##VIDEO ID:PLOpmr4dJ9E## good evening welcome to the C City School District Board of educations November 14 special Advisory board meeting it is 5:30 p.m. the meeting is now called to order please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance and one nation under God indivisible justice for all the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act the Camas City School District board of education has submitted notice of this meeting on Friday November 8th to be published and posted on the district website at ww w. camon City schools.org published in the board's designated online media Outlet newspapers the carrier post and the Philadelphia inquire file with the Camden City Clerk and mailed to all persons if any who have requested said notice please be advised that this meeting is being recorded and may be broadcasted on local TV and the district's website at a future date like to pass it over for roll call to our board secretary tayor thank you president n d Nelson uh for roll call board vice president Janette Alvarez board Garcia board member Cameron Hudson board member Danielle Jackson pres board member Karen Merricks pres board president nanami Nelson board member Maria Perez pres you have Quorum thank you thank you board secretary Taylor um welcome again to the special meeting um convened for the Dual purposes of highlighting November board agenda items and interviewing candidates for two vacant board positions at this time I will turn it back into the capable hands of our board secretary Miss hesha Taylor who will share November work session highlights thank you superintendent um we have several Highlights today I will be um calling on Dr Walker for most of them the one I will highlight that you may not see in the work session today but will be on the November uh the no of the October financials Dr Walker thank you good evening everyone good evening board superintendent and community members um just at a very high level the items that will be present presented on Monday the following Monday's board meeting regularly scheduled um in the areas of teaching and learning you will find items such as um ongoing special education tuition contracts resolutions connected to Community Partnerships and those may be things like hosting a Black History Month program um in the district there is a Camden County Metro Morgan Village uh police dodgeball game com up with our students we have a turkey giveaway happening in a few places so you will see those agenda items um a correction to the funding allocation for school based use Services which a lot of their work interfaces across the district but certainly touches teaching and learning also professional development some areas of focus will include professional development for teachers as related to our newcomers uh restorative circles and content areas specifically Ela you will also find the continuation of field trips that we present each month there will be items there's a basketball game two out of state basketball games coming up trips to universities Washington DC uh the JC's trip skating Museum and additional field trips connected of course to curriculum and standards uh for student Act activities please note a few fundraisers for some of our high school students as well as the joined prom is already on the agenda believe it or not looking all a all the way ahead to the spring which will be a collaboration of the four schools here across the campus some of the after school programs there are some supplemental materials including online learning resources a fun cooking class for families at ecdc lit nights you will also find connected to DTLR staff names for clubs and Liaisons and content leads we will have our monthly HIV report um happen in the back and Clos session but we will move to accept those as well as the ongoing bus evacuation drills which are required twice per year throughout the district those are some of our high levels for teaching and learning thank you thank you Dr Walker are there any questions from board members about any of the November board agenda items or the highlights question yes board member any questions from board members no uh board member Garcia or no all right board member Jackson yes [Music] test nope not working thank you um for the special education tuition placement approvals this is current and up to date correct I beg your pardon board member Jack teaching and learning approvals for November special education tuition placement approvals page 14 yes these are the tuition contracts that we're presenting for November okay thank you any other questions board members not that's it thank you president Nelson we will now begin to interview candidates for the two vacant board seats to become a member of local Board of Education in New Jersey before y we now will begin to interview candidates for the two vacant board seats to become a member of a local Board of Education in New Jersey you must be able to to read and write hold US citizenship and one year's residency in the school district be registered to vote in the district have no interest in any contract with or claim against the board not hold office as mayor or member of the municipal governing body not some simultaneously hold two elective offices and not be disqualified from membership for the conviction of certain crimes tonight's nine interview candidates have attested to meeting the affers said mentioned requirements to become a member of a local Board of Education in New Jersey superintendent momes will now share tonight's candidate interview process thank you SBA Taylor again I will share the process we will follow tonight to interview board members candidates the process may be familiar to you as this is the same interview process we have used in the past to fill vacant board seats tonight the board will be interviewing candidates for two vacant board positions there are nine candidates to be interviewed this evening by the board members the board candidate interview order is based on the order in which the board received each candidate's letter of interest and resume all candidates will have 15 minutes to respond to the questions presented the candidates will be sequestered in a separate room before being interviewed to ensure equity in the process once all candidates have been interviewed we will open up the meeting for public comment upon the conclusion of public comment the board will go into executive session to deliberate before reconvening in public session for a vote each vacant position will undergo a separate nomination and voting process the successful candidates will need to complete criminal history background checks prior to being able to act in the official capacity as an Advisory Board member it is anticipated that the candidates will be sworn into office at the December board meeting both successful candidates will serve until the January 2026 reorganization meeting the two positions will go on the ballot at the November 2025 election for the unexpired terms the board president and board members will now lead the candidate interviews and if I could ask if there are any of the candidates that joined us at 5:30 if you could please um be escorted out by I think Miss Beman um to the classroom our first candidate will be Aaron Cooper start is he here what do you need us two and asking questions didn't include us and asking questions did you want to ask did you want to ask a question did you want to ask so why don't you do that Maria question two and the question three okay you got questions y okay you got you can't we thank the uh the audience for its uh for your patience the first scheduled interview was scheduled for six um so but they're getting him right now Aaron Cooper will be arriving shortly [Applause] 15 [Music] we just want to apologize we're actually ahead of schedule um so some of the candidates aren't here yet the first actual interview is supposed to start at 6:00 um so if you could give us a few minutes we'll wait until the first candidate actually gets here so sorry thank you s so our first candidate up is Aaron Cooper welcome and first question comes from uh vice president Alvarez good evening good evening I'm going to ask that you please state your name and address and share how long you have been a resident of Camden City of the city of Camden my name is Aaron Cooper my address is 1160 Mechanic Street I've been a resident of the city of Camden for 47 years thank you thank you and why do you want to serve as a board member um my life has been dedicated to serving of young people from the age of 18 up until now and I have served in many different capacities dealing with young people from adjudicated youth to young people in the school systems of the city of Camden Camden County College and laws side as well and this will give me a greater opportunity to serve my community and help with our young people thank you good evening what specific skill would you bring to the board and what would you consider to be one of the greatest strengths um could you please repeat that couldn't hear you what specific skills would you bring to the board and what would you consider to be one of one of your greatest strengths um one of my greatest strengths I'm going to answer the questions backwards one of my greatest strengths is the fact that I'm flexibil flexible um I get along with people and being a campas city resident I've seen things over the years that have greatly impacted me as an individual and greatly impacted me as a parent so therefore I'm not coming in here I'm not coming for this position from the side of a learned individual I'm coming for this position from the side of an individual that's directly impacted I have a child who is a senior in high school right now and we still live in the city of Camden so therefore what goes on within our community within goes on in our school system directly affects me as a parent and directly affects my child what strengths I bring is the fact that I'm open to learning one of the things that I recognize and realize that if I was picked for the Schoolboard I would have to learn the position not by hear say I would have have to actively participate and actively get involved with what's going on so that's what I'll bring to the table could you please give specific examples of your ability as far as interpersonal relationships and teamwork um my current position right now is As A Firefighter and one of the greatest skills that we as individuals that work within the Kansas City Fire Department have to do is work as a team we have to depend on others to do their jobs directly so that we can do our job effectively if one person isn't pulling their weight it's not uh hurry up come on let's go it's a how can I help you how can I assist you to do your job even if it's on the fire ground or if it's back at the station where it's interpersonal relationships whereas you don't put people on blast directly you go to the person individually and address whatever problems or issues that they may have there so some people May respond by the yelling the screaming but other people May respond by you know talking oneon-one and most effective communication that I've seen is when you talk to somebody and make them feel comfortable to the point where it's not an attack but it's a conversation thank you uh next what do you see as the role of a school board member and how many hours per week can you commit to school events and activities um again answering the questions backwards as far as committing time my life has been dedicated to serving our community and serving our young people the roles and responsibility as members of the school board is to advocate for our community advocate for our young people and actively engage with our community as opposed to sitting back and wonder what's going on we act school board members should actively be a part of the community not just in namesake but actively involved with what's going on and I as a parent a active parent anytime anybody see me they see my but some with me so therefore it's not just lip service thank you good evening Mr Cooper uh please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences um like I mentioned before I am currently a member of the Camas City Fire Department I was uh educated with in the Cy County school system as a par professional also as as um a substitute teacher I worked at Kandy County College for the previous four years as a educator with in social studies and science uh worked uh at jrc as a life skills development coordinator I worked um I'm trying to think of the name I know it changed but um it used to be Lakeland I worked at Lakeland as a Detention Center officer um I worked in foster care and again actively engaged as a parent and also I run my own youth development program when jrc lost their funding I kept the young people with me until they graduated high school and most of the young people that graduated through the program have going on to further education whether it's the military or whether it was College itself thank you what areas would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some of the ways would you suggest accomplishing these improvements transparency is one of the biggest things that I see our district needs and I've been speaking on that for a minute and when I say transparency I as a parent I'm only informed to certain things when it hits the fan and prior to things hitting the fan I think that school board members should be active within our school system where as it should be a give and take where the parents and individuals our community should be able to talk to Schoolboard members about what's going on and the Schoolboard members should be able to address it as opposed to everybody pretending as if certain things don't exist or certain things hasn't happened when the reality is we know what's really going on but everybody's acting like they're afraid to address it or acting like they're afraid to say something so one of the things that I would like to do or would like to see is school board members actively participating in our schools as well as learning what needs to be done to get our school board from under the state control because the city of Camas school district is one of the few school districts that's still left under State control and it's a reason thank you good evening Mr Cooper uh are you aware of the time commitments for serving on the board yes I'm aware um good I'm sorry yeah okay no problem uh are you aware of the training commitments ethics law disclosures and criminal history background check required for Schoolboard membership yes I'm very aware of it all right thank you thank you Mr Cooper that concludes the questions you can be excused thank you our next candidate is Samir Nichols [Music] [Music] hey how everybody doing hey W how are you welcome Samir Nicholas at this time we'll begin your interview and we'll start with vice president Alvarez thank you board president good evening good evening may you please state your name address and share how long you have been a resident of the city of Camden absolutely so my name is Samir Nichols address 139 State Street um and my entire life 29 years camon resident proud thank you why do you want to be why do you want to serve on the board um I think it's simple right to help support students beyond the classroom help support extracurricular activities in the district and help build policies that support regulations that that meets our classroom needs and livability for students in Camden um support the district to be able to build Equitable schools n that compete nationally I think that that's the biggest Pro biggest point of being a board member is to build policies that that compete with National School Districts and public education across the world um and more importantly to support a quality education for all students no matter have access Creed or color that's the most important part good evening what specific skills would you bring to the board and what would you consider to be one of your greatest strengths oh wow that's a good question so um I I bring over a decade of nonprofit management and board governance um over the last five years I've had the privilege of serving on several local boards I've had the privilege of chairing the Camas City Arts culture and Heritage commission uh which advis elected officials on arts and culture policies Citywide um I've had the privilege of CH serving as the chairperson for the cam County culture Heritage Commission Mission um where we advise the county officials on policies to access Equitable Arts funding Citywide and um over 10 plus years in nonprofit experience as executive director of a nonprofit I have um built leadership teams from artists and individuals of all types um working with different individuals on different tasks completing them diligently so um what do I bring to the district a vast knowledge of resources and district and resources to support student education in in multiple forms could you please give specific examples of your abilities in interpersonal relationships and teamwork wow so working as an artist and an executive director I use interpersonal skills every day um for several years I worked in schools um we Garner grant funding and supported teams from students parents and principles so for several years I had to work with principles lead Educators uh about student and and and student growth so what that looked like on on a day-to-day basis was having to manage parents sometimes having to manage students with disciplinary problems and work with multiple teams to uh Rectify issues on a school level and in my current work as a chair of the Arts Comm commission um I get to work with a lot of individuals throughout directors City officials residents or Arts organizations so in a personable every day teamwork I love I'm a team player right I'm I think I sit at the podium just a month ago and offered the district resources as far as howwi um Essa and how we can strengthen those um Early Access to Arts education funding so I'm always a team player even when it's not my job okay and what do you see as the role of a school board member and how many hours per week could you commit to school events and activities um how many hours uh whatever it takes right I think that that's the most important part most people don't want to go above and beyond I think this job is not about how many hours you can commit but how many how many hours you need to to get the job done that's one um two is what do I I'm sorry repeat the question the first part of the question because I the hours part threw me off what do you see as the role of a Schoolboard member oh the role of a Schoolboard member um governing advising but more importantly action right being able to sit at this on this day with all of you and be able to translate a communal conversation and be able to put students first I think that that's the most important part is to continue to put students first thank you thank you hello Mr Nicholls good evening hey please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences oh Community or so um wow I've sat on countless number of nonprofit boards um in the city of Camden in the county of Camden um specifically I bring over 10 plus years of nonprofit board experience uh government board experience five plus years in government board experience to clarify um and so every day I'm out in the community I actually missed a neighborhood stakeholders meeting in North Camden to be here so uh to tell you how much committed commitment I am to to community organizations okay and what areas would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some of the ways you would suggest accomplishing these improvements oh wow so um a lot of times people talk about the the business office right and so I love I love that I get to talk about in my day job business forecasting so understand that the district has always looked at trying to improve its business office and I know we now have a new ba and that's going to improve all of those the work there so um working on a committee to help support business and finance and really looking at um School support and what that looks like um from the standpoint of really uh understanding the curriculum and and supporting the district there in those areas and strengthening the financing and the the curriculum thank you good evening Mr Nichols uh are you aware of the time commitments for serving on the board yes absolutely elaborate you can I will so so um I think that the the district is made up of committees I think that the district is made up of Student Activities and so when you think of how much time should be spent in a school versus how much time should be spent in a meeting I think the work sessions the beyond the two meetings a month the work session and the actual meeting here I think that whatever the district needs in terms of time commitment um I'll be available for thank you are you aware of the training commitments ethics law disclosures and criminal history background check required for Schoolboard membership yes um understanding that I've faced um I said on two other governing boards in the county which also faces it I've also served as a um I'm sorry been vetted through the governor's office for the national state I'm sorry the state Arts Council to clarify um so I understand what the the finance disclosure forms and the ethics laws look like and what it looks like to be vetted as a and pass the background screen thank you yep that completes the questions for Samir Nichols thank you appreciate it thank you all have a nice day thank [Music] you for [Music] you could you hear me could you hear me now oh put that [Music] back our next candidate is dubert Neil welcome good evening good evening everyone and the first question to come from vice president Alvarez thank you board president good evening good evening may you please state your name address and how long you have been a resident of the city of Camden uh my name is Delbert Neil uh my address is 2728 River Road Camden New Jersey and I've been a resident for 52 years thank you why do you want to serve as a board member uh why I want to serve on uh is I want to have a direct impact on education you're welcome good evening what specific skills would you bring to the board and what would you do what would you consider to be one of your greatest strengths uh my specific skills would be uh the ability to multitask um having a background in project management and being an engineer uh I'm well-rounded in a lot of the facets that the Board of Education would deem to help out the the community thank you could you please give specific examples of your abilities in interpersonal relationships and teamwork um so I believe communication uh is one of my interpersonal skills listening and empathy I think is needed in our community at this time and could you re re read address that for me I think you did pretty good and then teamwork teamwork okay U well I've been a assistant basketball coach uh in the city for the Last 5 Years so I've preached teamwork uh all throughout every year um putting numerous hours in uh in a city of Cam and into schools thank you and what do you see as the role of a School Board member it's a two-part question and how many hours per week can you commit to school events and activities um the roles I see would be setting policies developing a budget hiring and evaluating superintendent supporting staff and teachers creating a positive uh culture in our schools um and what I feel would be needed is uh just from the standpoint of building relationships with the community I think could do a better job at that thank you hello good evening please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences uh yeah in 2010 I started a nonprofit called The Rebirth of Camden and what we've did was supported the nicku in Virtual Hospital uh for parents who had children and it couldn't stay over uh with their children in those moments so we kind of funded them hotel rooms and food and things like that that okay what areas would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some of the ways you would suggest accomplishing these um improvements uh again um communication uh with with the residents okay um just a better Pathway to and be more accessible than we have been um some things that think that we do that it's instead of the separation of this the board and the residents just more active things with the board hello Mr Neil how you feeling sir all right are you aware of the time commitments for serving on the board I am uh being it I am a coach and I won't be coaching this year so I've been dedicating I want to say 20 to 30 hours a week uh in that facet I don't see that why that would change if I was in the board I would just transition onto the forward and still give that amount of time uh per week okay last question is are you aware of the training commitments ethics law disclosures and criminal history background check required for a Schoolboard membership yes I am and I'm prepared to uh submit all those uh recommendations and take any trainings that is necessary thank [Music] you that completes to interview Mr Delbert nil thank you I appreciate appreciate you thank you have a great night guys our next candidate is Mr Derek [Music] gashaw our first question will come from vice president Alvarez thank you board president good evening good evening may you please state your name address and share how long you have been a resident of the city of Camden Derek gashaw 1703 fre Avenue 08104 I've been a resident of Camden for 43 years thank you no problem and why do you want to serve as a board member um I want to serve as a board member because I invested over 20 years and cam then as a community me member well as somebody that's deeply involved in the education system and grow of our youth in the city like through all these experiences I'm aware of like the challenges as well as the potential that our students face so through my involvement I have dedicated myself to build like programs programs uh for the Youth by creating um Community programs family engagement um as well as Deli programs focus on focusing on programs that focus on students writing serving board will give me a chance to directly advocate for the policies resources curriculum and support systems our students and teachers need I want to be part of a team that changes The Narrative of what people say about the city and our educational system and when they say we can't do we do thank you good evening what specific skills would you bring to the board and what will you consider to be one of your great strengths um I bring leadership commitment practical skills being involved in the community passion team player easy connect with others and I would say my greatest strength um that for the board would be my relatability being able to relate with the the students being in a place before I uh I could sit here and talk about um me being a graduate of the C the school systems going into college feeling like I was prepared but then sitting in the classroom feeling like I didn't belong so um that's something I would want another child to experience so at that time you can either break that could break you or make you so um being on the board will actually um help help me help others persevere through those situations thank you could you please give specific examples of your ability in interpersonal relationships and teamwork um as senior director of Mighty writers I say this is this will be part of my my day-to-day um day-to-day duties so for example you got to depend on your team to be uh committed communication you got to have confidence in your team as well as take their ideas and um and respect their ideas and so things can change or get better so even if we give an example of something we do so we do a daily distribution to our community we give out food and resources so even something as simple as having monthly meetings with our volunteers as well as surveying our our participants who come get the the resources we it it let it lets us know the things that they actually need and we not putting out things that we just want to put out so that that that increases the number of people we have as well as help helps us when we're thinking of new programs and things also things to bring to the uh Community something else I would say is um we have an upcoming turkey drive so something that we have um a regular team me meeting with my team talk about the turkey D drive just listening to one of my teammates um ideas to say look we should combine our turkey drive with um with our Fall Fest so we can get um so we can basically um tackle two goals into one and bring more people out so with this um taking on that on on that idea we was able to bring in about 20 other um organizations so being able to work as a team with everybody uh getting input and putting their ideas out to uh keep the same goals and accomplish is something that um was great and um I think is important to listen to everybody views knowing everybody views count and um as long as the goal stays in mind and what do you see as the role of a school board member and how many hours per week can you commit to school events or activities um I believe the role of a Schoolboard member is to be a bridge between the community students and Educators uh to work together to make sure that the schools is a place where our students can Thrive School me board member should be dedicated to creating policies opportunities programs that mirror the needs of our students and teachers through their voices so to be supportive of student not only through their academics but also the extracurricular activities thank you good evening Mr Gallow Shaw how you doing fine thank you um please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences um the rec out of college uh I was involved in uh program overbound overbound was geared to increase students enrollment to graduate and go to college so after that um I particip uh I became director I mean assistant director of Champ geup Program doing the champ champ gar program is the is to help students build the foundation to guide them through the middle school high school actually get the postsecondary and we do a bunch of things to take them outside of the environment so um they can get that motivation to to actually want to do something Beyond um just school or something that that motivates them to carry on to to to to be successful in what they choose to be successful in um after leaving uh the Champ Program uh I was uh middle of the high school transition manager for can the promis Neighborhood Center for Family Service um I was I was charged with helping students with that transition period from getting from middle school to high school and then from high school to college and during career so choosing which whichever they choose making sure they got the right path to get there now I'm seeing director of Mighty writers the the goal of Mighty writers is to help our students right with Clarity and understanding so uh we geared to to help our students increase those scores in writing as well as um uh serve our community so what happened when the pandemic pandemic came we wanted to find ways to uh help our community and to make sure that we try to uh eliminate some of the barriers that our families are facing so we came up with uh providing resources community events and different things like that for the um for the community thank you what areas would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some of the ways you would suggest accomplishing these improvements um while working for um Comm uh promis can the promis neighborhood I noticed like when we was in the school it was like a lack of teachers a lack of teacher um presence as as far as like we had substitutes long-term substitute teaching major classes and to me that's the issue we want our students to succeed and prosper and a in and um and score high on these tests then we need to have the qualified teachers there at all times to teach them and those teachers that are there sometimes overwork because they teach in multiple classes um also believe the rigorous of classes I think um the rigor needs to be increased so our students um a AP class in Camden should be the same AP class in collinswood or anywhere else um I sat on I was at a board meeting before and I heard a student say that no one scored anything on the AP exam so um to me that seemed like a a issue that that needs to be corrected as well as attendance for students we need to focus on attendance for our students and um try to get them here if they not here they can't learn um I think all this leads to the low low achievement of our students um and I believe that's why on the Qs we we we we scored low in teaching and uh programming so Solutions I think we need to look at our students as a whole knowing that they they face many issues before they even get to school and after school so we need to address those um I don't think it's no simple answer or no one solution to these problems but um I just think you need to be part of a dedicated team that's going to work together together and Tackle these these um these issues and um and I think I also think um a big uh step would be to also gain local control again CU not only will we have a greater uh input I think we have a greater impact before we go to the uh the next question excuse me for interrupting the process if we can make sure that everyone um does not talk in the audience so that each can can have the opportunity to um be uninterrupted as well as each of the board members can have the opportunity to hear um what's going on so we want to minimize any distractions to make sure that it's a fair process for everyone thank you so much for your cooperation in advance next question Mr gashaw are you aware of the time commitments for serving on the board yes and you can elaborate if you yes I um I'm aware of the uh time commitment uh going to activities as well as um conferences um meetings as well as support and uh extracurricular activities yes and I'm committed to that and are you aware of the training commitments ethics laws disclosures and criminal history background check required for school board membership yes I'm aware of those as well all right thank you [Applause] thank you Derek gallashaw I complete your interview [Music] our next candidate will be Charlie [Music] arari and our first question will come from vice president Alvarez thank you board president Nelson good evening good evening may you please state your name address and how many how long have you been a resident of the city of Camden my name is shli rosari I reside at 559 Fifer Street Camden New Jersey 08105 I have lived in Camden for most of my life um and even when I've moved away I've come right back so I've been back in the city um for like two and a half years now um but has have always remained working here even if I moved away and why do you want to serve as a board member um the reason I want to serve is because for me this would be the ultimate Act of servitude to my community I've had a lot of years and experience advocating for education in different um positions um so for me this would be the best way to give back to the community that has nurtured and served me thank good evening what specific skills would you bring to the board and what would you consider to be one of your greatest strengths um thank you for that as I stated I've worn many hats um in this work as an advocate so I've gone from being a student to being a parent um have I have worked in schools whether if it was like um after school programs and have served on many um nonprofit organizations since since high school I've started out working for respond Incorporated I have been a founding member of the North Camden Little League one Camden and the founding and the founder of parents Invincible um just recently I worked with um a nonprofit a national nonprofit called the National Parents Union as um a national organizer and that and working with other organizations throughout the country that are working towards education have also served on several boards um beginning with the um North Camden um I'm sorry North Camden citizens and um raise the bar as well as Camden works thank you how you doing could you please give specific examples of your abilities in interpersonal relationships and teamwork so I throughout my career my approach to is um to approach with a spirit of collaboration so I will work to build um relationships with others and organizations so that when we come together we are able to find common ground and to break down barriers um that are preventing Student Success um so that to me is my greatest skill is and also being proximate I'm from the city I've went to see I went to these schools I worked in these schools I worked with the schools um so my greatest gift is having nurtured those relationships and being able to bring those to the board what do you see as the role of a board member and how many hours per week can you commit to school events and activities sure so typically I know that um board members are here to ensure accountability um CH in choosing the superintendent and Advising the superintendent but also overseeing the budget um setting goals based on the mission and the vision and the and and the core values of the district as well as um just ensuring Student Success across the board thank you thank you I'm sorry I forgot to mention that I am available you know from between 5 to 10 hours a week but with more time when more time is needed I'm able to make time available hello hi hi okay could you please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences sure um as I mentioned um right out of high school my first job was at a nonprofit organization so I've been working with families ever since um whether if it was early childhood education or housing they moving on and you know I've been a volunteer on with several boards as well as so as I mentioned North Camp Little League I was one of the original members of Camden enrollment now one Camden um the same as other parent organizations in the city I've been a part of whether I was you know work directly for the organization or served on their board um I founded an organization in the city as well that's still in operation and have nurtured relationships with other Serv providers in the city thank you what areas would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some of the ways you would suggest accomplishing these improvements sure um the unicorn in um in advocacy has been family engagement and this is you know everywhere that I've visited throughout the country there how you how do you engage Families how do you engage families um I feel that Camden does have a oneup as far as you know in comparison to to other communities across the city so I would love to work toward toward strengthening that and applying the skills that and resources that I've earned throughout the country bringing that to the city um I've also like to create more Partnerships for students to receive more scholarships um and whether that is in higher learning through universities or um through trades um so I have been networking with other organizations throughout the country that that's their so FOC focus is to raise funds for scholarships for students in um in cities such as ours so I've been nurturing those so that I can bring them to the table thank you hey Charlie uh are you aware of the time commitments for serving on the board yes I am and you can elaborate if you yeah um can you know I I've seen you work I've seen you do the work I've seen I've worked with a lot of you and seen how much time and devotion you have applied to this role um and I want to model that as well so I have seen you all putting countless hours and sweat and tears into this and I'm ready to join you and doing the same right and the last question is are you aware of the training commitments ethics law disclosures and criminal history background check required for school board membership yeah so I'm I'm an open book so um I'm you know you can do a background check and I'll be fine I also look forward to training um and learning more about you know just spruing up that portfolio any skill that I get I always bring back to my community anybody who knows that knows that I am a door opener I'm not a gatekeeper so I'm open to trainings and conferences anything that will help to empower myself and thereby empowering the community that I want to serve right thank you thank you thank you Charlie erer that concludes your [Music] interview next up we have Gabriel kamacho [Music] good evening everyone good evening our first question to come from vice president Alvarez thank you board president good evening good evening may you please state your name address and how long you've been a resident of the city of Camden my name is Gabriel kamacho live at 381 michl Street been a resident of the city for over 25 years most Rec most recently I moved back in 2022 once my mother became ill that brought me back uh to Camden from Virginia where I was had a role as a police chief there after retiring from the camon county police department since then mom had passed has passed in 2023 thank you and why do you want to serve as a board member why do I want to serve as a board member um I believe to serve as a board member is not only honor but it's a responsibility being a board member plays a crucial role in representing the community its needs and values and advocating for our for our students for our children as a student who attended both private and public schools here in the city I see the importance and impact of both school board and a superintendent are charged with success of a student needs to be presented in a manner that is achievable and within reach I truly believe this our children need to see this back in 1991 probably before some people here um I was a high school student at will Dre Wilson and I ran for the board I believe I was the first youngest to run while still a student my platform was a Level Playing Field it meant that a student if a student was provided with the proper equipment quality curriculum and positive environment they have the ability to achieve like any other student in the state of New Jersey I didn't win a seat on the board but I was humbled by the experience and to have run with and debated with many notable past board members such as Rosemary jacks and actually I saw him earlier today Jose dogado I truly believe by loving a playing field success is achievable it's achievable for a child raised by a single parent home it's achieved living on government assistance while Mom worked as a lunch shade and selling Avon door too it's achievable as a student going into high school and working 20 to 30 hours at the local mall to contribute at home it's achievable for a student who becomes a parent at 19 how do I know cuz that student was me I I believe I can make a positive impact and be that voice most importantly be that ear and listen to the community and advocate for our children's success which sometimes comes imunity thank you good evening what specific skills would you bring to the board and what would you consider to be one of your greatest strengths I would bring my knowledge and experience that includes my tenure and law enforcement time which included obtaining specializing skills such as problem solving management community outreach which I hold dear to my heart and as a highlight building those bridges with the community uh that I brought to my current position as code enforcement officer a director of Code Enforcement greatest strength I believe is accountability the same fashion I hold others accountable I hold myself accountable and followup I believe those are two of my greatest strength which to continue I I simply continue to affect that in my personal life both professional and personal I see that failing in with that ingredient organizations and personal relationship is failure and holding oneself accountable it includes admitting at times and being knowledgeable of one's shortcomings by failing to do so because what happens is it'll snowball to distrust and as we all know distrust is something that's difficult to overcome follow-ups is the only way things get done that's the only way that the that they're not forgotten or misplaced I strongly believe those strengths will be a asset and welcome contribution to the board thank you could you please give specific examples of your abilities in interpersonal relationships and teamwork interpersonal relationships one it stands out when I think of interpersonal relationships that I recall is as a police Commander signed to the first district which is north Canada back in 20 2013 I attended various meetings with the community many of those meetings were somewhat confrontational due to past relationships police and the community and as a resident some of the animosity was warned to do to pass contact with the police although many of the meetings began kind of tough and kind of rough it was important to open and collaborate with each other we discussed issues such as past police interactions it was Paramount to have a dialogue and show respect with one another at times it was heated in the beginning a huge component was to be an active listener maintain a positive attitude I was able to sit with residents and our youth having long discussions talking about neighborhood concerns and building relationships this is one of of foundation on building interpersonal relationships which I still have today I built it on being persistent and consistent breaking barriers not only be seen as a police officer at the time but also as Gabe that was huge and that's something uh and that was a personal win that I hold dear even today what do you see as the role of a school board member and how many hours per week can you commit to school events and activities um I just wanted to it was both with also teamwork so I didn't know if you wanted me to answer that portion of it as well yep all right as far as teamwork uh one is most recent in in my current position as code enforcement director uh the city back in 2022 adopted through the 5-year inspection this was a new inspection for the city and included the inspectors taking a four four-month online course I encouraged the Housing bureau to participate which included myself uh this effort produced collaboration we were working together I was able to get to know the members of Housing bureau communication which is key in building any type of relationship uh reliability and I say that because it gave me the opportunity that we all had to be on time on class it was no special treatment because I was was quote unquote the boss awareness and familiarity taking the time to know the work that they do and not just be seen as a boss but as an active member it was huge uh it was it was huge for me and and it was huge to be seen that I genuinely cared about the job they were doing and not just seen as as the boss but it may me more of an effective leader thank you good evening Mr kamano good evening please um describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences uh my previous uh community and nonprofit experiences I served when I was in the police department as a member and also as a president it was called the Hispanic police offic society that was from about 1996 to 2012 while a member of this organization uh we focus on giving back we had our give back Thanksgiving program which we provided Thanksgiving baskets to several families throughout the years we provided scholarships to high school students in the city uh we also mentored and spoke at local schools uh after that or kind of uh at around the same time also served as a board member for prop in Camden that was about 2009 to about 2017 our this particular organization they were involved in various services for the city which included uh food drives after school programs for the Youth and teenagers uh most recently uh I'm currently serve as a board member El Central daycare and child early development center oh thank you um what um what areas would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some ways you would suggest accomplishing these improvements uh the area I would strengthen our district would be focused on parent involvement and support for our children it's critical that the efforts that that the district currently makes for our children continues after school hours it can only be done with the support of the parents we must Express to our parents the importance and provide them with the resources to partner with the success of their children to leave out the importance of the parents and the family support it jeopardized all the efforts that we make in the school system definitely it would have to be wraparound Services efforts to include in the home and with the family support that's the only way for them to be truly successful thank you good evening Mr kamacho good evening are you aware of the time commitments for serving on the board yes I'm aware of the time commitment and the importance of serving on the board it's not one that I hold lightly I'm prepared and I look forward to to continue to serve the board in my community and are you aware of the training commitments ethics law disclosures and criminal history background check required for board membership yes I'm quite aware of the of the training commitment and understand the importance and the value of the law of the ethical law law disclosure um you know we're speaking about our children I understand that these are safeguards for our children which are paramont thank you thank you Gabriel kamacho that concludes your interview thank you thank you for the opportunity our next candidate is constant Mercedes hi hi good evening good evening the first question will come from vice president Alvarez thank you thank you board president good evening good evening may you please state your name address and share how long you've been a resident of the city of Camden my name is Constance Mercedes I live at 12:50 Jackson Street in Camden I've been in Camden for two years thank you at my address yes I'm sorry I didn't hear at my address I've been for there for two years okay thank you yeah I've been in Camden for two years yes I've been living at the same address in Camden for two years so that's my whole period in camon thank you okay thank you and why do you want to serve as a board member well I think that a good public school system is necessary for a thriving middle class which uh is is kind of lacking and cam at the moment um plus I would like to see every child here grow and succeed I think a good education is is necessary for [Music] that thank you thank welcome good evening what specific skills would you bring to the board and what would you consider to be one of your greatest strengths well I think I bring leadership uh skills to the board I work as a nurse at Lords on Six North Med sege so as part of my job I learn to take responsibility for my actions and admit my mistakes openly if if I do something wrong I told the nurse manager or I speak to the nurse educator about it about so I can do things differently uh in the in the future um I think one of my biggest strengths is accountability as a nurse I am accountable I have a I have a license to maintain um so I work to maintain my license and um ensure patient safety at all uh at all costs basically thank you could you please give specific examples of your abilities in interpersonal relationships and teamwork well again I work at Lords as a nurse so um we have what's called Grand rounds which is basically around 11:00 in the morning doctors nurses uh physical therapists social workers dietary we all get together in a circle kind of like this and we discuss patient care why are they there what's going to happen uh post discharge uh do they have any needs what are we doing for them now so we all work together as a team to ensure uh the goal of basically patient discharge what do you see as the role of a board member and how many hours per week can you commit to school events and activities um well I think board members they set policies and goals they uh promote Community involvement of private citizens and taxpayers and they also hold the the board uh they also look for accountability making sure the goals are being met uh within the school system and um I only work on weekends as around now I work part-time so I have time to devote during the week to board activities thank you good evening Miss Mercedes hello please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences uh I volunteer at the charer hill free clinic which is a clinic in uh in Cherry Hill it's it helps the uninsured and underinsured uh with he you can see a doctor there if you don't have health insurance they'll refer you to someplace else so it's a great free clinic if here in Cherry Hill you know I have health insurance you can be seen by a doctor there plus I'm also in the nursing research council at at at Lords uh we research topics relating to the nursing field and patient safety and I'm on the med search council at Lords um plus I'm also on the board of uh uh Humanity preservation board it's a nonprofit that's designed to uh address child abuse uh in America so I have a few like nonprofits and I'm on thank you what other areas would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some ways you would suggest accomplishing these improvements I was researching the issues with the district and I think that uh the big issue to me is the high school graduation rate uh in in the districtwide it is below state level state level um I think a good way to address that would be more job training programs of for the students I know that uh Cooper University they are partnering with a local union to provide apprenticeships to all camon residents 18 or older but you have to have a high school diploma so I think that like telling students hey what once you graduate with a diploma you you can't have a job it's worthwhile to graduate I think that would be uh good for students letting them know the value of a a diploma um plus there's also a lot of abandoned houses in Camden I think honestly just like home renovation project would be nice like giving kids teaching them skills with electrical work carpentry showing them hey you can fix up your neighborhood and get a job too that' be good um it's a lot of ideas I have thank you good evening Miss Mercedes uh are you aware of the time commitments for serving on the board yes I from my understanding is that it's uh um it's a a once a once a month meeting is that what it is no I know there's other time Comm that there several several meetings um and did you have anything else to add of what's the training process like for a board member do you know yeah I can't answer that I'm sorry um okay the last question is are you aware of the training commitments ethics law disclosures and criminal history background check required for Schoolboard membership I uh yeah when I submitted the form uh couple days ago I I said I don't have a criminal record I don't have a criminal record so I can fast the background check I have a license so nursing is kind of the same thing as education we have to make sure we maintain our license at all costs so um I have for nurses like whenever we get in trouble with the law we have to self-report so I make sure I keep myself out of trouble basically thank you thank you thank you Constance Mercedes that concludes your interview thank you bye thank [Music] you you to our next candidate is Shan Brown hello everyone hello good evening hello well well well our first question will come from vice president Alvarez thank you board president Nelson good evening good evening may you please state your name and your address and how long you've been a resident of the city of Camden my name is Shawn Matthew Brown I've been a resident Camden since I was 20 years old I live at 4012 North 40th Street Camden New Jersey it might come up P talking on Google but it's definitely Camden thank you hello Sean hello why do you want to serve as a board member right now um as you saw in the news today from the national level to state level to local level our children and families are dealing with a crisis and over politicization of Education I'm a former School Board member I'm a parent of two successful children I pay attention to Genesis I talk to their teachers I'm a son of a public school teacher I've been an advocate and of active attendee of these board meetings since the Year 2006 I was a school board member from 10 to 13 and I'm proud of their record that I did um I saw the superintendent's presentations on test scores treny and other crit and other critical issues that this district is dealing with I know and you know that I can contribute something amazing to this board um that's why I'm interviewing today thank you yes ma'am good evening what specific skills would you bring to the board and what would you consider to be one of your greatest strengths well you know when people ask about my insurance there's so many where do I start no I'm just kidding I know where to start um if you think about the the presentation that that Miss momes gave um last Monday it's full of data and I'm very good at analyzing data I do it every day I understand the I understand education from theoretical and scientific perspective but also from a community and parental perspective um I'm also really good at understanding both national state laws how policies can affect the things that we do um I can explain complicated things in simple ways I can figure out a way to always have a coalition of five majority people who support something I'm able to figure out how we deal with this somewhat weird situation of being um an Advisory Board yet still having an influence on what happens to educate our children and that's what uh what I want to contribute and bring to this board thank you could you please give specific examples of your abilities and interpersonal relationships and teamwork sure um I was the business administrator of a burrow and in that I had to deal with the complicated political situation working with Democrats and Republicans working with people who were older than me had been there longer than me um and some people who frankly didn't really want to see me sit sit in the seat of power and in that we were able to accomplish amazing things that the city had never seen before and and um I'm proud of those accomplishments I was able to set aside any personal disagreement with anyone and focus on the goal of what we need to get done hey car of of what we need to get done um and I'll leave it at that okay what do you see as the role of a board member and how many hours per week can you commit to school events and activities so so the role of a Schoolboard member is really set by state law right it tells us exactly what the role of a board member is and if if you summarize it there are two things that we normally think about one is the New Jersey state constitution says that every student has the right um uh to a to an to a to a uh thorough and efficient education and the second thing um in the law is that it's the school dist it's the school board's responsibility to make sure that schools are run well we are in a unique situation as an Advisory Board because the state superintendent has ultimate Authority on approving the agenda and uh reports to the commissioner of Education not directly to the Advisory board but just as I said the last time I sat here I truly believe that there is a way that we can focus on qack we can focus on uh test scores treny and issues like that um I think um Miss gpie who's in the in the audience did a great job folo did a great job job you board members Mr Nelson Miss Jackson um I see you guys often at schools at events uh you've done a great job of showing what leadership can be what presence means um what loving children can be in terms of hours you know we'll figure it out my gift to this board is not shaking hands and holding babies and taking pictures my get to this board is my intellect my understanding of Education my understanding of C ition building and seeing what can we do to make sure that every student no matter how long they've been in this country no matter how long they've gone to a school no matter what issue they have what are we going to do to make sure they're getting the best education that we can and that's something I have a history of being able to do successfully and I'm even more mature I'm more aware now than I've ever been before and I look forward to working with you on these issues thank you good even Mr Brown good evening Mr Brown evening please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences sure since I was 18 years old I've been in this city active even before I moved here um joining uh I've been a board member of nonprofit boards I've also helped start some nonprofit organizations I've been a fundraiser and grant writer for organizations um I started my own leadership organization that people who are now in public office and service uh were were uh uh participated in I love my community and I understand that politics alone will not fix our issues I also understand that self-sufficiency cannot be attained by people pulling themselves up by their bootstraps so what is it that we can do collectively as a community to love our children and get things done so the organizations that I've been a part of as a as a board member as a volunteer uh on staff the jobs that I have even starting my company which has a social mission is all about how we improve the lives of poor people how we make people um who who struggled who have had a who had a history of neglect from people who had a responsibility to support them make it better thank you and and and really if you guys think about it this why I know all of you right I knew I knew um well Miss Alvarez I didn't really know you but I knew all the other board members I knew all of you before you were on the board and it's no coincidence that um in the process by which you got to your seat is because of your service and your commitment which is how we know each other anyway yes thank you thank you what areas would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some of the ways you would suggest accomplishing these improvements just I'm gonna answer is that the last question no okay um and how many more minutes how many minutes do I have seven seven okay can you ask the question again Miss Ms I'm sorry okay what areas would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some ways you would suggest accomplishing these improvements I'm a parent and when I think of public education I don't look at the school board I don't look at the superintendent I don't look at the community first I look at parents what can we do to make sure that parents understand their responsibility where their child was just born or about to graduate from high school what can do we do to make sure that they understand their responsibility and making sure their children are wellfed get enough rest and prepare for school this is something that um this isn't anything new but this is something that we need all hands on deck that's one two truancy we got to make sure that every kid that's supposed to be in school is at school and that family knows the process of re-engagement or or re-enrollment three there is an education ecosystem in Camden that needs to we need to take a look at you know it's no secret that I think we need to take a deep look at Camden enrollment or or or one Camden as it's called now and to see the value of that when when I was on the district's homepage today the very first thing that says is enrollment is started enrollment for the next school year has started so should we still be having this um disagreement with an entity is it still necessary maybe it is or maybe it isn't QC is a huge deal I saw this I saw the self assessment we all know that we need to get to 80 and above in every category cni curricular instruction being in many ways the most important category so do we need to look at our pedagogy do we need to look at um the the the uh the the the textbooks the teaching methods um Charlotte uh Danielson like what is it that we can do from our perspective support the superintendent and her team and making sure that the Ed ation is at the premium that it can be in our community and what can we also do to make sure that when young people leave their school they're coming home to a place that has a warm meal and they they're walking down the street in a place that's safe thank you good evening uh are you aware of the time commitments for serving on the board yes so let me tell you this I was on a school board for three years right um 36 plus 36 is 72 plus a few special meetings um I missed 15 minutes of one meeting because I was sick and Tanya told me to go home and as soon as I got home I I knew I was sick and I missed 30 minutes of another work session because my mom I was I was I had to come back from my mom's retirement party other than that I didn't I I mean y'all know me I didn't want to miss anything I'm too nosy for that so I'm like I'm being a the school BR y'all not voting on something without me being there so I don't miss meetings i i i my whole life is committed to this that's why I'm here here because I know we can get something done that's good whether it's committee meeting board meeting special meeting let's get it done and if it's too many meetings we have that conversation if it could be an email instead of a meeting we can have that conversation it could be Zoom instead of in person for convenience we can have that conversation but I will be present one way or another thank you and are you aware of the training commitments ethics law disclosures and criminal history background check required for Schoolboard membership I'm aware thank you and and what's the last is that the last is that the last that's the last question do you mind if I want to say something is that okay thank you we have a problem so when you matter of fact I'm going to just answer this with the last thing that you say c a Supreme Court case came out I believe in the 80s um and it triggered something that's known as a right notice our right notice says that the school board cannot publicly discuss or criticize any employee of the school district without that person getting a notice first which is known as a rights notice and then in that that person has the right to either have that discussion happen publicly or in private that's my understanding of the way it goes when I was on the board probably not a story I should tell during an interview but here we are when I was on the board you can read this on Google I was um home the night that Osama Bin Laden was was was killed and Barack Obama said it I rarely drink but I had I had a couple drinks that night got on got on Facebook made a comment about the superintendent at that time um and I ended up getting in trouble for it with the state ethics commission why is that because I as a school board member I as a school board member cannot act as a member of the community and exercise My First Amendment right as a Schoolboard member I wave my First Amendment right to be on the school board that means I have a responsibility to get a consensus from my fellow Schoolboard members before saying anything critical of anyone in the school district including and especially the superintendent and I want to tell you a story in 2007 I lived on Berkeley Street I was a part of the community organization that was in landing square at the time Governor Corzine promised Landing Square to be rebuilt does anybody know who the principal was of Landing square at that time who was the principal Landing square at the time M Katrina momes was the was the principal now I didn't know her before this but I saw how she worked within the political difficult system where people made promises to her and broke them to her face and left those kids in that neighborhood hanging for years and years in the neighborhood that now has Ki as a Renaissance School in that same neighborhood I saw that happen so I've seen how politics can help make education better and I've seen how politics can interfere with public education and make it worse and I'm personally offended and disgusted and I find it has to be it takes a lot of audacity for people to call for probably the most humble hardworking person I've ever met in public service the superintendent it it's disgusting and it's not okay and I hope you and I know that none of you I know that you did not know that this information was coming out until it came out cuz I know how to do my research and I hope I don't expect you to tell me this but I hope that you guys have a very difficult conversation and close session what you're about to go into and make it very clear because it wasn't right what Wasim the pressure Wasim put on you as a board members it wasn't right and once we thought this was behind us and now here it goes and here we go again when when can we get done with that and why and let me and let me say this too this is the last thing I have to say and I hope you talk about this in close session when you review the candidates are you going to be a board that says we'd rather ask our superintendent who has a list of accomplishments to no other Superintendent at least in South jerse has or in in order or are we going to are we going to allow that to happen when we said and did nothing about a man when he was 26 years old and a special education teacher had sex with his 14-year-old student in 8th grade what what are we going to do what kind of board are you going to be what kind of people are you going to be what ethics are you going to follow and it's an interview and I can say what I choose to say because that's my right on this [Music] [Applause] [Music] stage cand if that's the case all C have space to speak the [Music] next candidate Kevin Ruiz rooa hello everybody how you doing today good evening good evening hey y'all how you doing today hey first question from vice president Alvarez thank you board president Nelson good evening good evening may you please state your name and your address my name is Kevin Ruiz baroa and I reside at 932 North 31st Street Camden New Jersey and can you please share how long you've been a resident of the city of Camden actually we moved here on Valentine's Day so that's really easy it's February 14th 2004 thank you hi Kevin hey Maria why do you want to serve as a board member there's a few reasons I want to serve as a board member one of them is advocacy right Camden raised me Camden educated me and now whether I get the opportunity or not one way or another I need to be an advocate for everybody that's coming after me so that's really my main reason to be honest with you but just to add a couple more in there accountability right in order for the district and the City at any level to run the way it should we have to be accountable we have to hold each other accountable if we don't nobody else is going to do it and the city's going to be swept right from under our feet another reason is because I like to believe I bring a high quality level of service and I want to bring that to my city I think that's what we need right now we need somebody that not only cares but that is able to willing and ready to thank you good evening what specific skills would you bring to the board and what would you consider to be one of your greatest strengths thank you Miss Garcia attention to detail would be one of them a lot of the times when things slip through the cracks right it's because the lack thereof of that attention to detail and I think that's something super duper important that we need and that the board could probably use you guys will let me know another thing is just general love for our city and all of the residents that live here every single one of them regardless of their background regardless of their records regardless of their education level we all need a little bit of Love sometimes and I have enough of it for everybody on here and everybody out there and everybody that probably couldn't make it tonight my greatest strength is communication we have to be able to communicate we have to be able to meet people where they are and I have a feeling that I would be able to do that not only in English but also in Spanish and if there's another language that needs to be communicated in it' be our jobs to figure out what that is so that again we can meet our people where they are could you please give specific examples of your abilities in interpersonal relationships in teamwork I'll start with teamwork Miss Jackson so for example tonight right I was actually scheduled uh much much later than now about an hour from now and I didn't want you guys to have to sit here and wait I didn't want the community to have to sit here and wait even though I have communication in writing that says that I can arrive at my scheduled time that would have been selfish and that would have been inconsiderate two things that don't work at all when you're talking about teamwork another thing is that again I was raised and I was educated here and i' like you guys to know that a product of Camden's streets and Camden's education system is now competing with top tier realtors in Burlington County thank you what do you see as the role of a school board member and how many hours per week can you commit to school events and activities well you probably already heard this but advocacy right it's not a voting board so as far as decisions are made there's not much that we can do there until the state returns our you know our elected officials back as far as the board of education's involved but advocacy just because we can't vote doesn't mean that we can't bring those issues in the community to light doesn't mean we can't take the screams and the yells that we usually get from the community and translate it in a way that's well interpreted Statewide so advocacy would definitely be a huge one another one is community engagement right we we need to be out there this is a a Grassroots thing right it's the Camden City Board of Education we need to be out there we need to be participating we need to be sharing we need to be talking with people hugging people you know seeing what these kids needs where what do you need and how can I make sure you get that support and lastly just reassurance I'm sure you guys sit up here and get yelled at and you're doing the very very very best that you can provide and sometimes it's just that lack of reassurance it's just that lack of understanding that everything that can be done is being done and if not right now it will be done so just that reassurance and that reinforcement letting the community know we're here we're listening and we're going to get it done I promise that's the job thank you also 25 to 30 hours per week if necessary good evening please describe your previous Community or nonprofit experiences thank you I can't see your name but I appreciate it so you guys probably know that I went to brim Medical Arts and at brim we started the Chow Hound house which is a food bank France animals that is actually a wellestablished 501c3 it's official one of our donations actually came from Oprah herself that gave us the initial $5,000 that uh we paid a lawyer to establish our 501c3 uh at Chow Hound house it was really more so about mind you it was a 2008 crisis so there was more than ever there were animals just being L out into the street and I don't know about you guys but I got two huskys at home and I love and adore those pets so so it was just one way of again reassuring and supporting the community like listen if you can't feed the dog and that's why or the cat and that's why you're releasing these animals into the street and creating another problem for City Hall let's provide that solution here's the food you need here's the vaccination here's the medication here's the education that you need to keep that animal loved and at home another one was Puerto Rican Unity for Progress when I was in college I was actually a youth coach and a social worker at Puerto Rican Unity for Progress where we took in people wherever they were right and we assisted them with those social services that they so desperately needed to avoid those household tragedies that occur here on a daily basis sometimes not being able to make that one rent payment or that second rent payment just cuts you right at the knees right before you get that job and now you have a homeless family getting your electricity cut in the middle of the winter time having Social Services involved because you fell short and couldn't afford food and a kid went to school and complained about Hunger all those little situations would be what I would get involved with to avert tragedy in all different households throughout the city okay and I'm sorry and one more uh also camon dicese right the I think it's the Catholic dases really through uh St Anthony's the community garden at St Anthony's the Camden Children's Garden I mean it's been 20 years so it goes way back thank you what area would you like to strengthen in our district and what are some of the ways you would suggest accomplishing these improvements some of the ways would be transparency right that transparency would help with that reassurance just being transparent will let people know that we're doing everything that we can how can we be more transparent I don't necessarily know that to be honest with you I think that that's something that we as a team as the board would have to work together to figure out how it is that we can become more transparent so that people have a direct eye on what it is that we're doing on a day-to-day basis where are we are we home are we at our offices are we answering the phone are we actually coming to the city on a daily basis to support these people CU everybody we're here advocating lives here they can't pick and choose when they come here are we here every day that would be one way and again I don't know exactly how but we come to that conclusion together effective communic ation right communicating effectively whether it's the language whether it's the time of day whether it's where you're at right we know that weekends might be better for some nights might be better for others I grew up in camon and I know that one household might have this profession another household might have that profession and that's what brings the bread to the table and if we got to meet people again where they are and that's the job then that's just what we got to do and finally accountability none of the issues in our city none will get fixed and much less addressed if we're not accountable to ourselves and to each other if somebody did something wrong hiding it under a rug just makes it worse but if I do something wrong and I look at you in your eye and I say hey man I'm sorry I dropped the ball this is what I did to get there this is what I'm going to do to make it better and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure it doesn't does happen again if we're not doing that anytime the ball is dropped are you really holding yourself accountable CU if we don't hold ourselves accountable how can we ask them to hold themselves accountable or much more the students good evening um are you aware of the time commitments for serving on the board thank you yeah I'm aware of all the different events the trainings the several meetings and even some trips that we got to make right because sometimes board members are asked to appear here go there show up there we need the eth we need the ethics I mean we really need the ethics and that's something that as a realtor right National Association of Realtors I'm all about the ethics that's specifically why I went to Burlington County at the office that I'm at that I'm not going to disclose because the properties that they sell there require every box to be checked every te to be crossed and every eye to be dotted because if not the court of law will hold those Realtors accountable because people in certain areas don't play that and that's what I wanted to learn and bring a part of that into our city thank you and are you aware that training commitments ethics law disclosures and criminal history background check require for a school board membership absolutely I am again being a realtor I don't know if you guys heard about that huge Nar settlement that happened uh back in the summertime right that kind of changed the whole dynamic of how uh buyer agency agreements work as to where before to keep it real simple a seller would pay for a buyer's agent's commission and then they would negotiate against or with that very same agent so that was an Ethics issue that got addressed and I actually am one of the agents that understand that entire new process one of the best actually uh I'm not going to mention any names but my team lead is actually pretty high up there as far as the politics of New Jersey and National real estate goes and I'm learning from the best Camden City Schools allow me to do that I want y'all to know that I'm competing with the best and I was born I wasn't born here I was born in Puerto Rico but I was raised here and I was educated here and I continue to live here gratefully and gladly and anywhere I go be it morrist toown Mount Laurel Medford Lakes Princeton I'm from Camden and I want them to know that because Camden has a whole lot to offer especially as of late have you guys seen what's been going on with the real estate in the city I mean if that is not a Telltale sign that if we don't get our act together it's going to be swept right from under us then we don't need any other flag we don't need any other notice cuz if the money doesn't speak in the United States and nothing else will and I'm sure you guys know that [Music] right you that concludes the interview Mr Kevin Ruiz baroa thank you appreciate your time everyone love you Camden like to take this opportunity to thank everyone all the candidates who participated in the interview process for um our members of the public for being present as well and at this time we're going to transition right into public comment portion and I'll turn it over to our interim general counsel to provide the guidelines thank you the Camden City school district welcomes the attendance and comments from all members of the public at its meetings this public comment period is your your time to present your comments to the board and the state district superintendent each person who signed up to comment will have 3 minutes you will be notified when your 3 minutes are up and you cannot yield your time to another person when it is your turn to speak please request to unmute your microphone state your name and address for the record please address your comments to the state district superintendent or myself please be courteous to your fellow community members and keep your comments within the time frame allotted so that everyone has the opportunity to speak at the end of your 3 minutes your microphone will be silenced and your comments will have concluded please conduct yourself in a respectful manner the first amendment is not absolute and the board can prohibit language that is inappropriate for anyone whose comments or actions harass intimidate or threaten the safety of any person we will provide you with a warning or immediately end your comment time we will not interrupt you during your 3 minutes of comment unless we deem it necessary if a member of the public speaks about a staff member Interruption may be necessary to caution the speaker of the danger of slander after the public comment period is closed the state district superintendent uh will address your questions to the extent provided by law all right so it looks like our first speaker is Karen Luke and after her will be Shan Brown good evening Karen burelli Luke um so I just wanted to say that it was great to see the participation with all the candidates and the um what each of them would be bringing to the table um one thing in the board uh minute I again again um if we can just make sure that when we're addressing stiens that there stiens that are in our contract um and that they are correct with the amount of money that is awarded to them um there were some errors again on this board minute um and we just got an email today um that starting December 1st that there will be no parking whatsoever for any staff members at East Side because both parking lots will be filled with trailers and um I guess construction um so that we are supposed to make accommodations I don't know what accommodations could be made except for possibly parking far away and we do have a lot of staff that um cannot walk that far so I just wanted to ask what accommodations could be made for staff members since there's no parking thank you that's it Sean Brown and then Jose Delgado you're up next hello again um I want to offer two apologies the first apology I have is to the board itself in December 2023 when I was alerted of the lawsuit that uh where the district had a claim against it my assumption at that time was due to my time on the board where board members were told of every piece of litigation I assumed that you as board members knew of what was happening and I was therefore upset and disappointed let me move over so I can see y'all I was upset and disappointed when in January at reorg you appointed the person who was in that lawsuit to be your president I later found out that in fact you were not aware and I apologize for assuming that you were I made a mistake I'm admitting it and I want to let you know that the second apology I have is to you and everyone in the community including my friends in the room I had a recent Epiphany and the Epiphany was that in me trying to make certain people in power happy certain popular people social media feel safe and comfortable t for the game okay I just one okay there we go sorry for the pause okay um anyway um the fact is I can be an advocate for my community look out for the best interest of young people and be true to myself the information the facts the knowledge be true to the god that I've served since I was a child and do what I think makes politicians happy cuz when I do that I'm serving two masters when I do that I'm being lukewarm and I know better so I apologize to myself I apologize to my family to my community because y'all everybody here deserves Shan Brown at his best and I'm at my best when I'm telling the truth I'm at my best when I'm saying how we could be better as a community we are behind we're not doing great and there are things that we could do better even if you as an individual are an awesome beautiful wonderful person collectively as Community we can be doing a much better job so I'm going to tell you right now I will never to the day I die whether that be tomorrow or 50 years from now be lukewarm again that means we may have to have some awkward interactions that means some of you may continue to avoid that means when you're ambition sets in the decision that you make tonight of Who You appoint to this board the comments that you make when you have the floor in about an hour it's going to matter are you going to protect your superintendent or will you make the mistake I did and put politics before our young people you have a moral decision to make and it's difficult because there are consequences but if you make that right decision I have your back [Applause] Jose Delgado and it looks like Gary Frasier is up next good evening uh first of all I want to say that the issue about Landing Square the principal was Elsa Suarez it wasn't anybody else that was the principal at Lanny Square when it was being torn down the other thing I want to do is like public service you the members of The Advisory Board you're not a Board of Education you're an Advisory Board you're not a public body you have one statutory responsibility produce two reports annually as to the progress of the district that's it you've never done that because I think it's a big job and it's very important it's how you as Advisory board members who were elected by the people would advocate for the students and the teachers you're not a board of Education you're an Advisory Board read the statute read the administrative code educate yourselves as to what your duties are and then you can work as a unit to become powerful advocates for the children and the teachers the other things that you all are doing and people are telling you you can do is false please read the statute um I wanted to also comment I know the superintendent may not appreciate this but I attended the 9:30 meeting they had on the qac it was a wonderful slideshow but as I said to you then there is no information statistics numbers and statistics and percentages without explanation without context is useless um the um I also want to speak out on behalf of the English language learner students the students that don't speak English English the ones that have come up to me and say we don't understand what the teacher is saying or they don't have a book in Spanish or whatever language those students are being harmed I I think it's child abuse I went through that it is a horrible horrible experience to be sitting in a room everyone's expecting me to know what I'm talking about and I don't know half a what if anything is going on then I'm tested I feel like when I was a kid I ended up blaming myself for the Injustice that I was undergoing and this has been going on for years especially the Latino members of The Advisory Board get off your butts and do something about it it's it's criminal what what's happening to these children the uh I also want to caution you the that the uh the uh test scores are not very useful to diagnose and to plan programmatically that that's not what you need that's not what you need there are other things those are the things you should be looking at as an Advisory Board please find out what you're supposed to do as an Advisory Board and do it you can have a powerful powerful impact helping the superintendent help the kids thank you Gary's up next and then on Deck is V Neil good evening District so um I wanted to come before this um Governor body because um I saw a number of things that's going on um in our community right now surrounding around our test scores um with our charter schools and the percentage of budget that our charter schools are receiving um from our um Schoolboard 50.5% I might add and looking at those scores and the charter schools that um are in our city right now just doesn't look good I know that some of these Charter Schools may or may not be up for Renewal and I'd like to know what this Advisory Board um intends to be discussing in regards to having them come back um also I would like to speak to what I read in the article um seeing a board member put their John Hancock on um a piece of paper calling for the removal of your fellow body board member that's a violation bro that's a ethics violation that you committed you acted outside of it if you don't know what that is I thought I'd take the liberty of jotting it down for you njsa 18 a 36a uh B well for you it would be G you might want to take a look at that not supposed to step outside that scope you did that man you showed the community your hand you showed us where you lie at it's one thing right when we get we we are told that we have to adhere to a state appointed superintendent and then we the community build around Katrina mcoles our superintendent in programs around swag making sure our kids got computers during covid you know that's just the name a few things that I know that Katrina mcoles has done in her leadership right since she's been here and no we didn't see ey to ey yes we took this District of War for the right to elected School Board it's the whole reason you even allowed to even sit there right now you and every one of you right there so to see you guys run get elected to see somebody get removed from the school board and they see the retaliatory actions by three men one woman two one of which that doesn't represent us in Mr Spearman another one by way of a a mayor who has no Authority over the school board no voting power no power whatsoever over our school board and then I saw your name and I told you we we we we boys but that ain't got a damn thing to do when it comes to our children here in our district that's set to the side so when y'all did that y opened up a can of worms in our community and I want you to know the same way how our schools continue to fail these chars are failing superintendent you have a duty too you could call for a moratorium on these charter schools and you can also ask the governor um not to allow for any more of these Char all right I'm sorry your time is up Miss Neil and then we have Victoria I'm sorry I can't read your last name but you're up next good afternoon good evening board members uh superintendent mcoles I would like to say that when when I seen that President the Nom n assigned his name to that letter in reference to Katrina mes I was upset I mean she was sold to us as a down home Camden girl a Centerville girl she knows our children she knows our streets our test scores are rising it's the Renaissance schools that are failing they need to get out of Camden they tried this in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina they made all the schools Renaissance they all back public again 25 years of kids not learning in New Orleans if you go there you'll see all the black and Latino kids are bus boys and Maids because they weren't educated properly and these Renaissance schools are not educating our children our superintendent has created programs in our schools and outside of our schools to help our children grow the state just just say hoay har to Katrina mcon in the job that she's doing in Camden you people don't know the law this is why you fail see because I was told last month or the month before last I don't live in Camden see if you know anything about the law you know the public means the people anything with the word public means to people has access I don't have to live in camon but you do you took a oath he took a oath he's already violated his wath for politics it's not even about the kids with you it's about politicians you canceled the board meeting last month cuz y'all was running around in w three and W four with the mayor your obligation is to this community the students and the parents and the Educators not to the mayor you couldn't even get a quarum I know exactly where y'all was but where you wasn't was here at the school board meeting and ass sign that paper against her own superintended you ain't even been president what a month two months The Audacity Of you to sign a paper to a woman that has dedicated over 30 years in this school district in various capacities and you just got your foot in the door and you talk about you want somebody to go you know who the person need to go next you have a nice [Applause] day Victoria and then we have rancha Dickerson and then taiwana will be our last speaker good evening good evening okay my name is Victoria palat and I'm the co-chair of the cam Education Association negotiations committee dear board members as of June 20124 the Camden Education Association and the Camden City school district collaboratively established a framework for a collecting collective bargaining agreement this tenative agreement was carefully reviewed by our negotiation team and returned to CCSD for formal approval however at every stage ccsd's respons has been characterized by an unacceptable lack of urgency with no clear justification as to why this process remains unresolved it is unconscionable that the association has yet to receive a final agreement for our members to take to ratification this negotiation process should have been reached should have reached a resolution in August despite this CCSD has consistently failed to prioritize this matter sending a clear message of disregard for its staff the association's negotiations team responded promptly within one week when CCSD last moved the process forward providing all necessary information to reach a conclusion since October 25 20 2024 we have received no Communications from CCSD or its Representatives this silence and in action is inexcusable the morale of our members is deeply impacted and this continued delay reflects poorly on ccsd's commitment to its employees the lack of response is a clear indication of a disregard for the hard work and dedication of our Educators and staff the need to resolve this matter is urgent and non-negotiable sincerely Camden Education Association chairpersons Michael Warr and Victoria palot thank you for your time [Applause] [Music] good evening everyone uh thank you to all the candidates who interviewed tonight we appreciate you so much for just stepping into the arena and putting your your hat into the you know thing to be voted on but I'm I do fear that they may not go your way tonight um we've been here before so let's talk about how we got here when we said vote no y'all all vote Yes then we had to fight for resignations we got that right but then yall also got to acknowledge that the community has been winning these battles for a while the criminal background check is on us we push y'all to do that work um but here's a part that y'all no no one's saying in here tonight and admitting it everyone up on this panel has ran under the same ticket education for everyone the two people who got appointed to the seat ran under the same ticket again that is an that is an indicator that there is no democracy in Camden there is no one competing against the school board candidates there's no one y'all have y'all have taken over the opportunity for us to have a fair democracy inside of campon so appointing two seats right now y'all did the same thing last time y brought two people in not a dig on them that we did not know we had candidates that ran that applied to be I'm sorry not candidates people who applied was on the stage last time and y'all still chose who you wanted to choose so right now feel like decision has already been made and that makes us that makes us fearful of the Democracy that's not here on the stage I I'm pushing you school board members to ask deeper questions you may not be able to do it in front of us but ask deeper questions because just because a person has knowledge does not mean they have a backbone just because people know people and can name people does not mean they have integrity y'all got to remember that this moment that we're in right now is indicative of you all making a formal a really great decision I'm going to make it plain a decision that is not about going along with the business as usual we have been sitting here we have been fighting the good fight for many years we've done everything the community could do and none of us are school board members none of us are elected officials we are tired we are exhausted and every time we come here to this place and we had this conversation you all have this energy of here they go attacking us the problem that we're having right now is that no one is standing as a champion for the people and we need you all to make it decision that matters to what is needed for this District if you notice a lot of these folks who are coming up here to interview for this process and not have a lot of Education background does not mean they cannot do the job but I think that we need to really focus on a couple things a couple things to be focused on is that we need to move this District out of state control and the people who are here that can do that let them come on board to do that for the time that they're here and then let us run a fair election get cusac off of our neck it is a noose on this District I've said it a thousand times times I'm not going to stop saying it I'm on a record saying at every board meeting we are trying to get CC out of here it is not about us giving out numbers and all the things like that it's about us doing the work take action but remember school board members when you're going back here to talk to talk about who you just heard interview consider that everyone runs under education for everyone and that's unfair to the public [Music] [Applause] good evening the only one thing I have to say as part of the negotiations team can we please speed the process up and settle a contract so that our members can receive raises that they that they need that's it and superintendent just know that you're being covered in prayer and I pray that God will allow for you to see like you've never seen before and to hear like you've never heard before and for him to expose everyone around you everyone and that he will remove every stumbling block from your path to do what you have called to do in this [Music] [Applause] District thank you I will now turn it back over to superintendent mums to address the issues and concerns thank you um again I want to underscore what I shared already that we're grateful for everyone who participated tonight um in the process I know the board will speak to it the board will deliberate it'll be the board's Choice as to who um those individuals are who will um step into those vacant seats but this has been a process that has been we have tried to model or create a process that would allow um for public viewing um transparency hearing the interview process and then we'll come back out later and the board will share what their um decisions are there were a few items that were brought up um during this public comment portion um and I want to just go through those uh pretty quickly um Miss belli Luke I think you yes you're still here thank you um for bringing to our attention again uh the issues with regard to stiens the DTLR team division of talent and Labor Relations is working on um that information they're currently reviewing the stiens that have been submitted to ensure that they are in agreement with the contract the appropriate action will be taken to ensure that these stiens are accurate and so whatever we need to do to ensure that occurs that's being reviewed by T DTLR thank you um with regard to East Eastside High School and the staff that is at um Kramer school first thank you um for the entire staff the leadership team teachers everyone the parents and Community for everything that has been done and will continue to be done to ensure our students are having a thorough and efficient education at our swing space we know it's temporary we know it's not perfect but in working with the SDA the county and every um other entity that we could um it is the best space for us for this temporary time period so we will work with the facilities and planning team to measure the parking lot and hopefully preserve as many parking spaces as we can at Eastside High Kramer to date we have monitored um street parking in the area and will continue to monitor um as the modular are delivered and as they are continue they're continuing to be installed um so that we can make sure that we offer the possible solutions that are going to make sense for the staff uh we will continue to collaborate with principal Vega Ellie Shanklin and the full team and keep the the district keep I'm sorry keep the community keep the public and keep the teachers um bre of what will happen as we move forward we are looking into a few different options um one has to do with shuttle service to try to figure out ways to support our teachers who are at East Side um we know that um we need the modular units because we have the kitchen space that we need to utilize as well as we need to make sure um that we are able to have our Automotive uh space outside in the trailer spaces as well as a few others so um we are working and will continue to work in collaboration thank you for flagging I want to also thank um the city the parking authority the mayor's office because if there have been any issues with ticketing they have been resolved quickly uh and there have been no problems with those so again any things that we have been we have been working collaboratively to ensure that anything that our teachers our staff members need at East Side that you have them and parking is also a part of that so please stay tuned um for more information that will be shared um Mr Brown thank you for um your input again and sharing um your your passion and the areas that you shared um today and I know the board can speak for itself with regard to um the apologies that you shared as well Mr Delgado thank you for um sharing uh what you shared today and also um with regard to the November 4th uh the timing of the virtual board meeting as I shared um at that meeting and we'll share the same um response again we had a qac um compliance uh deadline that we had to meet and we had to make sure we did that at a time when we would have a quorum um so again um that meeting was posted um that Zoom meeting was recorded and posted on the website um as well as the um information that was shared um in that meeting with the data we are required to share all 75 to 100 pages of data that we had to share um because we utilized the state's data template and so we did use that did our best to um provide analysis share the notable achievements share the strategies that are being put in that have already been put in place that are in motion in each of the areas for each of our subgroup categories and our gened populations to make sure that it's out there but that was not a oneandone we will continue to come back and update the board on um the progress ress that's being made as we continue to progress monitor in those areas so that we can continue to push the growth some of the tremendous and dramatic growth that we've seen that we know doesn't go to proficiency um right away but we are closing the learning Gap we are closing that opportunity Gap and we just need to accelerate and double down on that so I want to thank you again for your input um I've heard uh with regard to multilingual Learners um we definitely have heard um your concerns and again we strive continuously to make sure we're doing everything possible to support our multilingual Learners and doing things that we have not done so we will continue to provide those updates as well um Mr Frasier thank you for your um comments this evening we will continue to analyze student achievement and work with urgency towards improving our achievement in all areas we um are also um concerned about all students of course across the district and that's regardless of school type so we will continue though to do what we need to do to ensure that our camon city um public school students um are are rising but that is not done in a silo so please um know that as well um thank you for for um your support and for sharing um your support in such a public forum Miss Neil thank you for your comments this evening as well I will continue to do my best to serve our students and our community um again thank you for your support and thank you for uh sharing uh what you did and reminding us of um some of the different areas that we need to make sure we're continuing to take that close look at when it comes to the achievement of all of our students Miss palot uh thank you for your comments um thank you for sharing the district is working as expeditiously as poss possible to respond to the item submitted by CA regarding theou and to ratify this contract that is something that we all want I wanted it to happen we all wanted it to happen um and it is almost there but we have to make sure that there is a full agreement on both sides so a response that will be shared with the lead negotiator for cea um that will be shared as soon as possible uh we are deeply appreciative of the commitment the dedication of our staff members especially our CA members um to our students and our families we do appreciate what you do and the contract will be settled very soon and we look forward to the benefits of that for our Educators as well um Miss Dickerson thank you for being present this evening not sure if you're still here but thank you for your comments um I believe as well in collaboration and we'll continue to accept and welcome all perspectives as we will continue to move forward um with regard to CAC we know that is the that uh that is what we are are all judged by a school districts in the state of New Jersey so we will continue to um share and continue to push toward improvements in qac we shared that uh at the November 4th board meeting but as soon as we get our scores back from the April 29th uh assessment that was done by the county we will be able to share that also um so thank you for your input there miss kayaga thank you for um uh your comments thank you also for advocating for the contract to be completed and ratified and I thank you and appreciate the support you have expressed here this evening and I do appreciate your prayers so I want to also just in closing um say again that um our focus is on putting students first um until um that's it period full stop that is what the focus is as what the focus has been we will continue to focus on the work of um doing everything we can to Shepherd this District into sustainable local control um I am blessed and honored to serve this district and have been blessed and honored to do so for um at least 30 years or so and have been blessed to have been a product like so many of us in this audience of this resilient and very powerful School District because um the fruits of what have come out of this District are sitting right before you and so for our students to may be able to also we need we have a commitment for our students so that they can also do whatever it is that they desire they're going to do it they're doing it anyway but we want to make sure that we are doing what's necessary to ensure that our district is stood up in every area of cusac because that is what's given to us so that we can uh shepher the district into sustainable local control I am committed and I want to say I remain committed um to the students of this District because that is what I choose to do that is what I've always chosen to do um when I graduated from Camden high school I know I'm a little lengthy and I know I'm not usually this lengthy but when I graduated from Camden high school in 1987 went on to Lehigh University went on to um Columbia University went on to Ruckers University I could do all of that because of the foundation that I had not only the foundation from this school district but my foundation in the faith um and what was poured Into Me by my grandmother in raising me um so what we see today and what we see across this nation today um we know there's opposition right we know that everyone doesn't love our young people and I'm not saying that to anybody I'm just saying in general we see in society where there's a devaluation of of those things that surround and protect our young people what I will say is this um as long as I'm honored and able to serve and as long as God has me in this assignment which he gave me nobody else gave it he gave it to me and as long as I am here in this space and this place I will serve and do everything that I possibly can to make sure that our young people can get what they need am I perfect absolutely not that's right absolutely not I am not perfect what I inherited we've done the best that we could with it and I say I right now not because I'm not a team player but that weight and that responsibility is on my back when I go and report to the commissioner when I go and so so what I am saying is this yes there's a shared leadership and a shared responsibility with The Advisory Board I value The Advisory board and the guidance that it provided provides but what I am saying to you and I'm saying to any young person who may view this because I don't want our young people confused I want them to know that I am here as long as I am supposed to be here and I will do whatever I can even if I am not here I'm not going anywhere unless I have to move and unless that is what is in the will of God for me to do in my life and so I'm speaking as a person right now and when I speak as a person I have to incorporate my faith because that's all that keeps me going each and every day so please know that our young people they are coming out they are coming out we see it so why not magnify the positive things that we see as opposed to uh doing something that's going to create Discord disunity have a stop and start stop and start and I'm not advocating for myself this is not self-serving because I despise self- servants when it comes to our children but I am advocating for consistency at least until we're able to get to a point where we can begin transitioning back to local control those areas that need to be done and so again I say this because I have to say it I can't be silent I can't be silent I'm not dis I'm not I'm not hold on I have been disrespected I have been disrespected and for all that I've poured in I have been disrespected and I'm not I'm not really sure as to why but it doesn't even matter because at the end of the day any distraction any distraction from within or without that jeopardizes the forward advancement of the black and brown students in this District that we serve I don't care where it comes from it's a distraction it needs to be uprooted and pulled and moved out so all I have to say is I am here I'm committed we're putting students first we will continue to stand on the business of Education the business of education and we'll do that as long as I am in this space and again no one can move me unless God allows it and if I am supposed to move you best believe that he has an open door that is prepared for me and I will walk through it but I'm not ready to leave because we have more work to be done but I just want to make sure that I say that and I app appreciate it I don't typically go this way but I have to because I would be inauthentic if I did not and the last thing I'll say I'll say what I said before I want to make sure that every young woman every young man who may be watching every student no matter what age they are understands that even when you're under pressure you continue to perform you continue to do your best even if it regardless just do your best and continue to move forward and that's what I will do in the district that poured everything everything into me this District was a safe space this District was a safe space I'm going to say it one more time this District was a safe space for me when I was dealing with issues of abuse and and all of those things that I've talked about before so I'm not a victim I'm a Victor and this District was what helped to prop me up so that I knew that I can continue to move forward in spite of adversities and I'm sure that this District did that for so many other people in this room so let's protect this District let's protect this District No matter who's in this seat protect this District because there are parents and families that have chosen to keep their students in this District protect this District because of what it has been for years in this city an employer an employer an employer of black and brown individuals who are here whatever you do protect this district and that's all I'll sa for right now and I'm speaking that I'm speaking that in love and I'm not speaking it out of Pride but I'm speaking it in humility but I have to be honest I can't put my usual you know you put your guard up because you have to do that but for this I just need to make sure that it's on record for anyone who wants to see it thank you at this time I'll turn this over to to our board president to see if there are any comments respect at this time are there any board members that would like to say anything any board members okay I'll say thank you to everyone who continues to express themselves I want to First say I will continue to support the superintendent and administration to serve our students in schools thank you again for every anything you do also thank you board members and those that interviewed today uh Mr Delgado uh thank you for your leadership um you spoke about uh evaluations that's something that we will continue to work on that's conversations that we have uh spoken about uh the board uh the superintendent um and myself um so again I don't want you to think that's something that's being ignored um that's all I have right now and thank you board members at this time I will turn it over to our board secretary to lead us into executive session I just know you got our respect with call and we coming and we got your back got back we coming we got your back we definitely coming politics don't belong in education you get politics our children first you can only Ser Children First when you come for somebody you give them to us and we start working around we start building around them and then you want to try to rip them away from us or you just woke the whole damn City up y got problem turn it over to our board secretary to lead us into executive session thank you superintendent mcoles um if anyone lost their keys please do see a security officer who will find me again someone has lost their keys the board would now go into close session for approximately 4 45 minutes to deliberate the board candidate interviews the board will reconvene into public session at around 900 p.m. is there a motion to go into close session is there a second all in favor any opposed any extensions thank you and we will see you someone lost the gold bracelet someone also lost a gold bracelet again see a security officer if you've lost keys or a gold bracelet good evening and welcome back is there a motion to return to public session thank you a second thank you Miss Perez all in favor any opposed any extensions motion carries we are back into public session welcome back the board thanks all interested candidates for their letters of Interest we will now conduct the vote to appoint a candidate to the first to fill the first vacant seat any member May place a candidates name and nomination a second is not required but will be requested per njsa 18a 12-15 the candidate receiving the votes of a majority vote of the remaining membership of the board will be appointed to office the floor is now open for nominations to fill the first vacant board seat sure oh can we can we hold on one second thank thank as a matter of reiteration any candidate chosen would need to recuse him or herself from any uh CCSD Board of Ed discussions or decisions that may be a conflict of interest again as a matter reiteration any candidate chosen would need to recuse him or herself from any CCSD Board of Ed discussions or decisions that may be a conflict of interest so I'll say it again the floor is now open for nominations to fill the the first vacant board seat um I'd like to make a nomination for Derek gashaw [Applause] I second are there any other nominations to fill the first vacant board seat hearing none the nominations to fill the first vacant board seat are now closed so the roll call vote and what we are voting on again is to appoint Derek gallashaw for the first vacant open seat vice president Alvarez yes board member Garcia yes board member Hudson yes board member Jackson yes board member Merck yes board uh board president Nelson yes board member Perez yes the motion carries congratulations to Derek [Music] [Applause] [Music] ghaw we will now conduct the vote to appoint a candidate to fill the second vacant seat any member May place a candidate's name and nomination a second is not required but will be requested the floor is now open open for nominations to fill the first vacant board seat I like to make a make a motion for a nomination uh I would like to nominate Gabriel kamacho second are there any other nominations to fill the second V board seat hearing none the nominations to fill the second vacant board seat are now closed so the roll call vote again to fill the second vac seat um to appoint Gabriel kamacho vice president Alvarez yes board member Garcia yes board member Hudson board member Jackson yes board member Merck board president Nelson yes and board member Perez yes congratulations to Gabriel [Applause] kamacho like to say would like to say congratulations uh to Derek gashaw and Gabriel kamano and would like to say welcome to the Camden City Advisory Board if we could give them a round of [Music] applause I would also like to just say thank you to all the candidates that came out and interview today uh we appreciate your time your thought for service and definitely would like you to be involved in the process um even if it's not at a as a board member at this present time so thank you thank you um as a matter of next steps for our new appointees you will be hearing from us as it relates to uh criminal background history check Etc is there a motion to [Music] adjourn okay okay Merck and Hudson uh all in favor any opposed any extensions motion carries good evening