[Music] today is Thursday gen 25th time is 7:34 and can we have roll call please Mr banano Mr grippo pres Dr Hopkins pres Miss inosencio present Mr Jackson here here pres missing here you have a qu awesome can you also read the open public meetings act please in accordance with the open public meeting act 1975 chapter 231 Sunshine Law copies of the public meeting notice were sent to The Courier News the home News Tribune The Star Ledger the Franklin reporter tap into Franklin Township Franklin Township Clerk manager district schools offices and associations PTO presidents and posted on the district website thank you this is our first 2024 regular meeting welcome everyone happy New Year and can I request Miss inosencio to lead us with the Pledge of Allegiance United States stand thank you and then can I request Mr Jimmy Parker to read the mission statement for us mission statement of Franklin Township Public Schools Franklin Township Public Schools Embraces diversity Fosters excellent educational Innovation and empowers all students to achieve their Highest Potential thank you can I get a motion to adopt the agenda moved by Sammy second seconded by Mr grippo all in favor I'd like to make an amendment to the agenda that we move the um student rep ahead of the presentation move Amendment to the agenda to move the presentation and these students report first move by Sammy second second second and by Miss Maris all in favor thank you agenda is adopted and we'll move on to the presentations okay we'll do this sorry my name my name is Vanessa Marino and I am one of the Boe Leons and this is what is going on at Franklin High School the spring stock market game starts on the 30th and will continue until April the Franklin High School Green Team in collaboration with the Franklin Township environmental Coalition and the Watershed Ambassador for Millstone Watershed is in need of students willing to participate in a green cleanup project on April 13th 2024 at 9 :30 a.m. we will meet at a park in Franklin which is to be determined and help with the cleanup spring sports physicals and release forms are due February 16th the spring Sports include boys volleyball girls flag football boys tennis baseball softball Spring Track and Field and UniFi track and field the FHS spring musical will be Chicago teen Edition directed by Miss rad vanky auditions will be Monday January 22nd there will be a CTE marketing information session held in the library on Monday January 29th the FHS Student Government will be hosting the njasc executive transition meeting on February 5th thank you thank you Vanessa and now we move on to Mary for the presentations thank you annually the New Jersey Department of Education honors outstanding diverse Educators who have a positive impact on their students colleagues and the school school Community possess a Clear Vision for Quality teaching and learning and may be a candidate for recognition at the county state and National levels in addition these nominees must have taught at least 5 years demonstrated exceptional teaching and Leadership abilities and received excuse me a rating of effective or highly effective on their most recent final summative evaluation in the spring of 2023 one supervisor and one principal or vice principal from a secondary level was nominated for the 2023 Exemplar education recognition program I would like to ask Dr Daniel logren assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction to speak about our winners so um there's an entire slide there um that we could we could read um Miss Clark would you like me to read that um in addition to all those wonderful things up there that talk about Dr AR saa's um particular work in our district I would say that um the reason she was selected by her colleagues um was because she uh supports them you know above and beyond sort of the expectation for the work specifically the Chromebook initiative as I think anyone who knows about Franklin knows it's a real it's a a huge uh undertaking um supporting all of the supervisors and the teachers in the different instructional technology tools similarly require a lot of attention detail research uh and coordinating with coaches and and research on her own um and with uh her colleague Dr Chopra Dr Ry Wala has been sort of our is this the right way to say I don't want to say I won't say that never mind what I'll say Canary and the coal mine I guess someone who is gone into the unknown to find out what it's like specifically I'm talking about artificial intelligence and she has done the research and learned as much about this very new thing that seems so daunting and and scary in a lot of ways but also promising and amazing in other ways and has brought that back to our district and help us understand it better so that we're not sort of reacting to it in ways that are not healthy and also engaging with it in ways that hopefully Empower our students in in the future um she's just universally admired uh and folks really appreciate all the work she does on their behalf now Dr arala um could not be here tonight and she wrote a little note that said um she couldn't be here this evening um and she couldn't I um I know that she really wanted to be she has a family matter she she's assisting with um good evening all board members and cabinet members I'm sorry I was not able to attend this evening's recognition it is truly an honor to be recognized by my colleagues who have supported me even prior to my becoming an administrator especially misheard who we'll talk about in just another minute I wanted to thank Dr lochran for submitting the application for this award and his support our work is never done in isolation it is always collaborative but to know my part has had a positive impact for my colleagues and the district is a great honor in itself thank you again for this acknowledgement and have a wonderful evening Dr Amy arala so maybe we can clap for her just in [Applause] spirit and similarly if it's okay Miss Clark I'll Advance the slide um we're going to speak now about Miss herd who is with us tonight um I'll read the slide Miss Tory herd has been the instructional leader of the Hamilton Street campus of Franklin Middle School since 2016 she has worked for ft CPS since 2007 serving as a teacher at McAfee Road school then as a vice principal at HSC and also acting principal at connly Road School her colleague selected her for this honor because through tough times Miss herd continues to find ways to encourage her staff to persevere she continually finds ways to make her make sure her students diverse learning needs are met she collaborates with her teachers to ensure the School climate and culture is positive and Miss herd has hosted Real Talk sessions with parents and students to discuss and find out the needs and concerns of families Miss herd is a reliable committed educator who is community-driven she is an Innovative leader and an advocate for students families and staff and I will just add that in addition to those words which by the way were part of the nominating words that um our colleagues wrote about her in submitting uh her application for this um for this honor at the state level and I will also say and I know she she's probably not going to be happy that I say this um but it's true in addition to all of the Innovation that Miss herd has done in her role and all the ways that she works very hard for a positive culture climate um and especially with families and different creative programs connecting uh through things such as Mikasa sukasa um Miss herd is such an advocate for her teachers uh she literally I've seen her you know reach into her wallet and buy lunches and gifts and things to um just whatever she can do to kind of um uh just recognize the amazing work that teachers are doing but she is one of the most generous people I've seen and not just generous with her wife wallet but just her her heart her spirit she puts her whole self into the job and we're just proud to be associated with her so miss herd come on up and say a couple words to the [Applause] board and then you guys can um she'll come up and and get a little certificate and we'll pick up Amy's but go ahead that was great that actually cost a little more than I anticipated I want my change back damn uh well I I'm just going to say you know we don't do this work for awards and accolades but it does feel good to be recognized and I speak on behalf of Amy and myself this we could not do this without our students the support of our students and I say our students because they are the core of what we do our students our staff our colleagues Dr rali and his cabinet team the board members because you guys are always there for us and our wonderful ptso we could not do this with without them so I just I'm honored this is on behalf of all of my administrators right now they're all at events because we literally had three events tonight so we all broke off and I just came from one um but that just shows their dedication to our students staff and family so on behalf of Dr ARA and myself and our entire colleagues I say thank thank you yes okay okay [Applause] more well I have to plug in something miss her uh Miss herd and I go a long way when I came to the district and joined the PTO and Miss herd was on the PTO at Franklin Park School with our kids growing up together and everything that Dr logran said ditto you've been phenomenal for our school district thank you Madam president yes Mr Gro so um I want to jump on the Mish herd bandwagon for a minute when I was uh principal of McAfee Miss herd was the second grade teacher she was phenomenal just phenomenal so what do I remember about Miss hurt we had a uh we wanted to start a program that would encourage reading and we had a garden in the behind the greenhouse at McAfee and she came up to me and said you know we have a garden why don't we start a reading program called The Garden of readers and then I said that's great and I uh hooked up with my friend Jimmy Lee and and Miss herd and he's been a benefactor now for how many years Tori right on and on and on thousands of dollars and um and Tori just cultivated a garden of readers so what's the point of this story one day she came into my office and said the students would like to challenge you I said whatever they want as long as they read I'll do it and she said well how about if they read 20,000 books this year and you spend a night on the school roof and that's how that story started and it was all her idea was not my idea she did everything planned the whole thing got the television cameras there fire department ladder and then what she did to penetrate the kid's mind is every time I walked into a room the kids would chant on the roof on the roof and it became like fanatical and these kids read the books they had documentations and it was it was all it was all you Tori and I just want to thank you your legacy moves on thank you very [Applause] much so now that our respected Mr Grio has broken protocol it's not time for good of the order I should not take this opportunity away from the other board members is there anyone who else who would like to talk about Mard looking to my left looking to my right so Madam president if I could break the protocol again the reason I broke in is because often times our guests leave and it's very frustrating to watch them walk out that back door and I want to say something so please get used to Breaking the protocol thank you I just like to say thank you Miss herd your reputation proceed yourself and all the good work uh we couldn't do it without folks like you so thank you so much Mr thank you and we'll move on to our superintendent report thank you very much and I too would like to congratulate and thank Tori and Amy uh for their T tireless work uh they certainly are leaders in our district and leaders often times fail to slow down long enough to reflect on the amazing impact that they have on so many and especially in schools on their students so I'm glad that we took the time tonight to recognize two of our finest and I hope that others emulate the kind of work that they do and um I can only say on behalf of the entire School District Board of Education leadership team we thank you we thank you um you're going to find tonight I have relatively short report uh I do also want to to mention or or elaborate on two items that are on the agenda on tonight's agenda you'll see a motion granting a right of Entry to the Franklin food bank for the purpose of conducting a feasibility study for construction project to build a distribution center on the campus of PGM I want to stress that this idea is just that it's a concept at this point this motion is not granting permission for the construction of the facility but instead grants permission to study the possibility uh if the concept is determined to be feasible then of course further discussion will be necessary and will take place uh before the concepts before the concept moves forward and becomes a reality but I will say I think both entities and I don't want to speak for the board but I think uh the board is is excited at this possibility um I think the food bank is excited at this possibility we've got lots of uh potential for really strong partnership that would not only uh service the community for the better but would also provide for our students lots of services that we often seek so um again you know for those that might be excited about this it's it's it's far from being a reality and for those that might be stressed by this it's far from being a reality so at this point no however there is at least a discussion about the possibility also on this month's agenda you'll see a resolution honoring school board members across the state of New Jersey thanking them for their service to their local communities so I want to say on behalf of our school Community I want to take this opportunity to thank the folks that sit up here each and every month CU you only see them for the short time they're up here but we see them for the number the many hours that we meet in committees And discussing issues and and and and policy change and and and all of the wonderful kinds of initiatives that we're fortunate to be able to bring to the community um and it requires lots of hours on behalf of the people that are up here so on behalf of the Franklin School Community I want to thank you all for your continued support and and and and and for your support the many ongoing initiatives that are happening in our district right now you should be proud of your work and we appreciate your work and that's it for us thank you [Applause] joh thank you and now for the board president's report um I will begin with asking you all to join me in a moment of silence to celebrate the life of Harry Martin who passed away earlier this month at the age of 96 Mr Martin worked for the district for many years and was the first principal of Elizabeth Avenue School he later served the district in the Personnel area and was an assistant superintendent our condolences go out to his family on their loss thank you so a few words about the interaction of the district and the larger Community earlier this month members of the Rutgers University Zep Epsilon Honor Society visited connerly Road School to create and facilitate a civil engineering Workshop over two days their team met with about 270 students in kindergarten through fifth grade teaching them about the stages of planning building testing and revising principal eras in a note to the group thank them for being so professional and personable and modeling the love of learning for our students the Franklin Women's Club is organizing a book drive collecting books to share with our elementary school students so they can read them during their read Across America celebration in March if you are interested in helping this group you can email them at Franklin women's club@gmail.com registration for 3-year-old preschool please help us spread the word that registration for our three-year-old preschool program will take place between February 1 and March 1 eligible children must be 3 years old by October 31st 2024 and be residents of Franklin Township all applications must be completed online but certain information will will be required during the process so if you know anyone who would be interested in this free program they should check the website under District announcements to see what records and documents they will need on our website is also information of Zo fall Health who may be able to assist families with their medical and dental requirements on the application and that's the board president's report now can I please get a motion to open for public comment 5 minute per speaker agenda items only so so moved by Mr Grio second second seconded by Dr Hopkins all in favor I I comments from the public 5 minutes per speaker agenda items only is now open anyone who wishes to speak please give us your name address and come to the podium thank you hi Nicole Pride 12 Drake Road in Somerset I just would be remiss if I didn't to acknowledge U Mrs herd's contribution to our educational system um I personally have been um just really appreciative of her extra care and dedication so my son was the second grader when the uh growing a garden of readers program started and we used to love it it it really inspired the kids to read it was just so exciting and then my youngest son um uh not only at McAfee but also at the middle school had Mrs herd as the president um the principal and he had a wonderful experience and just again her empathy her care her dedication was just really felt by the parents and students alike thank thank you anyone else from the public second okay all in favor thank you public session is now closed and now we're on to committee and liazon reports and I'll start with curriculum chair Sammy sure curriculum we met on January 11th 2024 at 6m uh attend in attendance for myself as chair Dr Dennis Hopkins Mr William grippo Miss ardaman sing Dr Daniel logren and Dr John rali we discussed uh at the committee the second course of aopa foundation curriculum sequence introduction to flight and aircraft systems this course would be available to students who took the first course in this career exploration sequence introduction to Aviation this is just amazing for anybody who doesn't know this is on the road to getting our kids to have pilot licenses we already had one kid get that and hopefully we can expand this program in the future to maybe be a CTE probably the only District that I know of in New Jersey that actually does that so really amazing stuff happening at at Franklin secondly we have a partnership with Ruckers University to participate in its snap Grant project Grant the purpose of the grant is to promote wider access to snap which is the supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits and to study the causes of barriers to snap access this grant allows parti participating schools in the district to utilize up to 25,000 in to promote snap access and lastly a student Civic engagement project in collaboration with Community Partners C America color to promote active citizenship and participation in the Democratic process students will be invited to participate in a series of learning opportunities this winter and spring including an event an evening event in March entitled how can I impact change the committee discussed the following item a February 22nd Equity visit where the New Jersey network of superintendents will be visiting with District administrators our schools to discuss Equity initiatives designed to maximize student learning opportunities no coincidence that they're coming to our district I think because we are one of the leaders in in that in that space of equity and so a lot of superintendent coming here to to discuss but also give us feedback and also learn uh meeting concluded at 6:49 on to strategy that meeting was on January 23rd uh in attendance for myself Dr Dennis Mr grippo Miss Singh Dr rali uh and Miss Clark meeting began at 8:10 p.m. the the committee reviewed and discussed the progress made by The District in regard to the Strategic plan goals this was a really long meeting it ended at 9:35 we went over literally every single goal I actually feel bad that the rest of the board didn't get to see what we're seeing um but we are moving along pretty well if we achieve this strategic plan this this District I think is is we're we're heading in in an amazing Direction the areas discussed included the new Franklin Warrior part partnership Health Center restorative practices training and Career Technical education program one of which I just mentioned with the pilot the next update on progress toward the Strategic plan goals will be included in the Board of Education goal update scheduled to occur at a special Board of Education meeting on March 12 2024 I guess that's when we all have a chance to see it respectfully submitted meeting ended at 9:35 thank you um next can I have um Erica as chair do Communications okay so um the members present um at the at the um Communications committee meeting was myself uh Dr Hopkins Mr grippo U Dr rali Miss Singh and Miss Mary Clark the meeting began at 7:26 p.m. with a welcome to the new members of the committee and a brief description of the committee's history and purpose the committee discussed recent Mass notifications sent to our staff and student families over the last month they were made aware of a recent professional development seminar by the New Jersey Schools public relations Association which offered advice and training on Communications during a crisis the committee discussed a video introducing the new Warrior Health Center and plans for upcoming videos on how to navigate the online registration process and the Genesis Parent Portal the videos for our student families will be published on the district's YouTube channel at Franklin Township Public Schools in the public engagement area the committee discussed an upcoming usth book drive organized by the Franklin Women's Club and an invitation to a special performance of the Franklin Middle School Musical which will go out to Township senior citizens and members of the local adult communities at an upcoming Board of Education meeting members of the operation Great Expectations mentoring group will be recognized finally research has begun for the district's contribution to the spring edition of the township newsletter the Franklin times the meeting ended at 7:55 p.m. thank you can we have um Nancy as chair do facilities the facilities committee met on Monday um December um January 18th that and we began at 602 president myself chair Walter Jackson laori Maris are Singh Dr rali Brian banano Stephen freed Mark mcamera and Ryan Ellis as Dr Ral just mentioned we talked about the feasibility study for the Franklin Food Bank um and a request for a Franklin High School minimum session day on Friday February 23rd uh to allow um to to move this sense um to more easily allow for an njsia wrestling competition and we discussed the Middle School lease update um Dr R Val provided an update on potential middle Bush School building lease and facility use the committee discussed the facility use applications appearing on the board's agenda this evening and for Energy report Ryan El has provided a glowing report to the committee regarding the status of The Claremont solar project and the meeting adjourned at 7:42 thank you and we'll move on to chair Lori Maris for a finance report thank you the finance committee met Tuesday January 23rd via remote and the meeting began at 7 pm present were Miss Nancy Lort myself Lori Maris Mr Walter Jackson Mrs emman Singh Dr John rali Mr Brian Bano and Mr Stephen Fred financials and contracts the committee reviewed the supplemental bills list for the month of January committee also reviewed the board secretary's report and the transfer report for the prior month our Charter School payments the district paid $1,677 651 in tuition and 9,749 in transportation for the month of January this brings the total Charter School costs to 13,541 190 for the year to date tuition year-to date 12, 95,4 46,000 and transportation year-to date 248,000 Mr freed discussed that the district was awarded $177,500 in grant funding to be used for projects related to emergency and capital maintenance needs and to offset District costs associated with ensuring students have a safe and healthy learning environment the meeting ended at 8:00 p.m. thank you moving on to Dr Hopkins as chair for policy the policy um committee met on January 11 2024 um the meeting started at 7:15 in present was myself um Miss Erica Ando Jimmy Parker Dr rali our president uh otman Singh Miss U Mary Clark the meeting began at 710 with a welcome of new new members of the policy committee for the 2024 the committee discussed the way policies and regulations come before the committee and how they are passed onto the full board for consideration the committee discussed two policies which pertain to staff attendance policy 3212 which pertains to certifi staff member members in policy 4212 which pertains to support staff members both policies contain language which aligns with the recent revision to the law on staff apposes and both policies align with the requirements of the NJ qac specifically how absences are tracked and addressed with an employee the committee also reviewed additions to the maximum allowable cost of independent educational evaluation for the 2023 2024 school year document two types of evaluation was added to this document which the board had previously adopted in August of 2023 for this school year the committee agreed to forward these items to the full board for their consideration the meeting Ended as 7:35 p.m. thank you Mr Jackson as shair for personel okay the Personnel committee met via zoom on January 17th at 604 in attendance with myself as chair Nancy Lor Samy Shaban aramont Singh Dr John revali Bron banano and Jackie Schneider the personnel and negotiations committee reviewed and discussed the following items Personnel report January 25th 2024 number 7 the Personnel committee reviewed the Personnel report for January 25th 202 24 appointments include teachers and PT custodian stiens include access coordinators Ela PD planning literacy leadership team NJ laa coordinators and horizontal movement appointments ftea negotiations the committee reviewed the proposed date from the ftea leadership for an introduction kickoff meeting school calendar Mr banana review the with the committee the 2024 2025 and 2025 2026 school calendars for approval on this agenda and for the good of the order Mr banano reviewed with the the committee a Personnel issue the meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m. thank you Mr Grio as chair for Safety and Security so the safety security committee met on Wednesday January 10th uh members included myself Erica Jimmy uh Dr rali and Orel Wilson so the committee reviewed a memorandum of agreement with call it an MOA and it's provided to school districts through the collaboration of the New Jersey Department of Education and the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety basically it's school districts and police entities meeting and agreeing on things it's designed to ensure cooperation between the school and law enforcement offices and official and that is to protect the educational environment and details on how the two will work together in addressing safety concerns so it's a very very important uh agreement between those who protect our children and those who educate our children in 2023 and 24 the mo MOA provides additional clarification including including addressing student bias issues um the other thing was it outlines the use of body cameras by police officers who work inside schools or who respond to school incidents and it also clarifies and clarification ass associated with discrimination uh of mar decriminalization I'm sorry decriminalization of marijuana and the impact on the school environment the committee also reviewed the district's suspension and harassment intimidation and bullying report for the month of December so the committee does that every month or every other month we review how the suspensions and the HIIT reports are going under discussion also the committee reviewed District student discipline and Hib protocols and the meeting was adjourned at 7 o' thank you Mr Parker you have any report uh no no at this time thank you any committee or leas on reports uh I met with the uh you made Liaisons to the various things and yes I met with um I'm on the the U Executive Board of Somerset County Educational Services so we had a meeting regarding negotiations with the teachers in the Somerset County uh programs and I did a virtual for um Hunting County uh Samy was had a conflict that day so I did a a virtual as I've been doing for the last three years um I think that's it thank you I just have one liazon report which is the um Somerset County School boards Association we had a meeting um last week and our very own Dr Dan logran had a presentation on I was like okay what did I [Applause] do so Dr logran had a presentation on board's role in curriculum and um Karen Callahan who's the njsba representative there she said um and I'm going to read it verbatum Dan thank you again for being our guest speaker this evening I appreciate you sharing some of the amazing things Franklin School District is doing for student achievement under your leadership I wish an aviation class would have been available when I was in high school so I think um Jimmy and I were in attendance and we both were smiling wide when Dr Dan was presenting and uh just made our district so proud um in Somerset County so kudos to you Dr [Applause] Dan and for those of you who did not attend um the presentation and the recording is online on njsba connections I would really encourage all of you to log on and see and hear him uh talk about the presentation we had about 44 people in attendance school board members from everywhere in Somerset County so 44 is a good number of people in attendance and now we are on to new business okay our new vice president so I think we should move I think so I'll move A1 and A2 first his uh his microphone went off my microphone's off now it is microphone chat it's on he just got a soft voice any seconds for moving A1 and A2 second okay Sammy moved A1 and A2 Lor second can we have um Nancy read A2 for us please resolution of a appreciation for Dr Michael Smith whereas Dr Michael Smith served as a member of the Franklin Township Board of Education most recently from January 2018 through December 2003 and whereas during this time Dr Smith served the board and his community faithfully and with distinction now therefore it be resolved that the Board of Education hereby expresses its appreciation for Dr Smith's leadership dedic ation commitment and service to the board to the Franklin Township Public School District and to the Franklin Township community thank you and can I have Jimmy read A1 please resolution of appreciation for Miss n Desai whereas Miss nashida Desai served as a member of the Franklin Township Board of Education most most recently from January 2018 through December 2023 and whereas during this time Miss Desai served the board and her community faithfully and with distinction now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Education hereby expresses its appreciation for miss nashida desai's leadership dedication commitment and service to the board to the Franklin Township Public School District and to the Franklin Township Comm Community thank you do we need rooll call for this Mr banano we do we do okay so we'll like to do roll call for A1 and A2 Mr Grier yes Mr hop yes yes yes yes yes yes and now I would like to invite Dr Michael Smith to receive the [Applause] presentation we're coming up frun I gu good you know you3 s I guess I'll say something um I'll keep it short and sweet it's been uh an honor a privilege and a pleasure working for the students and with all of you so thank you very much [Applause] Miss s are you going to mention Missi yes okay I will so we passed the resolution for Miss Desai also but she's out of the country and uh very busy preparing for her son's wedding which is going to happen very soon hopefully we'll all get invited uh for the 5 S day ceremonies and but hopefully when she's back we'll invite her to receive her plague and you know celebrate with her again great so now I'd like to move A3 travel and related expense reimbursement A4 affirm harassment intimidation and bullying decisions A5 appointments A6 School Board recognition month skipping over A7 for now A8 ssds report submission A9 donation A10 crisis management emergency quick reference staff manual a11 memorandum of agreement a12 Revis maximum allowable cost of independent educational evaluations for 23 24 school year a13 revised policies second reading A4 revised policy first reading a15 new policy first reading a16 facilities use a17 school calendars a18 23 24 school calendar revision a 19 land parcel study B1 warrants and payrolls B3 contract approval B5 Award of RFP for or Gillingham training C1 out of District student 2324 C2 field trip destinations C3 field trip application C4 idea Amendment C5 second Aviation course C6 partnership with recor University to participate in snap Gra uh Gap project Grant C7 student engagement project in collaboration with Community Partners C America and color P1 Personnel report number seven dated January 25th and 24th R1 R1 and M1 can I have a second second seconded by Nancy can we have roll call please so I'll just repeat them it's R1 M1 A3 to A6 A8 to a19 B1 to B5 C1 through C6 and P1 uh C7 and P1 Mr grippo yes Dr Hopkins yes Miss so um I need to obstain from M1 a and as well as B1 and the check number I'm sorry 11 9776 problem yes Miss Lor yes yes I am abstaining from B1 um check number 11978 and M1A yes yes thank you the reason we pulled out A7 is because it is a very important resolution it's African afan American History Month which is celebrated Nationwide in the month of February and not only school districts but all over the nation's offices public private nonprofits we need to celebrate recognize our African-American friends so I would request uh Walter to read that resolution and then we can move in second that African excuse me African-American history month recognition whereas the Franklin Township Board of Education recognizes the extensive civil social and religious contributions made by African-Americans including residents of Franklin Township and whereas the board further recognizes the vital importance of affording all residents of Franklin Township especially young persons the opportunity to study and understand African-American history both nationally and with respect to the community of Franklin Township and the county of Somerset for the purpose of ensuring that all citizens especially young persons are fully familiar with their entire history of Human Experience now therefore be it resolved that the Franklin Township Board of Education hereby proclaims the month of February 2024 as African-American history awareness month thank you can somebody move that so move seconded moved by Dr Hopkins seconded by Jimmy all in favor can we have roll call please Mr Grio yes Dr Hopkins absolutely Miss inocent yes Mr Jackson yes Miss Lort yes Miss Maris yes Mr yes Mr Shan 100% missing yes thank you and now we're on to comments from the public 5 minutes per speaker any topic can I get a motion to open so moved moved by Nancy second seconded by Lori all in favor I I public comment is now open 5 minutes per speaker any topic good evening my name is Zena sday um sorry hold that okay good evening my name is Zena today um I at 13 Crown Road Somerset um I just wanted to first take this opportunity to also congratulate Mrs Herd on her achievement um this is my first year at HSC my son is in sixth grade and I am also um part of the ptso executive board and I can vouch that she does put her students first families and staff um just in the short time I have got to know her so thank you so much for all you do um it's a pleasure to know her and work with her and I'm sure you all can agree um second I just wanted to welcome all of our board members here into our school um I figured this is a perfect opportunity to do that as I know we do have um new board members so congratulations and welcome to you guys and then um I also serve on Elizabeth Avenue schools um PTO as well so on behalf of all of us I just wanted to welcome our board members into the schools um we would love to see you there or even just attend our meetings um to get to know you guys and you guys get to know us and just be there for our families that's all I ask um and I know I'm vouching for them to also come out to these meetings um because I am trying to get more parents and families involved um that is my goal so hopefully we see more faces at these meetings um but that's all I have that's all I just wanted to introduce myself and welcome you guys thank you thank you anyone else M president since no one else has stepped up to the podium I move to close it second okay um Ryan you got that okay thank you um just so that you're aware um we have all board members who are assigned uh leaz on to the schools and um the request is the schools usually send the invitations to us if there are events happening after school or during school and depending on you know whoever is available you know some of us work some of us you know don't but if we're available we'll come and definitely attend and usually all the board members get the invites and whoever can be there you know we'll make ourselves available to come there but just for you information for HSC we have Nancy as the liazon and for uh Elizabeth Avenue we have dror Hopkins as the leoon so hopefully you'll see a few of us and some of us during the year but we love to come to the schools and see our children so we'll be there and now we're on to good of the order we'll start with Miss inocensio yeah have anything for the good of the order thank you you're welcome Mr Parker uh yes today um spent the entire uh day with uh Dr rali staff um you know kudos to to the team uh tremendous presentation thank you for your welcome thank you for your information um we'll do our best to make sure that we continue to support where we can and disagree where we can respectively um but more importantly work towards keeping the ship red and keep in the straight direction thank you Dr Hopkins um yes as we embark on uh in a couple of days we will be um entering Black History Month and um I would like to uh encourage our students to reflect on those who have paved the way for um them um regardless of the race you are um and the inventions and just the contribution that uh our forefathers have U put forth into this country so um hopefully that the history the history itself is Rich and that uh we reflect and in February I would say more thank you Mr Gro okay I got a bunch of stuff first of all Zena thanks for coming I work with Zena and a committee at Elizabeth Avenue School as a citizen not a board member and I don't get things confused and for putting a new sign up that school of all the schools in the district has a has a terrible sign and Dr ravali is committed to work with us uh as they raise money as the district helps meet that responsibility so that's a great great principle there and a great committee as far as uh the African-American month uh we just concluded the MLK breakfast last week it was phenomenal um I had the opportunity to recognize Captain Sean Hein from the microphone and he deserved that he also got a proclamation from Council the um ml breakfast is an opportunity for all School members and school board members and administrators to attend to see Franklin Township and its diversity so it's a very very important event and I'll remind you again next year uh congratulations on the Orton Gillam um uh award as during my years as principal the latter years is such a phenomenal program when teachers are trained that is right there they they really uh get some great um uh great curriculum power with with working with kids oneon-one um let's see now Harry Martin was mentioned by the board president and rightfully so uh when I came to Franklin in 1977 uh he was the first man I met besides coming with the superintendent he used to walk back and forth in Railroad Avenue that building there and he he he he was a great uh human resource person Jackie you would have loved him he did everything with a pencil just like Florence Randolph he was a great guy and sorry to hear if his passing the long range U facility meeting we had the other not facility long range planning meeting we had the other night was very very fruitful and productive as Sammy said earlier uh there's so much on the plate with that that um I agree with what Sammy said the more the whole board could bite into that the better um Madame President I wasn't sure of how your protocol is going to work with committee reports when we have questions about a committee do you want them an asked at that time or at this time I would say at this time at this time okay so um as far as the preschool and the food bank go um both of those projects are so exciting for Franklin Township and uh I'll be looking for more information on both of them they're both dear to my heart uh I've said it a number of times here along with everything I say about the YMCA preschool is where the action's at for this District we get kids at three years old and four years old we plant them early in the district and they're not going to want to leave the district that's the secret for keeping students long range so I congratulate Dr ravali for all he's done in that area and also the food bank and I'll continue to bring this item up for more information uh let's see what kill him good great meeting tonight thank you very much okay I'll move on from there now Nancy um regarding the prek at middle Bush School it was my elementary school so when we swapped um with the township um this property for that property it like broke my heart to leave that building but we're going back to a better building that the township owns that is just going to be such a wonderful thing and I'll be back in mber school so it's kind of cool um and Tori I'm excited to be your Lea on I actually asked to be your Lea on you you are always there every time I've shown up at something you've always been there but you're there for the kids you're there for the parents you're there for the staff you're there for administration for the board and the community and thank you so much for that um my remarks about Nisha I'm Gonna Save until I could say them to nishida's face again but Mikey Dr Smith thank you so much we in the past long time we've become good friends um and I've enjoyed everything that you've contributed to the board all the questions that you've asked your different perspective your scientific perspective that you've brought um your knowledge of the community your passion um all of it just so much and I really really appreciate it and I am really going to miss you sitting up here but but I know that you have much bigger things going on in the rest of your life and to Laura your wife thank you so much because nobody realizes the time commitment that board members give and your family loses out on that time like Dr Val's wife has no idea what he looks [Laughter] like um so the the amount of time you give up is to sit here and to serve serving is a privilege and it's an honor but you didn't get elected to do that but you shared your husband with us you shared your time you shared so much with us and for that thank you so much Laura I I really really want to say thank you um and Dan thanks for sharing Franklin like you always do because we got so much exciting stuff going on so um I mean I'm really proud of ardman being president of s County School boards Association and it's an opportunity for us to get um Franklin Moore um in front of other school districts some of them aren't as um Progressive in some things as Franklin is and it's an opportunity for maybe they could learn better ways of doing things and and how we do them in Franklin because it's we we do with Franklin Way the warrior way so thank you Danel and that and welcome Erica and and Jimmy and I hope you guys had a great first meeting it was and that's it thank you Walter M sir congratulations uh we definitely love you in this District you are doing a great job um it's been great to be on the board and be a part of um your growth um so continue success to you Dr Smith you will be miss my friend but uh best of luck to you and your family um you serve your community very well and uh we're proud of you and I know the folks that were in this District um clearly noticed and saw what you did for this district and appreciate you as well so thank you um Zena please pack this place out so no like that's been our goal so please like we almost out here so it's not that bad so so please like this pack pack this place out and uh my last thing just just a quick little quote real simple um do what is right not what is easy that's it thank you thank you Lori I want to Echo the comments Miss herd and Dr asala congrat congratulations and thank you for doing us all proud and um Dr Smith congratulations and I know the New Horizons that you're um moving forward with um professionally um we do miss you but we recognize it's also for the greater good that we're sharing you with the scientific community so thank you very much and have a great evening all thank you and Sammy great thank you Dr Smith it was great having you you handled Your Role with a lot of fidelity and care and that's what we need on this board um so thank you so much for your service and I'm so glad that we have two folks that I know for sure will also be stepping into your shoes with that same type of fidelity and care really excited to have Eric and Jimmy join us and just as a quick shout out to uh Jimmy Jr otherwise known as Jackson correct me if I'm wrong but I think he just got awarded the United States track and field for New Jersey athlete of the Year award that that is [Applause] correct United States track and field I mean that's that's a huge title um so congratulations to Jackson Jackson's awesome um I'd just like to give a quick uh update because I guess this is the the time to do it thank you so much to Dr rali Who continues to be a stalwart and pushing hard for a lot of the issues thank you to Jimmy and Erica and Bill for consistently showing up at Fisk as you know Fisk is the Franklin food and security and safety Coalition according to Mark dingson who's the food and security person of the state that Governor Murphy hired he said we are the only town that he knows of that's handling this the way that we are handling it we are treating food insecurity in a way that no other town that he knows of is dealing with with it bringing together all the stakeholders around town um some quick highlights the food bank has started its Road Show which is part of the connection of Fisk so we have 70 houses of worship and now the food bank is going to be going to all of those houses of worship to not only uh advertise their services um to get you know solicit whatever donations but also to let the people there know of those services that that are there um we do have a one pager now this is the first time the town ever has all of the food resources in town on one page and so that's going to be distributed in the Franklin uh reporter I believe and handed to every single House in Franklin is our goal and through our school district as well so on one page you'll be able to get every single food resource if you're if you're suffering from food insecurity um on the 29th of February I invite all of you who are interested we're going to have a mapping session in that session we're going to take food in security and we're going to map it to all the different organizations that are part of solving that problem identify the gaps that exist and then create plans around those gaps it's a 4-Hour session led by Mr Mark ay who has International recognition in doing this that's how seriously we're taking this food and security problem so if you'd like to come Senior Center February 29th at 4M um next topic uh January also happens to be Muslim Heritage Month as a Muslim super happy to to share that with you all um it does come with a little bit of sadness as I'm celebrating it because my family back in uh in Gaza and Palestine are really suffering still and we continue to experience loss my cousin uh father of 11 children was killed uh two weeks ago so while I celebrate the month I'm also saddened by some of the world events and I pray that peace uh takes us uh takes us further um just two more things or Gillingham super important my son suffers from dyslexia Orin Gillingham is huge for kids that have learning disabilities and learning differences and the fact that our teachers have that is tremendous and cannot be understated to capture all of those kids that have those challenges and lastly I attended the Governor State of the State address in which he said something like 11,000 kids Statewide are going through that program to get prek 700 kids in Franklin alone is what we're we're targeting think about that statistic we're one town out of like 5 something towns but 700 of them out of 11 that's enormous that's amazing that's the work that's happening here in Franklin that's all thanks thank you so there you go you should wait for the good of the order for listening to all the amazing stuff our board members have to say and I'm left with nothing but um first meeting I hope Erica and Jimmy you had a great time with the orientation and we haven't pressured you enough yet with the committee meetings they were easy for you Jimmy has chair for one of the Committees hasn't met the committee hasn't met yet so hopefully slow and steady you know you'll get used to this my first meeting as the board president I'm doing okay I had some hits and misses but I'll get there slowly it's a learning process I want to end with just saying that we have uh a phenomenal event in Somerset County and our Franklin students have been Achievers there which is called unsung heroes and that happens on Monday March 18th at um Summerset County votch um the nomination forms were sent out to the district superintendent and principles on Jan 10th so this is just a reminder that make sure that you submit your student nominations prior to the deadline which is Feb 17th so miss her pass it on to your other principles and um you know we look forward to seeing some of our Franklin unsung heroes at the high school middle school level being celebrated at Somerset County School boards Lena love the idea bring parents here I was a parent like you when I started my journey as a volunteer in Franklin Township and um I cannot say enough for our Administration you know they do a phenomenal job they do a great job and I think now we can partner with the Somerset County School boards and really really shine at the county level and Dr Smith thank you for everything you have been phenomenal you've been a great partner on the board and the Nuggets that you've shared you know about us talking about our kids where they will go the journeys the colleges you said don't you dare send him there I might be coming to you soon with the second one on getting your guidance and advice so thank you for everything and Laura everything that Nancy said thank you for sharing his hours and his time with us and with that meetings are [Music] Jed [Music] [Music]