e test e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay the board met tonight in executive session we're ready to start the regular portion of our uh meeting May just find my page here so we can start the regular portion of our meeting um we only had one written communication to the full board uh since our last meeting which was uh June 11th which seems like a long time ago now and that communication was on the subject of our um after care before care after CARE program and the provider um and so um there were some concerns there um they are being addressed by the superintendent and by Mrs Murphy um the president's report uh our thoughts prayers as I'm sure yours are are with the family of Montclair superintendent Jonathan Pond who died unexpectedly on July 12th um those of us who've met Dr Pon and for those who knew him well it's a it's a huge loss to the Montclair community and to the education World in New Jersey um last night the Montclair uh Boe hired Damon Cooper who is currently the director of secondary education in Montclair uh as interim superintendent he is the one that made the announcement of Dr Pan's death uh he will be the interim presumably until they are able to find a permanent superintendent so I I did reach out to Dr Cooper and also the president of the Montclair Board of Education with our condolences offers of any help that they need uh and I got back a nice note from their Board of bed president so please keep Dr Pon and he had three young Sons uh keep them in your thoughts and prayers and the legislature is out of session right now um thankfully so they aren't coming up with strange ideas for education but the New Jersey task force on teacher evaluations is currently meeting that is something that was mandated by legislation that was passed last uh this past spring um they are looking the objective is to look at the way Educators both teachers and administrators are evaluated currently um um in the current the current system is about 13 years old so in the evolution of all things educational a look at the whole system and uh there the task force recommendations are due September 30th the any changes that might be recommended will be dependent on the passage of either legislation or changes in regulations so it will take a little bit of time but this is a a good deal of forward momentum on teacher evaluations and that is the president's report superintendent's Report with with our first superintendent report by our new superintendent Mr Arlington welcome Kyle thanks good evening I'm excited to be here tonight for my first Glen Ridge Board of Ed meeting uh given the inaugural nature of the event I want to leverage this opportunity to introduce myself and share where I am in my transition into the Glen Ridge School Community to do this I thought it might make sense to reshare the night of my April appointment so with full disclosure if some of the language sounds familiar it should I'm deeply honored and humbled to serve as Glen Bridge's superintendant of schools becoming part of this Vibrant Community and contributing to the legacy of educational Excellence within our district is an opportunity I take on with great enthusiasm and responsibility know that I appreciate the kindness of so many people who have reached out to welcome me and who shared more about the culture that makes our district unique I take seriously the job of listening and learning from the wealth of experiences that our teachers students parents and community members bring to the table I premise the work of transitioning to the role by using an admiring lens and focus on focusing on what's working but through that process I also remain committed to moving us forward in new ways in innovative ways and in ways that continue to keep us performing at high levels the shepherd this work I'm excited to bring a fresh perspective and my professional brand of energy to sustain tradition but also fure space for new advancements and Future Ready practices um in my introductory correspondence I sent to the community at the top of the month I shared a little bit about my professional experiences and track record with some of this type of work I appreciate those who reached out to me after reviewing that information and to those who haven't yet had an opportunity to take a look I hope you take a few minutes to check it out it's posted on our website which I should mention is under construction uh there you'll find more background on my professional biography The Guiding principles of teaching and learning I live by and the values I embrace as part of my leadership practice I've also included a bit about my life outside of school which I hope Paints the portrait of who I am not only as a school leader but as a father and educational researcher too I believe it's not so much that we each have multiple identities but rather we're one person with many sides some of which show up more fully than others depending on the space we're in and the context we find ourselves I hope my introductory information makes that point and shares my many sides know that I'm currently or looking forward to building on these initial introductions in the fall I'm currently organizing a series of opportunities currently thinking through that that I hope will provide a few different chances for us to meet and engage in some thought partnership these opportunities may include things like meet and greets and I'll be sure to message out the details of these events later in the summer but beyond using these gatherings as chances to meet those who make up the community I hope to enact these guiding principles that I've been carrying with me so far as I've engaged in listening tours and Landscape assessments already the principles include developing my leadership presence in Glenn Ridge identifying cultural norms building connections and finding the transition Break Even point so that's the point I'm defining as consuming as much information as I am contributing to the advancement of the district so my goal isn't to act quickly but to find this break even Point quickly I think finding that point comes more easily through a process so I've structured my transition around three phases I'm not sure each is mutually exclusive and finite i instead I think the boundaries and borders are flexible but currently I'm in the process of scheduling and having conversations and reviewing all the possible written information I can more specifically as you'll see here I'm working my way through conversations with the various people listed to ensure as many varied voices are able to share their experiences hopes and goals as well as their frustration points or challenges uh and while I've been letting the conversations go where they take me and take me where they go I've been using this framework as a general guide to ensure some degree of consistency I hope that they don't feel entirely scripted but I do hope that in sticking to this framework at least Loosely I provide an opportunity to find themes Trends and patterns across conversations and more importantly create an environment where everyone's contributions are valued as part of an all important mix studying documents I don't think is traditionally what one thinks of when they think of beach reading or summer reading nonetheless my review of things like our diversity equity and inclusion report and special ed audit have been Illuminating these documents have what I'm calling thing power that is they have agency and the ability to act upon us to cause some effect so it's been useful to review documents like uh district and board goals and take up the thing power they produce along with holding them up against the takeaways for my individual and group conversations for example one person with whom I met said it would be helpful Beyond updates and progress reports to have a more detailed understanding of how any given list of updates puzzle into the bigger picture of who we are as a district that's something I've been thinking more about and one example of an outcome from one of these conversations that may have a very specific deliverable attached to it in closing I hope every few months or so that I'm able to revisit for the board in the community at large where I am in this transition process I think sharing this information will be useful to help build momentum and also assuage anxieties around transition I recognize that there's a certain degree of excitement that swirls around transitions but I also recognize that it can be destabilizing uh for some the fact that I'm in transition means others either in big or small ways or both are in transition two uh you have my word that I will keep that in mind as I lead with with an effort to build mutual respect and keep kids first I will be sure to post this presentation on our website I know that I invite questions or feedback and look forward to meeting soon that concludes my report okay all right um we've now reached the public comment it great segue we've reached the public first com public comment period for questions or comments on agenda items only uh for those of you you probably all know procedures but just in case uh if you have a question or comment step up to the Lector sign in affirm your Glen Ridge residence um you will have two minutes to speak um if you have something written um that you can give us please give it to Mrs Murphy for the record if you are affiliated with a group um please let us know what that is so does anybody have a question or comment and my I believe that my friend Kristen D will keep time will you keep time yes the quiet the quiet of Summer all right well um if you have second thoughts or third thoughts we have another public comment period at the end of the meeting so you're welcome to step up then um let's move on it is the first and only meeting of the month but I am well aware that most of our committees have not met so let's go around the circle and see if um we've had some committee meetings and what is timely so Heather let's start with you uh the curriculum committee hasn't met since I last reported out in June okay anything Central home and school yeah okay David anything uh no we're trying to schedule um committee meetings for personnel and policy and financing facilities uh before the um Retreat or potentially after the retrieve yes great and the negotiations committee did meet on July 16th oride July 15th um to address an issue with the the contract um and given the confidential of the nature of the committee's work the further discussion can't be shared in public and just also a brief announcement on Grace the Glen Ridge Association for special education um that group the leaders of that group are meeting tomorrow evening and and there's going to be discussion around how we can promote the organization to recruit additional volunteers um and so just know that if you are interested in being involved with Grace attending future Grace meetings that you should reach out to the grace leaders through the link on the student services website to express that interest and my uh liaison assignment the diversity Association has not met but uh in keeping with our board goals we have periodic meetings with um officials from the buau so we have just set up our next meeting for August 1st uh it will be uh Joselyn Kristen me U Mr Arlington and uh mayor Debbie mans two members of the council and bro administrator Mike sakali so both the um all all all the ideas will be in the room the Visionary ideas the operational ideas and everything in between so we are looking forward to that we've had some very productive conversations so far um found many uh points of commonality with our friends from the burough so it is it is a great development it's the great uh uh working out of a board goal and that's all for me um Kristen I don't um I don't have uh the details for gas lamp with me but I can say that they do know that they have a very robust and active summer program so if you are interested in programs and that they are running and any shows that they have coming up um please check out their website and I have not um uh checked in had a chance to check in with the visual arts since school ended okay and I should say normally in this space we would have a report from our student representative but as our two student Representatives graduated in June and we have not yet started school again we're we're temporarily without a student representative but we will have one again probably in September all right uh we have our business items um we have several administrative items JN would you move those IES first I'm sorry um yes so moving M1 everyone had a chance to look at the minutes by the way for May 14 yes second second from David so no changes okay Barbara would you call the role for the minutes Mr Campbell yes Mr Denard yes Miss gotle yes Miss O'Neal yes Dr Yus Ramos hi Miss Ginsberg yes motion carries okay now Jocelyn would you move the administrative items I'd like to move items A1 through A8 okay may I have a second second second from David uh any discussion uh board members on the administrative items like on A6 the name the CH you want me to say that name don't you um CH our legal team which was formerly a boutique Law Firm um Cornell Marino uh has become affiliated with a new law firm called methfessel and worble that's why you try saying meth fessel and worble three times fast the good news for us is that we will keep our same legal team we will have Miss Osborne with us um some of you have um met Jeff Marino who handles our negotiations and also Athena Cornell who is is the will be the head of the school law team so it gives our lawyers um more access to resources gives us access continued access to them at the same rate that we have been paying them so aside from the difficulties of saying the name of the firm for us nothing will change right now um so just a bit of explanation and now uh the motion has been uh made and seconded any other discussion all right Barbara would you call the rooll Mr Campbell yes Mr Denard yes Miss gotle hi Miss O'Neal yes Dr yarus Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg I motion carries okay David would you move or I'm sorry Heather would you move the curriculum item either order either order all right curriculum is short I'll move C1 okay may I have a second second from Jocelyn any discussion on the curriculum items which are uh trips okay Barbara would you call the role on curriculum Mr Campbell yes Mr Denard yes Miss gotle yes Miss O'Neal yes Dr Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg I motion carries okay now Personnel David it's your moment would you move the Personnel item items rather I move P1 through p16 okay may I have a second second second from josn in keeping with our rules and the board members code of ethics um we do not discuss Personnel items in public session that being the case Arbor would you call the rule Mr Campbell yes Miss Mr Denard yes Miss gotle yes Miss O'Neal yes Dr Yos Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg I motion carries before we move on to the business items I want to draw your attention to the items under B5 donations uh we received a monetary donation for classroom furniture and a monetary donation for the 2025 field trip to Fountain Springs from The Ridgewood Avenue home and school Association uh a value of um well over $8,000 uh we received a gift from The Ridgewood Avenue home and School Association collaborative problem solving training give thanks for all staff and students Teachers Pay Teachers teams gift cards and solar eclipse glasses some of you remember the solar eclipse and those glasses and all and thank you to the Ridgewood Avenue home and school for that and also from our friends at the Glen Ridge Education Foundation a monetary donation for the virtual High School 50 contracted seats for the 2024 2025 school year uh value of over $8,200 and uh I have to say that the virtual High School is enormously attractive to our students it offers them options uh both AP options and regular course options that we cannot offer ourselves um and it we owe it entirely to the Glenn Ridge education found found and the the continuance of it to the foundation so um we uh they help us be the district that we are so special thanks to the foundation in addition to thanks to the Ridgewood women's School Association and now uh David would you move the business items I moov B1 through b11 okay may I have a second second from hather any discussion board members okay Barbara would you call the role Mr Campbell yes Mr Denard yes Miss gotle yes abstaining from item B2 Miss O'Neal yes Dr yarus Ramos hi Miss Ginsburg hi motion carries okay we've come to the second public comment period for uh questions or comments on agenda items or any items pertain aing to the running of the schools uh the protocols are the same does anyone have any questions or comments okay that being the case uh board members if there's no further business may I have a motion to adjourn motion moved by David may have a second second second from Heather thank you for coming