now [Music] good evening everyone so nice to see you ince welcome to the regular meeting of the wi Township Board of Education today is Wednesday March no February sorry February uh 272 28 okay I'm start good evening everyone how's everyone public notice of this meeting was given to all board members and Associates and a notice stated January 5th 2024 and January 31st 2024 adequate and electronic not notice of this public meeting has been provided specifying the time place and manner in which this meeting is being conducted it was advertised in The Courier Post posted in all schools the administration office the municipal building the library center Ed Acres El toown and the wi Township Post Office and this is our mission statement the mission of the WIS Township School District at large diverse and growing community is to educate all students to become independent lifelong Learners critical thinkers and caring and confident members of their Community District in partnership with the community and in the climate of cooperation and mutual respect we provide an academic environment which values excellence and diversity encourages students to strive for personal excellence and assist them in acquiring the knowledge skills and attitudes necessary to contribute positively to a rapidly changing roll call please Thomas th ladies and gentlemen can we all stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible Liber andice thank you 2023 2024 District HS student achievement continue to implement best practices for delivering INR instruction of students utilizing all available and appropriate instructional models this shall include a development plans to increase the graduation rate B decrease chronic absenteeism C increase in benchmark scores in fourth grade ELA end of year D accountability for All District staff and stakeholders two increase parent caregiver engagement in education a provide opportunities for two-way com communication with District stakeholders B implement the climate culture survey three Market our strengths and achievements to all stakeholders to increase capacity for greater parent caregiver Community Support a work with Communications consorting B continue with our public relations marketing plan C continue to work with the various advisory committees in the district and D focus on refining our communication methods and messages to better Market our school district thank you Mr sh moving now to the top of page two Awards and presentations faculty yes good evening everyone uh Madam president members of the board and Community we have two presentations this evening we would like to start with our first presentation of course and I would like to introduce Mr Nathan Davis principal of school number one he will come forward and introduce his staff and students Mr Davis good evening everybody as was said I'm the principal of school one tonight we have our students coming to sing two selections for you led by Mr D Lio our music teacher they put a lot of time and work into this so once done if we can please acknowledge your hard work thank you yeah [Music] spe hello everyone my name is Mr D filipo I'm the music teacher at Winslow school one the third graders and I are going to be performing two songs for you this evening the first song is our Winslow school one Pledge song followed by I'm gonna be [Music] could I am smart I am smart I I Amal respect I respect myself and others I always I always my best I ready to learn I am ready to learn I will be successful I will be successful [Music] I'm to beology I'm going to be a teacher or a pilot going to start my own company I'm going to be I'm going to be [Music] [Music] [Music] anywhere I'm going to be in [Music] [Music] [Music] anywhere so many choices many choices many choices many many many [Music] choices [Music] bewhere I'm going to be I'm going to be anything anywhere there is an option I [Music] I'm a youber ladies and gentlemen of course we'd like to congratulate uh School number one third grade choir for doing an excellent job and it's our responsibility to make sure that whatever they want to be they'll be able to achieve it so thank you very much thank you parents for coming out we do have a second presentation and at this time I would like to call Mrs Pitts our president back Cody I'm just going to take a minute and as they're ping off how about we just give them another round [Applause] of I especially took not and some of those things I think even as adults uh it would apply to us also so at this time I do have do have another full years so ask my vice president to come up and she would come this is what we [Music] us has sent three years Wednesday night also um several in recognition of loyal Serv as a member of the Board of Education january23 and I'm going to ask [Music] th the names of the presid presid cherl pitz President Joe E Thomas Jr vice president Lorraine Dre Rita Martin Rebecca Noz Julie a Peterson John M Shaw Jr Kelly Thomas on the behalf H major po Dr H major Po and miss board board secretary thank you um I just want to say that being a is not always an easy job um it takes a lot dedication and um sometimes uh sometimes you win sometimes you lose but we're always here for the children um I also want to say don't give up on window I am the proud parent of a uh student who graduated over five in her class uh she received one of 10 full uh full tuition scholarships to Ry University where she graduated uh yeah that one the top one and she is currently at the Ohio State University in her third year as a PhD student so don't give up on wio we have great teachers and um we have great opportunities so that's it thank you very much thank you and so board members as we continue with our agenda since this is a very new venue for us I'm going to um ask if we would just take a few minutes and file up and take our seats in the positions that we're most familiar and most comfortable with hi nervous all right have good night y'all [Music] okay for yes T Test thank you will Bo members the page two page twoes correspondence at this time no Madam President we have no correspondence this thank you m minut minutes of the Board of Education our regular meeting which was H Wednesday February 14 open and Clos session is there a motion Peter for approval of the from the Board of Education regular and closed Wednesday February 14 2024 second it's been moved by MERS second by Mr Shaw any further comments or questions regard to please yes yes yes yes thank you moving now board members at this time I'm ask you for board committee reports with there being a report out of the athletic committee yes Madam president there it is the athletic committee report we met on 2 27 20 24 in attendance Joe Thomas Dr po Miss Lane and Mr asq it was an in-person meeting at 3M Miss Lane continue to give a do a great job with our reports and giv me enough information to report of the achievements of our students we discussed the booster club and making sure the things that they do are accountable and in tune with our athlet informing of different things and different progresses going on with our booster club our boys track are doing phenomenal they had 50 young men come out for the team this year that was an alltime high uh we was uh participating that but now with 50 young men out on our boys track team that is a great accom accomplishment we have the GPA of our winter sports boys track GPA 3.62 overall GPA girls basketball 43 boys basketball 3.05 in girls track 4.0 our cheerleaders 3.43 wrestling cluding the girls 2.91 in the bank 4.4 GPA those GPA will qualify you to get in school and qualify you for different scholarships around that's an excellent for all our schools to be holding gpas of that we all also discuss corporate sponsorship a meeting will be scheduled within the next week to discuss this and narrow it down to see how can move forward corporate sponsor Mr ASU has excellent Insight on achieving success on this topic student athletes com with academic trct exponential learning opportunities he has tremendous tremendous background in that we going to explore that some more we are still in discussion of the smnl intermal at school 6 at the pilot program for our school 6 funding possibilities have been established now a report of our athletes s Robertson wi Township led the way with personal best of 57.8 n in her third high school year her town is now number four in South this year and the fastest black no fren it's also the fastest by public grer this year and number two in New Jersey group three boys boys qualifi meet the Champions that will be held March group three South jty sectional Championship they overall andl also won J Davis T ran 400 and play second with a time of 3.20 they rank second overall in New Jersey and the second fastest time in history the 4x400 is the fourth fastest in the country girls on a whole another level L njs of chis New York in a new B the shuttle Rel team of Dominique and play first running a 3176 with the fastest time since 2014 the 4X team Dominic Clem Sim second running3 800 team of AA Olivia Tristan Ur second running 4.0 .86 the high jump Rel of Messiah R and chatina walk Place third now the shop relay of the Brooklyn province of the shop foot relay of Brooklyn Roberts and J side door Ser now for the first time ever we had a whole relay team of n Williams and caser ha it didn't face but for the first time the school we were able to be that and that conclud our athletic committee thank you Mr Thomas board members would there be any comments or questions with regard to the report out of our athletic Committee just a question Mr Thomas under the girls track team I see that um there's an Olivia okaro and Tristan okaro they sisters or I don't believe so I mean I think when they when they post that they actually ask that question I don't believe okay thank you Thom moving now with report of Education committee yes M president the education committee called to order on February 20th at 4M in attendance were Julie Peterson re Martin and Kelly Thomas administrative was Dr discussion topics were strategies to close our districts achieve your GS one before and after school tutoring two teaching training three ongoing staff development um including language arts and math and four with small po gr B supporting Governor Murphy's Playbook to strengthen and fund youth Mental Health Services in New Jersey impact on our district increase on available resources funding staff development and website information C the task force on public school staff shortages was established pursuant to Governor Murphy's executive order 309 to develop recommendations to address teacher and ESP shortages in school districts across the state comprised of 25 members the task force was organized in November 2022 with the specific direction to provide the Govern with ini IAL recommendations to address these Public School staff shortages by January 31st 2023 the task force was was tasked with the following six objectives to develop short-term and long-term recommendations to increase the quantity of teacher applicants in New Jersey two to develop short-term and long-term recommendations to increase the quantity of Education support professionals applicants in New Jersey three to explore innovative ways the state can recruit and retain the Educators and School staff are students need four to identify best practices and resources to increase the pipeline of teacher candidates five to identify best practices and resources to increase the pipeline of ESP candidates and six to identify best practices and resources to ensure retention of school staff members in recommendations of the state funded programs to address educator shortages one Implement an educator licensing fee holiday two provide stiens or other pay to candidates while they are completing student teaching requirements three establish Financial incentives for individuals that enroll in or that have completed an educator preparation program in tuition reimbursement stiens or tuition forgiveness for develop a state funing program that provides bonuses or scholarships for hard to fill vacancies five establish new state funded programs to provide additional resources to Educators six explore supplemental funding to defay cost for school districts that Implement an ESP 10e program or incentives to hire full-time esps seven reduce assessment cost to educator candidates through a reimbursement or cost sharing model eight revisit changes to pension plans and healthare coverage for educators and allow retirees to return to the classroom without impacting retirement earnings nine evaluate increasing the 2% local Le C for the for local board of education education taxing Authority 10 create and fund a teacher Residency program has our district felt any impact in terms of the task force objectives and recommendations as relates to Staffing shortage the governor Murphy's Playbook to strengthen and fund youth Mental Health Services in New Jersey has not received any additional funding related to the task force recommendations D NJ doe Federal funding dashboard how does our District's funding correlate with Camy County unable to specify correlation with Camden County without the assistance of our business administrative board secretary e Universal preschool high quality preschool can change the educational trajectories of young children and influence their lifetime achievement and well-being improvements in children's kindergarten Readiness led to increased achievement and school Success with our with such benefits as increase earnings that continue for a lifetime New Jersey's former Avid preschool program has proven effective and regularly highlighted as a model for the nation for these reasons Governor Murphy has proposed expand of full day high quality preschool to all three and four-year-old children in state the department is committed to fulfillment of this Vision through enhanced support for existing programs and increased funding opportunities to expand the program into new districts with support and partnership from New Jersey's licensed child care and Head Start providers and to increase the number of available seats in existing programs wiel Township School District Preschool enrollment data 2022 2023 57 3ye olds and 126 4y olds 2023 2024 52 3y olds and 110 4 year olds registration for three and four year old opens April 10th 2024 October 1st 2024 uh is the deadline to apply for three and four year old programs students must be the age on October 1st 2024 the WIS Township School District is proud to announced that enrollment for the three-year-old preschool program the four-year-old pre preschool program and the kindergarten program for the 2024 2025 school year is now open marketing of the three and four year old programs will include Township Billboards District websites District Facebook and yard signs F New Jersey Department of Education recognition life changer of the Year award this program is an annual program funded and run by national life group and the national life group Foundation that recognizes and rewards K through2 Educators and School Employees from around the country the program used to honor those who are making a difference in the lives of students by exemp exemplifying Excellence positive influence and Leadership the national teachers Hall of Fame this organization seeks to recognize and honor exceptional career teachers encourage excellence in teaching and preserve the rich Heritage of the teaching profession in the United States by selecting practicing teachers with a minimum of 20 years of full-time prek through 12 teaching experience National Youth Science Camp two students are chosen each year to participate in all expense paid month-long science camp in West Virginia where they spend time with top scientists and participate in Outdoor Learning experiences Princeton prize for distinguished secondary teaching Princeton University is seeking nominations for exceptional middle and high school teachers or a team of two co-teachers who have an important influence on the lives of young people and on the schools where they teach each year for are chosen to receive this prize where each winner receives $5,000 and The Winner School an additional 3,000 for the purchase of library books US Senate youth program two students are chosen each year to participate in a weeklong conference in Washington DC where they meet government leaders and learn about the functions of the federal government in this program sponsored by the William Randolph Hurst Foundation the meeting adjourned at 4:45 pm. and the next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday March 19th at 4:00 thank you m Thomas board members any comments or questions on the report of the education committee moving now would give be a report out of the marketing committee um the marketing Committee just met this past Monday at 6:m Via Zoom um those notes will be forthcoming uh the majority of the meeting was spent discussing uh the recent chat with the board member that we had last Wednesday that I'm prepared to report on um this was held last Wednesday at 7 pm in the administration building the board members present at chat with board member were myself Mrs pittz Mr Thomas and Mr Shaw uh some of the highlights of this meeting is there was discussion regarding the placing of an administrator across the dri across the district I.E schools five and six have a vice president they share with the lower elementary schools and only one guidance counselor for each school where there is nearly 500 students each yet the middle school and high school have a vice principal per grade level uh there was discussion regarding the climate survey and lack of participation in regards to caregivers uh some comments me mentioned were questions not relevant to some caregivers I.E cleanliness of school and less Focus regarding questions on academics and feedback that students were afraid to answer questions about their teachers they did not want to get their teachers in trouble uh parents mentioned that the purpose and intent of the survey was unclear um feedback from some of their students where they felt they had to take the survey um and there was some talk about people feeling that because it was a Google form that it may not be as Anonymous as it appear to be um caregivers asked what will happen with the results uh the presentation last board meeting was very vague and the result should be placed on the website in its entirety further suggestion on the climate survey that links should be texted and email the process to log on and take the survey was cumbersome as parents explained they had to log into their G say you know there was several clicks that needed to be taken before they actually got to the survey uh another suggestion in regards the climate survey was perhaps to open a public space like the senior center for those who may not have access to technology to take these surveys at home uh there was also discussion about how the value and importance and importance of community engagement and the need to use what data we did collect to drive those values uh there was also discussion and suggestion about moving the second marking period parent teacher conferences as of right now we don't have a third marking period parent teacher conference so the parent suggested that you know we meet with teachers right at the beginning you know at the end end of the first marketing period right at the beginning of the second markting period and then the rest of the year without a scheduled meeting um suggestion that board members increase their attendance at community events to F Foster approachability uh discussion regarding the lack of communication opportunities with Administration um suggestion for Need for Upper Elementary seal opportunities lack of guidance counselors a suggestion for an Eagles Nest type program at that level uh particularly our sixth grade students in preparation for middle school and high school there was discussion regarding how our district doesn't have Chromebooks assigned to each student um we discussed the feasibility in that and the suggestion of you know purchasing insurance for Chromebooks um there was discussion regarding the cell phone policy and regarding the lack of consistency across the school district um one caregiver mentioned that there was um eight different interpretations of the same policy across the district you know our district goals State accountability of all District staff including proper implementation of policies and the last suggestion was the creation of an in-house parent engagement survey to see how we can better engage them and perhaps this could be a CD project along the way and that concludes what I have from the chat with the board member meeting thank you m now this is just the notes from the chat yes m okay so is there would there be a report other than this out of the Market Committee there will be a report forthcoming it'll be a very short report basically just with the meeting ending and beginning times and who is present um the only other thing to come out of the marketing committee I know this month we focused on highlighting our black alumni for Black History Month uh next month being women's history month we decided we would like to highlight a female alumni from Township and Edwood U for our social media outreach okay thank you m sent me these several suggestions I'm sure Dr Pro may have some comments yes u m yes okay will would but of respect Express themselves so I just what point did what well like our previous chat with the board members I know Mrs Pitts had kind of asked the marketing committee to distill I mean this is a lot of information to distill it to three or four actionable items that the board can act on because we do realize some of this is Administrative some of this is out of the purview of the board um part of the board's role is to bring the voice in the community you know to the administration which this opportunity you know does allow for um I have highlighted some of the things that I think are very feasible and actionable right now um Miss Martin isn't here for that CAC project um that would be one thing because I I think you know one of our district goals as of right now is parent engagement I think we need to better Define parent engage engagement instead of just giving the opportunity out there see how the community wants to engage with us um you know and with all these chats we've done this is now our sixth chat with a board member EV that that we've held since the summer you know would really like the board to take a look at these and and look at our previous suggestions and put in a very specific plan to implement them we can continue to hold these chats but if we're not acting on what Community is telling us we're going to lose trust in the community by just having them and then not implementing some kind of practice so that's my biggest concern in regards to these events I'm happy to keep doing them I think a lot of great information comes out I think we as a board do need to sit down and figure out what's what's feasible for us to do um I can go through the ones that I've highlighted that I think we could take action on fairly easily I think and I'm not and or myself classification survey kinds of things you know I do you know I would like to address mons and at this point as super I still exactly um we went principl along teachers and students those participate we that they address concerns that they felt was most important to address EnV school they take steps to do that so at this point um if that wasn't what was being asked of us then I'm not sure what it um and I I just need someone to tell because looking for of principles so about time keeps coming up and I think very if tell me we looking for this in particular so we can address but at this point I'm not sure other what already I'm not sure I can put on my parent hat for a little bit Dr Co answer that question okay from my conversations in the community and what I would want for myself you know one of the reasons that we set parent engagement as one of our district goals and it being so important is we know there's plenty of research out there that says increase parent engagement parent participation translates into higher student achievement a decrease in behavioral incidences in the school so we you know I can't fault the administration for putting on the community events that we have there's been amazing events there's been IEP meetings all types of information but we need that to translate into the lessons that our teachers and the amazing job that they're doing in school being translated into home so that the education process doesn't stop once our students are leaving our doors so I don't know if the survey that we administers I mean I know I saw the questions that I took as a parent I spoke to my students I don't know if we actually captured you know asking about the cleanliness of the school I I could see where some community members had issues with that we're concerned with you know do our students feel safe do we feel they're being academically challenged and do we feel that there is a way for parents to engage in that two-way communication with board members administrators teachers whoever it may be so I think that maybe the the questions that the survey asked just missed its Mark so the goal is to increase that parent engagement or caregiver engagement so that their students are coming to school prepared ready to learn and whatever lessons they're learning in school they are taking back home and and the process continues and the parents are supporting what we're trying to do in school if I kind of got that say I think create questions that you you or the board but but let me just fur and the time but however those documents are PR for me number one I state to theard that count high schooled a letter from the newy Department of Education plac status which directly imps stent which means as 2425 State monitors will be in our working us to address stand test which has Plum years the other and report on and we're looking at for example the number HIV offenses possession that's priority and excuse meary number I responsibil everything BR responsibility fix one of the things talk about parent engagement is I will not AC responsibility child these children I mean think we and I'm not but we even in schols they situ school I got young people threatening young people on the walls um the fighting the assault have to stop the if you for example bringing marijuana it's obvious to me you don't you shouldn't be there but we have to get to the point and I had this conversation with M about things we to address to get because these are things we need to now take some steps to address these issues and those are not work with us cooperate because this theor part of that need to be addressed all things doing year through excuse but these issues that that's for me the I and so I a to address AC I address that's because every child every and at this point we are see disrup [Applause] well I appreciate that Dr po I think we're having the exact same conversation that I just stated when I was chat with the board members the children are not learning these behaviors from our staff and in the schools they're learning them at home and in the community so if we can bridge that Gap somehow then those incidences that we are seeing in the school will decrease like I said and just will go up it's all the same go yes but and I State and address issues and and but it's every day and do everything ask do it's not has to be by so what I'm going do as I mentioned to my leadership team and a couple of principles yesterday today I to take issues and just because I don't have place right now we have in place before we go home for the spring break I think it's time and and I just it is time that sit because neighbors butb children so and and for those it people but I and I think bring to those serious and we just cannot and I think this point there a lot of that's part of the sci so we just so again as I said we are looking at this has to because parents are fed up with what as and I they that yes sometimes a meltdown is even if whether or not to many or not um yes and miss pet I agree with what you said I agree with what you said certainly I agree with what you said but what I'm looking out now looking out at the folks who are sitting here who are will play a very part in what we have to do in any school education setting the three most important accomplishments of any school uh district is this one two three first one is student achievement the second one is student achievement and the third one is student achievement but we simply cannot do it I do think that with our Fus primarily now uh on engagement family engagement there's a saying that says a journey of a th miles begins with the first step and that first step it has to be a collective Endeavor it has to be not only school board members teachers administrators it has to be every single person in our Township because we are all stakeholders whether you're a senior citizen whether you have a child that attends this District or not if you live in wi Township you are a stakeholder and it has also said as we certainly go to training it has said that a every school district is a reflection of the community in which it resides and so we are all together folks and with regards to the chat yes yes Contin through this end school year because need to hear from when we and we have after we need to have out which is what we had um when we had I know I know absolutely but if you can just take some time I'm not say come at least one we need to come together because I believe that certain issues the things as Chief School administrator that he should be focusing on but he cannot do by himself we need the participation the engagement of our parents and our commun so there yes we're going to continue with that because we need to hear from we need to be able to GA information and so to that so that we exactly which takes PRI and so thank and the next yes I'm hoping that we do end up with a district calendar very soon so that I don't schedule it during another event and have it oppos it so hopefully that's also forth coming as well okay thank you moving on boarders to continue and Miss and school so you know the job circulation school middle school we also increase those andt completed during summer4 the high school upgrade justification for the of proprietary controls so is not we want this for equal to this is what we want propretary control system we pass pass because certain systems are already people will here to maintain the system so when you know something goes wrong we call they don't need to have to work in the system Sy I see our construction expert shaking his head so he fully understand can also High School hbac the pr resolution it's something we're very familiar with so should you need some help there are specific regulations that identify what the specific criteria are that you're looking for you pass that in advance of your bit that allows you to goce proprietary so I'm glad to speak with you about that as we frequently do on these ises you're welcome I think at the laste that fromel soing the full funding antip yes yes Prov but it's not he out posted for about months he so we don't know the summer camp the district investig P program of summer camp so that we can open up 2024 we took it I took it to the leadership team and wanted to add three more projects I took it back out to to land they're add them I know they have figures for one of them and they're trying to get us for the other two the two for the athletic equipment and have all sh but that's just something it's coming up right and both School five yeah schols like a Bo you now so that is that you have to do cost this much so we get something pretty you know and then we get something Prett much most of system most to um and the budet that Bas last that we did the same as we this year the out tomorrow so we'll find out St have basically anticipate sound better they basically anticipate that we a three scho going to be work the same time so that be one we're trying to make sure high school has school will have like institions we need to do something to make more like schools so something of building color bring out entrances we just so those things just I'm thinking in terms of maybe a suggestion maybe we could ask students because we do have I know yes but what do you think maybe just Sugg for all the money we we we should be a come up something Crea Miss but I just thank for interpreting what because I have tell some of the things I've heard 26 thank you m if you have any questions or comments with regards to the operations committee I'll move on to the policy committee report thank you the policy committee met um industri on February 15 2024 presid aded Chief superintendent board members M Rebeca Mr John scha Mr Anthony ASU Mr di Davis director human resources and myself cherl P this particular meeting was simply focused on the one policy that we're trying to be able to make itable workable AC the board and that is the cell policy and that was the only item that we really discussed and based on the information that was given was the revisions that we recommending to the board as a result of input from I believe that Administration exactly to policy as it there I believe we have strike one strike two strike three but U let me just read what being recommended the committee reviewed the current policy and based upon feedback from school administrators and teachers that is distraction um doing they talked about distraction during instruction frequency of instances of sta requesting students to put away their cellones testing breaches airing of inappropriate content therefore recommendation being made to change the disciplinary action as follows with interactive comes a automatic today suspension out suspension three of those two day out School suspensions which would cause student to miss six days school three violations will result in the loss of privileges including extracurricular activities such as participation in PR school events Athletics congratulation at the conclusion of this meeting M if we could review the gifted intelligent policy and process for ad Administration for admission um at our next policy committee meeting our next policy committee meeting will be on the 4th Thursday of March which I believe will be March 28 24 when is this time ready be in District at approximately 4M and this meeting ended um at 4:50 p.m. so that that would be the recommendation out of the policy committee to the board um as board members know any recommendation the policy committee does not get voted on immediately uh by State LA we do have to present this recommendation for the next two board meetings so there's the first meeting and the second meeting and if there any divisions any changes any objections we then take steps to vote on it and if there's a majority vote then it becomes poliy any questions or comments about the recommendation the policy committee uh Mrs pits I just wanted to note because I didn't see it in the language um at the meeting we had discussed that should this policy pass it would be the policy for the remainder of this school year and pursuant to data to see if it actually decreased the behavior we would revisit in September correct thank you any further coms moving now at this point I see Miss Martin not here so yes C are you prepared okay thank you here's okay so we finished the vo committee um reports so I'm gonna ask you for as us show the what has to offer languag langu classes that we provide the sports and then the English Department SGA and whatnot and later on on the 20th we had our midwinter Coral concert which as well as we had a spirit which up to a show that black history which was presented by Culture Club which is like by had a great was a great show and that thank you moving now I'm still on page two I'm asking at this time for a motion to approve the superintendent report as it begins at the bottom page two and it continues through to the top of page six is there a motion pet second move by Miss Peterson second by Mr Shaw any further comments or questions hearing on yes yes yes M yes yes M yes yes and yes motion thank you Miss Bo moving now board members I'm asking for a motion to approve the business administrative board secretary's report as it appears beginning the middle of page six and through to the bottom of page eight is there a motion second moved by Miss Peterson second by Mr Shaw any further comments or questions hearing that please Mr yes M yes M yes M yes M yes yes thank you Mard M at this time I'm at the top of page nine before I ask for a motion on a personal report I'm going to bring your attention to page 10 item five where it says substitute bus drivers I'm asking that we delete that at this time and if I have no further questions on that I'm going to at this time ask for a motion to approve the Personnel report the change that I mentioned that begins at the top of page nine and continues through to the p is there a motion of the four second move by Miss Peterson second by Mr Shaw any further comments or questions hearing please yes yes yes yes yes yes yes thank you miss moving now board members I'm at the top of page 11 I'm asking you that we take a pull out our agendum and I feel certain that we've had an opportunity to rrw our agendum so therefore at this time I'm asking for a motion to approve the superintendent's report and is as it appears on our agenda on our agenda uh and it begins and ends on page one is second move by Miss Peters second by Miss Jo Mr show any further comments or questions hearing please yes yes yes yes yes moving on board members I'm asking for motion to approve the business administrator for secretary's report as it appears on our agenda beginning on page one and continuing through to the bottom of page two is there a motion second move by Miss second by sh any further comments or questions hearing on please Mr yes M yes M yes M yes yes yes returning now board members to our regular agenda I am at the top of page thank you I'm at the top of page 11 and we are at the open public records act request resp request first was from Denise July thank you Ming board members still on page 11 inform commit please go to our website and reg ictober that one of and that to October 1 now process and complete registration process so please take we have on however that's all right the next interested attending that Friday all right so of course last meeting I had mention to the board that first wanted to establish focus groups for our website and any school interested set it up for three March March 7 um for and virtu for three groups hopefully three time M iester so interested please let me know because establish our schedule forever time is approprate for them and I something interested let me know that do the virtual one on March 7 before I forget again that let you know okay just fit me in where ladies gentl conversation because and get the last of information the wind District of course under ofour Davis Monday CA 630 also subm to have post on the Billard here community and again that request is space all right so hope we can have Community but more that preschool registra space is lied and that Mrs P I have something yes um men empowering nation is having a lipstick battle Friday April 5 um over atup Center I think this would be great for I know I'll be there and the last one I actually pered if anybody want to come perform again I think this great person MERS to show up to and show the community you know involvement with with other organizations and get involved like so it's a Friday the food is good um Trust because I sat down and get meet alls parents from because our our boys are 18 and the people that come out perform absolutely pain and you should see the performances so I would highly out you know so again um it's Friday the last time I I was with my I and then is at the end of April I will announce the DAT the town is going to have aob for all different types of jobs the trade be there this would be good for to come out and you know go through and see what's out there as job maybe yes but I I was so PR that our president who Happ to be one of anden and white so I Fant our was our needs conrat just in yes can it be sure'll take because for one I don't know if anyone else audience but I know I also saw uh that uh pie yesterday on Channel 6 and U they highlighted our our our choir and our students look great so again post that link on our website and um hopefully for those of you who did not have the opportunity of seeing it yesterday will be able to um follow the link and get an opportunity to see it uh this this time any all right moving old business I just have board members one comment with regards to business just a by your board members as you know when we communicate with each other by email we have to remember that if we're sending an email to more than three of us that we absolutely have to place on that email the statement do not reply do not respond because again if we're sending an email out to more than four or five gr members and no matter what the content of the email if indeed we respond that is an automatic meeting that was not advertised so just a reminder Mr you want to because I know you've reminded us before so do you want to just put a stamp for that I couldn't say any better um Madam president uh an easy fix for that is submit your information on the blind paron copy line which makes it then impossible to reply which is uh something that I use when I disseminate information if it was to the board as a whole coming to me and might put in the board President and Vice President Dr po but all the other board members would go on the U blind CC line so that it's impossible for anyone to be in violation because you can't F blind CC but you do receive the information thank you just a friendly reminder any other old business at this time hearing moving to new business any new business mam president I got a few things I want to talk about new business a yes just first and foremost you know as we wind down Black History Month there is a black our school 6 tomorrow uh Thursday 7 6 to 8 posting uh black history event our school orchestra will be there and our Middle School band will be there if anyone like to attend that um more than welcome that's at school 6 tomorrow yes it's school 6 tomorrow also just keeping in line with black history and keeping in line with our alumni and things that are happening we had a conversation in our athletic committee uh where we did a black history feature uh this month on our winlow Facebook page but that went very successful we got data to see exactly what people are interested in hearing and how we reached out toar wiow Edgewood finest and congratulated them and also highlighted them with the spotlight and I just want to give you some numbers of who we touched and who we reached uh the post reached uh 29,6 69 people that engaged come back to was 5347 and we would gain another uh 28 follow some of the topics are that was mostly viewed is when we highlighted winow exp grad and spot spotlighted what they're doing now uh which goes important to what we do we start talk about corporate sponsorships and things like that you know we had one student uh Mr brag who went on to do uh NFL films uh he his post reached over 13,000 people and had over 2,438 engagement just just to tell you why we talking about that one where I had a conversation with the administration our athletic committee the input of our new for M Mr ask you we're gonna be looking to compile a database all of our recent grads and and have some constant contact with them to see what they're doing so we can start to highlight and create an increase our alumni pool that can be more in be doing in Township and I just want to put that out there some of the mechanisms that we're putting in place if it's okay to to increase our our Lo po thank you ask you I do know that certainly you have experience with the corporate sponsorship would you like to add anything to Mr Thomas's comments I just believe there's there are a lot of alumni out there that we need to be in communication and so by you know creating um a way in which we can communicate with our alumni that only um brings the additional notoriety to what our alumni are doing but it also brings positive attention to the district as well agree thank you m Mr oh miss f it sounds like Mr as you belongs on the marketing committee because that sounds like a marketing committee job well considering the fact that Mr as has only been on the board for a month and he's already other committees let's just give him a little time okay Mr thank you madam president public comment the winds toship Board of Education highly citizens and making important decisions that affect the our community you believe in the rights of citizens to observe to ensure that all of our citizens have the opportunity to attend Schoolboard meetings that over comment and to ensure that the board conduct the important business of the district we ask the speakers follow the guidelines for making public comments the board secretary will recognize those individuals in the audience who wish to make public comment would ask kindly respect the following procedures one all members of the public attending meetings must treat each other as respect please state your name and your of residence M president there's no longer a requirement or an obligation to provide an three please limit your comments to four minutes four submit your questions in the event we're on your questions here this evening to the Board of Education with your name address and telephone number where you can be contacted and your question will be answered a reasonable time frame and lastly individuals offering citizen comment not to make personal attacks on any District employee board member other testifier or member of the thank you thank you Mr board members at this time I'm asking for motion to approve into public comments Peters second move by Miss Peterson second by Mr Shaw all in favor I thank you sorry good evening everyone my name is GL I New Jersey um I come graciously and with respect to each and every one of you on the board and all the administration that's here tonight um I'm coming and asking questions when behold as a stakeholder a grandparent and The Advocate C student Township School District I would like to respectfully ask the board um and the administration to please give us an update on the progress made towards the 2324 School District board goals for our district I particularly want to address the goals for two and number three which as you all each board meeting um parent engagement and Community involvement basically to sum it down um the reason why I'm asking for two and three versus one because one will automatically realistically become achievable once we achieve two and three um involving the parents or getting the engagement of the community um which we were talking about the survey earlier um what the parents and what the community want to hear from the survey is um specific goals measurable goals from the results of the survey and if we post the information it's not as a bash to the community what it is is it's an Enlightenment to the community exactly what this district is dealing with when it comes to behavioral issues with our school if we don't have those numbers and we don't see the information of students and parents who are screaming that their kids are scared to come to school or if kids are being bullied in school and if it's not put on the website say this was the result we need to fix this Dr you will get all the support from this community because you got a clap from the people that are here tonight and many people who are coming to me we do want our kids to be able to come to an environment that is safe and that they can learn however if parents in the community are unaware of what is actually going on in this school because it's only limited to YouTube which most people aren probably following because I look at the followers and which is limited to your website which is not always completely updated because I look at that website and I get appalled at one through for all of our schools to not have a website that's really one people friendly and number two it's not updated some of the schools still have Christmas stuff on their website we are now in February going to March we have three months three and a half months left of this school year I would like for this the school board if you all not tonight because you can't answer me tonight but when you all get together be able to come up with um the information that you all can disseminate to our to our community and to our parents so that we can all publicly know what have you achieved for the last three years that have put us in the situation right now where our school is being monitored why haven't we achieved anything in the last few years why does it seem like it's getting worse and now that it's getting worse it seems like whip is coming out to start smacking on the butt and that's not right we need to nip in the butt when starts happening we got kids in our school that have behavioral issues listen and they're stopping the majority of the kids learning we need to crack that real real fast not wait until December January February March to start making up on new policies on cell phones because the cell phone is not main behavioral issue in our school we got kids coming to our school and pajamas that's a part of your your School dress code how are kids coming to school in pajamas I have a niece that goes to the high school and she's appalled that she sees a lot of her people walking around the school in their pajamas that's a safety and health issue we don't know if they slept in those things overnight but we need to address these issues and if they're not going to follow the Township School District I for one will stand with you and I will stand for you but we got to make this we have to hold our parents and our kids accountable from day one and not let it go to whatever P hundredth day to start getting upset about what's happening in our scho district and I'm coming as a grandparent I'm coming as a taxpayer and I'm coming as a parent advocate and a child advocate not as a CAC chairperson right now and I like to thank you resp we have until to do building as you well know for themselves they have beening children from day they um from D where we are fact that um we need those parents to start taking more responsibility for the action we're at now if you're not that need my if student I so the principal have doing everything they can within the scope of their and I am saying that these things that we have to do and the efforts made to a degree not successful so I'm say tonight that we and so it's not done a lot but at this point they have and I am I will support in the effort done but at this point I'm going to ask parents to meet with me and that we are going to make some decisions as what are the next steps for those young people no we have in but yes you know we gonna do we have to do but it's not like nothing has been done there's been a lot of things done and it has been when a lot of things have been done but you haven't had any results like Einstein says you keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect this results as complete withan however I do appreciate the fact that you are taking another step because in October when you guys had a slew of suspensions from the school due to behavioral issues November first what you're talking about right now not March the 1 coming up this week it should have been handled back then now but I'm going to thank you for handling it now because now is where we are it's right now because I do appreciate you and support you on that initiative and hope that we can push forward with that so that come September of 2024 come October of 2024 we don't have a with suspensions of kids after they get in trouble you invite their parents to come and sit down and talk to them so that's andol within however however um's here's the the parent that we need to address most we children do not do not and put us we have to be that we' steps one three inorder you have to show truth that you take that step so line we G we have to do but the responsibility I don't want and I as I said before I take full responsibility anything that happen in this District um that I have told but I am not going to take responsibil that's their parent responsibility and they are the who should be responsible for all the things that show hi reports and we go hold that whether they come to engagement whether they come to take ADV Services we provide it's be so we have to their get children where they value if not we have to make those decisions for them so I'm at it's not about stting it's now par are going we've now bring we have to par as well know not only but ACR country being all teachers it and that's exactly what I just stated exactly what you just last stated and the last comment that I will make it I away from this microphone Dr you just stated on this on this desk I mean up on that Podium tonight that the last meeting when you brought up those two the things that are highly important to you was spoken upon on this Bo okay now that you brought it up now you got parents out here listening more people be listening I listen to every board meeting on YouTube if I'm not here presently physically okay so and I agree with you so when you say what's important to you is to get the school back on track we all need to be a part of back on track thank adds as I Progressive we go state taken we have proof that we and show the steps so Place those issu because hello everyone the first thing I'm going to do is just make an announcement about um the high school and make sure that the community knows that the Winslow Township theater and drama drama club and crew will be presenting Disney's Beauty on the Beast this year on March 21st 22nd and 23rd MAA and evening performance on that Saturday as well the theater Guild is putting together Story Time with Belle which is an add-on event this year which will happen prior to the mat and is geared towards younger our younger tots as Dr call of our young ones um and it will include a story time a snack a craft and interactivity with the students at the high school so a really great event all the proceeds from that event will go towards scholarships for Theater Arts and Music students at the high school that are pursuing their higher education degrees so anyone that would like to support and add programs are now available and due at the end of this week so just to cover all the theater bases at the high school and make sure we get that out there um one note since we do not have online sales and this is going to be a very very popular show I suggest that people show up early so that you're not waiting in a long line at the door okay um secondly I just have a couple of topics that I want to bring up and discuss tonight one is is at winds Township Schools we know we're all about making sure that everyone knows the rules and why they're important but recently some decisions were made too quickly without following the right steps it's like deciding to play a game but changing the rules without telling everyone and that's not really fair right so as a district we have protocols in place for a reason so that policies and procedures get updated in the correct manner it's why you all sit up here on the stage and we go through the agenda and the policies and the procedures for example changing the code of conduct for the outcome of a discipline informaction needs to go through the policy committee first before updates occur then onto the Board of Education a first reading and second reading votes Etc there's a reason why those processes exist but recently high school students were mandated OSS for cell phone infractions even before the committee made such a recommendation building administrators were given instruction from District leadership before any such proper protocol was followed one could say that it was just a timing mistake or an error but this is not the first instance that we have seen in the community that this has occurred in the last 18 months we as the community want to recognize this is not the proper way to go that it's overstepping that it's an insult to the community and the parents to not have proper information communicated that it's unfair to the building administrators and the staff that have to carry out such changes without the backup of the r policy we as a community expect a few things from our district and District's leadership and the board we expect transparency we expect effective communication we expect an educational environment and culture conducive to fostering learning we have a we have a punitive based culture right now more punishment does not work for Carly with better academics and punishing all of the masses because of the Fe that we know should have those procedures put into place that we were just speaking about collectively and all agreeing on doesn't fix the issues of violence and bullying here's what we want we want clear information we we what we what we expect for our children is to walk into the enir I guess you that's fine I'll pass on okay thank [Applause] you I respons for that and I this is but youis and respons it will but I will I and I um no I make decision principal Carri out here we are and as I and I resp but it something and I very familiar with our policy procedure you can can say say that if you come up to be your Mike and if you simply just wanted to say thank you I appreciate that sinc really do good and I just would also like to say oh you also would like to say one second but we did not time the first person we said okay let her keep speaking and then cut this off so it's okay but Dr I really do appreciate that okay that is and absolutely thank you you good even I'm D Murphy and I live at FL excuse me m Murphy really can can you LIF mic up okay so we can okay I'm a current Junior at the high school I'm speaking today on the cell phone policy because as a student goes here I see what's happening and in some cases we have classes where the computers don't work enough for us to access current resources and so and then we need to know because it's helping us better our education and I at other schools around the area including Del and their policy ties it so that teachers have the choice to allow and I get that we shouldn't be on our phones while teachers are teaching but when there's free time towards the end of class when we done your lesson and when we are like not doing something right there but I don't get why we are suspending students and taking time with their education rather than using other methods of like punishment for their actions thank you m m but let me just say this as chairperson of the policy committee we have also researched various cell phone policies in other districts and many of the other districts do allow students to use cell phones at certain times at the instruction of the teacher that's very different Miss Murphy from pulling out as you know your cell phone during class and so we are attempting not to be punitive but what we are attempting to do is to create an environment whereby learning can take place and to um have cell phones being taken out indiscriminately does interrupt the um construction process but we are we are working hard uh to make sure that our celf phone policy is fair and Equitable to all and that's take in most [Music] just Mrs P and board members I just have one issue um to I know we referenced what some of Mrs rul these comments I really think we need to let her finish her statement to get the full scope of what she was saying and also to make her point the first speaker was given latitude with the four minutes I think we should go back and let her V Wasing in the try to take that into account so there's a process um and I know about it I understand his need to want to respond while it's fresh um but frequently my other is here all the comments close public portion and then respond to the comments after the public portion closed it it's difficult try and find appropriately four minutes five minutes um we try try as Fair as possible with everybody on the and time where Dr is respond for um so you know any other comments fromard member are we not gonna let Mrs Ren finish statement I said I'm asking any other comments Miss board members com thank you I think it's fair to let Miss bruli continue um I think that all the statements that are made should come with data and numbers of parents of of everything that is being addressed how many people are asking for this saying this because it's it's kind of difficult to hear all the problems no solution but we don't have a number of people we just had a beautiful uh sery from students their parents were here they were engaged and we we're skipping over that just like we're skipping over the hip which again yes we have students with behavior issues and substance abuse issues which is very serious so if we're having problems with those students their parents must be having problems which means they may not be coming to all the activities that we have because they're dealing with their children who have substance abuse issues um just asking for everybody to speak but bring numbers so if it's just seven then maybe it's not something that we need to spend 20 or 30 minutes on maybe we need to spend more time on the children with substance abuse problems I don't see why we can't have one conversation not the other it's great we we keep having this conversation if it keeps coming up that means I think that it's something that needs to be addressed and activities for parents to come to bottom line is some parents can't because they're dealing with that child that has the behavior issue and the substance abuse issu I mean I don't know if that's stirring anybody else that our kids are having problems with drugs but surveys and all that stuff maybe should go in the back burner because we were told that the parent engagement part of the survey was inconclusive because of numbers and so should these reports without numbers or low numbers they should not be brought up right now when we have substance abuse issues and behavior issues and weapons and assaults not surveys that needs to that really need that conversation needs to at least press pause on but I agree M we should have her her time please provide numbers because that would be helpful if just five and a group of friends at C I don't think that's enough spend 30 minutes okay thank you thank you Miss Thomas mrul we will allow as soon as um we make sure that there's no other per on the list um then you will we will um entertain your coming up and completing um your statements Miss Paul else yes Miss Ro um just probably any with poliy I hear you Dr about the being compliance but I think that it's important to take into consideration the day and age that we're in um technology is everything and uh high school students that's all they know that's that's all the world knows at this point um I do think that that definitely has to be you know the rules and yes I understand the videos and posting them and from what I hear what I get we're not the only school that has a website that says posteres um but so I think the whole video and um the uh camera portion could be a separate thing you know cell phones are tools there's more things to do with a cell phone besides um texting and talking um a lot of our P the the Stu students here we have the or the school we use the reminder um teachers um coaches different things communicate with parents as well as the students via this rind day um but yes students need to pay attention and be alert in classroom but suspending students for two days and making them Miss uh their education it that just should not go with equal or become that should not be the result of a student having a phone out or even texting what what's wrong with a detention what about in school suspension um something else but going straight to a TW third strike my student is not able to participate in Pre graduation activities this leads to all these other things uh substance abuse crime in the streets yes it does because if my student is not able to partic not now participating in extra activities extracurricular activities what are they doing now they have extra time on their hands to go get in trouble they're not with the their um track friends or basketball friends so they're now going to go hang out with kids that are sitting around doing nothing you know what they say about idle time we need to keep our children busy and these sports are keeping them busy these extracurricular activities are keeping them busy so suspending students and them them having to go to college or apply for college and explain why I have a suspension on a policy for a um for a cell phone that just just doesn't make any sense to me it's just it's just not fair that a student is suspended for fighting can come back to school fighting stealing being disrespectful comes back to school and get to participate in all these activities but a student who gets suspended for a cell phone okay three strikes a cell phone something so simplistic is losing all these privileges but this student that's disrespectful and all levels gets to come back and have the same privileges that a student using a self that's what your policies is thank you thank you thank you um my name is Max Anderson I'm a junior at Windville High School hello Dr sorry Dr Pro last year you were nice enough to visit my classroom and you asked the entire classroom of students who here has been in the district since preschool I was the only one who raised my hand as a lifelong student here at Winslow I witnessed an unfair balance of consequences and have left many of my classmates and academic careers unfortunate something as small as color of t-shirt and now the use of technology I invite you again to visit my classroom and witness the outdated broken Chromebooks that we share with other classrooms outdated technology that cannot even be used for State testing my teachers need technology and the allow the use of cell phones in their classrooms they respect the students enough to acknowledge that they can be treated as responsible adults surrounding districts have given their students Chromebooks freshly year to use throughout their academic careers then they give the Chromebooks to them for college they are not only invested in their students but they are sending a message that they are bound for greatness and we want to prepare them for college our district is doing our our students get to service by not providing them technology or access to it I also did a review on phone and policy District reviews at delc willamstown high school Timber Creek West deer and Hamilton as well as other districts these districts give the teachers the discretion to allow cell phones to be used in their individual classrooms organizations and access to online support and are all sorry and a few of other vast advantages none of these districts pass punish the offenses as harshly as ours do the first offense the teacher takes away the phone in the classroom until the end of the period detention is a first line of defense and should be for our College Bound students if we stop the fight the cell phone won't be such a problem thank you Miss Bo okay ladiesent I know SE for please good evening board I am Angela green and I represent more than 20 parents in the following issues that you may or may not be aware of my son was in school 5 when he was pushed down the stairs because he was told he was walking too slow he was also pushed by this kid into the lockers because he said my son was in his way nothing was done with this bully the bully was returned back to class and told not to do it again in Middle School my son was life was threatened the child was inhouse suspended and got to play all day in the library my son told me all of this in 8th grade my child's book bag was broken back in October a report was filed about three weeks ago I was contacted by the school saying that they were going to begin the investigation I don't understand why it took more than four months to begin an investigation from October the following statements are from multiple parents that I talked with the uncontrolled environment their child was placed and resulted in physical abuse and serve and severe anxiety issues this intensely noticed changes in a short amount of time because of this the child was removed from the wi Township District and placed in homeschooling now the child is thriving and happy another parent States in first grade my daughter my daughter should not be learning oh sorry in first grade my daughter should not be learning what comes after one or what comes after 12 they are reteaching prek in the middle of the first grade year um another parent States because my daughter was experienc anxiety and stress she is losing hair and I have a doctor's note to prove it another parent States my my kid is scared to go to school or even ride the bus because other children are screaming and throwing chairs and desk and hitting another parent States my my first grader doesn't even know what ch sh or wh words sound like so after I get home at 5:30 I cook dinner I feed my kids I have to keep my daughter up two hours after bedtime to retach everything they should have learned in school another parent States my daughter was staed with a pencil and the child was immediately returned to class um my son my son's teacher Mrs polite and ionized my son is having a meltdown on Valentine's Day he got upset and she told him okay excuse me excuse me now um rules two things we cannot say a student's right okay name and um we're working you in your last minute okay okay well the teacher um threw away the person's Valentine's Day car told the kid to sit down and did not let him participate um she also took his chain and did not return it back to the parent in school five uh in school five this past Friday her son's tooth was knocked out and the kid was immediately returned to class after one parent States after calling the Board of Education the assistant superintendent told them that is unrealistic to think our child should be safe at school and I will end it there I do have questions that I can leave a copy for the board to answer great thank you thank you m good evening Dr Miss pits board members of beinga menden I Liv in cille gosh there's so much I want to piggy back off tonight um first thing uh Miss uh Madison Anderson I think did a wonderful job I definitely would ask the policy committee to re I guess rethink or go back and kind of look at especially the first offense um I do think the first offense of a two-day suspension is drastic and not saying that nothing should be done definitely we need to be able to um teach our students uh to follow instructions that's definitely a must um but I think that you've heard from a lot of people about the cell phone policy but just the strictness of even just the first fense so I ask that you just go back and think about what you heard tonight I mean because that's all about listening and seeing how you can meet in the middle to make it work but still get your point across of what's not going to be tolerated and that's that's it say about that second thing is I want to pick it back off with Miss Peterson um ditto to the um High School choir uh we had an black hist be event on Saturday to um we did a documentary on stamp from the beginning and the Weds Township choir opened up for us and they were phenomenal so uh kudos to them Mr doen is always a pleasure working with them excellent job uh we were able to live stream the event so it is still getting views as of today there's over 600 almost 700 views of uh Spotlight and greatness in wissow so even though we here tonight talking about things that's not being done right winds is still a good school we just need to fix the issues that maybe every school has an issue so we need to hear out communicate listen to what's being said and find a middle ground to make it work next thing is uh Mr show I'mma picky back off of you because when we talked about discipline and behavior issues I'm thinking that the first thing I thought about is grass streets Dr there are a lot of organizations here in Winslow that are impacting our youth lives we need to fall back on that and see how these particular organizations you know based on passing whatever eligibility requirements is required but see how we can offer assistance because as you said it's not working whatever it's being done and I think that a lot of the organizations here have something to offer that will be willing to work with these young people because we're doing it now one more point but we can talk about that I definitely look at futurewise Envision to that lastly I want to say something to the community if you have not noticed we have had children missing in wisl you may not be on social media but this within the last two months we've had three kids missing one they just found but there's still a child that was missing since January 23rd and this Falls right in line with something that we're bringing to Winslow the lady of Delta Sigma Theta is doing a human trafficking awareness form this Saturday 10:30 at the wislow senior center we need to educate ourselves on human trafficking to know what it looks like meaning that we need to be able to protect our children know what's happening how to determine if something is going on and how to see and know what resources are available open eyes save lives and so this came right in tune with you know me seeing this on Facebook and I went to the township meeting last night because it was something that addess with them um and that is an issue when the child is missing that is a r alert we need to all be together with when a child is missing with the community last but not least um just want to say that we always say when a child is missing oh they just ran away from home do you know that traffickers are people that the kids know so come out Saturday 10:30 uh winow senior center for the human trafficking um form our winow Police Department will be participating as well as some other organizations thank you good evening and uh uh thank you for the invitation Miss pittz to come here tonight to address the board and the parents who've attended um I am Rose Williams executive director of harambe Social Services here in sville um I'm also a resident of of uh cville for the past 24 years I have with me the assistant executive director Miss F Lise who I will ask to share some of the time um harabi Social Services is um has been in service and operating since 2013 here in Caville New Jersey we provide advocacy case management and two victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and that is um survivors as well as their children um tonight I wanted to just share a couple of points so that you could understand the gravity of the issue um we more recently have started to serve chur youth because we recognize that children who witness abuse of their parents have serious trauma and carry um that with it without Mental Health Services which we have been to here tonight then they um continue to have other issues in New Jersey 14,934 per of all only the reported cases of domestic violence in um in um New Jersey and that's from the 2020 subsistence so what we wanted to just share brief ly with you tonight of two programs that are addressing one prevention and two intervention so that we can help to address this very serious issue within New Jersey but specifically in C County but we wanted to bring it to Winslow because as I spoke to miss pittz a couple of weeks ago and spoke about the need to get this information to the community she suggested that we come here to do that first um so I'm just going to bring up um ruise at this point to just say just a brief bit about everyone for your time long evening so we have a youth wellness program this is a opportunity for youth ages 12 to 18 to be able to receive trauma and therapy from culturally trained therapists they provide um like I said trauma informed therapy also creative arts therapy and sandplay we are able to provide transportation and meals to students who are in need of that particularly after school and on the weekends in addition to the youth wellness program we have a teens in charge healthy relationship program I'm one of the facilitators I've had the opportunity to go into schools in the city of campden and provide five to n week trainings in which I teach you about healthy relationships gender based violence socialization oppression and how to become advocates in our own Community which many of them have done and are Advocates of our program as well so we're happy to share this information these are all free services that we can provide to schools and the community and we are looking forward to serving our youth thank you thank you if I have one more uh minute not even a minute just to say that we also have come here to ask you what would be the best way that the board can help us disseminate this information to the community to the parents so that they know of this service and that it just doesn't end tonight those who have been able to come out but that we can reach all of the parents so that they're aware of the service and again it is a free service that is available to them and their children well M Williams I would venture to say that before you leave um our marketing committee is here okay and um you may want to connect with our marketing committee Miss neis is the chairperson Mr um Thomas is on that committee and also Mr Shaw all right so before you leave tonight um perhaps you may want to connect with them we Happ to do that thank thank you thank you for your time Miss Bo to j i stand corre was not the people that I so um for you Mr Thomas you said my my son's name a few times so it's true AA A J the boys track team they're on fire excited for the boys and the girls track team and I'm hoping that you'll be saying their names again in a few weeks so so thank you for your pronunciation it was almost but um the reason why I wanted to stay before me today was to let you guys know that um the high school plus the D I haven't heard you guys promoting that years ago when I first came into this community you used to promote that a lot I don't know if it was brand new at the time but if I didn't have a child already going through that already went through I wouldn't have known so that is a fantastic um parent engagement that you guys should be still promoting if I did not know if I didn't have my other child that went through the school went through school and and took advantage of that I would not have called Camp County or not called I emailed him um two weeks ago and I said when's your deadline I haven't been hearing about this school and they told me the deadline is March 1 so you guys have two days I already registered my son and I came here to just put it out here because um I meant to reach out to the counselors and get get it on their radar I did email some of the teachers and say hey can you promote this and then I asked my son tonight and I said did you hear anything about it he still said no so just try to promote you know that's one thing you guys can help us do how to find some more money I need money for a college the one that's in the ones that coming up that one that's you know getting graduate in few years we need so engage parents about finding money finding scholarships and I'm not talking about those ones that you know you got a one in a 50,000 chance of getting real true scholarships engage us about those engage us about taking advantage of the DU credit program that D credit my son he is half a semester in the game so to speak so he went in as a freshman but he's really a you know so that's what you guys would be able to help me with something like that and I'm not going to say anything about the parent survey but I'll just say one thing about that parent survey the survey that was talked about I didn't understand so we should focus on what reports come out you know reports that Mr DAV reported on in the H report and then move forward with that but if it's some bogus you know I didn't take it because it was just it was just not it was the questions were just not I don't work here it it was here towards the person who works here so let's focus our resources engage the parents that way if you can't at least me did you want to come up and finish your okay okay now let's let's get to the mic so that we can start the clock good good evening everyone my name is Greta Foxworth I'm sorry you said hold it Greta like Garo right Foxworth okay it's g r t a s o x w r t thank you and I'm a resident of winow Township over 40 years at this point I have grand children coming through this school district um I'm here tonight and I've heard a lot of things that I wasn't aware of so I'm glad I'm here and I'll be back again in any regard I'm here in reference to of all things a paper shortage over at school number one where the school packets can't be sent out for um homework um assignments for there no paper to print out for classroom work so I have on the djo um this has been three weeks now so I'm a big first I thought well this is a April Fool's joke but it's not April 1 but um I don't know who addresses that I don't know what the issue is at can't be sent from another school I don't know what the issue is but again I've heard all the tonight about um School excellence and the students you know completing their work and then I heard about reviews coming down school I excuse me the state I've heard a whole bunch of things but without basic copy and paper um how is the teacher to do their job that's all I have to say and I think wins Township is a wonderful place to be I think that win Township Schools have produced phenomenal individuals on all different levels but we're here and we're concerned about students I have grandchildren literally from the preschool handicap program up into the high school so I'm very much concerned if you hear the name Foxworth I'm very much invested in what goes on wiow and again some of this stuff um needs to be addressed ASAP and I'll just have to piggy back real quick on the policy with cell phones I get it kids seem like they can't breathe without it but I think that suspension on the first infraction ah not so much and I'm old school too I'm in my 60s so I get that old school mentality but it doesn't work with these kids um to all the people on the board especially the teachers that have to deal with some homes that are in denial about what they're sending to the school I just say ask them to become more involved um with their children and if it's a problem like we're coming up with sources that I'm not even evolved that I don't even I'm not aware of I think that that has to be put out there more sound like some of these parents are needing resources that they don't even know which way to go which direction go to get the help but thank you for your time m you want to finish your [Music] statement thank app I just want to say we are all on the same page I want to start there we are all in this together and I truly believe that and we need to collaborate what I came to really talk about tonight was not a cell phone policy it's about our culture it's about who we are as a district and what I've seen we have a culture issue here more punishment just doesn't work or Carly with better academics especially for our great students who are walking into the school every day and not breaking the rules it doesn't fix the issues of violence bullying it just pushes down those kids who are our topnotch students who walk in these doors every day and me we don't even recognize what we're doing to them we don't expect for our children to walk into a school environment and culture that's more focused on punishment than praise that's more focused on retribution and supportive collaboration when they walk in the door and yet if you look closely we're seeing a lot of that more importantly the students are feeling a lot of that and that causes pause we tried greater stronger more punishment group for a long time now we've gotten progressively deeper into that but it's just not working for our students it's ineffective it's frustrating and it's breaking our kids down many of them instead of building them up please pull your student leaders you're have one of them sitting at this group today and you have a group of them that surround her and I would never put her on the spot but mine is one of them and I would put her on the spot go talk to her talk to her about what she talks to me about at the end of the day because they'll tell you the many things the first voices that they hear in a school is one that tells them about how to not break the rules versus a good morning or hello or how are you that's just not welcoming and it doesn't make them excited to learn so we as parents are all for having rols and structure in place we appreciate the guidance and the structure that our policy committee puts into place we know that we have issues where a strong hand needs to be held and we want to be supportive in those instances where it should be held and trying to find Solutions because we know that do keeps our schools running smoothly but we as a Comm Community also think that it's time to rethink how we do that and how we Implement that because all we all want for our schools is to be places where all students grow together where we have a positive learning culture and it's a positive environment for everyone that's it soes that conclude those who have signed [Music] up nobody in the waiting room thank you wel therefore at this time yeah I'm going to ask for motion to Second move by Miss Peterson second by Mr Shaw all in favor any NES thank you moving now clear ref to everybody you are person that thank you Mr thank you madam president there is a need for an executive session this evening so in accordance with the requirements of the open public meetings act we will be into an executive session on February 28 2024 at 8 uh 9:51 p.m. of 9 exception we'll be utilizing eight matters relating to evaluation performance and conditions of employment and I believe the superintendent intends to review achievement of our goal setting and um the responsibilities for uh reaching and securing those goals I would uh expect that that may take anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes in this is with deep regret that I say to my um colleagues Dr par M so that we call motion thank you m at this time I'm asking for motion to approve our moving into executive session yes yes thank we are now recessing into executive session