well you know everybody needs to sit somewhere and Dave got here last so he gets to sit in the missing SE thank you should probably move this over until it's my turn not want it right next to you I to advantice I think maybe confus why is everyone sitting in the back row still what's going on no one sits up front if everybody could find a seat please Winnie are we already okay the board met tonight in executive session actually and we'll meet again after the meeting and exec session but we're now ready to go into the public portion of the meeting um there have been no Communications since our last meeting which was February 13th uh the president's report I'll try to make it quick because this is a night of Celebration and we need to begin that celebration but we will start with some very good news about my friend the superintendent on February 22nd Dirk Phillips was recognized by Montclair State University's college for education and engaged learning morning the agenda for education and a democracy um for the for his deep commitment to Children stewardship and advocacy for social justice and equity in public schools the award Dirk received at the college's gratitude celebration was presented by Marilyn Davis the Director of Education Innovation and strategic Partnerships uh Glenn Ridge principales Matt Murphy Joe Caravella and uh Lauren baz our school counselor from The Ridgewood Avenue School were present for the award um and Matt Murphy noted the recognition was well deserved considering Dirk's leadership in and commitment to our District's MSU NE and diversity equity and inclusion partnership with Montclair State so congratulations Durk and I think that merits a round of applause now the superintendent search I'll give you a brief update uh as you know we received a to total of 62 resumés this is my fourth superintendent search and I will tell you that uh that pool of candidates was the most diverse we've ever seen uh the Personnel Committee in interviewed 18 candidates in the first round and eight in the second round we've chosen finalists who will be interviewed by the full board and we expect the deliberations to come by the um by the 12th we are right on schedule uh the full board has reviewed the results of the survey sent out to the entire Community as well as the results of the focus group interviews conducted by our attorney Jennifer Osborne who's here with us tonight all of the feedback will factor into our final decision uh tonight you'll see on your agenda we're accepting the retirements of two longtime District employees Paula elely who's a teacher at Ridgewood Avenue and Kathy seone who is right now administrative assistant at Forest and formerly worked at the high school both of them I have known for a long time they've been valued members of our staff they've touched the lives of so many students generations of students so many of their fellow faculty members so many administrators it's always hard to say goodbye and we will uh we don't have to do it right now because they'll be with us until June but um this is a it is a Bittersweet moment when we lose long-term employees like Paula and Kathy uh and finally the board uh in keeping with one of our board goals which is um reaffirming our relationship with the burough of Glenn Ridge uh several of us uh Joselyn Christen and I met with mayor Debbie mans who is new in office as of January and Council people Lori jeene Moody and Rebecca Meyer and we discussed it was a get acquainted meeting really but we discussed a number of items that included uh Town um I'm sorry the council's new focus on traffic and and uh pedestrian safy which you've noticed new stop signs better lights lots of orange cones all over town uh that's all part of the council's initiative uh to improve pedestrian safety we talked about town and District cooperation including the me memorandum of agreement which defines our the relationship between the district and the Glen Ridge Police Department we talked about Communications and how to better coordinate town and District Outreach and we also talked about Recreation including field usage and maintenance and possible future plans in those areas and finally with regard to Staffing shortages which is a concern for us and a concern across the state um a bill of a large package of bills designed to help address the school Staffing crisis is making its way somewhat slowly through the legislature among those heard most recently include measures to provide student loan Redemption for some teachers in high demand areas remove obstacles to teacher certification which is for some of you in the know the Practice Test of Basic Skills establish a database of novice teachers in doe and require doe to hold job fairs establish student um teacher scholarship programs and establish a task force to study the current teacher evaluation system and make recommendations for the future so there is movement um as you know the budget uh the governor's budget proposal has uh been made and now the as as always in New Jersey the legislature propose the governor proposes and the legislature disposes so we are now at the time when the legislature puts its heads together about the budget interviews cabinet me cabinet department heads and finally by June one hopes they will come up with a final budget and that is the president's report thank you Betsy uh I I also want to start off by recognizing our two um future retirees Paula El is a special education teacher at rwood Avenue and has been with us since April 2004 and Kathy Sone started at the high school as an administrative assistant um in September of 2001 and is now at Forest Avenue School I've had the pleasure of working with both individuals uh when I was here at the high school I worked with Kathy and when I was principal at uh ridgwood Avenue School I worked with Paula um outstanding individuals uh impactful um dedicated to their schools and to education they uh they will be missed I I wish him the best um in the the next four months and after once they retire we will say more about them um in our June meeting when we uh honor all our retirees and at this time I'd like to uh recognize our governor educators of the year so I'm going to call up the principls uh to say um some words about their honores um I I just want to talk about the process a little bit um this is a process and it's a great honor to be nominated yet even a bigger honor to be recognized as the your the educator of the year in your building uh we take nominations from teachers from students from parents once we gather all those nominations they go in front of a committee it the committee then decides who will be the award winner and we notify the award winners um and the educator of the year the teacher of the year can then uh apply to be the county teacher of the year and and and go on then to become the state teacher of the year so um they have that opportunity to go on and and be recognized even further when I look at this group of Educators I I'm just amazed by the work that they do day in and day out and and how much they give to their students and to their school and to their uh parents and their and to their community and I I couldn't ask for a better group of individuals to be recognized so I'm pleased to be part of this uh ceremon tonight and I'm going to call up Dr Harris to First recognize the Central Avenue School recipients superintendent Phillips and all of you gathered here it is my great honor to say a lot about um some really great people that I have at Central School the first I'll start off with our teacher of the year Miss Rachel Patterson would you stand please I'm going to totally embarrass you great for former lynon lion and now a central cheetah Miss Patterson a seven-year teacher has mastered the art of humility and Excellence Under Pressure she is a natural leader and she sets the bar High whether in teaching her colleagues how to administer tests writing grants Andor providing her expertise after and before school she is a creator of school initiatives such as the diversity pillars and she gives Wings to programming and incentive programs such as regulations for The Bookworm vending machine she is positive she is reliable she is a good ear for me to pour into and to kick around ideas and to have her answer truthfully she is fully capable generous in her spirit and in her nature students they love her colleagues respect her her ignorance fears her and parents put bids in with me to get her she is mighty with the pen and the book she is fierce in her instruction and she is owed the honor and Central School no gridge school district is better because of her I present to you our teacher of the year at Central School Miss Rachel [Applause] Patterson next I'm going to embarrass you too our Educational Services professional of the Year miss Laura Fitzpatrick would you stand please Firefly Firefly lion cheetah she is a superhero indeed and she's able to council correct soothe students and bring peace to colleagues you can find her navigating sensitive issues with Grace and expertise all the while keeping her pulse on parent concerns keeping confidentiality keeping her principles informed and providing compassionate generous support her guidance has stopped tears has repaired broken relationships and redefined what it means to be be at all places at all times knowing all things and doing them all well she is tireless and she is multifaceted as she runs lunch bunches parent book clubs does individual counseling runs meetings and provides meaningful support patient efficient professional approachable wonderful and creative Miss Fitzpatrick leaps schol school over school over school without dropping any of us we love you at Central School and you are worthy of this honor congratulations Miss Fitzpatrick our Educational Services professional of the year thank you Mr Murphy good evening everyone um I'm here to uh talk about our geoy winners for farest Avenue School uh our teacher of the year for 20232 24 is Mrs K Michelle keski she's in the back there W she is one of our grade two teachers uh Mrs kanaski is currently on leave due to the birth of her beautiful son Parker who didn't make it tonight but Mrs kanaski um this is her second time uh being selected for this award in the past three years and it's welld deserved she consistently receives nominations from both her parents and from her colleagues she's a deeply caring person a very helpful colleague a technology whiz a tireless worker and a creative problem solver who has become critical to our school Success for many years now her students love her because of the genuine motivating relationships that she can create with each child and her students parents love that their children are so happy at school which is so important so congratulations to Michelle [Applause] keski okay our farest Avenue School Governor's educator of the year in the educational services professional category is Gail Guta a special education paraprofessional she goes by Miss G and she received numerous nominations from colleagues and parents as a result of her professionalism and commitment to being a reliable consistent and compassionate presence to both her students and to her colleagues although Gail has been with us for a few years she's probably our youngest staff member yet she presents like a Savvy veteran unfaced when things get a little crazy and she brings a perfect calm collected demeanor for working with children both on their good days and also on the days when they're having some strong feelings we're all excited that Miss G is being acknowledged for her contributions to the far sa new school Community thank you and congratulations thank you for the introduction uh Mr Phillips appreciate that right can you believe it the the thank you thank you thank you uh the the principles we all discussed about making our uh speeches very brief so I thank you Matt and Kesha for following that I have two versions I have a short version I have a long version either version our teachers are outstanding you guys all deserve congratulations I'm here to talk about two great uh staff members at Lynden I'll start with Cara Kur um who is our governor educator teacher of the year when I think of Carla I think of some words like calm cool and collected and this is a prek teacher we're talking about she she's Pleasant has an outstanding vocal tone and pleasant disposition with our youngest children she's inspiring to our students and she is a great colleague she really is the ultimate prek teacher it's 13 years with us at Lyon 12 as a prek teacher one as a parah and she was even a student teacher with us in first grade with Mrs Maya she's amazing with every single student and she treats each child as if he or she was her own we are so so happy and proud of her that she won this well-deserved award Bravo to Carla come on up [Applause] Carla our educational support services staff member who won this award this year is our very own Joanne prusac give Joanne a big round of applause when I think of Joan I think of hardworking engaging a great colleague creative and unique and musical right Joan 10 years as a power with Lyndon Avenue School three years as a substitute teacher in our District 20 years as a Glen Ridge resident give her a round of Applause for that a former lynen parent and two two students two children were Linden Lions came through our school and halinka is here watching with us today give them a round of applause she became trained as a registered Behavior technician to help collecting data and delivering Behavior plans to our students in our special education program she's involved in after school activities such as our Discovery class where she teaches of course dance and music to the students she says that she finds joy coming to work every day and we absolutely love working with her pause up to Joanne come on up [Applause] joed Dr Donovan from rard Avenue School thank you for intruction my pleasure I wouldn't forget about you uh for the audience I am keenly aware I don't think this microphone is doing anything for you uh to to hear so I will just speak a little bit louder Bridgewood Avenue School we have a staff of about 70 and tonight I get to talk about two of the very top staff members that we have I'm going to start off with Sharon Smith who is our educator Services professional winner of the year uh Sharon is the lgtc in our building a member of the child study team it was about five years ago that I got an email from Jessica maafi Jess is a PE teacher here at the high school and the email simply said my sister is going to be working with you you better be nice to her Sharon began um and she was just just an amazing person to work with so easy to be nice to she is a veteran educator but a brand new ldtc you would never know it uh she is extremely knowledgeable she is so dedicated to the students Rebecca is here tonight and Rebecca will confirm that the entire building makes their way in and out of her office all day long she is someone that they stop by to for advice someone who that they know um will do whatever she can for the students uh we are so lucky to have Sharon uh her family is here tonight um I often say that I I judge parents by their children um she has two great kids Ella and Colin who we've gotten to know at rid Avenue just through bring your kids to work days um she's not just a great ldtc she is a great mom um what else can I say about Sharon Sharon is the only person that I have ever worked with that I have had the opportunity to say stay focused to anyone who knows me and who works with me would understand that that's not something typical that I would say and the reason that I often have to say stay focus to Sharon is because we will talk about a student we will talk about a program we will talk about an issue and within that conversation she will talk about five other kids five other programs and five other issues because Sharon is always thinking about ways to make things better and to solve things um we are so lucky to have her she is an amazing ldtc I am lucky to be her leader and I am lucky to be her friend Sharon Smith next up for our educator of the year we have Samantha Odell now Sharon was able to bring her family tonight Samantha is married to an accountant and so anyone who knows an accountant knows that he will rarely be seen until after uh April 15th but instead Samantha has brought her school family including her school mom who is a retired Ridgewood Avenue teacher and I highlight that just for you to understand that Samantha is a very important person to so many people in our building whether they're there or have since moved on um what stood out the most about Samantha's nomination is the fact that she was nominated by current students former students and colleagues last year when Nathan passed away several of the students students at the Glen Ridge High School in the weeks right after his death were coming over to Ridgewood Avenue school and they were heading down to Samantha's room um sometimes they were there for a couple hours and all of a sudden one month and two month and three months and four months went by and I was watching these kids they kept coming back and they wanted to and they needed to spend time with a teacher who that they had had who they respected who was there to listen to them and Samantha did all of that not just last year but continued that as well this year whenever we talk about teaching and we talk about teachers who are focused on academics and teachers who are focused on seal Samantha Odell has managed to master both of them together at the same time she is a master of her craft and she is a master at social emotional learning um she's an early bird the way that I am so I look forward to our 7 AM chats um I wish Ryland her daughter was here tonight but she is younger and in bed um another great example of a great mother and just a a great person another staff member who I'm lucky to lead and call a friend Samantha Odell High School principal John Lawler thank you Mr Phillips and good evening everybody I am um honored and privileged tonight to present uh two of our Allstars at the Middle High School um there's so much to say about Brian and Jill um but what I can say is there's a connection and and a Common Thread that really kind of um defines who they are and is really the the care they have for our students and the relationships they have formed with them during their time here at the high school um we received 17 nominations for teachers so we have a building of about 85 teachers so we get great um feedback from the community from parents from students and staff and um when we are meeting as a committee we kind of talk about what are some of the qualities that we look for for teachers um in our building and ones that are Innovative um they engage our students again care about their students um Brian fits that mold right he first of all is tremendously versatile he has seventh graders he teaches seventh grade social studies but then he also teaches his AP classes at the high school right inclusion classes and AP he's got the full range and that that's a really you know credit to his talent and his ability um he's been with us for 18 years but this year was a little bit different in terms of our nominees um and many times the it's the moment that defines who the person is and and how they respond to that moment and Dr dond did mention uh we had a you know a loss this past year we lost Nathan our dear students and through this time Brian has met that moment he's been a rock for our students for his colleagues and it's really kind of it's been remarkable to see and the amount of respect that I have for what he's done and he's always been there for our students and his colleagues um I just wanted to share one of the um responses that came in it's nice to hear the feedback from the people that nominated our our staff um boy soccer team suffered two unimaginable losses last year the way he's still shepherding those kids through the losses has been a beautiful thing to witness his willingness to emotionally dive deep with the boys and any student who needs it and discuss the importance of mental health will only provide lasting benefits to them he has been there for each child that needs him and reaches them where they are realizing how differently each child handles trauma so is with you know tremendous Pride that I present our teacher of the year Brian [Applause] Annie so one of the initiatives that ran has helped start in collaboration with our educated Services professional indidual what this committee is doing is is working with students talking to them hearing how we can as a school as community help supportes feeling and challenges next chill our students speak particular our student athletes how um Jill's been with us for 15 years much like Brian very tremendously talented counselor she's school counselor she's been a middle school counselor um she's now moving into a new roer counsel where she works with students gr s through 12 you know more needier students that need more support both academically and socially and then just beyond just being a school counselor here during the day um she's involved in many different clubs and activities so her her impact is very hard I mentioned cash she's also a leadership advisor uh she runs our National Honor Society our sharing the arts program and has also helped some students found what's called a wellness committee um from the comments she's always been professional thoughtful kind and no matter how busy she may be she always makes time to focus on whatever issue is at hand she always listens extensively to fully understand the concern before offering potential Solutions which she does not push but instead offers in an open and caring way so with that just like to say Jill welld deserved congratulations congratulations once again to our all our recipients um released uh yes um we hope that you will all stay around for the budget but we realize that some of you may have other engagements if you do um this would be a good time to uh leave us but as I say the budget is fascinating and you should stay around baret very was right next to the kids never their teachers names you know what I mean like I can think of my okay so tonight we're presenting the tenative budget for the 24 25 school year sure theic is each year we review the budget process we meet with the finance and Facilities committee throughout the year to review the finances our budget calendar is posted on our website with important dates the date for adopting the tenative budget which is tonight and the public hearing date are also listed on our website and also advertised in the newspapers and the detail of the tentative budget is advertised in the Star Ledger prior to the public hearing the administrators meet throughout the school year to review their academic Personnel Supply and Facilities needs the preliminary budget budget is voted on by the board tonight March 5th after board approval it's submitted to the county for approval the finance committee continues to meet on the budget April 30th is our public hearing and the final budget will be voted on by the Board of Ed at that meeting after board approval it's submitted to the county for final approval our tenative budget revenues our budget revenues include 2, 38,866 we plan to withdraw $162,600 from capital reserve to finance Wireless upgrades on the first floor of the high school and districtwide upgrades to our door access control system these projects are smaller than last year's projects of the high school cafeteria roof and HVAC upgrades so the withdrawal from capital reserve is down 70% our local tax levy will be $ 34,100 I'm sorry 34,1 51,69256 due to an increase in non-resident enrollment our miscellaneous revenues are up 12% mainly due to an increase in interest income our state aid increased by 8,233 or about 8% and the total general fund budget year-over-year increase is just 73% or less less than 1% so our tax levy Revenue supports the majority of our budget it's about 86% of our total revenues our state aid makes up 6% of our budget and our budgeted fund balance makes up 5% a withdrawal from capital reserve represents 4% and tuition we re we receive accounts for 1.9% of our revenues our tenative budget Appropriations here we we're comparing the current 2324 budget with the 2425 proposed budget expenditures and we're showing the percent change salary increases are spread throughout the throughout almost all of the lines the amount spent on regular Ed instruction is the largest at $3,956 th000 special ed instruction is at 2,298 th000 and it that includes a part-time special ed teacher that was previously funded by the ARP Grant instruction other BSI that includes basic skills SKS instruction and bilingual education and that has an increase of 177% and that's because we have added a part-time multilingual learner teacher here co-curriculars and Athletics have a small increase and that that includes a new volleyball program tuition to add a district placements remain steady Support Services includes Health Services related services such as speech otpt extraordinary Services guidance child study team library media and teacher staff training that's up 8% of we as we have added a part-time library media specialist at the high school here which was previously funded by the ARP Grant and two new registered Behavior technicians and administration remains steady maintenance and operations Transportation employee benefits each increase a little less than 4% our capital outlay is decreased by 60% compared to 23 24 as high school cafeteria HVAC upgrades and roof Replacements were budgeted in 23 24 and we have some smaller project projects budgeted here in 2425 our total general fund including Capital outlay increases by . 73% and our tax levy increase is 2.24% so our salaries and benefits make up 78% of our budget this is common for New Jersey school districts the salaries are spread throughout the pi and included as part of all of the categories with the exception of tuition capital outlay and employee benefits regular Ed instruction makes up 35% % of our budget special ed instruction makes up 7% other instruction 1% curriculars and Athletics 2.7% tuition to to send our students to added District placements is 5% of our budget Support Services 12.2% Administration 10.1% maintenance and operation 7.6% Transportation 3% employee benefits almost 15% and capital outlay is 1.2% our year-over-year budget increases these are items that were not included in last year's budget a registered Behavior technician is a power professional who's certified in behavioral behavioral analysis we are adding two of these as they are called for in students individualized educational plans or IEPs two positions that were funded previously through the ARP Grant are being added to our general fund budget the part-time High School librarian and the part-time specialed teacher at Central School our English Second Language ESL student numbers have increased so we are adding a parttime multilingual learner teacher we're also adding the volleyball program and an advisor for the English Honor Society our cap outlays outlay and and projects Promethean boards $40,000 towards new playground equipment at lyen Avenue School flooring in the main hallway at Forest Avenue School two copier Replacements at the high school walk-in refrigerator and freezer repairs at the high school stairwell Treads risers and Landing repairs a chain link link fence around the dump dster at the high school classroom flooring at Ridgewood Avenue School upgrades to our door access control system a wireless upgrade at the high school security video video monitors for cameras and the debt service assessment which we have to pay every year to the state the budget includes staff and salary stiping cuts of 13,2 $27 the tax impact of the general tax levy on the average house assessed at $672,500 is projected to increase taxes by $261 60 for the year or $21.80 a month and our public hearing on the budget is scheduled for April 30th at which time the budget will be adopted thank you Barbara board members do you have any questions for Barbara no I I it's not a question I just um wanted to thank you for um all this great work um to my colleagues on the board thank you for uh trusting those of us on the finance and Facilities committee and and as the four of us know um Barbara is accurate transparent uh a tireless uh worker and um it was it was not as easy as she makes it look I can just tell you that through the process we've met several times um twice just in the last two weeks I think and uh it it it was not as easy as she made it uh look the numbers right up to the minute did not look like they would come in quite as as uh as well as they did so thanks as always for your great work on this Barbara thank you absolutely um in a moment we'll have time for public comment um any other board member questions all right I'm I'm going to continue on with my report and and I do want to comment on the budget uh first of all thank you Barbara and the finance committee the the budget is an extremely difficult process um and I'm going to tell a little bit different story than Barbara who throws out a lot of numbers um you know maybe the mathematician and me tells the numbers a little bit different we have a a a 2% tax levy that means we can only raise are amount 6 roughly 650,000 a year 650,000 a year our increase in salaries and benefits are 850,000 a year so right now right from the start we're $200,000 in the whole that then when we start including positions that are needed mandated or maintaining positions that we funded through um grant money that that's an additional 300 ,000 so we're now $550,000 in the hole and that does not include costs uh increased costs in software licensing energy supplies or program improvements when we started our initial budgets with with that those items included we are roughly a million dollars in the whole um we reviewed we were searching we were scrutinizing we were prioritizing we were praying for addition funds to make this budget meet uh uh the ends meet fortunately we're able to present a budget where our students can continue to have outstanding academic experiences and and have meaningful experiences beyond the classroom not everything's in here that we want and and the administrators will be the first one to tell you they had a lot of items in here that they asked for that couldn't get in there there's items in here that that I would have liked to seen in here that are not in here um that's just the reality of education we can't get everything we want we do the best we prioritize and we make difficult decisions um so I I I I want to thank everyone for being a part of that process I I know tonight we have um some parents here from Ridgewood Avenue School that want to talk about the Spanish program um I will say in this budget there are two part-time teachers that are um budgeted for Ridgewood Avenue um Spanish program Ridgewood Avenue needs two Spanish teachers in order to meet the scheduled demands in that building one teacher one full-time teacher you cannot schedule Spanish um we are starting the search process two months earlier than we did last year uh um we're going to attend job fairs and we're going to get an early jump on candidates something we weren't able to do last year uh we also recognize that there's a shortage of teachers es in World Language um New Jersey colleges are telling us that there's a lack of teaching uh candidates that are causing um the shortages and causing some programs in their colleges to close down last year Monclair State University which has a strong teacher program did not graduate one Spanish teacher candid candidate so we recognize that there's an issue we recognize that we must move quickly um on this matter we already have the uh the posting up and we're we're starting that process uh Dr Don Donovan and I have met to discuss our option our first option as I me mentioned is two part-time Spanish teachers uh we're definitely going to be more diligent and uh switching paths if we're not going to see success right away and filling those positions um with keeping in mind that our priority is to get live instruction um if we have to switch the our path uh we will discuss those options and what that means as far as impact to our budget again I want to thank Barbara and the finance committee for everything they've done Dirk just to be clear the the part-time teachers do not teach 50% right no no they're um they're going to be at I I believe um at 2/3 roughly at 23ds each and that's why a fulltime teach teacher it it's more than one one teacher can handle correct it it it's it's more than one teacher can handle because of the number of classes but even if you are able um it's also a scheduling conflict um scheduling is as if you're not in in in that world of Education you don't understand how complex it could be scheduling is centered around really think three things and at the elementary level special education math and and uh language arts and then you schedule around those three things uh there's a number of times in Ridgewood Avenue that there's two Spanish classes that are going on simultaneously at different grade levels all right um so with that I'm gonna talk about just a few updates we have in the district uh the high school did announce a valid toan and saluted tooran so on off um so Rie I'd like congratulate uh as the valoran of the high school and uh Juliet Lori as the salutatorian we will also recognize them later in the year I know there's a lot of celebrations that will happen for them in the next few months uh several dinners um they will be highlighted as they should be um it's a immense honor to be named valedictorian and salutatorian in this school district uh it it their GPA we can only imagine how high they are and the course load and the effort that that they took on in order to uh achieve uh this honor so congratulations to them um winter sports season recently ended and our uh teams had an out outstanding season our boys and girls basketball team uh had a run in the sectionals the uh boys made it to the semifinals and the girls made it to the sectional finals uh the boys uh the hockey team uh made it to the playoffs and they won the Kelly uh championship and and the game went into five overtimes which is uh I can't imagine how exhausted they were at five overtimes um I'm mentioning that next week is the New Jersey uh GPA which is the 11th grade uh assessment uh exam for the state a graduation ex um assessment and also on Saturday is the SATs I typically don't mention about sat tests but this is the first time the SATs are digital so for our students this will be a new experience for them uh the Middle School Musical is in two weeks and the following week is the High School Musical and we're in the midst of scheduling for next school year there have been uh class meetings and uh the guidance counselors are meeting with students either in small groups or individually to look at their course recommendations and to schedule their courses this will go on for the next couple months and then the the high school administration will start looking at sectioning classes for next year and then start running the program probably uh miday and hopefully have something close to being done in in May and then really in June start putting everything together for move up day at the elementary uh level we have parent teacher conferences coming up and just as a reminder those are the afternoon conferences so students will be dismissed early um I believe letters went out to the parents or emails um The Ridgewood Avenue had their spelling be last week I'm going to be inviting those students the winners of the uh the spelling bees in on our next board meeting to recognize them uh Lyndon Avenue had their science fair I saw the pictures from the flyer Joe they looked like an awesome event and uh on Friday we sent out um assignments for the incoming prek we gave them building assignment uh and we're working on next year's kindergarten uh placement and what um big news we got from the state the rod is a regular operating District district and um a rod Grant is related to uh a facility project which we put in and they fund 40% of the project and we got approval for our Phase 2 of the HVAC project at the high school so um that will allow us to move forward with that and just some upcoming events in the next month we remain busy here in the district uh stay active and and pay attention to all the Flyers that come out through your email um there's plenty to do with concerts and plays and musicals going on uh and enjoy your time here okay thank you Dirk um it is now time for the first public comment period for comments or question questions on agenda items only um if you have a question or comment please step up to our lovely new lecturn uh sign in confirm your Glen Ridge residency uh you'll have two minutes to speak if you have something in writing um please give it to Mrs Murphy so that we can enter it into the record and Kristen will you keep time yes okay uh does anyone have a question or comment and I should say when you come up to the Le turn speak loudly and clearly so the board can hear you the audience can hear you and the people watching us on YouTube can hear you as well Marilyn Savio Glenn Ridge Education Association I just wanted to say thank you for I know that some positions were rolled into the budget that were previously paid through ARP and we recognize that and appreciate that I do have a couple of questions that maybe I missed because it's a lot of information a lot of numbers um and I did notice uh staff Cuts were mentioned for $130,000 but I didn't catch what where did that come from what position or positions is that so usually can you I'm sorry can you just ask all your questions and we'll get and then the other thing I did not see mentioned that I know comes from another funding source is Title One and are those positions not incorporated into the budget and therefore not continuing those are my questions good uh as far as staff Cuts we don't uh list them at this time what cuts they are um just because we may not have spoken to all the staff members and and it's a tenative budget at this time um those are conversations that the building principles will have with with the staff members um as far as Title One our Title One funding was cut for next year so there will not be Title One positions um teachers uh will be assigned based on seniority okay thank you yep and I should have said if you have questions or comments please give them to us all at once so that we can take care of them in the order that you give them any other questions or comments I just wanted to say that um when I present the um proposed budget on April 30th there'll be a presentation which will list the staff cuts and that will go out prior on the Friday before the Tuesday meeting any other questions or comments okay uh we'll now go on with the um rest of our agenda uh we'll start with committee and Lea's on reports and we'll start with our student representative Dylan um hello everyone so as Mr Phillips mentioned earlier our all of our winter sports have recently ended and that means of course that all of our spring sports are going to start getting underway with first Captain's practices and then in the next couple weeks we're going to have our first practices and first scrimmages of the season along with that the student council is hosting a senior vers teacher and staff basketball game on Friday not calling anybody out in this room but we would love to see good participation from our staff and then going off of that we in the past couple weeks we have had some very successful club meetings and Club hosted events hosted by number of different clubs and also on behalf of all the student body just like to congratulate now the now dispersed staff members that were honored tonight thank you thanks styan Heather uh the curriculum committee hasn't met since our last Board of bed meeting okay David um the personnel and policy committee has been be busy um we've met more times than I can count um but uh Betsy gave the update on the superintendent search uh during her remarks and I would not uh add to that we have another meeting next week on regular business I believe um the finance and Facilities committee has also met uh I think three times since the last meeting and you heard the results of of that um of those meetings as well um and I would report as liaison to the uh marching band um but I have no report at this time I will have a Anthony can give some updates on uh the marching band I I have met with uh Dr Gage uh two or three times um and we're we're fully engaged we just haven't uh I haven't met with the with the team yet okay Darius Central School uh uh uh the next home school meeting is scheduled for uh sorry for Thursday March 7th that's the yeah the one update okay Jocelyn okay um the negotiations committee has a meeting scheduled for March 14th with the administrative team they Reed their proposal and we're going to talk about that Grace is meeting virtually on March 13th that's the Glenridge Association for special education so anyone who is interested in speaking about this um has a child who has an IEP or 504 plan and wants to speak to other parents it's kind of a parent to parent meeting that evening um I'll be reporting on the both the high school um Middle School home and School Association because I covered for Trisha and then also the rwood Avenue home and school meetings so the High School Middle School uh HSA meeting occurred on February 23rd you can mark your calendars that the next meeting will be March 22nd we actually covered a lot of the same things that Mr covered in his update about the upcoming musical Productions um the end of the Sports Seasons the one thing he didn't mention is that there is a Middle School Parent social coming up on April fourth I believe and there's also um the Arts and E is kind of underway in terms of planning and that will be happening in May um let me just so the Bri Home School Association met on March 1st and the next meeting will be May 3rd we covered a lot of thank yous and and um so on for the Discovery program which is coming to an end the lost and found clearing out Valentine's Day baskets um there's a book fair coming up next week and big community service projects which Ur last week and there's New Jersey Devil's game outing happening on March 23rd where people are going to be take taking shots from the blue line um as well as the traps Marketplace which is coming up in April so again lots of things to watch in the calendar and Anthony um so I'll start with graa there's been requests about uh the status of the baseball field behind the I high school and um Mr Hill has informed me that that is being assessed and um uh the plan is to rehabilitate it for softball this spring it won't be a complete rehab because it since it's real grass it can't be done in in one season but uh so that's that's on the agenda um from the um music parents Association there's several things have gone on the spring fruit sale just ended and deliveries were last weekend um the next item um is on the 16th is the and I would encourage everyone to come the 16th is uh the fundraising pancake breakfast that's a annual event big fundraiser for the um music parents Association which is funds a lot of the music program um there's a uh spring car wash on the 19th of May and um and the Jazz Band will be performing at the uh arts art fest ecoair on uh May 18th um there's a car wash on the 19th of May and the um jazz band is scheduled to go on their New Orleans trip from June 1st to June 4th Lyndon Avenue home and School Association has not met they will meet again on March 13th so continuing um joshlin was nice enough to give the update for the middle school and high school because I could not attend due to illness so thank you joshin Kristen just a brief mention um that we've already noted that the um arts and ecoair is coming up on May 18th so the Glen rdge Visual Arts Association will be participating in that and for gas lamp I'm not able to pull up all of my notes but I do believe that their next upcoming um performance is Annie Junior Annie for kids which I think is for the lower elementary grades I want to say grades um K through four through for and um those tickets should be on sale soon I think that's happening in early May okay and dual okay uh very quickly uh the Educational Foundation will be meeting next Tuesday the 12th of March and um hopefully we'll have something new to report after that um the Forest Avenue home and school did not meet in February their next meeting is scheduled for uh March 25th which which will be a virtual meeting but between now and my next report we will have certainly heard about the great success of soccer Thon which was last week um coming up they have um a steam Fair next week as well as the second grade glow dance one of my favorite activities at Forest and that'll be on Friday the 15th and that's all I have right now from forest thank you I'm sorry I forgot something can I just go ahead so I just wanted to share that both the middle school and high school HSA and the rwood Avenue hman School Association are looking for their board openings and so they have vice president openings and Treasurer openings so if anyone is interested in getting involved on those executive committees um please reach out to the board presidents or the high or the principes of those schools thank you okay you have in your packets minutes from the February 13th meeting exact session and regular session does any anyone have any changes to either set of minutes okay that is the case uh David would you move the uh the minutes oh um I'm gonna move it for David I move M1 move by Heather may I have a second I'll second second by Jocelyn uh Barbara would you call the role Miss Akin wand hi Mr Bonnet hi Mr Campbell abstain Mr Denard yes miss gotle I miss Graham I miss O'Neal I Dr yarus Ramos I miss Ginsburg yes motion carries okay Joselyn would you move the administrative items I move items A1 through A2 may I have a second second second from David uh any questions uh from the board on the administrative items all right Barbara would you call the role Miss Zin wanding I Mr Bonnet I Mr Campbell yes Mr Denard yes miss gotle I miss Graham yes Miss O'Neal hi Dr yarus Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg I motion carries all right David would you move the Personnel items including the addendum yes uh I move P1 through p7 including uh P1 and P4 on the agendum all right may I have a second second second from Anthony in keeping with our rules and the board members code of ethics we discuss Personnel matters in executive session uh therefore Barbara would you call the role Miss Aken wandi hi Mr Bonnet hi Mr Campbell yes Mr Denard yes Miss gotle hi Miss Graham hi Miss O'Neal hi Dr yars Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg yes motion carries Heather would you move the curriculum items sure I move C1 and C2 okay may I have a second second second from Jocelyn any questions on the curriculum items Anthony are you shering the band to New Orleans I wish okay okay okay if there are no questions Barbara would you call the role Miss zakim wandi I Mr Bonnet hi Mr Campbell yes Mr Denard yes Miss gotle hi Miss Graham hi Miss O'Neal hi Dr yarus Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg yes motion carries okay uh David would you move the business items including the budget I move B13 through B7 including um the workshop B6 on the addendum okay may I have a second I'll second second from Duval any questions on the business items from the board all right Barbara would you call the role M Akim wand hi Mr Bonnet I Mr Campbell yes Mr donad yes Miss gotle yes Miss Graham yes Miss O'Neal Dr yarus Ramos hi M Ginsburg I and I should have mentioned that we accept with thanks the uh gift of Lysol Nitro gloves and hand sanitizer from the Essex County Office of Emergency Management with a value of $1,550 thanks to the office of emergency management things that we can always use and now we have come very quickly to the second public comment period for questions or comments on agenda items or other items pertaining to the running of the schools uh the same rules apply does anyone have a question or comment uh yes step right up to the lecture and please I don't think it works it's a good idea to use your outdoor voice anyway I'm just gonna try to talk really loud um hi my name is Sila Patel I have uh one child in the school system one soon to enter um I would like to say what an honor it was to be here tonight to hear the celebration of all the wonderful teachers two of whom I'm sure I'm using correct English my son my older son had the privilege of having as as teachers so my hope is that in the future we're going to be gathering here and on that list will be some of the language teachers that we have yet to hire and I hope that we will um so I was here in November about virtual Spanish and from the interaction I had in November with the Boe like the in um same meeting but in November and then some side discussions with some of the Boe members for which I'm grateful and thank you um I know that this is not a preference by the district we heard that with the discussion of the budget it's great to hear that um and of course the district is always responsive and it's nice um but these kids need better they need to be ready for language classes once they hit seventh grade um I'm concerned that all of the children especially those those I don't have a sixth grader but those that are in sixth grade are not ready um okay so the reason I'm here is it's very personal my son is not a complainer um he's very easygoing I think it's fair to say he's probably one of the brightest in his grade but that being said he did complain about Spanish and I thought uh it's just Dylan maybe being traumatic you know but in just the usual back and forth with other parents it turns out Dylan is definitely not alone and I think there are more parents here tonight compared to November um and that sort of reflects that and I'm aware of a letter that's going to be submitted to the board um and on that there are at least 120 signatures of gr residents there are other residents not living in Glenridge but that also just speaks um to the concern so what I did hear in the discussion about the budget is um sorry that that's uh two minutes if you can finish up oh okay so that the amount of salaries how does that compare to other districts West Windsor Baskin Ridge milour that's just a question of the salaries but what I'm proposing is that there the committee that is going to seek uh the teachers include parents that are not part of HSA so that their energy and time is focused um but that we can help the process like what about other Industries where they do on the job training sort of outside the Box you know take folks that maybe aren't trained in education but speak Spanish and put them through a program I I think um we need to finish up but we certainly um I Mr Phillips you probably want to address some of that but we certainly um the administration is always happy to have dialogue about these things so you can um you've probably spoken to Mr uh don Dr Donovan already Yes just by email not since November so no In fairness I haven't I I think I didn't know if it's better to come to the board first but if you're saying I should go to Dr John it's a good idea to just start with your building administrator okay Mr Phillips has an open door he probably doesn't want me to say that but um but start with your building administrator see where you can go with that discussion um and and then you know let us know how it goes and and you know because languages are important to us obviously our resource is our finite and we are looking but I think a constructive dialogue with a building administrator is a good idea like are there grants I don't know I'm not familiar with education I'm I'm a lawyer sure well um that's why we have building administrators is to have a a dialogue you um some members of your group maybe who who've signed your letter can go and talk to make an appointment with Mr Donovan to to talk this out okay yeah I signed the letter I I didn't draft the letter but yeah thank you okay thanks hello I'm Courtney Williams a proud parent of two Glenn Ridge students including one in fourth grade at Ridgewood um really grateful to be part of this District this town my kids have learned so much from a lot of the teachers that were here today including one who's still here so really a a very very happy with the education they're getting there is this one area of Spanish language learning where I just don't think we're quite doing our best um we are a world class A a high performing district and in this area we're just not doing enough to prepare our children my children to be uh High performing citizens of the world in this sense this is exactly the age when I think and so what I'm talking about is the third through sixth grade this is exactly the age and we should be getting them really excited about language and instead I worry this virtual approach is actually doing the opposite um my son was very excited for the Spanish language club last year at Ridgewood signed up and then it was most of the time canceled at the last minute then this year he has virtual learning and when I told him tonight that I was coming to just express my support for the ask for in-person learning he was truly excited for me and he's in fourth grade so he believes this is important so I'm here I also signed the letter that Sila mentioned you'll see that shortly um and I'm just here to reiterate the ask for in-person Spanish language learning really encouraged to hear that that's underway earlier and a more dedicated process to do that um and we remain available as parents to assist or provide feedback in any way we can thank you thank you other questions or comments okay if there are none uh the Board needs to adjourn uh into exec session again but we finished for the with the business for this evening so thank you all coming and um I know that the issues you've discussed will continue to be discussed thank you I motion to uh move into have a motion to go into EXA you made it