##VIDEO ID:lMaryh1j1n0## e height sport of Education meeting November 14th 2024 adequate notice of this meeting of the Berkeley Heights sport of Education was given as required by the open public meetings act as follows on January 4th 2024 notice of the Board of Education meeting schedule was sent to the Star Ledger and The Courier News and was also provided to all schools PTO presidents and bhea president and posted at the administration building a copy was also provided to the public library and filed with the municipal C clerk please rise for the flag I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the for it stands na God indivisible andice for all okay thank you Mr secretary may we have a roll call here here here here okay we have a quorum adjourned to Executive session whereas the Berkeley Heights Board of Education seeks to adjourn to Executive session in full compliance with the open public meetings Act njsa 10 4-6 and whereas the public open public meetings act provides that a public body May exclude the public from that portion of the meeting at which it discusses matters related to those identified below matters rendered confidential by federal law state law or Court rule in individual privacy collective bargaining agreements purchase or lease of real property if public interest could be adversely affected investment of public funds if public interest could be adversely affected tactics or techniques utilized in protecting Public Safety and property pending or anticipated litigation attorney client privilege Personnel employment matters affecting the specific perspective or current employees be it resolved that the Berkeley Heights Board of Education adjourns to Executive session to discuss matters related to Personnel students and legal matters and be it further resolved that the minutes of the discussion of any of these items will be disclosed to the public when matters have been determined and confidentiality is no longer applicable motion to enter into executive session thank you Dr vorer seconded thank you Mrs huffnagel Voice vote I hi the time is 8:32 sorry 6:32 we estimate that we'll be back in one hour and 15 minutes that's my guess good okay thank you e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e session please so moved thank you Mrs Conor seconded thank you Mrs huffnagle one two three four five we have a quorum uh vote to return to public session okay the time is 7:45 p.m. bik salute IED Al to FL of the United States of America the stands one nation under God indivisible withy and justice for all thank you report of our student Representatives good evening as of last Wednesday jail students successfully wrapped up the first marking period of the this school year during the last week of October G's students and staff participated in Hall week which is a Halloween themed Spirit Week Spirit day favorites like Adam Sandler day were brought back and new ones like inside out day were created on November 3rd the governor Livingston marching band played second at the highly anticipated States competition at TCNJ congratulations to the band for a great season on November 4th the understanding Asian cultures Club held a dwali meeting and decorated clay lamps in order to celebrate in honor of national French week the GL French Club held its annual Chocolate Moose off during lunch on November 11th the next day ghs French students also set up and participated in a catacomb themed escape room with students from Columbia Middle School from November 21st to 23rd the GL Hilltop players will present their fall play lend Me a Tenor with 7 p.m. performances on Thursday Friday and Saturday as well as a mat performance on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. thank you hi everyone most of the sports in GL have been in the offseason and the winter season will be starting in just under two weeks however the varsity volleyball team won their third consecutive sectional title on Tuesday November 12th they competed against wall winning 2 with the central group 2 title the game leaders consist consisted of Abby Kim with 14 kills Nia joose with two blocks and Anna crur with 22 assists their record for the season so far is 23 to5 and they are doing an excellent job up next for the winter season we have swimming wrestling fencing basketball and track coming up soon the girls swim team currently has two consecutive sectional wins and we're also looking forward to seeing the basketball fencing and other teams do well thank you thank you very much we are very proud of our student uh our students what we're doing and the our volleyball team looking forward to do all that I just wanted to say too their the volleyball team's record went up by one because they won today and they're going to the finals on Sunday which is really exciting we're really proud of them 11: a I think on Sunday at Franklin at Franklin High School sorry it's for the people that can't hear at on the mic great we will communicate that out once we have it finalized but that's what we believe it is okay Olivia and Peppa you can leave whenever you'd like but thank you very much for your reports uh report of the Acting Superintendent okay um we just have we have just two items on uh my agenda for my report this evening uh the first is recognition of Governor Livingston high school National Merit Scholars uh we had six total this year I I don't see them in attendance unfortunately um but I would like to say there names and and recognize them for a job well done uh Gian de D'Angelo Nina frolov Aiden Jang Jessica kayen Wong and yil Zang uh congratulations to those students for a great job and they're all of their next we are proud to share with the Board of Education this evening a uh Berkeley Heights School counseling overview uh provided by our director of School counseling Dr Ashley Jasco Dr Jasco good evening everyone you been like you can see the whole back of me this is great okay my name is Ashley josco and I've been the director of counseling in Berkeley Heights for going on my 10th year oh all right tonight we're going to begin if I can figure this out um tonight we're going to we're going to begin by discussing the topics that refer to the mission of the Berkeley Heights public schools counseling department I'll address the goal I will share how we go about identifying the needs for the current year as well as future years which includes formulating our planning and programming and then I will talk about how we come up with our programming districtwide to develop a district initiative and then I will break it down the K to2 level 3 to five level six to8 and 9 through 12th level our mission for the counseling department is to provide social emotional academic and career counseling support to enhance students ability to learn within the school environment and feel prepared to transition to the next stage of development regardless of what grade level the counselors are working in we have various goals that ensures that our Stu our counselors are highly qualified and have the highest regard of integrity and professionalism uh that focuses specifically on each child that includes having a student center approach we we remain up to-date on culturally competent information and counseling we provide psychoeducational opportunities for students to to grow in developmentally appropriate ways we strive to be consistent within our practice and programming between buildings and fostering continuity throughout the district it is our biggest job of all to make sure that we continue to seek opportunities through learning growth and professional development so that we can adhere to all facets of the whole child to meet their academic social academic and career needs how we go about identifying what our programming and practice is for the future year is we go through a data collection process that includes formal student feedback at the middle school and at the high school we begin on the first two days of school with having students complete a voluntary survey this is called the back to school survey we ask questions such as do you know your counselor um and other things such as what are some different topics that you would like to learn and or additional support from within your counseling department the image here includes two of the results of the various topics that we we included for students to complete and one are some of the higher um interests of students we also provide informal student feedback by seeing students through observations uh we obtain parent feedback so when we have any parent night events we um share surveys before presentations as well as after presentations to make sure that we're meeting all of their needs and questions we refer to administrative feedback teachers and staff feedback in addition we take into consideration of course that we are align and adhering and supporting the district pdps so for instance the zones of regulation for K to 5 um the K to5 staff as well as building level pdps which align with the district pdps once we have all that information in the spring the counselors as a district get together and we develop District precepts a precept is an idea um that is developed in tandem with building level principles it is developed as that informs particular topics lessons behaviors skills and practices as a monthly initiative and it's consistent throughout the entire District so as you can see beginning with September the monthly precept was community and connection how that information is communicated the precept is different depending upon the building level yet it Remains the Same theme so in September Community Connection was communicated in these various ways these are all of the 2024 2025 District precepts how this information is delivered is on monthly Communications that goes out to every single building something else that we take in consideration is what is actually happening in a uh a calendar year and what's happening within that month so we take we acknowledge what the month is what the precept is what's going on within the month celebrating holidays um and different events that are going on throughout the whole year and it's communicated in this fashion so for instance this is the one in October because this this month has concluded and I will refer to the month of October as an example throughout the presentation this calendar includes what the precept is there's a link to the counseling website that shares resources about this particular precept and then throughout the course of the month there's any activities that are happening for instance in the middle school or high school that clubs um or different opportunities to participate in the different clubs and events that are happening as it relates to the precepts so I'm going to begin with the Early Childhood centers which includes Mary K McMillan Millan and Mountain Park at the Early Childhood centers the district initiative of zones of Regulation was implemented and strategically woven into the monthly precepts the zones of Regulation is a program that helps students identify their feelings and learn to self-regulate by learning new tools and skills and an effort to transition from one zone or color to the next at the Early Childhood Center respecting of all feelings of self and others was the focus of October this included count developing lessons for teachers to introduce a tool to assist with measuring your moods and providing each student with a mood meter or checkin which is the second image that is um on the bottom students then were taught how to utilize the mood meter and to check in with their feelings in addition teachers were asked before transitions at least three times throughout the day to refer to the mood meter and have all the students check their mood meters this is a way that teachers can check in to see how students are and where they're at in their mood meters as well as students acknowledging their feelings and then what's set up in every classroom to help them get to the next color a counselor L schoolwide presentation that said it that celebrated individual feelings and other feelings was sung danced and read in a story I did participate students practice physically and emotionally identifying feelings acknowledging others feelings and learning a various new set of tools to shift from one feeling or Zone to the next in addition uh in addition to the monthly precept counselors provide vital roles with many responsibilities throughout each school day to support students social emotional and academic needs provided is a list of the various active participant LED programs organizations responsibilities that the counselors do and or role model for students achievement at the Early Childhood centers so this is just a list of the different um things that they are involved in and things that they do and the bitmoji classroom is the way in which the Early Childhood centers share this information with families and it's also active and on their website at the elementary school level which is Thomas P Hughes in Mountain Park the monthly precept again of October of empathy was presented as treat others like you would like to be treated also coinciding with a zones of Regulation the counselor's facilitated lessons through the lens of the inside out to movie and how films can how feelings can be discussed and identified and what to do when you want to shift from one feeling to the next the counselors introduced the mood meters to students and students practiced in shared ways in which feelings of hot and cold or angry and happy can shift while utilizing certain skills through data driven meetings and the res and results in the what I need or win groups the elementary counselors provide small groups to focus on particular topics such as social skills friendship skills confidence and self-esteem similar to the early Hood The Early Childhood centers counselors in the building um play a a vital role and really work in tandem with the principal the elementary counselors are active members leaders facilitators teachers monitors and counselors through all of these following roles and responsibilities and how this information is communicated is through the principal Friday folders in a Family Forum that's up on your right hand side at the middle school we have one counselor per grade level for sixth seventh and eth and a Student Assistance counselor that is there one day a week how the October monthly precept looked at CMS through counselors included counselors developing and facilitating advisory lessons and then implementing these lessons the title of the lesson for October was a simple hello the week of respect counselors coordinated daily topics such as make a difference Monday sit with someone new at lunch say hi to five people help out at home without being asked and wearing something that represents you and your culture your personality Hobbies or interests Wacky Wednesday for the EP workshops they worked on sidewalk Chuck um an expression of who they are are and what makes them proud and who are their friends putting yourself in someone else's shoes dressed like a teacher the student of the month is coordinated also by the CMS counselors where staff can nominate students that demonstrate the appropriate characteristics of the precept empathy the student is then honored and recognized and they get their picture up in the front of the school in addition to the roles and respon responsibilities related to the precept the counseling team um has created and advocated for a suite that's warm and inviting in a safe space where students can always be seen by a counselor and utilize the resources and tools available to them the CMS counselors assume the roles and responsibilities that are included here and of course not limited to their information is communicated out through their Friday folder and through a s'more newsletter how does the precept look for the high school counselors we have five counselors and one Student Assistance counselor that's in the office four days a week for the month of October the G counselors initiated Feelgood Fridays in events in the counseling conference room on topics including appreciation notes for for World teachers days in conso custodian appreciation chalk walk a TED Talk presentation of the language of Being Human an entire and student staff week of Bingo where the counselors challenged all members of the G Community to obtain as many chips on the board including introducing yourself to someone new saying thank you to a teacher sit with someone new at lunch and hold a door open for someone the classroom presented classroom lessons presented by the counselors include moments of de-stressing identification of feelings and how to utilize skills and resources to minimize stress programming provided by the jail counseling department utilized throughout the month of October included a community Wellness Fair where various Community organizations provided education resources as well as community service and job opportunities for our students a highly attended and well-received challenge day to sophomore students in 25 staff members presentations on topics including substance abuse substance use and te te Dating Violence and these are just some examples of the active engagement and I love the picture of challenge day because the um one of the facilitators is giving the I see you I love you sign when I took the picture so I feel like that was pretty cool it's important to note that the high school counselors take pride in remaining informed I'm skipping around I'm sorry another large piece of the high school counselor's role is the postsecondary planning counselors begin uh begin with students during their eighth grade course selection meeting discussing the positive progression and trajectory as it relates to academic decisions and a reflection on the high school transcript throughout the four years in high school counselors focus on getting to know the students through annual individual student meetings individual course advisement meetings parent meetings student and parent night events and an exposure to post-secondary options through the lens of technical two-year or fouryear colleges as well as career opportunities this is is a breakdown of the minimal services that the councils provide to all of their students includes individual meetings for every student um every year it includes parent events individual advisements as well as various night events um that support and educate the parents the exceptional service that the high school counselors provide as it relates to post-secondary planning extends into coordin admission counselor visitations for all students to meet during their lunch with college admissions counselors navigating career building inventories through Naviance organizing field trips to vocational and technical schools and hosting a college fair that this year included 127 admissions counselors this well attended and received outstanding um program and reviews the feedback that we heard was this GL fair is consistent Fair on the traveling admissions counselor calendar and I will tell you admissions counselors are only supposed to from September 1st until the end of November go to 100 visits and GL is consistently on we have like a reputation of even if it's not the same rep from the school they come back to this one it may be because of the food I don't know I'm just kidding these are some comments that we received again we do a survey because what we do is we want to provide the best service to our missions counselors these are the individual uals that review our students applications for acceptances and some of the feedback that we received included they love coming here um Amur sent me an email directly I want to thank you again so much for your hospitality you have no idea how much it meant to me if there's anything I can do to help you your team and students please let me know please consider me an ally doesn't get any better than that um a sophomore with her first experience going through the college process of just going out and like seeing the different um opportunities this is my first college fair I've ever attended for someone who has not did not plan ahead it was so much fun I love to talk to all the college reps and all of them were so nice um needless to say we utilize the survey feedback to determine the day of a Monday night and the first Monday in October because the feedback from the mission reps have been we never are in any fair so you have a better turnout if you come if you do it on a Monday night they like the hot dinner they like the time they want only an hour and a half like whatever you want as long as you come we will bring it and the glp was phenomenal as ever um with the cake with the cookies and with all the Bachi so they get huge props the social and emotional needs of students the academic rigor that propels students into high achieving schools and universities as demands and complexities for the role of the high school counselor is many hats it's important to note that the high school counselors take pride in remaining informed and upto-date on current emissions information Trends and insights as well as getting onto campuses to build relationships with college admissions counselors as a way to support and guide our students as they embark on their college admissions process the list of College and Career PDS provides provided are a list of the programs and campuses the counselors have visited beginning in July these counselors utilize the majority of these opportunities with within their own time in the summer so you can see these are the different universities as well as the different programs that the counselors and myself included have attended to be knowledgeable and to be up to date to what's going on after high [Music] school this slide includes the professional development of all counselors within the district that they continue to particip in again since July in an effort to remain current within the world of counseling in schools here is a list of our counseling team they are the best counselors in the business I have worked and I have friends in the world of counseling and I don't know a district that has a more robust hardworking group of counselors that will do anything for students something I wanted to note as well as the counselors are proactive and informed and we always have to be prepared for the unprepared as such some of the professional Dev velopment as well as the certifications that the counselors and myself included obtain are making sure that we have that preparedness so for instance um the grief and LW specialist traumatic loss training this five of the counselors are um now traumatic loss Coalition um certified which means in the event of any type of traumatic loss in 10 years here I will tell you we have utilized this service a few many of times um therefore they receive and respond to any losses within the county um and they are fully equipped to handle any losses within our district of course as well we maintain up toate on the Multicultural awareness um Multicultural awareness and diversity specialist we all went through a play therapy 3day certification working with students K to 12 um as it as it relates to school anxiety and voidance you can see all the list of things that um it's important for us to just constantly be try to be as much as we can in front front of what's Happening um in the world for our students that's all I got thank you very much thank you Dr janas do any members of the board have any questions this Airi thank you that was a I I couldn't see if it was on or off um so great presentation um I have a couple questions please the the suite that you spoke about at Colombia yeah how can students access it like they have a very busy schedule they do not have a recess unlike elementary schools or high school so when do students get to go to the suite so good question um so all of the students have access during their advisory during EP during lunch and the counselors actually volunteer to be on lunch duty when their grade level is at lunch so that they are visible for the students um they also are getting the students are getting in the habit of I mean they do check their email which is how the students will say if they want to come up kids pop into the middle school Suite all the time all of the time um which is a better setup than having the sixth grade seventh grade and eighth grade office because now all they need to do is they know they have to go one place and no matter what there's a counselor that can either meet with them address whatever their concerns is or have them have an opportunity to set up an appointment with their counselor so it's an open suite and if there are multiple students then how do how do counselors handle that so it's an open suite and then there's two side rooms one of the rooms has a small table with a bunch of different activities the other one has an office space so when students come in there's a table and they sign in and then if they need to sit down and meet with a counselor if something's like not confidential they'll sit down and have the a conversation or if they need to go into a private room they can do so so my other question is a very basic one that many middle schoolers ask okay and as Middle School parents so we have a recess period um you know we have a lunch break and we allow kids to go out and play in elementary school and then in GL they have you know high schoolers get a break especially when kids are going into the teens or pre-teens in middle school we have no break if you look at their schedule they just go from morning like we drop them off at 8:10 and then they just get maybe 15 or 20 minutes for lunch so there is a spike of you know kids bringing tennis balls playing with balls in lunchroom if you have a substitute teacher during an elective kids are playing with stuff so as the head of the counseling department and I know we saw many slides on social and emotional learning getting some Time free time especially given that this is right after pandemic what is your recommendation do you think the middle school should also have student should get a break so I think that they are utilizing their lunchtime and their EP time to come up and meet with the counselors and the counselors are taking them out for activities like if there's kids that need to come out go outside for like a break or to take a walk they are utilizing those resources I don't know um I don't know if there's any plans in the Middle School to have other opportunities but would you like all all I'm asking for from U from middle school parents or students is can they get like 10 to 15 minutes just to go out and get some fresh air oh yeah just like other Elementary School students do and our high schoolers do yeah is there something that you might want to yeah think about I I mean I think it's I think it's a I mean fresh air no matter what I like fresh air right in my day too so I don't I think that's something to maybe talk to Mr Kisa about um I really don't have any say over the the schedule it would it would be a configuration of what the schedule would look like and putting time in for that right yeah sorry thank you yep just just to add to that I can say that in a recent meeting one of the things that we discuss is that Mr kis and his team are considering um things such as that we go around the horn yeah yeah okay Dr forer did you have a question yeah I'd like to know how to turn on the Ser M phone that's my point no that's your question no no I think some states are uh considering Banning cell phones in schools and uh some districts may have already done it I was wondering if you and they may have delarius effects on students I wonder if you have any views on that un Banning cell phones yeah we can be cell phones for like ever for schools and Beyond yeah I know that we start I'm holding strong I only have little kids but I'm holding strong on no technology so I don't know um I know that in the high school specifically they've been utilizing a no um cell phone policy in classes and that's been the parents have loved it I mean we love it because the kids are making eye contact and we're not walking into them so that's good you're Pro icon I really am I'm Pro like interpersonal skills yeah good yeah Mrs huffnagel yeah it's somewhat related and and Mrs Airi mentioned it like the social emotional learning days I I remember having those before am I just missing them on the calendar where they would do kind of a no Tech it would be no Chromebooks they would they had these they were different I don't know they were like designated ones designated days are we still doing that or am I just missing it go ahead high school principal it's absolutely something that're we're still discussing yes and you know we we we've done a lot of different initiatives everything from screen free days homework free weekends things like that to try and make sure that we're doing best we can uh promote social and emotional learning and those are various activities that our teams on various levels are discussing and planning so when we have screen fiend days can we have them at home as well can you make that policy the more we can do to partner with our parents the better the more successful we can be figure out how to get to the parents to come to our night events we promise we would give you that topic happy to you get them there we'll we'll do the rest Kell just we put like a sleeve on the garage door and just see if they put their devices yeah right when they get home yeah role modeling Mrs Stanley question so I had a question about the survey was the survey just given to the high school students or to CMS and GL Middle School and High School Middle School school so the um Mrs neus the Student Assistance counselor she goes into all of the class she goes into the health classes um at the beginning of the year for middle and high school so she introduces herself she reintroduces herself she talks about being kind she talks about um how to utilize her and the counseling department and it's it's meant in a way to be just like a check-in kind of like a fun survey but it also helps us to gain a sense of like for for freshman for sixth grade like what's the best way to communicate with you you you know like we're we don't want you check in your email in class but how do we get a hold of you as well as what would you be interested and like what would you attend if we provided in like a feel-good Friday in the middle school they do Wellness Wednesdays so um that's what the intent was and we get because we make it quick and we put like cool pictures on it we get a good response and we have them like do it right in front of us so yeah so my I think my question then is because we saw right A lot of it is college preparation are we seeing middle school students already choose that as one of their concerns oh no this was a high school I'm sorry that's not even an option for high school no no no no no no no we no no that's more of like a no we're checking in and in terms of like peer conflict making friends um joining clubs and activities things like that no no no so this the specific one you shared was really just the high school an example of the high school one yes and I think that proves how many hats the counselors are wearing because anxiety and depression was also one of the High um ranked ones and I think right it shows how much our students are dealing with the stress of college but also the everyday anxiety and stress um my next question is we've had some people be concerned about um kind of where our counseling is and how much are we preparing our kids for college and we can see how much training you guys have and how much professional development and how involved you are I was wondering do does that continue into working with like The English Department because I know like some of the English Department they have like college writing essay you know assignments do we work with those English teachers to help update them on what what should be in those college essays as it changes over time we do Yeah we actually two years ago we did a training for writing teacher recommendations as well and we had uh college and missions counselor common provide but when we when the counselors go into to do the lessons they actually go into either the English or history classes and anytime we need to share information that needs to come out we provide to those teachers and ask to help like can we come in and share and disseminate information and yes and the teachers are always down in our offices which we like yeah we we love when they come down I mean they in terms of like recommendations they'll ask us to take a look at them we kind of make sure we manage to make sure that everything's like submitted on time um and the good thing is too the the teachers see us as a resource for the mental health for the college for vocational which is good I mean happy to help yeah because we do do a lot of I've heard concerns though that maybe some of the college essay writing right is not geared to what these colleges want to hear and so I'm just want to make sure that we kind of f like not focus but keep an eye out for are we hitting that Mark where students know what they should be putting in those college essays and we know Co getting into college is a different game than when we were right going oh yeah um so we just want to make sure that the students are getting everything they need so uh generally when the students work on their essays um they do a like um they work on one and it's in the end of their junior year but quite frankly these students will change their essay topics and ideas and evolves I mean if when I work with a student and they're writing like a common app essay they'll change their essay tweak it topics like five times so by the when they come to us and they're actually ready to like sit and work on their essay some students that want to apply for like a September 1st rolling Adit or like October 15th they will be interested in July but when they're working on it right before the summertime of their junior year it's like yes I'm choosing a topic this might be something but chances are they find a different topic that has more depth in it that they want it to be their essay so really Junior years to give them exposure of like how you write an essay um but what the topic ends up being it definitely evolves have we ever thought about running like a writing week you know like where it wouldn't be on their on their transcript but like they could just join for a week over the summer or over a break or so yes we have the college jump start and that started actually maybe five years ago was a p to more than that um so I think it was the PTO initiative um and it was a program for preparation for um like advancement so you could do preap prep you could do um Algebra 2 um like recovery reinforcement and one of the ones was a college jump store course um that program is the only one that's still running the o and um we run two separate sessions in the summertime and it is so well received that we limit we we have to Max because we want to be able we do resume interview essays all of that workshopping and it's in an appropriate time because it's actually when all of the applications for the new seniors actually turn on so usually the applications don't roll over from you know like the class of 2024 to the fall 2024 applicants until like the middle of July so it's outstanding it is um we have different reps from Villanova from Princeton from Stevens and they come and they sit with our students and they say happy to look over your resume happy to give you a mock interview um it's just really hard to be able to um find any more time in the day because we can't pull these students out of class for these type of things um so what we try to do is different um like our lunches from September to December um like the first half and second half of lunch are all these different admissions counselors vocational programs technical schools they all come and they're like backtack scheduled so they come and provide opportunities for our students and then after that it becomes for a selection process and we're pulling the kids out of classes so it's a balance of when to take the kids and when to keep the kids in their classrooms you know I mean I just know that there would be parents willing to pay for a program right to expand it so I think there is opportunity there um but I do I want to give you some praise because I heard the college fair was amazing this year people were so excited I also heard the eighth grade um course selection night people like parents were really really happy they were excited about what GL has to offer um and then one antidote is um I went to the curriculum PTO meeting and they were talking about the the zones of Regulation and then they're they're like my daughter comes home and she's like I'm in the Red Zone nobody come near me so he's coming home with them what do we do to get out of the Red Zone she was just like I'm in the red zone so no one's allowed near me that's it that was final word one of the principles of the earlyer Childhood Center said like the parent actually said to him I'm in the Red Zone he's like oh no they're using it against us like the naughty corner right that's different so but the good thing is too like I have KDA department meetings and what they're what we're doing is it's a way for us to you know let everyone kind of know what's going on so it is really exciting to see when the fifth graders come up to the sixth grade and like what that language is so they're already talking about like how do we Infuse that and keep that language consistent we'll take anything right anything that works we'll take it so yeah I can say Pam the the the college Jump Start program um at Le firsthand experience it's an awesome program it's money well spent it's intensive because it's all it's one week right it's just I think it was five days or four days all in one week in June right after school ends y so like the kids are still in the school mindset and uh and and it's every day that week whatever morning or afternoon session Y and you just cover everything like it just addressed everything in one dump so yeah I don't know I forget what the cap was in terms of how many students but yeah we were it was like we didn't want to I think we ended up going to a total of 15 or I'm sure Michelle Moren is listening to this and is like nope AJ you're wrong yeah but is she watching um I I remember we were very intentional about the cap and we wanted to keep raising it but to be able to give The Individual Services like they'll sit down and say okay after you get like go into the application create your account move through and then while you're doing this you're going to come over here and we're going to break your essay down so it's actual like real Hands-On stuff that we wish that we could spend more time you know the interviews the resumés get some more kids that you know our kids that may not in ex necessarily get a chance to go out and see a college like put a field trip and let's take them to Ruckers to a big campus let's take them to William Patterson to a small campus you know just giving that exposure to our kids that might not have the support so yeah yeah yeah and you look what you could spend on a college counselor or coach and the value for that I would say is is high oh yeah yeah and the counselors that do it lights out like amazing like that's what I mean they spend their Summers being like road trip like just because this is what they love to do yeah Mrs Ka question yes so I want to say great presentation I think this was this was really helpful and I was trying to see how many people do we have kind of listening in not a whole lot my recommendation is we need to we actually need to send the link to this public meeting like as a part of the newsletter like at the individual School level because the presentation I think it's already on the website so I think that's great but I feel like there needs to be a lot of awareness within the community of the resources that the counseling department has right from K you know all the way the kindergarten to the high schoolers because there is a lot of information here there are a lot of resources and and one of my questions well I have two questions one can you get us a sense of what is the counselor to student St ratio in the high school that they work with generally um probably about one to 200 a little over 200 yeah a little less right now depending upon yeah the incoming CL yeah yeah yeah okay yeah um because and I think that's that's huge I mean that's that's like a lot of kids kind of you know trying to get the time from that one person to then actually get the value and and get the help that they need and the thing is too I struggle with I don't ever want to I know some like neighboring districts in the process in which they do certain practices is less um person centered so I know like the course selection process is invaluable right like students need to understand the choices that they make for eth grade and how that works in terms of like freshman year and it's on a piece of paper now and grades really matter and etc etc I know some schools that are you know close by they just have the kids either fill out a Google form or form and then just put the information in and and I mean even when via covid right for Mountainside and Deerfield we had to take those meetings their parent meet their parent meetings um with all the high school counselors and case managers if appropriate and there was talk of like can we just make that I'm like no we only get so much FaceTime and the problem is we just don't yeah we don't have enough time right but the in those individual meetings the the junior meetings still go one two hours of just individual time so yeah right um I wonder and I I speak that I have a student in in sophomore year now yeah yeah so I wonder is there a a timeline that we publish that says by this time of this year you have to do you know get your sat done or your act done you know start thinking about the essay start thinking about the topic right it almost and I I say that as when I when my oldest went through that process and if as a parent you don't really know what are the dates that that you are that you should be hitting yeah they come at you really fast yes they do so yes and I wonder if you know especially for for parents who have not done this before or it's their first kid who's going through the process it might just help to kind of have a little cheat sheet that says these are the dates in their sophomore year in their junior year that you need to watch out for it it's almost like you know a guidance for parents not just the students so yes we do have that um so the first thing is for sophomores not until January is when the counselors go in and meet with all the sophomores and they do um they introduce them to navian which is a College and Career like once they get that they'll utilize that all through like that's the platform that they used to apply to it's like the vehicle to send information from colleges so they go in and they introduce make sure all the students and parents have access to their accounts then we have a night event that's called sophomore College and Career night um after that we then if you go on our we website it is we the counselors every summer have a de one day that they're all together and they update it's a Junior College and Career handbook and it's a senior College and Career handbook that is so comprehensive and it goes through various timelines expectations things to consider things of that nature all of that is in a like every year they update those handbooks so it's there and if you're feeling like contact your counselor if you're like I just tell me I'm in a good spot what am I supposed to be doing where are we supposed to be just send an email and contact your counselor and you're you have a sophomore you're in a good spot good good grades that's the goal thank you Mr hman just real quick yeah um yes to everything that's been said about the college fair ter terrific uh a lot of energy on the survey front um yes so it sounds like we do surveys at the high school middle school level at the start of the year do we do we do anything mid year anything rolling end of year no we do M year as well just like a check-in how's it going what do we need and we started this so and after every night event or event like challenge day we had a survey just to check in with our kids and see if they have any needs and their interests so any type of event programming um when we did the the wellness Fair we do a survey um we started this year though trying something a little bit different so before our night events we do a pre-s survey so in the event that sophomore college night what are some different topics that you're looking to hear so then what we'll do is we'll tweak our presentation so like senior college night um in September we found that a couple of questions came up about um student or parents wanting to hear a little bit more about students with accommodations IEPs 504 and what that looks like for college so we just tweaked the presentation added a little bit and spoke more to that topic and then of course we have a a survey at the end with a QR code just to obtain some feedback so thank you you're welcome Mrs Jolly all these mics aren't on there we go just wanted to say thank you it's um love I love your energy and I think you know um in our interactions it's been great and you know I have nothing positive things to say about um the counseling department the only thing I would say is also I think on the college theme just having gone through it yeah um I think what dip you was saying with respect to the dates because we were working with someone outside of the school just to keep us honest because it is overwhelming and very different than what we had gone through yeah um all brand new um on the writing front I agree we need some having seen the writing um I think that there needs to be maybe a little more um emphasis on the writing just just broadly speaking so that when the time you do get to the point of writing the college essay that there is you know you you look like a senior writing a college essay I know I know and we even have a parent night event about our student parent night event for essays and I know and the tough thing is too every child's on a different timeline right every single has like a I'm ready and we will have kids that will be ready in February that are seniors or maybe March so it's such an individualized process yeah I hear you I hear what you're saying Mrs K you had to followup yes I did so um this question is more about I believe we do have some students that are homeschooled in the district and I don't know if these resources that we just talked about which are like fantastic including the college fair how do we are we able to extend them to the home school students oh yeah I mean any of our information we send out through like into the community so like for instance the college fair we put that in like we put that flyer the YMCA we put that down in the library we put it outside on the community um that like boore down in the Berkeley Heights Community yes I mean we would never deny anyone an opportunity to come and we even had K we have the college fair we had students from 10 different districts so happy you know so what we do is we share it out with I shared out with the county the Union County cons super um director's Consortium and then they put it up the flyer as well to to share because honestly we want the opportunity to have our kids take advantage of opportunities in other schools as well if they can so they yeah yes no I mean homeschooled students especially given kind of they they're operating in a slightly different environment and they might not necessarily know about things so I don't know you know looking for ways to actually share this information with the broader Community to make sure that they have access to the same things yeah Dr Jan where do you see our counseling department in our district going is there something you have on a wish list or that the board could support you with why is Rob smiling everyone's smiling everybody knows this answer a college and career counselor so for the past five years I've put in I in my previous District in Somerset Hill School District i' supervised two different positions of the College and Career position so I'm very familiar with um the services that can be provided and it's just that additional um you know working with specific populations so our El students that maybe don't have moms and dads that have gone to the United um in you know have not gone to college in in United States that's frightening um you know targeting our students that maybe we we take them on a field trip to UCC or a local um another college fair a local University spending time practicing interviewing working on individual essays resumés resumés are something that like we don't realize how important they are until you have to put your 10 activities in consecutive order and or upload your resume in the Common App and kids are like I have no idea and you have to demonstrate your like longitudinal leadership skills and and oh by the way you have to figure all this out in like four weeks so um there's so many different opportunities and different things that we can provide to the students um with that time and that does not take away the responsibilities of the counselors they would not not like they would you or use lose any of their responsibilities it was just be added resources thank you that's my dream okay and Dr Janan we know that you were honored especially this summer with a recognition can you just brag on yourself a little bit what I did yes yes so um I was asked to go and teach as a um at the College of New Jersey to the global um studies program students in Portugal which is awesome so um all of the students there were three students from the United States the other 15 were International so from um non-westernized countries um and westernized countries and um part of the master's program they had to take of our particular credition there's particular classes that they take that are in person their Insight is Portugal and the rest of the program is taught in whatever so Japan uh Vietnam Korea Africa um Canada kind of from all over the place so um I had to teach a theory counseling and technique to all prospective school counselors which was amazing because now I'm like linked in with all of these individuals that are some of them actually are currently working as school counselors because in other um countries you don't necessarily have to need have that certification but they're all working toward it so it was very intense it was 10 days and it was six hours a day of teaching about Theory technique and counseling to Future school counselors but it was awesome so that's what I did well thank you so much so hopefully I asked to come back too but I might already have a vacation plan so I might not be able to teach the class this summer but we are so pleased that you were asked for that honor representing Berkeley height School District yeah awesome Mr Nixon anything else I just want to say thanks to Dr Jasco wonderful presentation and that concludes my superintendent report thank you we'll move on the agenda to uh committee leaon the Town Council the Berkeley Heights Town Council met on Tuesday November 12th 2024 the mayor's Wellness committee continues to promote mental health through a variety activities in town check their website uh the town held its annual Veterans Day ceremony on Monday November 11th at 1111 a.m. students from our schools made cards to share with the veterans Saturday December 7th is the Berkeley Heights annual Winter Walk Springfield Avenue will be closed to allow performances and activities to take place and many of our students are participating the complete and green Street's task for Contin task force continues to meet looking at student safety a survey was sent out to see how students travel to and from school more information will be shared with the board as the task force reviews the data gathered the Veterans Affair committee the week before Veterans Day local veterans and residents read grade level appropriate books to the students at Mountain Park about Veterans Day the school school also created a hall bulletin board honoring veterans called land of the free because of the Brave and photographs were um posted the event was organized by teacher Andrea maseri with the permission of principal John Moro the PTO area Council was updated by the administration on the district calendar the budget process the new courses then the district assessment calendar and there was an update given to them on the new superintendent uh update on board gold the Board of Education will approve planning and committee structure the board will be reviewing our committee structure and committee meeting scheduling at the reorganization meeting beginning in January 7th uh board will work to improve communication both internally and externally the board is continue to discuss the remote participation and the equipment for improved Visual and audio participation has been installed in the GL cafeteria thank you very much Mr Marks uh in terms of superintendent Dr Kim felt will be our next superintendent schools with a start date of January 1st 2025 Dr felt is currently meeting with board members and BH uh Administration and staff we welcome Dr FY to our district and she will be setting up future meetings with the community residents um in terms of the district goals the district goals were presented and the board will support the goals the fiveyear Strategic goal planning will begin at the new year with Dr felt and our njsba field representative Community stakeholder meeting will be advertised for Resident input the Board of Education will develop and Implement a plan for continuous board development with ongoing board training Mrs Bradford Mrs Stanley Dr forger uh Berkeley Heights Board of Education members attended the New Jersey school board association annual Workshop the week of 21 through 24 and workshops attended this year will be shared with the community uh thank you other committee reports Mrs Airi Mountainside okay Dr orer negotiations and curriculum okay Mrs Stanley policy personnel and liaison so I have Personnel so our first item was our um extension of our interm assistant superintendent so I want to doc thank um Mr Phillips um we talked about uh Dr felt TI coming in in January and her meeting with our taking a tour of our buildings meeting the staff the administration and then meeting with residents um we talked about high uh the high school GL uh changes that were coming when it came to the um athletic director um Mr Hendrick has officially started uh as of Monday so if you see him around it's a great week for him to start because the volleyball team is doing amazing this week so um Mr Shriner will move to the assistant uh interm assistant principal position and then we talked about an instructional technologist position there was a resonation at the last meeting we had um Administration leave that replacement that we need to discuss we have the smack proposal which is the student movement against cancer um Club it's on uh tonight's agenda to become a formal Club um the committee was in favor of approving this club we also talked about clubs and activities and setting timelines especially for budgetary reasons um and then we had um uh a staffing um concern that we needed to discuss uh and that's it for personnel that was on November 4th um then I'm just going to go to the bhef they met on Tuesday they are preparing for their anniversary um party to tomorrow so if you don't have your tickets please go get them now online um they are going to have door prizes and lots of fun they want everyone to dress up it's a '90s theme so come prepar to have lots of fun um they will have uh tickets for their winter uh walk raffle already um there for the Louis Vuitton bag that they do every year so if you don't see them tomorrow make sure you look for them at the Winter Walk they did have a a a someone at the trunker treat representing the bhef that where they also accepted donations um that you're going to see the junior board members of the bhf right they actually allow some students to be part of their uh group there and they will be volunteering at the anniversary party tomorrow so make sure you say hi to them um yeah and then the last thing is on tonight's agenda um I believe the curriculum committee brought um the new pod investigating and podcasting um this actually is coming about I I double checked with Mr Nixon um they received um a student grant the bhe uh EA the bhef uh gave a grant for a student wish for podcasting um uh instruments and they are going to try to start a club and also they've been working with the teacher and now the teacher has moved it into an actual class so I think this is a great plug for them because it shows how a student had an idea and they were able to provide that for the student and then the student and the teacher could take it further and provide it to other um other students so I think this is a really great way to show how our community can really support uh change in the schools but also just support the students right because this is a student idea um and so I'm just really excited for them um so yeah that was bhf last is H polic committee we had a meeting on Monday October 28th at 1:00 um this was a meeting with um Phil nastro from the stas Esme um which is the firm uh that we contract with for our policies um he is an attorney and many of their uh people in their firm have either worked in schools or our attorneys themselves um they have worked with us they sh a presentation um everybody should have those minutes um they've been working with Berkeley Heights for approximately 20 years um their policies policies are he said policies are directives for the district how the board would like um the district to do right what the policy says it's it's directive the regulations are more specific and based on state law um they come from uh Commissioner of Education decisions and judicial law um there's three three types of regulations and policies they're suggestive or recommended or mandated right so suggestive are like we think you should have these um or if you're looking for something in this particular area these are what we suggest um recommended is we really think you should have these in place because we've seen issues come up and then there's mandated ones that the state says you need to be doing this and the and the Board needs to um add those some Mand mandated regulations do not need to be voted on by the board board according to the state right um but some can just be added by the superintendent the board and District can get in trouble for not having certain mandated regulations we can even lose qack points um Etc either way the district needs to be following state law we had a discussion on our current policies um we shared about policy 0131 and policy 132 um and that was that meeting the next meeting we had was on that Friday November 1st the three the four policies that you see on tonight's agenda for first read the first one is um policy 2430 co-curricular activities um this was just about informal gloves um we we stated parameters by the El eligibility set by the principal and the adviser um we also kept the language from our Athletic program um and we are going to look further and see if there's like a specific policy that should be separate from this one um and then we have regulation 2430 for co-curricular activities we were not going to move forward with that so it's not on the agenda we found this policy to be uh very Broad and a little too restrictive and we already have a pretty good system in place um to handle that um we also talked about policy 5561 or we actually didn't talk about because we found out that stress smma will be updating this in their next alert um so please look for that next year um after we reorg um because there will be a bigger update on that one and then policy 8467 firearms and weapons this is again a revise um they were changing the definitions on how uh weapons are um the definition of weapons and firearms and so it's now connected to the state statues to make sure that we keep up to date with as the as the state changes their definition of firearms and weapons our policy will now be uh changed as well and then there's regulation 24 uh 67 firearms and weapons again it was really to give clearer guidance and to make sure that we stick with the state law um more easily by connecting it and then we have policy 9181 uh the volunteer athletic coaches and co-create regular activities advisers and assistants um this was a change brought To Us by stress Esme um we added options for sub credentials and background checks which we already do um and then we are following up with the insurance company to make sure that there's no waiver required we did have a discussion on policy 0131 and policy 0132 from that previous Monday meeting um there was a discussion to add language that required that all mandated policies go before the Committees verse being just approved by the or verse being just approved by the board um the timeline was also brought up meaning that right because um you get these alerts then they come to the administration then by the time they get to the policy and then by the time they actually get to the meeting um without right if that's with no changes and the policy committee agrees then it also has to be approved and go through two readings and that that can take up time and then we also had policy 0131 um this was a discussion to change um to allow first read without the committee um recommendation concerns were brought up example when you're discussing this in public it also lacks um detail um and it also uh time is also a factor right so this policy committee was two hours and we discussed you know seven policies um and then it also doesn't give the ad administrators much time to have input um we're also a board of committees and we also lack Str sme's guidance um the committee did not recommend changes at this time as there was no agreement among members um and we can look at these bylaws once we reorganize and we have a new superintendent the discussion on 9270 uh do we want to update the policy regarding the testing of homeschooled students um so the curriculum committee met and they wanted to allow homeschool students to take AP tests at GL the policy committee agreed to look into this policy um to set standards for all situations for the district to move forward as buildings had their own hand uh their own standards for handling the situation where they really need direction from the actual board in order to move forward on what the board as a whole uh actually wants to do so we will be looking at that again with reorg it kind of changes the timeline a little bit but we'll have to uh work on that and then hopefully we'll be ready to go in January uh with the new board members thank you Mrs kanana finance and Facilities update okay um Mr Heyman any updates on Athletics or curricul we we have not met uh talked to Jeremy about possibly doing another technology committee meeting at some point uh to talk about some of the security updates that we've discussed uh but no no Athletics and no uh no technology and no strategic planning meetings yet but probably makes sense to wait on that until Dr f starts okay any other updates or Lea on okay no no updates but just um I think we had some time back earlier this year probably in April or May we had started putting out some of these comedy minutes on our website and I'm not sure if that has continued um I know that a lot of this conversation is in included in the regular meeting minutes but just as a reminder in terms of what one of our board goals was actually to be more transparent and and have more communication out there um so I just wanted to put it out there that we have all of these reports and I think I don't see any more updates on the website thank you so Mr secretary they're there now yes they were updated uh one thank you thank you thank you yes question on one of the committee Mee not on on our agenda to vote for do I discuss it now or at the time of that part of the meeting at the time of that part of the meeting unless it's something that we could yeah okay thank you Mrs hufnagel um board Communications um Mr uh Mr secretary you're going to tell us some letters and then Mr Heyman wants to have a response I have four uh letters of Correspondence uh first one is a letter from the bhea to the Boe regarding the state of the facilities that is from Nick O Sullivan second one is a donation letter from Mountain Park PTO for 23 24 yearend donations next is a request for extracurricular participation at GL that is from Jennifer and Dennis O'Brien lastly is the O decision involving Mr dier Miss Penna Miss Stanley Mr Chuli Mr Heyman and Miss Young and that's from John migz that concludes or uh board correspondent Mr hman thanks thanks go this this could have gone during new business but um maybe makes sense here because it's related to some some correspondents so just a statement that I I'd like to to read to address uh at least one of the uh logged correspondence pieces um so just noted in advance as a current member of the Berkley Heights Board of Education comments I'm making herein are made solely by me and are solely my opinions my comments are not shared by or made on behalf of the Berkeley Heights Board of Education or any of its members so specifically to the matter posted last week on social media uh included on Mountainside Facebook forums and allegations of this post plus recent coverage from media sources like tap into Berkeley Heights uh and in response to several emails from last week uh from a local community watch group this process is far from complete as I understand the process Council will be filing exceptions to the initial decision and review by the school ethics commission must take place before a final decision is issued the school ethics commission is not required to adopt the initial decision despite inaccurate postings insinuating this was a final and complete decision the commission can reject the decision or send the matter back to the administrative law judge for further consideration before issuing a final decision also contrary to posted statements made on social media and alluded to in media coverage and emails to the board I have acted in good faith and to the best of my ability at all times for the purpose of promoting and protecting the welfare of all the students and staff of the Berkeley Heights Public School District including all Mountainside students attending school in this district and have worked to support the administration with its operation of the schools when a majority of the currently constituted board recently voted to dismiss the initial complaint the opportunity opportunity to obtain a Judicial determination of the merits of the pending claims was relinquished I would ask those who have posted or editorialized to please refrain from writing further inflammatory comments without full facts from the completion of this case and I also hope local media coverage of my comments and continued progress of the ongoing commission review received the same Speedy attentive coverage that last week's decision received thank you very much thanks G thank you um report of the business administrator just want to report on some of the activities that have been going on with the facilities um districtwide we have a our kitchen suppression system has been inspect the inspections have been in progress uh sprinkling sprinkler systems are in the same process as well uh we've had some new lighting put into our cop uh copier room and the uh Board office and the aestus plan inspections uh are started uh there should there's supposed to be two done one in the beginning of the school year that's from September till December and then we have a second second wave that's done from January till June so those are in progress as we speak at GL um there's been various different things that have been done uh some of the things that we've done here uh installed new water filters for athletic trainers uh as you can see we've hung and mounted four new televisions in the cafeteria for the board meetings uh ran data lines for the board meetings up in the ceiling um let's see we did some other items with the boilers re wiring them after some of the had uh flame failure and replac the fuse uh and this was done in-house replace some key scanners uh ski excuse me replaced key scan readers that was also done in house and we've been changing uh reg gritting some ceiling tiles uh by Exit 12 Columbia Middle School we've been caming uh some of the drains around the Gold Gym since we've had uh some issues with the gym floor there uh making sure that they were free of any uh obstructions uh we haven't found anything as of yet uh replace some old water fountains um we installed a Murphy bed for the ABA room and installed uh eight lights in the be wing for our lighting upgrade uh Mary Kay we had a new expansion tank um handles with a tank which handles extra pressure from the uh boiler system the back path was repaved um we've had several dead trees removed from uh Mary Kay and we had repaired some potholes there as well uh at use we've had some uh repaving of a portions of the teachers parking lot started uh tree work in the front of the Hill um outside ramp uh was repaired and also same with uh knee wall that was also repaired uh about a week or two ago Mountain Park we've uh repaired four sink holes uh by an outside vendor and there's been some painting of door frames univ vents um and some other various um items that were done there lastly at William Woodruff we've had a camera inspection of outdoor uh piping uh replac some air vents for the expansion tanks again we've also had dead tree removal and pruning of trees and I believe that is it and that concludes my report thank you very much a question Mrs Stanley to clarify the jce um this is just something we do every year there's not an issue that we're look that we have all all that's really done is When contractors come in here they're supposed to sign in and if there's some work we have a con we have an asbest plan so with that plan in place contractor looks to see if there's going to be any major work if there's any espe that's set that's in that place this company is supposed to come back in and this is regulated by the state need it's mandatory has to be done they come in to ensure that nothing has been Disturbed right and report on it if something and if there was work that was done or or if they had to come in and remove the asbest they're aware of it and they update the plan because we update that same company that comes in and do the inspections so this way they have everything on record and update their reports yeah so we have some rooms that have like old esus tile but as long as they're not Disturbed they're not an issue right correct or if we take the corrective measures that we need to take before making a repair such as bringing in a contractor to either remove it remediate it or whatever the case may be and go through the proper channels get all the proper paperwork done that's why we use that same company that does the report okay thanks I just want to I know like my ears go up when I hear ases so I know right I just want to make sure everyone realizes that this is like preventative it's not like we found an issue cor that's correct okay moving on 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 items only the board requests that individuals State their name town of residence or School of attendance for the record all Comon 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 forums all public comments will be considered the board ask that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of others 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 members of the public please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participate participant statement continued disruptions may result in removal from or adjournment of the meeting each speaker statement will be limited to three minutes in duration we will hear from our in-person uh residents first and then we'll move to online is there anybody in person who would like to make a comment on agenda items good even everyone Debbie Terrero uh Berkeley Heights um I actually had a couple of questions regarding the presentation on the school counseling um I wanted to ask how long and how often do counselors actually meet with each student by year freshman sophomore junior senior year um and I've heard several times from families that students are kind of looking for tailored lists of schools where um kids could possibly be applying to and I wanted to get an understanding of why these kids are not getting that guidance um and they're kind of being left to their own devices to come up with that list this is at least what I'm hearing um are we providing guidance to students that choose not to go to school so that they're prepared to whatever path they choose moving forward so if they decide to go to a trade school if they want to hit the job market are we actually providing guidance for them um the college JUMP program from what I've heard like you've said is fantastic but that does cost famili money and not everybody has that kind of money budgeted and so I wanted to get an idea as um is there anything that we offer in the district that would provide that alternative that's not going to cost families money to do that um and then have we ever considered offering assemblies um specifically monthly for the juniors so um that can help them get the ball rolling with applying to colleges thanks thank you hi shaa Williams Berkeley Heights um kind of based off of what Deb just said I can't speak for any other parents but I have two kids who have graduated from GL and both of them were given a list of schools that the counselor thought they should apply to um also I had a question about the high imp tutoring Grant and I was curious as to whether this grant uh specified fourth grade in the Grant and if it did whether there are other grants available for other grades um if the grant didn't specify fourth grade would it be possible to find out why the district felt like uh we should start with grade four just kind of a question of curiosity thank you thank you any other po uh comments from the public in person okay online I see that we have two um Mr Marx will you please promote Ramia hi Gail can you hear me yes we can hear you please please go ahead hi this is Ramia castori 86 cromal Court um not sure if this is the right time it's not exactly an agenda item but it's with regard to the board communication and Mr heyman's statement um if you want me to to do it now I can or I can wait until the end for the second public session um it was under board Communications so it was on the agenda okay you go ahead perfect thank you I just wanted to thank Mr Heyman for his statement because there is a lot of misinformation out there in the community um specifically perpetuated by one special interest group so um based on that false narrative that's out there I really appreciate him taking the time to actually give us the facts surrounding the current case um and its status and the potential outcomes so um you know as a person of this community I do appreciate you taking the time to educate us on what's actually happening so thank you for that thank you um Mr Marx will you please um promote Mr McGee yes John can you hear us Mr Marx could you unmute thank you I can hear me yes we can hear you thank you hey good evening everybody um so uh you know I I do want to thank Jordan for what I feel was a was a uh a civil response but I don't feel it was wholly accurate um from what everything I've read has been factual in fact the the entire decision was placed online so that people could see what the arguments were and what the judges rulings were no one nothing I read ever indicated it was a final decision um but the S the the body that it is going back to unanimously push this forward to the oal judge who then um found a factual basis to the allegations and then is sending it back to the uh School ethics commission uh so I I I I there wasn't anything that I read really that was uh Sensational about this it was essentially very fact-based in fact what I've read um pointed to specific quotes within the ruling uh specifically said that it would go back to the SEC um and that and that was it that that was that was the but it is significant the fact the judges comments and the judges opinions are significant this is an oal judge who again affirmed the um a factual basis to what the SEC had concerns over uh I'd want to go into a couple of other things uh policy5 um I I feel like it I like the idea of the board uh making a decision on uh committees uh versus one president I think what makes the president selection or the president pick such a problem last year and potentially in future years is sort of the winner take all thing and I think if you spread that decision-making around uh with committee specifically I think it it it reduces the volume on that because I feel people uh you know it's a more lateral decision-making process it doesn't rely on one person and it and the stakes don't feel as high um as for the tutoring I'm going to encourage the board you know it feels like this is specific to fourth grade and it's like 10,000 I don't know how much more money we have for tutoring but there's just I'll send this to you but there's just some research done on high impact tutoring and I think it's similar to this we should be investing more money into this and I I really want to encourage the board to look hard at the budget and make some tough def decisions on Administration athletic spending and security where we we outspend other districts tremendously and to start putting that money directly to providing kids students with the help they need not by a grade but by based on their individual needs that any kid who has an individual need has access to free tutoring or at least subsidized tutoring we have the money to do that and we're bloated and and we can look at that budget and we can we can deliver on that and I think that would be a great accomplishment for this board if we could do that the next budget um thank you could I have one more comment G I'm sorry yes one more okay um I I like the idea of the regulations coming in front of the board because it even if it might be something that we have to do anyway it allows the public to hear about it and to hear Boe members thoughts that's it thank you thank you I see no one else online is that correct Mr Marks yes got it okay we'll conclude the agenda items uh public comments and now we'll see if we can answer um Mr Nixon do you want to talk about the ones that Mrs Terr Mrs Terrero brought about the GL counselors or we still have Dr Jasco here I mean if if if you're comfortable doing so sure I mean you probably have more specific answers than I do uh for most of these I looked at her I was like oh just ask me what was the first question uh how long and how often do counselors uh meet during the year so so um counselors meet with all of their freshmen and all their seniors before teacher convention weekend um and that could be one to as many times as this there's no like limit so if a counselor student um reaches out for an appointment they're seen within the next day maybe the the day after that um all Juniors and sophomores so um Juniors I'm gonna answer your other question so Juniors um after junior college night we then begin December 1st um in a a block maybe two blocks of um individual parent and student Junior um meetings so that happens in December and then um as well as as meeting individually with their sophomores so and then they go into the course selection process where they meet with every single student um again to talk about the course selection process and um planning for the future year so there's not a minimum number um I'm sorry yeah there's no there's no maximum number of the many times that um sometimes counselors see the a student once a week other question why aren't they getting a tailored list of schools that that students go to correct me if I'm wrong part of what we do in navian provide students with a lot of that information as well as Student Success once they get to particular schools correct yes yes so we don't give like an explicit list that says this is exactly where you should go however based on um knowing the student after three years and students like there's a separation between 50 schools Target schools and reach schools so the the councelors had that conversation and they look into navian to like determine based on a scattergram of like here's your GP a SAT zandor SAT scores and these are the type of schools that kind of fall within those and then they talk about like demographics and what your interests are Etc it's a it's a bigger conversation that but that is kind of that starts in the the beginning of the junior year question about any free alternatives to college jump starting I know there's several evening events that are open to parents and students over the course of the year as well as the individual College counseling with their school counselor yes okay good and I nailed that one um h any other things that have been considered to support students particularly Juniors over the course of the Year such as regular assemblies or something like that oh yeah um so anytime there's a a designated need so um I'm I'm thinking that um we are next week even coordinating a bus trip in in conjunction with three other districts to go to the Bloomfield technical school so whenever we identify a need um Andor if we need a few students that like we need to sit down and um work on resumés we'll have like a sign up during lunch block and we'll provide that opportunity to students as well so yes we certainly do various different opportunities throughout the day terrific thank you Dr janas I had one more for Mr Mrs Tero guidance for students who are not going to college oh yeah that's that's a good one too yes absolutely so we provide those options um honestly right from the gecko of freshman year we're working with students that um introducing students to sharetime vac is um a popular one and we actually have a counselor that is the liaison to votch we have a counselor that's the liaison to Military and um all of the postc career that's all part of those individual meetings so it's not just college for all students so we work with the technical schools we work with um post secondary internships and and post-career planning opportunities for students so interviewing skills um resumés um potential internship opportunities or going out into the workforce those are all part of the conversations that they have thank you I think that was it got a thumbs up thank you Mrs Williams asked about the high impact tutoring Grant is it just for fourth grade Mr Nixon Mr Phillips you said you could share some about that yes uh the high impact tting Grant was initiated last year by the state and it was focused for grades three and four um at the end of last year there was some funding left over at the state level and they uh opened up that opportunity to get for schools so um Heights put in for it and we did get a extra $110,000 Grant um and we decided to focus that on the current fourth graders it's not for all fourth graders We There is um we do look at our test scores and is for those students who are need of that service so I just want to clarify that although it is a grade level focus it is for students who uh most need those services and there was a follow-up question from Mrs Mr McGee about the high impact tutoring looking at other areas of the budget and basing tutoring on individual needs I'm not sure if it was a question as much as a comment than a suggestion comments this Stanley I was um the curriculum chair last year when we got this grant Mrs seminario who's no longer with the district had uh brought it to Berkeley Heights but I think one of the reasons why they chose third and and fourth grade just so we like we can have it in our minds is these were the kindergarteners and first graders that were doing the ab right so this is why they chose these kids is because they had less teacher time than right than most of the other students did so I think that's why the state focused on the third and fourth grade um and that's that's I think why right now the third graders are now in fourth grade this year so it's a fourth grade Grant um but right like this this is really supposed to be meeting the kids with the most significant needs and it was really giving like one-on-one uh tutoring which is which is great um it's a great Grant thank you yes Mrs Jolly so um this isn't with respect to the um Grant but I did want to make a comment uh with respect to the O ruling and Mr heyman's comment if I may I don't know there we go uh it will depend on obviously what the comment is related to obviously if it goes into anything confidential attorney clent privileg or the like if it's simply a response to Mr heyman's comment then I think that's not confidential obviously anything may I show you what I just wanted to read yeah that that's fine and then if and then we can move on and maybe get back to it later Mrs Jolly are you saying save it till the new business time or sorry the other comments okay okay while you're waiting Mrs Radford I had something to say in response to Jordan and the correspondence that about um just a minute please y e Mrs Bradford I don't mind if for my anyway but if we move on and we can maybe address it during your business later I just don't want to hold up the meeting okay uh Mrs Ziri was that all right with you no I would like to address it it's part of the correspondence and if one board just wait please one okay yes and Mr dler will you advise again it's something it's is public whatever I'm not talking about anything specific it's just in response to the oal decision just like Mr Heyman spoke I just have a response yeah look again if it's commenting on something that is public I'm certainly never going to stand in a board member's um way of doing so of course again I will caution any statements that can delve in any area that's confidential or could have the potential to lead to any other violations but again it's up to every individual board member to make that determination thank you Mrs Ziri then so interesting that Mr Heyman is you know speaking and attacking media Outlets instead of taking responsibility I encourage any members of the public to run the file of the initial decision that is out in tap into Berkeley Heights through a chat GPT for an objective analysis now for my points the way the previous board went about about publicly voting to allow a Witch Hunt at taxpayers expense in 2022 it was is disler excuse me Mr dler could you please advise us on this May 20 22nd excuse me the we're gonna ask for Mr distler's opinion I am saying the public motion to to move an Ethics violation against me was public at GL that would be fitting yes and I'm talking cost the board more money we're go there I'm just saying please be we caution you on your statements I I agree and let me go again caution all board members when making these statements about pending cases but again it's up to the individual board member it's not a pending case I'm talking about what actually happened publicly and I'm and I would like to read my statement completely without getting interrupted so interesting that Mr Heyman is you know attacking media Outlets instead of taking responsibility I encourage any members of the public to run the file of the initial ruling through a chat GPT for an objective analysis now for my point the way the previous board went about publicly voting to allow a Witch Hunt at taxpayers expense that took a toll on my life with especially during a very difficult time when my dad was on the dead bed I have no words to express and that's all I have to say so if they can move a public motion and a local news Outlet can publish it just based on the allegations this is a decision and this can be out there thank you thank you very much Mr dler do we have any comment Y just a quick question for Mr dler Mr dler Mr Heyman made a statement without any warnings did you prove that's incorrect no oh it's not correct it's incorrect I I I actually asked for uh approval to make that statement in advance and it was it was cleared and that was sorry I'm I'm misrepresent I wanted to the my question was were was this reviewed prior was the statement reviewed prior yes okay so I will Mr arm did reach out I advised about delvingne CL privilege that he's obviously represented individually in the school ethics commission case and I did advise him to reach out to council and I believe he's representing that he did do so correct Mr dler do we have an answer for Mrs Jolly or should we move on on this so I would recommend that that's what I'm just doing right now that there's certain statements that before a board member makes statement as Mr Heyman just did there that he made in this individual capacity uh as and not is doing so a represent of the board so I'm quickly if it's okay with you pulling my statement that you can read before that and then obviously you can reach the issue this if you so desire that's just going to take me about four or five minutes if that's okay with everyone move on and then I will write that move on thank you Mrs Dolly okay moving on to minutes uh resolution a all board members for approval of minutes do we have a motion to move minutes resolution a so moved thank you Mr Heyman second second thank you Mrs Jolly discussion so I had a concern about the executive meeting minutes from October 17th um I don't know if anybody had a chance to take a look at them did you agree or disagree I had sent an email I think to the four of you did anybody look at them what do you think you know the stance that I have with with executive meeting units I I I believe there's enough elaboration that's in there that didn't require anymore so no I feel like it needs less I I feel like once it go right like because eventually it becomes public and I feel like there was information in there that specifically talked about a student and I thought that was too much and that when it what would be um in the first the first item it gave information about a student that was not privy yeah so I would I would appreciate if we table it because I I if you guys had looked at it and you were like yeah yeah we're good then I i' I'd approve it but I just I'm a little bit worried that once it becomes public that this should be I know we had some some items that were in there that I've taken out uh and there was something that Mrs Jolly had I brought yes I did see that that I took that out of there and then revised it yeah I just didn't there's like specific wording and I just didn't realize it was in there until I read it again getting prepared for today so I would like to make a motion to table executive meeting minutes for October 17th 2024 do I have a second is there a second I'll second it okay okay any discussion on the motion to table a voice oh yes well I I just I'm trying to to find it to see what the specific well I I can't say it no you can't I know that's why I'm looking here I know okay are we ready for a roll call Mrs Jolly I sorry I I I was just trying to find it so I'm because I'm not ready to vote okay because I it wasn't sent to everybody so I looked at the so as part of the discussion I looked at it and I think after the edits that were made I think it's okay because that was part of the discussion yeah I guess I would say that I had read them I I sent you a text oh like nowhere else is that ever mentioned because when it becomes public right like this is not a known Factor okay Mr Nixon Mr Nixon's recommendation is to table it okay is that all right Mrs Jolly I think we have a motion on the floor yes we do and we need to vote Mr secretary uh wait a second Mr Stanley you may the motion correct yes and that was seconded by Mr Heyman correct table just means it comes back later right corre yes it it it's just like a a simple thing I know I can't say it in public but there's a simple thing in there that identifies somebody and I just are we fine yes voice uh roll call please miss Stanley yes Mr Heyman yes Mr Kiri pass I'll come back to me I'll read it Dr forer uh no Miss H Nagel Miss Jolly yes Miss Connor Obin Miss Bradford yes Miss Airi no motion passes okay so we're going to look at our minutes resolution a all board members um approval of minutes except for special meeting minutes sorry executive meeting minutes um from October 17th 2024 so that would end the discussion and then we'll have a roll call vote on that those minutes well you have it we have a first and a second there was there was already there was there was somebody we just had to just revise it that's all we did it no I'm just I'm just okay because one of our people that we have as a motion is turn okay I think we're ready now sorry okay Mrs Dolly we're ready for roll call vote okay yes Mr secretary Mrs Jolly Mr Hyman yes Mr Kiri yes Dr forer yes Miss huffnagel yes Miss Conor abstain on the 17th October meeting because I wasn't here and then yes to the minutes for 29th October Miss Stanley yes Miss Bradford yes motion passes okay moving on to Administration resolutions a through D all board members um may I have a motion to put this resolution forward so moved thank you Mrs Stanley a second thank you Mrs SLE discussion um yes yes Mrs Mrs I did send the regulation regulation 2430 that most school districts including our neighboring District New Providence when we have a policy 2430 I believe we we are expected to have a regul regulation 2430 and it does have an M next to it so I believe that regulation is mandated so I sent it to Mr Nixon to be added to the policy committee agenda back in August and I did get a confirmation from Mr Nixon that it's going to be added and I believe it was discussed but I heard in the committee leas on comments or report that regulation 2430 had very restrictive language and our policy should suffice but I respectfully would like to disagree um especially if that regulation has an M next to it and um I would really hope that going forward we will I will introduce into the new business um next at the next meeting we do need if we are going to revise policy 2430 we should have a regulation 2430 and if you look through our policy manual for most of the policies that have Associated regulations we to have them and U yes we have enough language in it for establishment of clubs and everything I think the regulation clearly specifies how or the means the regulation is basically a law that underlying law for the policy so that's my comment any other discussion so I'll just say that right like we sent out the policy minutes two weeks ago um but the we did look at this um actually policy 2430 was not um on the struss smme alert it was um because of the regulation being brought to us that we decided to update uh 2430 all on our own um but the regulation again um I don't see anywhere that it's mandatory I I you know we we obviously looked at this for a multiple times now um and it's not mandatory um to my knowledge but also we did discuss it and one of the problems is is that we have a lot of informal clubs and it works for our students um and this really did not allow for um informal clubs in anyway um we do have a really good process we talked about the process multiple times both at CMS and at GL um and we did not feel it was necessary and that um the policy covered what we needed to be covered um so we did add extra language in which is what the um minutes will say when you read them um that we added extra language in to make sure that we covered all the things that we were concerned about from the regulation um but we did not feel that the regulation was needed at this time and again we did not want to restrict the high school from providing opportunities for our students because again clubs are really started by students right their student ideas and so sometimes we have students who come up with an idea and it's a great idea but no one joins and so that club never goes anywhere right but we want those students to have an opport Unity to do that and the regulation didn't allow for that um and again regulation is not something that we um tweak a lot right like you can remove some things we've talked to stress smme about this a lot but you're not going to rewrite uh regulation you rewrite policy um regulation really is the state guidelines um but again I don't see anywhere that this is mandated and this is what the um committee came forward with you recommend so if I may ask uh Mr dler I I can forward you the one that I saw the 2430 that I did send Mr Nixon from New Providence has a capital m on that document so I just want for general public or my understanding why do we have a a policy with the same number and a regulation Mr dler so I think to answer your first question whether 2430 is mandatory or not I think that's a Strauss smme question that they can just answer for the the board difference in a policy and regulation a policy is more broad right policy is the broad uh broad board directive and the regulation typically goes into the nitty-gritty so you'll see more definitions in a regulation more specifics so things along those lines Mr Nixon do you have anything to add just from you know working through various policies over the course of the past nine months in this role with the policy committee um Strauss ese from time to time comes out with updated lists of what's mandated what's not mandated and for example there were certain regulations on lists that we saw from 2022 that were mandated then that are not not mandated now um I would suggest taking a look at a policy from another District that's labeled as mandated and seeing the date that it was adopted because that could impact it I just did a fast search of the shra SME site right now to look at the um the lists of regulations that were published in July of 2024 and it's not one of the mandated regulations so the reason I wanted this was um I know that clubs are student you know initiated and we want students to have whatever they want especially given that we are putting money aside in our budget for next year for these activities I think the regulation that our neighboring District New Providence says is any club or any activity that has been started has to have a minimum enrollment I know at this point we have to ask the administration on hey you started a club what's the enrollment of students so that's what this particular regulation helps us with do we want to keep a club that was started let's say 10 years ago and it has only two students enrolled or do we want to open that money up for another activity where there might be more interest so the only clubs getting money would be formal clubs which come before the board right this what we are discussing is is that this regulation did not provide the opportunity for informal clubs which do not receive funding from the board so I understand where you're coming from but this again did not address our situation um so the budgetary concern is different and we did talk about that in Personnel but I do recommend that you look at the presentation that jesme shared about policy and regulation um because that will help you guide you on what regulation is so um Mr Nixon what is the minimum enrollment that we expect for any formal clubs that building principles recommend for our district generally speaking I can speak to the high school right generally speaking we want at least 10 at least 10 yes so 10 consistent members of us so if you can get back to the board on how much it what's the minimum enrollment for middle school that would be great and how do we how do you evaluate it based on sign up or at the end of the year or mid year again on the high school level there is a mid-year and end ofe evaluation uh where we see agendas rosters Etc but there is noties and will that be uniform across middle school so my concern here is if we are allocating money from the budget in Winter for next year what is the district administration's recommendation if there are clubs that we already allocate money in future year right now and next year we see like there are maybe two students or four students enrolled what's your take on that our take on that is that we preper to put our resources towards areas that um do meet some of those minimum thresholds it doesn't mean that that group still can't meet but it might not be funded anymore and this is an annual thing that we do where we evaluate our various clubs and activities we've had clubs that have been formal clubs and activities before in the past that have dissolved over the years it happen sometimes as student in interest um you know about certain topics or or or certain ideas you know come and go you're welcome okay any other discussion Mr secretary roll call vote on Administration resolutions a through D all board members Mrs Stanley yes m h yes Mr Kiri it's a yes to a and I think we just had yeah I think it's a yes to all Dr forer yes to all Mr Heyman so yes I'm just going to abstain on the three CMS uh cases under D so yes to all abstain on three of those four Miss Jolie yes to all Miss Connor yes to all Miss Bradford yes to all motion passes moving on to education resolutions a through C all board members resolution d Berkeley Heights only may I have a motion to move this uh resolutions forward so moved thank you Mr Heyman a second it during discussion I'm sorry do we have a second please a second so I think it's supposed to be D right e e it's supposed to be e not J there's a j sorry yes want to move that again or do you yes I I can make a motion to move education a through e if that's accurate would you please so moved okay I'll second that as well discussion I just ask um Mr Nixon does does um the courses per CMS does that mean that there are no new courses next year for GL or not necess necessarily that would come at a later date potentially if new courses were to be discussed or added I forget the timing of of when these when we talk about this this is when we would want to because the program of studies at the high school say that again these any new courses for the high school would have been done already okay got it so this means nothing new for GL in terms of curriculum for 25 26 right got it I just need a little you said a through e i don't e as an Edward I don't an E I have an A through D and then a j we're changing the J to an E all right J becomes e all right yes Mrs Kaa uh can we uh talk a little bit about the timing of these two coures that we are um that are on the agenda today should they be approved today then the curriculum will be written can you maybe talk to us about the timing because they are on the agenda they are essentially effective September 2025 right can you maybe talk us through what we like in terms of the timeline sure so the course proposals have been put forward here um been discussed with the curriculum committee um and shared some additional information there for review um and uh if if approved tonight then the next step is that it goes into curriculum development um essentially planning out the units and all of the components that come along with that so this way that it's in place and uh ready to go for the start of next school year and are any of these electives for the middle schoolers that they would choose it looks like one of them is a dependency on students having taken Outreach one prerequisite yeah as a prerequisite but once once approved tonight they they do become part of the course catalog as they start to begin the scheduling process and things like that next year and could you clarify if is that a course for only eighth graders because in the description it says it's for seventh and eth but somewhere further along it basically says it's for eighth graders so is this an eighth grader only course I have to get back on that okay okay can you just clarify these are uh Outreach 2 is a cycle course right and I think you said uh it this it replaces some other cycle course or courses can you tell me what those would be they're not replaced and they're just adding to their uh elective courses adds to the list okay yes Mrs up so I have two questions on the investigating and podcasting uh the first one kind of a simple one it says expected enrollment 200 students per year which seems like an awful lot for a school that has 500 kids um it still sounds like a great course but that's that's question comment number one comment number two question is um love the idea I think the kids will be excited about it little concerned that parents might have concerns about privacy and security about the podcast specifically and you know where will the podcast be posted will it just be internal will be out to the internet will parents have an ability to have a say in what that looks like um monitor it look at it or you know can their students block them from their podcast because they block us on their social media so Derk I don't know if you have any feedback on either of those I I agree 200 seems like it's ambitious but perhaps they anticipate that the kids are really going to love it can I comment on that real quick so these are these are colletive so there's four sessions I understand and just a lot of classes but it's you're talking right like it's three grade levels can you go four sessions so it's not like you have 15 kids for all year you have 15 15 15 right yeah and as far as the where I I don't know right now I could get back to you on that you think the where this podcast is going to live once it's created um I don't know off the top of my head I imagine with with any typically with any type of media project we're not posting it on the internet um just that's protocol socially so um they're probably creating it in internally I'm assuming but that I I'll follow up with um the Middle Middle School uh Administration as far as Outreach to that is for grade seven and8 okay so I have a followup so Outreach does say that it's replacing some cycle courses so but then in the description that we got and we just heard that it's not replacing any courses so are we removing any electives that are currently available we are we are not I I reached out to him late last week to get that um to clarify that and he said they are just adding the course they're not removing any okay and on podcasting just a comment I think some districts basically would students be allowed to do any topics or are we going to come into this you know code of conduct issues about no you cannot make a podcast about let's say I think that no because no no in eighth grade health there is a they're teaching about sexting what if the the 200 students want to have individual podcasts are we going to do anything or are we is that fine I'm okay with that I'm for free part of a class supervised by a faculty member that will have oversight over content okay because I don't want parents to write emails to us hey you allowed them to create a podcast now it's getting circulated and I don't Envision this being a type of thing where we teach kids how to podcast and then take the training wheels off and let them do anything like they they'll be oversight no everybody have electronic devices Mr Nixon I'm just saying do we have any guard I'm sure a lot of our kids learn already know how to podcast and post things so we can control what happens in the classroom in the school so I know when the the podcast equipment like the bhef sent me their little um news article about their student wishes so I know that the podcast equipment um was supposed to help the kids do like um distribut between like their morning announcements and like stuff like that and it it would be interactive within the school um and now it's expanding into a class um so again this is like a three-year thing right the student wish was last year the equipment came in this year next year we're going to have a class which is great right you see the building of it um so I just just so you know like the the idea was to use it within the building hopefully that helps any other discussion Mr secretary roll call vote please on education resolutions a through e uh resolution D Berkeley Heights only Mr Hyman uh yes on items a a through C Miss Stanley yes Mr Kiri yes Dr forer uh yes on a uh on B I'll say no on Outreach 2 yes on the podcasting and C and D I'll say yes oh and E also known as formerly known as J yes so basic basically everything except for B and the O Outreach correct yeah I'm I'm okay with the podcast not but not the Outreach too Miss huffnagel Miss Jolly yes to all Miss Conor yes to all Miss Bradford yes to all motion passes thank you moving on to personnel resolutions a through K all board members resolutions l through o Berkeley Heights only may I have a motion to promote this resolution so moved thank you Mrs Stanley second thank you Mrs huffnagel discussion yes Mrs huffnagel I'll just say I'm I'm kind of disappointed that we need a smack Club because I really thought we'd have cured cancer by now but I think it's a a great club for the students that maybe need some support in this area so go students any other discussion um yes um I believe agenda item G the licensing agreement for approval use of the G is what for personnel Personnel G is approve of leave of absence request oh okay sorry so I think on this one the only comment and I did speak to Mr Nixon if there is any transfers I think we would like to see prior to 2022 our agendas used to have a a little footnote on why are we hiring somebody or transferring somebody from one building to another so if we if the board can get that on the agenda it's that would be great so item item D was in the Personnel minutes no I'm saying in the actual agenda the published agenda prior to 2022 the previous business administrator would actually specify if there was a hiring recommendation they would say this particular H you know position being recruited is to replace somebody retiring or some somebody going on a maternity leave and stuff like that so similar to that the transfer related stuff I I was just expecting have some more information in the agenda that would be great any other discussion roll call vote Miss Stanley yes to all abstain on J Miss hup Nagel yes to all Mr Kiri yes to all Dr forer uh yes to all but abstain on J Mr Hyman yes on a through K Miss Jolly yes to all Miss Conor yes to all Miss Bradford yes to all motion passes moving on to business we have two res uh part of the resolutions under business resolution under C approve cooperative wrestling program and approved Cooperative ice hockey agreement with New Providence School District we would like to add the wording pending legal review by board attorney concerning contract is that correct Mr secretary that is correct yes may I have a motion to change CNF so moved thank you Mrs hle second second thank you Mrs Conor uh Voice vote or discussion okay Voice vote just I any Nays so we I think what was discussed was um we will the board will get to review the finalized contract before it's signed okay thank you yes okay thank you then let's go ahead we have a a motion to move resolutions a through P all board members with the corrections on C and F and resolutions o sorry Q through t Berkeley Heights only may I have a motion move was that Mrs huffnagle it was Sor but I'll second okay you so I guess my discussion yeah on G um the approved use of the varano ice ring it is missing it's a licensing agreement and it is missing to specify the size of the group so that also has to be amended I believe so if you want me to amend the because we can be approving a licensing agreement with without listing the size of specific size of the group the size of the hockey teams you mean whatever the group is maybe it's maybe it's the maybe it's the team I I don't know but it's it's missing that there's a there's a blank where size of group is it should be filled with a number number attachment L well everyone's bu busy with L I'm just going to say that I want to thank Thomas P Hughes Elementary school PTO for their prometheum board it's amazing when we can have our pto's and p uh bhef support our district this way I also want to thank everybody from the mountain uh Park Elementary school PTO for all of their donations um it really it makes such a big difference um to our teachers to our students and our to our buildings and we really really appreciate it yes certainly agree with that and I want just comment on T which is accepting a school bus emergency evacuation drill report uh there there's a place where you're supposed to specify the bus route numbers but it's not putting them in okay let's go back to um L L I thought I had the agreement with me I don't Mr heyman's looking it up okay but it's asking for the size of the yeah the the group would the group as I would guess would be the combined until the coach has their team together we're not going to know that so that's why it's not going to be filled in yeah yeah I mean it would be the combined VAR teams yeah that's why it's less col until until we have until they know what size the team is going to be they can't fill that in until we know and well it's chicken and egg here right because they want to know and you don't have it until you approve it and find out the size of the team right so well I mean we're primarily doing the agreement is what we're doing here and until the team gets established we wanted to approve this so we have it so when the time does come and the team does get together they'll have the count at that time the the team hasn't been put together if I'm not mistaken Mr Nixon would you know that by chance try outs are in two weeks okay well how big was the team last year I mean I don't know how big a hockey team it's teams it's JV plus Varsity I think that there's uh 35ish kids in the program so and when what you plus coaches and once once I we these Agreements are done I send them over to the athletic department they they keep them until they need them at such time no my concern was are we approving something which will be signed by the board president and then if is going to have a blank that was my that was my concern and the blank will be filled in by the athletic director or the assistant once they determine the number so it'll be signed after it's filled or before it's filled um I can go either way at at this point it doesn't make a difference um it's we're we're primarily doing the uh the agreement that's the primary purpose of this the amount of the students and whether I sign it before or afterwards is not really going to make much of a difference in terms of the amount of students once it's completed let's say that that could be 32 or 35 depending on if we had 35 last year and it's 32 I'm leaving that up to the discretion of the athletic director so Mr J I think it says approximately so if it you know you could just use last year's number that be fine um and then the only other thing that I noticed here is the contact person still says an Clifton might want to update that I will make note of that similarly on T as uh Dr forer pointed out the bus route number is missing if I'm not mistaken wasn't it for the school so there would be multiple bues like because I was actually going to ask right so it only had three schools the other ones are still working on theirs and they're not completed or that was my question now what was what was the last question was are we looking at h t t attachment m and what did you say is missing the bus route numbers were not given which one these are just evacuation drills that go on at each school to make sure that when any child is on a bus they make sure that they know how to evacuate that's what it is they have to happen twice a year once between September and December and then they have to happen between January and June so evacuating from a bus so let's say that Mrs Mrs uh an or Transportation director will send a bus over to the school at various times and different groups will go onto the bus they'll do demonstrations to make sure that when they are riding a bus at any certain point in time they'll know how to evacuate the bus I did this when I was a kid even though I was a walker like every kid does it we understand but this is this is a state requirement and we have to send them um the county notification that this is being done right we understand that we understand it's it's a documentation of the report that you did the you did it and it's just asking for the bus Dr cover it's not a route not a rout it's an exercise so all it is is an exercise so a bus we we'll take a bus that's housed here bring it up to um use during the course of the day somebody is going to go outside take a group of kids whether that's one class size or not bring them onto the bus and show them how to evacuate it what the document is stating that as opposed to a singular route being practicing this this drill the entire School took part in this drill it says it right on the line no but so so the language or the grammatical use it's asking for a route number and we wrote entire school right that's where our confusion is right well I don't know it's pretty clear entire School took part in the drill and right now the whole school and right now I only got three of them that have done it and you'll probably get another three more next month right the the the high school will do it too then we'll do it with multiple buses at the high school but it's not a given route it's the entire school goes through the the practice okay I believe CMS is tomorrow okay any other discussion okay Mr secretary roll call vote my daughter told me Mrs Stanley uh yes Miss huffnagel yes sorry sorry Mr J yes apologize I think uh sorry I I miss this we had discussed uh there's some co-ops um on here right and I think you and I had discussed potentially um giving us a little bit of an education on um how the co-ops work okay well you want to finish with the vote and then I can talk about sure sure um Mr Kiri uh it's yes to everything except [Music] for I think G that's about it g is a nay or an abstain is a no Dr forer uh yes to all except no on F and no on G Mr Hyman uh yes on a through p Mrs Jolly yes to all Mrs Conor yes to all and I do want to confirm that we've made the modifications to C and F that was what we did yeah okay y that's what we have Mrs Bradford yes 12 all motion passes okay now to Mrs jol's um asking for co-ops we are involved in several co-ops and co-ops usually work um there's several of them in in the counties and some of them are are run by Educational Services Commission some of them are um private as educational data and with those those Educational Services Commission go out and bid services and also um supplies whether that be custodial school or school supplies it eliminates school districts from having to go out and obtain quotes or go out to bid if you exceed $44,000 so our school district has probably involved in about I'm going to say N9 to 12 of them at this point in time whether they're nationally um as I uh alluded to before there's ones that are set in the county some counties don't have cooperatives some do uh but we've gotten involved in those so we can probably get the best pricing um and that's what the co-ops do to help districts in alleviating that portion of the purchasing in some of the districts I don't know if that that helps so if you say 9 to 12 is there is there overlap among the products that are offered by these 12 different types of uh products uh or different vendors uh I'm going to say different what's the word I'm looking for when you have one one product name versus another product name brands that's what I meant to say thank you um so does that mean sort of you you have to search through up to 12 co-ops looking for a particular thing well I have more of using them I know who has what pretty much you know and when I'm looking for bigger stuff okay nationally wise just as our discussions have have talked about um modular spaces for locker rooms those National co-ops have more of those um types of vendors and offer those types of services as opposed to some of the smaller co-ops that we have here in New Jersey but you have to meet different requirements uh going through a national Co-op to satisfy the statutes for New Jersey um uh for the New Jersey stuff there's four pieces of documentation that you need to get for a national Co-op to satisfy buying that in New Jersey have anything else no we're good thank you moving on to finance um motion to move resolutions a through D all board members may I have a motion to move resolutions a through D under Finance so moved thank you Mrs Jolly second second thank you Mrs K discussion so just a yeah a quick note um on the on the bills um we did um have uh sleo bills um on on to approve however it you know we still don't have an updated contract as we had discussed so you know the bill is still include sick pay um so I think I spoken to Mr jtz and just said that you know I guess there's not a lot of movement on this contract front but that going forward that um we can maybe get separate items like between the hour hours worked and the sick time so we can pay you know for the hours worked up until you know the contract gets we should get the contract tomorrow for both the SLO officers and the adding of the fuel to the maintenance agreement okay any other discussion okay roll call this is Jolly I just had a followup so when we get the new contracts the entire Board gets to see them right before we review and discuss and then correct Mrs Jolly yes to all Mrs Conor yes to all except check number 21159 that's pending the contra agreement and that's an abstain or nay uh Mr Kiri yes to all except check number 2159 waiting for the contract Dr forer uh yes to all but no on check 21115 now9 until we get a contract Mrs huffnagel yes to all except ex abstain from 21141 that's the company I worked for Mr Heyman yes M Stanley Miss Bradford yes to all motion passes moving on to comments from the public on any agenda items any topic sorry any topic during this portion of the meeting District residents and staff are invited to address the board of education on any item the board requests that the individuals State their name town of residence or School of attendance for the record all comment should be directed to the board president 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 for all public comments will be considered the board ask that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of 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 members of the public please note that if any member of the public becomes disruptive during the meeting the board president May terminate the participant statement ment continued disruptions may result in removal from or adjournment of the meeting each speaker statement will be limited to 3 minutes in duration we will take the in-person comments first and then go to our remote comments good evening first time I do this so um please bear with me my name is Rodrigo Gan I'm in at Berkeley Heights Town and now we have been part of this wonderful Community for the last seven years thank you for your hard work uh my kids go to um my kids go to u tech and uh and another another one of our kids go to a special school the um some of my neighbors uh became aware or understand that the Board of Education will start discussing installing permanent Lighting in the G uh field football field um the the concern that my neighbors and I have is that this can be disruptive to our houses because we are in the adjacent area to this field and as you know there's no buffer buffer before be between the field and the uh the neighboring houses so the questions that the question that I have or that we have is that um we like we would like to know if the board of education is considering um discussing the installation of permanent permanent lights at the uh the GL uh field um before you one last comment um I understand that 10 years ago this was also discussed with the Board of Education and that there was an agreement between the Board of Education and the group of neighbors that only permanent lives will be used and only for a number of uh events during the year um so that's my question thank you thank you excuse me can you just spell your name for me please sir last name is Gan g uur d i a n first name is Rodrigo r o d r i go o Berkeley Heights thank you yeah any other comments from the public in person at this time aric Samson Berkeley Heights my kids have graduated long ago uh Mr President I like to be clear that I'm speaking to you and I have the right to reference other Boe members in my remarks to you without interruption I want to explicitly highlight the double standards upheld by our Mountain Side representative when Mr reinstein and the rest of the Board of Education violated educational advocacy in bidding LS Mr Hyman remained silent when Miss vley hired her own daughter Mr Hyman remained silent when Miss Stanley misled the public about Teachers Pay denied the existence of a proficiency related report or harass the resident of our town Mr macheski by taking pictures of him sitting in a cafe and posted on Facebook Mr Hyman again remain silent yet when Miss akiri published an uped accurately countering The Narrative put forth by Mr bakil and Miss Penna about the budget and when she referenced another Outlet remarks on collusion or pointed out former business administrators pattern of poor Minit keeping Mr Hyman acted he voted to found a 92-page investigation against Miss AK an unnecessary and taxpayer funded attack it is disturbing even disgraceful that he and Miss Stanley defend this taxpayer funded political hijab as somehow virtuous to be clear the ethics ruling against them is now the second affirmation by a public body that Mr Hyman and Miss Stanley's actions were unital these ethic complaints mind you are not funded by District dollars for a change even if the three remaining allegations against M akiri are upheld three hours C of dismissed claims what she did was in the name of transparency and bordering on whistleblowing in the face of a clearly broken and corrupt Boe Administration in conclusion in light of the unethical behavior of Mr Heyman and Miss Stanley in the unjust investigation SL attack against Mr akiri I call on Mr Hyman as well and M Stanley to resign from the board as unworthy to affect the education of our children thank you thank you any other comments from the public okay um shaa Williams Berkeley Heights as the author of the article that Mr Heyman referenced I would like to point out that it was factual and I absolutely did note that the decision was not final uh don't appreciate being told that it was not correct information because it was um I would really like to see us move past this though and I think in the interest of putting this all behind us I did want to read one thing that was quoted by the judge because I feel like it's important for the board members to kind of try and understand no pardon me dealing with a cold uh the quote is even though the action was initiated and this action is the filing of the complaint against missir even though the action was initiated after consultation of the board respondents failed to explain how voting in favor of a resolution directing the board's councel to draft charges against Airi is related to the development of the general rules and principles that guide the management of the school district the formation of programs and methods to effectuate the goals of the school district or to ascertain the value or liability of a policy the commission clearly indicated in prev previous decisions and reiterated its position in school ethics commission docket number c67 d22 that a board member is free to among other things ask questions make requests offer a statement or opinion make inquiries about board issues slm matters and to raise issues regarding the business of the board this kind of behavior and conduct is inherent in the duties and responsibilities of a board member and helps to ensure sound decision making end quote um so the reason I feel like that is important is because if we're going to move forward if we're going to put this behind us I do think that you know given that a judge has said that these are the duties of a school board member given that the SEC found there was Merit to the claims to even give it to the oal judge given that the oil judge found that there was unethical Behavior yes it has to go to the SEC but they were the ones who forwarded it to the oal judge to begin with so I would like to ask Miss Bradford if you would uh recommend that Mr Heyman and Mrs Stanley issue an apology to miss Airi publicly given that the accusations were done publicly thank you thank you Mr Nixon would you like to comment on the lights I mean I think the only thing to say right now is that it's it's top topic that's been discussed probably going on probably since when Jake first brought it up going on a couple of years now um you know the halt agreement does specifically um speak to certain ideas and regulations regarding temporary lights um this discussion is in its infancy stages um and really kind of working through what are some of the options now and are some of the newer lighting options that are available ones that are um what's the term I'm looking for that they they they have less spillage over into surrounding areas and things like that so we're we're kind of looking into those aspects of it thank you no other comments on our comments moving I see no no remote participants wanting to speak so we'll close the comments from the public on any topic moving on to new business we have four four items um and Mrs Jolly you brought these forward I did thank you so I would like to move a resolution that the Berkeley Heights Board of Education approved the following District bylaws and policies for study and first reading policy 132 executive Authority revise policy 155 board committees revise and policy 6421 purchases budgeted new I'll second it and yes I think you need to explain that it seems valid to me Mr Mr dler has a comment so I assume where you are moving is the document that you presented as modified the policies as modified in the document that you share with the board am I getting that correctly that is correct so um and one of the policies I had actually shared with Mr Nixon a while back who shared it with stra sesme to check the language uh which was fine other than a recommendation um in terms of to use a percentage rather than a hard dollar amount so policy 6421 was shared many times um and it had undergone stra smme review so and the the objection is point of order on what we these cannot go to first read because they have never been shared with the public the revisions that are added to here so it it cannot go to force read and even according to our own policies it cannot do that um I I also think that you need to discuss why you think these are necessary um before you make a motion and people vote on it that's one um I you did mention that stress ASM gave you feedback but you're ignoring the feedback in your in your policy which you did not mention um so I I there's a lot of point of orders but the first one being that in order to have a first read the item goes in a policy attachment and the public has to see it not only did the public not see your um adjustment it also right is after public comments so no one can comment on them um so yes I I have multiple points of order with this okay okay so I will I'll break those so I assume you're going to maybe I'm wrong but there will be discussion after echoing sorry yes I I plan to so I assume there be discussion after that as for the motion itself I do agree the motion can go forward I think the what the motion is in essence is if the motion passes these policies as amended will be placed on the board agenda for a first reading next time right so this way the public has the opportunity to review them comment them and I think that's you know according to your policy because there's no law that requires readings I think that's a misnomer it's by policy and so the way I read your policy is when you make changes that's an important change by the board that's why you do require two readings so the way I read this motion and why I can't overrule objections obviously but if you're asking my opinion on the point of order I think the motion can go forward but the motion is that if it passes these amendments as you so put them and share with the board would be placed on the agenda for first re next time and then' be in the attachments for the agenda so the public can see it review it in the like that make sense sure um and just uh for I I did I mean I did send them to everyone earlier but they weren't included as well I guess they weren't included in in the policy section but they also were not included um they were new business topics they just weren't included in the attachments and that was sent out that's my concern that you know typically on an agenda right you see the you know first read and then there's the attachments of how you do them and then they put that nice little link so that would be my concern okay well why don't we proceed and I don't know I'm trying to figure out where does where does where does where is the policy that says um it has to be uh in in the public domain for it to be cons for it to be considered first so again I'm trying to there's no currently the way most policy pass if you look at your policy uh I don't in front of me but I did I have read it before it's uh it's part of the attachment if you flip back it's maybe towards the end policy 131 so the the process here typically speaking is if you look at it there's a recommendation for a change the board president then typically refers it to policy committee then the policy committee will place on the agenda I assume my understanding is they went to the policy committee uh and then therefore you're making this motion because I assume you disagree with the determinations of that which is well it it's right and so I wanted to explain because one of the policies kind of speaks to the fact that I you know in my opinion I don't think two people should control what the full Board gets to vote on yeah and I I think and my view is that this motion if it passes you'll have the ability to discuss I'm just talking about procedurally so again this motion goes kind of outside your policy right because again now board member I think you have the right to make this motion right but just a just as an aside um we did have um a break from tradition with the transportation policy when it was brought back into for vote never having been amended from its first version that did not follow procedure yet we all voted on it and had we voted yes it would have been a first read actually that's not true if you read 131 it says the board president and the superintendent have the right so that is not true the right to to bring for a policy to first read okay but yeah I mean the very first statement of policy 131 says you know it can be recommended it doesn't say by whom and I tried to follow the steps of everything that's listed in that policy and to be honest we don't really do that now no and the thing is so that's step one but then you go to step two true it's referred but I think it has been referred here and then it didn't make it out of policy so now now that it didn't make it out of policy I think you have every right to make this motion as a board member I think any board member can make a motion in new business to set forth the policy I think because now it's not going to go to the policy committee it then goes on the agenda for the next reading that's again that's why I'm reading it so but the however the motion was actually first read That's the motion she made which is not accurate also the second problem with this is is that the December meeting we cannot have first reads because it would be unfair to the elected already elected um members that will be coming in January so we never have had ever a first read in December Dr forer okay there there's a way out of this um obviously we want to consider this as the first reading uh I don't know what the policy that she's that he's referring to is but whatever it is we can just suspend that policy and put it on for first read tonight so the policy does not determine anything here because we have the right to override that policy and suspend it so I if we'll need to we'll suspend it but otherwise I think it should go forward for first reading so if you're asking I I have to pull up your suspension policy I can tell you the normal stress estimate policy you can suspend a policy it's usually limited to I can give you the exact El usually has some sort of like emergency element to it and then typically again I don't have your policy but I'm telling you stress estim as normal you have to ratify that decision at your next meeting of the suspension policy but you could no we we can suspend it at this meeting no I mean then you have to ratify that again well suspension policy I can pull it up if you give me a second yeah um but again notley please wait I think what we should do is if you if you want to Pam is determined to derail this but we could uh try to suspend the policy and then get get it through on first read and uh we'll finish it off second read next time um m m thei so I have suggested it early on in the this year that I think our second public comment should be after new business I I did reach out and convey this to you most boards you know maybe this is something that I will put on for new business next time usually have second public comment is after new business that way one of the point of order was oh this is right after new business the public can comment on it that that doesn't happen and I think most well-run boards have public comment after that and I have seen this policy suspension for one day happen at Summit happen in Madison when they have to ratify certain things or make certain things and this were not emergency so I believe Natasha has given enough notice she has circulated the the proposed changes it is it can be updated on the district website and public will have every right to comment on it before the secondary reading which is next time or we can do another thing to alleviate Pam Pam's concerns is we can open public comment right after new business by order and I'll move I'll be more than willing to move that motion to allow public comment uh new business is for discussion um it seems like these policies are trying to go around our committee structure in our Board of Education we do have Committees of three two committee members can make a decision the third Committee Member is the responsibility to convince the others to put the recommendation forward to our super our Acting Superintendent and who then puts that recommendation for a policy forward to the board so we're trying to subvert the policy and the procedures that have already been established within the Berkeley Heights Board of Education and G with all due respect excuse me Mrs Jolly sorry um you and you and Pam are two two out of the three on Personnel on policy and um on finance though there is an alternate for finance so given that you know I've tried to get this um through policy but again my feeling is that you cannot control two people cannot control what the full board can dis discuss and vote on this is a discussion um again the policy committees the Committees that we have established were established when there was no board president that was established in February and the policies uh committee members did not get established until March and then we had a resignation and then we had to reshuffle the committee members in June so again this has been an unusual year for committee members Mrs Conor you had a question or a comment I I I did and I I want to um Echo reiterate what Natasha just said if you look at the composition of our committees um and the the rule that that that you just talked about if you have two members who are perpetually going to be saying no to something it is essentially impossible for the third person to have this conversation like we are having with the full board it's impossible and of all the Committees that that we have the ones that are most impactful Personnel policy Finance you and Pamela are on all of those committees the other people just don't have a chance to have their opinions you know move forward for a broader discussion because you would squash it as has been apparent in this conversation so I totally understand the the reason Natasha has this a new business and I was looking through the policy there's nothing that says this cannot be treated as first reading just says the proposed draft bylaw policy or regulation approved by the board on first first reading will be submitted for adoption at a succeeding meeting of the board there was a committee a curriculum committee that I was the dissenting member and Miss Dr forger and Mrs Ziri pushed it forward so I was the dissenting member at that time we are going to be restructuring our committees looking forward to our next reorganization meeting when we have our new member so looking forward to that that would be the appropriate time sorry I'm not Stanley Mrs Bradford excuse me excuse me Mrs Stanley has ra hand accurate information I'm you will have a time to speak after Mrs Stanley I am answering I'm answering to your inaccurate statement I'm not on curriculum I never voted you down so I don't understand what you're talking about I'm sorry it was Mrs Jolly correct Mrs jolly and Dr forer yes Mrs Stanley so now that we've established you were attending now that we've established that bylaw 0131 would be bypassed if you do this right you would need to bypass this actual policy that we have in order to bring in more policies um let's get to the fact that all three of these policies are about control all three of them are about control and you are bringing them in a time where we already have elected member that will become part of the board right you criticize Miss Jolly you criticize last year the board actually going through committee and working with the district and the superintendent to to bring a policy for first read last year and yet you seem to be bringing three policies that go around committee that go around the district because the administration is on the policy committee they might not get a vote but they do have a voice they also voice their concerns about all three of these all three excuse me all three of these policies they have voiced stress asme has voiced their opinion and you are going around them they are the law firm that deals with policies um you're going around the district admin you're going around a brand new superintendent that you hired that means we need to support them and you are not giving them a voice in what they would like to do and then on top of it you're trying to handcuff the ba now I would like to see one example of where 6421 would benefit the board members because I have yet to see an example of how changing this policy 6421 would benefit the district or the board in any way but it does very limit what the district can do which can hurt our students so I do feel that this is a power grab I think that you are having to suspend a policy in order to make this happen and you were doing so because there is a new board member coming on and that is wrong in every sense of the word so I'd like to respond in terms of a power grab um with respect to policy 155 that is actually an anti- power grab because that allows the full board to select and approve committee members as opposed to one person picking the committee members which is what happened this time so I'm actually just putting it back to where it was before we even started I actually even found my notes from the time I spoke about it how you know it's concentrated in one person and it's going to be you know they're to be stacked and which is exactly what happened excuse me I was so anyway thank you Sor right so I'm not done yet so um so that was policy 155 so I would argue that that is anti- power policy 130 has something to say I if we're gonna go into discussion I think we just need a second on the motion just a second yeah was second okay that's what I want to make sure who the first was the first who was the second okay just making sure I didn't hear a second so policy 132 actually uses alternate Strauss SME language just to make sure that all regulations are visible to the board because when we left the discussion in policy my concern was for those regulations that are mandated that are put forth by the superintendent right now we have no visibility as to when that happens we have no we have no process we have so what did the I'm not done wait Mrs Stanley I'm sorry I thought she paused for my response no so that was my concern so the one policy 132 actually does use alternate stra sesme language which is available to the board to use now policy 6421 um I've been I've had this on for a while and I've been you know speaking with Mr juskowitz and I did ask him I said AJ how much more work is this going to be for you he says I don't think it's going to be that much um so and again the my intent is not to is intent to is to maybe you know have greater um I don't know efficiency with our budget right and Pam please don't make faces at me I wasn't making faces yes you did but list stop anyway so I'm just explaining I'm just explaining my intent with this right and when you know there's this there's a page in the operating manual that does say that even for items that are between 1,000 and 4,000 something dollars that you know you're you you're pref preferred to get like three informal quotes So if we're getting the quotes anyway and it's within that you know same dollar amount I don't think it's going to be um that much and I did ask Mr jtz and he didn't think it was going to be that much more of an effort thank you Mr Nixon has just something to add to that policy yes go um you we were just talking the other day because an example happened to come up for this and I just think it's worth sharing as as one thing to consider um one of the things we were hoping to do was to be able to host uh the State Playoff games for our volleyball team in the blue gym where the bleachers are bigger and we could fit a larger crowd and and and one of the things that came up is that uh the baskets the main baskets on the basketball courts currently the motors are broken the baskets can't be put up we're not able to host um a volleyball game in that gym until those baskets are able to go up said okay well let's let's take a look and see if we can get that work done you know to try and make sure this event can happen in there uh for our team and and the problem was the the first quote that came back came back at at $7,700 so you know he had to go out and try and find more companies and more bids because of the fact that it was over the bid threshold now obviously that's that's over the $6,600 that we're currently dealing with anyway but it just kind of got us thinking as you know like that's as much as that's over if that was something that would say $4,000 that that we could have done easily in order to try and you know accommodate our team and accommodate more fans and things like that that would have been a really nice thing to do Under This policy you we restrict ourselves from being able to do something like that that much further so I just think it was you know we've talked about different examples before and this is actually one that happened the other day that that I felt actually caused the restriction or or could have potentially caused the Restriction I thought it might be worth sharing just for consideration Mrs Stanley then Mrs Ziri so right so um I I still didn't get an answer on to how 64 um 21 could help the board and the district um again so Mr Nixon said right according to uh the state law AJ is a qualified purchase agent so he is allowed to go up to 6 6600 $6,600 you are cutting that in half and putting in a dollar amount stress smme says that they don't recommend putting in a dollar amount because the state law will keep changing and that number will keep changing they said to keep it a percentage theirs is 15% which is giving us that 6600 as far as far as um policy 132 you did not answer as to what the district what their view on this policy was right their view which is in the minutes is that this could have an effect on the district because of how long it takes for a regulation to get through the system of putting it on the agenda getting two reads and on top of the fact when we've had a board that has really struggled with policy this year right we have not we just got through the June Alert in this meeting um so again I think that you're going around board Norms you are going around elections you are going around the district you're going around a new super intendent um also 155 board committees this is board Norms everywhere the board president gets to choose the Committees and the people on it and I do get what it's like to be the dissenting member on a committee because I was brand new once too I was my first year I also had board members who I would try to get things through even positive things and they would stop me I tried to change curriculum to curriculum and um a student achievement and they knocked it down they didn't want the word student achievement right it you sometimes that happens especially as a new board member right so this idea that there's like some stacked against you I I I it every board member feels like that at some point um but I want to say right the Union County had to choose our our board President right none of us chose our board president the Union County did because we couldn't come together and I don't think that is healthy for the district at all right so no matter who he chooses is going to have the power to pick right he could pick someone else next year if we can't come up with someone so I I think that all again all of these things are going around our committee structure they're going around the district and it's going around a brand new superintendent that we're supposed to be supporting as they start all of these things can be brought in January to the new superintendent to get their feedback there's no emergent thing here at all and Missi Mrs secui go ahead sorry I I have a I have a quick followup excuse me I did say Mrs Ziri would be following I to her oh okay so 155 I think it was revised last year it used to be and we I in my memory Berkeley Heights Board of Education would do committee assignments after a conversation it was not not dependent on one person making a decision and Jordan help me here but I feel like mountain side I think you guys in in the second meeting you sort of have a very public discussion on Who Wants to be on what committee there is some back and forth there is some you know uh input received from everybody without the board president being the one person who gets to decide and that's about it yeah in in Mountain Side there's there's always been a discussion I will say that it's a bit scripted in Mountainside and that we don't show up and just start you know fighting it out it it it has been what are your preferences you get a top two or three and so there's there's a balance I will say too having been on this board for four years even when the policy was different it was still very much dictated by the board president so there was what would you like to do what would you like to do behind the scenes so that when we get in public it's it's a bit more aligned and you never got everything you wanted I mean Doug at that point as when he was the president was made those decisions by and large uh and you could discuss and you could disagree but that's that's where it landed and I mean my my my point here is simple um and I think this is an njsba U tenant right board president doesn't have any more Authority compared to other board members they have more responsibility and the change in this policy that was made when it was made essentially goes the opposite way in my opinion so I'm I'm supportive of of going back to a time when we discuss committee appointments and it is not one person deciding and to your point about being a power grab uh maybe the you know part of the reason why there was such uh an effort in in getting a board president this year is if we did not have this policy I think we might have had a slightly better time coming up with somebody instead of going to the union county superintendent and having them intervene so each oh sorry can I can I yes Mrs Ziri so it's very rich hearing this from Mrs Stanley that this is a power grab because last year right around during Lam duck was a policy change was instituted about a 48h hour requirement for advanced notice and the Very the board member who introduced it moved the motion to file a very public ethics complaint against me during new business but that policy committee chair who wanted the policy committee felt it was appropriate to file ethics charges and everybody else here and Mr Heyman was smiling even back then when that F when that ethics complaint like I'm not sure what this has anything to do with all I'm saying by there's no such thing as lame duck because that that this isn't the Senate Board of Ed there's no lame duck it's a term you've used so then then it's ironic though that we're now trying to get into this lame duck window sorry Tom I think we're sorry we just do but you continue to sort of pull people into the conversation do that and you talk over people better than anyone else if you'll wrap up please and then Mr Mr Heyman you can make a response yeah so if during right after the election if a policy can be amended to say we need 48 hour notice advanced notice for any new business that is basically restrict in a board member from bringing up anything in new business that's a power grab and allowing and 155 and some of these policies and there are multiple like prior to 2022 there was no requirement for a superintendent to recommend a policy I even want to question the the primary role of a board member is policy creation it's not administration's role to come and create or recommend it's the board members responsibility so this language that we are seeing right now wasn't there before 2022 so the board members who wanted the the previous superintendent Dr warley to have to recommend every policy change instituted that change then it continued from 2022 to 2023 and then last year between November and January there were multiple changes that were brought forward and you had no problem voting yes on them and lastly Mr dler you just I would like you to clarify you said there is nothing in 131 that says we need to have a f we if we want we can pass a policy in you know in first reading there is nothing in that 131 that says you you have to put it on the agenda at the next meeting this is the first reading and this is the first reading and if you want public comment to be open fine we'll move a motion for that so again I'm trying to interpret that for so I'm trying to interpret your policy which doesn't really account for the situation presently right it talks about an introduction then the board president referring to a committee the superintendent then making a recommendation presumably that's how it gets on the agenda and then the way I read that is then it's on the agenda the attachments are on the website that's a first reading the public Comes This is a little different because it went to the committee my understanding the committee voted not to move it forward and so I think again my Rec my view as a board member does have the ability to make a to a motion if the committee doesn't move it forward right it's a board member you're a board member you have every right to do so but again because this is a policy change and your policy is again it doesn't have to be this way right state law does not require two readings um but yours does and so I think your board has taken the position which most boards in the state have that we take policy change very seriously and so again my view on this is if you're going to utilize this process through new business the motion is through your policy would be that it goes on the next agenda as a first reading no this is so thank Mr dler Excuse me Mr hman was making a response question yes just a moment please Mr Heyman your yeah just two comments so one on the 48 hour thing I I think it's actually healthy uh in terms of of how we operate our meetings because it allows us it the the intent of it is so that there's no gotcha there's no hey I just pulled something out of my bag which is research that you know came from nowhere maybe chat GPT which is certainly not fact sorry again again here we go the queen of talking over people is at it again there stop Mrs stop again I think Mr hman has the floor he need go next outrageous yeah so again so I think the 48 hour thing is is is healthy for the for our board it has given us ability and I think we've all abided by it which is great if if you've got something to add you you you get it in advance I think we've got to a good Rhythm and allows for I think everyone to have a chance to review materials so that there's no last second information that no one has had a chance to see number two I I I do find it I don't if the word Rich ironic but just to to lean on on policy creation as sort of this whole year I mean this board again specifically in the last year or two is really meddled in just about everything but well maybe inclusive of policy creation as well I mean pick a topic pick an area um from from withholding sick pay to transportation to uh you you name it I mean I to to adding Zoom for the one person who's still on Zoom at this point who's who's probably a friend of a friend I just I find it ironic so yes policy is important but it'd be nice if we actually treated that as the most important thing if that's truly uh what's what's most important for us thank you Mrs Airi so I just want to clarify 131 says we need to have a first reading and a second reading correct and the motion on the floor was the board member is introducing these revisions as first reading she has a second the motion is on the floor so we are abiding by the policy it's a first reading and the second reading is going to be at the next meeting it's as simple as that how can it not be interpreted as this is the first reading and this was given to the the to the district prior to the meeting in advance notice and if the only concern is public comment yes we can open it up we can move a motion and open it up I don't think that this motion is invalid you're saying she has every right to make the motion the motion was these revisions are first reading there's nothing preventing us from passing them as I I think I've said this many times I'm not a judge Here I Am the board's attorney I obviously abide by the will of the board there was a point of order and my opinion was asked and again you're asking what my opinion is if you're asking how I interpret your policies and that's the way I interpret your policies that if for this motion and this process to be of changing the policy to be in compliance with your policy that's I don't think I need to reiterate my what my view is but it's that that the normal process goes through the policy committee if a board member so chooses I think they can bring up a motion in new business but that motion in that sence would be to then put it on the next agenda so then the public has the ability to go on the website look at it and the like but I don't need to myself okay so then maybe we'll suspend 131 after this this that'll be can I'm happy I I pulled up actually I didn't realize it's the same policy so that's very but you've really printed everything so I'm happy to walk the board through that process if you'd like as well so if I may my intent is not to suspend any policies my intent was to obviously make the revisions that I have so I don't want to suspend any policies um I'll follow Mr distler's advice he's our board attorney so if we vote on these these would be coming into first read for the next board meeting um if we don't want to vote on them uh well I guess we even if there are first read coming in like then the reorg meeting happens they would in theory go into second read for the new uh for the new committee which they could still get voted down we have time for um for public comment and I think maybe that's what we should do Mrs Jolly would you like to revise the motion um I don't know if I need to revise it or if it's just based on attorney clear sure um what's the what's this so it's not for first the motion is on the floor yeah the motion is on the floor and I think when we if if we vote on it I think what's going to happen is Mr just as Mr dler said they will be for first read at the next meeting that's why I interpret the motion so in the beginning of the year we had this big discussion on policy and after this was after the fact that the attorney made the determination without having this much of conversation that says oh that was first reading that is true and I did highlight that to the district so when we had the reorg meeting we I think we uh did not reopt policy 131 and the attorney at the time deemed that um action as a a first read of policy 131 the prior version was you know deemed as prior the board didn't adopt it sorry I'm conf or whatever I feel like the motion was to revert to PRI was to revert to Prior version right and so that passed and I think then Mr um W whoever was here at the time basically yeah made the determination after the fact when the minutes were drafted that that was the first reading of the policy we weren't having this conversation there was no conversation that it was a first reading and yet they determined this is the first reading so I iend so so when that happened right you were using the Clause that allows you to revise a policy right and again the the attorney at the time said that right that action could not happen because you had to have a first read so I think you're missing what the point was is that you still have to give the public right the public has the right to view these things that's why we talk about transparency right like the public has the right to comment on these items and you you you have to give that transparency right and that's why new business really should be for discussion to happen at the next meeting and that's why it usually comes after public comment because it's a discussion between the board on what they're going to do but um and I believe that's in Robert's rules um that new business comes after um public but again I think you're I think you're no I remember distinctly he had a conversation and the attorney determined after the fact when the minutes were being drafted that that discussion qualifies as first reading what he was saying is you couldn't just change the policy because you had to show it to the public so what what this the the same thing applies to be clear to show it to the public is a madeup thing that you just made up it doesn't say anywhere that it is to be you know made available to the public that change that is being proposed here is already an existing version of the policy it's on the website no it's not the language added is not in our policy so that is that is not accurate also 055 0155 actually actually no all three of them have language in it that is not on the district website right now right that is added by Natasha and Tom and 0155 never even went to committee at all so right so we're trying to say that you know these got blocked in committee but you never even brought 1552 committee and 13 whatever I I thought you mentioned that in the minutes NOP uh 132 right was discussed but only because it was brought up the Monday before our Friday meeting so this isn't like we've been talking about this for a long time the only one we have been talking about for a long time is the budget as purchases and that's because again that is not the advice that we have been give given by um by stress SME it is not what the district has wanted that's what the the district has said that that this is not what they want and then we agreed with the district and then I have yet to see an example of where this could benefit us so for example um there was recent work done at Hugh school and I asked Mr Nixon this question Mr jusco is this question as well where there was similar work done brick work with the knall and then the ramp um uh the ramp uh restoration so one was like 5800 for the ramp the other um was 27 2800 or something like that so my question why was why did we have two contractors come out to do very similar work there could have been an efficiency if you put it all together that would have breached the 6600 and we could have gotten a quote now if we were at 3,300 we could have for for the ramp we could have gotten additional quotes and maybe decided to actually use one contractor instead of two so that was my like again I don't know um I didn't have I didn't get an answer but you know just Mr Nixon's point it's a hypothetical right it could have saved uh the district some money potentially but even the hypothetical right the the other work the step front step would have been done because it's under the 3300 we still would have had a separate one doing the ramp but the whole point is is we want to get work done right we want the ramp to be fixed we don't want bricks falling we don't want students getting hurt right so I I saw the trees I know people are upset about so many trees coming down to houst and I get it but one of the trees I went past one day it was literally empty in the middle and I was like oh my gosh right like that's so dangerous so we yes the board is here to make sure that the district is well run we are here to double check things but at some point we got to realize that the district has a job to do and let them do their job for instance I don't know how many people went in this week to view the bills but we have a rotating cycle so that every board member gets to go in at least twice now that doesn't mean that you couldn't go in to look at something but every time four to five board members go in to look at every single bill that is not good for the district that's not oversight that's overreach right because we are going in and trying to control what the district can do Dr borer you had to point well I just think that's a little bit unfair uh board member wants to go to the trouble of looking at the bills there's nothing wrong with that the only reason to have one p the excuse me point of order you don't have the floor okay Mrs Stanley Dr borer go ahead I don't like these interruptions okay you do too much of it now if somebody wants to go in and look at a particular bill or all the bills more power to them that's fine okay the only reason we typically have one person is I don't think everybody wants to do it actually it's a timec consuming task but there you could have a thing that says everybody has to go look I don't see any problem with that uh now we have a motion on the floor I think it's is it 132 only or are we doing voting on 155 and 6421 the motion was for all but I think we need okay so one second yeah I I want to get through this we have a motion then for the three revisions and there's a second I think we can vote on that and your motion says these are all for first reading okay so I'm going to take it as if it passes we've done the first reading as for public disclosure and everything that'll be disclosed we can put it on the website there's certainly a opportunity for the public to comment at our second reading meeting in December and everything's fine if you don't like that we can say 131 is suspended with regard to 132 155 and 6421 that's that's the way you would do it normally but I think we could just go ahead and do all three so Tom I um while that's the motion I do not want to go against attorney advice it's not attorney it's it's his opinion I disagree with his opinion I don't think it's correct doesn't the person who made the motion have the right to revise that motion should she want to with there would have to be uh there's two ways to revise things you can make an amendment auor Amendment or uh you could with a motion to withdraw it uh and start over so I just want to clarify one thing um Mr dler you said the motion on the floor was these three policy revisions are being introduced as first reading correct I I would have to have read back but that's correct I mean that's I think that's basically I was stated yeah so in the minutes of the meeting what will be write that the Natasha introduced the policy revisions for first reading on November 14th if they go back on for voting next time that is considered a second reading you're so the motion unless you are saying that the language of Natasha's motion that is on the floor right now is not accurate what did we pass did we pass the first reading of the revisions today so again I I will agree with Mr forger that what I'm giving is not is an opinion that's again there was an objection on point of order the board requested my opinion I gave that that the motion in my opinion if it's considered a first reading would not comply with the intent of your policy okay but if the board passes it that's the board's will again when you P the motion then of course the reason again you have me here and I give my opinions is I don't want any motions that are passed in my view to be susceptible challenges and it's the board's will and if it passes it and it's passed as a first reading then on next agenda your board secretary will put on as a second reading yeah that's the board's decision but again I my fear is of course you ask my opinion I and my fear would be it could be susceptible if someone were challeng it not their policy okay now with regard to 155 board committees that's a that's a very good decision we used to have majority approval by the board and then at the last minute uh prior board put through this change to give up their power the board gave up its power and said only the board president can do it and that was a mistake we're just trying to correct a mistake here all right uh 6421 now we already have uh Mr jz's testimony that uh he can live with this it's not going to overburden his staff uh the difference is how you arrive at the fixed number each year we putting it in policy if you make it a percentage then the number floats every once in a while automatically I don't see a harm in having a fixed number which can be changed from time to time by the board probably at the request of the board SEC business administrator and 132 um what's 132 I forgot that's about the Mand mandatory mandated regulations mandated regulations yeah that's that's uh that's a good idea um board has visibility into these things I've discovered regulation long after they've been put into place and I was surprised uh I don't think we all have time to go fishing through the uh policy website look for new regulations there's no notice about these things they just show up I don't see any harm in having that come before the board I I didn't hear any testimony from RBA tonight I heard I heard I I see a written comment but I he hasn't opened his mouth on it AJ do do you have comments on this or or I just just curious I heard Mr Nixon I'm G to say and as I said this before um there's you had the one issue there those are GNA pop up every so often will it prohibit it will I'm G to say also that I don't do every single quote if there's a teacher or somebody else that needs something out there I'm not doing it it's not out of my office it's the responsibility of AD director or social studies teacher or whoever that may be if they're not using a co-op they're going to have to go and you know get those prices that's that's what it's going to come down to you're saying this this policy would apply to anyone who then require a item under this anybody in the district I mean the the things that fall under my opes are uh buildings and grounds uh and transportation pretty much and cafeteria as well because we need a piece of equipment same thing it sounds like there's people who are not in the room tonight who could perhaps have more work on their plate should this go forward that's what you're saying that that's very very well I did I did mention that before because one of the things I I do not uh in charge of teacher supplies so if something is going to be needed equipment or anything like that they're going to get it if they don't use a co-op so that's why I got involved with co-ops as I have thank you thank you we've had a lot of discussion on this Mrs uh Jolly would you like to amend your motion because it seems that we have a lot of questions about this that the public should have input on right as I said I am not comfortable going against the attorney recommendation um though I don't not sure if I need to amend the motion or what it would read like you know so if so I think I agree with secur that the motion as read I think the intent was it to have a first reading tonight if You' if anyone would like to make a motion to amend it I think based on what you're trying to get it's the motion would be to place the policies as you provided here tonight as amended uh on on the next agenda for first reading sure okay you would like to do that yes so why don't I go ahead and make a motion to the original motion to uh move a resolution uh to move the policy 132 155 and policy 6421 as I guess advise um 132 Revis 151 new 6421 as uh first reads on the next board meeting's agenda do we have a second thank you uh we've had enough discussion roll call vote Mr secretary this is just the vote to amend this is the vote to amend Mrs Jolly yes Miss huffnagel yes Miss Airi yes Dr forer yes Mr Heyman no Mrs Conor yes Miss Stanley Miss Bradford yes Miss Airi yes Dr forer yes motion pass so the motion is now to have this be um put on as another motion but then the first reading would be at our next regular Board of Education meeting which would be in the intent of our policy to allow the public to have time to review these uh Mrs Bradford there was no such thing as a regular meeting it's a next meeting right next meeting yeah as long as yeah I mean it says on our agenda first page regular meeting agenda seems regular to me okay Mr secretary could you read the motion then and we'll see what we're voting on I well I don't we just voted on that what we did was we had the first amendment we had the first on here we were that was the sorry so that was that was the vote to amend the resolution to make it a first reading so now this vote will be to placed on the agenda for a first reading at the next at the next meeting so we had we had a motion there originally motion orig now now now we amended that motion right so that motion is pretty much B at this point so now what we're doing is motioning to put this on the next December meeting correct the three so I should WR here policy 132 155 and 6421 revised as first reads period right no on the to be place on the December meeting and the first reading no but Mr dler didn't we say that we will vote on it and they will get on the agenda as first streets right we pass them as so right now my understanding that's why I wanted to clarify is what was just amended the board just amended the original motion which was not a first reading tonight but to place it on the December agenda as a first reading so now the board has to vote do you want to now place these as a first reading on the December agenda that's the current motion before the board Mr secretary everyone before we move on does everyone anyone have any questions about that I feel like we just did that that that was so there was a first correct so this is there was a motion to amend so you couldn't if that motion failed you then have to vote on the original motion everyone following yes okay and then what I just did on that last last resolution I put on here before that vote to amend the language and then what I just read correct yeah we had to vote to and now this this vote then is to place it on the December agenda under the policy section of first reading vote to place policy 13 32 was at 155 and 6421 as amended in the paperwor passed out and when will the second reading be out of curiosity whenever the next meeting jary okay so have yep and placed there is no such restriction as the second reading can be at a reor right okay under policy as first reading I think she's sitting right here but she will she will see them because the first reading is on December 14th there it's a wonderful invention called email I think that we can get it to her before the meeting and running through GPT actually she can't really get anything because she's not sworn in as a board member but it will be placed on the agenda and as and it'll be on the website yeah so we're going to need now a first and a second for this resolution actually there was a first oh for this one yeah I think Mrs Jolly made the first are we voting the motion's now been amended so the original first and second stand but now it's been amended so I so I move okay you want to move it I'm moving the amended resolution in a second okay Mr for Dr for was that are you seconding it yeah okay just making sure it didn't sound like you you weren't too positive okay Mrs Jolly yes Dr forer yes Mr Kiri yes Miss huffnagel yes Mr Heyman no Miss Connor yes Miss Stanley Miss Bradford no motion passes point of order I think the comment from the other member uh during the vote was improper thank you we'll move to adjourn do we have a motion to adjourn so moved thank you second Voice vote I the first Natasha Natasha have a good