01:22Saviano’s comments underscored a larger theme of the meeting: the necessity of fostering genuine dialogue between the board and the community. She stated, “trust is not built through silence or ceremony; it’s built through conversation, transparency, and action.” Her appeal highlighted the need for a structure that encourages collaborative engagement, rather than mere attendance at meetings.

06:06Following the public comment section, the meeting transitioned to the superintendent’s report, which provided an in-depth analysis of the district’s performance data. The superintendent expressed a degree of frustration with the timing of the school performance report. Nonetheless, crucial insights were shared, including the district’s expenditure of over $16,000 per student and the anticipated fluctuations in enrollment, with a notable drop in sixth-grade numbers compared to incoming kindergarteners.

11:14Chronic absenteeism emerged as a concern, with the previous year’s rate at 8.2%. The superintendent emphasized the need to address this issue, noting that no specific subgroup exceeded a 10% absenteeism rate. The discussion then shifted to academic achievement, where three years of data from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) were presented.

The meeting further highlighted the district’s achievements, with Oradell’s school scoring 96.9, ranking it as the 67th highest among over 2,000 schools in New Jersey. This performance was attributed in part to reduced absenteeism and notable growth among multilingual learners. The latter group showed a substantial increase in anticipated growth, aided by consistent instructional practices and targeted summer programming funded by ESSER resources.

43:15In the realm of community engagement, discussions covered the recent Wizards game event, which saw strong participation from staff, and upcoming initiatives like the transition to a new district website and the release of the summer exploration brochure. Additionally, the budget for the upcoming year received approval from the county, with a public hearing scheduled for May 7th to ensure transparency and community involvement.

47:07A discussion on the potential for virtual participation in future meetings followed. Some members expressed reservations about the challenges of maintaining order and transparency with remote comments, while others noted that many Bergen County districts do not allow public comment during meetings. A survey of district presidents regarding virtual participation was mentioned.