in the chat I thought they froze it that's what I I read it and I'm like so my father fell into it and I check every once a while he said to me last week goes Alex well he call me Alex he goes what's going on with that still process testing one two test one two test test it's not my computer here so should I just like meute that all right this meeting is called to order the New Jersey open public meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act the East retherford board of education has caused notice of the meetings by having the date time and place thereof provided to the record and South Bergen night newspapers to have published and posted in the vestibule of the burrow Hall and Public Library copies of agendas are available 48 hours prior to said meetings in the board of education office and are posted on the east Rutherford school website www.b e.net uh please stand for the flag salute and remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of the members of our Police Department fire department First Responders and our Armed Forces I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all roll call Mr B here miss Caruso here miss KY here miss Mena here segalini here miss shamley is absent and miss laruso here all right all right the fire exits are to the back and to the left is valuation but I do want to thank him and his staff they were amazing they cleaned everything up at no point were students or staff uh in any danger uh we did as a precaution for the remainder of the week we did close down the allpurpose room and once we were given the all clear by the remediation company on Friday students went back into the uh allpurpose room uh that following Monday sealing Tils were replaced everything is there so we're good to go and transportation there were absences of bus drivers and AIDS uh related to being sick and for sick and personal leave uh Food Service report from mashos prepaid balances at the end of January 2024 8,932 38 and negative balances actually went down from the prior month to $1 17,860 33 uh okay now on to the physical F facility items pf1 we are uh we're asking that the board approve the monthly facility calendars for February 2024 pf2 is to approve approval to amend District use of facility application pf4 a previously approved on October 19th 2023 this application was about the various dances for f students the the next two EV I'm sorry the next three events there's one tomorrow night February 9th uh April 26th and June 7th uh for the for the dances we're still requiring right chaperon and the B same requirements right yes we haven't changed since the co yep yep and pf3 is approval of District use of facilities the east Rutherford Recreation department is requesting link Lincoln fa and McKenzie for various days and times uh for indoor practice for little league t-ball softball and baseball for for players ages 4 through 12 Finance items F1 the approval of the bills list uh we anticipate a second bills list for next week F2 is the approval of the January January 2024 payroll F3 uh I anticipate to get the financial report from our Treasurer uh soon I will reach out to her again so I anticipate having that for the next meeting F4 is approval of transfer uh of transfers for January 2024 F5 is approval of check write offs for 2023 so completed it was a base up upon the recommendation of the auditor that any outstanding checks to go ahead and to cancel them and that's what we are moving forward with is to cancel these outstanding checks and we have not heard from various people we're talking from July of 22 to June of 23 which is more than six months we've made various attempts and it was based on the recommendation of the auditor to move forward with canceling with stopping those checks miss chazi has been informed and she applauded our efforts to stop stop payments on those checks uh F6 approval of out of District tuition contract for the 2324 school year F7 approval to amend f10.7 extraordinary services for the 2324 school year previously approved at the August 17 2023 board meeting this is for additional home instruction Services hours we were getting close to the amount so therefore we needed uh addition an additional 16 hours so that's why we are amending the origin the original resolution and then f8 is the resolution adoped the fund commissioner to the Bergen Municipal Employees benefit fund this is our if I'm not mistaken this is our Dental fund and an addendum item f9a approval to amend resolution f1.4 as approved at the August 17th 2023 board meeting what was this this was the the behavior yes yes uh there was requested thank you Mr segalini it was to request an additional 100 hours at a 200 at $200 an hour so we are increasing the amount right now which is around 57,000 to 77,000 uh rest assured the funds are there so we do have the funds to to pay for that and just a few other things and I will be done with my report the 2024 personal and relative Financial disclosure statements are due April 30th thank you for those who submitted them I appreciate that um the SDA announced it seems like they are doing they've done this for for the past few years 75 million for emergent and capital maintenance needs East Rutherford was awarded 16228 myself Mr John Kasper and other District leaders were talking about where what we could do last year it was the funds were utilized to improve the PA system at fa so we're looking to see what needs there are that that can be covered with this amount of money and sorry sign that CL somewhere L of people disruptive as possible pleas duly noted and the last thing is we did receive our final eligibility cost from the SDA for the rod Grant we were approved for the two roof projects the one at McKenzie and the one at the fa Annex so all together the total is $685,000 1820 of which the SDA will uh reimburse us $274,200 and in order to do this work we have to show the state that we have the funding which we do in our capital reserve accounts and if there's any questions that concludes my report does anybody have any questions if we do are we asking them just in those sections or no no it's a work session right so we don't don't normally go I think you could ask him now yes you can ask any question so I had a question about is there for the Kelly substitute list is there a reason why we approve it each month as opposed to just approving them as an agency and whoever their employees are would then be we do be um we they change sometimes are available some are not available some are added so every month we reapproved current list okay yeah I you know I it's funny you I had asked that question when started to sign on with them and they said because it changes so much you're you're really approving that these individuals can attend our school if they you know F you know take that position or fill that position okay yep and then the other question I had and this might be for you guys budgetarily would talk about when you're doing next year's budget is there a reason why we though don't hire like a full-time bcba on staff versus paying that contractual rate that's so high for just the same amount of I think we would get more hours of service for less money or comparable yes we do um currently we have a a person that's on staff um I can talk to you a little bit more about that later on um but we we do we do uh contract out but we do have um y we do okay uh I have a question sure oh I'm sorry yeah yeah okay uh that pipe that burst Alex it wasn't it wasn't a pipe it was like a small little valve that burst that burst did that happen over the weekend was that yes Sunday it happened on Sunday so do our custodians do building checks yes this happened after they did the building checks so there was no way they could they they couldn't tell uh from what I could see from the cameras it probably happened around I want to say maybe around three 2 3 4 o'clock I couldn't see anything on the cameras on the third floor I was able to notice on the second floor and then when it did get to the APR I thought it got there Monday at 12:20 in the morning but then I was informed I looked back at the video it actually was down it actually got down to the APR around 720 620 720 s for so it so that water was there a lot longer than I initially thought and then I went back I looked at the video I actually archived the video just in case if the insurance adjusters need it so I I did save the videos okay so is are these new things that we had put in when we were doing the no this was one of the existing that was not touched during the referendum and what Mr bani did he instructed his maintenance crew to go ahead and change all the other mixing valves in the boys and girls bathroom on the third and second floor to be proactive because he just was a little concerned if one went what was the likelihood of another one so he was just he wanted to be proactive he did mention to me he said he said Mr rajie if this was a Pipers he goes the school wouldn't be open we would have to have Clos the school so he said thankfully it wasn't that but uh fos to his crew for for for cleaning it up as soon as we got in so um the remediation come there's no signs of mold which is great uh the fact that they came right away on Tuesday afternoon they came Friday they conducted their tests I we received a report from them sent it to our insurance uh agent and to the insurance adjuster we're just waiting for the independent adjuster to give us his reports before we move forward okay to fix the damages right now it's more like about the painting and about the floor we're concerned about the floor that was starting to see how we can fix that I just had one other thing sorry really quick um it's just a probably just addition to the agenda so on the meeting notes from January 3rd for the reorg meeting it's list as for the first roll call A1 through a39 but above it only lists up to a37 so I just probably just have to add what 838 and 839 are on page three of the the um reorg meeting minutes okay just give okay let me take a look and I only noticed because I abstained on one of them and it was and I went to look at it got it got it thank you so much A1 yes correct thank you so much you did obstain from 839 yes you did you did see that what a check I also noticed that that was what my question was um no definitely not um no qu question just going back to the leak so the cameras catch do we have any motion detection or on our cameras for overnights or for after hours and did it alert us too no no it doesn't I don't believe we have that the only thing is our intrusion system if they notice it's different this was our cameras and the original where it originated was the boy's bathroom on the third floor so what happen there's no cameras in the bathrooms yeah we wouldn't have se but would yeah but would we have seen it like it was on the floor and then down cameras sometimes are too right there they're like two particular and I'm imag I I I'm just imagining this flow of water and stuff like that would have been I did look at the cameras on the third floor unfortunately it was so dark I couldn't tell but then when it did get to the second floor because I saw by the Showcase yeah I then I was able to see it and then in in because it was dark and then in the APR All Purpose room when I thought it was 20 because it was dark and then when I went back uh another administrator pointed out to me it's like oh I missed it because it was dark yeah but I I couldn't tell I looked at countless video on the third floor I just couldn't tell and just to add to it the way it fell down from the top from the top floor it came out of that boys room bathroom came down onto the floor down along the side down into you know down the wall and where the um where the uh Awards cases the SP cases it was inside there didn't down and then you really saw the water once got down to the allpurpose room because it was dripping from the lights and that's how we saw the drip like he like Mr Ro said you couldn't see it because it was dark until the light you saw it I was like wow we talked about the incident I I told you mentioned seeing it on the cameras I was like you know if there is any motion nor you know if there's an ability just allow us to maybe catch it four hours at well the cameras do pick up people you know stuff like that but not water and I looked I looked I mean I know my eyes not what they used to be but I I couldn't I couldn't so but it could be that yeah it could be that the contrast isn't enough for it to detect that's what it was the cam there was one camera on one one side of the hallway it was just too far away as I zoomed in yeah the pixels were it was getting distorted bless you and then there was another camera but it's just so dark and I'm looking I'm looking I'm like I just couldn't tell um but this did happen after the build well no yeah that I know they can't be set to C oh yeah yeah yeah that's what I wonder that that's what that's what I expected is that maybe the contrast wasn't enough to cause it in and it didn't even D the street yeah exactly yeah don't no no see motion obviously of people walking through but not water but I saw it thankfully the the damage was was limited and that like I said we're just waiting to to fix yeah and I have a what made be an unintelligent question um so we when we have softball in our gyms right do they do we worry about them damaging the floor or or damaging anything or do we Pro do we pre do we work with them to prevent that there supposed to be an internal ball that they use for indoor softball that they're supposed to be using we have not seen any damages the date um but I have to say the rec department has been very good no I know I imagine there's medication yes I wanted to confirm that well we we can reach out to uh Barry just to confirm yeah yeah problem I used yeah just saying like yeah it's a different type of just what yeah I would be our lovely our lovely new gems yeah we don't that that are you know we've invested yeah right please I will certainly reach out to him okay I just have two questions too um first and foremost I know that I had asked you had answered something to ask the board attorney but I think it may be worth looking into putting the recused option on the minutes just so we know who abstained and who recused because I know there's a difference between the two when we go back and look at the minutes and then in regards to Bill list Alex you clarified it for me but I just had a little bit of a further question for the $500 for the doctor is that the cost of one physical no no she has a contract which is $5,000 for the year okay we pay P or $500 every month over 10 months okay and that includes as many as many physicals as she needs to facilitate in that month correct just for students not staff and what warrants a physical like if students have health insurance do they have to go through their own like basketball Sports inter murals murals even if they have health insurance we'll do that in house for them they don't parents have the option to go to their own position at their cost okay right we I mean they always have the we can never tell a parent no you can't bring your child to your yeah but that's an option and she's not she doesn't take care of any of the staff okay so sometimes we use her for like reporting when we did the um safe return plan she was part of that so anything like State regulat she'll assist with um sometimes uh if there's something like um I don't know a diagnosis that we the child study team may need to look at where we need the view of a doctor the school physician to evaluate what's being brought in from another uh from a parents physician we use her for that but it's that's the price that's that's what she gets okay and we haven't I believe I have to check but I believe believe we haven't increased that uh for the last like since before covid okay awesome thank you no problem you're welcome just real quick just to address um Miss mana's question so Drew real quick we have obstain um we have the um recusal recusal my understanding is if you don't hear anything about anything you can't you're not going to take a position on it where obain you're listening to it and you're just actually removing yourself and I guess the question is can we put that on the agenda so when you abstain you're withholding your vote right you're still part of the process but you're choosing not to vote correct when you recuse yourself you're actually stepping away from the process and not being part of the vote usually because there's a conflict of interest there's the difference my thought my thought so we I think we should talk about an executive sure okay perfect thank you if there's no other questions that concludes my report Madam president thank you uh superintendent report Mr Jean CASRO thank you madam president so before you um underneath part of my report non-resolution uh we have um Dr sporza and beckon team coming to our Board of Education meeting on Thursday night next Thursday February 15 at 6 pm to review their upcoming referendum vote uh next month um so he will be here to go over uh his presentation and answer any question that our school community may have regarding their bond referendum qac review our cusac review will take place the day after Super Bowl Sunday which is Monday um I I want to personally and publicly thank um all of the teachers uh the my administrative team the board for your support uh this is a big undertaking uh it is a comprehensive evalu ation of from the state or our County Office it's all five components uh prior to my arrival it's going to be almost nine years um we had a just instruction and programming that we needed to perfect which we are and we've been high performing since then um I am very confident in the ability of all of the stakeholders that we should pass I really do um I do we like I said we did a lot of work on that so again um I will be reporting out when they come on day they never tell you you pass they're not allowed to tell you that because what happens they have a certain amount of time to submit it to the State Department of Education which is by June 30th and then they render a decision based upon their findings and then we get a letter saying you passed right so um hopefully like I said we'll get some kind of an idea of where we are we'll know it's going to be a long day uh it starts around 8:30 quarter to 9 in the morning and and concludes around 9 uh 4 o'clock in the afternoon so it's very very comprehensive Okay so so that's that um unlisted the resolutions first so under s will be a regular fire drill and emergency drill reports which I report out monthly um our enrollment to date has increased so we we I will have the numbers exact numbers for you um next week uh harassment intimidation and bullying I currently have one report to discuss with you next week there is one waiting I'm just waiting for um Dr King Dobson to review as she's the ABC of the district to um for those of you that don't know ABC is anti- billing coordinator so that comes from the anti- billing specialist who then she reviews it or he reviews it goes to Dr King Dobson then it comes to me for a final report to the board so we're waiting on one more so there should be right now there's one there could be potential two uh you'll be approving the anti-bullying harassment intimidation bullying incident from the previous month which would be December and then from January 9th underneath curriculum uh C1 let me just get to C1 real quick curriculum where are you here you are okay so um annually we visit our senior citizens I know um uh they really look forward to the band and and chorus singing um we didn't get a chance to do it before the holidays the holidays came right up so quickly um but I'd like to personally and publicly thank Mr Mrs sart for the great job that they do students are prepared our seniors are ready for them um so that will be taking place that's we will be approving that uh for C1 um underneath Personnel actions we have the Kelly education substitute service I know um trusty colie you you had mentioned that about the month-to month so it does change month-to month on that so you'll be approving that under P2 underneath Personnel there's some Personnel action that you'll be approving just turn there there are there is actually for P2 there's one for salary movement uh which will be two uh p2.1 and then p3.1 in p3.2 um there will be an extended medical leave and then one that's uh that is a regular extended uh not extended regular medical leave uh you'll be approving that on the 15th as well and then P4 travel expenditures one of our building principles will be going to a uh law a law assem seminar regarding uh the new AI um I will be attending one in March down at njpsa as well I had asked Mr um bardi if he can attend that with me the superintendent will go and then we look at policies and regulations that are uh governing this AI everything is brand new right now so it's just working price fluid it's a fluid situation um school calendar so 4 25 school year I want to thank my colleagues Dr sza uh Miss Ally Evans and Mr Michael Jordan from Maywood crossed and beckon we sat together which we do annually and align our school calendars um so we are aligned for a spring break we are um one of the things that we had to look at is the next year for the holiday the Christmas holiday we would we would be coming in on that Monday and then off so we closed so it's a full week off um so which really didn't do too much damage on extending the school year and then spring break uh beckon has a contractual obligation that they usually do the third week of um like April for their Spring Break um and what happens is because it falls during um uh Good Friday uh what we did is we've done this in the past so this is definitely something that I've done before for a superintendent where we gave parents the Monday after Easter so Easter Monday our parents really L that a lot and it was well received so we're doing that again for the 2425 school year uh let's see if there's anything else glaring there um and I believe that is oh we're also following uh Dr sporza and carlstead and Maywood with the President's Day we have the two days off I believe Dr spores has an extra day so it's Monday Tuesday Wednesday but we align with everybody else that Monday and Tuesday for President's Day so we try to keep everything the same okay January chronic absenteeism that that is there for you uh thank you Miss mena you CAU something on it that so thank you very much we fixed that a little typo there but we fixed that so I appreciate that um that's before you as well we are tracking our chronic absenteeism along with our demographic just to see how we can assess where types of children are out with grade level you know and how we could align um you know our you know our committee of um our absentee committee to see how what's actually holding the children back is it because children are going away or parents take you know are they GNA waste so we do have some some uh children that are out and and travel uh but we also look at if there's any child that's out sick for more than a few days we actually send back work home but again one of the things that we've been doing is not sending any new instruction that requires a teacher to give instructions more review um so that we are teaching the children and not putting that on our parents under addendum items c1a let me just get there addendum items Great Falls National Park in Patterson uh there's a a class trip that's going out there and that's the explore the falls and Museum Personnel actions as well under p2a uh that is going to be where uh let me make sure got the right one second just grab that little stuck here home instruction uh we have a we have a need for home instruction up to 10 hours uh and a stipended position that's there for home instruction we did get a staff member that has come forward to assist us with that and that's p2a and then p4a which is a travel expenditure um is two teachers one is going for Community Based instruction that's a virtual training and then the other one um is going to the parness power of teaching mathematics which is for grades K through five I do have a couple of other things uh on the agenda so I sent everyone a copy of this you have it in front of you is the uh press release that has to go out um for preschool does everyone have that right so we have not increased the rate uh for preschool tuition um and when I say tuition just to be very clear for the public that's listening in as well we accommodate East Rutherford students first or taxpayers first if there is an opening then we will take tuition from outside sources but we always do our you know we always accommodate our parents first um there are not a lot of openings because we do have threeyear olds and four- year olds so we have to leave some space in the foury old program so that the third grade Pro three-y old program can then move into the four-year-old program so there's not a lot of wiggle room there but it is a lottery um so we will be putting this in what I need to hear from you um the board um is to increase or keep it the same it has been the same prior to covid uh recommendation would be a 10% increase um some other preschools are like 9,000 8,000 10,000 not that we have to compete with them because I think we're pretty good where we are again not that we're trying to make money on our children right that's not what we're trying to do but with the times and and costs of materials going up you know just something for the board to consider sit on that but I do need a response today because Mr Barrow needs this um to send the press release out so I would like to Madame President if we can have discussion on that sure Mr segalini looks like he has some thoughts no no I listen um I will say that we have kept if we have kept the price the the cost rather the same for an extended period of time obviously we know that everything else has gone up exponentially right and so our costs have gone up exponentially I imagine our teacher costs have gone up X you know gone up to right right I don't know if you're saying we catch it for Co 2% compounding over four years right we're already at we're we're actually losing money even if we increase it by 10% so I think it's right it's obviously we I feel for people it's we never want to increase our costs but we kind of have to and and that was a good point that you made um Sig is because we did as this board and I can say that publicly this board has been very you know U conscientious of what parents have to spend and parents not working and you know covid and everything so you know I I definitely want to commend the board for you know keeping it consistent over these last couple years but to your point things are going up but I'd like to hear a little bit more sorry um my do we have any out of District like you taking any not right now no out of town okay all of ours we have them for a couple years now we're filling them up the comparable cost you were saying 9,000 is that private um yeah yes do we have any comparable cost of public schools that I I can check that out for you um that I will definitely check that out but I believe after discussing that I agree about the increase but yeah right no right right right so there has been I mean I I haven't seen I know some of them like they have been like 7,000 5ou you know 7,000 9,000 for some private but I believe I I have to check I would have to check but I believe it's around that same range it hasn't gone up it has that you're proposing the 10% across all of these all right I'm that's just a number that you doesn't have to be could be 5% it could be 2% you know but there everything goes up like 3.5% or 3% or you know right so I mean I don't think it's that big of an ass you know to go up $500 for the year yeah so the 10% increase let me give you what the numbers are Mr sure so the numbers at 10% would be the following okay so 10% on 5,000 would now bring it to 5500 for full day three and four half day three and four will go from 2500 to 2750 paying full early bird special full day three and four year old program residents only 4500 to 4,950 full day three and four year old program non-residents will go from 6,000 to 6600 and then half day three and four year old non-residents will go from 3,000 to 3300 uh I just did a quick calculation for for full day and half day for residents only if with the $200 deposit the monthly payment will go from $480 to $530 and for half day it would go from $230 to $255 that's for residents only I'm still working on the numbers for out of I I would even suggest for non-residents since especially since we don't have any to increase that 20% um the taxpayers are supp you know they're paying taxes in towns and and so I mean I was even going to say why do we even advertise for out of when was the last time we took an out of District been a weight list in lottery so wondering if it's been it was when we first introduced it we had we had it because parents were still learning about our program um so there was a there was more of a desire for it um but since the program has been really exploding and parents really want their children I'm gonna talk a little bit about the preschool expansion Grant we're gonna talk about that um so there is definitely a need we turn away 30 parents every year advertise it that we offer it is that too confusing for I don't think so because I just say like the can we take it away we're gonna need to fill a spot so it's better I think and then we have to okay just in case so we always have it and then not use it agree yeah agree I do I I mean we could do kind of a market a quick market analysis of where to land but it doesn't have to be Universal 10% across the board it can be right if we want to hike up for non-residents we can absolutely you know abut we can find a way that fits us where other districts are and we'd still be lower than a private ex exactly definitely I would just need a determination tonight because clock is ticking on that and I need to get this press release out for papers okay and when do you need that bu the press release like when would you like to usually well I would like to have it out by the day after our board meeting so we have about a week to get back to me on that so that the 16th I could send it to the paper okay so if you can get me that would be great and then by that time Mr bank I'll see if I can get some Public School comparisons um actually I was just thinking about that sending an email to my Association uh if anybody has a preschool program where they charge so once I get some answers I will share that with the board great that's my concern too I I think if we're charging we need to make the price comparable because a lot of districts have free pre- and I think that's the cost of it and of itself is what makes it so appealing to a lot of parents in addition to your kid going to a prek and then getting to stay in kindergarten first grade second grade for the same school but personally I would like to not see that price go up increase or or comparable to what we're gonna find for you or just not at all I would like to see it not go up at all I mean I agree with Tommy that perhaps in the event that we do get na District student increase that doesn't have to be a 10% but even a 20% because it'll still be lower than going to a private school for instance but I think for our residents it would be nice if we can keep the price if it's not a burden to usan like a the costs not go up fair fair anyone else well I wanted I guess see what our cost we're taking in yeah and how it compares to what we're spending because if we're spending more or equal to what we're taking in then you know that kind of diff yeah good to see the cost of the program what our programs cost us and then yeah right so I personally can't vote on this me personally tonight I I'd like no the expectation is not tonight definitely next week see that def oh absolutely we would never do that nope so at least by the board meeting on the 15th we would need an answer we could okay and by that time we'll get it to you hopefully by maybe Tuesday after qack we got qack Monday and then Tuesday or Wednesday you will get it I promise okay um okay real quick uh the next thing up on there so where we always have great feedback um from our parents whether it's positive negative or somewhere in between right so one of the things that we had received I had actually received an email from a parent regarding concerns about um maso's Food Service meaning the lunch that their child was served right so right away was on it I I sent you the letter everybody has a cop of the letter that I had to react to the parent um the parent was a little confused about the process and I just want to make sure that our board is is very clear on the process so if a parent has a concern the expectation would be is the parent would then be told to reach out to the building principal okay not directly to the superintendent because by doing that it it really it it keeps the building principle out of the of the communication and it's really not fair to the principal because a lot of times the principal could um fix the situation um and take care of it not that I'm trying to wash my hands of it because never I mean I was immediately on the phone with the parent the parent was absolutely lovely uh she really was and it was wonderful speaking to her she understood she was very appreciative that we called right away um when asking she had mentioned that a board member had told her to call email everybody so that they know about it it just I just want the public to know and the board to know that you don't have to superintendent to get stuff done I have a lot of faith in my building principles they they can handle it and if they can't believe me if for some reason the principal can't hand you know handle it or the teacher can't handle it and the parent feels that they weren't told the right stuff right information it gets escalated because believe me I'll address it and if the parent is not happy with my response then I always tell parents come to the board and then you know I will always debrief the board on what I can do sometimes my hands are tied with certain things because a legal things but I just want to make sure that again I appreciate everything the board does and I appreciate the fact that the parent came to me and we were able to fix it very very happy um masio will be reaching out to the parent as well let them know what's going on so I did provide you the board with what the parent concern was and then my official letter that went out to them and I will tell you that I believe the parent was very happy was happy with that okay so again thanks to that parent and I did tell the parent that please there's something like that it's important because we cannot we're not every we're not in every single place at every single moment of the day so if there's something that the parents could be our eyes and ears about certain things and educate us on things that maybe we missed I'm all in I'm all in because that's the only way we get better as an organization right as an institution that we're not perfect but we we really try we pride ourselves in trying to be excellent right excellent which is good okay so that's that I gave you that um referendum I spoke about preschool expansion Grant so the preschool expansion Grant um we had tried to apply for it last time around but we we were we missed a we missed the deadline and we we didn't get it back because not that we missed the deadline so let me let me redact that it was where we had to there was a video some kind of like training that we were told about we found out about it last minute in order for us to get that we had to sit for that training so we are on that Dr kson and I are on that we will be applying for the grant just so so you know it doesn't necessarily have to be room here in the district um I did reach out to a lot of our um stakeholders that are in town um Nursery schools that have available space that we could utilize um with that Grant I know that um one of our colleagues in Little Ferry had gone through it um I know Mr barachi is very well aware of that um kops and I are doing our homework on that to apply for just like when last year I had to apply for the rod Grant that's why we got that money this year when I had applied for that so we're applying for this so anytime we could apply for things if the board knows of any other grants I know someone was you it was you right yeah okay so I know one of the board you're send so if you hear something send it you know because I may have missed I know we know technology you're always sending me stuff with that right um so if there's things that you hear maybe your school because I know I have a lot of teachers on the board if you see something or hear something send it send it to us and we'll apply we will apply or make the effort to do that um and I believe that's let me make sure missing I believe that's all I have thank you madam president sorry for such a lengthy does anybody have any questions I I have one question uh actually I just want to see if um Julian's question was answered in regard to the oh the calendar was all taken care oh yes yes oh yes yes yep anybody else y um so a while back I asked about year-over-year comparisons for Kelly Services about our rate I have that report okay when you I can get that for you whenever you want can you see yeah whatever before the meeting so yeah I can just take a sure yeah just like yeah monthly year over year just to see no problem you got it thank you all right thank you Mr Jean CASRO any old business any new business at this time I will open to the hearing of the citizens open opening public comments on any agenda or non-agenda items state your name address for the record address the board president each person wishing to speak will have five minutes each anyone wishing to speak will be given the opportunity to do so for uh good morning board uh my name is adrana thank you for allowing me to speak tonight um I do not know if the board members remember me but I spoke at the Board of Education meeting on December 14th regarding an incident on December 13th where my 5-year-old had disclosed being pushed by an administrator that led him to hit in his head on the floor on the school hallway I was told by the um superintendent that after I review the video I would be at peace knowing that my son sitting in his head sorry take if you could you can sit to if you want it's easier it I'm so sorry sorry however after viewing the video it was worse than described by my 5-year-old son my heart almost stopped I couldn't believe what I was watching I watched seven minutes of my son being put in a flight or fight mode I watched seven minutes of my son being pushed and boxed in I watched seven minutes of my son being in distress and the only solution was to bring a mat to continue pushing him onto the map to keep him boxed in I watched my son hit his head on the floor get up and point to the same administrator as my 5-year-old son had disclosed to me that after he hit his head he stood up pointed to the administrator and said it was your fault I hit my head so I watched the same exact details that my son had disclosed to me not the administrator not the staff but my son I did attend a debrief meeting that I am thankful for however the administrator was advised and I answered my questions therefore there was still many unknown answers and my family felt very dismissed I would like to know what investigation is the school district conducting what training is being provided to staff for when kids are in distress because two months since the incident I have still not received any communication or a bare minimum an apology to my son or my family now tonight the main reason I'm here is because of an audio that was recorded in the self-contained class in the audio where a teacher ask is mato come into this class and his previous case manager stated she was not the case manager anymore cuz she was taken off the case and guess what that was my Mato that the teacher referred to as a devil possessed child that was my son that the teacher verbally threatened to restrain all day every day not caring if Mr G gets mad her exact words explain how would you feel if you hear this about your child my family needs answer December 13th my son was physically abused December 14th my son was verbally threatened between two teachers who do not know my son because my son was never in that class yet his previous case manager who was breaking confidentiality on December 15th the school district was aware of the audio however failed to inform me as the parent of the son who was being threatened to be restrained all day by their by their staff they December 21st I was in an inrs meeting from my other twin with that same case manager that allowed and was a part of this inhumanity Behavior displayed on December 14th the same case manager that has stated he just needs to be sent out of school district and the same case manager that would laugh when the teacher said they will keep him restrained because they don't want to deal with him the only positive and true comment that was mentioned is that my son is a smart kid and the correct help can help him Thrive at McKenzie my son is not a possessed fem child my son is a 5-year-old with ADHD who suffers from major anxiety disorder who is on the Spectrum and has difficulties with social environments my son can Thrive at McKenzie but how can I feel comfortable to trust the school that has traumatized him and has spoken so badly about my child I'm not only here to advocate for my son but I'm advocating for the other families who are in similar situations I'm advocating for those parents who feel that homeschooling would be best rather than sending them to a school that's not able to support their children's with struggling I just asking for an investigation to be conducted on all staff Personnel that were involved in both incidents and for measurements to be taken I ask for transpar parency and for answers to my unknown questions on the December 14th I stated to the Board of Education meeting that I did not want to hire an attorney but I so sad to feel that I'm only being I'm being pushed to take different matters I want the district to treat all the children's and family with respect and to do better for those kids that are struggling thank you thank you okay um so the board is very well aware of the incidents both that you speak of that have taken place um I can't get into too much because there is an active investigation going on so there's stuff that we can't disclose um but please do know that as a district we did uh put into place uh remedial employee action so there has been some action taken with the staff um but at this point I feel like that's really all we can say as as a board out in public because it's personnel and um student related but just know that we as a board have been talking about these incidences ongoing um and they are not taken lightly at all he so at this time I will close the hearing of the citizens and we're going to adjourn to uh executive session resolved that in accordance with Section 8 of the open public meetings act chapter 231 the board has the authority to adjourn to close session to discuss matters pertaining to Legal Personnel negotiations attorney client privilege and or student matters send matters will be made available upon the determination by the board that the disclosure of the minutes will not detrimentally affect any right or interest of the board the board expects to return to the business portion of this meeting in approximately two hours action may be taken when we return a motion motion second Mr Banker yes all in favor I'm sorry hi I any opposed any oppos are there any oppositions any opposed no time is 70 is 7 o'clock 20 PM all right so we're going to take action yeah we have a we have a walk-on resolution uh by the Board of Education invoking the doctrine of necessity uh regarding Personnel action uh the school ethics commission requires us to read the resolution in public session and then have it posted uh for 30 days uh where the board posts Public Notices and I will therefore read the resolution whereas there is a need for the east Rutherford board of Education to invoke the doctrine of necessity entitled Doctrine in this resolution in order for the board to vote on certain Personnel matters and whereas by resolution adopted February 25th 2003 and by way of further guidance by resolution adop uh adopted June 25th of 2018 the school ethics commission set forth requirements for invoking invoking the doctrine which are that a a board adopt a resolution invoking the doctrine which resolution includes the reason for doing so and the specific nature of the conflicts of interest that the resolution be read at a regularly scheduled public meeting that the resolution be posted for 30 days where the board posts Public Notices and that the board provide the commission with a copy of the resolution and whereas pursuant to the school ethics act njsa 18a colum 12-21 at secc school ethics commission advisory opinions numbers A1 19-17 from 2017 and number a19 D15 from 2015 and Friends retirement Concepts versus Board of Education burough of Somerville 356 NJ super 2003 law div 2002 board councel has determined that four board members being a quorum of the seven member board are conflicted from participation in voting on certain Personnel disciplinary matters and whereas the issue to be determined by the board is employee disciplinary action if any against several District employees arising out of an incident occurring in a school classroom and the facts as each employee are intertwined and cannot be completely separated and whereas the four board members conflicts are as follows number one board vice president Thomas bka is a close personal friend of a district employee who may be subject to disciplinary action two board trustee Maria Kusa son is a close personal friend of the son of a District employee who may be subject to disciplinary action three board trustee Erin shemy is a close personal friend of two District employees who may be subject to disciplinary action and four board trustee Jillian colie is a close personal friend of a district employee who may be subject to disciplinary action now therefore be it resolved by the board that number one the afor said recitals are incorporated herein as though fully set forth at length number two the board hereby adopts the doctrine in order to enable the board to vote on certain Personnel disciplinary matters three this resolution shall be read posted and a copy shall be forwarded to the commission as set forth above and for this resolution shall be effective immediately that is the end of the resolution R you need a motion oh motion so moved second roll call Mr Banker yes Miss Caruso yes Miss colie yes Miss Mena yes Mr segalini yes and Miss laruso yes motion passes motion to adjourn so moved second all in favor I I I any opposed