okay I would like to call this meeting to order this is a regular session of the bo Township Board of Education held for the purpose of transacting appropriate board business in compliance with chapter 23 231 was in 1975 the notes this meeting was advertised in Mar County Del record copies of the agenda of this meeting were appropriately posted avable to the public Mrs Bardock here Mr brandner here Mrs Cabana Mr Chen here Mrs hermy Mr Johnson here Mr McBride here Mr Mills here Mr nowi also present Dr Angel superintendent principal we have a quum thank you [Music] please FL unit [Music] States okay we do not have a student Representatives frankly so they should be enjoying Sumer ju and so that brings us right to board business motions one and two have any motion please is there a second second any questions comments or discussion okay not questions on the adoption of board buiness motions one and two this is a roll call Mrs bar yes Mr Brandon here yes I'm here and you're here uh Mr Chen yes Mr Johnson yes Mr MCB yes uh Mr M yeah motion carries thank you that brings us to administrative report starting the business administrator board secretary Mr just quickly uh summer cleaning is well underway um the remainder of the classroom will be finished up when the extended school year and the summer Recreation program finish up then we'll get to the hallways and rug shampooing in in offices as well summer maintenance uh projects the uh summer preventive maintenance is well underway uh completion we're getting ready for the boiler uh inspections and cleanup hbac filters are being changed in all the classrooms rooftop units Etc um the upper gym and the stage floor uh will get ready for its annual refinishing school supplies are in we're being delivered to classrooms as they're being clean and the Auditors will be here on August 5th to start their uh field work and uh we're closing out the school year financially that's all I have to report great thank you and that brings us to our superintendent report Dr angel I also just have a couple of items uh first and foremost Mr Murray said it but the custodial and maintenance staff has really done a remarkable job to start the summer every year they do and um they obviously hit the ground running as soon as the school year ends and even with students still here for our extended school year program and summer camps here they work around everyone they do a phenomenal job and the building looks great and it will continue to look that way uh throughout the summer and we'll be ready for the opening of the school year just a couple of other items the second report on progress made during year one of our strategic plan is available on our school website under the Board of Education tab um and this obviously represents where we stand after the first year of our Five-Year Plan and I think everyone we we got some nice feedback from parents at the end of the school year that they were very pleased to see some of the progress that we've made and made a lot of progress in year one so that will continue well into year two all tenure track positions have been filled for the 24 25 school year um any add additional positions will be filled over the summer and those individuals will be approved by the board of education at the August 21st meeting or obviously at a special meeting to be scheduled before then which I would imagine would likely be happening and that concludes my we just lost a few that good thing hopefully we'll test them out those are the new ones only cases those arees thank you very much and we've all had a chance to review the nurses report the student attendance report and faculty attendance report and there are no accommodations at this meeting that will be listed in August that brings us to correspondence which you've also had a chance to review one of which is related to a motion later of the meeting and that brings us to open session number one the first public comment period will be limited to agenda items only the second public comment period will be open to the topic please be mindful that public comment periods are available to enable the public to give comments and feedback to theard board personal matters and day-to-day operations are not appropriate subjects for coordinates these can always be most effectively resolved with the appropriate staff members or administrators according to the chain of command concept questions may be directed to the appropriate School Personnel or board through email please state your name and address for the record and all comments are limited to five minutes anyone from the public wish to address the board on agenda items at this time there go one we'll move into our Le of reports M Lakes are lak representativ is not here but I'm wondering if we could call upon three three previously serving Mountain Lakes representatives in the audience for that maybe not than um that BRS us to New Jersey school boards Association um nothing and Mars County School boards Association on summer break with the next meetings already posted October 2nd far away thank you and Educational Services commissioner Mars County does not meet in July and grou Township special education parent advisory group I'm surmising they have not met since the last meeting and Mrs is not here and Bo House Education Foundation no and rock like School Association no updates either there and botin Township is Mrs Cabana she's not here I think the only thing I'm aware of is the the fireworks 27 I'm not sure what else she would have reported on if you were here uh and the bo township Green Team no report TI and there's the facilities Transportation committee had us not met finance committee did me we did meet uh we went through mainly uh Finance motions 1 through four and those uh from the agenda pretty routine great thank you and with that we have any motion for fin motions one through four I'll move please do a second and any questions comments or discussion and if not questions on the adoption of Finance motions one4 all those in favor say I anyone oppose say no any exensions and that brings us to personnel which this morning we met this morning there are a few open positions that we discussed Acting Superintendent in terms superintendent interim assistant principal a testing coordinator a part-time tech support and two part-time building great light meeting thank you y and that brings us to Personnel motions one through three May I a motion please I'll move is there a second second any there any questions comments or discussion if not any questions on the adoption personal motions one through three this is a roll call Mrs bar yes Mr brander yes Mr Chen yes Mr Johnson yes Mr McBride yes Mr M yes motion carried thank you that brings us to program uh the program curriculum committee did not meet this month but we do have program motion one on the agenda may have motion please second second any questions comments or discussion okay questions on the adoption of program one all in favor say I any say no next is policy the policy committee I don't believe met since the last meeting that brings us to open session number two the second public comment period will be open to any topic please be mindful that public comment periods are available to the public to enable the public to give comments and feedback to the board personal matters and day-to-day operations are not appropriate subjects for board meetings these can always be most effectively resolved with the appropriate staff members or administators according to the chain of P concept questions may be directed to the appropriate School Personnel or four through email please state your name and address for the record and all comments will be limited to 5 minutes anyone like to address the board on any matter yes um Adrian Charlton nine T roon Township um former member of this lovely B road so I I just have a concern with all our Heavy Hitters departing and I I see that uh Dr lendis is uh uh request to resign has been approved and I do wonder what we're doing to maintain our our staff here I mean that's a lot of people at the that's the head of the snake there okay and it it's just all walked out the door and I don't understand from board's perspective what efforts are being made to keep these PE I mean Dr uh lendis we hired her when I was on the board and she was exceptional and she really really did a hell of a job in the front office with the testing everything so I I'm I'm sure she had a better opportunity but I think then I see that Dr Angelo's living and I'm like oh well that would have seemed to me to be the natural progress of what I would want someone who has been in this school district a very long time to be able to move to so why I cannot speak about the Personnel aspect of it my concern is that we had a very excellent school system here and how it was excellent is that we retained our teachers that were very high quality we retained our administrators that were super and now all of a sudden the whole front office is empty out so you know as a member of the public and School District here it's like a private school my kids went here fabulous education and and to me to lose two of your big hitters at the top there um um when certainly there would have been opportunity for movement within the school district is troubling to me that is my comment and I do hope that the efforts are being made to keep our people here that are worthy of this school our private institution that we have very very nicely have as a secret here in uh botin Township but having two big people leave is just to me troubling and I don't know the ins and outs and I understand it's a matter of personnel so you can't discuss it so that's my comment and I hope you guys give it some weight because I was up that mountain links when things started going down the drain pretty bad and how that happened is because of members at the top okay and you see what happened there we don't want to be a repetition of that thank you great thank you Mr Charlton anyone else like to address the board on any matter Mr L uh just a public thank you to Dr Angelo on behalf of the public uh as a former board member parent the um just to take us back one more time to the pandemic when many many schools around us were closed for two years or longer uh we spent the very short period of time closed and I was always very thankful that our kids were in school as much as they could be and we got it through safely and and not every school district was able to have the in school time that we had so just a big thanks for that and U wish you well in your future endeavors wherever they are but anyone else would wish to address the board on any matter yes John search 27 Old Denver road I'll exactly what Mr laar said um oh 28 me Road forgot and as much as I hate to say it kills me I kind of agree with Mrs gold in the record absolutely absolutely but really I didn't know Dr lensis was leaving but on one note I get it I don't know where she left for the opportuni she may have but hopefully she's going to make more money um move on and fatten her pension a little bit CU I was here also when we hired her and I think that was an exceptional hire Dr Angel honestly you know how I feel about you um we were here when we hired I was hear when you hir and before I I forget build though darl couldn't make it he said you know good luck and anything you do but realistically I mean you were a godsend here I I always felt that you know whenever you take a position you want to leave it better than you got it and I was very happy with the superintendent we had before you and even Dr Butler is an interim but you came here and you took it to another level I know um it's not always easy and I heard with Mountain Lakes that's insane over there and you handled that that gr but it's fun just a quick story CU I I think about it all the time when we hir Dr we did interviews and um that we have him in front of it's a normal question you go around the table you're doing it right now I don't have to tell you about that and then it was his turn to ask us question and he started off by saying that was the guy we're looking to hire or one of the three right he goes listen he goes I got to tell your website's horrible your website's horrible I'm saying to myself you know what this is the guy we on hard he's already criticizing us I just what I liked it because he was honest that's like the second thing which strikes me all the time because people think you know because you have a doctorate and I think Eli must have confessed say no matter where you get your education you know what um there is still idiots out there with Doctor degrees you said if you don't remember we're talking so why do people want to adop somebody with a doctorate degree because I was no smarter before I got that piece of paper than I was after and you know what that hit home I think with a lot of us and it was just known a personality and I think you brought it here did a great job we're happy and I'm sure you're going somewhere where it's much bigger right and and good luck to you and hopefully uh everything works out and they're lucky to have you and unfortunately to what Adrian said this is a bad time here and I think the board all good people on the board I don't know you's personally you know how I feel about them we got to stay strong now you got to get good people and worry about us here you know uh first and Mountain Lake second I know the contracts coming up but good luck to you it's not easy it's not going to be easy I have a comment too again and they let the record show that Mr Serio and Mrs Charlton agreed on something thank you pres and under five minutes I do want to say when I was on the board we had some little rough Ling with mountain legs and I said the hell with it in fact Dr Ang I think you said we'll go to kenon so I have no idea what that situation may be but don't ever be afraid to be bold and and and honest to God Mountain Lakes they need us we don't need them and that's the god onest truth one time they were a superior school and I was proud to send my kids there I left the board and maybe just cuz I left the board but all things went down the tubes over there and Dr Angel again please U excuse me but the the gentleman here you're leading and I just am so used to seeing you there that I have to be reminded that we're losing our captain and we were interviewing you and I asked you a question well what do you do over at kitin that makes you great and you said well if I tell you that you know then the Secret's out and I'm like well then that's too bad you better tell me or else you're not going to get hired but and you're very open and honest and the Falcon is a great thing for the kids to hang on to it gives them a wonderful sense of Pride that is my school and it's always been our kids school but having that that little burn up there which I thought looks like Ro just but again I thank you I respect you and I wish you nothing but but the best and hitting the shoreline is always the best anyway so thanks Mr strong I don't know if you recall but you also had asked me you specifically in the interview I've gone through a number of I iterations of facial hair during my time at K and I start started with like this little soul P oh the soul patch yes and you said what's the deal with that what do you do with that are you going to shave that will you shave that if you get the job here and I said absolutely not and you said really why not and I said because my wife really likes it so I'm not shaving it you went that's a good answer okay that's it sing Point that's it still white though but thank you thank you yes s uh richo forth King Street I never really I don't have any stories like John for with Dr a but um just from a distance working when I was on the mountain L Board of Education um just you you ex you are a leader and it's very difficult to do in that job as we can see with other districts and I just thank you for being a leader and being there for the staff and the students in this building um who became students at Mountain Lakes but being a leader is very difficult to do and you handled it very well um and I appreciate it I understood it so thank you and good luck to you thanks Mr M I appreciate you know can I just say I'm sorry real quick just you know I've been here for nine years started my 10th year uh earlier this month and education has changed exponentially in the time that I've been here it's become increasingly more and more challenging to be a really good educator in the current climate and education and the one thing that I think you know when you talk about leadership that I've always valued is when you surround yourself with really good people and you know that you have an exceptional staff it's easy to lead it really is let good people be good at what they do and do their jobs well and that's ultimately what is important that's a Hallmark of this school district and I know that it will continue regardless of who's here but don't ever forget that that you know you want to surround yourself with good people lead them the right way without being overbearing challenge them when you need to but let people do their jobs let them be professionals and and I think that that that's what's important here and that's what's gotten us to the place that we are 10 years later ultimately so kudos to everyone in our system I really uh you know I appreciate the job that everyone does but thank you to everybody that's that's here this evening thank you and thank you is there anyone else that wish to wishes to address the board on any matter if not uh do we have any old business do we have any new business so I just wanted to address the public and let we we hear what you're saying we take it all very seriously and I can tell you behind the scenes the board is working constantly I think this is our 11th meeting open private session and public session since I think late May so we're meeting there's committees happening and there wasn't so manye in July because of other meetings that were going on but we're working behind the scenes we've had exceptional leadership for 10 years and I think you know hopefully if all goes well that continue and we're committed to make that happen so I think I speak on behalf of the board let you know that we're working as hard as we can thank you I'll C you out of that I have another Point um Point um first of all I want to than on my own behalf as a parent great principle because it's the principle here I think we should be um thinking about communicating to the parents and and Community there are big changes as people have mentioned that have happened in the past few weeks um and people should know what to expect on the first day of school and I think you know people who read the agenda do know that but the community as a whole frankly and not everyone knows so we should think about how and who to communicate before SE 1 or school is what you expect watching in next school year that's that's uh certainly a good point uh but I can say in Fe Mr Johnson and Mr Mills um we are doing everything we can be you know behind the scenes that probably not transparent to you but we must have a superintendent you know no matter what you know happens so we will have a superintendent whether it's an interm and acting uh and we will have a permanent superintendent soon as soon as possible and that's all still you know behind the scenes lots of stuff goes on to make that happen that you don't see you know contract negotiations back lots of back and forth and all around so and it's then of course somewhere you have to slip a board meeting in to make decisions that you know can't be made by you know anyone but the board so but but you can be assure that everything is going on behind the scenes to you know for continuity and there will be continuity there no one should worry about anything at all about that um um you know and and the same as you know in the assistant principal position so all all all you know we are working very hard behind the scenes and everything is will fall into place even if it doesn't look like it it will so you can be a short and with that is there any others have another just to really Echo that to I think something along the lines of you know the faces may look a little different but you know the same quality school school district education is is still here you know just kind of giving everyone you know overarching like what's happening what's what's this person's role this person's role this person's role um I think that would help the district I know right before the end of the school year people were still asking me where are kids going in in the it seems obvious to us because we're so close to it but some people it may not I think that's a great idea yes thank you and with with that um one last comment just wanted to officially thank I know everybody the members of the public have Dr Angel and Dr lend for their and their service and a pleasure of working with you the last few years as a parent it was great I guess meeting you working with you but now working with you on the board fantastic so wish you the best thanks thanks Mr Johnson I appreciate it and that's where I was head sorry I yes second next so before we we do have to go into close session to discuss many of the things that you you know that we just talked out but before we do that I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Dr Angel for his nine plus years of service here at Rockway Valley School it's been a pleasure working with you it's I guess you know I've been on the board you know since you were hired and all through it um I'm not sure Grace you were here too and then Mr CIO Mr stalton were here back then and Christine who's not here this evening um so so I've been here for the whole duration so um you know we really do thank you for all that you've done for our school district um we absolutely wish you all the best you know in your your next Endeavors for you and your family you know all the best and you know I'm sure we'll cross paths at New Jersey school boards Workshop which will be closer to where you are in Atlant City but uh and I think Grace has something yeah we I'm sure we have a little something oh boy okay you know we it's not a motorcycle sorry so gu that wasn't question that was a office supplies make it work we write grants yes yes so so this is from board as well as John um little something from us to you uh just to sure this on the first day okay it or I might want to set the col thank you so it's app it's going to be a new experience for us but I thanks everyone I appreciate it thank you not my wife the yes with that we have um a little short recess we didn't expect so many people we have a small cake but we'll make so at this time we like to take a a short recess for you to you know come talk with us talk Dr Angelo and may have a motion to go recess I'll sir a second second the favor say I just very wants to know what time it is 75 it is 8:35 p.m. and we have returned from our and at this time uh I'd like to entertain a motion and to enter into executive session to discuss issues that warrant confidentiality as permitted in the open public meetings act chapter 231 of the laws of 1975 these matters may or may not be made public when the board reconvenes they will be made public when the competen of the subject is no longer warranted and the topics for discussion this evening are superintend principal contracts the botin township Mountain links tuition agreement and personnel and may I have that motion please is there a second second all those in favor say I I there will be no action uh when we return from close session other than adjourning the meeting okay it is 9:25 p.m. we have just returned for the Clos session we have no other board action may have a motion to adjourn move is there a second second all those in favor say I I and thank you very much enjoy the summer we'll see you in August