7:13 p.m. and ask everybody to rise for a salute to the flag 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 all have a roll call Mr Rado Mrs cubert here Mr cassado here Mrs fian here Mr Garcia here Mr Pino Mrs P here Mrs Peterson here Mrs price here Mr pontillo here we have a quum the New Jersey open public meeting 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 business affecting their interests is discussed and acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the wested regional board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be sent to the following announcing time and place thereof West bur Hall West public Public Library Township of Washington administration building Township of Washington free public library the record community life and pcak press have a motion on the am minute approval under item 8A Mr Peterson have a second Mr Garcia discussion have a roll call please Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fardan yes Mrs Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried up next is the superintendent's report Dr mortimore cannot be with us tonight standing in her place this evening is Mrs uh I'm Sorry Miss bronan calron uh good evening everyone for those of you who may not know me my name is Miss Bron calone I am the current director of secondary education on behalf of the superintendent I'll be reading her report tonight we have numerous rewards and recognitions on the agenda tonight and Dr mortar and myself look forward to having a positive meeting and ending the calendar year on a good note we have a new staff and student recognition program beginning tonight District goal three is to develop and Implement a threee three times per year recognition program for staff and students that identifies Role Model Behavior and attributes in key areas and publicly recognizes and rewards it based on specific criteria the administrators met this fall and we decided to identify individuals who demonstrate excellence in the following areas communication critical thinking collaboration creativity perseverance adaptability empathetic problem solving and accountability a survey was sent out to both staff and parents and the nominees for the first award will be recognized tonight tonight we will have the resignation for uh excuse me tonight we will have the resignation for the purpose of retirement of a high school custodian Frank D Pasqual on the agenda Frank has worked tirelessly in the district for 48 years Frank is a true gentleman and he will be truly missed that concludes Dr motor's report and we wish everyone happy holiday season thank you Miss Calderon up next is the board president's report so I am pleased to make my last and final president's report for the Western Regional Board of Education I've enjoyed the last three years as a trustee of this board of education I've enjoyed working in conjunction with the staff here and Dr Mortimer in an effort to improve outcomes which positively benefit students in the district it has been an eye- openening experience one which was educational for me personally and professionally I consider myself a lifelong learner and as sear enjoyed the ups and downs of being a Boe trustee this experience has been one which has been marked with many challenges when we Face challenges how we handle them often defines our capability and depth and can speak volumes about who we are we have made much progress accepting how to use word hold on one second we have made much progress with the district's finances we have made many strides with the district's facilities and physical safety we have initiated the processes for great outcomes with items of high importance air conditioning the Middle School fields the media center upgrades the new weight room the turf upgrades on the football field our district facilities are safer than they have ever been with the placement of slo3 officers in each of our schools and the list of accomplishments there goes on this was all done in the face of a high level of adversity and outside influences the loss of our previous superintendent the plagiarism Scandal covid executive orders learning loss goalpost movement with standardized testing scores ethics complaints and that list goes on as well although it's easy to focus on all the negatives although it's easy to complain accuse name call or slander be a keyboard worrier on social media to so division amongst the community I implore all of you to look around and see that there are many things that we have to be thankful for there's been much beneficial progress here irrespective of political perspectives and disagreement maybe some of this is a sign of the times a November 2023 Gallup poll indicated that 19% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are headed in the United States 80% are not satisfied so 19 are satisfied 80% are not satisfied and 1% had no opinion I'm not sure why but this correlated to mistr the mistrust of many institutions of government including the Department of Education in a Time marked with controversy and division accusations and disrespect I finally found something that most in the district can agree on the group two championship Cardinal football team this this winning game was the culmination of hard work training grit perseverance a don't give up attitude excellent coaching mentoring and teamwork to the coaches and athletes here tonight thank you for showing the better side of Westwood and Washington Township at the games I see stud athletes being humble respectful offering credit to others for their team's Collective success while I observe this here I cannot say that I observe the same from the other teams that we played against so to the coaches and athletes thank you for doing it right to the parents thank you for for raising respectful young men to all of you thank you for setting expectations and demanding proper behavior both on and off the field coaches whatever methodology you used to deliver this year's undefeated performance keep on that track while you were cheered on during your games it was something that unified people in the communities as the season went on the fan base grew the games became more meaningful the outcomes more important in the pursuit of success the crowds grew larger you delivered when you needed to most the final five 5 and a half minutes of the fourth quarter of the game at SHI Stadium will be spoken about for years to come in high school sports stopping larger opponents than yourselves on the one yard line the final 99 yard Drive akin to something you would see from a champ Championship NFL team a tie after four quarters of play overtime a blocked kick playing from behind for the first time all year the momentum of scoring not allowing your extra point to be blocked all done with energy Poise a collective calm purpose and a never give up up attitude these are lessons that cannot be taught in the classroom the want and will to win to find a way to make it happen to push yourself to your limits and Beyond are all feelings and traits that cannot be duplicated inside the confines of a classroom wall you won you are champions but we also did likely un knowingly was give a purpose or a reason for people in this community who have been divided to stand together so for that I thank each and every one of you my greatest takeaway from the last three years here is that there are many good people in our communities they're from all walks of life they care and they want what is best for everybody view uh viewpoints uh vary but I encourage everyone to remain respectful get all the ores in the water and Rowing in the same direction we can accomplish so much more together as a team with a shared purpose a shared vision and when the time comes to take credit thank those who helped you accomplish something along the way so to my board colleagues from the past few years Andrew GM Moren Columbo Roberta hanlin Matt parado Joe Abu UD Frank Romano Michelle sembler Kristen Peterson Stacy price Irene fian Laura Cooper Doug Cado Andrea peek Jay Garcia and Rusty Pino thank you for not only helping this District its students staff and families thank you for working with me and give helping me give back to the community that I love so much to the new incoming board I wish you the best of luck and furtherance of the betterment of this district and it has been my distinct honored to serve in this capacity not only as a board member but as your board president so happy holidays everybody and that concludes my report Mr Rosado so uh we've completed our annual School audit um and that has been filed with the state there were no material findings that were noted the Auditors will be doing a presentation at our next uh board meeting on the 25th to the full board um I wanted to uh make notes that we uh finally received the final award notification for the rod grants that we filed for those are the uh HVAC systems at the Four elementary schools in the high school um we put in an application for total project cost of 13,482 84 um we received uh an award amount from the state of $ 5,392 and8 uh 833 um and our district share will be $8 million uh um8 8,892 um to uh to to complete those projects uh we will uh are set to go out to bid for the Brookside HVAC project um that has been advertised uh so I just wanted to uh let the board and and everyone know that we uh received a good chunk 40% of the project costs from the State um and that will conclude my report for this evening thank you Mr R the student representatives are up next good evening to begin our report we'd like to start with the preschool December is off to wonderful start in the preschool the students are excited to come into school each morning and they greatly enjoy interacting with their peers students are currently participating in grocery themed make belief centers discussing what you can find in grocery stores the various Department and reading many fun books about grocery stores a fruit book to go along with the groceries theme centers the children will draw different types of fruits and explain what they drew as a part of the science eyes curriculum as winter Begins the students will begin to discuss the changes in weather including snow hibernating animals and the various holidays celebrated as for the Middle School congratulations to Mrs Cooper for being recognized as the Middle School Governor educator of the year we also congratulate our Shark Tank honores third place Jacob mataban in poster Planet second place kin harsh and McKenzie Carol for B dazzled and first place to lyanna varese and Memoir vas we are incredibly proud of our jpack for two excellent performances of Young Sherlock Holmes and we are thrilled to continue our our holiday showcases by our talented musical performers thank you to all who supported our November happy day as well now to begin with the high school and academics the past month for the high school students has been very busy seniors like scarlet contas and Chloe wasney have continued their work in internships Scarlet at si New York Boutique and Chloe at our very own Jessie of George school elementary schools like Parisian Beauty Academy of Paul Mitchell School visited the high school to speak to students interested in the beauty industry and many seniors and juniors attended at the end of November registration was closed for the wrhs after school math help session for students enrolled in Algebra 1 in the halls of Westwood something always smells good thank you to Mr aro's class culinary classes especially when they made uh scones in the school the students who take French explored the hall de lumere where they delved into jal's vibrant imagination experiencing a 360 degree immersion into his Fantastical vision of Paris and New York to satisfy their taste buds the students also savored the flavors of the France at L District of French food Hall boasting upscale restaurants markets and stations offering delectable prepared foods the junior class of 2025 has their junior workshops to learn more about getting ready to plan the future in terms of colleges or other Alternatives lastly Miss kle and her students in the high school science Honor Society completed the 2023 shoe box project the goal was to pack 10 shoe boxes with books footballs small stuffed animals highlighters and anything else that would easily fit into a shoe box they are hand delivering them to the third through e8th grade classes in Newark for the holidays this year they surpassed their goal and are sending 20 boxes great job we'd like to congratulate Mr Chen Mrs Ren and Mrs Zumo for being selected as a 2023 exemplary educator award by the New Jersey Department of Education as a student who's either had you or has you currently as a teacher I know that you are all Beyond deserving of this award for all that you do and the Fantastic environments you create to learn and have fun in your classrooms we'd also like to congratulate Mr Pascal for winning the Westwood Regional educ of the year simil to the similarly to the other teachers as our Stu as students of yours we know that you are Beyond deserving of this award thank you for all that you do for your students good evening as for High School athletics the football team finished their season undefeated 13-0 winning the state sectional championship and the group 2 state championship at rudger Stadium the state game against Rumson Fair Haven was a tough game but the cards successfully beat them 2120 in overtime many community members traveled to rudgers to watch the game and learned about school history as it was the first time the school won a true football state championship and just the second year of its existence in football congratulations to coach guy as he was voted by his peers as the Bergen County coach of the year and the Drew Gibbs super Football Conference coach of the year he was selected as the one of the coach one coach out of 113 schools congratulations to Mr ravino as well for receiving the special achievement for excellence in athletic Administration award and Jack Dugan class of 2023 for receiving the high school student athlete award and the at the um 58th annual Bergen County YMCA sports award banquet winter sports games and tournaments have begun this week next up Performing Arts the music department put on their annual Winter concert last night in the Campbell Auditorium the concert featured the concert choir honors Wind Ensemble and honors chamber singers thank you to all the families and everyone who joined them for a fun night we also want to highlight all of the Woodington players and everyone who helped out put on the production of clue thank you for all you guys did for the to put on a fantastic show for the community as for clubs science leag continues to prepare its members for the tests that will begin in February by holding practice ice tests with the whole team they are excited for the Year this year's test with a full roster for subjects like AP Physics 2 honors and AP cem honors and AP biology and AP environmental science environmental Club began a charity event for the Bergen County Animal Shelter in hopes of donating as much as they can regarding animal needs such as cat dog food blankets toys and more they also also recently held a photo contest where club members could submit a beautiful photo captured in nature congratulations to Josh gosh Roy for the first place winner with a lovely shot of Bermuda our coding Club held a meeting where they hosted four former students and two working professionals on a zoom talk about coding in college and in the workforce students were able to ask questions and hear about the world of computer science lastly we would like to thank Mrs petracelli for starting High School's live morning announcement on Friday streamed on WTV Network on YouTube and also we'd like to encourage students to attend the College Planning program for 10th and 11th grade on January 8th 2024 at 6:30 presented by the high school's counseling department thank you thank you next up is committee reports policy and governance Mrs Cooper thank you good evening everyone policy and governance committee met on December 4th present at the meeting were bronwin keldron as well as trustees Mrs price and myself and Mr Garcia Mrs Peterson was in attendance as ex officio we began with addressing updates to policy 2770 members of the committee had requested clarification on the changes to the policy language prior to the implementation at the time of the meeting unfortunately we had not yet received that clarification we received it on December 8th but did not meet to discuss prior to today's board meeting this will be addressed in the next policy committee meeting we also re Revisited excuse me policy 3161 and have determined to make no adjustments to the language that it remains compliant with the current law we also encourage Dr Mortimer to offer training on the details of the policy to dispel any concerns with the administration that the Administration has with the policy we've decided as a committee not to adopt Strauss esme's draft 3324 and so that will not be read in tonight regarding the implementation of policy 9244 based on her request the board has provided Dr Mortimer with recommendations but remains aware that that we do not administer to the district we encourage Dr Mortimer to finish the implementation of policy 922 9244 and work with her team to determine recommendations that are policy compliant we had to make adjustments to policy 5440 that are very positive as mentioned before in every way we can as a district we should encourage and highlight our students who have excelled in either academic or athletic in the academic or athletic Arena and have achieved entry into a state or national championship to that end we've expanded 544 Z based on the superintendent's recommendation to include academic and athletic competitive achievement at the county level and also to clarify that this policy is inclusive of band and choir as they are part of our curriculum we can concluded the meeting with a robust discussion about abolishing policy 5756 exploring multiple perspectives this matter is on the agenda and is being put to vote this evening this concludes my report thank you up next finance and Facilities Mrs Peterson thank you so finance and facil fa ities met on November 30th we began the meeting with mayor calamari and several other Township officials to discuss the potential expansion and traffic pattern around Washington School good discussion was had all around this conversation will be ongoing though and future updates will be provided as they become available we also discussed some of the administrative requests as it relates to the upcoming budget cycle some may recall that at the last public meeting we had an individual speak during public session about the substitute pay we took that back to committee reviewed that information and are recommending that we keep it as is which is consistent with other local school districts as Mrs Cooper mentioned we discussed regulation 5440 which is the board funding of Student Activities and are recommending that we begin this for the 2024 to 25 school year when it can be included in the uh upcoming budget the next meeting is scheduled Ed for January and that concludes my report thank you curriculum and instruction Mrs price thank you unfortunately due to a conflict within my own School District where I teach I was unable to um attend this meeting but in attendance um in my state were um was President pontello as well as Miss Peterson and Mrs Cooper we dis they discussed budgeting for the next school year which included the renewal of many programs that we are currently using and possible Staffing uh additions where needed additional conversation was to have about the Middle School electives and the ELA plus and math plus programs and they reviewed the purpose and criteria needed to implement um the ELA and math classes for students in sixth through 10th grade they discussed instruction at the middle school resulting in ideas that can support the extra classes recommendations were made to review the required High excuse me required highly qualified certifications needed and the staffing needs wiist was great was drafted um in order to be able to support all the academics um with the ma with the math and Ela plans um and uh kudos to M Mr Barbieri and miss Peterson for working on the Guitar Center's music Foundation um Middle School Grant proposal and this would be an opportunity for us to have um additional funding for our middle school program so thank you very much for your efforts and the next scheduled meeting for the curriculum instruction is February 6th of next year thank you uh negotiations Mrs Peterson uh thank so negotiations committee has not met since our last meeting on November 13th the next negotiations committee meeting is scheduled for February when fact finding will begin with the state for the WEA contract and that concludes my report thank you up next on uh not listed on the agenda will be the superintendent search committee report um Mrs PE on November 30th the search committee consisting of myself Miss Peterson Mr pontillo and Miss price met with Kathleen Hela to come up with criteria for the new superintendent places to post advertisements some questions for the survey and created a timeline for in-person Community input and conducting candidate interviews the latest update from Miss Hollow is the survey closed at the end of the day on 1213 we garnered a total of 411 responses the majority of the responses are parents and Guardians at 293 total teachers comprise a total of 79 of the participants and 29 community members and 10 adids were also participants Trends from the survey indicate a strong focus on teaching and learning majority of all respondents identify our teachers as one of the district's strongest attributes teacher retention and attracting high quality hires are the greatest concerns among the majority of respondents in both the short and longterm and nearly 60% of respondents Desire that the new Westwood Regional School dist district superintendent of schools have a deep understanding of curriculum and instruction and how students learn and will be supportive of teachers essential Personnel leadership characteristics are more varied but about half of the respondents list strong leadership as an essential quality for the next superintendent intelligence and approachability are highly desired as well as of right now we have 12 applicants for the position all meet the board's requirements and the in person input date will be on January 11th um and all of this is posted to the district's website thank you up next Awards and recognition uh I'll read motion a uh motion upon recommendation of the superintendent the following resolution be adopted whereas the wested Regional School District recognizes that all students who participate in athletics dedicate tremendous amounts of time and effort and whereas the West Regional School District gives special honor and Commendation to rare instances of athletic achievement that they may serve as an example of Excellence for the Youth of this community and whereas the wested Regional High School varsity football team won the njs AA group 2 state championship and whereas the West Regional High School varsity football team head coach Bobby guy also recently named Bergen County coach of the year and fan fan base brings great pride and distinction to themselves and the school district and whereas West Regional High School true leading team marching band Color Guard coaches and advisers had a successful season bringing great pride and distinction to themselves and the school district now therefore be it resolved that the West Regional Board of Education hereby congratulates these students coaches and advisers for their accomplishments and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the official minutes of the board of education do I have a second Mr Garcia discussion roll call please Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fent yes Mr Garcia Go Cards yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion Carri yeah yeah so uh i' say we'd like to invite everybody up but it might be the whole room so uh can we at least get the coaches up front and center please to accept whatever Awards we have to what no no certificates nothing oh we got to get the coaches up and uh we got to turn the microphone over to Coach Guy award you [Applause] know uh first off thank you to to the board of ed for uh recognizing this team uh along with the band and the cheerleading squad uh hats off to those guys sticking through us to the through the long hardfought season uh a 13-0 campaign was was a tremendous job uh we have such great support in this town um from an Athletics standpoint with our athletic D director Danny Vino principal Frank Connelly and his uh support staff I mean uh what a great job uh of rolling out the the red carpet for for the final game uh a half day uh some luxury buses uh some meals put put together by our touchdown Club who does a tremendous job um just really thankful for the community support I think I turned around at one point uh when we kicked that uh uh that extra point and I just saw a lot of people hugging each other and uh these guys are what what it's all about and and and something like that that brings the community together is such a remarkable thing um Wherever You Lie politically or wherever you lie with your uh grievances with what whatever is going on uh just look at these guys all their hard forward effort uh really just brought the town together or the Two Towns together uh hats off to these guys they work their butts off for the last four years um just happy to uh happy to be up here and be recognized by by these guys uh Gokarts principal Frank wow absolutely had no idea I was coming up here and saying anything but um listen on the agenda tonight is what our school district and uh Community is completely about right all the other stuff means nothing to me you look at this agenda with the student recognition the football team the marching band The Color Guard the cheerleaders I've lived in the community for 23 years worked in the district for 19 that to me is 100% what district is about and that should be the focus moving forward so I am so proud to be the Principal here congratulations again to everybody me recognize tonight all the students and all the staff and again an honor and privilege to be part of this community thank you how are you Dan Vino athletic director I've been running back and forth between opening night Hoops uh I didn't know I was speaking but I just want to Echo Mr Connelly's comments I've been here 17 years had a lot of proud moments here but one of my favorite was turning around seeing the stands after the game uh a couple Monday nights ago that's what this place is about it's why I love it here it's why I've been here a long time that's why this is the place to be I just want to once again congratulate the coaches and and the athletes and the entire community on the support it's been a really special thing for them don't know if we'll see something like this again again but in the simplest terms I think we nailed it on on the one try we may have had so thank you to everyone I'll let them get on with the meeting thank [Applause] you who sang that song Please Don't Go all right uh up next uh item agenda B Mrs peek if you could uh read that please sure motion that upon the recommendation of the superintendent the following resolution be adopted whereas the Westwood Regional School District recognizes that all students who participate in athletics dedicate tremendous amounts of time and effort whereas the Westwood Regional School District gives special honor and and Comm Commendation to rare instances of achievement of athletic achievement that they may serve as an example of Excellence for the Youth of this community whereas the Westwood Regional Middle School girls soccer team won the 2023 League Championship and whereas the Westwood Regional Middle School girls soccer team head coach Maria Christina Donahue and fan base brings great pride and distinction to themselves and the school district and now therefore be it resolved that the Westwood Regional School Regional Board of Education hereby congratulates these student athletes and their coach for this accomplishment and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the official minutes of the Board of Education I have a second Mrs price discussion C roll call Mr Rosado Sor right Mrs Cooper Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fan yes Mrs Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried congratulations and I'd like to invite the head coach uh Maria Donahue and the team forward Mr Santino you want to joining you're going to have to stand in front of a crowd sometime might as well do it now you do it on the [Applause] field I see a lot of red faces a lot of red faces congratulations girls coach would like to say a few words jez I think the common theme is none of us were ready for this um I just just wanted to say thank you um to these girls some of them I've known since sixth grade I'm getting like emotional saying this um it has been my honor and pleasure to be your coach and it has been amazing watching you all play this year getting to know the seventh graders um to our parents who supported us and drove us to all the games and picked up and practices and the complaints in the rain and still powering through and our runs um you girls did phenomenal and it has been again my honor and pleasure to watch you on that field and the record you guys had this year and the commitment to each other and while other teams crumbled and you saw girls yelling at each other you guys Rose together and held each other up and it is it is amaz it was amazing to watch so congratulations I'm so proud of all of you thank you coach say your words sure no one can top what Mrs Donnie Hugh just said but to e some sentiments from our board members about the tremendous support from our community regarding our fabulous teachers I just want to point out Mrs D I'm gonna cry she's actually being recognized twice tonight once for her incredible coaching and also for being an exemplary educator so so there you have it congratulations Mrs Donahue and all of our players thank you congratulations [Applause] girls okay did uh did Mr Vino Escape he's up next could somebody shoot him a text message or is he down about a basketball game or something all right hopefully somebody could drag him back here but uh next up moot uh agenda item number C or letter C Mr Garcia could you read that please motion that upon the recommendation of the superintendent the following resolution be adopted whereas the annual Bergen County YMCA sports award honors Bergen County's most outstanding High School coaches and student athletes and whereas the 58th annual YMCA Bergen County sports award banquet was held on November 21st 2023 to recognize the 2023 honores and whereas the Westwood Regional School District recognizes Daniel Vino Westwood High School athletic director for receiving the special achievement for excellence in athletic Administration award and where as the Westwood Regional School District recognizes Jack Dugan Westwood High School class of 2023 graduate for receiving the high school student athlete award and now therefore be it resolved that the Westwood Regional Board of Education hereby congratulate Daniel Vino and Jack Dugan for this achievement and directs the secretary to include the resolution this resolution in the official minutes of the Board of Education have a second Mrs price discussion see none can have a roll call Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fardian yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried thank you Round of Applause and I see it did not work to get Mr Vino back in the room lucky guy and uh is Jack here I don't see him you guys want to come up for him come on up proud parents runs a touchdown Club student athletes her other son blocks the kick the extra point you guys want to say anything come on school spirit put it out there come on that's so embarrassing all right uh this um football run was awesome the community was awesome Westwood and Washington Township all came together it really was um it really was incredible it was epic so um we appreciate that we thank you and go cards thank you Mr Vino oh and I hope you were able to incorporate some of the Drone footage from home for the holidays into the final video for the boys good glad to hear it Mr V you would like to say anything thank you yeah like I said I've been running back and forth we got a pack gym um but no I'm I'm I'm honored and uh grateful that uh the board wanted to take time to um recognize the uh YMC award that uh Jack Dugan and I received separate ones but uh earlier in November and now that I've gathered myself a little bit I also I just just want to thank the board um for everything your support for athletics consistently all the time um I want to thank both both police Chiefs chief pontello chief Skinner they really uh spared no expense taking care of uh escorts for our teams making it really special thing uh the fire department meeting the team coming back off the parkway like I said great Community thing um something that's been going on at Westwood forever with uh board support for athletics so I just want to thank everyone thank you very much thank you okay uh next motion D Mrs Peterson motion that upon the recommendation of the superintendent the following resolution be adopted whereas the New Jersey Department of Education invites public school districts to participate in the exemplary educator recognition program to identify outstanding educators for special recognition alternating between Elementary and secondary annually and whereas for the current 2023 competition round the NJ dooe sought out secondary Educators and whereas the Westwood Regional School District would like to applaud and commend the following staff for being selected as recipients of the exemplary secondary educator award and their commitment to Excellence and education in our district and now and now therefore be it resolved that the Westwood Regional Board of Education hereby congratulates these staff members for this recognition and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the official minutes of the Board of Education Barry Albert rashelle Campbell Henry Chen Christina Donahue Mary Elizabeth Ren Katherine Zumo congratulations thank you have a second Mrs price roll call Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fan yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs peek yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried we invite the employees that are present forward to stand for a wonderful photograph with the superintendent standon this evening can I put anybody else on the spot would anybody like to say anything no okay all [Applause] right okay up next is motion e uh Mrs Cooper I'd like to make a motion uh for E motion that upon recommendation of the superintendent the following resolution be adopted whereas the Westwood Regional School District has implemented the people make a difference recognition program for staff members and students who exhibit Role Model Behavior and attributes in key areas and whereas the Westwood Regional School District recognizes and extends our utmost appreciation to Ashley Molina a 12th grade student who demonstrated Excellence based on the specific criteria of the program and now therefore be it resolved that the Westwood Regional Board of Education hereby acknowledges and extends its appreciation to Ashley Molina and directs the board secretary to include this resolution in the official minutes of the Board of Education and directs the superintendent of schools to present her with a suitable certificate of recognition as a token of the board's esteem congratulations Miss Molina can I have a second please M fan discussion have a roll call this is Cooper Mrs Cooper yes yes Mr cassado yes Mrs Fenian yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs peek yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion congratulations [Applause] Ashley can we put you on the spot would you like to say anything you're good okay all right okay all right up next uh for motions FG and H I'd like to invite the VFW forward for these Awards led by Mr Kish a former board member and Mrs price can you read uh these motions into the record we'll do all three of them at once if you will so I'd like to make a motion FG and H upon the recommendation of the superintendent the following resolutions be adopted whereas the veterans of foreign war citizenship education programs s stimulate interest in America's history Traditions americanism civic responsibility flag etiquette and patriotism and whereas the VFW annually recognizes exceptional Educators who instill a sense of national pride in students and sorry and whereas the Westwood Regional Middle School teacher Kelly Morrison has been selected as a recipient of the VFW teacher of the year award by VFW Post 6192 in the township of Washington and now therefore be it resolved that the was the Westwood Regional Board of Education hereby congratulates krie Kelly Marson for this accomplishment and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the official minutes of the Board of Education whereas the veterans Foreign Wars sponsor an annual audio essay contest for high school students called voice of democracy and whereas this year's Voice of democracy theme was what are the greatest attributes of our democracy and whereas Westwood Regional High School student Lindsay May has been selected as the awardee for the 2023 2024 VFW voice of democracy sa contest by the VFW Post 6192 in the township of Washington and now therefore be it resolved that the Westwood Regional Board of Education hereby congratulates Lindsay May for this accomplishment and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the official minutes of the Board of Education whereas the veterans of foreign war sponsors an annual essay contest for middle school students called Patriots pen and whereas this year's Patriots pen theme was how are you inspired by America and whereas seven Westwood Regional Middle School students submitted entries for the 2023 2024 VFW Patriots pen essay contest and whereas the following three Westwood Regional Middle School students were selected as sa contest winners by VFW Post 6192 in the township of Washington first place Heather Heather Park 8ighth grade second place ASA I am so sorry I'm going to pronounce your name wrong Jenna cardran seventh grade and third place Mia milany eighth grade and now there for be it resolved that the Westwood Regional Board of Education hereby congratulates these students for this accomplishment and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the official minutes of the Board of Education congratulations can I have a second please M fian discussion can I have a roll call Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs F arjan yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mr Peters Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried congratulations I'd like to turn the mic microphone over to Mr Kish who will present the awards to each of the recipients Mr Kish thank you uh Mr pontello so let me call up uh let's call up all five winners at the same time so Kelly Morrison our teacher of the year congratulations thank you Lindsay Meyer who is our high school contest winner congratulations our Middle School contest winners first place Heather [Applause] Park congratulations our second place winner asva jandrin was I close close congratulations thank you and finally our third place Middle School winner Mia [Applause] malani congratulations uh so those who don't know me uh I'm Stephen Kish I'm actually a resident in Washington Township I used to be a board member uh and I've moved on from that um now one of the officers of VFW Post 6192 in Washington Township I'm pleased to be joined this evening by several members of our local post uh to recognize uh our Westwood Regional School District District teacher of the year uh our high school student Lindsay and three middle school students as part of our annual award program Veterans of Foreign Wars citizenship education programs are designed to stimulate interest in America's history Traditions americanism civic responsibility flag etiquette and patriotism congratulations to Kelly Morrison who's our teacher of the year Kelly's a social studies teacher in the middle school she's also taught in the high school as well congratulations to Lindsay M who is our voice of democracy High School audio essay contest winner Lindsay is a senior at Westwood Regional High School we're also thrilled to announce this evening that Lindsay has also been selected as the VFW District 2 voice of democracy winner beating out entries from 27 other VFW posts in our area and finally congratulations to Heather Park as via jandrin and Mia malani who are our first second and third place Middle School Patriots pen essay contest winners all three students are at the Westwood Regional Middle School in addition to the monetary awards that each is receiving tonight all of the award winners will be invited to a local VFW Awards dinner in the spring we'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Board of Ed and administration for supporting these VFW award programs in particular we'd like to thank Dr Mortimer Mr Connelly and Dr Santino for promoting these programs in the district we'd also like to give a speci shout out and thanks to Mr Albert and the English teachers in the middle school for supporting and helping to recognize some of their outstanding students and staff thank you for having us here today we look forward to seeing you again next year to recognize several more teachers and students in this District thank you thank you congratulations thank you uh if I may I'd like to say a special thanks to Kelly um few as a as a social studies teacher she reached out to me a few years ago uh she was doing a lesson on a student from our district who had died fighting for our country um during the course of my duties at work in my other in the police job um I had been running the funeral for sergeant herbeck um and she wanted to do a lesson on uh for her students which explained some of the things that happened in the aftermath of that how the community came together and uh I provided her with a CD of uh all the things that were made and done during that time and she presented that to the students so Kelly thank you for keeping Chris's Spirit Alive and uh keep up the good work okay a motion I Mrs Peterson motion that upon the recommendation of the superintendent the following resolution be adopted whereas Michael pontello devoted three years of dedicated service to the Westwood Regional School District as Trustee of the Board of Education and whereas he has demonstrated a conscientious and rational approach to the decision-making process to a number of difficult board decisions and whereas he has rendered valuable and dedicated service to the students staff and citizens of the Westwood Regional School District and whereas he has given generously of his time effort and abilities in the interest of promoting and supporting the best educational opportunities for the Children and Youth of our school district and whereas in fulfilling his obligation as a member of the Board of Education he would was frequently required to do so at a personal sacrifice to himself and to his family and now therefore be it resolved that the Westwood Regional Board of Education on behalf of itself in the district hereby recognizes Mr Pontillo's dedicated services and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the minutes of the Board of Education and that a plaque be presented to Mr pontillo in recognition of his contributions during his tenure with the Westwood Regional School District thank [Applause] you have a second Mrs Cooper discussion seeing none oh Mr Garcia isn't this where we pay a little bit of Honor or respect to you can I can we say something go ahead certainly entitled to Mr pontel thank you for your dedication and commitment to this District I remember sitting with you before you first run listening to your intentions you told me me your goals for the district I agreed with many of them we wholeheartedly agreed and still do the importance of volunteerism and we will always share love for this community we've battled a few times but after watching you serve two years I understand now that regardless of intentions what we say as trustees can breed contempt and what we do inevitably opens us up to criticism but I appreciate your positive contributions to our schools and reflecting on your tenure I learned a lot while your time on this board ends this year I look forward to working with you in the future for the betterment of this community and to ensure the safety of this District again thank you Mr pontel thank you Mr Peterson Mr pontello I think I'm going to start referring to you as board president Emeritus because I think you have demonstrated extreme commitment to this District over over the past 3 years and especially this past year serving as board president you've consistently taken the high road and have advocated for many things that have significantly improved this District working with you on the board for the past couple years has been an honor you are one of the hardest working people I know and are absolutely oneof a kind I have learned a ton from you and I want to sincerely thank you for your contributions to our district thank you roll call Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fan yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo obain motion carried up next motion J Mrs Cooper upon the recommendation of the superintendent the following resolution be adopted whereas Stacy price has devoted three years of dedicated service to the Westwood Regional School District as Trustee of the Board of Education and where she has demonstrated a conscientious and rational approach to the decision-making process to a number of difficult board decisions and whereas she has rendered valuable and dedicated service to the students staff and citizens of Westwood Regional School District and whereas she has given generously of her time effort and abilities in the interest of promoting and supporting the best educational opportunities for the Children and Youth of our school district and whereas in fulfilling her obligation as a member of the Board of Education she was frequently required to do so at a personal sacrifice to herself and to her family and now therefore be it resolved that the Westwood Regional Board of Education on behalf of itself and the district hereby recognizes Mrs Price's D Mrs Price's dedicated services and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the minutes of the Board of Education and that a plaque be presented to Mrs price in recognition of her contributions during her tenure with the Westwood Regional School District have a second seconded by Mrs price is that a conflict of interest discussion Mrs Peterson Mrs price you've served on this board for three years now and I've learned quite a bit from you as well I think you lead by example and are truly one of the most sincere and genuine people I know your 25 plus years of teaching experience have been very valuable to this board especially on the curriculum side and I know that I along with many within our community really appreciate your District your dedication to this District so thank [Applause] you and Mrs price also I I have to say M Cooper go ahead yes thank you Mr Price it's just been such a privilege to work with you and to get to know you not only with your expertise on sitting in curriculum and multiple committees with you but also what a beautiful person you are and how patient and committed you've been to the entire district for your service I really appreciate it and I'll miss you very [Applause] much we got to go last anyone else Stacy it's been a pleasure to work with you uh thank you for your perspective for your dedication your time your service I think uh being an educator yourself brought a different perspective uh and it's good to have that uh when sitting in the room discussing discussing items so thank you and appreciate you and I'm sure this won't be the last stop for anything that we do do together oh you you block somebody else oh okay anyone else Mr gcia M price I just want to say thank you I think we had more conversations and I appreciated them more before I got on the board but um we did have some some really good conversations and I think the uh Community can some sometimes see us up here and it can be divisive but um I think you have a good heart and I appreciate it a lot of things you've said and um just thank you for your time I gu I just have one thing for discussion I just want to thank all of you and thank all of you for your support um over the last three years because I've really feel privileged to have been able to serve with all of you and with the members that were on the board prior to myself and I thank Mr pontillo um be uh not just for your leadership and your guidance but your friendship as well so thank you very much motion k Mr Casada motion that upon the recommendation of the superintendent the following resolution be adopted whereas Irene fian devoted one year of dedicated service to the Westwood Regional School District as Trustee of the Board of Education and whereas she demonstrated a conscientious and rational approach to the decision-making process to a number of difficult board decisions and whereas she has rendered valuable and dedicated service to the students staff and citizens of the Westwood Regional School District and whereas she has given generously of her time effort and abilities in the interest of promoting and supporting the best educational opportunities for the Children and Youth of our school district and whereas in fulfilling her obligation as a member of the Board of Education she was frequently required to do so at a personal sacrifice to herself and to her family and now therefore be resolved that the Westwood Regional Board of Education on behalf of itself in the district hereby recognizes Miss fardan fian's dedicated services and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the minutes of the Board of Education and that a plaque be presented to miss fian in the recognition of her contributions during her tenure with the Westwood Regional School District [Applause] have a second Mr surprise discussion Mr Peterson Mrs fian I just want to thank you for stepping up to fill the vacant position this past year I commend you for volunteering your time for the betterment of the district and our children and I personally have had a uh a great time getting to know you a little bit better you have one of the funniest senses of humor that I've ever seen um so thankk you and you will be missed anyone else Mr Cado Just Want to Thank You Irene you've not only spent time here but you're one of the most committed people to the Board of Education even when you're not sitting on the Das and so to thank you and I know I'm going to see you sitting out here afterwards so thanks very much everyone would like to say anything would you like to say anything um yes I would I would like to say thank you it's been an honor to um serve and support um the district our children and I want to thank my husband and my children for um graciously giving up their time with me so thank you thank you roll call I'm getting oh sorry can I get can I get a roll call uh Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fardian yes Mrs Garcia yes Mrs PE yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mrs pontillo Mrs pontillo or Mr Mr pontillo Mr pontil is a yes okay motion carried we also need to do a roll call for uh Mrs price I'm sorry got a roll call for Mrs Price's uh motion actually a second we have a second for that Mr Garcia I have a second for Mrs price have a roll call in we never got the roll call in um M Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fardian yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price obain Mr Ponto yes motion carried uh I have to go out of order for a minute I received a text message from my daughters in the back there asking if they can leave they want to go to bed and get their homework done so you you you were both dismissed at Ashley and Abby thank you for coming I love you [Applause] guys you don't even have to wear red when you come here for school spirit you can wear it on your face right all right uh motion L uh Miss F motion that upon the recommendation of the superintendent the following resolution be adopted whereas James Perino devoted one year of dedicated service to the Westwood Regional School District as Trustee of of the Board of Education and whereas he has demonstrated a conscientious and rational approach to the decision-making process to a number of difficult board decisions and whereas he has rendered valuable and dedicated service to the students staff and citizens of the Westwood Regional School District and whereas he has given generously of his time effort and abilities in the interest of promoting and supporting the best educational opportunities for the children and the Youth of our school district and whereas in fulfill filling his obligation as a member of the Board of Education he has frequently required to do so at a personal sacrifice to himself and to his family and now therefore be it resolved that the Westwood Regional School uh the Westwood Regional Board of Education on behalf of itself and the district hereby recognizes Mr Perino's dedicated services and directs the secretary to include this resolution in the minutes of the Board of Education and that a plaque be presented to Mr Perino in recognition of his contributions during his tenure with the Westwood Regional School District have a second Mrs price discussion I'll start uh Mr Pino cannot be here tonight due to a family emergency um but uh although Rusty did not say much when he was on the Das uh he certainly was a contributor behind closed doors and committee meetings Rusty is probably one of the smartest guys I know I appreciated his wit and his depth of knowledge in certain areas and uh he was a good guy um so Rusty I know you're not here if you're watching this on YouTube tomorrow well done thank you anybody else all right no roll call please Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fian yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried Ado thank you um I would ask that the recipients come forward to get a picture so this can go in the newsletter and you can stare at us once again even though we're off the board if you'd like to unpackage your uh plaque so that you can hold them up for the photo sure why not e oops hold on one second okay there's no special public report this evening uh next item 16 agenda item public forum pursuing to board policy 0167 during the first public forum District of 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 the me a member of the public plans to speak and ask that all remarks be directed to the board as a whole not to individuals the board ask the members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking although the board may not respond to items raised during the public for all public comments will be considered and may be discussed tonight under the appropriate agenda item or new business at this meeting at sub 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 open the floor at 8:21 p.m. Jamie Gino no F the Swit okay agenda item 18 tonight I stand before you not just as a concerned parent but as an advocate for the fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution the fifth 9th and 14th amendments unequivocally affirm our right to direct the upbringing Education and Care of our minor children this is not merely a preference it is a constitutional guarantee a Bedrock of our society I'm here to express a profound concern of policy 5756 a concern that is very the very essence of parental rights and is under attack it alarms me as it should alarm all of us that there is existing growing Trend where the state and by extension of our school district seem to overstep in crouching Upon Our sacred role as parents this is not just an overreach it is a dangerous precedent consider the current practice in our schools we receive calls for the most mundane manners if our child is sick late absent or had a mishap on the playground yet when it comes to issues of significant and sensitive nature like changes in a minor gender there is a troubling silence this silence this withholding of Vital Information from parents is not only unacceptable it is potential grounds for legal action take a look at the ongoing lawsuits in Cherry Hill and Cranford to recognize the gravity of this issue both are currently being sued by parents in federal courts let us talk about policy 5756 it is crucial to understand that this policy is not a law not a mandate is merely guidance yet its implications are profound across our state school districts are waking up to this reality to date 16 districts have rescinded this policy sending a clear and resounding message to the state authorities they are not just making a St statement they are setting a precedent we are at a crosswords the decision before this board is not just a bureaucratic one it is a moral one it is one about standing with parents upholding our god-given rights and protecting the sanctity of the family unit the path is clear it is time for our district to align with those who have taken a stand it's time to uphold our constitutional rights to honor our role as parents and to ensure that our voice our fundamental right to guide our children's lives is respected and preserved I urge you to reflect deeply on these matters and make a decision that honors our rights our families and our communities thank [Applause] you Anna Cass Anna Cass Hillsdale I'm here to speak on agenda number 18 I am Vice chair of moms for Liberty Bergen County I was asked by a few parents to come speak on behalf of them regarding policy 5756 we are here to advocate for the rights of both parents and children a child's best interest is held by the parents there should be open communication between the school and parents at all levels at all times at no point should a Minor's welfare be put into anyone's hands other than the parents it is the parents god-given right to raise their children and the schools are to educate on academics only we need to return to Stronger Family Values children need their parents go cards thank [Applause] you Michael Pierro evening agenda item 18 I'm here tonight to speak about the um reference to policy 5756 can you State the uh municipality uh Michael Pier Westwood uh I spoke on this policy last year and was told it was mandated by the state that information has turned out to be false information and as the truth has come to light many districts around New Jersey have abolished this controversial policy in the last few months it's time for westw to follow suit this policy is the root of the parental rights uproar New Jersey and for good reason as I've listened to the debate go back and forth often you will hear grim statistics for children going through an identity crisis and I don't know how a rational person can listen to that and think it's a good idea to keep a parent in the dark about the health and well-being of their child which the language in this policy allows no one can love a child more than their parent and that is something only a parent can understand the type of language in this policy destroys trust and mocks objective truths if there's an issue with the health and well-being of a child the parent must know it is their right to know like the old saying goes it takes a village collectively we are the village and any attempt to divide us should be rejected wholeheartedly thank you for your time tonight merry Christmas happy Hanukkah and have a blessed New [Applause] Year Amar gyo hi I'm amera gel I'm a high school senior um I'm here to speak to agenda item 18 policy 5756 I'm here to speak on behalf of students parents friends families and allies to express our absolute disagreement with the resending of policy 5756 over the past year the majority of you sitting on the de tonight have demonstrated that you are not willing to listen listen we know that you will vote to pass this policy tonight regardless of how many of us speak out against it so we won't you see we've already spoken at the polls and the message was loud and clear our community doesn't want this so you can pass whatever policy you would like tonight because we will be back in January to speak to a board we know will listen and we can't [Applause] wait [Applause] Tom [Applause] Harden Tom Harden Westwood um here to address agenda item 18 policy 5756 as a parent in the district I understand the sensitivity and significance of this issue uh I implore the board to consider the broader implications of this policy and the reasons why its abolishment in fact aligns with our shared values of inclusivity and respect uh first let's discuss the history of this policy in 2016 the board adopted a version that did not exclude parents the state updated it in 2019 introducing language to prevent parental transparency seemingly mandatorily however a few months ago it was clarified that this requirement was not mandatory the current version of the policy for people aren't familiar with it raises several concerns uh it directs staff to not inform parents about students name changes and mandates the creation of dual student files keeping one confidential it also advises staff to withhold information from parents if a child receives mental health counseling uh it allows districts to enable boys to participate in girl Sports and permits students to use restrooms and locker rooms aligning with their gender identity thus a 5-year-old in kindergarten could adopt a different gender identity or even that of their favorite farm animal without their parents' knowledge similarly an 18-year-old man in 12th grade experiencing autogen ofilia a condition where a man's sexual arousal is tied to the idea of himself as a woman could use the same locker rooms and restrooms as our daughters why would anyone support 5756 children and their innocence and lack of Expos Ure to the complexities of social influences often make decisions without fully understanding the consequences and long-term implications when parents step into guide support and correct the course they aren't being overbearing or unsafe they are being parents now to address a critical concern the safety and well-being of our students struggling with their identities who are often stuck in a tragic cycle of self harm and perpetual ual victimhood uh contrary to popular belief eliminating this policy won't expose those students to harm in reality those portraying the policies repeal as dangerous to these students are not just spreading baseless fears but also creating division by relying on the comprehensive protections provided by the New Jersey law against discrimination and the anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act we can ensure that all our students regardless of their identities are safe respected and protected from discrimination and bullying our district already has robust non-discriminatory policies in place align with these state laws the abolishment of 5756 does not signify a step backward rather it's a move towards transparency simplifying and strengthening our commitment to all students and their parents thank [Applause] you I anyone else there's no one else on the speaker list sure come forward my name is Andrea Kor I'm from Montville New Jersey um I didn't plan to speak tonight um I am a crisis counselor I work at a local Middle School um I also do emergency screenings for students within Bergen County and the surrounding area um I know we have a very we had a very celebratory evening um but you know on a more somber note I do want to speak to I think some of the implications of repealing um of agenda item 18 policy um 5756 um I think sorry I didn't prepare to speak but um you know I think a big thing with any sort of um you know repealing any any sort of protections we all like to assume that a child is going home to a safe home um that a child has parents where it would be safe to notify these parents and unfortunately I've worked with many children in many families where this is not the case um when there is a student with a mental health crisis I'm the one who calls the parents um you know I dread the day where I have a child come out to me um within a session um and I know that they home life isn't safe I know that the situation with their parent isn't safe and I have to call that parent anyway and I betray the trust of that child um I think we're assuming here that the goal of school staff is to um deceive parents to covet information which is not the case I think we all know um a good educator um a good school staff member knows the balance between managing students rights and managing the rights of parents um a good educator a good staff member knows Nuance knows balanced decision-making and would be able to weigh the pros and cons I as a school crisis counselor never go into a situation saying I want to keep the parent out of the loop however due to my training and my experience and my working with students I know the difference between this is a parent that I can call and this is maybe a situation where I would want to talk to the student first how would you prefer to proceed just leaves room for nuance um you know I think it's well documented that um students um transgender students non-binary students gender minorities have some of the highest rates of school refusal um suicide attempts suicide completion mental health um issues bullying um and we wonder why this is It's because these students are more likely to be targeted in schools it's because these students don't feel welcome in schools is because these students don't feel safe in schools um what are we looking at as some of the biggest problems as a school district school refusal mental health concerns bullying we want to create a safe space for students not a space where students feel like they cannot have a trusted point of um communication anyway thank you we have nobody else on the speakers list would anybody else like to speak come forward please thank you uh Laura Nicholson Westwood I had no intention of speaking tonight either but I want to speak about policy 18 5756 sorry can you just repeat your name my name Laura Nicholson I there's an overarching theme with this particular board that at the beginning of every meeting we hear a recap of what you've done in the month each board each head of the board talks about what has been accomplished in the month prior often we hear we didn't get to meet or today we heard we met on this day but we still still didn't have any information or whatever wasn't accomplished but whenever there's a policy whenever there's something this board wants to push through so quickly it's put on the it's put on the agenda and it's pushed through in this case so many of you will not be here in January there's the option of reversal but it seems a little odd that at the 11th Hour another policy is put on the table to be pushed through we repealing it seems to be a theme that things that are supposed to be getting done the core of of the role that you volunteered for I give you a lot of credit for doing that and giving your time and hours so those get overlooked a lot but when you have something that you want to go quickly you do it doesn't give people the right to respond to it doesn't get people or we do this like Amara spoke earlier you don't listen you you already have your vote in your head you already know what you're going to do it's unfortunate because the board is supposed to be listening to the students to the parents as someone mentioned before this is a layer to help protect the students that's why in school that's what they're supposed to be doing I heard people speak that the parents should know their children they should know their children there shouldn't be anything that's going on in school that they shouldn't know about but there are parents that don't know things their children do and they need to be safe they're talking about God given right what they do at home is certainly their business but this is a public school and all the children need to be safe and feel safe thank [Applause] you it was the microphone I swear Andrew GM Westwood New Jersey I'm here to talk about uh section 18 of the agenda policy 5756 um I never plan on speaking but it turns out I wind up speaking every time I show up uh I think um since something shows up for a first reading with the word abolish on it it would be helpful to the community to hear during the discussion section as it comes up uh for the motion to come up to hear the rationale behind the reasoning for uh the board wanting to abolish it uh the community deserves that um I also noticed that when looking at the agenda about a day or so ago it had the word resend and today it says the word abolish so I like to hear some rationale behind the change in language um I'd also like to point out that it says upon recommendation of the Board of Education it does not say upon recommendation of the superintendent like most other policies 98% of policy motions in Board of Education agendas just want to point that out um personally I think this this is one of the most exhaustive policies you that exist from the ones I've seen over the years um it's it does seem to give guidance it's not just a straight policy here's what should be done here's what shouldn't be done it actually has Nuance in it um which I think is something that's commendable that it's in there talks about it in the lens of uh HIV cases it talks about it in the lens of uh actually notifying parents when that's appropriate actually says it in there so I don't know if everybody was reading it or not um there it's also multifaceted there there are debates on a lot of the subtopics in the policy so if you may agree that you know uh the transgender students uh right to privacy exists but some other people might not agree about uh activities in sports and how it relates to transgenders so if anything I think this policy should be split out into multiple policies to cover the different areas because there's there's you could have a debate on every single paragraph in this in this uh policy it's almost too much to be in one so that's just my take on that um and also I'd like just a recommendation that would be helpful for the community when the policy committee meeting minutes are read it would help to hear the number and then the title of the policy just because none of us have any idea what those policies are that were discussed in the meeting it would just help give context so we're trying to like piece it together as it's being described that would be helpful um that's all I have tonight thank [Applause] you anyone else uh Joan moral uh here in Township I also was not prepared to speak but um first I wanted to thank our four members who are leaving us um after this meeting um I have been attending meetings for years now and I have seen how even when the board didn't have majority in whatever side you're looking at um we had board members here like Mr pello Miss price um Miss Peterson who have uh represented um voices of the community not just one side but I you know I do find that um you know we're we're looking to to make sure we're all willfully represented and heard um looking forward to what's coming next year make uh you know to see how the the new board is going to come in and as the promises were made we'll be listening to all the voices in the community um I also appreciate the fact that you know we're listening to different points of views today around agenda item number 18 um I do would like to hear you know from the board um from what I understand if a child is deemed to be in danger at home teachers can um contact for services to be provided to that child to make sure that they're protected um so I just want to make sure that I understand that correctly that um if there is a situation in the child's home where their physical safety um is of concern that is something that is separate from um what we're discussing as far as um you know a child changing their gender identity at schools and being able to make sure that the parents are notified which in my opinion actually strengthens the relationship between the school and the parents for the benefit of the child versus the child feeling like they're living two separate lives where at school they are um they have one set of adults that can provide certain support and then at home they feel like they're not where they're not fully themselves right whether it's at school or or at home um we want to make sure I personally would you know want for all of the children in our community especially those who are um you know coming out to whether at school or at home it's it's a very difficult process um and the thought of them having to live two separate identities or you know not to see both of the adults in their lives whether it's at home and at school come together for their benefit you know it's concerning um so that's you know that's something that I think maybe we can look to clarify that if there is a you know any concern with physical safety that is separate from notification to parents um when a child is um you know transitioning whether they're going you know what if they're receiving services at school um which again I feel would actually strengthen the relationship between school and home and not create the divide that I think a lot of people feel it would create that's all thank [Applause] you hi uh Sharon mcdna Washington Township Township of Washington um I'm just here to uh congratulate all the students and teachers who were the awards and recognition uh category uh of course the uh football team the cheerleaders the marching band Color Guard coaches and their advisers and the Middle School girls soccer team go Cardinals I also want to make sure to congrat congratulate the teachers um who uh got Awards tonight including Barry relle Henry Christina Elizabeth and Katherine and also to Kelly Morrison for the rewards she got and also Dan Vino and Jack Dugan for the for their Awards I just want to uh know that um the uh teachers in the district and the community are behind them all and we congratulate them thank you [Applause] Carol Mountain Westwood New Jersey the one of the questions that comes up is if a child is not if a parents if parents do not see that their child is transitioning or that they are in some way behaving differently in school than they are at home there must be a reason for that if a child felt safe or if a parent was really tuned into their child they would understand what was happening so if a child if they can't tell maybe it's because the child doesn't feel safe to behave that way at home we should take that into [Applause] consideration [Applause] anyone else seeing No Hands we'll move on with the agenda item number 17 administrative and governance Mr Garcia can you move agenda items A and B please like to move items A and B under 17 administrative and governance have a second Mr n in discussion seeing none C Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fian yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried number 18 policy Mrs Cooper move agenda items A and B please I'd like to move agenda items A and B a second Mr Price discussion Mr Garcia can we separate B out from A and B uh we have a motion in a second so I think we should just discuss if you want to discuss about B you can if you want to vote separate you can you can okay you want to discuss you have any discussion we're in discussion the Motions to to approve A and B you can separate them out on your vote should you wish to and if you want to discuss either of them you could that would the time would be now to do that okay um I had a lot written about yes I'd like to do that so um I had a lot written about 5756 I think the tenor of the the meeting today I'm going to scrap that um I hope moving forward I actually sat in for the policy meeting and I thought it was pretty fruitful um I hope everybody else in the in the meeting that night felt that they were heard I certainly listened um and I understand that a lot of the community members it seems like this is really a divisive issue and it may be um I just look at it a little bit differently I understand I'm sympathetic to all parents and people on the parental rights side of things I do believe that they have the rights what I'm looking at is the policy versus the law so I'm confused and I'm disheartened because I'm not sure exactly what changes by abolishing the policy and I know it says you know was implemented or was a guidance the laws are the laws so I'm not sure what changes but what I looked at the policy as is it as a policy to guide the staff The Faculty to how to abide by those laws so removing it doesn't really do anything except leave a little void for the faculty and staff on how to approach these things we still have to follow the rules and regulation unless I'm wrong but that's I see Miss price shaking her head so if we can have further discussion maybe I'll come back into that then if you guys can kind of explain what changes with removing or abolishing the policy versus the laws anyone else Mr Price um so I think that the the major concern in regards to 5756 is that um we are creating a further divide between um our parents and our children and that is the one piece of the policy so if that wasn't in there the policy I would potentially agree with you that the rest of it would make sense there are policies in place at schools um and in uh that are there if there's a risk of students at home regardless of what the issue might be to have to call home for um so that if there is a risk if you're going to call home home for a student for any reason where there may be harm or something to that effect um there are policies in place for schools and procedures to follow um so this policy doesn't doesn't change um this this policy the oh excuse me I apologize my mouth is so dry um this policy's abolishment does not change the fact that if students are in danger at home um that this will that this was the only policy in place to protect them I hope I've stated my stated it properly so I'm going to choke now so that was where I was kind of shaking my head no to your comments it wasn't and I apologize if I was being rude at all um it's just that there are policies in place if a CH child might be at risk at home um on how we proceed to be able to if there are required notifications or not um so that's my statement on your comment anyone else Mr G I just want to say I did I did not think you were being rude at all I just want clarification because I thought you were going to express that so thank you for your input anyone else Mr P so I have um two things one there isn't always a way for teachers or administrators to know if a child might be in danger if they release the information the law says that the child has the right to be to have this information kept confidential and that they should it should be discussed with the student on how they if they're comfortable and how they might proceed and in which case the school is will be will help facilitate those conversations if the student decides that that's how they would like to proceed you won't always know if a child is in harm or in danger if you tell the parent um but could you also clarify how does the policy create further divide specifically anytime you separate information from a parent it creates division in the family period and it is not the school's POS place to keep information about somebody's child from them period it's contagious sty anybody else Mr nor sorry so my concern is that the policy as it stands right now um directs staff to withhold information that there is presumptive guilt where on parents where there is a safety concern and that the decision on that is being done by School staff rather than legal authorities which can bring about legal action against the school because we have those other systems in place for safety Mrs PE there is no presumption of guilt on a parent part by taking a precautionary step to speak to the student first to say how would you like to proceed with this conversation with your families to give the child the respect to be able to say I don't feel safe I don't feel comfortable with my parents knowing right now I'm I'm worried that maybe they won't abuse me but maybe they might disown me maybe they might ridicule me maybe they might mock me maybe they won't accept me that's a students we're not talking about five and six year olds by the way we're we're not talking about little kids but that's a student's right when you have that conversation and if it is a five or six-year-old then that conversation would be different but a student has a right to say how I'm sorry I'll finish I'll ask you all my questions well yeah I know you tend to talk while other people are speaking but EXC there's there's no doubt in my mind that a guidance counselor in a school knows the difference between talking with a five or six-year-old and a late middle school or a high schooler student the student has a right to say I don't feel safe and that information needs to be respected to keep the child safe Mr PR how would you feel if your child child disclosed anything to a counselor that may be of potential detriment to them any way shape or form no no no I'm not putting it in any category and somebody at school made a decision you shouldn't know Mr already done yep okay Mr Peck would you like to respond I would be Beyond grateful that my child found somebody that they could talk to and I would trust that that person would guide my my child to come to me if they were comfortable or find help to help my child if they needed help I think that would be a foolish decision ision on your part because that is your child not somebody else's and you should be in charge of bringing your child up M I think there's fundamental differences where there's not going to be a bridge for and that is you had noted that the students rights but my priority is my rights as a parent over my child who happens to be a student within a district that is priority over how they might feel I might react to a situation that is first and foremost the issue underlying 5756 is withholding of information from a parent Mr Garcia can anybody I would address or Miss Cooper as the chair can you tell me specifically like let's say this is abolished tonight which we're pretty sure it's going to be right tomorrow does it go into play how does this actually change the way we other the way that the staff The Faculty what um are going to act so because we we're talking I mean it's a long EXT exensive list of things you keep talking to the keeping secrets from parents so how does it actually change can anybody very very specific when we abolish this what changes same thing happen yesterday versus tomorrow how do the student how do the teachers act how does it change yep I think that's up to Dr Mortimer to implement into the district we don't administer the district we administer policy anyone else so oh go ahead Mrs pack I work very hard on building and maintaining a relationship with both of my children I have open communication I make them I make sure they understand that they can come to me to tell me anything but as teenagers do sometimes they're not always comfortable telling telling their mom something that's not a foolish parenting move on my part it's not a foolish part parenting move on my part to say if you feel strongly that you need help from somebody but it's not me for whatever reason and you can find a trusted adult that's going to help you work through the decision and make a safe healthy decision then I truly hope they find that adult and if I would love for it to be me always every parent wants that but if it's not then I would like for that adult to help that child and when my child is ready then that information will come to me I'd rather them be safe than me know [Applause] everything anybody else Mrs PE well since Mrs price is mumbling under her breath no I was speaking to you directly off microphone to be polite and respectful to you and not in public I never said my children were not safe with me I was saying if my child was about to make a decision that might not be the safest if they don't want to come to me for whatever reason that if they could find an adult that will help them then I would rather them make a safe Choice with the help of an adult a trusted adult then make a stupid mistake if if it was me I want it to be me I work very hard as a mother to make sure that my child knows that he can or she can come to me but children don't always do that Mrs voria I can appreciate those conversations about having a trusted adult and I have those conversations as well but I clearly delineate who those other persons are for my children that they can go to what could be family it could be Elders within our church but I let them know who they can go to at no point on my list is any teacher or School employee not because I don't believe that they can teach my children but because that's not their role in their life and I believe strongly that this policy puts at risk children and puts at risk the staff here by saying within policy that you cannot go to this child's parents these are fundamental differences that we're not going to come in agreement with so I I I I would like us to just come to a vote at this point anybody else have anything to say anybody else all right so just a couple thoughts for oh go ahead go ahead um I'm want to state I'm trying to remove any sort of emotion and and personal feelings about this I'm trying to look at it in not a diplomatic fashion but I am curious if you were just concerned about one part and this is extensive guidance for the whole District right for the faculty why are we abolishing versus amending and why are we leaving just no policy in place at all because there are other districts and I know somebody had mentioned 16 you know that might be we have 600 districts in New Jersey so to say 16 of them um and the like-minded there are you know if if you didn't love 5756 it's still the point and intent whether it was mandatory or not it was instilled or put out for guidance for districts so why did we not take a step to say okay let's amend it if there's a couple things we don't like but to leave a whole Gap I think it's more of trying to make a statement and like I said I had a lot more I'm not going to go into that no but so that's my question why did we not explore other options like Northern Valley old depend demerest has a 51457 it's not exactly 5756 but it covers a lot of the bases was there any thought to that well are you asking me I'm asking I'm asking anyone who put this forth for an AB abolishment versus any sort of amendment or further discussion as this is in the court in New Jersey too so I don't understand you no matter where we stand I don't know what the what the sense of urgency is on the last meeting of a lot of people won't even be here to further the discussion on this well I'm confused about why you think it's urgent I'm I'm surprised actually because we've been talking about quite a bit of all of this for the last six months so I'm I'm not sure I understand why it's urgent why you feel it's urgent I think there's a difference between um efficiency and Effectiveness versus urgency Jay but um you were in the committee meeting so I believe you understand already where the committee stands minus yourself which I also understand I'm along with Irene I'd really like to put this to vote at this point anybody else am I allowed to talk or we just have to take a vote okay thanks so um I think there's a few issues and um I'm not going to stay District Centric on on the issues right uh districts in New Jersey learned from a court case that happened in Central Jersey uh where the Attorney General's office admitted that the policy was not mandatory however it was submitted to districts as mandatory by the paid policy provider in a disingenuous suggestion that it was mandatory when it was not um I think that's problematic on its face irrespective of what what policy it would be because we shouldn't have a paid professional provider giving us improper guidance on any topic uh so Mr GM I actually referred to my past board colleagues in my president's report brings up a good point this is a very complex detailed policy so policy usually describes um the what and a regulation describes the how and we we've I've listen to a lot of people talk about the guidance given in here on how faculty is supposed to do certain things so there's also a dichotomy there this is riddled with state law state law is not optional but the policy refers to state law irrespective of the policy being in place or not the state law needs to be followed so this might actually be better placed as a regulation than a policy that regulation would be how to administer the confines of the law requirements for District staff in in addition to that um you know one of the biggest arguments going back and forth right now is is um women men and women's sports or transgender athletes you know uh choosing to you know you know they're breaking all these Awards and and records and stuff like that uh because of whatever reasons right and and there's much debate about that as a father or daughters I don't necessarily want my my uh daughter to pitch a softball game as a a freshman who might be playing against a senior uh boy who who identifies as a girl because of the strength at which they could hit a bull it's a safety issue and concern so I I think the the policy is is well intended um but it it is in the courts and it's it's all over the place and there's so many functional areas covered by this I think it would actually be hard to amend it quite frankly um I I I actually like Andrew's suggestion uh of breaking it down like it refers to activities it talks to facilities school records um let's see you know confidentiality and privacy well I mean confidentiality and privacy are all state law based um so I'm not sure why we you know waste pages and pages in here you know safe and supportive environment you know there's again state law uh talks about that under the hi laws and stuff like that so you know do I think this policy is perfect on its face I don't um I think it's it's got a lot of work that needs to be done um you know we got a legal opinion on the Genesis of this and how it came to be um but there's a lot to dissect here and I I don't think it necessarily hits the mark there is the argument of Parental notification um it's it is not age specific it does uh fit it's a one-sized fits-all policy meaning this could apply to a kindergartener or a senior and everyone in between you know um what's the appropriate age where you would or would not you know I don't know and I'm I'm actually happy I don't have to be the one to make that decision and I don't um you know wish to put myself in the position of anyone who might have to make that decision cuz it's a tough one um kids that need help need help irrespective of what the issue is whether it's a mental health issue whether it's uh something related to their their identity who they are whether it's an issue with their academics or sports or friend groups or bullying or anything in between and I think everybody here wants to have those outlets for children in need and and it's an important thing the question is is you know where does that fine line go and I think sometimes it's hard to to capture the essence of that in policy um so you know some people might tell you you know policy is a uh a general guideline well you know then someone can come along and say well the nuances of this policy are you know speak this way and then it becomes an interpretation battle over what's right and what's wrong and it really leaves um it leaves the staff in a tough spot um but I don't think it's the board or the superintendent that do that I think it's actually the state and the state in which they have this policy in the courts and how that all came about so um that's my thoughts on it Mr G you my question and it wasn't really answered before but with what you said without giving my opinion on the sports thing so we abolish this policies abolished does that remove the threat of what you just said about ninth grader or do we still have to buy is that a law that the school would still have to buy bar that's where I'm a little bit confused uh looking at the policy it does not reference any state law uh let me just pull it up here activities with respect to gender segregated classes or athletic activities including intramural and Inter Scholastic inter Scholastic Athletics all students must be allowed to participate in a manner consistent with their gender identity the school district shall which means it's not optional provide transgender students with the same opportunities to participate in physical education as other students in accordance with their gender identity permit a transgender student to participate in gender segregated school activities in accordance with the students's gender identities permit and support the formation of the students clubs or programs regarding issues related to lesbian gay bisexual transgender or queer questioning lgbtq Youth and offer support in the creation of peer-led educational groups so um it doesn't say doesn't say but I I think that we could all agree that there there could be a safety concern you know at some level so um when you say shall it means you must and if you don't then you're violating policy so I mean it's it's a it's a big argument and you know there's a lot of viewpoints on it and there's a lot to digest and thankfully I'm not the superintendent of schools and I don't get to be the guy who decides what's what anyone else okay great have a roll call Mrs Cooper yes to a and b Mr cassado yes to a and b Mrs fenan yes Mr Garcia yes to a no to B Mrs PE yes to a no to B Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes to a abstain on B okay motion carries item 19 Personnel uh Mrs PE can you move agenda items a through Q please sure uh Personnel uh upon recommendation of the superintendent approval be given to the following res uh yeah resignations so under move items under Personnel items a through Q do have a second this Peterson discussion on items a through Q seeing none can I have a roll call please Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fenor no for Q yes for the rest Mr Garcia yes Mrs peek yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried uh item number 20 finance and Facilities Mr Peterson can you move agenda items a through AA and addendum item BB like to make a motion to move agenda items a through AA and addendum items BB under financing facilities do you have a second Mr Garcia discussion seeing none have a roll call Mr Z Mrs cubert yes Mr cassado yes Mrs Fenian yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontillo yes motion carried thank you uh curriculum and programs item number 21 Mrs price can you move agenda item a please like to move agenda letter A under curriculums and programs I have a second Mrs Cooper discussion see none can have a roll call Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs Saran yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peters yes Mrs price yes Mr pontello yes motion Carri uh does anybody else need to use the restroom uh we'll take a three minute recess can do that good motion to motion to recess motion to recess second all in favor okay three minutes recess for bathroom break e e e e e Keith whenever you're ready thank you all right uh we're back just take a roll call for this Mrs Cooper Mr cassado here Mrs fan here Mr Garcia here uh Mrs PE here Mrs Peterson here Mrs price here Mr pontello here we have a quum okay open public form number we did number 21 correct Mr PR you read that in okay we we voted all we're good okay 22 open public forum number two during the second public forum any topics specifically addressed on this agenda or any other questions comments or concerns that may be in respect to the operation of their Schools board policy 0167 requires that individuals sign the speakers list giving name and Municipality of residents and as all remarks be directed to the board as a whole not to individuals the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking the board asked that during the second form opportunity public speakers adhere to the same guidelines follow the same practic and extend the same courtesies and decencies with the first public forum each speaker saying will be limited to 3 minutes in duration the second second public forum will be limited to 30 minutes in duration and with that I open up the floor at 9:22 p.m. Amar gyo um am Mar GLE High School senior um the first thing I want to say is I don't think some of you are realizing it like I genuinely think you don't realize it but some of the language you guys have been using when you're talking about um transgender students in school sports is actually severely transphobic and I genuinely don't think you're trying to do that I just think you don't know but saying that a trans girl is a boy who identifies as a girl is severely transphobic and um if you could I would avoid saying that and just say transgender girl um I just wanted to let you know that that's how a lot of the students are seeing it I've gotten so many text messages about that so i' just appreciate it if we could maybe change those words thank you um and the second thing I want to say is about policy 5756 as a trans student I'm lucky enough to have a family that supports me a family I can go home to and tell that I am trans one I can go home to and I can be openly myself and use my pronouns and be who I am I have friends who aren't so lucky I have friends who go home terrified every day that their parents are going to find out who they are that's not because their parents are bad parents that it's because they have different beliefs and that's not wrong to have different beliefs but are we willing to put that one child at risk because of our beliefs you can have your beliefs that's okay I mean that's what the Constitution is for right we can all have our beliefs and coexist peacefully so I ask you to think about those children who don't have safe homes like you guys to go to you say you support your child do you know that every parent would support their child cuz I know they wouldn't I don't doubt that you would but there are parents who wouldn't and we need to be thinking of those families even if we would thank [Applause] you uh Carol Mountain got Carol Mountain Westwood uh we are going round and round and round again the point I think that we need to just come out and say is if I am understanding you all you want to be notified if your child some of you want to be notified if your child shows signs of gender changing or distress you want to know uh mostly it's about the sexual uality because and and in that case the plan is if a child is struggling the teacher will tell the counselor who is trained to deal with this as the crisis management counselor we have here described perfectly this will happen it is not for the teacher to call the parent up and tell them this there is a a plan that works works that's safe that puts the situation in professionally trained hands we need to let that be now if your child has misbehaved if your child is smoking pot in the bathroom what you're going to hear about it you know that's one thing the other thing is if a ninth grade boy who is kind of short and and maybe not athletic is put on a team with a senior might they not get hurt the same way it was described that if it was a trans child you know of a of a the opposite if if a person who is considering themselves a boy but was not born a boy is on a team they're not any more likely to get hurt than than than anybody of the same sex it's a matter of ability and we have to trust that they get on the teams because they have that ability and because they're up to the task the other thing is imposing your personal parenting style is not reasonable for everybody because you don't trust the teacher because you don't believe that anybody can do anything except you because you don't want anybody to do anything with your child that might help them or do something for them because you're not involved not everybody feels that way we have this example with Mrs Bernardi and and Mrs peek they're different and you can't impose one over the other it's just not [Applause] fair Tyler I would like to be on record please that we are not supposed to be called out individually my name is Tyler Hill I'm a junior here when children go to counseling counseling is supposed to be to support and help children there's confidential confidentiality loss for a reason counselors legally don't have to to disclose what children are saying and their our code of ethics their code of ethics job is to assist a child to communicate with their parents and express what's going on to help them solve issues with a good counselor would would that's what they would do anyways but when you're H when you have a child who is questioning or know what they they know that they are transgender or gay and they're not supported by their family's children should still be able to communicate and express themselves and feel that they have somebody they can turn to there are many families out there that do not support or condone being trans or gay so children should have a safe space to go to where they can communicate not to mention a counselor only has to release information if it's putting themselves at harm or others I don't need a counselor to tell me that I should be able to communicate with my parents and no other child should either if a child isn't ready to tell their parents something releasing that information could be putting them in danger when someone feels they're ready they should be able to tell you themsel without [Applause] interference nit say and Cana Levi I'm nitan kevi of faon I'm a high school senior I want to speak on the way that we as students are being spoken about in this conversation there's a lot of a lot of this discussion is treating us as if we cannot make our own decisions and judgment right I'm I'm looking at this myself as a high school senior myself my peers we can drive we are applying to colleges making some of the biggest decisions of our lives and we are being trusted to do that but in this discussion we are not being trusted to have our own judgments about how safe our home situation is I I will Echo what others have said I am incredibly lucky to have a supportive family that I was able to talk to before even talking to my teachers and my gu counselor in school I know many people who do not have that luxury and that privilege and I know that those people cannot be here today the if a student is worried about their parents finding out through any any means that they might be trans or LGBT in any way they will not be able to go to a board of me of Ed meeting where a policy about trans students is being discussed so we are placed here to speak on behalf of all of our peers we are autonomous conscious beings we're speaking about late high schoolers 16 s 17 18 year olds we we have the ability to to make our own decisions and make our own judgments and we should be given the privilege to do that thank you [Applause] we have nobody else on the speakers list where anybody else likes to come forward and say anything come on up sure just need your name in town of orig for the uh Andrea corn Montvale New Jersey I just thought well I'm here you know we're talking on and hypotheticals right what if this happens what if we have a student that says this how will we respond um to demystify the process just going to give two case examples right got a kid middle schooler seventh grader comes out to me says I think I may be transgender I've been using they them pronouns with my friends I'm not ready to change my name don't tell anybody I'm a crisis counselor I have confidentiality I'm a mandated reporter if they are hurting themselves someone's hurting them if they're saying they're going to hurt someone else got to tell parents mandated reporting right um what do I say I say all right let's talk about it talk to the kid determine is this safe you know we'll get to the point maybe we tell the parents call the parents in we all talk about it we all get on the same page I let the child lead that conversation because I believe in self-determination of my client and I will advocate for that client and at the same time I'm not saying let's cut the parents out of it refer the parent to a support group great support group for parents of trans and non-binary kids happy story are things perfect no but it works out yes I have another student comes from a very conservative family I've called dcpm before dcpn PN before you know did not remove the child from the home as does not always happen so I know there's a contentious relationship kid tells me I really want to try using a different name I want to try using these different pronouns I say okay let's talk about what do you you think would happen if I told Mom or Dad I would be really scared I know there's a history with this child do I know for a fact that if this child goes home and comes out to his parents he's going to get hit he's going to get thrown out of the house no but I as a professional use my better judgment to say all right let's maybe keep this in here you know maybe let's work through it you know when we talk about mandated reporting right it's when kids are in danger if kids are doing drugs if a kid's going to kill themselves if a kid's going to hurt someone else why do we include being transgender in this right doesn't that imply that being transgender is dangerous that it's bad that it's somehow harmful that's where the Discrimination comes in because why are we looping in someone's gender identity part of who they are as part of this other big ambiguous scary thing what's really dangerous is when we create a narrative around someone's gender identity which they are entitled to saying that it is something that is bad or dangerous or that parents need to be aware of so they can protect their kids from being who they are I think there's a lot more Nuance to this conversation that we're saying it's not black and white it's gray and so we need a protection that says let's stop let's think let's consider our options let's trust our school professionals that they're not shady or deceitful or trying to separate kids from parents you know I if I worked in this District I would be a little insulted that you are all sitting here saying that I am trying to hide things from parents that I am trying to put children above parents because that's not what I was trained to do and that's not the role that I serve in a school district thank you [Applause] all anyone else going down Christine deer Westwood um I've spoken once before and it was the first time I ever came into a board meeting and it was the first time back at the high school since I went here um and my heart still feels really heavy that since then um these discussions still feel rooted in fear and pain and Trauma um listening to very intelligent trained compassionate empathetic counselors take care of these kids um I implore you to trust your counselors and professionals who are doing the job stop trusting the discriminatory hateful politics that keep piling up making it complicated it's it's quite simple all kids are your kids all kids should feel safe by trying to pull back or I'm sorry abolish a policy that's simply trying to keep Kids Safe that's a moral question for you all to deeply consider split up the policy make it in different parts don't lump it all together because what you're doing is throwing away ways in which these kids are surviving I survived I survived Westwood and it wasn't until I was 35 years old that I felt safe enough even in my safe home it's not about being physically hurt it's about being a man mentally emotionally psychologically hurt I'm unpacking it now at 38 and I'm learning that everything comes from the pain and the trauma that we've experienced in our lives we learned that we learned most of that from who we were taught from our parents and they did the best they could mine certainly did I want you to do the best you can for these kids cuz not everyone has the safe home to go home to nobody has not everyone has the strength to hear these things this hate and this hurt and wake up the next morning I hope that it doesn't come to some extreme for your own healing thank you would anybody else like to speak come on down thank you I'm Connor I live in Township and please excuse any nerves there are two things that I know that as an avid Sportsman myself I know that my my peers and I I I just like to make it known that my peers my if I would were to use the correct language my my cisgender female peers in my sort of Realm of track and field are very concerned with biological males coming in and taking opportunities from them and if it's to my understanding that this policy would have allowed those biological males to compete in female sports I could be I could be completely wrong about that but that that was my understanding the second thing that I know is that I would like to think of myself as pretty successful in track and field I have have seven I have seven school records in indoor and outdoor track and I have multiple County and state level records as well not to mention my my national rankings and world rankings currently I it was said that it's a matter of ability a previous speaker said it was a matter of ability I know what my abilities are that if I were to identify myself as a female I wouldn't just have the records that I have I would have all of the female records for for any event that I did so I just would like everybody to take to heart those percussions cuz I do think that it would be a smart idea to separate out the policies make Sports a completely different make Sports a completely different policy obviously that is now something for the future but yes thank you thank you for letting me [Applause] speak anybody else like to speak okay we'll close uh public form 9 42 and we will move on to Old business anybody have any old business before the board Mrs pck I'm putting this under old business because it's something that's been discussed a few times before um Miss Peterson on November 28th you reached out to the attorney for his legal opinion on 5756 you did not CC Dr Mortimer on in on your email I do not believe this is best practice the attorney ceed Dr Mortimer in his response and then Dr Mortimer included the opinion that was given on the policy agenda for 124 the full board was never notified a goodfaith effort would have been to share that information with the full board as it is as as soon as it became available to you a single board member does not reach out to the attorney for individual or personal use a single board member reaches out to the attorney on behalf of the board additionally the attorney represents all board members and his opinion is NE necessary to make informed decisions Mr Peterson Mrs pek I don't understand for the life of me why you try to portray me in public as having some nefarious evil intent I reached out to the attorney for an opinion on 5756 the email starts out with something to the effect of in preparation of our upcoming policy meeting blah blah blah Mr pontillo was cced the policy chair was BCC the entire board was made aware of that legal opinion because it was linked into the policy committee meeting minutes which you and everyone's else sitting up here has access to so what you're saying is not accurate and I would appreciate it if you could keep your statements um more factual and accurate going forward okay any more old business and just so I understand that Mrs peek you never had that discussion like to be recognized sorry sorry sorry so just that I understand this is that a yes yes please okay go ahead so just that I understand this you never had that discussion before this meeting this is where you felt that should come up once again that's not correct sorry Mr P Mrs P would you like to be recognized I would I was asking a question by the way I didn't say you did or didn't I don't know are you done or do you want to continue sorry I just want to make it clear y okay question Mrs pack and you'd like to respond go ahead I would I've reached out several times to miss Peterson and made requests for attorneys opinions I've actually asked for one she ignored me and never responded to my request for the opinion that she received so this is not the first time that we've had this conversation thank you okay Mr Peterson uh Mr Cado just so I make sure I understand your question was your question in respect to this specific policy 5756 is this the first time I'm hearing her concern the answer to that is yes that that was what my question was about the answer is yes so the intention was Mrs hold on would you like to be recognized so then your intention for asking Mr would you like to be recognized yes please okay good go ahead so your intention for asking the question was Mrs pck would you like to respond I would love to go right ahead thank you my intention was to point out that this is not the first time that Mrs Peterson has received a legal opinion and not shared it with the full board putting it on having Dr mourer put it on the agenda is not sharing it with the full board as soon as it comes in which is what we all AR legally allowed to have it just a full board so your intention hold on we have rules we have rules uh I see Mrs Peterson's hand up I would have to go into my emails to see the exact date but I believe that Mr leir's uh initial opinion was requested two to three business days before the policy meeting by the time he responded there were uh inconsistencies with other case law that I was aware of and his opinion so I actually followed back up with him to clarify his opinion he then came back to me I think a full day later so there was a lot of back and forth Mrs P as you know because you have all of that communication uh before everything was solidified and finalized and as soon as it was finalized it was attached to the policy meeting agenda so again please use factual information thank you anybody else old business all right seeing No Hands we'll move on to new business item a the 2024 2025 draft District school calendar that was put out with the notes if everyone wants to bring that up uh it is my understanding that we are one day short on the proposed calendar and there was a recommendation in one of the committee meetings for how to solve that um Miss Calderon would it be puty on the spot if you could just read that aloud for the board's contemplation uh sure so Dr Mo Mortimer had a meeting with the WEA and a proposal was given that potentially Columbus Day could be a half day of a school in the morning and the PD will be in the afternoon until Monday meeting end time and have PD on M day until Monday meeting end time does anybody have any issue with that so that I understood that it was would you like to be recognized sorry I'm going to keep doing it I mean you're out of the year now yeah I get it I get it there's go ahead thank you so it's a half day both days is what you're saying correct that was a recommendation she made but we're still um as per their contract short a day for instruction right um no MLK is a full PD day um Columbus Day would be half day right so the no The Proposal she made with the WEA was to potentially do um have the PD day and ml day until Monday end time to make it a full day but even with that I think we're still short that she can't find the extra day so that's on a Pur please well I don't see your hand up so it's hard to know that you're going to talk because your your microphone's continually on would anybody like to speak regarding the Mr Cado so was was there a proposal to get a to fix having one day short not to my knowledge no but um it's just the way that the calendar is fall the share with holidays which is causing this conflict okay just just I'm just going to interject we have for instructional thank you for instructional days we we are we have the the um 181 instructional days built into the calendar um so we have we we fulfill those days we have all the days that we need for the instructional days so it's the uh teachers contract days that were one short all right so we have all of the instructional days needed for the students is that correct correct we're meeting that standard uh so if the teachers have to work an additional day and and Dr Mortimer has figured out a day uh let let either do what she suggests or maybe we can be generous to them and offer them a day off I mean I don't know but we don't have a solution here in front of us and that's why it's up for discussion so maybe instead of just arguing with each other we can give some input on the calendar what do we say Mrs P I say if we're allowed to give them the day off that we give them their extra day off okay I agree is that a is that a motion in a second just I'm sorry May price ask did you I thought I heard you say that we're missing an instructional day is that not correct that's not correct we're missing a day for the teachers we have all the instructional days there got you all right my apologies thank you Mrs Peterson do we know if their contract requires a certain number of these so the the contract stipulates 186 days for um the teachers under under the WEA uh 181 being instructional and five being uh professional development um so the recommendation with making Columbus Day half half of instructional day half per PD day would give us the five PD days but overall the total number would come up to 185 as opposed to 186 because is we we're blending we're doing a half day PD day on top of it question I know I'm waiting M fi so is it my understanding that the recommendation is to move Columbus Day and MLK Day from a full instructional Day to a half instructional day no MLK day there's no school so we're moving it from a no school day to a half instructional day yeah but they explained it three times I didn't understand it no so so what we do is we build the calendar with three snow days in it right so as you can see on the calendar you have the total student days 184 three snow days um in order to get that extra 18 the extra day we normally have off on Columbus Day and it's a full PD day we're making it a half instructional day half PD day the uh talking to the union because it falls on a Monday we have Monday meetings we're we're looking to extend that to the end of the meeting time um Mrs Calderon the the Monday meetings go to what time so for secondary it's 3: to 4: for elementary till 4:30 because of their start date time so normally during professional development days we usually end at 3:00 so we're going to go to professional development day up to 4 o'clock uh after that at the at the half day Mark so we'll have the four hours of mandated instruction for the students and then professional development afterwards but even with that sorry Mr G your hand up but I think even with that we're still a day short we are a day short overall with the teachers right based on the C Mr gar here well giving them a day off fix it I'd like to make a motion to give them a day off yeah we well we're right now we're just we're just sharing the calendar we will move on the calendar in January but we're just sharing so we're looking for input on that right now I'll second that motion uh do we have discussion on giving the teachers a day off in the 2024 2025 school calendar M does that so may speak Mr Price and that does not include putting a half day in on on MLK day no MLK day will be a full professional development day okay no students I mean I would be in favor of them having the extra day off like keep it at 1808 so it's an extra Mr Casado would you like to say something yes I would please so it's a full day off for MLK for students for students and that's a full professional development or we're going to give them the day off the teachers professional development day teachers and then on Columbus Day it's a halfday instruction half day professional development correct so how do we go to a full day of professional development there and the kids get to get off for Columbus Day we're we're yeah we so then that's the problem with snow days okay all right got it yeah in designing the calendar uh we we create the last day of the school on the Thursday because we don't because and that that's when we hold graduation because we don't hold graduation on Fridays Friday nights okay any any other discussion we have a motion on the floor in a second and I see no other hands for discussion Let's uh let's roll call this it well there's no we don't have to disc we're not approving the calendar today oh we're not approving the calendar no just getting in discussion we can give feedback let's let's do a straw poll a straw poll uh if you could just do that straw pole go around who who is in favor of giving the teachers a day off in the 2024 and 2025 school calendar and we can pass this off uh forward to Dr Mor not by a show of hands we'll do it as a uh we'll go around the room Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mr Sonoran I I don't have enough information I don't know is that a yes or a no or abstaining abstain abstaining Mr Garcia yeah Mrs pek yes Mrs Peterson absolutely Mrs price yes and I'm a yes okay so we will forward that information along to Dr Mortimer for her contemplation to solve this problem with the school calendar because of the way the holidays fell congratulations for the teachers should they get an additional day off a year from now okay moving on we're gonna we're going to do uh Item B under new business complaints about resource material you were all given two memorandums from Dr Santino from the Middle School um the uh District received uh some complaints um regarding four books uh The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen chsky this one Summer by Jillian Tamaki me Earl and the dying Girl by Jesse Andrews we are the ants by Shan David Hutchinson and The Bluest Eye by Tony Morrison I I take it that all members of the board have read through the complaints about the resource material does anybody have any commentary on that there's a recommendation from the committee that met uh I was was part of that committee as was Miss Calderon uh Mrs Santino uh Ashley from the media center I forget her last name Molina Coler I'm thinking Molina from over there Ashley kler uh Mr barbarito and Mr bound Gartner I believe and Mr Albert um there's a recommendation regarding that does anybody have any questions before I provide a summary of the discussion Mr cada so in these committee meetings if you don't mind me asking you know what's the feeling when so this is what three books I think that have had been moved into the high school or the recommendation moved into the high school plus the one before what's the feeling amongst the committee is it Anonymous that unanimous that these shouldn't be there there the recommendations uh from the previous one I I sat through and this one uh the recommendations of the committee were both unanimous so do you think that we should reflect on this a little more like are there more books like this that just don't belong there um so that was part of the discussion as I outlined last time uh these books when they're purchased they're purchased in packs so uh you might get a a group of four 40 or 50 books that that are specific to you know fiction or or whatever they might be um and I I think it's probably not only improbable but impossible to expect that each and every single page of that book would be read by a staff member prior to becoming a resource material so um the books that we're talking about are not um curriculum based they're they additional reading and they're available uh as we go through them the complaint was uh these are porn and porn does not belong in our schools or something to that effect with no specific citations um in each of the books so that that was fun to go through you know 2,000 pages of material and figure out what they were referring to uh but we did so uh after having gone through it um and and and looked at you know the age appropriateness of the content and and the topics and the you know uh the scenes and U the graphic depiction and the language and the um epitaphs used in some of them uh that you know they would be uh not appropriate for the age groups and they would move up Mr casano now if it's abundantly clear that it's not age appropriate are we also giving feedback to whoever we purchased these genre of books from like Hey FYI we've had our four Specialists five special however the number is look at this and this this might want to be looked at it shouldn't be in those those packet or bundles that people are ordering that they're deciding go in there CU clearly someone somewhere feels they're appropriate when we buy them well I think the the the genre of books right no one no one is going and reading the book front to back right um we discovered a um a website um that that does a a review of some of the books that was actually how we were able to find the scenes that were talked about right so I think I said this last time you know it's like uh you go on one site it's like listening to Fox you go on the other site about the same book it's like listening to CNN um you know same book same content two completely different stories and how they're described um so when you when you're doing a look for the uh you know commentaries that one might find to be problematic where they describe as porn going to this one site was actually a rather quick reference to get us to the spots in the book where we where we would uh want to look right so we did that uh in the course of the committee meeting and the uh the uh the two teachers uh the English teachers I believe and English social studies was it English both English teachers were were're pretty quick in finding them and then you know poting them and you know we read those sections out loud and discussed them as a committee you know but I I don't think that um it's a reasonable ask to tell someone who's a teacher who who does instructional time all day that um hey I'm glad you ordered a bundle of 50 books you only have 20,000 pages to read before Summer's out that's not that's not really reasonable they're also not required reading so um you know it was discussed knowing the students knowing some of those contents um you know cautioning the students you know uh working on a a system of uh checking them out and stuff like that might be something appropriate trying to align um some of the content with uh where the comprehensive physical health standards Lie by age and the topics depending upon how graphic the scenes are was was discussed and it's an ongoing conversation because not everything is really black and white with it you know but did did you read the two memos I did yes what did you think of the memos I I found it so I think I found it sort of relieving that people would come to the same conclusion I would but I question if it if it's that popular that opinion and you got to it a little bit at the open discussion that we we'll look to make improvements in areas I'm just wondering where where those opportunities are I guess to make those improvements and and I totally agree with you that I think you said 25,000 Pages whatever you know arbitrary very large number to read beforehand I I agree with you that that sounds ridiculous but just it sounds like if it's that quick that these things are all coming out and if we kept looking at this there were more and more then somebody made some bad decisions to put them there and I'm wondering how we correct that well I think you have to look at intent right did did did a teacher buy a bundle of books saying I can't wait to put porn in front of these kids I don't I don't think that was the case at all um there their genres when you look at the books you know 450 Pages you know there might be one paragraph of one scene in in in an overarching story that you're debating over you're not debating over every one of the single pages of the book saying this thing is unbelievable this has no business being here you know so again I don't think there's any ill intent I don't think there's any you know complete system that any District in the country has that's a fail safe to say you know a certain word is not going to appear in a book but what I found interesting was the viewpoints of everybody in the room right um faculty you know Administration English teachers administrator um you know the the guy that took off a work to go sit in the meeting um you know you you just kind of work through it and it's like okay you know what's the educational value of a story like the one book uh The Bluest Eye right on page 147 and 148 there's a scene where it describes uh two uh people that started to uh engage in um some making out if you will uh and they're confronted by two over PE older people who who then proceed to force them to have sex while calling them a racial epith so um you know everybody in the room was like whoa how what no no this doesn't belong here right get rid of it so it's a process right and again there's no ill intent people are you know you're going to order more resource material there's going to be books that are recommended for people that uh you know that are on the best seller list or stuff like that that are certain genres and they're going to get purchased and brought in you know when you read this you realize like okay you know we're so concerned about the the the uh the negative and detrimental effects the pornography that we're purposely putting in front of children has uh yet you come to realize that the book was in the library and the uh the paperback cover is still as stiff as it was when it was delivered from whoever delivers it because no one checked it out no one read it so um there's all different topics uh non-mandatory reading or uh extra reading is you know meant to expand the mind you know I don't think we could argue that um kids at the middle school level may talk about sex so then you have to describe like you know you have to decide what is really inappropriate if they just mention that um this boy was staring at her breasts is that really inappropriate for someone in eth grade to read and on one line in a 300 page book would that would that be enough I don't think so you know so that's that's how the discussions are really centered and you know we we did a deep dive we went through the books and uh again I found it intellectually stimulating conversation because you have so many different perspectives you have professionals that have been there a while saying hey you know um this is this is a book on a bestseller list that's why I thought it would be a good thing to have in the school after further review of it and and recognizing you know a a review that's more critical of the book than what my original uh review was yeah I agree that it shouldn't be here okay great you know those complaints are coming in from from the side you know we have the destiny system in place is indicated in the memo uh parents who are involved in their children's education could certainly um look into what their kids might be reading and do all the the open research they want on what those books are and what their content may be that just requires a little bit of parent engagement so uh when we were done at the end of the day it was recommended that um The Perks of Being a Wallflower remain uh I believe uh this one summer was the other one to remain if correct me if I'm wrong and the other three uh me Earl and the dying girl we are the ants and uh The Bluest Eye were uh we're recommended to go up you know um the uh me orl and the dying girl for instance uh I think the complaint was about oral sex um it graphically got into a description of of oral sex on pages 59 through 61 everybody in the room was kind of looking at each other like R um this probably shouldn't be here so it's recommended to go up you know um I think you know we're all human we're fallible we we make mistakes right it's it's you know what's the intent here and if you recognize there's something wrong how do you handle it I think that's why regulation uh the regulations and the policies exist for to make a complaint about uh res resource material and how to get rid of it Mrs Cooper you had your hand up I've just been thinking about some of the things you wait stand by standby it is 10:09 p.m. and we have exceeded our time constraints I got to remember all these rules from my last meeting I need a motion to continue the meeting so we can finish out Mr Garcia have a second Mrs Peterson discussion on extending the meeting seeing no hands I have a roll call please we'll do 30 minutes that's hopefully Max Mrs Cooper yes Mr cassado yes Mrs fenan yes Mr Garcia yes Mrs P yes Mrs Peterson yes Mrs price yes Mr pontello yes okay Mrs Cooper you're up oh thanks so one of the things you mentioned was around intent and I don't think anybody's talking about intent I don't think there's any person of the day thinks in any way that a teacher um or an educator would deliberately pick books that have content that is inappropriate for their grade level I don't I don't think that at all I don't think that should factor into the equation I don't think any of that even matters I think what matters is we know now that when you buy packets of books um there seems to be in the distributor of the books some lack of judgment and now that we know that I wonder why is it on the parents to be the police of what it is that the school or the school district puts on the shelves in front of their children rather than the school sort of being conscient and police and knowing how easy it is I mean you can run these books through a filter you can look it up on Google 50 books 100 books you can spend a half a day looking them up before they go on the shelves so that because when parents escalate these concerns the labels come out book banners prudes out of touch with their out of touch with their students know it's there's there's a lot of baggage that goes along with it but I why wouldn't the school be conscientious about what it's putting on the shelves for the kids I I don't think it's unreasonable I don't have any expectation that any teacher reads everything but now that we know and we put put on notice that these books happen to show up because of the distributor not because of the teacher shouldn't there be some committee that proactively does that so it doesn't land in the classroom to begin with and I think that's for Dr Mortimer I just wanted to offer that as an option of something that the that the school could do um I I think you're you're spot on with your this is Dr mortimer's uh purview yep it's not really the board's um the committee's aware of the um holes that exist in the current system and I think there's uh a concerted effort to try to uh prevent that in the future uh Google believe it or not is not a uh I don't know very thorough you know it's like uh the site that they found I don't remember if you if you know if you remember what it was but it was like I think it was somehow linked to some uh I guess you know some parents group in New Jersey that started this and they have a whole bunch of these books on there so we're like hey you know this might be the place to review it because they're the ones that are so critical of the books it kind of points Us in the right directions it's it's a Time reduction strategy and it puts you right to the allegedly salacious parts of the book so um I think that going forward they they could probably use that as as a methodology but it's not really up to the board to decide how that's done Mr Cooper I'm I'm not suggesting we decide how to do it I'm only suggesting that it's something that the school could consider I don't mean to administer the district I mean that we've been put on notice that we' get packets of books that come and they seem to not necessarily have been selected by the Distributors to be age appropriate I would encourage that the school figure out how they could get that done that's all no and I think that's happening you know and that was that was part of the uh discussion that we had in there anybody else books book Banning bad words anyone nothing any other new business to discuss okay great uh happy holidays everybody it's been an honor and a pleasure best of luck in uh in the new year best of luck to the in coming board and the members of this board that will remain on it uh in the future you certainly have your challenges ahead of you um Good Luck so thank you you tonight can I get a motion to adjourn Mr Peterson seconded by Miss vorian good night everybody thank you good night