##VIDEO ID:Nmvl2iJR8-o## [Music] [Music] [Music] Mr President are you ready okay okay all righty good evening this a public meeting of the Board of Education of Clark Public Schools adequate notice of this meeting has been in accordance with pl1 1975 chapter 331 that a special notice was made in conformance with Section 13 of the act and can I get a motion to return the public I see Miss aonis and Miss Hickman roll call all in favor all in favor I okay at this point can we just uh rise for the pledge flag United States of America rep for which stand One Nation God indivisible liberty and justice for all okay at this point can I get a roll call please M ionus here Mr Binga yes here I'm sorry Mr B here Mr breedy M Guerrero here M Harrison here miss hman here Mr Lewis here Mr smoral here and Mr dun Sloop here have nine board members who have a quorum at this point am I handing it over to you Mr V for the student board both yes Mr Mao if you'd like to step up please shall I begin just read from the paper yep all right I Aiden Maza do solemnly swear that I will support the consti of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and the Constitution or and the governments excuse me established in the United States and this state under the authority of the people I Iden Maza do solemnly swear that I will possess the qualifications for the office of student member of a board of education and that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all the duties of the that office according to the best of my ability do I have a pen to sign this I have a pen thank you thank you all right thank you sir thank you congratulations thank you congratulations Aiden and welcome all right so at this time can we move to the approval of minutes can I get a motion Miss aonis followed by Miss Guerrero uh questions or comments roll call Miss acalones yes Mr B sinka yes Mr bone obain M Guerrero yes M Harrison yes Miss Hickman yes Mr Lewis yes Mr smoral yes and Mr dun slute abstain motion carried thank you all right so at this time we're going to open the floor to the public for agenda items only so if there's anything on the agenda that You' like to discuss now would be the time at the end of the meeting we'll can discuss non-agenda items are there anybody in the public seeing none okay at this point we're going to hand it over to Mr Grande good evening we have terrific news to announce we received notification from the New Jersey Department of Education this afternoon that our application for Universal preschool funding has been approved many thanks to the board for their unwavering support of this initiative and in in particular Mr Lewis you gave us your Rolodex of contacts throughout the county and the state and those proved to be invaluable you scrimmaged with me like as I like to say and since 2009 when we implemented full day kindergarten you've been a Visionary to our early childhood full full day program so thank you and again thank you to the full board no additional details are available at this point because we just simply received a letter today stating that we receive funding those additional details will be forthcoming in the coming weeks and we will be sure to push those out to the community in every possible way tap into Clark our district website any means possible to get that information out but forer the time being we ask for everyone's patience because we simply have notification that we're receiving that funding many thanks yeah I I I want to take basically the community through our journey in 2007 we had a vision that 2 and a half hours of kindgarten wasn't working uh the committee was basically led by Joel um Curran Lorraine a Colonus and Laura caliguire and myself it came to fruition in 2009 this is our 15th year of full day kitten Garden uh we talked about funding how it would work and it has been seamless to say the least for the children of the Clark schools we knew there was a big hole for the past few years of prek we're basically thankful to have Ed jalones as the captain of the schools of the vision that he basically had we worked as a team a board of education that is fully committed I felt the single most important thing is early childhood education I always felt looking at what other towns have we're ahead of the curb with kitten Garden a lot of districts don't even have it they're still doing a Lotter system this program is off the charts it's a 5-year Grant from 20 25 to 2030 for three year olds and four year olds the biggest prize the most important thing in anyone's life is education and when you start at three years old and understand the financial burdens that we all have one of the biggest expenses is Early Childhood care and now we're going to have certified teachers professionals that are going to basically in the coming months hear how this program is going to work I can't think of a more enjoyable moment than knowing that we received this grant Mr jalones I'm sorry Mr Mr Grande worked hard with a group of Specialists professional grant writers people who put enormous amount of tal time into the community and things that they did for the Clark schools and now what do we have we have Universal child care and when I say child care I take it to the next level because it's a preschool program that I really really feel we complete for the next 5 years it's not a burden of $600 $800 some programs $1,500 this is such a rewarding feature to the people of the Clark community so I say this and we talk and we go through all these different silly issues on the board of education it's a credit to you Mr Grande your work ethic your commitment to the schools your commitment to the township and you're one of Clark's owns you went through the Clark schools so you're original clarky but you really care about education you want to make it right and believe me I'm a static for the township and for the Clark schools and I personally want to thank you from the board of education for your work your commitment your dedication for the Clark schools thank you Mr Grande [Applause] Mr smor yes uh I just like to add um I was on the finance committee some years ago when we had to make the difficult decision to eliminate the preschool program within our district because we just couldn't afford to pay for but to his credit Mr Lewis never took it off of his radar and was in constant communication with with Mr Grande to look for opportunities and as you can see it um it has come to fruition so it's really it's just just a great accomplishment to see how disappointed and frustrated we were some years ago when we had to eliminate the program and now we have an opportunity to bring the program back so to both of you gentlemen congratulations and thank you for all your efforts thank you [Applause] Miss yes I would also like to Echo the sentiments that were already mentioned but uh as a former supervisor of the preschool in royy among other responsibilities I saw the growth of the children that had the preschool experience it is so important to start an education when a child is three years old and four years old because they're like little sponges and everything that they see and hear they learn and they absorb and uh the fruits of their learning really continues out and is very evident through the Upper Elementary grades middle school and high school so it's so important to have a preschool program in a district I was also as Mr Lewis said on the committee when we developed our half day preschool here in Clark and I was just very very upset when we had to disband the program that was very very disheartening and I am just so pleased and so proud of Mr Grande and thank you Mr Lewis for all the work you've done I am just really thrilled I'm repe repeating myself like a parrot but I'm thrilled and happy that the parents are going to have an opportunity to send their children to a preschool that the cl uh Clark schools are going to sponsor and I'm looking forward to working with Mr Grande and whoever else is going to uh enhance the program and um I'm just looking forward so much to starting our little ones off on a good road educational road so thank you again thank [Applause] you thank you Miss acalones I seeing no other comments we'll move on to Personnel items 1 through 19 can I get a motion Mr Lewis followed by Mr Bena any questions or comments a roll call please zotus yes Mr Bena yes Mr bone yes Mr Guerrero abstain on 234 567 891 15 16 17 yes on the rest thank you m Harrison yes M sikman yes Mr Lewis yes Mr smurl yes and Mr yes motion carried thank you next we have curriculum uh and education item number 20 can I get a motion Miss Harrison followed by miss acalones any questions or comments roll call please miss aonis yes Mr beninger yes Mr bone yes Mr Guerrero abstain M Harrison yes Miss Hickman yes Mr Lewis yes Mr smor yes and Mr dung yes motion carried that brings us to policy item number 21 can I get a motion I see Mr B followed by Mrs Hickman any questions or comments roll call please Mr acalones yes Mr Binga yes Mr B yes Mr Guerrero yes M Harrison yes Miss sikman yes Mr Lewis yes Mr soral yes and Mr duners yes motion carried and now we have board governance items 22 through 2 9 can I get a motion Mr Ben Sanga miss acalones any questions or comments roll call Mr acalones yes Mr Binga yes Mr bom yes Mr Guerrero abstain on 24 yes on the rest Miss Harrison yes Miss hman yes Mr Lewis yes Mr smor yes and Mr dunkers yes motion carried and then finally that brings us to finance 30 to 38 I a motion see Mr smoral followed by can I get a second by miss acalones any questions or comments roll call please miss acalones yes Mr beninga yes Mr bom yes Miss Guerrero abstain on 32 and 35 and yes on the rest M Harrison yes M Hickman yes Mr Lewis yes Mr smoral yes and Mr duners yes motion carried thank you and now we'll hand it to Mr Grande for the report of the superintendent good evening and thank you Mr Don cute welcome Aiden Aiden's been with us his entire educational career starting as a kindergartener at Henley School moving to K middle school and now an AP Capstone student at Arthur Al Johnson High School he's the captain of our spean debate team and a member of the Crusader news among many other things he's planing to major in environmental science next fall due to his passion for learning about our environment on this evening's agenda we're also accepting the retirement of Mr Alberto Gonzalez a Spanish teacher for 25 years here at Arthur Al Johnson and we wish Ed the very best of luck in his next life adventures this evening we're approving our district goals for this school year 2425 some background our goals are developed annually to help guide the district moving forward they're based on the work of the Board of Education committees with input from administrators staff and parents and we continually measure our progress towards meeting these goals throughout the course of the school year our three goals this year number one to use assessment results as a tool for informing our instruction and to differentiate instructional tasks given to students second to prepare for a referendum that will enable us to upgrade our facilities and number three to enhance our early childhood education program via the preschool education paa process the New Jersey Department of Education created a tool for the purpose of schools self- assessing under the anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act the following values are the scores for our schools that were accepted this evening these values are not to be confused with percentages since they are not based out of 100 instead they are merely benchmarked values for us to compare our past and future values to Arthur L Johnson 74 out of 78 Carl h k 74 out of 78 franking Henley School 75 out of 78 Valley Road School 76 out of 78 and Clark preschool Annex 74 out of 7 78 each district is required to report to the public twice yearly detailing the number of incidences of violence vandalism substances weapons and confirmed HIV cases that have been reported for the given reporting period in this case January 1st 2024 through June 30th 2024 12 cases were reported for alj this reporting period for a total of 23 for the entire school year one for Carl h k two for the year none for Frankie Henley one for the year and none for valy Road School two for the year next Wednesday we'll be giving the PSAT to all 9th through 11th grade students that being Wednesday October the 16th and the following Wednesday we're moving the test down to grade 8 for the second year in a row to give us important data for the scheduling process and thank you Mrs ala for bringing that initiative to US schools will be closed for students and staff this coming Columbus Day Monday the 14th thank you and have a great evening thank you Mr gry all right so moving on to the Committees do we have any report of the Committees at this time seeing none we'll move on to unfinished or new business seeing none and for the first time we're going to hand it over to Aiden for our student board member update thank you and good evening I'll begin my report with events at Arthur L Johnson high school starting on September 9th and concluding on the 20th Lincoln benchmarks assessments were administered to all underclassman alongside that both back to school night and Senior Sunrise were held in the 19th senior Sunrise is a senior privilege at Arthur L Johnson which brings together the senior class early in the morning to watch the sunrise closing off September on the 26th staff and students alike were dressed their best for picture day looking ahead this Wednesday is the homecoming dance and the homecoming game will be this Friday over at Carl H com progress reports will be released on October 19 9th sorry alongside this their Unified sports team will have their first exciting game at soccer game at Milbourne on the 22nd the following day on October 23rd 8th grade students will be administered the PSAT prepping them for the SAT which they have the option to take later in their High School career at Frank a Henley School students were greeted by the school mascot froggy at their annual welcome back assembly at the start of this September following this on the 17th parents were welcomed at the back to school night event there was a great turnout this year and many parents came to learn about what their students would be doing this school year following suit with alj Henley also closed off September with picture day on the 26th Valley Road school also started this September with a back to school night introducing parents to the classroom on September 16th after this students and staff were photograph for picture day on the 20th to start off October the school will be hosting a book fair from October 8th to the 10th looking towards the preschool they have successfully hosted a back to school night this September alongside this the students are adjusting well to the new routine that the school brings finally the school has been able to offer two classes in the preschool for students who require special education thank you thank you Aiden all right so at this time we'll open it up to the public for hearing the public for non agenda items only so if there's anything you'd like to discuss that was not on the agenda now would be your time up to the podium you have three minutes state your name and your address any comments okay a bill dragy 47 Post Road Clark New Jersey um I'm I'm here to protest uh Governor Murphy's Law which says uh the teachers must teach lgbtq um classes education to our students now uh I think it only goes from you only have to teach uh the lgbtq uh who only from six years older and up is any younger those specifics if you call my office I can provide you with well you don't know the answer um I'm sorry you asking me no I'm asking uh Mr Grande it's not as simple as just giving you it's not as simple as just giving you a yes or a no because as I've suggested before you would really need to come in because there's different elements that are addressed at the various grade levels um throughout our K to2 program but it hopefully certainly it won't apply to the Early Childhood new education that you're doing now we pride ourselves on the education we provide our students with are in alignment with our community's values and again my door my office is always open if you want to come in and have a discussion I've offered that to you on numerous occasions okay um uh along with the lgbtq uh education that Governor Murphy requires uh he also requires abortion of Education to the students too that was the latest latest thing along with the lgbtq and I suppose they are teaching um if they are doing anything on abortion it probably they probably have something to do with the abortion pill um uh and and if it and if it is being taught I can't seem to find any information on exactly um what is being taught I tried to find it a few times but if it is on the abortion pill um they should be actually saying and there can't be anything against this tell the truth that uh the abortion pill uh is it like two stages it prevents the sperm from reaching the egg but if it does reach the egg then uh there is an act an actual being is is produced a human being and then it prevents it from getting up the tube and then then it would actually be an abortion uh and and they don't they don't know exactly how many times uh like if if it is if if it is used all right hi Jessica DB c42 Kenneth Place um the girls were just wondering how we're doing on the progress for the 2025 J MTH Mr Kus I will ask Mr Kus to touch V with you this week so we can see where we're at um for the fall of 2025 okay I think something needs to be submitted by the first of the year is that yes still the Y A right now for a co-op tjs y yes okay thank you thank you I I just wanted to make a point so I think it's important and and I believe two weeks the county basically gymnastics tournament is going to be at Scotch Plains All student athletes from Clark can basically enter in that tournament uh I think it would be healthy and good it's uh basically I believe nine schools that are involved in Union County so I think the student athletes would have a great opportunity to participate with the rest of the county and that's an open tournament that if you talk to Mr kikas will make sure that they have entry in to participate in that tournament even if they haven't com even if they haven't competed as a school they can compete individually and there is certain criteria for them to participate and I think it would be great experience them to get involved so if you talk to Mr Kus I'll call him and talk to him about that tomorrow because I think it's a good introduction to where you want to go as far as um the program okay thanks for that I appreciate it thank you thank you Mr Lewis is there any other comments from the public for non-agenda items okay so seeing none we're going to close out the meeting can I get a motion to adjourn or yep I see enough M Caro M toml all in favor thank you everybody [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]