I served on this board I was part of some real important decision-mak uh issues in the early 90s that led to many of the schools that got constructed here the properties that were purchased under great scrutiny uh because I think in me it was instilled just like it was in my brother the leadership qualities that we learn through our parents our grandparents and our great-grandparents uh there will be other speakers tonight but I currently are am the vice chairman of the Vietnam veterans will moral in Homedale New Jersey the only one in the United States we just embarked in in a massive renovation 25 years ago it was uh dedicated by Senator John McCain and we are now in a $2.5 million renovation and possibly in two weeks another 15 million in which I've been part of uh my legislative career was based and dedicated to my brother 1995 when I was sworn into the general assembly I dedicated my whole legislative service to serving him honoring him and his his bud that served the 1564 new jerseyans who died and with that I built rebuilt the violent Veterans Home which my grandfather built the original and and provided $60 million to a state appropriation to rebuild that that is the finest one in the state right now it goes on and on and on our family has been here so long and dedicated so much to Public Service my father being a police officer the first detective en violent uh Public Service is not foreign to our family that's who we are and by dedicating this school to my brother you're dedicating that school to an entire history of violent my family brought over hundreds of Italian-American families and SP sponsor than my grandfather over many many years owning a coal plant owning the only brick and Block Company in South Jersey and with that employing many many italian Americans at wanted a new life here in America and they came here um this is who we are this is what we did and I think the dedication of this building he was the first graduating class of the N of the 1112 building of violent high he came here first but his senior year he finished in 1965 as the first graduating class I was the fifth graduating class so I know I don't have much time left but I know there's a few other speakers that would like to embellish on what I've been saying and talking about but you would do such a great honor to my family and I'll leave you with this my mother at 97 years old told me on the side of her bed tell our story and that's what I'm doing tonight this is for chicki this is for our family the pascalian asela family thank you very much for your consideration [Applause] Joe griffy good evening everyone thank you for coming thank you for allowing us to speak is it democracy great a Vietnam vetan can get up in front of a school board and tell them what's on their mind I did not personally know Charles Carl assala Vietnam veteran ninth Infantry division purple art recipient my only affiliation with Charles was I was right down the road from him in Vietnam I came home four months after Charles came home in 1968 he came home in a metal casket packed with dry ice I came on and my family waiting for me at the airport I've been fortunate enough doing a radio show for 14 years we have 20 million followers we downloaded to 850 radio stations and in the area we've named many Street for veterans we named the VA Hospital which a lot of veterans from Cumberland County Atlanta County K County go to the Michael J Cent VA Medical Center Philadelphia Michael's the only Medal of Honor recipient from Philadelphia since the Civil War and his family had a home on 46 Street 46 in Landis same Landis Avenue that runs through vinand uh and we named 46th Street in honor of Michael along with the VA hospital in Philadelphia a few years ago some of you may remember I was involved with the naming of the Dominic pill Middle School on Lincoln Avenue well Dominic pill did at 21 served two years in Iraq a year in Afghanistan they made a movie Blackhawk Down Dominic was one of the 14 15 Army Rangers that was killed that afternoon naming a school for lieutenant Charles Aela will mean that 50 years from now every graduating class every diploma will have his name of the school that they're graduating from and somebody may just look at that and say who is this AA and read a story all veterans are going to die right Tomorrow there's n there's 90 World War II veterans at willbe on Normandy Beach for the 80th anniversary tomorrow of the dday invasion the oldest is 107 the youngest is 98 the average age is 103 when we're gone when I'm going when all veterans are gone the only thing that we can be remembered by is a building named after us or a memorial up and they're really not buildings naming a school for Charles is not putting a name on the building it's telling a story it's telling a history story when you go to Arlington the 400,000 Graves every headstone is a story about a veteran and in closing what does putting a war hero's name on a pile of bricks and a lot of cement do does two things it puts a heartbeat on the building the building becomes entirely different the Philadelphia VA people they have better attendance better quality of work because because now they're working in a building that has a heartbeat in it and we can have all the security in the world we want I guarante to you as I stand here right now sometimes some days teachers principles students will hear a voice in the hallway that will be Charles in the hallway saying I will protect this building nobody will harm my students thank you [Applause] Victoria loads good evening hopefully that walk didn't take away from my time here to address you naming a building provides a sense of a story a human element to an otherwise cold structure it creates sentimental value and a sense of grandiose that lends to the character of the building and development of the community that it serves tonight I'd like to tell you a story of the name being proposed for violent High School's south building that name is Charles chicki Aela the story of his name starts in 1871 when the pasquali family chick's great-grandparents came to vinin a mere 10 years after Charles K Landis founded the city as a utopian colony of opportunity in every way that family established the first brick and Block Company in South Jersey on Sixth and Cherry every brick used to build in South Jersey came from right here in Vinland because of that family they quite literally built the city the Reber school marsell school our first Library First Trust Bank our local Methodist Church two Presbyterian churches endless homes and businesses and the vinent veterans home from brick and block they build a lumber yard a coal bin and ultimately a hardware store to not only continue building our city but to also help other vinlanders build their dreams the pasquali eldest daughter Katherine married Carl a farmer's son it is a vine story after all we have to have a farmer in there in for 1946 of course they built their home of brick and raised three boys Charles Carl and Nicholas instead of building the city Carl decided to Serve and Protect as a violent police officer and detective for 17 years the one person he couldn't protect was his eldest son chick chicki is a member of the first graduating class at the new violent high in 1965 and immediately headed off to college to become an architect times were different then chicky watched his friend after friend got drafted to fighting n he could have taken advantage of his college to firment but instead he enlisted and went off to Oklahoma for Officer school in 1966 with nothing but endless opportunities ahead chick chose to be a leader he enlisted in the Army hoping that his service might protect his two younger brothers from being drafted on March 18th 1968 Charles chicky Aela commanding officer in the northern forces protecting Saigon was killed in action in Vietnam some stories end there with loss and tragedy but not this family story The asela Family grew stronger if their oldest son gave his life to protect America they were going to commit their lives to creating an America that was worth protecting starting right here at home in Vinland Carl ultimately becomes vineland's Housing and Urban Development director securing the funding to build the beacon of our City vinand City Hall chick's younger brother Nick uses his talent to Advocate and fight for the residents of Vinland as a zoning officer Schoolboard member State assemblyman and ultimately state senator Aela changed the game in so many ways for violin bringing schools our Hospital economic growth and much needed Aid to our local nonprofits he wrote and sponsored the legislation of the New Jersey school construction program in 2000 providing the funding to build four new schools today we call them pill sabater Wallace and pway he was a loud vo and threatened to find support for nonprofits and helped organizations like the Puerto Rican festival committee Big Brothers Big Sisters to name a few by getting their buildings donated at $1 so they could focus on their actual work here in the city thanks to Nick we saw our Urban Enterprises zones reinstated in 1999 after being dead for 15 years he brought the program back to vinand where hundreds of new businesses would follow and continue to come today our City's greatest asset the electric utility was protected by Aela in 2000 when he changed the legislation in the New Jersey energy deregulation Bill to allow vinent to continue generating electricity without his efforts our most valuable utility would have been overregulation what you're all doing tonight is not simply voting to name a building after Charles chicky Aela you are voting to name a school after immigrants entrepreneurs Builders police officers Visionaries war heroes fathers Sons Milestone graduates leaders Fighters and most importantly resilience you are naming our County our our school after the story of vinand and as with every everything this family and everyone they Inspire does this one's for chick thank you I have no other sheets okay do I have a a motion to approve the naming of the violent High School South building in honor of Lieutenant Charles Aela they moved second roll call Miss aosta yes Mr Bono yes Mr foki yes Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mr cottis body yes it's unanimous congratulations to the asela [Applause] family any no do I have a motion Char this portion of the meeting so move second second all in favor I I roll call Mr mustel Mr Costa here Mr Bono here Mr fi here Mr medo here Mr Rivera here Mr sabran present Mr Silva here Mr Holmes here Mrs ctis body present in compliance with the New Jersey open public meeting law commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law the vland board of education has caused notice and posting of this meeting to be sent to the following announcing time place agenda Etc The Daily Journal SNJ today the Press of Atlantic City vist Bueno the clerk of the city of vinand and the administrative office public bullettin board would you all please rise for the flag salute aliance 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 do we have any special presentations oh no I'm sorry resol do we have a resolution for executive session we redo now therefore be a resolve that the Board of Education of the city of Island School District will convene an executive session for the following reasons is outlined in njsa 10 4-12 discussion is about any collective bargaining unit any matter involving a pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiation employee matters and any matters falling within the attorney client privilege to the extent the confidentiality is required in order for the attorney to exercise his ethical duties as a lawyer motion a motion so moved second second Miss aosta yes Mr Bono yes Mr fi yes Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs cot body yes motion carries now do we have any special presentations yes we have have three presentations so we're going to go take the podium starting with um recognizing board president's portraits and recognizing their service to our school district so give us a moment it gives me great pleasure to recognize former board member Scott English for his service to the violent public schools and gratitude for his dedication the students and staff of violand have been well served by your Devotion to them please come up to receive and view your your portrait let's here from Mr English board president 2015 to 2016 and 2019 to 2021 never Pass open you know I never shy away from the M but first and foremost um yeah put the time wrong first to the assulta family um congratulation on a well-deserved honor um to actually be included tonight in a meeting like this when something like that is voted on as a former board member I also know Meg you know that's one of the most um it's it's a like a catch 22 it's such a um prestigious honor it's great to vote on it as a board member but it also could be extremely stressful because you deal with so many other names that also deserve that honor so definitely congratulations a great thing done by the board as always um VHS will probably be still VHS to many of us but to have a purpose and a name behind it or as it was so well put a heartbeat totally totally love the analogy there that was that was really awesome um just real quick a couple things um being a board member we all know is is a thankless job we do not get paid once a board member always a board member it's it runs through your blood I truly do miss it but then as I heard you do the resolution for executive session I don't miss it as much because I know you're in for a long night of course the people sitting out here of course be patient sometimes you wonder like they're doing nothing back there but is truly work that um needs to be done uh but uh just on a quick other note um I really didn't have anything prepared to speak tonight so you don't have to really worry about got me gone over 10 minutes or anything like that but um when when I decided um that I wanted to run for the violent Board of Education um it it was because I had kids in the district and when you have kids in the district you have the vested interest and you want you want what's best for your kids but um reality hits you real quick when you sit in the chair you inherited you might have two or three kids at home maybe five or six but the reality is you gain thousands of children because that's really who you represent and that's the thing sometimes as board members we get a bad rap and I say we because like I said once a board member always a board member we get a little bit of a bad rap because we think maybe we're voting for personal reasons and things like that but that's public perception and things like that but the thing to to really realize is a decision has to be made and we are the custodian of the taxpayers money so we have to make the decisions that we think are best for our taxpayers our students and our staff members are they sometimes the most popular decisions absolutely not but unfortunately there's yes and NOS out there and when it's a yes and you're on the good side of it hey you think it's the best vote ever but when it's that no yeah you're going to unfortunately piss people off and that's just the way that life is sometimes but the sun comes up the next day and you have to keep pushing um with that being said some of the best uh some of the best years of my life I spent on this Board of Ed education getting to know people and when I said hello to some faces I haven't seen in a couple years it wasn't a handshake tonight it was a hug because I truly um was always treated like family here when I first started I knew nothing but I had a work ethic and with a work ethic you you get the drive to understand and learn things never did I think some 14 years later I was negotiating teacher contracts as a board member now I sit as a teacher talking about contracts as a teacher so your life really does sometimes Go full circle a business owner in town with a plumbing business um then you become a board member your your uh Community elects you to go into that um title now I decided um the chance to become a teacher God I wanted to bring Plumbing to the violent Public School District but it didn't work out maybe someday it could happen again you need help right in the curriculum I'm the guy I I can do it you need somebody to teach it we might have to negotiate that but right now I happen to be at a place Deli Regional High School that focuses on the one thing that every board member should always focus on and that is student and their achievement that is something that will be here long after any of us will it's the students we want to focus on how they achieve and that's what our vote should always be based on that personal thing I always said check it at the table and I've been involved in a lot of the personal things that happens at times but I guess the most important thing to say is as I said I wouldn't talk too long is really never forget where you came from um and if you can make a difference as I truly believe I did here um you make a lot of friends along the way and again you you realize that you did you did make a difference and that's that's the huge thing whether it whether it's naming the school after someone whether it's anybody body that's sitting up there with something that's inside if you can walk away from that chair saying tonight I made a difference and I made a decision that was best for all the students not just one or two all those students then you did your job as a board of education member uh with that being said I think I have nothing left in the tank and I didn't have anything prepared tonight but again thank you for this honor it's great to see the faces again and it was it was a pleasure to be here this evening thank you very [Applause] much I wasn't sure if he was going to end but well done thank you sir for your service next we would like to recognize Megan Spinelli board president from 2022 to 2023 for her service to Devine public schools and gratitude for her dedication the students and staff of Island have been well served by your devotion [Applause] and I have to fix this isn't it 2021 two years we'll fix the I was actually president from 2021 to 2023 for two years um great to see everyone I miss the people but I do not miss the shenanigans I I am happy to be on the sidelines watching from a distance um again thank you and it was great to see everyone this [Applause] evening let's have both of our former board presidents come together just for a quick photo on this side thank you thank you again next I'd like to invite coach Schiff athletic director he will present the spring season highlight and celebrate some of our athletes and their accomplishments yeah okay thank you got you thank you good evening thank you to the board of education and Central Administration for having me tonight uh the athletics department has put together a slideshow for everyone to view to the people in attendance tonight our board members our Central administrators a lot of this information might not be new to you because your attendance at our events our games our ceremonies has been really special this year and our students see it our athletes see it U we're really building something special in the athletic department okay this past spring season we had 10 high school teams that consisted of over 400 athletes two middle school teams um girls track and field and boys track and field in which we had 75 students in the bottom left corner of the presentation have to give a shout out to sky sky and ran they were the prom king and the prom queen both our spring athletes for the high school okay one of everyone's favorite events is our College signings um this was new to us new to the athletic department we were a little sporadic with it this year the students want to have all of their friends all of their family members there with them so we do it when they want and a lot of times they have to back out last minute but next year we're going to try to hold an event for each season uh in the gym with decorations and refreshments and really make it a fun event for the community but we have at least one a month we have one coming up again for ran Jeffrey our prom king um June 11th we have a signing for him okay I could probably spend the rest of the night speaking about our softball team on Friday Friday they will be participating in the state championship for group four Public Schools that's the largest schools in the state um yesterday we traveled all the way up to marbor high school and we Mercy ruled marbor on their home field uh it's really uh and um you know I have the list of all stars on this presentation but it's really a different player each game um yesterday Gianna Pera and Megan Harold Al Alvarez has combined for 10 RBI in the game so someone different always steps up and if you could see in our collage they're always smiling it doesn't matter if it's in the middle of a game or if they're posing for pictures uh it's awesome to watch these girls play so Friday 3:00 up at Ivy Hill Park it's a little bit of a hike but we'll be playing for the state championship I will share the link to stream the game it's free to stream those are pictures from this past Saturday where we hosted the South Jersey champ ionship game okay moving on to baseball our baseball team is successful each year the the Highlight this year was We graduated an awesome group of seniors all of which will be attending college trade school or the military uh this group won 56 games over their career and last year they won the cape Atlantic league title okay our boys tennis team reminds me a lot of our baseball team where they play a super tough schedule in the regular season they that really sets them up for the playoffs um we actually went to Egg Harbor Township and up upset that team in round one of the playoffs that's coach Luciano and Coach masero they also do tons of community service under coach Luciano hey our girls track team we're the Cumberland County champions again you'll see Georgina chalo's name a lot uh she was one of the standouts on the team but coach Hubbert and his group do great job and we're the best in Carland County each year okay for the boys team coach the shields uh this guy's a legend in South Jersey not just for track and field but for all of coaching in South Jersey thank you coach too many people to shout out I'll never remember everyone um but their team was highlighted by Chris Thomas he placed third in the Cal championship in the triple jump and again rwn Jeffrey was a cow Allstar the prom King okay for lacrosse lacrosse was a sport that was kind of new to me but it's really enjoyable to watch um those boys are running up and down the field the entire game non-stop you know hitting crashing our Allstars this year were Gavin Gallow and Jeremy Flores all their games were at Gaton Stadium this year and we got the scoreboard up and running for them and we're just trying to make progress each year okay on to crew our girls coach is Carly frell um our boys coach I'll go to the boys too that's Paul Meyers uh and these groups are probably our one of our hardest working groups a lot of their events are Saturdays and Sundays uh they have a bus ride every day for practice or for their meets cold weather hot weather raining they're out there working hard so shout out to our boys and goo boys and girls crew teams and then golf coach Paul Lan was his first year as golf coach for us this was the first year um the Cumberland County championships were hosted at Eastland uh we used to have to combine with Salem because there weren't enough golfers and golf teams but I'd like to think that our team we had great numbers for our boys team put us over the edge that we were we were able to just focus on Cumberland County and then of course it was the oh you know I don't want to forget Kai solenberger freshman um was the highlight of the boys golf team and then of course it was our first year having an all female golf team with Coach Jim hag um you know just one example of us trying to progress each year and add programs and just do more for the kids each year this was the Cumberland County tournament at Eastland okay and finally our Middle School boys and girls track team for the first time remember we participated in the South Jersey championships at Ocean City High School uh coach Kay and Coach Alyssa brought their teams down and then after the event they went up to the boardwalk to have some pizza and ice cream and pretty great picture of that group right there and as many of you know we hosted a few events over the past week our Hall of Fame ceremony was last Thursday congratulations to Nick Aela Alicia Cox Dale Jones Terry Spencer and our very own cat Rivera for being in conducted have a few pictures up there and it was an awesome event we had about 200 people in attendance and then just Monday night we had our senior athletic awards banquet we had about 225 people there every senior got a plaque and each coach awarded a an MVP or a coach's award for one senior on their team um as far I mentioned them at the senior banquet Monday night but too many achievements really to list them all uh first first ever female golf team first ever Pete Adams Memorial wrestling tournament we hosted the Cumberland County and Cape Atlantic League tennis tournament for both the boys and the girls we sent two of our athletes to National women in sports day um with your help we're now providing snacks to our athletes between School and practice every day I always have to shout out Miss Ashley s for starting our uh social media campaign the video of our girls clenching the South Jersey Championship on Saturday the softball girls has over 8,000 views now on uh Instagram I think Instagram or Facebook I get them both confused but Ashley knows the difference um participate in the PCO parade National Night Out our baseball teams visit the pigtail league and the Challenger League uh Thanksgiving food drives you know every weekend our sports teams are contributing to the community too many people to thank our trainers our nurses our secretary security um the board of EDS Central Administration our Vine the public school administration you know even beyond our secretary Jen Jimenez there's secretaries here at the board office that I have to ask questions every day uh Cara Nicole um Marita Rini of course you know to put on these events and these ceremonies there's just countless people I'd never be able to thank everybody and these are some pictures of our Athletics team kind of celebrating over the past week um they tell me that me and Rowdy the rooster look alike so they made me add that picture and then you see the South Jersey championship trophy on the right but again thank you the kids love seeing you at our events we're going to contribute we're going to continue to contribute to social media and just promote these kids as much as we can thank [Applause] you well done coach shiff thank you for your leadership and the work that you're putting into continuing our programs and thank you again to the rest of the athletics department and team coaches and students and staff who make a difference every day thank you thank you sir uh next we have Mr mustell our school business administrator who's going to present the revised tier times for 2425 Mr mustell thank you Mr thank you Mr Yano this is the tier times for 2425 you know overall we recognize the struggles experienced this year with the transportation delays in students getting two School home to getting back to home uh while a significant absentee rate coupled with minimal driver substitutes compounds the problem we're adjusting the school times which impact Transportation times we are revising times for the preschool program and there's no change for the Cunningham Academy um here you'll see the bus arrival time the current and new for the high school uh along with the teachers sign in and out the number of hours the start and end time for the schedule for the children and the bus departure bottom line is we are moving back five minutes at the high school time so instead of the buses arriving at 7:05 they'll be arriving at 7:00 instead of the school opening at 7:33 it'll be opening at 7:28 Middle School we're also moving back by by 5 minutes going from 810 to 8:05 for bus arrival start time 8:15 to 810 elementary elementary we're moving up 10 minutes so instead of starting the day at 9:10 they'll be starting the day at 9:20 preschools preschools is our most significant change so their current schedule is 920 the buses arrive at 9:20 the teachers come in at 8:40 they leave at 3:40 it's a 7h hour day the start time for the program is 9:25 the end time is 3:25 uh and it's 6 hours for the children uh the bus departs at 3:30 the new schedule will be teachers sign in at 7:25 and sign out at 2:25 still a 7-h hour program the start time will be8 10 instead of 925 the end time will be 215 instead of 325 and it'll be a 6h hour day still for the children what that does is create uh it creates opportunity at level three tier three we call it so instead of these buses running with the elementary levels they'll be running with the high school and middle school levels it opens up spots for bus drivers to fill in uh when there is absenteeism the following groups were notified and consultant uh the obviously the Board of Education UAW vaa parent surveys were conducted preschool staff surveys were conducted uh principes were surveyed and the central Administration obviously was on board we sent out multiple Google s form surveys as I mentioned uh preschool families there was 485 responses 50.3% were in favor of the preschool time change preschool staff was surveyed 170 responses 74.7% were in favor of the preschool change and then for the overall picture principles uh five principles responded four from a survey and one in an email and four of them had positive responses to the tier ch change uh in summary High School start time is 5 minutes earlier Middle School start time is 5 minutes earlier Elementary School start time is 10 minutes later again that creates a 15minute window to help um with tier three congestion there's no change at The Cutting Ham academy start time or end time the preschool has the most significant change in the start times we're looking to improve route efficiencies for 2425 and we're optimistic that these changes will improve the transportation services districtwide any questions I have a comment or question um I guess my main concern is the preschool um I guess it's because we really don't have a lot of drivers to cover a lot of these routes I'm I'm assuming um I'm I'm just really concerned about our working parents also I mean that's a big difference for them understandable they we have Champions they're before and after school program uh they're here till 6:00 at night uh they've been notified as well so they're ready to accept the the um the challenge of watching the students after CL after school I still have a big concern about the preschool I mean paying for preschool and then they're paying for the a before after school program also I'm just I'm I'm trying to be I'm sorry they're paying for preschool well no no they're not paying for preschool but they would they would be there for a little bit longer so that they may not have to pay for that after school program if they were there a little bit longer I'm playing devil's advocate for some of the parents here understandable uh if they're in the after school program chances are they're going to be in there anyway that's my my guess what you know no matter what the start and end times are was that part of the survey no it wasn't but they surveyed do they like the change or not and more than half it's barely more than half but more than half did like the change it gets them to school at an earlier time too so I think parents respect did that any other questions comments okay thank you at this time we're going to go into executive session e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e hi report do we have any questions or comments seeing none approval of minutes do we have any questions or comments saying none do I have a motion so moved second roll call please Mr aosta yes Mr Bono yes Mr fi yes Mr medo Mr Rivera yes Mr saano yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs Scot body yes motion carries committee reports Mr fi good evening finance committee met Tuesday June 4th at 8: a.m. via Google meet uh in attendance was Mr mustell Mr Yano Miss Cary Miss cpot Mr Silva Mr Rivera and myself following bids rfp's contracts are being renewed Dental Alliance Health Insurance Fund uh RX Alliance Benard uh non-health insurance policies VAR substitute nursing contracts sedexo and PCs year three uh RFP for online education services will be awarded to edere RFP barcy partial roof replacement was awarded to J wilham Roofing following Personnel items administrative contracts UAW minmax uh search has started for director of HR executive director of Special Projects operations uh substitute security guard rate increase and NJ youth core cap stiens uh solicitor RFP six submissions were received uh lastly we discussed a Verizon gr Verizon Grant State mandate for feminine products and vaa full release thank you Mr I'll go MREs curriculum instruction met on June 3rd uh via Google meet Mr Yano Mr Mary myself and Mr Silva were present we discussed basic skills and instructional coaches Northeast pre-cast visit at BHS high impact tutoring Grant summer program June 2024 administrators Academy back to school exra banza has been scheduled for August 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at uh Gone Stadium curriculum instruction up St for the 20242 school year Middle School block grading for 2425 school year as well Transportation committee met on Tuesday June 4th we Google meet present were Mr mustel Mr janana myself Mr Rivera and Miss uh Betty Mason driver recap 150 drivers budgeted 140 Route packages drivers needed 134 fied positions 19 subs two drivers in training average absences in the after in the morning for May is 17 uh. 36 average absences in the afternoon for May is 2071 registrations 22 open registration 229 completed in May joint CH one canceled with commercial Township five accidents in May no injuries Personnel items we have a diesel mechanic retiring Position will be posted tier times for 2425 were discussed uh and are will be on Mr mustell did his presentation today for the summer the team is currently collecting student names for the summer programs to Route summer Transportation graduation Project Graduation driver signups are underway we have attended group meetings with the city of vinand OEM preparation for 2425 team is meeting at the end of June to discuss orientation summer trainings updating driver handbooks route discussions uh driver picks and vacation picks Vehicles we have received two buses which have been have to be returned for driver AC lease purchase we are shopping for two Vans lease purchase and we are shopping for transportation supervisor vehicle District that's all any other reports see none Mr Yano okay thank you uh oh any student representation no um public comment on agenda items or any other matter please limit your comments to three minutes Grace and schwagel schwagel glattus bores I apologize if I mispronounced that it's correct Borges that's correct so good evening Board of Education members my name is glattus Borges and I come before you once again concerning the vinin High School Varsity softball coaches Mr Michael Reed and Mr Alex Gomez and while I'm very proud of the amazing job that our girls our young ladies have accomplished this year and I hope they continue with their winning streak this does not negate the fact that their coaches need to be removed from their positions I did misspeak at the last meeting and want to clear that up it was not Mr Reed who yelled and screamed at my 16-year-old granddaughter trying to bully her intimidate her and humiliate her that was Mr Gomez their conduct is not becoming of a coach they are unethical and are not treating the six while now five young ladies since my granddaughter left the team fairly these young ladies are seasoned players many of them playing softball for the past 13 years and playing travel ball for the past nine years but because they are not on Mr Reeds and Mr Gomez's travel team they are forced to sit the bench eat even though many of them are Juniors and have put in their time they should not be sitting the bench they should not be sitting and letting freshman and sophomore girls play the time that these girls should be playing the freshman's and sophomores our girls have sat their freshman in sophomore year this is their junior year and this is their time to play they should not be playing one inning a game they should not be pinch running and playing one inning a game they should be playing the majority Innings of these games and they are not allowed to do that because of Mr Gomez and Mr Reed that is not acceptable that is not fair and it is unethical so after my last Board of Education meeting I reached out to the director athletic director Mr shiff Alo and he qu and he quickly returned my email saying that he had reached out to my son and my granddaughter and we're having a meeting with them the following week at that meeting Mr shiil Alo assured my son and granddaughter that he would speak to the other girls and their parents and as of this day none of them have been questioned that is also not acceptable I realized Mr sh Al who is new and that he doesn't he's just acting athletic director until July 1st that is not acceptable these girls should not be waiting their turn waiting to play they should be playing so moving forward I am no more longing will willing to keep this inhouse as was suggested to me after the last Board of Education meeting I will be contacting David Frasier who oversees the new J New Jersey for the national Federation of High School Association as well as Derek sers the director of the softball for the njsiaa as well as the division of gaming enforcement and present my evidence to them regarding Mr Reed's illegal Super Bowl football pool yeah I'm going to finish up you may silence me here tonight but I will not be silenced I'm going to tell you that so uh if you do not believe that Mr Reed's egregious Behavior concerns them since it apparently does not concern any of you as I have stated before the fine for that is $7,500 for a first offense okay it certainly will not look good for the athletic department nor this board of education I will not let this be swept under the rug my intentions are to move forward if these coaches are not immediately dismissed from their position so I have um I have every intention of making sure that my granddaughter's senior year playing softball as well as the other season Juniors get that earned playing time on the softball field next year thank you Mrs CIS party can I um suspend policy for a second here because that can't go unanswered Mr Yan was there an investigation done yes sir thank you for the question investigation was completed uh by Mr Haynes who's our current athletic director and Mr chaalo with support of our HR department students were spoken to statements were taken contact was made with njsi AA and the be extremely careful this is discussing Personnel in public you're talking about accus the accusations were made against employees of the district there have EV what I'm saying is that you can indicate that action was taken but not the results of that my apology action was absolutely taken and situation addressed satisfactorily addressed okay and tonight the girls softball team is practicing for their State final game and if they weren't practicing up at the seatan hall several of those girls and the coaches would have been here to answer last month's accusations so this isn't going to end when this game ends on Friday night and I'm sure we'll hear from all this many of the uh players and the coaches because these kind of accusations cannot go unanswered Mr brush Michael brush good evening thank you I come in peace board um I'm here just to ask for some compromise um recently I found out uh at my school and this is about our our eighth grade uh music students recently I found out that if you attend CCT Tech as a musician you are not not afforded the opportunity to go to the Vinland High School band and that doesn't sit well with me um my son is at the high school he's a musician and he's an athlete and it doesn't affect my family or myself so this has nothing to do with our family or me personally but I'm trying to advocate for our students to give them an opportunity to continue their their music careers at the high school level um and Mr Rivera I do not know you personally but I know your passion in Violin is second to none um you're all in you you had mentioned that our district in vinin is uh topnotch and the best District in the state and you're spot on with that statement there's one caveat we have to run on all cylinders to be the best District in the state there's one cylinder that's fouled and that's not allowing our music students to continue their education at the high school so I'm just asking for compromise um I'm very um confident that your team could come up with some solutions um work collaboratively and collectively cohesively to um to allow our students to continue their band career I thank you for your time I have no more yellow sheets commendations okay requesting discussion and approval of personnel items 1. 1 through 1.5 as noted on our agenda questions or comments do I have a motion second roll call please Mr Costa Yes except to um I'm I abstained on 1.1 uh subsection oh I'm sorry 1.1a under transfers item number eight and yes to everything else Mr Bono yes Mr foki yes Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs cot body yes and before we go any further we're going to go back to the approval of minutes does anybody have any questions or comments motion so move second roll call Miss AC Costa abstain Mr Bono yes Mr foki yes Mr medo yes on the combined abstain on the executive thank you Mr Rivera yes Mr saano yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs cottis body yes motion carries requesting discussion and approval regarding procedures and operations items 2.1 through 2.5 as noted on our agenda questions or comments seeing none do I have a motion so move second roll call Mr Costa yes Mr Bono yes Mr fi yes Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs cottis spot yes motion carries request in discussion and approval regarding buildings and grounds items 3.1 through 3.4 questions or comments do I have a motion so move second roll call please Mr Costa yes Mr Bono yes Mr foki yes obain obain on 3.4 yes on everything else okay thank you Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mr scotus body yes motion carries okay so this is a larger group of items uh requesting discussion and approval regarding Finance items 4.1 through 4.41 questions or comments do I have a motion so move roll call please M Costa yes Mr Bono yes Mr fi I need to abstain on 4.14 4.24 4.35 yes and everything else Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr saana yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs kispa yes motion carries okay regular agenda items none proposed items for review or discussion by adoption for board members none do I have a motion and do I have any questions about the approval of the bills do I have a motion so moved second roll call please Mr Costa yes Mr Bono yes Mr fi yes Mr medo yes Mr Rivera yes Mr sabran yes Mr Silva yes Mr Holmes yes Mrs kispa yes motion carries there are no emergent items no old business any new business board member and superintendent comments I'll start with Mr foke nothing at this time Miss C I just want to congratulate the assulta family um I also just want to thank um all the wonderful teachers in our district as we're rolling very quickly to the Finish Line um and also um just congratulate our seniors um and uh I just have to say that prom was really beautiful um the students looked amazing and I was really really proud of them so um I hope to see everyone at graduation and we have a meeting so I I will say my goodbyes at that time to our um senior students thank you Mr medo yes I'd like to congratulate not only the assela family but several other Vietnam veterans who died with chiy at the same time this is an honor for all of them many of which I went to school with at the time um on to something that we've talked about that I'm hopeful will not be let go Mr Rivera or ad hoc committee I'd like to have a meeting the week of the 24th if we can schedule that with the principles at the um intermediate schools and the high school to discuss what we've talked about over the past meetings that we've had and which direction we want to go with discipline at those uh schools I'd like to congratulate that girl softball team on making it to the state finals Friday will be their last game one way or another it's the kind of accomplishment that very very rarely happens and you'll remember for the rest of your life that's about it thank you Mr Bona I'd like to uh start by congratulating the assulta family on the naming of the VHS south building in honor of Nick celta's brother chicky um I attended on May 3rd the VHS South gy career day uh hosted by Mr Bob rush and the Jag program jobs for American graduates it was a a great event well attended by the Junior and senior class um on Tuesday May 14th we had a CPAC meeting um with a lot of the local nonprofits uh displaying the opportunities for our children Within our community the opportunities that they have for summer activities um it was a well attended event and it was our last uh CPAC meeting for the year on Tuesday the 21st um I attended many's career day um and I'd just like to thank the students um they took the time I believe they're fifth grade students in um Mrs Mor's class um and they took the time to write some awesome notes and some thank thank you cards um I just thought it was a well attended event and the kids had a lot of great questions and they were intrigued and all the career opportunities that were there that day um so great event on Tuesday May 21st or May 30th I attended a Rossy School play of Beauty and the Beast my niece happened to be uh in that play and it was phenomenal job held by Rossy school all I'd like to congratulate all the Educators the administrators everyone involved in that play it was it was an awesome event and it was great to see uh that back um in our schools uh I believe since Co I don't know if there's any been plays since Co but uh it was great great job um I'd also like to thank everyone involved on that same evening I attended the uh VHS South Hall of Fame dinner uh we talked about it this even evening congratulations to all the uh inductees very uh well- ran event I'm glad I attended my ex or my old um football coach Dale Jones was inducted so special congratulations and thanks to him um and then lastly I'd like to just touch on the coaches for the VHS softball um Team I've been to I coach baseball myself I've been involved in Youth Sports my entire life um and I just want to advocate for them they might have made some mistakes along the way but when you look at a well coached team that's the example you get when you look at our VHS softball team um in baseball we tell our kids every time the pitcher takes over um and and starts that wind up that they are supposed to be ready and moving all nine players on the field are in unisense and it is a well coached team whether they're freshman sophomore juniors or seniors I'd just like to congratulate them on their accomplishments and wish them the best of luck in the state finals and that is all I have thank you Mr Rivera good evening um I'd like to bring forth a 15-point pres I'm just kidding um thank you for the wiso kids that did the flag salute uh congrats on the assela Family um having the VHS south building named after uh Chiki oela uh congrats to Scott and Megan for being recognized tonight I had the opportunity and the privilege to uh serve under both their leadership and I learned uh a lot under their guidance um congratulations to all the sports teams winter and spring for a successful year um another reason why I say violin is the best District in this state and of course I'm going to congratulate first of all our softball team first and foremost our softball team for getting to the championship but when they bring the championship it's going to be even sweeter so bring that CHP back to the back to violing girls all right have a good night thank you see if I can beat Mr Rivera on time also congratulations to our flag Salters uh the assulta family I'm very proud to have worked with Nick culta when he was a member of the school board he was one of the people who was instrumental in the creation of the position I held for 20 years prior to sitting up here with you folks um a good friend and um very staun supporter of our district and our community um also congrats to our great sports teams especially the softball team uh we've won our share of state titles you go look at the flags hanging in the gym it's a always a proud moment for anyone who bleeds red and gray like I do um and looking forward to the 146th commencement in a in a few 10 days or so um one more year and it'll be my 30th uh as a board member and an employee and hopefully I'm going to graduate this time for good not come back thank you Mr Silva yes I'd like to thank the Wis students with a flag salute um congratulate the uh Sela family on renaming VHS after chiia Sela um congratulations to the girl softball team and I really appreciate the display that Mr shago did uh really highlighted all of our sports team and good evening good night I'm sorry good good night superintendent for the sake of time I I have H quite a few uh celebrations but I will email mail them out to the community tomorrow so thank you I just want to Echo with a lot of what my board members have stated thank you to our safety patrol Scott and Megan uh thank you for everything that you've done you've been you were a great leader had great leadership for all of us thank you for coming out tonight there are so many events um that we've all attended um from the prom to the Kum laes to um the athletic banquet to the Hall of Fame to the plays to the concerts our students are wonderful our district is fantastic to the asselta family congratulations this is a well-deserved honor and Mr Holmes I forgot about you so that's all I have to say nothing at this time do I have a motion to adjourn second for