public schools are the backbone for preserving democracy want to thank the sponsors for recognizing the importance of the flum that brings the candidates views to the public enhancing participation lastly I want to thank the candidates who are showing their dedication and passion for the community um in their willingness to serve the League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization that encourages informed and active participation in government by increasing understanding of public policy issues through education and advocacy the league is committed to educating voters to help them make their own decisions and participate in the electoral process the league never supports or opposes candidates for office or political parties as this is a debate for candidates for Board of Education I want to mention that the league founded shortly after the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed granting women the right to vote was founded over a hundred years Ago by Carrie Chapman cat an activist who had worked as a teacher and school superintendent um the format uh is as follows we will have opening remarks by all the candidates followed by the questions that we will go in varying orders I've created a grid um followed by one minute closing statements by the candidates uh we will begin with opening statements by Lindsay betala thank you to the PTC and to the League of Women Voters for hosting my name is Lindsay betal my husband JJ and I moved to Westfield eight years ago when our boys were 3 years and8 months old we've had the pleasure of watching them Thrive at Lincoln and now Franklin Elementary they both have many years in the Westfield schools ahead of them I'm excited to be running for our board to make sure that they and their peers and all Westfield students are provided the best education possible I'm also running to create a strong partnership between Westfield parents and the board grounded in open communication and dialogue over the past few months it's become apparent that there is a growing disconnect between board members and Westfield families and the board's inability to navigate today's most pressing issues in both words and actions motivated me to get involved I'm not one to run away from a problem or to sweep things under a rug I take things head on and I'm passionate about making them better for our children professionally I'm a publisher of non-fiction books at penguin Random House from this work I carry a deep appreciation for The Power of Words and the importance of clear communication if elected I will bring those skills to the board as well as my energy and collaborative Spirit my pledge is to listen to as many families as I can advocate for the community and create a safe well-rounded learning environment where all students can flourish one of the biggest selling points of Westfield is the great public school system and it's important for us to safeguard that there's a lot of work to be done but I'm excited about our future and would be honored to represent you on the board thank you um do do we want to is Lila ready or should we move on Lisa you need to move on move on okay um Miss Patel thank thank you to the Westfield parent teacher Council and the League of Women Voters for organizing this forum I've been on the board for over three years and I'm the current president of the Board of Education I've served on all board committees and co-chaired the policy personnel and governance committee I served as as the board liaison to Washington and Franklin Elementary schools and have participated in numerous New Jersey and Union County School Board Association meetings a little bit about me is I have a bachelor's degree in engineering and a master's in educational leadership and instruction I'm certified to teach K through 12 math and I've been a middle school math teacher in a neighboring town for 20 years as a teacher has taught and interacted with thousands of students and parents over the years I'm well versed in the intricacies of public school education curriculum and Staff Development I've lived in Westfield for over 10 years I have two boys that have benefited from the outstanding education that Westfield school systems provide both were involved in sports Music Theater and scouting with my board leadership experience and education background I am well equipped to address the Practical reality possibilities and promise of public schools in our community thank you great continue okay um let's to kind of keep the alphabetical order can we jump back to Lila melli please yes I can and I AP I apologize um four computers later okay um my name is Leila mlli thank you to everyone who made this evening possible my husband and I have lived in Westfield since 2006 we moved here after our first daughter was born we now have three children my um twins are freshmen at the high school and my eldest is a senior as a parent and in my professional life as a speech language pathologist for the Mountainside school districts I've been a strong advocate for children's needs having proudly worked in the education field for over 19 years I'm uniquely Well Suited to approach a board of education position from the perspective of both a parent and an educator I'm running for reelection based on the belief that as an incumbent I will bring the expertise not only in as an established board member but also as an educational specialist I'm finishing up my third year as a member of the Westfield Board of Ed and I have co-chaired the policy personnel and governance committee for the past two years and sat on the curriculum committee my first year I've sered as I have served as board leas on to Jefferson Elementary School Lincoln kindergarten and Union County Educational Services Commissions and have actively actively participated in New Jersey School Board Association events I'm grateful and thrilled to have been an integral part of the development of the 2023 2028 District strategic plan and I look forward to building upon that progress that has been made in the past three year three and a half years since I have had a seat on the board thank you Mr schaer uh thank you thank you for everybody attending and thank you for the organizers of this event um people have asked me why I should would want to run for the Board of Ed especially now considering that my kids are no longer part of the school system uh but I feel like my son and daughter received a phenomenal education I would like other parents to know that as a member of the board I would strive to give your kids the same excellent learning experience that our children received in their 24 combined years from Washington Elementary to Roosevelt intermediary to West High School both went on to Lehi University my daughter is now in med school my son is a mountain hog sophomore those who do know me know My Views and if you don't I'm as open a book as you'll find given I've written over 325 published articles they've been featured in The Wall Street Journal the New York daily news the New York Post the National Review daily wire the hill Zero Hedge the Federalist and others I've also written three published books two novels and one trading related I've owned two businesses making me especially sensitive to policing budgetary matters is unlike government agencies I cannot control my Revenue stream uh therefore I always try to live within the means I live and work right here in Westfield my office is right on Lennox by the post office so I would would be approachable to any parent or teacher who has something you wish to discuss so long as it obviously stays within board ofed protocols um so come to my office and let's talk I'll listen to you what I'm trying not to do is make ambitious promises only to find out once I'm on the board that we have neither The Authority the money or the backing from members to honor them but what I will do is lay out my general beliefs so that you know who I am throughout this coming event finally were I to sum up My Philosophy when it comes to what I would like to bring to the board it would be thus I firmly believe that the three Rs of Education should be reading writing and arithmetic not racism Recycling and reproduction my bumper sticker slogan if you will would be three simple words parents VI use matter if you feel this way as well and want someone on the board who would treat you who know your kids better than any administrator or teacher with respect and listen to what they have to say then even if you don't agree with me on every topic Under the Sun I'm a candidate you can support without reservation thank you thank you uh Mr Shaw thank you very much Lisa I'd like to thank the PTC and the league of women's voter as well as all the attendees tonight for attending this my name is Mark Shaw my wife and I Allison moved to Westfield back in 2007 uh we have two kids that have gone through and are going through the Westfield public school system which we think is a phenomenal program um I graduated University of Connecticut with a degree in Actuarial science I spent Five Years on the Board of the Westfield daycare center from all positions including fundraising to vice president and president I currently run a not for profit as well as my day job which is an insurance consultant and adviser in downtown Westfield um I'd like I'd like to get on this board so we can make the necessary arrangements and the preparations for all the things that are coming down in the future that I believe are going to require an outside the box thought process that we currently don't enjoy at this moment we've got all sorts of new um students going to be moving into the system and I think we need to start preparing for that today my name is Mark sha and I would appreciate your vote on the board thank you perfect okay we're going to begin with the questions um the order will be um am I gonna be permitted to speak oh I'm so sorry yes go ahead Sorry Miss Steinberg thank you hi my name is Julie Steinberg and I'd like to thank the PTC as well as League of Women Voters for hosting tonight's Forum um I have lived here with my husband and two children for 12 years um we have two children ages 15 and 18 and they have benefited greatly sorry and they have benefited greatly from the public school systems um including Jefferson Edison and Westfield High School I grew up in East Brunswick New Jersey and as the daughter of a public school teacher I was taught early on to Value public education and to Value Public Service um and subsequently since I've been here I've spent a lot of time advocating in this space including a number of different issues relating to Holocaust Education special education and disability stem enhancements and support those things have uh been put into action I haven't just used words I've actually ATT ended board meetings regularly and I've actually worked behind the scenes and in front of the cameras to get things done and I'm proud of that and I promise that as Board of Education candidate I would continue to provide that type of advocacy for you I promise to listen and I thank you for your time okay I apologize again uh we will begin with the first question with um Miss melli Miss Patel Mr Schaefer Mr Shore Miss Steinberg and Miss betella Lisa I'm sorry I just want to preface when I hold up the white paper that means you have 30 seconds left and when I hold it up if I hold it up again you have 10 seconds left okay is everybody clear on that okay the the best the more we can keep to the time the more questions we get through so okay um the order Miss mlli uh Miss Patel Mr Schaefer Mr Shore Miss Steinberg Miss Balo you can just keep going you don't need to wait for me to um introduce you again unless you keep running over time then I will have to so first question what do you think the biggest focus should be for the next few years for the Board of Education okay so that is um an easy one for um those of us who are incumbents because our strategic plan should be our biggest Focus um the priorities that I originally ran with um my the values that I had originally um that I had originally emphasized and and the community agreed with I assume because I was elected um really played a part in the development of this strategic plan along with the community and the administration and all the stakeholders so the first goal is um to deepen The Learning Experience for students um one of the ways that I think that we really need to continue to work on this is to have relevant and timely electives um added and we are seeing that uh this th this budget that's being asked to be passed in April with the introduction of Robotics um at the high school as well as computer science in K through 8 we're also talking about um if block scheduling would be something that would be beneficial for our students the pros and cons for that uh goal to is promoting um School culture programs and practices that prioritize Wellness we are going to continue to do that um we've added sex and guidance counselors we're adding um part-time safety officers and again that's um you know talking about scheduling is has to do as well with the um mental health students who research shows high schoolers do better when they sleep late um I also want to continue um to expand our program programming not only for our um cookie cutter kids but for our um High Achievers and for our kids who have special needs so we're talking AP programming and when we talk about inclusion um making our extracurriculars accessible to all um so that there is not a um necessity for the high level of competition let's say for theater for those kids who aren't going to be a part of that but they still have the opportunity to engage in that um in an extracurricular in a in a club or something like that um and lastly facilities facilities facilities full day kindergarten improving our Fields a comprehensive plan in accordance with the budget where we're making small increments thank you uh thank you I would also like to um address the Strategic plan is which is which is what my top priority would be is to focus on that because we did put a lot of effort um into the strategic planning Council that put it together and the last goal that uh Lea had just recently just mentioned was the developing the comprehensive uh finance and Facilities plan because that would support all of the other goals so with that comes yes our fields and our facilities because we do have aging buildings and we do have overused fields that need to be worked on and all of that requires money so right now our most pressing issue would be the budget and to ensure that we get the budget passed so that we can move forward forward in following through with our strategic plan and making the changes that the administration and the board have approved and uh with with uh feedback from the community so that we're all in alignment and we can move forward and get the district back to uh a place of excellence and building back and growing where we want us to be in the future to support our students thank you do I go now me yeah um well obviously I don't have the advantage of being on the inside of the board as my uh two uh predecessors here do um so I will leave them to discuss the details of the fiveyear plan and whatnot um in general I guess why I'm doing this tonight is to just kind of introduce myself and my priorities you as a whole obviously once you go into the board just like with any business you start to really do a you do a a deep dive and see how the sausage is made and some things you want to do you can some things you want to do you just can't I mean some numbers uh just don't lie but I would say I guess for the parents I would like the parents to be more uh I would like to have the budget more accessible to them and me what I mean by that is more detail within the budget you know not just saying $8 million for this program but actually really break it down find out who find out where every one of these dollars is going my my hunch is at $5,000 here $50,000 over there that can all kind of add up and um I I guess for the children I'd like number one to to focus on stem we had you know we we've been hearing that they that there's National programs to get kids to read by third grade well I mean Chinese kids are are programming by third grade our kids should be reading by first grade so I don't know why that's considered a great milestone um also I would say full uh full day kindergarten because I think kindergarten is an essential stepping stone into um into grade school I I think it's it's not what it used to be I think it's it's I mean so much learning occurs in a kindergarten environment that I don't think we quite uh appreciate enough and finally just uh facilities you know I mean some of some of our I think the the newest school we have was made in 19 was 1964 is that tamacas we've got some schools that are over 120 years old and you know and and they're showing their age now obviously it's hard to say to yourself I'm going to do this I'm going to give you a laundry list of things I'm going to do oh and by the way I'm not going to raise your taxes to do it so within that right politics they say is the art of the possible so once I get in there we'll take a look and we'll see what I really consider to be an essential expense what I consider not to be I would like to see us focus more on the Arts and less on Dei because I think the Arts as a musician as a Pianist as a guitarist as somebody who was a graphic artist before I was a Trader I know that they're a lot more than just Hobbies same with physical fitness I think that's essential so maybe ship that priority a little bit but until I actually get in there and look under the hood I can't get into the too much Det on it that would be irresponsible on my part thank you Mr sh thank you so the biggest Focus going forward over the next couple of years and while I I I applaud and thank the two current board members I think that um we need to be a little more sing a little more singularly focused we're going to have a number of new students entering into our system whether we like it or not Westfield one is happening on the scale of which we're not sure obviously yet and park Parkplace Condominiums are happening this by all estimates is going to increase our student population and unless we start focusing on that now we will behind we will we will be behind the eightball trying to play catchup currently the district has approximately 400 to 450 fewer students than we had pre covid um and I know this because I've attended the budget meetings I've attended the school board meetings and that was a number that was told to me as recently as this morning again we are very quickly going to have that number climb right back up to pre-co levels and if you look at what we're asking what what they're going to be asking us to pass for a budget on April 16th of this year you're going to see that the annual increases afforded To Us by the state is not going to be sufficient enough to maintain the current level of teaching once we add 450 new students through all of these new buildings we're going to have a bigger budgetary constraint and strain my second goal would be to create more Blue Ribbon Schools in Westfield Dr Perry just got a blue ribbon school at the Washington school last year the only one to that was back in around 2005 or six of Roosevelt School there is no reason we're not striving for and achieving Blue Ribbon status for more of our schools thank you Miss Steinberg hi I uh I just want to Echo um what sonel and Leila said earlier in terms of focusing on the Strategic plan um with an emphasis I'm thrilled to see the robotics um made it into the budget this year these came out of recommendations that me and other robotics coaches and teachers made back in 2022 um Wellness obviously an emphasis on our aging facilities and our capacity and perhaps looking at capacity a little more creatively than we have in the past for example right now we don't look at capacity from every single possible lens we don't know how many kids are likely for example to have disabilities in the district we just know how many kids have IEPs or 504s perhaps if we look at that we'd have a better idea of what the real needs were uh in terms of the budget I agree with that it is very public I do attend the budget meetings most years and if not I go online so I do think that it's very available for parents but it's also exhausting it's a lot of work and I spent a lot of time looking at that and as someone have worked for Price water as Coopers for six years I'm very comfortable with that um but I do think it's important to look creatively um to the budget and to make determinations not just in terms of cuts which is something that's hurt of in past years but also in terms of how are we going to expand in a way that's reasonable and necessary in terms of what I would do differently I would like to expand dual credit uh the implementation of the uh Holocaust and genocide elective that I championed uh is one of the few dual credit options that we have available at Westfield High School kids can actually learn high school and college credit while they're doing it this is not in uh lie of but in addition to AP classes which are both valuable I'd also enhance early and Elementary Education Services now of course that has a facilities context that needs to be looked at very closely in a cost context the other thing I would do there is I would take a look at the IC classes we offer them in preschool middle school and high school we don't offer them at the elementary level and perhaps it's time to look at that and see whether or not that's creating a disconnect for our students who are moving from one to the other to the other to the other finally I would take a look at the wellness and mental health issues that are affecting our students especially since covid and I would do that by taking a look at the case management of our guidance counseling as well as our child study teams members and see whether or not we need to look at that to optimize performance both for the staff and the students thank you okay second question the order will be hold on I didn't get oh I'm sorry I get okay um okay so I a few um focuses that I think the board should make priority first is investing in education in general um but updating the curriculum so that it is consistent throughout our schools at the elementary and middle school levels and within the high school itself I've spoken to a good amount of students and parents and the consistencies in the curriculum is a very big problem um I'm obviously not currently on the board I do know it's being worked on but it needs to be a a huge priority for the future I also think we need to expand the enrichment opportunities for our younger Learners this will happen if the budget is approved with the hiring of three new Elementary enrichment teachers which would be fantastic because we need to really better prepare our young kids for when they get to high school I think we should expand extracurricular activities at all ages and we also need to focus on keeping and retaining our teachers because that's where the best education can come from we want the best of the best in Westfield number two I would invest in infrastructure improving our facilities is a through line being able to do so much more in the districts from the desks in the schools to the physical buildings to to the fields that we currently have we have to take better care of our facilities um we need to focus on advancing technology classes and steam full day kindergarten and we need to make the infrastructure a priority to do all of that um and lastly I think the board really needs to communicate better with the community and regain their trust so that they can get a budget vote to be able to do all of these things there's a lot of work to be done on the communication side as well thank you okay now the second question Miss Patel Mr schaer Mr Shaw Miss Steinberg Miss betella Miss Morelli and the question is how would you address the problem posed by the facility constraints of our existing schools and the increasing demand for full day kindergarten Miss Patel so it is true that we are under uh constraints for our facility these not just in space but also in cost um so that is something that is being added in this current year in the budget vote in April so which is important for uh people to come out and vote so we appreciate your support and acknowledgement and understanding of why we need to get the budget path going forward in order to get full day kindergarten and to get some improvement in our fields we have hired uh an architect that's done a very thorough review of our facilities and is providing us um uh opportunities drafts ideas on how we can maximize what we currently have and how we can move forward which would then um entail a referendum in 2025 that is what we would need for two uh full day kindergarten we would need to go through a referendum and in addition for the additional students that was um highlighted through the demographic study that would be coming into the system it would also incorporate how we could manage and handle the um the influx of additional students and our the own demands and needs of the space that's required for all the additional opportunities that we want to provide to our students thank you well um it really sounds like it's more of a budgetary issue um all of us would like better you like I said in my opening remarks all of us would like to have finer facilities all of us would like to have accommodations for the new students coming in um but as as I'm sure miss Patel was alluded to they that costs money so really there's only three ways to deal with it you either raise revenue you either cut costs or you do a little bit of both um obviously we have long-term plans for this we've used you we we spent money on Architects to take a look and see what we can do but really it will be up to whether or not we can afford it and part of what it be part of what affording it means is you you have to go in and look at I guess what you would call discretionary spending I'm not sure the exact terminology here and just decide whether what what your priorities are you know there are no such things as Solutions there's just tradeoffs so if if you if we really need to do this and we really need to raise Capital like there's no raise money there's no other way to do it we've cut to the Bone and pretty soon we'll be throwing you know the baby out with the bath water then at that point we sit down with the parents openly and honestly and say look here's what we want to do here's what we have an idea for here's what it will cost what do you all think and at this point we'll either have to put our money where in mouth is or we'll have to try and come up with alternative Solutions and I don't have any at the moment but I'm sure as this process continues I will learn more and probably have better answers for you in the future thank you thank you thanks Brad so to address the facility constraints first thing we're going to need to do is get community engagement uh you need Community both engagement and buyin uh we're going to need a full day kindergarten in Westfield we should already have one we're one of 15 districts that do not have it in the state of New Jersey um we're going to need to raise money to do all these things there's not I've looked at the budget numbers I've been in those budget meetings for the last four weeks or so there's unfortunately not a lot of fat on there however there are opportunities to bring some of that money back to the district currently right now our district pays approximately $8.6 million to send kids out of the district that require needs and education and transportation that we can't currently provide them and I will tell you the board is working on trying to bring them back so I'm not here to tell you that I'm coming up with this idea on my own they are working working to bring that bring those children back and to keep that money in Westfield that will certainly help go and go a long way um if we can bring some of those children back in have a real Community engagement with the community prioritize both the facilities the full day kindergarten when I say facilities I mean the buildings and the fields um I think that's what we're going to need to do and there's not going to be any painless solution we're going to need to find a way to raise more money than even we can save by bringing children back into the district thank you Miss Steinberg yes so um I'd like to Echo um some of the comments that were made by um the others on the Forum today I think it's all uh correct and I do agree with sonel that the Architectural Review and the 2025 referendum are key um the facility constraints particularly for something like full day kindergarten are significant so the question is how do we figure out a way not only to just maximize re not just to cut to maximize revenues but to do it perhaps in ways that we haven't done before so I would say that uh one thing we perhaps should be doing is when we're looking at our budget items is whether or not we can maximize federal funds um and whether or not we can pursue that more than we have as a district in the past I personally think that there is opportunity in several areas and I'd like to see us pursue that we also have excellent on the ground fundraising um through organizations um like the pto's in here in the district and perhaps a capital funding campaign might also be part of what we need to do uh something that doesn't have to be done but something perhaps to look at and finally I'd say when I look at things that I have proposed for example expanding dual credit well expanding dual credit is a way to possibly save the district money when the Holocaust and genocide curriculum was created it was done in conjunction with cane University it's a ready too curriculum the opportunities are very significant ACR here in Union County and across the country for more dual credit that means that we can work with colleges whether or not we have the classes at the high school at the colleges or remotely to get resources to get curriculum to get classes that perhaps we want to expand in but we don't have the facilities or the capacity or the money to and so I'd like to look at that a little bit more closely as somebody who's been on the robotics team and been a coach and Mentor for five years now uh I am very excited to see robotics on the agenda for the budget but I do know how difficult it's been to even try to hire somebody even when we do have the budget so why not leverage dual credit why not look at opportunities that we have with our local and County and state resources and those are just some of the creative ways that I would look at in order to move the needle forward in this area thank you Miss Batel um okay I know that this is a topic of long-standing discussion in Westfield um as my fellow candidates have mentioned as well when we moved here in 2016 I was told by the time my younger son got to kindergarten we'd have a full day option um but 22 23 school year pass and obviously we don't have that so I know at one point there were plans to build on Jefferson and Washington to be able to expand the program I don't know what happened to them um but I'd like to look at what the Architects have found and investigate and figure out how we can maximize the funding to do this um I don't know that there's been a new plan postco put in place but I'm dedicated to making this happen the how is not 100% clear tonight but I would look at the numbers look at the infrastructure look at the space and figure out how we can do it moving forward um we have to develop and approve a plan that takes the community Buy in and then we put it into action full day kindergarten should be a top priority we have to keep our kids in the district and we need to be able to invest in our youngest Learners think about how much stronger the entire District can be if we start them off right with full day kindergarten thank you Miss melli so when we moved here in 2006 I I didn't even know full day kindergarten was not a choice I'm from New York and that's a thing there and 92% of towns all day kinder Garten what so behind the times in this area and it's not only the correct educational decision and Advantage for our students it also provides equal access to education for everyone not every family in westfields can pay for private education and single parents or working parents or um families with different D also need their kids to be in school full-time uh we do need Community buyin um one of the ways that we can ensure that to to talk to the parts of the community that don't have children in schools and and work with them and explain to them that um it will increase the value of our homes and um when at hiring our new superintendent we made sure to hire somebody who knew that this was a goal of ours to have full day kindergarten and that we wanted to hire someone who was on board with this and who had experience with ref and it is in the works now my kids will be in college by the time we are um ready but we are going to get there we are going to have we um have already started putting the work in with um funding for staff that uh can't be absorbed um but and by uh the operational budget we we we have to have staff but we will need to have a referendum um for our capital budget and our goal is to work with the community just as we did when we passed the um vote last year the budget vote last year to have buay in and to see these increases great thank you okay the third question the order will be Mr Schaefer Mr Shore Mr Steinberg Miss Balo Miss melli Miss Patel the question regards playgrounds how would you address the issue of upgrading School playgrounds that is listed as a priority in the Strategic plan uh how would I well I would I would try to make them you know this is kind of a buzzword but I would hope that they'd be more inclusive for children with special needs um but I'm not really sure to be honest with I'm not sure I understand the question how would I can you repeat that sure how would you address the issue of upgrading the school playgrounds I mean how would you get the job done how would you upgrade the school playgrounds it's my understanding as a Outsider that parent teacher groups are raising the money for these uh yeah they are yeah that I do understand Capital Improvements that I do know and again I mean so much of this discussion is going to come down to Dollars and cents and to prioritizing and uh like Mark said before you know I believe it was Mark one somebody said there wasn't a lot of bone to cut in the uh in the board and but you know having run two businesses there's always there's always money to cut um I think the Board of Ed spent six6 ,000 this year on board members to stay in Atlantic City Resort at the annual njsp conference I believe they spent over and please correct me if I'm wrong anybody who's on the board because I do not want to spread false information I'd rather be rather you tell me I'm wrong than me said you say something that's not true uh the district wasted from what I understand over $100,000 on a district app because they got feedback that the West that the website was too difficult to use I don't know if that's true or not but if so that's an awful lot of money I mean 5,000 here 50,000 there would they have uh asked the Westfield Ed fund for $40,000 for a racial for racial literacy whatever that means um you know we're strapped for cash and we had to lay off teachers but they're still intending teachers to spend you know to to go on these conferences um and you know so there's always ways to cut if you really have to and I do think being and I'm sure you know being uh someone who's really run my own businesses since 2007 um you know you you do find a way but it's not always the easiest thing to do and once again you know and this is where I think parent engagement is crucial because there were there going to be a lot there's going to be choices that we will either be able to pay for or we won't we're not going to be able to get everything we want and so we're going to have to start to prioritize and really I you know a lot of that has to do with parental input but you know you can't you know make a silk purse out of a Sal's ear as they say from the business standpoint so uh I guess my short I guess my cliffnote answer to that would be uh I can't answer that fully until I go inside the budget and see what we can do I think it's important uh I think it's important for kids to play I think physical education is very important it's very good for your mental health too and if we can make them inclusive so that kids with special needs also have access to these playgrounds and don't feel left out I mean that's a that's a win for everybody but again it'll it'll come down to calculator is going to make a lot of these decisions and I don't know if it'll be easy or not thank you thank you so how to upgrade the playgrounds um it's actually something we that we did successfully when I was a president of the board of the Westfield daycare center um you know there's probably a few more constraints with a um private well few fewer constraints with a private school than there is with the public institution but we were very successful in going out and getting getting grants and donations uh but you know to our earlier point this is all going to be part of the facility's budget if the money's not going to come from the PTO and the other organizations that support each individual school I know you know at Washington school and Brad you were a part of it for a lot of years we did the Washington School show and a lot of that money went to a lot of different things including the playgrounds um I I I you know that that's just unfortunately the way of the world right now in Westfield and I wish it wasn't but it is unless everybody wants to take it on the chin with a huge tax increase then you know we're going to have to find some outside the box solutions for these that's going to be again Community engagement it's going to be these PTO organizations uh and it's going to be looking for Grants and other other sources of both equipment and money to be able to do these things without the Westfield without the consumer the parents feeling the the brunt of that paycheck that's how I would do it Miss dier yes um I agree with a lot of what my um my co-panelists have said this evening and I just would like to add a couple of things um I was really happy to see what happened in terms of making the Lincoln playground more accessible I know the parents that were involved with that um and I know them um in part because I'm in the community but also because I am as a parent of a child with special needs specifically physical disabilities and I know how long it took to get that done and I know how difficult it was to move that needle forward and I don't think that we should always have to make it that hard to move that needle forward regardless of budgeting priorities I do think that when we have these sort of considerations we should be looking as I said earlier if we're here tonight we should have already looked at the budget we should already understand it and we should already have specific suggestions about how we would manage this and in addition to the items that I stated earlier I want to be very clear here that uh there are grants both in terms of private County state and federal it's just extremely timec consuming to do that and that's where perhaps we could reach out to the community to get more people to help us move that needle forward I also think that the uh underly one of the other underlying issues unfortunately for the playgrounds is kids don't just play on the playground properly when they're outside they play on the fields at the schools and sometimes that is very difficult especially when the fields are very very wet um the playground area becomes much much smaller um as Jefferson parent I'm very familiar with the pool um that so goes up there three or four times a year and I know that we're not the only U school that has to worry about that so I think we need to look at creative ways to start managing that because it's very difficult not just for the kids but also for the teachers to give those children the outdoor time they want during recess for the physical education teachers to give them the outdoor time they'd want on nicer days if it's rained the day before and so those are the types of things where I'm really hoping with the architect's recommendation that landscape architecture was also taken into consideration and that hopefully we have some solutions to help both the kids and our staff um with this particular issue relating to playgrounds hi um okay so I totally understand this problem I spend a lot of time at Franklin Elementary School and I can tell you the Franklin playground is far from handicap accessible if you have a physical physical disability you literally cannot access it in any way um it's actually it's pretty unbelievable and I think it needs to be a top priority to be able to fix that there's steps there's Hills there's everything you just you can't get there um I know project playground has been fantastic and they were able to accomplish you know amazing things at Lincoln I know they're working on Jefferson and Franklin right now but this definitely needs to be a priority grants are a huge part of it um time consuming or not I think they it's something that we can do because it's a way that we can get the money to be able to support it project project playground is supported by our pto's and it's supported by the community and donations but we could really really benefit from the grants and we should be able to put the time towards finding them to be able to make the playgrounds accessible um you know Julie you mentioned the fields those are all part of the playgrounds too you're 100% right and kids are getting hurt because they are not kept up and maintained so that needs to be a part of the plan as well um and I think we just need to look at the budget and find the space for it but also be able to apply for Grants so that we have the extra funding to make it happen because all kids should be able to access to playground no matter their abilities Miss melli so um you have to spend money to make money and that is something um that you have to do when there are so many priorities and you want to address all of them so um some of the things that come to mind especially when we're talking about the playground is um the money that spending to have our current staff go to Ruckers and be educated in field maintenance in the hopes that swamp will know swamp but yes you're right um you know PL project playground did an amazing job with Lincoln I was there for the ribbon cutting um ceremony and it was amazing you know I'm a speech therapist I saw the PEC Communication System it's all inclusive but it's also safe for um abled students where the fear is these this rundown equipment is not safe for anyone grants are a great idea so are fundraisers um the ways that we um have started thinking about um kind of increasing Revenue as well as we are increasing um talking about increasing our programming for next year is um taking students from other districts who are willing to pay for those spots that um is a way for us to um increase our Revenue as well so and again increasing staff we're increasing programming so we're laying out some money in the hopes that we're saving children from going out of District as well as getting some Revenue when kids from other districts are coming here to have their need and we need to um take some of this funding and work on the playgrounds as well miss Patel thank you um since the majority of our questions have been related um or at least all gone back to the budget I just wanted to just provide provide some information about the history of the budget and how uh it goes back to in 2011 when the state significantly significantly cut our budget which which caused reductions of over $4 million since that time we've been um we've been put at a 2% cap on our operating budget so as we all know the costs have risen consistently by over 2% for the last 10 years so in that time span Cuts have been made efficiencies have been made and we have relied upon the school district has had to rely upon PTO the boosters um Coalition of the Arts many different organizations to provide supports that we need and should within our school system but don't have because of funding and that includes um adequate staff to maintain the fields and the grounds which is another reason why again the fields and the grounds and including the playgrounds are not necessarily maintained uh or or be are able to be maintained as well as they could be for proper usage so that this again all goes back to our budget and you know in terms of getting support from these outside organizations they're wonderful and they've been very supportive and provide a lot lot of um opportunities for us to be able to have but it's again we need to be able to inhouse have the the monies available to support and maintain our own Fields playgrounds and Facilities so that again goes back to the budget right okay the fourth question the order will be Mr Shore Mr Miss Steinberg Miss betel betal Miss melli Miss Patel Mr schaer the question regards the high school how should the high school better help support the mental health of our students thank you uh put me on the third rail huh um it's it's it starts with support it starts with education it starts with programs um listen it's a different day and age we're growing up the kids our kids are growing up with than when we grew up everything is instantaneous there's ton of social media uh there's absolutely no hiding from anything or anyone nowadays uh I I think that first of all it starts at home education and compassion at home will will bleed into our children in the proper way needs to be supported at school we need programs we need guidance counselors that are specially trained in this type of um these types of services and I think that that's where we need to start I think that it's got to be at least a minimum of two a two approach where it's done both at school and at home I don't think you can just try and solve the issue by uh implementing or enforcing policies or programs at school I think you need to educate it takes you know three generations for something to finally flow through and be be uh be be abolished and I think that we need to make sure that our children and their parents are getting the resources that our children need in order to prepare them for their mental health going forward that's my answer hi uh I think that that's actually a fair those are fair points what I would say about the high school is there's uh been not just at the high school but throughout this district and throughout this country especially preco and unbelievable increase of mental health needs for students everywhere we are not alone as a district in that what we can do as a district is as I mentioned earlier is to take a look at case load for our guidance counselors and for our child study Services um case teams because they those ratios have gone up exponentially and what's also gone up exponentially over the last five years is the number of cases that are relating to mental health um and so subsequently we have a lot of impacted uh groups here we've got students we've got parents we've got staff we have teachers we have um a lot of our total Community is impacted on it and we're all doing our best obviously at home to support our kids and to support our community but I think we need to take a more um quantitative look at our numbers here to see what's going on and whether or not we have enough support because those folks were fairly at the same ratios before when I say those folks I mean the different counselors and case managers preo and now their volumes have gone up they're still trying to do their regular jobs um for a population that was 5 years ago on top of an exponential increase of mental health needs the other thing I'd like to say as this relates to mental health is everything is toned from the top so we need our leader our leaders here to also support mental health to be consistent in their messaging not just about mental health but about topics that may affect anxiety or mental health um we need that leadership to be consistent clear supportive and upfront uh so that that filters down to all of those affected parties and we all feel the benefit of that shared vision and compassion for each other hi um okay so I know many or I think all of my fellow candidates have older kids either in high school or who have gone through high school and I obviously don't yet so I've taken the time over the last couple months to speak to high school students and to speak to parents of high school students too so I can listen and and learn from them and what I found is that first and foremost the students want to feel heard they want to feel validated they want to be able to go to the administration and the teachers and express something that happened where they felt that they were harassed or bullied or that they're scared and get feedback and be listened to and not have whatever is bothering them swept under a rug that it it becomes addressed and I really think that you know the first thing you can say to someone is to validate what they're feeling and not being able to V not having that validation will negatively impact their mental health across the board they need to know that the district cares that the teacher cares and I agree with with Miss Steinberg where it needs to come from the top it needs to be clear and the the administration and the Board needs to be supportive of the students I also agree that we need to take a look at the guidance counselor's case loads um I know in last year we were able to improve the guidance staff all the elementary schools now have a guidance counselor which is fantastic but my kid's guidance counselor changed so after four years my son got a new guidance counselor and all of a sudden he had someone knew that he didn't know and I have no idea if he trusts that person because it wasn't the same person he had in the past but I think we need to look at those case studies and see if that's an area where we need to expand as well to make sure that the students are supported so mental health is concerning so um you know postco but it was on the rise and um one of the things that I have been so proud of this District um in in kind of being an innovator is the fact that we have made mental health a PRI priority we um have the effective School Solutions um Es at both the high school and um at the Middle School level that is for students who um suffer from varying um different mental illnesses including anxiety and school avoidance um these are trained clinical um staff who are available at all times um there are usually two full-time employees there and we um have increased the sacks at the high school since my since I started in the high school as a as you know my daughter is a senior now as a freshman we have um we and I think initially had none now we have three um we are hiring um a supervisor of special services and I'm hopeful like Mrs Steinberg said um that that the child study team um to and the guidance counselors to have um some time to work on counseling as opposed to all the different hats that you have to wear in a district um in addition what I love is that Hib information and how to file a Hib is readily accessible for parents and students website um it is talked about in school they are en um encouraged to use the Gaggle platform to um report any concern for themselves or others and I think that we are headed in the right direction here and if we work together as a community I think we will continue to see that these kids and Staff feel supported thank you um mental health it's my turn right mental health is I think I think it's actually my turn oh I'm so sorry I apologize okay no problem I'm losing track of the orders you sorry no problem um I agree that it begins with the mental health uh and support for mental health and the importance of mental health begins at the top down which is why it is goal two of our strategic plan and that is something that uh I supported and voted for and that was to promote School culture and wellness from in all aspects so starting with um The High School uh Miss melli mentioned a few of these things but as part of last year's budget we um included to add counselors at the elementary school level level so that all of our elementary schools would have a full-time counselor and not shared Counseling Services we added additional sacks at the high school level and add additionally we added technology such as this gagle software just to help the guidance Department identify um and anything that may come up that would would uh be presented as a possible concern or a student that's struggling so there are many things that were put in place and that continue to be put in place because it is a uh a goal as part of the Strategic plan is one of the top priorities and something that I've supported and uh voted for for last during last year's budget for the Strategic plan and will continue to support going forward thank you again I apologize for the interruption um mental health is actually something very close to my heart uh I've had personal experience uh at the familial level with suicide so I'm well aware of uh of what happens to mental health where it leads to if not uh nipped in the bud I actually approve of the Strategic plan adding the counselors you know the board has done some very good things and I want people to be aware of that um I can tell you personally I got through it at age 16 uh because I had a very caring guidance counselor uh to this day actually I sent him copies of my books we stay in touch and I was in college or I was in high school in 1985 so um I believe that that that one-on-one counseling is very important if we are going to allocate resources somewhere that might be a good area to consider maybe even bringing in uh outside sort of uh you know I guess the the equivalent of teaching assistance for counselors again showing that I'm not a part of the system per se I'm not sure exactly if that is doable um but one thing I think we also have to address with kids and I think that's through seminars and through maybe even uh assemblies is I I'm in the Commodities trading and we're always looking at ai ai is so much more powerful I think Than People realize and we saw we got a little taste of it in our school when some somebody you know used AI to basically manufacture some sorted uh some sorted imagery of one of our students uh you know imagine how devastating that is uh for for a kid especially in a develop especially in adolescence so I think uh you know more engagement uh more counselors if needed even assistant counselors even maybe bring in mental health professionals every once in a while just to to give a uh to you to give a an assembly a presentation of some sort but also um like I said just you know like Mark was right too it starts at the home and it starts and you guys are also right it starts at the top you know when we have a when we have a certain ethnicity in our in our student body that's represented uh by a significant number of people in our town and they can't even uh you know put out a strong wordage about the most serious attack on this ethnic group since uh since the  staffle I think uh I think that shows a a bit of spinelessness to be honest with you and I think that has to change and I think kids need strength um my father was a marine kids need strong people to look up to and I think anod Adine commentary on very uh distressing issues doesn't help but in general counseling AI awareness and uh and also zero tolerance for bullies I I think is is you know one strike in you're out um but again you know that is it's a complicated issue it's it comes at you from many sides you know it would help to not lock kids up for a year or two but that's as they say spilled milk under the bridge so we have to deal with the moral U the moral uh weight that we have for inflicting this on these kids we've got we threw them in that ditch we've got to pull them out and that's one area where I don't mind oh I don't know we spent $50,000 on an essr funds on a community Dei survey two years ago that I don't even know if we saw because it violated furpa so we get grants a lot we just don't spend them properly in my opinion based on what I've seen and I have looked at the budget by the way but you know the budget is Broad Strokes that we're able to see so uh you know when you have outof District tuition is 8.29 million okay that's great but I don't know where divide that up for me I can't do that so it's you know it's not enough just to look at a budget and say okay I should be prepared so uh budgets are a little bit deeper than what we see on the uh on the website as anybody who's in lbos will tell you done thank you I'm done you're muted she's muted you're muted all right apologize okay um for the fifth qu question the order will be Miss Steinberg Miss betal Miss melli Miss Patel Mr schaer Mr Shaw the question has to do with the Dei curriculum please State your opinion about implementing diversity equity and inclusion in the schools and what that curriculum would or should include well I think that when it comes to diversity equity and inclusion which is a a fine Concept in theory uh what we've seen Nationwide is it's used often to exclude other groups um and that has created enormous tensions um and uh enormous challenges um in all levels of education so I think that if we are to be moving forward with Dei and I would give a a very clear example uh over six years I advocated for changes um in Holocaust uh education and for improving ments as it relates to fighting anti-Semitism in the schools I've gone through multiple superintendents administrators teachers staff parents talking to them and was really excited to work with this board and get things done with the superintendent and have them pass changes in 2022 one thing that was offered to me when I had those conversations was to include um anti-Semitism as part of the Dei audit I haven't seen the Dei audit since it was done and I'd like to see the Dei audit but I think it's really important that that was even offered to me and I think that that's the most important issue is that if we are going to move forward with Dei we need to do it in a way that really is inclusive not in a way that is going to keep people from being able to come together it seems to me that a lot of times there are far left and Far Right tensions that are preventing us from being able to do that so my focus is on inclusion um but meaningful real inclusion not one that is driven by uh far anything but a a centered um approach to what we're trying to accomplish and what we're trying to do to educate our children um okay I firmly believe in creating an inclusive environment in our schools and teaching our children to respect and embrace diversity it is extremely important no one should ever be made to feel less than because of their identity whether it's race gender religion socioeconomic status or ability our differences can make us stronger and the Westfield schools need to be a place where all the children feel supported and welcomed and accepted accepted by their peers by their teachers by their administrators by the community um there is tremendous value in learning about the other cultures and understanding how we are the same and different but I am extremely concerned about the way some of the sh the Shelf Dei curriculum has traditionally been constructed um it has been known for rather than teaching inclusivity and acceptance it seems to adopt an extremely reductive oppressor oppressed worldview that has been shown to actually increase divisiveness and that is certainly not what we want in our schools any Dei training or curriculum we adopt in Westfield needs to be carefully vetted and reviewed to ensure that we are not simply training hostility towards one group for hostility towards another if elected I would hope to work with the Dei specialist not hope I would work with this Dei specialist the district just hired to make sure that there's a framework in place to assess the impact of our efforts not be afraid to change course and pivot if those efforts aren't delivering positive measurable results for our community um if we move forward we really we need to do this in partnership with the community in a way that is truly inclusive you know it's not a contest and everyone should be able to feel like they belong you so Dei is not Choice it's state mandated so um we have to show the state that we are providing um Dei in our schools and I agree with what Lindsay said which is that in theory it's wonderful um unfortunately in practice there has been problems it's been problematic um what for Dei to work yes the curriculum does need to be vetted in our strategic plan we talk about um professional development and Community engagement in part of our object objectives um investigating and addressing disparity between students um examining existing programs of studies and determining how to consistently provide access and eligibility and a lot of this doesn't have to do with race or gender or sexuality or religion a lot of this just has to do with an even playing field for all humans and I do think that Dei if it is developmentally appropriate and done responsibly is a wonderful thing we should have um the lessons in school about tolerance and acceptance and inclusion and we should have true tolerance and acceptance and inclusion um and one of those things that we that we have always been um preaching in Westfield is that you know we are this um we have these traditions of Excellence well how can you be an an excellent student and not an excellent person so that that is the goal of Dei that is how I see it and I'm in support of it and it's not choice anyway it's mandated um as Lila mentioned Dei is mandated and also is included in our strategic plan is goal three which is to increase diversity equity and inclusion across academics and extracurriculars so we've touched upon a few areas of how important we think we I can say that I think Dei is and that I fully support it and that it does start at home and needs to continue through education through in the in the school environment and that can include um in areas of curric um to make sure that we can provide access to Advanced coursework and programs to all students um and to create an expand inclusive opportunities for students to participate in athletics Visual and Performing Arts so academics extracurriculars in all areas um so there's a lot of work in this area it is State mandated and something that um is very important and very uh clear to to the existing board that's something we need to continue to uh support emphas ize and make and we made a commitment to it through our strategic plan and I fully support it and um hope to see it continue to grow in our school system my next I don't want to interrupt anyone yes go ahead Mr sh good oh Dei you know look I I believe that while it was well intentioned at its Genesis Dei initiatives actually do the opposite of their ostensible purpose which I assume is to break down ethnic what racial religious and cultural barriers between students I mean who wouldn't want that but in reality Dei has shown itself to be nothing more than a veiled condemnation of one group of people in culture as the Wellspring of Oppression with all the others being the oppressed category and divides them along a moral line between you know moral the moral High ground and you know the moral low ground and all of it has to do mainly with power nothing else no not conduct not uh anything else so I think Dei whatever it was intended to do has been hijacked by a uh by a rather um quite frankly rather racist overtone to it and I I'm not a fan of it at all despite its nice intentions and from there it just becomes an excuse to discriminate ironically under the guise of of fighting discrimination now I do I am aware that it is State mandated but that's a pretty broad term I'm not sure exactly what that means State mandated meaning you have to have three Dei officers you have to have one I mean what what do you have to do here because personally I would go for the minimum of course you want diversity equity and inclusion but the problem is that these don't do the very they do not create the environment that the people are trying to create so why so what is the point just you know we live in the world of reality not philosophy and the reality is it does more harm than good to the very people that we're trying to help in my personal V thank you Mr sha yeah thank you Dei we often talk about Dei as one over encompassing um Theory but actually in effect it's three everyone should remember it's diversity equity and inclusion you can't you can't have the program without all three um that being said as a state mandate as a board member I would work with the Dei people to make sure that we do meet the state standards however I would be also very cognizant to ensure that we're not throwing out good cours work just so that we can fill a certain level of standard without um without ensuring that we're going to be able to appropriately teach and uh prepare our students and our children for the future there are numerous studies that will show you that Dei when incorporated into a business uh on a board are way more profitable than companies that are not diverse have equity and inclusion and inclusive uh so for that I am in favor of it but I'm not in favor of it in the fact that it's got to be the overriding and sole purpose of our course curriculum we need to maintain a stringent supportive curriculum that's going to prepare all of our children for their next chapters in their lives uh then I'd also make sure that those who are going to be tasked with teaching it are there to teach it not express their views I can't tell you how many times my children have come home from school over the last four years uh certainly since Co and certainly since it was uh more available through video that I can tell you in almost each and every case what their political slant is of a teacher of mine and I think that's got to be gone I do not think you should be able to know what your what the political slant of a teacher is it should they're there to they're there to teach and prepare our children for the future not impose their Politics on them great thank you okay we are back to the I'm not muted right we're back to the beginning um for the sixth question miss betal miss miss melli miss Patel Mr schaer Mr Shore Miss Steinberg and the question has to do with after care before and after care what will you do to address the shortage of onsite before and after care in the elementary and middle schools okay um well I want to start by saying I I feel the pain of whoever asked this question uh pre-co my husband and I commuted into the city five days a week we had to have a full-time nny from 7 to 7 because there were no for care options and no Aftercare options um that were accessible to everybody so I get it and I understand and I'm passionate about changing it um the unfortunate thing that I have discovered is that it is a space and budget issue issue for the district to kind of a through line here for the rest of the conversation too taking us back to the beginning but um I we need staff you know you have to hire staff to run the before care and the Aftercare so that goes into a priority that I had mentioned about retaining staff and wanting to keep them in the district and to work more hours we need the space we need to be able to use it I know that the YMCA has some before care options my kids at Franklin it wasn't an option to have it at Franklin have to be at the YMCA um I don't know why but I would ask the questions and figure out aath forward because I know that it is it is a priority um Co may have changed the way that many of us work um but it hasn't changed the need for child care and I totally understand that and it is something that I will work towards fixing by looking at the budget and figuring out a way to have our facilities be used to care for the kids while the parents still need to work schools end at three the work day does not so thank you Miss melli sorry um so this is the first time I've heard this question in my um you know over 18 years of living here and again this was something that um was astounding to me when I moved here as um someone coming from the city that there was no uh before care there were there was no after care and again no full day kindergarten and we did pay for the YMCA for after care and what was interesting is we paid double what Scotch PLS play paid for the YMCA for after care I couldn't believe because Westfield charges more and how is that fair um it all comes down to um again money we um is this the is this something that the school district is going to prioritize um to be budgeted for or included in a line item on a referendum um a space for it or um additional Staffing or you know is this going to be incorporate into the operational budget it's definitely something that is important for for families so it is something that should be explored and it is something that should be accessible to everyone just like how we spoke about how different students have different experiences in different elementary schools and middle schools everyone needs to have the same experience there is no North Side Southside Westfield we're all Westfield so is something we need to look at well I'm I'm very far removed from this uh issue and I have not heard uh much about it it has or has it come up in my tenure on the board um even in the thought exchange that recently went out where we were looking for feedback from the community about uh what what pop up or bubbled up as the most um priority items but uh I do understand that it has come up at PTC and that we've opened up space in schools so I'm not sure if we have a weit list or we don't have a weit list or if it's not maybe providing the adequate kind of support that you're looking for or the time frame that I that that came up that of why that question came up but it would have to be again the constraint being the budget being the facilities the availability of class space and teachers to uh Monitor and supervise so this is something that could uh could be addressed but I I I honestly have not heard much about it in my time on the board Mr schaer uh yeah I remember when my wife and I moved to Westfield back in 1996 I think it was or 97 it's so long ago um this was an issue there this was sort of a discussion I don't know how formalized it was in a panel like this but this was a discussion we've had for a while and the problem is as all these panelists have mentioned and I'm just going to be an echo chamber here is is it's budgetary constraints like like so much on on this laundry list of things that we all want to do uh you know if you had Elon Musk with his checkbook out we could do everything we want but we don't so we have to decide once again uh how to what to prioritize I personally think that morning and uh afternoon care is is pretty important especially now when you have so many dual household incomes so um I you know as uh as someone else up up here said I feel your pain my wife worked in the city I worked in Jersey City and we had to have uh daycare in the morning and then daycare you know and then one of us would race home early to get the kids so I do understand where you're coming from uh I'm not going to lie to you I don't have the answer to that yet I would think that it all has to do with dollars and cents like everything else and what the theme I'm getting from this and this has been helpful for me is that really it's a matter of priorities and so I think one of the first things the board should do is we all kind of get on the same page and decide what our priorities are and as I believe I said earlier what Franklin said politics is the art of the possible so we need to sit down you know from different perspectives and go okay what is best for our kids going forward we do agree on this we do agree on this so let's prioritize that we don't agree on Dei so much but we do agree on Mental Health BL you know and maybe create it from organically like that now that might sound naive to the board members who've had to deal with $133 million budget whatever it is so again I'm just you know that's the way I approach things whether or not that technique Works in a board as opposed to a business uh have to wait and see on that one but I give it a shot that's for [Music] sure so thank you one of the uh I think I think you know as we're all probably of uh you know close to similar age here and I think that when I was growing up there was no such thing as after care or even before school care but we did have busing um and I think a good portion of this issue is related to the fact that our children cannot walk home from their Elementary School they can't I can't ask my son to walk or my daughter to walk over a mile down East Broad Street to get back to my house past the cemetery and what other other what other other unforeseen obstacles so is busing an option here is busing an opportunity to maybe alleviate the need for after care the answer is I'm not sure but it's certainly something we would look at uh and if that's not the option then it's going to have to most likely be privatized like it is now where are we going to find the space we're going to need to get the Architects on board and we're going to need to find the space on the existing elementary schools or there or very very close by where they can be walked to with a with a Sher own or a teacher uh that's going to require money and it's going to require privatization the Y does a great job my kids were part of the Y after CARE program for many years at Washington School uh they not only made great friends but they had a great time and it was a enormously safe learning environment for them so we've got to look at all the options and that goes privatization it's busing it's a number of options that we need to sit down and as a community think about what the best solution is for that thank you so um let's talk about the art of the possible um when my children were young and before we moved to Westfield our elementary school did not have an after CARE program and I worked for over a year with the board with the school and with the parents to develop a cost sharing model I have seen it done I can tell you it can be done um it requires a lot of skillful negotiating and patience and communicating with parties that all have different issues but it can be done so I would say secondly that when my kids were in elementary school I had the pleasure of being both a full-time working mom commuting into the City and sometimes having to travel and then also being a stay-at-home mom for several years when they really needed me um and I needed them um so I am very familiar with both sides of after care and what we do and do not offer what I would say is um several things first of all um our timing of our schools is something other districts all over the country have looked at now I know the block schedule is on the uh the table for the high school and I'm thrilled to hear about that but let's talk about when start times are why do elementary schools start the latest in the day when it is those and kindergarten for that matter when it is those working parents who need to get out early and their kids who are up earliest further as the kids get older Middle School and High School those kids are tired anyone who's ever had a middle school or a high school knows that sometimes it's really difficult to drag them out of bed so what if we could work with all of the different contracts that are there I realize that this is a big Endeavor to undo I'm not trying to minimize that but what if we work towards something creative like that uh another option I want to mention is the idea of potentially especially for um before Care at the elementary schools is incorporating physical education we don't have enough time in the day or resources but what if we brought physical education that's another thing that districts around the country have been doing is opening the day a little bit earlier and having that time focused on physical education some schools open it up and have it as a steady hall it really depends on all the different needs or combination thereof we could do that and finally Transportation which um and space those are real issues real issues that we need to talk about when it comes to Transportation it's the LGE we're lucky in Westfield not to have a required Transportation because we're two miles by two miles but yes it hurts my kids walked from Jefferson over to Edison over to the high school and when it's raining it's not pretty um on the other hand uh if you look at our comparable districts that have transportation it is their number one cost it's the number one cost um and it's also become very difficult even if you have privately secured transportation to get it reliable um unless you actually have it inhouse so uh I would also finally say that perhaps we can look to the town and see whether or not town resources in terms of space could be made available uh we do have wonderful facilities in town we do have a lot of new facilities being developed perhaps that's also something that could be leveraged and my point is is that as a board of education member I would look at those sorts of Creative Solutions and I would listen to parents as well to see what can and can't work and I would listen to the Board of Education members who have been there who have probably tried to do some of those things and maybe it worked maybe it didn't uh but I would take a look at it creatively listen and try to get as much implemented as I have successfully in the past both here and in another District thank you sorry I was unmuted uh okay for our last question the order will be Miss melli Miss Patel Mr schaer Mr Shore Miss Steinberg and Miss bet alel and the question regards special education support can you suggest ways for Westfield schools to provide inclass inclusion for students with IE Peace I certainly can this is what I do in my professional life I um feel very passionately that true inclusion should exist at every school across the board at every grade level I have a classified child there was one coming in for writing he was going to another room for for um math and what is the best practice and Doan um and I have discussed this at length is having two teachers a gened teacher and a special ed teacher co- te throughout elementary school that is best practice what is the problem what is the holdup facil ities and finances so in the interim if you can't have what you know is ideal you you put Band-Aids on things and the problem with putting Band-Aids on things is that they don't hold everything and then you have children who are sent out of District because we don't have what is needed to meet their needs in District like an Orton Gillingham program or like true inclusion um or have to go to a different school to get the program that they need so we have had these discussions Dr wsman and Dr Gonzalez and Dr Bolton are and are all on the same page we know where we want to get and we have goals and we are consistently meeting them by expanding our programming offerings by hiring qualified expertised teachers and that is in my opinion the first step and creating the opportunity to get feedback from parents of children who are classified how we can best support their students so that they're included not only in school with increasing all of our programs but also after school like in those drama programs in those Visual and Performing Arts programs in sports these are we Westfield has an excellent Athletic program an excellent theater program so maybe not every everybody is going to get on the team or into the show but what else can we offer them so that they are included in every part of the Westfield experience Miss Patel uh thank you um so special ed is the priority for our Administration and as a board member and as the current president I have supported and fully support you'll see in our current budget vote for this year that there are a number of things that we are doing to provide to build and provide support for students and I think Miss melli touched upon a few of them and that would be bringing in uh two programs in house so that our current students that are in these programs at the elementary level would not have to go out of district and they could stay within their uh home Community to be able to stay in District to uh attend school with that we would be hiring hoping to hire with a the passage of the budget would be to hire specialed teachers and a specialed supervisor as well to support the programs we also see a need to support um our par professionals who support those students um to retain because we're we see that we're losing a lot of staff not just uh teacher staff but par professionals as well so that's something that's in our existing budget as well so we do see that as a priority um I support it I think Miss Morelli I can say supports it as well so does our uh our current board and that is something that we hope to that that Pro the program and offerings in the special ed uh Department of classes academics is something we would like to see grow um in the coming years um some of these are comments are very encouraging actually um I know the out of District placement is an interesting area I found when I was going over the budget it's about n almost if I get it right it's about around $9 million or so we spend yearly under that um but the reason is Westfield has reputation for being a good school district if you have a child with special needs and you need to get out of you know and need out of District placement so uh out of District placement is high is high but meanwhile there are a lot of parents who I understand who have IEPs that don't qualify for out of District they have to fight extensively with the district to get it um I believe they're like kids with ADHD autism severe behavioral cognitive issues they all have they can all get I APS but for those who don't I know they have 5 504 plans but I'm not sure how legally solid those are so question is uh somebody said very very smart they were like you know again it sounds like a broken record and I apologize if I if I bring a whatever spreadsheet mentality to a lot of things but it's a matter of resources a matter of priorities and a matter of of of money and you know physical resources as well um I think that uh bringing in uh specialized counselor I I would be interested in taking the out of District replacement and seeing how many of those kids we can keep inside in inside the district if so then I'd be interested to see what kind of a cost savings that would allow to then see how much we have to work with to to give them more personalized in District uh help they need as you know I I find interesting there that we're talking about including kids in in other areas where at the same time we've been cutting the Arts uh you know there there are very few places for mentally challenged kids to excel as much as they can in the Arts I mean it's you know I can I've seen it personally teaching piano teaching guitar to uh special needs kids who you know they're they're quiet and then they light up when they play um so I guess you know I mean again it's one of the Band-Aids that I would put that put out there maybe have special uh you know performing arts classes for uh for kids who may not qualify to be on stage or may not be able to to shred or something like that but just something to give them uh a sense of of value and a sense that they are that they belong to the community and they should be loved um really comes down to Dollars and cents like everything else and uh the first we have to do is forget what our priorities are and I'm getting a decent idea from this forum what the parents priorities are and what the boards are and I don't think there's a lot of dis I don't think they're as far apart as I as I thought there might have been so that's encouraging thank you so first of all I I actually am not a favor of the of the term special needs I really prefer additional needs because these children need additional needs they may or may not they're they're all special children uh and these children need additional needs that uh maybe a non- additional need children might like uh the first thing I would I would strive for is continuity and consistency with their teaching and their care the Paras specifically they need to be supported uh they need to be trained as well as we can possibly train them so that we're not recycling through Paris every couple of years and these children are getting new faces uh at the beginning of a school year because we had the inability to maintain a power professional in our school district for budgetary constraints um you know to answer Brad's question about the out of District there's approximately 100 students out of District right now at a cost of approximately $85 million the current Administration is looking at bringing back a small number I think about 10 of them into the district if possible um so while that is while I don't want to say uh lwh hanging fruit it is an opportunity for us to recapture some of that budgetary uh funds to be able to spend on these priorities to make sure that the additional needs children do get the services the continuity and the consistency that they that not only require but deserve thank you I have a special needs parent and oh is it my turn I'm sorry yes go ahead oh great as a special needs parent and disability advocate for more than 15 years now um I'm glad to hear that this question is on the table um especially as it relates to kids who have IEPs or although there are plenty of kids who have five50 fours to whose disabilities also should be taken into account um there are so many more um concerns about special education than there were even 10 years ago and when I look at when we moved to Westfield part of the reason we moved here is because the special education program was so good and I knew that it would let my kid be as capable as he could be if there were more supports more service and more good work I was very impressed even though I don't rely on the Wilson programs I was very impressed with what they had to offer and the fact that Dr Weissman helped build that up and I'm glad that in this budget we have the next round because those kids previously would have been out of District in elementary school too now those kids in middle school if this budget passes will have a place to go and I do think it's important that we're doing that if the parents are in fact pleased with this proposal um I would also say that we are blessed to have the ESS program which has benefited so many students but we only have it at the high school and at Roosevelt we don't have it at Edison and we don't have it at the elementary schools the ESS program actually brings qualified psychologists on staff um well private privately private uh privately hired folks into the schools sometimes it's in these kids schedules every day every week Etc they're interacting with the teachers and so that also goes to the mental health issues we were talking which has also been tremendous in terms of its impact on special education um I would say that if you look at my platform one thing that I've really focused on and Lea also echoed it is the use of IC dual teaching um not just in the preschool not just in the uh middle school and high school but let's bring it to the elementary school level there's no reason for us not to be doing IC yes are there budgetary considerations and operational Logistics all the things we've all talked about yes there are is it something we should be addressing sure because it's having an impact and the impact isn't just on the kids it's also on the staff that's been discussed here whether it's teachers or Paras uh earlier Lindsay referenced the idea that her counselor was changing for her kid well in the IEP world every year sometimes it feels like some of the roles that these kids are supposed to have as services or as case managers it feels like a defense of the 's position and sometimes that can change two or three times a year time is up thank you okay my turn I think right yes um all in all I think our special education program definitely needs to be expanded um I agree with those that said that ideally we would have one special ed one General gen ed teacher in our classes at all age levels um I don't know that that is exactly feasible and I do know that our schools don't offer close to that and as a result many families go out of District at all ages which is a huge line item in our budget um you know one thing we can do is invest in the Educators um and the par professionals and the special Educators we can invest in teacher training and expansion of programs offered so we can keep more in the district um we can have professional development for some of the Gen Ed teachers so they are a little bit more in the know um and we can start there I know it's not a solution to the problem it's probably just another Band-Aid but at least it's a start um I also think you know one thing for sure is that we need to expand the programming to be at the very least to have the same programs on both sides of town because right now I know that certain programs are offered on the South Side certain programs are offered on the North side at the elementary in the Middle School level and I think that many don't realize a longterm effects of not having the same programs available at all the schools for the children socially and emotionally when they have to go to where they are um assigned to by District I would want to talk to the community and the parents um to find the least least restrictive environment for their own kid and then work with them to figure out how to prioritize it look at the needs of the district the special needs of the district as a whole and then yes we are hiring more teachers in the budget yes we are going to be able to increase the paraprofessionals salaries with the budget approval and that's great but I think we need to kind of do a little bit more research figure out where we need to be so that we can keep more kids in the district and give them the least restrictive environment so that they can Thrive as well um in addition to that very quickly I agree with Miss melli about the after school and EXT curricular activities too more programs like buddy ball and being able to include special needs in theater and in sports and in everything else after school is equally as important thank you okay we are ready for our closing we will do reverse alphabet um Miss Steinberg Mr sha Mr schaer Miss Patel miss melli and miss Balo thank you I thought that this was a very productive forum and I want to thank everybody who organized this tonight for us and thank my fellow candidates uh for their thoughtful feedback and comments I learned a lot listening to you um I would just say that I think I have appren level of advocacy and efficacy um in terms of being able to get things done I think I also have a proven level of being able to listen to people in the community and to help them with needs and if I am elected to the Board of Education I will continue that and I will do everything in my power to listen to hear and to make effective change for all of us in our community thank you thank you well first of all thank everybody for spending the last couple of hours on this call with us on this video conference with us much appreciate all the attention that everyone is putting into this upcoming April 16th election uh if elected to the board my priorities will be to one focus on the budget to make sure that we have the resources to do all of the things that we need to do for far too long Westfield has actually boasted about the fact that we spend one of the least amounts per student in the state of New Jersey um that is not necessarily the recipe for a winning formula two I will prioritize making Blue Ribbon Schools uh I will work with the administration I will work with the individual administrators to increase the blue number of Blue Ribbon Schools and the persistency in which we achieve that status uh if you want to be known as a good school district you're going to need Blue Ribbon Schools I'm thirdly I'm going to work with our administrators and our board to make sure that we improve our standing in the state rankings of school districts we want we all want our children to succeed and be competitive out there so thank you I've got um I guess I'm being flashed I have no more time left thank you very much well uh I want to thank all the U all the other members of this forum for being here uh I've especially learned a lot as probably uh the one who has been farthest removed I guess from the intricacies of how the sausage is made with the board but I do have certain priorities that I would uh that I would bring uh number one is again uh you have to watch the budget I mean all these are great ideas we we've listed a laundry list of things tonight but the fact of the matter is you know if you've got a 10 pound bag you can't put a 15 pound sandwich in it you've got to got to figure out what five pounds don't matter the most um I've identified over $150,000 and what I think is useless spending over the last two years alone and I wasn't contradicted when I said it so I'm assuming what I said was true uh I would prioritize stem because the fact of the matter is you know our competitors don't really care about you know how how you know don't really care about diversity Equity inclusion there you know do you want your kids to to be prepared for the world that is going to be highly technological that's going to be highly globalized where they're going to be competing not with kids from just Cranford or Scotch Plains but kids from Shanghai kids from bom from Mumbai kids from all over the world you know so to me I my goal is to send out a group of pardon my language but some kick-ass students who actually know what the you actually know how to make it in this world um I also believe that mental health is seriously a part of that because we inflicted Mental Health on these kids for two year for over a year did we lose Brad looks like he uh no he was cut off I think his internet died okay well let's continue then oh no there he is what happened you lost internet it seemed so I think you froze up for a minute oh I did yeah just for a second just for a second you have another 15 seconds thank you oh well if that's the case um clearly I bring a uh a more iconic clastic view to things and maybe that's what we need you you're doing things maybe you need somebody who can look at things from a fresh perspective and hasn't been told that that's not possible yet thank you thank you Miss Patel thank you everyone for this forum and to the other candidates um I understand many of the challenges that have come up tonight and I have the experience and Leadership skills to address them as board as a board member and the current board president I've success successfully navigated many of the unprecedented challenges from hybrid learning to fields to the superintendent search uh to staff Cuts due to budget constraints and to moving the budget vote to April um I believe in Partnerships between parents teachers and administrators our schools are the heart of our community and I've worked for the past three years and will continue to work to ensure that they are welcoming and inclusive for everyone our children deserve a world-class education that prepares them for success in their future so I hope everyone votes yes for the budget on April 16th to support our schools and our children thank you thank you Miss melli I want to thank everyone who made this evening possible as a board member um I will continue to make it a priority to be educated on all topics and to communicate with and engage the community so that they too have an understanding of education issues as well as how they're impacting how and where their tax dollars are being spent but let me be clear that the students are the priority um whether or not we have what a child needs um whether we can we can we can create a program whether we can keep a child in District that's amazing but if we cannot provide a free and appropriate education we are responsible to these students to meet their needs other ways so that can't always be where we're cutting corners without a district tuition the students come first if reelected my goal is to continually support the students and staff to provide an atmosphere where all feel safe represented and included and where all have equal access an opportunity to thrive I will advocate for and be the voice voice of the students to ensure that their needs are met I am honored to have been a part of the board for the past three years and we were integral in supporting and passing uh the 2023 to 2028 strategic plan and I look forward I'm building upon the progress has been made in the last three and a half years and out in April and make sure that you vote that's the budget for our students Miss batella EXC me okay I wasn't sure thank you um thank you again to the PTC and the league of women's voters for hosting tonight and for everyone who watched I was really inspired by all the questions and the answers as well anyone who knows my husband and me knows how much pride we have in this town we are building roots to grow for a very long time our schools are the Cornerstone of our community and they are what we can build our future on and what makes Westfield such a great place to live and while my fellow candidates have older kids in a retrospective view of where things were my eyes are on the future where we're going is what matters and I have two horses in the race for quite a while if elected I will work to make sure that all students feel supported and welcomed that our facilities and infrastructure keep up with Westfield's growing and evolving needs that the curriculum is consistent throughout the schools that technology programs prioritize Innovation and digital safety and that the district decision-making is transparent and collaborative I do hope to expand the special needs programs and the enrichment and gifted curriculum focusing on enhancements starting in the elementary schools all the way to 12th grade I have a zero tolerance policy for acts of hate against any marginalized Community we are no place for hate district and that needs to be communicated clearly and consistently it impacts everything down to our kids mental health and on that note I did mean to say that we can bring in mindfulness and meditation coaches for kids and staff as a way to help the high school students but finally I promise to create a strong and healthy partnership between West go parents and the board together we can make our schools a better place where all children can flourish so please go out and vote on April 16th look for the last name on the ballot mine um because we say thank you again and good luck to all of my fellow candidates good night everybody good night good night night thank you thank you I thank you and sorry again with the link and the computer and I have a good night everybody no worries we just want to thank you on behalf of the PTC for participating it's really useful I'm glad to hear it that you guys found it useful as well and we want to thank all of the participants uh for listening it's really important and um this is being recorded and hopefully it should be up on the board website we're going to give marann a couple days to do that because I have to get it over to her so we'll blame it on me but thanks everybody sorry for the uh the technology snapo next year no WebEx I say that every okay I said it every year but the tell the district to pay for Zoom put that in the buet ring here too right before want to say thank you to my husband and my kid for getting me online tonight I know WebEx is the worst I'm sorry I'm sorry I know we've every it's not just you guys every year it happens but um everybody got on reasonably time so we're all good so much than again everybody thank you thank you thanks to all our participants e