e e e okay apologize for the lateness we got everybody okay uh I'd like to call the meeting to order at 7:38 p.m. can I have a roll call Please Mr Rosano Mrs Cooper Mr cassado here Mrs fian Mr Garcia here Mr Pino here Mrs P here Mrs Peterson here Mrs price here Mr pontillo here we have a quum thank you uh like everyone to rise for a salute to the flag please to honor America I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for [Music] all okay the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the West Regional Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be sent to the following announcing time and place thereof Westward burough Hall Westward Public Library Township of Washington administration building Township of Washington free public library the record community life and pasak press okay um so yeah just one second uh just want to give an overarching statement um there's been much speculation with uh regards to this meeting and what's going on um um I can assure the public there's nothing nefarious here but sometimes things are of uh timely and of the essence um there's also uh the board the board had to discuss a Personnel issue um and as everybody knows public employees have certain rights and uh we're not allowed to discuss those in public or to allow that information to be put out in the public realm so uh that is why we are here tonight so with that we'll move to uh public forum during the first public forum District residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on agenda items specifically listed on this evening's agenda board policy 0167 requires that individuals sign the speaker list giving name Municipality of residents and specific agenda items on which a member of the public plans to speak and as over remarks be directed to the board as a whole not to individuals the board ask that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of others when speaking although the board may not respond to items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered and may be discussed tonight under the appropriate agenda item under new business at this meeting or subsequent meetings under old business or during a board committee meeting if appropriate each speaker statement will be limited to 3 minutes in duration the first public forum will be limited to 30 minutes in duration and I will open the floor up to the public at 7:41 p.m. would anybody like to speak welcome Mr gers good to go oh just turn the button yep merry Christmas happy holidays everybody hope you're all enjoying your break um just wanted to Andrew GM West New Jersey just wanted to uh ask that if during the discussion of the one uh agenda item posted um could be I think the public would like to know what the urgency of this specific agenda item was and what else it might relate to as much as you can talk about given what Mr pontillo just explained about uh personal matters and that's all I have to say thank you and happy new thank you anybody else Mrs Mountain you're signing for the second one or you want to speak now okay okay would anybody else like to speak in the first public session okay seeing No Hands we'll uh close the first public session uh Mr Gart answer your question um on the last agenda item Q uh went through with a vote of 8 to one uh with Miss vanargan uh dissenting uh there was a discussion about that particular item prior to [Music] um Us coming out here publicly uh there were a number of questions around it and quite frankly uh I made an error uh we had some questions about it we didn't get answers to those questions and it should not have gone through so uh we're here tonight to correct that um you may have greater Clarity when we're all done here uh why as well so with that uh we'll move on to Personnel item uh a uh and I'm I'm just going to read the motion because uh another part of this uh motion that upon the recommendation of the board resend the approval of the following staff to receive a sement at the rate of $100 per hour to act uh to serve as Acting Superintendent when necessary in the superintendent's absence um however I'd like to add that the employee who undertook any such work that was contemplated for this agreement would be paid for the hours so worked do I have a second for that uh Mrs peek and discussion see no discussion can I have a roll call please Mr cassado yes Mr Garcia yes Mr Pino yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried thank you uh we have an addendum item based on the closed uh discuss discussions um forgive me if I take a little bit to read through it because I was writing it as uh as we were going uh motion under B would be to appoint Frank Connelly Acting Superintendent in the absence of Dr Mortimer pursuant to an employment agreement which will be sent to the executive county superintendent of schools for approval this resolution is contingent upon such approval with a stien of $5,000 monthly and pro-rated for partial months further appoint uh Miss Bronn Calderon as assistant to the Acting Superintendent with a monthly stiped of $4,160 66 monthly and prated for partial months to assist the Acting Superintendent of Schools do I have a second Mrs pck discussion see no discussion have a roll call please Mr cassado yes Mr Garcia yes Mr Pino yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried thank you second open public forum during the second public forum on any topic specifically addressed on this agenda or on any other questions comments or concerns that may be in respect to the operations of their Schools board policy 0167 requires an individual sign the speaker list giving name and Municipality of residents and ask that all remarks be directed to the board as a whole not to individuals the board ask that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking the board asked that during this second form opportunity public speakers adhere to the same guidelines follow the same practices and extend the same courtesies and decencies as with the first public forum each speaker statement will be limited to 3 minutes in duration the second public forum will be limit limited to 30 minutes in duration and with that I open the floor up at 7:46 p.m. first name Lonnie as is she here did she leave Lonnie okay uh Mrs Carol Mountain Carol Mountain Westwood New Jersey um I'm concerned about the number of times uh things have gone onto the agenda superintendent did not make the recommendation indicating that whoever it was the superintendent thought was best do you think this is going to fly with a new superintendent who might think Listen to It's a a disturbing habit and I hope that in the future the board compromise where they don't agree and that we don't have to see the board overriding what the only truly educated person on this subject is overridden thank you anybody else Mr GM hello again Andrew gers West New Jersey um since we don't have that in PDF form do you mind reading out loud the motion again just to that's a big it's a big deal um just want to make sure it's understood what that what that meant so if you don't mind just reading the language again one more time just so helps people digest that's all I'm asking thanks okay thank you anybody else like to speak Sabrina cfic uh Westwood um i' just like to understand um the urgency of having this um 10 days before new board takes um their seats it seems um um a little suspicious that this is happening um in such an urgent form that didn't seem like it needed to be so urgent in the week that the district is closed anybody else IO I said I'm just gonna ask I think we're all wondering and I don't know if you can say but is Dr mortimore still with the district or is like that why this had to happen tonight okay anybody else okay seeing nobody will make a motion to close are we good closed I will answer the questions in reverse order yes Dr morar is still with the district uh the urgency uh can't speak about Personnel issues and I will read back the um Mr G you were the second one correct that was not on the agenda okay so um the motion is to appoint Frank Connelly Acting Superintendent in the absence of Dr Mortimer pursuant to an employment agreement which will be sent to the executive county superintendent of schools for approval this is contenent upon such approval with a stipend of $5,000 monthly and prated for partial months further the board appoints Miss bronan Calderon as assistant to the Acting Superintendent with a monthly stipended of $ 4,166 66 monthly and prated for partial months to assist the Acting Superintendent of Schools okay anybody else anybody have anything else seen nothing can I have a motion to adjourn Please Mr Peterson second Mr fro well done okay thank you everybody have a good night m