##VIDEO ID:ixDpfjxgSGw## everyone present here at school 51 and to our television viewers to this January 14th 2025 meeting of the Elizabeth Board of Education we are here to govern provide management oversight and make policy for the district the superintendent manages the district this is a meeting of the board in public not a meeting of the public this meeting is being recorded and will become part of Elizabeth Board of Education permanent record so that the recording will adequately reflect the proceedings please refrain from talk talking while others are talking and we ask that you silence the sound of your electronic devices since it is legally mandated that these proceedings be accurately recorded we may ask for order periodically should noise begin to interfere with our recording capabilities there will be a public portion for citizens to address the board participants of the public portion must personally sign in prior to the start of the public portion so that they may have an opportunity to speak the signing sheet States the name address and telephone number of the person and the reason they want to comment whether it is an agenda item or general education comment we are pleased that you have taken the time to join us this evening here at the board of education and we thank you for your interest in the Elizabeth public schools Mr candy roll call please Barbosa pres Barbosa is joining us virtually baas carvalo present Cheves Jacobs present Marina Ortega present gavas pastana present Riva naron present please stand for a moment of silence for the following team numbers we have lost retired bus driver Tom from Thomas a Edison career in Technical Academy Frank Marino retired administrative secretary for the visual and performing arts department in the Imperial Building Deborah Lillian Carrol and retired custodian from the George Washington Academy of the science and engineering school number one Mr Nathaniel Burns our thoughts and condolences go out to their families please remain standing for the presentation of Colors by the Admiral William F Hy junor health and Public Safety Academy Junior RC at this time we will have commissioner Stephanie pastana lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance 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 please remain standing for the star spangle Banner by the sooud STS and the rocket bursting in air gave Pro through the night flag starled the land of the free and the mother Brave thank you let's give our Junior RTC a big round of applause at this time I'd like to have board member Jerry Jacobs lead us in the pledge of ethics as a member of the Elizabeth public school professional Community I will treat people as I wish to be treated to do that I pledge to understand the school Community ofal Place listen respectfully when someone else is speaking by paying close attention and not interrupting speak in a calm voice and use proper language teaching and Lear learning celebrating successes and learning fromes care about others by demonstrating act of kindness and be aong learner by taking every opportunity to learn from others thank you commissioner everyone may have a seat again Welcome to our regularly scheduled uh Board of Education meeting at this time I'd like to introduce our superintendent schools who will now introduce our student representative thank you Mr President this evening it is my pleasure to introduce JC chevis from the jbj STEM Academy JC chevis is a dedicated and hardworking senior at jbj STEM Academy school number 92 where she excels as a leader and Advocate within her school Community Jac is a computer science student who is deeply involved in school activities serving as the secretary of student government in this role she works tirelessly to represent her peers and contribute to the betterment of the school environment she is also an active member of the stem Club the yearbook club and the newspaper Club where her creativity teamwork and Leadership shine in addition to her organizational involvement jci serves as a peer mentor to underclassmen offering guidance and support to help younger students navigate their academic and personal Journeys she is also the co-chair of the breaking barriers conference demonstrating her passion for fostering inclusivity and addressing important issues within her community as a student leader ji is committed to advocating for Change and empowering others her dedication to making a meaningful impact through the organizations she belongs to is a testament to her compassion her resilience and a vision for a better future it is my honor to be able to introduce JC chevis who will be joining uh us here let's give her a big round of applause let's give her another big round of applause thank you JC for joining us Mr Kenny can you please include our student representative in the roll call so that it reflects her attendance this evening yes dly noted thank you Mr candy at this time we will have public participation citizens May address the board at this time microphones open to the public for those who have signed in prior to this session each statement made by participant shall be limited to 3 minutes in duration the total time for 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 each speaker shall apply in all aspects with board policy 9322 copies were provided right next to the sign in sheet the following rules shall apply time limits will be strictly enforced no personal attacks on individuals or naming of individuals no vulgar or indecent language a person may address the board no more than once during a single meeting comments will not be debated any person in violation of the policy will be warned and that their comments may be terminated if necessary if such violations continue this individual may be asked to exit from the meeting as a reminder this is a meeting of the board in public not a meeting of the public at this time um do we have anyone that has signed up nobody has signed up this evening thank you Mr candy at this time I close public comment portion of this meeting at this time our superintendent will present the community updates sure so our superintendent is requesting that all board members join her in the front row so we'll come around I hung up on thank you sure absolutely right to commence our presentation uh this evening we wish to express our profound gratitude to a remarkable group of individuals the esteemed members of the Elizabeth Board of Education these nine dedicated volunteers generously dedicate countless hours to ensure that every student in our district has the opportunity to thrive academically and personally in observance of school board recognition month we are honored to present a framed resolution signed by Governor Phil Murphy to each of our board members as as a token of our sincere appreciation for your dedication to the children of the Elizabeth public schools we thank you for your unwavering leadership tireless dedication and the invaluable sacrifices that you make each and every day in service of our children and our schools and we thank you for that would like to begin Mr Jacobs the e e e e e for want to take this time out to thank our superintendent the administration for that awesome recognition um we have some beautiful framed uh certificates so we we we definitely thank you for that um and thank you to all my fellow board members for their countless hours of dedication and support and work here in this District that they do tirelessly and they do it because they care and the passion that they have uh for the district so I want to thank all my fellow Commissioners and to our newest uh student representative thank you for joining us and taking the initiative to take the leap um at this time to conclude our presentations for the opening calendar this evening I would like to share a video showcasing the continued partnership between the Elizabeth Police Department and the Eliz the Board of Education um and continuing our youth mentoring initiative um that we have here with our chief of police gona Saka the Elizabeth public schools uh students will again have the opportunity to participate in valuable mentoring sessions um I have to say that I've had firstand account in witnessing these mentoring sessions and how amazing they have been and the connection and the relationship that our Elizabeth Police Department is fostering with our students is incredible and definitely will change the future of this city for sure uh when it comes to relationships with our law enforcement which you know is needed throughout the country throughout the Academic Year dedicated officers will engage with the students from several districts guiding them and cultivating them an essential life skills and um such as patience and perseverance and through engaging through educational interaction in interactive sessions students will also Foster positive relationships as I just mentioned that we've already seen at this time I want to ask um I think we're going to go to the video right um hello everybody I'm the Elizabeth Board of Education president Stanley neon the 2025 new year has just begun and that means we are now celebrating National mentoring month during the past year along with police chief Goma Saka it has been my great privilege to sponsor the Elizabeth Police Department mentoring program I am pleased that our partnership through the mentoring program will continue again in 2025 students that are participating schools will once again take part in a weekly mentoring session with Law Enforcement Officers my name is jock mosaka and I'm the police chief for the city of Elizabeth I'm proud of the partnership that the Elizabeth Police Department has built with our board of education program was a resounding success students behavior improved their grades improved and their class attendance improved we're able to Foster both of our missions and making sure that our students have happy and healthy environments in which to progress through their lives thanks to the programs and initiatives such as the youth mentoring program with the Elizabeth Police Department our students are receiving vital support to ensure the future is bright here in Elizabeth don't like to see myself on video um so I just want to talk about the initiative really quick um every month a different board member takes a different month and a different theme with several initiatives and last year thanks to our president uh president Charlene baffis um we were able to start these initiatives we worked out very well and as president this year I want to continue those initiatives and allow for the continuation of such a wonderful initiative to continue in our district so uh the next month you'll hear another board member with another amazing initiative and so forth and so on so thank you again to our Elizabeth Police dep Department it's been a a true uh a great partnership that not only starts in January but continues throughout the year and at this time I want to ask Mr um John swisser partner with our outside auditing firm from Supple Clooney and Company to come forward and present our audit report for the year 2023 2024 school year would you like to come and take a seat no it's fine I can stand I can stand I got a loud voice trust me my wife tells me I project you shouldn't have a problem at all my name is John so from a partner with the firm of Supply cloone Company our firm was appointed by the district to conduct the fiscal year 2024 audit the audits required by the state of New Jersey every school district in the state has an audit and the district chose our firm to conduct it this year this is for the year ended June 30th 2024 the results of those of those audits are contained in the two reports you received the large report which is the Aur the Ann annual comprehensive financial report and the small report is the management report I'm going to start with the Aur first uh the acur contains the opinion on the financial statements and that's really the the thing that you pay us to do do is to render an opinion on your financial statements as to whether they're free from Material dist statement in other words can you trust them okay and to do that we perform all kinds of tests on account balances on revenues expenditures Etc to gain the confidence that we can render that opinion what you're looking for is an unmodified opinion okay and that's what you've got most districts in the state do get it but it's the best opinion that you can get and basically means that when you open this report or you look at your records on a day-to-day basis even that you can count on them you can rely upon them make decisions like small things like the budget that you're going through right now the preparation of the budget so unmodified opinion on the financial statements that's the first piece and probably the most important piece uh there's two other letters in the report which I'll address briefly one is on internal controls and compliance internal controls are your internal rules and regulations to make sure the transactions get uh classified properly in the amount account and period that they're uh recorded and uh we look at those controls to make sure they're suitably designed and then we test them to make sure that they're actually being implemented for instance an approval of a bills list by the board of education is one of those controls and we make sure that the bills are approved each month whether they're signed off as received etc etc and we can render an opinion that the controls are suitably designed and they're functioning that's important here's an area where you would see comments and recommendations if you had a problem with your internal controls happy to report there are not uh the second part of that letter involves compliance compliance is at the federal level the state level and also at the local level here in the district rules and regulations you have bid testing would be an example of that when you award a bid make sure these things are done properly as we do a variety of tests on compliance there's another area where you could see a comment recommendation I'm happy to say there are none this year I'm also happy to say that last year's report did include a comment on your net cash resources which involves your food service operation your big problem last year is that you had too much money in your food service according to the Department of Agriculture uh the uh District uh put a corrective action plan in place to spend down the balance appropriately which you did do and I'm happy to report this year that that comment is out of the report so that's good news uh the third letter that's in there involves the single audit single AUD is when you have over $750,000 and either federal or state expenditures as you can imagine city of Elizabeth has much more than $750,000 in expenditures on both federal and state grants when that happens we're required to do additional test on a program level to make sure that you're in compliance with either federal state regulations again we selected programs and we select different programs each year and our testing in that area also did not reveal any comments or recommendations so this is all we have three letters in there and they're all clean this year which is good the one problem that we had last year is taken care of and problems do come up from time to time it's good to see that the district looks at them they address them and they're taken care of so that's good news as well the second report the smaller of the two the Auditors management report is designed by the Department of Education in the state of New Jersey and they ask us to report on various areas of compliance that they want us to look at payroll purchasing your treasury support uh Capital assets Etc and that's what you would find if there were recommendations that were cited in the opinions that I just discussed they would also be included in the auditor's management report and again since I addressed before there are no comments the auditor's management report is clean as well so all good good news uh as you go through the acord the big fat report which I'm sure you'll all memorize uh there's all kinds of interesting information there and what people usually want to know is where did we land how do we do financially and I'm happy to report again that the district is is in solid Financial condition I will point out and I do this each year the district is very diligent in funding restricted reserves okay the state allows you to put money aside for capital okay your capital reserve which is for things that are involved in your long range facility plan and maintenance Reserve okay for unexpected maintenance problems that might come up during the course of the year I can't emphasize enough in in a district the size of Elizabeth how important it is to fund those reserves appropriately and you've always done a very good job in using some of your Surplus to fund these reserves and and the proof is kind of in the pudding that you utilize that each year these aren't just reserves that sit there you utilized over what did I have uh over 20 $22 million of those reserves maintenance and capital were utilized during uh fiscal 24 doing various projects throughout the district um and so you're funding the reserves you're utilizing the reserves and that's good news if you if you look at your Surplus it trended up a little bit again this year which is good news and that really kind of makes your job in terms of budgeting better and easier it's not easy certainly but maintaining your Surplus and the amount of time that the administration puts into that we have long talks about Surplus not about Surplus at June 3 2024 but at 25 26 27 that's also the good a mark of a good District that they're looking down the road as what as to what's coming because as we know the landscape when it comes to state aid it does change okay and and there's a lot of really substantial conversations that go into the planning and where you're going to land down the road so that's basically what I have right now I'll stop right now and see if there's any questions from the board on anything I've gone over so far board members do we have any concerns or questions and I I should say that these reports are large and you just received them I'm happy to come back at any time and address any problems as you go through the reports uh I also should take a moment to thank Administration uh for their efforts with with this you got to understand that we're in there for a long period of time probably over a month all told sitting here and picking on these folks when they're trying to do their day-to-day jobs and it's been even a little bit more difficult with all the grant reporting that you've had this year with the the covid money that's kind of starting to flow through and starting to end up right now it's a tremendous burden on them in terms of the reporting that's associated with that in addition you have this very large esip Pro program going on this Energy savings pro project that's going on it's a lot and then they have us okay bothering that and just uh Mr Kenny Mr mot are here the rest of the staff and administration they do a good job we ask questions we get answers and that's kind of really important as well Mr swi I just want to say it's been over 10 years I know we've had a great working relationship and uh the reports haven't always been this easy and um it haven't always been um you know a clean slate um we came a long way and we've done an amazing job with our team here that works uh really diligently and with your team doing this over a number of years thank you for um your work and the work that You' presented us with this year and to our staff we want to thank you as well for the great work that you continue to do so thank you tremendous thank you everybody again if you have any questions please feel free to reach out I'm sorry Mr President yes Mr Jacobs I'd like to Echo your comments as well and also um thank Mr swisser and his partner with suppl cling for the excellent job now this is the first year there was no findings though correct uh You' had I think you before this year you might have had one or two that you had no fin you had a tough run at the beginning okay and again I I can't emphasize we have conversations and when I talk to Administration things get enacted okay that's the thing you if you have a common recognition it's not the end of the world we're going to find you're a large District okay you're goingon to have problems from time time it's how you address those things and move forward so I want I think I'd have to go back Jerry and and then and look at that but I think you've had a couple years with us where you didn't have comments and actually I forgot I didn't I didn't embarrass my friend Eric out here Eric Zimmerman is the manager on the job and actually does all the work where I take all the credit um so I really should should acknowledge Him as well thank you Eric there you go but again thank you very much Jerry I appreciate your kind comments and again any questions that you have we're always available for you yes so again uh thank you and I also would like to thank our staff Mr Kennedy Mr multra along with the uh business office and making sure that these audits go through uh clearly and also I think it's a refreshing sign that considering the fact that the future landscape ape looks a little Bleak for us that at least we have a clean slate going forward thank you again thank you Mr President no problem have a good evening everyone thank you have a good evening thank you for that presentation uh so it would be fitting for the public to know that at one point in time we were the fourth largest school district in the state of New Jersey we're now the second largest school district in the state of New Jersey which makes it even more challenging at times to manage and and make sure that we can come up with such a report so again thank you to supply Cooney and Company for their great work at this time we want to turn it back over to our superintendent for our community updates thank you Mr President like to be able to uh share our community updates for the month of January next slide please so we have an amazing opportunity to be able to share um an event that's going to take place tomorrow at 4 4 p.m. uh the wreath laying ceremony across from City Hall a wonderful opportunity to recognize um the valuable work of Dr Martin Luther King Jr uh we're going to have very many members of our community in attendance we're going to have many of our students also performing uh tomorrow afternoon and we certainly invite everyone in the community and our school Community to be able to uh join us to be able to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr Martin Luther King Jr also as a reminder to all of our families to our community our schools and administrative offices uh will be closed on Monday uh January 20th in observance of Dr Martin Luther King Jr's birthday next slide please reminder to our community uh we will be sharing the brochure for our early childhood uh Lottery registration which begins on February 19th uh brour should be arriving in the homes at the beginning of February and the registration process will run from February 19th through March 21st next also uh month of February is quite the busy month for for us we're also going to be uh sharing the brochures with our community as it relates to our gifted and talented uh program application the applications will also arrive at the beginning of February the registration opens uh the application process excuse me opens February 25th and will run through April 4th we are going to be sharing Communications with our parents as it relates to our gifted and talented information session that will be held on February 25th at school number 22 from 5:30 to 6:30 and we'll be sure to um provide reminders to our community next slide please and now uh news from Central or inside eps say we'd like to be able to share this is uh next slide please like to be able to share with our community that the J Christian BWI Finance academy uh the Naf Academy of Finance has been recognized as a model distinguished status academy by the National Academy Foundation for the eighth year in a row now uh each year the nafies are evaluated through a rigorous process to ensure the highest uh level of support to our students and then Theo students are scored in four major categories acade um Academy development and structure Advisory Board program of study which is essentially the curriculum and the instruction provided and work-based learning and then the scores from all of those categories are combined for an overall score for the school so uh BWI has achieved the uh distinguished status once again for this school year and also like to be able to share as we did last month in the month of December we shared that Johnny dwire technology academy uh Naf Academy of Information Technology um also was recognized for its dedication to the students its Advisory board members its support staff and administrators in in providing a high quality um education to our students so a congratulations to our BWI Finance Academy and once again a congratulations to our dwire Naf Academy and next slide please we'd also like to be able to share Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy's alumni uh Joseph Quinn vital who was one of 111 high school and college students from all of New Jersey's 21 counties to be selected as a Governor's stem scholar for 2025 um Quinn vital is a thirdy year computer science major and physics minor at Montclair State University and he recently intered at Johnson and Johnson technology services in the area of reliability operations cloud computing where he developed software tools uh for application maintenance leadership and an infrastructure um that also served as an automation for um Amazon's web services the governor step scholar it's a public private partnership between the research and development Council of New Jersey the office of the governor as well as the New Jersey Department of Education we want to be able to recognize our proud alumni from Alexander Hamilton uh Preparatory Academy for this prestigious recognition next slide please and this past Saturday on January 11th uh the Elizabeth Athletics honored the 1984 and 1985 minute Min basketball teams on the 40th anniversary of their respective County and state championship runs uh really a a wonderful evening afternoon and evening uh with our coaches that joined and our former players from um 1984 198 5 in recognizing um two significant um achievements a Union County tournament with a victory over planfield and the 1985 team that won the Union County Championship um as well as the group for State Championship uh both teams uh were Guided by njsiaa Hall of Fame coach Ben candelino who was honored on Saturday during these uh two seasons and also wanted to be able to recognize uh that the one of the players that was a senior in the class of 1984 was our coach uh Phil kikio and recognizing uh the talent at that time as a high school student a tremendous achievements so once again uh our congratulations uh to both uh coach calino and Coach kikio incredibly proud incredibly and that completes our uh Community updates for the month of January thank you very much thank you madam superintendent um January January no that'll be for the next meeting yes okay at this time we want to review the agenda tab 1A the official and private minutes of December 19th 2024 and tab 1B treasurers and secretary's report November 30th 2024 board members do you have any questions or comments or concerns seeing none hearing none Mr ceny Please add tab 1 a tab 1B to the agenda um tab 2A are there any questions from the board to a Personnel report if there are none at this time Mr keny Please add tab 2A to the agenda tab three tuitions report are there any questions on the board comments or concerns seeing none hearing none please add tab three to the agenda superintendent report Tab four and 4 C tabs 4 through 4C that is seeing none hearing none please please add tabs 4 to 4 C to the agenda authorizations report tab five are there any questions seeing none hearing none please add tab five authorizations report to agenda tab 6 6A Finance and Accounting reports Mr President yes sir I have a question but I see if Mr milanus is out here but maybe Mr kened or this authorizations report the transfers right six six okay 6A right 6A that's what we on right yeah so on the transfers as I was saying um I see that there was a transfer two mechanics temps of 500,000 and also for overtime for 50,000 and another entry we 27,000 that's on page 6A it's not number 6A first page 6A first page yes no yeah first page first page 6A transfers under two Mr MRA can add some light on your your question shed some light on your question okay so uh basically just to separate some accounting that's all it really was the substitutes were co-mingled with another account and I wanted to be able to control that account a little bit so I know what's being spent so that's basically what it was so we transfer we opened up a new account so that uh the mechanics the temporary mechanics can be in their own line item for accounting purposes that's all it was so that's referring to mechanics who are on a temporary Bas a contract basis with us exactly we have about 17 of them and they're working on Pro this is for funds that were for projects for last month or for in the future no uh this is for starting July through December to transfer the money over so we can separate what we've already paid them and then going forward they'll be in that new account okay so um I think when we go to finance I have further questions on that thank you okay just for clarification you you stated from July to December the past July and December yeah so you're just funding the account now right what we did was uh the it wasn't uh the temporary mechanics were co-mingled with the custodian substitutes so all I did is just separate that those two accounts made them into two accounts understood thank you are there any other questions for tab 66a seeing none hearing none Mr keny Please add those two tabs to finance and for Finance and Accounting um tab seven Award of contract reports any comments or concerns yes Mr President yes commissioner Ros yeah page top seven first page the question is for Dr balis um I the first contract for VIP uh community service and also the second contract with therapetic learning connection this is for Title One um my concer is is a parents and family engagement Workshop I know it's for title one is school but do you know the topics um it depend the school needed or you it depends on what the school needs each of the vendors have we call it a menu of their list of topics sometimes they survey the parents or if parents have asked for in previous exit slips what type of topic they would like the school selects that topic and that's what's offered to the parents um my second question um how we I know sometimes our school Community know every parent or Guardian can attend due to work on different things is any any way we can communicate with that specific School Community or send information about it or it's only for the parent who attend is in pres is present or virtual since Co now they've all been um present they are in person they do uh maybe once a year offer a virtual based on the school's need and the schools do send out flyers and rooc calls to their specific School community uh Dr balis is any way you can you know sometime after this amazing professional development they have just a paper who they can keep If the parents need support they can reach to the school and have that documentation the school any possibility kind of like a contact information or further information typically when they when the vendors do come in they do uh give out a sheet that would have some references often uh it might be online references but also the school would give support whether it be through the guidance department or the administration or the teachers depending on the topic okay thank you so much you're welcome Dr madalis thank you uh commissioner Rosa Marina any additional questions or comments Tab S seeing none hearing none please add tab seven to the agenda and at this time I'd like to have our student representative report presented by Jesse D Cheves good evening Dr hilum Meer members of the Board of Education and community members my name is JayZ chz and I'm honored to serve as the student representative for jvj stum Academy for the 2024 2025 academic M gear in addition to my role as Student Government secretary I'm senior peer mentor and actively involved in various clubs all of which have kept me deeply connected to the programs and activities at stem this year has been an exceptional year for STEM Academy filled with meaningful initiatives that reflect our school's commitment to both academic excellence and Community engagement we began the school year by organizing a pink out event along the Elizabeth river trail in support of cancer Awareness Month it was a heartwarming environment to see students and staff come together to participate sharing personal stories that made the experience truly impactful our school's Focus this year has been to empower students to actively contribute to the community help their peers and prepare for a successful future some of our recent efforts include a Thanksgiving food drive organized through the combined efforts of our Student Government the Elizabeth Department PBA Local Number Four The Elizabeth Education Association and our transition program the drive provided non-p perishable food items to students and community members in need similarly we held a holiday toy and coat drive where students from both our main and Annex buildings donated toys and coats to be given to Anonymous students during the holiday season at stem we believe that creating a safe supportive and inclusive environment is key to a successful academic experience as a relatively new school stem has been consistent ly finding new ways to improve School culture we were recognized as one of only 30 Microsoft incubator schools in the US and we held our first ever Black History Month tour last year jvj stem has only improved since thanks to the work of our administrators and guidance team we have developed several programs to help our students Thrive both academically and personally one such initiative is our senior peer mentor program which helps first year students at the anx transition into High School by providing them with the tools and guidance they need to navigate their early years successfully another exciting development is our agricultural engineering club where students use indoor gardening systems to grow and harvest crops the club led by our dedicated educator Mr Hero has received numerous grants to expand its operations providing students with hands-on experience in agriculture we also dedicated time during our week of respect to promote kindness inclusivity and respect across our school Community the week featured a variety of activities including daily mystery guest speakers making announcements on respect with prizes awarded to home rooms that correctly identify the speaker in addition to promoting health awareness stem also provides students with valuable academic opportunities during red ribon week our school hosted impactful Health Wellness presentations raising awareness about the dangers of drug abuse across all grade levels students were engaged in power to make informed choices about their health we also welcome College admission counselors to our school offering students a chance to learn more about the college environment and the admissions process this opportunity gave students a firsthand look at what their future could hold helping them make more informed decisions about their post-graduation past Elizabeth public schools other high schools are also thriving with a variety of exciting and impactful events students at Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy recently participating in the successful paint night where both students and adult created artwork based on themes like Pokemon and St night this this creative event brought the community together while allowing participants to express their artistic talents additionally Jefferson's production of Greece was a standout success the cast performed the show first at local elementary schools bringing the classical music to younger students and then staged the full production at their High School the performance was a testament to the dedication and hard work of their talented theater students at thas a Edison Career and Technical Academy students are actively participating in a community food drive anyone wishing to donate can contact the school secretary the collected food is shipped to school 7 and then sent to the Elizabeth Port Community Center helping families in need this holiday season meanwhile J Christian BWI Finance Academy has been celebrating Muslim American month with a variety of enriching activities students participated in a GE in a GE metric Art and Design contest learned Arabic calligraphy and enjoyed food from Islamic cultures they also had the opportunity to experience costum hna tattoos and celebrated World hijab day by trying on hijabs learning more about cultural traditions and fostering a greater sense of inclusion these activities reflect the vibrancy of our high schools as a whole and their commitment to providing students with enriching experiences that extend beyond the classroom I'm proud to represent jvj STEM Academy and share the exciting initiatives happening throughout Elizabeth public schools thank you again for allowing me to share all the wonderful and exciting activities Elizabeth High School students and teachers worked hard to organize thank you thank you Miss chers let's give her a big round of applause amazing report thank you for your hard work and delivering that message really appreciate that Mr President yes ma'am I have a comment um Mr President and mad superintendent I'm very thank you great report um I really like it it's one part like I want to congratulate the administration of JC of the J jbj St academy academy uh this is the first sign I heard senior peer mentor mad super intendent I want to make sure that you can request respectfully request to the administration how the program like she say senior per Mentor program to help this year at first year student at the anest transition to highest school it is it is a amazing for me as a teacher sounds amazing because we know our our students and as a mother who my daughter will be in a high school next year is a challenge and I heard not only from Marian I heard from a lot of student in in a grade and I know every single high school welcome our wonderful students but as a mother and as a teacher I know they is a student who support then is is the answer is is different is different do mean I'm very very um exciting to hear information about the senior peer mentor program uh maybe ask the administration how is the process because I know it's different buildings what kind of initiative they doing or is virtual or how it's working and maybe something we can Implement Mr President in our rest our high schools oh it's something like we need to discuss as with the rest of the bo member uh my Bo family but but I'm very interesting in in the program and thank you so much I really like your report very details thank you thank you thank you commissioner all right um at this time want to go back to agenda setting adding another item to God bless you um adding another item to the agenda our claims list do we have any questions from our board seeing none hearing none please add the claims list to the agenda and the next item to add on to the agenda is several resolutions that I need to make mention of um and that's our 10A 10 to 10n resolutions it's the appointment of our Architects um Tab 10 the appointment of our construction managers tab 10A the appointment of our Engineers tab 10B the appointment of our environmental Consultants tab 10c the appointment of our special counsel uh tab 10d the appointment of the acceptance of the audit year ending in 2023 2024 which you heard earlier tab 10e the requisition for taxes for the school district tab 101f um resolution honoring National School counselor's week tab 10g payment for unused vacation days for one of our former employees Tab 10 H the resolution for Career and Technical Education Month tab 10i Children's Dental Health month tab 10j tab 10K honoring Harriet Tubman Tab 10 L uh resolution for African-American Heritage Month in tab 10m transfer of of Maintenance Reserve funds I'm not sure if there's a tad 10 n there is that's a remembrance of um Nathaniel Burns okay and Tab 10 in uh the remembrance of the former employees that we mentioned at the top of the uh beginning of um the meeting we had several so I want to make sure I State everybody's name name correctly and that is uh Frank Marin niio retired bus driver um retired administrative secretary Deborah Lilian Carrol and um retired custodian Nathaniel Burns we want to make sure that this goes into permanent record their recognition and honor for all those that we've lost um in regards to the resolutions any questions or comments there was a lot of them okay seeing none hearing none please add tabs 10 to 10n and our final tab which is going to be tab 11 Board of Education committees uh we want to uh appoint the following committees uh for this year the education management committees with the following uh members Stephanie pastana our chairperson Maria carvalo and Rosa Marina Ortega our commissioners Finance and Accounting with our chairperson uh Mr commissioner Jerry Jacobs commissioner Charlene baffes and commissioner Stephanie pastana our legal committee chairperson Mr Isaias Rivera uh commissioner Maria carvalo and commissioner Elana chz our school properties uh committee chairperson Miss uh commissioner vice president Maria carvalo um chairperson um Iana Cheves and commissioner Jerry Jacobs our special committees uh for negotiations will be Mr Jerry Jacobs chairperson commissioner Charlene baffes commissioner pastana commissioner Rivera and our special education committee will be commissioner U chev's chairperson commissioner Barbosa commissioner Rivera and a special appointment to the uni County Ed Services Commission is commissioner Jerry Jacobs and to the urban School uh School boards commissioner Jerry Jacobs again to our Union County School boards Association Mr Isaiah rera and to our New Jersey school boards our Master our Master School Board member commissioner Rosa Marina orte any comments or concerns seeing none hearing none Mr candy please add tab 11 to the official agenda at this time I would like to request um motion to go into private session to consider matters exempt under the open public meetings act uh specifically for discussion of legal matters specifically workman's comp JC VC and potential litigation matters um potential matters en and reorganization the board will convene in public and may take formal action may I have a motion and a second Mr President I make a motion to go to private session I second that motion motion has been made and properly second Mr candy roll call please Barbosa yes carvalo yes Cheves yes Jacobs yes Marina Ortega yes kavas pastana naron yes thank you Mr candy um and before we leave I just want to thank all our directors for being here um thank you for making time out of your busy schedule to be here with us today and uh participate even those who are supporting us we appreciate you um and thank you so much all right 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 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e M candy can you add the items that were presented during uh private session to the official uh agenda yeah we have a a resolution for settlement of workers compensation JC we have a resolution for reorganization we have administrator and we have a resolution for termination of employment e n Mrs Candy Council will uh make a point of clarification to you do we Mr candy are we clear with the additional uh items that have been added yes one was for uh reorganization and the second one asked was the appointment of the assistant school business administrator thank you um M K Miss Ken please add those items to the agenda um at this time we want to have our superintendent to present the Hib report I believe that's tab 4D thank you Mr President pursuant to board policy 51 31.1 harassment intimidation and bullying and the New Jersey statute 18a colon 37 the results of each investigation shall be reported to the Board of Education no later than the date of the next board meeting following completion of the investigation and includes any Services provided training established discipline imposed or other actions taken or recommended by the chief School administrator since our last Board of Education meeting on December 19th and through January 9th our school counselors and school-based social workers have completed 31 Hib investigations of these investigations 12 were founded uh there were 15 males 24 females 35 regular education students four special education students that were the alleged victims there were 19 males 16 females 29 regular education students and six special education students that were the alleged offenders of the 12 cases founded for HIV three cases were founded based on race and national origin three cases founded based on color two cases founded based on sexual orientation two cases were founded based on gender and seven cases were founded based on other identifying characteristics of the services provided and actions taken for these investigations there were 14 skill development lessons and trainings 26 counseling sessions three behavioral interventions eight referrals for outpatient mental health treatment two changes of classroom two administrative counseling sessions 11 in school detentions 18 parent conferences six out of school suspensions two referrals to outside agencies and three cases are continuing to be monitored the Hib statute further requires that at our next regularly scheduled meeting after our board members have received the initial report of HIV investigations that the board issue a decision and writing to affirm reject or modify the superintendent's decision pertaining to the 45 cases that were reported to you at the last board meeting on December 19th in order for you to do so the investigative summaries from those investigations which were reported to you at the last board meeting have been provided to you prior to voting and this completes our report for um the month of January thank you superintendent much appreciated um Mr Kenny please add tab 4D to the agenda um before I move on to the next item board members do you have any questions or concerns in regards to this entire agenda that's been presented to you um today January 14 2025 Mr President yes commissioner I have a question for the superintendent as it relates to the VPS uh does this make all of our VPS um permanent yes it does uh that report that's been included in tab 2A accounts for all of our uh Vice principles as well as supervisors that were in an interim status are now appointed that completes all of the administrations all the administrators thank you any further questions or concerns all right seeing n hearing N Miss Candy may have a uh motion and a second to approve the entire agenda and the additional items Mr President I make a motion to approve the entire agenda second motion has been made and properly seconded any comments or concerns seeing none hearing none Mr candy roll call Barbosa yes carvalo yes do you have stay on 4B yes to everything else my apologies Cheves yes we St forby Puerto Rico Alliance Jacobs yes Marine Orga yes gavas bana yes naron yes with the abstentions of 2 a and 4 B so the entire agenda has passed thank you Mr Kennedy um earlier today um want to thank everybody for um his very successful first meeting of the year uh business and agenda setting meeting as we stated earlier this evening um each month a board member will have a a different initiative and you'll be hearing uh the upcoming initiatives coming up real soon um coming to a school uh near you we'll also be taking the show on the road um as we do our special um tributes every month with our students and we celebrate the different themes and activities that we have happening throughout the district um will'll be coming to uh schools in your neighborhood so we want to bring the board meetings back to um the first meeting of the month back to the community and our regular business and agenda setting meetings will take place here at school 51 um as we embark on a yet another uh wonderful celebration and we honor Dr King superintendent did mention um tomorrow at 400 p.m. we will be having the refling ceremony um at the Dr Martin Luther King monument at U right across the street from Frank Jarell jeffon high school and across street from City Hall um we would be at um the park uh memorializing and remembering the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King so we invite you and your families to come out we definitely want to get the youth to participate and understand the history of our country and the history of uh Freedom Liberation and equality for all here in the country as we celebrate the legacy of Dr King also um a full version of the video that you saw um for mentoring National mentoring month will be up on the website so for further information and details please log on to our website and get all the upcoming um Community updates uh parent connect updates to uh get involved and stay active with our schools and communities um there are a lot of activities and parent engagement workshops that'll be coming down the pipeline so please stay tuned and you'll be learning a whole lot more um about what the district has to offer and the opportunities that exist so again want to thank everybody here today um our board Commissioners do we have any comments or concerns before we close uh yes Mr President uh this morning we uh thank you to rec recognize us and I want to say thank you to every Bo member um it's a lot of work and dedication and each one of of us have different passion but I want to you know congratulate if one of you um keep it up uh we God bless us and thank you for recognize my superintendent um as today and recognize the hard work and dedication like sometimes it's a lot of a lot of things behind the scenes but are we here to work for our wonderful district and God bless us thank you Mr President thank you Commissioners seeing no other comments again thank you to our entire team our entire staff thank you for your amazing teamwork and um thank you madam superintendent um at this time may I have a motion in a second to adjourn I'm motion to adjourn I second the motion motion has been made properly second it Mr candy roll call please Barbosa yes good night cavalo yes good night Cheves yes good night Jacobs yes good night Marine Ortega yes kavas pastana yes good night everyone and president naron yes good night everyone thank you what time did you have there e