[Music] good evening everyone we're going to get started welcome to the December Hoboken Board of Education meeting before we get started I'd like to wish everyone a happy healthy holiday season um hopefully it's surrounded by family and friends and with that being said Miss good can you please read the statement of compliance this meeting is being held in Conformity to the open Public's meeting Act njsa 10 colon 4-6 proper public notice of the me meeting was published in the local newspapers on January 7th 2023 which was the annual notice if any board member or member of the public in attendance believe that this meeting is in violation of the open public meeting act the Hoboken Board of Education requests that they make a statement at this time the board wishes to make those in attendance aware that this meeting is being recorded on video and will be broadcast by the board at a later date on Cat TV channel 77 and files channel 46 the full meeting recording will also be made available on board docs which can be accessed through the district homepage the Hoboken board of education is committed to preserving the decorum of the public process and is mindful that we live in electronic age of computers cell phones and other electronic communication devices nevertheless we respectfully request that all meeting participants kindly silence their electronic devices during the course of the meeting and have use of the devices necessary we ask that you please leave the meeting room if you need to conduct personal business please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance Al to the flag United States of America and to the republ for which it stands one nation God indivisible with and justice for all can we take the roll call [Applause] please catori here Mr delator here Mr Grana here miss Conor Mr Kel here M mcer here miss Norwood here Mission here miss Angley here you have a quarum okay we are going to start off by celebrating our students tonight so I will turn the meeting over to our assistant superintendent Miss Rodriguez [Applause] Gomez [Applause] thank you welcome to the student recognition portion of the meeting we're excited to honor these Scholars tonight and learn about their accomplishments and those that they will aim for in the future I extend a heartfelt welcome to the members of our Board of Education superintendent Dr Johnson administrators faculty Community students and of course their very special guests their families it is always such a joy to stand before you and introduce our amazing principles and tonight some Vice principles as they come up to the podium and share detailed information and anecdotes about the students being honored here tonight as November's students of the month it is quite an accomplishment to be honored by your school and District community and if you are one of the students being honored here tonight please don't ever forget this moment and let it Inspire many more powerful ones you are role models and your mentors to the students in your classrooms and to those that you should pass in the hallways daily thank you for inspiring others we are also very proud of each of you and can't wait to hear about your academic Journey as has been our process we will begin with the Joseph F bran school and its vice principal Mrs delave she will then introduce the Connor's vice principal Mr Hamlin and he will follow the same pattern introducing our next presenters director Dickerson principal sine and principal Pika Petra of Wallace Hoboken middle and Hoboken High School respectively each will celebrate their schools selections and pause for a picture opportunity again thank you for being with us this evening and with that I would ask vice principal DEA to join me at the [Applause] podium good evening everyone congratulations to Isaac Simmons the Joseph F Brandt student of the month for November 2023 can you come up here [Applause] Isaac Isaac was nominated by his second grade teacher Mrs Spano she said I believe Isaac is a student that needs to be recognized for all of his hard work and motivation he's a pleasure to have in the classroom and is always ready to learn he comes into school with a smile and leaves with one too Isaac participates in every single subject and tries his best every day he motivates others to do better and be better he strives to be the best version of himself and for a child his age that is very impressive and heartwarming I know Isaac will do great things in this world and I'm so very proud of him and his accomplishments Mrs Spano also said good players Inspire themselves but great players Inspire others this quote embodies Isaac because Isaac is a team team player he's always willing to remind others how to act or think during any situation he understands classroom expectations I can always count on Isaac to listen and follow directions he motivates our class and is our own personal team coach Isaac exudes politeness he shows that he cares by listening to others and Comforts his peers when they need it if a student needs help he's the first student to offer his hand he will ask for help when he needs it and is comfortable in his own skin Isaac keeps moving forward and never looks back so who is Isaac Simmons well his favorite sports are football basketball baseball and soccer he loves fizzed music and art he enjoys listening to Spanish music and his favorite artist is Bad Bunny when he grows up he would like to be a football player when told he would be honored here tonight Isaac said I feel good in school because I like working I like my school because I've been here since I was little well as you continue to grow bigger Isaac we look forward to watching your continued success please join Jo me and a round of applause for Isaac Simmons the Joseph F rant student of the month for November [Applause] 2023 I'll Now call vice principal Hamlin to the podium [Applause] good evening at this time I'd like to call up CA Patel to joined me the [Applause] Comm CIA is a fourth grader in Miss du's class Miss du's here with us tonight Miss du be shared that CIA excels both academically and socially CA is super warm and a caring student she spends her time in school dedicated to learning and developing meaningful relationships C is an active member of the classroom as she participates during lessons by answering and asking insightful questions she works through her assignments with thought and intention making sure she understands what she's doing she's a tenacious self- Advocate and Problem Solver on her own and seeks support when she knows that she needs it ca has embraced fourth grade this year often exceeding the academic expectations in Reading Writing math and critical thinking she challenges herself by pushing beyond what is expected so she can continue to grow and learn after school CIA participates in fencing and is currently in the intermediate fencing class she has enjoyed this activity for the past year and is looking forward to improving her skills she's interested in many subjects and careers she's excited to one day go to a great college and learn to become a fencer doctor or author when CIA found out she was the District student of the month she was so excited and happy she went home to tell her family they congratulated and celebrated her she's looking forward to continuing her celebration and is honored to be recognized as the student of the month CIA is proud of her Indian culture and enjoys teaching others about it she says her favorite holiday to celebrate is Holly CA shared that she enjoys math Ela and social studies she enjoys being a problem solver in math using her learned skills and newly acquired skills to help her in ela she enjoys creative writing she's currently walk working on writing her own book for social studies C enjoys learning about what people did during different time periods when they were in school she also loves to do her own research in her free time she enjoys making art projects she's currently working on one about the body's organs fiction is her favorite genre to read and some of her favorite series are The Secret series Harry Potter and dog men CIA is also so incredibly kind and thoughtful she is adored by all of her classmates and teachers we could not be more proud of C's accomplishments can everyone please join me and a round of applause for CA [Applause] Patel [Applause] at this time I'd like to introduce director of diversity equity and inclusion Steve Dickerson who is representing Wallace school [Applause] tonight good evening we are here today to celebrate amila Gillard our Wallace student school student of the month Miss Gario nominated amila for student of the month because she is motivated studious focused and hardworking amila has a jovial personality that shines and is contagious among her friends and peers she has made wonderful strides since the beginning of the year especially in Reading anyone who knows amila gravitates towards her she is diligent completes all of her assignments on time and shows strong efforts towards all subject areas in school amila demonstrates excellent Behavior inside and outside the classroom is well-mannered and respectful to peers and teachers alike amila loves gymnastics and soccer she is the best big sister and Hip-Hop is her favorite music to dance to she especially loves math and is a whiz at solving problems when amila grows up she wants to be a veterinarian she loves and takes care of her French Bulldog Mia in her spare time she also loves going for runs with her mom early in the morning when amila found out she was student of the month she said she was excited amila is extremely humble and appreciative and we are all very proud of all of her accomplishments this year and look forward to seeing what the rest of her second grade year brings now she was not able to make it today but I will make sure that we celebrate her uh when she's in school let's hear for am Mila the Wallace school student of the [Applause] [Applause] month I will now like to welcome principal sorine of the Hoboken Middle School to the podium [Applause] good evening please welcome to the podium hobok Middle School student of the month for November liba Newfield liba has been nominated by her Ela teacher Miss Ros Prof and received unanimous support from our student of the month committee she maintains an A+ average in all all her classes and since September has earned top spot in Miss Ros M's Class Dojo which focuses on building a positive classroom environment leeva always completes her assignments to the best of her ability and when she is complete she challenges herself by working on enrichment activities that will sometimes be at the 10th or 11th grade level she is an Avid Reader and excels in her night rights Lea lends a helping hand to anyone who needs one and is a positive role model to her peers Mr meaf and Mr engas added liba always shows up to class with a smile and has a cheerful personality she is a student leader and always looks to help others while staying focused and committed to her own academic accomplishments she P She personifies all attributes of the Middle School's core values perseverance respect Integrity dedication and Excellence M Falone shares that Le's ability to empath EMP emphasize with others is truly remarkable during our week of respect students were encouraged to mix it up during lunch and sit with pairs they typically don't sit with without hesitation liba invited a student she never met to sit with her and her friends this is something Miss Falcone will never forget lia's friends CRA and Avery both shared that you can always count on Libra to brighten your day and share a smile if needed Lea is an asset to the Hoboken Middle School Community because she participates in many activities she is part of the band and many other school activities such as best buddies in the in the diversity Club she was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society last year as an active member in our tiger tutoring program at all three elementary schools Le also likes to play basketball and is excited for the upcoming season when asked how she felt about receiving student of the month Lia responded by saying surprised and excited well Lea I'm excited for you as well but I'm definitely not surprised I have seen you as a leader in our school Community from the moment we met six years ago I want to thank lia's family for their partnership and support over the years liba this is so welld deserved congratulations to you your mom dad and your sister Maya please tell her I mentioned her in the speech and uh please join me and welcome and in a round of applause for Hoka Middle School St of the month leave a new [Applause] me take this off tonight a little off tonight sorry Mr P please welcome to the podium the high school principal Miss MRA um good evening everyone at this time I'd like to welcome up to the podium Hoboken High School student of the month for November Daniel [Applause] Brin so normally I could talk about Daniel high 3.75 GPA challenging himself in all um AP classes uh but there's something his teachers all shared he's inquisitive he's kind he's all these things but this write up um was submitted by Miss drum goul for November and it's a really special one so please share bear with me he is being nominated by Miss drumul for the selflessness he showed in helping a fellow student when he really needed the support on Halloween a student named Derek a neurodiverse 11th grader wanted to participate in the high school's Halloween contest costume contest the auditorium was filled with teenagers dressed in fun and spooky attire completing contest entry forms the setting was loud and chaotic exactly how you would expect any typical high school should be on Halloween even the staff was engaged in laughter as they prepared to judge the contestants the last entry form was submitted and everyone eagerly settled in their seats but wait oh no unfortunately Derek had not understood the directions and missed the opportunity to enter into the most original category he was after all dressed as a southern Cowboy wearing a Weston cowboy hat chaps a vest and riding boots Derek was terribly disappointed the only category left to enter at this point was a Duo SLG group and Derek didn't have a partner when the judges realized there was still a chance for Derek to enter the contest they quickly scooped the scoped the room trying to find another Cowboy related costume alas it wasn't all that difficult to find in the back of the auditorium one could easily spot a jumbo sized cowboy hat floating above seat 4 row t as Miss drumul approached the faceless cowboy hat and leaned in peaked under its brim and sort it was none other than Daniel admittedly he had no interest in entering the contest until he learned of Derek's plight without hesitation Daniel stood up agreed to partner with Derek and in a matter of seconds the cowboy Duo was formed Daniel introduced himself to Derek and the pair swaggered down the aisle and up onto the stage with personality and fashion when they were front and center these Urban Cowboys tipped their hats to the judges with that old west charm and the audience went wild with yahoos and enthusiastic Applause while this was all in good fun Daniel showed compassion and virtue treating Derek with dignity and kindness had it not been for Daniel's willingness to step in at the last minute this Halloween Cowboy would have not been a memorable one for Derek so for this reason it is with great pleasure I introduce to all of you Daniel our November student of the month and although the cowboy Duo did not bring home the rodeo belt they had hoped they appeared to have a really great time trying Daniel from my heart it's one of the nicest thing things I've read in a very long time this is character and I congratulate your mother as well for that so congratulations sweetheart you [Applause] congratulations picture at this time I would ask director Dickerson to come back to the podium to celebrate the Wallace student of the [Applause] [Applause] month [Applause] so we have a very pleasant surprise amila was able to make it that she did everything she could to get here so we want to make sure that she hears all the amazing things that have been said about her you ready okay good evening we are here tonight to celebrate amila Gillard our Wallace school student of the month Miss Gario nominated Mila for student of the month because she's Mo motivated studious focused and hardworking amila has a jovial personality that shines and is contagious amongst her peers she has made wonderful strides since the beginning of the year especially in Reading anyone who knows amila gravitates towards her she is diligent completes all of her assignments on time and shows strong effort towards all subject areas in school amila demonstrates excellent Behavior inside and outside of the classroom is well-mannered and and respectful to peers and teachers alike amila loves gymnastics and soccer she is the best big sister and Hip-Hop is her favorite music to dance to she especially loves math and is a whiz at solving math problems when am Mila grows up she wants to be a veterinarian she loves and takes great care of her French bulldog meia in her spare time she also loves going for runs with her mom early in the morning [Applause] when amila found out she was going to be student of the month she said she was excited amila is extremely humble and appreciative and we are all very proud of all of her accomplishments this year and look forward to seeing what the rest of her second grade year brings let's hear from Milo the Wallace school student of the [Applause] month [Applause] congratulations congratulations to all of our students recognized tonight we could not be more proud of the kind involved leaders that each of you are um and we hope you keep up the great work next I will turn the meeting over to Dr Johnson for her superintendence report okay good evening um as we round out the last Board of Education meeting of 2023 I'd like to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season and a new year uh last week we had a wonderful Middle School and High School winter concert and a winter family Arts Festival both were extremely well attended and reflected the spirit of the school Community this past weekend we held our annual maker space event and our theater preparation Workshop in order to get students ready for auditions this year those auditions are for Harry Potter and the C child um in addition on Sunday we hosted a micro Institute for our Innovation science technology and Entrepreneurship program and the turnout was also very uh well attended on Tuesday uh December 19th we are going to be hosting our elementary school Winter concert so we hope to see as many families there as possible we will be collecting gift cards in denominations of $25 in order to provide families um and middle school and high school students with gifts for the holidays uh a few exciting developments that are in the works that I would like to share uh first the team of teachers um and administrators visited a facility called CAE in whiy last week in order to tour the aviation facility um and to participate in a Roundtable program with other high schools that operate commercial drone and Aviation programs um from the visit and from the Roundtable our staff came back with a number of curricular resources and names of a range of guest speakers um that are willing to come in and speak to our students on a number of different topics um in in many of our classes so we were happy about that um our office of innovative programs is currently constructing a framewor work for a career ecosystem lab for Hoboken High School we're really excited about this because the lab will offer students the choice of over 40 different career Pathways uh in which students can explore uh during their High School careers and complete virtual coursework that will prepare them for industry standard exams uh a four-pronged approach will enable students to interact with Professionals in the career field of their choice through everything from lectures to visits to the workplace environment to observations of specific work um and even things uh such as live surgeries um or even something uh like um watching um the installation of a networking system um anything along those lines as well as um the ability to participate in internships so we will be rolling that program out next year I'm also extremely pleased to announce that our dual enrollment partnership with NJIT for September in the field of Architecture is um uh moving along very nicely our students at Hoboken High School are going to have the ability to engage in a series of architectural courses from prerequisites to intro and secondary level courses at both Hoboken High School and on the campus of NJIT and earn both high school and college credit s simultaneously uh I would also like to thank Steven's Institute of Technology for working so closely with us uh back in September um I had reached out to um some of their staff members to see if they would be willing to take on our high school students um for graduate um research projects and I was really happy to receive an email back stating that they were willing to do so so two of our high school students Morgan and Madison w at Peters are currently working with a team of grad students on a research project in the field of biomed science and we kind of hope that this is just going to be the start of many more research projects to come um I am also extremely happy to announce that over the last month I I would say it was a couple weeks ago uh three of our principes attended uh a National Blue Ribbon uh schools conference and as a result of that conference and them bringing back a lot of information our school district has decided to Embark upon the uh blue ribon Schools of Excellence process um each of our schools will be embarking on the journey toward meeting success indicators in I believe it's eight distinct areas is um and as a result we will have the ability to reach either Beacon or Blue Ribbon status and our journey is going to begin in the spring of 2024 and finally I am extremely um happy to announce that in the summer of 2025 um we will be participating in a language immersion program uh through a Costa Rican trip uh through our classroom Without Walls program but this is going to be a little different because this particular classroom Without Walls program is going to be a combination of our middle school classroom Without Walls program and our high school classroom Without Walls program and it will include seventh and eighth grade students as well as 9th 10th 11th grade students um and 12th grade students um who are interested in the program it is actually an 11-day tour and it serve not only as a cultural and a historic Excursion but also a Spanish language immersive experience so we're we're really um very excited about that on another note I hope that everyone enjoyed reading uh the special edition of The Herald that focused on literacy our assistant superintendent and our supervisor of um English language arts um put a lot of time and effort into creating that res Source guide uh for families um it focused on everything from curricular resources to instructional practices um and we're excited that it'll serve as a model for other content areas and special additions to to come out and we also recently distributed um a special edition of The Herald on districtwide literacy and math achievement um and then also I uh shared something uh two days ago with the school community that we will be hosting on Sunday January 7th a family curriculum event and this is really um kind of a new event we've been doing a lot of um uh kind of family events that bring people together to see either student work or um events that give kids the opportunity to participate in Hands-On experiences but this is a a little bit different this is a uh kind of a day in the life of a kindergarten through 8th grade student we're starting there first um and then potentially in the future we'll see how this goes we'll move this to the high school level but we're starting and we we kind of modeled it a little bit after the Showcase um of Excellence at the high school level but this particular um family event will give parents the opportunity to learn alongside of their children or by themselves and we're giving them an option and um they'll have the ability to take almost like a mock schedule of uh their students day and actually um kind of walk through it um through a curriculum and an instructional lens um and walk through a series of um lessons and um different interactive experiences and really get a very good handle on the standards based essential learning outcomes in a multitude of curricular areas so we're very excited about that we put out a video trailer and a Google form for families to sign up so uh we're hoping that that turnout is is uh extremely high as well and in closing uh I would like to thank St Mary's advocates for Their donation of $35,000 which will go toward the purchase of some sort of a vehicle we're still uh researching the type of vehicle um but our goal is to put that money toward a vehicle a small vehicle that will give us the opportunity um to use it for things like um college tours um small athletic recruiting trips to college campuses small field trips um taking uh small groups of students to uh campuses or to local destinations when we're doing um small uh learning activities and different things like that so we're looking at whether it be a van or a a small bus or something along those lines that money will be used to help contribute to the purchase of that vehicle so we do thank St Mary's advocates for Their donation and that's all I have well thank you that was a lot of good news and thank you St Mary's once again that's incredible um next we are going to go into committee reports um is good do you have a business administrator's report um I would like to inform the board that the audit has been complete there are no findings and no recommendations the auditor will present the audit in P here in public um at the January meeting we're moving into budget season um I've met with all the administrators in the district and I will begin preparing the 2024 25 budget um the preliminary budget will be presented to the finance commit Committee in February and then we will present it to the full board the draft of the budget at the March meeting okay thank you my report congratulations on a completed good audit um curriculum miss mcgurk good evening the curriculum committee met on Thursday December 7th in attendance with superintendent Dr Johnson assistant superintendent Rodriguez Gomez miss katamori Mr delator Mr gr and myself the committee reviewed all agenda items and we recommend all three for board approval the three items cover field trips both hpf sponsored and other field trips and a grant submission and just to speak to the hpf sponsored field trips they coincide with this um theme that the hpf has been working with Dr Johnson on which is around the arts and arts enrichment so grades kindergarten and first grade will be going to the Children's Museum of Staten Island the second grade will be going to the Montclair Museum the third grade to the New Jersey State Museum Museum grade four to the Museum of moris fifth graders to the Newark Museum sixth graders to the Metropolitan Museum of Art seventh graders to storm king and the eighth grade to the grounds of sculpture we thank the Hoboken public education foundation for their steadfast support in making these excursions possible for our students um these are really world-class destinations and I think they're going to be excellent learning opportunities for everyone and then in terms of non-agenda items uh we did discuss the winter Arts Festival that took place on December 3rd which saw um we think about over a thousand attendees I personally felt like the entire city of Hoboken was there um so we know that our students and families appreciate the Arts and again thank you to the hpf for that their support of that evening um and as Dr Johnson mentioned the curriculum family night will be held on Sunday January 7th uh we hope that everyone will take the opportunity either with their children or without their children to come out and join us that evening will really give you an opportunity to um get to do what I think a lot of us would love to be able to do which is walk in our children's shoes for for a day through school and also I'd like to um wish all the students trying out for the North American School premiere of Harry Potter and the curs cursed child the best of luck in their auditions this week uh if you have someone auditioning in your household you know that it is a very uh exciting time to be involved in theater here in the Hoboken public schools that concludes my report and happy holidays thank you facilities Miss katamori [Applause] good evening the facilities facilities committee met on Thursday December 7th 2 p.m. and attendant were Mr cie Dr Johnson myself Mr kufeld Miss Norwood and Miss Conor there are three items on the agenda for approval and we recommend all agenda items um to be adopted tonight they include the facilities request from next basket wins for an adults Men's Basketball League at the high school gym um those will be held on January 29th and February 12th at 8:00 p.m. the approval of the fire and safety drill reports for November and the district's health and safety evaluation of school buildings checklist for 2324 as required to be completed by the state of New Jersey that's my report for tonight thank you next we'll move to finance Mr kille thank you the committee met on December 7th joining me where with mang Mr sorry uh Miss norwi is good Miss no pass um I've been Crossing off items on my list here because Dr Johnson did acknowledge the donation from St Mary's Advocates um I also would like to point out the uh rather generous donation from primate Fitness uh $10,000 to support the athletic program High School um and there good to talk about the uh audit uh has been finalized some be here in January uh to present the audit to the board and get L um just one correction I just was verified check we're going to check we're going to check before we vote on uh 1113 uh the amount of the donation St Mary there St Mary's donation Vicki the St Mary's donation 40,00 35 40 or [Applause] 45 it's 40 she's going to double check she okay okay thank you we'll come back [Applause] to can you just check the uh actual dollar amount for the St Mary's donation no I heard okay okay okay okay um we'll come back to that governance [Applause] missan hi good evening the governance excuse me the governance and Personnel committee met on Wednesday December in attendance were Dr Johnson Miss Angley Miss mcer Miss cona and myself the committee discussed all agenda items and we recommend all for approval as is typical throughout the school year you will see a number of agenda items for appointments resignations leave requests and transfers of Personnel in tonight's agenda this includes power professionals custodial and security staff teachers substitutes as well as staff for athletics and other co-curricular activities as well as passport to learning a few items I'd like to point out um in the acceptance of resignations for the 2023 2024 school year uh thank you to Miss Gloria Rodriguez for her service to the district and her students she'll Sur surely be missed by both the adults and children she worked side by side with every day we wish her much happiness in her retirement um uh approval of ABA stiens for 2324 school year powerful professionals who are um collecting and charting certain ABA related uh sta are paid an additional stien as per their contract um approval of workshops as usual there are a variety of workshops for District staff on the agenda workshops enable District staff to learn new skills achieve and maintain training certifications and collaborate with colleagues across the state and Beyond additionally there is a first read policy item on the agenda today uh policy 8505 local wellness policy nutrient standards for meals and other Foods this is a first reading and it will be on the agenda um again for a second reading um for non-agenda topics we T talked about um uh uh coaches for The 2024 2025 school year um as well as um school choice applications um and uh that is my report for this evening thank you and lastly Wellness Mr delator the wellness committee met on Thursday December 7th in attendance were Dr Johnson Miss Angley Mr Kiran and Mr gr There Are No Agenda items to approve however I am happy to report that the district will hold 10 Community open swim sessions at Hoboken High School from January through March 2024 the pool will be open for 3 hours each session with certified high school students as lifeguards stay tuned for more information thank you thank you I don't have a big report tonight but I just want to mention a few things that are on the board's agenda that aren't on the agenda um as I mentioned a while back we along with the charter representatives are still trying to coordinate a meeting with the mayor and City officials to settle the 770 pilot payment in addition the board has been working on board goals and last but certainly not least I'd like to recognize Miss Deon tonight is her last board meeting after 6 years um and we thank you for your service and and for always being a cheerleader for the district having your voice um and your passion on the board has been extremely valuable and I know you will remain informed and involved and I know Miss Kor wants to say something so I'm going to pass it over to her yes just like to say a few words um about Melanie Saran um Melanie I've always respected your thoughtful comments and inquiries in the discharge of your duties as part of the board as well as your steadfast commitment to the district and its students through your strong moral compass passion compassion empathy and Leadership you'll be missed by everyone especially by me um and uh I'm sorry to see you go but I know you will continue to be a large part of the district in this community and and continue to do whatever you can for the students of uh of this District in this city thank you thank you would you like to say something yes I wanted to say a few things today so first thank you very much to uh Miss Angley and Miss Kori Sharon M for those kind words um uh as many of you know I guess now as all of you know today is my last uh meeting sitting on the Das uh as a Hoboken District Board of Education trustee it has been my honor to serve in this role for the last six years I've been so lucky to serve with a tremendous special group of TR trustees those sitting here today and those that have shared this stage with me for the past um years thanks to all of them for helping to make this time so rewarding it's been a privilege to Ser serve the students and families of this District to support the efforts of our talented teachers and staff and to work together with our dedicated Administration and superintendent Dr Johnson to strive towards greater and Higher Goals and achievement and to watch Hoboken District's Public School System thrive I have been witnessed to truly amazing growth and progress in our district over the last six years uh there have been so many achievements but here are a few of my favorites if you'll indulge me for a few more minutes um the systemic and decade long and ongoing plan to improve academic achievement with the results to show for it in njsla scores and standing Hoboken um is the highest performing K through 12 District in ela and math based on um 202 23 njla results in Hudson County uh AP test test results and awards college acceptances and Merit Scholarships and so much more uh implementation of a worldclass science and stem program with Project Lead the Way um with complimentary stem based programming in K to2 including steam tank participation Aviation and Innovation Labs science family events rivere Keepers space flight experiments uh program and that list goes on and on on including some of what um Dr Johnson talked about with partnership with Stevens um exceptional commitment to fine and Performing Arts education with award wining W award-winning programs and band string theater chorus and more was mentioned uh earlier uh just this week kada2 students are auditioning for the um highly anticipated Harry Potter and the cursed child uh show later this in 2024 a CO response and education plan that enabled students to be in school while prioritizing the health and safety of the entire School Community keeping learning loss at Bay sustained growth in student enrollment at all grade levels in the district a clear sign of continued and uh and growing confidence in all schools by parents and families and prioritizing social and emotional learning and support for students and staff as I said before this is just a short list of the many accomplishments that I've witnessed and supported in the last six years as I wrap up my time as a uh Boe trustee I can't help uh but to reflect on the role of public education and how important it is to me and to society as a whole open enrollment public schools are open to all charged with the the the incredible responsibility to guide uh the highest a Achievers and and those that struggle and everyone in between public education is the most important activity undertaken by the public sector it is the foundation of Bedrock for all else through public education we equip the Next Generation with Knowledge and Skills and experiences they need to be successful I'm and by extension making our nation successful uh as uh public education is the actual impetus for American greatness as a community our investment in and support for public education is the most forward-looking generous and patrio patriotic act we can undertake uh with Hoboken Public Schools the future for our students our community and our Nations shines shines brightly I can't wait to see what happens next thank you so much for your time this evening and for the last six [Applause] years you um just say the donation was $40,000 40 thank you again to St Mary's for that very generous donation of $40,000 um next we'll move on to public comments on agenda items um and just a reminder before we open public comments over the years and most recently the board has been asked why it does not prohibit or stop comments about School District employees from individuals who speak during the public comment portion of the meeting the short answer is that the law prevents the board from censoring comments made about District Personnel the board does not condone nor is the board a party to comment as such however just because a speaker may have the right to say what he or she feels it does not absolve a speaker from liability for any defamatory comments that an employee may bring against the speaker should speakers say something that subjects them to a civil suit the responsibility Falls squarely on the speaker and not on the board I also want to remind speakers of board policy polic please state your name Municipality of residents and business affiliation and speakers are allowed 5 minutes and Miss kator will quietly motion with 30 seconds left do we have any speakers we have one Mrs [Applause] waiters Patricia Patricia waiters I'm recording you guys for quality assurance purposes and maybe a possib to Legal actions I'll be speaking on one- 05 certification of the official School Board elections with respect to 2,898 people I will be speaking on this item tonight to clearly explain to you excuse me the years that I've been putting in running for the Hoboken bard of Education I stand here tonight proud a proud product of the public school system in Hoboken and I will continue to run and continue my fight with that being said every election season and I have every last one of the lineups from the election I'm impacted with disgraceful allegations lies whatever you want to call it for the last 15 or more years this election was very different and I want to put this on the record this is your copy when I finish and Madam chair president I need you to ensure that each and every one of you deserve a copy of this I'm talking to you as an entire body and for the record on the front page allegations made over Flyers gifted to Patricia waiter's campaign for Hoboken border ed and this is from aen mcer okay and I need you to review it because when you want to talk about certification with an election and your administrator is approving this tonight and you guys are going to vote on this certification I'm still investigating where did we get 4,000 votes 15,000 people didn't even come out to vote so yes I did file a claim counsel and that's my right I spoke to uh Mike Harper from the Board of Elections I'm giving name and I'm going to go further with this okay so I'm going to give you just the condensed version being that is in litigation and I am challenging it and also challenging the fact that aen mcer clearly stated the Flyers was gifted to Patricia waiters campaign by her hob Hoboken business owner Ian rentel it gets more disturbing when you get down to mcer has alleged that campaign finances laws was not aher to and what get me the chills is each and every one of you up there know good and well I depend on the state to eat I got a job there going near where I'm broke every week I have no money no nothing so the intent to this to destroy me and bring up allegations because I stood up here and I expressed in chat in uh paragraph three Patricia waiters received over nearly 3,000 votes Patricia waiters said to aen mcer we need black representation on the board and I stated when the guy ran me down the last meeting to tell me you called every social media Outlet to post this and that's not good behavior from a board member you got ethic ethic laws that you guys got to adhere to by state and it's in here okay you got to adhere to this too and you got to respect members of the public and me as a candidate this was not necessary and because I told you and I shared my experiences with you being racist I didn't Alle anything please direct your comments I'm wrapping it up I didn't Alle anything I share with you my experiences please direct your comments to me Miss waiters I share with her my experiences again and you distracting me what I experienc with family members that know people that babysitter her daughter so when this I want you to read this and review this when she said I alleged that she was racist that's how you treated me through your actions you clearly printed it in here and you went after the director of this newspaper and you asked them to print this story I feel betrayed I feel and then I can't wait to come in here and see y'all get sworn in Miss administrator I wonder did you do your please direct your comments to me Miss waiters ma'am again I'm directing it to your entire body you have to direct it to me to your entire body so your integrity is in questioning too cuz you trying to protect something that was done wrong and you're not distracting me I'm going to put it on the record cuz members of the public that depend on this need to know cuz it's disrespectful 30 seconds 3,000 people is a lot of people okay so by you always trying to silence me I'm going come back next week and it's going to be here you have 30 seconds okay so don't distract me and then tell me I have 30 seconds cuz you breaking my chain of door so let me finish up and I'll be I'll wrap it up like you do everybody else that come up here that don't look like me distur me that is UN so I will be yeah it's true volume so I'm I'm giving you an extra 10 I'm not going to argue with you I'm not going to argue with you and again let's get back to this is what's important because you guys going to come here January and think you're going to have a smile on your face and continue to bias this and racism we being impacted and ignore us block our number don't answer us back oh y'all happy all of y'all breathe The Sire of relief when you don't see that crowd out there but it's being investigated and stuff like thisit this is for you stuff like this I want you to know here's the two Flyers that's mentioned in this article okay identical time is up me and you can just leave them on the stage I'll grab them after you can just leave them there I'll get them after okay it's good moving on to consent agenda thank you Miss waiters be back [Music] [Applause] [Music] public can we have the I'm sorry is there a motion motion second can we have the roll call please miss camori yes Mr delator yes Mr Grano yes Mr kful yes M mcer yes Miss Norwood yes Miss dearion yes Miss Angley yes motion carries okay next we'll go back to public comments on agenda and non-agenda items Miss waiters do you know how much you try to avoid it you see what I'm saying to you I get five minutes I want to be respected okay this is the public portion and people that live in my town deserve answers you closed the last meeting which was clearly a violation I don't know if you informed them councel you closed the last meeting because it got a little heated in here cuz we raised concerns about Keon Walker I'm here tonight to place it on the record again none of you got back in touch with him excuse me with the exception of Dr Johnson which did hold the meeting on Monday I just got the opportunity to talk to Mr Walker 20 minutes ago he haven't heard anything from none of these board members and your due diligence is to serve the community okay I don't need you playing me against Dr Johnson Dr Johnson against counsel we don't need that cuz we not going another year with the same unethical behavior from you board members okay and I got facts I'm going to come out with soon but I'm going to give you an opportunity Miss chair to come forward okay and I'm serious mine is not allegations I want my city to be ran right I want the people that look like me to get they dog on respect we are being disrespected discriminated against and there's no room for racism all of y'all got a happy smile on your face cuz they wouldn't dare go after y'all kids in the district this young lady leaving the district talking about how important the public school is and we being impacted we're not deserving a full free Duty education that we deserve our kids are being impacted and you look the opposite way and you see why get up here and get emotional cuz I run and y'all got to cheat on me that ain't scary y'all spend thousands of dollars since you concerned about finances miss mcer or the finance chair Mr clumper do you check the finances from this board of education do you check those finances and where they come from and what's a gift I need the definition of a gift versus money versus campaign versus non for-profit Mr delator you didn't brought Wallace I stand here tonight and I'm serious we is going to go further with this you keep ignoring me it's disrespectful I want it clearly placed on a record we will not leave until we get Justice y'all can ignore me all y'all want we going to F this time and I want accountability and expelled you do not need to serve the city if you don't have integrity thank you thank you Miss waiters there are no other speakers okay well that concludes our meeting do I have a motion to adjourn motion all in favor say I uh who is the second all in favor say I I meeting adjourned thank [Music] you [Music]