##VIDEO ID:nPhzZCwdMUA## meeting schedule was sent to the Star Ledger and The Courier News and was also provided to all schools PTO presidents and bhaa president and posted at the administration building a copy was also provided to the public library and filed with the municipal court please rise for the FL salute Mr secretary may we have a roll call security Hereford here here here Mr here here here Stanley adjourn 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 New Jersey uh njsa 10 col 4-6 and whereas the 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 individual privacy collective bargaining agreements purchase or lease of real property if public interest could be adversely affected investment of public funds if public public interest could be adversely affected tactics or techniques utilized in protecting Public Safety and property pending or anticipated lit litigation attorney client privilege Personnel employment matters affecting specific perspective or current employees be it resolved that the Berkeley Heights Board of Education adjourns to Executive session to discuss matters related to student personnel and legal matters and be it further resolve that the minutes of the discussion if any of these items will be disclosed to the public when matters have been determined and confidentiality is no longer applicable may I have a motion to enter into executive session Mrs Dolly thank you second I'm sorry who seconded oh sorry thank you uh Voice vote I any opposed and the time is 6:32 okay we will e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e upo and Mrs Stanley uh Voice vote hi hi any Nays okay and the time is 830 sorry 8:28 thank you uh report of the Acting Superintendent thank you Mrs Bradford um before we move forward with a presentation from Lauren Ryan and perhaps some other members of the senior uh class regarding open campus uh I just want to announce that as part as when you look at the agenda on the superintendence report uh we will be tabling the presentation on District goals for this evening that presentation will be moved to the September uh 12th board meeting uh so at this time I'd like to invite up uh Lauren and any other members of the senior class that may have joined her hello hi good evening Mr Nix Miss Bartlett and the board of education on behalf of the student council in the class of 2025 we request that the privilege of open campus be granted to the rising seniors for the upcoming school year over our years at Governor Livingston uh in the past three oh sorry in the entirety of the Berkeley school system the staff and teachers have created a supportive and resource Rich environment that has enabled us to thrive and seek assistance when necessary we strongly believe that the class of 2025 nurtured by the positive environment has matured into intelligent and responsible young young adults consequently we are confident that the rising seniors at Governor Livingston can uphold the rules of open campus and maintain accountability this privilege will not only expand our freedoms but also Foster responsibility and a sense of Independence among the students granting US Open campus will help us lean and develop learn and develop the new and necess necess sorry UH responsibilities that come with such freedoms additionally we trust that open campus will have numerous positive benefits for the students mental health allowing us to relase stress midday when permitted to leave for lunch in the mornings not having to wake up as early and in the afternoons when we can leave and get ahead start on our homework the benefits of open campus are extensive and it is a privilege that the class 2025 has worked hard to earn therefore we kindly request that you consider our proposal for open campus recognizing its potential to Foster further academic growth and support students mental well-being we deeply appreciate and acknowledge your unwavering support for our education our community and all of our future endeavors made possible by your efforts thank you great thank you very much Lauren do any members of the if you would just hold on one second Lauren do any members of the Board of Education have any questions or comments for Lauren regarding the senior classes requests for open campus Mrs huffnagle where's the most popular place to go for lunch um probably home mom's home cooking is the best thank you you uh how long is this like how long do they go away from the campus and then come back what's the time so it it it depends um on a standard day it would be for the the lunch block which is 56 minutes um but depending on the student schedule uh wherever they have study hall they have study hall at the beginning of the day when study hall is at the end of the day and it's as if they have study hall or if study hall meets up against lunch they're able to go out during that time as well so um if somebody has study hall and that's also for 56 minutes right after they could theoretically have just about two hours two hours of a break in the middle of the day yeah it's pretty nice deal okay that's what I just wanted to know they can get a nap too yeah Mr Stanley mle day so um no I just want to thank you for coming and completing your case and New Providence is definitely in gratitude to you all guys because during lunch time it's crazy out there so thank you so much thank you any other members of the board have any questions or concerns great Lauren I think uh with that in mind you can congratulate the rest of the senior class that the PE the open campus privilege will be uh once again supported in uh the upcoming school year so nice work congratulations and thank you thank you e all right so the second portion of the superintendent report this evening will be um presentation of the New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment results um for the class of 2025 from the uh spring 20 uh 24 assessment so just a couple uh reminders about Jeremy how do I remove that from the bottom of the screen can I get that off the bottom of the screen or no everybody can see it clearly mov okay I think we're good all right thank you um so just a few quick reminders um so the state requires uh that all students take the New Jersey graduation proficiency assessment uh each year in 11th grade uh the purpose of this assessment is to measure the extent to which students are graduation ready in both language arts and math um the ELA component is designed uh is aligned with the grade 10 New Jersey student learning standards and uh the mathematics component is aligned aligned to Algebra 1 and geometry standards uh 11th grade students must demonstrate uh the proficiency on this assessment or meet an alternate pathway um as designated by the state in order to be eligible for graduation uh point to make here is that in order to be eligible to utilize one of the alternate um Pathways a student must take this assessment so before we go on to the 24 results uh remind everybody of our spring 23 results if you look over to the right there we can see that uh students in our district 11th graders in our district um were proficient demonstrating graduation Readiness and language arts at 95% rate as compared to 81% uh at the state level and in math we were proficient at an 82% uh rate as compared to 55% on the state level moving forward to our current senior class the um class of 2025 during their junior year spring of 24 uh similar you can see 218 students participated in the assessment uh on the district level 88.5% demonstrated proficiency uh in language arts and 73.4% demonstrated Proficiency in math uh compared to 81.6% in language arts for the state and 54.7% uh on the the state level in math you can see the state level in math is is far below language arts level uh in mathematics and looking at our district compared to last year vers this year uh you can see in the 2223 school year um language arts was demonstrated proficiency at a 95% rate as opposed to an 89% rate this past year and in math an 82% rate last year as opposed to a 73% passing rate this year uh one of the things that we point out with this is uh and we've spoken about this publicly before is some of the work that we've done with the class of 2025 uh based upon assessment results that we identified when they took the njsla as freshman in 2022 um we identified some concerns with uh test results for that particular cohort of students um at the time the P the identified proficiency rate for that assessment was 750 um but for comparison's sake for tonight I reran that report to set if if 725 was the cut score on the uh on the njsla so we can see how those students Grew From freshman year to junior year in regard to these assessments and you can see in language arts if we set the uh the proficiency rate to 725 from their freshman year on the njsla uh they went from 77% to 88% and in mathematics uh 69% to 73% some of the work that we've done uh with the group in particular is uh students that or or that we are doing with this group that uh just just took the assessment any student who did not demonstrate proficiency on that assessment uh will be enrolled in our senior msta program going into uh this school year the senior msta program focuses on helping students be um ready to take an additional proficiency assessment or work on the portfolio process which is the third graduation pathway uh there's also another opportunity coming up in the fall uh for students to retake uh the NJ GPA assessment in order to meet that graduation requirement Uh current Junior students uh have been also been identified for support and preparation for their NJ GPA assessment uh and have been invited to take part in the msta program um and that's through an analysis of some of the other uh data points that we have for them such as their njsla from when they were a freshman as well as how they um scored on the PSAT which we give to students as you know every year here at GL 9th 10th and 11th grade in particular uh for this particular class the the current senior class the junior class that took the NJ GPA this spring uh 46 of those students uh took part in the msta program which stands for English and math strategies applications um 46 of those students uh engaged in the program and received targeted support for English language arts and 76 students from that group uh got support for mathematics uh students from students were identified and put in both of those groups based upon not previously meeting that cut score of 725 during their freshman year on the njsla and uh if you look on the left right there you can see of the students uh that were identified as not meeting 725 as a freshman um and in language arts they enjoyed an average increase of 23.9 points on the NJ GPA and of 12 .4 points on the math portion of the NJ GPA uh but overall seeing uh the number of those students who passed um that did not demonstrate that proficiency rate was 46% in language arts and 59% in math um which we were very happy to see looking at our results by some demographics we have a three-year comparison here of female and male students uh this past year 85% of and this is combining language arts and math proficiency together uh we can see 85% for female students and 77% uh for male students this year compared to 92% last year for females and 86% for males going through some racial demographics uh this year 22 23 24 school year um our Asian population passed at a 98% rate Hispanic at 69% rate white at 81% and our black population is suppressed due to low number of students and then finally students from other categories students in free and reduced lunch passed at a 60% rate students with 504 plans uh passed at a 79% rate students from within our special education program passed at a 48% rate uh and finally overall our general education students passed uh demonstrated Proficiency in the assessment at a 96% rate are there any questions from the Board of Education Mr just just a quick one were were there any changes Rob to the test itself or the between 223 and 34 or to the to the 725 I'm thinking of something that you said I don't know specifically from the 23 to the 24 test if you look at the scores there were clearly a lot of changes uh from the test from the first year it was given in 22 in in particular one of the real interesting Dynamics from the 22 test was that male students in the area of language arts um demonstrated proficiency at a far lower rate um than female students which seemed to be a very uh you know odd Quirk of the test um appeared to be much more even uh in 23 and in 24 Mrs darly can you hear me now um so we did see a decline right for for the district um but I think the State State uh the state average state constant year over year and I know you mentioned the class of 20 2025 as a cohort is there is is that what you attribute that it's this particular class or is there other data to suggest something else is going on no I I I think I think one of the things I tried to um tried to demonstrate is like we we're actually very excited about the growth that that class demonstrated one of the tricky things about making a presentation such as this from year to year is the expectation that every class is going to be a little bit better than the class before and that and that doesn't always happen um some some classes are stronger academically than other classes are um but one of the things that we wanted to make sure that that we did was pay particular attention to how much growth we actually were able to um to see in this particular class that tested here that was one of the reasons why I thought it was important uh to demonstrate you know um how we saw growth in both language arts and math with this class from you know what they scores were a freshman year on the njsla versus what they were in the NJ GPI I think those are two very important ways to look at all standardized test scores you know you can obviously compare yourself from year to year but I think it's also very important to take a look at cohorts and see what kind of growth you get out of individual cohorts of students because they're all different uh Mrs snel didn't get it there we go so as a reminder that the 2025 cohort is the group of students that took Algebra 1 predominantly in hybrid do you think that has an impact on this but then why wouldn't we see it across this well I guess the state didn't do that year the same necessarily it it's possible of course and and I I think every District you know conducted um education in in different ways during those times um and I personally think the way we did it was was very effective um but I I think one thing that's interesting to see when you consist L look at these these test results when you see the on the state level that language arts is passing at an 81% rate and math is at a 54 and change percent rate you know there's a big disparity in how the state performs in in um in math when compared to language arts and I think if you take a look at how our district performs you would see we are the the separation between how we did in language arts from the state level versus the separation you would see on the math level actually tells you that I I tells me I believe that we're doing some very good things uh with our students in regard to math Mrs Stanley so I just just for clarity this coher this is the one we've been watching since I think fifth grade is fourth grade Okay so we've talked about this group uh a couple times since I've been here um and we've been working very very hard with them but I just say that we we are a small school right so when you have less students right you are going to see those numbers kind kind of go and EB and flow like you said because right the classes will be different right they'll be structured different you can have more special ed you could have more six-year students right like it doesn't it just depends on the year um and because we're doing such with such small numbers of students we will see more fluctuation than some of the larger schools in the state um but I also want to say that this class every admin who I've run into loves this class they think they are one of the best senior classes because they work hard and they are diligent and I just I've heard so much great things about this class so though we look at the numbers and as a as a district we need to continue to grow our numbers which is why I'm so excited for all the math um that the director of steam has brought to us um and that she's worked really well with our special education department so I'm so excited that we're moving forward with that because we know this is an area that we need to grow right we need to change because it's been years um and we need to look at it and so getting professional development for our teachers is so important um but I'm just want to remind everybody the numbers aren't everything right because when you hear the teachers and the staff and the admin talk about this class this class is going to do really amazing stuff right so it's so much more than the numbers so I just want to make sure because we have some of those classmates class kids here tonight that they are amazing and that the numbers is just going to fluctuate um and that they can still do great things absolutely and I think I think but add to that to say that we're actually very proud of their results they worked really really hard and showed tremendous growth over the course of their three years here at Governor Livingston one of the reasons why we don't take it all the way back to the beginning of that monitoring is because this class isn't built exactly the same as they were in those earlier years some of the students that left Columbia Middle School and went elsewhere for high school aren't part of that group anymore and then we've added a third of our population from Mountain Side joins that group so really trying to track and see how they've done from freshman year and how hard they've worked uh and the growth that they've shown over the course of that time was one of the important things that we wanted to make sure we highlighted any other questions Mrs kanana thank you for the presentation a a question that comes to mind is when you think of these standardized tests that they take in 11th grade basically are there any other standardized tests that are early indicators where we might want to start sooner with any kind of additional support that a class a cohort might need is are there any tests before like they get to he and we see that you know the the numbers are what they are 100% absolutely and we do that so the The Way We Run The English and math strategies applications program is that we target 11th and 12th graders in semester number one that's in order to try and give as much time as we can to 11th grade students to help them um um you know develop in areas where we've identified maybe some deficiencies over the course of that first semester in preparation for the NJ GPA which is administered in March uh that also allows us to get targeted help to seniors that haven't demonstrated proficiency yet but then second semester um we provide that targeted support to nth and tth grade students and the data we utilize is the njsla data that we have from their middle school years as well as the end uh as well as the PSAT that we have from the of their freshman year and then sophomore students we also use their freshman njsla and then freshman and sophomore PSAT so we take all of those assessments together because sometimes a student has a bad day and and you know they shouldn't be judged necessarily on one assessment we try and look at as many data points as we have available to us to try and get a picture of you know maybe it's not necessarily that the student's a bad student maybe or a struggling student maybe they don't test well so then we'll try and Target some testing techniques through the course uh to try and put them in the best position possible successful so yeah we do Target it across all grade levels and we look at every data point that we have available to us including their performance in their class I was going to say because they have I'm surely I'm sure that they have a different uh personality and performance in the classroom where it's maybe less stressful than you're sitting through a standardized test and it's like you know going through it on a Time basis absolutely Mrs Ziri oh he had Dr forer so you mentioned that you have all this other data from other tests earlier years um I going to ask you a bit of a technical question but I think you probably know is there a regression model that predicts their 11th grade score from all these test scores not clearly yet that I that I've seen I'll say this generally speaking students that we've seen demonstrate Proficiency in earlier years continue to demonstrate Proficiency in later years um this is the first year that we implemented some of these remedial strategies that we put in place to try and help some of the students that were identified earlier and early return show that we've SE that we saw pretty pretty good growth uh out of out of that group of students I think if I mean and are there generalized models I'm sure none that I can speak of off the top of my head but for me the the the more effective data is the data that we you know collect over the course of time about our students because it gives us a better idea specifically how our programming is impacting our students and supporting our student growth so you know I was excited to see this data I'm excited to see the data we have from students that we give support to next year I'm excited to see how n9th and 10th grade students who maybe didn't demonstrate Proficiency in 8th grade did on the njsla this past spring when we you know get a get a chance to dive into that data and see if we saw similar growth there lets us know if our program works or if we need to make some modifications to our program okay thank you Mr secury yeah I have a quick question um this is state level this data is available for all schools in the state based on the testing that we got it will be it so can we see like where where we saw a comparison between how Berkeley height students did in comparison with the state could we see a comparision between Berkeley Heights and New Providence Berkeley Heights and Milbourne Madison and traditionally that's that's a a presentation that we do a little bit later in the school year once all of that becomes public and compiled but I you one of the things that I did as I was looking through some of this um you know you're required to report this within 60 days good thing we had a board meeting on the f today's day 60 and so so but the benefit of that we were when we did our research online we did see that several other districts reported it out and their their presentations such as this are public so so you you you can dive in and see some of their data but it's not all put together uh cleanly just yet the report that comes from the state isn't it specific to ELA math for 11th grade it's basically available for everybody right on the New Jersey Department of fed where do you get this data from through Pearson access next so we we log in under our district and and and run the report for our district that shows how our students did but then it also tells us how our students did vers the state so the comparison can happen in the next three months or four months hopefully in the near future yes okay thank you any other questions Mr Nixon thank you very much for the presentation and we look forward to what this class is going to do in the future thank you that concludes my superintendent report thank you uh moving on to committee and liaison reports I'm going to report on the board goals uh our first goal as a board was the Board of Education will improve planning and committee structure we are still working on this and working on revising our committee structure the Board of Education will work to improve Communications both internally and externally we have piloted our uh remote access for public comments and we continue to pil pilot that the Board of Education will evaluate the CSA in a timely that was completed and we are still in the process now of looking for our next superintendent the Board of Education will promote all district goals by providing the support and resources necessary to achieve those goals and that has been postponed to a September meeting to allow the Board of Education to look at those goals and to get more stakeholder input onto our district goals at that point this year also we'll be looking at our strategic goals for our district the Board of Education will develop and Implement a plan for continuing board professional development and ongoing board training training we have a board training coming out in October and classes are continually available to Board of Education members uh do we have any other Committee in liaison reports Mrs Stanley so um I have on July 10th we had a policy meeting and these policies are on the agenda for tonight so we have policy 5755 equity and educational programs and services this will be abolished the reason for this is given by stress Esme because it's in other policies that we already have um we have policy 7610 vandalism this is revised um we have policy 7610 vandalism this one is new I'm sorry this is regulation not policy regulation 7610 vandalism this is new um then we have policy 2423 bilingual education this is a revision the policy committee talked about this in uh reference to how many different uh language is related to this multilingual bilingual um so we just had a question over that we had a question over parent committees we followed up with Mr Finley um to find out about our ESL three-year plan um and this was Rewritten in in its entirety due to all the changes that we've seen over the last couple of years regulation 2423 bilingual education was a revision again this policy was completely Rewritten due to the changes um not by us by stress asme just so everybody realizes we also have policy 24 31.4 um this is prevention and treatment of sports related concussion and head injuries this was also Rewritten because of all the changes there was a discussion about the definition of student athlete and programs we just wanted to make sure we covered um every sport not just uh The Varsity Sports and then we have regulation 24 31.4 the prevention and treatment of sports related concussions and head injuries this is also revised and completely Rewritten the last one on the agenda tonight is policy 5570 sportsmanship this is a revision we received a revision from St Esme um and we had talked about this policy at previous policy meetings and we had sent it to the athletic director um to find out if there was anything else that needed to be added and we found out that the njsiaa also had recently put out a spectator code of conduct policy that they were now asking um all districts within that group to make sure that their policy aligned so that way we can keep uh our sports games safe for everyone spectators and um players and coaches and staff and security um so we did reach out to them and we did um work together with the athletic director to make sure that we covered all our bases there so we do believe this policy is ready to go um we did discuss policy 6421 it is not on the agenda tonight this is purchases budgeted it's a new policy we have discussed this policy in the past um we are having some difficulty finding language that everyone can agree on um this policy has to do with the ba and making purchases U mostly for daily items um so we just want to make sure that we have everything correct and that we can all agree on it um and then we talked about policy um 8600 which is um the I'm sorry regulation 8600 which is transportation um that policy we also were not ready to move forward I'm sorry that regulation we were also not ready to move forward with um and we still had a lot of questions we were able Mr Nixon was able to reach out to struss Esme to get um some follow-up information so when the policy committee does finally uh meet again hopefully before our September meeting um we can discuss that a little bit further and what stress s May uh relate to us so for hopefully for tonight um we can pass these policies and we did uh have really good discussions on them so I want to thank the policy committee for that that's it thank you Mrs Stanley are there any other committee or liaison reports at this time Mrs kanana not uh a report but rather a question uh for the policy committee um this is a well this is about a policy that's not on the list but there was um there was a communication sent out last week about the cell phone policy at CMS uh and it caused a little bit of confusion because technically it's not a policy uh I'm told it's a procedure I'm I'm curious to understand there are parts of that procedure that I'm not sure are fully in our policy um there's language around search of the cell phones confiscation of the cell phones my request is if the policy committee can kind of look at that procedure that was rolled out and make sure that it's not somehow in conflict with what's in our policy because there are existing policies um to clear any confusion yeah so I mean the policy committee can definitely look and see if there was any conflict um with our current policies that's not a problem I do feel though that the word policy is a trigger especially for the board members um when I received it as a parent I knew he was talking about the handbook um because that's where the building policy comes from right and I think the reason why they call it policy is because right that even in the I received an email from Mr Kisa talking about lockers right and they have a right to search lockers and he listed where it was listed in the in the handbook right and it lists policy right and State uh statutes so um and they have to inform parents of that prior to the school year right by law right so I think I think we did you know as a board maybe get confused on that but I don't think that what um was presented to the public was uh in inaccurate right like the building does have a handbook that they have control over right we don't have control over the handbook but we can make policies that would override anything that a building would do so I definitely think that the policy committee can make sure that we didn't um override that I don't think that's a problem Mr Nixon if I could just add some additional context to that I mean since we're having the discussion what I one of the things I did as well was I went back and I shared some information with the board just B to kind of give some clarity um I shared the language that currently existed not only in the CMS handbook but also in the governor Livingston high school handbook um that's pretty extensive about those things but I also put out specifically um policies that we currently have in place policy 5770 P right of privacy and policy 5516 use of electronic communication and recording devices and if you take a look through those two policies 5770 and 5516 uh there is existing policy in place uh in in the board of education's policy guide um that supports the the communication that was put in place right there and you know I agree with Mrs Stanley I think a lot of times when when information is Compu communicated out words sometimes cross over different meanings and so sometimes people will fre really use the word policy with procedure it's our new policy for doing something whereas you think of a formal policy that the board has in place you think well we never spoke about any formal policy related to that but I think the intention of the language there is to communicate a procedure and you know each building principle has um has the obligation to manage their building and in managing their building they're supposed to be enforcing the policies of the Board of Education it's within their management purview um to communicate the ways that they enforce the policies of the board of education so I I I think that's that the um what the word I'm looking for uh just just within the the uh the language that was used I think is what may have created some of the confusion there initially so I just have a quick U followup Mr Nixon I think um we are aware of the existing policies on cell phone usage and electronic devices for recording the clarification that the board and the community would like is in specific um terms is about the language used on conf confiscation of the devices and search so I feel we have to look into student rights in terms of the devices belong to the students or the parents and honestly I love the concept of having device free electronic devices free classrooms um but I think the communication that went out spoke specifically in terms of the rights of teachers to confiscate and search an electronic device but it didn't speak about under which circumstances will that happen and also there was it was ambiguous in terms of um when will the device be returned because I think by law we have to return the device the same day because the device belongs it's a technically depends it depend there's it's yeah so experience says there's there's there's different there's different things that get involved there you can a meeting with the parent so I would really appreciate if there would be a follow-up communication sure um and it spoke specifically about electronic devices to middle school so and I know in our strategic plan we want to be uniform across all our buildings so the first question and I did ask you this in my email was is this only specific to Middle School what are we doing in children are bringing like electronic devices in Elementary School fourth grades five fifth grade so do those buildings have different policies or or are they going to be bound by the same thing and what about the high school and I would really like a follow-up communication for the entire District on the confiscation and search and under which circumstances will it apply sure thank you yeah there was a lot in there and I certainly will connect with Mr kisin and and we can send out um some information that will help clarify you know there there's a big difference when when you talk about um rights within education vers rights when you talk about law enforcement when you talk about rights of search and seizure and different things like that that was one of the reasons why within that email I shared out I shared out that link from uh the New Jersey school board's website where they give some clarity and some examples I think the one thing I would say practically speaking is you know from my experience as a building principal cell phones are locked unless we're really good at guessing numbers we're not going to be even if we confiscate a student's cell phone we're not able to put in a code and and see what they have um what we do as administrators is we have good conversations with students and you know we share the reasons why we think it's important that maybe something needs to be demonstrated to us you know Dr forer you had asked me that question in an email I gave you three scenarios from this past school year at Governor Livingston where we've had to do that and and and law supports that um you know but there's there again can it can it be you know can some clarifications be communicated to help everybody understand that you know this is this is not going to be a motion that we're trying to move forward with where we're trying to get our hands on as many student cell phones as possible and you know and invade their privacy that's that's not the gist of this here in fact I would say it's it's actually quite the opposite we're trying to protect the privacy of all the other students um students that may have you know a picture taken of them a video taken of them and you hear of some of the awful incidents that have occurred I believe it was Ocean Township High School earlier this school year where there was was it the school year before perhaps where um you know unfortunately a student took their life because they were videoed in a fight that was put all over social media and a lot of ridicule and things like that that happen as a result so really what we're trying to do here is not impede on the rights of students we're really trying to protect the rights of all the other students and create a safer space for everybody to come in school so can we can we communicate out some more details that help people understand that better absolutely and I think that's something we will do Mrs Stanley just wanted to comment to one point that the other many of the other principles have sent out their uh welcome back letters so I know just because I have a student going to Hughes right Miss nardy also sent out that all cell phones all watches need to be left in the backpack if they're not in the backpack they are either going to the front office to stay for the rest of the day or a parent can come pick it up right so this is something that our schools are dealing with right we're talking third graders who are eight nine year olds need to put their watches in their backpack right so teachers are having to struggle with this and I think that it's reasonable that our principles are taking this stand not only to protect the other students from this because they are young right I I say all the time middle schoolers they got that impulsivity right they do things that they don't think about the consequences in the future just think about the third graders like they right we're getting younger and younger so right I I think that the intent here is right to make sure that the kids are in the classroom they're safe but they're also able to pay attention and not distracted um so I'm really thankful for the principles taking this seriously and putting a strict um policy in so the the the we can focus on the right things in the school um I know it's a big change for some of us um we've gotten so used to being able to talk to our kids anytime we want um that even me as a parent I'm like wait you didn't bring your cell phone right because you get so used to being able to find out where they are and call them and text them right but in school they really need to be focused and I know I even had a parent one time when we went down into lockdown she was like do I call him do I not call him what if it makes a noise and it finds him you know and that kind of stuff right we want to prevent that right in any kind of way um and so I think it's important that we really take a stand on this and I understand the concerns um but I really am thankful that the principles are trying to get stricter with it especially now that we see it coming younger and younger Dr borer yes uh when I was in school I was not allowed to have a cell phone me either you too are right me too so I know you I know you don't need one um but I I do support the idea of reducing this to a board policy uh primarily because there are there are some Fourth Amendment issues with seizure of phones and I think if there's case law or statute that supports what we're doing then the policy can refer to that and parents can look at that and say yeah they're doing it right you know they're following their own policy um because I I did have concerns about confiscation and search uh I know there's you know there's attorney general opinion on search of lockers I haven't found anything about search of cell phones so whatever uh whatever we can do to reduce it to a board policy I think it would be good thank you any other committee reports or liaison reports okay um we're going to move on to board Communications do you want to summarize that Mr secretary uh I just want to um we have it listed in the uh agenda there there were 14 Communications there are listed there summarized with the individual names that concludes the correspondence thank you okay we have the report from the business administrator all right my report basically uh consists of items that have done with facilities uh weed application was completed around the district uh maintenance has repaired two classroom floors at woodriff school maintenance has also repaired a UR a urinal at the uh CMS uh locker room all summer cleaning is running smoothly the men are working around school and camps to complete the work the new John de lawnmower was delivered to Woodruff School CMS teachers room had a new air conditioning unit installed and wall padding was added and installed in the red gym at uh at GL by the uh staff here LED lighting up uh this install is being done in housee by Justin Rob and Tim who are doing a great job moving quickly and tackling the issues um the LED lighting update uh used always in the library has been completed uh lighting installation was started at Mountain Park the office at uh Mary Kay has been changed to LED lighting Woodruff the hallways uh has been completed the installation was quite difficult due to Limited ceiling space and piping but the job was completed at CMS hallways uh nurses office room A4 has been done and the old plenum lighting uh was removed during the process new junction boxes were installed for this new lighting the SRO and Conference office um will have the old lights removed and there uh there were electrical issues that were addressed during this process at uh GL the new uh LED lights were installed by the blue gym main floor hallway from the athletic director's office to the end of the hallway by room 118 and also the social studies hallway will be upgraded uh the window Springs project uh there was money that was provided by a grant from the state uh I believe that was started last year and that uh project at all schools has finally come to a conclusion uh exhaust fan exhaust fan project all the exhaust fans at all the schools have been completed that was also a grant that was provided by the state um those have been installed at all the schools what is remaining is the contract that needs to come back and fan balancers need to be tested and that project will finally be completed and that concludes my report thank you very much that's a lot um we're going to move on now to comments from the public on agenda items during this portion of the meeting District residents staff are invited to address the board of education on agenda items only the board re requests that individuals State their name and town of residence or School of attendance for the record all comments should be directed to the board president and depending upon the nature and complexity of the question it may or may not be answered during the meeting by the administration if so the response would occur after the public portion of this meeting has concluded although the board may not respond to all items raised during the public forum all public comments will be considered the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding Personnel manners are 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 be viable 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 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 take P comments from the public in person first and then will we go to comments online is there anyone from the public who would like to make a a a comment on agenda items thank you really want to go first but here I am um hi my name is Tracy prasini I'm a GL staff member and co-advisor of the sexuality and gender acceptance acceptance Club also known as Saga at GL I'm also a Berkeley Heights resident who cares deeply about the young people in our community thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening and thank you to miss Bradford Mrs Stanley Mr Nixon and Mr Kisa for supporting the CMS prism Club I would also like to thank Mr Heyman for his support although I understand he cannot vote on matters pertaining to Columbia Middle School I would also like to thank Miss Airi for taking the time to speak to me about it as well I was quite shocked and upset that the prism Club was not approved to become a formal Club at the June 20th board meeting and created a petition which now has over 700 Community signatures in support of establishing the club Mr Kisa obviously understands and supports the club as does Mr Nixon who has also supported the Saga Club at GL since 2016 with their recommendation and due diligence there is no reason the formal prism Club should have been voted down in my role as co-advisor of The Saga Club at GL we recently took our students on a field trip to the Montclair Pride Fest as we were leaving GL to get on the bus the students expressed great excitement about the event when we arrived I was somewhat overwhelmed with emotion as I am now as I observe the amount of unconditional love acceptance and Celebration by the thousands of people surrounding us this is something that lgbtq people should feel every day of their lives not just at a pride event this is something that our students should feel Feld every single day at school having a club like prism helps lgbtq students feel cared for and accepted it is my hope that we will be able to bring the prism students along with the Saga students to a pride event next year this is just one of the many reasons the prism Club should be solidified as a formal Club to ensure its existence going forward the prism Club was formed in January of 2021 and deserves to be recognized countless staff members have volunteered their time over these past three and a half years and the advisers should be compensated for their time it's long overdue I encourage all members of the Board of Education to support our lgbtq students and vote to make the CMS prism Club a formal Club thank you thank you [Music] there um thank you for giving me a moment to to speak my name is Ronda prusac a resident a longtime resident of Berkeley Heights and both of my kids were educated in Berkeley height schools and graduated from Columbia Middle School and from GL both of my kids were bullied at various times um at Columbia Anna G um but none more so than my youngest who um is an lgbtq kid and uh and was in fact the co-president or a co-president um um of saga at GL and um my queer kid was uh was bullied daily by other students life was a living hell for this kid um he felt that he wasn't only bullied by other kids but he was actually bullied by certain teachers and even by certain administrative um staff at the time now a few years ago and I'm sure a number of you know about this there was a zoom call in the middle of the pandemic and hundreds of students former students Town residents um uh joined into this call and many of these students including or former students including my own kid bravely got up and talked about their horrendous experiences of being bullied um and my kid in particular demanded an apology from the superintendent at the time who wasn't the superintendent when my kid was there but the superintendent gave an apology and I must say that that Mr Nixon um gave this heartfelt apology and I really felt that he had truly listened you were principal at the time that my kid was there um my kid felt that um the the the school and the the town had treated queer kids as freaks as less than human um and for a time they hadn't supported the the formal um approval of AA um which was such an important important club for these kids um kids from from 12 to 14 these kids in middle school who are questioning their identity maybe they're first developing romantic feelings possibly for somebody of the same sex they're being made fun of constantly they're bullied constantly by their peers they just need a safe space they it's not um part of a woke agenda there's nothing political about it it's about having being surrounded by um having a support system is that my time yes thank you um for hearing me out thank you good evening my name is Sophia judica and I'm a Berkeley Heights resident I'm also a current student at Carnegie melon University and I graduated from Governor Livingston in 2023 where I was the president of saga for two years I'm here to speak on behalf of the prism club's approval as an official club I'm sure as we've just heard there are many emotional appeals to why prisms should be approved and the positive mental health impacts increased empathy and awareness of students a sense of belonging are all these reasons so I won't be elaborating more on the importance of having prism as an official Club in that regard instead I'm going to explain to you why establishing prism as an official Club is a wise Financial move for the district as the board is undoubtedly aware establishing prism as an official CMS club with a stipend guarantees that prism will have an adviser regardless of contract negotiations and provides an incentive for staff members to take on the extra responsibility we're all well aware that this District has had repeated and problem increasingly large budget problems leaving the board with two choices layoff staff members or raise taxes at this point it would be incredibly difficult and detrimental to lay off more staff members if the district is over budget again meaning the district would likely be forced to raise taxes one way to help limit these budget problems could be to make prism an official Club this might not initially make sense but let me explain when I was a student at Columbia Middle School we didn't have a prism Club personally I knew many lgbtq students while I was there and seven of them decided to not attend GL and instead attend ucvts due to the hostile environment for lgbtq students that they experienced at CMS as of the 2020 2021 Academic Year the tuition that Berkeley Heights paid to ucvts students was $6,000 per year per student I was not able to find the tuition numbers for years other than this however I think it's fair to assume that it's approximately the Same by losing seven students from the CMS graduating class of 2019 to ucvts students who otherwise would have attended G had their experience at CMS been more positive caused the district to lose approximately $ 168,000 over the course of four years remember these are students who specifically chose to attend ucvts because of their poor experiences at CMS due to their identity as lgbtq students with prism active at CMS the environment surrounding lgbtq students has become more welcoming and understanding it provides a safe space that prevents these students from feeling isolated and alone by spending approximately $1,800 a year to guarantee prism the district could have saved approximately 168,000 on the CM M Class of 2019 thank you my name is Lila trigos I'm a parent of two students in the district or one now Luda trigos and I'm a Berkeley Heights resident parent of two students one who's finished in the district and one who is still in the district um and I'm continuing Sophia judica speech um which could have been used to alleviate budgeting issues elsewhere now some might argue that this class is an outlier however take a moment to consider that guaranteeing prism only costs approximately 7.5 of one single students's High School tuition over four years even if just one single student decides to attend GL rather than ucvts because of prism the district will earn the money they spent on prism back 13 times over simply put regardless of your Social or political views approving prism as an official Club is a wise budget budgetary decision if the board believes that taking the risk of not approving prism is worth the financial burden to the district then that's the choice of the members of the board however I believe as well that our members of the board were elected because our community believes in them to make the right choices for this town I hope the board members believe that as well thank you very much for your time thank you hi my name is Olivia mck I still live in Berkeley Heights and I also attended CMS GL the whole school system I grew up as a career person in berley Heights I went to Columbia myself and I think what most people know about Middle School is that it's usually a really difficult time you're trying to figure out who you are your place in the world navigating friendships and classes and I still remember very well the way that other students spoke about queer people when I was at CMS this was 10 years ago now which might seem like somewhat of a long time ago but the initial vote against the establishment of prism clearly indicates there's still a lot of pro progress to be made I always say that becoming friends with people who are openly queer completely transformed my life feeling accepted made such a difference to me and I became so much more confident and comfortable in my own skin at the end of the day this club is about providing a safe space for students and it's hard to Fathom that the board would strike this down especially in the wake of what was already mentioned David rank's post on Instagram which resulted in hundreds of stories shared on social media from students in the district experiencing homophobia and other forms of discrimination ultimately people do not want to live in a community that upholds bigotry and queer kids are going to exist regardless of the board's decision kids with queer friends are going to exist regardless of this board's decision and kids with clear family members are also going to exist regardless of this board's decision and I hope we're at the point that we can make acceptance and inclusion a priority in brookly Heights thank you thank you Helen Gaba Berkeley Heights I'm just a little confused because the saaga club here at GL has been going on for 20 years and if kids are still getting bullied on a daily basis then having such a club doesn't prevent The Bullying it would be an HIV uh problem it would be handled with HIV uh the other thing that I'm confused about was one of board member said that the reason I believe she did not want to um vote for the stipend was because the teacher did not provide a list of the activities that was going to go on when my daughters in uh Spanish and French club we get a list at the beginning of the year what they're going to be doing when they're going to be meeting uh we know know exactly what they're going to what parties the French Club is going to be celebrating what they're going to be making for food and if that's the case that this teacher did not supply that information I'm wondering why she isn't here providing the information that's are my two points thank you good evening um I'm rich mck proud father of Olivia who spoke to two ago um there from what I can see and having spent a lot of time with this there's there are a couple common themes of the board members who voted no they were unprepared they didn't realize the club at Columbia Middle School had been operating for more than three years in fact Miss Airi said as one of her questions was is this age appropriate it's been operating for over three years already um and she also asked given our our special needs population I have no idea what that means maybe she can explain it she asked whether a school psychologist has weighed in and when she was told the principal had approved it it's been operating for over two years the superintendent had approved it um that that wasn't enough to turn her vote Miss kanana by the way Miss Airi Miss kanana and Mr forager also voted against the unfiltered Club so they're three for three in voting against these two clubs Mr mccan could you just address the board president not individuals thank you sure um uh did did did miss kanana a question for the board member this the president did Miss kanana ask parents if they were going to participate in the chess club no she she didn't ask that but for some reason she asked whether parents are going to participate in the in the prism Club did she ask that about the writing Club after all those students might be W about inappropriate topics it's ridiculous Mr forager I sent an email to two weeks ago and asked him one question can you explain your reason for voting against the prism Club two weeks later I got no answer last night I sent an email to miss Jolie I asked her if we could talk I got a call at 8 8:30 this morning I appreciate your response we may not agree on everything but I appreciate the candid con conversation we had I don't know why all board members especially a board member who's running for reelection um can't answer an email in two weeks uh if he's if he's running again he should he should really consider whether he has the time to do so um I understand that um Miss Stanley and Miss Bradford voted yes we appreciate that Mr Heyman you weren't able to vote on this so I appreciate that but let's go to the research the percentage of US students reporting that their school has a GSA has more than doubled in the last decade that report was made in 2014 so from 2004 to 2014 the number of schools had a GSA club uh had doubled we're 10 years past that are we really still still debating whether this club makes sense interviews with gaca members suggest a number of benefits they help lesbian lgbtq youth find safety and numbers feel connected and empowered normalize their thoughts and feelings reclaim a sense of hope negotiate peer and romantic relationships na navigate the coming out process and play a role thank you do better tonight thank you good evening my name is Paul judica I'm a resident of Berkeley Heights and a father of one of the prior speakers Sophia jica and a father of a Rising senior atgl first I want to thank the board of education for this opportunity to speak I am here to urge the board to support the prism Club at Columbia Middle School as you know prism's purpose is to provide a safe and supportive space for students to learn about the challenges and issues facing the lgbtq community the need for a safe space is critical for students who are questioning their sexual orientation because sadly in many instances there are kids who do not find support from traditional providers many churches cogs temples mosques may not be supportive or tolerant of the lgbtq community sadly the same may even apply to some families and friends as well even in the most supportive of settings young people can still be fearful of discussing their sexual orientation because they may not be sure how the how the news will be received and if there will be any repercussions for coming out please try right now to imagine how frightening and isolating it must be for a child who believes they are alone and without any support or anyone to talk to let's look at some evidence as evidence there was a 2019 study cited by the Trevor Project that indicates that lgbtq young people are four times more likely to commit suicide than their peers four times more likely there was a 2023 survey that indicates that 41% of lgbtq young people have seriously considered suicide in the past year 41% I don't know about you but I find those numbers to be staggering and appalling there are numerous other studies that I can cite that include middle school children but I can't due to time constraints but given the gravity of these statistics it seems to me that the very least we can do the least we can do is approve the prism Club our middle schoolers are at an age where a supportive nurturing environment is crucial to their long-term emotional development voting yes to the formal formation of a prism Club at CMS is a vote for inclusion and safety as we know these are prerequisites for learning achievement and most important importantly healthy emotional development come on please vote yes thank you hi my name is Kenna I just graduated GL in June um I'm a resident of Berkeley Heights and I just wanted to put this in really simple terms and this is a little similar to what Mr judica said but if you don't want children to die you'll you'll vote on this and I'll say it again if you don't want loving caring wonderful innocent children to die you'll vote to have this club approved thank you hi my name is Ramia CER I'm a resident of Berkeley Heights um I was going to say something in support of the prism Club but I think that everyone has already made their points um and made them well so instead I'll speak again to the ethics complaint that is the subject of new business today I just want to put on the public record that there are still pending ethics claims at the O and the fact that certain of those claims in the original complaint have been dismissed have absolutely nothing to do with the validity of those claims that are still pending but really my issue is not the board member who is a subject of the ethics complaint because I think we all know that she is and will continue to be a liability on this board my issue is her Berkeley Heights Community Watch board member friends who are sitting on this board those friends that didn't do right by the community when they decimated the transportation policy and took away free busing for hazardous routes those friends that did not do right by the community when they voted no or even worse cowardly abstained from supporting hibs that were validated by our counselors and by not providing funding for the prism or the unfiltered clubs and I will note that there are board members here who voted no for unfiltered Club as well those friends who have not done right by our teachers by failing to support them during this time of transition and who have even mocked their educational credentials and those friends who have not done right by Mr Nixon by constantly undermining his recommendations and even trying to throw him under the bus when they got public backlash for their decisions and yet it is these same friends that are now going to do right by their close friend and political Ally by suggesting that we defund the ethics complaint that's currently pending but I'm not worried because even if those friends push this through we have a community here now that's watching and paying attention and I hope at every election will undo the damage that she and her friends have done thank you Bo Facey resident of Berkeley Heights um I just have a question under new business I see that the resolution to resolve the issue of funding by the board for an Ethics case brought by the board in June 2022 is back in for new business I do remember from the last meeting that this also was part of new business did we ever adjourn that meeting because I don't remember anyone coming back after executive session to adjourn the meeting and so my question is is this process appropriate according to Robert's rules because wouldn't this be considered unfinished business if it was already presented at the last meeting that's my question um because we should be following Robert's Rules so I just wanted to point that out thank you thank you Mr Marks do we have anybody online who would like to speak on uh public uh for agenda items only okay we have one hand raised hi this is uh Adam harwitz I live in Berkeley Heights can you hear me yes great uh I only have two couple quick comments um on the prism Club I think you know the prior speakers have covered everything I would want to say there I do want to say I noticed that prism club's um submission that I believe went to uh uh superintendent Nixon um was on the attachments for today's meeting um I'm assuming that means that the board uh requested that before today's meeting so they could review it I'm just curious has that ever been done for any club this year other than prism club or was this a unique process for the prism Club um my second question is a repeat of a question I asked at um one of the prior Board of Ed meetings and it is again about the ethics claims that were previously discussed um as I said last meeting last time the because on new business we don't actually have a copy of the ethics um claims that you are specifically discussing on the agenda as far as I know um I'm not sure what the details are about that ethics claim but as an attorney I again will ask you if the board saw legal advice as to any potential liability that could arise due to this um agenda item should it move forward um this is not meant as a threat against the board but it is um as an attorney uh my advice that you should speak to your attorney before you take any actions in um a legal matter without you know figuring what what possible side effects could be um I would hope you would speak to an attorney I would like to know if the board Council was already consulted on this and I think the community deserves to know whether or not um the board is following the advice of council or if they've gone Rogue thank you um I do not see any other hands raised Mr Marks is there anything else there no okay thank you all right we will close the public comment section and let's go to any answers um Mr dler do you have any answers for us on those questions the one that was probably directed to I'm not on it's probably better that way anyway um so I think the question you're probably referring to is the question on Robert's Rules so there was in last um on the last agenda if I remember correctly discussion of the ethics case uh there was no resolution brought forward and when I look at your policy I'll refer to 0164 it does have a section permitted for old business there was no resolution put forth last time again I think this is more semantics but if you want to call it old business certainly the board can uh move said item to qu Quantified as old business if you'd so desire I think it's semantics because again no resolution was introduced at last meeting prior to an ending so obviously if board member wants to put forward the resolution they certainly can do so thank you um Mr Nixon is this a unique process for prism Club I don't know that I can speak specifically to processes that superintendent followed you know prior to me um assuming this role but one of the things we did speak about last time is if the board did desire to see some of those things that was certainly something that we could do so that was the reason reason why um I shared that information and to the last questions yes um the board has sought legal advice on the ethics claims Mrs Dolly um just to um answer the question if um this was done previously for a club I think earlier this year maybe January meeting one of the January meetings or February there was a chess club proposal that came through um and it was in the attachments with the proposal from advisor Dr forer we also approved a I think it was a history Honor Society yeah well I me they're the same Mrs Stanley so I'm not positive on whether the chess club is an official club with a stien yet I think it was to uh introduce it but I'm not I'm not positive on that yeah I'm not positive on that um but I think it says something because on filter did pass without um seeing that paperwork right so I think when we talk about this um you know I wrote down what people wrote at the last meeting right and you know Miss brought up um resolution W specifically right and there was no question on X right so I think that we can see right that there was a specific intent for this particular Club but I'm going to move on from that and just say that um during public comments there was some misinformation about clubs right and how clubs are run so I just want to make sure that that is um out there that that's not necessarily accurate information but I just want to thank everybody who came out and every Berkeley Heights student and every Mountainside student who is feeling left out and feeling alone I want you to know that you have people right you just watch them stand up for you and I cannot say how proud I am of the students that we bring out of Berkeley Heights that came up and had the courage to share their personal stories and I'm just so so proud of you because I know how hard it is and um I just want to thank you and I want all our students to know that they are supported no matter what the board decides that you have a community that will support you thank you moving on in our agenda to minutes resolutions a all board members may I have a motion for resolution a all board members so moved thank you Mr Heyman a second second I'm sorry was that that Mrs Jolly thank you uh a approval of the board board minutes Mr secretary may we have a roll call vote Mr Hyman yes to all M Jolly yes to all Mr Kiri I abstained from the minutes I think they still need to be amended Dr forer I stain also Miss huffnagel I abstain from a B and G due to not attending those meetings and yes to the rest Mrs Connor yes to all Mrs Stanley I abstained from G and H only as I was not an intendance and Mrs Bradford yes to all five that would be motion passes uh I believe we have G one two three four motion would motion passes thank you moving on to adoption of policies curriculum guides and textbooks resolution a resolutions a through d all board members may I have a motion for resolution a through D all board members thank you second second okay um Mr secretary do we need a vote on this yes for a resolution because I don't see a roll call vote on the agenda here but we'll just do it I have a roll call you have it okay got it okay please roll call um Miss H Nagel yes Mrs Stanley yes Mr Kiri yes Dr forer yes Mr Heyman yes Mrs Jolly yes Mrs Connor yes Mrs Bradford yes motion passes moving on to Administration resolutions a through K all board members may I have a motion to move this forward thank you Mrs Stanley second I'll second okay I would like to make a motion to have a walk-in resolution correct um letter L letter L thank you Miss Bradford can you read it because I didn't write it down yes I will read this we're making a motion to add a letter L resolved that the Berkeley Heights Board of Education upon the recommend ation of the Acting Superintendent affirms its prior decision to approve hi case number 26499 th tph tph tph I'm just using the same letter as e correct no you're doing l no but we're using the same wording as e wording yes correct so do we have uh a second to amend this motion second the second second thank you who the first I started it but if you want to be the first you want me to be all right I'm the first she's the second so who's the second Mrs con I'm the second oh yeah so now we'll go back to our vote on resolutions a through L all board members I have a question yes Mrs kaana question on item J um I think that's the membership agreement Garden State Coalition of schools I'm just curious um if you know the benefit to the district what what is the Garden State Coalition of schools do for us on the education correct I have that uh no under admin the first one item G I have that item J yeah um the Garden State Coalition of schools is is um an organ a group that uh a coalition of schools that our district has been members of for years um there're a 32-year-old nonprofit advocacy group that seeks to provide ADV advocacy information education collegiality for over 100 member districts we Advocate effectively on our own but also in conjunction with other educational organizations always seeking most effective ways of representing Our member districts and all New Jersey students um they represent both uh school board members and superintendents on the management side of Education uh smaller and more Nimble than other organizations able to deliver precisely tailored advocacy for our members um smart and articulate helping our members make their voices heard by all available means including public testimony editorial and and acting as resources for local media Outlets that's nonpartisan uh or their only agenda is promoting public education and it's collegial we help members build sustaining relationships and emphasize Mutual support it's a it's a it's a organization that our school district has been a member of for many years Dr forer yeah do we have any information on as far as advocacy how successful they've been we also have the school advocates for us too right right I I don't have that information okay any other yes Mrs huffnagel uh I just have a question on f um the virtual remote um is it the intent for just a A covid or health emergency or would it apply to are we taking away snow that's the question I need a affirmative on that that we're not going to I don't believe we're taking away snow days thank you climate change will do that for you any other discussion Mr secretary so first we need to vote on L first and then we need to vote on a through L the motion I'm sorry add correct got it thank you oh so vote to add L we're gonna have okay Mr Stanley Mrs Connor yes Mr Kiri yes Dr forer yes Miss huffnagel yes Mr Hyman yes Mrs Jolly yes Mrs Bradford yes motion passes now the vote to approve resolutions a through L uh Mrs Stanley Mr Hyman uh I'm going to abstain on D and L and yes to everything else Mr Kiri I'm going to abstain on a yes to b it's a yes to C and um on D on D it's uh yes to 26779 and a yes to the other case except for a no to the third offender on 267 449 mkm give me a moment please thank you hold on so we have under d d you're voting uh under the approv report of Acting Superintendent it's a yes to everything ex except for no to the offender 3 267 449 mkm okay so D is an D is D is mkm oh hold on I haven't gone until it's still just D no mkm and you are yes to MP I'm a yes to the m I think as Mr dler has suggested I'm a yes to on the mkm case there were three items right Mr dler can you clarify not to go to any confidence so the mkm case there are three potential offenders Miss secury is voting no to offender number three as listed in the HIV report but yes to the other as recommended by the dist everyone hear that on sorry um so in mkm there without getting into confidence there was three alleged offenders um Mr C's vote if I understand correctly is to affirm the administration's recommendation as to offender one and two but vote no as it relates to offender number three is that right thank you I'm going I'm going to need to to differentiate that one I can email it if you want so d e is a yes yeah I think everything so I'll have an A as abstain yes b as a yes C is a yes D I have a little Aster risk about to uh formally review that and the rest rest everything else is a yes including um l so you're going to have from E to L is a yes e to K is a yes uh so the L is an appeal right so that means yes without going so L was the was an appeal that the board previously affirmed prior to the appeal and again without getting into competences that's what one of the cases the board heard in executive session I understand so how should so yes means a Yes means you affirm the administration's decision because you affirmed it at your previous meeting but prior to the appeal a no would be to reject okay so a no l is a no thank you Dr foran okay um let's see a is that abstained a is abstained yeah B B and C are yes B and C yes uh D is yes on the 26779 MP case the first one are we go are are we gonna have the same vote yeah yeah okay so I'm going to put you as as the same as well yeah and and no you know the no is the offender three e and f and g h i j are all yes K is a yes L is no Miss huffnagel yes to all Miss Jolly yes to all Mrs Conor yes to all Miss Bradford yes to all motion passes moving on to education resolutions a through T all board members resolution U Berkeley Heights only let me just check yes may I have a motion to put forward resolutions a through T all board members resolution U Berkeley Heights only so moved thank you Mrs cona a second second Mrs Jolly thank you I just have one discussion yes so I don't know if everybody saw but on the field trips the marching band is already planning on going back to St Patrick's Day Parade in New York city so I was so excited to see that that was a invitation please let us know any way we can support you in that way wait a second Mrs Jolly so um I just wanted to uh just ask a couple questions or maybe one question just around the math proposal which I am supportive of um but I think uh that um I wasn't able to you know ask Dr Curtis directly today so there um just in terms of you know how we will measure our success I know that um there was um there are you know certain metrics that are planned and I was able to see the long the short longterm medium-term goals but I think that just going forward when we flush this out a little bit more that um we kind of come up with some benchmarks which I think are there of and then kind of like targets that we want to hit whether they're quantitative or qualitative targets yes completely agree that's something that uh Dr Curtis and I spoke about as well um especially moving through and benchmarking some of those things as as we develop this plan and move forward with this plan um Dr Curtis is here Dr Curtis I didn't know if you had any additional that you wanted to add to that or thank you Dr Curtis appreciate you Dr Curtis uh toughing it out for two and a half hours to be available to answer these questions yes um yes so thank you um I I just wanted to share that I've been doing a significant amount of work all summer really doing an analysis on our performance data and looking specifically at what metrics we will be looking at as we move forward so as Mr Nixon said we are definitely looking at developing those specific targets as we move forward this SCH year I have a quick follow up sorry oh um so just so I understand the what we have on the agenda today is um it's development for the teachers it's it's sort of for them to go through a training which will then impact or change the way a classroom experience is for the students is that is that fair is that the right way to understand it yes so the training is specifically focused on best practices in mathematics instruction that supports um their success and inclusion for special education students so I think you know I spoke last time with that presentation one of the biggest pieces of feedback is we're looking for a cohesive effort amongst how we approach instruction and by bringing all the teachers together in this professional development that's going to move us towards that cohesive approach got it so are you thinking that somewhere at the end of the first marking period or a few months into the school would we be kind of seeing an update on how has this made an impact on our students in the classrooms should we expect to see like an update in the middle of the Year sure so I I along with the other administrators that go into the classroom will be consistently and continuously monitoring what's happening so there will be frequent updates thank you Mrs hle I just want to say thank you for your time today going through that um I learned a lot about the math program and I'm I'm excited to see the changes in the district so just thanks for your time great thank you Mrs Ziri yeah thank you for taking the time today um and explaining us about the program and um similar to the ask before if we can see I think we have four marking periods and if we can get periodic updates after every marking period also some of the timelines on the presentation in terms of um I think math structuring and the schedule especially at middle school if you can get back to us that would be great definitely and and I also just want to make sure that you know that we're moving together the administrative team are we're moving together on this and working together and in order to address some of those questions we definitely need to include the building principles and Mr Nixon yeah I understand and Mr Nixon has been also I would like to thank you for taking the time to explain the difference between how many hours our district students in Middle School spend with math versus the comparative districts around us and I just want to see like a 30 60 90day plan do we have a 3mon six- month and a 9mon plan to get us to where we want to be thank you thank you Dr Curtis thank you no other discussion Mr Nixon did you have a comment okay oh yes yes thank you Dr Curtis um Mr secretary roll call vote somehow I got my PES mixed up so just be with me oh sorry excuse me um let me just check to make sure we have moved this uh in education it was moved by U Mrs con and seconded by Mrs Jolly correct Mrs Conor yes to all Mrs Jolly yes to all Miss Kiri uh it's a yes to all Dr forger yes to all Miss huffnagel yes to all Mr Hyman uh yes on items a through T Mr Stanley yes Miss Bradford yes to all motion passes moving on to Personnel resolutions a through double A all board members resolutions bab through Al Berkeley Heights only let me just check to make sure we have no amendments to this yes I think that's correct may we have a motion please to move resolutions a through doublea all board members and resolutions a through Al Berkeley Heights only so moved thank you Mrs Conor I'll second it thank you Mr Jordan Mr Mr Heyman called worse any discussion Mrs huffnagel I just have a question on T I see that we've got I lost count but maybe about five or six um extra periods specifically around social studies at the high school would that imply that we probably are short a social studies teacher we ar we aren't short it's it's to cover a short-term lead replacement got it thank you Dr forer see on X the summer curriculum writing when would these new guides uh be used is that for the this coming year yes okay and on the uh Library liaison I'm going to I'm going to have to vote no on that because we're not required to actually send anybody to that we we can we can we can do it but we don't need to any anybody and it cost us money Dr Dr for you had shared that earlier today and I I I looked up some of the same information where in the specific information does is it is it a matter of inter interpretation of the language that we're not required to send the way I'm just asking because the way I read it it reads differently and I know the perspective of the library is different so I want to understand your full perspective okay yeah um certainly uh the law says uh you are the superintendent is a member or a trustee of the board it does not say you have to go to any their meetings It also says uh you can appoint a substitute and then that person can go and vote uh but it does it says you may appoint you don't have to appoint so if we just El it as you are the liaison and like most other superintendent never go we satisfy the law you're the liaison you're the member you just don't have to go just to add some historical context my my understanding is that historically our district has always sent a representative to be a of this so I I understand that interpretation I'm just adding some historical context to it as well so Mrs Ziri yeah so based on the same law I think the mayor is also on the same Library trustee or the board but I think sometimes they appoint a substitute who also doesn't go and my key question is what's the value ad because these meetings are on Zoom the minutes are up there um what exactly are is it is in it for the district for spending this money can this money not be spent on something else for the students because it's attending a meeting you can attend it remotely it's not mandatory that somebody has to go and attend and if you look go back to many years since the district has been spending this money we we don't get any updates and what are the how how valuable are these updates for the students that's the key here so if this whatever this type in money the dollars are can be put towards an actual classroom need or a staff need I think that would be great that's my opinion I make one one not go ahead D yes um you want to go first you go round the horn Mrs Conor okay um sorry scroll little I have a question on um it's great to see that we are adding bus drivers to the district roster so that actually um makes me feel good about our transportation plan I'm curious I think we have um four on the agenda we adding two does that mean we are sort of at at a full roster for our our bus drivers yes that's correct and that would um support the transportation routes that are on the agenda today yes now we're just looking for substitutes as well okay round that out further perfect that's we are fully staffed this will make us fully staffed fully staffed okay that's what I wanted to confirm um I also want to address item I think it's item Al on the agenda a lot of you know uh the community members have spoken about the prism club and I want to just clarify um and this was explaining my point of view or sharing my point of view I think the the first time this agenda item U was in the meeting beyond what was on the uh agenda there was no other information provided since then we have information uh being provided to the board members there has been some back and forth and the concerns that I raised in the last meeting I still have those concerns um I think somebody was talking about you know why is this not a problem with the chess club or the writing Club I understand the reason Why students are wanting a club like this and I fully support it but what bothers me is I don't see enough parental involvement this is an age where students are are figuring things out themselves as everybody has noted I agree not having a parent involved in this process is a concern um I tried to figure out what mountain side is doing and I I don't think mountain side has such a structure in there their Middle School uh I would have loved to kind of see you know how are they going about it given that they are you know a community right next door students are inl uh so it's it's not an ideological difference it's not a political difference but my concern is everything that has been said I understand uh the the point of it being a safe space to the students I think it's important but I I have concerns about parents not being involved in these sensitive conversations at an age where uh children are just figuring things out themselves uh I still have the concern I did ask those questions to the administration um and I haven't really heard um heard a response that gives me the confidence that the parents are um involved in this I'll Mr hman I'll just note um msai does not have anything specifically in place uh currently uh did have a great conversation with Tracy and and we're we're going to get something moving here just just to at least open dialogue with the administration to to put that in place so um I thank her for for her suggestions and obviously can't vote but you know how I would if I could um I just want to also thank an Clifton uh I know we're it's not new news that that she's uh retiring I wanted to wish her well in retirement uh as head of the Athletics committee uh she's put up with us she's been patient I think um the body of work in terms of performance on the field in courts speaks for itself uh and you she's done great work and and just wanted to wish her well and acknowledge that tonight uh yes Mrs Stanley and then Mrs uh Airi so I also want to just thank Anne Clifton for everything she's done she really is right so special and and we've talked about how she's made the students feel just so special and she remembers all their stats and and and it's incredible that she can even remember that she's highly involved and I we are going to miss her uh dearly but I also wanted to uh shout out to Samantha oats who worked in the business office I've really enjoyed working with her and she's going to be missed we're also losing Kelly shean Kelly shean is a resident of Berkeley height she's walked the streets of Berkeley Heights to find the distances and I just I just thank her so much and a huge loss for our district and I I I just want to thank her for everything she's done um she was a big part of getting these new bus drivers in place for this year for getting us to the pay raise for them to get new bus drivers so she is a treasure for Berkeley Heights and we are going to miss her dearly um I also wanted to congratulate U Mrs bonoko our bonacore bonor bonor for the head Cheerleading Coach I can't wait to see what you do with these girls this year um it's a I also wanted to congratulate um the unfiltered and diversity Club at CMS they have two new uh advisors and I'm excited to see them on there tonight and I wanted to congratulate and thank uh Pampa willinski for stepping up for our uh director our teacher of steam and the gifted program um we have been looking for someone for a few months and I really appreciate her stepping up for that because we were we were tapping a lot of well we I wasn't but the district was tapping on a lot of shoulder so I thank her for that and then also I want to thank everyone that's stepped up to do the open S Edge us uh training this is not just training in our district I believe they actually travel uh celebrity Science Center and stuff like that so it takes a lot for them to do this and I want to thank them for um putting in the effort and the time to learn this and and bring it to our students and again um the prism club right this is this is about supporting students of every gender who feel like they need a safe space right and um when you see the uh plan for what it is right that is what it is right this it's student run all clubs are student run um and the adviser is there just to help them make it happen and um the students come with the activities they want to do and the students come with um ways to involve other students in lunch programs and and have a table at the diversity um days and I think that we don't have the same questions about other clubs and I think that some of that is just out of fear and um I I I hope that we can realize that this is about safe places this is about supporting the kids it's about making sure children don't die right because they don't feel welcome in their school right we are a public school no matter if we agree with someone or not and their lifestyle or not we have to support them and give them a safe place to come and be educated that's our goal as public education right what is public education it's to educate all of our children no no matter what no matter their background right that they get a public education and we do so in a safe space and so I urge and I beg you guys to listen to the community but to really think of the students this is about supporting them and giving them a space and it's again it's student run right this is not District run this is not teacher run this is not advisor run this is student Le thank you okay I would like to speak in support of Z the appointment of a district leader zon to the library the board of education is trying to develop better relationships with our Town Council we have a new head librarian there Amy and I know as an educator in Berkeley Heights for 22 years when classrooms did uh big projects where we needed a lot of books we were able to share books between schools if we were able to um shuffle them back and forth but also our town Public Library was a huge resource to us and being able to rely on them and let them know what um activities and projects are coming up would be a very valuable thing to have and it Lea on with our public library in collaboration with our um uh realignment with our town hall and making sure that Our Town Council and the public and our Board of Education um are communicating would be an advantageous thing for our Board of Education to have that person okay other comments Mr secretary we have a motion and we have a second roll call please Mrs Conor yes to all Mr Hyman um yes on items a through doublea Mr Kiri it's a yes to all except Z and that's a no to Z yes Dr forer uh yes to all except no on Z Miss huffnagel yes to all Miss Jolie yes to all Miss Stanley yes to all Miss Bradford yes to all motion passes we are moving on to business is is I I noticed that there's a mo there's there's an appointment there but I don't see a roll call after it or uh the title I'm sorry for which one is am I missing something there there's there's an appointment for the uh but there's no roll call after correct oh oh it's okay uh approve appointment we're missing a roll call for that one okay so approve appointment this is res resolution a all board members may I have a motion to move this resolution a forward so moved that was Mrs huffnagle thank you second and Mr Heyman thank you any discussion you want me to you want me to just St the assistant superintendent is traditionally um the person who is our affirmative action officer and title N9 officer but we needed to wait for our interim assistant superintendent to be appointed before we could appoint him to these positions so that's why it's on here in the order that it is understood and um Mrs Ziri yeah I went to I think thanks to the board for allowing us to go to a legal Forum I think I went there there was an extended presentation on Title 9 and the need for public schools to have a title 9 officer so I came back and I think with it was within two weeks of what our annual appointments so I shared the presentation with Mr Nixon and I asked like do we have to appoint one and I'm happy to see this on here any other discussion Mr secretary uh roll call please miss huffnagel yes Mr Heyman yes Mr Kiri yes Dr forer yes Miss Jolie yes Miss Connor yes Miss Stanley and Miss Bradford yes motion passes sorry I got out of order there we're going on to business now and at this point um we do have two walk-on resolutions M and N so do we have a motion to put forward these two walk-on resolutions M through n and for the public they were out on the table is this so more second so Mrs cona is moving moving to have M and N added to this business and I'm sorry Mrs Jolly did you second I second thank you do we have any discussion on resolution items a through n all board members and resolu sorry resolutions J through L Berkeley Heights only is that correct no yeah I have a yes okay m con um I have two questions um so I guess thank you to fiser for Their donation item K do we know what these funds would be used for what's that th F donation uh it should be listed in there it's not specific as to what will be what will These funds be used for so I asked Mr kabisa he's the one that solicited the the thing and he had something similar or something similar last year and he had a different tact or what he used the money for so I it be just good to know what what the the plan for this donation is uh and the second question is item I think it's item L uh the Woodruff project do we have an approximate cost for that project um their estimate is somewhere around 200,000 but it' have to go out to bid that's just their estimates they'd have to go out to Bid And whatever the money you know comes back bids come back and they would have to be approved by the board got that's just their estimates Mrs Stanley so I I just want to say that for the fither donation again thank you so much but I remember Kisa last year it was a surprise um what he was going to do with the money because he was surprising teachers and students um so I do think that's on his agenda again this year I know a lot of it was spent on you know t-shirts and prizes for the teachers and decorating their classrooms and um stuff like that so I I'm just gonna say that I think it's part of his you know initiative to get everybody excited and that he tries to keep it on the down low just for that um but yeah uh Mrs Dolly and I attended the F serve final project for the students at um fifth grade students I believe it was it was amazing to see and we are very appreciative of the F serve support of our school district and we thank them as a a community partner Dr porer yeah I just I just want to ask what is this uh woodrift toilet project what are they doing one um it's it's adding a a bathroom to two of the classrooms that they will need in order to support the number of sections of it's pre preschool correct yes of of preschool that we're going to need it's this way our classrooms are comped so uh just to follow up I think when we redistricted and reconfig during the reconfiguration there was $300,000 spent for toilets I think it was a total of half a million I think there were two toilets added or we needed for the reconfiguration at mkm and Woodruff and that was just like 3 years ago so this is in addition to those so at that time also there were um I think would originally had bathrooms in the classrooms but then they were not they were closed down when it was it went back from first grade to fifth fifth grade from I think moved to like a second grade to fifth grade classroom and then because we had to redo them it was 300 ,000 not just not just three years ago so when we when we hear the price tag of 200,000 and this is coming from an adequacy project I guess Mr jovic other other project so I would love to see which like did we we already added bathrooms just three years ago that was 300,000 now it's 200,000 what is it if you could give us some more clarity and I I would have asked there was the agend got amended so many times and you know it's a packed agenda so of course I'm happy to get those specifics where I don't have those specifics thank you I thought we had all the uh preschool at mkm though so we're adding preschool to woodr okay any other discussion yes Mrs Dolly so um unsurprisingly I'm going to address and talk about the um the resolution the resolution regarding the ethics complaint um so there have been um just a number of folks who've come out and said well you know you're doing this to benefit your personal friend um so just going back in history a little bit um when I started coming to the board meetings it was in May that the original um resolution was passed um by the board and that was maybe the third time I had seen Mrs Akira because i' had only started going to the board meetings in March and having said that um I you know was vocal about the uh what happened in part because you have a board attorney um going against and you know U with a legal matter against one of a member of the board it made no sense to me I know I'm not an attorney and maybe legally it's allowed but I had spoken up against this going back two over two years ago so it's not because I've you know formed this close person Bond I'd say maybe we're more like Facebook friends but we've never been to each other's houses um for dinner our husbands haven't met so I don't know why everyone keeps saying we're close personal friends but that's neither here nor there the reason why I am I guess supportive of this in part it's because it's been over two years since this case um you know kind of was initiated and and it's still unresolved we don't know when it's going to be resolved and in my mind it is just a waste of time and money re you know behaviors really haven't changed and while I agree with Miss casturi there is um certain uh the counts that did progress to O they were all related to one incident um so then you know again the reason why I guess I am supporting this is that as I mentioned the the the the use of you know the waste of I guess of resources right and still to no resolution Mrs Airi was on the board then she was off the board now she's on the board again you know at some point you know it it it needs to end and I and I this doesn't do anything for our students I don't think this doesn't do anything to you know um promote student achievement other than use District funds um so I think that no one wins in this right I know we're saying like oh someone's benefiting but I think both parties have been harmed and and I think as we are in our search for our new superintendent I think it would be a great thing not to have a board that is um fighting each other especially in a case that is um so dated having said that also um while there um you know and I think maybe Mr dler can just confirm but in passing this resolution um if the board so chooses and again this is just my own personal opinion um doesn't prevent one party from pursuing this matter on their own so I just think it's the right thing to do like I'm not doing this to benefit anybody I just think it's the right thing to do to not to not use District dollars to pursue this case that is now over two years old Mr Heyman just quick uh two quick comments just on on M uh first I I'll be voting no to that I just I I think um it's probably unnecessary at this point I do think um it's it warrants uh further discussion at at the Personnel sorry at the um policy committee level to just get this right because it uh I think we should we should tighten up uh our our policies as it relates to uh virtual uh participation uh for for for board members uh in all meetings for n uh my my vote will will also be no to this and a lot of it is just that I I um to me that yes it's been several years it doesn't change uh my opinion from two years ago uh it doesn't excuse the behaviors from two years ago and personal opinion uh with with all apologies is that I I I do think uh it it triggers additional liability just my opinion uh against potentially the board and individual members and so um I I that's that's where I stand on it Mrs Dolly sure just uh one other comment I think we by sitting on the board we open ourselves up right because we can't really control what the community does and no one's ever going to agree with all of our decisions um so I I don't necessarily want to make this decision in terms of fear of what somebody's going to to do because any decision we make you know could trigger somebody who's really unhappy and you know so I think by the very nature of the fact that we sit here and that's why I you know as as a board member would never um you know file like that that's a promise I made to myself because I know how hard everybody works and we obviously don't agree on some things but it's not something that um I think is worth uh the district's money and time this is up thank I Echo a lot of what Mrs Jolly said um I feel like we're spending resources both people and money on something that's not benefiting the students um you know how much time have we spent just talking about it when we could be talking about the new math program that's coming on board and how excited we are for that and um I so so that's one area of it I also think by having this case kind of looming over the board I don't think it helps us to work collaborative and if we can set it aside I don't I don't want to talk about whether I agree with it or disagree with it that's not for me to decide um but we need to come together as a board and work collaboratively and I think that gets hindered by having an Ethics case kind of looming over the the the the board um I will be voting no also on n and M same reason for um Mr uh Heyman on M I think we could send that to policy and tighten it up there uh for N I don't think it's the prerogative of one board to nullify what a previous board has done for valid reasons that is going forward uh within our system of Ethics so I do not think it is the responsibility of this board to nullify what has been passed by another board any other discussion okay um sorry is it just oh sorry go ahead I just want to say a word about M on the remote access it's it's a limited uh thing applies only to superintendent search and we you know it it's good to get some experience with it I think it might guide us in formulating a more complete policy but I think it's good to have it at this time Mrs uh Stanley so the problem with M it um just for the those that don't have the paper it it talks about approve uh remote access so it says whereas the Berkeley Heights Board of Education in accordance with the njsa 10-4 col uh sorry colon 4-8 hereby allows board members and candidates for the superintendent of school position to appear remotely during executive session to participate in any business related to the 20124 superintendent search process being led by the New Jersey school boards Association so my my position on this is that because we have no policy guiding um us right by adding this resolution without having policy right it's it's opening us up to um issues it's I also believe that um we're talking about very confidential information in these um sessions and I think that by not having any parameters in a policy I think that is definitely a problem for me so I will also be voting no can I just I'm sorry I was just gonna um tack on tack on to to that just to say that I in theory I do approve of remote access I just don't approve of uh the language specifically or the need right now for for m i I think we we need to get the language right and therefore be more efficient to just let's get it right on high for going forward above and beyond just the specific superintendent search just want to clarify um Mrs Jo I know you had your hand up but also Mrs con so on um on resolution M it's it's interesting because I I could apply the same logic we've actually had one meeting where two board members did participate through uh you know remote participation they logged in virtually we don't have any policy that explicitly allows that uh it was done um actually without any discussion of us as a board it was just done so this resolution that's here it's an acknowledgment that all of us want to work together all of us want to have a successful superintendent search so the more opportunity that we afford each other to participate in the search to um you know listen and and and move the process along I think it's only for the benefit of the district so I totally understand the requirement of the policy and this resolution in my mind does not take away the requirement that we need from a policy standpoint to Define it but in my mind this resolution does actually give us the ability to continue working collaboratively together and use you know I mean we in 2024 if people can for whatever reason um join a meeting in person this gives us the ability the confidence that we all are able to join using a remote access mechanism obviously this is for the superintendent search this is not a broad resolution that will allow anybody to join uh a meeting or a session that is not related to the superintendent search so that I'm I'm in support of having a channel that allows more people to participate Mrs Dolly um yeah so I think with respect to um resolution M um I think that I agree we need to bring it to policy to get the right policy but also from a timing perspective you know because policies go through first reading and then you know second reading that in the midst of the superintendent search just to have something specific that specifically pertains to that process um is not a bad idea if we could get the policy done you know quickly you know then I think that would be the best way to go but in since we don't have that I think this is a good thing to do and um Mr dler yeah Mr dler is here so I think I checked with you um Mrs Bradford I think it's been over three and a half weeks since we started the njsba search I I've been emailing you based on the advice from njsba number one um that can the board me can board members because it's summer can we attend remotely these superintendent search process interviews in exec session uh we've never got an email back from you you've never got a response there were multiple follow-ups and then when we asked for specific legal opinion and if Mr dler can chime in and say our district policy does not particularly prevent us from remote access hence it was allowed so I don't understand how how is it okay that we allowed remote access because our policy doesn't prevent a board member from ending we're not talking about voting remotely this is just for superintendent search and it's for exec session access so I think this is pretty straightforward it is basically covering the district from an open public meetings act perspective and if we are all wanting to move forward with the superintendent search which who we dearly need then I think we should all be voting in favor of it thank you for Mr dler comments Mrs Stanley so I disagree um so M right the remote access I actually feel like the other day we we worked very collaboratively to come up with a plan for remote access we worked together on that plan um so we did discuss it even if you didn't receive an email we did discuss it and we discussed it in depth um and we also put parameters right this has no parameters it doesn't say if you count towards the Quorum right and that I think makes a big difference which is why I think it's different than what we what we discussed previously collaboratively and I feel like this is actually not collaborative because it wasn't shared with me prior to the meeting um and I think right this is trying to give more access than what we discussed together right so I do think that this is different right we're we don't have a parameter of whether it's a quorum right are we gonna have one person open the meeting in public and then everyone else is remote right like we don't have anything listed here for that kind of stuff and that's why it's important right and I know that it might seem like we're just like saying no but we have a reason to say no and we did say yes the other night because we have parameters and it was specific right and so I think that that's the difference I I just have one one one point to clarify we have other policies that specifically call out the Quorum that's required to start a meeting before we get into an exact session we always come here we start the meeting we make an announcement that we are going into exec session we cannot just automatically just come into the exec session and say now we have Quorum I I I just cannot imagine a scenario how we would be able to do that because we need to come here physically we need to come here and start the meeting uh put the resolution on to say we are going to exact session and then we go there so theum is so the Quorum has to be here yeah yeah for us to start a meeting yeah in my experience this is my second year on the board I have not seen a meeting where we went directly into exact session without actually coming here going through the motions of actually starting a meeting okay m is Stanley Sor this is this will be my last comment um so again this doesn't specifically say that you have to be present and our policy doesn't say you have to be present which is what we have discussed multiple times right that our policy is very vague in this area which is why we need to work on it um so this is vague and I don't know right it says exact session so we're just starting exact session here why couldn't you be part of the Quorum that's one and two I believe we virtually closed the meeting the other day right because we didn't have a quorum and you guys made that decision and I agree with that decision but it was used so the idea that this can't be used that way is incorrect and Mr dler so I think we talked about it brief in executive session while ask you the question about what my opinion is so I think it's clear at least in my opinion under the open public meetings act that defines what a meeting is including electronic communication obviously I think under the open public meetings act they didn't Envision a pandemic and then zoom and how that area exploded but I think clearly electronic communication for years board members have been able to come in Via uh telephone conference things like that so A lot of times what we do into laws we take how it was used previously and update to new technology so telephone call telephone conferences have generally been allowed that does not mean of course that you as a board even though something is allowed by way of policy can't limit that right so I think we talked about how it certainly I feel if the board is going to consider doing this in a more broad function that at least it go through the policy committee and the policy committee can say we don't want any remote access we want the broadest possible definition or and we talked about around the state a lot of boards are doing different things creative things to ma match what works best for them um so that's generally speaking as for the resolution I don't I don't take any opinion as whether the board should or shouldn't pass pass it um if you think it's needed for this situation that's certainly up to the board if you don't then you know I'm happy to walk you through what that looks like if you don't okay Mr secretary I think we're ready for a roll call vote and this is the roll call is to add M and N to the business agenda yes that's Mrs Connor yes to all Miss Jolly yes Miss Airi Miss Stewart all I accuse myself from uh n and so you're abstaining from n i accuse myself from M Dr forer yes to all Mr up Nagel yes to all Mr Hyman no to both Miss Stanley are we just talking about adding the two yes okay I just want to confirm uh I'm going to say no to M and abstain from n and Miss Bradford uh no to N&M now we're going to have a roll call vote oh s we sorry we need the results sorry and that would be motion passes so now we need to have a roll call vote on items uh resolutions a through n all board members and resolutions J through L Berkeley Heights only so may I have another motion so move second thank you Mrs jolly and Mrs Conor and Mr secretary we need a roll call vote on resolutions a through n and resolutions J through L berley hides only Mrs Jolly okay um going to actually not vote Yes on M um and hoping that our agreement will hold um from our uh discussions and uh yes to everything else so you voting no on M yes and yes to everything else Mrs Conor yes to all Mr Ki it's yes to all I recuse myself from n n n Dr forer yes to all Miss H Nagel yes to all Mr Heyman I'm a yes on items a through I and a no to &n Mrs Stanley I am a yes from a through L I am a no for M and on N due to claims surrounding this matter and additive of abundance of caution I'm going to abstain in this matter because I was the scri scrier on this case Mrs Bradford uh yes a through L and no on n and M we have exension two exensions two six just see for well everything everything is passes M does not pass because it's a 44 tie thank you we're moving on to finance this is resolutions a through D all board members may I have a motion to move resolutions a through D all board members so moved thank you Mrs Stanley second second thank you Mrs huffnagle discussion a question yes sorry so um it's a question that I had sent to Mr jtz um but and he he said he may not be able to get it um here in time um and just for the public um I am uh asking about the uh board secretary's report um so specifically um page five of uh the board secretary's report not sure exactly the attach attachment to attachment s okay um so this is the page that um I've looked at before where as of fiscal year end um that shows our original budget our transfers our adjusted budget our expenditures and cences and then what available meaning monies that we are not predicted to spend so um as of the May 31st report um there was um 1.87 million um accounting for the transfer back to Capital reserves as of June 30th um of this year there's 2.6 million so that means we in a month of of June we were not able to spend 1.4 million that we thought we were going to spend because it was embedded in incumbrances um and so the question and I appreciate that the answer is not available because it takes some research but um you know there was uh you know those increases came from uh total regular programs instruction special education um uh from Total uh expenditures operation maintenance and um one one other line item so I guess the question um that is outstanding for me is to understand why you know we have such a large swing um month over month like you expect some variance but it was like a 1.4 million increase like so we basically did not spend 1.4 million which you know um I guess wanting to understand then how that money will be kind of moving forward into our new uh fiscal year and as I told you I don't have people in my office by myself and I won't have that till next meeting or next week so then from because I don't want to vote no on it because I don't have the information with the appropriate action then be just to maybe table this particular item um until next time so when we do have the answers we can kind of discuss it and then push it through then if you want to table it if you want to vote no whatever you like to do I I would like to make a motion to table um to table uh item D in finance I oh sorry it's not g it's um it's the board secretary's report it's Item B I ask a table just to the next meeting yeah and to give Mr jessco it's time to uh you know look at it and get some answers I just have a follow-up question if the board secretary report has opened questions then that will impact the June transfers which is item C [Music] so because of the open questions on how much are we transferring so technically we should table both B and C because they're interrelated it's up to you yeah I I'm I'm I I'm really just focused on this I'd like to understand this number here it's just it's a very large swing Mrs snel I second that motion to table it till next meeting discussion uh Mr jtz what would that do if that is not approved um honestly I don't know I know that the um County office needs the certification um I don't know I've never been in this situation I'd have to ask the county office Dr forer um yeah I I wish I knew a little bit more but there's a QC requirement to approve uh certain reports reports within 60 days I don't know if if the this particular report is under that though okay well I I don't want to do anything to jeopardize our a SES I just wanted to it's 60 days so we are meeting I think our next the report is as of the 30th it's June yeah but we're voting on it today which is yeah but but but if we table it right so and that's so can not be added to the special meetings that we have as an agenda item because by then next meeting we don't have a special meeting next one is is the 12th of September oh no we have okay so you can add to the agenda was nothing stopping it's it's a it's a board meeting we're all meeting we're opening up in public and do we have a meeting on September 26 no August August 26 yeah do we have that Mr JZ no it's it's we're interviewing superintendent which should be the only thing we're doing that night since that seems to be the most important thing how about this um my guess is that um the numbers aren't going to change on this report um it's more that the explanation of them so I there's a motion on the T um on the table to table this if I can and it was seconded so we can um vote that down and then proceed to the vote or do you want to withdraw the mo I can withdraw as well I think we have to wot because she because she second it she second it okay all right so we're going to take a vote to table um under Finance resolution B so notion a motion to withdraw the rules you can right's Motion in a second at this point yes so so the motion to table no okay so Mr Jess squids okay um Mrs Jolly no Miss huo no Miss Kiri no Dr forer No Mr Heyman no Mrs Connor no Mrs stanle Mrs Bradford no motion fails okay so we are going to move ahead with resolutions a through D all board members and oh I'm sorry yes Mrs Stanley so I just wan to um on the attachment when you look there's um a check journal and we have um 55748 98 um that is is outstanding um because we have not paid these checks um so we're canceling these checks um and there's a list there so everyone can see it but some of the people that we have not paid yet is a consulting firm um attorneys the Berkeley Heights Police Department um the class three officers um and so it's it's it's just really disheartening um because these are services that have already been rendered um so for instance we owe the township of Berkeley Heights for Theo's security work we owe 25,800 5088 and for graduation security I think this is both for CMS and GL um we owe $1,440 um I would really appreciate if this board can move forward I think we've heard you we've you've made your point and now we need to pay our bills um because I do believe we are putting ourselves uh in Jeopardy right because these are services rendered um and I know that there were lots of questions but I do believe that the staff and the admin have done everything they can to get you as much answers as possible um and I just want us to try to get this ready for the September meeting so we can get these paid um and you have to remember I think all of this is from the previous billing year correct yeah those checks were canceled due to the fact that they order to tell us that stale data checks if we need to put those back on uh Miss Bon Giovani asked that if there's any corrections that need to be made she doesn't want to cancel them reissue them cancel them reissue them if there's any issues um bring them forth we'll correct them uh and REO and we'll put them on the next po list thank you okay uh Mrs Connor Mrs Connor um so just just um little bit more detail on the on the numbers that um Pamela just um rattled out I think I want to highlight one of them is a check sent by the township for a meeting that um it's unclear if anybody from the board ever participated um we have no evidence of that happening as far as I can tell from all of the emails that I have seen uh another one of those bills is for a consultant um the meeting happened without board approval meaning the the board had already paid the consultants for the contract that was approved after that there was a meeting that was held um there was no formal deliverable or a report that came back to the board um so that is the second bill um on the on the charges for the um s leo3 officers I think that is an open question um and I don't know to what extent I can talk about the open questions here in this meeting okay okay noted so I think I I just want to make sure that if there's a narrative that we are not paying the bills for the sake of not paying the bills um that is just that it is a narrative when the board chooses to hire a consultant we go through a formal process where we get a contract where it's approved by the board as far as I know the board does not have some sort of a running tab with a particular consultant where we can continue to have meetings without go that going through a formal process where the board approves and then we have the conversation or or a meeting or a service is delivered so I'm just um I'm just curious and do you have and these questions have been already you know we've had it back and forth on email to clarify some of these questions um so I don't think we could meet as a finance committee to go through some of these just given the timing uh but happy to meet happy to discuss what is the path forward uh I can just answer that Mrs Penna the past president did attend that meeting with the mayor and with Mrs Dr vley and with Dr vley uh Mrs Stanley so just to make sure that the information um is clear um the consultant the developer the Berkeley Heights developer that's only $200 um and then when we talk about the transportation consultant the board did approve the transportation consultant and the transportation department made the decision to bring them back in and again they are allowed to do that with the funds in their account which is what they did and that has been stated many times it's in many many emails um so I do believe we have received answers on that and that's what the transportation department decided to do because they felt it was so important for us to get all the information that we were asking and I truly appreciate that because I think right Mr Nixon um and the police department and myself we learned so much not just about the the transportation that did not pass but also about things we can do in the future with Mountain Avenue to improve it for for our students and for even our residents um so I know that our uh our police officers were already saying that they were trying to work with Union County to get better signage around Mary Kay and they're trying to get that walkway uh across Timber you know better signage and we have offered to any way we can help right because that's what we want we want our students to have safe routes to school so again right I think these questions have been answered but at some point right we owe these people money right and and again the transportation consultant is $1,050 and we are talking about what did I say $55,000 from last year's budget right I do believe if we go to the auditor I mean I don't know what happens with that either right so I do want to make sure that we are not putting ourselves in Jeopardy to owe Millions because we didn't pay somebody and I want people to come and work with us in the future I just have a followup uh my understanding is that the original contract that we had with the Consultants was want say $122,000 and those $122,000 have been paid to them through the work that they did late 2023 early 2024 I'd have to look at that I don't have that information in front of me is that a yes did you that that's that's a yes I recall check looking at the B we did we did look through the bills and the agreement that we had in the contract we already did pay them thank you so the question I have regarding that meeting that occurred would that meeting have occurred had the policy passed meaning that this meeting occurred after um the initial vote on the transportation policy so my question is would that meeting have occurred if the policy is passed if the policy passed because I feel like all the folks that were in attendance at that meeting supported the policy to begin with so I don't you know so to the fact that you know the meeting was called to give us information you know I personally speaking I knew I wasn't going to get the information that I wanted at that meeting I don't know how you could not because I had asked the initial question and they could not provide what I initially wanted but regardless I'm just saying that the the meeting would not have happened if that policy had passed so um so if there was additional information to be gained from going to this meeting maybe in order to you know for the folks that were there to you know maybe gain some information to push the policy along I I don't know exactly why that meeting was called the transportation consultant called that for the additional information so the transportation director sorry Transportation director correct Mrs Ziri so on on the meeting that um that happened where we called the trans portion consultant we don't have an so as a publicly funded School District we're using public funds we all were elected and by law we are expected to have a fiduciary duty when we are expending tax dollars this is not our personal money and if a budget line item has been allocated to a particular Department be it Transportation Administration instruction I think Mr dler is here he can correct me if I'm wrong we when we spend them we get these bills we have supporting information on why and how and there are laws pertaining to that so if a transportation consultant just was invited first of all where is the supporting documentation from this consultant that stated for me to come and attend one meeting I think it's $1,000 number two this meeting was called by the policy committee chair and no incorrect okay so it was called I got an invitation from you Pamela the night before you know why because board members point of order okay we have not interrupted anybody yes so misinformation so you can say all you want um this meeting first of all we if the business administrator here has told us multiple times I have 26 years of experience so before engaging any consultant I think first we need to get an an amount on how much it's going to cost so do we have any supporting information from this Transportation consultant saying for me to come and attend an in-person meeting it's going to cost us $1,000 I haven't seen it number two this meeting was called by maybe the board president maybe the transportation director it was called and multiple board member I wasn't invited until the last minute when obviously they went to the policy committee they went to the finance committee people and they were not available and every board member who was invited asked for one basic thing if we are working towards getting information on Transportation routes can we see the information that is going to be presented can we see the rubric can we see the data we were told there is nothing there is no supporting information you will not get anything your questions will be answered verbally so in this time and age when we have a fiduciary responsibility how is it okay that somebody calls for a meeting a Public Employee which who is a public servant just because they have a line item budget allocated to them and I don't understand which I I don't understand which legal leg or leg do they have in coming pursuing us for they don't have a contract with us they never sent us a bill saying for me to come and attend this meeting it's going to cost me ,000 so that's on the transportation um bill that was not paid now the second thing on the $200 being charged by a consultant same thing did this consultant tell the Berkeley heads Board of board of fed that hey for me to come and attend this meeting to look at the impact of U enrollment numbers from all this additional development hey for me to come to an hourong meeting it's going to cost you $200 I haven't seen that I've gone through this whole pile of email supporting information never so somebody gets so we are discussing the previous board president maybe attended we we didn't see in those emails if Angela did attend or not attend she did and um I I I didn't see that from the it's taking your word against what's on the paper uh Mrs Bradford so respectfully there was nothing in those emails that said for this consultant to come and attend this meeting he's going to charge us $200 I think they came to the meeting and this is a very old bill it's being PID it was it's now being asked to pay from and these $200 it's it's not about you know it's $200 and $1,000 go to any store and I think $200 you can buy pencils for like three classrooms so we need to be careful that we are not spending our money it's public funds now in terms of the police I think we cannot talk about this publicly it's contract negotiations there are open questions and they need to be answered in writing on what it is that we are asking for so without these answers being provided I think you can call it misinformation disinformation we can swing it right back at you I think as all of us taking a oath and being here as public Representatives I think we need to ask for clear data and then based on that vote on approving these bills thank you Mrs Stanley so there's a lot of misinformation in there right so at some point it just becomes gaslighting but I'm going to just say the night before the meeting at 4M we were uh told that one board member was not going to attend and the transportation Consultants had already been uh invited again this was the transportation Department's prerogative um even the way that was spoke today um against this Personnel is is is is baffling um but when you look right we're talking about a $1,050 on a on some a service that we already had um but we just had to approve a new Transportation supervisor for 990,000 right so I do think that you have to look at this in the big picture and um again I right like we're talking about the police department and some of this and that's where the big bill is we're talking about attorneys where the big Bill is and I just don't understand um some of this and and Mr dler has provided many um much feedback on a lot of this and at some point we have to move forward you we've heard you you've made your point and we need to move forward so this is not oh so I just quickly add the one that I know the context but the one that gets me is is is high school graduation I don't to me that's particularly egregious um so we on with one hand we'll sit here and say students first let's focus on the students first and then we don't we don't pay for security at at graduation um if I'm not mistaken the graduation bill is on this month yeah and we are paying it so all right why didn't we pay it before because they had because it was clubbed with the other bills and you should if you came and did the Bills maybe it's not your responsibility but if you came maybe yeah so bills I think maybe you should not also order on bills for middle school and Below well that's your opinion it's inaccurate but it's your opinion uh this is not part of of our finance part right now so we could move this to new business is that correct Mr juskowitz for our September meeting the bills of the new bills the new bills we'll move that to our um part of the bill attachment it is part of this bill attachment now okay so it is okay we're validating the removal of the checks well they're being removed yes okay it's part of the bills list but then again we'd have to put them back on but until we substantiate all they're going to be put back on is the question so we can substantiate that at our September meeting or Finance or in finance again Mrs Bon Giovani doesn't want to put them on take them off we so tonight we are Direction talk about it in finance I don't you know okay so tonight we're just taking them off correct we need to have another meeting to put them back on yes got it okay so we have the finance resolutions a through D um Mrs Stanley and Mrs H nle motioned it to go forward so can we have a vote on this Miss Stanley yes Miss huffnagel yes to all except check number 210 sorry 2110 473 that's the check reimbursing me so I'm abstaining from that Mr Kiri um it's yes to all uh except no to check number 21449 21 0699 and um it's a no to BNC Dr forer let's see um no to check number 21449 two check number 21699 and yes to the rest of the chck X and uh yes to b and c and actually what are we doing about D is that D is part of this right d is okay also Mr hman yes Miss charie yes Miss Connor yes Miss Bradford yes motion passes okay comments from the public on any topic and I just want to remind everyone it is 11 uh 18 and we cannot go past 11:45 because we would be in violation of our open public meetings act I'm not going to read it again but do we have any comments from the public on any Topic at this time po fac um Berkeley Heights resident um we have an annual budget of I'm assuming what like 60 million around there but we're squabbling over $200 it's kind of ridiculous guys um and that's not how businesses are actually run um in my role I would never squabble over $200 so maybe we need to kind of think about getting our acts together from a board of ed perspective um the other thing is um I just wanted to address kind of the resolution that passed around the ethics complaint um and some of the rationale that was given um um and some of it was around students and it does nothing for our students um yet four board members actually voted against a club that would actually create a safe haven for our students so I think if we're going to use students as a reason we need to be consistent um whenever in our thinking because the two aren't really making a whole lot of sense to me the other thing is putting forth the resolution and passing it has actually sent a very set a very dangerous precedent in my opinion um it is important that if we have Board of Ed members who are violating their code of ethics that could potentially harm the district that there is um some accountability um in my opinion the resolution as well as the rationale that was given is a little bit Shady or sus as kids talk about it um and it will do nothing to actually bring the board together I think it actually is going to do the opposite and I think it's going to further divide the board it was probably better to let the ethics complaint to have its full course so that it can be resolved by an independent body as opposed to an individual board member coming in and putting forth a resolution because all that will do is divide the board even more so I think that doing that actually was much more harmful than allowing the ethics complaint to be properly resolved by an independent body because now we've put bias in it so I just wanted to put that on public record because I think the public needs to understand that the decision that was made does set precedent and so it does not allow it opens opportunity for people to do this kind of things whenever a board of ed member has an Ethics complaint against them and it's very important that there is an opportunity for accountability that is something that the public should have I don't know what the what the ethics complaint is but it is worrisome to me as a voting person and as a taxpayer that there was a board or there is a board of ed member who had an ethic complaint and now are they are not being held accountable for that so I just wanted to say that thank you I'm Sophia judica I live in Berkeley Heights I just wanted to take a moment to thank the board members who kept an open mind when considering uh declaring prism an official Club at Columbia Middle School I understand that sometimes it's difficult to think about things from a different perspective once you've already made a choice and I really appreciate everyone who initially said Y no or abstained um for hearing out the public and eventually um deciding to do what the community thought was best so thank you Tracy prasini Berkeley Heights resident NGL staff member what Sophia said I I that's what I was going to say and I also I just wanted to comment that I would be very um having parent involvement in the prism Club um to me as the mother of a gay son um there was not a club in uh at Columbia when he was there he had wonderful staff members who he um felt comfortable with but if there was a club and he was a member and and I was involved that would be a problem uh I think that would be very embarrassing to students um also there are some uh middle schools in the area who have gsas in the Middle School um the Providence does uh Westfield does and Springfield does um in fact Union County gives grants and I do have some information on that that I can um pass along to the prism Club um advisors um if that's something and if that's something that the board is interested in seeing I can send that and also I have a question do is a board go through diversity training as like as a like a yearly thing kind of like people we do in school and and people doing businesses because I I see my husband doing that at the he works for no I see him doing that at the um dining room table and I'm like that's you know they're online things and I think they're very helpful so that's it thank you very much um Mr Marks I see we have one hand raised Mr Nixon can you read that for me one okay all right so we're um Mr MZ do you have a comment for us this evening Mr mcgu do you have a comment for us this evening yeah sorry I had to push like 15 buttons to get here do you hear me yes thank you okay um so as far as the ethics complaint is concerned I mean I just I I found the narrative the last two meetings really interesting you had a board that funded its own complaint against the fellow board member they voted to fund their own complaint and then voted for their own defense against the multiple complaints that arose as a as a result of them doing that this vote does not stop the ethics complaint from proceeding all the board members who want this to move forward can do so using their own resources instead of our schools that's it this doesn't stop the ethics complaint this doesn't stop the O from making a decision it just means you can't use District funds intended for students to advance what you believe to be now I've read the ethics complaint I'm really concerned the the precedent it would send Statewide in terms of Staff accountability and and a board the board's ability to do their job that's my opinion uh secondly I support prism 100% And I don't agree with Miss cona on uh parental involvement I I think for that group it's completely inappropriate um and I'm happy that prison passed but this was about a stipend and and I I don't know if I necessarily would have handled it the same way this board did but I don't have an issue with the board vening any program asking any questions even if they're uncomfortable and I don't think it's coming from fear I don't know why people have to assume that I think it can come from a place of curiosity wanting to know more it's not a sin or evil to not have all the information that's why questions are asked and ultimately the process worked we had community members make really great pleads we had a awesome petition with 700 it was democracy at work and the board moved forward to pass the club or the stien the club would have still existed and the stien and I'm glad they did that uh lastly um I think this was addressed I have a real concern with school officials going through kids phones for messages I have no re like unless there is a compelling reason as to a crime being committed or something like that I don't know what Authority a principal has to go into a kid's personal life or their family's life and look through messages so I'm glad I think the board's going to look at that again I I don't have a problem with not having cell phones in the classroom that's okay but it's an I mean again security theater we're investing more in police now we're now we're empowering administrators to look through phones and while some of it might be legal the question we have to ask ourselves is is it right um I I I just think it's an abuse of power to to to just okay I'm just going to look through all your messages um so I I'm I'm hoping the board reconsiders that narrows that narrows the reasons for that and respects kids privacy uh that's part of H creating a safe space uh thank you very much I appreciate your time thank you um is that is that ad har yes um Adam could you please identify yourself as the next online person for comment hi yes this is Adam Harwood from Berkeley Heights can you hear me yes thank you great um I just want to make um a couple quick comments um first I want to just say that um just as a clarify what it sounded like I was hearing in response to my earlier questions um it sounds like yes prism Club was treated differently than other clubs this year um seeking approval for stiens um I'm glad the board did do the the right thing and ultimately approved prism today but I do want everyone who is listening to understand it was treated differently and I don't think the um Berkeley Heights should require 700 petitions and probably a combined hour of public speeches across multiple Board of Ed meetings to get the Board of Ed to do the right thing and what they were supposed to do from the start um I also want to talk briefly about the um ethics complaint that is no longer being funded uh first I'd like to point out that there were ethics claims in that complaint that are still proceeding that survived a motion to dismiss that means that they were adjudicated to be valid enough to continue the lawsuit um and instead of you know continuing it after they were adjudicated to you know have some basis to continue this board decided they're going to drop it and say hey maybe a private citizen can fund this instead but we're not going to investigate our own members I think that's wrong um it was also Troublesome to receive confirmation that the school board did receive legal counsel and then almost immediately have a board members suggest that the board should not um avoid taking action due to Legal liability um there was a statement that people could sue for anything um I'm being want to make clear when I suggested speaking to legal counsel I did not mean if someone gave a brought a meritless lawsuit talking about is there a risk of a lawsuit with merits that's going to cost a school even more money and the way this was phrased in the fact that we now know there was legal counsil consultant it sure sounds like the board is trying to excuse dropping this despite being made aware of the potential for serious legal liability again I don't know if that legal liability is there because this legal opinion was not published um which I understand um but if there was a legal opinion that said that there was a significant risk of merited liability and this board voted to um drop the ethics complaint in Contra against their attorney's recommendations I want the public to know that this board might have just intentionally voted to cost the Boe more litigation money if it gets sued um it's really problematic that major justification for this vote was we shouldn't let the risk of liability dictate our actions um when in the exact same meeting we're complaining about two spending $200 here $200 there I know how much attorneys cost per hour I also know that the board's attorneys hourly rate sounded pretty reasonable um I know that's hard to believe but attorneys are very expensive and we may have just voluntarily chosen to take on more legal fees and that's a problem I think there should be more transparency I think that these legal memo should be um you know made public if that is something that the board has the power to do because I think the members of Berkeley Heights the voters deserve to know did the board just ignore attorney advice thank you thank you I see no other hands raised on online so at this point we can oh Mrs Jolly um and there was um an a proposal as an attachment as well as a stien that was approved the club had been in operation the chess club for I think two years prior based on what was in the proposal and this was um attachment F item k um on page 14 of the agenda from the January 18th meeting um in terms of answering questions uh Mrs prasini um the board receives ethics training but I don't believe the board has received diversity training but we could request that from njsba as they do our training and uh could be something that is attended in the October uh Workshop um I don't believe there were any other questions asked just statements and comments okay so we will close the public portion of our meeting we're moving to new business and we only have uh 12 minutes left so I'm going to ask board members to look them over the new business and if you want to bring up something please say so now some of these were addressed tonight so is are there any other new business that you have brought forward um I think number two the remote access to participate in superintendent interviews both for participants and board members um I believe um we are allowing it because our policy allows us to do that um I think it would be in the best interest of everybody for the board and for the community um that we documented I know exec session minutes take some time to come out but if that is what we are moving along with I think we should let that know uh let everybody know that this is permissible um because obviously the motion didn't pass we asked our attorney to draft it and then it didn't pass now on number three uh process and protocol for addressing any deviations especially for items missing in the existing njsba contract for superintendent search process timelines for delivery of intervent interview schedules information Etc um I just want to make a quick comment and I've discussed about this with you and the njsba um there are a they're an advisory entity and the entire State I think every public school is mandated to give them like fees I think we just approved their annual fees so when we are expecting and when we hired this Professional School boards Association which is advisory not regulatory they cannot tell us what to do but they'll advise us I think the expectation from the Berkeley Heights Board of Education was there will be certain timelines that will be followed and anytime we have seen any deviations I think that response is the contract is silent on it and I just want to put it on the record and I would really like Mr jusovic that this be documented in the minutes that we had a previous discussion that njsba contract for superintendent search was not reviewed by the entire board the board President signed it the moment it was received so of course course there are a lot of terms and conditions that are missing and um my only request is going forward for the future rounds that as for the board agenda we expect or we put it in writing to the njsba that we receive the schedule at least 48 hours in advance um in terms of number four open and transparent distribution of straw pull results conducted by the board president with the entire board um I think I think it's in best practice that we do not execute any straw Poes because I'm still wait waiting for a written response on my last month's questions on new business about open public meetings act asking for decisions to be made via email by the board members which is also constituted a straw poll I don't think we um we can dance around it and say hey this is an open question to an eight member board you're all elected we are aware of open public meetings act so don't reply all just reply oneon-one to me so I don't think that that is okay if it's a public if it's a decision on a bill if it's a decision on expending public funds I think the law says we vote on it at public regular public board meetings we it act the law is very clear it says we can't vote on a single bill at a special board meeting so I don't understand how is it okay for the The District administration to send us emails and say hey I need your answers I'm say because I'm allowed to send it to all eight members of you but when you respond to me just respond to me one-on-one so I'm still waiting on that legal opinion from you and going forward on straw Poes I would really appreciate what we did last time if we are going to take straw Poes let's take it when we are all together in exec session which is allowed and let's refrain from taking any straw Poes via email and if you do have to take it because of the time sensitivity then the results be shared and uh Don't Force the board members to ask you like a dozen emails and then they don't get answered thank you any other comments on new business uh we will uh move to adjournment may we have a motion to adjourn so moved Mrs Jolly thank you and second second okay uh Voice vote hi n NOP we are adjourning at 11:38 p.m. thank