##VIDEO ID:4Qt8--3NzJk## good evening my name is assistant superintendent and this is my opportunity each month to have a very small program where we recognize a few students at the board meeting um Miss Jones I had to remind her earlier what a view was but she she interpreted that as a few groups of students and so but this is a great opportunity for us to recognize some of our students and we it's a great opportunity to refocus the board meeting often on what really matters which is the great work that happens each and every day in our schools between between our students and our staff and uh so this is a great opportunity to recognize that so just to give you a little bit of an idea normally we do do it in the library where the board meeting is taking place but because of the number of students tonight we wanted to have a venue that could hold everyone comfortably so when this portion of the program is over what we're going to ask you to do is make sure that you allow your students to stay around we want to get some photos for them of them that we can post on the district website into um our live feed and social media and then once that's finished if you would like to rejoin the board meeting it's going to convene about 10 minutes later in the library you're more than welcome to stay but I know often times people uh kids they want to get home they've got other things to do at night but just to let you know you are more than welcome to reach me with the board 10 minutes after the this program in the library with that I'm going to turn the microphone over to Mr ricardi from Lor elementary school and he is going to recognize can everyone hear me yes I'm going to go without the microphone it's much easier for me uh I'd like to thank the board of education for having ledora out here this evening to be recognized I would like to wish everyone want a happy holiday and a Happy New Year I'm if at this time I can have Miss Kelly and our star students come down and we'll introduce them once they get down [Applause] [Music] here so one of the things that we've been trying to do at glendor over the past few years is to educate the kids Beyond just classroom matters we want to teach them there is a sense of responsibility in being a good citizen and during the year each grade level takes a different charity which they focus upon and we have fifth grade has done uh the local animal shelter we've had other grade levels do shop and do collections for them our fourth grade this year did a collection for the veterans during the month of November and we have three students here with us one couldn't make it today unfortunately they weren't in school they're aw so we're going to recognize those students real quick quick but I want you to understand the time and dedication that these kids gave to uh this charity so to my left I have Miss Kelly fourth grade teacher she was our teacher of the year last year so I'd like to acknowledge her for that unable to be here with Miss Martin zelis She's the other fourth grade teacher who worked together with Miss Kelly to supervise the students with us today we have camela buyers Eric ex and is T not able to be here tonight is Mason trainer unfortunately as I said he did go away so couldn't be here this evening these students gave extra time and created posters to put up around the hallways of the school to inspire everyone to bring donations for the veterans they donated their time during their Rec instead of going outside and having that little blowoff steam period they took the time to put the bags and the baskets together for the veterans to make sure that they got them that's the selflessness of these kids and that's the great things that we're doing in glendor is there's more than just the ABCs and the one 123s we got to educate our kids to be good upstanding citizens and here tonight we have three of the four but the entire fourth grade class did a great job with it but we only could choose a you so we chose the ones that went above and beyond so I'd like to congratulate Carmela Eric Isha and Eric Sharm what get a [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] red good evening good evening thank you so much for coming out tonight um my name is Tia Jones I'm the president principal here proud principal of FN Landing Middle School and I want to thank Mr B and the board for allowing me to recognize all of the teams that were just Champions champions this we also have key sabadel is key here ky sael not so we'll recognize her lat she also won the um Christmas park contest the holiday park contest so we are definitely in High Spirits here um this is typically a competitive contest the um excuse me the winter holiday contest so I wanted to acknowledge KY but she's not here tonight but we have three teams full of student athletes take knowledge to maintain eligibility as a student athlete the entire season these students have to be committed to their team their grades and their character so well done to all teams and at this time I'm going to have the coaches come up and tell you a little bit about their teams and the hard work that they put in to win all the TR all country [Applause] [Music] all right my name is U miss Warren Kennedy um I coach the cross country team along with Joseph Deo um and we just are both proud of this team um we wanted to say congratulations on a successful season the boys ended regular season with a record of 13-2 while the world ended their season with a record of 14 and one the cross country teams were invited to several Invitational meets this year where the athletes competed and earned medals for placing in the top 20 at both invitationals the team had more than half of its athletes bring home medals and Crush their best times this year GL Landing won the gler township Championship bringing home both trophies that you see in front of us I also want to do a special Rec recognition for the girls team because they played second overall in all of Camden County and they also play second over all inage Tri County me which was waler County Canyon County and I believe the other one maybe fa County I think it was it a TR County they play second overall so congratulations to you I am going to call their names when I call your names please take a step forward Madden Giana Leah Kae Dominic Sam Nick Talia Alana Sebastian Travis Caleb Vinnie Audriana Aiden Hendry Owen Hunter haly Michael Conor Brennan Brandon Danny AA Lana Michael Matthew Anna Maddie Conor Angelina Aiden rman Ryan Alexia Julian aiel Max jaob Damiano Lexie Kyle CJ and Emily please give [Music] them all right next I'd like to uh introduce the field hockey coaches so that's Miss Foster and Miss Francis [Music] get girl [Music] [Music] good evening these are our champions of Phil hoofe for this [Applause] year so we went to our championship game on October 28th and we defeated back 32 and the top win and that is what gave us that word so I wanted to all of our ladies for being so awesome they truly deserve we could not have had a better year our eth grade step forward as introduce you [Applause] Natalie Alis moris Al morr is our awesome f [Applause] woo Sarah please ladies this is our last year they our graders all right 7eventh grade Savannah con [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] Al [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and [Applause] tayor and then another round of applause for our [Applause] [Applause] [Music] there's all right good evening my name is Miss Clark I'm the girl soccer coach miss casy our assistant so this year the girl soccer team ended the season with an 111 in one record we our one loss of the season was the boes but you know soccer you know that they always have a very good team they all play travel soccer together very skilled physical so we lost to them 2 to one at their field during the regular season and we Avenged that loss in the championship game on the going be socer team um so that was you know obviously a great game this team in general although we had a ton of talent I do have to say this group of eightth graders right here was a phenomenal great student athletes and just great leader so give them a round of applause [Applause] all right the other thing I wanted to add was that none of these teams would be here unless they were coachable and for that we have to thank all of you and the audience though kids all teams give your parents and families around of Applause you stand to us to we wouldn't be here the other thing I have to brag about with our soccer team raise your hand if you're on the honor rooll or principal's [Applause] list all honorable so they take their student athlete very seriously so for that we thank you all right now for the greeters we have ranches who is our [Applause] goalie K Ben RI K parus Alana Aly KY Elise Emma and Diana W for our second grader we K Emily Caroline Olivia Katie and [Applause] Katie jul and our gror Aaron Lei Sarah Alexa Lily and Ma congratulations congratulations country and [Applause] and all right good job L on thank you again popas I see you all out here thank you again for coming out recognize Chinese star from blendor and from glenland we really appreciate U you coming out to support our students and again this is no easp so we really are proud of you and my Landing CH we are proud of you we are proud of you are proud proud very proud of them so be proud enjoy night happy holidays to everyone Mr TR you want to CL us out and great great great recognition tonight really appreciate everyone coming out uh reminder we're going to take a short recess we're going to take some photos from the students and then if you would like to rejoin us in the library for the regular board meeting you're more than welcome to attend there if not you're going to take off right after the photos are taken make sure that you also grab some refreshments back there but if not have a great being in a great holiday season thank [Applause] you gck yes Mr G here Mr gch here M Gore here M Johnson here m s yes M dintino here M Demarcus here we're going to move on to approval of minutes may I have a motion and a second for executive session minutes November 18 2024 move any questions roll call please Mrs gck yes Mr GI yes Mrs gilch yes Miss Gore yes Mrs Johnson yes Mr oon abstain sto yes Mr Marks yes may I have a motion second for regular board minutes November 18th 2024 moved second any questions roll call please this gck yes Mr gibons yes Mrs gilch yes M Gore yes Mrs Johnson yes Mr Donnell abstain M dintino abstain Mr Marks yes well move on to 4.3 public comments for agenda items only I see none we're going to move on to reporter celester thank you Mr Marks um my items were discussed in executive session but I would be remiss in not acknowledging um two people up here who their final meetings for now because Mrs gilch has a way of coming back to us uh after we say goodbye the first time but uh Linda I just want to say that I don't think uh anyone has volunteered more of themselves or given more of themselves or cared more than you so I just want to thank you for your friendship over the years and this board's truly going to miss you and uh Mr Marx we've really gotten to know each other the past two years as you served as president and unless you have served as president I think it's it's impossible to know everything that goes into uh being the president of the Board of Education and all the work that you've done to unify people bring people together get past differences and keep the district going forward uh in a positive direction you've done an amazing job as president as a board member for the last six years and we're going to miss you so thank you for everything thank you very much that's all I have thank you reporter superintendent Mr buildo Mr Marks good evening members of the board uh under tonight's discussion items uh there are two uh the first will be uh provided presented by our assistant superintendent Mr tro it is on the topic of student chronic absenteeism and Mr tro thank you thank you Mr Bilo thank you board um it's always my pleasure to make presentations for you I know you look forward to them uh one of the highlights of your month when uh when you see me on the agenda I see that sarcastic look I will try to get U Move fairly quickly through this um but this is part of our policy and state regulations that we discuss some of these matters tonight so just to talk a little bit about what is chronic absenteeism um federal and state guidelines Define chronic absenteeism as being absent 10% or more of the days enrolled in in the that a student is enrolled in the district so it is a floating number somewhat for students who are enrolled for the entire year that's 18 school days so any student missing 18 school days or more is considered chronically absent by the federal government and the state of New Jersey so just to give you an idea where we were in 2019 of course that Mendoza Line pre pandemic um the district average was about 7% of our students were chronically absent that was a little bit below the state average of 9% of the students across the state that were chronically absent fast forward to 2024 our district average was 18 or I'm sorry 12.7 of our students being chronically absent still somewhat not quite as much below the state average of 14 um if you've kicked around some of the national numbers they're talking as high as 25% of students Nationwide so we have a problem here um but it is a little bit lower than the state and also much lower than National averages but an issue nonetheless and so from State accountability and statute um the district is measured against State averages for the purposes of state and federal accountability under um Esa or Essa and um we meet that measure as a as a um because I think this we see that we're below State average um but State Statute and board policy main office main office feels like it's like 10: am or something like that um but State Statute and board policy require corrective action plans to be developed for each school with a percentage higher than 10% so even though most of our schools met the sea average um we do need to um write corrective action plans for being above 10% and that was eight of our 11 schools so basically all of them except our two smallest schools Glendora Gloucester Township actually our three smallest schools and Union Valley Elementary School the rest of our schools had to create corrective action plans so part of what the state recommends is that we do a parent survey um we did that we had about 2,000 which was somewhat similar to what we got when we did surveys during covid and we're asking parents what they thought so we had almost 2,000 response and some of our administrative takeaways and reviewing the results really showed a need for us to clarify and what regular attendance was um defining it and then and also defining when students should be kept home frequently particularly the comment section many many parents responding and reflecting to kind of that idea well if this child's sick shouldn't they stay home which we're not disagreeing with but I think some of what we need to do we'll talk a moment about that later um is just defining what what is sick enough to stay home and that's a bit of when we talk to our nursing staff something that we have some work to do so what were some of the results of the survey specifically regular School attendance is important to you and your children you saw that we did have overwhelmingly parents agreed with the statement that regular School attendance is important but you do see that it's about 82% that strongly agreed and we do have about 20% and you'll kind of see that number flow throughout um that disagreed less um about six % of our parents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the importance of regular School attendance and then the one of the other questions we asked was how many days absent people considered excessive I gave you the definition a little bit earlier 18 over the course of a full school year and you see that about 20% of our um parents and Guardians who responded basically thought it would take 20 or more to be considered excessive and so there's a little bit of a dis discrepancy there between what parents think versus what the actual law is so we're going to spend a little bit of time um trying to make sure that's clear to everyone um we asked if they understood that that's what the the state definition was of 10% or more of the days that they were enrolled or 18 days and over 40% of the parents had no idea that that's what how the state measured chronic absenteeism again showing a little bit of the need to um explain to people what the definitions are and then um is there someone in the school that I can talk to if I'm experiencing a challenge that makes it difficult to get my children to school every day and again most parents agreed with that but we can see we still had a little over 20% that felt like they didn't really have anyone that they could talk to if they were having issues with regular attendance for their children so that is something our Administration and our counselors are looking into to make sure that parents understand who they can talk to and also just doing some climate building activities um between students and uh their families and then just to summarize U basically some of the themes between the corrective action plans the schools put together um better and more regular communication between Administration and the guidance staff so some of them we're looking particular from policy perspective as students are getting up there there's court that gets involved and action plans that need to be developed with students and a lot of the the teams felt like um sometimes because of volume and other reason there there would be some disconnect between what guidance and administration and some clarity there so they're working to make sure that they're meeting more regularly for specifically to talk about student attendance um early intervention and those individual plans for students most of our schools that are involved with this are now um sitting down with students individually to make sure that they're having clear plans between them and their parents um and then again that communicating and partnering with parents on the the value we saw that some of our parents didn't necessarily see the regular attendance as an important issue we're going to explain to them why that is more regularly we're going to Define it for them um we're going to also try to make sure it's clear to them when a child is too sick to come to school we've got some things planning to go out early in January related to that from our nursing staff and then positive inent incentives so to make sure that it isn't just sometimes we focus the policy focuses a lot on Court and you know taking people to court and all of those sorts of things and just a lot of our buildings have initiatives going where they are trying to incentivize students for coming to school and recognize regular school school attendance and then of course building safe and trusting relationships between students and a school staff member making sure that a student has at least one person they feel comfortable talking with and who's touching base with them regularly um specifically relates to uh School attendance and also developing that relationship with their families that is my speed talk through that and give you a little bit of overview where we are we're looking forward to trying to communicate better with our families and trying to bring that number down further we made slight progress each year since Co um but still not where we want it to be and we hope to be there soon so any questions yeah um it says almost 2,000 responded is that did did it a survey go out for each student or family so it was sent to all of the contacts that we would have okay um but then each family usually just responds once right um to the survey do you think that so it would represent more than 2000 students I believe yes right okay okay um yeah so obviously then it's so it's about a third a little bit over a third of our students and families responded okay thank you any other board comments thank you thank you Mr if anybody in the public has any questions we'll do that to we in the second public comment up uh yes uh the second item under 6.1 discussion items uh under B uh we have uh our supervisor of student Support Services Mr hilderbrand two times a year he has to present uh on the uh student uh safety data system so Mr hbr welcome thank you Mr buildo thank you everybody um twice a year at a school board meeting the district must present the student safety data system report specifically all incidents of violence vandalism alcohol and drug that occurred in our school um I thought it was in the agenda it's not I'm going to get handout to everybody that's here um you will see there are different types of incidents that fall under these categories and a breakdown of these incidents by school that occur between January 1st and June 30th this information has already been uploaded to the Department of Education if anybody has any questions or concerns my information is on there and then next year I'm going to be reporting on the uh September to December um um data system or report um there is something that has been going around that discussing where uh some of our middle schools have been getting an absorbent number of police calls and I think it is reflecting off of this report I just want to say that it's not true of what we're seeing out there and I want to read the definition of what it says and when we report this of what we are supposed to be reporting and how so when it comes to police report um or any police involvement in dealing with these an action by which a student is reported to any law enforcement agency or official including a school police unit so that's our SRO in each of our buildings for an incident that occurs on school grounds regardless of whether official action is taken so as long as we are making these SRO aware that we have a situation we are document that as police notification so these aren't police calls it's just police notification um citations tickets Court referrals and school related arrests are also considered reports to law enforcement so I just want to put that rumor to rest that I think they are taking the data from this report and people are saying that this is uh police constantly being called to these schools and that is inaccurate so thank you I had so if we added more this year will those numbers then potentially go up before more SRO we added every contact that they have the students have no it shouldn't be it it's really what happens is if there's an issue that falls under these categories when the SR walks in the building they meet with the principal and they basically say this is what would happen when you were here or we're not here understood it would be easier to do it but should it doesn't increase the number in theory exactly any other questions thank you grant thank you okay so for the balance of the superintendent's report uh like a consent resolution for items 6.2a through six 66 M so moved second any questions roll call please Mrs gck I have a question can I ask yeah go Ahad okay um 6.6 e the um travel there there was something that uh for for Tampa that they said there was no District funds that were going to be used for that is that just for the registration is there also travel that's associated with it or it's all paid out of the state anything M GI good evening uh 6.6 e the professional development there are uh three staff members that requested to go to an event that is in Tampa Florida uh we have to be mindful of several different things when it comes to the state of New Jersey There are rules for everything including a rule not to pierce $5,000 so uh to the credit of the staff listed there tonight they spoke and I think that they're going to all um stay together to to pray some of the costs because they all did want to go and experience this uh Mr tro did send a note to the board about being um kind of highlighted um and lot of lot of different school districts are being told to come and see gler town at what they're doing for our preschool program yeah when it comes to funding which was your question the preschool funds are a unique special uh school aid so it's not coming out of the local budget to send the three staff members to uh what I think is valuable because I think they're going to be able to uh come back and in turn uh cross train a lot of the other preschool and make our program even better than is right now yeah I mean I think it's a good thing as well I just wanted to clarify that not from the state was also recommending that we preschool AG so correct okay all right I just want to clarify that thank you any other questions roll call please Mrs gck yes Mr gimons yes Mrs gilch yes Miss Gore yes Mr Johnson I am going to abstain on staff ID numbers 280 1 968 5572 148 6208 4 4 556 and 2037 yes on the balance noted Mr Donald um I am abstaining on 6.6m employee numbers as well 0593 2273 2963 3396 37 05 3746 5009 5996 yes on the balance noted M dintino Mr Marks yes 7.0 reported to business administrator yes happy holidays to everyone by the way um asking for a consented General approval of items 7.1 through 7.7 D may I have a motion a second please move second any questions roll call please Mrs gck yes Mr GI I'm no on check 135461 check 1 35585 and yes on the balance noted Mrs gch yes m g yes Mr Johnson abstain on check number 135 648 1355 43 135 468 and no on check number 135 632 noted Mr odonnell yes Miss dintino yes Mr Marks yes old business Mr buildo Mr Marks uh members of the board members of the public good evening welcome to Glen Landing um I wanted to uh just bring up um last month there was quite a bit of discussion about cpeg and Department of special services and meetings for parents I did indicate that there was a meeting scheduled for December 9th um but because of the discussion that happened at Charles Lewis School a month ago I did feel compelled to meet with Dr Martin um and different administrators and speak exactly to the issue of CPAC here in gler Township um it was initially agreed that Dr Martin would expand um the itinerary for December I think it was December 10th excuse me and but Dr Martin did uh go a little bit further after that meeting and was able to uh secure um through the state of New Jersey um uh Ellen Woodcock who is a representative uh for this state uh organization um and there is a now a meeting planned for parents anyone that wants to attend it's scheduled for January 9th of 2025 at uh says 7 PM but I think Dr Martin is that now going to be 6:30 Dr Martin 6:30 to 8:30 that's a hard 8:30 out yes thank you Dr Martin it's going to be in the library at Lewis still okay um and I just wanted to um and that's going to be devoted only to CPAC that evening Dr Martin okay you have anything else to add while I'm doing my presentation about it I'm kidding Dr Mark can you come up here for us we're time hearing you where did you say this was taking place Lewis Library Lewis Library um just to answer your question more specifically we did secure support from the CPAC organization which is the state of New Jersey um we want to structure the program in accordance with their regulations and guidelines only and we also partnered with Cam County Family Support organization which did the presentation on December 9th to about 65 families and our goal is to partner with them and allow them to facilitate a wholesome parent relationship as a operate as a fully capable function organiz in accordance with the state guidelines um I think there's misc communication about what CP actually is um but it is an independent organization with bylaws regulations mission statements rules officers Etc and position that we will be moving in that dire and see support after holiday I will ask johnon sure Dr Martin uh the meeting that you have scheduled for cpeg in January um do you have that posted on the district's website okay very good when o' it's okay but we're going to switch it to following the timelines of 6:30 and do you plan on sending a communication out to our parents okay thank you thank you Dr thank you you done old business I'm done new business Mr buildo I guess um my last bit of new business I'll take this opportunity to uh again uh wish um two board members um nothing but the best I know that uh Mrs gilch had an opportunity to come back and serve the community again this District again and I don't quite know how many years it has been but um uh thank you for your support and what you do for the kids in this community Mr Marx I appreciate uh you uh as well and your candidat and uh very much um appreciate the um directness which some of our individual phone calls go um I do think it is is always for the best and for the district and the community so I wish you and Linda uh nothing but the best in the new year and Beyond thank you thank you at this point we're going to move on to public comments yep any public comment Mr experience um Al of board the administration of Township to step up to the mic if you don't mind sure thanks so all too often um you don't get enough praise for the work that you do as a board and certainly Mrs gilch and Mr Marx um thank you for everything you've done I've sat where you sat so I know what it what it takes and how much time you give up out of your personal life uh and it's a lot so to the board to the administration um to special ed Department to the teachers um again you don't get enough praise for the work that you do unfortunately we only hear the bad we never hear the good um my experience and I can only talk about my own my own personal experience with three children going through this district has been nothing but fantastic and I do have a special needs child um where I've gotten all the supports that I I could have wanted and the teachers have been nothing but F fantastic and some of them are in this room so you know thank you for that thank you Miss Skil and Mr Marx for your service to this District um and the only other thing I'll leave with is the gluster township this district is I don't know if it's still the largest K8 in the state but once it was if it's not it's pretty close so the amount of moving parts and the things um that are offered and the special ed services that again I've gotten and I work in the field so I see other districts um it's it's at the top of the list in the state of New Jersey so you're doing a fantastic job I just want you to know that thank you thank you Mr G any other comments yes ma'am hello my name is Danielle cler and I'm teacher here at gler um at Glen lny um and this is year 27 for me so there's something I don't want to read first teachers are natural philanthropists we give our time we give our heart we give our advice we give our money students need supplies we buy them students want to read the newest book in the series we buy it students forget their lunch money and we give it to him we give and we give and we give until oftentimes there's nothing left in the tank and even then we dig down deep and we find some more to give in the season of giving we as teachers come together every year here to make the dreams and the wishes of our students come true for the past 25 years Glen Landing has provided our financially needed students with gifts for the holidays this could not happen without the time and money that our teachers donate to this worthy cause no matter what has been going on economically for our teachers we have not we have never not been able to make these wishes come true for our students as Educators we have always put the needs of our students first even if that meant our own students our own kids received one less gift under the tree as a product of cluster Township Schools the giving tree has always held a special place in my heart as a student I attended Gloucester Township Blackwood CW Lewis and then Highland High School I had friends whose families were struggling to make ends meet and without community outre outreach programs like The Giving Tree these children would have had no gifts to open on Christmas morning and their parents would have been left to explain to them why their house was skipped this year when I became a teacher at Glen Landing The Giving Tree was focused on coats hats gloves and holiday food baskets since 2008 I have been organizing this program The Giving tray identifies students right here in our own building phone call calls are then made home and it's a hard call and the students fill out need forms along with three wishes of their own I then take that information and I build a spreadsheet giving family student numbers so that everything remains Anonymous staff members then signed up to purchase R and submit their gifts tonight I stayed to organize and I'm still not done we organize for parent pickup which starts tomorrow at 8: a.m. we also send home a stocking with each family that has novelty items traditional stocking items but also Necessities like deodorant toothbrush toothpaste and some of the things that we take for granted each and every day our Administration here has been nothing but fantastic throughout the years and we have always had a $5 jeans sted raised the money to help purchase the gifts that remain untaken and to purchase the stocking items however this year a request for this Jeans day was denied and I was shocked to say the least then I was left to beg I couldn't go back to the staff who had already done so much I basically was left to call her home in school who stepped up with open arms and then staff members handing me 20s as I left the building on Friday I spent the whole weekend shopping and another 13 gifts extra from my my own family and my friend group an hour away from here the hypocrisy is that $5 jeans St somehow are accepted when it's a cause under Administration that seems that they deem worthy I would like to know who is going to let families know that they didn't make our cut for worthiness this year as we all know being a teacher today is so much more than just teaching we are mentors parents counselors your crippling are ability to be the people that we want to be for the neediest members of our community at Glen Landing just last week we were asked at our last faculty M meeting to reflect upon our core values as Educators Miss Jones asked us what do we want our former students to say at our retirement what do we want them to say at their 25th class reunion I know what I want my students to remember about their time here at glenley but I'm asking what do you want them to wonder about thank you thank you for what you do any other comments uh Dorothy H Deo uh former employer employee of Gloucester Township Schools I was an employee for 37 years I was terminated this year on November 6th by Mr Belo Mr Belo I would like to know have you ever terminated another employee uh in your tenure a superintendent with wer Township Schools Mr we're not discussing any Personnel matters you can make whatever comments you'd like but we're not going to litigate a a Personnel matter out here that's a question it we do not discuss other Personnel matters and we do not answer those kinds of questions out here you can make your comment you have every right to but he's not going to answer that question I can't ask because you can ask the question but he's not gonna answer and we're not gonna answer sure he's not gonna answer um okay uh I applied for unemployment with uh the New Jersey Department of Labor and the Workforce Development in Trenton I got a notice of determination um you are hereby hereby notified that based upon the facts of obtained and in accordance with the New Jersey unemployment compensation law uh it was determined that you were eligible for benefits from 1110 24 you indicated when filing your claim that you were discharged from your employer no evidence has been provided to demonstrate any willful or deliberate misconduct your actions do not constitute a willful and deliberate disregard of the standards of behavior your employer had a right to expect Therefore your discharge was not for misconduct connected with the work you are eligible for benefits it's pretty damn sad that I have to go to unemployment and they're going to give me $350 a week and I make more than that um that's pretty damn sad you had no right to just uh to um terminate me you know everyone else knows it I did absolutely nothing wrong um never in 37 years did I think I was going out this way it will come down there will be an end result and this won't be it there will be an end result this won't be it um 37 years of dedicated service and you think you have the right to terminate me um it's not going to happen I mean it it it is happening but there will be an end result for you and the board because I had I did not deserve this that's why I got this letter from Trenton I didn't deserve this you know you can sit up there think that you're God you Marcado back there and probably two others that are in this room I don't need to mention their names the four of you were up here everyone else is down here and every time we try to get up you knock us down you're a narcissist Mar narcissist this is we do not take personal shots like narcissist you can complain all you want but we don't name call up here Mr Le your time's up thank you I know that anybody else have any comments yes one more time it's yours as a member of the f one don't be shy don't be shy up here in three weeks hi uh de hry Summerdale I had uh somebody text me uh a question that couldn't attend the meeting uh that happened um today so uh they want to know why is the director of special ed services and the special um and the supervisor of special services found it acceptable to refuse to provide reasonable accommodations uh for children along with being a disabled parent to make um their IEP meetings AC accessible um which I don't know I just read it but I also had a um a comment about the meeting that took place on December 10th um it was really great to have a meeting uh with special services and parents um but there wasn't a clear outline of why we were meeting it was just the meeting so many people thought that it was an IEP meeting to go over what an IEP is and you know what their rights are um it wasn't outlined right um it was also great to have two board members attend the meeting um so therefore they could see from my understanding there is also a special services um committee and from my understanding none of those members uh attended that meeting which is a little disheartening um but going forward what is really speg and what is the purpose of it from my understanding it was State mandated and District LED and now we're just getting it start started why is it now that we're getting it started where it wasn't uh previously I can answer two of those questions go for it all right number one the question that you read is something that we yeah I know and I know you're just putting it on the record and um with respect to the question uh about the members who attended uh we have to be careful because whenever we have five of us together and you'll be one of those nine that would constitute the five in a couple weeks if we have a quorum of the board that it becomes a board meeting where District matters are discussed okay so that's kind of part of it and the other part is you know scheduling things pop up and everything like that but we had to keep it and that's for me under five okay and so the other one where why are we now developing a SP which should have been that's not a b question Mr can you help with that please why are weeling it now why developing now yep I was under the impression that we had parent meetings for a number of years and I know that um cpeg is I know that you think it's District Le I from what I have seen I believe it is more of a grassroot parent Le um effort in the community I think we are going to help facilitate starting it um but one of the things that I think we need to do Mrs Henry is to make sure we have parents um that will continue to propagate a cpeg so it doesn't start and have some initial traction and then visle out when those parents um say their their children go on to high school and then they don't have as much concern in the middle school so I think that may be something that um Dr Martin and the CPAC people are going to talk to parents that are interested in forming this we're certainly going to assist getting it off the ground but having a sustainable um which has been done in the past and it kind of ped out so this is a bit of a reset okay because D can I see if there's anybody else and I'll bring it back up thank you is there anybody else that like like to speak floor is back yours three more minutes uh because from what I read online um cpeg is a special education parent advisory group is a state mandated District level parent driven group charged with providing input to the local school district on system level challenges in special education and related services so it is State mandated it is District L I do understand that maybe it was let's say formulated way back before my kids started school but my understanding or my thought process is every year there should be a new like a new go at it you know so my kids have attended school since 2017 this is the first year that I learned what cpeg is you know um I've had a special education needs student since 2018 this is the first year that I've learned about it so why is it that now just because somebody brought it to our attention that we are making this where it should have been done every single year on January 9th we're going to start all over again January 9th so as a district we're looking for better ways to improve yeah okay thank you can I of clementin we told um is it a rumor true or false that there was a woman years ago that was running ceg and then she had to stop in her own right and then it didn't get picked up so it's my understanding from the lature that I've read that Dina just read from that it's the district's job to pick up that ball and ask the parents who can continue this that wasn't done so was there a spag at one point in the township that a mother was running that's what we've heard I just want to know your memory can you recollect that this was this was put in 40 years ago hi good evening I believe there was a parent uh she was um I thought the initials were spkn there hi please help out I was a teacher at Char School worked there for 20 years so Judy Guido um many of you probably know that name she's still very involved with special education children in the community and she was in charge of the TP um at Lewis Middle School and I know she still does a lot of community thing and I think once Joe son graduated from Highland I believe um that's when um she sto it up right remember her name I still get emails from her so I know she still done a lot of things and the high school district has a CPC so why don't the 11 Elementary and Middle School have a CP we're in the process of it thank you any other comments I see none we're going to move on the board member comments um I would like to say something I'm going to read something unfortunately um I want to say good evening to the gler township families and board members I'm going to try to get through this tonight I speak to you with an over overwhelming sense of gratitude gratitude for the trust you placed in me during the many years of our shared partnership and for all we've accomplished together for our students teachers staff and families of the great Community serving on the goer tallship board has been one of my greatest honors as I step away from the role tonight I do with a heart full of Pride for what we have achieved together my journey is a board member began years ago with a dream and a bold step with Fen Reese as we challenged and defeated longtime incumbents and our victory was a win for those who believed in grassroot actions to empower the voices of parents who knew that our schools could be better and their children deserved more from us my first campaign proved that when parents come together with a shared Vision they can do great things to enhance the quality of our schools As Time passed I became that long-term incumbent I once set out the challenge but I never forgot the lessons I learned along the journey I stayed committed to listening adapting learning and ensuring that the voices of teachers community members guided my thinking and decisionmaking when I first joined the board I had children in the district which gave me a personal stake in the quality of our schools now as my children have grown my public service to this community has only deepened as I try to ensure the same opportunities that helped my children Thrive are available for every child in this district from the moment I was elected I committed myself to ensuring that our schools were more than just a place where lessons were taught I wanted them to be vibrant community centers where children could expand their minds and develop their creativity and where policy could be powerful tool to Foster equity and provide the necessary funding to give children a chance at success as a certified board leader Master board member and a legislative Committee Member of the New Jersey school boards Association I work to ensure that our policies our plans were inclusive and our schools were a place of Excellence I am most proud of my help to pass the full day kindergarten because education is a foundation of lifelong learning I'm also proud of expanding Sports programs including cross country at the middle school knowing that the students who run toward their goals also can excel in the classroom I am proud of our technology policies which place Chromebooks into the hands of all our students equiping equipping them with the tools they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world and I'm proud of my participation in investing students Futures while still respecting the hard-earned dollars of Gloucester Township families serving as vice president and president of the board gave me a platform to advocate for what I most deeply believe that public education is the backbone of our democracy teachers are its lifeblood I witness firsthand the dedication of our Educators and staff they are unsung heroes who gave so much of themselves every single day they do no they deserve nothing less than our full support and respect to my colleagues on the board I urge you to carry these values account accountability integrity and an unwavering commitment to the township our children of the township uphold the trust the community has placed in you listen to the voices of teachers parents and students always prioritize what's best for the schools not what's easiest or most convenient for yourself but what satisfies your political agenda at the same time resist the movement seeking to dismantle the fund f foundations of public education our schools are safe havens centers of learning and places where every child deserved to feel seen and supported protect our libraries as gateways to curiosity and knowledge advocate for school psychologists and counselors who provide critical emotional support ensure that schools remain safe spaces where students can grow explore Thrive without fear I want to thank all the support staff the custodian the bus drivers the admin and all who make GT a great place you are valued tonight I leave knowing that our work has made a difference in brightening the future of gler Township to our students never stop dreaming to our teachers you matter and the work you do can be thankless but it's invaluable thank you for the privilege thank you for the Memories the lessons and the friendship that I will carry with me always thank you sorry I got emotional I'm sorry don't apologize for your feeling any other comments yeah I just wanted to say happy holidays to everybody and um thank you Linda and um Anthony for your uh guidance during my first year here I really appreciate it and um you know I hope that we um can be stay friends or bonded somehow but I wish everybody a great um holiday season and thank you so much thank you any other comments all the board members over the past year um thank you Mr Marks for everything that you've done to help the district over the past year you've done a great job um I'd like to welcome Dina Hendry to the board um and I'd also like to congratulate the star students and all the sporting Awards tonight thank y any other comments I just want to say Anthony it was great working with you I'm sorry I got emotional it was great working with everyone have a happy holiday everyone and you will see me out there in the audience we all dat it for one second thank any others I did but I it's almost not appropriate after uh such a beautiful speech there but I uh I did want to go back to you know this um this group that it's been you know a topic of conversation for you know quite some time and I understand that it wasn't in place but I I'm kind of trying to understand how is something mandated that's not run by the school if we're saying it's the parents like fault for not keeping the ball going how can something like that be mandated like how how does that work can you explain that I don't know if it's the parents uh fault per se I probably say it uh administratively when we know we have eighth grade parents moving on we have an obligation to kind of cultivate it and maybe that um uh cultivation is is one thing and your well-intentioned Mr Gibbons but those same parents that want it and the good thing is there are parents that want it now I can't say that in the past there have always been a group of parents that have wanted it whether it be mandated or not that's kind of why we want to do a reset now yeah that's why we Dr Martin reached out and have someone come in facilitated so if we start it it has some growth and traction potential not just fysal again right okay I but it is still the district's responsibility to keep it going to a degree to to do the Outreach that it shouldn't be the first time that people have been hearing it I understand you know we were explained yes it is we asked no one no one responded but yep we got to keep trying okay yes it is just to clear so everybody's on the same page of how you know how we got here but it's a reset and we're going to start over and move forward and try to keep it going from there if this doesn't work we're going to have to start it again yeah I I know I I spoke to Maryanne about she had reached out to some other schools and some ideas and things like that so I know there are ways I know it is an uphill battle to get it going and keep it going and and keep that either way I'm now I'm just eating up people's time but I want to thank everybody for coming out the uh the athletes uh star students congratulations to them um I believe it was Miss Clark um I want to get with you after this uh here and also we'll find out a little bit more about what that was all about and um happy holidays Merry Christmas happy Hanukkah happy festiv us happy New Year thank you oh and I'm thank you I'm sorry thank you for your service I will be sad to see you go Linda um Anthony same I uh don't know you as well as I know Lind but I will miss you both and thank you both for your guidance thank you any goe um I wanted to thank Miss Clark for coming at that was very well spoken I appreciate um your dedication to the students and all the hard work that you put into that um I wanted to I wanted to speak on the parent advisory group because a couple maybe two months ago it was my understanding that that the district had a variation of the parent group where um Dr Martin had um meetings and sent out uh questionnaires and things like that so there was a variation of it going um but I appreciate the parents who are stepping up and trying to make this happen for the kids I think it's amazing and you started a bigger conversation so I appreciate that um I wanted to wow on the kids the athletes I cannot believe you guys brought back so many trophies um amazing I was a little sad Mullen lost the basketball game tonight but whatever I'm not that bitter um I I I hear you I I I watched a little bit of it um uh thank you to the board members for your dedication and your service um and then Mrs Hendry so you are me over 10 years ago where I came month after month after month and spoke and fought and begged and just did recorded Mr Bido and uploaded it to YouTube if anyone wants a link I'll send it to you like you are me and I am so completely excited um to have you on this side of the table because I think you have some amazing ideas and I think you will bring quite a dynamic dynamic to the board so congratulations to you I can't wait to work with you on on this side of the table see how that goes um and happy holidays to everyone um and I think I'm done thanks thank you yeah I'd like to thank Linda and Anthony for your service for the years that Linda and and Anthony both have given to the children here in Gloucester Township I'd like to thank everyone for coming out and wishing everyone a wonderful holiday welcome Dena we can't wait to get you over here um and uh have a happy holiday thank you any others so I just want to say happy holidays to everyone um I hope you have a joy joyful holiday season with your family stay close um thank you to Anthony and Linda I have enjoyed working with both of you um I will definitely miss you I definitely yeah I'm gonna miss you um and I'm gonna miss you too Anthony your guidance your direction I am really I am for real um but thanks everyone to coming out um congratulations to all the star students as well and have a Happy New Year thank you all right all right so I'm gonna close out Linda forgot to tell me that we needed to write something down I had WR I would know was bad enough all right so I'm I'm a pretty simple man if he's learned over the past six years first of all I want to start off by thanking the G stat family till you get up here and you see what the student and St do for this District it is amazing it is not a walk in a classroom and walk out not at all you you learn a lot of the back doors and all that going on here and it's it's it's a lot for the staff so I thank you for that Mr buo I would like to thank you and your old Administration staff for what you do keeping the budget in line keeping the employees in line keeping the board in line sometimes as well I thank you for that Mr L thank you you put me in line a few times we had some disagreements but we always work through our disagreements I thank you for all the guidance and advice you gave me to the board I thank you for the support over two opportunities to serve as the president of this board that is an honor that he has allowed me to have up here and show what type of leader I could be I thank you for that um moving forward I just hope that we can keep this board rolling in the right direction one of my goals six years ago was to make a change in the glester tallship community and I felt us as a board we've done that please keep that boat going in the right direction like to thank everybody for taking time to come out tonight everybody happy holidays May I have a motion to adjourn all in favor I good night everybody