I would love that I'm coming [Music] little [Music] feel why do you look so nervous all right it was very different than the week prior you know [Music] no different so I did I um some of the moms cooler call this meeting uh New Jersey regular monthly meeting of the Board of Education December 14 calling to order at 734 can I have call please Mr here Mr is absent Dr ber pres Miss fich pres Mrs Mayhem pres Mr Rosenberg here Mr Spindel present Miss yman pres Mr Barbara pres we Farm thank you uh the New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of to and to attend the meetings of the public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon in accordance with the provisions of this act the Falone board of education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date time and place thereof distributed to the persons on the approved list posted in the Board of Education administrative office and sent to the Bergen Record and the Star Ledger the announcement posting for the regular monthly meeting along with the date place and time thereof was distributed on January 19th 2023 the items discuss during Clos work session if needed we will have a Clos session December 14 2023 regular monthly meeting may include Personnel matters stent matters legal matters negotiations and or Grievances and tactics techniques utilizing protecting Public Safety and property the results of the discussion will be made public as soon as possible everybody please stand plan I pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands indice okay at this time I am going to open up the floor to the student reps um you are welcome I we'll start with Memorial then we TJ and then we'll end with high school so all relax been I love the smile that's what I want to see you Memorial School first marking period Points of Light ceremony during this awardwinning character education program which has been a tradition for over 20 years students and grades 5 to8 are recognized by their teachers for displaying excellent character students are called to the stage to be honored by the entire Memorial Middle School Community congratulations to all our points of Life be sure to continue to shine through light and hope that others will follow in your footsteps Memorial Middle School joined forces with the fan police department and the PBA to spread some cheer this holiday season by collecting toys for local children who may not have received anything this holiday we are happy to report that the overflowing box of toys was picked up this morning and the police department is actively preparing for the delivery next week thank you to the fair Police Department for always including us in this w c each year the moral Middle School Host volleyball tournament to support the American Red Cross students who participate are encouraged to donate travel siiz toiletries to help those in need each year we are able to donate hundreds of items to the American Red Cross and this year is no different the finals held on December 22nd with the staff versus student championship game what happens when you take today's kids and challenge them to become business people for a day well on December 19th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. memorial memorial Middle School's traps Club is hosting its first ever market place we invite you to come shop at the trap's Marketplace and be amazed by the Innovative products all developed marketed and sold by Memorial's own young entrepreneurs we hope to see you there thank you TJ is very thankful to all of their faculty staff and families for supporting the first Bergen volunteers adopt the family for the holidays this year TJ supported four under CH four children under the age of nine being raised by their grandparents thanks to everyone's generosity they were able to purchase six to 10 toys per child as well as six to 10 outfits each along with new winter codes with gift cards to shopright and Walmart the teachers met after schooling Tuesday to and they made a delivery on Wednesday TJ is now focusing their full attention on the fifth annual Christian kicks with love for Lucy and Peter drive for hackin sack Children's Hospital each identified patient receives a Vans backpack a pair of Van shoes and a gift card to Lids so that they may purchase a hat of their choice which provides Comfort when receiving treatments that causes hair loss delivery deliveries will be made in January on behalf of all of all Fong middle school students Administration and teachers and staff we wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season we look forward to seeing you in the new year thank you good thank say Best For Last um before I begin I just want to thank TJ for um their initiatives with Christian kicks and from Peter's Drive uh Christian and Peter would have been seniors this year um in my class and we to them too early and I just want to thank TJ for keeping their memory alive um even after they graduated so um right good evening everybody it is so nice to see everybody again I apologize for not being here last month I was performing in The Mask show theater and the star catcher um and if you missed it make sure to come out to the next theater production at Fon High School which is Le blond and this that will be in March and more details will come as we get closer to the date um in recent news F had week the week of November 20th last month and we concluded with our pep rally on the 22nd which we began uh the day with our motivational speaker Edie slowski who um also spoke on the importance of setting goals and achieving them while also showing off his dance moves so if you missed his speech um I recommend just watching Michael Jackson's music videos because it's a very close second and on official F high school which I run so we posted a lot of videos on there so make sure that just a quick in there we're almost at 2000 far worse as part of our traditional fall spirit week we held our coin race war which is extremely tense between Juniors and seniors Mr barbu has heard the Junior and senior class presidents argue about this student dialogue today um the seniors did not win listen we're we're in college application season so we're all broke sorry but we did win Spirit Week With app Peril so we may be broke but we have spirit I made that joke at dial thank you for laughing both times we have another spirit week planned for next week right before our holiday break and our themes are um a winter wonderland white out which is where we wear all wh and hope that nobody spills any tomato sauce on themselves we have an ugly holiday sweater where you wear your ugliest holiday sweater and our holiday H Jinks which is um something I've been trying to get for my uh in spirit week for four years and it's finally happens where we teacher swap so students will dress like teachers and teach dress like students and there will be dress code slips in the main office for students to dress code their teachers so you know I would keep an I'll take it that day I nobody's safe I'm just saying um and after that we have an awward family photo day uh one of our reps today said uh compared it to the JC Penny ads where you have like the The Awkward Family Photos where you dress alike and then we're going to have our yearbook Club taking photos of everybody in the morning and then finally the end the the week we have was the night before break which is pajama day because nobody's going to want to get dressed up Friday um and other schoolwide events happening we had our chocolate lollipop sill for the senior class um which is going to help offset the cost of senior prom uh which is May 29th for anybody any single parents um and our class trip which is June 7th to Six Flags uh junior prom committee has started uh a couple weeks ago and that's every Thursday from 7 to 8 and they've made a lot of Headway girl and theirs will be April 13th which is a Saturday uh we had our Winter band and orchestra concert last night and we will have our vocal music concert on Wednesday on the 20th at 7M so if anybody's interested in supporting the vocal Department it will be next Wednesday our academic clubs are preparing for their competition season so that includes debate garc law um our other competitive clubs um starting their their rehearsals and the class councils are going to be having a food drive in January from the 16th to the 19th um that is a huge Initiative for all of us so we will definitely be sending out flyers and and everything to the community and to the board of course um so we can uh send um a lot of our food drives as the pantry as we do every year um and that is it for my reports but uh before I officially conclude I just want to take a minute from on behalf of herland high school to recognize Mr Baro this is his um wow this is his last uh Board of Education meeting don't frry please Mr Baro has been a part of Peron for over 12 years now um both in and out um of his his children being in in school systems he's been at every board every Board of Education meeting every back to school night he's been at every parent night uh athlete night you name it PTA meeting um he's always prioritized students and he's always prioritized the students and making sure that the students were and as a board of education member I think that is the biggest um responsibility so sorry when I joined Student Government um I knew that I wanted to join because I wanted to make a impact on my community and when I met Mr barbarulo um he pulled me aside and he told me that I had to stick with it and that um people get into local politics and government because they want to make an impact on their community and Mr has gone above and beyond with that and um and in all his service the years um even though he had his accident he was always in our thoughts and he was prioritizing keeping in communication with us even from the hospital even from the hospital he was trying to make sure that he fulfilled his duties as president on the board of education and that he was always informed on all the on all all the Affairs of kin High School Memorial TJ all the elementary schools there's nobody who knows more about this District than Mr barbarulo and there's nobody that we will be missing more than Mr Barbo today so I want to from F high school thank you for all your [Applause] service to thank you and the students and I said in student dialogue um I've watched you grow since you were a freshman I wish you nothing but the best in college know you want to be a lawyer you're going be um and you still before we leave before you leave or before it all ends anyway I still have two weeks after this anyway but uh you got to get me on Instagram you got get my Instagram account going promise get my account going for reference I promised Mr B that I make I still have two weeks but thank you for kind means a lot to me it really does and I'm not going anywhere else still be at the plays like I said unfortunately this had my accident but I will be at the plays um I will be at basketball games I saw the basketball boys tonight I said good luck I mean I don't know if I'll make tomorrow night but yes as a board member I do recommend to all my board members try to get out involved and get to know the kids and be there to support them because it really means a lot to them and I also like I say to you tonight I will be at graduation so you'll definitely hear a loud voice there you want to stay for the meeting Ronnie can I just say something sure um it's not gonna be as good as memorial memorial TJ hold on one second actually young let's have the student stay for one second Memorial TJ turn1 high school you know this is actually the part of the meeting that I like the most the rest of the meeting do with that but but this is the part of the meeting I like the most because we get to hear from you but what I want to talk about is all the initiatives that you have that we have at the schools where it comes to working for our community and working for people that have less than we do um and and Memorial with helping out with Toys for Tots and TJ with helping with the uh kicks uh initiative and all the other stuff that you guys do all year and you guys with the food drive coming up and of all the stuff that the different clubs do and the different uh organizations that the high school does um besides the money that you collect to make your clubs and to make your teams and stuff better okay um it's amazing to me it's amazing there's there's not a time when you could go around this town and not see what initiatives you guys are doing and it's you know I I've uh volunteered in this town for a long time and you are the future so thank you very very much the the um Le yes thank you the leaders of Tomorrow schools today and you guys especially show that and your school show that so thank you I don't say this lightly and I don't say this because I am of the Board of Education rep his wrong tape but it genuinely those initiatives you're talking about wouldn't be possible without all of you approving and being there to help publicize and staying here until midnight sometimes for meetings discussing the district so that's definitely not lost on us and that's why it's so so emotional saying goodbye to Mr barbarulo because we see it not just in him but in in everyone for I mean you were student here like you were at dialogue you've been here for for so many years like there's so many things that you've done for us and that as a senior now I'm just like reflecting on all that and it's not lot on us so thank you especially going to the holiday season one last thing if you ever visit the high school early in the morning Bagels Bagels bagels have Bagels 25 easy a little bit more I I'll give them their plug on that so thank you guys and have a great holiday both one more stud oh okay okay that's fine Hello nice to see you guys tonight my name is David ji I'm part of Sal High School my principal is Paul Gorski and my home teacher is Miss g a caring man fly down a thing by day and and did a late and long board meeting at night fly the Bon schoolst height having the children be the great light aing and concerned for all students was his passion and his miss learning something new with each family principal or teacher he spoke with learned that nothing could stop theong syst from growing in achieving to the top caring and concern for all students was passion and his mission love to serve and love to help all what amazing man he is love there one the schools the people in knew they deserve nothing but his because of his love he gave his best when it was his time to rest Theon Board of Education will forever remember this man he cared he gave he listen he had mission of caring and conning of every child that entered the school system and even Beyond thank you Mr [Applause] [Applause] I've watched Dave up and that's why I little follow Brothers went before a school his mom and dad are great people but again I can't thank everybody enough um like I said I got on the board of education for one reason for the kids and one thing I can say to anybody that wants to run for the board I mean I got I'm going to say some at the end but if you just you want to run for the board this is on tape you got to for the right reason not for your agender not for you okay you want to come on want to tear part administ teach whatever they're not doing their job that's fine work together to make it better not fight with each other but at the end of the day the people that we're here for the reason you get up here and you give countless hours and I mean hours and hours don't think you come to one meeting a month okay it's for these children and you know what when I walk in or I walk around town or I walk at CVS or I walk anywhere and I coming up and saying hello to me that means I they know me because I'm at functions I go to as many functions as possible okay and I'm not saying that to Pat myself on the back and go because I want to be there I want to see these kids succeed and like I said when you have kids as we see do succeed down line it's the greatest feeling in the world it's the greatest thing in the world because as a board not me as a board we worked World Administration to make our district better every day and we're going to continue to do it every day nobody's perfect there isn't one District in the state of New Jersey or this country that's perfect but I can tell you right now Falon is one of the best districts ever and it shows it we've grown when I got on this board 4,000 kids were in the school district we're at 5700 KS okay that's 12 years 1700 kids so we got to be doing something right but I want to thank you D it means a lot to me and [Applause] one super comments we go back to it and I'm just going to read the resolution which is 2A whereas Ronald Barbaro has served as a dedicated and hardworking board trustee serving for 12 years including serving as Board of Education vice president president and has been a passionate voice putting the students of faon first in every decision made and whereas Mr Bara has been committed to the students of faon school district to empower them to receive the best possible education and whereas Mr barbarulo has worked closely with school administrators and has been an activist for the continuing Excellence of herland schools therefore with great gratitude we thank Mr baru for his 12 years of service as the board truste and wish him much success in the future um and for those of you that are not aware it's Works in our favor that Sean is here uh Ronnie doesn't just do everything for our school Community um Ronnie coaches our programs can you help mepic [Applause] a my fellow board members like I said I do have something to say at the end but I do want to just remind everybody I'm not going any I think I get to have fun now because now I get to sit over there I get question Dr why you doing that thank you so much thank you thank you for everything for everybody and like I said again um just before we get started again I get the greatest enjoyment of seeing three of VI that's what I love the most and I I seeing the smiles you when you smile and that means everything do that every day smile every day laugh every every day and be nice to somebody every day you're going to have a healthy successful um I'm Sor can you ation Sor um thank you Mr Bowski yes Dr berini yes Mich yes Mrs May yes Mr yes Mel yes Miss yes I was going to I can't vote on my own resolution but Mike you mik um so when I first joined the board Ron was back there and representing for school and at that time we actually had most of the schools represented a lot of school's represented at our meetings the pta's represented and he was the four School rep to the board and he was pain NE he asked he asked a lot of questions and he questioned everything especially and his Specialties and Ron you know we we joke about it but Ron has his Specialties Ron's a Coach Ron the plumber Ron's um yeah coach and plumber is is is but but Ron Ron and it was it was so nice I don't know if I could I could you said it so nicely it's going to be and you said it so nicely that it's going to be very hard for me to tap that but the one thing that no one can take away from Ron when it comes to being on board of education is how much he cares about the children of this this district and and this town um I very rarely I don't know if I could name and I I'm you know I know a lot of people in town I don't know if I can name someone that does as much for kids in this town as Ron um you know he president of the Board of Education three three times three years um out of his 12 which very very deserving and um we're going to we're going to miss you you're it's every time you know the Board of Education Works because first of all a lot of us have different Specialties so you certainly know the physical plant of our building probably better than anyone else in the district uh the physical plants in the building and um and certainly what you know about our Sports programs and stuff like that um I wish you a lot of luck you deserve a break you deserve a break because you've done this way before you were a board of education member you are already in town doing stuff for children and that's what we're here for and that's why I hope you know we all Jo we all put ourselves out there to be to for the children of the district so um I really appreciate everything you you've done and like I said I wish you a lot of success thank you Mike like I said see me me that's what they might not be you won't see me the first Mee next month I have my own PL meeting no I mean just just to I've been involved with the board for over 18 years and I came a meetings for five years uh before I got on the board decided to run and yes I did ask a lot of difficult questions um I do remember I go way back when high school audition was going on and they had they had a change order and I questioned it and it was funny because the old business administrator J Wilson she says well are you sure about that and I gave her the code section she's like I was like you that's in Chapter 13 13.6 Point C you know it's not required blah and she and while I'm saving $4,000 um but they used to tell me when I got on the board we go a close say you know what he that's a good question he asked like you know not was I was never attack I never attacked anybody I never dat personal never is personal for me it's business and the business I have in hand is the children that's it you know like I said people have asked me am I happy yeah I am I'm I'm a TI but like I said I'll say the rest later I have mixed emotions though because it's going to be it's going to be different for me I've been very active with this this community I still be active Community but with this board for 12 years so uh like I said I think we're in good hands we have a good Administration we have good teachers we have good sports staff and I think we have great great kids I really do I mean we have a couple uh bad apples but hopefully they'll change as time goes on but I think overall we have great students to and I love watching them grow I really do so and I've watched this young man grow since he was five years old too so that's that's that's when I know I'm getting old I see them eth grade she's graduating David's got a beard I'm like actually this year just real quick coaching junior football I they asked me to help out last year I got involved and I actually coached against two of my former players that I coached 20 years ago their children so now I've gone full cycle I'm coaching the kids against kids so that was the funny part but but thank you everybody for the kind words and I will have something to say at the end of the meeting but thank you for the resolution more Ron I am sorry I am not able to be at the meeting tonight but I wanted to be sure I said a few words I am asking the board secretary to read these words don't worry I kept it short first I want to thank you for your years of service to the children of faon and your contributions to the board you should take great pride in them your crowning achievement however was your firm leadership during our most recent superintendent search as someone who has been in your position for this endeavor I know how difficult and timec consuming it was your direct firm unflappable but calm demeanor throughout the process was what was needed I firmly believe you were the best person to handle this matter and due to your leadership we found a great superintendent in Dr dionio I know you will continue to be involved with the kids through your coaching and other Town Endeavors fairon is lucky to have you best of luck to you in the future my friend Jean so we couldn't find a great superintendent um if it wasn't for the rest of the board because the thing I I stated for the first day was leave your personalities at that door because I'm not GNA I'm not going to stand it so whether you like each other or not I really don't care but we're here for one reason it's our number one reason the board members to pick a superintendent you know what the nine of us came together we worked a but off and we did something that's unheard of we picked the superintendent in four months which is totally unheard of okay but we had a good pool of candidates we had a great search team but as a board we worked really really well together and I thank each and every one of you for having the right attitude through that whole process and this this is what we have and I'm very proud to say that I think we're great hands going forward for the next five years so thank you thank you [Music] the parents who were supposed to be speaking at this time so are we going to come back yeah yeah we're going to go to the parents I'm going to go to the parents next I just didn't want the children I mean they wanted them to wait but I want to live give the young young people to uh chance to go home um and then we're going to go back to the superintendent's comments first and then I'll open up to so thank you again for speaking wish you and your family a great holiday and U thank you for coming look for to David thank you so much appreciate go home relax have AAG right so see you guys Troy sa where I [Laughter] [Music] know I got the stereo no that one has got the stereo still there at this point we're going to at this point I'm going to turn the meeting back over to our superintendent jio and he has some comments and I he has a presentation on his entry plan and a few so good evening everyone um just to continue on um you know I've been here about 30 days um but I've had a great opportunity over the past 30 days to get into every building numerous times meet with wonderful groups of parents our staff members our students um the administration our supervisors community members it's it's been really wonderful 30 days and and I'm really happy to be here um and I've obviously known Mr Barbaro through the search process longer than 30 days in the board so I just want to first start off by thanking the board for instilling your faith in me as your superintendent of schools and I would just like to also just say to Mr Barbaro thank you for everything that you've done for the falong community in a very short amount of time that I've been here I've seen exactly what everybody has resonated here so um you're an incredible leader you're an incredible person and uh wish you very very well thank you so uh number of months ago I think it was back in September I did share the superintendent entry plan but I thought it'd be a good opportunity to just present it here um and be able to answer any questions if anybody had any um it is being cast at home so we have a we have the superintendent country plan up on the screen for any viewers at home right now so I wanted to take everybody through a little bit of what the next 100 school days will look like and then what I hope to accomplish at the end of the school year in the spring to be able to present my findings and what I've learned throughout the superintendent entry plan process um so as you read through it and I'm I'm not going to spend an inordinate amount of time on each of these slides slides this is up with a letter on our district website and folks can go through it on their own but everything that we're doing is centered around the three District goals around our Career and Technical education uh maintaining our students stf wellbeing and the dedication and commitment to the tiered academic systems of support uh as our three overarching District goals and as we go through I wanted to talk a little bit about what the actual entry plan approach will be um so as I shared earlier you know I've spent the past 30 days trying to get around to as many places as possible meeting with people individually in groups um and meeting with all the Wonder wonderful stakeholders so essentially the superintendent entry plan has broken out into three distinct phases uh the first one is that transition phas that you see there which was once I was board approved it's getting acclimated to uh the practices of the district and getting onard order the ground running in November when I arrive so right now I am in phase two of this entry between now and January um really engaging get people uh I'll talk a little bit more about that uh in the upcoming slides and then phase three is planning that's essentially taking everything over the the first first phase and the second phase processing making sense of it and then preparing for giving an update to the board of education of everything I've learned uh from meeting with board members and all of our our community stakeholders purpose of the plan is to listen first to learn second and to lead third uh really coming in and getting a sense of the strengths of the district uh many of you have already heard me ask the questions you know the strengths or what I call the points of pride in the fair law and public schools what are those components what are those aspects that are strong Foundation that the school district and Community are buil on uh and learning that from the different perspectives our community sters and then what are theas that we want to to grow to build upon that found um and the only way you get to do that is by listening and learning from the people who are here and to the different vared perspectives uh that we have across the district this uh this entry plan has broken up into three distinct goals uh goal one is to build a trusting uh collaborative relationship with the Board of Education uh I've had an opportunity to meet with almost every single board member so far individually and those conversations were fruitful and robust and extremely helpful to me um in addition to that you know we to be able to have I know we had a Ford Retreat that was scheduled that unfortunately had to be cancelled uh no fault of the board but our consultant unfortunately became ill uh I look forward to an opportunity to do that in the new year because that's going to be critically important to continue to solidify and have a cohesive group with the Board of Education and my relationship with the board as well the second goal is to Foster open communication with our faculty staff students parents and the entire Community um begun to do that already and a number of different relationships I've been already trying to establish meeting with uh mayor paluso uh and our our police chief uh and members of law enforcement and other Township officials uh in addition to our District staff and then the goal number three is going to be to as I mentioned earlier support what works extremely well and there's so much to be proud of in this community and then identify the areas that are going to be our next both short-term and longterm gos so where are we going next right but I think that before we need to identify where we're going next we need to know where we're coming from and I especially as the new superintendent need to identify that from listening to everyone uh goal goal one just goes into a little bit more detail around all of um the relationships and building that uh with a cohesive unit as a board of education and the superintendent of school uh of schools so we have our finest up there and their photos that I pulled from the website so you get to enjoy them I see you put a couple of smiles on some faces so that's good so if you read through this you'll see that some of these are very specific activities that I will focus on and have a clear plan in order to be able to accomplish goal number one so I've delineated there what the objectives are and then what the specific entry activities are that I will follow through on the next 100 days and the same thing holds true with Goal number two and that's fostering open communication with our our faculty and staff all of our stakeholders strengthening the Partnerships right um the success of our school district is going to be built on the trust and working together um and there are going to be differences of opinion and that's okay uh we do that respectfully we do that productively I think that makes for a very organization to be able to move this place forward build and goal number three is that conclusion taking all of this information all of this uh Insight uh and breaking it down into identifying what the strengths are where the areas are that we're going to focus and and how we're going to get there and then last but not least um some of the things that will be coming up in the future so I've had an opportunity to also not only meet with uh our our athletic associ parents just the other night our PTA Council uh attended wonderful uh reception with place right few weeks ago with holiday holiday celebration been able to meet with student dialogue I plan on meeting with student representative groups at each school and be able to capture as much voice as possible the board is aware as well as our administrator supervisors and now our teachers that we're using uh and the PTA council is also where that we're utilizing a new a technology platform called thought exchange and thought exchange is a technology online platform to be able to hear uh perspectives it's uh and Voice through through surveys so that's something we've already begun to use uh and engage with in the district and it allows us to beyond the small group meetings uh or coffees and conversations uh we are able to hear as much voice as possible for the folks who don't come out for those inperson meetings um but we're going to be doing coffee and conversations as well so that's an opportunity for members of our parental Community to be able to come and meet with me uh we could have small group conversations individual conversations we have uh the next three months dates are up there I plan on doing similar uh venues for our faculty and staff where I'll have Schoolhouse visits during the day and after school to be able to hear them as well so in addition to the thought Exchange inition Focus meeting uh just creating those opportunities for folks to be able to uh sit down and talk to me and tell me specifically what the areas are that they find the value of strength in perspective as what they think I should be F to best support them and to support the school so that's just a brief overview of the entry plan as I mentioned it's up on the website there will be a communication that will be going out next week to the community uh for parents around coffee and conversations I'll be in the coming weeks in the new year also be establishing those Schoolhouse visits with our faculty and staff for those who wish to attend and be able to have some sit down time with me and um I'll turn it over to the board uh if anybody has any questions or any comments at this point all any questions just curious you the time is there or is is there going to be various uh going to be they're all going to be at 7 p.m. so that'll be in the communication that goes out you're welcome anybody public have any [Music] questions in the morning you got Bagel at the high school thank you all right just uh I just have a few items to uh provide an update on uh as part of the typical superintendent report um first of all I'd like to just uh thank the fairon friends of Music Association for the uh donation of senior scholarship that's on tonight as well as the approval of several gifts uh we have donations offt Ms radburn and Forest so a total of four donations um from our PT uh and and then a family as well so just like to thank them for their contributions to our school district to benefit our students I'd also like to just address and the board's aware of this communication just like to address that uh time ago last week there was uh an an accident that involved one of our students after school hours um over uh near berdan Avenue in Sunnyside Drive fortunately the student is okay uh we've been in communication with the family um uh it was hit by a uh a vehicle a motor vehicle that was driving um sadly that uh driver did not stop um the but fortunately the the Angels were over that child and the student is uh okay and had some very minor injuries and uh we're very fortunate uh for him and for his family uh we have been in communication with the local police uh they've been wonderful Partners uh as part of the The Pedestrian Safety Committee this is something that's going to be brought forward again as part of the typical conversations they had uh that I know our board members sit on that as well uh so they're not only looking at that specific area but they're looking at all of the areas in town uh I do have to commend the uh police department because they did have uh traffic study that was done again again in that area to just over several days identify uh some of the concerns if there were any uh and they also uh increased their uh the traffic enforcement so it is something that we'll continue to work with law enforcement on not only for that area but other areas around town as far as uh the World Language survey I know that prior to my arrival here a number of months ago that's a top that has been brought up on numerous occasions uh specifically the addition of World Language the request has been for consideration for the Board of Education and the district to uh incorporate Hebrew into the curriculum I also understand that both from the board from the administration uh and from watching the videos of of the past before I I arrived here in November that there has been the request consideration for us to wait until the new superintendent's here so now the new superintendent's here uh so what I'm going to do and over the past several weeks we've had some good dialogue I'm going to be composing with the administrative team um survey that will go out that survey will be going out first to our student body it will be going to our students at the high school we will also most likely be engaging our upper middle school students as well and the reason for that is they're going to be going into high school soon right so uh I do believe that there may be an opportunity to engage parents in getting their persectives as well I think that there's value in that but I think that there's the most value in going right to our student body they should be voices of what coures would be interested whether it's a world language class CL or whether it's some other class right so that's a practice that I have found very fruitful and that's something that we will commute with in the future the challeng is and I recognize that there's been some conversation around whether or not this language could be into effect uh in effect for next school year and logistically and realistically speaking um I do not see that as a possibility the timing of it is you're not going to work but we're going to move as quickly as we can in order to be able to collect as much feedback for the subsequent year whether it's Hebrew or other languages or a combination of languages it's a little too premature to decide what that will be I think we need to hear the student voices first uh but it's important to know what happens in September when students arrive in school that groundwork that Foundation is being laid now right so the scheduling process is already in play the budgeting process uh we're going into the hiring process the curriculum revision work uh the development of the program of studies the the course handbook for our students so it is something we are going to deep L committed to but it is going to take some time and we appreciate everybody's patience as we're going through uh I wanted to follow up on Mr spindell's uh questions and comments that you've made over the past uh several meetings in regards to uh making sure that our school district is safe welcoming inclusive um as it's always been but as in any Wonder School District there is always room for impr and I know that the foundation has been laid here and I know that as it relates to possible anti-Semitism uh or any discrimination of any sort that that's something that is at the top of our list right because we could teach every single subject and do have the best lessons laid but if a child does not feel safe coming into our schools um they're not going to learn in that classroom what we want them to learn what we want to teach um um so I started here on November 13th I'm very very pleased with on November 14th I had a meeting with our supervisors and administrators our administrative cabinet meeting part of that day was devoted to having really wonderful conversations thoughtful conversations reflective conversations around what is the current state uh especially following the the terrible Hamas terrorist attacks that have impacted not globally but locally as well and have in no doubt impacted our community here in ferland we used that time to be able to understand what issues we're dealing with uh speaking specifically which I can't speak to here of course because of student confidentiality but what are the real issues that our students and our families are dealing with what conversations are being had with our administrators and Par parents between our parents and our counselors and child study team members um to really get to the root of are we having a lot of issues happening in school because there were concerns about anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination and I can't stand here and sit here and say that there's none of that but I can tell you that I believe that the school district is taking of the necessary and appropriate steps to address any inappropriate behavior anything that may be anti-semitic uh or discriminatory against any group um and it's unfortunate that there are times when our students do have issues that they're discriminating against and our Administration our teachers our counselors move swiftly in order to address those matters um even one case of discrimination against any child against any person is unacceptable and we have a zero tolerance for them um the combination of addressing those we deal with that both at the granular and Global level and what I mean by that is whether it's a code of conduct violation that involves students or harassment intimidation and bullying that involves students we address it through remedial measures that are uh discipline education and counseling right to make sure that that behavior never happens again and to make sure that if there's inappropriate behavior we're holding people accountable um and that there is zero tolerance for it and on a larger more Global level it's about analyzing what trends we're seeing uh and what do we need to do programmatically through our curriculum through assemblies through character education uh I could say from my time so far here I've been very pleased with the response of the school I've also been very pleased with how things have been handled um as I said earlier there's always areas to continue to improve uh and then we have had and we will continue to have uh very focused conversations about how we can continue to make school a safe place for inter single CH so I hope that gives some context to the comments that you made over the last year absolutely thank you very much uh and then last but not least I've had an opportunity to also be in uh class uh the schools recently yesterday here down the medicine today over at West Morland tomorrow at uh Bradburn and we've got a lot of concerts coming up next week holay concerts are pure joy pure joy um it was so wonderful to be at West warland today uh and to see all the smiles on the kiddos faces and uh it's honestly the best part of my day to see them and uh I know Miss Brown is er I saw you from a distance um and uh I just want to wish everyone uh no matter what you're celebrating a very healthy happy and wonderful holiday with your families and with your loved ones so that concludes my super report thank you okay um at this time I'm going to open up me to public comments on anything on the agenda if you have anything on the agenda that you'd like to speak about please step up to the microphone just say your name don't give us your address and speak your speak at welcome I I have Danielle checking online anything online wa wait wait you [Laughter] havein um Mel J um live in town um as aent I would like to thank Mr Barbaro as well um he has been an asset as everyone here has stated I'm not GNA restate um I will say I agree with everyone and I'm also gonna say that FMA said it better than Mike did but besides I'm not bring up D um but I'm not going to try to follow um the words of the people who you affect the most um I am to say that I know both of my children love when Mom look it's Mr barbarulo he's at our concert mom Mr barbarulo came like Mom Mom it's like a superstar right um and he is a superstar whether it's on the football field on the basketball court um in the auditorium uh you're always there and um well let me rephrase you're always there when you're invited okay there have been events that I yell at Mr barbarulo for not coming and he's like well did you tell me and I'm like all right you know valid um so I'm telling you now on record 2224 um whether or not you're sitting at that table you still need to come to the place din or dance I will be there so now I'm going to take off my mom hat and I'm going to put on my place hat um and I'm just going to say that through your leadership um through you being on our special ed committee you have supported us day in and day out all the Endeavors that we've ever pitched um um whether it was a program or whether it was hey like you know this would be really helpful for place for like the kids to you know do whatever um you were always our biggest fan and I'm not going to say that we'll miss you because we won't miss you because I'm still going to be reaching out and you're still going to be helping out so but I haven't forgotten what you emailed me the other day I got talk to Dan about okay I don't even know which email that was but I'm going back but I haven't forgotten um so I'm not going to say like I said that I'm going to miss you I'm going to say thank you for everything you've done thus far I want to go on record saying that um it's going to be tough shoes to fill um I mean no doubt that Miss Jean Brown is up to the challenge because we're gonna abuse her a little bit but um but I just want to say thank you for everything um and I'm just gonna say that we're going to continue to you know reach out so I look forward to working with you some more uh and I look forward to sitting on this side with you that's going to be fun too we're going to have a lot of fun uh so thank you thank you very much for everything remember the remember the pumpkins out the back here we got those oh wait I'm not done yet see Christine Christine does have something I I thought I did kid me just sign I would like to thank you as a parent thank you as a parent listening you always listen and you and you feel like you are heard so thank you so much during many many meetings we catch eyes we would I'd say my you know my say and you I knew that you always heard and you put things St I really appreciate that thank you so much my son appreciates you parents appreciate you as a PTA Now put on my PTA hats starting at Forest coming over the place now the high school still on Place Memorial in between Memorial in between too thank you so much it's just really a great thing know as well Ronnie really because you were there and you you you served on yes I did only on flare yeah on Flair thank you so much and and for all of the support especially with place so we um had our spirit wear sale so you get a new wardrobe oh thank you I've been dying for this we have all seasonal so you have a hoodie and H thank you so much thank you for everything that you you do for for our children our special children that's why I want to call them our special children you do so much for them and we are we are blessed to have that in our um in our community and in our school district and uh I will always continue because I have um I I have a lot of fun with the kids I think they I would tell a story about Grace Grace's son but Michael but think she be happy go ahead um I'm Jean um I just wanted to Echo the kind of the same sentiment um at my first board training a week or so ago I got to watch our colleagues across Bergen County honor you for what you do for us so I kind of I felt so blessed and so lucky to sit there and listen to so many people across Bergen County speak so highly of you so I I'm very excited for you um and nervous for me and um I hope to continue to learn from you um because you've obviously done really great things so I just wanted to kind of echo the same I also wanted to thank Dr D for coming to West Morland today um it was definitely a celebrity sighting when I got home my son jack was like to you so I we were I know parents were very excited to see you too we'll get a glasses and a hat next time I know I would have brought Christmas I'll definitely wear but um I just wanted to thank you for coming it was nice to see you I know parents were really excited the kids were really excited um and to the comments that you um in regards to what Mark had mentioned um I personally you uh making those comments um unfortunately my sons have dealt with um some racism in schools and I just want to commend um the memorial school and that their staff uh jumping on said they have on and her team is amazing um so I know fir you know the greatness that in our schools um so I'm glad to hear you e that and take thank you Greg Miller alumni um you will be Miss wrong I'm glad you're joining this side of the table that side um I know you're all over fairon but I don't see you at hockey games [Laughter] well that's the problem Craig we never get the right schedule because the record is horrible so I had to call my ad and tell him to get me the hockey schedule we have elect at I know I know's really giv it all right I love Craig his last chance not to scare anyone but this is old children as well I know one person wants me to be on the um former Duncan Superintendent at the Spring Carnival and I don't want to scare the current superintendent from being the next we can have the former president I have no problem I'll talk to I'll talk to the person running it I have no problem I'll do it people thank you a lot of money thank you you anybody else you had something on the from the for comment um I have a comment from Jen Gruber I am sorry I can't be there in person but I am sending Sarah off to visit her sister Ron you are an incredible person I saw it when you coached our girls Rachel and Kaye and soccer in third and fourth grade I saw when you supported every show Sarah and Kaye were in I knew it on a very cold night when my furnace went out and you came over to relight my pilot light even though it was nearly impossible to find and you refused to let me pay you it is an honor to have known you for all of these years and in so many different different aspects of our lives and then and an even bigger honor to have to preside over the district that shaped our children's lives I look forward to your friendship for many years to come best of luck in retirement and be prepared for a big hug the next time I see you thank you uh anybody else okay board comments on the agenda Mark now it's my turn to say a few words all all Pleasant it's clear that over these past two years that serving as the president of Bo that he took the position of presidency very very seriously and that your leadership ability has gotten us to where this district is today no one could really have imagine that when he became president the second time that we would be leading again a search for new superintendent with your ability you managed to call the group and we were able you said record time to select new superintendent and it was done very painlessly as others said arguing we all work together and that's your leadership there aren't many who can actually show the leadership and the guidance that you have done both in your tenure as a president and as a board member we as the word of Ed owe you a great bit of gratitude as shown during our most recent meetings the demeanor of the entire board has improved tremendously and we're now able to listen to one another to discuss matters without our arguing and with all the members showing respect towards one another and this is mostly because of what you have shown us but I want to leave you with one comment before I I finish one of the most important traits of a board of education member is to allow for disagreement without holding a grudge over those whose opinions are different and I must truly say throughout your tenure as word of member and President we may have disagreed many many times over those 12 years but when we left the Mee him you never ever showed any bitterness towards me or towards anyone else as they say in the Jewish religion true thank you for all the time that you put and I really appreciate and I will mark thank you very much you know one thing I've always said the first time I was president got lucky to be president during Co that was a lot of fun every day on Facebook because we were idiots but that's beside the point and a new Superintendent at the same time but I've always in any organization that I've been in and I've been I've been many and I've been president of many I've always learned to live my life of it's not personal it's business so whether I like you or not whether I agree with you or not I think what people have to do General sometimes you have to understand you're the lower majority like there's nine board members we work together as a unit if I'm I'm one one that I've got voted against one that's the way it goes I mean I got to just try the next time to convince four other people to agree with me I I want not saying this to anybody in particular I just like around learn to do that got to work together at the end of the day it's all about children it's not about I like or this that I listen my first year I got on I told the superintendent I going agree with you all the time so don't expect it he said I don't but I you know like I said I will express my but it's never personal I mean I might disagree with somebody I might not agree how they go about something but I'll talk to them like you said you and I known each other for a long time we've been on board for a long time together yeah we haven't agreed on everything we always did it as gentl and when we left were friends we came back we were friends we mighte that night again and then day we still friends and I appreciate you saying that because that's something I take a lot of pride in one of my goals this here presid allow this board to work together for the benefit of our district not I don't like this person I don't like that person everybody's got like I said you got to leave that's anything we do life too just is too but thank you so much Mark for those kind of words it means a lot to me it really does anybody else on the agenda Lisa so my last term was back in 2008 to 2011 and I'm not sure if it was one year or two years that IED on the I would like to leadership this year the discussions that we had prior to coming on the board I took them very seriously as did you one of n people and I appreciate that and just chok that's okay that night our search for the new superintendent went flawlessly I wasn't here an emergency and that you have served on this years took a little but there children and that's what and that's what it's all about it's not it's a it's as you said it's it's a business and it's for the children of family to get the best possible education that they can to productive lives and I thank you very much for everything that you done for for the last four years and then you had to put up with be coming back after a problem thank you very much like I said I appreciate it you know it's funny is I do remember at um and I'm not have to say this I remember when we were on board together sometimes and uh you get frustrated the way sometimes way you present the things that I used to just say to you you got good ideas just got to change how you present a little bit so this way doesn't you know doesn't rub and some people like I said they're going to just take it personal anyway or whatever they disagree with it or this or that um but like I said I think everybody has ideas and everybody should be here I tell my students all the time I say i' I've been doing PL for 45 years just because you've been doing four years doesn't mean that you don't have a better idea on how to do something than I do so I need to listen I got my head other things so like anything I listen to people and I I like ideas like I said at the end of the day we're looking to improve it and make lives easier like I said tonight to the kids to do dialogue I think that's one of the greatest committees that we have because the kids should be listening to those are the ones that we need to hear like you know not the parents calling us or emailing us as board members because I don't like this or I don't like that you know when the kids 500 kids come to us and say we don't like this we got but if I got 12 em say we don't like this okay but we're about the other i700 families whatever so I appreciate the kind words I really do means a lot to them read I say2 oh to be determined trying to fill a six period nobody ved's name it's just making aware there's a spot that need to F all right all right so we'll take that out when we get to uh when we get there we'll [Music] just I've been the for 15 years but I don't vote on them unfortunately and that's just I want to make sure people know why I'm staying not at all another thing is I don't Coran Associates that they um check our playground I was wondering some of our playgrounds have severe arrest for example W Morland on top of theground area is severely arrested did they do any tests to determine that it is I understands are great when something becomes rusted the strength of it may not be as strong as it was originally and I was wondering do they do any testing to determine that the strength is manufactur question I State L DCA divis Community Affairs to perform extreme amount of test on it tensil stre is one of them on anything that supports any child or anything else that goes with rides playgrounds anything that has to do with children they have they have a whole it's probably about a five page checklist of things that they have to do so yes they do just because something's Rusty doesn't mean it has L the they have ways of testing it they can tell if there's any defects or cracks or anything in it that's Department of Community Affairs that falls under that anything TJ St that yeah they got to follow the state rules I got to than God they have to follow the state rules they have what to us has go to state too another thing is the [Music] side square foot for po concrete because it was 300 square fet and they paid almost $1,000 and I've been trying to do shared services with the town and maybe that is something we can work with the town $30 35 foot is cheap with I know no I was going to say is the price of concrete to come through the roof it's it literally has because of everything so even if you had shared service but that's a prevailing wage job you have to pay the reing wage which is double the cost of Labor so if you're paying somebody $30 an hour reing wage right now I think is around $69 to $70 an hour you have to pay however I I do agree you know as we're trying to do um instead of being reactive more preventive mment so where we can bundle these uh projects together and get them completed over the summer uh we'll make every effort you know to do that we are reviewing all of that through the budget process and as much as I understand what you're saying about the cost but deep down in honestly we had this when I first got on the board over at radburn which was a tripping ass that was a lot of fun because radburn asso said it wasn't their problem the board said it wasn't their problem the town said it wasn't their problem and then I finally got all three of them together and said well you're all going to chose at the same time I rather SP $10,000 million I'm being serious so I have to say you thinking that's something we can't look at with SH had Services as far as cost the concrete you're not going to really change it too much unless you're buying 400 yards and and just additionally we just you know we did get two points to align with our know and the last I ask is uh we got two emails from two committees that were happening um last month uh for addition goal and one of them discuss CT and I talked to several board members and my def their def C doesn't I feel maybe I'm with Administration C possible for the administration to explain what their vision of CTE in our district is compar so that they have understanding of what that objective is because I think my my definition is giving some kind of degree or some kind of learning experience where when they graduate they don't need to go to college they can actually use that knowledge to get a job for example to fix computers every District needs someone it person they most of the an IT person some of them are college train but some of them finish a technical school or something like that and they can actually get a job with a college degree so that's my definition but based on the minute that I see it seemed like it was it was just exploratory to go to college like for example we did forensic and it was Child Care stuff like that uh presenting it seemed like oh you become a teacher which is nice and it's great I'm a teacher myself but that's to go to college it's not for parent that with that CT um sequence when the student graduate they can't get a job as a teacher agenda it is because it was part of our right well what we'll do what we'll do is we be going around the circles discussion rephrase that um so Dr will take back because again if you go to count Tech I'm only that I work there but Burg Tech the same thing there's so many different uh trades and stuff like that some that you could keep advancing in through college some you don't Advance through college so again there different things the other thing is that going to event I think they're going to release it soon I was speaking too uh space sometimes things like I said like you know people say talk about auto shop you need a big shop to put an auto shop to get lifts and everything else and so again like I said let the let the the the administration come up with their definition and then you can all discuss it and come to a get on the same page and lastly I want to say thank you for everything whole year I've a lot of questions you've always been able to answer my questions and you were never upset with me or never angry with me you never made me feeling I can come to you and ask your questions so thank you appreciate it you're welcome no problem you come Joe I I had you okay thank you um no I wanted to thank you for um your time on the board not only as a board member serving with you these past two years but as a student on the other side while were um and I think it's important that you didn't only support one type of event or one area um you came to theater you came into stories supported the Arts um and you draw a different perspective to this board as somebody in the tra that I think is lacking because we need those different perspectives um known you now for probably nearly 15 years since we were in a musical together corre I was your there is a video somewhere of that yes there is a video of that I know what I'm doing I was in I was in four musical I was I was Joseph was amazing techol dream call they still talk about that listen the I was poon and I I I sold oxy o clean it wider and brighter I was in Oklahoma and I said I can't dance and they taught me how to dance which that wasn't easy and then the other thing I was in um Oliver and I played Percy the drunk which I had a lot of experience that was easy to do but uh it was fun we we had a lot of fun doing soad Jer and so I simply want to thank you for welcoming me to this board and not treating me a student having worked with me in that capacity uh for welcoming me and providing the guidance that I needed um in this new role um I will say it was strange when you told me to no longer call you Mr Barb Barillo but to call you Ronnie um when I talk about the Board of Ed to my mother I still say Mr barar did this or something um but I just simply want to thank you for all your on students thank you Joe you're be uh I I know you're coming up on your third year and I hope you do continue you know depending on what you're going on in your life because I think you become an excellent board member I think stated it before as Mike stated it I think one of the greatest things of a board is that when you have a variety of different people you know to there are board of educations and I know this for a fact from going to school boards in in October over the years some boards are made up of strictly teachers retired teachers or teachers they're strictly made up of certain groups so they don't have all of that and like you stated it was very it was great it's great to used my knowledge I mean I will I will laugh I'll say this publicly it was very funny the first time we became president somebody posted on Facebook the next day that I cannot believe we voted a plumber to be our president of the Board of Education and people tore that person apart because they're like you don't know me and I do go out to learn about education but you know what there were times because of my knowledge I was able to save the district a ton of money one of the biggest things was the high school where we had an 8 in crack sewer line all way and they wanted $265,000 budgeted plus we were going to tear of terracotta we never before the right way and I found a company that basically fixed it by reining it for $65,000 was $6,000 so we saved $200,000 plus still have the floor looking nice and we had a problem in 10 years but uh no I appreciate the kind words and I think he's going to be your excellent board member and I I hope you continue to Ser on the board uh Ed you your hand up two points one uh even though I've only been on the board for a year I've known Ronnie more than we grew up in for together he's slightly younger than I am butly students even he I want to thank him also for years of service and his leadership on the board the uh one of the reasons why I ran for the board was sort of this function of people arguing and it's not been like that since I've been on board so I appreciate his efforts right back when and certainly thank him for his efforts now thanks the second thing though I want to thank Lisa Joe um and maray who was here tonight I didn't realize we didn't ratify this sucker yet it's still going on yeah it's been almost six months ago so I I do want to thank our committee members who served on negotiation committee with the with the secretaries but also I want to thank the the secretaries for the collaboration it was a really nice effort working together coming with a good contract both for the board and for the secretary thank because sterea did and I feel like hearing lady say get your money I feel like hearing what's the name get your money ready when you come up to but I want to say you're showing your age when you say the word stere um I want to I I just want I already I already did the wrong thing um I I just want to thank the friends of music for another scholarship because it must be because they give out a a bunch already so it's going to be another scholarship um and that scholarship night you're going to love that U really a great night um and I want to thank the PT and I think PT I want to thank the ptas for uh what they donate and even the stuff that's not on here because the ppas as we always say are the life blood of our schools and um I also I was at um the other the other day I was at the the was year were uh a music concert and it was very cute I have to say um you could go to place stuff well we didn't we didn't have anything to do with the we anything to do with but it was here but it was here I mean technically they're kind of like our babies but I mean the teachers get that credit and I I'm it's nice that I'm retired now because I could I could ratify the uh I I used to do the same thing as Rita did with stain on on contracts even though technically we don't have to but I felt that that was someone asked me that the first day I joined uh the first when I was running for the board someone asked would you would you say because you're a teacher would you pledge not to vote on any contracts and I want to say well that's kind of the at the time but uh we are able to vote on the final contract but I I usually didn't think that that was right either so um but congratulations to the secretaries for that's it okay we're GNA go to Julie first uh then Lisa and then Mark um I'm not going to repeat what Michael said but thank you in regards to our agenda items on donations and those and congratulations to our retirees um I was very fortunate three and a half years ago August um that Ronnie was assigned to be my mentor um so I got to start my tenure with you and I get to end your tenure with you um so you pretty much from the time I got on this board until New evening have T me everything I know about being a board member so you were my mentor coming on and you are my mentor as a leader leading us and I have shared this with both Michael and Jean but you have no idea what leadership looks like until you get to see what happens behind the scenes ofer and so I get to see not just what happens in these meetings but how you every situation in emails and in private meetings and it is it has been an absolute pleasure and an eye opener and an education to have watched you lead this sport over the last year um and I'm very grateful and the last thing I will say is that you may be leaving this table but Waller and lincol are expecting coach barbero is with them for their senior season two so you can't go anywhere thank you um one thing I will say that I've Le over the years I can give to everybody as advice when you say about emails it's text or emails whatever it is whenever you get something that's derivator take a deep breath first before you respond because we all want to respond right away and all the blood's flowing it's like oh you got to be kidding me and I'm going to rip this you know what maybe it's not that bad so I mean i' I've learned that but again you know the biggest things that I will I want parents to understand to try to understand how School District operates in today's day and age parents want to be more involved which I'm not saying is wrong but they they kind of when you read things they want to kind of control their child's education you can yes and no but it's working together with the administration um you know my favorite thing is I love about the budget you cannot compare a school budget to any Corporation budget it's toally Apple Mars so don't and I have L people say well you know Google did this or you know whatever did this they're two different budgets we we have mandates that we have to maintain but again just again it's just Tre each other with respect that's all and I'll be honest with you I mean I will be at meetings and I watch meetings and if look I see stuff gets crazy I'll make a point of saying you know come on guys let's work together but thank you for the kind words I appreciate it uh Lisa me to it I did the wrong thing and I forgot what other things I to do but we went into the secretary negotiations we had no idea what we were going in I'm sure they felt the same way and everything just worked out very very smoothly and we did it in such a quick fashion we had wonderful leadership from mrno Ando um that we were able to pull together an agreement that ased said we was good for the for the secretaries as well as good for the one taxpayers and for the board of education so I thank you representing the group I thank you for that just making things very very easy when it came to this contract and I was also surprised when I talked to Joe and I was like hey this was done thank you very much you to your team and last [Music] May um I'm thrilled that [Music] Shar public a good comment it's not on agenda yet but is it was a good education thank you uh Mark I know that I've seen this I can't find it on the agenda say afterwards it had to do with the educators of the year was that a separate or is it on it was a separate thing that he did send out okay and to be honest with you I know in the past we used to have them here and give them some type of pen something we gave a little but yes uh if you don't mind Mark I'll say it on behalf of the Board of Education I want to congratulate all our educators of the year because there was a lot of great selection it was a little more than just that oh you can say whatever you want if I can say it now yes abely wait go to comments go to comments anybody else on the agenda okay so we're going to move on to the votes all right I need a motion for 4 A approval of the minutes roll call please I can't remember if I was here for November Mr Rosenberg yes Mr yes thank you I need a motion for item 7 a to d say I apologize my bad 68 roll call please Mr yes Dr ber yes yes Mrs mhan yes Mr Rosenberg yes Mr spendel yes Miss yman yes Mr barbula yes faster do it can I have a roll call please Mr yesen Mr yes yes Barb yes pass part the issues that sometimes nobody says anything you know okay Ed real quick items a a to g roll call please Dr yes3 E3 thank you Mrs Mayhem yes Mr Rosenberg yes Mr spendel yes Miss yman yes Mr Barbo yes motion passes thank you can I have a motion for 9 A and B so move second that was stereo I know we going to make an album next week uh motions in Stereo by the Board of Education fail have roll call please Mr Bowski yes Dr Mich yes Mrs Mayhem yes Mr Rosenberg yeah Mr spel yes Miss yman yes Mr bar yes motion passes have a motion for items 10 a to d move roll call please Mr Bowski yes Dr ber yes Miss yes Mrs May yes Mr Rosenberg yes Mr spel yes Miss yes Mr Baro yes motion passes okay could I have a motion for items 11 a to H roll call please Mr Bowski yes Dr ber yes Miss is M mayem yes accept an exension on 11 Mr Rosenberg yes Mr spel yes M yur I'm staying on my yeah and and Mr bar yes need a motion for 12 a there's there's nothing on there that's right yeah we go back yeah yeah no that's right no I still have public and board so I'm going to open up make sure the forum's on please I'm going to open up the meeting to public comments just whatever you want to talk about uh you're on you're you're up say your name please where you live Mel live in Fair um so I had two things that I wanted to um suggest and uh and see where this goes um first being in um the district we have various classrooms where we have children that in case emergency or in case of you know whatever um they are not going to respond the same way as they're neurotypical PE um and not to be stigmatizing because you know obviously place is like the opposite of that but we wanted to see if via shared services or via whatever we can maybe work something out with our safety our police police our fire our our um you know heavy rescue EMTs a whole nine yards where those classrooms are somehow identified um as classes that potentially have a student or multiple students who might not react um as planned to an authoritative figure rescue whatever um some things that I've seen were like a particular picture whether that be like you know rainbow particular giraffe or like whatever um on the window or the door of that particular classroom so that the officials would know that that somebody in that classroom May uh or may not react accordingly um now I know you know we're stigma free and we don't want to you know Scarlet Letter anyone that's not obviously what we're after uh it's more informational than anything else something to consider um districtwide that was my first thing my second thing is another Su suggestion that I have um for this building uh we obviously have a bunch of free schoolers here and F uses the um grateful to being able to use that b space where the tent used to be now the tent is gone we still have some tables there which I'm sure the staff might be using during warmer months but there has been a um you know a hint from the community the parents um that you know it would be nice to have some structure there and I have been working with Mrs DeFranco to bring some sort of playground equipment or structure or something um into the back but um I just figured I would put it on your radar that you know maybe we can like build a little fenced in area for our tiny friends in this uh building and then F would have a separate fundraiser for this particular event whether it be like a a raffle or whatever like we would run it and to fund it and then uh you know Christine Mrs Weinstein would love to go shopping and uh Supply the school with some sort of area for the the toddlers to play in um and that that area we you know in our head we would like it to be what is that sponge stuff that we were talking about that spongy floor finish up run out of time it's a mat it's like a it's like a mat yeah I know what you're talking about like some sort of like area like that in so that the public can make a note of that we all right that's it those are thank you no I know no there there is a playground but it's like far far back and it's really not great it's like in really bad shape it's not the school's playground right it's the town the town anybody else anybody else with public comments or I mean on anything from the public do we have anything on the form no nothing on the form okay um board comments Lisa and Mark uh you you're up on public comments anything you want to talk about okay she I wanted to uh comment on the educators of the Year first I want to congratulate all of those uh and pay tribute to to them for being selected they are truly truly very very special however I think we forgot not to honor another group of individuals who play an extremely important part in the education of our students and those are our power professionals we have not I don't think ever paid any kind of tribute to these individuals yet we rely on them we have teacher teacher and professional they're not just teachers each school gets one teacher of correct no no I'm not I'm not trying to you're 100% right it's called educational specialist and that can include um CST um a nurse or par professional like any other support related Services speech therapists so okay so they are they are and and we have we have them that are actually not like fine thank you though I'm glad we're paying yes we are yes absolutely Lisa go ahead now you're so um my concerns are I mean this meeting tonight has been very jovial due to um Ron Le our board I have a major concern that um was brought to my attention last night had a very sleep this night I normally listen to my grandmother where I say wait 48 hours before you do anything but the time was short for me to make a decision of whether I would say this in a in an open um public session um every year in January the board since St been a President and Vice President are voted on by board members many times when not always the Board of Education elevates the vice president to become the president although this was not the case this past January however I believe that next year as with this year this should not be um this should be something that every board member takes into full consideration when determining for our leadership will be next year I believe that a board President should be oriented have a have a good demeanor and have the ability to maintain confidentiality all of these are necessary qualities which are not presently represented at this time in in the vice presidential role um if you were to look at the vice president's 2023 Financial disclosure which consisted of 18 pages on the Department of Education website 11 pages cons of the mandated Financial disclosure and the remaining seven pages list a ring list a Ringwood schools at a district placement for a classified student with the child's name listed I want to I want to pause the clock and I apologize to the member for interrupting or holding your time I don't know where this is going but I I simply want to caution because I don't know where uh that all members have protction law against comments and the board certainly is not to perm uh this forum to be a forum fortory so I I don't know where it's going but I I want to I want to make sure that that statement's made and I don't want to caution you all right restart the clock um seven page listed on listed a Ringwood a school district placement for classified student with the listed um I have copies for all the board members um and I redacted to child's name for confidentiality purposes and um I I'm again looking at it from having two children that have a disability that um information has gone outside the closed session but that something that's on the State website is it's going to be there it's going to be there forever and all I want to do is I want to share my uh the copies of of the um of the this financial disclosure and hope that it would be corrected quick all I to else sorry no no problem I did write you down um couple things first of all um all Mr but I I don't want to talk that yeah um if you have if you have something like of legal of a legal problem please please see our our attorney that doesn't not and if I can um and I apologize for interupting also the president's permission I I this is not a forum to distribute information about uh other members or individuals if you and I say this respectfully now if you feel that you have rights at law to share information um you certainly may share in whatever uh ethical or legal fashion you have at your disposal at a board meeting to share information uh about another board member that's the purpose of this section of meeting it's not the purpose of this this about the business some point I also I attended um County scho meeting and and Jo was vir always B County meetings where not always mostly Bergen County school board meetings are very informative because they go over different topics that that you learn stuff you learn stuff as a board member and no matter how long you're a board member you could always learn something new and this one was on a very near and dear topic to my heart because I get in trouble with this one all the time and that's communication and what should be communicated out by board members and what should be communicated out by um Administration and um and stuff so I would suggest they I think they have work four or five times a year that if you could attend my fellow board members if you could attend the um those meetings we used to have actually um going back we used to fill up tables and the majority of the board was there but I know that people have stuff I mean we have enough on our plate um but I think we're a big District that should be um should be involved in that organization I actually just got the scheduled today so I'll send it out to everybody tomorrow and the new and the um New Jersey School Board Association um and I want to wish everybody a happy Hanukkah Merry Christmas or anything else you celebrate um have a safe and happy holiday and safe and happy yes is agenda this is and I know I'm not allowed to bring this up for a vote tonight but I will the January meeting I can't bring it up I would still argue it was close vot last time I'm argue again to El all the have consent agend that's all thank you all right um no I want to say something I'm allowed to say something clock here all now first of all I want to thank um all my board me fellow board members for the kind words it does mean a lot to me um it's not about my ego so to see that I got the respect of how we ran meetings this year and they were more congenial and got along and what we need to do um means a lot to me because that was one of my goals I I you know go to school boards I went to you know how to be a president you know and go to other classes and one of the things was I pretty much met with everybody individually most people just got their ideas and thoughts and everything else and want to put it together because I did want to make sure that we want to work together and again as you stated Mark not going into that we were going to be looking for a new superintendent but um you know just speaking of that when I did be with our search firm which we all picked on and stuff and uh follow you know mik my aggressiveness basically what are you nuts he like Nobody Does It That Way said well you better get ready walk um but first thing I want to do is I want to thank all the the board members that I served with over the last 12 years I was on the board for three years I was off for two years I lost by 40 votes and 80 votes um I ran three times before I won to get on the board like I said I was involved with PTA rep for for our school I was on flare which was to help get the budget I was the only male on flare I don't care um I was always an involved person that comes from my parents um but I wanted to thank you know a few people real quick I wanted to thank uh Mary Wallace who was very instrumental was on the board for a very long time and helped me and guide me Elise Franco was phenomenal we ran together a few times again another Mentor every else two people that we did lose in the past years joshon and John man John was a great to me you know I had a lot of respect for John um and I used to always laugh because he was the policy chairman at the time I used to say he got the borest job in the world you got do but John was an engineer poor already anyway so um I want to thank uh you know I worked with a few Bas Joan Wilson was here when I started um I remember the very first meeting I questioned Joan something she called me the next day she says please don't do that to me again and when I'm unprepared if you don't mind just send me a couple to the fance so I can prepare and I said no problem said I'm still learning I don't know which I did um uh Brook Bley was here before us so now I've had for the last year I've had the honor to work with Danielle who I can't say enough about she's phenomenal not because she's sitting next to me um she's she's tough as oh she's tough as nails like you know what do you you know well what about this I don't think so we don't have the money for it enough yet um but she's excellent she's excellent in what she does Melissa is great we have a great team um and that that's important have a good administrative team which we do um I got the honor to work with Bruce Watson who was the superintendent when I first got on Bruce was here for many years was a business administrator and um you know I love Bruce I I still talk to him from time to time uh he was a micromanager I I tell him all the time um but Bruce was Bruce he did a great job for our our our our district and I had honor and Ernie was just a true gentleman and Ernie taught me a lot of different things a superintendent for 30 years and he yeah had to be Greek if you go to Greece let me know because he has place there um but no he really was he took a look at our special ed program his wife's a specialed attorney but they did an audit they looked at deficiencies we had and they made it even better so again he was another one and the big thing was with the overcrowding Ernie didn't come in here I a lot of people didn't like soft borders and stuff like that and by the way it still bothers this board I'll say this publicly that you know some of the overcrowded we understand it we know it and you know everybody likes to rip the board apart because you haven't come up with an idea well we spend $24 million I still haven't seen anybody from the public come up with an idea so when you come up with a good by the way coming up with an idea of building a brand new school if you have about 60 million dollar and they want to add about 2 million a year to the budget we may be able to do it if we can find space but just give your heads up um but Ernie was good he retired he could have just you know just drove the bus that's it he jumped right in the pool and said let's let's buckle up let's do what we got to do um I worked with Lisa panagia another rhr director before now Den's take it over she's done a great job but Lisa was very good at what she did um she was you know she was Stern and stuff but she was a joy to work with um and uh I I was I was fortunate to work with Tom Sano was our building the grounds and now John Ys who's excellent what he does but Tom uh was always you know on top of things and you can always discuss things and stuff and you know the funny part is we're not supposed to contact any administrators like personally or whatever the case was and U you know Tom had my cell phone I had his cell phone only in case of emergency but he always have the running joke like I drive by a school and I like I just I text Tom just kid around like I think we cut the grass he like yeah Ron we'll get on it tomorrow all right just let you know it's a little high in case you guys lost the lawn mower but um I never told anybody what to do it was like always like a joke and that that was the funny part about it that we had a lot of fun um and I you know what I had um I had the privilege of working with Nick gcia our previous superintendent um Nick on his on his interview actually impressed me a lot a lot of people might not agreed with Nick or Li grew into the position and he is uh he you know he got he started out with Co super you know great time to start you know um but he learned he made mistakes and stuff like that but he's grown into an excellent superintendent and I wish him nothing but luck where U the best of where he is um not luck the best where he is and I do talk to him from time to time um but uh he did qu today congratulate me and everything else like that um again I just want to say a few things that I've never done anything on this board except for the kids and you know it's funny we talk about negotiations a president of our uh teachers students here who I've known for years and you know what I've done negotiating team since I got on the board and the one thing I will always say through everything it was never personal it was always business we never walked out of like I want to throw rock in his head you know or he want to throw rock in my head it was just like okay we disagree tonight all right we're going home we'll come back again in 3 weeks um you know we might have went to mediation and everything else but at the end of the day look we have a job to do to protect the taxpayers they have a job to do to get the best for their their employ their you know fellow people in their Union and the best thing is we got to come together because at the end of the day we don't want the children to suffer you know we don't want the teachers to say we don't want to do this because of this we don't want and you know the other thing is that everybody's going to understand out there in TV Land um every person that works in this District every person is vital to the advancement of the education of our children from the custodians to the secretaries the nurses to the bus dri to the teachers everybody hased and I know a lot of principles and parents love their custodians they're a they take care of our schools by the way are extremely well trust me I was inch high school and it's an old school but it was in great shape for its age but it's old so they got a lot of work to do over there too main it um but everybody's got to understand something everybody's important the power professionals I don't think people actually realize how Mark I'm glad you brought that up because I don't think they a lot of people sometimes realize how important they are not just to a child but I mean not just to to the district but to that child because a lot of them are Specialties and stuff like that and a lot of times I don't think they get the credit that that they deserve um and it's so it's important like every person has it and again if you have an issue out there you know sometimes people don't understand the process and they come right to the board and we're kind of your last thing you got to start in the building and work your way up what I will say is anybody that wants to run for the board of education do it but get involved in your school first get learn learn the ropes a little bit get involved in the PTS because you know I know Mel said it tonight and it's been said a few times yes I've supported you because what you ladies do and St is just nuts I mean the the things the running around you do the time you take away from your family or for our children and the money you raise it gives the kids even more stuff and everything else um we couldn't do without you do without you so the time that you guys put in I personally want to thank every one of you because what you do is just it's phenomenal um and you know lastly the most important thing is I want to thank my family um my wife's here tonight um it was many nights I wasn't home and I remember one of the teacher negotiations I got home at 4:00 in the morning and she's like where were you says I just left the teacher negotiation she's like what yeah we just signed a contract um but my children too um I never took anything away from them but I did take a lot of time because again as I believe as a board of education member it's not just showing up at meetings it's showing up at events being seen you know one of the things I established when my first and I just did it because it's me was hugging a lot of the students the seniors when they graduated and the thing the greatest thing was it was like three four years ago somebody came up to me and said there is now a running I don't know raffle are you getting a hug or a handshake from Mr bar R tonight if you were getting a handshake it was like H you must have did something to take him off you know um and I remember during Co when we had the multiple was my son's senior's graduation we had the multiple thing and everybody was afraid of and we walked off the field and three girls that I had known since they were basically five years old or four years old they all turned to me and they put their arms on they wanted their hug and um that meant the world to me um so it's not the end I will be involved I'm still going to go to a lot of things I'm still going to come to like I said I'm going to come to meetings when I can as much I going stay in touch with everybody in the district I can't thank everybody enough for all the kind words tonight that was said to me um I'm not going to lie it's going to be sad I'm I'm going to miss some of the insanity I am um but it is time for me to start spending a little time for myself um but I just ask everybody just please always work together respect each other and remember why we're here the kids yes we want to keep taxes down we want to do things but remember something the better the school system is the more valuable your houses that's why we've grown 1700 kids in 12 years because our school system is topnotch and yes one year we might be Sixth and next year we're going to be 26 we got to figure out why we went to 26 and then we got to bring it back up to six um but let's not beat each other up happen things change over the time they really do um but again from the bottom of my heart um I want to thank my family long as we did and I want to thank everyone of you guys here because um he made this year a lot easier and I'm glad that I could have made an impact oh also I mean I got to say uh I gotta thank you John Mr well now seriously um as the president you're on the phone with the attorney about certain things and stuff like that and you know I'm always careful like I don't just call John up and say hey so what you think of the uh you know Texas Alabama game last night you know like hang out because I don't want the the bill to go off but uh but John's always been there and I gotta tell you I mean we've had a lot of good professionals here for years Paul Green was great previous I got to mention Paul's name U but every time you have to look at every year you can't get comfortable because you want to keep improving and we have a great architectural firm right now landard we were good too but um again like I said I I want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart on this board for all your support for me as president this year I'm glad that I didn't disappoint anybody and um just remember tonight's my last meeting I am still a board member and president till January 4th which is our reorganization meeting so uh I can still get calls or something like that um and also just we do get we okay I don't copy all I is because I can but I do respond to them pretty much all the time um but again please everybody uh please just change each our respect and do the right thing for the kids and thank [Applause] you all right our next Mee meeting is January 4th the organization meeting at 7:30 uh at Thomas Edison and January 18th is tentative is our monthly board meeting but at that night we will have all the board meetings for the rest of the year so hopefully uh lastly I want to before I ask for a motion to close and go to close session uh we have a few items are just a to discuss I want to wish everybody a very happy holidays again as Mike said whatever you merry Christmas happy Hanukkah happy quad whatever you celebrate please enjoy and again everybody I can't say this enough I said it last meeting and most of you should know by now eight weeks ago I was hit by a car okay so by the grace of God I am sitting here talking to you tonight I'm lucky that I didn't break my legs I didn't break my neck I didn't die okay so I say this and I will always say this every day make sure you smile make sure you laugh make sure you it's going to take so I that's good health Happ happiness enjoy your holidays and spend good time with your families thank you can I get a motion to close to go to close all in favor I'm going to take a two minute recess everybody go bathroom you run down give you I send you a note