##VIDEO ID:hD8LCpiU56s## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e which is kind of another way Winnie are we ready okay the board met an executive session tonight we're now ready to begin the public portion of our meeting uh we did have some public correspondence between um now and our last meeting which was actually October 29th uh we had uh four emails uh from Mary McGrath on uh November 14th Rosemary and gray on November 13 Jenny Bailey on November 11th and Mary zema on November 5th all on the subject of advocating for uh bans on cell phones and SmartWatches and all of those um emails have been answered and also uh taken into consideration as we move towards uh a policy on those devices so thank you to those who sent uh sent their thoughts um going on to the president's report uh I want to recognize first our two retirees which you'll see their names on our agenda Helen Maia longtime teacher at lyen Avenue School and Shirley wujek who is a veteran pair professional at Ridgewood Avenue School we are fortunate that both of them will be with us through the end of the year so we don't have to say an immediate and very short goodbye we will have adequate time to celebrate their wonderful accomplishments and the fact that they have touched lives literally of generations of Glenridge students uh so um but we wish them well as they now start their Journey towards retirement um but more on that towards the end of the year um it is budget season starting to be budget season for us the Glen Ridge Public Schools it's also state budget season and as you know about 5% of our funding for the Glenridge Public Schools flows through the state flows from the state of New Jersey um they are working on the FY 26 budget uh New Jersey school districts at this moment are considered fully funding which seems like um not a particularly useful term for us but according to the state's lights we are fully funded uh that means that there's a lot of ambiguity this year about the amount of state aid that we and every other district will receive more ambiguity than has been president in the last seven years for us um as the state Works through its process districts are able to give input through our local Representatives our Senators and assembly people and also our advocacy organizations like njsba the school boards Association and the guarden state Coalition that process of input has already begun those our advocacy organizations will be speaking to the New Jersey Department of Treasury during the month of November to talk about the needs of our districts um one other thing many of you have heard about the freedom to read act which has been passed by both houses of the legislature now and is sitting on the governor's desk awaiting signature basically the freedom to read act which has gone through many legislative iterations um does two things it requires that school districts and entities that run public libraries establish protocols for book and resource challenges um which we already have here in Glenridge and it also um protects school and public Librarians from prosecution for distribution of pornography so I expect that will be signed relatively soon they will probably be a big public signing uh to go with that and that is the president's report a superintendent's report thank you good evening everybody there are several uh informational updates that we're looking forward to I'm looking forward to sharing with you tonight uh but we're going to do things a little bit out of order and uh invite to the podium uh some colleagues and friends to talk a little bit about the kitchen door sure I wasn't prepared I'll say something okay go ahead so I can say good evening um thanks for having us I um this is my I'm 15 years in have chairing the kitchen tour in Glenridge and as most of you know I don't have kids in the school system anymore but I have this great group of friends and ladies who we've got it down to a science at this point so even this year when we did have to call Betsy uh we did manage to keep it together and I'm happy to say that since I've been a part of it this is the largest check that we've ever raised and um it was an amazing team and we're really proud to give $4,189 to the Glen Rich [Applause] [Music] board yeah and it was a great day and it took a big team of people to do it too small how many people did we have 12 yeah yeah it takes a lot of volunteer hours and I I I worry about the future to be honest we need some younger people I'm not going to do it that much longer um but she will do it in two years I will do it in two years we have decided we're all going to stay together right but um we we need to start training some people to take it over because when I started 15 years ago the reason it was so difficult to do every year is no one had the experience and at this point we we know when we need to have the ads in we know when we have to have the contract signed and we know how we can find three more kitchens if three people back out two weeks before the event so well we have used your kitchen before so we'll paint a different color and use it again so if anybody knows of anyone who's currently working on a kitchen I mean I see there's Deval deval's kitchen was I've been on the tour you could yeah she's been on the tour we'll be um happy to take their names now because I think every time we do it we say we should start a little earlier but um you know you don't count on on like what's not going to happen and this time we were uh we got caught in a in a little bit of a crunch but we came out of it and I don't think if we had if we hadn't had the experience that we had in the past we abely well we're excited to see what $40,000 can do and you know we're competitive with ourselves we've always wanted to make it to 40 and now I'm like 50 I think we've already decided we're g to jack up the price on the tickets yeah that's it [Applause] [Music] sorry come on Betsy your there you go all right smiley faces should jump up real quick very nice photo bomb photo bomb thank you all so much okay thanks again we we we so appreciate it and we're excited to to share out how we uh purposed those funds for some of the ways we were planning to around Future Ready teaching and learning yeah uh as I mentioned earlier there's several informational updates I've outlined them for you here um looking forward to sharing with you tonight uh starting with the district goals the four priorities outlined in the agenda tonight represent broad overarching objectives these goals have been shaped through careful thought and consideration and are designed to serve as guiding principles for our work moving forward they are intentionally broad to Encompass key District priorities and I hope we view them not as mere checkboxes but as aspirational targets that will help steer our efforts and drive meaningful progress ongoing conversations with administrators were instrumental and shaping these goals which we further refine during a summer Retreat additionally feedback gathered from my transition discussions with Board of Ed members students parents and teachers played a significant role in guiding this process these conversations coupled with my interactions with community members at organizational group meetings welcome receptions and other events have provided valuable insights and help shape the final set of goals moreover these goals are informed by my review of key documents such as our special ed audit and the diversity equity and inclusion audit from a few years ago the goals we present to T night serve as broad overarching categories that will guide our work moving forward for example an exploration of restorative practices will fall under our social emotional learning goal and will include specific action steps and measurable metrics our commitment to building a more inclusive and welcoming Community will be reflected in our English language arts curriculum goal ultimately these goals are designed to connect the dots of our efforts and steer us toward Future Ready teaching and learning with the board's approval tonight the next step will be to finalize Act action plans which are somewhat in draft form these plans outline specific actionable items with timelines and measurable metrics for Success ensuring the goals are specific measurable achievable realistic and time bound we'll also find ways to keep the community informed on our progress toward these goals but tonight's approval marks a critical first step and I'm pleased with the collaboration and input from so many individuals who contributed to shaping these District goals uh turning now to the board's goals these two will serve as aspirational targets to which the board will strive the goals presented here have been shaped by the board's ongoing work and discussions within the various committees they serve on including personnel and policy Finance Communications and curriculum additionally they reflect themes and insights from the board's self-evaluation from last year as well as conversations held during their summer Retreat and a mini retreat in October just as with the district's goals we will collaborate on developing action plans for the board's goals to ensure they're actionable measurable and aligned with our broader Vision these plans will take lofty conceptual goals and transform them into tangible implementable steps those action plans are already drafted with input from the board and we'll continue to flesh them out as the at the committee level as well as during upcoming Retreat opportunities and other public sessions while the board's goals and District goals are distinct from one another I hope we also consider them and see them as interconnected did working together toward a common purpose make the Cog wheel these goals function in tandem each turning and supporting the other propelling us forward in unison by aligning both sets of goals I think we ensure that every effort at every level moves us closer to our shared vision for the future I'm really excited about this work and I'm eager to partner with so many of you as we move forward in this important effort next Mr dwit our director of student services will present the results of our student safety data report uh with help from uh principal Murphy after he walks us through the data he'll share ideas for how we can and should use the information to drive meaningful action uh these insights will align with some of the district goals uh I just spoke about ensuring that the data not only informs us but also helps us make a tangible impact including the way they resonate with our district goals so that this report he's about to share actually matters uh so with that as the prefacing remarks uh happy to turn it over to director DT for a fuller presentation good evening I'm here tonight to present our student safety data system report twice per year we report out to the state on the data we collect on harassment intimidation bullying investigations trainings programs that are provided and that also includes the violence and vandalism report and some other data that the state is now requiring us to gather this is for reporting period two which is from January of this school year or uh last school year through June I had already reported out on reporting period one which was from June through June uh July 1st of the the year before through December so the student safety data system is uh combines the previous system which was our Evers it was the electronic violence and vandalism reporting system and it also includes the harassment intimidation system they combined them several years ago and it has all the data that we provide provide out um in 2022 the state had also required that we start Gathering some additional information anytime that the district implements any type of restraint seclusion or timeout procedures for special education children we're required to also report that out um it's important to note we have not used any timeout or seclusion procedures or mechanical restraints over the years we have had times where we've had to implement physical restraint uh we have a training procedure there's a two-day training for anyone who is involved in that we currently have about 25 staff members across the five buildings although it hasn't come into play in most of the buildings we have had to use it in several of the buildings generally speaking the incidents are under 2 minutes long they always involve first going through verbal deescalation for the students then trying lead alongs things that will stop that the incident happening prior and if they're going to hurt themselves if they're going to hurt someone else or if they're going to cause any destruction in the classroom that would hurt themselves or others that's when the staff member would intervene uh again there's 25 we had another four people that were trained today they go through a two-day training and then every year they have to go through another halfday training if an incident comes up we do report it out the parents are notified the school nurse looks into it so it is uh that if information has been gathered this is for reporting period two we did have two uh I'm sorry three incidents of restraint that occurred at Lynden Avenue School and one at Ridgewood Avenue school again there was no seclusion and there was no combination of those two that occurred all of those in incidents like I said were under 2 minutes some of them 30 seconds long things where we had to intervene if we look across the entire school year there was a total of five incidents that occurred um and again I can share that those were in um our self-contained classrooms where we've had to intervene the other data that we present is um the incident total those are any incidents of violence vandalism substance weapons and HIV that is confirmed and you'll see on the next chart that has that as one total that occurs um violence is considered assault fighting kidnapping robbery and the other terms that are up there vandalism is something else to report out and also if there's any incidents that lead to removal which is longer than a half day we also present that out reporting period was one was presented in the uh winter I think it was January February that slideshow is up on the website and this one will be there tomorrow on the student services website if you look at reporting period two there was a total of see if I can get that to work there was a total of 13 incidents that did occur across the buildings and again those involve violence vandalism substance weapons and any hibs that were confirmed not anything uh not alleged incidents that occurred if there is an alleged incident they go through the procedures if it's not found to meet all the criteria for an HIV we still report that out um then they would generally go to code of conduct I can tell you from being involved in them seeing the letters that went through to Mr Phillips and now to Mr Arlington there is a list on each of those of the remediations um that are taking place for them here's the combination of what had occurred across the school year we did have a total of 19 incidents which involved violence vandalism substances weapons uh and HIV confirmed and there was a total of 30 HIV additional allegations that were not found to be HIV but would be treated under our code of conduct for reporting Period 2 the one HIV that did occur it was found to be in the type of bullying Buzz verbal and physical in nature um it was found to be intentional and the nature of the bullying was that it meant with under the category of mental physical or sensory disability um we don't list out the types of discipline or mediation especially with a small number because it would be confidential information that someone could then determine who it was so for the combination across the year we did have three and I've listed all those the previous ones were reported out already but for the chart and for what's going to be posted it will have all of them up there we also based on what occurs we the building principles meet with their action teams as a district we also meet several times a year and the principls will take the information and they will look to determine what types of programs and trainings that they're going to put in place to um if they see any Trends in what's occurring so here's a list for the trainings and programs that are at each of the schools total there was 28 tradings that occurred and 45 and this was just in the second half of the school year again January through June across the school year there was 67 trainings that occurred and 86 different programs that happens so some examples of the training um are listed up there for example Central School one of the things that Dr Harris has put in place is the level up Village that works on it's a cultural Exchange program between students around the world and Central School students an example from Mr Murphy's school is the Fantastic fireflies which is a schoolwide incentive program which acknowledges when children show kindness and when they make good decisions Lyndon Avenue School Dr caravell has pause up for respect um which is a schoolwide character Ed program designed to recognize the positive behaviors and students who go out of their way to perform kindness kind acts towards each other an example from Raz is the great kindness count challenge which is classroom lessons and a schoolwide activities that promote kindness and at here at Glenridge High School peer leadership which is a cohort of seniors who meet regularly with eighth graders to mentor and discuss different topics so these are just some of the examples that we have across the district and Mr Murphy's going to talk more about that in a minute here is a list of the staff members this has not changed from previous years the anti-bullying Specialists there's one in each of the buildings and then the administrators across the district were also involved in those investigations so next steps um once we have this information it allows us to have District level discussions with the leadership team to talk about if again there's Trends if there's things that we see that are coming up that we can then provide future programs or trainings for for our staff uh it involves building level and uh building level school safety and climate team discussions where they can also look at the trends that they're seeing occur and Mr Arlington is also has a superintendence Council who's going to be working closely to look at steps that we can um work on the climate in the schools you know overall the goal of that is to inform uh this information to use it to inform the action steps for our district goals and also to drive and find uh restorative practices for HIV and any code of conduct matters that occur Mr Murphy is going to join me and he's going to talk about some of the things that they're doing at the lower three buildings than good evening everyone um so I thought that tonight would be a good opportunity for um me to piggy back off of uh Jack's presentation because as we heard a few weeks ago in the primary schools we are working hard to build an academic Foundation uh for our students uh but we're also working on all of these other areas too because we know that what we do is critical for the success of the students in the future so our goal is really to strengthen what we do strengthen our students so that when Jack's giving his presentation in future years that we see uh more improvements and more growth um so Jack talked about trainings and sometimes uh in that big data presentation you don't really get into like what are those trainings so some of the things that we talk about um you know with our staff and we work on we look at research for undesirable behaviors and harassment intimidation and bullying incidents in schools can sometimes stem from children experiencing the following things this comes from res research we've done and also from our own professional experience anxiety or fear can trigger defensive Behavior such as aggression withdrawal or shutting down that's fight flight or freeze insecurity or social anxiety fear of failure or punishment that often leads to opposition for some children struggles with change or uncertainty many of us uh have challenges with Transitions and there are also other contributing factors that we see lack of emotional regulation skills family or environmental influences desire for control over situations and that doesn't mean that you know they want to be the boss I mean that there might be a situation uh where they tend to be more comfortable with schedules and know what's coming um and with that uncertainty it can cause behavioral issues and then also peer Dynamics and feeling the need to fit in at the primary level and and across the board um but I'm speaking in represent representing the primary level and my colleagues uh at Central and lyen uh implement ing preventative approaches to address experiences and influences the ones we just discussed that impact children's behavior that we're working really hard on building relationships strengthening strengthening connections with teachers and staff can help students feel safe and reduce anxiety-driven behaviors teach emotional regulation strategies like deep breathing mindfulness problem solving uh they help to manage emotions create create a safe and predictable environment consistency and clear expectations at school reduce fear and uncertainty intervene with social emotional learning oral programs teaching empathy kindness and conflict resolution help prevent both anxiety related behaviors and Hib and counseling or Support Services which are uh something we're always trying to strengthen um and referring students who are anxious or even feeling any kind of strong emotions that are causing them challenges in their environment um to our counseling staff at school or to uh private Mental Health Providers uh can help to address uh some problems before they get larger so I wanted to get a little bit into some specifics um that we are working on hard with the primary level and uh much of this comes from our our capturing kids Hearts program which is the SE part of our seal initiative um and some of it is stuff that we were doing before but I'd say that the big difference uh is that we're doing things very intentionally and very purposefully and we're doing it with consistency across the board so we are fostering a positive classroom climates every day teachers staff they're in the hallway they're at their classroom doors and this is every day consistently giving their kids high fives saying hello um it's a simple thing to do but if you don't do it with consistency especially on that day where you're running around trying to get your plans together then you're then you're not doing it so we are doing it each and every day and the whole idea is not just to set set the positive tone but what can we see when students walk through the door in their emotions that we can see that they might be having trouble it's a great chance for us to head off any challenges before they evolve or or grow uh we're doing morning Community meetings sometimes it happens in Period one sometimes period two sometimes period three uh but we do those intentionally with uh the goal of building connections between the teacher and the students between the students themselves to set expectations and to review the classroom Norms uh so this is all about establishing that consistent environment for the kids we share good things um this is something new to promote positivity and reduce anxiety we do this sometimes at the morning meetings well at every morning meeting but sometimes just at the beginning of lessons or right after lunch and the whole idea is just for a child to be able to share some good things that are happening either in their life or at school or at home um and this really helps to promote positivity in the environment and reduce anxiety sometimes if you have a group I've noticed uh this is working even in in meetings with adults where sometimes the meeting starts and there's some negativity and you know a little complaining we all do it I'm guilty of it too uh but if you shift over to good things then all of a sudden things turn positive and you can make a lot more progress uh we're building trust and emotional safety um one thing that we really working on with the young kids which is working even better than I thought our solar listening skills uh we want everyone at school to feel heard and valued um so when we're doing solar listening we square up we have an open posture I'm a big uh person that does this I close myself off but I learned that if I do this and do this now I am showing better listening skills so then we lean forward but not so much that we're getting creepy uh and I modeled all this with the kids and they they they they loved it uh we give eye contact and then we give a response um a response can be a paraphrased repeat of what was just said to you or it can be an open-ended question to evoke more information um just to give you an example of this uh we were really expecting at our level that teachers would be leading good things so the other day a couple weeks ago I observed a second grade lesson um and I was really surprised because when I walked in I see a second grader an 8-year-old leading good things in the classroom and the 8-year-old asked Speers would anybody here like to share something good one of his friends uh volunteered and I could not believe but this child after hearing the good thing asked two open-ended questions in response that evoked much more information so I can only imagine how valued his peer felt um and I also can can only imagine what this would mean if we can teach all of our kids before they leave the primary level to be able to show these kinds of skills and have practiced these kinds of skills um how this will help children problem solve in the future we use checkin questions uh all teachers use the same questions um we ask what are you know let's say somebody is fiddling around what are what are you doing what should you be doing um of course I'm forgetting the third question even during the presentation but basically we have questions that help the child reflect on what they're doing and then come up with some suggestions for what they can do differently that would be more positive we are establishing shared ownership and accountability I believe that we've mentioned in a few previous presentations uh that our staff all of the adults we created a contract with one another and that contract includes how we want to be treated how we want our leaders to treat us um and a whole list of questions that we work on together and we create a contract and then when we're finished we all sign it and our idea here is that we can't go into the classroom and just expect that the children are going to just do what we say we have to live it we have to do it for ourselves amongst our our own uh you know leadership and colleagues uh the whole faculty um and not only has it improved culture amongst the staff and the climate of the building in that way but it gives the the teachers buyin so that they can see this is what we're doing as a group of adults now we're going to do it in each and every classroom uh and so you know it it really is impacting all of us it's not just anal program or a character program this is um a whole climate overhaul uh we teach the kids non-verbal signals so if you have a contract um it's important that you keep revisiting it and keep reinforcing it uh so that students all know uh different um non verbal signs for instance this means if I see you doing something in violation of the contract I'm going to go like this towards the contract and that's a reminder to my friend hey you're doing something that is not allowed in our classroom um and then if somebody really hurts your feelings we tap our heart because that means that we've been fouled um and one thing that is included on every contract is that there are no put Downs we're not allowed to have put downs and for adults we have no sarcasm uh so if you foul somebody and somebody calls out a foul then what has to happen and and it's hard with the young ones but we we're getting there is not only do you have to apologize but you need to give two put ups you have to give two kind compliments or two things that you really appreciate the person who whose feelings you're hurt um we're promoting emotional regulation and mindfulness uh we this is something we've been doing for a while uh but basically when we need Brain Breaks or when the kids look like they're getting tired or they've been sitting for a little while or right after lunch when things are a little Rowdy we do mindfulness exercises we do yoga we do different kinds of brain breaks and uh little dance party things we shake we shake it up a bit um but those are really helpful for managing stress in the classroom uh and also we continually try to teach the children um like using feelings charts so that they can identify and understand the definitions of the different feelings to expand their own uh vocabulary there and understanding and we use something called zones of Regulation which I believe has been presented in the past where children can kind of rate you know how they're feeling and where they are and if they're heading in the right direction and we can try to get them there if they're not modeling and reinforcing positive behavior um we are recognizing successes with affirmations in in the classroom uh teachers at Forest lynen and Central we all call them something a little bit different but it's really all the same program we use bright spots right now at farest ebue school and we have uh fantastic Firefly Awards there's P up Awards over at um lynen Avenue school and they're doing a great kindness card program over at Central uh and these are things that are really um helping incentivize positive behaviors in the classroom um in the classroom we're also using lessons and activities uh to uh roleplay different scenarios so that way we can give the children some really good modeling um and help them with cooperation empathy and problem solving and finally um when we're doing these in-class incentives we try to have it all culminate into celebrations at the schoolwide level um so just to show how how we're pretty much all doing this the same but with different products based on different mascots and things like that so I gave you an example of a fantastic Firefly award now if I'm a student and I did something nice for somebody else and a teacher or um a parah or me or even a friend saw you and reports it you're going to get one of these cards each school has something um that they use to display these cards uh under lasas you can see their bulletin board with their pause ups and then during the year and throughout the year um when students are doing great things they can earn T tangible Awards uh over at Central they have something awesome they have this book vending machine so when children are doing a great job they can earn the right to go to the vending machine and get a book that they would like to have um so basically uh I wanted to just give you a little bit of an overview of what's Happening kind of on the ground and uh how we're trying to build a positive foundation for the kids and to strengthen their skills and to make their environment better um so that way we reduce and minimize those behaviors uh those causes of behaviors that we saw before um you know with with strateg strategies and uh targeted interventions thank you so much Matt yeah yeah than you um there will be time for questions but board colleagues do you have any questions for either um uh Jack or Matt I have a question for you jack thanks and I I've seen you do this presentation for many years and I this question never popped up until today is there any correlation between the amount of trainings per year and the number of incidents my gut would say no uh we do quite a bit of trainings and programs I think if you looked at that it was about 140 um there are still incidents that occur across the buildings um so no I not that I could think of specifically I don't think there is a correlation I just was looking at the numbers and I was just it just popped in my head it's a great question I think you know a lot of the incidents we see up they're not necessarily at school they're involving social media they're involving phones I know the screen agers is going to be give you a little plug for that in a couple days but they're coming up from those things um there are incidents that happen at school but I don't think there's that many incidents that arise to that level okay thanks you're welcome question a question so am I correct in thinking that um when you say training that is um faculty staff focused and programs are more student facing correct so the slide that listed the number of training trainings and programs um it looked like the and you don't have to go back to it but it looked like the numbers were a little bottom heavy and topheavy and light in the middle in terms of training is there a reason for that or do they fluctuate like from year to year like do we do training in some schools one year and it moves to the other schools the next year kind of all the above yes so so they're using so the school safety teams meet um the administrators will meet we talk about hibs at least twice a year we'll sit down and look at them and at least look if there's any Trends so if something is changing across the years they might bring in some different programs so they kind of will have been flow with what's going on in the schools um I don't think that there's anything specific that's wait is this the entire one can you flip to the next one yeah I think that's that's right so you'll see no there's not a specific they're not looking to say okay we're going to have 10 at each school or 11 they're looking at what's available some of them are longer programs some of the programs that might come up might be one day some of the so the numbers can be a little deceiving there might like Forest have has things that would last a month long things that last a week long or sometimes they're programs that last a day something like capturing kids Hearts which they're putting so much time into is only just one of those programs uh and a training too it'll be both of them but that's something they're doing all year long okay and then my my second question was the um the slide where you um where you laid out the strategies um including like the solar listening and everything and and on the header it said um you know beyond like do those programs do they extend into the lower grades at Ridgewood or like what is your definition of primary grades and Beyond so my definition of primary grades is pre pre to um this is a program that I don't want to call it a pilot because we're all in on it but we wanted to start at pre 2 and to see what happens we're working um a big part of the package with capturing kids Hearts is monitoring our success um and they help us with that uh so I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to show positive results and then there's always Explorations with the leadership as to you know are there is this a program that we'd want would it be appropriate for a grade level are there aspects of it that are taking place that we can pull in and the one thing I mentioned before which I think is important is that some of these strategies are strategies that are already being used um we've now tried to do it with more consistency but I know that just from my work with Ridgewood Avenue School that they are doing many of these things so so I don't want to give the impression that that um that stuff is not happening there yeah that's what I was hoping you to say is that you know that this is these are the building blocks that are being used to carry forward as the kids age up okay thank you I think we need a refresher in high school so it would be so good if we can get some of these high school students to do some of these things I I just would like to add that I've been interested in hearing about capturing kids Hearts it was really nice to see the nitty-gritty and details of the program since we've been talking about it but it was really nice to see it so thank you it's really nice for us because we're seeing it come together we've done so much training with everybody on the staff um but now we're starting to see some of the the fruits of the hard work and um I think we'll have even more positives to uh share in the future Matt I know with your description of the various initiatives connected to capturing kids hearts and otherwise do you find and I know early on early days do you find it it is making the kids um more receptive to learning as well yes I think it's having an impact um but also there are some other contributing factors like our class sizes are very small now um and so I think it's a lot of things uh contributing but we are seeing much less in terms of let's say a percentage of students who are needing uh behavioral assistance I think that we've given the teachers a lot more tools to use in the moment that has avoided uh more visits to my office not that I'm a real scary guy or anything but um but I've noticed it because I'm like gee it seems like uh nobody's coming to see me anymore um so I have to go out and see what's going on more often uh and it seems like the strategies are in the community building is really having a positive impact thank you Other Board member comments questions okay than guys I appreciate the um all the data and then the way Matt you kind of colored in the picture a little bit for that thank you very much thank you just to end with a a short anecdote about the social contract I was in Lyon the other day and uh I guess each class has an ambassador maybe that is supposed to speak to the guests about the social contract so students I walked in a first grader said you can't come in here unless you sign the social contract okay he's like well can you promise to not do any put Downs or and keep control of your body I said I can absolutely promise both of those things so give me that Sharpie and I will sign the contract so then I was allowed in so it was fun to hear it from the kids though to see the way there're sort of intentionality sticks yeah thanks again okay two quick uh sort of last items uh this year's budget calendar is available online and has been included um I think in your board packet initial budget discussions have commenced and individual budget managers are now reviewing and prioritizing their needs and goals for the upcoming school year uh as you review the calendar you'll notice a comprehensive timeline of key deadlines and activities beginning in October and extending extending throughout the school year I appreciate the ongoing support and collaboration from our business administrator Mrs Murphy and helping us to lead uh this important work so thank you bar as you may have seen finally in our recent reminders and as uh Mr D previewed for you um we're excited to invite you to our upcoming Community viewing of screenagers as I mentioned at our last month's meeting uh we're committed to engaging the community in an ongoing conversation about phones screens and more broadly digital Wellness uh the screening is an important part of that commitment please join us this Thursday at 7 uh in this very same space for the viewing of screenagers followed by a Q&A session moderated by psychotherapist Lauren Morello we look forward to the opportunity to connect learn and discuss strategies for supporting healthy digital habits uh and that concludes my report okay uh now it is time for the first public comment period uh for questions or comments on uh agenda items including the presentations you've just heard uh for those of you who are new to our protocols if you have a question or comment please step up to the lecture and sign in uh identify yourself your connection if you are representing an organiz organization or group of people please let us know what that organization is uh each person will have two minutes to speak my friend Kristen will time um and uh and if you have a whole series of questions please um give them to us all at once at one times and we will try to take them on in the order that you have uh given them questions or comments hi hi my name is Rachel Brian I am a resident of Glenn Ridge at 40 Windsor Place I have two children at lyen Avenue school and I'm an officer of the lyen Avenue School home and School Association I note that I am the secretary of the HSA executive board but I'm speaking on my own behalf to tonight due to an item that we were only recently informed was on the agenda tonight I'm speaking regarding item b3a the matching Grant donation for playground equipment upgrades in the amount of $440,000 from the Lindon Avenue School HSA I note that no such donation has been made at this time though the HSA holds and will continue to hold the funds in reserve the lyen Avenue School parent community has worked hard to raise These funds and the HSA takes very seriously its mission to act in the best interest of the children at Lindon Avenue School I believe the HSA has duties of fiscal responsibility and transparency for these funds donated by parents and should understand their use before making this donation my understanding is the HSA donation will provide approximately 30% of the required funding for this project the HSA however has requested more details before making this donation the HSA has not been kept informed of the actual scope of the project for example we were very recently informed that a second piece of equipment must now be replaced we understand a grant is part of the board's intended funding but we have not been informed of the source and detailed terms of the grant funding nor of the scope of bids solicited and received the reasons for the selection of the vendor or a detailed budget I also note that input and feedback from the broader lyen Avenue School parent and student Community has not been solicited yet regarding this project though it is something the HSA has requested as part of the process I'm almost finished these are items that I believe the board would make available to taxpayers in the buau but it is especially important to the HSA in determining how to spend $40,000 of parent funds to understand how that money will be used by the board I and the HSA will continue to be available to the board or school officials for further discussions in hopes of seeing this project through thank you just to be clear U with the beginning of your testimony you said you're on your own than as a representative school okay want to make sure that's correct we did not have an opportunity to circulate this statement among the executive board members in advance of this meeting okay thank you for clarifying that sure so I would just like to respond to that sure so um just so you understand I'm just going to explain the grant we applied for the I applied for the grant two years ago and because I knew that it was a project a potential project in the future and we were denied the grant when I F when I asked them why we were denied the grant they said because you didn't have as many matching funds compared to other people who applied so and it was kind of a hail Mar pass to try to apply for the grant in the first place it's it's from the Department of Community Affairs and it's not a common grant that we normally have so I tried again to get the grant um by saying that there were matching funds $40,000 from the district and $40,000 from home and school because I thought that was the best chance of us being able to secure funds to support the playground so we were awarded $67,000 for that was based on the fact that we were having matching funds um the the grant is strictly an equipment Grant the grant was written for their gu through their guidelines for equipment and the surface below the equipment and that's all we're allowed to use the money for and it's on a reimbursement basis so if we were to use it on something like plantings or a stage or other items we would not get reimbursed for the full amount of the grant because it's an equipment Grant so we have $67,000 of grant money $40,000 of board money and and we were hoping for the $40,000 donation we did meet with the president of the Lyndon home and School Association and invited her to the meeting with whoever she would like to bring and she brought um Mr Chris Gates and we met and we explained exactly what I just explained about um the matching funds and the purpose of the Grant and the restrictions on what we were allowed to use it for and we also explained the bidding process and the laws that we're required to follow because we're using taxpayer money and how we can if we had to go out to bid we would have to use the lowest bidder no matter whether we liked who it was or not but if we use a co-op we had several vendors to choose from that we had already investigated and had on the table um which would allow us to choose a vendor rather than be told by the lowest bid who we had to use I'm sorry is that confusing so so co-ops go out and do bidding for the state for the state of New Jersey and they say and then they award to a vendor and so there's different co-ops so if you use a co-op vendor they've already been vetted and we're allowed to just use them so but if you go out to bid on your own you're stu with the lowest uh available bidder so we explained this to the Lynden president and at the meeting um and so that and that the timeline is that we would like to start at the last day of school the day after the last day of school because we have to in order the money the $40,000 is in this year's budget so it has to be used this year so I'm not sure where the confusion is we we happy to meet with whoever would like to meet with us to go over uh the purchases we there were several presentations by Dr Caravella throughout the last few years on all different equipment choices Chris actually came to us with some equipment suggestions which we've been working with and waiting to hear back on finalizing equipment purchases and we've been trying to be open and have an open discussion so we're happy to meet I I I think that would be best because I it's my understanding that the parents might not agree with that version of of events we're we're we're happy to listen um but I what I can't change is that the grant money is for equipment and surface that's all we can use that grant money for so I think another question we have is what is the definition of equipment playground equipment so like why is a stage not playground think things that I think we would like to meet with you or Dr Caravella or whoever makes sense that's excellent idea as Miss Murphy said she's happy to meet happy to meet anytime thank you other questions or comments okay um for those of you who may have other things um not related to the agenda but related to the running of the schools we have a second public comment at the end um moving along with our agenda this although it is the almost the end of November this is the first November meeting of the month our last meeting was on October 29th so we will have committee and liaison reports starting with our student representative hi so the biggest news from the high school right now is that the boy soccer team won their sectional Championship last Friday and this afternoon they played in the state semi-finals where after a hard fought and close game they unfortunately lost two to one the marching band placed third at Nationals at mattlife Stadium the annual flag football game is this Sunday at 1: pm at harell field the proceeds from this event will go towards Project Graduation uh the marking period closed last week and report cards were released via Skyward yesterday I believe uh the chorus is performing at Radio City Music Hall this Friday preseason for winter Athletics starts on Monday next Monday instant decision day has been organized by the guidance department and will take place December 4th and 5th this gives High School seniors an opportunity to interview with select universities where they will receive an acceptance or rejection at the end of the interview and can decide on the spot whether to accept or decline and and that's all thank you okay thank you heather sure the curriculum committee met at the beginning of November we heard about the new state standards their grief standards for grades K through 8 um we heard about kind of what topics would be discussed and how that sort of integrated to what we already had in place uh we listened to or heard about guided math approach which is a way of instruction that involves small group it's data driven and it's flexible and how that was being implemented we also heard about it's called the multi-tiered system of supports it's both for academics behavioral and social emotional needs um and how that sort of a shift and what that entailed and then we also talked about District gold brainstorming and you see those on your agenda today thanks David uh the personnel and policy committee met last Thursday to discuss um hiring processes um the prior meetings have been reported on already all I have thanks okay Anthony no report okay Jocelyn I know you have several groups to speak for oh yeah um negotiations committee met last week and we actually have set dates for our initial meetings with gr for December um 17th and the 7th of January we're looking forward to having productive conversations with them and hopefully moving towards a quick settlement agreement um before the end of their current contract which goes through June 30th of 2025 um I'd also like to make a liaison report for the Glenn Ridge Association of special education which is having its second meeting of the Year this one will be virtual tomorrow night on the 20th and it will be from 7 to 8:30 a zoom link has been sent out um if you're looking for it you can find it on the student services web page and then a third report there the Ridgewood Avenue home and school meeting happened last Friday um there was a lot of information so I'm going to do a very high level um report but basically lots of thank yous on the community service group for doing a big um food drive for Thanksgiving um there have been some fundraisers and the holiday store is coming up where the the media center is overtaken and students can purchase gifts for friends and Families um National educ Education week is occurring now and there are lots of ongoing efforts to show the teachers how much they're appreciated and there was some discussion about that um the Discovery program has been a success and is coming to an end but there will be a second session going on in January for the winter session um and yeah I I think that's the general synopsis there's a one last thing there's a golden rhinos program which is the extension at Ridgewood of some of the paws up and recognizing the light of the Firefly where students teachers any staff in the building can recognize a student for an act of kindness and then tells them to go get a golden Rhino and then they have drawings um periodically where students get gift cards for having been nominated for a golden rhino in the first place so the next HSA meeting will be January 3rd and I believe I report out last time on the January meeting of the Glen Ridge diversity Association which was also attended by our superintendent um so let's move along down the down the road here uh dual I'm report out for our finance committe meeting which was on October 29th um we had several updates from Barbara about work ongoing work of C projects atol things such as asement cafeteria H upgrades roof reps some of you most of you probably aware that the fitness center the high school was flooded work this has been covered by insurance which is amazing and then there will be additional reps to the G by we and that will happen over winter um another big project in the district was new as we just heard we also Ted on the discussed um also as and mentioned budgeting so that is finance committee um for the communications committee we met just two days later on on the 31st of October on Halloween we reviewed some new initiatives that Kyle has brought to thee which are very exciting including a um a superintendence highlight broadcast um as well um intention to establish a board and student vaon committee and we're looking at team building activities for our board Retreats and we also discussed a proposal from a PR firm that worked with before called Bishop Communications to help us with what has been identified as one of our District's biggest challenges around communication so we will be going forward with that through um June of this year so very anyway thank you that's that committee report um the Forest Avenue Home and School Association met seems like now already in October 22 um with a huge La list of activities that have already passed but um I do want to point out that something it was a um a Dali celebration that I gather was very exciting and interactive for the students for the um uh the staff as well as the um as well as the parents and that was uh supported by the school Association coming up we have um Thanksgiving drives knitt drives Firefly Fridays in December Winter concert in the midle of December and um they won't be meeting this month or next month the next meeting is January 14th so that does not R the amount of activity happening but I think they just want to focus on the hey Trisha um for the middle school high school a lot of the stuff has already been mentioned as well as has already taken place so I'll just do um some quick Recaps for the middle school they had like a mixup day with seaing to help um to help kids assimilate more with talking to not just their friend groups but people outside of their friend group um and so Donald Kink started that last year I think um and she's continuing going with it so it seems to be going well we had they had Middle School Olympics um also September through um Mid October was Hispanic Heritage Month there was a Latin American dance performance that um took place in um student council middle school high school that's Halloween that's pretty much dated fitness center Dalal already mentioned um this Friday upcoming Friday Glen Ridge course is uh performing at Radio City Music Hall at 2 pm so um if you haven't seen the email go out go search for it and maybe try and go and support our Glenridge course that's performing um that's this Friday this week is National Education week um I'm sure you've seen the email with respect to do they need volunteers or donations for National Education week uh and add drop off is at one of the HSA members homes uh the Holiday Market is coming up December 8th mark your calendar such a great event um please come out and support all of our vendors um on behalf of the HSA and uh I think that's it thank you Kristen uh I will give an update for gas line players they just wrapped up their junior Workshop this past weekend with three performances of Singing in the Rain I didn't have a chance to see it but it looked really adorable from the photos I saw um up next uh they are um presenting one of Steven Sim's most beloved works most beloved Works Foles it opens this weekend it's going to be a really special production partly in that it's being presented at the Glenridge Women's Club on their newly re renovated Williamsburg Ballroom stage I don't recall seeing a massive production um in that space before so that sounds really exciting um for those of you who aren't familiar with Foles it's a old old classic but um with lots of great um U musical numbers in it it follows a reunion of former show girls who meet at their original Theater which is now slated for Demolition and they're visited by ghosts of the younger selves it features songs that have become standards in the American song b in the American song book and it will include a cast of 35 actors singers and dancers from towns across New Jersey and New York City including many returning stars from past Gaslamp Productions an email was sent out yesterday um to um all district members with a link to purchase tickets performances run Friday night Saturday afternoon and evening and conclude with the Sunday Mata show and if you haven't had a chance to check out the trailer um it's incredibly well done it's so selling I mean I I highly encourage everybody to take a look at it and then purchase tickets because um these um performances that uh gas does with the full cast of of adulted kids are really they're really quite something um the Lyon Avenue Home School Association met last week it was a quiet meeting because it was wedged in between parent teacher conferences but that doesn't mean it's quiet down at the south end of town uh the families of Lyndon just wrapped up a busy October with a ton of fun events both traditional and new they had the m and crumb Pumpkin Walk Harvest Fest um they recently had a parent social trivia night they um started they um had a new uh family activity day a football family fund day they had a book fair there's tons um hap tons of things happening and more still on Deck to come this week they have teacher appreciation week they are going to be starting hot cocoa sales in December that will benefit um second grade promotion they have bulb planning coming up for The Learning Garden um that's happening in early December um they are finalizing their plans for their winter Discovery session that's a nwe session and information should be coming out shortly about that uh the um assemblies enrichment committee um uh offered a assembly um with a planetarium last week that was very well received and they have a second one scheduled in March already that um I think is eyes of the wild thank you eyes of the wild which sounds really really cool and then they've budgeted um one more later in the year and Dr Caravella um offered a few updates parent teacher conferences I already mentioned he touched on the playground briefly and then he um wrapped up his update with a few teacher reports um he went through a laundry list of amazing things that the prek and the kindergarteners are doing um I was really excited to hear that they're spending a lot of time outside specifically in The Learning Garden so I think that bul planting will um is happening at at just the right time um he talks about talked about the first grade friends giving Feast which sounds really adorable and then he also mentioned um um p of the capturing kids Hearts um campaign that and and he also mentioned the social contracts so it all kind of comes full circle so lots of great stuff happening at Lyon and their next meeting like Forest isn't happening until the new year that'll be January 15th at 7 p.m thank you I forgot two things bety oh go ahead please the first is that the next um High School HSA meeting is this Friday 8:45 at the train station and then the second one is Mr Phoenix's uh leadership program again this is different from peer leaders um he is that's still going strong this is year two um we heard some good successes come out of that leadership program and he is always looking for um speakers in your respective professions if you want to come and speak to our high school students uh about leadership qualities or if you have any leadership books that you like to recommend for the program okay thank you you're welcome okay we will now go on with our regular business um you have in your packets minutes from October 29th executive session and regular session um does anyone have any changes to either of those sets of minutes okay Jocelyn would you move the minutes I move item M1 okay may I have a second second second from Anthony since there are no changes Barbara would you call the role Miss Akim wandi I Mr Bonnet I Mr Campbell abstain Miss gotle hi Miss Graham hi Miss O'Neal Dr Yos Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg hi motion carries okay moving on to the administrative items David would you move the administrative items I moved A1 through A4 okay may I have a second second second from Jocelyn any uh changes or discussion of the administrative items all right Barbara would you call the role Miss Zim wandi I Mr Bonnet hi Mr Campbell hi Miss gotle hi Miss Graham hi Miss O'Neil I Dr yarus Ramos I miss Ginsburg I motion carries okay moving right on to Personnel um yes Personnel um David would you move personel I move P1 through p12 okay may have a second second from Jocelyn uh in keeping with our rules the board members code of ethics uh Personnel items are discussed in executive session uh does any board member have any reason why we can't proceed with the Personnel items seeing none Barbara would you call the role M Miss Ain wandi hi Mr Bonnet hi Mr Campbell hi Miss gotle hi Miss Graham hi Miss O'Neal hi Dr yarus Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg hi motion carries Heather would you move the curriculum item sure I move C1 okay may I have a second second second from terisha any questions or comments on the curriculum items do note about our wonderful chorus going to Radio City great celebratory thing if there are no questions or comments from the board Barbara would you call the role Miss Akin wandi hi Mr Bonnet hi Mr Campbell hi Miss gotle hi Miss Graham hi Miss O'Neal hi Dr yarus Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg hi motion carries okay um before we proceed with the business items I want to draw your attention to uh items under B3 um and a comment um since the Lynden Avenue home and School Association has not made an official request to us to table this item um we will go forward um with the approval of it tonight being mindful of the fact that clearly you've brought um matters to our attention that will require I think uh further constructive conversations all right with that um David would you move the business items I move B1 through B7 I'm sorry there's just a typo on C it's there's like instead of a comma it's a DOT oh which item I'm sorry for C from the kitchen tour looks like $411 oh my goodness no but it's on the big check it is on the big check we care but thank goodness but thank you Heather thank you okay okay uh David move the business items again please yeah B1 through B7 with the understanding that that value is in the thousands notar those decimal points do make a difference may I have a second second Anthony Anthony okay a second from Anthony um and and we thank the donors for their generous donations uh with that Barbara would you call the role Miss Zin wandi I Mr Bonnet I Mr Campbell hi Miss gotle hi Miss Graham I miss O'Neal hi Dr yarus Ros hi Miss Ginsburg I motion carries all right we've come to the second public comment period for questions or comments on agenda items or other items pertaining to the running of the schools are there any the same protocols apply are there any questions or comments one comment on a different topic still Rachel Brian still um same person wi place thank you um since there's been a lot of talk about capturing kids' Hearts this evening I did just want to provide um some feedback from the parent and student perspective my son I have two children at Lyon Avenue School my daughter's in preschool kind of a little young for the whole thing but my son's in second grade he was really thrilled about the whole social contract concept at the beginning of the year he was talking a lot about it at at home with us he asked that we as a family make a social contract at home um he taught us all about the checks and fouls and he even made me request from his teacher the kind of printouts that she has on the wall to remind them what each thing is with the icons um and she did send them to me um I have to get them laminated I guess uh which I still have to do um but it's been a very positive experience for for us at home also and I just thought you would want to know thanks thank you I think contracts will be springing up all over town thank you any other questions or comments okay that being the case may I have a motion to adjourn motion moved by David may have a second second second from Anthony thank you all for coming