##VIDEO ID:3TbMYvusYYg## here miss carasa miss Carr oh uh yeah yes here Mr Cory here Mr Hayward here miss garelli here miss Stevenson M randelle here Dr Robinson here we have a quorum thank you all right Miss calz are you able to lead us through the flag salute please I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right good evening everyone adequate notice of meeting in accordance with PL 1975 chapter 231 notice of tonight's meeting was mailed to the record and the Ridgewood news on January 9th 2024 notice of this meeting was also mailed to the borrow Clerk and was posted on the bulletin board of the Board of Education Office in the administration building on the same date um I'll take the pleasure of reading our mission statement today um the Glenrock School District founded on principles of education in partnership with a supportive Community provides an exceptional education to all students to cultivate resilient responsible and engaged Global Citizens all right um I would like to get a motion um actually to go into close session all right motion accepted by Miss randelle and uh I need a second all right Ed um Hayward seconded all right so um a little bit unusual and I recognize everyone's presence here um but at 7:02 here we're going to go into closed session we're not taking any um any votes behind closed doors it's just to discuss a Personnel matter um that we have to discuss and then uh it'll be about 15 minutes and then we'll come back um into our public session all right all right okay 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 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 e e e e e e e e and then we will begin everyone Dr Robinson we need a motion to go back into public yes can I have a motion please pleas to go back into public session all right Mr Hayward seconded by Mr Corey all right um no student coun I'm sorry all in favor all in favor I all right then opposed Dr Charleston um are we able to have our njsla testing presentation please yes we are ready for the presentation which is what I'm sure you're all here um before can I talk about blue before um before we get to the presentation though I just want to mention uh for since we have a good audience here that uh we did send out press releases today earlier but um Alexander Hamilton Elementary has been honored as a National Blue Ribbon School by US Department of Education only uh yes very well um only 356 schools in the nation were given that award this year only nine in New Jersey were eligible I'm not sure what the other eight were but we're really proud of all of the the work that the teachers and the students in the community of Hamilton have done and I just wanted to to say that out loud because because there's so many people here and that's an awesome thing all right so we are about to start with the njsla data presentation um this is a required presentation it is lengthy I apologize for those of you who are not here for this but that is what we have to start with um it's a state requirement that we present this data to the public every year and um we will move through it as quickly as as we can I have some supervisors here to walk through the subject matter um but we will I'll give us get started first so first of all for those of you who are new to this um what it is why we're doing it we have to according to State we have to report the data within 60 days of receiving it um on some of the slides you'll see some data missing because we can't report on subgroups of students that are fewer than 10 for privacy reasons so you'll see some of that and then we have to present the participation rate also so how many kids actually took the test so real quickly first of all what was tested last year um English language arts is tested grades 3-9 U math is tested grades 3 through 8 also Algebra 1 geometry and Algebra 2 algebra in the high school it's only ninth grade though for the math so any data that you see does not include sophomores Junior seniors um and then we also test science in grades 5 8 and 11 and weda which is the access for L's for English as a second language and DM for for some other students and and Miss lubrano will talk about what that is um last year at this presentation we were talking about the the math scores and we were very happy to see the algebra 1 scores going up and I said hopefully this year I will tell you that the geometry scores have gone up and you will find out spoiler alert later on they did and we're very proud of the work that has been happening especially at the middle school math uh which you'll see in a bit when Miss Dela Fortuna comes up um want to just kind of refresh your memory the Board of who these kids are that we're testing and in their relations so this year's last year's third graders um I'll put this slide up here so you can kind of recognize where they came from they were in kindergarten during that hybrid year of instruction so this year's last year's sixth graders were in the fourth grade so if you think about kind of where the learning losses happened during covid I'm just keeping that in mind it's still a few years out but it's it's probably affecting some of our Learners as I said we have to test particip we report participation rates we are a district where 900% of our students take all of the tests so it's it's nothing that we're concerned about here and you can see the same for mathematics and the same for science all 100% in science we're doing great there um the last thing that I'll talk about briefly is how we're going to be talking the supervisors about percentage of of students who did well on the test and percentages of students in math Ela that met or exceeded expectations there are five levels we like levels four and five and in science there are only four levels not sure why the state decided it that way those are called proficient or Advanced proficient so when they come up and say 89% of students blah blah blah blah blah it means they're in that kind of red box up top which is which is what we're looking for meeting expectations or proficient and first up to talk about the language art scores is our supervisor of language arts uh K through2 which is Miss Sher KES all right hi everybody okay um so here we just have the overall list of students uh 3 through nine um how we performed relative to the state so the district versus the state um we continue to exceed the state average and numbers of fours and fives earned this year by an average of 27% um with a high of 33% in fifth grade in three grades we're exceeding the state by um 30% or more in terms of numbers of kids or percentages I should say of kids who are earning fours and fives um you can see the same data here just in a different form in a picture for me as an English person I find this really useful um the improvements that you're seeing are particularly in grades 36 and N last year we talked a little bit about how 36 and 9 we're still lagging behind our other grades a little bit but we've really seen those scores come up um previously we tracked with dips in the state in 369 and we start we're starting to see those scores recover um 3 and six we continue to see a little bit lower than our other SC our other grades those are big transition years three in that it's the first year that kids test um it's important to remember this is a completely digital platform for testing our third graders they're still little kids um and so that accounts for some of that six is a big transition year kids are moving into Middle School um but then we're seeing steady improvements follow particularly where we made really great grain really great gains excuse me in nth grade this Compares our scores fours and fives across the last three years um performance overall is basically on par with where it's been with with last year I should say um the relatively small numbers of students and the other supervisors are going to talk about this too and I'll talk about it a couple more times the relatively small number of students that make up each segment of this population means that percentage changes can be a little bit misleading right one or two kids can really sway a percentage um because we're testing relatively small numbers of students um but in six and N grade six and N in particular we're seeing gains in the numbers of or the percentage again of fours and fives earned and you're seeing again the same data here um most grades are still showing a bit of a drop off postco but 3 six and N are showing really strong signs of recovery so if you take a look at those bar graphs the two um furthest to the left on each the grades are the preo scores then yellow and further to the right are postco scores so now we're drilling down grade byg grade this is third grade um across the district districtwide we have an improvement of nine percentage points in fours and fives um what you'll see from the bar graphs is that there's variability school to school but if you take a look all the way over on the right that's where we have our district data the district is trending up overall again these bar graphs that break it down by school we're talking about as few as um you know 3550 kids sometimes so we're talking about really small numbers here we are in fourth grade um we're bouncing back from last year's dips dip in four fourth grade um in fours and fives if you take a look all the way down at the bottom at that District data an improvement of 9% there and again if you take a look at the bar graphs it's going to show you the same thing you'll see the schoolto school variability but what you can see is districtwide we are trending up again for fifth grade um so in fifth grade we've held really steady for the last three years in terms of numbers of fours and fives this year Coleman showed some nice Improvement um but again what you'll see those those bars are relatively flat fifth grade has stayed relatively flat um since since before Co so when we're thinking about sort of our notable achievements overall we outperformed the state average on every standard assessed so right there what you're looking at is sort of like the big overall achievement data but we also get it broken down by standard so on every standard assess we were exceeding the the state average in both reading and writing which tells us that we've got a really well-rounded curriculum both in terms of good reading instruction in informational reading and literature and across our different types of writing so argument exposition and narrative so that's a really nice sign um in our writing tasks in particular across all tasks and all criteria our nth graders outperformed the state by wider margins this year than the year before which means that we're showing really strong gains in writing in high school which is super important it's something that we're very happy to see um eighth graders also showed really good growth and strength in writing outperforming the state by 20% or more across all criteria and all tasks as far as intervention straty what we're doing to make sure that we continue on this path um this year we implemented Sunday our phonics program K through three um that has begun all of our K through3 classroom teachers are using it all of our um BSI teachers all of our special education teachers uniform at all levels um this year we'll be piloting programs for fourth and fifth grade so we will be piloting Sunday for fourth and fifth grade and we'll be choosing a second program to Pilot just to see make sure that we've got a good fit for grades four and five um there's also been the implementation of the intervention period in all Elementary classrooms so this means that we're coordinating efforts between building principles and intervention coaches to make sure that we're supporting kids in all their academics um in the intervent in excuse me in the elementary schools the basic skills Intervention Program is currently offered and is continuing to be offered and then we're enhancing our mtss practices districtwide to make sure that we're really reaching kids where they are and getting getting them everything that they need I'm going to turn it over to my colleague Mella forun as I'm talk about math thank you so our first slide is our percentages across the district um with our different levels of performances um this slide notes our comparison to the state as you can see in grades 3 to 5 we're at least 40% above the CATE average grade 6 and seven at least 30% and then if you're looking to algebra Ando and Algebra 2 we're exceeding the state average by a significant amount um in math 8 we'd have significantly less kids that sit for the math 8 exam so that's typically why you're seeing that score closer to the state average um but you're seeing the increase in Algebra 1 geometry and Algebra 2 so again these are our percentages um over the past uh 3 years 22 23 and 24 um as you can see in our graphs we have significant gains and algebra one in Geometry we're in um year three of our new curriculum and so you could see an increase in achievement in grade six and seven um and the algebra one has significant Improvement um so we're very pleased with with the outcomes of this date assessment and how kids are performing um especially in that Algebra 1 course so these are percentages um for grade three across the four buildings so the bar graph again is a nice depiction of the district as far as pretty consistent I mean you do see an increase in this year across the district um in particular if you look at Central School you're seeing a consistent growth um from 2022 23 and 24 um of percentage of students meeing or exceeding expectations um this is mathematics percentages grade four over the past three years so our bar graph again shows very um consistent scores in the district over the past um five years and as Sher my colleague was saying we do see you know variation in the bars over the years with like a small data set in in each of our buildings but consistently we're consistent over the years with our programming here are grade five percentages by school um again over the course of 3 years so 22 23 and 24 um I would like to note here um we see a consistent increase in the bird grade five performance on the state assessment um and again our district is consistent over the years so some of our notable achievements um of grade 8 students so regardless of the exam that they they sit for 68% of them meeting or exceeding expectations on a state math assessment this is a 3% increase from 22 and 23 and then a 19% increase from 2122 so we're very happy with the with the performance on the state assessment and the in the curriculum of revisions that we've made across the district 77% of students are meeting exceeding on the algebra one state assessment this is an 8% increase from the previous year and a 28% increase from 2022 um so again it's very much we're we're very much excited about this and the performance of our students and the preparation that they're getting in the Middle School courses um similar to English and Ela we do look at the standards assessed um and we get a breakdown of each standard and how they're performing on that um and our students are exceeding the state average of percent correct on all standards assessed our intervention strategies um so in the middle school and high school we've been continuing to implement the updated curriculum and assessments in mathematics from grade six all the way through Algebra 2 um and that's aligning to our instructional standards our content standards and our mathematical practices um in elementary we do have the basic skills Intervention Program that's being offered um and as Sher was mentioning we have the intervention period in all Elementary School classrooms and that's a coordinated effort between between the building principal and the intervention coach um so that is cross-disciplinary and and the supervisors are also in supportive of those efforts and that is leading to our enhanced mtss practices districtwide I'm now going to turn it over to Jackie before she starts I want to I want to just say um you know we've had a lot of concerns about middle school math curriculum we've done a lot to support the Math teachers in the curriculum and it's really great to see some of these scores showing uh that positive trend that we're looking for um later on you're going to be approving additional PD for high school math same kind of thing this mtss practices districtwide continue to do this so so we're really proud of of the work that Michelle's team has done and and uh we like look to see more of that and I'm going to introduce to the board for her first board meeting Miss jacqulyn Katz who is our new science supervisor who started this summer so welcome jacine thank you hello um I'm very happy to be here it's nice to meet everybody um but I'm going to talk a little bit about Glenrock science um so like and the other uh subjects we test in fifth 8th and 11th grade uh this table is just showing the percentages in Glenrock compared to the state levels and this graph shows really nicely how at each grade level uh Glenrock exceeds the state by almost double um which is is very nice to see uh this sort of science priority happening throughout Glenrock so this table is showing us how the percentages have changed from uh 2022 2023 and 2024 so we could see it a little bit better in this graph um at grade 5 8 and 11 things have been pretty stable um since uh 2019 actually at all the grade levels um and we've had we've seen no like real dip after covid which is nice because we're not climbing back out of that um next table is showing us um a little bit more detailed data at the elementary level and again what we'll see is that throughout the district there's been great stability at the elementary level with more variability at each of the individual schools due to sample size um but we have seen a pretty consistent showing which aligns nicely with the implementation of the Inspire curriculum which has been hanging on through most of this time period so a few things of note are that for all the grade levels More than 70% of our students are proficient or Advanced proficient specifically in the scientific skills such as investigating sense making and critiquing which is really promising because it's those skills that are going to lead to a more depth or or more deep content understanding in all the disciplines of Science and something that kind of supports this is the idea that we saw an 8% increase in the Earth and space science content amongst eighth graders which is really exciting because often times that Earth and space science is some of the Forgotten science so it's really great to see that a focus of that in the middle school is showing and helping to deepen our students understanding so to continue on with a lot of this great work the middle school science science is piloting a new curriculum which is really exciting for me because it's a curriculum based on sense making where students are constructing their own understanding of scientific phenomena so it's going to deepen their understanding of content and also strengthen those skills that we already see them growing throughout the grade levels which is really cool and the elementary teachers are going to continue to work with this Inspire curriculum and this idea of inquiry skills which is going to hopefully build now through the middle school and upwards into the high school so we're excited about these new innov along with a lot of the Innovations um happening in ela and math are only going to help support science even further because it's a nice interdisciplinary content area which we love so I'm going to pass it over to Miss Victoria luano question too late I'm doing sorry I'm sorry we're not taking comments at this point we have to continue the presentation no but and there will be a moment for public comment after this according to the agenda and you can feel free to voice your comments at that time thank you okay so what you're seeing on this slide is the breakdown of subgroup achievement for language arts um I do want to remind everyone that uh subgroups that are not reported are due to student privacy there's um less than 10 students in each subgroup um when they're not reported and what you're seeing here is as we look at the scores um from third to 9th you're seeing that there's less variability between the subgroups as we move closer to the nth grade scores here are the subgroup scores for math um and I just want to draw everyone's attention back to that math 8 group again that is a relatively small population of our student body um which is why you're seeing the scores represented the way that they are and again here are the subgroup scores um for science so um some of the interventions that we are working on for our subgroups is We are continuing our targeted professional development um and that is specific to student needs in our population so we are providing opportunities in co- teing responsive teaching and the teaching of diverse Learners um to address the needs of our subgroups We are continuing to collaborate between our special education and our general education departments our teachers um we focus on instructional strategies our combined resources and materials we really uh pay attention to the alignment between the different levels of service in uh all of our grades but especially in our middle school high school in our collaborative and resource and um general education classes um we continue to analyze our data specific to student groups at all grade levels um and with that data what we do is we re we review and update any individualized programming and support for specific students where applicable um and as has already been mentioned we are continuing our districtwide work um surrounding both mtss and responsive teaching so that includes this the introduction of the intervention period in our elementary schools uh that period is designed to provide datadriven targeted instruction for students so that period is designed for all students to get exactly what they need specific to um what the teachers are seeing in the classroom we have in instituted our building based coaches who are helping to facilitate that intervention period at each Elementary School and um we are instituting collaborative walkthroughs with our supervisors and principles to again um really hone in on those specific needs so we also administer to our multilingual Learners the waa test which is the access Suite um that is a suite of Assessments and it is directly aligned to the weda framework um which is the accepted standards for um our ESL program it is administered to students in grades K through 12 and it measures English language proficiency it's uh the assessment covers four domains Reading Writing listening and speaking um and those are the four domains that are associated uh with language development the exert criteria for that assessment is a 4.5 overall score so scores can fluctuate between those four domains but the overall average score is a 4.5 or higher students are eligible to exit our program and this year we had 12% of our students um meet that criteria and exit our program we also administer the dlm or the dynamic learning maps and that is an alternate assessment um to test progress for our students in English language arts Math and Science um for students with different types of significant cognitive disabilities so we do administer that assessment in District but um because of the sample size there's no uh data to display or analyze so that wraps up our presentation as as I've said before it's a required part of the the presentation for our district for our qac scores and all those kinds of things um if you have the board has any questions for me we can I can try and answer them or we can uh get back to you on that are there any questions from the board members at this time thank thank you for your time all right thank you again to the administration team um for uh this presentation I do look forward to this information every year um thank you all right being no additional items I would like to open up um public comments for agenda items only at 7:58 p.m. please state your name your address and you have 3 minutes um as it when we uh get to 3 minutes uh you're going to hear beling and I'm going to ask that you wrap up your comments at that time especially anticipating many people um so it's not that I don't want to hear I just ask that you stick within the 3 minute period of time thank you good evening orley goldfeld 72 delmare Avenue um I wanted to address agenda items um first B6 which has to do with um a resolution on the plan the designed for the playground for the new preap um the prek program that's going to be at the middle school high school um if anyone read B6 you could see that it's completely unintelligible starts talking about an agreement the owner it's a waiver or it's a non waiver of causes of action for damages due to the architect's negligence um whoever wrote this was sloppy and I don't think that you can possibly approve a resolution that's written this way on B7 and B8 the district is paying $440,000 for a brick enclosed playground that is going to be on Harristown Road and Hamilton Road outside of this building um this is going to be for preschoolers ages three and four they're going to be subjected to be enclosed in a brick structure with with no fixed um playground equipment which is not developmentally appropriate for children who have disabilities um I think this is an absolute travesty as I've said to the board in the past finally I'd like to comment on uh p19 specifically Dr Charleston's trip to the Metropolitan Museum on October 14th at the district is paying $200 for really like to know what professional development and training training Dr Charleston is getting on a day um when school districts are closed in New York City for sure this school district is closed because it's Russia Shana I'd love to know what organization is putting on professional development for school administrators when Jewish school administrators would not attend due to holiday observance thank you [Applause] Randy blumberg 87 Chadwick place I am Sarah wolman's mother I'm here not only as Sarah's mother but I am also here because as anyone who knows me knows I ask as well um respectfully that you please not use um any name of any Administration or any teachers that are here they have not been rised then we can't speak she not an administrator or teacher or anybody that's on staff it's she's currently not on staff she has not been approved um as anyone who knows me knows that I speak out against Injustice I have been an education advocate in this town on and off for over 30 years I have been president of various uh hsas and served on the board of education as a trustee until I voluntarily resigned to allow the district please continue continue to hire Sarah as the girls basketball jv/ assistant head coach fact Sarah is highly regarded admired and respected as a coach by well over a 100 players parents and other coaches for over 10 years I know this because former as well as current players and parents go out of their way to praise her both as a coach and as a mentor she's been hired by the boys varsity coach Jason middleman to coach players for his clinics and his various programs in this District Sarah is also highly respected in the county being asked to coach aaou teams and to run clinics Elsewhere for so many years Sarah has been dedicated to coaching Glenrock girls from the Middle School travel program to teach them the plays and help develop their schools for later play in the high school program so after all this dedication recognition from players peers and parents for her skills and her successes for this District girls basketball program you didn't even offer Sarah one year as the head coach to see what she could actually do running actually running the program why I would like to know why what kind of example are you modeling for the students in your charge it appears obviously that obvious that Frank violante had no no interest in in promoting oh it's it the um athletic director had no interest in promoting Sara to the head coach opening who was even on the search committee Sarah only interviewed by Vi by the ad and the principal and this was Friday this past Friday 3 days ago at 3:30 when it appears the decision was already made as the ad moved the interview from Thurs offering her an interview for either Friday or today he suggested she' come in today to interview for a job that probably was already offered to to another person this says a lot about the lack of real consideration as well as lack of respect for s for Sarah as a candidate and by the way the ad finally informed her after 2 pm long after she had to find out from it being on the agenda another slap in the face and disrespectful move by your ad by our ad what kind of administration are you to what kind of administration are you to be that you're so unethical you can do the right thing and postpone the vote and give Sarah wman the consideration she has earned from the 14 years she's been coaching here or you could do the easy thing and not postpone I urge you to postpone and do your due diligence it's the right thing it's the fair thing it's the ethical [Applause] thing good evening everyone Lane Feldman 129 Boulevard uh I am a graduate of Glenrock High School class of 2006 I live here in town and I'm an employment litigation attorney I'm currently coaching the girls varsity basketball team in their fall league I'm also a coach in the Glenrock youth basketball league though I do not speak on their behalf I have never spoken at a public meeting in my life other than in court but I'm compelled to do so today on behalf of my best friend Sarah Walman the current JB girls basketball coach who should have been a shoe in for the Varity position instead of her name however a stranger's name appears on the agenda tonight and I can't for the life of me understand why I have known Sarah for 26 years she and I played together here in Glenrock from elementary school up through high school and then against each other uh at Dickinson College and Franklin and Marshall uh as adversaries after college she volunteered for our high school team that turned into a 14-year coaching career and then that turned into her coaching practic Ally every kid in town whether through the grbl volunteering for the boys camps with Jason middleman running tryouts and more she is currently involved at every single grade level in the girls basketball program no one else on Earth is going to do that I estimate that she has coached at least 1,000 Glenrock kids over the past 14 years she has a master's degree from Columbia in school psychology she knows how to reach kids she respects them and they respect her she knows basketball to my knowledge not a single parent or student has ever complained about her in the past decade and a half she is the most qualified candidate for the position three of Glenn Rock's a th000 point scorers played during her tenure I can't even count the number of league and state tournament wins she is the glue that holds the program together she is the liaison to our youth leagues she is the Tie to our many alumni some of who are here tonight she has been the bridge between the parents and the co coaching staff for years she has brought many coaches and mentors into the program including Margie Rivera uh who was recently inducted into our Hall of Fame last year you lose Sarah you lose these vital mentors and coaches myself included she was approached many times about coaching jobs at other schools colleges and programs she had countless opportunities to pad her resume and bounce around between schools um but she always turned them down her first and only priority had has been Glenrock and our girls many of whom are here today sitting in the back Sarah was interviewed for 10 minutes on Friday and then this other name was put on the agenda at noon today I know because I was refreshing the board's website constantly this is a complete sham and far from adequate notice after all this time it is most disappointing that she was not even seriously considered I've gathered as many parents and students as I can but there are frankly so many it's hard to even know how to reach them you now have the opportunity to hire the most qualified candidate and I urge you to do so thank you hi Margie Rara 47 am H Court um I will start by sharing the letter of recommendation that I wrote to the athletic director on August 30th when I had spoken to Sarah that she was going to apply for the position to whom it may concern I was recently made aware of the vacancy of the girls basketball head varsity coach position I wanted to write and share my support for Coach Sarah wolman as someone who has been heavily involved in the Glenrock basketball community at the youth and high school level I have seen firsthand coach wolman's dedication to this program and these players there is no one more prepared equipped or better suited for this job than Sarah over the last 15 years I have been coached by Sarah as a player mentored as a coach and sat alongside her as an assistant coach during my playing days back in 2011 2012 coach wman an unpaid volunteer assistant would stay late at practice with me to get up extra shots and give me pointers her love for the game inspired me and wanted me to get better Coach wman also inspired me to become a coach here in Glenrock I've been coaching in the grbl for the last seven years and as an unpaid volunteer assistant for the high school program for the last two um coach woman is who inspired me to get involved in coaching in the first place um and she would go out of her way to attend my practices when I was in the grbl first knew had no idea what I was doing she had no reason to come to my practices other than she wanted me to succeed and she wanted the girls to have a great experience um and she wanted to help me manage the load and she inspired me to continue to get involved in high school as well um and as one of her assist assistants I've witnessed Her Go above and beyond I've witnessed her technical expertise um for any basketball heads in the room Sarah is an X's and O's junkie when I have problems with plays or different things Sarah is the person I call up we exchange videos texts she is a student of the game who is consistently trying to better herself with this um and I've never seen her once waiver from Glenrock so for now between Sarah's playing days from when she was in high school from her volunteer assistant days from the GBL back to this for over 20 years now she has been dedicated to this program to Glenrock and has never ever ever waited never ever ever waited in that um she has technical expertise love and passion for the game love and passion for the kids and for for them to succeed um and there's no one better to to lead this program and who has more experience so I hope you all take that into consideration um and that is what I shared with the athletic director so thank you [Applause] Emily mckegney 159 Midwood Road hi my name is Emily and I'm a captain and Senior on the Glen Rock High School basketball team behind me is a lot of my teammates who are on the high school team and I've had Sarah as a coach since I've been little and she's dedicated so much time and effort and energy to us players and as the program as a whole she's made us not only better people but players and she taught us lessons on and off the court she comes before practice and stays after practice and always encourages us while making us more skilled players I don't think I'd be the player I am today without coach Sara and Glen Rock needs more people and coaches like her and this is why she is such an amazing coach hi everyone my name is Anna heis I live on 47 Welsley Road I'm a junior and I've been on vary since freshman year I've always loved basketball if anyone knows me from my youth they always knew me with the basketball in my hand my parents fostered my interest from a very young age and my dad and I would go to The Varsity games often at the end of every game I would stick around and get some shots up after one particular game everyone slowly filtered out of the gym but coach Sarah stayed behind she introduced herself to me and even gave me a few pointers even though I was a seven-year-old girl in a pink dress with flowers coach Sarah saw my passion for basketball before another game I attended coach Sarah pulled me to the side and asked me do you want to in the pregame circle with the varsity players I'm telling you little me felt like a WNBA player like actually felt like a WNBA player I have proof of the photos um I laid in that Circle as a seven-year-old with a passion and now I lay in the same Circle 9 years later as a varc player coach Sarah has an undeniable passion for the game of basketball but what is more important is her passion for this team coach Sarah is at every practice every game every open gym every summer league game our annual cut toown University summer camp and so and so on without fail she always comes to practice with a positive attitude a plan and a goal to get us to become the greatest basketball players we can be last but certainly not least we are a team of women and will be empowering to be led by another most especially most especially coach Sarah because she has played at Glenrock she has coached and mentored US throughout our youth and she's been a coach of this program for 14 years I really appreciate your time and consideration thank you so much [Music] setting my timer and I'm Stephanie kib oigi in 40 uh 51 rockberry place okay I'm here about Sarah but I have a little preface I am so glad to see all of you after such a rest bit which I'm sure you enjoyed as much as I did for those of you who don't know me for 20 years I was an active parent and volunteer in Glenrock in 2010 I was recruited to the HSA by Andrew mtio principal of central then and now Ramsey superintendent I have held leadership positions in the Central and Federated HSA soccer club Cub Scouts Tick Tock art 65 years old this year Girl Scouts mom ski club and several others despite not having any children in this District I'm here because my husband and I both had the benefit of Stellar Public School educations in Ramsey and welie Massachusetts both of our mothers were Education Foundation board members including raising $1 million endowments for teachers and education initiatives my daughter Emma Glenrock 2023 was the last class to have had summer reading midterms and finals and was well prepared for Colby College where she's a sophomore my son Donald Bergen Catholic 2024 also was well prepared having sat through midterms and finals similar to what he has now at Indiana's Kelly School of Business my daughter Charlotte is Northern Highlands 2026 a decision we made amidst the turmoil and Glenrock for those in this room who are new to the district this superintendent came to a top five New Jersey School Blue Ribbon School hired people he knew from previous work and even his dissertation adviser and changed almost everything have you checked the Glenrock ranking lately a quick list includes the following reorganize the district to be grade 6 through 12 unlike other comparable districts created two new roles assistant superintendent who replaced Dr Regan curriculum expert and Rucker professor and a director of security hired six supervisors all less experienced than the existing accomplished department heads but agreed he would keep those roles then eliminated them resulted in 30% teacher turnover several years in a row including two homegrown administrator exits forced out many top athletes and students I delivered 13 Bergen Catholic welcome signs last year but this year year a a record number have left the district for private schools and other Public Schools as my daughter did and this is the short version but I'm not here today about any of that I'm here because one of the best coaches my daughters ever had for both basketball and softball a Glenrock high school graduate who has invested 14 years in Glenrock girls Sports of All age groups who cares deeply about Glenrock who has ushered in some of the best girls basketball teams has not been authentically considered for the head coach girls varsity basball basketball coach job and her name is Sarah Walman instead yet another person from Panic will hit our payroll to join the superintendent director of security head of special services pre-engineering teacher middle school English teacher Wellness supervisor assistant softball coach and now varsity girls basketball if you live in Glenrock please pay attention please vote wisely this election to stop the downturn so Glenrock can regain its standard of Excellence its culture of loyalty not mercenaries and its connection with the community thank [Applause] you are there any more public comments um for the first public comments of the night okay barring no additional comments from the community we will close our first public comment session oh okay all right we will close our first uh public comment session at 8:19 p.m. can I have a motion to discuss uh General resolutions G1 through g21 Miss Cala second by Mr Hayward are there any comments or questions regarding G1 through g21 Dr Nali I have one small correction on G7 the account number I mistakenly uh charge it to general fund it's going to be to the same title to fund that G8 is so it's um the account number is I'm sorry as G6 is the same as the Con Academy Title too okay okay and Mr Canales has noted that and it will be updated thank you um I will say with regards to G6 when you um you the administration brought it to our attention last meeting um I decided to go on KH Academy myself and see what kigo was like and um I registered for uh an account as a parent my daughter's in kindergarten so I wanted to see what was um available or what was like and I found it fascinating um using AI technology to be able to deliver um assistance and the assistance isn't even just to the child there's a way for you to include your child under your account and then if the the child would be able to have their own account in con conmigo and get um use AI to help them resolve like any kind of questions that they may have on their um on their homework or maybe on a lesson that they had in school but then it also allows you the parent to have an account that you would be able to figure out are there ways that I'm able to help assist my child and um getting some of the feedback from the community with regards to tutoring and even math math tends to be a difficult subject for us in you know nationally um and a lot of the feedback from parents is that um you know they don't know how to help their child or you know like this like I'm not in I'm not in algebra I'm not in geometry how am I helping assist my child we can do it in English we can do it in other kind of subjects and and so I thought it was very interesting um that it's a tool not only just for the child but it is a tool for the parent and the and and it can coordinate with the teacher as well so I'm really excited to see what happens with this pilot um then I can encourage you know any of you can you know anybody can really sign up for this in addition you know to the pilot that's being run um for you to see what what is offered so thank you very much for bringing that to our attention and I look forward to the future um baring new additional questions can I have a role Miss calz yes Miss Carr yes Mr Corey yes Mr Hayward yes Miss garelli yes yes Miss randelle yes Dr Robinson yes motion passes thank you can I have a motion to discuss B1 through B10 Mr Hayward seconded by m Calvis any discussion questions comments um regarding B1 through B10 or any further um questions yes M uh just noting that I will be abstaining on B3 B6 B7 and B8 B3 B6 B7 B8 Miss car I will be abstaining on b67 and 8 as well noted far no additional comments can you please call Bro Miss calz yes Miss Carr yes accept as noted Mr Corey yes Mr Hayward yes Miss Carelli yes accept as noted M randelle yes Dr Robinson yes motion passes all right can I have a a motion to discuss items P1 through P20 Miss Randell seconded by m Calas any discussion comments or questions regarding P1 through P20 M garell um so I came into this meeting wanting to make a motion to table P20 I don't know if I'll have any support from my board members since we went into close session and I believe board members discussed it but I did leave that meeting for reasons that my board members know why I left um so I would like to make a motion to table it I don't know if anyone will support that all right we have a second noted are you able to call roll Mr caneles Miss calz no Miss Carr yes Mr Corey no pleas Mr Hayward no Miss garelli yes M randelle no Dr Robinson no five NOS motion carries motion does not carry sorry thank you yes M garell so before we call the RO to vote I would like to um indicate that I would be voting no on P20 um while I left a meeting early for close session I don't think anything that was discussed there would have changed my mind I still don't understand after hearing from the players and the parents and um also fellow coaches how we can Overlook a candidate that has proven herself to our district um for many years she's committed herself to our girls I'm really flabbergasted why we would not promote a woman to coach our Women's Basketball team [Applause] so I too was not privy to the information that was shared because I left the meeting as well and I Echo everything that Sharon scarelli has said it's disheartening to me that she wasn't given the opportunity the fact that I was a sitting trustee when her M her mother who was such an effective trustee stepped aside so that her daughter could become a JV coach says a lot about the caliber of the family and to disregard 14 years that one person has given to this District disappoints me um for that reason I will be voting no on P20 and I will also be abstaining on everything else [Applause] are there any other comments or questions or anything all right so I'll I'll speak as well on my own behalf not uh speaking like on behalf of the board I understand that sometimes if I say something then it may appear that this is the will of the board everyone has we're a board of of nine members you see seven present today um and each of us has an individual voice as well as a collective voice in our voting um you know while we appreciate uh the passion that the town brings for every decision and and and we and I and we discuss this in everything that we do um sometimes we end up making decisions or you know we individually make votes and you may not agree and that sometimes means that there are other things that you either are or aren't privy to and in this case um I can't can't speak to any of the you know direct Personnel items and you know I I personally don't sit on um any kind of interview I don't get to interview our Math teachers I don't get to interview any of the individual positions the only um interview that I get to participate in as a board member is the interview of our superintendent and evaluation of our superintendent so when you have any recommendations that are made for any position that is posted on our agenda that comes with the recommendation a of the individuals that are responsible for making that decision I'm not an athletic director I'm not a superintendent I'm not a principal and that's that's how I have to respond I list I do take in what the community says in terms of um you know like their sentiment the feelings with regards to um you know any anything like sometimes things come to us from the community and I'm able to elevate that and escalate it or ask a question and be able to get back to people people I get emails all of those things I read um and that's you know my role as a board member to take that in and knowing that and especially being on this side of things as well as being you know a parent on the other side of of things you know it it it it gets to be quite uh a contentious and difficult decision um so I just wanted to make sure that I at least offered that um to the community that sits before me today in advance of our vote uh since we get to discuss these items and sometimes you don't always get to hear our opinion so if there's nothing else that anyone else wants to say that's it all right if you can please call rooll Mr Canalis Miss calves yes Miss Carr to repeat P20 no obstain on everything else Mr Corey yes Mr Hayward yes Miss garelli no to P20 abstaining on P1 through p19 Miss randelle yes Dr Robinson yes motion passes you all should be ashamed of your you don't do what's right for the district obviously and you brother stamped the superintendent for what reason e [Music] all right I'll get a second um I need a motion to move uh new business for no okay I'm just going to make the decision then to move um new business before opening our second set of public comments just to provide any context for anybody that might have a question about um water Mr Canalis sure I I I just wanted to just talk real briefly um that the district uh was made aware of a particular type of um bottle Filling Station water filter uh that will filtrate uh some of the pasas elements uh that are known to be in uh Ridgewood water supply and we have placed an order uh for a the new uh filtration that will be put into every uh water bottle filler station in the district uh we hope to uh have the uh filters in uh District by next week sometime and then I believe there's 25 in total that need to be changed uh hopefully get get them changed in in short order thank you are there any questions from the board members regarding um the water filters and their being changed all right so in absence of that um at I see our next meeting would be still in new business uh yes we we can we can continue give me a second to indulge me all right when I ran for the board of education for the second time was because I wanted to continue to benefit the students of this district and the staff over the last 20 months has grown increasingly hard to do what I have set out to do I feel as this though I have failed and subsequently my decision after hearing tonight's meeting and what transpired in the process I am submitting my resignation from the Board of Education effectively tonight all right all right well thank you for um you know stating that and there's not really much I can say beyond that so there's not it's become increasingly hard to do your job when you're misinform misinformed and uninformed and you cannot not make correct decisions when there is a lack of trust and that's how I feel on September 23rd 2024 the work that I have done for the students and the staff in this district for the last since 2006 I feel I can no longer do and I'm sorry I want to thank everybody who voted for me it's been an honor and a pleasure and my door is still going to be open and my phone is still going to be answered all right thank you all right seeing as there's not really anything I can say regarding that right now um at 8:35 p.m. I would like to open up the second set of public comments please state your name and your address and you have 3 minutes and the alarm will go off at 3 minutes you'll be able to share thank you Colin Manley 70 Ridge Road I've really struggled with deciding what points to make during my three minutes that is one of the reasons I have written so many emails to you with various pieces of information about the winter track situation I want you to understand what a great program it is with great coaches who work really hard to manage a very large program with a lot of complexity as a cross country and track parent for the last four years it was shocking to see both the head and assistant winter track coaching Physicians posted as opening during the second week of school two years ago there was a similar controversy and at that time I did all of the research on coaching stiens that I recently replicated and shared with you all of it from your own agendas and other public sources I also spoke on this topic at Boe meetings several times in 2022 I find the analysis to have many concerning points and I'm going to get back to track but what I raised back then and is still a pattern now you should go and look at the coaching positions that are filled for girls teams over time and the gender of the head coaches over time there's a pattern of behavior and you may not say that you are the hiring person but there is a pattern of behavior and hiring in this District that is being ignored and I don't know what level it gets corrected but it's clearly going going on and that basketball discussion was the best example I've ever seen but at this time I am focused on a single question why is it that winter track only has one head coaching position with two assistants where it's cross country has one boy's head coach and one girls head coach and spring Trak has one boy's head coach and girls head coach plus three or four assistants for one of the coaches that means she has compensated much higher for cross country and Spring Track than for win her track she's done it for a few years and this year she said she would not accept the assistant coach position she knows she does the job of a head coach and is being compensated for an assistant coaching scope of work she's standing up for herself I have no issue with that what I don't understand is how the people in charge of the sports program and coaching Staffing let this happen it's clear there is flexibility in Staffing that adjust year toe based on the Judgment of the athletic director winter and spring track are great program to touch more than 15% of the high school population in a given year in every season boys and girls are in different events and trained separately winter track had more than 80 kids last year and Spring Track more than 120 there are so many events short distances long distance hurdles relays field events such as pole vault long jump triple jump high jump and throwing events and everyone is welcome so you're coaching newbi JV and varsity at the same time and then organizing them all for meets and if you haven't gone to a winter spring track meet I encourage you to do so you're just going to need four to eight hours to go the other thing I love about these programs is at the end of the season everyone is celebrated for their improvements sure plenty of kids get titles and awards but everyone is celebrated for how they improved That season and their personal bests and how they contribute the team so you have these great programs that offer tons of kids the opportunity to develop athletically mentally and socially and great coaching teams and this is where we end up and so that is why and so many other people have written to you because it matters I don't know if this can be fixed certainly not impressed with the way you're acting but I will not let this happen in the shadows I think it's important that people understand the size of this loss thank [Applause] you hi I'm Kristen zunger of 247 gry place I appreciate what you shared in new business I am here tonight to represent the many families in town who have concerns about the quality of drinking water provided in our schools when I became the HSA Treasurer at Hamilton 2 years ago I began regularly hearing concerns from family about the water that kids were getting served at school from complaints from the kids that it tasted weird to an awareness that for nearly a decade the Hamilton HSA had written a monthly check to topen Hawkin water so that there was imported water coolers in the staff lounge and the main office but not available to the students combined with the escalating reports from the Ridgewood water about the P's present greatly exceeding the epa's recommended threshold it all clearly seemed like something that required action in the past two years I've tried to push this forward at Hamilton but we were repeatedly thwarted because any effort that we made would require coordination with the buildings and ground department for that reason I was directed to take this to the Boe this year when I stepped into the role of co-president at the HSA at Hamilton I made myself a promise that I would Advocate on this issue until parents no longer had concerns to share with me about the drinking water quality parents deeply care about this many of us have reverse osmosis systems installed in our homes and we would like the same for our schools 97% of the 424 individuals from our community who responded to a survey on this topic indicated that only an RO system would amarate their concerns about their children drinking School water on a daily basis the filters we currently have are not good enough and I'm glad to hear that you agree the better filters would be an improvement over these existing filters parents want to know the level of pasas in the water before deciding whether or not it is safe for their children to drink from these filling stations at the very least we implore you to not only change the filter type as you have indicated you plan to do but also test the water post filtration so that the community can truly understand whether or not it is safe for students to consume cost should not dictate whether or not this is possible because to care about our students is to care about their health and to take all required actions to protect their still developing bodies thank you for listening to the community's wishes on this important matter if you're Earnest in your intent to do right by our kids you will test the water post filtration after these new filters are installed so that we can know if any further action is required thank you [Applause] hi I'm Susan habler 82 thirst in Terrace my son Ben habler graduated last year he was a multi-year runner Four Seasons four years I should say um and as a result of the coaching that he received here in the high school over these years he's running for his college now and very happy with that um he actually asked me he was so upset to hear about the coaching situation that he asked if I could bring him home from college for the weekend so that he could speak here today it wasn't feasible but he wrote a letter that I hope all of you have had an opportunity to read but I would like to because Ben wasn't here to speak for himself um highlight two of the paragraphs that he wrote in his in his letter to you um one is supporting coach gallow the other supporting coach Weinberg with regard to coach Gallow he wrote the amount of time coach Gallow dedicated to the cross country and track and field programs is worthy of far more recognition and compensation than she currently received in addition to the hour she spends with athletes at practice and meets she devotes much of her personal time to us as well in the spring of my senior year coach Gallow without hesitation took me and a small group of students on a 5: a.m. bus ride to Franklin Field in Philadelphia to participate in the pen relays one of the most prestigious track meets in the world we did not arrive back home until 400 p.m. she dedicated her entire Saturday to us when she did not need to this meet served no purpose other than creating a lifelong memory that we would cherish forever memories that students like myself hang pictures of in our college dorm rooms moments like these and countless others are what defines coach Gallow in support of Coach Weinberg Ben wrote anyone who has participated in track will tell you that this can be extremely challenging from a physical and mental perspective however one of the few remedies for this struggle is to have people alongside you going through the same thing it was in this light that Coach G coach Weinberg would often join his athletes in our track workouts running alongside Us in solidarity this is in sharp contrast to the vast majority of track coaches who simply assign work and wait for it to be completed coach Weinberg takes an active role in his athletes development and does so in a way that makes him feel appreciated and encouraged as he did for my entire time as a Glenrock athlete those are Ben's words um I have personally attended many of the omry races uh they are exhausting 4 to eight hours at a minimum these coaches leave early in the morning before school work all day at school and do not arrive home until close to midnight often times once or twice a week these tired Runners would get on the bus late at night to return to school and be greeted with homemade cookies made by coach Gallow there's just something different about this team because of these coaches they're yes they're a successful team but to me what's more impressive than the medals and the PRS their personal Records Was that I never saw any competition between these Runners all I saw so is support and friendship and that is thanks to the great coaching I cannot understand quibbling over dollars or the lack of appreciation when it comes to these two coaches coach Gallow and Weinberg are the epitome of what Glenrock stands for and I really hope that you'll take that into [Applause] [Music] consideration hi my name is Sandy yuzon mother of Hayden and Evan 217 Gainer place Evan is currently a sophomore last season he was freshman Bergen County Champion for both shot put and discus he is the njc colonial Division champion as a freshman and number two freshman in shop put for the state Hayden was honored that this by the school as multisport athlete scholar athlete and male athlete of the class of 2023 of all the sports my sons have competed in track and field has always been their favorite please hear my son's words as he wants you to understand how much Coach G has positively impacted his life my name is Hayden yuzon and I was an athlete at Glenrock High School in the class of 2023 I played football baseball and ran winter track I've written this as a means to get my thoughts across about the current standing of coach's compensation as someone who has been coached by many of the current and past found such success in three Sports and is grateful for everything that Athletic Association has has done for me my goal in writing this is to illustrate the impact that a coach can have an athlete without speaking on the quantitative measurements for Su success such as wins trophies and college commitments of which track is historically not shorten most of all I would like to define the success as a coach from the standpoint of an athlete my first time I had met any of the coaches of winter track team it had been a Wednesday a few weeks before the start of the season the Bell rung 20 minutes prior and I was on the track with a friend already on the team who's helping me get ready for the upcoming season it was cold and dry and I could see one of the coaches approaching her car she looked at the track stopped then put her things down and walked toward us the first thing she said to us was that we needed to put on more layers because it was too cold to be wearing just a t-shirt then after talking a bit she said she heard that I was fast and was excited to see me run this was the first time I met coach Gallow a Wednesday after afternoon weeks before the start of the Season every coach who has ever coached me would tell you that I was a quiet reserved athlete someone who would do their job help the team and cause no trouble and for the most part this was entirely true I would go to practice go through the motions speak to no one and go home day in and day out coming back only because I was good at a sport because I could help the team win not necessarily because I wanted to be there some coaches saw this as a chance to mold me into something I was not force growth and change to create an athlete that was more aligned with their values someone who was loud obsessed authoritative and not me all in an effort to help win games others left me alone let me play the sport I signed up for so long as we helped them win when there was signs that I was burning out they would call me out in front of the whole team and emphasize my importance towards the team success it wasn't about me it was about the team the growth meant helping the team nothing else needless to say these approaches didn't work these coaches had a job to do and was to win games that was their priority I Harbor no hate towards these approaches anymore because it's in the past but when is all said and done none of the coaches really knew me and none of them saw me change because if you asked her she would tell you that I was outgoing talkative and overly confident person she would tell you that I was a troublemaker with a Lust For bake goods and teen dinners that would smile and laugh during practice she would probably tell you that I was too much but she knows the real me the me the parents my parents know my brother and best friends know the me that I wished I could be at all times the me the other coaches would never get to know and quite frankly made me try to hide I wasn't like that on that Wednesday when we first met or after my first race but slowly I learned that it was okay to be myself she showed me that the consequence or reason for my bad performance wasn't because of some flaw in my character that I had the ability to improve on my own ter which I did she made clear that being myself was a good thing and more important than winning a race in my my eyes this is an epitome of priority of coaching and allowing the aiding of a personal personal growth and no one who I have ever coached under has done a better job than coach Gallow to her I wasn't more an I wasn't wasn't anything more than an athlete I was a person that is why she's the only coach who was still in my life the only one who has continued to do her job now even when she no longer has to that's why I'm writing this in in the first place because she's the most valuable coach I've ever had and I'm one of hundreds of athletes she's coach who feels the same way and for her not to be valued by the school and board frustrates and confuses me so if none of this amounts to anything I would like to publicly thank coach Gallow for everything she has done and continue to continues to do for me and the hundreds of other athletes she has coached at Glenrock High School you allowed me to grow and I will forever be grateful for that you far exceeded that job description thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you hello I'm isza 502 Rock Road and I'm Jenna 19 George Road we wanted to address the issue of our coach no longer returning to Winter track and for that we wanted to share our experiences with our cross country and track and field head coach there are so many things that make her stand out as a coach but listing all of them would take till the end of this meeting she's always been like a second mother to us all starting from cookies and brownies every meat to buying shirts for those of us who make State meat of champs for example I went to Nationals and my parents couldn't make it so she made sure I felt included and bought me a hoodie as a souvenir something I'm forever grateful for let us also mention that this is all from her own pocket from countless hours spent on pasta dinner fundraisers to traveling miles to support a single athlete our coach never fails to give 110% of her team and athletes additionally while winter track doesn't make Cuts our coach still ensures that everyone improves to their fullest potential no matter what stands even mentally from personal experience through friends and myself when I first started track she always made me feel welcome and appreciated from waving to us in the hall and encouraging us on the track she always lets us know that she is proud of us for the student athletes we are her Persona is what makes track such a family even though it's an individual sport she brings us all together making us feel United as fun as track is on its own we know it's not the same without her she knew what we were all capable of and helps us all achieve them one practice at a time without our head coach there is no track team nor family so please let us have our team we know it's a topic in discussion tracks but tracks whoa but track is our main sport and passion so taking away our coach could take away a lot of opportuni for our future and for our school lives thank you for your [Applause] [Music] consideration hi I'm Devin Smith Senior and team captain of the cross country winter and spring track teams let me start off by saying that coach Gallow has been one of the most influential figures in my time at glenar high school I've seen numerous people join the track team just because of gallo Cal is a coach who has unmatched dedication and devotion whether it's being the loudest one at the meet cheering for us or supplying us with treats after our events gall's presence alone is enough to inspire us to be the best versions of ourselves I remember being a scrawny freshman in my first relay race ever and as the gun went off I fumbled the Baton Galla wasn't shouting at me but rather encouraging me to get up and keep going many athletes might feel scared or nervous when they mess up because their coach might reprimand them but not Gallow Gallow doesn't care how slow you are or how many mistakes you make she just wants you to do your best in fact the only time I see Gallow get mad at kids is when they don't give their full effort Gallow empowers us to do what we sometimes don't even think we can do if coach Gallow wasn't my coach I probably wouldn't have had the confidence to become a team leader as a sophomore and absolutely crush it on the track if Galla isn't coaching next season I just know the team will fall apart tons of kids will leave and it wouldn't feel the same without her I'm sorry but if you think coach Galla is just another paycheck an average coach or a placeholder you're wrong just ask any of the people [Applause] [Music] here uh 224 Fairmont Avenue my name is Caleb sh Tim I'm a senior on the foot on the track team and I've written so far two speeches for assistant coaches by the time I graduate from this high school I was planning on writing exactly five speeches but today I have to end up writing six of them because of today I started track my sophomore year as I was required one to do a sport for football going into it I thought it was going to be easy with nice coaches but I was pleasantly Sur surprised by the sport led by the head coach I met some of the people that want to make the most impact on me these past two years through track the head coach is much more than a coach much more than a teacher and a much more as a person she's someone who truly cares for us and I speak for the parents when I say that comes before anything else she is someone who sticks by her side as we cramp cry and even throw up she is someone who suffers through even the longest of track meets just for the athletes that she loves the most she is someone who picks us up when we are down and raises up raises us up when we were at our Peak even though we are not permitted to State her name the impact that she has on the athletes parents and community is the reason why the vast majority of the audience is here today the head coach is a person that has risen above the simple position of coach and has turned into a true pillar of the track and field Community as a senior I have two more seasons of track and I would never feel the satisfaction in my track and field career if I didn't uh finish it with Coach as the head coach as my coach after one showing of the community today displaying their desire to ignore the pleas of the community I can only plead further by asking you to do the right thing thank you um hi I'm Mia corkran um seven walr a and I'm a junior um I joined winter and spring track freshman year only because my sister a senior at the time wanted us to share a sport together um being a Freshman and doing a new sport I wasn't really excited um but my sister assured me that this coach that she absolutely adored and had for four years um even calling her her second mom would make sure I had the best experience possible and as a junior now I have no doubts Gallow is one person who somehow does it all she not only cares for her students but all her athletes in every aspect of their lives she's the first one to offer you help in math the first one to cheer you on not in just track and field but in every sport as you can see here we have multiport athletes I play soccer boys play football cross country and she tries to come to everything and ask us how we're all doing um she's also the first to help someone who's hurt and the first teacher to ask if you're okay an example of this was a simple gesture today she saw me upset and without hesitation she came to me and gave me a hug for one minute I had Comfort she didn't have to say anything but it was enough and that's who she is she genuinely cares Beyond school or sport she genuinely just cares about you and there's not many people in the school that I can say the same about lastly I just want to point out that winter track does not have a boy's head coach and a girls head coach we have over 80 athletes and that student to and that teacher ratio wouldn't be the same in a classroom I would like you to imagine that 80 students with one or two coaches it's pretty wild and it's a lot to manage winter track meet um winter track meets take place in New York City in the Armory a building spanning one entire city block for over 5 hours I would like to mention that every kid has not only come home safely but Gallow makes sure we are fed and we usually come home with our math homework done at least and I hope after hearing and seeing all the support you can understand maybe just a tiny portion of um the impact G has made on everyone here thank you um my name is C from mjusi um uh van island or 66 van Island Road um I'm a sophomore um I just wanted to say a few KCK a few quick words about Coach Gallow and inner influence about um throughout the track throughout my track and cross country career I wanted to say that I think that she is one of the best people and coaches that I've ever met she's helped me grow as a person and athlete throughout the season and she was one of the main coaches that helped me find the motivation to work hard and become a better athlete if it wasn't for her I think that I would have never fallen in love with the sport of running and become that the person I am I really hope that you consider the words that we have all said tonight tonight and make sure that we can all be able to experience Gallow as a coach and Mentor for our high school careers hi I'm Ali Mattis and I live at 8 Ed Rutland Road um so last year was my first year of doing both winter and spring track and I have always really loved to run but it is very hard mentally and physically and coaches will make or break your sport it is known to be like that when you have a bad coach you're not going to love your sport you're going to quit it's just it's not going to work out and these coaches have really been like the best coaches I've ever had I've never had a coach like these two coaches that have genuinely made me love my sport I love I my favorite part about school is to end and go run genuinely I know running is super challenging for a lot of people but they're they make me love my Sport and everything about it both during track and like during school they're super encouraging they'll say hi in the Halls they're someone they're two coaches who I would talk to at any point about anything and I just wanted to share that they are genuinely the best coaches I've ever had so hi my name is Tyler Caswell from 118 radburn Road and I'm a senior and Captain for both track teams um one defining aspect about Coach gal is that she encourages us to do things that we don't have the strength to do ourselves when I was a freshman in winter track no one expected me to be to be great not even myself starting out I didn't have much self-confidence in the sport of track and field as I didn't think I could compete at the level that I set out to to achieve however Coach G saw something in me that I could yet see in myself through her encouragement and exceptional interpersonal skills she gradually built up my confidence not just as an athlete but as a person as well coach gal is a person that without I would have never been able to achieve achieve the success that I have achieved in my track and field career she gave me the self-confidence that I need to reach the goals and that I set for myself that being said track wouldn't be the same without coach Gallow and her skills as a coach and inspiration to the rest of the team her influence has inspired not just me but the entire team to reach their full potential as student athletes thank you [Applause] [Applause] Hi how are you Rosano R for 363 D in place I've been part of the Glenrock Community for 20 years this is actually my first time speaking in this public forum and I feel compelled to do so because of what objectively amounts to inequitable compensation stiens for our cross-country track and field coaches especially for the upcoming winter track season combined for both boys and girls these coaches are here for our student athletes for practices training 80 plus athletes five times a week preparing for weekly meets that can go over 8 hours long sometimes for 2 days sacrificing so much of their personal life and their own expenses to create meaningful experiences for our kids and look at what they created I am so proud of our student athletes that came out tonight for their courage and conviction to take a stand and for their polite engagement with the Board of Education unfortunately the explanation that we just don't understand or are not privy to information is not satisfactory for them we talk about resilience you started your meeting with it in your mission statement we are committed to cultivating students who are resilient responsible and engaged Global Citizens that's what you saw here tonight I've witnessed firsthand the impact the profound impact that Weinberg and Gallow that coaching partnership has had on their student athletes my daughter was also a reluctant small-framed individual who never thought of herself as athletic through her track coaches training and positive reinforcement she was able to develop her skills and with Gallo believing in her she harnessed her physical and her mental strength not only to overcome adversities of multiple injuries in performance anxiety but to thrive and Excel in competition she excelled outside of the field as well and she wrote about these experiences in her College essay and she attributes her time on the cross country and track and field teams as giving her the confidence and inner strength to go for her goals even now four years after graduating Glenrock high school she draws upon the lessons that she learned on the track and the resilience she cultivated while being part of their team she's a success story for the Glenrock school district and has become one of of those resilient responsible and engaged Global Citizens the same I think can be said about my son Devin but now that impact is at risk [Music] please Good Evening Sun Moon 19 George Road I'm U mother of Jenna y today actually Jenna 77 birthday and she just got her driver's license this afternoon but we are still here instead of uh we are supposed to go out and celebrate her birthday but instead we are here tonight that's how important this matter is for her and us as a family Jenna has been a dedicated member of treken field team since her freshman year as a long-distance runner for the team and also a US national level synchronized swimmer trenfield has become an important part of her athletic Journey it has helped her stay focused and complement her primary support by building endurance and resilience overall it has her tremendously positive impact on her both physically and mentally moreover being part of the track and field team has given Jenna a strong sense of belonging and school spirit the bonds she had for formed with her teammates and coaches have been inv valuable reinforcing an importance of teamwork and community and none of these would have been possible without the amazing amazing coaches over the years Jenna and um my f my family had been deeply impressed by all the coaches their dedication to the team the coaching style her philosophy in school sports the I truly learn it that school sports has to be in this kind of form inclusive not exclusive everybody is welcomed and embraced this is what I truly felt from the under the leadership of Coach Gallow she constantly bringing positive energy offers cheerful encouragement and truly cares for each individual Athlete on the team at the end of the year at the the year every year the coaches go the extra mile by personally recognizing each athlete sharing their achievements personal best records and future goals for the next season it's something really special and it makes the students feel valued and appreciated losing such a positive influence in our school Community would be deeply disappointing especially if it's due to in inadequate compensation the impact the trk and field coaches have on young athlete is immeasurable and their absences would be significant loss to the school the students and whole Community we sincerely hope this issue can be resolved ensuring that our team and student athletes continue to benefit from their incredible leadership thank [Applause] [Music] you Lori Donnelly 7 Waldren Avenue hi here I here also to speak about the winter track coach situation and in general just about quite frankly the inequity that I see when I looked at the meeting agenda that included all of the coaching stiens you are right there are probably lots of things that go into this I'm well aware there's negotiations there's things behind the scene and lots of people put in lots of effort but there's just numbers sitting in front of us and we really just don't understand I don't understand I don't understand how certain Sports the coaches the assistant coaches they're worth more to this District than other sports winter track has over 80 athletes Spring Track has over a 100 athletes that is a lot of students to keep track of that is a lot of students to coach to mentor and they do it they do it for a lot less than football coaches and soccer coaches and basketball coaches who by the way don't have to manage all of those students they don't have to put in the same amount of hours at meets as they don't have to put in the same amount of hours at games that are put in at meets these meets are hours long they're days long and their season guess what cuz if they have one or two athletes and by the way you've got National athletes over there you've got children that have been recognized nationally for a their athleticism in track and Fields if one or two of them get far guess what their season is a lot longer than any other season here I just don't understand that aspect of it I support everything else everyone here has said they are incredible people they are incredible teachers they are incredible coaches and they are second moms and all of that to so many students but I'm going to just point out I don't get it those numbers don't make any sense to me a simple explanation would be helpful but judging from what has gone on here tonight I'm not sure that's ever going to come we sit here and we talk about equity and inclusive inclusivity we have one head coach for winter track boys team girls team everybody gets one head coach why is that the one one coach it doesn't seem to ring about what this District claims they're about [Applause] [Music] [Applause] are there any other members of the public that would like to make a comment okay seeing no additional public comments I would like to close our second session for public comments at 9:12 p.m. um I need a motion from a board member to go into um well to close the public session and then go into close session where no um no voting actions would be taken so I just need a a motion uh Mr Hayward seconded by Miss calves all right all those in favor okay all right so we are going to close our public session at 9 9:12 p.m. we'll go into Clos session and then we will adjourn for this evening all those in favor e