##VIDEO ID:WxuFz7H1GDg## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for Mr Mahia telephoned and told me he'll be running a little late he hit some traffic um but please take the roll call Mr shahad miss bassford here Mr brunc here Mr Kenova here Mr Mr Santiago here Mr siano here miss Suarez here vice president Danny here president Paris here we have a Corum thank you commissioner Suarez could you read our mission statement please thank you president Paris the mission of the clipon school district in an open and reciprocal Community Partnership is to provide all students with a quality education to develop the skills necessary to become literate lifelong Learners who are responsible and productive citizens contributing to a Democratic Society and an everchanging world thank you the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right to the public to have advanced notice of 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 this act the Clifton Board of Education has C caused notice of this meeting to be publicized by having the date time and place thereof posted at the city clerk's office Clifton Public Library administration building senior citizen Nutrition Center on cable TV in the local press on the district's website and mail to presidents of parent teacher organizations this meeting will be tape recorded in accordance with policy 0168 is our student representative here this evening welcome mark is this good evening thank you so much for having me as always these past few weeks have been rather eventful outside of CHS but less So within the school I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend and I want to congratulate the students that were honored at the last uh special board meeting believe the athlete of the month uh student of the month all those want to congratulate them they really are exemplary students and athletes and they really showcase the true talents and abilities of CHS students as the second marking period gets under way I'd like to quickly reflect on a successful first marking period many students are happy or pleased with the new Common Assessment as opposed to the old quarterly exam format and I hope that many of the test scores will reflect this sentiment other than that there hasn't been much to comment on in the prior 3 weeks so I just quickly want to highlight some CHS events that's that are important to the Clifton Community whether they are here or watching at home the home and School Association is hosting a grinch night on Friday December 13th at 6 p.m. there will will be activities for young kids and a movie to watch as well as a visit from the Grinch himself admission is $5 and it will be held at CHS but tickets must be purchased online and for any Clifton High School students or parents trim is hosting a toy drive up until December 13th to donate Ed toys that'll be all for this month thank you and uh happy holidays thank you [Applause] Mark next we have a presentation by assistant superintendent Jenaro concerning our therapy dog initiative where is he oh we just have to get chewy proof before we get ready for our presentation and thank you and welcome to my beautiful daughter here who's assisting with chewwy Patrol as I get to give a presentation uh as always good evening ladies and gentlemen of the Board of Education our audience those watching at home uh just to begin with an update on our therapy dog initiative I would be remiss if I did not begin a presentation and take a moment to once again thank our Board of Ed Commissioners and Dr Rober toy for their unwavering support of this initiative uh the last time we presented on our therapy dog initiative was back in September where I began my audition for to be the next Amer American Idol if you remember me singing and literally barking the lyrics to Who Let the Dogs Out and at the end of that presentation we finally gave the answer to the rhetorical question and that's that Clifton let the dogs out so tonight to help kick off the holiday season as Mr Louie did with his wonderful strings performance with the wood Wilson strings team we want to show how Clifton continues to let the dogs out because after all the holiday season It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year it's a time of joy and celebration peace and hope anticipation and excitement and of course tradition and one of my personal favorite Traditions is that holiday wish list and while many of our students here in Clifton as well as children worldwide have already written their letters to Santa Claus right here our favorite four-legged furry friend he wrote his wish list to what we call the legendary chewy CLA so tonight we're here to share the story of Chewy's wish as we all know pets especially chewy make their families smile they give us purpose and help students through hard times and for chewy these responsibilities Loom especially large because Chewy's family consists of over 11,000 students as what was once the sole therapy dog for our district uh chewy supports students in our district from all levels from prek all the way through high school and we know our district is large just as the job he has is so big and Monumental chewy and I love every minute of it but even with an energetic and endless friendly uh pup like chewy he can't provide support to all of our our students here in Clifton just by himself or even now with the help of his two newest friends who were introduced in September Kobe and Teddy so as such Chewy's wish to chewy CLA was to send another friend who is destined to share in the joy and excitement of working with the students here in Clifton so at this time I'd like to just share and take a look at Chewy's chewy cloth wish on YouTube I know therapy dogs bring a calmness and a peace to those children it's such a connection of love it's Priceless good morning good morning [Music] friends Hello friends come say hello to chewy he's here for you guys today my name is Mark jaro and this is my best friend chwy his real name is Chewbacca uh his Handler myself happens to be an enormous Star Wars fan chewy is a therapy dog for the entire Clifton School District we utilize chewy and a whole host of classroom and building settings and he'll Li it right out of your hand pretty cool right it's an amazing experience to have him I don't really have to talk I think that chew takes over even though chy doesn't talk I think the kids interaction with them speaks for love it makes you feel better right the single most important thing we need to help our kids at this point in regards to the therapy dog program are more dogs chei is only one dog with 11,000 students and he can only handle so much so it's really important that in order for us to expand the program we need more than one [Music] jwy we have a very very very special treat for you boys and girls this morning I said great things come in small packages one two three say hello to solo boys and girls Jimmy CL has selflessly and generously donated an additional therapy dollar to the clipton public school district it not only covers the cost of training but also the cost of food toys vet visits for one year that goes such a long way it's incredible that chew paw has found clipon public schools and has offered us this amazing opportunity having an additional dog will make a world of a [Music] difference yes got to take care of a lot of our people I feel like we've won the golden ticket chew's not going to be our own Soldier anymore it's just such a reward to us this program will grow now because of your generosity we will be able to do wonderful extraordinary things there are no words that we can ever say that will ever come to the thank you that is warranted because this real nation is going to impact children's lives on ways that we can never comprehend from the bottom of our heart a million times over thank you [Music] [Applause] Sher so as we week right now that video is trending worldwide on chuy.com social media I'm sorry uh homebased web page as one of the many recipients of this year's chewy CL award and for you Star Wars fans out there you know you could never have a Chewbacca without a captain Han Solo so as a result from the generous donation from chewy we now have the newest member of what we call team chewy so for the first time ever let me introduce to the board Commissioners and the one Clifton learning community Captain solo and his Handler Miss merto Lopez CHS 9th grade [Applause] counselor did a baby the best was the dog on Bry X lab so as uh as Sol was getting acquainted he literally was just delivered this morning so the timing of how it all worked was just impeccable but we thank you all for your continuous support for this initiative uh things are only getting better and at first we had a chewy and after the chewy we run the news and then it was the day show nationally now clipon public schools and what we're doing for our students is going worldwide so thank you very much Commissioners I can ask if you guys can come out and take a picture with Captain solo so we can send it we're we'll have our commissioner set up and then we'll get solo to get right try to get him he's going to want his bone oh my God sign around listen man a Nothing free you something it's nice I'm just gonna have to grab yours oh my C release down so one of the questions is how big will Captain solo get uh he is probably going to be right now the smallest of our four therapy dogs but what makes this situation so unique is as we continue to expand this initiative Captain solo will be our first dog ever assigned specifically to a building uh so why not choose the flagship here in Clifton which is our high school and we're trying to expand by having some of our our school staff serve as handlers so Mrs Lopez has the Herculean task of piloting what it will look like to have a a therapy animal specific to a building so we're looking forward to for great things to come thank you once again we'll continue to keep you post on the updates of our initiative thank you great [Applause] job thank you Mr Jenaro and welcome to Captain solo okay we'll we'll start with um committee meeting minutes and the first is Athletics commissioner bassford could you please read Athletics she is good evening um the Athletics committee met on December 3rd at 2 pm via Google meets um together with President Alan Parish commissioner Tanya Suarez myself as the chair from administration of the athletic director Mr Tom Maly assistant superintendent of schools Mark jenero assistant superintendent of business Amed chah and our superintendent Danny robotzi um we met and we we spoke about a lot of items one was the fall Sports and went to uh preview all teams made the state tournaments the boy soccer made it to the sectional finals and Coach lambre earned his 3,000 career win winter numbers were very strong expecting to have a full girls wrestling team this season first ever in Clifton yay team uh recognizing the teams individuals and coaching accomplishments um the coaches were um informed of all the first team All County New Jersey nj.com All State and individual accomplishments will be recognized at our February special Board of Education meeting the concession stand was discussed at the stadium regarding Renovations the discussion um about the renovations of the current concession concession stand versus the building and a standalone building for concession um will be uh further sent to other committees such as facilities and finance for uh in detailed discussion program additions they added a girls flag unified bowling um unified basketball girls uh wrestling and Ms wrestling over the last past years they're exploring bringing back golf I have some information on that for you as well I have to share Mustang name and logo usage there was a question on how the clipton apparel is sold in various stores throughout the town every summer the department gets a check um for the use of the logo usually between $100 and $300 some people see those logos on stuff from Walgreens and and things like that so that was a question that was brought up um the seating at the soccer and the lacrosse Fields were discussed should we add extra seating in the one side when you walk into to the left the current setup makes uh makes for a better crowd management easier and safy safer and provides options for spectators who prefer to stand or bring their own chairs and then we had new business there was a discussion on purchasing recycle bins at the stadium and there was a discussion on location of lighting sources for the Mustang in front of the uh CHS Stadium on Mustang way any questions yeah I do um so that you mentioned the the name and logo usage is that going to a specific booster club I I think that goes in the general fund right yep and everybody gets to share it it's a it's a royalty that we get for using our our logo but people were thinking that we weren't getting anything that we do get something is it based on sales or is it just a flat fee it's the company itself I guess they base it on what they're going to give to us okay they're probably based on sales y any other questions thank you thank you commissioner bassford um next up we have you our Municipal Alliance minutes uh commissioner siano please read those thank you president Paris the municipal Alliance committee met this past Monday December 2nd at the administration building and started at :5 president at the meeting from the Board of Ed War myself as the chair president Paris vice president Dany commissioner Santiago and from the administration Mr Mark jenero the assistant superintendent president from the city were Nick volano the city manager councilman Lona councilman Cog and councilwoman Pino the agenda consisted of six topics first topic was timeline for signage on the crosswalks the city manager reported that the majority of school crosswalks have been freshly painted this year using durable thermop plastic stick materials additionally he announced the delivery of new blinking pedestrian signs which with plans to order more as additional funding becomes available vice president Danny raised a safety concern regarding traffic patterns at the ca be location during arrival and dismissal Mr jenero explained that this issue has been a recurring challenge addressed collaboratively by both the Board of Education and the city over several years key factors contributing to the problem include the location of the ca be building uh shortage of designated parking spaces for staff forcing them to park on Brighton Road and the absence of a mandated crossing guard the latter is due to the requirement that pre students be escorted to and from school by a parent or Guardian Mr jenero outlined several solutions that have been implemented over the years to address the issue these include reconfiguring parking spaces to create additional staff parking within the lot efforts to secure access to neighboring business parking areas attempts to design a streamline drop off pattern and increasing police presence to enforce proper traffic flow additionally Mr jenero and Mr volano outlined the next planned intervention to address safety concerns which is installing ballards along Brighton Road in front of the school this measure aims to prevent parking in areas where students and families cross enhancing overall safety Mr Paris suggested prioritizing the installation of blinking signs on Brighton Road as an additional preventative safety measure second topic was Chromebook search history councilman Cog shared a concern raised by parents from the school 2 Learning Community regarding the inability to monitor the search history on District issued Chromebooks Mr jenero acknowledged the issue and confirmed that has been brought to the attention of the IT department for review Dr Dany shared that in her District they use a program allowing teachers to monitor in real time what students are doing on their Chromebook storing class Mr jenero informed the committee that the Clifton Public School District employs a similar program currently being piloted at the elementary level following its success at the middle school and high school levels number three was the student shadowing officials day um I inquired and expressed enthusiasm for Reviving The long-standing Clifton tradition of officials day which is basically Youth Day the committee unanimously agreed to reinstate this initiative later in the year Mr Jero and Miss Debbie Oliver will collaborate to ensure the event success continue continuing the tradition of creating a meaningful experience for both students and officials fourth topic was the CCMS tunnel update Mr volano provided the committee with an update on the status of the tunnel project he reported that the project is progressing and remains in development once completed the tunnel will provide a safer handicap accessible route for crossing Route 46 after the project officially Begins the anticipated completion time frame is approximately 9 months number five was new business business Mr jenero provided the committee with an update on the Pope Paul John Paul building the district is currently collaborating collaborating with a demographer to determine the most Equitable way to read District students Once the lease is secured and the building is ready to open the district will continue to provide updates and plans to the community and committee as they develop Mr volano clarified the zoning process regarding the application to add a Pake Arts and Sciences Charter School on Hazel Street and Clifton he explained the charter school has until January 9th 2025 to appeal the zoning board's decision six was the next meeting schedule due to the board of education's reorganization meeting scheduled for January the committee agreed that the next meeting will be held on Monday February 3rd Municipal Alliance meeting ended at 5:55 respectfully submitted notes by Alan Paris thank you thank you commissioner s questions anyone commiss brunak thank you Mr Mr President does the board get an update on these pilot programs such that was described something that was like it was described in in the minutes over here uh Pilots as in the pilot program for the uh we did not discuss any pilot programs this last meeting your what pilot program a pilot program on on monitoring the kids um Chromebooks oh I'm sorry I just took it for for for something else um it's it's already been implemented at the middle school level and high school level and is being rolled out now to the elementary schools and en enables the teachers to monitor what the students are seeing on the Chromebook in real time thank you we can have Mr Mountain I don't on we can have Mr Mountain give an update at the next uh it meeting in in the new year thank you anyone else thank oh Marez no just I agree with that clarification because the meetings the minutes read as if it was pilot being piloted in the elementary school and then will be rolled out in Middle to high school it's already been rolled out high school and is being piloted now the out for U it's not really a pilot anymore because it's been piloted right that's why I understand um commissioner B because it did it did read differently sorry for the confusion commissioner Canova so I I do have some questions I just don't know if they're going to be able to be answered here um when we monitor the students I know we mon monitor for for like typing and if they say anything like you know suicidal or whatever I know we monitor that piece and I'm assuming that's happening everywhere and now this is a new piece that we're doing in the middle school and high school does that also um have the oversight that we're looking for for searches it's there's two separate it's my understanding Mr K that it's the same it's the same program um it's called light speed light speed which you may have heard of um that is what gives us an indication if a student is searching something inappropriate uh but also allows the teacher to monitor the students work what screen they're on during the classroom and that monitoring only extends in the duration I'm going to class the class so third period I only have access to that computer third period the second they leave my class I no longer have access to that that's correct okay thank you okay anyone else I could just I have a a question about officials day uh they usually have a lunch in in in past years the board was invited if we pay our own way are and they they stopped doing that a couple years ago are they still going to allow us to go oh can we ask the um believe it or not it's only I've been here now it's my sixth year there's only been one since I've been here right well Co um but it is my expectation that board members are absolutely invited okay so it's the city officials I think only the board president gets a student right we used to get invited lunch if we wanted to go we would pay our yes that that will be my expectation okay thank you okay thank you all uh next we move on to public recognition this portion of the meeting is open to the residents and non-residents of Clifton for the purpose of addressing any subject matter pertinent to and or directly related to the operation of the Clifton Public School District residents and non-residents are requested to sign the register provided for this purpose and to State their names addresses and subject matter comments are limited to 5 minutes per person issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board all comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments no one in Virtual so motion to close virtual motion second motion by commissioner Brun Shack seconded by commissioner bassford so anyone who'd like to approach the podium for comment this evening there we go good evening to all my name is Lor Lama and I'm the president of the Clifton EA as the holiday season approaches I want to take a moment to extend our warmest wishes to the entire Clifton Community to the dedicated staff your unwavering commitment to our students success and well-being is deeply appreciated your hard work creativity and passion ensure that all of our schools remain a place of learning growth and support to our administrators your leadership and vision continue to guide our schools in providing the best possible opportunities for every student to the board of ed Commissioners thank you for your thoughtful decision making and steadfast dedication to the success of our district your efforts to prioritize the needs of students Educators and families create the foundation for a thriving community and to our families your partnership and support are vital to the success of our schools together we have created an environment where every child is encouraged to reach their full potential as we prepare to celebrate the holidays I hope everyone takes this well-deserved break to rest recharge and create cherished memories with your loved ones may this season bring peace joy and warmth to each of you happy holidays and May the New Year be filled with health happy and cons continued success in our school Community since this is our last one for December I wanted to highlight that thank you very much thanks thank you would anyone else like to make comments this evening seeing none motion to close any motion to close excuse me you want it the legend that one of our Legends wants to speak so we have to so basing this on the my name is Janet colano I live at two Valley Road in Clifton and I'm currently an interim principal at school number two so I see in the agenda that Maggie is going to be appointed tonight so I'm kind of speaking ahead of time just to let you know that school 2 staff students parents and the entire Community are so happy that you chose Maggie she's done the job and she's really so well received so well respected so just thank you and Maggie welcome thank you Miss CL anyone else seeing the motion to close close by second passord seconded by commissioner brunc uh next is the adoption of minutes we have uh two sets of minutes that we're going to adopt here simultaneously uh November 14th and November 21st so a motion to adopt the minutes please motion by Comm vice president Danny second second by commissioner Suarez roll call Mr Shahar Miss bassford yes Mr brunak yes Mr Kenova yes Mr Santiago yes Mr siano yes Mr Warz yes vice president Danny yes president Paris yes motion carries thank you uh Dr Robert toy thank you Mr President good evening Commissioners and members of the one Clifton Community great to be back in action with you tonight um just like to start off with a on a sad note with my uh deepest condolences to the pent pentti family uh Gary pentti was a longtime board member here in Clifton and his lost his father um the Wake was today funeral is tomorrow so my condolences to the Gary and his family we are entering the holiday uh Winter concert season and I would encourage all of our commissioners and members of the Comm Community to come out and attend your local schools um concert it's it's a lot of fun we we got a little treat tonight with the students playing and it's just it's great to see students playing instruments singing participating um in in music education and you're all welcome you can get the dates of those events on our district website I also want to give a shout out to our board president Mr Paris and the Clifton community band will be hosting a uh I believe it's free absolutely free snowflakes and Sleigh Ride holiday concert on Saturday December 7th at 3 pm in the Clifton High School auditorium the Clifton community band um will be playing all sorts of holiday music and Mr Paris um is there anything that you can add about it uh we have about 20 students high school students playing with us as well and uh most of the rest of the band are alumni so it's a real cliff event and we hope everyone comes out it's absolutely free and hopefully a way to start your holiday with some wonderful Music open to everyone open to the entire Community I'd like to give a shout out um to Diane uh jackam at school 2 who coordinated the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade at school 2 along with teachers Monica Dita Alexa DeVito and uh our par professional staff 38 students in Macy's Parade style costume costumes um that were provided through a Clifton Education Foundation Grant uh marched through the halls of school 2 um Smiles in their faces and pride in their steps and they entertained and impressed all uh who attended it's a great thing unfortunately I missed it this year we had an emergency in the office um but I saw some videos and it's fantastic also another shout out to school to uh staff members who present a check for $4,000 in memory of Jen Lucas um to Valley Hospital to be used for breast cancer research uh the $4,000 represented the proceeds from the love for Lucas fundraiser and it was just another way to honor the memory of um an outstanding person in Miss Lucas on the agenda tonight um is a uh new principal for school 2 um and and can't give a stronger recommendation for the person who's on the agenda uh I expect the board to approve her and and when she does we'll we'll celebrate um I want to invite the entire community on January 9th to our first strategic planning um session there will be a formal invite not formal there will be an invite that goes out uh via email to everyone in the community we will put it out on our social media our we're going to start a new five year strategic planning cycle and everyone is welcome every employee every member of the community students the purpose of a strategic plan is to take a look at where we are and where we're going so on January 9th the the first night of planning Mr Paris will welcome everyone I will do a state of the district type uh address um and then what we will do is um I'm expecting 100 or up to 200 people there maybe more we will break those people up into smaller groups into classrooms where we will identify what are the strengths of the Clifton Public Schools what are some of the challenges we're facing and what are some of the opportunities um after certain amount of time we'll come back into the auditorium and Report those findings um then we'll post those outcomes on our website so that's that's the first night and then we'll do two more um sessions uh one in February and one in March those dates will be announced we will public put that out there for the public but I strongly encourage you to come out and be a part of this process if there's some something that I've learned about this district is that we listen we can't always solve everything but we listen and we do our best to um to find solutions to to issues so I welcome everyone to to come um finally I would like to wish everyone a joyous healthy happy holiday season I hope that um over our break you get a chance to um enjoy time with the ones you love and um really prioritize your own health which I'm trying to do myself these days so thank you all thank you Dr Rober toy um I just have uh two comments one Dr Robert toy mentioned earlier and that's on behalf of the board condolences to uh Lieutenant Gary penti and his family on the loss of his dad uh Leonard pentti who was a um 30-year firefighter in Clifton and a veteran um Gary was a board of ed commissioner and past president uh condolences to his families uh also condolences to the zelasco family on the passing of agie zelasco a beloved child study team psychologist here in Clifton next is unfinished business anyone do we have any finish business I don't see anything on the agenda okay uh next is under education Administration um looking for a motion to approve items one through six motion second motion by commissioner brunjak second by commissioner bassford roll call oh discussion anyone roll call Mr Shada Mr bassford yes Mr brunc yes Mr Kenova yes Mr Mahia yes Mr Santiago yes Mr siano yes Mr Warz yes vice president Danny yes president Paris yes motion carries uh next under Personnel I'm looking for a motion to approve items number one through 24 motion second by vice president Danny seconded by commissioner Bak discussion anyone Mr President just if we could anyone here for personnel changes if they could you could allow them to speak after we're done with the they will yes thank you sir abolutely okay no dis hearing no discussion uh roll call Mr Shada Miss bassford yes abstaining on P20 my my name I'm the only one the only name uh Mr brunak yes Mr kova yes Mr Mia yes Mr Santiago yes obstain on p19 Mr C yes Miss Suarez yes vice president Danny yes president Paris yes I'm staining on p19 motion carries um Maggie congratulations uh we're all calling you Maggie because we can't pronounce your last name would would you like to can I come up absolutely Podium is yours good evening everyone good evening president Paris vice president Danny Dr Roberto miss kevich Mr Jenaro board Commissioners and Central Administration thank you for the honor and privilege of becoming the next principal of school 2 with 17 years of experience in Clifton Public Schools I am deeply deeply grateful for the opportunity to step into this new role and continue the incredible work of our school Community I've had the privilege of being mentored by Miss Lucas for the past two years and I'm excited to build on the strong Foundation that she has laid my work with Jen along with attending the admin Academy has allowed me to grow as a leader and equi me with the tools needed to best support our school I'm excited to continue collaborating with our students families and the amazing school to staff as we move forward on this journey together I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way inter in principal Mrs colano my friends and colleagues family and especially my wonderful husband and Sons whose love and encouragement have meant the world to me as we move forward on this journey together let us all remember famous school to quote today's children are tomorrow's future thank you everyone wishing everyone happy holidays congratulations [Applause] do they want to take a picture yes yes we'd like to pull nine in facilities for exactly we have to explain it pull nine number nine F9 F9 we're going to call F9 Danny okay yeah at the bid yes okay yes um in in the next group under um Finance facilities we are going to pull F9 it requires some additional yes additional discuss some additional discussion so I'm looking for a motion to approve items one through 14 excluding nine motion by commissioner bord seconded by commissioner Mahia any discussion hearing none roll call Mr Shad Miss bassford yes abstaining on check uh 29760 that is for F14 correct yes sir Mr brunc yes to everything except F14 check number 29793 Mr kova yes Mr Mahia yes Mr M can you check your folder please F14 with check number yeah obain to F14 check number 219 846 Mr Santiago yes substain on F14 check 29643 211 9794 Mr siano yes abstaining on F14 check 21 9759 check 29985 Miss Suarez yes abstain on f8 and F7 vice president Danny yes abstaining on F14 check 29788 president Paris uh yes abstaining on item uh number one and on 14 checks at end in 635 and 794 thank you motion carries thank you when do we want to discuss this item we just pull it's a litigation okay thank you okay next is up up to a board member comments and we're back to commissioner bassford where we began the year okay thank you I would like to extend a heartfelt gratitude and appreciation several groups and individuals who brought positivity and inspiration to our community this week first a big thank you to the eighth grade strings for the lovely performance tonight your music for holiday cheer and set the perfect tone to begin the season a special uh thanks go to our student representative Mark for your detailed and insightful report thank you um to all the speakers who addressed the board thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and ideas with us your voices are essential in guiding our decisions on a somber note I would like to express my deepest condolences to the lasasco family and also to the penti and Deana family on the recent loss of Len pentti our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time this Saturday December 7th I will be attending the New Jersey school boards Association delegates assemblies not as a representative of Clifton um I'm going as an observer my participant participation stems from my role on the New Jersey school boards Association subresolution committee where last month we held three meetings to review and vote on all the proposed resolutions I'm looking forward to seeing the collective body's decision and making an outcome on the committee's work I'm curious to see what's going to pass and what's not going to pass we worked really hard on this I also want to extend my gratitude for the Clifton police dep Department in the Clifton Public School administration for the opportunity to participate in yesterday's active shooter drill well it was a profound experience that highlighted the exceptional collaboration dedication and the love of our First Responders have for the safety security and Welfare of our students our staff and this community I strongly encourage my fellow board members to attend one of these drills to witness firsthand the incredible teamwork that is involved switching topics to something yet lighter and impactful I never imagine seeing the therapy dog as part of our initiative here during my tenure on this Board of Education to my delight the program has grown from 1 to 3: in September and tonight thanks to chewy claw we have our fourth therapy dog in the district this init initiative continues M I'm sorry it begins to bring a positive change to our community I get very choked up with this this dog because I understand the impact it has on people when they're at need for support so thank you to everyone who supported it today truly is a great day to be a chewy Mustang okay enjoy as we prepare to close this year I wish you all merry Christmas happy K Quanza whatever other holiday you you choose to um celebrate with your family and have a joyful and safe New Year see you all in 2025 good night thank you commissioner bassador commissioner brunak thank you Mr President shout out to the CHS wrestling program first year ever for girls wrestling and uh even though the schedule I saw didn't have any home any home meets there appear to be several away meets that are very close by our city so I'm very pumped up for that also the first the opening night for CHS wrestling um my son and I attended last year is absolutely fantastic I got goosebumps so that starts Friday December 20th 5:00 pm CHS lower gym I hope to see some of you there finally I want to give my I want to wish my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ a Merry Christmas peoples in the Jewish Community a happy Hanukkah and everyone a h a happy safe and healthy New Year thank you for your time and God bless America have a good night everybody thank you commissioner brunak commissioner Canova uh first I just want to extend my condolences to Mr Gary presenti and his family on the loss of his father um when I came in here I thought the students did a great job I love that idea um I know when you attend a wedding and you go in there and you have the cocktail hour and you have the music playing I I think that's pretty cool we should do that every time um thank you to The Chew initiative and the new pup added to the group I think it's a a great project um and it's something that uh that the students benefit from uh I just want to wish everyone a happy happy Holidays happy New Year um there are some holiday events that are coming up um if you have some time take a look at at Peach jar and go through them and and just uh come out for the community and and uh that's all I had thank you thank you commissioner Canova commissioner Mahia thank you very much president Paris um terrific year for the Clon public school districts in my opinion it's been great especially having as we all mentioned before um the new dogs added to our program it is something that at first you know the community obviously um there's always there those challenges here and there but as time grew on it really stuck on a lot of people's minds that what they are doing is actually great for not just our students but the whole Community as a whole um with that said as the the year finishes and we go on to our next year I want to wish everyone you know happy always um happy New Year and I hope to continue you know this work up until next year again thank you and have a great night thank you commissioner Mahia commissioner Santiago thank you president Paris um great to see our chewy program continuing to grow and Thrive um when we kind of talked about or I've mentioned public private Partnerships in the past this is a great example of that we have a private company who wants to sponsor and pay for the costs of an additional dog which saves us all um and uh I hope that we can continue to expand programs like that and reaching out to other organizations to see if they want to partner with us and take on some of the some of the costs um Good Luck to the girls wrestling team fight like a girl um look forward to that and supporting um we have as we mentioned at various events but Friday we have a Christmas tree lighting at Lake View we have one then at botney and then there's an athenia one after uh the city has their City Hall Christmas tree light lighting on Saturday as well so a lot of things to to go out and uh support the Grinch movie night as well and see President Paris rock on Saturday night um yeah just want to wish everybody you know uh all of our staff um all of our parents and our students in our Clifton Community who celebrate uh K Quanza happy K Quanza happy Hanukkah and merry Christmas and hope you have a great blessed new year thanks thank you commissioner Santiago commissioner Siana thank you president Paris I want to start offering my condolences to the family of Leonard penzi I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving that really was a great way to start the meeting with the strings they did an amazing job I want to thank them for sharing their talents with us thank you Mark for the student rep report thank you for the speakers tonight I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of our award recipients during the quarterly Awards meeting uh giving them the spotlight they deserve was an inspiring reminder of the talent and dedication within our community and I'm eager to ensure this tradition continues I also want to take a moment to once again commend Mark Jenaro it's like becoming my hero over there um the ongoing success of the therapy dog initiative it's making a profound impact these animals the impact these animals have on our students and schools is undeniable Mark you have my full support as we work towards the goal of placing a dog in every school and I remain committed to championing this effort alongside you as we approach the holiday season I hope each one of you finds times to celebrate reflect and connect with those around you despite the challenges in our world this time of year brings a unique opportunity to focus on togetherness and gratitude I encourage us to carry that sense of unity beyond the holidays and into the New Year to my fellow Commissioners the entire Administration and our amazing Community thank you for all that you do I wish wish you all a joyful holiday season and a safe happy New Year it's an honor to S serve alongside you and be part of this incredible Community happy holidays to everybody thank you commissioner siano commissioner Suarez thank you president Paris um good evening everyone um just want to reiterate I truly love hearing the students play music uh I was a band Kid myself and and it just brings me joy I remember how much I enjoyed it so to see our kids share that Joy um learning music it's such a skill to have and and I I appreciate I would love it every meeting as well of commission kova so that that was hey I'm down for it um also I'm just uh incredibly excited about solo our fourth dog I can only imagine um the impact it has on our students and our staff there at the high school so I'm really looking forward to seeing that grow um and just want to acknowledge it's my first full year as a board commissioner and I have uh continually be uh am honored and privileged to serve in this role I want to thank my fellow Commissioners uh for the support and guidance I've received this past year and I look forward to the two years to come and lastly happy holidays everyone I wish everyone a blessed new year and I look forward to seeing you then take care thank you commissioner Suarez vice president Danny and thank you um president uh Paris um so first of all I'd like to start out with the condolence es to Gary penti um and his family in this you know difficult and trying time um I'm saying prayers for you um especially around during the holidays you know to lose somebody is really really difficult and challenging so um I hope that um you find peace and um you can you know share with your family and there's you know again it's a really difficult time I I just can't even imagine especially when somebody who's such a rock in your family um I'd like to say uh thank you to the student representative um it's great to hear Mark that uh students are happy about assessments because that's something that you know you don't normally hear students being happy about certain assessments so that's great uh thank you Miss Lama for your um nice words um wishing everyone the holiday spirit and everything thank you um thank you to the eth grade strings uh that really was amazing and it really was nice I think um what everyone said here the Commissioners that it was just nice to come to music playing really set a different tone I feel for the meeting it was really nice would be nice if we had you know strings all the time or something you know some music um I think you know music again just really connects with people on a deep deep level and um so it just changes the mood um thank you Mark Jenaro for that presentation except that um you know Danny said I was getting a dog and you know he said a dog for you and a dog for you and a dog for you so no I'm kidding um so it's really nice to see um Captain solo and again you know the dogs do really make you you know excited um on a more serious note I thought I was actually taking chewy home and I thought you know I was getting real excited for that okay you might not get him back no um and so I'd like to say happy holidays to um everyone in the Clifton School District all the employees all the students um to all of my Commissioners um hope you have a wonderful happy safe holiday and just want to finish off with um Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah and happy K Quanza to all who celebrate he likes to let it run we we heard it let it Ry for a reason in case you didn't hear it thank you vice president Danny everyone did a thorough job there's just a couple of things on my list that no one touched on yet specifically so I just would like to remind uh everyone on Wednesday December 11th the uh Clifton High School orchestra has their W Winter concert at 7M in the High School auditorium on Thursday December 12th Clifton High School has their Honor Society induction I believe that's also at 7M uh and to my fellow Commissioners uh the Pake County School Board uh association meeting is Monday uh December 9th it's at Lakeland Regional uh high school and you can uh go online and register for that should you wish to attend NHS induction 6m NHS induction okay I've I've been informed the Honor Society induction starts at 6: PM that's on December 12th at CHS Auditorium any new business okay hearing none um we will have executive session this evening um we have a number of items to to discuss including uh Personnel student and legal issues action will be taken will take approximately 60 to 90 minutes so motion to adjourn to Executive session motion second motion by commissioner brunak second by commissioner Mahia five minute recess Mr President absolutely sir e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e my Allan is I'm listening what can we move F9 and all of EX and one yes need a roll call back okay uh roll call Mr sh miss bassford here Mr brunak here Mr kova here Mr Mia here Mr Santiago here Mr here m pres vice president Danny here president Paris here we have a quorum okay so we're going to be bringing back D D9 correct F9 F9 yes oh okay in section okay so we bring bring you back F9 uh and grouping it with under executive session items two through six so I need a motion to approve motion to approve Bashford second byz second by Suarez commissioner Suarez roll call Miss bassford yes I'm abstaining on G2 I'm in Conflict Mr brunak yes Mr kova yes Mr Mia yes Mr ago yes Mr siano yes M Suarez yes vice president Danny yes president Paris yes motion carries okay motion to adjourn motion second commissioner Suarez have a nice have a great holiday guys happy holiday h