going to call this meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. meeting notice statement adequate notice of this meeting of the Berkeley Heights Board of Education was given as required by the open public meetings act as follows notice of this special Board of Education meeting was sent to the Star Ledger and The Courier news on July 18th 2024 and was provided to all schools PTO presidents the bhea president and posted at the administration building a copy was also provided to the public library and filed with the municipal clerk please stand for the flag salute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Mr secretary could we have a roll call please here Mr herey here miss Conor here Mr secretary do we have a quorum yes thank you comments from the public on agenda items during this portion of the meeting District residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on agenda action items only the board requests that the individuals State their name town of residence or School of attendance for the record all comments should be directed to the board president and depending upon the nature and complexity of the question it may or may not be answered during the meeting by the administration if so the response would occur after the public portion of the meeting has concluded although the board may not respond to all items raised during the public form all public comments will be considered the board asks that the members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel matters are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by the members of the public please note that if any member of the public becomes disrupted during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statements contined disruptions may result in removal from or adjournment of the meeting these rules also apply to our Zoom participants remotely each speaker's statement will be limited to three minutes in duration do we have any comments from the public on agenda items uh first of all I okay I thought I was loud enough um I hope you all are having a really wonderful summer I know you've been inundated with a lot of hiring of some of the staff um so you know best of luck with all of that um just looking at the agenda items um a couple things um and I hadn't said this before but I want to commend you on the hiring of Dr Cordo um number one for the for the director of Elementary education intervention being that he's local that he's highly educated and that he addresses some of the de and and that he has as much background knowledge especially in social justice um I was happy to see that you brought somebody in um with that kind of a background um two I noticed that um Mr uh rof was back on the agenda for reconsideration um for the girls head soccer coach um I'm glad to see that you guys have reconsidered it I don't know what transpired but I have heard from several parents that there's great concern about the fact that these kids still don't have a head soccer coach so hopefully you will all take that in consideration and hopefully you will approve it tonight so that those kids can move forward and if not I hope that you have a plan B um thirdly and I don't actually see it on here but I did want to also address the question about um Kelly Sheen uh recently resigning as the the transportation coordinator I have grave concerns because I do know that Transportation coordinators are very hard to come by and she is a huge loss especially with everything that's going on this year with the transportation um and The Roots um so I wanted to ask you because I know that there was a bill that was outstanding for paying the transportation firm and I'm not sure where else you guys actually look for advice on hiring them but I hope that you guys have a plan and that if that plan is to be dealing with that Transportation firm you need to get that bill paid okay thank you thank you do we have any other public uh comments from uh people here in person okay e e e hey thank you GMA would you please promote the first person on the list with their hand raised Ramia good evening you are on the zoom remote access hi good evening can you hear me yes okay great um I actually wanted to to comment on an item in oh I'm sorry Ramia Castor 86 Cromwell Court um I wanted to comment on an item that is under new business is now the appropriate time is that considered an agenda item or do I need to wait until the second it's an agenda item you may comment Ramia May comment Ramia can you hear us oops sorry now I can hear you froze for a second um can you hear me now and sorry I didn't hear your answer because everyone was frozen on my end yes you may comment okay great um so I wanted to just ask actually the board attorney a couple of questions um because I have some concerns about new business item number five and I think address it to me as board president and then we'll answer as we can okay great and I I do believe that these answers have to come from the board attorney because they're legal in nature but um I'm happy to direct them to you and hopefully he can provide us a response thank you I just think it's important for our community to understand the r ramifications of what certain board members are trying to do with regard to number five under new business and quite frankly I just want um you know the answers on the record so that everybody is aware so um it's my understanding and this is all from public discussions and what's on the internet that the SEC did find probable cause for several of the allegations in the complaint against the board member and transmitted those specific allegations to the office of administrative law for litigation so my first question for the attorney is I just want to be clear that if we are discussing ceasing funding for that complaint those board members are in essence voting to allow the board member to walk away with zero ramifications despite the sec's validation of those allegations and I would like to know if possible if the board attorney advised those board members as such um it's also my understanding again from public discussions during meetings that the board filed the ethics complaint to begin with because that board member was publicly disparaging an employee of the school District thereby exposing the entire board to a lawsuit filed by potentially filed by the employee So based on again the actions by these board members who are looking to cease funding will there be or could there be potential exposure to the board for this or other related litigation by that employee and again if so has the attorney advised the board as such um two more questions is there a potential ethical violation for the board members who are supporting these vote particularly given their close public friendships and political alliances with this board member and if not an ethical violation to request that we cease funding for this complaint isn't there at least an obvious conflict of interest and again has the board attorney advised the board as to either the ethical implications or the potential conflict of interest and finally um because I know legal spending will be used as an excuse for this action it's my understanding again from public information that we are still spending taxpayer money on defending the counter complaints filed by members of the public relating to this exact same complaint and if so if if that's the case I'd like to proactively point out the hypocrisy of these board members who are trying to cease funding for this complaint um but who will also I'm sure have absolutely nothing to say on the funding that's still required to defend the related counter complaints thank you thank you um gamer will you please promote our next person Mr Chuli can you hear us Mr Chin Chuli can you hear us Mr Chuli can you hear us now can you hear me now yes we can hear you perfect thank you regarding your scheduled discussion tonight to defund the ethics complaint against Saia curri I wanted to point out that by using your board position to benefit a friend that would of course give rise to more ethics complaints namely against each of you as you each know you may not use your office in order to help personal friends and so taking sigh off the hook would likely bring new ethics Mr juli please don't use a names uh charges upon your set in turn will increase the cost of litigation for taxpayers not decrease it therefore you cannot rely upon your argument that you've had charges against your friend thed for monetary reasons well you can make that argument but not convincingly to the school ethics commission the O will ask a lot of questions and certainly be able to see right through them nor can you say that you didn't foresee the likely increased Financial consequences since I've now pointed that out to you and so now as a matter of public record you are in fact each aware of it prior to your vote however if you want to change whether the board funds these types of future actions not yet filed I can't see anything wrong with that however to do so regarding a pending matter against your personal friend colleague people in Tom Tom's case who he ran with for school board frankly publicly it's all overt um as a matter of public record as well is unethical I'm sure that you know that regardless of what Berkeley Heights Community Watch group and their attorney are telling you off camera for your own sakes please be smart start thinking for yourself better yet ask your own board attorney and stop listening to those Berkeley Heights Community watch people and their attorney that you're Consulting off camera and this is probably the most important thing I'm going to say tonight to most of you at the table I I doubt that you'll take this advice but I think it's important to say regarding the Berkeley Heights Community Watch group they are not there to help you they don't care about you or whether you have ethics charges filed against you how can so many smart people not see that thank you that's it thank you um GMA will you please promote our next person um the next person is identified as iPhone we're asking you to please uh rechange your name so we can promote you we're looking for the next person with their hand raised who who's identified as iPhone to rechange their name and rename themselves with their first and last name I don't see that happening well we can uh wait till you do that and put you at the comments at the end of our meeting okay so let's go back to our comments that we have um Mr tario um comments on the hiring of the consultant um and the bill to be paid I believe that bill is coming up again is that correct Mr secretary on the 15th on the 15th and the uh haer soccer head coach is on our agenda for tonight all right Mr dler could you uh speak to anything that uh Ramia had so I guess the the questions are related to obviously pending litigation I'm happy to discuss those matters with the board in executive session but obviously as it's dealing with pending litigation I don't feel it's appropriate for me to answer those type of questions in public thank you and I don't believe there was any questions U Mr Uli okay we're going to be moving on now to Personnel resolutions a through l or all board members resolutions M Berkeley Heights only may I have a motion to move the resolutions a through l so moved Mrs Conor moved second please Mrs Jolly thank you second okay discussion yes Mrs Jolly um not so much a discussion but I think there is a typo on Item B the year is um or sorry the the date yeah the year in the amended um it should be 25 thank you so for Item B uh the effective date should be changed to 81525 no 24 sorry yes 6 61525 thank you Mrs Jolly yes M Dr forer okay on uh let's see F the night lead custodian I don't have would change as much as saying I think this is subject to the new contract right otherwise it looks like that actually is the salary not that is that the it was um temporary or interim previously this is taking away that portion of the title it's a title change that's it to night lead custodian yeah but but is the what is the salary then is that the right salary yes and it's not going to change with the new contract well we don't have a new contract yet so that's the salary as of now right right okay so it's sub this is see in the first time we did this we had like a foot note that said this is you know this is what it is for now but it'll change okay right when we get the new contract so that's still in effect right yes okay thank you yes Mrs Jolly just one other question on item uh I um miss Emily long is listed twice I just wanted to double check if that was um correct just because one is for a nurse and then one is for substitute teacher yes this is correct this is related to summer school employment um so that person could the um the nurse is for one additional day and the other is to be as a um substitute for summer school thank you so I have a follow-up question on that Mrs Airi yeah um on the Emily long thing um the agenda item here the summer school is run at Middle School right not at Hughes correct so we see the employment listed as nurse tph and uh substitute teacher so they're both the location is going to be CMS correct yeah correct yeah and do we have when we see these hours or days as needed is there like some sort of a an upper limit or it could be whatever that we come up with I mean I would guess the upper limit is the number of days that there are this is this is as a substitute the um it would be dependent upon if that person's needed if somebody else is out so it could be for the entire summer school if if there if there's an absence every day sure yeah yeah so just a request is previously we used to have when we had anything that was ambiguous as as needed that if you could say it's for the entire term of the summer school or that way we get an idea of what what is the budgetary impact of this so let's say if it's 10 days and it's eight hours so we we're talking that many hours times $42 per hour right sure you don't think the the fact that it states that it's for the 2024 remedial summer school covers the idea that it could be for the entire duration of summer school so I'm just saying just to identify how much and where it'll come from from a budget line item I was just asking if there is an upper limit you can get back to me on okay yeah no problem thanks I I don't have any problem with that point understood thanks yes Mr Mr Heyman sure um more statement I I I just joted down a couple things I I was going to make a statement at our last meeting but I figured I'll just I'll just say a couple things quickly and this is not being specific so hopefully won't cross any lines just regarding H so comments on on on item H uh so team sports in high school are about learning hard work fun perseverance and character uh we hope students use lessons from the field to become better people off of it uh as board members we are charged with thinking and acting on behalf of all stakeholders in the district so that's all stakeholders taxpayers teachers Administration parents students and that's all students uh those who speak up and those who will not or cannot uh so wanted to note that without getting specific at all I just I'm I'm personally proud of the process uh and the patience that we've had as a board uh and just want to thank the administration for their attention uh and action in recent weeks uh and the weeks to come as it relates to to this issue thanks thank you any other discussion uh comments are at the end of the meeting the public comments on agenda items has closed oh you couldn't switch your name yes I will allow it my name is rich7 ver Ben Road um any parent knows that their kids crave one more one thing more than any other thing in school it's acceptance that craving for acceptance is even more heightened when they get to Middle School their bodies are changing their home runs are racing but they all want to remain safe they want to have a place where other students and adults will protect them and a club like prism provides that safe place whether a young person already knows their sexual orientation or still figuring it out it's important that young people have a place to be safe sadly I think where some board members and some community members are confused is due to the word sexual orientation and somehow associating that with the conversations about sex the purpose of prism is not to discuss sex it's centered around belonging with a focus on lgbtq plus community and allies when I was in Middle School I knew I like girls sometimes I like me sometimes they didn't but no one made fun of me for liking girls it was the norm and it is expected but what about the young people who have decided they like people of the same SE sex or have perhaps more fluid in who they are attracted to or you're still figuring it out shouldn't there be a safe place for them shouldn't we want all CMS students to be empowered by supportive Community this is about supporting others regardless of who they may be attracted to and perhaps just as important this is about their freedom to choose the path for themselves and know that there are people they can talk to who will be supportive sadly some you young people don't have that at home for those prism may be their only refuge and even for others who do have that support at home isn't it natural for them to want to have that safe place at school also is that too much to ask to feel free to be yourself at school do we really need a school psychologist to tell us this is a good thing do school board members who voted know not understand the challenges these young people face have they not read the research about how these programs help young people thrive rather than deciding whether the prison Club should exist at CMS this board should be asking itself why it isn't it isn't applying for money from Union County to support the activities of this type of Club Union County has been giving up Middle School gender and sexuality Alliance grants for three years to establish and maintain a GSA Pro program in the 2223 school year for schools receed these grants including New Providence Middle School Roosevelt intermed Intermediate School in Westfield and six other schools in Union County have received these grants as well and here are just three comments from students that have attended those clubs this club is the only reason I like coming to school coming here after school is the best part of my week I don't want to go to high school next year because we'll be leaving this club behind those are the kinds of comments we'll get from CMS students by incorporating this club into our community and I I just am at a loss for words with how this board could feel otherwise we all want our kids protected no matter who they love and I think that's something you should consider when do making your vote today thank you thank you having no other discussion on the resolution for personnel Mr secretary may we have a vote Mrs Conor yes on items um a through M with the change to the date for Item B Mrs Charlie um yes to all again with along with the date change Mr Kiri yes to all along with the date change Dr forger yes to all along with the date change Mr Hyman uh yes on items a through L Miss Bradford yes to all motion passes we are now moving on in our special meeting to comments from the public on any topic during this portion of the meeting District residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on any topic the board requests that individual State their name town of residence or School of attendance for the record the specific action items they are commenting on and ask that all all board remarks be directed to the board president or designate not to individual members or staff the board ask that the members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of the other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel manners are discouraged and cannot be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by the members of the public if a matter concerning a District staff member is of Interest or concern to a resident that matter should be referred to the responsible building principal superintendent of schools or the Board of Education either by telephone letter or email although the board may not respond to items raised during the public form all public comments will be considered please note if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statement continued disruptions may result in removal from the meeting or adjournment of the meeting these same rules apply to our remote access comments from the public each speaker's statement will be limited to three minutes in duration is there anyone in person Debbie Terrero uh Barkley Heights I didn't realize I could actually comment on the new business items so um a couple things number one is I uh agree with the gentleman that just spoke about the prism club that club is very important to our young um kids and I think it's important for you guys I'm glad to see that you're hopefully going to be reconsidering that I don't know if you're going to be voting tonight or if that's not going to happen until the regular meeting in August but I do think it's important to um to uh approve the stien secondly um I also wanted to address the bill that hasn't been paid for the sleo officers those office the officers that are in the schools are important and they actually protect our children so I realize that the township is actually paying that bill and you're reimbursing the township for it it's sick time come on we should be paying them for that um and then the other thing that I wanted to also encourage you I know that there's been a lot of chatter about the CMS Fields um there is a lot of green space that is necessary especially if you go over to SNY field you'll notice that um there's a lot of planning issues in terms of U making sure all the teams can utilize the fields and I think what the wreck commission has put together is pretty substantial especially considering that it's not going to financially be a burden at all on the district so um I would encourage you to get get that lease signed because every day that that lease is not signed is another day we're missing out on money for Grants um I mean this this nonsense about this lease and everything is kind of ridiculous it's it's pretty cut and dry so I think we should kind of move forward and stop you know stonewalling it thank you thank you to Facey I have to get my address do I have to 440 timer Drive um I wasn't planning on speaking today um but I realized that the subject of the prism Club was coming back for new business and I just want to say first of all I want to agree with the gentleman's comments just around the prism club and then just also want to point out that guising the fact that the members who voted against it and saying that we're going to talk about a new process it is a guise because also the other Dei with I guess um this group considers Dei Club was also also barely passed and it's shameful it is shameful that given the history and what we know has happened in this community that any Board of Education member would vote against any club that would make a child feel supported and if you have questions about what that looks like feel free to talk to me feel free to talk to me about my children's own experiences in this community feel free to talk to children who are lgbtq and to take that safe space away from them because you're guising it in a process because you got some blowback is ridiculous own it you know why you voted no own it be honest with yourselves this is disgusting that this is even happening in this community given what happened in 2019 and 2020 you should be ashamed of yourself you guys are up there to represent the entire Community not anyone's Personal Agenda and not Berkeley Heights Community Watch and I'm going to keep saying that because that is exactly what's dictating your votes thank you any other comments from um participants in person all right uh GMA will you please promote um Mr Chin Chuli he has his hand raised online Mr Chuli you may proceed yes sorry it takes a minute you can hear me yes name and address uh Robert Chuli uh Berkeley Heights no addresses needed that's Town Council uh regarding the vote on the board minutes I notice that Berkeley Heights Community Watch board members at the table sometimes tend to vote them down as was the case at the last meeting the board secretary indicated that he would make certain changes as requested by those certain board members simply stated why I don't believe that it's the law that they must be approved by the board the board secretary who does a great job and certainly already does have a difficult job is allowing the board members who are now serving under the offices of Berkeley Heights Community Watch to ghost write the board minutes minutes are not intended to be a transcrip please stop enabling controlling and inappropriate requests thank you thank you um the next indiv idual um it has a first name but not a last name can you please add your last name or if you can as we promote you give us your first and last name and residence yo can you hear us uh yes can you hear me yes please have your uh first and last name and residence yes I'm Adam paritz I'm a resident of Berkeley Heights um I wanted to comment on two points that are in the new business uh first I want to Echo what has previously been said about the prism club and it's what I feel was um disgraceful um rejection of funding at the last uh Boe meeting um I know one Boe member um suggested this was because they wanted input from the school psychologist I am curious as to why Boe members if that was really the case I think it was a pretext but if that was really the case why they did not reach out to the school psychologist before the meeting or seek the table the resolution at least until they could have spoken to the school psychologist um it seems more likely that was just used an excuse to cover up for voting it down I'm glad it's back under the new business and I hope hope you guys will do the right thing and pass the resolution granting funding to prism at this time I also wanted to speak about new business entry number five which unfortunately on the website I did not see attachments as to what this resolution actually is or specifics as to um what this discussion entails but it seems to be regarding the um maybe the paying of attorneys regarding to ethics complaints um first I would like to make clear that I think it is important that um anything involving ethics complaints should be made available to the public before decisions are made so I will urge the members not to um move to immediately vote on this resolution since I think the public deserves to know what the details about this proposal are I also would like to know if the board has consulted its legal counsil as to the implications of the proposed resolution and what the legal council's advice on that was as well as to whether or not this action will be exposing the board to any potential additional lawsuits or legal liabilities we spend quite a bit on legal fees people complain about it all the time and I want to make sure this has been fully vetted and the public is fully aware about any potential liability that any change in course or action will cause um I think it is also wholly improper for anyone with a conflict of interest to be voting on this resolution um again we don't know the details of the resolution so I don't know where those conflicts May lie but I hope that those with conflicts will abstain from voting thank you thank you I see we do have one other hand uh GMA will you please promote Rachel good evening can you hear us I can yes can you hear me yes thank you great um I'm Rachel meta 83 Dogwood Lane I have two daughters at GL and I just wanted to Echo what everyone has said um just in very human normal terms of about prism it 100% should happen it is embarrassing that I have to go out and ask people in other places to sign this petition for prism to exist it's such a bad look for the town such a bad look for our district and moreover it's horrible for our children to even get wind of the fact that school leadership in this town is not supportive understanding it should be a no-brainer it's 20124 this this club should exist and I really hope that you'll do the right thing and continue it so when children come back to school in September they've got a place to be safe and accepted thank you thank you I see no other um residents wishing to be promoted so going back our board attorney oh yes thank you good evening my name is Dana Yellen I use she and her pronouns I live in Berkeley Heights at seven finch court and I am deeply disturbed by the decision to block the prism Club it is an act of homophobia it is an act of ignorance it is an act of violence against children who are figuring out their own identities and are learning their way in the world the prism Club is about acceptance building community understanding who you are and I'm sure many of us remember Middle School it is not an easy time and by blocking the prism Club at this particular moment of one's development you are shutting down their ability to find Community to understand themselves and to build empathy for people who are either like them or not like them it is a club where one can build compassion and so I ask you to please reverse your decision and to embody the values that clearly this community holds and make our kids feel safe this is deeply upsetting and as somebody who will be sending her child into the school system it is uh deeply troubling and I I hope that you will feel uh moved by the comments of of many people in the community who have stood up and have protested and ask that you consider uh reconsider your action thank you thank you in commenting on the public comments um at their regular meeting the prison Club will be on the agenda as will the bills for the sleo officers Lower Columbia field lease is still in negotiations um and I think that our attorney our board attorney has already talked about the ethics case and how that's going to be discussed during our executive session we're going to close our public comments at this time and move on to new business number one prism Club in process for establishing a new club the board member who brought this up please speak yes Mrs Jolly sure thank you and thank you everyone for coming out to um you know speak about this so I um I definitely hear everyone's comments I've read the emails and I just want to say that I don't think anyone here is against um diversity and inclusion and I think in part what happened during the meeting was that um there is a process um to follow um and the process for establishing a new club and from what I understand it wasn't a blocking of the prism Club from existence because the club exists unofficially what was rejected at that meeting was um a stien to make it quote unquote official and there is a process that has to be followed to make a club official and that's in the bhaa contract and so what and I just have it in front of me so bear with me while I just read out the steps that um the procedure for establishing a new club of activity there has to be an advisor who um will write a proposal stating mission of the activity estimated number of participants meeting days and times and anticipated activities outside of the regular meetings the adviser submits the proposal to the bhaa BHA will evaluate and assess a stipend proposal will be submitted to the superintendent for review upon approval the superintendent The Proposal will be sent to the board for their consideration or approval and I think while you saw some of the questions um that you did and I believe Miss cona asked if this went through committees that we never saw the proposal the only thing that we saw was what was written on the um agenda in terms of kind of a summary but without any um any specifics so um we have I don't Mr Nixon correct me if I'm wrong but I haven't we haven't seen this proposal come forth and we actually never saw it for the other club um either so um you know and I guess it's coming back on the agenda and I would assume before then that we would have this documented and have it for review having been the high school principal for you know for the previous nine years and then two years as an assistant principle prior to that the process we followed for bringing these clubs forward was the exact same process that we followed for every single club that we've recommended to make a formal Club ever before in my time here um what happens is uh the club makes the proposal to the principal as you stated um we work with the bhea and we get support from the superintendent and then that club then is recommended the way this club was recommended and the other club was recommended through a board agenda now if if the board would like to receive the actual packet to review moving forward it's certainly something we can do um not opposed to that but but for full transparency that has never been our process before the process is this has like a lot of things that end up on an agenda um they are vetted and reviewed and recommended on an administrative level and then brought to the board through the agenda for approval just if I if I may a follow-up question on that sure um you know some of the stiens that we do approve um do have like a name associated you know to the person who will be receiving the stien and so I think part of uh the question I guess for the 15th meeting would be also just to see who the advis are yeah sure yeah um may I ask a followup Mr Nixon on this sure I believe um um so I'll have to go back to the minutes from past years I think some of the other commit clubs that were formalized did go through committees and um I can look back at them but you can also do maybe I don't know if that process was not followed at GL but in the past when we were formalizing and any clubs we did send them to the curriculum committee or the required committee to take a look at the enrollment how many people were there and what was the interest and also just to clarify what Natasha said I think the vote was not to not have the club at Middle School it was in existence it continues to be in existence the questions were more in terms of the process and how the typen was being recommended sure and I I can certainly take a look and see if it's been brought to committees but if you have examples of that i' I'd like to see that too like I said not appro we're not opposed to that being the process that's that hasn't been the process to my knowledge that that we followed for promoting clubs to uh from informal to formal okay Dr forer yeah the um I think it was a history Honors Society came to the curriculum committee that was the last one I remember uh and that came and then came to the board so it did go through curriculum for that committee that was the only one I've ever seen though agree yes that's that's the only one I've ever seen and I don't I don't know why it did but that's the only one that I've ever seen also it was uh I believe it was a Honor Society not a club right number two Lower Columbia field uh this is a field use agreement it's still in negotiations with our Town Council uh who brought that up and any other questions yes um so I guess I'm trying to figure out the right way for us to engage in a public conversation I believe the township has passed um I think a non-binding ballot question there was a resolution passed probably in the last meeting uh on that particular topic given that we have been in discussions through um you know through a lease agreement that's going through some uh legal conversations and legal reviews just in the interest of confidentiality we can't really talk about it in public uh given the number of open questions my thought here is we should request the Town Council or a representative to actually you know invite them to board meeting to actually have that conversation in public uh because if anybody is to if a resident is expected to vote on that ballot measure um I believe that we should have all of the information out there for people to make a decision the uh the representative did present at the Town council meeting in Berkeley Heights last month at at the Town Council yes but not all of us were there go back and look for it so this needs to be if this needs to be a conversation with all of us here at the board answering questions and doing a live Q&A where everybody would benefit from understanding what all the points are that that we are discussing um would be beneficial for anybody and all of us also as a board just the number number of open questions on this topic out a lot uh I mean I it would be that' be great I think uh I will I will note that in an effort to try to unearth and package up that information we've we've had that request and we did have a representative come present at committee so we I don't know that we answered all the questions for sure tried to just get the ball moving guess my only preference would be if we're going to ask for that feel like in good faith we should maybe if it's not in public but it's back in a room align and and say we want this to happen at some point and instead of wasting people's time that's that's my only personal preference so if there's consensus that we want to move toward an agreement great personally I think the pieces are in place um and and we should move toward it and there's there's enough there but again it's got to be board consensus so given that you know this conversation has been happening for quite a few months not years right yeah it's yours um I don't think we as a board all well we don't we're too short today but as a board we haven't really had a conversation on what is the interest of the district and how do we make sure that we are involved in a conversation about a lease that's that's really long term y so we haven't really and this is not about us not being supportive but this is about the board being a part of the conversation having that open and transparent dialogue with the Township in order to move forward yeah I I'll note that um hopefully have helpful uh in the last conversation we did have um we've been given a lot of flexibility including the terms it's the term itself so um that that was something I thought was was important so then we do when we do get to that conversation I I think we have the ability to Beyond we can pretty much as I understand it when we get there make the amend M ments and the questions added and the changes added inclusive of term length of of contract to hopefully get us to a place where the board would feel more comfortable um so I I agree I I don't I mean having been on this board for four years I I don't think we've had a substantial recent conversation it's sort of been in in burst it's been in burst it's been in committees right we had one in finance committee last year yes we had one an Athletics committee this year yes uh but not everybody not all of us are on the same committee right yes and and some of the conversation has evolved some of the the terms have evolved I think yes so I I I agree um I think as long as we sort of in good faith feel that we are not wasting our time let alone the time of others to continue the conversation it's it's worthwhile because at the end of the day at a high level I think it's pretty obvious that that it is worthwhile number three um I have oh yes Mrs Ziri so I have couple points on the whole lease agreement the first being the referendum question is a non-binding referendum question and the taxpayers and every registered voter is going to get be asked to vote on this but when you look at the question and the way it's fa it's drafted or I hope that's the one that's going to go on is it seems one-sided I don't think um as a v as a taxpaying resident we get to see the complete picture of what is the other side like the board of fed the other governing bodies thoughts on or a complete picture of the issue second is the way it has been presented previously it was not a formal lease agreement that was given to us I believe the lease agreement came in they met with the finance committee they met with the Athletics committee a decision was already made so I don't understand once a decision was made how did it come back or resurrect itself to an Athletics committee which was again a closed door committee no offense to you Jordan and Natasha holding that conversation but again saying is it a board priority once we went through our due diligence we had I think the township engaged their attorneys which is paid by taxpayer dollars we had our attorneys look at the lease agreement we all because it was a lease agreement and a contract negot negociations we did the we followed the due diligence and the process which was to have a discussion in exec session we made a decision the decision was based on the terms based on what was given to us and what I can say I think was not to continue so when a decision is made to resurrect it within 10 days to a committee without board advice or guidance I felt was not fair and is it a board priority that we have to look at it I understand the need for having another playground and all that but I feel we shouldn't hurry this up because I did look at the maps and anybody who is willing to you know now that it's a referendum question people should look at it and say hey does that come under the flood zone like what are the repercussions there are districts in New Jersey there are districts all over the nation where an artificial turf that has been installed in a flood zone or a land which is kind of considered swampy have had concerns and there are multiple cases where parents are requesting because it is prone to flooding that they re uninstall the turf field so and what are the incidences of accidents in terms of like FIFA has released National like worldwide data FIFA World Cup after the women's FIFA World Cup said there's a higher incident of accidents so yes we have grant money I like the idea I'm not against it but why should we be forced to take an action in a hurry instead of looking at all the all the data do we have the data is the question so after we made a decision looks like we have again it's on our exec session today um so my question to the board attorney is if a decision is made on this second amended lease agreement can can the board members and the can the Town Council talk about it openly because I believe the the main drawback or the obstacle for us to talk about the terms openly is because we are engaged in contract negotiations so if if the Town Council wants in good faith we can once we make the decision on this amended lease agreement there is not nobody is Bound By Any contract negotiations correct once we make a decision on this amended agreement and so no longer there's an agreement in front of us it's been decided so can we discuss those things publicly has it been decided it was public vote we talked about it and I felt like we kind of ran out of time and I I think we just talked about we never really had a full substantial I think that's that's the challenge we didn't bet all the facts you're right and therefore we haven't fully vetted the contract and therefore it to me it seems like not just me it more into further discussion I think that's what we're getting at so Jordan last time because it was a contract negotiations we discussed it we looked at it and there was a rooll call done by the president and including you we all said no based on because it was supposed to be done in exec we can't vote on it publicly and dler can pitch in so if I'm understanding the question correctly right it's when can the board start discussing something in public right so my view on this is if it's still in draft form you're still negotiating a document with someone else that's a draft form that traditionally remains confidential once that is completed right and you go put on agenda for to approval approve it at that point it's a final document the public has the right to potentially see that because you're going to vote on it right it's done there's no changes to it it's publicly available the board has the right to discuss it usually though when you're still negotiating a document it's a draft document it's subject to change typically speaking those negotiations those conversations remain confidential so last time I think in May I think we basically May or June but I have to go back to the date the the last time this agreement came to us there was a roll call taken you were there at the exec we discussed and we went with a roll call and I think it didn't go through so wasn't that considered final when will it be considered final is my question so that's part of what we're going to be discussing in executive session again yeah I think a version without going because they submitted they resubmitted it let's say whatever is reub what what happened in May was was a final draft we went through it there was a role call and a decision made is my understanding incorrect I don't I don't believe that was a fi I don't believe that was the final I think we discussed in concept okay and then what the board will be looking at tonight is an actual draft of agreement so why was the roll call taken I think there was was there a roll call and EXA I think it was just discussion on what the board would like and then I thought it went then to you I don't want to get into what was discussing exact but I don't that's not my recollection but we can so if you can we can look back at the minutes and then we'll discuss again what I have in tonight in exec is in a actual document for the board to look at so can I ask you an assumption so basically what you have is an actual document let's say we discuss it because it's a contract negotiations we can make decisions in exec correct yes you so you what the purpose of exec again is as your attorney I'm bringing to you a draft document um and then we're going to discuss if the board is comfortable with that and what the next steps are and then if we make a decision in exec do we have to come back and can make it public or no on a contract negotiation once once both sides have said once both attorneys have agreed it says look we're we've talked to my client they've talked to theirs we're comfortable with this let's move forward to the next steps right we're going to put this on both agendas once that takes place in my mind that becomes more of a final document and then of course then now you as elected officials are going to be voting on something you have every right to discuss why you will be voting on something what if um for some reason if it's not a governing body it's some so a contract negotiations it doesn't make it to the agenda then what if terms are not agreeable between both parties then what then it's perpetual it's you can never discuss about it um if you're saying that so essentially a proposal was made the board denied it um I mean again I have to look so we're really look under the advisor Council of deliberative privilege process under Oprah and then whether then something is final typically speaking right that those sound like draft documents um again it's depends um but there's a difference between discussing a particular draft document and I think that's different than the discussion you're having here of a concept okay right there's difference between a document the specific terms that never made it to the table and the concept of whether the board FS com certainly the concept you have every right to discuss whether this is a good idea or bad idea whether there specific terms in a draft document that's still being negotiated that's a little different okay thank you it is now 7:30 and we have our guests here for our executive session meeting um that we still have some more uh new business do we want to postpone the new business to the next meeting no I'd like to do it but I'd like to uh three and four Tom I'd like five after we've had a chance to talk to the attorney in EXA session then we'll come back and deal with five okay uh three and four Mr uh board secretary can you answer a b and c for us uh well who can POS the questions and let them let them flow and okay who proposed those questions for number three and four it was me uh so I wanted to understand the Oprah requests handling process and um these were my questions because of the concerns with legal bills and I I haven't seen an opr I've we've had multiple discussions over mult many years about an onslaught by of Oprah so well you were you were in my office the other day and I did show you an Oprah log I'm not mistaken uh no you showed me a folder with some f yes there was a folder that that is how I maintain my log okay so where my questions are is what what we are seeing and what I can speak of is we do not have any unique identifier for the number of Oprah requests being received and um they are being universally named with let's say a person a John do Oprah but if let's say the John do Oprah comes in on July 1st then comes again on July 10th then comes again on July 15th Oprah requests have to be numbered so all I'm trying to ask is do we maintain like I know by law we have to say when an opra request comes in we have to fulfill it within seven business days and I think I think what you're referring to is how the uh attorney was billing if not mistaken you're you're talking about the bill no I'm I'm saying that so my I have a basic Universal question Mr jovic do we maintain an Oprah log of whatever Oprah requests come to our district when do they come when were they fulfilled that's my first question the second question is are all oah requests received by the district just routed to the attorneys the third one is redaction process for opra requests is the redaction of the documents that we are providing back to the residents or whoever has made these Oprah requests are they done in-house by The District in the business office or are they being done by the attorneys these are my questions if each and every one of them is routed to the attorney unless there's something that needs to be redacted that's when I send them over to the attorney I'm not a specialist in redacting I don't know the laws of redaction and that is when I'll send to them most and every uh I'm going to say request op request that I get is involving emails and and documents so I'm going to say yes a majority of them that I get I'm going to say 99% involve emails and documents so yes I'm going to say majority of them are if there's a simple request of a document that is something that's accessible or easy to get to somebody I will give it to them and it doesn't require any yes I will I will forward it to so most of the requests which are emails and stuff they go to the attorneys answer to that okay I we'll we'll filter them on our end and then we'll send them over to the attorney okay um do we maintain like a log um saying this was the date we received and this is what we provided the do so when did when was it received and when did we provide the documents well I have again I have a folder that has a date on it okay um when it was received and that's the date that I have on that folder and that's how I maintain my log your definition of a log may be different I have my way of an organization of way I I handle the the oper requests so if somebody from the administration or the board wanted to ask you in the month of um this year starting from January to July how many opera requests rece did we receive and how many did we actually provide documents to how will you you will be able to pull them up for us I would have to go into I have about 15 17 people go into each one of those individuals and I'd have to see the dates the folder dates on each one of those individuals and I can tell you that but we don't have like an Excel or an AIS which basically just says these were I'm G to say that when the budget months came through and when I had a multitude of those coming in I don't I can't maintain both of those at the same time number four yeah uh it's relating to opma uh open public meetings Act and the background is um I think most of us are aware and I have replied back to the business administrator and Mr Nixon I've brought this to your notice and I've also spoken to Mr Nixon about this is um we are by law we any bills that we have to vote on have to be put together on a bills list and they can only be discussed or voted on at a regular meeting I think we are not even allowed to discuss or like basically vote on bills in a special board meeting I don't understand the background for it um maybe that's for some other time but we have been receiving some emails um in between meetings after decisions have been made at a public board meeting can you give examples as well please yeah if I may so uh so we have been receiving multiple emails in between board meetings asking if you can give us Direction on how to proceed so one of the example was I think at the last board meeting we had two resolutions after an RFP for the attorneys was put to put together and we appointed a board attorney and we appointed a an alternate board attorney but both the resolutions on the agenda last month stated both the attorney firms were alternate board attorneys and we the board approved unanimously to appoint both these attorney firms uh we got an email asking can I route the opra requests to an attorney firm which is a little bit you know costs us less than the other one I feel that's basically asking the board members to make a decision via email and I had concerns about it the other thing was some of the bills that were not paid that are open questions on them based on the existing contracts that we have with other governing bodies or these are legal binding contracts so when uh when we have outstanding questions and we still have to go and yet to review them and get answers back based on these contracts and some of them involve getting responses back from the attorney and then maybe asking follow-up questions we were being asked um by the board secretary can you please give me direction on can I pay these bills and when you reply back please reply oneon-one to me I feel that that's not I I raised my concerns and so I want to understand what the process is in between meetings if they have if we have to make decisions on number one bills that were not approved can we make those decisions via email number two is are we even allowed to be making decisions not at a public board meeting because I think by law we don't as board members as individual board members we don't have any powers when we do not even have cotum so why are we being asked these questions thank you thank you very much um I don't think we have any other comments uh we're going to ask for a motion now to adjourn to Executive session uh can I get responses from Mr dler on this or I think this is going to be um an ongoing discussion and I will'll give Mr dler some time to Res to think about that before the response okay thank you okay adjourn to Executive session we have a motion okay Mr Heyman second second thank you Mrs Jolly we're going to go to Executive session we will return to public session it will be a while e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e returning to public session from executive section at 1013 10:14 sorry 11 11:14 p.m. uh motion to adjourn the okay may I have a motion to return to public session so move second all in favor Voice vote I I great uh now we need a motion to adjourn Dr forer yes and second and Mrs huffnagel was here with us um can we have a Voice vote I I I meeting is adjourned thank you thank you Mrs Kelly Mrs Kelly thank you have a good night thank you