##VIDEO ID:gzZZ_XyJWwQ## yes can you hear me oh um Stephanie can you hear me yes she's okay all right excellent good afternoon everyone good afternoon our apologies for uh our tardiness this is a special meeting of the Board of Education pursuant to New Jersey statutes and the rules adopted by the Board of Education notice of this meeting using an online platform was sent to the Star Ledger and cable vision of Elizabeth on September 30th 2024 in addition this notice is posted on a bulletin board in the lobby of 500 North Broad Street and pursuant to this act a copy has been filed with the city clerk of Elizabeth there will be an online portion excuse me there will be online public portion for citizens to address the board participants for the public Porche must register online up to the start of the meeting so that they may have the opportunity to speak the public participation form States the name email phone number of the person who wants to comment members of the public who prefer not to and do not have their names participate using the online form may continue to participate by emailing statements relative to agenda items Andor education matters to the Secretary of the board of education at Ken n e d h a PS nj.org all statements received will be read into the record during the meeting's public comment portion all emails must be submitted and received by the secretary of the board up to the start of the meeting and is always the case must include the Public's name full name for the record each statement submitted by participants shall be limited to 3 minutes in duration the total time for public shall be limited to 60 Minutes emails received but not read after the 60 Minute duration will be spread in full in their official board minutes of the meeting at this time Mr Kennedy roll call please baros here here present here Mr Kenedy I can't hear you Cheves here Jacobs here Marina Orga here naron here gavas bana here Rivera here bathless here here thank you Mr Kennedy I'm here too thank you recorded you at this time go ahead at this time the meeting is open for public comments online to those who have registered with an online participation form prior to this session I shall call individuals to participate based on the order of the sign and Sheet each statement made by participant shall be limited to 3 minutes in duration the total time of public comment shall be limited to 60 Minutes no individual is able to yield their time to another individual all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer no participant May address or question board members individually the following rules for public particip participation shall apply time limits will be strictly enforced no personal attacks on individuals no vogar and indecent language a person may address the board no more than once during a single meeting speakers should refrain from naming individuals comments or questions posed during public par participation may not be debated as a reminder this is a board this is a meeting of the board in public not a meeting of the public at this time I call sah Hernandez is Miss Hernandez here okay at this time I call Miss Christina morera hello can you hear me Christina I can I hear you I turned my mic on I don't know I hear you now okay um okay so I'm here today because I wanted to um go over what um you madam president mentioned at the last board meeting again which was the um uniform provision uh and I just want to reiterate what was read uh which is that your practice has always been to assist families who are in need of financial assistance families are encouraged to contact the school first and the building principal will determine the form and type of assistance that is appropriate each school has an inventory of gently used uniforms as well as the ability to provide vouchers for families to go and purchase the uniforms um the school board administrator Mr Kennedy also let me know that the district has ARP um funding to purchase several school uniforms to be kept at each School in the event a family is in need so I just want to get more clarity about this this provision that you madam president said um was available to students because a a vast majority of our school Community is unaware of these Provisions uh mainly because it's not written into policy so the question is why is this provision not written anywhere um Elizabeth parents and students care took the liberty of putting it on paper and distributed it to the school Community via our Facebook page but I I'm not clear as to why the superintendent and the school board is basically refusing to put this on paper so that parents know exactly what to do and so that each school can also individually send out information to parents who are in need so I'd like some clarity on that um also um we're holding this meeting today to discuss a a residency issue for one of our students uh and it's a committee was formed for this and um in all of the nine ten years I've been attending these board meetings I've never seen a committee held uh in public like this before so for the sake of transparency uh who's on this committee um and why haven't we held residency committees for other students uh because there are a vast majority of student and student athletes um that do not live in Elizabeth um who don't own a home in Elizabeth or have a assigned lease like coach fiori does and has proven um that and so I don't quite understand why we're holding this specific meeting for coach furri and we haven't done so in the past for other for other students I think this is a a gross uh Injustice that is being carried out by this board and it is it is extremely sad to see a beloved coach who has done everything in his power for the school Community uh be disregarded in this manner thank you thank you Miss morera can we stop the feedback please thank you thank you than you um you need to turn your sound up so they can hear me though it's all we can hear oh can you hear me everybody speaks so they can care through your so he can M his oh oh okay no problem um so first off uh Miss Mara the uniform policy that you're referring to I will um speak with um our superintendent and I will ask her to have a conversation or a meeting with our principles in order for them to all be on the same record since you said that you reached out to principles and they are unaware so we will make sure that all the principles are aware of that um as far as the uh The Residency hearings we have held several residency hearings um for the last years respectfully the res The Residency hearing that just happened it was a legal committee who um were the members on that um that conducted that last residency hearing okay thank you at this time I'm going to call I think it's Alec do son Santos Alex okay thank you at this time I'm going to call Yasmine Meyers no okay thank you at this time I'm going to call Miss Maria Loren hello can anyone hear me hello can you hear me yes I can hear you now okay uh I believe that what Christina was talking about was the policy uh that is not just the only policy that we have an issue with we also have issue and take issue with the CPAC policy which hasn't moved hasn't been done nothing's been done to address it here we are into a new school year and parents are unaware of a CPAC most of the parents you put on that committee are also unaware of what their duties are so that needs to be clarified and I believe that that is the responsibility of the board as a whole and that has been something that you've been derilict all in your duties to address in addition to that I want to talk about Mr Rens you're Frozen oh okay we had stopped your time may I continue yeah but you were frozen we were trying to let you know that you were frozen so we stopped your time as a courtesy you can continue when she starts talking you're Frozen [Music] again yes I am still here hello you can continue so it's very disrespectful that you guys are not able to even show up to a virtual meeting on time I want to also discuss uh the action that you're going to take on Coach Fury uh I think it's disrespectful to the students that came out to speak that you still continue to do this action as a duty of a board member uh that I will remind all of you you are supposed to be fiscally responsible I don't see how firing coach Fury is being fiscally responsible considering that this board has fired other employees based on their political views actually uh that was dun Cals and Lea uh Dominguez as well that was a political firing for which the board paid dearly in taxpayer money for that you paid millions of dollars for that political firing in addition to that came the whole controversy with Coach Quinn uh which was also a point of contention uh because you wanted somebody I heard rumors and comments of people we want somebody who's Elizabeth grown uh coach Quinn also sued and won uh so here we have another case where you're going to fire a coach uh despite whatever your evidence or despite the ignorance of the facts that you chose to accept and we're going to get another lawsuit so how is this being fiscally responsible as a board member how are you making good decisions for a kids and have you really thought of the impact that this does to our children in the community they came out to speak uh no disrespect but the board president you madam president were super disrespectful to one of those people in the audience um and I think it could have been handled differently it just goes to show uh the immaturity of the board along with the disrespect to the public and the lack of concern for the downstream impact that this has on our kids uh I don't think that you are all making a great decision I think that this is definitely somebody uh that has an act to grind uh just like they did in the previous lawsuits that were filed thank you at this time I'm GNA call Robin ruos thank you at this time called Paloma Silva thank you at this time I'm gonna call fairin Chism at this time I'm call Hazel G Gomez at this time I'm G to call Adrien Vasquez at this time I'm G to call Yenni sedo at this time the call is Baptista at this time I'm call Miss Flor Martinez at this time I'm going to call Jaylen Ramirez at this time I'm to call uh Jimmy Jose Jesus okay thank you this I'm call Jason Robinson at this time I'm call Yan ESP pazo and at this time I'm going to call Mr John uh good afternoon board um just wanted to give everybody an update before they determine my son's residency um in the meeting that we had uh with the subcommittee um the board's or Dr yugam Myer's investigation stopped on the second day of school um where the third fourth fifth and sixth day of school um the investigators took pictures of my son and I going in and out of the apartment since then um as per the person from The Board of Health that was sent to my apartment to my landlord's um dwelling in which he's had rented out for many many years prior to me renting there um which I had a lease which I was living in um her words uh you had to really piss somebody off who's high up uh um came and investigated said that uh the apartment I was in couldn't have beds in it any longer so therefore my lease has was terminated I do have a two-bedroom on Monroe ready to go if this board deems my son a resident he and I will be moving in there they're putting appliances in this week and I can give you that lease and address um after this hearing uh as long as my son is a resident here um he has lost 11 pounds since this situation occurred um he's trying to hold up a a tough chin um lost it the other day with one of our staff members crying felt like he got his dad fired he did nothing of the sort I am the coach that followed every letter of the rules that you have put in place in your welcome center everything I had to do to rent an apartment here become a member of the community a community that I adore and love um hundreds of text messages and emails have come my way via the kids and their parents on how much I mean to them uh you know I came into this profession 30 years ago to save kids to help kids and I would think our board members are sitting at that panel to do the same and the adverse effect of what is going on um to them and to my son and you know is is awful um you know I have tried and reached out to try to make a deal with the board uh but to Def years so you know thank you for listening thank you m f at this time I'm gonna have H Karen Fury speak she okay hi there um as you are aware my name is Karen fiori and I'm the mother of John fiori Jr I want to reiterate what the board has done with respect to the res residency issue is not above board you made a decision as my husband said within three days of school he provided no guidelines or no additional guidelines or additional requirements and I've used my son as a weapon against his father in the month of September my son spent well over 70% of his time living in Elizabeth and it has been documented I am truly unclear why the superintendent seems to be so intent on my son John Jr being excluded from the Elizabeth Community I also wonder how rigorous the process is around the transfer of other student athletes at this level of detail unfortunately I am inclined to conclude this is not about John Jr but about removing coach fiori from his football position this is not only a disservice to my child but many of the student athletes within the Elizabeth School District I simply ask for rational and unbiased thinking to Prevail and to please not punish my son thank you thank you so much Miss weing at this time I'm G to call U Miss Desiree mccroy McCrae excuse me thank you at this time I'm call Miss Doris Romero thank you can you unmute yourself please M stus Miss Doris all right at this time I'm gonna call Mr Steve I could probably help you with that that's probably me Steve fario yes okay um good afternoon everyone my name is Steve farsy I'm an attorney here in Flemington at Trinity and far our represent John fiori with respect to his employment um I'm here today to talk and hopefully have you guys um do some real thinking before you make some decisions here um this is a mess and this is a self-created mess and I'm I don't understand it um I want to be very clear so you guys understand where I'm coming from um I don't just represent individuals I represent schools I still represent schools I know exactly what the deal is I know exactly what the rules are I know exactly what the statute say uh none of it's been followed here none of it um I have tried on more than one occasion to try to rectify the situation and all I get is a runaround with just um empty statements with no facts um The Residency issue is is what it is I think it's a a a transparent uh action that was taken you guys are going to have to deal with that um but let let me just be very clear I sent first and foremost the superintendent has zero power to terminate or suspend any employee she has to make a recommendation now I sent a letter I sent an email on September 27th and I indicated to your counsel that as of right now there's been no action taken with respect to Mr Fiori's position so as far as I'm concerned and as I sit here today he's still the head coach and what I got back was less than three hours later I get a I get an email back that all of a sudden now there's going to be a special meeting and the special meeting is to now decide well let me let me just read it because this is not legal either the letter says that the board will address a resolution approving and ratifying the superintendent's removal of your client from his position as head football coach and terminating his stiping I got news for you guys you can't ratify a superintendent's decision you can only vote on a recommendation you the superintendent has zero power to terminate or suspend that's not been done you violated his rice notices I got a I got a um uh some type of indication that Rice all of a sudden trumps um a litigation matter not true there's two exceptions there's nine exceptions to um what involves an executive session my client wanted his position discussed in public one of them is if a individual employee waves his right in requested to be done in public that's what it's got to be done it does not say that if there's anticipated litigation that it Trump's rice that still hasn't been done you haven't given him a rice notice for today I suggest you not vote today um the second thing and and the third thing I should say is that you guys need to understand that the law applies to Elizabeth and just like the two ladies spoke earlier we do plan on suing but this should be resolved thank you and lastly I have Miss Sonia Nicholas miss me miss Sonia can you unmute yourself please okay Miss Sonia and Miss Doris I know but she's not unmuting all right at this time I end public comment portion thank you um I think uh Mr Ki would like to speak yes uh I just want to address Mr Faro's comments he represents a client and I certainly and his obligations to his client he myself Mr VY Judge Malone we have been communicating via emails over the last several weeks regarding this matter quite frankly we are in disagreement with virtually everything he has said and it's not unusual for that to be the case in a litigation potential litigation setting so as recently as an hour ago I you know advised Mr fario I have nothing else to discuss the board's going to address this matter and certainly he's free to do whatever he needs to do to vindicate the interests of his client but as I you know I assured him that we have proceeded properly he disagrees now he can do whatever he needs to do to try to uh vindicate that issue thank you thank you I also want to say that um I know that uh you know I as a as a president and on behalf of the entire board um we all appreciate your comments and positions regarding a lot of the difficult issues that were addressed today and over the last um month um unfortunately some of these issues they involve whether it's potential litigation personal issues um or just student privacy so we're really unable to respond and provide any information um as you may be aware um but I do want to assure everyone that you know the board as a whole has and will always continue to proceed in the best interest of our students our district and our parents and employees um and we're just trying to um continue and proceed in accordance to the law so um please don't look at us not responding as you know a disrespect but there are certain things we just cannot do and cannot respond to so I just wanted to say that thank you at this time I would like to continue with our agenda and at this time um Mr Kennedy uh if we could present the two resolutions that are on uh the agenda for today um meeting please first resolution is resolution 10 and it reads whereas as it been been determined that an issue existed as to the Bonafide residency of student JF Jr for the 2024 25 school year and whereas pursuant to law an investigation was conducted into said residency issue and whereas based upon the results of set of Investigation the student was notified by the superintendent that the residency requirements were not met as well as other information required to be provided by law in initial notice of ineligibility pursuant to njac 6 a-22 4.2 and njac 6A colum 22-4 point3 B1 and whereas a hearing was conducted before a committee of the board on September 27th 2024 pursuant to njac 6A colon 2243 to AFF said student with legal counsel an opportunity to satisfy the burden of approving a Bonafide residency and whereas following a review of The Evidence produced that said hearing including testimony and documentation the committee determined that the legal requirements of residency resid had not been met and has recommended such findings to the full Board of Education pursuant to njac 6A colon 22 4.3e now therefore be it resolved by the Elizabeth Board of Education that it does hereby adopt the findings of the committee and her hereby determines that JF Jr has not satisfied the legal residency requirements to enable him to attend Elizabet public schools and it is further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forward immediately following passage by the board secret secretary to both JF Jr and his legal counsel may I have may I have a motion to approve in a second please motion to approve the resolutions Rosa can you repeat just so I didn't hear you do you hear me no oh I can hear you now yeah motion to approve the resolution second I need a second please I second the motion thank you it's been moved in papy second to approve the resolution uh 10 any questions or comments seeing and roll call please Barbosa yes carvalo Mrs carvalo yes chevet yes Jacobs yes Moren Ortega yes Nan yes bavis Bana yes Rivera yes Bas yes and now we have resolution 10A resolution whereas as a result of an investigation into certain conduct on part of JF and employee of the Elizabeth Board of Education on September 12th 2024 the superintendent of schools imposed a disciplinary penalty removing said employee from the position of head football coach and resending his 20425 stien for such position now therefore be it resolved by the Elizabeth Board of Education that the action of the superintendent schools as a for said B and is hereby adopted and ratified thank you may I have a motion in a second to approve please I'm the action discussed thank you may have a second thank is been moving prob second to accept the resolution 10 a Mr Kennedy roll call please Barbosa yes carvalo yes Chev yes Jacobs yes Marine Ortega yes Nara yes canavas yes River yes yeah thank you are there any comments or questions excuse me or comments from our board members any comments from our attorneys superintendent Miss bis yes I just want to thank you for your leadership around this matter obviously it was a very difficult decision for the board to make um based on the circumstances um involving not only a head football coach but students involved um you know I think the board has done what they've can to uh really uh make sure that you know we can move forward and forward in a progressive manner we hope that things like this don't happen in the future and that we're not put in such a position but um you know want to just thank everybody for their time diligence and um you know to everyone there's a lot of uh legal stipulations that um cannot be discussed in public and in due time everybody will understand the uh the uh the rationale behind some of these decisions that are made but just want to thank everybody for their time and patience thank you so much Mr VP we appreciate that and again yes thank you everyone for making the time to be here today we truly appreciate your time at this time may I have a motion to adjourn our meeting I make a motion to adjourn today's meeting and a second please second it's probably second to adjourn today's meeting at 1:19 p.m. Mr Kennedy roll call please our both yes good afternoon car yes yes Jacobs yes Marina Orga yes naron yes thank you everyone kavana yes Rivera yes and bath yes thank you and God bless and enjoy the rest of your week thank you