yeah oh good evening and welcome to the West Orange Board of Education public board meeting on Wednesday December 20th 2023 I would like to thank all of you here in person and all those watching from home and joining us tonight I would like to welcome uh our fellow board members and Mr Moore and Mrs Flowers Mrs Flowers would you please take the Roll Call good evening roll call please Mr ifer here Mr Stevenson here miss tuny Cliffe Miss wer here Mr Rock notice of meeting the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest are discussed and acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the ACT a written notice was sent from the office of the secretary of the board on November 16 2023 that said notice was sent by regular mail to the West Orange Township Clerk and the editors of the West Orange Chronicle and by email to The Star Ledger that set notice was posted in the lobby of the administration building of the Board of Education and posted on the district website please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and may be broadcasted on local TV and the district's website at a future date please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance 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 thank you Mrs Flowers uh good evening to our student Liaisons uh Leila Abdul Naja and Kenny J James would you one second Miss uh where the minute consideration of oh my apologies uh in consideration of the closed and public meeting of November 18 2023 as well as the agenda minutes from our September 18th 2023 meeting uh do I have a motion to accept these minutes so thank you Mr um sorry Mr Stevenson uh any a second second thank you Mr ifer and now good evening to our uh student leaza we just need to take a vote oh my apologies oh please yes uh Mr ifer hi Mr Stevenson yes vice president wer yes thank you now um now good evening to our student liaison uh Leila Abdula and Kai James uh would you please share your student lead on report um so uh for the Veterans Day tribute on November oh closer good okay so uh for the Veterans Day tribute on November 12th our RC played a PIV pivotal role in the program showcasing the spirit of service and the West AR High School brass quintet provided a moving Redemption on the national anthem and Taps for the basketball games the season opened on December 14th our West Orange boys basketball team won a g close game against net Lee High School uh 56 to 55 the girls basketball team opened up at home against Mount St Dominic and also won for our chess team on December 5 5th our high school chess team dominated at the New Jersey state Chess confed Federation grade school championships impressed victories and and individual wins to all who participated Battle of the classes which was spirit week between Wednesday December 6 and Wednesday December 13th students were encouraged to show their best Spirit student council tallied participants during the lunch block and the class that had the most participation in our spirit week was given the advantage at our winter pup rally congrats to seniors for winning the event and to all that participated students participated in the things like candy cane day tacky sweater day flannel Friday Polar Express day and t t uh Tuesday and spirit day sorry the winter pep rally was a fun event that encouraged students to um come together and celebrate all the winter sports and the class who accumulated um the most points throughout the spirit week was crowned class of the Season congratulations seniors r Ruby Bridges walk to school day um Redwood and St Cloud Elementary students honored her Legacy by participating in Ruby Bridges walk to school day on November 16th winter choir concert occurred on December 7th and our ninth grade choir Glee choir B conto concert choir honors chamber choir and Jubilee choir performed our holiday open house um happened and our community came together for a festive holiday open house that kicked off at Washington school and was filled with family fun events thank you very much thank you very much for that report um Mr did you want sure or you want to wait till anytime you want so Mr Moore it's time for your report please share your superintendent Report with us thank you vice president wh good evening everyone good evening everyone tonight I'd like to uh present um our elementary math supervisor Miss Darlene Berg and our Washington Elementary School principal Miss Marie Deo to share our recent um Endeavor which is bringing math night to schools and we started with Washington school so please ladies and gentlemen I introduce Marie Deo and Darlene burgs good evening we are here tonight to speak about family math night at Washington school we held the math night on December the 5th and at parent conferences we found that our parents explained to our teachers that they wanted to know more about the new math program and because they wanted to help their children at home with homework or in any way that they could I then called Darlene Berg our math supervisor and we planned the family math night Mrs Berg prepared a presentation for the parents and we had senorita perano one of my world language teachers who translated the presentation in Spanish for our Hispanic Community we had 25 families represented with their children Mrs Berg brought math games and activities for the students to do while their parents listened to the presentation we also had 12 teachers who attended and assisted the parents Mrs Berg did a wonderful job it was a great evening the parents learned a lot and we intend to do another evening in the spring and I want to thank Mrs bur for the great presentation and I would like her to tell you about the presentation so um I first want to thank Miss Deo because it's always a privilege when the principes bring us into the schools to support uh the families and I also have to mention I was um really uh impressed with all of the teachers who had worked all day gone home taken care of their families and then came back out in the cold and it was cold that night uh to to be with our uh children and our our students and their families uh to sit in the audience and explain things as as we were presenting to them so um it was a a really wonderful Community event and it was my privilege to be a part of that and I'd like to say you know since that night a few weeks ago we've also done a family math night with hazel school and uh last week we did a zoom uh meeting with St Cloud family so uh we have another one uh scheduled for January in Redwood and then the other principles are are booking me so I'm book solid now over the next few weeks which is great um the important thing for us is to understand that when when we bring on a a new math program we have to attend to the instructional Corp and the instructional Corp has three elements to it it's teacher student curriculum so curriculum is easy we work on that we we match it to the standards and we make sure that we are uh providing resources to the instructional classroom that are going to benefit our students and uh support their learning we um work very hard at providing professional development to our teachers we began last year we're continuing this year when we attend to the student we also attend to the families because uh the families are an integral part of the students learning and we have to bring um whatever opportunities we can to uh coordinate between the classroom and the home so the family math kns do that the opportunities to explain things to parents um the most important part of this evening was to be able to explain to the parents the three distinct components of our math program and how for each component the families can work with their students so for example we have the diagnostic three times a week and we talk to the families about how to speak to their children about taking the diagnostic uh have a positive attitude understand that it's not an assessment uh that they will see questions that will be difficult that's the way it's designed and uh to encourage them to do their best because that information then informs uh the instruction that goes on in the classroom the second part was to talk about uh the classroom instruction is supported by sending home a family letter every week and that family letter lets parents know this is what we're working on this week here's some examples of uh some of the strategies we're working on and um here are some activities you can do at home this week with your child and that encourages the conversation with the parents uh and the Guardians and the children over uh what they're learning in math and the third component is the digital uh student dashboard which students have access to 247 um and it offers a lot of opportunities for practice for uh teachers to provide additional materials to the students and most importantly we also show the parents how there's a section in there called the bookshelf and parents can log in uh their children log in and parents can look on and there's opportunities in there for the parents to watch very short videos about uh what the math is all about trying to understand the new standards and how this happens in the classroom so um that uh the virtual student uh workbook um opportunities to see uh the materials um that the students are are using all year long um and bringing all of this information to the parents was a part of the presentation at all three schools it will continue to be um we took questions from the audience parents are emailing questions which is awesome and uh we'd like to keep this um this circle of information going so again I'd like to thank Miss Deo for starting everything and uh for supporting uh the good work and um thank you very much for our opportunity to tell you about it this evening thank you really appreciate it thank you Mrs Berg and Mr Mayo uh and to Mr Mo for your presentations and updates um do we have any committee reports okay uh thank you uh just three things tonight um first is uh I had been to the Washington school and had the pleasure of meeting Mr Mayor and then last month uh I had the pleasure of going to Edison uh met with Mr Mr Steve Melendez and Dr Carrie orange Jones and Mr Moore was there were part of that and it was a wonderful visit H we we just happened to be there on a day when they were having uh honors Awards and they asked me to speak for a minute to the uh to the assembly which I wasn't really prepared for but I it was uh in the gymnasium the students were in the middle the parents were in the back and the teachers were in the front and I congratul ated all the students but I did make a point of telling them that the reason you're here is because the people in the back and the people in the front so uh we always remember how much we owe our teachers and our parents but it was a wonderful day and uh on to Roosevelt is that right Mr Stephenson yes okay uh the second thing is uh uh in right before Thanksgiving I was invited to a turkey Drive um uh by Mr Barry giler Barry's a longtime uh resident in town went to school here his kids went to school here he's just great guy always opening up his heart to help people and the community and so it was uh Cynthia cumins and Karen bottinger from Holy Trinity food pantry and uh coach Darnell Grant we're standing out there it's freezing and we're we have all these turkeys we don't know what to do and then all of a sudden the bus comes in with all these big football players and we knew that that the Cavalry had come so it took them about an hour there were so many turkeys but it really was a special day and it's really one of those things that you hear about happens in West Orange before you move here and then you're you're kind of glad that you're part of it so that was very nice and then the last thing is uh on a personal note uh Miss Melinda herera uh tonight is your last meeting and I just wanted to say that we're going to miss you a very important perspective went to school here kids in the school here uh I consider your friend been to my house and uh I hope that this isn't the last that we see of you and uh we wish you and your family all the best thank you thank you very [Music] much I would like to um add on to Mr if's statements thank you for all your service it's not easy to take time out and to serve a community um you volunteer your time we appreciate it and we thank you thank you thank you very much now um just to finish up um at this time I present the harassment intimidation and bullying reports since our last board meeting there have been six Hib investigations throughout the district I reviewed and summarized the investigations of those reports all six have been determined unfounded I concur with the findings of the anti-bullying specialist and that concludes the superintendent report thank you thank you for those reports um I would like to share now uh the president's report uh with all of you and highlight Roosevelt Middle School Roosevelt recently held its teen for teens collection Drive where gifts were donated to hly Trinity for teens in need during holidays uh Community connections service Club is collecting new coloring books and crayons for the special needs elementary students in West Orange for the holidays Roosevelt hosted a pink out sold uh breast cancer awareness bracelets tattoos necklaces and that was hosted by the brownie bar food truck with a special breast cancer awareness desert in which all money collected was donated to the Susan Gan Foundation uh boy soccer team concluded its fall season with an undefeated record um and in Mr Rock's absence Mrs Flowers uh will read the next resolution Mrs flowers thank you vice president wer I would now like to acknowledge Miss wer as this is her final meeting as a school board member and vice president uh this resolution is presented to miss wera by the West Orange Board of Education of asex County whereas Melinda wera has served the citizens of her community for three years as a member of the Board of Education and as the board's vice president for one of those years and whereas Melinda W's service to the West Orange Board of Education includes her leadership and participation in a wide range of committees and associations including but not limited to legislative public relations New Jersey school boards Association and Essex County School boards Association and resolved that the West Orange Board of Education expresses its deep appreciation to Melinda wera for her exemplary service to the children of West Orange Township and the state of New Jersey and be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Essex County School boards Association thank you for your service so may I have a motion to approve the resolution so moved thank you uh second second thank you uh uh vote yes please thank you Mr eer yes Mr Stevenson I'll vote Yes and I'll also add my my thanks and appreciation for Miss Mar's service and her willingness to share her knowledge with me and to uh it's an honor to serve with you and I wish you well in all of your endeavors moving forward thank you thank you um I'll vote Yes and I'll also uh I do not have a formal statement made up I know that's customary but uh I kind of didn't know how to how to say that so um I do appreciate uh the voters of the town for electing me uh three years ago it has been a a very rewarding experience I've learned so much about uh what school board members do the importance um and it has fulfilled a childhood uh I guess fantasy or whatever of you know holding an elected position uh and so that is something that um I really appreciate and I'm grateful for having the opportunity uh so thank you West Orange um and you'll see me around um so yes okay thank you okay moving on next um sorry where am I here okay next we will have questions uh from the public on agenda items only uh any Community member who would like to make comments or ask questions please come to the podium at this time please uh state your name and your home address for the record then begin your comments please limit your comments to 3 minutes uh do we have any members of the public here in the audience tonight who wish to make any public [Music] comments good evening can you all hear me I come in peace I promise as Robo I'm a West Orange resident um so I believe this is the last meeting of the year yeah so I want to say thank you for serving I am a public servant and in many other unelected positions so I know well what it takes to serve in a volun Your Role um I know that it takes a lot of time um for those those who are watching this is general meeting this is what we see but there's executive meetings prior to this there's committee meetings there's reading of the reports and meetings outside of the meetings so I'm well aware of what it takes and the sacrifice that our family makes behind in order for us to do this so thank you um and Melinda I wanted to be here in person today because um I believe you are the youngest serving Board of Education if I'm not mistaken for our town um with which you know you went to school as mentioned uh you were within the PTA we served in the PTA together um you were an advocate of the prek Expansion Project that we work on um and I you know you were doing that as a young parent to several kids I have two and I'm barely keeping it afloat and so I I want to commend you for that and for showing you up and all of us have things going on in the background and personal lives and yet you continue to show up so I want to say thank you for that that's why I showed up for you today even with my little one um and I wish you the best in in personal and professional life um I mentioned this at the Town council meeting yesterday uh where I know that there's layons with Board of Education and Town Council right so I urge the Town Council lay on to the board of education to be intentional about the work that we're doing so that as a town when we're planning this is something I mentioned in our uh Council PTA meetings as well um you know there's all these developments and different type of projects happening townwide I think we can be a little bit more intentional about that partnership so that the town is seeking active input from the Board of Education Liaisons um and vice versa so that prek is something we worked on and now we have free full day pre for majority of our town which is amazing um we do have about 10 different locations if I'm not mistaken and I know that our superintendent our Administration is working hard to consolidate that I think that could be done in partnership with the town right and so if we can kind of be a little bit more intentional about that in this coming year um that would be amazing um that's all I have to say like I said I and peace have a great night thank you Miss [Music] bro do we have any more uh members of the public who would like to make any comments on public uh agenda items only seeing none okay uh moving on to our resolutions uh may I have a motion to approve the Personnel items A1 through A7 as well as Personnel items 3C and 3E on the addendum so Mo thank thank you second second thank you Mr ifar yes uh I do want to congratulate the following retirees uh Tica uh Hedley a part-time bus driver and transportation for her 17 years of service uh Josephina Lopez an administrative assistant in special services for her 26 and a half years of service uh Carla magota an administrative assistant at central office for her 29 years of service Ramon Perez a maintenance worker with buildings and grounds for his 17 and a half years of service uh Janette Wiggins Who provided academic support at Edison Middle School for her 18 years of service thank you for your service uh vote oh my apologies and Kimberly Wilson I'm so sorry a social studies teacher at Edison Middle School for her 33 years of service thank you for your service to the West Orange uh students and our school Community the best wishes to all you all on behalf of the Board of Education um if there's no discussion Mrs Flowers please take the RC call Mr ifer yes Mr Stevenson yes vice president won yes thank you next may I have a motion to approve the curriculum and instruction items B1 through B5 as well as curriculum and instruction item B6 on the addendum so mve thank you Mr uh second second thank you Mr iar any discussion seeing none Mrs Flowers Mr iar yes Mr Stevenson yes and vice president wer yes thank you next may I have a motion to approve the finance items c special service items A1 through3 and business office items B1 through 17 as well as the special services item A1 and business office item B18 on the addendum so moved thank you second thank you Mr ifar Mrs Flowers Mr ifar yes Mr Stevenson yes vice president wer yes thank you next I would uh may I have a motion to approved uh reports items D1 through three so move thank you Mr Stevenson second thank you Mr Ur any discussion hearing none Mrs Flowers Mr ifer yes Mr St yes vice president won yes thank you and that uh concludes uh our uh resolutions thank you very much uh to all of my board colleagues next up we have petitions and hearings of citizens for any agenda or non-agenda items that you may wish to discuss uh you have three minutes to speak please approach the podium at this time and state your name and address for the record seeing none thank you very much our next board meeting for the purposes of reorganization will be held at 5:30 p.m. January 4th 2024 this meeting will be held in the West Orange High School library media center we will not be going into executive session after the close of this meeting there will be no further business discussed uh and no additional action will be taken uh may I have a motion to adjourn so moved thank you Mr Stevenson second thank you Mr ier all in favor thank you all for joining us tonight our meeting is now adjourned and we wish you a good night