stand once again good evening I'd like to call this meeting to order uh Mr parino please call the rooll sure trustee dtis here truste daro truste Jacko here trusty valz here truste Williams here vice president Ben amini here president munz here the new Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend meetings of this board except where specifically Exempted by law at which time any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having same advertised in available times also notice of this meeting has been mailed to the members of the Board of Education the borrow clerk all elementary schools the Middle School school the high school Hornblower Early Childhood Center and posted on the district website also this Mee is being televised via the district's YouTube and Facebook pages thank you Mr Paladino can I have a motion to approve the minutes for our November 20th motion can I have a second second okay uh all in favor I I all right let's try that again can uh all in favor for the November 20th meeting I I I any opposed okay uh can I have a second motion for the November 28th uh meeting that we had motion second um is there any abstentions I myself will be abstaining from that one I abstain me too thank you and uh the the rest of you your votes yes Gabby yes thank you okay we're going to move on to our student representative um for her report ran good evening everyone um first I'd like to start with a congratulations to all the student athletes being awarded tonight for their great representation and efforts in old news this past Saturday was the unfolding of an extraordinary Holiday Market where a diverse array of small businesses got the opportunity to showcase their products contributing to the creation of a vibrant and engaging atmosphere from Santa's Workshop ice skating and a delightful array of culinary offerings the occasion became one of joy and shared moments that resonated across all age groups within our community for every anyone who was unable to attend we were lucky to have the whole event recorded by Brennan and from the masscom class moving on FBLA is happy to announce their first time back in regionals since Co a competition where they present Computer Concepts information processing public speaking and a website development in competition with over 12,000 students the National Honor Society is spreading Joy this holiday season by selling candy Grand to students and staff they are also sending cards to patients in claras hospital giving some hope and spreading Smiles on the 8th of December the members of NHS extended their gratitude by volunteering at the St Peter soup kitchen finally last week the student government organization had a successful giving Circle collecting and giving presents to almost 80 recently immigrated children ages 2 to 5 they also ran the winter prep rally where the cheer Track bowling basketball and wrestling teams were recognized this is all so far and on behalf of BHS we'd like to wish everyone happy holidays thank you and have a great evening thank you Ryan we're going to move on to items presented by the administration Dr TOMCO thank you Mr President good evening everyone and those of you watch watching at home happy holidays our last board meeting of the uh I guess well fiscal year I guess you know school years don't end until June 30th but um again uh we're um you know very uh sad to see 2023 go but at the same time the amount of progress that is uh has taken place and the amount of progress um that is right on the horizon including uh the Middle School uh parking garage and campus project project uh Casa which is our uh tutoring facility registration professional development and E theater uh all that will be coming up in the next few months so uh a lot of exciting stuff um as we reorganize the board uh which will take place on January 2nd so our next meeting here will be the reorganization meeting on January 2nd where we'll have two new trustees sworn in uh and uh reorganize the board accordingly um again just a lot of incredible things happening uh I would be absolutely remissed if I didn't thank uh this entire Community for supporting the Beville Public Schools this past weekend with our newest tradition the Holiday Market um to to understand the amount of work that went into that through the stakeholders here uh you really would have had to been involved in it but it's been a year year in the making uh last year this board and I sat down and we decided that it was time for us to kind of put our own um thing together uh so that we can incorporate some local uh business and entrepreneurs uh allow our students to to maybe understand financial literacy a little bit uh by doing some uh last minute shopping and markets uh and then also uh continue to enjoy each other uh in in our all of our values during a holiday um uh you know throughout the holiday season uh through all the exciting things that we had here so um again I want to just make sure that we uh give recognition to where it's where it's due um this board thank you so much for supporting it uh Miss Diana Keller who is our community engagement director um who 8 years ago when I she sat across from me in my office and I said this is what the board wants this is the direction we're going um she really uh didn't have some that many kind words to say to me believe it or not if you know her it be very very difficult to understand that but uh she was a little upset at the time and I said no this is going to be a really big thing for this community and it was and and even some of the events getting us through uh Co right after covid so again I appreciate uh all that she does here including uh the co- drive today and putting together uh the colonary stuff that you saw out that you see outside for our celebration of holiday so please make sure you indulge yourself in all those great goodies that are culinary students uh put together uh I also have to thank uh Mr Jerry tapeta um for uh he and his team his uh maintenance and custodial team for all of their work putting the frames together and the the setup if you were driving by the high school um it took a few days for the setup uh took a they worked overnight to take it down so that we wouldn't be caught up in the storm because the idea is to store all of these um shop holiday shop facad uh so that this will be a tradition year after year so this first year was the real bulk of the uh making of this uh this new tradition but moving forward uh just what an incredible thing uh so yes so Jerry and Frankie and all the the main and custodial crew uh also Mr Paladino for really uh helping us put this together uh with putting together some of the community engagement resources uh Etc we do already have some ideas for next year uh Mr perado and your team Mr cook Mr Juno uh for the Drone uh stuff all the work that you've done masscom uh Mr Sheridan's here uh your team was going around interviewing everybody um Ju Just an incredible thing seeing the kids involved all of the ambassadors are walking around as Mickey Mouse Minnie Mouse Bucky uh it was just a really good time Miss Garrett's here I mean again just doing incredible things with scarrett and and with with some of the other teachers thank you for all your time uh her daughter was even here dressed up as an elf so she got the whole family involved so again just everybody came together uh and uh really just showed what belleville's about and uh unfortunately during the day we had uh we had you know a bad morning here in Belleville and uh we can then you know come together and and turn it on a night and just show everyone in this in this not even in the state in this country that you know we're resilient and we can go on and that's why uh that was really even more important that night so uh so again we really appreciate everything that happened over this weekend thank you so much uh and I can't wait for next year uh last I just want to remind everyone about re-registration uh for those of you who are going to have uh someone in school next year uh everyone in District every student has to be re-registered starting in January January you'll be getting uh some information on that uh pretty soon uh I already sent something out to all of you uh how however we'll remind you uh moving forward so again everyone has to be re-registered by uh I think it's I think I said it was July 1st or what did I say whatever it was uh everything is online now so you'll have 7 months as parents to re-register your child after 7 months if you do not re-register your child uh we will consider you no longer living in town that will be your you know your your thumbs up to me saying hey we're moving out of Belleville uh and uh you your child will be disenrolled in July so no no need to sign any papers will automatically do that so the hus is on the parent now uh and as a tax and as a taxpayer or as a parent that that has uh this board supporting programs for your children textbooks technology all those things that we're trying to do um you should really um you know really take this to heart and uh help everyone to register uh on time so we can make sure that our students get the resources that you are paying for as a taxpayer or a renter or or whatever it is that's the important thing okay um so again I want to wish everyone a happy holiday I want to thank this this board um for uh for supporting everything we've done uh I want to thank our Administration our teachers our kids we just do incredible things here uh and uh you know and everybody does know it I mean there there are people from other towns there uh this weekend that were like wow we don't even do this so uh so people notice us so uh so again progress and happy holidays thank you all right before we before we do the uh the students um through the chair uh we uh we honor uh board members who have given service to the community who are leaving um so uh we have plaques um so uh Mr um munis is going to present um these individuals with these plaques uh what it says an appreciation from your service as board member to the Beville Board of Board of Education 2018 to 2023 present to Erica Joo and recognation of inspiring and exemplary leadership and the exercise of wisdom and integrity and the performance of her duties representing the students of bble December 18 2023 Miss [Applause] Cho Stand in theat in the hot seat you're in the hot seatat sorry super oh I'm good right here all right hold on so in appreciation of his Service Board member from 2021 2023 presented Frank valz III in recognition of inspiring Exemplar of leadership and the exercise of wisdom and integrity and the performance of Duties representing the students avable December 18th 2023 Mr valz Mr valz the Third congratulations thank you one more round of applause thank you very much okay all right so now um I want to call Mr Mara and Mr rhods uh to talk about uh our fall Sports uh honores and our teams and I know that's why many of you here tonight so Mr [Applause] Mara here's the order so we got right after I'll explain right to the hello everyone we had an awesome fall I'll wait come on down we had a great fall we had three teams win SEC division championships our boys soccer team won the colonial division clap there you go our girls soccer team won the colonial Division and our girls tennis team won the independence division of our fall Sports we had 31 student athletes being recognized today and something that we're even more proud of in the SEC the super 's conference uh I sit on the executive board as immediate past president and we're doing something that other conferences don't do trying to leverage Athletics and academics and what they do in college uh if you make first or second team and you get a 3.5 GPA you become a member of the new and we're doing this for every season SEC all academic team and I'm proud to say and I'm very proud of this that our student athletes 16 out of our 31 earn that so you're going to called up today as well what I'll do is call up each team and then when they're up there the people that make the academic team I will just hand it to him there as well all right so let's get started with girls tennis first team SEC girls tennis Independence division we have Ria Desai first team Independence division we have MN Calderon first team Independence division we have Anna yamak second team Independence division we have Naomi rinos second team Independence division we have Janelle Victorio second team Independence division we have Nicole Ramos and honorable mention we have Victoria boho [Applause] roquez our all academic team for tennis was Ria Desai men Calderone Annie yanu Mak and Naomi rinos oh I'm sorry and one more Nicole Ramos so five on the all academic team that's a 3.5 or higher GPA congratulations girls tennis next we have boy soccer Mr coach pontoriero want to come on down wow look [Applause] yeah first team SEC boys Colonial division we have John Mendes first team Independence division we have I'm sorry Colonial division Eric Castillo second team Colonial division we have Nicholas bustios second team Colonial division we have Joshua Nang second team Colonial division we have UAH varara and honorable mention we have Aiden Rodriguez is for the boys SEC all academic team John Mendes Joshua nadong and UAH varara [Applause] congratulations [Applause] good job next we have girl soccer coach Garrett first team SEC Colonial division we have rosin Almodovar first team Colonial division we have Jay [Applause] chaa second team Colonial division we have Julia razik second team Colonial division we have Shayla Murdoch an honorable mention we have Kayla Solano Torres all academic team we have Roselyn almadovar and Julia [Applause] razik congratulations next we'll do girls and boys Cross Country Coach laxamana all right coach first team girls cross country colon division as Marlin Salis first team cross country Colonial division we have Kayla saki honorable mention we have Sophia Ayala villal and all academic team we have as Marling Salis and Kayla shiraki hold on we'll get the boys up boys cross country we have honorable mention James Cooper and honorable mention Justice [Applause] shop there it was I knew it good man congratulations cross [Applause] country next we have girls volleyball I know coach Sheridan's back there can you come up coach or you got to man The there we go way to go coach so first team SEC girls volleyball Colonial division we have Christina bayus first team volleyball Colonial division we have griel Bal Verona second team Colonial division Caitlyn Cotto and second team Colonial division Kayla moner honorable mention Colonial division Caitlyn Olas on the all academic team we have chrisen bayus gadel Bal Verona Caitlyn Cotto and Kayla mon sir [Applause] [Applause] congratulations for the super Football Conference coach anab is here I saw also coach mro coach Carfagno that I miss anybody all right great first team Patriot white division offense Jeremiah cook second team Patriot white offense Michael Sanchez and honorable mention Patriot white division Khalil [Applause] Bay congratulations to the football [Applause] team congratulations to all the student athletes very proud of you guys let's have a great [Applause] Winter thank you Mr Mara let's give everyone a round of applause excellent job excellent athletic fall season let's keep it going thank you to all the coaches all the unsung hero all the parents for driving the kids back and forth um bus driver that's right I know I've been there Mr Mar for and Mr Mara of course uh for all his work his assistant as well thank you very much and I know that all of you are going to stay for the entire meeting I understand that however if you aren't going to stay and you are going to make your way out please grab some goodies from our culinary uh students on the way out and have a great holiday what Mr Paladino uh give you over a report by Mr Egan sure just a couple of comments from State monitor as you know he's watching live VI the district social media Pages uh he's reviewed the agenda for this evening and supports all the superintendent and the business administrators recommendations as they relate to Personnel purchasing and finance uh certifies that there's sufficient funds to get the district through June 30th of 2024 the end of the school year as supported by the district's treasurers reports for both September and October 2023 which are on the agenda uh he's working daily with the superintendent and myself as we begin preparations for the 2024 2025 budget season and then he wishes uh trustees Jacko and Trust alz uh best in their future endeavors uh acknowledges their hard work over their ter ter in support of the students the staff and the community of Belleville and then wishes everybody happy holidays thank you very much I want to highlight uh 54 it's our recognition of our students of the month so when we put this on the agenda we uh obviously we do this every month um all the all the all of the students will be listed under that attachment so I just want to congratulate them uh move on from the open request okay so uh may I please have a motion to open uh public participation motion second all in favor I I anyone opposed great um I the board president will call the individuals who wish to speak in the order in which they appear in the sign in roster the individual called to be heard shall proceed with his or her State comments as briefly as the subject permits with a maximum of 3 minutes at the podium all inquiries must be directed at the board president uh Mr Michael Sheldon uh good evening everyone Michael Sheldon 47 Floyd Street um I have just one agenda item to ask about tonight I know it's a surprise but uh I and many others have I'm sure you can guess what I'm going to ask about and this is agenda item 1117 which is the settlement agreement with 335 Union Avenue and I realize that uh for the next few moments until the board takes an action that this matter Still Remains confidential but uh assuming that the board does vote to approve the settlement agreement uh it then becomes a matter of public record as I'm sure many of you know and the board Council can confirm that in 2010 the New Jersey Supreme Court in the case Asbury Park Press versus Mammoth County ruled unequivocally that whenever a government entity in New Jersey reaches a settlement involving taxpayer monies that document becomes a matter of public record fully unredacted so one way or the other the the information about this settlement agreement will become public domain uh I'm just hoping that you can say a few words later on tonight after the board takes action and I'm not just uh uh kind of flippantly told if you want to know file another opah request which I'm prepared to do from the podium if if necessary but I'm hoping you'll have the decency to say a few words about this agreement I'd also like to know I for keep forgetting uh the board has been back in that building since September uh I assume that's been the uh case since September um I'd like to know how many staff are uh using that building at this moment so that's it for the first public session thank you thank you uh just through the chair um I I probably will comment after the board votes um and uh right now we we have uh it offices in that building and we have an idea uh for something else but right now we have the it team in there Dr liio Dr Liz massia 285 adelade Street um well you saved me from having to ask about 1117 thank you okay good evening everyone um on 1211 and your comments Dr TOMCO on the holiday bizaar event it was absolutely fabulous and I can't give you enough Kudos congratulations Etc I was there as you know and it was a a wonderful wonderful event I enjoyed making purchases from the life skills group and uh the art club and many many vendors it was just a super Sensational event and I can't wait already for next year's event it was it was fabulous um I just have one question um on 1212 is this on the safety scaffold for the temporary walkway for the middle school is that something that was already in place in terms of um the plan between the main building and that Annex or was that something that you were uh discussing last month in that open work work session for making it a little safer and a little drier for the kids to go back and forth in inclement weather so um can you can you kind of just clear that up for me so I understand what that's about and then I just while I'm standing here so I don't have to do it again just wish everybody happy healthy safe blessed um holiday season and congratulations to both of you for all of your service to the students uh of the community you are just amazing people and I thank you as a parent for what you've done for all of the children including my own thank you very much thank you Doctor um yeah through the chair so we did have very temporary idea what we did was we took a lot of our tents that we had and we we kind of binded them together bound them together and put them across so that students can walk under an inclimate weather um we had a really bad storm uh and we felt that that wasn't safe anymore so we approached the board on was we had two we had a high-end fix and then a you know a very um safe but coste effective fix um and these aren't permanent fixes these are during construction uh which hopefully will will will start uh we're going to go out to bid again hopefully in a few weeks um with a second idea um so I think the concern is that if we had a day like today for example which we did uh and students were making their way back and forth um it would be very difficult to have a student go from one building to the next and uh sit in that in a desk um you know wet so this was the uh you know snow Etc we just thought this was unfortunately it's it's costly but we think it's necessary you know um I've been involved in referendum projects or or construction projects where there were things that we needed for safety uh I mean uh one of my uh um one of my past districts we had to build a uh a temporary safety stairway cost us $200,000 I think we used it two times to practice fire drills on uh but it was there just in case God forbid you know so it's the same thing now I mean um today's a prime example though of uh and middle school kids they're very resilient they did a great job but you know so that's the recommendation um hopefully the board's going to support that tonight uh and then we'll get that up as soon as we can um um sort of like in the city when you're you know walking under a scaffold um not optimal but for now it's uh you know the permanent fix is to build a walkway structure so thank you thank you Mr Ruben Rodriguez how are you okay where are you not live um Reuben CED the Hill Avenue Ruben Rodriguez cah Hill Avenue um real quick I have a couple of questions on here um actually it's a more some of our comments 6.1 copy the the Oprah requests I notice some people are Anonymous some people are their whole names are there some people are first name and just the last name letter um I don't know why that is if that could be more um uniform also I've been I've seen on some other districts that they they also do this they actually put what the request is for um so this way maybe you don't get a double request and if once it's so and it's it's we know it maybe this way you we know what was requested and what was asked and um so you don't have to get requests twice that could save you money um sorry 111 the the decision on harassment I noticed if if my account was right there was about 10 cases this month if I'm not mistaken um and then that just goes back to are we having like is this in becoming more of an issue with bullying cases in the district um 1114 what's the mascot uh that's just I'm just curious um and then there's two really high bills the districtwide anonymous reporting platform 1217 and 1218 I can't even pronounce it but it's almost $100,000 for some subscriptions um and oh and 1311 that's really cool the grant congratulations on getting the grant um I just really hope that those get followed up because like at school 3 we've had the garden before and then we plant it it gets all excited and then by the spring it's all overgrown and kind of rough um so that's it yeah 12 I guess really my questions are the big ones are 12 the two the two big uh the two big bills on there 127 127 18 corrent yeah what is the mascot um so the mascot is uh the um Miss Calhoun requested that uh there be a possible change of a mascot so she went out and uh you know did her due diligence the kids voted um there were a few different um there like the gate haers and stuff there's all different ideas but uh this overwhelmingly the support of the school would be the school 10 nights so uh so that's on your agenda for today to support that uh okay the OPA request um um however there we are re we receive them is how we put the name on there so you can request anonymously so um I actually respect it more when people put their name out there because this is it's not it's not it's really not a retaliatory thing it's just um you know if people have questions they have questions if we can get them the answers we can get them the answers um your your idea of putting the substance on there the substance on there uh we'll we'll speak to uh the board after it reorganizes maybe that's something uh if they want us to continue to do that we'll do that that's a good idea thank you um bullying cases I I have a different look on the bullying cases um the more bullying cases we have it means that we're a little bit more attuned to things that are happening you know don't forget not all the cases are found to be bullying I think a lot of um parents confuse the code of conduct with bullying bullying is a specific specific definition of um if you are you know uh made fun of because of your culture Creed color um so we have a lot of um reports to look into HIV cases and that's what you see on here with the decisions and then the board is just either um you know uh support in or not supporting the the super um not the superintendent the recommendation of the uh bullying specialist so so I think the more cases you see not that we want to see the cases but means that we're definitely more attune or aware to some of these things to make sure we talk it out so um but yeah bullying is a big situation in in uh across the country still the uh near pod I think vocabulary some of those things you're talking about are are programs that we're putting into um schools they were piloted by other Schools elementary schools the last few years so in order to be Equitable like we always said we want to be we want to make sure the other schools get them um it's really an incredible program where teachers can kind of relate to students uh or correlate students work back and forth right at their desks um so I think I was talking to M Shanklin about this uh and uh Miss status um because we have so many things out there the kids are using that you're probably not aware of we may have a parent night um coming up soon where we may just Spotlight all of these things so you can see what your kids are doing you're not maybe you don't come out as an expert in it but at least you can see what nearpod is or what vocabulary is so so that's uh that's on the on the horizon I don't I think that was it right what was the other one I'm sorry oh yeah so we've been talking about this for a while it's it's the anonymous reporting app uh a few years ago Mr Ean and I looked at this um because it was an insurance piece the insurance companies wanted us to do it my biggest concern concern was that an uh an anonymous reporting app has to run 24 hours right so if an app is running 24 hours somebody has to be by that phone or website 24 hours uh so uh with what occurred uh this year in a few different instances this year uh we felt that this was definitely time to do it uh Mr Sullivan uh M Dr pastor and team uh we were vetting some companies uh and this is something that we are going to be putting in so basically if a student sees an issue they can say something right through the app meaning they could touch the app uh you know uh just report it um a lot of schools have this already um and I will tell you the the any type of false alarm or any type of uh prank is actually um really uh you know they uh they investigate it somehow um but everything does stay Anonymous from us in order to help kids so even uh Wellness issues student uh suicidal ideations Etc now they they have an outlet to anonymously uh you know point and click so again long time in the making but we had to make sure we had the right thing because you know we don't want it we didn't originally the board at the time it was several years ago no one was on on the board at this time um the board that's on uh the members that are on now but we looked at it and it was supposed to be an in-house app and I and I I was like there's nobody's going to be up at 1:00 in the morning looking for these you know it's too it's too important um but this is a program that I think uh the spect um not Spectrum 360 I'm looking at the wrong thing sorry um this is something that's um hold on I want get the right thing inside public sector that's the name of it um something that we're going to be rolling out now for the next uh few weeks to students and teachers everybody has to learn it so it it there's some other things that the board has uh been approached with regard to cell phones Etc so all of this kind of you know it's it's we're going to have some hard Sation over the next few months so but thank you for pointing it out thank you can I have a motion to close public participation motion second uh all in favor I I any opposed okay we're going to move right on to our resolution items um can I have a motion on 91 on Personnel 91 to 938 please motion may I have a second second is there any discussion hearing none Mr palino please call a rooll trusty datus yes to all with the exception of 924 I abstain uh trusty Jacko yes trusty valz yes trusty Williams yes vice president benini yes president munes yes uh we're going past uh uh curriculum instruction going on to board action and board policy uh there is an adjustment to this um 1110 is being removed because it is duplicated um so we are now uh motioning on 111 to 1118 motion second hold on one second no we have 119 but we're we're minus um my apology so we're going to keep it numerically for the sake of argument we're going to keep it the same we're just pulling 11:10 so we are voting from 111 to 1119 can I have a motion on 111 to 1119 motion second um is there any discussion hearing none Mr palino please call the rooll trusty dtis yes trusty Jacko no to 11.17 I abstain from 11.19 and yes to the rest uh trusty valz yes trusty Williams yes vice president pamini yes president munes yes to all with the exception of 1117 uh can I have a quick Side Bar yes I'll just do the rooll again trusty datus yes uh trusty Jacko yes to all except 11.17 no 11.19 I abstain trusty valz yes trusty Williams yes vice president Ben amini uh no to 11.17 yes to the rest and president munes yes so all with the uh but I abstain from 11:17 that's fine that's go ahead okay we're going to move on to we're going to move on to purchasing in business may have a motion on 121 to 1235 please motion second is there any discussion on these items hearing none Mr palino please call the rooll trusty dtis yes uh trusty Jacko yes trusty valz yes trusty Williams yes vice president benini yes but I I did want to make a comment on one of them sorry Lewis no you go ahead uh the 12 point 12 the safety scaffolds um so I know that's the quote for the temporary scaffolding and I know it is important to do this and I know we talked about different fees it also looks like there's a rental fee in there so I just wanted to clarify that but yes to all me president mun sorry I was thinking yes so would you would you like to add any Clarity okay no problem yeah um Gabby we'll go ahead and provide you with everything okay we're going to move on to uh Finance can I have a motion on 131 to 1311 please motion second is there any discussion I want to highlight uh 1310 actually and 1311 which is um two grants that we're receiving um thank you uh Ruben for bringing uh 1311 up um is there Doc is there anything you can kind of say about these I know you like speaking so much I love when you put me on the spot great thank you so much I meant to tell you earlier yes so so uh uh Mr palino um give no I'm I'm going to I'm going to take a step at it Mr palino has been working with Miss Bruno on several grants with regard to uh different um entities with with happening with Foods uh you know we're we're we're we're a board that's uh really inter into the um sustainability uh food security and also nutritional value uh and the importance of all that uh the first grant the Rucker snap Grant you may have uh seen some of the stuff that Miss Bruno was putting together um some events down at the indoor training facility Etc uh and it's for um uh families that receive SNAP benefits which were certain benefits with regard to um you know you know meals Etc um and nutrition and other supplies uh and we received this grant to bring awareness to our families so she puts on she puts together activities and what not this is the second phase of that so uh she worked very hard on that and uh I think we did a Halloween night right what else do we do there's something um um is coming up I don't want to give it away uh until after you guys maybe approve this she'll send something out um the edible Gardens at each school is basically exactly what it is there and and I think uh you know Mr rrig has brought up a good point that we do we do have a lot of these programs that teachers get involved with and then sometimes teachers leave or they move or you know there's different things happening so this grant actually is is a little bit bigger um a little bit more um centrally organized through the district uh and it includes uh a lot of edible Gardens which are ideas to incorporate a lot of this into the greenhouse areas and some of the other areas uh throughout uh the schools that will be building um you know uh the middle schools uh a little little tricky right now because of all the um um construction that's going to happen but uh but again these are two big grants that that we've been working on uh and ever since we put her position in Miss Bruno she's done an incredible job uh getting us some of the grants that you know Matt and I throw different grants at her all the time no matter how much they are so some of the smaller grants lead the bigger grants and and uh this is just two of two of those things that uh she's done so that's that's really thank you I just uh wanted to highlight that thank you uh is there any other discussion on finance here now Mr palino call the RO truste datus yes uh trusty Jacko yes yes to all except um I abstained from check 08 9639 and no to 0 89628 trusty valz yes trusty Williams yes vice president benam yes president munes yes but um I take no part in check um 0892 628 you're supposed to was texting uh same here I got to abstain from check 089 628 I'm sorry I was doing something sorry no worries all right thank you very much um okay all right so um we're going to move on can I have a motion to open reopen remarks by citizens motion and a second please second okay uh all in favor I any opposed great so um I the board president will call the individuals who wish to speak in the order in which they appear on the sign and roster the individual called to be heard shall proceed with her comments as briefly as the subject permits with a maximum of 5 minutes at the podium all inquiries must be directed at the board president um Michael Shin uh good evening again Michael Sheldon 47 Floyd Street um a little bit of uncertainty regarding the status of 1117 you have six board members present tonight one voted no two abstained three voted yes uh I'm not an expert in Robert's Rules but I aren't abstentions equivalent to nose or or they just they don't count in the overall C tally so I'm not sure was this a did this result in a 3-3 tie which means it's not approved or was it a a three to uh 3 to one vote approving it do anyone answer that question without the time being consumed as you research this I'll answer all right all right if you can also comment upon you said you wanted to speak about what 1117 was about I would appreciate that I I assume I will have to file an Opa request as far as Opa requests as Mr Rodriguez said and you Dr TOMCO um a good idea might be and I've seen this done uh not only with other boards of education but also municipalities and counties uh they have Archives of all the approved opah requests once an opah request has been approved that becomes a public document so it might be a good idea for the sake of openness and transparency to do the same thing here in Belleville all of these Opa requests that have been approved by the board make them make them available set up a little share drive and let everyone see what has been asked to this board if it's approved by you it means that you're is though that request has satisfied the statutory requirements and uh everyone should be able to see it and it might cut down on on subsequent requests um I was curious to uh learn since we kind of got hit by a tropical storm overnight almost a borderline hurricane uh are were all the property interests here by the board uh kept dry overnight I noticed that there seem to be a lot of water in this parking lot but not to the point where it may have migrated into the gym uh I'm also interested how did Main Street Fair because that all along Main Street is prone to flooding when you have significant rainfall I have a high-tech weather station in my backyard an AcuRite station and uh uh my backyard received overnight through this afternoon 4.02 Ines so that's you know that's a pretty that's almost like a 10y year the once every 10 year rainfall not once every hundred years but close to once every 10 years uh let's see uh the parking garage situation uh since the initial bids were rejected in the summer uh almost every month you've been saying that new bids were going to be going out I keep checking the solution Architects website the bidbox thing to see if they have any revised plans nothing yet do you have a an approximate uh time frame when the new revised plans are going to be uh submitted or or posted I you know obviously curious to see what what's going on there uh let's see and I think that that covers everything so as I'm walking away from the last time this year I just want to wish everyone a Merry quansa and happy Festivus I have my aluminum Pole set up Mr Paladino is welcome to join me okay thank you thank thank you Mr to the chair that okay so let's start with um the we had the uh the vote was basically the same thing so so last meeting we voted to um pay a um what we thought was a fair settlement uh to Mr melum with regard to the building uh if you remember that vote was split um the bush Law Group uh did uh have an opinion on that with regard to abstentions not counting um with regard to the um the vote tally uh so it's the same thing here now because this is a the same type of uh issue so I would think that the vote carries um regardless I'm going tell you what it is anyway um because I guess whether it's good or not it's still voted so it's public record at this point uh so uh yeah so so in court um the um the mediation that occurred uh through all of the damages that were sought um the agreement was $2,500 so um that was B that basically wraps up um legal fees uh some work that we did um at the at the residence um that we uh we uh didn't get appropriate um what we're I'm looking for permits for um we changed an outlet or something like that with with a license electrician but we didn't get a a permit um a few other things we kind of wrapped everything up together and uh attorney fees and to basically avoid other litigation uh th this should end the um the battle that's been coming back and forth so yes we have back in been back in that building a CO or a CCO was obtained by us after a COO was obtained uh by Mr melham with regard to um him getting a CO for the property which he did that's where we're at um if you do want that we can get that for you it's it's it's just a it really is a um from the the court just a hand one one pager um parking garage as we said we uh we came out the first time we had a really nice design and and really was way overbid um with regard to some of the elevations and some of the concrete that was was was put in place to hold up um some of the stuff we had so we we really had to cut back on a lot of that design to make sure that we didn't need that much concrete so uh Mr Palo and I have been going back and forth with the Architects they had three design signs two didn't fit in our budget scheme um we think we're pretty close on one so we could bring to the board hopefully we're going to bring to the board operations Committee in January that's our plan uh as soon as it reorganizes so after the first week in January we have a new operations committee um we'll we'll sit down with a new plan hopefully it's within the budget which I think it will and then we want to go out to bid right away and then if not we go to plan C which plan C is just basic parking structure up and down uh shared with the municipality and then uh of course we need that travel area for our students um we do have some plans in place still put a field in there a smaller field for gym you know or for you know some uh some more sustainable garden area because you have that really high elevation from the bottom uh but I think it's going to work out you know fingers crossed we just didn't want to go to the board again with another high number um and we knew that bidding right about now during during this time at the end of the year is always not really a good time to go out so um first of the year is good when the new fiscal year starts with these construction managers um so we maybe get some better deals at that point so that's where we are with that but I promise I'll keep everybody posted because we're we're itching as well to get this done uh I think the Oprah archive is a great idea I think we could work on that Mr Paladino maybe bring that to the board if they want to do it when they reorganize um and oh through the properties so last night was very rough I mean uh it was a rough storm um every almost uh every property had some kind of water damage nothing crazy though nothing that wasn't uh our custodial staff did in maintenance did an incredible job uh you know some rooms had some some roof leaks from the windows or whatever um you know historical stuff like that uh I know the indoor training facility had some leaks um but it was really you know was really bad out there but um I was very surprised that heck and Main Street didn't have the flooding that we've had in the past extremely surprised and and give my due diligence to Mr dorso um because we did approach him a few times and every time we've had a flood he's been down here because as you know that's a historically very um bad flooding area uh but I don't know because of the new building that he's building maybe some of that I don't know maybe there's more drainage now or whatever it is but there was there was really nothing by heck I was very surprised because I called Mr tetto this morning about 5530 uh seeing if we needed delayed opening because I know Glen Ridge a couple other schools in Essex County um you know had delayed openings a rual park was had a closure um a lot of schools were you know not able to uh weather the storm no pun intended but um uh we did we did a great job and uh appreciate the High attendance we had today and especially for the teachers and administrators coming in so so so far I mean unless I'm missing anything on reports everything's just we we uh we did a pretty good job repairing what we need to repair so uh that was itk you uh Mr Ruben Rodriguez stupid time right Ruben Rodriguez CED the Hill Avenue um I have a lot so I'm going to go quick and I only have like really one or two questions but um first off uh I just want to thank you guys for um setting up the safety udit that you have uh in the streets I know the parking the driving situation is really a nightmare so anything we can do will help um Dr TOMCO I want to thank you uh personally for helping the school 3 HSA have our fundraiser um we raised almost $1,000 um which helped us have cookies with Santa I forgot to bring you a cookie I'm sorry but it's probably stale by now and I heard that Santa was a really good-look guy um and I also want to thank you for helping me um doing the voter registration drive at the event the other night and also personally want to thank you because I only got three registrations and I was feeling a little down about it but you picked me up when you came over and said three is better than none and that's three more voters we have it's also um the conversation we have about getting it into our schools and getting our high school seniors registered before they leave um with the help of the parents and Civics teacher whatever ever whoever teaches that is something that's just it's a no-brainer that uh kid should actually learn how the whole voting process works um in our town um the rooc calls I have to I think they're having a negative effect I really do I think it's a boy cries wolf effect cuz somebody I told somebody about the event the other day and they had no idea and then I was like how do you not have an idea we got 35 phone calls about it and her response was I don't answer the robo calls anymore cuz I get so so it's kind of a double-edged sword um the the garden um with the gardens I think you should uh employ the hsas to help you um that's something that that you know the parents could help out they like volunteering and getting out it's it's really uh it's it's good for the soul it's good for it's actually good for you to get your hands in dirt and work on stuff like that so I know my I'd be willing to help out um I'm not speaking for everybody on my HSA but um uh in regarding the hsas um I know personally my I'm not again I don't want to speak as a representative of my HSA because I'm not here on that I'm here just myself but there are some things that we can work together for for instance like something simple as printing documents like I I we send out flyers for everything and I know like we're willing to to to pay if there's a charge that we could use but home printers aren't meant to print out 360 flyers for a dress down event things like that if there's some way we can figure out a system where we can work this out because you know they're just not meant to print that much stuff um even if we maybe bought a Tona out of the HSA funds and bought a couple reams of paper in the beginning of the year something that we could work together on um and talking about paper I have to say we we we say that uh according to the free lunch from what I believe is 60% we consider in impoverished in this town um a lot of people don't have a laptop or a desktop and you can't get a copy of the the report cards um you you could see it on you could see the scores on the app but you can't see the report cards and there still is something to a report card um I don't know why we can't I know you know it's not that much paper it's three times a year you can't send home a report card and get it signed and send it back that's just one little thing like we used to do if if you know the kids have there I'm I'm sure there are parents in this town that did not even know a report card was released last Last Friday um so sending it home just that little bit of forcing a little bit of accountability um the re-registration drive I just I'm sorry this just is really annoying me and I had a comment on it you have a box where has one point and you only allowed one thing from that box um you allowed more than one thing from that box I got to double check cuz I I was really I was trying to do the ma on that it wasn't man thing um but just but the report card thing is just it was really frustrating this weekend it wasn't working properly on Friday and your kid does want to get a report card they do want to have it especially if it's good they want to stick it on the refrigerator and printing sucks I just with no no other way around it but print nobody has a printer it's just it's a pain um Good Luck uh Miss Jacko Mr valz uh in your future endeavors thank you for all You' done um and congratulations to the sports teams and I was just wondering if you guys can make it a little bit easier to update us on sporting events like what's going on maybe a time up thing um sorry but real quick you know just with the election over I don't get my weekly updates on all the sporting events all right thank you thank you Ruben that scared the crap out of me can I have a motion to close uh public participation a motion second all in favor I any oppose all right thank you very much Reuben thank you a lot of good ideas man um I'm still still recovering from that alarm all right we're going to go ahead and move on to uh board member report um uh Miss Jaco I mean I'm sorry oh Mr valz trusty valz thank you good evening okay make sure the mic works all right uh so good evening everybody um just want to say a few words for my last meeting um again very surreal very thankful so this how it starts uh you know the Bell board of education is a body of great responsibility and one that can immeasurably affect a child's life trajectory for the better a board of education trustee elected to a three-year term 3 years and in 3 years our district has moved to New Heights never thought imaginable in 3 years I have had the privilege of a lifetime serving Beville and whether it be from standing up for special needs families ushering in a new era of Belleville recreational offerings to bettering support for bille students families and staff this board delivered when I began my service in the board in 2021 our district and our world was immersed in a once in a-lifetime pandemic it was in this uncertainty that my colleagues and I got to work for the community and over the last three years together we have worked to provide only the best for our children from the expansion of advanced placement courses access to internship Universal prek state-of-the-art facilities Equitable access to recreational spaces for every corner of our school community and so much more we've moved the overturn window not only on what a district can do but should do in bille for years our district remained dormant and in Decay a generation My Generation left to settle for mediocrity and the byproduct of years of graft and mismanagement it is this board and its most immediate predecessors that have worked to correct this wrong that have worked to undo the damage of the past will also doing and being more for the people it serves as I leave this board I'm filled with even greater optimism than the day I was swor in having known that together we as a board have set into motion a whirlwind of monumental change most of which is still in its infancy every decision every vote I have made has been to put Belleville students first and I walk away from this amazing opportunity to serve grateful and empowered for doing such thank you Dr TOMCO Lewis Gabby Tracy Chris Ralph Nelson Mike Nikki Erica it's been a pleasure serving with you all thank you so much again to my family friends supporters and to the community for your endless support and faith in me over the last three years I promise you all this is not the end for my S my service to the community I love but more of a see you very soon thank you and have a great holiday season it's been a pleasure thank you Frank um trusty Jackal thank you Mr President congratulations to All Fall Sports SEC Conference athletes I don't have an athletic committee report today I don't have the operations committee report either because my request was not answered as a mom and taxpayer back in 2017 I decided to run for the Board of Education trustee position because I saw the need to be further involved and become a trustee I saw the trustees back then were not all parents yet making decisions that affected our kids in 2016 the trustees left our school district in a $70 million deficit leaving us parents and bble tax payers with this debt in 2017 the referendum passed for approximately $50 million which will be paid off in 25 years so we have 19 more years to go to pay for the debt and still have a state monitor for the same reason today is a Bittersweet day because it is my last Board of Education meeting I have been a volunteer parent since my son started kindergarten in 2006 I have been a trustee since 2018 as a volunteer we do not have a paycheck but being here has been uh amazing and it has left Everlasting memories for me um during my time here I have made sure our kids had books had Chromebooks better safe buildings and grounds that include school for renovations new boilers at the Middle School uh new school field at number eight solar panels we are finally ADA Compliant new BHS cafeteria and Senior lounge and now a beastro a new indoor Athletic Facility new elementary schools um we have have all playgrounds um better security to keep our kids safe better pay for employees which finally included the power professionals and coming soon our fully uh amazing Center for academic success and a better bigger Middle School it has not been easy to sit up here and I have tried to do my best I thank those that voted for me and believed in me both of my terms because I worked very hard to make sure our students were afforded every single opportunity to succeed the fight is not over because I am leaving instead I urge the new trustees to continue the plight with the current trustees the parents and taxpayers in the community one to make sure that our future budgets are balanced that Casa and our indoor Athletic Facility and school 8 fields are more accessible to the community kids attend your njsba and Essex County school board's trainings they are very fundamental to keep you motivated and informed beware of change orders because it does have to do with our budget make sure you have committee meetings keep closed eyes on the Middle School uh construction make sure our scores go up keep an eye on hip cases because if one student fails or if one student is suspended the bottom line is we failed them I ask for a better uh communication between the ptas hsas opes pto's and the board perhaps through uh shared services it has been a pleasure working with all of you here Dr TOMCO Matt Lewis Gabby Tracy Nikki Frank Mike I wish you all continued success I wish our student board trustee success I wish our students all continue success I also wish all of our teachers secretaries custodians admins Paras lunch hates all the success in the world and a Happy Blessed 2024 thank you trusty dtis thank you Mr President good evening everyone congratulations to all the athletes receiving Awards words tonight I really I want to move on to the event that we had on Saturday I really cannot say enough about our holiday market and Christmas event it was absolutely amazing and I definitely had more fun than my kids did um a huge thank you to everyone involved in making that event such a big success Merry Christmas everyone happy holidays and we will see everyone next year thank you truste Williams thank you Mr President good evening everyone congratulations to all students who reive recognition from the 2023 fall Sports super aics conference all conference Awards thank you Mr Mara our coaches and parents who support our students so they can successfully compete in our athletic programs additionally I would like to thank Dr TOMCO and everyone who contributed to making our holiday market and Santa singalong event such a success I want to acknowledge and thank our beloved trustees truste Frank valz and truste Erica Jacko who are leaving us thank you both for your dedication time commitment and passion for the Belleville Board of Education your contributions to our students and staff are commendable thank you for embracing me as a fellow trustee and helping in any way possible I know this is not the end of either of your Journeys and I look forward to continuing to work with you both to serve our community best I wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy holiday and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year God bless thank you vice president Bennett me thank you Mr munes trusty M president munes I'm sorry I don't know wrong with me tonight it's the end of the year um congratulations to all of our awardees this evening um special thanks to Dr TOMCO and Mrs Diane kellerer and Jerry Teta and just so many names that um I'd forget if I tried to name everybody who was responsible for putting on that Holiday Market on Saturday evening it was an absolutely wonderful event I hate to tell you that I think it should be a lot longer next year because I know all the work for three hours um you know when you're done you're done you just want to go home and put your feet up but it was an absolutely wonderful event so I thank you all again um trustee Erica Joo and truste Frank valz thank you for your service um it was a pleasure and an honor to serve with you um trustee jao we've been together for a long time on many different committees and volunteering in the community so I know that you're no stranger and I know that you're you will still be around um and that goes for trustee valz I know you two will still be around because you are eager to continue and I know I I will see you out there um congratulations to our new trustees or our new board elects who we will be installing in January Mrs Liz msia and Mrs Brenda PCO um we will see them after the new year so on that note to everyone happy Holidays happy New Year and we'll see you again soon good night good evening everyone um it it's it's easy being the last one and also hard at the same time because everything that I want to say has already been said but congratulations to all our students who were awarded tonight uh to our coaches to all over our staff Mr Mara who I know uh juggles a lot in trying to make every single single sport that we have here happened so thank you to all of you and congratulations um a little bit about this uh Saturday's event which was incredible I literally woke up the next morning still hyped up and excited um all the meetings that we had all the conversations that we had uh like just just making things come out of thin air it was incredible all our staff did an incredible job I literally can't say enough great things about it my inbox was full of comments text messages phone calls every body literally saying that they can't wait till next year so you guys everyone involved with this Miss caler and her team like everyone just hit it out of the park so thank you I I am grateful to you for not as the a board member but as a resident of the town and apparent of kids that were here that were just having a blast themselves so thank you um uh trusty jao and M and and trusty valz thank you both for the work that you have done I congratulate you in your term and and everything that youve been able to accomplish Frank I remember when you came and you were trying to uh what do you think if I uh if I if I try to become a trustee and I remember the thought that came into your mind I I I told you go for it um one of the things that I liked about you when we started running and I got involved in politics which has never big in being involved in politics and and you were right there uh door knocking with me and and and you were big part of um us being elected into our terms here so I I thank you for that time and I'm I'm looking forward to what you're going to do next which I know I know you're you're you're you're moving on to to other things and I'll tell you uh today what I told you then and that's to go for it so congratulations and um with that said happy uh Happy thanks Thanksgiving happy holidays Merry Christmas Happy New Year's uh I wish you all the best God bless you all happy Hanukkah happy Quanza happy K quanica all of the above thank you all and uh good night May I have a motion to close our meeting second third fourth all in favor any opposed both of us