##VIDEO ID:8lwS3wQskC8## we're now back in regular session this time I will do the president's report um since the previous meeting the board has been evolved with the following on September 16th I attend the Bay County school board's meeting on referendum planning which I will leave to Nadia to present to provide details um the superintendent Carol Jordan Craig and I met with Council to discuss student population growth and possible solutions to address the growth both groups concluded that more regular and frequent Communications are needed and agreed to meet on a monthly basis as subcommittees I want to thank all board members that have assisted the superintendent in connecting him with various Community groups so we can gain the needed Community input and guidance on referendum projects that completes my report moving on superintendent report um this evening I'm not going to give a report because I'll presenting okay this time I'd like to get a motion to open first public comment moved by Greco second by Hussein all in favor I at this time we're open for public comment on agenda items you like to make a comment on agenda items feel free to come to the podium and state your name and address if there's no comments uh then can I get a motion to close move move by REO second by Marcus all right moving on to committee reports uh starting off Personnel policy Miss henager C Phu comp State labor La andthe imp that Bo to resol case the funding and um the October one right on the front page after other districts open page article adva that thank you moving on to curriculum instruction technology Miss Spencer uh the curriculum uh committee met on October 8th uh began with a presentation from connect for Freedom a nonprofit organization that provides um lessons trainings response protocols and parent education to school districts on human trafficking and online entament um the new New Jersey doe has mandated that these topics be included in their new standards which were adopted in 2022 um the organization provides all the materials lesson plans videos and other resources free of charge to school districts and assists with connecting districts with other partners such as law enforcement prosecutor's office Etc um after the presentation the committee voted to use them as Bloomingdale's vendor to meet this standard um the topics will be incorporated into the health curriculum so parents who will still have the option to opt out if they wish um and that nj4 which has presented here before would also um be available to fac to facil fa itate uh parent meetings and engagements um and then we also received an update on our qac status that's the end of my report thank you anything on M Hussein fin Finance oh excuse me Finance yes um the finance committee met on October 7th at 4:30 and the following items were discussed Honeywell completed a thorough walkthrough up at morb day on October 4th TRC will not be giving the district the last portion of the clean energy Grant the boilers in the district were turned on October 15 with regard to the mara day multi-purpose room HVAC project on September 27th the HVAC crane set three units for the stage gym and kitchen on the roof up at morth day I'm happy to report that the morb day playground has been installed and is now open for use um our business administrator Miss kazinski tells us that the annual budget process has already begun and as you saw from Felicia's um email to us there is a new format for the board secretary report on Genesis and that's the end of my report thank you one quick cor question um I believe it's uh the TRC will be giving us the final will be yes okay uh moving on to public relations as you planning Mr wasin uh the public relations and strategic planning committee met on Monday um October 14th and it was actually a bit of a short meeting where we discussed some a lot some referendum matters in tonight's presentation and that concludes my report okay continuing on to General Administration Mr Egger can you consider moving 8.1 to 8.6 um let me just um note because there is an addendum on our agenda which is resolution 8.6 so um we just found out about this from the state I guess it was yesterday right so um for the benefit of those who may be U I'm sure those here it's on our agenda but there may be others who don't are not prute to it so I'm just going to read it into the record and then I'll move all the resolutions in Section 8 uh resolution 8.6 is an addendum for the NJ dooe project application submission revision and it reads as follows whereas it is the intention of the district to go out for referendum in March 2025 and whereas the Board of Education previously approved Gan forar Architects engineers and planners to author and submit the educational specifications and for the addition and renovations to the Walter T Bergen School for the proposed referendum and whereas the Bloomingdale Board of Education also previously approved Gian forar Architects engineers and planners to submit the project application along with drawings and supporting data for the referendum projects at the Walter tber and school to the New Jersey Department of Education for their approval um and whereas the Bloomingdale Board of Education formally States his intention to seek Debt Service aid for this project and whereas the blooming de Board of Education approves Anyan all revisions to the educational specifications as per the comments made by the New Jersey Department of Education uh now therefore be it resolved that with approval of this motion um the lumid Board of Education approves the superintendent of schools in consultation with Gan for car Architects engineers and planners to effectuate uh this motion I just would correct motion to resolution in both instances so with that being said I'll move the adoption of resolutions uh 8.1 through 8.6 inclusive any questions or comments on 8.1 to 8.6 see we are roll Callo main yes M Marcus yes Mr oler yes Miss Santana Miss Spencer Mr storms yes M Wilson Mr carabell yes moving on to Human Resources Mr hleer can consider 9.1 to 9.10 okay I will move the adoption of resolutions 9.1 through 9.10 inclusive any questions or comments on 9.1 to 9.10 hearing n seeing n looll call please recoin miss Marcus yes Mr Owens Slinger yes Miss Sana Miss Spencer Mr storms yes Miss Wilson yes Mr carabell yes moving on to academic and uh programming student services says dispenser you consider moving 10.1 10.7 I moved to adopt 10.1 through 10.7 second okay any questions or comments on 10.1 to 10.7 seeing none and we proceed with a roll call because I believe there will be some exensions yeah I I'm just gonna not sure the answer to this but because you're abstaining on one of the Motions I don't know that you can move um 10.1 so yeah why don't you move 10.2 okay do 10.1 first and and we'll I'll ask if somebody else can move 10.1 who's not saying all right want to do this withdraw withdraw your motion and now move 10 point somebody can move 10 point can someone who's not OB staining on 10.1 move 10.1 I move 10.1 10.1 second second so let's start with 10.1 that one's going to have a little bit of conversation to it um so we're gonna move on the HIV right now so police can do a roll call because some people are have to stay on temp okay so miss Greco yes Missin yes Miss Marcus yes Mr oler uh I will vote Yes on uh the on all of the on the resolution on the motion to approve the reports with the exception of the report identified I'm sorry let me change that I will vote Yes on the motion with respect to the report identified as WTB 0918 2401 and will'll abstain as to the other three res other three reports that are moved under that resolution uh Miss Anana Miss Spencer uh I need to abstain from SRB 091 18241 V yes on the rep okay Mr storms yes Miss Wilson and Mr carabell yes motions 10.2 through 10.7 second any questions on 10.2 10.7 see Ro yes M REO yesin yes Miss Marcus oh yes uh Mr ol sler yes Miss Santana Miss Spencer yes Mr storms yes M Wilson Mr carabell yes I believe it's been communicated that we're going to table 11.10 so greo can you proceed with moving 11.1 to 11.9 yes I'd like to move motions 11.1 through 11.9 please we have any questions or comments on 11.1 11.9 we have our new Treasures report format I would recommend you to play Closer attention to line 770 forward other questions or comments cance a roll call just 1111 the blooming WTA donation oh sorry not yet okay sorry there are no other comments on 11.1 to 11.9 could we proceed oh yes Miss greo yes Miss Hussein m yes Mr oler yes Miss Spencer yes Mr storms Miss Wilson Mr carabello yes can I get a motion to the table 11.10 I'll move move by Miss greo there a second Miss Hussein uh any questions or comments on 11.10 no we do a quick roll call on that one yes M Greco yes uh Miss husin Miss Marcus yes Mr oler yes Miss Santana Miss Spencer Mr storms Miss Wilson Mr gell yes so now we're up to 11. 11 11.12 I'd Like to Move Motion 11.11 through 11.12 please second okay so those are moving in second I just uh just wanted to Express gratitude uh for this donation of $4,410 67 to the PTA it's just you know it's not a small amount at all for a school like ours it goes a very long way so we really just wanted to I just wanted to appreciate the PTA for the donation thank them and also just thank all the involved parents who made the donation possible really so just thank you thank you it's pretty appropriate any other questions or comments no Roo please GCO yes yes Miss Marcus Mr enslinger yes Miss Santana Miss Spencer yes Mr storms yes M Wilson Mr carello yes moving on to leison reports uh Butler Board of Education M CCO yes I'm happy to report that there will be a fall play this year at the high school despite the construction um the um production for the fall is The Great Gatsby um and I've already given information to the board president who I hope has passed it on to the senior community that our seniors are invited to attend a dress rehearsal performance for free on November 21st I will say um that there is no longer a ramp at the high school right now so it may be challenging for for people that need a ramp to get in and out of um the high school um I should be hearing back from them I have a meeting tomorrow night to see if a ramp temporarily will be constructed as soon as I find out I will let everyone know I can also report that the spring musical is The Wedding Singer and as that gets closer will report back to you guys but I can tell you that the seniors are invited to the dress rehearsal on March 20th for free so I think that's really nice that they're doing that the Butler High School football team is on fire they are I believe six and0 they have a big game against beckon so this Friday night if you're around I encourage you to come out and cheer on this team they're having an amazing season and it's a lot of fun to go to the games um this last Sunday on the 13th the butler h School Marching Band hosted a band competition because the high school um sponsored the competition they cannot win um but it was really great to see the the bands from the different areas that came out um for this competition uh bands from MAA Bloomfield and Carney were really big winner winners so it's really nice our Board of Education um we had an add in the program The Butler board did so I think that's really nice because because we're supporting students from Bloomingdale that move on to Butler High School and I think that means a lot so I thank everybody for that um very quickly there's been no meeting for the butler Bloomingdale Education Association but I did attend the Hall of Honor dinner on October 3rd there were five alumni from Butler High School that were inducted into the Hall of honor and it's really nice that three of the inductees are graduates from the Walter Bergen School they grew up in Bloomingdale Dr Sal bazo lives out in Nevada he's the class of 83 he came all the way in for the induction which was really nice judge Howard tomman class of 68 and also a graduate from Butler High School he came in from down south and Michelle Selma Kaine who is an attorney and a global human resource executive class of 1990 she also came and she lives down in the Carolinas so it's really nice to see you know and celebrate not only Butler High School graduates but you know students that graduated from Walter T Bergen School and have gone on to do really wonderful things for their communities so we congradulate them and that's the end of my report thank you very much um moving on to p p High School boards same say County School Board had their last meeting on September 25th 2024 uh I um that was the same night as the PTA parent uh class parent selection so I did was on for some of it but Charlie covered for the rest of it he's also president so he has to show up anyway um but they did um the the presentation was effective planning and financing referendum to maximize impact on tax levy and thank goodness it's recorded so I could catch up um the next meeting will be Monday December 9th at 6 PM it's hybrid and that that topic will be on harnessing the power of public relations social media and technology and schools and it'll take place at Lakeland Regional High School in WQ T tally that concluding report thank you sorry New Jersey school boards as well had uh their Walter T beran fall ball um which is a dance on October 4th and it was really cool to just see on um on social media just all the parents putting up pictures of their kidss dressed up so I think it was really exciting it seemed like the parents were excited about it then the kids were excited about being able to go to something like this they also had their coloron I think about a weekend or two ago and it was a huge success I mean just resounding success I was there with my kids it was just packed I don't have the exact numbers but I think the fundraised a lot of money so it's really like kind of like a crazy amount of money so it's it's really it was just really wonderful um and then they're having currently a the boo bag fundrais Monday is the deadline for that and that's just there's little treat bags that you can you know that ones that you can send to like friends like kid like of your kids and then ones you could send to adults with like adult goodies in it and then there's a there's a trunk Retreat that's going to be coming up on Sunday October 27th 2: to 4: p.m. at Walter T Bergen it's $4 per child the teacher grant program is also now open uh book fair will be coming October 30th to November 6 and there's going to be the fall photo the fall photo shoot fundraiser that'll be going on from I believe 1018 to 111 and that concludes my report update on plan no nothing on the agenda okay thank you and this quickly on seniors they met on September 30th they discussed various topics like they want to create a Facebook page for the senior center um they also discussed the Gazebo which needs a little bit more refinement in the back uh but specific to uh educational the Walter T Bergen Middle School band will be performing your annual holiday concert there on December the 19th on November 26 Dr casil will be presenting the referendum to the seniors at the center and they also had a suggestion uh that they maybe they could have a first grade teacher come in and work with the seniors to kind of interact about the history of Bloomingdale um and thanks to miss Greco they are aware that they can attend the Great Gatsby on November 21 at 6 pm and the uh Wedding Singer on March 20th at 6m so thank you very much for those efforts to get that done and um they continue to talk about their floor many you know has great need of repair and that completes my report carlye sorry I I mentioned that that the the next PTA meeting is tomorrow night October 17 such might be a little special because some of the board members may be there um going on to Old business new business all right um can I get a motion to open second public comment move by m Greco second by Hussein we're now open for second public comment on any educational item if you have a any questions please come to the mic give us your name and address understand but I bring about my concerns about how the policies for punishment exist today within SRD I am anecdotally hearing a lot of bullying my daughter is experiencing this as as well and just better yet like her overall experience of fourth grade so she's in her last year of bestard me and my son's in his first year is um she comes home crying a lot she is very stressed and it starts one with my teacher screams at me all day so it sounds like her teacher stressed out um she goes to the playground says well there's me kids on the playground but there's not enough adults here and when kids do curse the adult I report it to doesn't take me seriously now I can totally respect hearing us through the lens of a fourth grader but the thing is she's not the only fourth grader with this concern and I'm not saying every kid has the same concern but I have reached out to the principal I said well if you need volunteers at lunchtime maybe we have parent I don't know but how do we connect the community more because now what's happening is the bully is or bullying is escalating away where maybe like on bullying doesn't look like how it used to when we were younger it's a little different now and maybe we're giving a little leniency where we shouldn't but there was a mention of a gun the other day and that makes me sad and mad and I go that's a big deal I don't care if that we find out that there wasn't a gun in that house that kid felt compelled to mention it and a little girl felt compelled to respond with another weapon and I go that's not normal and I'm just really upset that it seems like things aren't in a path of where they're getting better and I feel like if our standard is maybe some state standard and how we handle things then maybe we may not need to set our standards so low and I'm not here to be an enemy I promise you I'm here to be an asset I come with an army of mamas Wherever I Go but what's happening like I feel obligated to show up in this meeting today to look at all of you as the board members who have children in our school district who file HIV reports yourselves to sit there and say why did it get to that point why didn't we have a parent meeting with those individuals before that report even got brought up why was it minimized and so that's why I'm just questioning we keep coming back with punitive policies right you miss x amount of days you get in trouble you do this and I'm sorry if students missing a lot of days are we not questioning why you're missing a lot of days are we like maybe you are but I just what gets presented to the public is a punitive policy what our children are experiencing is lunch detention and I I'm not seeing a positive result that's not what I personally believe in and I don't think at the end of the day it's what the intention is but it's how it's being rolled out and I just wanted to express my deep concern let you know that I I did go to the principal several times I spoke to Mr hardy and I said I'm not okay with these things I expect a different response now and now I'm here again but we know I'm kind of annoying like and I take these things very seriously I was a bully in school I know what it like to grow up and be like w I wish I didn't do that I wish I didn't say that I wish someone sat me down differently in a moment to say you're going to mess up some kid in the future you're cool and I just want to be aware there's kids going home crying every day there's a little girl who's had her gender question from your school and maybe you don't know it but instead of saying why didn't you come to me question really why aren't they coming to me like take that look inward to what is happening that these things are happening under our nose that kids are using the most profane language in SRD well3 te F they're getting a bit older and I don't even want to give permission there but they're too young in the school to be gone through this all day and I'm just I'm making a plea to you guys to say like I'm not okay with these policies can we get creative I'm willing to give my time into them and Research into them but uh I just feel like something really needs to be done on this I hope that you hear me and that's my two cents on that thank Mar my no please um I'm gonna turn this all on give a feedback what you're saying is absolutely very concerning and so I think the best step forward here as long as you're willing and I'll take you up on that offer you just made why don't you come and sit down with me let's look at sr's policies together I have specific questions that this isn't the right venue for back and forth especially because I want to ask some things about your daughter and so why don't we sit down together I'm free tomorrow or Friday so why don't we find a Time based on your schedule and once you come in my office we'll set we'll chat we this way I could get everything going on I can then send it to policy committee if we need to let the policy changes that will be the first step if you're willing Absolutely definely I'll re out to you tomorrow morning okay thank you anyone else want to make a comment educationally go ahead well we're this is going to be specific for education related we got the uh recreational input meeting next door starting as soon as we close this one if that's your that's the nature of your question yeah that that be here okay go ahead ask your question here this is the right place for that yeah go ahead yes my name is Marco a glacia I reside at 23 Valley View AV here in Bloomingdale New Jersey Jersey uh allow me to introduce myself my name is marascia my wife and I have been residents here since 2007 our three sons have been through the blomingdale school system from prek all the way through Walter T graduation I'm here to talk to you about the basketball program which is sponsored and run by the Bloomingdale Recreation Department it's recently been made to known to us that the court availability at one of the schools being Walter T has been cut by 40% I'm here to share the impact that it's going to have on the kids of the program and let me give you a little bit of History first my oldest son began playing here 7even years years ago I could see from for far that the program was in dire need of help I was just not in a position to offer any sort of help solution anything at that time fast forward to the 2023 season things changed on my end I knew I can help out the program I told Joe Castello Costello who's been for years running the entire program on his own uh that he was going to have help from a slowly D that he was going to have help to bring a slowly dying program and rebuilding into what it could and should be I was very selective as to who would be the right individuals to help bring this program back to where it should be and I found them they're standing right seated right behind me I could outline all these successful changes that we've made but for time sake I'm going to focus on the main two first one being we had a nearly 15% increase in registration last season it was expected to have only as little as five the largest program uh this that the season has that the program has seen in more than six years secondly the program's budget was left in a surplus for the first time in his many years and that's with the program purchasing thousands of dollars in new equipment all to upgrade the program and overall experience for the kids back to the uh 40% cut in gy time the group the group of kids that this is going to affect the largest is the fourth to eth grade kids and if you look at the paper that I shared with you that was where the largest increase in registration happened and it's going to continue to rise because of the way changes we made in the structure of the program last season kids in the 4 to8 grade range played as little as five in three five games in three practices each in the previous year kids played 13 and four uh 13 and 14 games and had four more practices coming to this season we made adjustments to the scheduling for this coming season so the teams will be back to 10 or more games and practices uh but that just got changed because an outside organization assigned a contract to use the courts during the time in which our program has always utilized the courts we we know that this change more than likely cannot and will not change we know that we somehow have to stretch three days of gym use amongst 18 teams whereas last year we had five days in 18 teams we know that when asked we will have to tell the parents this was a change that was completely unforeseen and we have nothing we can do about it it's unfortunate the rec department nor ourselves were made aware of this upcoming change nor given the opportunity to make a contribution for jimm use it's unfortunate that while kindergarten threw third graders will get maximum exposure to the school gyms the fourth and eighth graders will Bei denied a huge chunk of time it's unfortunate the kids who aren't as skilled as others won't likely be able to pass the tryouts that are required to make the team for the other organization using the schools it's unfortunate for the kids and the Bloomingdale families who struggle to pay the nominal registration fee to our town and they are not going to be in a position to pay the several hundred fee to pay for an outside organization which encompasses several surrounding towns and doesn't benefit our Township our kids our programs with that it's fortunate it's unfortunate to see that the time that the five of us took over the last year and a half the time the energy the thought the focus the relationships we built with the recreation department one gentleman is here as well all go down the drain and we weren't given the opportunity to present what we built and how much better it is and what we can do for the school for the board and for everything else anyone knows me anyone in this room that knows knows me knows that I'm by far the most optimistic person in this town but I could state in confidence that the kids will take a serious blow this season based off of the decision made and we hope that it changes for next season thank you I could and maybe this is just an information flow um issue I was made aware that this issue has been completely resolved um that gym time has been secured maybe I know Mr son's here maybe a few of us could chat after but I was made aware today this issue has been resolved and just so you know last night this board made a commitment to the Town Council that if you pick up additional costs and it's great to hear you have in Revenue but you shouldn't have to tap into that if you pick up additional costs we will pull out of the rental fees that we're taking in to cover that additional so I'm but if this wasn't I think let's sit down let's talk I know I shot you an email today let's sit down and talk if there was a miscommunication somewhere but I'm confident it was um but if it wasn't let's come up a solution because at the same time I'm very willing and started conversations with other districts and other schools about getting gy time for the rec program because I know Bloomingdale does carry the entire load and so um there was positive reception to that but I've held off hearing everything was good I need to resume those conversations more than willing to on your behalf let's touch base once to confirm that but thank you very much and thank you for your time replacing the scoreboard which is for everybody to and we hear you on your point so like I said if we that's why we're willing to tap into that money to make sure you guys are made whole there's no extra expense on you while so find and and M not to beler point just in in terms of um the the for-profit team um I believe that there is a substantial P like percentage of blooming D is it students that are 90% how much what is the percentage 90% is what we're told okay 90% okay so I mean it is it is for profit but but it but it does Also Serve Bloomingdale students my understanding let's certainly follow up if there's if there was a misunderstanding throughout the course today let's follow up then we can continue conversation thank you thank you anyone else want to make a comment on educational matters seeing none can I get a motion to close move second second moin Mr Jordan okay uh all in favor I so we're at this time we're going to recess over into the cafeteria